#early hylians. its fascinating to me. lol

[blueskittlesart]

POST MORE SWORD OF FATE PLS IM BEGGING

i have very little in terms of actual art LMAO but i CAN explain the sword thing because i checked and i did in fact never make this plot point public. i struggled for a while with creating a villain for this story until i realized that. i put "sword" in the title of the game. of course it has to be about the fucking sword. DUH.

so i want SOF to deal very heavily with religion, specifically the way in which hyrule's religion forms post-sksw but pre-reincarnation. i've placed it on the timeline directly after sksw, making it the first actual reincarnation in hyrule. what this means is that there's no actual proof yet that the reincarnation thing is real and not just an insane bluff on demise's part, and so several key characters including link and zelda barely believe in hylia or demise at all when the story starts. my thought with this setting's version of ganon is that he's the polar opposite of the nonbelievers. The gerudo don't really exist as of now, but he DOES come from the desert region of hyrule--specifically, he was raised in a cultlike offshoot of the sheikah religion which interpreted the hylia/demise myth completely literally and believes that a doomsday is coming, heralded by the foretold return of demise. Because of this, he knows more about the cycle and how to set it in motion than basically any other character. Crucially, he and his people are some of the only ones at this point aware of the existence of the master sword.

ganon finds. a sword. a sword which he THINKS is the master sword. and this theory is only reinforced when the sword begins to speak to him about his destiny and the salvation of hyrule. unfortunately it is not the master sword and he ends up basically a pawn in the greater plans of what's left of demise & ghirahim within that sword, manipulated into attempting to revive demise and destroy the reincarnated hero and princess. he remains in denial until basically the very end of the final battle, completely convinced that he is the true savior of hyrule and LINK is the one being misled. ghirahim is a very good manipulator lol

[a-pale-azure-moon]

I've barely scratched the surface of TotK and I can feel my brain wanting to disappear down the Zelda rabbit hole. I am desperately trying to keep at least half of it in my writing brainspace but damn is it hard. There's so much temptation to just plop down with my Switch for the next eight hours and forget about everything else.

Anyway, I'm still very early in but I'll put my ramblings under the cut just in case.

-I know the popular joke was that TotK is just "$70 DLC." Obviously it is not with all of the new content, but it genuinely feels like I'm playing BotW again, only with new tools and new places to discover. And I don't consider that a bad thing! I spent almost 300 hours playing BotW and still wished there was more I could do (aside from hunting down all the Koroks because screw that), so I'm happy to be revisiting this world and exploring it all over again. Though I won't lie that I miss having all the gear and upgrades I had by the end of BotW. I'd forgotten how easy it is to die in stupid ways early on.

-Holy hell is there so much to explore. Maybe too much. Even with the nudges the game gives you, it's really hard to know where to even begin once you leave the Great Sky Island. I haven't even done any of the main dungeons yet; I've just been wandering around looking for shrines and seeing what's changed. It's even more daunting knowing there's stuff in the sky and in the depths to explore as well.

-The Depths freak me out. I've only been in there once and I'm not eager to go back until I'm stronger. Never been a fan of dark places in video games; you never can know what's lurking there, waiting to ambush you.

-It's nice to see all the familiar NPCs. Bumping into Purah and Robbie right away made me smile.

-It's also nice to see that Hyrule's been rebuilding since the end of BotW, but that evidence of the Calamity still exists (Castle Town especially). It makes the world feel that much more organic and real.

-That opening sequence was choice. Like, the approach to Ganon's lair, with the increasing gloom and the ominous music, literally sent shivers down my spine. Good shit.

-Ultrahand is amazing and I've only just begun to really play with its powers.

-To whomever at Nintendo designed the Gloom Spawn/Grabby hands/Nightmare Fuel, I hate you. May all your bacon burn for the rest of your life.

-I miss the Bomb runes SO MUCH.

-What happened to all the Sheikah technology anyway? I totally get dismantling all the Guardians considering they were the scourge of Hyrule for a long time, but did the towers and the Slate just...stop working?

-I'm fascinated by Rauru (and no, it's not just because he has Dimitri's voice, though I won't lie that it makes him that much more appealing, lol). So, we know that's his right arm that Link is "borrowing," and all of Link's new powers specifically come from that arm. And that same arm was keeping Ganon sealed away for....some length of time I'm not aware of yet, but I'm guessing it was awhile. And the new shrines are implied to contain fragments of Rauru's power as well. Just how powerful is this guy? Also, the reveal that he's the first King of Hyrule too (and married to a Hylian woman!) just makes things more interesting.

Also, also, look how adorable he is! I want to pet his ears and brush his hair! But I also want see him go ham at some point because the game sure as hell implies that he's god-like and I'm here for it.

...But it'll probably also make me sad because he's well, dead now and it's likely because sealing Ganon away cost him his life. =(

(I'm still reeling that Rauru's voiced by Chris Hackney, and it's even more wild with Matt Mercer being the voice of Ganon. How is it that the VAs of both of my FE husbands wound up in this game? Thanks for making sure the brainrot never ends, Nintendo!)

[ariars-art]

To hold over until my own piece next week I’d love to show you all the wonderful commissions I got from Sarah Mutch over on Twitter/Instagram (http://instagram.com/sashamutch/) Posted here with her permission, this is not my art.

I’m not sure how many of you know but currently Australia, my home country, is currently in the middle of the biggest fires in history. To help I made a donation and got some wonderful art from Sarah for some of my favourite NPC’s in a home-brewed Legend of Zelda D&D campaign I am DMing. There are a bunch of wonderful artist here on Tumblr and over on Twitter and Instagram that are offering all kinds of commissions for donations to the bush fire relief over here in Australia. 

Here is a link if you are wanting to places to donate to! https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/dec/21/how-you-can-donate-and-help-the-volunteer-firefighters-in-australias-bushfire-crisis

Below is some info/backstory about the characters if you want to know!

First we have ‘Link’, yes ‘Link’ cause he is not actually the real hero, his name is Link, but, he is not the hero. He is a cocky kid but has some real insecurity issues that stem from his childhood in Tabatha Village. He did a couple of years as a blacksmith in the Hyrule Royal guards, but was just another kid named Link, another face in the crowds and he desired more than that, no matter how deep the lie has to go.

Next is Ganondorf, a scholar at heart he was born as the nephew of the childless chief of the Gerudo and with no siblings or cousins and he is next in line for chief. Not expecting the male Gerudo to be born into the chief line of the Gerudo, Ganondorf was hidden away and removed from his succession to the chief position to ease the fears of the Hylians. Childhood friends with Zelda their mothers got lost in the desert on an expedition to Arbiters Grounds. A fan of magic over brute force he is fascinated with the history of Hyrule and hopes that by understanding its past he can improve the future, so that maybe future Ganondorfs’ won’t have to live like he did, feared and hidden away.

This little snarky girl is the one and only Impa! She is 8 years old and the granddaughter of the cheif of Kakariko. Already besting Sheikah twice her age in combat she fills her days with pranks and schemes, mainly on visitors to Kakariko. She does this in hopes that she might be removed from the village stationed as a protector of the Princess, like her late mother and father were before her. She hates to be treated like a kid, even though deep down she still is one, and misses her mother and father more than anything.

Here is Kam and his fairy mom Mili! He lived his early life in Ordon Village when one day when he was 4 he followed a fairy into the wilds of Hyrule and got lost. That fairy took pity on the poor boy and decided to help raise him in the land of Hyrule. Growing up, he slipped in and out of society, never remembering he had a family and a home. One of the few people Impa doesn’t prank, he is shy around others and rarely speaks to new people. No one know what he does, where he goes, or what his goals are, but he seems to be running from something.

All hail Princess Zelda or the soon to be crowned Queen Zelda, this 22 year old is full of boundless optimism and faith. She is a little scatterbrained, the reason she is only taking the full crown now, despite her mother and father’s disappearance and assumed death years ago. Going against the judgment and advice of her counsel quite often, she can sometimes make rash decisions without thinking of the future consequences of her actions. This includes sending for her childhood best friend Ganondorf to be found and invited to her coronation, not taking into consideration the Hylians unease surrounding him and the current rise of the Yiga Clan.

Finally we have our unknown friend who has no name. Overtime, communication with Akkala Town was being cut off, people were no longer returning from trips and no villagers left. No one is wanting to go and investigate, afraid they might become trapped in the curse of Akkala Town.The only person seen going and leaving Akkala village over the last few months have been a hooded figure in a broken mask with yellow eyes.

TBH I could go on all day about my NPC’s, plz message me about them! lol