What are you gonna do, stab me?

📸📸📸Extra Extra! You've heard it here first folks!

That's right, STYLE ON THE RISE VOLUME 2 PREORDERS OFFICIALLY OPEN ON OCTOBER 14TH!

In the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the continent of Hyrule is one of the biggest open-world maps ever created, even beating games like Skyrim and the Witcher. But, HOW BIG?

Obvs it’s very hard to get a precise size because the in-game map does not have a scale bar (terrible map skills from that cartographer). HOWEVER, if you climb the Ridgeland Tower there’s a guy up there who is a weeaboo for the Rito, who begs you to glide for him in the name of “research” (what a fucking dweeb am I right?) If you do so, he tells you how many metres you’ve flown before landing. This includes if you simply step off the tower and plummet to the ground in a straight line, and happily for my in-game ankles, the tower is surrounded by water to cushion the many landings I made to bring you this information.

Ten drops gave me a mean average height for the tower at 63.83, median 64.2, so I’m taking it as 64 for ease of Maffs.

For a flight from the tower, I picked a strip of land on the same contour line as the tower base and then flew along that. There was a slightly higher standard deviation in twelve flights because sometimes Link would step nicely over the edge and start gliding and other times he would yeet himself bodily into the sky and then start, and one time gave me an outlier because I got zapped by an electric Wizzrobe that saw me. But over all, flying the same line and hitting pretty much the same landing spot, I got an average of 250.1 metres. I took this as 250, again for ease of Maffs.

Pythagoras’ theorem hit then, so I worked out that the distance from the base of the tower to the landing spot was 242 m. Putting that into Adobe Dreamworks, I could then translate that per pixel of the map I was working with (2.42 metres per pixel.) From there, that allowed me to calculate the area of Hyrule’s land mass, roughly, in pixels and then convert it back, so having done that GUESS WHAT FOLKS

Hyrule is 25,454 km2, or 15,816 sq mi.

Wales, by contrast, is 20,735 km2, or 12,884 sq mil.

So the continent of Hyrule is, it seems, bigger than my entire country to the tune of about one and a quarter times the size.

My latest research is focusing on mapping Hyrule’s weather systems, though, which has yielded some PRETTY INTERESTING RESULTS already, and that certainly falls into areas - the largest of which covers central Hyrule (i.e. Hyrule Field and Ridgeland, the Great Plateau, Lake Hylia and the Faron Grasslands). I attach the following figure for your consideration.

Hylians

Gerudo

Gorons

Zora

Sheikah/Yiga

Koroks

Lizalfos

And I KNOW, I can hear people recoiling at that last one, but hear me out

Alone of all monster-classified species, Lizalfos have mastered metallurgy. Their weaponry (shields, boomerangs and bows) are all metal-reinforced; and not just any metal, but steel. Even if we assume they’re just nicking the steel off some Gorons, they’re still then reshaping it into their own designs. And they make good stuff! They’re gifted metal workers and smiths. Very impressive. This suggests a level of sapience we don’t see elsewhere - moblins and bokoblins both use bone to reinforce wood weapons, which puts them on par with/a little smarter than crows.

In the Zora monuments we’re given a historical account of a battle between the Zora and the Lizalfos. There is repeated reference to a Lizalfos general. For them to have a general, they have pretty complex military structures, plus the ability to assign roles. Maybe it’s just the Zora word? But the account also suggests more sapient behaviour than just “angry lizard”. It all reads like advanced warfare, not just a scavenging party.

And I know, I know, they’re listed as monsters in the compendium. But firstly, so are Yiga warriors including Master Kohga, a man who has a full conversation with Link, and secondly, the compendium was compiled by the Sheikah and bias automation is a thing.

“People have always felt a sort of ownership over art, and that’s actually good. It’s why you keep a book on your shelf and return to it, it’s why you hang a picture on your wall that speaks to you. But when this gets out of hand and you mistake access or a personal connection with your rights, as happens so often in our Internet age, it leads to a dangerous sense of entitlement. That’s why readers feel empowered to complain, directly to the creator, that a book or show doesn’t have absolutely everything they want: the romantic pairing they’d hoped for, the language they find most friendly, the ending they desired. And it’s also why, for instance, the last Harry Potter book leaked on the internet before it was officially published: fans saw the book as something they were owed, not the product of labor that deserved compensation. Not that J.K. Rowling needs more money—but she, and all authors, deserve to have their work recognized as work.

And of the authors that reported that they were, in fact, full-time authors, only 63% had ANY earnings to report. The average of those who did earn something was $43,247. Which means, looking at the difference between the median and average, the average is heavily weighted by the superstars.

MOST of your favorite authors are either working a second (or third, or more) job, have a partner who earns more money, or is living hand-to-mouth, or some combination of the three. 

Libraries are your friends. Most have ebook collections now. I know readers gotta eat, but writers do too.

- unless your character is pale the patches won’t be just a couple shades paler than their skin color. it’s the destruction of melanocytes, not an opacity filter. they won’t be pure white but they’ll be pretty close and just looking at photos of ppl (especially in different lighting) will help

- that said don’t be afraid to give pale characters vitiligo, it’s definitely not as noticeable at first glance but still cool

- pls... don’t draw patches pink.. it makes my skin hurt. unless ur character is sunburned just don’t

- vitiligo is, in MOST cases, symmetrical TO AN EXTENT. you obviously don’t have to follow this rule bc there’s real life exceptions, but most patches will have a patch/other half similar in size and shape on the other side

- idk if other people have this but the right side of my patches are bigger, which is why i say TO AN EXTENT

- patches can’t have freckles. i actually have a freckle that’s cut in half by the edge of a patch currently

- vitiligo can happen anywhere on the body but it’s most common around the eyes, mouth, hands and feet. also armpits but ppl don’t usually draw characters w visible armpits. that said not everybody has face patches most famous example i can think of is jon hamm

- patches can have smooth and/or splotchy edges, even on just one person. for example the bottom of my eye patches are v smooth but my forehead patches are all over the fucking place

- there’s a theory that trauma to the skin can trigger a new patch of vitiligo to form (which i’m prone to believe cause my forehead patch came in after i got a bad habit of popping pimples LMAO) so if ur character has a cool facial scar along w vitiligo u could give them a patch originating from the scar (or an acne patch like me.......)

- adding on to that the reason for this theory is bc it’s an autoimmune disease and while most ppl with vitiligo won’t have another one there IS a corrolation w other autoimmune diseases so like if u wanna maybe draw ur character also w a diabetic pump that would be kinda cool (they said diabetically)

- it also spreads with age, so if ur drawing a younger/older version of ur character keep in mind how it has changed over the course of their life. example mine started out small in the corners of my eyes and spread into what i call my superhero mask in the span of three years, for others that kind of progression could take way less time or way more time. it’s up to you to decide

- it can affect hair color as well so if patches go over the hairline of ur character feel free to give them cool white streaks

- draw more vitiligo in general it’s pretty and makes me like characters instantly

2018: 20GAYTEEN // dubbed by hayley kiyoko

2019: 20BITEEN

-The other night I rolled over in the middle of the night to shake my partner awake, proceeded to tell him how I was glad that ‘this time round we would truly have the freedom to love each other properly’ and how his hands belonged to his last self, but his eyes had never changed in all the lives I’d known him. And he just laid there in the dark like wtf because I was asleep. Like I’d woken him to tell him that all in my sleep and then left him to have a crisis.

- Watching the history channel with my Pop on the couch, tender age of 7, and they’re talking about crucifixion. And my pop, ever the funny man, is like “that looks like it aughta hurt”. And I just turn to look at him and without hesitation reply “only at first”. And he’s like “what do you mean” and tiny me just shrugged and said “well there’s a place beyond the hurt where everything just stops” and he turned the telly off and left the room.

- night before Christmas 2012, dreamt I’d been stabbed in the lungs by an angel with the face of a falcon. He looked at me and told me he had to do it, so that ‘my next breath would come as a rebirth’. When he started to glow so brightly that it burned my eyes, I woke up to all the lights in my house on and a dark bruise beneath my rib cage. Will admit, that one freaked me out.

- walked past a graveyard with a friend back in middle school on the way to her house, and mid conversation I stopped talking and stood stock still, looked over at the walls,and quietly said “I have a friend in there”. Then picked up the conversation and continued strolling like nothing had happened. To be fair, I didn’t realise what I’d said. She still tells me I’m the reason she can’t walk past that graveyard anymore.

- a couple of years ago when I was in Wales I walked past an old stone house just outside of Aberystwyth, and just started to weep. I had the overwhelming thought that I needed to be in there to get dinner ready for the children, but in a different life so long ago and so impossible to reach, that thefeeling of loss was instant and overwhelming.

- was about to use a pedestrian crossing, when my whole body just sort of went hey don’t do that, and so I stopped and put my arm out to stop the woman who was crossing behind me, and 2 seconds later a car came skidding around the corner and crashed into the tree on the other side of the crossing, and I just whispered “ha, not this time” and didn’t really think about it until later when I realised I’d nearly died again. (Btw i waited for th ambulance to show up and the dude driving the car was fine, just hit his head and was drunk af at 10:30am on a Thursday).

- another dream I had just this week, I was sitting in an otherwise empty cinema with a tall, thin man. I can’t really recall what he looked like, except he was well dressed, impossibly pale, and he kind of blurred when you looked directly at him, so I mainly watched him out the corner of my eye and looked ahead at the blank movie screen. He was holding my hand, and he asked me if i enjoyed my life. I said yes and explained why. He then said, almost verbatim, “And how does this one weigh against the last? Can it tip the scales, or is it, at last, to be found lacking?” And I replied, almost verbatim “I weigh my lives against my joy, and each life I find there is more joy to be discovered.” He replied with a laugh, lifted my hand to a kiss and said “till next time then” and disappeared. I woke up in the dark with both my cats sitting on me, alert, and staring out my bedroom door.

My sister and I have also been known to argue in our sleep. Witnesses assure us that whatever made the shouting start, we both knew what it was and were mad about it. We don’t need to be in the same room for this.

When I was a kid I’d apparently have long conversations with my grandfather, who was deceased. My mother thought I was imagining things until I was “playing cars” with my grandfather. The electric car was moving and the remote was away from me. Weird, sure, but after my mom sent me to bed she checked - the car had no batteries.

I used to have dreams that I could walk on invisible stairs and float in the air. They were so vivid that I can remember the feeling of the wall my hand ran along and the shock and pain when I fell the 2 feet to the ground. My parents said they remember me falling in the same place the dreams had my fall. I can’t discern what’s real and fake in those memories

When I was littler I had an imaginary friend who, “looks just like me but not me.” Parents were like Okay This is Typical Child Things. Then one night my dad was up late and he went into the livingroom to see me sitting on the chair, staring at the wall. He told me to go to bed and went to check on my baby brother to make sure he was asleep too. When he got to our shared room he saw me still asleep in my bed. A glance at the living room and Other Me was gone.

I used to hear a voice calling for Mary. One time I said, “that’s not my name anymore,” before thinking and after that the voice stopped.

When I was little I would always eat my food hot and right out of the oven/pot/fryer. It didn’t hurt me and when my parents (mystified) asked about it I said, “the heat of this doesn’t compare to actual fire.” I still don’t know what that means but to this day I can eat things still sizzling from fried oil and it doesn’t hurt the inside of my mouth and throat.

I had a doll whose eyes moved but they weren’t supposed to. I don’t know how but I knew she was mad at my brother for something he didn’t do.

The amount of times I’ve narrowly avoided death by following my gut instincts on when to stand/run/move/not move is in the double digits.

I saw something humanoid run from my brother’s room down the stairs too fast for me to see. I was the only one home.

I burnt my hair once and when my family was freaking out I said, “it’s not like it’s flesh.” Idk what came over me but it freaked everyone out. Actually now that I think about it there’s a lot of times in my life where I got hurt and decided it’s not as bad as fire would be.

Sometimes when I wish people luck I can physically feel energy moving away from me, idk how to explain it.

“Head of a dragon, tail of a snake.”

He might truly embody the proverb ryuutou-dabi (竜頭蛇尾), don’t you think? A disappointing end after a promising start; a failure to meet expectations. Even his powerful fire blasts finish in a weak, smoky sizzle.

After all… the Ryuu for dragon is also read, “Ryou”.

Ryoutou. Dabi. From Ryou. To Dabi.

*someone does something well* “That’s my quirk!”

Ascribing quirks to characters from pre-quirk literature, especially giving heroes quirks unrelated to their actual powers

“Present Mic was involved” a la “Obama was there”

Treating underground heroes like legitimate cryptids

Or just making up heroes and claiming that they’re underground and that’s why you haven’t heard of them, Taro

Asking “is that a quirk?” after seeing any word or phrase you don’t understand

“All Might doesn’t even have a quirk, that’s just what America is like.”

Captioning various animal pictures or videos with names and dates of interviews of heroes that people might associate with them (A video of a rabbit sneezing is captioned “All Might, [some day idk], interview conducted by Aigami Miyako or whoever)

Anyone wearing a scarf is Eraserhead. Your teacher? Eraserhead. Your friend? Eraserhead. Your baby daughter? Eraserhead.