#and again i just cant get over this tonal shift

[zombieweek-g]

Good lord the drop in quality right from the end of s11 to spyfall is baffling

[mimzalot]

been playing Tears of the Kingdom and have hardly made a dent in the game thus far but I must exorcise some thoughts because I’m gettin zany about the shape of what I’ve seen

the tonal shift. Breath of the Wild was a beautiful but sadly empty game. all your friends are gone. the towns are scattered. the music is scarce. vast expanses of green are still littered with the debris of war. people have learnt to live around the shape of loss, and while years have passed, progress is halted. like the Princess, Hyrule is suspended in time.

TOTK is so lively, comparatively! you find civilians travelling and exploring, you see the results of Zelda’s kind leadership across the land, with every stable knowing her well enough to know that something is awry. Link sings when he cooks and those are songs that we know, songs that insinuate that he has spent time either remembering, learning or re-learning his context in the world after years lost to the war, to his century-long sleep and subsequent memory loss.

the recurring theme of construction and building reminds you that this is Hyrule in a state of repair, finally moving and developing after stasis. there’s a momentum shift. we’re rolling forward again (highlighted by all our bizarre locomotives, by the development of a printing press, and the pace at which news and people travel) and yet the looming threat on the horizon is going to see all of this hard-won safety undone.

so we have the upward momentum of development, and the impending threat of Ganondorf, which creates this spiraling sort of urgency that sees us wanting to protect the former from the latter. the game has created a race within itself. the paranoid threat of the moon falling but rather specifically in this game, on top of bravery and weaponry and the sort, the primary thing that will save Hyrule is... study.

the threat of impending doom is incentive to research. and god, the way TOTK game-ifies research is a nerd’s daydream. you get just enough information to keep your interest piqued, and while you’re doing extraneous tasks your mind is reeling, processing, the same way you do when you study - which is so perfect for a game with a huge open-world like this one. and again, a perfect reflection of Zelda herself. a gameplay style that reflects the feeling of descending down a wikipedia research spiral.

just like Hyrule in BOTW is reflected by its ruler suspended in time, holding on, Hyrule in TOTK is moving forward by looking to the past, urgently studying to find solutions. Princess Zelda is Hyrule. this is her legend. and Link is once more actioning her will. she is wise, and he is courageous enough to trust that wisdom even without all the pieces.

(but what of power? we’ve seen how it turns out, but how did it get there? iunno I’ve only gotten like four 'tears’ so WE SHALL SEE but lord knows I’m ready to feast. Link bears both marks rn, eh? he is corrupted by Ganondorf’s gloom but he has Rauru’s arm. the two are interlinked, the ‘Triforce bearers’ always are.)

this is a story that starts at the end. similar to BOTW, we have arrived at the outcome with no idea how we got here. but BOTW was a personal story, in a way; this is Hyrule’s story now, and the grand scale of a once intimate tale of self-discovery now belongs to a scope far larger than two or six. it’s bouncing back and forth throughout time, tying the past and present and future into one braid. you see the outcome. presumably you cant change it - but can you change the future?

all the while you’re aware that the people living in these flashbacks ought to be long gone. you’re seeing the plot and the history develop in tandem. you feel the dread of knowing what might be coming when you turn over the next page in your book, combined with the horrific knowledge that it’s about to repeat. it’s that perfect, sickening reflection of how it feels to study history: the sadness at knowing that these people are long gone, the gratitude towards their efforts, the fascination with their exploits and accomplishments, the academic pursuit of knowledge for solutions. connection to your past, to your ancestors, to their legacy and how it shapes your own. and just... how fun is it? learning is so fun!

and combining the first-hand accounts alongside the ruins and remains... similar sort of mix of nice-but-sad bittersweetness as BOTW, but a completely different iteration of that poignancy. and I don’t know the full story of it yet but I feel the shape of it just crushinggg down in the bg anytime I’m not playing it.

oh I just. love it. I have so much more to say. but I also have so much more to play. augh. kisses this game on the face

[kl125]

hey!! you commented on my post ab mileven and byler and I looooved it. your explanation is genuinely the best one I’ve seen and from that point of view I can totally understand how mileven could work out.

I’m curious to know what you think about a few other things if you’re willing to answer!

1. I agree that if mileven is endgame the use of a lighthearted and funny breakup was a bad choice. but I’m wondering what you think of the fact that mike and will’s conversations in that season are very serious and obviously a lot of care was put into those scenes.

2. also, I reblogged a post a few days ago where the creator edited mikes monologue to be a bit more romantic and I’m wondering why they didn’t do a more isolated montage if it’s meant to be romantic. I’ve been racking my brain to come up with an explanation for this bc I like to try to find counterpoints to byler theories just to see if there are any you know. but I rlly cant understand why they didn’t make it more intimate and leave will out of the frame/show more memories.

if you have any thoughts pls let me know bc I adored the way you explained your pov!!

Hello again, friend! Glad to see you enjoyed the analysis! I’d be more than happy to expand on these points, along with the other asks you sent.

1. I think the writer’s must have weighed which storylines could best fit a more lighthearted tone, and which really needed some seriousness. However, one of Season Three’s biggest weaknesses was its jarring tonal shifts. I don’t think Mike and El’s breakup should have been played for laughs, but I see why they picked that one over others for the lighthearted tone. However, just because something is played for laughs doesn’t mean it’s not important to the story, or that the writers didn’t care about it.

For Will’s storyline, it needed the weight of a serious tone. Playing it for laughs would have completely undermined Will’s trauma and the “coming-of-age” aspect. He’s screaming for help and attention, so playing that one for laughs would have seemed cheap and unimportant.

2. I think they were trying to focus on the big picture. Mike’s monologue wasn’t solely about their relationship. It was about El and how she views her place in the world. It was about reminding her that she can do anything she sets her mind to. Maybe they could have made it more pointed, but I guarantee if they had done that, there would be people asking why they didn’t do the opposite. In truth, it’s all about balance, and in that moment, El needed encouragement from someone she loves. She’s not basing her self-worth entirely on what he says, but there’s something to be said for hearing someone you love say that you’re capable and strong. El has always drawn strength from people she loves. Her mom, Hopper, Mike, etc. It’s not that the writers didn’t care, it’s that they were trying to encompass a lot of one storyline into a small amount of time.

Blame me entirely for waiting so long. Life got in the way, and then I took a social media break. Hopefully, I’ll get the other asks you sent answered soon.