pan-princess-levy

[pan-princess-levy]

I finally finished skyward sword so now I can actually put out my basic reading of the Zelda Religion Thing without being accused of skimming.

Early Canon History As Said To Skyward Link:

Three Golden Goddesses/The Old Gods/Trio create the world. They create Hylia, to essentially be the guardian deity of the world, and the triforce, which represents the Trio's power of creation. Then they leave, ala clockmaker theory (the theory that a god created the world and then let it go ticking on its own, like a clockmaker, because once they've made the clock it's supposed to continue to function on its own)

The Triforce is the power to shape the world through desires/wishes, but it can only be used by mortals: immortals like gods can't use it. Hylia is guarding it and can grant access to it (she decides the best way to decide who gets it is through fucking puzzle labyrinths) but can't use its power herself.

Demise shows up to consume the world. Things get very confusing but at the end of the fight, Hylia has won a phyrric victory, Demise is sealed but not destroyed, and Hylia become mortal voluntarily thus entering the reincarnation cycle. It's implied in wikis that Hylia becoming mortal releases the Triforce to be able to use it? but that is the part that mainly confuses me. Regardless, Hylia stalls for time until later reincarnation of her finds someone (Link) who is capable of wielding the Triforce as her Proxy.

(Unnecessary note on reincarnation: The person who can wield the Triforce is assumed to be the same soul reincarnated over and over, but this isn't strictly provable, and aside from considering them a precious person, all Zeldas and Links are treated as separate people, just with 'the bloodline of the goddess' running through them, but like... You go back far enough and it's all the same bloodline. If all humans in Skyloft eventually became Hylians, then all Hylians are descendants of the goddess' people. If we take it as a literal bloodline, this also means that a lot of Gerudo probably are also in the bloodline, since they usually intermarry with Hylians. And if it's a metaphorical bloodline, then we literally don't have to worry about it lmao.)

So with the setup the games have given us, this is how I think the religous setup of Zelda works:

Hyrule's World was set up in a Creation/Destruction cycle. This is pretty natural, and an instinctive way to set up a world. Hylia is a Cultivator Goddess (mother goddess, one who raises but doesn't dominate), and Demise is literally called Demise: he is either a manifestation of Entropy on this plane, or was created by the Golden Goddesses also as a yin-to-yang situation, where Demise would destroy things that Hylia created, leaving more room for more creation later on, like how a volcano erupts burns everything down, but new land grows from that eruption.

The issue comes when the cycle became imbalanced. One thing that keeps coming up with Ganon is that he equates rule and destroy pretty equally. He will rule Hyrule! And it will be destroyed. But also he will get rid of the barren ocean! He will create a new Hyrule... which he will rule over with a harsh hand uwu.

It sounds to me like Demise wanted to at some point take Hylia's role as the creator/guardian Diety, but his power is literally destruction. So the way he understands raising something is like... to the ground. It is a fundimental Nature Thing that influences his understanding of the world. If he destroys the world, he is making it anew maybe, or maybe the monsters are his equivalent of Hylians, or etc. Regardless, his plan is basically "I'm in charge now and it will be Better", and there's nothing beyond that--he's good at his job and he's sure he'll be excellent at this other job as well.

At some point after Skyward Sword and being defeated by a Hylian with the Triforce, he changes strategies. I'm not certain if the plan was to get the Triforce of Power because it is the most powerful of the three, or if he meant to possess all three pieces and only managed to grab one, but his attention turned to claiming the Triforce instead.

The Triforce, which holds the ability to shape the world they live in (the power of a creator god, available to the beings in the world it shapes) is only attainable by a mortal, so Demise does as Hylia did, and becomes mortal.

It is... difficult to figure out how to talk about Ganondorf without discussing racism inherent in the design of the Gerudo. But at some point Demise has a connection to Ganondorf of the Gerudo, either that being the mortal form he's been reincarnated into, or "a manifestation of Demise's hatred." It could be chance that Demise became a Gerudo, or like... deeply unfortuante implications that I don't want to deal with for a Watsonian the-religion-is-true type speculation?? Doylian answer: the real world had racist influences. Watsonian answer: Gerudo have the goddess bloodline too, making them capable of wielding the Triforce, and it's just deeply unfortunate that the dieties in this world have strong opinions on their gender.

So as Demise becomes Ganondorf, he starts doing the thing Hylia did upon becoming mortal: gains the fun mortal emotions and experiences, and becoming less godly. The Power Triforce allows Ganondorf to live a very long time, so sometimes he's the same person between Zelda/Link incarnations, and that also gives him a long time to build up mortal experiences.

He is no longer a being completely of hate, but he has yet to obtain the power of 'creation' the way Hylia has it, because of his inherent roots as a being of destruction and entropy. Even when he intends to make something, his method for doing so is through destruction. In Wind Waker, he's furious that Hyrule's been flooded, but the ocean is a dead and barren place, and he wants to fix it: he wants to positively change the world... and he does it by ripping the seas apart trying to find the Triforce.

Conversely, Hylia is a being of creation/preservation, which is why she can't directly fight effectively. She can make prisons to seal Demise away, but that's still creating a prison. She can make light arrows, but needs someone else to fire them. She can make a master sword, but needs someone to weild it for her. That's why she sends out heroes as proxies in the fights. She isn't an omnipotent type deity. She gave up a lot of her power to get the triforce, and she can't walk it back. I see a lot of fic with Links frustrated that Hylia has 'put them in this position' or 'relies on young kids', which like, I get? But you have to think smaller gods. She has power on her own, but not the power of outright destruction, which is what she needs if she were going to destroy Demise forever. If she did manage to destroy demise, presumably she would then take up the role as both creator and destroyer? But since she's locked in mortal form, maybe the world is already functionally goddessless, which is why the only working relics are things from the ancinet past, when she was immortal, and killing Demise now would mostly just mean less Ganondorf-based events in the world, but otherwise not change much.

Hyrule is locked in a very degraded creation/destruction cycle, where the creation goddess is finding ways to destroy, and the destruction diety is trying to create. Both of them are mortal, leading to huge stretches of time where one or both are dead or sealed away, and when that happens, the Triforce is sealed away with them: it can only be used when all three parts are combined. So Hyrule, a place with absolutely 100% proven godly magic, is fully unable to use it to change their environment for long stretches of time.

This is. A very busted clock.

[pan-princess-levy]

Zelda: My, Revali is certainly quite insistent at competing with Link.

Impa: I guess he's got it into his head that they're rivals!

Zelda: Rivals? My goodness! Boys are certainly quite strange. I'm glad I don't have to deal with that. Could you imagine?

Impa: What, someone who's as good at building machines as you? Someone who's got magic powers like your bloodline?

Zelda: I don't have powers, Impa. Believe me, I've tried. And if the only criteria for someone declaring themselves your nemesis is just resenting you, well, my father and half the court would qualify.

Impa: *uncomfortable laughter*

Zelda: And they're right to hate me. I can't even do what I was born to do. I'm a failure.

Impa: No! Don't say that! Look, forget I said that stupid thing, okay? Let's focus on what we CAN do to help instead of what we CAN'T do right now, and head to the laboratory to see what Robbie and Purah are up to! They were pretty excited when they saw your notes last time!

Zelda: ...All right. Besides, having a "rival" would probably be pretty annoying, anyways. How miserable would a person have to be to consider *me* someone they had to one-up?

Ganondorf's extremely pissed-off ghost, possessing a Guardian and aiming a laser sight directly between Zelda's eyes: S:\Programs\Security System\Defense Protocol Files\In case of Calamity break glass\BFG-controls run YOUR_MOTHERFUCKING_LIFE_ENDS_FIFTEEN_SECONDS_FROM_NOW.exe

[pan-princess-levy]

... and here is the second one! not going to lie, this piece went through many iterations - at first i wanted to do a more aerial look, with the tall statue and the tiny tiny humans barely visible, but then decided that having the girls be visible would do it better and now here we are. the oracle and the knight

(excited monny noises) 

this drawing was done as part of the reverse bang organized by @ftguildevents. my partner, @rougescribe, wrote a beautiful matching fic which i greatly recommend you take a look at - you can read it here!  

[pan-princess-levy]

papa acno and his only good child.png

here we are, after the long journey this drawing has gone through! i had an extremely good time working in this project and even if i’m no longer an active participant of the fairy tail community, i think i’m closing that chapter of my life in a good way. 

this drawing was done as part of the reverse bang organized by @ftguildevents. a lovely accompanying fic has been written by my awesome partner, @randome-writing, which you can check out here!  

thank you so much for letting me be part of this

[pan-princess-levy]

Join the Fellowship of the Ring, we have:

the local weed man, who is secretly the most powerful being in the land

a bunch of surprisingly competent tiny adults 

a semi-immortal twink

the Axe testimonial

a hobo

Sean Bean

[pan-princess-levy]

empe wants more ganondad  and how i love her, i made more ganondad

[pan-princess-levy]

Something absolutely no one asked for but I got the inspiration to make: an SCP Legend of Zelda AU. I looked around and couldn’t find one so here we are. It’s mostly my random thoughts so feel free to expand on them. Sorry if there are any grammar mistakes or if my writing/descriptions sounds repetitive. Constructive criticism is appreciated and welcomed.  

The AU is supposed to be set in Hyrule. The main difference is that the kingdom has more advanced technology. These devices are primarily used by the upper classes so most people rarely even see them much less use them.  

Keep reading

[pan-princess-levy]

Wrote this in response to Suzieboozieblack’s prompt, “Ganzel in a completely healthy long term relationship.” 

I may not have stuck exactly to the prompt. You didn’t say they had to stay that way after all.

Zelda scrubs furiously with a paper towel at the back of her left hand. She glances up in the mirror to make sure no one has entered the women’s restroom and scrubs harder. The skin is red and raw and is beginning to burn, but the damned thing won’t come off. She blinks back the tears in her eyes and holds her hand up to the light for a better inspection. It’s still there. That cursed golden triangle is still there. It seems to shimmer in the light mockingly at her.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen to me,” she gasps as she paces the tile floor and runs a hand through her blonde hair. “I’m too old for this. It was a legend. It was just a legend.” Her last words come out in a sob. She leans against the sink counter with both hands pressed flat. Her eyes dart to the symbol again, and she darkly wonders if maybe she could cut it off.

Her breath heaves out of her, and her shoulders shake under the fury of her silent weeping. She shakes her head in disbelief. This can’t be happening, she thinks. The monarchy was abolished four hundred years ago. She is thirty-six, and all of the previous bearers were barely grown women. Besides, it was all a myth. A fairy tale her nanny Impa had told her to put her to sleep at night. She runs her right thumb over the symbol. It feels no different. The skin is not scarred or raised in anyway, but she can’t make it disappear either.

Her cellphone vibrates in her purse. She pulls it out and checks. It’s a text message. “What’s taking so long?” it says.

She has been in here for nearly twenty minutes she realizes. Zelda stares at her reflection again. Now is not the time or place for a breakdown. She can do that later. She’ll figure something out eventually. Yes, she’ll find some way out of this. Maybe it’s all just a dream anyways. Taking another wet paper towel, she blots at her eyes where her mascara and eyeliner have run and her nose. She runs a comb through her hair, straightens her clothes, and walks out with her white gloves on.

The chandeliers sparkle overhead and throw rainbows on the floor. A string quartet is playing in the corner of the room. One of the wait staff offers her a flute full of champagne. She accepts it silently and downs it in one gulp.

He gives her a smile and stands up to greet her with a kiss on the corner of her mouth.

“I was afraid you had finally come to your senses and decided to escape while you could,” he murmurs in her ear before he seats himself across from her.

She grins in spite of herself. “It’s a bit late for that, don’t you think?”

He rolls his golden eyes to the ceiling in thought. “How long has it been now? Fifty years? A hundred?”

“It may feel that way, but it’s only been ten,” she shoots back and takes a sip of the red wine. She is going to need all the liquid courage she can get to make it through this night without falling apart again. “Though I don’t think you were quite so rude in the beginning.”

“I think you mean charming, and I have always been charming,” he says as his smiles widens, and she sees one of his sharp canines. It reminds her a bit of a wolf.

“I’m not sure charming is the word I would have ever used for you though I can think of many others,” she teases.

“Well for as much money as this place costs, it should lend me as much charm and class as I want,” he complains good naturedly, shooting the tuxedoed waiters a withering glance that makes them move just a bit faster past their table.

“Oh hush,” she admonishes him, “you know you look forward to the opportunity to dress up.” She leans across the table and flicks at one topaz earring dangling down from his left ear lobe.

He makes a noise in his throat and gestures at her. “And you don’t?”

“You know I do, and I know that you enjoy seeing me dressed up like this just as much.”

“You do raise a good point, Princess,” he rumbles.

Her heart stops for a moment at the old nickname. She swallows another sip of wine before laughing at it nervously and tugging her gloves on more tightly.

His gaze sweeps over the plunging neckline of her gown with lowered lids and sets her heart racing again for a whole other reason. Then he reaches across the table to take her right hand in his left. He runs a dark thumb across her knuckles, and Zelda feels her shoulders unkink for the first time that evening. The warmth of his hand and the effect of the alcohol calm her a bit. She almost feels normal. Maybe it has all just been a bad dream, and she will wake up in the morning like usual.

Something bright and gold shines suddenly out of the corner of her vision. She snaps her head towards his hand and sees the perfect triangle of yellow light shining on his brown skin just as it had done hers less than an hour ago. His marking though is on the very top and center of his hand.

Zelda jerks her hand out of his and stumbles to her feet. He seems just as confused and astonished as she does for he can only stare at the back of his hand in amazement. Ganondorf finally looks up at her with wide eyes. “What?”

She shakes her head and can only repeat “no, no, no”. The bottle of wine tumbles to the floor and shatters. Everyone is staring at them. All of the tales of her childhood come back to her and slam her beneath the weight of them. She wants to sink to the floor in a pile of tears and silk.

“Zelda,” he says softy and hesitantly. He stares at her with eyes impossibly ancient, like the chunks of old amber they tear out of the earth. He takes a step towards her and stretches out that terrible left hand.

 Some remnant of countless lifetimes before takes hold of her, and the princess picks up her skirts and flees from her husband.

[pan-princess-levy]

so anyway i love the triforce trio with all my heart and soul and i just want them to be happy 

[pan-princess-levy]

does anyone know if there are any legend of zelda events happening?

[pan-princess-levy]

don’t bore your guard/second in command too much… it’s rude

[pan-princess-levy]

Another ship I will go down with. Impa and Nabooru.

[pan-princess-levy]

HAPPY SECRET SANTA @pan-princess-levy!!!!! :D have some adopted found family bc I still can’t believe I got to draw, like, my favorite stuff for you! also you are lovely and an absolute joy, have an amazing day ^^

[pan-princess-levy]

An old friend Ganon

[pan-princess-levy]

Ganon loves being put in his place 

[pan-princess-levy]

Ganon loves being put in his place 

[pan-princess-levy]

a color variant of the last piece for the obligatory (half) blood elf au because horde zelda. thanks for coming to my ted talk.