#oops opinion time!

[waxtides]

heartslabyul casual fits

[palmolli]

I did not care for Breath of the Wild.

WAIT WAIT WAIT! I CAN EXPLAIN! DON'T SHOOT!

It's not that I HATE BotW. I certainly don't. I just don't love it. Though I very much DON'T like totk... that's an opinion for later. This is in no way a good critique or a review. It's just my opinion.

Breath of the Wild was the first Zelda game that I ever played, like many of you in the fandom right now. I bought it with my own money (I'm a jobless minor) after interacting with the fandom for a bit before even picking up a game. And like most people, the feeling of starting the game and waking up in that bathtub, that feeling of wonder and mystery, was awesome.

I will give credit where credit is due, BotW got me through a time when I was at my lowest. It gave me an escape to a much better world, a safe space, one I could go to when I had no hope for reality, something to hold onto if you will. The release of TotK gave me something to look forward to during a time when I didn't want to wake up the next morning.

I have every reason to love this game, but I don't.

Honestly, I'm TIRED of BotW and all the sequels and spin-offs.

Botw came out since people were so tired of the linear Zelda formula. ... that formula lasted for longer than I've been alive, yet it's only been about 8 years, and there's been such an uproar of people complaining about the new shiny open world formula.

Why? Well, because most of the gaming industry is open world now and having a linear formula is what made Nintendo feel unique... oh, and also because Nintendo completely failed at making totk's map feel new and interesting. They just slapped a bunch of random crap on the map here, and there with almost zero thought. When I first played totk, I felt like I was playing some kinda modded version of botw. It felt a little illegal. And playing it feels like a chore. That's never happened with any other Zelda sequel.

Even though Majora's Mask's assets were all reused from Ocarina of Time, the game still felt new and inventive. The game had meaning. The game had a THEME. AND THAT GAME WAS MADE IN TWO YEARS. TOTK TOOK SIX!!!

Cough cough. Pardon me.

Another reason I'm just sick of botw.

It's everywhere. It's Nintendo's golden goose. Just about everyone who plays games has played BotW. It's so big that it overshadows the rest of the franchise. It's basically Ocarina of Time all over again. Just... worse.

A sequel, a prequel, and another on the way. Ocarina of Time was never THAT BAD. It was given one sequel. That's it! Nintendo is just turning into Disney. And let me tell you something.

I loathe disney.

Too afraid to make anything new, so they rely on things that they know will make them money. Too afraid to say anything and spark controversy, so all of their content is void of anything actually meaningful. There's no particular audience. They appeal to no one by appealing to everyone while overly reliant on a fan base they know will bow before them and just buy whatever they churn out.

And, again, it's just like the word Zelda has just become synonymous with Breath of the Wild. Any Zelda content on most platforms like Tik Tok, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest..

I AM SICK OF HIS FACE. WHEN I CLOSE MY EYES HE'S ALL I SEE. WHEN I OPEN THEM, HE'S ALL I SEE. HE IS EVERYWHERE AND I CAN'T ESCAPE HIS STUPID. FACE.

EVERY DAMN SKYWARD SWORD EDIT IS SOMEHOW MADE ABOUT BREATH OF THE WILD ZELINK I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!!!!!!

and this isn't a you problem, by the way. If Breath of the Wild's your favorite game, own that, bro. This is a Nintendo problem.

Like... echoes of wisdom... seems like everyone kinda forgot about it. Including me. It brought new things to the table. AND NOBODY CARES!!!! BECAUSE THEY'RE TOO FOCUSED ON BINKLE BONKLE'S MISADVENTURES. Though, it did keep the art style of Link’s Awakening... which I honestly do not like all that much. C'mon Nintendo, give us a new art style, you bunch of greedy cowards.

Now, to get off track for a moment.

My favorite game is Skyward Sword. Yes, this is relevant. Breath of the Wild and Skyward Sword are almost complete polar opposites of each other. One leans into tradition, while the other runs from it. One is reliant on story and characters, the other on gameplay.

People absolutely HATED Skyward Sword once upon a time. Now more people are starting to like it. People LOVE Breath of the Wild, and now more people are starting to think differently.

This point I'm making here is expanded further in this very ahead of its time video that explains this far better than I ever could.

Basically. People complained. Nintendo over corrected. Now we're here.

These two games are what REALLY got me into the franchise. Breath of the Wild was the first Zelda game I ever touched... but Skyward Sword was the first game I ever finished. Like ever not even lying, I'd never finished a game in my life before Skyward Sword.

The game actually motivated me to continue. The dungeons were fun and engaging, and same with the characters. I was genuinely invested and finished the game at one in the morning, shaking and in tears. Keep in mind I'd watched a playthrough of the game before I was able to play it myself. I already knew the story.

Then I finished breath of the wild.

I did not cry.

I did not shake.

I just finished it and put the game down.

Skyward Sword gave me a reason to give a damn, Breath of the Wild did not. Sksw Link felt like a person to me. He wanted to get his Zelda back, and so did I. Breath of the Wild Link, however... he just woke up, and he has no idea who the heck Zelda even is, so he's just gonna go collect koroks and blow stuff up. No motivation... just... do whatever whenever. Which is fun, yes... but it's not all that impactful.

Skyward Sword gives me a cozy, warm feeling, while Breath of the Wild gives the opposite. Empty. Cold.

Like... I just don't care about Breath of the Wild. I really just don't. And I am just so tired of it being the only thing on the menu nowadays. The characters felt like cardboard cutouts to me. You have to actively seek out any character or personality in them (the main ones). That was not a problem in Skyward Sword. Just sit down on a dang bench, and you'll find more character in Link there than in most botw memories.

I know botw Link's whole silence thing has a reason behind it, but it just feels like an excuse. They could've expanded on it a bit more. In concept designs, he's shown to have a family. But they scrapped it. They really could've done so much more with that.

This rant was incredibly messy, I know, but I just needed to get this out somewhere. This has been boiling within me for far too long, and I had to put it into a teacup and make tea, or else I'd go insane. I'm not trying to be a contrarian or anything. This is just how I feel. And I'm not trying to say any fans of botw or people who don't have access to the other games are fake fans. I understand that games are expensive and hard to access.

This is purely my opinion, and you're allowed to think differently. Thanks for coming to my TedTalk, and have a nice day.

[chalkeater]

Are You Bored Yet came out of my shuffle and I remembered that I drew this a LONG time ago (2022) for it but never finished it. Tbh its kinda almost done but i just. Never got back to it. It HAUNTS me that ive never finished this yet but i thought youd all be interested in some Secret Art I never posted before. Would you like to see me finish this??

[stupot]

I'm in this online asynchronous DDR tourney rn and posted a tentative score in the discord and somebody was like "why are you not in a lower tier" like. you may be right but damn keep it in your pocket you don't gotta say all that right in front of me and everyone else 😭

[spock-adoodledoo]

permanent starter call for apothecary side character enjoyers specifically tianyu likers

[prince-liest]

I’m a sex-repulsed ace, and reading the latest chapter of 666 (as well as your analysis here on Tumblr) made me realize that I have been subconsciously thinking about MY OWN sexuality from an allo perspective? And that it has kinda been messing me up?? Like, ever since I learned that sexual attraction was actually a Thing and that it’s Important To People, I had been carrying around a fear of being deficient in some way and not being able to love to the same extent as allos. (1)

Even though I know logically that’s complete garbage and totally untrue, I felt left out of the loop because people seemed to care strongly about this thing I couldn’t even imagine. Whenever it looked like a relationship might happen I panicked for a reason that I couldn’t understand. But now I’m starting to realize that it’s because I was subconsciously terrified of an ‘ulterior motive’ behind the other person’s reasons for wanting to be with me. (2) That part of the reason they even cared was because of something I don’t experience. So thank you, because this realization just clicked into place while reading your work. The thing is, this way of thinking was just internalized in such a way that I didn’t even realize it was there until literally this week. And I think you’re right; one of the main reasons behind that is because I’ve always consumed media written from an allo perspective. (3) If ace/aros are shown at all, they’re depicted as “lacking” and their character development usually revolves around being “fixed” by the story. When I was ~10 years old my mom sometimes let me watch the Big Bang Theory with her (looking back, maybe not the best decision). Anyways, there was one episode deep into the series where Sheldon (who for the past nineish seasons was probably the closest thing to mainstream ace rep) has sex with his girlfriend for the first time. (4) Afterwards, he says something along the lines of “that was better than I thought it would be”, and it’s presented as a Very Good Thing and a big step in their relationship. I think a lifetime of stuff like that makes it very easy to internalize aphobia and feel like the lesser part of the relationship. Or to feel like the other partner is making a huge sacrifice to be with you. That got wayy too long, sorry. All that was just a lot of words to say that I appreciate you. Take care of yourself!(5)

The portrayal of asexuality that you see in media being almost exclusively as you described is very tedious to me because it presumes that something is inherently lacking in aro/aceness rather than that feeling of "lacking" being something that is induced by societal norms. Actually, one of the things that I find additionally alienating is that fandom spaces specifically have been getting better and better about ace characters - but got damn does fandom not jive with aromanticism. Like, a character doesn't want to fuck? That's becoming a liiiittle more fine, it's 2024, we stan consent. But not shipping someone romantically?? Not so easy, now.

I'm glad that my work has been something that resonated with you in this respect! Alastor cares a lot about his reputation as a demon but is pretty blatantly a person who could not possibly give less of a shit about being "wrong" for not being experiencing romantic or sexual attraction. The explanation Viv gave at one point for his own understanding of himself (that he thinks he's just "waiting for the right woman") actually stuck out to me a lot because it's a very "well, nothing is wrong with me for not feeling anything, it's the world that's failed to produce a suitable person" perspective.

But having that kind of confident perspective of your own rightness in the world is really not often portrayed in media, or even in fandom, which even ten years ago was still in the throes of standardizing "Oh, no! Me, gay? These feelings are so wrong!" style m/m content and is honestly not that far off from essentially that for aro/ace characters.

Anyway, all of that is to say that there's not yet much out there that doesn't frame allo/amatonormative values as the default that "even aro/ace people can (and should want to) achieve," and that it's really fun to write a fic that is unequivocally from the perspective of a character who is aroace and doesn't see it as even remotely a fault in himself. Does he have moments where he's a little confused and trying to process how things fit for him? Absolutely. But he just doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who thinks he owes romance to Vox of all people, hahaha. I've written him trying to conform to allo/amatonormativity more with Mimzy, because I think the social standards of their time could push him into it, but Vox? Absolutely not, he does not respect Vox enough for it to even enter his mind.

And then, on the other hand, writing it from an aroace perspective centers the way that romantic and sexual interest can feel like a betrayal of a good thing. With a character like Alastor, it frames romantic and sexual attraction the same alien way that we usually see aromanticism and asexuality framed as.

In the end, this is just one of a plethora of different experiences that aro/ace people can have, but it's one that I really wanted to see represented more, so I'm very happy to write it. I'm glad that you're enjoying it!

[littleoddwriter]

just watched The Substance and I'm so happy I decided to go and watch it, after all! it was so good!!! the body horror was spectacular, the acting was superb, everything was just right, honestly. it was horrific and hilarious at the same time (especially toward the end), which made me feel terrible for laughing as hard as I did, because on a deeper level, none of those scenes are funny, but on a movie level, they were hilarious (and had genuine comedic elements, so in a way, you're supposed to laugh, and you're most likely also supposed to feel bad about that). truly, I love Coralie Fargeat's style! her movies are so incredibly stylistic in the best way, I love it so much! <3 (please also watch "Revenge", if you liked The Substance. that movie of hers is amazing as well! but make sure to read the warnings or short plot summary of it because it deals with triggering/sensitive subject matters!)

that was a pretty solid 10/10 for me, honestly! <3

[dreamsy990]

abbreviated version of a rant i went on in a friends dms but honestly i think we set extremely unfair expectation for indie media to be incredible all the time. and because of that people end up hating on indie projects for being only about as good as something mainstream. helluva boss i think is the best example of this because its got some drop dead gorgeous visuals like literally some of the most impressive animation ive ever seen. but it has very flawed writing and so people are suddenly like "its a bad show and youre a bad person if you like it" and thats fucking wild. do you guys honestly act like this with every show because i know for a fact that you dont. i think its a good sign that something indie with a lot of flaws can go as far as helluva has, and if you're just saying its a terrible show without any acknowledgement of the effort put into it? i think you need to grow up. not everything indie has to be another undertale.

[almalex24]

to match with the lea.....

[wayward-banana]

guys I do not have 500 dollars for both of them

[runninguplenorahills]

Lowkey need people to think a little more outside the box when it comes to the sci-fi plot.

The reason many people have a hard time noticing byler and that Mike is gay specifically is not only because they’re blinded by heteronormativity, but also because of cliche storylines that are ingrained into their brains. Mike and El falling in love is cliche and that’s why many people think it’s what happened.

Now, we know that they’re not going for a cliche path with this, and I personally truly believe that they’re not gonna go for the most cliche ending of all times with the sci-fi plot either (killing the big bad evil guy with the hero sacrificing themselves). It just doesn’t make sense for the characters involved in such a scenario, so I kinda don’t get why so many people cannot think outside of this cliche. Be more innovative and have a little fuunnnnn.

[heir-of-the-chair]

Lowkey hyperfixating now and I’ve come to the devastating conclusion that Jacob the main character of Water For Elephants… doesn’t really have a character arc

[duskargentum]

One thing that really had to grow on me about KCD from the first time I played it up through all the times I had to play it was the fixed protagonist. Many RPGs these days allow you to create your own character, their appearance, their personality, their skillset, etc., but there's always a slight disconnect, which I think people realize but tend to look past. The disconnect, of course, is that, when you play these custom characters, you are inhabiting a husk and forcing your decisions onto it. This means that the design of the game, from the dialogue options to the character builds to the level of connection to the other characters in the story, they're all at odds with the vision the player has in their head of how the game is being played. In other words, in being able to inhabit a character in a story, your making those decisions WITH them, and not OVER them. KCD railroads your character customization to the point of not being able to choose your own name, appearance, personality, character build (to an extent), and forces you to *become* Henry of Skalitz. Dialogue always seems like something Henry would say, the different skills all seem like things Henry would spend his time doing and improving, characters always seem like the type of people would have connections to. Henry is not inserted into this game world in the same way a custom character would have been. He lived in it, he forged connections, he built character motivations, he experienced events and formed opinions on them. The canon of the story is not always at odds with the perception of events that each player has. Granted, this means that Henry's life and feelings and experiences will almost always be the same, but it does mean that you get to live it all alongside him, instead of instead of him.

This maybe isn't so much a strength of KCD in particular and may be more of a commentary on fixed protagonists in RPGs in general, but I will give the credit to KCD that it does it well enough that it inspired me to form a more cohesive opinion on the difference between a fixed and custom protagonist in an RPG.

[doctorwhoisadhd]

i was in a high school during school hours for the first time since i started dyeing my hair and the number of compliments i got was crazy

[flash-from-the-past]

Submachine 7: the core

[cathalbravecog]

if the update tmrw is another arg or just an overhyped Nothing Sandwich Dissappointment update again im going t