#i like their dynamic in botw and totk so much

[gideonnavsenormousbiceps]

just realized that the link and zelda weirdness levels are pretty much the same in botw and totk. Like link is canonically a little gremlin of a man running around with very little clothes, making weird weapons, and eating rocks, but zelda also tries to get link to eat a frog, and is basically a hyrulian iPad kid, obsessed with ancient hyrulian artifacts and history. weirdo 4 weirdo friendship/ship for sure

[waywardsalt]

:3

[ganondoodle]

(totk rewritten)

finally, all the arm and spirit abilities- for the first half of the game (rauru) and for the second half with the shiekah arm replacing links arms instead and the spirit abilities gained through ganondorf

(please excuse my handwriting and sometimes repeated info on the first two, i lost motivation/patience at the end and couldnt get myself to basically redo it all from scratch just to make it a bit more cleaner)

note, the camera rune is unconnected to the arm, its the shiekah stone copy link has (zelda carries the one from botw, a copy was attempted to be made for link but it lacks all runes except the camera, the map and its teleportation, and journal/archive)

note for the heal effects of some spirit abilities- im also reworking the healing system, making it more like the older games, so healing isnt as easy and much more restricted, thus making those effects of spirit abilities more valuable ( lil potion icon on the d pad will act a little bit like in skyward sword, opens your limited selection of healing items and if chosen link switches to holding it and letting you consume it with -a- while walking around in real time- to avoid more pausing and mass healing on regular items while in menu)

additional note, the automatic recharging of the magic meter depending on the environment gives you a reliable but less abusable way of using abilities and allows for even more creative dungeon/challenge design by using it effectively- it works by absorbing magic from its surroundings, so if its an area with little magic it recharges slower, if its a very spiritual or healthy place it will recharge faster, it can be used to make things more challenging and also as subtle storytelling (example, theres a graveyard with the magic energy around being off the charts, even if there are no spirits to see, it could hint at the people buried not having died peacefully, no matter what their gravestone says...)

the usage of magic and how much the different abilities cost also allows for a much more dynamic fighting style for players to choose and try out, balancing them all out with their cost instead of a fixed timer, and the recharging beign affected by the environment perhaps forcing players that favor high cost magic abilities to use the lower cost ones for example, or not being able to charge one up bc the enemy is too fast and doesnt give you enough time to charge it

about half of the small overworld dungeons (not shrines) are also locked/inaccessible for the first half and new quests appear as the second half commences- together with the additional changes raurus return brings with it (sonau buildings, enemies being mostly cosntructs that he summoned etc) and whole set of new abilities giving you a fresh new way to play while (hopefully) not making you feel too restricted for the first half

... making these detailed concepts took me longer than id like to admit q-q

[linktotheheart]

I feel like so many people misunderstand BOTW/TOTK Link especially (Zelda too, but that's another topic entirely)

His lack of expressiveness IS a personality trait. It's a direct result of the pressure on his soldiers to be a perfect soldier, hero, and savior. No, he's not Skyward Sword Link, and never will be, because his story is completely different.

"But [other Link] hugged Zelda when he got her back!" and this Link maintained a respectful distance as his princess's subordinate - but ALSO out of respect for Zelda as a person, because she spent her whole childhood having her agency denied and he wants to let her initiate even something as simple as platonic contact whenever possible. He's being kind!

(And yes, I know that primarily only the "he is a knight and she is a princess" part is directly supported in the actual game, but I'll remind the people making comparisons that the dynamic was COMPLETELY different in their favorite comparison game, Skyward Sword. But also... look at the gentleness with which Link interacts with Zelda, the tenderness that he shows so few other characters - Mipha probably being the closest example. Look at the way he looks to her first to see what to do in every scene they're in together, unless he's protecting her from an immediate threat to her life. Notice how outside of that, Zelda IS usually the one to initiate any physical contact)

I also personally hate it when people describe quiet, not very expressive people as "lacking personality" because... my partner IRL is like that. If she expressed herself at all around most people, it's in a very flat, reserved way. I've seen how it hurts her that people treat her like she doesn't have a personality, like she isn't even a full person - and I know that's real life and Zelda is fiction, but come on, do you think all the people that aren't highly expressive and extroverted don't hear that about very popular characters and internalize it?

Being reserved is a personality trait. Being cautious and not impulsive is a personality trait. In fact, I'd even say just because you as an expressive, extroverted person see Link as a blank slate to project your own personality onto, doesn't mean he actually is or was even intended that way.

(I also think this is a very US-centric point of view, honestly. There's plenty of cultures where even BOTW Link would be considered at least close to average - Finnish culture specifically comes to mind, even if he's still slightly exaggerated in that regard as, y'know, a character.)

Idk, this is as much a silly little vent post as anything, it's not that serious, etc, but whatever

(and don't get me started on "oh Zelda got no agency in TOTK and she learned the powers she was struggling overnight". No, it's called a time skip, and just because she learned her powers before the 13th hour this time - which yeah, she would get them easier this time with a mentor who could actually use the same powers, and having already learned to use her light powers - doesn't mean it just "happened overnight". And... she didn't express agency? She was actively influencing the entire flow of the timeline, changing the actions of her ancestors by convincing her ancestors to act, learning to control her powers and fighting Ganondorf, and finally expressing the ultimate form of autonomy in choosing to sacrifice herself to save the world. Some of the criticisms of TOTK didn't even seem to play the same game. Just because a heroine isn't a pop feminist badass who *gasp* wears pants and easily and perfectly kicks every villain's ass, doesn't mean she "has no agency" and is being sidelined. Like, a princess engaging in courtly politics is neither powerless nor "doing nothing")

[chiangyorange]

Do you have any LoZ/LU fic recs?

i have many! they wont be organized in any particular way tho

i started just hucking links at this until i realized, oh this is gettin really long actually, so im going to shove everything under the cut with the link to the fic itself and some personal notes from me to hopefully get you to read them!!

for Linked Universe;

Two Moon Pearls and the Master Sword by serbii

the chain get sent to the dark world and literally everyone but four, sky, and legend get to turn into animals about it. also baby legend is there <3 this also has an in progress sequel!!! its so fucking good!!!!!!

Absence by Anonymous

wild forgets he has to TELL PEOPLE that he has amnesia. this has consequences. i love wild and warriors dynamic so much theyre such a duo. if i believe in my heart other people can see the vision too.... sobs. WAILS EVEN.

Dearly, Departed by boo_boo_thefool

a series of post-lu oneshots revolving around each of the heroes!! hasnt reached all 9 of the chain yet but still a damn good read. if i think too hard about this one i can and will cry. on command even.

The Missing Link by SparklingWonderQueen

ongoing fic about if the chain met wild riiiiight at the beginning of totk when hes still missing!

willow bark and chamomile by schrodingers__cat

a REALLY fucking good read. like oh my god i just got SUCKED into this from start to finish. if ur a legend fan yes the fuck you are. get in there. go.

Dawn of the Fourth by LazuliQuetzal

also a damn good read!!! time gets de-aged and wind goes "haha im the big brother now. ... OH NO IM THE BIG BROTHER NOW!!!!!!" fucking hilarious. absolutely heart wrenching. these things are both true at the same time

ageless quest by fandomsandshit

OOOOOOOH YOU WANNA READ ABOUT THE CHAIN SEEING THE LIGHT DRAGON AND CONTEMPLATING THEIR OWN ADVENTURES SO BAD OOOOOHHH (theres three installments so far and if i think about THIS ONE i will ALSO cry on command about it. man i fucking love totk zelda so much why did they do that to her poor girl)

To Share, to Speak, and to Hear by NajikaSun

i cannot explain to you how much i love the knights trio. i have many feelings about them and they will sit riiiight here. its about the weight of legacy its about the weight of trying to fulfill your duties. you get it.

darning the threads as they fray by Ammo_Writes

this ones not done but bow howdy does it get my brain CHUGGING!! the tone... the haunting feeling.... augh... AUGH !!!! WHERES MY BOY I MISS HIM SO MUCH.

sorrow, immortality, and hope by virtualpng

READING THIS MADE ME WANT TO TEAR MY FURNITURE APART WITH MY TEETH!!! OHHHH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDD ITS SO GOOOOOOOOOODDDDDD this author's other fics within the series also fucking slap. hard. god. the chain (who havent met wild yet) meet a stranger in ordon

Applejuice Stains on the Past by MjsKindaHere

HEY REMEMBER WHAT I SAID ABOUT THE KNIGHTS TRIO??> sky gets de-aged and wild is NOT normal about it. legacies and expectations and burdens etce etc. you get it

Young volcanoes by jelly_dragons

wild is incredibly fussy about how he was forced to wear the big clunky ass flamebreaker set in his journey meanwhile sky just gets some fancy shmancy earrings about it. the duo go into a volcano. hilarity ensues.

The Ruin They've Made Me by CluelessMoose

botw link's last battle did NOT go well with calamity ganon and leaves him possessed by the damn thing. and then the chain pop in. (owwwww OWWWWWWWWWWW)

Twin Quasar by StrixEye

written before totk released and its still unfinished but MAN AM I A SUCKER FOR GOOD COMPELLING TIMETRAVEL.

hold on, reaper by virtualpng

the chain before they ever meet wild but they pop into his hyrule anyway while hes in the shrine of resurrection. wind meets a ghost at fort hateno. god i fucking lost ghost stories.

steady going under by rebornofstars

the boys.... theyre sleepy.... specifically on top of twilight...

I'm A Riddle In Nine Syllables by SilverheartSP

GOD i fucking love ghost stories. pre-lu in botw where wild meets the chain as ghosts first, and THEN actually meets them

The Legacies You Leave Behind by Eureka5215

flora-centric study about her interactions with the chain. because she cant ever escape the overwhelming weight of a legacy like me too girl so real. yes this is part of my fixation on the knight trio. their haunted sadwoman air surrounding all four of them have captivated me mind and soul

Untarnished by Tashacee

MAN I FUCKING LOVE GHOST STORIES!!!! lovelovelove tash's hero's aspect au obvs the 2nd piece of fanart i did for this fandom was FOR heros aspect but man... MANNNNNNN UNTARNISHED HITS ME DIFFERENT!!!!! first..... ily king <3<3<3

In Flux by zippe

FUUUUUCKCKCKCKKCKC I LOVE FUCKY ASS TIME TRAVEL it can be to heartwrenching and this one is exactly thattttttt augh. AUGH!!!!!! i lose it ever time remembering this one

~~~

LOZ in general, but mainly botw/totk(and some aoc);

For The People by myfairstarlight

hey girl where did the divine beasts go. sidon is NOT having a good time about it hes EMOTIONALLY ATTACHED to that thing!!!!

That Brilliant Blue (A Bittersweet Goodbye) by myfairstarlight

hey. what do you mean sidon and mipha are doomed siblings. ill cry.

VIRTUE IS DROWNED, WITH HOLY HANDS, BY SORROW by lizandre

totk zelda in her time in the past. she is. not doing well!!!!

Again by Drich (drich147)

botw timeloop fic. yeah. theres this one scene where its revealed that guardians have a fuckign partymode???? thats hilarious.

so i'll never die when i'm dead by arashi_the_pancake

OW. FUCK. au where after turning into the light dragon zelda keeps her consciousness about it. shes not doing well!!!

[shellshooked]

Can u plz do more of the Zelda movie au? I really like it and would like to see like maybe a documentary comic about the filming and are the actors for link and Zelda dating or is it just them as characters? (u don’t have to actually draw that if u don’t see this or u don’t want to)

im so late replying to this but i have SOOO many ideas on the zelda movie au!! let me share some lore hehe

So you know the spiderman actor and his love interest actress dating curse? how every actor that has played spiderman ends up dating the actress for mj / gwen Stacy? i like to think it's a similar trend with the zelink actors, except not all of them are dating. Botw / totk zelink DEFINETLY and the actors like to keep the details of their relationship private, but Link is NOT shy about how head over heels he is for zelda

Skyward sword zelink? you can never tell. it's the type of dynamic where Twitter stans are dying to know and interviewers always ask them about it but they both dodge the question successfully each time. They could be besties. They could be secretly married. Nobody knows.

Now, oot zelink are not dating, but in my head they're like Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson. Ride or die besties, and they're the biggest oot zelink shippers you'll ever find.

Tp zelink aren't necessarily dating, perhaps some tension (?) however i like to think that their dynamic is more a trio one with midna's actress, who's best friends with zelda and they both playfully bully link

You know who else bullies link? oot ganondorf's actor. Irl he's actually in super good relations with every cast member and probably the warmest kindest most solid dude you'll ever meet but in every interview, every red carpet, every con event he always pretends like oot link is a nuisance and that he's only doing this because he's getting paid. When the Wind waker releases, he's obviously cast again (because duh, same ganondorf, so he's also in the Twilight Princess movie), and he takes care of link and tetra very well on set and makes sure they're always comfortable as child actors, all while he acts to be this super evil guy on camera. I love this duality, I feel like he would be so chill to talk to

In a way, I feel like the major cast from the franchise all know each other one way or another whether they're friends or just professional colleagues, they all relate to each other in some way. There's always a playful competition between botw and ss zelink actors on which pairing is the best, tp link's actor always jokingly disses wind waker for its seemingly childish approach while ww link insists his movie has the better soundtrack.

And now I'm rambling, and I definetly did not mean to dump this all on your ask omg I'm so sorry but this au transpires so much fun to me it makes me silly

[altocat]

Cheeeeeeezzzzeeeeee anon here…. With some unpopular/controversial opinions (do they even count as that? Are they actually very popular opinions?) because idgaf what strangers on the internet think about me 👍

Feel free to give yours too >:D

Yazoo and Loz are better than Kadaj. I just had to get that out there. I’m not sure why, but to me, they always will be.

Angeal is the best SOLDEIR 1st class. I adore Genesis and Seph, but I feel like Angeal upholds what it’s truly like to be a SOLDER while not forgetting his values and beliefs.

It’s better that we saw Babygeal before Young Genesis. Angeal and Sephiroth have such an interesting dynamic both in EC and in CC that I feel like Gen and Seph don’t in a way. Now, I love Gen and Seph’s friendship, but Angeal and Seph’s just feels more…. Natural and meaningful. It’s amazing that Square actually put Angeal there first because Miniroth probably wouldn’t have opened up to someone like Genesis.

Despite what I’ve said, Genesis is the best CC character. He’s the perfect “antagonist” (put in quotation marks because I don’t feel like he’s the actual antagonist, and instead ShinRa is) for that specific game. It would have felt flat if it was someone else, especially if it was Sephiroth or Angeal.

👏Aerith👏is👏not👏a👏flat👏or👏useless👏character👏who👏only👏serves👏as👏a👏plot👏point👏. Does anyone else besides my mother and a few friends of mine hate her? Idk.

Aerith and Zack need to stay dead. As much as I love them, their deaths are major in the story and if they’re alive, it messes up the whole story.

All of the bad things that happened? Hojo and Hollander’s fault. The Neibelheim incident wouldn’t have happened if Hojo hadn’t done what he did. Genesis wouldn’t degrade, which means that he wouldn’t have started to degrade and leave Shinra, taking most of SOLDIER with him, if he didn’t have JENOVA cells. Zack wouldn’t have died, because the Neibelheim incident wouldn’t have occurred. Cloud wouldn’t have messed up memories. Sephiroth would have lived a happy childhood, and so much more, if Hojo and Gast had a bit more common sense, and a lot less ‘crazy scientists’.

No matter what happened, Sephiroth was going to find out about his birth. It’s a major plot point in the story, even if it happened in a different way.

LAZARD👏DESERVES👏BETTER👏AND👏MORE👏RECOGNITION👏

EVERYTHING WAS SET IN MOTION BECAUSE OF GENESIS’S DESERTION, AND HE NEEDS THE RECOGNITION FOR THAT.

Remake is kinda boring. Please don’t yell at me 😭 I think I found it boring because I’m more used to open world games (BOTW/TOTK and HZD/HFW are two prime examples of that) and rouge likes (Hades 1/Hades 2). Rebirth fixed that problem, but it also feels too overwhelming at the same time.

SEPHIROTH IS A CAT-SNAKE HYBRID.

Genesis is the coolest character fr.

Incase you couldn’t tell, I’m just a very strange, Genesis, Seph and Angeal loving crazy person.

I agree with lots of these!!!

Best Bois. Best chars.

[skyward-floored]

Of course I'd love to hear more about Courage of Ages! How do the Links meet? Which Links meet and what're they like in your story?

Aaah yes of course!! I’ll start with the how they all get stuck together:

This was all thought up before totk was anything more than singular teaser trailer so it likely doesn’t fit in with all of that, but it all starts with the Yiga. After the events of botw they’re believed to be mostly just a group of stragglers, and not much of a threat in anyone’s eyes. But they’re actually just underground, united by a new leader who wants revenge.

Link killed both their old leader and the calamity, and the Yiga want to take him out more than anything. But this new leader is smarter than Master Kohga was, and even more ambitious, and after finding some old records, has the brilliant idea that instead of taking out just this Link, they’ll take out every Link all across history.

It’ll be revenge for the countless times the hero defeated the one they worship and serve, his continued defense of the princess and protection of the land. All the Yiga need is a way to do this, and after a long and extensive search, the clan finally locates the Harp of Ages.

Which, combined with the spell they use to track Link, are going to use to forcibly bring all the heroes of courage throughout history to their time, then wipe them out all in one blow in honor and revenge for their old master and the Calamity. (Maybe even a sacrifice of that magnitude could bring him back!!)

...Problem is, the yiga kinda suck at figuring out how the harp works, and making it and their spell work together.

So instead of just bringing in all the Links in one go, the heroes are being yanked around to different times, pulled to each other like magnets, trying to figure out what’s going on and also Not Die. There are a few smaller Link groups that get formed before they all wind up together (...and then get snapped apart again), and those are the main dynamics that get formed. But they switch around a fair amount.

As for which Links? ...Pretty much all of the game ones haha. I have 13, or 14 I think? I wanted to play with a big group, and add in some Links that aren’t always in this kind of au.

Here’s a list of them all and some stuff about them :)

...

Cloud is skyward sword Link, he’s generally pretty chill and nice, but is really really annoyed he got dragged on this quest. He was in the middle of his honeymoon for Hylia’s sake. Has some white streaks in his hair from Demise’s lightning, the others say it’s because he’s old and refuse to drop it even after hearing the correct explanation.

Mini is minish cap Link, he’s the youngest out of everyone here. Gives off big innocent vibes, but he’s as fierce as anyone else in the group. Really nice and sweet, it’s surprising to everyone how good of a fighter he is. Doesn’t care too much about being seen as a kid, so long as it doesn’t cause any problems...

Kaleidoscope (Kal) is four swords Link, he’s one of the quietest of the group. He suffers some weird effects from using the four sword on his adventure, where his brain gets confused and thinks it’s running around in multiple bodies again. It usually doesn’t cause any issues. Usually. Also really good at sewing, which comes in handy quite a lot.

Sprite is ocarina of time/majora’s mask Link, and he is not happy to be here. He’s in the 12-13 range and it’s rather obvious. He thought he was done with time travel ever since that dumb war (hw) he got sucked into, and he doesn’t want to be here. At all. Especially since it seems like (at first) the one Link he wants to see again isn’t even here.

Gloam is twilight princess Link, he was the first Link to be sucked into this. Affectionately refers to anyone younger than him as puppy (which is most of the group), and sometimes has trouble not being in constant big-brother mode. Has a strange sadness about him sometimes. Worries a fair amount. Can also turn into a wolf, and while doesn’t stress about keeping it secret, he also doesn’t come out and just tell everyone. This gets confusing.

Light is four sword adventures Link, he’s a slight mix of the game and manga. He’s got a quick tongue and is seen as one of the more annoying of the group, but he’s determined to stop this threat, and one of the few actually good at working on a team. Also suffers some strange effects from the four sword, though his are more emotion-based than Kal’s. Sometimes his shadow looks weird.

Windy is windwaker/phantom hourglass Link, and he’s kind of just rolling with all of this. He already got plunked into an alternate world one time, this is kinda like that. Makes fast friends with pretty much all the others, especially Light (they’re besties lol), and can usually keep his big-brothering to a manageable level. Really good at navigation.

Spirit (Dove) is spirit tracks Link, and he’s... kind of freaked out by all of this. Yeah he can fight pretty well, but trains are really more of his thing and it’s kind of overwhelming getting yanked around through time like this especially since that one guy is the Hero of Winds what— Can also see ghosts, which is... interesting.

Hibiscus (Hib) is a Link to the past/oracle of seasons/ages/Link’s Awakening Link, and is the most experienced person here. He’s the unofficial medic, has a pretty good guess as to how they’re all being pulled through time, is very sensitive to magical changes, keeps a level head, and... kind of never got over Koholint. Looking at him you’d never guess, though. He’s made some incremental progress in that regard, but it’s also pretty hard for him to be around Cloud, who talks about his Zelda a lot. He also gets time-travel sick. Lucky him.

Hue is a link between worlds/tri force heroes Link, and has an outfit for every occasion. Seriously. He’s learning how to be a blacksmith, but he wants to go into enchanted jewelry and other stuff like that someday. Magical items fascinate him, and though he sometimes focuses more on outward appearances then he should, he’s a nice guy. Even if the green hair streaks are a bit weird.

Brownie is the original legend of Zelda/the adventure of Link Link, and he’s just. Really stressed. He went from being hunted by one cult to another, and being in such a large noisy group puts him seriously on-edge. The most skilled with magic out of their group. He tends to keep to himself, but he gravitates towards the other more quiet Links, like Kaleidoscope.

Era is hyrule warriors Link, and due to all of his time shenanigans, he doesn’t join until a bit after everyone else. The oldest of the group, and visibly stressed by the fact that there’s only a handful of adults and he’s one of them. Was really close with Sprite in the war, it was terrible for both of them when it ended. Is also in a bit of a tricky political situation when he gets pulled away, one he really didn’t want to leave in the middle of.

First is the link from the manga in the back of the Hyrule historia (with some tweaks). He is a ghost. He doesn’t know how or why he’s here. Only Spirit and Gloam even know he’s here, they’re the only two who can see him (...that they know of, and Gloam can only do it as a wolf). He can’t physically interact with barely anything, and watching all of this go down is extremely stressful. He wishes he could help.

And Slate is breath of the wild Link, and he’s convinced that this is all his fault. He’s the entire reason the Yiga are screwing with time and dragging all these heroes here (...heroes who didn’t fail...) and he’s desperate to stop them. Aside from the guilt dragging him down, he’s one of the more upbeat Links. He’s the unofficial cook, is often humming something to himself, and is the best archer by a long shot.

[ghostieblotts]

So @uhhhitsme sent me an ask about pet names, and the curtwen demons would not let me sleep last night until I had written something for both the canon universe and for my botw/totk curtwen au that I haven't properly posted about yet on tumblr.

Under the cut are some ideas that I originally included in my response to that ask, but have now decided to separate out into another post.

For context, in the botw/totk au I cast Curt as Link and Owen as Zelda - so for anyone reading this who isn't a Zelda fan, Owen is a prince expected to unlock a sacred power and save the world, while Curt is his appointed knight, who is also the hero chosen by the Sword that Seals the Darkness.

Rough simplified progression of their dynamic pre-Calamity is "I hate his guts why am I stuck dealing with this guy" -> banter becomes less hostile -> building want for honesty, yearning and concern -> façade breakdown -> actually confiding in each other -> "I've never admitted this to anyone before" -> lovers.

With both of them, there are names that they start off using for each other mockingly/as a formality, that eventually become imbued with new meaning as their relationship changes.

Owen probably calls Curt something like "Sir Knight", either as mockery or deliberately distancing over-formality, towards the beginning. "Sir Mega" takes on a similar tone. Over time, he starts to actually use Curt's name - still sharply at first, but eventually much softer. When he uses "sir knight" again, either to keep up a formal appearance or more as an inside joke, it's with much more respect. Their history together (and the understanding of how much his role as a knight, as a chosen hero, has affected Curt) seeps into the phrase.

When Curt is assigned as the prince's appointed knight, it's hard not to let his frustration with his role intrude on how he says the various stuffy formalities with which he is expected to address Owen. "Your highness", "your majesty", "your grace", "your radiance", blah blah blah, there's a different one for every event and it is tedious. Over time, with repetition, they start to sound more ordinary, though. After a while, fed up, Owen demands Curt call him "Prince Owen" instead - it's far more practical. Over time, Curt manages to make this phrase sound incredibly casual. When they finally become lovers, some of those old formalities return, sounding very different - "highness", "majesty", "radiance". The respect packed into them isn't the same as that which is expected to be afforded to a sovereign - it's something beyond that, a different kind of devotion.

Ultimately, though, their names are really the most intimate form of address here. No ornamentation, no honorifics, just each other. It's particularly significant the first time Curt calls Owen by just his first name - he doesn't have to be royal, or powerful, or holy, just a person. Just himself. And that's enough.

[noraiir-arts]

Does anyone else have very complicated ways of shipping?? like when i say "i ship them" i don't mean "oh they love each other so much they kiss each other and will be together forever" i ship characters but in a way that's unique to only them and/or only in certain scenarios

Like, for example Zelink- I think pre-calam zelink was one sided, i dislike post-calam zelink, but i sort of like totk zelink (yes i know they are the same two people) but only certain dynamics??? but i also think that its the type of love that goes unsaid, they just look out for and support each other, maybe its not entirely romantic but they are closer than friends. It's the type of closeness you can only get by knowing that no matter what lifetime you are in the other will always be there. I don't think its necessarily the type where they hide behind pillars to make out, or try to stay in a committed relationship, but more of a tired love, one that has been renewed throughout hundreds of lives, each time being something different.

But take skyward sword, i believe that it's easier to see romantic zelink here

or Miphlink - I don't really ship this, but it's a tragic one-sided love story that Mipha knew was doomed from the beginning. The other woman. Was never given enough time to tell Link how she felt, yet even if she had time he might not have returned her feelings. Now he barely remembers her. Maybe 100 years later she's a little embarrassed of herself, of what she wrote in her diary. Maybe it was a simple crush, mistaken for undying love and has dwindled over the past century. But now it's a sad love, the type where she grieves for what used to be, and what never will. But after being saved from Ruta she switches her sights towards the domain. She can see how much her brother has grown and is so proud of him. She knows Link will never remember her fully, but maybe it's for the best. No matter what, she will always be there to heal his wounds.

Tbh i was dragged into Revalink kicking and screaming, but now it's one of my favorites. - Their dynamics work so well, but oh no it's so sad. Started from a one-sided "rivalry" to some sort of friendship. Link never hated Revali, he didn't even dislike him. And Revali just wanted Link to be impressed, to understand why he was chosen for his role as pilot, and he wanted Link to prove himself to Revali (honestly i can go on a on about why revali was harsh to link in botw if anyone wants me to) But over time they both start to realize that they are more similar to each other than any of the other champions. They weren't born into noble families or blessed with magic. Revali learns about the vigorous training Link underwent after pulling the sword, and Link learns that Revali isn't the son of the elder or was an important figure in his village before becoming a champion, but a simple warrior just like Link. Their friendship grows and they become a great team, surprising mostly everyone. Maybe it grows into something more. Maybe neither of them know it. Maybe they just never admit it. Revali knows Link doesn't remember him. He doesn't want him to. He tells Link not to go asking about him to the princess. It's for the best, he will still be there to help Link after all. Maybe it's cruel to keep him from knowing. Well, Revali will be gone soon anyway. Maybe he hopes that Link will at least remember good things about him.

Honestly I love revalink aus, they are my fav!!

I think of Zelimpa (aoc) like a mix of how i described miphlink and revalink but im too tired to explain it rnnnnn

oh also urbosa/zelda's mom but i think that goes unsaid

but anyway these are just a few. Most of the time i can't use words to exactly explain something pictured in my head, (synesthesia is so silly) but i tried my best

[weirdmageddon]

aspects and platonic realism in homestuck

i was thinking about this video again and man. i dont think people consider the aspects enough in terms of the fact that they are fundamental building blocks of the homestuck reality in the way that periodic elements and physics are to us. or even closer to what classical elements were to ancient greeks (hero of fire / hero of water / hero of aether). we see aspects not directly. we see objects directly but these objects are created from the influence of aspects.

some tangible things are closer to the “essence” of what falls into an aspect’s domain to define it. like a gust of wind or a breeze is a physical analogy for the aspect of breath. in homestuck’s reality, how breath manifests itself in a metanarrative sense is representing a functional plot-driven story. john’s liking for fast-paced action movies and worldbuilding with very little emphasis on relationships and characters. the beginning of homestuck in itself embodies much of the breath aspect in a narrative sense. the trolls are influenced by the blood aspect since their plot is moved by relationships, dramas, interpersonal dynamics rather than a primarily detached functional-driven plot like acts 1-4. from a metanarrative take, along with blood, breath represents how the author intends to tell or convey the story, if they choose elements that emphasize the detached (breath) or elements emphasizing connection (blood). the perpendicular axis to breath-blood is space-time, which metanarratively represents the setting and the events in the story. but these metanarrative manifestations of the aspects are just another imperfect angle to view their platonic essence in. each aspect dichotomy is like a different lens of thinking about reality through.

media tends to have some aspect dichotomy focus it thematically revolves around above all else. of course every media contains elements of all aspects. for example every narrative must have setting and events, which is why space and time are absolutely necessary.

the legend of zelda: breath of the wild and tears of the kingdom pull a lot of themes from the breath/blood dichotomy overall, and secondarily space and time. botw has story, gameplay, and themes drawing heavily from breath and space. totk in contrast has story, gameplay, and themes drawing heavily from blood and time.

gravity falls focuses heavily through the light/void dichotomy lens. with plot points all focusing heavily around knowledge and secrets, relevance and irrelevance. shining a light in a dark space, symbolism, clarity, and meaninglessness, confusion, obscuring truth (bill, society of the blind eye). even though all aspect dichotomies show up in all media recursively at metaphysical levels, breath and blood aren’t as dominant overall in gravity falls as it is for the latter i mentioned

“in the furthest ring, platonic forms are real. they are the base classes that paradox space builds reality out of. whereas modern physics breaks down reality into the physically irreducible, homestuck breaks down reality into what rose calls the “notionally irreducible”. and just as fundamental particles are to the periodic table of elements, aspects are to this system’s irreducible forms. the 12 aspects are the building blocks of thought, and where we, in our universe, might make a distinction between thought and reality, paradox space doesn’t seem very concerned. as we’ll see, homestuck wants us to convince us that our thoughts create the world around us, and the aspect system is just another way to work towards that goal.

in a traditional rpg, classes are about specialization and tools at your disposal. in zelda games, titles/classes such as “hero of time” or “hero of wind” is less as a specialization but more of a prophecy. it has no bearing on any quality of the game’s mechanics but instead is being used as a tool for the narrative. and it works; there’s a reason that cryptic prophecies are so widely used in storytelling. they foreshadow the rest of the story without giving it away and they give the reader/viewer/player a framework from which they can continuously place the story and its unfolding into perspective. in a zelda game, it’s even more effective because it is framing the player’s own actions making them feel like they’re a part of something bigger than themselves. in addition, it can be interpreted by the player as a challenge to them personally so that, in overcoming the challenge presented to them, they feel a sense of personal satisfaction at living up to the role. it’s one of many, many qualities that make zelda games feel epic and timeless.

homestuck, being a traditional narrative which involves a multiplayer game is able to take the best qualities of both the class system in an rpg and the titles of a zelda game and use those to create the class and aspect system.

characters playing the game are seemingly assigned a title just like in zelda. in fact, they sound identical to zelda. one might find themselves refered to as the “hero of doom” or a “hero of void”. like a zelda game, these describe the tools that the players will use to live up to their prophecized roles, except the tools in this sense are aspects.”

(Aspects and Platonic Realism in Homestuck)

that is, the tools in this sense are the fundamental building blocks of reality.

when a player is assigned an aspect, one even as abstract as “rage”, they are being assigned to be a servant of a fundamental property, force, or matter of reality. maid of rage (serving the platonic fundamental property of rage) would in our world be like, equivalent to a servant of electromagnetism. except with homestuck these are platonic forces

[sabertoothwalrus]

out of curiosity, why do you not like zelink anymore? it never really appealed to me but I keep seeing art of it and I don't really feel the chemistry haha

HMMM well I still like it in some regards!

as kid I was almost exclusively a fan of OoT zelink. Like DIE HARD. Like it was my whole personality. I liked Link & Tetra a lot too, their dynamic is GREAT but I didn’t draw them as much. I wasn’t interested in TP zelink and I remember telling myself it was because “the designs are too hard for me to draw I’m only 9” and not that they had literally no chemistry 💀

It’s kinda wild cause I was already deep in the zelink trenches when skyward sword came out, but for some reason that game didn’t appeal to me at all??? idk if it was cause the game just wasn’t as fun to play, or if the designs put me off. It just didn’t hold my interest.

By the time botw rolled out in 2017, I was already identifying as aroace (<- spoiler I was actually a repressed lesbian) and had long gotten over zelink being the “default”.

Even my beloved oot zelink felt less realistic to me— I know it’s fiction and you can do whatever you want, but generally princesses don’t marry random knights (in child timeline, no one remembers Link’s heroism, so to everyone else he really would just be some random knight). I’ve come to appreciate oot zelink for its potential tragedy and complexity, with childhood friends-to-lovers, who are literal soulmates that share memories of war no one else in their world knows of, but for political reasons cannot be together. Their relationship would be messy and secret and bittersweet. Link wouldn’t even have anywhere else to go, since he no longer belongs with the kokiri. He canonically dies as a royal guard. He had children (TP Link is part of his bloodline) but he presumably died before they were old enough for him to teach them his swordsman techniques.

So far, botw zelink is one of my least favorite zelinks 🙈 I’m sorry I just don’t see it!! Which is INSANE because it’s by far been the most popular zelink in the past 15 years I’ve been in online fandoms for it. At most it’s unrequited and at least they’re both gay. To be fair I never actually beat calamity ganon 🤡 I’M GONNA DO THAT THIS WEEKEND SHHH and have managed to stay mostly unspoiled about botw’s ending, but I really don’t think,, that that alone will be enough to convince me. Idk. Maybe I’ll change my mind. Maybe totk will do it for me.

[onthegreatsea]

i needed to test a joycon and had left totk in my switch so i sat down and was just casually playing it and like.. fuck man. its such a frustrating game. why is everything so cumbersome?

it uses every button on the controller constantly and its still not enough! its so poorly designed. i honestly cant believe this was the best design they could come up with why the fuck cant you just fuse things in the menu? why do i have to select the item in the menu, drop it, exit the menu and then press two more buttons to fuse it? assuming i am not accidentally too close to another item that is also fuseable and then have to run around to get it to auto select the thing i want? (god forbid the physics make it roll down a hill)

like im in the middle of a fight and want a special arrow and what do i have to do? spend the next minute in a menu scrolling through items while the game is paused.

weapons break so fast and it STILL doesnt auto equip another one so you have to manually do it yourself. and now you also have to fuse the weapon first? because adding more steps to their tedious durability system definitely makes it more fun.

oops your bow broke in the middle of a fight better force you to pause the game and take all the tension out of it so you can scroll through 20 of them trying to find the right one. pausing is fun right?

what a dynamic battle system

and of course i was forced to deal with the fucking stamina system again

im not opposed to stamina systems but link starts off with such a pathetic amount. barely any stamina in a huge world where everything depletes it and your top speed feels like a snail. how did they not fix this?

and yes you can spend hours slowly getting items to upgrade your stamina but like.. i've already done this in botw. it was a chore then why would i wanna do it again? and you need four of the goddamn things to improve your stamina *slightly*, it requires you to sacrifice improving your health, it takes forever and requires a huge amount of commitment just to get to a point where its not a constant annoyance. the stamina pieces dont feel like rewards that improve you; instead it feels like they're punishing you for not having enough of them to start with

seriously tho its ridiculous how much time you have to spend stuck in menus with this game

you still cant just select ingredients in a menu and combine them there; you have to back out, put them in a pot (that you had to light yourself) and hope you dont hit the stick and drop the ingredients on the floor. and why the fuck cant it save my recipes and just let me make multiple dishes in one go? hey why the fuck cant link just auto eat food when i lose health? why do you want me to spend so much time in your cumbersome menu system selecting shit instead of outside it doing the fun stuff?

why do i have to spam a button to pick things up? why cant link just auto pick things up that dont take up inventory space?

why cant i just auto change an entire outfit instead of selecting each bit manually? why cant i save specific outfit combos?

in fact why are so many useful abilities assigned to specific outfits so i am forced to keep entering the goddamn menu to change every time i want to have the highest climbing speed instead of have highest attack? and why does every outfit only have ONE ability?

the complete set bonuses just make this worse. if they didnt exist you'd have less reason to constantly be changing shit because you could mix and match the best abilities into one outfit. like every other RPG in existance already figured out decades ago.

how did they not realise how annoying all this menu shit is in over ELEVEN YEARS of development? how is this the best interface they could come up with?? in ELEVEN YEARS?? its fucking baffling

seriously, every time i think i can get some enjoyment out of it i collide head first into the constant tedium of its poorly designed interface and wonder how the fuck this got a metacritic of 96

[ganondoodle]

you know, i talked about it before but i still, for a much more rare totk gameplay complaint-

i still cannot wrap my head around how it went all the way to the finished product to have 5 ghosts that love to glitch around and threaten your frame rate (espeically bad in combat) help in combat, 4 of which are MELEE fighters, AND have their abilities tied to their model forcing you to chase after them constantly if you want to use any of it AND ALSO give them collision so they can get knocked over cancelling their ability if it needs charging (RIJU!!), the one needing a long time to charge being not jsut one of the most useful and fun to use but then making that one also be one of tHE MELEE fighters meaning anytime you manage to catch her and activate it she instantly charges into battle and due to her being rather small and using short swords she basically sticks to the enemy like glue and keeps gettign knocked over, i swear yelling riju was my most spoken word in any type of combat in all my playtime

also how they teleport back and forth in and out of your arm the second you dare to look at a climable surface or are in one thats too small for them (even when you need them the most like yuno in one of those caves stuffed to the brim with destroyable rocks thatd take out all your swords if you did it by hand) or just .. randomly teleporting around but then can still get stuck on environmental collision until you cant even see them anymore (stares at sidon giving me a heart attack in the underground when he got caught on a light root until i was so far away he was barely visible and instead of teleporting he started to sprint at me with inhumane speed when i turned around making me frozen in shokc bc he turned dark in the distance for some reason making me think one of the creepy ghost soldiers was out to murder me, granted that was one of the best moments in the game for me, but also, imagine if they actually did that with one of the creepy ghost soldiers instead of it being a glitch??? another missed opportunity tbh)

how did that never come up during playtesting?? if they really were done somewhere in 2022 and spent the rest of the time with polish like they said how did that never come up?? i loved having the champ- sages around in their dungeons but the ghost version thingy wasnt really that optimal and id rather have their abilities be either integrated into your controls like in botw (tbh i find that really thoguhtful, to have your dead friends abilities they granted you inegrated into your basic controls as dynamically as they did) or in another ability wheel (like i did in my rewrite) with maybe mineru beign the only one you actually need around via summon since you can ride ... her

idk about anyone else but i only had them around bc i liked them walking around with me and was too lazy to constantly de and reactivate them but tbh i think it caused more annoyance to me than it brought anything interesting to it

[silentprincessofhyrule]

Hi! You seem like a really cool blog and I too, adore TOTK and BOTW.

What are some of your main ships for it?

FIRST ASK ‼️‼️

anyways, aside from that, the main ship that i ship is zelink!! i love their dynamic so much! i could go on a whole ramble about zelink if i want, but i might save that for later and if people wanna hear me talk about it.

aside from that though, i don’t really have any other main ships i ship. i did ship sidlink for a moment in time but then i just stopped shipping it 😭

[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!