#but it will be purah instead

[ganondoodle]

What actually is the totk rewrite project? It looks interesting and I love the art

thank you!

the totk rewritten project is something i started working on after the game (zelda, tears of the kingdom) has left me severly disappointed on so many levels it just didnt let me rest, i love the franchise and i love botw, i even have a fully painted, albeit slowly updating, comic for a story taking place before skyward sword in the works too; tho this project has nothing to do with the comic

basically im rewriting, designing (including game design) totk in almost every aspect, im taking the real game as a basis tho, right now im still in the writing and design phase, i cant do two full comics at the same time so the final look of the project will be painted 'fake screenshots' with written text detailing whats happening, sort of like half comic half book, but in the style of as if its a playthrough

big changes are that theres no time travel, zelda is your companion and with you always (she goes everywhere with you, translates stuff, helps you fight, and is generally much more taking the charge in important moments), the focus is not on zonau tech but shiekah, exploring more of their origins and revealing that their tech was based on that of the long gone zonau, link loses his arm fully and has it replaced by a shiekah prosthetic, the memories (accessed way different) are from ganondorf in which it is revealed that rauru + sonia were scheming to seal him in that awful half death way of being to prevent him from destroying the world bc they had found old ancient texts from a forgotten time (old titles) that the king of the gerudo would turn into a monster trying to bring down the world, despite ganondorf not actually doing that that yet- he finds out and counterattacks- bringing the whole plot going and ending with him sealed anyway, but this time his body was then later discovered by the shiekah and his strong spirit used as a power source for their tech- tho no goodie good guy he is angry, traumatized and out for revenge for what was done to him now

that is a very very short summary, im also designing links new abilities (hook shot with his prosthetic for example) and welll .. alot more

if you are interested in reading and seeing what concepts i have as of now, with the tag "ganondoodles rewrites totk" you should be able to find all posts i have made about it on this blog, tho of course it can all still change as im working on it :D

[missingalaxies]

Link: okay, so, about that- *runs away*

[ghostieblotts]

Hello hi hold everything. I was scrolling through your blog and kept getting hit in the face with vague allusions to a TOTK SAF AU????? Which sounds utterly delightful + heartbreaking??? Spill the tea what’s up with that

AHA HI. Okay so I haven't got around to properly posting about it yet because I have been working on it behind the scenes for the most part, lots of yapping in dms with like 3 other people (<3) and writing bits and pieces of fics that I am hoping to edit a bit and post eventually. However I have been unable to stop myself from mentioning it publicly because they live RENT FREE IN MY HEAD AT ALL TIMES.

I haven't got a full cast yet bc there are too many characters in Zelda and I am mostly focused on Curtwen for the purposes of the au, so most characters are literally just their original versions for now. But! The core of the au is that Curt is Link and Owen is Zelda. Other castings include Tatiana as Sidon, Barb as Purah, Cynthia as Impa, the Informant as a fusion of Yunobo and Penn, and Sergio as Hudson.

The plot is basically the same as canon botw and totk, I just break my own heart by making it Curtwen. Probably the biggest difference is that I'm making them older at the start of the story than Link and Zelda are in the original (I am Not making them 16/17, it isn't happening), and the span of time between Curt being assigned as Owen's knight and the Calamity breaking out is also longer than in canon (probably at least a year, potentially more).

Lots of angst with Owen desperately trying to awaken a sacred power bestowed by a goddess that will never answer his prayers, lots of pain with Curt dying in Owen's arms and being resurrected without his memories, lots of me crying because *gestures incoherently at the entire plot of TotK*. But also them getting to have some fun romance cliches with royal balls, and them getting to live in a cottage in Hateno Village together and slowly get to heal from the hell that their shared destiny has put them through.

The whole thing kind of exists because of the opening scene of totk. Owen falls, and Curt fails to save him, and he spends the entire rest of the plot trying to cope with and atone for that failure. He's haunted by images of Owen, constantly chasing him, being forced to ask if Owen is the one behind all the chaos going on, and eventually finding that the truth was hanging over him all along and might be even harder to bear.

I think I do have one proper post about them which was for an ask game a while back, which you can find here.

Uhhhh yeah. I'm inconsolable about them, honestly. I wrote a version of the "Tears of the Dragon" cutscene for this au which is maybe a bit naff but was very fun so maybe I will post it someday when I have more time.

Thank you so much for asking about it though!! People being interested in my aus gives me life <3

[goodness-graceous]

many zel*nk shippers when ANYONE tries to be happy about and enjoy a different ship involving Zelda or Link:

(this is about b*tw/t*tk, but can apply to any of the games if y’all wish 😌)

[science-lings]

You all know how I like to make botw Link a nerd when it comes to potions and botany but I have now decided that it would also be neat if he was also more interested in mechanics and physics than he seems, like even before the calamity. 

I mean, just imagine, this kid who since the age of four has been naturally great at fighting, the latest in a long line of royal knights, his path only being reinforced when he’s discovered to be the reincarnation of the hero, his duty to the crown being reinforced in his head for years and years, and maybe at first he thinks that he and Zelda would get along due to their similar interests. But she immediately hates him for the sword on his back. 

So every time he escorts her to the royal tech lab, he desperately wants to participate and tinker but he’s just a guard, and all he can do is listen. He loves it when she rambles about what she’s doing and he finds it all fascinating but it’s also been fused to his being that he’s just a soldier meant to gladly die for her and his thoughts don’t really matter. 

Then, when he comes back from the dead, in a room full of mysterious ancient tech, the first thing he’s given is the sheikah slate. And the whole theme of the game is curiosity and discovery and exploration and why should that be limited to just the world? He should be so excited to get the runes and learn how to use them and be baffled by how they defy the laws of physics. He takes pictures and figures out puzzles and has a blast working through problems with the tools he’s given. (also the implied building mechanic in totk... you cannot tell me that he’s not super hyped about making his own car) 

He would think that the champions dlc would be totally worth it when he’s given the master cycle zero, he even gives it the new name of Vah Epona. He powers it with his near infinite supply of apples as if it were a living horse and balances zooming around with teleporting to shrines because that’s just as exciting. 

But in the end he’s still supposed to be the hero, so he can’t stay to talk about tech with Robbie and Purah, he’s happy with waiting for those lectures until Zelda is freed, he has a feeling she’d be interested in it too. 

[three-bunnies-in-a-trenchcoat]

I still can't believe they did that to Paya

[thebleedingeffect]

Deciding what to write is so funny cause really, most of my projects rn are super serious in tone, so naturally!! I must write Twilight hard crushing on Sky and Lyre!! I have no other choice-

[thejolteonmastertj]

BOTW Link was always a crossdresser confirmed. 😂

[k-she-rambles]

Anyway, headcanon that the reason Zelda's achieved some fame as a recipe author in totk is that Link actually isn't that creative of a cook. He has half a dozen recipes for every elixir or horse liniment and "horse liniment" you could name, but he doesn’t have the cooking instinct.

He's a good cook when a recipe is involved, but when he doesn't have a recipe he just makes kebabs or greens and mushrooms. Camp food. Satisfying food, but not stellar.

And Zelda knows how much Link enjoys good food.

So she teaches herself how to cook.

And because she's never half-assed a thing in her entire life she gets really good at it.

And because she loves the science of cooking, she starts writing recipes

And so now we have Zelda's recipes as valuable commodities in TOTK, all because Zelda wanted Link to have better food.

[ranger-kellyn]

i think one of my favorite things about age of calamity is how it made breath of the wild even more harrowing for me. when i restarted my botw play through all i could think about while up on the great plateau was all the different areas for the plateau missions in aoc, and just how empty the world as a whole is. the town below the plateau just being completely gone, opposed to the huge town that was there in aoc, full of homes and plazas and just...life.

when i unlocked the central tower it was nostalgic since that's the. main tower for age of calamity, and i just....botw was already a very lonely game. aoc made it feel desolate

[soul-of-rei]

OOH ROTATING MY OWN TOTK ROLESWAP AU

[armenianwriterman]

AYYY, WE GOT OUR NINTENDO SWITCH BACK!

[flaskuwu]

Hmmm…

[theauthorandtheartist]

I had a dream the other night that i can't stop thinking about, where a new LOZ game was released in a similar vein to TOTK, except instead of collecting sages like in that game, there was a series of dungeons/temples that were directly tied to other LOZ games, and at the end, you gained the ability to summon the avatar/ghost of the hero from said game -like the TOTK sages- to help on your quest (and get a fun power up). All of the links would have stilted dialogue with you at first, but as the game goes on they get more friendly and at the end of the game theres a cutscene where they all "move on" and it's super emotional cuz by this point they're all brothers (player-link actually emotes during this cutscene, the only time he does so, for an extra punch in the gut). I don't remember all of the details, but what I do remember was:

A Palace of the Four Sword dungeon where you gained the Link(s) from FSA. FSA Link was the simplest in terms of abilities, the avatar would split into 4 and distract enemies/fight alongside you. Pretty sure this was the first one/tutorial temple. Later on this link gives you a sidequest after which you gain the Four Sword as a weapon (its the second strongest in the game behind the master sword).

A Tower of Winds dungeon where you got Minish Cap Link to tag along. He allows you to shrink for short periods of time to get through locked doors/escape danger. Don't remember much about this dungeon except that there's a timer to get through it before yiu have to start over.

Forest temple/great deku tree/kokiri forest type place where Oot/MM link joins up with you. He allows you to rewind time for a little bit (basically the recall ability but on everything including you). Later on He gives a sidequest that results in obtaining the Fierce Deity Mask (best armor in the game).

Arbiter grounds dungeon where you get TP link. He's basically a glorified horse; you ride him around.

Tower of the Gods dungeon where you get WW/PH Link to tag along. He's like Revali's Gale and Tulin's gust in one.

The dungeon to get the Master Sword is like the Skyview Temple, and to be allowed to draw it you must beat SS Link as the final boss of the temple, After which he joins you on your quest. He allows you to do skyward strikes with any one handed weapon.

A secret, optional dungeon that you only unlock by falling asleep on this random island. It's kohohlit. The only avatars/ghosts that you can access here are OoT/MM Link and WW/PH Link (because PH was a dream and MM was an alternate reality). By the end, You get Alttp/albw/LA link who can put enemies to sleep for a time. Later he gives you a sidequest to get ravio's bracelet, which opens up a few easter eggs and secret loot.

Other links/games were included as easter eggs but they don't stick around. BOTW/TOTK Link is a recurring ghostly NPC who you can find in all the weirdest places, offering seemingly nonsensical trades that change every time you see him (10 frogs for 13 bombs, a ruby for an apple pie, 35 monster parts for a single ancient arrow, etc). There's a few places around hyrule where you see two-bit LOZ1/LOZ2 Link just vibing. ST Link takes the place of Purah or Robbie as the eccentric scientist/engineer who will upgrade your stuff if you bring him materials, and he can also upgrade your ghost-Link-friend's abilities as well since he's -y'know- Hero of Spirits.

There's murals in the castle from Cadence of Hyrule, and there's "ancient history books" about HW and AoC. Throughout Hyrule you'll meet various NPCs claiming to be from different countries here to see "the birthplace of the hero of Holodrum/Labrynnia/Calatia."

Various Zelda's would show up too. You get a sidequest where you have to sneak aboard a ghost pirate ship. It's Tetra's. There's a mysterious sheikah warrior who repeatedly accosts you on your travels to loredump and test if you're ready to fight the big bad. She only ever brings you down to half heart, at which point she makes a disappponted comment and leaves. you aren't able to beat her until near endgame, at which point she reveals herself as sheik, has a brief conversation with Oot/MM Link, gives you some cryptic foreshadowing advice and a few fairies, and dips. BOTW/TOTK zelda is similar to her link since she can be found all over the place, but she deals exclusively in ancient materials and dragon parts. TP Zelda gives lore/exposition when you finally make it to the castle, right before the big bad fight.

Big bad is an amalgamation of all ganons/ganondorfs/big bads across the timelines. He telegraphs attacks via shifting forms to look like various bad guys (forms tentacles like bellum and Majora (at the same time) before slam attack, gets blue pig face before charge attack, long purple vaati hair and bat wings before AOE gust attack, scales up his arm and X on face before big AOE lightning blast, and big fuck-all sword and gerudo features before slashing. 2nd phase has it split into like 5 separate beings to fight you and all your friends at once (each one has different features: one is similar to bellum/majora, one is more beast-ganon, one more demise, one Vaati-esque one, and one Ganondorf-like one). The music is harsh and disjointed, cobbled together from many other games, and the noises that the beast makes are screeching and painful.

By the end of the game, there's a big deal made by SS link that you are the final Link in the cycle, that it's over, that you finished what he couldn't. There's a sense of hope, but also of sorrow, since all your new friends are leaving now. They're ghosts, they're dead, they've done their duty and it's time for them to rest. Before they go, though, each one gives you one last gift (the ability they've been helping you with this whole time) and one last sidequest (one for each of them) for you to accomplish: find their treasures, keep them safe.

Post game is you running around without the ghosts (FSA Link's ability duplicates you now, giving you 3 buddies to fight with, but they can't give dialogue and they last like 30 seconds so it's not the samel), doing mini-dungeons and fetch-quests in order to obtain major key items (all old and unusable anymore) from the Links' adventures, (the Beetle, goddess harp, spinner, shards of the fused shadow, deku/goron/Zora masks, gnat hat, various kinstones, pictobox, deku leaf, LA instruments, Ocarina of Time, wind waker, etc) and some from games not mentioned previously or not from your gaggle of links, (Harp of ages, rod of seasons, silver arrows, a doppel, ST panpipes, a revival doll, Cadence of Hyrule Lute, HW blue Scarf, old and broken Terrako, champion's tunic, BOTW champion's picture, trirod, etc). In post-game, there are new NPCs to replace the links/zeldas that used to fill those niches, but it's not the same. They're gone. It's a bittersweet feeling.

After you finish all the post game and get all the treasures (basically 100%ing the game), you get an achievement called "archive of the ages" and a special cutscene where Player Link sets the Master sword down on the side of his bed, looks out the window of his house at the brilliantly setting sun, smiles, and falls asleep. You may no longer play on that save file anymore. The adventure is over.

Basically I dreamt up a game that was a love letter to the entire series, and I'm sad it was just a dream. Logically i know this will never happen because that would mean tying up LOZ and it's too much of a cash cow for Nintendo to ever stop making, but it was a wonderful dream to have for a little while.

[pcktknife]

purah is like sheldon if sheldon was doing hot girl shit instead of selling fire arms to children

[ganondoodle]

i obviously didnt expect the story or lore to be groundbreaking, i know what franchsie this is after all, but i dont think you can fault me for hoping for a bit more nuance/interesting story, especially considering how they made a point keeping it vague and oh so mysterious when its all the same stuff again except zelda is gone (though i doubt they will keep it that way, im not through with the game yet do NOT spoil me on stuff, these are my CURRENT thoughts)

the gameplay is mostly fun, the music is great, and i do feel like the side characters were given more attention, which is great, but overall, so far, i feel a little .. empty, no in the sense that the world is empty, bc it absolutely isnt, but after having found all dragon tears that i know of i sorta lost the feeling of intrigue and a hollow one took its place i will form my final opinion on it once im all done playing the game which i am far from, but so far it really, unfortunately, feels like slightly expanded botw but replace all sheikah tech with sonau tech with no explanation given as to why the former is both nearly entirely gone and why no one cares anymore

so .. i did all the glyphs (but by far not all dungeons and theres still ton to do) and boi

i feel weird about saying this but i am … not invested at all in the story, like even the stuff with zelda (a plotpoint which i called out correctly right shortly after the beginning even lol) didnt get to me even a little bit and ganondorf feels even flatter as a character than before :I