#but i kept getting interrupted and losing my train od thought

[risingsouls]

🦎 do you think ganondorf obtaining the triforce would've altered how nabs' recruited verse goes?

A 🦎 For My Work Thoughts || Always Accepting!

[Oooooo now that's an interesting question! I'll have to think about this one. Aka ramble and make no sense until I settle on something.

Overall, yes, I think it would absolutely change things. I'll start with the easy idea of Ganondorf getting his wish to take over Hyrule for the Gerudo (or some version of this) instead of it breaking as it actually does in canon. Just for funsies. Basically, this would mean that Frieza would lose negotiation leverage in some respects because the Gerudo don't NEED his help at this point. Or, at least, they wouldn't be as desperate for an "alliance." So I can see this going one of two ways (maybe a bonus four but I'll get to that).

First, they would still make an agreement with Frieza, the Gerudo would learn to use ki and gain the force's "protection" in return for an alliance and sharing the resources of the planet with the Empire, including soldiers. So basically what they agree to in the AU as it currently stands, only on SLIGHTLY more equal footing and less in desperation. In this case, Nabooru would still likely be recruited, either for the same reasons for punishment for treason as, by that point, she would have openly opposed Ganondorf and given him her ultimatum. So, if she wasn't executed for that (which even in my LoZ verses I HC that the Elite decide to give her a chance to live at least with taking the Cave of Ordeals challenge), this would act basically as a quasi exile and punishment. This arrangement has maybe SLIGHTLY less chance of the planet and the Gerudo being destroyed, but Ganondorf is Ganondorf. I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to rebel down the road and shirk off the Empire's hold. For better or worse. Which would be an interesting narrative to play with tbh.

HOWEVER. Since the Triforce would definitely break as it does in canon, it's harder to say how things would go down if he had the Triforce of Power at his disposal because it's very apparent it makes him extremely powerful and next to immortal, but stacking that up to the likes of Frieza is hard to do. There could still be potential for negotiations to learn ki for their benefit and to give Ganondorf EVEN MORE power in that regard and then trying to use that to try and betray the Empire down the road, if he wouldnt outright fight a takeover. But success on that front is up in the air because it's so hard to say just how powerful the Triforce of Power is. It would definitely be easy for Ganondorf to keep secret since I imagine the power it gives him is divine and couldn't be picked up by a scouter. So it definitely throws some interesting what ifs into the equation that could be super fun to explore.

For Nabs in that situation, she would probably be in a similar situation of some kind of punishment (if she hasn't potentially been brainwashed at this point which is also true of the other scenario tbh 😬😬). That's said, it could either mean she could he up for recruitment again, serving out some kind of punishment, OR she's a brainwashed, loyal servant of Ganondorf. So not great for her.

The bonus I talked about that could effect all of these is how Link and Zelda play in. If there is any alliance or ki training involved, they wouldn't fare well for obvious reasons. However, things would likely play out similarly to OoT canon if Ganondorf refused Frieza's aid (if not worse for him since he would be fighting two forces at that point). This is again dependent on how powerful the Triforce of Power makes him, but even if it was enough to stave off the Empire, Destiny says a princess and a hero with a magic sword can still seal him away. But there are also variables in THAT to explore, too.

Idk if I made a lick of sense in any of that. But in a nutshell, I think that the Triforce getting got before Frieza's invasion would change at the very least the power play dynamic of how the terms get negotiated as there would be less desperation because, in either scenario, Ganondorf is able to take what he wants himself, so the extra soldiers and ki training would be more of a bonus than a necessity. Where it goes from there, whether there's an agreement or he spurns Frieza, is really where things get dicey to figure out but VERY interesting to consider. I do enjoy a good what if game so yeah.

The sad thing is no option seems to give Nabs anything good. 🥲 She's just kind of screwed.]

[bonshaquitalafawndreeah]

A bandwagoner’s ode to the Cubs

Let’s get one thing straight right away: I am absolutely not a sports fan. I hated sports most of my life because they made me feel excluded. I couldn’t catch or throw a ball or comprehend strategy. I was consistently picked last in gym class and then shunned by my classmates for making them lose a game of flag football. This made me a very bitter, non participatory person. I’m that basic betch who jokes about a football game interrupting the Beyoncé concert during the super bowl. I declare that I wish both teams could lose when the Bears play the Packers and I’m forced to watch. I don’t even join in at cookouts when people start playing bags. (And I’m sure by now you’re thinking, “wow, you must be fun at parties.”)

I am NOT a fan of sports, but I am a fan of the Chicago Cubs.

Or at least I’m something adjacent to being a fan. (I am somewhere in the “ballpark” if you will.) Is it fair to lump me in with people who bleed Cubbie Blue and can recite rosters from the 90’s? God no! I am a casual admirer at best and although I come from a long line of Cub fans I admittedly payed zero attention to the sport until the 2016 World Series. You could say I’m a bandwagoner but I’m even worse than that. Even after they won the first World Series in 108 years I was still not super interested in sitting through a game. It wasn’t until my husband dragged me to Wrigley under the guise of “spending a day together in the city” that I realized there’s something truly magical about the experience.

Maybe I also happened to be in a magical season of life. We were newlyweds and the World Series win coincided with our honeymoon. My husband wore a Cubs cap to every bar and restaurant and we were congratulated by every person we met. People who had never even been to Illinois were so happy and excited for us. I was buzzing with the kind of pride you feel when something newsworthy happens in your hometown.

I grew up two hours away from Chicago, but moved to the suburbs around 2016. During that chapter, it felt like the entire world was opening up for me and everything was exciting. I had just gotten the job I used to dream about and had coworkers that would quickly start to feel like family. On weekends David and I would take the train from Glen Ellyn to the city. As I sipped a coffee and watched the scenery roll by I couldn’t believe my luck. A friendless little girl from the boonies had found a little community she could thrive in, and it was all next door to one of the world’s greatest cities.

That first Cubs game felt like a fairy tale. I knew I would enjoy drinking beer and eating a hot dog, but I planned on being bored by the rest of it. I didn’t expect to immediately fall in love with the charm of Wrigleyville. Everyone in the stadium was twinkle-in-their-eyes friendly. The blooper reels were cute and funny. Anthony Rizzo stepped to the plate while “Bad Blood” by Taylor Swift blasted and won my heart forever. I developed a genuine investment in the outcome of the game and cheered and groaned with gusto. I somehow got to watch them win that day and we jumped up and down and sang “go Cubs go” as though we had accomplished something incredible. As we left our seats I was grinning from ear to ear like a little kid. We stopped for drinks at the Cubbie Bear and I told David I had just accidentally discovered my favorite thing to do in Chicago.

Over the years we went to a few more games. Sometimes we went alone. Other times we brought David’s family. Once we dragged along a good friend who was moving across the country the next day, and another who had just finished an overnight shift. Once we went in early April and it was so cold and rainy that I bought a souvenir blanket for $50. I wore it around my shoulders like a cape in every place we stopped. For the very first time, I understood why people passionately love and defend their teams.

In 2019 we didn’t go to any games because my mental health took a nosedive. I was having panic attacks daily and for whatever reason they were most severe when I was in a car, or basically any place where I couldn’t step away “if I really needed to.” I was pretty scary to be around. I spent the summer going to therapy and sitting around at home waiting to snap out of it. The thought of surviving a train ride or a day in a packed stadium made me queasy.

But I always said that the first thing I wanted to do when I started feeling better was go back to Wrigley. I knew that this extra special era for the Cubs would be short-lived. The current team was really entertaining to watch. They had star power that would be hard to replace and they probably wouldn’t stick around forever. I could never love baseball for stats and numbers and performance metrics. I loved the feeling of joy that these players brought.

At the start of 2020 I was doing so much better and was really excited to get back out there. I couldn’t wait to do all the things that I had caused us to miss. And then, as you know... the rest of 2020 happened.

Going to a game was at the top of my summer 2021 bucket list. But work, birthdays, and family kept pushing it back. We were finally supposed to go to a game in mid-July and it was rained out and rescheduled for September.

And this past weekend the entire core of the Cubs was traded away to other teams. Never in a hundred million trillion years did I expect to be the person to care about this, but I’ve been in mourning all weekend.

For this fair-weather fan, Javy, KB, And Rizzo made sports feel approachable and fun. As someone who DOES NOT SPORT at all, I never believed that I deserved a place in that world, but I felt welcome in the little world they created. The absence of their personalities is going to hurt. A big part of me wonders If I’m better off leaving Wrigley behind me, a rose colored memory of being young and happy in my favorite city and believing that magical things can last forever.

I’m sure we’ll go back for a game again some day. But who knows who will be on the roster then? Or if we’ll have a baby in tow. It’ll be a far cry from stacking towers out of our empty beer cups, swooning over Kris Bryant, and knowing that you have all the time in the world to recreate the fun again and again.

So to wrap this thing up in a way that makes it all about meeeeeee...

The disbanding of this group feels deeply personal. Like I’m leaving behind a slightly more innocent chapter, where I could believe my city and my team were the very best and always would be. And just as they’re moving on to new and necessary adventures, my next chapter will likely be something much more realistic and adult.

But it was sure fun while it lasted.