#i don’t know much about other zelda games or like any of these guys ..

[wybienova]

@dragondawdles i think you might like these :3

hey links! nice fursonas!

[chongoblog]

Weird question, I know, but do you have any recommendations for getting into roguelikes? Or at least roguelites?

Great question! As far as the genre of roguelike/lite goes, there’s a pretty wide berth. I think it depends on what kind of experience you’re looking for.

I was gonna give a breakdown of lite vs like, but honestly I’m just gonna go down the list

Hades/Hades 2: Very good if you want to experience a story, tight gameplay, and be pretty sure that you’ll make your way to the end eventually without ragequitting. A lot of its charm comes in it being easier and focusing more on progressing story than Just Being A Wall like some of the other games on this list. Probably the best entry point to roguelikes in this whole list.

Spelunky/Spelunky 2: Remember when I mentioned a wall to throw yourself at? I haven’t played nearly as much Spelunky 2, but I can tell you that I have SOOOOO much time in the first Spelunky (hell I had a lot of time in it back when it was freeware. Now THAT was an exciting time). It’s very very difficult and unforgiving. But it’s a blast once you figure out the tricks.

Slay the Spire: THE deckbuilder roguelike. A ton of roguelikes nowadays have deckbuilder elements and I feel like a lot of it comes from this game. Can’t recommend it enough. If you’re looking for other deckbuilder roguelikes, you can try Monster Train or Balatro (warning this one is crack if you like Number Go Up)

FTL Faster Than Light: You know Star Trek? Imagine if you were a ship captain and you were in control of all the ship functions and crew members. And also everything wanted you dead. And uh oh half your crew is dead. Oh god the O2 chamber is on fire. Another one of those “Throw Yourself At A Wall” type games. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever completed a run myself, but it’s a wonderful experience every time I pick it up

Skul: Definitely one of my favorites in recent memory. A fun action platformer where you get to be a lil skeleton dude, what more could you ask for? Very similar to Dead Cells, which I’ve also played, but I think I like Skul a good bit better (DC is very good though!!!)

Dicey Dungeons: Made by the same guy who did VVVVVV, Dicey Dungeons is a very fun take on the genre, basing it around dice, and allowing for a lot of creative playstyles around the mechanic.

Binding of Isaac: I feel like this one needs no introduction, but in case it does, BoI takes most of its inspiration from the original Legend of Zelda. I have a few issues with it myself which is why I don’t play it nearly as much as I used to (mostly due to it having soooooooo much stuff that trying to remember everything is a hassle, kinda like my issue with TF2 unfortunately) but it’s beloved for a reason so it might just end up being up your alley

Other games I know about but haven’t played much of, so I can’t say much are Streets of Rogue, Risk of Rain 2, Rogue Legacy (I did play a lot back in the day but never got far), Noita, Into the Breach, Darkest Dungeon, and Crypt of the Necrodancer

If anyone else has any recommendations or if you second any of these recs, feel free to put em in the replies

[ganondoodle]

I probably still wouldn’t have been a big fan of the game, but I don’t think I would have been NEARLY as upset about TotK if BotW didn’t seem like it was so obviously setting up plot points for a sequel. Like, you’re very clearly MEANT to wonder what malice is, and how Ganon became the Calamity instead of just the Demon King. Fi is awake again, where are they going either that? What’s the deal with the Triforce-shaped symbol on Zelda’s hand? There were a LOT of other things like that, and many of them had to do with overarching lore for the series.

I get it if they want to reboot the series, but “BotW 2” was the single worst game you could have done that with. It could have been an amazing conclusion to the original continuity.

EXACTLY, you, you get it

botw felt like the introduction to a vast world with secrets and hints to things that were planned to become a bigger thing- a big giant game as a big giant set up, and then ... like totk likes to do alot, it lacks a pay off, and that is something it even does within itself, cosntantly, set up and no pay off, or set up and the most boring and uninspired pay off you can really not even call that, from the bigger things like the whole dragon thing being hammered into your head as irreversible and then it IS reversible.. out of nowhere without you having to do fuck all, the whole thing with the ancient hero beign a big mystery with lots of interesting ideas attached and then its some weird ass dog creature that doesnt resemble any other race with, of course, sonau armor, bc there nothing that isnt sonau in that game, even finding the old treasure maps you can find that then lead to amiibo stuff from botw id call that

botw wasnt that great with rewards either but exploring the world and wondering about those, surely intentionally, placed mysterious and intriguing designs and places did alot for making it so interesting to think about, totk fumbles it all and even the new stuff doesnt even come close to that environmental storytelling botw was so great at, sonau ruins? ha they look entirely different than in botw actually, bc those were built by hylians you see, the actual sonau stuff is in prime condition considering the time thats passed and its all the same blank blocky blocks that serve no purpose but to be a place for you to find a thing or exchange some currency- the most you can think about it is ... that the sonau hollowed out the entire underground of hyrule, every inch of the map, ... which is WEIRD and doesnt exactly make them look that good but ... thats all there is

at least with the shiekah it made somewaht more sense and it felt much less .. invasive? and you didnt have anyone from that time to talk to, other than dead monks whos only purpose is to give you their last piece of their own spirit, but in totk ... raurus ghost and mineru too are both just there to talk to but DONT tell you shit but vague hints that were already clear, the sky islands used to be on the ground? oh you dont say, you see them there in the stupid memories! and dont get to know how they got up there and theres nothing that can clue you in to that, its just sonau magic yet again i guess

dont even get me started on the whole malice/miasma thing, it made so much SENSE that there was a source of it, someone that has keep kept in a horrible place just between life and death for thousands of years trying to break free by their hate and anger manifesting to such a degree its literally spilling out and building creppy eyeballs, mouths and ribcage like structures like they are trying to rebuild themsleves outside of their awful prison no one knows about is so damn compelling, but no, actually, the guy trapped there was the msot evilest evar, was sealed bc him evil and no other motive, and the previously mentioned stuff is pretty much utterly unceonnected, and his magic beign miasma with red instead of pink and no creepy body parts was the true version of it, that pink one was its own thing heehooo SHUT UP argh

it doesnt help that really, i dont feel like the sonau were set up either, they were a tiny part in botw, really only serving to make the world seem more ancient and more full of history, having ruins from a past civilization there you know nothing about and cant find out more is so good, its compelling and sad and makes the world feel more real, just shoving them into everything, being the center of attention all of thes udden and not even the architecure fitting feels so ... forced, i really truly believe the og sonau werent meant to be more than that, but in their fear of the game being too similarly looking like botw they took the sonau to replace the shiekah with them- imo the shiekah were the ones set up to be deeper explored in botw, with their whole misstreatment by the royal family in the past, monk miz kyoshia reacting the same way a yiga commander would was deliberate and brings up even more interesting ideas, the comments about where the mysterious energy the ancient shiekah used to power everything being concentrated in certain regions?? thats a big ass set up, the fact that the center of what is signaling everything to reactivate being below hyrule castle? the fact the whole arena thing was BUILT INTO THE CASTLE or it on top of it is so??? cool??? and sso damn intriguing, we are scratching the surface of their history- but then no, actually, the sonau are the cool new shit those other ones just uh ... disappear, also the sonau did everythign the shiekah did but even better wayy before them haha

its like they didnt want to tackle the more complicated stuff with the shiekah, their relationship to the royal family and how the yiga ... have a point and a good reason- so they replaced them with entirely new purely goodest good guys that did the same stuff before them with none of the history attached :))

this is why im so insistent on it not really being a sequel, thers no follow up on anything that was set up, NOTHING, and no, a couple having a kid now or whatever isnt a follow up on an interesting set up, how hard is it to understand that-

.... listen to me rambling, you probably know all that already nhjdfkbnkd

(i know i always bring up the shiekah but ... they were so central in botw, while also not taking up every single corner- unlike some other ones >_____>, with so much interesting stuff to connect and think about, i cared about them so much i felt kicked down the stairs by their treatment in totk)

[darlingdreadwrites]

This Halloween is Crazy

THIS IS A SECOND PART OF AN AU. IF THIS IS THE FIRST POST YOU SEE, I SUGGEST YOU CLICK ON THIS (“MAIN STORY”) TO READ THE FIRST PART OF THIS AU!!

pairing: BEN x GN!Reader

summary: After arriving at Mr. Mann’s Manor of Frights, you decide to go to the arcade.

contains: arcade stuff, mini date

warnings: reader gets kinda hurt, I don’t know how to describe games right

word count: 1.5k

masterlist

a.n: this is not a Benjaman Lawman fanfic, I am writing for the AI BEN. I use the ben drowned tags for exposure.

“I want to go to the arcade,” you say excitedly. You’ve heard and seen how huge this place was, you can’t even begin to imagine having an arcade in your house. Your friends nod and tell you that they’ll be heading to the haunted experiences.

Something in the air feels electric as you pass through the crowds of people and scare-actors. As you approach the entrance to the arcade, the environment is livelier and more upbeat than the rest of the manor. The contrast was a little funny. At the other end of that hallway, you just came from, they put so much effort into making the place look so spine-chilling. Here, in the entrance of the arcade, there were a few bat and spider-shaped wall decals. The lighthearted atmosphere drew you in, and you were excited to spend most of your time there.

A foldable table, draped with an eye-catching orange tablecloth with print of back pumpkins, sits beside the entrance. The table has a short line in front, where two guys were trading coins for tickets. They both seemed to be dressed like Link from the Legend of Zelda games – though the taller one had a lazier execution than the other. But your face would meet the floor before you even got in.

You barely registered that a fake skeleton had tumbled from its perch and crashed down directly on top of you. Your reflexes worked faster than your brain did, and you used your hands to stop you from fully faceplanting. The sound of plastic bones rattling and the startled gasps of nearby guests have you begging for any higher power to help you melt into the carpet. As the embarrassment washes over you, someone pushes the skeleton off you and grabs your arm.

“Hey, you okay?” You look up to see that the taller employee was now helping you up.

You try to look grateful, and not as if you want to die as he places his hands on your shoulders and inspects you. His blue eyes roam over you, blonde brows pinching together in concern. You blink, realizing that he was expecting you to reply.

“Uh,” you stammer. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.”

He lets out a sigh of relief, dropping his hands from your shoulder to run one through his hair, stopping at his neck. “How bad of a lawsuit is this gonna be?”

You can tell that he’s joking from the flicker of humor dancing in his eyes.

“Just 30 billion dollars,” you say as seriously as you can muster, and his features twitch into a look of shock. When you laugh, he seemed to relax into a laugh of his own.

He scratches at the back of his neck as a thought passed through his head. Neither of you notice as the teenager who was helping hand out coins strolls over. The blonde man before you seems to only be focused on you - somehow managing to hold eye contact even when his cheeks are turning a light pink.

“Uh, so,” he starts, trying to sound casual as he clears his throat. “Okay, how about I just let you go into the arcade. For free.”

As he flashes you a hopeful smile, his counterpart crosses his arms.

He scoffs, raising an eyebrow and casting an unimpressed scowl. “Dude, you can’t just give her free –“

“Shhh, don’t mess this up for me, man,” he says as he interrupts the boy with a hand almost bumping into his nose, and the man’s eyes are still locked on you. He’s unbothered by the protest, being entirely captivated by you. “I’ll let you play whatever, I promise.”

“Sure,” you giggle, taken aback by the unexpected attention that sparks excitement in you.

“Great,” he breaks out into a grin, his nerves softening. “I’m Ben, by the way.”

“I’m Benji –“

“This isn’t about you,” Ben interrupts him again and grabs your hand.

As Ben walks you over to the entrance of the arcade, he has the biggest smile on his face. He grabs a big bag of coins, and they clink from how quickly he picks it up. Benji continues to argue something behind you two about “rules” and “not wanting to be the only one working.” Ben waves him off as he barely glances back, and his hand feels warm in yours.

The neon blues and greens from the arcade lights draw you in, and the room looks like it’s pulsing. The beeps and electronic music mix with the energetic excitement of the people around. The room had a mix of every era of arcade games – from flat screened racing games to the nostalgic pixelated classics and their chunky buttons. Ben holds up the bag of coins with a victorious look, and the air suddenly feels a competitive shift.

“It’s free reign, dude,” he says as he places a couple coins in the palm of your hand. “I’m warning you though. I’m kind of a pro.”

“Really?” You give him a skeptical look, pocketing the coins.

“Yes, really,” he sounds too smug for your liking, and you make a very determined goal to wipe the floor with that egotistical little smirk of his. “You pick first.”

You suppress an eyeroll and scan the area. Maybe if you picked air hockey, you could use it as an excuse to throw projectiles at him. But, no, you wanted to be nice to the person that let you in for free. Even if you think he wouldn’t mind having a black eye from the puck. Your eyes land on an old-school shooting game and you tug on the sleeve of his hoodie in that direction. He looks down at your hand for a moment, his eyes lighting up, and he follows you without a word.

You slip a few coins into the machine and pick up a neon orange gun and try out a few test shots. As the game begins, you slip into zombie-fighting mode. Your heart races as you take aim and fire at the targets, keeping your pace as the images flash on screen. You steal a quick glance in his direction, and the intense look of determination on his face has you taken aback. Snapping your attention back onto the screen, you realize that no amount of skill you possess could beat the way he seems to effortlessly rack up points. It was kind of hot. But you were too competitive to let him win all night.

Despite all your efforts, the screen flashes your score to be respectably high, but much lower than Ben’s. He places the gun down with a confident ease and turns to you.

“Not bad,” he drawls.

“Oh, we’re not done,” you chuckle dryly, and he smirks. You want to keep up the act of being annoyed, but it’s impossible not to smile when he offers his hand for a high five and looks at you like an excited puppy.

“Didn’t think so.”

After a few rounds of different games around the arcade, you can’t tell if he’s going easy on you. Sometimes you win, sometimes he does easily. But each game is filled with laughter and light jabs, making the losses seem insignificant. One thing you’re certain of, though: the times he loses or even falters, it’s because he was sneaking glances at you. You’d call him out on it if you weren’t doing the same thing. Finally, he stops in front of a two-player fighting game.

“This one’s my favorite,” he gives the side of the arcade machine two loving pats.

You each choose your character, and the game begins. As your fingers hover over the buttons, you brace yourself for the most fast-paced game you’ve ever played. This being Ben’s favorite game told you that it would be nearly impossible to win. And you were right, for the most part. You basically had to abuse the poor buttons to keep up with the heavy blows he dealt with you. Even then, you were somehow keeping up with him, pulling off moves you didn’t even know you could do.

But since it was Ben’s favorite game, he figured he could slack off a little to watch you. He had played this game for hours, even forcing his siblings to play with him. His name had been on the score board for years. But he was too confident, it seemed. Because every few seconds, he would glance in your direction, barely paying attention to the game. Looking at you made his heart feel like it was fluttering. The way the screen illuminated your features, the concentrated furrow in your forehead, and the way your tongue poked out from between your pretty lips captivated him.

“K.O.,” the machine announced.

What? Ben shakes his head as he looks back at the screen. He watches the way your character shifts back and forth in that idle animation, while his fighter lies defeated on the floor. You let out a little cheer, half in disbelief.

“Holy shit,” he laughs, his jaw dropping a slightly. He couldn’t even be a little upset. Not when you were smiling at him like that. “C’mon, I wasn’t even trying.”

“We can do another round,” you offer playfully, shrugging like you were sure you could easily do it again. “I think I can kick your ass again.”

“If you win again,” he starts, pressing on a red button for a rematch. “I’ll let you do whatever you want to me.”

And, with that, the two of you ended up playing almost the entire night.

[miyakkenjii]

Another weird fantasy au

This is entirely based off my brainrot for Selkie!Wind and I regret NOTHING (also I need a distraction from my brain so au time)

Wind

He’s a Selkie! Don’t think I need a reason for this but also I just thought it would be cute

Time

Can’t decide between a moon spirit, a nature spirit, or some sort of custom half-deity. I don’t think any of these need to be explained if you heard about/have played any of his games

Small edit: thanks to someone reminding me about the hero’s shade existing, maybe some sort of skeletal mythological creature? Though in my mini search none of the beings I found really struck me as something that Time would be so I’ll probably just make something up for him at some point

Warriors

Centaur. No idea what specific horse his bottom half would be but I imagine it would be a breed that can be blond and is also a known war horse breed

Legend

Dragon! He and Ravio would be dragons. But only because he hoards so much stuff and if he didn’t I would make him a mermaid (who says I can’t make him both though?)

Hyrule

A faerie! Self explanatory if you ever read any fanfic who makes Hyrule half fae

Wild

A cervitaur! Which is a type of deer centaur. I don’t know what breed his deer half would be (as I am not an expert of deer and only know about the white-tailed deer) but it probably would be something that is as chaotic as him

Twilight

Ordon goat saytr or a werewolf! Both are pretty self explanatory I believe, just can’t decide which one to go with

Sky

An avian! No other explanations needed. I think he would be a bird that is fast but has very little stamina. Or a bird who is known for sleeping

Four

Very self indulgent, but a sword spirit! I usually headcanon him as one and it would just hurt my brain trying to make him something else and find something that would match the colors too (well, ignoring the Minish)

I think that whenever someone either started their adventure or ended one they got magically turned into a creature that fits them the best. So before their adventure they would be a regular hylian and magically become a little guy! The Zelda’s I would assume also get their own little magical species to be as well, either being the same as the Link’s if they’re related of having a different one entirely.

I’m only sure about Tetra’s, Fable’s, and Flora’s. Tetra would be a modern siren that you see in most present day media instead of the Greek mythos accurate one. Fable would be a dragon like Legend (as I headcanon them to be twins), and Flora would be a dragon as well.

The other Zelda’s I am unsure about

Depending on how much free time I have this week I may draw some of them (namely Wind as he currently has stolen the favorite spot from Four) but no promises :)

Some self-indulgent Link’s in this au as well even though they aren’t canon to LU!

First

I think he would be either a centaur but instead of a horse it’s a lion or an avian! Or possibly neither of them, I don’t know. He has no Zelda (as Hylia is very much alive during the manga) and i’m pretty sure Hylia wouldn’t make herself look different for a war that she thought would be finished after the first hero

Spirit

Indulgent once again but a selkie like Wind! Mostly so if I ever write about this au I can have someone mistake them for twins still. This also fuels into my own headcanon of Spirit being a direct descendant of Wind. I think his Zelda would be some sort of spirit but which the added bonus of everyone being able to see her and not just Spirit

[wayfayrr]

Alright, I wonder how long an ask can be. U asked for it!😝

Also, if u were curious, since I’ve only played Botw and most but not all of totk, 98% of the time my yandere self-aware ideas will be of Wild/Tears.

How does Wild/Tears feel about the fairies? Like, is he embarrassed that reader has to watch that? Does he worry what they think? Or is he just like “eh, I can’t control their upgrade animations, sorry”. Then how does he feel when reader thinks it’s kinda cute/funny? I don’t want to traumatize the poor guy, but I must admit watching the level four animation is slightly funny bc I feel so bad for him. And in level three when he covers his face is cute.

What about when he just has to sit there for 10 hrs his time? Listen, I wanna upgrade the darn champion’s tunic but the stupid upgrades require 2 of each farmable dragon Zelda item. And I couldn’t find her for so long it was annoying. Ik she follows a certain path but even so u have to just keep following the path hoping u eventually run into her. So I just decided to farm an item, then sit there for 10 minutes r time until she’s farmable again. So how does Tears feel? Am I wasting his time? Is he bored? If he had an animation for it would he fall asleep? Would he glare at me for making him sit there for 10 hours? Plus, ima be honest. For those 10 minutes of me just waiting, I’ll usually scroll on my phone. I’m not gonna stare at the tv for 10 minutes, sorry lol. So is he mad that I’m not paying attention to him and stuff?

What about if I laugh at him? Alright, I don’t do it That much lol, just if I make an embarrassing mistake w him and he looks a little funny. Would he be embarrassed? Mad? ….?? I think he’s cuuute! It’s fiiine, right…?😭

Thinking about my one ask where I used him for science, totally not using bombs on him for any other reason! Anyway, so I have to admit, his overheating animation I like. I’m all for angst/whump w characters. Whenever I read AO3, 98% of the stories r angst/whump for Wild/Tears. Sicfic? Yes please! Nightmares? Yes please! Psychological torture? Sign me up! There was this one fic someone wrote about Wild being hit by a curse that trapped him in his memory next time he unlocked one, so he had to watch it over and over and over. The rest of the chain had to save him. Tho, if it makes u feel any better, I only like happy endings, no open ended ones, no sad ones, or character deaths. Nope. Fairy tale where they all lived happily ever after please and thank u lol. So anyway, I got sidetracked lol. My question was, would he be mad if I just put the game on the clothes menu when he’s overheating so he doesn’t lose any hearts over it, just watching him do it for a minute or two?

Sometimes I need to wear like one clothing item per outfit so I can use like 3 different abilities. For example, maybe bandana to climb faster, gloom shirt for an extra heartbreak, and snow pants bc it’s freezing? And sometimes I’ll complain that he looks ugly, well, not him, but the outfit, and say that I wish I could make him look cuter but I need these abilities atm. Does he hate the outfits like I do? Does he care more about function? Does he hate that I care so much?

How does he feel not being able to talk? Like literally every other character can talk except him. And he can’t do anything by himself. Everything he does is either a programmed animation or an action by my controller. I bet he has a lot he wants to say but can’t. Does he ever worry that if he were to get out and see me, what if he couldn’t talk to me??

🐰

yeah it's always a lot easier to think about the links you know better for stuff like this ngl, so I don't blame you for sticking to them. plus wild and tears are just fun too right? :3c

so starting from the top -

I think the fairies are a touchy subject for him, if you like the cutscenes then he can set his discomfort about being picked up and kissed somewhat - don't get me wrong he doesn't enjoy it but for your happiness he'll do it as many times as you make him (although, unless he finds a way to override the controls then it's not really like he has a choice in it) he'll make notes about how you like him acting in certain ways though - I mean if you like seeing him as a blushy mess covering his face in the game then you'll like it more when he's doing it in person right? Please don't make him recreate the level four one though.

To be honest, there's nothing that you could do to him that he could ever consider a waste of time. would he prefer you to be actively engaged? sure. Is he bothered if you're still there but just waiting for a bit for the dragon to recharge? Not really, yeah he'd prefer to be doing more, but at the same time it gives him a chance to observe and to get more of a grasp of how the game works while it's on and running compared to when he's robbed of his body and is left a being floating in a desolate void of numbers and machine code. He can relax and still have feeling and eyes on you and your eyes on him every now and then even though it's not as often as he'd like. as for the time? I think once he became aware he stopped running on hyrules time, so it's only ten minutes for him too. Ten minutes that granted feel longer than that cause of the scenery, but still only ten minutes. if it were a situation where he was still in a hyrule then he'd be further detached from anyone else. (my thoughts are if the game is left in standby on the switch then it's all still loaded and the links have free reign but if it's closed and you're playing another switch game then it tosses them into the abyss)

laughing at him for being cute is all good but please don't make fun of him ;-; he's only doing what you make him do after all!

I need to write more whump and hurt/comfort for tears actually, thanks for the reminder Well, he's not getting hurt by it -soooo he's kinda a bit deluded into thinking that it's another show of love for him. You simply love all the sounds that he's making <3 (and I don't blame you, his whimpers are actually just so adorable?????) You care so much that you're not letting him get hurt for your happiness!!!!

I think he takes it as a compliment that you care so much about how his outfits look, he wants to look his best for you too!!! If he could he'd find a way to stack the different bonuses so that you could treat him like a proper dress up doll without having to worry about the environment and how it impacts him :c he doesn't care what outfit he 'wears' cause it's not like he's actually wearing and interacting with it. it's glued to him like a second skin so whether you're keeping him shirtless or putting him in the thickest shirt possible there's no difference to him just don't mod him so that he's no longer himself please

The fact that there's a chance he wouldn't be able to communicate with you is something that he worries about alot, not even just not having a voice. He'd be fine with being mute if he can write or sign to you, hell he could probably delude himself into being fine that he couldn't do that if he could move freely and hold you. what scares him the most is the idea that he'd be like a puppet cut, that if he gets out that without the code acting as his strings he falls limp like a puppet cut loose. that's what's horrifying to him. anything else he could learn to live with, but that potential keeps him from making any rash movements where the cost could outweigh the benefits. I like to think that out of desperation, (this goes for sky in the fic too) they stole another characters voicebank from another game :) one that speaks your native tongue preferably, but at the very least one that shares a language you speak

[bizabumblebee]

tell us about yunobo

why's he ur funky lil guy

id love to hear why

This is a very good ask I don’t think I’ve ever actually told anyone why I like Yunobo so much

Preemptive spoiler alert for both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom by the way

(Also this turned into a bit of a character analysis on Yunobo I’m so sorry it’s so ridiculously long lmao)

Personally my favorite Zelda “race” or whatever has always been gorons, huge fellas who mine rocks and eat rocks and are rocks, just big ol walking boulders with kind souls, I think they’re very silly and cute. But I really like Yunobo because he’s not really like any of the other gorons (He’s not like other girls!!), because he’s so much more… emotional? I guess? In each of the Goron race’s appearances throughout the Zelda games they’re portrayed pretty much the same way, either tough and brave and heroic (Like Darunia, Daruk and Darmani), or chill and generally nonchalant (Like… pretty much every other goron). Though they are kind and playful, they’re also tough and unmoving as stone. Yunobo (on a surface level), is neither of these things. When you first meet him in BotW he runs and yelps in fear, and a great portion of the fan base calls him a coward because of this. He’s very unsure of himself, and unsure of a lot of things in general. In the artbook “Creating a Champion”, his description is as follows:

“Yunobo is the grandchild of the Champion Daruk. He has an adult body but still has some growing up to do. He is easily frightened by monsters and isn't exactly what one might call brave, but, driven by thoughts of protecting his people, he gathers enough courage to aid Link in quelling the Divine Beast Vah Rudania. He is earnest and naive, readily believing nearly anything anyone tells him.”

So yeah. He’s a scaredy-cat. He’s a pushover. He’s incredibly naive and a bit childish.

AND YET.

He helped save his people, and the entirety of Hyrule… TWICE. Because he is brave. Bravery is not an immediate heroic desire to face any danger for the sake of the greater good.

It is action in spite of fear.

He is afraid. He’s unsure, and he’s flighty, and he’s defensive. But he swallows these fears and chooses to act in spite of them, helping link to take back control of Vah Rudania, and saving his people. For me, seeing the journey Yunobo takes to find his courage is a lot more satisfying than if he were just already a brave go-getter from the moment you meet him.

And then things get even more interesting in the second game (again, spoilers for TotK ahead).

After he helps Link take back Vah Rudania and Calamity Ganon is defeated, Yunobo goes right to helping his people recover from the the post-calamity craziness. He’s incredibly devoted to them. He’s a helper through and through, willing to do anything it takes for the sake of others. His loyalty knows absolutely no bounds. But unfortunately, this can get the better of him.

Like when his good friend “Zelda” shows up and gives him some weird mask and tells him to put it on.

Honestly, when I saw Yunobo for the first time in TotK, I was one of the many people who was terrified that Nintendo might have made him an asshole for no reason. I mean, they gave Sidon a wife so people would stop shipping him with Link, I wouldn’t put it past them (totally backfired though lol, now they’re just a polycule).

But instead they had actually put him into one of my favorite character tropes: self-conscious but good-natured character easily susceptible to corruption (See: Luigi [SPM], Bolin [TLoK], Locksley [AS:TNC] -they’re all also green for some reason? Crazy). I really like this particular trope because it shows the very real (and frankly scary) way that those with the best intentions can most easily be led astray. As someone who’s kinda struggled with having a people-pleaser personality (incredibly susceptible to peer-pressure, neglecting my own needs over the needs of others, not able to set boundaries, etc), this trope is a relatable cautionary tale for me. Those who just want to help more often than not end up helping those with bad intentions without realizing.

Buuuuut I won’t go too far into all that (it’ll get sad fast eugh)

My main point is that Yunobo is brave, kind, and loyal (even to a fault), and for me that’s a wonderful formula for a character as nervous and dopey as him. Yeah he’s got rocks for brains, but he’s got a heart as big as a lynel’s. I don’t throw this term around liberally but I would say he could definitely count as a himbo.

Ugggghhh this is getting too long ffs. I’ll just list a couple more reasons why he’s important to me specifically.

He is… very large. Ahem. I like big fellas. You know how it is. ANYWAY

He’s a bit dopey but he’s definitely not incompetent. He’s the president of a highly successful mining company and he’s helped save Goron City (and the entirety of Hyrule) TWICE. That’s pretty cool. I’ve seen a lot of people shit on him in the first game for “always getting spotted by the drones” but like. Dude that’s your fault. He told you he would come when called and stop when told to, it’s on you if he walks into a searchlight.

He’s got very intriguing lore (to me at least), that leaves a lot of room for speculation. Like, he’s the “grandson” of Daruk, but how does that work?? Gorons are born from the mountain itself, they don’t give birth. There’s a pair of Gorons in TotK that call themselves “brothers” (still a bit confusing since most gorons throughout the series call each other brother anyway), but they explain it was because they were born in the same cave at the same time, so they’re like family. Does this mean Yunobo was just born in the same cave Daruk was, and therefore inherited his “genes” and his magical abilities? Maybe! Maybe it’s a really cool special cave, right at the summit or something, where his whole lineage was born all the way back to the first sage of fire. Cool stuff to think about!

He’s not the leader of his people, in either game. That job belongs to Bludo. In the second game he’s definitely got a lot more influence and does occupy a position of leadership, but he’s not the chief. He’s just some Goron. The role of aiding link in both games is thrust onto him entirely because of his lineage. But he takes responsibility for it. He understands the power he holds, both as a champion’s descendant and as the Sage of Fire, and he steps up to the role. He feels a responsibility to his people and his city, even despite not being its official leader like the other champion’s descendants. That’s pretty cool.

He’s very sweet! I’ve talked about how kind and caring he is already but there’s a difference between doing it with a stoic sense of heroism or duty, and doing it with a big dopey grin and a genuine care for those he cares about. He’s often unsure and self-conscious, and yet he’s surprisingly optimistic about most things a lot of the time. He has a big smile (most gorons do), but he has an absolutely heart-melting laugh. I often tear up during the cutscene in which he sees the spirit of Daruk reclaiming Vah Rudania, him laughing and waving with such genuine joy and excitement, aghhhh it’s too much. Joe Hernandez certainly did a great job putting authenticity into Yunobo’s (and Daruk’s) emotions, this cutscene especially.

He has the best secret stone ability (gameplay wise). You cannot change my mind. Tulin is great for mobility and the other two are fine for tactical combat stuff, but none of them even come close to the versatility and power of Yunobo. Don’t have any good rock-breaking weapons and don’t want to use up bombs or zonai devices? Yunobo! Using a control stick-operated machine and can’t pull out your bow to snipe that pesky aerocuda? Yunobo! Wanna separate a big group of enemies from each other without wasting bombs? Yunobo! And don’t even get me started on the fact that when he’s on a vehicle, he’s got zero cooldown. You can hop on a hoverboard and decimate a molduga just by dribbling Yunobo on its head like a basketball.

All this being said I certainly think Yunobo is too often overlooked by fans for “being a coward”, or just… being a Goron? Gorons in general have often been a bit neglected in favor of the other more serious, conventionally attractive and *cough* slimmer *cough* Zelda races. It’s a bit disheartening seeing the amount of fan artists who don’t even have a clue how to approach drawing Yunobo or Daruk, simply because they don’t know how to draw bulky, fat or muscled characters. But I won’t preach too much on the subject, haha.

Long story short, I love Yunobo a whole lot and I’d love to give him a big hug and a smooch. That’s about it :))))

Also here’s a little sketch I made of him as a bonus for reading all that haha

[yanderelinkeduniverse]

Hey I’ve got something in the works for Halloween but it’s probably going to be late, so it’s going to be more like a mid-November thing. But I’ll at least whip up some tasty art because you guys deserve something nice for the holiday.

Anyways, in the meantime I wanted to share a line of thought I’ve had for a while about Wild’s memories and his attitude towards both himself and Flora.

It’s kind of an analysis/speculation type of thing where I look at the memories in “Breath of the Wild” and see how these memories could have affected Wild’s current mental state in the actual comic, so not explicitly yandere.

All art belongs to Jojo!

So first things first, something that I’m sure a lot of people have pointed out is that Link’s memories in Botw aren’t actually about him so much as they are about Zelda.

From a writing standpoint, this at least makes a little sense since Zelda is supposed to be an important character in the game and since she’s currently preoccupied with keeping Calamity Ganon at bay, using the memories to explore her character is a reasonable thing to do.

But from an in universe perspective, this doesn’t feel very fair to Link. We rarely get to see events from his perspective and instead see things from the perspective of Zelda or some other character. Plus, we get no memories that truly focus on Link himself before he became Zelda’s personal knight. Anything we do know about Link is derived from comments characters make(like Zelda mentioning Link’s father) or diary entries.

Logically, this would all make Link kind of alienated from his past self, a stranger to this “Him” he used to be.

And we know that Link only ever regains memories of the Princess and not of himself, because when Zelda talks to him after he regains the final memory, she says this:

Note how she says “of us” and not just “all your memories from 100 years ago.” So there aren’t any little gaps in between shown memories where Link collects memories beyond the time he was with Zelda, at least none that exist beyond headcanons.

Anyways, I want to talk a little about Urbosa because for as well meaning as she may have been, I think some of the things she says in two memories in particular relate pretty heavily to Wild’s self esteem in the comic.

There’s two things she says in particular that I think would’ve stuck with Link — and thus — Wild.

The first one is this:

We don’t know what order Wild collected his slate memories in the comic, but if we assume that he decides to collect them in the order of which photos came first on the slate then what Urbosa says would most likely affect Wild heavily.

He’s basically got no solid self image of himself or especially not the self he was 100 years prior. So one of the first things he learns about himself being that he was “a living reminder of Zelda’s own failures” when he goes on to recover more and more memories relating to Zelda and her failures just feels like unintentional set up for Link to develop some more self loathing issues.

But being fair to Urbosa, she is basically Zelda’s surrogate mother and by this point has known Link for maybe a day or two. She’s not obligated to worry about him. Plus at the very least she does add on that this is how the Princess sees him, not what he actually is.

The second comment from Urbosa is this:

Prefacing this with saying, again, Urbosa does clarify that Link doesn’t hold any blame for the way Zelda sees him at this point, so good on her for that.

But still this is almost the exact same sentiment being repeated, Link’s own struggles are ignored in favor of focusing on how his success is interpreted as Zelda’s failure. Even if Urbosa adds on that this isn’t his fault it’s just how Zelda is, from Link’s perspective that’s got to leave some kind of impact on him. Perhaps guilt?

So to summarize, because of the selection of memories we know Link collects in canon, it’s logical to assume that Link’s view of himself in the present and from a hundred years ago would be rather negative.

And this perfectly reflects how Wild acts in the comic.

I don’t know about you but to me Wild has always had a particularly toxic view of himself from 100 years ago. He barely sees his past self as himself, instead calling that past iteration “Him” like he’s talking about a separate person. And he’s always given me the vibes of both resenting his past self while simultaneously wanting to be him again.

The way he talks about his past self being capable of feats he could never see himself doing shows that Wild in part seems to see his current self as “lesser than” his past self, especially when it comes to how the Master Sword responded to him at different points in his life. So it’s not a stretch to say that Wild may want to “be” that person again, especially since we see him use the sword at least one time.

But because of his perceived “failure” and possibly how he made Flora feel, he also resents the gifted prodigy he once was, not seeing that he was and has always been a human person with his own struggles.

Anyways this is sloppy and messy but I wanted to get this off my chest because I think it’s really interesting.

[sapphicseasapphire]

YOUR SKY AND PIPIT COMIC MADE ME CRY

PIPIT NEEDS MORE RECOGNITION🫡

Best SS side character ong

HAPPY TEARS I HOPE???

But yeah! Pipit’s a favorite of mine haha! In my opinion, he’s the most interesting side character on Skyloft! By far! (Groose isn’t on Skyloft anymore so he doesn’t count!) He’s also one of the most underrated characters in any Zelda game.

• He’s an upperclassman at the Academy who actively stands up for Fledge and Link against Groose.

• He’s SO SUPPORTIVE. Every time you talk to him, he has something encouraging to say. He genuinely really cares about Link and Zelda and is one of the few people who believes in Link.

• He’s the only student at the Knight Academy who doesn’t live in a dorm.

• He lives at home, but you never see him there.

• The Worst Mother on Skyloft Award goes to Mallara! (Pipit’s mom). The reason Pipit’s never at home is because his home is a mess and his mother is the WORST.

• Mallara has really nice furniture and ceramics and stuff but it’s all messy. Pipit’s corner of the house is the only clean area, but his furniture is all worn down and scratched up. His blanket is patched. Everything he has is well used and mended.

• I kind of view that as a metaphor: Mallara has nice things but doesn’t care about them enough to take good care of them. She has an amazing son but doesn’t care enough about him to take care of him. Meanwhile, Pipit uses what he has, even if he doesn’t have much.

• ALSO he’s struggling financially. When you clean Mallara’s house, she gives you twenty rupees and tells you to say hello to Pipit for her. (There’s a reason she doesn’t say hello herself. There’s a reason Pipit doesn’t talk to her).

• If you clean her house enough times and then walk by it at night, you’ll hear Pipit yelling at her. I don’t know the exact quotes but he said something along the lines of “I gave you that money to buy bread and you spent it on a housekeeper! If you keep this up, I won’t be able to afford to go to the Academy next year!”

• Bro’s a full time student and also works the night watches at the Academy just to have the money to put food on the table and put himself through school. He gives some of this money to Mallara and she IMMEDIATELY turns around and spends it on Link.

• THAT’S A WHOLE OTHER THING. Mallara pays Link to clean her house because she’s too lazy to do it herself. She tells him to talk to Pipit because she’s too lazy to do it herself. She expects Link to be her housekeeper and her messenger because she’s not willing to put the work in and do the bare minimum for her home or for her son.

• This whole time I’ve been calling it her house. But the game calls it Pipit’s house. PLEASE did he buy the house too?? So that his mother could destroy it?? Crying.

• He has the sweetest little crush on Karane and the game gives you the option to tease him for it! I will always give the letter to Karane because it makes me happy to see him happy. He deserves it! “You like her?” Such a little brother response.

• He literally says something along the lines of “don’t I deserve to know true love?” about Karane. Like. This guy’s never experienced genuine love in his life. His mother sure isn’t giving it to him.

• Link and Pipit are 100% brothers and I’m writing a whole fic about how Link was adopted into that problematic family and what that means for Mallara and Pipit. Suffice to say, Link and Pip are quite close! For my au, Pipit is the first person to really and truly understand Sky since he knows Link so well (literally grew up in the same house) but also knows Aepon! (Took care of the Loftwing while Link was away on his adventure). In many cases, he understands Sky better than Zelda does. Better than Sky knows himself! There will definitely be more Pipit content from me because he DESERVES SOME LOVE.

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Since I see you've asking lots of people this, I'm throwing the love right back at ya!

It’s “appreciate yourself” hours! Pick five pieces of writing/art that you’ve done that you love and talk about them! ❤️❤️❤️

aowhebfofhsnwowuwbe AHHH YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HAPPY THIS MADE ME ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ Thank you for asking ❤️❤️❤️😭

Well, let’s see…

I know this isn’t a popular AU of mine, but I really love the Imprisoning War AU (and, consequently, Golden Mercy as well) with my whole heart. Also it has invaded my brain so freaking much I might actually explode LOL. Idk, my mental health and life in general have been not as optimal as I would like, and this AU has been my outlet for that, which is why it’s far more hurt and less comfort than most people like. But I relate to the characters in different ways (people pleaser Link my beloved haha dude I get trying to make everything work for everyone and trying to say yes to everyone and burning yourself out; forever alone and somehow the most rational one Hemisi I feel you girl; everyone relying on you and you have to do it because when you don’t the world falls apart Zelda keep up the good fight girl), I like exploring what happens when you really push the “Zelink has to happen every time, even at the expense of other relationships” agenda that sometimes is tossed around (no hate to Zelink or its shippers, I enjoy some Zelink ships and I know many Zelink shippers who are wonderful. I just hate the idea of forcing them together all the time when there are other relationships that are clearly there lol, I’m salty about how Hyrule Warriors handled it but it was fan service so whatevs. ANYWAY. It creates great drama), and I like showing a realistic depiction of the absolute, if you’ll pardon the expression, shit show that would be left behind in the wake of such a disastrous war that Ganondorf created. It also sets up Ganondorf’s expectations, worries, and views really well for Golden Mercy, and I’m pretty excited to write a Hyrule Warriors long fic and try to redeem that giant jerk while still making it realistic and recognizing he’s a complicated guy. :) They’re all complicated, and I love characters so it’s just so much fun for me. Also, making anybody turn into a good Dad is obviously a passion of mine LOL. I’ll shut up now, but I really love this AU. ❤️ (technically I lumped two stories together for this but they’re all part of the same AU so… there lol)

Blood of the Hero is probably my current favorite long fic that I’m actively updating. The LoZ fandom is sorely lacking good parental figures (and I understand part of that is because Link just doesn’t have parents in his games and partly because people are projecting and that’s understandable), so I wanted to fix it dang it. LET LINK HAVE PARENTS WHO LOVE HIM. BOTW TALKED ABOUT HIS FAMILY. Anyway, I also love letting adults actually have a role in saving the world instead of always leaving it to the poor overwhelmed kids LOL, making them middle aged parents is an absolute bonus. And Abel being constantly tired and burnt out and done with the world speaks to my soul, and Tilieth being the one to hold on to hope despite everything and still have sensitivity and femininity to her while still being a strong character also speaks to my soul. I love them both, and I love showing how determined they are to protect their kids, as any good parent should be. They’re heavily inspired by my own parents, as well as myself, and what I would interpret Link’s parents to be like based on his upbringing and personality, so it was really fun creating their personalities. :)

I have so many Sky-centric stories that I love, but I think my favorite is probably Paradox, I had such a fun experience writing it and loved the idea of giving Fierce Deity an origin story while creating a sense of urgency and confusion and mystery and wrapping it all in a sickfic. :) I cranked that sucker out in thirty minutes and I still think it’s one of my best one shots.

I can only take partial credit for this since @nancyheart11 came up with the original premise, and because @smilesrobotlover has contributed so much as well, but I do love Dad Squad with all my heart. They’re such idiots, I adore them and their quest to save their sons who already technically saved themselves because they’re heroes. Also, the latest development in my brain of including TotK Ganondorf as the main villain from Hero of Shadow seems appropriate in making the big baddie a Bad Dad in a Dad Squad story LOL. Having Majora’s Mask in the hands of Kohga gives me life, though, and I will forever be grateful to Nancy for coming up with that premise HA. I haven’t written much for it lately, but I do love it so much. Also props to her for publishing it on AO3, I could never LOL, I’ll just throw random things on tumblr hahaha. Also, just all the fun we’re all having - the fact that multiple people have written/drawn for this AU makes it all the more precious to me, they’re our collective characters and we all get to play in the sandbox. ❤️

I don’t do much art, I’m not very good at it, but I do want to share one since I’ve shared a bit of it. I have a few pieces I’m actually really proud of, and it’s equal liking for all of them, but I’ll share just one so I don’t talk too much.

I really like this one because for once I kind of drew a face well?? And it’s at an angle I don’t usually draw and it turned out ok?? Also I’ve never drawn rain or wet hair, and I think it turned out well. And I just like Power’s design, especially at this stage in his life where his war attire/design is mixing with his royal attire/design, even if I can’t give it justice. :) Also, I think his tired expression turned out pretty well? Like he has an actual expression?? Anyway. I think it’s decent, I like it. :)

Thank you for this ask, it made me really happy and I couldn’t wait to answer it! :D But I have like 60 works on AO3 and even more here on tumblr, so there was no way I could narrow it all down, but I think I’ve listed most of my absolute favorites. :)

[crazylittlejester]

since it’s almost Hyrule Warriors anniversary…do you have any lttc warriors facts you’d like to share 🤲 also I’m going to draw him as part of my drawing links from different links meets thing I do for each game’s anniversary. It will happen I promise you so uh. idk if you have additional facial descriptors for him that you left in the other posts 🤲 but I’m pretty sure I can draw him accurately enough with the information already provided 👍 anyways, hope you have a good rest of your day!

OH BOY A CHANCE TO YAP ABOUT MY BLORBO!!!!!!

- Zelda keeps trying to promote him and he keeps refusing and she’s so frustrated by it, but he refuses to accept a promotion for something he doesn’t believe he accomplished

- He genuinely thinks he’s so sneaky with the lifts he has in his boots, he’s genuinely convinced no one knows

- Proxi can acknowledge how much he’s grown, but she still sees him as her wet cat son who just desperately needed someone to look out for him. She’s very proud of him, but she still thinks he’s ridiculous

- It took him a hot minute to become fluent enough in ‘hyrulian common’ (english) to be able to understand fast conversations with slang in them and to be able to speak back and converse with other soldiers at that level because it’s not his first language (this is why he sometimes stares at people with an incredibly blank expression during the war, he doesn’t always understand what they’re saying). Proxi continued to speak on his behalf until he’d perfected a castle town accent as well because he didn’t want anyone knowing he didn’t grow up within Hyrule kingdom

-Regularly abuses the fact that the general public has a certain image of him in their minds, and when he does not meet that image he can literally walk around wherever the hell he wants without being recognized and it’s so good for his mental health. He’s still paranoid and worried, but people just don’t recognize him because they hear all the tales of a strong, confident young man and Warriors is actually fairly quiet and comes off as a bit shy, plus people just aren’t expecting the hero to randomly be walking around on his own. Without the make up, fancy clothes, and boots and all that, he can just walk around markets like a normal person, and without the green tunic, Mask can too. So he’d pretty regularly just take Mask around towns to buy sweet treats and they both got to experience what it might’ve been like for an eighteen year old to shop with his little brother

- During the war, he and Ravio got quite close. They’re a dangerous combination and make each other worse

- He and his Zelda are incredibly close, they’re extremely good friends and they like to get together every so often and just YAP

also for any additional descriptors: LTTC Wars looks pretty much exactly like how I headcanon LU Wars. He was deadass created from You’re A Part Of Me Wars when I one day sat back and went “oh my god at this point I’ve just made my own guy-” the main difference between LTTC Wars and You’re A Part Of Me Wars is that LTTC Wars grew up outside of Hyrule Kingdom surrounded by a different culture and he struggled a lot more with a language barrier when he went to Castle Town (while my version of LU Wars grew up IN Hyrule Kingdom and had to struggle with learning his mom’s side of the family’s culture while being unable to fully interact with it), and a few details of the war. But physically they’re the same guy, so my pfp pic could be used as an additional ref if you needed :) THANK YOU FOR DRAWING MY GUY I LOVE HIM VERY MUCH

i love to stick lttc wars and you’re a part of me wars in a room and see what happens, they’d both hate it but I think theyd have so much to say

[skyward-floored]

just getting into loz and linked universe, do you have any tips for writing for it? I usually write for pokemon or anime, so i'm not used to writing game characters.

love your works btw, very good, contributed to my hyperfixation!

Oh goodness I never feel like I’m very good at giving writing advice, but I’ll do my best? I’ll warn you I’m a little sick today too so it might not be very helpful XD

I don’t know if you’ve played any zelda games, but even if you haven’t, the linkeduniverse comic gives you plenty of a good starting point in regards to writing the Links. You just have to remember that it is technically an au, so not everything is gonna fit with in-game stuff. I mean Legend is actually two different guys smooshed together, so that’s going to change some things.

I guess my biggest tip would just be to try and understand where your characters are coming from? The loz games all have things in common, but each situation is unique— botw is more or less post-apocalyptic, Wind waker is a huge ocean, in a link between worlds it turns out there’s a whole other kingdom/dimension you can go to... so each of those Links is going to approach circumstances and situations differently.

I tend to focus a lot on characters and what drives them, which can be hard to parse out if you’re sticking with general loz. Lu is easier in that regard, since we have Jojo’s characterizations to take from, but Link can be hard to read in the games sometimes. Which can actually be helpful honestly XD

I guess just... approach it like you would when writing about something new? Do a little research, see what other people are doing, figure out how you want to write these characters.

If you have more specific questions I might be able to help you (I have wayyyy too much loz/lu lore memorized) but I think that’s all I got right now. Hopefully at least some of this was helpful 😅

[cerame]

heehoo i loke your Links, stuff abt them plz??

Oh hi! Sorry I didn’t get to this sooner! I didn’t check my tumblr for a hot second oops

But yes I’d love to talk about them! For botw/totk Link, I’m waiting to actually buy and play the game before I fully solidify him. I’ll give a brief rundown of each of them here, but feel free to ask more about any specific Link :)

Skyward Sword:

Tired in multiple ways. He was more carefree before the start of his adventure, but there are a lot of reasons to be concerned about these days, especially when you’re babysitting your reincarnations, some of which are older than you

That’s not to say he doesn’t know how to chill out and sit back. Given permission, he will instantly drop all responsibilities on whoever is left to deal with it

23 y/o

Huge sweetheart once you get him to stop worrying about things

Potential nicknames: Cloudy, Floater, Feathers

Minish Cap/Four Swords/Four Swords Adventures

I have an explanation for the timeline nonsense I swear. Don’t worry about it

Generally friendly, enthusiastic, and thoughtful, but he has his moments of absolute impulse. Knows far more than he should… probably. He very much enjoys being mysterious just because he’s a little gremlin

He hates being timed

20 y/o

Potential nicknames: Forge, Smith, Mini

Is currently undergoing a redesign

Ocarina of Time/Majora’s Mask

He’s in his edgy teen phase. Moody and has disdain for authority, but he’s still got that undeniable kindness in him. Avoids attachment but just can’t help himself

Mostly homeless, as he’s usually traveling, but he’s always got a home at Lon Lon Ranch with his friend Malon. Kakariko likes him, too.

17 y/o

Potential nicknames: Mask, Eyepatch, Sapling

A Link to the Past/the Oracle games/Link’s Awakening

Most people’s first impressions of him are that he’s quite untrusting and melancholy and that he’s very competent. Once he gets used to someone, though, he’ll open up and mess with them like an annoying sibling. Very clever, knowledgeable, and a jack of all trades. Curiosity will be his downfall

Helps his Uncle run the apple orchard. Has expanded it into farming berries as well

17 y/o

Potential nicknames: Collector, Cartographer, Pinky, Apples

A Link Between Worlds/Triforce Heroes

Very cheerful and friendly. Highly skilled in the arts, though he hasn’t had the chance to mess with yarnwork yet. Low self-esteem but only expresses it in the most concerningly casual ways

Fantastic liar. He fully blames Ravio for this

19 y/o

Potential nicknames: Artisan, Painter, Mirror

Zelda 1/Adventure of Link

At first glance, he is already done with everyone's bullcrap, but really he's a very patient and considerate guy. He is incredibly blunt about things, though. Not as suspicious of people as he probably should be, but hey, what's one more crazy thing happening?

Loves discovering new things. Has a soft spot for soft things like pillows and fairies. Tone deaf.

21 y/o

Potential nicknames: Mage, Explorer, Adventurer, Calatian

Twilight Princess

Generally quiet and reserved but will step in when he deems it necessary. Skilled at keeping the group wrangled. He is fiercely protective of his loved ones and is not as responsible as he comes off as

Doesn't turn into a wolf often. Alternates between helping out Mayor Bo with Ordon and taking commissions for the Resistance

24 y/o

Potential nicknames: Goatherd, Farmer

Wind Waker/Phantom Hourglass

Friendly in a loud, boisterous sort of way, but when it comes down to it, he can quiet down and become reliable and responsible if he needs to. Fairly easygoing until he sets his mind onto something, in which case, he's going to accomplish his goals one way or another

Finds the others while mapping out the new continent, so for all intents and purposes, he basically goes missing. Does not like birds.

27 y/o

Potential nicknames: Pirate, Sailor, Sea Dog

Spirit Tracks

usually soft-spoken and polite, but will get a bit louder the more comfortable he is. Much better at puzzles and mechanics than swordfighting. Still works as a royal engineer and is good friends with his Zelda

He sees dead people :/

15 y/o

Potential nicknames: Engineer, Piper, Steam, Conductor

Hyrule Warriors

snarky in a friendly way and will joke around to lighten the mood, but he can be perfectly serious when he needs to be. A natural and skillful leader. Loves kids and dabbles in fashion

Regrets that he has to leave his era’s Hyrule because he’s got a duty to the kingdom, but his Zelda insisted that he went. After all, he’s got his duty as a hero, too

32 y/o

Potential nicknames: Commander, Sir, Ser

Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom

very honest with his emotions and thoughts, and he will habitually go off and do things on his own without waiting for anyone else. Doesn't quite understand social conventions

Thought the others were either very creative yiga or very lost travelers when he first met them

20 y/o

Potential nicknames: Archer, Survivalist, Champion

[smilesrobotlover]

Still bored? If so I got a question, but if it's already been answered please just ignore.

So I'm not fully up on my Smiles lore, so I've been wondering a little bit about Ammon. In particular how you came about creating him. Given that he exists pre Calamity and therefore, a time in which we know very little of, were there other characters from Zelda lore or your own ocs that you pulled from for characterization? Or was it moreso just crafting him to fit within that world's setting and contrast that iteration of Link?

Idk, it kinda just fascinates me when people create more characters to make the pre Calamity world feel more lived in, especially fleshing out Link's family. Hope everything's going well and your doing good!

Lol smiles lore

So I was nervous to make Ammon cuz I didn’t know if any of the new games would explore Link’s family. We all know that there was concept art of his sister and possibly grandfather, and in canon his father was mentioned as a knight. And I’ve seen people’s interpretations of his father, but I was nervous to make my own interpretation cuz, what if in the new games, they explored Link’s family? Which was something I really wanted cuz we don’t get a lot with Link imo.

But nothing happened so after totk I finally decided to make my own father guy. Idk where I was going with him in the beginning. I didn’t want to blatantly copy Lofty’s Abel so I made his hair shorter with different type of facial hair. But I know I really wanted Ammon to look a LOT like Link, just with darker hair. I tried to make him almost the polar opposite of Lofty’s Abel but that didn’t work cuz while he was cheerful in the beginning, he’s not as cheerful now. He’s not blatantly grumpy or pessimistic but he’s not a happy fellow lol. Idk where I got the idea but I for some reason took his arm away cuz I thought it’d be angst material, same thing with his backstory with the yiga. I just need some angst 🤌 even if it makes me sob like a baby lol.

Also I’m not sure where I got the idea of Ammon being Rhoam’s body guard. It would’ve made more sense if he was a random captain of the guard, but I wanted him to be almost famous amongst the knights, very high ranking. So I made him Rhoam’s body guard. Also regarding his name, I loved Lofty’s name Abel so I went to the scriptures and found a cool name for him, even tho they’re so similar 😭 (but hey we started a trend!)

And of course I see Link as being under or exactly 5 feet so Ammon had to be short himself. He’s 5’2” cuz I make all my characters closer to my level, and since I love me some tall woman and short men I made his wife taller lol.

But yeah Orman, Joy, Sarah, and Ammon are all ocs! Orman’s children are ocs as well. Aryn and her grandfather are based off of the concept art of Link and his family so I wouldn’t say they’re exactly ocs but they’re close enough. I named Aryn that name cuz for some reason I headcanoned that she was like, Marin reincarnated cuz she wanted to be with Link, so she became Link’s sister? And Aryn is a mixture of Aryll and Marin’s names so… yeah lol.

Idk if I actually answered your question, I don’t fully understand what you were asking, but I love making characters to liven up the world. I’ve really gotten to know Ammon more as I write him, and I love him so so much. He’s my guy.

[merriclo]

y’all know how i made a joke abt how i shouldn’t make a linkverse based off of how i play each game? well. i’m having thoughts so here’s how i think each link would be based off of how i played their games:

warning i have not played every zelda game (or completed any aside from botw at this point) so these are just the ones that i actually have my hands on or have watched several play throughs of

Skyward Sword:

DUDE IS PISSED. THE ENTIRE TIME.

very much a reluctant hero at the start

“i’m not gonna find ur fuckin kikwi— fuck ok fine whatever ur lucky fi is on ur side.”

he does want to help and he likes doing side quests, but he was just so worried about Zelda that he became irritated and just wanted to get on with it

has no rupees ever definitely not because of impulse spending how dare u even imply such a thing

violently in love with Zelda

in the scene in the beginning where he realized Groose locked up his bird, he was livid. if Zelda didn’t step in he would’ve thrown hands

actually such a bafoon he is so confused

horrified of spiders. he just about sobbed the moment he saw the big ones in the skyward temple

loves his birdie so much. they are besties beyond comprehension. they talk shit.

so so bad with directions. dude is lost constantly.

has a lot of emotional maturity but still struggles with bursts of frustration, especially when confused

felt so guilty for knocking down the chandelier in the Lumpy Pumpkin

Ocarina of Time/Majora’s Mask:

very confused very often

he tries his very hardest but still needs help

“……..” “link. link do u n—“ “no no i’ve got it i know what to do” “……” “ok fine navi what do i do” “throw bombs in the eyes” “FUCK”

that being said he gets so happy every time he figures it out himself it’s great

first time he saw a peahat he just about sobbed

“NAVI. NAVI WHAT THE HELL IS THA— OH HYLIA ITS MOVING ITS MOVING ITS MOVING NO”

ready to slap Mido at any time

will sit and listen to malon sing for hours

very self conscious and doubtful that he has what it takes to be the hero. after Majora’s Mask he’d be more confident in his abilities but still scared he’s not as skilled or smart as the other Links

the biggest worrier. he does everything out of fear of other people getting hurt

if i do a whole linkverse thing i’d want him to be in the awkward teenage stage and attempt to be a big brother figure to the younger ones, but be awkward abt it and fumble a lot

fucking hates bowling

i have so many thoughts about what happened during Hyrule Warriors. so fucking many.

Wind Waker:

so fuckin lonely. dude is on the seas constantly with only a boat to talk to. he is so alone.

Aryll is his number 1 bestie and he really struggled with being without her lively presence at first

medley and him are also really good friends !! he thinks she’s so neat and just. nice

thinks Tetra is literally so cool. the coolest. she’s so cool no he definitely doesn’t have a crush on her what are you taking abt

thought the barrel was the funniest shit ever and always giggles at the memory of it

got so annoyed when the king tried to parent or guide him at all. excuse you big man let him travel the oceans. don’t stop him from sailing at that point. let him be free.

that being said li’l guy Roams. he got to places he didn’t have the proper equipment for way too early and only got the proper equipment because he realized that it could help solve that puzzle or something

so into the side quests. he loved going about and helping people at every turn, it reminded him of going about the village and helping his neighbors

that being said the joy pendents were like pulling teeth. he did it just because he like things to be complete, but it sucked. he was so annoyed the entire time.

loves the koroks so much they’re wonderful

if i actually end up doing the linkverse i think he’d be about 15, maybe 14, but unlike oot and mm link he already went through his shithead stage and has practice with being a big brother

definitely doesn’t hum sea shanties to himself when he thinks he’s alone. definitely not. never.

Tri-Force Heroes:

in my head tfh link is the same as albw link so. =)

mostly used dopples

DUDE IS FILLED WITH ANXIETY

he’s very quick to react and is very aware of his surroundings, but struggles with focusing or honing in on any one element

very good at solving the puzzles

the combat, however? not so much. the totem system was really something to get used to and he prefers not to fight with it. using it to get to places is no big deal (though annoying at times) but the fighting is just plain aggravating

super fashion forward (obviously)

he LOVES Madame Couture and her apprentice, and has a soft spot for all of the townsfolk

he became to attached to townsfolk so quickly actually. like he loves the people of Hytopia so much.

his self esteem was put through the goddamn ringer and he has a lot of self worth issues because of it yes i was personally insulted by the mass amount of bear sweater insults. it was a cute sweater fuck off

that being said he covers it up with an egotistical front, taking on aspects of Madame Couture’s personality in an attempt to be more accepted in Hytopia

he’s still a total diva btw. don’t let the self esteem issues fool you he knows he looks good now

he’s also probably one of the nicer Links, even if he might slip up and call ur gloves tacky on accident every once in a while

if he tries to help someone outfit wise it’s just because he really cares and wants them to be respected, not because he thinks he’s better than them

gets frustrated really easily and quits what he’s doing only to come back ten minutes later and try again

emotions wise he’s sort of all over the place, very theatrical (both because of Ravio and all of Hytopia)

Hytopia made him realize he wasn’t cis or straight. he doesn’t know if he wants to be with Madame Couture’s apprentice or Princess Styla, or if he wants to be them.

yes princess styla was part of my gay awakening leave me alone

if i do go through with this i’d def want to explore this link’s dynamic with both Ravio and botw link. ravio because the constant praises would be such a contrast to the critiquing of Hytopia, and botw link because gender

Cadence of Hyrule:

k i’m not gonna lie i don’t know this one too well But i really wanted to include it. idc if it’s not canon. fuck you.

LITTLE BARD BOY. BABY.

gets so upset with himself when he misses a beat. like unreasonably so.

hums a lot !!

in the linkverse i like the idea of him being like 10 and adoring oot/mm link because of the ocarina. despite how much he fumbles, i think coh link would love him and think he’s so cool. imagine a little kid admiring their older sibling even if the older sib is lame as hell

k that’s it for coh link lmao sorry it’s so short. i love him i do i’m just new to the game

Breath of The Wild:

dlc is canon idc what nintendo says. the zelda encyclopedia said the timeline is up to my imagination and i’m imagining very intently.

relatively calm and peaceful aside from the bursts of extreme anxiety and sadness

will sit for hours and listen to Kass

rlly wants to be great pals with Sidon (and they are, to an extent) but gets a little overwhelmed by all of the compliments and praise

he will fight anyone who insults him though (looking at you, traveler who called him creepy. fuck you.)

literally just wants to be some guy, and to an extent he is (to the townspeople at least). he’s just some rlly skilled fighter who likes to cook and is kind of quiet and odd to them. but hey he’s really helpful and is always looking for something to do

loves Kakariko village!! he’s basically Cottla and Koko’s older sibling and is trying to get Paya to be more relaxed.

speaking of Paya, their dynamic is a bit weird? there’s definitely something there, but at that moment neither of them are ready for any kind of relationship

loves the great fairies, thinks they’re so pretty and nice we’re ignoring the weird cutscenes. i hate them.

the one hit obliterator quest was a one of the most anxiety inducing things in his life and he hated it. as soon as it was over they just laid facedown in the dirt for a while

is a horse girl

Teba became their father figure but neither of them will ever admit that

head over heals for his Zelda. thinks she’s so sweet and smart and just wants to make sure she’s okay

while Gerudo Town was definitely the place he realized he wasn’t cis, he always had the thought in the back of their mind, and even though Bozai really creeped him out, that���s what solidified the non-cis realization

i love the genderfluid botw link headcanon can u tell

loves all of the champion’s descendants so much. they visit them whenever they’re in town.

feels so guilty about burning things. like yes he can and will do it but he’ll be upset about it. he tries to protect the environment ok?

koroks 🤝 botw link

pondering the idea of him being kind of non human and a little magic because of the Sheika tub. if so he’d be even closer with the koroks because they have some connection to sheika magic i think (korok seeds = inventory expansion and all that stuff)

LOVES PURAH. THEY’RE BESTIES. they have dinner together and link’s her lil test subject <3

he needs his map. he is lost without it. he’ll happily be lost don’t get me wrong but he will take 10 extra hours to get somewhere

oh also ADHD incarnate. cannot stay focused for shit.

if i actually do this they’d be besties with tfh link. fashion and genderqueer buddies.

OKAY SO THATS IT FOR NOW !! special thank you to @astral-catastrophe for encouraging me to do this, it’s actually so fun to think about !

ignore how halfway through i actually started developing characters and then got tired and stopped. shh. don’t worry abt that.

[boxkeith]

Video Games I Played in October 2024

October was a rather hellish month, but I didn’t pull the trigger on playing any idle games so I’m not completely a lost cause. It doesn’t help that my game consumption this month was mostly putting 20+ hours into five different games (finishing up Wukong and Zelda, and three I started this month). A smidge more variety might be in order, which for me usually means snagging a random shitty metroidvania and doing that for 8-15 hours. So it goes. This review also puts me over 110k words in my game diary for the year, which is daunting.

Kryptic – I do not know how I feel about puzzle games. Sometimes I want deeply invested puzzles that require a pen and paper, genuine cleverness and creativity, and iterative problem solving to unwrap a larger riddle. Sometimes I come to a new screen and realize my only reward for puzzles will be more puzzles and then desperately need to do literally anything else with my life. Kryptic was the former until it was the latter, not helped by the puzzles varying WILDLY in quality and complexity in ways that made overthinking a near-certainty. Shoutouts to including all the cyphers natively at least.

Dome Keeper – One could be forgiven for confusing this with Wall World, though Motherload has been out for a hot minute and it’s not like we’ve gone exceptionally far since Dig Dug. It has the classic roguelike issue of a slow start that’s boring to repeat alongside an overly quick endgame where either your upgrades trivialize everything you encounter or you die before getting a chance to play with your fun toys. For a second it makes me wish for a game like this that had more permanent progression, but I have played Steamworld Dig 2 and good lord that game has problems. I dunno. Maybe I just don’t yearn for the mines.

Throne and Liberty – The CIA is continuing its MK ULTRA research, and in this instantiation they are attempting to see if I can quite literally be paid to care about an MMO. Turns out the answer is no. I got a solid 45 minutes into the tutorial before I realized I’d played the tutorial previously as part of a beta test, and if that doesn’t say something about generic action RPG starts and how there’s only so many ways to render a realistic wooden barrel in a cave, I don’t know what does.

Super Fancy Pants Adventure – Unlike most people my age I don’t have an overabundance of nostalgia for flash games. I think I transitioned to PC gaming just a hair too late to really get in on that zeitgeist, though I did certainly play more than my share of popcap games and random shit on newgrounds. Coming at this having barely played the originals, I respect it but also don’t have the patience, reaction time, or dearth of other pursuits required to play this style of platformer. It’s not so much fiddly as it is exacting and particular, but I don’t want to spend ten minutes trying to figure out exactly the pattern of keystrokes that’ll make a little guy do an overly precise jump. I don’t have math homework to procrastinate on anymore.

Atlas Fallen: Reign of Sand – I fucking love terrible video games. Can’t get enough of them. The Surge 2 is better than Dark Souls, and so when I learned those lads were making a game that was 100% fucking about I was completely on board. Not on board enough to pay for the game rather than waiting for it on gamepass (which is also how I played The Surge 2, to be fair), and also not on board enough to fail to confuse it with Immortals of Aevuem when asked for what game I wanted from a list that may or may not have had both of them on it, but nevertheless completely on board. It feels fucking good to punch things in this game and they have the whipfist from Prototype, but instead of hijacking helicopters you’re tethering onto monster hunter knockoffs trying to wallop them. The partbreaking system is pretty inconsistent and the lock-on is still just as dogshit as The Surge 2, but overall the game feels smooth and graphically it has a love for sand on par with Mirror’s Edge’s obsession with concrete. I especially like the momentum system’s attempted risk/reward of combos increasing the damage you deal and the damage you take, and the added wrinkle that your passive and active abilities are socketed in along the momentum bar so you have to weigh getting access to attacks early with slotting in abilities that help you build momentum. The story and lore are whatever, the game is like five hours too long, and they make the baffling choice of having a solid 80% of the setting revolve around a slave underclass that are Unnamed but at no point do the rebels just… start giving them names. You’re just “Gauntlet Bearer” i.e. one of the good ones. That being said Asterigos did an even worse job of having any of its characters object to chattel slavery and in that game they were being ground into food so … I dunno. The bar’s low I guess.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess – As someone who has been an ardent Zelda fan for about as long as I can remember playing video games, Twilight Princess is a fascinating entry in the series. Its aesthetics and tone aren’t really approached in any other Zelda game. Structurally it takes a huge amount from Ocarina of Time, but it goes out of its way to flesh out a large number of NPCs and tries to have an actual story and setting that doesn’t revolve around Link. Zelda barely has a role even as a mcguffin, and in many ways Midna is the main character. It’s deliberately quite linear, with the tears of light sections serving to drag you through each area top to bottom before letting you explore it properly once you’re oriented. As an actual game I’d say it’s… functional? At worst it has some pacing issues and there was clearly cut content in the lategame, but it’s hard to point to any one facet and say “this could be better” because there’s such a robustly holistic vision of the type of game it was trying to be. It’s hard to step back from my childhood fondness for the game and the love grown over 5+ complete playthroughs, but I’m also not trying to step back from that. If anything I’ll probably reread the manga once I’m done with the game.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice – Sekiro had been pitched to me in a variety of ways over the years; ‘the most unique/difficult/interesting Fromsoft game’, ‘the best parrying has felt in a video game’, ‘the only good media named after its main character other than Columbo’. None of these spoke to me, and I had not so much avoided the game as been disinterested. Even after playing Nine Sols and gaining a grimaced tolerance of parrying, I wasn’t convinced. Steam Family Sharing dropped a copy in my lap though, and I needed to hit buttons in something after Atlas Fallen. The game’s fine. It’s merely fine. Bloodborne had interesting things to say about the Dark Souls formula and said them through its mechanics and its level design in ways that enhanced its own identity and actively punished playing as though it was Dark Souls. Sekiro isn’t as transformative, because the emphasis on parrying means that positioning isn’t rewarded – you NEED to get attacked and react appropriately in order to be proactive. Nine Sols had this same stilted cadence, but in 2D your relative position with an enemy is much clearer and the game not only had a variety of defensive options but also rewarded you with resources for parrying that could then be spent proactively. In Sekiro your reward for parrying is gradually staggering the enemy, and although chip damage accrues and slows the rate of stagger degradation it’s still a much different cadence. I do not hate the game. I do not even dislike the game. I expect to finish the game, or at the very least get to what I feel is a reasonable stopping point and deliberately cease playing rather than merely falling away. But I do not see myself loving the game. When I first started playing, I told a friend in jest “Everything I wanted from Sekiro I got from Ghost of Tsushima”. I don’t think that’s true, and I didn’t think so at the time. I just also don’t know what it is I actually want from Sekiro.