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#this particular niche of pairing is very special to me

thegeminisage · 1 year

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So You Want To Get Into The Legend of Zelda But Don't Know Where To Start: A Masterpost

this discussion came up in my zelda stream the other week so i thought since i'm a longtime fan and Extremely Normal i'd make a guide to people who are just now getting into the series because of breath of the wild/tears of the kingdom. there's a lot of games and it can be confusing on how they're connected, where to start, etc. this is going to be an EXTREMELY LONG guide, sorry - if you want a short version you can check out this post i wrote a long time ago.

The Timeline

so the good news is that the zelda games were published non-linearly, meaning that the game that takes place first chronologically was not necessarily the first one ever made. they didn't even HAVE a timeline until like 2011 or so. for that reason, with a few exceptions*, you can jump in pretty much wherever you like. most zelda games (or pairs of games*) are spaced hundreds or sometimes even thousands of years apart, featuring different links and zeldas and other characters, which means you don't need to know anything about zelda to start with any game. the series is deliberately made so that each title works perfectly well as a stand-alone game.

*the exception is that a very few games have direct sequels - for example, majora's mask takes places just a few years after ocarina of time, phantom hourglass takes place after wind waker, etc. luckily even with these games, you can still jump in without having played their other half and have a good time without getting lost.

The Introduction

that said, the zelda series is extremely eclectic. while they all have the undercurrent of "zeldaness" that makes them special they can be as different as night and day. 2D or 3D, happy or edgy, mainline or spinoff, story-heavy or story-light...which game is best for you to start with will depend heavily on your own personal tastes.

the short version: if you haven't yet, i recommend most people new to zelda start with either ocarina of time or breath of the wild. these games, released almost 20 years apart, were both completely revolutionary and redefined their genres (or, in oot's case, the entire industry). they usually have something to offer everyone and they're both games with standout tutorial sections that teach new players the lay of the land with ease. there's a reason most people start with one of these two - which one you prefer depends on whether you can enjoy an older game or would prefer something newer. for brand-new gamers, i might also recommend skyward sword because of how much the game holds your hand - it's frustrating for more experienced players, but for those just getting started in gaming in general it might actually work out well.

the long version: OBVIOUSLY i'm going to do a game-by-game write-up. sue me. if you're looking for information on a particular title, ctrl+f it. otherwise, settle in. time for a cut!

The Games

how to read this guide:

which games: most of them. this guide is long enough as it is, so i'm not doing a whole ass writeup for REALLY niche spin-offs like the tingle games, the crossbow training game, the bs releases, or the much-loathed cdi games, even if i think the crossbow game ruled. i will do hyrule warriors and cadence of hyrule because they're properly fleshed out games. ports and remakes are gonna get grouped together with the originals to save time and space. if there's something missing from this list you want to know about, the wikipedia article with the complete list of zelda media is right here and it's a genuinely fascinating read. have fun!!

release date: self-explanatory. using japanese release dates for overall accuracy, and the games are in order of release date as well, but you DO NOT need to play them in that order - that would be madness

console: original console, other consoles it's available on (not including the weird experimental stuff like satellaview, c'mon), and whether or not it is available for switch. why? the switch is the latest console, how many new fans got into zelda, and because of nso, it will be the easiest access point for people who can't or don't want to buy new consoles/emulate on pc. nso stands for "nintendo switch online," which is a the online membership you can purchase from nintendo. the basic plan allows, among other things, emulation nes, snes, and gameboy titles. the expansion pack tier adds emulation of n64, sega genesis, and gameboy advance titles. i think nso is a good service with great value if you can afford it - read about it here. virtual console is just buying the game, usually for a low price, and downloading it digitally to play on newer consoles, but most of those services have been shut down now. there's also backwards compatibility - the wii u can play wii games, the wii can play gcn games, the original ds (and ds lite) can play gameboy advance games, and the gameboy advance (and gameboy sp) can play gameboy and gameboy color games. the snes can also play gameboy and gameboy color games with the super gameboy, and the gcn can play gameboy, gameboy color, and gameboy advanced games with the gameboy player.

average playtime: this comes from howlongtobeat.com - if it seems off, take it up with them

mainline game: this just means whether or not this game was a "big entry" into the series - typically, mainline games are devloped by nintendo directly (though nintendo develops side-games too), and they have a higher budget and a longer dev time, but this doesn't necessarily mean they're better - some mainline games are received more poorly than the ones that aren't mainline. also sometimes people argue about which games count as mainline games so take it with a grain of salt

sequel: whether or not a game is directly tied to another game in the series - again, even if they are tied to another game, you don't HAVE to play that other game first

story-heavy: how many cutscenes/cinematics/character stuff is going on

edge level: how much grimdark and serious stuff is present and how "on-screen" it is. zelda games are infamous for a careful balance of cheerful and dark stuff in all games, but some games are more forthright about the darker elements than others. i prefer those, but you may prefer it the other way!

the premise/the good/the bad/the verdict: the actual write-up. unfortunately not even i have played/finished every zelda game (someday...), so for the games i can't speak on personally, i will make a note on it so you can seek a second opinion.

now let's get started!

The Legend of Zelda (1986)

original console: nintendo entertainment system

available on switch: yes, with nso (basic)

also available on: gcn & gba (ports), gcn (gameboy player), wii, wii u, 3ds (virtual console), original ds (backwards compatibility), pc (emulation)

average playtime: 8-10 hours

mainline game: yes

sequel: no

story-heavy: no - in fact, for games in this era, reading the instruction manual is a must if you want story content; because the file size had to stay small, story content that couldn't fit was often added to manual instead

edge level: low

the premise: explore hyrule to find and put together eight fragments of the triforce so you can rescue princess zelda from ganon, prince of darkness.

the good: a solid introduction to the series, you can waste HOURS exploring this game, which is kind of a miracle considering the whole thing is only 128kb. (if you enjoy emulation, any computer will be able to play this. like doom, it could probably run on a microwave.) it's charming enough for when it was made and the music is all catchy as hell, even though it contains only a dozen or so tracks. this game is pretty light on puzzles, but most of the fun comes from the exploration - in fact, it was this game that the dev team for botw drew inspiration from when they were trying to figure out how to "reinvent" the zelda series - what they actually did was take it back to its roots.

the bad: well, it's that you can waste HOURS exploring in this game. back when it was released, the intent was to get players talking to one another - you would get one piece of the map explored and fine one secret, your friend would find and explore a different piece and find other secrets, and you'd trade! many people even had their own hand-drawn maps put together one screen at a time. since it really isn't possible to play this way today unless you get a bunch of friends together to do it blind, you almost certainly need a map or guide for this game when you're doing it on your own, otherwise you're never going to get anywhere, because there aren't usually indications that certain walls are bombable or bushes burnable.

the verdict: if you're a veteran who liked alttp (particularly the combat), if you have a high tolerance for aged games, or if you wanna see what this series looked like during its humble beginnings, you will like this game. if you're looking for a more guided experience or something with a lot of cinematics or puzzle-solving, pass. don't forget to read the manual!

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (1987)

original console: nintendo entertainment system

available on switch: yes, with nso (basic)

also available on: gcn & gba (ports), gcn (gameboy player), wii, wii u, 3ds (virtual console), original ds (backwards compatibility), pc (emulation)

average playtime: 11 hours

mainline game: yes

sequel: yes, to the original legend of zelda

story-heavy: no - ditto for story being in the manual, like with the original loz

edge level: low

the premise: dive into six ancient palaces to place crystals there to wake princess zelda from an era long gone, who has been sleeping for hundreds of years. avoid being caught by ganon's minions, who want to use link's blood to revive their master ganon.

the good: because this game began life as an independent title which eventually got zelda-fied, it's quite different from most games in the series. it has side-scrolling combat and rpg elements. the soundtrack is very catchy, and this game also introduces dark link, an extremely cool popular doppelganger of our beloved hero. the map is HUGE in comparison to the original so there's tons more to explore here.

the bad: this game is HARD. not, "challenging," like, "bordering on impossible." i've never beaten it. i got just a couple of dungeons in and i was so miserable i had to give it up. even playing the "special edition" on nso (which is with all the unlockable upgrades to make it easier), it's a fucking slog. that's it! that's the only flaw.

the verdict: even with all its good qualities, even with how fresh it feels, it's so damn frustrating that only gluttons for punishment and very unique souls will truly find joy here. if you do decide to brave it, remember to read the instruction manual.

A Link to the Past (1991)

original console: super nintendo entertainment system

available on switch: yes, with nso (basic)

also available on: gba (port), gcn (gameboy player), wii, wii u, 3ds (virtual console), original ds (backwards compatibility), pc (emulation)

average playtime: 15-17 hours

mainline game: yes

sequel: no

story-heavy: medium. this was the first game to actually HAVE a proper story with named characters and extended dialogue. it wouldn't be considered story-heavy by today's standards, though.

edge level: medium, but like, on the high end of medium

the premise: one stormy night, link and his uncle receive a telepathic message from zelda begging for aid. link's uncle goes out into danger and doesn't return, so it's up to lik to go rescue her in his stead. from there you'll have to explore hyrule to locate the master sword, and explore the mysterious golden land behind the seal of the seven wise men to locate their missing descendants.

the good: alttp set the blueprint for the rest of the series - we finally have our first dungeon-crawler with proper puzzles, real dialogue from zelda, named bad guys, a huge array of funky items, and jammin' tunes still used in the games today (hyrule castle anyone?). plus, link has pink hair! the opening to this game is utterly iconic in every way, and traverse through not one but TWO world maps that overlay one another makes exploration even more exciting.

the bad: truly, no complaints here. it does require some patience. it's a little aged, and it's always possible to get lost without a guide, but so is it true for every game with a big overworld like zelda's.

the verdict: again, this game isn't story-heavy by today's standards, but back then it was more story than we'd ever gotten from a zelda game. as long as you don't go in expecting it to have an rpg kind of story, you'll probably enjoy it. if you don't like 2D zelda combat or need shiny graphics to keep your attention, give it a pass.

Link's Awakening (1993, 2019)

original console: gameboy/gameboy color, and a switch-exclusive remake

available on switch: yes - you can play the original with nso (basic) or the switch-exclusive remake

also available on: snes (super gameboy), gcn (gameboy player), gba, original ds (backwards compatibility), 3ds (virtual console), switch (remake), pc (emulation of any version)

average playtime: 14-19 hours for the original, 14-21 hours for the remake

mainline game: yes for the original, no for the remake, technically

sequel: technically a sequel to a link to the past, but they truly have nothing to do with each other

story-heavy: medium - similar story style to a link to the past. smaller cast and less overall dialogue, but more character work on marin specifically

edge level: usually pretty low, but in the rare moments when it jumps out it REALLY jumps out

the premise: while sailing, link becomes shipwrecked, washes up on shore of a remote place called koholint island, and is rescued by a girl named marin. with his boat in pieces, he has to go on a bittersweet adventure exploring the island and getting to know his rescuer in order to wake a mysterious being known as the windfish so he can go home.

the good: a tiny yet vast map, foreboding dungeons (hello, face shrine), a strange and quirky world that's impossible not to love with a small but charming cast to match (though, of course, the real stand-out character is marin), fun minigames, and a soundtrack that only got better in the remake. this game has it all! the story will surprise you by leaving you weeping at the end. there's not a huge difference to the gameplay between the original and the remake - it's mostly a graphical update, though they did add some side content.

the bad: it's one of those games that's different from the rest of the zelda series, which means it's not for everyone - there's no zelda, no ganondorf, no hyrule. also, getting the best ending is absolutely painstaking.

the verdict: what a wonderful game! the story is sparse but rewarding. if you don't like 2D zeldas, story-light games, or don't want to cry through the credits, you can give it a pass - but everyone else should love it.

Ocarina of Time (1998, 2011)

original console: nintendo 64, and a 3ds-exclusive remake

available on switch: yes, with nso (expansion pack)

also available on: gcn (port), wii, wii u (virtual console), 3ds (remake), pc (fan-port or emulation of either version)

average playtime: 25-40 hours

mainline game: yes

sequel: no

story-heavy: yes, medium-high. it wouldn't impress by today's standards but back then it WAS the standard

edge level: medium-high. it's horrifying in some respects, but overall very wistful and bittersweet

the premise: link, the local outcast, is ousted from his idyllic home after tragedy strikes in the form of ganondorf murdering his forest's guardian spirit. from there you'll explore hyrule to open an ancient doorway, and go on a time-traveling adventure in a last-ditch attempt to prevent a terrible future and heal a broken world that didn't always want you.

the good: what can i possibly say about ocarina of time that hasn't already been said? critically acclaimed as the best game of all time when it was made and still 25 years later (with only breath of the wild threatening to unseat it), this game is everything. this is the game that taught me to love stories, to love gaming, to love zelda. the world is full of secrets and places to explore, there's a kind of dual-overworld thing happening the way there was in alttp, there's a lot of collectibles and sidequests and TONS of minigames, there's a huge cast of characters with real depth, you can RIDE A HORSE, and the quite literal coming-of-age story has actual plot twists that affect the gameplay. this game defined the official timeline for zelda (massive spoilers at the link), it defined the series itself, it defined the genre and even the industry - games everywhere are still using concepts introduced (or made popular) here, like targeting enemies, context-sensitive buttons, dynamic soundtracks, and day-night cycles.

the bad: one of the dungeons is a shitty goddamn motherfucking royal pain in the ass. you know what i'm talking about. unless you don't, in which case i'm sorry. maybe it's less horrible in master mode, i don't know. also, like, it's not that the game has aged poorly, it's still a solid adventure, but it HAS aged. since basically every game you've ever played has emulated oot with stuff like lock-on targeting, these features won't feel as revolutionary and special to a new player today as they did to new players in 1998. that's not bad, but it has caused some people to get excited to look into the hype, pop the game in, and then go "wait, i don't get it."

the verdict: unless you absolutely cannot deal with playing a 25yo game, pick this up - for the historical value, if nothing else. i cannot more highly recommend any game that ever existed than i do this one. that said, for people who are new to GAMES IN GENERAL, it may not feel as intuitive as it did to new players in 1998, because speak a slightly different language now. new gamers should definitely still play this, but they should either use a guide or consider not making it their very first game. more experienced gamers should still be fine making this their first zelda game.

bonus verdict: as for which console to play it on - the 3ds version has a lot of quality of life adjustments, including gyroscopic controls and a master mode (gcn version also has master mode), and the graphical improvement is absolutely astounding...but it's on a teeny-tiny little screen. i think the best way to play ocarina of time, if you're able to, is to emulate the 3ds version with the fanmade 4k upgrade. of course, this requires a good pc, emulation skills, and a properly connected controller (i haven't done it yet myself) - so don't feel bad playing anyway you can access it.

Majora's Mask (2000, 2015)

original console: nintendo 64, and a 3ds-exclusive remake

available on switch: yes, with nso (expansion pack)

also available on: gcn (port), wii, wii u (virtual console), 3ds (remake), pc (emulation)

average playtime: 20-38 hours

mainline game: yes

sequel: yes, it's a direct sequel to oot. the opening may be a little confusing if you haven't played it but otherwise you're fine

story-heavy: yes, VERY. the character-work alone is unparalleled even by modern standards

edge level: EXTREMELY HIGH. this is without a doubt the darkest and most haunting game in the series

the premise: link, trying to escape his problems back home, gets thrown into an unfamiliar world where the moon is going to fall and destroy everything in only three days. with the help of multiple forms (link can shift into a deku, goron, or zora), and time travel, link relives the same three days over and over again, exploring clock town and the lands around it, and getting to know its people, so he can find a way to help everyone and prevent the oncoming apocalypse.

the good: holy cast of characters, batman! as with every zelda game, there is exploration and dungeon-crawling, and these are phenomenal here - of particular note is how the use of 4 different forms plays into puzzle-solving - but the real meat of this game comes from its incredible cast. near the beginning of the game you are given a journal, in which to note the schedules and habits of each and every resident of termina as you learn them. you play the same three days over and over, so while the clock is always ticking, there's an infinite time to get to know them. each character reacts to the upcoming armageddon differently: some are resigned, some are frightened, some are brave, and some are in denial. (notably, one minor character who appears brave crumbles in the final hours, begging not to die.) who these people are and the sorrows they carry around with them to the end of the world define this game and make it like no other.

the bad: look, it's a game about an upcoming apocalypse. you're on the sinking titanic and the clock counts down every precious second and no matter what you do there will ALWAYS be that time limit, which not everyone likes. it's stressful, and it can be sad and tragic, even upsetting at times, which is kind of a requirement for the powerful catharsis it also offers. it's very different to the usual zeldas - no zelda or ganondorf or hyrule - which also isn't everyone's bag. it's also a huge timesink - you really miss a lot of the point if you don't 100% it or at least get all of the masks, which takes a long time and a guide (although it is fun as hell the whole time).

the verdict: some people really hate the time limit and find it imposing. i mostly don't have a problem with it - sometimes i have to race to finish a task before i run out of time so i HAVE time to travel back before i get blown to bits, but without this mechanic, the game wouldn't work at all. famously, this game was made in only one year (hence the reused assets), so the pressure the devs felt really came out in their work. i think it's a fucking masterpiece, but it is a game about death, among other things, so if you need a feel-good title this one probably isn't your stop. that said, the incredibly powerful cast makes this game timeless - if not for the graphics you'd hardly know it's aged at all. even newer gamers should enjoy this one, but use a guide! for a game this complex it's more important to find everything than it is to do it blind.

bonus verdict: while the graphical improvements on the 3ds are wonderful, and the added fishing minigame is great, i mostly preferred the controls of the original. new players may not notice the difference, though!

Oracles of Ages & Oracle of Seasons (2001)

original console: gameboy color

available on switch: not at the time of writing, but nintendo has confirmed it is coming to nso (basic)

also available on: snes (super gameboy), gcn (gameboy player), gba, original ds (backwards compatibility), 3ds (virtual console), pc (emulation)

average playtime: 16-25 for oracle of ages, 15-21 for oracle of seasons, leading to about 31-46 hours total

mainline game: no

sequel: not linked to any other games in the series, but they're technically both sequels to each othjer - more below

story-heavy: no, about medium-low

edge level: low

the premise: link hears the triforce calling out to him, and when he investigates, is thrown into one of two words, depending on which game you're playing. these two games stand alone, but they can also be linked via a code so that your playthrough on one can be transferred over to the other (like golden sun, if you've ever played those games). you can choose which game to play first. at the end of your playthrough, you can get a code, which can then be entered on the other game - complete both and you get a secret special grand finale. somewhat like pokemon games, the games complement each other in their differences, thoguh the differences here are much more drastic - they have different overworlds and dungeons, a slightly different set of items, and a different way of interacting with the world (by either traveling through the ages or by changing the season). oracle of ages is focused on puzzle-solving, while oracle of seasons is focused on combat and action.

the good: what a dense and detailed little adventure these games are! with a double of everything from items sets to overworlds, there's a ton to do. the worlds have a ton of variety and can feel endless at times. and since they were built on (i think) the link's awakening engine, gameplaywise it's kind of like getting to play a really good sequel to that game for the first time...twice. the lore is fun, the lands are fun, there's a couple of unforgettable tracks i still listen to. since you can play the games in either order, there's a good bit of REplayability involved, because hardcore fans will want to experience it both ways - leading to two playthroughs of each game, meaning four total playthroughs, for up to a whopping total of 92 hours of gameplay. talk about bang for your buck!

the bad: the codes are a real pain in the ass to work with, and you really can't get by without them. not only is it essential for moving your file from one game to the other, but you can also use them to get special items from one file to another. it's SO EASY to enter these codes in wrong and SO TEDIOUS to have to check them character by character. here's hoping the nso version has a better way (though i'm not holding my breath).

the verdict: an absolute must for any 2d zelda fan. first-time players, i HIGHLY recommending playing ages first. there's an important side-character in ages whose story gets resolved in seasons, but not if you play seasons first. of course, if you really like the games a lot, you can always start over and play them in the other order for different cutscenes.

Wind Waker (2002)

original console: gamecube

available on switch: no :(

also available on: wii u (hd port), pc (emulation)

average playtime: 25-60 hours

mainline game: yes

sequel: technically, this is one POSSIBLE sequel to ocarina of time (which splintered the timeline, leading to multiple possible branching paths), though it takes place hundreds of years later. it has the same ganondorf from that game, but you should understand everything just fine whether you've played oot or not.

story-heavy: yes

edge level: medium-low - there are some more serious moments, and this is technically a post-apocalypse story, but overall this is one of the more bright and joyful games

the premise: this is a hyrule that was flooded by the gods when the hero of an ancient era could not show up to defeat ganondorf. people live on former mountaintops, now islands, interconnected by only the sea, and sailing is very dangerous. when link's younger sister is kidnapped, he has to leave his little island and go on a sea-faring adventure with pirates in order to get her back and unlock the mysteries of the hyrule beneath the waves.

the good: the game is vibrant, colorful, beautiful, and full of life. even if you don't like the cartoony art style (and i have mixed feelings), you can't deny the ambiance. there's a new combat system where for the first time you can pick up the dropped weapons of enemies, and the cast is stand-out - the "zelda" of this game is more hands-on than in any other title, and ganondorf is at his most sympathetic here, not to mention all the minor characters and their various sidequests. the characters are truly some of the funniest and most endearing yet - this game will make you laugh out loud. the enemies and bosses are unique and fun to grapple with (special shoutout to helmaroc king) and there's no shortage of stuff to do.

the bad: firstly, we have to mention the art style, which has been a little divisive over the years. it won't be for everybody. i like it for the most part, because you couldn't get the same vibe without it, but i do wish it was just a little less stylized - just a little! secondly, the game is just not finished. the development was rushed, leading to the cutting of an entire dungeon and a poorly-implemented second half where the focus shifts from exploration and dungeons to a near-ENDLESS fetch-quest for triforce pieces which involves a LOT of incredibly tedious and time-consuming sailing. (as kids, some trips were so long we could just set the direction and leave the controller on the floor while we took a bathroom break.)

the verdict: overall, the flaws aren't enough to ruin what is a truly great adventure. fans of the more serious games (hi! me!) may find themselves wishing wind waker had leaned into its post-apocalyptic setting and mysterious drowned world aspect more, and fans of lighter zeldas will find themselves wishing the damn thing was finished, but overall, everyone should find it's worth at least one playthrough, unless you absolutely cannot tolerate the visuals. fans of lighter zeldas, combat, and pirates will all love this one.

Four Swords (2002)

original console: gameboy advance

available on switch: no :(

also available on: 3ds (single-player remake), potentially pc (idk if emulation of the original is possible considering the connectivity, but you could almost certainly emulate the remake)

average playtime: 3-17 hours

mainline game: no

sequel: technically, it's a sequel to minish cap, but minish cap hadn't been made yet, so whatever

story-heavy: not at all

edge level: non-existent

the premise: link pulls the ancient "four sword" in order to defeat bad guy vaati and becomes split into 4 selves. this game was the first multiplayer zelda, and you had to have three friends, all with their own gameboys and link cables, to even play this bad boy. from what i understand in most of the game you just compete to see who can get the most rupees? a single-player version was released on the 3ds a few years later but i don't know if you can still buy it legit or if the 3ds store was shut down. since it was so inaccessible, pretty much no one played this, including me, so i can't give it a proper writeup. probably nobody reading this will ever get a chance to experience four swords how it was originally meant to be played either, but you can find this game's spirit in similar titles like four swords adventures or minish cap, which are much more accessible.

Four Swords Adventures (2004)

original console: gamecube

available on switch: no :(

also available on: uh yeah that's it. just the gamecube. you may be able to emulate it on pc though - i've never tried

average playtime: 15 hours

mainline game: no

sequel: teeechnically a sequel to the original four swords, but nobody played that, it's fine

story-heavy: not at all

edge level: very low

the premise: a sequel to four swords, this was intended to be the sleeker and (somewhat...) more accessible version. you can play this one as a single player, but my brother and i did it on co-op with a link cable and a gameboy sp - just the two of us, and no need to find two other friends - we each controlled two links each, to simplify it.

the good: the game is FUNNN as hell. the graphics are sleek as fuck because it's a 2d game running on a system capable of rendering 3d ones (just look at those flame effects!), the gameplay is addictive, and co-op puzzles are a blast. nintendo has always come out strong when it comes to in-person multiplayer (even if they have yet to catch up with online multiplayer...) and this is no exception. for anyone who ever wished they could sit on the floor and play zelda with their siblings the same way they played mario kart or smash bros, this game is a dream come true.

the bad: this game is still so GODDAMN inaccessible. we were lucky enough to have the gameboys and link cables we needed, but i don't have any idea how you'd go about playing it with other people now without some extremely tedious emulation or buying some extremely old (and expensive) gaming equipment. sure, emulating the single-player version on gcn is no big, but the game really shines in its multiplayer aspect, which is all but impossible for most people to enjoy now. it's incredibly frustrating.

the verdict: if you're lucky or rich enough to own a gamecube, a gameboy, and a link cable (multiple gameboys and link cables?) in 2023, AND you have a friend or three to play it with, please pick this one up. unless you just hate 2d zeldas, it is a FUCKING blast, and zelda fans the world over are probably envious they can't experience it for themselves.

Minish Cap (2004)

original console: gameboy advance

available on switch: yes, with nso (expansion pack)

also available on: original ds (backwards compatibility), 3ds, wii u (virtual console)

average playtime: 15-27 hours

mainline game: no

sequel: no, but it is a prequel to the four sword series (made well after those games were released)

story-heavy: medium-light - about the level of most 2d zelda games

edge level: very low - this is such a bright and cheerful adventure

the premise: in an adventure meant to explain vaati of four sword fame's origins, you meet teeny-tiny people known as the minish, who live in teeny-tiny spaces all over hyrule. they mend shoes, use pots and old boots as houses, fight dust mites, and leave surprise gifts such as rupees and hearts beneath pots and the like to help adventurers. by shrinking and growing you explore various nooks and crannies and solve a ton of puzzles, and through fusing items called kinstones with strangers you can change or uncover more of the overworld and unlock even more secrets

the good: the game is beautiful, bright, and fun. the soundtrack is catchy, the gameplay is addictive, the puzzles are very fresh, and the kinstone fusion feature means you'll be doing a lot of backtracking and replaying to see all this game has to offer.

the bad: besides zelda, i didn't find myself terribly enthralled with most of the cast. the reused sound effects from other games can be nostalgic sometimes but sometimes they feel a bit cheap, since they had to be downsized; they're the audio equivalent of a pixelated jpg. and as great as the soundtrack is, it suffered from the same thing.

the verdict: my nitpicks with this game are minor - i think it's a wonderful and fresh entry into the series, and probably one of if not the best 2D zelda. if you like 2D zelda at all, you'll want to pick it up.

Twilight Princess (2006)

original console: gamecube AND wii (i know)

available on switch: no :(

also available on: wii u (hd port), pc (emulation)

average playtime: 30-56 hours

mainline game: yes

sequel: technically, this is another possible sequel to oot, taking place 100 years later, and involving oot's ganondorf. (it has nothing to do with the timeline wind waker is on.)

story-heavy: yes, very - the cutscenes look great, the mocap for this game is wonderful

edge level: very high

the premise: 100 years after ocarina of time, darkness falls across hyrule in the form of "twilight," desolating every part of hyrule that it touches by turning its denizens into ghosts, and forcing princess zelda to surrender to zant, the king of the twilight realm. when link's village is destroyed by this twilight and he is turned into a wolf, he leaves to save zelda, save hyrule, and save his home. this game was meant to be a gcn title originally, but development was delayed for so long that they began co-developing it for the wii and released it as a launch title for that console.

the good: where do i start? this game was intended to be a return to oot's more realistic artstyle after many years of the wind waker art style in spin-off games, and was in fact a spiritual remake of oot in many ways. it is similar graphically, tonally, and gameplay wise - it's the oot they wanted to make in 1998, only with a more powerful engine, and fans loved it - check out this video of its announcement at e3 - it still gives me chills. famously, this game introduced horseback combat, which the devs had really wanted to implement in oot and were forced to give up on due to hardware limitations. the cast and the puzzles are all great on this one, and the world is huge and full of surprises, but of particular note is your partner midna, who comes with a better story and more personality than any partner before or since (sorry, king of red lions). lesbians and their associates will LOVE whatever the hell she has going on with zelda in this game. twilight princess also has the most fleshed-out swordplay of any zelda game - the various techniques you learn from the ghost swordsman are fun as hell, and every single boss battle in this game absolutely fucks.

the bad: despite its high moments, the story in this game is just a little weirdly paced. ganondorf was brought in kind of suddenly, and link's childhood friend from his village, whom the story focuses on a lot, is maybe not the most compelling character (sorry to ilia fans - she's okay, just not my favorite). not everybody liked this game's emulation of oot, and some people felt it was uninspired. personally, my gripes are mostly about the dual-console release; having played both versions multiple times, i think they both suffered from being co-developed. because the wii version uses motion controls and most people are right-handed they switched to a right-handed link for the wii (BLASPHEMY), meaning they actually flipped the entire world horizontally, and there are times when the laziness of this action is very apparent when playing the wii version. while the controls are superior on the wii (there's a mandatory shooting minigame that's all but impossible on gcn connected to a crt tv), the graphics just...look a little aged for a wii game, whereas they look damn good for a gamecube game. the hd remake fixes this, but since it's only on the wii u, fucking nobody has played it, and it remains inaccessible to most players except through emulation.

the verdict: if you can get your hands on this, do it. despite its flaws it's a classic meat-and-potatoes zelda adventure. fans of combat and more serious stories will especially love this one. personally, i preferred the gcn version because of left-handed link, but i do think the motion aiming on the wii (and wii u?) was a great addition, so it's a matter of preference as far as if you want the hd graphics and what controller feels correct in your hands.

Phantom Hourglass (2007)

original console: nintendo ds

available on switch: no :(

also available on: wii u (virtual console), pc (emulation)

average playtime: 17-31 hours

mainline game: no

sequel: a direct sequel to wind waker - not sure if you need to have played that to understand; from what i can tell there are actually a few plotholes

story-heavy: medium, i think?

edge level: low, as far as i know

the premise: after tetra gets sucked into a ghost shiop ad vanishes, link has to set sail on a new ship to find a way to free her. that's all i really know because, okay, up-front, i did not finish it. i did not give it a fair shake. it's got great reviews and they can't all be wrong, but i found controlling link with a stylus (the ds had no control stick) frustrating, the game hard to see (the graphics are trying to emulate ww's style on less capable hardware), and the story uncompelling (tetra? a damsel??). i know a lot of people really love linebeck and i wanna love him too one day, but until then, get your answers from the people who love this game!

Spirit Tracks (2009)

original console: nintendo ds

available on switch: no :(

also available on: wii u (virtual console), pc (emulation)

average playtime: 20-33 hours

mainline game: no

sequel: to wind waker and phantom hourglass, technically, though it takes place 100 years after those games

story-heavy: medium, i think?

edge level: low, as far as i know

the premise: 100 years after wind waker and phantom hourglass, a new hyrule has been founded above the waves and it has TRAINS. for some reason zelda gets zapped out of her body and can now follow you around as a cool ghost who possesses bigass statues to help you out. that's right, your partner for this game IS ZELDA. the main theme for this game is so catchy it's a crime. i never played this since i didn't finish phantom hourglass, but it looks so fucking cool that i wanna power through phantom hourglass despite my initial reservations just so i can take a crack at it.

Skyward Sword (2011)

original console: wii

available on switch: yes, as an hd port

also available on: wii u (virtual console & backwards compatibility), pc (emulation)

average playtime: 30-58

mainline game: yes

sequel: no - in fact, it's the prequel to every zelda, being that it's the very first one in the timeline

story-heavy: yes, very

edge level: mostly low, but it does have its serious moments

the premise: taking place at the very start of zelda's long and complex timeline, this game seeks to explain the origins of hyrule's creation and and some of its mythology. link and the other proto-hylians live in islands high above the clouds and attend the school for flying around on bigass birds, not knowing if there even is a world below, until one day zelda (not a princess but the headmaster's daughter) gets dragged down by a dark force, and link must venture into the land below to save her.

the good: skyward sword is oozing ambiance. a standout area of this game is lanayru desert, in which you can use a timeshift stone to shift the area directly around you back in time by 1000 years or so and watch it come to life with greenery. this soundtrack is fully orchestrated, we get to hear zelda sing (her first voice acting debut!), and when the motion controls are on, they're REALLY on. sometimes the swordfights feel like actual duels. the cast of side-characters all get a lot of development (shoutout to my man groose!), and the villains are creepy and quirky. the dungeons in skyward sword are especially good - the cistern in particular is one of the best in the game, but we can't forget the ghost ship or the sky temple either. minor spoilers for the story, here, but finding out WHY there are so many zelda games and the struggle against evil never ends (it's a literal curse) was really cool and really reframed how a lot of people saw the series and the characters - it's a lot more tragic that they have a fate they can't escape from so long as zelda fans want more games.

the bad: minor spoilers for the story here too. as far as prequels go it did not make a lot of sense. there's nothing about the three goddesses we've come to know and love, only about the minor goddess hylia, and the ancient hyrule features species that don't ever make another appearance mole guys and seahorse dudes. there aren't any zoras or gerudo or koroks/kokiri, there's only one goron, we only see two sheikah...it feels so far removed from the hyrule we know that it doesn't feel like a prequel at all. additionally, when the motion controls aren't good, they're REALLY bad - especially on the switch version, which has less precise controls than the wii. finally, while i personally didn't mind it (puzzles!), a lot of people disliked how linear the overworld was and complained there was no exploration. another common frustration, one which i share, is how much the game holds your hand. (this famously inspired toriel in the game undertale to LITERALLY hold your hand and do the puzzle for you.) this game will present a puzzle and then have the nearest npc (most often fi, poor fi, she undeservedly gets all the blame for this) explain how to do it before giving you even one chance to try for yourself.

the verdict: it has its flaws, but i still enjoy it a lot. i think more experienced players will be very frustrated with it at times, and people who hate motion mechanics or constant alerts/lots of useless dialogue will be miserable. (you can turn motion controls off in the switch version but it feels unnatural because of how sword-swinging works.) on the other hand, the game's linear and hand-holdy nature actually makes it a perfect start for brand new gamers, especially given where it falls on the timeline.

A Link Between Worlds (2013)

original console: 3ds

available on switch: no :(

also available on: pc (emulation)

average playtime: 16-23 hours

mainline game: no

sequel: takes place at least 100 years after a link to the past, and even uses the same overworld! you don't have to play that to understand this though.

story-heavy: medium, about the level you expect for 2d zeldas

edge level: medium-high

the premise: link turns into a little flat guy so he can go more places! this is a sequel involving the inhabitants of lorule, a parallel world to hyrule, one without a triforce. go back and forth between kingdoms to save hyrule from suffering the same fate, all while trying to kick a giant rabbit guy out of your house.

the good: the puzzles in this one are really fun and fresh, the old overworld map feels super nostalgic, the music is charming, and being able to tackle the dungeons in any order is a nice touch. i especially loved getting to know certain inhabitants of lorule.

the bad: the non-linear style won't be for everyone, and i wish i had been able to spend more time getting to know hilda in particular.

the verdict: this in my opinion is one of the best 2D zeldas - if you're a 2D zelda fan, especially a alttp fan, don't miss it!

Hyrule Warriors (2014, 2016, 2018)

original console: wii u

available on switch: yes, as a remake/collection

also available on: this is complicated. the game was originally released on wii u, then ported to the 3ds with new added content but i think mising some other content, and then FINALLY released on the switch with ALL the content. you can also emulate any version on the pc

average playtime: 17-38 hours, though people report up to a whopping 366 hours to 100% it

mainline game: no

sequel: no

story-heavy: medium-ish. there's cool cutscenes but it's not that deep

edge level: low, this shit is just balls to the wall crazy-ass fun

the premise: a crossover between dynasty warriors and zelda. turn zelda into a beat-em-up and add cameos from popular characters doing increasingly batshit anime fighting moves. what's not to like?

the good: this game is insane. the electric guitar soundtrack, the cameos, the nostaliga - it's all here. the gameplay is good mindless fun you can really sink your teeth into, and despite it not being the point i had fun running around and exploring all the maps. there's so, so, SO much to do (366 hours!) you will literally never see the end of it.

the bad: the OCs are maybe not my favorite people. i don't know if they come from other dynasty warriors games but they were a little annoying and truly, uh, underdressed. also, as someone who likes to 100% games, it annoys me that i'll likely never 100% this, just because of the sheer timesink/grinding required.

the verdict: if you like fighting games and combat, this is for you. if you're into zelda for the serious story stuff and the puzzles, give it a pass. completionists beware, 100%ing this game is NOT for the faint-hearted.

Tri Force Heroes (2015)

original console: 3ds

available on switch: no :(

also available on: pc (emulation)

average playtime: 14-26 hours, but up to 56 hours to 100% it

mainline game: no

sequel: takes place a few years after a link between worlds - not sure if you need to play that to understand this, but it seems unlikely

story-heavy: doesn't look like it

edge level: low. oh my god, he's in a little cheerleader outfit. look at him

the premise: i don't really know, i think you crossdress to gain superpowers and then solve puzzles with your buds. i didn't play this one because i didn't have 2 friends with a 3ds and a flexible schedule. apparently there's a one-player mode, but it just doesn't seem as fun, and the lack of a 2-player mode is sad because my brother and i could've rocked it. like the four swords series, this looks like great multiplayer fun, but it's inaccessible to people without the time or coordination to get 3 people together. it looks fun as hell, though.

Breath of the Wild (2017)

original console: dual launch on wii u and switch

available on switch: yes, obviously :)

also available on: pc (emulation)

average playtime: 50-100 hours, though to 100% everything and enjoy the dlc it could take up to 210!

mainline game: yes

sequel: technically, it's a sequel to everything, since it takes place at the end of (somehow) every timeline. but you don't have to have any prior experience to enjoy it

story-heavy: medium-heavy? this is the first zelda game with voice acting, and what cutscenes it does have are amazing, but you can expect to see only a very few of them

edge level: very high (this is once again post-apocalyptic), but not as high as majora's mask or twilight princess

the premise: link wakes after a 100 year sleep with no memory of who he is or what happened to the ruined world around him. explore a completely open world in your own way at your own pace, recover your memories, rescue zelda.

the good: this game hit the industry at a thousand miles per hour and six years later the hype still hasn't slowed down. this redefined the series and the genre in a way we haven't seen since oot in 1998. this game is revolutionary in the way that oot was revolutionary back then, but updated so that newer players find it just as surprising and refreshing as new players in 1998 found oot back then. the exploration, the physics, and the world are all totally unparalleled - three decades later, this zelda truly gets back to the original explorer and adventuring spirit miyamoto tried so hard to capture in the very first legend of zelda game all the way back in 1986.

the bad: as much fun as this world is to play around in, i found that most of my joy came from the exploration and not knowing what i'd find around the next corner. it's still a very, very, VERY good game, but i found that on my replay it just didn't have that same shininess that other games in the series do when i replay them. and, of course, because it's so different it's very divisive - there's no human ganondorf in this game, no dungeons - all your puzzle-solving comes in microdungeons called shrines scattered around hyrule. weapon durability is also a hotly debated feature - even i found it frustrating at times, although in many ways the forced improvisation it brings to the table is more than worth the cost of admission. and overall the enemies are all the same and have no real difference between them, even the bosses, and the boss fights kind of suck. it's a really good game, but it does have its flaws.

the verdict: this is the perfect starting point for anyone new to the series. many people have started with this game and learned about hyrule alongside the amnesiac link - i had an extremely interesting discussion once with someone on tumblr about how the game is different if you've grown up loving hyrule and see it get torn apart, vs if the only hyrule you know IS the one that's torn apart. both ways are wonderful experiences, and i think even non-zelda fans would find something to love in the freedom this game offers.

Cadence of Hyrule (2019)

original console: switch

available on switch: yes, obviously :)

also available on: pc (emulation)

average playtime: 6-11 hours, but you can add up to 12 more if you play the dlc

mainline game: no

sequel: no

story-heavy: not really

edge level: low

the premise: a crossover with crypt of the necrodancer, a roguelike rhythm game. there's no real story here except, notably, a brief cameo of a younger ganondorf, though his back is always turned to you. (if you could go back and kill ganondorf as a baby...)

the good: well, a rhythm game's gotta have good music, right? both the rehashes of the old songs and the new music are absolutely stellar here. i'm normally iffy on rhythm games but i found the gameplay addictive (there's a strong tactical element to moving around) and the exploration fun. getting to play as zelda (!!!) if you want is a great bonus, too. there's really nothing not to love.

the bad: the kind of movement you have in this game doesn't lend itself super well to boss fights most of the time. they weren't bad by any means but definitely one of the weaker parts of the experience.

the verdict: unless you hate rhythm games or hate fun, you'll like this one, especially if you're a crypt of the necrodancer fan or a fan of zelda's music in general. puzzle fans might be disappointed there aren't as many mind-twisters in this one, though.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (2020)

original console: switch

available on switch: yes, obviously :)

also available on: pc (emulation)

average playtime: 25-40 hours, though it can take up to 76 hours to 100% it

mainline game: no

sequel: a direct prequel to breath of the wild and its eventual but as-of-yet unreleased sequel tears of the kingdom

story-heavy: yes

edge level: relatively low, i'm told

the premise: so this is a prequel to botw, taking place during the era just before the apocalypse. i didn't finish it because it came out right around nov 5 2020 (iykyk) and then someone spoiled the ending for me and i thought it sounded stupid, so i was less motivated to play. what little i did play of it was great, though - it was exciting and fun in all the ways the original hyrule warriors was but bigger and badder in every respect, and with a little more of that somber botw flavor. i intend to finish before totk comes out despite my reservations about the story.

The Conclusion

it's a great time to be a zelda fan because out of the 22 games on this list, only 8 of them are unavailable on nintendo switch, and only 2 of those are what i would consider to be mainline games. that means you can access two thirds of the ENTIRE SERIES, spanning almost 4 decades, on a single console! your only limits are your time and your wallet. most of the ones that AREN'T available on the switch can be played on a 3ds, so if you have or buy one, nearly the entire series is at your fingertips. (you can emulate the shit out of your 3ds, btw, and play a lot of these gameboy, gba, and ds games for free - nintendo isn't looking anymore so they don't care.)

sorry i couldn't fully cover all games - i welcome opinions from people who have played games i've missed in the tags. when i do get around to playing them, i will come back and update this guide! expect an entry for totk eventually too. thanks for reading and i hope it was helpful to someone!

#loz posts #the legend of zelda #zelda #breath of the wild #tears of the kingdom #whew!! glad to have THAT off my chest.#liz makes stuff #?? sure #liz's loz stuff #loz meta #anyway. i hope it's useful to at least one person but literally don't even worry about it. i just wanted to talk to myself about zelda

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emblemxeno · 9 months

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Apologies if something like this has been asked before, but what would you say are your favorite things about Fates? I’m curious because I actually like the games quite a bit, and I also enjoy hearing what other people like about them.

No worries, anon!

1-The Characters

Fates, imo, has a very stellar cast. Characters like Corrin, Xander and Takumi I've gone over already in how much I adore them, but honestly the vast majority of the cast is great! There's a few I'm only neutral towards, and only one I actively really dislike, the rest I'm at least pretty fond of. The first gen cast in particular I think does a good job at having strong character interactions, especially cross kingdom supports; the big differences between how citizens of Nohr and Hoshido respectively go about their lives is crafted with a very deliberate dichotomy that is initially platformed as something forever incompatible, but is then subverted in various points in all three routes.

2-The Gameplay and Content

The mechanics and game flow introduced in Awakening I think was finely tuned in Fates. Pair up being more player controlled leads to satisfying strategies, and reclassing and skills are less centered around grinding. I like how the cast more often than not have min-maxed stat lines with clear strengths and weaknesses, as to me, that supplements an already important aspect of how FE plays regarding it's classes. That being said, classes like bow users and Armor Knights got very good niches that were very needed to not be completely outclassed. Class sets being varied by supports not just for the children but also the first gen cast was a fantastic choice as well, as it encourages other combinations beyond just getting extra stats in pair up. Dragon Veins were an amazing interactive gameplay element, and added an extra way to interact with the maps beyond navigating around terrain. Lastly, each route has a bevy of unique content, mostly maps, but Revelation has lots of exclusive supports as well!

3 The Music

The game's ost is phenomenal. An underrated aspect of the FE series is how its music is used to convey the games' stories through sound. With map themes alone, there's progression and intent. Birthright, for example starts with the light and spirited "Past Light" track, before shifting to "Justice RIP" and "No Justice", both signifying that things are getting more serious and dangerous, the latter being notable in that it's a Nohrian track to go along with how you're now in Nohrian territory. Then the triumphic "Alight" only starts when you're in the homestretch, facing familiar enemies whom were beaten before and can be beaten again. And, again, that's just four tracks! The entire ost paints a picture, be it in gameplay, story, or supports. There's even an entire track that only plays when a character's about to die in gameplay, and only gets brought in cutscenes to show how dangerous a particular foe has gotten! It's immaculate. And of course, Lost in Thoughts All Alone is an amazing lyrical track.

4 The Art style and Designs

People can rag on how certain characters or classes are designed in this game, but one thing that I think can't-or shouldn't-be denied is that the cast and setting have presence; they're recognizeable and give a taste of what's what. Besides Hoshido and Nohr being the typical "white" and "black" kingdoms, Hoshido has more spiritual or outside the box classes; they have the resources to experiment and hyper-specialize in certain crafts, even having religious classes, merchants, and blacksmiths available for options. Nohr, meanwhile, has more armor and mounts; it's a kingdom trained to be effective at competition and warfare in order to survive, and must forgo experimentation for practicality. The game is also just very pleasing to look at, where the muted but varied color palette makes characters and locales visually distinct without being too loud. There's also a lot of neat animations that characters do in battle, many that lots probably didn't notice or haven't even seen, which to me showcases a deep care and passion put into the little things.

5 The Story

While of course, not everyon'e cup of tea, I'm extremely fond of Fates' narrative. Mostly because, in storytelling media, there's always more than just words to convey a story. It's why I listed the other points before this one, because they all contribute to Fates' narrative construction. Pull from map music to hear what the story wants you to take from it from that point in the campaign, pull from character designs and portraits to see what to expect from a character's personality at a glance, see stats, classes, and personal skills to see and put into action how that unit plays and interacts with the map they join in, take a moment to really examine the terrain of maps both for strategy and to take in the kinds of environments in the game's world. Fates has a lot to say-probably too much for its own good-and so efforts were made to say things without words being necessary.

Beyond that, I think the story itself is gripping and involves themes and symbolism very easy to get lost in though (tee-hee) about. Individuality and authenticity, rejecting status quo, pacifism, the cycle of hatred/vengeance, commonality and understanding amongst opposites, etc. Hell, I tend to get into my own head about how characters are written or how moments are utilized in the story to tie back into a theme of some kind, because there's just that much to unpack.

So yeah. That's that.

#queue #fire emblem fates #not to say Fates is perfect though #i think there's still could be some kinks ironed out #change around forging and weapon debuffs for example #and the some plot aspects can be a little cheap #but overall what works in the game I find REALLY works and I'm satisfied with that

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crystalelemental · 11 months

Text

Sync Pair Retrospective - Sygna Suit Ethan

Man, nothing was quite as stressful as the Lugia debate. Who was going to get it? Silver? Ethan? LANCE? That last one worried me. Depending on who did get something, others wouldn’t, and my greatest fear was Kris getting sidelined with nothing. But in the end, the dust settled, and Ethan got Lugia to match Silver.

It's a super frail striker. Because DeNA loves being ridiculous.

On release, I think Ethan was slept on hard. And...with good reason. I like the alt, but like...come on. You're gonna compete with two weather-setting supports, a guy who covered two super rare offensive types, and God-Queen Lyra? No way, dude. Absolutely no way. To make matters worse, initial hype around his trainer move led to tragedy as it was discovered that his boosts don't actually make the hit-reload structure better. He deals better damage just spamming Aeroblast. Whoopsie doodles, Ethan!

Ethan is an odd duck to me specifically, because I feel like we kinda established by this point that "Striker" meant move damage, and "Tech" was where you shopped for sync. But Ethan's main draw is built-in Brainpower, a full 100% bonus to sync damage, with 4 damage nodes and another 80% sync power on grid. That's pretty great! Too bad he also gets Extend Range, so that sync power on an EX Striker results in really awkward conflicts, like Aeroblast KOing the sides long before sync.

What I'm getting at is Ethan's a mess. His kit feels all over the place. His sync is his selling point, but Aeroblast covers the sides already, which feels like an odd choice that just makes EX irrelevant. His hit-reload structure wound up being worse for damage, and while it offers self-sufficiency in Gauntlet, he's just too frail to take repeated hits in a longer match, so often he needs more support than is entirely reasonable. Being slow doesn't help either when you're a four-bar spam unit. It's very similar to Giovanni, in that this sense of having reliable self-setup and sure crit winds up faltering against more reliable crit rate buffing, and he doesn't actually save you resources.

His main niche of supremacy is Battle Villa. I know this may be a contested opinion, but I stand by it fully: I think Ethan's the best Battle Villa Striker out there. The reload on all MP whenever he attacks or syncs is ideal, and the spread damage from Aeroblast makes denials a literal breeze. Competitors with comparable MP conservation, like SS Steven, still deal with single-target attacks. Ethan has a lot less care. The SS Ethan/SS Kris/Lucian combo in particular feels completely unstoppable, maximizing his damage and covering his gauge while no one wastes any MP. The cycle is perfect.

That said, his comps for Gauntlet and CS remain relatively unchanged. Lucian and Anni Skyla are his go-to Tech pals, while support is...actually, let's talk about his supports a moment. As stated, Ethan has potential for self-sufficiency in Gauntlet, but this is not at all working in CS. He needs basically full support. SS Kris was an immediate lock, given Ethan has benefits in Rain, but SS Brendan was another excellent partner if you wanted to use both Zone and Debuffs. But by now, you may notice an issue. His supports all need first sync; Kris for her MP Burst, Brendan to actually handle crit rate fully. As a result, Ethan can't use his own sync, which is his biggest selling point. This continues with Variety Lyra, whose Rain and Speed buffs should have been immaculate, but she'd need every sync to continue that Rain, and it won't last until his. C!Calem is the only time he got something that felt truly aligned. Setting Rain, special moves up next stacks to combo with his trainer move, full crit and +2 special attack completes Ethan's setup, and he recharges gauge reliably.

Ethan hasn't changed a ton. He has decent partners, but no one I'd consider a top contender as like...the most supreme partner to ever exist, you know? I find the decision to lean into sync a really bizarre one, but such is his burden. The thing is, for my grousing, Ethan's still pretty decisively top Flying damage man. Spread damage and a strong sync keeps him at the top. But given the eccentricities of his kit, he's only in that throne because no one's pushed him out of it yet. And there are legitimate contenders. Lysandre comes in with a huge sync nuke and constant recovery, making him a stupid good pick for CS and Gauntlet. Anni Skyla has a tremendous sync nuke for Gauntlet that just shreds opponents. Ethan's not even like a decisive top dog like more modern Master Fair strikers. He's just the current lead in a fairly close race. Which...again, makes sense why he was the last winner of the Johto VA.

#sygna suit ethan #sync pair retrospective

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star-scrambled · 2 years

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Aside from sonknux, what are your favorite ships? Whether in the Sonic fandom or not.

YIPPEE oh my god this is being Really vulnerable. oh boy. here we go

AS FOR SONIC SHIPS: I can’t be an IDW enjoyer and Not lose my mind over Whispangle. Come on. I also really like Sonic/Jet, Wave/Rouge, Knuckles/Mighty (whether just those 2 or with Sonic added in the mix hehe), and Knuxpio! But yeah I think my two favs are Whispangle and Sonknux definitely haha

NON-SONIC SHIPS SHALL BE LISTED 😨 I’m scared they’re all kind of niche LMAO

Luisley - Luigi x Prince Peasley - Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga

Mario is unfortunately a severely retired special interest of mine BUT if there’s one thing about it I’m forever gonna be passionate about ITS THESE GUYSSSS!!! JUSTICE FOR PRINCE PEASLEY I WANT HIM BACK FROM THE GRAVE SO BAD 💔💔💔

Lego Batjokes - Batman x Joker - The Lego Batman Movie

TLBM is also a fairly retired interest but. This ship was my first non M/F pairing I rooted for and I THINK THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME I ACTUALLY CARED ABOUT A ROMANTIC PAIRING IN FANDOM...VERY MONUMENTAL MOMENT IN THE VIC KWAZ STARSCRAMBLED LORE

Glaciershipping - Cole x Zane - Ninjago

In the midst of the millions of Ninjago ships that exist my 11 year old self thought these 2 in particular were so Real, and l mean. I do agree. they’re so Real.

I have too many ships with Kwazii Octonauts to list here LMFAO 😭

THE SONIC FOLLOWERS CANT FIND OUT ABOUT MY 2021 ENDEAVOURS /j

Frock - Master Frown x Brock - Unikitty

Sonknux is like a 5 feet distance away from replacing these guys as my OTP, but I don’t know if it’ll ever reach that point because what I experienced watching Master Frown and Brock go through an explicit and Canonically best friends to gay lovers arc with the most satisfying conclusion TO ME (I don’t have to elaborate or justify it @ unikitty followers but it Feels Right for them to not immediately become partners after the finale but take time to process turning a new leaf in life and how to go about being aware of eachothers romantic feelings for one another) between the ages of 11 and 14 was So fucking insane and it TOOK AHOLD OF MY BRAIN AND NEVER LET GO. THEY DESERVED THAT CANON HAPPY ENDING SO BAD YOU CANNOT BEAT A CANON GAY COUPLE—

#the day the sonic followers realize i like niche cringe queer kiddie shit it’s OVER /lh #this is who I am guys overanalyzing media for small children walked so my actually cool Sonic 2 theories could BOLT #I love gay people!#I’m very invested in relationship development especially if there’s some canon queercoding as you can see #which is funny cause I’m aro and instead of using them to yearn for a romantic relationship I USE IT FOR WRITING & COUPLES THERAPY PRACTICE #vics silly brain zone

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mylordshesacactus · 2 years

Note

Aren't You Supposed to Be

6: What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?

10: Why did you choose this pairing for this particular story?

6: I actually don't think Aren't You Supposed To Be-- (aka the honeymoon fic) is fundamentally different from my other fics--rather, I think it's a stellar example of my EXACT specialty!

Like. It's a mid-length missionfic with a limited ensemble cast, casually featuring an extremely niche and underrepresented pairing, primarily showcasing character voice and group banter, with frequent casual worldbuilding exposition; in a video game fandom the main pairing can only be experienced by heavily modding the game; and its themes lean heavily on undying team loyalty, What You Are In The Dark, interdependence, and the power of compassion.

I mean, come on.

I'm self-aware.

10: I am a diehard Talimancer who is equally firmly of the opinion that Manshep is, very literally, a myth invented by Bioware to sell more Mass Effect and that he, like Bigfoot, doesn't actually exist and everyone who claims to have seen him is a liar.

I mean come on. F/F mods exist. Stop being cowards. Mod the game and romance Tali like God intended.

(I kid. But I do genuinely find Tali's romance track, even though the femslash mod I use doesn't include unvoiced dialogue and thus loses a lot of the ME2 content, to be by far the most satisfying. I've never actually been able to make it all the way through a Liara romance. Not because I think it's bad, to be clear, and definitely not because I hate Liara or however someone in the notes will interpret that statement, but because it just doesn't interest me on a narrative level nearly as much.

Bluntly, Liara's aggressively not my type--personal preference, not a judgement, I fucking adore her character I just don't really enjoy her romance--and Tali's romance track is, I think, narratively richer. You can see a lot of what appeals to me about it on display in Housewarming, as well.)

So yeah no as per usual, it's once again just Jo being on her niche lesbian pairing bullshit.

#askmeme #because liaramance is too fucking mainstream for me apparently #god im a stereotype of myself #for the record #it's very sexy and valid of MLMs specifically to mod the game and create an AU where shepard is a dude #so that they can romance garrus #im sorry but it's never valid to romance kaidan alenko #i support queer dudes who do it but like #y'all's taste #mod the game and romance garrus like god intended

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figkeele · 2 years

Text

my fics in a decade

I wanted to look back on what I’ve written and how much I progressed, so a self-rating, self-ranking of my own fics is in order.

Super cool, I’m proud of them

So the first category is the fics that I’m proud of and I think they did well in their own little niche.

From the World’s End (Loki tv) Sylvie-centric gen, written for MFD

Tell Me My Name (Loki tv) Sylvie/Hunter-B15, written for MFD

Love is Yellow (Life is Strange: True Colors) Alex/Ryan & Alex/Steph, written for my own challenge I’m gonna fail otherwise :D So the thing here is that this Christmas I got a buttload of fresh games as a present, and I managed to get obsessed with a lot of stuff. TC is special in my heart because it’s about grief and it really helped me, it was very cathartic and this fic helped me get back into my writing grooves. (Which btw vastly improved, I promise!)

Please Ignore the Fear Demon (Charmed 2018) Macy-centric gen, written for ToT, one of my worst challenge experiences, my recip was not only a serial non-commenter, they had a locked letter, prompts that were contradictory (only romance prompts for siblings but no inclination for incest), and they didn’t even reply to the mod who I reached out to. I guess the challenge participants wanted to be kind with kudos and a lovely comment. It still left me so sour, I haven’t written for a while after this. (Also I get that sometimes people drop off of challenges and that’s okay, but since the letter and prompts and everything, it was clear my recip didn’t want this fandom anymore.)

Moments: (Debris) Bryan/Finola, written for the AU exchange and for my fandom bestie, hithelleth. :) It’s always a treat to be matched to hithelleth. ♥

Teammates (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) Bucky & Sam & Zemo, gen, written for MFD, and dear God, this was so hard to keep gen. I really didn’t ship them as an OT3, yeah, right until I started this drabble. I still have the big epic OT3 fic WIP this one inspired, though I’m not so sure I’ll ever finish.

But wait, there’s more...

Pretty decent

Next up are fics that I really like and they’re still being read even after all this time. (Also I’d love to note that I scream and cry happy tears whenever I see someone reccing these. :D)

Finding Home (Star Wars Sequel Trilogy) Poe/Rey, written for MFD. My first and pretty much last foray into the SW movie fandoms I think. But who knows.

Bad Taste (In Boys) (iZombie) Liv/Ravi

Pain (Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order) Trilla-centric gen, written for MFD

Now That She’s Here (Agents of SHIELD) Bakshi/Jemma, written for Rare Pair Fest, and you guessed it, for hithelleth - I recently re-read this fic, and I was hit by such nostalgia. :D We do know how to pick our rare ships, don’t we?

How to Deal with Haunted Objects: A Helpful Guide by Jenny Mills (Sleepy Hollow TV) Crane/Hawley - I’m utterly devastated how bad the show turned out at the end, and how they kept writing off good characters. Anyway, still one of my cutest fics.

We’re Not Broken (The Vampire Diaries TV) Elena/Rebekah There was a time when my brain was occupied with nothing but TVD, it was never a perfect show, but it was fun to write for and Elena had to be shipped with every original. HAD TO BE.

You know what? These are pretty niche

They didn’t get a lot of traction but I still love them, and I had to realize at this point that I’m mostly writing the rarest of rare pairs.

Blood and Starlight (The Vampires Diaries TV) Elena/Rebekah

This is How the Story Ends (Once Upon a Time) Ruby/Victor written for Rare Pair Fest - again for a non-commenter or a sock, but at least I enjoyed it.

Love Stories for Dead People (TVD TV) Elena/Klaus - for some reason, this is my only fic translated into Russian. I’m still fucking proud of that. :D

I’ll Be Your Safety (How to Train Your Dragon movies) human!Toothless/Hiccup - Not like it makes it any better that I made Toothless a human cursed into a dragon form (especially that I really rushed this in this particular fic) but you have to understand, in the books Toothless talks like a human being. :D So my brain latched onto this ship. To this day, it still gets kudos, and you know what? You go, people, who ship a dragon with a human. You go.

Pieces of Us (Arrow) Diggle/Felicity/Oliver - my OG OT3, or wait? Was that Klaus/Elena/Elijah? Anyway, this was written for the Rare Ship Swap, and I’m still pissed at how rare this ship was.

Clean Slate (Supernatural) Destiel - this... is so not me. Was a gift fic for a friend.

Just Like You (TVD) Elena/Kol - the shipping goes on even if the characters are dead.

Mirror (TVD) pre-Elena/Elijah - My first ever fic I’ve written in English, and yeah, in some places it shows, it’s very dated, but it helped me to find my voice, and experiment with darker themes.

Come and Find Me in the Dark Now (TVD) Elena/Klaus

A Love Story Starring Monsters (TVD) Elena/Klaus - this fic was recced in the same post as Sandrine’s and adlyb’s fics, so I think I just went to heaven when I saw that. It’s a personal accomplishment I’ll always cherish. Also, this was written for the Rare Pair Fest for hithelleth. :)

Why don’t you love me?

The fics that are not bad but somehow they got crickets. (”Somehow,” I say, when the first fic on the list is the most niche incest ship ever, okay...)

Scarred Heart in Hand (Sleepy Hollow) Abbie/Jenny - yeah, niche incest rare pair

She Belongs to Fairy Tales (Revolution) Charlie/Miles - there was a time, a golden time in fandom when Revolution was a thing. And we all shipped the most glorious ships. Also, admittedly this is only, like, a writing exercise. BTW, did you know someone linked this fic to fanlore??? I am forever immortalized by an incest fic. :D

Scattered Pieces of Who I Am (Revolution) Bass/Charlie/Miles - I really should have written 50k of this.

The Ashes Fell Like Snow (Once Upon a Time) Hook/Emma - what did you say? The fic that contains the most popular canon het ship tanked? Well, it got nominated for a CaptainSwan award iirc, which mildly surprised me, because let’s face it I just killed LITERALLY everyone in this fic, while Hook is brainwashed. (I still remember someone on ffnet complaining why I killed all of the characters when I warned for it. OR ASKING for a sequel to write a happy ending.)

The absolute flop, the trash, the garbage fire

Let’s face it, not every fic we write is good, and not every fic we write is even readable, especially if we’re not writing in our native language. These are not all bad, but rather unknown fandoms... but there’s nightmare-inducing cringe here.

The Way We Fall (Supernatural) Destiel - Well, it’s certainly a fic... It was supposed to be some sad, told backwards story, but something is definitely missing here.

Introduction (The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare) Sebastian/Clary - So this? This is painfully bad. Awful trash. I’m not gonna delete it because I lol’d when re-reading it and I can see my progress at least. It’s clumsily translated (with the help of two English teachers lol really, not even kidding), and sometimes the Hungarian just shines through. But anyway, it’s also very very very awfully written. The sentence structure, the... I don’t even know. I wrote this sometime when I started COLLEGE. Jesus. Also it’s AO3 locked because of the whole CC drama.

Fairy Tales and Nightmares (The Unwritten) Lizzie-centric gen - Now, this is not a bad fic, but look there are only 6 whole fics written for this fandom, this being one. I don’t even think anyone knows about these comics besides the comic nerds.

#gigi's writing journal #my fanfic

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sturkillerbase · 2 years

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Tumblr Writers Q&A

Thank you very much for the tag @scorpio-marionette I love answering questions!!!!

1) How many complete fics/one shots do you have that you have not published (yet)?

None. I publish as I end each chapter, so there's never a completed work just sitting in my folders hahah

2) How many WIPS do you have right now?

One. It should've come out over a week ago but I had a few problems and wasn't able to finish it yet.

3) Do you take writing requests or write original ideas, or both?

Both. Though I very rarely get any requests :,)

4) If you do take requests, how many do you currently have?

None :,)

5) How many fandoms do you write for?

Right now I only have works for The Mandalorian. But I write for the Star Wars fandom in general and Devil May Cry.

6) Are there any fandoms you wrote for in the past that you no longer write for?

I've written for Marvel, and I plan on getting back to it once I'm able to settle things in my life and catch up with the movies and series.

Though I haven't written fics for them, I've done ships/pairings for Vikings and Harry Potter.

7) Do you write for ships, reader inserts or other?

Reader inserts

8) Niche fandoms/characters you write for?

No. I want to write for Frankie "Catfish" Morales but I don't know if it's niche????? I also need to watch the movie first lol

9) Do you read fics as well as write them?

Absolutely. I read much more than I write.

10) What is your favorite genre to write for?

I love to write fluff, but I enjoy writing for any genre as long as I have a clear, consistent idea in my head. So I can't really say I have a favorite.

11) What is your favorite trope (to read/write)?

It depends on the fandom hahahah but in general I love reading Mafia AUs, and anything that's "xxxx" to Lovers, specially friends to lovers.

12) What do you do to get motivated to write?

There's nothing that can motivate me to write. If I am inspired, then I can write. But "forcing" myself to do it just doesn't happen, no matter how hard I try or want.

13) Is there a trope/genre you like to read, but not write?

Anything that involves "problem - solution". I'm very good at creating a problem, but I suck at resolving them

14) Any characters/fandoms you want to write for that are never requested?

All of them. As I said before I never get requests.

15) How long have you been writing fanfiction?

OOF! Hard question. Officially, 6-7 years, although I had a long period of hiatus. But I used to write to myself before that, so...

16) Did you read fanfiction before you started writing?

Absolutely. It was fanfiction that inspired me to write fanfiction.

17) Do you only post on Tumblr, or any other sites as well?

I post on Ao3 too! But not all of the works that are here are also there. I only post on Ao3 the works I consider to be my best.

18) What do you personally consider the word counts of “Drabble”, “One shots” and “fics”?

Around 600 for drabbles, 700 to 1k for one shots, and whatever is above 1k is a fic

19) Which do you prefer to write more? HC, drabbles, oneshots/fics, multi chapter stories, other?

As I mentioned before, I don't have a favorite. If it comes up to me and I think it's a great idea, I'll happily write it whatever is the word/chapter count.

20) Are there any stories you have discontinued? If so, why?

Yes. Firstly, time. I was in school/college and it was hard to keep both things up and going. Second, lack of readers/interactions. I've always wanted to be a big fanfic writer, but I never got the feedback. I guess I'm just unlucky.

21) What is one of your main “pet-peeves” as a writer on Tumblr?

I wish readers would reblog more rather than just like. Reblogs help your favorite writers get more views, and it motivates us to continue.

22) Do you write at a particular time of day?

No, I write when I'm inspired and, most importantly, have the time and know I won't be bothered.

23) Do you listen to music, ambiance/noise, etc. to write or do you need silence?

I listen to music but it has to be instrumental. Preferably wearing headphones to block any other background noise.

24) Do you outline your fics at all before writing?

No, I keep it all in my mind lol. But I did for "It's All Coming Back to Waves". It's an important work for me

25) Do you post your writing as soon as you finish it, or do you schedule it to come out at a specific time/day?

Sometimes I end up writing until too late in the morning and feel absolutely tired to read proof and post it, so I leave to the next day. But I like to post as soon as I finish. Oh, I'm also physically unable to post them without proof reading first

NP tags: @grippingbeskar @dinner-djarin @misspearly1 and anyone else who'd like to answer these!

#about sturkillerbase #sturkiller writes #sturkillerbase

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maggiecheungs · 3 years

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2020 ~everything~ wrap

i finally have time to do all of the tag games that people have tagged me in over the past month or so! i cannot for the life of me remember who tagged me in which one, so i’m just putting ~everything~ in one huge post. if i tag you anywhere then consider it a standing invitation to do whichever of these you haven’t done :) in fact, this is me issuing a standing invite to any of my followers who wants to do it :) also, thank you all!

Creator Wrap: Favourite Works

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 (or so) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

this collection of philosophy quotes paired with thai bl series, (and its sequel) which is possibly my favourite thing i’ve ever made. for, uh, nerd reasons.

these gifted text post memes i made still make me laugh sometimes

this fic about green from 2gether, which i wrote in the notes app on my phone and published the same day. not my absolute best writing but i am very fond of it <3

i have a bunch fof friend zone dangerous area edits/shitposts which i like, but i’m particularly fond of my fzda as satire headlines (which now has a sequel!)

i also love my crisgood-walmart-lesbian post. i might send it in to gmmtv to try and convince them to do a crisgood-bffs spin-off

+ bonus: since i wrote this list i made this gifset (my first ever!) of jennie panhan in the shipper and i love her too much not to include her on here

+ extra nerdy bonus: this niche meme about Chinese philosophy, which still makes me crack up whenever I think about it

Favourite Creators/Follow Forever

i’ve completely lost track of who’s following who from which blog, so this is just going to be a haphazard, non-exhaustive list of people who i adore/admire/am vaguely intimidated by, mutuality be damned. maybe we talk all the time! maybe we’ve never interacted! maybe i am constantly there in ur tags... lurking... 👀... but if you’re on this list you have made me smile at least once this year and i love you for that alone <3

@wjmild kylie!! you make gifs of arm & tay & lee (separately or in various combinations) & the shipper & and kapook & random fluke pusit cameos & school rangers so i don’t have to <3 ilysm

@janeramida vianey, you have such impeccable taste in general, but your sizzy gifset in particular is so gorgeous it lives in my mind rent free

@applelapis bri, this post was a callout and i want you to know that it haunts me at night as i lie awake staring at the ceiling :((((( i hope you are happy

@gigiesarocha cata, i love it when you show up on my dash bc you have!! such taste!! also, every time you gif gigie i gain five years of life <3 pls continue doing the Good Work

@pvrrish eleni, i remeber legit thinking that this was an official poster when i first saw it, it’s so beautiful

@ahysopae juliette your khaithird fic is so good and it literally changed the way i think about khai (not an easy feat)

@kurosawadachi angel, whenever i think about grace’s speech i remember your gifset and get literal chills

@doctorbahnjit alexa, you have no right to be as funny as you are. your friend zone edits give me life

@khaotungthanawat sam, you’re probably sick of getting tagged in these lists by random strangers, but i just had to bc your gifsets are Pure Art

@tanwirapong roa, all your gifsets are so ✨iconic✨

faiza @asianmelodrama and rahul @petekaos! yours were the first two thai drama blogs i followed and for ages i lowkey thought of you as my fandom parents.

and some more blogs that make me happy: @curlykytta / @lee-thanat / @fck-inspector-m / @pangwave / @tichawongtipkanon / @tawanv @kimmonv (violet istg i have spent more time this year trying to figure out how many blogs you have than i have spent admiring your gifsets. & i spend a lot of time admiring your gifsets) / @taytawan / @1akorn and @yihwas (and your radiant lovechild @lakornladies ofc) / @teh-ohaew / @vihokratanas (mel your gifsets are just so gorgeous) / @tootiredtoosadtooangry / @headcompletelyempty / @demiromanticmickey / and there are definitely more but my brain is a sieve so apologies if i’ve forgotten anyone!! i love you all!!

2020 HIGHLIGHTS ✨

rules: list your top 10 shows (bl or not) you watched in 2020 (doesn’t necessarily have to be shows that came out in 2020 though!)

1. 2GETHER & STILL2GETHER

my first thai drama, and even after all the amazing shows i’ve watched this year, it still has a special place in my heart. watching 2gether was the first time i’d ever seen a queer romcom that just... was. for me, by the simple fact of its being, 2gether was revolutionary. and then still2gether came along and took all the best things about the first season and gave us something beautiful and quiet and lovely and just proved to me, once and for all, that queer happiness doesn’t need to justify its own existence. there can be gay cuddles on the beach for no other reason than that we want them.

2. UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN

i don’t really have the words for this one but. it makes my heart so very soft.

3. FRIEND ZONE 2: DANGEROUS AREA

season one was mindless fun because everyone was an absolute trashfire and it was hella cathartic to watch, but season 2... wow. i love it for so many reasons: it has messy and authentic queer rep; the characterisation is excellent and i somehow care about all of the characters; amazing women taking centre stage(!); a wlw relationship with lesbian, ace and bipolar rep; multiple interesting plotlines; actual character development; arm weerayut as a chaos gremlin... absolutely one of my favourites of 2020.

4. CHERRY MAGIC

i don’t think i need to explain this one, which is fortunate, because i have no idea how exactly i’d describe the happy-warm-fuzzy-queer-seen-loving-affirmed-profound feeling that rises in my chest whenever i think about it.

5. THE GIFTED: GRADUATION

confession: i liked season 2 more than season 1 (with the exception of the ending, which we don’t talk about). season 1 was enjoyable and interesting, but for me it was season 2 which made me love this series. it did some incredibly interesting and complicated things (even if it didn’t quite nail the landing): it pushed characters to the breaking point and wove so many layers into the story and questioned its own underlying themes. plus, watching it alongside everyone in the fandom made it 200% better. i love all of you and i love this show. egg girl 5eva.

6. THE SHIPPER

i 100% understand why so many people didn’t like this show, or found it problematic, but through some fluke it absolutely worked for me (even the ending). one day i will write an essay explaining my rationale, but for now i’ll just say that it’s one of my favourite shows about adolescence and queerness and identity and compassion and friendship and love that i’ve ever watched.

7. YYY

this series is absolutely off its rocker, and it somehow managed to be one of the most affirming shows i’ve watched. it shouldn’t have worked by it did, and i love it so much.

8. 3 WILL BE FREE

absolutely iconic. amazing plot, stunning visuals, great characters, canon polyamory, jennie being incredible... what a series.

9. MANNER OF DEATH

i love the fact that this show exists; i love the mix of crime and romance; i love maxtul’s acting; i love the central relationship; i love bun. i know we’re not even halfway through yet, but this show is doing something special and i’m so grateful that i get to watch it unfold in real time.

10. CHIHAYAFURU (SEASON 3)

odd one out on my list, but I had to include it. chihayafuru is my all-time favourite anime and it finally got a third season, which is somehow even better than the first two. mashima taichi is one of my favourite characters of all time and his storyline hits me on such a profound level. plus, in the years since i first say this show i’ve fallen in love with classical japanese literature (particularly heian poetry) so i had newfound appreciation for the karuta matches (aka i cried every time someone recited one of my favourite poems)

other favourites: together with me, he’s coming to me, sotus and sotus s, my dear loser: edge of 17, why r u, theory of love, wake up chanee!, gameboys, pearl next door, uta koi (anime), three kingdoms (2010), blood and water (netflix). (itsay would almost certainly be on my list if i’d had time to watch it. same with dark blue kiss, which i had to pause so i could do my assignments)

Final Thoughts

well, it’s been... a year (i don’t think anyone needs a reminder of the details) but writing this post has reminded me of all the amazing shows and people I discovered over the course of it.

thank you to everyone for being so lovely and creative and funny and quirky and kind and passionate. you’re all incredibly awesome people and i wish all of you the very best xx

#tag game #I think I was first tagged in one of these like three weeks ago? but I’ve been super busy #happy new year everyone #ellis talks #also I tried to keep this as short as possible bc otherwise I could have gushed for hours about you all #and this post is long enough already #but if any of you are in a low mood or want the unabridged version of my praise then message me & I’ll compliment you profusely to your face #:)

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haikyooot · 4 years

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Life’s A Hoot Ch1: 21 Floors Above Tokyo

Life’s a Hoot Ch 1: You are now what others can call a "working professional", stationed in a normal office building, at a normal desk. A trip to Sendai with your colleagues starts your trip down memory lane.

Pairings: Bokuto x f!Reader

WC: 2.3k

Masterlist

Ch1: 21 Floors Above Tokyo

Have you ever thought about what life would be like after high-school? College? What about after that? Graduate school? A career in one particular subject and niche? One grade year after the next, but when we hit the end, where do we go from here on out?

You would’ve never imagined that life after college would become one like this: wake up before the sun, curtail out of the apartment, rush down the paved streets to catch the subway while grabbing a quick breakfast, get to work, power through non-stop meetings after meetings, pressing deadlines, a quick lunch, more meetings, late nights at the office, lug yourself home, shower, and fall asleep even before your head hits the pillows.

What are you here for?

To work at your dream job as an editor at your dream company.

Is there any meaning and end to this sort of life?

Foolish. It’s what you wanted, isn’t it?

But does it have to be this tiring?

That’s what everyone else is thinking you know, it’s just grown-up.

While you continue typing away, working on the manuscript that is quote-en-quote “due yesterday” as your boss puts it, your phone vibrates on the table. You take a quick glance to see if it needs to be addressed instantaneously, or queued up for later.

It’s from Bokuto. “Yup, that sounds good! Can’t wait to see you and Akaashi again!”

You smile slightly and bring your fingers to type out a response. “Great! We’ll be there to watch your match tonight. Good luck and see you soon!”

Later that day, Akaashi comes and knocks on the side of your desk. “Hope I’m not interrupting, are you ready to go soon? Udai and I are wrapping up. ”

You always knew that Akaashi Keiji, an underclassman from Fukurodani High School as well as the University of Tokyo, aimed for a spot as an editor at this publishing company. You did too, and so it is only natural that the two of you are in close contact.

As his senior, you’ve given him plenty of advice when it came to choosing classes, networking, and interviewing. Although he did not end up at the literature department like he had wanted (and you hoped), the shounen manga department is no less competitive or busy. Weekly shounen manga deadlines make the work very cut-throat, but calm and smart Akaashi has been managing just fine.

In anticipation of the Olympics in two years, there will be a special series released focused on sports leading up to the big event. Editorials teams from various departments have been collaborating to compile interviews, exclusive footage, and other literature related to sports. And currently, the issue is going to be about Volleyball.

“Almost, let me finish this draft and send it off first. Give me 10 minutes.”

“Sure thing. We’ll wait for you in the lobby,” Akaashi tells you, before going off to notify Udai to pack his bags.

You turn your attention back to your screen and quickly finish up editing on the first draft, then sending it off to the team, cc-ing your manager. There are a lot of issues that you have noted and you anticipate the following week to be stacked with meetings on the viability of this light novel.

So much work, you think to yourself as you pack the laptop away into your tote and head down to the lobby. The elevator passes through 21 floors before reaching the ground floor. 21 floors above Tokyo huh. That’s where all your hard work has landed you.

You exit the elevator, swipe out at the security checkpoint, and spot Akaashi and Udai sitting at the waiting benches. Seeing you walk over toward them, the two men stand up as well. You notice the apparent height difference between the two. Fascinating, how despite his shorter stature, Udai Tenma used to be the ace player on his volleyball team in high school and even earned the moniker “Little Giant”.

The sun is just starting to set outside the office building. Commuters walk quickly to their destinations. Some with a straight back while others carry a more pronounced hump. Luckily, the subway isn’t too filled since it isn’t full-throttle rush hour, but clearly, the subway is packed by the time you arrive at the Tokyo Station. You and Udai go to pick up the tickets to Sendai Station in Miyagi. Akaashi picks up some food at the convenience store for the three of you. There isn't a lot of food selection on the bullet train anyway. You finish the quick meal in time for the train to arrive.

One and a half hours on the train passes by surprisingly quickly. Passengers eat their meals. Folks continue to work on their laptops. Children squirm in their seats. Akaashi is working with Udai on the latest Zombie Knight Zom’bish manga chapters. You remember hearing about the drama behind that series--how Udai and the head editor got into a huge argument and ended up taking Udai off the project altogether. Your team at the literary department even heard it across from the other side of the hall. And although you don’t really know the details, Udai had been really burned out from the project already...maybe it’s a fortune in disguise. You turn back to the volleyball player guidebook that you picked up in advance for the game tonight, staring at page 27, Bokuto’s page. Eccentric hair. The constant low hum of the Shinkansen starts to lull your eyelids, coaxing them shut, and you soon find yourself napping, catching up on the non-exhaustive sleep deficit that continues to pile.

----

“Bokuto?” you ask cautiously, tapping the desk where the boy is curled over. “Yukie asked me to help out with your remedial studies.”

Bokuto pulls himself out of his slumber, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. He sees you in front of him and immediately jumps up, alert. “Hey Hey Hey! Sorry, didn’t see ya there.” Both of you look down at his table where a small pool of drool formed from his sendentery rest. Flustered, Bokuto pulls on the edge of his uniform ready to wipe away the mess, but you beat him to it with a tissue from your pocket.

“Sorry! Really, I’m not a slob I swear! Uh...thank you for helping me out today. I know the class 6 students are usually really busy. Yukie said no,” he rambles, still visibly a little embarrassed. His hand is scratching the back of his hair. Black with tips dyed grey, all gelled up. It’s probably one of the most eccentric hairdos you have ever seen. It’s a wonder how he convinced the disciplinary committee to turn a blind eye. Pfft, maybe something along the lines of, “it improves school spirit because we’re the owls”. Perhaps that would fly.

“No worries," you reassure him and add, "Yukie just has a lot on her plate.” Yukie, manager of the Boy’s Volleyball Club, is your classmate and friend. She’s recently been so busy helping out with the club and didn’t do super well on her own exams. So she’s frantically filling up missed material, leaving absolutely no time to tutor the athlete. Bokuto’s classmates already have their own practice and schoolwork to juggle. This is where you come in. You have heard many things about Bokuto from various sources. Your impression of him is that, at the very least, he is earnest and honest. “Let’s get started shall we?”

As the clock slowly turns, you walk the owl-haired boy over one lesson after the next. You and Yukie are in class 6, part of the cohort of university-prep students. These people will be your comrade-in-arms for three years of high school before the university entrance exams. While some students move in-between classes on rare occurrences, most of the placements are already determined via the entrance exam when you applied for high schools already. It’s been a while since you’ve needed to work with Mathematics I material, but teaching is the best way to review right? You observe how Bokuto fingers trace the geometric shapes on the paper and come together to form the shapes when working through the trigonometric ratios. And how he looks a lot more stumped on permutations and combinations.

“How do you normally study Bokuto?”

“Dunno, just open the book and read I guess,” he mumbles, brows furrowed to solve the problem you gave him.

“Let’s work this problem out on the board together.” The two of you stand in front of the chalkboard. You pick up a piece of chalk and write out the “Permutations” and “Combinations”, following with examples and noting the differences in different colors. You can feel Bokuto standing right behind you. He’s tall. It feels like the heat is radiating off of him trapping you between his body and the chalkboard you still have your gaze fixed on. When you call him again, he shifts and moves beside you, as you let out an inaudible sigh that is pent up in the back of your throat. The two of you verbally work through the problems together, with you helping to clarify and categorize the different areas of knowledge, pointing out patterns and key points to solving them. You also share how you “read” the textbook and organize the knowledge dump that comes with each lecture. You find that Bokuto easily goes through the basic forms of each section with little difficulty.

He is by no means a slow-learner. And certainly not a poor student like how many others portray the class 1 students out to be. Bokuto tells you that he usually feels a little tired after morning practice, energy running low especially after the lunch hour in math. The monotone voice of the teacher does not help keep the already exhausted teenager awake. You’ve heard many rude things spoken by your classmates, wondering how the cohort could have possibly passed the notorious high school examinations to make it into the prestigious institute. So? He’s a rising star athlete and academically clearly past the minimum to be here. Without a bare minimum, Fukurodani wouldn’t have been able to offer admissions anyway. Not many Class 6 students have much to offer other than a grade on a paper. Sure, there are always exceptions, but Bokuto and volleyball are a special type of synergy. That’s when you realize that Bokuto didn’t mention volleyball at all since the beginning of this tutoring session.

“How’s the volleyball team?” you suddenly ask. You hear about others talking about how Bokuto is an absolute volleyball fanatic. What's keeping the passionate boy in front of you from the never-ending spews of his teammates and games.

“Oh!” Bokuto looks surprised at your sudden question and then breaks into a huge grin, golden eyes sparkling. "We’re doing great! We just had an awesome match! I actually even met a middle school student at the end...I think his name was Kashi? I don’t remember, but I think he might come to our school next year. He plays volleyball too…. I can’t wait to meet him and...”

Bokuto continues his ramble. He must have withheld all things volleyball during this tutoring session...but look at how his eyes sparkle at the first mention of his beloved. If you keep him any longer today, wouldn’t you be the villain?

“Sounds like I shouldn’t keep you away from volleyball for long. How about calling it a day? We can continue next time.”

Bokuto stops his rambling and begins to shift a bit nervously.

“Actually, do you think you have some more time still? I was wondering if you could look over my Japanese paper for me too? The teacher keeps telling me I need to proofread, but when I read it I never find problems...but they keep popping up when she corrects it!”

Literature.

“Sure!”

You take the paper he pulls out of his bag and two of you huddle over the two sheets of paper on the small wooden desk. With a pen, you make some faint marks on the paper, showing Bokuto common areas for mistakes, techniques on catching them. As you read through the paper, you learn more and more about Bokuto’s thinking process: vibrant, energetic, and soulful. Just like his volleyball. His writing is passionate and empathetic to the characters and their plight, demonstrating his resonance with the text. It’s a shame that some teachers fail to see past the proper instruments of grammar and discover great writing. After all, even professional writers have editors and copywriters.

“You really, really like literature huh?” Bokuto exclaims, breaking you out of your reverie. Golden eyes stare deeply into your own. You can almost see yourself and your flabbergasted look in the pools.

Pulling back into the moment, you ask, “what makes you say that?”

Bokuto laughs. "Anyone can see it! Your eyes are different and gleaming. Even your voice changes! Hey Hey Hey, it’s like that one time during a volleyball match, when all my cross-shots got blocked by this one team, but I trained really really hard on my straights. They couldn’t block me at all, hehehe….”. He continues on about volleyball, having lost the filter to share anything about the sport with anyone.

Just a simple observation.

A correct observation.

You are right Bokuto.

----

“The station is approaching.”

Akaashi’s hand gently wakes you. What a memory that was. Ah, yes, on the way to the game. The train soon pulls up at the Sendai Station. Already, you can see the station has a number of fans of the Schweiden Adlers and MSBY Black Jackal can be seen everywhere donning their sports team’s colors, carrying colored flags and banners. The numbers only increase when you get closer to the Sendai Municipal Gym.

You see the giant banner hanging right above the main entrance advertising the 2018-2019 V. League season. All the athletes are showing their tenacity and game face. Your gaze stops at Bokuto Koutarou….the same eccentric hair and golden eyes.

The same bright smile.

Masterlist

#liah

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radramblog · 3 years

Text

Elder Dragon Highlander

Commander is a format of Magic the Gathering that has become almost completely detached from its original premise. Much of what the format is is built upon the concept of Elder Dragon Highlander- 21 Commander damage is lethal because that’s 3 hits from an Elder Dragon, the slow grindy format built to accommodate the original 5’s heavy mana investment and limited effects.

But that was a long time ago, and the designers at WoTC have opted to attach the moniker of Elder Dragon to a number of additional cards. 21 total cards hold the name, 4 cycles of 5 apiece with one straggler at the back.

What is considered “elder” is largely to do with lore, I think, but due to its association with such iconic cards, it’s interesting to see how and what the label is attached to.

I’ll, uh….do cube something next week? I dunno. But this is the Elder Dragons.

The original 5

The first elder dragon cycle is kind of iconic of Magic in general. Released in Legends, they were the first tricoloured cards in the entire game, were I believe the biggest and most expensive cards of the time, and all represented characters from the comics that I think just about everyone forgets existed.

They do not even remotely resemble modern design. Clunky is one thing, but the quintuplets are almost aberrant to what would be considered attractive Magic cards. A monstrous investment of mana in multiple colours that has a continuous upkeep of more mana, all for an arguably understatted flying creature with one extra ability. Chromium gets Rampage, a keyword that started in Legends, ended in Mirage, and doesn’t have reminder text despite being arguably confusing. Palladia-Mors gets Trample, making it arguably one of the best ones. Vaevictis Asmadi gets Firebreathing in all 3 of its colours, in case 8+3+3+3… wasn’t enough mana-shaped eggs in one basket for you. Arcades gets a bonus ability in toughness-breathing, to make up for it’s deliberately mediocre ability- the “oh cool I can use this with vigilance” eureka/fun brain moment quashed by its pointless limitation.

And then, of course, there’s Nicol Bolas. Somehow one of the game’s most iconic characters, in an art rendition that makes a powerful villain look like a gentle draconic geriatric. (EDITORS NOTE: still Rad here but I just now noticed this mf has a fucking dragon nipple, wtf?) I suppose Bolas becoming so well known was inevitable, if only because it was the only one of the most popular cycles with an actually cool and powerful ability. There are currently 210 more Bolas decks than any other member of this cycle, and that difference also happens to be twice what the other four have combined.

Bolas is arguably the only one that stood the test of time, the only one to ever show up independently of the other 4. I suppose we’ll see if any of the rest do the same, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up.

(Elder) Dragons of Tarkir

The titular Dragons of Tarkir’s third set (Dragons of Tarkir) were a set I was excited to see as the cards were being spoiled. The lore of the plane was interesting, with Magic stepping into a plot with time travel and finally showing us what Ugin looked like after almost 10 years of curiosity. The dragons that would become the Clan leaders had appeared previously in Fate Reforged, and the editions that we’d see as Elders- 10,000 years older and in some cases even wiser- presented a powerful and exciting cycle. Unlike with the Legends dragons, I’m pretty sure all of these saw play somewhere.

Ironically, though, I’m pretty sure these were deliberately tuned for Standard rather than the format named after their typeline. Even outside of Kolaghan’s line of text that….doesn’t do a whole lot in the format, Ojutai and Silumgar were pretty obviously built to be the finishers in the Esper Dragons deck that ran them, Atarka a clear top-end for Gruul Monsters (and, eventually, Eldrazi Ramp), and Dromoka a potential menace in Dromoka’s Command-backed Midrange lists. These cards are all quite powerful, but they’re built for a different kind of game.

That’s I suppose the biggest issue with the Dragons of Dragons of Tarkir, they were underwhelming. The set as a whole was fairly middling, though I did truly enjoy the draft format. I’m pretty sure the most played card in the set is fucking Collected Company, one I kind of despise, followed with Kolaghan’s Command which is just a traumatic experience for me. And while 3 of these 5 are seeing more play than their past counterparts, including Dragonlord Ojutai being literally 10 times more commonly seen than Soul of Winter, that difference is largely a matter of power (or lack thereof), the Mythic Dragonlords being obviously stronger than their Rare originals. The rare ones are arguably more fun, though, and that’s what matters to me.

Legends…2! (aka core set 2019)

Part of the theme of Core Set 2019 was the story (read: retcon so the ending of War of the Spark makes more sense) of Bolas and Ugin in their youth, which meant that we got to get updated, modern designs of the original Elder Dragons (not Ugin tho lmao). And by Modern, I kind of mean postmodern, because we’re at the point where Commander cards start getting absurd All The Time.

Each of the Elder Dragons of Core 2019 (copyright WoTC 2018) have the benefits of updated design practices with 24 extra years of experience, as well as not having to have a million words on them for silly reasons like extra mana sacrifice triggers. Even Palladia-Mors, probably the weakest of them (and still pretty threatening!), gets to have flavour text hinting at a potential return (which hasn’t happened yet).

When you’re designing cards like these, though, it’s inevitable that some are going to be overshadowed by others. Baby Bolas, of course, was one of the flagship cards for the set, being a transforming Planeswalker with lots of abilities that wins the game in just the most classy way I’ve seen in a minute. And Arcades took a fun niche deck people liked and blew it wide open, making Defenders into one of the most disgusting Offensive decks in a minute.

But then there’s Chromium, a fairly powerful Voltron/Control finisher but not one that leads you in any particular direction. Vaevictis does lead in fun directions, but would then be completely dwarfed by the absurdity that is Lord Windgrace the same year and Korvold the next one.

Outside of a few, this cycle feels like it got kind of lost in the shuffle, and I think that’s not really that much a reflection of the cards (except maybe Palladia, the Naya Problem rearing its ugly head again), and more the greater issue with Magic as a whole just shitting out cards constantly faster than most can catch up.

Welcome to Strixhaven School of Magecraft and Sideboardary

Our final cycle is the new kids on the block, the Strixhaven dragons. I suppose one way to make the definitely not Hogwarts Houses (they’re colleges, Clearly) seem important is attach a giant Fuckoff Dragon next to them.

A thing I like a lot about Strixhaven as a set is how it was introducing a new Thing for each of the enemy colour pairs to do- Golgari Lifegain, Boros Graveyard, Izzet Spells But Big Ones Instead Also Treasures?. The set came with loads and loads of cards supporting each of these themes, and having Commander 2021 alongside it and associated with it means they’re well supported by that as well. But, and this is the important part, the Elder Dragons aren’t as overshadowed because they too are doing something different, even if its rather slight in some cases, on their own- but each supporting or being supported by the Dragon in question.

Beledros is a Big Mana Golgari commander (normally seen in Mono-Green or Gruul) whose huge life cost is assisted by the Lifegain cards Witherbloom got. Galazeth helps ramp into the giant spells associated with Prismari while also making the alternate discard into treasure option some of those spells have a lot better. Tanazir doubles the power of Quandrix’s Fractal tokens, and makes them even more huge when attacking due to then natively being 0/0s. And I don’t really know what the idea in Silverquill is other than “Politics”, but Shadrix looks fucking cool and probably plays really nicely. It’s just a really fucking solid cycle.

It’s not really possible to tell how these 5 are going to play out- Strixhaven is still the latest Standard Set to release at time of writing. But I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the most successful Elder Dragon cycle as a whole assuming you’re looking at, like, mean Decks.

And then there’s The Other One

As part of Modern Horizons 2, cards for a set of characters from alllll the way back from those Legends stories were created- a new Dakkon, a Geyadrone Dihada, and the Elder Dragon that showed up in their story- Piru.

Piru is, obviously, a reference to the original cycle of Elder Dragons, but in a Wedge colour rather than a Shard. And with an extra keyword, which is something I missed, because it makes all the difference. I had written this card off, until I realised that Lifelink triggered from the death trigger, and when this thing dies it isn’t too hard to gain dozens of life points. That’s a lot and combined with clearing the board it’s not too hard to get virtually unkillable. I love leaning into the downside from the original dragons by adding a powerful death trigger like this.

Piru released very recently, and already has 112 decks to her name. I wouldn’t be surprised if that plateaus, but it’s still rather promising. 8 mana is a lot in non-green colours, but I like Piru, and I’d be happy to see her see lots and lots of play going forward.

While 2021 has so far had more Elder Dragons than any other year, they’ve been a very promising cadre with a lot of interesting ideas going on. With that said, I’m not sure that I want the trend to continue, because the more they make (the more Elders in general, really), the less special they get. But for now at least, it looks like we’re finally getting to a good place for Elder Dragons. Only took us 27 years.

#ramble #mtg #edh #commander #elder dragon highlander

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thekobaltpossum · 3 years

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I have been really annoyed the past couple of days, about one thing in particular: the difference among the treatments of Zelda’s 35th anniversary, Mario’s 35th, and Pokémon’s 25th.

I understand why the second two are “more important” in Nintendo’s eyes. These franchises make more money, sell more copies, are both worldwide phenomena while Zelda is a much more Niche franchise. Mario is the one of the main reasons why video games are so huge, and Pokémon is the highest grossing Franchise of all time. So logically it makes sense why those make precedent.

However, that doesn’t mean you can forget about Zelda’s anniversary entirely. On February 21st, Nintendo didn’t release a Zelda Direct, didn’t post a video talking about it, fuck, they didn’t even go so far as to send out a tweet about it. I know that Mario’s anniversary is still wrapping up and officially ends at the end of March, but if they aren’t going to postpone Pokémon’s anniversary, why do that for Zelda?

I understand postponing the celebrations, but not even acknowledging it? Seriously. Are you kidding me?

I understand that the fans wouldn’t be satisfied with it, or that we would pick apart every single bit of it and analyze it. And while the former one is true, you can’t please everyone, there will always be people who aren’t satisfied, and that’s just a fact of life.

The latter is also true, and I am not ashamed of that. The time between releases of any media franchise is a special time when communities come together to discuss their thoughts, reflect on what has happened prior, speculate, theories, get excited when news comes out, the elation whenever a new trailer is released, just bond over the thing you love. Just take the announcement of Breath of the Wild’s sequel. The community has taken every frame of that trailer, analyzed it front and back, every pixel, which may have a special meaning. Fandoms thrive off of hype.

Now, Zelda is not the only fandom to experience this disappointment, and it isn’t even the worst case under Nintendo’s umbrella. Metroid, Star Fox, and F-Zero fans have it MUCH WORSE than Zelda fans. However, I am very passionate about Zelda, so I’m gonna rant about it.

Now you might say, “Oh, but Zelda hasn’t had that much of an impact, y’know.”

Not that much of an impact?

NOT THAT MUCH OF AN IMPACT?

Zelda is one of the most impactful game franchises ever. Not only did it essentially create what we know as the adventure genre, not only did it declare that a game did not have to be so linear to beat it, but this franchise is the reason we have one of the core features of games; a feature that allows for massive games that can require hundreds of hours to beat: saving. And efficient saving at that.

Before Zelda, you couldn’t save your game. Yes, many games before Zelda had long combinations or password that allowed you to start at a certain point, but the save feature allowed for a more streamlined, and less annoying, way to play longer games. This game deserves, no, it requires more respect and recognition. Because without this game, every game that you love may be loads different.

I know I shouldn’t complain. We’re getting Skyward Sword HD, and a pair of beautiful new JoyCons, but I feel that the series needs a bit more than just a port. With the treatment Nintendo is giving Mario and Pokémon, Zelda should have the same treatment. It deserves it.

I’m sorry for ranting, I know I’m probably selfish , but this is my special interest, and you will respect it.

#rant #long post #zelda #zelda 35th anniversary #mario 35th anniversary #mario 35 #pokemon 25th anniversary #nintendo #zelda fandom #at least we're not metroid fans #special interest

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johaerys-writes · 4 years

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2019 Writer’s Roundup

I was tagged by @serial-chillr , @pikapeppa , @darlingrutherford , @dafan7711 , @faerieavalon and @solas-disapproves for a year end review! Thank you so much, friends, it was such a joy to see what you’ve all achieved this year!!

Word Count

This is just a rough estimation based on the word count of my published fics on AO3 and the works that I’ve written this year that I haven’t published.

Total: approximately 300k, about half of it published! This is such an achievement for me, considering that I had never written anything beyond random flashfiction and short stories before Dec 2018. I had just finished playing DAI and I fell in love with Dragon Age and Dorian’s romance in particular, and that inspired me to start writing more consistently. I also tried my hand at writing for a couple different fandoms, so here’s a list of my favourite things I’ve written this year:

Dragon Age

A World With You: 128,110 words, plus approximately 50,000 words from the first draft that ended up getting scrapped. My longest fic to date!

The Most Troublesome Man In Thedas (4,702): A fun and fluffy one shot of Tristan and Dorian exploring the Hinterlands.

As It Was (1,401): A one shot inspired by @solas-disapproves‘s The Guardian, featuring her OC Maori and Solas.

The One She Runs To (4,740): A one shot inspired by @pikapeppa and @schoute‘s Where the Winds of Fortune Take Me, featuring Pika’s Rynne Hawke and Fenris, and a cameo from Schoute’s Piper Lavellan!

Castlevania (seriously, if any of you are into Castlevania, please reach out!! I love the TV series so much and I'm slowly getting into the lore of the games, so I would love to nerd out about it with you!)

Nothing But Himself (3,641): Trevor x Sypha

Loyal to the End (2,517) and The Wound That Never Heals ( 2,448): Hector x Carmilla

Unpublished (as of yet, at least!)

A Witcher and Wheel of Time crossover fic, that I doubt will ever see the light of day but I had so much fun writing: ~65k

A Cole fic that I’ve been working on for AGES and hopefully will get around to posting this year! It’s currently in the editing stage, so if you like Cole as much as I do… Keep an eye out 😉 ~ 35k

Number of Smut Scenes:

6 and counting!

New things I tried this year:

Honestly, everything has been a first for me this year. Writing almost every day, outlining, editing, reading other people’s awesome work, writing smut, trying my hand at writing my lovely friends’ amazing OCs… It has been such an exciting year, and I can’t wait to see what 2020 brings!

Favourite thing I wrote this year:

My Pavelyan Inquisition fic featuring my OC Tristan Trevelyan and Dorian Pavus, A World With You. Never before have I put so much effort, time and love into any piece of writing. I adore it to tiny little pieces!

Favourite fic I read this year:

Ohh, I’ve read so many amazing fics this year, and not near as much as I would like! But I will single out a few highlights:

The Guardian by @solas-disapproves. This is hands down one of the best fics I’ve ever read. I am constantly blown away by the amazing prose, the gripping story, the character development, the unique exploration of DA’s lore… THE LIST GOES ON. I’ll never get over what an amazing writer my friend is, and I honestly never want this story to end!

Where the Winds of Fortune Take Me by my beloved @pikapeppa and @schoute. I was gripped by the concept of this fic from the very start, and I love it to bits! It has made me laugh and cry on so many occasions (and when I say cry I mean LITERALLY BAWL MY EYES OUT), and I’m constantly amazed by @pikapeppa’s writing and her understanding of the characters’ psychology. Plus, Schoute’s art is to die for, as well as her ideas and Piper’s backstory which I still haven’t recovered from!!

Borderland Sorrows by @serial-chillr (it has been so much fun brainstorming with Serial, thank you for sharing your ideas with me bb), and The Long Game by my beloved friendo @badpriestessofbuttsburgh! I love both these stories so much, and I can’t wait to read more!!

Writing goals for 2020:

Finish A World With You (although just the thought makes me sad! I hate saying goodbye)

Write the Surfer AU @solas-disapproves and I have been working on!

Read more fics! There are so many talented writers out there and I want to read everythinggggg ahhh

Hopefully start writing my DAO and DA2 OCs, now that I’m close to finishing both games!

Lastly, and most importantly, to be kinder to myself, both in regards to writing and in general 🙂

Words of Thanks

Writing my fic and starting this blog has led me to meeting so many amazing people, and I honestly couldn’t be more honoured to be part of this space. Your comments, tags, reblogs and kind words mean so much to me. Also, a huge thank you to those of you that keep tagging me in things even though it’s been taking me a while to get to them lately!! I love y’all so much and I always love seeing what you have been working on, so keep those tags coming ❤️ 😄

A special shoutout to my beloved potate in crime and partner to my salty soul @solas-disapproves. She is a constant inspiration for me and I’m thankful every day for having met her. I love you so much bb, ewe

I know most people have done this tag already, but I’m still going to tag a few more writers whose friendship, comments, tags, likes and reblogs have made my life so bright: @tessa1972, @welcome-to-gaydas, @tevivinter, @midnightprelude, @dickeybbqpit, @thejeeperswife as well as a few people whose works are on my to-read list and I’d love to get to know them better! @in-arlathan @cornfedcryptid , @allisondraste , @kittimau , @schattengerissen , @fandomn00blr , @dharma-writes , @andrasste (and lots of other that I’m sure I’m forgetting now!)

Finally, I want to thank each and every person who has given my stories a chance! I know my Dorian/Tristan is kind of a niche pairing, so it truly warms my heart to know that there are people out there that enjoy my writing.

Alright, that’s it from me, folks! 2019 has been an exciting year with lots of highs and lows for me, and I’m looking forward to another year of writing, sharing and screeching my love for fictional characters with you! ❤️

#2019 review #pavelyan #dorian x trevelyan #tristan trevelyan #dragon age fanfic #dragon age inquisition #dorian pavus #castlevania #hector castlevania #trevor castlevania #trevor belmont #sypha belnades #trypha #a world with you #johaerys writes

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