#so yeah toon links my favorite of all links | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

rawliverandgoronspice · 4 months

Note

What's your ranking for favorite iterations of zelda characters??

thanks for the ask!! much appreciated <3

hmmm... if we're talking proper list, I think it would go like this:

Link

Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask/TP (he's just very. he went through a lot ok ;;)

Hero of the Wind, so WW/PH (love how expressive and aggressively brave he is at all times)

Twilight Princess (I don't know I just really like this grassroot countryboy who cares deeply for his folks, I love his quiet and purposeful Strongman Stance, and Midna allows him to shine a lot by being the voice to his silent disapproval, very fun dynamic these two share)

Hero of the Wild, BotW/TotK (he's a gremlin of improvisation and raw brute nerve, which is honestly very funny, and I kind of like the very rare glimpses of characterization we get through the other characters)

Skyward Sword Link (he's just. I know we throw himbo around a lot, but, genuinely, he looks so. content, all of the time)

Spirit Tracks Link (I haven't played the game unfortunately, but I always like Toon Link's expressiveness)

Minish Cap Link (I'm biased I played this game a lot when I was a child)

Link's Awakening Link (I know it's the same Link as another one but I can't remember which --anyway what a trip bro)

A Link to the Past Link (love the tuft of pink whatever in his hair)

A Link Between Worlds Link (I don't dislike him he just doesn't really have a ton of character from what I remember)

CDI Link (do I need to say more)

Oracles Link (I never finished these games u_u)

Other Links I have not played as (so Four Sword and FSA, and Zelda 1 and 2 --I have played Zelda 1 a bit, but, you know)

Cartoon Link (leave Zelda alone I'm begging you)

Zelda

OoT Zelda (she's so interestinggggggg what is WRONG with you girlboy guy plagued with nightmares and a pathologic guilty urge to make sure everything is correct and just and right)

WW/PH Tetra (she's so cool!! I wish we would get to do more adventures with her, but conceptually I think she's really great)

Spirit Tracks Zelda (she's just a fun time and we get to do stuff with her and that's amazing. love her!)

Skyward Sword Zelda (bittersweet stuff. I wish she was more of herself tbh, and less in a crystal, but she's cool)

Zelda of the Wild (if she was not thrown into the garbage bin in TotK in terms of character arc, she'd be under OoT Zelda I think)

TP Zelda (love her somber resignation and quiet resilience, and whatever is going on between her and Midna)

Minish Cap Zelda (she's just really cute)

A Link To The Past Zelda (she's... there, but the sequences she's connected to are very memorable)

(genuinely cannot remember whether she is in the Oracle Games?? it's been a hot while)

A Link Between World (for everything I like about the game, it's a shame she's barely a character in it tbh)

CDI Zelda (she's a *savage*)

Cartoon Zelda (much prefer her to Link!!)

Other Zeldas I have not played and do not know that much about

Ganon(dorf)

Wind Waker Ganondorf (yeah)

Twilight Princess Ganondorf (okay I know it's pretty controversial to put him above OoT, especially since he's barely in the game and perhaps shouldn't have been, but I *cannot* resist his arthouse swagger and understated/probably-not-actually-there tragedy. If that helps, they're both on the exact same level, and they're the same guy anyway!)

OoT Ganondorf (the one and only --wish the game was less Like This re: everything gerudo, but he's just iconic and a king and we love him so much. My favorite iteration to ponder upon --I'm mostly commenting regarding in-game execution)

BotW Ganon (okay this one is even Worse in terms of placement justification, but I just. It's the fact that malice is being called "rancor" in French, and just how fundamental and "part of the natural world" his hatred became. I think it's great subtle worldbuilding and it just works for me)

TotK Ganondorf (looking fly, being as internally incoherent as humanely possible (derogatory), punching spines, and! having genuinely cool and thrilling moments and a really fun final battle in spite of The Mess)

A Link to the Past Ganon (he's just creepy and overwhelming in a really cool way, he actually made me feel pretty uneasy and powerless as a kid)

Oracle Games (now that's just fucked up, really bad morning alarm clock rang too early also my moms died for this bullshit kind of energy)

Cadence of Hyrule (I know including that game is pushing it but little guy!!!!!!! he's such a little guy!!!!!! with his little organ!!!!!!!!!!! i love he;;;;)

FSA Ganondorf (I hear he's cool but I unfortunately never played the game myself, and I should really look into it)

A Link Between World Yuganon (can you imagine trying to fight for the ultimate agency, and then failing and then being used as a vessel for other shitty wizards without any regard for who you were and what you were trying to achieve isn't that messed up kind of unfortunately talking about ganon without getting sad is an impossible feat to me)

love both CDI and Cartoon Ganon, they're great and strangely goopy in their own way and I appreciate them very much for their contributions to the Culture

I think he's there in Four Swords??? okay

Impa

Skyward Sword Impa (I like her behavior and her commitment, and her design, both old and young, is the best she's ever had imo)

Ocarina of Time Impa (she's *barely* in that game honestly. And Yet. your influence. your secrets. your buffness also not gonna lie.)

Hyrule Warriors Impa (just realized I did not put HW Ganondorf/Zelda/Link in the list, but I haven't spent enough time with them to have strong opinions honestly --but Impa being a strong general fighting the hard battles is a weak spot of mine u_u)

BotW/TotK Impa (I love grandma Impa!!! love her little roadtrip in TotK, wish it had been expanded upon and she had been more involved in the Zelda search, but. not so fun fact but I cannot stand the design of her young version in Age of Calamity --she looks so generically moe it's borderline unforgivable, what is up!! with all the nothing dollface sheikah babes!! honestly!!!)

I like all the old women Impas --but I'm kind of craving another, slightly edgier take on the character again honestly

and that's it I think!!! thanks for asking!!!

#asks #thoughts #zelda #impa #ganondorf #link #thanks for the ask!!!#turns out. making lists is a good distraction #so thank you!!!

22 notes · View notes

wutheringmights · 7 months

Note

<shakily rolling into your inbox> Would you gift us with chapter commentary, please?

Your wish is my command:

Framing the past section around headlines was not my original plan. I wanted to do a repeating refrain of "This is how the war ended," but when it came time to actually write it, I was bored with it. Yeah, kinda thought about it too hard. So I went back to the drawing board.

I also considered framing the chapter around the passing seasons, but that seemed too boring. I wanted something with a bit more pizazz.

Plus, one of my favorite genres of fan work is in-universe media like newspapers and magazine covers. This is a pretty weak attempt at it, but at least I threw my hat into the ring.

I've been trying for a while now to imply that the original HW storyline is what was spread as propaganda to the people of Hyrule, but this is the first time I made it really, really clear.

So the engineer being assigned to the coast is a reference to how the DLC that features Toon Link is the one where there's suddenly an ocean. Very smooth of me lol

This chapter ended up being a bit of a dumping ground for all of the relationships I was ignoring in favor of writing about the brothers, ironically because I too was too consumed with the engineer and the child to write about anything else, which in turn really drove home how all-consuming their presence was for Link

The fun thing about Midna's scene is that her and Link going on nightly walks together was one of the very first ideas I had for CTB by virtue of it being inherited from when I thought I was going to write a romcom. Incredible that it took half a million words to finally get to it.

My favorite part of the past is the bit where Link writes all of the letters to the engineer. It's just a lot of fun to sit there and figure out what kind of bullshit he would spout to kinda apologize but not really. It was even more fun to punch him back down with Lincoln's brutal response. Just rereading it, I feel like you can tell I was having a blast.

I also had a lot of fun finding ways to show symptoms of Link's alcoholism getting worse without him realizing it. The constant headaches, the nausea, the shakey hands, the sensory sensitivity-- him experiencing all of this and going so deep into denial that he can't understand why his body is reacting that way.

It's been so long since I've managed to give Toto some screen time that I kinda forgot how much I like his character? He's just a guy, but I like that he's just a guy. But I don't think I made it too clear in the chapter that in their friend group, they were the least friends with each other. Link was closer to Anders, and Toto to Uri. They're being driven together by virtue of being the only ones left, moreso than I initially conveyed.

And, of course, I got to talk about Uri again. Again, Uri is always so interesting to handle because he is a character who we will never see in person and Link is too traumatized by the death of to think about in detail. Even now, Uri feels like a mystery. All we know about him is how Link feels about him.

And finally, Zelda. The thing about Zelda is that I feel like her goals are really transparent, but I always get comments from people who want there to be this moment where everything about her is spelled out. And, despite the fact that she monologues about her feelings here, I don't think this is exactly what everyone was hoping for. The more I read it over, I can see how she probably just got more confusing.

Also, I know I need to stop writing monologues. But have you considered that the monologues are sexy?

I feel like I should say something about how Zelda's relationship with Hylia, but it really speaks for itself. I will say that as much as I like how BOTW is so ambiguous with Hylia, I am a little bit more fascinated with the idea that "your god is real and they specifically hate you." Like, how are you supposed to cope with that? We should all be thankful Zelda isn't more fucked up than she is.

I should also say something about her thoughts on the engineer... so first, my goal with that relationship was always for it to be toxic from both ends, with the engineer trying to use her while she uses him-- which gets even more complicated when you consider all the ways Zelda echoes Link. Like Link, she sees parts of herself in the engineer. Unlike him, she wants to save be saved, so she in turn saves him. Link hates himself so much that he has to drag everyone else down with him.

In the era of everyone wanting Zelda to no longer be a damsel in distress, it's kind fun to give her the traditional goal of being saved by someone else, to then twist it around. She is begging to be rescued, but she won't fix anything herself.

This idea really goes against the popular depictions of HW Zelda, which is why I have iterated before that this Zelda is not Artemis. She's her own thing.

There was going to be more about how the war ended, but I decided to keep it for next chapter because (you guessed it) the word count got too long.

On to the present--

Congrats to everyone who said they wanted to see more of Spirit and Warriors talking shop. You really won with this chapter.

That being said, I always think that I never write what people want when they want it. Like I will write a chapter with a lot of action, so everyone says they want more action next. But then I follow it up with a chapter of people just talking, so I get a lot of people requesting more of that. But then, it's back to heavy action.

All that's to say that I feel bad that there wasn't more character drama this chapter

Also, I feel really bad for not including either Hyrule or Wind in this chapter. Those two are the characters people ask me to write more about the most. But unfortunately, the thing about juggling a large cast of characters is that some times you have to sit down and get a few of those characters out of the way for a bit so that we can focus on other things.

I don't want to make it sound like I was targeting those two on purpose. They just had the best excuse for not going on the Nephus mission.

Speaking of which, I feel terrible for constantly finding ways to leave Lana and Linkle out of the action-- and that's after I've talked so much about adding more women into the story to balance out the default nine dudes LU requires me to add. But again, there are so many characters that I have to find ways to leave some of them behind. And again, it was really easy to give them an excuse to not be in the main action. But It's probably a bad thing that they are easily excused. I should work on that.

And I know I can write scenes with a shit ton of characters talking together. I've done it plenty of times in CTB and other ensemble stories before it. But it's a lot of work, and when I need to focus on more important plot points, the last thing I want to juggle is balancing every scene so that everyone has something to do.

Sorry to belabor that point. Sometimes, I get really annoyed with how big the cast it when it's not even my fault.

It is my fault. I just want to complain.

I appreciate everyone who has their own version of Spirit going on more legendary adventures while he is wearing his OSHA mandated work uniform. I know the Heroes of Hyrule are not unionized, but I at least would like to make sure he is properly dressed with an adventure.

That being said, his Castle Guard uniform was partially inspired by the uniform for the Free Planets Alliance in the original Legend of the Galactic Heroes:

That is not a great photo, but I was envisioning something like this-- "this" being a more modern cut with clear nautical influences (cause the Castle Guard was probably originally a navy)

Also the crest on Spirit's uniform is Tetra's pirate emblem. Do not get be started about how I fucked up the crest of the New Hyrulean royal family back in chapter 6 and how I have been looking for some band-aid to place over that mistake so that it would look like I did it on purpose

I didn't expect the scene where Spirit talks to Four to be so polarizing. I didn't even think it was a significant moment when I wrote it. Yet I've seen a huge gambit of reactions, from people calling Spirit cruel or others saying that the moment was sweet. That being said, I am living for this. If there is one thing I want right now, it is for everyone's opinion on Spirit to be split.

Did you guys enjoy me trying to write about how machinery works? Honestly, I could have probably cut all that, but I did so much work establishing the mechanics behind the ganons in previous chapters that I felt like I had to go through with it.

My original plan was for Warriors's plan to involve taking Philo hostage from the start, but I changed it because writing a kidnapping scene would have been too much work. It still really bugs me. The way the chapter is written now feels really cheap, but again. I didn't feel like I had enough space.

I also ran into the fun problem of wanting to show the nuances of Philo and Icarius's relationship when one can't speak and the other would not speak Hylian. Legend saved my ass a bit with this one, but I don't know if all of the little details got through.

Speaking of which, I should talking the House of Nephus

So obviously, I wanted the House of Nephus to reflect the original brothers dynamic. The idea is that they are what Warriors, Spirit, and Time/Mask would turn into if both Spirit and Mask stayed.

Except, in practice, I had to give them their own distinct personalities so that they wouldn't be boring as fuck

Icarius and Philo got away with getting small but really effective changes. They both still feel like reflections of Spirit and Time respectively

But Nephus.... so my original personality for him was someone as jaded and mean as Warriors is at his worst. But he felt too much like Zelda or Impa. So I went back to the drawing board to find some character angle that would be really interesting and effective for how little screen time he will ultimately get.

My inspiration came from the Virginia Woolf seminar I was in when I first started working on CTB. I was thinking a lot about rich, British assholes; very specifically about the kind who are self-prescribed intellectuals who fetishize non-white cultures while maintaining the superiority of Western imperialism.

So with that in hand, I got rid jadedness and turned Nephus into a guy dripping with charisma but is unaware of how terrible of a person he is. And as a reflection of Warriors, he works thematically.

But you can make the argument that this is not the story for this kind of a character, especially when I have already gone through such lengths to clarify that Hyrule is an imperialist nation that echoes America. You can see me poking fun at it in some of the dialogue during this scene, but still.

(And it gets worse when you look at the subtext of how light vs dark magic is treated between Hyrule and Faovaria).

So, yeah. I deserve some criticism for this one. I know it. But I didn't change it because I just liked how immediately interesting Nephus was. I couldn't think of an alternative that would have been as effective as this affable evil. Sorry about that.

Another idea I had was that Nephus was going to be the Faovarian equivalent of the Hero of Hyrule, and he would even have his own dual blades of dark and light magic to prove it. I ended up not doing this because it was too heavy handed.

I originally was going to keep the swords, and I even realized that if I had planned things out a bit better, the dark magic sword could have been Ghirahim. I decided that it would have been too out of left field to have worked, but man. I have regretted since day 1 that I cut Ghirahim from the story. I'm sorry, Ghirahim.

And then I didn't even include the swords. Motherfucker.

That actually was a genuine mistake on my part, because the point of the swords would have been to give Nephus's speech on his religion more credence. We as the audience know that the goddesses exist. And yet... why does there seem to be more to the gods of this universe? Are Hylia and the Golden Three really just oracles? If Nephus has these cool swords, what other powers and weapons does Faovaria have within its borders? You know, just world building stuff.

I came up with too much story for the House of Nephus than what I will ultimately have space to include in CTB. I'll try to strategic so that you won't be annoyed with the lack of answers from some of the questions you probably have.

As important as Nephus is, he's ultimately not the main antagonist of the story. If I was willing to write 20 more chapters, I could do a lot more with him, Philo, and Icarius; but I would like to see the end of CTB someday lol

Originally, only Time, Spirit, and Midna were going to go with Warriors to meet Nephus. There was definitely going to be this bit where Spirit and Warriors were going to be like "oh fuck, he's hot" as Nephus flirted with them. Meanwhile, Time (a married man) would be sitting there like "really??? both of you have horrible taste??"

I am also realizing I forgot to write a moment where Warriors is horrified to realize that Nephus was going to make Philo sit there in pain instead of rushing him to a doctor. Fucking hell.

Also, that Nephus's spirit feels normal to Spirit is important. Not on a plot level, but thematically. Just hang on to that thought next time you think about the whole spirit sensing thing.

I always knew that CTB was going to evolve into a Triforce quest story. There's no way I could write about a guy who's supposed to be this brutal strategist and not let him realize he has an easy solve to everything. But I also didn't want this to be easy or feel cheap. It's why I went through all that effort to establish that getting those pieces would involving going up against the Royal Family and the Knights of Hyrule. It's going to be hard, and it will involve all the fighting and manipulating you expect CTB to have. It'll also involve moral dilemmas.

After all, we've been talking about the moral dilemmas presented by the Triforce since at least chapter 6 (remember when I said that there was so much set-up in that chapter for stuff that was for far later in the story? Hello, pay off!)

All that's to say that I am worried that people don't like this direction. I have gotten a few comments about how excited people are for Warriors's plan, but only time will tell if this ruined the story for some people.

And I know I worry a lot about ruining CTB. That's not a problem that's going to be solved any time soon, so let me have this one.

Finally, the chapter was going to go until Time's talk with Warriors. Decided to move it to next chapter because, you guessed it, space.

#oh my god i wrote a lot here sorry about that lol #now i have no fun tidbits to leave in the tags #actually my fun tidbit is that day of posting i deleted this tiny moment where spirit referred to four as 'you guys' and then had to clarif #he wasn't talking to everyone. hard cut but it was nestled in between some really pointless and bad dialogue.#me rambling #lu ctb #ask #linked universe #anonymous #junietuesday #ctb spoilers #ctb director's commentary

29 notes · View notes

delphiniumarchangelmoon · 3 months

Text

Alright another update on my descent into Hyrule warriors hell

I still can’t beat the level to get Volga’s first weapon upgrade

I haven’t even FOUND young link’s OR King Daphnes’s first weapon upgrades that shit doesn’t seem to exist. I found the third one for both of them, but that doesn’t really help me if I can’t find the first ones????

I have Ghirahim’s all black outfit and I am literally squealing and giggling and kicking my feet he looks SO GOOD

Still in the process of going back and getting all the stuff I skipped over/couldn’t get during my blitz through the first two maps, but I’m making a lot of progress on heart containers.

I now have 3 fairies with the revival ability and one with a health regen one. I don’t really understand how they work outside of that. They’re here to get me up after someone smacks me in a no-heal one-hit-death map which there are TOO MANY OF

Speaking of maps where if you get hit you instantly perish, spinner upgrade is the enemy. I WANT A LEVEL THREE SPINNER I LOVE THE SPINNER ITS MY FAVORITE LINK WEAPON BUT I NEED TO BEAT A WHOKE MAP EITHOUT GETTING HIT ;_; just let me beyblade game please

Uhhhhh oh yeah, in a video I watched about all the weapons the guy said the dominion rod was mid and I think he’s just a coward I LOVE that thing! Dominion rod FUCKS dude

I don’t know how to unlock the abilities on the master sword and at this point I’m too afraid to ask

Speaking of power creep, somehow Skull Kid has become the most powerful character in my arsenal right now. I just happened to get some awesome weapon drops after upgrading his ocarina and now I have a 392 power weapon with really great abilities, he just carves through maps like it’s nobodies business??? Little dude is COOKING

I finally figured out Zant’s gimmick and I feel a tad bit silly for not understanding it earlier (you have to use the gauge ability once it fills or else he falls on his face when you try to do something else. I was out here just thinking he was clumsy)

I have a random unlocked ability on Linkle’s crossbows that I’ve been transferring through every upgrade because it’s really funny. I call it the “fuck them kids” ability cause it increases damage on specifically skull kid and toon link (and tingle but he’s very rarely utilized as an opponent so I forget he’s in the termina classification—and why even is he in the termina classification he’s been in so many games? He has is own games???)

#Hyrule warriors #linkle: I’ve enchanted these crossbows to hurt children specifically #everyone else: why????#linkle: cause fuck em. that’s why

15 notes · View notes

ealvara7 · 2 months

Text

Beetlejuice the Cartoon Series - My Thoughts! (Seasons 1 and 2) ✨️

I decided to write my thoughts about the cartoon as notes in my drafts so I could continue adding on to it as I was watching the series. These are my thoughts for Seasons 1 and 2!

Since I have a lot that I want to say, I will be adding a "read-more" link so you can continue scrolling. Either way, thank you for reading this! ✨️

I've seen both intros briefly before jumping into the series, and they are absolutely amazing! However, this part from the first intro to just has to be my favorite... 💚 🖤

I like to think that all versions of Beetlejuice are capable of adding whatever they'd like to their outfit in this manner! ✨️

"Well here I am at the Neitherworld Shocking Mall, with grossness wall to wall... but am I shopping for myself? No... I have to buy something for her [Lydia]." (Critter Sitters, Season 1)

Okay... I get the appeal of Toonjuice now.

I mean, I technically have for a little while (watching short YouTube compilations of the show has helped), but there's something about the way Stephen Ouimette plays Beetlejuice that really drives home to me how charming, albeit manipulative, Beetlejuice can be. The way he delivers this line in the show is a good example of that.

I'm also starting to understand how Toonjuice has influenced Musicaljuice's characterization. Both of them begin their respective shows in the same fashion - speaking to the audience. It's something that has honestly become a bit of a comfort for me. Like yeah, this is Beetlejuice.

I. Love. Lydia's. Outfits! 💖

I've loved toon Lydia's design since the moment I saw it, but seeing her other outfits truly cements how much I adore her design.

"Yeeuck! A cutesy woodland creature!" (Skeletons in the Closet, Season 1)

In some Broadway performances of the musical (based on multiple clips of bootlegs I have found), Alex Brightman, as Beetlejuice, will place a lot more emphasis on his disgust over Lydia's affection towards her mom:

"Why would anyone wanna spend more time with their mother?! YEEUCK!"

The cadence on how he says "yuck" feels reminiscent of Ouimette's version (specifically in the line I had highlighted earlier). I wouldn't be surprised if Alex was inspired by the cartoon for this line.

I've talked a bit about Ouimette's voice acting earlier, so I'd like to hand the spotlight over to Alyson Court for a moment-

I really like her take on Lydia! She's makes her feel a lot more lively and enthusiastic in this version! I personally love characterizing Lydia as a little more of an upbeat goth girl in the musical, thanks in part to the cartoon.

Before I even jumped into the cartoon series, I was already interested to see how they would depict Lydia's school life. While watching, I was coming up with ideas as to what I would like to see in a potential musical cartoon for Beetlejuice.

Personally, I love the idea of Lydia having best friends who may not understand her strangeness, but still appreciate her for who she is. It's a concept that I could personally connect with. I can also see Claire being in the cartoon reboot, but rewritten to be more inspired by Regina George from the Mean Girls musical instead.

I like the dynamic Beetlejuice and Lydia have in the cartoon! Beetlejuice is a chaotic entity, which will occasionally butt heads with Lydia's down-to-earth attitude. Sometimes it can be hard for her to trust Beetlejuice for help, because of the way he approaches things, but it's nice to see the moments where she can appreciate what he has done for her.

He may not be good person, but he will still do whatever it takes to see his best friend happy.

I'm in love with Toonjuice's cowboy outfit... 💖

I'm a huge fan of big ascots, and the usage of plain white for the pants, gloves, and hat is a very nice touch! It helps to balance out the stripes on his shirt!

He's my inspiration for Musicaljuice's cowboy design! I just really like the silhouette that this outfit gives!

I forgot to mention this earlier, but I now understand Delia's reference to having a cat in the musical! His name is Percy in the cartoon, and I've seen some artists acknowledge him in fanart!

Personally, I believe he passed away long ago... hence why you don't see him in the musical. It was one of Delia's lowest moments in her life, but it was the one that finally pushed her to look at the bright side of things. She believes it's what Percy would've wanted.

I haven't had a chance to draw Delia yet, but if I do, I want her to have a locket with a bunch of crystals around it that holds Percy's picture. 💗 🐈‍⬛️

That concludes my thoughts for Seasons 1 and 2! ✨️

I initially planned to take notes for the entire series in this post, but truth be told... it's been taking me some time to go through the whole show, due to my job and whatnot. With Season 4 being the longest of the series, I will have to come back to this some other time.

That being said... I'm beginning to understand better why a plethora of fans for the musical, especially those who are also fans of the cartoon, express such a great interest in a cartoon reboot.

I joined the fandom with my main interest being the YouTube animatic side of musicals. I've always enjoyed hearing others discuss the process of animation, and I enjoy seeing how it influences character design. Watching this cartoon has made me realize how much of an impact it has made to how we perceive Beetlejuice as a character.

Toonjuice is not only the first instance of a demon-based Beetlejuice, he is also the first instance of a morally grey one. He helped to create the foundation for Musicaljuice, who I believe has shown massive potential for a cartoon series of his own.

The possibility of Beetlejuice the Musical getting its own cartoon series seems to be highly unlikely, but one can only dream...

#rambles #beetlejuice #beetlejuice cartoon #lydia deetz #i originally wanted to make this a bullet point list of notes but i just had a LOT of thoughts for this show #so i decided to give each their own section instead

13 notes · View notes

cloudninetonine · 10 months

Note

this fungus was just playing phantom hourglass, and the fact that link can just.... give up on saving tetra, if not for the game repeating the dialogue to force him to choose another option, and yes, i did a full five minutes of saying that no, i wouldn't save tetra, and this got me thinking. wind and the others would probably just give up on a certain point, especially if he was at the reincarnation or tethered au, since... well, player is there beside them, they already lived through it once and they honestly don't care if hyrule is destroyed at this point. and yeah, while there's hylia's threat, let's consider there wasn't, or maybe that reader was adamant on them resting for at least a little while, to act more self indulgent and, idk, be selfish for once.

oh boy, i think they break. I'll talk about time and wind, since oot, mm and ww were the ones i played the most. but then, reader already knowing full well what kind of hell time went through at oot, and somehow finding him after mm tutorial section, he just looks so.... done. tired, almost as if it's a lost hope. listen, I'd cry, i already cried playing the game, so if i really saw him like that. I'd go full on sobbing for him not to do this to himself, it's not fair that he has to go through all this shit.

and wind, poor boy was just living his laid back life, easy peasy until that fricking bird took his sister because of a random pirate he didn't even have anything to do with. and fact is, if he retained his memory, as long as he made sure that his sister wasn't taken, he would have nothing to do with tetra and her pirates, he wasn't even acknowledged as the retainer of the triforce of courage before that, so hylia shouldn't be able to hold that against him. besides, it was zelda who just threw herself into that trouble, why should he care? it may not look like that, but tetra is one of my favorite zelda, she's at least able to hold her weight in battle.

also, i can't accept nobody that talks bad about toon link, i think it's cute. heartwarming even.

— the fungus are growing in the courtyard, be careful. 🍄

NO BECAUSE FUNGI WHY YOU GOTTA DO ME LIKE THIS?!?!?! MAN I WANT TO SOB

The idea of Player carefuly holding the face of Wind (because our boy deserves recognition) and just "You didn't deserve any of this, Link. Not a single thing- I am so sorry." And baby boy just sobs into their arms- I've upset myself

#cloud answers #Anon asks

23 notes · View notes

skysometric · 5 months

Text

my 4th favorite game that i played in 2023 is...

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

"but sky, didn't you already play this when it came out?" yeah, and that was almost 20 years ago. bite me.

if you didn't see me stream Phantom Hourglass already: before this year, i hadn't played or seen the game AT ALL since it came out. i loved it as a kid, i 100%ed the whole thing! but all the opinions i've read ever since suggested that it's one of the more… polarizing games in the series. maybe kid me was just willing to overlook the bullshit? who knows!

now that i've replayed it, though? god DAMN, it might be one of my favorite Zelda experiences in recent memory! especially as, once again, the newest releases (BotW and TotK) didn't really do much for me.

first off: i actually like the touch screen controls – especially for what it does to the items. every single one of these items is at its most unique! drawing a path for the boomerang, connecting things with the grapple hook, and remote controlling the bombchus are some of the coolest item concepts in the entire series. even the swordplay goes beyond just "tap an enemy to kill it," which i was genuinely surprised by!

as a sequel to Wind Waker it hits all the right notes; the condensed sea makes sailing a delight, with tons of things to do that keep sailing from becoming a glorified loading screen. each island is explorable and re-explorable, especially when paired with the map system, which makes taking notes highly engaging and ADHD friendly. it's inspired me to take more notes IRL!

the story is FULL of charm from top to bottom; Toon Link's animations made me laugh out loud on several occasions, Linebeck is the perfect type of loveable curmudgeon, and the rest of the characters are full of soul! i was genuinely sad to let them go at the game's close.

even the Temple of the Ocean King, the most dreaded dungeon in the entire game, the one you are required to return to over and over again throughout the story… really surprised me with how well laid out it is! it's full of shortcuts and treasures that require the new items you get along the way, meaning no two runs ever felt the same to me. that's a HUGE accomplishment for one of the most criticized dungeons in the series.

so all of the internet's complaints can go jump in a… well, scratch that actually. to be honest, all the complaining made me go into Phantom Hourglass like it was a grand mystery that needed solving. will i like it? or will i have grown up too much? in the end it captured the kid in my heart, and that made this revisit all the more special.

#top 5 games 2023 #zelda #phantom hourglass #the legend of zelda #review #gaming #writing #2023 year in review

9 notes · View notes

linkstem · 29 days

Text

Introject Ask Game!

1. What's your name and source?

I'm Blue from the The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords manga

2. What type of introject are you? (Fictive, factive, etc.)

I'm a fictive

3. How connected do you feel to your source?

All of it happened to me and stuff so like,,, really connected I guess. I think it really helped us as a system cause it can be interpreted as a really nice DID metaphor... Even though we had no idea we were a system when we read it

4. Do you have any exomemories? What's your favourite one?

I remember my whole sourcce but I dunno about a favorite,,,

5. What do you think of your source's fandom?

I FUCKING LOVE THESE GUYS

6. Do you have any sourcemates in your system?

Red, Green, and Vio!! There's some Zelda fictives from other games/aus I dunno if they count

7. Have you ever met any sourcemates outside your system?

We're friends with a BOTW Link and Zelda, and we know a Saria, we wanna meet more!

8. Have you ever posted/sent a sourcecall anywhere? Did it help you find sourcemates?

I never really felt the need to

9. What do you think are your biggest differences from/similarities to your source?

Uhh it's not really a difference cause I still did all that stuff but I kinda cringe looking back on our source cause I was really different when we first drew the Four Sword. I don't really know how to fight and stuff anymore too, so that kinda sucks

10. Do you like being compared to your source?

Yeah, I mean, that's me!!

11. What's your favourite thing about your source?

I guess the characters, feels kinda weird to call us that, but yeah! The five of us are my favorite thing about it, our interactions make us happy

12. What's your least favourite thing about your source?

FUCK THE GERUDO YOURE SO COOL BUT WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO RACIST FOR JUST STOP BEING RACIST

13. Any funny exomemories?

This one time Green was playing with paper boats in the water and Shadow pushed him in so we all had to jump in after him and try to pull him out!!

14. Does your appearance differ from your source's appearance?

I have more dirty blondeish hair than my canon hair, and the side part is styled kinda different? And I wear blue earrings!

15. What other role, if any, do you have in the system?

We're still figuring all that out, I think I might be a caretaker though.

16. If you could go back to the life you had in your exomemories/source, would you?

HAHA FUCK NO I have a super cool boyfriend and extended found family now

Seriously though? I miss the castle and stuff, if I could take him and all my other friends with me I would totally go back, Hyrule beats this place any day

17. Does this universe differ at all from the one in your exomemories/source?

Yeah theres fucking weird new technology and sland i DONT understand and there's a SEVERE LACK OF COOL SWORDS AND HORSES AND SHIT

18. What's your favourite clothing item/ accessory that the system owns?

I like our blue scarf!

19. Do you have any merch of your source?

We have Toon Link and Toon Zelda plushies...

20. Do you ever get homesick? If yes, what do you do to deal with it?

Not reallyy, I mean its better but I dont really dwell on it, the people matter more than the place and I have all the people

21. What songs remind you of your source?

Those Hyrule Lofi things are cool

22. What activities/things remind you of your source?

Playing Breath of the Wild? That kinda feels like cheating though

23. Do you like engaging with your source/ content about it?

Yeah!! Everyones so funny and sometimes fan stuff helps me remember things I forgot

24. Have you ever created content related to your source? (Art, fanfiction, etc.)

Yeah, our host likes to draw so we make a lot of drawings and stuff, I like doing whiteboards with our friends. We also used to "roleplay" before we knew we were actually just plural

25. How do you feel about doubles?

I mean, there's already four of me so I'm kinda numb to it, I've met other Blue kinnies and stuff, they're cool!

#legend of zelda fictive #fictive ask game #dissociative identity disorder #link's house #blue 🫐#FUCK YEAH I DID IT #some of these were hard #this was fun though

5 notes · View notes

vivi-mire · 9 months

Note

PLEASEE tell me ur opinions on season 2 And its finale

season two got WACKY!!!! Like season one was pretty standard ygo, powerful cards in danger, shadow group after them, etc. but season two really went into full blast with the ALIENS. I DID NOT EXPECT THE ALIENS.

I am ELATED that they let Jaden become besties with aliens it’s so funny. Jaden is the only one who kinda knows what’s going on at any given moment but he’s not thinking too hard about it so the rest of the cast just have to survive off of his horrible lore drops. “Oh yeah I went to space and met the dolphin I created 10 years ago (that Kaiba SHOT INTO SPACE TO TEACH ALIENS HOW TO DUEL) and we’re all besties now :)!”

Chazz and Jaden have this like. Clown to Clown psychic link as the only people who see card spirits and neither of them clarify this to the others I love it. Not that saying “my ojama yellow talks to me” would win any sanity points for Chazz but at least Jaden could theoretically corroborate his story

Also really loved the “eveyones coming to live with Jaden arc”, immediately followed by the “Jaden gets lost in the fucking woods for a week” arc. They brought the monkey back!!!!!!

Also the Zane arc. Atticus come get your bf he’s acting up.

SO. THE SOCIETY OF LIGHT. REALLY love how light is used as the “bad guy” element, it def shakes things up in a fun way. The corrupting, blinding light of destruction… Ough it’s so good. They popped off with this one.

Gotta say again tho, I really was not expecting the aliens. Having one possessing sartorius was def a twist for me, I just thought he was like that LOL. It was really touching how him and Aster had a brief main character moment in the duel before the actual main character came in to steal the thunder. Considering they brought in the winged dragon of ra for a ONE TIME GUY OF THE WEEK CHARACTER I should of expected they’d go crazy with the finale.

Speaking of that card I really enjoyed seeing Chumley and Pegasus again. In the of ygo I loved the Pegasus parts because he was a very scary threat in his debut arcs. You can tell now that he’s still a shithead, but he’s no longer like. Dangerous anymore. Was super happy to see him duel again with his toon deck. I hope we get more returning characters in the future, I’d like to see Kaiba come check up on his horrible school for once.

But yeah. Season 2 was great!!!!! Lots of aliens. I don’t know how they’re going to top that on the “thing that happens” scale but ygo never disappoints in that endeavor. There was a lot of references by the aliens of Jaden being the one with the power to do all this but like. They never really elaborated on it other than he drew a dolphin once as a kid? Idk maybe they’ll get into some of that in s3.

Favorite Hero: bubble man

Favorite alien: neo spacian glow moss

#riya speaks #ask #watchin gx

5 notes · View notes

sephys-hubby · 2 years

Note

For the space asks, Moon, Nebula, Black Hole and Milky Way for you and Sephiroth, and Star and Neptune for any ship you like! (sorry there are so many, if its too much you dont have to do them all! from citrus-selfinserts)

Hello, @citrus-selfinserts ! I really didn't mean to take so long answering these. Either way, I would still like to thank you for sending in these asks!

Moon ~ Did your love for your F/O come all at once or in phases?

(Sorry, I'm about to get kinda detailed)

It's incredible how my love for Sephiroth kinda came all at once (like before, he was just "the villain from FFVII" in my eyes and that was it. Back then, I didn't even think he was as good looking as people said, lol). So I saw his Smash trailer streamed live on YouTube on Dec 10, 2020. I thought "wow, cool!" but that was mostly it.

And then a few days before he released, there was a "Sephiroth Challenge" thing where you could fight him as a boss in Smash in order to unlock him early.

(The image alone is my phone's wallpaper!)

Either way, that day was pretty hype! My brothers and I all sat together and took turns trying to beat Sephiroth. (We all sucked, lol. I myself wasn't too good at 1v1s in smash bros yet.)

It was a while until I was the one who finally beat him (using Toon Link, my old Brawl main). After that, we each took turns using Seph, with me being last. After I won the match while using him, I honestly don't really know what happened. He just did his victory—the one where he walks away into the flames—and my heart just swooned for some reason, lol. (I legit blushed pretty hard irl. Good thing no one saw me, haha).

Either way, since I never really cared about FFVII before—thus feeling like I didn't deserve to use Seph for that reason—I made up weird excuses on why I kept wanting to use him. (Like, I kept saying "I just think his sword's cool, that's it." Stupid stuff like that.)

In about one day, I was already crushing hard, which has never happened before, lol! It's silly, but it is what it is. In about three or so days, I was already madly in love—albeit in heavy denial, lol.

Nebula ~ If you could take your F/O anywhere where would you go?

As you know, I love liminal spaces and stuff! There are just too many cool liminal spaces and/or Backroom levels that I would love to explore with Sephiroth (everyone else, too!). There's this specific Backrooms level that comes to mind, though. The Grassroom Corridors.

It is just so cool looking, in my opinion. Like, something out of a hazy but pleasant dream. There's a found footage video for the Grass Corridors (you don't have to watch the whole thing! It's like 17 minutes or so). It was cool and pretty spooky!

I remember when some monster/entity thing formed on a wall near the end of the video and my only thought was, "that's just the Demon Wall from Final Fantasy IV!" So, if Seph and I encountered that while exploring, all I can say is: cue the FFIV boss music! (To clarify, I think a different song plays during the actual Demon Wall fight in FFIV, but this is the song I thought of first and prefer more, tbh!)

Edit: the wall monster was actually in a sequel video to the original video I linked. Oops! But it was still in the same location, I believe, so yeah. My point still stands, lol.

Black hole ~ What's your favorite thing about your F/O's source?

My favorite things about FFVII is the materia! They're basically these orbs that you can insert into equipment to cast magic or use other unique skills and stuff.

They are just so satisfying to look at due to how pretty they are.

My favorite materia is the Black Materia! It's the one Sephiroth uses to summon Meteor. It's so cool looking, and I actually have a look alike irl!

It's so cool to hold in my hand, I love it.

Milky way ~ What's your favorite daydream you've had of your F/O?

I daydream a lot with Sephiroth. But I believe my favorite—and the most intricate one—is the one where me and Sephiroth (the others were there, too) explored the Backrooms! We basically followed the path shown in this video (again, you don't have to watch the whole thing!). It was so fun, just walking around, seeing the cool sights and enjoying the isolated feel. My favorite part was when we explored this one strange area:

(It looks kinda like a hotel to me? But I'm not completely sure. Either way, I think it looks cool.)

Star ~ Do you have a specific song that reminds you of your F/O?

So I have plenty of songs that remind me of Seph and I. But as for everyone as a whole, the song Maze of Life really reminds me of us (you can just listen to just the first verse/chorus of the song if you want!). The lyrics are basically talking about how much of a great time we're all having. (Plus it's the opening theme for a crossover game, which is pretty much what my selfships are since I love to imagine Cloud & Seph interacting with Monokuma and Stubbs, who are from different series!) The first couple of lyrics really fit us.

Ain't it great, how we met each other

On this wild and crazy carousel of life?

Ain't it cool, how it changed the paths of our lives

Set us off on new adventures?

This verse in particular kinda hits me in the feels because of how much I feel it applies to us! Also, I must admit that when listening to the song, I love imagining an anime opening but with all five of us instead, lol.

Neptune ~ Was there ever a time that you had a dream about your F/O?

I've had so many fantastic dreams about my faves (especially with Seph)!

Since I've had so much, I would like to talk about the FIRST major dream I had with Cloud & Sephiroth!

I was in a Little Caesars restaurant (it was about the size of a McDonald's inside) and I was casually hanging out with Cloud and Sephiroth inside!

It was so much fun being with them. I remember at one point, I told them to go get some napkins, and so they did. They went over and while doing so, they suddenly got into an argument (as expected with these two, lol). Upon arguing some more, they then headed outside the building and proceeded to do the whole Advent Children fight sequence again!

The best part was how everyone else inside the pizzeria didn't even seem to care, which implied that this was actually a common occurrence! (I do actually imagine any silly arguments they have occasionally leading to them fighting outside just like this with them re-doing the whole AC fight and everything!)

As for me, I received the pizza we ordered and sat down to eat, watching everything through a window! I woke up soon after that, so I never saw who won (it was probably Cloud tho, lol).

And, that's it! Thanks a ton for these asks! I really regret the fact that I couldn't answer them sooner though. Sorry about that! But like I said, thanks for sending them in the first place.

#self ship ask game #🖤angel of a dreamland🖤#💙hearts of anxiety💙

7 notes · View notes

callilouv · 2 years

Note

whoopsies i just meant traditional art but i,forgot the word-bc ive never seen u post any !!!nd u seem to do all ur sketches in ibis (?)

i D K MAYBE<< me when robot apocalypse ig ;)))) THIS IS THE LAST ONE THO He is my favorite i love all his continuities-theres something abt the ability to be clowned on by everyone for centuries and still have a god complex that i find alluring <3

^also this one has the same voice actor as spongebob

TOON LINK MAIN<< (kirby main here ofc) LLi dont know if this is on the switch or brawl exclusive,,but the stage based after him-the boat, its so good and the music +11111

OHHH TRADUTIONAL OKAY tbh i only rlly draw doodle traditionally when im bored ( like i am in class rn so ill show u a doodlw hold on FEJKHF )

yeah tbh i dont rlly draw traditionally, digital art is my bb<3 FEKJHF

HKJLG NOW I CAN JUST IMAGINE HIM SAYING "little peopl" IN SPONGEBOBS VOICE😭 but omg luce u rlly do have a thing for condenscending people,, should i be worried /j FKJF

i /think/ i rmb the stage/?@()#*$ IDK its been a long while since me and my bro played super smash bros but YKYK nintendo makes such pretty music so im not surprised either <3 FEKJHF (KIRBY MAIN THOUGHH tbh i wouldve mained kirby too if it wasnt for my favoritism towards link HAJWKD)

#ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ mail received #ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ lucey luce

0 notes

goldenhydreigon47 · 2 years

Text

Smash Ultimate Roster Fun Facts:

(One per character and according to my headcanons)

Mario: Very supportive of the goals of the roster, even if he doesn't agree with their moral values.

DK: Can talk but only says, "Banana Slamma."

Link: Gender non-conforming and very adorable

Samus/Zero Suit Samus: Many think she's straight but she's actually aroace.

Dark Samus: Interacts with no one at all

Yoshi: Wags his tail often

Kirby: Petitioning for Bandana Dee to get in the next Smash Game (if there is one)

Fox: Feels a lot of guilt for ruining all the viability of half the Melee roster (more reasons why Melee is worse than Brawl and Ultimate lmao)

Pikachu: Belongs to Red but acts more independently.

Luigi: Slightly jealous of his brother, but its more of a friendly sibling rivalry thing.

Ness: Has the most obvious crush on Lucas.

Captain Falcon: Everyone loves this absolute Chad, and he cares about everyone as well

Jigglypuff: Still gets mad and draws on everyone's face when they fall asleep as she sings.

Peach: Sass incarnate

Daisy: Somehow even sassier than Peach

Bowser: Literally every kid's father figure

Ice Climbers: Feel like they deserve the hate they get for being so broken in Melee and Brawl.

Shiek: Trans Icon

Zelda: Her powerful magic kick in her Forward, Back, and Down Aerials were inspired by Captain Falcon's Knee

Dr. Mario: Not a doctor at all

Pichu: Everyone loves him because baby

Falco: Y'know Berdly from Deltarune? Yeah Falco's basically like him.

Marth: Is the most attractive person in Smash

Lucina: Was filled with serotonin when she met Marth for the first time

Young Link: Everyone likes him until they fight him

Ganondorf: Is a Captain Falcon fanboy, hence why their moves look so similar

Mewtwo: Meditates so he doesn't get wrapped in the chaos

Roy: Is our boy

Chrom: Everyone's second adoptive father

Mr. Game and Watch: Is secretly a zombie because the Game and Watch games are dead

Meta Knight: Unlike the Virgin Fox, he, an absolute Chad, is proud of how broken he was, furtherproof Brawl is better than Melee.

Pit: BEST BOY AND A PURE CINNAMON ROLL

Dark Pit: Wants Shadow in Smash because, well, he knows better.

Wario: Still petitioning to get Waluigi in Smash

Snake: Goes, "Hrnnnngh," at the beginning of every few sentences he makes

Ike: Literally everyone is still surprised with how buff he is

Squirtle: Was trained by Mario to perfect using Water Gun

Ivysaur: Is supported far more as the original Plant Gang instead of the idiotic chomper.

Charizard: Gets war flashbacks when seeing a single rock.

Diddy Kong: Pranks everyone

Lucas: Is protected by everyone, especially Ness

Sonic: Has races against Acceleratle Hero

King Dedede: Is a Supastah Warriah

Olimar: Frequently makes, "How's the weather up there," jokes.

Lucario: Since he's already one with the Aura, he's also studying Tarot cards.

R.O.B: Was given a replacement Ancient Minister garb in a good guy colorscheme.

Toon Link: Often paired with Pit in team battle because comedy gold

Wolf: Now has more of a friendly rivalry with Fox

Villager: Set up his own house for vacations

Mega Man: Wants Zero to be added to the roster SO BADLY

Wii Fit Trainer: Only tries to train those he/she deems unhealthy

Rosalina: Treats Kirby like one of her own children

Little Mac: Worst character in the game lmao

Greninja: Fights with honor and dignity

Mii Fighters: Literally no one cares

Palutena: Very proud of her

N E U T R A L

A E R I A L

Pac-Man: Talks with Game and Watch about the good ol' days.

Robin: Is trying his/her best to teach Pit and Kirby how to read

Shulk: Makes Bri'ish jokes frequently

Bowser Jr: Nobody hurts him during his pranks for fear of Bowser brutally maiming them

Duck Hunt Duo: Are good boys because doggo and ducc

Ryu: Constantly training

Ken: Trying to get Ryu to live a little

Cloud: Still getting waking nightmares over Sephiroth

Corrin: Often interacts with the other Dragon Types on the Kalos Pokémon League stage, his/her favorite being Hydreigon, obviously.

Bayonetta: Like Meta Knight, was proud of how broken she was.

Inkling: Has the most swagger out of everyone

Ridley: Joins Sephiroth in giving waking nightmares to Samus and Cloud

Simon/Richter: Christians, but very supportive of the LGBTQ+ community because they actually have standards unlike radical, right-wing, sociopathic Christians.

King K. Rool: Does sumo matches against Dedede frequently.

Isabelle: Gets several headpats

Incineroar: Has met John Cena

*[No one likes or cares about Piranha Plant]*

Joker: Gets everyone to hang out with the other Phantom Thieves, especially Mouse (Pichu) and Star (Kirby)

Hero (Dragon Quest): Is trying to teach Robin the spells he can use

Banjo-Kazooie: Best friends with the Kongs and K. Rool

Terry: Often trains against Ken

Byleth: Was depressed when first added due to the amount of hate they got, but are happier now that the hatred has thankfully died down

Min-Min: The only person so far to beat Little Mac at boxing.

Steve: Has building contests against Villager and Isabelle

Sephiroth: Is your new god now after killing Galeem and Darkhon

Pyra/Mythra: Tell their haters to, "Cry about it."

Kazuya: Trains very often against Ryu

Sora: Was welcomed with open arms by Pit especially

#smash bros ultimate #smash bros #i am not gonna list every character in the tags #pit is best boy #protecc him and lucas at all costs

25 notes · View notes

ecoamerica · 2 months

Text

youtube

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

16K notes · View notes

kitkat1003 · 3 years

Text

Tower Tales

5: Just how old are they? And how are they heating this place?

AO3 link

@asilcorner

Age is a fickle thing, for toons. Some toons are created old, with a backstory they never lived. Some toons are made to be adults in their prime, never aging, never older or younger despite the passage of time. Some are made to be perpetual children, to never grow up.

They fall into that third category. They think.

See, they were out for a little over half a year. They had a contract, they did vaudeville shows with a crew of older comedians, many who liked them and one who hated them, and they never reached what one might call a birthday before they were locked up.

The one who hated them, he taught them what it was like to be hated, for someone to despise them that much. He was the first they knew personally. They didn’t know that he was a template for everyone else, eventually. That the whole world would mirror him soon.

“Do you think we’re gonna get older?” Wakko asks one day, out of the blue, and Dot and Yakko glance over at him.

“Why would we? We’re toons,” Dot responds.

“Yeah, I don’t think we’re made to age,” Yakko agrees, and Wakko shrugs.

“I guess. I think I just wanted a birthday party. Cake and ice cream...,” he drools just thinking about it.

“Do we even have a birthday?” Dot asks, and there’s a thought. They all pause, and Yakko gets a smile on his face that promises something interesting.

“Why not pick one?”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The conversation ends there, but it’s brought up again, later, and Yakko pulls out the calendar one day after lunch.

“You guys thought about it?” He asks, and at their questioning looks he continues. “The birthday thing.”

Dot shrugs.

“I guess. It seems weird to just pick one. We were made, not born.”

Yakko rolls his eyes. “That’s semantics,” he shoots back.

“Your main form of comedy is semantics.” She’s quick to reply.

“Touché.” He grins, because it never gets old to have someone you can go verbally back and forth with.

“I’d like a birthday,” Wakko pops in, and Dot sighs.

“Well, I wanna go first.” She clasps her hands and raises them to her cheek. “I’m a spring girl, a blossoming flower.”

Yakko makes a face. “That saccharine makes me wilt,” he snarks, and she glares at him. “How about the first day of spring?” he offers, raising his hands in surrender. “It’s either the 19, 20, or 21st of March.”

Dot considers this.

“March is such a boring month. What about May? It’s more the month of spring than March. And the 21st, because I only ever shop at Forever 21!” She strikes a pose.

“Pretty sure that company doesn’t exist yet, so you’re not getting a sponsorship anytime soon.”

“I can try anyway!”

“Didn’t they go bankrupt? Is this really the hill you want to die on?”

“Yakko!”

“May 21st it is!” Yakko marks it on the calendar with a strained grin, and Dot poses victoriously. “Wakko?” he asks.

“I don’t know. I don’t think I have a favorite season,” Wakko taps his hands on his seat to a random beat, tilting his head to the side. “Maybe Halloween? I like getting free candy.” He shrugs.

“Yeah, but then you’d have to share the day with all the trick or treaters! This is your day,” Dot hops up to stand on her seat.

“October 1st? Same month as one of your favorite holidays, but far enough away that it won’t steal your thunder,” Yakko suggests, and Wakko thinks for a moment, and then nods.

“Okay, sounds good.”

“Good,” Yakko marks it down.

“What about you, Yakko?” Dot asks, leaning her elbows on the table and propping her head up with her hands.

“I was thinking uhh....December 31st,” He has a specific reason for it, one he isn’t going to share, but as is his siblings don’t need one.

“That’s awfully close to Christmas,” Dot frowns.

“And it’s right before New Years,” Wakko adds.

“I know, I know, but—I just like it. And besides, what better way to ring in the new year than to celebrate me, huh?” He grins, and Dot rolls her eyes.

“Okay, but it’s kind of hypocritical,” she tells him.

“There goes my place on Santa’s nice list, then, huh,” Yakko writes it down.

According to when he started marking the calendar, they’ve passed Dot’s birthday and Wakko’s. He frowns.

“Guess I’m the only one getting a party this year,” he mutters, looking down at the count. He’d based it off of the last date he could remember before being put in the tower, and how long he thinks they’ve been in here. The thought makes his frown deepen/

“Dangit!” Dot curses, causing Yakko and Wakko to jump. “I wanted a party,” it’s a whine.

“It’s not like there’s anyone besides us to celebrate it,” Wakko says it a bit bluntly, a bit morose, a bit matter of fact, and Dot flinches like she’s been hit, and starts to cry.

“Wakko!” Yakko scolds, and Wakko just blinks. “What? It’s the truth. I try not to think about it but—” he looks away, unexpectedly numb about the whole affair. “They’re not gonna let us out just cause it’s our birthday.”

“Just shut up!” Dot shouts. “Maybe I don’t wanna think about it!” She stomps off, and Wakko watches her leave.

“What’d you do that for?” Yakko asks, because Wakko isn’t dumb. He knows what he’s saying will hurt.

“I don’t know,” Wakko replies. “I think I’m just tired of pretending. I don’t think we’re ever gonna leave.”

And Yakko, well, Yakko didn’t know he had it in him to be angrier at the ones who locked them in here, to hate them all even more, but he does, because the expression of defeat on Wakko’s face should never be there.

“Yeah, but who can throw a party better than the three of us?” He tries, and Wakko smiles a little, hopping off of his stool. He grabs some food out of the fridge and disappears, likely upstairs to eat and maybe set off some bombs.

Yakko hangs up the calendar, flipping it a page and staring at “Yakko’s Birthday!” written in his typical cursive, on December 31st.

The oldest day in a year, on the cusp of the new one. Kind of like him—old and young at the same time. 14 and 30, a brother and father, and a million things in between that threaten to tear him half, like every day he’s struggling to be the kid he wants to be and the adult he needs to be.

He’s very tired, for not even a year old in existence.

He finds Dot, teary eyed in her bed, and jokes away her sorrow. Later, Wakko will apologize—he won’t take back what he said, however. Because nothing he said was a lie.

Whoever said the truth is better than a lie never lived the life the Warners have.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

See, they’ve been using fire for light, for cooking, for practically anything that requires heat or light, because they can’t figure out how to put in electricity. They can summon the incidental lightbulbs that appear over their head in the presence of a sudden idea, but those flicker out fast. They can summon things that require electricity, but to actually use them they need power.

They can tell that it’s nearing winter, because the Tower is getting colder. Metal doesn’t insulate, and they’ve had to start wearing socks to keep their toes from getting frostbite. And toons who don’t have to wear shoes being forced to wear things on their feet is a serious form of torture. Rugs could work, but Dot says that they’re tacky, and so they’re only reserved for certain areas. Even then, the rugs get cold too.

“We can’t summon an outlet,” Yakko paces back and forth in the first floor living room, and Wakko and Dot watch this both for entertainment but also out of concern, because Yakko takes worrying to a professional level. “We can make batteries, but those don’t last long. We don’t have enough toon power yet to make our own electricity...”

“Have we tried drawing one?” Wakko asks. “You have pens on you all the time,” Yakko looks up, blinks, and slams his fist into his palm.

“That’s got to be it,” He pulls out a calligraphy pen, shuffling over to where they planned to place a TV, and he sits on his knees, sticking his tongue out in concentration.

“Do you know how to draw an outlet?” Dot pipes up from behind him, and Yakko rolls his eyes.

“Of course I know how to draw an outlet!” He responds, as if he’s offended she would even ask, but then he stares at the wall for about a minute and then slumps over.

“So?” She makes sure to add a bit of smugness to her voice.

“Do you have a picture of one?” He manages, embarrassment tinging his voice.

“I don’t know. Wakko?” Wakko searches through his gag bag, and pulls out a book.

“Right here!” He scampers over to Yakko, opening the book to the right page, and then Yakko finally gets to work.

Once the outlet is rather perfectly drawn—those are Yakko’s words, not theirs, and Dot rolls her eyes when he says it. All they can do is wait and see if it works.

“If this works, I’m using it to straighten my hair before we use it for anything else,” She grins, and Wakko crosses his arms across his chest.

“Hey, I was the one who thought of drawing it! I want to make some good food. We won’t have to use the icebox anymore!”

Yeah, they don’t exactly have a fridge.

“Well, I drew it, and I’m the oldest, so I’ll decide what to do with it,” Yakko interrupts the two of them. He squints at the drawing, and reaches over to add another bolt.

“I thought you said it was perfectly drawn.”

“Everyone’s a critic.” Yakko rolls his eyes, and Dot grins, but they are interrupted by Wakko’s gasp.

“It worked!” He points, and sure enough, where there was once a wall with a drawing is now an outlet. Yakko wastes no time in pulling out a heater and setting it up.

“We’ll figure out everything else later,” he says, “But we need heat or we’re gonna become popsicles.”

“I’d like to be that tasty,” Wakko rubs his tummy in thought, licking his lips.

“That’s gross, Wakko,” Dot deadpans.

“Eh.” Wakko shrugs.

Yakko shakes his head at the two of them, but he’s smiling.

Electricity makes the entire tower better. Wakko is most excited about the TV and fridge, and Dot is just glad that she can actually see without having to light a match every two seconds.

Yakko is happy with the fact that they have heat, and that’s his opinion on the matter.

They burn their socks. It’s a good day.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They’re sturdy, for toons, but they aren’t invincible. Contrary to popular belief, injuries to toons can occur. Injury, sickness, etc, it’s all a part of a toon’s life, to a lesser extent, and honestly, Dot is surprised that one of them hasn’t gotten hurt sooner.

The first few months they didn’t do much. Then they were just getting into the groove, and then they were constantly redecorating, and then there was the talk of birthdays, and then there was the whole electricity debacle. They haven’t had the time, not yet, to be wild enough to warrant serious injury. Wakko’s stomach thing doesn’t count, because that wasn’t him being silly so much as it was the dangerous situation.

But, Dot thinks, it was going to happen eventually.

Wakko goes off on his own more often than they do. Yakko doesn’t really seem to like alone time, and Dot doesn’t like to be without her siblings for too long. Even if they’re just background noise, that is more comforting than being alone and knowing they’re on a separate floor. She does, of course, have days where she needs to be alone, but those are few and far in between.

Wakko likes to be alone. He has his own adventures, and maybe that’s just in his nature. The quiet one, to flit in and out of their lives. She doesn’t like that thought, but it comes unbidden to her some days. Of course, he hangs out with them more than he spends time alone, but still. She wonders.

She’s playing with different hairstyles up on the second floor, and Yakko is downstairs, pouring over the encyclopedia he managed to summon—evidently, he’s a history buff, and it doesn’t not make sense but it doesn’t make sense either—while Wakko messes around on the third floor.

And then, they hear Wakko cry out in pain, and suddenly Yakko is just there. She doesn’t even think she saw him go up to the second floor before he’s just at the third, because by the time she gets up there he’s already cradling Wakko close. Wakko keeps trying to reach for his ankle, left leg curled to his chest.

“What’s wrong?” she asks.

“I-I tripped when I was running to the canon, and my ankle hurts!” Wakko cries, whimpering, and Yakko shushes him, soft.

“It looks twisted,” she whispers, more to herself than anything else.

Yakko turns his head to her sharply. “What do we do?” he asks, as if she would know. She shrugs.

“I dunno! I think—don’t you ice stuff like that? At the very least he should lay down,” she fumbles for a solution, but Yakko takes it, nodding and picking Wakko up.

“Sound good, buddy?” he asks. Wakko buries his face in Yakko’s chest in response, and Yakko’s frown deepens.

Dot gets the ice pack while Wakko gets situated, rushing over to wrap it around his ankle. He hisses at the cold, but relaxes as the numbing feeling takes effect.

“Better?” Yakko asks, and Wakko nods.

“Sorry,” Wakko shrugs, sheepish.

“Be more careful next time!” Dot scolds, but not too harshly. The last thing they need is Wakko crying because she was rude. Yakko already looks stressed enough.

They give Wakko dinner in bed, even though technically they’d agreed not to do so since they’re sharing a bed, because this is just an exception. Dot practically bullies Wakko into being careful and clean while he eats.

“If I feel a single crumb on my side of the bed, I’m coming for you,” she pokes him in the chest once, and Wakko chuckles nervously and nods.

Once Wakko and Yakko are asleep, Dot hops out of bed to the dining room table. She pulls out a book—one on first aid. The last thing she needs is another situation like this, where one of her brothers is hurt and she doesn’t know the solution. She opens the tome, and gets to work.

Yakko finds her there hours later, asleep and drooling on the book. He carefully pulls it out from underneath her, and carries her to bed. He glances at the cover. First aid?

Well, isn’t that useful. He knew his sister was smart.

He dog ears her page and flips back to the beginning, skimming through the page as he gets ready to make breakfast.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Time continues to move onward.

They decorate for Christmas. They celebrate Yakko’s birthday, and then the New Year, and then every holiday after that. Yakko discovers Shakespeare and nearly bores his siblings to death with it. Wakko makes weirder and weirder combinations of food, as well as elaborate machines that serve little purpose. Dot learns how to use makeup after many, many attempts that leave her brothers in stitches, and styles her hair a million ways.

The world goes on without them, but, well, they move on without the world. Turnabout’s fair play, after all.

#animaniacs #yakko wakko and dot #yakko warner #wakko warner #dot warner #kitkat1003 #tower tales

61 notes · View notes

forgive-me-your-highness · 3 years

Note

I ask you a question. You answer a question. Repeat.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy! Although lemons are sour and I'm sweet

What are three shows in your watchlist that you’ve been meaning to get to?

Surprisingly none! I stick with my favorites, well, I am catching up on The Good Doctor right now.

Describe your favorite pair of socks

Thick fuzzy ones, they're gray knit with soft fluffy insides and have polar bear faces sewed onto the front.

Do you like smoothies?

Mhm! I make a banana/strawberry/blueberry/spinach one everyday.

What do you wear when you have to dress nicely?

I have some nice pants + shirt/vest duo as well as a nice navy lace dress, just depends on what I want to wear.

How do you like your eggs?

Scrambled, fried, and hard boiled in that order.

What do you use to keep your place when you’re reading a book?

I fold the corner. Blasphemy I know.

What color dominates your closet?

Black or blue.

Do you collect anything? If so, what?

Hmm I used to collect funko pop's but I only collected the ones I liked and now I have them. I guess I don't collect much, sometimes shells from beaches and stuff.

What sounds or scents calm you down?

There's a specific frog audio that my mom played for me when I was very young that helped me sleep, it's turned into a comfort sound for me now. Lavender or the perfume my mom uses is also comforting.

What’s your favorite kind of uquiz question? (Lyric, color, aesthetic, etc)

I like aesthetic with pictures. I can't read to save my life.

Do you wear glasses or contacts?

Nope, although I have a feeling I might need some.

What’s something about your best friend that you love?

Even if we're hours apart I still get to spend more time with them than anyone else. They take the time to talk to me and I'm always eager to relax and hang out with them. They're so smart and even helped me with a subject I struggle in.

Do you prefer to write in pen or pencil?

Pen, if I'm writing in pencil I have to be using a mechanical one.

What are some places where you feel most at home?

My bed and room, anywhere soft and cozy. The beach too.

Do you have any houseplants? Do any of them have names?

I only have one and it's an aloe plant I keep in my room. It doesn't have a name.

Describe your favorite hoodie. How long have you had it? What makes it unique?

AH okay my favorite one currently! It's a light blue hoodie from Tilly's that says "Stay away please and thank you" and I absolutely live in it. Had it for a few months now.

What’s the last thing you ordered online?

Skyward Sword HD!

What’s one historical event that you would have liked to have witnessed?

Bit morbid but either the Salem Witch Trials, Black Plague, or the disappearing of one of the British Colonies.

What’s your favorite Halloween costume from when you were a kid?

I dressed as Ariel a lot, I want to say I dressed as Merida in elementary as well.

What kind of math are you best at?

Angles and Shapes.

What’s your favorite period in art history, your favorite famous work and/or your favorite style of art? If you don’t know any that’s ok!

Well, I don't know the period of art but anything that has to do with water color I adore.

Iced or hot drinks?

Hmm Iced.

Which songs do you like to sing in the shower?

Um not many sadly. Was teased for doing that so I quit years ago.

Are you a good driver?

LMAO NO, I'm learning soon but I have run over a tree on a golf cart among many other things.

Do you have any piercings or tattoos? Are there any that you want?

Only one lobe pierced, my right one. There's a handful of tattoo's I want if I wasn't a pussy, as well as piercings. Lip and tongue definitely, nipples, more on my ears, I don't like anything too drastic I'd probably just keep studs or small hoops.

Can you cook or bake? If so, what are some of your specialties?

Mhm! I bake super good brownies and my favorite thing to cook is either meat rice balls or omelets.

Do you have any keychains on your home or car keys? Describe them!

Oh I have MANY. I keep a green rupee chain on my key, I have a Legend snack keychain, a Four Sword, Minish Cap Link, and Vaati on my backpack. Purse has Midna and Wild as well as Toon Zelda.

Can you swim very well? Do you like swimming?

I can swim, not gracefully, but I certainly won't drown. I do like to swim!

Did you play with Legos as a kid? What was your favorite set?

HELL YEAH I DID! Ninjago my beloved! My favorite set I owned is probably, well it ties between, The Monastery and the Destiny's Bounty, and my original first season sets are Cole's Earth Drill from Season 2 and my Ratla Bike from Season 1!

Is your closet organized? If so, how?

At one house absolutely not. At the other I have my dresser in one half, shirts hung on other, folded sheets on the closet floor + a bin for old stuffed animals.

What’s the last music video you watched?

Umm I think Bottom of the Deep Blue by MISSIO? I'm not one for music videos but it was in a playlist.

If you could dye your hair any color, regardless of how you think it would look, what color would you choose?

Oh man I've done this so many times. I'd go for a purple again or a deep ocean blue.

Headphones or earbuds?

HEADPHONES, hands down, 100%

Can you read analog clocks?

Yup! Surprisingly I was one of two people who could read one in a class so I was dubbed the time keeper.

Describe your favorite stuffed animal, either now or from when you were a kid.

I have two. One is a sesame street character I've had for years. His fur is matted down and he has been patched up so many times. I also have a newer Toothless plush I love.

What’s an arcade or table game (air hockey, ping pong, etc) that you’re really good at?

Air Hockey, I kick ASS at that!

Do you mind if others are in the kitchen when you’re cooking or baking?

Not at all! So long as I don't accidentally bump them all will go smooth.

What’s one show you watch or musician you listen to that your friends know nothing about?

Hmm probably music by John Powell or Rozen.

What was the best part of your day today?

Getting to hang out with my favorite Toad, hands down. They bring so much joy!

What’s your favorite kind of tree?

Birch or Weeping Willow. Basic bitch I know.

What scent is your deodorant?

Fucking uhh pomegranate or something?

Do you have any games on your phone? If so, which one(s) is/are your favorite?

I do yup! I like Axalochi and Bubble Pop

Do you shower with the lights on or off?

ON?? PEOPLE SHOWER WITH LIGHTS OFF?? It could be broad daylight and I still turn the light on.

What do you do with spare change?

Save it in jars. I kid you not.

Do you have good handwriting?

Ehhh it's not the best but it's not the worst.

What’s the last thing a friend recommended to you that you looked into and actually liked?

Heheh, Zelda/Zelda ships. So fucking good.

Do you like to go on walks?

Yes! Depending on who I'm with I love to.

Do you have a favorite plate or bowl?

Hmm no I don't think so. I do have favorite silverware though.

What’s your favorite thing to do when it’s raining?

Stay inside, open a window to listen, and chat with my friends or draw.

Describe your perfect sleeping conditions

Cold, bundled in blankets, hood pulled up and sock on, cuddled up to a pillow or someone I love. Cat resting on my chest or curled up against my tummy if I'm laying on my side.

#Toad and Frog ask too many questions #Red's Dumbassery Continues

5 notes · View notes

whumpster-fire · 4 years

Text

More on Redemption Arcs

So, there’s something else I want to say about Enemies to Lovers / Enemies to Friends / in general redemption arcs, and in particular those where a character who’s previously been hurt by a villain or their associates is now in a caretaking role for that villain.

Obligatory no one is obligated to forgive someone who’s caused them trauma, or go through the emotional labor of supporting them, or ever interact with them again. But, IMO, it works better if you approach it from the perspective of: “Okay, so why would the traumatized character want to interact with the source of that trauma?” Think about something positive they’re getting from this relationship, from the character’s perspective, and/or think about it in terms of what would establish a bond between them that would cause character A to not want to say: “Okay I don’t care if they’re reformed / reformable, they’re someone else’s problem.”

And obviously there’s better and worse, or at least healthier and less healthy reasons for this. One good one is to have circumstances / the plot force them to grit their teeth and work together, causing bonding through alliance (I dunno the actual term), and at some point during or after this they go “Oh shit we’re actually friends now” (CoughZukoCough). Another of my favorites is to have characters bonding through a shared trauma. This could be a “we’re all in the same boat” situation like I mentioned above but instead of succeeding together they suffer together, or it could be through similar circumstances but not actually the same event, or it could be they’re both abused and traumatized by the same Even Worse Villain and the subordinate villain ends up standing up to their abuser and helping the hero. (E.g. @wildfaewhump’s Iesin and Talvos storyline here on Tumblr, go check it out).

Here’s a couple of case studies of this with redemption arcs I’ve written avoided writing like 90% of the actual recovery phase of, which I’m putting below a Keep Reading both because we’re several paragraphs in now and because one of them spoils the canon material, and also yeah I’m being obnoxious writing long-winded essays about my own fics even if it is my blog. Fics are linked to Ao3, check the tags and summaries on there for trigger warnings and read at your own risk.

Case One: Resurrection x And x Reconciliation

This is in the Hunter X Hunter fandom, and it’s a Gon & Neferpitou friendship, which if you’re familiar with the canon material sounds like the worst fucking idea ever for an enemies to friends arc. Long story short Pitou killed (and also reanimated as a corpse puppet) someone close to Gon, and the trauma of this utterly broke him, to the point of being so obsessed with revenge that he pushed away and hurt his closest friend, took an innocent person hostage for leverage, and basically snapped and went to utterly insane lengths to kill Pitou that it would have caused him a slow, horribly painful death if it weren’t for circumstances.

Okay, but long story short, the person whose death set this all off later turned out to have somehow reincarnated himself into another body, and Gon already processes stuff in really weird ways, so he was now left struggling to process the delayed realization of all the fuckups and reckless and harmful things he’d done, and the trauma of the actual “fight” against Pitou, and meanwhile Pitou got the fun experience of experiencing grief and loss and a near-death (technically actual death) experience for the first time and starting to process that she’d caused that kind of trauma for hundreds of thousands of fully sentient people. And also it turned out that they both sacrificed their lives to kill each other and accomplished absolutely nothing in the process, because the person Gon was trying to avenge turned out to be still alive, and the person Pitou was trying to protected turned out to already be fatally injured.

So this is kind of the exception that proves the rule because Gon and Pitou’s friendship is absolutely 100% born of shared trauma, it’s just that a major part of said trauma was mutually inflicted on each other, and supporting each other kind of helps them heal. This isn’t necessarily actually psychologically healthy or a good idea, but it’s pretty well established in canon that the only thing worse than every single adult in the setting’s track record at supporting people during mental health crises is their track record at stopping Gon from doing whatever the fuck he decides to do, and no one wants to deal with Pitou either.

Case Two: La Resistance / Fresh Ink

This is in, uhh, the Warner Bros Cartoon Universe fandom / Who Framed Roger Rabbit fandom, but by nature the canon material doesn’t have much of a plot for the former and the later is really just the setting. Lemme try and summarize this: in the final battle against the terrorist group that was creating Toons (living cartoon characters with reality warping powers) as living weapons in an attempted genocide against other Toons, the only two surviving toons on the villain’s side, Wendy Weasel and Riley Raccoon, were semi-adopted by some of the protagonists: Yakko, Wakko, and Dot Warner, and Slappy Squirrel. At first mostly Wendy because in the immediate aftermath of the battle Riley was in the ICU.

Okay, why did they spend their time dealing with her? This one’s different because Wendy herself didn’t really cause that much in the way of direct trauma to the characters who ended up supporting her - the ones she really hurt didn’t have much to do with her - however she’s just a fucking chore to try to get along with because she’s passive-aggressive, aggressive-aggressive, destructive-aggressive, and her main defense mechanism is to intensify these traits even further so she was just a hostile brat most of the time.

Well, this starts as a “Forced together by external circumstances” plot, of a sort: Wendy ended up as a prisoner after the battle - she defected, but never actually surrendered because she knocked herself unconscious while killing the main villain. The FBI did not want to have to deal with a prisoner who could teleport through walls, pull weapons and tools out of thin air, Jedi Mind Trick guards, etc. etc. etc, and the Warner Siblings just happened to be in a possession of a tailor-made prison designed to hold creatures like her (originally meant to contain them, they broke out but refused to move out) and were among the like 5-10 people on the planet who could actually fight her, so the Feds basically went: “Your problem now,” or just as accurately, the Warners and Slappy were not letting what was obviously an indoctrinated child soldier who defected and helped them get deemed “Too dangerous to let live since we can’t keep her contained long enough to have a trial” as a matter of principle.

But reason B, especially as they interacted with Wendy, is that the Warners and to a lesser extent Slappy knew what it was like to be drawn into existence and surrounded by people who hated them, feared them, or at least didn’t respect them. Again there was an attempt to seal the Warners permanently in an inescapable prison, and this was before a method of actually killing Toons was invented so they’re pretty sure the humans would have preferred to straight-up murder them for being too powerful and out of control... which was also the exact same ideology held by Wendy’s creators. And they also really empathized with the strong “sibling” bond she had with Riley (not actually supposed to be siblings but drawn by the same animator so sort of siblings and they just kinda decided they were) because it reminded them of themselves as well. This is self-explanatory with the Warners, with Slappy, in the fic she and Screwy Squirrel were siblings, and “Gee wouldn’t it be terrifying if a character as chaotic and sadistic as Screwy Squirrel was a villain was literally the starting point for Wendy’s character concept.

Also reason C is “Obnoxious child using passive-aggressiveness to mask trauma, anger, and need for love and attention” fit right in in the WB Studio Water Tower.

Anyway tl;dr that’s another example of a potential motive behind the caretakers in a redemption arc: if the characters sort of identify with the villain due to similar backgrounds to the point where they sort of go: “That could’ve been me in different circumstances.”

#whump meta #fandom discourse #talking about my own writing #redemption arcs #Wendy Weasel (OC)#animaniacs (Fandom)#Hunter X Hunter (fandom)

5 notes · View notes

vierafication · 4 years

Text

Last night around 4 am, I reblogged a certain post about "villainous rp" and added my own two cents to what had been discussed within it- mostly just venting about behavior I'd seen in the past. I didn't think much of it until I saw the next day it had been reblogged, and reblogged again, and again, by some folks who seemed pretty unhappy about what I'd said. I was told I needed to get a life, that I clearly can't separate IC and OOC, that maybe I shouldn't be writing at all. That hurt. I was irritated, then, feeling like I'd had words shoved in my mouth, like I was being purposefully misinterpreted. I typed up a clarification post explaining my previous points and pressed send, but it was seemingly ignored.

I talked with @damankjol about it later. He's the best, if you didn't know. And he rp's villains! I don't think he's a sociopath! He's very empathic and honest and understanding and cool, and he helped me realize that people weren't just angry at me, they were genuinely hurt by what I'd written. I went back and reread what I posted, as well as the responses, with a more critical eye. And... yeah. What I typed up wasn't clean, organized, or coordinated. I was venting and the tone that came off was irritated and rude. While not my intention, what I wrote sounded pretty fucking disrespectful and downright mean. And, frankly, my intentions don't matter, anyway, since I wasn't able to convey them properly. I just put some angry bullshit up on tumblr way too late at night, and I didn't expect anybody to even look at it, let alone reblog it- but I should have. Tumblr is a public platform and I should have approached my post the same way I'd approach any other one during the normal hours of the day. Thinking critically is always key, but audience is too- a vent post is a vent post, but I should have thought before I vented about a topic other people were sensitive to, and properly indicate specifics instead of vague generalizations. So, yes, I really wanted to apologize to anyone who that post hurt. I’m genuinely sorry. I should not have generalized like that. It wasn't even my intention in the first place. I was disrespectful and now that I think about it, incredibly hypocritical to boot. So yeah. I really am sorry. I respect @damankjol and @miqojak a lot as writers, and it would never be my intention to tear them down. Or anybody else, for that matter- rp only works when you rp with others, after all.

Once again, I'm sorry, and I hope you won't hate me for eternity or anything. Storytime and critical analysis under the cut.

One of my first, and worst, experiences in the ffxiv rp community was a good couple years ago. I was describing my character to a “friend,” and that character happened to be Lionnet Blodoint, my Ishgardian chirurgeon. Lionnet was not a good person by a long shot, to begin with, and from his time serving during the Dragonsong War, he’d developed quite a bit of PTSD relating to any and all things draconic. He hated dragons. He didn’t even like Au Ra. “Wow,” said the so-called friend at the time. “Your character is a nazi.”

“What? No!” I exclaimed. I tried to explain that he was NOT a nazi, he was just a traditionalist Ishgardian who hated dragons because they had been, at one point in time, absolutely hell-bent on destroying his home and everything he knew. I thought it was a pretty reasonable character trait to hate, or at least fear, dragons after serving in the Dragonsong War. The core of how I’d planned to develop him would be overcoming or at least coming to terms with his trauma, and no longer seeing it in every dragon or Au Ra he met. “No,” they said. “Your character is terribly written. They’re awful and nobody would ever want to rp with them. They’re boring because they’re so full of negative traits. They’re racist and thus, a nazi. And you are just as bad, because you’re defending them! You’re a nazi too!”

So yeah, they are NOT my friend anymore. But that whole convo really stuck with me, and I was afraid to bring out Lio afterwards- it took me another year before I actually began to use him in rp. And he turned out wonderful! His story became one of my favorite rp character stories of all time, and he had great relationship development and a happy ending. He’s still around, canonically, but I have a different main toon now.

So it shocks me that what that person told me about Lio is more or less the same as what I wrote in that post. I’m honestly dumbfounded at how I could just casually type that up and post it, when it draws so many parallels to the way I was bullied back then. So yeah. Huge hypocrisy right there. I swore to never act like that. And to an extent, I suppose I have. But that post I made was pretty fucking close- just directed at a vaguely generalized audience instead of a singular person and character. Maybe that’s actually worse. And I am sorry. I guess because it wasn’t directed at anyone but the void (even the op’s url doesn’t exist anymore), I just didn’t think about it. Which sounds like a lame-ass excuse, but... it’s true. I just wasn’t thinking. I was just venting. It’s really fucking with me that I could’ve hurt somebody so much completely unintentionally, to be honest.

So, what did I say- or, to be more clear, what was I attempting to say? What was my intention, and what wasn’t? I’m going to go over that now, more for my benefit than anyone else’s. Please note that I am not trying to make excuses or shove any blame elsewhere. I am just trying to clarify what I meant and address the issues that made my post so negative, for my own sake.

To begin, I’m gonna link this post by @lilac-memorials. It goes into detail about the trouble with “villain” discourse, and addresses a number of issues from a much more unbiased standpoint, far more eloquently than I could. Also, it seems to reference (the worse) parts of my posts at some points, or maybe I’m just paranoid. Regardless, it’s a much better post than the trainwreck that was the original one, and I agree with every bit of it. It also addresses the difference between a “villain” and an “antagonist,” which is something I attempted to go into but failed miserably.

Anyhoo. My post began with this paragraph:

Seriously. I do not trust anyone who refers to themselves as a “villain” rper. A character can take an antagonistic role in another character’s story arc, that’s fine, that works. It goes back to the “everyone is the hero of their own story” sorta thing. But playing a villain, only as a villain… what’s the point in that? It’s just someone roleplaying as an evil asshole that expects to be treated as stronger than other characters, expects to be feared. It reads like some twisted power fantasy. It doesn’t sound fun and it sure isn’t fun for the people rping with you. Like dude, calm down.

To begin with, yes, I am indeed a little distrustful of people who label their characters first and foremost as villains, before anything else. I am more suspicious of engaging in rp with them than I am with other types of characters, because I have seen some pretty crappy villains out and about and I just don’t wanna deal with that. Next, I go on to try to draw the line between a villain and an antagonist, and how I am much less suspicious of “antagonistic” characters than straight-up “villain” characters. “But playing a villain, only as a villain... what’s the point in that?” I ask. Very rudely. Insinuating that their is no point whatsoever in playing a villain. Which I didn’t intend to. But honestly, I don’t know how else that would’ve translated- I don’t know what I was thinking. I go on to describe this “villain” as somebody who is an evil asshole with a power fantasy, and how it ruins fun for anybody. Which can be read very easily as saying “all villains are like this.” No, they are not! I was describing the bad type of villain rper. The rper who “plays a villain, only as a villain,” and not as a character. Do you get what I mean now? The controlling, toxic, power-hungry rper that plays a villain as an outlet to be further controlling, toxic, and power-hungry, moreso than they ever could in reality. We all know that type of person exists. We’ve met them, somewhere. Sometimes they aren’t playing the villain at all, anyway. They’re playing the hero, or somebody else entirely. But here, I am just venting about that type of person. They are what my post is about. The key line should’ve been “playing a villain, only as a villain,” but it was shoved into a passive-aggressive question addressing self-worth instead of a proper sentence describing the difference between a well-written villain and a badly-written villain. And thus the post begins as if it had been rudely addressed to all villain rpers everywhere, labeling them as the evil asshole with a power fantasy, instead.

Next is: Anyway hot take but maybe the reason people kept trying to “redeem” and “change” OP’s character is because their character is boring af!

Yeahhhh, that one’s just mean. And, given the first paragraph, easily able to seen as an attack saying that if you are a villain rper, your character is boring af. They’re not! The op’s post is a little much, to be honest, and I guess I thought I was feeling spicy at 4 am. Now I think I must’ve just been being mean. Aurelia explains what’s wrong with the initial post here, though, instead of trying and failing to poke fun at it in that special pseudo-mean tumblr way like I did.

Lastly, Like, honestly! Play a character as a foil to another, play to fucked up ideas about morality, play an antagonist arc to a protagonist character, play a character who makes bad decisions. But don’t play a “villain.” Don’t play a character whose core personality traits are simply being cruel/evil. Don’t play a character whose sole focus is to kill npcs, be scary, and lord over other players’ characters. Don’t play a character who never develops or changes, and doesn’t facilitate change in other characters. Just don’t be an asshole edgelord. Don’t be flat and one dimensional. Don’t use rp to live out your fucked up power fantasy. Get therapy instead.

Honestly, I think this is the most clear part of my entire post, and also the worst, at the end there. I just am listing off behaviors that this figurative “bad villain rper” exhibits, and what offsets them. Play a villain that’s complex, had depth, nuance! I’m saying don’t play the “villain,” and then listing off what this specific hypothetical villain is. The opposite of deep and nuanced. The “bad villain rper” type the whole post is a vent about.

Then comes the dreaded “ Don’t use rp to live out your fucked up power fantasy. Get therapy instead. “ The villainous power fantasy. No, I do not think everyone who rp’s villains is like this. Yes, I believe there are people like this, who are INCREDIBLY few and far between, and if they solely use rp as an outlet to harass others both ICly and OOCly, that is bad! And maybe they should get help! And even, then, that was only half-serious! But therapy is a serious subject and I should have known better, and done better. Did all of that come off as intended? Hell no! Instead, it was the final nail in the coffin.

So! That’s what I was trying to say. Badly-written villains are a pain. If I had written up a post like I am now, with this long-ass thing, actually trying to be eloquent and clear. Not 4 am word vomit. This 4 am word vomit instead has gotten me to be read and interpreted as:

-being completely unable to separate character and player to the point where i think every villain’s player is a Real Life Bad Person and/or needs mental help

-saying all villains are boring because they’re not heroes, and thus are incapable of being complex and nuanced

-saying people who play dark/antagonistic characters are, in general, living out their fucked up power fantasy through them

-thinking that villainous characters are incredibly boring and just plain terrible

No! None of that is what I think! Absolutely none! I’m not going to go in and refute each of those claims, because, like I said, I’m not trying to make excuses here. But I WILL end this thing with what I do think of villainous characters and their players:

They’re fucking great, okay? A good story is made a gazillion times better by having a good villain in it, be the story a book, a movie, or an rp scenario. Well-written villain rpers are a TREASURE, and need to be appreciated! It is often harder to find rp with antagonistic toons, to begin with, and their players may find themselves getting shit on more often than others, which should absolutely not be the case. Characters that are complex and deep and nuanced are great no matter what their alignment is.

There ARE some pretty shitty villain rpers out there, too. And, in my own personal experience, they tend to be much more obnoxious than shitty hero rpers. A badly written hero will ruin a villain’s rp. A badly written villain may well try to ruin everybody around them’s rp.

Badly written villains suck. They’re the worst. And they make things worse for those that dedicate a lot of time and effort to crafting complex and cleverly written, compelling villains! Badly written villains are something I can and will complain about, just as well-written villains are something that I can and will praise. But I’ll try not to complain or vent on this platform anymore, to start.

And I do NOT blend IC and OOC. That’s the rper’s taboo! I will critique others who do it, though, which ironically is what I was sort of trying to do- complain about those specific villain players who do that. But anyway. If you’ve read this far, good for you! This has been way too long.

And. Please. If I do say or do something that hurts you in the future, regardless of what type of post it is, talk to me! Tell me what’s up! Thank you!

#THIS IS A LONG ASS POST U HAVE BEEN WARNED #u dont need to read all of the rest if u dont want to #in fact u dont need to read it at all if u don't know what post im referring to anyway

10 notes · View notes