#NEW THEORY JUST IN TIME FOR BOTW2 NEWS

[the-sky-is-my-home]

Pokémon Legends ZA Theories/Hopes

we got like. nothing from the trailer so.

most common thought seems to be future kalos - which would absolutely be cool to see, but would make it difficult to incorporate the legends gameplay - the pokeball has been invented and kalos mass produces them in a factory. they achieved peaceful cohabitation with pokemon by the time XY happen. so a future where things went wrong and a child from the past is sent to fix it?

alternatively, it could be about building up lumiose to what we see in XY, so still set in the past. perhaps you're testing out the new "pokeball" product for the factory before they sell it, while helping to build the city

considering the launch date, I assume it'll be a cross gen consoles release, so switch and switch 2, and it'll be a launch game. fingers crossed it'll look good and run smoothly at least on switch 2. it better, if nintendo plans to sell their system with it. since we got botw2 in totk relatively recently, they can't use that like they did for the switch. still hoping for oddyssey2/some other big 3d mario as well but if pokemon gets better from a lack of other titles I won't complain

the one thing we have confirmed is megas are back, so get your bets in now what pokemon will get new megas!

I'm still hoping for flygon just because!

also grass/fire mega sunflora gamefreak I dare you make that pokemon viable!!! (not that sunflora is even in kalos iirc but shhhhh)

maybe some kalos pokemon will get megas! ig diancie did but that's a mythical. mega kalos starters? or will we get other starters again and they'll get megas?

I'm hoping for chikorita - it needs the love and we all want mega meganium I know we do. for the name if nothing else. also to make chikorita a viable starter in any game it's in like please. the pretty flower part fits with kalos' theme of beauty too! tho I could also see them go with snivy, serperior would fit the kalos vibe too

then piplup - it's a shame (if logical with it being a starter) that emperor penguin napoleon empoleon is not in the game set in france and we need to rectify that now that we have the chance! if not piplup, maybe popplio? a fairy type starter would be a good fit for kalos imo

fire is the hardest... fuecoco maybe? would be based if it got a mega, maybe leaning more into the singer aspect? but then we just had fuecoco as a starter... scorbunny ig? that was popular but it did have a gigantamax... charmander would fit imo but that has two megas and was essentially a bonus kalos starter... litten and tepig are options but neither fits kalos that well, esp their evolutions. so I don't have a good guess for the fire starter ^^;

anyway!! gogoat real ride pokemon everywhere this time! megas for aurorus and tyrantrum! mega talonflame! dragon type eeveelution to go with sylveon we should've gotten that the first time! regional lapras for surfing! hot sycamore relative! shiny sound/sparkles in the overworld again! a challenging endboss! if I wish for enough things one of them has to come true!

[sheikah-simp]

‼️PSA‼️ Astor is Zelda’s REAL, BIOLOGICAL FATHER.  Don’t believe me? Here’s PROOF 🔮😜

^^(Figure A. unedited footage from game)

FOR STARTERS, let’s start with what we KNOW in the game

1) Zelda was born with HAIR and EYES

^^(Figure B. Zelda with hair and eyes).

WHO ELSE do we know that was born with hair and eyes? Hmm?

HMMM??

ASTOR.

ASTOR AGE OF CALAMITY.

^^(Figure C. Astor Age of Calamity with hair and eyes).

Oh but it doesn’t stop there.

Zelda can often be seen hanging around with a tiny guardian.

A tiny guardian that plays an important song.

That song??

ASTOR’S THEME IN A MAJOR KEY.

This is confirmed. If you don’t believe me listen here for comparisons of Astor’s Theme, and the reprise, Zelda’s Lullaby.

It is very important to note here that Astor’s theme sounds like a music box.  This is significant because music boxes are often given to children, especially children with otherwise forlorn and mysterious pasts.  Zelda has a forlorn and mysterious past because her mother died tragically and mysteriously, and now she is haunted by the song of her tragic and mysterious father

Zelda’s guardian is running around humming her father’s theme hoping that one day she will remember. The only problem is he isn’t evil so he can’t play it in a minor key.

This causes the main conflict of the story, which is that Zelda can’t figure out who the fucking egg is.

Checkmate, atheists.

Oh but we’re just getting started you see. 

Thanks to the brilliant hawk eyes of @sherlocktheravencat​ for this fact, and this fact alone, we made the earth-shattering discovery that:

Astor’s hair?

Braided.

Zelda’s hair?

Braided.

ok now back to facts by me

Astor wears a silly little head thingy.  Zelda is occasionally seen wearing a silly little head thingy.

Like father, like daughter, eh, as they say??

Still not buying it?  Try this on for size:

Zelda was born: at some point in time.  We know this point in time was at least

17 years before the Great Calamity

Astor also existed: at some point in time

likely for at least 17 years before the Great Calamity

COINCIDENCE?? I THINK NOT

Zelda’s mom died when Zelda was six.  This means that Zelda’s mom died six years after Zelda was born. 

She likely existed six years before Zelda was born.

ASTOR ALSO MOST LIKELY EXISTED SIX YEARS BEFORE ZELDA WAS BORN.

This means Astor, feasibly, could have been Zelda’s father.  People who have children generally must exist before the children are born.  This makes Astor a perfect candidate for Zelda’s father.

But if that still isn’t enough for you, we must also consider what King Rhoam has to say in the game:

And lest we forget his writings from Breath of the Wild:

In Conclusion:

Astor is Zelda’s biological father

Yes, I am right about everything I say

The game 100% supports this.  The canon, un-doctored evidence is as clear as day.  What else left is there to say?  The truth is there, right out of the characters’ own mouths.  I can’t believe more people haven’t been talking about this.  But I guess it just took someone as enlightened as me to set the story straight.

This isn’t even getting into how Astor took the other egg from his daughter’s bedroom and turned it evil as a memento because that’s just too deep and too emotional for you fools

If you have any more questions, please, don’t ask.

[attllhak]

Twilight Divine Beast epithet? The Ordon, the Twili, the Zonai? I just found your fic a Change in Fate and I am /very/ curious.

This took me a bit to answer because I had to find the text conversation with my friend this came from.

Originally this whole theory started with us talking about phenotypes and genotypes in the Links. This isn't relevant I just find it amusing this was the conversation happening at the time.

At some point in this conversation, my best friend almost randomly asked me "Wait are the zonai descendants of Ordon village?"

Which, made me think.

Firstly, Ordon is in the right place. The Ordona province in Twilight Princess is south of Faron, though by Breath of the Wild that entire area is considered Faron. (I don't know if this was mapmaker making mistakes at one point, or Faron moving in to engulf Ordona. Doesn't really matter either way.) And the Zonai are from Faron, so they're in the right area.

How do the Twili fit in? Well, a lot of people consider the Zonai to be Twili in some way. So, I did some thinking.

Let's assume Twilight and Dusk manage to fix the mirror, and they find a way to let any Twili return to Hyrule and live there without the need of the Twilight covering the area. This isn't a leap, all Zonai = Twili theories require this assumption.

So, with these assumptions, we can naturally assume that at some point after this Midna will have to work with Dusk to set up a small Twili colony in Hyrule. And of all the places to put this colony, I think it'd make the most sense to put it in Ordona. There are only two hylians to ever end up close to a Twili, and that's Dusk and Twilight in regards to their relationship with Midna. Meaning it'd make sense to put the colony next to the home of one of these hylians, since there's a preexisting relationship to help ease the transition. And, putting it near the capitol doesn't make as much sense. Dusk is too busy being queen to act as an ambassador of sorts in the day to day, and I don't think the people of Castle Town would be eager to welcome the Twili. Ordon village, however, was never actually attacked by Twilit monsters, since we save Ordona before her light is stolen, so there's less bad blood there to start with, and Twilight's job means he can spend more time at home building a closer relationship between the cultures.

Furthermore, the Zonai have two notable aspects about their culture revealed in BotW: they were powerful magic users, and they were considered barbarians.

The Twili have a natural talent for powerful magic, but unless they've been turned into monsters they don't seem to be fond of physical fighting. Conversely, the Ordonians are not magically inclined at all, but they are physical fighters, with both swordsman and wrestlers found among them. (Some of them, like Twilight, are both!)

I like to think the Zonai were likely the result of the Twili and Ordonians merging their cultures and intermarrying. It's not as out there as any other theory, anyways.

So, what does this have to do with Twilight's 'Divine Beast' epithet? Well, that's pretty simple.

At the end of Twilight Princess, only a small group of people know Twilight as a Divine Beast. Midna and Twilight, of course, as well as the Sages, since they were there when Midna came clean about everything. I don't know if even Dusk knows about this title. And yet, by BotW it's well known enough to have powerful animal-shaped machines named after him. So, what happened?

I think Midna would have wanted to honour the hylians who helped her save her people, even after everything they lived through. And besides, Midna said her people had a prophecy about a Divine Beast coming to save them. It'd make sense she'd let people know she fought alongside this Divine Beast, and talk about who he is. So, when they made the jump to the colony, most Twili would know the Divine Beast was a Light Dweller and Hero.

This of course would mean the epithet was used more often, and would have existed when the merge into one culture happened. With the Zonai calling the Hero of Twilight the Divine Beast, it would make sense that by the time the sheikah made the Divine Beast machines the title was well known enough that Twilight could be the namesake of the giant mech animals.

TL;DR: I think the Zonai were the result of a culture merge between the Twili and the Ordonians, and that's why enough people knew of Twilight's Divine Beast epithet for the Divine Beasts to be named for him.

[ganondoodle]

i got a sill lil botw2 theory;

so my fav theory is still the ganondorf is used as a battery to power the sheikah tech, so this is a continuation of sorts-

my idea is that this thing we see in the newest trailer

is a construct similar to this one we saw in an older trailer

but the one we saw in the new trailer is like a major sentient one, THE main one so to say, and its powered by gan through the attached green hand (which is part of the construct)

now, since link and zelda wander into the cave and disturb his .. "peace" he tries to break out and do as much damage as possible, hence zelda falling, and the construct (green hand) having to decide to stay there or save link, so it saves link but thus frees gan, which means its powersource is now gone and its probably running on a limited time battery now

-the reason we suddendly have the islands there and they seem to be fallign apart is bc the construct was both keeping them afloat and hidden away, but now with a rapidly decreasing power supply it cant uphold that anymore

-link has been infected with malice so the green hand fused with it to keep it at bay and also use link as a repairman of sorts; these weird capsules he has in the newest trailer

are like mini batteries, perhaps for keeping the arm powered so the malice doesnt spread, or to power the new abilities .. or to do repairman stuff so the islands dont fully fall apart

now and idea i had with all this was, what if this person

is an example of how a new powersource is created, bc they gotta run out sometime, and whoever has the most powerful spirit gets sacrificed to keep the whole system alive, but at some point they either intentionally or unintentionally chose gan (perhaps even to use refined malice as the power?), but he didnt like that very much and whoops we now have the calamity

perhaps the zonau were who invented all the above sky stuff, and in their absence the sheikah took their tech and refined it to what we know now as the sheikah tech, refining the energy from green to blue and perhaps even more concentrated to orange like we see in the guardian cores

as for the new powersource .. well, zelda sure was powerful

but maybe the whole gesture thing is about making a slightly better deal than what gan had, cant have our pretty lil princess get mummified and tortured right :,)

now for what reason all of this is .. i dont know, obviously, but i just had the thoguht of the capsules link got now are like mini batteries to power his cool new arm and then my thoguhts went on lol

[p-receh]

Frontiers weirdest theory?

This is just a continuation theory from my last post.

This time, I just want to talk about this photo

In my own selfishness, it will be played first before this scene happens.

Why? Because I still have my question unanswered. Why the heck does he have access to cyberspace? Is he supposed to be stranded and finding the emerald in the first place? saving his friends? Therefore, it should make sense for Sage to imply Sonic doesn't belong there ... right?

But maybe his 'digitalized right hand' does have the access.

And from the looks of it, Sonic's right hand was being cursed...or infected from Sage. His hand could be redeemed and returned to its state after a while ... even though it pains him. :'(

Some people are reminded of botw2 trailer, yet somehow it kinda reminds me of the secret rings. you know...the fire at his chest as a sacrifice.

Instead of embracing it as a curse, Sonic uses it as an advantage, a new power within him.

Maybe we get something similar in this game? (And had a painful moment when his time was almost up?) i dunno ^^'

So many things that are still missing and I don't think this theory is true since it's full of holes and it's just a basic thesis with no backup.

Still, it is nice to become a headcanon tho

Coincidentally, someone has the same opinion as me! XD

[timeturner-jay]

So here's something I have noticed about the new BotW2 trailer:

When we see that drop falling upwards as Link travels to the sky and through the rock, the ground where the liquid was seems hollowed out - like drops have been falling onto this very spot for many millennia, slowly carving away at the solid rock.

If this is how Link travels between ground and sky, I wouldn't be surprised if there were specific "portals" - places where this strange liquid is dripping down (or maybe where it used to drip down - but more to that later), and has been for thousands of years, and if you reverse its flow with your arm, you can travel with it. Back into the sky.

Portals/waypoints like that have been common in the Zelda series, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them here.

To take this one step further though, take a closer look at Link emerging on top of the floating island he travelled through:

We see him emerge in a puddle of the same glowing liquid he travelled to the sky with; glowing with the same turquoise light as his arm. The energy then dissipates around him, but try to look past the glowing light and instead to the ground we just came out of:

That's right. There's water there. Or rather, there used to be water there. This shallow little canal seems to be entirely dried up. And yet, we're climbing out of it.

So here's my theory: Link's new powers imitate water. Water that hasn't been here for thousands of years - and yet, we retrace its paths through these ancient ruins.

Link's power pools in that little hollow in the ground, just like water presumably did a long time ago - but then, like a reversal of time, it retraces the steps the water took to get there. Falling down from the sky - except in reverse. Trickling its way through the ground - except in reverse. Pooling in a little canal system in an ancient city - except this is where we break our connection to these ancient water runs, and emerge back into reality.

If this is how the power works, I wonder if we can use it for more than "just" travelling between the ground and the sky. It could be useful in so many different puzzles, and maybe, it would even allow us to explore underwater.

I'm very excited.

Link's new powers seem to be tied to time - and the reversal thereof - as we can see with the changed function of the Stasis Rune. Since Link's arm seems to be possessed by that ghostly hand from the first trailer, maybe this power allows us to bridge the gap between Link's time period and that of that ghostly hand? You can rewind time just a little, like with the boulder, or imitate things that used to be there in the hand's time period, like with the water... This hand might function as our very own link to the past, if you will. ;)

[ectoimp]

New pet peeve. People saying Links hair is longer in BOTW2. No.....he just let down his ponytail. His hair has been shoulder length since the first BOTW

See his hair danglys? Thats how long his hair is. The rest is just tied back

Its just one of those things thats just bugging me cause I like watching theory videos and several have gone to “Oh there must be time travel/two links, because ones hair is long” Like....no. There might be time travel, cause...its zelda. But the hair isnt the proof

These videos be like “Omg who is this new short haired link! is this a past life where he was a sheikah???????”

[powdermelonkeg]

I'm hoping that BotW2 will address why the Lost Woods and the Temple of Time/Great Plateau seemingly swapped places. Most everything else is in the same general location as it was from OoT except those two, and both of them seem blatantly out of place and don't quite fit with their surroundings. This was something people used to theorize about, and with the new trailers showing off bits of floating land so blatantly, I'd love it if it actually amounted to something. (Also, maybe this is part of why we can't see the Great Deku Tree in that one shot? Though IA it's most likely lighting/loading reasons for it not being there, it's still fun to entertain the idea.)

To be fair, hardly any of the maps are consistent between Zelda games.

These are from Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess. For some reason, Zora's Domain goes from being all the way out east to being in the far north, and Lake Hylia is right next to Gerudo Desert, with the Temple of Time being in Faron Woods.

And then in Minish Cap, you have Lake Hylia on the exact opposite side of the map. The Zeldevs didn't exactly have consistency in mind.

But it's not fun to leave it at that, so let's take it further. We know that Faron Woods still exists in BOTW, in the place that it SHOULD be.

And up north is Lost Woods

However, THIS Lost Woods lines up more accurately with the Lost Woods of A Link to the Past

Which could be argued is the original location.

Then there's the Deku Tree and the Koroks. You have to remember that this Deku Tree isn't Ocarina's Deku Tree, because, even if you go back in time, Ocarina's is dead. The point where the game ends is post-death.

But in Wind Waker, the Koroks carry the new Deku Tree's seeds around, and grow them here:

So we have two more up north, and they line up with ALTTP's Lost Woods. It's just a safe place to put the tree, away from wandering passers-by.

That's my theory, though. Let's entertain yours!

If the sky isles are why things are swapped around, that could be why the Deku Tree's roots are so exposed when you go there:

But we would also need a place for the Deku Tree and the Lost Woods to have come FROM. We can assume that over time, the woods grew and expanded, so I'm not too concerned about sizing.

For that, I nominate this area:

This is Lake Floria, which is fed from Riola Spring. We haven't seen Floria since Skyward times, so it could have easily been covered. And a good portion of Floria in Skyward was underground.

So, if the Lost Woods came from here, then they'd have uncovered Riola Spring and remade Lake Floria, which was previously an underground water system the trees had fed on, starting on the south end of Squabble River where it goes into Mt Floria.

Furthermore, Lost Woods is right smack in the middle of Lake Mekar, with some serious cliff drop along the side. It could very easily have been a dropped sky isle!

[doodlingadventures]

BOTW2 Theory time!

I may have had a moment of galaxy brain (hours before the nintendo direct and I don’t remember typing it xD) over on twitter and I want to elaborate on the theory I have now that we could see the teaser!

Ok so, after seeing the trailer, I still don’t think it’s gonna be the whole time on the past, but I still think we’re gonna be mind-traveling back in time in some sections, using the memories sistem from the first game. Only, instead of experiencing it as a cinematic, you play through it as the “original character”. If you’ve ever played memories sections on a video game, or the first games of the Assassin’s Creed saga, you know how that goes: you’ve got a clear objective and a few things you cannot do because the character didn’t do them. Obviously Breath of the Wild stands out for the freedom it gives you in completing most tasks, so I think the limitations on this case would just be “don’t die” or “don’t fall from the sky” xDD

I think this because the trailer very pointedly differentiates the Link from the skies from the Link on the ground (or No-Ponytail link and normal Link) using the green garb and the champions garb.

If you check the trailer, you’ll notice that Sky Link always wears green and ground Link wears blue, even if skies Link’s boots sometimes change, both maintaining the “cursed arm” (have you noticed how we never see their face after the cave scene is over?). Maybe it’s because to do the sky stuff you need that special garb, but if you look at the tapestry from the original game

You’ll see that the ancient hero wears blue, white AND green (also the glowy yellow hand). This is why I think present Link is seeing the memories of the ancient hero trought the sky trials (to give them a name). In this case he is not proving himself, like he was during the Sheikah shrines, he is gaining the knowledge/power neccessary to seal Ganon once more. Obviously we’re playing through it, but by videogame logic, that’s how it was originally done because it’s the original character doing it, so we’re learning of it. Maybe we’ll even unlock cinematic memories as the trial is completed or in another way, seeing as that’s how the original also told us part of its story.

I also think green cloth Link is the ancient hero because of how Ganondorf looks.

No, not the dried bacon skin! xD I mean their clothes! They’re both that one shoulder free plus skirt style

You can see sky Link’s brown cloth under the green part. It’s more or less the same style of garb, with the difference of Ganon’s being longer, and more decorated with gold and stuff (which makes sense if Ganon the Gerudo King in this game too, nothing shows your status like jewels).

This detail would technically make sense if they’re from the same era, and, especially, if they’re from the same society/group of people.... <  <

Which takes me to my next part of my theory! And pure speculation territory xD

Ok, the green glow, the cursed arm, the ghost arm. What the hell is this (aside from the obvious substitute of the Sheikah slate) and why is it there?

There are small glimpses of it during the trailer, that the sky constructs seem to work with the same energy of the arm/seal of Ganon

(which, again, sheikah slate 2.0) but, why did it exist, why is just an arm what seals Ganon, and why does the depiction of the ancient hero show him with a glowy yellow hand? Is it their actual arm but with runes, or is it like a prosthetic?

Ok, so, my theory is that it is actually a sort of magic prosthetic. What if the ancient hero lost his arm for a specific reason, and the people that used this green magic (The Zonai maybe) not only gave him a new arm so that he could have two arms again, but for the explicit purpose of stopping and sealing Ganon. Something that seems it’s what’s going to happen to present time Link, the malice takes away his arm, and he gets it replaced by the seal arm.

Maybe, like with present Link, the reason Ancient hero lost his arm too was because of Ganon, but just not in a lost battle or something.

We’ve already seen on the first BOTW that each race and group of people, while living on the same period, they wear different and characteristic styles of clothing. Think the difference between the Hylians and Sheikah, the first wear a more medieval-european style of clothing (mostly) and the second it’s lightly inspired by traditional japanese (and the ninja theme). And when you look at the Gerudo, the Rito or the Zora (what little clothing they wear xD), again, it’s completely different from one another. So it’s not too wild to assume that maybe if Ancient hero and mummy Ganon have a similar clothing style, they were part of a same group. Which is curious because we know this Ganon is Gerudo, he wears gerudo symbols on jewels and clothing, and ancient hero was almost certainly Hylian, given what we know of him.

This could be because just like in Ocarina of Time Ganon feigns loyalty to the royal family of Hyrule to later seize power. OR, maybe it’s because (bear with me, I’m just having fun here xDD) ancient hero was part of Ganon’s army?

On the first trailer we could see a mural that shows someone marching on a horse, with long hair and the gerudo symbol on his back, followed by what looks like soldiers.

So it’s probably Ganon with his army traveling or conquering or other stuff. And maybe, Ancient hero was part of that army. What if, just like in the present Ganon’s malice takes away Link’s arm, Ganon took away Ancient hero’s arm?

Why tho? Well, maybe in his endless thirst for power, Ganon did something that collided with ancient hero’s morals, and he stood up to him?

(Sorry I’m using this one, but I don’t know how to better portray this idea. Also it’s much more juicy and dramatic if Link and Ganon were once friends xDD Just swap bravery for courage. Yes JKRO sucks for what she has said and done)

What if, at that moment, the triforce of courage showed on ancient hero’s hand (it has shown both in his right and left hand in diffferent games, so why not the right hand in this occassion), and Ganon, recognizing the threat, chopped off the ofending arm and left him for dead, prompting all the events that would lead to the sealing of the calamity?

Just a thought xDD

What do you think? Too far fetched? Maybe a bit of possibility? Will Zelda be allowed to DO STUFF INSTEAD OF HAVING TO EB RESCUED AGAIN??? Let’s see what Nintendo gives us, I can’t wait for 2022 to arrive!

[dawn-the-rithmatist]

Okay more blurbs on botw2 trailer and this time I have pictures :)

So let’s talk about some details here. Specifically, the sheikah. In Breath of the Wild, we can recognize a certain aesthetic as ancient sheikah tech (the shrines, the towers, the slate, etc.). In the new trailer, we don’t see that kind of look at all. The only thing that comes close is the supports on Link’s glowy arm.

Even that’s kind of stretching it, since you’ve got the circles and glowy lines, but the colors are all off. You also don’t see the sheikah eye in the same style as BOTW. Instead, we have this one on Link’s shield.

I haven’t played all the games in this series so I can’t place which game it might be similar to, but I do know that eye doesn’t look the same as the one from BOTW. Of course, it might be from something else entirely, but the pattern of the eye and the three triangle eyelashes looks sheikah, so I’m going with it.

We also don’t ever see the slate. We do get an altered version of stasis (which looked like a ton of fun), but the slate isn’t the thing activating it- Link’s arm is.

Again, this is mostly me assuming because I really don’t see him holding anything when I check, but I could be wrong here. But that brings me to my last thing: where are the shrines and towers?

We get two pretty nice shots of the new landscape of Hyrule.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure we should see something here. Woodland tower in the second one, or some of the towers/shrines surrounding Thundera Plateau in the first. Instead, the only structures we do see look completely different, with pointed pillars and egg shaped lanterns that don’t match any of the buildings or ruins we know from BOTW.

So I have a theory. All of this miraculously advanced tech, and Hyrule just ditches it completely? Unlikely. This, combined with the weird backwards raindrop (right before Link yeets himself through an island. If I knew how to gif things I would put it here) makes me think time travel. Why wouldn’t you use the ancient sheikah tech? Well… maybe it’s not around yet.

[bigbrainbiology]

Yet another BotW2 Link! 💚

I'm sure most zelda fans are going absolutely FERAL over Link's (we all think it's Link anyway) new outfit!! I'm getting so many greek/roman vibes from his new clothes, I love them!!

I'm living for the theories of Zonai Link and time travel and maybe, just maybe, playable cave Zelda alongside Sky Link! 🙏

I'd also love if we get to play as Zelda this game, but even if not, if the game is even half as beautiful as BotW, it'll be AMAZING

[artbean]

8, 21, 24, 25!! 💗💗

thanks for the qs jess 💜💜💜 answers under the cut!

ask me end of the year questions!

8. underrated drawing you did

undoubtedly this drawing of link i did when the botw2 trailer dropped. was rather let down by the reception, but i realize the tag was popular at the time so it probably just got buried 🥲

21. what do you want to work on the most next

ooooo you know i’m not sure!! i need another ongoing project to latch onto, but i don’t think i’ve found it just yet. i do want to draw more 5sos in the coming year! i’m also hoping to do a daily challenge in february, if life allows it 😌

24. what do you like most about your art style

this is such an interesting question, because it’s not necessarily something i’ve ever actively thought about before? but i think i really like my coloring, both in how i choose colors and how my brushstrokes look. i think it’s one of the more identifiable qualities to my art style, and i’m proud of that!

25. best advice youve recieved this year or something new you learned about art

i finally started to figure out how to do backgrounds/background perspective! most of the new stuff i learned was from sinix on youtube. he has great tutorials on specific anatomy, as well as things like shape design and shadows. also, this isn’t from this year in the least (more accurately, it’s from 10 years ago when i first got into art) but it remains the most helpful tutorial on color theory i’ve ever encountered, and i feel like i learn something new every time i revisit it.

[runolllo-fanboygirl]

Zelda Theory Time: BOTW2′s Sages?

So Link’s right arm got all effed up in BOTW2 and most likely the Master Sword got it real bad as well. We know that in the first BOTW it was the Deku Tree (the whole forest?) that restored the Blade of Evil’s Bane for 100 long years, even removing Ganon’s Malice from it, but in other games it’s the sages who have to do this job in a rush... like they might need to do in BOTW2 given what we’ve seen in the trailers.

Who do you think the new sages would be? Why? Feel free to reply, my best guess is: - Kass, Hestu, Impa/Paya, Sidon, Riju, Teba, Yunobo. A nice mix of the different races of Hyrule and a total of 7 Sages, like in most of the games.

Sidon, Riju, Teba and Yunobo, in special if the Divine Beasts are not operative in BOTW2 (so they wouldn’t be needed as pilots) are most likely doomed to be sages in the new game. For Sidon in particular it seems especially inevitable, being zora royalty like previous sages Ruto, Oren and possibly Laruto.

Kass, Hestu, and Impa/Paya because all 3 of them are somewhat lorekeepers who have helped Link a lot. Impa has been a sage in various games but I feel like her being so so old in BOTW2, the developers could feel it would be more original and surprising to give the role to Impa’s descendant for once. Robbie and Purah have other roles, so...

Hestu is even able to use ‘magic’ which is not something we see a lot of in BOTW. The developers consider Hestu important enough that he’s a compulsory character in Age of Calamity, even. Also... various of the past sages are known to be musicians but it’s extra coincidental that:

- Fado and Makar, previous Sages of the Wind, are both musician Children of the Forest like Hestu;

- Medli, previous Sage of the Earth, is a Rito musician like Kass and both have a similar backstory with their teachers and have a mission to use their teachings to help Hyrule, even before becoming sages.

--- END OF THEORY, now for some comments related to this ---

It would be cool to get a new rooster of sages, I just really hope Nintendo don’t do the same bullshit again and get these characters stuck in the Sacred Realm after they awaken as sages, like it almost always happens. It’s so sad to not be able to interact with these characters anymore for the rest of the game... and even if for once they allow us to visit them in the Sacred Realm whenever we want... it’s just not the same as going to Zora’s Domain to talk with Sidon whenever you want... it’s not the same as when you fly around with Irene on her broom and she’s making all her sassy comments directly at Link. And, my god, it feels REALLY BAD going to Gulley’s parents who have been searching for him for days (weeks?) to tell them “yeah so your toddler awakened as a sage and stuff he has to stay in the sacred realm so my sword can shine brighter” 

Anyway just for funsies, I’ll mention that in my wildest fantasies, I would like for other less obvious BOTW NPCs to be the new sages, in special because I really want Sidon, Teba, Yunobo and Riju to still be piloting the Divine Beasts instead. Molly (Harth’s daughter, the pink Rito child) somehow foresaw stuff that Link would do in the future and it’s also thanks to her that Link finds one of the shrines... she wouldn’t be the first child to be a sage, either. Bazz, ever overprotective Captain of the Zora guards who was childhood friends with Link and sparred with him, and who features in one of Mipha’s Champion Ballad Trials even, would be one of my favourite choices of Zora representative for the new sages! Mina or Hino from the Hylians, Granté (Robbie’s son) from the Sheikah, Tali from the Gerudo...

Lastly, friendly reminder to not get over hyped with fan theories and not expect them to actually be confirmed by canon, no matter how much sense you think they make, ok? They wanted to break the mold of the Zelda formula with BOTW and I expect they’ll want to do the same in the sequel, instead of returning to the same sages quest thing.

[breath-of-the-hobbies]

BOTW2 - A Return to Darkness

(I’ve never written fan-fic before in my life, but all of these new BOTW theories and art inspired me to write this idea out. Special shout-out to @autumn-sweet-fae for the idea about Link’s ability reset! [x])

The series of caverns beneath Hyrule Castle seemed to be a source of boundless interest and excitement for Zelda, who stopped to document every carving and luminescent gem with the Sheikah slate no matter how small or difficult to reach. Link felt the absence of Revali’s Gale acutely whenever Zelda lamented being unable see the carvings far above their heads, but Revali and all of the other Champions had long since moved on, taking their gifts with them.

The two Hylians, displaced in time, had initially begun exploring the newly uncovered cave system as a way to escape the realities involved in rebuilding a kingdom. Soon enough, though, it became obvious that there were important secrets tucked away beneath the ground, perhaps even older than the Sheikah. Zelda hoped that uncovering these secrets could help in the rebuilding process, and so their short, escapist trips had turned into full-fledged expeditions.

They had recently discovered a steeply descending path near an entrance by the Great Plateau. Although Zelda continued to record her findings as diligently as always, they both felt a strange sense of disquiet as they descended into the darkness. Though they had been seeking answers to their questions for months, this was the first time they were afraid of the response.

When they discovered Ganon’s mummified corpse, things began happening very quickly.

Perhaps it was the presence of all three people of legend in one space that activated the chain of events. Within moments of the Hylians stepping into the final cavern, the earth began to shake and malice oozed from the floor. A glowing turquoise light leapt like lightning from Ganon’s form to Link’s arm, which he had instinctively extended to shield Zelda as stalactites and whole chunks of the ceiling rained down around them.

The shock of the light touching his skin—no, entering his skin—was nothing compared to the acidic burning of malice as the slime piled up on itself and swarmed the glowing arm, as though with a single-minded purpose.

Zelda screamed his name over the thundering of stone, knuckles white on her sword grip. Neither of them had seen anything like this, and neither knew how to combat it. Link stepped backwards, tearing at the ooze and trying to keep it away from his princess, noticing how it seemed to be exclusively targeting him. Afterwards, he would remember that small step with piercing regret. If he had only been closer, if he could have moved a little faster…. The ground collapsed beneath Zelda’s feet. Link lunged forward, desperate, reaching—their fingers brushed, and then she was gone.

Link could barely process anything. The earthquake had stopped. Ganon’s corpse had disappeared into the yawning black mouth that now filled the cavern, the same mouth that had eaten the only person who mattered to him in this world. The malice had somehow shriveled and sunk into his arm along with the strange light, and now a black rot was crawling up towards his shoulder, rendering the whole limb dead. He was unable to handle a glider or climb down into the hungry darkness, and the gnawing, unnatural pain in his arm was enough to drive him to his knees.

Slowly, painfully, and with an involuntary cry of agonized frustration, he tightened a belt around his upper bicep in an attempt to stem the creep of malice and stumbled up the debris-filled path to the surface.

When he finally emerged into the calm summer evening, his horse startled and shied at his approach, registering the scent of his arm as a corrupted enemy. Nearly delirious with pain, fatigue, and fever, Link still managed to soothe it, leaning his face against its neck and pretending that it was sweat running into its fur. He could barely stand to look at Zelda’s beautiful horse, but forced himself to clumsily fasten its lead to his own horse’s saddle.

But where to go? His champion allies were gone. The castle was still largely abandoned, the guardians erratically active and monsters as yet un-eradicated. The closest source of help was days away, and the slate had been with Zelda, so there would be no teleporting.

Purah’s not going to be happy about this. He thought nonsensically, and set his horse’s nose towards Hateno Village.

***

He did his best to cling to the horse’s mane, but as the familiar village appeared in the distance, his sense of relief overpowered the adrenaline that had kept him going for the past several days. Slowly, gently, darkness clouded his vision and he slipped from his mount’s back, falling into the ditch on the far outskirts of Hateno Village. The horses, exhausted themselves, barely registered the change in weight and continued on to the place where they knew that apples and good hay could always be found.

The children of the village, who had frequently begged rides from Link and clung to him on past visits, immediately recognized that something was wrong when they spotted the tired creatures trudging up the cobbled street. They ran to the eccentric scientist up in her tower, and joined Symin, her chief researcher, in a frantic search of the area. The sun was beginning to set when they finally found the unconscious Link. Symin scooped the small hero up in his arms, a knot of fear in his stomach, and carried him to his lady.

***

Link opened his eyes to sunshine streaming through a window, birdsong, the warm scent of hay and machine oil. The agonizing, corrupted, wrong pain in his arm had faded, but in its place was a weak and draining numbness. Remembering Zelda’s fall, he sat up with a gasp, and immediately crumpled, spots swimming in his eyes, heartbeat rushing in his ears. As he panted, head between his drawn-up knees, he heard soft steps as someone came up the ladder to this bedroom.

“I would have thought you’d slept long enough the last time, Linky.” Said Purah dryly, but not unkindly. “You’re really pushing my skills here. I had to research tech that hasn’t been used since the Zonai disappeared.” Link slowly lifted his head to look down at his arm. The rot was still there, shriveled black skin stretched over tendon and bone. Two things were different: there were engraved metal bands that clasped his arm from wrist to bicep, softly buzzing with energy, and there was a Sheikah emblem tattooed on the back of his blackened hand.

Purah remained uncharacteristically quiet, letting Link take in the changes, before starting up again to enthuse about the tech. “I’m going to keep optimizing it, of course. It’s wildly inefficient at the moment but I needed to get something on you or you’d lose the arm. Currently the runes are drawing directly from your energy just to stop the procession of the corruption, but I plan to improve that. As such I think it’s going to take you a while to get your strength back. I saw you lost your slate—“ her voice hardened in sudden anger “—but until you get it back I’ve got plans to add some capabilities to this tech in the meantime.”

Link finally found his voice. “Zelda.” he croaked, his defeated, exhausted gaze rising to meet Purah’s.

Her face softened. “We were worried why she wasn’t with you, why you were in that state. We sent some people to the tunnels, but they haven’t returned.”

The half-hoping, half-pleading look in Link’s eyes disappeared immediately, replaced with stubborn determination as he placed his feet on the floor and rose, legs visibly shaking.

Purah sighed, as though she had expected this. “You’re in no shape to go after her now. Zelda has held her own in this world for longer than you have, and she can handle herself. You, on the other hand, need to build your strength back up or you’ll be knocked over by the first bokoblin you meet. Or the first gust of wind.”

Link ignored her, taking slow and unsteady steps towards the ladder. “Link, your clothes!” She yelled after him in exasperation just as he missed the second rung and disappeared from view. A loud thud and a startled exclamation from Symin rose back up through the hole in the floor. “Hylia, why me?” She asked the air.

***

Link glared at the straw monster in front of him, sweat running into his eyes. It took all his effort to raise the stick in his right arm, the numbness of the limb and unfamiliar weight of the tech making every movement sluggish. He had been hacking at the doll for hours and yet it looked fresher than he did.

Symin watched from the window, sipping a cup of tea. “Should we stop him?” He asked. It was several weeks now since the scrawny hero had picked himself up off the floor and legged it out the door, only to collapse less than halfway down the hill. Since then, he had spent every waking moment making his best attempt at training.

Purah didn’t glance up from her book. “The man just lost everything he cares about for a second time. In many ways he’s worse off than he was when he woke from the century’s sleep. At least that time he had his strength, if not his memory. Let him work things out his own way.” Unspoken between them was the knowledge of reports from central Hyrule that the castle was once again filled with malice and making the ground tremble day and night. Link had not told them the details of his encounter, nor indeed spoken hardly at all, but his grim determination said more than enough.

Only a few days later, the morning after Purah had successfully implanted the first upgrade into Link’s arm, Symin slammed open the door to her tower study, panic and worry twisting his face. “He’s gone! Link’s gone!”

Purah turned to gaze out her window. She didn’t look surprised, but her normally boisterous personality was briefly extinguished. She shook herself and turned back to her notes with renewed vigor. “He’ll be back. Let’s be ready for him.”

Chapter 2

[valictini]

The more I think about it, the more I feel like botw2 will actually be a sequel to Age of Calamity and NOT botw.

The way they tease us in the trailers with stuff like “Will you be able to save them all?” is actually, to me, a hidden clue. Up until the release of the demo, everyone was like “OF COURSE NOT, THEY’RE ALL GOING TO DIE AND YOU’RE GOING TO MAKE US WATCH” but then, the egg time travel happens and suddenly the champion group has much more info to work with than originally. Suddenly, they have access to the sheikah tablet and one sheikah tower. Suddenly, they’re allowed to get a glimpse of what the calamity is capable of with the fragments of malice that went through the portal with the egg guardian.

Suddenly, they have a chance to win.

To be perfectly clear, I think AoC is a new timeline, with the end of the game being the defeat of the calamity thanks to all the champions’ efforts and the egg’s intervention. None of the champions die. Link and Zelda are not sealed for 100 years. Hyrule doesn’t fall... but they only eliminated a fragment of the calamity and go on to explore the underground to find the source.

In the botw2 trailer, you’ll notice how no sheikah tower can be seen in the overworld. And it’s probably the same with the shrines. Why? No one really could figure it out, but with this theory, it makes sense: only one tower was activated by the egg, the rest stayed underground. Maybe this is the primary motivation for Link and Zelda for exploring the underground?Since this also means that Link never had to go through the shrine trials, thus never truly earned the title of hero.

Which would also be a good thing for botw2, gameplay wise: Link doesnt get nerfed from one game to another for no reason! He’s just NOT the same Link we play as in botw! This means we can build up the equipment, heart containers and stamina again without the narrative dissonance that would come from playing the same Link.

But yeah, that’s my theory after playing the demo only. Idk if i like this possibility to be honest. I hope whatever story AoC has to offer, it’ll deliver it correctly.

[fioreofthemarch]

The more BOTW 2 theories I read, the more nervous I am about writing that 30 years later fic. I just can’t shake that Aonuma and Co. are really gonna shake things up in BOTW 2. Big changes to the map. Time travel. Link speaking, who knows.

And like, yah I could retconn or only hint at things (‘Ha ha remember that time 30 years ago when we defeated Ganon twice and also your hand was green, what a year’) but I know myself. It’s gonna be torture for me all these new details come out that make my fic very canon-divergent. And I know that I will feel I HAVE to include any new lore but you can’t really edit a completed work to THAT extent. This is a very ME thing that I recognise is super picky. I don’t think all (any) fic writers should be like this lmao..

Plus I want to delve more into the cultures and geography of Hyrule in this fic, and if the ancient cultures like the Zonai really are more involved in BOTW2, I’d like to represent that

So, where my head is at now is to focus on other BOTW/TLOZ projects and hope more details come out this year. I really believe in this new idea (even if I’m 99% sure no one will read it lmao, it has so many OCs) and I’d rather do it once and get it right.