#if you read this all the way through

[insertcoolermonikerhere]

Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom theory about the secret stones and the elemental dragons in Breath of the Wild that I'm entirely unsure if anyone else has already said

Spoilers ahead for Tears of the Kingdom. I'm not yet sure what exactly for, but I've played through everything but the final boss fight.

Not putting this under a read more because I know I find it annoying as all hell to have to click away to a different page, just keep scrolling to avoid spoilers. Sorry.

so anyway we know there are only meant to seven secret stones (zelda's is a copy of rauru's from the distant past so there's a point in time where there are eight (during zelda's stint as the sage of time in the distant past) and a point where there are only six (during the game play of totk)

seven is a weird number to have, if only because the only significance I can attach to it is the fact that in botw there were seven settlements across hyrule prior to the side quest for tarrey town (kakariko village, hateno village, lurelin village, rito village, goron city, zora's domain, gerudo town), and I haven't come across anything that describes the number as sacred to either the zonai or the hylians (if anything, it would make sense for the hylian's sacred number to be three [triforce, the three goddesses, and it botw and totk the three elemental dragons]).

plus, draconification is a known thing, which is odd because it's at least a partially documented phenomenon hasn't faded into mythos, which means either a) a single entity was dracinfied with recent memory, or b) (and what I think to be more likely) multiple people have been draconified.

PLUS even PRIOR to totk (and zelda's subsequent time travel + rearrangement of hyrule [the depths, the sky islands, both things I believe have been sealed over and brought down to earth respectively in the timeline BEFORE zelda messed with it and were purposefully left accessible because she mentioned it would be useful for Link to have access to these things in the future in the timeline she altered), we had three (again, maybe a sacred number) elemental dragons VERY clearly named after or in inspiration of the goddesses of the triforce (farore to farosh, nayru to naydra, din to dinraal).

THEREFORE it isn't a massive leap to assume there were originally ten secret stones and three were consumed, turning three PEOPLE into three DRAGONS.

my theory is that the three elemental dragons used to be three high priestesses or priests to the three goddesses of the triforce.

presumably, each had a secret stone either as an acknowledgement of their rank to amplify their potential abilities (lightning, frost, fire) for rituals. i think it would make the most sense for them to have the abilities to being with, but not necessarily for said abilities to be associated with each goddess or dragon until later.

maybe they swallowed the stones as a ritual, and didn't know what would happen, or maybe they DID and the goal was some kind of martyrdom.

the high priest/ess thing also explains the names; they could be titles or maybe they had the names changed once they rose to rank.

either way, these three hypothetical priest/esses to the the three goddesses of the triforce eat the secret stones and become the three dragons we see in botw and totk.

which would MEAN that originally, there were TEN secret stones. the only issue with this theory is that the chamber behind the great goddess statue in the forgotten temple only has slots for seven stones, but it's possible the draconification of the priestesses happened before that.

and of course i have OTHER theories that i'm ALSO going to put here because i'm NORMAL like that.

I've typically associated farore (and farosh) as courage with the hylian race because of link's reincarnation, din (and dinraal) as power with the gerudo because of ganon, and nayru (and naydra) with the sheikah, because more often that not we get an impa in the game, even though she isn't technically tied to the cycle. which leaves hylia with zelda, which i think makes sense in its own right, because i'm under the belief that hylia was an entirely hylian-made goddess, just like the hyrulean royal family was an entirely hylian-made heirarchy that the other races of hyrule accepted after a while. and obviously, farora and farosh have faron, nayru and naydra have lanayru, but where is din and dinraal's named area? dinraal travels over akkala, not anywhere named after either the dragon or the goddess.

i have more theories. they're gonna go here, too

in keeping with my association of the goddesses with hyrulean races, i think they imbue each incarnation with their respective power (why impa is always in a position of advisor to the princess, why the princess has kept her sealing powers this long after hylia became mortal, why link is so powerful and so hard to kill, and why ganondorg just Keeps Coming Back), and that every time ganondorf goes from incarnation of power and din to the ganondorf we have to fight in the games, it's actually demise, latching onto the reincarnation cycle and slowly corrupting him. and of COURSE demise would go for the goddess of power, especially when the gerudo are so helpfully isolated from the rest of hyrule. so, sometime shortly after he was defeated, demise latched onto din and onto ganondorf through the reincarnation cycle, which is why i think din and dinraal don't have a place in hyrule named after them.

the gerudo desert is the gerudo desert, but why not akkala? i tihnk it's just because dinraal never stays in the same place long enough for people to really start to associate her with a location. obviously, the springs of courage and wisdom are located in the regions named after their respective goddesses, but i think the spring of power is in akkala simply because it's easier for hylians to access, and they'd need permission from a different goverment to build a temple on gerudo land.

and it's in akkala because it's one of the two locations LOOSELY associated with dinraal. i think dinraal would fly over the gerudo desert more between ganondorf's reincarnations, but when he's around and demise is there too, corrupting din's power (the goddess the priestess dinraal used to be used to serve and still draws some power from), she goes elsewhere to avoid being corrupted too, like we see in naydra in botw.

i don't know how to end this but know that i have more PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ask me about this stuff i love to ramble. i'm more into dc and tmnt overall but botw/totk is where all my theorising and thinking capacity goes 90% of the time

[rosicheeks]

🥺

[inkskinned]

the thing is there's like, a point of oversaturation for everything, and it's why so many things get dropped after a few minutes. and we act like millennials or gen z kids "have short attention spans" but... that's not quite it. it's more like - we did like it. you just ruined it.

capitalism sees product A having moderate success, and then everything has to come out with their "own version" of product A (which is often exactly the same). and they dump extreme amounts of money and environmental waste into each horrible simulacrum they trot out each season.

now it's not just tiktokkers making videos; it's that instagram and even fucking tumblr both think you want live feeds and video-first programming. and it helps them, because videos are easier to sneak native ads into. the books coming out all have to have 78 buzzwords in them for SEO, or otherwise they don't get published. they are making a live-action remake of moana. i haven't googled it, but there's probably another marvel or starwars something coming out, no matter when you're reading this post.

and we are like "hi, this clone of project A completely misses the point of the original. it is soulless and colorless and miserable." and the company nods and says "yes totally. here is a different clone, but special." and we look at clone 2 and we say "nope, this one is still flat and bad, y'all" and they're like "no, totally, we hear you," and then they make another clone but this time it's, like, a joyless prequel. and by the time they've successfully rolled out "clone 89", the market is incredibly oversaturated, and the consumer is blamed because the company isn't turning a profit.

and like - take even something digital like the tumblr "live streaming" function i just mentioned. that has to take up server space and some amount of carbon footprint; just so this brokenass blue hellsite can roll out a feature that literally none of its userbase actually wants. the thing that's the kicker here: even something that doesn't have a physical production plant still impacts the environment.

and it all just feels like it's rolling out of control because like, you watch companies pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into a remake of a remake of something nobody wants anymore and you're like, not able to afford eggs anymore. and you tell the company that really what you want is a good story about survival and they say "okay so you mean a YA white protagonist has some kind of 'spicy' love triangle" and you're like - hey man i think you're misunderstanding the point of storytelling but they've already printed 76 versions of "city of blood and magic" and "queen of diamond rule" and spent literally millions of dollars on the movie "Candy Crush Killer: Coming to Eat You".

it's like being stuck in a room with a clown that keeps telling the same joke over and over but it's worse every time. and that would be fine but he keeps fucking charging you 6.99. and you keep being like "no, i know it made me laugh the first time, but that's because it was different and new" and the clown is just aggressively sitting there saying "well! plenty of people like my jokes! the reason you're bored of this is because maybe there's something wrong with you!"

[commsroom]

the u.s.s. horrible unending nightmare 💥 (once again from the incredible @hehearse)

[gin-juice-tonic]

to be continued after errands...

(next)

[stairset]

I do feel like the way Kyoshi was written in the Avatar reboot was lowkey influenced by the fandom's perception of her. Cause like in the original show she's really just portrayed as a pragmatist who's willing to kill if necessary. Like Aang is conflicted about killing the Fire Lord and she's like "well if I were in your position I'd do it but that's just me. Good luck." And then people started making memes where she's like a murderous psychopath who thinks extreme violence is always the solution. And it was funny at first cause it was just exaggerating for comedy but now everyone thinks she was actually like that in the show when she really wasn't. And then in the remake her introductory scene is her angrily yelling at this 12 year old that he needs to stop being a little pussy and be a ruthless warrior or whatever and the only explanation I can think of is that someone in the writer's room maybe looked at a few too many of those memes.

[ghostespresso]

staff logging on to tumblr dot com today

[litt1e-prince]

"Who's your friend, MK?"

INSPIRED BY THE FIC: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46162438/chapters/116212117

Which, if you 'haven't read yet- why not?? go read it now!! It's literally so good, its so good- had me crying- LIKE. I WANNA FIGHT WUKONG FROM THIS FIC SOOOO BAD but at the same time,,, i wanna hug him and bring him nice things and make sure he's safe and happy! The author writes so amazingly and aaaah! the pain!!!!

[crow-with-a-pencil]

Hi @naffeclipse I'm very normal about your fic. Have some frantic midnight sketches as extra kudos along with some tag rambling :)

[ogachukwu-the-freak]

Can't fucking stand Black Butler antis, YES my favorite scene was the fucking asthma scene bitch AND???? I'M WEIRD? WHY DID YOU WATCH AN ANIME WITH CLEARLY SUGGESTIVE SCENES LIKE THAT HUH???

SPEAK UP.

[ghost-bxrd]

I’ve been getting really into magical stuff recently and also DC so I’m just gonna drop this here:

Fae Dick Grayson

F A E

okay so fae stories are special to me because I grew up on hearing pagan folklore and fairytales about fae and fae adjacent creatures as good night stories so hooo boy yes I adore that trope! (I mean, I made Dick a Banshee in my fic Shuck so… hehe)

Anyway, Fae Dick Grayson! There’s just so many things you can do with it ✨

Robin appears from one day to the next, following in Batman’s shadow like a mischievous sprite, so honestly rumors have been going wild about him since day one. Robin actually being something non-human doesn’t really come as a surprise!

The fae folk are known for being awfully good at blending in with regular humans when they put their mind to it, the only thing that puts them apart (in most stories) is their otherworldly beauty, and Dick Grayson? Well, he’s definitely got that in abundance.

Just sometimes, when the light reflects off a surface in just the right way, when someone pours a glass of water and you happen to look right through the spray, or when you think you catch a glimpse of something out of the corner of your eye and you spin around— but there’s only Dick Grayson, even if a second ago you could have sworn you saw eyes where there weren’t supposed to be any; colors that aren’t supposed to exist; feathers where only skin has any right to be.

And, gods, all the talking. Dick is terrifyingly good at talking to people without actually saying anything, to the point where you walk away from the conversation feeling utterly drained after spilling your entire life story but when you think back on it— you can’t remember him ever telling you anything about himself. You know there were the usual pleasantries of “hi” and “nice to meet you” and “how are you doing?” but anything beyond that just kinda… seemed to spill out of you? It’s very strange. It’s very unnerving. By the end of the evening you other convince yourself you’re overreacting or you simply push the incident out of your mind altogether.

And there’s another thing about Dick. His name.

He only ever introduces himself as Dick Grayson/Robin. Never Richard. Never. Especially not Richard John. Names are sacred for the fae folk, names have power, so while Richard John Grayson may not be Dick’s true name, he treats it as such to honor his parents. None are allowed to use it. None except Bruce or Alfred on special occasion.

Of course, Dick’s “true” name isn’t exactly a secret so when someone does happen to use it… well, Dick may be… other… but he’s still intrinsically good in a way many of his kind don’t have the patience to be. Dick judges on a case by case basis, just like his parents and Bruce taught him. And usually people do not mean it maliciously when they use his name so he kindly corrects them and that’s that. But oh man, if they still insist on calling him “Richard”? Well..

“Oh no, it seems your credit card is being declined, sir!”

“Sheesh, you tripped over a root? In Gotham?!”

“What do you mean ten birds flew into your window last night? You live on floor level!”

“Dude I’m telling you that rash doesn’t look normal.”

“I… don’t think crows are supposed to follow you like that.”

It’s little things (most of the time, unless you really pissed Dick off) but they keep piling up, slowly driving you insane. You feel like you’re being watched, but it’s just a bird sitting on the window sill again. You feel like someone moved all your furniture just slightly to the right even tho you checked all the cameras.

The fae are kind, but they are also vindictive when crossed.

(Thanks to Bruce, however, I think Dick’s bouts of “vengeance” rarely go much farther than that though.)

Dang ok that ended up being an entire rant… wow. Anyway, yeah. Fae.

[bunnyhysteria]

does anyone wanna talk about how the fandom has hyper projected onto shen yuan and went the mile with at least a leap of interruptation of one line yet turn a blind eye to the rest of canon?

specifically I'm talkin about the broke american college studentification of shen yuan coupled with the fanon that he's chronically ill. these are two beasts of their own and should be tackled differently so I will.

I personally and strongly disagree with how a lot of fanon portrays shen yuan with messy hair, a large hoodie, disgustin room, and general I guess losercore aesthetics lmao. and now I'm even wondering if he was explicitly a college student or if it was just fanon based on that he's at least 20 years old. I feel this is a mental image constructed not from canon, but the idea of what kind of person would be his age and show his behaviour online... from a western perspective.

I believe that he would be far more put together, especially as he is a rich pretty boy in modern china. the difference in acceptable levels of casual, especially for a son of a very wealthy family, are much different between america and china. honestly I do find it a bit sad I wear a slightly frilly button up shirt and a short skirt and suddenly I'm a model in my area but I digress. I definitely think that shen yuan would probably even be actively into street fashion, give how well he seems to take to shen qingqiu's own pretty boy life. I also have a hard time believin that such a low life style person would readily take to the upkeep and demands of life as an immortal master with specialty in the fine arts.

there's also something to say about his resemblance to shen qingqiu (re: mushroom body), as well as I've seen some people claim that shen yuan was tall due to his lack of reaction nor stumbling with his new towering height. while the two adaptions I know if depict him with short hair, I think he could have readily had longer hair as well, maybe shoulder or so length. if "not reacting" is grounds to stand on (which is also used for the chronically ill headcanon), one could reasonably point out he doesn't seem to have any trouble with his now waist length locks. even slowly growing out my hair I'm having shocks to what the life entails, so I can't imagine being fully chill with sudden long hair. however, with the it's modern china argument for fashion, it is most reasonable he'd have short hair.

and yet, despite all this evidence in favour of a distinguished shen yuan ignored, the fandom took his pretty boy waiting to die line and ran with it, hard. I have been told this was due to a fan translation note implying that it could have hinted to chronic illness, and it was instead warped as fact of what the line was trying to say. I've also seen the lack of reaction claim used on him supposedly adjusting very well to living with without a cure, often paralleled to some people's chronic illnesses. this is a fair headcanon and is not really a problem on it's own. I just want to speak my thoughts on it, especially in contrast to the other popular fanon arising from ignoring a fair bit of canon implications and then taking one that most likely was not even in that direction as gospel.

first and foremost, as a disabled person myself, I find a lot of fandom depiction of chronic illness to be very divorced from reality, used to play into the losercore vibe, often just thrown in there with feelin like the creator forgot they gave him a disability only to suddenly write a single sentence goin "look! he's disabled!", and worse of all as if it could be his only justification for wasting his life away on the internet.

I once read a fanfic that seemed to just list a bunch of things he had or did because of his disability in a very list-like way, but a believable combination enough to presume they at least knew someone disabled, only to leave his cane at home after establishing his unamed illness with 50 symptoms could suddenly k.o. him at any time. not only did nothing happen while he was out, I question why someone of his status yet so severely disabled would not have an ambulatory wheelchair.

I also question the lack of mental illness present in many fanfics. this is not only due to that chronic illness does not really exist independently of mental illness, but I feel that shen yuan is canonically very mentally ill. not only is he wasting his life away with no purpose, heavily implied to be neglected, but he immediately accepts and welcomes a foreign life with no consideration of going back. many people write fanfics of shen yuan pressed about his identity and wishing to be seen for him, but as I've noticed and have pointed out to me by others, that's just not the case. there is no canon reveal because there is no identity conflict. he may divorce himself from shen jiu adamantly, but he marries himself quite well to shen qingqiu, readily switchin how to refer to himself near instantly.

I also feel there's something to say about how he's not only welcoming a foreign world, but one with severe danger that he has to face. and what does he do? dissociates like hell. it takes him a couple books before he even sees those around him as people! I also feel that him not even recognizin that he was cryin from literally ripping a chunk of his own leg out until binghe pointed it out speaks volumes. he let binghe rawdog him in a craze with excruciatin pain that literally killed him and was like "yea this is fine ah what do you mean there's a chance binghe might be dead when I get back noo". could even make an argument that his ignorance to his harem is more than just comphet, but also believin that he wouldn't have value to others in that way. his value is his status: a status he didn't earn and has never earned.

I don't know. I feel there's a lot more to shen yuan than the fandom looks at or rather the fandom digs into things that aren't even there as if it's the penacle of his character. I wanna see more exploration of shen yuan as he is rather than what the fandom wants him to be. or at least to me, his pretty rich boy complex feels far more interestin than the hundredth "oh yea he's chronically ill" shoved in for little to no reason other than they can't comprehend his behaviour without it. as if to say "well if only he could physically do other things, he would. he's not like those losers who can't get a grip of themselves." completely ignorin the depths of mental illness they could explore. it feels both saneist and ableist, in different directions. he's only so pathetic because he's physically disabled. that he can't be any other way, otherwise he's just not likeable.

like give him a couple personality disorders to explore his behaviour with or something! show how he's actually so used to playing pretty composed rich boy in public and that's why he so easily slipped into his idea of shen qingqiu! something!! anything!!!

[thebestbooksaround]

Me reading a recipe, *combine all ingredients—*

Me: Done! What's next?

*—except this ingredient*

Me:

[paintpanic]

[symbologic]

Law thought he'd need to change the world to honor Cora's sacrifice

But he was already living Cora's legacy: Simply by being with the people he loves, the family he created for himself in the wake of Cora setting him free

You'd almost expect Law to wander alone for years after Cora's death. And in a different story? I think that's likely what would've happened so the MC could finally show him what love means

But Law met Bepo and the others within a few days of Cora's death

And so Law fulfilled Cora's dying wish — continued to fulfill that wish everyday after that, even — without ever realizing it. There is something so devastatingly beautiful about that

[incorrect-hs-quotes]

TT: You're not ascending to godhood, you're just dehydrated.

TG: outta my way gayboy im boutta libarwte my divine seof from this mortsl shell

--- tipsyGnostalgic [TG] is now an idle chum! ---

--- tipsyGnostalgic [TG] is no longer idle! ---

TG: h

TG: hopital