actually now that i think about it it pisses me off SO much that nintendo was hyping TotK as "incredibly dark" story-wise, and then having an ending that erases all of that built up tension by (SPOILER) restoring zelda and giving link his own arm back (even tho rauru said he had to REPLACE IT LIKE???)
i think a better way to end it would've been having zelda unable to transform back, HOWEVER, they were able to restore her sense of self and ability to speak-- she could no longer live among mortals but at least everyone could find closure through it
if not that, then turn her back but not all the way, have her keep draconic traits that will never let her be identified as just hylian ever again, they could even give her minor amnesia and set up an implied post-game link-taking-care-of-her/restoring-her-memory thing
and link's arm should've at the very least been scarred to hell if it HAD to be "restored"
i still think he should've kept rauru's arm tbh
anyway, back on topic, TotK NEVER gave me an emotional heartstring jerk the same way Midna's Lament, the credits scenes of MM, or Byrne's sacrifice all made me feel. and these moments are all in different games, spirit tracks arguably being the most lighthearted in the series
there were PLENTY of moments of AWE in TotK-- the leadup to the Wind Temple and Colgera, Rauru's sacrifice, Ganondorf's fight-- but not one single moment made me actively sad outside of dragon tear 13-- before i knew zelda would be fine
"but Cy, Midna was fine in TP so it's the same as zelda in TotK" yeah, but at the end of the game she still ends up sacrificing her connection to the light for the sake of protecting everyone she'd come to care about, plus the emotional weight of Midna's Lament was so much stronger because it was happening IN THE PRESENT. in my first playthrough, i assumed that segment was timed in some fashion which added to my stress and worry for midna, making the scene leagues more impactful
at the end of the day, there isn't one single thing that happened in TotK that was sad AND lasting. lurelin falls, but nobody's harmed and you can restore it. the four regions have mini calamities on their hands, but beating the temples reverses ALL their effects. you can argue that there is lasting effects on hyrule-- namely being chunks of sky rock plunged into the surface-- but that's not sad, it's just unfortunate
nothing in TotK REMAINS dark, and that's what bothers me the most about nintendo saying it's "the darkest in the series" because it's a bold-faced fucking lie
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So I made this post -> x and now that I think about it…. I don’t think Mav has ever slept alone in that bed
The thing is… they were together when they got the house, sure, technically it was under Ice’s name, and Mav still had his apartment, but it was theirs, they chose it together, they walked through the door together. The house was beautiful, it was one of those houses that Pete would pass on the street when he was a kid and think about what kind of fancy people lived there, people fancier than him that’s for sure, they had seen it before but now, all done and ready to welcome them, it was amazing, Pete was almost overwhelmed, trying to catch his breath while also trying to take on every little detail around him. Ice quietly wrapped his arms around him from behind, leaning in to kiss his neck “You like it?” Pete let out a laugh “Like it? I love it” he turned around to look at him “I love you” Ice picked him up as if he didn’t weight anything, fucker, and carried him all the way up the stairs, he opened the door to their bedroom, their bedroom, and he carefully dropped Mav on their bed, it was sweet, and domestic, and everything that Mav never thought he would ever get to have. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, there’s that little red light that is constantly reminding him that he needs to be careful with this, no one can actually know, but at that moment it didn’t matter, they were alone, in their bed, in their room, in their house. They were there together from day one.
Everyone fights, they’ve fought many times over the years, but they’ve never slept in separate beds after a fight, it never mattered how angry and frustrated they were, it’s their bed. There was one time, it was a long time ago, Mav can’t even remember what they were fighting about, something stupid for sure, something that just got a bit out of hand, whatever it was it was bad enough to make Ice slam the door as he left the house in the middle of the night, Mav stood there frozen for a second, he slowly grabbed a cushion from the couch and screamed into it, he sank to his knees as he let out all his tears and frustration, he eventually walked back to their bedroom, he stood at the door for a while, just staring at the bed, Ice wasn’t back, he thought about it but it just felt weird, it felt wrong, lonely, so he grabbed a blanket and made his way to the couch, it was a very nice couch, still not good enough to sleep through the whole night, but he was not gonna sleep in their bed alone. He does wake up there though, wrapped in Ice’s arms, Ice was awake, half awake at least, just running his fingers up and down Mav’s spine, taking in the warmth of the morning sun, Mav snuggled closer and whispered “I’m sorry” right into his neck, Ice kissed his head and nodded “I know, I’m sorry too, we’ll talk about it later” much, much later.
Mav never slept in their bed when Ice was out for work, he tried, he really did, but he can’t, it’s a whole thing, he rolls around for hours, he looks at the ceiling, he reaches over to Ice’s side only to find nothing there, at least in the couch he can get a few hours of sleep. When Bradley moved in with them Mav never considered that it might be weird for him to see Mav sleeping in the couch, it was a bit of a habit by now, so when Bradley wakes him up one day and asks “why are you sleeping in the couch? your bed is really really big” Mav realizes that he’s never had to explain this to anyone “well… I guess I’m just not used to sleeping alone in that bed” and that’s it. That night, as Mav is walking to the couch, he’s intercepted by Bradley, the kid takes his hand and leads him straight back to his bedroom, they get inside the bed and he says goodnight, he doesn’t let go of his hand until the next morning. It still takes him a few hours to fall asleep but it’s better than the couch.
The first time Ice gets sick Mav never wants to leave his side, he never wants to waste a second, except at night, that’s when he struggles the most, he lets Ice fall asleep next to him and then he leaves. He’s not sure why he does it, that’s actually a lie, there’s just a lot going on, he doesn’t want to disturb Ice, he doesn’t want Ice to hear him cry, he doesn’t want Ice to worry about him, to comfort him, he shouldn’t, Mav isn’t the one that has fucking cancer, Mav shouldn’t be causing problems. After a while it becomes obvious that he’s not sleeping very well, I’ve noticed, of course he does, but he also knows that this won’t really be solved with a conversation, so I’ve wraps his arms around him, Mav is taken by surprise, he was still waiting for Ice to fall asleep, they haven’t done this in a while, he’s been avoiding this, mostly because he just wants Ice to rest, but when Ice kisses his forehead and whispers “You’re gonna hurt your back, old man, just stay here, it’ll be ok” he understands that he can’t let Ice in their bed alone either.
They come back alive, Mav lives but then it hits him… Ice is dead. The house was already a struggle, so quiet and and big and lonely, he walks through the hallways and everything reminds him of Ice, but the moment he walks into their bedroom he looses it, it’s just as Ice would’ve left it on any normal day, it’s painful because his glasses are on his nightstand but no one’s there to wear them, and his book will be left unfinished, and his pajamas will be folded for god knows how long , and Ice is never going to step inside that room again. He sleeps on the couch, well, sleeps is an overstatement, he closed his eyes for a few minutes and the sun suddenly came up, his back hurts, his eyes hurt, his heart is broken but he will not sleep on that bed.
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Effloresce snippet
Whatever they were doing, they’d been out there all night- warrior’s sworn to her family, recklessly pulled from one nation to another- they were there on the ground, absolutely motionless. Had held the same positions for so long she could see dew, gathering across the folding shape of a battalions worth of wings.
Weakness, it was pure weakness to wish Cassian with her, but Nesta felt it.
Longed to turn from this newest disaster, whatever it was, see his eyes bright despite everything.
There had never been room for weakness in her life.
Nesta dropped her skirt, velvet settling audible on the grass, stopped before the only member of this party whose name she knew.
She’d learn them all- she would, hated that she had not already.
“Captain.”
He did not look up. Move, those great verdigris wings drawn down so tight Nesta would have expected entrapment were they anywhere else.
“It has been my honor,” Koram announced, fist over his heart white-knuckled, “To serve your house, my lady.”
“It has been our honor to call you Archeron,” Nesta’s mouth answered, numb. Ritual and rote. When no reply came, she continued. “We do not penalize contracts broken. Not for this. If you wish to leave and join the rallying of the army in the mountains. To”-
Clear, distinct, Kali, a full arms length of constant presence away, sucked in a breath.
From above, it was easy to see the muscle, jumping on Koram’s jaw. “We would die here, Lady Archeron. With some honor left.”
It took too long, seconds, to understand it was a plea. A genuine question of mercy.
Nesta shook her head. “No one is dying. No one else. You never have to go back to the Night Court’s armies, as far as I’m concerned.”
No wind, no air, no answers, until Kali risked that closer step, not even the beads of her braids chiming together. “Lady Archeron, if I may?”
Her head hurt. Her heart, her throat, her damned leg- it hurt to stand here and it infuriated her not to know what the hell was happening. Nesta seized her dragging dress again. “Yes, this way.”
It was no comfort, to breathe in rosy mist, the transplanted green scent of a hundred continental plants in a garden her grandmother had never gotten to see.
“What are they doing?”
Surprise looked cataclysmic on the older woman’s face, starker for the rippling tattoos along her hairline. “Waiting to die.”
The books had left out too much. “Why?”
Kali blinked, and after a moment, settled into a posture Nesta hatefully could not fail to recognize as familiar, three seconds of motion away from Cassian’s formal salute. “They lost two of their charges, my lady. Two girls.”
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