#and im not into infinite as much as i am the first two games

[b0tster]

As a "not contract bound" dev who works on a project that you are (I assume) completely in control of, how do you choose the release date and why'd you choose one before finishing the project? Asked not in a "why'd you do that to yourself" way but in a "I wanna understand what's the logical process behind it, maybe it is smart to do it and I wanna know why".

I thought that it'd be logical to first have a finished thing and then say that it'll be released at "date_name_wgenever", instead of setting a certain date and then crunching yourself to fit it. But maybe it helps you somehow to not overwork yourself on the project thinking that if you have all the time in the world, why not add a thing or two, which results in project taking forever to be marked complete, or maybe you just have a pet birthday at that date and wanna make it symbolical lol, idk.

let me be clear here

i am not crunching on bbkart, or any of my projects for that matter

---

now, with that out of the way, time to talk about time frames and productivity. our labor doesnt operate on a linear scale. spending a decade on a game compared to a year will not mean that that game will be 10 times bigger. humans just dont work like that.

something ive picked up over the years is that productivity is like a gas: it will expand to fit the box its put in.

if u give urself infinite time, the gas will just dissipate. but of course if u squeeze it into a release thats too tight, u get an explosion (crunch).

now, im more of a 'find the fun' kinda developer. i make my tools and mechanics based on a loose concept and then decide what the game will be after once i have everything in front of me. in that initial period i do not set a release date, its impossible to predict how a games dev cycle will play out, so i dont bother and just focus on finding whats fun.

once the final game actually starts to take shape, i am capable of making an informed decision on how much labor is needed to finish, and i set an internal date that i do not make public. once im a few months out from that date, i will make an adjustment if neccesary (both bbpsx and kart had their internal date pushed back by a month) and then announce it. that sets it in stone and I have a runway to release.

mark darrah (bioware) talks about something he calls the 'hockey stick', which is the idea that once u get to a certain point, completion urgency kicks in and u get the drive to make the decisions neccesary to finish the game. cut this, reroute focus to that, crunch on this (dont do that last one, ever, but its important to bring up where crunch manifests. some advice: you either cut or you crunch. choose cut).

darrah talks about how to trigger completion urgency (one example is making a demo, be it publically released or exclusive to an event) and the fact of the matter is that a deadline will do it. of course, if completion urgency kicks in too close to the deadline, you get crunch, but if it kicks in earlier u will get things done in a way that doesnt leave permanent damage on your body and mind.

i know this is a very long winded answer, but i hope i was thorough enough to explain the benefits of setting a deadline and how that doesnt always have to end in crunch, like the question implied.

[secondary-colorentimy]

Hello!!! Just found your blog and I’m in love with your characters and art style! Are there previous posts with more info about your OCs?

my ocs!!? you want to know about MY ocs! :0c

tbh most if not all of their info/lore exists entirely in my head as i barely ever write lore down for ANYTHING (i will just remember it all!!) but sureeee

on the left is Decima the jackal: member of the jackal squad (entirely based in my own version of the squad) youngest sister of Zero/Infinite. shes pretty silly and energetic and she loves her family and she loves her friends. she kinda has two canons in my mind, one that does follow the canon story of sonic forces and one that follows my post forces au. :0

in the middle is Enzo the wolf: hes my sonic forces avatar!! (sonic forces is my favorite game!) his story is basically pretty copy paste of the avatar’s lore from forces, including the prequel comics reasoning on how the avatar joins the war. hes my nervous little guy (though he has of course done much growing since the events of sonic forces) another character loyal to his friends and hes best friends with sonic :3

to the right is Lillian the caracal: she was my first ever sonic oc from when i was a kid! (though she obviously has since been redesigned) originally she was a freedom fighter but when i decided to revamp her, i brought her into idw lore, she now works for the resistance, shes a longtime friend of the main cast, mainly team sonic (sonic, tails, knuckles and amy!) shes a bit like jewel at times often focusing on work more but she cares deeply for her friends!

and those are my good guys (decima is a bit more neutral leaning but shes not evil/dark) aligned, on the opposing side we have my bad guy >:3

Nico the hyena! >:3 (i am very very biased in him being my favorite!)

nico works for clutch the opossum, he originally met him at white park chateau and began working for him immediately following the events of chao races and badnik bases! and now working at clean sweep inc (following the new clutch lore were getting!!) nico is pretty work focused and has worked hard for everything hes got. nico is more of a villain out of happenstance. he was just in the right place and right time and jumped at the opportunity to work with clutch (despite him not necessarily knowing clutch’s dark/evil alignment) im a big fan of villains that don’t necessarily have a reason for being villains, they just kinda are!

i honestly talk about my ocs more on my instagram (mainly stories) and have a highlight with little bits and pieces of their lore :3

Oh and here are their main refs

[nbmudkip]

does it have to be comissions?

- EmpError

- blessing

- infinitely gray

- sekai-chan and kafu-chan's errand

- spinal fluid explosion girl

- children record

- the entire concept of sbibo

- kimiagure mercy

- haikei doppelganger

oh my god the LIST. ok here goes

1. emperror

i did ex, for any songs with no difficulty mentioned i’ll probably default to mas unless the mas is 33+ in which case i’ll just pick whichever i feel like atm. this ex chart is rly solid imo i have fun with it. its my fave ex chart of the three tho dftm is close. the faster bits in this one keep me on my toes and i almost fucked a solid few of them up hence the greats. 6/10 fond memories

2. blessing

why did you do this. why did you make me play this. you know how i feel about this song and this chart already. i messed up because i was thinking too hard about how angry i was at you for making me play this fucking song. hitting you with sticks. 0/10 it sucked

3. infinitely grey

wow another stinker. listen i have a bit of positive bias towards this one since it was one of my first lv30 aps but yeah it’s not great. so repetitive and of such an annoying note pattern too. she gets a 3/10 for nostalgia for the good ol days and nothing else

4. sekai-chan and kafu-chan’s errand

u rly had to pick one of my weakest lv32s…..the chart is a blast tho i wont lie. am i good at it? no. but holy shit is it fun. tappytappytappy brain good. i love the fast flicks in every chorus altho the end of the final chorus is the bane of my existence. 7.5/10 delicious adrenaline rush

5. spinal fluid explosion girl

another of my much weaker 32s. please disregard the greats i shifted to resting my ipad on a blanket bc sitting cross legged was hurting my legs rly bad and i think its fucking up my mental offset. anyway the chart is a blast altho it can be a liiiiiittle irritating at certain parts. still the flicks are so fun esp the ones in the middle with the squiggle holds, and while the runs can be a bit annoying they’re also very rewarding to get right. 7/10 fun but a touch enraging

6. children record

i have been fc-1 on this song for literally two and a half years and that did not change tonight. SAD! fortunately the chart fucks hard and its hard to gamer rage when i’m having that much fun. 8.5/10 wheeee weeeee whweeeeeee ahahhaahah weee

7. the entire concept of sbibo

??? not a chart that is a whole little dude. um if she was a chart i have to assume itd be pretty banger and high energy. not sure what you wanted me to do here so i added some outfits instead. sbib/10

8. kimagure mercy

???? New mas ap hello????!? ERM. well im very pleased. anyway this chart FUCKS. this chart literally fucks so hard its not even funny. its insane. its so fun. makes you feel like GOD when you play it well which i am experiencing right now as we speak. im very happy rn if you cant tell ive been stuck on ap-1 on this chart for months. anyway chart good brain slush overall 9/10 i love you weird flick patterns

9. haikei doppelganger

THIS CHARTTTTTTT. GUHHHHHHHH u already know how much i love this chart it is SO!!!! FUN!!!!!!!! they space out the mid-speed runs and the superfast runs and the rhythmic pauses with each other so well and it’s just a breath of fresh air to play. one of the best charts in the game objectively and one of my favorites as well. fcing this for the first time can cheer one up from anything nd believe me i have firsthand experience with that. 10/10 this chart FUCKS!!!!!!!!!!

and thus concludes your 8 mile long ask meme response hope you enjoyed

[heliianth]

hey zelda nerd tell me about the inconsistencies in aoc i don't know much abt botw and i wanna hear

holy fuck. u have unlocked a pandoras box

ok to preface: i do not hate aoc. i clocked over 100 hours in the original hyrule warriors and i think aoc is better, and the only reason i dont have as much playtime is due to the fact that i am not 11 with infinite free time forever anymore. for a dynasty warrior type game where spamming ur light combo chain is typically a viable option no matter what it is actually decently difficult (at least to me) and the skill trees are engaging. there are no characters that feel like an absolute slog and the campaign is fun, if short. it is a fun game. and there ARE some character interactions that are gold—notably, the ones between sidon and mipha are genuinely heartbreaking, the DLC scene with revali and tulin is the best shit to happen to his character ever, and this version of link and zelda are adorable, despite what im going to talk abt for the next like. hour

the inconsistences that ive noticed are ones that like. u guessed it. have to do with link and zelda. in botw, they're the ones with the most screentime, and therefore have more material to botch compared to the champions who are pretty simple to understand and don't have more than a few establishing scenes outside of the divine beasts. they serve to support the theme as simple anchors for the player to relate each area in the game with the story. in comparison, link and zelda carry the themes of botw on their backs

botw is About a lot of things, but the main About is healing from failure by finding connection and beauty in yourself and the people around you. the story is fundamentally set up on a tragedy—the apocalypse happens, a countless amount of innocent people die, and in hindsight it seems entirely preventable, but it happens anyway. the entire game purposefully and starkly contrasts this backstory with serene, peaceful, grassy landscapes and an anxiety-free method of story delivery. there's melancholic optimism in the fact that even the most world-ending disaster is moved past by trees and wildlife and people. this video is an excellent deconstruction if you want something to listen to for like, an hour. it phrases things better than i ever could (it also dives into what im going to say abt zelda as a character but hang on with me for a little bit). to paraphrase it, botw says "life is tenacious". but it's also kind of hard to grasp this, for an audience, when it's on such a magnitude---most people cannot relate to the calamity ravaging hyrule and forcing it into a state where it takes 100 years to heal as a failure. to actually convey the theme, it needs more personalized representations for the audience to connect with

zelda and link, as characters, show different failures and ways to react to them. before i start i want to say that when i say "failure" referring to them, im talking about what is considered by the people around them as a failure. zelda physically not being able to unlock her magic or link being like, an actual person, is not a failure. social construction and all that. the importance is them believing, perceiving, it to be a failure among themselves. capiche?

im going to talk about link first, because link is the foundation that zelda builds on. ive made posts about it before, but the way links backstory is constructed as a collection of clues that must be strung together by people who are dedicated to it is representative of him as a person, or at least who he used to be. link is a child soldier who draws the master sword at 12-13 years old and finds the weight of being one of two people with the responsibility of killing the prehistoric incarnation of hatred and death unceremoniously dropped on his shoulders. to cope with that, his response is absolute conformity. he shuts down so completely that he doesn't speak, or even emote, to anyone, for fear of not being what hyrule needs from the mythical hero of legend. he decides dehumanizing himself is easier than not living up to that expectation.

zelda is similar but different in some very key ways. she has a direct lineage tracing back to the goddess hylia, all of whose female descendents possess some form of holy sealing magic that vanquishes ganon. she loses her mother at age six and the king thinks it is a brilliant idea to give her one year to mourn before forcing her into trying to unlock her sealing magic via rigorous prayer and devotion. despite her best efforts, she finds she cannot conform, that she genuinely cannot do what people are asking her to. instead, she tries to put herself to use somewhere else, finding passion and connection in the sheikah and their ancient technology, and holds onto a spirit of individuality for 10 years straight.

the way zelda builds on link is in the fact that she has a character arc. eventually, after a while of hating and projecting insecurity onto link, who refuses to communicate back to her, she develops the courage to reach out an olive branch. with that, she finds connection and worth and, yeah, love. link opens up to her a little bit, but cannot bring himself to lower his facade completely. this uhhh fucking kills him. he dies (or, i guess, "falls" but the place they put him in was called the shrine of resurrection. he was dead). and zelda lives because this newfound connection and understanding was the key to unlocking her sealing magic, which saves both her and fort hateno. with link and zelda, pre-calamity, botw says "finding worth, connection, and love (im really trying to dodge amatonormativity please see my attempts . please) within yourself and others is the key to overcoming failure. by denying your own humanity and isolating, you're dooming yourself." zelda uses her connection and love to ward off the calamity for 100 years. basic magic of friendship stuff

link has more development in the fact that hes the personification of the literal land of hyrule itself and the themes come full circle by his death healing him in the same way the land healed after 100 years and only when he regains his connection to zelda, uninhibited by the restrictions he placed on himself pre-calamity, can he go help her blah blah blah thats largely unimportant because that's post-calamity stuff, which is irrelevant to aoc.

and god we JUST arrived at aoc im so sorry but i needed to explain all that to succinctly explain why i'm bothered by the way it writes these two. ok. you see all that i just splurged out? with help from all my brainworms and 500 hours of playtime? aoc does none of this.

aoc was kind of doomed from the beginning. botw being post-post-apocalypse is so important to its themes and narrative that everyone and their mom expected aoc to be the darkest zelda game ever released. it was marketed as a botw prequel--- the fleshed out story of the calamity, which, as i mentioned, ends with everyone including link fucking dying, and that was what people wanted out of it. i personally had suspicions back in, what, 2021? that it wasnt going to end on a note like that but everyone was largely hopeful that it was going to remain faithful and let us experience the story that was largely told through flashbacks in botw. this is not the case and it was so obviously not the case that i feel silly for believing otherwise, because its hyrule warriors, and more importantly, its a video game. they're not going to end a video game, especially not one in a genre which has a gameplay loop that relies on post-campaign content and grinding, on an unwinnable final boss. would it have been metal as fuck? yes. but from an actual game content standpoint, where they want to reward the player for more playtime? not gonna happen.

so already were off to a bad start. but an everyone lives no one dies au isn't the worst case scenario, i suppose. but. um.

aoc not only straight up does not include the important parts of link's backstory that i mentioned (that is, the fact that he is deathly anxious and traumatized and that this is the reason why he's quiet), but it also doesn't really... have a pronounced "zelda finds connection" arc. at least, it's not notable enough for me to remember it. sure, she grows closer to link, and her love of him is still what unlocks her magic, but she never despises him like she started out doing in botw. there's little to no projection in a way that emphasizes her independence and self-respect that's in conflict with her self-loathing. there's no interpersonal conflict to link's conformity that makes them thematic foils. this all makes her revelation in fort hateno where link originally dies much less potent, discounting the fact that originally the result of her revelation gives her the strength to hold back hatred incarnate for 100 years. but that doesn't happen either because as we've established this is an everyone lives nobody dies au and link's character arc goes unfulfilled as well because, well, everybody lives.

for all the time travel stuff is weird and the egg is a retcon and king rhoam's death is set up as a sacrifice and then later rug pulled for the sake of another playable character (and also sympathy-baiting) its what ive mentioned above that grinds my gears the most because my favorite thing about botw is its themes and the way it handles them in relation to link, zelda, and the open world gameplay. and age of calamity doesnt tick any of those boxes. so while there are more gaping plot holes or nitpicks i could make, i don't really think theyre worthwhile in comparison to the issues ive described. thats why i cant love it the way i love botw and am loving totk right now, even though its technically part of the trilogy. its fun to think about in isolation, and it doesnt ruin everything the way a movie like httyd3 does, but it's also one massive "they would not fucking say that" which bothers me occasionally

woo. there u go. hopefully u had fun hearing

[pacdevil]

The Sonic Numbers REVamped

note: these numbers are separate from the full list because there would just be a HUGE sonic section in with all the other numbers. and since i am prone to adding more sonic numbers, i'm just gonna keep them in a separate post. XP

and yes, any new numbers will be put in here (sooner or later XD)!!!

enjoy >:3

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the misc numbers:

-> 193 (THE sonic number. (almost)every sonic post has this number)

-> 193.game (any gif sets, clips, information, voice clips, etc for the video games.)

-> 193.lore (story and character discussion, both canon and fanon.)

-> 193.characters (any official art or fanart that has more than five sonic numbers associated with them.

for example: a post with fanart of sonic, tails, knuckles, shadow and rouge will just have 193.characters, while another post with fanart of vector, charmy, espio, ray and mighty will have just the two numbers i have for them, 193.7 and 193.23 respectfully.

i pair up characters with a single number sometimes. :3 )

---

-> 193.videos (sonic related videos.)

-> 193.meme (sonic related memes that aren't videos.)

-> 193.mags (sonic magazines/game booklets hell YEEAAAAAHHH)

-> 193.fic (fics i like :3)

-> 193.other (misc sonic posts.)

-> 193.oc (ppls COOL sonic oc's!!!)

---

-> 193.hcmusic (music taste/tech headcannons for characters and sonic playlists either i or other ppl made.)

-> 193.playlists (just the sonic playlists separate from the headcannons.)

-> 193.shadowsalbums (music albums that give me strong Shadow the Hedgehog vibes. used to be daily, but now i do it whenever i want. :D)

---

-> 193.ova (sonic ova)

-> 193.sa (sonic adventure. just the first one, no shadow the hedgehog to be seen here i promise)

-> 193.cd (sonic CD)

-> 193.X (Sonic X-treme)

-> 193.R (Sonic R)

-> 193.FIGHT (Sonic the Fighters)

---

note: i don't post much about these au's cuz im still kindof working them out, and my brain needs them to be figured out before i post about them so yeah. XPPPP i like to be consistent

-> 193.Robin Hood SAU (my robin hood/SATBK/king arthur hybrid sonic au

-> 193.DJ AU (my rollerblade/DJ sonic au centered around Amy and Metal Sonic

-> 193.dadow coraline AU (dad shadow and son silver in the story of Coraline, just the movie i haven't read the book, yet)

---

note: my fave posts for character relationships/interactions. some of these posts are meant to be romantic, which i am aware of, but i read them as anything but romantic <2

also if ur looking for Team Dark stuff, just go to any one of their numbers and you'll find them >:)

-> S&M Fave (Shadow and Metal Sonic.)

-> S&A Fave (Shadow and Amy Rose.)

-> A&M Fave (Amy Rose and Metal Sonic.)

-> S.A.M.S. Fave (Amy, Metal Sonic and Shadow :) )

-> A&K Fave (Amy Rose and Knuckles.)

-> R.O.S. Fave (Team Dark babeyyyyyy)

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the main numbers:

-> 193.1 (sonic the hedgehog)

-> 193.2 (knuckles the echidna)

-> 193.3 (miles tails prower)

-> 193.4 (amy rose)

-> 193.5 (eggman/dr.robotnik/eggman nega)

193.assist (orbot and cubot, sage the ai, agent stone)

-> 193.6 (metal sonic/tails doll/metal knuckles)

---

-> 193.7 (team chaotix: vector, charmy, espio)

-> 193.8 (rouge the bat)

-> 193.9 (shadow the hedgehog)

193.shth (maria robotnik, gereald robotnik, black doom, the president, the commander)

-> 193.0 (e-123 omega)

---

-> 193.10 (babylon rouges: jet, wave, storm)

-> 193.11 (infinite the jackal)

-> 193.12 (silver the hedgehog)

-> 193.13 (blaze the cat, marine the raccoon)

---

-> 193.14 (chao, lumina flowlight/void, chip the light gaia, wisps, koco)

-> 193.15 (fleetway super sonic)

-> 193.16 (scourge the hedgehog, fiona the fox)

-> 193.17 (tikal the echidna, chaos)

---

-> 193.18 (eggman robots/badniks)

note: mk1, mk2, and mk3 also have the robots from the scrapped Sonic X-treme game, cuz i think they're cool

193.shard (shard the metal sonic from Archie)

193.chaos (chaos sonic from Prime)

193.mk1 (mecha sonic mark 1, from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 16bit)

193.mk2 (mecha sonic mark 2, from Sonic 3 & Knuckles and the Scrapnik Miniseries)

193.mk3 (mecha sonic mark 3, from Sonic Adventure)

193.gs (e-102 gamma, e-117 sigma)

193.rocket (rocket metal sonic, from Sonic the Fighters)

193.ss (silver mecha sonic, from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 8bit)

193.pr (poetry robot, from the sonic movies (2020))

193.johnny (johnny, from Sonic Rush Adventure)

193.sgc (Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts)

---

-> 193.19 (cream the rabbit, cheese the chao, vanilla the rabbit, ermel, gemerl)

-> 193.20 (whisper the wolf)

-> 193.21 (tangle the lemur)

-> 193.22 (big the cat, froggy)

---

-> 193.23 (mighty the armadillo, ray the flying squirrel)

-> 193.24 (surge the tenrec, kitsunami the fennec)

-> 193.25 (tekno the canary)

-> 193.26 (jewel the beetle)

-> 193.27 (mephiles the dark, princess elise)

---

-> 193.28 (belle the tinkerer)

-> 193.29 (lanolin the sheep)

-> 193.30 (Max the rabbit (AKA Feels or Mika), the sonic prototype)

-> 193.31 (dr. starline)

---

-> 193.32 (team hooligan: fang the sniper, bean the dynamite, bark the polar bear)

-> 193.33 (sticks the badger)

-> 193.34 (sally acorn)

-> 193.35 (honey the cat)

---

-> 193.36 (eclipse the darkling, black death)

-> 193.37 (sonia and manic the hedgehog)

-> 193.38 (Sonic X misc characters)

-> 193.39 (ebony the cat, pyjamas the sheepdog)

---

-> 193.40 (Sonic the Comic misc characters)

-> 193.41 (sonic movie (2020) misc characters)

-> 193.42 (gadget the wolf)

-> 193.43 (bunnie rabbot)

---

-> 193.44 (archie sonic misc characters)

-> 193.45 (ian jr)

-> 193.46 (Sonic OVA misc characters, mostly sara)

-> 193.47 (zonic the zone cop)

---

-> 193.48 (barry the quokka)

-> 193.49 (mimic the octopus)

-> 193.50 (Sonic Boom misc characters)

-> 193.51 (rough and tumble the skunk)

---

-> 193.52 (clutch the opossum idw)

-> 193.53 (SATBK/SATSR misc characters)

-> 193.54 (Tiara B. Sonic X-treme )

-> 193.55 (Trip Sonic Superstars)

---

-> 193.56 (Mina Mongoose)

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[raredrop]

the amount of pokemon hacks and fan games i have....and theres a lot i havent even tried....some of them i havent touched in a LONG time but theyre just sitting on my pc

LoL Pokemon - i dont think i ever got far in this one....

mega moemon - i have a LOT of moemon saves....i think this is the one ive been playing "recently" megas and what not

several other moemon i literally do not remember the differences, including emerald

viet crystal - ok probably doesnt count but i have it, one of the first like...lets play like things ive watched (and what probably influenced me to name a lot of things after food)

manly pink - played this YEARS ago and struggled so much, its like fire red but gen 5 or something

pokemon sweet - again i dont think i got too far in this one, its cute tho....i think this one is the one that locks you into gyms once you get in but i forget

touhoumon - i have puppet play, idk which version is the best one or anything....i couldnt figure this one out like evos???? another one i havent touched in years

unbound - i just downloaded this one last night :)

also randomizers i do those a lot, usually bw2 since i didnt know the randomizer could do 3ds games

moe plat - i honestly dont remember the last time i played this or if i had issues with it....

phoenix rising - i forgor this one

em rogue - now this is addicting and also im very bad at it :)

infinite fusion - another one ive been playing recently, the funny fusions :)

pokewilds - i am shaking waiting for the multiplayer update

reborn - this was like one of the first fan games i played that wasnt just kind of altered normal game, tho every time i update it i never figured out how to keep my save so ive restarted it several times :( havent played it in forever

i might just reorganize my games so all the pokemon games are together bc theyre kinda split across several folders

theres probably some im forgetting bc i dont have them anymore on my computer but i can remember at least two like the ash one i think thats called ash grey or something i might be wrong, i dont think i got too into it and uhhh snakewood...YEA that one i played very little of it and apparently it gets weirder

[2xplusungood]

Im just gonna say it: My opinion is that recent "rebalances" to minecraft absolutely have sucked immensely lately, namely these two big ones:

Netherite changes: So now instead of simply mining the 24+whatever you need for tools ancient debris, you now also have to obtain netherite upgrades found in Bastion chests, which not only adds what feels like a completely unnecessary step to something that already requires a decent amount of commitment, but now gives the same problem to netherite armor that Elytras have: With limited world sizes, items that can only be collected through exploration are much more finite. Have fun no longer being able to have netherite on public servers becuase a group of the more grind-motivated players already have all the netherite upgrades in the world and have decided to gatekeep them from other people. Either that, or they are super generous with it and hand them out to everyone, which completely INVALIDATES the change's point of making netherite harder to get. In essence, it basically adds griefing potential without making it an overall better game.

Villager changes: This one I've seen coming for a long time now, ever since the Mojang devs hopped on Hermitcraft with Doc and said that villager changes were coming.

In my opinion, the biggest issue with villager trading is the random nature of trades and sitting there breaking and places lecterns to hopefully get mending. I think having a more straight forward way of getting the enchantment you want is a step in the right direction but its still probably the worst possible way it could've been implemented.

First off, you need to find a swamp biome (which holy shit I am so goddamned tired of wandering in random directions hoping to find a specific biome, not becuase I think its cool but because theres some specific bullshit I need from it before I leave it forever)

Then at the BARE MINIMUM, you now have to transport villagers TO that biome. I don't feel like I can stress enough how bad of an idea this is. Moving and transporting villagers is extremely annoying and is downright DISCOURAGED by the game (Lures do not work on them and theres no way to make them follow you becuase they are... you know... supposed to be PEOPLE and not just animals)

It was, however, by no means impossible and could still be done if you really needed to have them somewhere but it was never something you HAD to do to get specific items and if they do not add the two missing village types, you will now.

My next point is that Mojang seems to want to kill any gameplay outside of their views of how to play the game. Like I keep seeing these youtubes parroting the fact that "oh you can build these super overpowered villager breeders and converters to get super cheap trades" without actually answering "how is this a bad thing"

One of the biggest draws of minecraft is the extremely low skill floor but extremely high skill ceiling. A casual player can get all the tools they need to make whatever they like on a small to medium scale, but someone who is more willing to push minecraft to its limits are happily given the tool necessary to do so, regardless of how gamebreaking they can be.

Want infinite iron? Break the game by making a golem farm

Infinite copper: Break the game by utilizing the absolutely absurdly obscure mechanic of zombie reinforcements and then convert them to drowns.

Slime: Making a slime farm in a slime chunk or swamp using mushrooms

Need infinite TNT? Dupe it using coral, a mechanic that is 100% a bug but at this point will not be fixed (For the time being, barring any sudden changes in developer opinion) due to its millions of uses.

The point Im making is that farms not only add a means for getting a ridiculous amounts of materials to make ridiculous buildings that would otherwise take way more time, but also add a whole new layer of gameplay for the insane tech-minded crowd

Zombie discounts however? Somehow they are bad. Somehow, the ability to get cheap trades through a VERY involved process (Either you are manually infecting and curing them like a psychopath or building the infrastructure to automatically infect and cure them like a high functioning pyschopath). Its so terrible how you can... get certain enchantments easier... or get glass easier... or mid tier armor and weapons/tools? Like you don't even get these resources passively like most farms and each villager you bring into your trading hall requires some manner of time investment.

So WHY nerf villagers? Are they the most fun to deal with? Is actually doing this farms the pinnacle of gameplay? Not really, but the answer would be to streamline this process (Being able to manually cycle trades without constantly breaking the workblock would be a good start) and not just take it out back and old yeller that shit.

My tinfoil is that some Microsoft exec found out about villager farms and decided it didn't fit with the kid-friendly brand they've made.

[neomel]

Ehhmmm HI EVERYONE !!!! so this is very inspired by @kafus's Pokémon liveblogging n their various playthroughs and its been so fun to follow, and it gave me the inspiration to pick up a new playthrough - or TWO PLAYTHROUGHS !!!

i realized its been forever since ive actually played FireRed LeafGreen and that ive never done it w. the help of save editing to add eg. Rare Candies for grinding. but i also realized that ive never actually played the Gen 1 Pokémon games....so i decided to do both !!!!

im doing a kinda-sorta Nuzlocke too, just to try out different Pokémon and get myself to rotate between them, but I am also moreso trying to use funny stuff more than minmaxxing for strategy. Here's my Pokémon Red team for instance!!

Yes that's Marcel the traded Mr. Mimel!! I got an Abra as my first encounter and realized that using Alakazam would just be steamrolling people with a big Special number, so I boxed it for later to use Gen 1 Mr. Mime for a while. I've rotated some of these members in and out with others in the box, mostly because the movepools are so fascinatingly terrible ^^; Like - I wanted to use Nidoking because his Gen 1 sprites are absolutely incredible, and you can get him before even the second gym from Mt. Moon's Moon Stones, but........he doesn't get Double Kick unless you get Nidorino to like Level 47?? and Nidoking misses out on Thrash unless you level him up early.

Clefable has been the absolute QUEEN of the run though, like !!! i love her silly sprite in this game so so so much, and the well-rounded stats paired with Sing make them a really good Pokémon to use in pretty much any situation. its funny how the lack of many good moves means that mediocre moves like Growl or Water Gun end up feeling useful just for being options at all...I've had some fun with the mediocre TMs given out too, like giving Bide to my Ivysaur to utilize the Leech Seed draining effect as best as possible in a sort of quirky strategy. Though on the flipside I had to give up on using Mankey entirely after realizing it just gets NOTHING in terms of moves - before Yellow it literally doesn't learn any Fighting type moves by leveling up other than Seismic Toss (which doesnt count), and the only one it gets by TM is Submission which is.....nooot good :T

Anyhow - Here's a terrible img of my FRLG team! I'm out of Rock Tunnel and in Celadon in this playthrough wheras the RBY playthrough is still not through the tunnel yet :( BUT that means that I've gotten a lot more silly goobers in this run. Even though my Mankey died here before I could use it for anything funny.....i really like Primape's design so im kinda sad I've never gotten to use it lol

ANYWAY ANYWAY look at my fucking boy. look at my Fungler. look at my little man. he has 20 diseases and he sucks ass. i love him.

i played a Gen 3 fangame a while ago that gave you access to Fury Cutter as a TM and a Paras really early on, and the gears got grinding in my head to force sleep with Spore and then chain a Fury Cutter combo, and the affection for that silly strat has stuck with me and made me kind of adore Parasect by extension. look at my fucking guy he sucks so much!!! but he puts people to sleep really well and has cool bug claws. i love his terrible movepool and having to give him Secret Power to do any damage. lol .

it is funny to play these older games where the movepools sucked ass, even as deep in as Gen 3 . so you have to really stretch for ideas on how to use mons but it feels really fun when you make something sorta click? like this Doduo Rage -> Rest -> Chesto set, it doesn't get Swords Dance nor the infinitely funnier Acupressure but this is kinda just a shittier funnier version of that? also Tri Attack being physical feels like it was made just for Dodrio. i love my bird.

im still kinda miffed at how many things just sorta suck in Kanto though. like so many routes early on are just Rattata/Pidgey/Spearow/Ekans while the Safari Zone alone has like 7 Pokémon you can only find there, the distribution feels so strange. and of course the whole Game Corner garbage, i want to use Hyper Beam in Gen 1 because of how cool its Gen 1 exclusive quirks are but its a Game Corner exclusive reward >:((( im gonna have to see if i can save edit gambling coins into the game or what.

BUT im having a lot of fun !! its so silly seeing all the Gen 1 sprites ingame for the first time. the Gen 1iness of it all. not even being able to fuckin check how strong moves are or how much accuracy they have. or even sort the order of moves outside of battles. your battle items menu just opens up your entire bag. such a silly fuckin mess of a game. i love it .

(also feel free to ask about any of the nicknames i have answers for like half of them)

[pixelatedbugs]

what do you mean theres no more “the scholar and the merchant” crossed path . i need more gay men

okay im going to ramble about the stories ive completed now spoilers! uh oh! for partitio, osvald, ochette, temenos, and hikari! (the last two, i havent completed their stories but i mention something spoilery)

i did partitio’s first since he was my first character and i needed to get him OUT of that first party slot . he’s free now . I loved the story though i was mildly disappointed in the ending (i wanted that old capitalist man to die) but tbh it wouldn’t have really fit the tone or partitio’s character to leave him for dead. plus partitio started the whole ass industrial revolution and created the concept of a department store so . that chapter was really fun by the way, i love how it actually had a permanent effect on the town and also alrond is fuckin great. the final boss was teetering on annoying for me but I think that was because i was a bit underleveled for it. overall i think it was creative, i mean it was a fucking train thats sick as hhell. but that cannon does SO much damage god.

osvald. holy shit massive mood change . like i already had a big mood whiplash when i got osvald after agnea but damn. anyway harvey is actually fucked up, way more than I already thought he was. if he wanted to steal osvald’s research and kidnap his wife and kid for their special magic blood he should’ve just killed osvald. that would’ve been the smart decision, but he’s so envious, so angry that they’re equal and he’s not better, that he decides to frame osvald for killing his wife and daughter, leaving him stuck in a really shitty maximum security prison for 5 years, then use his wife’s blood to make a chimera (okay shou tucker), lies to osvald saying it’s actually her. and it does have her voice, and i presume a bit of her mind, considering that once it begins to run out of health it starts to crumble and cry, and its tears heal osvald…its still not her though. she’s dead because harvey saw no more use in her. but hey, osvald’s daughter is still alive! and her minds been fucking manipulated so she thinks harvey is her father. jesus christ chapter 4 fucked me up. anyway the final boss battle was great. Osvald finally finding the answer through wanted to protect Elena was fucking awesome. the power of love is based and its also a giant fuck-off laser beam that transcends the elements to all foes, and reduces their shield points regardless of their weak points that costs 75 SP.

ochette’s was so good! the final boss being the companion I didn’t pick (in my case, the lājackal) almost made me cry. it was so sad, it didn’t deserve that, and im really excited to see my mom play her story because she picked the lājackal and I wanna know what Mahina could’ve been…also, the boss fight was hard as fucking hell, and extremely creative. The fact that it gets different attributes based on who you’re using??? thats fucking sick?? why did i have to be using castti so it got infinite heals every turn?? i still beat it first try but god it was hard. i still don’t like the human chief but at least she’s trying. I was really worried we were going to come back to the beastling village being overrun ON TOP of the night of the scarlet moon. oh yeah, who the fuck was the dark hunter? probably will find that out later..

also starting to see where these stories connect. The Shadow and D’arqest have been a running theme, at least in ochette’s, osvald’s, temenos’, and it’ll probably show up in hikari’s as well. plus there’s that purple fog with the creepy music that shows up sometimes (it was the same music during the part with all the corrupted people during osvald chapter 5…)

anyway im going to take a break now. i wanted to do castti’s so i could train up my lower characters but i am tired because i played for like 10 hours straight . hyperfixations suck ass sometimes i cannot stop thinking about the fuckin game and i need to fuckin sleep. holy shit i wrote a lot sorry.

[playtwewy]

Time to put your money where your mouth is by answering the remaining questions about Joshua in the ask game

im on it, boss <3 are you prepared?

3. A song that reminds me of them

Are You Satisfied? by Marina and the Diamonds. in my infinite hubris i tried to actually make a comic for him with this song once before i remembered i was bad at art :)

4. How many people I ship them with

hmmm probably only like 3? Neku, Beat, and Haz .

5. My favorite ship of them

Joshneku probably lol

6. My least favorite ship of them

honestly like any others than the ones i mentioned above but also i just don't really seek out a lot of ship content anyways.

7. A quote of them that you remember

Shopping is fun! The Game is better this way :) (<- he was too much for this)

8. Your favorite outfit of them

look this man only has like two canonical outfits so instead, im gonna pick my fave and least fave of the clothes items that give him specific bonuses in game. That being said, fave is of course the bunny parka. we all love the bunny parka <3

9. Your least favorite outfit of them

Probably Vernal Equinox. idk if aqua is a good color for joshua to wear realistically.

11. What’s the first thing you think about when thinking about the character?

this tumblr post:

13. Your favorite friendship they have

12. Sexuality hc!

His and Neku's friendship will always be my favorite, but i have to say that his and Mr. H's is also very very good and fascinating to me <3 and also, even tho it is not canon, i am a firm shiki and joshua eventual besties truther

14. Best storyline they had

i mean what else can I say, but that his whole arc in twewy is incredible

15. Worst storyline they had

they really just wanted to pretend that joshua didn't exist in neo until they couldn't ignore it anymore

16. A childhood headcanon

I do really like the fanon stuff about Joshua being musically inclined before he took on the role of Composer, but to me i always imagined it as him feeling drawn to musical instruments but not really being good at them. So to me, Joshua was definitely a piano kid, but did not necessarily take to it easily nor was necessarily good at it. But he loved just sitting there and plucking keys and could do it for hours :)

17. What do you think their first word was?

probably something simple like 'want' or 'mom/dad'

18. How do you think they were as a kid? (Like, were they shy, noisy, wild, etc)

Polite for all intents and purposes. Definitely a quiet kid imo. I'll be honest and say that i don't really dwell on how Joshua was pre-Composer.

19. The most random ship you've seen people have with them

i remember a weird period of time where i saw a lot of joshua and rhyme pairing stuff. idk if that was just me but it was bewildering.

21. When do you think they were at their happiest?

I really do think Joshua was having the time of his life in Another Day and playing Tin Pin, that is my truth.

23. Future headcanon

24. What do you think is a secret they have that they never told anyone?

hmmmm well since I've been thinking about it a lot, Joshua and Eri would also be really good friends after Joshua becomes more integrated into the main cast friend group and he is also the one to get her into Tin Pin

Post-Neo Joshua definitely just inserts himself into Rindo's life.

well it was his identity as Composer but well we know he told someone eventually. I guess I'd say he would never tell Rindo or anyone else wilingly that he was chosen as a proxy. I don't think Joshua would do that twice. I think in that regard he learned his lesson

29. How do you think they would be as a parent? (and if they are a parent, how do you think they would be if they weren't?)

I think its more I don't think he would ever want to be one. if anything the closest I think he's come close to is being a mentor figure, similar to what Mr. H is implied to be towards him. And while I don't think he'd excel at it I think he would do a good enough job depending on the circumstances. but uh given his proxies I dont think it should be willingly tested.

30. funniest scene they had

FORGOT TO ANSWER THIS ONE IN A PREVIOUS ASK IM SO SORRY

that whole scene where Joshua tricks Neku into going to cat street on day 3 was the funniest thing to me on my first playthrough and it still is one of the funniest joshua moments to me to this day lmao

his response kills me too

[scorpiolight-madd]

I know you have multiple Sonic Paracosms and they seem to connect (like an expanded universe for Sonic Lore), did you struggle at all with creating your paracosm/lore/character interactions or was it relatively easy?

Are there any paras that you feel are underdeveloped in your paracosm?

Also do you have any paras that could be considered the 'star' (like most of the action happens to them or because of them) or does the role bounce around a lot?

Sorry for all the questions, but I am curious!!

YES YES YES YES YES

Ok I’m gonna answer these one at a time so strap in

Also don't apologize for asking questions, answering them is like my favorite thing in the world

Ok so for the first question there actually isn’t a lot of crossover save for one story arc in Rebellion (the sonic boom/underground crossover one, also sometimes referred to as SB:U or Trouble Keeps you Running Faster (or TKYRF for short) bc I struggled to name it for a while). In that arc, the Phantom Ruby ends up traveling through dimensions after Infinite’s defeat in the Reloaded dimension (which is the paracosm that’s just a rewritten version of the games with some OCs added).

Sage and the Infinite from Rebellion end up tracking it down, and Rebellion!Infinite feels a strange pull towards the Ruby, while Sage has analyzed it and believes that it will help her to more efficiently protect her family and allies. The two end up fighting over it, but Sage gets it, only for Reloaded!Infinite’s influence to corrupt her almost immediately, as he’s trapped inside the Phantom Ruby. (He was also the one drawing his alternate dimension self to take the Ruby)

Also it may be subject to change but here's what she looks like when she's under the Phantom Ruby's control

ANYWAYS a lot of stuff happens in that arc that im not gonna get into bc what's important to this question is that when she goes into the Phantom Ruby to confront Reloaded!Infinite, she ends up going into his memories and encountering facsimiles of the people he encountered in his dimension. They're not identical to how they actually appear in that paracosm, as their characterizations and even appearances are filtered through Infinite's perception of them.

So, while there is a crossover, the only actual crossover character interaction is between Sage and Infinite, and replicas of the cast from Reloaded.

As for underdeveloped characters, I'm not exactly sure. I feel that I have their characters all fleshed out pretty well, even down to the side characters. However, I do run into the problem of under-utilizing them pretty frequently, and that characters tend to not do much for the plot unless its an arc solely dedicated to them, like Amy's arc about losing her hammer, and how Knuckles seems kinda locked into his storyline about finding the Master Emerald shards, and neither of them do much outside of that.

Only a few characters straight up don't have their own arcs, like Silver.

The focus 100% bounces around depending on the story arc, sometimes even straight up focusing on complete side characters. Like I said before, Knuckles and Amy get their own story arcs, Knuckles recovering pieces of the Master Emerald and with it, his memories, and Amy losing her hammer and learning to not base her entire worth and identity on one singular skill. There's also Sonic re-bonding with his siblings, Sonia learning to let herself relax and not forcing herself to take on the burden of the entire rebellion, and Manic's character arc about trying to hide his PTSD from being held captive bc he doesn't want his siblings to split apart again, and how he eventually discovers healthy coping mechanisms to help him recover.

There's ALSO the birth of Team Chaotix, with Espio being introduced as an antagonist with a bunch of other mercenary side characters, until Vector finds out that he's just a struggling teenager trying to take care of his little brother.

WOAG THATS A LOT OF TEXT anyways thank youuuuuuuu for the questions

[iinafarawaygalaxii]

Assassins Creed: Valhalla | Freyja’s Promise

The Prince and A Legend : Chapter 2

Summary: Dreaming is only reality until it ends. For both Jarls have now reached the brink on their existence on this plane- testing their limits to their full potential. With Eivor out of the picture, what will become of Northumbria if the biggest player falls?

Warnings: 18+ Blood, Gore, Angst, Death, Fluff, SFW

WC: 5.6k

Notes:

my e key is still broken yall (RIP) Please bare with me through my grammatical errors!

A couple reminders that this is meant to be a the cheesy love story were supposed to get from these two and that it is not 100 percent canon to the game- had to tweak a few things

Lets conquer England- Enjoy!

Assassins Creed Valhalla | Eivor Varinsdottir x Vili Hemmingston

It started with pain.... and slowly drifted to darkness.

Her hugr- stuck in a twilight state, hearing the thumping of her heart's last beats drum in between ears before drifting to coldness. Her soul flickered between life and death in tandem with the flames of the pit that warmed the space she was in and it didn't take long for her mind to fade completely, detaching herself into a deep darkness as a faint light carried off into the distance- humming with a homeliness she had not experienced since her younger years.... beckoning her forth. She took a few steps towards the light, shading her eyes from the blur that laid beyond, trying to make sense of her surroundings like- why she was there in the first place...

That's when it all clicked.

Her life went dark after her moment with Vili, a stabbing pain to the chest- possibly fatal as she peered down to a featherweight body, feeling a nagging numbness spread through her veins forcing her heart to bang against her rib cage violently. She rubbed her temples while trying to remain balanced and recollect herself when she peered down and saw blood begin to seep through the fabric of her chest- bound together by an singular arrow.

Although her vision laid hazy, removing the arrow took precedent over this... place as her shaky hands reached for the wooden stalk- snapping it half before pulling it out with vigor. A bitter sweet gasp of relief emerged from her lips throwing the broken reed to the side before panning back to the white light, seeing ovals of darkness sharpen into human silhouettes. Her eyes went wide in disbelief- There stood Ubba and Ivar, Hemming Jarl, Soma, and,

"Ceolwulf....",

Eivor mumbled, running to her fallen comrade to embrace him. The first person she ever thought of as a son, right before her eyes- in the flesh. It had opened old wounds that since then have healed or at least she thought as much, feeling her grip tighten around the young Saxon prince trying to work up the courage to express what she always had wanted since his death. "Im sorry..." She whispered to him, weeping with deep regret and desolation for not being able to protect him, or anyone else for that matter- in their of need.

Her eyes began to water as a single tear trickled down her cheek, dissipating into the darkness when she feared what seeing all of these people who were special to her meant. "Am I...?", Her voice echoed, traveling infinitely into the void when she released him and looked around. 'I must be...', she thought looking down at her calloused hands and back to her comrades in question, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Your times not now little one...",

A voice from behind... So familiar. She glanced quickly, seeing her parents standing side by side in embrace with her fallen comrades in tow with wide grins as she ran into her parents arms like she once did many- many, winters ago. Bringing out the innocence that burned along with her village, back to the surface. She began to sob, stuck in a childlike state because honestly?

She didn't want to die.

Not yet, not with so much to accomplish. She couldn't leave her brother- her clan.....Vili, behind- forcing her grip around her parents tighter as they both looked to each other in distress, bringing their daughter in close. Her mother started humming, hearing the soft toons of one once parted and the wails of her own, regretting that she did not die along with them. Seeing them now? In a afterlife she wasn't sure existed- hurt even worse.

"Come now Eivor..."

Her father, Varin, exclaimed softly making her peek just a little to see the darkness has disappeared and turned to a loving memory back at her home in Norway. The spiced mead and lamb was her first sign, inhaling deeply the memories of home before opening her eyes fully and saw her mother cooking as her father came in from the cold in snow covered boots and a frozen beard with a buck hanging loosely over his shoulder. The great beast of a man- standing almost 7 feet tall, dropped the game in the center of the room with a bang startling both Eivor and her mother.

The young drengir watched in ghostly form seeing a small version of herself run through her and directly to her parents for a tight embrace. Hearing the chatters and begs of one too little to understand the concept, get picked up and put on her fathers shoulder for a story. Watching the happy family cuddle by the fire, eating the fruits of her fathers labor. Those were the times she felt true peace as the scene change to her first time meeting Sigurd.

About 5 winters and him 10- forging a bond between their tribes before a great war in their own country between many chieftains for superiority. Supposing to solidify their oath through marriage that eventually fell through when Randvis clan arrived to prevent such carnage. It was then she first learned how to hold a bow- Sigurd who loved his little sister taching her many things over the years. Honoring an unbreakable oath- by choice, until the scene changed again. To an abandoned shack in the forest 5 years forward.

This memory took longer than the others but at no fault of her own. After her parents were murdered, she spent equal parts mourning and getting into trouble with none other then the Hemming Prince. This specific memory before her, was the first time she had felt truly loved since her parents deaths 2 years prior- a scene set in Rygjafylke during the yule tide festival, with the cool winter breeze brushing their cheeks pink as they sneak in between ice giants (the adults) smothered in ale and wood fire to free the warrior chickens at the tender age of 11 and 12. Their active imagination playing a role in their misgivings, after succeeding in their mission and realizing what they done.

They chased chickens all throughout town and into the forrest where bigger dangers awaited. "Your so stupid Eivor!" Vili exclaimed throwing a snow ball at the young girl before him. "Not as much as you arse-stick". She stuck out her tongue and in a huff, folded her arms t stuck her nose in the sky. "Stop calling me that! It was a dragon!", joining her in pouting as the sun began to fall and harsh winds started to pick up. "We should get ba-" a huge snowball to that face igniting a clan war between the two childhood sweethearts as they played wild in snow until it began to fall violently- needing to seek cover from the incoming storm.

As time sped up for the ghostly drengir, she found herself at the cabin where they were trapped in for a majority of the night due to the raging blizzard that took over by force and because of this the clan had to halt the search- unable to see in such convoluted weather, praying their children would pull through. The ghostly Jarlskona laughed at their stupidity as the scene changed in a blink of an eye to Vili building a fire in an abandoned shack, throwing twigs and such in to stoke the warmth they need in such freezing temperatures. Eivor peered over to herself shivering and blue in the lips from the lack of warmth huddling close too stay warm

It was this moment her perspective on life changed- forever.

"Look at what you did wolf kissed..." Little vili said trying to laugh off a very big mistake while scooting closer to throw his cape over her for extra warmth. "Whatever Arse-Stick... YOU helped", She huffed, her face scrunching into embarrassment while trying to avoid eye contact at all cost. He pulled her little braid."OW!", "It was YOUR idea Wolf-Kissed. And for the last time.... STOP. CALLING. ME. THAT.... it was a dragons tail." He folded his arms as they sat in silence.

Cold, cold silence.

Feeling the shivers of a young Eivor through his own as he scooted even closer till their sides were touching- wrapping his arm around her shoulder and bringing her against his chest. "Stay warm Wolf-Kissed. Cant have you dying on me now." He smiled warmly, kissing the top of her head as her cheeks deepened in color, snuggling into the boy who was kept her safe and warm. The first time she had felt anything since her parents death. It wasn't until they were both asleep that they were found by their clans, cuddling each other for warmth next to a well stoked fire that they wree safely recovered and brought home.

Her ghostly eyes peered over to a young Hemming Jarl, Vilis father, who had the biggest smile she had ever seen from him. Supposing that this...relationship they had was hope for the future. It nearly made her ghostly form shred a tear, seeing how touched everyone was to know they were still alive and survived such a terror. The scene began flipping quickly through all the people she had ever loved or cared about finding herself square in the darkness with the white portal at the end.

It was an unbelievable sight, seeing all her memories flash right before her eyes- her body, enough to shock her into place. It felt so real as if she could stay like this forever. "Open your eyes....", Her mother hummed standing tall and bright with all of her family, friends, and comrades who've fought by her side, behind the figure. She watched as her mother reach for her shoulders, holding her close. "Wake up..." She said forcing the ghostly Jarl to shake her head, wanting this everlasting darkness to last forever, even if it meant death-

If it meant, being this close to everyone again.

Eivor wiped the tears from her face trying to muster the strength to carry on as Varin, her father, placed a hand on her shoulder warmly, "You are special Eivor. You have been touched by the gods and will bring a new one into this world. Pacifying Europe is your destiny...", Her fathers voice carried, forcing Eivor to control herself and her fate as the young drengir nodded in compliance. She took a step back, sniffling a bit as she readjusted herself and closed her eyes. She began to feel the warmth of the fallen comrades hands on her body, ready to send her back to the earthly realm with whatever life force still lingered.... To complete her true destiny. "Farewell Eivor, don't come back anytime soon...Okay?" Young Ceowulf said before a flash of light captured her,

Raising a legend from the dead.

-

Her eyes shot open as air rushed violently to her lungs, regaining her ability to breath in a heavy state. Her hand shot up to her chest as she closed her eyes tightly, wincing from the sudden rush of pins and needles that ignited above her left breast, feeling the pulse of something abnormal coursing through her veins. She began to choke on herself from the sheer amount of swelling shooting a hand up to grip the effected area.

The leaders eyes went wide.

All who were previously mourning now taken aback by the sudden resurrection as they were sure her heart had stopped completely- sending a burst of incredulousness throughout the room. They watched, gawking at the miracle, as the seer darted across the hut to tend to her wounds by placing her lips over Eivors wound- sucking the poisoned blood from within out and with haste, before spitting it on the ground beside her.

She strapped Eivors arms down with her own, sucking out what she could out before applying a ghastly powder that made the raven shake and moan in excruciating pain. Hearing the fizzing of her flesh ensue- rotting the poison out of the wound. Her horrified screams carried throughout Jorvik as the sweat dripping down her face came in dubious quantities- making it harder for the seer to grasp.

"Assistance... now-"

The bone sunken seer exclaimed, forcing Sigurd to bolt across the room to help,-holding Eivor down when the seer picked out the clots that was forming from the cavity, igniting Randvi to assist as she found the nearest cloth and inserted in into the Jarlskonas mouth, to protect her teeth and blind her voice from catch as the sunset haired table maiden hovered over her. She placing her hands cautiously on her cheeks for comfort leaning down to whisper shakily, "Stay still Eivor....", holding her head tight as tears began to expel from the corner of the ravens eyes, watching her eyebrows furrow and bellow in agony.

Her mumbled screams under the cloth made it nearly unbearable to watch as the young Jarlkonas eyes shot open, bloodshot and slick with sweat dripping down her pale face begging for relief. "Just hold on little sister...Okay? She's almost done." Sigurd exclaimed calmly, trying not to cry himself as he watched the seer work quickly to save the Ravensclans jarl, peeling her sensitive flesh to clean and sanitize the wound.

"Fire..."

The seer stated to Vili, holding a hand behind her as the poor man stood with uncertainty and shock. He reached slowly for an embered piece of metal from the rolling fire, trying to pull himself out of the daze that befell him before handing the bar to the seer. She snatched it out of his hands with vigor- nodding to the ones helping before shoving it into her wound. Eivor's back arched, her tears now soaking the bed as her mumbled screams were almost loud enough to hear in full- forcing Vili attention towards her.

He shot to the side of the bed next to the seer and grabbed Eivors hand- holding her down by the stomach as she kicked and squirmed- trying to move away from what was causing her harm before the seer continued. Her grip was nearly breaking- but Vili didn't care, despite the smell of burnt flesh and iron tinged blood, she was alive- and he would take any form of pain if it meant she were by his side as he watched the seer grill the wound shut to stop the bleeding, and purge the remaining poison.

Once the volva finished and the metal had cooled, she threw it to the floor and pulled out an iron needle, some raw sinew, and a small bag of yarrow from her pocket to close the wound- feeling Eivor's grip wane with relief once the fate reader finished and applied an opium laced salve, numbing the area completely. "Shh, shh , Wolf-kissed...you'll be okay..." Vili hummed to her, kissing her calloused hands.

He joined her on the bed, releasing both Randvi and the cloth from service, watching her chest instantly fill with labored breaths. He took her pulse, feeling her heart begin its decent to normalcy as the sense of urgency vanished from his hugr. 'Shes safe', He thought to himself with relief seeing her eyes open for the first time- ever so slightly. A small, painful grin emerged on her lips. Seeing a healthy prince in front of her safe from harm. She reached up to him shakily only for it to be captured and encased with his own

"You...Oka- * cough *-",

She gripped her chest. Each word bearing the weight of a thousand needles in her chest, rendering her incapable to speak as Vili shook his head, hushing her on the spot. "Do not worry for me Wolf Kissed. We are all safe" He tucked a soaked hair behind her ear as the seer cautiously strode forward, lifting Eivors head from the bed with a tonic in hand.

"Drink it Eivor, to purged the poison from your system."

The raven choked it down one chug at a time- each gulp met by relief as she tried to withhold the vomit that was simmering in her gut while maintaining the pain she just went through. She felt the wound resonant with discomfort understanding the cost and repercussions of her ignorance as she began to cough violently, shooting up right to get some air into her lungs till her labored breaths began to stabilize, making it easier for oxygen to permeate.

She took a deep breath, now fully deprived from any sensation while trying to make sense of her current surroundings... deciphering between a dream and reality. Her fingers slip up her face trying to feel something but couldn't. Seeming as time started to move very slowly with her vision doubled- she knew the tonic was a powerful drug using her strongest arm to bolster herself up, seeing the clan leaders standing closely together. Circling her in the most capricious way, with wide smiles and in thankful manner.

Relieved-

That one of the strongest warriors to date was still alive and somewhat well as the cooling effects of the medication started to work, making her sweat profusely from every pore in her body. "Poison?", Eivor questioned dawning at the broken arrow by the bed as the double vision aligned itself, helping her rejuvenate what little strength she had left. "Someone shot you, sister....we haven't found who... We thought... We thought you were dead-", Sigurd exclaimed as Eivor took a moment to understand.

'Did I actually die?'

She thought, her twisted memories starting to unfurl into separate entities, recreating the scene of the wolves howling in the moonlight, the arrow, and her otherworldly experience- one she wouldve gladly return to especially after the butchery she's experienced observing both Randvi and her brother kneel before her, laying their hands on her thigh whilst trying to make sense of how she lived after being shot so close to the heart and with poison.

"Despite what happened. Im glad you're alive Wolf-Kissed." Vili said dabbing the sweat from her face with a concerned smile. The worry in his eyes casted a line to the Raven as she placed a weary hand on his shoulder and gripped as hard as she could. Her form of a thank you, at least in this state. He nodded in kind and released her hand watching her bring it back up to her chest.

Oh the pain...

Even though the medication took care of the wound on the externally- internally...? Well, that was a different story. She tried to roll her shoulder but was met with insufferable pain as she fell forward with unwilling tears streaming down her face. She took an attempt on a deep breath, gripping her chest as she recollected her thoughts forcing the room silent.

'It has something to do with the prophecy... but the vision..... Vili and I was shown no such destruction except conquering Wessex- Which is an impossible feat... We need more information...',

She said to herself as she rolled slowly to the edge of the bed with Vilis help, feeling the prickles of her wound radiate as the ache of the poisons effects kicked in- sending shivers throughout her body. "Did you...cough... find the assaliant... ", She asked. Everyone in unison shaking their heads as they waited for her to continue while she threw the remains of the slimy medicinal concoction down, wiping the remnants off her face before handing the bowl back with haste.

"And you seer...Have you seen anything...? Any indication of why Im being targeted?",

Eivor asked, her vision now getting cloudy from the excessive talking and moving as her hand reached up to her temples just as her eyebrows furrowed. She felt the pounding of her heart try to expel the poison from her system while the lightness of her mind start to intensify. she was losing grip- making Vili take notice. He placed a hand on her lower back for support as the brush of cold wind from the window tickled her cheek, waking her up enough to focus.

Whilst trying her best not to die- again, she rested her arms on her knees and tried to pull herself to standing position forcing the others to close to help but fell back on the bed- underestimating her weakness as her whole world began to spin. "Easy Eivor...", Sigurd exclaimed hovering before her with open arms as guidance, "Perhaps you should sit for a while?", Randvi exclaimed repositioning her Jarl on the edge of the bed.

"No...Time"

Eivor pushed out, mustering all the strength she had but fell back into position. The frustration of it all was more intense than the wound itself and after finally giving up, she peered to the seer in question, who was preforming a ritual of bones. Breaking the ribcage of a dead raven and wolf before casting them into the rolling fire as steamed smoke started to rise- filling the room with the smell of charcoaled carrion and ash.

The seer threw her head back, inhaling the smoke as a vision occurred. Hearing the mumbles of her conversing with the fates to determine theirs. The frail woman's eyes rolled back till both holes were white- now chanting runes throughout the hut forcing everyone's silence. It was then the wind began to whistle the boned chimes outside the door hearing small voices whispers throughout the hut as a ghostly chill filled the room with caution till complete silence fell before them leaving a stillness in the air that left the leaders stagnant and on edge. "Randvi-" Sigurd whispered as a hand shot up to his mouth, "Shh!", forcing the table maiden to kneel on the ground in front of Eivor nervously anticipating the next few moments before the wind blew through the window violently- making the fire vanish almost instantaneously.

"Erke!?",

"Stowe- Wheres Eivor!?",

"Shes here!",

"Stay calm- all of you...."

A shroud of darkness surrounded them-a powerful feeling emerging from the shadows as if their every move was being watched. Everyones hands fell upon their weapons, feeling their hair stand on end simultaneously- ready to strike when needed as the wind began to pick up again feeling the breeze tickle the fuzz on their cheeks. They closed in on the bed to protect Eivor, who was lost in the shroud of darkness, hearing the voices speak to her.

It wasnt an unfamiliar feeling. She had been to the darkness before but something was different this time. The magic she felt was a bold presence as she closed her eyes to better understand what was happening but to no avail until she heard a small voice. "...your fate..." it said. So faint, so frail- she caught a glimpse of the seers face, startling her out of her focus as the fires and candles reignited themselves showing volva standing straight and lifeless.

The leaders felt instant relief relaxing themselves as they checked their surrounding, hearing and seeing everything as normal. "That was an odd experience" Stowe exclaimed. "That was a first for me...thats for sure." Alefgar responded as they were hushed by the table maiden once again turning their attention to the witchy figure.

They watched as her head cocked backwards while drawing her fingers down her face with the ravens blood- licking her fingertips for extra measure, before making steps towards the injured jarl- twitching and groaning. Her movements laid in suspicion leaving the guests curiously anticipating the answer as they observe the seer kneel in front of Eivor, placing a hand above her stomach while making eye contact,

"The bones read.... a fired rebellion.... due to a union between a Prince and a Legend.", Eivor shook her head removing the seers hand from her stomach while trying to prevent hers from regurgitation. "You speak in tongues Seer. Tell us what you know in plain words." The seer stood up and smiled, remaining silent as the other leaders tried to discern her wisdom filling the room with immediate chatter. The irritation grew unshackled and lack of patience for both Eivor and Vili enabled the childhood sweetheart to stand up- towering over the frail witchy woman. "Speak", He commanded- his brow fire forcibly insisting as his fists began to ball up- seeking answers to protect his loved one.

Though the seers purpose... falls far from that.

"The letter mentioned Ragnarok... Could this rebellion with the picts be linked to it?", Stowe asked bringing himself forward to keep the Hemming prince from committing a shameful murder.... but she still remained silent, leaving Randvi to fill in the blanks to keep the peace- "I don't believe that...level of carnage is coming Stowe...", The sickly drengir forced herself to get up, unable to take the first step from the lack of strength she carried as the fate reader began to utter,

"The gods.... wish for your union."

Pointing to Eivor who was wavering between reality and the dream world, on the verge of collapse and Vili who was ready to catch her. The sickly raven peered up to the fate reader in anger but unable to hold herself, falling into Vili's chest while trying to remain conscious to hear the rest. Vili quickly used his hands for support, placing one on her upper arm and the other on her lower back as both Jarls gave the seer darting looks- like two vipers on the verge of striking their prey. Till she finally caved, taking note of their position;

"A bountiful suggestion for England- but a dangerous one. The wind does not whisper of Ragnarok... but the bones read for a difficult path... One that claims the uncertainty of death and the reward... of glory. That is all."

The seer turned back to her duties, placing herself in front of the fire in chant as Eivor was unable to keep balance, feeling her legs begin to buckle before Vili swooped her off her feet. "Whoa there Wolf-Kissed....", taking care due to injury and her body as he carried her in his arms, peering down with placid eyes. It was a look she's always admired that often gave her butterflies- even in this state.

This in turn forced exchanged looks between the leaders watching the seers words unfurl with certainty as they observe Eivor gave him a weak smile, returning some color to her cheeks with a light pink blush. Embarrassing enough as it is, she didn't have the energy to complain or stay awake as she felt her vision getting hazy. She brought her injured arm up and grasped a piece of cloth from his chest covering his heart- The gesture making Vili blush himself as he watched her drift off into sleep- clutching him close. It warmed his heart enough to make him chuckle as the corners of his lips lifted, realizing the walls she had put up were completely diminished- trusting him to protect her in her moment of vulnerability. Only this time- he will not fail again, nor ever. He nodded to the grinning warriors around him, turning swiftly to make his exit- It was time to get her to a more secure area.

Somewhere she could be safe.

"Halfdan wants her in the castle. Its best she stays there... Valka will be here soon to take over her care", Randvi mentioned leading Vili out the door with the other leaders close behind, highly focused and wary of their surroundings and once they stepped out... they were blessed with a sight to behold. Nearly every local and visitor from every territory, Saxons, Danes, and Norse alike holding candles and burning woods in support of their fallen hero. Flowers were being thrown on the ground before them as they walk past hearing the bold wails of the civilians mourning their hero.

A ritual everyone pulled together in honor of the Great Wolf-Kissed.

So many would kill for support like this. Vili and Eivor? They had it. Making this prophecy seem more real than perceived. He carried her all the way to the castle without breaking a sweat. Moving slow enough so she wouldn't wake but quick enough to give her the comfort and security she needed- and after placing her in a secured room within the castle, Eivor was fast asleep with Vili next to the bed, axe-ready, to protect her till the death.

"Valka will be here soon. Please...Watch her..."

Sigurd asks, placing a hand on his shoulder only to receive a quick nod in compliance as Vili started tending to Eivor with Moiria who gave ailments for the poison. Vili could feel his anger bloom every time he watched her face wince from the pain. Her labored breathing making his hair stand on edge- Worried she may drift away from him again as he began to tap his foot nervously, seeing the droplets of sweat drip from her skin as it became painstakingly harder to watch. It wasn't until a tear was shred that he shot up ready to annihilate and uproot all of Europe.

"I want answers...."

He grunted under his breath turning to face the other leaders who were in deep thought, "The assailant clearly had a way in without being noticed. To be that close to Eivor and Vili without anyone seeing them?", The room fell silent, each chieftain looking to each other for ideas but had none. Until Alefgar spoke up and pointed out that there wasn't a way.

"There has to be a traitor.",

"There has to be. How else would anyone be able to wander in without being noticed?" Broder exclaimed, backing Alefgar's deduction- hastily, leaving all eyes on him. Nervously, Broder walked up to the edge of Eivor's bed only to be blocked by Vili with his arms crossed. "Eivor...she didn't deserve this-", Broder exclaimed shakily, forcing a scowl on Vili's face so sharp it could kill on the spot.

Then it hit him.

Border was the only one unaccounted for at the feast for the entirety of the night. Though it was not atypical, considering his drinking habits but- his curiosities still stood. "Where were you on the night of the feast?" Vili commanded as he took steps towards a nerve struck Broder, offended by such a question. "I...I was by the river- sick from ale.", He exclaimed giving a weak alibi that didn't suffice enough for Vili or anyone for that matter. The Prince checked him head to toe for any signs and saw none- even a patch of vomit would suffice but the man was clean as a whistle. This examination in turn changed Broder's whole demeanor. Two bulls standing face-to-face, ready for a holmgang until Vili looked over his shoulder to Eivor and back to him.

Fighting there, wasn't in anyones best interest, especially hers.

Broder spit on the ground before Vili's feet, taking a couple steps back in silence to join Erke and Stowe to tuck himself in a corner and away from prying eyes while still locked in a battle of scowls as Sigurd pitched in to break the tension. "Eivor will live, right now we need to find who is boldly attacking the Jarls in the open..."

And thus the investigation began.

It started with Vili being honest about the visions, which was no surprise to anyone, and what happened after- leaving the part where they almost kissed, out, to keep speculation at a minimum for the childhood sweethearts. "She was shot from behind as the wolves howled, but I did not see anyone on our path or near us. The shot must've came from above, or from hiding", Vili exclaimed which in turn lead them to their first clue.

The arrow.

After analyzing the broken weapon, they noticed the pict carvings and arrow head style confirming. "It was the picts who made the shot." Vili announced having much experience with the mountain warriors- It all came down to, how they got in. The group of leaders left the raven to rest, checking the location of where she could've been shot from and found poison droplets in the snow from a bush closets to the docks. "the poison..." He tasted it with his finger, spitting it out riotously before following the evidence, "they lead over there...", Vili announced- despite the danger, pursued the trail to the southern walls followed with Alfegar, Broder, Erke and Stowe. The path itself lead to a crack in the walls that protected Jorvik, big enough for someone to slip through.

"This is where they entered."

Stowe exclaimed stating that they should follow as Erke went to receive horses- meeting on the other side of the wall to prepare for their journey. "Lets get going. We cant suffer any more surprises." Broder said though the look of concern on his face was easily misplaced as Vili still held his suspicions close about ale chuggers whereabouts that evening. Though at this moment Vili adopted the ideology to keep your friends close and your enemies closer so that he may strike silently when theres need.

He hopped on his white dire wolf giving everyone a glare before taking off into the distance without word. "Something is off with Hemmingston....." Erke pointed out as Stowe concurred while everyone mounted themselves to press forward. "He carries feelings for Eivor. Isn't that obvious?", Broder exclaimed with jealousy in his voice that spoke more than he intended, shooting off into the distance after Vili with the others close by. Regardless of the tension- after a long period of time where the men cooled their brow fire, the group caught up to Vili overlooking a massive camp at the base of the mountain with yet another path to the other side, making the blood thirsty Vikingr....

Ready to find answers. 

Previous - Next

[felidaereverse]

tagged by @charlottan yayyy

Favorite books: jesus christ this is a hard first question. almost all are favorites during the moments I read them

Favorite authors: MARY ROACH, Toni Morrison, Alison Bechdel, and I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting at the moment

Favorite genres: SPECULATIVE FICTION, horror, magical realism, GOOD sci-fi & fantasy (very fine line), satire, and graphic novels but also I think graphic novels shouldn't really be their own "genre"

Currently reading: The Firekeeper's Daughter, American Short Fiction 2021 anthology, The Sisters of Dorley, A Raisin in the Sun (actually just finished but I'm still counting it for now until I finish teaching it, aka infinite re-reading)

To-read list: The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World, American Psycho, The Angel Maker, Walking Practice, Fun Home, Giovanni's Room

Loved as a kid: Eragon series, Eon series, The Little Prince, Warriors series, Under the Dome, Atlas of the Human Body, The Silence of the Lambs (who let me check this out from the library at 11 years old???). can you imagine being an author and having this incredible power to so fundamentally shape the way some young person grows into their person-hood? I imagine this is why people become authors in the first place

Preferred book length: 200-300 pages. 400 can be good from some authors if they're really into the worldbuilding, but beyond that gets grating. less than 200 also can be good from some authors, but usually not enough development for me

Couldn't finish: this is hard because I love to hate-read. Their Vicious Games was a book for a YA lit class last semester and it just was soooo lame. fine concept but the author was just missing OPPORTUNITY after OPPORTUNITY to make it actually GREAT..... not even bad enough to hate-read so fuck this book. YA lit is so so so needed for actual kids but I cannot standdddddd most of it now that I've been exposed to more nuanced books

Fiction or nonfiction: weeps. wails. do I really have to answer this one. I guess fiction because I can hold a longer conversation about it with more people, whereas nonfiction usually needs to be a convo with someone who already cares about that niche. Also unfortunately nonfic authors who care about the artistry as much as fiction writers are harder to find

Buy, library, or read online: libgen.rs my best friend libgen.rs :heart: I would be 100% for library tho if only they had the books I actually wanted. but I do go to my library often to study and play on their piano :3

Most-read author, but that I can't recommend: hmm idk if I have one. I have read a LOT of Stephen King :middle_finger: oh also Malcolm Gladwell pisses me off

Favorite book character: hmm who do I still wonder about... a character I still question... Nel and Sula, from Paradise. especially interesting because you have to talk about them both as two halves of a whole character. especially interesting because I don't particularly like them as people. especially interesting because I still feel intimate connections to them as people. I am so absolutely Gripped by the questioning.

Book(s) that got me back into reading again: Watershed by Percival Everett. the kind of book that makes me want to read so badly that I have to WRITE

tagging anyone who wants to do it :))) Hello Book Fans im so curious

[thegreatclowncat]

The results of a Fast

for the last 20ish days I picked something to fast, and so i took the opportunity to stop consuming entertainment: I could only create to keep busy. for the past three years, ive had so much trouble getting myself to do things i wanted to do! i could barely get myself to draw or to craft or to make anything. so i made it my only option.

No videos, unless they were tutorials on something i was currently making or instrumental music. No movies, no tumblr, no pinterest, no video games. The exception to this was that I could engage in all of these when I was hanging out at my bf's house twice per week.

I could only create to keep myself entertained, and let me say, I've never been so entertained in my life.

consumable entertainment was almost impossible to wean myself from before, but apparently dropping everything cold Worked. You know, with the extra backup that i am being watched with omniscience to keep me on track.

it was hard for the first two days. every time i was bored (every 30-60 minutes), instead of going to youtube to see what interesting thing there was, i was forced to pick which activity i would have the most fun with. So far I have started developing an app, learning how to use Godot, and composing creepy chiptune music. i made titanium jewelry. ive been dancing or at least exercising each day. I forgot about youtube and tumblr by day 3 (thank you, non-habit-forming-ness).

one thing that has helped infinitely much is that I got an app to ring a bell and tell me the time every 30 minutes, like the clock tower I used to live by. i no longer lose hours of my day because i cant tell that time is passing.

one thing i wasnt expecting: i usually have a hard time waiting for things. eg if i have to leave in 30 minutes, i find a video to watch or scroll until i leave. or if i have something in 2 hours, i wont try a task that might take too long. now, when i have class in an hour, im like "great i will compose music" or "time to experiment with this makeup powder" until the second i have to go

because im bored! im so bored all the time and theres too much time in a day, but i have many things i can do with my hands and thats the best

the hardest thing to stay away from was video games. towards the end of my fast, i broke it and played spiritfarer for a few days, but i stopped again. and now im logging back in to tumblr send my friends memes.

what's most important is now, when i do these "consumed entertainment" things, my brain asks to go back to creating. I had such a mental high and a giant dopamine return that these consuming-things leave me unsatisfied. which is good! they werent satisfying to begin with, but i was still stuck on them because i didnt know what other options i had.

I will take efforts to restrict my time with consuming entertainment. i will probably let myself look at tumblr like. once per week, maybe even less. I will play video games for 2 hours on non-school days. I dont think i will watch youtube outside of when I am sewing clothes. I tasted freedom and i dont want to lose it again. it was great, and now i am going to make a tune on JummBox

[perfectlyinadequate]

So I beat TotK like a week or so ago, Im just slowly doing shrine cleanup. Some notes on my events of being a garbage fire

Got the master sword before doing any store, no dungeons, no dragon tears, nothing.

Got the royal armor and champion leathers right before that (found in hyrule castle) because.. well yeah.

The second dungeon I did was canonically the last one because I accidentally crashed my airbike (two fans and a control panel) into the island and fell on the shrine right where it starts.

The final boss fight is infinitely cooler than in BotW

And I enjoy the little touch where they changed the blood moon cutscene slightly after a certain point in the game

Spoilers below

So the master sword is on the light dragon's head. I didn't really know, I just knew you could ride the dragons and I wanted to get on the light dragon. I had near max stamina at this point because thats the first thing I do. Apparently the master sword requires 2 full rings of stamina in this and not the 13 hearts. I finagled my way up to it with machinery and charges. Apparently it lowers slightly and becomes so much easier to get to after doing the dragon tears, I did not know this, I am just stubborn.

So I never learned it was zelda dragon, I never watched any of the memories, I just blasted my way up there.

As for the second dungeon being the last on mine, after you do the 4 and small bit after, you unlock the ability to go to the ruins in kakariko, they send you to dracozu lake, you get some armor, do a little thing, and the clouds clear up to the dragons maw sky island where you jump and climb through and eventually fall in the top onto the shrine. If you dont do the dracozu lake stuff, its horribly foggy and you cant see shit. I could not see shit. I crashed my airbike and just fell on the shrine. I had 10 hearts at this point so opened the big door near it and boom, quest start. Got the mech helped

[katkalis-the-fanartist]

Honestly @rendar-writes, I didn't when you asked. Then I thought about it...

I focus mainly on the big daddies, yet...I ended up thinking about this. Delta is probably close to being a normal man, if the alpha series didn't undergo grafting. And I suck at drawing humans, so I instead focused more on Songbird if that's ok!

So👏

I looked around at official art and refs and first considered the frame in the neck or what it could possibly look like if it were in there still:

Then the helmet thing up there inspired me. I came up with my own 3 personal takes, two of which include that helmet. First off, by what we see, this bird is so damn HUGE?

But regardless, with that, my personal takes are:

1. A slightly grafted or mutated person connected to that helmet. Basically the person's limb...brain signals? travel to robotic limbs or something?⬇️

2. If we go the big daddy mutated person route, we'd be dealing with some HUGE monstrosity...I didnt include it here but somewhere in there would need to be something supplying it with oxygen somehow I guess?⬇️

3. No person inside, but someone's actual brain, connected to artificial machinery and sending signals to all artificial limbs and organs. ⬇️

So um, yeah! My personal takes on Songbird in the suit! I'm not great with machinery or shit and a bunch of it is scribbled, but nonetheless I got the ideas down!👍