#i adore the rito lore

[melino-noe]

Ritos 🐦

[sapphicseasapphire]

Hiii, I ADORE your chain as Cryptids AU, all of your art is gorgeous and every character is wonderfully unique, I wanted to ask for a lil more lore if possible? While Four is my favorite character we have not had nearly enough asks for Hyrule! And fairies in general, in your au are they more fae-like with some trickster tendencies or very kind and giving like the Minish? Thoughts on bottles, etc? TYSM!

Oh boy oh boy do I have some Hyrule Thoughts. And some general fairy thoughts as well!

(Under the cut because this is gonna get long)

For this au, I’m thinking of just Zelda fairies. Little glowing balls of light that flutter on fragile wings, iridescent and magical and gentle. Fairies have an affinity for magic: all kinds of magic, though they’re best known for their healing abilities. There isn’t a single archetype of what a fairy’s behavior will be. Some can be tricksters, some can be kind, some can be shy, some can have the most ill of intentions. Fairies are like people, really, in that they’re not just all one thing. (This is what separates them from spirits, really. They’re just on the cusp of ascension, but unlike Koroks or Blupees or Dragons or anything like that, they cling to their mortality and allow themselves to grow and evolve. Because of this, Hyrule is not a part of the telepathy circle).

There are many communities of Fairies, and they tend to group up around a Great Fairy as their leader. There are some colonies that are independent of Great Fairies, though, but they are rare to find, as they are at a much higher risk.

You see, while Fairies are magical, they’re very fragile. Usually, a typical Fairy wouldn’t posses enough magic to defend themself against a Hylian captor. Docile and tiny, they’re quite easy to bottle up and carry off, and easily discarded once they’re used. Great Fairies are much more powerful than the average Fairy, and even more powerful than a Hylian, so sticking around them is preferred. They protect the others.

Hyrule is a very unique case. You see, he was born with the Spirit of the Hero. For this au, the Spirit of the Hero acts as an enhancer for any kind of spiritual or magical power a Link already possesses. For example, Twilight is only able to shift because he’s descended from a God and possess the Hero’s Spirit. (Otherwise, one of his parents would have had God Powers TM too, and they probably wouldn’t have died so soon).

In Hyrule’s case, having the Hero’s Spirit grants him much more magic than a typical Fairy- almost as much magic as a Great Fairy herself. All of this power in such a small frame… no one is the wiser. Hyrule has enough magic to properly defend himself (if he had any sort of training… which, as a child, he didn’t) and most importantly, he has enough magic to hold a Hylian disguise for a LONG TIME. His glamour can change the way that he’s perceived but cannot change his actual shape. Others can see and even touch his changed form, but it is not real.

ANYWAY. Yeah. Bottles. Fairies are afraid of them, are afraid of Hylians. And Rito and Gerudo and Gorons and Zora and monsters and literally everything under the sun. When you’re two inches tall, everything is a threat.

Fairies are hunted mercilessly by Hylians, mostly. They’re never killed, not outright, but they’re taken from their colonies and shoved into a tiny bottle, sometimes for weeks and months on end (Fairies don’t starve as quickly as other species would, able to expend magic to keep their little bodies functioning). That being said, they often do not survive captivity. A tiny little bottle, often shoved in a bag and jostled around, no light, no food or water, all alone, just glass on all sides. It’s no place for a Fairy. Even if they do make it out (after expending magic to heal whatever wound they were abducted to treat), they will rarely make it back to their Great Fairy before succumbing to magical exhaustion or being captured again.

On the topic of magical exhaustion: Fairies have a limited amount of magic they can expend before they have to recover. Even one as powerful as Hyrule has their limits. Recovery almost always means rest, and it can mean their body does a forced shut down and simply stops working for days at a time. Often, Fairies are more hungry when they’re recovering, as magic can no longer be used to sustain the body.

Hyrule is less vulnerable to this than other Fairies would be, but when he’s standing next to the Chain? And every single one of them is hurt? After a fight where he’d used his magic to take down dozens of monsters? All while keeping up his glamour? Yeah, he’s gonna be feeling that one.

Telltale signs of magical exhaustion before it gets to the point of actually passing out: Physical exhaustion, drowsiness. Headaches, sudden hunger. Feeling cold. Often, the other heroes might notice Hyrule picking up an extra serving at mealtimes or ask to huddle up with someone at night (oftentimes Sky, as his wings are very warm and he doesn’t bat an eye when asked to cuddle). Hyrule sleeps longer, but never seems to gain any more energy.

Magical exhaustion, if pushed too far, can be fatal.

ANYWAY. When Hyrule first joins the Chain, he forces all of them to free any Fairies they might have. He enforces that rule as others join, and is hesitant to lower his glamour. I’m think that for a long time, they don’t even know he’s a Fairy. He’s terrified that if they find out, they’ll bottle him up and use him for healing and never let him go. For. Long time, he’s terrified of them. Fairy Bottlers surround him. It’s not until he physically cannot keep his “Hylian” form up that the others find out what he is, and he never expected them to be so understanding. So… apologetic. Actually legitimately regretful of their Fairy Bottling pasts.

ONE MORE THING. Four can turn Minish sized. When Hyrule works himself to magical exhaustion and passes out, he goes back to his True Form, the two inch tall lil Fairy. And of course, when that happens, it’s really really difficult for the Chain to move him or help him without accidentally hurting his tiny body. So Four will shrink down and help him to bed, check to make sure that he wasn’t hurt when he fell unconscious, and stay with him at their size so he’s not alone when he wakes.

I have many more thoughts but this is getting actually so long. I apologize!

[creativesplat]

💘, 🐳, ⛩️, 🙊?

💘, 🐳, ⛩️, 🙊

💘 MIPHLINK!!! Do I have to say it? Absolutely 110% Miphlink. Honestly they are a pairing that I love more than all the other ships I have ever shipped, and I come back to them whenever other hyper fixations fizzle out or I want something comforting. I love them both so much. AoC is one of my favourite zelda games for that reason. (BoTW too, but the tragic lovers vibe is so sad)

Skyward Sword Zelink, a little bit, I wasn’t head over heals for them, but SS Zelda reminded me a fair bit of Mipha (if Mipha had been brought up in a less dangerous time and with less royal duties they would have probably been more similar), so that was that! 

I really wish I shipped Revali with someone, because I love the birb because he is stupid and fun to draw, initially I was a pining Miphvali shipper, but like, I wasn’t a massive fan of that, so maybe ZelVali? Some people ship that, and I’ve got to say the Revali and Zelda talking scene is one of my favourite cutscenes in BoTW, not to mention Zelda’s dialogue to Revali; If not romantic, definitely platonic. 

Teba and Saki are the adorable birb parents so I quite like their couple dynamic? Im not really the biggest shipper outside of Miphlink tbh.  

🐳

I honestly have no idea? Probably a Hylian (boring answer sorry!), but maybe a Rito. I love the decoration styles, and bright colours, and also they live in a cool climate and I do not like hot weather. So maybe a rito. 

⛩️

I think my favourite dungeon would have to be the Ancient Cystern in SS, I just love how beautiful the whole thing is, with all the lotus-y patterns and the pinks and turquoises and the flowers and stuff. ITs just so dang beautiful!! I also really loved the Sandship Dungeon. I think in terms of play through that was my favourite from start to finish. Location is SO much harder. Aesthetically Satori Mountain, and Rito village, story-wise and where I spend my most time in BoTW Zora’s domain, I also Love the Zora’s domain and Rito Village music. Also sweet cozy little skyloft is so nice and permanent and homely. The great plateau is so nostalgic and I love that too… AAA I don’t think I can pick! In AoC it has to be Scero’s Supplies, I know you can’t really go there, but the merging of Zora and Hateno architecture is just so beautiful and I LOVE IT SO MUCH! 

🙊

Ohhh… Unpopular Zelda opinions… I have quite a few of those. Ok. Here we go. 

ToTK is AWUFUL. Hot dang it is the worst thing ever. It wasn’t even the story that made me stop playing. It was one line from an NPC in Rito Village. Molli wants to make elemental arrows, and has an idea for arrow inventions, that can freeze enemies! No way that’s so cool, except… that is literally one of the main things in the last game. You can buy elemental arrows from the shops. Like what the heck? At least explain to me why a very common commodity that EVERYONE but Particularly the people who’s job it is to look after Bows (Harth and Moli) know about and have access to is somethign they want to invent now. I hate is. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. I ha- anyway. I despise whatever Lazy idiot decided that was the way to go. Who cares about lore? Not us apparently. I also have a massive problem with the imperialist mass-destruction weapon wearing zonai as well. And as a historian I just love BoTW so much better than ToTK. It treats its history with respect, and nuance, and good golly thats not how ruins from 10,000 years ago would work and o my word stop suspending my disbelief!?! 

Anyway. I could rant for far longer about far more things, but I’ll leave it at that. 

Way more unpopular, and Zelink shippers please ignore this: I think BoTW Zelink is creepy. The power dynamic is insanely bad (princess and her servant who literally cannot disobey her father), and the age gap is also awful (16 turned 17 for one day and “20 something” from the BoTW art book). 

Also, the women deserve better from that fandom. But that’s not news.

Thank you so much for the ask Stars!

[bokettochild]

How far are you in totk? Did you get all the memories? Are you enjoying the game?

I've recovered all the memories you can get using the carvings in the Forgotten Temple! And can I just say, I am delighted it got used? I loves the Forgotten Temple concept from BOTW, and trying to figure out what once happened when it was whole was a fun thing to do (I even included it in a fic!) but getting to dive into teh lore behind old ruins? Makes me so happy?!!??!!?

I love getting to learn about Hyrule's history and see it in era's gone by! (Ask my sisters, I could probably blather about the History of Hyrule for ages!)

I did also retrieve the memory at the Deku Tree and the final Dragon's Tear one, but there are still unfilled memory slots, so I'm figuring out how to fill those....

Currently, I've aided the sages of the Rito and the Gerudo. The Gerudo first because they're my favorite race/region in either game! I just love the vibes, the community, the...everything! I really adore Gerudo Town and the areas around it and i'd say it's my "at home" space in BOTW

The Sky Islands are my 'at home' space, or base, in TotK, but I still love Gerudo Town!

I also really enjoyed the Rito quest. I'm a bit miffed we didn't see more of Teba, but Tulin is a dear, so I'm glad to have him along!

I did also complete the Water Temple, it's just the boss fight that's giving me grief! Honestly, running to Sidon every couple of moments to recharge the water attack is a pain in the ass. Just shooting water at the boss using arrow fusion is so much easier, but I ran out of splash fruit halfway through the battle so I have to restock and fight it again :(

Kinda am not enjoying Zora's Domain as much as the first game. It feels so different, as does Sidon, and the only parts I really enjoyed were talking with the old king and Mizu in the hidden chamber. That felt better than the actual domain LOL

That said, I've mapped all of Hyrule, most of the depths, and a good portion of the sky islands! I've collected at least one piece of most of teh clothing sets, (Sheik's mask is one of my favorites) and fought Phantom Ganon twice. The second fight came out of nowhere! I was in a cave, exploring and trying to find one of the entrances into the depths (you know those spots on the map where it's like a pocket of depths because you can only get at it from above?) and got the shit scared out of me by gloom hands. I managed to respawn and glide to a place above them and take them out, but then- BOOM! Phantom Ganon battle!

I love bombs. I would be nowhere by now without bombs.

Anyways, sorry for the ramble! I'm currently poised to fight the Gibdo queen again in the depths, so that's where I left off. (i'm totally not avoiding that annoying blob-octopus annoyance in the water-temple, nope! Not that it's a hard fight, just...tedious and very, very underwhelming)

[sparkylurkdragon]

TotK log: Just beat the Rito area!

Tulin reminds me so much of Tails that I had to look up if his voice actor had ever done Tails before. (She had not.) He's adorable.

And holy shit getting to see the sun again after however-many hours of exploring in the dark was amazing. Really cool boss fight, too! I did most of my damage by diving into it before I realised you could also use arrows.

Looking increasingly likely that BotW/TotK is indeed some kind of soft reboot for the series, which, eh, whatever, we've had that before, it's The Legend of Zelda. Zelda being the Sage of Time is interesting.

Still sore about some of the inconsistencies between BotW and TotK themselves, particularly the Sheikah tech, but, again, eh. It's Zelda. I think it's just more noticeable this time around since it's supposed to be a direct sequel in the same area, and lore consistency has never been Nintendo's strong point with this series.

Will try to find the newspaper next, I think...

[flockrest]

how's my portrayal? / accepting / @stygicniron

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOUR BLOG AND YOUR MUSES AND YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!! I love love love the lore development your have put into for Rito culture, every post is just so delightful to read! Like a present for my birthday even though it's not my birthday! And then this is only added on by the fact that I love all your characters too, I love the narrative voice you use for each of the characters that makes them feel so so unique and a joy to write with! I am so so happy to have you on my dash <3

AAAAAAA!! HILARY!! THIS IS PRAISE OF THE HIGHEST ORDER, PLEASE 🥺🥺 thank you so very much for your lovely words, i will be cherishing them for such a long while slkfjldf I AM BLOWING KISSES AT YOU AND YOUR LINK, WHOM I LOVE AND ADORE, AND BONUS KISSES FOR THE MUSES I AM NOT AS FAMILIAR WITH but enjoy seeing the passion for ♡ i return the sentiment wholeheartedly!! you're a wonderful presence on my dash, i'm real happy to be writing and interacting with you ♡

[scarletknightreterns]

-My TOTK Review pt 1-

I finished the game a while ago now, and even now I’m continuing to play it and collect almost everything while daydreaming about the world, lore, and my Oc’s personal story and how I might revamp her to fit this world more.

There are so so many things I’ve discovered through the game, and even the other day I lost my mind with someone I SUDDENLY realized while looking at the sheikah stealth gear. I’ll get into that in a bit.

So.

I figured I would make a review of my personal thoughts and opinions on the game. It’s too good not to do, and it would be interesting to hear what all y’all think.

—

Things I like:

• The Sky Islands. These are so damn beautiful and a highlight of the game. Not only does the game start off STRONG with the ‘plateau’ and it’s Temple of Time, but there are literally so so many things to do. I love the sky-dive challenges, the mining factory, and that one island that gives the Zonai headdress— I did that a few days ago and thought it was actually very unique!! I live up in the sky so much because it’s just, absolutely serene. Gorgeous. Spectacular and I love collecting all the mushrooms and plants up there.

• The ZONAI!!! Like, holy shit. Nintendo didn’t scrap what BoTW was originally going to be with all that alien tech and Link’s weird arm. I had hoped to see them do something with that, and even I did not expect the Zonai to have such a major part in TOTK. We all thought they were a mysterious tribe of people long long ago- and while they were, they were so so much more. A lot of people seem to have a gripe about the Zonai, being glorified goats that come from heaven or something, but I actually think a lot of their history was purposefully burned away from Hyrule, making them the tribe of ‘brutes’ that BOTW suggested them to be; or we all tenorized. But. My gosh, I love them so damn much?! Rauru is gorgeous and I’m so glad he exists, none of you can convince me otherwise!

• The Constructs. All of them. All of them are beautiful. Yes, I know the Divine Beasts are gone, but I do NOT care when there are these adorable Stewards that I want to hug and keep company because they are lonely and deserve to be appreciated! Also, I can build things?? I can build things. Glory be it’s Minecraft. I love even the Gacha Machines because they are so cool. And the shrines?? Absolutely amazing, in appearance, and even the statues in the end where you get the spirit orbs.

• The Temples. I’m so glad they brought temples back although I really wish there could have been more to them, like, original 8, but all in all, they were beautiful. My favourites had to be the Rito’s War Boat which was super cool, and Zora’s Giant Fish (I forget the names of them, but you know what I mean haha). I was very surprised they added a Spirit Temple, but I’m sad that thatbonly had me build a construct although, in the end, I was sooooooo hype I got to KEEP that construct and ride it 0w0

• Sidon, Teba, Yanobo, Riju. First of all, Sidon is beautiful, Teba is precious child must protect, Yanobo is Yanobo, and Riju has matured and grown up UwU Of course, this is something else that upsets me. While I was super SUPER HAPPY to have them accompany me for the Temples, having merely apparitions of them follow me around, while it’s cool, is just.... it’s very, very upsetting. I was hoping I could select any of them at any time to come with me, have dialogue and say encouraging things. Like, it would be NICE TO HEAR THEIR VOICES WHILE WE EXSPLORE!! Maybe they collect things as well and can even give me things as rewards or shows of speciation. Like, Nintendo could have done SO SO MUCH MORE with them and they DID NOT (don’t mind me I’m just upset because my fishy prince Sidon didn’t get to stay with me in the way I dreamt...) but it’s still cool....

• The Depths. Like, holy holy crap?? Nintendo literally might as well have spent the past.... 5-6 years alone on this place to make it the perfect place it is. It looks unbelievable and there are even little places like the Gerudo Underground Cemetary, and the Gerudo Dark Skeleton. It’s just small things like these that I really really like. There is also the Ancient Underground Fortress which I think is really neat, and speaks to a story. Also, the Lightroots?? Are simply amazing?? I’ve almost gotten them all, not quite, but close! The boss fights you can relive down there are also a nice touch, as well as almost all enemies and their gloom-corrupted forms.

• The new enemeies. I really love the return of more enemies. The Horrorblins remind me of the Bokoblins from TP, very creepy, and actually seeing Gleeoks is a MASSIVE. MASSIVE BOON FOR ME BECAUSE ✨hydra-dragons✨King Gleeok is a B***H to kill tho... not gonna lie. Might try that again later on today :’P also, they added in the silver enemies as well. I never saw those in BOTW because, I think, those were Ballad of The Champtions DLC exclusive. It’s really nice to have tougher enemies— and the Bokoblin’s charge attacks are always annoying. The Lynels are my favourites to fight tho; their horns are soooooooo good for fusing yo the master sword. 60 dang bby, I’m a monster >8)

• We. Can. Actually. Join. The. Yiga. Clan. These fools won’t know what hit them and I’m laughing because they are all such hormonal, love-deprived twats that are so emo and edgy and need more to eat then just bananas. Maybe banana bread. Make them that, and they will be happy. Glory to Master Khoga.

• I finished the Labaryths around last week and. Hellll yaaaahhhh I’m getting my Edgy Teen Ganon vibes ooonnnnn— I literally don’t take this stuff off because. Cape. No excuses just cape. Me fancy, with sorcery! No sword, just sorcery (secret Yiga technique) yeeting fools into the air ehehehehehehehehehehheeh

• Dragons. An actual reason for the dragons, and I love we can collect a bit more from them in terms of the shards, and they don’t just vanish after taking something from them, I can stay of Naydra’s back for hours and take as many scales, horns, claws, fangs as necessary. Also, what’s interesting is, instead of going up, like they did in BoTW, they go down now, into the Depths, which is really interesting to me. They are literally like... Dolphins, hopping in and out of the rifts and I can ride them still while they do so by standing on their snouts B3

• This gets it’s own ping for literally being my favourite. Silver Lizalfos horn. Fuse to master sword. Master Scythe. Nothing more to say~

• Another thing (or rather 3) that gets their own ping for being top of my list despite being alllllll the way down here. Elemental dragon outfits??? I need to get the charged set but I don’t think I can because I got Mineru by my own exploring and mistake and I don’t think I can trigger the side quest.... :’)))) which MAKES ME MAAAAADDDDDDDD—- but flame set ~ my beloved~ dyed purple because purple hair~ Glows in the heat??? My favourite UwU

What else is there...?

Ah yes.

• Koroks. They did not get rid of these little guys but the new quests??? They shouldn’t hav.... I can abuse forest children by attaching them to rockets and launching them into the sky for the greater distance, then bring them to their friend. Also, the new little hidden challenges. I found a dandelion and I was so confused until I touched it XDD they are so creative. Also have you SEEN THE NEW ANIMATION FOR HESTU’S DANCE????? IT’S SO CUTE!!! KOROKS JOIN HIM!! I’M 😭😭😭😭😭

Phew, this is quite long already and there are still things I could list... But I think I will end this here and make another update later on listing the things that SHOCKED ME, and then the things I didn’t like about the game, and finally, the things I terrorize and lore stuff. :>>

[rahorak]

Thank  you  @moonaspect,  @ira-sturm,  @regalentempire,  @night-fallen  &  @cutmystrxngs  for  sending  in!  ❤

SHIP  BIASES.

DIANA  &  LEONA. Ngl  I’ve  been  very  influenced  by  Moon  for  this  ship,  not  only  cause  they’re  my  main  but  because  they’ve  been  writing  Diana  for  as  long  as  I’ve  known  them  &  their  portrayal  has  stuck  with  me  throughout  the  years.  I’m  biased  cause  it’s  an  age  old  ship  that  I  always  👀’d  but  never  wrote  myself  so  now  I’m  excited  to.  Also  biased  cause  Rito  wrecked  Leo’s  lore  &  now  I’m  ready  to  throw  hands  out  of  pure  spite  &  gay  energy!

Me  being  canon  divergent  opens  the  door  for  this  to  become  a  romantic  ship  (  Albeit  with  many  complications.  )  rather  than  only  enemies.  The  way  I  see  it,  they  were  very  close  friends  with  shared  feelings  that  were  never  acted  upon.  After  Diana  disappeared  Leona  has  been  searching  for  her  to  get  answers  &  to  finally  let  her  know  how  she  feels.  There  is  conflict  &  hard  choices  involved  due  to  their  allegiances,  but  my  Leona  wants  the  Solari  to,  once  again,  live  in  harmony  with  the  Lunari  &  that’s  a  long,  hard  journey  that  Diana  could  help  her  greatly  with.

LUX  &  LEONA. This  is  one  of  those  ships  (  Tbh  most  of  my  ships  /  potential  ships  are,  but  that’s  besides  the  point.  )  where  I  can  see  lots  of  different  outcomes.  I’m  not  particularly  picky  but  I  think  my  favorites  are  good  friends,  friends  with  benefits  or  even  romantic.  I  can  see  Leona  &  Lux  play  off  each  other  well,  &  they’d  support  each  other’s  bright  personalities.  Leona’s  protective  nature  would  also  be  great  for  Lux,  give  her  a  safe  place  to  go.  Lux’s  knack  for  magic  would  intrigue  Leona  &  she’d  ask  many  questions  /  show  a  lot  of  interest.

ASHE  &  LEONA. Look,  I’m  a  simple  lesbian  ;  I  see  the  option  for  a  benevolent  ruler  to  have  a  stronk  guardian  by  their  side  &  I  swoon.  They’re  both  leaders  of  their  respective  people,  different  as  they  are,  I  write  Leona  to  be  an  empathetic  authority  figure  who  wants  the  best  for  her  people  ——  even  if  that  means  questioning  their  ways  of  life.  So  as  you  can  probably  imagine,  Ashe  would  compliment  this  extremely  well.  They’d  be  busy  &  possibly  there’d  be  some  angst  due  to  that,  though.  Not  getting  to  see  each  other  too  often.

KAYLE  &  LEONA. Something  something  not  too  coherent  thoughts  on  this  but  Valkyrie  verse  maybe?  Two  righteous  people  coming  together?  Yes  please.

SORAKA  &  LEONA. In  development,  but  I  adore  what  Nix  &  I  have  been  discussing  so  far  for  these  two.  Similar  to  Lux,  I  can  see  them  be  close  friends  &  maybe  there  could  even  be  something  romantic  there,  but  the  key  to  this  ship  for  me  is  in  the  soft  moments  of  taking  care  of  each  other.  Braiding  each  other’s  hair,  making  sure  the  other  eats  healthily,  sharing  life  experiences,  etc.  etc.  I  want  Soraka  to  share  with  Leona  her  knowledge  &  experiences  with  the  Aspects  &  I  want  Leona  to  show  Soraka  all  the  little  joys  of  mortal  life.

[xcooki]

Goddess Harp, Master Sword, and Whip for the loz ask game!

Lore: The entire cycle. I adore the cycle concept and also the entirety of Skyward sword

Link: Skyward Sword/Twilight Princess

Whip: Any of the BOTW ritos.

[rational-mastermind]

I’ve been meaning to make a review about Breath of the Wild for a while, but at least wanted to wait until after I finished the shrines.

SCREW. THAT.

I’m gonna just say it up front; it’s not one of my favorite Zelda games. I mean, yeah, I have a personal history with Majora’s Mask, but that’s not the only thing. I’ll start at the beginning, under the cut. Cause this is gonna be long-winded.

I’m not gonna make a lot of complaints about how it sucks in comparison to Ocarina of Time or make too many mentions about the timeline issue, cause we all know that it was bullshit since the moment they said anything. But there are just...so many things that bother me.

I will say that Breath of the Wild has a lot of great thing going for it and it’s easy to be impressed when you first sit down to play it. The graphics are gorgeous and the voice acting was done very well. There are so many wonderful little bits of lore, call-backs, and even general mechanics of the game that just made everything amazing. (I was so fucking excited to jump without running off a ledge.)

However...there was a lot of the story itself that bothered me. Not to mention a few other things. One of which, was the music. Or....serious lack thereof.

One of the things I loved the most about Zelda, was the music in nearly every game. Background music is very essential in making up the environment of any level. From your typical fire temple, to underwater, to creepy ghost town. And for Zelda, it wasn’t even just that, but that song itself had a large to-do with a lot of the lore and story. Song tells others you have something to do with the Royal Family. It changes the universe around you. It soothes the dead. Not just in Ocarina of Time either. So it was really weird to...not have any of that in Breath of the Wild.

Yeah, we have some soundtrack but..it felt so..threadbare. When you go into a shrine/town/battle, I barely register the music. Walking through the open field...nothing. When I’m galloping on the Lord of the Mountain, the fast-paced piano feels more high-tech than race-horse and makes me feel uneasy about a guardian lurking nearby. Then when you DO face a guardian, or any mini-boss of a monster, it gets so fucking intense, so damn fast, I was worried about challenging a Hinox for the longest damn time. (Geez, I felt stupid for that after I realized how easy they were to beat.) Everything just felt...off. And it was weird that you didn’t have to repeat any song 10 fucking times. I mean, yeah, I was really sick of Elegy of Emptiness after going through the Stone Tower in Majora’s Mask, but I’ll listen to the 50th remix of Song of Storms. It was like...one of the few things that kept the whole timeline thing connected. It was that there was always a harp, there was always a song, there was just...something that connected us to the higher powers. And it’s kinda cool for a game to give something like music, so much power.

But I’ll stop bitching about that and get to my real problem. The story.

Now the basic crux of it, I’m fine with. They attempted to beat Ganon, failed, and had to pay the price 100 years later. Cool. That’s interesting. A nice premise. But gosh DAMN if the details don’t fucking trip me up! Let’s run through this chronologically.

Okay so Zelda, being the nerdy princess that she is in this life, discovers that yeah, they reincarnate every several hundred years and beat an evil known as Ganon. There’s supposed to be her, the physical embodiment of the goddess Hylia, and Link, a young knight sworn to protect her. Hooray, self-awareness.

Apparently, she also discovers that, what was it? 1,000 years ago, the Sheikah... the shadow people who are skilled ninjas that protect the family...built 120 shrines, robots, and massive weapons of terrible destruction...just to help beat this one guy that two kids and a magic sword handles on a regular basis. Actually no, I shouldn’t just say it’s two kids and a magic sword.

It’s a knight with a magic sword, three pendants, six sages, and the final seventh sage (aka the fucking goddess-child) that defeat the Evil.

It’s already upsetting enough that the Sheikah are stupidly advanced in technology (cause ancient magic tech from the gods is always the way to go...), and that the 1,000 year span makes the whole timeline thing confusing as FUCK (even if it is in the broken world timeline), but that they just...do that. They just fucking dissed the fucking premise for like, so many of the games. You find three pendants/orbs/stones/things, the master sword, six sages, and then help Zelda. Thanks for reducing everything else to nothing. Thanks for making 6 sages fucking nobodies. And yeah, I’m gonna harp on that.

One of the things that was nice about Ocarina of Time is that the 6 Sages became one from each race. In Link to the Past, it was the descendants of 6 powerful wizards. In Wind Waker, it was at least the last 2 other species left alive after the whole flooding incident (cause those three gorons are gonna fucking die and I wanna cry thinking about it). It just...it made sense.

So why. The fuck. ARE WE RELYING ON ONLY THESE FOUR????

We still have the Sheikah and the Koroks. What, just cause Impa’s old now? Cause the Korok’s are tiny as fuck? That never stopped anything before. We could’ve had Purah, or Paya take up the mantle. If size was an issue, how about Hetsu? Koroks can choose their shapes and try to put on brave faces. Saria was willing to help with the fight. Makar was willing to go through a whole temple to help. I don’t see what makes this generation a bunch of pussies! What the great and all-knowing fucking Sheikah just..FORGOT about the other sages???

Like, don’t get me wrong. Again, there’s a lot of good. I wouldn’t say gorons would be my favorite race but dammit I love Daruk and I love his grandson. They’re just sweet and adorable as fuck. (and I have a weakness for soft-hearted big-guys. ^//^) I’m glad they fixed the Rito’s appearance (though I hate Rivali’s fucking attitude). I liked their stories and their powers. But you could’ve at least rounded it out to be EVERYBODY. And further more, as great as it was to see their spirits put to rest, it doesn’t make a lot of sense for ghosts to pilot giant robots. It could’ve made a bit more sense for maybe the later generations to take up the mantle and help out. (Since that’s what a lot of them seem to imply.) It would’ve been kinda cool to go through the Divine Beasts with the Next Gen and let them help us fight the blights and let them take control.

Also on a fashion note: WHY THE FUCK IS EVERYTHING BLUE?? Thanks for dissing Farore. I guess she wasn’t a very important Goddess! Certainly not the one that LINK correlates to. Yeah, I get it, he’s supposed to get his signature outfit later, but I’m gonna get back to that problem in a bit. You could’ve at least kept the design and made it fucking GREEN.

Cause yeah, I get it, it was supposed to signify their unity and shit and that’s great and all, but BLUE had a purpose and that was WISDOM. Link isn’t WISDOM. He’s COURAGE. That was the whole rite of passage thing in Wind Waker!

Also, Zelda. Zelda, babe. Hon.

Zelda... What the FUCK ARE YOU WEARING???

Like, DAMN girl’s got hips for DAYS but do we really need the thicc shown in fucking leggings?? I mean, okay, her normal princess outfit is fine. Would’ve liked it to be a liiiiitle more traditional, but whatever. You look the part. And her normal adventure outfit is...okay?? It doesn’t look very practical nor comfortable for travels so it seems a little weird?? It just looks really uncomfortably tight and really draws attention to the thighs. But see, it’s the fucking Goddess getup that I have the most problems with.

Like, I’m just gonna start with saying that she looks fucking pregnant.

The empire waist wasn’t a good choice, especially cause she’s already just so damn thicc. And then you mix it with a sleeveless top and you have these fucking layers that just exaggerate the hips in the most unflattering way possible. I’m not saying she needs to look sexy but for a goddess, she could’ve looked more elegant? I’m sure with some kinda alterations, this would’ve looked great, or maybe on a different body, but like! I don’t like the dress for Skyward Sword either but at least she looks more goddess-like than this! (and that was a VERY boring dress...) She looks like Ariel putting on that sail cloth when she turned human. I mean, she could’ve had like, three-quarter sleeves with a v-neck or sweetheart neckline and then let the skirt flare out with the Hylian buckle around the waist. But this looks.. it just looks uncomfortable. I wouldn’t wanna practice goddess magic in this either.

So aside from forgetting about important races and a lack in fashion design, then you move on with the story. So since Zelda’s such a nerd and cause she lost her mother when she was younger, I guess that means I should feel sorry for her long-ass struggle with her goddess powers but um... I’m not. I don’t feel sorry for this woman. I just feel annoyed. I feel very annoyed every time I run all over Hyrule, trying to find these fucking memories, only to get five minutes of her bitching at US for her own failure.

Link is a soldier. And on top of that, he’s burdened with the heavy duty of carrying the Master Sword. HE is the one who has to fight Ganon. And instead he just runs around escorting Princess Twilight Sparkle while she geeks out over learning and frogs and then insults him, yells at him, and pushes him away from doing HIS FUCKING JOB. Unlike her, LINK IS DOING HIS JOB. I don’t blame him for shutting the hell up while she bitches and cries. I’m gonna side with Zelda’s father on this one, she found out about the prophecy, but SHE NEEDS TO DO HER JOB. Not for the sake of reputation (which seemed unusually dickish for him to say....) but because that’s her damn job. Everyone else knew what it meant to be a soldier. They knew when to dig in their heels and get ready to fight. WHY. DIDN’T. SHE?? Or at least why didn’t we see her trying like she kept talking about?? Yeah we saw her pray to ONE FUCKING FOUNTAIN. And it wasn’t even supposed to be her damn goddess! The whole mess wouldn’t have happened if she had just SHUT THE HELL UP and thought about someone else besides her own problems.

Also, if you were gonna show the tender moment where she finally does unleash her powers, maybe you SHOULDN’T make that a “secret ending” after you run around and try to guess where the rest of the memories were based on poor-quality pictures. And yeah, Zelda. you took a lot of shoddy pictures with that damn tablet. HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DIFFERENTIATE ONE FOREST FROM A THOUSAND OTHERS??

Maybe I would’ve felt more sorry if I didn’t have to climb through a fucking castle full of guardians, avoid tripping the cut scene, and THEN read in a long-ass diary about her mother dying, but you know, that just didn’t happen. I don’t feel sorry for her. I don’t feel excited for her to unleash her powers. Actually, I’m rather sad that despite the games being called “Legend of Zelda”, I REALLY didn’t wanna focus on THIS incarnation of her. The idea of it would’ve been fucking fantastic, but did Nintendo really have to make her such a whiny bitch?

Okay okay okay. Now before you send me hate mail, I will point out some things I like about her. She had a nice voice. She was cute (in a good outfit). And she wasn’t a total bitch. It was a good idea for Nintendo to try to focus on the titular character for once. I just don’t see this excusing all the other problems though.

Moving on, I mentioned earlier how I hated Rivali. That was the understatement. I am so glad he fucking died at the hands of one of the easiest damn bosses. I know some people may have liked him but I can’t stand ego. It’s an immediate turn-off and the sad part is that he had a sexy design and voice. He could’ve been redeemable if he showed some kinda humility after being dead for 100 years, but no. They just...didn’t give him that. Not willingly at least. Again, this is where I would’ve LOVED the next generation to take up the mantle instead, but... Yeah. No. We didn’t get that. (And I swear he was jealous that Link had Mipha and Zelda’s affections. Especially Zelda’s.)

Urbosa was good, but I felt like we didn’t get to know her personality too much? And the same goes for her grandchild. Also even though the Gerudo are known for hating men, they HAVE accepted men into their clans before. What happens if these women marry?? They have to leave town? Link was genuinely accepted as one of the Gerudo in OoT and was free to walk around! And that was just for debunking their strongest warriors. BotW!Link saved the whole fucking town, saved one from dehydration and another’s husband, and is a renowned champion! You think that would give him a get-out-of-jail free card!

I already talked about how I liked Daruk cause he’s definitely a strong leader and a gentle-soul. I do like the Goron City but it feels a little weird how....corporate they became. I mean, it makes sense. They can make a good profit from the gems they harvest but it’s still a little weird considering how tribal and relaxed the gorons were before. Still, they were a cute bunch and I really liked going to Goron City again.

And Mipha was sweet and I really loved her one-sided relationship with Link. I felt really sad thinking about Sidon growing up without his sister and I see why everyone shipped him with Link. Sidon himself was pretty good but....personal preference dictates that a super excited, extroverted, supportive type...doesn’t suite me. Don’t get me wrong. He’s very sweet and cute and I can see why a lot of fangirls were into him. It’s just the over-exuberant extrovertedness that gets to me. Also I was really surprised that this game made the ZORAS racist, out of all of them. I mean like, fucking damn... I know your princess died but fuck! Finally, last note, I...really didn’t care for their designs. I know the Zoras have been through a hell of a lot of redesigns over the years and they’ve certainly improved, but I think Ocarina of Time’s era was just enough of Fish and Human to make it a good hybrid? Rather than making...a shark..humanoid...with another shark...on his head?? And somehow related to a whale??? With a...manta ray...for an advisor.. I mean, I get it, he was suppose to look old, but it’s literally just a stingray on his head.

I liked Hetsu too, though collecting korok seeds is kinda annoying. I hate it when games make you have to gather more for just one thing, it’s just..not a fun mechanic to have? And the koroks themselves are still cute, though it’s taken me a while to accept that they replaced my beloved Kokiri and Dekus. (I only had OoT/MM growing up, so when I finally played Wind Waker as an adult, yeah I was pretty upset about the change in the species.) I still wish they had a bigger role to play in all of this.

Lastly, Ganon had a pretty great design, though it was a little weird he was like...semi-solid for this game. Like.. What? What was with all the...”malice”? (Which is an actual word, guys. You could’ve called it something besides that...) I really liked how he merged himself with the technology and it was interesting that he was controlling the guardians, but honestly when she said “Given up incarnation” I was a little disappointed he still went by Ganon cause you know... His original form wasn’t called Ganon. It was called Demise. Also for having a giant smoke-pig with a huge gaping mouth hovering around the castle, it would’ve been a little more interesting for him to...still retain that when you walked in? But design aside, fighting Ganon wasn’t actually all that hard after you freed the Divine Beasts and it’s...a little disappointing. I mean, I’m running around, fighting lynels and dragons and guardians and really, I had more trouble with THOSE than I did with HIM. And that’s REALLY disappointing when Ganon is the long-standing Ultimate Bad Guy (tm) and I was REALLY looking forward to feeling more accomplished beating him than I did when I beat a silver-maned lynel.

Finally some last complaints:

I wish the Sheikahs didn’t have their hands in everything. Who said that THEY should determine who Goddess Hylia’s chosen hero should be? Why were THEY the advanced race when you have one that harvests iron on a regular basis? And I hate that they don’t have any actual temples cause one of the things I liked about the whole thing is that there was a running religion and the Sages and Temples actually had some significance? Even though it’s pointless, I like history and archeological search in a game, even if I’m the only one doing it for my own amusement, cause it just helps me to connect more to the world that I’m playing in but I don’t get that when I walk into a weird-ass abyssal room with small puzzles or fights.

Also there are seriously WAY too many fucking shrines. None of them make any sort of callback to old games. The spirit orb system is confusing cause if that’s a callback to Skyward Sword, then at least say it was by Link’s own doing and not these dead monks that have been preserved in suspended animation for 100 years. Why didn’t Link do the shrines to start with 100 years ago? Also I HATE that you have to collect 4 spirit orbs for hearts or stamina. I mean, we all know stamina sucks, but this just making it REALLY obvious? And seriously it was so fucking easy to die early on into the game, especially if you ran out of stamina or were still fumbling with the new controls.

Why didn’t he ask more questions in this game? If you have voice acting, why didn’t you actually give Link any dialogue? I think that would’ve made a stronger impact for Zelda to get her powers or something.

Seriously the three dragons bug the shit out of me. I know they were supposed to represent the goddesses and it was really cool to first come across them and shit but 1) it’s really hard to keep up with any of them. 2) they don’t really add anything to the plot. 3) was Zelda supposed to pray to a dragon?? 4) Did the dragons from Skyward Sword just like...de-evolve? (devolve?) Cause they spoke and wore clothes??? Why didn’t these??? 5) (and this goes to Skyward Sword too) why is the one who represents the fucking forests, you know, FARORE, have lightning powers? I think Pokemon already took the cake with mythical creatures representing Fire, Ice, and Lightning. This would’ve been better with Fire, Water, and Grass, y’know?

I fucking cringe looking at the map cause it feels like so much it just out of place... Like, how do you move a whole Forest from the south to the north? Why is the volcano moved like, way far to the back? The WHOLE Lake Hylia was moved like, so far from the original spot. Really the only things that stayed in place was Hyrule Castle and Gerudo Desert.

Also don’t give us giant skeletons and then NOT ACTUALLY EXPLAIN WHAT THEY REALLY ARE. Leviathan is not just a blanket term for Giant-Ass-Monster. Was that the Dodongo King at the volcano? The Sky Dragon from Skyward Sword?? What the fuck froze to death? Why was that and the one in the desert more similar the one at the fucking volcano??

Seriously your mini bosses shouldn’t be harder than the Ultimate Bad Guy. The blights were harder and I especially had trouble with the lynels and guardians. And seriously WHY was there a fucking guardian on the fucking Plateau?? I was fucking terrified of these killer robots and it’s seriously unfair that I barely ever get any proper armor or shields to deal with them! Also seriously, why did there have to be a whole graveyard of them right underneath a stupidly challenging maze??

Also I don’t mind teleporting everywhere in a game, but when there’s literally secrets over every last inch of this game (from shrines to korok seeds to weapons, food, and needed pictures) it gets REALLY boring to travel on foot. Especially when climbing mountains in freezing conditions. I mean, I love that it’s so open-world and I love that we get to go exploring whatever we want, but there are a few problems with that. The other being that it’s hard to follow the plot of a game when you hardly have any reason to go do it or to follow any intended order. I did Rivali last, not because I wanted to, but because I didn’t bother to explore that side of the map until it was all that was left. I WISHED SOMEONE SAID SOMETHING EARLIER IN THE GAME CAUSE THE GALE WOULD’VE HELPED TREMENDOUSLY.

Finally I swear someone on the staff has a giant fetish, and not that there’s a problem with that? But can we have ONE game where the Great Fairies aren’t horrifying to look at?? Like, if some people like it, fine, I guess? But gosh damn these bitches just look so GAUDY. There’s too much glittering, there’s too much...just too much everything. Also you should be able to up all your armor, not just a few things? It would’ve been awesome to walk around as Shadow Link and have it upped to be at least decently protective.

Okay.. I think I’m done complaining. Now I’ll stop my own bitching and actually give the game its proper praise.

The game does have some amazingly gorgeous graphics and it blows me away every fucking time. When it does want to intimidate you, it does so very well. And so many things were designed so well. Despite earlier complaints, I love how the dragons were designed to vary from one to another. I love how all the baddies were designed. I love the large array of wardrobe that you get for Link and it’s so much fun to change his looks and dye them different colors. (though, again, you should be able to dye the Champions tunic to GREEN.)

Some of the characters were fun and had some great personalities. I liked the bits of lore this game generated. I also loved whatever small callbacks it did make (like mentioning Naboru, and Makar’s island). I liked that you could catch and ride so many things and it’s fun that there’s a motorcycle (I haven’t unlocked that yet, but I’m sure it’ll be fun ^^). It was fun exploring different worlds within this game and just really see some of these beloved races expand and grow and see how the world is affected by such an apocalypse.

I like hunting for your food and surviving that way rather than random hearts coming out of the grass. The whole sense of survival is pretty awesome and thrilling. It’s fun to discover things in this world and it’s fun to just go around, explore, and make up your own adventure. (I just wish there was a bit  more guiding for the story...)

Some of the reactions in this game are so much fun. Like walking up to people naked, or riding the Lord of the Mountain to any stable. Actually that entire story about the Lord of the Mountain is really sweet and heartwarming. But the actually dialogue that’s written into this game is really fun and pretty spot-on.

I really liked the side mission of buying your own(old?) house and creating an entire village from the ground up. It was such a sweet side-story to the whole thing and was a lot of fun to to. The other side mission of helping the korok through the woods was super cute. ^^ It was little moments like these that really did make me enjoy the game. And I did like being able to stumble into Zelda’s room or study and read about her life in the past, seeing her figure out Link and such.

And the challenges of conquering the Divine Beast was actually fun, but again, would’ve liked a bit more direction. Actually getting through this game was kinda fun, but it was easy for the magic to get sapped out of everything with stupid shit.

Overall, I wouldn’t say this was the worst Zelda game. Heaven know Skyward Sword did much worse. It could’ve been better though and that’s what really makes me sad. I was really looking forward to playing something new and amazing, especially having just finished Wind Waker for the first time before it and was honestly, disappointed after the magic of the new features wore off. It wasn’t the best. But it wasn’t the worst. It just really needed some work on in a few areas. Over all I would rate it 7/10.

[dianamoonfallmun]

Have ritos rewrites ever been good? Like their addition to GP and Mf lore seemed good but I can't think of any other

I certainly liked the way they rewrote Diana and Leona’s mainly because they showed connection between the two personally. They showed that Leona actually is looking for Diana and wants to tell her that she understands and that we have adorable Diana trying to be a good girl and best girl ♥

[noxian-rose]

Zyra!

send me a champion ! ! | ( no longer accepting .  )

how much I like them (0-10): ooh , definitely an 9 in game but more of a 7 / 8 in lore . reason being , zyra doesn’t quite have a standing in current lore as we know it right now and i’m salty about that . gib me lore about plant babe , rito . 

mastery level: mastery 6 

mastery points: 81, 522 ( ˘ ³˘)♥

favorite skin: DRAGON SORCERESS . i won’t even hesitate on that one , it’s definitely her most amazing skin to date . the others can’t even begin to compare to it . not only does it actually make fucking sense for her as a concept 

worst/weakest skin: wildfire zyra , i feel is her weakest . not because it’s not well-made but i just don’t really think it works for her character ? sure it’s nice but it looks like someone literally just let brand poke her or something . 

favorite quote: Our seasons are reversed: my spring, your fall.  ❞ i love this so much , i can’t even begin with it .   

if I like to play against this champ: zyra is annoying as hell to play against though , for all of my love and adoration for her , i cannot stand her in game . she does so much unnecessary damage as a support and wow , that’s just . nope . 

any ships?: I THINK IT’S FAIRLY OBVIOUS HOW MUCH I LOVE ZYRA & ELISE ? ? ? LIKE SPIDERLILY IS SO GOOD , I CAN’T EVEN HOLY . .  .  i think it’s my only ship for her , actually . 

[beckettsthoughts]

youve mentioned playing breath of the wild a few times. what are some of your fave hcs for the world and your fave characters in the worlds?

Oh, this is such a good question!

I’ll tackle characters first, because I have a lot to say. I’m going to go into detail about the champions, mostly, because they’re the characters I find easiest to talk about.

Naturally, as I’m talking about the champions and the plotline here, I’m going to offer a spoiler warning here concerning the plot and characters of Breath of the Wild.

The champions, I think, are one of the best examples of characterisation through flashback. I mean, hell, we hardly see them in the game. Even with the additional scenes made available in The Champion’s Ballad, we don’t actually know a lot about these characters. This is what makes it incredibly impressive when you see the amount of empathy and sympathy the game’s audience have developed for these four characters. Mipha, first of all, is probably the first champion you’ll learn about, and also is the champion I feel we’re told the most about. Her relationship with Link is beautifully revealed, and her motif of caring runs strong throughout not only her appearances in flashbacks but also the Zora people’s memories of her. She is shown to have been a huge influence and idol to her younger brother Sidon, and it adds a lovely level of poignancy to Link’s friendship with him and Sidon’s charming, friendly personality.

Urbosa is a favourite of mine, especially when considering her relationship with Zelda. Before the second DLC pack this relationship and trust is known but not explained, and while they give us no reason to question this bond it made it all the more satisfying when the memory of Urbosa revealed in The Champion’s Ballad was spent developing this relationship.

Revali is one of my favourite characters, which is probably predictable. I always have a soft spot for the arrogant ones, and I love the contrast he provides to the other guardians. His snarky comments throughout my attempt to free Vah Medoh were a highlight of the main quest, actually. Mostly, though, I feel bad for Revali. It’s clear that the Rito don’t look up to Revali as much as the other races look up to their champions, only a few Rito mention Revali and Teba only ever wants to beat Revali’s records. I can’t say I blame them- he was clearly an abrasive personality- but I still think he deserves more than a single wooden landing named in his honour.

Lastly, we have the Goron champion Daruk. Up until The Champion’s Ballad, Daruk seemed to have the least development of all the champions. This seems to be a common theme with the Goron race, actually, being the least humanoid and most two-dimensional race within Breath of the Wild’s Hyrule. Now, I actually really like the Gorons, their community, their culture and their city, so I absolutely adored the opportunity to read Daruk’s training journals once I downloaded The Champion’s Ballad.

Of course, I adore Link, Zelda, Sidon and many other characters as well, but there’s so much to go over with them that I don’t think I could easily summarise my appreciation for them. So for now, just know that I do genuinely love them. Heck, I love Sidon so much that I’m embroidering his face as a gift for my partner!

Now onto headcanons, the main one I have to cover is autistic Link. This is a headcanon I talk about with my friends every now and then, because they all believe the same. I mean, he’s nonverbal in most games, and even when he does have the option to speak it’s minimal, rare and terse. He likes to get straight to the point and doesn’t have a tolerance for small-talk. In Breath of the Wild it’s even mentioned that he only opened up to Zelda once they’d been working in partnership for quite a while, once they’d built up a level of trust. Not only that, but he clearly bonds more easily with animals than other people- I mean, Epona- and he seems to stim in various ways across the different games. Link is good with solving logic puzzles, a staple element of the series, and he’s said to have been a swordfighting prodigy in his youth. All of this, I think, backs up my headcanon pretty well.

I’d also make claims to non-binary Link (when considering this headcanon, consider how comfortable Link is with being considered female in the Gerudo Vai clothing) and and definitely non-binary Zelda, but the latter headcanon is supported by evidence from across the whole series and there’s very little to be found in Breath of the Wild. I’d have to direct you to @skyward-sheik for any more in-depth headcanons, especially regarding Zelda, Sheik and Link. He’s pretty much an expert on The Legend of Zelda, and I submit to his superior knowledge where lore is concerned.

[silverskulltula]

if you're still taking numbers for ye zelda questionnaire - 1, 3, 5, 8, 11, 15?

1. Top 3 incarnations of Link?

Breath of the Wild

Twilight Princess

Wind Waker

Keep in mind that each of these so are fucking close to each other that the list could easily be interchangeable. Breath of the Wild speaks for itself - there’s no sort of flowery wordsmithery that I can conjure that would be worthy of Link’s portrayal in that game, so in essence - it’s gud.

I covered Twilight Princess a bit in the last ask! I love my ranch-hand, pumpkin-eating, wholesome-big-brother Link to the death.

I considered putting OoT for third but honestly? Wind Waker deserves it more. For all the shit Wind Waker got on release it should be commended for taking the series in all sorts of new directions. Link in WW is a child in way over his head. All he wants to do is to go back to Outset Isle and wear his lobster shirt and hang out with his grandma. But when given a responsibility way past his years, his acceptance of the task is both unwavering and effortless. Link is a child, which means that his mind is the purest it’ll ever be, and that naivety is his strength. He stands against Ganondorf - old, broken, and jaded, but still consumed with a lust for power. Link shows him that youthful optimism is not something fragile and fleeting to be lost in the face of the world’s cruelty. It’s an unstoppable force for good, and no matter the opposition, it will always prevail. One thing that I really like about Wind Waker and its sequels is that the games focus on change. There’s the obvious change from Hyrule into the Great Sea. There’s the change of the Zora into the Rito, the Kokiri into the Koroks, and so on. They all feature change as a catalyst for moving forward. Moving forward into uncharted waters to establish new kingdoms. Moving forward technologically to create new machines and improve people’s lives. Moving forward sociologically and politically by expanding the government (even if the Chancellor turned out to be a demon but ANYWAY). The WW-PH-ST trilogy shows that progress is propelled by youthful optimism, and that’s a message that I will defend to the fucking death. 

ANYWAY.

3. Favourite and least favourite companion?

CIN TOOK MIDNA AWAY FROM ME IN THE LAST ASK BUT THEY AREN’T HERE TO TAKE HER AWAY NOW AHA SO yea Midna is my Big Favorite. The evolution of her relationship with Link is enough to bring me to tears. Anything less of a companion would’ve cheapened TP as a whole.

It’s predictable, but my least favorite would have to be Fi. I appreciate that the Master Sword itself is given some depth and characterization but Nintendo definitely failed in their execution of that entire game. Navi was annoying but endearing, and Link’s journey to find her again in MM is genuinely heartbreaking. Fi was exhausting to listen to and IMO the game did nothing to create attachment to her. The only thing I’ll give Skyward Sword is that some of its bosses were pretty killer, but that’s about it.

5. was covered in Cin’s ask!

8. Top 3 villains?

Wind Waker Ganondorf

Princess Hilda (DON’T CRY TO ME IF YOU DIDN’T KNOW - IF YOU’RE READING THIS YOU SHOULD BE EXPECTING SPOILES GDI)

Skull Kid

WW Ganondorf was a very welcome expansion on the shallow, evil-for-evil’s-sake Ganondorf from OoT. It made sense that Ganondorf, born as a mortal and with his own life experiences, would harbor his own resentment of Hyrule besides his main goal of claiming the Triforce. You can feel sympathy for a man whose entire life has been haunted by death and suffering, even if he tragically became the embodiment of those very things in his quest to rise above them. I’m not saying that Ganondorf didn’t deserve his fate - just that (demonic cycle of reincarnation set aside) at one point there was a voice inside him that wanted to make things better for himself and his people, and that understandable want was tragically silenced by the evil desires of Demise’s reincarnated soul. I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT GANONDORF, OK.

Believe it or not I wasn’t spoiled on the end of ALBW and it made it all the better, so I’m genuinely sorry if my answer gave away the twist for you. I suppose that Hilda IS the realization of what would happen if Ganondorf was driven to evil by a desire to help his people instead of his own selfish pursuit of power. Hilda commits evil in the pursuit of good (saving her world and her people), and that’s enormously refreshing in a series plagued by absolute evil just for evil’s sake. Zelda and Link’s unanimous wish to restore Lorule’s Triforce is yet another moment in The Legend of Zelda series that will bring me to tears.

And Skull Kid. Man, I guess that all of my favorite villains have tragedy in common. Skull Kid, a puppeteer turned puppet, who is forgiven in the end by yet another young hero suffering responsibility and pain beyond his years. Again - the children prevail over evil, a core message of TLoZ that I adore.

11. Favourite Ganon/Ganondorf design?

My favorite characterization of Ganondorf is Wind Waker, but in terms of literal chronological progression I immensely love the change from Ocarina of Time Ganondorf to Twilight Princess Ganondorf. Debatable timeline fuckery aside, I was stunned once I realized that the Ganondorf in TP was THE Ganondorf from OoT and I was facing this fucker yet again. His characterization wasn’t as deep as WW but his development was apparent in his tactics. He failed before by directly attacking Hyrule himself, so now he’s utilizing the fanatical proxy that is Zant in order to utilize the might of the usurped Twilight Realm in his stead. Ganondorf is more calculating and cautious than his OoT incarnation, but his boss fights show that he’s still every bit as ferocious. And I find this older DADONDORF hot and I want him to beat me to a pulp and call me pathetic ok

15. Top 3 dungeons? 

Thieve’s Hideout (ALBW)

Snowpeak Ruins (TP)

Sandship (SS)

Thieve’s Hideout is a personal favorite (and that extends to the Thieve’s Town in ALTTP as well). Overall ALBW was excellent at shaking up the traditional Zelda formula and it did that in Thieve’s Hideout by giving you an NPC companion. She was something between an escort quest and a movable assistant who provided really sassy commentary throughout the dungeon. She added a lot of flavor to what could’ve been a cut and dry dungeon and I appreciate that Nintendo was able to think outside of the box.

Snowpeak Ruins is another odd dungeon in that it’s not actually a dungeon. The derelict mansion was a visually interesting setting for a dungeon and the final boss was an even further subversion of the typical formula. The whole dungeon was a welcome change of pace and it’s one of my favorite parts of TP.

Holy fuck, I have something nice to say about Skyward Sword???? For better or worse, Nintendo attempted to establish an origin for Zelda’s lore in Skyward Sword, and part of that lore is that an incredibly technologically advanced civilization predated the Hylians (expanded upon in a much more interesting way in BOTW, but it technically had the idea first). They showed this by allowing you to shift specific areas back in time by activating Timeshift Stones (which were light blue… like a certain Ocarina… that allows you to travel through time… a little detail that I appreciate). One of these stones encompassed an entire pirate ship that sailed on the desert by timeshifting the desert immediately around it back into water. I haven’t played Skyward Sword in years, but I remember having a lot of fun with the robotic pirate swordfighting duel along the bowsprit. And of course, the end boss was a goddamn SEA MONSTER THAT TORE APART THE SHIP PIECE BY PIECE, SO THAT WAS FUN. Again, for all of Skyward Sword’s failings, some of the dungeons were fucking awesome.