Writers' Workshop General Chat Thread

[Instrutilus]

Breath of the Wild is turning out to be fanfic gold. Put it this way - the world is sufficiently large that I don't think I'd invent any new geography. There'd be no reason - there's so many named locations anyway that it would be a waste not to use all the geographical setting you'd ever need from a series of screenshots

Well, Zelda II: Adventure of Link sorta did it first with the east coast of Hyrule. Just most games focused on the area of land that Link to the Past introduced.

I would like to see why Hyrule Castle got moved so far north, though. I know it tends to move around, like Wind Waker putting it in Lake Hylia but at least that timeline had the excuse of Ganon having destroyed the original castle, but it generally keeps to Hyrule Field. And it can't just be that Ganon destroyed it before the original game, because the Zelda that was put to sleep was there before Link woke her up (which opens up a big bag of worms when they kiss at the end. Does the original Zelda count? Two Zeldas, do both possess the spirit of Hylia or does the latter lack it because the former didn't pass on to reincarnate?)

Incidentally, and here's a mild spoiler for the game,

Spoiler

Breath of the Wild takes place in the Child Timeline, after the events of Twilight Princess. Zelda mentions it during a ceremony, where "whether skyward bound, adrift in time, or steeped in the glowing embers of twilight, the sacred blade is forever bound to the soul of the hero." So yeah, all three Hyrules have been destroyed. Man, Demise cursed hat kingdom but good.

 

[Beth Pavell]

I honestly think it's because Hyrule is invariably designed for the convenience of the game in question, and damn any continuity.

 

[Ereshkigal]

I always viewed it as easier to treat the games not as literal history, but more a set of collected folk legends along the lines of things like the Arthurian Myths. To where we're not seeing the real Hyrule directly, but more a distorted reflection of the real Hyrule and what's currently going on in it at the time the tale is written. And like the Arthurian myths, the Legends of Zelda keep getting more and more complex as each author and each period of Hyrulian history adds their own spin and their own elements to the collected mythos.

The three timelines themselves could be seen as a split among the scholars of the myth cycle. A disagreement about what they consider the canon interpretation that resulted in three canon timelines, with each adding on to the one they prefer. We actually do see something like this in the real-world Arthurian myths to a degree.

 

[Misfit Angel]

Agreed. People put waaaaaaaay too much effort and stock into trying to establish literal connections between each of the games. There are some obvious sequels and stuff (Zelda 1's landscape being physically visible if somewhat microscopic in Zelda II, Ocarina of Time -> Majora's Mask), but trying to say they're all the same place but centuries apart seems a little too much of a stretch sometimes.

Worst part is, Nintendo is starting to pick up on it and encourage it.

 

[Instrutilus]

Agreed. People put waaaaaaaay too much effort and stock into trying to establish literal connections between each of the games. There are some obvious sequels and stuff (Zelda 1's landscape being physically visible if somewhat microscopic in Zelda II, Ocarina of Time -> Majora's Mask), but trying to say they're all the same place but centuries apart seems a little too much of a stretch sometimes.

To be fair, the games DO have similar trends between them. Such as this example I made:

Spoiler

So there is some consistency there. It's just a case of the gameplay and technology needing and allowing new layouts, so things get shifted around. If you can make a fair argument about something (like the face tree dungeon in Zelda 1 possibly being the Deku Tree) then I see no issue with it.

 

[0bs1d1an_kn1ght]

I think what I'll do for my rewrite of explorers of Destruction is base the region off of Western Europe in general instead of just Spain.

 

[Instrutilus]

You can go anywhere in the region! Except that island just north, we don't talk about those guys...

 

[0bs1d1an_kn1ght]

You can go anywhere in the region! Except that island just north, we don't talk about those guys...

...Ireland?

 

[Instrutilus]

...Ireland?

Britain. Do remember we voted to leave the EU, so we're not on the best terms with the continent at the moment.

Anyone else see that meme going around about the first lines of stories getting improved by having the second line be "and then the murders began"? That's fantastically simple and amusing.

 

[Ereshkigal]

Britain. Do remember we voted to leave the EU, so we're not on the best terms with the continent at the moment.

Anyone else see that meme going around about the first lines of stories getting improved by having the second line be "and then the murders began"? That's fantastically simple and amusing.

"They encountered Magikarp. And then the murders began."

 

[0bs1d1an_kn1ght]

"They encountered Magikarp. And then the murders began."

"Now that he turned 10, Ash can finally start his Pokemon journey! And then the murders began."

 

[Instrutilus]

"They encountered Magikarp. And then the murders began."

"It was the first thing that Bulbasaur thought, every time he was recalled. And then the murders began..."

Works for Long Walk.

 

[Misfit Angel]

"May 12th, a spring afternoon like any other in the land of the roses. And then the murders began..."

Hmm. Not sure it works as well for me.

 

[0bs1d1an_kn1ght]

Well, telling by a bulk of my story critiques, my story is basically: And Then the Murders Began: the Fanfic

 

[Ereshkigal]

"George R.R. Martin started writing about the place. And then the murders began."

 

[0bs1d1an_kn1ght]

"George R.R. Martin started writing about the place. And then the murders began."

"Female character undressed herself. And then the murders began."

All jokes aside, I've been watching Hunter X Hunter today and I'm on like episode 10 and I think it's standard shonen fair so far. Should I continue watching it?

 

[Kharixi]

Hm... "The rain poured down on the small town. And then the murders began..."

 

[diamondpearl876]

Hm... "The rain poured down on the small town. And then the murders began..."

Sounds like a legit first sentence for a novel.

All jokes aside, I've been watching Hunter X Hunter today and I'm on like episode 10 and I think it's standard shonen fair so far. Should I continue watching it?

In my opinion, it didn't strike me as anything special. Nothing set it apart from the standard shonen, so I stopped watching it around episode 100 or so. Everyone I know who's watched it praises it quite a bit, though.

 

[Kharixi]

Speaking of anime, would any of you recommend Keroro Gunsou/Sgt. Frog?

 

[Dorothy]

...Ireland?

Aye, stay off Eire.