#I know it was in his dialogue in botw

[raycatz]

Thank you for the tag, @mmelete!

1, How many works on ao3? 6 0v0 not many haha

2. Total ao3 wordcount? 19,419

3. Top 5 Fics by Kudos? I have 6 fics!!! The top 5 are:

Bombs, Beamos, and Bedtimes - The chain swap stories and compare monsters around the campfire. Wind has a giggle fit.

Letters for Hyrule - "The letters the mailman bring are a welcome comfort. It’s too bad Hyrule never gets any. Wind and Legend are going to fix that."

Nightmare Waking - Fics about the chain dealing with nightmares. So far, there are chapters for Four and Wind.

Chase Towards a Future - My Spirit Tracks x LU fic. It's unfinished and discontinued but I am fond of it.

Not Swell - Wind throws up at the ranch.

4. What fandoms do you write for? Linked Universe.

5. Do you respond to comments? not always. Again though, I only have 6 posted, and they're all kinda old. I'm not really getting fic comments atm lol. I want to be better at responding though, even if it's just with hearts!

6. Fic with the Angstiest Ending: That would go to Sealed Away, part of my Outer Wilds: Echoes of the Eye AU. I definitely have angstier wips though.

7. Fic with the happiest ending: Bombs, Beamos, and Bedtimes! The lads finished up a good dinner filled with banter and the fic ends with Roolie, Twi, and Four galivanting into the woods to gather water for the dish tubs. They're going to sleep well with full stomachs and light hearts.

8. Do you get hate? No, I haven't.

9. Do you write smut? Nah but I have a couple ideas for gen loz that I think would be sweet. Maybe one day!

10. Do you write crossovers? Sure. I'm more likely to write aus that blend worlds than I am crossovers where characters meet. Though, LU is one big crossover itself, isn't it?

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I'm aware of. I've had art stolen but thankfully it's all been easily sorted.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? I haven't but I'm open to it!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic? No, but I think it would be fun!

14. All-time favorite ship? This is such a difficult question! For loz/LU I adore Link/Marin because it's such a sweet tragedy. Ravio/Link and Vidow is wonderful to see as well.

15. WIPS you want to finish but doubt you ever will? So many! 'x) I would like to finish all of them, art, comics, fic, animatics, all of it. I think I have good ideas and I'd love to share them. ,,, When I'm able 'xD But there are also just too many. However, the only writing wips I want to finish atm are a couple more chapters for Nightmare Waking which I can see myself doing.

16. Writing strengths? I think I'm good at writing action! I think there's something to be said here in that I make comics, too. Something about knowing which beats need to be hit for a story or action to get across. I think I have a decent grasp of it. Action is easy for me to visualize and I have fun following it through. I enjoy the planning stages in making comics / animatics and parsing things down. Like, how much information can I effectively get across in one panel and how can I do it clearly? How does a panel flow into the next? Really make the images and words do a lot of work. And then how can I make it pretty? How can I do this with writing? It's like putting together a puzzle!

17. Writing weaknesses? introspective character moments, establishing setting, fleshing out actions and descriptions so that they're pretty and don't read like bullet points. ya know, the writing part o|< Like, I'm afraid that my writing can read like I'm planning storyboards instead of writing a story 'xD Filling space between plot points. There are a couple sentence structures I keep using and I want to work on varying those.

18. Thoughts on mixed language dialogue? I like it. I think it's cool. It's fun when it's worked into the story. Like, if there's a language barrier between characters and this is a focus, I enjoy when the characters put effort into working out the languages and understanding each other. Also if there's interwoven mixed language dialogue more casually it's neat. I'll pull open google translate or use context clues.

19. First Fandom you ever wrote for? +Anima. I ran an ask blog for Cooro way back when and would rp so I'm saying that counts.

20. Favorite Fic you've ever written? Writing the action scenes in the spirit tracks fic was fun. I had a good time plotting and choreographing that one (the train fight!!!). My favorite fic though is a toss up between Bombs, Beamos, and Bedtimes and Letters for Hyrule. I love Wind in Bombs, Beamos, and Bedtimes and Letters for Hyrule has better writing.

no pressure tagging: @zolanort @zartophski @sister-dear @jellydragons @sirenadeillustrationcomics

[situationallyintelligent]

I sure love being normal and having at least 440, but likely actually 500 hours within the botw/totk/age of calamity universe(s). Surely my connection in my mind with Link and the ways I have played in ways that specifically meant I was trying to think like him for the story of the game has not altered the way I think.

surely I am normal for dying all my botw clothes to match the environment they are worn in (to hide in an unfamiliar world) and dying all of my totk clothes in exactly Link's colors (sky blue and tan babyyy) to show how he has come into his identity in any environment and is now the one hunting down Ganondorf

[funsizedcrow]

revali..........

[alabasterpickles]

I was going to wait to share these? Because I have like twenty more drawings in the works, but there’s too many to post all at once anyway, so in the meantime my Zelda palies can have a handful of doodles

Some of these are old and a LOT of theme need context so I’m gonna list them one at a time from top to bottom, ahem

1. So, my sister and I have it in our heads that Tulin and Josha would get on like a house fire, partly because they are the only characters that are the same-ish age and partly because they’re both tenacious little turkeys (pun intended, yes) with LOADS of spirit to spare

But also, I can see Tulin hanging out around her a lot now that he's a Sage and will be spending most of his time at Lookout Landing. Plus Josha is all into history and relics and she's a little bossy so it just makes SO much sense that he'd develop a crush on her

I think he'd appreciate the attention, too! if he's anything like his hero, Revali, or even Teba (which, like father like son) he's bound to be a bit of a show-off around the ladies

Teba is somewhere off screen facepalming because his son flirts like a plywood board

2. NUMBA TWO; I was playing skyward sword on the switch, thought about loftwings, thought about Rito and bam! Crimson loftwing Rito. That’s pretty much all there was to this one. Thought about drawing Zelda’s loftwing as his wife too!

3. OKAY ITS BECAUSE DARSTON WAS MY FAVE IN ECHOES OF WISDOM, so i drew him in BOTW’s style. I have no regrets (I loved the Gerudo Princess too!) see a pattern here? Yeah, neither do I.

4. That’s just Gomo the Goromand because I’m lowkey in love with him and his funny little ‘do.

5. Just Urbosa being a total badass as usual and because her AOC dialogue in the Thunderblight Ganon fight sequence guts me a little.

6-9. Sage Charm designs I started drawing ages ago and still want to finish (but they’ll have to wait because of school)! I promise Tulin is there, he’s just trapped in thumbnail form!!!

10. Oldie but goodie because I am hyped for age of imprisonment and really, really, really look forward to seeing more of the dynamic between Rauru and his granddaughter. And also?? I want more of Zelda and Mineru’s relationship too, because that girl waited 10,000 years, witnessed the sacrifice of her niece, lost her brother, sister-in-law and her friends, AND her body, to help Link and if that doesn’t make her the coolest sage I don’t know what does

[bonus-links]

Hello! Could we have a director’s commentary on Ruins pt.11 please?? It drives me insane 🥺🥺

YEAHHH this is gonna be a long one. link to the update

this is also one of my favorite updates (and 100% my favorite dialogue in all of ch.1, possibly the whole comic so far) but I'm glad I waited to do a commentary bc I think this is actually really relevant to the latest update

cause like the conversation Loft has with botw Zelda here is very similar to the one he has with Ganondorf, though he's much less snippy during it

I wanted to give Zelda a chance to be bitter and share her grievances with the gods. Her entire story in BOTW is largely about how the legends and the expectations put upon her by them fail not only her personally but the entire kingdom. And yet she's made to feel like it's all her fault.

A lot of his comic focuses on the legacy of the Hero, but I don't want to leave Zelda (or Ganondorf) out of the conversation. The cycle makes victims of all three of them in various ways, and while I can't do everything at once, it's still my goal to explore that. The Zeldas in particular are all in interesting positions as members of the Royal Family, because they're at once always thrown in peril by it with little agency, and expected to be the facilitators of its success as the people with the closest proximity to the gods. Much to think about.

on that note BOTW Zelda is my favorite Zelda. she is my babygirl. she is my everything. I will die a BOTW Zelda defender. we haven't seen the last of her in this comic i promise :-)

okay on to actually analyzing the comic. This top panel is framed like a diptych, two paintings hinged together. these are often (though not always) associated with religious paintings and are often altarpieces. I use a triptych format in the newest update :D sidenote I think it's very cute that some of the Hylia statues in BOTW have been decorated, so i gave her a little flower crown

I imagine praying starts to feel a little strange when you are dating ur god. yeah. Also I think it's interesting that Skyloft seems to mainly worship Hylia, with the other gods being more distant. It makes sense given the whole "she personally raised us up into the sky to save us all" thing. Even though Loft is the very first hero sent on a personal religious quest directly by his goddess, I've always imagined him as kind of,,,,casually devout? In that way that it's all you've ever known. Like obviously his beliefs are deeply ingrained, but he's not as into the formality of it all as other Links we might meet later.

I think about Zelda in that freezing pool on Mt. Lanayru all the time. RAHHHHHHH

I've posted this before but close up of Slate running their errands, the errand being talking to the Great Fairies about if they've noticed anything weird going on lol. I actually wanted to make it a whole update on its own, but I cut it for time and also because. I don't think the Great Fairies really have any information that was necessary other than "no I don't know what's going on". So u get this panel.

I like this shot of that little statue towering over the both of them, and I mimic it a little bit in the new update here. something something about why we build monuments and what they stand for.

negative sim interaction

Loft still has to believe that Zelda and Slate's negative experiences had to have been some sort of misunderstanding. If Hylia could have helped, she would have. Knowing and loving your goddess on a human level also makes you want to give her the benefit of the doubt.

I actually really love that in BOTW Zelda resents Link for having some sort of access to the divine that she just can't reach. She has her arc about it in the game, but especially now she's come to understand that having the gods' favor is a double-edged sword. Also, that's not really meant to be Peony, but I like the idea that Champion also had an affinity for fairies. :-( Intentionally the same pose as Slate at the fairy fountain, though Slate is so tiny I probably didn't need to bother lol

that was a lot of rambling lol but i have. so many thoughts abt the subject matter of this update. this is the shit about LOZ that makes me froth at the mouth tbh

[gemsofthegalaxy]

one thing that interests me in Linked Universe is the invitation of comparison of themes/ideas across the games that i might not have thought of otherwise. currently, i'm thinking of knighthood.

for example, both Sky and Wild were trained as knights, but 'being a knight' in society meant something vastly different at those two time periods in Hyrule(/Skyloft) history.

For Sky, being a knight originally seemed like a fairly mundane thing, there was a quaint little school for knighthood that everyone went to, it wasn't particularly special. Link himself wasn't even that special (the special thing about him wasn't his prowess with the sword but his utter dedication and determination to keep his loved ones' safe, not being good in school necessarily). Yes, he goes through trials to prove he is the proper protector of Zelda, the Triforce, and Hyrule, but that image of knighthood comes a bit later, especially in his life. His time at school seemed fairly relaxed, allowing him to be the type of student who sleeps in but still gets by just fine.

meanwhile, Wild has a... much different time becoming a knight. Having a sword handed to him at a young age, he was raised to believe his life's purpose was protecting the Princess and Hyrule. It's a noble pursuit and purpose, sure, but it leads him to silence and stoicism to deal with the pressure he's under. I believe his natural personality could have been at least a little more like Sky's, given the types of dialogue options we get in BoTW and all- Link without his memories seems to be a bit more lighthearted, often a little jokey. And, obviously some things depend on how you play him, but I know I have a hard time not rescuing the Hylian travellers if I see bokos going after them, and given how many helpful sidequests he has, it seems Link is genuinely kindhearted and helpful towards the people of Hyrule. In a way, he's still bearing the burden of protecting and providing for them, but he does it without the heavy weight of specific expectation that he's some complete and utter prodigy.

Sky and Wild are two of my favourite iterations of Link, partially because I'm drawn to more lighthearted stories- even though Wild's is quite tragic, it's not as heavy or dark as some of the other entries (and I actually had the chance to play it firsthand rather than only start it or watch gameplay of). It's deeply interesting to me to compare and contrast the two- I feel like they have a decent amount in common. They also had to work specifically to make themselves 'worthy' of the Master Sword, just as Zelda had to work to reach the Goddess and access her power. And, in both cases, Wild's version had a bit more of a troubled, rough time rather than just performing something ritualistic. It's funny, as the first and most recent at least in the storyline, they hold an interesting mirror to one another

[thejolteonmastertj]

The plot bunnies be hopping

Y’know how Link’s uncle is brought back to life at the end of alttp—but doesn’t seem to be living with Legend in Linked Universe? 🤔

What if Legend’s refusal to carry on the family’s knighthood as the sole surviving heir of his generation is part of why he’s grown distant from his uncle? I’m not saying his uncle had to have tried to force it or been an outright asshole about it—but maybe there’s some sort of tension, guilt or some other sort of melancholy there.

Y’know something else conveniently similar that’s been living in my head rent-free since I first played botw? That one memory where we learn literally the only detail about Wild’s family we ever learn in-game: His father was a knight of the Royal Guard. Also of/c that Link followed in his footsteps. But like—the whole theme of that memory was, “but what if…”

Specifically, here’s Zelda’s dialogue in the memory:

Your path seems to mirror your father's. You've dedicated yourself to becoming a knight, as well. Your commitment to the training necessary to fulfill your goal is really quite admirable… I see now why you would be the chosen one…

What if... one day... You realized that you just weren't meant to be a fighter. Yet the only thing people ever said... was that you were born into a family of the royal guard, and so no matter what you thought, you had to become a knight. If that was the only thing that you were ever told... I wonder, then... would you have chosen a different path?

We don’t see any response from Link of/c, but… the implications, from the mere fact that he remembers this specific conversation at all—especially in the context of LU, where Wild has already admitted he has a hard time believing the prim & proper soldier in his memories was even ever him.

Which is not even to mention anything else on whether he’d choose to be a knight if given the choice now. We know Wild carries around Roam’s diary, so he’s almost certainly read Zelda’s as well & would therefore know that even the him from before wasn’t doing too hot under all the pressure…

So like, hoo boy, Wild would get it. Legend may or may not initially expect it, but I think Wild would 100% back up Legend’s choice to stay out of knighthood... after a bit more development of his own that seems to be incoming of course. 👀

Hell, Legend might even step in on Wild’s behalf first if things happen to escalate—which would be neat. A lot of things would be neat between these two tbh (Y’all know me I’m obsessed with them. 🤣)

They’re the only two Links with a father mentioned or even implied in-game, (well, them & Twilight perhaps, but that’s off-topic) & both of them got complicated & juicy relationships with their inherited knighthood. 👀 There’s convenient parallels & I just think they’re neat. 🤭

[nokillbananashelter]

THE NEXT ZELDA

Things I Think The Devs Are Thinking About

This is going to be a series of posts digesting what Zelda has done/is doing recently, namely, with EOW, TOTK, BOTW (& AOC/AOI) and how that relates to the fandom and their responses to reception of these games and where the devs have clearly shown interest with their whims. I was originally going to post this as one thing, but we don’t need to be that insufferable and I’m still formulating some thoughts on the other ones. And please remember- This is speculation!

PART 1: DUO PROTAGONISTS

I think we are at the point where dual protagonist structure is on the doorstep. Echoes of Wisdom was almost that already and they seem very keen on addressing giving Zelda space to be the protagonist. It would be absolutely incredible to have this open format where you are either journeying through as Zelda in one part and Link in another, or you are actually united and have to figure out how Zelda or Link’s toolset fit into the puzzle in front of you.

It’s been a minute since we’ve had a narrator companion. Zelda has already been in that role so I think this time they have the opportunity to simply just have her be… a voiced protagonist. I’m not saying she needs to have a voice actress this time (she probably will) but it would be interesting to have dialogue happening in a more tangible light. Link DOES talk in BOTW/TOTK, but also….Imagine how they could play up the characteristic of being kind of quiet. Maybe link does not interact with NPC’s in the same way that Zelda would. Maybe he says things that are a little more simple, functional, and Zelda does a lot more negotiation and investigation. Imagine the comedy, drama, and development that can happen by having link reserving his words more and Zelda speaking very freely and openly.

Idk, I think they are trialing the interest of zelda with the voice memories too- do players have interest in Zelda lore dropping on us, as we explore the world? I think the answer to that is a resounding yes. Imagine as you’re exploring as Zelda, or with Zelda, and it gives you the option to let her lore drop if you wanna hear it. It’s not forced on you, it’s not required, it doesn’t stop you from doing what you’re doing. It’s there to engage in if you want. I think people would want that & the new totk content is probably gonna be wanted in the base game next time.

And I also think they already kind of trialed this in the BEGINNING of TOTK too. Link is there to make the path safe for Zelda so she can interpret ruins and offer context for what you’re going through. I think my only complaint about that beginning section was how she ripped attention away from moving forward to demand the player pay attention to what she was doing. It was necessary as an opening act in a video game where you wouldn’t necessarily know to not skip past that, but in a more sustained capacity, the ability to skip over it would be right in the heart of how they’ve been developing these games- and I think a lot of players would appreciate that.

Further on teamwork, EOW’s last dungeon felt like a prototype for swap-between puzzles. I honestly really liked it. And while I didn’t really like sword mode for EOW, a game starring both Zelda and Link has a lot of potential for that kind of switching dynamic to work out really cool and feels like a fertile ground for creating challenge and interesting puzzles. I genuinely wanted more puzzles where Link & Zelda got split from each other in a room and had to independently figure out how to solve it. That fucking owned, even though it was only like three rooms.

It also defines and reinforces their skillsets a little bit more. Narratively speaking, Link is not credited for all of the creative adventuring you do that often, despite you showing a lot of wit and creativity and wizardry as link. He’s credited as a swordsman most often, and Zelda is the priestess. It makes sense for her to have the wacky powers and being more oriented towards creative wizardry and sleuthing and for him to be a audacious Fliptastic acrobatic fighter. Obviously, they are also defining Zelda as being insanely capable in combat, as we see in EOW & soon AOI. Combat = Link and Puzzle = zelda do not need to be mutually exclusive to each other- they both can be forces of nature and creativity and wit. But I think it gives them a lot of space to be defined and complement their skill sets in navigating solving puzzles and doing combat. Dungeon items can be made to be more Linky or more Zelday. Link could get a hookshot, Zelda could get a superpower. It just makes sense to me. I would love it if Zelda retain some of her summoning power from EOW, and Link retained a lot of his cool adventuring gear. They both can be capable in every aspect of gameplay, but one is tinted more magically and the other is tinted more adventurously.

And although the Sages in TOTK are sloppy implementations, they are 100% a trial of what it feels like to have people follow you around, and how you may possibly interact with them to engage with their abilities. I think there’s a lot of successes and failures learned from the way that they were implemented. A second pass on reactive companions could work out in a really cool way, and it’s not like there aren’t 1 million other examples in other games that worked better that they can learn from. They’re thinking about this and I don’t think they’re done with it!

i know a lot of people probably wouldn’t like this, but the notion of having to look out for both characters & make sure that they can complete their task while you do yours is fascinating to me. Imagine you can even choose which character you want to use in a fight or troubling situation. When you’re link, you gotta keep the baddies away from Zelda, disarm bosses through their various phases, and deal the finishing blow. When Zelda, you gotta maintain and complete seals/spells, keep baddies away from link, and change the shape of the battlefield in your favor. You may even have players that end up preferring one or the other in the challenges that come from being one or the other. It could make the game more accessible in that way. Imagine sometimes you get separated, and have to find the other one and break them out of a situation. This is something that could happen in particular story beat points, or be a consequence/complication of exploration that entice you to solve puzzles or explore areas you may otherwise miss or skip over.

And Imagine how dual protags opens up the possibilities for co-op! I would love an open world Zelda, where my partner can just drop in and drop out however we please. Imagine one of you exploring one end of the map while the other explores the other end. It would be so insane if that flexibility was a primary feature of the next Zelda. I wouldn’t even mind if the game was relatively conservative structurally if that was the primary gimmick. I really think it’s worth exploring.

And this isn’t even to mention four swords and what they may have learned from that experiment.

Genuinely, I think this duo protagonist concept is eminent. Out of all the things that are going to happen next, this one feels like the idea they are coming around to most. It could please a lot of people and it could be done in a way that doesn’t require you to sacrifice Link’s or Zelda’s importance in the story, or even your capacity to play the whole game as just one of them if you really wished that.

[ginneke]

fmk? try fml

written for a @flashfictionfridayofficial prompt, 'forced to choose'

BotW characters, modern!au setting, don’t think about it too hard - the idea was just unworkable in a more canon setting.

vague pretensions towards Revalink; content warning for implied alcohol/drug use. Dialogue heavy.

(about 1,090 words, I think?)

—

A sly look crept onto Purah's face. "Mipha."

Revali bristled. "We agreed not to mention any names in this room."

"You agreed," Purah said. "I didn't. Now, 'fess up."

He glanced at Mipha; she was shaking her head, a glint of amusement in her eyes. "It was nice knowing you all," she said, softly, and gave him an indulgently forgiving smile.

He definitely couldn't kill Mipha. "I abstain."

"Not allowed," Purah sing-songed back.

"It's the rules," Zelda piped up from the corner of the room, still sounding half asleep. She didn't look nearly so prim and princess-y with her hair tumbled around her in heavy snarls and her feet propped up against the wall. Hopefully she'd missed the part when Revali had needed to consider his chances against her stepmother. "You have to - hic - choose."

The party had already been dying down for a while by this point; they were among the last left, along with Zelda, who barely counted (she'd been asleep for the last hour), and a gaggle of Impa's friends, who'd retreated with her into her room to discuss musty matters of philosophy, or whatever it was that provoked such a buzz of debate behind closed doors. (Robbie, Purah's flatmate, academic rival, and "worst friend/best enemy", had likewise disappeared, though for a different kind of conference.)

They ought to be dragged out here and face the same indignity, Revali thought, still searching for a loophole that wasn't forthcoming. He would be forced to choose, one way or another.

"Tch." There was only one option. "Marry," he said, leaving just enough of a pause to take in their looks of shock, before continuing, "because spouses can't be compelled to testify against each other in a court of law, and we'll both be in need of the alibi."

Purah threw her head back and cackled. "True to form, you can't give up on the murder."

As if she was one to talk: "Robbie," he shot back.

"Killing." A curl of smoke drifted towards the ceiling. "Definitely killing."

"You've killed half of campus between you," Zelda pointed out. "Is anyone still alive?"

She said it like Revali was responsible, when the whole thing started because Purah just happened to be bored and this was less destructive than letting her build fully-functioning catapults out of the communal toaster. The catapults were works of art. The toasters were never the same again.

"Oh! I've got one for you, Zel..."

Outside, a roaring in the alley died down to a grumbling purr. Revali tilted his head towards the sound, trying to determine whether it was -- but it couldn't be. That guy had been given the night off from princessly bodyguarding duties.

"...Wouldn't have expected that from you!"

Whatever he'd missed, a glance at Zelda's burning-red face confirmed he ought to be glad not to have heard it.

"Maybe we should finish this now," Mipha suggested, the voice of reason -- or perhaps the voice of not wanting to be the one sober enough to hold anyone's hair (or feathers) back in the morning. But speaking up only brought attention her way.

"You've been quiet, Mi- Aren't you curious at all?"

Purah took up Zelda's line of attack: "Nobody's psyche you want to peer into?"

"Not really," said Mipha, too hesitantly for her own good; Purah continued to prod until she could only do her best to put her foot down.

"Last one," she said.

"Make sure to choose wisely~."

Revali and Mipha glanced at each other. Don't ask me, he thought, only for Mipha to say, "Revali-"

He glared. Mipha mouthed an apology.

Then ask Purah - Revali tried to signal it with his line of sight. 'Killing' Purah would be one way to end the game for good; they'd be within their rights to ignore the protestations of the so-recently deceased.

"Fuck, marry, or kill - um, let's see..."

Nobody had locked the door. A rush of cold air swept inside, trailing frosty fingers down the back of Revali's neck, and Mipha looked up in surprise. "Link?"

"Fuck!" Revali swore, lunging for the low table where Purah's stash of 'herb' was in full view; that guy was so straight-laced and boring that the only time Revali had ever seen an expression on his face was when Purah pulled it out in public. Then the realisation of what he'd said slammed into him.

Ignore that.

Zelda tried to sit upright, an inelegant manoeuvre given her previous contortions. "Link! What are you doing here?"

Silently, he pointed at the clock they'd deliberately forgotten to consult at any point, then held out a small object that should have been in Zelda's bag...

"Oh." It was Zelda's phone. "Oh, no - Urbosa's going to kill me - "

Link tossed it her way. His eyes scanned the room and settled on Revali; a frown was in them.

"Revali," Purah said loudly, "what did you just say?"

Mipha clapped her hands together, bracelets rattling. "That's it, game over!" To Revali she mouthed, Really?

"Nooooo," Purah said, "we need to know more about this. Confession of the century. Revali, you want to do what - "

"Pluck off," he snapped.

"That wasn't what you said before."

Making another valiant effort to maintain order, Mipha said, "We agreed this would stay in this room. Even you voted for that rule."

"Linky's in the room," Purah pointed out unhelpfully.

Revali made a grab for his scarf. "I'm leaving," he said, then left, though it was too late for a bus and too dark to fly and his legs never liked to cooperate after a drink.

Link caught up to him before the end of the street, jangling keys in a question.

"No," Revali said. "Absolutely not." He didn't know how much Link had heard, or pieced together. "There is no way -"

--

Revali didn't talk for the rest of the trip. The rush of air from a motorbike wasn't too dissimilar from the wind in his braids during flight. He told himself, firmly, that that was the only enjoyment to be found in this.

It wasn't long before they pulled up outside Revali's place.

Gratitude. Remember gratitude. "Thanks, I guess," he tried, though Link said nothing back, of course.

This was too awkward to bear. Revali turned his back on him and rummaged for a key.

"About before," Link said abruptly, steps clanking away down the metal steps - "Maybe when you're sober."

Revali froze. Before he could confront Link, Epona's engine growled back to life. He could only watch the red light sink into the darkness.

"As if," he muttered, and went inside.

[azuresage]

It gets talked about a lot but I still can't stop nerding out about Link's characterization in TotK. It's done through his many creative dialogue choices and his expressions of course, but it's also done so subtly through what he *doesn't* say. Notably, he doesn't talk about himself. And this is why nobody recognizes him unless they've already met him. Because he doesn't tell them when they've got the wrong impression of him.

The meme about Link having Tony Hawk syndrome is so real. People will look at him and straight up say, "Wow, you look exactly like Link!" without a hint of irony. Lookout Landing has a detailed picture of his face in their watchtower and the search party still doesn't recognize him. Penn works with Link for a long time and thinks he's unlucky that the Yiga keep "mistaking" him for the Hero (granted, Traysi asked him to deliberately keep quiet, but Penn still didn't put two and two together himself). I think the reason for this, aside from it being really, really funny, is that Link just doesn't talk about himself. He doesn't feel the need to.

Characterization isn't just about what we see a character doing, it's also about how other characters respond to them. Link is so unassuming and humble that he doesn't match people's expectations of what "Link" should be like. The three Gerudo ladies hanging out around Outskirt Stable are one of many perfect examples. Link stands in front of them carrying the Master Sword, but they expect the Hero to be taller than they are, with a giant glowing sword, so they don’t believe it's him. Obviously that's not the reality, but they don't know that. Link doesn't correct them, either. Again, he doesn't feel the need to.

This is also why many NPCs from BotW don't recognize or remember Link. To them, he was just a passerby that did them a good turn once 6+ years ago. Nobody's going to remember a person like that for so long after. They had no way of knowing he was the Hero, unless it came up for story quest reasons. When they hear stories about the Princess's Appointed Knight who woke up from his 100 year nap, defeated the Calamity, and rescued Zelda, they imagine someone larger than life. Then when they see what Link actually is like, they can't put two and two together.

This is true even during the Hyrule Restoration efforts. Link always follows behind Zelda as her shadow, which she notes in her diary, but the people in the stable investigation quests and in Hateno don't recognize him either, even though he went everywhere she did. Link is just that unassuming. He resigns himself to being a shadow, allowing Zelda to take the lead and do as she pleases but always staying nearby to support and protect her. He doesn't need to be recognizable to do his job. And we know from both BotW and now TotK that he's wholly devoted to her. He's content with this. Many people more eloquent than I have spent many paragraphs elaborating on this. I just wanted to focus on what it says about his character.

Link is humble and unassuming, so much so that nobody believes that he's the Hero unless they already know him. He's devoted to Zelda, so much so that he's willing to do anything to chase even a glimpse of her. He doesn't talk about himself or correct people who have the wrong impression of him. He doesn't need to do that to chase his Zelda. He is a person of great humility in spite of his station. I think that's so interesting and neat how the comedy of him being unrecognizable also tells us all this about him. It's also cool how this is only one aspect of him; all the dialogue choices and expressions he makes during cutscenes and actions out in the world show a whole other, lighter side to him that meshes with this. It's all so good. I am in love with it. It always kills me inside when people dismiss his characterization as being nonexistant or flat just because it's not spoonfed to them or when they say Link being unrecognizable is lazy writing instead of a deliberate choice. I am biting and gnawing and gnashing over him and his relationship to Zelda. I love them so much.

[candy8448]

Random details i noticed while rereading random bits of LU:

1. When going into a new world and asked if anyone recognises this place, Wild pulls out his slate (probably to check if his map is working) to see if they are in his hyrule. Ive seen this a lot in fics before but i never noticed that the idea may hhave come from the comic itself

2. When Wild feeds Epona, it has the same sparkle effect as in BotW!

3. "Its a secret to everyone" hehe

Wild also said it in that one extra where they discuss who knows about Twilight's wolf form

Intresting how its been used both times to do with dark world forms

4. Twilight looks like a werewolf, almost definetly probably intentional

5. When Legend reverts back to hylian form and is holding the master sword the tempered sword is also very obviously glowing, just thought it was intresting

6. "Nice hair" XD

Quote from Skyward Sword, Link says it to Groose at the begining when Groose hides Link's loftwing as one of his dialogue options

7. The first reactions we see to Wolfie being hit are the four people who know that Wolfie is Twilight

8. At this point, Warriors knows about Wolfie being Twilight, and probably knows that Wild is very close to him, so he lets Wild run off ahead, understanding that he probably needs to make sure Twilight is okay as soon as possible

9. "What a terrible fate" 0.0

10. This is probably going a little deep into analysis here, but when Wild starts talking here the pannel has him silhouetted against the background, as if he is laying his feelings plain and bare

11. We see the Link from 100 years ago here as a ghost with the champions, in his soldier armour, Wild probably sees him as a different person

12. I may be missunderstanding something here, but does Time not know that twilight is his descendant? Because in the Malon comics he does know, but the extra comics always did feel really seperate from the rest of the main story

13. Also! Malink baby!!!!!!!!

14. Also (ran outta space for photos) Hyrule's healing powers look similar to Mipha's healing powers

[a-bit-too-much-of-a-zelda-fan]

I really like the decision to set TotK a few years after BotW, as opposed to the few months we’re used to in direct Zelda sequels. It gave the world a substantial amount of time to change. Hyrule is livelier. In the years of relative peace since Calamity Ganon was vanquished, it’s been allowed to grow and thrive. Hateno Village, the largest Hylian settlement, is becoming economically significant as a tourist destination and food supplier. It’s especially cool to see Riju, Tulin, and Kass’s kids mature into their adult/teenage years, respectively.

Building on that, I think it’s neat that Link is in his early twenties now. This is the oldest Link we’ve ever played as (Skyward Sword held the previous record at 17.5 y/o). He’s had time to adjust to life post-calamity. His traumatic mutism seems to be all but gone. You ever notice just how much he talks in this game? Dialogue options galore, he’s constantly explaining things to other characters, all that. And he’s more expressive, too. He outright laughs when he fuses weapons.

Link’s relationship with Zelda has also had time to grow. Guys. Fellas. Broskis. They live in the same house. In which there is only one bed. They are together. The implication here is that they share most of their meals together, and remember, it’s key to his characterization that he opens up emotionally when he’s cooking or eating. That means there has been a lot of quality bonding time between them.

Before and during the Calamity, Link served as Zelda’s royal bodyguard because the king demanded it of him. Given how he went mostly mute from the pressure of being entrusted with the princess’s safety and being chosen as the Hylian Champion (at age 17, mind you), I’d wager he didn’t particularly like the assignment until he started bonding with her. He looks downright sad when she snaps at him in that one memory at the shrine. Hell, he doesn’t smile once in the memories.

But you know what? I get the feeling that Link protects her now not out of duty like he used to, but out of love. That’s powerful because “love conquers all” and all that, but also, there’s no external pressure to be her bodyguard. Until the Upheaval, he was done being a special little hero. He was just a swordsman, but he still went where Zelda went to protect her. So instead of being crushed by that pressure, protecting her is an expression of his love for her. It’s a choice and he’s doing it because he wants to, not because it was forced on him.

That’s a lot of growth to go through, and it was paced over several years. He doesn’t appear to have aged much, but enough time has passed that Hudson has a daughter who can hold a mature conversation. That’s what, 5 years old? Yeah, Link is in his early twenties. Fucking finally, the task of saving the world falls on the shoulders of an adult (although speaking as someone entering his mid-twenties, that honestly isn’t much better).

I’m starting to ramble here so I’ll leave a parting observation of Link and Zelda’s house in Hateno. Zelda has redecorated a fair bit since moving in with Link, replacing his weapon racks with photos of her horse and various Hyruleans (her subjects who she cares deeply for), but the photo of her, Link, and the Champions is still up. And that’s really cute.

[carrotsnake]

Zelda and the Tale of Melusine

I'll be looking at the parallels between Zelda's arc and some Medieval tropes of female metamorphosis, using Melusine: Or the Noble History of Lusignan as an example. Specificially a translated copy of Jean d'Arras's version, since that's the most well known one.

To start, a run down of Melusine:

She's a half human, half fairy woman cursed by her mother for imprisoning her mortal father in a mountain. The curse dictates every Saturday she turns into a serpent from the naval down. She must marry a human man for a long time to slowly undo the curse and become fully human, but he must never see her monstrous form beforehand.

If he does, she'll lose her humanity forever and transform into a dragon.

She meets a knight in the woods, he suspects her otherworldly knowledge comes from "some phantasm or diabolical power", to which she goes don't worry about it kitten. But he likes her so he's like ok! ^_^ yay!

She keeps giving him cool fairy advice, and with it his life magically becomes a whole lot better - he gains wealth, power, and not just him but other people listen to her advice: crops flourish, castles are built. The kingdom is thriving! They love her just as much as he does, so it's no surprise they get married. But there's just one condition, she hides in the bathhouse every Saturday, and he's never to visit or peep at her.

He breaks his promise and discovers her secret. She says he's cursed both of them, and now he's lost her forever: "Be sure that as long as you live I shall always find pleasure in seeing you; but [...] never again shall you see me in female form."

The next passage is as follows:

'Melusine, uttering a very doleful cry and then a heavy sigh, leapt from the window into the void, and as she swept across the orchards she metamorphosed into a massive dragon some fifteen feet in length. [...] In her dragon form she circled the fortress three times, and each time she flew past the window she uttered such an excruciating, desolate cry that everyone wept for pity, knowing that she was leaving under constraint and against her will. Then she disappeared in the direction of Lusignan, letting out such rueful shrieking and strident cries that wherever she passed it seemed as if lightning and thunder were about to split the sky.'

He never sees her again after that. But phantoms of her start appearing in the castle, secretly visiting her children at night and generally just spooking people by standing there menacingly. And that's how the myth is born.

I've already drawn connections through the images above, but what's the point of this?

Like lots of other fans I was irked by the whole 'zelda jesus' thing in totk, yeah it is a little odd that everyone follows her advice without question, and it's never wrong.

I'm curious, if the team was drawing from Western myths, that this was supposed to echo the fae. Especially since most of the quests keep you on your toes on whether this was the real Zelda giving advice, or a fake - a phantom(!) - deliberately sabotaging them. It mirrors how opinions on Melusine were split between a benevolent fae or a demon. Splitting them into two entities though, I can see how that would defang it.

The og text wasn't exactly that nuanced either. I remember my prof joking the message amounted to "always listen to your weird snake wife!" Maybe we SHOULD listen to our weird snake wives.

It's interesting Melusine only interacts with children after the curse - botw+totk imply only young children who are pure of heart can see dragons.

I recommend reading the whole thing if you can find it! Then you can look for more parallels, and read riveting pieces of dialogue such as this:

[bmxbicyclelover]

There's Something About Ordon Village

Another late summer's day on the ranch, the country lifestyle has really made an impression on you.

Link x Fem Reader Insert | F/M | Twilight Princess | 18+ Smut | 4.3K Word Oneshot

Before reading

o 2nd person AFAB reader insert, no gender-specific language. o Link talks, dialogue is based on/inspired by the manga; I put a lot of thought into how he’d act (but I also have the combined IQ of about 23 hamsters so idk.) o Takes place about 5 years after the main plot of Twilight Princess. o The main character is from TP’s version of Lurelin Village in BotW/TotK, past the Gerudo desert → That means this is written from the perspective of someone who hasn’t seen the plot from the hero’s POV. o 🚨18+ Content🚨

Days like this are hard to explain to someone who's not from a place like Ordon. It's a certain kind of tranquillity that you can only reach from years of rapport, decades of responsibility and camaraderie. The rhythm follows the same as the day before, steady and familiar. Thoughts wander through your consciousness like so many leaves on a winding river. Forgettable and memorable in equal measure. On days like this, the village is quiet. Like everyone had come to some predetermined agreement to communicate in nods and smiles, stowing any conversation for another day. Everyone’s needs are known and handled before the thought to ask even arises, even the weather obeys the silent commitment. It's the perfect time to sit in and watch the ranchhands at work.

None of them seemed to mind when you'd come sit up here, they don't often notice either. You've clearly become a regular enough fixture of the landscape to no longer be a figment of curiosity to the livestock. Sometimes you’ll bring a book, other times you'll do some weaving or sewing; it's quiet enough to be alone, all while not being too terribly isolated. Wispy clouds rarely blot out the sun that basks your skin in a warm blanket and illuminates the scent of evergreens beyond this quiet paddock.

There's usually a schedule for who's ranchhand each day, and it seems like Link's been picking up Fado's slack lately. Not that he seems to mind. Fado says Sera needs help at the shop, Sera says he’s just lazy. Like these things always go, the truth is probably in the middle. Part of you always loves it when Link is taking the shift, sometimes he'll bring one of the village kids to shadow him. It's like you're learning along with them, all while sparing yourself from the backbreaking work. Sure, Fado is a good teacher, but they always listen to Link more. They adore him, practically nipping at his heels wherever he goes. Saucer eyes watch him as if he might evaporate into thin air if they lose sight of him for even a moment. 

Today, Link is handling the ranch, today's pupil had long since turned in for the day. He takes to the saddle like he was born to it. Sweeping like a breeze through the paddock with the commanding presence of a Clydesdale, his face is the image of tranquillity. He seems like the quintessential dreamy village boy that you read about in those cheap romance books they sell by the fortune teller in Castle Town. But he's the real thing. It makes you wonder what he's doing stowed away down here in the country. 

A familiar white mane emerged from behind a hill, the cyan-blue coat of a yearling tucked under the arm of the familiar rider. The poor thing must've wandered off, swept off its hooves and returned to the comfort of the herd by an all-knowing rancher. How easy it must be to be an Ordonian goat, have every need patiently tended to. He slipped from the saddle with catlike ease, gently lowering the youngster to its mother who nonchalantly trotted to greet it. Even when he makes the work look easy, it's still a physically demanding job that commands daily strain. A thin layer of sweat makes suntanned skin catch the lowering sunlight on his bare shoulders. 

His gaze flashed toward your direction, returning a weak smile as he approached. Your chest tightened. He often left his horse to graze as she pleased, releasing the reins to her. They both knew that no matter how far she’d wander, she always came back; often, only a rhythmic whistle would kick her into a sprint in his direction. Those two have some sort of spiritual bond; twice now you've seen him round up the livestock bareback, his input often redundant. For reasons beyond your understanding, you posed as if you were looking up from being otherwise occupied, lifting your gaze from a book that you hadn't read a word of in half an hour. 

He came to find a space in the grass beside you, resting his forearms on bent knees. Every other time you'd been up here when he's working he'll come up and sit with you. Sometimes he'll ask how your day was, sometimes he's just sitting in sheer silence, just basking in the setting sun amid a long day’s work. 

Around this time of day, distant frogs start to peep, those heralds of the nighttime stir in their ponds down by the village. From there the fireflies start to arouse, lighting up thick ferns along the treeline, and the nighttime wildlife assumes its station. Like Link’s duties as a farmhand, these creatures assume daily tasks too. A steady, reliable clock that's been followed for thousands of years, and thousands of years to come. 

"Y'know… I never really asked you but, why did you leave Lurelin?" His voice cut the silence like a warm knife through butter. 

"I've been here for months and you never thought to ask?"

"Didn't want to pry," he shrugged, taking a long blade of grass between his teeth.

"After the Twilight, everything was different. Sure, we were safe from the curtain, but the people changed. They were meaner, jaded. I think a lot of people just couldn't wrap their heads around the fact that we were really safe from evil," you felt his eyes on you as you lamented, the words just kept coming. "It's hard for people to go back to caring about others when they'd spent months wondering if they'll make it the next morning after another Moblin raid."

Your words settled in the air to create a steady silence, only rippling waves on a motionless pond of his presence. While the conversation reached a melancholic calm, the surrounding woods were alight with song. Birds began their last act in one final crescendo, a soaring hawks chwirk to one another in a call to their mate. All over a constant chorus of bleats and huffs from the regular livestock, it's not strictly true to say Ordon is a quiet place to live. 

"Since' we're asking questions, why did you stay in Ordon? You did all that and just went back to normal afterward?"

"The people here are genuine, they look out for each other. They're all like my family. And also-" You watched him mull over his words as if he was tasting them in his chops. "It's kind of all I know. I never cared about my reputation, the glory, none of it."

White sunlight tipped into amber as the evening approached, your eyes trailed along a winding wooden fence along the grass' perimeter. You fidgeted with a piece of grass you drew, folding and tying it in an unknowable pattern. A smirk cracked your face, and the caress from a cool breeze emboldened you to share your burning challenge. 

"I don't believe you."

"Pshht" air slips past his teeth in exasperation, he blinked slowly at the horizon. 

"You killed the demon king, freed the world from the Twilight- the entire Kingdom kissing your boots. The realm was in your debt, you could've had gold, castles, hell, you could've married the princess - could've become king. You could've bought Ordon, could've made it a new Hyrule Castle."

"I never asked for glory or even acknowledgement at all for what I did… I just- I think I just really wanted things to go back to normal, back to when it was simple."

"And did your dream come true?"

"Yes and no, the village kids are safe and I'm back on the ranch… but the kids are growing faster every day," there was a melancholy in his tone, as proud as he might sound. "Ilia's set up in Kakariko, Malo's there too. Rusl n’ Uli's baby was born, but I think Colin's most excited about not being at the bottom of the pecking order now."

"Y'know there are some people that don't believe in this whole hero thing at all," you sighed, it made him huff a soft chuckle. 

"Is that so," he spoke, low and frivolous. 

"They say it's a fairytale parents tell their kids to get them to go to sleep- make them think there's an order to the world," your words made him stir with an emotion you couldn't detect, only pensively rubbing the back of his hand. "Or that it's made up by the royal family to keep people compliant, that the royal bloodline is special or whatever."

He nodded along to your allegation, a conspiracy theory, really. The kind of thing people with too much time on their hands and spite in their hearts conjure up. The kind of thing you came here to get away from. In truth, you didn't even know that the so-called hero was from here, for all you knew he'd married the princess and lived a life of luxury. But he's different, it's intriguing. Rolling hills with proud evergreens lining a thick wilderness were the obvious choice over a life of servants and grovelling city folk. 

"What do you believe?" His voice reached an octave that rattled in your bloodstream, low and smooth. 

"Do I believe some country bumpkin could kill the King of Evil and save us from some horrible doom?" A sneer that manifested on your lips, plucking that piece of grass on his lips between your fingers, he barely seemed to notice, only dreamily watching the sky. "I'll take your word for it."

"It was tempting, the power," the words make his forehead wrinkle in thought. "But power corrupts people, makes them behave not like themselves. Hearing people cheer my name at parades, it was so odd. I didn't like it." 

You lean back on your forearms, studying his expression and digging for meaning. It's an easy enough reason to grasp, but that's the thing. There's a darkness to his words, the kind of sternness that comes from experience. 

"How benevolent of you," you smirked, eyelids falling heavy. You put that same grass between your teeth, the taste bitter on your lips.

"I'm not-" he seemed to have caught himself mid-sentence, truncating some elaboration. "You're trying to rile me up, it's not gonna' work."

"I think it already has," the words croaked from your throat, flowing off your tongue before you had the chance to censor them. "Besides- I think you like it.” 

He shifted in his posture, turning to plant his near hand beside you and bridging much of the distance between you. In an act of spite or otherwise, he'd tossed the strand of grass from your lips in a weak underhand toss that made a goat stop and consider the object with its snout. It didn't stop a certain humour from registering in his eyes. He leaned in and your blood ran chilled with anticipation, smelling his pale skin as his body heat approached. He smelled like trees and goat milk soap, musk and leather. 

For a moment the world was still, quiet. No birds, no bleats, silence hung in the air. Heavy branches held their ripe apples, captivated by your exchange. Before you knew what was where, warm skin under your cautious fingertips melted into your palm, your exploring hand taking an expedition across broad shoulders. Thick, scratchy cloth with lazy stitches across their hems gave way to more skin. Across his bicep, muscles warped and body heat intensified, your eyelids drifted closed. Foreign breath ghosted across your bottom teeth. 

Your lips touched and it felt like lightning in your chest, carnal thirst for each other's blood substituted by cautious movements. Part of you felt the timidness in his movement as if you'd open your eyes to see him a visage of bashfulness. You leaned in against soft lips that met yours, digging your fingers into his bicep, spurring him closer. He obliged, shifting his body weight all while you impressed further. Suddenly he shifted as if to withdraw, you dug deeper. Again, he withdrew, and you were left like a canoe without a paddle. 

"Not here," his tone a soft murmur, barely above a whisper. 

"No? Seems romantic," your words failed to get his attention, his gaze lingered on the winding wooden fence-gate on the far end of the pasture. 

"No," he started, but you wouldn't let him finish. 

"It's more exciting, don't you think," a finger on his chin dragged his face back to meet you. "Out here in the field, in the open, under the sunset."

"Someone might see."

"That's the danger of it all," you breathed, but boldly cut you off in retaliation. 

"I'm not scared of danger," a knowing flicker of mischief lit up his eyes for a moment before sobriety stymied the thought. "C'mon, let's go- let's go to the barn."

His voice was smooth and low like warm honey, part of you wondered if he knew how that tone would affect you. It made your mind so hazy you didn't even notice an upturned palm to guide you upright.

"What happened to not caring what others think of you," you held steadfast, testing the limits of his patience as a smile pulled at your cheeks. 

You got to watch the words register on his expression as he rose to his feet. At first, he blinked in confusion. Then he must have considered your challenge, turning to stand in a way that blocked your view of the setting sun. He lazily pushed his hair out of his face with raking fingers, you tilted your chin to look up at him. 

"Here’s the thing," he turned before you, planting a foot on either side of your lounged ankles, "you're in my ranch. And I have a knack for getting misbehaving critters to go where I want them to."

"Oh is that what you'll do," manifesting your calmest tone. "Ride me down on your horse, whoop and holler and whip your lasso until you round me up?"

His body language spoke for him. He's nothing if not intimidating, the way amber sunbeams splay around his silhouette made him look like a Golden Goddess descending unto you. Reluctantly, you raised your palm to meet his, and he effortlessly raised you to meet him. As polite as the gesture was, he hardly offered you much time to brush the grass off the back of your dress before he led you to the painted barn. You'd left your book behind, you realized. Hopefully a goat doesn't eat it, but frankly, you'll have to take that risk. 

Beady eyes linger on you. Onlooking livestock lifts their heads from the grass as you pass, considering your presence, but carelessly returning to their grazing. Maybe they can sense the heat in your chest, your rapid pulse. Perhaps they taste your wicked thoughts in the late summer breeze, knowing which of them involve their master. Maybe, maybe not. More likely they're not thinking about much at all, just the next possible meal they can scrounge for and enjoying the autumn sun. You were practically skipping, it's like the ground was rising to meet you with every step. Anticipation burned in your chest as the sturdy gate groaned to welcome you inside.

This barn is worn and honed, with years of tender care and thoughtful woodwork. Sturdy crossbeams and thick wooden pillars have kept generations of prized Ordon goats in fine fettle. A community's labour, spotlessly cleaned and attended. It's a marvel of handcrafted ingenuity, the pride of the village. This place is cleaner than many people's homes, but the splendour must have been lost on your company. 

In an instant he was all over you. You'd barely found time to catch your breath before his mouth enclosed around yours, eagerly resuming their previous meeting. Resistance against your back meant you'd met one of those sturdy wooden pillars and he cornered you in. A warm hand at the small of your back, a relentless onslaught on every inch of exposed skin. Soft hair brushed against the side of your cheek the more he leaned over you. Even when they move with a desperate thirst there's still a kindness to his hand’s grip, he pressed himself against you like the missing puzzle piece.

"Maybe your magical powers will rub off on me, what boons might I get for sleeping with the legendary hero?" You murmured, seizing a newfound opportunity.

He laughed into your mouth, your lips parting only barely as he dipped back over you.

"Can't sleep yet, there's work to do," he smothered the conversation with another persistent kiss.

"Maybe the light spirits will split the sky and bless me," you gasped.

There was a strange delight in mocking him, riling him up with reminders of his auspicious status as a hero. He was so keen to dismiss it all and some part of you felt like he secretly occasionally enjoys the worship, as humble as he might want to come off as. And maybe it's your way of saying thanks for his sacrifice, his courage. Or perhaps you just like seeing someone so sickeningly sweet squirm. Well, not so sweet anymore. Searing fingertips trailed up and down your spine, daring to bunch more of your skirt in his fist. 

"Oh the hero in green," you raised your voice in a mimicking tone, reciting the cries of fawning Castle Town citizens "Link has saved us all."

"Shh," he cooed, silencing you with another crashing kiss.

But you felt him smile, laughing at your mockery. 

Before he had the time to silence you or give you some snide remark you bit down on his lip. He flinched, grinding to a halt as the playful nip didn't seem to compute for him at first. Another bite and your hips swayed against his. Firm resistance met you, his hands shifted in unison to your hips, keen to pursue that motion. There's a mischief under that innocence. He feigns like he's this sweet country boy who blushes and simpers politely at flirtatiousness, but there's more to him than that mask he wears. He likes the mocking, pestering jabs you make, no matter how he might act like he'll brush them off.

With a shift in movement and weight, you stepped into him, softly grappling his shoulders and pushing. He lightly fell onto the stack of hay behind him, pink cheeks and lips warmed the colouring of tanned skin from days of work in the hot sun. As much as you might like to think otherwise, he only permitted you this control—out of politeness or otherwise. Every part of you knew picking you up and throwing you would be nothing to this man. You'd heard the legend of him besting armoured men thrice his size, a whirlwind of steel and green. Tale of him challenging Gorons barehanded, swinging a hundred-pound iron ball like it's nothing. Hell, you'd seen him firsthand stop a charging goat dead in its tracks. His letting you push him on his back into a pile of yellow hay is only an illusion he's allowing you to believe. 

But as your lips part and he's on the ground before you, an uncharacteristically devilish grin dances across his expression. Your tongue ran heavy as he dragged his thumb below the blue sash that ran across his waist, dragging up the border of white cloth to lift his shirt. Legs kicked slightly apart, lifting his shirt to reveal a chiselled abdomen for you to touch. He knew what he was doing, and you'd be remiss if you didn't acknowledge the sting of warmth that clutched your core. 

You both knew what was at stake, a lowering sun and basking the countryside in amber light would mean Fado would want to see the goats brought in any minute. It made this unexpected encounter ever more exciting, urgent, necessary. Neither of you had the liberty of having the time, or patience to fully undress. He loosened the rest of his sash, lifting his shirt over his shoulders as your knees buckled, collapsing around him. You'd barely had time to kick off your undergarments, haphazardly grabbing fistfuls of a scratchy dress' skirt. Blue eyes drifted down to your figure, collapsing into his lap. He sighed as your weight connected with his, already delighting in the friction. 

Years of life on this farm left warm muscles curving and contouring his form, only then did you clue into a handful of white scars that scattered across his skin. Your consideration was cut short, though definitely not from a sense of bashfulness. The way he grabbed the back of your neck could be argued to be aggressive, but you both had a similar urgency, and your lips were sloppily colliding again. It felt good to be over him, there's a thrill in having him captured between your knees, and how his breath deepens whenever you'd drag yourself over the sturdy bulge in his lap. 

This steady friction you developed could spark a fire in this dry hay for all you knew, heat and butterflies formed a steady inferno in your gut. A hand on the back of your hair kept you grounded in his reach. His tongue lashed again yours, hot lips colliding and drawing in a soulful rhythm you'd developed. Like a spur in a horse's flank, stern fingertips urged the back of your thigh closer, you gathered that was your cue to hurry up already. 

Soft skin was electric with heat, you gasped against another crashing kiss, fingers tightening around your hair as your fingers dragged lower. What felt like scars peppered his rippling abdomen, for a second a twang of sorrow struck your chest. Quickly overridden, a palm struck your rump in an unexpected crack of pain. He looked pleased by your surprise like he'd finally shed that illusion of an innocent do-gooder farmhand. With renewed fury, you made quick business of unfurling the rest of his clothing. 

His cock sprang free, but you didn't get a chance to get a good look as it was shielded by layers of fabric from your skirt. The eager tip is easily aligned with your entrance, guided by your thumb. Slick heat lowered into him, and the initial entrance made your forehead wrinkle from the unfamiliar pressure. But you quickly adjusted, and he entered you fully with lifted hips. Your fingers fumbled for grip, finding soft brown hair in your knuckles as you ground yourself onto him. He groaned, and your spine flexed. Sweet spit danced over your tongue from the exertion, hanging agape and crying softly. 

He wants to grip your hips and urge your tempo on his lap like reins as if he weren't the metaphorical steed in this instance. Your core began to aching with with a feverish, achy warmth that made you gasp and cry when he'd pull you back down onto him. He filled you up just right, just enough that you'd winge from strain whenever he'd take a moment to savour the feeling of being buried to the hilt. 

Sweat beaded on brown strands across his forehead, down his pale jaw that fell open from his panting. Fluttering eyelids strained to hold eye contact with you as you rode him harder, feeling him twitch and fumble beneath you. Your own ache came on hard and fast, a sternness overtook you and your hands planted on either one of his shoulders, locking him into place. His eyes widened, captivated by your intensity, steely blue and full of fire. Another slap on your flank, you could barely contain yourself. 

Your skin slid against his, warm and dewy and fierce like a summer storm. The building intensity in your core from his rutting cock made you sway back in ecstasy. You could almost hear his breathy groans under your whimper, he gripped you hard. Cascading sparks released through every heartbeat, muscles across his abdomen flexed as he bucked up against you. Pulsing seed spilled into you, clutching your waist as if you'd even dream of lifting from his lap just yet. His groans were so sweet, he shuttered with ecstasy as his face softened and grinding steadied. 

Part of you couldn't imagine separating from this moment. Just panting, suddenly feeling the presence of the late summer breeze ghost over your skin, a consequence of a steadying internal temperature. Gravity collapsed and you found yourself plummeting into him, he caught you against his shoulder, he easily slipped from within you. 

Under your temple his heart was still thundering, his Adam's apple flexing as he halted his gasping to gulp. A mist of sweat made his chest glint in the lowering sun that soon would promise starlit darkness. Your muscles eased, worry faded, sinking into a relaxation that wrapped your limbs into his. A gentle caress on your shoulder slid down your spine and back, tender and kind. 

"Do you feel any supernatural powers?" He mocked, voice husky and deep.

You exhaled in a chuckle, his chest rattled in laughter under your laze. He'd earned that cheap shot at your earlier implication. The supernatural feeling you felt didn't come from any mythological being, but a forgiving, humming, post-orgasmic bliss that settled deep in your bones. But he’d come to deserve much worse for suddenly stripping you of an ocean of body heat, but you already knew what he'd say in response.  All the while his arm reached to grab his white tank, gently slipping his arm from beneath you. It's cruel, really. To assume you were finished with enjoying him. Maybe he knows, maybe he's about to invite you to his house, spend precious few hours of sleep together before a new dawn brings new responsibilities. Maybe he'll toss you under his arm like that young goat he returned and let you worship him for hours. But alas, his work commands him to bring the precious livestock indoors, distant coyotes’ yipping serving as a sobering reminder. 

"You're right, I didn't go to the parades only because I didn't want the limelight," aligning the rest of his clothing as he spoke, shifting to a crouch as he buckled a clasp at his shoulder. 

You sat up in intrigue, propping yourself on your forearm in the hay bale that suddenly grew more uncomfortable by the second. 

"The truth is," he continued, "I just plain don't like cities."

The inspiration for this fic was singlehandedly brought to you by a single piece of fanart that quite literally permanently altered the trajectory of my life. I couldn’t find the original artist from reverse image search, all I know is it’s from 2014. If anyone knows the artist I’d love to tag them. This was my procrastination piece to get away from the fact that a bunch of people are expecting me to finish my 200,000+ word CoD Ghost x Reader fic. I <3 dodging responsibilities and obligations !!!!!! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! If people liked this I might make more one-shots, we'll see.

[zeldaelmo]

Thanks for the tag, @mistresslrigtar !

1. How many works on AO3? Uh, ahahah, ehm well... 100 🙈

2. Total AO3 word count? 759,789

3. Top 5 fics by kudos:

How to name a royal child

Stolen Kisses

Inspiration, Illusions, and other Inconveniences

Strangers in the Night

It's in his Kiss

I have zero idea why How to name a royal child has so many Kudos. It's a cute fic, sure but... so many? 🤣

4. What fandoms do you write for? Legend of Zelda

5. Do you respond to comments? Mostly. Sometimes I forget or don't know what to say.

6. Fic with the angsty ending? Lonely at the Top, simply because it's a snapshot in the middle of totk when Link doesn't know he'll get Zelda back. Otherwise I'm happy endings only...

7. Fic with the happiest ending? The other 99.

8. Do you get hate? Hate is a big word. I do get comments from people who can't read or don't understand how stories work occassionally.

9. Do you write smut? Yes, but it's not my main topic. I'm a "sex scenes only when they're important to the plot" writer, so I sometimes I need one to convey certain emotions and sometimes not.

10. Do you write crossovers? No. I'm just not interested in them, neither to write nor to read.

11. Ever had a fic stolen? I don't think so.

12. Ever had a fic translated? No.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic? For the longest time I say'd I wouldn't, but I did two collaborations with @mistresslrigtar.

DIY Bed Building 101 and Practice for Keeps

14. All time favorite ship? zelink

15. WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I don't abandon stories because I only begin so many at a time I can actually handle. Ideas? Well, that's a whole other thing.

16. Writing strengths? Dialogue, showing how non-pov characters feel, first chapters. And hooks, which kind of goes hand in hand with the strong first chapters.

17. Writing weaknesses? Sometimes I skip forward too fast because I'm missing what Missy calls "dating chapters". That probably happens because I've been thinking about the story for months and I don't realize anymore the characters on the page aren't there where they're in my head yet.

18. Thoughts on mixed language dialogue? I tend to avoid that because it has a lot of pitfalls.

19. First fandom you wrote for? loz/botw

20. Favorite Fic you’ve ever written? Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast, Love, I think. It has a good structure, writing the short chapters was fun, and when I shared it, people were just as happy with it as I was. Great experience all around!

I tag @bahbahhh, do it whenever you feel like it.

[bonus-links]

Have you done commentary on your favorite page yet?

okay this is kind of hard to answer bc there's lots of updates I'm rlly proud of but i think RUINS pt. 3 is my personal favorite so i'm gonna do that one :D

genuinely I think this is the best set of pages I have ever made and I will probably never top them. literally how did I manage this. how have I never cooked like this since. I feel like I have lost this sauce somehow lolol

really I think it's just that I haven't drawn that much action since this. as a writer I rlly gravitate towards more character-driven, dialogue heavy scenes. which also happen to be rlly hard to make into visually interesting comics 😂 sometimes I think it's a flaw of mine but u know what. the point of making this comic is to do whatever I want

anyway. I know i'm just sort of screenshotting this whole page but I really like this sequence. the way that the momentum carries from the lizalfos choking loft into him getting slammed into the ground just really works. I also feel like this color palette is so cohesive. i love this like. acidic yellow and green combo. i should use it more often

this poor lizalfos cowering in the face of beetle's might. side note I kind of miss beetle's big pincers but I don't miss drawing them. I don't rlly regret the beetle redesign HAHA

I also LOVE this set of panels. Lightning powers should always come with glowing eyes, I think. it's non-negotiable.

I didn't even plan this panel in the sketch. It was originally supposed to be a full page, and I literally just wrote "lol" and left it for myself to figure out later. i knew what I wanted it to look like in my head, but it took FOREVER to figure out. It's not perfectly drawn but I still like how it turned out!

i remember this entire fight sequence took SO MUCH planning. I literally spent forever zooming around the spring of courage in botw trying to understand all the different angles I would need. I took so many screenshots.

anyway I knew I wanted Slate's first words to be "well, damn' since the beginning HAHA. Bro was just hanging out in Faron minding his own business before this. He was gonna step in eventually but it seemed like loft had it under control 😂 also, Loft's powers include chain lighting!

anyway that's all I got really, not too much to say abt this one but I'm still really proud of how it turned out