#I NEED MY REVALIS GALE BACK

[luna-loveboop]

Trying to climb anything or get literally anywhere in Totk after botw: where the fuck is my revalis gale

Trying to paraglide literally at all in botw after playing totk: where the fuck is my tulins vow

[meringuejellyfish]

the music for the colgera battle is quite delightful (wow i just need to say i like it. goodness) its a shame i couldnt really properly hear it while actually playing on account of having to sit right next to a loud ac but listening to it fully the other day was nice. took me a few weeks but i can appreciate it now - and listen ... im a simple guy, the rito village theme being incorporated into a section of it is just wow :-( ....... big leitmotif fan. walking into zoras domain is going to kill me

[neverchecking]

Could you do Yandere BOTW Champions or TOTK Sages x Reader who has the Mask from Majora’s Mask? The reader is Hylian. But they have the usual four mask, Plus the Fierce Deity mask.

As head cannons preferably.

This is a mostly Linked Universe Blog, but sure! I'm not overly well versed on the whole Mask deal, so please bare with me.

I went with the BOTW Champions, since not everyone knows the sages.

Champion of the Masks

・❥・So, if you know the Champions, there's a good chance you are a knight or warrior in your own right.

・❥・You are someone powerful, probably because of said masks. For Hylia's sake, you have the Fierce Deity looking over you. You are practically untouchable.

・❥・And the other Champions are well aware of this fact. But that doesn't change anything.

・❥・Because you are still so vulnerable. What happens when you're separated from your masks? Then what? Hm? You are just so vulnerable, can't you see that?

・❥・You don't have any powers of the wind, not any form of protection. You can't control any elements, nor can you heal. You certainly don't have any part of the triforce. You are powerless.

・❥・Which is why they needed to be there to protect you!

・❥・Now, Revali. My loveable douche-bird. He tries to keep you at a distance, but still falls. And he falls hard. Revali is the only champion who wasn't born with his gift. He had to build Revali's gale into what it was from scratch.

・❥・Reader probably recognizes all of his hard work, because (and this is from my very limited research) to get all of the Masks in their possession? A bitch and a half. They weren't gifted these masks. Not without a price. So they can recognize a situation where you are pitted against these...demi-gods eons beyond your own abilities and forced to catch up or fall behind.

・❥・And Revali absolutely cherishes this. Having someone not look down on him, but instead stand on the very same footing he was? Man's is down bad.

・❥・He is particularly fond of your Breman Mask because you just look so pretty in feathers. And while yes, white looked nice on you, blue looked better.

・❥・I HC that every race has their own form of courting rituals, Rito included. They probably make their intended betrothed some sort of snow-quill headpiece meant for the cold, lined with their feathers and intricate braids of fine silks and expensive ribbons.

・❥・You just know that Revali, as a champion, would make a nice courting present. And you just know he is purposefully difficult and makes everyone else come to him in the Rito village (He is their best warrior and is shown to lead their army in AoC). You just know that he demands the princess bring her two best knights, which begrudgingly means Link, but it also means you. You who wears the snowquill bit with pride-- even if you don't know what if means really.

・❥・It doesn't matter because the others do.

・❥・The next one to fall is Urbosa.

・❥・She falls after seeing you in battle. The Gerudo, regardless of gender, can respect a Warrior when they see one. And you are a warrior. You with your sharp wit and insane reaction times, parrying a blade aimed for her.

・❥・Your strength alone makes her swoon because out of everything she can respect that.

・❥・Her favorite mask of yours is the Garo's mask. Not only does it fool these supposed Garo (You are so smart, did you know that? With all of your stories and journeys.), but it also fools the Yiga. The Mask of Truth does as well, but the thought of spilling her guts to you makes her uneasy.

・❥・Not because she doesn't want you to know how constantly you're running through her head, but she doesn't want you to know how deep these thoughts delve.

・❥・When you're able to fool the Yiga and get back to her about an ambush planned on her people, she knows you're the one.

・❥・I like to imagine the Gerudo focus more on jewelry for a courting action. Not rings, no. But intricate pieces of armor lined with gems aimed to aid in battles.

・❥・Brigandines lined with topaz; Gorgets lined with opals; spaulders ordained in rubies; Poleyn decorated in sapphires. Even your own Scmitar enhanced by diamonds. All of it custom made to you to show her devotion to you.

・❥・Now, with this being all useful items you can wear in battle, you're seen in it often.

・❥・Daruk is next. He falls for you after seeing you in his, coincidentally, favorite mask. You tell the tale of the Goron Mask after he asks, weaving this intricate legend that had him hanging onto every word.

・❥・The Gorons show their love through food. So Daruk makes it a point to constantly share his food, both sedimentary and otherwise. He loves knowing that you are well fed and cared for because of him.

・❥・I feel like the highest form of love that can be shown through food for a Goron is a Prime Rock Roast. And while he knows Hylian's can't eat rocks (Link excluded because...it's Link), he looks for the next best thing.

・❥・Intricate pasties filled with only the finest of whipped cream and dusted with powdered sugar; dripping roasts just oozing juice that practically fall of the bone; grilled fish where the smell alone is enough to make you sallivate

・❥・All of it are gifted to you to ensure you think of him whenever you feel hungry. That he is your go to.

・❥・Now, next is a tie between Link and Zelda.

・❥・Zelda probably falls first because she sees you interacting with the others and watches you. In fact, you watch her back. But the difference between you watching her and Link watching her, because her father has allowed you to take over for Link on the rare occasion, is that you give her space. You allow her to disappear into the divine beasts, waiting patiently for her to come to you.

・❥・You entertain her with stories upon stories.

・❥・You listen to her woes with a careful ear and offer your own advice.

・❥・You even braved her cooking.

・❥・She loves all of your masks and cherishes each story about them. But when you wear the Great Fairy Mask and let fairies tickle her cheeks?That's when she swoons the most.

・❥・Link falls during all the time he spends with you chasing after Zelda. You're able to hold your own, which is always appreciated, and you're okay with silence. Silence settles between you two often while waiting for Zelda and you don't push it.

・❥・And you don't look at him like he's anything other than a Hylian. Not the wielder of the sword that seals the darkness.

・❥・Not this random knight that was handed a legacy on a plate.

・❥・Not an annoyance that needed to be shook off,

・❥・He was just Link to you. And it made his heart sing.

・❥・Unfortunately, neither are quite in the position to court you. Not with Calamity on the horizon, nor with their standings in the royal council. And it tears them apart in the inside. Seeing you decked out in jewels with feathers woven into your hair, eating some of the finest things Hyrule has to offer, all of it makes them bitter and hungry. Hungry to show how you belong to them.

・❥・You get prefential treatment in the castle. The finest of rooms with the softest of sheets. Plump pillows and too many locks on the door to keep you right where she wants satin pajamas, all just for your enjoyment.

・❥・Or the best weapons and shields available to the royal guard. Bows re-strung just for you, or the lion's share of arrows provided. Want that Shield that Jimmy Whosit has? Give Link three minutes. No, there's no blood on the shield, what are you talking about? You must exhausted if you're seeing things, maybe you should just skip training all together?

・❥・It's all yours.

・❥・Now, the last person to fall, is Mipha. She's very hesitant to lend her heart out to you, but you know who isn't afraid of showing their emotions on their sleeves for everyone to see?

・❥・Sidon.

・❥・Sidon, in all his little fishy glory, loves you when you come around. when you dawn the Zora mask and swim with him. You play all the games that Mipha won't because they're 'too dangerous'. So when you come around he's ecstatic, dragging his sister down to see you alongside him.

・❥・Mipha tolerates you for the time being, probably still in love with a different knight, making him his own armor. But after she finishes it, it's no longer shaped to Link's form. No. Somewhere along the way it went from being formed to his broader shoulders to being shortened to your own narrower set. It no longer was long enough to fit his torso, instead fitted to your own.

・❥・Her heart had tainted her hands, making armor for you before she even knew what it all meant. The only reason the rest of her catches up is because she sees you with Sidon.

・❥・She watches you swim on you back, with Sidon clinging to your chest, laughter bubbling up from both of you.

・❥・And the last of them falls.

・❥・She aims to give you the armor after the fall of the calamity, but...I'm sure we all know how that'll play out...

・❥・Anyway, between them all, you get very little time to yourself. They are all constantly hovering over you.

・❥・You think you can get away with one of your masks?

・❥・Nice try.

・❥・Your precious Stone Mask? Gone. Confiscated under the order of Princess Zelda King Rhoam.

・❥・Think you can fight your way out?

・❥・Not even the Fierce Deity mask can save you from the champions, their Divine Beasts, and the Triforce of Wisdom and Courage, nor their wielders.

・❥・You wanna run and hide?

・❥・There is not a single inch of Hyrule that one of them doesn't know about.

・❥・You are well and truly trapped under their hold, just where they like you.

・❥・Trapped like a fucking bird in a cage while they fight amongst themselves to see who you stay with.

・❥・ Let's hope they decided quickly before the Calamity decides he's done being patient.

[ginneke]

@acetier's beautiful, beautiful art plucked out my heart and dashed it to pieces. So here I am, trying to return the favour. Or at least to double down on it.

Also available on Ao3. (Link in notes.)

--

Accelerando

--

Five moments in time between Link and Revali as they find common ground, despite everything.

(Slowly. Then all at once.)

--

"I gave you a clear shot -- how could you miss that?"

Link is spared the need to answer: at that moment, Revali's powers start to peter out. Hurriedly, before he loses the advantage of height, Link shoulders his bow and grabs for the paraglider instead, eyes fixed on the Silver Lynel far below. Its fierce glare is locked on him in turn. His mind races, trying to calculate when he has to surrender to gravity. Eight seconds -- five seconds. He sees it reach for its arrows.

So does Revali.

"Don't you dare," he warns, before flapping his ghostly wings once more. Gale carries him higher, higher, higher than it's ever carried him before. Five Lightning Arrows crackle through the air, but he's safely out of range.

"Don't miss this time," Revali says, sounding almost tired, and disappears.

Link draws his bow again, forgoing the bomb arrows Revali always favoured; instead, he nocks one of Robbie's Ancient Arrows.

Have to end this quickly.

His arrow strikes true, this time, and then he's left drifting in an eerie, open sky, alone.

It's six hours before the tug of Revali's power anchors in his chest again. Revali's Gale is now ready, he thinks, mimicking the cadence of the words that always accompany that sensation -- but Revali's words don't come.

--

The Koroks' puzzles range from amusing to aggravating.

On the least annoying end of the scale: chasing lights, finding acorns, following flowers (usually).

A bit more annoying, depending on circumstance: following flowers (sometimes), rock puzzles, metal blocks, clockflower rings.

Far more of a pain than they're worth: acorn balloons.

Link hates those acorn balloons with a passion. They jerk around erratically. They duck in and out of the trees so that he can't track them. They move at such random speeds. They disappear within ten seconds of him leaving the treestump pedestal that sends the signal to spawn them.

And so often, he's running low on arrows and doesn't have enough to spare on Korok games.

He's staring down yet another cluster of circling acorn balloons when a thought occurs to him: What if...

He crouches low on the pedestal. Revali, he thinks. It's not necessary to literally call for the Champions—otherwise Mipha would never reach him in time—but with Revali, in particular, it has quickly become a habit.

It takes seven seconds to reach the zenith of Revali's Gale. He's counted it before.

It would certainly take more than three seconds to pick off those balloons, for almost anyone else.

He reaches for his bow, a three-shot device of the forest's make, and feels time start to crawl: slower, slower, slower.

He nocks three arrows, catches two balloons but misses the third. Draws again, and catches his fall with the paraglider just in time; below, the final balloon bursts.

"Cheater," Revali says snidely as the column of his Gale subsides; he's gone before Link can retort.

Honestly. Just because Revali could have done it in a single shot...

--

Revali takes his front-row vantage point of Link's archery — oh, forgive him, of Link's pale imitation of aerial archery — very seriously. Link can almost see the mark of a teacher in him. He wonders what Revali would have been like as an instructor.

"Shoulders," he barks sometimes, when Link's back holds more tension than his bowstring.

"Keep your eyes dead ahead," he advises, other times, when Link is tempted to use precious seconds to scan the field for further enemies; "one thing at a time."

"Remember to aim for where your target will be, not where it is now," he warns whenever the slowing of time reaches its limits, and Link is left with seconds to spare before his strength runs out.

"Don't miss," he says, as Link prepares to take aim at the thing that struck down Urbosa—and this time his words have the sound of camaraderie, no scorn to be found in them at all.

"I know," Link replies, reaching for Revali's Great Eagle Bow. He nocks three arrows to the string and obliterates Thunderblight Ganon in a hail of explosions that would make even Revali proud.

--

"You know, I had to succeed at that trial without supernatural means at my disposal."

Link hides a grin in the fur ruff of his Snowquill: Revali's words have the ring of a familiar refrain, rendered less irritating with repetition.

"I do hope you appreciate that," Revali continues, needling. Link tries to imagine the expression he would be wearing, how he might gesture emphatically: swooping drama, theatrical in motion, every inch of his persona polished and practiced.

Every facet of doubt buffed away, hidden behind that carefully constructed confidence.

"How long did it take you?"

Revali makes a sound of affront and this reaction, this one Link can picture: his head tilting up, his feathers puffing out in displeasure.

"Four," he says shortly, and Link leans back to stare at the shape of Vah Medoh's head overhead, no longer trying to disguise his grin.

"Four hours?" he asks, keeping his tone light and just this side of innocent. "Four days?"

"Four attempts," Revali snaps, and Link should have known, really. Revali always was exactly as good as he claimed. If only he could have met Ganon's Blight when in optimal condition... Link doubts Windblight could have bested Champion Revali, if the battle hadn't been stacked in its favour.

The thought is bitter, and not something Link should dwell on. The last thing Revali would want is Link's sympathy. So he pushes it aside,

"You don't have to rub it in," says Link, but he's smiling as he says it. While Revali splutters in protest, Link smiles, and huffs out a laugh, and desperately tries not to linger on just how unfair it is that the Champions, that Revali, should have fallen when he was granted this second chance.

All he can do is make the most of it, and avenge them.

--

"Dead ahead."

Revali's voice is all around Link, carried in the column of his Gale. Link can't look at him, can't afford to take his eyes off the rampaging incarnation of Malice below, and Revali must know that.

He wouldn't speak at such a crucial moment, otherwise.

His next words come so close to Link's ear that, if Revali lived, his breath would surely be warm against the shell of it. Instead Link feels only the cold grip of Gale, the only touch Revali had ever bestowed on him.

"Don't miss," Revali tells him.

It sounds like affection.

It sounds like faith.

It sounds like goodbye.

"Got it," Link says—or tries to, but the winds snatch his voice away.

At least that means Revali probably heard him. Cold comfort. Comfort all the same.

He shoots. Dead ahead.

He doesn't miss.

[gramoturtle]

TOTK: Part 2

We start getting abilities!

Suddenly, everything makes so much sense!

I unfortunately heard you could combine stuff to your weapons, but not about items in the wild! I was wondeeing if that might be the case though, since there were so many almost assembled crafts lying aeound. But I also beleved it could have been environmental/story based - like another character would move/assemble it later.

Anyways, it's a lot of fun! And that solves the msytery of the floating platforms: I was looking for a switch for them, cause I thought they might move vertically/horizontally once activated.

I already feel like a little god, just fusing stuff together.

I do some shenanigans with making a rotating block staircase. Made it up to the beginning island when you first dive off. Oops.

However, that means...!

Round two at snow, hello!

So my second shrine, Link learns to...

...Whut.

...You...Can...What???

I like Ascend. I'd been looking at the waterfalls and lamented at not being able to swim up them! Well...I guess I got my wish, plus a variation of Revali's Gale!

Now I just need the Paraglider. Although there are Wings...but they aren't the same.

With the Ascend ability, Link gets warmer pants, just in time!

I fought a cool boss, but unfortunately I couldn't do anything with the cyclindrical spiky bit.

And my third shrine - the rumored "combine weapons" ability is here!

I run back to the Temple of Time because I REALLY want to warp and I felt it was most likely locked behind plot like other useful things have been so far.

But first, we get another upgrade??

It's ~~Monado Time~~ a Hero of Time power! The design and symbol feels extremely Xenoblade 1 related.

God-like feelings continue to grow...

Anyways, I can finally warp!

And they want me to go to the very first warp point. Been wairing tonhead back there for a while!

That ends Part 2! I kinda want to push through story stuff to unlock abilities now, so next time should hopefully be a bunch of story stuff.

[flickerintwilights]

Revalink Week 2023, day 2: You can do better than this // Flight Range

Revali crouches low, head half bent over his wings, wild feathers prickling at his eyes. He blinks them open and only sees spots. He closes them again. He has to keep going, he knows, he just needs a breath. He needs his vision.

His breath comes short and harsh, clouding in needle stabs of cold air when he expels it. Everything hurts. He thinks he might’ve lost some feathers from his tail this time.

“You can do better than— this,” he mutters, picturing the feathers scattered over the stone, feeling his bow’s presence a full wingspan away from him. Come on, get up, don’t you dare stop. He fumbles for it, grips it in his wings and holds on tight. A grunt, and he pulls himself to a kneeling position. His wings quiver slightly as they extend once more.

Something makes contact with a wing — warm, careful, almost hesitant. Skin, not feathers. Five fingers. A Hylian hand.

Revali stills, wincing internally at the prick of his muscles. “Link,” he rasps. His voice sounds terrible, he realizes. “You should be resting.”

He feels the fingers shift, shaping signs into his wing. “The village doctor cleared me to walk. It’s not bad.” A pause. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“What am I supposed to do?” Revali shoots back. “Pace around?”

He doesn’t feel any sign in response, only the growing warmth on his feathers where Link is touching, and he elaborates. “I… let you get hit, you must know that. I wasn’t watching well enough and my Gale was unresponsive.” He scoffs. “Do you not want me to train? You’re the one who had a Lynel arrow stuck through your leg.”

Again, a hesitation.

Revali looks up, blinking back the afterimages dotting his vision. Link is sitting just behind him, one hand on his wing, one hand lying over the wound on his right leg. It’s wrapped with bandages now, but Revali remembers seeing it the first time, a dark shaft protruding through Link’s clothing, part of the curving arrowhead sticking out, glinting cruelly on the sharp edges. The slight discoloration of blood surrounding the breach.

He has never seen Link with a wound like that before. And it was his fault.

He can do better. He has to do better, or—

“Revali.” Link meets Revali’s eyes steadily. “I don’t need you to do that for me.”

“I will,” Revali tells him, matter-of-fact, “and I don’t care what you think. Someone has to save you. You are the Hylian Champion, after all.”

Link almost smiles before he shakes his head vehemently. “Don’t do this,” Link signs, forcefully before his hands pull to an abrupt, screeching stop. It’s a moment until he continues. “Hurting yourself like this. Especially after a battle.”

Instantly, Revali fires back, “So you’d rather yourself get hurt? Forgive me if I don’t like that.”

Link exhales. “This isn’t the only option you have.”

“What else?” He pictures the Flight Range, remembering all the so very many hours he’s spent here, bleeding into days into months into years. He can always do better.

Link removes his hand from Revali’s wing and extends it to him, open. Carefully, he stands up.

Revali stares at it, then looks up at Link. “You… are you actually going to try to walk on that?”

His hand gestures vaguely, annoyed. Revali huffs, and with some reluctance, he takes the hand.

When Link pulls him up, his body is screaming, but Revali doesn’t miss his wince. Automatically, he shifts his weight so Link is half-leaning on him. What a pair they make.

Link lets a brief smile show. “We can talk,” he signs, “I cooked.”

Revali sighs and looks toward the little hut by the Flight Range, the small bright flame flickering in the center. It looks warm.

[zelda-photography]

TotK Dungeon Thoughts!

Finally finished the first four main dungeons. Whether there's more or not, I'll find out, but I thought I'd make a quickly little post on my general thoughts.

More details below, but up here I'll say: It feels like you were 'expected' to complete them Rito-Zora-Goron-Gerudo (very gently tho). However, I think for the most satisfying route, I'd go Goron-Rito-Zora-Gerudo (if nothing else Goron first).

Rito and Tulin

The game pushes you in the direction of the Rito very strongly when you start the game, and I decided to do them first. Over all, a pretty good choice as you run into a lot of good things on the way.

The story itself, I like! I like that you arrive in Rito Village and only the kids are left, really already telling you a lot about what's going on. I like that Teba was left behind because he's the new chief, rip the old Chief. It also makes me very happy how excited Tulin was to see Link, really showing that Tulin looks up to Link. Tulin having wind powers shows that that was not just a Revali thing, just that he was extremely skilled with his own, and I very much like that.

Tulin's power itself is distinct from Revali's Gale. I miss Revali's Gale because of how useful it was to get around, but it also did makes things a little too easy at times, and Tulin's power feels more in tune with the game as it is, as being able to push yourself through the air is useful. Easily the power I use the most of the sages.

The trip up to the Wind Dungeon is a lot of fun. It just barely doesn't overstay it's welcome, and about halfway through there is a shrine so that you can take a break. Over all, it was a lot of fun, though I was hoping that the flying ships we'd seen were going to appear more in the other places in the sky.

The Wind Dungeon itself is, well, it's fine. It's more distinct in style than the divine beasts, which I like, but I did also like the how the divine beasts you could manipulate things. It's give and take, though, and I get that. What mostly bugs me is how every element felt isolated; solving one part of the dungeon did not help me solve another, and that really bugged me, especially since I had a lot of trouble with a couple of the locks (mostly because I'm dumb but that's besides the point).

I like the boss! It felt really good to dive right through the week points, or to be smart enough and a good enough shot to shoot out the weak points from beneath the boss. It also has you utilize Tulin well enough when you need to dodge the boss.

This was my first dungeon, so the ending cutscene with the previous sage was very good and interesting, and I loved that you get to have a shade of the sage to help you fight! It really captures how one of the themes of Tears of the Kingdom is how much Link is not alone.

Goron and Yunobo

Climbing Death Mountain always sucks a little because I hate the armor, but at least the Gorons live in a place where you don't die trying to reach them, so that's a win in my book. The goron quest line is easily my least favorite, hence why I suggest doing it first. I'm also going back and forth on how much/what I'd change.

I think the marbled rock roast is, ugh, fine I guess as a plot point? The biggest problem to me is that the plot lines of the rest of the regions feel very personal, and make you really really worried about the well being of those there. I'm not not concerned for the Goron, but I could definitely be more concerned.

I'm also undecided on how I feel about Yunobo with the mask. When Yunobo first showed up and was mean, I wanted to punch is teeth in. But also, what an interesting take on the character, where over the years he got maybe a little big in the head over his company and his status, and how it's time to bring him down to earth again. The mask breaking off and him being nice again, I was happy to see my nice friend again, but also he was more or less the same as when I'd last seen him.

The up Eldin Volcano sucked, I totally didn't understand what I was supposed to do with the monster on top of the volcano at first, which made it a little frustrating at first. The mini battle itself was fine enough, though, and flying on the machines is always fun.

Going through the Depths to the Fire Dungeon sucked. I wasn't a huge fan of that, it just felt like padding. Why not put me there just right away?

The Fire Dungeon, like everything else, was fine I guess. I like rails and minecarts a lot, but a lot of the tracks felt too short honestly to be much fun, and sometimes I'd give up navigating them and just straight up climb the sides of the buildings to get where I needed to go. The boss fight, on the other hand, i thought was really nice! It felt good to put Yunobo's power to so much use, it flowered pretty well, It felt both challenging but also like I was prepared for it.

Zora and Sidon

Seeing Zora's Domain all swamped in shit water was a shock and I love how shocking it was and how upset it made me to see the place in such a state. I was immediately invested in finding out what had happened to cause this and how I could help. The statue in Zora's domain with Link and Sidon is great (even if I was worried at first where Mipha's had gone) and SO FUNNY to see it and meet Sidon's fiancee right afterwards.

I like that Yona gets a mantaray head - it immediately sets her off as different from most of the other Zora, and she and her attendents have different armor than the Hyrule Zora. She's a little simplistic as a character, but over all I like her. I another small detail I like is that the child Zora are playing in the water in the throne room, and that room seems to be some of the cleanest water, and I like to imagine that was on purpose. We also see here that healing is magic many Zora have, which I like, but also that it seems hard for them.

Sidon trying so hard to heal as much water as he can, and be the only one putting his life on the line so no one else dies like Mipha, was just so good. It's great set up in BotW, and pay off here of how traumatizing of an experience that was. Again, I like that Yona got to be like 'I know you, Sidon, and I know youre trauma, and I know what you want to and should do in this situation, so do it'.

Getting to the dungeon was so fun! The floaty jumping was a little weird at times, but over all I loved it and gave the path such a distinct feel, a lot like the path to the Wind Dungeon.

The Water Temple was the easiest in my opinion (none of them were overly hard, but this felt really quick to me) (also the Lightning Temple is a close second) ((ALSO ALSO some of that can probably be attributed to me just getting more used to the game and the kind of thought processes it asks of you)) but I thought the way it worked was pretty good. The boss was also very funny, as you were totally set up to expect a like like and instead got the weirdest octorock you've ever seen, and you're pushed to use Sidon's power in a way that feels very natural, though I haven't used it much after this dungeon tbh.

Gerudo and Riju

Going through the desert and seeing the Gerudo Town so destroyed was devastating. This was also where the gibdo were introduced, a suitably creepy enemy for such a scary thing going on. However, they don't stun you. This makes some sense since they show up in such hoards, but also takes away a lot of the scariness of them, and they're almost laughably easy to beat after they've been hit by some kind of elemental attack. Again, I was immediately concerned and wanted to do whatever I could to help the Gerudo. I like that you didn't have to really sneak in (except at first) because you've earned their trust by now and these are extenuating circumstances.

Buliara is one of my fav characters (she was really important in a fanfic I was working on where a new Gerudo male was born) so getting to see her and her specifically vouching for Link absolutely made my day. I like that the Gerudo are utilizing the underground bunker - in general, I love all the times in the game emergency things like that are broken out because these are hard times. Riju, a little older now and training hard, but not frustrated or feeling (at least not acting like) she thought she wasn't good enough was great. She wasn't hitting the mark, but she seemed just focused on training until she could.

The way to the Lightning Temple was okay, It wasn't bad but it wasn't note worthy, although I did like that you got to see the boss before you actually fought her. The best part was when Link had to help defend Gerudo Town from the gibdo. I'm not sure I did actually put together the best plan, but I felt like I helped, and getting the spoils afterwards made it even better.

The temple was a bit weird to navigate, and I'm not even sure I solved everything the way it was 'supposed' to go, but I did it so hey, what more can you ask for. The boss was pretty good, although she was, like, very bug like, and I think it made you kind of go 'oh, the gibdo aren't humans, they're bugs' which further makes them a little less creepy in my opinion.

General/Final Thoughts

Over all, I thought the dungeons felt a lot more like Zelda dungeons than the divine beasts did, and I like them well enough. I wish they were a little trickier, but also I wasn't overly bugged by them being too easy. Each dungeon felt very distinct, which I loved, and you never think you're in one place over the other.

Honestly, my biggest problem is with the Sages. I wish we 1) got names for them or learned more about them and 2) I wish the little cutscenes were a little more distinct.

The end of each dungeon goes: here's the sage, the sage was in the fight and won, Sage of Time told them to recreuit their descendent, wow didn't the Sage of Time look like Zelda? I understand this is because you could visit any dungeon in any order, but I think they would've, like, shown the Sage was in charge of something specific, show more of how the war impacted them specifically, something or anything to make that part more distinct.

Uh, so yeah, I like them, I think they're mostly an improvement over BotW (they both have pros and cons, though, and there are defo things that BotW did better than TotK). Let me know your thoughts about the dungeons if you want! (without spoiling anything past them please ^-^)

[amiharana]

19 and 6 for the ask game?🙏🏻

oughhh anon... these numbers... i got the notification for this when i was at work and when i looked at the list, i was like 🥹🥹🥹 my scrunklies are fighting and they're sick nooo.....

you're actually going to want to sit down and make sure you don't have to do anything to read this one, shit is long af 😭

(ask game from here)

🫂 19. How they make up after a big fight?

first of all, revali and link definitely have little arguments and bicker, but they rarely ever have big fights for a couple reasons. mostly because they both hate the usual outcomes of their big fights, and do their best to never fight like that ever.

revali is definitely easier to anger than link is, because he's got some deep-seated insecurities (esp from my headcanon about his early childhood). but he honestly could get mad at anything depending on his mood, because he's already a very grumpy person. link lowkey just talks out of his ass without a filter sometimes and anything link says could piss revali off, intentionally or not. "you're being over the top, you're doing too much" "if you're gonna molt, can you pick up after yourself, your feathers are fucking everywhere" "stop putting your bows on the dresser or i'm gonna keep knocking them into the lake" or something dumb like the aforementioned can cause the both of them to start bickering out of nowhere.

but sometimes, they let that bickering get out of control and it spirals into a fight before they even realize it, where they both start saying things they don't mean.

the first time they really fought, revali missed a shot at the flight range during a training session and link jokingly said "how did you get chosen as a champion with that kind of aim?" to which revali replies, "even my worst shot is better than your best" and then it somehow goes from playful banter to bickering to actual arguing, culminating into revali's final straw when he says, "if you wanted someone that was perfect and could fulfill your every damn need like i supposedly can't, then perhaps you should have chosen to be with zelda or mipha instead of me," to which link yells back, "you know what? you're right, maybe i should have! at least zelda and mipha are actually in love with me." revali goes quiet, staring at link with burning green eyes, his crest feathers flaring.

link's eyes widen when he realizes what he said, and he immediately moves and reaches out towards revali, "w-wait no, i didn't mean that, i'm sorry, revali i—"

but the rito, stony-faced and silent, throws his swallow bow into the range, his glare stopping link in his tracks. "if you truly believe i don't love you," he says, voice scarily calm, "then do yourself a favor and reconsider what the point of this relationship is, to wonder why i still chose to tie my life to yours, knowing i couldn't give you even a quarter of what zelda and mipha can no matter how hard i try. if all of my efforts meant nothing to you, then at most all i could wish is that i gave you an enjoyable time." then, revali turns and uses his gale to launch himself upwards, disappearing from link's view. link falls to his knees on the platform, staring up at the sky, eyes filled with tears, guilt, and regret.

one of revali's biggest insecurities regarding his relationship with link would definitely be the fact that zelda and mipha loved him too, and he frequently wonders why link chose him when there were two princesses of great families vying for his hand. why would link choose him when a princess with control over the land's waters, who crafted perfectly-fitting armor with special abilities for him that would allow him to swim with her, desired him for far longer? why would link want him when a princess directly descended from this land's goddess wanted him too, who could actually give link a child of his own blood, who could give him the world's riches and all the power he could ever want? all revali can give link are feathers tucked into his hair and a piece of fabric that could keep him afloat for a couple moments. revali can't give him much more than that. but for link to openly acknowledge it, to entertain it even... it hurts him more than he can fathom.

revali is gone for the rest of the day, having fucked off towards the hebra north crest and taking his anger out on monster camps along the fringes of the hebra mountains. meanwhile, link returns to rito village by foot, every step heavy with guilt, and before he enters the village, he stops by one of the ponds in the island spires leading up to the village and grabs a few hearty salmon. link knows that what he said was a deep insecurity for revali and he used it against him; it's unforgivable, he shouldn't be forgiven at all.

but it makes his heart ache hard at the idea that revali would consider leaving him, tears stinging his eyes and feeling like his chest is going to collapse in on itself. he shouldn't be forgiven, but link will spend the rest of his life begging for revali's forgiveness if he has to. so he'll start with what he knows best: making a good meal.

when link reaches their shared roost, he sets up the cooking pot in the center, lighting the fire and clearing the table to set up his materials and utensils. tonight, he'll make revali's favorite meal, hearty salmon meunière. it's not an entire apology, but it's a good start to one. in the open air of their roost, link desperately hopes that its aroma will lead revali back home to him.

revali returns just as the sun is beginning to dip below the horizon, thoroughly calmed and worn down from the massacre he's inflicted upon the monster camps at the fringes. who knew so many had settled back there? he'll have to return again soon to finish them off. instinctually, he flies straight to their shared roost before remembering his earlier fight with link and hesitates, wondering if link is there, if they should see each other right now. but a particular scent catches his nose and all uncertainty disappears. revali wants to go home now, and he hopes his home is still there when he arrives.

link is sitting by the cooking pot when revali descends on their roost's landing, curled in on himself, his head nestled in folded arms atop his knees. revali's heart pangs at the sight, fingers twitching to comfort his beloved jewel until he remembers that link was the reason he flew off in a rage in the first place. he should be angry, but he's fought it all out now and he can't find it in him to be with his songbird in distress right in front of him.

as he approaches, link startles and looks up, meeting revali's eyes and the rito's heart pangs again at the sight of link's eyes rimmed red and puffy, his nose pink clearly from crying. "hi," link says, voice hoarse. "welcome home."

revali hums in response, acknowledging the greeting. "did you start eating without me?" he says gently, sitting beside link, folding his legs, and studying his face. in the flickering firelight, link's face looks pale and gaunt, saved for the crying-induced pink splotching across his nose and cheeks. it unsettles something in revali.

"no," link mumbles, looking away. then he uncurls to reach in front of him, and pulls back revealing a steaming hot plate of hearty salmon meunière. revali's eyes widen as link hands it to him. "made this for you."

"you did?" revali says, taking the plate and staring at it in surprise. link hums in affirmation. the meat of the fish is glazed and enticing, and his stomach rumbles at the delicious smell of it. "it's my favorite..." he looks back at link, who has curled back into his initial position. he feels that twitch in his fingers again, to hold link, but resists. "what's the occasion?"

"to say sorry," link says softly. "for earlier. i didn't mean what i said."

revali hums. "thank you," he responds in similar volume. "i appreciate it. we both said things we didn't mean, so i apologize as well. i forgive you." he looks around but there's only his plate by the cooking pot. "i thought you said you didn't start eating yet. where's your food?"

"didn't make any," link mumbles.

revali pauses and blinks. "and why is that?"

"can't eat," his little songbird replies and revali feels his heart plummet, somehow dreading the answer. link lays his head down atop his arms but faces away from revali. "can't eat if i don't know if you'll come back." oh.

finally succumbing to his instincts, revali immediately sets the plate aside and grabs for link, to pull him into his lap, and link squeaks but is nonetheless pliant in revali's hands. revali situates them so that link sits sideways in his lap, his head on revali's left and his legs on the right. cradling link, revali places his beak on his mate's mussed hair (he needs to rebraid it soon, hm) and hugs him tight. almost instantly, he feels link cling to his armor and gasp shakily, burying his face in the space between revali's shoulder and neck. "'vali—"

"did you really think i would leave you for something like that?" revali murmurs, maintaining his steady hold as link begins to shudder and cry in his arms. "link—"

"please don't," link begins to blubber, his voice wavering. "please don't leave, don't leave me! i'm sorry i'm sorry i didn't mean it, i love you and i know you love me too, i was just saying shit to say it 'cause i was mad, i love you, revali please—"

"breathe, songbird," revali whispers, leaning down to press his forehead against link's and cupping his cheek. link gasps out a sob, his hands clinging tightly to revali's wrist, like he's afraid revali will slip from his grasp. "breathe for me, darling, you're going to choke." so link forces himself to breathe deeply, hiccuping and shaking as he attempts to calm down, his eyes shut. "that's it, little jewel. i'm not going anywhere, i'm right here. i forgive you already."

"revali," link whimpers, but revali just shushes him, leaning back and beginning to rock slightly. revali should be angry with link, but he just can't bring himself to be; he's too soft-hearted when it's about link.

after a couple more moments, link is placid and his breath has evened out, sobs reduced to sniffles. he still clings tightly to revali, still fearing the idea of revali leaving him. only then does revali decide to speak again.

"why did you think that i would leave you?" revali murmurs, turning his face slightly to nuzzle at link's jaw. link relaxes in his hold by a margin, but relaxes nonetheless. "in fact, i would have thought you were going to leave me with the way we were talking." at the thought of link leaving him, revali shivers slightly, a pit growing in his stomach; perhaps this is what link had felt, had let that pit grow and consume him and take over.

"never," link responds immediately. "i'd never leave you." link pauses, and then speaks again. "but i thought you were gonna leave 'cause i fucked up. i shouldn't have said that, and i didn't mean it at all. i'm sorry. i don't care about zelda or mipha or if they do love me, i love you." link curls up further into revali's lap before mumbling, "i don't need or want anyone else. you're the perfect one for me, so please don't leave me and find someone else. i don't think i could bear it."

"i wouldn't," revali says softly, and holds link a little tighter. "i don't want anyone else either." they stay like this for a little while until—

"your food's cold now," link mumbles against revali's chest. "i worked really hard on it and you're just gonna make me cry so that you don't eat the food i worked so hard on." revali's beak parts and then he snorts at the utter audacity of link's comment.

"we just had our first actual fight as a coupling, and you're worried about the food?" revali teases. link hums in affirmation and revali rolls his eyes. "alright, well let's just put it back in the pot to warm up then."

"it'll ruin the texture," link mumbles, but he uncurls from his position in revali's lap to reach for the plate. using the knife, he slides the fish into the cooking pot and then curls back up into revali. the action reminds revali of another critical detail—

he nudges link's face with his beak. "will you really not eat? you haven't eaten anything since before we started training."

link shakes his head. "lost my appetite," he murmurs. "just wanna be with you right now."

revali makes a displeased noise. "but you have to eat something," he insists. "i refuse to let you go hungry tonight. i'll make you something then."

"no, you suck at cooking," link mutters. "i'll just eat an apple or something."

"that's not a meal, you have to eat a proper supper."

"well, i don't wanna eat anyway."

"link." revali's tone is a warning. "i don't want to fight with you again so soon."

link huffs and shifts in revali's hold. "fine," he acquiesces. "i'll eat a little bit from your plate." he uncurls and takes the plate and knife again, pushing the fish out of the pot so that it plops back onto the plate. "let me go get a fork."

"that's not a meal either," revali sighs, but he lets link stand and keeps his eyes on the little hylian as he grabs a fork from the table, then returns, making himself comfortable in revali's lap once more. revali holds the plate and they share the hearty salmon meunière, link slicing off tiny pieces to chew on, revali's right wing hooked around his waist when he isn't slicing food to eat. they're okay. as they eat, their hearts are full again and if link holds revali a little tighter in the hammock that night, revali doesn't say anything, wrapping his wings around link a little tighter, too.

now if it's revali saying the fucked up shit, it takes a lot for link to get actually upset, especially with revali because he's so used to revali being harsh or mean without really meaning it all the time. revali usually says shit like "your aim sucks" or "you're really sloppy and look like a mess, you need to clean up" and those sort of things don't bother link very much because revali is so whipped for him, he either lets link get away with it or helps link himself, e.g. extra practice with archery lessons or combing and braiding link's hair himself. sometimes revali just says things to say something fr.

so when revali says something that genuinely upsets link, he does similarly to what revali does and goes completely silent and fucks off to somewhere, but the difference is that he doesn't come back at the end of the day.

in the rare instances that link gets upset from a fight with revali, he can disappear from a couple days to a few weeks at a time. and revali can't find him, because link has explored nearly every nook and cranny in this goddamn country and playing seeker in the most emotionally charged hide-and-seek game across the vast lands of hyrule is a game revali has never been able to win. when link runs and hides, he doesn't want to be found. it's why revali avoids trying not to upset link to that degree as much as possible, because every time he's tried, he can't find link and he's afraid link won't come back, either from finding someone else or leaving himself to be found by revali in... undesirable conditions.

link has only disappeared twice thus far. the first time, he was gone for a couple days, revali practically tearing up the entirety of the hebra region looking for him, nearly pulling his feathers out. squadrons of rito warrior search parties are sent out too to look for link, to quell their champion's panic, but link just shows up back at the village after five days and revali has half a mind to chew him out, absolutely fuming.

but he takes one look at link with his scruffy hair, the dark circles under his eyes, and the wrinkled fabric of the clothes link was wearing the day they fought, and without a word grabs link by the hand to pull him towards the communal rito bath. link is nonverbal, staring blankly into space, and completely unresponsive as revali strips him of his clothing and places him in the bath. it starts to worry revali as he washes link's hair and body; where did link even go? what happened to him out there? this version of link... it reminds him of the link he met after windblight ganon was defeated; a link with no recognition in his eyes, no warmth or soul. it terrifies revali.

link is still nonverbal and unresponsive when they return to their shared roost, still staring blankly into space, body rigid and unmoving. revali can't even remember what they argued about at this point, he's so consumed with worry for his mate and why he's acting like this that whatever he said, he'll forgo his pride and take it back so that this doesn't happen, now or ever again.

but when he seats link in front of him and begins to comb through his wet hair and separate the strands to braid them back into their usual look, link slowly begins to relax. carefully, revali massages his fingers into link's scalp and his mate hums in response, leaning into his touch. there he is, his little songbird. so revali continues as he does; massaging, combing, and braiding, and then he begins to sing quietly, hoping to get link to sing with him, to respond to him.

it works, link humming along to revali's song and slowly beginning to sing the words too. by the time revali has finished rebraiding his feathers into link's hair, his precious songbird is back to him with those wide bright sapphires for eyes.

"where did you even go?" revali says, as link leans completely back into him, still humming to revali's song.

"the forgotten temple," link says breezily like it's nothing, but revali freezes.

"what? why would you even go there? it's still infested with guardians."

"because i knew you wouldn't follow me there," link says softly. and that takes the breath out of revali's lungs. link turns to look up at him. "after we fought, i was just so angry i didn't even know what to do. so i went down to the rito stable, i took epona, and i kept riding until i got to the snowfield stable. then i boarded her there and i jumped into the canyon to enter the temple." link turns back around. "it's not as bad in there as you think it is, once you get rid of all the guardians. it's not infested anymore."

"... you took out the guardians there?"

"yeah. let's go there sometime, it's pretty even though it's in ruins. i think zelda would probably like to study the ruins too."

link treats the whole situation like it's nothing and evades revali's every attempt to discuss what happened, both the fight and his disappearance. "it's fine," link insists. "i forgive you and you're fine. i just had to be by myself to process it for a while. i'm all good now, please don't worry anymore."

so revali tries, but it still bothers him. something must have happened, but link won't tell him what. he decides to leave it for now, but they eventually have to talk about it. it can't be avoided forever.

the second time it happens, revali lets his pride get the best of him. they're fishing for hearty salmon in the hebra plunge when link decides to throw his square and circle bombs into the water and detonate them. it yields quite a few chillfin trout and hearty salmon, and link cheers. revali, however, is displeased.

"will you always resort to that sheikah slate to assist you?" revali grumbles after he finishes collecting the fish from the lake.

link places his hands behind his neck and whistles. "well, it makes fishing a lot easier for both of us!"

"yes, but it takes away the art of hunting," revali sighs, "and it's incredibly loud. do you wish to scare away the prey?"

"as if the fish can go anywhere else," link says. "can they even climb waterfalls? i don't think so!" he sticks his tongue out at the water. "checkmate, fish."

"careful, you wouldn't want mipha hearing you insult her kind."

"oh, shut up—"

and just like when they fought the first time, it goes from banter to bickering to a full blown argument faster than either of them can register it. but this time, revali makes the mistake of bursting and using one of link's deep insecurities against him...

"revali, it's really not that serious! i did what i had to in order to defeat the calamity once and for all, and if i had to do it again, i probably wouldn't even need the master sword! i could beat ganon with only a bow if i wanted to."

"well, you couldn't even defeat ganon the first time round and you needed our help to do it this time, so i doubt that you would ever succeed."

it stops link in his tracks, brows furrowing. "... what are you saying?"

revali rolls his eyes. "don't play dumb. you hold yourself in such high regard as a hero, but i would presume that most of hyrule would either blame you or aren't aware of your biggest failure. do they know that you couldn't stop the calamity the first time? that you let their champions die, and left the princess on her own to hold back the beast until you woke up from your little nap like a child? there's no way you could have beat calamity ganon with only a bow if you couldn't have beaten him at all the first time."

when revali looks back at link, he's immediately filled with regret. link is shaking — from the cold, from upset, from barely concealed anger, revali doesn't know — his eyes downcast and his jaw tight. his fists are clenched at his sides, knuckles turning white. revali shouldn’t have said that, an apology lining his tongue and his fingers twitching to reach out for link but instead, he resists and turns away.

“shut up,” link mutters. revali looks back and link is staring at him dead in the eye. the wide glimmering sapphires that revali has grown to be so fond of have disappeared, replaced by shards of clear blue glass accompanied by the growl of a wolf. it’s unsettling and revali should take it back and apologize, but he can’t shake the grasp of his pride.

“you know i’m right,” revali hears himself say and the regret burns like lava down his throat. link’s eyes darken, his brows furrowing deeper and his face morphing into one of fury and of betrayed anguish.

“do you really believe that?” link says, gritting his teeth, anger barely contained. revali only looks away. link scoffs in disbelief. “fuck you, seriously,” the little hylian spits, spins on his heel, and stalks away.

revali stares after him. he should move, he should be running after his precious jewel, should be holding him close and apologizing and doing everything to regain link’s forgiveness. he shouldn’t have said any of it. but his pride, curse it, keeps him staunchly in place like it’s attached weights to his ankles, imprisoning him in the cold bitter loneliness of the plunge.

“fuck,” revali whispers, when link disappears from his sight. “fuck. i really messed up."

that night, link doesn't return and the hammock feels emptier than it did the last time link disappeared. it heightens revali's anxiety, twisting and turning reaching out for his little songbird who's not there, who he's driven away. the emptiness is choking revali half to death.

the next day, link doesn't return either and when revali sets out to find him too, there's nothing. no tracks, no signs, no one has even seen link leave the tabantha frontier. revali's anxiety and guilt grows worse.

days pass, and link still hasn't returned, and revali still can't find him. he's taken to searching past hebra, into the hyrule ridge, the gerudo highlands, even near great hyrule forest. link isn't there and there aren't any signs of him.

on the sixth day since link disappeared, revali goes to the goddess statue in rito village and kneels before it with an offering of amber and rubies. "i know it's not much," he murmurs, placing the gems in front of the statue. "but it's all i can give. please protect link, wherever he is, and keep him warm. and please... let him come home to me unharmed. i'll take it from there."

nearly two weeks pass, and revali thinks he's actually going insane. since the champions' revival, he hasn't spent this much time away from link. he feels like he's dying again, but this pain is much worse than his first death. revali's search has extended now into hyrule field and the great plateau. his efforts are still fruitless.

it's not until he runs into urbosa and zelda at the ruins of hyrule castle, where attempts to restore the palace to its former glory have been started, that he drops in exhaustion from days of constant flying with barely any rest. the anxiety is still coursing strongly in his blood.

"revali!" urbosa shouts as revali lands, falling to his knees and crumpling into a ball on the ground. both her and zelda rush towards him, lifting him up and placing his arms around their shoulders. "what in the name of the goddesses has happened to you?!" they carry him to pieces of rotted stone that serve as makeshift benches to seat him upon. zelda rushes to go grab water as urbosa sits beside revali, letting him lean on her shoulder as he breathes heavily.

"urbosa," he whispers, desperate and tearful, "urbosa, i messed up really badly. i shouldn't have said any of that."

"what happened?" urbosa says, searching revali's face and taking in his disheveled appearance. "where's link? why isn't he with you?"

"i messed up," revali repeats, his voice shaking. "i said something i shouldn't have to him and now he's gone. i can't find him. i can't find him, urbosa, i drove him away and it's been weeks since then, it's all my fault."

"what did you say to him?" zelda says gently, having returned with a satchel of water.

"i told him he couldn't beat ganon with only a bow," revali whispers, the entire conversation flashing vividly in his mind like it has been for the last two weeks. "because he failed to beat him the first time, that he failed to save us and the princess, because how can he beat ganon with only a bow if he couldn't finish him off in one go the first time. i shouldn't have said that, and now he's disappeared because of me. shit i—" revali hunches over, curling in on himself, the guilt tearing a hole straight through his chest.

urbosa and zelda look at each other with shared grimaces, because yeah while it might have some truth to it, it's still pretty fucked up to say to link's face. at least revali recognizes that it's not a good thing to say at all. they help revali breath and stabilize before talking again.

"has this happened before?" urbosa says. "i figure you two must have had plenty of lovers' quarrels before."

"we've bickered, but we rarely ever fight," revali says softly. that surprises both urbosa and zelda. "we've only fought twice before this, and it never ended well. the last time was the first link disappeared, but he returned after five days and was in the forgotten temple during that time."

"the forgotten temple?" zelda says, face lighting up. urbosa gives her a stern look, because now is not the time and zelda shrinks a little, but her curiosity is still piqued.

"yes," revali says, staring into space. "he wanted to take you there, now that's he rid it of guardians. he thought you might appreciate it and want to study the ruins."

"that's... very kind of him," zelda murmurs, eyes shining in excitement. urbosa rolls her eyes, then speaks.

"do you think he might have returned there?" urbosa says.

"no, i've already checked," revali said, eyes downcast. "the guardians are gone, but he wasn't there either. he's never been gone this long..."

"i'm sure we'll find him," urbosa asserts. "if zelda and i find him before you do, we'll make sure to bring him directly to you." she places her hand on revali's shoulder, prompting him to look up at her. "fights between lovers like this happen. it's good that you've recognized how harsh your words were to him, but you still have to talk this out. you must be prepared to do everything you can if you wish to gain his forgiveness and to stay together as a coupling."

"of course," revali answers immediately, resolve returning and hardening his face. "do you take me for someone who gives up easily?" he turns and looks upward to the sky, and his voice softens. "my heart belongs to him now. i can only hope that still wishes to keep it with him." urbosa and zelda look at each other again, where zelda rolls her eyes and urbosa's lips twitch; sappy lovesick idiots.

revali decides to return home to rito village to rest. he's been flying constantly for two weeks searching for link and his efforts will continue to be fruitless if he's not in top condition. with food and water from zelda and urbosa, he thanks them and sets off to return home.

and would you imagine his shock when link is already back home in their roost, standing in the center. unlike the last time, he looks clean and well-rested, his hair rebraided (not as perfectly as revali's handiwork, but reminiscent of it; link has taken notes), and he's wearing his hylian tunic and pants rather than the snowquill armor he was wearing when they fought. a myriad of emotions swells in revali's chest, ready to burst out of his ribcage and splash all over the floor.

"hi," link says timidly. he won't look at revali in the eyes, his hands behind his back and one foot hooked around the ankle of the other. "sorry i was out so long. um—"

but revali doesn't let link finish his sentence, instead rushing forward to engulf link in his wings, hugging him tightly. link is home, he's here in revali's arms and he's safe and unharmed. "goddesses," revali whispers, tears threatening to spill. "you're going to be the death of me, link."

"sorry," link murmurs back, returning revali's tight embrace and burying his face in revali's neck. "i didn't think i would worry you this much."

"you were gone for two weeks, you absolute imbecile," revali whispers. "you disappeared without a trace, of course i'm going to worry. i searched almost half of hyrule for you, link, fuck."

"sorry, i—"

"stop apologizing," revali grunts, holding link tighter. "i should be apologizing. i shouldn't have said that to you. i regret it and i'm deeply sorry. it wasn't your fault that you couldn't defeat ganon the first time, it took us all by surprise. we had no idea that he'd infiltrate the beasts, or the guardians. none of us stood a chance with our disorganization and lack of power, so it wasn't only your fault. the blame should be shared by all of us. i really didn't mean it and i'm incredibly sorry, but i understand if you don't wish to forgive me."

"revali," link whispers back. "revali, it's okay."

"it's not, what i said was unbelievably fucked up, link. i don't even want to forgive myself for what i said. i was very harsh with you over something that wasn't a big deal and it drove you away from me. i don't ever want to cause you pain, and yet i've done it twice—"

"revali, stop, please," link says more firmly. he pulls back and looks at revali with a furrow in his brow. "i said it's fine. i forgive you, so please stop."

revali stares at link for a moment, before sighing and shutting his eyes. "alright," he relents. "but i really am sorry, link. you mean everything to me and i couldn't live with myself if i drove you away for good." he lifts link's face with both of his hands and presses their foreheads together, nuzzling link's nose and mouth with his beak as gently as possible. his sweet little songbird sighs and returns the gesture, cupping revali's face with his hands. they stay like that for a couple moments until link speaks.

"you're not calling me any nicknames," link murmurs, eyes still shut. revali makes a noise of question and link continues, but hides his face in revali's shoulder; he's embarrassed, revali realizes. "you're being too serious and calling me by my name... not calling me 'little jewel' or 'songbird' or shit like that..."

revali hums in amusement. "you want me to call you those things?" he feels link nod into his chest, hands clinging to his shoulders and armor. revali snorts. "alright, my love, i'll do as you wish." link hums, a light, happy sound and revali's heart flutters briefly. he wraps his wings a little tighter around link's waist. "where did you go this time?"

"a bunch of places," link mumbles. "i used the sheikah slate to warp, that's why no one saw me leave on foot. i went to hateno first, since they kept the house as mine even though i said they could use it to house other people. i slept there first because it was far from here, then i warped to the korok forest to talk to the great deku tree about... what you said." revali tenses but link reaches up to caress his beak, to tell him it's fine. "there's truth to it, you know, even if you want to deny it front of my face. the great deku tree told me all the heroes before me were able to stop ganon the first time; i'm the only one who failed at first and was given a second chance to finish him off. i'm the loser in this legacy." revali bristles at the self-deprecation, but link only chuckles softly. "you would have loved to hear me admit that out loud, before we became a thing."

"in the past, of course i would," revali grumbles. "it's different now."

"it's still true, whether you like it or not," link says softly. "and you're still right. letting you and the other champions die is one of my biggest regrets and failures, and i honestly don't think i'll ever really be able to forgive myself for it no matter how many times you forgive me. it was my one duty as the chosen hero and i fucked it up. i really did sleep in like a child and let zelda do all the heavy lifting."

link tilts his head so that his ear is on revali's chest instead of his face. "after that, i just kind of wandered around necluda doing some thinking and soul-searching. i went to kakariko to talk with impa about the same thing and she was really insightful and kind about it. then i went down to fort hateno and blatchery plain, where i died the first time."

revali tenses again, but link caresses his beak comfortingly again. "said hi to naydra at mount lanayru and prayed a little at the spring of wisdom. it reminded me of the day ganon was revived. did you know it was zelda's birthday that day? what a terrible birthday gift. went back down to hateno to help the farmers gather the new wheat and joined in on their harvest festival.

"then, i went to lurelin to watch the sunset. it's not as pretty as here, because it's in the southeast and the sun sets here in the west, but it was still nice. it made me miss you." revali blows air out of his beak and link giggles. "but i had one more stop before i decided to come home. i went to pray at the spring of courage, too."

"at wisdom, i understand," revali mutters and link swats his chest gently. "but why at courage?"

"for the courage to come home and face you like this," link replies softly. "i had to accept my fault and my failures, but it felt like shit, you know? you were right but i was having a hard time accepting it. they say the hero is blessed by the goddess of courage and that their spirits rest with her at her spring. so i went there and i prayed to all of them, to the goddess and heroes past, for acceptance, for forgiveness, for courage. thankfully, they granted it to me, because now i'm home with you and i'm at peace with what has happened."

link sighs. "i'm sorry it took so long for me to come back to you. believe me, i wanted to go back home to you too. but it wouldn't change anything if i came home with that still messing up my mind."

revali tilts link's chin up and presses their foreheads together again, and link's eyes shut as they graze each other's faces once more. "it's alright, little jewel," revali murmurs. "you can take all the time that you need. i'll still be here for you when you ready. though, i'd prefer if you told me where you were going first so i wouldn't have to pick the entirety of my plumage out of stress."

link laughs. "okay, i'll try to remember that the next time we fight. before i go fuck off to some random place in hyrule, i'll be sure to come back and let you know where i plan to go. 'hey 'vali, i know we just screamed at each other for an hour, but i'm gonna go hang out in gerudo town until we're down being mad at each other. cheers.' was that good?"

revali snorts. "gerudo town of all places, where men can't enter." link swats at his chest again, laughing. the rito only pulls link closer, keeping their foreheads pressed together. "i'd prefer it still if you stayed home." link hums, rubbing his thumbs against the gape of revali's beak, then reaches up to press his lips there.

"my heart's always at home with you," link whispers. "so no matter how far i am, i'll always be with you." he presses another kiss to revali's beak. "i love you, revali. i'll always be yours."

revali's eyes fall shut at the kiss and he chirps lowly. "my beloved songbird, i love you most. wherever you go, you have my heart with you."

they're so soft i'm crying ; ;; dumb stupid idiots in love with each other so bad, can't be away from each other for too long or else they start acting like they're gonna die... anyways yeah revali and link do not like to fight with each other like that past bickering like dummies because link is stubborn and revali is an asshole and both of their pride are bigger than the entirety of the hyrule landmass combined. if they were always fighting like that^, zelda would get so pissed she'd kill the both of them out of irritation.

🌡️ 6. What they would do if the other is sick?

i'll make this one shorter since i pretty much wrote two entire fics in that last number 😭 if you would like a fic version of this, let me know and i'll post that one to ao3 instead skdjfskjdf

both revali and link pretend that they're fine in the beginning and try to get on with their daily errands, but the difference between them is that revali will collapse after a day because he's dramatic and link will collapse after a week from exhaustion because he's an actual idiot.

revali is super dramatic about being sick, lying on the floor of their shared roost acting like he's going to die from illness meanwhile link is at the table, mixing herbs together to help with the symptoms and giggling at revali's antics. every time he bursts into sweet laughter, revali can't help but gaze fondly at his mate from the floor, falling in love with link a little more. link also still sleeps with revali in the hammock when he's sick and as a result, gets sick too. but even as he's coughing and sneezing in bed, link insists that getting sick for cuddles was worth it.

link hates it when revali molts though, because his feathers get fucking everywhere and he is sick of waking up with his mouth literally stuffed with revali's old feathers. they always move down to satori mountain right before revali's molt week because the warmer weather is better for his growing feathers and also because link doesn't like sleeping that close to revali because of the mouth-feathers. consequently, revali also hates molt week for this reason because he gets clingy and wants to cuddle link, but because of mouth-feathers, link doesn't want to cuddle. they're both suffering.

when link gets sick, he tries to push through the illness to keep running errands, train, and whatever is on his usual daily agenda. revali is not a fan of link being out of bed when he's sick, mostly because he instinctively wants to take care of his mate; to tend to link in the nest, feed him, preen him, and protect him as he recovers. link also likes being taken care of by revali, but he's also like. I promise tulin i'd train with him at the flight range today, and revali is like Too bad you're sick i'll tell teba to call off. even tulin is like "awh it's okay, master link! get better soon so we can train together! :>" and link wants to cry, because tulin is a cutie and he feels bad for having to call off. revali rolls his eyes and makes him get back in the hammock.

so what's new? nothing, because they're both dumb idiots when they're sick, as usual.

[timegears-moved]

would you tell me some about revali... i ve never played zelda but characters who are arrogant is my favorite in the world

oh my god you have opened the floodgates

so for context: in botw there are these four machines called the divine beasts that are each piloted by a member of the four non-hylian races in hyrule (those being the rito, zora, gerudo and gorons). the job of the divine beasts is to aid in the defeat of the big evil of the game calamity ganon and the pilots, along with the hylian hero that carries the master sword (link obviously) are called champions. revali is the rito champion of the bird-like divine beast called vah medoh.

revali is a really abrasive character with a chip on his shoulder. he's always bitching about something. he's also an exceptionally skilled archer and managed to develop his own technique called revali's gale, which allows him to create an undraft, something that no other rito was able to do. he was the top dog in rito village so it was obvious that zelda was gonna choose him to be a champion.

and then he meets the other champions. all of them come from a high-ranking lineage and have a natural born gift. link is the son of a royal knight and the goddess' chosen hero, mipha is the zora princess with the ability to heal, daruk is leader of the gorons and is able to create a defensive shield out of nothing, urbosa is the chief of the gerudo and can summon lightning and zelda, while not considered to be a champion herself, is still important to their group as she's the hylian princess and has the powers of the goddess (due to reincarnation as told in skyward sword). so when you're suddenly surrounded by people who are naturally gifted without having needed to put in the same amount of work you did, you would start to feel a little bit bitter and insecure too right? the only exception is zelda, who is struggling to awaken her sealing powers.

he has a particularly nasty attitude towards link, as he gets to play the leading role in the calamity's defeat and revali is jealous of that fact, but he also can't deny that link is a very skilled swordsman. he tries to antagonize link and get a reaction out of him in hopes of forming a rivalry, so that he can at least be assured that link views him as an equal. however link doesn't respond to his taunts. it's established that in botw the reason why link is selectively mute is because it's how he's coping with pressure of being the chosen hero and saving the lives of everyone in the kingdom. link never asked for this role and i'm sure he would gladly pass the main spotlight onto revali if he could. revali doesn't know this about link though and takes his lack of reaction as a rejection. that he isn't good enough to stand on equal ground as him, which is a massive blow to revali's pride.

revali and zelda are also fun parallels in this regard. both have had to put more work into their skills than the others and still feel underappreciated, and both envy link because of his skills and the praise he's earning (which, again, is much to the chagrin of link himself as he doesn't want this). link and zelda eventually do become close friends though and it's heavily implied that it's zelda's love for link (regardless of if you view it as romantic or platonic) that finally awakens her powers. zelda becoming friends with link is how we find out about his anxiety and selective muteness.

okay back to revali now: he dies from the calamity lol. but his death seems to humble him a little bit? like his spirit is still trapped inside medoh and when link, after spending a century in a restoration chamber and losing his memories, comes to free the divine beast, revali is a lot less bitchy. his dialogue to link while he's on medoh is playful, he outwardly expresses concern for him if he gets injured in the fight with windblight ganon, and at the end of it all he can admit with a smile on his face that link was the better hero afterall. AND I NEED TO RANT ABOUT HOW THE ENGLISH DUB BUTCHERED IT because in english revali says that link was lucky but in the japanese version he actually does praise link genuinely. so the dub just makes his compliments come across as shallow and i hate it.

revali is also just??? really funny?????? his diary reveals a lot of depth about him. for starters he writes pages and pages about how much he "hates" link and how he can't stand him and how much he wants him to notice him and pay attention to him and "god i can't stop thinking about link that nefarious knight is driving me insane with how gorgeous he is he's clearly being beautiful to rub it in my face and he keeps making my heart race. with rage. because i fucking hate him." he also complains about how pompous the hylian champion ceremony is and that it's completely unnecessary (he does like the scarf though). and he's absolutely adamant that "the diary of revali, a rito legend" was NOT written by him do not believe anybody that says otherwise. and on a softer note he does express his sympathy for zelda and her struggles with controlling her powers in his diary, because he really does get it.

hopefully that was comprehensible i'm bad at articulating my thoughts in a cohesive manner. anyway here's some of my fav images of him

[avenin7]

OMG that is an awesome rito Link design, and Revali's absolutely flustered at his appearance! There needs to more interactions between this version of Link and Revali. It would be interesting to see how less reserved Revali is considering he wouldn't have to restrain himself because Link's body wouldn't be as delicate as his hylian one. Like if Link was dealing with a semi supressed Revali because the rito is conscious about not hurting him, how would rito Link handle an unsuppressed Revali? If other rito can't handle a courtship from Revali, that can only mean rito Link is really in for it.

That is such an interesting idea!! I do always enjoy caring Revali {I have several stories based off the premise 👀}

My personal preference for Revalink is that they aren’t really careful with one another. Could Revali hurt him? Absolutely. Would Link just push him to the floor because he’s built like a brick house? Of course he would. I think being rough with one another (physically & emotionally) is a very freeing thing for them both.

Revali’s never been able to find a good match for him; Link is ALWAYS holding back everything about himself. I think them being rough around the edges with each other just makes so much sense. Someone they don’t have to pretend with. Someone who can handle them. I think that’s how a lot of their injury mishaps happen (Link absolutely has almost broken a wing on Revali because hollow bones). Link’s silence and both of their emotional ineptitude makes them blunt and abrasive with one another. I think if they both didn’t have the capacity they wouldn’t work together.

But having rito Link? Where he can fly? Revali would be ecstatic to have someone to fly with. To show his Gale to (maybe teach him?) To train with.

I wonder if rito Link could keep up with him? Would they be matched in archery? Or would he still be partial to the sword?

[tnc-n3cl]

For the WIP game: The Long Nightmare

The Long Nightmare... @unmaskedcardinal going for the dark one! So this particular part of The Realm Walker revolves around Revali falling to Windblight Ganon and spending the next 100 years trapped in his own mind (mostly) as he's used as a puppet by Ganon.

Unfortunately I haven't got any further into it than I did back in August. The fic starts with Revali's POV of the "Return of Calamity Ganon" memory in BotW, but with a twist! All the Champions have their own Sheikah Slates, so they can fast travel to them. Link actually suggested (non-verbally) that they use Vah Medoh to get to the Castle faster (or Zelda figured out what he was trying to say.) In the following snippet, Link, Zelda, and Revali have teleported to Vah Medoh. (Content warnings: brief thought of suicide if a teleportation mishap had occurred, foul language)

Revali, the Princess, and that little knight arrive on Medoh’s tail, intact and their separate selves.  Goddess, if they’d been fused together, he would have just leapt from Medoh right then and there!

Revali wastes no time in opening the gate to the interior and motioning for the two Hylians to enter.  Then he calls upon his Gale to reach Medoh’s control panel and sets course for the castle.  Even from this far away, he can see the swirling Malice around the castle.

He mutters to himself, “Goddess, what a nightmare.”

“Master,” the familiar, feminine voice of Vah Medoh calls to him in his mind, “I am unsure of what is happening, but all of the Guardians beneath the castle are activating.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?  Shouldn’t they activate to repel Ganon?”

“Yes.  However, there is a distinct change in their energy signatures.  Something is wrong.”

“Well, I don’t like the sound of that.  We need to hurry!”

“Understood Master, redirecting all available power to propulsion systems.”

Medoh’s massive frame speeds up and Revali takes out his Slate.  He unfolds it and opens the Mail Rune and types a message to the Princess using the lower screen.

Are you alright?

The upper screen shows a moving envelope and after a moment it indicates the message is sent.  A short while later the Slate chimes.

We’re fine Revali.  Please hurry to the castle!

“Master, your heart rate is much higher than optimal.”

Revali scoffs, “Of course it is!  Calamity Ganon has returned within the heart of Hyrule and the Princess’ power hasn’t awakened yet!”

“Master, you must relax.  It is unwise to go into battle in your agitated state.”

He sighs, “We don’t have a choice.”

They’re making good time at least, Medoh has just crossed Lindor’s Brow.  Revali spots some kind of massive structure of Ancient Sheikah make jutting out from an island in the castle’s moat!  There’s another one just north of the castle and one to the southeast…

Revali’s crest rises, “What are those?”

“Repositories for Guardians.”

“Shouldn’t the lights be blue like yours?”

They’re not, they’re purple…

“Master, something is very wrong…”

Medoh flies past the pillar sticking up from the moat and Revali rushes to the side of his Divine Beast to get a better look.  He can just barely see objects emerging from the pillar, like swarms of angry bees.

“Are those…”

“Guardians.”

Revali can see bright flashes of skirisha (ski-re-sha), or ultraviolet, light below and every feather on his body stands on end.  The Guardians are firing on something, but the beams aren’t in the direction of the castle itself!

“What the hell is happening?!”

“Master, I do not know how this is possible, but it seems that Primary Target has commandeered the Guardians.”

Revali’s heart drops to his talons, “We’re fucked!”

“Master, I have lost contact with my brethren.”

“What?”

Just then something large impacts Medoh and the whole Divine Beasts shakes.  Revali puts his wings against his ears as he hears a horrific screaming in his mind!  Goddess, the sound reminds him of the time he witnessed a Moblin tearing the guts out of a wounded but still alive Tabantha moose with its bare hands!

“Revali!”

Somehow, he hears the Princess’ call.  He flies over to Medoh’s tail to find the Princess and her knight standing outside with looks of great concern on their faces. 

“Master,” Medoh calls out as if in tremendous pain, “Please be careful!”

Medoh’s panicking?  Well, that’s not good!  He hears the distinct sound of energy swirling behind him, and looks in that direction.  Strands of electric blue light form into a nightmarish abomination!  Its body is made of Malice and bits of Ancient Sheikah Tech, is vaguely humanoid but has no legs.  There’s only one arm, the other… Goddess, it ripped out one of Medoh’s cannons!  It has a single glowing crystal eye, just like a Guardian!

The fiend lets out a horrifying screech.

“What’s going on?!”  The Princess shouts.

Revali turns to her, “Get to the castle, now!”

“What about you?!”

“I’ve got this,” Revali lies with all the false confidence he can muster.

The knight just nods at him and the two Hylians grab their paragliders, leap from Medoh’s tail and begin gliding towards the castle.

With any luck, these dire circumstances will finally awaken the Princess’ power.  Revali focus on the task ahead of him, this monster that’s been sent after him.

The creature aims its cannon arm at him and fires, and he dodges expertly.  He climbs as high as he can and unslings his bow, before instinctively catching it in his talons.  He tries not to think of it as a bad omen when it starts raining heavily.

The abomination fires repeatedly on Revali but he manages to dodge every shot.  The Champion decides to go on the offensive and turns around to get into a firing stance.  As he drops, he sees the bright skirisha flash and abandons his attack to dive before a deadly laser beam cuts through the air where he had been.

“Shit, this thing’s fast.”

[cupcakegal25]

so i beat totk

and holy fucking SHIT it was good!!!!! i actually kept a record of my thoughts as i played it, so i'm gonna be posting that now just for funsies. major major MAJOR spoilers under the cut!!!!!!

RAURU OCARINA OF TIME??!?!?!?

why do i have to do the wholeass tutorial with no shirt. completely tits out

purah :eye: :eye:

love my horsies

2 eponas [accidentally summoned epona before linking stable accounts]

damn we were right about the time travel [dragon tear 1]

TEBA THE ELDER?!??!?!?!????!

the flying ship is vah medoh idiots /hj

revali’s gale 2 electric boogaloo [tulin's tornado]

damn is this what it would be like to fight the blights with the champions because if so :sob: :sob: :sob:

if revali finds out about this his impostor syndrome will only get worse istg

SAGES SAGES SAGES SAGES SAGES SAGES

SAGE OF TIME ZELDA MY FUCKGINH BELOFVED

what were the original sages named please

HOLY FUCKING BINGLE PHANTOM TULIN

ring :o

frozen lookin ass cutscene

REVALI’S LANDING (this is your fault hope)

great eagle bow……

did link just give the champion’s weapons back goddamn

VOW OF TULIN SAGE OF WIND <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

is sidon gonna have to sneak out to help me with this /hj

zelda has parents now love that for her <3 [rauru and sonia]

i was heading for gerudo town and now i’m in kakariko i do not know how this happened please send help

CHIEF PAYA???!?!?!??!??!??!?

made it to zora’s domain on accident. welp

WHERE DID MIPHA G O GET MY GIRL B A C K HERE [sidon statue]

WHO THE FUCK IS SIDON GETTING MARRIED TO WHAT

i would like to give sidon a hug please and thank you

WATER MANIPULATION SIDON GO AWOOGA

KING SIDON KING SIDON KING SIDON [dorephan and muzu]

sidon trauma arc [mipha come home :(]

ma’am i knew mipha [he doesn’t want to lose anyone else]

THERE SHE IS THERE’S MY GIRL [mipha]

sidon sage of water please? please nintendo? please sidon sage of water?

oh god oh fuck SIDON LOOK OUT [sludge like]

what the FUCK is up with the gravity here what the hell

oh god oh fuck water temple (i kinda figured this was coming but still)

CHAMPION PICTURE IN MY H O U S E THANK YOU KASS

link and zelda roommates :)

mucktorok is dancin

wtf is that a shark?

holy shit that’s like a zant looking death [mucktorok]

thank you sidon for my life [water shield]

wait that mask looks like vah ruta. wait

ma’am mipha is right there [my kin etc]

secret stone is kinda a dumb name i think

that’s LITERALLY the lightscale trident MA’AM [sage of water’s weapon]

i still love sage of time zelda. btw

dear god i NEED to know these people’s names this is becoming SUCH a problem

gonna take a detour to look for the dragon’s tears i think

sidon sage of water!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D :D :D

i fucking adore him so so so much i love him SO much

another disney lookin ass cutscene but not as pronounced

KING SIDON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i’m so proud of my boy

vow of sidon sage of water………

i love dorephan’s hat it looks silly

well guess i’m doing the gerudo quest last cause here i am in goron city

probably for the best given. history (thunderblight) (riju I’m sorry)

yunobo what the FUCK are you doing

i’m sorry i hate this outfit also what the hell

god daruk would be so upset :(

well this seems. bad [yunobo being mean]

oh yeah that’s really not good

CLEARLY NOT HIMSELF JHGKLASJGLKJAG [boss subtitle]

goodbye ugly mask!

did she just trap us in the cave with this stupid fucking rock [zelda and marbled rock roast]

oh it’s not just daruk's protection again that’s interesting! [yunobo’s charge]

yeah i one million percent guarantee that that isn’t zelda

what the FUCK am i looking at

moragia??? alright

god that was HARD to control what the fuck [wing]

holy shit the atmosphere in here is INCREDIBLE [death mountain crater]

damn is this dungeon going to be underground instead of in the sky? swag

woah the fire temple is the gorondia that i’ve heard about in side quests? pog

oh this is really interesting! big spirit tracks vibes [mine carts]

three whole boss fights in this section wow [yunobo, moragia, marbled gohma]

GOHMA?!?!??!???!??!?!??!

there she goes! why was the second phase easier than the first though that’s my main question

alright so the masks on the sages are definitely the divine beasts

i should wear my vah naboris mask for the last one lmao

yunobo is confused. dw bro i have played many games in this series and also seen two other cutscenes nearly identical to this

wait are the vas the same for the sages and their descendants and thus the champions. wait

well not the sage of water but that just supports my argument more i think. mipha voice actress real?

how did zelda fucking GET here how many fucking fireproof elixirs did she need to USE [fire temple]

elixir wears off as the sage is doing his little speech and zelda bursts into flames lmfao

hi it’s me, the swordsman link. nice to meet you [gorons will help swordsman named link]

daruk would be so proud of yunobo and mipha would be so proud of sidon and i guarantee urbosa would be so proud of riju (i haven’t gotten there yet) but revali would just be really jealous of tulin LMAO

yay sage of fire yunobo!!!!!!!!!! i like daruk better i’m sorry

AW FISTBUMB THAT’S SO CUTE FUCK YEAH

i know it’s just the secret stone but yunobo fucking looks like he’s on fire gkhlsakgjlagk [giving the vow]

wait this is on my thumb? that’s gonna leave a finger leftover what the hell [rings/vows]

i’m gonna like recruit riju and then all of us are going to storm hyrule castle together somehow LMAO

oh shit the rock roast was made of gloom? that makes sense actually

i love the gorons :D

BLUDO NO YOU’RE GOING TO THROW YOUR BACK OUT AGAIN [yunobo’s apology]

vow of yunobo sage of fire :D

actually fucking going to gerudo town know istg

slightly untrue actually i’m going to make a detour to activate the last three towers but two of them are on the way so it’s probably fine [forest, gerudo, wasteland]

rauru knows ganondorf is evil and is keeping him close to keep an eye on him so he’s already many many steps ahead of the oot king

also did no one notice how ganondorf was commanding the moldugas in the last cutscene. what

alright made it to kara kara bazaar! how the FUCK am i supposed to get to gerudo town though

also thank fucking god they put a shrine here i Need it

these guys think they’re gonna be liked enough to be allowed into gerudo town. They Won’t

okay thank you tulin for helping me get here i still have no idea where i’m going but i can work with it thank you

OH FUCK GIBDOS. TERRIFYING

going to avoid fighting those at all costs i think! Yikes:tm:

made it to gerudo town after many many detours! hooray!

wait hold on where IS everyone

THERE’S A GIBDO IN THE TOWN

okay made it to a. guard. this makes sense

alright so there’s people behind this wall but i cannot get in i am not allowed

where’s the dialogue option to tell this guard i’m nonbinary /hj

i have broken into the sanctuary and i think i’m gonna die

BULIARA DEFENDS ME???? AIGHT

okay heading out to find riju my beloved <3

PATRICIA!!!!!!!!!!

oh she grew up so pretty i’m so proud of her

yay she did it yay!

oh god that’s viscerally horrifying jesus christ [gibdo swarming kara kara bazaar]

oh that’s AWFUL i HATE the way they spawned

we did it yay!!!

that’s probably not actually zelda lbr

alright I’m back i was busy cooking

sage riju let’s fucking goooooo

just realized this is a new ganondorf (unless this takes place after fsa) absolutely wild we have had three of them and like ~20 links and zeldas

okay i’m as prepared as i can be i think let’s go

terrible horrible fucked up i hate it [gibdos]

oh god oh fuck oh shit she’s so COOL [riju]

alright i was terrible at that! fantastic [defending gerudo town]

whatever at least i won

ooh mural? let’s take a look

just realized i completely forgot about akkala lemme activate that tower

alright got sidetracked into doing a thing for josha. fought a frox. terrifying shit

but i made it here to the great abandoned central mine

why are there people here

oh that bitch is DEFINITELY a yiga

okay that’s an interesting new power [autobuild]

don’t wanna do this for them but here goes

alright, who’s the “master”

MASTER KOHGA??????

oh my god he fell into a pit maybe he’s been alive this WHOLE TIME

I WAS RIGHT

i cannot fucking believe this shit i’m so happy about it

great twist actually i deadass wasn’t expecting it

oh i love that so much

man are you planning on ripping my arm off. probably yes actually

alright boss time!

done! god that was so fun

i hope there aren’t any more misunderstandings in regards to his death though that would suck *cough @ofstormsandfire's absolutely fantastic fic no one ever mentions fear cough*

HGKLSAJGLKASG JUST FLIES OFF THAT’S SO FUNNY

alright that was a great detour and i am very happy i did it

back to josha!

i. completely forgot about faron. just a minute

climbed up totori rock. mistakes were made

back to riju. that puzzle was way too fuckin annoying [red pillar riddle]

ooh temple on the ground?

lightning temple… interesting. wasn’t sure if it would be lightning temple or thunder temple (maybe like sand or desert but i didn’t think so cause that didn’t seem like it would be a fitting sage title for riju)

OH GOD WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT [queen gibdo]

am i just going straight into the boss fight??? no dungeon??? what the hell

ohhhhh it retreated. so i do still have a dungeon!

finally made it into this fucking place!

five bucks says this place is the token creepy dungeon. should’ve made that bet earlier tbh

oh that voice sounds JUST like urbosa holy shit

i like how the rooms in this place have like. names and stuff

alright boss time!

OH GOD THAT DID SO MUCH DAMAGE [queen gibdo]

holy shit this is gonna be a ROUGH one

FINALLY that took me 30 goddamn minutes

just realized i forgot to put on the vah naboris mask. oh well

ooh pretty earring

so the only ring missing is my middle finger. sure wonder why that is /s

oh man am i finally gonna be allowed in gerudo town without crossdressing? swag!

vow of riju sage of lightning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

alright, let’s go talk to purah. after we check in with her i’ll probably go looking for the rest of the memories

why is there a blood moon in the middle of the day. that seems really bad

okay time for dragon tears!

SONIA NO [sonia gets stabbed]

god that’s gotta be AWFUL for zelda since now she’s lost 3 separate moms :( [unnamed bio mom, urbosa, sonia]

oh god he looks damn near identical to demise [secret stone ganondorf]

oh fuck lynels look so terrifying now i hope i never ever have to fight one

thank you zelda for having braincells and leaving

rauru going to his death a better father than rhoam EVER was [zelda telling rauru about dehydrated ganondorf]

FI!!!! [fi chiming]

zelda??? zelda honey??? what are you doing?????  [dragon tear 11]

zelda??? Is that you??? [light dragon]

ZELDA NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [dragon tear 12]

god fuck I’m actually crying

heading to korok forest. i fucking hate this

oh jeez what’s up with the koroks? what’s up with the DEKU TREE?

FUCK GLOOM HANDS

i do not know how i killed them honestly

what the fuck PHANTOM GANON

okay that’s cool as fuck thank you totk for bringing back multiple great characters/enemies

alright i’ve got the master sword and i’m sobbing my eyes out thanks nintendo!

fucked around for a SUBSTANTIAL period of time i’m going to finally do the hyrule castle thing now i think

WHOEVER THAT IS SHUT YOUR SLUTTY MOUTH I KNOW BETTER YOU AREN’T MY GIRL [zelda voice]

i hate this so much i hate this soooo much stop looking like my girl and summoning monsters and let me fucking kill you please god

yknow this cutscene would probably hit different if i didn’t already do the dragon’s tears [sanctum cutscene]

alright i died to the first hit which is just excellent

FRIENDS! :D [sages showing up]

yknow if nothing else at least he didn’t make me fight a lynel

i love how tulin is just sitting on yunobo’s back after ganon’s thing. btw

oh, the champion’s tunic! thank you zelda i love you zelda

okay i love the conversation with harth and tulin. hope you were right about the polycule goddamn

i just noticed: link is BARELY taller than tulin holy fucking bingle

missing sage? :o

i bet it’s paya. i hope it is at least that would be cool i think

MINERU???? [voice]

oh god I’m in the ground MINERU WHY

MINERU!!!!

sage of spirit mineru pog!!!!!!

i was CONVINCED whoever it was would be the sage of shadow ngl but this works!

i have built a robot. this is apparently mineru now. i’m down for it tbh

she lost her secret stone? oh fuck that’s not good

I CAN RIDE AND DRIVE MINERU???? FUCK YEAH

oh what the FUCK is that [seized construct]

is there a dungeon here or just a boss fight? hold up

oh my GOD it takes NO DAMAGE i HATE that

wait fuck i slammed it into the fence that works thank fucking god

okay i stun locked it into the second phase which is excellent

done! that gives me big koloktos vibes actually i really like that

also really really helpful that i didn’t have to rely on my battery charge things during the fight i would’ve been FUCKED

MINERU WAS IN THE PURAH PAD????? THE WHOLEASS TIME???? SINCE MILLIONS OR WHATEVER YEARS AGO WHEN ZELDA SHOWED UP?????? i'm shook

actually the more i think about it the more her being the sage of spirit makes sense since she can like separate her soul from her body or whatever i'm pretty sure

there’s the last ring there’s the middle finger!

i do think that should've been riju though for. reasons

ma’am i swear to god if you tell me what i ALREADY KNOW about what happened to zelda

goddammit she is telling me that isn’t she

she’s the older sister? makes sense actually the vibes track

oh she’s explaining the murals from below the castle at the very very beginning! funky fresh

oh geez this is how he got dehydrated! or at least the start of it i guess

yeah, mineru, I KNOW WHAT SHE DID

MINERU WHY DID YOU LET THIS HAPPEN WHY DID YOU LET HER DO THAT

god like i understand that you’re dying and there was no other choice but FUCK this hurts

vow of mineru sage of spirit……. fuck

purah please i KNOW you’re smarter than this you GOTTA put the pieces together so i don’t suffer this knowledge alone i fuckin REFUSE

well there she goes but no fucking reaction makes it worse, thanks

oh god oh fuck oh no LYNEL

i am ZOOMING past that fight holy shit

OH NO I ASCENDED INTO THE LYNEL ROOM FUCK

“the power of the sages cannot reach you” thanks! i hate it!

fuck. back here again. game’s almost over huh [zonai mural room]

oh the last three murals….. fuck [sages v ganondorf, zelda and master sword, light dragon]

the fUCKING TORCH ON THE GROUND THAT’S ZELDA’S FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU

alright. let’s end this

FRIENDS! SAGES!!!! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

okay i died pretty fast there so i left, made a bunch of food, used most of my sundelions, and i’m back to try again

alright that went much better! or at least the first half did i guess there’s lizalfos now

ah fuck gibdos

aaaaand moblins. please let this be everything

alright! i did it!

ah fuck bosses. hate that a lot thanks

nevermind! hate that more! [separated from friends]

fuckin. did you really need to seal me in. bitch

eyyyyy there he is! he’s rehydrated!

HE CAN PERFECT DODGE???? GODDAMN

alright. one health bar down. no way it’s the last one

OH GOD OH FUCK SECRET STONE

WHAT THE FUCK KINDA HEALTH BAR IS THAT IT GOES OFF THE S C R E E N

SAGES :D

okay the health bar doesn’t go off the screen but still THIS FEELS EXCESSIVE

just saw tulin soar past me teba and saki are GOING to have my head

don’t fuckin crook your fingers at me like that

y’know if nothing else i’m getting really good at perfect dodges

HE CAN DODGE MY FLURRY RUSHES NOW???? bullshit. unfair

back to ganondorf, i left to get a fuckload of sundelions make a bunch of sunny dishes

first phase done. that went really well, actually

HOLY SHIT HOW DID I PULL THAT OFF I JUST BACKED HIM INTO A CORNER AND I HAD ONE HEART AND BARELY ANY SHIELD LEFT WHAT THE HELL

oh my god is he doing what i think he’s doing

VENGEANCE FOR ZELDA. FUCK YEAH

oh that’s terrible i hate the eyes

that’s literally the calamity [demon dragon]

who?? called my name??? who was that???

also how the hell am i supposed to kill an immortal dragon or whatever

i am looking at the calamity right now istg [demon dragon]

okay nevermind that’s a dragon but STILL

demon dragon…. kinda slaps

oh i’m stuck in his jaws i’m DOOMED

ZELDA!!!!!!!!!!!!

FUCK DAD WHY DID YOU HAVE TO CALL NOW FUCK YOU

oh thank GOD i have my hearts back

i see a couple big fucked up eyes that’s probably the weak points

thank you zelda love you zelda :) [she catch me]

damn this is gonna go pretty easy it feels like like i’m not gonna jinx it but this is going really well so far

i fuckin fell off

zelda sweetie i think you caught me wrong for a sec i almost fell off the side

FUCK UP THAT SECRET STONE LINK HELL YEAH

there he goes! probably hopefully idk for sure

i don’t feel so good mr. stark -ganondorf probably idk i've never watched marvel [death]

destroy ganondorf, complete……

glowy hand?

i am in the void. with the zelda

my glowy hand is goin towards her

oh! rauru and sonia! hi!

wait is this zelda and sonia’s time power. wait

are we bringing her back?!?!?!??! like i didn’t think nintendo would leave her like that forever but still please please please

ZELDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my beloved baby girl she’s BACK

my shirt is off and my hat is off but i’m still wearing the royal guard pants. weird

bye sonia!!! bye rauru!!!

question. how are we gonna get to the ground

ZELDA NO!

dive to zelda… i love that actually

I CAUGHT HER THIS TIME!!!!!!!! :D :D :D :D :D

if that is the last gameplay in the game i would be so happy with that actually. the last thing i do is a parallel to the first thing i couldn’t

zelda :D fi :D

WAAAAAA I LOVE HER WAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

i am going to give her a hug. where’s the hug button nintendo

nintendo that’s nice that she felt like she got a hug but i want to hug her

SHE’S HOME!!!!!!!! :D :D :D :D :D

find princess zelda complete!!!!!!!

oh! post-credits scene!

me and zelda and sages and purah! :D

oh… bye mineru…. ilu….

i can’t believe zelda lost 6 separate moms (gender-neutral) over just 2 games (sorry) [unnamed bio mom, urbosa, sonia, mineru, rauru, daruk]

oh that’s so CUTE thank you sages

the end :D

[neverchecking]

Hello!!! I’m here to inquire about Aaliyah and Link’s full story as I can’t seem to find it in your Masterlist. If that’s ok? If it’s private and you just wanna just give out tidbits then that’s completely ok!!! I started reading your joint fic constellation and I’m hooked on it and the characters!!! I already went and asked about part four lol!

omgomgomgomgomgomgomg- OKAY I'VE REHEARSED FOR THIS-

I'm so glad you asked!

So, I did release one written portion already -> Here!

But! Im gonna be so real with you guys, I forgot I did it and have not worked on it at all fnofnf

I love answering questions about my girl so ask away! I'm also so glad you like constellations it has my heart fr. Part four is...on its way but with Kinktober and our adult lives (I'm a full time student and Bailey has a big girl job) it kinda got pushed back (And we're in our trigun eras). But it has been started!

So, let's talk about Aaliyah and Sage.

Their story starts in the Pre-Calamity era. Sage is still a knight, however, Aaliyah is now there too! She's a bastard child born out of wedlock to the village of Kakariko-- who take the phrase it takes a village a little too literally.

From very early in her life, Aaliyah is proclaimed the Sheikah Champion and spends her life training for this role. She learns ancient magic regarding rune extraction and usage (Basically how Impa fights in AOC) and in ancient swordsmanship.

She's taken to the castle with Purah and Impa and from there meets the other champions.

Her and Link didn't actually like each other all that much from the start? They were incredibly weary and on edge when the other was around bc of the other's skill set and how they could be an obvious threat to their current missions (Either protecting Zelda or staying with Impa).

Aaliyah actually made friends with Revali pretty easily because she wasn't gifted with this great courage or wisdom or any abilities. It was something she earned and worked incredibly hard to harness, like Revali's gale So they spent their free time talking shit about Link and the other champions in the garden for a while.

Link and Aaliyah only really started getting to know each other after a spar in the garden. Link kicked her ass, make no doubts about it (Lore accurate Link? Are you kidding? Aaliyah never stood a chance.), but after hearing her get her ass chewed out by Impa he bashfully offered a kind shoulder.

The thing about them that I LOVE incorporating into their story is that before they died? These two were honestly so adorable. In my head. But im giving you guess my head lore rn.

Like Aaliyah is the smart one out of them, okay? Let me set this straight. So, she knows things like sign language. So when she mindlessly does a wave of her hand to curse off a noble without them knowing? And Link, who ALSO knows sign language sees this?

OMFG- he chokes on his spit. And she looks over and just flushes this bright red, but has this shy little smile on her face because, 'hey, this guy isn't so bad?'.

Or Link just laying his head in her lap and letting her braid flowers into his hair while they sit in silence or he reads to her??

Or Aaliyah just sitting on a rock, pretending to be writing her daily prayers, but is really watching Link practice his swordsmanship with Fi?

They were that kind of cute.

ANYWAY-

So, in Eye of the Storm, I go into further depth onto how Aaliyah died-- protecting Link and Zelda.

If you haven't read it, heres the run down. They get surrounded by Yiga, and she dies because she sends Link and Zelda back with the slate, acting as a distraction so they have the time to leave.

Demon carver carves her ass.

Link watches, duh, because A) I needed him to have that trauma to form their relationship a little more and B) Traumatizing him is so fun.

Anyway, so she dies. The Sheikah are ancient beings with unyielding loyalty, since they follow the royal family everywhere this is obvious, and are hence incredibly loyal to their champion. They manage to save her with their plan B option. I'm pretty sure I wrote it as a makeshift shrine but it also is probably a little bit of black magic.

Anyway, a century passes. Aaliyah awakes in a place that had long since fell to ruins, mind blank and head empty.

But she's angry. She wakes up so mind numbingly angry and stomps off with her original slate. It's broken and doesn't work, but she uses it like a weapon. Eventually, she runs into Link! Woo, but like...

Imagine you lock two angry cats fighting for territory in a room and them throw a sprinkler in there.

They're both angry. They don't know anything, and resources are sparce, They fight, of course, and both eventually walk off with their tails between their legs. BUT they keep fucking meeting. AND ITS A PATTERN

Except they start relearning things! Like how to fight and how to use a bow, and they get better armor, better equipment. When Link shows up with a shield, she blows his ass up.

At some point, they start expecting to see each other. They stop fighting so much and instead share a campsite.

AND THEN- they happen to be walking towards a stable together and are just HIT with the imagery of her death <3

Thats also a mess that leaves them storming away from each other <3

They meet again in Kakariko and eventually talk it out. Aaliyah goes with him to the castle, does not fall through the floor, instead watched from above like :O. bc shes a dumbass.

She does make sure he stays alive though. Throws a fairy in a bottle at him at some point which hits him and he turns like >:( and she's just 'oops'.

Then they save Zelda yadda yadda. Aaliyah moves on with her life bc her and Zelda prolly hate each other (There is no prolly they do. They HATE each other. Like middle aged white women in PTA's.)

But, Aaliyah is such a big figure head to the Sheikah, there's no real escape. So her and Link slowly redevelop their relationship.

When the gloom starts spreading, Aaliyah remains at the castle base while they go to investigate, working with the people to sort them and everything.

Luckily for her, when Ganon is like >:) I'm back, she doesn't have to experience it first hand because she falls into a gloom pit. Takes her OUT man. She's stuck down there long enough that gloom probably sinks in and she gets super sick because of it

Eventually she finds this weird temple place right? And there's these parts right? Surely you see where I'm going with this

And so she builds this giant robot okay? In her tord Era (omg eddsworld is so old now that I think about it), and meets this...thing okay?

And the thing is like 🤨 u aren't swordsman link and aaliyah is like 🤨 yeah what of it?

And mineru is all ...u did all this? And aaliyah is like yeah suck it bitch. And then mineru is like "aight you cool then. Lemme show you this cool room. It'll give you a cool necklace AND a headpiece. And outfit ig"

So aaliyah gets that green neck piece and hairpiece I've drawn her with once. She doesn't care for the hairpiece but she'll wear it for special occasions.

The link appears FINALLY >:( AND they have this whole Spiderman moment where they're point at each other, as if shocked to see the other)

"I thought you were dead?"

"YOU FUCKING FELL THROUGH A HOLE AND DIDNT THINK TO STAY PUT SO I COULD FIND YOU?"

It's great.

So aaliyah gets her spirit stone as the Sage of spirits and her giant rock.

Then she visits purah gets her own purah pad. She gets to keep her bombs AND stasis bc I said so. And her giant robot.

From there they go around trying to bring order back to their hyrule bc like...Zelda isnt in danger really? They know where she is and she seems fine.

They get a new house bc someone took theirs smh (they were just roommates in that first house guys lmao) and take turns with the shrines to reduce the gloom in their systems

Okay sidebar; when I was doing that aaliyah and Tia bits I wasn't lying about aaliyah being like in hyrule but she's liked in the same sense Robin hood was liked. Nobles hate her

But tulin likes her and so does teba and saki

Yunobo does not.

Sidon and yona think of her and Sage like puppies. Like they are the embodiment of that one meme that's just

Zora, with either hanging off them: GET YOUR FUCKING HYLIAN

Sidon/ Yona: they don't bite 😊

Zora: YES THEY FUCKING DO-

riju also likes them. They are the Honorary siblings of hyrule even if they claim to hate everyone.

There are few people that have gotten through

That being said, they are scary to the average stablehand

They are scarred and ragged and look like if you breath at them wrong they'll fucking gut you.

Which they might but that's not the point

Eventually they run out of reasons to not fight Ganon and have to go...do that

This one they take on together bc they are common law married bc I said so

They've spent so much time together now its only natural. Like yeah its not gay to kiss the homies goodnight but its a little gay when you guys live together cook meals together and lay on the couch talking about life together

Even historians are calling them lovers at this point

So they save Zelda! I hate how end of totk goes and I think she should've STAYED a dragon but also I need her human for the drama between her and aaliyah. Maybe she has horns and scales and she's also now a little fucked up.

Sage KEEPS HIS RAURU ARM HE DOES NOT GET HIS NORMAL ARM. thank you.

Aaliyah and Sage mostly try to live a normal life but yk...

Natura tries to demand Sage back to his knightly role but after everything that just happened he's like "not a chance"

He becomes a lovely househusband that terrifies newcomers in Tarrey town but the locals love him

He offers protection quality recipes and is willing to go Gerudo for this one ingredient Harriet needed for her stew that night

Aaliyah remains a diplomat of sorts since people trust her rather than this figurehead for focused on digging through the remains of her people for info on tech they shouldn't ever try to harness rather than ..yk.... govern.

She tends to stick close to Sage tho

Their relationship is very...codependent. I think I've said this before but these two learn to rely on each other

Its not healthy and I don't condone this type of relationship but it's so fun to write

These two are disgustingly reliant on the other. It's the type of relationship where they only do self care things for the other person to know they're okay

They are grossly jealous individuals, incredibly possessive and will have extremist reactions to people trying to flirt with what's theirs

I cannot emphasize how toxic this is for anyone. But these two make it work

Only these two who are FICTIONAL. THIS IS NOT THE TYPE OF RELATIONSHIP THAT IS HEALTHY. DO NOT LOOK FOR THIS IN A PARTNER.

These two have a history together and with their broken psyche it gets twisted.

But they're happy together and stop their other half from destroying hyrule.

And in the end that's all that matters <3

If you have any other questions regarding these two I'd be more than happy to answer them 😊😊

[a-pale-azure-moon]

Random TotK Thoughts #2

I've gotten a bit further, having completed one regional phenomenon, found a few more dragon's tears, and done some sidequests and exploring. I am having so much fun!!!

Specific things under the cut just to be safe.

-Something I forgot to mention in the first post, but how awesome is it that your horses carry over? I love that the devs included this little bonus. I spent so much time catching horses in BotW just for fun, so it's extra nice having all of my favorite ponies around for another tour of Hyrule.

-Where did Zelda find that gold horse though? How does a gold horse even exist in the first place? It even looks metallic with the way light refracts off of its coat. Bizarre. xD

-Penn's "Soar Long!" is the best/worst catchphrase ever.

-The journey up to the Wind Temple was great. Just climbing higher and higher, using the islands as "stairs" to reach the eye of the storm. I can't say I was very impressed with the dungeon itself though; it's an improvement over the Divine Beasts in terms of design, as it feels like it has its own identity rather than just repeating the same aesthetic as the shrines, but the puzzles and layout were very basic and once again, the goal was to activate five things. It's still a downgrade from a more traditional Zelda dungeon.

-I did like having to fuse a giant icicle to a broken handle though. That was a neat idea. And the Colgera boss fight was good and very fun, if a bit easy. I'd rate the whole sequence as like, a B overall, i.e. good but still has room for improvement.

-Tulin is cute as heck and his skill is useful. His headshots are even more useful (except when the enemy falls off an edge and I lose the drops, which has happened a lot). I've still found myself missing Revali's Gale a little though. :/

-I killed my first Frox in the depths on my mission to get Autobuild. It was almost completely dark since I hadn't found the next Lightroot, so it took me a minute to notice the ore deposits on its back. I kept shooting its eye and wondering why it was barely doing any damage, lol.

-Imagine my surprise when I ran into a Yiga down there, and then when Kogha showed up. I like how this is a "logical" way for him to have survived his confrontation with Link back in BotW. And that he's still an idiot who's easy to beat.

-Did Link just give Zelda his house in Hateno? (Also, I appreciate that the photo from the Champion's Ballad is still on the wall. Another nice little continuity touch.) Interesting though that the table is set for two but there's only one bed....

-After I visited Robbie at the lab and got the shrine sensor (finally), whom did I see casually flying by but Naydra! And man....I'm so psyched that you can actually land on the dragons now. I hitched a ride on her for quite awhile, and it helped me reach a couple of towers and scout for some other points of interest. And I harvested a few of her parts too, of course.

-I was surprised to discover that she goes into the depths (I assume Farosh and Dinraal do as well). I almost fell off when she started diving and then I realized we were entering a chasm. Neat!

-Also, I love how her body undulates as she flies, and she makes this soft purring/growling sound too. It's the little details like this that make the game world feel so real and immersive.

-Knowing now that Mineru tinkered with the Purah Pad in the distant past, I'm getting a headache trying to figure out if Sheikah technology derived from Zonai technology, or if it's actually the other way around because of time travel shenanigans.

-Also, you can't tell me that Zelda, the massive history nerd, didn't take at least one selfie with her great-great-great-great (etc) grandparents and many, many pictures of ancient architecture and technology while she was in the past. Somewhere on the Purah Pad is a hidden file filled with hundreds of photos that she took. Change my mind!

-I have a mighty need to know how Rauru and Sonia met and what their courtship was like. This two second interaction in Memory #2 begs for elaboration.

(She hit him with a closed fist! The look he gives her just sends me, and then he rubs the spot afterwards like it bruised.)

-I like how Sonia's reaction to Zelda is basically, "I'm taking her home with me and adopting her."

-I'll confess to my idiocy that I didn't immediately notice that Rauru has three eyes; I thought its lid and lashes were part of his facial markings (tattoos?) until I looked more closely. Does he keep it closed by choice or does it only open as a reflex in certain situations? I'm guessing the latter since Mineru's third eye is closed as well.

-It's funny to me that he literally has hair down to his heels and his sister's hair is cropped so short it's almost unnoticeable under her ears and visor. xD

-Also, bless the animators for actually using Rauru's magnificent ears to show some of his emotions. The way they twitched in Memory #3 made me grin so much.

-I think I've figured out what the major plot twist of this game's going to be. It can't be a coincidence that Mineru mentioned a forbidden power of draconification and that there was a dragon that flew right next to the Great Sky Island to allow Link to descend to Hyrule, can it? Hmm...

[axewchao]

Does Dalex ever get reunited with the rito mask?

In the endgame, yes, Revali returns it to him.

But even after getting it back, it still takes him a while to actually start using it again...

~~~

Several moons have come and gone as Dalex silently stared at the expressionless bird mask. Reminiscing on the fun he had with it, followed by the soul-crushing guilt and shame of breaking the Rito Champion's trust and heart.

He didn't deserve to have this back... Not after what he'd done...

So then why... why did Revali give this to him? How did he even know where to find it?

He should've smashed it to bits, just like what Dalex had done to his innocent heart...

What kind of hero was he, to wear a mask of lies and hurt someone so severely, especially when they didn't deserve it? Revali was arrogant, cold, and sometimes didn't know when to shut his pointy piehole, but... that was nothing. It didn't warrant posing as a stranger, befriending him and then pulling the rug out from underneath him.

Being Revali's friend... it was wonderful. It felt so good to finally have someone who could relate to his struggles, the pressures of one's duties, how fulfilling those duties was mandatory, not an option. Even if he didn't tell the full story, it felt like such a relief to hear someone say that they understood the sacrifices one made for the sake of their goals, instead of going on and on about how "honorable" and "noble" it was...

Because really, if you have no choice in the matter... can it really be called such things? Or is that yet another lie, one that masks whatever pain or regret you feel for leaving everything you knew behind?

It was either perform your sacred duty, or everything burns around you. There is no other option here, and that fact was something Dalex was quick to understand, as he watched his hometown get further and further away that fateful day.

He was only ten, and because of one mark on his hand, he had to give up everything. If Hyrule won the war, his home would be safe, obviously, but he wasn't the happy-go-lucky little boy everyone knew.

He would never be that boy ever again.

He said that much to Revali. In bits and pieces, if only to hide his true self from the Rito in question. They were at the Warbler's Nest, lying side by side as they spoke of whatever came to mind.

Revali, in a moment that was becoming more common with each of their talks, silently listened, emerald eyes locked on Dalex as he nervously asked under his breath, if... if it was wrong of him to feel upset by it all, after all this time.

"Of course not."

The blunt response nearly made Dalex jump.

"You... you were taken from your family, Starling. You were just a fledgling. A child. If I were in your wings, I'd be completely furious."

Dalex felt a wing take hold of his own. His heart raced.

"Because of that, you didn't know how to fly. You spent years being grounded like some Cucco. You didn't know anything about being a Rito. You were raised as if you didn't have any feathers at all. You were robbed of so much... and for what? Because you 'had no choice'?" It's just... it's so cruel."

Dalex felt Revali squeeze his wing, and felt a pang in the back of his mind. If only Revali knew everything... he might've said something else...

But what about him, Dalex asked. Because Medoh chose him, he didn't have a choice either, did he...?

"...Perhaps with Medoh, I didn't. But at least I got to live some semblance of a life first. Before Medoh called out to me, I had already become a talented archer. Revali's Gale was becoming reality instead of a dream. I was the pride of my people. I was able to make my own choices. But you... you weren't. And that's not fair."

At Dalex's stunned gaze, Revali looked up to the dark sky before continuing, "Be honest with me, Starling... was there ever a point where you wanted to do something? Not because you 'had' or 'needed' to, but just because you wanted to?"

It took Dalex a moment to remember.

He... he wanted to be a doctor. Like his dad.

"And why is that?"

He just... wanted to. He wanted to help the hurt and sick feel better. Seeing patients smile as they recovered... it felt good.

"And do you still want that?"

It took Dalex longer than he would've liked, but he nodded.

"You probably see it as a selfish wish, Starling... But I don't. After giving up so much of yourself, you deserve to have something of your own again."

But... but he can't. He has to-...

"...You have to what?"

...

"...It's alright, you know. You don't have to say." Revali squeezed his hand again, eyes turning back to Dalex's own. For some reason, they shined more than the stars above. "Just know that at least one person out there thinks it's normal to... 'want,' basically. Since you've apparently been told otherwise so many times..."

But... was it really? 'Wanting' was what got Dalex in this mess... he wasn't patient enough. He could've waited until the war was over, then he could be himself as much as he pleased.

...No he couldn't. There was always a chance he'd die. Killed by a monster, or the Yiga, or even Ganon itself. That, among other things, was why he caved and accepted the mask from that strange smiling man.

It... it felt like he had no choice... but he did this time, didn't he? And look at what he'd done with that choice...

Dalex sniffled, rubbing his tears away. All these thoughts and memories were giving him a headache.

That feeling of 'wanting' hadn't left him, even after he ditched this damn thing. If anything, he wanted more.

He wanted to wear the mask again. Be a Rito again. He wanted to see Revali again. Just sit somewhere and talk, with or without the mask. It'd been so long since Dalex had just... had a normal conversation with someone. Mipha, bless her sweet fishy heart, may have been the friendliest one in the group, but she was still royalty. It... wasn't easy to speak to royalty.

But it was easy to speak to Revali. Even when he was being a bit... much, it was because of something other than titles or magic swords. Mundane things like Dalex struggling with flying, or adjusting to using weapons other than swords. Observing customs that, as a "Rito raised by the wingless," he knew nothing about, but Revali was happy to educate him on.

He wanted to be Revali's friend again.

And if... if Revali was willing to give him this, instead of leaving it be or destroying it, then... did that mean he still had a chance?

Things between them would never be the same, obviously, but... but...

...He wanted to try.

He didn't need to. He just wanted to.

[heliianth]

how are you enjoying TotK's story so far?

on the dragons tears side i only have 3, 4, 5, 6, and 10 so by no means the complete picture, but unfortunately i have been spoiled for the end of it, i think? ive also only completed the rito regional disturbance quest. ill talk abt what i think so far below the cut

from what ive seen of it, the story is interesting. i dont particularly like time shenanigans stories, more often than not they enable lazy character/writing decisions, create plot holes, and wander around too much to have coherent themes. when time travel comes up in stories i always feel like there needs to be a justification, some lesson or reason that is realized for why it needed to happen. so u can imagine that my experience with the dragons tears so far has been waiting for that justification moment, which i think i already have?

apparently zelda turns into a dragon. tear 5 talks about draconification and how people lose themselves, and ive seen fanart and dragon zelda's actual model in-game flying around the eldin archipelago (made me pretty emotional, though i do suspect any significant reaction i might have with this has been ruined by being spoiled). this is where the story is treading ice for me, and im being super careful to avoid the leadup to the whole dragon thing. because if its a situation where zelda is forced into it, theres no other way and she HAS to do this or else the world explodes or whatever, then i dont think ill be super fond. itll feel like a rehash of what happened during the calamity in botw, where zelda is forced into holding it back for 100 years until link heals. i dont like it when stories have good arcs (in this case, zelda's) but just retread it because theres a sequel and it doesnt know how to further develop the character.

on the other hand, if zelda chooses to make this decision with her own autonomy and reasons, like thinks about it, then i think this writing decision could work as a way of showing how much she's grown when placed in that similar situation she was in during the calamity. zeldas arc is all about love and connection, whether that be with link or her other friends, including love for herself. all i ask for is that the dragons tears story builds upon this instead of just redoing botw but worse

on the rito side of things, i thought it was fun. tulin is a fun little dude. i think its fascinating how hes positioned at the beginning as seeming arrogant and uncooperative, but grows to realize that he needs to rely on others to do the things he wants. hes almost a character foil of revali in that way. the wind powers being revealed as a sage thing is also interesting. obviously i and many other players have made a connection between tulins wind gust (i like to call it tulins tornado c:) and revalis gale, and we know teba isnt related in any way to revali like the rest of them are to the champions. so it does feel like a little extra W from beyond the grave on revali's end. turns out he really did bootstraps his way into rediscovering lost magic. TLDR; i love tulin to bits, even if i wish teba got a tad more screen time. who knows, maybe he'll show up more later.

i would try commenting on the events of the actual game and how they effect link, because link's arc (which happens during the actual game, which i guess the player guides him on) is really important to botw, and i assume it'll be structured similarly here. but obviously im not done with the game so theres not much for me to talk about. i will say that, god. link must be feeling like SHIT. i know when i went to hateno and saw he and zelda lived together, then saw that all the kids in the school loved her enough to draw pictures, i got really choked up. i know i said any significant reaction to the "zelda is a dragon" story beat ill have will be muted by being spoiled beforehand, but depends on how its actually revealed/how link reacts i might still take it like a little baby

so yeah. those are my thoughts