#first time drawing a Link who wasn’t oot Link

[endlessartpumpkin]

Day 21: Link

Sweet wolf boy 🐺

[ladye-zelda]

Ooh, how about Legend of Zelda Princess and the Pauper AU, and/or Sunflowers?

-Sky Floor

Hehehe >:3

Princess and the Pauper AU (super excited about this one tbh)

Basically the Barbie movie in Legend of Zelda context. Princess Annaliese is BotW Zelda, Erika is Malon, Julian is BotW Link and King Dominic is OoT Link. Then Preminger is Ghirahim and his two henchmen are two of the bosses in Skyward Sword, but all I have in this doc is the first "chapter" which is basically part of the opening number XD

“Oh, we’re late, late, late!” Chancellor Cole said. “We’ve got twenty maximum— twenty-two minutes, for your royal fitting then it’s move, move, move, to your speech at the historical society! After that we have to rush and I mean rush! To the Horticultural Society Tea, and then there’s your math lessons, your geography lessons, your science lessons. . .” Zelda drowned out the rest of the chancellor’s ramblings as she focused on the bouquet in her hands. It was going to be fine, she told herself. It was all going to be fine. She looked up at the wall-length mirror she stood in front of. Seamstresses gathered around the hem of her dress, finalizing the last of the stitching. The dress was everything that she had imagined in a wedding dress: white with pink and gold accents. She should have been feeling happy, or excited. What else should she be feeling on the days leading up to her marriage? But things weren’t like what she imagined they would be. She lowered the bouquet, handing it to one of the waiting maids. The seamstresses were just about done when Zelda lifted up her skirts and walked over to the balcony. She took in a deep breath of the fresh crispness of the air. The only feeling of freedom that she is close to getting these days. As her wedding was drawing closer and closer, it seems the less and less she got. She chuckled slightly to herself. How selfish she was. She was a princess, destined to fulfill the responsibilities no one wants. It was her duty to be in certain places when asked, to smile and never complain, to know everything and be there for everyone. If not her, then who? Princess Zelda reached the edge of the balcony, looking down into the castle courtyard. Guards patrolled the labyrinth hedges, taking their duties too seriously. She smiled, recognizing one guard dressed in a different uniform. He always patrolled the side of the castle where Princess Zelda lived, if he was not close by attending to his bodyguard duties. Link passed into view, looking as stoic as ever. He noticed from the corner of his eye the princess’s watchful gaze, then suddenly straightened his posture, snapping his hands behind his back. Very exaggerated, he walked without bending his knees, scrunching his face in mock seriousness. Zelda burst out laughing. It seemed like magic, how he always seemed to know how the princess was feeling all of the time. It was one of the characteristics she loved about him. “Having fun, are we?” asked a voice. Zelda snapped her attention behind her. The queen stood there, her expression ladened with age and worry. Her mouth turned up into a tired smile, seeing Zelda’s rosy cheeks fading to normal. “I know how you feel about your bodyguard, but it is vital that you marry King Link. It’s the only way to take care of our people.” “I know, it’s my duty,” Zelda sighed. It felt uncomfortable, how the name of her fiance carried the same name as the man she loves, despite being two completely separate people. It made her feel even more like a traitor, despite her Link knowing the circumstance. “Oh, look!” the queen said, turning back towards Zelda’s room. “Another engagement gift has arrived!”

Sunflowers

It was tradition that after a ceremony was completed, the royal family would be paraded around Castle Town. This time it was just Zelda, atop of her white steed as if she was some prize that all of Hyrule needed to see. (Well, she wasn’t completely alone; she had the company of a dozen or so guards separating her and the crowd of onlookers, plus the champions, but they hardly counted.) Hylians and visiting races looked up at the princess with wide, disbelieving eyes, as if this was the one destined to save all of Hyrule. This pathetic excuse for a princess. If there were any admiration in their eyes, it would be towards him. The knight who carried the sword of destiny upon his back. She tried to ignore him, but ever since they left the castle grounds he had kept his eyes on her. Never leaving. Never faltering. Not even when she had twisted back and glared at him did he ever release his gaze. He never even spared her the humiliation when he didn’t turn away to pretend he wasn’t looking. It was dreadful. The captain of her entourage of guards looked back, then raised a fist to stop. Zelda pulled the reins on Storm, to which he gave an unpleasant nicker. What’s the meaning of this? Zelda thought. She turned back, only to see the champions clustered around something. Someone? From between the slim forms of Mipha and Urbosa, Zelda could see Link. He was balancing on his toes, sitting on his ankles, face-to-face with a young girl. The young girl was squealing, grinning up at each of the five champions. She handed Link a bundle of something, then whispered in his ear. He nodded, before standing up and patting the young girl on the head. She caught the murmured “awe”s among the parents, seeing the girl in such a smile that if it were possible she might possibly explode. The champions resumed their positions, each murmuring about what happened. Revali was no doubt complaining, but Mipha was giggling; a blush fading from her pale face. Urbosa and Daruk were smiling as well, talking to each other. Link was as silent as ever, walking alone in front of the four champions. But in his hands was something odd. Six sunflowers tied together with a blue ribbon. Zelda shouldn’t be surprised. Sunflowers were common among Hyrule Field. So it would be expected that people would pick them. But what struck her as odd was why Link would stop for a child, and then accept such a common gift. Especially now, in the middle of the parade? Upon deeper reflection, she could see why. He’s putting up an act, just like her. Only he was better, gaining favor with the common people. That must be why they love him so much. She flicked Storm’s reins, and the white horse trotted forward, leaving behind the feeling of emptiness starting to develop in her stomach.

[mysmashplaythroughs]

Hyrule Warriors Ocarina of Time Ganondorf Playthrough

Fighter: Ocarina of Time Ganondorf.

Game: Hyrule Warriors, Wii U. First Released on August 14th 2014.

ENTRY WARNING: This post will contain some spoilers for Ocarina of Time, I know it’s old but still want to give a heads up on posts where I have to discuss a major plot-twist. It will go over events in the game which should be common knowledge by now, but if you really want to avoid any spoilers for OOT then I suggest not reading. There are also spoilers for a part of Hyrule Warriors story although despite that being newer I’m less weary of that but thought I’d mention it. Enjoy.

Fighter Bio.

Born to the Gerudo, a race of humans who live in Gerudo desert who are almost all females, Ganondorf was one of the only males who were born into the race once a century. Due to the rarity of this it was seen therefore that this gave the males a birthright to be the King of the Gerudo which Ganondorf grew up to be. Raised by his surrogate Mothers Koume and Kotake, two long lived witches with formidable magic power, Ganondorf became a ruthless tyrant possessed of great physical strength as well as skilled in magic. The Gerudo were often known through Hyrule as a band of thieves and as their King, Ganondorf was also known as the King of Thieves, a title which wasn’t inaccurate since he often pillaged and murdered to take what he wanted. This put him at odds with some of the other Gerudo including the highly respected Nabooru who was his second in command and secretly despised Ganondorf for his brutality. Ganondorf was not just pure brute strength however and calculated a plan to take the power of the Triforce, a treasure left by the Goddesses said to grant unlimited power for himself. To do this he required three spiritual stones as well as the Ocarina of Time to gain access. He attempted to take the stones through magic and trickery in each of the three lands they resided in but was not yet possessed of enough power to outright take them from those defending them, instead plaguing them with monsters that he hoped would force them to give up the stones to him. This was thwarted however when a young boy from the forest called Link managed to defeat all three beasts and gain the stones himself. Meanwhile Ganodorf’s other plan to get the Ocarina of Time was to make a false pledge of allegiance to the King of Hyrule in order to lower his guard, this would both keep the Knights of Hyrule from meddling too much in his plans as well as allow him to learn more of the location of the Ocarina of Time which was in fact in the possession of Princess Zelda. Zelda had prophetic dreams of Ganondorf’s true intent and was the one who sent Link on his mission to find the spiritual stones.

Following Link finding the third stone and returning to the Castle, Ganondorf seemingly learnt the location of the Ocarina of Time and decided to act, his forces invaded Hyrule Castle and in the surprise Ganondorf struck down many soldiers as well as possibly the King himself. Impa, Zelda’s nursemaid and bodyguard fled the castle with her on horseback which Ganondorf followed on his own horse. Outside of the castle Ganondorf lost track of them but came across Link. Seeing him as just a simple child he demanded to know where Impa and Zelda went but Link drew his weapon. Amused he simply blasted Link away and rode off trying to find Zelda himself. Zelda and Impa disappeared following this but unbeknownst to Ganondorf, in her escape Zelda had passed the Ocarina of Time on to Link. Link opened the Door of Time which was said to be the entrance to the Sacred Realm where the Triforce resided and found the Master Sword in the Pedestal of Time. Drawing the sword he was deemed by it not currently capable of wielding the legendary blade since he was a child and therefore was put into a stasis for seven years until he was old enough to. In the process of this however Ganondorf realised the gateway to the Sacred Realm which held the Triforce was now open and he entered thanking Link for leaving the door open for him. Taking the full Triforce however, his heart was deemed too unbalanced to wield its full might and so the only portion granted to him was the Triforce of Power, the Triforce of Courage and Wisdom flying off to find those in the land who were worthy of them. With the Triforce of Power alone however Ganondorf’s power grew exponentially to the point he was able to conquer Hyrule, decimating Hyrule Castle Town and rebuilding Hyrule Castle into his own Fortress.

Seven years of darkness passed with Ganondorf causing destruction and devastation across the world. He would influence those who had bad traits deep in their hearts to act upon them in service to him such as Ingo the beleaguered employee of Lon Lon Ranch who he gives full ownership of the Ranch to and demands the finest steed from for himself. He also wipes out the soldiers of Hyrule to the point none remain seven years later, freezes over Zora’s Domain, captures all the Gorons to imprison them in the Fire Temple, lets monsters run rampant across Kokiri Forest and frees many sealed away horrors from across Hyrule to serve him. The only place Ganondorf spares from his wrath is the Gerudo Desert, although he doesn’t give them any real help or power despite his new position as ruler of Hyrule and is definitely willing to punish any who turn on him such Nabooru. Feeling confident the other two Triforce holders would reveal themselves eventually Ganondorf bided his time. Seven years after conquering Hyrule he became aware that someone who seemed powerful and was a likely candidate to be one of the Triforce holders had travelled through the Forest Temple and defeated a Phantom replica of himself he’d created. Banishing this Phantom to the gap between dimensions following his defeat he personally praised Link recognising him as the boy from all those years ago and therefore likely a candidate for the Triforce of Courage. He tells Link that despite defeating his Phantom he doesn’t stand a chance against his true self. Eventually Link awakens the seven sages who he was advised to seek out to help him defeat Ganondorf and travels back to the Temple of Time. Sheik a mysterious warrior Link had met in his travels reveals themselves to actually be Princess Zelda who had been hiding from Ganondorf for all these years and now was in possession of the Triforce of Wisdom. With this reveal however Ganondorf immediately used his power to capture her and bring her to his Fortress, demanding Link come to save her. Link does so and discovers that this was what Ganondorf had been hoping for all along, that when he kills Link he can reclaim the Triforce of Courage and the Triforce of Wisdom from Zelda. Following a battle to the death Ganondorf was defeated and his fortress begins to collapse. Link and Zelda make a hasty retreat and narrowly escape. From the rubble however Ganondorf rises once again, this time fully powered by the Triforce of Power he transforms into a bestial form known only as Ganon. Link once again fights this beast and following a difficult fight knocks him down long enough for Zelda and the Sages to use their power to seal him away in the Sacred Realm. Ganondorf curses the pair and swears he will return.

Following the battle Princess Zelda sends Link back to his own time since she feels he’s earned the seven years of his life he lost when he drew the Master Sword, this leads to some difficult developments later down the line and through this act creates two different timelines, one in which Link disappears after going back in time and the other where Link returns to his child form. In this new timeline Ganondorf hasn’t yet launched his attack on Hyrule Castle and Link and Zelda are able to prove to the King of Hyrule his plan. Ganondorf is captured and sentenced to death by the seven sages of this time. Link will later leave Hyrule in this timeline and the events of Ganondorf’s execution lead to a whole other event, however that will be covered in another entry. There is one final branch to the timeline from these events however, probably the most important one to Ganondorf himself in Ocarina of Time, this is the Downfall Timeline. This is a timeline where Ganondorf defeats Link in the final battle killing him and claiming the entire Triforce for himself. With this unlimited power he threatens to take over the entire world, but the difference from before when he took over Hyrule is that the Seven Sages are awakened and a long war ensues. The Knights of Hyrule battle against Ganon and his forces whilst the Seven Sages work on sending Ganon into the Sacred Realm which is now transformed through his power into a place known as the Dark World. This event is known as the Imprisoning War and leads onto many other stories in this third branch of the Timeline.

Ganondorf is unique amongst the three Triforce Wielders in the Zelda series in that he is often the same person rather than a reincarnation. There are multiple versions of Ganondorf, however most of them are versions of the Ocarina of Time Ganondorf from different timelines with only one confirmed to be a whole new reincarnation. Due to this being his youngest incarnation this Ganondorf is a lot more brash, arrogant and reckless than he becomes in his later years. This Ganondorf is capable of cunning and willing to play the long game, however he does have a habit of sitting back and waiting for his enemies to move and come to him rather than actively seeking them out. He also therefore tends to underestimate his enemies since the vast majority of those he faces are able to do barely anything against him once he gains the Triforce of Power. In his older years he details his jealousy of Hyrule and how he saw his people suffering from living in an arid harsh desert compared to the green lands the Hylians enjoyed, he does seem to at least treat the Gerudo mildly better than the rest of the world when he takes control, however he doesn’t particularly help them despite his immense power once he gains the Triforce. This makes his claims of doing it for their sake ring somewhat hollow overall. He punishes those who fail or turn on him ruthlessly either banishing them to other dimensions or through his followers brainwashing them to serve as minions against his enemies. He relies a lot on his followers to take care of problems for him and prior to attaining the Triforce seemed fine with simply causing problems to blackmail others into doing what he wants in order for him to fix them such as blocking off the Goron’s food supply and promising to open the cave up again only if they give him the spiritual stone.

Friends: The only possible genuine relationship Ganondorf has is with his surrogate Mothers Koume and Kotake, however this is only ever shown from their loyalty to him and the high position he’s put them in rather than any interactions they have. Beyond this Ganondorf’s forces are loyal to him although it seems this is partially due to him filling the role of the King of Evil rather than true loyalty and respect, a role which in the past had been held by other evils such as Demise and Vaati. Ganondorf is fast to discard those who he deems useless or treacherous as shown when he banished his Phantom doppelganger to the space between dimensions following his loss to Link. Ganondorf has a large Gerudo Stallion he rides prior to gaining the Triforce, however in the future he seems to no longer use it which suggests it possibly didn’t survive or he simply had no further use for it. Ingo of Lon Lon Ranch was planning to give Epona the horse to Ganondorf as a gift which could possibly mean he needed a new one. Of note his Phantom doppelganger rides a ghost horse that looks similar to Ganondorf’s old one, so it’s possible this is the spirit of that horse although this is never confirmed. As King of the Gerudo, Ganondorf seemed respected somewhat but not seen with particular fondness even discounting those like Nabooru who turned on him. When Ganondorf is defeated some Gerudo are seen celebrating alongside the Hylians. Also notable in later games in the timeline many of the customs regarding the males born to the Gerudo becoming King seem to be disregarded and in the far distant future the Gerudo see Ganondorf as a stain on their history.

Enemies/Rivals: Being the main antagonist of the Zelda series as a whole there are very few characters who aren’t somehow negatively impacted by Ganondorf. His most notable enemy is of course Link, although in this incarnation he does not see the boy as a threat until after he’s grown up and even then seems to underestimate just how capable the Hero of Time is, telling him he looks forward to seeing his progress when he first becomes aware of him. Princess Zelda is his main enemy and his failure to track her down over the 7 years Link is in stasis is most likely one of the things that troubles him the most. Other characters Ganondorf either sees as simply an annoyance such as Darunia and the Zora King or does not realise the danger of such as the Sages. Before he gets the Triforce of Power, Ganondorf is a lot more subtle in how he acts attempting to trick the King of Hyrule and blackmail others for what he wants which means despite his arrogance he can recognise obvious threats to his plans and does not underestimate those in positions of power in Hyrule.

Crossovers with other Smash characters: Ganondorf has not made many appearances outside of the Zelda series and this specific version even less so. His only real crossover appearance is similar to other Zelda characters (and also the game I chose for this playthrough) Hyrule Warriors with him having his Ocarina of Time appearance as an outfit. With this he has crossed over with the majority of Zelda characters who have appeared in Super Smash Bros.

Why this game?

So the biggest reason for this is simply like other Zelda characters, this game is the only one outside of Super Smash Bros where Ganondorf is playable. There is another aspect that makes this even more important for Ganondorf than most others but I’ll detail that in the playthrough itself.

My past with this character.

I referenced this somewhat in my post on Bowser but since this is one of the ‘big three’ as I put it, I felt it needs to be restated. To me when it comes to Nintendo there are three main iconic villains that I believe set up the scale of evil, Ganondorf, Bowser and King Dedede. At the bottom end of the scale is King Dedede a villain who even at his worst is a petty greedy jerk and whilst not an outright joke has never actually enacted plans with aims much beyond simply stealing all the food in Dreamland, often his worst actions tend to have been done due to him being possessed and in recent years he actually seems to have joined Kirby more often than opposed him. Next is Bowser who is the most adaptable villain Nintendo has in my opinion, he can be involved in something as petty as trying to ruin a party to conquering the world with his army, travelling through time and even attempting to build his own galaxy, not to mention the amount of times he’s taken cosmic powers for his own. Then at the opposite end of the scale to King Dedede is Ganondorf, there’s no way he’d ever be the main adversary behind some simple minigame, face off against characters in competitions or actually put his differences aside to fight alongside Link and Zelda against another foe, Ganon will more often be the power behind that other foe (and has been numerous times to the point ‘highjacked by Ganon’ is considered a trope.) He will have some nuance and there’s still an origin to him beyond just being pure evil, however out of villains in Nintendo’s major series Ganondorf is the poster child for the most evil. I have realised writing this however that in recent years this idea I’ve had is perhaps now somewhat outdated, I don’t know if it’s fair to bring series like Xenoblade into this, but given the prominence of Fire Emblem nowadays at any rate means there’s arguably other villains who are perhaps more outright disgusting and twisted than Ganon tends to be, still when it comes to a more overt ‘King of Evil’ without being too tongue-in-cheek about it then Ganon’s still probably the top of the scale.

For his appearance in Ocarina of Time I always found it interesting how despite his size and artwork suggesting so, he’s a lot less hands-on than you’d assume. His sword in this incarnation has only ever been seen in a tech demo for the Gamecube and Super Smash Bros with his actual attacks in the game always being magic based which makes this incarnation arguably the most like a dark mage out of all of them. He has a pretty distinctive laugh which fits this arrogant younger incarnation with his other later appearances where he gets to laugh often having an older more unhinged feel fitting of how weary they often are in comparison. It’s interesting for Super Smash Bros Ultimate they decided to bring this version of Ganondorf back again, overall I think he definitely has a design that stands out more with his brighter red cape and hair than other versions of him, I wouldn’t say it’s my favourite,  but I do like this version on the whole.

My Smash Playthrough.

So, the big reason I hinted to that Hyrule Warriors is important for Ganondorf and the best choice for my Smash Playthrough isn’t simply that he’s playable, but that he actually has his own storyline you can play through in the main game. I detailed the plot with Cia in Sheik’s post before but I purposefully left out what happens after her defeat. The heroes celebrate and peace returns to Hyrule, the locations brought from other times as well as the heroes brought with them all return to their original timelines and all is well, however without Cia sealing Ganondorf’s spirit, unbeknownst to the heroes he returns once more. The version of Ganondorf in Hyrule Warriors has a unique design which takes elements of a few of his main series designs but similar to Link, Zelda and Impa is meant to be a unique version of the King of Evil. With two villains that were summoned by Cia from other time periods and thought dead, Zant the King of Twilight and Ghirahim the Demon Lord now pledging their allegiance to Ganondorf he begins his campaign to take the Triforce for himself. What follows this is three stages of getting to fight as Ganondorf on his campaign, starting off forcing unruly monsters to follow his command, fighting the Gorons and then taking on Hyrule’s forces themselves along with Zelda and Link.

These levels are great, Ganondorf is set up so that playing as him feels a lot more powerful than any other character you’ve used in the story mode so far (even Darunia with his hammer) and getting the chance to actually be Ganondorf fighting Hyrule for the first time ever was to me as great as it could be. It’s only three stages and following it you take control of the heroes again now having to defeat a Ganondorf who has the full Triforce, but honestly for just plain fanservice fun I enjoyed it and I don’t know what more you could really expect from a Hyrule Warriors game (this was before things like Age of Calamity started being semi-canon etc of course). The best stage naturally has to be the final one of playing as Ganondorf where you have to fight the Hylian forces outside Hyrule Castle. This is a repeat of the very first map in the game but with a changed perspective of you invading the Castle this time. It also has what I considered the hardest boss of story mode and one who beat me multiple times which is taking down Link and Zelda. They’re both formidable and a lot more dangerous than anyone else Ganondorf faces and on top of that they have to both be beaten within a similar timeframe or else one of them will recover after a couple of minutes. If they reach one of the bases you’ve captured they can take it back and fortify it fairly quickly which makes taking them down even more of a priority, still I’d still say it’s more fun than frustrating (although it has frustrating elements to it.)

To play as Ganondorf is fairly enjoyable, as I said he feels powerful, but also his attacks are all fairly decent from what I remember, especially compared to other characters. He can be somewhat slow which is to be expected, although he later was given a second weapon being his Trident. Whilst this Trident isn’t from Smash so I didn’t use it, it is Ganon’s signature weapon going all the way back to the original Legend of Zelda on NES where he wielded it in his ‘pig’ beast form and is a lot faster whilst still being fairly powerful. Ganondorf’s main weapon has a darkness element and his Trident has a lightning element. Beyond this since I wanted to specifically go over this part of storymode in Ganondorf’s post there’s not a lot more to say, it’s a lot of fun and even with Age of Calamity later it’s still something unique in the whole Zelda series being able to play as Ganon fighting Hyrule. If you like the style of Warriors games and are really into Zelda I’d say it’s worth a look.

Specific aspects about the game relating to Ganondorf in Smash.

Before I begin about what I did in this game to setup Ganondorf, the most important thing with Ganondorf which has long been the elephant in the room in a sense relating to him is his Smash moveset. In Super Smash Bros Melee, unlike almost every other character whose moves are taken from their games or at least meant to represent what they could do (Captain Falcon for example having a lot of Falcon based moves and Fox using various gadgets) Ganondorf didn’t have anything from his appearances in the Zelda series starting off being a slower more powerful clone of Captain Falcon. Due to this all of Ganondorf’s moves were punches, kicks and grapples which beyond the rare attack he wouldn’t use in the Zelda series. With Super Smash Bros 4′s addition of custom moves he finally gained an attack involving a sword, however that I will cover in another post. The main thing of importance however is that in Super Smash Bros Ultimate Ganondorf was able to use a sword for some attacks for the first time, something that allowed him to be different to Captain Falcon but still (to me) kept enough of the feel of how he’s always played in the series so as to not make him feel like a totally different character. 

The Great Swords are Ganondorf’s main weapon and based on his latest appearance in Smash Ultimate the closest you can get to his sword in that. Whilst not a perfect match, one of his Swords of Despair looks similar to what’s known as the ‘Spaceworld Sword’ which has only ever appeared in Smash and a demo at Spaceworld for the Gamecube and is the only sword the Ocarina of Time Ganondorf’s ever been shown to wield. There’s also an attack (YYYYX) that Ganondorf uses with the Great Swords which summons a dark ball of energy in front of him which he then performs a heavy punch on that shoots it as smaller dark energy balls in front of him. This move always looked very much to me the same as his Warlock Punch from Smash, with him pulling back slowly before performing the punch and the dark energy matching the dark magic that surrounds his hand in Smash Bros. Beyond this for Ocarina of Time Ganondorf, the Era of the Hero of Time Armour is the final thing needed to make him pretty much the closest you’ll get to Smash Bros OOT Ganondorf in another game. Ganondorf’s Final Smash being a transformation is fairly unique so I’m planning to cover that when I get to the posts for Bosses in Smash rather than here.

Credits.

For information on this game including dates of releases I must give credit to Zelda Wiki.

The screenshots in this post are taken by me using Miiverse before it shut down.

[only-by-the-stars]

the annotated Tome of the Wild

Part five: Babes in the Wood!

- A half-moon the color of yellowed pages hung high in the sky above the figures on the ground OH LOOK IT’S THAT SAME DAMN MOON AGAIN. DESPITE THAT DAYS HAVE GONE BY AND IT DEFINITELY WOULDN’T LOOK THE SAME AT THIS POINT.

- “Idiot child. Perhaps I should've done something to make you more intelligent, instead of just transforming your body.” And here we have confirmation that it was Koume that changed her into this.

- Of course, the centerpiece of this scene is the reveal of what Midna’s been up to this whole time. In the show, the situation for Beatrice is similar: she thought that Adelaide just wanted a couple of kids to do household chores, and was fine with just turning them over to her in exchange for the item she needed to break her and her family’s curse. Until, of course, she grew to like them and have second thoughts, as Midna does here. Which of course lines up with how Midna initially thought to just use Link in TP to help herself and her people, until his actions and Zelda’s made her reconsider her disdain for the people of the world of light. Here it’s her bond with Aryll and Link that makes her hesitate to hand them over: she really likes Aryll, and after a rough start with Link they’re now getting along, and she feels a lot of sympathy for his situation with Mipha. She doesn’t want to keep them from getting home even for a little while, and when she finds out about Koume’s true intentions she draws the line, as her moral code won’t let her hurt others for her own sake and she knows Zelda wouldn’t want her to hurt anyone on her behalf either. This conflict and growth are exactly why I had an easy time casting Midna in this role, and I loved being able to write her and develop the dynamics she has with Link and Aryll.

- “Only the voice of the shadow that lurks in the woods, the king of darkness that rules the night, concerns me...” King of Darkness is one of Ganon’s titles in the series.

- “There is only his way.” A line that will be echoed by the Beast himself much later.

- “Aryll, I know!” Link froze as soon as the words were out of his mouth. We’re at the point where Link is snapping at his beloved baby sister, showing just how stressed out he is right now. He was able to relax more when Midna was around, but now her betrayal is driving him further along that path to despair I’ve been mentioning. He immediately apologizes, to his credit, but he’s still starting to crack.

- “You are in grave peril, and your fate, your very lives depend on if you heed my words or not! The Beast stalks you, seeking your fall into his grasp... but you must not allow him to capture you, you must not give in to despair!” He’s not wrong! Listen to him!

- The shadow laughed, a long, low sound that seemed to ooze up from the deepest depths of the earth where eldritch creatures slumbered, forgotten by time and the gods alike. Calamity Ganon emerges from deep beneath Hyrule Castle.

- “You forget, do you not, that your daughter's safety depends upon keeping me happy?” The first hint of the deception that the Beast is working on Rhoam.

- Aryll is now calling her frog Alfonzo, after the engineer in Spirit Tracks.

- AND THEN THERE’S NAYRU AND KOTAKE. This was one of the most FUN things I got to play with. The episode this portion is an adaptation of is probably my favorite in the show, and I had an utter blast toying with expectations here just as the show did. Maybe even more! The show leads you to believe that the character Kotake replaces is the sinister and evil one, preying on the hapless young girl that Nayru is replacing, only to yank the rug out from under you and reveal that the girl is possessed and trying to eat the brothers.

now, Nayru is from Oracle of Ages. You meet her at the beginning, whereupon she quickly becomes possessed by the evil sorceress Veran. Kotake, meanwhile, is present as a villain in OOT and a linked Oracle game, and as a friendly shopkeeper in Majora’s Mask. We just saw the villainous version of her sister at the beginning of this chapter. So... is she evil too? If you’ve never seen the show, have played OOT and MM but not the Oracle games, you probably got taken in just like a first time viewer of the show is. Only to find out too late, as does Link, that Nayru is the people-eating one, and not Kotake, who is indeed her MM self and not evil.

- Nayru laughed too, a pleasant sound reminiscent of harp strings being played. Nayru gives Link the Harp of Ages in OOA.

- Aryll has switched the frog’s name to Dr. Calip, after the NPC in BOTW who gives you the Cursed Statue shrine quest.

- “It is thanks to you that I shall finally be free to roam the outside world, after all.” DANGER DANGER, the evil spirit wants to roam free and EAT MORE PEOPLE.

- Aryll spots the danger, but mistakes it for her desire to see Link end up with Mipha and no one else. Which we all agree with, of course, but it’s not the real reason she’s uncomfortable. Link, meanwhile, is oblivious to it, at least partially because he’s sinking deeper into despair and contemplating just letting Mipha go out of his intensifying self-hatred over what he’s done to her.

- Nayru's eager whisper broke into his thoughts. He glanced up and saw her eyes gleaming with a sort of hunger as she gazed across the room at him. DANGER DANGER, SHE WANTS TO DEVOUR YOU. Again, I choose my descriptive words very deliberately.

- Eerie purple light glowed around Nayru as she hovered in the air, and her face had been twisted into something that resembled a ReDead mask. Veran’s spirit form is indeed purple, and nobody who’s ever played OOT, MM, or WW can forget the ReDeads. my favorite monster I want them back dammit

- “Link?” Aryll pressed herself against his side and clutched at his arm. “There are a lot of skeletons in here...” Remember how Aryll was so excited about digging up a single skeleton back in Ikana? Not so fun anymore.

- In the show, the whole sequence of trying to avoid being eaten was creepy, but a bit more comedic too. I leaned fully into the horror that it truly would be here, not just because I wanted to write something scary, but also because I needed something that would traumatize Link enough to push him into the breakdown he has in the woods afterwards, setting the climax of the story in motion. His feelings of failure mirror what I headcanon he must’ve been going through just before he fell in Blatchery Plain as well, the despair he would’ve felt over being unable to prevent the fall of the kingdom, the deaths of his friends (especially Mipha, who he’s grieving the most), and knowing that he’s at his limit and about to die before he can get Zelda to safety. Which is another way that the appearance of that painting in the last chapter ties in.

- Aryll’s dream sequence! OH BOY. In the show, this is an entire episode, done in the style of 1930s animation, with musical numbers and everything. That doesn’t quite translate to prose, though, so I had to change and abridge it. More interestingly, though, there’s subtle hints in the show that the dream is not real, and is intended to lure Greg, the younger brother, into the clutches of the Beast. I decided to run with that. One of the hints in the show is that the gates you see seem to be made of ivory; in Greek myth, dreams pass through one of two gates, either horn or ivory. True dreams come through the gates of horn, while false ones pass through the gates of ivory. So naturally Aryll walks through gates of ivory to reach the tower.

The tower itself is the one located in the Cloud Tops in Minish Cap. Which, here, is ruled by Princess Hilda from Link Between Worlds, who has Aryll save her kingdom from the evil Yuga. This is all a HUGE hint that this is false, a trap. Because in ALBW, Hilda was conspiring with Yuga in a desperate bid to save Lorule. And who took over Yuga’s body as part of that plan? Ganon. BAM.

- And now the frog is being called Ezlo, after the talking cap in Minish Cap.

- Link is now so deeply in despair that the dekuwood is starting to grow around him, which is what motivates Aryll to make her deal with the Beast that brings everything to its eventual conclusion.

- A dark shape emerged from the curtain of snow; it was a small, plump man with a beard that covered the entire lower half of his face, rowing a rickety little boat. His eyebrows went up as he took in the sight of Midna lifting the unconscious Link into the air with her prehensile hair. “That is one strange fish you've caught there, missy...” This is the fisherman from Link’s Awakening.

- What Midna sees in the distance is the Great Deku Tree, but I wasn’t about to reveal that just yet.

and that does it for part five!

[underthedekutree]

Young Link might have PTSD - Part 2: Termina is NOT a Parallel World, Technically

This is a continuation of my last post so if you’re seeing this and haven’t read it, go here.

This is the part where I somewhat smoothly segue into Majora’s Mask. Link, lonely and filled with unprocessed trauma, leaves Hyrule in search of Navi. According to most sources (which take from Hyrule Historia probably? don’t quote me on it), Link falls down a hole into Termina, a parallel world to Hyrule, that contains many familiar looking denizens of Hyrule, but playing different roles. And well, if you probably guessed by the title, I have a rather different interpretation.

Okay, so in a nutshell my theory is that Termina is in fact all a dream, kind of like Koholint Island. Except the one dreaming up this world isn’t some deity like the Giants or Skull Kid or the Moon. It’s Link.

(big explainey hoo hah below)

Evidence 1: Link begins the game sleeping. Yes, I know literally every Zelda game begins this way and it’s a whole tradition thing. I am beginning with the weakest points first and working my way up to the strong ones. We’ll get there.

Evidence 2: The reuse of character and environment models from Ocarina of Time. The literal IRL reason for this is of course the game famously being given only one year of production time, which meant that the most practical method was to reuse as much material from MM’s predecessor as possible (eg. Romani Ranch sign is the Kakariko Village sign, and still says Kakariko Village on it). It seems like a rather offhand afterthought for Nintendo to chalk it all up to “oh its just a parallel world like Link to the Past or something. But think of it like this; when we dream, we often see familiar people from throughout our lives put in strange and unexpected situations, like that irritable old farmhand you hated so much is now a depressed circus master for some reason. Dreams don’t make sense. Things you know will mix with other strange inexplicable things, fleeting thoughts in your mind, all roughly tied together by whatever emotions you had been feeling when you went to bed. Malon is split into two people, Romani and Cremia, her older and younger self. This might reflect how Link feels about Malon, that she changed so much in those 7 years that she’s like a different person entirely, that it’s hard for him to process that they are the same, because the change was so shockingly sudden for him.

Evidence 3: Gorons in the snow, Gerudo by the sea. Yes, I know that sounds a lot like good evidence for a parallel world (that’s why the idea is widely accepted in the first place, it has merit), but it also works in as dream world evidence too. As a child, my family was obsessed with skiing. We would go to the same mountain every winter, and we would stay at the same lodge. It almost became like a second home for me. So much so, that one night I dreamed that my house had been replaced by the lodge, so it wasn’t on a snow-capped mountain, but in a bushy Australian suburb. Okay that kinda got off subject but I’m bad at conclusions so in summary Dreams Just Be Like That (tm). You get what I’m saying right? No? Sorry, let’s just move on.

Evidence 4: The Milk Bar. AKA my favourite location in the game! It’s often overlooked as the “haha funny they couldn’t put alcohol in kids game so its kiddy milk hee hee”, but it is actually a strong thematic pillar of Majora’s Mask. As I mentioned in Part 1, if you put a 9 year old in a 16 year old’s body and call him an adult before ripping that all away is probably going to leave the kid with an identity crisis. What is a mature place open at late hours when children are sleeping? A bar. What is a drink associated with the young, being produced for the purpose of helping children grow? Milk. No please don’t go I swear there’s more to this, stay with me. In order to gain access to the bar, Link must prove he is mature enough by wearing a mask, a disguise, like Adult Link is to Young Link. Being adult isn’t earned through years of natural living experience and mental development, it’s a thing you are given by adults to just BE when they deem you worthy, at least from how Link sees it. So that is the amalgamation of dream thoughts that is the Milk Bar. Is it mature? Is it childish? What is the line between the two? Is there one? It’s the culmination of his anxieties and confusions that he doesn’t know how to express. Another, smaller expression of this anxiety is the Clock Town Guards. When Link is a Deku, the guards say they don’t allow children outside the gates. When Link turns back however, the guard goes to stop him because he looks too young, but sees that he has a sword, and lets him pass. Why the sword? Well, in one way this is a callback to Kokiri Forest, where Mido doesn’t let Link see the Deku Tree until he has a sword. But also, what is the item that lets Link travel through time and become an adult in OOT? The Master Sword. Link seems to believe that adulthood is measured by the things you have, physical markers of maturity, which is how lots of children see adulthood. You’re an adult if you can drink, if you’re tall, if you’re married, if you have a house, a car etc. But in reality this isn’t how it works. Heck, I’m technically an adult but I sure as hell don’t feel like one, because I know I still have things to learn about responsibility, patience and all the other things, that can only come with time, which is the moral conclusion of OOT, but clearly Link missed the memo. Don’t get me wrong, there are some indicators to show he’s grown a bit. He can ride Epona, use the bow, do flips like some kind of acrobat etc. But those strange and confused feelings linger, and manifest in the young boy’s dreams.

Evidence 5: The four transformation masks. The four masks represent different aspects of Link’s self, and the way he grew and changed in OOT. Deku Scrub the Innocent, Goron the Confident, Zora the Mature and Fierce Deity the Hero. Link began only knowing the Kokiri Forest, and nothing of the world outside. As he set out on his journey, he grew more confident in his skills and defeated greater foes. When evil took over, he learned from his fatal mistake and worked to right it. And when it was finally time to face the greatest threat, he was ready, with all the heart pieces, bottles full of fairies, Biggoron Sword in hand. At that moment he struck the final blow he probably felt like the strong and unstoppable hero everyone in Hyrule told him he needed to be. And that feeling of pure uncompromising strength, with the whole world behind him, manifested in the Fierce Deity. Fierce Deity is much taller than Adult Link, and packs so much of a punch that he can beat Majora without batting an eye, like some overpowered Super Saiyan. It reminds me a lot of Undertale, with young Asriel becoming what he imagines to be an all-powerful godlike being, like something you’d see as a children’s drawing. Fierce Deity gives off those vibes, like “he has a HUGE SWORD that SHOOTS BEAMS OF LIGHT and he’s 8 FOOT TALL and CAN KILL ENEMIES IN A SINGLE BLOW!!” Before the final battle on the moon, when Majora gives you the mask, he childishly asks if you want to play a game of good guys and bad guys. And the good guy always wins, no matter what. Fierce Deity makes the final boss a cakewalk, but its supposed to.

Evidence 6: Anju and Kafei. Short one, because it falls a lot into everything else I’ve said regarding childhood vs adulthood. Kafei is effectively a switcheroo of what happened to Link in OOT. An adult shrunk back to childhood, uncomfortable in his new body and looking for a way to fix everything. He’s a reflection of how Link now kinda feels like an adult in a child’s body, because he had started to be used to being called an adult.

Evidence 7: The Moon. I haven’t super touched on the main meat of the game yet, so here it is. The moon and the 3 day mechanic is an allegory for constant mounting pressure, that builds and builds, never ceasing, because the world is in danger, and there’s only one person who has been chosen to save it. I’ve always been interested in the Chosen One narrative, and how different media explore the idea of the world’s very existence being pushed onto one person. How at the end of it all, they can never be the same again after all they’ve gone through. When you’re somehow expected to hold up the Moon itself single-handed, and your life and everything you care about suffers because you’re putting everyone else before yourself. That feeling of complete loneliness under a crushing weight, and although other characters may come to help you, in the end its still all down to you, and you never had a choice in any of it, as all the decisions were made by someone else. You must do what they tell you. Believe in yourself, believe...

Evidence 8: Skull Kid. The story goes that long ago in Termina, the Skull Kid and the Giants played together, until one day, the Giants left, leaving the Skull Kid alone and heartbroken, with nobody to turn to. As life moves on, things may change, and people always come and go from your life. Your friend might move overseas, or stop texting you, or you might fall out of friendship after an awkward event from which you could never recover (no, these have totally not all happened to me, shut up i’m fine), or your fairy companion might just disappear without so much as a goodbye after their task is complete. And it feels like you didn’t matter at all. That they never really cared about you, and you’re as easy to drop and move on from as a child’s toy. You might get angry, and want to shut them out, and give them a taste of their own medicine. Majora’s Mask teaches you that this isn’t the case. Life is ever changing, but you will always have the memories of times with your friends, and a chance to make more with new friends, like a sassy talkative fairy sprite and her shy brother or a child made of wood who wants to destroy the world. Friends come from unlikely places, so accept that change will happen and hope that wherever the people you knew are, they’re okay. You’re thinking about them, so they might be thinking about you too. And who knows? Life is unpredictable. They might just come back one day, and it’ll be like they were never gone.

Evidence 9 (the final one, I promise): The Song of Healing. At the end of all things, after losing ones you love, connections to family and friends, memories of things long past... you need time to heal. Link’s journey through Termina is a constant gauntlet of running into his own past traumas, forced to relive them again, and again, and again. But sometimes you should take a deep breath, gather your thoughts, and take time to heal. Although it can be important to confront your fears and learn to surpass them, it is exhausting, and you can end up more emotionally broken than when you started. The three masks all had regrets of powerlessness; unable to protect your community, your loved ones, or even yourself. Troubles you’ve gone through that keep plaguing your mind, and you’re wondering if you’ve done enough, seeking answers where none can be found. And the best thing you can do... is accept and move on. Be kind to yourself, and give yourself time to heal. Link’s way of processing his grief and trauma is to create an entire hellscape world in his own head, but not everyone processes it the same way. Sometimes you feel like you need to busy yourself, or listen to soothing music, or talk to people you trust, or spend copious amounts of money, or make some angst art, or cuddle your plush toys until their stuffing squeezes out. Sometimes life hits you in the face and you want to blame yourself for standing in the firing line, but it’s not your fault. It’s okay to feel however you feel, whether you’re drenched in a pool of tears or you just feel numb, it’s okay and natural. You’re okay. You’re here.

Okay so it got kinda personal at the end there but I hope it was informative, and made you think a little bit differently about Majora’s Mask and Ocarina of Time. You probably want to go back and play them now. Me too.

So was this all just an excuse for me to gush about how cool Majora’s Mask is? Hell fucking yes it was. Congratulations for making it through my monstrous ramblings, you get the secret prize of looking at my weird art on my DA. Here you go. Have a nice day, Zelda Nerds.

[mckittyarts]

hey guys sorry about the couple of days i wasn’t posting!! this thing took a little longer than i thought-- but yeah! i’ve seen other artists draw their own interpretations of all the incarnations of Links, and i finally decided to draw the versions i’ve made up together with a friend of mine all in one place! get a load of these fools

tumblr wouldn’t let me post these in rows without them getting super blurry so there’s gonna be closeups, headcanons, etc under the cut

Time (Ocarina of Time/Majora’s Mask):  - post-majora’s mask but he still has the scars from oot(dont ask me how idk either)  - Really Fucked up. Very Strange Grandpa  - despite actually having had the years to grow up this time he still acts like a kid  - idk i can’t really describe him but he’s just been through so much stress his only remaining emotion is essentially just “:)”  - he’s gone back to hyrule and is just kinda wandering around he got those two shoulder pads as a gift and they’re based off of the ones he has as a ghost  - the gauntlets are redesigned golden gauntlets only because i forgot what they looked like  - he’s missing his right eye from a wolfos and lost his finger when Ganon slapped his sword out of his hand also he has goron tattoos on his shoulders  - headcanon that he’s Zelda’s twin brother but they just never were told about it

Sky (Skyward Sword):  - he’s got Sleepy Bitch Disease  - just wants to rest...... please let him Sleep For Once  - he gets very snappy and Rude, especially when he’s tired but he’s pretty patient and sweet around people he’s fond of  - headcanon that he has some form of asthma(because in game hes like constantly gasping for air)  - after the events of his game hes just Tuckered Out and just wants to sleep for the rest of his life  - i didn’t really give him any redesigns, just let him keep his skyloft outfit  - his scars are from demise and ghirahim(jerks)

Twi (Twilight Princess):  - COUNTRY BOYYYY I LOVE YOUU  - furry boy go awooo  - amazing with animals and kids but doesn’t really cope too well in social situations because he gets Nervous  - GAY. I WONT ACCEPT ANY OTHER ANSWER  - headcanon that he’s the direct descendant of Time  - goes back to his Farming Ways after the War and just chills with the rest of Ordon village  - most of his scars are from those stupid Ghost Rats but he also has some others from Ganondorf

Wild (Breath of the Wild):  - ‘scuse me everyone certified ROWDY BOY comin through  - he seems very normal from a distance but as soon as you get close to him you will realize that you just found a Raccoon  - *sees anything* oh! yum!  - really, really loves cooking and is actually really good at it even if his ingredients come from questionable locations  - headcanon that along with every other memory he lost, he also forgot most of what was pressuring him before his Death and is now completely unhinged and will not stop for anyones social standards  - he has a couple scars from being blasted by guardians but honestly most of his other ones are because he just really loves rolling down mountainsides

Warrior (Hyrule Warriors):  - hh,,, Anxious boy :(  - he just really wants approval and he damn well deserves it  - when he first got appointed as the hero of whatever and got the master sword he was honestly starting to get a bit cocky  - but then Cia Promptly ripped all of that confidence and Rude Boy Behaviour out of him and he became :( again  - he could speak beforehand but he got an injury during the battles and is now rendered practically mute  - has a couple major scars underneath his scarf/tunic but he managed to keep his face mostly unscathed somehow

Albi (A Link Between Worlds/Tri Force Heroes):  - Shy,,,, doesnt like Attention  - honestly just wants to be left alone but since he’ss the hero of whatever people just Gave Him Too Much Love  - broke down and is now Fashionable  - sometimes likes to sew or paint  - headcanon that he’s colourblind(tritanopia)  - those little marks on his skin are little “wall cracks” from merging too often  - has a few scars but no important ones tbh

Minish (The Minish Cap):  - small and Super Mad About It  - he’s extremely quiet and only really ever talks if he’s mad or asked a question  - and even then he says as few words as he can possibly muster  - really dedicated blacksmith and is pretty good at his job despite his age  - still hangs out with Zelda a whole lot theyre still Best Friends  - the scar is from his fight with Vaati and he got an undershirt with a collar to hide it a bit because he feels a bit self conscious about it :(

Engi (Spirit Tracks):  - BABY BOY. BABY  - fuckin LOVES trains. he would Probably Die without them. still an engineer  - completely polite and sweet, calls you sir and stutters a whole lot  - also likes to fidget when he doesn’t have anything to do with his hands  - secretly completely RIPPED and could probably break you in half if he just weren’t such a sweetheart  - missing tooth from Byrne smacking him in the face with his Metal Hand and constantly has scratches but thats just cuz hes clumsy  - headcanon that he’s the grandson of Wind  - another headcanon that he can see ghosts since he was the only one who could see Zelda when she got absolutely annihilated 

Wind (The Wind Waker/Phantom Hourglass):  - SHIP AHOY BITCHES  - absolutely Stupid. goddamn Fool, complete and utter buffoon  - tends to be a bit direct and a little too honest but as i said before. complete Dumbass  - ADORES to tease and poke fun as long as no one gets hurt  - swears like a sailor and IS a sailor. Its All Connected  - has a crooked nose because SOMEONE launched him at a wall that one time. Also from that explosion that launched him into that other wall that other time  - all his little jewelry things are treasures he found along the way

Alti (A Link To The Past/Oracle of Seasons/Ages/Link’s Awakening): - oof this boi has been through So Much - just so tired of this shit.......... wants a break already - has pink hair because nintendo cant convince me otherwise and also has black roots because that’s his hair colour in the gameboy games - still misses everyone from the wind fish’s dream :( also idk know if he ever came back from the ocean tbh - honestly i know jack shit about any of his games so,,, sorry my boy

Classic (The Legend of Zelda/The Adventure of Link): - the boy who started it all!!! god i love him so - honestly don’t really know much about him either,,, and honestly i dont think there is a lot to know the classic games are pretty plotless - but i like to imagine he’s like every Good Protagonist trope but none of the other links appreciate it a whole lot - “dont worry guys i believe we can do this! :)” cut to the whole group throwing trash at him - also gave him sectoral heterochromia to match the way his eyes look in the first game’s sprites

[averinna]

Favorite Ships for Valentine Day :

Hi,

I wanted to do this post to celebrate valentine day in my own way. Why not just presenting my favorite ships? I don’t have many and I am not a huge shippers who’s life and death is lead by if two fictional characters will kiss or not, but shipping can actually be fun. So let’s go, and put them here!

Honey so Sweet - Nao x Taiga

I wanted to use only one picture per ship but the thing is, everything they do is always so cute, it’s hard to decide. This ship is just this. Cuteness and joy. The manga they are from is very basic as a shojo manga and its driving force is the art and the main couple who is, again, very adorable, making it one of my absolute favorite. 

Orange - Kakeru x Naho

Another couple which despite the odds managed to find each other. Just seeing them together and happy make me happy. They suffered a lot but it was all worth it at the end.

Akatsuki no Yona - Hak x Yona

Ah I really wasn’t into this ship at the beginning. Watching terrible romance anime made me super protective of heroines at the time. Licking her fingers because they are covered of honey and other stuff like that aren’t welcome when the heroine isn’t aware of what is happening and I don’t care how much the male character “love her” he just shouldn’t do that. It’s cool to love someone but you know what’s better? Respecting them.

I didn’t have any expectation for Hak because if anything I learnt that male character, especially in shojo manga, get away with everything as long as their past is sad enough and their feelings for the heroine, strong enough.

But Hak surprised me when he decided to “stop his jokes”, stopping to touch Yona inappropriately at all and shown that as well as loving her, he admired her strength. With time he avoided every trap that male character like him fall into.

And for Yona, her crush on Hak evolved in a believable way, and without noticing I found myself shipping them like everyone else in the fandom. Good writing really make everything tasteful, especially something I didn’t expect to like this much.

(Now if you follow the manga, idk why Kusanagi-sensei seem to be scared to make them a couple because of the end of the manga and it’s regrettable because both Hak and Yona are interesting characters and having them act like a couple would’ve been interesting to watch)

Hataraku Saibou - NK cell x Kiler T

So everyone ship AE3803 withb U1146 so what about showing some originality here?

I just like the idea that those two idiots who fight all the time would get used to each other presence. They are like Kabakura and Hanako from Wotakoi to me. 

Free! - Makoto x Rei

People will look at me weird for this one, just because  I don’t enter in everyone’s little case of ship. I remember that for this ship I saw a fanart on zerochan and thought it was cute, but what made me really love them together was the potential that we never got to see bloom outside of the first season. No matter what I really like them together, even years after. Also an artist on pixiv really draw them well so it just make me happier!

Mario - Luigi x Daisy

The OTP of my childhood. And since I shipped them as a kid I don’t have much reason to add beside that they would look, good together and if Nintendo ship tease them, I still would appreciate to see them actually intimate instead of just descriptions describing them as such.

Mario - Mario x Peach

Just marry already!

The Legend of Zelda - Link x Malon

Another one I got interested only since recently because of all the Zelda videos I watched. OOT was my first Zelda and I imagine that Link finishing his day at Malon’s side would be cute. Too bad Malon herself doesn’t get much character in the game since she is a side character, but it’s still cute to think about.

KHR - Spanner x Shoichi

I am very surprised that it took me all this time to remember theses two while they were one of my first ship in anime and manga. I just love them together? Nerds being nerds. We don’t get much cute art with those two sadly...

Osomatsu san - Osomatsu x Ayane

A very indulgent oc x canon here, the art made by my friend @fantommmmmmm​ . I didn’t find anyone to ship Oso with and Ayane is born like that. Since she made a lot of progress and became her own person, even if the story she appear in is still a romance. I just want them both to be happy. Ayane just matter as much as she wasn’t my creations to begin with to me.

Osomatsu san - Choromatsu x Dayoko

A canon ship where, for once, one of the matsu receive the love he receive so I have no choice but to give love to this ship too! Art made by the captain of this ship, @redwylde​

And I think I will stop there. If I have more idea I will just add more later.

Happy valentine day!

[golvio]

✨ 🏳‍🌈

✨: “what draws you towards your hyperfixation? what is interesting about it?” 

For Steven Universe, I was a little curious about it since it had an unusual premise, but I mostly absorbed information about it by osmosis. I didn’t earnestly get into it until the one-two punch of “On the Run” and “Rose’s Scabbard,” and then Jailbreak sealed the deal. It was as much for Jasper as it was for the fact that they actually went there with Garnet. I think this and “Rose’s Scabbard” started cluing me into the fact that I wasn’t straight by depicting queer relationships in ways that actually resonated with me, and it was also the first time I was exposed to nonbinary characters in fiction, as well as a butch character who wasn’t treated as a joke. What a way to end a season!

Also, a lot of the “lessons” hidden within each episode weren’t just presented in a way that felt natural and not patronizing, but were also things that I really needed to hear at the time.

Zelda I’ve loved on and off, as I grew up with a Nintendo 64 and had watched people play OOT since I was a young’in. However, Wind Waker was when it started entering the Special Interest Zone for me, particularly due to the fact that its version of Ganondorf was probably the coolest and most interesting interpretation of his character in the whole series. It can be frustrating in that Nintendo prefers to focus on the gameplay and level design rather than the story and characterization, but the empty space leaves a lot of room to play around in with regards to fan content.

🏳‍🌈: “do you have any headcanons (lgbt, race, neuro, etc) that are important to you?”

Steven Universe

Pearl, Peridot, and Jasper are all autistic. Jasper just doesn’t know it yet and has been destroying herself masking due to a shitload of internalized ableism, chalking up her quirks to “not trying hard enough” or, worse, as proof that she’s somehow “defective” in a way no one can see. Someone please get this Gem a healthy, non-self-destructive stim so she stops tearing up the lawn. Some extremely tough silly putty would be good for her.

Legend of Zelda

All three the Triforce Trio are some flavor of autistic. Link has selective mutism and his special interests are cooking and horse training. Zelda’s special interest is technology, she will infodump uncontrollably about it when given the chance, and her dad was an asshole for forcing her to not do anything she enjoyed in the name of “following the ways of their ancestors.” Ganondorf has spent most periods of his life not devoted to villaining trapped in Hyperfixation City, which explains why he never really does anything after taking over. The man keeps taking over Hyrule Castle and building Wizard Towers with no front door and hiring right-hand mages/creating constructs shaped like himself solely so he never has to speak to more than one person at once and can spend most of his time alone, for goodness’ sake. He also has some kind of PTSD, although he has been through so much at this point that it’s hard to tell where it starts and ends.

There is no way that Ganondorf is attracted to women. He has never married, has no interest in having an heir, and always turns the Gerudo against him and eventually leaves whenever he’s reincarnated as their prince. The way Barriara talks about him in Cadence of Hyrule just screams “He’s going through a phase, and I’m sure he’ll grow out of it into a hunky straight man all the ladies can adore.” Except he did not grow out of it, and went to live in Hyrule Castle and compose organ sonatas in the dark forever.

Ghirahim and Fi are autistic. Fi deserved better, and the writers wasted her potential by treating her more like a game mechanic than a character who needed developing. In addition, Ghirahim deserved better. He needs a bearer who doesn’t suck at swordfighting and doesn’t treat him like garbage. Come on, the Hero/Hylia’s Unwitting Stand-In parallels he could have with Ganondorf are so obvious, except Ganondorf would trash the cycle the moment he found out that Demise retroactively ruined his life, and then they would skip merrily into the sunset together.

Hylia is not nearly as nice, wholesome, and all-loving as everyone thinks she is. The way she controls basically everything Link and Zelda do freaks me out. Also, the robots in Lanayru Desert and the Sheikah deserved better than to be expendable servants for The Cause.

All of the major players in the series are autistic. You cannot change my mind and you cannot stop me.

Rhoam is a terrible father and a coward who’s afraid of confrontation. His wimpy diary entry didn’t make up for his years of emotional abuse at all. He needs to get over himself, drag his sorry butt back from the afterlife, and apologize to his daughter directly.

[courageousguise]

hc dump: Link and the master sword, this is long and a little sad,

So, because of the stuff that happened during OoT, Link is actually somewhat uncomfortable around seeing the master sword. When he first drew the blade, he had no idea what could possibly happen- and the last thing he remembers before waking up in the chamber of the sages was hearing Ganondorf gloat over his access to the sacred realm.

When he woke up and realized he’d grown seven years, calling the experience disorienting is a bit of an understatement. It was confusing, unexpected, supposedly impossible for a boy who was supposed to be a kokiri. Everything was wrong and confusing, and naturally then those feelings ended up becoming deeply tied to the master sword itself.

After everything ended and the sword was laid to rest once more, Link mostly just wanted to forget about it. it wasn’t something that normal Hylians would ever get to see, and as the door of time sealed the way once more he’d never have to see it again either. But, he never really did get to deal with the resulting anxiety and worry that comes from the blade itself. 

Nor is it something he’d really want to discuss- it’s a symbol of hope, after all. The sword of evil’s bane, why would that of all things be something that brings anxiety? He wouldn’t expect anyone to really understand what it feels like, to draw a blade and have literally everything you thought you knew about the world completely upended. 

To note- Link doesn’t hate the master sword. However, he can’t really see it as a blessing, either. He’s grateful to it as the sword that seals darkness, of how he was able to seal away Ganondorf, but it also fuels a lot of self-doubt. Why wasn’t he deemed worthy when he was still a child? Why did he have to wait seven years? If he’d been more ready, if the sword had considered him worthy when he was a child, how many lives could he have saved? 

These aren’t feeling he’d ever want to confess, in all honesty. He thinks it’s shameful, given how important the master sword is. And in general, he doesn’t like ever admitting to being scared or anxious or any real negative emotions. He doesn’t want to be seen as weak, and those self-doubts are things he feels are just weakness. It’s easier to package them away and not ever think about them, even if that really isn’t solving any of the problems.

Specifically within Isola, there’s fears that would arise any time he’s meeting with other Links who’d have the master sword. The first would be “if i held it, would it seal me away again”- he brushes it off as irrational, knowing that simply holding/setting down the sword wasn’t what caused the time travel. The second is “would I even be allowed to hold it, would the sword consider me worthy now” and that one is... well, it’s anxiety-provoking and he doesn’t want to know the answer. 

Especially following Termina- he calls himself a hero, and really wants to be one, but isn’t sure if he can call himself one. Not when he took so long to fix things there, and had to just rely on trial and error and failed so many times to make things right. He feels like he did a lot of very bad things, in making everyone wait so long. 

tl;dr it’s something he’s both grateful to and anxious about because it’s essentially a physical manifestation of his self-doubts and questions about whether or not he deserves to call himself a true hero

[thewrongexecution]

Scrambled Thoughts

hey how does bein’, like. exited about a thing, but coherently, work? ‘cos like. P5S was announced, and it’s not what some people necessarily wanted or expected, but. I think it’ll be good? in ways those same disappointed folks might enjoy, but aren’t necessarily considering? man where do I even start with this

(long)

so way back in the day, when the Wii U was still relevant, Koei Tecmo came out with Hyrule Warriors basically outta nowhere. now, I never played any warriors games and I think my first zelda was Twilight Princess? Skyward Sword? spent plenty of time watching my brother play them titles and consider majora’s mask one of the greatest games of all time, but I ain’t never touched ‘em, and because I already experienced them vicariously, ain’t ever likely to. but I was big on diablo, on that experience of mowing down hordes of enemies with a big overpowered hero, so I was like, yeah, sure I’ll keep an eye out

(maybe  I was able to latch onto Hyrule Warriors because I was more invested in the characters and story than the gameplay? I don’t know how zelda fans recieved it; I wasn’t as deep in The ‘Net as I am now. doesn’t matter.)

turns out just about everything in that game is great. the long-term gameplay isn’t anything to write home about; it’s all level grinding and weapons farming, but like it’s not necessarily a game for that. it’s a buncha dumb fun! hit things with big flashy attacks! watch actual dozens of bodies ragdoll off into the distance! play as your favorite heroes and and villains and then also some npcs we added for the hell of it!

That, see, is what I remember about Hyrule Warriors. the whole draw of the game, what I love about it, is the warriors and their weapons and their fighting style and fighting with style. like, each character can have multiple weapons, and each weapon is its own moveset-- relatively simple, but still pretty involved, and built around slaughtering a buncha dudes really flashily. and it just-- they went through like every zelda game, and went like, who’s important and how do they fight, and then they made them ALL fun to play as

there are forty two fighting styles to choose from and none of them are bad

actually no that’s a lie; the dominion rod, the summon gates, and agitha’s parasols are bad. maybe also the great fairy and sometimes the wind waker? and I never unlocked all the toon-era weaponry, but it doesn’t matter because there are like thirty-five other ways to play That Are All Fun

that’s the first thing. the second thing, which you may have noticed from the list of weapons I don’t much care for, is that some of these weapons get way dumb. like agitha’s parasols. you remember agitha, right? from twilight princess? the incidental, out-of-the-way npc with the completely optional sidequest to find extremely rare bugs? the character that hangs out at home all day and does not interact with any character outside of link? yeah lets make her a playable character in a game where you literally beat up entire armies, she can hit people with a shitty umbrella and also summon bugs, like a giant beetle to crush people with or a giant butterfly to ride on and dive-bomb, that makes sense lol

and the thing is! I think that’s great! it’s legitimately hilarious! and she’s viable!!! I don’t like her fighting style; she’s short range with long recovery times and her special mode relies on getting enemies airborne to actually hit anything with-- but she’s not unusable, her inclusion is a joke but she’s not a joke character, y’know?

and then they went ahead and did that with like every character and every weapon in the zelda series. like Impa, you know Impa, right? protector of the royal line, shows up in Ocarina of Time to teach you a lullaby, never actually displays any combat skills on screen? let’s give her one-a them slab-of-metal ultragreatswords, that seems reasonable. sheik plays a harp and is mysterious, let’s turn them into a ninja with kunai and shit and also a magic harp which does magic based on the songs from OoT that they teach you. how ‘bout Fi, the ghost inside the master sword that exists primarily to interrupt you with unskippable dialogue? well, she can turn into a sword, sure, but her main form of attack is interpretative dance, you know, like she does when you beat a temple. or the king of hyrule, who is a boat! very aggressively. hey why don’t we turn volvagia into a dude with a spear who can just turn back into a dragon while we’re at it

and that’s not even touching link, who has:

sword (obvious)

horse (obvious)

fire rod (flamethrower, giant laser, and most powerfully, axe)

great fairy (carries link in a bottle)

spinner (niche late-game mobility tool from Twilight Princess; 3rd best weapon in Warriors)

and gauntlets (support item that lets you carry heavy things throughout the series; 2nd best weapon in Warriors)

(the best weapon is ganon’s dual greatswords, but that’s aside the point)

and as though that wasn’t enough, they invented Link But A Girl so they could include the iron boots, which makes sense, and, fuckin’, dual crossbows.

you know, crossbows? link’s iconic weapon? that he uses exactly once?? in the game link’s crossbow training??? a throwaway motion-control-centric game for the wii???????

now. everyone is different. so I feel the need to clarify.

all of that? that’s praise. that’s adoration. this game is a love-letter to the zelda series, all of the zelda series, no matter how ridiculous, because it’s ridiculous. I love that, I aspire to that! to that dedication, that passion for a thing, the ability to take a joke and make it real, to make you forget it’s a joke because of how good it is. like when they announced pirahna plant for smash brothers, and then made him good? that emotion, informing the design of an entire game. let me stick this flail in the ground, and then use it to swing the entire earth around to hit you with, and then also, incidentally, because Link’s Awakening existed, because we can, the flail is a chain chomp!!

VIDEOGAMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*breathe in*

*breathe out*

and then I think

the people that made that

are doing one with persona

and people have the gall to be disappointed?

like, no, okay, I know, that’s too harsh. I know this isn’t what everyone wanted. I know some feel lied to and betrayed, and my inability to relate to that means y’all might not relate to this. and I know the excitement I feel now is the same as the excitement y’all felt before y’all got let down. I know that.

and yet...

if these guys can pull 42 different combat styles outta the legend of zelda series, from people without even theoretical combat experience, and then you give them the cast of persona 5?

like yakuza man, who's in the yakuza? or guns child, who dual-wields guns? or the doctor, who plausibly has needles and scalpels and doctor-y stuff? or the already extremely anime shogi player, who, fuck it, let’s turn her into a summoner archetype, run people down with cavalry an’ shit! or the fortune teller, she reads tarot, let’s arbitrarily give her tarot-based powers, drop The Tower on some hapless goons, doesn’t gotta make sense if it’s fun!!

VIDEOGAMES!!!

but maybe that’s unreasonable.

I dunno how much creative control nintendo exerted over hyrule warriors, I dunno how much atlus is gonna exert over P5S. maybe they want a more serious experience, maybe chihaya won’t be playable. chihaya being playable doesn’t make sense, and I know that, that’s fine

but even then

I also think

persona 4 arena had the 4 in it

but they still had dudes from 3

so

you know

we’ll see.

[rottenappleheart]

mm liveblog part 2

majora’s mask, unfiltered notes for the entire first 3-day cycle until you get the ocarina back and are no longer a slave to the passage of time

DAWN OF

THE FIRST DAY

72 HOURS REMAIN

tatl's thesis - that we should ask the great fairy for help, because the skull kid is no match for the great fairy - is deeply flawed. i have met great fairies. do you know what they don't do? help much.

that said i now like the idea of the skull kid being periodically taken to task by various great fairies

"sit down and tell me what you did this time"

"i made  you a sandwich"

"are you sorry"

i know it's meant to be irritating but i love that the guards will stop both deku link and normal link (until they see he's armed, and also looks like he hasn't slept in seven years) from exiting. becasue they are doing their job and keeping the population safe. and that means not letting children wander around alone.

I LOVE CLOCK TOWN OKAY

I TALK TO EVERYONE ABOUT THEIR LIVES AND I READ ALL THE POSTERS FOR THE LOCAL BANDS AND THE GUARD RECRUITMENTS AND I WATCH THAT ODD MASKED PERSON PICK UP THEIR MAIL AND I TRY TO BEFRIEND THE LOCAL STRAY DOGS AND IT IS JUST SO GOOD

the grown deku scrub who promised his wife a moon's tear, i just have to ask: is that a thing that normally happens? does the moon always just... cry onto the surface of the planet? what???

i love their banners and streamers and their happy music and their busy bustling lives and it's so good

what the fuck kind of ink does the banker use that remains indelible even as time itself unwinds

yikes i want to stop and just look at everything but the first sunset is already closing in and i haven't done anything

I FORGOT HOW NERVE-WRACKING THIS GAME IS BEFORE YOU CAN SLOW TIME DOWN

i... just found a lottery shop in clock town. i literally never knew this was here. how have i missed it all these years.

NIGHT OF

THE FIRST DAY

60 HOURS REMAIN

how is time passing so fast aaaaaaa

clocktown is such a nice place, they have a whole section of town set aside for a public park with a playground and gardens and everything ;___;

okay so the  great fairies though

remember what i was saying about how this game is actually very heavily voiced for being an ostensibly unvoiced game? everyone sighs, grunts, yells, hmms? and so on. and sometimes you'll catch almost a word.

except for the great fairy, it just sounds like she's squeaking "PLEASE ME" which is. an uncomfortable request. at the best of times.

but especially when i am in the form of a young potted plant.

idk what that was supposed to sound like but the midi-ified file is NOT GREAT, nintendo.

members-only late night milk bar... aw yeah please spike my milkshake, that is a great idea and i love it

(i'm not joking i love spiked milkshakes)

(also i love the milk bar and all the scenes that take place in there, especially on the last night, when you can just have very quiet calm conversations with people doing their best to be calm in the face of their unavoidable deaths)

DAWN OF

THE SECOND DAY

48 HOURS REMAIN

oh no oh no oh no WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO BE DOING IN THE FIRST GO-ROUND

oh right i have literally two tasks

phew

i forgot to go into the stock pot inn on the first day, and i missed seeing kafei at the mailbox, so i am THIRSTY for EVERYONE'S FAVORITE CANONICAL FIANCEES

seriously, another weird but lovely choice on the part of the developers when they were ganking oot character models for this game. "who's a potential spooky villain? how about that one merchant guy? sure! and for an attractive bride-type character, what are our options? hmmm... how about the cuccoo lady with all the allergies? it's perfect"

i love not just anju and kafei but everything involved in their storyline - how kafei's friendship with the curiosity shop manager saved him, how anju's best friend is cremia on the ranch and they talk about their lives and how cremia will save her life (if she can), how you can spend actual in-game hours just sitting with anju's ancient senile grandmother hearing her stories as she thinks she is telling them to her long-dead son, how anju's mom will quietly not like kafei and kafei's mom will love and worry about him on a serious level very unlike her public persona... it's all so very real and human and i love it so

also heck the whole cast of characters staying in the inn

AH THERE SHE IS

THE BRIDE

anju i'm going to fix this ;___;

hello guardsmen if you are concerned about the state of today's youth maybe you should talk to THE BOMBER GANG i'm just saying

people who have played the more recent loz games, is the trend of "horrible underaged gangs of roving thugs" still a thing? or are mm and ww the only two games where they inflicted that on the player?

NIGHT OF

THE SECOND DAY

36 HOURS REMAIN

i'm sweating, i am just trying to find the bomber gang so i can get into the observatory so i can get the moon's tear so i can get the flower launch pad so i can get to the top of the clock tower and not die in a fiery inferno as gravitational forces rip the world apart

is that so much to ask

THERE'S THE LITTLE RUGRAT

COME HERE SO I CAN PUMMEL YOU

i refuse to feel bad about spin-kicking this child in the face because 1) i am technically also a child, in any body they put me in and 2) they are super racist if you talk to them while you are still a deku scrub! VERY RUDE

heck they let fergus over there man the door and he is still in diapers

gonna fill their hideout with encouraging tracts and stuff helping them grow into better people

so, fun fact

i remember many things about this game

but not that there is a skulltula in the waterway leading to the observatory

that was an unpleasant surprise

you probably could have heard me yell from three states away

(also, nothing has attacked you yet in the game (that actually does damage, and is not part of the story) so it's a little wake-up call: hey, don't forget to use Tatl to scout ahead, don't forget that you have a shield

also just

don't

be a moron

anyway

i was about to ask who the dickens put balloons with majora's mask on them all over the place - it's a weird choice, since no one... knows... what's going on? but technically, so far, all of the balloons are being interacted with by the bombers, or in places where the bombers go, and skull kid was, however briefly, a member of the bombers' secret society for justice (AND ALSO RACISM) so actually it makes more sense than i expected

when you first walk into the basement of the observatory and... the music changes... and there's a chicken??? it is what i assume being high is like.

DAWN OF

THE FINAL DAY

24 HOURS REMAIN

plays just as i lunge for the moon's tear

okay i've got this, i can stop fretting, the while last day can just be me looking around at stuff and being sad because i can't help anybody

yet

DON'T WORRY PEOPLE I WILL SAVE YOU

EVENTUALLY

IN A DIFFERENT LIFE

YOU'RE DEFINITELY BONED IN THIS ONE

SORRY ABOUT THAT

BUT I'M A STUMP THAT CHEWS BUBBLE GUM RIGHT NOW AND I DON'T THINK YOU CAN ASK VERY MUCH OF ME

I CAN'T EVEN REACH THE DOORKNOBS OF THIS TOWN SO TBH I WASN'T GOING TO BE MUCH GOOD AGAINST AN INTERSTELLAR BODY CRASHING INTO THE PLANET

a more srs thought: it was an interesting choice of curse skull kid lays on link at the start, making him into a deku scrub, and i think we can unpack some stuff there: he's drawing on his woodland roots (which link shares), he's making link into something small and largely helpless (like skull kid is, without the mask), he's... actually giving link a very similar kind of body to  his own?

i don't know what  the exact taxonomical differentiation is between deku scrubs and skull kids, but they are both wooden-bodied, whether grown or carved, they both have radiantly glowing eyes unlike most other things in the world, they both clothe themselves in bright layers of leaves... i imagine that if you sandblasted all the drama off a skull kid, you'd find something pretty similar to the lankier deku scrubs.

in that case, what he did is... he really kinda turned link into himself. but his helpless, powerless, abandoned, friendless, pre-mask self. to taunt him with all those awful feelings that skull kid himself experienced.

(mythological distinction for skull kids: they are people who got lost in the woods, and became cursed. if i'm not mistaken.)

(link is literally becoming a skull kid.)

(good times y'all!)

oh gosh the music is so frantic on the third day, and it's such a good bit of development on the design team's side: every day, clock town's music gets a little faster, a little shriller, as their time runs out

if you talk to the guards who block you in on the third day, instead of their usual "hey kiddo it's dangerous outside" they'll start saying "hey, are you alone, where is your family, are you okay, someone is probably worrying about you, please find them and get out of town as soon as you can"

fun fact: one of the things that consistently Wrecks me about this game is how the guards stand at their posts, jaws clenched, holding their fists to their hearts, as they watch their world be destroyed... because they will not abandon their duty.

seriously, every time i die.

and the cow figurines all over town that, if you hadn't noticed before, have bobbleheads, because as the earth starts shaking they do too, and it's another tiny detail that makes it all The Worst.

awkward council meeting eavesdropped on

("nothing is wrong!" is a lot less believable when the ground is literally shaking from the gravitational stresses being exerted by the falling moon, but hey, 2018)

the carpenters shouting back and forth "hey dudes i'm sorry but i'm gonna jet" "are you kidding if i stay i get a promotion"

;_______;

SO MANY RACISTS IN CLOCK TOWN, the merchant's hipster assistant will literally refuse to talk to you if you're "just" a deku scrub

meanwhile the bomb shop guy's grandmother (the one who gets robbed, if you're not paying attention, like i wasn't) is just "oh goodness you are a very small customer, please be careful in our shop of very dangerous things"

NIGHT OF

THE FINAL DAY

12 HOURS REMAIN

eeeeeeeeeeep

finally got into the milk bar (everyone's a member when the world is ending!) and madame aroma, the scary and powerful socialite, starts with a very gentle "are you okay with not fleeing? it looks like we are all going to die here in town. is anyone looking for you?"

if i had all my masks and instruments i would love to invoke that scene right now and be the band on the titanic and give her and the other customers a few minutes of... life, if not joy, and beauty, if not quite comfort.

snuck into the now-abandoned stock pot inn, as well, and... okay, i'm going to say it, i don't know wtf is going on with anju's wedding dress. is her midriff made out of ivy? why is her romantic wedding-day mask (which is a neat concept btw!) a grinning rictus? what are we saying about love in this moment???)

(also, if you have ever made the mistake of helping kafei but forgetting to tell anju to wait for him, or telling anju to wait and then not helping kafei deal with sakon... it's a shitshow, it's bad for you, it darkens your heart forever)

during the last 12 hours the guards will say "i want to help you get out of her asap, run find your folks and i will let you out, please hurry"

nooooooo ;_______;

the postman sobbing because "flee for your life" is not written on the schedule

he wrote himself a letter saying that he is doing a good job and he requests that he himself flee ;__________________; but he can't do it ;__________________________;

oh no here we go

here it comes

the clocktower

the fireworks

the moon

the six hours remaining music

HEART CLUTCH

soft wailing

ngl that sad and weary music is the best part of the entire narrative experience to me

and then skull kid's impotent fury against all that immense power

tatl to skull kid: "what if we... didn't???"

also a good and valid point: friends don't hit friends

JUST LOOK ABOVE YOU

IF IT'S SOMETHING THAT CAN BE STOPPED

JUST TRY AND STOP IT

(his voice is still so horribly thin and shrill, like a child)

but one well-placed gum bubble to the face and we are BACK IN BUSINESS

the BUSINESS

of RUNNING FOR OUR LIVES

from THINGS WE CANNOT FIGHT

i like that the one time zelda appears in the game, it is such a gentle and tender scene, reminding you of the bond she MUST have had with Link, for him to have done so much, and how much trust he puts in her

(... ask me again about the Song of Endings)

("even though it was only a short time, i feel like i've known you forever")

("i believe in my heart that a day will come when i shall meet you again")

(--> all my worst most wretched tp emotions about the wolf and the shrouded lady in the tower)

the song that reminds her of herself and link is the song of time, not anything else... the song about cycles and memory and history and second chances and legends

;_________________;

WELL FUCK I GUESS I'M HAVING PRINCESS ZELDA FEELS IN THE MIDDLE OF  THE GAME IN WHICH SHE DOES NOT PLAY A ROLE

i have to play the songs in the right time, i can't just half-ass it by speeding through the buttons, idk why

("the goddess of time is watching over you" --> old old questions about who the goddess of time is, and which sage zelda was, etc)

the PLOT TWIST when you equip the ocarina and it turns into A GOSHDARN BRASS QUINTET STRAPPED TO YOUR BACK i love it

(each little snail yeah knows how to wail yeah)

tatl saying [as midna will, centuries later]: um dude i mean sir WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU, HAVE I MISJUDGED, SUDDENLY I AM WORRIED ABOUT MY MANNERS

and we are... not victorious, but reprieved!!!

i'll do better this time everyone i promise

DAWN OF

THE FIRST DAY

AGAIN...!!!

[quell-tea-salon]

Yumeiro Cast Dream Show 2017 event report!

In my short time in Japan I’ve attended quite a few concerts and seiyuu events, and this concert is honestly one of the best that I’ve experienced. I know this blog is mostly for QUELL, but I don’t have anywhere else to share this from... Feel free to scroll past if this isn’t for you.

I’ll also be rambling a lot about Hatanaka Tasuku and Hayashi Yuu ;w;

I recall regretting applying for tickets at some point, because having to travel from Kyoto to Tokyo (or rather, Chiba, since the venue was Makuhari Messe) just for the concert was a huge pain, and very expensive. Boy, am I glad I did though. To begin with, getting tickets to ANY popular event is a tough process. You have to enter a draw to have a shot at getting a ticket, and if you miss out on that, you’ll have to buy the tickets when they go on sale later, and they usually sell out in under ten seconds. I’m not kidding. I’ve experienced this pain. On multiple occasions. Anyway, the first draw was opened to players only (the URL link was a banner in the game’s home screen), which is a really nice gesture. I managed to get a ticket in this draw :)

I arrived at the venue about 30 minutes before the show and bypassed the merchandise corner, as the queue looked scary and I didn’t have much time. Jumped in the queue to take a photograph of the standees (pictured above; and yes, there was a queue for this too), which took about 15 minutes, and then rushed over to join a queue for one of the bathrooms (all of them had long queues /pukes blood). I started chatting with a lady in a cute dress in line behind me and found out that we both have Kaito as our fav (plus Subaru for me). She was happy to find another Kaito fan and whipped out a couple of beautifully packaged small prints from her bag and handed them to me *_* Turns out she’s an artists and draws a lot of Kaito!! I was so surprised but flattered and felt bad about not having anything on hand to give her in return... I just gave her the kiwi bird badge from my backpack that I picked up while traveling in New Zealand, sweats...

Minutes till starting time and we were still caught in the queue, though getting very close to the bathroom. We debated giving up and leaving to find our seats so we wouldn’t miss the opening act, but decided to stay since having to leave halfway through the show for the bathroom would be worse. A few minutes later we heard screams coming from the arena and thought that the show had started, but the girl behind us assured us that they were just playing some promotional videos on the big screen and that nothing was happening on stage. We passed the message on to the group of girls in front of us as we heard them fretting about the same thing. Community spirit!

I parted ways with my new friend after leaving the bathroom and went to find my seat; inside the arena the lights had already been dimmed and clearly something was about to start. I was still stumbling around in the dark when all seven members of Yumeiro Company burst onto stage to the tune of CALL HEAVEN!! and by the time I found my spot they were probably halfway through the song;;;;

My seat was on the third floor, but quite close to the left side of the stage, so in a way it was a good spot as I could just barely make out the faces of the performers standing on my side of the stage. Their formation, from right to left: Subaru, Kaito, Sousei, Kyouya, Hinata, Iori, and Jin. I was still shaky from scrambling to find my seat and honestly don’t remember much, but I know that they were all dressed sharply in formal suits, and that the chorus had a dance routine that was fun and cheerful, fitting of a musical show. As we all know, the cast of YumeCast has a lot of strong singers, so I could relax and appreciate the vocals. I managed to find my pen light too and was ready to finally join the party :3

After the opening act I thought they would break for an introductory talk, but they launched straight into the next song. Everyone except Kyoya left the stage as the intro for Kyoya’s solo, Kimi ni Chikatta Monogatari started playing, and we all scrambled to change our pen lights to pink. Tbh I think Ohsaka Ryota’s one of the less experienced singers in the group, but I was pleasantly surprised by his solid performance. He definitely leveled up a lot since the start of YumeCast, and each of his graceful, princely gestures was very much Kyoya.

Hinata jumped onto stage next to perform Glass no Shoes ha Niawanai (I should mention that these solos were game-sized length and played back to back like a medley). We all melted at how cute he was, and he even slipped in a few lines directed at “oneesan! ;)” *Audience screams and dies* Uemura Yuuto’s usually a good singer but he went off-pitch a few times, probably due to nerves...

Iori was next with Tsumetai Yozora wo Terasu no ha. This is the third time I’ve seen Hanae Natsuki live, and you can tell he’s a seasoned performer by how comfortable he is on stage, and how his vocals are always clear and steady. His lines as Iori made a lot of people in the audience scream, but honestly whenever I see Hanae his joker character is all I register and I couldn’t really appreciate Iori LOL.

Kaito appeared on stage, rocking along to PASSION LASER BEAM, and this is where I died. Hayashi Yuu is phenomenal to watch live, he’s arguably one of the best singers of the group and is amazing at working the crowd, which isn’t surprising considering he’s the vocalist of Screen Mode. Hayashu brought a living, breathing Kaito onto stage in all his haughty glory T_____T It’s my dream to one day catch Screen Mode live as well...

Jin’s Kokoro no (ry was up next. I have to admit that I’m not a fan of Jin’s singing, I think it forces Ono Yuuki to fake a lower register which stifles his singing and it sounds unnatural, which is a shame when Onoyuu has such a lovely smooth voice. Onoyuu kept his fooling around to a minimum at this point, but he couldn’t stop his sunny trademark grin ww

SUBARU! WITH BACKDANCERS!!! Performing You & Me... de, Wave!!! If I had to pick a fav moment in the show, this would be it. Hatanaka Tasuku is SUCH a skilled singer, there’s so much energy in his voice, and his solo even included an intense dance routine which was amazing to watch. This is my fav solo charasong from YumeCast and Subaru completely smashed it... I’m buying the DVD later so I can watch it again ;____; I was so blown-away by the performance that I didn’t even notice what he was wearing >< I also noticed that one of the security staff near my block, who, up till then, was doing a good job of checking on the audience, couldn’t help but look at the stage once Subaru started singing. He watched up till the 2nd chorus lol before turning back to his job.

[OOT: This is my second time meeting Tasuku and each time I see him I feel like a proud mother watching her son grow by leaps and bounds >< The first time I met him was at the 5th fan meeting for Nariyuki Night, hosted by Tasuku and Yonaga Tsubasa. It was a small, cosy event of maybe 200 people, and it blew my mind that we got to see them at such a close distance. The coolest part was that they implemented a bunch of interactive activities to get the audience involved, one of which was a game where they had to guess an item based on clues shown on screen and borrow it from the audience.... Which meant that they had to run up and down the aisles of the seats, and at one point Yonaga grabbed a girl’s hand and escorted her down to the stage *_* Tasuku came by my seat and stopped to think about clues, so I literally had him standing next to me for like half a minute ahjghadllkjad. Also they were dressed in school uniform as one of the many suggestions for the “summer theme”; Yonaga in a beige vest, short sleeves, and colourful hairclips in his hair (he really looked like Nagisa from Free!), and Tasuku with a loose red tie and long shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Cute af. Prior to that I’d only seen Tasuku on livestreams and heard him on radio, and I’m glad to report that he’s every bit as earnest and clumsy in person as he is on air, like an awkward oversized puppy still learning how to walk but excited for someone to throw him a ball ;w;]

The last solo was Sousei’s Dare mo ga Ashi(ry. I was looking forward to this as I’ve been a fan of Toyonaga Toshiyuki since his Tenimyu days, and I love his singing voice. He wasn’t as smooth as in the recorded version, but still a delight to hear live.

Without giving us time to catch our breath, the show moved on to the next song. Hinata appeared on stage in a dark suit and a cape, accompanied by dancers dressed in ghoulish outfits. It was Mysterious Mission! This was a super fun song with a cute zombie dance, and at one point Hinata was hoisted up onto the shoulders of the backdancers in a sort of ALL HAIL YOUR CUTE MONSTER LORD routine. An oh, all the songs from this point on were performed in full :3

Next, Subaru and Jin appeared in santa outfits for Holy Melody Night. This is probably one of my least favourite songs in YumeCast, imo it’s the wrong key for both singers and doesn’t really showcase their voices. They were both so cute on stage though! Running from one end of the stage to the other and waving at us with huge smiles. The concert hall was enveloped in a warm, sparkly atmosphere ;w;

Next was the moment I had been waiting for - Kaito’s Kamigami no Senen (still not sure about the reading for the last 2 kanji tbh). I was hoping that this song would be included in the set list T_______T Kaito caused a stir when he appeared on the stage at the back of the arena, which I wasn’t even aware of. Dressed in graceful white robes and enveloped in mist, he was so beautiful to watch, I forgot to breathe... This song is a Big Deal for me because it’s an unseen side of both Kaito and Hayashu; before Kamigami neither have ever performed with such delicate vocals afaik. Even Screen Mode’s ballads have a completely different feel. When the song ended, the audience quietly broke into applause, instead of the cheering or screaming that happened with other songs...

Kyoya appeared back on the main stage with Sand Mirage, dressed in an Arabian Nights-esque costume and matching dancers. I’m very fond of this song, it’s so catchy and seems to fit Kyoya’s vocal range the most! And it definitely showed off his singing skills. Beautiful vibrato on the notes at the end of the chorus ;3;

Sousei and Iori gracefully descended upon the second stage in butler outfits. The yandere Tapestry song! They started off with a short skit, probably lines from the musical, and when Hanae fumbled one of his lines Tosshi teased him about it ww This is one of my favourite duets but sadly the vocals were rather shaky, with both singing off-key at many instances. A+ for the skit, the bedroom lines directed at “ojousama”, and Sousei’s psychotic laugh at the end.

I should love Final Approach since it features my two favs Subaru and Kaito, but unfortunately it’s one of the most boring songs for me... It didn’t stop me from appreciating the singing though. And the beautiful harmonies in the chorus. And the two boys in pilot outfits. And the high-five halfway through the song!! This was also the moment I understood the reason why some people bring two or more pen lights as I couldn’t decide whose colour to use...

Jin and Kyoya rose up from platforms under the stage in shinsengumi robes for Hi ha Noboru(ry. The katanas holstered on their hips were drawn for a fight scene vs the back dancers! The stage was bathed in violet and blue to match the moody atmosphere.

Then Iori and Kaito hopped onto stage and we all bobbed along to Sekai ha Koi to SWEETS! AND! KISS! *waves pen light frantically* This is such a cute song and both Iori and Kaito were super cute, throwing saccharine lines at the audience and getting everyone to join in the fun ;w; Iirc both of them even threw us some flying kisses....

Next, Stronger Than Medicine with Hina and Sousei. In white doctor’s coats and supported by a big group of dancers, Hina played the experienced head doctor while Sousei tagged along like a clueless junior lol. Parts of the dance were very cute and funny for comedic effect, and though for the most part it wasn’t an intense dance routine Tosshi still managed to show off his dancer background >< I kinda wished that we got to see him dance in a more high-tempo song, but Sousei gets all the ballads...

Around this time I noticed that a group of staff were busy setting up some sort of elevated platform-trolley thing at the end of the corridor between the 2nd and 3rd floor; I’d seen something similar happen at the Yuri on Stage event and my heartbeat jumped as I guessed what would happen next...

When the lights turned back on, the rest of the crew had joined Hina and Sousei on stage, and everyone was in their blue and white sailor outifts for Sunshine World Tour! This was the FIRST break in the show, can you believe it? The cast FINALLY introduced themselves (still in-character), and then Sousei announced that the show was about to come to and end, which came as a surprise because it honestly didn’t feel like the show started that long ago, even though we had actually sat through a LOT of songs. The audience began to whine “Ehhhhhhh?” Then the music for Sunshine World Tour started and the cast split into 2 groups, making the audience scream when they headed into the crowd, climbed up the stairs to the 3rd floor, and boarded one of the two trolleys on either end of the corridor. The audience went crazy when they realised what was happening! On the trolley that started from my end of the hall were Kyoya, Jin-san, and Hina, singing and waving enthusiastically at the audience as they traveled around the U-shaped concert hall. I couldn’t believe my eyes when they passed right in front of me... From my seat in the 2nd row they were SO CLOSE, and even at eye level! I honestly could’ve hi-fived them if I stretched out my arm. When the 2nd trolley came by I had my pen light set to orange and hoped Kaito would wave at me, but he was busy engaging the upper floors. Iori met my eyes though and gave me the sweetest smile ;w; They were meant to sing Sunshine World Tour, but very little singing was done as everyone was busy greeting and waving at the audience wwwwwwww It was a real treat for everyone on the 2nd and 3rd floors...

After the trolleys reached the opposite ends of the hall, the cast made their way back to the main stage and we were asked to sing along to the the chorus for a while as lyrics popped up on the screen :D After the song ended, the cast said their thanks and waved goodbye before disappearing backstage. The lights dimmed again and the audience began to chant “Encore~! Encore~!”

We were probably in the dark for about 5 minutes before the cast came back onto stage, dressed in Dream Show 2017 t-shirts. The cast could finally introduce themselves lol. “We can finally speak! As ourselves!!” “It is okay? Can I really start talking? OKAY I’M DOING IT :DDD” Onoyu let loose and chaos descended upon the stage wwwwww There was no outline for this talk segment so they pretty much did whatever they wanted www

What I can recall, in dot points:

Thanked us for all the love and support which allowed YumeCast to reach it’s 2nd anniversary

Ohsaka was super nervous as it’s his first concert, and Tosshi said that he kept muttering “I’m so nervous” up till the moment before their first appearance on stage, yet once he stepped onto stage he slipped right into character and looked so calm and confident

Tosshi and Onoyu admitted that they sing with their faces (their facial expressions are “noisy”)

Tosshi praised Ohsaka for bringing the rowdy team together like a real Kyoya, and Ohsaka lamented the fact that nobody listens to him while the rest of the team surrounded him and danced and hooted like gorillas www

Tosshi thanked the crew and staff for all their hard work behind the scenes, from dance choreography to costumes. Staff were always on standby backstage, ready to help them change into their next outfits, and as he watched the staff work frantically to keep the show running he truly felt like he was part of a real life Yumeiro Company troupe.

Up till the last rehearsal, Hayashu got one of the hand gestures for CALL HEAVEN!! wrong (he made a fox shape instead of a “W” for “welcome”)

Tasuku and Yuuto put in a lot of practice for their dances. Yuuto practiced his zombie shuffle even while out walking in public and got stared at. “My favourite part of the dance is when they lift me up! :D”

Hanae said it was unfair that Hinata could capture everyone’s hearts just with his “Onee~san♥”, so someone suggested everyone do their own version of “oneesan“ and put them to a vote.

Tasuku was up first... and promptly tripped over his first line, in typical Tasuku fashion wwwww I love him, he’s so clumsy and uncoordinated ;3; They gave him a second chance and this time he said something along the lines of “Thank you for your support this past two years!” and ended on a very cute and energetic “oneesan!!!!” Ughhh PUPPYYYYY

Kaito’s embarrassed tsundere “O.. onee...san...”

Sousei’s calm, somewhat sly “Oneesan :)”

The audience cracked up at Kyoya’s “Oneesan, jiken desu.” (Oneesan, there’s been an accident.) I had to look this up but it’s apparently a famous line from an old TV drama called HOTEL, lol

Kyoya’s take 2. A heartfelt message to all the scriptwriters in the audience, followed by the sweetest “...oneesan”.

Hanae did a skit where Iori was surprised but ecstatic about receiving a present from the MC in the form of a limited edition shoebill merch. “Thank you, oneesan!!”

Zun-san..... was Zun-san. “How about we spend the night together? My one and only oneesan♥”

Finally, the last boss. Hinata started to speak in that saccharine-sweet voice, “Boku,” and already half of the audience were screaming from that first word... “I’ll keep on working hard, so keep your eyes on me, okay? Oneesan♥“ *dying whale sounds from audience*

“Why did we even have this competition, we already knew who the winner would be.”

“You had them at “Boku”...”

Tosshi pointed out that they shouldn’t leave out the handful of guys in the audience, so everyone banded together and yelled “Thank you, oniisan!” and the guys responded with “Yeaaaaaaah!!!” haha

Farewell messages, final thoughts, and thank you’s

Ohsaka admitted that in his first year of playing Kyoya he had regrets about accepting the role, but after some time he found ways to connect with Kyoya and he’s very happy to be part of YumeCast. (I had a feeling that he wasn’t enjoying himself when I watched him on YumeCast livestream... turns out my hunch was correct :0 I’m glad that he’s found his place now!)

Next they showed a video announcing upcoming projects (live action musicals, new CD’s, drama CD’s) and the release of the DVD/BD of Dream Show 2017. Everyone else perched on the staircase to watch the video but Tasuku made himself small and sat on the floor with his knees folded primly. Smol puppy....

Lastly, the crew performed NEVER END STORIES as confetti cannons shot glitter over the arena. Then the dancers joined the cast on stage for the final farewell. Everyone took their turn bowing and saying thanks. Kyoya was last to leave the stage, and he lingered for a few moments to thank the audience. Sousei, who was near Kyoya, came up to him and said “Kyoya, let’s go :)” and Kyoya nodded before retreating from the stage. *Audience dies again*

After the show, I remember feeling so happy and satisfied. Of course, every event I’ve attended has been fun, but none of them made me feel as loved and appreciated as YumeCast Dream Show 2017. They knew what we wanted, and they delivered. I rate it 10/10 for being jam-packed with content (honestly, nobody expected them to perform this many songs), and it was very impressive that every song had its own set of costumes and choreography. It really felt like watching a musical show. The concert felt like it ended too soon because everything moved so quickly, but it had actually run for just over 2 hours. I do wish that they had given the cast more talk time, but i guess that was sacrificed to make space for more songs. I can live with that.

I’ve been playing YumeCast for almost a year now and have considered quitting several times since the gameplay gets pretty repetitive after a while (plus new games coming into my life), but after this concert I have fallen in love all over again and will continue to support YumeCast ;3; Honestly, just from watching the monthly livestreams you can tell how hard they try to keep us happy.

[totk-headcanons]

ZeLink, MaLink, NabsGan, NabsImpa, Midlink, MidZeLink, Shink, Hildavio (Hilda/Ravio) Fierce Deity/Hylia, Tingle/A burning abyss.

Alright, rapid fire thoughts and one line headcanons. For the more ambiguous ones I’m going to assume OoT characters are being referenced.

ZeLink: Cute! Before Link left for Termina I imagine he spent a lot of time at the castle just being great child hood friends with Zelda and getting up to all kinds of hijinks. By the time he got back from his adventure in MM, even Zelda’s father was joking about them practically being engaged. It wasn’t until they were both a bit older (late teens, early 20′s) and had gone through a few failed romances with other partners that they realized “Whoops, we’ve fallen in love.”

MaLink: Like MidLink years latter, I hold this to be the definitive ship for Ocarina of Time. (As far as that particular Link goes, I thin Romani is a better option but we’re just looking at OoT here). We know for an absolute fact that Malon is one of the people Link reached out and reconnected with after being sent back to the child timeline since he borrows and uses Epona again for the events of Majora’s Mask. From Malon’s perspective, it would be pretty shocking if one day a young boy in green clothes swept into the ranch, immediately befriended the most temperamental horse in the entire herd with a song only you knew and rode off into the sunset. The mystery alone would be enough to drive her crazy (assuming Link didn’t ask to use Epona beforehand, and even if he did). Talon would tease her about her obsession, calling it a crush. When Link eventually returned to Hyrule, he’d be met with a barrage of questions about where he went, where he came from and how the hell he know’s Epona’s song. Malon would declare herself Link’s rival and compete with him over who Epona likes more. This rivalry eventually blossoms into romance which leads to marriage and kids. Fast forward YEARS and we find a new Link growing up in a small ranch/farming community south of Castle Town with his own Epona and yeah I think y’all can see where I’m going with this. Hyrule Historia says that TP Link is a direct descendant of OoT Link and I think we all know who OoT Link ended up with to make it happen. Case closed.

NabsGan: Ganondorf was actually an honorable man once, with good intentions for the betterment of his people. Nabooru respected that quite a bit until Twinrova stepped in and started seeding thoughts of the Triforce and an open coup against Hyrule in his head. It’s safe to say that Ganondorf may have had feelings for Nabooru as well, at least before he succumbed to the influence of Demise. I like to think a small part of him regretted what happened to her after he went bad.

MidLink/MidZelLink: Have already been covered extensively on this blog, including the previous post to this one. While I am all for polyamory, I sadly have no experience with either observing it or writing it. Also TP Zelda is kind of hard to write for since she played such a minor role.

Shink: Did this one already but oh man is Link gay as hell for Shiek. Seven years of hormones all hitting his system at once and he has no idea how to deal. Actually makes Shiek’s disappearing acts a lot easier since Link ends up in a daze whenever he’s around.

Hildavio: CUTE. Ravio went through a lot of trouble to help restore Lorule (or at least that’s what he’d have you believe) and Hilda knows it. I can just imagine Ravio trying to be suave, charming and romantically roguish only to completely beef it somehow. Hilda of course laughs and scoops him up in a big hug and delivers smooches.

Fierce Deity/Hylia: So what if the Fierce Deity is actually the spirit of the first Hero as depected in the Skyward Sword manga featured in Hyrule Historia? After sacrificing himself to ensure the safety of Hylia’s chosen people as they escaped into the sky, he somehow ascended to Godhood. Perhaps it was a gift from the Triforce or the Golden Goddesses or Hylia herself. We know that Hylia had grown very fond of and attracted to this Link, which is why she set the beginning stages of the Hero Cycle to begin with. I posit that a small piece of the Fierce Deity exists within the soul of each incarnation of the Hero, Link. Hylia established this cycle of reincarnation and rebirth to allow for herself and the Fierce Deity to be together in some fashion or another for forever and eternity. Of course Demise had to come back and mess things up but the whole thing is incredibly romantic.

Tingle/A Burning Abyss: I have to draw the line here. This blog does not support or condone incest ships in any shape or form and I will not ship Tingle with that whence he came.

[Lonely Voe]

[mysmashplaythroughs]

Ocarina of Time Link Playthrough

Fighter: Link (Ocarina of Time Incarnation)

Game: The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time, Wii U virtual console (N64). First Released on November 21st 1998.

Fighter Bio.

Having drawn the Master Sword from the Pedestal of Time, roughly 9-year-old Link finds himself flung 7 years into the future, now a 16-year-old standing in the Temple of Time. He meets Rauru the Sage of Light who informs him that he had been put into a slumber for the past seven years in order to grow into a state in which he could effectively wield the Master Sword, and that in that time Ganondorf had taken the Triforce of Power and conquered Hyrule. Rauru tells Link that he must now find the other seven sages in order to gain the power needed to defeat Ganondorf and save Hyrule. Stepping out of the Temple of Time Link finds before him a far different Hyrule Castle Town to the one he had left behind, buildings in ruin, Hyrule Castle destroyed and replaced with Ganon’s Tower and Redead Zombies the only residents now in the town square. Link later finds out that most of the surviving citizens of Hyrule Castle Town had escaped to Kakariko Village, with it being a more bustling location than it was seven years before, with many of the shops from the Castle Town now found there.

Link meets many characters he’d met in his childhood once again. With seven years having passed many of the children he’d met such as Malon of Lon Lon Ranch have aged similarly to him. It is on Lon Lon Ranch Link also meets the now grown up foal Epona who he had met seven years earlier. With the help from Malon’s song she had taught Link as a child, he manages to save Epona from being given to Ganon by the new corrupt owner of the Ranch, in the process breaking Ganon’s hold over him and saving the ranch. With Epona now helping Link he can travel across Hyrule faster as well as using her ability to jump over fences to access areas he couldn’t before. During his travels Link often meets a mysterious character called Sheik who teaches him various songs that Link can use to warp to locations related to the sage’s temples. After a long difficult quest Link manages to awaken six of the seven sages before being reunited with the seventh, Princess Zelda who had been in hiding for the past seven years. However, once she reveals herself, Ganondorf locates Zelda and captures her taking her to his Tower where Link must travel to with the help of the sages in order to finally take down Ganon and bring peace back to Hyrule. Following his adventure, Link is sent back to the past, to the moment he left seven years ago and is never seen again in this specific timeline in Hyrule’s history, being regarded as the legendary Hero of Time and passing into myth.

Friends: Link in his travels as a child met many characters throughout Hyrule and following his journey seven years into the future met many of these characters again as an adult. Saria is Link’s oldest friend having lived with him in Kokiri Forest as a child before he left on his adventure, following this Link met Princess Zelda and Impa who helped guide him on his quest. He met Darunia leader of the Gorons, Princess Ruto of the Zora as well as Malon during his travels as a child as well as being reunited with them in the future. Many of these characters with the exception of Malon would turn out to be sages when Link met them again, with Rauru and a Gerudo called Nabooru being the other two sages Link meets and befriends. The sages all help Link during his quest to take down Ganon, using their powers during his journey to and through Ganon’s Tower. Link has two more key friends who help him, Epona the horse who he can ride to travel around Hyrule Field and a couple of other locations such as Lake Hylia and the Gerudo Training Grounds, and Navi his loyal fairy companion who travelled with Link from the very start of his quest. Navi was sent to help Link by the Great Deku Tree, the guardian of the Kokiri Forest where Link grew up and who acted as a parental figure to Link and the Kokiri living there.

Enemies/Rivals: Link’s main enemy is Ganondorf the King of the Gerudo who, in the seven years Link was in stasis, took the Triforce. Due to the imbalance in his heart however, he could not hold the full Triforce and it separated leaving him with only the Triforce of Power. The Triforce of Wisdom went to Princess Zelda and the Triforce of Courage went to Link. As such, Ganondorf seeks Link and Zelda in order to reclaim all three pieces of the Triforce and rule Hyrule without opposition. With the Triforce of Power alone however Ganondorf has already managed to conquer Hyrule when Link arrives, controlling many monsters who have captured the Sages and spread chaos throughout the land. Link battles many of these creatures, from Volvagia the ancient dragon of Death Mountain to humanoid foes such as Phantom Ganon and Twinrova, the twin Gerudo witches. This Link also canonically is the first to encounter and battle Dark Link, a shadowy reflection of himself who appears from his reflection in the Water Temple.

Link also fights the assorted creatures and soldiers making up Ganon’s army such as Octoroks, Stalfos, Moblins and Lizalfos. Link doesn’t make many enemies of the people of Hyrule with mostly his enemies being monsters. The only exceptions to these are the guards in the Gerudo Fortress, who are more attacking him for intruding in their fortress than as enemies and the majority of them will simply throw him in a cell when they catch him, Deku Scrubs who, sometimes when defeated offer to sell Link things (although other variants will fight to the death) and then there are Gorons who can accidentally damage Link if they run into him whilst rolling around their city or down Death Mountain.

Crossovers with other Smash characters: This Link has not specifically crossed over with any other characters outside of Smash Bros unlike his younger incarnation. He has been represented as an alt costume for Link in Hyrule Warriors however, being able to fight against and with other versions of Link, Zelda and Ganondorf from throughout the series. EDIT: And now, this is probably the first post I’ve gone back to alter following a new character being revealed. This is a tenuous connection really overall, but it’s a very notable event in gaming that I’ve finally had a chance to bring up so I decided to at least mention it. With Kazuya Mishima revealed for Super Smash Bros Ultimate from the Tekken series, Link with this specific design has had a connection to Tekken before through another series. In Soul Calibur 2, a decision was made to have an exclusive character to each platform the game was on, Xbox got Spawn the Image Comics character, Playstation got Heihachi Mishima, the father of Kazuya and Gamecube got, as you may have guessed Link in a rare role as a guest character. This was fondly remembered and I believe the Gamecube version of the game actually sold the best possibly due to Link’s inclusion, however Link and Heihachi were mutually exclusive and as such could not directly fight each other. What still makes this worth mentioning however, is that Soul Calibur as a series is related to Tekken, to the point it’s been hinted at if not outright confirmed that the series takes place in the past of Tekken’s world, with Yoshimitsu being a fighter in both series, and the one in Tekken being said to be a successor to the one in Soul Calibur. There is one other link directly between Link and Kazuya, however that one involves another incarnation of the hero, so therefore I will go over that in a later post.

Why this game?

With the first Zelda character I’m covering comes a key factor the main characters of the Zelda series have which makes them somewhat unique from other characters in Smash. Instead of Link and Zelda being characters who appear throughout the Zelda series there are many different versions of them, with the Link in Twilight Princess for example being a different character to the one in Ocarina of Time. They all tend to share various characteristics, the most obvious being their name and in all cases so far Link has been the main playable character in each game. As this covers the Link in Ocarina of Time, a character who has both an adult and child form, the main game to represent this Link therefore is the only canon game this Link appears in as an adult, being Ocarina of Time. Because this is his only appearance the vast majority of equipment and attacks Link uses in Super Smash Bros come from this game as a source. It’s also important to note that this version of Link only appeared as a fighter in the original Super Smash Bros and Super Smash Bros Melee, being replaced in Super Smash Bros Brawl onwards with other versions of Link from later games. I will cover those versions of Link later down the line so for now the Link here is only drawing from his portrayal in Super Smash Bros and Melee.

My past with this game.

So this game is the first example of something I had with a few games back in my childhood and probably is the one that I think of first when it comes to it, which is it wasn’t a game I owned but one which I played at my Cousin’s house when I’d visit. My history before this with the Zelda series actually was rather brief which is funny to me today as it’s definitely one of my top personal series now, still as a child the only game I had was the very original Legend of Zelda on the NES, which I never got very far on. I will go over that game further down the line, but it’s never been one of my particular favourites so it was probably the worst game for me personally to start with. Since my only games really at the time my Cousins had OOT were Super Mario 64 and possibly Mario Kart 64 this game always felt like a lot more of a ‘mature’ game than I was used to, with various dark elements and a world that unlike Peach’s Castle was a bit more hostile. This also brings me onto something I remember from my childhood, which would often happen with games that you don’t get today really, getting a game second hand that had a save file already on it. I wasn’t good at games at this time (I mean, not to say I am now necessarily.) and I was more interested in just running around in the worlds than actually doing the main story and challenges in the game. The save file on my Cousin’s copy of OOT had gotten to the future Hyrule part of the game, which meant we could run around a lot of Hyrule already as well as having access to the past version of Hyrule as Child Link. As such, my earliest memories of this game aren’t really about the story so much as the locations and talking to all the various NPCs. I remember this was probably the first game I played which had things like towns you could go to and talk to random characters in as well as sidequests. It was also the first game I personally played with a day and night system which I found fairly amazing at the time. Finally, this game was also the first I remember playing where music was more than just something in the background, with playing the Ocarina being a big part of the game (it’s in the title afterall) a lot of the tunes even now hold a lot of nostalgia for me, as I’m sure they do for a lot of other people.

After playing the game quite a few times at my Cousins and I believe borrowing the game a couple of times I finally got my own copy, second hand also which similarly had a save file in the Adult Link portion of the game. I did I believe make an attempt to play the game from the start now that I had it, but the furthest I think at this time I got to was Death Mountain where I think I ran for the first time into something I’d like to refer to as the ‘Zelda Pitfall’. I’m sure it has already been given a name as it’s not something unique to me, nor to Zelda games specifically, I’ve just found it happens to me in a lot of them. This is where you get to a point in the game where you just cannot work out how to continue. You’ll explore every area of the dungeon, try out everything you think is ‘obvious’ you can do with the items you have, but you just cannot figure out how to go forward. It’s even worse when you run into this outside of dungeons as then you have the whole world to explore in order to find a solution. The final nail in the coffin that makes this ‘the Zelda Pitfall’ is when the solution turns out to be extremely simple and you were overthinking it the whole time, such as having the item you needed already and you forgot, actually being able to fairly easily proceed because a door you thought you’d checked you actually hadn’t or finally the answer being given to you and you immediately forgot it and started overthinking the solution.

Due to this I didn’t get very far into Ocarina of Time for a while. Gradually other consoles with newer games came out and I didn’t revisit Ocarina of Time as often, but one thing I find interesting is it was somewhat of a constant presence for me. First came the Gamecube and because I was playing it as my main console at the time, I didn’t like to have to plug my N64 in again to play older games. During the Gamecube era however, there was a special release with Ocarina of Time, the new Master Quest mode and Majora’s Mask all on one disk. I got this and played Ocarina of Time again, this time managing to get to the Adult Link part myself rather than using the previous owner of the game’s save file. I did not get any further than the first adult dungeon however, the Forest Temple which is where I left the game off. At this point I had played a few Zelda games, however I had not completed any of them at the time. When the Wii released one of the big selling points to me was the Virtual Console, allowing me to easily play all sorts of older games without having to get those consoles out and setup again. Due to this I was able to download Ocarina of Time on my Wii. At this time, with the launch of the Wii also came Twilight Princess, which I thoroughly enjoyed and became the first 3D Zelda title I’d completed (I believe I possibly beat Minish Cap on GBA before this as my very first completed Zelda game overall.) I would over the next few years return to Ocarina of Time sometimes hoping to complete it, however often as with so many games over the years, there’d be other new games would come out which would take my attention away.

In June 2011, Nintendo in a similar move to their remake for Super Mario 64 for the Nintendo DS came out with a remake of Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo 3DS fairly early into it’s run. This version of the game boasted redone models with a lot more details, redone environments and various changes to the item setups making it much faster to equip certain ones than in the original game, which managed to improve upon a largely criticized dungeon I will detail later. There were other changes such as the option to use the gyro sensor when aiming items such as the bow and slingshot which I found a great improvement. With the game portable and it being one of the few big releases at that period of time for the 3DS I finally managed to play through Ocarina of Time from start to finish, I believe beating the final boss whilst on holiday in this case. This remake is one I would highly recommend, it doesn’t make many controversial changes to the original game, looks very nice (Although I have heard the criticism it looks too nice and takes away some of the edge of the original game as it looks too clean.) and in my opinion the gyro controls are a very nice addition for aiming certain items etc. I’ve included in this post a single screenshot I got of OOT3D which you can compare to the other pictures here to see the difference in Link’s model for example. So, finally I had beaten a game I really should have beaten many years earlier, at least, I had beaten the remake. A few years later however, I decided to replay the game for my Smash Bros list. I felt rather than replay the remake even though I thoroughly enjoyed it, I wanted to finally beat the version from my childhood that I should have beaten so many years earlier.

My Smash Playthrough.

So the first thing I want to go into with this game is the introduction that plays when you start a new game. If you read my previous section you’d realise, I’ve started this game from scratch a few times now, and honestly I feel this game has probably one of the most standout openings I can think of. Every time I’ve restarted the game (or watched a person starting a Lets Play of it) the scene with Link sleeping in his home in Kokiri Forest, with the text narration of the Great Deku Tree and the complete lack of any sounds until his nightmare begins has always felt like the start of something special to me. In a sense, given how Ocarina of Time is such a big nexus point for everything that happens in the series (even if it’s not the very beginning of the series canonically) the really understated opening always feels sort of epic for me. Of course, having played this opening many times before, a lot of this specific run doesn’t stick in my head particularly, although I personally find it a nice relaxing start to the game, exploring Kokiri Forest and talking to everyone, taking on the first dungeon and onwards until I reached the Temple of Time and the Master Sword.

Since this post will focus on Adult Link in the game, I believe it’s best to not go too in-depth on the first parts of the game which I will get to in a later post. Reaching this point in the game isn’t too difficult, but it’s still three dungeons in with the last one being a somewhat irritating one so it feels an achievement to reach this point. With the Master Sword in hand it always feels like you’ve had a powerup, beating enemies you had more trouble with in the past somewhat more easily such as Lizalfols. The first Temple as an adult, the Forest Temple I remember gave me a few ‘Zelda Pitfall’ problems. I’ve found when I come across these issues now there are various steps I take which often lead to the solution. The first step is simply to check my map and see which rooms I haven’t visited yet and see if I can enter any of them, if I’ve found the compass also it’s key to track down every chest I can find/reach. The next step is to check my inventory to double check every item I have, it’s important to try and remember all the functionality of them, I’ve had a few times I’ve forgotten some specific additional effect an item has that is required to solve a puzzle that is, due to this, fairly simple. The third is to remember what the most recent item or ability I’ve gained is. Some equipment is always equipped so when checking the item menu won’t show up, it’s important therefore not to forget you’ve already got this equipment and that if you can use it’s ability it might be the key to get through. Next up it’s important to check every room thoroughly, it can be easy to overlook something in some cases as simple as a door that you just assumed for some reason didn’t actually lead where you want to go. You should also test things out, sometimes a texture or object you think your item won’t have any effect on is actually the solution to your situation. Next is taking a break, sometimes you can get so focused on solving something you miss an obvious solution that with a break you realise was right in front of you the whole time. Finally there’s the cheating loser’s way out, which is if all else fails look up a walkthrough, it’s perhaps not honourable, but it’s up to you if you want to lose motivation in a game because you just can’t work something out or take that extra help. I personally tend to nowadays do everything I can to work it out myself until it’s taking almost a week, which luckily for me rarely happens anymore. With this in mind, this doesn’t always work as there have been a few times I’ve found guides that unhelpfully completely gloss over the obvious thing I’ve been making a mistake on the whole time, which is why in these cases I’ll usually check out someone’s video playthrough to see just how they reach the next section.

Following the Forest Temple, I didn’t have many problems until I reached what many consider the worst dungeon in the game, the Water Temple. This is the dungeon I said earlier was improved somewhat in the 3DS remake of OOT. The key issue with it in the N64 version is you having to equip the iron boots, which require pausing, moving to the equipment screen and selecting the iron boots every time you want them on to weigh you down in the water, then doing the same and selecting the Kokiri Boots every time you want to float to the water’s surface, which is required a lot in this dungeon. In the 3DS remake you can instead equip the iron boots as an item, which you can simply press the assigned button to equip and de-equip. With this said, personally I found the Water Temple, after years of hearing just how hated it is to be fairly unremarkable. Honestly, I think I had more trouble with the boss than I did with the actual temple, which I will get to later. Personally, I actually found the mini dungeon which is an Ice Cavern more irritating to get through than the Water Temple. The Ice Cavern has naturally, ice physics, however, it often has sections that require slightly more precise platforming than usual, has ice statue enemies who breath clouds of ice that freeze you if you make contact with them which coupled with the ice physics can make them irritating to get close to to take down, although you can use fire arrows if you’ve found them at this point which cost magic and arrows each time. Then there are the block puzzles which aren’t particularly difficult, but if you mess them up often require you to leave and return to reset. Following this, the only dungeons that stick out as difficult to me were the Gerudo Training Ground, which was more difficult to navigate than particularly tough with it getting slightly confusing working out where you had and hadn’t gone, and the Spirit Temple, the second last dungeon. The Spirit Temple definitely is an interesting place and I didn’t dislike it, however it had a fair few moments where I fell into some ‘Zelda Pitfalls’. Ganon’s Tower has a few tricks but I didn’t find it particularly difficult, however I did like going through it, especially the final ascent of the main tower facing various enemies on each floor as Ganon’s theme plays.

When it comes to the bosses, this is the game that first translated bosses into 3D for the series. As such, it takes a lot of it’s cues from the earlier games, something the series has had a long tradition of to this day. The bosses often will be weak to the item you’ve found in the temple they’re in with them having a weak point of some sort that you have to use the item to expose. After this you’ll move in whilst they’re stunned and slash as much as you can with your sword. Whilst this is the case, the bosses were still fairly big spectacles in each encounter, the first being Phantom Ganon who has a fun battle involving him charging on horseback at you from one of several paintings in the room, Volvagia the dragon of Death Mountain who flies through the air before giving you a game of wack-a-mole. Morpheel, a liquid tentacle with an eyeball floating in it was probably the boss I had the most difficulty with, more than the actual Water Temple itself as I found it difficult to get the hookshot to effectively pull the eye out of the water so I could strike it leading to a long irritating battle from what I remember. Bongo Bongo and Twinrova were also both fun and somewhat challenging battles. With Twinrova even though their tactic was fairly simple to work out (use the mirror shield to reflect their attack back at their twin) it was still challenging to actually pull it off. Before I go onto the Final Boss, the Mini Bosses were in most cases simply strong enemies you’d have to defeat to proceed, there were two standouts however. Dark Link is a fairly iconic fight from the series with him mirroring your every move and in some cases even jumping and standing on top of your sword when you thrust it at him. You have to use somewhat unconventional strategies against him that he cannot replicate, using items such as the Megaton Hammer, Biggorons Sword which is longer than his copy Master Sword, or if you wish to and have the magic energy, Din’s Fire, a magical attack that engulfs the whole room that he cannot counter. The second standout mini boss isn’t iconic so much as one of the creepiest things in the game, a corpselike, blood spattered (except in the 3DS version) bizarre being called Dead Hand. This thing sprouts from the ground along with many hands around the room. The hands will grab Link if he goes near them and hold him in place in order for Dead Hand to shuffle over and take a bite out of him. It’s not a very hard boss but it definitely stuck out in my mind (and nightmares).

The final battle with Ganondorf is fun. This takes the form of something referred to in Phantom Hourglass as “Dead Man’s Volley” where Ganondorf will fire a ball of dark energy at Link, Link will hit the energy with the Master Sword sending it back before Ganondorf with a swipe of his cape sends it back again, it going back and forth until one person misses their strike and gets hit by the energy. If Ganondorf is hit, he’ll fall to the ground stunned, it’s then Link can use the Light Arrows to fully stun him before jumping in to slash away at him with his Master Sword. There are a few variations Ganondorf uses in this fight and Phantom Ganon earlier in the game did a more simple version of this fight but following it Ganondorf is defeated and Link must escape the collapsing tower with Zelda. Once they escape however, from the ruins of the Tower, Ganondorf, now transformed by the Triforce of Power into a beast called simply Ganon has his final battle with Link. This battle can be somewhat challenging as Ganon can hit for a lot of damage, but as long as you know what you’re doing it should be doable without too many problems, leading to the ending. Future Hyrule is freed from Ganon’s grasp at last with him being sealed away and Link is sent back to his own time leading to the Zelda timeline being split forever more… but I won’t go into that too much. The ending has an overview of all the areas around Hyrule. The characters around Hyrule all being shown celebrating together, having a big party on Lon Lon Ranch, although some who were close to the Sages who have left them such as Mido of the Kokiri and Princess Ruto’s Father King Zora are sat together looking sadly at the ground before noticing what seems to be possibly the spirits of the sages flying overhead. The whole time some very nice music is playing with some characters such as Malon and the Carpenter group who appeared in the Gerudo Desert singing along with it. Overall it’s definitely a nice ending and fairly iconic amongst a lot of Nintendo fans.

Seeing this ending again, even if I’d seen it recreated in the 3DS version was still very satisfying for me, having played this game on and off for probably about roughly 15 years by this point and finally properly finishing it was a great feeling which definitely increased the impact of the ending credits for me. Overall the game is fantastic I’d argue even today. I feel this is one of those games that has had so much praise over the years that sadly, people lose perspective of how good it really is choosing to instead focus on its flaws or call it basic. It definitely isn’t perfect, no game is of course, but I disagree personally when I hear it being talked about as a basic generic Zelda game or just A Link to the Past in 3D. A lot of the ideas in the game are fairly unique such as the two different time periods you can travel between, various interesting locations with new races such as the Gorons and Zoras (who have a somewhat complex history with them having a species related to them with the same name who act as regular enemies in other games) having Link playable as both a child and adult as well as just how much lore we get to see take place here with the origin of Ganondorf, the creation of Hyrule being explained (things only really detailed in instruction manuals and dialogue in older games) and other fairly iconic scenes. (A standout scene to me has always been when Link leaves Kokiri Forest for the first time running away after speaking with Saria for what could for all he knows be the last time.) Yes it’s not got a focus on story as such, but I feel people do tend to gloss over what actually is here a lot now. Another big thing to me regarding the game is the atmosphere. I mentioned earlier this was the first game I knew of and played with a day and night system and exploring areas at night in the game is still one of the most atmospheric experiences I personally can think of in games. I think it’s because at night there’s not any music and instead you hear sounds such as crows in some locations, the wind or other background sounds. When I do these articles I tend to play the games again for a little bit just to try and jog my memory about how the controls feel etc, and one thing I remember this time was going to Death Mountain as the sun was setting and looking down at Kakariko Village. Now… yes, it is just a flat texture when it comes down to it off in the background, but I personally just found it nice watching how the lights on the houses came on once the sun had gone down, nothing compared to watching the sun set over a world in modern games, but it still has its own charm to me. I suppose one final personal thing I’d like to mention which I realise is pretty archaic now but I just found fairly charming in a nostalgic way is the areas which are static backgrounds, one of the key ones being Hyrule Castle Town with its back alleys. There’s something about wandering around these static locations that look more like paintings than actual locations that I just like for some reason. It sort of reminds me a little now of some of the old point and click adventure games I’ve seen over the years. Anyway, in conclusion all I can say really at this point was it was great to finally beat this game properly.  

Specific aspects about the game relating to Link in Smash.

When it comes to Link’s portayal in Smash, this is the first character I’ve written an article for who has equipment. With that said his equipment isn’t overly customisable and there are one or two aspects that aren’t possible to replicate from Smash. For his primary equipment, Link has the Master Sword, Hylian Shield and Kokiri Tunic. These can all be swapped out for other equipment with the Biggoron’s Sword, the Mirror Shield and two other tunics available, however this equipment unlike some later and earlier games can still be switched between so there is no point where you cannot equip Link with his gear from Smash Bros. When it comes to items, Link has his Fairy Bow, Hookshot and Bombs available. Despite being from this game however, Adult Link cannot use the Boomerang. Link can also charge up his Master Sword to unleash the spin attack which is replicated in Smash. When it comes to physical appearance, there is a point where Link will gain something which visually changes his outfit for the rest of the game, being the Silver and later Golden Gauntlets. These are received at the Spirit Temple which is one of the very last dungeons in the game, therefore it is possible if for some reason like me you’re doing some sort of weird Smash Bros recreation of Link in the game to make a separate save file just before you acquire them and still have all the other relevant equipment (Sword, Shield, Bow, Hookshot, Bombs etc). Beyond this, I suppose one final thing of note is that Link’s entrance in the original Smash Bros comes specifically from this game, being a recreation of the animation when Link enters and leaves a cave found inside a hole in the ground, with him dropping down from the light beaming from the hole and then ascending back up it when leaving.

Credits.

For information on this game including dates of releases I must give credit to Zelda Wiki.

The screenshots in this post are taken by me using Miiverse before it shut down, the picture for Link in Melee I’m afraid I cannot locate currently.

[nyancheetosmusical]

Be More Chill Legend of Zelda (MM) AU

Something I kind of put together, making a Majora’s Mask AU of BMC. I might write more, but i might not, we’ll see.

Writing under the cut (also bear with me getting the ideas going slowly in the beginning and the text type cause this was in a skype chat)

Jeremy is a skull kid

And Michael is Link

Jeremy and Mike are friends

i mean Jer doesn’t really have any friends beside Michael

And Michael is Hylian, not a skull kid

and also Mike is sort of the hero of time

So, you know

There’s some extra responsibility there

So Jer is looking for friends

and he finds this fairy

It promises to make his life better

He just has to do what they say

So Jer listens to him

At first the fairy has him get up to like just like general mischeif

but Jer likes having a friend at his side always

And they do goofy stuff together

but the fairy has other motives

He’s looking to get his hands on a certain mask

this ancient mask full of immense power

Bc maybe it was powerful enough to give him a body

so he gets Jeremy up to more and more mischeif

So that Jeremy would be comfortable doing anything to get this mask

eventually they score

There’s the Happy Mask Saleswoman in the woods

she’s been traveling around and decided to stop in Termina

the fairy eggs Jeremy into stealing this cool looking mask from her

And he does

but when Jeremy grabs it

He’s overwhelmed by the power

he puts it on before the fairy can say anything

And the spirit of the mask takes over his mind and body

Not the fairy’s intent

but maybe, if he sticks with Majora (for that’s who is in control of Jeremy now), he can get a body made for himself

But Jeremy is different now that he’s got the vengeful spirit of Majora inside him

he’s colder

meaner

Starts hurting people

without the fairy telling him to

And sure the fairy is like um this isn’t what I wanted

but his greed and want for a body overcomes his will to stop Majora

Michael, having finished a quest (aka all of OOT), comes to the forests of Termina on Epona to “search for an old friend” as the in game text says

And he sees Jeremy

and is real excited

But then he sees Jer has changed his mask

“Woah dude, that’s cool looking! Sorry I was gone so long, I-"

Before he can keep going, the fairy (as per Majora’s request) sneaks up and spooks Epona, Mike’s horse, bucking him off

Majora searches Michael’s stuff, looking for something specific, something he saw in this skull kid’s memories

and this “hero of time” has it

there

The Ocarina of Time

Majora takes it, hops on Epona, and rides off, taunting Mike

Mike of course gives chase

“Jeremy? Uh that actually kind of hurt! This isn’t funny any more!”

but its not really Jeremy anymore

Majora leads Michael to fall down this pit

And when he wakes up

Jeremy is there

“Ow….dude, what’s going on? You’re acting weird…."

he looks closer

And he sees these tendrils spreading from the mask, like tentacles, all around the edges

They’re woven into his friend’s very skin

The mask is embedded in his face

And Jeremy looks worse for wear, like maybe he hasn’t eaten for a while and hasn’t bothered to sleep

“…Jer? Maybe….maybe take off that mask? So I can see your face?”

“NO!”

“C’mon Jeremy, I haven’t seen you in so long-“

“I am never taking off this mask"

Woah, when did Jeremy’s voice change like that?

“Jeremy, what happened?"

“Nothing happened. I’m better than I ever could be. I’m amazing. I’m ecstatic.”

Oh Mike knows something is up

he draws his sword

But Jeremy just laughs in a voice that doesn’t really sound like his own

“You think you can even touch me? Hehehe, fat chance. You know….being the “hero of time”…you could cause some problems…..hehehe, ever think about changing your look? Something more fitting for you?”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Mm, yes, your look could use some updating…Ah! Hehehe, I know~”

Mike watches in horror as Jeremy’s body is lifted up by the mask

the mask floating and his body hanging limply underneath it

A few feet in the air

a strange purple aura begins to pour off the mask

And Mike’s head begins to hurt like nobody’s business

it’s pounding and aching and there’s so much pressure-

He hears Jeremy laughing and laughing as he falls to his knees

everything goes dark

And he wakes up and everything feels different

he tries to say something but the words don’t come out in his voice

there’s a pool of water in front of him

He checks his reflection

And It’s not his face anymore, but that of a deku scrub

He’s smaller and weaker and has none of his things and this body doesn’t feel right at all

but Jeremy just laughs and laughs

“Fitting for a loser like you!"

The fairy with Jeremy is laughing too

he’s gotta get in Majora’s good graces

He approaches the kid-turned-deku scrub

taunting him, calling him a loser, saying this looked so much better for someone like him, etc and etc

But Michael isn’t listening to the fairy

he’s frantically trying to get across the pool of water to get over to Jeremy as Majora drags her host’s body away, laughing

The way Majora exists slams shut behind Jeremy

The fairy looks to see the closed door

...shoot

“Hey! Hey uh Jeremy, open up, would you? Haha you kind of left me in here, with this lame coconut head!"

he waits at the door

“…Jeremy?"

“Heh, good joke Jeremy, but uh I kind of need to come with you now!”

“J-Jeremy, you need me, remember? I was going to make you popular and powerful and have lots of friends!”

...

oh

Majora probably didn’t need the SQUIP

When you have that much power, what do you need a fairy like the SQUIP for?

His wings drooped

He was never going to get a body now...

he turned around to find Michael across the pond, drowning

\ Without thinking the SQUIP swooped on over and dove under the water and gave the deku scrub a boost up and out of the water

Michael pulled himself up, dripping wet and spitting out water

he sat on the shore And looked at his arms, now much shorter and made of wood

...nothing about him was the same

And there was something wrong with Jeremy and he was gone and Michael couldn’t get to him-

Michael didn’t like to cry

But he cried a little

the SQUIP watched

…okay maybe he shouldn’t have let Jeremy do that...

or let Jeremy do like half the things he had done

He was getting tired of that feeling pulling inside him whenever he watched someone cry as Jeremy hurt them

probably guilt

An annoying emotion

but he couldn’t deny that he felt it

Before they had found the mask, Jeremy had told him a lot about Michael

SQUIP had tried to discourage Jeremy from being friends with you, he’d only drag you down

But mostly it was because he knew if Michael came back Jeremy wouldn’t need him and as the Hero of Time probably would talk Jeremy out of stealing the mask and the SQUIP needed to have that mask

but he felt like he knew this Michael guy personally

And watching him cry...

Ugh

It was annoying

but SQUIP would probably need Michael to help him find Jeremy

Maybe get him to take off that mask

“Hey….Michael, right?”

the deku scrub looked up

The trademark thick saliva of dekus dripping out of his mouth

ugh

SQUIP shuddered

“You….ugh, you need to get to Jeremy. You need to help me find him, I gotta get that mask off of him so I can have it!”

Michael looked up at him and jabbered in the language of the forest people

SQUIP sneered without a face

“Yeah sorry I don’t know what you’re saying, bush boy”

Michael looked at him

And then turned away

and began to walk away

“W-wait! Come back! Please!"

SQUIP dashed in front of MIchael

“Wait please I need your help! I can’t get out of here on my own! I need you! Please?”

The deku stared blankly

“And….I’m sorry, okay, I’m sorry I treated you like garbage, you’re….you’re not bad, okay?…..what are you staring at me for, do I got something on my wings? No? Then stop staring! Let’s get moving!”

SQUIP flew off, waiting eagerly by the door

...well

Michael didn’t have much of an option

He dipped his toe in the water and looked across

This body couldn’t float so he couldn’t swim...

“Hey, dumbass, Dekus can skip on water, just like, I don’t know, run cross it or something."

Michael narrowed his eyes

The SQUIP stared back

....

Rolled his nonexistent eyes

“….yeah, yeah, sorry I called you dumbass, just get moving would you?”

the deku just nodded approvingly and began to try to get across

He took a step back

then began to run across the surface of the water, feeling silly

But as soon as he started, it was like muscle memory took over and he began to skip in lofty hops on the top of the water

he could feel the strange fluid on his feet that reacted with the surface tension of the water begin to wash off with each step he took

But he reached the other side before it wore off completely

he stood on the other shore, looking down at his new body with a newfound respect

Maybe it wasn’t so dinky

he turned to face the door

….shoot, it was puzzle locked

He looked around for the solution

“What are you waiting for? Just open the door!”

Michael chattered at him, saying some things he was glad the fairy couldn’t understand

“What was that, snot mouth?”

Michael tried to stick his tongue out and blow a raspberry at the annoyed fairy

Instead of a tongue, out shot a bubble of spit

with the same speed and force as a deku shooting deku nuts, it smacked into the SQUIP and knocked him off balance, causing him to flutter out of the pattern he had been flying in

“HEY WHAT THE F-“

but Michael wasn’t paying attention

What had....

what had just happened?

Careful not to aim for the swearing fairy, Michael tried again

Spitting a massive bubble that had far more speed and velocity than you’d think

Huh, useful

Jeremy would find this so cool-

Oh right

Jeremy had left him

...well, not Jeremy, per say

Whatever that mask was that was controlling him

It had to be that

...right?

Well, Michael had figure that out later

Right now he didn’t even know how to become human again

That would be a good place to start

He found the hidden button up on the wall that triggered the door

He went for his arrows-

...right, he didn’t have those anymore

But he did have super spit!

Still ignoring the fairy, he tossed his head back and shot a bubble out, directly onto the button

The door sprung open

Michael smiled internally

Hah

Still got it

The fairy looked at the door

...oh. Huh.

“That will do, I guess. But I do not need your help anymore, I-”

Michael walked on past the SQUIP and through the door

“Wha-hey! Wait for me!”

The SQUIP chased after Michael through the door

[repeatsfate]

A, K, R!!

vidya games!

K – game you’re most looking forward to? 

at the moment it’s super mario odyssey and pokemon ultra sun and moon! and, uh… my inner 12 year old is rearing her ugly head to force me to admit i’m also pretty hyped for sonic forces, oops. lOOK IT LOOKS FUN, OKAY…

i’m looking forward to fe musou too but also i’m pretty neutral on it– everything they’ve revealed has been super incredible so far and i’m looking forward to maining my birb, but i’m more interested in the confirmed fe16 and i’m looking forward to hearing more about that when the time comes.

R – most underrated game? 

hmmmm… while xenoblade chronicles itself would certainly fit the bill despite shulk being a giant meme now, i think i’ll take it a step further and go on to say xenoblade chronicles x deserves a bit more love than it got– 

despite the very real flaws with the game and some aspects of the story, a thing that draws me to it aside from the ‘if you can see it, you can go to it’ MASSIVE open world and setting on a foreign planet was just how human its supporting cast and even minor npcs are. the game does an excellent job of portraying raw humanity in both ends of the spectrum– where there are heroes, there are people even in man’s most desperate hour that took that second chance as an excuse to be horrible, horrible people. the encounter of alien life goes as swimmingly as you expect, with the remaining fragments of humanity split on how to deal with these new beings in their midst. some choose to try and form alliances and bonds, the others shun and fear the outsiders– many quests actually revolve around the racism in what’s supposed to be a safe haven for the aliens pledging themselves to humanity’s side. the conflict taking up the last leg of the game is one born of human grief and the sting of loss– and when you really get into the motivations behind it it’s so easy to understand why the person did what they did but also acknowledge yeah no you did bad buddy you gotta pay for it now. i just???? it’s so good????

the planet and creatures that make up the game’s setting are imaginative and beautiful, i honestly love just booting it up and wandering. sometimes it’s scary as all heck because OH GOD GIANT MONSTER OUT OF NOWHERE but also… that just adds to the immersion and feeling like you’re a tiny fish in a big, big sea… and when you’re strong enough to stand up to those monsters it’s the most satisfying thing in the world.

the musical direction is honestly up to taste- i personally adore xcx’s soundtrack, but those not a huge fan of hiroyuki sawano’s works might find it lacking. here’s a personal favourite! 

point is, it’s super fun, i want to do an araceli run sometime if i can ever be arsed to go back on my wii u or it gets a switch port, and a verse would be fun to play around with… i’m not a huge jrpg person, but i really really like xcx. also, fans of matthew mercer– he’s in this one, too! he plays lao huang, one of my all time favourite characters tbh

point is it is flawed, yes, but it’s also a very solid jrpg that i had fun sinking hours into and i’d totally do so again

A – favourite game of all time? 

my top fave game of all time? easy! it’s the legend of zelda: wind waker! 

it wins in both nostalgia points and a critical eye as i’ve gotten older– as a little kid, it was the first game i ever actually beat all by myself! the gamecube was the first home console i ever got to own– for a while i lived with my granny, who wasn’t very big on gaming if that makes sense? and then after moving back in with my mom she got me one for christmas and a friend lent me wind waker after i tried playing it at his house and repeatedly got stuck in the forsaken fortress. the excitement of finally making it past that and seeing this big, bright, beautiful world and story unfold before me has stuck with me to this day?? idk how to explain it i just. wind waker was an important game in my childhood, and i’ve played through it a loooooot– mostly i’ve noticed it was during times of stress or particular loneliness. everyone has that one game that’s been there™ for them during times of duress, and wind waker has always been mine. 

okay i’m read more-ing the rest of this because i… went on for a WHILE. which is also why i answered it last oops. tl;dr there are many reasons why i love this game and it’s still my fave even now that i’m nearly 23. 

as an adult, i’ve found that from a technical standpoint the game holds up really well, too– even without the hd remake on the wii u wind waker is still a very beautiful, stylistic game; a major benefit to having taken the art in a more cartoony direction is that it prevents the game from aging too much; if you were to look at the vanilla gamecube edition now, it still holds up amazingly! (meanwhile, i find that while twilight princess is still lovely, the more realistic art direction tends to date it a little. i could look at the original and just know the era it was made in, whereas if i never saw wind waker before, i would question it.) 

the textures are rather blurry, sure, but that was a product of the time– hypatia on tumblr actually produced a mod with hd textures for roms of the gamecube version– check out these comparasion shots of the then-work in progress mod versus the original textures… and then here’s a few polished shots of the mod with a few extra effects dolphin/ishiiruka can provide. in short, the original wind waker is a very, very beautiful game and age has done very little to tarnish that even with the remake’s updated graphics. 

but obviously graphics don’t make or break a game, though proper presentation is important– wind waker’s story also resonates with me deeply in various aspects. as an older sister, the initial quest to set out and rescue your younger sibling in danger caught my attention and held it fast; they do a very good job of making you feel attached to aryll, and the scene where she is kidnapped always tugs at my heartstrings every time i see it. watching this young boy who lived the world’s most quiet little life on a tiny island suddenly get swept up into this grand, big adventure to rescue someone dear to him and becoming an actual hero – despite having no relation to oot link whatsoever! – is the quintessential coming of age story that most people can relate to, and watching that change as the game plays out is always really sweet???

 it was nice watching link’s development through his little actions: the backing away from helmaroc king when he first storms the fortress and then confident staring it down the second time and then giving it what for– aside from ganondorf himself that’s my favourite boss in the game if only because of those moments of development. link’s not just some kid from outset in over his head anymore– he’s a hero who overcame the trials of the goddesses himself in the name of protecting his baby sister, and he will not fail again. and then, after he could easily just throw in the towel and take his sister home because he accomplished what he set out to do, link goes on and sees it through to the end anyways because restoring order to the world is the right thing to do– there’s no legacy of knights looming over his head like several of his other incarnations. there’s no grand kingdom, there are only desolate little islands. there’s a princess, but… he barely knows her. hell, she didn’t even know she was a princess until that moment. 

the story also touches on themes of death and the ends of eras… but also ends on a note of hope and new beginnings– clinging to the past only leads to ruin, and we must create opportunities for ourselves and the world to grow. hyrule is actually completely washed away by the end, and ganondorf goes with it– unless we assume breath of the wild is in the adult timeline, that’s it. he’s gone FOREVER in the subsequent games, with bellum and malledeus taking his place as the main villain. the kingdom link and tetra found is called new hyrule, but that’s all they share in significance– it’s their own land, just like the king said. that final scene of wind waker with the king always got to me– that message of hope is so poignant and powerful, i just. i don’t know how to put it into words, but it’s a scene i love dearly. 

then there’s the music and cast of characters, and even quests and gameplay? i know the sailing could get tedious but i always liked it; it was relaxing to me just watching the virtual waves and listening to that beautiful score?? the characters are all bright and unique and fun– they’ve got their own little lives and you can impact them in so many different ways and things definitely change once you do?? like starting windfall vs windfall after you do a few sidequests or even turn on the ferris wheel and lighthouse again feel so different? it’s a neat little detail i’ve always found!!

…i really need to stop rambling about wind waker now i actually dozed off a bit typing this post, oops.