#If some of this is similar to eow - I KNOW RIGHT?????

[madebysoupy]

SO.......... I've been thinking about an original Zelda story lately

I haven't talked about it at all yet, but these yhree have been on my mind consistently enough for me to have to draw them

More info under the cut!!

The (hypothetical) game takes place in the downfall timeline, some time after Adventure of Link. Enough time has passed for villages to have expanded and new ones to be built!

But one day the ground shakes, parts of the earth disappear, new parts taking their place - like someone mixed together three different jigsaw puzzles and is forcing them together into one picture.

Now it's up to Link to find the source of the sudden merge of worlds and realities and restore order to Hyrule - with the help of his fairy companion and Zelda's guidance.

Some more about the characters!

Link

18 years old

Has a cleft lip!

Loser from Old Saria Town - a fisher village, yet he can't fish

His boss tried to find some use for him, but all he's seemingly good for is catching crawfish - and colds

The towns people look down on him

He lives with his aunt, the only person who supports him

His parents died on sea, he's afraid of the sea because of it

He ties flies! Not to use as bait though, just for fun and for the pretty art!

Very shy, still has to find his courage

Scared of Zelda tbh

Honorary lad name is Kalimba

Zelda

In her 60s probably?? Maybe older

She knows a lot more than she's telling anyone

The whole story may or may not be all calculated by her already

Very hard to impress

Direct descendant of Zelda I! Either daughter or granddaughter, couldn't decide yet

She takes her role very seriously

Doesn't dress too fancy - people respect her so much she could probably be in her pajamas and they'd still listen to her

She's mastered the art of communication through looks and glares

Intimidating aura

Doubts Link heavily at first

Puzzle

Little fairy companion!!! What? The name sounds familiar?? Must be a coincidence...

He's been working together with Zelda for a little while before teaming up with Link

Gets half of his knowledge from Zelda

In the (hypothetical) game his sound effects would be flute or recorder notes

Cheerful little thing - thoroughly enjoys zipping around

As is tradition for fairy companions, he nests in Link's hair or hat

Not a shred of doubt in his desision to pick Link - he has full faith in him

May or may not be the spirit of a previous hero........

That's all I'll share today!! I'm open to questions if y'all have any :]

I don't have a title for this yet, so I'm open to suggestions as well 👉👈

Thanks for reading this far!! I hope you enjoyed! :]]]

[anxietybumblebee]

Other than the obvious overlap in monsters, I replayed the switch version of Link's Awakening recently and saw like. An uncanny amount of similarities between it and EoW. It's a given, seeing as they're both in the same toon Link style on the same device, but it makes you wonder why there are virtually no differences - other than, from what I've seen, pretty much just some monster names and colours (plus more recent additions to the loz universe, like lynels).

A LOT OF TEXT + ECHOES OF WISDOM/LINK'S AWAKENING SPOILERS BENEATH THE BREAK VVV

From the entrance to the final boss (LA left + EoW right)

To the dark monsters + the nightmare in LA (left + right respectively)

Not even mentioning the fact that it's the same Ganon (well, the nightmare version in LA, but the same guy as that Link has faced before) (LA + LBW on the left/top depending on your screen, EoW on the right/bottom)

The map styles aren't identical, but the mechanics + appearances are similar enough that I thought they were worth a mention, too!! (EoW on the left, LA on the right)

The similarities between Null/the rifts and the nightmares has me wondering if there was a deeper reason behind the similarities than simply being able to reuse models; we all know Nintendo isn't one to skimp on the graphics for new Zelda games (see breath of the wild + tears of the kingdom).

I had a couple of theories on this:

The first being that Echoes of Wisdom is a more drawn out dream, which I think is a more obvious conclusion. It could come about in a few different ways, though; either Tri and the golden goddesses are working to keep the dream going (fixing the rifts) and the people returned from the rifts have awoken, leaving only the no longer sentient bodies behind, or Null and the dark monsters are the nightmares, attempting to render the dream fully un-endable by turning it into void; with no instruments to play and no bosses to beat, the dream can't be ended. It's something of a pyrrhic victory for the nightmares, who honestly seemed to like having Koholint around, if just to torture its inhabitants.

The second being that Echoes of Wisdom takes place in the Hyrule where Koholint truly existed (or somewhere else that the Windfish has influence), somewhere out in the sea beyond our map, and the rifts are damage caused as the Windfish pulls more and more people into its slumber. It reaches across worlds, and sometimes people's bodies and souls end up back in the wrong spots (hence Marin's turning into a seagull in the true ending, and the people returning from the rifts completely lifeless, or missing things). In this case, the rifts would be the effects of the Windfish's slumber ripping the land apart (perhaps by the nightmare's influence as they want more and more in their domain, beyond the simple island of Koholint). Maybe Null is simply the main nightmare you fight at the end, trying to have an entire world as part of the dream, trying to stop everything from just looping like it seemed to on Koholint.

I'm having quite a few thoughts about this if you couldn't tell. I may be insane.

[fantomette22]

Little theory about Zelda Echoes of Wisdom timeline

Alright i figure I should do a quick lil post about it before the game release. Because i have some thoughts about where it could fit in the timeline? Actually i have a couple of possibilities i wanna share. With people questioning themselves with what we learn on the promotional materials, trailers, & japanese website + 1 image of the beginning of the game there's lot of speculations going in all direction.

Minor possible spoilers ahead (but besides map & screenshot from the website & trailer nothing much)

First nintendo somehow change the downfall timeline a bit and I just notice now WHAT IN HYLIA?!

Hyrule historia timeline (2011)

Tears of the kingdom masterworks (2024)

Did they just casually swap Link’s awakening with the Oracle series?? Why? How? I- I don't understand. Is it because of LA remake? A link with theh possible development of Echoes of Wisdom?🤔 (ahah get it?) (We’ll probably have to wait years to know were exactly it fit too now… i mean finger cross that Nintendo will reveal it in a few months…)

So now where does EOW would fit hm? I saw many speculations on it:

Same world/Link as ALTTP, LA, and the oracle series (soft reboot remake)

2. In between ALTTP and ALBW : but different Hyrule, different Link & Zelda

3. After ALBW, different Zelda & Link

4. Before ALTTP? Different Hyrule and Zelda but a Link we already know? (more of a crack theory of mine but hear me out later ok?!)

So one of the most logical take would be it's in the same world as ALLTP, LA etc. With the same Link Zelda etc

Could be after LA or Oracle or in between but in all cases after ALTTP. And that would be another adventure for this dear Link and Zelda! But there's a few things that people point out that didn't work : Like it's not exactly the same hyrule/map even if it's similar, there's Gerudo, Mojo, Gorons, Zoras etc, references to the goddess Hylia, to sheikah etc

Well yes it's a good point! But it could just be because it's kind of a soft reboot remake? In 1991 lot of things in more recent Zelda games just didn't exist. And I wouldn't mind a remake of ALTTP rebooted with lot of extra things. So ALTTP happened before that but not the way we know it probably.

Plus

It seems the map could still kinda fit apparently.

As for 2 & 3 options well that could be possible but there's a few things bothering me 🤔

Link seems like he's at full lvl, like he already save Hyrule and came back from an adventure. So which one? Would be weird if we never saw it before. I can’t refund the image but it’s in one of the last trailer : there’s a man on a building calling for help because he’s attack by a moblin. He ask if we’re Link to help him out. Another clue Link helped people around before.

(Plus ALTTP & ALBW Hyrule are to similars from something like this to be a different incarnation and in the middle. Same with after ALBW and between Zelda 1&2. Gerudo, Gorons etc fit more before than after ALBW when they all disappear afterwards.

Some people point out it couldn't be ALTTP Link because his hat have a green strip instead of yellow?

Well Link in Link's awakening remake have a green strip.

And actually he has 2 hats anyway now 😅 problem solve

Yes that's Link house in EOW it seems and there's a lil hat! With a yellow strip.

« But it’s not Link’s house from ALTTP » you’re right it’s in Southorn village. But in Alttp i think it was his uncle house right? Maybe he returned in his og village afterwards. Or it’s because of the reboot. Or you’re right it’s not the same…

Some other people point this out ^ too. That if Zelda don’t know Link they can’t be the same as in ALTTP right? (Well they did that in Oracle too apparently?) in TOTK many characters who are supposed to know Link have no idea but it’s the devs choice for new player so- could be for new players too. So no accurate in lore? and i mean Zelda here is trying to stay anonymous. (See the wanted posters all around hyrule for her). If she says she know Link and it’s her bestie she might get into trouble 😂 so who knows..

4. Ok here’s my crazy theory but i hope it’s not that. But if it happened hello?!

What if! What if- Link went to the past for real?! MINDBLOWN

Ok more seriously if it's indeed a different Hyrule, different Princess Zelda than in ALTTP/LA universe (even if well everything point at at LA sequel), maybe it could still be the same Link! The same than in LA remake. Who was send back in time (or the future)? (that would be why there's Gerudo, Mojo, Gorons etc). That would explain why Link is so OP, why he's helping everyone around and why he went directly to fight Ganon to save Zelda. But man the implications... that would be insane? And- how?! If it's really that I will blame the Wind fish. So wait in that case would that meant he could be the ancestor of alttp zelda if how is a few century before?! *faints* still think alba zelda being his descendant his more logical too... anyway-

Bonus

My 2 grain of salt theory on Tri is that if Link does have the triforce at the beginning of the game. Well his wish to protect hyrule/zelda could have summon Tri. But who knows.

In all cases the game is releasing soon! Cannot wait! And we might get seattle on all of this soon! Or not 💀 if the zelda team stays vague at usual… (Sahasrahla save us please! No seriously he would be a great indicator). I still think it might be a ALTTP/LA sequel (while being soft reboot but... well people did touch very interesting points... we'll see)

[ra404]

Just finished EoW! It was so much fun and i loved the dungeons and I'm so looking forward to any future entries that delve deeper into the ideas it came up with.

However, from a Linked Universe standpoint, it also gave me some... revelations.

Spoilers below!!

So, in the game, we have Null who creates echoes of monsters and so on, right? Notice how similar that is or the monsters in BoTW and ToTK, right? Black blood and everything.

So imagine if the big bad of LU isn't actually Dark Link, but Null?

It honestly sounds like such a cool concept. Like, while Null was seemingly deleted in the Downfall timeline, that doesn't mean that in the other two (three?) timelines he is gone too. It could genuinely lead to some cool stuff in my opinion. Like rifts not only through space, but also through time, that send echoes to destroy things or lead to a larger goal in mind.

I already know i'm using this idea for my fics, but just wanted to share this for anyone who might like it! Thanks for reading, and I do hope you enjoy the game as much as I did! I'll let you all know if and when I update my zelda fics because this came lit up my motivation by a LOT!!!!!

[thatoneastralpoe]

Okay, so first and foremost, I've said this before and I want to say it again, this project is in no way meant to be any sort of hate on Nintendo, BOTW, nor TOTK, both games are wonderful in their own right, and I love many other Nintendo games! So with that outta the way, let's get down to business!

[TW: Death, Apocalypse, famine, disease, bloodshed.]

Game Play Changes

Companion character

In every Zelda game (minus BOTW & TOTK), Link has a companion of some sort. Even in the newest title Echoes of Wisdom, Zelda gets a companion. I understand why they didn't in BOTW, but I'm a sucker for companions, so I decided that Wolf Link would be canon in this universe. Link wouldn't meet him right away, and he would be unable to speak, but I feel like he sorta fits with the theming overall.

Link would also be able to interact with Wolf Link, and other doggo's as well.

Malice

In this version of BOTW, Malice is going to do a bit more damage, than in the original game. Rather than just creating piles of Malice in the world, when Calamity Ganon shoots out the balls fo Malice, they would taint the land they hit, killing everything it touches and sleeping into the ground. It would also kill any animals/people while strengthening any monsters.

Heart Containers & Stamina Vessels

I would bring back heart pieces, but keep the stamina vessels. The way I would do this is by keeping the Stamina Vessels linked to the spirit orbs, but having heart pieces as a separate thing that would be found through exploration. Likely replacing many of the extra Koroks. (Yes, I would be lowering the amount of Koroks for the sake of mine, and everyone else's sanity) This would keep the heart piece system that every other Zelda game uses (minus BOTW & TOTK), while keeping a bit of the system that Nintendo had already put in.

Shrines & Mini Dungeons

Due to making heart pieces their own thing again, a lot of the shrines would become obsolete. So to make up for this, I would add in mini dungeons. These would kinda be like the one's in EoW, where the boss drops a heart piece, and would be mostly full of puzzles and traps, along with extra lore.

Main Story

My main gripe with the main story of Breath of the Wild is that, unlike every other Zelda game (minus TOTK) we don't really play through a connected story. Don't get me wrong, there is A story, but it's already happened, and the story that is in the present is disjointed and unconnected to itself.

I know that the story wasn't the "main" focus of the game, but I thought that being able to playing through the story was always better than just witnessing it. Plus even the memories which give 90% of the story kinda suck for their own reasons that I'll get into that in a different post.

I had a few ideas that I threw around, one of them being a civil war esq scenario that was inspired by Hyrule Warriors (which is cannon here), but I decided on a different idea.

The decided to look back at the apocalypse theming that Breath of the Wild has, and pulled from it, eventually deciding to use the Four horsemen of the Apocalypse as inspiration for the main story. With each race having to deal with one of the issues.

Disease with the Zora

Famine for the Gorons

Bloodshed in the Rito

And Conquest to the Gerudo

For the Zora, the Malice would've tainted the waters prior to the start of the game, and any Zora that was in the water at the time, or ate fish from the water ended up sick similar to how people are with Gloom and the mud in TOTK. This would've led to the quest in the area. Sidon would also be more involved in this quest, and would get a bit more character building, along with a few other characters. This would also introduce the fact that Zora can manipulate water.

In the Gorons, similar to the main game, Rudania would've been stomping around the mountain, but in this version, the machine would've blocked off the Gorons food source, and the Malice would've corrupted any other viable options. Again, this would lead to the main quest, and give more characters more time to develop.

The Rito would've been suffering from a constant barrage of attacks during their quest, one that had exhausted a many of their warriors, and killed more. The deaths would likely be more implied than explicitly told, but it would still be there. Tulin would also play a role in this quest than in cannon BOTW, this way we would actually know the kid exists, rather than him just popping out of thin air.

The Gerudo would be funding with the Hylian's (this may change for story reasons) due to reasons that will be explained in the post on this quest. During the quest we would get more lore about Riju, her mother, and the Gerudo in general.

I'm aware that conquest and bloodshed sound similar, but I will explain the differences in separate posts that I will dedicate to each race. This is because I don't want to load everything into one post, and I also want to give each part of the story the time it deserves.

I know that the way I've been talking about this makes it seem like there will be a dungeon order, but there wouldn't be. Link would still be able to go through the dungeons in any order they like, and it would even change the story in small ways when if they did.

Anyways, that's all for today folks! Hope you all have a wonderful day or night, and stay safe and hydrated y'all!

[skoulsons]

Finally playing EoW so have some Notes

I love the feel of it IMMEDIATELY. so different from botw and totk in an awesome way. Amazing. All of it. I’m three minutes in.

The music. I NEVER tire of TLOZ scores, especially the classics

The gameplay is great?? As I type this, I’m still Link, but the lack of a quiver or a limited number of bombs is interesting, but I don’t mind it. I know Tri only has so many… tris once you play as Zelda. But the gameplay is fluid, I love that you can jump and swing, and jump over enemy attacks and still get a stab in. Perfect

Ganon’s cape being beast ganon 😭 I LOVE DETAILS

Ganon’s lines sound like, at least within this canon, Link has been causing him trouble for a while?? Unless it’s just the whole reincarnation thing, but I have no context for this game yet, sooooo INCH RESTING

I just love Link’s character. Always protecting the princess. Even as he’s getting sucked away into the Void, he still sends an arrow in an ATTEMPT to save her. He didn’t even know if it’d work, and yet

“The swordsman in green” 🫵🏻😭 RESPECT HIS NAME

she looks so sad 😭😭😭

AW THE HYRULE GUARDS 😭😭 bowing to her is so cute, but their outfits are also so similar to the soldier one in totk. love that similarity

Breaking two pots in some girls home really is the epitome of Zelda games

a little white doggy that follows you 😭😭😭😭 too close to home, game

I’m feeling so much SS and WW in the music. It’s so gentle and feels so nostalgic

I am so relieved 😭😭 you are healthy and whole 😭😭😭

Interesting. I was under the impression for some reason that she knew Link? totk has been around too long, I’m forgetting the way that most tloz games used to go 💀

“Rifts have been appearing a long time” okok. ganon was not the source of them 🫡 so what came before him that caused them HMMMM. and also why was Zelda captured in the first place

disappearing children is laid very heavy into the dialogue which is interesting. WHYRE THEY TAKIN THE KIDS FIRST

LOCK HER UP IMMEDIATELY 🫵🏻

the rifts taking shape of creatures in the area makes sense. but why change color and completely mimic those in the throne room? is that for the player, or is there some sort of distinction in who is taken? or is it the people themselves just… turned bad, for lack of better phrasing? (Disproved later from the ruins bc Lefte is definitely in the still world)

Tri is very cute

The classic “get item” tone 😭😭😭

BORROWED 💀💀💀

Impa, my girl 😭😭

Not that gold mark on the map being the same exact one in botw and totk 💀

“Rifts have appeared for a very long time. Mending them was our job” Our ??? Whomst??? WHAT ARE YOU

the quest log is really built like totk 💀💀 please let us leave everything related to that game (I love it) behind with the next tloz game. Something like TP and WW and SS and OOT again!!

LINK HELPS WITH WEEDS 💀💀 that’s great

I’m so curious as to the actual story here. Why did ganon have Zelda? Why was Link going after ganon (or Zelda, too)? What was his goal? What’s Ganon’s goal?

WHO IS WE TRI. DO YOU HAVE A WHOLE SPECIES.

I think Ropes are my favorite echo 😭 there’s gotta be a plushie of them. right?

[enbyleighlines]

LoZ: The Quest to Find EoW Zelda a Girlfriend (name pending) prt 2

Spoilers under cut:

In my guest to find Zelda a gf, I turned my attention to the zora. I was hoping to see a zora princess, in a similar vein as Ruto and Mipha. And knowing this game has not just one, but two villages of zora, I thought my chances pretty high.

Unfortunately, my hopes were quickly dashed. There was no zora princess to speak of. In fact, there were only two named female zora characters: Chief Kushara and Inawa.

I immediately ruled Kushara out. For one, I think she’s meant to be quite a bit older than Zelda (even tho she acts rather childishly). And two, it seems that she and Dradd have some sort of rivals to lovers thing already going on.

Inawa, on the other hand…

I have no idea how old she is supposed to be. Nor does she play a big enough part in the story to gather much of a read on her personality. So because of this, I’m also going to give her a pass.

However, on my travels through the Jabul region, I did meditate a bit on OoT Zelda and Princess Ruto as a possible ship.

I mean, their fathers were friends, so they had to have known about one another, right? Maybe they even visited each other once in a while? And they have the sort of clashing personalities that I really like in my wlw ships…

Princess Zelda, wise and regal, always acting in the service of the greater good…

And Princess Ruto, bratty and pushy and a little self-absorbed…

Yeah, they would make a good ship. I can see Ruto getting on Zelda’s nerves to the point that Zelda’s perfect serene princess facade is put to the test. But then, the more time they spend together, the more they realize they have in common.

Anyway, I was very pleased with that thought process.

So now I’m on my way to the castle. I doubt I’ll find any potential girlfriends there, but that’s where the plot wants me to go. After that’s done, perhaps I will do a bit of exploring. There’s so much of the map I’ve yet to uncover.

Any tips on where I should start?

[unironicironic]

Just got done playing Echoes of Wisdom and head full many thoughts. Needless to say, I will be spoiling a couple things so feel free to skip this if you'd prefer go in blind, also very long so tldr is I love this game and can def recommend playing it yourself, just go in blind and discover everything yourself as that's so much better

I honestly thought it was really cute, not just because of the art style (Link's Awakening holds a special place to me so it was really nice seeing them reuse the style but polish it up a bit more) but the characters and their interactions with eachother and Zelda. Each character felt rather fleshed out, and I'd often get a good chuckle or two from the dialogue.

And it was pretty nice to see it still being open world while having a linear story. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED BotW and TotK, still do. But I can absolutely see why folks weren't a fan of how the story played out, with how alot was told via memories but you still got some from current events. But with EoW they kept the story happening in present, keeping the exploration open and letting you still take on everything at your own pace, look around as you please.

On a similar note, I really liked there being full on dungeons with puzzles again. And they were perfectly balanced, not too hard but not too simple, just right. Some dungeons admittedly were a little trickier for me, but honestly I'm happy with that. I want to be struggling to figure dungeons out, instead of just breeze right on through, it makes it that much more satisfying.

The bosses were, for the most part, pretty easy. Keeping with usual Zelda fashion, there'd often be something that clues you in to whatever you gotta do to defeat them, although there is a couple that it takes a bit more than a quick glance to figure out (like that one side quest boss, I forgot the name but that cloud dude, I had to look it up and I would've never guessed you'd have to corner it and send arrows flying to it's eye) but that's perfectly fine because again, a good challenge is always nice.

Speaking of bosses, the final boss. While I'm glad we got a new villain (who I honestly LOVED as a villain but I'll touch back on that), it was a bit easier than I expected? I was thinking it would be harder, I mean I still struggled a little (lost a couple fairies and was running out of smoothies but I was locked in nonetheless) but after I had defeated it I was just there like "damn, that's it?"

But, Null. We finally got a new villain, I was worried it was Ganon again but I was wrong. I know others may not share the same sentiment, but I really liked Null as an antagonist. It wasn't all cynical, boisterous or anything like other villains. But calm, collected. And it actually felt like a threat, once it got ahold of the piece of the triforce and started spreading those chasms all over. That's something I've always loved in games, when the villain doesn't feel like just another obstacle but a real threat to those in the game.

And then of course, the soundtrack. As always, the soundtrack was a banger. I really loved how as time went on and you'd progress further, eventually when you'd step out into the world again, it'd start with a little bit of Zelda's lullaby and then get back to the usual overworld theme. And then when you battle puppet Zelda and Null, there's motifs of Zelda's lullaby but slightly, distorted for lack of a better word and I adored that.

I don't think I really have any gripes, but I may eventually think of something after thinking on it more

[saber-kite]

Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom First Play (Spoilers)

Needless to say, I have set aside my playing of Tears of the Kingdom and stared on Echoes of Wisdom.

Please be careful reading this post because I may have spoilery info. I have no filter, lol.

My screenshot of the opening title. I wanted to cry.

I got my game the day after the release. The place I ordered it from usually ships early so it'll arrive on release day itself (happened with my Legends Arceus) but there was a delay. It sucked because I had a lot of things to do for an event I had so I couldn't find time to play. But I did it anyway and started and oh boy.

I never played Link's Awakening, and if you missed me saying it, Breath of the Wild was my first ever Legend of Zelda game. The other game I tried was Minish Cap, which is my only top down, 2D LOZ experience. But it's interesting to note that my limited experience has helped in playing the game because it has given me an idea of the game's general mechanics. The tutorial stage of EoW isn't as big as BotW/TotK, and til now I'm still struggling to remember the buttons.

As of this post, I'm on my way to Jabul Waters after having finished the Gerudo region. I still have some side quests there and maybe a couple of undiscovered treasures and heart pieces, but I'm happy to leave those for the moment.

Currently have 7 hearts, my energy is at level 2, Tri is at level 3.

ANYWAY some thoughts:

It was cool to start the game off as Link. Later I find out that in this game is on the 'Zelda doesn't know Link" line, rather than the "Link and Zelda have known each other since childhood" storyline.

That moment when you first control Zelda. Look, this may be my 4th LoZ but knowing this is the first game with ZELDA as the actual main character feels life-changing.

Link being known as "the swordsman" until Zelda reached his home village.

Can I just say that I LOVE the STAMP GUY?! It's such a Japanese thing to add to this game (I mean, it is a Japanese game but you know what I mean) and appeals to me as someone who went around Tokyo and Osaka looking for train stamps.

I am so amused at the idea of Zelda going after Link and how Link is not really Link, particularly since this is the next game after Tears of the Kingdom and there was a similar component there.

I have more thoughts but it's a mess right now. But I'm really enjoying this game and looking forward to finishing it. It's open-worldish in a way that places aren't blocked off or dependent on your progress.

Some screenshots

I'm really loving this game.

[aikoiya]

Oh, no! I'm loving all this info! It's so helpful!

I really like Port Bordemer, but I also really like Marina Kothière! Maybe I can have the actual settlement be Port Bordemer, but as it expands, it also moves a bit onto land, causing the pier area to become Marina Kothière? And I love the sound of Baie Zorana, too! Also... now that I think about it! I think I could easily make the Zora River an extention of the Rutala River in the Wild series! They are literally right next to each other! I could also go with Le Mignoponga for Laynayru Wetlands if that doesn't sound too terribly ridiculous? But Limnanthes is also a very cool name that feels really fitting! Maybe name a really important landmark in the village that? I can definitely work with all this!

But, yes! A combo map of Hyrule is essentially what I'm thinking of! I very much enjoy thinking about how Hyrule could look when it's allowed to flourish & part of that is building the settlements up & expanding them to feel more... immerssive!

I just keep thinking about other games where they also have settlements & some of them just feel so much more expansive! Like, Assassin's Creed had way bigger settlements with more people & the characters were almost always able parkour around in a similar way to Wild Link, but at the same time, they also utilized the loading different areas thing, which may be part of why the Wild series' settlements felt so small? Like, it's very possible that one downside to having such an open world that doesn't really utilize loadscreens for the overworld is that it has to keep more information running at once?

I've actually been workshopping a map for it! You can see it if you want! 😁

I'm actually of the opinion that a large number of the ruined settlements in the Wild series were likely intercultural in a way. Goponga, like I've mentioned before, would've, in my mind, originally been founded by River Zora & eventually became a Zora/Human settlement based partly on AoC! Similarly, I think that Tabantha was a Rito/Human settlement, & Shadow Hamlet a Goron/Human settlement! I've also thought up, like, 2 Gerudo/Human settlements & placed 1 in the Gerudo Region upon the Highlands in Risoka Snowfield which Patricia's guard says "rests upon the shoulders of the Eighth Heroine."

I think that I've also pinpointed a number of the locations of places in other games such as Ordon Village, Jabul Waters, the sight of the castle in Minish Cap & LttP/LBW/EoW, Snowpeak Ruins & the Hidden Village in Twilight Princess! So much!

But, I specifically think that the ones in the actual games were originally in those locations, but at the elevation of the Depths! Because I have this memory of the Deku Tree having said that the reason why he was having the Koroks plant seeds in Wind Waker was specifically with the intent to rebuild the land! And in TotK, Rock Salt is specifically noted to be "Crystallized salt from the ancient sea" & unless I'm falling into the pit of confirmation bias, I think that confirms that BotW & TotK takes place after WW, which, I believe is showcased by the map in the Forgotten Temple having more water in Rauru's era than it did in Wild & Flora's!!

I gotta tell ya. It's tough being inside this head because it almost never stops running.

And, sorry, you gotta be careful with me or you WILL activate my unskippable dialogue! 😅

Also, I just learned that the St. Lawrence River, near the US-Canadian border, is also called Fleuve Saint-Laurent! Who'd have thought!?

And oh my gosh!! I don't know if I've told you this already, but holy cow! 🤩 A River Zora said, "Welcome to the River Zora Village, where friendly hellos & the good times flow!" The reason why I'm currently losing my mind is because one of the most well-known Louisiana phrases is "let the good times roll." The meaning being a couple of things from 'it's time for people to start having fun' to 'live fully' & might also be interpreted as 'let things that are going well, proceed.' And it's sometimes spoken as, "Laissez les bons temps rouler."

So, now I'm basically just telling myself that the whole Bayou Zora idea I have is true.

Hi, sorry if this is a bit rude. 😅 I guess that I was just wondering. How would Jabul Waters, Zora Cove, & Crossflows Plaza be named in French?

I'm trying to give Jabul Waters an interesting name that works to go with my hc & I came up with "Jabuleaux." And Google Translate tells me that Crossflows Plaza would be Place des Flux Croisés. And, I'm seeing that Anse is the term to refer to a cove &, if that's true, then would Zora Cove be Zoranse? At the same time, somewhere else, it said that Anse actually means beach.

And, I believe that a town by a swamp would have cher, quier, bren, brin, or Hor- in it?

I'm sorry if this is weird... 😅

Hi! Don't worry it's not rude or weird at all! I offered to help and I'm happy to do so :D

Did you check the official French translations? I had a surprisingly hard time finding the French version of the map online so here's a screenshot I took myself:

Jabul Waters = Eaux de Jabule (this one only appears when I zoom out)

Zora Cove = Baie Zora

Crossflows Plaza = Place de l'Estuaire

In case you didn't know the Zelda Wiki often lists names for places or characters in various languages in the "Nomenclature" section of its pages. It's very helpful especially if you're searching for the original Japanese names. If we look at at the different names for Crossflows Plaza we can see that a literal translation from Japanese would be something like "Exchanging Place". I checked the Jisho dictionary and it seems to be an accurate translation, though "Place for Cultural Exchanges" would be more meaningful.

It's not exactly a good name in English so it makes sense that the localization team would come up with something like Crossflows Plaza instead, which in my opinion does a very good job of stating that this is both the place where the river meets the sea and where the two Zora tribes traditionally meet each other.

Other European languages all settled for variations of "Estuary Plaza" ("Place de l'Estuaire" in French), which is fine but looses the "cultural exchanges" aspect of both the original name and the English translation.

I've been trying to come up with a French translation of "Crossflows Plaza" but it's not that easy. To me "Place des Flots Croisés" or "Place Flots-Croisés" would sound better than "Place des Flux Croisés", but I still find it a bit weird ("flot" meaning flow, tide or stream). "La Croisée des Flots" is another option if you agree to get rid of Plaza/Place (it means "the intersection/junction of streams"), but I don't think it works very well as a name.

You could also mix words to create a name the same way it was done in English, something like "Place Croiseaux" (croiser/cross + eau/waters). If any of my French speaking followers is feeling inspired, please share your ideas! :)

(I just thought of "Place Cruciflot" and found it too funny not to mention 😆 maybe it sounds too much like crucifix)

In French we also have the word "confluence" that has the exact same meaning as it does in English: either the meeting of two rivers or a gathering of some kind. So to me the most obvious translation would be something like "Place des Confluences" or maybe "Place Confluence", as it would preserve the dual meaning, but it's not very fancy or creative. Maybe we could simply change the spelling to something like Place Konfluans, the same way "Village Côtier" (Seaside Village) is spelled "Village Kothié" (Seesyde Village). But it doesn't look like a French word anymore so I'm not sure that's something you'd like.

As for Jabuleaux, it can work but I prefer the official translation "Eaux de Jabule". Same thing for Zoranse, we would say "Anse Zora" or "Anse des Zora". The official French translation is "Baie Zora" (Zora Bay), which I think is more appropriate given the size of the sea inlet (in my understanding an anse/cove is a small baie/bay and isn't very deep). I think maybe it should have been bay in English as well instead of cove, but I might be wrong! Also I believe "anse" isn't used as often as "baie" and might be confusing for most people, so I would go with "Baie Zora".

I'm not sure where you found this information about swamps and town names? I didn't find anything to confirm it but I might not have looked in the right places.

French towns are often ancient and their names can derive from other languages such as Celtic, Occitan, Flemish, or regional dialects, so that's a very difficult question and I'm not sure I can give you a satisfying answer ^^

I still did a little search and found an Old French word for swamp, "palud" or "palu", that still appears in some town names such as La Palud-sur-Verdon, Saint-Pierre-la-Palud, Lapalud, etc. (today we say "marais" or "marécage"). You might be right about "bren", it could be something like muddy in Gallic.

There's also "vign" or "mign" (from Celtic), as in Mignéville or Lévignac, or l'Île de Migneaux on the Seine river (this one's in my city!).

Near where I grew up is a town named Hazebrouck, it literally means "hare swamp" (brouck/broek = swamp in Flemish). For a bit more French flavor you could maybe use -broucq or -breucq instead of -brouck.

I think the vast majority of French people have no clue about all of that (I didn't except for the last one and it's more Flemish than French), so I'd say don't oversweat it ;)

And that's all! I hope you'll find this helpful ^^

[septimus-heap]

So this au is technically set several hundred years after canon but like. If canon didn't happen and no one took over the castle and all that. Its just. Canon but shifted forward a lot. The wizard tower exists but the amount of wizards got too much for it fairly quickly so it's basically Just wizard apartments now and nothing else. The eow doesn't live there they live wherever they choose <3 this is mostly bc some past eow fucked up and blew up most of the eow rooms and it just. Got tidied and used as extra library space. The amulet is a hell of a lot more powerful than in canon bc it's had an extra few hundred/thousand years of magyk absorbed into it. The castle is a lot bigger and The Place To Go to learn magyk. Domdaniel didn't make an Army of child soldiers because the castle was just too against him to do that but there is a ya-equivalent i just don't know what it is yet. Septimus isn't actually related to the heaps in this au because I genuinely cannot think of a reason he wouldn't be living with his parents if smth similar to canon happened in this day and age. Sep didn't end up with marcia right after they got back from aunt zeldas bc offering an apprenticeship isn't rlly. The same as canon. He'd still have to have somewhere else to live and also he's just too young

Thinking abt modern aus

[aikoiya]

Thank you so much!! I try! I really do! 😁 But then, I also enjoy it, so, ya know. 😆

I really like thinking about this & I'm glad that, if nothing else, I've given you some food for thought.

Now that you mention it, Thundra being Castor Wilds is a pretty interesting possibility. 🤔

I can understand your perspective & it's no less plausible than mine. Though, I will say that, for the nostalgia thing, I remember hearing that, part of the reason was that they thought they'd explored everything they could in as a unique a way as they thought they could, but that EoW showed them that the classic formula still had so stuff they could play with.

Huh... I wasn't aware of the sabaku pun! Cool! I like that, but yes, you're right. It could be a different location. Though, I actually think I knew about the Tabanta thing, but I still find it neat!

---

I'll be honest, I actually had a number of issues with TotK's story myself, but then I started watching analysis on the game & the character's motives from a more Japanese perspective &, when I did, things finally started to make a degree of sense.

For those living in the other timelines at the time of the merge, what happened was most likely something similar to what happened with the flood. The gods told those living in those timelines' Hyrules to scale to the mountain summits & wait. They did it before, why not again?

As for what they'd know? Myth & legend. Little knowledge of what truly happened, but then again. Not long ago, IRL we also believed that Sparta was a mythical, made-up city, but then the actual city was uncovered. Sometimes, things are just forgotten & then found again. It happens & yes, it's sad & maybe sometimes it makes things feel like it was all pointless, but that doesn't mean that it is.

So, even though it may seem that combining the timelines erases any consequences of Time dying, I actually wouldn't really say as such. Those things still happened. And, if I were to say anything, it's likely because of the merge that the Wild Era has so few references to the past. Because it would cause there to be 3 different histories with inconsistent narratives, which would likely be why the Era of Myth would be called as such.

Also, by this point, it's likely been approaching 50,000 years since SS... Like, I dunno, it just seems like that's a heckton of time, ya know?

Though, I guess that I feel like "just" is a bit of a stretch. Like, in my mind, the gods of Hyrule aren't all-powerful. They have limits to what they can do, so if they wanna do something as big as merging timelines, I think it would take literal millennia of planning & organizing & making sure that things are just so. As such, I'd be surprised if there wasn't some huge reason for this.

In my mind, the timelines still exist, but they eventually merge back together later down the line. Like, the pasts of those timelines don't just disappear. More so, it's like if a river divides into 2 before joining again somewhere else. There was still a point when they were separate, it's just isn't now. But don't take this as me trying to convince you of anything. I'm just a rachet-jaw (means I talk a lot) & I like chattering about my hyperfixations & explaining things. I understand that my takes are most likely pretty confusing, too, so I don't mind criticism, either! 😆

For the dragons, I actually really didn't like their designs. I preferred how they designed the Light Dragon, though I'd have liked it better if she'd had a more leonnine tail.

And, the dragons could very well be a reference to Skyward Sword, but I never thought that they were literally the dragons from then. A) They never talked. B) The element of the blue dragon was wrong as well.

For Rauru as the first king of Hyrule, my thoughts are that he didn't found Hyrule, but more so, he re-founded it unknowingly, likely naming it after the stories he heard from the locals of an ancient & prosperous kingdom of light. It wouldn't be the first time that a place was named after a legend in hopes of bringing about prosperity.

And, I actually think that it's heavily implied that before Rauru, Hyrule was unnamed & the tribes were at war. One thing I remember Ganondorf saying in the Japanese version was that he wished to return the world to how it was meant to be. But this would indicate that before Rauru, the land & its people were at war. Possibly for a very long time. If so, then if my theory is correct, then it would mean that the main populous of the land when the merge took place would've been the descendants of the Great Islanders of WW. However, if you recall, the islands ran in an acephalous manner, meaning without a single ruling head or centralized government. So, the citizens of the Downfall & Child Timelines would've been, in many ways, refugees of 2 destroyed worlds. Refugees that would begin to integrate into this post flood world that had only been called the Great Sea, but was now no longer a sea. A land that had no princess, because the princess had left to found a new land. It is why Sonia was referred to as a priestess rather than a princess before she married Rauru. Because the Royal Family had been dissolved. Much like how it was in BotW. And, to be fair, Zelda 2 was also a post-apocalyptic time.

Then, I think that Ganondorf also mentions that Rauru & Mineru were the only surviving Zonai... Which... yeah, that makes the fact that he causes their deaths even more effed up because he essentially just committed genocide...

And, it really isn't all that odd for magical sky beings to appear & be thought of as close to the gods or even gods themselves only to never be seen or heard of again. The Occa & the Minish for a couple. In my mind, the Zonai were just another race of people who lived in the sky. And, keep in mind that Hyrule has the same constellations as Earth & it's been said that Hyrule's world is an alternate earth where magic exists. In such a case, we have really & truly seen nothing as far as their world goes.

Like, absolutely nothing. Because BotW's Hyrule was very specifically based on the creator's hometown of Kyoto, so if this information follows, then this is all that we really know about Hyrule's world:

(Also, sorry about that. Vendettas is just an LU-style nickname I thought up for TotK's Ganondorf. Just ignore it.)

So, I guess that when I think about it that way, it's actually much more feasible to me.

Which is another huge thing I wanna see from Nintendo: remasters or sequels to Zelda 1-2 & the Oracle games! All we ever see is Hyrule! Show me some more places outside of that, Nintendo! Let's go back to these really super old places & retell those stories in a new style! Let's hear more about places outside of Hyrule! Let's hear about how Labrynna & Holidrum are doing! Let's learn about other kingdoms & their relation with Hyrule! Let's bring this story to the world stage!! We have an entire world to explore & all they've been playing with is that tiny, piddly little speck???

But going back a bit, I remember that Zelda inherited both Rauru's Light & Sonia's Time magic. In fact, she even said as such. So, I am very much under the impression that, yes, Zelda is their dependent, we just never hear about Rauru & Sonia's child, which is one of my only major issues with the game. As for Zelda's stone changing... Yeah? The stones themselves never had elements to them. They're blank power modifiers that take on the attributes of their wielder. You see it happen twice in the game with Zelda turning Rauru's Light Stone into a Time Stone & then Ganondorf takes Sonia's Time Stone & turns it into a Dark Stone.

And, I actually know a thing or 2 as to why Ganondorf got so much more from the stone than the others. And it has to do with a Japanese concept of how rancor & something known as On'nen works.

You should really look up QuestWithAaron & watch some of his Zelda analysis videos, they're really interesting because he dives in super deep into the original Japanese translations & even brings into perspective the nuances & cultural significances of things.

For one, that Demise & Ganondorf aren't literal demons. Not in a western sense. They're much more analogous to the Japanese concepts of Akuma, which are entities of negative karma born from overwhelming hatred. They are even well-known for placing the sort of curses that Demise did.

It turns out that there's a lot of Buddhist & Shintoist influence on the Zelda series as a whole & once you know this, you find it difficult not to see it.

On'nen is essentially what Malice was in the previous game & Shoki is what Gloom is, but a more accurate term for it would've been Miasma as it goes beyond simply being a corruptive force & into being not dissimilar to pollution or a plague (which is most likely why they went with Gloom instead considering the event that took place around when it came out). On'nen is rancor. It is an overwhelming & enduring hatred & resentment that can even be carried through multiple lives. And it isn't just some feeling, but can become a legitimately corrupting force. In a lot of ways, it's what allows for the existence of death curses. So, I think that due to the way that the stones work, which the Japanese version says that the stones very specifically double the power of the individual. But, the thing is that TotK Ganondorf's power is directly connected to his resentment & hatred. So, if this is the case, what happens when his resentment grows? Well, so too does his Shoki, which is why it's so bad. And, in fact, Shoki is just a more concentrated form of On'nen, meaning that Gloom is just a more concentrated form of Malice. And remember that Gloom didn't just decay the Master Sword, it also decays all the weapons in Hyrule, which itself actually connects the game back to BotW, because that right there is the reason for the durability in the games to begin with! The reason that all the weapons would shatter so quickly in both games is very specifically because Ganondorf's hate-magic was saturated all over the place & causing the weapons to be corroded. But knowing this, we now have a reason as to why the Master Sword was breaking! Fi wasn't weaker, Ganondorf just found the perfect way to combat her!

And, I actually think that we did sort of see something connected to the Zonai in a previous game. Or, more so, we say something they once were.

And, this one might be a bit controversial if goofy, but I think that they are, essentially, evolved remlits. 😆

But, at the end of the day, it's well within your right to have not enjoyed TotK's story or the Zonai. You stick with whatever hc you like most or think is most plausible! I'm just the weirdo who enjoys trying to fit things together regardless of whether Aonuma cares or not. Sure, he's the authority on it, but at the same time, this is just me having fun! 😁

---

Regardless, my many many thanks for all your help!

This has been so very fun & I loved talking & speculating! And I'll definitely be using some of your suggestions, though before that, what do you think of a portmanteau of Croisés & Confluances? It'd probably sound like gibberish, huh? 😅

I was also thinking of naming things in the Zora area that are named after sages as Saint. So, Mipha Court would eventually become Cour Saint Mipha?

But, I gotta say... I would love to see a Zelda spin-off game where you play as a Sea Zora & you go around the ocean to different Zora settlements where we could see more of their culture independent of Hyrule. Like, I imagine them curing bull kelp, then twining them together to make rope. Or that settlements tend to either be close to the surface, on land, or near hydrothermal vents & that, because of this, cooking tends to be a more communal thing.

If not that, I'd like to see some more dark games like OoT & MM someday.

Like, hoy vey, dude! The Dead Hand was seriously messed up, but it gives so much food for thought!

But, sorry! Went off on a tangent! I've enjoyed hearing your thoughts, too! It's really interesting to think about all this! 😁

Hi, sorry if this is a bit rude. 😅 I guess that I was just wondering. How would Jabul Waters, Zora Cove, & Crossflows Plaza be named in French?

I'm trying to give Jabul Waters an interesting name that works to go with my hc & I came up with "Jabuleaux." And Google Translate tells me that Crossflows Plaza would be Place des Flux Croisés. And, I'm seeing that Anse is the term to refer to a cove &, if that's true, then would Zora Cove be Zoranse? At the same time, somewhere else, it said that Anse actually means beach.

And, I believe that a town by a swamp would have cher, quier, bren, brin, or Hor- in it?

I'm sorry if this is weird... 😅

Hi! Don't worry it's not rude or weird at all! I offered to help and I'm happy to do so :D

Did you check the official French translations? I had a surprisingly hard time finding the French version of the map online so here's a screenshot I took myself:

Jabul Waters = Eaux de Jabule (this one only appears when I zoom out)

Zora Cove = Baie Zora

Crossflows Plaza = Place de l'Estuaire

In case you didn't know the Zelda Wiki often lists names for places or characters in various languages in the "Nomenclature" section of its pages. It's very helpful especially if you're searching for the original Japanese names. If we look at at the different names for Crossflows Plaza we can see that a literal translation from Japanese would be something like "Exchanging Place". I checked the Jisho dictionary and it seems to be an accurate translation, though "Place for Cultural Exchanges" would be more meaningful.

It's not exactly a good name in English so it makes sense that the localization team would come up with something like Crossflows Plaza instead, which in my opinion does a very good job of stating that this is both the place where the river meets the sea and where the two Zora tribes traditionally meet each other.

Other European languages all settled for variations of "Estuary Plaza" ("Place de l'Estuaire" in French), which is fine but looses the "cultural exchanges" aspect of both the original name and the English translation.

I've been trying to come up with a French translation of "Crossflows Plaza" but it's not that easy. To me "Place des Flots Croisés" or "Place Flots-Croisés" would sound better than "Place des Flux Croisés", but I still find it a bit weird ("flot" meaning flow, tide or stream). "La Croisée des Flots" is another option if you agree to get rid of Plaza/Place (it means "the intersection/junction of streams"), but I don't think it works very well as a name.

You could also mix words to create a name the same way it was done in English, something like "Place Croiseaux" (croiser/cross + eau/waters). If any of my French speaking followers is feeling inspired, please share your ideas! :)

(I just thought of "Place Cruciflot" and found it too funny not to mention 😆 maybe it sounds too much like crucifix)

In French we also have the word "confluence" that has the exact same meaning as it does in English: either the meeting of two rivers or a gathering of some kind. So to me the most obvious translation would be something like "Place des Confluences" or maybe "Place Confluence", as it would preserve the dual meaning, but it's not very fancy or creative. Maybe we could simply change the spelling to something like Place Konfluans, the same way "Village Côtier" (Seaside Village) is spelled "Village Kothié" (Seesyde Village). But it doesn't look like a French word anymore so I'm not sure that's something you'd like.

As for Jabuleaux, it can work but I prefer the official translation "Eaux de Jabule". Same thing for Zoranse, we would say "Anse Zora" or "Anse des Zora". The official French translation is "Baie Zora" (Zora Bay), which I think is more appropriate given the size of the sea inlet (in my understanding an anse/cove is a small baie/bay and isn't very deep). I think maybe it should have been bay in English as well instead of cove, but I might be wrong! Also I believe "anse" isn't used as often as "baie" and might be confusing for most people, so I would go with "Baie Zora".

I'm not sure where you found this information about swamps and town names? I didn't find anything to confirm it but I might not have looked in the right places.

French towns are often ancient and their names can derive from other languages such as Celtic, Occitan, Flemish, or regional dialects, so that's a very difficult question and I'm not sure I can give you a satisfying answer ^^

I still did a little search and found an Old French word for swamp, "palud" or "palu", that still appears in some town names such as La Palud-sur-Verdon, Saint-Pierre-la-Palud, Lapalud, etc. (today we say "marais" or "marécage"). You might be right about "bren", it could be something like muddy in Gallic.

There's also "vign" or "mign" (from Celtic), as in Mignéville or Lévignac, or l'Île de Migneaux on the Seine river (this one's in my city!).

Near where I grew up is a town named Hazebrouck, it literally means "hare swamp" (brouck/broek = swamp in Flemish). For a bit more French flavor you could maybe use -broucq or -breucq instead of -brouck.

I think the vast majority of French people have no clue about all of that (I didn't except for the last one and it's more Flemish than French), so I'd say don't oversweat it ;)

And that's all! I hope you'll find this helpful ^^