#I ship aoc zelink too

[mylonelydreaming]

I believe Link still would have gotten with Zelda had the calamity never happened. He got extremely close to Zelda over the memories and well, she had to have gotten his Royal Guard's hat somehow...

[noraiir-arts]

Does anyone else have very complicated ways of shipping?? like when i say "i ship them" i don't mean "oh they love each other so much they kiss each other and will be together forever" i ship characters but in a way that's unique to only them and/or only in certain scenarios

Like, for example Zelink- I think pre-calam zelink was one sided, i dislike post-calam zelink, but i sort of like totk zelink (yes i know they are the same two people) but only certain dynamics??? but i also think that its the type of love that goes unsaid, they just look out for and support each other, maybe its not entirely romantic but they are closer than friends. It's the type of closeness you can only get by knowing that no matter what lifetime you are in the other will always be there. I don't think its necessarily the type where they hide behind pillars to make out, or try to stay in a committed relationship, but more of a tired love, one that has been renewed throughout hundreds of lives, each time being something different.

But take skyward sword, i believe that it's easier to see romantic zelink here

or Miphlink - I don't really ship this, but it's a tragic one-sided love story that Mipha knew was doomed from the beginning. The other woman. Was never given enough time to tell Link how she felt, yet even if she had time he might not have returned her feelings. Now he barely remembers her. Maybe 100 years later she's a little embarrassed of herself, of what she wrote in her diary. Maybe it was a simple crush, mistaken for undying love and has dwindled over the past century. But now it's a sad love, the type where she grieves for what used to be, and what never will. But after being saved from Ruta she switches her sights towards the domain. She can see how much her brother has grown and is so proud of him. She knows Link will never remember her fully, but maybe it's for the best. No matter what, she will always be there to heal his wounds.

Tbh i was dragged into Revalink kicking and screaming, but now it's one of my favorites. - Their dynamics work so well, but oh no it's so sad. Started from a one-sided "rivalry" to some sort of friendship. Link never hated Revali, he didn't even dislike him. And Revali just wanted Link to be impressed, to understand why he was chosen for his role as pilot, and he wanted Link to prove himself to Revali (honestly i can go on a on about why revali was harsh to link in botw if anyone wants me to) But over time they both start to realize that they are more similar to each other than any of the other champions. They weren't born into noble families or blessed with magic. Revali learns about the vigorous training Link underwent after pulling the sword, and Link learns that Revali isn't the son of the elder or was an important figure in his village before becoming a champion, but a simple warrior just like Link. Their friendship grows and they become a great team, surprising mostly everyone. Maybe it grows into something more. Maybe neither of them know it. Maybe they just never admit it. Revali knows Link doesn't remember him. He doesn't want him to. He tells Link not to go asking about him to the princess. It's for the best, he will still be there to help Link after all. Maybe it's cruel to keep him from knowing. Well, Revali will be gone soon anyway. Maybe he hopes that Link will at least remember good things about him.

Honestly I love revalink aus, they are my fav!!

I think of Zelimpa (aoc) like a mix of how i described miphlink and revalink but im too tired to explain it rnnnnn

oh also urbosa/zelda's mom but i think that goes unsaid

but anyway these are just a few. Most of the time i can't use words to exactly explain something pictured in my head, (synesthesia is so silly) but i tried my best

[creativesplat]

💘, 🐳, ⛩️, 🙊?

💘, 🐳, ⛩️, 🙊

💘 MIPHLINK!!! Do I have to say it? Absolutely 110% Miphlink. Honestly they are a pairing that I love more than all the other ships I have ever shipped, and I come back to them whenever other hyper fixations fizzle out or I want something comforting. I love them both so much. AoC is one of my favourite zelda games for that reason. (BoTW too, but the tragic lovers vibe is so sad)

Skyward Sword Zelink, a little bit, I wasn’t head over heals for them, but SS Zelda reminded me a fair bit of Mipha (if Mipha had been brought up in a less dangerous time and with less royal duties they would have probably been more similar), so that was that! 

I really wish I shipped Revali with someone, because I love the birb because he is stupid and fun to draw, initially I was a pining Miphvali shipper, but like, I wasn’t a massive fan of that, so maybe ZelVali? Some people ship that, and I’ve got to say the Revali and Zelda talking scene is one of my favourite cutscenes in BoTW, not to mention Zelda’s dialogue to Revali; If not romantic, definitely platonic. 

Teba and Saki are the adorable birb parents so I quite like their couple dynamic? Im not really the biggest shipper outside of Miphlink tbh.  

🐳

I honestly have no idea? Probably a Hylian (boring answer sorry!), but maybe a Rito. I love the decoration styles, and bright colours, and also they live in a cool climate and I do not like hot weather. So maybe a rito. 

⛩️

I think my favourite dungeon would have to be the Ancient Cystern in SS, I just love how beautiful the whole thing is, with all the lotus-y patterns and the pinks and turquoises and the flowers and stuff. ITs just so dang beautiful!! I also really loved the Sandship Dungeon. I think in terms of play through that was my favourite from start to finish. Location is SO much harder. Aesthetically Satori Mountain, and Rito village, story-wise and where I spend my most time in BoTW Zora’s domain, I also Love the Zora’s domain and Rito Village music. Also sweet cozy little skyloft is so nice and permanent and homely. The great plateau is so nostalgic and I love that too… AAA I don’t think I can pick! In AoC it has to be Scero’s Supplies, I know you can’t really go there, but the merging of Zora and Hateno architecture is just so beautiful and I LOVE IT SO MUCH! 

🙊

Ohhh… Unpopular Zelda opinions… I have quite a few of those. Ok. Here we go. 

ToTK is AWUFUL. Hot dang it is the worst thing ever. It wasn’t even the story that made me stop playing. It was one line from an NPC in Rito Village. Molli wants to make elemental arrows, and has an idea for arrow inventions, that can freeze enemies! No way that’s so cool, except… that is literally one of the main things in the last game. You can buy elemental arrows from the shops. Like what the heck? At least explain to me why a very common commodity that EVERYONE but Particularly the people who’s job it is to look after Bows (Harth and Moli) know about and have access to is somethign they want to invent now. I hate is. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. I ha- anyway. I despise whatever Lazy idiot decided that was the way to go. Who cares about lore? Not us apparently. I also have a massive problem with the imperialist mass-destruction weapon wearing zonai as well. And as a historian I just love BoTW so much better than ToTK. It treats its history with respect, and nuance, and good golly thats not how ruins from 10,000 years ago would work and o my word stop suspending my disbelief!?! 

Anyway. I could rant for far longer about far more things, but I’ll leave it at that. 

Way more unpopular, and Zelink shippers please ignore this: I think BoTW Zelink is creepy. The power dynamic is insanely bad (princess and her servant who literally cannot disobey her father), and the age gap is also awful (16 turned 17 for one day and “20 something” from the BoTW art book). 

Also, the women deserve better from that fandom. But that’s not news.

Thank you so much for the ask Stars!

[snail-studios]

hello!!! hope u're having an awesome day/evening :DD so anyway, what got u into botw/tloz? also what other fandoms are u in? ur art is so cute btw!!! ♡

awww hii!!!!! thank you for the question and for saying my art is cute! :D :D :D

♡ big long rant below vvv ♡

i first played botw on the wii seven years ago with my big brother when i was really young! at first..i hated it :V the wii sucked and it was SO STRESSFUL when the stal-monsters came and started attacking me! i even tried diving underwater but just got shot a ton,.. so i didn't play it for a year or so before i got it on the switch and absolutely fell in love with it. it was the most beautiful game i'd ever played, i could be a cute boy and run around naked plus I could ahve a horse. i named her milky and i didn't know i could register her so i left her outside of kakariko and she dissapeared. rip milky ;_;

so after about two years of aimlessly exploring hyrule i found some youtube videos during the pandemic. and it was all theories and cutscenes and one about a romance? and i, being a little fruit, saw te pretty girl on the thumbnail and was instantly hooked. because i was link and link was me, so i wanted to see how i could get a cool elf girlfriend (for perfectly straight reasons, of course -w-). so i was entranced with zelink, and princess zelda. i looked at fanart, i shipped until i realised....this was a boring ship and i didn't even like zelda too much, and i hadn't even watched any of the cutscenes yet.

so i watch aaalll the cutscenes, including a very special one, mipha's touch. cue little me squealing and kicking my legs because it's a mermaid and she heals and she's REALLY pretty. so i begin playing through botw's story in earnest. and i try to get to ruta- fail, and do vah medoh instead (and become obsessed with revali..dark days indeed).but now that i have revali's gale i can easily get to zora's domain and OMG! A SHARK PRINCE!!! AND HE'S MIPHA'S LITTLE BROTHER! SO SHE'S ALIVE!

but wait......why was he referring to her in past tense?

and then i see the statue and have a full link moment because i've played hours and hours just so i can see her and seh's dead????????????/ are you friken kidding me???????????????

i struggle through ruta, kill waterblight after many failed attempts and get the cutscene tm . and i'm shattered, but i've realised that this ship is canon af. mipha loved link and he's looking at her with such intensity. and..you know. i'm a young girl with too much time on my hands because of the pandemic. so i start learning to draw mipha so i can make art -w- and she really fuelled my love for art because she makes me happy okay!! 😭😭

after ages of becoming as OP as possible i get through the rest of botw and kill ganon like seven times and woah :0 who would have guessed---aoc comes rolling along. and the trailers have mipha!

and i love aoc and it just fuels my love for botw even more. so now i've completed all of the shrines and am working through the korok seeds =w=

-

as for other fandoms i'm in i'm a little active in the dunmeshi fandom, same with pjo and nier but it's really mostly just loz stuff atp because there's no way i'm letting mipha go after sixish years and her changing my brain chemistry ♡

i'd love to be more active in all fandoms but believe it or not i can be pretty shy + don't have much time on my hands ;w;U

my dream is for my original story to get its own fandom once it's up hehe ♡

[sunset-peril]

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

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

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

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

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

~~~

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[clockwise-works]

💘, 👊, 💣?

💘 Favorite Zelda ship(s)?

Obvious one aside, for the BotW... none to the degree I like Miphlink. If they're ones that involve Link or Mipha, they are ones I do not personally care for, even if it's an AU or alternative timeline or TotK. A world where Mipha wasn't born? Link will die alone 😤

Ok OK extreme joke, sure, but for ones that don't involve them? Zelimpa is... cute. I guess. In the same sense that Mario and Peach are "cute." I won't ship it a whole deal myself, but it's there, I think it's neat, you know. I've seen some people do Purah and Zelda, and that ones... well honestly I'm surprised there isn't more of it. People really like that "gay women in science" thing, and the two DO share some common interests. I guess i think it's interesting too, not to the degree of Impa and Zelda, but I can see why someone would like it. Hell, in AoC you can think Zelimpa and the two live happy, and in BotW and TotK it's Zelrah (or whatever the fuck it's called), since Purah de-ages herself. Idk, I don't care enough to make a definitive choice, but going the Purah route DOES mean that Zelda gets a life partner who isn't nearly dead and isn't link or an oc. So that's neat I guess.

Outside BotW? I tend to avoid the games so when I play them they have a greater impact, but I DO see a good amount of Linked Universe stuff, as well as following other Miphlink artists/writers who like other ships as well. Smilesrobotlover and a few others have made Midlink interesting to me, and part of it will probably be because of overlap in themes with Miphlink (them being from "different worlds" being a key one). Zelink in SS for similar reasons, this time attributed to Skyloftian-nutcase, instead with the "childhood friends" theme. When i eventually make it through the others, I'm not going in with the intent to find a ship, but if one ends up gripping me and making me WANT to see more of them, to see them together, then that'll be another ship to add to my list. It's gotta be one that makes me really feel the connection between the two characters, but since I only have general understandings of the Link + the main girl other than Zelda dynamics in those games, I can't list too many sadly.

👊 Favorite Zelda Villain/Boss?

So there's two ways of going about this one. In a gameplay sense, and in an emotional sense. Going with an emotional sense, the Blights probably do win this one, simply because they have the whole "Your fighting a monster that killed a past friend/lover/brother/rival/etc in their very Divine Beast that was meant to protect them" thing going on, and that is absolutely amazing in terms of making me WANT to see them dead beyond progressing the story. Comparatively, I don't care to kill Mucktorock simply because it's just... there. An obstacle. One that poses a danger, sure, but so does any other enemy, really.

The blights also are pretty well designed I'd say, since the whole thing is that Calamity Ganon ends up reusing a lot of their attacks in his first phase since they're fragments of him. It's a good way to prepare you for the final boss, to test your skills and see just how fare you've come. I think they would've been better though if Calamity Ganon itself had changed the attacks up a little more, adding a twist to their attacks, cause currently it feels too similar. Less of an evolution challenge and instead a repeat.

Waterblight is probably my favorite of the four, as I think it's the best designed with the mindset of being the first one you fight. Sure, the game is open and you can do any first (I pray for those that started with Thunder), hell you can even do none. But with them placing Zoras Domain closest to Kakariko and how its designed, Waterblight feels the most like an introductory boss, and really sets the stage for what to expect.

Outside BotW, one of the most fun to go against was Colgera. The TotK bosses were... subpar, in my opinion, EXCEPT for Colgera. While yes, he did lack the same stakes as the blights since he's kinda just there, it's made up for with a really fun and engaging battle, with one of the best themes in the game. It's a little easy, sure, but is an absolute BLAST to play.

💣 Favorite Zelda Item/Weapon?

If armors don't count (if they do, then Zora Armor because wearing your dead fiance's armor hand made to protect you is an amazing trope) than I gotta go with Savage Lynel Sword and a good shield. Out of all the combat methods, I much prefer the sword and shield setup. I love last second parrys and flurry attacks, I love the overall speed and flow of striking with my sword, immediately pulling out my shield, and parrying a lynel or something. The broadsword and Spear have an extra step where you have to put away the weapon to pull out your shield, and while it works really well for balancing and giving the player different methods with varying benefits, the general sense of flow the standard method offers is my favorite. And since I especially love just throwing myself at a powerful enemy and attempting to solo them (to the point I disable the Sages), high tiered single hand swords are my go to.

Outside BotW? I haven't played a game with it yet, but the hookshot. In my opinion, the hookshot is almost as iconic as the Master Sword itself in terms of Link's armory, and the potential of it just screams to me. Sure, maybe it actually sucks and I'll learn soon enough, but just the whole being able to shoot off to another surface/platform with a hookshot just SCREAMS clever dungeon design to me. It's the item I most anticipate using, to the point I think TotK shouldve added it for traversal since they removed Revali's Gale. Sure, I can achieve it with a workaround with pine cones, but 1. That's stupid 2. Sure, I can use Ascend, but that only works with a ceiling to stand under.

[nolongerapileofashprobably]

Reimmersing myself into the zelink community after a mini hiatus due to AoC spoilers— did I miss anything drastically important? Or are we all still riding the AoC train because Nintendo still hasn’t released anything about botw’s sequel??

[zelesbians]

I’m loving the development of the champions and seeing them all interact and such warms my heart so much but then they have to shoehorn in the Hetero Link Romance with either mipha or zelda and I just feel

[science-lings]

opinion on mipha/link? particularly botw, but AoC if it’s different for you!

Well, I'm pretty neutral about them. I'm not super crazy about the shipping side of fandoms that seem to be so popular. It's cute and I'm definitely not against it but I'm also not into it enough to create content for it you know? I just personally find the versions of Zelink in both AoC and BotW more compelling and we just don't get enough interactions and stuff between Mipha and Link that really vibe with me. I would like to thank Mipha for giving us a little background of young Link kicking ass and giving us any kind of 'before the master sword' insight into Link and her commenting on how he had become withdrawn and stuff.

I also love the idea that Link is a total heartthrob but is completely unaware of it, or just not interested at all. Like he just happens to have multiple princesses fall in love with him and he's kinda just... sitting there. Probably disassociating. He's too stressed to think about normal teenager stuff tbh.

[casiavium]

Ok hopping on the Zelink discussion page-

{this is not. Sksw at all sorry}

I think botw zelink is like- almost canon if not canon, because of the whole ’i unlocked my power because I wanted to protect you/I love you!’ (Which is stupid) but honestly? Considering the way Zelda treats him Pre calamity (I know she was abused and she had too much pressure on her, but still) is so problematic??? And in aoc how he just accepts it??? And people say ‘oh, they’re both super queer and Zelda said sorry’ and I??? I feel like they’re using the ‘they’re queer’ To defect the problems, and also, let’s be real. Post game botw link has Moved On. He helps her, they’re maybe acquaintances at best, and they go their separate ways. I love my domestic hetano fluff, but in a very platonic way. THEYRE FRIENDS AT BEST.

Yeah BOTW is pretty much canon, if only on Zelda's side. Fandom makes it seem like "canon" only happens when two characters kiss, but it's way more complicated than that. Nintendo may not push the Zelda and Link romance as much as Peach and Mario, but it's still 100% there. LoZ goes deeper into love triangle, dating sim style choose-your-own-adventure territory because Link is a stand in for you. In other games you get to name him and have some level of customization, kids can decide do they like Princess Ruto or Zelda or Mipha better. Additionally, Zelda isn't romance focused like Mario and Peach, the story allows kids (boys, to be honest) to ignore that. If it was marketed towards girls and from Zelda's POV (which AoC basically is), romance would be more present.

I agree that they absolutely have many problems, and while I think it's perfectly okay to have a certain level of problematic in your ships (I ship ghiralink for fuck's sake) so many Zelink fans go out of their to fight anyone who says so and to drag down opposing ships for their "problematic" relationship. There's also a trend of relating queer relationships as less problematic than straight, in real life as well as in fiction. While people may see aspects of queer identity in Link or Zelda, it's not intentional by the developers of BOTW. The article everyone quotes that says Link was designed as neither male nor female specifies that's only true for Ocarina of Time; it goes on to call Twilight Princess more masculine and Breath of the Wild "undeniably male".

Breath of the Wild/Age of Calamity is not Link's story. The memories aren't his, they're Zelda's. She was the one who had the slate. I think the narrative the Zelink is canon comes from that, that we're only getting Zelda's side of the story... So yeah, I don't ship them. Link has moved on

[ranger-kellyn]

So besides PuRobbie and Zelink, are there any other ships you like?

In Zelda, or like in other fandoms, too?

as far as zelda,

zelda/impa (AoC ONLY) i actually have a soft spot for link/mipha i don't know if I SHIP-ship it, but i've seen super cute mipha/revali fanart

if u wanna know my pokemon ships, be prepared for a BOOK lmaO

[minijenn]

For "Send Me a Fandom", Legend of Zelda

the first character i ever fell in love with: My idiot Mute Son Boi, Lonk from Pennsylvania 

a character that i used to love/like, but now do not: This is less of a character I dislike, bc i do like this character but I think the fandom goes too fucking feral for Sidon tbh

a ship that i used to love/like, but now do not: Malink, again I don’t hate it but I’m not nuts about it

my ultimate favorite character™: Probs Zelda, specifically botw Zelda she’s fantastic 

prettiest character: URBOSA HOLY FUCK 

my most hated character: TINGLE THAT GREEN LITTLE BITCH also fuck Navi

my OTP: Zelink is heavenly tbh, it was Baby Jen’s First Real Fandom Ship

my NOTP: Linkcest imo fuckin gross don’t do that they’re all the same person; same goes for Zeldacest if thats a thing

favorite episode: I’ll go with favorite game lol my fav is Breath of the Wild

saddest death: HHHHHH THE FACT THAT ALL THE CHAMPIONS BE DEAD IN BOTW IS SAD AS FUCK BLESS AOC FOR BRINGING ME A TIMELINE WHERE THTA DIDN”T HAPPEN

favorite season: N/A

least favorite season: I’ll go with least fav game here, fuck Phantom Hourglass tbh its annoying as hell 

character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but i hate: Revali, that bird bitch 

my ‘you’re piece of trash, but you’re still a fave’ fave: Cia from HW I love her even tho she’s thirsty as hell 

my ‘beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this’ fave: Goddammit WW Link and Tetra are just babies who had to grow up way too fast and that makes me so sad

my ‘this ship is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but i still love it’ ship: hahaha Cia/Link ahahahaha

my ‘they’re kind of cute, and i lowkey ship them, but i’m not too invested’ ship: Midlink is lowkey cute; also Mipha/Link has some pure vibes 

[creativesplat]

4, 14, 22?

Hi! Sorry it's taken me so long to answer this one, thank you for the ask 😊. It was a lot of fun to do, but warning, it will be salty, so do please come back and read later if you're not in the mood for salt right now!

4) Do you have a NoTP in your fandom? Are they a popular OTP?*

Zelink. I actually have that tag blocked, although some of my favourite content creators (like the fab wanderingnightinggale) are Zelink shippers, so I look at all their stuff, but for the most part I dislike it. Link had a fiancee, zelda hated link and only started liking him after he protected her and looked hot, it just feels very shallow. Could I see it working after the calamity? Maybe. Before, absolutely not. It would take a lot of manoeuvring for me to see it working out. 

Erasermic is also a big one (I have that tag blocked too!). That is the most popular and accepted MHA/BNHA ship and I am not a fan. It’s one of the many non-canon ships that feel a little out of place for me in bnha. They're friends, that’s all. One of them actually finds the other rather irritating, and they barely interact at all. Even with all the manoeuvring in the world I couldn’t see it working. 

14) Unpopular opinion about your fandom?

BHNA is waaaaay too h*rny. Smut and 18+ images and stuff like that, if you like it, that's good for you, and the occasional bit here and there, is fine because you can avoid it, but you can’t for BNHA… like most of the characters are children and I still have to block tags because of how dirty they are (with children). The cute fluffy stuff and the non-romantic stuff is adorable, I just wish I could get to it without wading through ... spicy ... content.

Ahsoka is overrated and Anakin doesn’t get enough sympathy, but that's star wars, and just gets me a little sad when I think about it.

22) Popular character you hate?

Again, the fandom will come after me with pitch forks, but, Ahsoka Tano.  The world bent to her whims, she survived palatine, Darth Vader, order 66, leaving the Jedi, Darth maul, general grievous, had special white lightsabers just because, and laser gun proof bescar armour, and is a super cool badass who can survive anything ever and is also a child and… just stop breaking the suspension of disbelief please. Everything's just a bit oversaturated with her now. I used to like her, but too much of a good thing can make you not like the good thing, you know what I mean? When she was a Padawan she was unreasonably powerful, but she didn't have all of this world breaking stuff added so it was ok. So, I don't hate her... most of the time, but I do try to avoid content with her in it too much 😅

I hate to say it but Zelda…  BoTW Zelda has ruined every other Zelda and Link interaction in every other game. I just can’t help but see this toxic unloving person. I have been hurt by people like that and when playing as Link, I was a little upset by some of their interactions. I like the Fanon BoTW Zelda, but the actual lady… not for me. I get the fact that she’s been hurt and she grows as a person, and that is amazing, but it takes a lot of willpower for me to enjoy her character. If you love her though, please do! She’s great at overcoming her problems and her upbringing was the reason for her bitterness and unpleasantness, and when she succeeds despite her difficulties, all power to her.  I haven’t played AoC, so maybe she’s better in that? Again I don't hate her, but I do have moments of intense dislike of her. She's amazing in some regards, but I think, like Ahsoka, I've just seen a bit too much of her now. I do try my darnedest to like her and understand her though, because I don't really like disliking a character, and I think at first the reason I recoiled is because her most popular ship got in the way of my OTP (which is a really poor reason to dislike a character), so I'm trying to do better by her. 😊

Hope that wasn't too salty and answered your questions! Have a lovely day everyone! :)

[fatefulfaerie]

OMG I completely forgot about my whole rupee headcanon!! No spoilers for Age of Calamity but I guess I thought about this a few months ago and forgot to share it with anyone? Because it is grasping at straws but shhh that’s what shipping is. Please do not comment ANYTHING about Age of Calamity on this.

Okay so one of the first things Link collects when he emerges from the Shrine of Resurrection into a foreign Hyrule with basically no memories are rupees. It is common of people of amnesia to be triggered by not only pictures or places but maybe even colors or smells, even if it is just a lingering feeling that has been accessed. The same things happens in people without amnesia who are just remembering something from their past. When my former roommate was playing through Breath of the Wild for her first time, I couldn’t help but notice these messages when you collect rupees:

Green, the color of Zelda’s eyes. Link describes it as a soft green glow that makes him happy enough to smile. I headcanon that this means that Zelda’s eyes made him smile a hundred years ago and that this gem is triggering that happiness.

Blue, the color of Zelda’s royal blue dress. Perhaps that was the outfit in which Link barely could hide his feelings when she would wear it. I head canon that her royal dress made him absolutely weak in the knees and that this particular shade is bringing a little piece of one of those memories back, even if just a feeling.

Red. This one isn’t as directly related to their past interactions, but red is very much associated with love and with passion. I headcanon that it evokes some of that in Link so that he questions why, and perhaps why he felt the same when he heard Zelda’s voice speaking to him from the castle.

Purple, the color of the hilt of the sword he is tied to and the sword he was meant to protect her with. Not exactly Zelink but it instills within him his generous spirit and willing selflessness to help other people.

Silver. I didn’t have one for this one but @onesilentprincess​ just commented:

“For silver, maybe he practiced smiling at her in the mirror before actually doing it? He’d been so stoic for so long, maybe he wanted to make sure it was charming and not stupid? But holy Hylia, I’m obsessed with this theory and I’ve already accepted it as canon. 🥰”

Thank you so much!!!

Gold, that shines the way her sealing power did on the dreary night where Hyrule fell, and so did he. Yet his love for her and his pride that she awakened her power like he always believed she could illuminated his soul, which is why the shining hue illuminates his soul now. Only her light, or the reminder of it, could fulfill him so. Even at the brink of death, the light she brings in her smile, her laugh, her spirit, her eyes, her everything and yes, her sealing power, could blot out any darkness. At least to Link.

Let me know how crazy I am or what you think in the comments, just NO AGE OF CALAMITY TALK. Pretend it’s August and we just have Breath of the Wild. I love AoC too, but we have to be mindful of spoilers

hi!! i love your writing, it's so good! i have a question: do you have any cute headcanons for zelink?

Oh boy

I don’t think you understand what you signed up for here

Like you didn’t specify a game

I’m going to have to go one by one

I mean it’s a fun activity but whew is it going to be a mess

I apologize in advance

Link’s Awakening

-Marin is a manifestation of Link’s crush on A Link to the Past Zelda

-Link does not die on the open ocean but gets saved by A Link to the Past Zelda on a big ship

-They suss out their past trauma and eventually fall in love, hence the famous picture in A Link Between Worlds

Ocarina of Time

-Link had feelings for Princess Zelda the moment he first laid eyes on her in the garden. It was a childhood crush then but over time, especially when he became an adult, he fell in love with the Princess.

-Link was ULTRA concerned that he couldn’t find the princess anywhere as an adult. He feared that he failed her and their plan and was so relieved when she revealed herself as Sheik. He even cried

-Zelda fell in love with Link during the time that she was teaching him various songs as Sheik. She denied it herself for a while but eventually she accepted her feelings and longed to be with him as Zelda and not Sheik, which is why she foolishly revealed herself to him

-Zelda felt too guilty to keep Link in her time just because of her love and wished to send him back to time where he could relive his childhood

-Link couldn’t muster the courage to confess and figured that him going back was what Zelda wanted, so he complied

-Zelda has to get over her regret and it  h u r t s

Majora’s Mask

-I believe that the “forgive your friend” applies to both Navi and Zelda. Link must forgive Navi for leaving him in his time of emotional need after being sent away by his love and he must forgive Zelda for sending him back and forcing him into such loneliness, grief, and almost uncopable trauma that to everyone else “never happened”

-Anju and Kafei foils Link and Zelda (It's a storytelling tool. It means they parallel each other inversely and are thus contrasted)

The Wind Waker

-they’re kids but...Link has a crush on Tetra

Twilight Princess

-this one is really complicated because I wrote a whole fic about it but basically after the events of Twilight Princess he becomes her knight attendant and they fall in love 

Phantom Hourglass

-Link realizes that his crush on Tetra is a crush on Tetra about halfway through the game. Linebeck says something snarky like “you didn’t know that? It’s so obvious” or something like that

-Tetra still sees him as the goofball he is

-As they grow older and mature a bit they go from good friends to full-on lovers

Spirit Tracks

-they both have BIG crushes on each other

Skyward Sword

-I don’t even know what to tell you 

-I literally wrote two books on the subject

Breath of the Wild

-they change by the hour and they all contradict each other

-Nintendo please give me clarity on Friday

-Okay but they also get married and have twins. Zelda is on bedrest and Link  tells her to stay put but she doesn’t listen and goes to where she was conducting experiments (all the way to Blatchery Plain) Link finds her and gets upset that she’s nine months and went all the way out there but she insists she’s fine. They sit and relax for a bit but it isn’t long until her water breaks. They kind of have a dejavu moment when Link says “if we can just make it to Kakariko you’ll be fine”, which is what Zelda said to a very injured link a hundred years ago a while before the “memory” started. Anyways, Link makes a joke like “why is it always here?”. She ends up having the twins at Dueling Peaks Stable. Link and Zelda each get to name one. Link names the boy Elijah and Zelda names the girl Wendy, deciding finally on not continuing the “Zelda” trend. Once Zelda has recovered, and once they get visits from Kass, Sidon, Riju, Yunobo, Teba, and basically the rest of Hyrule, Link and Zelda go back to their home in Hateno carrying their children lovingly in their arms.

-or something like that idk

Thank you so much for the ask!!

Did it satisfy your wildest dreams because I guess I could elaborate idk my head hurts from graduate school applications