#and if link actually communicates to zelda then it is hard for her to hate him. understandably. bc that is why she hates him

[heliianth]

i like it when link and zelda get along however in pre-calamity fics if they get along too well too fast it is an instant turn off. where is the drama. the teenage angst

[minty-mumbles]

Thinking about Revali makes me emotional. Because like:

He is an adult. Google says he's 21, but I always thought he was 25-28.

He would be an adult who is well established in his community as a warrior, to the point where he, above anyone else, was offered the position of Champion. It would make him bitter about the fact that he's considered support to this unassuming hylian child who is ten years younger than him. He's supposed to play second fiddle to this kid and it stings.

Think about the horror of Revali's ghost spending a hundred year in Vah Medoh, stewing in his own anger. He died at the hands of a foe that was supposed to be easy to defeat. They had everything needed: the princess, the heroes, the four divine beasts.

But they failed. It didn't work. So many of the people Revali swore to protect are gone now, slaughtered by the calamity. Revali is dead also, and that hurts to think about. (It hurts even more to think about the sight of his dead body decaying on the floor of Vah Medoh, so he tries not to think about that. He focuses on his anger instead)

So Revali's anger festers for a hundred years, and it finds a target in Link, the hylian champion, who was supposed to be everything they needed to survive this prophesied apocalypse.

(They had hoped Link was all they needed to avert the calamity, because no matter how hard she tried, Zelda's powers did not awaken until it was too late.) They had to put all their trust in Link. But Link wasn't good enough. He died. Sure, Zelda couldn’t unlock her sealing powers, but that wasn’t really her fault. She was doing every damn thing she could. But Link? Link had every divine right and divine blessing he could ask for, and he. Still. Failed.

Revali is looking for someone to blame, and it would be so easy for him to blame Link for that. And it makes Revali all the angrier. Why did Revali have to play second fiddle to Link in life when it turned out he wasn't that great anyways?

So Revali is planning on making it difficult when Link gets to Vah Medoh. He wouldn't make it impossible, because he does actually want to see the calamity defeated and as much as he hates it, Link is their best shot at that.

But then Link get there, and he... is so small.

After a hundred years, Revali forgot what Link looks like. And Link looks like a 16 year old child. And he looks so scared when he sees the mini guardians in Vah Medoh, even though Revali knows that Link is more than capable of dealing with them. Link's fear and the scars that cover the boy forcibly remind Revali that Link died to machines like these.

And Revali is overwhelmed by the realization that Link was a child who was sent to fight and die for a kingdom. And he feels his hatred sizzle out like a campfire is a rainstorm. Because Link is so small.

I don’t know, I just keep thinking about Revali being a grown man realizing the horror of sending children to fight a war no one was prepared for. And he still doesn't like Link but he can't blame him anymore, can no longer find that hatred he used to have for the hylian champion

[doomed-era]

glider's big botw fic wishlist part urbosa

ok I decided instead of making a coherent post i'm going to make this into a botw character wishlist

these are things i'd like to see more in fanfic, and if you have a fanfic that includes one or more of these then feel free to link it etc

general principle behind a lot of these is that I need to see urbosa being an independent leader and character apart from her role in botw as zelda's mother figure and the late queen's friend, or if it explores her strange relationship with the hyrulean royal family in regards to the gerudo being a mostly independent province.

urbosa's first encounter with the yiga and a more detailed explanation of why she hates them other than them being "traitors"

typical gerudo and yiga relations before the calamity in general tbh.

aoc kohga & urbosa fic???? please?

urbosa meeting with the late queen, the beginning of their friendship and why urbosa is so attached to her, especially in such a weirdly nationalistic way

urbosa spending time with her family! riju is her descendant, so I'd like to see urbosa's children and her relationship with them.

urbosa hanging out with daruk at the bar in gerudo town ok I know that is oddly specific and it's hard to say whether it even existed back then but please. more urbosa and daruk fics.

urbosa's rule and policies. do her people respect her? is there division among them? what kind of power does she have in her role as chieftain?

urbosa with mipha!! girls night out just for them please. urbosa inviting mipha to gerudo town and making special accommodations for her so she can be comfortable. urbosa encouraging mipha to be more confident. gimme

I don't remember exactly where vah naboris was unearthed, but hey what did she think of that.

also on that note. how much does she know about the divine beast's innerworkings. i want to see her operating it in more detail than what's given to us in canon. also, if the divine beast SOS's are used canonically, this does suggest that the divine beasts can communicate with something outside them -- perhaps a control tower or other divine beasts? silly morse code groupchat??

it's also implied that the champions have a spiritual connection to their divine beasts. what does that look like? why are the divine beasts divinity? does this make their champions divine?

urbosa's relationship with rhoam! as long as it's actually somewhat complex and not just "she hates him" get the fuck outta here with the rhoam hate that's her best friend's husband and we KNOW rhoam misses his wife a lot I think they should grieve together but also there should be tension

the rito seem to have a lot of cultural differences from hylians and seem somewhat hostile to them in some cases (age of calamity namely.) what does urbosa think of this/how does it affect her relationship with revali

aoc in particular but urbosa and riju. please.

[geminiskulleta]

Fable - the mage

Link: The hero of Legend

Age: 19

• The most confident in herself, though sometimes can be seen as insensitive or stuck up.

• The most skilled in magic out of the group, but definitely not the most powerful. Knows a lot about how magic works and helps to teach Flora who struggles with harnessing her power since her magic is so incredibly strong.

• Like Legend, she has a strong personality and can come across as abrasive. She found it very hard at first to work with a team.

• She and Athena are very close. They usually plan out battles as they would be the most strategic Zeldas, but they would often butt heads as they can both be quite stubborn.

• The healer of the group. One of the physically weaker zeldas but when it comes to magic she can hold her own in a fight.

• she has a secret soft spot that comes out rarely, but would much rather keep up the confident and snarky persona as she isn’t a very emotional person and gets uncomfortable showing her true feelings.

• She rules her eras Hyrule all by herself and looks up to Lullaby, as in her time she was taught about how great a queen she was in school.

• figured out that she, Dusk and Tetra are all direct successors of lullaby but doesn’t understand how it is possible as she was unaware of the split in the timeline.

• Finds tetras antics hilarious much to suns dismay.

• Can sometimes take things such as banter too far but she will always own up to her mistakes and do all she can to apologise.

• Has telepathy, she can hear the others thoughts and communicate with them in their minds. Comes in very handy in a fight.

• if there is a secret in the group she’ll know about it, but will always keep her mouth shut. Nothing ever gets past her.

• She doesn’t appreciate Hylia very much for putting Link through so many adventures and causing her and the others so much suffering. Unlike the others she isn’t afraid to bring up the subject around sun.

Relationship With Link

• She and Legend are best friends and are extremely close, When they’re together they’re basically joined at the hip.

• They constantly have banter and get into silly arguments and debates (eg: is a tomato a fruit or vegetable?), to anyone else it would look like they hated each other but they care deeply about one another - even if they don’t show it.

• The two know everything there is to know about each other and if they sleep over at each others houses they will stay up late into the night and have deep and emotional conversations.

• Legend is the only person that Fable allows herself to fully open up to.

• She and legend will constantly steal each others clothes, and sometimes she even steals legend’s magical items. She gives ravio rupees every time to help with business (and to make sure he stays quiet)

• If they argue, no matter how heated, they’ll get over it in a day or two and apologise. She can’t stay mad at Legend.

• Sometimes Legend lets her paint his nails and do his make-up. She made him model her dresses once and he found that he liked it. Legend once caught her trying on his old hero outfit after calling his hat dumb. He has never let her live it down.

• When one of them finds a new book to read they will both get copies of it and geek out about it whenever they see eachother. They’re actually both huge nerds but pretend not to be.

[cherrixxox]

In Princess Zelda’s defense: Misogyny in the Legend of Zelda (and every fandom really)

(Spoiler Warning for BOTW and TOTK)

One thing I’ve noticed as Tears Of the Kingdom has come out, is this incredibly shameless irritable misogyny in the Legend of Zelda fandom. With fandom and internet culture really boosting in the last decade, I feel as if people are less fearful of what they say, and I’ve noticed it in the fandoms I love, like Legend of Zelda specifically.

What could I possibly mean? Doesn’t everybody love Zelda? You’d be incredibly surprised what people say about her.

I can’t image why. She’s incredibly kind, smart, interesting and an emotionally complicated character, which I personally find endearing and not at all bland. However, I think I’ve finally come to understand *why* she’s so hated in the fandom as of this last couple weeks. I think I finally get it.

Zelda is a complex character. I know this doesn’t fit with some of the fandoms fantasy of her being “boring”, but I challenge that with a question. Why is it that every female character, regardless of personality, backstory and upbringing, actions and speech patterns are all boring to you? Is it because they’re actually boring? Or is it because female characters, no matter how developed, will always take the back seat to male characters even with less complexities?

I think I would be remiss if I didn’t mention shipping culture playing a huge part. It’s unfortunate, because, as a gay person, I do think that a lot of the fujoshi/bl community is misogynistic and hates admitting that: so they turn towards the only thing they can- picking and choosing small scenes and lines out of context to demonize a perfectly fine character.

Let me remind you all that I don’t care about harmless shipping. Mostly everyone in fandom ships characters. It’s normal and as long as you aren’t being weird about it and everything is morally correct: who cares. However, I do think that shipping culture has made is hard for people in fandom to correctly distinguish media in any other way. And that’s unfortunate. But I’ll come back to my shipping point later.

Zelda, for instance, is not fond of Link in the beginning of the TOTK/BOTW/Age of Calamity timeline. That’s very apparent from the very first memory in order from Breath of the Wild. In context, that all makes sense why and it’s explained very well. She very quickly after takes a liking to Link, and the rest is history.

However, you have people saying that she’s awful, hates Link, treats him badly, etc. She’s being treated like she’s helpless, something that, in game, she despises feeling. If you can’t tell from context, many times it’s said out loud and in your face. Take this memory with Urbosa for example:

She feels like a failure and Link being appointed to her just reminds her of that feeling.

Despite feeling this way, she’s proven to be a character that can grow and develop. She takes a liking to Link, as previously mentioned before, shortly after said scene with Urbosa explaining to link why she is the way she is. After her heart crushing memory where she’s sobbing about how she couldn’t save her father, the champions or Hyrule, Link is in danger. He is close to death and still he refuses to give up. At the very moment he is going to die. Zelda *finally* is able to release her power, after many many years, and in turn, his life. Why? Because she loves him.

Mipha hints at this being the way she can release her power. Though she doesn’t outright say it, it’s incredibly obvious she’s trying to get across that Zelda think about love and who she cares for.

I feel like if a man had that same backstory, people would acknowledge how incredibly complex of a character he was. They never do this with female characters, and instead take their emotions at face value, like how Zelda has multiple scenes where her determinations, wants and hopes are explained with heavy emotion and people throw it all away for some screwed up, incorrect perception of a character who is more multifaceted then they can ever comprehend.

And why do I think people refuse to look at the truth when it comes to Zelda? Yep, I’m going back to shipping. Like I mentioned before, specifically the fujoshi shipping community seems to be incredibly misogynistic as a whole. And if you self identify as a fujoshi, please stop. It’s not a good term or a nice term. Obviously this isn’t about people who enjoy gay ships in general as I don’t see any harm in shipping whatever you want as long as it’s not morally wrong. However, as someone who has been heavily engrained in fandom culture for the majority of my life: women are second rate citizens to the vast majority of these people.

With the appearance of Sidon in BOTW came a brand new ship that, though I think it’s a very very weird ship considering that Sidon looks like this when Link first meets him:

I never had anything much to say about it. I didn’t ship it, but to each their own since Sidon is very much an adult in current day BOTW/TOTK.

However, the birth is Sidon as a character has incredibly turned the tide when it comes to how people view Zelda. Every bit of character growth and backstory has been dismantled because they see her as a “home-wrecker” to this very much headcanoned ship. I genuinely think people who do this have very little ability to understand female characters in any piece of media, but Zelda is a great example of this. Now that TOTK has come out and Sidon (reminder from the beginning of this post, that I said there would be spoilers) canonically has a Fiance, I feel like this misunderstanding of female characters has just completely gone off the rails and people are now just saying things completely untrue.

For one: I don’t think arranged marriages are ever the best way to try to convince an audience that two characters are in love, and I give that to the shipping community completely. Arranged marriages are not good 9/10 times. Though, sometimes they work out, it’s often for political reasons, and almost never are these two people in love. It’s not a good trope. *However*

Sidons case is different. Yona, a brand new character in the series, is his fiancé. She’s, in my opinion, is quite pretty and helpful to the Zora community, as she seems to be their main healer in the domain.

A lot of the fandom is taking the fact that he saw her as a sister when he was a CHILD out of context as he quite literally says in the next paragraph that his feelings for her start to change and become “difficult to quantify” which clearly, in this case, means that those feelings are changing. And then, he seems to get to embarrassed to go further as those are for more private thoughts. Not only that, but Sidon very clearly calls her his love multiple times, even when she isn’t around.

And how does this character, the kind and caring Yona get treated?

Badly. Just from the first month of this game being out I’ve heard that she should die, she’s a dumb bitch, she’s ugly, she’s boring (how creative), etc.

I can’t help but notice that these comments are clearly coming from a place of distain that Sidon isn’t a free man, and believe it or not hating a female character because she gets in the way of your ships is misogynistic whether or not you think it is!

Now that Sidon isn’t free for grabs, I feel like that brings considerably more backlash upon Zelda yet again because she’s just not a character that can be ignored in favor of Sidon anymore. I’ve noticed an incredible increase of this hate that just doesn’t make any sense to me.

Hating female characters just because they get in the way of your ships will never be cool, but will always unfortunately be a part of fandom that I will refuse to get behind. It’s not just The Legend of Zelda fandom. I can name multiple female characters who get hate for the same exact thing.

This may have just been a rant that went on too long, maybe a mini essay, I’m not sure, but I genuinely challenge the Zelda community to interact more with the actual game over who belongs with who and stop picking at straws to find faults in characters that ruin your perfect perception of who you want to be with who. And please, judge the female characters the same way you’d judge the male characters.

-Cherri 🍒

[arysthaeniru]

Hi !! For the ask game, breath of the wild for fandom and zelink for ship 🧐

Breath of the Wild!

Favourite character

I love Riju! I can't help it, I see a child forced to be a leader of her people, left with the burden of the dead on her shoulders and unable to do her task without help, but it too proud to admit it to her people, so she has to rely on an outsider....and I adopt them. It's the same reason Taya and Capella are my faves in Pathologic, haha. But also Riju's remarkably good-spirited about her whole deal, her oracle sand-seal Patricia who only speaks in puns, and a town of adult women who are entirely reliant on her.

Least Favourite Character

Revali. I wish there was a little more going on with this bird to justify his attitude beyond simple jealousy/rivalry, and I've seen some great fanon elaborations on him that I've really enjoyed (esp. regarding his friendship with Zelda, which I've fully accepted into my wheelhouse), but if we're going strictly off canon, he's not got a lot going on, and I wish there was a little more!

OH, but also Purah. Not in terms of her characterization necessarily, but how much she's coded to appeal to the worst types of gamers. First she's my beloathed trope of immortal loli, and then she's THE main fanservice in ToTK as aged up basic sexy girl, and everything about her design and everything squicks me out terribly. She and Robbie are so much fun in Hyrule Warriors, but I hate interacting with her within the BOTW/TOTK timeline, because you always have to deal with all that nonsense.

5 Favourite Ships

This is hard! I don't really ship too many people in Breath of the Wild? I find the world so much more interesting, but like.

Ganon/Link/Zelda - The beating heart of the series and their fascinating/godly destiny/duty ties them altogether, and although BOTW/TOTK outright refuse to give Ganon anything even vaguely resembling a character, I still think it's intriguing! I have so many ideas swirling in my head about how you could only have to tweak a few memories to make Ganon a more justified villain in TOTK that would actually make this compelling.

Cece/Lasli - Fashion lesbians! I think Lasli's practicality would clash interestingly with Cece being a diva, it would be a disaster, but also quite cute, I think! There's of course, the tragedy of Lasli's dead ex inbetween them, that's always fun to explore.

Riju/Yunobo - This is my weird crackship that I really developed while playing the spinoff, Hyrule Warriors, Age of Calamity. Their relationship to their mentors is very similar, their hangups about leadership and their place in their community is very similar, and they both love zooming across the game map. They are also very similar in age! If you play the games in Japanese, where we don't have the weird surfer dub for Yunobo, Yunobo and Riju are both 13 years old, and they're both very endearing.

Paya/Tauro - I love how genuinely positive and cute they are in ToTK! I'm so glad that Paya moved on from her crush on Link and instantly found somebody who actually validates her scholarly and leadership skills everyday, and encourages her to be her best self. They have a fun banter.

Koltin/Loone - Another fun little crackship! The girl who's obsessed with leviathans and guardians, and Koltin, THE monster guy. He knows everything about monsters and thinks they're misunderstood! I feel like they would get along. It's a shame we can't hook them up in-game.

Character I find Attractive

Ganondorf. Duh. He's a handsome man.

Character I would Marry

Teba seems like a good husband and dad. Also he's just very cool, haha. Or maybe Purah? I feel like we'd probably get along.

Character I would be Best Friends With

Gosh, probably Sidon! He's very supportive and nice. I feel like I would thrive with that sort of energy in my life. And I could help him be a better leader. Or Purah and/or Robbie, they're very hectic and manic but real dedicated to their work, and I am nothing at heart, if no a workaholic myself, lol.

Unpopular Opinion

I've seen more consensus agree with me lately, as the hype around ToTK has started to fade away, but I'm very frustrated by the Zonai and the way they handled that! It's so frustrating to see Zelda, whose lesson in BoTW was that her Father was wrong, the kingdom and its tenets were wrong, blind faith was wrong and that it was her love for her friends that saved her in he end--then learn the lesson in ToTK that monarchy is fine, everybody should just attempt to emulate the past, and that everything in the past was good.

I think constantly about the fact that Rauru's four sages, the people who swore fealty to him--have no identities. No names, no faces, no real agency or personality beyond their duty to the sacred stone, and their species. There's something very unsettling about that, and something very unsettling coupled with the Depths, this creepy, hollow, empty place that the Zonai mined out and left nothing in return. The Doylist explanation is, of course, that there are no writing credits on ToTK and they just didn't have the time to flesh out the Sages or the Depths, because they had to move on to making the new Zelda game for Switch 2. But the Watsonian explanation could have been really fascinating, it could make the Zonai more morally ambiguous. These aliens who came to Earth to mine the Earth for power and pulled people into their thrall for that power--which they saw as ultimately a tool to progress everybody's society, but also can be seen from Ganondorf's perspective as something horrifying. What is the worth of progress if it comes at the expense of identity?

But that would involve the writers having to grapple with the colonialism inherent to the premise they are creating here. And they want Rauru to be good, Hyrule to be good and Ganondorf to be straightforwardly evil. And that's sad to me, because Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, to an extent, are about the failures of the old rulers and their approaches, and how our heroes have to do better. And the fact Nintendo refused to do that here thematically makes me sad!

Most badass character

Urbosa! I LOVE fighting as her in Hyrule Warriors, and she's also just such a fun design and cool and supportive at the same time.

Pairing I am Not Fond Of

Sidon/Link. Not that I hate it or anything! I can see it, it's a very plausible pairing, but often a lot of people sideline Zelda entirely when they write it, and that's annoying to me. I don't like when yaoi shippers discard the most important women to a man's life to make it gay.

Characters I feel the Writers screwed up

Ganondorf! Evil brown guy is just evil because he's brown. Very annoying to not even try to make that feel more nuanced in the year 2023, but whatever.

Favourite Friendship

Robbie and Purah! I love their dumb banter and bickering in all of the games. Inventor duo, they hate each other and would die for each other, and when they work together, they can make the impossible happen. I love how much they both fight for credit on petty things, but they do always say the other was instrumental to their success. Their fighting style in Hyrule Warriors, where Robbie is the one piloting their mech-suit, while Purah just perches on the shoulder and shows off when they do their special attack--everything to me!

Zelink beneath the readmore!

When I Started Shipping It

Probably as SOON as I got to that memory in BOTW, where they're in the rain, and Zelda asks him if he had a chance to be anything else other than a knight, would he have taken it? And the look he gives her as he turns back, and the way the scene is framed when he's jolted out of the memory...argh, that's when the brainworms really started. But also I really did like that moment where she tries to get him to eat a frog, after complimenting his ability to tame horses. It's just cute, idk! They're the thematic core of the story. It's about the inevitable destiny of it, and how Zelda bucks against their fated destiny, but Link embraces it, because he is a man guided by devotion and courage, and her wisdom means she knows it's a bad idea--but how can she do anything but love it/him? There's something just a bit doomed to all of their interactions, and it makes me go insane!

My Thoughts (Good/Bad)

I find it bad for worldbuilding as a whole, but fascinating for their dynamic, that Skyward Sword makes Zelda the living incarnation of Hylia, because then you're constantly left with the question: is Link simply extending his devotion towards the Goddesses by loving Zelda, or does he love Zelda and the Goddess separately? Is that even possible to separate Zelda from the Goddess? What does it mean for your temple of devotion to be a person? And in BOTW/ToTK where they are haunted by failure and loss, where there's unspoken resentment towards each other they both have to let go of, Zelda in the past, and Link in the present, that infuses their dynamic with such fun tension, even when they do wholeheartedly love each other and do just get along. I find it tragic, and fun, and sweet and sad all at once. I love a good destined lovers, where neither is entirely sure if that's a good idea, or there's a certain exhaustion to it, because it's inevitable anyway...

Things Done in Fanfic That Annoy Me

When in post-botw fics they have kids, rule the restored kingdom of Hyrule together, and don't seem to have any trauma. They're both feral, they're of the Wild now, and if Link actually loved Zelda and Hyrule, he'd never support her remaking Hyrule Kingdom ever again. They're just not capable of having a happy nuclear family in that way, sorry!

People also make Link SO masculine in such a weird way sometimes in fanfic--no??? Even if you don't headcanon him trans, he's like...so distanced from the kind of daddy dom masculinity that so many fanfic writers seem to default onto a lot of sex?? He's very gender-fluid and I just can't ever see him in that kind of aggressive way. It's always very jarring and unpleasant. I also think people really overplay the enemies-to-lovers of pre-canon BOTW, which sometimes leads to fics where they're like...doing petty revenge on each other or like having dramatic blowouts--which always feels a bit unrealistic to me? I'm very picky about the zelinks I like ^^;;;

I also just hate modern AU in general. They don't make sense outside of the feudal system and those external pressures/divine pressures!! Bodyguard/celebrity will NEVER hit in the same way as knight/princess.

Who I'd be Comfortable With Them Ending Up With, if Not Each Other

Link has vibes with a lot of people! Honestly, in Windwaker, I don't ship Link/Tetra at all! Link and Medli is far more compelling to me. And TP, Midna and Zelda are so in love, and Link's just kind of there, he doesn't even know Zelda xD In BOTW, I feel like Impa/Zelda makes a lot of sense, and Link has chemistry with all sorts: Sidon, Paya, Beedle, all the random NPCs that flirt with him. I'm so rarely a single shipper, haha.

My Happily Ever After For Them

Wandering through the world as travelling diplomats/adventurers, with their home in Hateno whenever they're taking a break, and vacationing everywhere, as Zelda slowly writes her scientific 1000 page dissertation about the nature of the world, and Link writes the ultimate cookbook. The Triforce calls them to duty, but they mostly ignore those urges. They're done with divine duty--they only have duty towards each other and the world now.

[thebleedingeffect]

i am so SO excited you're playing skyward sword. skwsd is my absolute fav zelda game, and i love skysd link so much, he is my little guy, my dude, the love of my life. how are you liking it? how far are you?

I'm enjoying skyward sword immensely!! Admittedly, at first I was little hesitant to get super into the game pass the intro forest temple because of how decisive this game seems to be. People seemed to either hate or be neutral to this game but I decided to play it anyway cause I do love loz and it seemed fun!! But I'm genuinely happy that I decided to play it anyway despite what the louder part of the loz community has said cause I'm truly enjoying myself a bunch.

The npcs are super animated and I love how much personality they have, even the rude ones, it just makes me happy to see how animated and diverse in personality that skyloft is! I love the little remlits and just how damn cute they are <33 I legit refuse to hurt them or throw them off cliffs they're so so cute I adore them!! Another thing that I like is that the game gives you a bunch of incentive to help fellow npcs and it gives you great rewards for doing so. It makes me actually want to look around skyloft and talk to people which is even better cause it gives me more opportunities to learn of the npcs!

I also fucking LOVE the dowsing feature, it's genuinely so great and helps me out a bunch in wanting to find objects naturally and not wanting to resort to guides. It's just nice cause I can stay in the game and find stuff at my own pace :]

ANOTHER THING!! I love how fucking COLORFUL everything is!! I am playing the HD version on the switch so I know the graphics are improved but even still! The environments and dungeons are all so pretty to look at and I llooovveedddd the ancient cistern :DDD also going back to skyward sword made me remember how much I love classic dungeon crawlers and how much I missed them in botw/totk </333 the puzzles are also very fun and are well-designed so that's a massive plus.

And uh... I've made it to the part where sksw Zelda meets with sksw Link after he managed to get all of the goddesses flames and tells him the whole deal. I genuinely did not expect for that entire scene to hit me as hard as it did but I'm really happy I managed to avoid spoilers for this long cause holy shit, holy shit. That entire conversation is so expertly written and I love how it characterizes the both of them, how they were both forced to grow up out of desperation. sksw Zelda telling Link that she was so sorry that she used him and his devotion to her?? That she knew that he would chase after her no matter what and she couldn't stay or tell him anything because the world needed a hero? That she was so sorry but she had to do it because it wasn't just them anymore, they had grown up and now the responsibility of the world was on their shoulders.

The little line of her saying that she would've been so happy to just with him on Skyloft for all their days and that she holds those memories so dear to her is just an absolute gut punch. It's so expertly written cause I feel like it would've been so easy to make her into a selfish, cruel character thanks to this conversation, but it's so wonderfully done that I fully understand why she did it. It's a case of fate demanding the worse of choices into their hands and they can do absolutely nothing about it because for as much as they love each other- neither of them could sit back and watch the world suffer. Of course, what she did wasn't good but that's the point! She hates herself for having to lie and cause him pain, for dragging him into this because she could see no other to ever be her hero.

The tragic thing is that I very much doubt it was ever in sksw Zelda's control, I think that sksw Link was always meant to be the hero and fate has a heavy hand in this game. Her motivations sort of remind me of oot Zelda's actually, blaming herself for circumstances out of her control, having to constantly stay out of reach, and having to grow up so fast. Both of them had to be the lights on the horizon that directed their heroes, but always just out of reach because he's the hero and she's the goddess, it's always so much bigger than either of them.

I've only gotten this far yet but god, GOD! This isn't even half my thoughts about the entire deal but Zelda constantly going back and forth from referring to herself with Zelda and Hylia?? Ouch??? The sudden instability of your own image... of feeling like everything you've ever known has been predestined... do you hate yourself for your past actions in another life? Do you hate her-you- for this inevitable fate that you and your hero are doomed to for reasons that you'll always blame yourself for? Does she hate herself even more that Link did exactly that, run after her, prove Hylia-herself- right? Does she feel responsible for all the physical, emotional, and mentall pain that Link has grown through in order to become the hero that the world needs? For forcing him to grow up with her when all they ever wanted was to be together and be torn apart at every single point?

Do NOT get me started on sksw Link oh my ggogoodosso ad dwshdi HELP! He's so fucking TRAGIC and PAINFUL TO EVEN THINK ABOUT! How every single person he meets he always tells them that he's looking for someone and he always seems to be in a hurry because he can't be late, not again. The sheer desperation, the unapologetic love, the personality, the inherent sacrificial nature, always looking into the past while running after Zelda- HELP ME!!! But I think one of the most painful parts to me... is that I really don't think Link blames Zelda at all, for any of it. How painful of a thought is it that I think he'd be perfectly open splitting himself on the master sword for her and he wouldn't blame her on his last breath? Would she believe him? Would she believe that she singlehandedly orchestrated the death of her hero after putting him through so much pain?

Another thing is that he isolates himself, he helps people whenever he can but there's so much guilt and isolation swirling around in him as well as the crushing weight of his destiny that he just realized. One key theme I find in the game is that early on it's stated that Link is different, from everything from the knight's academy, to Impa telling him only he can do it, to Groose trying and failing to be that hero. It doesn't feel like a blessing, it feels like a destiny he could've never avoided and he was always going to be the hero who's blood was split to protect others. Link was always going to be the one who ends up alone while everyone else stays in the past, together but eternally waiting for him- or moreso, waiting for the hero that he's forced to become. It genuinely makes me so sad that he only had Fi for the longest time but even then... she's not much more than a guide, at least at first. I really don't feel like he'd be comfortable or even believe that Fi would understand, not when she's under even stricter instructions than him.

So yeah uhhhhhhhh you could say I'm enjoying the game a bunch!! I'm waiting to finish the game before talking a BUNCH about it on the dash and flooding my blog with sksw reblogs but I'm enjoying myself so much!! Also I just missed the triforce so so much- DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH I RESENTED THE SECRET STONES FOR TAKING MY BABYGIRL THE TRIFORCE AWAY??? I literally do not care about the secret stones, bring back the triforce I love her so so soooooo much and every single time I see any sort of triforce imagery I start crying and throwing up !

[moodybites]

Playing Tears of the Kingdom and here's my thoughts so far (spoilers ahead):

Good gameplay, still racist as fuck.

Orientalism is still in this game, the Gerudo are still a horrible mash of Middle Eastern stereotypes mashed with South Asian stereotypes

Really, its like they were trying to do Middle Eastern community with the Gerudo but actually meant North Indians from the Thar Desert (probably Rajasthani community) so they just mashed them all together into horrible oriental stereotypes

Still got the really fucked up and racist thing of Ganondorf being the only Brown/Black man in his community and that the Gerudo women, the only community coded as being Middle Eastern, are forced to go to non Brown/Black men to continue their race/save their race from extinction (again racist)

Ganondorf being the only man coded to be culturally Brown/Black makes him being a villain extra racist, especially since he kills the blonde elf queen (could have been fixed if you had more Gerudo men)

This game is just BOTW mashed with Ocarina of Time

Indigenous themes used as props vibes that are very uncomfortable

Had to stop playing the game for a few days because the racism in this game was too much for me

(No I didn't pay money for this game, I was gifted it and now I'm playing it so people can't be like "you need to play the game" when I tell them I hate it )

This game really said furry love between a goat and a elf (human) woman

Zelda is the descendant of a very furry goatman sleeping with an elf woman

Zelda still remains annoying as fuck

She really didn't have to turn into that stupid dragon, she is literally an idiot for that (no I'm not wrong on this, she's an idiot)

If I have to kill Zelda dragon I will not shed a tear, why did you become a dragon, stupid

The game also really said "fuck your ship between Link and Sidon" and trolled fans very hard with the statue and the sage stuff only to reveal Yona

I like Yona

She's cute and I like her and Sidon being together, they are very cute

King Sidon is also cool

The game is also stupid hard

So far:

Gameplay: 9/10

Worldbuilding: -100/10 (it's literally not that fucking hard to get rid of the racism)

Story: -100/10 (again. Literally not that fucking hard to fix Ganondorf and the racism)

No, not having a good time with this game

[mx-chievous]

Even in Skyward Sword, Fi describes Bokoblins as not being “intelligent by any definition of the word.” She also describes their presence as akin to a plague. The Hyrule Compendium also describes them as a nuisance, but even it agrees that they are intelligent to some degree (enough to hunt and grill).

And given what we see of them at least in Skyward Sword, they’re certainly intelligent. They make clothing and accessories, use symbols and means of communication (sounding horns to summon allies, wearing a bandana to signify social status, etc.). They make their own tools, weapons, and buildings. Fi even mentions in the next sentence after calling them unintelligent, that they’re obsessed with fashionable undergarments. Kind of hard to say they don’t meet the standards of sapience that humans have when they demonstrate such ingenuity and culture. Same with various other humanoid “monsters” in the Zelda series such as Moblins and Lizalfos.

Lore wise, we do know that the Demon King Demise created, at the very least, all the monsters in Skyward Sword, for the purpose of waging war against the Goddess Hylia and obtaining the triforce. While I don’t remember if they’re specifically referred to as demons at any point, these humanoid enemies are at the very least created by a demon, so the goddess and those like her are probably biased against them (hence Fi’s info on them being rather disparaging). Considering that the first Zelda in the timeline has the memories of her life as the goddess, and all the royal family are descended from her, this would likely mean that this sort of attitude was passed down amongst the humans and allied races as the surface was once again populated with humans.

In another early example in the timeline, we see Moblins as being at least one of the kinds of creatures sealed away in the Bound Chest in the backstory of the Minish Cap. But given that we aren’t actually given the cause of that conflict, is it possible that the war proceeding this was more about territory and resources than it was about one side being evil? Afterall, you have humans returning to the surface from the sky, led there by people who see some of the surface dwellers as evil. And with an influx of humans over time, complications in territories shared by these 2 groups are inevitable and unlikely to go well if one side is predisposed to hate and fear the the other. It would make sense for the legend of this conflict to gloss over the cause of this war if it would make it harder to justify the losing side’s extreme punishment otherwise. And the moblins and others that either weren’t sealed away or are descended from those who were later released would be unlikely to see any humans in a good light.

I think it’s not that they’re evil, violent, and mindless like they are talked about, but rather they’re generally not welcome in those societies, and they have a history of bad experiences with those societies anyways and so generally speaking (aside from exceptions like the moblins in caves from zelda 1 or the Hinox in the cave from a link between worlds) the ones Link meets are often quick to draw arms. And it would all stem back to tensions that began in the war between demons and the goddess. And we as the player are only seeing this inter-species tension through the lens of the people whose ancestors designated those species as evil.

The bokoblins in tears of the kingdom seem smarter. They collect hunted meat in backpacks. They build fences. They use crafted weapons rather than just sticks like in botw. It begs the question: surely these are sentient creatures Link is murdering en masse? We collect their organs. We make potions out of them and eat their flesh. This is getting weird

[kintatsujo]

LoZ AU- The Courage of Running Away Part TWENTY-EIGHT

Previous Post!!

This post is more like the second half of the previous post so there’s only a bit of art with mostly prose

#AU August

#LoZ AU: The Courage of Running Away

Link thinks about Safee, patting his back and telling him it was brave to leave. He thinks about the mogma grandmother who told him to go to Hyrule Castle and speak for himself. He thinks about Queen Zelda, never asking what he was afraid she'd ask of him, and about Princess Zelda, currently unconscious in the sacristy, and how she gave him a hug. He thinks about Tonbo putting flowers in his hair. He thinks about his father's apology.

Most of all he thinks about Marla, plying him with food because he was subsisting too much on health potions alone, and the conversation they had in the Shrine of the Furious God, at the feet of the statue built in the same image as the Nightmare he's now fighting.

"I'll bet he was afraid too," Marla had said. And it seems hard to believe that, seeing the face of the Fierce Deity, but Link knows this is a copy built from his image of the Furious God.

Legend had it he came in the form of a child with the soul of an adult, and that he'd used the gratitude of Termina to take his true form.

But why come as a child at all? Surely that made things harder, surely-

When his blade finally strikes true, Fierce Deity acts as though he made a fencing point despite the fact that there's black blood staining his chest.

He puts his right hand to the wound, left hand still on his sword, and he smiles that gentle, gentle, unnerving smile.

"Well done, little one," he says. "Can you manage it twice?"

[Image Description: Fierce Deity Link is smiling, resting one hand on his chest and the other on his sword.  Black blood is trickling from the center of his armor down his chest.  End ID.]

Link realizes that leaving his father was actually harder than this. That leaving the Sky Commune was actually harder than everything he's done since.

Because sometimes he hated Astramorus, sometimes he hated him more than it felt like he could contain, but he loves him so much more that it aches.

And if he gets through this, they can work on making things better.

He takes a deep breath.

"Yeah," he says. "I can manage it twice."

Astramorus, meanwhile, is thinking about all the ways he's failed Link, the ways HE thought he was failing Link versus the ways maybe he was ACTUALLY failing him.

He's thinking about how Link used to be afraid of the dark and how he showed him to use the same trick he's using now, the fairy bobbing merrily at his side and sharing her light with him.

He's thinking about how when Link found his mother's sword at six he hadn't taken it away when he probably should have swapped it for something the boy could actually lift.

He's thinking about Serenumbra bringing him books about previous heroes and previous trials they'd faced, calling Link a soft child and worrying over his abilities, and how Astramorus himself would later use those words like a weapon.

And about how Serenumbra probably knew exactly what he was doing, stoking fear for his son in his heart, encouraging every worst impulse, winding him up and letting him go, just like he confessed he'd been doing for years up in the Sanctuary.

And he thinks about Link telling him that fixing things wasn't going to take some grand sacrifice. About how Link wants him to keep living, to keep trying.

Astramorus sees a blue glow in the dark, outlining Serenumbra's back.

He lifts the book of magic still in his hands. He's ready to start trying.

[image description: A grayscale animatic.  Astramorus WHACKS the asshole. End ID.]

[incorrectsmashbrosquotes]

Leaf's Conspiracy

Leaf: Okay, I got a conspiracy theory. So, Sephiroth got added recently, and Cloud hates his guts.

Cloud: Don’t. Remind. Me.

Leaf: And it got me thinking. Something about this seems odd. So, I did bit of research on the computer, and that’s when I came to my conclusion.

Leaf, slapping a board: Someone’s after the blondes!

Everyone: …

Link: What?

Leaf: Think about it. Ever since Ultimate started, have you noticed that the blondes have been suffering? Samus has not only Ridley, the guy who probably ate her parents…

Ridley: I did, actually. And it was delicious.

Leaf: ….But also Dark Samus. Two people out to get her! Rosalina got Daisy. She was still salty about being in a Smash Bros game AFTER Rosalina got in.

Rosalina: Huh? Daisy isn’t out to get me.

Daisy, holding a bat behind her back: (Speaking through seething rage with a smile) OF COURSE NOT.

Leaf: Peach got stuck with Piranha Plant.

Peach: Piranha Plant isn’t that bad. They just like biting my arm…a lot….especially when I’m asleep…

Leaf: Ken got stuck with Terry, who based on a poll I took count of, is hotter than him.

Ken: What poll is this?!

Terry: I mean…

Ken: You stay out of this, trucker hat!

Leaf: Link and Zelda are technically new versions prior to the previous ones, so they’re stuck with Ganondorf.

Link: That’s how it always is.

Leaf: And Min Min unfortunately has to deal with fights breaking out in her restaurant.

Min Min: I broke up three fights the other day.

Leaf: As you can see, most, if not all, of the blondes here have some sort of adversary. And that can only mean one thing. Sooner or later, a blonde is going to suffer again.

Leaf flips the board, revealing Porky: I am sorry Lucas. We can’t throw out the possibility

Lucas: What? He’s not coming.

Leaf: What makes you say that? He doesn’t have a spirit.

Lucas: Spirits don’t deconfirm. Min Min is right there.

Leaf: Neither does not having a spirit.

Lucas: …Okay, well….

Luigi: Could be worse. Your brother could come.

Everyone: ….

Mario: Bro.

Luigi: …Sorry.

Leaf: That aside, Lucas isn’t the only one in danger. Dr. Eggman could come.

Sonic: But I’m not blonde. 

Leaf: You are sometimes.

Sonic:…Oh no, she’s right!

Leaf: Which leads me to the other point. Mario hasn’t been exactly lucky in these Smash trailers. He’s been killed by Ridley, punched by Sonic so hard he flew into another dimension, blown up by a creeper, and nearly killed by Sephiroth. These next few trailers could show anything happening.

Marth: Okay, what are you getting at?

Leaf: Someone has it out for Mario, and some of the blondes in Smash. The only question is, who could have access to Nintendo’s library of evil people, and has something out for Mario?

Banjo: Hmm…It’d have to be someone who can communicate with Nintendo characters fluently…

Hero: While also being able to get a Square character in…

Kazooie: And they’re probably hairless.

Everyone: ….

ROB: It’s Crazy Hand.

Fox: That makes sense.

[queenof-literature]

Hyrule

Hi all! Time for the Hero of Wild series update! I hope you enjoy!

I also remembered I haven’t been updating my Masterlist. Whoopsie. Sorry about that. it’s updated now. 

Wild was getting restless, Hyrule could tell. Wild had been with them for about a week now, and Hyrule could see it was starting to get to him. He knew the look, because he was the exact same way. Based on what little Wild told them about himself, Hyrule knew they were similar. Both travelers and wanderers, both far more comfortable away from cities, both loving to explore the world around them.

Not to say the other Links didn’t love exploring, Four and Wind would accompany him during dinner sometimes. Wild and Hyrule however always seemed to disappear by the time Twilight and and Warriors would turn around. It started with Hyrule when he first joined the Links, it was difficult to simply stay on the trail. Sometimes he would wander off without really realizing it. In one moment he would be looking at the local plant life that was absent in his own Hyrule. In the next moment he would be getting dragged by the scruff of his tunic by Legend. And Wild was the same way. 

Obviously they couldn’t drag him back by the scruff of his neck, Wild didn’t let anyone touch him in any way. But Hyrule and Wild always ended up wandering off, and Hyrule truly wanted to get closer to his fellow explorer, but he didn’t know how. 

Exploring seemed to be a common interest, but how did he ask the other to explore with him? Did he just… ask? He didn’t really know how to ‘properly’ interact with people. His Hyrule wasn’t exactly where someone would want to go for a vacation. He loved parts of it but it was lonely. Legend had found him deep in these thoughts a couple of weeks in, before Wild had joined.

“Am I a bad person?” Hyrule had asked quietly when he heard his fellow Link approach. He always knew who it was based on their footsteps. 

“Why would you say that?” Legend had responded. 

“What if I don’t miss my Hyrule as much as I should?”

“You’re not a bad person for not liking certain aspects of your Hyrule kid.”

“But… what if I don’t want to go back when the time comes? Not that I hate my Hyrule, but you guys are nice. I’m just… tired.” 

“If Hylia thinks she’s tearing us apart after sending us on this hellish cucco chase she has another thing coming.” Legend had finalized. And Hyrule knew he meant it. 

Hyrule glanced up at the sound of footsteps, stifling the urge to laugh as Twilight led a disgruntled Wild back to the traveling party. His humor disappeared when he saw the look on Wild’s face. It was restlessness, the desperate need to get away. Not in a way of anger, but exhaustion. The absolute bone tired feeling of being around too many people for far too long. Hyrule felt that many times, and would usually wander off when it got too bad, pleading with Legend to not bring up his absence. 

It wasn’t Twilight’s fault, he didn’t know. Besides, this was a Hyrule no one knew, it wasn’t the best idea for Wild and Hyrule to be wandering around while the others were moving. Perhaps once they made camp Hyrule could work up the courage to actually talk to the boy. 

~

Wild missed his Hyrule, and he missed traveling alone. Wild didn’t exactly have a home like the others apparently did, but he still missed his Hyrule. Sure he had a house in Hateno that he loved, and he was extremely grateful for when he needed a free place to sleep, but it wasn’t always home. The wilds were his home. The woods with secret birds nests, the oceans with rocky coats to jump from rock to rock, the different domains with different obstacles and different beauties. That was his home. He loved Hateno, but he felt out of place among the residents. He never felt out of place in nature. But he certainly felt out of place here. 

The other Links were nice and welcoming, but Wild never missed the long glances towards his scars, or the annoyed huffs when he came back from exploring off the path. But another boy, Hyrule, he explored too. Legend would always drag him back with a fond smirk and the rest of the group let him be. Was it because Wild was new that they seemed to walk on eggshells around him? Maybe. That didn’t change the fact he missed traveling alone. The thought made him feel slightly guilty, everyone had been doing their best to include him into their group. But still Wild just felt like a piece that didn’t fit.

He also felt guilty Zelda didn’t know. They rarely traveled together, Zelda was happy to work in labs for now while she grew accustomed to their new Hyrule a century later. But he missed exploring with her too. He liked seeing her happy, and his few memories proved she liked walking along beaten paths and open fields as well. He wanted more time to do that, but based on what Time had said, he would be on this quest for the foreseeable future. 

Oh well. He would deal with it. He had been in worse situations before. At least this time he remembered who he was when in a strange world. Still, something in him ached to be away from all of this, to simply shield surf down a mountain, or tame a wild stag, or create a giant fire and fly where no one could reach him. He doubted the others would appreciate that though. 

Hyrule seemed to have a similar mindset. He wished he could talk to the boy, but he didn’t seem interested. Wild was already new, he didn’t want to upset or annoy anyone with his lack of speech. He was painfully aware how exhausting it was to communicate with him, especially when the people trying to talk to him had to put up with his language that was completely different from theirs thanks to the different timelines. And yet they made name signs for him. They asked his opinions on things. They asked him how to sign things to better understand him. Four gave him a journal to help him share his thoughts. They were all so kind and Wild was so, so confused.

~

Hyrule needed to work up the courage to talk to Wild. Soon. After almost a week of traveling with a group, Wild seemed to be really stressed. He was pacing around near Epona, trying to find something to unpack around camp to distract himself. He appeared to be moving his lips, having a silent conversation with himself, his hands ringing and reaching up to scratch lightly at his neck. Hyrule had noticed Wild had a multitude of nervous habits, some of them similar to his own. Epona also seemed to be worried, if her quiet huffing and nosing at Wild’s hair was anything to go by. Hyrule worried that if he didn’t approach Wild first, Wild might run off on his own before the day was over. There wouldn’t be a better time anyway. The older boys were washing tunics and the younger ones were swimming in a nearby creek. Hyrule gulped down his nerves and got up. 

He slowly approached Wild, popping his fingers absentmindedly. Wild glanced up at him, eyes filled with suspicion and curiosity. 

“Hey Wild. Do you want to go exploring? You seem like you like to and I like to and it's been a while since I’ve gotten away and being around people for too long kinda makes me nervous and it seems like it does you too. Erm, I mean I obviously don’t know that for sure but we could leave a note and get away for awhile and go explore?” Hyrule rushed out and mentally face palmed at his own rambling. Good job Hyrule. Glancing up at Wild, the boy seemed slightly shocked, but thankfully didn’t look offended. Wild took out his journal and quickly scratched out a response. 

‘Sure. You’re right. I’m used to traveling alone.’ Scrawled out in neat, small letters. 

“Alright!” Hyrule smiled happily, which Wild hesitantly returned. “Would you mind if we used your journal to write a note? I don’t have anything to write on.” Hyrule asked. Wild looked sad for a moment at tearing out a page from his gift, but figured the sooner they left the better while the others were distracted. He carefully tore a page from the back and wrote out a quick note as Hyrule watched, adding in when he saw fit. 

‘Went exploring, we’ll be fine. Need a break. We won’t go far.

~Wild and Hyrule’

After adding a large smiley face he knew would piss off Legend, Hyrule led Wild away from the camp, being sure to leave the note in an obvious place. They decided to go the opposite way of the river to avoid any stray Links. The trees around them were a bit taller than Hyrule remembers Wild’s trees being, the sun peeking through the canopy above. A few flowers bloomed sparingly in the grass, Wild stopping to take pictures with his slate. Already Wild looked more relaxed, and Hyrule felt himself decompressing as well. 

Before they could stray far from camp however, they ran into the smallest Link. 

“What are you two doing?” Four asked, eyebrow raised, green eyes shining in the peeking sunlight. 

“We could ask you the same question.” Hyrule spoke for both of them, copying Four’s expression. 

“Very smooth Hyrule. Amazing distraction.” Four fired back, seeming far more amused than angry. 

“Please just pretend you didn’t see us. We both need a break we’ll be careful and we left a note.” Hyrule pleaded. Four had to admit, the pleading expression on both Hyrule and Wild’s faces were hard to deny. Not that he was planning to anyways, but he was definitely going to give them shit for it. 

“Fine.” Four sighed out dramatically. “But do me a favor and try to stick in the area. Maybe Northwest as much as you can. Just so we know where to look when you to inevitably find trouble.” Four teased. 

“We’ll do our best!” Hyrule promised happily, rushing forward. 

‘Thank you!’ Wild signed quickly, rushing forward to catch up to Hyule. Four chuckled lightly. He could already tell those two would be the definition of chaos. 

~

“Sooo. What do you do for fun in your Hyrule?” Hyrule asked, slightly desperate for conversation. Normally he would be content to sit in comfortable silence, but he wanted to get to know this new Link with no one else around, and who knew when he would next get the chance? Hopefully Wild didn’t hate him too much for trying to break the silence. Wild contemplated for a moment.

‘Cliff jump.’ Hyrule snorted.

“A little hard to do that here.” Hyrule laughed.

‘Shield surf.’ Wild signed, fingerspelling it slowly when Hyrule made a confused hum.

“Shield surf? What’s that?” Hyrule knew by Wild’s betrayed expression that he would learn soon.

~

“Where’s Wild?” Twilight asked soon after the boys returned. 

“And Hyrule?” Wind questioned. 

“Hyrule probably ran off again. Did Wild as well?” Sky asked the group. Just then, Warriors noticed a page of Wild’s journal resting on top of a tree stump. Warriors quickly approached the page, slightly concerned it would end up being a ransom note. Picking up the note and reading the short writing, Warriors had to stifle a laugh. 

“What is it?” Time asked.

“Went exploring, we’ll be fine. Need a break. We won’t go far.” Warriors read out loud,

turning the page around to show the large smiley face and the two bokoblins who signed it. 

“That little shit.” Legend growled, looking at the taunting smiley face drawn on the note. 

“Those little shits.” Twilight corrected. He had yet to talk to Time about his friendship with Wild. Was it a friendship? Twilight still needed to ask if this is how a mentor felt. He felt towards Wild like he did towards the kids in Ordon, but this was a little different in ways Twilight couldn’t explain, but wasn’t really mad at.

“You’re right, Twilight. I’ll kill ‘em both.”

~

“So, I just stand on this and ‘surf’ down the hill?” Hyrule questioned, slightly nervous about his certain tumble down the steep hill they managed to find. Wild nodded, eyes brighter than Hyrule had seen them in days.

‘Do you want me to go first?’ Wild signed. 

“Yes please. I guess I just don’t understand how to do it.” Hyrule rubbed his hand across the back of his neck, slightly embarrassed. Wild just smiled gently, and summoned a shield out of his slate, jumping on the back of it. Hyrule watched in fascination as Wild gracefully sped down the hill they had chosen, weaving around small obstacles. It only made Hyrule more nervous. Not for the surfing itself, no, that looked fun! He just didn’t want to make a fool of himself in front of their newest member. Wild was up the hill in no time. The hill was steep, but not long and steep enough to make it hard to get back up. According to Wild, it was almost perfect. Hyrule wanted to know what Wild’s definition of ‘perfect’ was. 

‘Ready’ Wild signed with a large smile and carefree eyes. If Hyrule wasn’t going to surf before, he would have to now that he looked at Wild’s bright face. 

“Yeah, but don’t make fun of me when I eat grass and dirt for lunch.” Wild laughed silently, shoulders shaking. If Hyrule listened close enough, he could hear soft puffs of air escaping from the teen. 

 ‘You should have seen me when I first tried it, Hyrule’ Wild signed. Recently he had been trying to incorporate the other’s name signs more into his sentences, trying to get used to the signs they had given each other. Hyrule was quite fond of his sign, he loved the combination of wanderer and magic. 

“Yeah I’m sure that was interesting for everyone else to watch.” Hyrule snorted, laughing at Wild’s playful glare. This was nice. 

‘I’m ready, Wild.’ Hyrule signed to the best of his ability, trying to brush off Wild’s awe stricken face at the fact Hyrule had signed a simple statement in his language. Hyrule couldn’t sign much, but the look on Wild’s face was worth potentially embarrassing himself. 

‘Try to keep up.’ Wild signed, summoning another shield out of his slate for Hyrule to use. It was absolutely gorgeous. Gray metal with raised gold, creating the symbol of Hyrule with decorative accents surrounding it. 

“Erm, isn’t this a little too nice to use for shield surfing?” Hyrule questioned, not wanting to ruin a perfectly beautiful shield. By the look on Wild’s face, Hyrule knew that was a silly question. For all he knew, Wild could have ten more in that slate of his. 

“Okay so I just get on the back and try to balance as I ride down?” Hyrule clarified, not admitting to himself he was stalling. Wild nodded.

‘Maybe you could sit. Never tried it.’ Wild signed, fingerspelling words Hyrule couldn’t understand or couldn’t remember. 

“Nah I’ll stand. Together?” Hyrule confirmed, placing the shield on the ground before him, knowing the other boy was about to leave him in his dust. Wild was talented enough to not need to put the shield down before him, Hyrule had seen him flip onto it like it was second nature. Hyrule would need a bit more of a base. Wild nodded brightly, waiting for Hyrule to start in case the other needed help. The boy got on top of the shield, wobbling a bit at first before balancing out. Wild felt slightly guilty he couldn’t force himself to balance the other boy out, that would require contact and he couldn’t make himself do that, no matter how nice Hyrule seemed. 

When he found enough balance, Hyrule kicked off gently with one foot, not expecting how fast he would be going right as he did it. Hyrule let out a small yelp as he slid down the hill, arms flailing out in a desperate attempt to keep balance. Hyrule glanced over and saw Wild staying beside him, even though this was definitely much slower than he was used to. Pushing down the panic and desperation to stay balanced on the grassy hill, Hyrule let out a laugh. It really was fun! Hyrule could see why Wild liked it so much. Except he should have been paying more attention. 

In the blink of an eye, Hyrule’s shield launched out from under him, flinging itself into Wild’s legs. All Hyrule heard was a raspy sound coming from the other boy sounding like a yelp before both of them tumbled down the hill, rolling uncontrollably all the way to the bottom. Hyrule could feel scraps and bruises forming on the way down. Certainly not enough to maim or kill him, but enough that it stung and Legend would make him drink some potion later. Hyrule finally stopped rolling, taking mental count of how many injuries he had. No broken bones, no concussions, nothing serious. He sighed in relief, before he remembered his fellow escapee.  

“Wild I’m so sorry! Are you okay? Did I hit your legs hard?” Hyrule asked frantically, rushing over to where Wild landed. The other boy was flat on his back, and had probably gotten the air knocked out of him. Oh Hylia, nice job Hyrule! Now Wild would hate you forever! Hyrule got his healing magic ready as he approached Wild, ready to jump into action. Only stopping when he saw Wild… laughing?  

 Hyrule looked on in shock as Wild was laughing. Not completely silent this time either! It took him being close, but Hyrule could hear some soft and raspy giggles coming from Wild’s throat. That one threw Hyrule for a loop. The others had suspected that Wild could perhaps physically talk, but the scars on his neck left that question unanswered. No one knew why he couldn’t talk. If it was physical, mental, or emotional. Not that it really mattered, Wild was Wild. But still, Hyrule was happy he actually heard the boy laughing, if extremely softly. 

“Wild? Are you okay? I’m sorry I promise I didn’t mean to.” Hyrule knelt down next to Wild, but kept a few feet of distance. The last thing he wanted to do right now is freak him out. That’s also why he refused to bring up Wild’s laughter, desperately hoping he wouldn’t grow embarrassed and shut down again.

‘Nice landing.’ Wild signed up, eyes bright and carefree. 

“Pfft. You too.” Hyrule laughed, almost offering Wild a hand to help him up. It seemed polite to offer, but he decided to stay still until Wild got up himself.

‘Again?’ Wild asked, face the definition of excitement and mischief. 

“Obviously.”

~

The entire afternoon was spent with two boys surfing down a hill, bumping shields and laughing like little kids all the way down. Hyrule was slightly worried that bumping shields, and occasionally shoulders, would bother Wild. But it didn’t seem to affect him too much, it must have been different in a more adrenaline induced setting. 

The two of them surfed until the sun began to set. Challenging each other to odd ways of riding down once Hyrule was better. At one point, this led to Wild attempting to make it the whole way down on his shield in a handstand. He didn’t make it very far. 

Another challenge led to them racing down the hill once Hyrule was more confident in his skill. Hyrule still ended up tumbling down the last quarter of the hill. Wild claimed foul but Hyrule claimed they never said how they needed to make it down.

By the time the sun began its descent, Wild and Hyrule were absolute messes. Twigs, grass, and leaves were tangled in their hair. Grass stains and dirt covered their clothes, along with blood from the countless cuts and scrapes they had collected along the way. And large smiles adorned their scraped and slightly bleeding faces. 

“A couple more times and then we’ll go back?” Hyrule asked, looking at the distant sun. “I think the group is so spoiled by your cooking we’d have a hard time without it.” Hyrule teased, chuckling at Wild’s embarrassed face. 

‘A couple more times. Try the spin’ Wild confirmed. Hyrule was getting better at jumping onto the shield, not being able to flip like Wild, but progress was progress. Wild could even jump and spin while he was surfing! He told Hyrule how to do it, and showed him a few times. Wild told him it was easier if he used the momentum from a small bump in the hill to get enough speed to rotate. 

“Okay I’ll try!” Hyrule beamed. Wild and Hyrule could go at the same time now, Wild not needing to give Hyrule a head start as the evening progressed. “One. Two. Three!” Hyrule called out, jumping on the back of his shield. He balanced out and leaned forward as Wild taught him, keeping an eye on the quickly approaching small hill he planned to launch off of. Hyrule bent his legs a little more, then twisted his hips quickly as soon as he hit the hill. He bent his elbows to the side, making sure to keep his back as straight as he could. He managed to make a full rotation! Before landing and having the shield slip out from under him. Hyrule rolled the rest of the way, but his successful spin made it hard for him to care. When he got to the bottom, his eyes were closed, doing another mental check to see if he had any broken bones. When he opened his eyes, he was met with a very unamused pair of bright blue eyes belonging to a certain wolf.

“Uh oh.” Hyrule glanced over at Wild, who also looked like a deer in the torchlight. Wild signed something that Hyrule assumed the wolf couldn’t understand. He was intelligent, but Hyrule doubted the animal could understand sign .

“He says we left a note.” Hyrule translated. 

~

They must have been quite the sight. Two bruised and cut Hylians covered in grass pouting as they followed a hulking wolf. They would have escaped the wolf’s fury, but he absolutely would not let them out of his sight. If one of the two got an inch too far, the wolf grumbled in his throat and glared. A wolf glared at them. Wild at least, knew the wolf was not just an animal. But that only meant he would be the one to get lectured by an angry Twilight later tonight. Wild and Hyrule were pouting, but they still snickered whenever they thought about today. It had been fun. Really fun. Wild didn’t feel overwhelmed anymore, he felt more content. 

“Here we go.” Hyrule muttered, seeing a small fire in the distance. Wild glared down at Wolfie when he noticed the smug look in his eye. The wolf couldn’t wait to see them get scolded. Wild would get revenge later. 

“Where have you two idiots been?” Legend yelled as they got closer.

“What in Hylia’s name happened?” Sky asked, rushing over to check their cuts with Warriors, keeping their distance with Wild. 

“Wild taught me how to surf on a shield!” Hyrule told them the story happily, brushing off Sky’s and Warriors’ fussing. 

“Awesome! Wild teach me next!” Wind ran up to stand next to Hyrule. The two could see Four hanging back, being suspiciously quiet. Hopefully if they didn’t throw him to the wolves for knowing, he would cover for them later on as well. 

‘Where’s Twilight?’ Wild signed innocently, resisting the urge to smirk down at the wolf beside him. 

“He’s scouting the area for monsters.” Time lied easily. “Wolfie, go get him please?” Wolfie glared one last time at a smug Wild, before running off to ‘find Twilight’. 

“Now.” Time began, and Hyrule and Wild glanced at each other, silently communicating that they were indeed fucked. “What were you two thinking running off like that?” Time asked. He didn’t really sound mad, he sounded more curious. He knew those two wouldn’t purposefully cause issues, especially with how shy they tended to be. Hyrule and Wild glanced at each other before Hyrule spoke up. 

“We just needed a break. We left a note so that you guys knew we were okay, but we both just needed time to unwind in the woods.” Hyrule explained sheepishly. Wild nodded along, keeping his head down. He really hoped Hyrule didn’t get in trouble. Even after all the work they put into learning his sign, Wild thought the group would ditch him in a random Hyrule any minute. He didn’t want to see his new friend get in trouble because of something they both did. If he needed to Wild would take the blame. Better just he get in trouble than both of them.

Time sighed, looking at their guilty expressions. He should have expected this, both of these boys spent most of their lives completely alone. Time thought back to his adventures. He loved exploring Hyrule on the back of Epona. Could he really fault these boys for exploring away from a group? Hyrule was getting better with being in a group, but he still struggled. And Wild has only been in their group for a week, he certainly wasn’t used to traveling with others if his fear of touches were anything to go by. Most of the boys said he ‘didn’t like’ being touched to soften the words and not offend the new Link but they all knew the truth. Something had given Wild a deep rooted fear of even being around Hylians. How could they expect him and Hyrule to be happy when constantly surrounded by others. Time was just glad they had found solace with each other. 

“I understand.” The two teens perked up at that, surprised. They barely noticed Twilight coming from beyond the surrounding trees. “I know exploring away from the path is fun, but Hyrules we don’t know are dangerous. I know I’m not gonna be able to stop you from doing it, but be careful. And come back with less scrapes and bruises next time.” Time teased, not missing the way they both relaxed, Wild especially. Hopefully the boy’s wariness would ease as the journey continued. 

“That’s it? They ran away!” Twilight complained, but the others could tell it was mostly in good fun. Wild however could tell the man was trying to get back at him once again. 

“You’re right. Wild make dinner. Hyrule, fill the water jugs. There. Karma complete.” Time smirked at Twilight exasperated look towards Wild, knowing full well he would need to chase after him in the next few days. Good, hopefully Twilight will learn how Time feels.

~

That night was spent the way many of their peaceful nights did, casual chatter and plans for tomorrow. Wild participated a little more this time, which the group was all grateful for. Legend grumbled and made them booth drink a little potion, no matter how much Wild refused. The rest of the night was spent with the group milling around or all grouped around the campfire. Four however, were beckoned over by Hyrule to have a private conversation. 

“What’s wrong?” Four asked, looking at Hyrule’s troubled face.

“Thanks for covering for us. We needed that.” Hyrule thanked before he moved on. “I’m worried about Wild.” Hyrule bit his lip now that his thoughts were out in the open.

“Why?” Four’s eyebrows furrowed. “He looks better than he has in a while and you two seemed to have fun.”

“We did have fun, but Four he laughed. Like with his voice.” Hyrule glanced over to make sure the boy in question was still making dinner. “It was quiet but I heard it. I think he can talk, Four. I mean I think he could maybe physically talk if he practiced. But I think he’s embarrassed? Or scared? He doesn’t have to talk if he doesn’t want to and I don’t want him to feel forced, but what if he wants to talk and he’s scared?” Hyrule finished. Out of the many things Four had been expecting, it wasn’t that.

“I think… that that’s a very real possibility.” Four started, there was no reason to lie. “But you’re right, he might just not want to, or it could be mental. Or a combination. The truth is we don’t know. I’d say for now let’s worry about things we can control and feel out the situation with Wild.” Four reached up and patted Hyrule’s shoulder. Like all the Links, Hyrule put too much responsibility on himself.

“Okay Four. Thank you… that helps.” Hyrule smiled, looking much better.

“No problem buddy.”

~

That night Wild slept a tad bit closer to the group than he had been. It wasn’t much, but it was progress they were all silently grateful to Hyrule for. Time was on second watch, but Twilight had stayed up to talk to him.

‘Pup, did Wild talk to you that night he woke up with Wolfie?’ Time had overheard a small portion of Four and Hyrule’s conversation. He had been coming back from the stream and didn’t stay long, not wanting to eavesdrop, but he heard enough to connect the dots of what Twilight had been avoiding talking about the past few days.

‘He tried.’ Twilight signed back in their shared sign. It hadn't changed too much from Time’s Hyrule to Twilight’s Hyrule, and they didn’t want Wild to overhear their conversation. 

‘He tried?’ Time questioned silently.

‘It was rough, Time.’ Twilight signed, glancing back at the boy curled up in his thin bedroll. 

“We’ll figure it out.” Time whispered, placing a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. Wild was one of them now.

[telesthisia]

On Zel’s telepathy: Her telepathy is a power that she’s aquatinted with far more intimately than the sealing powers and among other abilities granted to her thanks to goddess bloodline. But due to her awful health/power magical stamina she can’t use sealing magic as well as her ancestors did before her, healing is the most she can accomplish without her magic reserves running out too fast as it does with sealing or any other abilities tying with the light magic passed down by the mortal goddess. As for barrier magic, something passed down more by the sages than the goddess, with the help of the seven maidens, she can break down or create a barrier. (This headcanon was long before BOTW came out dhkbfjshb I decided Poor Health is why alttp zel doesn’t display other magics other zel’s did without knowing that it can be hard to unlock these powers). She can’t do the whole barrier magic by herself, it’s an ability that needs a lot of magical powers. The most she can do by herself is pass the hell out just from making a small enough barrier the size of a bedroom door dfhsjkb. The triforce does sap at her magic reserves and health, yes, but she finds telepathy less taxing on her body due to being able to control those incredibly low reservers and it doesn’t require too much effort on her part. On top of that, so long as she takes medicines of magic she’s set! With clairvoyance AND connecting to the spirit realm that’s way out of her control and though she does wake up with either a headache, fatique, or both, it’s once again manageable enough with medicines and medicines of magic. Impa often gives her a brew of medicines to replenish her health every early morning and as always: Zelda hates both those things because how icky they are but still takes it if only to carry on throughout the day. 

Cute fact: A fun little prank she likes to pull on Impa since she was young is pretending to play dead (dramatically placing her hands on her chest, falling to the floor all while saying “i believe this is it, it is the end for me, impa i will see you in the spirit realm”). As an adult, it’s a running joke at this point, to the point where she’d spill red wine and act like it’s blood but Impa knows way better and just goes “Princess pls”, she doesn’t do this joke as often as she did back then.

That out of the way, her telepathy actually breaks up in two parts. Communication, where it’s best described as peering at the brain on a surface level therefore she can not see anything aside from communicating with the person and their response. And perception where she can actually dive deeper into the mind to read thoughts, memories, emotions all that jazz all while sharing her own memories, thoughts, emotions in exchange. Tit for tat, as they say! It’s not necessary for her to do this but she wants to at least make things equal since it means a lot to open up to her completely. Perception requires two important things: complete concentration and touch. Do not be confused by the touch part! She can do little touches just fine without using perception because it requires concentration and complete trust with both parties in order for her to dive deeper. It’s a more overwhelming ability that can cause even more psychic damage than communication does where she just gets a nose bleed if anything. Her telepathy there is an “off” switch she can use because of the total concentration she needs for communication (where she needs to focus on the person or people) as well as perception. Both of these parts of her telepathy do have limited ranges. The best way I can describe this for communication is that it’s possible for her voice to reach Link’s home from her castle. And again, perception is far more intimate than communication so she needs to be close in both distance and relationship. 

She can’t read minds of those who have barriers around their mind, mindless beings, most monsters, and people who have “head empty, no thoughts”. 

[mothmansrevolt]

LU girl Scout 2 au electric boogaloo

i gotta lot of stuff on four cause ive been writing a fanfic off and on. I keep forgetting the different Karen names as well.

⦁ They meet in a barn on Lon Lon Ranch or in the park. Time keeps a whiteboard of running rules and ideas. Many of these include things the group is not allowed to do. ⦁ All of them involve fire. ⦁ One of them is a rule banning certain people, Dark is definitely on his list as well as a tentative rule on Shadow. Anyone named Karen who enters the barn will immediately be exterminated. ⦁ Dark and Shadow have an emo band with actually good but really edgy music? ⦁ This band has no set name but does have a youtube channel called _Cracked_Mirror_ ⦁ Four is the camera man and often appears VERY confused in the background music videos. They make music and vlogs and Kaaren disapproves. ⦁ Four and Hyrule are local cryptids. Twilight is the cryptid tamer. Wild is believed to get you an autograph from the cryptids for five bucks. Legend is halfway a cryptid halfway a nuisance. Time is the ultimate cryptid. At least six different paranormal teams have come after them and have all found evidence surrounding the troop. There is currently a blog run by Legend and Warriors about the evidence surrounding the troop and it is extremely ludicrous ⦁ "Kazoo Kawaii" is a patch they all have and regret immensely ⦁ Hyrule has a GPS keeping track of him. He doesn't use it because he enjoys exploration. Four often has to go with Twilight to grab him. Its not uncommon to see a disgruntled guy in overalls being trailed by a tiny child stomping through the woods. ⦁ Unofficial patch "clapping ass cheek run" is the reason why Wind is not allowed to make patches anymore. Only Legend owns this patch and is VERY proud. Warriors is salty. ⦁ "best mom" is a patch they made just to give to Malon. She cried and hugged them all. ⦁ Tetra is perpetually confused by girlscouts. Her and her gang of 'pirates' aid Wind in his quest to be the very best girlscout that no one ever was and it is not helping nor working in the slightest. ⦁ Tetra is banned from helping directly after a patch for tracking led to them all stalking a prominent citizen and accidently bringing into the light a huge affair that destroyed the entire company. ⦁ Karen actually has partial legal gaurdianship over Four. Nobody knows how. Four's grandfather has many friends in town keeping the word from getting to Karen. ⦁ Vaati and Octavo are Karen's sons who have no idea what the fuck is going on but do know they are related to Four. They don't really get along, its very tense but the brothers do actively keep Four away from Karen because they don't like their mom and they feel kinda bad. It becomes a bad game of Karen after Four in two different ways. give this poor child a break please ⦁ They have a running deal of Vaati driving Four around in exchange for cookies. ⦁ People think the Links are very different from their girlscout counterparts. Its very confusing. The Karen squad only knows that Twilight, Legend, and Warriors are actually Links. ⦁ Sky volunteers at the local bird shelter and is absolutely thriving. His community service patches are earned there. ⦁ People do not fear the links, they fear the hylia scouts. They have teamed up on local bullies who go after their friends and beat their asses in skirts. ⦁ Sky is the most feared because he pulled the master knife on someone once when they threatened his friends and were insulting them. Nobody makes the tiny ones sad. no one. ⦁ The 'master knife' is just a really rad swiss army knife thats exremly good and hard to use. ⦁ The goddess bow is a slingshot. ⦁ All of the links are masters at these weapons. ⦁ Malon works full time at the farm but used to work in child social services for a good few years. She is actively keeping Karen away from Four as well and its the reason why Four became so close to her family and Twilight was allowed to babysit him. ⦁ Yes Four is old enough to stay home alone. No this is not  good idea hence Twilight and Wild. Wind is also old enough to stay home alone and will often watch Aryll and hang at Four's house.  ⦁ The town "minish" is actually a huge group of mice, like somehow highly trained mice that has collectively adopted Four. Do not upset Four. You will find mice will regret this. ⦁ Forest minish are a collection of mice and racoons. They have also adopted Four. ⦁ Ezlo will attack people if need be. He also tends to 'talk' a lot in place of Four, which often involves him squawking and chirping loudly at whoever. Four translates as he chooses. ⦁ Wolfie is more wolf than dog, may even be just a full on wolf. nobody, not even animal control, knows. ⦁ The Links get around through bicycles just because their numbers inconvenience the Karens' minivans. Half can't even effectively ride a bike so really its just them walking everywhere with the bikes or lying face down on the road. ⦁ Some of the bikes are bedazzled. ⦁ The karens will compare themselves to the three golden goddesses which is a big no no to many. ⦁ Twilight is undecided on his major but is leaning to learning agriculture and business to help the family farm. ⦁ Wild plans to go into cooking! he's a damned good one to. ⦁ There's a special order on the secret cookie list that is just homemade cookies from Wild. There's also pot brownies from who knows. They just kind of show up? There isn't that much pot in them? Malon is freaking out over this. There's a running bet among the scouts, many think its Tetra. ⦁ Everyone has a special blanket at Lon Lon Ranch and they all basically live there ⦁ Four is really ahead in school and doesn't understand the concept of summer. Even though he and the 'girls' go to girl scout summer camp. He just thinks you are in school all year because he just continues lessons all year. ⦁ Sky is thought to be the biggest lesbian (next to Warriors) because he won't shut up about how much he loves his girlfriend. Alternatively everyone thinks Zelda is cheating on Sky with... Sky... ⦁ They have to refer to themselves out of uniform as Link. Usually they use their nicknames when alone together or with the farmers in the surrounding area, because the farmers know. they know all. ⦁ There's an "annoy a karen for a day" patch. ⦁ they have twenty. ⦁ Each. ⦁ Warriors is on a lot of sports team and is captain of all of them. Time is coach of the football team even though he has never played football. They have gone to nationals so many times. ⦁ Four, while not actively in “legit” highschool, still often hangs around the campus much to the hate of the security guards. they can never catch him. Its often that a teacher will turn around and realize Four has joined them in the .5 seconds they weren't looking. ⦁ Every week there's an extremely awkward dinner between the troops in the area where Time struggles to upstage the karens. Wild cooks backup food because Time can't cook, Malon refuses, the karen's only bring really bland food because apparently spices aren't a part of their diet. Wild cooks some damned good vegan food for the Karens ⦁ Time owns a "Proud Scout Dad leader" shirt that he wears everywhere. He also has a mug with #2 dad. Ezlo is #1 dad and Time is fine with this. They also always get family discounts wherever they go.

[ecccentrick]

your seams have come unknitted

AKA The fic where the Champion's souls share Link's body.

On AO3

--

He wakes up alone. Or, at least, he thinks he is.

A voice tells him he is Link, the Hero, that he must save everyone from a great evil bent on destruction. The voice comes from a far distant light, bright enough to leave black dots in his visions, but he can’t look away. He just stares.

No part of him -- Hero, Link or otherwise -- questions the voice. Something deep inside him, deep within the chasm that is his sense of self, knows they speak the truth, and bears the brunt of humanity on his shoulders. The weight feels familiar on his shoulders, and he no longer tries to shrug it off like a shroud.

The forest is teeming with so much life it is hard to see where this evil has wrought its hatred. The trees are tall and sturdy, the birds take turns singing, the forest floor is scattered with vegetation and the fluttering of small creatures.

But, before long, seeds of destruction begin to grow fruit in the buildings laid to waste, some taken clean off their foundations. There is not another human in sight, save but the old man, and everything begins to take a tinge of emptiness, a feel of the surreal. Link counts his fingers again and again, falls asleep alone and wakes up alone again and again.

This is real, and he is meant to fix it.

--

The old man, now revealed as king, tells him of her, and of himself, the knight Link. The Princess, forced to wage a battle a hundred years long, awaiting his awakening, hoping for liberation.

Waiting for him to fix his mistake, his failure.

This truth knits itself into his sense of self, his very being. It’s probably the only thing he truly knows about himself.

He cannot fail again.

--

Link seeks information about the Divine Beasts from Impa in Kakariko village. He searches the old woman’s face, subtracting wrinkles and the shadows of trauma and battle, but he can’t recognize anything about her, not even his own face reflected in her shrewd eyes.

She insists that he stay the night before setting off to look for his objectives. He only relents because he knows he is unlikely to sleep in an actual bed again in his lifetime, so he rests his century old bones and tries to at least rest his eyes. The Hero sleeps fitfully.

Impa tries to get him to stay a little longer and recover some of his strength, but he can’t linger like a ghost. Paya and all the other villagers look at him like he is the answer to their every question, like the happy ending to their story, and he can’t bring himself to bask in their attention.

He is not saving them. Link is simply redeeming himself, repaying them for their suffering.

He has a lot to answer to when he finally faces Calamity Ganon in battle.

--

The first night away from Kakariko village is cold despite the summer breeze.

--

He goes to Zora’s Domain first. Link isn’t sure what compels him. There is just a deep feeling in his gut that he will know a bit more about himself there.

Link almost wishes he didn’t.

--

Mipha’s soul, whether an echo of the real thing or the last tangible piece of her left, is a balm to his battered heart. It might be due to her ability that knits together every wound and brings him from the brink of death more times than he can count. It might be the love she felt for Link in life. It’s better not to question it.

It makes him feel like a gentle ripple in a shallow pool, small but nonetheless important. Despite her infinity for water, he feels warmth encircle his heart, soothing his battered heart. Instead of attempting to make him okay, she accepts that he’s not and is there anyway. She doesn’t try to fix that part of him.

Link is unsure if he was ever in love with Mipha, but he learns that who he was before cared for her. And the fierceness of her love for him should be scary to him, should make him flinch away, but her simple steadfast adoration makes him question whether he is truly undeserving of a second chance.

--

The Rito are next.

A thread once again guides him there, along with his Sheikah Slate, and he at once despises the sharp, cold winds that whip and catch at his clothes like needy claws. Vah Medoh casts a shadow over him, and fans a competitive spirit in him.

I’m coming, he thinks as he glares up at the beast. Something glimmers on its surface as though staring back. Challenge accepted.

The battle, in the end, is anticlimactic. Revali would scoff if he ever spoke that aloud, but a small smile makes its way onto his face regardless.

As Revali fades before his eyes, his gift given, Link’s chest is fit to burst. Where Mipha is soft with steel underneath, Revali is much like the wind currents of his skies, volatile and welcoming in turn. With what little memories he has of Revali, it’s fitting that his soul would be the one to carve away its own place within him, a redecorating of sorts. He snorts.

Rubbing at his chest, Link sets out to Vah Naboris.

--

If having another soul within was a snug fit, having two is like coming apart at the seams. Not to mention that it quickly becomes obvious that they don’t get along.

They both have their own way of communicating. Mipha is there in his mind whenever it feels as though everything is too much, comforting him, a back and forth of their minds like the sea brushing the shore.

Revali, in contrast, only comes forward when he’s needed, and not a moment longer, unless it’s to taunt him into doing better. Mipha, a calm sea, turns into a great wave when this happens, smashing and washing Revali’s disdain away.

Wind and sea bicker, but when Link can no longer go on, and Mipha’s Grace is depleted, Revali’s Gale is there to buffet her still waters, until she is strong enough to bring Link back.

--

Link doesn’t think he’s going to make it.

Vah Naboris and her blight are strong and relentless, and there are quite a few times where Link lays there, feels like his soul is the only one residing within his chest, and almost accepts his fate. But, then, his comrades are there, Mipha’s strong will healing him and Revali’s bitter rage reeling him back into the present.

It’s more than worth it in the end. Urbosa’s soul is like basking in the sun, fully knowing that later he will have a sunburn, but too lulled by the warmth of the sun and so grateful for its rays, he lets it. But unlike the sun, who looks down on its subjects with apathy, burning sinners and saints alike, Urbosa’s is anything but complacent. She shines benevolently on those she protects and boils the blood of her enemies. He’d hate to be on the receiving end of that.

Urbosa is more active than both Revali and Mipha. She’s Link’s sentinel, always there in the corner of his mind, ready to defend her people. Link is grateful to be counted as one.

But still, with her greatness comes sorrow. Every thought of Princess Zelda brings an ache to his heart that he has trouble distinguishing between him and Urbosa.

--

He faces Vah Darunia with the greatest hesitation. This might be due to the sweat that plasters his hair to his face and his clothes to his skin, even with his protective gear, or perhaps because this was it. The final thing standing in his way of facing Calamity Ganon.

The sight of fire, the hint of searing to his skin makes his jumpy and ready to crawl out of his skin. Something about the sensations brings back the desperation he hasn’t felt since his first night in the forest, alone and confused. The others are quiet in his chest, even Revali’s usual mocking air gone.

Link makes silly mistakes that entire battle, his vision suddenly engulfed by yellow at strange intervals, his scars tingling and his heart racing. But, in the end, they defeat it, all of them quivering with exhaustion after the final blow is dealt.

Daruk’s very soul feels like a bear hug. He’s solid and safe and never mocking nor worrying. He is unshakeable ground underneath Link’s feet and he can’t contain himself.

He cries for the first time in one hundred years.

He finally feels whole.

[howanimestuffworks]

Now it’s time for something a little bit out of the ordinary and a little bit different. We all know that at this point in time the world is out of sorts so it’s nice to have that little ray of sunshine every now and again. Luckily for me that ray of sunshine just gotten bigger with me being nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award!  

I made my first couple of graphics! I think they turned out good!

Like always we have to begin with the rules:

Thank the person who nominated you and provide a link to their blog so that other people can visit them.

Answer the 11 questions put to you by the nominator.

Nominate 11 bloggers of your choosing and provide them with a new set of 11 questions to answer.

Notify the nominees by commenting on one of their blog posts.

List the rules and display The Sunshine Blogger Award logo within your post or on your blog site.

The person that nominated me for the Sunshine Blogger Award was no other then Pinkie from Pinkie’s Paradise, who is one of the many active bloggers I know and has helped me come out of my shell and try and blog more then keep hiding away!

I always love reading Pinkie’s new posts and look forward to any new ones that pop up, I will recommend checking her blog out as her blog is just so CUTE! Especially with all the restyling she has done! (I so need to know how she managed to get a animated background working on her blog!) Anyway onto my answers and if you need any directions to Pinkie’s site just click here!

I am a tad late getting this done (along with everything else hahaha) but I really reaaaally needed to get my training for work completed otherwise my manager will literally murder me with a spatula!

I mean she would if she could, is it even possible to be murdered by a spatula? 

  Q: Have you ever cosplayed, if yes.. what’s your best cosplay? If no what would you cosplay if you could?

Sadly no, I never had enough money to spend on the materials I would need for my cosplay, nor have I had the confidence to pull of a cosplay, I am very self conscious about my body and hate the fact that I still have some “puppy fat” at 33 years old.  Even though I am pretty much self conscious about my body I would still push myself out of my comfort zone and cosplay some of my favourite characters.

There’s a little list of cosplays I would love to pull off from my favourite anime and games, Zelda from The Legend of Zelda series, Hitomi Kanzaki from the Vision of Escaflowne and Chibi Usa from Sailor Moon being three that I would love to go for!

  Aren’t these girls cool! 

Bonus Pic!

Kinda scary shoving Pinkie Pies head on Chibi Usa, give me the willies!  

 Q: What is the least geeky thing about you?

What is the least geeky thing about me…man this one is so so hard! Hahaha! I think the least geeky thing about is that I love love to go for long walks! I just go where my feet take me!

Q: If your life was ever turned into an anime, what type of anime would it be?

Hmm.. I think it would be a dramatic slice of life shoujo that would depict me failing adulthood severely and kinda boring…until my life goes from boring to eventful where I’m transported to another realm to go saving the world with my babble of followers that consist of my favourite characters who somehow got dumped in said realm along with me, and blamed me for that happening cause I had to go poking that portal till it exploded and sucked us all in!

It would all fall on Van and Chise to try and find us a way home without me screwing everything up in the process!!

This was fun to make I gotta admit that, plus I just couldn’t stop laughing!!!

Q:  If your life was ever turned into a video game, what type of game it would be?

It most probably be the same as the anime adaption just more in depth and set out like a JPRG!

Chise would be a perfect character to take the Healer position considering one of her abilities is creating medicine in Mahoutsukai no Yome (The Ancient Magus Bride).

Van would be taking the warrior class, mainly swordsman as he is quite adaptable when equipped with his own sword, though I can picture him cursing his head off about the amount of times I died throughout our adventure.

Hitomi would be our visionary, she can predict things before they happen through visions even though some do take a mental impact on her.

Duo is pretty good at stealth so I can picture him using that to his advantage with some pretty good stealth kills when we cannot attack outright.

Heero is more melee so would just attack outright but he is also good at physical combat and can use that to his advantage.

Luffy would be similar to Heero and would create a good tag team with him.

 Q: If you’d have to choose any other archetype but geek, what would you want to be?

I would be a story teller, one of my goals is to be an author and have my own set of YA Fantasy books out there in the world! It would be a big achievement for me in my life, I have a few brainstorms going on some of the characters but I’m keeping that a secret for now..Suuuush..

I would love to be a well known author and have alot of people adoring my stories and characters!!

 Q: What’s the worst thing you have ever done to a friend?

The worst thing I did to a friend is throw a book at them! I do treat my friends with alot of respect and never treat them all badly, but this friend of mine (who is now my boyfriend, strange things happened ya know) just would not be quiet so I could read, all he ever did was natter away to me and then the book went flying at him…I regret that so much…

 Q: What is your favourite alcoholic beverage and tell us about when you had too much of it.

Believe it or not I have not had one ounce of alcohol pass my lips ever, so I never had any drunk stories to tell. (Which is ironic considering I work in a pub!) It’s mainly tied to my past, I’ve seen what alcohol can do to a person and sadly I was a victim of that, my dad is a severe alcoholic and he used to abuse me, my siblings and my mother, so I never ever touched the stuff.

It’s still quite hard to talk about as it affected me my entire life in so many ways.

 Q: How would you take over the world, in a world of endless possibilities? Be evil!

Firstly I would destroy all the world leaders and then brain wash everyone across the globe to do my bidding and make my cat their supreme leader!! (come on who doesn’t want to be ruled over by an evil kitty!)

I would then force people to constantly pick up litter (mainly because I am so sick of people dumping litter everywhere) and to become my cats slaves and servants and imprison their families if they refused!!!

Okay I’ll admit I am so bad at being evil…

 Q: Which anime character you think could stop the you from question 8.

Can I pick two…I can picture Usagi Tsukino and Sakura Kinomoto tag teaming and defeating me and my kitty! Me and my lovely Videl would pass in each others arms and live a happy and evil afterlife where we destroy Satan and take his throne and become rulers of hell!!

I think they would make a great team!

 Q: Which anime characters would be the henchmen to the you from question 8.

I would brain wash the best of the best to become my henchmen! The Prince of all Sayain’s – Vegeta and of course Goku would be mine and Videl’s guards! Piccolo and Gohan would lead my mighty army!

But they may have a tough time with this lot…we shall see if Usagi and Sakura come up triumphant! 

 Q: If you could make one true wish, but it had to be at least  somewhat selfish, what would it be?

If I could make one wish for myself it would be to be a millionaire and live in a posh mansion that has a pool with all my cats! They would have their own rooms and have luxurious beds like I would! They would also have loads and loads of toys and their own pool side loungers!!!

I’ll be the new kid on the block!

What is the most geeky thing about you?

What is the next Anime that you are planning to watch?

If you could write out your life story, how would that story go?

What was the saddest Anime scene you have watched?

What was the best thing you have done for a friend?

What were your plans this year before the pandemic?

If you could pilot a mech or Gundam, which one would it be?

If you could marry an anime or video game character, who would it be?

Tell me about the last game you have played?

Is there a character out there that is most similar to you?

Last book you have read? 

Truthfully I don’t know that many people considering I’m the new kid on the block within the anime blogging community, I’m basing my nominations based on the few people that I have come to know within the anime blogging community recently.

I’m sorry if you were already picked!!! 

Mari from Starting Life At Zero Who’s brave posts really are inspiring to me and has helped me understand alot of things lately.

Roki Bloop from Secluded Observations who actually stumbled across my blog on twitter and introduced me to a few more bloggers, if it wasn’t for Roki I wouldn’t even be doing the Sunshine Blogger Award at all!

Nabe-Chan from Geek Nabe Another lovely person that I have been interacting with on twitter and has a lovely blog!

Pinkie from Pinkie’s Paradise I am so getting you back! hahaha! Pinkie is so awesome and has such a cute and funny blog!

Steph from Two Happy Cats another blogger that I’ve been following on wordpress since I created my old account.

Kiritonarukami from KiritoNarukami One of the newer bloggers that I stumbled across on here lately.

Mike from Gaming and God Another blogger I’ve stumbled across lately who’s blog consists of not only Anime and Manga reviews but also Gaming reviews!

Lesley from Lesley’s Anime and Manga Corner Another Anime and Manga blogger that I have discovered 🙂

Odyssey from LOFZ ODYSSEY ANIME REVIEWS Another cool blogger that I’ve discovered!

Jiraiyan from Otaku Orbit is one of the two bloggers that I’ve been following on wordpress since I created my old account. (I actually have two accounts but liked the name of this one more.)

Okay I stole this idea from Pinkie but I needed a reason to use this wallpaper!

PS: If you would love to be nominated then you can if you answer this question about me, who is the character I am using throughout my blog? 

    A Pony With Sunburn Is Not A Good Look: The Sunshine Blogger Award! #anime #otaku #blogger #animeblog #blogging Now it's time for something a little bit out of the ordinary and a little bit different.