#LOZ: OoT

[st-hedge]

Old doodle repost 🥰

[batrogers]

They're talking shit about you, by the way.

....

Wanted to draw my ideas for Ocarina of Time Zelda.

Will be using basically the same design for my own Link's Meet thing, but I wanted to put her next to LU Time because it made checking her height and build easier because I write her as a trans woman <3

Shaping pieces under your skirts ftw, and Time in something that's not armour or underwear...

[transskywardsword]

link: sheik why dont you have a boyfriend

sheik:... because im on the run from a tyrannical usurper king?

link: hm.

link: okay why dont you have a secret boyfriend

link:

link: i could be your secret boyfriend

[imaginethezeldaverse]

Greetings, Bard! Actually really worried to send this to you. I really like your works! You are one of small amount of people, who writes for gorons, and I really love your work! I was crying, while reading Daruk x sick!reader. Thank you very much for that!

Actually, if it's doesn't bother you too much, you have some time and wish to write. Then may I request Daruk x reader. Where reader helps Daruk wash his hair. This man has beautiful hair. And I don't know why, but I feel like he will be like cloud after washing them. And maybe some fluff??

Thank you very much for your work again!

So I got this request more than once and there’s something about washing someone else’s hair that signifies such a deep level of love and care for the person having their hair washed. I’d honestly be happy to write this for all three of our Goron faves.

Darunia

While grateful to you for being considerate of his jagged mop, the chief isn’t exactly keen on washing his hair too often. He mentions something about the earth of Death Mountain enriching his hair and building character - but you can tell with the way that he’s not cross his arms that he’s more or less bluffing. Set your hands on your hips and give him a look of ‘you can’t lie to me’, and he’ll eventually relent, being unable to resist your determined look.

Grabbing some well water from Kakariko Village, you make your way back up with it and into Goron City where you start by dunking a bowlful over Darunia’s head. The Goron chief sits impatiently with his legs crossed as you get to lathering at his scalp. You’re mindful to hold your tongue as you scrub the ash from his stony white pointed locks, slowly causing them to lose their angular shape as the water clears out all the impurities in his hair. He chooses not to say much as you work, though his arms are fully crossed over his chest and his knee is tapping steadily into the ground. You can’t help but smile though, despite his reluctant nature, he was amenable pretty quickly to your offer and you internally gave him brownie points for not being a total sourpuss. When you finish, you move to get a towel, but he stops you. A rough shake of his head has his drenched hair immediately springing back into their sharper ends, though noticeably whiter. You gawk in surprise, but a hand covering the top of your head breaks your thoughts. His smirk is small, but it’s a genuine Darunia smile - and he gives you his thanks to go along with it.

Daruk

Over the moon that you’d offer to do something so nice for him!

He wastes no time taking you over to the hot springs on the outskirts of the city, finding the biggest one so you both can comfortable relax. Daruk looks the most peaceful you’ve ever seen him: content smile, hands resting neatly in his lap, so opposite from the boisterous and stand tall pride that personified him. As you poured the warm water over his head and began sudsing up his hair, you were genuinely surprised his hair was incredibly soft already. This made you giggle, having heard so many people mention his beard and hair being comparable to clouds. Gently your fingers weaved through his long white locks, washing away all of the ash and dirt that he rolled through on a daily basis. The Goron champion hummed low in enjoyment, your fingers providing a comfort he’d never felt before. Being a sought after name in Goron City had Daruk so ready to handle any situation that he often what it was like not to have much to think about.

“I could get used to this” he sighs relaxedly. His eyes are fully closed now, and you take this opportunity to come around to his beard. Being this close to his face makes you a tad nervous because of the proximity, but his slacken posture eases your apprehension. Your fingertips scrub into his facial hair, the soap lathering in bunches and truly shaping him up to look more like a cloud than ever. When you reach his cheeks, a brief wave of affection washes over you. You hold his face for only a few seconds, and though he does not notice that you’ve stopped, you commit to memory the calm of that has completely engulfed him. At the end of your washing, you carefully doused his head in more warm spring water, making sure to wring out the excess at the ends of his hair and beard. The towel that you brought with you, now cozy from the heat of the springs, was brought to his face and head to dry off any remaining water.

When you were finally finished, you lent him the biggest smile you could muster. The white of his mane looked pristine and even he seem impressed as his large hand felt the softness he touched. Without missing a beat, you were scooped up in his giant arms, squeezed affectionately to his chest. “I feel better than ever!” roared Daruk, swinging you in his hold before slowly easing you away from him. His grin was about as jovial as it gets, “I owe ya one, sweetheart,” he said, the appreciation warm on his tongue. He held you close once more, opting for a more tender hug now as he softly murmured, “Thank you.”

Yunobo

This Goron is instantly touched that you’d be willing to do something so sweet.

Taking a page out Daruk’s book, he offers to sit with you at the nearby hot springs. Yunobo doesn’t have a tremendous amount of hair, but the flowy swirl of white on his head is pretty soft to the touch; this allows you to instead have the idea of giving his head a nice massage! Scratching gently at his scalp once you’ve lathered up his hair, you knead carefully into the skin of his head. Your fingertips squeeze and release gently in intervals, slowly releasing any tension Yunobo had locked at his head. The sigh he lets out is one of complete comfort, and it makes your heart thump hearing him sound so relaxed. Using your palms, you carefully scoop at his neck, applying gentle pressure and moving into slow, deliberate strokes in order to soften the muscles there. As you massage and compress across his entire head, you can see Yunobo struggling to stay awake from your ministrations. A gentle giggle escapes you, arms coming around his shoulders as you lean on his rocky back from behind, “Don’t drift off just yet, sleepyhead, I gotta dry you off.”

He chuckles with some embarrassment after waking back up, “S-Sorry! I’m just so relaxed, y’know? Who’d a thunk getting your head rubbed felt this good, goro?” It’s your turn to laugh as you tell him you’re happy to have helped him loosen up a bit. You rinse the remaining soap from his head before completely patting him dry, the warmth of the towel feeling good on both his head and your hands. At the signal of your completion, Yunobo lets out a generous yawn.

“I’m ready for a nap now,” he says, voice laced with sleepy tones. Before you can even respond, he sweeps you into his arms bridal style, carrying you off back to the city. You ask him in a stammer where you’re both going and he raises an eyebrow in slight confusion, “We’re gonna take a nap, like I said, goro,” he smiles down at you, “You don’t think you deserve some rest too?” You stay silent at his question, choosing your response to instead be your shuffle of comfort into his arms. He pulls you a little closer to his chest, pressing a kiss to your forehead, “Thanks for doing somethin’ so nice for me.”

You find yourself getting sleepy with the warmth that radiates from him, but you whisper out how much of a pleasure it was as you look forward to falling asleep in his embrace soon enough.

[acquaintedwithrask]

I got my first tattoo today :)

I remember when we bought the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as a kid.  It was for my mom’s birthday in December, only maybe a year after we’d gotten the N64-- our first console-- for Christmas.  We were so excited to give it to her and to play it because the game looked AMAZING.  And it was.  There were many, many hours on the couch in our basement with my brother, mom, and I playing the game by trading off turns and helping each other using the guidebook.

My mom passed far too early and young from cancer in 2015.  My brother got a tattoo on his arm with a quote that reminds him of her, and I wanted something to commemorate her too.  I had the idea of the musical staff from the game, and I asked my brother what song might have been her favorite.  “I’m not sure, but I do remember she’d play Epona’s Song a lot to get Epona... sometimes just to ride her like 3 feet, but she loved that horse”.

This made sense-- mom was always a horse lover, as she’d ridden when she was a girl, and while she wouldn’t say she was an artist, she could draw a few things and one of them were horses.  (I wish I still had a drawing of hers; I have no idea why I never kept one.  No-- I know why-- because when you’re growing up, you think that certain things will always be around forever, that your mom will always be there to draw a horse when you request it, and because when you’re in your late 20′s and your mom’s been diagnosed, you’re too busy trying to deny it and hoping it will pass, to think about asking her to draw you a horse at least one more time.)

I still can’t draw horses very well, but thankfully this tattoo artist can.  She’s a LoZ fan herself, and she CRUSHED it.  (If you’re in central Ohio, check out Tattoo Saga, highly recommend; DM me if you want more info!)

The stippling is so cool, and the tiny details in Epona are so incredible.  I think mom would approve.

[thatawkwardsamurai]

Ocarina of Time Fanart

An ode to on of my comfort games, forever my brainrot

anyways I thought they were neat and never do backgrounds, sooo I thought I’d experiment

[divineprank]

[beckowen18]

[vtuber-boostin]

🔴 Trash_Mouse__ : The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 🔴

Onwards To Adulthood! | OOT | !links !discord !kofi !throne

[st-hedge]

Stop fucking flirting

[batrogers]

So, which Links pay their taxes, for real?

This is a somewhat fast and loose approximation of my recall of historical taxes, who paid them (or didn’t) and how, how they were collected and from whom, and what kind of taxation was even possible under different governments. This is pulled from a couple decades of study into historical society and books I’ve read on feudalism, the social duties of knights, and government structure and instability in both medieval Europe and the Ottoman Empire, among others.

Notes on organization:

1. While this is a response to a Linked Universe post, I am going per game not per Link because a few games must be split. The implications about taxes are drastically different between LttP & LbW, and Minish Cap & FSA. I also wished to include Spirit Tracks bc it’s fun. I am not linking the inspiring post, because I don't believe in attacking people for a ten minute list just because it twigged my history brain.

2. I am excluding games in which Link is not implied to be a tax-paying resident of the country he’s in, so Majora’s Mask, Oracle of Ages & Seasons, and Phantom Hourglass are not included.

3. There are usually overlapping taxes in a society. Here I will mostly address taxes on residents, on vocations or landownership, whether they can pay in coin or in kind, and if they have a household that would pay tax for them.

4. I have placed Hyrule Warriors in Child Timeline here for a few reasons, mostly related to army structure implications, the martial norms of the game and the two preceding ones (large standing armies in FSA and HW; mentions of “prolonged wars” and very military flavoured royal regalia in Twilight Princess.) Obviously this doesn’t strictly mean anything or oblige agreement, but its my habit to do so and I wished to explain the choice.

I apologize so much for how long this is. If you wish to read it in a different format, it's also on AO3. This is 2000+ words. I suppose if you click, I hope you enjoy.

A note on Knighthood:

Knights were a specific, highly trained profession often (but not always) associated with landownership, either someone who was in the household of the landowner, or who was the landowner themself. The trappings of knighthood (weapons, armour, and horse) were quite expensive and belonging to a family of knights implies a specific degree of social status in and of itself.

While a sovereign can in theory bestow any title they want on anyone at any time, usually this requires that there be some service rendered for which this is a gift. (Fucking them, or just being hella attractive, counts.) Because of this, there is a wide variety of things “Knight” can mean, but here we will presume it means some degree of professionalism and attachment to a social status that is both someone who collects taxes from subjects and pays them to a sovereign in turn.

IIII

Skyward Sword =

There is no evidence of centralized government in Skyward Sword, therefore the taxes are going to whoever is in charge of the settlement. They were likely paid in kind (material goods), although Skyloft does have coin. Given we know who’s basically running Skyloft, we can guess they were paid to Gaepora, and at least one tax-funded organization: the Knight’s Academy.

Did students pay taxes? Graduates might be exempt from some taxes if still in service to the city. Afterwards, given he’s usually presumed to be married to Zelda, we can say Link is either paying taxes (or hearing about it personally at dinner), and/or helping collect and distribute taxes to others.

Or, even funnier, setting taxes on the new community because they need supplies to build it.

Minish Cap =

There is a central government in Minish Cap, because they have a monarch! This is probably a small territory: some “kings” have a few villages and fields and that’s it, but it is a castle which requires taxed goods to function because it’s not producing its own.

Link’s grandfather is a blacksmith, and also alive therefore if the census tax is paid per household, Link has nothing to do with it. If its paid per business, he’s an apprentice or employee so it’s still paid by his grandfather. Depending on which taxes were being paid when, they might pay coin or in kind (eg. Labour or goods produced.) While people absolutely did lie and cheat and not pay taxes, I expect the con artistry didn’t involve “refunds” in a modern sense, but that’s probably tax history specialization territory...

Four Swords =

This game doesn’t have enough of a framing story to comment on its social structures, but is superficially similar enough to Minish Cap we can assume the situation matches.

Ocarina of Time =

We literally see Talon paying his taxes in kind in the game. Like, you can’t pay milk as a lump sum so delivering it reliably to the castle could be counted towards his taxes, or he’s getting paid enough for it that will be paying for it later. Either way, supplies are delivered from Lon Lon Ranch by its owner who is still alive after the game and presumably will continue to be responsible for it until he is no longer owner of Lon Lon Ranch.

(Malon likely is a valid heir to Lon Lon Ranch. There is no reason to assume marriage affects her legal claim to Lon Lon Ranch. It is not common for a woman to lose her property in marriage – British law is the exception to historical norms – so even if Talon died she could still be sole and/or primary owner of Lon Lon Ranch, whether or not she is married.)

Link starts out the game not even on a Hyrulean census, with no property to his name, and no social connections. He is not paying taxes because he does not legally exist. Until he is counted on a poll as a resident of either Castletown or Lon Lon Ranch, and until he’s considered an adult (usually by means of acquiring personal property or skill of any value) he’s unlikely to be taxed.

Now, if we include into the assumed connections to the Hero’s Shade who died in elaborate plate mail we get a very different answer. Someone who owns elaborate plate mail of that sort has significant money. He may have received it as a gift for service to the crown, but if so it likely wasn’t the only gift. Plate mail is often associated with knights; a knight of some consequence is likely attached by some means or another to property. Knights under a King usually collected taxes for them... So, in a world where Link has platemail and is a valued knight of the Hylian Crown he may also, like Skyloft, be the person collecting taxes to pass them on. Whether or not that means he now technically owns Lon Lon Ranch by means of owning the land it’s on.... I leave that up to you.

Wind Waker =

Outset Island most likely operates like Skyloft: there is a headman or prominent family who collects surplus to give as aid, either in terms of money or food or services. Within that space, Link living with an invalid grandmother and also underage sister was probably one of those families receiving surplus as social support, possibly on top of whatever his grandmother was still capable of in her old age.

However, Link is implied post-game to leave with Tetra. What taxes did a ship and its crew owe? Harbour dues, customs, and other duties! This varied a lot and was usually addressed whenever someone docked at a controlled port. Often questions were asked about where the materials came from, more or less scrupulously. Sometimes people cared if you just happened to have something without a sound origin, that you had taken from someone else... like we see Tetra’s crew doing in-game...

It may indeed be possible Tetra (and her crew) are wanted for tax evasion and Link gets to be included in that, whatever his age.

Spirit Tracks =

This boy works for the centralized government’s transit system. If he doesn’t pay taxes, it’s because he doesn’t owe taxes because he’s working a tax-funded job and likely has been since he was an apprentice. He is possibly also union and knows the local tax law in extremely nuanced detail. He will judge you for not paying your taxes.

Twilight Princess =

The start of the story is also framed around the village blacksmith making some kind of tax-like offering to the royal family and setting Link up to take it. This is likely not a normal tax, but it does tell us that Ordon Village is considered a designated social unit within Hyrule and therefore we may assume that “Ordon Village” is a taxable entity in its own right. Link, as a resident of Ordon Village, would pay his portion of the village’s tax to the Mayor who arranged for its delivery. If Link marries Ilia, you can expect once again this is someone who either hears about taxes over dinner, or is helping collect them.

If Link leaves and moves to Castle Town, he’d have the joys of all the things large city residents pay for, up front or not, that village residents who are not transporting food and goods long distances but those will be sales and customs taxes, not per-person taxes based off the census or his vocation.

Four Swords Adventures [Game + Comic] =

Link’s family is explicitly positioned as either a knight family, or a legacy castle guard family with close personal ties to the royal family. He also has a living father, who is implied to survive the game/comic. As such, with Link a minor, he’s not paying taxes because he’s not liable for taxes. He also may be paying taxes by means of collecting taxed goods from the lands over which his family has ownership and paying a portion of that income to the Crown themselves.

Interesting, this could also tie into something I’ll mention in more detail below but one form of “evading taxes” can be “refusing to do labour.” If he is from a family whose young men are supposed to provide service to the Crown in the form of military labour, “leaving” is a crime.

Hyrule Warriors =

In this game, Link explicitly starts as a base soldier. It is possible for soldiers to be a form of population tax (and/or control) especially in larger kingdoms or empires. He likely did receive regular pay, but he might also have been considered legal property of the Kingdom, eg a slave. Either way, his upkeep was entirely from the taxes that went into the coffers, whether it was in food or kind. Post-game, he’s likely been involved in rebuilding which again would be in large part executed by taxed goods and labour. He might even be part of the apparatus collecting or setting taxes, especially if he becomes close with Zelda herself.

Link to the Past =

Link is explicitly stated to belong to a knight family, with an adult family member who is (arguably) alive at the end of the game. If he is paying taxes, he’s paying them from taxes paid to his family. Not paying your taxes as a knight family is infinitely more suspicious than not paying them as an individual, because then your monarch wonders what you’re using that money for. Is it rebellion? It better not be rebellion.

Link Between Worlds =

THIS Link is a Blacksmith apprentice. He does not have any known adult family. He may be assessed as part of the household he is apprenticed to; he might be assessed as independent depending on his age and where he is in his training and what the local tax law looks like. If there is a guild he may be assessed by means of his membership... but that may also be a separate tax from what he’s paying per the census. He could likely avoid it altogether, because he’s not exactly important at this age and social rank.

Ravio, on the other hand, is in some way involved with the Royal Family of Lorule (Hilda is personally betrayed he left.) However, Lorule is a failed state. There is no means by which they can collect taxes, nor distribute them... which is likelywhy Hilda has no control over her guards. (People aren’t very obedient when not getting paid.) Recovery to a state where taxation is reliable and people feel it’s worth doing will be a long road.

Zelda I & II =

Same as above: Hyrule is a failed state, at best in the process of recovery in Zelda II. People likely do not trust the tax collectors who do exist to pay their dues to the Crown vs keeping it for themselves. This is a matter of power rules. Link, a minor with no property, is likely of zero interest to anyone unless they sell children. In Zelda II, where he lives close enough to approach Impa with a question, he may be paying taxes if he has a vocation or he may be helping work in the castle, which brings us back to he’s collecting, distributing and/or paid by taxes.

BOTW & TOTK =

Hyrule here is NOT a failed state because they do not have a central government attempting to exert control. Here, things are more like Wind Waker or Skyward Sword: village mayors or prominent families control local taxation. There is limited intercommunity interactions, which are likely a matter of market tax. Link, if he settles in Hateno village, would be accountable to them.

In TOTK, we do see some kind of centralization: there’s the joint effort to construct Lookout Landing and the monster patrols, both of which would require outside support until local agriculture begins. Which communities contribute is hard to say, but most villages at this time are more than prosperous enough to spare the means. A new settlement would reduce overcrowding, increase the land available to farm, and so on: all good things for a prospering world.

(This does NOT imply they are re-establishing the monarchy. None of these groups call themselves “royal”. They’re monster patrols, not royal guards, and Lookout Landing, not a new Castletown. The location has access to already-quarried stone and trade routes going for it, after all.)

Given how Link behaves in both games, it seems likely he would contribute whatever surplus he acquires to these efforts. Out of every Link, I think he is the most likely to be cooperative with taxation... although there may be some arguments about what his taxable means is. Should this be paid in rupees or bokoblin guts? Let’s negotiate!

TL;DR =

Taxes vary wildly across time, space, regions, and forms of government. While some Links live in similar social circumstances, we have at least four really distinct categories: the Knights, the failed states, those with vocations, and the villagers. Similarly, many forms of taxes are for social support, things that Link tends to be characterized as valuing in the games. When people refuse to pay, they either do not see the request or authority as legitimate, or do not have the means to do so.

IDK it’s just infinitely funnier to me to say “Wind Waker Link is wanted for tax evasion because Tetra has never paid a harbour duty tax in her life” vs stating the evasion without cause. All the best!

[transskywardsword]

me: man i hate being the only sheik/malon person on here, there's no art of them

me: oh wait

anyways, insert cheesy quote about unmasking and being yourself with the person you love here, and take this silly little warm up sketch i did. referenced from a screenshot from 1929's wild party

[imaginethezeldaverse]

May I request some headcanons fo Darunia? If you aren't too busy of course)

Oh you mean my dad? The Goron who raised me? The whole reason I love and appreciate the Goron people in the first place and is legit the OG Big Guy (that's not an exaggeration either, Gorons had their first appearance in Ocarina of Time - MY first Zelda game). Of course I've got headcanons for you!

His sense of duty and Goron pride is limitless. He's chief for a reason and he acts the part in every sense of the word. A Goron who is very much about taking care of his folks. From leading all of Goron City to prosperity however he's able to to even giving his own life to try and save every single one of his people from Volvagia.

Darunia owned a replica of the Megaton Hammer. Its visage and creation was a combined effort between himself and Biggoron. Darunia hatched the idea to have it made shortly after Young Link destroyed King Dodongo. Fearing that they would run into another situation where their food supply would be cut off, Darunia made sure to have a means to destroy obstacles that threatened Goron City - a myth from Goron legend that the chief saw fit to make a reality. Combined with Biggoron's master steel craftsmanship and a bit of magic that he had imbued into it, Darunia saw to it that no one would be able to wield the ‘Megaton Hammer’ save for himself and Biggoron. It isn't until he awakens as the Sage of Fire, after Link destroys Volvagia in the Fire Temple and ultimately returns the actual Megaton Hammer to the Gorons, that he is able to summon and wield the real thing.

He is a bit of a hard ass. He's not quick to accept help if he doesn't want it (as we saw in Ocarina of Time), mostly because he feels as chieftain of the Gorons, he's capable of doing whatever it is he needs to do on his own. Darunia is incredibly strong, he's aware of this, but that strength can make him stubborn, and it takes him an inane amount of time to admit his shortcomings on a personal level. Being a leader everyone looks up to makes it hard for him to show vulnerability. When he's in a good mood though, he can be a little impish. Loves to give noogies and bear hug at any given opportunity. Definitely need to watch out for those hearty head pats lest ones end up in the ground.

During his time as chief, he remained undefeated in the Goron track races. All that raw power he possesses showed when he was able to launch himself at speeds that left even the heads of other Gorons spinning. His son, Link, was very fond of watching his father race - it was an activity of interest that he shared with Darunia - and the two would roll on the track together quite often. When Darunia set off to the Fire Temple to try and save the kidnapped Goron citizens, his son curled up onto the racetrack in the city and rolled continuously (until actual Link's arrival), the action serving as a means of comfort for him knowing his father was potentially heading to his death.

Darunia can't help but dance to lively music due to the royal family! At first Darunia despised showing up for diplomatic meetings with other figureheads to yammer on about the ongoings of Hyrule, but the one year he happened to be at the castle town grounds during a festival. The blaring music with its up-tempo beats had him moving his feet in no time once he caught the rhythm. That's how people learned that Darunia was a pretty animated dancer, and how Darunia himself learned that was his favorite way to destress.

Has wrangled bulls for the farmers in Kakariko Village as well as Talon over in Lon Lon Ranch. Every once in a while they'll get loose, and seeing as how they have big horns and even bigger bodies, no Hylian in their right mind would dare try to round them up themselves. Often that becomes a task they call upon Darunia for, which he actually enjoys doing. There isn't too much on Death Mountain that challenges his strength so being able to go toe to toe with a beast that actually makes him work? He's all in. As soon as people hear the Goron chief pounding on his chest in a battle cry, they know that bull is as good as caught.

[arora-kayd]

I am drowning in Link/Sheik feels and it’s full of angst and *I love it*

[retrogamingblog2]

[heavenly96]

Oh, she so smol.