#like i keep saying this but i got the master sword after getting the third sage. so by the time the zelda puppet plot twist happened not

[timegears-moved]

OMG IM GLAD IM NOT THE ONLY ONE BOTHERED BY PARTS OF TOTKS STORY LOLL I am not a fan of the sages at all

YEAH THE STORY IS MY BIGGEST COMPLAINT. and absolutely agreed on the sage stuff. i like the new sages because of my attachment to them from botw but as far as the actual sage plotline goes i don't give any shits about it.

[starry-bi-sky]

Danielle and Danyal's meeting... very, very quickly goes very sour from, basically, the moment Danny steps into his room and finds Ellie sitting on his bed (strike one) and reading the comic books Tucker introduced him to (strike two). By the time she's looked up to address him, Danny has the door locked, and a hand hovering near the knife hidden under his shirt.

She gets her third strike when Danny, in a voice that could make the mountains tremble, demands to know how she got into his room, and she lies (with uncertainty of her decision growing in her chest) that Jazz let her in. Danny's hand shifts closer to his weapon, and he turns towards her fully, and says that Jazz would never let someone he didn’t know into his room, and who was she.

(Vlad Masters had underprepared Danielle for her meeting with Danny -- not out of any completely direct malicious intent, but he failed to mention just how... 'touchy' Daniel could be -- he failed to mention the scars littering up his arms, unhidden by the hoodie tee he meets Ellie in. He failed to mention that along with those scars, that Danny was visibly lean, capable of doing very real damage without the use of his powers.)

(He tells Ellie that he’s adopted, and that he is observant and clever, but ungrateful and has a bad attitude.)

Her final strike occurs when Ellie, trying to keep her facade of cheeriness, tells him that she’s his third cousin once removed. Immediately, Danny has his dagger pulled out, and Ellie finds herself with the cold metal of a blade pressing against her throat.

Danyal 'A.G' Fenton hasn’t killed since he arrived in Amity Park. At first it was because mother told him to keep a low profile, and killing would do the opposite of that. But, he's been slowly learning from his sister and friends over the years the value of human life. So it's become a combination of keeping his head down, and also that life has value to it.

But. That doesn’t mean he can’t kill, nor is he opposed to doing it if the situation calls for it. It just means that he doesn't do it. And ‘Danielle’ is an unknown in his room, claiming to be family to him, and appearing uncannily similar to him and his family. Either someone hired her and she was trying to pass herself off as a relative to him because that someone realized Danny was the biggest threat, or, his false death has been compromised, his mother was unable to tell him, and the league was aware he was alive.

No matter how he looks at it, this Danielle was a threat to him, his sister, his friends, to Damian, and to the Drs. Fenton. Danyal Fenton doesn't kill, but he has no problems doing so.

(Ellie, pinned under Danny’s knee and the blade to her neck, is too terrified to think of phasing out of his hold. Not that it would help, he would just chase after her.)

“You have broken into my home, dared to lie to my face, and when I demanded to know the truth, you dared lie to me again." Danny's scowl could cower even Skulker, his glacier blue eyes burning. "Your continual breath has been a favor from me, that I have graciously allowed, from the moment you entered my room, dahkil."

"So I will ask one more time," he hisses, "who. are. you."

Danielle, only a few months old, unprepared for the ice storm that is "Daniel" Fenton, and his clone in only flesh and blood, and not memories, immediately breaks. And tells him that she was his clone, that Vlad sent her to come capture him, and to please not kill her.

Danny's face twists with anger, Ellie thinks he's going to kill her anyways. Instead, he withdraws his knife and gets off her, stringing out curses in Arabic as he sheathes his weapon back into its hiding place faster than Ellie can blink.

He switches to English as she is collecting her bearings (and contemplating fleeing), and Danny paces the room like a tiger in a cage. "--of course that wretched, arrogant, peacocking little ingrate would do something so infuriating. I should have driven my sword into the shrivel of his heart when I had the chance--"

Ellie, for a moment, thinks of leaving while he is distracted. And starts to slowly creep away. But Danny notices instantly, and whirls on her. His too-bright eyes bore into her head: "Where do you think you're going."

"...I'm leaving."

And Danny scoffs at her, "Why? So you can fly back to Masters and tell him that you failed to capture me, and that I know that he cloned me?" He says, and Ellie remains silent -- that's exactly what she was going to do. "He will destroy you within seconds."

Of course, Ellie rears back in offense, and she finds the footing to glare at him. "He would not! He's my dad, he loves me!"

Danny gets in her face, glowering back with an equal intensity. "He does not." He snaps, "Vlad Masters has not a soul in his body nor a heart in his chest. He would sooner cut off the hand that helps him stand, than to take it along with him."

"If you're really made of my blood, then I will teach you only this: we bow not our heads nor our hearts to anyone." Danny's too-blue eyes narrow, and his voice dips into a hiss, "Especially not to a conniving snake like Masters. Your heart: cut it off, or cut it out. He will sooner leave you to bleed."

Then, he unlocks the door and drags her out before she has much time to act. And as he drags her down the hall he shoots Sam and Tucker a text, and they meet up at Nasty Burger. Ellie is a spitfire, but Danny has her too intimidated to leave.

"This is Danielle," he tells them bluntly as he corners her into the booth, "she's my clone. Masters created her."

Ellie is with them for a week, and somehow throughout that time, Danny manages to actually get her to like him throughout that time. He's callous, blunt, and full of sharp edges that you can cut yourself on. But when he's not spitting venom, he's fretting.

When he drags her back to the house after being with Sam and Tucker, he pulls her to Jazz's room and opens the door to tell her the same thing. "This is Danielle." He says upon abruptly opening the door, interrupting Jazz's studying as he pulls Ellie inside. "She is my clone, Masters created her. She needs clothes."

Then he turns and leaves, shutting the door behind him. Ellie, in that moment, thinks that now's her chance to flee. But Jazz then squeals, and she is trapped in new arms, shaken around by Jazz Fenton, excited for a sister.

(Ellie finds herself complaining to Jazz that night, shoved into old pajamas. She's in utter disbelief that Jazz could care about a jerk like Danny.)

("He's rough around the edges, but Danny does care." Jazz tells her, combing through her hair with her fingers. "We've been working on it ever since he joined the family, but Danny warms up slowly. He's usually less stoney; I think your arrival spooked him.")

("Spooked him?" Ellie repeats, she doesn't believe it at all. "He has a funny way of showing it, he threatened to kill me!" And she turns around just in time to see Jazz's press her lips into a line.)

("He's... very protective. He'll deny if you ask him, but he worries a lot." Jazz's fingers find her hair again. "What I do know for certain though, is that he wouldn't have kept you here if he wasn't worried about you at least a little bit.")

(Ellie doubts it.)

But Ellie is indeed there for a week, and the day after her initially rocky introduction with Danny, he is a little bit kinder to her. Still kinda a bitch, but he's less harsh to her, if... almost uncomfortable around her. Flighty, kinda.

Whenever she gets mouthy at him though, he looks oddly smug about it and, infuriatingly enough, praises her attitude. He is very, very annoying. And still kinda terrifying. But hearing him shout insults via puns at someone during a ghost fight that happens that week lessens the intimidating factor,,, a little bit.

Things go about,,,, relatively,,,, similar to canon. In the sense that it ends with Ellie defecting from Vlad because she finds out that Danny was right and that Vlad didn't actually care about her. (And that Jazz had been right too; Danny, in his weird, mean way, had been worried about her as well)

Danny looks out of his depth as she talks about how he was right, and he cuts her off with a vaguely uncomfortable clearing of his throat. And gives her the most awkward, but genuine apology he can muster.

"I should've used more tact when telling you about Masters, and I... apologize for threatening you when we met. I was..." he makes a face like he's sucked on a particularly sour lemon, "worried. First about my family, and then later about you."

(Ellie will be damned: Jazz was right)

Before Ellie leaves, Danny puts a hand on her shoulder and tells her: "I wasn't kidding about what I said to you when we first met: you are of my blood, and as such, you do not bow your head nor your heart to anyone."

Ellie looks at him, thinks about the last week, and smiles like she's caught him in a trap. "What about Sam and Tucker then? And Jazz?"

Danny smiles, it's awkward and tilted, like his face isn't used to the gesture. "We bow not our hearts, but that doesn't mean we can't share."

[slayfics]

Muichiro’s Mansion

Muichiro x Reader series

Muichiro has a change of heart, but is that a good thing?

Chapter 4

You waited around wondering if Muichiro would really decide for a third time about letting you be his Tsuguko. If Mitsuri was correct and he had a bad memory he might forget that he promised to consider it again. As time went on you were wondering if you should dare write to him again... or accept the real possibility that it was time to start eating your words and ask another Hashira.  

Uzui you decided was out of the question now. Even if he accepted you after turning him down, being around his three wives who now have a vendetta against you sounded like pure hell.

Just as you were looking at a blank piece of paper contemplating on writing to Mitsuri or not, the crow with the long lashes flew through your window. You immediately recognized the crow now as Muichiros crow.  

"I still don't like you." It said dropped a letter in front of you then swiftly flew away.

You tore up the letter quickly. You were shocked Muichiro even remembered to write you back at all.

"I have reconsidered.

Training starts at dawn tomorrow.  

You may stay at my mansion while we train."

-Muichiro Tokito

You couldn't believe it, you read the short three sentences over and over again to make sure you weren't hallucinating. He really decided to train you. Not only that you'd be staying at his mansion while you trained. Suddenly it occurred to you, you had to pack. It was already starting to be night and you had to be up and over at the mansion at dawn. You quickly got up and began to pack your things. You stayed up most of the night packing although you didn't think you'd be able to sleep anyway. You couldn't believe it, finally all you've trained so hard for was happening.  

You made your way over to his mansion which proved to be a longer journey then you realized. The Hashira's mansions were kept a distance away in case a demon ever located them.  

When Muichiro's mansion finally came into view you could see him standing outside. Your heart sank. You were so busy with packing and the logistics of getting here you hadn't thought about what you would say to him...

"Good morning." He greeted you.

"Good morning master Tokito. Thank y-"

"That will not be necessary. Please put your things inside and we will begin right away."  

Muichiro’s crow showed you the way to your room while taking condescending looks at you and ruffling its feathers along the way.

"You're not good enough, you know." It squawked.

"Thank you for the warm welcome." You retoured rolling your eyes. 

"HMPH. Well, here is your room. Don't bother getting comfortable though. I'm sure Master Tokito will bore of you soon." She said then flew off.  

Lovely you thought to yourself but brushed off the crow’s remarks refusing to let it dampen your mood. By the looks of it no one else stayed at this mansion. It was high up in the mountains where it was usually cloudy and the place had a lonesome melancholy vibe all through it. You started to wonder if Muichiro ever felt lonely up here with just his... wonderful crow to keep him company.  

After you set your things down you came back out to the entry room where you found Muichiro waiting.

"We will train outside today. Just the basics. I want to see what you can do."

"Ok that sounds good. You'll have to thank your crow for giving me a lovely welcome." You said trying to lighten his serious mood. However, Muichiro did not respond. He turned to walk outside and you followed him wondering if he understood it was a joke or just didn't care. The walk out to the forest felt long and Mucihiro didn't say a word the whole time.

When he finally turned around you stopped and waited for instructions.  

"Swing your sword." He said simply.

"Um at anything in particular or-"

"No. Just swing it. From left to right."

"Right, ok..." You said and followed his instructions.

"Several more times please." He said analyzing you with wide eyes. You did as instructed feeling awkward and uncomfortable. You wish there were some icebreakers before, this made you feel extremely nervous.  

"You are awfully slow. We will work on that first." He muttered.  

"Oh u-"

"Swing it up and down now please."  

This continued for hours on end. Muichiro would give you a direction to swing your sword and then insult you in some way. While it didn't feel like it was on purpose it weighed heavy on your self-esteem. It felt like every movement you were doing was wrong to him. He never once said anything nice or gave any inflection of emotion in his voice.

Finally, when the sun was starting to set he decided to end training for the day.  

"That is enough for today." He said simply raising his hand.

"Oh ok.. well how did I do?" You asked, wishing for some feedback or conversation after the very awkward day.

"You have a lot to work on." He said.

"Yes, I heard you say that before." You replied, starting to feel aggravated at his constant put downs. 

"If you heard me before then there was no need to ask. Tomorrow, we start again at the same time." He said then walked off back to the mansion.  

The next few days were more of the same. Muichiro did bring out a practice dummy to watch you strike but the comments were always the same, too slow, needs improvement, not enough force. To make it worse you could never read what the Hashira was feeling. His indifference to everything was starting to drive you mad. Did he regret saying yes to training you? Did he really think you needed so much improvement that you were hopeless? You started to cry feeling like you had made a big mistake wanting so hard to be his Tsuguko. This felt awful. You couldn't remember a time you felt so hopeless. You needed to get these emotions out somehow.

You took out a piece of paper and began to write to Mitsuri.  

Mitsuri,

I feel like I made a huge mistake. I think Master Tokito hates me. He never has anything nice to say about my abilities and it feels like everything I do is wrong. I don't know what to do, I feel so worthless. I just needed to vent. I'm so sorry I'm sure you're very busy being a Hashira so don't feel the need to respond. I just needed to release this somehow.”

You sent your crow off with your letter and went to sleep feeling a bit better after getting that off your chest.

The next morning while you were getting ready for another training session you heard a knock at the door.

You came to the entryway to see Muichiro already opening the door.

"Hi!! Muichiro you're looking lovely as ever it's so good to see you! Mind if I come in?" Mitsuri said gleefully.

"Yes." Muichiro responded but Mitsuri was already walking inside.

"Oh good morning, how are you!" She exclaimed and ran over to hug you.

"Hi Mitsuri, what are you doing here?"

"Yes, please leave, we have a busy day planned." Muichiro explained.

"Oh don't be such a downer Muichior. Aren't you happy to see me? I got your Tsuguko's letter and I think you need my help."

"Thank you but no." Muichiro responded, still holding the door open for her to leave.

"Well too bad my friend is in trouble and needs help so I'm staying. I'm another Hashira so you have to respect me." She said sticking her tongue out.

"Very well. Accompany us to training." He gave in.  

Did Mitsuri really come because of your letter? And did you hear that right, she considered you a friend? You hoped she wouldn't mention any of the things you said about Muichiro in the letter in front of him. 

[lutethebodies]

LTB Tav Tuesdays: Cannor Coth, the Lost Singer (Part 1)

Let's kick this off with my first Tav, based on the first character I made when jumping back into 5e after a ~30 year layoff from D&D. His name is a very loose translation of the Welsh canwr ar goll ("singer lost") or canwr cudd ("singer hidden"). I've spent more time with him than any of my other characters, so I'll try to keep this entry from running long and flesh out bio/backstory details in other posts this week, using the many surveys/memes/prompts on here. His short bio (stripped of all names/places) goes like this:

The bastard son of a disgraced army medic and a wayward noble lady, Cannor was raised in a rebel military camp far from his parents' native land. When his family was broken by that exile army's defeat, Cannor slowly clawed his way from obscurity to infamy, becoming a skilled singer and storyteller who dabbles in diplomacy when the money’s good and his ego is starved. Slightly over the hill but still antsy to be remembered, Cannor’s happiest when creating. Whether blowing blarney, keeping cool, or anything in between, he’s equally at home in lordly courts and tumbledown taverns. Cannor is a cultural sponge with nearly four decades’ worth of travel, soaking up language, accents, impressions, geography, history, and lore. As a younger man, he cultivated community wherever he went and made the world his home, but after being banished from his adopted home city years ago, he’s developed a deep desire for stability.

In 5e, I created Cannor circa late 2019 for my brother's homebrew campaign "Worlds of Aeos," a sailing/islands-based setting that eventually expanded well beyond that. Cannor was originally a College of Whispers bard, armed with a whip and dagger to finesse rather than fight, but as the campaign quickly became more violent and dangerous, I switched him to College of Swords. For a party that began as literally an "oops all bards" power trio (everyone, including the DM, had been in college bands), surviving to level 16 was no small feat. Cannor was effectively the frontman, a saber-wielding singer/storyteller and aspiring envoy who never got beyond the "spying and dirty tricks" bits of diplomacy school.

In BG3, I've run about five playthroughs with him: a FAFO original, a second to refine my playstyle, a third to be as completist as possible, a fourth with my other favorite Tavs as his hirelings, and a fifth that finally graduated from Explorer to Balanced. In each one he balances fights with finesse, taking full advantage of what a human swords bard can do and equip. BG3 rules allow him to be much less fragile than 5e, but I still sort of nerf him by sticking with light armor (the stylish +1/+2 studded leather, dyed black and summer green) and d6 scimitars instead of d8 rapiers/longswords (I wish there were whips in this game). He always romances Minthara, both because she's my favorite companion and because it actually works well with his old backstory (which I'll get into with another post).

For better and worse Cannor is my self-insert/running commentary on how poorly bards have been stereotyped by popular culture, because I hate the "useless fop" and "lecherous swine" bard tropes and I always have. I tried to subvert that a bit by creating a sort-of "spy who sings and strums" character—who leans more on "master of none" than "jack of all trades"—someone who's not utterly useless in a fight, but also not as combat-focused as, say, Gurney Halleck from Dune. It's probably not as original as I'd first thought, but it works for me and that's what matters.

In my own homebrew "Nua" campaign, Cannor was the DM-NPC and lore-dispenser (like Volo, but much less clichéd and much more able to defend himself) who accompanied my players' PCs through one region of the world I made. That worldbuilding was so compelling that I created my own cartography for it, and in 2022 self-published it as an atlas. In 2023 I used Cannor (and his career-killing habit of composing/performing original songs) as a frame for my own longtime music/lyric hobby, writing and recording seven of "his" songs using a mandocello. Thankfully I finished that project before BG3 ate my brain.

Anyway, since this post was much less about the character himself than what I've done with him, I'll add a much longer, story-like follow-up post soon, and I promise future Tav posts won't be so convoluted. But like I said, Cannor's my guy, so he gets special treatment. Part 2 is here.

[greenflamethegf]

What is your favorite TTRPG and why?

After seeing your answer, I supposed I should write a one to match. I have played so many different ones, I simply no cannot being myself to name just one. This to say nothing on system I have made or am working on.

Also, I will reference your post quite a bit, so let me just link it [here]

My first love is pathfinder 1e, but from even from there two really cool variants

Sphere Finder

a PF 2e before PF 2e. This takes PF and add a some system of sphere and talents, from supplants published by Drop Dead Studios. Effectively getting to choose marshal or magic powers to mix and match with feats and class abilities. A lot of death while being simpler then base PF 1e. Especially as caster no long had a list of 20+ spells, rather a few abilities and ways to modify. Similarly, for marshals, they even got cool thing like inspiring shouts or cutting a whole in space to teleport. So there wasn't much of gap between caster or marshals

Perhaps still speak TTRPG expirance, but It is quite taxing on the GM, and it largely still has the issues you mentioned in your post. Still, I would REALLY like to play it again. Heck, I would probably run it if I could, that instead of my day job. Anyway, largely in the same vain is

3.P

Perhaps a term you have heard being around in time of D&D 3.5, as was used to describe any amalgamation of PF 1e and D&D 3.5e. My favourite way to play it was to use PF a base and add more reasonable 3.X (D&D 3.0~3.5) rule books, as well as from 3pp (third party published) suppleness for both. It's difficulty, a crown king of complexity, but it did and still dose made my brain go 'woooo'. I still have oh so many indexes and lists for it. I get immense satisfaction with crazy fancy builds that are still rules legal.

however, they aren't I play and run these days... on that honour goes to

Uncommon Words

A cool hack of Dudgeon World that is simpler than 5e while providing more options, interesting characters. In many ways it's what people you don't play TTRPGs thing 5e is. And since this a post about enable TTRPGS, this the last mention of 5e.

DW and pbta (pawed by apocalypse) games in general have this cool three outcomes system of: Yes and..., Yes but... and No and.... This keeps the action going, often one action crates opportunity or danger that will be to relent for then ext one. Specially the way I run combat, it's just a consent stream of "This tread approaches, what do you do?", "This allay is gander, what do you do?", "This enemy is exposed, what do you do?".

Similarly, rules little means you can improve a lot of stuff. You can make a monster on fly with a simple questioner, and by deciding they do any actions appropriate for their kind.

Still, unlike other rules lite system (for example 2d10), it does offer some rule. Some character builds and dice mechanics. This is just enough to have a solid base for a character.

It's by one means perfect. The HP and damage rolls are a bit of a jarring departure from typical PBTA fun. Singularly, I it makes you count individual coins, then it comes to wealth, and I must it's a rather annoying bit of bookkeeping. Really, in D&D, I would never have played arc hares because those systems made you track how many arrows you use. Luckily, DW has that ones solved in quite an elegant way

Honourable mentions

So that dose were the contenders for my favourite. However, I should at lest named drop a some other of very cool systems I played, Mutants and Master Minds 3e, Thirsty Sword Lesbians, Savages Worlds, Chronicles of Darkness, 2d10, Magical Burst and Blades in the dark

[neverchecking]

The Switch happening during the Upheaval is such a great idea because I'm guessing Aaliyah will still be injured from Ganon when she drops in front of Sweetpea.

She tries so hard to keep going, fights harder than her body can stand through pure will until the gloom finally knocks her out and Sweetpea decides to take this crazy Sheikah to Tia, only for her to be missing. (Like they have Blessed Fairy Elixirs and Sundelions and Mipha on hand so Aaliyah is much better off than Sage is in the immediate aftermath.) So poor Aaliyah wakes up to an imposter Link and several faces she knows are dead. I think the only way Aaliyah actually listens to anyone is Sweetpea pulling out the Master Sword (and even then it takes a while and only due to the fact she's bedbound for a bit to recover)

And maybe neither world suspects its a Switch, only that one important person is missing and another has appeared until Tia and Sage arrive in the Lost Woods to ask the Deku Tree and *insert Magic reason* all four are able to communicate briefly. Like through a faux vision when the Sages talk to the successors. They manage to figure out that Tia and Aaliyah switch so Tia and Sage decide to continue with the plot since defeating Ganon might switch them back while Aaliyah and Sweetpea decide to see if any of the Sages and Champions might know anything.

Sweetpea also stops by the Three Springs to pray to the Golden Goddesses for information. (Not Hylia since she's on both Tia and Sweetpea's Shit List)

(I see Hylia as like the immediate Supervisor of Hyrule while the big Three are like the CEO's of all Worlds. Still kinda to blame for everything but Hylia's the one who is supposed to be supervising Hyrule while They concentrate on the bigger picture. Honestly, I think Nayru or Farore would be to blame for this because they see the shitshow happening in Sage's world and are like "Well, Tia's already doing so well with her Hyrule, maybe she can help this Hero too :D." Tia would've liked to have been asked, but she'll forgive and forget so long as she can keep both of them.)

Since you said Aaliyah becomes the Sage of Spirit, perhaps when Sage and Tia hit the Thunderhead Islands (and that subsequent mission) that Aaliyah switches back.

But Tia doesn't.

(Fun fact, I accidentally hit Thunderhead Islands after only getting Tulin and I hated it so much :) I saw it was a Main Quest and left. Then I got curious and got Mineru anyway.)

I think the Switch happening during the Upheaval is really the only time it could happen. Because that's when our Feral duo are so injured and sick they can't do anything to atrocious to the poor souls they're soon exposed to. Sage is too disoriented from loosing a limb and the gloom squeezing his vital organs to truly be a threat to Tia (For now. Until he gets better. But by then she's earned his trust-- just a bit)

Aaliyah's gloom absolutely renders her at maybe a third of her fighting capacity. That does not stop her. She's going until there are veins of the dark matter crawling up her neck and cheek and shoulder, nearly infecting her brain until she collapses in a blaze of fiery glory. Sweetpea is just :O bc what just happened. Tia would know! But, surprise, surprise, Tia's not there. The Sundelions seem to have the most effect in helping reduce the markings, along with the sun, but I don't think Mipha or fairies would help much. Gloom seems like something more like a parasite rather than an injury. A piece of Ganon that's turning their body against them. That all to say that, yea, while it's not good, not even okay, Aaliyah does wake up better than Sage. There's still tons of Gloom in her system, as there are no light shrines in Tia's world, and if there are, she hasn't found them. She didn't have Rauru to tell her to look for them.

It's not helped when she has the faces of the dead looking down at her. She's convinced she's dead. That she failed Link once more. But this imposter has the Master Sword. Which was destroyed. But it's not destroyed here?

She probably tries biting him then and there, just for shits and giggles, before trying to escape. Bedbound is simply a recommendation to her.

(They get chains eventually. She bites them then too.)

It takes a while for either party to trust each other enough to travel, but the first place they go is the Lost Woods. The Deku tree probably looks at them and is like 'meditate here for just a sec' and BAM- they're now in that zen place the sages were when talking to their predecessors. It takes a woozy second before Sage and Aaliyah are spotting each other and immediately latching onto the other. Their person was here! Safe and sound and where are you?! This wasn't enough. It would never be enough until they knew the other was safe and sound and within reach at all times.

Sweetpea and Tia probably have their own reunion before trying to figure out what's going on.

Sage and Tia go on to focus on Ganon while Aaliyah and Sweetpea look for causes. Who were the Zonai and how could what they do affect them so badly over ten thousand years in the future?

(Honestly, yeah, that's kind of how I see it to. Like Hylia is the manager that keeps fucking up perfectly good employees and the CEO's are the ones having to fix it. Only they're so out of touch with their employees, they're taking one star employee and just plopping it where they hope she'll fit and taking out another moving part and making the whole system crash because of it.)

So, here's my thing with Aaliyah being the Sage of Spirit. I imagine the Thunderhead Islands are just these islands the remain out of the realm of time and space. Like they're there in both areas and if one side does something it happens on the other side. Kind of like in the beginning of TotK when Zelda takes the Master Sword? So her and Sweetpea go through that whole mission and Sage and Tia are just watching this mysterious statue open like "D:< WHAT THE FUCK-"

(Fun fact, I also accidentally hit those islands with only Tulin. Except it didn't even register to me that it was part of the main quest until I was back on the surface with my new giant killer robot.)

[antiqua-lugar]

Ooh, I'd love to hear about #19 and #23, for any and all characters you'd like to talk about! :)

!! In a desperate attempt to keep this short, I will do #19 only for the three Tavs that have actually appeared on my blog and #23 only for Caradoc because he is the one I have most material on.

19. Any memories that stick out to you/your Tav about their life pre-tadpole?

Caradoc:

Around a year before the tadpole, it’s technically night but the birds are already singing outside, he’s drunk at the bakery his best friend works at. Their other close friend Kava has just left Baldur’s Gate like every summer to collect new material, new tales and new songs. Like every summer they are deeply aware that this might be the year she doesn’t come back. He’s looking at Felix, a Deep Gnome who almost was a Paladin but instead ran from the Underdark all the way to Baldur’s Gate, where he is now putting a fourth tray of bread in the oven, like every other night.

Caradoc wonders aloud how it must feel to love something so much you keep almost dying for it. Felix just snorts and says almost dying for things is vastly overrated. In his personal experience, their life would not be better if they almost died on a daily basis. His boss might suck but it is way better than a Duergar slaver. Or a Drow.

Caradoc doesn’t say anything because it’s four in the morning and he is drunk as hell and he doesn’t know how to explain that he is a Tiefling and a Wild Sorcerer and he loves his family and he loves his friends and his community and he even loves his job and he knows he is lucky but sometimes. Sometimes. He would like for his life to not be just about keeping his head down and getting from one day to the next.

Elendris:

Forty years after his marriage, ten years after his divorce, ten years before the tadpole, he is working alone at his workshop on a special sword he has been obsessing about for months, he is tired and sleep deprived and accidentally hits his hand. He drops everything immediately and as he is healing himself and feeling relieved that it’s nothing serious he remembers that before his wife used to heal him herself and take him to bed. He is one hundred and forty years old and she left because him because he is incapable of love. He will die alone.

Cedric:

It’s not a specific memory, but a promise. His parents died when he was around six, he ran away from the orphanage he was in when he was around nine and after a year of living on the streets he was taken in by a dragonborn druid who took pity on him and started training him. And he loved it - he liked that it made him feel close to his wood elf father, he liked that when he was a crow no one thought he was a girl, he liked that someone cared and he especially liked that his master was going to go back to his grove with him. It was a promise of a place where everything could be well and he could finally belong. 

Then his master was robbed and murdered in the streets when he was thirteen and his choices were being a criminal with money or an honest man without it, which is not really a choice. The grove is not a promise anymore - just a dream. They would not approve of how he is using Silvanus’ gifts anyway.

23. Share any hcs/anything you want to say about your Tav’s backstory

Caradoc is a Mephistopheles Tiefling from his father’s side and while the details got lost during the way, they are pretty sure The Ancestor Who Fucked Up was a wizard in Thay (who then, presumably, was using his Tiefling children as slaves). Because when I read Mephistophele I think Faust.

While Caradoc was happy being Just Some Guy he did sometimes feel bitter about the fact that having to not ��stand out” wasn’t exactly a choice. First, he is a Tiefling. Second, he is a Wild Sorcerer. Third, he is poor. There is a reason he learnt to bullshit like a pro.

Caradoc has three parents! His biological parents are both Tieflings and moved to Baldur’s Gate specifically so their children would face less discrimination and they could find a community with other Tieflings and similar Others. His human father is a ranger and gave him his surname and his name. The official story when they attract unwanted attention is that his human father is living with them because he is a dear family friend who lost a leg during a job. 

Caradoc’s best friends before the tadpole are a Deep Gnome called Felix who left the Underdark “Because it sucks” and a dragonborn bard called Kava who moved to Baldur’s Gate to pursue her calling. He and Felix are also roommates. He can’t wait for them to meet his new best friends from tadpole times.

Caradoc’s contacts in the city aren't useful when it comes to defeating the Netherbrain but they are amazing after the battle is done. He can get the rest of the Tiefling refugees out of Wyrm’s Crossing and his friends don’t have to be homeless (although Felix had a heart attack when his best friend reappeared after going missing for weeks with a wizard and a vampire in tow). 

He really likes dancing and he and his friends regularly went to a specific tavern in his neighborhood for it. He sometimes day dreamed of doing it with a partner but he never really fell in love before the tadpole. Gale is in for a treat.

He never told Wyll until Act 3, but like. Fuck the Fists. Little Caradoc did not have a good time with the Fists.

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #294: Oda Nobukatsu

for the last of the gudaguda servants this year, but certainly not least, we’ve got the only one you’ve been able to roll, oda nobukatsu! he’s a mastermind rogue for his tactical genius. he’s also an echo knight fighter to summon up some nobus as the situation demands, and finally we’ll pop into bladesinger wizard for some costume changes, modern amenities (read: grenades), and the all-important mini nobu backup squad.

check out his build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

next up: pokemon gogh to the polls

race and background

nobukatsu’s a human, but if you want a chance at keeping up with your sister we’ll have to go with the variant ruleset for +1 constituiton n intelligence, as well as proficiency with nature for those funky flowers later and the tandem tactician feat. i know it’s a pretty old ua by this point, but you’re helpful towards your sister, no matter how many of them there are. this way you can help as a bonus action to give advantage to an ally. your help range also increases by 10’, and u can help two people at once if they’re attacking the same guy.

as the next in line in the oda clan, you’re quite the noble, which gives you proficiency in history and persuasion. you rebelled against your sister, failed, and convinced the same guys to do the same thing again. that’s a hard check to pull off.

Ability Scores

you’re a clever clog, so put your Intelligence as high as possible. after that is your Dexterity. you use small swords and guns, and no matter what outfit you put on, that ain’t armor. all that means you’ll want that dexterity a lot. third up is Constitution. FGO treats you like a joke character, so you’ve got to be ready to take some licks. Your Strength is slightly above average- we’re not really using it here, but you do carry a small armory around with you, so actually being able to lift all that is a must. your wisdom isn’t so hot though. you can see stuff well enough, but your sense of self-worth is completely shot. that’s also why your charisma is so low. you can lie when you need to, but self-deprecation is never a good look. Also we don’t really need it for the build to work.

Class Levels

1. Rogue 1: we’re starting as a rogue for the extra proficiency you get off the bat, like Dexterity and Intelligence saves as well as four skills. grab Insight and Investigation to finish off the Tactical Insight trio, and also grab Perception to keep a good view of the battle and Deception to lead the real fools into it.

you also get Expertise in two skills, doubling your proficiency bonus in Insight and Investigation. if skill checks aren’t really your thing, don’t worry! you can also use a sneak attack once per turn now, dealing extra damage if you use a finesse or ranged weapon on a target you have advantage on or have a buddy near. your whole schtick is covering for your sister, so aim for whatever they’re hitting and you’ll probably be fine. right now it’s 1d6, but that’ll grow as you level up!

you can also use thieves’ cant to speak with other rogues without people figuring out what you really mean. I would make a joke here about siblings developing their own language or something, but none of the nobus actually have rogue levels. ah well, maybe in the next gudaguda.

2. Rogue 2: second level rogues can use a Cunning Action as a bonus action, letting you dodge, dash, disengage, or hide as a bonus action. delegation is the sign of a good leader, but being able to do more yourself is also pretty nice.

3. Rogue 3: at third level you get that delegation I brought up last level as a Master of Tactics thanks to being a Mastermind. With this, you can help creatures with attacks up to 30’ away. with your feat, your help range is 40 feet in total!

I would say this is helpful to use in conjunction with Steady Aim since that prevents you from moving for a turn in exchange for advantage on your next attack, but it’s also a bonus action, so you can’t use them both at the same time.

That hurts, almost as much as your 2d6 sneak attack.

Finally, as a Master of Intrigue, you become proficient in the use of the disguise kit and the forgery kit. You can also mimic accents of creatures you’ve heard for a minute, letting you pass yourself off as a foreigner. There aren’t any Nobunaga foreigners yet, but you’re just ahead of the game.

4. Rogue 4: Fourth level rogues get their first Ability Score Improvement, so let’s bump up your Dexterity for better offense and defense at the same time. Maximum efficiency, almost as good as your sister would have done here, I’m sure.

5. Rogue 5: A fifth level rogue can further protect themselves as a reaction with their Uncanny Dodge. If you’re about to take damage, you can react to halve incoming damage, narrowly escaping an attack or spell with just a scrape to show for it. If you really wish to fight in a swimsuit, you’d better get used to that.

Your sneak attack does the exact opposite now, dealing even more damage at 3d6.

6. Fighter 1: Moving to the fighter class gives you the Two Weapon Fighting Style, which lets you add your ability modifier to offhand attacks. We still need to work a bit longer before you can mix swordplay and gunplay in one fighting style, but this is still nice- another way to use your bonus action for additional damage.

Speaking of your bonus action, your Second Wind lets you heal on your bonus action once per short rest. That’s quite enough bonus actions, hopefully there won’t be any more.

7. Fighter 2: Second level fighters can use an Action Surge to gain a bonus action on their turn once per short rest. Not a bonus action, mind you, but a bonus action. I hope we have made that clear. Your sneak attack only works once per turn, but the extra action gives you a chance in case your first attack misses.

8. Fighter 3: At third level you become an Echo Knight, letting you Manifest Echo as a… bonus… action. Darn. Though it only has one HP, this mini-nobu gives you the ability to attack from its space while it’s alive. You can move the echo up to 30’ per turn for free, and you can even swap places with them as a bonus action. If you’re afraid you’re not keeping up with damage now that we’re multiclassing, you can always Unleash Incarnation. Well, not always, but up to two times per day, you can make an extra melee attack from the echo’s position.

9. Fighter 4: We’re using this level’s ASI to finally finish up that promise from level one of fighter- the Crossbow Expert feat gives you the ability to dual-wield a weapon with a hand crossbow, letting you use your bonus action once again to fire it. You can also fire at melee range without consequence, and you can fire multiple times in a turn without issue as well.

10. Fighter 5: Fifth level fighters can finally attack twice per action with their Extra Attack, instantly doubling your chances to score a sneak attack, and increasing your average damage as well.

11. Fighter 6: Sadly, you don’t become Nobunaga, so for now we have to cut the fighter levels off here. Thankfully we get one last ASI, so you can bump up your Dexterity again for more powerful shots and a higher AC.

12. Rogue 6: Sixth level rogues get another round of Expertise, so double down on History for tactical power and Deception to make sure your plans go off without a hitch.

13. Rogue 7: Seventh level rogues get Evasion. Now your failed dex saves are basically successes, and you successful ones make it like that fireball never even existed to begin with. This won’t help against sneak attacks though, so that 4d6 your packing now is still plenty scary.

14. Rogue 8: If you thought expertise was the end of your smart-being, you’ve got another thing coming. Use this ASI to become Observant and bump up your Intelligence by one point. This also lets you read lips, and your passive perception and investigation scores both go up by 5. Somehow you were the only one to truly appreciate what your sister brought to the table. Until she unified most of Japan, that is.

15. Rogue 9: At ninth level your 5d6 sneak attack takes a backseat to you becoming an Insightful Manipulator. If you spend at least a minute with another creature, you can compare its intelligence, wisdom, charisma, and total levels against your own. you might even learn a bit of its backstory, DM permitting. learn one thing about people and they’ll fall all over you, it’s weird.

16. Wizard 1: now we’ve gotten just about everything I’d really want from martial abilities, so if you want to become even more helpful, we’re going to need some magic. and if you want a good amount of magic in a small amount of levels, you’ve got to go wizard.

At level 1 you learn some Spells that you cast and prepare using your Intelligence, but you also learn them using a spellbook, which is why you get so many. For cantrips, pick up Firebolt and Swordburst for extra Nobunaga fire support, as well as Message for a Chaldea-standard communicator. As for your leveled spells, Expeditious Retreat gives us extra speed to get out of dodge when your sister starts swinging, Mage Armor is a must for any swimsuit-wearing fighters, Magic Missile is just more firepower, Grease is barely a spell, Silent Image will get you those flowers you need for your NP, and Unseen Servant is another mini Nobu we keep around for menial tasks.

you only get a few slots at the start, but thankfully your Arcane Recovery lets you pick up a few more over a short rest once a day. By the end of this build, you can get a third level slot back, a second level slot and a first level slot, or three first level slots. It’s nice to have extra ammo.

17. Wizard 2: Second level wizards learn some Bladesinging, giving you Training in War and Song (which is pretty much just training in song, you’ve already known all of it besides Performance since level 1). Thankfully you also learn the Bladesong, which is another bonus action that lets you start singing for up to a minute. While singing, you can add your intelligence to your AC and concentration saves, you have an increased speed, and advantage on dexterity checks. You can use this Proficiency times per day.

You also get more spells, like Silvery Barbs to make sure your plans always work and Tasha’s Hideous Laughter. Have you seen his NP? It’s creepy.

18. Wizard 3: Third level wizards get second level spells, and it’s time for some proper support. Grab Enhance Ability to help Nobunaga off the battlefield, and Magic Weapon to help her on it.

19. Wizard 4: Use your last ASI on the Shadow Touched feat, following your sister down the path of the Demon King. This rounds up your Intelligence, and lets you cast Invisibility once a day for free (or with spell slots). Yep, that’s what happens in his NP, he turns invisible. And Nothing Else. He’s fine. You can also use Disguise Self in the same way for some costume changes.

For your normal spell allotment, Thunderclap is a cheap grenade, but it’s free. You can also use Scorching Ray for fiery fire support, and Nystul’s Magic Aura so your sister actually appears as a demon king on scrying spells. It’s a fun little trick to play on god.

20. Wizard 5: Our final level of this build gives you access to third level spells- the juicy ones. Fireball is the best grenade we can get, forcing dexterity saves on everyone inside or they take a ton of damage. It was a ton back at level 5, I swear. We also grab the third level spell Summon Lesser Demons to properly conjure up a swarm of mini nobus- now you're no longer forced to use just one. You have a 1/3 chance of summoning 2 mini nobus of CR 1 or lower, 4 of CR 1/2 or lower, or 8 of CR 1/4 or lower. Technically it's DM's choice, but if you tell your DM "hey I've got a stat block up already for these things and you don't have to go hunting for it" they'll probably just give you your pick. There have been ufo nobus, tank nobus, statue nobus, and even big nobus! So really the sky's the limit when it comes to picking your nobu army.

Unfortunately, the mini nobus are unionized, meaning they'll just do whatever they want until the spell ends- usually violence. You can protect yourself from the nobus though by using part of the materials to cast the spell in order to make a circle of protection they can't pass through. This consumes the material component though, so you can't summon more nobus without fresh blood.

Pros and Cons:

Pros:

Starting things off- we set out to make a support build, and I think we succeeded. you can give advantage to people from 40’ away as a bonus action, which is huge for certain builds like those with Heavy Weapon Master or Sharpshooter. You’re also fantastic backup to have off the field as well, with Insightful Manipulator and your beefed up insight and investigation coming together to make it super hard to hide anything from you.

While your sneak attack isn’t the biggest we’ve seen, the name of your game is consistency. With up to seven attacks in a round to almost guarantee you get that extra damage, plus an expanded area of coverage from Manifest Echo will help you sneak in another sneak attack even when it’s not your turn.

It’s really hard to pin you down, with invisibility and teleportation making it super difficult for more martial builds to keep up with you if they want to break your concentration. That means there’s one less headache about support spells to deal with, which in turn means your sister’s getting the best help she can.

Cons:

You have way too much bonus actions shit going on. It’s an extra attack, it’s your echo, it’s your bladesong, it’s healing, it’s cunning action, it’s help, it’s too fucking much. Options are nice, but the odds of you ever actually dual-wielding is slim to none.

While you’re consistent in a fight you’re not consistent with skills since we didn’t stick with rogue long enough for Reliable Talent, a huge blow to any skill-heavy build like this one.

You can do a little of everything, but this game’s optimized for people who do one thing really well. Being a generalist on your own is great, but the whole point of a team is allowing for specialization.

[encantadiafan12]

Severus Snape x Reborn! Priestess! Ravenclaw! Reader

The Heart-breaking Truth 💔

Introduction: After she awaken from a horrifying nightmare. She was horrified to witness on how she died. What would happen if she was surprisingly comfort by the person who's her thread she was currently tied to and link?

A/n: Y/n was 21 years old mentally and psychologically but physically an 11 year old.

Warnings: Mentions of Death and Angst

Y/n was horrified after she awoken to a nightmare she was killed by a Demon back in the world of Inuyasha. However, that was the third time she died but she was aware the Tensaiga can longer give her a second chance. She's now in the world of her childhood when she started her liking towards magic. The world of Harry Potter.

She was currently in a room while looking at the Mirror of Erised while tears were running out of her. ‘Why did I even fell in love with Sesshomaru as a child back in my world? I'm a fool...’ She thought in her head.

However, she was then startled when she felt a familiar hand place against her shoulder when she look up to see. It was Severus but in his view Professor Snape.

“Professor Snape...." The Priestess then mutters. The Potions Master has surprisingly concern look. “Is something wrong, Ms. L/n?” He asks the Ravenclaw girl in a surprisingly soft voice.

Y/n then looks at him her face strain with tears “Professor, you remembered when I told you and Headmaster Dumbledore that I died in the other world I was?” she asks as that made the Potions Master confused before he nod his head. “I had not forget, L/n.... What are even going at?” he carefully asks.

The Priestess then looks down. “It’s not the first time I died. It was the third. The first, I was murdered by my boyfriend back in my world, the second time I was killed by a demon but I was revived by the sword called Tensaiga by Sesshomaru. However, 4 years after Naraku’s death I was killed by a demon again but this time I'm aware that the sword would no longer give me another chance....” she then explains as tears start to fell from her eyes again. Severus then pulls her against his chest as he starts rubbing circles on her back.

Well, to comfort her as she doesn't deserve the fate she got. To Y/n, her threads of fate linking to Sesshomaru is now severed.

Severus had his chin against the top of her head as she continue to cry against chest. They both pull away as the Ravenclaw girl then wipes the tears from her eyes with her robes. The Potions Master then took out a potion from the pockets of his robe as the girl looks at him confused. “Calming draught but come to my classroom after classes. So I can give you a Dreamless potion so you will not endure any nightmares.” he then tells her.

The Priestess then gives him a grateful smile. “Thank you, sir....” she then says even though it hurt to keep this teacher and student boundary. However, she's willing to be patient to wait for him. As he's still trying to get used that their threads are link to both of them.

The Ravenclaw girl knew that he found she was aware what's going to happen as she was from the world where both the wizarding world and those she knew in the Feudal Era were fictional characters. But she knew he doesn't seem to care if his fate was altered in the future.

When Severus found out he had a thread of fate link to Y/n even though her fate was originally with the Demon Lord but it got severed when she died. She lost her feelings towards him afterwards after 4 years of being avoided by Sesshomaru. He never wants to be with the girl who knew what's going to happen in the future.

The Potions Master then stood up not before holding his hand out to the reborn Priestess. “Can you get up?” he asks in a soft tone before Y/n nod her before she then place her hand against his. He then slowly helps her up before helping her leave the room to head to his office. After they left. What they didn't know someone heard their entire conversation.

Quirrell then steps out of the shadow in corner he hid himself in before undoing the Disillusionment Charm he cast on himself. “She died..... She died three times but survive three times... How is that even possible?” he then asks to himself while he has a frown on his face.

However the voice at the back of his head respond distinctly excited particularly the Dark Lord's voice. ‘I need her! Within her body lies the key to cheating death....’

[foxghost]

Joyful Reunion

Translator: foxghost @foxghost tumblr/ko-fi1 Beta: meet-me-in-oblivion @meet-me-in-oblivion tumblr Original by 非天夜翔 Fei Tian Ye Xiang Masterpost | Characters, Maps & Other Reference Index

Book 4, Chapter 42 (Part 4)

In Ye, an auspicious bout of snow over New Year’s Eve foretells the coming of another year of bumper harvests. On the first day of the year, Duan Ling is bodily wrapped around Wu Du, sprawled over his chest. Wu Du got drunk last night, and his snoring wakes Duan Ling. Duan Ling gets up yawning.

Wu Du stops snoring as well. Soon enough he’s also getting up blearily.

“Put on more clothes!” Wu Du frowns. He makes sure Duan Ling gets his clothes on properly, then grabs him as he tries to get out the door to wash his face and brush his teeth before letting him go outside.

Outside the door, they light the firecrackers to bring in the start of the year. It’s a bright and sunny day, and the children have been waiting for a long time to come in and kowtow Duan Ling and Wu Du. Smiling, Duan Ling gives them each a red packet, while Wu Du sits in the main hall drinking his tea dressed in a set of black brocade martial artist robes edged in embroidered golden Qilin, jade-encrusted belt, and black boots, looking quite the master of the house.

Once they’ve finished going through the new year morning customs, the soldiers’ kids come over to get some lucky money, then it’s the womenfolk’s turn to come to deliver new year gifts. The governor’s estate remains lively the whole day through. After that, Fei Hongde returns; Duan Ling drops everything else to wait on him as someone of the younger generation ought to, and serves him tea, saluting him for the new year.

Sun Ting is the Acting Defender of Hejian for now, and everything has been stabilised. Finally, Shulü Rui comes over to salute Duan Ling, and only then is the day done. It is already dusk.

On the third of the First Month, they’ll be putting their large-scale spring project into motion, so they still have a lot of time. But tonight Duan Ling closes the door and calls in Chang Liujun, asking him to relate exactly what Mu Kuangda is planning.

Since he’s deigned to take their side, he’ll have to prove his allegiance. Duan Ling asks Chang Liujun to hand over everything he knows about Mu Kuangda and has him sign it with a palm print before considering him accepted.

But Chang Liujun doesn’t actually know a lot about Mu Kuangda. At least he’s not like Chang Pin, who has essentially been a steward for all of Mu Kuangda’s properties, managing everything himself.

“Who on earth was Chang Pin anyway?” Duan Ling asks. “When did he meet Chancellor Mu?”

“I heard them bring it up before, but only once or twice. Chang Pin used to be an orphan and was going to be sold to Liao. Chancellor Mu’s intervention was what ended up saving him.”

When Duan Ling thinks about it, it does seem an awful shame that a resourceful, intelligent man like him had died in such an arbitrary fashion under Lang Junxia’s sword. No matter how smart someone may be, there’s no way for them to get away from a sharp blade.

“Is Mu Kuangda still keeping a private army?” Duan Ling asks.

“I really don’t know.” Chang Liujun keeps repeating, “This is everything I know. Chang Pin would leave the chancellor’s estate once in spring and once in autumn every year to run errands for Chancellor Mu. That I already told you.”

Publicly, Chang Pin had said he was heading out to collect on rents for Mu Kuangda.

“If he does have a private army,” Wu Du says, “then he wouldn’t have utilised Han Weiyong’s underlings.”

Using Han Weiyong’s underlings is the least secure way of doing business, but in truth, it’s also the wisest. That’s because aside from Wu Du, no one else in the world could have figured out where those assassins came from.

In Mu Kuangda’s entire life, the only mistake he made was trusting Duan Ling.

“The thing is, he’s been on guard against me this whole time too,” Chang Liujun says. “The only person he trusts is Chang Pin.”

This is an extremely dangerous affair; Duan Ling keeps getting this feeling that Mu Kuangda must have some contingency plan hidden away. A man of such ambition must be accordingly prepared. There’s no way he would commit regicide in a situation when he had no plan.

“I suggest you send Chang Liujun back to him,” Fei Hongde says. “For one, he could use this chance to redeem himself, and for two, he can investigate Mu Kuangda.”

“No.” This time, Duan Ling shakes his head and says to Fei Hongde, “That’s not the most secure solution. Mu Kuangda no longer trusts him.”

“He’ll trust him. As long as he’s given a valid reason.”

“No. No way,” Duan Ling says. It’s not the first time Duan Ling had rejected a suggestion from Fei Hongde. "No risk can be tolerated when it comes to this.

“I’m not going to let him go back there. And there is another valid reason for that,” Duan Ling says to Fei Hongde. “Master Fei, please trust me. Letting Chang Liujun return to Chancellor Mu’s side would actually jeopardise things.”

Duan Ling knows what Chang Liujun and Mu Qing are to each other, but he hasn’t told Fei Hongde. He knows that Chang Liujun would do anything to Mu Qing, and if he lets Chang Liujun go back right now, he may just take Mu Qing and escape on an impulse.

He understands how Chang Liujun feels far too well; it’s just like how his own father used to feel all those years ago. Sometimes, his father would suddenly say that when he saw Duan Ling’s smile he thought he may be able to give it all up; that he may as well abandon everything in the south and leave the clamorous central plains behind for someplace where no one would be able to find them, so they can live out the rest of their days in peace.

Fei Hongde doesn’t have a son. He can’t possibly understand this mindset.

Duan Ling believes that Chang Liujun must have come to see him because he figured he may as well try and see what would happen. Ever since the assassination failed, the south had set out an impenetrable net just waiting for Chang Liujun to return to Jiangzhou. The only reason he came to negotiate with Ye was that he had nowhere left to run. If the negotiation had failed, then his next move would have been to risk going back to Jiangzhou and taking Mu Qing with him no matter what anyone says.

“In that case, you will have to be the one to return to him,” Fei Hongde says.

Wu Du’s expression darkens. Duan Ling ponders this for a long time, but he cannot help but admit that Fei Hongde will always unerringly voice the simple truth.

“You’re quite right, Master Fei Hongde. Indeed, I plan on heading back to Jiangzhou, but first I must figure out which direction my investigation should take.”

Duan Ling trusts Li Yanqiu, but he dares not put all his hopes on Li Yanqiu. He’s already tried trusting someone completely once, but no matter what, he thinks humans can never win against fate. Caught in the maelstrom of destiny, he must take action. Otherwise, looking back afterwards, all that’s left would be regret.

“Let’s leave it at that.” Duan Ling stretches and yawns, and tells Chang Liujun to go get some rest. “In the next little while, I’ll need some time to investigate, to prevent any possible unexpected mishaps.”

Duan Ling doesn’t mention what he has planned next, and Wu Du doesn’t ask him either.

Spring comes rather late to the north, and throughout the endless First Month, the snow never melted. But as soon as the third of the month passes, Duan Ling hands down the order to push through their new policies. Caravans sent by Yao Fu arrive to exchange with Hebei what the other lacks, and they’ve brought seeds as well.

Meanwhile, Wu Du takes the army and roots out all the nearby fortified bandit strongholds in the mountains. They used to say that bandits run amok in Hebei, but now it looks like they’re not worth much. Most of the able-bodied men in their prime had operated in Hejian, and Qin Long had taken almost all of them away last time to assassinate Li Yanqiu.

Duan Ling doesn’t go out of his way to punish them this time — after all, there wasn’t much left of those fortified strongholds but less than two thousand old and infirm, women and children. Duan Ling asks Wu Du to take them all out of the mountains and settle them in Hejian. Those willing to marry are matched, and those who don’t want to marry can go ahead and live on their own.

On the day the snow melts and the fields are to be ploughed for spring, a letter from the south arrives. It’s delivered by a Black Armours soldier, carrying a handwritten missive from Xie You.

Duan Ling can’t be sure whether Xie You knows who he is; perhaps Li Yanqiu only told him to go investigate, but there is one thing he is sure of — Xie You already knows that Li Yanqiu is planning to deal with Mu Kuangda.

The letter contains the answer to what Duan Ling had inquired, regarding Chang Liujun’s origins. Xie You had used the Black Armours’ extensive network to verify Chang Liujun’s story. Among the information is a list of the family members of the Suns of each generation, thus Duan Ling calls Chang Liujun over so he can ask him about them. Chang Liujun is able to answer all of his questions.

This can’t possibly have been looked into beforehand and memorised. After all, when Mu Kuangda sent Chang Liujun to carry out the assassination, nobody could have predicted that Chang Liujun would come specifically to Duan Ling for asylum.

Xie You’s letter also lets him know that Mu Kuangda has had no dealings at all with what was once Xichuan’s Sun family, and he’s never sent anyone to look up information regarding the Suns either. So now Duan Ling can finally stop worrying and give Chang Liujun the antidote.

“When are we going to head back?” Chang Liujun stares at the antidote. “Are we leaving now?”

“Not yet. I’m only giving you the antidote.”

“Waking up without martial arts all of a sudden feels like one less thing to worry about, actually.”

That’s what he says, sure, but Duan Ling knows that Chang Liujun is more concerned about what’s going on in the south.

“Be patient,” says Duan Ling. “If you dare run off on your own then don’t blame me for anything that happens.”

“I won’t,” Chang Liujun hastens to say. Since he’s sworn his allegiance, he’s naturally not going to change his mind. And yet Duan Ling knows full well that Chang Liujun is still more or less worried — worried that when it’s really the time to beg for leniency, whether or not Duan Ling can exonerate Mu Qing.

“Just stop prattling on already.” Wu Du feels like he’s getting callouses from all of Chang Liujun’s nagging. “Why are you so long-winded?”

Chang Liujun had repeatedly tried to get assurance from Wu Du that Wang Shan can save Mu Qing for sure, that His Majesty thinks very highly of Wang Shan because he once saved His Majesty’s life … Wu Du is already extremely annoyed with him.

A new year begins, and nature takes on a new look. The Fifteenth of the First Month had come and gone, then the Second of Second. On the Third of Third2, a bunch of Ye’s single men search for mates by the riverbank, each and every one stripped down to the waist. All of a sudden the river is just full of muscular young bodies — Duan Ling can barely stand to look away.

“What’s there to look at?!” Wu Du says, “Stop staring.”

Soldiering men all have well-defined muscles, and Duan Ling can’t help going for another glance or two before he’s taken away by Wu Du on horseback.

“It’s the Third Month already.” Soaking in the hot spring, Duan Ling says, “Nothing’s happening in Jiangzhou yet.”

“Are you in a rush to go back?”

“Chang Liujun is in a rush,” Duan Ling says. “From where I’m sitting it looks like he’s finding it a bit hard to sit still.”

“You need to trust your uncle.”

That sense of foreboding in Duan Ling’s heart grows more intense every day, just the way it had when he was waiting in Shangjing all those years ago. But with Zheng Yan by Li Yanqiu’s side, nothing bad ought to happen to him.

But back then Li Jianhong also had Wu Du by his side.

Duan Ling tries to calm himself. He knows that no matter what, this will be the last year he and Wu Du will be spending in Hebei.

This translation is by foxghost, on tumblr and kofi. I do not monetise my hobby translations, but if you’d like to support my work generally or support my light novel habit, you can either buy me a coffee or commission me. This is also to note that if you see this message anywhere else than on tumblr, it was reposted without permission. Do come to my tumblr. It’s ad-free. ↩︎

The Shangsi Festival. ↩︎

[zachsgamejournal]

PLAYING: The Legend of Zelda

This game is hard, but an impressive achievement for 1986. I'm shocked by how many Zelda staples are present here, turning almost every following Zelda game into a prettier derivative.

I can't remember where I left off but I've completed a few more dungeons. I already had the bow and boomerang. I have since discovered a raft (that only goes in one direction), a...ladder...that lets me cross single-block gaps of water, and a "better" boomerang. OH and I got the Master Sword!!

I'm finding the dungeons out of order. I'm not sure how the game can be played in order organically, though I did find the first dungeon first. Happy accident I guess. But the second or third dungeon I completely missed. It's actually hard to get to and I had to use an online map to find it. I've heard that the game came with a map included, so it's not quite cheating.

I started finding hearts! Which seems happy except it's harder to max out my hearts and gain a shooter sword. I have to buy healing potions now.

After beating the 4th dungeon, I got brave and accidentally stumbled upon the 6th dungeon. I thought I could handle it. I. Could. Not. Every rooms is a frustrating fight that may help me gather resources or just...die. By the time I get to the dragon boss I am down to 2-3 hearts. And the boss is a real asshole. Also, right before the boss there's an old man that says, "Have you gotten the sword from the mountain" or something like that. Like dude, tell me this shit before I start the pain in the ass dungeon.

So I went and got the Master Sword. It was pretty easy. I think I tried to get it before and they were like, no. But now they just gave it to me. No idea.

I've also discovered there are dark rooms that can likely be lit by candles. But I don't buy candles because I'm frugal. There's also bunny bad guys that are present in Link's Awakening. I keep being impressed by the fact that this really old game on a simple system has so much depth and creativity. So while I love Ocarina of Time, everything there is basically present in some form from the beginning.

Speaking of music. I got the flute. I don't know what it does besides annoy the boss of that dungeon. But what it took to get the flute is why I will never play through this game again. It's too fucking hard!

There's these "knights" and they can only be damaged from behind. They have 5+ hit points. And every time you try to get behind them, they'll randomly about face. They killed me so many times. And as far as I know, there's no other weapon that can help. I did a save state right outside a room filled with them and it took me about an hour to beat them. I even had to leave and buy a health potion to use my magic. Even with a magic sword, I relied mostly on luck to get through this part. Given that the game has almost no story, I'm not compelled to "enjoy" this game again. But I respect what it was and its impact on games. So I'm gonna push through it.

[squib-2006]

I posted 12,267 times in 2022

That's 12,267 more posts than 2021!

83 posts created (1%)

12,184 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@legogeek33

@jays-ask-blog-extravaganza

@master-of-fluff

@howuart

@senseiwu

I tagged 1,670 of my posts in 2022

#lmao - 266 posts

#ninjago - 62 posts

#lego ninjago - 58 posts

#lol - 44 posts

#yes - 41 posts

#kai jiang - 23 posts

#kai smith - 23 posts

#:( - 21 posts

#:d - 20 posts

#lmao yes - 9 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#lloyd was aged up but in my opinion he looked to be about 10-12 years old before the tea and after about the same age (maybe younger) than

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

I can finally be Kai ninjago

This is going to be the best Halloween ever.

63 notes - Posted October 7, 2022

#4

Lava fans be like: we were robed on lava interaction in crystalized pt.2

Meanwhile kailor fans: (hasn’t gotten any real content between Kai and skylor since season 4) that’s rough buddy *watches safe haven & compatible for the 50th time*

99 notes - Posted October 2, 2022

#3

I have an idea

Like what if when krux kidnapped Kai and nya’s parents They actually went to an orphanage and nya got adopted But Kai didn’t And the people got so sick of him they shipped him off to darklys So by the time Lloyd gets there kai is like all angsty and “bad”And he takes Lloyd under his wing And they are like bros But a few years later kai abandons ship and runs away from darklys And Lloyd is just like :( And when wu goes to look for Kai at his parents forge nya is just there visiting and is like I haven’t seen my bro in years And then she gets kidnapped and the pilots happen except Kai isn’t there And then Lloyd gets kicked out of darklys And try’s to be evil and releases the serpentine And the ninja do the ninja stuff but nya is a ninja w/them And they just keep running in to this guy in a cloak who keeps stoping them from capturing lloyd And also doing small crimes And when Lloyd gets kidnapped by the serpentine and Kai helps the ninja escape the slither pit like samurai x did in the original episode he manages to get away but nya stops him and he takes off his hood and is like hi little sis and nya is just like :0 And then he steals the sword of fire for shits and giggles and runs away And tries to save lloyd And then eventually joins up with the rest of the ninja and garmadon to save lloyd. and instead of the compation of who will be the first to find out the identity of samurai x it’s just who the mystery guy who keeps screwing with there plans and generaly causing chaos is And then when nya finds out it’s like

All the other ninja: arguing over who the guy is

Nya: sobbing on the inside

Also sorry if this is just a run on sentence I had a brain fart and I am to lazy to fix it

99 notes - Posted July 14, 2022

#2

Just watching the first 15 minutes of the school for good and evil adaptation makes me remember how much I hate book to movie adaptations. This book has been butchered ho hell and back. Also as a warning to people who haven’t red the books or at least up until book three. DON’T SHIP AGITHA AND SOPHIE TOGETHER. They are revealed to be fraternal twins in the third book as they share a mother. While their relationship may give off heavy gay vibes they are sisters (unless they end up changing this major plot point I haven’t finished the movie yet). Please don’t make this mistake. Anyways back to watching what will no doubt turn out to be a brutal butchering of one of my favorite childhood books.

129 notes - Posted October 19, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Just finished violet

First time I have felt emotions from a Pokémon games ending since moon.

Here’s some memes

^ I say this with love I swear

See the full post

208 notes - Posted November 21, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[thessalian]

Thess vs Inspiration

So while I’m prepping for tonight’s D&D session, I’m also thinking about the various things I keep hearing about the changes being made for One D&D. Now, please keep in mind that I have zero intention of touching One D&D. It worries me on visceral levels, and I am happier with my books, thank you very much. However, doesn’t mean I don’t hear about things now and again. Most of what I keep hearing just gives me more reasons to nope out. I mean, I can see the usefulness of them? But they just don’t make sense to me. The one I understand the best? Is the one I like the least. That would be “making the giving of Bardic Inspiration into a reaction rather than a bonus action”.

I understand the reasoning. It apparently prevents the ‘wasteage’ of an Inspiration die. I get it. Except I also don’t, because of reasons which I will discuss in some detail:

You get your Inspiration dice back at short rests anyway;

How reactions work; and

How Inspiration Dice work

I’ll go with the second one first, because there are three major issues with it. One is how short a 'done thing’ for a reaction has to be. It’s got to be instantaneous with what’s going on. You’d have to know the attack from your ally was going to fail and say / sing / play something inspiring in the split-second between failed attack and inspiration-fuelled success. Turning it into a “snap your fingers; individual is Inspired” thing effectively turns your Bard into a different flavour of Divination Wizard, and takes away a lot of roleplay opportunity.

Issue two: this blows reactions that the Bard in and of themselves might need later, for spells and feats that use a reaction. This is pretty common, considering Magical Secrets and particularly considering Lore Bards. Maybe they picked up Shield. Maybe they picked up Counterspell. Maybe they picked up Hellish Rebuke. Maybe they’re a Valour Bard and picked up the Shield Master Feat. Given that there aren’t a lot of spells that take a bonus action anyway, cramming Bardic Inspiration use for others into a reaction is just a misuse of resources, and is probably going to annoy your players. I know from experience that a Swords Bard will feel guilty for using most of their Insipration dice on their Flourishes, but we do have a Valour Bard picking up the slack in that regard, so hey. Without him, though, it’d be a pretty hard choice as it is without adding “Do I want to blow my reaction on throwing Inspiration when I could be using it for something else?” to the pile.

The other thing about reactions are that they’re disruptive for a DM. Reactions make sense, but they do sort of hiccup the flow of combat a bit. Thing is, mostly they’re contained responses: “I impose disadvantage”; “I do damage back”; “My AC is now [This Number]” ... stuff like that. “I give ... [dice roll] points of Inspiration to [Player]” isn’t hugely long? But it’s just one more place where combat hiccups ... especially when you consider the third thing - how Inspiration works in general.

You roll an Inspiration die before you know whether your action succeeded or failed. As it currently stands, a player can look at their roll before even declaring what it is, think back to what hit and what didn’t, calculate the odds of succeeding with the Inspiration die and either rolling it and saying, “Okay, it was a fifteen but a twenty-one with the Inspiration die”. With Inspiration as a reaction, you get the player having to declare without being sure that they have the option to succeed, declaring the roll, Bard barging in with Inspiration ... and maybe it still not actually helping. So interrupted the flow of combat for nothing. And what happens with Valour Bards being able to add to someone’s damage roll? That just gets even more stupid.

And seriously? You sit down after a combat, have some lunch, roll some hit dice, and your Inspiration dice are all back anyway, so what the fuck is the point?

At the end of the day, it’s the cutting out of RP that annoys me. Inspiration grants as a bonus action make sense because a Bard can see what’s going on in any given fight and make an educated guess about who is likely to need the Inspiration die. That’s going to depend on the Bard in question and what they as a character prioritise. It makes more sense than a Bard who may or may not have leisure to notice everything going on over the entire battlefield being able to provide instant inspiration to whoever needs it at any given second - a Lore or maybe Whispers Bard might because they’re not generally on the front line and get a better look at what the ranged characters are doing, while a Valour or Swords Bard are more often than not directly in the thick of it and probably don’t have leisure to see what’s going on behind them because they’re too busy dealing with the large thing trying to eat their face. And as for the actual giving of Inspiration ... it’s still better done like a Bard instead of just finger-snapped into being. It doesn’t have to be Scanlan-like singing, after all; something my party picked up was having a Bard liken their situation to previous Impressive Deeds (tm) - like, “Flatten it like you did that Ghast that one time!” or “Take this one’s head off too; this time I want to see it fly fifty feet!”

Well. I mean. Honestly I mostly don’t want to touch One D&D because they keep talking about wanting to monetise it “like video games”. Not that they don’t already, to a point - supplements are pretty much DLC, I guess. Just it feels like I was probably right about them starting their own VTT and I can see microtransactions and battle passes becoming a thing annnnnnnnnd I’m just going to stick with 5e, thanks.

[dascarecrow]

Build The Roster - Injustice 3 (Base Roster Newcomers)

So it turns out that Tumblr has an image limit per post so I had to split things up to do this the way I wanted to.

Now we can get to newcomers, which will be made up of...

Hawkman

I would like to see how he plays in an Injustice game and I'm a fan of the character so I'd like to see him in regardless.

Static

First off we need a lightning user in the game. Second they've been trying to get him into the series since the first game. Thirdly, well they say third times a charm so why not put this Milestone hero in the third game.

Stargirl

We need some Justice Society inclusions in the next Injustice game and Stargirl is a poster child for the JSA. Her Cosmic Staff would also allow a lot of variety for gameplay if she got in.

Beast Boy

It would be amazing to see the iconic five Titans all playable in the same game and Beast Boy's shapeshifting could make for a wonderful moveset

Captain Atom

His energy powers could make for a fun moveset and I'm partial to the character so he gets in. Not to mention he's had a role in the extended material for Injustice.

Icicle

An odd pick to be certain but there are reasons. One, we need an ice powered character as it's practically tradition at this point. Two, if we out in a Justice Society character than we need someone who represents the Injustice Society. Three, they could draw from the depiction of Cameron Mahkent in Stargirl to create a compelling character.

Plastic Man

Few reasons for this one. His hyper elastic powers would translate into something unique for a fighting game. He has a big presence in extended media for Injustice and he was a big part of Grant Morrison's run on JLA, which is arguably my favorite Justice League run in the comics.

Mr. Terrific

Why settle for just one JSA member? I believe Mr. Terrific could play differently than anyone ever seen in Injustice and that stage cameo from the first game could finally pay off.

Isis

Since Shazam and Black Adam are going to be absent in this roster I decided to look at someone else in the Shazam family to join up. Most of the Shazam heroes are too similar in powerset to replace either of them but Isis boasts unique powers over nature which could be fun to see in an Injustice game.

Vibe

Vibe is just a personal favorite of mine that has unique powers that could be fun to see in a fighting game. And then there's his unique connection to the Multiverse which could lead to a lot of story potential with him as well.

Mirror Master

Time for some villains on this roster. The Flash is my favorite DC hero and he deserves to have one of his Rogues join the fight. I went with Mirror Master for the unique moveset he could have in the game if he joined.

Parasite

We definitely need a Superman enemy in the game and Parasite's unique absorption powers could turn him into an effective copy fighter like Shang Tsung is in Mortal Kombat.

Circe

There's been a Wonder Woman enemy in both prior Injustice games so why not keep the trend going with Circe who's mastery of magics could provide plenty of havoc for the heroes.

Metamorpho

Guy has unique powers which could translate into a unique moveset for a fighting game.

Red Tornado

Mortal Kombat has Fujin with his wind powers so why shouldn't DC get in on the action with their own wind controlling android. Plus his robotic nature could make for some engaging dialogue.

Katana

With her magic sword she could play like Kenshi does in Mortal Kombat.

Saint Walker

We've seen villainous Lantern Corps appear in the first two games so why don't we do something different and have the main member of the heroic Blue Lantern Corp appear. After all the world of Injustice is a bleak one that needs all the hope it can get.

And to finish things off we have...

Eclipso

I wanted a mystical "Big Bad" for the game and Eclipso would be a fitting, if unexpected pick for that role. His powers over darkness and ability to possess people would certainly have both gameplay and story potential.

With that we have worked out the base roster for a prospective Injustice 3. I know it's a bit hero heavy but in the world of Injustice the role of hero and villain aren't so clear cut.

To finish things out we'll determine the roster for DLC inclusions in Injustice 3 so please read that post for the full experience for this Build The Roster.

[yakiattaki]

finished totk yesterday. what a shit note to end the series on up to this point, and my own over-year-long journey through all of these games. my thoughts i guess under the cut

genuinely. i hated totk. it's a bloated, sloppy, messy version of botw. there are systems that are so clunky they ruin every other system in the game.

the most amount of enjoyment i got was from 2 cutscenes (link retrieving the master sword and ruaru's sacrifice), and the ending sequence where you have to dive for zelda. that last part only because i waited it out, hoping the game would have a unique game over state. instead it just froze us in mid-air and didn't force me to do anything while music looped. i burst out laughing.

the story is full of holes, and it is so frustrating having link explain that he's looking for zelda when both him and i know exactly where zelda is beacuse i've done the fucking memories. every fucking sage having the imprisoning war explained to them over and over. ganondorf saying 'haha i tricked you' when like bro i've known for HOURS that you're not zelda. i've known since the first bloodmoon. fuck off dickhead. also, i thought one of the themes was going to be sacrifice. like. link sacrificed his arm trying to save zelda, zelda sacrificed her body to become the light dragon and restore the master sword, ruaru sacrificed his life to keep ganondorf from winning and delaying his return until link could stop him once and for all.

and then link and zelda's sacrifices are undone in the same cutscene. all for nothing. literally, the only thing different about hyrule is the sky islands now. everything else is the exact same.

and i just have to wonder. what was the point? like genuinely what's the point of this game? i didn't have fun with it. the writing is bad. they missed a perfect opportunity to have ruaru as a companion (why the fuck was he at the ending if his spirit was gone after the great sky island?).

it was genuinely a miserable fucking experience. i can't believe i paid money for this game. the point at which my opinion turned was the fire temple. that piece of shit dungeon broke literally any good will i had towards this game. and then the water temple and getting to it fucked it all over again.

the tone is scatter shot and all over the place and i guess the main theme is friendship and teamwork? even though the sages are fucking useless mechanically and thematically, they all get knocked out in ganondorf's third phase and then don't do anything until the post-credits scene.

i can't help but compare it to botw. that game is quiet and melancholic. we're a hundred years post a world ending event, scars still fresh and wounds haven't healed. all the champions are dead but you avenge them, and even the confrontation with ganon is muted. maybe because he didn't have a voice? idk i feel voice acting just hurts the game lol.

this is all, so frustrating to me because like. these games hold a special significance to me, they're my late friend's favourite game series and so they mean a lot to me. but, and i hate to say this and it sounds stupid, totk feels like it spits on his memory. i'm not sure even he'd like this game.

anyway to wrap up this laundry list of complaints and thoughts: bad game, terrible sequel to BoTW even though i don't much like that one either but it's still better, please don't make another open world zelda game, it doesn't work for this series.

I don't know, but I do know one thing: I'm very tired.

[moongothic]

Finished TOTK yesterday, I have a mouth, so I must scream

Be warned, the be spoilies, but TL:DR; Good Game

I don't even know where to start, maybe the boring stuff? The gameplay changes from BOTW?

I dunno, I feel like generally speaking TOTK improved upon BOTW's gameplay mechanics in every way, or simply changed neither for better or worse

Like. The Sage Powers are fine, they're fun. But I did prefer the original Champion Abilities from BOTW. I do understand why they changed the abilities the way they did, the BOTW ones were kind of... basic. Like they were game mechanics any game could have, and some of them (Revali's Gale ESPECIALLY) could have literally broken the game and/or made much of the other new abilities completely pointless. They NEEDED to change for TOTK. And so we get the Sage Powers, which were much more situational. But they also helped add challenge to the game because they weren't these get-out-of-jail cards you could pull out of your pocket to cheese through any situation. Like no Mipha's Prayer means either you make sure you have fairies in your pocket, or you heal yourself every chance you get, or you simply die. Mipha ain't got your back. Nor Daruk. Nor Urbosa. Nor Revali. It's just you and the Sages if/when their powers happen to be useful.

That said. I did miss Revali's Gale the entire time I was playing and would have exchanged literally every single other ability in the game for the Gale. It was just so convenient man

If there's one thing I WISH TOTK hadn't changed and/or kept the same, it would be the Memories. Like. I didn't dislike the system they had going with the memories, but they way they changed it WHILE keeping it the same made TOTK's Dragon Tears a worse experience than BOTW's Memories (for me at least)

You see. Based on all the dialogue through out the game, it's kind of obvious in hindsight that you were arguably meant to do the Geoglyph Quest AFTER finding AT LEAST the first four sages, maybe even after finding Mineru and/or saving the Deku Tree. And that would be fine, but the thing is.

Like. In BOTW the Memories you really had to go out of your way to find, they were sometimes pretty well hidden and hard to find after all, but in BOTW even if you did find the Memories out of order or before doing any other sidequests, they didn't really affect the story at all, right

In TOTK, they attached the Memories to GIGANTIC LANDMARKS YOU CAN SEE FROM MILES AWAY. You don't have to go looking for jack shit, the Geoglyphs will fucking find YOU instead

NOT TO MENTION, in BOTW there was a True Ending you could only unlock if you got all the Memories, right. Knowing that OF COURSE most players would go out of their way to just fucking RUSH to each Geoglyph as fast as they could, because OF COURSE we want to know what happened to Zelda and the Master Sword

And. Like I know My Experience is not universal.

But, being the massive Fi Simp that I am, immidiately after I finished the Wind Temple I headed for the Korok Forest and the Master Sword geoglyph, because I wanted to know where Fi My Beloved is and if she's fucking okay

So The Master Sword Geoglyph was literally the third memory I watched.

The one where Zelda states she's going to become an immortal dragon to reach the future.

The third memory I watched. That fucking one.

Like. I'm not saying getting spoiled on Zelda becoming the Light Dragon so early on RUINED my precious experience, I still enjoyed the game deeply despite that. But I do, really really wish, that I hadn't seen that memory until much later. Not just because it was frustrating to listen to every character be like "oh jeez I wonder where Zelda is" when I know exactly where the fuck she is, but also because it did affect my enjoyment of the rest of the memories. Like, there's a great story TOTK is telling, but I've already seen the most important part, the part I was the most invested in, the end of it. So the rest, the way we get there... kind of doesn't matter.

I feel like had they either NOT given the players advice on how to interact with the Geoglyphs so early in the game (meaning you probably wouldn't know how to see the memories until later unless you figured out how to brute force them yourself), OR had they just kept the Memories more hidden like in BOTW... IDK, I think either method would have worked better than the way TOTK ended up doing it

All that aside, I gotta say. It's not often that a story leaves me feeling as mortified, empty and sad as TOTK did. Nor as inspired and full of hope as TOTK did. Like. Normally I'm very numb and don't get invested in storie, I rarely get emotional over a story. I rarely get invested. And TOTK just managed to wack me over the head, it's genuinely impressive

Like I don't know what to say, that was so fucking good man

Like. Of course, the best parts of the story where when all the sages united together and I just WISH Nintendo would have allowed there to be more moments like that, I could not get enough and simply yearned for more. I don't even mean during gameplay, just give me a few more cutscenes man 😭

I don't even know what to say anymore. It was a good game. I don't know what to do with my life anymore now that I beat it lmao