#I wanted to do BotW in the first place but I didn't want to do another game soundtrack

[foreveranonymousfa]

AYO WHO PUT THE FUCKING NEREVARINE ON AUX??

If Riralyne was real her playlist would be classical, orchestral, instrumental- you get it. Tamriel really doesn't have electronics so I stuck with (mostly) acoustic songs. And yes I cheated by adding the Morrowind OST but come on now, it's literally perfect. It's her own game. She's made for it. It made her.

Debussy  Gymnopedies The Planets Zektbach BotW & TotK  Rite of Spring Morrowind E.S. Posthumus

Honorary mentions Ladyfingers Lost Planet Not an Angel Stories to Tell Nujabes Luv(sic) 2 (instrumental) Most of What I Like (demo) Little Dreamer (weird one but I had it on repeat while playing Morrowind so I associate the two)

[saulocept]

an introduction to intimacy (i)

pairing: botw! link/f(reader)

rating: m

summary: You knew what you were getting into when you first married him. You just didn't know it'll be like this. Luckily, or unluckily, he's there to refute it.

notes: there's a hint of spice near at the end, but it's nothing too explicit. there might be a sequel, depending on the inspiration.

Marriage isn’t easy. You’ve always known that, of course – some sort of knowledge hidden in the depths of your mind, vague enough to never cross your thoughts. Until now. If you’re perhaps smarter than you’d been, you would’ve thought twice before jumping into it and agreeing. You’ve got a general idea of what you’re getting into: your new role as a wife, the responsibilities expected of you, but you’ve never once thought it’ll be this exhausting.

If you’d known any better, you wouldn’t have jumped into it as easily as you had. Blame your mother for instilling all these ideas onto you, and blame your friends for romanticizing the Hero of Hyrule. He’d be a perfect husband, they’d told you. With how sweet and caring he is to strangers – people whose name he doesn’t even know, imagine how sweet he’ll be to his own wife. Bah. You’d imagined, indeed, and now you regret it. Not that it isn’t too late for regrets, but still. It’s not like this is something you’d wanted to happen in the first place. This has been, after all, a marriage of convenience, rushed and impulsive, something you had actually no say in no matter how much your mother tries to pretend otherwise. It hadn’t been your idea; it had been your mother’s, tinged with desperation as she tried to find a way to settle your father’s debts after he ran away from your mother and you, eager to hide and start life somewhere else.

Looking back at it now, it’s a bad idea, but at the time, there’s very little you can do. Stuck in a house where your mother resents you for reminding her too much of the man who’d left her, the choice had only been to get away. And so you’d agreed. The marriage had been quick, private, with little ceremony. Attended only by your mother and a handful other villagers, there were no vows spoken, no kisses shared. Everything was stiff and formal, quick and hasty. Before you know it, you’re being driven off into Hateno Village, with all your belongings packed into a single rucksack, your old life growing further out of reach with each second.

Three year later and you’re stuck in a house as cold and hollow as the one you’d left behind. You doubt there’s any real love involved between you, not even an ounce of fondness or attraction. It’s not that Link isn’t nice. He’s nice, exactly like a hero is nice. He’s helpful, considerate. He washes the dishes, puts them back the same way you’d left them. He fixes his bed every morning so you don’t have to. He doesn’t leave any mess behind for you to clean up. He’s exactly how your friends describe him – the ideal man, a hero.

But they don’t know that he could be distant too, cold as ice. Perfect and flawless. Like a statue, meant to be admired only from afar. This close, everything you know about him falls apart. He’s like a ghost in your home, a phantom presence you’ve learned to coexist with in the course of three years. He wakes early in the mornings, long before you, and sleeps late at nights, in the room across from you. He’s never around enough for you to share your meals with, or for you to get to know. You can’t remember a single time where you’d sat across from each other on the dinner table and talked. Even when the two of you had shared your meals together, which was rarely, perhaps a once in a blue moon occurrence, he was quiet, mostly just keeping to himself. He’d eat his meals in silence, and you’d do the same, listening to the clatter of the tableware as you do so. Some days, when you’re feeling particularly friendly, eager to get to know him on a more personal level, you’d strike a conversation, telling him things about your old life, asking him about his own in turn. He’s never offered much about himself, and after a few times, you’d finally given up on your attempts to get him to open up to you more.

But he listens. He always does, even as you ramble on with your mouth full of food, getting carried away with a that he hasn’t asked for, or even cared enough to know. You wonder if he finds your life more interesting than his – highly doubtful and you’re sure of that, or if he’s just humoring you, trying to be polite to make you feel better, but he listens. Or maybe he just knows how to look like he is. With how quiet he is around you, you never could quite guess what he’s thinking. Or feeling.

 Even now, if pressed, the only thing for certain that you know about him is that his name is Link, and that he’s the Hero who saved the world from the Calamity a hundred years ago. Things that could be found just from listening to the people alone. Nothing personal, nothing intimate. You never knew how he was raised, never knew the kind of village he’d grown up in. The things he likes. The things he dislikes. Whether or not he’s really okay with this arrangement.

You do know, however, how he likes being away from home. Years of observation have made you jumped to that conclusion, at least. You could almost count the hours he’s here in your home – his home, one that he’d graciously shared with you; just one, sometimes three, and only to rest and recuperate. He never stays the whole day, not even a half. Most nights, he doesn’t come home at all, preferring to spend the rest of his days elsewhere, without your company to keep him.

Not that you could blame him, of course. He was probably forced into this as much as you had been, and the only reason he’d agreed with this was because he was too nice and couldn’t find it in his heart to say no to your mother, with her crying and whimpering. Oh, well. You suppose there are worse men out there for you to marry. At the very least, he doesn’t hit you. Or scream at you, or take his anger out on you in all the worse ways one could imagine. You’ve heard of tales from your old village, where women escape to get away from their husbands’ anger. You suppose it’s only luck that you’re not considering the same course of action.

Still, that doesn’t make this life any less lonely than it is. Surrounded only by women your age, married happily to their own husbands, sometimes even with children on the way, makes you feel envious. All your life, you’d never imagined you were going to be married to anyone, preferring to live a life of solitude and freedom, but now that it’s the kind of life you live, you can’t help but feel some kind of resentment. How different your life would’ve been had you married for love and not convenience? If you’d listened to your heart instead of your mother?

Two years ago, back when you were younger, more impatient, you were certain you would’ve been happier with running away, living somewhere in the woods, alone and free. As old as you are now, you’re not so sure anymore; besides, it’s already too late to change courses, and it’s not as if Link is a bad husband. It’s not a bad life, by all means. You live in relative comfort, and the people in the village are as nice as you’ve always imagined. You’ve got food, shelter. In fact, you even have people you call your friends now: two women around your age, married and with children, eager to visit you in your empty home to keep you company when their own husbands are away and their kids are busy with schooling. They stay until the sun begins to set, and the three of you would do all sorts of things together, trying to pass the time: sewing the tattered clothes from your respective husbands’ closets, gossiping about the other villagers, exchanging details about your lives as married women.

They’d egg you on and tease you, pressing you for more details about your life with your husband, asking you all sorts of things: whether or not the hero’s good in bed, if he’s that good of a kisser as they’d imagine him to be. You don’t have an answer for any of that, and it’s the truth; ever since the two of you had got married, there had been no chances for intimacy. You’ve never even kissed, not even once, nor have you ever held his hands in yours. The most he’s ever given you as an act of affection is a nod and a polite smile – which isn’t an act of affection at all, according to anyone who’s ever had a shred of romance in their bones.

Realizing you’re speaking the truth, your friends give you a look of sympathy. The teasing soon turns into consolation, and you can’t tell which is the worse. He's just busy, they tell you. Maybe he just doesn’t have the time; he’s a hero, after all, and a knight too, at that. He’s already got so many things on his plate. You know all of this, of course, and more. They always forget to mention how this is a transaction, a marriage of convenience, something he doesn’t even have to like, or even reciprocate. Or maybe they’re just trying to be considerate, not mentioning it in your presence. Everyone in here has no doubt learned of it; it’s not as though it’s a secret anyhow. Not like it changes anything.

-

It shouldn’t be surprising to learn that he’d do something like this. It should be unthinkable, to discover that someone like him would cheat, but the truth sits in front of you nonetheless. There’s no refuting it, not when all the signs are here, flashing in front of your eyes. How he never seems to be around lately, how his clothes seem to smell differently now, not like the usual, at least, and certainly not the one you’ve grown to memorize. The red marks at the collar of his shirt, obvious to nearly no one else but you. Isn’t this, too, a kind of truth?

Still, you’re not sure why you care. There’s no reason why you should feel this way, as though you’ve been hollowed out and left empty. No reason why dread sits in the bottom of your stomach, heavy like lead, or why your heart hurts, as though a thousand needles pricked it all at once. It’s not as if he owes you any loyalty, and it’s not as if you love each other. You’ve established that, early on in your marriage. You’ve never talked about it, not explicitly, but it’s always there – a lingering knowledge, something you both know but have never said out loud.

And yet it doesn’t stop you from feeling this way. You’ve tried to rationalize it, sitting there on the dinner table, holding his tunic in your hands, glaring at the very obvious lipstick stains on the collar, feeling both angry and heartbroken at once. But there’s no reason to, you know there’s no reason to feel like this. You don’t love him, you’re sure of it. You can count all the times you’ve shared a conversation with him with one hand, and it’s not enough to justify whatever feelings of possessiveness you have over him. As far as you know, he can do whatever he wants. And so could you, for that matter.

And yet it doesn’t stop your heart from hurting. Nor does it make your anger abate even for just a second. You hold the tunic tighter in your hands, glaring angrily at it, not sure what you want to do with it. You’re meant to sew it, initially; it had looked to be in poor condition the first time you’d laid your eyes on it, tattered and ripping at the seams already, but now you want nothing more to do with it. Another irrational thought, one you’re supposed to quell, crush beneath the weight of all your other worries.

You exhale a breath, stand up, leaving the tunic where it is as you fetch a drink.

-

He comes home for dinner that night. Another rare occurrence, one you don’t even dream of happening, especially now that you’ve learned of the truth. You imagine he’ll be out and about at this time, busy making love to whatever mystery girl he surrounds himself with. Wide-eyed, naïve. Doe-like and innocent, she’d be younger than you for sure, this mystery girl whose only mark of existence is the lipstick stains she keeps leaving on your husband’s clothes. Even just the thought of her makes you annoyed, though you’re not quite sure why.

You’re quiet as you serve dinner, quiet even as you sit across from him and eat. Normally, you’d at least try to make some conversation, just to ease whatever awkwardness lingers in the air. He wouldn’t speak, like always, though he’d listen to you go on about your life even if he’s heard the same story more than once. But you don’t. Not this time. With your mind circling back toward this so-called mystery girl, you can’t even bring yourself to speak. Or enjoy your dinner. Each bite seems almost bitter, the taste of blood lingering on the tip of your tongue long after you’ve swallowed a spoonful down. It takes you more than a few minutes to realize that you’ve been biting your tongue this whole time, stewing too much in your own jealousy to pay proper attention to your meal. Hurriedly, you excuse yourself, grabbing a nearby kitchen towel to wipe at your mouth.

He doesn’t say anything as he watches you go, though you could feel his eyes on your back, eyeing your every move. You don’t have to look back to know that he wears the same expression as always. Opaque, unreadable. Far out of your reach.

-

You find him in your room after dinner. He sits on the edge of the bed, his hands on his lap, staring at something on the floor. His eyebrows are furrowed, and he looks like he’s deep in thought. You lean against the door, cross your arms over your chest. Taking a glance at your surroundings, just to confirm you are indeed in the right room, you clear your throat, catch his attention. “This isn’t your room,” you say stiffly, your voice flat, empty.

He looks up at the sound of your voice, eyes boring straight through yours. The blue of his eyes seems even brighter in the semi-darkness, piercing as he continues to stare at you, through you. Does he know then? Does he know that you know? Does he know how you feel about it? “I know where my room is.”

You raise an eyebrow, purse your lips together. “There’s no reason for you to be here.”

He shrugs, looks away, casts a curious glance around him. He takes it all in, at once, as if for the first time. “I came to visit.”

You frown. He’s never come to visit your room before, at least not when you’re around, and you can’t imagine why he’d want to now. Not when he has something else to keep himself busy – someone else. “I don’t see why there’s a need to.”

His voice grows quieter, nearly a whisper. Still, every word rings loud against your ears, echoes and reverberates in the hollow of your soul. “I came to check up on my wife.”

The words catch you off-guard, and for a second, your mind blanks out, unable to find the right words. He’s never referred to you as such before; you can’t confirm if he’s ever done so in front of other people, but it’s not as though you’re outside often enough to ask. And even if you are, it’s not an appropriate question. Still, that doesn’t make you any less surprised. “Your… wife?”

He nods his head, gives you a lopsided smile. You’ve only ever seen this smile of his on a handful of occasions, and it always makes you feel conflicted each time. A flutter in your heart, a knot in your stomach, a sudden jump in your pulse – things you could never quite explain how, note even to yourself. “There’s only one of her, isn’t there?”

You snort, unable to keep the bitterness out of your voice, your words. “I don’t appreciate you thinking you could fool me again, mister.”

“I see.” His voice grows quieter, softer. He lowers his head, stares at the floor. He doesn’t speak for a second, and once again, you could never quite tell what he’s thinking. “That’s why you’ve been quiet.”

You scoff, feeling your temper rise at his sudden shift in attitude. Still, you’re careful to keep your voice flat, refusing to give in to the heat of your anger, the excruciating burn of your jealousy. “I don’t think you know me as much as you claim to.”

He lifts his head, looks at you. He meets your eyes this time, and something in his gaze pins you to your spot. You’ve never seen him look at you this way before, and something about it makes you yearn for it and deny it at the same time. “I’ve watched you,” he says. His voice is calm, steady. Soothing, almost, though it only does the opposite for you. “You didn’t see me, but this afternoon, after you ate your lunch, you laid on the couch and napped for an hour.”

You shake your head, look away, crossing your arms over your chest. “You watching me like a stalker doesn’t prove you know enough about me.”

He doesn’t falter. “You take your coffee with three sugars and no less because it’s too bitter for your taste.”

He’s right, like he’d been right the previous time, and yet the same problem remains. You exhale a sigh, growing more exasperated by the second. “I don’t see what that has to do with any of this.”

His eyebrows furrow. A hint of irritation flashes in his expression, rare and quick as a lightning bolt. Frustration creeps into his voice, makes it rise just the slightest bit. “That I know you as much as I claim to.”

You shake your head, exhale another sigh, shoulders slumping in resignation. There’s no point to this argument, is there? The boundaries of your relationship had been clear from the start; you knew what you were getting into the moment you’d agreed to the marriage. “Even if you do, we’re still strangers.”

He’s quiet for a moment. Then he stands up, takes a step forward, and another, then another. Until he’s standing in front you, just barely out of reach. “Are we?”

“Yes.”

He takes another step, closes the distance between you until there’s none. “Even if I know everything about you?”

Does he? Even the thought seems almost unbelievable. Laughable, too. He has too much on his plate to bother learning everything he can about you. And even if that were true and he truly did do all of those, what difference would it make? Still, you can’t help but be curious, one eyebrow raising as you keep your eyes on him. “And what do you know about me?”

He nods, smiles. A different kind this time – tiny, a subtle twitch at the corners of his lips. One you’ve never seen before, and yet one that sends an unexplainable thrill through you. “That you’re jealous.” It’s a statement, a simple fact, one that makes your ears burn in offense.

“There’s no reason for me to be,” you snap, glaring at him. Heat rises to your cheeks, and you take a step back, attempting to mask it in the semi-darkness of the room. He follows after you, takes another step forward when you take a step back, refusing to let you maintain that distance you’ve been trying to keep. The game continues on for approximately a minute before you finally hit the wall, rendering all chances of escape null. You glare at him instead, annoyed at the look of amusement flickering in his eyes. “I know what I got myself into when I agreed to marry you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Look,” you begin, taking a step to the side, refusing to play his game any longer. He doesn’t let you, stops you before you can go any farther, placing both his hands on either side of your head, caging you in. “I’m not sure why you’re here in my room right now, but I’m not going to be your entertainment tonight just because you’re lonely and in mighty need of company.”

He looks almost surprised at your implication; you catch the widening of his eyes, the shock that flickers behind them, just briefly before it fizzles out, disappears once more. “Is that what you’re worried about?”

 “It’s not worry,” you say, pinching the bridge of your nose in exasperation. Has he always been this annoying and you just never even know it? Is this a side of him you would’ve killed to know a few years back? You would’ve been certain of the answer years ago, but now you’re not so sure. Everything’s too confusing, conflicting, and you’re not sure what to think, especially not when it comes to him. “It’s called—”

“Jealousy,” he finishes for you. He gives you another small smile, and it looks smug, victorious. You’ve half the heart to wipe it off, and the other half to kiss it away. You’re not entirely sure where the thought comes from, and it makes the heat in your cheeks rise, grow warmer.

You glare at him instead. It’s easier to mask whatever embarrassment you feel with anger; it’s familiar, comfortable, and it’s something he expects. You open your mouth, try to protest, but he stops you this time, refuses to let you speak. He shakes his head, presses a finger against your lips, shuts you up. His smile grows wider, and he leans down, close enough that he could look you in the eye. This close, the blue of his eyes seems infinite. Mesmerizing, as though it would swallow you whole if you forget to look away. He removes his finger from your lips, moves to cup your cheek, cradling it in his hands. Your vision swims. Your breath steams. Your heart stops. There’s a split second where everything grows still as he touches you for the first time.

Every feeling after this is magnified. The warmth of his hands burns like liquid heat against your skin. Your flesh sings. Your bones ache. You feel like a livewire at this moment, coiled and very much alive. You fear you’ll explode, turn into sparks if he touches you any longer.

You take in a shuddered breath, lifting your head just a bit, enough to meet his gaze. When he looks into your eyes, could he tell how badly you enjoy this? How much you’ve yearned for it, subconsciously, and in secret? Whatever he finds there must not be satisfactory enough because he’s leaning even closer, just enough that his breath steams against your cheeks. He’s close enough to kiss, to touch, the way he never is for the past few years.

You could tell him to stop. You won’t be his plaything tonight, and you’ve made it clear from the start. Just because he’s the hero doesn’t mean you’d bend to his whims, even if he has you at his mercy. He traces your bottom lip with the pad of his thumb, and every retaliating thought in your mind disappears, along with every half-formed protest you might have. The gentleness with which he touches you opens up a valley of desire in the pit of your stomach, hollow and greedy. It makes you lean against his touch, like a moth waiting to be burned.

He leans in, brushes his lips against yours. Tentatively, like he’s waiting to see how you’d react. Seeing as you’re not pushing him away, he leans in even more, and kisses you fully. There’s hunger with the way he kisses you, mirroring the desire that sits in the hollow of your stomach. You grab the hem of his shirt, balling it into fists as you pull him closer. He responds by cupping the back of your head and pulling you against him, kissing you more greedily.

You don’t know how long you’ve kissed, but you’re breathless by the time you’ve pulled away. Catching your breath, you give him another glare – a last show of strength, even if it’s futile in the end, especially with how putty you are now in his hands. “I’m not going to be your plaything tonight.”

He shakes his head, looking almost annoyed at your comment. “You’re not.”

He doesn’t let you protest anymore. He leans down, latches his lips on your neck, peppering kisses all over: the underside of your jaw, your pulse, the curve of your neck. Your skin singes and burns with every kiss, but he doesn’t stop there. He kisses his way down: from your collarbone to the slant on your shoulder. He runs his tongue along your skin like he’s eager to taste you, and it sends another spark of thrill through you. You let out a shuddering breath, not quite expecting that; absently, you reach up, grab hold of his hair, tugging on it just so, and it only spurs him on, feeds into his ego. Impatiently, he pops the buttons of your blouse, not caring that he’s nearly ripped it off in the process. He doesn’t apologize. Instead, he moves to kiss his way down your body: the valley of your chest, your breasts, your navel until he’s kneeling down in front of you. With your skirt in the way, he’s unable to go further. Hurriedly, he tugs it down, pulls it off your ankles, then throws it somewhere in the room.

“Hey!” you protest, but he simply ignores you. Or maybe he’s just simply too far gone to care. With you left only in your underwear, there aren’t much obstructions left. He runs his eyes up and down your form, and something in his eyes makes you want to cower and hide. There’s greed in there, mixed with something else, something you can’t quite name. Hunger, perhaps? Or maybe even desire? Either way, he doesn’t let you linger on the question much longer.

He’s much gentler this time, slower than he’d been just a while ago, when he was practically ripping your shirt and your skirt off of you. Now, it feels as though he’s got all the time in the world. He tugs at your underwear, pulls it off your ankle, no longer impatient. He takes his sweet time as he leans in and presses kisses on the inside of your thighs, each one leaving you more breathless than the last. Soft, teasing, each one a kind of agony that only makes you yearn for more. You’ve lost count after the first one, every rational thought pushed out by the impatience to feel something. You glare down at him, only to find him already watching you, his gaze glued to your face, drinking in every reaction you make. You’d have blushed if you’ve still got some semblance of dignity left somewhere in you.

“Hurry up,” you say, the words a breathless rasp as they spill out of your lips. He gives you a dark look, but he listens anyway. He inches his face closer to your bare cunt. He doesn’t give you a chance to complain this time. He buries his head between your thighs, catches the trickle of arousal spilling out of you with the tip of his tongue. Heat rises once more to your cheeks. There’s a part of you, embarrassed and shameful, that wants to run away and hide, push him off you. There’s another part that wants him closer, wants all he could offer. Right now, you’re not entirely sure which is which.

And he’s still going torturously slow. It feels intentional, mocking. He moves with the patience of a saint, all his earlier impatience forgotten in a flash. You hate it, but you can’t bring yourself to speak when he blows against your cunt, making your mind blank out. “Link,” you say, your voice thick and raspy. You’ve never imagined you’ll call for him like this – a mix of desire and desperation, and it’s so unlike yourself that you’d have laughed if you hadn’t been

You glare down at him once more, and you could almost swear that he gives you a smug smirk in response. He doesn’t let you dwell on it any further; he dives back in, surprises you this time, delving his tongue deep into you. A shudder leaves you, and your eyes flutter shut, your head hitting against the wall behind you. You could barely register the pain; there’s a dull throb in your head, but all is quickly lost in the sea of pleasure that surrounds you.

You tug a fistful of his hair, hard enough that it’s sure to hurt, and he responds by burying his tongue deeper, lapping you up like a man starved. Every part of you feels hot, every nerve ending alight and on fire. You should tell him to stop, but your body aches for more. Your hips buck, involuntarily, against him, and he lifts one of your legs to rest it upon his shoulder. He places his hands on either side of your thighs, keeps you in place as he furthers his assault, delving into you over and over until he rounds in on that spot that has your legs shaking, the entirety of your body overwhelmed with feeling. “T-there!”

He doesn’t stop. Eager to discover what’s made you tick, he only grows rougher, hungrier, zeroes in on that spot over and over until your mind is spent with pleasure. Your stomach tightens, coils. Everything’s too much, too sudden, and everything in you breaks at once. With a sharp cry, you fall apart, limbs shaking, legs trembling. He’s there to catch you, keeps his arms around you as he holds you steady against him, his tongue ready and waiting to catch every drop that spills out of you, his throat bobbing with each swallow.

And then it’s over, and he’s leaning back, wiping his mouth the back of his hand. You stare at him dazedly, too busy trying to catch your breath to pay him proper attention. You could barely find it in yourself to move. Every part of you feels paralyzed. Your chest rises and falls. Your mind is still empty of any thought; distractedly, you watch him as he picks himself back up, stands up so that he’s in front of you again. You swallow the lump in your throat, lick the dryness off your lips as you find the right words. Nothing comes. All that spills out of you is a breathless noise that falls somewhere between a croak and a whimper, nothing that resembles anything coherent.

He doesn’t speak either. Instead, he leans in, presses his forehead against yours, cups your face in his hands once more. You’re just about to ask him a question before he’s kissing you once more, soft and slow, coaxing. Like he’s trying to apologize. Or maybe he’s tempting you to follow his lead. You’re not sure which is which, but he’s convinced you anyhow, and so you lean in, and kiss him back.

[mylonelydreaming]

All Co-Habitation Evidence *TotK Spoilers*

I'm going to hide all of this behind a read-more if you would like to remain unspoiled on everything like npc interactions, towns, quests, etc. Which I do have to talk about when it comes to this topic. Now, without further ado:

The bed in the house is the exact same as BotW, and unlike other beds in the world, you can freely sleep in it. If we open up both botw and totk, the bed is the exact same one from botw. Meaning that at the absolute minimum, Zelda has been sleeping in Link's bed. However, if you go up to the bed, Link can still sleep in it. There are very few beds that are free in this game, and the only other beds you can sleep in is obviously communal beds, such as those at lookout landing for those who are sick, injured, etc. You cannot normally sleep in another person's bed.

2. Link's hair-tie, Zelda's diary and the Champion's photo.

If you have completed The Champion's Ballad DLC, and correctly transferred your save, then the photo will still be there. But more importantly, the house has a new addition. Behind the house is "Zelda's secret well" that functions as her new study. In that well, you will find one of the volumes of her diary, hot-footed frogs splashing around, and Link's hair-tie in the corner of the room. Link never took that hair-tie off in botw (only when wearing the ancient helm), so it's a bit suspicious that it's down here of all places.

Not only this, but if you read the volumes of her diary, both the one in the well and on the desk near the bed, there are a couple of things that stick out:

Firstly, Zelda had Bolson build the well because she needed somewhere to focus alone. If she was living by herself, this makes no sense (and, in japanese, rather than "my house" it's simply "the house" here).

Secondly, Zelda states that Link is always by her side. To the point his clothes have become worn. So as a gift she made him a new tunic (and she "can't wait to see the look on his face" when he gets it, just saying).

and third, she had to hide said gift in the castle, otherwise he would find it in the house.

3. The School and Symin

During the time-skip, Zelda founded a new school in Hateno, where she became a teacher. Due to this, a child who misses her visits the house at around 12-2pm and calls it "Ms Zelda's house".

However, if you talk to Symin, he has this to say:

So, clearly, this is not Link's first time here (which should be obvious, how exactly did Zelda get to Hateno and the house in the first place after botw's ending? Link brought her there). He even asks Link why he came back to the village alone without Zelda. Additionally, if you go upstairs and read the "School Notes" it says this:

It talks about the opening expedition under the castle happening soon, and reiterates Link being by Zelda's side. Interestingly, in that opening sequence Zelda says she is glad she didn't leave the Purah Pad behind. Meaning she's glad she didn't leave it at home.

But wait, there's more

There is a side-quest at the school where Link becomes a teacher / substitute teacher. When you finish the quest, one of the children says this:

They say they already thought of Link as a teacher figure even before this quest. To add onto this, there is another child who wants to become a hero and is "always on the lookout for baddies".

4. Manny

Manny is an interesting case. At first, like some other npcs, he seems to have been entirely memory-wiped to be approachable for brand-new players who didn't play botw, but then he has the following to say:

So, first of all, he doesn't call the house "Zelda's house" and instead calls it "the house the princess was staying at"

Secondly, he asks Link to "keep the naive, new-in-town act" to a minimum.

Third, Manny has another dialogue, he wants to "check every well" in town to find frogs for Ivee (because, similar to his quest with Prima in botw, he thinks that's what she likes). But after he says this, he seems to realize he should not have said that in front of Link, saying "Uh oh, no coming back from that one" in the smaller text as though he knows Zelda's well is off-limits. Combined with him calling the house "the house the princess was staying at" he seems to know something.

5. Two Place settings, etc

The house has two places set, two towels, etc. And just in general a lot of things for supposedly one person. There is also a bigger kitchen, and let's be honest with ourselves here, who is more about cooking and actually good at it, Zelda or Link?

Under the stairs in totk

VS botw:

Now, for this next section, I have to talk about things regarding another town in the game, a quest and a mechanic many have not unlocked yet. Continue to read at your own peril (I would hide it under another read more if I could)

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The Tarrey Town House

During TotK, after we wake up and leave the sky islands, we can complete a quest to unlock the ability to build a brand-new "Dream Home" in Akkala, close to Tarrey Town.

The quest involves baby-sitting Hudson and Rhondson's child, Mattison, who, if you'll recall, did not exist yet in botw. In totk, she is starting to gain independence and appears to be around 5 or 6 years old:

I doubt Link was sleeping rough for several years (and Zelda would never be okay with that). Anyway, Link babysits her, goes up into a hot-air balloon with the family, and then has to watch a tear-jerking scene between Mattison and her parents as she has come of the age young gerudo girls have to go to Gerudo Town and stay there until they get older and are ready to venture the world.

It is only after completing this quest, a quest completely about parenthood, that you are offered the "Dream Home" by Rhondson.

Additionally, an npc at the nearby stable has this to say:

So, the in-universe implications of the dream home is that it is a family home, something you only buy when you plan to marry someone or start a family.

Adding onto this, the dining table in the dream home has four seats instead of two. But there's also an interesting comparison to make with the Hateno house. The Hateno house had two seats and two places set, this house has four seats, but is clearly only being used by one person:

In other words, Link is living by himself in a house meant for a family. Which is depressing to think about, but in the context of the game makes sense.

But there's something else. In the new house pieces (including a study you cannot use yourself), all the photos on the wall are of Hateno Village:

Why would Link hang photos of Hateno in his new home, if it was not important or nostalgic to him? (and, as a minor detail, the same yellow flower is in both houses, presumably Link's favorite flower)

In conclusion, it's clear from all the evidence that not only were they living together in Hateno, but the brand-new house actually has it's own implications behind it (and further proves that Hateno was and is important to Link).

Oh, and there is also one last thing, in the japanese version of the game, but I can't mention it here because it is an even bigger spoiler than all of this combined. It'll be an addition to this post later

[ganonfan1995]

And it's not exactly that all fans ever want linear games (some do~) Most people I've spoken to who didn't like BoTW, simply wanted a game with a bit more depth and energy put into the story and the world.

While I don't fully agree on that front with BoTW (personally I think BoTW was one of the most concise LoZ games to date) ToTK only amplifies BoTW's weaknesses, rather than its stengths.

I understand the desire to expand on Hyrule, to make a truly vast and vibrant world, flush with exploration. Now with next-gen consoles and better hardware, there's a lot more opportunity for these types of games to take front and centre.

But at the same time, large procedurally generated landscapes can often break immersion while feeling bleak and unnatural. Even if landscapes are generated to be as natural as possible, worlds are as much a character, as well...the characters. (I could go on a whole tangent about design here, but I digress..)

I think what people miss from LoZ titles, is the human touch and energy invested into making Hyrule, feel like a place, rather than an idea.

BoTW wasn't perfect, but it was their first swing at this type of world and gameplay. I do think it can be improved on, and honestly, I was expecting progress on that front in ToTK.

But given that ToTK (past the demo lmao) was nothing more than a 100$ expansion on BoTW...I'm not feeling too confident myself moving forward with these open-world Zelda games.

Despite being linear games, growing up OOT and WW felt open world enough for me. LttP was a super fun play that had both a linear story line, and open world possibilities while giving the player full access to all the dungeons and tools off the bat.

If sacrificing genuine, thoughtful, world-building and design is what it means to have a truly open world Hyrule...I kind of don't want it either.

I dunno just some thoughts

[could-they-win-jungle-run]

Welcome to Jungle Run!

This is an incredibly self-indulgent blog where I post polls of trios and you vote whether they would win the golden monkey or not. The golden monkey is the top prize, and your team must use your speed and wits to get to it in time.

Now, wtf is Jungle Run?

Jungle run is a game show that aired 1999-2006 where a group of kids do challenges and are rewarded with monkey statues. Each monkey statue gives them 10 seconds in the final temple where they have up to 3 minutes to complete 4 challenges. After completing each challenge they will get, in order: The Stone monkey, Bronze monkey, Silver monkey and the Golden monkey.

The goal is to get as many monkeys as you can, and bring them out with you before you run out of time and the door to the temple closes.

You can watch the first episode on youtube (and many more)!

The voting options

Yes, with the golden monkey They have enough time to complete all the challenges, take each monkey and get out before the door closes

No, they lose at the final riddle and get silver The final challenge in this season is to solve an easy question with a 5-letter answer, and each person has to stand on the right letter at the same time (on different platforms) to spell the answer.

No, they lose at the cog puzzle and get bronze A lot of kids have lost to the cog puzzle. You have to use your smarts to put a few cogs in the right place so you can spin them and make the door open.

No, they lose at the jigsaw puzzle and get stone A surprising amount of kids lose to the jigsaw puzzle. It's a large 6-piece puzzle. There are faint marks that show where each piece goes. You probably lose here if you're panicking, uncoordinated, or have never done a jigsaw puzzle in your life.

No, they lose at the ball maze and get nothing The "ball maze" means they have to tilt a platform with a maze and a ball in it until the ball goes into the hole, similar to the Myahm Agana Shrine in BOTW.

No, they run out of time and get locked in It doesn't matter how many monkeys they got, because they didn't make it out in time. Maybe they got too greedy or were too slow.

Submission rules

Of course you can submit your own trios to compete. Here are the rules:

Submit through my ask box! You can include a picture and/or propaganda if you want.

They should be a trio. I can make occasional exceptions if it's a 4 person group (because early jungle run had groups of 4!) and maybe if it's a funny "could they solo jungle run". But generally just 3 characters. Also, they don't have to be associated in canon, you can make up any team you like.

Any ages are ok, even though it's a game meant for kids.

Real people are allowed at my discretion.

dividers used are by plum98.

[ezlo-x]

tbh my biggest gripes with totk is the fact that they did it beginner friendly new comer friendly... like i know this is gonna sound mean but genuinely I wish it didn't try to cater to new fans who want to get into tloz cause totk's story failed cause it needed to cater to new zelda fans

idc abt the lore getting rebooted, sure im going to miss the triforce being an essential piece of the story and lore, only to become the Hylian symbol and game's logo (which tbh is strange its like pokemon using the pokeball as their logo/symbol but pokeballs becoming obsolete in new pkmn games). But because it wanted to be new comer friendly botw's story and lore aspects are long gone and only to be referred to as easter eggs to ppl who played botw know. When characters talk about things that happened in botw as if it was a long time ago like the attack of the Calamity 100 years ago but things that actually happened a very long time ago make it sound like its pretty recent.

I don't like how the new sages just don't remember the champions at all. If you get the divine beast helms through sidequests and read their dialogue they speak in this way as it is their first time seeing it like?? Which is so strange cause totk would gladly reference Sidon and Link's companionship with a statue when trying to access Vah Ruta in BotW, but Mipha gets barely a mention from him? My biggest hopes before we got the title of the game was to let go of the champions, as in we don't need them to be back as they already have done what they need to do. But also I didn't want them to be completely gone from the game and only know them through easter eggs and references.

Like yeah TotK is a sequel to BotW but its more so "ok botw was a rough draft, THIS is the story we wanted to do" and it turns out to have inconsistencies. Zelda mentions the Calamity a few times, there are tombstones to placed around Hyrule commemorating people who lost their lives by the Calamity. But the Sheikah technology is completely gone, the towers that were there for eons are gone. I feel like the towers could've been an easy fix to explain why they are gone like "oh these chasms appeared and collapsed the towers, so now we built these new towers in replacement."

Like with Majora's Mask being separate but also a follow up to Ocarina of Time works because. While yes they are using the same characters and same game mechanics. They are using a whole different world/setting that is different from OoT. Where it excuses using the same characters and same game mechanics, cause it has a complete different story but is consistent on where it left off with Ocarina of Time. I honestly thought TotK was going to take place mostly in the skies than in the surface. Since they kept hyping people up with the teaser trailers and then we had SkSw HD being released. Like yeah it will be like some glorified version of SkSw

When I was reading the interviews Nintendo uploaded a few days before TotK's release and saw Fujibayashi say ,"We put in some effort to make sure that it feels comfortable for both first-time players and those with experience of the previous game." In the back of my mind I questioned a bit this cause I mostly asked myself "isn't this a sequel?" but then I reassured myself that they'll probably would reexplain certain things about the previous game and what happened in the story for new comers. But not to this extreme

[josnhoes]

Hello! I just stumbled across your Self aware loz au, and I loved it! Do you have anymore ideas for ficlets for it? Oh! May I ask for the reader meeting Sidon? ( the timeline isn’t clear but I think it’s after Botw?) if not Sidon then Revali if it takes place during totk?

So my time frame for the series is post botw pre totk. Though I can't wait to explore Ganon's feelings on reader. Because there would be many.

Content warning: none.

Meeting Sidon had been big on your list of things to do. Link had told a bunch of stories of the fish man. And while you were still struggling with a heavy fog in your mind, you were ready to explore. Zelda had been hesitant to allow that. The fog was more a mixing of emotions and lives. She said it was a self protection from remembering being a God and adjusting to being back. She wasn't wrong but more it was like the you from your world was being turned into a God, not remembering it.

Regardless Zelda and Link knew if you wanted to go you would, they couldn't stop you. You were the high God. The progenitor. They had no right to make demands. So instead they went with you. Link was excited to introduce you to everyone. His silence had become less common since your arrival.

The domain itself was far more grand in person than it had been on the screen. Feeling the cool air and stone brought a sense of tranquility. The group had been swiftly approached by the prince who happily called for Link. And you smiled watching the *large* zora lift Link into a hug. Huh...you never realized how big the Zora truly were before.

Sidon was simply excited, he'd gotten the letter informing his people of their arrival. With the rumors of the return of the progenitor floating about he figured Link and Zelda would be looking into that themselves. Even his father had sent some troops out to find out more.

So the shock he felt when you were revealed to himself and his people weren't as big as they should have been. Though he supposed he should have noticed, with your round ears and ethereal glow you seemed to have. It was only there if you weren't really looking directly at you.

Sidon the first night didn't get to speak to you much, his father and people had called for a celebration and things had gotten very busy very fast. Though he was glad it was a good thing this time. But he observed you from a distance and felt himself feel *shy* about approaching you directly. Even as a guppy he hadn't felt *this* shy. Though he never had a God in the domain before.... at times Link had felt divine with the sheer strength he had. But that was just him bragging about his bestie again.

He promised to himself that tomorrow after you'd rested he'd approach you himself. Maybe if he charmed you enough you could be convinced to stay longer! Wins all around.

[dracomelody]

Let me start by saying I love the Zelda franchise. I'm a casual gamer, and I haven't beaten every single game in the series (I haven't finished Zelda 2 and I haven't started Oracle of Ages, and I haven't played most of the spinoffs).

When Breath of the Wild came out, it instantly became tied with Twilight Princess as my favorite Zelda game. BotW was a breath of fresh air (pun intended) and I loved how I could play the game at my own pace, and I loved the freedom to explore wherever I wanted from the start. I thought the story was great and the gameplay was unique. The dungeons fell a bit short (they were short and easy, and the bosses kinda sucked), but they were creative, and I loved the champions enough that beating their bosses felt satisfying, if only since it avenged my old friends. Its themes of finally getting closure from the past while helping in the present was handled beautifully, and the final memory brought me to tears.

When Tears of the Kingdom was announced, I was HYPED. I was so excited to see Ganondorf's return and the consequences that would have on the world in this new story. I was wondering how they would handle reusing the same map, especially with the new abilities (Recall was what I was most excited for since it had so much potential to use in puzzles). But the more I saw of TotK regarding its map and game mechanics, the less interested I became.

I thought we would be able to keep the shrines as warp points on the surface (and the focus of the game would be on exploring the Depths and the Sky). Instead, all traces of the BotW's story were lost. No Shiekah tech, no towers, no (Shiekah) shrines. Ok, fine, it's whatever. But that meant you were required to explore the SAME overworld the SAME WAY as you did in BotW: finding dragons tears (finding memories), finding/beating Zonai shrines (finding/beating Sheikah shrines), and finding lookout towers to gain a map of the area (climbing the Shiekah towers). Why? What's the point of all of that in the same overworld, when the focus SHOULD be on making the Depths and Skies interesting instead?

The skies were too segmented and barely had anything in them. The depths were mostly empty aside from enemies and DLC armor from BotW (which makes most of the amiibo useless, btw. Also, THEY GOT RID OF WOLF LINK. I WILL NOT FORGIVE THEM. Lol), and finding the Lightroots as the priority made it tedious to explore. The caves on the surface were so small that they hardly mattered unless you wanted to hunt all the frogs.

I thought the dungeons would be more unique from each other this time around, maybe play on different types of gimmicks or themes. Instead, it's just more of the same gimmick that BotW had: find a few terminals and then beat the boss.

Since TotK is a sequel, I thought its story would be in real time, directly driving the gameplay. Instead, the story takes place forever in the past, and ultimately has no bearing on the plot outside of Zelda's location, AND the exact same story gets replayed after every dungeon you beat. I understood it the first time, thanks.

The ancestors in the past story don't really mean anything to me because they're...nobody. I don't even think they had names. They didn't do anything to make themselves stand out from their descendants, or even have a connection with their descendants aside from being their ancestors. But I digress.

In terms of reusing the world, I thought the old ruins (like the ranch ruins in BotW) would have been rebuilt, or a few new towns would have been added, but INSTEAD it's just the same old world with added monster camps and Lookout Landing and maybe another town that was so forgettable that I don't even remember it.

Ok, so it wasn't what I expected. That doesn't make it bad, right?

Well, I gave it a chance I just really didn't care for the building mechanics. The fusion mechanic is great, but I still feel like I'm cheesing my way through the game instead of actually solving puzzles the way they were intended. I feel like I'm just brute forcing my way through the game, and that doesn't make me feel clever or smart the way older games used to when I'd figure out a unique puzzle.

Oh well. Some games just aren't meant for some people. I still had fun just exploring and messing with Koroks, and I liked that I could have more horses (but they left out the ancient bridle and saddle from the BotW DLC =( )

So now that they've dropped trailers for Echoes of Wisdom, I thought: this is it, they're going to do something different. And we're playing as Zelda!! Zelda has so many cool abilities!!

But instead, the new gimmick in the game is....a rod. That anyone can use. Using Zelda's powers in a game where you play as Zelda? NOPE. Just give her a weapon Link could use, except now we don't have Link's sword/shield or arsenal of other items. We're just a powerless girl with a duplication wand.

Ok, ok, it can't be as bare-bones as that.

The world should be unique and encourage you to explore and navigate the different terrains, right? NOPE, just summon a million beds and climb over everything.

Open world games can be fun, but when you have NO LIMITS then it becomes boring. There's no thought or challenge or maze or puzzles in order to progress; you can easily use the mechanic to build your own solution to every single problem from the start. And building your own solution means relying on knowledge you already have; it doesn't require you to learn how to problem-solve, the way puzzles are meant to. Usually, in this case, I'd WANT to progress in order to see what will happen in the story. But we all know that the Zelda team doesn't gaf about the story, at least not anymore. So what's the point?

Just echo a cucco to fly over gaps, or summon a few objects as a staircase to climb up ledges. Using these echoes in dungeons has the potential to make things fun, but in the overworld? I just don't see the appeal of cheesing your way through every obstacle. And I already had my fill of going wherever I wanted in BotW and TotK. Making the overworld an actual world worth navigating would be NEW at this point.

I feel like EoW should be a short little spinoff game or something. At least then I wouldn't feel so disappointed in a main series game. I'll check it out for the story alone, but if TotK's story is anything to go on, I'm sure EoW's story will be lacking as well.

I'm not dropping out of the fandom just yet. But I feel like they're really cashing in on BotW's success by making every game a worse knockoff of it. They're using playable Zelda as a dirty tactic to win over fans like me who have wanted to play as Zelda with her established abilities.

[yanderes-galore]

I'd like to request a romantic concept for Zelda from BOTW if that's okay!

At first I was stuck on how to do this but I think I have an idea after some research! This takes place before Calamity Ganon returns.

Wrote this late at night as I could not sleep so I apologize for errors! (Nothing's wrong I just took a nap mid-way through the day and my sleep schedule broke)

Yandere! Princess Zelda (BOTW) Concept

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Unrequited love, Fear of loss, Angst, Manipulation, Overprotective behavior, Abuse of power, Trauma, Minor jealousy mention, Isolation, Dubious relationship.

Zelda's story is a tragic one.

From a young age she was told her destiny.

She's meant to awaken her sealing powers to seal away the Calamity.

She's never wanted this destiny but she cannot fight it.

Despite this she occupies her time with research.

She researches how to use ancient technology to help fight Ganon, she puts together her Champions, she's even appointed Link as her night.

BOTW Zelda as a yandere has so much angst potential I've noticed.

She's shown in memories to be frustrated with herself and those around her as she's scared of failure.

She doesn't like that she can't awaken her powers.

She always fears the worst... especially with the incoming evil.

She most likely met you when she was young.

You were both friends at a young age... even before she had to commit to her destiny.

Zelda always thought of the warm moments you'd spend together and holds you in high regard.

You were someone she could run to if she didn't want to face her responsibilities.

You're always one to give her comfort, even now when she's in distress.

You supported her research and often did what you could to help.

Simply being someone Zelda can turn to, a childhood friend that manages to soothe her worries, is enough to make Zelda hold you close to her heart.

I imagine Zelda would've fallen for you a long time ago.

She's just never had time to properly tell her feelings to you.

She always drowned herself in research and prayer.

Zelda isn't a very violent yandere either.

I imagine her being a very quiet yandere for the most part.

She is observant of what you do and what others around you do.

While she is nervous to tell you how she feels due to the stress she's going through, she doesn't like the idea of letting you go either.

Zelda often has you accompany her on research trips.

She loves hearing your voice as she snaps pictures and does tests.

Occasionally Link accompanies you both for protection.

Zelda often asks how your life has been while she toils away for destiny.

She listens carefully to see if you're interested in anyone.

If she notices someone sounds too close to you, she does some planning behind your back to distance them from you.

It's selfish but she feels she wants to reserve a spot for being your girlfriend.

Even if she can't confess now.

You can almost notice the distaste in Zelda's tone when you admit you're closer "than you should be" to someone.

"Oh, I see... how nice."

Zelda is envious of anyone who is close to you.

She wants nothing more than to confess her love to you.

She wants to make wonderful memories with you... yet she has to worry about awakening her powers.

Honestly, the fear of Ganon may make Zelda's obsession worse.

As the days tick down she begins to feel like a failure.

She begins to lose hope and fears the worst.

Even more so when she thinks of you.

She wants to protect you from Ganon.

She feels if she doesn't... she could lose you forever.

Before she even gets to confess.

Honestly the fear itself may push Zelda to confront you.

You notice how she looks nervous on one of your research trips but think it's just because of her destiny.

The princess may then pull you aside and tell you how she feels.

She loves you... has for a long time.

She wanted to tell you now as she was worried she may never be able to.

You most likely may say yes to her confession.

You've known her for a long time and trust her.

It's then Zelda allows her actions to vent her worries.

It's then she allows herself to hold you and kiss you.

She feels more grounded and safe when you're in her arms.

She still worries for Ganon's return, yet she's happy she at least said something.

By this logic she should be able to awaken her divine powers now.

Yet this doesn't happen until later.

Your relationship is a bit messy due to Zelda's anxiety.

She still has to prepare to defend Hyrule... and now she feels she needs to find a way to protect you.

She hopes her powers awaken yet she also feels she should appoint someone to watch over you.

Zelda is a very protective yandere, especially due to her role.

So much could go wrong... she wants to be prepared.

When she's stressed she pulls you into private to lay in your embrace.

She keeps her feelings private from her father and focuses on you.

Now here's the angst....

You know what would really break her?

In the game we can see she found her powers due to her love for Link and did everything she could to protect him.

When Calamity Ganon awakens and your life is threatened.

Perhaps even to near death like Link.

She'd want to do the same with you.

When her plan starts failing, she never leaves your side.

She asks Link to protect you too and plans on the go.

Things go wrong when the Divine Beasts go rogue... the Guardians grow corrupted... and Hyrule begins to fall.

Her home collapses around her and all she feels she wants to do is keep you safe.

This may seem unrealistic but Zelda would want to look for a way to keep you protected after Link falls in battle.

Fi has already told her to put Link in the Shrine of Resurrection.

Maybe Fi senses the care the princess also holds for you.

It's much stronger... and intense with different motives.

Perhaps Fi tells Zelda there's a way to seal you away until Link returns?

Zelda would definitely try to convince you to allow this.

The princess promises she just wants you safe, she fears she'll lose you... so sealing you away would be the best way to do so.

Zelda understands you're scared.

But it's either this or you die.

Zelda wouldn't be able to continue on if you died.

If she let you die....

Even if you resisted Zelda would still find a way.

This isn't in canon but imagine if there was some sort of spell or other shrine Zelda could bring you to in order to seal you away.

Honestly even if you weren't together she'd still do this.

Zelda is a very soft yandere.

She'll manipulate others away from you but still cares for your safety and happiness.

She'd lock you away for your own safety no matter if you wanted it or not.

The idea of locking you in a safe space brings her comfort and a sick feeling of... ownership?

She feels happy knowing nothing can take you from her.

She'll have you locked away in safety while she holds Ganon off until Link saves Hyrule.

It brings her some sort of comfort to know you'll be untouched.

Then there's after the day is saved.

I won't go too into this as we may be getting into TOTK territory with this but...

Zelda may have some trauma after BOTW due to the past 100 years.

Her obsession may get worse once she sees you outside the shrine/spell bound area she put you in.

By this point she'll never want to leave your side again.

When Hyrule castle is rebuilt she may just lock you away again.

She felt so much more at ease at the thought of nothing coming into contact with you.

Zelda is a yandere who gets worse by trauma.

By the end of BOTW she thinks locking you up will ease her anxiety.

Locked away she can freely kiss and hold you... and you'll be safe.

After BOTW... your girlfriend has changed.

She thinks you'll be better off as a prisoner in some fancy yet comfortable room.

A pretty cage is still a cage...

But to Princess Zelda... it's a sanctuary made with love for her dearest to be kept safe.

"We've been through so much already, haven't we? I promise I'm just taking care of you like I did a century ago."

[zeldas-dagger]

Look at me like that - Zelink ❦

Thought this was cute (hope it is) I adore these 2 so much (If you couldn't tell I'm going through tloz brainrot bcos I restarted botw & totk)

(Already uploaded on ao3 under bloodlustngore)

(gif not mine)

Summary: Link loves Zelda' smile and laugh, so much that he gets flustered.

❤️Fluff❤️

Zelda wanted to go out of the castle for a bit, something about fresh air and also not to mention the fact she was stressed from all the pressure of trying to awaken her power. Link, of course, accompanied her, the blonde princess didn't protest about that, in fact she had wanted him to come along anyway. Zelda had gotten used to Link, she was annoyed by him at first but she does like him. Possibly a lot more than she thought she could.

Zelda was propped up against a large tree trunk, a book in her hand which contained some things she had been researching on. The Sheikah slate beside her. It was likely that she would find something out here that she wanted to take a photo of to research on, especially different spieces or insects. Link was a few inches away from her, his sword in hand as he practised swinging it. Not that the Hylian hero needed to practice, he was an extremely skilled swordsman. Princess Zelda found herself glancing at Link a few times, completely and utterly distracted, watching as he practiced sword movements. Zelda couldn't help but smile at him every now and then. But this time Link had caught her eyes as he turned to look behind him, the princess smiled and Link turned away, blush on his face.

To that Zelda chuckled, only increasing the blush on the heroes face. The blonde princess thought it adorable. Whenever she smiled at him or laughed. Link' instant reaction was to be flustered and Zelda loved to tease him with it a lot now. Although she couldn't talk, there had been a few times when the silent hero had smiled back at her, her reaction being the same. Zelda let out a sigh, stood up and put the book she was using down. Sheikah slate in hand, she tapped Link on the shoulder and the hero put away his sword and turned to her. He was still blushing like an idiot and Zelda couldn't help herself. She put the sheikah slate on photo mode and captured a picture of Link' flustered features. Link instantly let out a surprised gasp and reached for the sheikah slate, which Zelda moved behind her. "I'm keeping that for myself" she chuckled.

"You look so adorable" Zelda added, teasing Link.

Link walked closer to her and tried to take the slate again, but Zelda turned around and this time had it in front of her. What she didn't expect was Link to wrap his arms around her waist, trying to grab it again. Zelda let out a gasp but then laughed as Link had effortlessly lifted her up a little (she is canonically taller than Link). "Put me down!" She exclaimed, laughing.

Link protested letting out a groan to express that he wanted her to delete that photo. "I won't delete it! It's mine for safe keeping! Unless you want me to show the others, put me down!" Zelda added, teasing him. The princess loved getting these reactions out of Link, she found herself doing it often. The threat she made was clear, so Link put her down. The two of them looked at each other and started in a fit of laughter. Putting the Sheikah slate in her pocket, Zelda placed her hand on Link' arm, still laughing.

Through their fit of laughter, Zelda smiled at Link and she swore Link smiled back. The blonde loved Link' smile, it was a rare sight but one of her favourite things, she felt lucky to be able to see the heroes smile. And the way he looks at her, despite the fact he shows no emotion on his features...Zelda swore she could see him look at her the way she looks at him, with admiration (sometimes annoyance) but also love...she couldn't love Link, could she?

Either way she found herself liking Link way too much.

After calming down, Zelda cleared her throat. Gaining the attention of Link. Zelda didn't think twice about her next actions, but she practically tackled Link into the grass, catching him off guard. He let out a 'yelp' and Zelda couldn't help but laugh again, giving him that smile that he loves so much. She lay beside him in the grass as the two of them look up to the sky, it looked like it would rain soon, and besides Zelda should be back at the castle. "Do you ever think about who you would be if you weren't a knight?" Zelda asked, turning to Link. The blonde looked back at her, but he didn't speak a word. "I suppose you hadn't, there' no need. And also, you still owe me a bow lesson. I'd probably give father a heart attack, but I would like to learn." Zelda added. Link kept his eyes on her as the princess spoke, giving his full atention.

He was happy, seeing Zelda like this, nerding out about different things, talking about lessons on weapons she wanted him to teach her. Link never showed much emotion, but when it came to Zelda and they were alone, he allowed himself to express it a little more.

After all, he found himself falling for the princess Zelda, he shouldn't but he can't stop. Whilst Zelda talked about things shes passionate about, having Link' full attention as they lay on the ground underneath the tree, everything seemed calm. That was until it started to pour down with rain around Hyrule, thunder had come. Zelda and Link both shot up from where they lay, going over to the horses that grazed. "I guess thats our sign to head back." Zelda sighed, cursing at the rain for ruining it.

But nothing was going to stop her from doing something first, not even heavy rain nor thunder. Before she and Link mounted their horses, she grabbed the heroes hand, yanked him back towards her, Link almost faltered out of shock.

Zelda leaned closer and placed a kiss to Link' cheek, the blonde hero tried to hide the fact that made him flustered again, Zelda giggled a little at that. "Thank you for accompanying me Link, even if it' your duty. Today was lovely." No words about the kiss on the cheek was exchanged after that, they rode back to Hyrule Castle, but it was likely Link would never forget that.

Atleast he hoped he would never forget.

He never wanted to forget Zelda' smile, nor laugh or her voice and the way she nerded out about her passions, she was so beautiful, so strong and courageous (and stubborn) but Link found himself loving every part of the Princess Zelda.

[dorayakimanjiro]

BOTW Revali HCs

Here's some headcanons cuz I miss sassy bird man. WHO AM I KIDDING?! I LOVE THIS BIRD MAN MOM, I LOVE HIM- 😩😭😢🥺

He's an orphan.

Or maybe he had parents but something bad happened to them when he was a fledgling, bcuz I don't like the idea of them abandoning Revali :,(

(If that were the case, then it was a canon event 💀)

Has a real soft spot for kids.

(THIS IS CANON, DON'T @ ME, GO WATCH AOC CUTSCENES)

(THE GRIP THOSE CUTSCENES HAVE ON ME GURL I-)

(TEBA AND REVALI IN THE SAME FRAME 🥵😩💦🫦)

He literally made the Flight Range public for the kids, who looked up to him and wanted to train to be like him......GURL, I'M UGLY CRYING AND SCREAMING- (This is in his diary btw)

(HE'S A NICE MAN. PERIODT.)

HIGHKEY CRINGES when a kid does something cringe or stupid, but he's nice enough to not say a single word to them. (BESTIE SAME)

He learned how to use the bow on his own, no instructor nor teacher taugh him.

Sometimes he feels like there's an empty hole in his heart🥺🥺🥺 (Shh don't worry babygirl I gotchu 😔🙌🫶)

He tries to cover it with his sassy and mean actittude and for the same reason he proves himself to be the best and get recognition from anyone. (I think this one is pretty obvious)

Feels alone and empty when watching families and couples on the village and doesn't exteriories it. :,,,,,,(

When he was given Vah Medoh, he used it as a safe and comfort place.

(It's literal written in his diary, it said Revali flied to Vah Medoh for solace after his encounter with Link who didn't gave a single thought about Revali's skills, no hate intented for link tho)

I love the fact he doesn't care about titles, if you're strong you show it, referring to ones strenght doesn't come from a label but from their capabilities and prowess.

Idk if any of you guys knew it, cuz i didn't til recently, that in that one cutscene in BOTW, where we first "met" Revali, he used his Gale to impress link and did it despite knowing there was a great possibility of failure since it was brand new. This only tells me he would do ABSOLUTE ANYTHING to get a reaction out of someone how's have captive his interest.

That's it for the night, it's 1:30am and I should probably go to sleep. Maybe I'll do a part 2.

[narbevoguel]

AoC deserves better.

I think enough time has passed for me to rant about the current status of BotW, AoC and TotK.

I'll start by saying TotK is a really fun game, I enjoy playing it way more than I ever did a portion of BotW, they actually found a good balance between old dungeon design and trying to revamp it somewhat, it still needs work but defo a step in the right direction; but the reason I believe people feel BotW was better for them, is because of multiple factors:

1.- The novelty of exploring wore off. First, you get to explore the same Hyrule from BotW, and while the overly needed addition of caves was a thing, the depths and skies added little to no substance, contrary to what the trailers made you believe.

2.- While the story, standalone at least, is not that bad, it isn't a big of a deal either, and while I believe the premise for it is better than BotW's, at least BotW bothered sticking to it with a strong foundation, whereas TotK story is glued together with nothing but tape and tears (no pun intended).

3.- The characters. BotW gave us amazing characters that sadly the plot didn't let shine (which is where AoC comes in, but that's for later), TotK gave us characters that are just... there. Even if BotW did little to nothing with its cast, at least they had their moments in the cutscenes; what do the likes of Rauru, or Sonia, or the past Sages have? Nothing. It's almost like they left out important plot points out on purpose and somehow thought not elaborating on them was a good idea? I bet not a lot of people know about Rauru's sneaking out antics, or Mineru not getting enough sleep because of her research, or Zelda liking to help Mineru with her research because that's just the kind of nerd she is, or the fact that Rauru and Mineru would perform together in the form of song and dance respectively. These are things that would have been cute to see in the form of cutscenes like we did with the Champions in BotW. You can summarize plot and characters to an extent in BotW, but not in TotK, sadly. That said, I don't mind Ganondorf being evil for the sake of being evil, but them choosing to make him less of bound to the curse and more the curse itself can get disappointing at times. What's the point in making him sexy with zero substance? (Yes, they made him sexy on purpose, they said in an interview). But back to the Champions, can I mention how little respect they had in TotK? Like, I understand passing on the veil of destiny to the now sages, but disregarding them almost completely like that was a decision I can't understand, you take the best of BotW and almost discard it completely in the sequel?

AoC, on the other hand, took everything BotW and just added the "what if" fanfic 'fix' where everyone lives and it's a much better, happier outcome, but as a result, it lets the best part of BotW (the characters) properly shine and be fleshed out, it's a game that was clearly developed with care towards the source. The hate it gets it's because it was marketed as a prequel to BotW, yet it wasn't (and tbh, I'm sorry but thinking a musou game was gonna have perma character death was kind of a naive thought), and thus has no place in the timeline, but we are somehow okay with TotK liking to play the game of "Let's pretend BotW didn't happen"? Where do we draw the line then?

If you think there's nothing wrong with how TotK handled BotW's retcon, but don't like the premise of AoC, you owe AoC an apology.

That said, if I were to recommend someone who really enjoyed BotW what to play next, I would recommend AoC 100%, as much fun I have with TotK, AoC is more respectful.

I don't want to hate on TotK entirely, because I stand by what I said, I still have lots of fun with it, I never enjoyed playing BotW, but I do TotK, but it's being praised for things that people used to justify hatred towards AoC, and I won't allow it.

[skyloftian-nutcase]

I am replaying BOTW right now, and the... the secret cutscene in Champions' Ballad where Mipha carried Sidon up the waterfall...

Did... she somehow know??? Did she know she was going to die!?

The tone of her voice and a lot of what she said during that scene seemed to imply she was preparing Sidon for a world without her, so that he might be ready. When asked by Zelxa why she expected a Zora as young as Sidon to be able to scale one of the largest waterfalls in the zone, her exact quotes were, "One day, Princess... I must leave him. To face my fate with Ruta."

'To face my fate.' Not to fight alongside or to defeat the calamity. She said she was going to face her fate, which, in that context, strongly implies she expected to die in the conflict. She also directly tells baby Sidon she is counting on him to protect the domain should she be unable to do so. Effectively asking him to take her place as its leader and protector if she should fall in battle.

A lot of what she says in Vah Ruta and other cutscenes also seem to imply she wasn't surprised at all about her death, merely that she hadn't had time to react. In fact, if you follow the theory that the SOS you can hear in the Divine Beasts themes can tell the story of what the Champion's final moments were and how their battle against the Blights went before they died... the fact that Ruta's SOS comes in almost as soon as the song starts with arguably only Vah Rudania possibly coming in faster (I don't actually know Morse so it's harder for me to recognize if Rudania or Ruta had SOS come in first), it paints a story of someone who knew the moment she stepped into that mechanical elephant she wasn't coming out alive

Wow... that got dark real fast

Oof. What an observation. I did watch that DLC cut scene and noticed that too, you're not wrong, I don't think she was fully expecting to die but she was definitely making contingency plans.

What an interesting thought, especially when you remember the memory Mipha's Touch where she's talking to Link and she's like "We just don't really know what we're up against." Like... of all the Champions, she definitely seems the most wary of their enemy. It's really strange, interesting, and sad how she seemed to be planning to die - was it a reflection on her opinion of her own abilities to fight? Was it because she tends to assume the worst case scenario in general? Did she think she was unworthy to be a Champion, despite gladly stepping into the role because she wanted to help?

Mipha is such a protector, nurturing and gentle and always looking out for others. It's hard to get a feel for how she feels about herself. I half wonder if she just didn't expect to come out alive because she figured she'd be the weak link, or if she was just that willing to put her all into the fight and fully expected to sacrifice herself to ensure everyone else made it out alive.

Her SOS coming on so quickly could mean so many things. Mipha strikes me as someone who lacks confidence, she was probably terrified, but bless her she still fought. I really do admire her for that. Poor girl.

[fifteenth-entity]

Surprised no one is talking about Tulin

Or at least not that I have seen, because just Rito village as a whole was so depressing to me, and I just feel the overwhelming urge to talk about it.

This is obviously for pre-Colgera stuff, but let me tell you, as someone who did all of the other main quests before Rito village and left it for last (cuz it's usually my favorite to do cuz I like flying and archery), going to Rito village was so horrifying at first.

It's the only place so far in TotK that I feel mimicked the feeling of desolation and abandonment as well as BotW did, because in BotW, the Rito are all so friendly to you and while they live in fear of Vah Medoh, they're not in immediate danger, which makes Rito village as a whole quite sunny and enjoyable to be around, that alongside the fact that it's a relatively easy to traverse landscape and the Rito aren't needlessly cruel to you, just rather dismissive. And then in TotK, you enter, expecting the sunniness (in attitude at least) of Rito village, only to be met with a silent, snow-capped landscape with zero life in sight.

And then you go to the market and you see it's being manned by a child. And then the only demographic you see manning the village is children. And then you realize all the adults have abandoned ship while they wait for you to come help and the children had to step up to the plate of supporting the village.

And then you meet Tulin.

In the beginning, I was slightly relieved to see Tulin be with Teba - finally, I thought, a supervised child, a child that doesn't have to take up the mantel of being an adult to survive.

And then Teba talks about the Stormwind Ark's song, a song originally sung to children, who by the way still believe in the existence of the Stormwind Ark, and how all the adults believe that the Stormwind Ark exists. And Tulin dismisses it as just a fairytale.

That crushed me. Of course Tulin has grown up, he's not the same fledgling he was in Breath of the Wild, he can hold his own. He doesn't need fairytales anymore. But even Genli, who looks to be around the same age as Tulin, believes in the Stormwind Ark. Every child and every adult believes in the Stormwind Ark, except for Tulin. This child has had to take his role as protector of the village so seriously that it has disillusioned him. Disillusionment isn't a good feeling even as an adult, but a child should not have to be disillusioned, especially when it comes to a higher protecting force like the Stormwind Ark is supposed to be. Tulin should still be allowed to believe in the existence of a Stormwind Ark. But he doesn't, and he speaks about its nonexistence with such conviction, with such confidence, that it's depressing.

Which, then, puts into context why Tulin was so dismissive of Teba's tutelage. Teba still believes that there is someone who will come save them, so the man who taught Tulin to take initiative and fight for the village's safety, isn't doing anything to help the village. Instead, Tulin's tutor sits around and waits for a saving grace that, in Tulin's eyes, is not real and will not come to save them (because why wouldn't it have come already if it were real?). So, when Teba is stressing the importance of stuff such as training and teamwork, Tulin is quick to dismiss him - Teba believes in something as fake as the Stormwind Ark, why wouldn't he believe in other fake concepts? (Yes, this mindset is extremely juvenile, but Tulin can't be more than 12.)

Link doesn't start out the BotW/TotK duology as an adult but when he joined Tulin, I was so relieved that someone more experienced would be there to take some of the burden off of Tulin. And when he got the secret stone and had to vow to help Link save Hyrule, that pained me. I didn't want to have a child accompanying me in a mission to save the world because no child should have to do that (Riju included, honestly, but Gerudo values muddle that conversation a little bit). And then I remembered it's only a ghost of Tulin that follows Link, not Tulin himself, and I felt slightly better about it.

But when you look at the wider picture, pre or post Colgera, Tulin is a child soldier, essentially, and I'm surprised I haven't seen people talk about him more as a character. When people call into question how dark TotK is, I just... immediately think of Tulin. This kid is forced to live in a dark and disillusioned reality because of the wider circumstances, and he's conditioned by those circumstances to be alright with that. I don't know if this was intentional or not, but that's quite dark on Nintendo's behalf.

And when I put it this way, there's also some parallels to draw between Tulin and Link here, but that's a different conversation for another day.

I just think this part of the story is depressing, and Tulin is my favorite character. And just to reiterate the title of the post - I'm surprised I'm the first person I've seen bring it up. I don't know if this is a bigger conversation, but if anyone has anything to add, I'd love to hear it because, owch :")

[thepacifistrouter]

About the Portal Zelda AU

So, I wanted to post this to specifically talk about 2 of the 3 Triforce Holders in this AU.

Since I think we can all agree Chell is the most easy to understand , let's talk about the other 2.

Tbh, this, also, was born from my friend's mind, but I'll try to explain it wirh mu words cause it just clicked with me.

I know some of you, maybe even a lot of you, must think Wisdom is not exactly the Triforce piece that fits better with Wheatley exactly and that Power (or maybe none at all) would fit him better, but-but hear.... read me out!!

If you're a Zelda series fan, even if you haven't played all the games, then you must know that Princesses Zelda's role in the games are normally more like passive than active, normally the one who need to be helped or that help giving Link (who's normally the muscle and the puzzle solver) answers, directions or weapons to defeat the evilness around. She rarely takes direct action.

Far from what some think and what the game (or more like GLaDOS) wanted us to believe, I've never thought Wheatley is a moron, not a genius either, but he is not a moron, he just has his own way to think and people around him took that as moronic ideas/actions/decisions. Even if you are agreed with me about that or not, there is another important fact here... wisdom is not really attached to inteligence. Is actually more tied to the knowledge we have about life and our surroundings, how we use it and the decisions we make about it. We can see both in differents Zeldas AND in Wheatley.

Just think about it, he was easily crushed by GLaDOS when we were right in front of her, BUT, knowing there was no way he could do something to fight her so we could escape, who thought about a plan to let GLaDOS disarmed? who guide us to the right place where we could do that with no being catched in the process or to the Portal Gun? who helped us escaping from that final GLaDOS test chamber? lighted our way thinking he could die if he did? and even as a bad guy he came with some silly, but also some good ideas for his own purposes.

And some of you must be thinking, but we haven't had evil or corrupted Zeldas, we haven't had Zelda being our companion during the adventure. Uuuh, yes, yes we've had (SPOILERS FROM DIFFERENT ZELDA GAMES ALERT), for this first, what about Hylda from Lorule (a Kingdome that use to be like Hyrule), what about when Ganondorf possesed Zelda in Twilight Princess? not to for the second, we've had Spirit Truck's Zelda and we could debate if BotW Zelda could count as an spiritual companion until some point. Not to mention how she was so insecure about her fate and destiny.

Heck, we could even debate OoT Zelda's smartnes of her decisions!

As for GLaDOS

First of all... like... come on is GERUDO GLADOS, I mean, how cool is that?? how cool could that look?!! besides, I think it fits her pretty well

Let's remember GLaDOS was not meant to be the main boss of the Facility in the first place, the whole thing was made for Cave Johnson at first, but things turned out... different and here we are.

Apart of that, she is very Ganondorf coded. Arrogant, powerful, ambitious, intelligent and cunning, a great planner, she only cares about her own ends. She tried to kill everyone as soon as she was activated, and every time they tried to stop her they failed, even tricking most people into believing that she didn't. But she's not the wisest, she just happens to insult where it hurts someone who not only hates her, but also has too much power (which was indirectly her fault). She's perfect to be the first final boss of the… game?… let's say the AU.

You might be thinking, but there are not redeemed Ganondorfs or even allies in the games!!... and you're right :P but, this AU would also include a bunch of first times in Hyrule's hystory. There are things that still need to be builded, but we're letting that for another day.

Aaand that's it for.

Sorry I'm bad at summarazing n.n

Pleasedon't doubt into letting any doubt you could have about this See you next time!

[yandereunsolved]

In reference to your post about Hylian sign: 

BotW Link signing is really popular fanon I think, and I myself like the idea a lot. I wrote a miniscule amount about it a long time ago, but I like the hc that BotW Link's vocal chords were irrevocably damaged during the Guardian showdown and the shrine of resurrection couldn't repair them enough to facilitate speech, so he had to fumble through learning sign after waking up. I also agree with your take about Hylian sign language being relatively unknown.

Not only does Hyrule not have the networks for teaching that we do, (the internet or modern educational tools for example) but it would be harder to spread, and visual languages don’t do amazing in textbooks.

Plus I have a personal headcanon, that due to the elongated ears of Hylians, (meant for hearing the words of the goddess or something) they have advanced hearing, and therefore hard of hearing/deafness is a much rarer affliction and there is much less need for sign language. 

As for Nintendo implementing something like this in their games, I agree that it would be an awesome thing to see, but I doubt Nintendo would ever do it.

Portraying a visual language like sign would require them to create conversation-specific character models for every sign made, individualized to each different character speaking (unless they used the exact same character model) which would greatly extend the process of creating dialogue. Not that a AAA company like Nintendo couldn’t pull it off, but it would be a much bigger expenditure of resources to implement than just…dubbing over moving mouths. 

(Plus they would be forced to either default to a specific localized sign language for every model or create their own language, which…creating a visual language with rules and syntax and signs is much more complicated than writing an alphabet.

Not to mention that Link has always been a blank slate, even in his gender lol. I doubt they’d apply such a polarizing (is that the right word??) trait to him. Seeing a disabled character in general is probably wishful thinking with Nintendo, but..I agree it’s an awesome headcanon and would be so cool to see portrayed one day.

…Sorry for saying so much lol. I didn’t realize I had so many thoughts on HoH Link..

I absolutely love your thoughts. Like, I do. That's the reason I posted my thoughts in the first place. I wanted to know what others thought ofc.

I do agree about the character modeling. I didn't know much about it so thank you for sharing the info. I do believe the word 'polarizing' would be correct because of how disabled characters are portrayed in media. If Nintendo just said one of the Links is HOH and uses sign language—it would cause an uproar.

I'm not a master in politics or anything but lately anything progressive has been labeled as 'woke' by more extremist and right-wing groups online. Not that I am trying to bring politics into this, but I'm saying that the uproar would be due to mostly grifters hoping on the bandwagon of 'represention evil, they are just doing it to appease the masses.'

I personally am always a fan of representation and even if it is wishful thinking, I still think it's a nice wish to have. I'd personally say that as well as what you already said about him becoming HOH. I think the goddesses may have had an unintended affect on it as well. Think about it. Rarely are mortals actually spoken to by the goddesses. Due to the constant exposure of hearing divinity is hearing could have also waned. (The pressure of a mortal hearing divine gospel isn't an easy one. Even if he is the chosen hero.) Second, for specifically BOTW Link I also think his lungs would be weak after a 100 years of sleep, so he wouldn't be able to form words or even groan or grunt correctly until further along in his journey.

Even if it wasn't portrayed in a game it'd be cool to see it in an animation released by Nintendo or at least some more information in something official. It could also just be a fan-made thing. Which would be really cool to see a Fandom come together to do something like that.

I guess I had a lot of thoughts. I usually proofread for grammar mistakes, but I'm tired. So don't mind the mistakes in grammar. :)