Sunday, March 23, 2025

The Minish Cap: A ticking time bomb

 A ticking time bomb

Bomb: Link is rewarded with the bag necessary to carry bombs after vanquishing the evil that had taken root in the Deepwood shrine. Bombs can break weakened walls, demolish cracked stones, and slay enemies.

Here’s the plan, we lure that green fairy out of his hole and when he’s chasing us we have one of ours sneak in and leave this bomb wrapped up like a gift from a lover. It’s rigged to an alarm so it won’t go off until just before dawn when the fey boy is sure to be sleeping off another night of tomfoolery. If the explosion doesn’t get him, his den collapsing down on his head should finish the job and complete my revenge.

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I’m not sure Captain Hook’s bomb from Peter Pan would work, but I’m also not sure it wouldn’t work. It seems reasonable enough for a mechanical alarm clock to have enough force to trigger a repurposed firing mechanism which in turn could light the wick of a bomb.

Makes me wonder if Mythbusters ever tried this, but not enough to actually go google it.

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Be excellent to everyone.
-Ceph

Sunday, March 16, 2025

The Minish Cap: The girl’s matchstick

 The girl’s matchstick


Flame Lantern: Link finds the flame lantern in the Temple of the Droplets after beating the big blue chu chu. The lantern casts a warm light in a short radius that illuminates the darkness, melts ice, and ignites flammable materials. 

The matchstick became a symbol for change in the city when a young matchstick seller was found dead on the street after a frigid night. The masses were always angry that the elites hoarded their wealth, but their anger became a fury after the story of the fallen matchstick girl spread. The fires of revolution have taken hold in the city, and no one what will become of the city when the smoke finally clears.

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The Matchstick Girl is one of the more depressing folk tales you can ever hear. It is made worse when you realize the story could be set today without much adjustment.

Do some good into this world.

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Be excellent to everyone.
-Ceph

Sunday, March 9, 2025

The Minish Cap: Mole Mitts

 Mole Mitts



Mole Mitts: These gloves allow Link to burrow through soft soils and dig holes into the earth. Link must explore the Fortress of the Winds to earn the mole mitts and begin his adventures in digging obsessively for rupees and hearts when he is in need.

Badgermoles are the undisputed masters of tunneling. It would be sacrilege to hunt and kill such a noble beast, but their carcasses can be harvested if shown the proper respect. With badgermole claws and leather, digging gloves can be fashioned that let the wearer almost swim through the earth.

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The bit from Avatar where the Earth Kingdom ruler just had a regular bear instead of a mystical hybrid remains one of my favorite bits from that show.

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Be excellent to everyone.
-Ceph

Sunday, March 2, 2025

The Minish Cap: Mirror, mirror on the wall…

 Mirror, mirror on the wall…


Mirror Shield: If Link can find his way to the Biggoron atop Veil Falls, he can offer up a small shield to the giant and receive the Mirror Shield in return once he has completed a truly valiant deed. The mirror shield blocks all projectiles and reflects back a searing beam of light. Its mirrored surface is also strong enough to deflect melee attacks easily.

A powerful seer displeased their sovereign so greatly that their spirit was cast into a mirror so their gifts might serve whoever sat the throne. After generations serving the bloodline that cursed them, the mirror can now answer questions honestly, while contriving situations that eventually cause the family to suffer dearly. If the seer was so great, could they not have seen this future and avoided it or did they perhaps choose this fate for themselves?

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This was supposed to include a sad face and a split happy/sad face, but drawing faces is still far outside of my comfort zone. Even if those faces are simplified masks. I got done enough with this item and moved on.

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Be excellent to everyone.
-Ceph

Sunday, February 23, 2025

The Minish Cap: A borrower’s shield.

 A borrower’s shield.

Small Shield: Link’s first shield is a simple affair given to him by Princess Zelda. He can use it to block simple attacks and deflect rocks and arrows.

Dogs, cats, and rats can bother the tall folk, but the same creatures are deadly threats to the borrow-folk. Fights between borrow-folk are almost unheard of, but many still carry shields and buckers to protect themselves from the many dangers of their diminutive world. That button missing from your shirt or cuff might be the difference between life and death to the borrow-folk you unwittingly share your home with.

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I have so much nostalgia for the stories of the Borrowers. Little people living secretly in the unused cracks of your house is the exact sort of semi-plausible fantasy every kid should enjoy. I definitely built houses and left supply caches out just in case my room had borrowers.

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Be excellent to everyone.
-Ceph

Sunday, February 16, 2025

The Minish Cap: The chief’s hook talisman

 The chief’s hook talisman

Magical Boomerang: This magically enhanced boomerang strikes harder, travels farther, and can change direction mid-flight. Link must fuse kinstones with the Tingle Siblings to reveal the hidden location of the boomerang. 

The stories tell us that long ago the people lived on only one island because there were no other islands in the open ocean. A clever chief decided to fool their siblings into making new islands by exclaiming they had hooked the greatest fish when they had purposely hooked the ocean floor. Paddling hard, the siblings pulled up the ocean floor into island after island for the people to discover and inhabit.

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Manaiakalani is Maui’s hook in Polynesian traditions. After the existence of Moana, it is much more difficult to find sources discussing folkloric traditions instead of Disney films. 

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Be excellent to everyone.
-Ceph

Sunday, February 9, 2025

The Minish Cap: Blessed Boomerang

Blessed Boomerang 

Boomerang: This boomerang stuns enemies, flips switches, and picks up distant items. Link can purchase this from Stockwell’s shop with enough rupees.

To be accepted as an adult, you must climb the big rock and throw your boomerang from its edge beneath the stars. It is considered auspicious if you can find your boomerang on your journey home. If you are fortunate enough for your boomerang to return in the dark of night, you are considered blessed by the great spirits.

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This is one of those drawings that just didn’t turn out well enough. I don’t enjoy it, but it's done and that’s good enough.

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Be excellent to everyone.
-Ceph