#and can use steam as a defense mechanism idk

[guacomelon]

I wanna ask about the JSaBsonas, actually! I'm intrigued about all of them, so if you could say a few words about each one or at least how they came to be, that would be nice, but if you want to focus on a specific one - I'm curious to know more about the sunny one, top right.

Alright,

we'll be going in this order: 006, "Sunny", "Crown", and "Pae-ki" Here we go. Forgive me for using the same old art, it's the only rendered stuff I have of them 😅

🎵 Dancing on Our Disasters by Calavera

alt song: 🎵 Granite by Shirobon

The very first was 006, or "Six". All the way back in Sep 2021, I had the idea of creating a shapesona. At the time I had certain.. feelings, about JSB and my identity surrounding it. I definitely see those feelings represented in the character now.

Six is a professional JSB player in a world where the game is in AR. They're reclusive, obsessive. Attention seeking. And they dance. Oh, they dance until they no longer can.

Some of you had the chance of talking with them on April Fools of 2022; I liked that. It was very fun to write them, and I wish I could do it again. Maybe in the form of their own roleplay/ask blog, just like I always intended.

🎵 A New Day by Danimal Cannon

alt song: 🎵 Same Song by DEFENSE MECHANISM

Second persona is a character I've nicknamed "Sunny."

I started a continuation of a previously failed project under a pseudonym, a persona. It wasn't until Jun 2021 when I gave that persona her design... I think it helps when I'm writing as them.

There's currently not much character story to them, other than she exists in the same world as Six. She gets burnout often but never gives up. It's not over til it's over.

I'm sure you've seen a certain one of my projects so far. Maybe it was obvious from the beginning, maybe it just clicked now, or you're still lost. Those who know, I want you to know this aswell: I'm not being sneaky, I'm just anxious. When I'm tired of pretending and gain the confidence to put my face on these projects, I do plan on just using them as the mascot.

🎵 Ecstacy by Nitro Fun & Rob Gasser

alt song: 🎵 Fracture by Shirobon

Third is the crown. It doesn't have a name, and it probably won't - Jan 2024

Ok, this ones strange. I've been invited to play a certain fangame a few times, and one of their available shapes is a crown. The crown is just the shape I played with. Nothing else, nothing more. It will never be something greater, involving me.

So what about that art...well.... I think I'm just going through post-JSB:FE depression 😭 ... Recently I've been thinking about the "maybes", alot of "what ifs" And if I'll be honest with myself, I need to let those go.

🎵 happy camper by laamaa

alt song: 🎵 DON'T STOP by DEFENSE MECHANISM

And last, but not least, is my actual JSB/shapesona!

They currently have no real name (idk you can call them my ingame name "GUAC" lol,) but for records sake I've been using "Pae-ki". I first drew them up in Oct 2023, around when I first played The Fangame.

They are just, me! Lover of 'Close to Me', unreasonable hater of 'First Crush', and protector of triangle players. An "OG god" as some say. (I'm not sure what else to say that isn't just me talking about myself. idk, I still play Challenge Runs, come join me on NSwitch or Steam)

I'm still working on their design.. I wanted to incorporate mementos from all the JSB-like things I got to do. They were always going to have a crown.

[it's been 3 months I'm not working on this ask anymore, I'm just happy to have it out GOOD LIRD]

[vi-trying-to-survive]

hey there!! i’m a huge fan of your stephen fics. i was possibly wondering if you could do an angsty one? perhaps one where stephen and the reader used to date, but got into a fight a broke up. they weren’t on good terms. years later, they see eachother again and maybe the somehow resolve their conflict and it ends in something cute and fluffy? idk lol. i’m not very good at requesting

Maybe I Still Love You

Stephen Strange x f! Reader

Warnings: this is pretty angsty but it has a supper fluffy ending :)

Summary: Stephen pushes (Y/N) away, yet 7 months later he finds himself on her doorstep.

A/N: I hope you guys liked this one :) 💖💖💖 Please let me know if you did or if you have any ideas on how to improve my writing :) 💖💖💖 Also I hope you have a good day 💖💖💖

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"You can do this", he insisted to himself, pacing back and forth on the rust-colored, brick steps leading up to her apartment, rubbing the nape of his neck, his footsteps masked by the sounds of traffic a few streets away, "You've graduated med school and mastered the mystic arts, ... you can definitely do this".

Yet, Stephen still found himself hesitating at the dull, metal doorbell eying the little tag with her name on it, written in perfect, thick, curved letters, intricate and stunning just like her. Part of him still wanted to run away, a hand in his pocket, twirling the cool, metal Sling Ring, some form of defensive mechanism, not like she was the one that hurt him in the first place, in fact it was the other way round. Sighing, he lowered himself to sit on the dusty steps, that familiar nauseous feeling start to grow in the put of his stomach, the memories of that sickening night playing through his mind once again. ---

He stood in the corner, watching the night-life of the city come alive below him, as the sun set, the streets filling with people, some more dressed up than others, as the orange and red flashes of car headlights filled the cracked concrete roads, so oblivious to the horror and demise around them, but he supposed he was once one of them too, so who was he to judge.

The bitter taste in his mouth only grew worse, turning back towards the bare space around him, little to no furniture left, making the apartment appear eerily large. He fixated his gaze on the few things that remained, only because they could not be sold, worth nothing but priceless to his pride, now mocked him severely, glinting viciously in the light, the trembling of his fingers becoming more vigorous and jagged. Picking up one of them, he struggled to read the inscription on the reflective, gold plate at the bottom, not that he needed to, having memorized it the night he received it, 'Dr Stephen Strange, Neurosurgical Award of the Neurological Society', sat on the side of his hospital bedside table, sneering at him, like a teasing joke had been played on him. His lips curved down into a furious scowl the longer he looked at it, the rage bubbling and boiling in him, steaming out, spilling over the sides, as he swung his hand around, letting the heavy, glass prize slip from his hold, hitting the wall, watching as it shattered into multiple jagged pieces, still taunting him, refracting light into rainbows on the surface of his clean walls, now chipped at the spot it hit.

Sighing defeatedly, he lowered himself down to the ground, throwing his face into his palms, a futile attempt to hide from the shame and disappointment that radiated from him, the sharp-edged pieces sitting a few meters in front of him. He began to rub at his eyes desperately, hot, salty tears pouring freely from them, streaming down his face and dripping onto the stained shirt that he wore, no longer bothering to try anymore, because what was the point ?

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(Y/N) dug around in her pockets, reaching for the cool, silvery key, now dull from use, sliding it into the key slot, unlocking the heavy door with a resonating click, using her back to push it open, hands full with boxes of takeout, from a specific steakhouse on the edge of New York, hoping that it would cheer Stephen up. She was ready to drop everything for him, having only eyes for him, even in this state, wanting to do anything that she possibly could to make him feel better, seeing him like this making her heart ache and sink deeper and deeper into a pit at the bottom of her chest.

Forcing a cheerful smile onto her face, she called out into the vast room, "Stephen ?", her voice sounding small in comparison to the space before her, the plastic crinkling as she set the bags down on the counters, raising a cloud of dust into the air, her nose wrinkling to stop herself from sneezing. Glancing around the room, she made her way to the living room, in search of the man in question, having received no response, her heels clacking against the solid floors with each step, quick to rush to his side, when she saw him crouched on the ground, his knees curled into himself, broken glass thrown haphazardly opposite him.

The soft sobs that escaped his lips promptly went silent when the sounds of her footsteps drifted past his ears, not wanting to lose that last sliver of dignity that he had left. Lifting his head from where they were nestled in his knees, he blinked rapidly to stop the tears that fell from his face, not really succeeding seeing as a few more large drops rolled down his skin when he saw the expression on her face, palms clasped over her gaping mouth, before kneeling down next to him, eyes full of worry, concern and pity. The word alone could make him sneer, pity, he hated it, it only reminded him of the accident, the changes it brought to his life, once so decadent and luxurious, now bare and broken. He felt white, hot rage at himself when she looked at him like that, how could he have let her see him like this ? So vulnerable and damaged, it made him wonder why she was still dating him, because why would someone date somebody like him ? If someone had asked him the same question a month ago, he would have had an endless list of answers prepared, but now so many were crossed off and slashed with crimson ink, leaving only one, pity.

The soft touch of her skin against his, snapped him out of his daze, noticing that she had taken his hand in hers, was enough to send him spiraling down his fit of self-fueled fury and hate, snatching it away from her, burying it in the fluffy, fleece pockets of his jacket.

She found that her lips turned down into a confused frown, voice soft and hurt, as she continued to reach out, carefully inching her palm closer to his, "Darling, What's wrong ?".

His eyebrows furrowed together at the question, "What's wrong ? What's wrong ?", he exclaimed, raising his hands in the air exasperatedly, "In case you haven't noticed (Y/N), everything is wrong". Fuming he pushed himself to stand, unable to meet the wounded expression on her face, as her eyes became glassy, knowing the look well, but new to the thought of being the cause.

Pushing down her own emotions, she ignored his words, convinced that he was just having a bad day, moving so that she stood in front of him, "Stephen ...", she began.

Much to her dismay, she was quickly cut off by him, "Don't do that, don't feel pity for me", he leered at her, a hand in her face, "Why are you even still here ? What do you get out of this relationship ?"

Biting down hard on her lip to distract her from the stabbing pain in her chest, she tried to reason with him, "What do you mean ? I'm here because I love you and I want to help you", the cloudy look in his crystal blue eyes causing her heart to crack.

He laughed darkly to himself, the salty streams on his cheeks now dry, "Tell me, does helping my charity case make you sleep better at night, huh ?", sending her an accusatory look.

She looked taken aback for a few seconds, before her face contorted into anger, "I am the only person left in your life, everyone else left", snapping as she pointed an accusatory finger at him, "Not because of the accident, don't you dare blame the accident for this one thing, they left because you pushed them away".

Pressing his lips together tightly, he did nothing but glower at her, surprisingly at a loss for words, as he watched her continue to yell, "I am the only one who stayed, because I love you", voice slowly beginning to shake unsteadily, becoming softer, "How- I- I don't And now you want me to leave too".

She paused for a moment, features becoming cold and indifferent, like she was looking at a stranger, because maybe that's what he had become, So I will", she sighed, walking away from him, without sparing so much as a second glance, scared that her strong persona would fracture.

Collecting her things in her arms, thoughts of a nice dinner long forgotten, she soundlessly left the apartment, allowing the dam of wild, hot tears to pour down her face, sending upsetting chills along her body as they wet her cheeks and neck.

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Stephen couldn't help but watch after her as she left, the sounds of her footsteps growing more and more muffled, until the only thing he could hear was the ringing of the silence. Hearing the door click and lock, he found himself padding after her, suddenly overcome by strong sense of shame and regret, yet he ignored the pull to chase after her, figuring that it was better for her this way. A flash of reflected light caught his eye, fixating his gaze on it, he soon realized it was her key to his apartment.

Sinking to the ground, he clutched the small piece of metal tightly to his chest, feeling a new trail of tears stream down his face, letting them fall freely, having lost the energy to wipe them away, running his fingers across the inscription on the key, which was ridiculously expensive, but he had insisted despite her protest at the time: Forever. The irony of it all, causing the stream of tears to grow stronger.

--- Handing the cab driver the right change, she sent him a grateful smile, sliding out of the seat, stretching her arms in the air a little, almost fluttering her eyes shut from exhaustion, feet already aching with each step on the cracked sidewalk. All she could think about was the warmth of her comforter, snuggling closer into her soft, fluffy pillows as the sounds of the television filled the background, lulling her to sleep.

What she didn't expect to see was Stephen Strange sat at the bottom of her uneven stairs, head in his arms, which were balanced on the tops of his knees, giving him a child-like look. Staring at him for a few seconds, she felt her cheeks grow warm, a light crimson tint forming across his, as he lifted his gaze finally noticing her frame, causing her to edge behind the small oak tree in her front yard, doing little to hide her from him.

Raising an eyebrow, he couldn't help but chuckle softly at her antics, quickly quieting down as she made her way towards him, stopping when she stood face to face, eyes flickering to everything except his, nervously picking at a jagged edge of her nail, causing her heart sinking a little, but he figured he deserved that.

He stayed silent, finding that the speech he had been practicing for the past hour seemed to disappear, captivated by her, the way some strand of hair had come loose from the bun that sat at the top of her head, framing her face, the light from the evening sun, giving her an ethereal glow. He reached a hand out to tuck a lock of her hair behind her ear, trailing his fingers down her face to cup her cheek, making her sigh, "Stephen, what do you want ?", removing his touch from her skin, to bring his hand back down to his side.

Her indifference sent his mind into a wild panic, stuttering, the words coming out broken and frantic, "I- We- I thought- I just-", left at a loss for words, the sound of the autumns breeze howling in the background, as more auburn colored leaves swirled around in the air.

The edges of her lips curled down into a frown, shaking her head she attempted to push past him, only to be caught by the arm, turning her attention to where his hands scarred hands were interlocked with hers, giving him a pointed look, "Stephen, you need to-"

"I- I'm sorry", he began, cutting her off, taking her other hand in his, gently rubbing circles into her smooth skin, occasionally glancing from her eyes to the pristine, white door in the back, "I shouldn't have said what I said, I was an angry, upset and most of all I was an ass and you never deserved that". Rubbing the nape of his neck nervously, he continued, "I know I can't change the past, but I was hoping, you would let me take you out to dinner", mentally crossing his fingers, as he watched her study him, her calculative mind trying to note any hints of insincerity.

She would be lying to herself if she said she didn't miss the man, even after 7 months, and to have him standing outside her doorstep like this, waiting after her, it wasn't something the old Stephen would have done. Her heart yearned for him, as she breathed in his familiar scent of books and spices, chewing her lip as she considered the possible outcomes in her mind, still vary of being hurt.

Letting out a breath, she tilted her head up to meet his clear eyes, so worried and full of hope, and in that moment something, call it instinct or plain stupidity, tipped her decision over to one side, whispering, "Alright".

Making her way up the stairs, she slid her key into the lock, turning to give him a perplexed look, as he stood observing her unmoving, "Aren't you coming in ?", giggling a little as his mouth formed an 'O', promptly chasing after her like a lost puppy. Tossing her bags on the couch with a soft thump, she hung her coat by the door, as he took a seat at her island counter, pondering out loud, "So, Where have you been this whole time ? You kind of just disappeared". Chuckling softly as he shook his head, he tilted his head up to meet her eyes, relishing in the way they glittered as they gazed at him again, "You are in for a long story".

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Snuggling in closer to his side, she adjusted her grip on him, tangling their legs together as she attempted to steal some warmth from the sorcerer, making his lips curl up into a tender smile, as she rested her head in the crook of his neck, placing a gentle kiss on the sensitive skin, their heads cushioned by the fluffy, silky pillows. Pulling the blanket up closer to their bodies, Stephen snaked an arm around her waist, tugging her as close to him as possible, which wasn't that much further, considering the fact that she had already made it her mission to close the offending gap between their frames earlier. Kissing the side of her face sweetly, he laced his fingers with hers, playfully thumbing at them, making her giggle softly in his head, as he thought back to a year ago, when he could vouch on the fact that he would never end up curled next to her ever again, whispering out in the darkness, "Thank you for the second chance darling, I love you". Feeling a light slap against his arm, he chuckled, sensing the loving eyeroll on her face as she responded, "You don't need to keep saying thank you, so like shut up and go to sleep", before pausing for a moment, twisting her body around to face him, connecting their lips, as he reacted instantly, moving in-sync with hers, his grip on her tightening. Pulling away, she smiled, leaning her head up to peck his cheek tenderly, "and I love you too", letting her eyes flutter shut, as they drifted off to sleep, glad that she managed to make the right decision, unsure how she would've survived without this.

[limeinaltime]

The Limeverse is basically a timeline that split off from Homestuck so while everyone’s trapped in canonically dubious hell, the canon characters in the Limeverse are vibing and living their best lives while Lilith and Lyerre Neon Genesis Evangelion their way to the top of the eldritch heirarchy so it can stay that way. I am open to suggestions, but here’s what I have in my head so far:

- June becomes a stand-up comedian, but sticks to small shows instead of going big

- Rose’s main work involves grub adoption and the healtcare of the Mother Grub, but she also ends up making a few novels in the future

- Dave ends up working for the defense force Earth C set up during the absence of the gods and the uprising of eldritch horrors from the void, and mainly works as a trainer for the rookies. Dude’s kind of awkward with them, but is very encouraging and understanding. Also he makes SBAHJ a youtube animated series or something in his spare time SBAHJ cinematic universe real

- Jade works in nuclear physics, but also has her own garden/flower shop that she runs with Davepetasprite. They built their home in the field that borders the city and live a nice life. Since she’s the second most powerful being on Earth C, Jade and Lilith work together sometimes, mainly in the evacutaion of citizens in case of an emergency, as well as damage control.

- Jane basically tears Corckercorp to the ground and makes her own baking business alongside the Nanasprites, her dad and Jasperose. It’s a hit, and she learns to make the healing cookies and sells them to hospitals. Make a living, save some lives :D While she says she’s not focusing on romance atm, there’s definitely something forming between her and Jasperosesprite ;)

- I don’t have any ideas for Roxy, but she’s happy with where she is and still stays in touch with her friends

- Dirk is a mechanic, but also collabs with Dave on SBAHJ

- IDK what Jake would do for a living yet, but it would involve traveling Earth C and rediscovering the old world

- Aradia becomes an archeologist and helps recover stuff from the Old Earth alongside Jake. Since she no longer has to worry about her short lifespan (with the defeat of the Condesce, the age effects of the caste system vanished with the new generation of trolls, and she’s immortal so yeah) I feel like she’d end up teaching a college course on anthropology in the far future and when her students ask if she was really there as a joke she just does that signature Aradia smile and continues with the lecture.

- Tavros breaks off from the friend group to do his own thing and gets a job as a zookeeper. He’s still better with animals than he is with people, but he’s a lot more confident and happier than he was before. He probably looks the most like his ancestor.

- Sollux was an IT worker before Lilith came to Earth C, hated it, worked at Starbucks for a bit, got called up by Karkat and became a pilot. He’s the “youngest” of the goldbloods (minus the 5000-year time skip) but the best flier and had an easy time passing the entrance exam. He and Karkat are still good friends/rivals, and pretty much everyone in the entire force knows he’s got it bad for their eldritch ally. Everyone in the force is a Solith shipper lol.

-Lyerre is a pole dance instructor, but also works as a stand-in guardian while Lilith’s off doing DF work. He usually teams up with Horrorterror and can kick ass just as well as Lilith can. He also takes on gigs as resturants and bars as a singer, but Lilith usually tags along to keep his siren powers from getting too out of control.

- Commander Karkat is canon in this AU, and he’s one of the main heads of the defense force. He’s long given up on trying to be like his ancestor, and instead leads in his own snappy but well-meaning way. He works with Lilith a lot to help keep the citizens safe when she has to toss a giant monster into the stratosphere, and she trained him to fight on the side. Yeah, he can try to come off as cool and tough (dude hit one hell of a growth spurt during his adult molt and still lords it over his friends) but everyone knows that he’s a total softy deep down thanks to Dave.

- Nepeta also joins the defense force and is one of their best fighters. She and Equius are roommates and he frets constantly when she goes off on business trips and stuff. She has a huge celebrity crush on Lilith.

- Kanaya works with the Mother Grub, but also makes clothes as a side job. She’s gotten offers from companies, but so far has turned them all down. She doesn’t work with the defense force, but Karkat will call her up if the threat is small enough in size for her to handle. When they first met her, his squad mates thought she was his mom.

- Terezi went to law school and pretty much turned the entire justice system on its’ head overnight. She is Earth C’s most insightful, un-biased, cutthroat, take-no-shit judge, and every defense attorney and lawyer trembles in her presence because no amount of defense is getting your child murderer client out of this one Jimmy don’t even try her. They say she can smell a lie from a mile away, and they are 100% right.

- Vriska also joins the defense force and is possibly the scariest soldier they have. She mostly deals with normal threats and is head of her squadron, but also helps with planning and strategizing. She has a one-sided rivalry with Lilith, who keeps unintentionally one-upping her by putting yet another giant monster in a chokehold. Oops.

- Equius works with Dirk at the mech shop. He’s learned to better control his strength, and lets off steam by going to the gym and working out. There’s a specific section built exclusively for indigobloods since they’re naturally stronger than the average troll, so he goes there and has made some new friends. Nepeta tags along a lot and is happy that her moirail is branching out socially.

- Following the removal of LE and Apofis from his mind and going into rehab for the effects of the sopor (new planet, new medical practices ye), Gamzee kind of drifted around for a bit before tagging along with Tavros. He’s still figuring himself out, but he’s doing much better with the help of Tavros and occasional check-ins with Lilith to make sure LE and Apofis are gone for good. He also works at the zoo atm.

- Eridan “begrudgingly” joined the defense force and got a job in the maritime squadron. He’s their main navigator and is usually the one to plot out courses for patrols and go along on marine-based missions.

- Since she’s no longer obligated to become Empress, Feferi’s been able to branch out and ends up getting a job at the aquarium. She takes care of the animals and secretly uses her healing powers to patch them up if they get scratched or bump into things. She gets really emotional when she has to release the ones she takes care of back into the wild but has learned that sometimes it’s for the best. She helped Aradia find some stuff from a submerged section of what used to be New York and they’ve been close ever since.

-Lilith’s job is basically get beat up and keep everyone from dying. Luckily, the eldritch entities pay her well.

Everyone gets therapy

[wherethestoryhasimagination]

More BoTW ‘sequel’ ideas;

(expanding upon this for @ramune-explosion )

additional links provided :3 likely best to gain full context from them;

SS TP MM

when you pick your starting Rune, your guardian programming is able to access secondary features not able to be run on Slate tech; (the other runes might be available later)

Bombs; instead of only creating bombs full of blue energy, you can also perform a variation of the Guardian’s trademark Beam attack; a quick shot that does the minimal damage of the bombs, usually used to get other explosives to go off, or a charged beam like the Guardian Scouts use; (Upgrades may give you the ‘super armor’ that the scouts get while charging)

Cryonis; instead of only freezing water in block formations, you can now create a Ball of Ice that does everything a Ball can do. roll around, run into things, get bigger if rolling through snow, hit switches... (maybe freeze non-water objects to make them brittle?)

Magnesis; not just moving individual metal objects; you can also electrify them temporarily; (a bit like thunder Blight) (maybe an upgrade will make thrown metal weapons home-in slightly on targets)

Stasis; not just stopping Time; can also accelerate certain objects; (maybe an Upgrade could let you reverse aging time on an object (with a hearty cooldown) to get something to return to where it once was; or maybe that should be the default; idk; stasis is kinda funny; a few possibilities here)

Camera; not just pictures; Advanced Tracking can Highlight Targeted objects, and provide much more specific Arrows, rather than just radar blips. perhaps also highlight enemies through walls? a good utility;

Disguise choice; Gerudo, Goron, Hylian, Zora, Birb... (and perhaps some other ‘secret’ disguises not available at the start) (like Shieka Monk) (customization is a Yes)

you start with just one, but might be able to get others later; each with certain base abilities & potential Upgrades. (some ‘plot shrine’ will give you your first, (maybe more?) upgrade part, which will automatically be used to create your disguise+base ability)

Picking Gerudo Male... As the one with the Triforce of Power... well... that might make things a deal harder at the start; to the point where the Player would be strictly warned about the consequences; A real, No-stealth, Glass cannon kind of choice; The Triforce of Power is Pleased by this Disguise, and leaks out a tiny bit more of its energy to you.

Goron; full Flameguard, but weaker stealth. later upgrades may give one-handed 2-handers, roll attacks, ext...

Zora; the ability to actually swim properly without getting waterlogged; faster swim speeds, (up to the rate at which Sidon went during the divine beast combat), waterfall climbing, ext...

Birb; far superior gliding, a weaker version of Ravioli Gale (which can be upgraded further), better stealth, ext...

Traditional Gerudo; (the advised, easier start choice) well, the Yiga Clan hideout isn’t far from Town; you can easily enter, and very likely get official Training in weapon use as a guard(ian). With Gerudo Town as a base of operations with plentiful access to decent items & gear, things ought to be a bit easier on you...

And if Link just so happens to be hunting you, and has seen through your disguise, (the guy has faced enough Yiga to know their disguises)... Well, they might cause a scene if they tried anything in town. You are safe there. maybe you’ll even sit at the same Bar.

Hylian; highly convincing disguise; upgrades include various quality/ease of life options, better Horse control, and, as a high tier upgrade, the famous ‘slow time’ ability Link possesses. (A Goron or Zora out in the Snow is very suspect, but a Hylian, well, they could be anywhere!)

(bonus surprise?) if you make and wear the full Guardian Armor Set, people might mistake you for Link

(extra thought; would better monster disguises be worth a thought? As a Bokoblin, while people would still call attention to you if you did bad things, it wouldn’t be as harsh a response as if you were found out to be ‘That Rouge Machine!’)

upgrades for your Guardian Tech exist as well; Runes, Tools...

The Scientists probably help you even though they know what you are cause they can be a bit kooky like that; just fascinated to see how you develop.

‘meals’ work differently; (unless you got the Hylian gastro-generator Upgrade)

You have a far more discerning Eye for Guardian Parts; while others might just see a dozen of the same type of Screw, you can tell the differences between them; Some that can be ‘cooked’ into ‘stamina’ restoring ‘meals’, electric resist, temporary hearts... basically all the usual cooking effects; Gemstones can be used in cooking to, with unique effects of their own. like maybe temporary elemental damage, changing the color of your default Guardian weapons to match;

yea, that’s another thing; while nearly every other weapon in the game would be better than them, (unless you upgrade them,) you should always have access to weak variants of the Guardian spear, sword, & Ax; (maybe you can unlock a guardian boomerang, or some other weapon types as well)

The great Plateau is, instead of a dizzying drop, a brutal climb. But, many important things can be found there... The Other Runes, for example, & a Certain Monk living under the shrine of Resurrection who will make sure you EARN those Runes. (maybe you can extract something from the 1-hit obliterator?)

maybe Shrine entrances will take you even further bellow the Shrines to the ‘Maintenance Level’. As a Guardian, you get taken to The Works, presumed to be there to fix things by the Shrine workings.

Also, forget needing to pray in very specific locations to upgrade, to the point where you have a dozen not-Spirit orbs waiting to be used; you are a clever Machine; you can upgrade wherever you want; (though maybe have certain high tier upgrades require a certain location in the maintenance level to get)

Plenty of potential here; it could be a Mechanical mess, or maybe things broke down a while ago, and dirt & rocks & such have gotten in, creating a whole new kind of environment. (might be cool if some variant of Mogma(Skyward Sword Moles) were to be found, with a secret disguise available for them with their own thematic upgrades) (also, at this point, a full and proper skill tree would probably be good; it isn’t as simple as ‘Heart or Stamina’ after all... Though different upgrades may include/be Hearts &or Stamina for different races. (high stamina birbs, high Hearts Goron...) )

|3 ... I’m running out of steam at the moment for ideas on Gameplay quirks... there’s probably something obvious that is a part of the base game that I’m missing...

! ah, Koroks? hmm... there could probably be some kind of excuse for Koroks, if they were to be re-used... either on the Shieka advanced Tech side of things, or the ‘right heart to see them’ side of things.

& Great Fairies... maybe they can help you get some of the last stages in a particular upgrade path, or maybe they physically enhance your non-organic Body, like they do to Armor; give you more health, more stamina, more base-Defense... (Maybe they could be the source of some more... unique, non-machine like upgrades; like the gastro-generator which lets you heal via people food)

Ending Ideas;

there could be just about anything down there. including the ‘neutral-?bad?’ ending; ‘fixing’ things down in The Works is the most lucrative source of Upgrade Parts, but if you Fix Everything... Then a whole lot more than just Shrines, Towers, & those massive Spires around The Castle will start popping up; ‘You did what you were designed to do; now bear witness to the World We Designed you to make; the Era of The Shieka will return’ You Survive;

‘Bad?-POWER’ end, you’ve gone around and blown up all kinds of important stuff; attacked towns & destroyed their fortifications & fully operational Guardian Stalkers... When you make it to the birb Divine Beast, you get a total Power Trip; Controlling the Beast Directly, able to rain down destruction. You Survive;

‘neutral end(s)’ you didn’t really blow anything up, but you didn’t really do all that much good either. When you win the contest being held to find the next Pilot of the Divine Beast, you are found out. You are Targeted; Link is ready to finally settle this;

(if you somehow manage to beat Link;) Zelda won’t stand by & watch Link Die; With her greater control over her Divine Power, and Greater understanding of the Ancient Tech, She Purges your Programming; You Die;

(If Link beats you...) You Die; but by beheading/helm splitting; your Program still exists... You Still have the Triforce of Power... maybe you’ll manage to find a new vessel eventually... you kinda survive in that way; Via... Reincarnation...

(good end; helping make things right with The World) :) You win the Divine Beast Pilot Contest, and you get to Fly it all the way to Hyrule Castle... (bad end if you start shooting; Link rips you from the controls, & fights you; same kind of results as neutral ends) But, once there... Link & Zelda finally realize who/what you are; much later than they do the other time; you must be acting much more like a real person...

Link has The Master Sword at the Ready, but... has their doubts about how much of a threat you are...

You drop the disguise...

You drop to your Knees...

You distill information in the way that is traditional for Ancient Shieka Tech...

...

You start to Cry...

In a moment of recognition, Link catches a drop with their Shieka Slate...

Your Memories begin to play back on the screen...

The beauty you’ve seen in this World... How much better it is than The World the ancient Shieka had planned...

The joy in meeting new people...

The help you’ve offered... The help you’ve gotten...

Your acts of kindness... And the kindness you’ve been shown in turn...

Every Smile you have seen along the way...

Your perspective of Link and Zelda... Fearsome Destroyers who hold control over whether you live or die...

...

You tell them that you don’t want to die...

...

And they tell you that everything is going to be ok...

[awonkytable]

This is a really important thing.

I try to keep myself out of my online presence too much and filter everything I put online through a degree of like bizarre and tongue in cheek detachment (wherein I actually care deeply and personally about what I engage with), but this struck a chord with me. 

I spent almost my entire time as a teenager playing games, and people like Matt Lees were really important in keeping my brain at least semi-critical about what I was actually doing. I reached a point (around 2011/2012 I suppose) where gaming narratives and mechanics no longer placated my disenfranchisement/disillusionment because they no longer emulated the way I wanted to engage with people, contexts, situations and scenarios. I’ll probably never really go into depth about why that is or what caused that - all I know is that it happened - and is happening. 

I think what Matt says at Gamescom is interesting because games aren’t self-reflexive. Games aren’t open narratives, and what game developers seem to really misunderstand is that the points whereby data is transmitted to the player/reader can be designed explicitly - but that implications in their narratives are read in themselves to be explicit to some people. Game devs need to do a better job of examining their games and what their games say - because all it takes is for someone to find solidarity in a misconstrued explication and the ball rolls to wherever it may end up.

I think the comment section in his video show this too, comments ranging from defensive stances to outright and explicit disagreement on points of non-contention - things which Matt identifies about this community. People find it easier to be hostile about their situation and the rut of gaming in 2017 than they do to actually be considerate of their industry and the state of their games. I mean we live in a world where Ghost Recon Wildlands which plays on modern technology like a child with a tonka truck, and has the voice acting of a dubbed Hong Kong action flick, got consistent 8/10s from press (a game like Mirror’s Edge Catalyst which stumbled upon itself clearly because it tried to be different and similar in one broad motion got 6s and 7s - enough to disparage many). It is so much easier to uphold a mediocre status quo than it is to push the boundaries of the format (or to try and push those boundaries) and for some reason we not only settle for it but we defend it? 

I think in a wider sense one could even consider this in the way one thinks of ‘problematic faves’ - your favourite game is problematic. And that isn’t ruining it - that isn’t saying you can’t like it. All it is is saying that you need to actually wind up the fucking crank and start thinking about your complicity in supporting bad games, in supporting dire narratives and storytelling, in supporting mediocre character designs, boring mechanics, constant (disappointing and yearly) sequels etc. You might very well decide that you still like Call Of Duty, and that is okay, you can like that and still want more of the industry (all things in moderation). 

You just have to remember that being an asshole on twitter, steam, reddit, metacritic or game forums isn’t helpful to that process, being an actual proactive member of the community is helpful to devs - tell them your problems in a constructive way, speak with others about it and what you’d like to see. I imagine. Idk. 

This probably makes no bloody sense, it’s 2am and I haven’t voiced an opinion properly online since 2013, but it just felt good to see someone I looked up to a few years ago still being ‘that guy’ and going to conferences and asking some uncomfortable questions whilst actually hoping (yes real hope!) for more from the industry (and the community in it). I used to care a lot about the games industry and its nice to see there are people who are in it who have similar concerns who are still caring.