I Have Some Hot Takes On Tlc But Im Scared To Share Because Idk How Wild This Fandom And Website Is Yet

I have some hot takes on tlc but I’m scared to share because idk how wild this fandom and website is yet and I don’t wanna get doxxed.

There is so much more I could say about this, but there is not enough room. Remember to check with reality rather than believing conspiracy theories promoted, supported, and funded by white nationalist hate groups.

Missouri is proposing 20% of the nation’s anti-trans legislation this session. Gender-affirming care for young folks is on the edge of being criminalized (so much love to trans friends in states where that has already happened).

Please keep up with the anti-trans legislation in your state and combat it. There are lives at stake.

Transphobes do not touch this post.

Image ID: a 10-image cartoon comic featuring Joey, a boy with short hair.

Image 1: Joey, upset, gesticulates towards an open laptop. Text reads: The reality of St. Louis trans kids. Last week, a former (non-medical) employee of Washington University’s Pediatric Transgender Center was featured in a viral article about how the clinic was “rushing” kids into medical care and “mutilating” us. Every single thing she said was a lie, but the media loves it. Footnote reads: I wouldn’t give any more attention to this, but it is immediately endangering the lives of trans people. Missouri has launched a state investigation and is actively attempting to criminalize gender-affirming care based on conspiracy theories.

Image 2: Joey points to a map of the United States where Missouri is singled out, and a map of Missouri where St. Louis is indicated with a star. The text reads: The Transgender Center, located in St. Louis, Missouri, has been the target of hateful attacks from the far-right state legislature for years. It is part of Washington University Hospital, a branch of a prestigious private university.

Image 3: A younger Joey injects his T shot in his leg while someone takes a photo. Text reads: I can tell you that everything in the article is false because I received care at the Transgender Center beginning at 16 years old. My medical transition has brought me nothing but joy. What a gift it is to be trans!

Image 4: A younger Joey sits on a couch and stims with a tangle fidget toy. Text reads: No one is “rushed”. I sat on many waitlists, had to have 6 months of specialized gender therapy and a diagnosis of gender dysphoria before even being referred to the Center, and I was denied as “not ready enough” by an endocrinologist the first time I finally got an appointment. Footnote reads: If you’re curious about what it looks like to be a trans kid, I did another piece on that! Check out tinyurl.com/transkidscomictumblr.

Image 5: A colorful map of the United States shows how many states have a Negative Gender Identity Policy Tally and how many states have criminalized gender affirming care. Joey holds a credit card. Text reads: St. Louis’ Pediatric Transgender Center is the only one in the region, meaning the waitlists are extremely long. Plus, no one in the only industrialized country without free healthcare is getting medical care for fun. Many American trans folks have to fundraise for our care.

Image 6: Joey, distressed, sits on a couch while talking on the phone. The person on the other end says: “That’s me!” Text reads: This former employee spoke about specific cases, and patients have been able to identify themselves. She shared our private medical info and called us horrifying.

Image 7: This is split into two panels. In the first, Joey holds up a box of condoms and a packet of birth control pills. Texts reads: She especially hated trans men such as myself, saying that trans ideology was destroying “girls”. She lamented about hormones making us “sterile”, which is a complete lie. We trans mascs have to actively prevent pregnancy. In panel two stands a doctor. Text reads: Every time I had an appointment at the Center, doctors reminded me: Remember: testosterone is not a contraceptive! Footnote reads: The wonderful Erin Reed wrote a breakdown debunking all the lies in the article. See tinyurl.com/erinreedmissouri.

Image 8: Joey, masked, sits at a circular table with his brother, an unmasked boy with fluffy short hair. Joey’s brother is showing him his phone. Text reads: Major newspapers continue to platform these complete lies because they bring in engagement and money. The Washington Post tracked down my little brother’s personal cell phone number to try to get in contact with our mom – the president of an organization supporting trans kids in Missouri. Freaky, right?

Image 9: Joey, looking disgusted, leans against a door frame while talking on a cell phone. Text reads: But no one wants to talk with me, the adult who medically transitioned at this clinic as a minor and has not “desisted” in six years. The Washington Post reporter, who didn’t know anything about trans people, talked with me for 20 minutes and used a sentence of mine in an article about “both sides of the debate”. She didn’t mention that this former employee is being legally represented by a recognized anti-LGBT hate group, nor that all of her claims are unsupported by reality or science.

Image 10: Joey looks angry and gesticulates. Beside the drawing are two photos of Joey, one of him happy in front of a trans flag, and the other of him drawing up testosterone to take his first T shot. Text reads: There is no debate. There are trans people, and there are people who want us dead. There is truth and there are conspiracy theories. Where is my viral article in a major paper?

Published Feb 16, 2023. End ID.

Its so crazy to me how this game has 4 years worth of fanart and it’s not even out yet

endless ffvii → (23/∞)

Thorn Rose by Errol Le Cain

Hello! It’s me again! Do you have anymore context or lore behind that comic you made of Link in Majora’s Mask and the aftermath of it? I believe you called it Repetition. I love that comic sm ♥️

Hi again! 🥰 Thanks so much, it’s one of my favourites too 💕 I frequently abandon comics because I get lost in the dialogue so it worked in my favour for having none haha.

I certainly do! I find MM is a very important part of Link’s Journey especially in the context of this AU.

To understand the emotional turmoil behind this you need to take into consideration how Link viewed his status as hero. Despite the time skips, Link in OoT is a child the entire time. When he is an “adult” he certainly sees a lot of death and destruction which would be harrowing especially considering how sheltered he was in the Forest. But at the end of it all, time is reset and all of those deaths and bloodshed that he sees the aftermath of are erased. 

OoT could be perceived in his eyes as a complete win. As a child, to be a hero would be a mantle he would have fully enjoyed, and at the end of it he certainly had saved the day, no one was hurt. (barring of course characters like the Deku Tree ect but even he is reborn). 

Then Termina happens. Link enters this world and despite his starting predicament it immediately becomes clear this place needs a hero. It’s his duty and his nature to help.

One of the key mechanics of the game is that you CANNOT get all the masks and complete all the quests in a three day cycle. One of my favourite examples that i reflect on is that you cannot continue the Anju/Kafei quest if you save the old woman on the first night. You have to decide which one to complete and let the other essentially fail.

Link is the kind of person who believes he needs to save everyone, that is his purpose and sacred duty. So every time he helps someone, he soon discovers that someone else suffers because of his actions. As a result he constantly resets the timeline. Over the course of the resets he takes details notes of everyones movements (Bomber’s Club notebook). His goal is to find a way to save everyone. He HAS to. 

With each reset he becomes more frantic. He keeps failing people, he sees the moon fall again and again and feels the fear and anguish of all the people of Termina.

He is not the hero he is supposed to be and something inside breaks. He cannot move on until he accepts the harsh reality of being a hero. That you cannot save everyone. You must make hard decisions and make sacrifices.

He saves as many as he can and the Skull Kids give him the Fierce Deity Mask for their final “game”.

I see this particular Mask as an equal to Majora. It’s got the word Deity in it’s name so I don’t believe it is something that should be wielded by a mortal without consequences. It turns Link into a cold weapon and he succeeds in stopping the moon. When it is all over he is left empty. Despite the fact he has saved the town he cannot erase from his mind the people he was forced to sacrifice for the greater good. Every being in the world has a life, has feelings, has worth.

Anju is the one who breaks through to him and convinces him to remove the Mask. It takes an incredible amount of strength for him to remove the it and causes him great pain. The magic of the mask leaves a painful burn scar around his jaw and face where the edges of the mask met his skin and the markings leave bloody scars. He has a permanent reminder of this power he wielded and the price that was paid. 

In the aftermath of Termina when he returns to his world, he no longer sees himself as a hero. He cannot escape the failures of his role. He values the life and happiness of everything. Time passes and he rebrands himself purely as a wandering warrior as opposed to a hero (a word he now despises).

Apart from the physical scarring there are still mental ticks that stay with him which do get better as he recovers with Zelda. The overuse of the Ocarina of course breaks his ability to perceive time properly. No force of magic should ever be treated lightly or without respect (there will always be consequences). He frequently has flashbacks from across the ages and sometimes struggles to discern ‘when’ he is. He is also hyper vigilant. He can’t always help but take note of the movements of the town, trying to memorise every step and action. Of course because he isn’t resetting time it’s fruitless and exhausting. He is trying to make predictions out of chaos. And of course he can’t sleep on the full moon, he cannot help but stand in silent vigil incase the moon shall fall again.

At the end of it all the main thing i like to do with Majora is challenge the meaning of ‘hero’. Everyone has a different definition of it. Link enters the conflict with a purely fairytale view of it which isn’t realistic. He is seen as one by those around him who can see who he truely is and what he achieved. 

I personally believe that a true hero never sees themselves as one. They are people who simply try to do the right thing and ask nothing in return. No matter the size of the conflict.