#also a Zelda + Zora princess ship would be so cute

[luna-loveboop]

Hello!! What are your thoughts on Echoes of Wisdom? Do you have any theories? Anything you'd like to see?

- hero-of-the-wolf

Zora princess engagement

The Legend of Zelda has a history of Zora princesses falling in love with/being engaged to the Hero of Hyrule/Link

So therefore, in Echoes of Wisdom, I would like for:

A- Zelda to run across a Zora princess engaged to Link and tell her hands off, he's kidnapped

B- Zelda to be engaged to a Zora princess and tell her no, Link is kidnapped

C- With both the river and ocean Zora being in Eow, BOTH Link and Zelda were engaged to Zora royalty, who are pissed that they now have to marry each other instead since Link is kidnapped

This is half joking but tbh I really would love for the Zora engagement trope to show up again

I mean the entirety of Eow is set up for Zelink. He chases her. She chases him. It's the idea that they're not whole without the other- if Link is taken so is Zelda. (see what I did there. Taken. Like kidnapped but also taken like in love with someone already. So they're both taken- ok moving on)

So yeah the zelink is so strong in this game from the four minute trailer(s), I really wanna see a Zora engagement because of the potential for *drama*

[sanchoyo]

just finished echoes of wisdom!! (MAJOR) spoilers under the cut for my initial, very fresh thoughts. Lots of them

the outfits were so so cute. kitty outfit was a big hit for obvious reasons but I also loved Silk PJs and OG princess fits (dress and traveling one... <3) theres apparently a blue version of the dress and black cat outfit you get from amibos but I wasnt 100%ing and im not buying amibos just for that (even tho I would really like 2 have it akdsfk) a+ accessory designs too!!

great character designs, insanely varied for the gerudo and goron designs between every npc!! (probably the best gerudo designs to date IMO)

fav echoes were Hoard of Crows (me siccing like 6 crows on enemies) gold wind up bird u get from dampe (btw fun new role for him!!) bc I Liked Fast Money, lv 3 lizalfos (BLUE BIG BODYGUARD FOR ME) and lv 3 darknut. also obviously teddy bear. was throwing it at NPCs i liked all game

really enjoyed how many enemies returned from previous games!!! and diving!!! diving finally came back!! (LOVED the zora area, had a lot of fun with the pirate ship area over there too)

what was up with that one optional boss that was like a sentient fart. that was weird and I suspect he was supposed to come back and then I missed him on the second go around LMAO

the hebra mountain storyline had me in TEARS i was spawning teddy bears at that dude to try to make him feel better rapid fire (this did not help. sad) i was hoping i could find his brother and make him go back ;_; (cant recall the dudes name but that was the same species as the ones from twilight princess, right?)

the way i leveled up my swordfighter form SO much expecting to use it in the final boss fight and then had to give link his shit back and was unable to use it in the final fight?? INFURIATING. docking points on the rating for this game just for that shit. why give me the option to level up my sword and energy if not let me use it again null??? AUGH!!! I WANTED TO FIGHT TOO!!! NOT JUST USE ECHOES!!!

link and zelda both having to fight evil versions of each other at some point was kind of slay tho (also us having to come rescue him from the crystal? also slay) fanfic writers please have them jumping at mirrors and also seeing each other for a while tho, great concept

the final boss had me really surprised, i was 100% expecting ganon to show up or be the final boss (HE WAS ON THE POSTER...AND COVER ART...) but he was just another echo?? so where did null get that echo, exactly? was the ganon at the start that kidnapped zelda the real one, then link killed him and null echoed him from there?? unclear

null was a great final boss conceptually tho and i 100% hope they use them for future games. eldritch horror wasnt what i expected but thats AMAZING (putting their disappointing, sort of chaotic, but not hard final boss fight aside). very scary. very cool. walking around in their insides(??) to get to them (??) was awesome. love when cute games get a lil dark. adds flavor. cool new lore!!! cant wait for the lore implication theory videos to come out (do we think null is stronger than demise?? I decided I Do think so, demise is a Demon and null is some huge cosmic horror, feels like the scales tip to null being stronger...)

why was everyone at the end so shocked at what link said. whatd he say that had them shook i need to know (was it that he could talk again?? wasnt that a temporary problem from being in the void lol??)

need more games to play as zelda now. loved it. best loz game to come out since botw, maybe actually ranks higher in my mind?? (could be recency bias ofc, but it checked so many boxes for me) really fresh concept, my only real gripes are how the final boss fight played out (GIVE ME MY SWORDFIGHTER FORM BACK!!! LET ME SLICE!!) and the dang echo menu being 234234 miles long...the sorting features were nice, but still, needed a better menu for that in general. i scrolled 30 miles in the snow uphill etc.

also barely any of the ost was super stand-out to me, which (like. it was FINE but given how good the music in cadence of hyrule was they shouldve brought those guys back to do this music tbh. that game had me spoiled on good loz remixes. I stand by the fact it has probably the best ost in ALL of the zelda games.)

i LOVED the puzzles and dungeons. missed them soo much in recent loz games. i LOVE PUZZLE!!!!!!!!! none of them were too hard and it also wasnt too hand-holdy. perfect level of makes me think but not Steam my Brain type stuff.

smoothies were cute and really fun to play with. the deku scrubs were SO cute (they all used they/them too i think. based) all the CATS!! WERE SO CUTE!! just really appreciate how cute everything in the game was in general. the fact i could chuck teddy bears at enemies. best game actually

cant say i was crazy about any of the mini games but none were super hard once you had the froggy item. it felt like cheating a lil bit to use it but that was one of the items I wore until the end (along with my cute heart bow of COURSE. cant be saving hyrule if you aint cute)

fav NPCS were hebra mountain guy (conte??) the gerudo chief's daughter (she really felt like zelda's sidon, but not annoying <3) and general wright surprisingly (I really enjoyed how loudly supportive of zelda he was!! he was like YEAH OUR PRINCESS IS SO STRONG SHE CAN FIX IT AND BEAT THOSE MONSTERS!!! LETS GOO i loved that energy for us)

saying goodbye to tri destroyed me. I was crying real ugly tears. (I started thinking about my dog and saying goodbye to him last month and how much tri's speech reminded me of what I told him AUGH. its still fresh and hurts but this was somehow really healing to play. like this came at the perfect time I think)

thoughts subject to change once I watch other people's playthrus and listen to theory videos and think on it for a while but rn? solid 8/10 game (and I only docked points for the dang end boss fight really, REALLY good game up until then)

[creativesplat]

Mipha!

Mipha… where do I start!? 

First impression: 

I thought she was a very pretty fish-lady, and was instantly blown away by how romantic her memory with Link was (some poeople already know, but before I played the game I looked at fan art and stuff and really liked the concept of ZeLink people were drawing - it must be a canon ship if people are so intense about it right? and I almost always fall for the canon ship in a piece of media. So I got into the game wanting to rescue the princess Link was in love with. Turns out that princess wasn’t Zelda, and from my first impression I was like ‘oh ok, so we’re not avenging zelda then… we’re avenging fish’

Impression now: 

She was so wonderful why did she have to die!! Link loved you, your design is so cool, why did you die!! A strong powerful (dagnam play AoC and you’ll see what I mean) warrior princess who loved her people and her family and Link. what a woman she was (and is in aoc).

Favorite moment: 

Okay, so I know its a bit basic and there are some awesome moments in AoC (like the date her and link so on) but the first memory, the first time you’re introduced to her, it still gives me chills. Mipha's touch is and always will be my fave. I love it. 

Idea for a story: 

The tensions between Hyrule and Zora’s domain bubble over, leading to a siege or something, and link betrays Hyrule to join Mipha and bring the war to an end. 

Ooh another one: Link tries to run away from the duty assigned to him and is forcibly kept at the castle by Rhoam but the champions help zelda and link and they leave central hyrule to try and figure out the various powers without the added trapped in the castle stuff. Mipha rescues link from a tower like rapunzal effectively. 

Unpopular opinion: 

Link should have rescued her instead being with Zelda during the calamity. She was strong and could battle effectively, but if Link had gone with her, they would have dominated water blight as a badass couple. If link and mipha had defeated water blight, they could have joined the rest of the champions (due to the sheikhah slate being available for teleportation), weaken Gannon through attacking the blights and then go and kick is butt in the castle. What a good happy ending that is! (I think I just described AoC a little bit…) anyway. 

Favorite relationship: 

LINK AND MIPHA THEYRE SO CUTE TOGETHER AND SO BADASS AND I LOVE THEM. 

They are the perfect couple, and the proposal armour is just so sweet and I adore them both :) 

Favourite headcanon: 

Oooh. There’s a lot to pick from… 

The symbols on the Zora armour represent Link and Mipha’s marriage, and tying the families together:

the Rhombus with the luminous stone is what I head canon Link’s family sigil/ crest to be:

And obviously the three cresents are Mipha’s family crest 

And here we see them combined, with a white stone in the middle 

White gems are often related to hope (link), healing (mipha), unity, and wholeness. So a unity between the rhombus and the crescents and the ideas of healing and hope? Am I reaching. Yes. Do I also love this head canon? Yes. 

2) Link understands Zoran (the Zora language) but can’t speak it very well on account of the fin movement and whistling required. Mipha regularly says ‘I love you’ or other comforting things via subtle tail or fin movements when in company. He has little hand gestures he uses, sign shorthand I guess, to tell her the same.

3) the champions all knew about Mipha and Link's relationship. because their little found family deserves to have a fun time trying to set them up on dates or make them do things together, so that even though things are tense between hyrule and the domain, the two can spend time together.

[snail-studios]

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

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

♡ big long rant below vvv ♡

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-

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

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

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

[sapientiiae]

Wishlist:

Just...casually going to set down a list of things I will always want to write with Zelda. ⊹ Masquerades/Balls - Give me all the fancy parties. Let Zelda dance the night away. ⊹ Rain threads - Stormy weather is my favorite weather. Let Zelda enjoy somebody's company while it is storming, even if it's just curling up and enjoying a good book while it rains. Dance with her in the rain. Kiss her in the rain. Give me all the rain activities. ⊹ Festivals - Attend a festival with Zelda! Browse vendor stalls with her, eat and/or prepare special food with her, and dance traditional dances with her! Bonus points if you're sneaking her out to do this! ⊹ Sneak her out - Speaking of sneaking her out! Sneak her out of the castle! Help disguise her and get her out of the castle so she can explore Hyrule as not the princess! Or sweep her off her feet and carry her away to a cottage in the forest so she can have some peace and relaxation! ⊹ Visit other villages/races - Let her immerse herself in the culture of other lands or the other races in Hyrule! Take her to Ordon Village or to see the Zoras! Bonus points if they have their own special celebrations she can experience. ⊹ Duplicates - If we can come up with twin shenanigans/alternate timeline shenanigans, let's give it a try! ⊹ Ancestors/descendants - The games have a lot of timeline craziness, so give her a chance to meet her descendants or her ancestors! She'll have someone she can relate to! ⊹ Dark romance - Look I love fluff and cuteness but also I'm a sucker for dark romances. We all secretly love angst. Let's explore a dark romance or toxic ship. ⊹ Future family - I love thinking about the idea of Zelda having kids one day and getting to live a happy life with the person she loves and their kids. If we ever ship, please come scream at me about the kids they would have some day! We can plot things and write out that family dynamic! ⊹ Puppet Zelda

[lordsooga]

hit us with the . *thinks really hard* midzel, volga/ghirahim, ganghira, impa/zelda (whichever game you want), sidlink . no coherence between these pairs just whatever popped in my head i haven’t heard you about yet

Midzel: I do ship them, though they never really became my THING. So not a ship I've thought about a lot, but I DO know everyone who ships them is extremely right too. Also obviously two princesses from parallel worlds of light and dark who cannot be together is DELICIOUS.

volga/ghirahim: I've never played the original hyrule warriors so i dont know jack-shit about volga besides that he..... IS..... the dragon from OoT? But from the little I know about him and from what you've told me I think they'd absolutely hate each other. I cannot think of any conceivable reason they'd actually get together?? But it would be the worst relationship in the world. You're gonna have to, like, lock them in a box alone together and shake them. And then I think they'd come out hating each other even more.

I'll go ahead and put the rest of these under the cut:

ganghira: Ohhhhh baby. Being literally made as a weapon to be wielded and then meeting this guy who is.... a different man entirely from your master, but still have something of him inside of him. I love that. I"ll enjoy a cute ganghira fanwork. But I cannot see this being anywhere near healthy. But that doesn't mean I don't think they wouldn't work together in their fucked up way.

impa/zelda: Another sheet that isn't super full even though I think they'd be cute together. All the wholesome ships get pretty empty bingo sheets. I'll go with aoc zelda and impa for this one. They fucked up kind of Sheikah devotion to the crown isn't REALLY there in this game, but Impa would still clearly do anything to support her. Personally I like them together platonically or as qpps if anything.

sidlink: YEAH BABY SIDLINK BABY!!! dont let the empty sheet fool you, that shark is basically why i bought botw!!! and you know what, i still think they're adorable together. he's just big enthusiastic and supportive, how am i not supposed to love him. Link should have something in his life constantly hyping him up and supporting him. He's also irresistible to the royal zoras so. I mostly like them as just good, wholesome fun together.

[earthnashes]

And finally, to complete the set... the ZORA! owo

Link is once again there for size comparison, but I also added one with him not there just so you can have a full look at them all together. uwu Anyway, the headcanon blurbs for the characters and the Zora as a race!

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-Mipha is the beloved princess of the Zora, the future Queen of her people, and Sidon's older sister. Mipha is actually a bit shorter than the average Zora, but what she lacks in size she more than makes up for in her strength, bravery, and compassion. Despite her prowess in combat Mipha is a healer to her core and loathes to engage in combat, even when it's necessary; she doesn't relish the idea of hurting anything even her enemies.

Mipha is by far the best magic user the Zora have to offer, her ability exceeding the typical Zora and almost matching that of a Hylian Mage. Her specialty is healing, "Mipha's Touch", though she also has great control over the waters, able to create whirlpools and miniature hurricanes at will. Currently, her father has been giving her more and more of his responsibilities as monarch, his way of easing her into the position and making the transition of power between the two go smoothly when it's time for him to step down. As a princess and future queen, Mipha has attended many important meetings with the neighboring governments and leaders, which in turn has allowed her to meet Zelda; the two of them are good friends.

-Sidon is the crown prince of the Zora, second in line for the throne, and Mipha's younger brother. He's known as a bit of a heartthrob in the kingdom due to his good looks and personality; he's charismatic, enthusiastic, and polite to a fault, and likes to use his own self confidence to lift others instead of being boisterous. He's turned down many an attempt at courtship graciously, which has done nothing to lessen the hearteyes thrown his way.

Sidon and Mipha are both well known across all of Hyrule not because of their royal status, but due to a feat they managed years back where they both rescued the crew and passengers of a sinking vessel ship from drowning during hurricane, having fought against harsh waves and blistering winds to succeed; they didn't lose a single person. It's in part of this and his capacity to be a good leader that lead the Zora Domain to choose him for the role of Champion; the king allowed it to be to a vote among his people instead of him choosing, and Mipha endorsed the idea that Sidon would be a great fit.

-Ruto is the mortal form of the Zora's Patron Deity, and like many of her fellow deities her true identity is unknown by her people. Her unique appearance is due to a rare birth condition that Zora could get, where their headtails are short or non-existent and instead they grow a traditional tail. This birth defect could be harmful to the Zora's swimming capabilities depending on how strong the tail is and how long the head-tail turns out, but in Ruto's case, she has no worries about it. Partly because, had she actually been affected she'd be perfectly fine to swim since she was "balanced" as a healer would said, but mostly because she is divine, and the mortal form is merely a disguise of sorts, therefore she isn't actually afflicted by the condition.

Ruto works, ironically, as the high priestess of the temple of the gods in the Zora Domain, one temple dedicated to her specifically. As a religious figure, she serves the additional role as pseudo advisor to the crown, where her word holds quite a bit of weight due to how spiritual the Zora typically are.

--------------

-The Zora Domain is located in the Faron River, which is the largest river in Hyrule, a river that connects to almost every lake in the kingdom before it eventually leads out into the ocean. The domain sits dead center of the huge river, which is surrounded by tall tree-covered cliff faces with running waterfalls cascading down into the water, a natural protective barrier. To reach it, visitors must either by air or by foot, and if foot they must traverse a long bridge that leads to the domain. The Zora Domain is a largely popular location to all of Hyrule, hailed as one of the most beautiful locations in the kingdom, something the Zora take great pride in.

-The Zora are one of the larger races of Hyrule, clocking in on average of about 8ft tall, but it's common for them to grow much larger depending on their ancestry; King Dorephan is one of the largest Zora to live

-The Zora hold moderate capability over magic, especially hydro-based magic, though their magical skill typically don't reach heights seen in Hylians or Gerudo. That said, they take a page from the Gerudo's books in that they combine their magic with their physical combat (unlike Hylians, who typically master either magic combat or physical combat), making them extremely diverse warriors. Their weapons typically lean to tridents, spears, and scythes.

-The Zora are not mammalian, and do in fact have ancestry in ancient fish. Despite it, they do give live birth instead of laying eggs, though mothers are unable to produce milk and so baby Zora will usually be fed blended and soft foods before they're able to eat solids. Typical baby formula for baby Zora involve fish, veggies, and some fruits blended together. The kids love the stuff.

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AND THERE YA HAVE IT! That is the final race for the Hyrule headcanon set! I might do some super rough concept work for the locations and such but outside of that, keep your eyes open for the next bit of content! Coming soon is a cute little comic about Link and how his rivalry with cuccos started (WIP of the full thing now available on my Patreon) and after that, I'll either continue with the next kingdom in the AU or start doing some more character-driven sketchdumps; I think I'll ask ya'll about it later!

Other than that if you have any questions please feel free to ask!! owo

[lemonlurkrr]

@aureateart​ ok. My favourite parts of twilight princess  (and some other random thoughts about TP sprinkled in there) taken from my monster TP word vomit google doc :

Link lmao

Ok but for real, I like this incarnation of Link :)

I love Ordon (it just seems like such a chill and cozy village)

ALSO love how easy it is to interpret Link as being a sort of older brother figure to the Ordon kiddos. It’s just,, super cute? AND GHHH nice nice good thanks nintendo for giving me characters to care about/characters that I can imagine Link caring about

He didn’t sign up for any of this (tbh, none of the Links really signed up for this jshdjsd). But I mean like, dude was just going to take a trip to castle town, drop a gift off for the royal family, and come back. But haHA oopsies he did get to castle town eventually but definitely not the way he expected hsjdhsd

He’s just a little dude?

AND FUCK. HE REALLY HAD NEVER BEEN OUTSIDE OF ORDON UNTIL ALL OF THAT

everything is new for the player AND Link

Midna

She’s cool :)

she really just

*teleports into your jail cell* hello whore.

I am no master at writing but AYYYY she do got a character arc!!!

She was actually pretty helpful sometimes, I ALWAYS checked in with her before turning to a game guide

Other NPCs

NICE

Love all of the TP character designs (ASHEI’S ARMOUR??? AOWOAOAOOAO)

Saving Zelda and all of Hyrule was important yea but thinking back maybe it was more like, the Ordonians and the kids were what was pushing Link to keep on going

I like the Resistance members :) Very video gamey of them to have one NPC assigned to each dungeon but hey!!! Kinda cool getting to see a little glimpse of each of em

Idk, it’s just fun to imagine Link popping into Telma’s bar after each dungeon and taking a little rest :) (or to celebrate? maybe just chat, idk, give this man some downtime!!)

Honestly it was just kind of nice that Link wasn’t entirely alone. I mean, I know Midna was there the whole time, but I am always for giving Link a big group of friends (see my love for hyrule warriors, age of calamity, and LU LMAO)

Hero’s shade, very very cool, kinda sad he died with regrets but HEY. He got to pass on his knowledge eventually

AND the connection to OoT?? AND assumed to be related by blood too????? GOOD SHIT

Ilia, I REALLY really wanted to like her (er, it’s not like I dislike her, she’s just,,, kinda there for me).

It definitely seems like Nintendo was pushing to make her the romantic interest, but GHHHHH they really threw that out of the window for me by having her lose her memories

I saw a text post a while ago that said it would have been interesting if Ilia was Link’s sister instead and YES!! That would have been cool too :0

Wish we got to know Zelda a little more

I feel like we barely know anything about her

Idk man, like I said earlier, I never really had any sort of drive to save Zelda during my playthroughs

She obviously knows Midna, so maybe if they gave us just a little bit more of that relationship I’d be more interested in her?

TP WORLD BUILDINGGGG

Botw has good world building too, but each race felt kinda,,, isolated? I absolutely love the different architecture and vibe each town has (and all the the weapons too) but ghhh yea everyone felt so separated. As far as I can remember, we don’t see tooo much of the races interacting with each other? Now that I’m typing that out maybe that’s to be expected because of the calamity but KLSJDKJFD ANYWAYS THIS IS ABOUT TP

The world feels nice and alive, love how populated everything is

Castle town I like castle town a lot, it feels dense and busy and I really like how you can’t talk to every NPC you see

Very cool very fun that we got to see the Gorons hanging out in multiple spots

kinda wish we got to see the Zoras a little more (I guess they are a bit limited since they need water but GHHHH the tp zoras are so prebby,,)

BUT HEY, I do remember seeing a zora or two hanging out in the hot springs around death mountain after beating the lakebed temple (I think, might have been a different dungeon) 

but aaaa would have been nice to see them in at least a couple of other places. I think it would have really added to the “congrats Link!! You’re restoring peace to Hyrule” feeling you get from seeing the Gorons hanging out in Kakariko and Castle Town

ORDON

Love how chill it is and how it’s kind of separate from Hyrule proper

They really do seem to be doing their own thing apart from the rest of Hyrule

Just kinda adds onto the “he’s just a regular dude minding his own business” kind of vibes I get from TP Link

Also I like Ordona :)

THE LIGHT SPIRITS,,

Love their design

And love how they’re not exactly like a pure white?

Different spirit representing each aspect of the triforce my beloved

But yes hi I think Ordona is very cool

Who are you, how did you get here, which goddess do you represent? Do you even represent one of the three golden goddesses? Do the Ordonians know about you? Have any of them ever SEEN you??? Do they worship you? Does anybody even know about the existence of the light spirits?? FUCK so many questions but ghhh I like how they broke the status quo a bit by throwing in a fourth spirit :)

I feel like this one is kinda weird but I like that voice sample they used in the light spirit music. It’s spooky and pretty at the same time :)  

cutscenes mmmmm

Ok ok, the spooky lanayru cutscene is very good

BUT THE “Link, Chosen Hero! Lend us the last of your power!” CUTSCENE MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM LOVE IT SO MUCH

IT just

Idk man

It just hit different

I like the music

And seeing the light spirits swimming around in the light juice water whatever it is

Summoning the light arrows?

AND HHHHH “Lend us the last of your power!” THIS IS IT. This is the final battle.

Seeing Zelda bow down, and then Link putting his hand out 👌👌👌

Link: ok bud, let’s do this together :)

Connection to OoT (did I already mention this? Maybe., Whatever)

Very cool nintendo :)

I love seeing connections between all the diff zelda games.

Because like, on one hand, they’re all separate from each other because of yknow, individual hero stuff. BUT ALSO, they’re all connected because of the reincarnation stuff

Grrrr walking through the sacred grove and going “The Hero of Time walked around here a long time ago” FUCK THATS SO COOL

Is the Hero’s Shade watching me? What does he think of me? DIsappointed? Proud? The Hero of Time went through HELL so this timeline didn’t have to deal with any of the shit Ganon was gonna pull with the triforce, better not fuck this UP Link!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Midlink is cute

Kinda hurts that she smashed the mirror but that was probably so Nintendo didn’t have to worry about people going “but what about the twili??????” for any of the other games LMAO

BUT ALSO LIKE SKJDKLJFJ There are some pretty massive plot holes in TP anyway so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ whatever it’s fine we’ll just use this for angst because GOD do y’all like angst

So is Shadlink

Honestly don’t know where this ship came from but it’s cute so whatever

THE MUSIC??

Love Midna’s theme and how they referenced the dark world theme from ALttP (I remember trying to learn the dark world theme on the piano and doing the Leonardo DiCaprio point meme at the little jingle I recognized from Midna’s theme)

Hyrule field theme SLAPS.

Apparently references a couple of the other over-world themes from the previous zelda games (I got this from 8-bit Music theory’s video on the over-world zelda themes, he talks about TP at around 11:40 but def recommend watching the whole video if you’re into music analysis stuff)

So there’s this bit of the Hyrule Field theme, I don’t know the official name for it but I remember seeing somewhere it being called the “at an advantage theme” since yeah, you hear it during the boss music whenever you expose their weak points. FUCKINGGG LOVE THAT. Didn’t notice it during my first playthrough, but hearing it during my second was like a little easter egg for my ears every time :)

Midna’s lament is very pretty (and fun to play on the piano)

COURAGE THEME.

I didn’t care for it too much when I started playing the game but hearing it in ZREO’s arrangement of the Hyrule Field theme literally makes me turn into a puddle of emotions. Also hearing it around and of the Ordon kids (I think it plays after Link saves Colin) AAAAAAAAAAAAA

Orchestra piece #1 and #2 HOLY SHIT???????????????? 

Literally, the first time I listened to those I just,,,, plugged in my headphones, volume 100, layed on the floor/against my desk and silently vibed. I don’t know what the hell it is, but those two just fit so well with TP?? I still avoid listening to them nowadays cause if I DO I definitely will get overwhelmed with the “god I love this game so FUCKING MUCH” kind of feels.

Wolf link sucks at singing

the first time I heard him howling Zelda’s Lullaby I lost my shit because LKSJLDKSGLKJFSKG god that was.,, Bad. Anyways, hearing him howl some of the songs from OoT was cute :)

TP STAFF ROLL??? 

VERY GOOD. IT’s like 10 minutes long and GOD do I love every single second of it. It doesn’t have the same energy as the skyward sword staff roll or the orchestra pieces but GOD does it hit good??

Nice and calm after that big exciting adventure. Maybe it would have been more fun or emotional to have a higher energy piece but it was really nice getting to sit back and watch the camera fly around Hyrule. Seeing like, the Gorons and the Zoras having a good time, the kids returning to Ordon? GOOD SHIT.

and AAAAA that end, when you hear the main Zelda theme and see Link riding off out of Faron woods on Epona… good shit. It gets you thinking, where the hell is he going? What is he doing? Off ot do more adventuring? Going to help out the resistance or something? Going to help Zelda? Or maybe he’s trying to figure out a way to restore the mirror of twilight? Whoooo knows.

hhHHHHhhh it’s just that final reminder that YES!!! YOU JUST PLAYED A ZELDA GAME. JUST ANOTHER STORY APART OF THE WHOLE EPIC OF THE ZELDA SERIES AS A WHOLE

I also want to acknowledge the instrument/samples they used for all the twili stuff.

They’re all just so unique and contrast SO well with the rest of the TP OST. LIKE FUCK!! Anytime I hear the screech from the Twilit Kargarok? Sends a shiver down my spine. I associate those sounds SO strongly with the twili realm. (Like, the same way you associate the BSHEWW VVWWMMM sounds with light sabers)

I love it so god damn much

literally any time there’s a certain sound or motif associated with something I lose my shit

Sacred grove sacred grove sacred gro-

lovely lovely lovely so much fun playing that on the piano. AND again, I did the Leonardo DiCaprio pointing meme when I heard the theme from the lost woods come in GHHHHHHHH

shoutout to TP Faron Woods for helping me study and get through all of my schoolwork

BLEGUUHHH can you tell that I really love music?

and also yea I guess TP is kinda cool too :\

IF YOU READ ALL OF THAT THANKS I GUESS

[botwstoriesandsuch]

Ship List

*I actually sent an ask for this but I realized it wasn’t that organized so I ask that you ignore it*

Ship list because its a trend so why not, top 10 and an out of ten rating based on how much I like them. 

10) Zelpha - 6/10 -  I love this ship so much, just the idea of two princesses falling in love makes me explode. it’s just that I need to know how the age thing will work, since Zora age slower than Hylians😔

9) Yiga Husbands (Kooga) - 6/10 - A big tall Yiga and his chubby husband. I LOVE IT OKAY honestly this should be canon. Also SPOILER ALERT in the ending Sooga is there he lived guys you can’t tell me otherwise. Kohga needs a happy ending.

8) Zelimpa - 7/10 - I know zelpha is cute, but also look at Zelimpa. Impa always seems to be there for the princess (legit copying HG here but), and the idea of their close friendship turning into more than that sounds like a great idea. Besides we need a Sheikah queen. 

7) Queen x Urbosa - 7.5/10 - Honestly guys, who didn’t fall for Urbosa? Maybe in an AU where the queen lives she divorces Rhoam (screw him) and then marries Urbosa this could happen. And Zelda would get all the love she deserves from her two moms.

6) That one Goron NPC and Gerudo NPC - 7.5/10 - (spent half an hour trying to find them online) I’m pretty sure it was Karsh and another Goron. She goes on about how a Goron would make a good match for her, and nearby there is a Goron. Sure do hope they find each other. (Here’s a link if ya want it): (https://www.reddit.com/r/Breath_of_the_Wild/comments/845fr7/well_you_are_in_luck/)

5) Hudson and Rhondson - (it already happened so no rating :P - They are nice. The thing is, I have a N64 and I played Ocarina of Time, yeah? In the game, the Gerudo abduct the male carpenters. CARPENTERS (if I may add one looks like Hudson too). And in this game, a carpenter and a Gerudo get married. I dunno, it’s just such a sweet concept. 

4) Sidlink - 10/10 (this should be number three but Im running out of space I swear it should be number three) Who doesn’t like Sidlink? When I first played it I shipped it so hard. A tall fish boi and his short gremlin boyfriend. But how will the age work? I mean, maybe a LOTR situation (Aragorn and Arwen situation?) Honestly Link deserves Sidon, a happy shark man and Hyrule’s knight.

FINALLY THE TOP THREE 

3) Zelink - 10/10 - (This should be tied with Sidlink I care for these two ships too much). In other Zelda games I’ve played, it’s always been Zelink for me. So why not shipping it in this game? This is heavily based on the cutscenes and theory videos I’ve seen by NintendoBlackCrisis check them out! They have a whole series on it! Zelink is just a pure comfort ship for me. An essential.

2)*crackship* Kipbot (Eggbot x the Kipster) - 10/10 - Rivals to lovers, my favorite trope. Honestly this has to happen. 

1) Revalink - 20/10 - Man this is all your fault TUMBLR. Especially you Kipster (and Baozi-art’s School AU). My true rivals to lovers ship. Rito Champion and Hylian Hero together forever. HHHHHHHHH I love them too much and it’s all tumblrs fault : )

= = = = = = = = 

MAN I am such a fake fan I can’t believe I forgot about Hudson and Rhodson,,, u right u right they are so cute!

God...I can make all the fics and theories and shit posts I want on this damn sideblog yet I can never escape being shipping with my one arch nemesis which is a fucking soulless egg robot is this the cost of hubris? -- Kip

[theorangestar]

So Skyward Sword!

Overall, I really liked it! The world is so beautiful to look at. Each area is so colorful and bright (with the exception of the Lanayru Mining Facility, but that changes when you use the timeshift stones). I enjoyed all the characters, and I liked all the different tools needed to solve puzzles and obstacles. The story was beautiful. Link’s smile is the best thing in the world. Groose’s character development, Sweet Hylia! Zelda’s genuine care for Link and Impa, and even Groose by the end. I love how the Gorons are scholars in this game, that’s so refreshing. Kikwis and the little robots are soooo cute. I teared up saying goodbye to Fi. THE MUSIC!!!

There are a few things that bugged me though. There’s a lot of “Your princess is in another castle!” stuff going on chasing Zelda. It was mentally exhausting constantly going back and forth from each section of the map back to Skyloft, back to another section, back to Skyloft, etc etc. It does feel sometimes like the story keeps stopping and starting because you have to keep restocking potions or find a Goddess Chest or fulfill a side quest every time you go to Skyloft. Also, I kept getting dragged everywhere for all these little pieces to find. Find Zelda. Find the three sacred fires. Find all these missing song pieces. No, we won’t actually answer any questions directly, why would we do that? There was a point I completely forgot my goal of finding the location of the Triforce. Like, you’re so focused on finding the pieces you lose focus as to why you need them in the first place. Also, time travel is confusing. Is this a time loop? Did we actually change history? I’m still not sure. Please, no more time travel. It’s too complicated and no one is consistent with their rules.

AND OF COURSE, the same thing I’ve been complaining about since the beginning, the motion controls. I was partially right in my very first post, in that a lot of it is something you just get used to. Yes, you do frequently have to “Reset Gyro” to get them working right, but it’s not usually too much of a problem. Flying got way better the more I did it. The biggest problems I had were with the bow & arrow and Skyward Strike. I felt like the bow & arrow shifted when you needed it most (the gust bellows did this to me a lot too, but rarely was it a time sensitive issue). And I always need to reset before a Skyward Strike. This wasn’t a problem when finding Goddess Cubes or sacred symbols or whatever. But when you have to rely on it in a boss battle, this gets super frustrating super fast. Granted, there are only two boss battles you need the Skyward Strike for, but it’s so exhausting. You really work up a sweat with those battles. And that last battle with Demise is a Doozy because of that Skyward Strike (don’t get me started on the fatal blow thing, just don’t). It took me two days to beat him (that’s probably  more of a sign of how bad I am at video games than anything else) but my arm was really in pain by the end, and even the next day my shoulder is still sore. I don’t know if anyone else had the problem or if I just suck, but it did make it hard to bask in the glory when I finally did beat him.

But would I play this game again? Absolutely! But next time, I think I’ll try using the normal controllers instead of the motion controls. Will it be easier? I don’t know, but it will at least be less painful.

Other things to note:

- I was right about Karane and Pipit, I was right! >:D I did look up online about the toilet ghost choice after I gave Cawlin’s letter to Karane, and I’m glad I didn’t. As funny as the toilet ghost falling in love with Cawlin is, I’d feel bad for cursing him with nightmares forever, even if I don’t like him.

- So apparently the remlits aren’t evil? I only found this out after I finished the game, because according to the internet, it’s finishing the Batreaux side quest that stops the evil influence, but since finishing that quest was the last thing I did before I went to get the Triforce, I didn’t see the remlits become good again.

- I gave Fledge his self-esteem!! Mission accomplished!!... And then he uses that self-esteem to scam me out of money with that pumpkin shot game with that dreaded bow & arrow, and then passive-aggressively criticize my marksmanship. Excuse you, I made you!!

- UNPOPULAR OPINION!!! I kind of ship Link with Peatrice. I think her crush on him is really cute, but he’s just a little dense to get it. (Also her dad is a little creepy to me. Just a little). Of course, Link and Zelda in this game are clearly meant to be, and they absolutely love each other, but Peatrice is still cute, and she never used me as a tool against a god of evil. So you know, she’s got that going for her.

- In the end credits, we do get to see snippets from Zelda’s part of the journey. No dialogue, but it was really nice to see. She looks so nervous and scared, but also determined, carrying her harp into the wilderness. But seriously, did Old Lady Impa not think to give her a weapon of some kind on her journey? The girl’s all alone and Ghirahim is after her, some means of defense would have been appreciated, I’m sure!

- Zelda’s loftwing just abandons her, by the way. We see it fall with her below the clouds, but it doesn’t come back until the after credit scene. Coward.

- Speaking of the loftwings, I was surprised at how under utilized they are. In the beginning, they talk about how loftwings are the other half of your soul, and how important your bond is with your loftwing, but after Zelda falls through the clouds, the loftwings are basically just glorified horses. They don’t hold any weight within the story. There’s lots of bird statues and engravings EVERYWHERE, so culturally they did hold importance even before the war, but they have no direct influence on the story except as transportation. Missed opportunity.

- The Lanayru Desert fascinates me. It’s never explained how the timeshift stones actually power things, but it’s such a cool game mechanic to hit a stone and suddenly you’re in the past. It also makes me wonder what happened between the war and Link and Zelda’s era. How long was it between these two places in time, because it would take a lot of time and some major events to change a grassland and a sea into a desert. And this means all those little robots are still there after all this time, it just makes me so sad! :’( I really want to know all that history of what was before the war and the time between the war and Link and Zelda. Also, the Lanayru dungeons have that same piano tinkle as when you chase Vah Rudania with Yunobo in BOTW, and that music. Stresses. Me. Out.

- So of all the different species and peoples of Hyrule, the only ones that survive through all 10,000+ years of the timeline are the Hylians, Sheikah (I’m not sure if they count as a separate species from hylians, or they’re just a different tribe), and the Gorons. The kikwis, the mogma, the robots, and the parellas never show up in any other game, so I guess they all just died out before the next Hero rises. That’s really sad!! (I don’t know if the parellas eventually evolve into zora, but the rest are still sad).

- The Imprisoned looked so much scarier in Link’s vision. But when he first emerges and he has no arms, he lost all that intimidation. Even when he grew arms and started flying, he wasn’t that scary. A pain in the butt to deal with all three times, but not scary. Then we just dropped a building on him Wizard of Oz style. Wow, Demise, you suck. If it wasn’t for Ghirahim’s stupid dance ritual, he really wouldn’t have been a threat.

So yeah, there are my thoughts!

[lozbotwfanart]

MiphZel Fic

Pre-Calamity Ganon Zelda and Mipha fic. For FemSlash February. This is more of a start to a relationship than a mutually established one, but what a start to a relationship. For @confusedvolleyball

It ended up being three times the length..... whoops

If you want to suggest your own FemSlash for February, give me a message. 500 words, any Zelda characters, wlw ships will take priority for Feb.

After a full day of negotiations, planning and celebrating Princess Miphas’ acceptance as the Champion for Vah Ruta, Zelda was exhausted. Her legs would wobble when she walked, her arms felt like lead and her head had a dull throbbing pain that made it hard to look at the bright illuminated stones of Zora’s Domain. Luckily, it was finally nighttime, and everyone had departed to go to their designated rooms. No more talking, no more pleasantries, no more socially obligated interactions. Link had wanted to stay close by Zelda’s side, as he always did, but Zelda really just wanted some time for herself. She finally convinced him to leave when she said she was going to go relax in a nice bath.

               Zora’s Domain was so expansive! Zelda had heard from her father how magnificent the Domain was, but no story could compare to seeing the real thing. But it was also very confusing to navigate. There were stairs, and ladders, and pools, and rooms, and nooks and walkways, and walkways, and even more walkways. Where did they all go? Thought Zelda. She had carefully followed the pathway that the zora guard had showed her, the one from her room to the bath. The guard seemed confused by her question though. She clutched her bath towel close to her chest, hoping that she was moving in the right direction.

               She finally came upon a lovely room, one with a great huge pool right in the center. There were sheer white drapes framing the sides, a bubbling fountain that fed into the bathing pool, and enclosed walls so that the bather could have some privacy. Zelda was relieved to find walls, everything was so open in the Zora’s Domain, she wondered if Zora’s even knew what privacy was. But she tried to be understanding, just because it was not the way a Hylian would do it, does not mean it was without merit. Open spaces did sort of give a sense of community that may have been lacking with some of the Hylians’ Villages.

               Zelda placed her clean towel on the side of the pool and stripped off her clothes. She pulled her hair up into a bun and dipped a toe into the cool waters. It was cold. She looked around, there didn’t seem to be any temperature control to the water. Zelda looked at the pool. Well, here goes nothing, she thought. Zelda plunged into the waters. She wrapped her arms around her chest and curled her legs towards her body. It was quite a shock to get used to, but after a while of getting familiar with the temperature, it did feel good on her overheated muscles.

               Zelda allowed her body to float in the water. Being weightless felt wonderful after being on her feet all day. She closed her eyes and focused on relaxing her mind, allowing it to drift in a meditative state.

“Gasp!”

               Zelda barely heard the whispered surprise, but since there were no other sounds to drown it out, Zelda’s ears picked it up right away. Did someone else come to use the bath? Zelda opened her eyes and moved her head to the source of the sound. It was Mipha. She was standing in the doorway, her eyes were big and full, and her body was half turned away, as if she was trying to leave.

               Zelda righted herself in the water and waved to her. “Princess Mipha!”

               Mipha sheepishly turned back towards her, “Princess Zelda.” Mipha bowed courteously.

               “Are you in need of a bath as well? Please, come join me!” Zelda smiled softly. Zelda didn’t mind Mipha’s company, they were very similar in their personalities. Zelda could not help but be charmed by Mipha’s quiet and kind nature. It was very cute. “I really don’t mind! There is plenty of room.”

               Mipha walked around the edge of the pool, eyeing the water with trepidation. “Uhm… I don’t mean to be rude… but… you are without your Hylians’ outer coverings.”

               “Oh!” Zelda sank a little lower in the water. “It’s fine, Hylians have to remove our clothes in order to bathe. And it’s ok, we’re both girls.”

               Mipha slid down into the water and mimicked Zelda’s body posture, looking a little awkward as she “relaxed”. Zelda, satisfied that she convinced Mipha to join her, closed her eyes again and sighed a contented sigh. Mipha kept glancing back at Zelda in quick eye movements. Her face felt hot, even in the cold water.

               Zelda decided to strike up the conversation, sitting up in the water she said, “Princess Mipha, I am surprised that you have not gone off to bed yet. Are there things that you still have to do?”

               Mipha carefully diverted her eyes, “Uhm, no, I’m all done for today. I was just going to bed actually.”

               “Oh?” Zelda moved a little closer towards Mipha, her low voice needed a more intimate space in order to fully take it in. Mipha stiffened in the water. Zelda continued, “But you’re here in the bath? Did you also need to relax after the long day?”

               “Actually…” Mipha’s voice got very low indeed, “Zora’s don’t have baths.”

               “Zora’s don’t have baths?” Zelda repeated the sentence, trying to take it in. Mipha shook her head and began to blush. “Then what are all the pools for?” Zelda asked, her mind going back in circles.

               “Those are Zora beds; we use them to sleep.” Mipha said, calmly.

               “And… just now… you said you were going to bed. And you walked in here? So…” Zelda’s eyes widened with realization.

               “Uhm, yes. This is my room.” Mipha smiled meekly, her cheeks getting rosier and rosier.

               Zelda covered her face in her hands. She scrunched up her body under the water and tried to sink down underneath the surface. She popped back up and tried to climb out of the water to grab her towel. “Oh, dear! Oh, my Goddess!”

               Mipha covered her eyes as Zelda wrapped the towel around her body. Zelda’s face was as red as Mipha’s scales. Zelda bowed and bowed, frantically apologizing. “I beg your pardon, Mipha! I’m so sorry! I had no idea!”

               Mipha raised her palms up, “No, no, Zelda. It’s alright. It was an honest mistake. We should have accommodated Hylian customs a little better, and maybe given you more information about the Domain. It’s just a culture clash is all.”

               Zelda kept her head down, she wasn’t sure if she would ever be able to look Mipha in the eye again. She was absolutely mortified by the entire ordeal.

               “Please! I hope this does not dissuade you from become one of our champions!” Zelda blurted out.

               Mipha giggled softly, “No, not at all! I said yes, and I meant it.”

               Zelda raised her head up, she was on the verge of tears, but Mipha’s earnestness sparked a hope in her chest, “Really?”

               Mipha glided through the water and looked up at Zelda so that they could be face to face. “Nothing could convince me to say no. You know why, princess?”

               Zelda shook her head weakly, finding it hard to look at Mipha, her big eyes sparkling with gentleness.

               “It’s because, I met someone today. She was kind and determined. She had a brilliant plan to keep everyone in Hyrule safe, a leader with strength and wisdom. She was commanding and persuasive. She wore her heart on her sleeve and had a sadness in her eyes, which she wore with grace and beauty. I knew that I had no choice but to follow her wherever she went, if only to see her smile.” Mipha reached out and placed a wet hand on Zelda’s cheek. She brushed away a tear drop that ran down Zelda’s face.

               “Oh, Mipha! You are most kind!” Zelda fell down on her knees and wrapped her arms around Mipha’s head. Mipha blushed as Zelda squished her chest against her. “Again, I’m so sorry I took up your bed.”

               “It’s fine. There is no harm done.” Mipha patted Zelda’s back with a final consolation. Zelda got up off the floor, and started to walk out of Mipha’s room. “Uh, uhm, Princess Zelda?”

               Zelda turned back, “Yes?”

               “Uhm, uh…well..” Mipha stuttered, “You can…always come back, anytime you want.”

               Zelda smiled, “Thank you, Mipha.” And with that Zelda left down the hallway.

               Mipha took a huge intake of breath and let it all out, trying to calm herself down after what had just transpired. Zelda was here, in her room, and she was… Mipha blushed uncontrollably, her hands covering her face with embarrassment. Her skin was really soft, too, Mipha thought.

               Mipha turned on her back in the water, staring up at the ceiling. Sleep was not coming with the ease that she had hoped for. All she could think about was Zelda’s face as it smiled in the water.

[dipshitcoyote]

Breath of the Wild Daemon!AU

Ok so! I’m working on an actual fic using these concepts and this version of the BotW world, but I thought that maybe some of you might be interested in my ideas so here! I’m putting pretty much everything under a readmore, because this is copypasted from my planning document, which got very long and doesn’t even have anything to do with the plot of what I’m writing ^^’

Enjoy!

Link’s daemon is a Hyrule Field Mouse (lol get it) named Firielore (fih-REE-ehl-ohr), Firi for short. From Fi, Ciela, and Farore. They settled early, when Link first drew the Master Sword. Historically, the Hero most often settles as a wolf, but other forms are not unheard of and he isn’t the first Hero to settle as something more unassuming.

Pre-Calamity, most people, even other knights, thought that Link and Firi’s behavior was odd. Neither of them ever spoke (Link is mute, but Firi can speak and just doesn’t), and Firi was just as stoic and inexpressive as her human. As a mouse daemon, she was always on his person, usually on his left shoulder as was uniform for smaller daemons of knights and soldiers, but was rarely seen out of that position except for when she would turn to increase their field of view or leave him briefly to scout stealthily around corners/over boulders and the like.

Relating to the issues that make him canonically selectively mute, Link’s lack of self preservation re: his Duty translated to Firi as well. Things like stretching their bond too far for too long for the sake of getting the scope of a situation or enemy, but not letting the pain show externally where someone else might be brought to their knees with it. Other things like Firi using herself as a distraction, running from Link’s arm to the Moblin’s to divide its attention and leaving them both exposed to give Link a chance to strike. The monsters don’t know the difference between hitting a daemon vs. its Hylian, and that makes the contact less bad, but not insignificant. There were rumors throughout the castle that Link and Firi had been separated traumatically or that the Master Sword allowed them the distance, but both are untrue- their bond was no different than any other Hylian, they just pushed it further in the name of duty.

Link and Firi’s character development (in the memories) is subtle just like in canon. Through the Yiga attack she is always on Link’s left shoulder, even when they and Zelda are just traveling. On the hill with the Silent Princess is the first time she’s not there- she hops off his shoulder when he crawls forward to look at the flower and she moves closer to it. After Zelda’s failure at the Spring of Power, Firi touches Zelda’s daemon to comfort him, just for a moment.

Firi had and has (Impa gave it to them with the Champion’s Tunic) a small set of custom armor for protection, but rarely wore/wears it; she’s fast enough that any attack that would possibly hit her in battle would probably kill Link as well. On the battlefield she would either deftly scurry around Link and warn him silently about attacks from behind, or slip into a small armored pouch that existed to protect her in one-on-one combat unless an opportunity to assist presented itself. In the present, she doesn’t participate in battle the same way she would 100 years ago (with the aggressive distraction and the like), moreso providing Link extra ears and eyes in a fight.

Post-Calamity, she is considerably more physically active, but she still doesn’t speak out loud- except very occasionally to Link himself. I.e when they first wake up in the Shrine of Resurrection, Link hears Zelda’s voice first and opens his eyes to Firi sitting on his chest, also saying his name. However, she’s still a very quiet daemon, especially considering that Link communicates via signing and it would be considered acceptable for her to talk for him. In Post-Calamity Hyrule she’s more outgoing towards other daemons and will greet them physically if appropriate.

Zelda’s daemon, Hylayrune (hih-LAE-roon), Layrune or Rune for short, is unsettled until the moment she awakens her power, when he settles as a Snowcoat Fox (Real life equivalent: Arctic Fox). His name comes from Hylia (all Zeldas daemons’ names start with ‘Hy’), (La)Nayru, Hyrule, and rune/ruin. Before he settled, he took atypical forms for the sacred princess’ daemon that were more representative of Zelda’s scientific pursuits, such as bugs (usually a bee), frogs, and lizards. Almost always, the Princess settles as a bird of prey (often owl, occasionally eagle or loftwing), or in some cases a small dragon (as the three dragons Dinraal, Farosh, and Naydra are said to be the daemons of the three Goddesses, with Hylia���s being most often depicted as a golden dragon or occasionally a huge, golden Loftwing).

Rune’s late settling, and his preferred forms before settling, were a huge cause of anxiety for him, Zelda, and their father. This is all tied into their self-doubt about awakening their sealing power and being able to fulfill her duty as the sacred princess, but it’s also personal for the King. His daemon is a Mountain Crow, which though known to be clever and resourceful are seen as a bad omen, even a curse, within Hyrule. It puts stress on his regime, and the idea that his daughter prefers frogs and lizards over forms that have become symbolic of the royal family and the sealing power is deeply troubling. Rune takes “appropriate” forms only at official appearances and ceremonies, and even then, usually a more wild hawk over an owl, eagle, or dragon.

Other characters:

The Old Man/King: Mountain Crow (real life equivalent: Raven)

Urbosa: Islander Hawk (with kind of a more desert coloration. real life equivalent: Harris Hawk)

Riju: Unsettled, usually a Sand Seal bc they love them

Impa: Blue-Winged Heron (real life equivalent: Great/Little Blue Heron).

Beedle: Hylian Retriever (A golden one, fight me)

Other random stuff/past Links:

- The Princess traditionally settles when she first unlocks/uses her powers, and the Hero traditionally settles when he draws the Master Sword. There are some exceptions, like the Hero of Twilight being old enough to have already been settled, and the Links in games without the Master Sword settling in other ways.

-Hero of Time and Twilight both had Wolf daemons. Their wolf forms are kind of a combination of them and their daemons’ appearances. Time had a lighter colored wolf and Twilight had a darker colored wolf.

    - BUT Hero of Time’s daemon is usually a mouse as a child, when he’s unsettled, alluding to past and future heroes.

    - The mouse thing (here and for the Hero of the Wild) comes less from personality and more from the feeling of facing an enormous dungeon boss as Link, like a mouse about to fight a lion.

-Both the Hero of Wind and Four Swords/Minish Cap Link also had mouse daemons.

    - For Wind this is because of the mobility he needed re: moving on a ship (also kind of like a ship rat? Disclaimer: I’ve never played WW)

    - For Four Swords/Minish this is because he shrinks down and is pretty much the same size as his daemon (she’d have to shrink a little bit too but not as much) and I just think that’d be really cute

-I’m not sure what Skyward Sword!Link’s daemon would be. Not a loftwing because it isn’t possible for anyone but a Goddess or a sacred princess (with Goddess blood) to settle as one, but I’ve never played SS so I can’t really say. It would have to be small enough to ride on a loftwing with him, or a bird of some sort- probably all of the people in Skyloft settled like that, now that I think about it. Maybe a beetle?

-Link from the original games probably has a wolf daemon, as well as LttP/LBW Link.

- Spirit Tracks!Link has a white dove daemon and she rides on his head like the birds in the game and its adorable

-Ganondorf always has a boar daemon in any iteration. When he transforms into Ganon they merge, similar to Wolf Link, but grotesquely instead of dissolving together in Twilight.

-Only the Hylians, Sheikah, and Gerudo have daemons

    -The Sheikah have mostly same-sex daemons, with opposite-sex daemons being about as rare as same-sex daemons among the Hylians and Gerudo. No one’s quite sure why.

    -The Zora have sort of a connection to their jewelry and weapons, but not necessarily a physical one. More of a literal “put your soul into your craft” type thing, which is why Zora armor is the way it is and most of the Zora have specialized livelihoods like sculpting and smithing.

    -The Gorons don’t have a physical Thing, they have a special brotherhood with other Gorons. It’s why you rarely see Gorons traveling too far from Goron City, and almost never alone. They can be alone, like a Zora can be without their craft and affects, but it negatively effects them after a while.

    -The Rito have their songs; though not all of them are musically inclined, its a cultural thing and not a physical requirement. Kass would be considered very spiritually aware and expressive, whereas Revali would not, but a non-musician Rito doesn’t suffer for it. There would only be an issue if there were no bards among the entire Rito race, and the songs faded from memory.

[divineoath-a]

>> PLOT WISH LIST

If anything below you would like to rp any of these, please let me know. I’d absolutely love to do any of these! I’ll happily write the starter too~ ♥ This is short to start with, but I will be adding more and reblogging this as I add more. It’s 1:30am now, so i’ll leave it at this for now.

PRE-CHAMPION

>> Mipha getting super excited over Ruta after she was found.      Perhaps Link or Zelda catching her as she was trying to sneak close      to it. >>  Mipha speaking to others about Ruta like she was a long lost friend.  >> Child Mipha tbh. Such a precious cutie. >> Link and her growing closer as friends and bonding over her healing      his stupidity and her showing him some of her favorite places. >> Zelda and Mipha growing closer as friends and her showing Zelda      places she goes to get away from Princess stress.

CHAMPION

>> Mipha’s first time on Ruta. I think it would be so precious and cute. >> Sparring with other champions as she tries to make sure she’s strong      enough. >> Just bonding and interacting with the other champions tbh. I want to       develop their relationships. >> Sidon and Mipha bonding. Because cute siblings. >> Sidon trying to sneak onto Ruta with Mipha and her actaully taking him      on it once making him promise not to tell anyone. >> Mipha and Zelda geeking out over Ruta together

SPIRIT

>> Mipha travelling with Link, with him being the only one to hear her.      Cue Link getting lots of looks as he talks to himself. >> Sidon spending time just talking to the statue until one night while the      other Zora sleep, Mipha’s spirit talks back and they get to say their      goodbyes. >> The other Champion spirits getting to talk after Link frees the beast      and before he fights Ganon >> Mipha talking with the other champions as they watch Link’s journey.      Commentary and panicking Mipha.

POST CALAMITY AU

>> Mipha seeing the world again and being overwhelmed with how much      stuff has changed >> Mipha desperately wanting to go home but actually putting it off out of      fear >> Mipha finally vowing to go out on her adventure with either Link, Zelda,      Sidon or one of the champions. >> Overwhelmed Mipha as she finally makes it home and embarrassment      at the statue. >> Mipha just getting to spend time with Sidon to make up for lost time. >> Mipha PROPERLY confessing her feelings for Link. Whether      reciprocated or not, she still would want her chance. >> Mipha helping to rebuild Hyrule >> Mipha getting extremely sick after coming back and having to get       brought to one of the springs to be blessed or something. >> Mipha being really weak shortly after coming back as she regains her       energy and having a runin with a pissed off still Yiga clan and having to       either trick her way out or be saved by another >> bonus with above if she gets seriously injured.

OPEN TIMELINE:

>> Stargazing thread because so cute >> Mipha taking someone to one of her hidden spots behind a waterfall >> Injured thread where they need to hide from monsters while she gets      enough energy to properly heal. >> Mipha actually being the one to jump in the way to save someone      being attacked. BAMF spear work. >> Memory Loss thread where one or the other loses memories and the       other has to help them. Because fun.

DUPLICATES: These I would be willing to play either role

>> Mipha from another timeline gets pulled to one and they have to try     and figure out how to send back without getting caught that there are      two. >> Mipha actually having a twin and the two growing up together. >> Twin from above disappearing and presumed dead only to return  bitter      and tries to take over Mipha’s place and strike her down. Can either be      reborn AU or Champion. >> OFF THE TWIN AGAIN. One disappears when they’re younger and is       found years later not remembering who she truly is and doesn’t know       why she feels such a strong bond to Mipha until she learns why.

SHIPS:

( Never will I force these, these are just a few ships I’ve always wanted to try. Also, just because it’s not listed below DOES NOT mean I wouldn’t be interested in it tbh !! I love ships too much. )

Romantic:

** Revali ** Link ** Zelda ** OCs

Family Only: ( These I can honestly ONLY see as family )

.. Urbosa ( Mother figure )

[sage-nebula]

Zelink for every game you've played :D

That is so many games … but CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

Legend of Zelda (1):

ship: ew / nonono / maybe / ship it / aww / otp / MY HEART

I mean, I guess? Haha, there was really nothing here. Since this was the very first game, character development basically didn’t exist, so like … I really don’t have an opinion one way or the other. People can do what they want, and I’m not against it, but I personally just don’t see anything there worth really talking about or shipping, haha.

Adventure of Link:

ship: ew / nonono / maybe / ship it / aww / otp / MY HEART

Same deal as above. My memories of AoL are really hazy, but iirc this is the game where Zelda is asleep for the vast majority of it, but also where we see an implied kiss at the end, which … honestly feels a lot like “here, you are rewarded with a gf” to me, which is why I “nonono” that. I’m mostly neutral, but also kind of really “meh” on it as well.

A Link to the Past / Link’s Awakening / Oracle of Ages/Seasons:

ship: ew / nonono / maybe / ship it / aww / otp / MY HEART

I’m kind of neutral on shipping Zelda with the Hero of Worlds, because while I think there could be potential there, they spend virtually no time together and, in the Oracle games, the fact that they barely know each other shows. The fact that Link could mistake Marin, who has deep red hair, for Zelda (who is blonde) seems to further cement this to me. Yes, he was half out of it due to the fact that he had just woken up after being knocked unconscious during that storm at sea, but the fact remains that hair color is one of the most immediately obvious markers of a person’s appearance and he still made that mistake. This is no doubt due to the fact that he and Zelda have spent barely any time together, I feel. Additionally, Link did spend quite a lot of time with Marin, and the two of them even went on a date. While I’m not at all opposed to multi-shipping and while it’s clear that he and Marin cannot be endgame (I mean she might have become a seagull ffs), I’d much prefer to ship him with Marin before Zelda, hands down.

Ocarina of Time / Majora’s Mask:

ship: ew / nonono / maybe / ship it / aww / otp / MY HEART

Again, this is a case where Link and Zelda didn’t really spend a lot of time together … and the majority of the time they did spend together was spent under deceit with Zelda pretending to be Sheik. I understand why she couldn’t tell him who she was (and I think that Link would understand, too) but that doesn’t change the fact that a good chunk of their relationship was spent with Zelda pretending to be someone else. And before anyone says anything, no, gender is not an issue here, especially since I am fully on-board with the headcanon of OoT!Zelda being genderfluid. The issue here is that Zelda pretended to be a completely different person entirely. Even if she had pretended to be a female different person, the same issue would exist. I think that, regardless of the necessity of the lie, Link would still have some trust issues, both in the sense of “if she lied to me about that, she could lie about other things,” and “don’t you trust me enough to tell me?” Then again, the second she dropped the disguise Ganondorf got her, so. :/

There’s also the issue of how she sends him back to his childhood at the end of the game. Link doesn’t speak, so we don’t know exactly how he felt about that decision she made, but she also doesn’t ask him if that’s what he wants, she decides that’s what he wants. And true, he does hand the Ocarina of Time over when she tells him to, but … that’s just it. She tells him to. The exact line is, “Link, give the ocarina to me. As a Sage, I can use it to return you to your original time.” Now, Link’s feelings on this are completely open to interpretation. It depends on how you characterize him and how you interpret his body language. But I just rewatched the scene (in both the original N64 graphics and the 3DS remaster), and it looks to me like he has a bit of hesitancy there—like he doesn’t necessarily want to, but technically the Ocarina of Time does belong to the royal family and, anyway, it’s a directive from the Princess of Hyrule. Can he really say no? Like, I guess he could refuse, but … mmmhh. He seems conflicted. But regardless of how he does or doesn’t seem conflicted, I do still think the fact that Zelda doesn’t ask him if this is what he wants is an issue. She decides that it’s what best. And whether the Triforce of Wisdom gives her insight that makes her right or not (and considering the timeline split, I think that’s debatable—I think that it would have been better to leave time business to the one who’s the Hero of it), I still don’t think the fact that Zelda thinks she can make huge life decisions for Link makes for an entirely healthy relationship right off the bat. I think they’d need to work on it.

That said, I do ship this in the context of Rose Zemlya’s fics (The Return and Reconciliation and all the one-shots and drabbles in-between), because in her fics they do work on it. They actually get to talk (and, well, fight) about Zelda’s tendency to deceive and lie because she feels it’s what’s best, as well as her removal of Link’s autonomy in the decision at the end of OoT. Additionally, I enjoy the way she characterizes both of them and think it works well. But outside of those fics, I’m neutral on it (kind of “ehh”), and in the end would probably rather ship Link with others (such as, for instance, Malon). I also think that, personality-wise, Zelda and Ruto could work well, though the fact that Ruto is a Zora gives me pause, as you know. XD

The Wind Waker / Phantom Hourglass:

ship: ew / nonono / maybe / ship it / aww / otp / MY HEART

I looooove Link and Tetra! While I do take issue with the way Tetra was damseled multiple times so that Link could rescue her (though this is typical of Zelda games), and while I also take issue with how Tetra is mysteriously and disgustingly whitewashed the second she is revealed to be Zelda (though that has nothing to do with the ship), altogether I think that Link/Tetra is a wonderful ship, and this was the first time that I undoubtedly shipped a Link/Zelda pair. 

To begin with, one of the things that I really like about the Hero of Winds and Tetra is that they are both hotheaded and both levelheaded at different times. Link is provoked by Aryll’s capture and Ganondorf’s taunting; he chases after his sister and loses his temper and attack Ganondorf, both actions of which were poorly thought-out and result in him needing rescuing, by Tetra. However, Tetra likewise loses her temper when her crew is threatened, when she is captured, and acts recklessly to save Link from Ganondorf (which results in both of them needing to be rescued by the Rito lmfao). She’s not immune from thinking irrationally or impulsively, and I actually think that she would be more prone to losing her temper / getting annoyed in casual situations, whereas Link would be calmer and more level-headed. In this sense, I think they balance each other out really well.

Of course, both Link and Tetra are about twelve-years-old, so they have a lot of growing up to do! I don’t think either of them are in a romantic mindset by the time the game ends. However, they do go sailing off to find a “new Hyrule” together, and we know thanks to Spirit Tracks that they succeed (doesn’t mean they start the new royal family, of course—just means that they find new land together). I think that there’s plenty of potential there for when they grow up, and I also think that Aryll would be 100% on-board. (A shipper on deck, if you will. ;D)

Twilight Princess:

ship: ew / nonono / maybe / ship it / aww / otp / MY HEART

I have nothing against it, but I also don’t ship it, tbh. I say “maybe” because they could always get to know each other post-game, could grow to care for each other, could grow to have feelings for each other—but that’s all hypothetical. They don’t bond at all over the course of the game (Zelda is barely in it, tbh), and I don’t really see potential there for them in canon. There’s no real interest, Zelda is barely a presence in the story. So I’m not against it, but I don’t really ship it, either. There’s not enough for me to.

Spirit Tracks:

ship: ew / nonono / maybe / ship it / aww / otp / MY HEART

I only played Spirit Tracks once and I honestly don’t remember it very well, so I’m afraid I can’t give an indepth analysis on this one. However, I do remember really loving their interactions throughout the game, and that’s key—this Link and Zelda have plenty of time to get to know each other and interact, and it shows. I think that they were really cute and that, while (once again) they’re young, there’s a high probability that they could develop feelings for each other in the future.

Skyward Sword:

ship: ew / nonono / maybe / ship it / aww / otp / MY HEART

This probably would have been a “MY HEART,” but then BotW showed me what “MY HEART” really means. More on that in a second, though. ;)

I really, really like what SS did with Link and Zelda. They’re childhood friends, and that shows; it’s clear that they care for each other a great deal, that Zelda is protective of him when it comes to the bullying he receives from Groose and the others, but that he’s just as protective of her when it comes to any threats. There’s an element of playfulness in their relationship, in that she teases him for being a sleepyhead, she’s not afraid to play around with him, she knows he’ll take it well. They’re honestly very sweet with each other, and I swear the scene where he takes her hand and drops into a kneel before her squeezes my heart every single time. (As does the scene where she seals herself away, tells him that he’ll have to wake her up this time, and he cries as he leans against the crystal, damn.) I will say that it does bum me out a bit that Zelda is damseled (sealing herself was an action she undertook as part of her own plan, so I’m not talking about that—I’m talking about when Ghirahim kidnaps her to resurrect Demise), but again, that’s par for the course with Zelda games, so I can forgive it.

I do think that this is the game they’re the most canon in, though. We know that this Zelda is the one who went on to form the Hyrulean royal family (and that all other Zeldas are descended from her), and I mean, their song when flying on the loftwing in the beginning is called “Romance.” I think we know who her king was, js.

Breath of the Wild:

ship: ew / nonono / maybe / ship it / aww / otp / MY HEART

THE BEST ZELINK TO DATE, ALL OTHER ZELINKS CAN TAKE A SEAT PLEASE. 

The best part of this Zelda/Link pair is that it is undoubtedly a slow burn. They knew each other for quite a long time even prior to Link’s near death. In Zelda’s diary, she notes that “he” has been selected to be her personal guard, with the emphasis hers. This implies that she knew him beforehand, no doubt because he was already training to be a knight, as his father had been before him. (Often times knights were nobility, so it’s incredibly possible that she even knew him from noble court prior to his entering in to be a knight.) Despite knowing each other beforehand, however, they weren’t friends. We know that Zelda’s dislike of Link wasn’t really personal—it was wrapped up in a lot of her own issues and insecurities, and how she projected her feelings onto him—but all the same, the fact remains that although they knew each other and had a history, they weren’t close. This means that we see them grow closer over time.

While I am admittedly rather “ehhh” at the way her feelings shift is carried out at first, that we see her reconsider in a “rescue romance” type of light when he saves her from the Yiga assassins, I do appreciate that despite the framing of the memory it wasn’t really shown to make her fall instantly in love with him. Rather, it opened her eyes to the fact that she should get to know him better, that he doesn’t hate her, that she should make an attempt to talk with him. And she does, and they do. They grow closer, get to know each other, become friends first after such a rocky start and then let feelings develop. And what I really, really love is that Zelda never loses her complexity through any of this. Even when it comes to the moment when her powers awaken, although we do know for canonical fact that it was her love for Link that allowed her powers to awaken, I also feel like Zelda throwing herself in-between him and the Guardian Stalker wasn’t just because she loved him, but was also because she couldn’t bear for one more person—much less the last person she had left—to die because of or for her. Like, yes, love was there, but so was survivor’s guilt. Zelda loving Link did not reduce her to a love interest. And, despite the fact that you’re told to go save her for the duration of the entire game, Zelda is not damseled. She is not a prisoner. Ganon is her prisoner and she’s waiting for Link to come pick up the slack. They are, inarguably, equals, and that is such a nice and refreshing change. 

They still have so much to do, so much to catch up on. Zelda especially needs to get reacquainted with the world now that she can finally walk through it again. And, as we see in the Golden Ending, they have work that must be done and they are putting that on priority. However, they have time. They now have so much time to rekindle their friendship, grow closer, build a life together, and we’ve seen the foundation on which that can be built. This is by far the best rendition of the Link and Zelda relationship yet and I’m so glad it exists. A+++++, well done, Nintendo.

[dearlybeelovedreadingroom]

Voided Reveries: Agents of Fate

The Ascended Golden Goddesses

It was time. Hylia had to put her plan into effect now. Her first task was to rewind the timeline, give them a clean slate to work on. As much as she would have liked to start all over again, she couldn’t go too far backwards. If Change was to be the Hero’s Mother, she couldn’t very well be the mother of the one she’d been in love with. So Hylia pulled the timeline as far back as she could, up until the very last possible moment—the defeat of Demise. She winced and apologized as she watched Autumn disappear from existence, and Change’s spirit dispossess the body it had been given. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.  

And…There. That was that. None of it had ever happened. Now to enact the rest of her plan. Though, for that, she’d need help.

She knew the call to summon divine souls; she was the only one who had done it, to awaken herself in Zelda. She gave the call again, summoning the other Angels from their corners of Hyrule, and when they’d arrived, she explained the plan.

They were to become gods.

Of course, this meant that someone had to carry the Triforce. After much debate, they came to a decision—everyone would. Since Chance and Change were going into resurrection cycles, she would, too. The Golden Goddesses would keep their Triforce pieces between resurrections, the way they had up until now. Hylia summoned it, and the Angels each stood in their third of it. Hylia took her place in the bottom left, with Nayru.

“The other two will be with us shortly,” she explained, “please break it apart to be distributed. Everyone gets a piece.”

She began the call to bring Chance and Change to the little meeting of the Goddesses. As they drifted in, she began the incantation. The light shining from Golden Angels’ souls became more human-like forms, with their fairy-shaped souls at the center. Chance and Change’s souls, on the other hand, were sitting on the breastbones of their forms as Hylia produced mortal bodies for them. Hylia pulled Change’s soul off her chest and split it in two. One, she sent off and away.  She’d get to it later. The other, she put into the mortal body, which stood suspended in air above Farore’s Triforce piece as Hylia worked. She took Chance’s light green soul off her chest and put it into the Gerudo body that floated about Din’s part of the Triforce. Hylia gestured at herself, tying herself into the trio of reincarnated souls as the Golden Goddesses sang her order, then she ended her spell.

Chance and Change dropped to the ground with the Triforce pieces.

“Farore,” Hylia said, her voice low, “take her. Take Change to the woods with you. Keep her there, keep her safe until the Hero is born. It won’t be long now.  Din, you take Chance. Nayru, stay with me.”

Satisfied with her work, Hylia sent them off with a wave of her hand. She watched their retreating ghostly forms carrying the mortal vessels, then she took off herself, headed for Hyrule Castle to be present at the birth of the princess. She had to be there to give away her soul, after all.

Change

It was clear that Change’s soul traveled best in thunderstorms. The night her son was born, it stormed so hard, her screams were barely heard above the driving rain.

Hylia was there as—Maea, people called her Maea—died, to welcome her soul, to welcome Change, home again.

As what had been Maea burst into a flurry of fairies that were quickly shepherded away to a fountain by the Great Fairy, Hylia led Change to her respite between bodies. It was a pair of islands, a place she knew well.

Skipper’s Retreat. Well, what was left of it, which wasn’t much. But she still recognized it.

Change spent a lot of time looking out over what should have been the Sand Sea, thinking about Sky, and what she could remember of Autumn, though now Autumn felt more like a dream that she’d forgotten when she woke up. Autumn had loved the Sand Sea… hadn’t she?

Sky was easier to remember; even then, Change couldn’t remember exactly. All that had been in a different timeline. Hylia assured her that even though everyone had forgotten nearly everything (except, of course, all six of the divine beings in on this plan), there was a little sliver of her still in Sky’s memory.  A gentle woman with blonde hair and a kind smile. He liked blondes for a reason, Hylia said, smirking.

One of the images Change had seen in her pool so long ago, before she had become a human the first time, was Sky exploring Skipper’s Retreat—he had reached the top, Skipper’s home, and found it empty. Full of sand.

There were pictures scattered throughout the home of other Lanayru robots, and some notes, wishing that Skipper would come back soon.

Sky had quickly figured out what Change already knew… Skipper had lost his family in the years between the capture of his ship and getting Sky’s help to reclaim it.

Change had more in common with Skipper now than she had then.

That was the first time she had seen Sky cry. He had sunk to his knees in the center of Skipper’s house as tears slid down his cheeks. It was then that she had wanted to reach out to him, hold him. It was that moment, as the both of them shared in Skipper’s grief, that she had fallen in love with him.

She looked out into the distance again. But Sky was gone now, long dead, and never to be seen again. And Autumn was… a precious fiction. Ah, well. At least Change carried remnants of Sky’s spirit, which was also a little bit of Autumn, in every resurrection, as The Hero’s Spirit.

It was a small comfort in the face of a great loss.

_

With each lifetime, it got a little easier. Leaving Time at the base of the Great Deku Tree would have killed her from a broken heart if she hadn’t already been dying—a plague had come over Hyrule, and she had been one of the unfortunate last sufferers, and now she was dying in the woods amongst immortals, only strong enough to beg for help delivering her baby.

Saria had helped, had vowed to help Link the rest of his life. To be his best friend.

She had to trust this tiny Kokiri. Saria was Link’s only hope.

_

Change tried to avoid purposely going where Link would be. It would only hurt her, seeing him all grown up and her being incapable of doing anything. He always suffered. Always.

But if he showed up where she was regardless… at least she got to see her son.

Sorie was her name this time, but no one remembered it once she was gone.

The first time Change saw her son, she had been talking with Nais, the Great Fairy… the other half of her soul. Hylia had split Change’s soul into The Great Fairy and The Hero’s Mother so that both jobs that Change had done as a goddess would still get done.

Nais told Change that her love, the love from The Hero’s Mother, is what powered the fairies that healed the Hero. That, too, was a small comfort.

Obviously, Change found a kindred spirit in Nais, so they spent a lot of time talking at Mother and Child Isles (the Hylians had named it this when the Great Flood came, based on the larger island and the small one nearby, protected from the waves. Nais had moved in to her rightful home right away, sending her delegates to the other fountains the Goddesses built, and waited for Change’s arrival after the Hero’s birth).

They were having one of their regular talks the day The Hero showed up.

There he was, so young, The Waker of the Winds. At least, she thought that was what they called him.

Nais drifted away from Change’s side to talk to Link. He needed arrows. She gave them to him. She heard Change whispering to her, “he’s so cute. Tell him that.”

Nais’s comment to Link was a little less maternal than Change had wanted, but the point still stood.

Change wanted to hold him. He was tired. He was slightly seasick. He was bruised. He was only twelve. “Link, my darling,” she called. “Make me proud.”

He was already gone, using the wind to leave the islands through a tiny hole in the top. Change hoped he was going back to Outset. There, the Old Woman would make him soup.

Oh yes, that wasn’t his grandmother, and Aryll wasn’t his sister. Well, not by blood, anyway. Change knew the strength of familial bonds without blood. That had started his whole quest here, too.  

In any case, on one of the smaller islands near a fairy fountain, she had put Link in a (sealed, waterproofed) basket and sent him towards the larger island of Outset. The Old Woman had found him and raised him with his “younger sister,” another orphan she’d taken in, as her grandchildren. And now they were the family he had.

Better than nothing. Better than being a ghost.

The image in front of her rippled as Hylia moved her to the alternate timeline of where she’d been.

There had been no flood. Now, Change was in another place familiar to her from her old life, watching the Zora go about their lives from the pair of rocks in the middle of their throne room (since that’s where Mother and Child Isles were this time).

And here, almost comfortingly, Change wasn’t the only ghostly mother watching her son. Nightly, she watched Rutela’s ghost talk to Ralis, and the next day, Ralis talk to Twilight.

Twilight—the only one of her dear, darling sons that she called a nickname in her mind, instead of “Link.” She had been his best friend once, she knew from one of the few memories of back then.

But she still couldn’t speak to him, not even in the way Rutela got to speak with Ralis. So instead Ralis and Twilight, the little orphan boys, spoke to each other under the specters of their mothers.

There were nights where Ralis stayed up and waited for Rutela, and her ghost did not, maybe could not, appear. On those nights, Change sang quiet hymns only the Zora knew (she had learned them in the old life, before Calder had come to the Domain), and when she sang, she reached out for Ralis herself. She pretended on those nights that Ralis was her son.

On those nights, as he wept for want of his mother and she ached to have two sons suffering so, Change realized—not for the first time—that Hyrule was a land built on a foundation of sorrow.

_

But it wasn’t all bad, necessarily.

Ralis grew up, and he married a beautiful Zora named Nyla. Change was happy and proud, and watched over their whole Zora Royal Family, as much as she could, for generations.

There were other surrogate sons for her, as well. Plenty of Zora princes who grew up big and strong and handsome, talking to Link, always inadvertently letting her lay eyes on her blood-and-birth son again.

Family was family. She could live like this.

Chance

In the desert, the comforts weren’t small or in the face of loss.

Isura was having the time of her mortal life amongst the Gerudo. Her son was a talented sorcerer, a beacon for his people. She was a sorceress herself, and she was his mother, and both those facts earned her respect. As it should be.

Her son left the desert, and that was fine. The handsome hero came to visit, and that was even better.

By the time Ganon had become what he was, using her son’s body that way, she was dead, anyway.

_

When the Flood came, it wiped out her people, but she went with them.

Her son survived, but he became embittered, not by the harshness of the desert he had once inhabited, but by how his whole family, his mother, his aunts, cousins, sisters—in fact, anyone he’d ever known or loved—had been washed away, and no one cared. They were erased from history, their mark on Hyrule gone forever.

When the Fairy Fountains rose from the depths of the ocean, his mother, Serini’s, body rose with them.

_

Serini was named that for the lost mother, the last mother of the last Male Gerudo. Well, now there was no one to recognize that history with her.

She was alone in her fortress in the desert. The wind whipped around, taking sand and her dark red hair with it.  Her son had been taken away from her, indefinitely, for crimes against the Hylians. They were so full of themselves. And around her, bodies buried under the sand, but souls and spite swirling around her and in her mind and heart always, were her dead sisters.

Fairies were supposed to heal any wound, save anyone from the brink of death. But no fairies had come to the desert. And so, all her sisters were lost.

Serini was the last of the Gerudo now.

What had they done to deserve this? Nothing. The goddesses must have hated them, then, for the crimes of one of them. The supposed crimes.

Serini turned away, getting out of the harsh sun. She would join her sisters soon enough. No reason to hasten her journey and let the goddesses win.

Hylia

Hylia spread the strands of the timeline, looking into each one as though it were a window. She sighed. It was time to free the souls from their resurrection cycles. Chance and Change had learned nothing.

There was nothing to learn.

That is, the two of them had nothing to gain from the experience that they didn’t already know. In one timeline, Change looked out and watched her son pass her by, and silently, she thought about everything that had been taken from her. In exchange for what she’d lost, she’d had her soul ripped out and split to let her do twice the amount of emotional work.

Considering this, Hylia couldn’t decide if it would have been kinder if she’d erased all of Change’s memories, taken Autumn away from her completely, and Sky. There was so obviously a part of Change that knew what was missing and was trying to get it back, and Hylia had been dangling it in front of Change for hundreds of years.

And then there was Chance. Alone in the desert fortress, convinced that everyone had turned their backs on her.

The great sorceress Serini had cast a spell to keep The Hero’s Mother out of the desert, for what The Hero had done to her son.

Little did she know that that very spell was what had killed her people.

The spell was sophisticated—it blocked Change’s soul from entering the desert… but she, and the Great Fairy, and all fairies, had the same soul. To block Change was to block any healing power.

But, Hylia thought, wasn’t that Chance’s way? Her actions were ultimately destructive. The battle against Demise had almost killed Hylia, and had begun the resurrection cycles that Hylia had taken advantage of for this exercise, to teach them a lesson.

No matter. It was time to end it.

Well, not the cycle on the Triforce. She had no power over that. She couldn’t touch Demon magic.

But she could free Chance and Change. After all, they had always existed in opposition, to keep each other in check. There was no way to sow concord in what was a salted field. She was only torturing them now. It would be humane to just let them go free forever—not divine anymore, and no longer responsible.

She summoned the Golden Goddesses again. They had cast the spell with her, they had to be there for her to break it.

As the four of them entered the desert, Hylia saw what was on the other side of Chance’s barrier to the desert: one solitary fairy, straining to break through.

She shook her head and brought down the barrier. The fairy fluttered through and raced to the fortress—but it was too late. Serini had passed, dehydrated and overheated.

The Gerudo were gone.

The fairy dissolved, powerless, and in its place, one heart flower bloomed in the desert. The first in hundreds of years.

The Golden Goddesses held hands and released Chance from her bonds. The wind picked up as the quartet made their way to Mother and Child Isles.

Change wept. Bitterly. She didn’t want to go. She didn’t mind having no powers, or being stuck the way she was. She just wanted a family. If they took her out of the cycle, released her soul… what would she be, if not The Hero’s Mother?

Farore, her patron, was the first to speak up. “In my woods…The Skull Kid. He needs a friend, needs a mother.”

Hylia nodded. “And we need The Great Fairy still.”

Change nodded.

Hylia continued. “But I need you unbound. You can spend eternity in Farore’s woods, but you have to be released from the Triforce… you can be a ghost, but that’s all.”

Change was crying, looking at the Triforce. It was all she had left to tie her to him… Finally, she spoke. “I want to see Sky again. I want to see all of them. Just once.”

Hylia rubbed her temples, but swept up ghosts of all the heroes.

Wait, Change thought. …they were ghosts, too. She could touch them now. She hugged each, sobbing, though they were tears of joy more than anything, then nodded to Hylia.

The Golden Goddesses unbound her.

When it was over, Hylia held Change’s soul for the last time, saying her goodbyes. She passed her over to Farore, who carried her to the woods like a lit candle.

There, the eternal mother met her eternal child.