#botw scenarios

[funkybotwstuff]

good evening i'm not sure if y'all are still active but if you are could i please request platonic botw hcs (i don't recall you specifying whether you do platonic or not- i'm sorry if you don't, that's my bad) for a reader who's the youngest champion and has an intense competition against revali? all the champions know about it and they try and stop him from being too hard on the reader but he never listens

thank u <3

Oh my goodness, platonic hcs requests are very much appreciated! They're super fun to write, and this request was especially fun to jot down. Sorry for the wait again but thank you for the request!

After training your arse off to be as skilled as you can, you were chosen by the one and only Princess Zelda to become a Champion! And the youngest one at that, congrats! 

You owe it to everyone and everything: your mentors, family, friends, and a whole lot of grueling training and luck to top it off. 

Everyone's celebrating and the other chosen Champions are congratulating you on your feat! They're all amazingly proud of your accomplishments and warmly welcome you to the elite team chosen to fend off Calamity Ganon

One problem: there's another young Champion vying for that sweet spot of ultimate recognition, and he's not backing down that easy 

Revali, being the overtly competitive and sardonic individual that he is, isn't going to appreciate you stealing another spotlight from him 

I mean, first Link shows up seemingly out of nowhere and was assigned to take Ganon down...now this other younger teen Champion is the fresh talk of the town and barely anyone bothers to acknowledge Revali's impressive feats 

You can't be that good, right? At least, that's what Revali believes when he first catches wind of your acceptance 

Someone with not nearly as much life experience as everyone else couldn't possibly be a Champion, he thinks, even with excruciating training and dedication, reaching the level of a Champion takes a specific skill (let's not forget their abilities here)

Though (sadly for him), you do in fact have a seemingly supernatural ability. Like him, you've worked hard to be able to harness this skill

It irks the ever-loving hell out of him and you quickly catch onto his disdain of your presence 

You can't be in the same room together let alone fight alongside each other without intense amounts of competitive, resentful energy radiating from him and yourself  

It started out petty things: you'll stick your tongue out at him, he'll purposely stand right in front of you while walking, you'll speak before he gets a chance, he'll compare his skills to yours…it's never ending 

Of course, this can't be kept secret for long; your colleagues are for sure going to notice. And since Revali is the oldest out of you two, the other Champions try giving him a pep talk to "lay off on the kid" since your rivalry could turn for the worse and ruin a potential mission 

But in his mind, a Champion is a Champion, right? And being the bigger person in a moral stance isn't exactly his strong suit 

"If this child is to be worthy enough to stand among Hyrule's leading force in a conflict of this magnitude, a challenge of authority should hardly be an issue."

No one could persuade him to quit it and that simply fuelled your dislike, no, hatred of him more. Mipha tried reason, Daruk attempted group bonding exercises and Urbosa thought brute verbal force would work… But it’s Revali we’re talking about. He changes on his own accord

In short, nothing's getting resolved anytime soon :/ It eventually escalated to both of you purposefully throwing yourselves in perilous situations just to prove one was better over the other. It was quickly becoming a conundrum when you basically challenged each other to a fight to the death

“Fight to the death” may be pushing it, but putting yourselves at risk of injury for just some rivalry? It became concerning rather than amusing for your friends-in-arms to stand another day of bickering and death stares seeing how it could turn to outright antagonism

Even Daruk is starting to get worried, and he's the more light-hearted one of the group!

To remedy this, Zelda purposely pairs the two of you together for a small mission in hopes you put aside your differences to complete a goal. The other Champions disagreed at first (fearing Revali and you would tear each other apart limb from limb), but trusted her instincts

You both vehemently protested this mission, but went along anyway. The journey there was quiet for the most part with the two of you silently stewing over the decision to go. However, you picked up on the fact that she's trying to make you get along and both thought isn't that ridiculous?? 

As you're walking towards the location of your mission, you converse about the others attempting to stop your rivalry in a somewhat casual manner 

"Pfft, it's funny how hard they're trying. Like, are they really that desperate?"

"They must be. To think that we alone seem to be enough trouble for even the Princess to intervene… Perhaps you’re right, it’s nearly comical." This is absolutely an understatement on his end by the way; nearly killing each other should constitute more than ‘enough trouble’. 

“Right? I didn’t think we’d strike that much of a nerve!”

After a bit of back and forth banter, you both return to the others…still bickering. Although, it’s not the usual mean-spirited quarrel everyone’s used to! The bad blood began thinning out bit by bit, with the healthy rival challenge every now and then

Now each passing day you’re on missions and such, it morphs into a type of older brother situation on Revali’s end: still an asshole to you, but a genuine guy to fight alongside

There’s still the odd, legitimate squabble here and there, but mainly just about counting monster kills (Legolas and Gimli style)

[spaceistheplaceart]

when the sparring becomes homoerotic! 😳

[mylonelydreaming]

I take issue with this idea of Link just "fucking off" and leaving Zelda completely alone before totk. Not even in just a shipping sort of way either, as close friends and him choosing to remain her knight, that makes zero logical sense? It is completely out of character for him?

Link doesn't ever leave Zelda's side. This is canon. "Fucking off" is just not something he does during peace time when he isn't on a heroic quest and being controlled by the player's whims

That's five times it's stated officially somewhere that he is by her side, and that's only the ones I can immediately recall. Botw's full ending and totk's opening together also show us that. We see them together when the story ends and we see them together when it picks back up in the sequel. At no point is it implied they ever parted.

And can we just remember for a second what happens when he's not there, for even a short amount of time, if she is unable to call upon her abilities and therefore defend herself?:

"Fucking off" is a fantastic way to get her killed. The Yiga worship Ganon, there is nobody they want dead more (besides Link), than the last living member of the royal family. They are also not opposed at all to going into villages. They snuck into Kakariko to assassinate Dorian's wife. We just don't see that reflected in gameplay.

Some people will say "it's just his job" to deny they even have a friendship or growth as characters, but want him to... not do the main part of that? "It's just his job" and "he fucked off to the wilderness" are simply not compatible ideas. Either you think Link is just a completely duty-bound mindless command robot or you think he completely doesn't care anymore about that to the point of endangering the person he's supposed to protect. It can't be both at the same time.

Thankfully, it's implied by the wording of master works, the cutscenes and the jpn version that he wants to protect and support her. That this is what he desires, even when the king is dead and he is immediately given the option to not do so anymore. That he is motivated by wanting to see her happy and safe. I'm pretty sure the only way to get him to stop trying to protect her or following her is death, and he has already proven that twice over.

[glitterbuns]

My one and only TOTK crack AU is that when Zelda went to the past, she was pregnant, and Sonia and Rauru didn't have kids. Zelda gave birth in the past and left the child behind (not her choice). As the monarchs were dead, that kid was named Rauru and Sonia's successor, and started the royal line that in TOTK's present ends in Zelda

She's the mother, the daughter and the holy spirit. Amen🛐

[revalink-incorrect-quotes]

Revali: Thanks again for agreeing to help me workshop my wedding vows.

Mipha: Of course, anything for a friend. Why don't you show me what you have so far?

Revali: Alright. "Link. I want you to know that I have begun to find your presence tolerable--"

Mipha: Okay stop.

[belliesandburps]

How about a burp scenario for Link?

Link's in a cavern behind a waterfall with Sidon, absolutely surrounded by bones. He slumps back and moans as his bulging belly rests between his thighs. Sidon pulls Link up on his lap and slowly runs his webbed hands up and down Link's big, girthy gut, purring about how much he admires Link's immense Hylian appetite. Link responds by leaning his head back against Sidon's torso and unleashing a massive belch that echoes all throughout the cavern and beyond, followed up by a sharp hiccup that jolts his belly up and down. Sidon just laughs and gives Link's belly a few playful pats, teasing him for his abhorrent table manners, but conceding that he finds Link's brashness attractive. Hearing that, Link smirks and grabs Sidon's hand, forcing him to press down on his belly and coax out another giant burp. Sidon blushes at that, but smirks himself, joking that Link's such a horrible influence, before groping Link's belly and pressing down a little more firmly, forcing Link to let rip the longest belch that Siden has ever heard. When it ends, Link is left panting breathlessly, while Sidon is blushing furiously.

[ca-8]

𐋐𖼜𖼜 𝙻𝚎𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚉𝚎𝚕𝚍𝚊: 𝙰𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙲𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚂𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚜 (𝚆𝚑𝚘 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝙰𝚛𝚎) 𖼜𖼜𐋐

Disclaimer! 

This is based on information within Breath of the Wild/Age of Calamity (mostly Age of Calamity). While this will be based on events in Age of Calamity/BOTW, these events will only be scenario-based and loosely related to the actual plots in the games.

◈━◈ 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬'𝘴 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳 ◈━◈

The hotheaded caption of the Hylian army, who’s always ready for battle! ...but never for casual conversation. Though romance doesn’t exactly fit within their skillset, their passion is as powerful as the final blow to a raging Lynel. It’s guaranteed that no harm will ever come to whoever they have their sights set on, and rest assured every day will be nothing short of an adventure; heart-pounding tests for the soul. Every day shall be lived like it’s the last! 

☀𖼜 𝚉𝚎𝚕𝚍𝚊'𝚜 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚗𝚎𝚛𖼜☀

The patient, empathetic, and hard-working personal servant of Hyrule’s beloved Princess. Their sole purpose is to serve Zelda’s every domestic need down to the letter, and they’re certainly more than happy to do so. Their admiration for her true self goes even beyond the average citizen’s, so nothing will ever keep them away from being by her side. It’s the least they can do after what happened all those years ago...

✿◉●•𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚'𝐬 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫◦•●◉✿

No one special, just a shy, humble salesperson...who wants nothing more than to help with the fight against Calamity Ganon. Ever since disaster struck their village, they’ve held a raging urge to push back against those forces of evil and avenge those once close to them. Although, they have almost no skill and the courage of a frail twig... and no one’s a better trainer than one of Princess Zelda’s beautiful bodyguards. 

.⋅ ۵♡۵ ⋅.𝕊𝕚𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕤 ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕟𝕖𝕣.⋅ ۵♡۵ ⋅.

A traveling Zoran healer who follows in their princess’ footsteps. Though they were not born with any healing abilities like dear Mipha, the grace she blessed upon them while they were kids was enough to inspire their fate. And after her tragic outcome within Vah Ruta, they wish to carry out a similar grace and kindness she had possessed across Hyrule. And who would have thought a certain upbeat prince would catch a heavy sight of such a simple deed...

★⋆✰𝓡𝑒𝓋𝒶𝓁𝒾'𝓈 𝒫𝒶𝓇𝓉𝓃𝑒𝓇 ✰⋆★

Out of every tribe within Hyrule, there is always a special group of those who have the courage to go out and explore every inch of its wonders. This, of course, includes the Rito, having one traveler who is always happy to take in Hyrule’s beauty from amongst the clouds. Staying in one place and mingling with the other townsfolk was never their specialty, so, bow in wing, they set out on an adventure that changed their life...for better, or for worse. 

꧁༺ Mipha's Partner ༻꧂

Level-headed, hushed, and still - their entire existence has already been defined before they were put into this world. Purpose, however, has not been granted so generously, for it is earned, and if something so invisible is to be given purpose, they must put their life on the line for the sake of their tribe - especially if it’s for Princess Mipha. When her sake is in question, the honor of protecting her life is done unquestionably. King Dorephan has much faith in her skills, but a father’s worry for his child’s safety is a stubborn force. This spy is distant; their life unknown to most, especially to their dear Princess...but then again, everyone knows she is smart as she is kind. 

[illjustpretend]

will you accept my ancient zora champion who is a black axolotl? 🤲

Axoltls are native only to lake Xochimilco in central Mexico and are to this day are revered as sacred beings. This lake was home to the Tetihuacanos, Aztecs, and even the Toltecs throughout its history. After the Spanish conquest, many of the dams and sluices were destroyed and the native populations were decimated. Over time this massive lake has been drained to reduce flooding in what is now the most populous city in North America- Mexico City. Sadly, this lake and it’s ecosystem are at great risk of destruction due to many factors.

History lesson aside, my vision of a hypothetical ancient meso-American Zora’s domain mirrors the canal system of this great ancient lake. Since it’s my fantasy ecological zone and I get to decide how it’s built, I think it would also be very enchanting for these canals to continue far and wide, eventually culminating in a series of underground caves and cenotes. In reality these cave systems and cenotes are mostly found on the Yucatán peninsula which is pretty far from central Mexico.

I want to do more with this concept, but I figured I’d share the bones with y’all in case anyone is interested!

[izthepup]

Saving Grace | Sidon X Reader

[Y/N’s PoV] I walked towards Zora’s Domain. I’d never been there, and I’ve heard it was beautiful… and it was loaded with enemies. Lots, and lots of enemies. I had been looking off of a cliff, and noticed that the domain was close. Then, both of these were apparent as I heard a battle cry. And as I turned around, I saw what it was— a group of green lizalfos with some red and blue bokoblins. Great, a bunch of enemies who would happily torment a traveler for fun, I thought to myself as I drew my weapon. A lizalfos darted forward, attempting to stab me with its spear. Luckily, I managed to dodge— unluckily, I dodged backwards, and I was on a cliff. As I began falling, I noticed the group peering down at me. They seemed disappointed they wouldn’t have anything to steal, but seemed entertained enough. I hit the water hard, and the breath got driven out of me. Water closed in around my head. I’m never going to get to the domain, am I? What a horrid way to die this’ll be.. I thought to myself despairingly, and as my lungs began to burn, everything went black.

[Sidon’s PoV] I approached the monsters, preparing to attack before they could strike any travelers or guards. I prepared to strike them while they were distracted, but I noticed a shape tumbling down. Squinting, I noticed— it wasn’t a monster, but a (Hylian/Rito/Whatever your species is). Quickly abandoning the monsters, I dove in after the shape. By the time I reached them, they were under the water and seemed to be flitting out of consciousness. I darted down quickly and grabbed them, putting them on my back and carefully making sure they were secure before swimming quickly to the closest shore. As I reached the shore, I set them down gently and shook them softly. “Hello? Are you alive?” I asked carefully.

[Y/N’s PoV] I blearily opened my eyes. I felt myself being shook by gentle, yet strong hands. As I blinked myself to wakefulness, I noticed there was a red shark above me. This startled me at first, until I realized he was a zora. He backed away, and brightened as he saw me move. He gave a smile, and his sharp teeth seemed to sparkle. “Oh, good! You’re alive. Are you hurt?” I shook my head, trembling a bit. He was absolutely massive, and despite seeming friendly, could absolutely cause harm if he wanted to. He seemed to notice this, and stood up. He held his hand out for me to grab. I hesitated at first, before warily grabbing it— and he pulled me up to my feet. “Apologies! I didn’t mean to frighten you. I am Prince Sidon, pleasure to meet you!” He introduced himself, continuing with, “I promise, I mean no harm to you!” The prince spoke, and as I stood, I realized how silly I must’ve looked. “Y/N. Nice to meet you, too!” I quickly introduced myself. I remembered hearing about this famed prince. “Thank you for saving me. Those monsters sure surprised me.” I chuckled awkwardly, and the prince gave a tiny nod, and only smiled more. “Y/N. What a lovely name. Now, before we’re ambushed anymore, let us go to Zora’s Domain. It is much safer there, even if you weren’t going there originally.” The prince sounded a bit playful at the ‘ambush’ part, but looked expectantly at me. “Oh— yes, I was meaning to go there.” I quickly responded, realizing he was waiting for me to tell him if I was going to the domain. The prince smiled again. “A pleasure to hear! Now, come on!” The prince led the way to the domain, walking side by side with me and making conversation. I couldn’t help but wonder about him. He seemed so charming and brave. Perhaps I would stay at the domain a while longer… it’d be nice to get to know him better.

[amiharana]

My thoughts are still plagued with revalink streamers au 🛀😟🪑

THE EMOJISKDJFD i miss streamers au too </3

i'm thinking about the champions coming back for another round of Love or Host with link as the bachelor of the game. at this time, the CSMP is in full force and is gaining popularity at an exponential rate, the champions are now a well-established streaming group, and revali and link are now in their weird bickering/flirting stage where no one really knows if they're being fr and both revali n link are starting to realize they might? have? feelings? for each other? i've decided that for this au, kohga is going to be fulfilling the role of austinshow (this one's for you lucha john---baptist i love u)

if you've never heard of Love or Host before, it's kind of difficult to explain if you've never watched it?? if you have some time to spare, here's a link to a video of quackity's LOH when he participated a couple years back. but basically, it's like a livestreamed dating show where one person is the "bachelor" looking for love and the other contestants are competing to "love" or "host" — "love" meaning they are also looking for love and "date" after the show (it's not serious though, it's just for the drama. they don't actually end up dating if they don't want to lol) whereas "host" refers to looking for fame and wanting to get their stream hosted to get more views or something. idk it's kind of weird but still a fun twist to dating shows.

link gets invited by TheKohgaShow (this shit has me howling i'm sawryy) to be the bachelor for this round of LOH, since he's one of the most popular streamers at the moment. he agrees because why not and tries to get the rest of the champions to apply to be contestants for the game. daruk and urbosa call off because they aren't comfortable with the idea of possibly playing for link's hand romantically given their age gap, but they are livestreaming the show on their own streams and providing commentary, but mipha and zelda are fine with it. except for revali because he's a party pooper :]

"this is ridiculous," he grumbles over their discord call. "why are you going on that show again? wasn't meeting there enough?"

"it would be fun!" link insists. "it would be funny to see how much our dynamic's changed since we all first met on LOH. it's not that serious anyway, bird brain. unless you're scared you'd fall in love with me?"

"shut the fuck up," revali snaps. thank goddess he has his camera off right now because he can feel his cheeks beginning to burn. "the whole event is just... asinine. i didn't even want to be there the first time, and i still don't understand why you would want to go back."

"don't be mean, revali," comes mipha's voice, soft and cheery like a little bell. "it is just a casual event for fun anyway."

"and you could get a leg up over link by choosing host," urbosa muses. "you don't have to choose love, you know—"

"i'd eliminate him before he could try," link snickers.

"shut the fuck up," revali repeats, scrunching his nose up. "the entire format of such a show is just absurd. all dating shows are. none of it is genuine and it's all for drama and views anyway. there are far more productive ideas of substantial quality that could achieve the same goal."

"revali, it's really not that serious," link says, rolling his eyes and sitting back in his chair. his camera is on and revali can't help but follow the movement. "whether you apply or not, i'll be there as the bachelor. just don't get jealous if i do find love there."

daruk guffaws and mipha titters on the other ends of the call, but revali's jaw tightens. he wouldn't actually care if link found love on that stupid show. he wouldn't.

(once the notification that applications are open drops, revali applies and interviews for a position on the show in the next two hours. he gets it. after he logs off for the night, he realizes that doesn't really know why he ended up applying, but urbosa is going to bully him so bad when she sees him on the show tomorrow.)

the show goes live on kohga's channel the next day at noon, with the final contestant lineup as follows: revali, mipha, zelda, sidon, yunobo, paya, beedle, pikango, regan, and traysi. (in canon, regan is an npc who left lurelin village and who you can save from monster attacks, and traysi is the girl who writes the rumor mill articles left around hyrule). revali scoffs at the roster; if link was really looking for love, this wasn't exactly a group of prime pickings. (sorry to miph n zel. revali loves them as friends even if he won't say it out loud, but he knows they've been seeing each other on the downlow. LOL). when kohga starts the show and has everyone turn on their cameras, all of link, zelda, and mipha's eyes bulge out of their heads when they see revali in the roster. he rolls his eyes at his friends' reactions and tries to keep a straight face. his phone is buzzing with messages, probably from all of the champions in their shared gc, but he keeps his eyes on his computer screen.

i'm too impatient to write out a whole bunch of scenarios of link getting to know everyone and eliminating people and shit, so here's a bullet point list of ideas instead

surprisingly, link goes for zelda's head to bicker with first instead of revali (he didn't think revali would actually apply so now he's nervous), and he threatens to eliminate zelda in the introduction round. they bicker for a full a minute, escalating until kohga has to step in and stop the fight

sidon is absolutely flirting with link and link is flirting back. revali's face grows even more sour as he watches the whole exchange. his phone buzzes again, and this time, he can't help but check his phone. it's a message from urbosa that says, "Hey, Link told you not to get jealous if he finds love on the show." he rolls his eyes and reacts to the message with a thumbs down. whatever.

traysi pisses everyone off right away from how annoying she is. it's going to be a real surprise if link doesn't eliminate her right away.

pikango, regan, and beedle are all smaller streamers that link has interacted with in passing or has collabed with before so they're playing a game of catch-up for the few minutes they talk. something about how casually link talks with them irritates revali. he doesn't know why.

paya is a smaller streamer who voices in the nearly most inaudible voice ever that she's been a big fan of link's content. "awhh, thank you, that's very sweet of you," link says, smiling kindly at her. a vein twitches in revali's temple.

when link finally gets to him, for a moment he stares with wide blue eyes and if revali squints hard enough, a faint pink flush dusting his cheeks. "revali," link says. "fancy seeing you here."

"you should fancy me at every point in the day, no matter where i am," revali replies smoothly. flirting bickering with link is an instinct at this point.

link laughs. "i don't think i want to or ever will," he says, resting his chin on his hand and smiling into the camera.

"well, trust me," revali says, the corner of his lip curling up barely as he sits back in his chair. "by the end of this, you will." shit, where did this bravado suddenly come from?

but link's eyes widen and this time, the pink flush revali thought he was hallucinating makes itself known. kohga makes an "oooooooh" and ends the introduction round, introducing the premise of the next round, but link and revali are still staring at each other, watching each other's webcams.

(later, a clip of zelda rolling her eyes at this moment of time goes viral. she qrts the originating post with "these two are going to make me homophobic.")

LIKE I SAID I'M IMPATIENT I JUST WANNA WRITE THE SCENES I WANT TO SEE so yadda yadda yadda the elimination order goes traysi → regan → pikango → beedle → yunobo → paya until mipha gets eliminated and zelda votes herself out in an act of solidarity, telling revali to win for the honor of the champions LOL. only sidon and revali are left, so kohga alots 10 minutes for each contestant to go on their final "dates" with link and prove that they should be the one that link chooses.

sidon goes first and it's very cute :) he's very gentlemanly and sweet and talking about where he would take link on their first date, and just some sappy shit about how he'll give link the world. link is very enamored with him and his promises <3 leaning on his chin and gazing dreamily at sidon while he talks, sidlinkers are going nuts in the chat

but when it's revali's turn for the "Date", ohoho....... a tension so thick you can almost taste it develops in the call and the stream the moment sidon is taken out of the call and revali comes in and unmutes. link immediately straightens from his leaning posture on the desk and he's on high alert, chewing on his bottom lip and watching as revali settles into the call. revali looks relaxed and nonchalant, the complete opposite of the electricity beginning to fizz throughout link's veins. the timer has already started, but neither of them say anything, just staring at each other in the call.

"are you going to say anything or are we just going to stare at each other for 10 minutes?" revali finally says, the corner of his lip curling up just slightly into a hint of a smile.

link rolls his eyes and scoffs. "i would, if i had anything to say that you deserve to hear," he replies playfully. he resumes his initial position of placing his chin on his hand and leaning into it, smiling into the camera with half-lidded eyes.

"is that so?" revali says, raising an eyebrow. "do you mean to say that i'm leaving you speechless right now?"

link gives revali a look through the camera. "i have plenty to say, thank you very much."

"then say it all," revali says, his smirk growing a little bigger. "or do i make you too nervous to speak?"

"shut up," link responds, squinting. and they continue bickering for another 3 minutes, before kohga steps in to re-navigate the conversation back to the "Date".

"okay, okay, fine, revali where would you take me on our first date?" link says.

"i would take you to the top of a tall building and throw you off," revali replies smoothly.

link slams his head on his desk. "are you ever gonna give me a genuine answer?" he groans.

revali rolls his eyes. "i suppose i could attempt entertaining the subject of the question, just this once," he sniffs. then he sits back and looks up, crossing his arms and humming thoughtfully. "if i ever felt the desire to take you out, it would be an all-day endeavor."

"all day?" link says, tilting his head to the side. his curiosity has been piqued; sidon's first date plan consisted only of a dinner and a late-night walk in the park. "you'd plan the whole day for a first date?"

revali gives him a look. "do you think so lowly of me that you think i'd half-ass our first date?" he says snippily. "perhaps some reminders are in order for you; i actually care for the quality of my work, you know. i'm more than happy to welcome you to my twitch and youtube channels to assist in the rejuvenation of your memory."

link returns revali's look. "just continue."

revali hums and settles back in his seat. "right, well before i was so rudely interrupted," he says, "i would utilize the entire day for our date. we'd start with brunch at the new cafe in lanayru promenade, because goddess knows you are not a person of the early morning."

"i could wake up early if i really wanted to, thank you very much," link grumbles. "but lanayru promenade?"

"you mentioned that you've been wanting to try it in the discord calls..." revali says, voice petering off and he looks away. he actually didn't think about what his plan would be if he took link out on a date. he hasn't! it's not like they'd ever date in the first place! but the words just keep spilling out of him and he can't stop... "but that you haven't had a chance. i think you'll like the hylian mushroom toast. it's just as absurd of a meal as you are."

when revali looks back at the screen, link's eyes are wide and he's staring intently back at him. "yeah?" he says. "and what do you have planned after that?"

"i'd take you to the great plateau museum," revali continues, rather softly. "i heard they're opening up the temple of time ruins to the public again. you said you had been waiting for the opening for a long time, but you weren't able to get tickets because the exclusive opening sold out."

"you remember that?" link says. his eyes are wide, shimmering in surprise. "i only said that in passing and that was months ago..."

"well, unlike you, i actually listen when people talk," revali says, finding his bite again. but now he's nervous; why did he remember that? and why did he bring it up as part of the date? "we'd likely be there for the rest of the afternoon, and for dinner, we'd eat at 'sanidin'."

"mm, that's fancy," link muses. "you have 'sanidin' money?"

revali shrugs. "being a quality streamer and youtuber pays when you actually put the work into it."

"is that supposed to be a read?"

"if the shoe fits, you can wear it, darling."

"oh, shut up—"

"and for the grand finale of the night," revali swiftly cuts link off, "i'd take you to my favorite spot in the city and admire the stars." he says it with a level of finality and the call goes silent, as if link and kohga were waiting with bated breath for revali to continue. but he doesn't.

"and where would that be?" link says quietly, his voice almost a whisper.

revali tries to imagine link with him under the cherry blossom tree at the satori observatory park, the night breeze tousling his golden hair. revali tries to imagine link smiling up at him with that pink flush dusting his freckled cheeks and nose, wide blue eyes sparkling. he tries to imagine wrapping an arm around link's waist to pull him close and— surprisingly, it's not hard to imagine at all.

revali leans back in his seat, the barest trace of a smile across his lips. "that's for me to know and for you to find out, if you choose me," he says.

and link pauses and blinks. "what," he says. "you can't just cut your plan off like that when—" the timer signaling the end of the "Date's" duration rings. link stops mid-sentence, mouth agape as kohga unmutes and calls the time. "no, wait, i— he wasn't done—"

"the ten minutes are over, link! play fair!" kohga cackles. "it's time for you to choose your final contestant — one to keep, and one to eliminate! alright chat, we're going to set up a poll for you to guess who link is going to choose, while link DMs me his choice—"

the chat is going fucking nuts, full of #SIDLINK and #REVALINK, people have already clipped revali's entire date plan and it's going viral on twitter, they're #1 on trending, both of their mentions are blowing up, the champions gc is just full of urbosa and zelda teasing revali, and revali is starting to sweat. what if link doesn't choose him? it would be embarrassing if link didn't and that clip of revali talking about their hypothetical first date was just always held over his head. not that any of this is real anyway. he and link would never date. they wouldn't! he's just in it for the views... right, the views...

"okay, chat, everyone!" kohga announces. "link, it's time to make your final decision! according to the name that link has DM'd me... the one he's carefully spent time with and chosen... the winner of this round of love or host..."

"are you going to continue to drag this on?" revali drawls into his mic, but his heart is slamming against his chest. "i think we'd all like to find out who won within this lifetime, you know."

"stop!" kohga whines. "it's for the dramatic effect! you wouldn't understand, this vocal craft of pausing was carefully passed down from my father's mother's father!"

"you are going to become the 'father's mother's father' of your great grandchild by the time we find out who link chose," revali replies wryly. "get on with it, will you?"

"hmph," kohga sniffs. "no appreciation for the arts whatsoever. the winner of this love or host is..." kohga's mic is suddenly full of the sound of paper being shuffled around. "in a strange twist of fate, revali!!!"

revali blinks as kohga screams wildly and sidon smiles good-naturedly, clapping politely. link is smiling but he's averted his gaze away from the camera. revali thinks his face looks a little pink. he wasn't actually expecting to win.

"congratulations on your victory, revali!!!" kohga yells. "however! remember that the contestants had the opportunity to choose either 'love' or 'host' in this game. and sidon chose... love!!!"

sidon tilts his head to the side and smiles again. "i think we would have made an excellent pair if you chose me, link," he says. "i wish only the best for you in the future. thank you for allowing me the opportunity to play with you."

"oh goddess, why did you phrase it like that," link says, turning red and covering his face with his hands. kohga wheezes in the call.

sidon blinks. "what do you mean? i meant playing the game with you."

after sidon is removed the call, it's time for kohga to reveal what revali chose, and now link is the one sweating. he thinks back to the discord call from yesterday, where urbosa said that revali could choose host just to ridicule link. if link knows revali, he knows that revali would take any chance to do so. and why would he choose love anyway? he was probably just bullshitting the whole date idea (which somehow makes link wilt internally; it sounded like a really nice date idea, too...)

"the results are in!" kohga says. "before the show began revali had the chance to choose love or host: love as in looking for a chance to fall in love with link, or host for a chance to get hosted and get those views in! the time has come for us to finally reveal the choice that revali made before the show!"

"it seems to be that i've made a choice before the show started," revali says dryly, and link snickers. "i wonder what the choice was about."

"and revali chose...!" kohga continues, pointedly ignoring revali's comment. there's more papery shuffling behind the mic (why is kohga shuffling papers? both revali and link made their choices over dm), and suddenly a loud, prolonged gasp. "he chose love!!!"

while kohga continues screaming over the mic, link's eyes widen and he blinks. it's revali's turn to not look at the camera, rubbing at the back of his neck. the chat is exploding with messages, "HE CHOSE LOVE???", "get it link lmao", "REVALINK IS REAL".

afaik it's customary for the two people to go on a "date" after the show ends if the contestant chose "love", and by "date" i mean they just sit in a call together and livestream it. idk it's kinda weird KDJHFDKJ but link and revali do exactly that, the livestream gets moved to link's twitch channel and it's just him and revali's cams side by side on a screen, the both of them just silently staring at each other while the chat blows up. neither of them know what to say, fucking losers KJHDFJKD

"so... you chose love?" link finally says breaking the silence. "i didn't expect that from you."

"i had the element of surprise on my side," revali replies. "there's not a better feeling in this world than catching you off guard as much as possible."

link snorts. "you're such a dickhead. i really thought you weren't going to apply for the game."

"call it a change of heart." they're both silent for a couple moments, just staring at each other. the chat is still going a million miles per hour. link's camera quality is so good, revali might be able to count all the freckles on his nose if he really tried.

"were you being for real about your date idea?" link says next. his voice is soft, uncertain, and revali is unnerved by it. link never sounds this vulnerable...

revali waits a beat. "it's real if you want it to be," he answers vaguely.

link's mouth curls up into a smile. "even the dinner at 'sanidin' part?"

revali rolls his eyes. "i told you, caring about the quality of your content pays well. don't doubt me."

and the blond giggles, a sweet sound (that unbeknownst to revali, softens his expression on camera to which revalinkers immediately clip and post onto twitter). "okay. i'd like that, then."

"okay," revali repeats softly. "let me know when you're free, and it's a date."

"it's a date," link echoes, smiling bigger. they're quiet again for a couple moments, link's cheeks turning pink and revali beginning to fidget. "we still on for CSMP tomorrow?"

"of course, we need to build bigger and better spaces for medli and epona. i grabbed some vines from our last trip to the jungle for medli's room, and i think we should add more hay bales to epona's. you're practically starving her, you know."

"i am not!" link says indignantly. "i feed her so many golden apples. how dare you accuse me of starving my child."

they continue bickering for 10 more minutes about their minecraft plans, and then sign off for the night. after link ends his stream, revali sits back in his chair and sighs. what a simply asinine day.

"feeling okay?" link says. revali almost forgot he was still on the call with link and that he still had his camera on. link's eyes are as wide as they always are, shimmering blue with a look of concern on his face.

"i'm fine," revali says. "love or host was longer than i remember."

link hums. "yeah, i guess." he chews his bottom lip for a moment, then continues in a quiet voice. "did you really mean it? the date?"

revali pauses and blinks. "as i said, it's real if you want it to be." the thought that link might want to back out instead makes his heart sink. "unless you don't want to—?"

"i want to," link says firmly. "i want to go on that date with you. if you want to, too." he adds the last part quietly, shyly, unsure. revali doesn't like it.

"then we'll go through with it," revali says softly. "as long as you want to, then... i wouldn't mind going out with you either."

"okay," link whispers, eyes impossibly wider. "okay. let's do it, for real."

revali snorts. "are you sure this time?"

"yes i am, birdbrain, let's fucking gooo—"

"shut the fuck up," revali replies, but a smile is growing on his face. "i'm logging off. you should too and rest up. you've had quite an interesting day."

"you and me both," link says. "bye revali, have a good night. and... thank you."

"mm, a good night to you as well." link waves at him and revali waves back, letting himself smile a little wider. he disconnects, shuts off his computer, and goes to wash up and get ready for bed.

(as he settles for the night in his bed, the distinct sound of a discord notification pings from his phone. revali grabs his phone and checks the message:

Discord master streamer zero 💯 gn vali :] <3

revali snorts and taps on the notification, beginning to type into the app.

Revali 🪶 Goodnight, Link.

and after a moment's hesitation:

Revali 🪶 ❤️ [😧][🫶][⁉��]

Revali 🪶 Dumbass.

master streamer zero 💯 YOU SENT A HEART IM KDJFDKJDFJKD

Revali 🪶 Goodnight, Link. [🫡][😴][❤️]

revali shakes his head, snorting again, and puts his phone down settling into bed. perhaps today wasn't as asinine as he originally thought it was.)

[shootingcookielover]

I think the legend of zelda: tears of the kingdom should have played out like:

U get the ganondorf cutscene, the mastersword breaks, link looses his arm.

The ground rumbles and breaks, earth starts rising - but only link falls off the chunk. Zelda reaches for him, their hands just miss and Link disappears into the darkness below.

Now, Zelda does not inexplicably timetravel into the past.

Instead she wakes up on a sky island as a playable character.

She meets Rauru's ghost and with his help, plus help from some constructs, she manages to repurpose the sheikah slate to have basically the same abilities as the zonai arm in totk.

At some point during this, maybe after a particularly harrowing temple or something, I dont know, we find a campfire. Rauru's sat there, like, meditating or smth, and tells zelda to take a break and wait, since that is really the best option they right now - wait for a rito to fly high enough that they see zelda. Or something, idk, point is we need a reason for zelda to chill at a campfire.

Because this introduces the switching mechanic - aka, not only can u forward time at a campfire, but u can also change perspectives. In this case, to Link.

Link who is just. Not having a good time lol.

He wakes up in the depths, alone, no weapons, the malice eating his arm draining away the lives that players painstakingly built up in breath of the wild.

Everythkng's dark. Monsters are seemingly everywhere, pools of malice are threatening to kill you even faster than your broken arm already does.

All you have for a glimmer of hope is faint turquoise light somewhere ahead. So that's where ur heading.

This is where u find rauru's arm, fallen with some other debris, around a non-actjve light root.

Link somehow manages to attach the arm to the one still eaten by malice - idk maybe u pick up the arm, there's a fade to black, and when it returns it's to link bending his new and improved blue-glowing fingers experimentally.

You activate the lightroot and it restores some of ur hearts, but not the entirety of what u once had - a symptom of the malice-eating arm, or smth, surely.

And now u have two different story lines going at once - zelda tryjng to find link/figure out what's going on/stop ganondorf by exploring the sky islands, maybe having access to hyrule below with the help of some rito that u can find scattered across the sky islands. Maybe there's even a skysard sword-type skybird element there, where u get to steer the rito or smth, idk.

Meanwhile in the depths u have link, building up a shelter/hq/base with people that somehow fell into the chasms as they opened up, nobody quite able to reach the top again - not even the few rito that fell down. They just can't make it through the thick miasma of malice hanging above everything like storm clouds.

And, of course, link is also trying to get back to zelda/figure out what's going on/stop ganondorf.

Like idk, i feel like going with an approach like this would have made totk feel less like just a re-packaged botw with some DLC content, you know?

But hey, what do i know, i'm just some guy lol

[dopameems]

Me when I’m playing Zelda Tears Of The Kingdom and I collect a red rupee:

“20 rupees. Its red luster tickles your heartstrings.”

[doomingthenarrative]

so guess who started a zelink multichapter with that good hurt/comfort.

[full-pockets]

Wait wait okay so Mineru's ability is she can seperate her soul from her body and put that soul in something else. I believe in game she calls it her spirit but soul is like the same thing. Also spirit sounds more 'mystical' and soul might have religious context to it? Whatever. The stones amplify the holders already present power, not giving them 'new' ones, meaning she already had some power relating to spirit magic.

Two questions.

One, what was the extent of her power BEFORE she got the stone? In the scene she describes it as the stone gave her the ability to take her soul out of her body, not like she always had the ability to do that.

Two, if she can do that, why couldn't she separate Ganon's spirit from his body as a way to stall for time or temporarily stop his rampage?

It still doesn't make sense to me that Rarau, the light guy, was able to put Ganon in a stasis when Sonia's thing was time. Thou with Ganon killing Sonia and stealing her stone that couldn't be done. But it felt like, a kinda crappy way to go about that. The whole scene felt, not planned well. It felt like a first draft they went with instead of really dissecting the possibilities and making a more compelling and imo, more 'logical makes sense' of a story. If Sonia wasn't used as a sacrificial lamb for the story, SHE could have used her time powers to stall+stasis Ganon. She could have used her time powers to stall the malice infecting Link's arm, slowing it but never fully able to stop it due to her weakened power from keeping a lock on Ganon all these years and giving us the same reason to get the orbs to purify Link's arm.

This could also serve as a mirror back to Zelda's plight from BotW, stalling the big bad (she wasn't using time powers but still) but her power waning, unable to fully end it, just slow it down. Fighting the same foe, failing, and stalling, relying on the hero to finish business.

However, I feel like part of the reason Rarau was chosen to stop Ganon and give Link his arm was that he's Zonai, he's new, and the developers wanted to push that rather than the ancient Hylians. After all they did give us *too much of the Zonai and also still not enough. Even thou Rarau ends up playing such a small part in Link's encounters and is like, never seen again after the tutorial area then once more at the very anti climatic ending for Zelda.

Incase you couldn't tell, I have NOT finished the game, I probably never will and I've only spent 45 hours on it then never picked it up. 5 of those hours was spent on the tutorial sky island (I messed up so badly my first time that I *had to start over). I have also not seen many ending scenes so maybe there was a legit reason Mineru couldn't trap Ganon's soul but with the crappy writing of this game, I wouldn't be surprised if it was some dumb reason.

[daddyhoothoot]

Is it just me or does Sidon (Zelda) and Stolas have the same vibes?

[pseudocitrus]

Chapter 5: A memory of whispers (~6k words)

“So,” the King said, “despite all this pretty dancing, these machines aren’t ready to fight in the Calamity?” “No, Your Highness,” Impa stammered, “I mean, yes, Your Highness—” “Then, make it attack!” Impa jumped. The Guardian she’d chosen to be Link's opponent was on standby. She approached, until she was close enough that it turned to her and emitted blue light that illuminated the filigree on its body like a pulse. It warbled a noise that the researchers understood as: Acknowledged. “Guardian,” Impa said, “the active area is this training yard, approximately seventy by seventy units square. You have one target in this area. Attack, please, without ranged weaponry, using attack patterns that will not risk harm to any non-target entities.” “And don’t hold back,” the King said. “See if you can kill him, much less lay one of your little claws on him.” “Father!” Zelda shouted. It was too late. The Guardians, despite having limited means of communicating to the researchers, had always been quite good at understanding Hylian. The Guardian’s filigree flared scarlet with comprehension and assent. Its eye jerked wildly, settling on Link, and it didn’t hesitate; it charged.

in which impa hears a lot of rumors about the princess & her knight and at some point decides to see how things are with her own two (2) eyes. >>>> read on ao3 >>>>>