#playing reload rn but I still miss him

[fuyuhayooo]

I miss him :(

[sorcerous-caress]

I think Larian should put in some sort of tag to make it clear you're lying or being manipulative in that scene because otherwise I do think it just comes off as very muddled (and a little unfair to people who wanted to play it that way and instead were blindsided by being told they're lying and broken up with)

The reason I read it as manipulation is because that's what Mizora does, and she's using magic to manipulate your physical body so it would make sense if she'd influence your mind as well. She clearly didn't have good intentions and even if you the player have complete control Tav the character I still feel could easily have been read as being manipulated into it with minimal RPing necessary. And just in general I feel like a lot of people would want to play the scene that way

And with Astarion I just don't see the acting when you do that dialogue tree vs other ways to play that scene, like it rather seems like the act drops but that could just be Neil’s acting conflicting with what was actually written

Basically I just feel like cheating and manipulation are both ways to read that scene that make complete sense and it's a little disappointing that the game doesn't make it more obvious that it's not

(also I really hope this doesn't come across as arguing I genuinely think this is an interesting discussion even if I don't agree with your perspective)

Oh no! I am absolutely enjoying this discussion, anon. I love talking about my thoughts and hearing your different ones. I never thought of it as arguing in the slightest, I was actually looking forward to your next reply every time I answered <3 million smooches to you anon I'm having so much fun rn.

And about the dialogue tag thing, I absolutely agree. A lot of people mentioned it too in the game feedback. Even ingame I picked a lot of options that I thought were innocent or meant as a joke only to be met with the fact they meant something completely different and had to reload.

It needs to be clearer when you're lying to someone, flirting with them, being serious, or joking. Remember the hoards of people who tirggeted Gale's romance accidentally by just being nice to him?

Especially about lies, a lot of times I'm confused about the options available because I'm not sure if Tav is making shit up, or if i missed out on a major detail.

And maybe it's subjective.. Someone could argue that you genuinely did believe that Mizora manipulated you because she does leave a mark on you that you never agreed to at the end. I don't see it that way but it's up to interpretation.

I was someone who fell for Astarion's acting during Act 1. All that nice talk and coaxing? His honeyed words to get you to sleep with him? I genuinely took them to heart and believed them. I was like oh he already told me about Cazador so he trusts me and definitely isn't manipulating me ehe!

Throughout all of my first playthrough, I avoided all spoilers and discussions about bg3. I was genuinely eating up all of Astarion's flattery and dialogue. When he confessed to giving me sex in exchange for protection during act 2 i was extremely confused because when did that ever happen?

He seemed very eager in all the sex and flirting scenes?? I didn't get it at all at the time and didn't realise how good of an actor he is.

The only time when I genuinely saw Astarion for who he is ,is when he admits to the fact you would've been one of his victims in the cage in another life at Cazador's palace. Even when surrounded by his mistakes, he deflects any attempt of you to put the guilt on him.

I actually left the game for a week straight. I felt both disgusted with myself for also seeing him as a sex object, i am no better than these people in the cages. Yet also disgusted with him for manipulating both my character and irl me for so long. That's why i feel weird to write nsfw about him even now, I feel weird when I see sexy fanart of him. Astarion is genuinely one of the most complex characters I have ever seen, and I can't simply reduce him to a victim or a sexy vampire. His writing team and voice actor work is phenomenal.

I did the cheating on him with Mizora, too, just out of curiosity and reloaded myself after. I felt very assured when he said he didn't mind and didn't blame me, that sleeping with a devil is a chance you don't simply miss. I trusted his words because I didn't know better.

Only after when I finished the game, saw more posts about him that go in depth about his character and the many many ways he manipulates you in to ensure his own safety, did I actually see him fully as a whole person.

That's why I'm doubtful of even his sympathy during the manipulated Mizora option, the delivery doesn't show a hint of lying in the slighest I agree. But also for me none of his other canonly manipulative lines show any hint of lying for me.

Remember the orgy in Sharess Caress? Where he is all enthusiastic after the Cazador is dealt with, but during it he completely zones out? Doesn't the fact he tells you to "let him join next time" after the Mizora event ring any similar alarms?

I think in the most generous cases possible, he isn't aware he is manipulating you. He is just saying what he thinks would please you. It clearly would make you happy to have the drow threesome even while he himself was sex replused since act 2 and until act 3. Like how it would make you happy for him to not make a big deal out of the cheating.

But it's interesting that you can see honesty in his responses. If anything, it shows that you're piecing together the slivers of truth he lets slip out during his acts because even he himself can still make mistakes and reveal the truth amidst a lie.

There is also another theory!

Astarion doesn't care about sexual cheating, only romantic cheating.

During the Halsin poly dialogue, he gets really happy when you reassure him that he is the one you love. The one your heart lies with. Then tells you to go fuck Halsin as much as you want.

So in this scenario the fact Mizora is a devil matters a lot because Astarion says it himself, devils do not fall in love.

Maybe that's why he was all giddy and smiles, knowing fully it's just sex, something he barely puts value on anymore since he has been freed of i, and doesn't mind you sleeping with devils.

At the end of the day, yeah, like you said, cheating and manipulation are two valid ways to read into the conversation. It did feel rushed a bit, we didn't even get to actually fuck Mizora Goddammit! If i wanted freaky weird magic sex I would've fucked the local wizard instead!

Mizora's intentions are just to make your lover jealous, she admits she just wanted to stir the pot and saw you as a target.

[moondustocean]

OC/PC Masterpost because there are many of them and I love talking about them c:

First things first: my canon run is always a bit chaotic, I try not to reload and only go for the choices the character I roleplay would make. That's how I get the most fun out of RPGs c: (I had a hard time falling in love with Inky and when I finally found a canon one he chose the opposite of anything I'd have done.)

• Cyberpunk | V - the one who deserved better

only got a bit cyberware installed after the voodoos betrayed him - is a beast anyway | canon ending: the tower | 2079 is like waking up from a bad trip and all the guilt hits him at once | he's a fixer now and tries to make NC his city

• Dragon Age (I need to make a "collage" for my DAO babies and Hawke as well someday. I haven't posted about any of them yet, so no links for now.)

Meena: canon HOF | dwarven commoner | rogue | sacrificed herself because she didn't really understand magic and wasn't sure if she could trust Morrigan's ritual | was a warden with all her heart

Diem: elf | circle mage | used to despise blood magic but ended up taking advantage of it anyway to save his friends | travels the world and looks for a cure at the moment

Kiwa: warden commander | human | rogue | took Anders in after he fled from Kirkwall | gives wine evenings at the warden's keep

Hawke: mage | purple | I went with canon male Hawke bc I played DAI first and instantly fell in love with him. He's in the fade rn ._. I hate my Inky sometimes.

Feodore: the inquisitor | human | mage | made everyone believe he's the herald of andraste because he liked the attention that came with it | was an arrogant idiot until he saw the future | most of his decisions were based on his hunger for wisdom | loves forging

Vi'Alla: elf | mage | got adopted by an old couple when she was one | was on the run from the templars but ended up in a circle for two years until she was sent to the conclave | has a thick accent

Yumaí: dwarf | rogue | if there are potions missing in Skyhold she has them | Sera will probably follow Yumaí around when she joins the wardens because she distrusts them and loves Yumaí so much

Ha'Jae: elf | rogue | lost one of his twelve cousins at the conclave, and wanted to avenge them so badly that he joined the Inquisition, even though he dislikes everyone but the dalish

• Baldur's Gate 3

Sandalion: half-elf | rogue | chaotic good | was an adrenaline junkie and did everything to get a kick | he slowly became somekind of "hero" who still stole from everyone around him | leads the Guild now

Cyanahara: high-elf | bard/babarian | chaotic neutral | is a "if you want something to be done right do it yourself" - person | Sandalion just needs to breathe and Hara is annoyed by him

Osha: tiefling | druid | lawful good | would do about anything to avoid fights | loves to adopt random stuff - pets, strangers, plants | is extremely glad about being a druid

• Mass Effect I'm not going to share much about my Shepard online bc he's my dearest PC.

earthborn | soldier | ace | clean for 15 years now | stone-cold until he "died" in ME2 and slowly learned to feel and function like a normal human being again. "Oh no! by Mariana and the Diamonds" is the best way to descripe my man.

[gaylianbeast]

Anyways idk if anyone cares but beloved mutuals here are my thoughts on botw:

it was fun and a really nice game and I managed to complete it even if I suck at videogames so like. Gameplay wise I can't say anything about it except maybe that I keep forgetting which button does what but tbh that might just be me being stupid again❤ OH another gameplay thing I didn't like was my horsie being in danger. Stay away from her get a job!!!!!! Also all the times I got stuck in rivers and ravines and such and had to reload a previous save file bc I felt bad teleporting and leaving my horse down there :/

Plot wise I think I really liked the beginning of the game the most, it's still good as it progresses but I kept asking myself some questions that maybe are just really stupid and/or I just missed the answer to it but like. Yeah. 1. how the fuck did all the champions die against ganon? I can understand mipha bc she's a healer but urbosa??? Daruk who should be unkillable with his shield? Like girl I get link is special but this doesn't add up to me :/ 2. Why did zelda's powers never manifest before? 3. Where the hell did zelda grab that horsie from (during the final battle) like that is NOT one of my horsies

But yeah I'm still playing it and doing some side quests rn so maybe this^ will change

Also I guess I didn't really like how calamity ganon doesn't say anything like he's just there like. What is going on with him.......... I haven't played totk yet so I hope there's more about ganon in there but I'm a little sad about this for now (sidenote I did NOT think his battle was underwhelming GIRL it was annoying enough already having to wait for daruk's power to recharge bc I ran out shields and I still had to deflect that laser to kill him like. Do not add anything else. please. ❤❤)

Now for the open world, I really like open worlds in theory bc I love exploring but this place seems so empty? There are so many areas where it's just grass and like. Girl not even a pebble? Some fruit to grab? Girl? Also there should have been more recipes to cook they need to let me make scaloppine please please please you're nothing

But yeah it was fun and I kept dying in stupid ways and I can't wait to play the sequel!!!! I miss midna tho

Complimentary pic of my kitty yawning to thank you for reading my thoughts:

[wild-catra]

disco elysium review - or more of a vent I guess? will most likely containt spoiler

so I binged this game over christmas and finished my firt  playthrough and I kinda don’t get the hype

like, it is a solid game, it was entertaining and it kept my curiosity I was just frequently dissappointed

like, most of the characters were quite shallow and stereotypical imo and the writers tried to cover that up with a shit ton of really pretentious dialogue that was oftentimes meaningless. sure the story was kinda satirical and I generally don’t have a problem with exeggerated characters in such settings, I think what ruined it for me was as said their pretentious dialogue and that the writers were trying to do both: have comedically exeggerated characters that spew a lot of nonsense but also have really sad and serious things happen to them which are suposed to make the player sad... and I’m like... no I don’t care what happens to these clown characters, they’re not real people and they don’t act like real people? (except that one side quest where you tell a woman you found her dead husband, that made me emotional but I’m sure it was only bc I never talked to her before she prolly would’ve said ridiculous bullshit had I engaged with ehr infront of the book store before, which would have ruined the scene later on) I also don’t have a problem with “everyone is awful” type of storys, but in such cases you gotta make me care about the characters and the world still. there’s still gotta be something catchy about the awful world and awful people inhabiting it. and here I didn’t really get that for some reason.

I didn’t like how they censored certain slurs but not the misogynist ones. like either censor all of them or don’t? but the entire story was pretty misogynist, lacking female characters, let alone interesting ones (but tbf I didn’t find the male characters interesting either bc they were all so shallow and stereotypical)

I did’t like the main character, I’ve had too many interactions with such men irl and I’m tired of them being the main character in every “gritty” story. It’s boring, I don’t care about middle aged loser men being sad and gross -yet *charming*  - drug addicts who somehow still miraculously excell in their field and are beloved or at least tolerated by everyone. (irl such men aren’t charming just creepy, annoying and impossible to work with due to their self centered behaviour and most people don’t actually tolerate this, storys like this are just fairy tales dreamt up by loser men who want to act like a pig yet still be adored and face no consequences. irl they get fired pretty fast and no one wants to be friend with them)

I felt like my choices didn’t matter, oftentimes i didn’t matter if I failed a skillcheck or not and sometimes it mattered *so much* I got locked and had to savescum until I passed the check because there was nothing else I could do at that point (bc I had done everything there was to do that day, so no means to level up and improve that skill) and the MAIN story wouldn’t progress when I failed. very frustrating. I would’ve liked it if the skill checks mattered always AND if failing/passing just took me on noticeably different routes instead of locking me out and forcing me to reload. but maybe that’s too ambitious for a video game.

the ending was pretty disappointing. like... .why did they pull that random communist survivor out of their ass?? sorry if I missed hints before but for me that came completely out of nowhere and his motive was shit also WHY did they ahve to make him a creep too?? every male character was a fucking degenerate misogynist creep saying awful shit about women for no fucking reason. like wtf is wrong with their writers are they incels or smth the story they’re telling and the male characters they painted sure made me feel like they are. also wtf was the bullshit with the stickbug, was that meme already around when the game was made bc I definitely felt *stick bugged* but not in an amused way but in a “ok this scene was just super serious this sad man is having an aneurism or smth wtf it this random shit with the fantasy bug” - kinda way. what was that about???? WHY? (I did do te side quest with the cryptozoologists I just think it’s was extremely dumb that the bug appeared at the end)

ok I think I’ve complained enough at least I don’t know what else to complain abt rn. dunno if I will replay it differently, I am kinda curious if the playthrough would be different with a different build and if different choices would really change things... but I doubt it and also don’t really want to do all that again because it does drag on with all that reading and I can’t skip the dialogie obviously bc I wouldn’t see changes, the game is absically only dialogue after all.(besides... i did chose one of the speczialized builds but at some point I *had* to level skills I actually didn’t want to bc they didn’t fit the character I wanted to play but I felt it was impossible to progress otherwise, I assume it would come to the same with the other specialized builds)

[serenagaywaterford]

6) a flip of the dime. The nasty parts were always there, but he concealed/controlled them. Maybe bc said parts wouldn't exactly make him endearing to others? Anyhow, your interpretation makes him quite the interesting antagonist/villain, so I'm rolling with it, lol. /// There was another thing that was bugging me about S2: the baby's name. Obviously, Serena chose Nic(h)ole as a "fuck you" to Fred. But June in the finale? Of course, she stuck to it for Nick's sake, but also bc she recognized

7) Serena’s selfless (well, if you can call it that) act. Thoughts on this? /// As for your older responses, I forgot to describe what an epiphany it was for me to realize the significance of Serena’s use of the word “rape” for the first time. The anger I felt after 2x10 blinded me to the VERY OBVIOUS connection between her realization in 2x10 and her outburst in 2x11. (Silly me!) Imagine how much more intense that fight would have been if they included the marital rape. I remember a writer

8) that June didn’t kill Serena, bc she actually felt sorry for her in that episode. (Ngl, June’s kindness baffles me at times.) I knew that she wasn’t gonna do it of course, but it was 50/50 whether I wanted her to shoot them or not. /// Something I have not addressed so far is how lukewarm I found their explanation for June getting away with all the shit she does. Well, she’s no Janine (who loses an eye) or Emily (who gets mutilated), but still. Like you said, Serena and Fred might get away

9) get away with a lot more bc of their privilege, but June? Hm. // I’ll start quoting later (or maaaybe tomorrow).

———–

I always thought that was a really weird sort of thing for June to do. And it seems to be entirely because of Serena? Like, it was Holly, Holly, Holly. Even when she was talking to Nick. Then she has the exchange with Serena, and suddenly she adopts Serena’s supreme dickmove of a babyname? 

And I LIKED Holly. It meant something. Nichole (I HATE THAT SPELLING SFM LMAO) means nothing to June? Can you imagine the convo: 

“Mommy, why am I called Nichole?”

“Well, baby, you see, your Daddy’s name is Nick, so the lady that stole you decided to name you after him to eternally piss off her husband who she clearly hates and wanted him to be reminded that he’s impotent every time he looks at you.”

Like, on the one hand, Serena is fucking brilliant and it just shows the extent of her hatred for Fred. But then it’s kinda shitty to use a child as a pawn in that.

Then again, maybe there’s another reason Serena chose that name? I know there’s like a whole history about St. Nicholas and his role as a patron saint of childless couples, or something. (I can’t recall exactly rn). And there was something about St. Nicolette and babies. (Which is where the names Nicole and Collette come from.) Something like she raised a dead baby back to life. So, I guess, at a stretch perhaps that was her inspiration? I doubt it, knowing Serena. LOL.

It’s really curious June’s decision though. Despite EVERYTHING Serena’s done, June just wipes it clean and names her fucking baby after Serena’s choice? Maybe she was trying to retain the memory of Nick for Nichole? I dunno. And not only that, but she seemed 100% genuine when she said that farewell blessing and held Serena’s hand (again). 

I dunno, June’s own preoccupation with Serena is something I don’t truly understand but she clearly thinks there’s some odd connection or something. It’s funny cos I was reading a review about S2 and June’s choices in the finale, and her constant support of Serena despite ALL the reasons not to, and lemme see if I can find it… 

 Nah. I can’t. Anyway, it was something about how we all know June’s going back for Hannah, but this writer thought June was also going back for Serena.

I’m not convinced about that tbh, but I can see the argument cos June is strangely protective and compassionate towards Serena considering. I just have a sinking feeling that the show is gonna play that “Oops, Serena is evil again!! SHE WAY MAD JUNE GIVE BABBY AWAY trolololol!!!!” and make her despicable in order to get Nicole back. If that is the case, I’m gonna roll my eyes right outta my head. I have no issue with Serena having regrets, tbh. I think that’s pretty understandable and expected. But having Serena go hogwild with abuse and using Fred’s power to get back at June or something is just going to fucking piss me off cos like, c’mon my dudes, been there, done that. Over and over already. It’s the 3rd season and either you’re gonna put this bitch on a mild redemption arc or you’re gonna make her a full-on villain. Make up your minds. The will-she, won’t-she thing is old by now.

I dunno that was a random OT rant.

Also, TRUTH! Serena’s use of the word “rape” was important. Like, part of me is like DUH how did you JUST figure that out?! And, honestly I feel like the marital rape is sort of necessary for Serena’s epiphany to get recognised. I think, Serena is just wilfully ignorant enough to not truly consider the Ceremony rape. I honestly do not think she totally understood what she was suggesting with the 2x10 rape. (Serena really does lack forethought for like…all of her actions. That’s sorta her whole problem.) I think she thought it would be just like a sort of unsanctioned ceremony. But by the end she did seem to recognise what it truly was. And having her raped by Fred in the previous episode would have really helped with that. (Then again, it’s really hard to understand how a woman who was just raped turns around and basically suggests it. And this person is supposed to be not Satan. A pure evil woman sure. But Serena’s not meant to be that.)

I think Yvonne’s delivery of the line was interesting too. Part of it was like, “HOly shit it was rape” and part of it was like, “ha! you’re a monster!! you did that!” Like she had no culpability in it. I want to know if Serena has realised that ALL ceremonies are RAPE yet. I wonder if she’s got there. I’m not totally convinced she has. But… I dunno.

Oh! I hadn’t read that about June’s reasoning! That’s interesting. I mean, it fits with June overall but it’s a very odd thing. Like, to be holding a gun trained on the couple that literally held you down and raped you not 24 hours earlier… and feel SORRY for the woman (whereas the general population’s consensus is that Serena is even worse than Fred for doing that to another woman)? I went and watched it after reading your message I didn’t really see that on June’s face. (But that’s really neither here nor there since editing, directing, etc. all differs from what the writers/showrunners had in mind and those are the guys doing the interviews!)  I take that back! I watched it again and I can deffo see that if that’s what they were going for. Totally missed it and likely wouldn’t have picked up on it if not for this convo.

That said, I totally see June reasoning it out that way. For some strange reason, whether it’s Stockholm Syndrome or whatever, June seems to have a blindspot/softspot for Serena and she seems to have unlimited Get Out Of Jail Free cards for her. Like, c’mon, she literally held her down to be brutally raped, and at this point it seems like Serena could murder June and June’s ghost would just be like, “Hey youuuuu, wanna be my bestie in overthrowing the patriarchy?” (Okay, I’m not at all complaining cos I love their dynamic and I ship them soooooo… lol. On a personal level, it works very well for me and my crackshippy fantasies. I choose to believe June honestly sees something nobody else does and believes in Serena’s capacity for redemption–WHICH IS INSANE. But hey. I love it.)

So, for June to feel sorry for Serena, even after everything really does fit when you think about it. And also when you think about book!June’s attitude towards true power being in forgiveness.

I remember sitting around watching the ep the first time and thinking “I don’t want June to shoot them and be a killer” but also, “WHY ISN’T SHE SHOOTING THE FUCKING PLACE UP! DOES SHE NOT WANT TO ESCAPE????” And I was sitting there with the wifey and she was like, “She can’t. What if she misses? Then you’ve got 2 incredibly angry people chasing you.” And I was like… “Uh. Reload? Shoot them as they’re coming up the stairs.”

Because I have never fired a gun in my life so to me it seems really easy lmao. But to me, I didn’t even care about her shooting Serena but I did have an inkling she didn’t want to shoot Serena with the amount she paused. That would have been a perfect shot with teh type of ammo to take out –or at least injure– two people at once. I was like, “You gotta kill Fred and Serena is pretty useless then. It’s not like they have mobile phones! You can then choose to leave Serena to die there lol, or hostage her. And steal the car. You could get pretty far since nobody knows that Fred/Serena are even there.” To me, rationally, it didnt’ make sense not to shoot them. But… emotionally, obvs, I knew she wouldn’t cos a)the series would like… end rather abruptly lol, and b) that’s just not June.

AND yeah, June getting away with all her bullshit is insane in comparison. Janine literally lost an eye for backtalking once at the Red Centre! June has, well, done so much more and just kind skates away from ALL serious punishment. (Well, living with Fred and Serena is a pretty awful punishment in general.) And, sure part of it was cos she was preggers but … how Aunt Lydia/Fred/Serena/TPTB trust this crazy Handmaid not to KEEP breaking the rules is insane. I feel like nobody would trust her to just be a docile little thing after running away for 92 days. Not even Pervy Freddo. Despite all his creeptastic fetishes, he’d be like, “OMG she is way too high maintenance. i just don’t have the patience. give me that baby so i can shut my annoying wife up and then get me another more docile babyslave to play Scrabble and shave!” The plot armour is strong in this one!

Anyway! I got a bit carried away there…

[thegeminisage]

more botw blogging, SUPER spoilery

this is a real long post sorry normally i break these up and this time i didn’t

and finally, off we go to a new province

this time im making its tower my first stop, since i can see it from here

i tried to paraglide across the river but i didn't have enough height so i landed on the cliffside and ITS RAINING!!!!! for fucks sake

i cant believe this game actually got me to hate rain..........

not only that but when i died in the water it didn't reload me back to where i started to glide from but a bit of cliff i stood on lol so #struggles right from the first minute

rain for the next 3 hours.......and i gotta climb it in the rain....jesus

i guess i could fast travel but i'd have to walk all the way back there :/

hmm. maybe the gae's throwing me the rain on purpose. an npc mentioned this river was notoriously difficult to cross :///

yep as soon as i turned away: it cleared. Great

well i see some bridge-like things further downstream i guess i'll check that out

lol jk i managed to glide across a different part and climb

like i saw my forecast change but then it changed back to sun so w/e i'll take it im up here now

aaaaah i can see so many cool things from here!!!!! i cant wait to explore them all!!!! that #new province feel

i hate like, feeling obligated to track down every last bit of stuff in the old ones when you're seeing new exciting stuff

but i love the feel of getting to a new one and not even knowing which cool thing to check out first

ohhh my god lol there's a big-ass bokoblin camp on the way to the tower i think i see a moblin but im not sure

aaaand im dead

at least there werernt any moblins!

tbh it isnt a difficult camp i just wasnt vigilant about healing

me every time i see something new: what the Fuck is that!?

in this case it was an ice wizzrobe which made it snow EVERYWHERE oh my god

That Was Difficult

if i didn't have my fire arrows and lynel bow it would have taken way longer

i died again!!!

those weird pattern bokoblins have SO much attack power ):

come on i have to clear out the camp AGAIN? and kill the wizzrobe?

naw dude i am skipping this nonsense i am going straight up the fucking cliff

HA i sniped them from above >:3

w

there's a zora on top of this tower!!!!!!!

omg poor thing he can't get back down i wish i could carry him on my paraglider

man i love the tower cutscenes and music and the way they unfold it's so cool

BIG SHINY NEW PROVINCE YYYYEAH!!!!

oh hey i found another zora down near these bridges

they all want me to go see their prince haha noooo i have too much to explore!!!

oooh it's so easy to get all turned around on these bridge thingies

man i love this province it's SO pretty

ah i found a goron on a sandbar!! how did you get out here with all this water...

nooo the blood moon again i knew it was coming the music has been funny all night >:(

lol jk the music faked me out its 2am and i warped to the stable for nothing (i was trying to get that one dude's reaction)

i came back and did the shrine and found another zora!! lol they all really want me to go see that dude

there's a thing i need to climb but ugh rain

while i was bored i chopped grass and attached octo balloons to things

now i am in the wetlands which are AWFUL to walk through i can practically feel the mud squishing between my toes and i want to die lmao

there are horses here!! i miss mine ):

ive done enough shrines now to get another upgrade but i dont feel like doing all that backtracking blegh

oh noooo i see a guardian out here, a moving one ;_;

ah it's been awhile since i failed to fight the still ones on the plateau...i wonder what the start screen meant by "the right tools" ive got a lot of damn tools!! did they mean arrows??

lol yet another zora telling me to meet with the prince.........dude

this prince must be either desperate or spoiled

uh

okay maybe its a glitch but i think?? i see?? a flying island in the distance? What The Fuck

wait no it looks kind of like a ship or giant bird??

my pins don't stick to it, it's definitely moving around

jesus fuck

AHAHAH FUCK THE GUARDIAN SAW ME

HAD TO TAKE REFUSE IN THE FUCKING SHRINE

jesus christ i hate those things!!!! you can't kill them!!!!!!!

NO oh my god there's a hinox over here too

why this Why This

lol the hinox fighting music is giving me trauma flashbacks

actually that wasnt so bad with a defense elixir on

maybe it's just me but this province feels kinda small? i feel like i could finish exploring it p quickly, which is nice

not that i'm not having fun but i know i'm going so slowly ):

me every five seconds: i miss my hooorse i want one to ride around to go faaaaster

i guess...i could catch...one of these

and like. not register it bc the stable is 10000 miles away but

a temp ride. let's see if i can. need to use up some of my sneak potions anyways

i caught one and rode it awhile, but my heart's not in training it...i want My Horse

oh my god wait i hear town music!! is this a stable right here!! AAAAAH

so i did catch a pretty black one and named it luna - had to let the first one i caught go lol but it didn't have great stats and i only rode it once so it'll be happier in the wild probably

KASS IS AT THIS STABLE IM SO HAPPY SO IS HESTU

he's playing epona's song i'm gonna CRY

I MISS EPONA IM DYING

oh my god he had a story for me!! the same one that impa told!!!!! man

the music is still so good. fuck.

lmao i was talking to one dude and he was like well might as well head back inside ugh that place is so filthy and the women so free you might as well call it a manfill

UM?? NINTENDO??

i can see hyrule castle super close from where i am and it looks super scary and i super want nothing to do with it rn

i get the feeling you can like, go in there whenever? maybe even do the endgame stuff early? but oh my god i Dont wanna

OMG i just mounted a bear

i read that you could ride things other than horses but holy shit lmao

i mean

it killed me after i got off, but man

sadly i must now board my horse and continue with The Story see i explored the non-story bits of that province SUPER quickly dang

oh no

this shrine is called a minor test of strength

Oh No

Why, God

oh. that was actually like SUPER easy compared to the other two haha phew

this lady at the crossroads said the prince was creepy omg i knew there was something, ahaha, excuse me, "fishy"

whoa i love his music theme!!

lmao i always get so SHOCKED when they talk!!! even still!!!!!

voice acted cutscenes of this game are like fmvs of final fantasy games in generations 5-7 lol

oh my god...the wink/sparkle thing...he's such a HAM

he's flattering me TOO much omg dude what do you want.......

ok, ok, i like him

he doesn't seem very trustworthy but since his people are in trouble i'll cut him some slack on that one

oh nooo i gotta climb this in the rain......

ah, it's sunshowering tho! that's kinda neat

i just got attacked by octoroks and my heart wept a little because traveling up zora's river dodging octoroks to get to and save zora's domain...I've Been Here Before

listen, i could write a book on this

(lol i did write 300k on this but shhh that was a long time ago)

like...if link is actually a reincarnation does he get flashes of memory

oot happened in every timeline but i know wind waker didn't

but do you think assuming this is in the same timeline as wind waker something in him feels at home the first time he sails a raft again

or hears kass play epona's song at the ranch

or ducks an octorok on his way to zora's domain

people treat the incarnation thing as a kind of tragedy - the world will never be free of evil so long as ganon/ganondorf exists

but maybe there's happiness in it too

no matter what happens, no matter how sad the ending - i mean hell, in this very game, link and zelda LOST

no matter what though, it's guaranteed that they'll see each other again

over and over and over without end, link and zelda are gonna meet and be together for awhile while they defend hyrule again

frankly if that's not a soulmate idk what is

and frankly i'm perpetually offended that they don't develop ganondorf the man more like they did in wind waker...that was the Peak tbqh

i would kill for something like that again

anyway

i love how present the current here is, like with the stuff floating down the river, thats a NICE touch

tbh it's actually really nice that he keeps uselessly checking on me on the way up the river

like, i've been so lonely

even now i miss my companion going "what's WITH that guy" like they probably would if i had one

so this is nice. tbh.

i know it was probably a deliberate choice and makes the game stronger but a companion for this game, someone to share it with...that would've been cool

even just zelda as the protag, she could do some internal narration

but the whole thing is just so quiet.

this place is so pretty tho?? in the distance i see these like, pink coral looking plant things, and the blue columns and bridges are gorgeous

OH NO LIGHTNING GOD WHY

i think its an area thing too i cant just wait it out lmao im gonna Die

oh jk it's just rain now

idk why my entire forcecast changes to a particular type of weather and its only like that a few seconds...super weird and annoying

lol sidon all "you're almost halfway there i believe in you!!" and not helping fight and link's little "k" wave

i love link as a silent protag even if i did have him talk in my writing like it's so endearing

i wonder if link is like sgr like "i am 100 years old what is this zora kid even doing. what is he EVEN DOING."

lol just had to dodge some rocks rollin down a hill

you see this is what i mean. there's a weird sense of familiarity and nostalgia if you've played the games a lot. i wonder if the spirit of the hero feels that way with each new adventure, too

like if he's okay doomed to an eternity of fighting and parting with zelda over and over

because in the end he always gets to do this again

like i can see the spirit of the princess/goddess being high key miserable about those circumstances but i wonder if the spirit of the hero is maybe secretly glad

because part of him will always yearn for the next adventure

he never COULD be happy settling because this is what he was born for

WE love doing this again and again and again, maybe it's not such a stretch to think the spirit of the hero does too

or maybe i'm projecting so hard onto him because undertale has so successfully blurred the line between the player and the game for me LMAO

oh man i just noticed all the names on this map

lulu, mikau ;_;

i miss them!!!!

just once i wish zelda games would feature the same side characters in two or three titles

we never got to see saria or darunia or lulu again

we get to come back to the world but every friend we've ever made has been gone

like some narnia shit i swear to god

lol this is why i should never do story all i do is rant about My Zelda Feels, which are literally endless

oh NICE battle with a blue moblin on the bridge!!!!

ah i like the zora history here too please give me all the worldbuilding i wanna know everything about this world that i can bc rn all i know is "we got Fucked"

i guess i also know about the automans but i need More

i say, while procrastinating on getting to the story

in other news i have an ice and lightning rod which i havent bothered trying to use

bc when i tried to use the boomerang i failed utterly lol

but these? holy shit dude these are Powerful when you actually land a magic hit like Dang

i Love them im never avoiding another wizzrobe again (thats where they drop from)

oh wow

i finally made it, and

man. oh man. it's so beautiful

i wish i could see if better

jesus the zoras always had the prettiest parts of the games imo

OH NO THE MUSIC

OH NO!!! im gonna cry omg

it's the same melody from oot i think!! oh my god!!!!!!

omg there's a zora here named rivan who says he knows me?!?!

omg no he's listing some of link's old pals from Before im so sad why can't he remember

OOOH i shouldn't speak to the elderly bc apparently i am "guilty" of something?? i love this development PLEASE tell me more

i love that they all age so slowly #nice

am i walking into a fucking execution lmao sidon don't play me......

omg the little zora kids are adorable!!!

omg there's a statue of the zora champion ;_;

man this is all so cool i wanna know EVERYTHING about what happened back then!!!!

lol the shrine here was SUPER nerve wracking god you had to like, roll the giant ball down a hill and stop time at JUST the right moment skjghf

oh my gosh ANOTHER zora who knows me (lol "linny")

im so ;w; they all know me!!!!!!

i slept on the blissful water bed at the inn and was mystified and alarmed by the sound effects but i got an extra stamina wheel and 3 extra hearts!!! god damn you can't beat that shit

im so amazed at how many people knew link and like, blame him? i wanna know so bad what happened, i wanna know more about mipha

ten bucks says she's still alive and like trapped in the divine beast but corrupted

or a ghost or something like the old man ;_;

aww zoras sleep in the water aw aw :3

i'm loving this theme of link sleeping for so long like at first i thought of sgr but i just realized it's also like oot (and i can't believe i didn't make that connection first...)

like in oot the people who knew him Before are so happy to see him again and are sure he can help them

but in this game it's a bit mixed

and in this game we don't know the details of 100 years ago yet ;_;

zora's domain here is like. so GLOWY. reminds me of waterfall from undertale tbh lol i wanna paint it

so i'm talking to the king and this one elderly zora goes "the hylians abused an ancient society's power to turn hyrule into what it is today" & like...tbh my dude you have a point. if they had never gotten those guardians out then they couldn't have turned on them

oh my GOD

i just got my first look at a divine beast and i can't believe i was calling them jaegers

my jaw dropped irl holy shit

like that thing truly looks both divine and beastly (this one is an elephant)

is mipha still in there as like a ghost ;_;

it's so clear how much everyone misses her

and she seemed so sweet in the one short memory i recovered

every time sidon does his sparkle smile i love him a little more

i didn't trust him at first bc he seemed a little too eager but now i see he's just doing his best!!!!

especially as someone who thinks radically and progressively in a society where elders stay around hundreds of years

YESSSSS I GOT ZORA ARMOR!!!! YES!!!!!!!!

SWIM SPEED UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

omfg and it's an engagement thing just like the sapphire

MADE BY MIPHA?

thats right that other lady said link was supposed to choose between her and mipha

listen mipha seems cool and all but i've been shipping zelink for 19 years, so

oh NO, mipha had feelings for link

oh no poor mipha...oh my god

WAIT AM I ABOUT TO GET ANOTHER MEMORY??? OH MY GOD!!!!!

duuuuuude

"no matter how bad the wound i will ALWAYS" heal you and then link wakes up in water

did she do that!!! did she save him ;_; oh my god im going to cry

"you are quivering like a hatchling" PLEASE protect my poor son

muzu is making me sad dude he misses her so much and he hates this so much

ooooh i have to fight another lynel for shock arrows...good Lord im not looking forward to that

I KNEW IT

"calamity ganon took control of the beasts and trapped the champions inside" yep either she's still alive like link and zelda or her body is in there and so is her fucking ghost

DUDE!! i just swam up my first waterfall and it was AWESOME!!!!!

so im at shatterback point now hwere lynel is just bc i wanted to swim up a waterfall but probably he will kill me quickly lmao

apparently you can mount him too which. sick.

but idk i dont have any good food or elixirs or weapons ready im just up here for science im probably gonna knock off soon i gotta Draw

Oh Fuck There He Is ):

it's super tedious to have top go back and delete every fucking picture i take for my copendium one by one those shouldn't save in my album automatically come on dude im trying to take a picture of this lion centaur thing here

aaah there's a rainbow here too #nice

ah well got him about a quarter pf the way down before i died :/ not bad for being completely unprepared

tbh i only had one defense food?? had i had more i could have whittled him down eventually

anyway thats all for tonight!! i doubt i'll play anymore tonight bc i have drawing to do

lol this is a long post but it's all in one bc i'm typing them in notepad now and don't have to worry about them getting too long