#but it seems more just majoras mask now

[errorwarblesrr]

I feel like moments like these are important. It solidifies that after everything he has been through in Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, he is still a child. In OOT, he really was a child trapped in an adults body.

He doesn't consider himself a grown-up and doesn't really understand what's going on in the Anju and Kafei sidequest. He isn't motivated by the stakes or to help two lovers reunite but rather to just help for the sake of it.

In Great Bay, there are, unfortunately, a bunch of weirdos. He looks at a Zora man weird, but I think rather than just finding him gross, he doesn't get it as seen in the Fish Wish sidequest. He finds them weird, but he doesn't have a full understanding of it. This showcases his innocence in the game.

Along with that, there's also a moment where Sakon the thief tries to take advantage of Link. He talks about Link's sword and how cool it is, gives advice, and compliments the sword again, asking to just see it. It's obviously suspicious to the player, but if Link says yes, Tatl immediately gets hostile and attacks Sakon to drive him away instead of letting Link hand over his sword. If Link says no but tries to talk to him again, Tatl will immediately become hostile at Sakon anyway. I feel like this can show how niave Link can be.

There's also when Link receives a Keaton mask. He doesn't really get the meaning behind it and doesn't think accepting it if it makes sense, but he does it anyway. This doesn't really further any points other than he really is just a niave kid going through the motions.

Point is Majora's Mask highlights how he is still a child at heart. He thinks and acts like one still after Ocrina of Time. He didn't just grow up when he was asleep for 7 years. After everything he's been through, he's still him: a child.

[weepingtalecowboy]

Fanfiction prompt: considering that wind can see ghosts but instead of hiding it he thinks that everyone can see them because everyone has dealt with supernatural forces

Main while the chain is freaking out because wind keeps talking to nobody and telling them that their his friends or the most unhinged statement he is enemies with the stripes guy who always stands menacingly in a corner trying to be cool (fierce deity)

And the chain starts to worry about wind badly because that is not sane behavior

While another part of the chain (particularly twilight) doesn’t take it THIS seriously because he remembers how Colin spent weeks complaining about his imaginary friend not playing with him and that children can be imaginative especially when bored and that only making him a new toy got him to play with his friend again

And that ends up in the chain thinking that wind must be incredibly bored because they walk all day and not letting him explore and play with bugs and they decided to fix it (but quickly realized that they are in the middle of a forest with nothing particularly interesting)

Wind main while has absolutely no idea what to do with the hand made toy lobster (legend definitely can sew like have you seen him and the ton of outfits he has) or the Fact that Wolfie seems particularly persistent to play fetch ..!.,?! What is going on!? (Twilight quickly realized that he is dog shaped and he also feels extremely guilty that wind is only walking with them)

But also he definitely can’t throw it away because the legend clearly put effort into the thing and he does love lobsters

And he would rather die than let the chance pass to play with Wolfie (that guy never has fun and nobody can make him play anything and the look of pure envy from Wild was totally worth it he is Wolfie's new favorite now , screw you wild)

But unfortunately that one extra toy seems to do nothing about Wind's insistence to talk with walls

And Wolfie tries really really hard to be more interesting than the walls ( he is failing because ghosts will always be more interesting )

The second they enter a town every single link with money goes to ransack the entire town for toys

And wind catches on about their concerns with his mental state and realizes that explaining them how he can see ghosts would probably confirm to them he is crazy

He awkwardly takes the toys and rearranges them in a way that every ghost is next to a toy so that the chain can stop complaining about him because now he has the excuse that he is totally talking to his toys and not any other beings or voices or walls

The chain is happy because they can almost always see him talk to the toys and play with them (the dread they feel when he keeps naming them after dead loved ones of them is something but maybe it is just a coincidence)

Then they catch him playing a game and it’s just the lobster who apparently is named after legend and the bird who he named Marin (Wind was totally only re-enacting Marin's story because he is definitely an adult and only doing the logical thing)

Time later sees him with Wild's majora’s mask (that sits with its face turned like it’s trying not to look at someone) while Wind keeps talking about a big guy with stripes on his face and how he tried to be cool when defeating the demon (war flashbacks activated because that stripes guy seems very familiar)

And legend gets an aneurysm because that lobster story strikes way to close to home for him

They take way to long to figure out in this one (they are the heroes of courage not wisdom afterall)

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

I just realized that, in the 5 seasons finales, LB&CN NEVER won :(

-S1: Origins, the start of everything so it doesn’t exactly count. Volpina is the last chapter before those, but now that Lila seems to be the new HM, and since it was LB’s “mistake” that made her a nemesis, their victory comes empty in the long run.

-S2: Heroes’ Day, I consider it a tie, because the status quo changed to HM’s favor. After all seemed lost, LB&CN got a second wind and they managed to corner him, pointing to their victory; there was no way to foresee Mayura’s arrival. HM didn’t win, but is no longer alone against them. From a narrative pov, in my humble opinion, it is a nice season finale to set up S3.

-S3: Battle of the Miraculous, LB makes a mistake born of jealousy, leading to the capture of Master Fu, HM claiming the Miracle Box and Chloe’s betrayal. Aftermath: Fu’s gone, temp heroes’ identities revealed to HW and Mayura, the translation of the grimoire is in enemy hands, allowing him to repair the broken Peacock miraculous, and Chloe starts hating LB. The heroes recovering the miracle box at the end is just a small win contrasted to everything else.

-S4: Shadow Moth’s Final Attack, the Miracle Box is in HM’s hands after LB makes another love-related mistake by being deceived by Felix into thinking he was Adrien; behold the rise of Monarch. Our heroes have their worst defeat so far.

-S5: The Final Day *insert TLOZ: Majora Mask’ Last Day theme*. Gabriel, the person who antagonized our heroes these five seasons, the one who was supposed to be defeated, brought to justice, manages to outsmart Bug Noire because she had faith in the man, and makes the wish. (Though I heard that Mari won because Gabriel didn't wish for Emilie at the end, so... it is supposed to be the heroes' victory, I guess?)

I'm pretty sure this came up somewhere in the comments or reblogs of my post about Marinette being written like a villain, but in the context of the finals, Gabriel is written like a classic superhero. The only exception being Origins which isn't really a final so I don't think it counts. Instead we'll do Volpina into Collector.

Season One: The heroes almost out Gabriel's identity, but he makes a last minute brilliant plan to save himself and beat his enemies, forever putting himself off their radar.

Season Two: Gabriel almost loses, but an unexpected ally swoops in to save him at the last second. She then becomes his new teammate for the rest of the show.

Season Three: Gabriel almost wins, but fails at the last moment due to a deus ex machina. Still, he ends the season with new knowledge that will make him stronger than ever as he faces his enemy in the coming fights.

Season Four: Gabriel once again loses the battle, leaving him in his darkest hour, only for another unexpected ally to swoop in and give him a major powerup, allowing him to go into the final season ready to put it all on the line.

Season Five: Gabriel once again loses the battle, but when all hope seems lost, his enemy's hubristic monologuing gives him the win, allowing him to achieve the victory he's been fighting for all along. He even gets to change his mind on what victory means for him, showing more growth than anyone else in this mess of a show. (For this, we're going to ignore the insane and deeply insensitive idea that being unable to live without your spouse is a happy ending and meaningful lesson about grief.)

To be fair, it's not totally unheard of for heroes to fail at the start or in the midgame, but I'm struggling to think of another show that did it this poorly. Usually, the heroes lose as a way to set up the plot for the next season or arc. During this follow-up plot, the heroes usually earn a new power or skill so they can come back and win. Miraculous doesn't do that. Things like Gabriel's season four win lead to nothing for the heroes even though a lot of us were expecting season five to see something like the heroes recovering a different miraculous every episode as Ladynoir came back stronger than ever now that the season four nonsense was done with.

But season five wasn't about getting the Kwamis back or about Ladynoir being stronger than ever. It was about Adrienette getting together and Gabriel being against that even though he was seemingly fine with it in both what-if episodes begging the question of what changed?

Season four wasn't about cool new guardian powers or rebuilding the team from scratch. All of the status quos were maintained. The only big difference was that Gabriel got the ability to use the peacock without dying even though it would have been infinitely more satisfying if season five had him dying from a broken miraculous instead of a cataclysm. Same plot, just without the complication of Adrien technically killing his father.

Season three wasn't about figuring out how to stop new villain Maurya. She only goes away because she gets too sick to fight. The heroes don't do anything to stop her. They just got lucky.

When you look at the various power ups that the show introduces - the potions, unification, new miraculous, etc. - there is no overarching narrative logic for why those power ups are being introduced. That's why they're often only used for something interesting in their intro episode. After that, they're just kind of there. I don't think they ever come back to save the day in a season final like you'd expect. The only one who gets lasting power ups that effect the whole season is the villain.

Heroes can also have less-than-perfect victories in satisfying stories. A lot of my personal favorites are a little bittersweet. But none of Miraculous' losses fit that bill either. The closest we get is the season five ending because the heroes did get the miraculous back, but it's hard to call that a victory. I'm not even sure why they need them back. Unless the story randomly decides that Ladynoir isn't enough for today's fight, the temp heroes aren't needed. That's why Ladynoir was perfectly fine for all of season five even though they were fighting a villain with every other power! It's actually really funny when you think about it. Heroes like Viperion should be at every fight because their powers feel essential. Yet Viperion only shows up a handful of times. Times when Ladynoir is suddenly struggling to win even though they've faced plenty of one-hit K.O. villains before. The show's internal logic is a mess.

Then again, this is also the show that consistently lets the villain's love empower him while the heroes' love leads to the end of the world, so I guess this is just kind of par for the course.

[demilypyro]

Something I’m a little sad about when I play newer games in the Zelda series is the de-emphasization of the Deku Scrub. When you play Ocarina and Majora, Dekus are everywhere. The leader of the Kokiri is the Great Deku Tree, you encounter a lot of Deku Scrubs here and there on your journey, and you interact with a lot of Dekus in the first part of Majora’s story.

By Wind Waker however, both the Kokiri and the Dekus are nowhere to be found, implied to have collectively evolved into the Koroks, and none of it returned for Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, or even Breath of the Wild, which notably did go out of its way to have both the Zora and the Rito, who supplanted the Zoras in Wind Waker. Personally, I’ve always loved the Dekus. Particularly in Majora’s Mask, they offer such a wide range of fun designs, and while some of that is there with the weirder Korok designs in Breath of the Wild, like Hestu, it feels like something is missing.

The Koroks seem to have no culture, they just kind of hang out. The Dekus were more three-dimentional, almost kind of duplicitous. Many of the Dekus in Ocarina were merchants, and the ones in Majora were usually acting on self-interest. It makes the koroks feel very flat by comparison. By now, the Dekus are a footnote in the Zelda series, having only appeared in two major games. The Great Deku Tree itself has reappeared regularly, but the Dekus remain stuck on the N64 and their 3DS remakes, outside of a minor appearance in the Oracles games and Minish Cap. It’s too bad, cause the Zoras and the Gorons have reappeared many times, and had chances to evolve their culture, but the Dekus were left behind.

Deku Link is cute tho

[iamzer0]

Yᴀɴᴅᴇʀᴇ Pʟᴀᴛᴏɴɪᴄ BEN DROWNED

ᴀ/ɴ: ᴛʜɪs ɪs ᴅᴀʏ 2 ᴏғ ᴅᴏɪɴɢ ᴀ ʀᴀɴᴅᴏᴍ ᴘʟᴀᴛᴏɴɪᴄ ʏᴀɴᴅᴇʀᴇ ᴀ ᴅᴀʏ ᴜɴᴛɪʟ ɪ ʀᴜɴ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴏғ ɪᴅᴇᴀs

(Based loosely on the original story)

Everything in your life seemed to spiral downwards after buying that stupid game.

You were a huge fan of The Legend of Zelda series, so when you saw an old copy of Majoras Mask at a garage sale you jumped at the chance to buy it.

You got home and immediately put in the game.

But it was strange, there was an old save file from the previous owner.

The save read, BEN.

Out of curiosity you clicked on the save, just to check out how much this guy had completed.

But as soon as you did the screen started glitching out like crazy flashing images of Link, then it started up the game like normal.

The game was weird, for starters link looked… weird. Almost uncanny.

The textures and the overall color scheme was dark and looked like something you would see in a horror game.

The game started glitching out again so you decided that it wasn’t worth playing so you paused the game and went on your computer.

You were on it for a good 20 mins before the computer started glitching out like crazy.

You could have sworn that you saw Link amidst the glitching, but that’s impossible….. right?

As soon as it stopped glitching a new tab opened up to this cite called Clever bot.

You tried exiting but it wouldn’t let you.

The chat bots only message was “did you enjoy the game?:)”

From then on your life became a living hell.

Who ever was controlling the stupid clever bot was powerful.

He could shut down any electrical device you had, he would mess with your Wi-Fi making it go off than back on at random.

And he wouldn’t leave you alone until you played the stupid game again.

You didn’t know how but he was doing something to the game, making it weird.

Ben didn’t know why he hadn’t killed you yet, he had been messing with you for days but for some reason couldn’t kill you.

You reminded him of himself before he was like…..t̶h̶i̶s̶.̶

His goal was not longer to kill you. Now he just wanted to talk to you.

He liked talking to you even if you didn’t like talking to him.

You were like a little mini him, y’all liked video games and had similar humor except he was much more intense with it.

You actually hated Ben, he was controlling and when you did anything he didn’t like he would shut off your wifi or phone.

You tried leaving the house, to escape from the control but it only ended with him threatening to send life ruining messages to your family and friends.

For a guy you couldn’t even see he was sure possessive over you.

You didn’t believe in ghosts and all that but you started to after meeting Ben.

He was insane, you could only play and do what he wanted to do.

You were starting to lose it, being trapped inside with Ben controlling your every move.

You wanted to leave, you needed to leave. You didn’t care what happened you had to leave.

You ran to your door, about to bolt out and never look back. Then you heard a screeching sound.

It sounded like nails on a chalkboard amplified.

You covered your ears, looking back and saw absolute nightmare fuel.

It was Ben at least that’s what you thought, he was crawling out of the TV he looked like a distorted uncanny version of Link.

“𝘋𝘌𝘈𝘙 𝘎𝘖𝘋" you screamed as you saw what could only be described as the devil himself.

A/N: anyway this is day 2 Of doing a random Yandere every day till I run out of ideas. I hope y’all liked this, I love you all bye bye∩^ω^∩

[sleepingdayaway]

Player has the Fierce Deity Mask

So uh this is an old writing I found in my docs and I decided to post it since I probably won't continue this. I did this for fun and for a discord server I'm in, but if you decide to read this then thanks!

Characters: Fierce Deity

Short Summary: What if player interacted with the Fierce Deity Mask first and refuses to give it back.

Waking up in the middle of the woods with a weird ass mask in their hands was definitely not on [Name]'s list of being woken up to, especially since there was a bunch of screeching noises around them.

When finally coming to the realization that they are in fact not home they quickly sat up and backed away from these weird pig monsters, although they look oddly familiar. That's when they noticed a mask that fell onto their lap, and lifted it up to see it properly. It's a perfect replica of the Fierce Deity mask from Majora's Mask, a game they used to play a lot, when they had the time.

Their eyes widened before looking back at the monsters and at which they realized that they are in fact, bokoblins from the Breath of the Wild game version, but the strangest thing is that they refused to get any closer to them. The bokoblins were screaming and clawing at them as if trying to reach them, but they couldn't, one even went as far as to throw a rock at them. It was able to hit them in the arm.

"Well? Are you not going to deal with them?" Spoke a voice from nearby, it sounded gruff as if it hadn't spoken in a while.

"What in the fuck? God???" 

They replied as they looked up in the sky with confusion on their face; the mask still in their hands. A chuckle was heard before the voice spoke again, "My my, tell me little one, are you able to hear me?"

[Name] looked down at the Fierce Deity mask and held it close to their face examining it, "Wait a damn minute, are you talking? Or am I hearing voices again."

A laugh was heard which caused them to turn red from embarrassment, "You are quite amusing, little one."

A breathy laugh came from [Name], "I will take that as a compliment, but uh I don't actually have anything to get rid of those nasty ass pigs since I deadass just woke up here with just you." It seems that the bokoblins could understand them since two more rocks were thrown at them, as they let out a scream before dodging them.

It was silent for a moment before the mask spoke again, "I will make a deal with you, I will lend you my power to deal with those pests as I said before."

[Name] held the mask closer to them staring for a moment before responding, "I swear, if I die because of a mask I'm going to cry."

They got up from the ground before looking back down at the mask. They aren't sure if they took any strong drugs before going to bed, or if this was one hella vivid dream they're having. Reluctantly they placed it onto their face, and they stood there for a moment before their vision turned white, but they could've sworn just before they blacked out they heard it speak again.

"Yes, I truly do hope you'll live after this, little one."

[Name] woke up again abruptly, they were breathing heavily as if they've been running for a while, before looking around at their surroundings; in the place where the bokoblins once were, there are now piles of random items those monsters dropped and disappearing purple smoke. In their [dominant hand] holds the Fierce Deity mask in all its glory as they use their other hand to drag it across their face while exhaling deeply to calm their breathing. "Holy shit, I don't remember what the fuck happened once I put it one, but damn am I tired."

"It appears that you survived, congratulations, dear, " the mask spoke and it sounded like it was in fact happy and surprised that they lived.

[Name] stared at it with a smile on their face, "Keep complimenting me and I just might get attached to you, but uh after that don't you think it's fair that we introduce each other?"

"Hmmm… yes, I do believe so. I am the Fierce Deity, I come from the land of Termina, and, currently, I take the form of the mask you hold in your hand."

That earned a huge grin from them, "Nice to meet you, Fierce Deity, I'm [Name] and I am not from here, actually…how did I get here?" They tried to remember the events that happened before being in the forest.

 The images of a dark shadow lingering in the corner of their room, and red eyes appearing from it before lunging at them. A weird colored thing also showed up and then them and the weird red eyed shadow falling into it.

Fierce Deity spoke up, "I see, so it was that damn shadow creature who brought you here. I believe it is beneficial if I stay with you, so you will not perish. I also may be able to lead you to a group of adventurers; who are also in the same difficult situation as you." He said soothingly since he knew that you probably won't enjoy being with a person who would antagonize you in a world you are not familiar with.

 "Yeah? I appreciate that very much, Fierce Deity. Well I agree to those terms, I'll gladly have you with me as we find those guys you-" they were cut off by the sounds of multiple footsteps being rushed towards them. A chuckle could be heard from him, "It appears we haven't even needed to search for them at all. They have found you."

It seems that he was right as a tall man rushed forward, and stared them down with one eye, a couple of other guys also behind him staring at them as they caught their breaths.

The oldest and tallest one of the group stepped closer towards you with one of his hands reaching out, "I am sorry for asking this suddenly, but may I please have that mask back?"

[Name] stared at the group in shock as they took a step back and held the Fierce Deity closer to them, "Fuck no, he's mine-"

[livmightlive]

2 Adventures AU

I think it would be kind of interesting if the chain went on two adventures. What I mean by that is the first one would occur while most of the chain have only been through one or a few of their games. This could also be seen as a childhood friends au? The chain is pulled together when most of them are pretty young.

Time has just finished Majora’s Mask and is in full young teen angst, trauma, mode. He’s extremely mischievous and poorly adjusted. He’s only around 12 or 13 years old.

Wind has just been through the events of Wind Waker. He’s only 12 and is pretty shaken up but still pretty similar I’d say. Maybe even more hyper and desperate to prove himself.

Hyrule has just been through the events of Zelda 1. He’s quiet and jumpy. Dawn has gently been spending the past two years trying to help him adjust to a more social life but it’s been slow going. He’s extremely anxious to be around so many people. I’d say he’s around 14.

Four has only been through the events of Minish Cap so he’s not even Four yet. His age is canonically the most confusing to me but I really like the headcanons that he’s a young adult who has a baby face. In this he’d be a kid though, so maybe around 11?

Legend I can’t decide whether he’d have only been through A Link to the Past and the oracle games or if he’s been through Links Awakening by this point. I think it would be more interesting if he had just been through Link’s Awakening and is severely jaded. He’s 16. (If he had only been thru the oracle games he’d be 14 and a lot more light hearted)

Wild would have gone through the events of Botw being 17. He’d honestly just be pretty baseline with no crazy changes.

Twilight would have also just gone through Twilight Princess being 18. I think he’d be really hung up on Midna. 

Sky has also just completed Skyward Sword, I think he’d also be 18? Pretty similar to canon. 

Warriors was plucked halfway through his game and thrust into this adventure. He’s very stressed, worried he left his people behind when they needed him most. He becomes the group leader being the eldest at 20. 

They come together, pretty much a platoon of child soldiers, defeat the evil, say teary goodbyes, and return home. 

Years later they’re all shocked to be pulled into a second journey across time and get to reunite with their brothers. 

This time Time is his canon Lu age of being somewhere around his early to mid thirties being much more cool and collected than the actual child nightmare he was initially. He falls easily into a leadership role. He seems to have mended many of his mental wounds despite him being prone to grumpiness. This adventure after so many years of peace is pretty triggering though. 

Wind has gone through phantom hour glass and is freshly 15. He’s a little more mature now but very much so the same kid except now he’s like: “I see dead people��

Hyrule is a lot better socialized this time. He’s almost easy going and has a mischievous streak that the chain welcomes. It’s a fine change from the scared scrawny kid he was years ago. He still is exceedingly sweet and has a plethora of new talents to share. He also has crippling paranoid and a blood phobia. He’s around 18. 

Four, despite being the youngest the first mission, is now a young man being in his early twenties. He doesn’t talk much about his last adventure but he’s noticeably scatterbrained. Despite that, he can think outside the box like nobody else. It’s like he can think with the power of four people! He also goes by the name four now. 

Legend who has completed two more quests now is incredibly frustrated to have been yanked out of retirement/his wedding planning. Legend was able to manage a lot of healing over his last two journeys. He got engaged to the one and only Ravio who he was supposed to be working on wedding invitations with. He’s lighter now but still a grouch at times. He’s in his earlier twenties.

Wild has completed his mission from TotK and somehow his iPad can do EVEN MORE now. If lobbing bombs wasn’t enough last time, now he can crawl through walls. He is noticeably shaken in a way he wasn’t last time and has almost an unwilling clarity of the world around him. He’s 21 now. 

I so sorry but I don’t think Twilight would be much different. If anyone has thoughts pls lmk. He’s been able to move on from Midna and has thrown himself into shepherd work. I think he’d be courting Ilia and would be living a good country life while getting to brag about having tea with the princess. He’s fairly okay with being on another mission.

Okay this is totally just a headcanon but I picture Sky as that guy you knew in highschool who gets married really young and starts a family right after school. Sky is stressed after getting sent on another because he’s in the middle of building a kingdom and his wife, Sun, is pregnant. 

Poor Warriors. As mentioned the first journey happened for him when he was halfway through his war. Unlike many of the others, when he returned to his f ‘n c z timeline it was like no time had passed at all. For the second half of his war he met many new people and old friends. Mask (time) joined him, an older, almost grown version of Wind as his best friend and second in command, Ravio, Midna. When the war ends he’s saddened to say goodbye to dear friends once again. Warriors is whisked away to his second journey with the chain the moment his war ends. For him, it’s only been a year or less in some circumstances that he’s seen the chain. For most of them to had aged so much is jarring to him. The last time he saw them all it was him and a mostly non verbal group of children. Now it’s a group of almost all adults bar Wind, who was Warriors’ age last time he saw him. Most shocking of all is to see his baby brother all grown up and older than him. 

I haven’t put much further thought into the AU but I thought the dynamic of splitting the chain up by the amount of adventures they completed would be interesting. Most of the chain also had started their journeys as children so I thought it would be a fun dynamic for them to have all met younger. Poor Warriors though, leading 6 mentally ill teenagers and children was a huge task. And now they’re all either older than him or roughly the same age. I imagine they hit the pubs hard 😭

[mmelete]

This is for @perereiii’s LU AU!! I hope you like this, I kinda took a different interpretation of it, so…I hope it’s not too bad!

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~

In the deity’s realm, time works differently. 

The deity finds it incredibly ironic how the Young-Old Hero is nicknamed after the only part of his life that he can’t control. 

The flow of time is always cruel. Yet this particular hero is bound by it. 

The other heroes (some young, some old, but not quite like the 9 and 17 and 12-year-old boy who slayed the moon) call Young-Old by this strange Hylian term. How do mortals name something they can’t comprehend? The deity prides himself in being the few gods who try to understand emotion and patterns, but heroes always surprise the deity. 

The Little One did too. So bright, so whimsical, so innocent. Easy to tease. The deity can’t remember the last time that it laughed when it asked what the Little One would pay in return. 

“Uh….my firstborn…child?” Little One said hesitantly, biting the inside of his cheek as he waited for the deity’s response. 

The deity does not bargain. It finds it pathetic, forcing mortals to give items and values to something that doesn’t need them. When Young-Old Hero begged for help against the corrupt spirit of Majora, he displayed his entire life to see, so desperate for success. 

Link tasted godliness at the ripe age of 9, 17, or maybe 12. That power consumed him. He became the deity that fateful night, without a trace of his mortal soul left behind. 

He’s only known godly magic as overpowering. When there came a battle, nearly ten years ago, Young-Old Hero sought the mask, displaying his entire life for the world to see. 

He didn’t speak, not like the Little One. He didn’t ask. There were no jokes during that battle, a decade ago. Young-Old Hero called on the deity, so the deity answered.  

And when he donned the mask, it consumed his desperation with hunger tenfold. 

The deity doesn’t understand chances. He doesn’t understand consequences. He knows nothing but to fight and to win.

Perhaps this is why Young-Old Hero is so upset. 

It’s been ten years. The deity asks for Link to sit. The hero scoffs, annoyed. 

“Were you desperate?” the hero questions. “You could’ve declined.”

But it had been a battle. The deity was made for battle. The hero has an eye, but he still cannot see. 

The deity doesn’t wish to argue.

“Link,” it tries, but this only seems to make the hero more frustrated. 

“You did just the same in the past!” he cries. “And you still look as exalted and pristine as ever—not a scar in sight!”

His body is armored, but anyone can see that it is marred by the passage of time. His right eye is godly, tearing his own skin apart. He smells of a dying star, bright and burning in the present. But Young-Old hero has seen the past and the future all the same. 

He is the one that the deity cannot comprehend. He despises the deity. 

Why? The deity is not usually one to wonder. It doesn’t need to, but heroes seem to be an exception to any rules that the universe has in place. 

One day, Young-Old Hero will be broken and yet trapped in his mortal soul. A ghost, as the Hylians like to say. 

They name so many things that they can’t understand. 

Link talks on, again and again, interrupting the deity with sharp words. A lesser god would have struck him down by now. But the deity has learned to listen.

For the man he still calls a friend. 

He asks for quiet. Link is somewhat willing to listen. It seems maturity has served him well. The deity explains Link’s desire for distance. The deity brings up the giant stall in their friendship—a deity can be naive too. Ten years ago, after so long of being unworn, and met with such desperation, the combo had been catastrophic. 

The deity made Link begin to die as a god, and Link made the deity seek mortal values of  friendship. The impossible accomplished twice. 

The deity cannot control time. He can’t see the future. Link can’t either, yet he is defensive and blames the deity. He is angry. He says silly things, like rather choosing to side with Ganondorf than the mask. The deity calls him out, and asks for a truce. Link accepts, a bit begrudgingly. But what else can a man do against the divine?

The deity can’t blame Link’s hesitance. He’s right, in a way. The deity does not have scars and has no pain. And this man, so tainted with power, will likely die beyond the body he’s known in a ghostly form. 

Link leave the realm. The deity is left wondering about something…more. It know that it fights and it wins. Simple. That is how it will always be, no matter who the caller. The Little One needed to fight and needed to win, so the deity was there. And still, Young-Old Hero resents it for this fact.

Link’s anger had threaded through his face (his faces? Is the mask just a face or is the face still a mask?). It highlighted the tears in his spirit that pull and stretch against the lingering godliness in his mind. 

The Young-Old Hero will always know what divine power tastes like. No man can forget such a thing. 

And while the deity has no concept of sadness, he knows that Young-Old Hero had been trapped in the deity’s mask for…for so long…

The deity knows it is not a true friendship. It does its job. It was asked to fight and it always wins. The battle would’ve ended badly without it. The deity knows not of deep, emotionally connected relationships, but it has seen grief destroy mortals throughout all of history. 

It is a mask, afterall. No mask is made without mourning. 

The deity can’t make promises. It knows he will see Link again, whether in his body or bound by his soul. The deity will ask to sit and chat once more. It can’t hold regret and anger like mankind. Link probably will, until he loses his mankind to the divine lingering in his blood. He’s been met with a terrible fate…

So the deity will try to fix it. He will seek out Link with peace, hoping that their bond will not be one of hatred before Link departs. The deity can’t know if Link will call, or if the Little One will. 

But when it is called, it will answer.

[ganondoodle]

still thinking about how even just the decision to basically act like the shiekah tech never existed is just ... so baffling to me

bc again you could have done all the sonau tech does with shiekah instead, and they were perfect to be explored more in a sequel, why wouldnt you grasp that potential, the literal building blocks for more??

if you are that tired of shiekah tech .. dont make it a fuckign sequel to the game prominently featuring it???? totk doesnt take place generations after botw in which things could have changed drastically, its just a few years afterwards??

you want to reuse the map and get rid of shiekah tech? ok fine take LINK into the past then and the focus is for you to find a way to return; do some neat twist where its revealed that link was the one who sealed gan bc he couldnt defeat him without zelda or something if you dare (they wouldnt)

want less work than that and still reuse the map and get rid of shiekah tech AND reuse characters? ok then make it some alternate universe thingy like majoras mask in which everythign is the same but also isnt, its weird and creepy how characters you thoguht you knew suddendly dont act like themselves, shiekah tech doesnt exist, malice is now miasma, etc, it would give reason to why you feel so much like something about this world is familiar yet also very wrong

as far as im aware every "sequel" we have had so far were either generations apart from the first one, some alternate universe or a different location altogether- in all of which its plausible that things are different, things seem weirdly familiar but also wrong, or that another continent just works different from hyrule

but totk does none of that, its supposedly just a few years after the first game, same world same character, but its BUILT like some strange jumbled mess of stuff from botw and new stuff out of nowhere that just .. doesnt fit, but feeling a strange sense of otherness, a déja vu of something you know but it acts off, like an imposter, thats NOT intentional and it shows, its a mess of botw stuff, from stuff that people missed from the old games and entirely new stuff; i dont doubt it CAN work but the way it turned out is like a mix of 3 different puzzles forced together and being told 'see it fits!' even tho you can clearly see the pieces dont look right in these places

again it feels like a sequel that desperately wants you to forget the first game happened, that anythign from it mattered at all

and that isnt really ... the sense of a sequel? why insist on it being one when it only creates problems? is it marketing?? just like it was marketing to call age of calamity a telling of what happened before botw but then it wasnt that at all and that is still the sole reason why i dislike it? bc i was lied to? totk is like 10000 times worse than that, its a main title and doesnt even have the excuse of yeah its basically an excuse to play all your fav characters in fun ways and the game beign well aware that being its main appeal; what is totk appeal? a toybox with botw aestethic and none of the flavor?

(on a sidenote; the sonau tech doesnt even .. matter? in botw at least calamity ganon was made of shiekah tech parts and him overtaking other tech is a big point, the sonau tech doesnt serve anything but .. idk minerus useless mech? gan doesnt even aknowledge it, he doesnt care, all it is is toys for the player, not link, but the player. the monsters mining the tech materials? what for? gan doesnt give a damn and they dont work for the yiga either??)

i said it before but it gives me the feeling that the way botw invited you to theorize, to look beneath the surface, the way it intrigued you and laid the groundwork for so many interesting things without denying anything.. was accidental? or perhaps put in the game without the directors noticing? i cant stop thinking about them saying sth like "after botw zelda wondered if the kingdom of hyrule needed to keep existing the way it had been before the calamity, but then totk happens" bc it just feels like they realized too late that botw naturally led into questioning the status quo and they scrambled to fit it back into a flat and boring road we have seen so many times before (or even worse really) with totk

zeldas character naturally leads into her questioning and reexamine their history and set of rules? we gotta teach her a lesson of why she is importante god given monarchy girl that has to keep it bc what if evil brown man shows up again for no reason

maybe im grasping at straws here but looking at it this way the sonau .. make more "sense"; the shiekah were a group that was under the rule of the royal family, and misstreated before (oh no look soemthing interesting) so they dont lend themselves well to be used for teaching zelda that lesson- the sonau however are tailored really to be just that; they are a supposedly godly race from the literal sky that founded this version of hyrule, that had tech even more advanced and better than the shiekah, she gets put in the past to meet the perfect god king of goodness personally, also his very fridgy wifey that zelda later replaces in a way, shes put there and treated like family and then gets to see just how evil that evil big man from the desert is, sonia is falcon-punched to death solely so zelda can feel obligated to take over her role, have her new, better 'family' hurt by gan; similarly so raurus sacrifice, look what a noble and good king he is, he payed the ultimate price to lock that evil man away, now zelda you cannot let their sacrifice go to waste, rebuild that divinely good kingdom like it was!!

and even though they go so much out of their way to put the cart back onto the rails of black and white-good and evil in an even flatter way than the old games, it still doesnt feel right, at least to me, it still feels like zelda shouldnt have gone along with all of that, it feels like even her character from botw was walked back entirely, except for the intro, it made her feel like a stranger to me-

because this is a sequel, i know this zelda, she wouldnt act like that after all that shes been through, this feels ... off

and it all just insulting to anyone who cared about botw more than surface level, or the zelda lore in general, i dont even care much about the timeline, but theres alot of lore and themes beyond it that felt ignored, especially so given that .. its a damn sequel, non AU, not generations apart, directly part 2-

but its not.

it even feels very "corporate", put zelda in a dress again, people liked that, put crazy abilities in the game to flashbang people with how insane it is even if its not the best for the gameplay or the story, put a new asthetic into it out of nowhere bc its 'new' and act like its been there the whole time, put gan in there bc people miss him and find him sexy even if his role is just as flat as that of an evil cloud monster-

*sigh*

you know, i saw a post that said aoc was like a bad fanfic (affectionate) and totk was like a bad fanfic (derogatory) and tbh thats like one of the best comparisons/summaries i have seen ..

[wayfayrr]

Hello! If I may, I’d like to make a request.

When I was little (between 4 and 8), my brother and I played Ocarina of Time constantly. It was our go-to game when hanging out. We replayed it and found all secrets and stuff. I was wondering if you could do a platonic self aware OOT!Link one shot? One where Link considers the player to be like a sibling to him since they grew up together in a way?

Thank you so much! I really enjoy your work ❤️

you're very welcome anon! this was such a sweet request to write!! I went with the post timeskip link for this seeing as I've already written one for Majora's mask link and I thought it would be more interesting to have that difference between the two pieces <3 I hope you'll enjoy this

[masterlist]

“Hey, I’ve been wanting to ask for a while… do you still have that old copy of Ocarina of time we used to play together? I’ve been kinda wanting to replay it. It’s a bit of a pain to get a new one or an emulator though so…”

“Uh? I think so, I can check in my attic later and drop it around your place tomorrow if I can?”

“That sounds perfect, thanks for the favour man.”

That was a fairly productive phone call, now I hopefully won’t have to mess about with an emulator or shell out for the subscription to play it again. Seeing as Nintendo doesn’t want to make their old catalogue accessible. All I need to do on my end is to wait and possibly google how to set up an N64 in the meantime.

Turns out that we did still have the old thing, and that it isn’t all that hard to set up either so it’s not like it takes too long for me to hear the calmingly melancholic tones of the game’s opening theme. Our old save file is still there too, although some of the stats on the file seem to have gotten a little bit corrupted because I’m convinced we completed it fully. Although it’s been what like 10 years or more since I would’ve last played, it makes sense that I might just be misremembering things. No harm in seeing where we left off though is there?

Well even though the file says otherwise, looking through Link’s inventory really wants to disprove that - there’s something with the same sprite as Zelda’s letter where it should just be an empty slot. It’s not got a name, if I hover over it it simply brings up a missing value error and the button prompt me to read it. It’s not like there’s any issue if I did open it, it’s an old save file so even if it does corrupt I won’t lose anything. 

Nothing happened, just a fade to blank before it glitched out and the inventory screen popped back up so that I could close it and have a look around…

How did Link turn around as I was paused in the inventory and how did his face get so close to the screen?

“[Name]? I knew you’d be back at some point! I knew you wouldn’t just leave your older brother for good… you wouldn’t would you?”

“...How do you know my name..?”

I know that Ai has gotten incredibly good recently but this is an N64, an unmodded one at that, so whatever the hell is happening right now can’t be due to that. This feels like it could be the start to a creepypasta though with everything going on right now - is this like a real life ben drowned - no it can’t be, he’d be crying blood if it were the case and he wouldn’t be as friendly either. 

“Because you told me it all those years ago when you first played through the game? You always spoke to me like I was a real person, like you saw me as your older brother, so it’s only natural that I started to see you like a little sibling right? Then when you disappeared I got so worried, It’s been so long but you’ve gotten so much older! Did you pull the mastersword yourself, because this much time can’t have really passed can it?... Can it?”

He looks almost like he’s about to cry, I should be caref- why am I so worried about hurting the feelings of a fictional character? Is it cause he sees me like a sibling, a younger one; because he knows me from when I was younger; or because he seems so attached to me already? Maybe I should just… turn it off so I don’t have to deal with it.

“I don’t remember how long it’s been, a good few years at least, Since I’ve played it. I wasn’t exactly planning to-”

“Is that what you used to control me!? I’ve never been able to get a good look at it before. Would you mind bringing it closer?”

“...Yeah I can bring it closer.”

The way he interrupted me was so so sad, he’s forcing himself to be cheery when he looks like he’s about to break down, like how an older brother would act. He really sees himself as my older brother doesn’t he? I have to admit that the way he’s leaning against the screen like an excited kid is also pretty cute I won’t lie to myself, if it weren’t for how insane the situation is I don’t think I’d mind him being my younger brother. He’s younger than me now anyway so that makes far more sense. 

Is the screen cracking beneath him? 

It’s definitely cracking under his weight, there are seconds left before it shatters.

“It’s so simple and yet it was the reason that you were able to-”

Glass can only last so long. And now he’s out, lying on my floor in a shocked heap with glass shards surrounding and covering him. After a couple of seconds of neither of us knowing what to do, we both snap into action at the same time, while I try to help him up and check for any serious wounds… he’s just laughing with the widest goofiest smile on his face, grabbing at my arms like I’m nothing but a wisp of a dream. 

“I - wow I - I could never have imagined that I could - that this - that this was even an option for me…”

“But I can be your brother in person now can’t I?”

[maple-the-awesome]

Friend or Foe || Part 2/3

Part 1 || Part 3

Pairings: Time, Wind, Wild x GN Reader

Overview: Link visits an alternate world without its hero and, more importantly, a version of you without your Link. Unfortunately, it seems even the smallest of details can lead to disastrous results. In spirt of Halloween, I've decided to do a little evil prompt because none of the Links have enough emotional damage yet😈

Zelda Masterlist 💙Fandom Masterlist

Time may not remember everything that has occurred over his many, long adventures, but he does remember the day you met. Only children then, you both made an innocent promise to marry once adults. Now, Time may be a lot of things, but he has always been a man of his word. How could he not be when presented the perfect chance to spend the rest of his life with his childhood crush? You’re the one person he can trust with his every secret - the reward at the end of every troubling journey. He lives to see your joy and dies to see your sorrow, even when it isn't exactly 'your' sorrow...

It's difficult business keeping track of eight young boys and men, especially when they're all cursed with the same adventurous spirits that are easily distracted. Of course they’ve managed to disappear here. He can only blame himself for not having questioned their silence sooner, although he’d be lying to say he doesn’t feel disappointed, notably with the older boys, Twilight and Warrior, who are usually more responsible than to simply wander off without a word of explanation. Alas, even they’re nowhere to be seen, his only hint of other life nearby being a giggle that echoes off the vast number of gigantic trees.

"My, my. One more left I see?" Time leaps back, hand already on his sword when he hears the voice, “Oooh, and look at you! So handsome! So fierce! I’m digging the scar - it makes you look so tough. And those muscles, too! You seem like you would really know how to -”

“- Where are you?!” Time demands, getting his answer promptly when a figure swings down from a branch mere feet away from his face.

“Wow! You’re even hotter up closer!”

Time's eyes widen in surprise due to both their sudden entrance and their physical appearance. This mysterious person has wild hair that sticks out in every direction with their body lacking a healthy weight or color, yet Time immediately ignores all of that in favor of focusing upon the mask they wear - one he knows all too well but wishes he didn’t. He thought, for a second, that he may have recognized their voice, too, yet he’s more certain that he must be mistaken in that regard. No way it could be…

“Hey, you were traveling with those other boys, right? So maybe you’ll be nicer by giving me the answers I want! You see, beautiful stranger, I’m looking for a special friend of mine. We made a promise a while back and I intend to fulfill it if I could just find him first. None of the travelers I’ve found in these woods so far are him, so I was beginning to lose hope until I overheard those friends of yours mention his name, but they -”

Time can’t move, his body overcome with a chilled wave that ends with his feet cemented to the ground. It would be reasonable to say he misheard the first time, and he could keep denying it if he wants now, but that wouldn’t change the fact that he does recognize this person’s voice. How could he not when it’s the same that belongs to his own person angel? It’s a disordered version of yours, however this person isn’t you. This can’t be you because last he checked, you were safe back home where you promised to wait for his next return. How could you suddenly be here in this world, kept under the binding influence of Majora’s Mask?

“- Hey, are you broken?!” This person - who still so eerily sounds like you despite Time’s refusal to admit such a thing - knocks a fist against his forehead, barely flinching when he jerks back with a gasp, “Sooo? You gonna help me or just be difficult like your friends, eh? I don’t have all day, miser!”

Perhaps this ‘you’ is simply a figment of his imagination created by the forest to torment him; that must be the answer. He just has to play the game - no matter how much it messes with his head - to find out what happened to the boys. He’s dealt with enough Skull Kids before, this would be a piece of cake.

“I -...This friend of yours, who is he? Someone you’ve lost in the forest?” Time asks carefully, doing his best not to react too much outwardly, after all he’s seen first hand how Majora’s Mask can affect the mind of its wearer, and this ‘you’ before him has already clearly been put through the wringer.

“If I knew where I had lost him, I would’ve found him!” You snap in irritation.

Time swallows, “...Right, that does make sense, but perhaps if you could tell me his name, I could offer you better help in finding him?”

You seem pleased by this answer, swinging yourself upright on the branch where you become illuminated only by the glowing eyes of your mask, “Link.”

“L…Link?” That cold feeling from before returns, making Time suddenly feel sick to his stomach as the dots finally begin to connect in his head. This is no figment of his imagination - no trick of the light or evil illusion. It really is you…not the same version of you he married, but the other he promised to…

In Wind’s world, you're an adored teacher on Windfall Island. You’re kind, caring, and very knowledgeable about Hyrule's history which came in handy whenever he needed pointers during his early adventures. Yes, you would express concern over a child of his age partaking in such dangerous affairs (you thought it was all a joke when he first told you) and you've let it slip before that you aren't the biggest fan of pirates, although beyond your mother-like worry which you’ve adopted towards all your students (even the unofficial ones like Wind), you’ve ultimately supported him every step of the way. You've always been a huge role model for him, so this shift in personality is more than unexpected...

Wind was excited to show his new friends around what he thought to be his own Hyrule and relieved to discover they weren’t alone on this island they’ve found themselves stuck on after wandering through another portal. A pirate ship anchored on shore - the very ship belonging to Zelda’ crew, as Wind foolishly assured the others despite their caution. Now, thanks to his impatience and eagerness, he sits saddened and embarrassed next to the rest of the heroes as they remain tied to the ship’s mast. 

It’s confusing. The pirates of this ship are the same as Zelda's crew, yet they claimed to not at all recognize the younger pirate regardless of his attempts to jog their memories. Instead, they had rounded him and the rest of the Chain up the second they approached their dock, taking them prisoner where they currently wait for 'the Captain's reaction'. 

The Captain. This made Wind feel relieved again. Zelda. He doesn't know why the other pirates are acting so strangely, but Zelda will be able to clear this whole mess up, in fact here she comes, dressed in her normal pirate attire Wind's accustomed to seeing.

"ZELDA! Goddesses, am I glad to see you! I don't understand what kinda trick the guys are trying to play on me, but this isn’t the time! My friends - they're all heroes of courage like me and we could really use your help to -" The words come so quickly from Wind's mouth that Zelda barely has time to look disgusted. 

"How hard did you exactly hit this guy?" She asks while looking to Nudge then back to Wind with a smirk.

"Wha - I'm serious! This is urgent, Zelda -!"

"- Who?" She places her hands on her hips, generally seemingly confused which makes Wind's blood run cold, but not as much as it does when another voice speaks.

"Oi, what's the ruckus out here, eh!? I thought I told ya' lot to keep it down - Oh. What do we have here, umm?" The doors to the Captain's cabin burst open, out walking a figure dressed head-to-toe in a bright red uniform with a large black, white, and magenta feather sticking out from their hat.

"Captain," Zelda immediately backs off from Wind, "These guys were just caught after trying to rush our ship."

"No, that’s not what we -!"

"- Little thieves. 'thought they could just follow us here and steal our treasure!" The pirates hiss together, although you take more time to look over the boy in front of you along with his companions.

"You all look familiar…" Your statement - as disinterested as it sounds - almost gives Wind hope. Almost, "Lock 'em up in the cellar where I won't have to listen to their annoying bitching. Gonzo, set a course for the Forsaken Fortress. I think Ganondorf would like to meet these boys. Tetra, you stick with me."

"YES, CAPTAIN!" An assortment of shouts follow, both from the pirates who follow your every order loyally and the heroes who express their dismay. Wind, however, can only stare in complete disbelief and betrayal as you look back at him once more, your eyes dark from underneath your hat's shadow which is a sharp contrast to the usual warmth that he knows you for. 

Wild lives with a lot of heavy regrets weighing him down, perhaps the most unspoken being his missed chance at ever telling you his true feelings. You were an ever-so-dear friend to him before the Calamity - someone who never expected the impossible from him and always offered a shoulder to lean on should he need one. He loved you quite a bit; something he remembered almost as soon as he remembered you. He has often visited your grave, replaying past events in his head while suffocating in his own guilt from not having protected you. He has sometimes begged the Goddess to let him see you again, even if just to apologize, but this isn’t what he had in mind - far from it…

Wild’s version of Hyrule is chaotic and messy; a land that thrives off of quiet hope and the shattered remnants of a once mighty kingdom. Zelda has mentioned the theory before: that like Hyrule, Wild needed to become something else - something different and unruly in nature because if you can’t beat it, then join it. 

With that said, he’s accustomed to using a lack of forethought, at least in any way comparable to his past self (which is what he tells himself, anyway). As far as he knows, before the Calamity, he was as straight-laced as they come, always concerning himself with his public image and focused on never letting anyone down. He’s nothing like that now, often running into danger head first with messy hair and a blaze of fire following his trail. You would think after the amount of concussions and scars he’s gained, he would’ve long learned his lesson, but alas, he raced through this dungeon with little worry as he’s done many others because his confidence - or perhaps his dull wit - has once again outweighed any common sense. 

Now this is the price he must pay for his own ignorance: a nightmare reanimated before him as it taunts and tortures his inner conscience…and all he can do is accept this horrid punishment in frozen terror as you stalk across the room towards him.

When he raced ahead of the others and turned the key, he expected to be greeted with the typical dungeon boss - an overgrown bokoblin or fiery wizard. He didn’t expect it to be you, crumbled on the ground with gloom affecting your entire body. He didn’t expect for you to react so harshly to his presence, throwing him across the room with a blast of magic when he tried to reach your side, desperate to know how you’re alive and if you’re okay.

You look as angry as you have every right to be, your face curled into a snarl as you come closer, eyes narrowed in an orange glow and a sword in your hand…yet Wild could do nothing but let his knees buckle from underneath himself and dig his nails into his scalp as he asks himself over and over again how this is possible. How are you here? How are you alive? How were you affected and how does he fix you? …He can’t, though. He let you down then and has no idea how to save you now despite having been granted the gift of your presence again - the very thing he’s been begging for.

“I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!” He cries, not sure if it’s for you or himself as he sobs your name with the same heartache he would over your grave, “I’msorry! I’msorry!”

“IT’S AN ILLUSION, WILD! IT’S NOT THEM!” Someone shouts from behind - someone who he’d usually easily recognize as Twilight yet his mind is in too much of a rush to even listen to his concerned friend’s words, let alone care about his identity. 

Wild can only think of his final moments with you. The day you ‘casually’ told him about plans to try a new restaurant in Castle Town and how you were looking for someone to join you. Foolishly - ever so foolishly - he asked if your sister wouldn’t go, generally confused that you, someone so kind and loved, would have trouble finding a willing companion for any aspect of your life. 

Bashfully, you agreed to ask her, and that was it. You walked off, leaving the poor hero to wonder why you looked so dejected and heartbroken. The next time he’d see you was a mere picture an old woman showed him, curious if you happened to be the one he ran into town desperately searching for. The woman - your niece, as it would turn out - confirmed his worst fears, explaining that while you had survived the initial attack during the Calamity, you like many others soon succumbed to an illness Purah now theorizes to have been a result of close contact with gloom. 

Wild can only imagine your final moments, poisoned by gloom and betrayal much like this other version of you is. If only he had done his job properly, you would have never felt such pain. You, like your sister, would have grown old and lived peacefully as you deserved. He, himself, wouldn’t have to forever live with this guilt he bears from your death - guilt that tries convincing him it would’ve been better if Twilight hadn’t pulled him away from the danger, instead allowing you - even if not truly you - to get some sort of revenge for his mistakes. 

[thrilling-oneway]

i got bored or smth so here's the games i think nene owns for her console collection (based on the list in this post). her favourite genres are PVP (fighting/FPS), but we know she also likes Open World and RPGs, so we'll be going off that and a few other details I'll expand on later.

chronological order

1. SEGA MEGA DRIVE 2 (Japan release)

This console was hardest to ID but eventually I settled for it being a fucked up MD. Sure whatever. The controller is most like an MD2, which was mostly sold on its own, but if it had pack-in games those were: Puyo Puyo, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, or Virtua Racing. In CGO Nene doesn't seem to be familiar with Puyo so we can rule that one out.

This console had loads of iconic fighting games, like Streets of Rage 1-3, Mortal Kombat 1&2 (uncensored), and Street Fighter II Dash and Super Street Fighter II (yes there's multiple street fighter 2s). There were also a few Phantasy Star entires, an RPG series I know nothing about lol. And Altered Beast, the beat-em-up that was the original pack-in game for America.

If Nene is based she owns Ristar and Sonic the Hedgehog/2/3&K but idk what her thoughts on platformers are. She might like Vectorman though there's a gun in that one.

2. SEGA SATURN (Japanese Model One)

Since this is a first release I'm gonna assume that it belonged to one of her parents first since these were sold for like a year before model two was thrown into circulation. I'm gonna assume that about the MD2 as well. And most of the stuff here that predates 8th gen considering Nene was canonically born in 2005. Anyway.

If the Saturn model one had a pack-in game it was Virtua Fighter Remix. Literally the only pack-in. Nene owns Virtua Fighter Remix. Even if it wasn't the pack-in she owns it dude trust me. There were a couple other Virtua Fighter games released for that console, with Virtua Fighter 2 actually being the best selling game on the hardware. AM2 also released Fighting Vipers and the VF/FV crossover game Fighters Megamix. Did you know Megamix has the palmtree from the AM2 logo as a playable character? Now you do.

The Saturn also had port of Doom, as well as the original Biohazard, Worms, and Tomb Raider games. Also apparently the original Marvel vs Capcom was on this console, under the name Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter. JP exclusive too. Rayman, Bug!, and Gex were here too but idk how Nene feels about those though. Nenechan play Rayman.

Nene doesn't own an N64 so she does not own Smash 64. What the fuck Nenechan. This also means she doesn't own Ocarina or Majora's Mask, or any Zelda released in the 90s for that matter (I know Majora was 2000 don't even).

3. XBOX

For some reason Nene (or her parents) chose Xbox over PS2 or Dreamcast for 6th gen smh. However this does make sense when you consider the existence of Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2. Which were never released in Japan apparently but we'll ignore that. There's also Dead or Alive 3. Maybe Nene bought the Xbox second hand.

Nenechan buy a Dreamcast. And a PS2. And a GCN. Actually just get a Wii NENECHAN WHY DON'T YOU OWN A WII. Nene continues to not own any Smash or Zelda games.

Anyway this does mean she can own Jet Set Radio Future but also idk if she cares. Nenechan play Jet Set Radio for me because I can't. It was a launch title in Japan and later a pack-in game (region unknown) though so maybe she owns it anyway.

4. PLAYSTATION PORTABLE

You could watch movies on this one just saying. I mean DVD players on consoles became commonplace during this era but you could like. Buy discs specifically for this console to watch movies on.

I don't really know much about the PSP so I'm kinda reading this off a list of console exclusive games. The original LittleBigPlanet was here apparently. Also some spinoffs to popular franchises, like Guilty Gear Judgement and Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. Also more Phantasy Star.

5. XBOX 360 (Pro)

Halo 3. Still wasn't released in Japan. Still a region locked console. Idc at this point. Microsoft please release Halo 1-3 in Japan. Make Nenechan happy. Halo 4 was released in Japan for Xbox 360 though so she owns that. Maybe Dead or Alive 4 and the 360 Gears of War games too. This is also the only console Call of Duty 2 was released on. Nenechan definitely owns COD2.

6. PLAYSTATION 3 (Super Slim)

Anyway game libraries are getting huge for consoles around this time so don't expect me to go as crazy. Also they start overlapping. Heavily. I don't really know why Nenechan owns two 7th gens and two 8th gens (i mean technically three 7th gens because that's the PSP too) but I guess I own four 7th gens and five 8th gens so. whatever. At least I pick the ones with varied game libraries unlike the person who doesn't own a Nintendo Wii.

We got the console version of LittleBigPlanet, LittleBigPlanet 2, Metal Gear Solid 4, and multiple Ratchet & Clanks as exclusives here. Can we just assume that Nenechan owns Call of Duty games. 3, World at War, Modern Warfare 1/2/3, Black Ops 1/2/3, Ghosts, and Advanced Warfare were all this gen. 3 was also on Xbox and the latter three were also 8th gen.

Nenechan still doesn't own a smash or zelda game.

7. XBOX ONE

Halo Infinite.

8. PLAYSTATION 4 (Pro)

Again the games catalogue thing is becoming an issue so like. I dunno. We know Nene plays PUBG that's explicitly referenced in CGO but she probably plays the PC version. There's also PUBG's rival but if she plays it she probably would choose the PC version again. All the other COD games are on these two consoles so like. Probably owns those too. More Metal Gears, Street Fighters, Streets of Rage 4, etc.

I wonder if Nene would like something like Uncharted or Tomb Raider.

9. NINTENDO SWITCH (Lite, Blue & Turquoise)

NENECHAN FINALLY OWNS SMASH AND ZELDA. I GET TO HAVE FUN AGAIN. Yeah obviously Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are green and beautiful open world games. And Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fits Nene as a PVP fighting game.

I also get to have some more fun here because Nene owns a few amiibos. In the left image is an Animal Crossing villager, and what might be Legally Distinct Kid Icarus? In the right I'm not sure. The pink one looks like another AC villager maybe. Genuinely no idea what the gold thing is. Legally Distinct Ristar. Wait Sega made Ristar. Not sure if she owns these games or if these are just for smash purposes. I mean Not-Kid-Icarus definitely is there hasn't been a New KI game in 12 years. AC also doesn't really seem to be Nene's style based on some stuff she says in-game when talking with Shiho so it's probably also for smash.

That's Splatoon 2. Or the splatoon mangas.

10. Other stuff idk

I don't know what this is it's hideous and I don't wanna think about it.

She has a PC but Steam is a thing so like. Idk she can run anything on that. It can run Doom.

In Rui's 2022 bday card story 2 they play a kart racer that's like. weird as fuck it ain't MK. Name is close enough though it's called Cookie Kart. It's implied Nene owned it and the timeline lines up for it to be Mario Kart Wii BUT NENE DOESN'T OWN A WII. Nene PLEASE buy a Wii.

She doesn't own any 9th gen because the game predates them and the first three years of its run are set in the "PS5s are unobtainable" era anyway.

This post was an excuse for me to talk about video games. You have been distracted.

[charbies]

I'm mashing together my review of totk and reactions to random encounters with the masterworks I've had lately into one stream of consciousness

Totk should have had true continuity, not a 6 year time skip that we never get to see, experience, and feel. It's not that hard to bridge 2 games with a 1-2 min cutscene, esp in a zelda game. Majora's mask starts with quick, but meaningful exposition that bridges OOT to MM! The intro to wind waker is a 6 minute long cutscene!! This series thrives with its detailed, intriguing intros, so what happened?? Before I even launched totk the night it came out, I booted up botw and replayed the final boss & ending because I was so stoked to see the transition in story/world and wanted to honor both games. Instead boom, we're walking in a cave w/ no context.

I was so disappointed that zelda wasn't a companion character to link in totk, it was disempowering to her character arc. Really thought this game would build off of botw's snippets of link & zelda working together in memories. The teasers and trailers for totk gave this perception that she would be there (which would also "break tradition" like devs wanted, ffs). When I was on the tutorial island I was fully convinced I'd be finding her and we'd reconvene like "ok what's next." When I realized 20 mins into the game that she was GONE gone, as in will not reappear likely until the end of the game damsel-in-distress-style, my verbatim thought "wait... really? Is this still going to be good?" Which was kinda sad, for a game I waited so many years for :/

I had major pet peeves with the copy/paste nature of the cutscenes with the old sages. The dialogue, bgs, pacing, literally all identical. They just hot swapped the character models for the sages and said that was good enough, wtf!!! I live for cutscenes in games, I have since I was like 5. This felt lazy, and seriously demotivated me from completing the dungeons bc I knew there was going to be nothing novel or intriguing to look forward to

The secret stones were gimmicky af. Sorry. Also stupid name, they couldn't even opt for "sacred?" Ik in other languages they have way cooler names, which would have helped. Link's fucking thanos glove of stones was a stupid gimmick, I cannot believe they didn't think to alter that concept to be more mythical, or creative, or just original. I would have killed for the stones to relate to the triforce in some way, or to do away with the stones and have this game connect to the triforce, since the whole direction of this story was going back to ancient myth & lore.

the Zonai lacked depth, and honestly just felt like a boring distraction even tho they were supposed to be a central focus of this game. I 1000% agree with other folks posts on the take that rauru was a flat, 2-dimensional colonizer. Sonia got sidelined. yikes. ew. no thanks.

^similarly, ganon really was given no character or depth imo. It's like they did a fantastic job making him visibly LOOK scary, so they didn't bother to give him motives beyond "I'm bad, I do what I want."

the cliche "back to normal" at the end irked me. Link could have come out with no arm, keeping the zonia arm, or at least scars w/ the zonai arm pattern and that would be meaningful. Zelda got factory reset from irreversible draconification in a method that for all intents and purposes, could have been done as soon as link got rewind ability. There was no investigation or inclusion of the other dragons, which seemed like a missed opportunity. Actively working on reversing her could have been a main quest in game!! Like 1. Complete all dungeons/get all stones, 2. you can now go round up the spirits of rauru & sonia and reverse zelda yippee, 3. you and zelda go beat the shit out of ganon together. The dragons fighting was beautiful, powerful imagery, but honestly I think too much potential was traded away just to execute that one fraction of the boss fight.

The masterworks book annoys me, which is sad bc I love concept art. I wanted to be a concept artist growing up, I can accept that you'll often see things that never make it into the final cut. I was enamored with early posts abt things like zelda's haircut, char designs, etc.

But more recently I'm seeing the anthology side of the book taking major liberties that it didn't even bother showing us directly or alluding to in the game, and I think that's such a cop-out. They are literally telling us instead of SHOWING us in the game they release a year ago, and spent SIX YEARS making. There was a festival celebrating the return of zelda/defeat of ganon?? Freaking show us that!!! Show us link & zelda acclimate to post-calamity life. Show us imperfect, non-linear healing and resilience. I would have loved a festival scene w/ link and zelda that conveys the nuance of celebration and recognition of their efforts, and the contrasting weight of what they went through. Show me zelda, exhausted after a festival struggling with guilt and indecision about whether to bring back the monarchy with hyrule's restoration. Throwing in a "oh btw imagine if we actually had done this" post-game makes me so irritated and feral. It's like the post-release canon is sidling up to fanon and saying, "hey look we can do that too! look at our fan art" idk if that makes sense, I don't think I'm explaining it well. But it just feels disingenuous.

I'm not a timeline purest, I don't need everything to interconnect, but I don't love how assertions in this book invalidate connections and lore of other games. Also really don't love how this game overwrites and sidelines the sheikah.

I know majority of my disappointment stems from my own, personal expectations of a game that, let's face it, was probably given many mandates and initiatives to appeal to *everyone* in broad, lackluster ways. I still love the world and characters of zelda, if anything, totk reaffirmed what I love and want to prioritize in my art that I didn't see present in this game. Fun fact I used the world of botw to learn a lot about drawing landscapes & composition. It actually inspires me a bit to try to learn to do comics, which has been a longtime goal I've been too busy and/or timid to pursue lol.

mmm anyway if u read this and any of this resonated DM me and lets froth at the mouth and commiserate lol

[madebysoupy]

Say hello to the Links of LatL!! (again!)

Link and the Links is my Links Meet AU comic!

There were some design and art style changes I wanted to document and share. I hope you all like it!

Like last time there's more info below if you're interested!

(please do NOT tag as LU/Linked Universe!)

The Plot

The Links find themselves in a mysterious forest that seems somewhat familiar to all of them yet none of them know where they are. Forced to work together in order to get home, they'll discover a thing or two about each other and grow closer!

The Cast

A little introduction to the lads! I'll probably post individual refs/intros at some point and go into more detail there, but for now here's this!

I'm including age, height, how long it's been since their latest adventure ended, and a little blurb about them

Birdie (Skyward Sword)

18

160 cm (5'3)

Roughly 6 hours after defeating Demise

The start of it all. Unbeknownst to himself and the others, the space they find themselves in was created out of his desire to meet the heroes that came after him. He feels terribly guilty about the curse and very much blames himself for the possible suffering of future heroes. His main goal is to check up on everyone and help where he can!

Grasshopper (Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask)

10

125 cm (4'1)

4 days after leaving Termina

Somewhat disoriented after his journey still, he tags along simply because he thinks Birdie is an idiot who would get lost without him. He doesn't like to talk a lot, or communicate with the others at all to be honest. Hopefully he'll warm up to them at some point

Seagull (Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass)

13

145 cm (4'7)

6 months after leaving the domain for the ocean King

He's a real genuine pirate, yarr!! Or so he'd like you to believe. He talks a great deal about his strength and bravery, but really is just afraid and terribly homesick most of the time. He wants to fit in with Tetra's and her crew's toughness so much he might go a little overboard on the act in a way that may or may not end up biting him in the butt.

Choo (Spirit Tracks)

14

151 cm (4'9)

6 months after peace returned to new Hyrule

He wouldn't call himself a hero, in fact he'd say it's a miracle he made it out alive. Self-esteem and confidence really aren't his strong suits, he often finds himself dragged along and unable to say no. He is very friendly however, and if you just give him a little space he might even open up to you.

Wolfie (Twilight Princess)

26

175 cm (5'7)

9 years after defeating Ganondorf

Left Ordon after intrusive thoughts convinced him he was a danger to his village, now works at Telma's bar as a waiter in exchange for a room. He's responsible well liked, though he's not too fond of himself. He has some complicated feelings about the whole turning into a wolf thing

Apple (A Link to the Past, Oracle of Ages/Seasons and Link's Awakening)

20

164 cm (5'4)

Just a few seconds after Koholint disappeared

He's a kind and soft spoken, weirdly wise sort of guy and near instantly becomes the heart of the team. With a tendency to push his own feelings aside he prefers to take care of everyone else's.

Wallflower (A Link Between Worlds)

19

158 cm (5'2)

4 years after wishing upon the triforce with Zelda

Bitter doesn't even begin to describe this uh.. pleasant fella. After being bossed around for the better part of his life he doesn't take orders from anybody and is this close to quitting his job as a blacksmith. He hates being stuck here, he hates these strange people, really there's not much he doesn't hate. But that can't be all there is to him...

Puzzle (The Legend of Zelda and Adventure of Link)

19

150 cm (4'9)

2 years after waking Zelda II

Confused, disoriented, but still happy to help and ready for adventure. Though some of the others don't really like him around he's still just as friendly to everyone. Since he struggles to communicate he tends to stay quiet. He appears to be simple minded on first glance, but he'll prove to be a valuable member of the team.

Sprout (Minish Cap)

32

139 cm (4'5)

22 years after defeating Vaati

After his grandfather died he retreated into his house and dedicated himself to improving his blacksmithing skills to live up to his grandfather's name, he was quickly forgotten by his community and faded into obscurity. Now he may be the best blacksmith in Hyrule, so good that even the royal guard hires him, but among the general castletown population he's nothing more than a forest cryptid. He only leaves the house when he has to, carefully avoiding people. Not because they disgust him, he just has a major case of social anxiety!

Squire (Breath of the Wild)

14

147 cm (4'8)

3 years pre calamity

This absolute rascal couldn't be happier about his current circumstances. These unknown woods are his playground and all of these weirdos are his friends now! Though everyone's pretty sure he's a knight trainee, he insists that he's just a stable hand for the guard. His chaotic and carefree nature surprisingly doesn't get in the way of things as he's eager to help out wherever he can, seeing the whole journey as an impromptu camping trip.

Some funfacts :]

Most of them are neurodivergent in some way!

Birdie and Seagull have ADHD, Grasshopper and Choo are autistic, Squire gets the combo platter AuDHD and Wolfie has OCD

Additionally, Birdie has auditory processing disorder and dyscalculia, and Squire has dyslexia

A few of them also have speech disorders

Choo stutters and Puzzle has cluttering speech disorder

Apple has a weak voice, so after a while his voice gets tired and gets hoarse

Choo enjoys drawings and cartography, two skills that will be very important!

One of Seagull's hobbies is photography! He takes his pictobox everywhere

Wolfie also does entertainment at the bar from time to time! He sings or does card tricks

Sprout knows HSL (hylian sign language) because his grandfather was deaf

Seagull's piratey way of talking is 100% for show and painfully inconsistent

Wolfie speaks in a thick southern (in universe ordonian) accent but he's trying hard to mask it since he moved to castletown

Wallflower absolutely hates Puzzle

Squire's special interest is horses

Birdie is a bit of a doormat so he has the ideas but Wolfie is the one to actually get them through

A number of them are blood related (has nothing to do with the colours of their names in this post, I had to reuse some because there weren't enough orz)

[hyrule-in-a-pokeball]

GANONDORF AND "CALAMITY" GANON: TWO SEPARATE BEINGS

Calamity Ganon, as we know, was more like a primal force of nature, though it did display some level of intelligence with its ability to formulate and execute plans (Spawning the blights and unleashing them, corrupting the Guardians, etc) it wasn't exactly a big brain genius. I mean, come on, it had 10,000 years to plan, and the best it came up with, while effective, was "Uno reverse lol" And with an additional 100 years its plan became "Cyborg time!"

And then just. "Big pig!"

It wasn't a tactical genius. It won because Hyrule was overly reliant on the ancient Sheikah technology to the point that they were helpless against that very technology when it was turned against them.

But what the hell was Calamity ganon? Well, we see it in three, maybe four forms. Pig Cloud

Which Creating a Champion states is a "spirit composed of malice"

Fashion disaster Ganon

An incomplete, slapped together body made of Malice and machinery (Apparently he started building this body when he sensed Link awaken in the chamber of resurrection)

Kaiju Ganon

A body formed of pure malice as a final "screw you though" after his cool new cyborg body was destroyed.

And the fourth body is possibly the malice itself, seeing as he seemed to be hell bent on using it to make his new bodies. It was like clumps of flesh just sort of laying around waiting to be assembled into something.

So now that we know the calamity's 3 (or 4) main forms, I want to focus on the pig cloud, because I think that is Calamity Ganon's truest form. The malice is something it created, either intentionally or as a byproduct of simply existing, and its other bodies were things made of that malice.

Now, we know that Calamity Ganon was utterly destroyed at the end of Breath of the wild. It didn't like, return to Dry Ganondorf in the depths. That thing got nuked.

And that means that Ganondorf's consciousness was always in his dry body and not acting through the Calamity. In fact, when Rauru seals him away, he taunts Rauru and says "Thousands of years will pass in the blink of an eye" which to me says he knows he gonna be stuck in that spot for a hot minute.

The Calamity spawned from him, but it was not him. Its almost like a giant, out of control Phantom Ganon thats just sort of up there doing its best. But with Ganondorf sealed away, how did Calamity Ganon get loose? Well, it might seem odd, but I think Majora's mask (the object) can point us in the right direction

Majora's Mask was once just a normal mask. Carved from normal wood. (actually if you look at the renders it looks more like it was carved from stone, but whatever) It wasn't alive, it didn't possess magic powers. It was just a mask. A mask used in ancient hexing rituals. Over time, the negative energies created from those hexing rituals sort of infected the mask and eventually became conscious, with the mask acting as a body. It was a Tulpa that was housed inside the mask. (A tulpa is a concept in mysticism of an object or being that is created through mental or spiritual power. To make it extremely basic: A tulpa is an imaginary friend that stops being imaginary. Actually in that sense, Phantom Ganon is basically a tulpa.)

So, Ganondorf, sealed away, conscious or not, was just seething. Pure hate for Hyrule, for Rauru the first king, and all his descendants. That hate was so pure and intense that it basically manifested as Calamity Ganon. The pig cloud. A separate entity born of Ganondorf's sheer spite and hate.

And if you need further proof that they are not the same entity, we need only look to Ganondorf's profile in Tears of the Kingdom, unlocked after completing the game.

Ganondorf had been slowly working on his revival for 100 years INDEPENDENTLY of Calamity Ganon. Link and Zelda just pulled a "wrong place/wrong time" when they found him at the exact moment the seal finally weakened enough to break.

Man what would Ganondorf have done if he broke out of his seal like 5 or 8 years earlier, made his way to the surface, and found pig cloud ganon just up there partying?

[luimagines]

Hey! It's me, I have a story for you! Enjoy

*sounds of a movie starting in a movie theater*

[Reader] sat in camp, bouncing their leg in worry. The chain had run off to deal with nearby monsters starting to make a camp, and as [Reader] couldn't fight, was told to stay and watch camp. It was dark and quiet, leaving the trickster board. Normally, they would be putting sticks in Legend's bag, or turning Wind's shirts inside out to start prank wars or trying to play one of the many instruments in the camp. But these things left [Reader]. . . board. Instead, their eyes wondered to Time's bag.

[Reader] had an ability to hear the whispering of spirits, which came in very useful when it came to puzzles or gossip stones, as well as hearing the warning whispering from the dead when an enemy camp was nearby, or stray monsters were around. But recently, a more frequent, malicious voice filled their ears.

A few days earlier, when the chain had been sharing stories and joking, they got around to showing off a collection of masks. One stood out ro [Reader], the one with the massive eyes. 'Majora's Mask' as Wild called it. Time seemed a bit alarmed seeing it at first, however started to explain a small snippet of the story behind it. But the whisper it started to say after everyone went to sleep. . .

it had been whispering nonstop and for some unknown reason, Time had decided ro keep it on him. Except for now. And [Reader] stared transfixed into the yellow eyes of the mask. They stood, and slowly walked over to it, slowly taking the mask in hand and raising it up. "What is bothering you?" they muttered.

Spirits often came to reader to help resolve woes and pain to pass on, and instinctively she wanted to help the spirit in the mask move on. But something. . . wasn't right.

Suddenly, a sharp pain set on their arm and looking, [Reader] saw tendrils stab their arm as the mask moved, a shrill laughter emitting from it as it floated to [Reader]'s face. They let out a screech as they faught it, trying to get the cursed item off as the sounds of thundering footsteps were heard, and before the mask slammed onto [Reader]'s face, they saw Time's horrified face before Majora glued itself to [Reader]

"[Reader]!" Time exclaimed, shoving an arm out infront of sky who was instinctively about to run to their aid. "Don't move!"

[Reader]'s arms went limp at their sides and head slowly looked up, before slowly turning to Time, and an erie, familiar laughter filled the air. . .

Time woke up in a start, shooting up from his bag in a cold sweat. It was dark out, the fire crackling and the chain asleep around them, except for Twilight who was up keeping watch. "Old man? You alright?"

He huffed and ran a hand through his hair before nodding. "Yes, just. . ." his eyes looked towards [Reader] who was sound asleep next to a snoring wind, then to the empty mask of Majora layed on Wild's bag. "Just a bad dream"

Oh snap! You had me going until the end there. I really thought they were going to try and fight Reader at the end.

I was wondering about the mask and why it was strange considering the backstory but dang- I didn't even account for the fact that Wild would be the one to technically have it, not Time. Should have been ringing some bells in my head, but they weren't going off.

Well done. XD