#And yeah. The fact Zelda didn't even think about the fact link could have been killed or be unwilling to save Hyrule says something.

[autumnoakes]

man... rhoam's "redemption" in aoc really sucked, huh?

like botw SHOWED us, several times, how much pressure rhoam put on zelda to unlock her powers, despite her telling him, several times, that it wasn't working. he got angry and banned her from doing not only something she saw as useful, but something that she was clearly very interested in and passionate about because she "wasn't dedicating enough time to her prayers." yes, his diary expresses regret for it, but at the end of the day, if zelda saw that it wouldn't mean much to her. the actions rhoam took, and the way zelda grew up under so much pressure that she nearly died as a child in one of the springs (this is in urbosa's diary, iirc) mean so much more than his regrets and his intentions. it took him nearly 10 years to realize that he fucked up, and by that point it was too late. the calamity had returned, and rhoam had lost any chance he had at making things right with zelda.

meanwhile, in aoc, all that's there is some half-hearted scene in the temple of time that's supposed to make everything better? yes, aoc had a very different and arguably better outcome than the calamity that led to botw, but the damage was still done by rhoam. it's still the same hurts and abuse and trauma that he put his daughter through all because of the prophesized calamity.

[thecluelessdoctor]

Finally SOMEONE says it.

Don't get me wrong, I rather like the game (animation and all the stupid shit you can do just makes me go feral lmao) but there are so many avoided implied things, and their all avoided to make Hyrule look good to not only the in-game public, but the players as well.

the Hyrule family were not good people at all. Sure, they ruled well, but anyone who tried and defy them would most likely be forced into submission. I mean, hell, the sheika people were forced to stop making their technology and be 'good', and they went with it probably after loosing HUNDREDS of people. And the few that actually had common sense and knew they shouldn't let Hyrule control them in such a way were to later be known as the Yiga clan, who probably believed in Ganon's cause to overthrow the kingdom of hyrule.

I am so sorry if this makes no sense, it's 3 AM lmao

Seeing as the Gerudo turned on Ganon, he might not have been that much better of a ruler.

First of all, we literally have no idea, because the only ancient Gerudo that we actually get to interact with is Ganondorf himself, and he has nothing to say about his own people. The ancient Gerudo sage doesn't count btw, she doesn't have a name, we never even see her face, and she has literally nothing to say except repeating the exact same dialogue as the sages for the other races. The narrative does not treat the ancient sages as people; they are four completely interchangable weapons that are owned by the royal family.

And secondly, I don't care how Ganon ruled them; the Gerudo only get one man every century, if their king sucks, they've obviously got their own system of government to fall back on. I have no idea what kind of authority the sages had among their own people, but honestly I'd say if the four of them were in charge of their respective people, then they were just puppet rulers appointed by Rauru, given that all four of them happily agreed that to sell their entire race into servitude the second Zelda asked them. Say what you will about Ganondorf, but I fucking know that if he was told the Gerudo people existed for the sole purpose of serving the glory of Hyrule, he'd drop kick Zelda into the fucking sun.

And don't get me started on the implications of the cultural differences we see between the independent Gerudo and the annexed Gerudo. The background Gerudo characters all have their own models, and we can clearly see that the ones siding with Ganon have their own unique looks - for example, the amazing lady with the mohawk that summons the molduga swarm in that one flashback. And men are never mentioned in these flashbacks at all, which implies that the Gerudo genuinely didn't care about settling down. Ganon even speaks derisively about marriage, implying that it's very rare for Gerudo women to make serious romantic commitments with men. It implies that their culture is more along the same line as their portrayal in OOT - they are a closed culture. Men trying to force their way into their areas are arrested, and mocked for being entitled dumbasses. Outsiders are only welcome if they can prove that they respect the Gerudo as people, and aren't just there to try and pick up chicks. It's never outright said, but OOT also makes it pretty clear that the Gerudo women just aren't interested in marrying outsiders - close relationships occur with other Gerudo, Hylian men are only considered useful for making babies.

Meanwhile the Gerudo we see serving Hyrule are all trying to measure up to Hylian beauty standards, and appeal to their men. Their one goal in life is to meet a man and get married. Men are welcome in their lands, and only kept out of the town itself... and even then, there's a small army of guys trying to force their way into the town anyways, which is brushed off as just haha, boys will be boys. No men allowed isn't even about independence, it's just a silly romantic tradition.

Of course this is just a fictional culture in a game world, but it's still really fucking uncomfortable that the 'evil' Gerudo are the ones that have independence, both politically and socially, and display a unique culture that refuses to tolerate disrespect from outsiders. Meanwhile the 'good' Gerudo are the ones that canonically exist to serve a kingdom where 95% of the population is light skinned (even setting aside the unfortunate implications, just saying one race exists to serve a different one is super fucked up), they have classes on how to be more appealing to Hylian's, and their entire social structure is built around finding a Hylian man to marry, making them all inherently dependent on the goodwill of outsiders. Even their biggest value of 'women only' is treated as a joke; men trying to trespass in BOTW are just shoved back out the door, letting them keep trying all day if they want. The crowds of men plotting to force their way in are laughed off as a joke. Nobody cares that there's a guy running laps around their city walls and trying to trick women into being alone with him. I mean for fucks sake, in TOTK we find that the creepy guy trying to lure women away has taken advantage of a massive disaster to get into the town, and he's still there once things return to normal. You can't kick him out, or alert anyone to his presence. And the Gerudo just tolerate Hylians blatantly ignoring their boundaries. For fucks sake, TOTK even reveals that the seven legendary heroines they've been revering the whole time were actually completely useless and unable to achieve anything... because they needed the eighth hero, a Hylian man to teach them basic tactics and do all the heavy lifting.

TOTK does not respect the Gerudo people in the slightest. It doesn't respect anyone who isn't Hylian or Zonai.

...This got a little off track, but the point I'm trying to make is, no, I don't consider the Gerudo turning on Ganon to mean anything. The entire game does not feel like the real story of what happened, it feels like the propaganda version of history meant to make Hyrule look as good as possible. I genuinely cannot believe that we're being told the real story about the Imprisoning War, because none of it feels real, and we don't get to know any details that might have made Hyrule look even slightly imperfect. We're told that Ganondorf is evil because he hates Hyrule, and he hates Hyrule because he's evil. The Gerudo people followed Ganondorf and saw him as a hero of their people, then suddenly he was their worst enemy. Hyrule is a perfect kingdom that has strong, equal alliances with the other races, but also all of the non-Hylian races exist for the sole purpose of serving Hyrule, and their leaders are expected to swear eternal loyalty and submission to the Hylian royal family. King Rauru and Queen Sonia united all of the races in peace and equality, which is why they're sitting on the world's supply of magical nuclear missiles, and every member of the Hylian royal family is allowed to walk around wearing them as cute accessories, but everyone else only gets them at the last second, and they all need to outright swear to only use that power to benefit Rauru and his descendants.

There's just so many fucked up contradictions, and so many hints of something more nuanced going on... but the story refuses to acknowledge any of it, and just keeps aggressively pushing the narrative that Hyrule is the ultimate good and couldn't possibly do anything wrong. I don't even believe that Ganon was a bad king honestly; we never hear why his people stopped following him. We also never even see if the Gerudo people turned on him at all; all we know is the ancient Gerudo sage wanted him dead, and given that she also happily sold her people into slavery, she's not exactly the most trustworthy source of information. All we know is that Ganondorf was a hero to his people, only one of his citizens is ever shown having an issue with him (and her motives are never explained), and then he lost the war and was sealed away, leaving his people open to be conquered by Zelda and annexed into Hyrule. By the time we see any Gerudo actually opposing Ganon (apart from the ancient sage), it's been ten thousand years since the war, and all anyone knows is the Hylian version of the story.

[wayfayrr]

Hello!

Its about self aware au link i want to ask,,

What do you think about how link reacts when i play two games at the same time?

Like for example, recently ive been re playing totk and try to do all the side quests and grinding like dragon farming(waiting time so long) and to distract myself while im waiting for it to recharge, im playing OoT in my 3DS(and maybe even saying to the tv "look linkyyyy its yours distant grandpa") 😭

How will the two links react to it? Will they be upset? Confused? Making some weird plot? I do wonder😭😭😭

I need two games at the time to maximize busyness

I hope the ask wasnt too long! I hope you have a good day!💕

Me when I pause anything to play colourful stage on my phone 💀 Zelda is good but nothing can break the hold Miku has on me, and you gotta do those daily challenge missions right? I did one while answering this and was ONE note off of a full combo I almost cried

I think he'd be less bothered by the fact that you didn't completely turn off his game to play another yk? it'd be one thing if you were going between totk and a Mario game - or god forbid totk to sksw or botw

you're still somewhat focused on the link who's on the main screen, he's just taking a backseat as you wait for the dragons to recover. It's fine, he's fine, not jealous one little bit. Not even as you pull out your ds and... You're playing with another link? Sure he's still there, standing around, waiting, with his strings cut. Standing still, maybe facing the screen if he was lucky with how you left him - could he dare move himself to face you if he wasn't already. No he couldn't you'd notice something was off with him wouldn't you? Yeah you're still focused enough that that could cause issues. Until the dragon starts glowing again. And you're still focused on that other guy.

Meanwhile little time (that's something intresting too, should it be proper lu time back in a child's body or would he be someone different again. Maybe for different playthroughs... also the angst of baby time getting out and seeing what should have been his fate with the hero's shade??? sobbing) is relishing that you see him as being worthy of more attention. Well until it hits him that he's only a placeholder for you to wait out a ten minute timer (yeah I've done the dragon wait a bunch - my go too was writing or revising during it sdgsfdgvs)

in other words I think they could both be bitter at each other and if it wasn't for the fact that they're older and (possibly) more mature, I think it would be a very very similar situation to what menace wrote out here Heck if we're going with a younger time I could see him getting into trouble to draw your attention back onto him with tears maybe even retaliating if it carries on long enough. But the only reason there's an issue is because it's explicitly another zelda game. if it was a different one or another genre entirely then it wouldn't be any issue whatsoever <3

anyone who thought to check this out gets to know that toya aoyagi is my voice claim for tears :) I love him and his voice is just *chef's kiss* I also got his birthday card in 30 pulls :3

[blackstarchanx3new]

FSR rambles ANOTHER ONE (It's the 22nd one)

Dark's mind reading is just, so damn fun.

Like Green is gambling SO MUCH putting his trust into Dark but it pays off because Dark can TELL Green is truly putting faith in him to give him the benefit of the doubt.

And that means A LOT to him.

The fact Green doesn't want to hurt him MEANS A LOT TO HIM.

Dark knows this man ain't stupid.

I like him giving Green a goodbye hug and a kiss on the cheek hah.

It's so sweet in a way.

And his parting words being words of affirmation for Green.

He can be a very sweet person when given kindness.

I just like them a lot.

Green was a pretty good influence on Dark. XDD

Dark Link's dramatic ass flying away is so funny to me and probably just me.

Like Dark doesn't typically fly or flex his wings much but they DO exist. XDDD

He can kinda just hover like Shadow but I don't think that's been shown even ONCE XDDDD

Dark isn't really the type to flex his magic in general though.

The Headspace IS HIS BODY which uhhh is a horror.

Time to mention: It changing from a desolate blue to that bright pink woodsy area afterward is kinda a reflection of Dark and the person he's talking to's mental space.

It'll change again later when he talks to Blue too.

Now that Dark Ran off we get an insight back into Green. Even though he technically WON this interaction? If you could word it that way, he got kinda what he wanted...He's still kinda overloaded with bullshit, poor guy.

Whatcha looking at Green-

...UH HI LINK????

WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE???

And in Dark's outfit did ya swap? 👀

Link's just mumbling to himself about wtf just happened...which uhhh, Link. You just take the hobby of stalking yourself???

he doesn't seem to be aware of Green at all until Green makes himself known.

Not before his face bugs out. XD

Ngl. this is one of my favorite interactions its SO stupid.

The dialogue is up there in scenes that make me laugh just to read.

Like, Link my guy, did you ACTUALLY think for a SECOND that shit would work???

Link's eyes bugging out completely as he runs in terror from Green has to be up there in stupid shit. It's so ridiculous and amazing just tickles my brain lmfao. It's so dumb. XDDD

Link cycles through all 4's personalities for a second X'DD

1st panel: Vio

2nd Panel: Green

4th and 5th: Blue

6th being Red obviously

Green is so fed up with him after being kicked in the damn stomach. XDDD

Sooooo, we didn't learn a LOT from Link's appearance outside of the fact he's still lingering around within the headspace. Which is ODD because Dark hasn't brought him up or seemingly hasn't run into him...Despite Link STALKING him it seems.

Weeiiiird.

Link's adoption of the black tunic is odd to say the least. His mental state is still fractured and torn considering it's appearance.

And it dawns on me I don't think Green goes on to NEVER disclosed to anyone Link's still running around. X'DDDD (Re-reading FSR together like this is fun isn't it?)

A LOT of shit happens to where he didn't really have time to squeeze it in but it is funny this scene is still pretty up in the air on it's importance for now.

Also since this is rambles I don't have to keep secrets on who the weirdo next to Link is in the last panel.

That's FSRA Link. Which just leaves all sorts of weird implications I'll let you sit with, considering that man is from 100+ years in the future...

;)

True to his word, Shadow is able to tell Dark was active. Oh no.

LOL also not Zelda calling Green by the wrong name. X'D Poor girl isn't used to being around the four dudes her bestie splits into. (She literally had NO idea they were split until AFTER the final battle lmfao and then they walked back to the sanctuary and boom.)

So yeah Shadow tries to wrestle Dark back because dude's a dangerous little ball of evil. XD

He SAW what he did to Vio first hand and didn't wanna have that happen to Green.

I'll never not find it funny Dark can summon his sword in that form, but literally can't even use it. X'DDDD

He also yanked Green's arm away from the sword so he didn't get hit because Dark's very attached to Green at this point.

Shadow's got beef with the little guy and Zelda making a force field, and Shadow proceeding to SMACK into it always gets a laugh it's so dumb.

Art wise it's kinda funny just how LONG Dark's tentacles are in this scene considering I shortened them later. XD

Also...Considering recent updates Dark responding violently when in danger is...Well something. XDDD

Poor Green and his savior complex-

"I can help him-" - Green about the horrific monster that tormented everyone.

Shadow even points this out but Shadow's also projecting HARD onto Dark X'DDD

"I'm an evil horrible liar so this bitch must be too" - Shadow.

Shadow personally just wants everything to be perfect and peachy and that can't happen with Dark so he wants the easy way out so to speak.

Shadow sweetie, it's not your curse. XD

(Funny we're bringing that up...Shadow Link hasn't been in the headspace at ALL...Interesting huh?)

OOOMF.

That shit must have HURT to hear out of Green considering him and Shadow were doing MOSTLY well before that.

Green's been bottling his negative feelings towards Shadow for a LONG time now and JUST seeing what Shadow did while with Vio it was inevitable dude would snap.

Green immediately regrets what he said though.

Dark cuddling Green is always cute.

Shadow got called out and now feels like shit.

Not Zelda sitting here like "Genuinely wtf are yall talking about rn???"

He can't even argue with Green considering it was pretty true. X"D Even if it was a low blow.

Zelda blowing a hole through the castle has lead to...ISSUES.

Shadow's acting a bit ominously.

Mmm fast travel.

And bitter unresolved feelings. Our favorite.

Hiiiii it's been months since I touched this lmao.

Back into the game:

Green has a lot of hesitance too, he just chooses to stuff that down in turn for a more peaceful option.

he's aware dark has caused hurt and is INSANE but wants to give him a chance.

I think in a lot of ways he regrets that Shadow never had help because they just met "Too late" in a lot of ways.

Shadow had already committed many horrible deeds before anyone had a glimpse of being able to help him.

While Dark is still very new and able to be saved from a life of regret or villainy, cause Green recognized that spark of good in him that could blossom into a good person if they give it a try.

meanwhile, Shadow's being self loathing.

...To be fair a lot of what Dark Link says DOESN'T make sense due to it being...from an outsider's perspective utter nonsense (He knows Zelda lore lmfao.) but his claims Shadow just IS ganon are clearly getting to shadow cause he's got self doubt.

Meanwhile Green tries to remind him of his progress, and thinks Shadow and Dark could have something to bond over.

Aaaand there is it boy doesn't wanna be reminded of how much he's fucked up. It's hard when there's a mirror pointed at you.

Green's still feeling bad about what he said.

And since people missed it, and I was being cheeky:

Green and Shadow did share a lil smooch.

Dark isn't happy about it. XD

To be fair, I'd be pretty pissed off if my only goal was to get a lil smooch smooch and people were handing em to lord ganon evil lord of the buttholes too.

Bask in his beauty Shadow, he sure is pretty. UwU

Shadow letting Green down not so gently that he's an idiot will always be funny.

he was backed into a corner guys, be nice to him.

Shadow's of course more concerned about Vio rn.

I'd be worried about his reaction too...As we see later it's not a happy welcome to Dark Link XDDD

Dark Link isn't having being shoved back into Shadow's hat.

Shadow in a moment of...idk what you'd call it, clarity I suppose decides to let him stay with Green.

it's up to the reader to assume WHY he did that.

Realizing he makes Dark Link feel unsafe, just not wanting to argue. Overall there's hesitation on his end.

So he ends up in Green's hat. XD

Green asking a reasonable question about how he's gonna go get Blue...considering his physical form is WITH Green and Shadow.

And Dark responds verbally. So far I think he's only growled in that form. XD

So uhhh, Shadow's pissed off Dark refused to speak last night. XDDD

So if you're curious: My vision for Dark in this form is that speaking is VERY difficult for him to do so he just...doesn't.

This is his dormant form, so his "Functionality" is mostly...nonexistant.

This is a form that doesn't take a lot of effort to maintain or upkeep so his actual abilities aren't very wide.

Like he CAN talk. But simple phrases and words are easiest for him to do. Which is why he repeats "Yeah yeah" twice.

Shadow also fails to realize even THIS form was a step up from the fact Dark was a simple sphere with an eye before. XD

He grew a mouth to chew on Green...So he might have had the intention to speak last night and just...didn't.

But if he wanted to speak, he could just form back to his "Link" form or drag someone to the headspace.

Overall: Shadow ya dummy he probably just didn't have anything to say XD

Green coming to Dark's defense screaming "STOP IT SHADOW YOU'RE SCARING HIM!" is so funny because I without fail imagine the "HE'S AFRAID OF SANTA CLAUS!!!" "STOP IT PATRICK YOU'RE SCARING HIM!!!" spongebob bit.

Shadow letting the whole "Dad" debacle slip and Green's fucking face to that just sends me.

He looks so...judgmental. X'D

"This is how you'd treat your son?"

Dark Link giving Green the title of his "Dad" Whatever he thinks that means...because Shadow is a bad one is just, funny as hell to me.

Dark so obviously doesn't understand blood family ties (...His entire life revolves around 4 dudes who are one guy, and that guy's shadow all being in a weird as fuck relationship so uh...who blames him for not understanding family)

Affectively, Green is just someone Dark considers his family so...he's his "dad". XD

The title switch from Shadow TO Green is due to the fact he just feels more comfortable and safe WITH Green.

...Shadow uses THIS as an example of Dark being "Unreasonable" which is something else alright. XDDD

Green taking the piss out of the whole "dad" thing is pretty damn silly...Green you ARE the daddy now. X'D

I don't think Green would have tried this shit if Dark was in his Link form. XDDD

I know in the draft comic folders I got a comic where Green treats Dark differently based on his form and how Dark doesn't understand that. (him being uncomfortable with the finger chewing in his Link disguise vs his dormant form for example) and how he thinks Green's a hypocrite.

Last panel: Shadow DEFINENTLY not trying to keep everyone thinking Dark's just insane and not saying anything important.

I'll cut it off here since getting into the Darkblue segment (As I like to call it) is gonna be interesting I think XDD

[aikoiya]

LoZ - Yiga!Link is a Riot

I gotta say that the concept of Yiga!Link is effing hilarious. Especially if it's Zelink.

Because, think about it.

In this situation, Ganon has literally everything lined up perfectly. Link, his eons-long, multi-life arch-nemesis is essentially his minion & he likely doesn't even know it.

Kid's probably deep into the sauce too, man.

Then, either along comes this pretty little princess & he's like, "yeah, sorry bro, but I'm gettin' me some of that." Maybe he was kidnapped as a baby & Link & Zelda met previously as kids? Maybe she did something for him that he'd never forgotten, then when they remeet, she does something for him that seals a huge crush on her, & thus can't bring himself to kill her? I dunno, there's a lot of ways this could go. OR, he learns personally that he's the Chosen Hero, the very person he's supposed to despise & kill. Meaning that if the other members learn about it, they'll likely kill him. His whole life comes crashing down around him. The first blow to the cult's programming.

Like, it'd just be such a power move on destiny's part.

Like, as dangerous as Ganon obviously is, he simply does not win for very long. He always looses eventually.

And this would just cement that fact. Like, he had his effing arch-nemesis in the palm of his fucking hand & didn't even know it & he'll still fucking lose.

I dunno about you, but I'd be pretty damn demoralized after that.

I might just need the next 10,000 years dead before my next reincarnation to mentally recover.

---

At the same time, it does make me wonder. Why do non-Sheikah Yiga stick with them? Like, we know the reason why the Yiga was originally formed. A Hylian King from 10,000 years ago forced the Sheikah to decommission their technology, fearing it'd bring about Hyrule's demise. (Which, despite how unfair it was, he was... actually right. Makes me wonder if he actually learned that the Sheikah Tech could be taken over. Maybe he'd been an accomplished mage & had managed to use his magic to take control of the machines, then realizing that he likely wouldn't be around for the next Calamity, he ordered the Sheikah to find a way to prevent the machines from being possessed by magic. But no matter what they did, they couldn't manage to figure it out, or maybe they did for a while, but the king kept testing them to make sure it was fixed. However, much like hacking in real life, there will always be new ways to exploit the system, thus the king was left with no choice but to decommission them.)

But, anyway, what exactly do they tell their members to get them to want to stay? Hell, why were they even still a thing in BotW? Why hadn't they made their move? There were no more guards, or soldiers, only a few trained Sheikah, all of which were either too old to keep fighting or were swiftly getting there, & there'd been no royal family besides Zelda, who was keeping Calamity Ganon sealed away.

Why didn't they take over the rest of Hyrule, asserting their dominance & killing all the loyalists so that when the Hero returned, he'd be an outlaw, thus making his journey harder? (It certainly wouldn't have been the first time something like that would've happened in the series.) In fact, why reveal themselves to him when they meet? Just wait till his back is turned, then Eightfold Blade him in the back! Or have a Yiga replace the Sheikah & Hylian innkeepers/Stable Managers, then when Link rents a bed for the night, give him a poisoned complementary meal! Then, when he collapses, just execute him!

It's that easy! Or it should be, because they're effing ninja!

I mean, they were perfectly fine with killing Dorian's wife, who Dorian had been a member of the Yiga before, thus they've no issue with the act of killing.

Which, btw, why didn't they instead kidnap her, maybe even his daughters too, & use them as blackmail to keep him under their thumb?

LoZ Wild Masterlist

LoZ My Fanfic Masterlist

[rawliverandgoronspice]

i feel like nintendo tried to make Zelda perfect because of misogyny. which has always been a thing in Zelda games especially directed at Zelda as a concept and character (trapping her in crystals or statues. that you have to find her etc) it's the same age old female characters cannot have any flaws or else they're a selfish bitch. i wish we saw her be angry at rauru or something but i guess that would go against the narrative. most Zelda games at least had her show some of her emotions besides sadness ... sometimes, this one just didn't show much even if i adore her and will go and find little things in the crevices of this very black and white writing, because i know fans will always turn on her despite the fact that shes also in the writers whims while link who also follows the established status people complain about but gets no shit at all (which i also think he should not get shit for lol)

Yeah, I agree it's definitively a thing in the way female characters are written. However, BotW did show that fans could absolutely care about a less-than-perfect version of Zelda (honestly, so did Skyward Sword, Spirit Tracks --hell, even in Ocarina of Time she makes pretty crucial mistakes). Sonia is handled in the same way Zelda is too: she is paper thin, with the veneer of a more Girlboss personality that never actually meshes with the plot in any way (so it could be removed without consequence, which is a pretty good sign her writing is inorganic imo), since her only function in the story is to get killed so Ganondorf gets a stone, and Rauru gets his tragic arc.

I fully agree the series has its issues when writing women, even up until pretty recently (I'll shut up about gerudos for once in my life and be annoying about something different for a change: but BotW!Paya always made me feel pretty uncomfortable personally, as she's so overtly a character written to be a sexual fantasy before being a person, and I feel like the series didn't dare sailing these waters in quite a long time --OoT being the worst offender imo). But Zelda herself had far more interesting iterations in the series that the casual audience give her credit for, even if she does get damseled left and right and used as reward/motivation --but I feel like it's not always handled in a way that deshumanizes her, there had been interesting iterations on this idea in the series as a whole. Which is why Tears of the Kindgom feels so.... regressive to me? The series used to be much better at handling its female characters --this series gave us Midna! A character that starts off by insulting and demeaning us, mocking our powerlessness by physically embodying our terrified, kidnapped friends and using the player as a mount by force! And she's almost universally agreed-upon as one of the best written characters in the series!!

So yeah, to me, while this absolutely doesn't negate the issues this series has with its female characters, it really is a TotK problem specifically.

[shebeafancyflapjack]

Just something interesting about the differences between TOTK Ganondorf stealing the gemstone and OOT Ganonforf stealing the triforce, because people have been saying it's the same thing just in a different shape...

Except what's interesting about the Triforce is that Ganondorf doesn't "steal" it, exactly, he earns it. Because lets face it the Three Goddesses are kinda amoral, they grant gifts to those they deem worthy but not out of a desire to "save" Hyrule. Ganondorf gets the Triforce of Power because Din chooses him by how far he goes to acheive it, while Nayru chooses Zelda and Farore chooses Link. But the goddesses won't stop the other pieces from being "taken" if one goes as far to reunite them and gain all three, as what happens in Wind Waker. All three timelines of this Ganondorf keep their Triforce, even after having been defeated or sealed. It's only lost either when Din chooses to take it back, possibly because she doesn't deem Ganondorf worthy anymore, in Twilight Princess, or Link is able to take it like in A Link to the Past or the first Zelda (how Ganondorf got it back between those Idk, I can't deal with the timeline anymore).

Anyway, compare that Sonia's stone which he takes after murdering her, while it does greatly empower him, it's not something that's been divinely gifted like the Triforce. It's actually rather fragile in comparison. The Triforce embeds itself in your soul, as it were, hence why even when the sages tried to execute him in TP the power was still gifted to him by Din to escape. The gemstone however can be shattered by a weapon or just handed at random to any person who touches it. It's much more your typical fantasy mcguffen where it's like "finders keepers". The goddesses no longer play a part in what seemed to be a long game.

In fact there doesn't seem to be any reference to the three goddesses in these new games, only Hylia. And yet we also know these are supposed to take place at the end of the timeline, so far after all the other games.

The only signs of the Triforce we see are on some markings, including the Zonai clothes. So my theory is the Zonai were able to harness the magic of the Triforce and the old gods into their technology, but the goddesses don't really care about those. Part of me suspects the goddesses stopped caring about Hyrule much after Wind Waker, as Ganondorf says they abandoned them (still the creepiest moment from him, ngl).

"But Rauru was the first King of Hyrule!" Uh, yeah...I don't buy that. Not because I think Skyward Link and Zelda founded Hyrule, that's never said, they could have just lived in a small settlement down on the land, nothing big enough to be a kingdom. But also I just feel like it's the Zonai trying to rewrite history in their favour.

For example, if you were to ask someone in England who our first King was, most folk would say William the Conqueror. And this is what most of us were taught in school and that prior to him we were just warring minor kingdoms and at some point the Romans turned up for a bit. But anyone who's watched the Last Kingdom knows it was Alfred the Great who was first called "King of the Anglo Saxons" as opposed to the areas under Scandinavian rule, so some credit him with being the first "King of the English" to some degree, but it was his grandson Aethelstan who would rule over all the land that would become England - and this is all about a century before Will One comes anywhere near the country. But then he takes over and claims those old kings didn't count, he wipes the slate clean despite the land he's King of having existed for centuries, and I suspect Rauru did similar. Don't get me wrong, I think Rauru is a good guy, but Ganondorf rightly calls him out for his arrogance and being a conquerer, and I think a huge part of Ganondorf launching his attacks was a fear of having the Gerudo, his people, submit to another King like the other races did.

Another point to add is that Ganondorf comments about Rauru marrying a "Hyrulean" woman, implying the land was known as Hyrule before Rauru took power. We know he also got the other races to bow to him as well. We don't know what this Hyrule was before Rauru, maybe a scatter of settlements like early England or maybe it was the newly formed land Link and Tetra find after Wind Waker, who knows. This is why I think even the events we are shown in the tears are events still happening at the end of the timeline and the next 10,000 years are all part of this new era unique to these new open world games, as opposed to a reiminagining of the events of Ocarina of Time. Because for me there's too many differences for them to be the same event, the lack of the Triforce being the main one. This is instead more of Hyrule repeating the events Demise cursed upon them back at the beginning of it all. Or it could be his curse coming to full fruition after tens of thousands of years, as Ganondorf physically resembles him by the end more than ever before. In short, this Ganondorf is not the same as in OOT, TP or Wind Waker.

I'm curious to see if the Triforce will ever make a real return in the series, but I also feel like Nintendo are enjoying not feeling obliged to use it in every Zelda (lets be honest it was a little forced and underwritten in SS).

[sunset-peril]

Villain here. Yeah fr. I was kind of a jerk in my post/tags but only because (especially on that day) I was quite frustrated and fed up of the "m*phlink happens in aoc" "um aksually m*phlink is canon in aoc ☝""zelink can never happen in aoc" arguments I kept seeing online in various places.

I do understand wishful thinking and all but it has felt like nobody saying these things actually played the game (or watched the cutscenes all the way through), just purely repeating what others said and running with the fact the champions are alive while ignoring the actual content presented in hwaoc.

Like, if I was a writer setting out to make m*phlink canon, I would not give her a single scene of focus (her introduction) and then have her in the background for the rest of the game, while writing zelink scenes like that castle hallway moment that feel pulled straight from a fan's pre-calamity zelink fanfic lol. Koei Techmo/Nintendo's intent seems pretty obvious (especially since they went and added an entire extra zelink montage in DLC content), so I really don't know how "m*phlink canon in aoc" became such a popular idea?

There's also the robot in the room: Terrako. The name means "earth child" and becomes glued to both Zelda and Link as if they're his parents. I mean one of the DLC scenes even makes them both look like out-of-breath parents who have been searching high and low for their missing toddler (the comedy of the moment being that Terrako is actually more than fully capable of handling himself and they just missed the intense battle that happened)

NOTE: If anyone decided to reblog this, please do not add any ship tags for anyone. That's gonna be my policy moving forward for content like this.

~~~

Completely and entirely understandable. No judgement here. Can't judge actually, I'm a problem sometimes. I've been guilting of misinterpretations too. I had my crap called on my characterizations of Rhoam called out this year, and I've had to revisit both BotW and AoC to fix it. If I blocked everyone who had One of Those Days where they decided to pick a fight against the Fandom, especially for a mischaracterization, I'd be blocking all my mutuals, a lot of people I respect in the Fandom, and also I'd be blocking myself. We're human it happens. So long as you don't endorse being a butt.

I lose my lid on misinterpretations a lot more than I really want to admit. Especially when they have that real coercive wording of "accept the thing as canon or else," or just refuse to acknowledge itself as a headcanon, then get butthurt when they are (very politely or gently) fact checked by someone else. Both of which could have been entirely avoided if people were upfront with whether the Canon had been regarded or not (which is usually what sinks my battleship).

I've sniffed both ends of the skunk (does that saying work?) concerning this whole mess with AoC and BotW and all that jazz just from fic writing alone. Having ZeLink be canon and have there be a true reason for the Zora Armor's existence? Yikes. Piss keyboard warriors on both sides off. (the gist of it being that Link was part of a dying sub-tribe to the Hylians and agreed to an arranged marriage to Mipha to prevent himself from having to commit inc*st, however, Mipha was clear that she knew Link didn't love her and that he only agreed in order to save his sister, and also willingly dissolved their contract when he fell in love with Zelda instead. But that's another post)

But I'd never try to coerce someone into accepting that as the reason for BotW's semi-confusing set up. For all canon purposes, I blame the Zora themselves for not critically thinking about Link's current situation, and believe that they may have been unintentionally manipulative to him simple because they weren't really thinking about Link's complete absence of memory/sense of self. Yet again, not something I'd force somebody to believe as canon. And emphasis on "unintentionally," because I really don't see malice in any of them. Especially Sidon (and whoo, he's a whole other dumpster fire)

As someone who would easily place Age of Calamity into the My Top 3 Zelda Games (shoot me, I know), I've spent a stupid amount of time analyzing that game. The idea for ZeLink being pregnant at the time of Calamity innocently enough came from me and my cousins analyzing the game together and actually making fun of the sheer waistline difference between the white Prayer/Priestess Dress and her pre-Calamity armor. And don't you know that would make people boil if I tried to present that as canon 😂

I fully believe Terrako is 10/10 intended and written to be Zelda and Link's "son." But I wouldn't use any fanon discourse to try and prove that. I don't think I need to with the game in hand. There can be a bit of "stretch" I think that ZeLink fans pull in determining how early in the game Terrako "decides" Link's his dad (I don't believe this happened in the cutscene where Link defends Zelda from the Yiga and Terrako beeps a ton and kind of bites at his ankles, which is where I've seen a lot of ZeLink-ers say it happens). But to me there's absolutely no doubt that Nintendo and Koei intended for Terrako to be their child. And some fans' decisions to try and define One Instance™️ that Zelda/Link/Terrako became one family doesn't detract from the fact that the game heavily appears to be going in that direction. I mean, Zelda is clearly his mom, don't need a degree in Nintendo to figure that one out, which raises the question of why Terrako is almost always following Link around instead of his "mom." I also won't force people to accept that if they don't want to, as long as they at least acknowledge what the canon is actually saying and not what their fanon desires. Points for the newbie fans/offline fans for that one because they're not in this discourse mud all the live long day! (I also watched the Restoring Terrako cutscene again to make sure I'm not accidentally lying, and when Terrako wakes back up and recognizes Zelda, Link does that nod + very slight smile thing that he does to Zelda when Calamity is defeated. He nods a lot in the game of course, but I think those are the only two times he's nodded and smiled. Don't quote me I didn't rewatch the entire game)

The DLC at times definitely feels like Link and Zelda dealing with their little toddler, haha. That picture he takes of them both at the end OOF.

Honestly, it really feels like Mipha is ignored once the Zora Princess plotline is over. Unless I'm severely miscounting, she has about as many "alone" moments with Daruk as she does with Link. And ain't nobody shipping them in AoC! (as far as I'm aware, I'm sure there's someone)

I feel like if Link was supposed to have any chance of falling in love with Mipha in the BotW storyline/universe at ALL, they would have made that astoundingly clear in Age of Calamity. But they don't. It feels even more like a joke in AoC than it did in BotW/TotK. The DLC slams the lid on those fingers even harder.

In fact, we could sit here for the whole night debating about whether or not any ZeLinkness in TotK was already written/known to Nintendo when this game was made AND whether or not they specifically made this game Heavy on the ZeLink or Not Heavy on the ZeLink simply because of whether or not there would be ZeLink in TotK. Because there was at least some time where there was production overlap between the two games. No clue how much, but there was some.

Actually, despite whether or not I wanted to make Link end up with Zelda/Mipha, I still wouldn't have cast her aside like it did. After the Zora Princess plot when Mipha bonds with Ruta, it starts feeling like her only driving motive is her affections for Link. Which we know from Champion's Ballad, the Zora Princess plotline, AND when Sidon/Riju/Yunobo/Teba fall out of the sky that her love for her brother, father and people equates (I would actually say "exceeds") any Link-related motives or personality points that Mipha had. So I would force the story/game to put Mipha in places where Link is completely out of sight out of mind. Because there are some parts of BotW/AoC where it acts like Link's her only purpose in life. Which is a problem.

If I wanted to make sure the public knew that Link was supposed to love her and not Zelda, I would have made it dang sure it was obvious. And the only thing I really find obvious in AoC is that her affections are played almost like a joke (or at best a subplot where everything but the beginning and end were cut from the game last minute). I can't remember how to unlock the Zora Armor in AoC, what quests you have to do, but I do remember it was a LOT. Like, the fact that you have to do a LOT of mediocre side quests (I think you have to be post-game to unlock it? I cant remember, but it raises more points if you do) to unlock it instead of it being accessed through the main story says something about Nintendo's intentions, and to me that "something" smells like "included for reference/fanservice only". It was actually one of the last clothing items I got simply because there were a lot of hoops to go through to get it. (I mainly wanted to unlock it to read the description, and the description almost sounds like Link is making a joke of it, or if he's actually concerned that he could GET IN TROUBLE for having it which... raises a lot of flags).

I would have made sure Link got that armor during the main story if he was supposed to love Mipha. I would've made sure to include a part with Zelda and Terrako that more or less says "I know you like him, but he's not your dad" if he wasn't supposed to end up with Zelda. However, neither of those things exist. And they would HAVE to exist (or something very similar) to outweigh everything else occurring in that game.

The whole rest of the game smells so heavily of a ZeLink fanfiction, I actually want to laugh. I couldn't have based ZeLink fanfiction so heavily off this game if there was no ZeLink.

What also makes me want to laugh? Every interaction Urbosa and Revali have in that game. HYLIA she seems so done with him.

[jheselbraum]

Another thing I'll say about oot ganondorf is that I underestimated the bones of that man.

I came into botw having only played albw, which I loved but didn't really have ganondorf in it at all, just ganon and even then he was kinda the 11th hour power up for the actual villain of the game. I knew of Ganondorf but I'd never played the games he was in, at least not all the way through. So when he showed up in totk I was like "oh neat, hope they're not racist about it" (we all know how that turned out) but I didn't really have context for like... what people who had played oot and tp and ww all the way through were really expecting, if that makes sense? And when the game first came out and all the "holy shit totk retconned oot?" video essays followed suit I looked at oot ganondorf and totk ganondorf and went "no there's no way they're the same person, any more than zelda and sonia are the same person" and I still think that's true but for a different reason now.

Cause as someone who quit their first run of oot halfway through the shadow temple because I have no nostalgia for that game and the revelation that on top of all the bullshit link was going through, the royal family you were helping put back in power used to black bag people they didn't like to be tortured in their torture dungeon before ganondorf's coup proved too high a cost for 17 year old me to justify the time spent slogging through the dated gameplay.

And at that point in the game, you haven't been to Gerudo Valley yet, and you haven't seen what Ganondorf actually looks like now, and I think those two things are really important.

Cause, the orientalism of the whole concept of the 'save the carpenters' sidequest aside, the first thing you as a player learn about the Gerudo now that you've actually gotten to interact with them is that they're... actually pretty chill. I hate the stealth sidequests in the early zelda games because they're fucking difficult and the Gerudo Valley one in particular is fucking racist as shit (other people have explained why a lot better than I ever could but having your society of all brown women suddenly start respecting the white male protagonist after he proved himself in combat is fucked up) but they never actually hurt you unless you're in direct combat with the guard minibosses and, connotations aside, I think that given the context it's important to note that. Because your fight is with Ganondorf, yeah, and he's a Gerudo, yeah, but as far as we can tell, the Gerudo don't have any particular ongoing beef with the Hylians, and if I had to ascribe real-world terms to it, I feel like the implication buried under the orientalism inherent to the situation is that the Gerudo view the Hylians as citizens of a vassal state that is ruled by their king, and not as enemy combatants in an ongoing war. To them, Ganondorf assassinated the Hylian king, took control of Hyrule, and that was that. They're not allowed in en masse but if they can prove they have a half decent resume then they're fine, it's whatever.

Additionally, there's the part during the Spirit Temple where Navi is a racist little shit. When you enter the room with the giant Sand Goddess statue as an adult, she says that the face of the statue looks "evil." And you've already seen this room as a child so when I got to that dialogue I expected her face to actually be different in the future and it wasn't. She was still just sitting there, minding her business. Nice one, Navi. And what that line of dialogue is in a Doylist context is a hint that you're supposed to desecrate the Gerudo's temple in order to progress. Nice one, Link. (Side note, were Koume Kotake and Nabooru just... locked in that back room until someone came in and desecrated the temple? Cause like. There wasn't a fire exit or anything that I could see). But what it is in a Watsonian context is a reflection on the general Hylian view of the Gerudo and their gods, despite the fact that Navi is a fairy and not a Hylian.

So in the Gerudo Valley, the Gerudo aren't really all that hostile towards you, and you endear yourself to them pretty quickly. Link and Navi are more hostile than the Gerudo as a whole. And most of this interpretation is buried under implications and orientalist writing, but it's still important context for later.

So, progressing on to Ganondorf's castle and the final fight, we the player see that Ganondorf looks different than he did in the child timeline, and even looks different from the phantom version of him from the forest temple, before he put on his mask. And you see that his ears are pointy now. And I don't put a lot of stock into the ear racist in Castle Town in the child timeline, I don't think Hylians have pointy ears literally to hear the voices of the gods. Maybe that's just me, because I came from botw where the plot was Zelda the Hylian woman with pointy ears who is literally the incarnation of a goddess cannot hear gods despite her pointy ears, and totk where Link is the only one at Lookout Landing who can speak to the Bargainer, and only Link and Jerrin are able to hear the voice of the Horned God, both of whom are gods and despite the fact that Lookout Landing is crawling with pointy eared Hylians, so obviously whatever's going on with all that it's got jack shit to do with ear shape. But I do think the ear racist guy is, dev intended, just spouting racist bullshit the Hylians came up with to make themselves feel superior. So the choice to make post-triforce-acquisition Ganondorf's ears pointy is an interesting one, because the only thing about Ganondorf that we know changed in the past seven years was that he went into the sacred realm and acquired a piece of the triforce. And I'm not the first person to say that the triforce gave Ganondorf divine madness. Hell, I even knew about that interpretation going in to the game, but what the choice to alter Ganondorf's ears in the future does is it implies a reason for why everything just started getting bad in the adult timeline recently.

Cause you can go back to the child timeline in oot and everything's... fine. Like Ganondorf is in power, we haven't gone back to before that happened because the Deku Tree is still dead af and Zelda isn't in the courtyard, and occasionally the people in Castle Town will mention some sort of commotion at the castle that happened recently, but he didn't gain the Hylian throne and immediately start freezing Zoras and terrorizing Kokiri and genociding Gorons.

And none of this is ever touched upon directly by the narrative, it is entirely within the realm of implications, but at the very least it was enough to change my opinion on oot era Ganondorf from "Look at how he's designed, how compelling can he be?" to "oh, wait, actually there is something really interesting in here under all the racist writing"

Oot ganondorf is not a character that is particularly well written, Nintendo dropped the ball from his inception to the present day, but even if I don't necessarily share that disappointment, because my expectations were different, now that I've played oot and know what the quality of this character's bones really is and have a better picture of what kind of character people were expecting I can at least understand why people were disappointed when totk ganondorf was nothing like oot era ganondorf.

[flyfish1999]

AO3 tag game \o/ !!!

thank youuu for tagging me @ragecndybars !!! best of luck with your wips ^_^ !!!!!!!!! without further ado ...

How many works do you have on AO3? 103 !! \o/ !!! i hit the 100 mark just at the end of december .. and then didn't post all january lol ^_^

What's your total AO3 word count? only 97,635 ! pretty unsurprising, everything i write tends to be a oneshot, and very short oneshots at that ! not even an average of 1000 words per fic though ehehe ; ; !

How many fandoms have you written for, and what are they? 33 ! ofc this is only ao3's number, some of these count for the same fic being tagged with multiple series tags, but (ignoring my .. eugh ... 6 2020 original work posts i refuse to look at ...) my top fandoms are: persona 3 [40] , persona 5 [15] , trauma center [8] , persona 4 [6] , pokemon [5] ! wow ... i'm honestly surprised, but i feel like i shouldn't be ^_^;;

Top five fics by kudos: all of these are from over three years ago, so i don't remember them very well ^_^;; and i'm kind of scared to reread them now, but here goes: we won't slip through your fingers - 763 kudos ! a cute p5 found family fic with akira, sojiro and futaba ^_^ i still see this pop up in my daily kudos email every so often ! it seems like the type of thing i like reading myself for p5, so i'm not surprised :p Indistinct and Incomprehensible - 515 kudos ! another p5 sakura family fic (sensing a theme?) but this time interrogation room flavoured ! i've always loved the interrogation room hook, probably because i'm such a huge fan of whump fic ^_^;; i'll never forget when a friend excitedly messaged me saying she was about to send me a great interrogation room fic .. only to realise it was mine :p The Days When My Father's Here - 402 kudos ! another- I PROMISE I DON'T ONLY WRITE P5 SAKURA FAMILY FIC LOL ...! cute and short, a shortcake biscuit of a read imo :3c (he left the town long before) yet his house is still standing in the same place - 400 kudos ! akira talking tatsujun ... i've always liked this premise, even as i tend to lean into the angstier side of p2 nowadays ^_^ but no matter what, i have always been a long title connoisseur ... i hope it's toned down in recent years ehehe ! Unconventional Naming Ceremony - 275 kudos ! yeah ... the truth come out ... i used to be a huge fan of the sonic movie >_< i was literally on the phone to my friend the other day getting bullied about how much i used to like it lol !!!!!!! they didn't even know me then ... c'mon ... i hope this is a cute fic. i'm too scared to touch it. lol.

Do you respond to comments? i try to as much as i can !!! sometimes i forget, and sometimes i just don't have anything i might want to say other than thank you for commenting, but all of them mean so much to me ^_^ rereading comments is probably about 40% of my fuel ehehe

What's the fic with the angstiest ending you've ever written? wow ...! that's difficult ! even though i write lots of angsty fic, i am a freak who can find joy in anything. the jolliest guy you could say. a mochizuki fan, possibly. in recent memory, i'd say disappearance, an alien heart beat ... even shorter than usual, but miserable the whole way through . ryoji and minato sit in a room and don't say anything. yaaaay ! (fun fact! it is partially based on a feeling i used to get when me and my ex used to sit in my room with the lights off but the tv on standby, because the overhead light was too harsh. i love watching people move under light; i love the sound of electronics that have been on for too long)

Do you write crossovers? not really ?! they're fun for crackfics, but i don't really honestly explore them that often. maybe i should !

Have you ever gotten hate on a fic? i .... don't think so ! i used to get hate anons when i was younger + stupider because i was quite literally asking for it -_-;; but rage -> if you see this, that zelda comment screenie you posted made me laugh for literally ten minutes [link]

Do you write smut? i would really like to !!!!!!! but i'm so shy >_< !!! but also i worry .. i did once, for OCs of mine, and sent it to a friend ... who immediately sent back laughing that it was 98% inner monologue, 2% actual smut .. which tracks for me lol !

Have you ever had a fic stolen? i sure hope not !

Have you ever had a fic translated? YES !!!!!!! it's always been my dream ^_^ !!! and just this year i had and then he looked right through me, as if i wasn't there translated into russian by a very kind regular commenter !!! if you see this: thank you so much, it means the world to me !!! apparently it was for a friend of theirs, who is a new fan of p3 due to the widespread translations of reload, and they really liked it ^_^ it makes me so happy to think that reload can really extend p3's reach and even more people can get a chance to experience it ...

What’s your all-time favorite ship? ryomina ofc ^_^;; ! kind of topical, but i recently scored the old kotobukiya minato figure that came with the episode "luck" drama cd ! i'll never stop talking about it, but reading episode luck's translations on the gekkouhigh livejournal is what made me love ryomina, and cemented my love of p3 as a whole ... such sweet memories ehehe

What’s a WIP that you want to finish, but don’t think you ever will? mostly things that were born of a specific emotion i was feeling when i drafted it, and don't really want to feel again if i can help it, or at least on purpose. it makes me pretty sad that i feel some of my most impactful work has come out of me feeling ... well, pretty sad ! so i just work harder every day to write just as well, if not better, than things i've written in that state :]

What are your writing strengths? aaa ... i think i'm good at laying running metaphors in a fic (which i love hearing when @p3ta says them back to me ^_^ !!!!!!!!!!!!) if that makes sense ?!?! probably because i love edgar wright movies .. callback fan writes callbacks eternally like the ouroboros lol :p i'm sisyphean !

What are your writing weaknesses? i need to buckle down and write longer fics goddamn it !!!!!!!!!! my latest work, the best beast ever is a boy you know, is also my longest work to date, at a measly 3,657 words. but i love it so much, and it's so amazing what i can do with just 2000 words more than i'm used to ! hopefully i can keep it up ^_^

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fics? it's interesting, and really enjoyable when done well (looking at some bebe writers tbh !!!!!) ... buuut, of course, it can also fall flat ! kind of related, but the closest i've ever gotten to something like this is using japanese honorifics . i know it's a little divisive, but i like it a lot when used responsibly (as i try to) ^_^;; ! overuse of stuff like -sama totally makes me feel like i'm about to tab into ouran high school host club part 1 of 13 on youtube though lol

What was the first fandom you ever wrote for? gravity falls, on a long abandoned ff.net account ! you know i was one of those guys writing it directly into the post box :]

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written so far? it's cheating, but i have two and an honourable mention. i am so happy to have returned to writing persona 3 fic ... it is one of my favourite things ^_^ first of all: alone but sane . alone but sane could be considered my magnum opus so to speak lol ... it is just one of those ideas that is so perfect. i don't know ... i am in many ways my own biggest fan. i do ofc owe my inspiration for it to @mymp3, the best messiah recipe 2008 attendee ^_^ i am so glad we're friends now :p second of all: when you're hollowed out and empty !!!! i hope to write many more fuuka and ryoji fics this year . she is so kind and so reaching in her kindness ... i aim to be more like her ..! fuuka asks, "i wonder what ryoji's doing... do you think he's still crying, like before?" and i write and write and write at last .. my honourable mention! my only zombieland saga fic, and you don't seem to understand (a shame, you seemed an honest man) .. i don't have anything to say here .. zls is a tragedy . to me

again, thanks for tagging me \o/ !!! this is ofc open to anyone who might want to play !!!! i hope you're all having a nice day :]c

[karakulialiny]

After drawing enough next gen OCs by @red-gekkouga, I thought, "Yeah, Red has some great headcanons about next gen, but mine is just as good and worthy of being illustrated and published as well." So let's get started.

Link and Zelda's family. 16 years after TotK events

Link and Zelda decided to have a child almost immediately after they got married. Gabriel turned out to be an almost identical copy of his father, except for the eyecolor. His upbringing was extremely difficult for the newlyweds because the baby turned out to be terribly restless and naughty. It all started with simple whims, like not wanting to sleep, bathe, and change a diaper. When the boy grew up, he started to make fun of his parents by throwing food in their faces, splashing in the bathroom, and jumping on their bed. But despite all this, Link did not dare to punish Gabriel in any way, as he was afraid of traumatize him. But over time, he and Zelda learned to explain to their son how to behave and how not.

Mark was born as a result of the naive hope that the second child would be a girl. Fortunately for Link and Zelda, the youngest son turned out to be the exact opposite of the older one: more calm and obedient. The spouses had already begun to think that parenthood would no longer cause them serious trouble, but that was not the case: Gabriel began to mock Mark, taking advantage of his weakness and modest nature, taking away his toys and making faces at the table. When the brothers grew up, the older one began to scare the younger one with all sorts of stories, like "Children are the result of a terrible disease that you can catch somewhere on the beach" (this is how Gabriel answered Mark's question "Where do children come from?"). Over the years, it became clear that it was Mark who was suitable for the role of heir to the throne (because out of all Zelda's children he was the most responsible), so after the restoration of the castle, the boy was taught the basics of government.

Aryll became the most successful attempt to have a child, as Link and Zelda wanted a girl from the very beginning. Link decided to name his daughter after his sister since he missed her very much. Zelda did not mind, as she had already dreamed of breaking the cycle of naming girls in royal family "Zelda" (just like many fans, as I noticed). By nature, the girl turned out to be more like Gabriel: restless, but not naughty. Link showed a special love for his daughter, which at first made Gabriel and Mark jealous. Fortunately, over time, the brothers and sister found a common language with each other: Mark became Aryll's "guardian angel", and Gabriel spent time with his sister, arranging crazy entertainment, like rolling down a hill in a barrel or pranks on Mark. Aryll's favorite animals are pigs and frogs.

Sheikah trio next gen. 16 years after AoC events

Rei and Tenn are Robbie and Purah's twins. They should not have been born at all, as Purah believed that the children would distract her important scientific work. However, anything can be planned, but a woman in love with a good-natured nerd, despite everything that happens around, remains a woman in love. Fortunately, Impa agreed to babysit her niblings from time to time, and Purah was ready for the fact that, at least in the future, she could raise a faithful assistant from her child. But she never expected that there would be two of these children at once. Well, at least Robbie and Impa were very good as father and aunt, and Purah didn't lose her mind at this stage of her life. Rei at first did not want to devote herself to science at all and wanted to study martial arts more. But having learned the terrible backstory of her aunt, the girl nevertheless changed her mind and decided to study botany. Tenn, on the other hand, always admired the work of his father and even helped him in assembling mechanisms.

Haya is a little daughter of Impa and my OC, who already has ToyHouse profile. As mentioned on the picture, the girl was named after a dragon fruit. Alas, I have not yet come up with some interesting backstory for her, but you can already see her in one of the Hyrule Park specials.

I'm not yet giving any guarantee that Gabriel, Mark and Aryll will become canon in my AU lore, since I can do something extremely unpredictable with Link and Zelda (I write this so as not to ruin the intrigue of potential readers from reading the comic). But Rei, Tenn and Haya are 100% canon characters in Hyrule Park. They will appear in a fanfiction related to its lore called Afterlife. So, stay tuned😉

[tuliptiger]

Ok ok ok last totk rant. Maybe a little nicer this time after playing it in a gentle way for a bit. I thiiiink my biggest gripe is that I don't really feel they asked and answered the question after BOTW was over, how do we continue this world and this story? What does it look like after Link and Zelda are reunited? How do we answer some of those loose end plots IF they need answering?

You know? I feel like there were a lot of questions to ask and it felt like they just wanted to start the story and plot over completely but with the same sand box elements, just keep the aesthetics but get rid of everything else because it's easier and quicker for production if we can pump out a game everyone has already liked.

I also feel like Totk got choked out by corporate decisions, trends and keeping everything dulled and dimmed down for a younger audience. Which is kind of fine because honestly I don't really know who the audience for totk was, if it was general or targeted at younger audiences. That is certainly what it feels like for a large majority of the game.

In which case, I need to come to terms with the fact it wasn't ever aimed at me regardless of the money I spend on it and I will always be disappointed because of that.

I did actually enjoy, kind of playing it for the first time in a couple months for a couple of hours. But I played it like I played botw, mid world with my horse and slowly kind of picked around the map in one central spot I liked for a little bit. Enjoyed the flora and fauna, didn't take battles too seriously or just ran away. Focused on an areas quests instead of shooting all over all 3 maps, without my horse or a mode of transportation.

I honestly hate the build system and I know I'm bitching about the things that didn't happen, and that I won't change anything by complaining but fr a mount system to me works so much better for open world games. I hate "paying" to make a vehicle or going through the motions of making a vehicle. It's cold and distant to me, I want my horse or a "living" mount companion to hang out with on my adventures. Bleh so much wasted potential and so many interesting questions that could've been asked but just weren't.

What's an interesting way to navigate the maps that gives players the freedom they want but isn't cumbersome? Somehow they made the horse controls worse which I honestly don't understand how that even happened, considering they did NOT improve or add anything to the horse system. Vehicles are a pain because yeah, the buying your vehicles aspect but also the menus, the menus and menus and menus and the scrolling through all your items. The fact that you not only have ultrahand but it was annoying ENOUGH that they added a specific tool to try and circumvent the annoyance of rebuilding vehicles.

And I can't even get started on the erasure of the sheika and sheika technology AND the fucking guardians and I cannot believe I'm saying it but I do actually miss the guardians. I think the battles with them were awesome and they were scary as hell and I liked not only running from them but knowing that they can cover a lot of distance quickly added to the thrill. It was so incredibly lazy to pave over them with "just another ancient civilization". Another question that could have or actually was asked this time and they just didn't want to answer it because it took effort to figure it out. "How do we continue with the sheika and guardians considering the calamity's impact on them? How do we not repeat botws ganon taking over the guardians when he awakens again?" I think pretty interesting questions! That will never be answered.

I miss having my horse teleport to me and not need to be within 500 ft of me. Quality of life and functionality just took a nose dive to me. Anyway! Totk is a different beast I suppose, the only way I'm going to enjoy it it seems is as slowly as I can and try and enjoy the things I liked about botw and the rare new things I find in totk.

I don't think I'll get over feeling disrespected by Nintendo and the developers though tbh, I am a chump for paying 70 dollars for a large dlc of a game I liked though and they knew it too. Fuck Nintendo, it's kind of always been that way but also like, fuck Nintendo.

[gay-jesus-probably]

(Feel free to ignore this-! I’m just happy to hear someone’s deep takes on Zelda)

I really love your deep dives and interpretations/discussions on the Gerudo people and their history, influence and life in BOTW/TOTK (I totally agree with all you’ve said)

I just want to ask/Point out (after reading your imperialism post about TOTK) didn’t the Zora for many years like- not want to serve or be a part of the Hylian families army either? Like, even before Mipha’s death, weren’t the Zora very much against conforming to the Hylian’s rules and such? (In every game?) I’m a bit confused on how Hyrule is split up, the Zora’s having their own kingdom(s), the Rito and Goron’s having elder’s/their own leaders but still serving the royal family??

It’s always bothered me how these separate races all still have statues to the Goddess Hylia (Started in BOTW) and not their own deity’s to pray to or follow (Like the Zora praying to Nayru makes sense, or even something like Jabu Jabu to bring back- or the Rito could’ve prayed to Valoo, a great dragon or something.)

It just feels like Nintendo COULD’VE put so much care into all their races stories and histories! But oops no this game will be for Kids(TM) and we can’t put anything too deep or serious. Makes me sad :( I wanted to see them in a deeper context.

Oh yeah, it's very weird that they just put zero effort into explaining some of the worldbuilding. I mean, in BOTW it makes perfect sense to have the races be off doing their own things! It's post apocalypse, Hyrule does not exist anymore, these different communities have no real reason to interact with each other! And I really liked that BOTW outright showed that there was no particular effort for diplomacy, but people still got along as individuals - I liked that we saw different races hanging around each other. I loved that there were Gerudo in Goron Town to trade for their gems, I loved that Goron were allowed into Gerudo Town because they're a race of rock people that legitimately don't have any real need for gender and just use masculine terms by their own choice, and the Gerudo understood that. And I loved the whole Tarrey Town sidequest, because it actually felt really satisfying to build up a new town that had inhabitants from all the races, not for any particular reason, but just because they were people that wanted to live there and work together. They didn't need a big central government to make it a whole Thing; they were just getting by.

And we also saw the less good side of these things, like that one guy in Hateno that greeted you at the gate, and decided Link was trustworthy specifically because he was Hylian, making it clear that xenophobia still existed. I like that Kass was kind of thrown by Link asking if he was a giant bird, and the implication that Link was being kinda insensitive there and Kass was choosing not to be offended. I liked that there was a Hylian couple on their honeymoon in Rito village because the guy genuinely loved the town and its culture, while his new wife looked down on the Rito and hated being around them. And I liked that the older Zora still held a grudge against Hyrule for many things, up to and including the fact that Mipha died defending it, and the older generation would rather risk everyone's wellbeing than accept help from a Hylian that had been involved. And I like that you can run into other Hylian's near Zora's domain that outright tell you Zora have been trying to recruit them to do something important, but they all refused to get involved because they don't think that those weird fish people could have anything serious going on and it all seemed really sketchy.

My point is, BOTW really did feel like it'd been a hundred years since the end of the world, and everyone was just trying to get by and live their lives. You saw people being open minded and accepting other races for no other reason than the fact that they were all people, and you saw people being petty and bigoted just because they didn't trust people that looked and acted differently from them, but for the most part people were all just getting by and doing their own thing. BOTW gave the impression that Hyrule had been an equal alliance between the Hylian's, Zora, Goron, Rito and Gerudo (and with the Sheikah having a considerably less equal role, specifically built on the Sheikah having been forced to submit to cultural genocide to save their own lives, and the Yiga clan being the survivors that fought back instead), with Hyrule acting as sort of the core of the alliance, if only due to literally being in the geographic middle.

I mean fuck, the existence of the Divine Beasts suggests that things are equal! Yeah, Hyrule has a royal family with holy powers due to literally being the descendants of a Goddess, and they're the ones that always get the reincarnation of the Hero that's the only one who can wield the bullshit OP magic sword... but they don't get a Divine Beast (Link's dinky little DLC motorcycle doesn't count). The Divine Beasts were specifically made to be weapons of mass destruction, and they were specifically made for the non-Hylian races. That really does suggest an active effort being taken to balance the scales, that the ancient people saw that only Hylian's were granted divine favour, and so if the gods wouldn't give that power to other races, they'd fucking make it themselves. The existence of the Divine Beasts feels like a promise to keep everyone on equal footing, and say what you will about pre-Calamity Hyrule, but they didn't even question keeping that promise.

...And then in TOTK, all of that's just gone. The Sheikah aren't their own people with a complicated relationship to the throne, now they're just Hylian's with a different aesthetic. The 'alliance' between the races turns out to be built on Hyrule's first King and Queen pointing their stockpile of magical nukes at everyone and asking them politely to become their subjects, and pretending not to notice the implied threat that they'd magically nuke anyone who refused. In BOTW the Sheikah race being sworn servants of the Hylian royal family was acknowledged as a fucked up situation, and that power imbalance being horribly abused in the past was what created the Yiga clan. In TOTK, we're outright told that Rito, Goron, Zora and Gerudo all exist for the sole purpose of serving the Hylian royal family, and that is framed as a good thing and the proper way of the world; the first sign of Ganondorf being evil is that he refuses to submit.

And even putting all that super gross ancient past stuff aside, the present day is equally fucked. Hyrule has been gone for a century. In BOTW, few people even remembered that Zelda had ever existed, and of those people not many of them cared. Nobody was really interested in having a central government, they were all getting by just fine on their own. And again, it was made pretty clear that the pre-calamity situation had been an actively maintained collective alliance between independent nations. There was a reason that people were predicting that Hyrule's monarchy would be abolished in TOTK, and that's because we all saw that there was literally no reason for anyone other than the Sheikah to respect Zelda's authority as a ruler - the Zora were the only other people to still remember her, and they were completely done with the Hylian royal family anyways. If Zelda rolled up declaring herself the Queen of Hyrule anywhere else, she'd be laughed out of town, because that's the standard response to a random teenager showing up and informing you she was actually the highest authority in the land. Zelda had no inherent authority left at the end of BOTW, if she wanted to be in charge, she'd need to earn it. That's the state of the world that we were shown.

Except nope, nevermind, Zelda's the almighty God Princess of the world and literally everyone mindlessly accepts her ultimate authority. She can order people to strip naked and walk into a monster den to die for her amusement, and they would immediately do it without asking any questions (yes I know the underwear thing was a misunderstanding, but the fact that everyone jumped to follow the misheard order without a single question is horrifying). And the imposter Zelda arc just hammers home the point that Zelda is in a completely unearned, lifelong position as dictator of the world, and literally nobody cares if she abuses that power. Zelda brainwashed Yunobo and forced him to ruin his own business and nearly destroy his own people? He's just worried she'll be angry that the mask keeping him brainwashed was destroyed. Zelda summons a giant monster to attack Yunobo and Link then walks away? Oh my god, the giant monster Zelda just summoned to kill us might hurt her, we have to save Zelda from it! Zelda literally openly attacks King Dorephan and tries to murder him? He'd rather go missing in the middle of a crisis and suffer alone in hiding than let anyone know that Zelda just tried to kill him. I don't understand why they bothered with the fake Zelda arc, because literally nothing the fake Zelda does is allowed to have consequences.

It just doesn't make any goddamn sense. Nobody feels real anymore, there's no politics between the races, there's no reason for anything being the way it is now. The entire world of Hyrule has been reduced to just Zelda's Fanclub, and nobody would ever consider doubting her for a second. I don't understand why the fake Zelda arc is in the game, because it's never actually allowed to be part of the story. Nobody actually cares about 'Zelda' tormenting people, and so we're told that there is literally nothing that can possibly happen to make Zelda lose her authority. There's no stakes. We're not supposed to care about anyone who isn't Zelda, we're not given any real reason to care about Zelda herself, and so why the fuck are we still here?

...I've distracted myself a lot here lmaoo, I'm not really sure where I was going with all of this beyond just rambling about shitty writing and bad continuity. The point is, BOTW had some really good writing and worldbuilding. That Hyrule felt like a real place inhabited by actual people, and the different races were their own, independent people. When they worked together, it was a sign of them putting time and effort into reaching out to each other and meet on the same level. Meanwhile TOTK feels like it's made of fucking cardboard most of the time.

(Also for the record I agree that the Goddess statues being Literally Everywhere was kinda fucked, BUT I'm willing to let it slide as a matter of just game design; that's where you go to trade spirit orbs for upgrades, so you want a spot to do that in every major town for player convenience. And using different deities in different areas wouldn't work, because the players are introduced to the mechanic with a goddess statue; they're not gonna naturally assume that the statue of a giant fish can do that too, so most of them would assume the statue is scenery and just ignore it. I thought it was at least a nice touch that the goddess statues had different decorations in some towns, and that some towns put the statues away from the main areas; it gave the impression that while everyone while worshipping Hylia was widespread, everyone was doing it differently, and in some places it wasn't very popular - just look at the Kakariko statue being in the middle of town with a well maintained pond surrounding it and torches to draw more attention to it, then compare that to the Gerudo Town statue being down a side street on the edge of town, away from the main gate, with nothing of any real importance nearby, and nothing to get people's attention. It really works with the Sheikah's culture being built on their devotion to the Goddess, while the Gerudo's history with Hylia and her followers is a lot more complicated, and so their statue's location implies that worship of Hylia is pretty unpopular among the Gerudo.)

[tnc-n3cl]

Let's go with the Rito flagship Revalink for 001

And Mipha for 002

001: Revalink

Hehehe, oh boy here we go...

So I got BotW back in March 2021, and by mid-April-ish had started Age of Calamity. Just before I did the "Calamity Strikes" mission is when the brainworms for "The Realm Walker" started burrowing. I wrote short story versions of what would become "The Ballad of Kass" and an unintended longfic "The Tale of the Realm Walker." (It was going to be the Cliff Notes version but blew up into me making a whole damn Zelda game basically, a ~200 page thing that I still haven't wrote the ending for, and that I'm trying to rewrite as soon as I settle on which of like four different versions to go with...)

I wasn't active in the Zelda fandom at this point (which is how I went 4 years with no spoilers and having no idea about the game's story), and had no idea Revalink was a thing, but Link and Revali becoming friends over the course of my fic was something that needed to happen. It was honestly part of the reason I wrote it other than general "What if the Champions were possessed and Link could save them?" and "Oh, let me reuse this concept from this Zelda/Final Fantasy crossover idea I had ages ago!" (Ildia basically...)

One random comment on some fan art in late January 2022 started a very long conversation, and I got introduced to some fanfics by @coconi and others, all Revalink. This got me on AO3 and more or less into the ship...

So that's a long way to answer the first question... Sometime in 2022 is when I was introduced to the ship.

My thoughts: Hmm... I think that, had Revali lived and the game been something like older Zeldas with companions, then Link and Revali would have had the chance to come to an understanding. Revali was basically projecting his own issues onto Link, because Link wouldn't even acknowledge him by saying anything or even emoting. This ruffled his feathers, so it's part of the reason he was such a jerk. Had they traveled together, they could have become friends, or at least frienemies. (Kinda like Groose in Skyward Sword perhaps. Actually you could kind of mirror Link and Midna's relationship too, where at first she's just using him and full of snark and they bond over the course of the game. Or Link and Tatl (I think I got that right? The fairy from Majora's Mask in any case...)

What makes me happy about them: Them being friends. Revali having issues expressing his feelings (or being in total denial) and Link being totally oblivious. I like the fics where Link trades snark with Revali.

What makes me sad about them: Revali dying, and the fact that they never had a chance to understand one another (in canon, while Revali was alive anyway).

Things done in fanfic that annoy me: I haven't encountered anything about them yet that I could say annoys me. Well there was a fic, "A Memory Scavenger Hunt," that had Link being super angsty towards the end and not talking about his problems and that was stressing Revali out. I was shouting at my computer that Link just needed to tell him what was going on. But I guess that's a good kind of annoyance, hahaha!

Things I look for in fanfic: I can't say I look for anything in particular.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: Hmm... As I'm not much of a shipper, I suppose it doesn't much matter. Though I do put Revali and Bedoli together in my fic. I mentioned one time that I didn't want a Link-Mipha-Zelda love triangle and someone suggested Link/Paya, and yeah I could see that (or Link/Mipha, or Link/Zelda). Haven't figured out what I'm doing with Link on that front yet...

My happily ever after for them: Them coming to an understanding and being friends or friendly rivals (platonic version). If I were to do a Revalink AU of my fic (an AU of an AU if you will), they'd get together and have Bedoli and Paya surrogate children, Medah (Revali and Bedoli's daughter) would grow up to be a melee fighter to be like Papa Link while Link/Paya's kid would grow up to be an archer like Papa Revali. I just think that's a cute idea... Not gonna write it though, got way too much work to do on the regular version hahaha!

Who is the big spoon/little spoon: Revali's the big spoon. Link's wrapped up in fluffy warm Rito wings for sure. Revali's probably got his beak in Link's hair.

What is their favorite non-sexual activity: Well since Link likes cooking then them just chilling and eating together. That or braiding, etc. each other's hair. Maybe training/sparing?

For 002, Mipha

How I feel about this character: Hm... I'mma refer you to a later question on this...

All the people I ship romantically with this character: As someone who's not a shipper, I don't have any real preferences I guess. Link cause why not? I've never read Miphvali fics, but wouldn't have anything against it...

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Why not Link? They are most certainly close friends. In fact, I'll spoil things for my fic (even more I guess, though it's already posted so perhaps not as much of a spoiler?) but before the Great Calamity, Link thought of Mipha as his big sister. Had no idea she was romantically interested in him and was stunned to realize this fact when he remembers her. "How could I have been so dense?! It was so obvious she had feelings for me!" Him trying to figure out how to tell this to her, as well as figure out his current feelings is a big thing in "Shifting Tides of Fate."

My unpopular opinion about this character: I honestly wasn't that impressed with her when I first played BotW. I was like, "Zora princess wants to marry Link, didn't you guys do this already?" Just using BotW, I'd have ranked the Champions like so:

Urbosa (loved her the moment I saw her memory cutscene and just loved her more during her post-Divine Beast freeing monologue)

Revali (Well the Rito are my favorite Zelda race, and I did want to see what all the fuss was about (had seen a little bit of fanart of him). Was like "oh no he's a jerk!" but he has more personality than the other two...)

Daruk (meh)

Mipha (meh)

Now this isn't to say I dislike Daruk or Mipha, it's just that they don't get enough screen time or stand out really. After playing Age of Calamity I actually got attached to the Champions, cause, you know, you could play as them and they got some significant screen time. So I reordered them...

Urbosa (still my fave even if I don't use her that much)

Revali (kinda liked the "unfinished business from an interrupted duel" thing)

Mipha (she's fun to play, her jumping out of the water move makes it easy to hit monsters in the head)

Daruk (he's feels too slow for the pace of the game)

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: Not died? Or at least gotten more development so her death could have had more impact?

My OTP: Can't really say I have one for her...

My cross over ship: Don't have one of these either...

A headcanon fact: Well this is going into a Zora headcanon post I have planned for later but... Mipha and Sidon are biologically half-siblings. Polygamy is common among Zora, especially royalty, but they don't make the half-sibling distinction, all children are treated the same. They have different mothers, and that explains the height difference as well as Sidon's sharky features. Could also play into something that was mentioned in TotK but I won't spoil it here.

Whew, this was long! But fun! Anyway, thanks for the ask!

[ampersand-antics]

So I just beat TotK... and I have THOUGHTS

MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW!!!!

TOTK ENDING SPOILERS (OBVIOUSLY)

(I also think I got a secret ending? So spoilers for that)

I think the biggest accomplishment for me so far has been beating that malice-infused Silver Lynel under Hyrule Castle

So funny story, right after the spirit temple, I was like "Well I bet gdorf is under the castle, imma hop down there and see if I can find him." I went to the under-depths under the castle but I didn't see gdorf anywhere! I went past the likelikes and the horriblins and I didn't see any sign of gdorf so I left. Did the kogha depths quests (very much enjoyed the kogha depths quests they were epic!!!! (except I couldn't find the rito chasm)) and then kogha was like 'he's under the castle lol' and so I WENT BACK UNDER THE CASTLE and nothing was different!! And then I found the pass!! That had been there this whole time!!!

Uhhh thoughts on the castle... I loved it. I loved the enemies and how genuinely difficult it was, I loved the aesthetics, the music?? THE MUSIC!!!! oh my god I loved the music sosososo much. The way it progressed throughout the castle?? The way we went so far down was fuckin epic. I enjoyed it immensely. And I loved being able to be back in the first area - the echoes of going back to the beginning, cyclicalness, idk there's a much much deeper theme there but I don't have the words to express it.

I really enjoyed the fights with gdorf and I'm sososo glad he got rehydrated eventually. The hearts getting quite literally destroyed was an amazing twist. And the fact that he could flurry rush you??? I hated (loved) that sooooo much!!! At least he couldn't give like five attacks in return. I got out of that fight with two hearts left, and it was such a weird feeling to have full hearts and there only being two. The draconification was incredibly incharacter for gdorf but I still wasn't really expecting it. Just goes to show how fuckin strong link is, bc he felt THAT desperate. The dragon fight was kinda underwhelming tbh but I absolutely loved the aesthetics. I wish there was a way that the Demon dragon would still be there in the overworld. I'm glad Zelda came back, I'm sosososo glad she got her happy ending, I've heard a lot about how it felt cheap but honestly folks use 'the power of love' as a reason for so many things all the time so it's not bad. And the fact that there's an actual Explanation (sonia's and raaru's spirit powers, coming to finish the job?? Epicccc) one thing i didnt like (or think makes sense) is that links arm went back to normal all in all tho I really enjoyed it!!!!

I liked the secret ending too. I don't really know what to say about it (my brains going brrr rn and it's hard to actually articulate it)

The one thing about all this that really pissed me off was that things just went back to the way they'd been before. I mean, it really didn't have to. You could've kept the gloom by just being like "yeah for some reason all the gloom didn't go away". Then don't transform Zelda back into a human, just extract her, so there's the dragon form and the human form and you can still get horns, let link keep his arm and have mineru's construct be inhabited by an AI. Maybe even add a side quest series about getting rid of the gloom from hyrule/the depths via Zeldas light powers? As for Zelda herself, either go SMO style and have her pop up in random locations talking about stuff, have her stay in Hateno at her house and the school, or (and this would be really cool) make her into a companion! We already have the baseline for that with the other sages, she could have a moveset similar to Zeldas basic light moves in aoc, and maybe her sage ability could bathe a little area in sacred light and make it so gloom wasn't existent in it? Idk it could be super fun. And not having it matter at all in the end makes everything feel much much less meaningful.

All in all, I think i like totk less than botw. But not by much, they're both great games and I LOVE how totk built on botw. Maybe it's just the nostalgia talking, but there's just something I can't put my finger on that makes botw better than totk.

I'll keep updating this blog with more of playthrough!!

[hotcoffeetransformation]

Jason swore loudly and had to resist the urge to throw his controller down, pissed that he kept dying cause of the game's stupid glitches (Also known as own mistakes). Still, he regained his composure, and smiled before saying

"Alright chat, we're gonna finish up this one and then we're gonna move on to another game. There should be a poll on top for what we do next"

Jason was a moderately successfully game streamer, averaging about 200 to 300 viewers a night, entirely based on his wit and skill. He knew for sure that they weren't coming for his looks, given his weedy, thin frame, overly pimpled face and large, nerdy glasses. Still, it was enough for him, and he was happy with the progress that he'd made.

As Jason got himself set up for the next game, he heard a shocking sound from above him. The victory theme from one of his favorite JRPGs was blaring through the speakers, and he came up, staring at the screen in shock. He knew what that sound meant. That meant someone had tipped him one thousand dollars, completely out of nowhere.

He looked in shock at the notification on the stream, seeing that it was from someone named JockBro69, with the simple message "Can't wait to get to know you better, cutie~"

Jason was completely stunned. Not only had someone actually redeemed the donation goal that he set as a joke (That being that whoever was stupid enough to tip 1000 dollars got to have a 15 minute private chat with him), it was also someone that he'd never seen in his chat before.

Thoroughly weirded out, but knowing that he had to honor his commitment, he sent the guy a quick private message.

"Dude, I don't know how to thank you enough! Guess I'll see ya pretty soon!"

With that, he sent the man his private zoom link, and said goodbye to the chat, who were still going wild over this turn of events, before pausing,the stream and hopping over to discord for the call.

Not two seconds after his stream stopped, he got a requested video call on discord from the guy, and he opened it up, giving a second for the video to load, but when it did, he was completely dumbfounded again. He was expecting the mysterious donator to be some fat, sweaty silicon valley nerd with too much and money on his hands, but instead what met him was possibly the hottest man he's ever seen, standing up and looking down at his webcam with a friendly expression.

"Fuck, bro! Its so good to finally fucking meet you, I've been such a big fan for a long time, and this is a really big deal for me~

The man had a deep, rumbling, pleasant voice, that shot straight down Jacob's spine and left him feeling strangely... inadequate. Like the fact that his voice wasn't as smooth or melodic as this guy's was his fault, and he should be ashamed of that fact. Still, this guy was pretty pleasant to look at, Jason had to admit. He wasn't gay, definitely not, but he could acknowledge when another guy simply looked good.

Jason scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, not entirely sure of what he should do or say. Still, this guy spent 1000 dollars on this meeting, so he had to try anyway.

"So, umm.... I see your username is jockbro69... What's your actual name thought? I don't think I've ever seen you in chat before..."

The other man actually laughed at this, before looking confused and saying

"What are you talking about bro? Its me, Ethan! I'm in your chat all the time! Man, I guess what they say about playing games so much is true, huh?"

At this statement, Jason actually went pale with shock. THIS was Ethan? This was the guy who's username used to be runningLink? Who was an active fan of the zelda series, constantly begged Jason to play them, and bemoaned the fact that no would date him? It just didn't seem right...

Still, Jason, ever the semi professional, continued on, pretending that he wasn't shocked at the news.

"Well, thanks for supporting me so much! Seriously, this means a lot to me... Ummm... so I guess tell me some of your favorite things about the channel then!"

The man laughed again, the sound coming out in a slow, dumb chuckle, before saying

"What's my favorite thing? Do I even have to say, bro? Its the amazing piece of eye candy I'm looking at right now. You're super hot, bro~"

At this, Jason was shocked, but he chuckled awkwardly while blushing, and said

"Really? I don't think I've ever heard a single person say that before. I guess I consider myself slightly below average..."

The guy looked confused at that, before pressing on

"Really, bro? You look super hot to me, you got those bright, blinding blue eyes that you can just get lost in~"

At this point, Jason knew the man was just messing with him. His eyes have always, and will always be a dark, muddy brown, hidden behind his massive frames. Jason was about to respond, when Ethan continued

"Yeah, and you got that super stylish haircut too, really makes you look super masculine~"

Now Jason was REALLY confused. The guy was right, he did always get complements on his eyes, the bright, shocking blue visible and striking even through his huge glasses. But his hair was always a long, unkempt greasy mess.

"Ethan, are you sure you're okay, you're not just seeing things? Cause I don't know what you're talking about"

Ethan ignored the comment, just continuing to press on

"And you've got that hot, manly face, with your strong jaw and amazing profile"

Jason was confused again. Sure, his stylish haircut did help him look much better, but his face had always been pretty androgynous, with hints of baby fat still present in his cheeks. Again, before he could interrupt, Ethan continued,

"And you've got that smooth smooth skin, that hot stubble, that sexy smirk of yours. You're the full package bro~"

Jason laughed at this. Ethan was clearly being way too complementary. Sure his face had a great shape to it, with strong cheekbones and a square jaw, but his skin was still acne marked as hell, his smile was crooked and awkward, and he'd never been able to grow any facial hair, no matter how much he tried.

"I really have no idea what you're talking about Ethan. Sure I've got some good features, but the overall package isn't much to write home about~"

Ethan smirked again, his eyes lighting up with humor, as if he knew something I didn't.

"Nah, bro, you're underselling yourself. Plus, you've got that body~"

"What about my body? I think its pretty average, though I guess I'm a bit on the skinny side..."

Jason looked down at himself, trying to contemplate what Ethan meant. Sure, he'd been blessed with an attractive, manly face, but it didn't change the fact that his body was still below average at best.

"Again, bro! Putting yourself down. You really think those massive logs you have for arms are below average?"

Jason looked down at his skinny arms, and said

"More like logs than twigs man, seriously."

"And what about your legs? You've spent so long working on em, you've got thighs and glutes to kill for~"

Jason laughed again

"I dunno man! Most people say the exact opposite. They say I spend too much time on arms and not enough on my torso and legs. What can I say though? I love having big, beefy arms."

"Of course you do, bro? Who wouldn't? Especially when right in between em, you got your big, pillowy chest, your sexy abs, and your super toned back~"

Jason was seriously starting to wonder if Ethan was on something. Anyone could clearly see from first glance that Jason's body was badly proportioned, his arms and legs being massive from months to years of work, while he neglected his back, pecs and ab muscles. Still, he thought he looked pretty alright honestly.

"And I especially love how you're not only super sexy, you know it and flaunt it~ I don't think I've ever seen you once wear a shirt. The most you'll wear is a necklace, and even then, not like that covers anything, bro~ Only makes you look sexier"

Now here Jason had to disagree. He knew that he had cultivated and developed an amazing body over his years of going to the gym, but that was all for his own personal satisfaction. He never flaunted it unnecessarily, especially not during a stream.

"And I love the fact that you're such a fucking bro, bro. Every other word out of your mouth is bro and dude, you can't go even five minutes without flexing and thinking of fucking, or going to the gym, or hanging out with your other hot bros. We all know that your brain is basically only good for working out and looking hot. No smart's up there. And you've got your deep, sexy voice, too. Makes it even hotter that you're a gay bro, just like me"

Jason HAD to laugh at that. What the guy was saying was just so ridiculous.

"What the hell are you talking about? Look, I know that I like to show off my sexy body a lot, but that doesn't mean I'm some kind of dumb jock. And I'm definitely straight, dude. Don't know why you'd think I'm gay"

Ethan pressed on, completely unabashed by Jason's last comments.

"But you know the best fucking part, bro? Its that power of yours. The fact that any weak ass nerd who looks at you and your huge fucking muscles grows into a hot, dumb bro like us within seconds~"

Jason was busy flexing, staring at his own bicep in awe, as if he was shocked by him impressive he was. He looked up at Ethan blearily, saying

"Sorry, bro, what'd you say? I guess I got a bit fucking distracted. Huhuhu. But who could blame me~"

"Nah, it was nothing bro. You don't need to worry about it. Now should head back to the stream?"

Jason gasped in excitement, having forgotten entirely about the fact that there was a whole stream audience full of lame ass nerds, just ready for him to make as sexy as he and Ethan were.

"You got it bro~ This is gonna be so fucking hot~"

Jason left the call, going back to the stream and restarting, glad to see that a full 300 people were still watching, even through the extended break. The second he turned his camera on, he could see that people were confused for some reason, saying a stranger broke into his house. How stupid could these people be? How did they not recognize him? Still, not like it would matter for long...

"Hey bros! How're we all fucking doing? Welcomes to today's stream..."

He trailed off, looking blankly at the camera, before saying

"You know what? Fuck video games! Who needs them when you can do this~"

And as his pecs bounced and bounced hypnotically, the chat slowly transitioned from messages like "What the fuck is happening?" or "Who is this dumb jock?" to "Fuck, bro! Your pecs look so fucking hot today!" and "Huhuhu, I love making my pecs bounce like Jace's~"

And so the stream continued, Jace showing everyone all the amazing things his body could do, while anyone that was watching, whether they wanted to or not, began to copy him exactly. And as the stream went on, the viewer count rose, and rose, and rose...