#implied zelink lol

[dragon-cookies]

30-something Link with a baby that wakes up at 5am every day: ah I get it now

[andstuffsketches]

self-indulgent link designs

[srah-the-violist]

WALTZ AND MINUET FOR THE ASK GAME??👀

WHOO I'm so glad you asked 😝 (I ended up posting this a little later than I wanted but oh well... 😅)

These are just rough sketches so far, but hopefully you can kidna see what's going on... I'll explain the big project they're a part of under the cut.

The basic goal of these sketches is to create an illustration to go along with different tracks in the OoT sound track. Waltz goes with Song of Storms and Minuet goes with Minuet of Forest.

So, you might have noticed that all of my wips are titled after different styles of dance. This is for a very specific reason.

So, you might have noticed that all of my wips are titled after different styles of dance. This is for a very specific reason.

When I was looking back at the ocarina songs in OoT, I noticed that several of them were dances, (Minuet, Bolero, etc) and if they weren't, the musical style could translate very well into a dance (Song of Storms sounds like a Waltz)! There's even a Prelude, which starts most classical dance suites. So I came up with an idea. I decided that I wanted to write an entire dance suite for solo viola and harp based on the soundtrack of OoT.

I know I don't talk about music stuff a lot on Tumblr, but I'm a viola performance major at my school, and I'm graduating this spring, so I have to give a senior recital. When I told my major professor about this suite idea, she encouraged me to perform it on the second half of my recital! I think at one point, she had seen some of my OoT drawings on FB, and she suggested that I draw some illustrations and display them while I perform this suite on my recital, so that's what all these sketches are for! I'm super excited!

[newtsnaturethings]

Suggestive Zelink comic below the cut. Nudity and implied smut.

Based on this amazingly heartfelt fic here by @luftballons99 . This is from chapter 2 of the fic and I couldn’t get it out of my head, so I did the sensible (lol) thing and made a comic.

[manitschilly]

My notes taken while reasearching the Zelda Timeline lol, mostly cannon a little headcannon in places. Also my Zelink rating aren't how much I like them it's how likely they are in the narrative.

Power: Din ->Demise->Ganondorf. The Gerudo give birth to a male every 100 years, and it's only ever been Ganon. The 100 year system got screwed though because Ganon keeps not actually dying. Pigs. Fire. Red.

Courage: Farore-> heros spirit (fierce diety?)-> Link. Only the hero's spirit is reincarnated in Link, so he's not the same person. Not related at all, except for Twilight Princess where Link is a descendant of Ocarina of Time Link. Wolves and horses. Lighting. Green.

Wisdom: Naydra -> Hylia-> Zelda. Every Zelda is actually Hylia reincarnated through a consistant bloodline. Loftwing. Ice. Blue.

-there is a void called Null

-The three goddess create the earth and the triforce, and that's their only relation to Demise, Hylia, and the heros spirit. They're not reincarnations at all, more like patrons. (Unwillingly in Dins case). Din created the land, Farore created life, and Nayru created order.

-possibly Zonai and Sonia and Rauru founding the first kingdom of Hyrule. This would imply there is a Ganon unconnected to Demise sealed for the rest of everything and a dragon Zelda floating around. Rauru and Sonias light and time magic start off the royal family.

-a long undisclosed time with robots for some reason

-A battle between the Hylia, Demise and the races in Hyrule breaks out over the Triforce. Hylia takes the Hylian kingdom into the sky to protect them, then becomes a Hylian to protect the triforce. She also created a sword with a spirit named Fi with her godly power. With Demise sealed for now, she waits to be born.

-Sheikah are probably started around here, as like a Hylia cult.

-Skyward Sword: First incartion is Skyward Sword, when Hylia chooses to be born as Zelda and chooses Link as her champion to hold the heros spirit. They fight Demise who then curses them to reincarnate forever, and establishes his own incarnation, kicking off the rest of the series. Hylia, now Zelda, is shown to use her time powers. Link, Zelda, and a few Hylians from Skyloft restart the kingdom on the surface.

Link and Zelda are in love, Zelda chosing Link specifically for that reason. This could imply that Hylia and the heros spirit are soulmates in some way, and every incarnarion after is an extension of that. They don't end up together every time, but that makes it even more beautiful and heartrenching. (Just to specify, Links aren't related so don't worry about it) 10/10 Zelink potential this shit is cannon.

Kikwi present. Impa is there as part of the Shiekah. Impa seems to be either a repeated name or a title given to Shiekah warriors meant to protect the reincarnation of Hylia, not their own incarnation.

-another very long time gap

-evil sorcerors are after the triforce which is hidden in the sacred realm. A new temple of time (after the one in Hylias time used to hide the sealed Demise and Zelda) is built around the master sword, which has been holding in Demise this whole time.

-Another long time passes. Zelda's descendants have become the royal family. Princesses are named Zelda after the original incarnation (note, they aren't all reincarnations, just named after her). There is still a lot of magic floating around the bloodline.

-sheikah are sworn to Hylias blood and therefore the royal family.

-Hyrule is again in danger, a special species called the Minish come from the sky to protect them with a special sword, which was then wielded by an incarnation of Link.

-Minish Cap: a bitch named Vaati wants light powers, turns the current Zelda (actually an incarnation, you know because there's a hero) to stone, and that times Link turns the Minish's sword into the 4-sword. Zelda is the light power source, as the light power is still in the royal family. 8/10 Zelink potential

Gorons present

-Another time skip

- Four Swords: the four-sword is used to defeat Vaati again by another Link and Zelda incarnation. 6/10 Zelink potential

- time skip

- Giant ass civil war

- shiekah go into hiding but are still used by the royal family for sketchy shit. (Queue shadow temple 'nam flash backs)

- the first actual Ganondorf is born, or the second depending on if the Zonai are before or after.

- Ocarina of Time: Ganondorf is born as king of the gerudo, and pretends to be allied with the king to gain access to the triforce which is still in the sacred realm, sealed with the master sword. This Link incarnation pulls out the master sword as a child and opens the sacred realm, allowing Ganandorf access to the Triforce, the triforce of power attaching itself to him forever. This also gave Link the triforce of Courage and Zelda the triforce of wisdom. The sacred realm becomes evil and Ganondorf is sealed in it. There's a lot of time travel and it ruins just everything.

Zora, Kokiri, Gerudo, and Gorons present.

Great deku tree dies and is reborn.

and now shit hits the fan

Fallen hero time line

- Ocarina of Time: Link freaking dies and Ganondorf wins, taking the while triforce for himself. He still gets sealed in the corrupted sacred realm, but now he has the triforce. 0/10 Zelink potential long term, as Link is dead, but like 8/10 short term.

- time passes and homies keep going into the sacred realm to get the triforce but they never come back and monsters keep coming out. The sealed it again, at great cost of life and resources

-Echoes of Wisdom: a dark being called Null that was the nothing before the three goddess's created Hyrule starts taking over Hyrule with Rifts. Zelda gets kidnapped and Link is called to save her, but immediately after gets dragged into a rift and Zelda saves Hyrule from Null, who for a second owns a piece of the Triforce. At the end Null is defeated and the Triforce is restored. 10/10 Zelink potential it was glorious

- A Link to the Past: Agahim, some bitch, takes over the kingdom and the remaining sages to break the seal on Ganon. This reincarnarion of Zelda magically contacts the new Link. He kills Ganon and uses his newly acquired triforce to put everything back to normal. Now the royal family has the triforce. 7/10 Zelink potential. Same Link then has Links awakening acid trip. I'd knock down the Zelink potential but Malin like isn't real so.

Zora present

-Oracle series: same Link then has another acid trip but this time it's real, ending with Ganon being brought back to life as a mindless force of chaos. Ups Zelink to like 8/10, and confirms existence of other kingdoms beside Hyrule that aren't in another dimension.

- triforce splits again somehow, power returns to beast Ganon

- time skip

- A Link Between Worlds: new Link, new sages, Lorule exists so that's fun, opposite Hyrule dimension without a triforce. Ganon is freed and eats a man probably. Confirms this Link and Zelda have their respective triforces. Upon returning to Hyrule, the triforce is again in 1 piece and peace is restored to Hyrule and Lorule. 8/10 Zelink potential and like 9.5/10 Hildio potential.

- same Link goes to Hytopia, yet another kingdom in the same dimension.

- time skip. Great time, royal family again has the United triforce.

- King breaks up the triforce and sends Courage to the next Link incarnation, hiding its physical location from all except his daughter Zelda. New King puts that Zelda under a sleeping spell and regrets it. Tries to rule with just power of Wisdom but it doesn't go great.

- time skip

- The Legend of Zelda: same Ganon steals the triforce of power, new Zelda and Impa. New Link, without triforce of Courage, again postponed Ganon

- Adventure of Link : same Link is helping Hyrule not burn down, when suddenly he is given the triforce of Courage mark. He wakes up the old Zelda. I'd say the Zelda born in his time is the actual incarnarion, the older Zelda just a princess. 9/10 Zelink actually but like also he's a little weird with old Zelda to little odd but okay.

Child timeline

- Ocarina of Time: Link defeats Ganondorf and is sent back in time to relive the childhood he didn't have. He warns the royal family before Ganondorf can gain any power and therefore the events of Ocarina of Time never happen. Link leaves on a horse to look for Navi and has a Majoras mask acid trip. 10/10 short term Zelink and like 2/10 longterm, but also one of my favorite dynamics. This is one of the tragedy timeliness, where Zelda loved him before sending him back in time (Sheik was a simp). He could have ended up with this Zelda, but he probably didn't because his descendant in the next game isn't royalty like at all. Scrodingers Zelink, if the next Zelink happened then this one didn't, but we don't know if it does.

-Twilight Princess: Ganondorf is banished to the Twilight realm, where the wizard sent there a Hella long time ago got busy. He gains power with a guy named Zant who takes over the Twilight realm and breaks out to Hyrule. The princess of the Twilight realm named Midna finds the new Link incarnation, an actual descendant of the last one and holder of the triforce of Courage.

Link is trained by the like ghost of the hero of time, who is an adult and missing an eye. The hero of time means nothing to this Hyrule because Ocarina of Time never happened.

They kill Ganondorf finally holy shit and the Twilight mirror is shattered, forever separating the two places.

Like 8/10 Zelink potential, frick Illia freaking hate her. I follow that Zelink both had a crush on Midna but she's gone sooooo

Gerudo, Gorons, and Zora.

-big ass time skip

-Four Sword Adventure: new Ganondorf is born finally, but is like immediately sealed with the 4-sword by a new Link. I don't think there even is a Zelda so 0/10 Zelink potential

Adult timeline

-Ocarina of Time :This is what's left when Link gets sent back in time. Ganondorf is sealed in the corrupted spirit realm and the triforce of Courage shatters into 8 pieces, master sword is returned to the temple of time. 10/10 horribly tragic Zelink poor Zelda good lord.

-time passes without any reincarnations.

-Ganon escapes his seal in the sacred realm but there's still no Link or so Hyrule is effed. The gods flood Hyrule, society continues on mountaintops that are now islands and Hyrule is frozen underneath a giant ocean. The Triforce of Wisdom is split in two between Zelda, who stays on land, and her father, in the frozen Hyrule.

-Time passes badly

-Windwaker: Gannon escapes to the surface and kidnaps "girls with pointed ears", or descendants of Hylia. A new Link appears and gets the master sword from the frozen Hyrule, but it doesn't do shit until he fixes the triforce of courage. The king appears and bestows Links pirate captain the other half of the triforce, as she's reveled to be this time's Zelda. The triforce is restored and the old Hyrule gets genocided. Ganon is sealed, not dead, and Link and Zelda/Tetra go to establish a new hyrule. 10/10 Zelink potential this is some good shit. Rito, Kokiri, and Gerudo present

-Phantom Hourglass: Same Link and Zelda have a bit on their quest, no lasting consequences except for 11/10 Zelink potential. They discover New Hyrule.

-Spirit Tracks: some train shit in New Hyrule, new Link and Zelda have a soft romantic adventure with no lasting consequences except no more trains. 10/10 Zelink it's the whole plot.

Gorons present

After or before

-all the three timelines get just apocalyptic and society is just like gone, so the Zonai come from the Heaven's and with their arrival comes the merging of the three timelines.

-OR potentially Rauru and Sonias time is actually before Skyward Sword, as Ganondorf isn't actually a reincarnation. This would imply that every other game happens inbetween Rauru and Sonias time and Breath of the Wild, which i like better but it makes some leaps in logic, however it also explains the existence of both time and Light magic in the royal blood line.

-time passes

-Hyrule is once again reformed OR formed for the first time, by the last of the Zonai, Raruru and his Hylian wife Sonia. The incarnations are still going strong, so Ganondorf is born but their kind of hosed because there isn't a Link or Zelda OR the incarnations havent started yet and this is the first Ganon, before he was tied to Demise.

Luckily, either way, a Zelda comes from the future, and after a battle ending in the death of Sonia, Rauru uses himself to seal Ganondorf away and Zelda turns into a dragon.

-Time passes, the kingdom grows and hyrule castle is built over Ganondorf.

-Time passes and either all the other games happen or nothing happens, either way Zelda is still a dragon.

Definitely after

-a Link and Zelda are reincarnated to fight Calamity Gannon, whatever is left of the monster Ganon that was never killed in the other timelines. They, with the highly technogically advanced Shiekah, build weapons and postpone his return. We don't know much but like 8/10 Zelink I don't know could be cool. Shiekah go off, creating shrines and all types of shit.

-abreak off of the shiekah called the Yiga form, which is like the shiekah but for Ganon instead of Hylia.

-Breath of the Wild: a new Link and Zelda are born. They are so far ahead that they no longer have a grasp on the incarnations before them besides a few sparce legends. They know Ganon is coming back but they don't know who he is. They know Zelda is suppose to have powers, but they have no idea how she's gets them. Link finds the master sword in the lost woods, guarded by the great deku (the 2nd actually the first one died somewhere).

So they fail, whoops. Link dies and gets put in a Sheikah shrine for healing while Zelda holds of Ganon for 100 years.

-hyrule collapses and turns into almost a tribal society very unconnected.

-Link wakes up, wrecks havoc, and defeats Calamity Ganon, freeing Zelda and starting the reconstruction of hyrule.

10/10 Zelink potential. We got the before when Zelda cononicly loved him but we don't know Links feeling, and then Link might remember her and its like a reuniting thing and it's lovely or he doesn't and they fall in love again. Or possibly he didn't love her before and either way its a saga and his rubber band was in her study in "her" house thats all I'm saying.

-7 years, hyrule is being rebuilt by Zelda.

-Tears of the Kingdom: A sickness is spreading through Hyrule, Zelda and Link go to investigate and find what's left of the Ganondorf Rauru fought, who is either the first ganondorf or the most recent one. Zelda is sent in the past to Sonia and Rauru, along with the destroyed master sword.

Zelda is turned into a dragon and lives out thousands of years as one, potentially during every other game in the series. If so, the cloud layer established by Hylia was probably around until the upheavel, hiding her.

-The Upheavel happens and the world gets a little more cracked out, but Link defeats the Ganondorf and Zelda is turned back to her Hylian form. 11/10 Zelink potential and the dragon bit is so upsetting.

The three goddesses are present as dragons. Are they dragons? Are they just manifestations of their power? Idek but it's sick.

What the hell is Beedle? I read a fanfic once that he never dies because he helped Hylia once and it was really good so I highkey stand by that.

Sages kinda hop around, usually there's 7, one for each major group, even though not every race exists in every game. Are they extensions of the gods somehow?

(Rito, Zora, Gerudo, Gorons, Hylians, Shiekah, and whatever weird shit they got going on that game usually just Zelda)

One main issue with the Zonai before theory is that there's all the races when the Rito specifically doesn't seem to exist outside of the adult timeline.

There is a possible Kikwi, Kokiri, Korok pipeline.

I prescribe to the fierce deity as the original hero incarnation because it's just fits well and I'm obsessed with him, but it it doesn't really matter either way. I also read a fanfic once where the Fierce Deity loved Hylia and fought with her against Demise, but he died and the hero's spirit in each Link is what's left of him. Also read one where he saved Farore once from Demise and that's why he's specifically blessed with courage. Might have been the same one. I cannot remember it is 5:30 am and I haven't slept yet.

Ears are cool and plot relevant. The closer they are the Hylia the pointier their ears are, they get less pointy over time. Which adds to the Zonai being before because they got the pointiest ears. Also Gerudo ears get more pointy as time goes on.

Din gerudo pipeline? That's interesting. Farore and Nayru don't really have anything like that. Hylia has the Hylians but that's it.

Great Deku tree? Who? How? Why is he still kicking? Kind of adds to the Before Zonai theory or else he would have had to survive whatever apocalypse destroyed everything

In summary, somebody off me and therapy is probably a good investment.

[skyloftian-nutcase]

In regards to that ask about Legend, I've always liked the idea of him being Fable's half sibling or something, because it is a different Link/Zelda dynamic. I also think Legend wouldn't really be interested in relationships after the whole Marin thing. It does get tiring when Link is always paired with Zelda.

That being said, what are some of your favorite Link/Zelda dynamics? Or who might a Link be interested in instead? Sky and Sun are the only ones I can't see with anyone else, and I know you like Mipha/Wild. Which if I had actually taken my time with BoTW I probably would too, but I don't know enough of the story there to really have an opinion

There are some who like the whole “Link & Zelda are destined to be soulmates no matter what and that means romance all the time,” and if that floats your boat, sure. But I do definitely prefer variety. Also I could make a really cursed observation about Zelink through the ages based on the reincarnation that’s mildly implied, but for the sake of my lovelies who adore all the Zelink, I won’t 😂

I’m probably just gonna sound like I’m repeating myself from other asks, sorry, I haven’t played all the Zelda games so I can only truly speak to the ones that I have, but I’ll throw in my two cents for the ones that I’ve at least seen play through snippets/vibes I get from LU/ideas I liked.

Skyward Sword: They’re definitely, 100% in love, and they are adorable. 10/10 pairing

Minish Cap: They’re childhood friends to my knowledge, so it could go either way, I think. They’re so young in this game, I can’t say what’s gonna happen to them. Definitely would stay friends though.

Ocarina of Time/Majora’s Mask: It’s so complicated. I can see Adult timeline Zelda having an attraction to him, having hoped and prayed for his return to see a handsome young man appear. I can see Link physically being attracted to her while not entirely comprehending what that means because he’s still nine, and I can see than becoming an issue when he does naturally grow a little older. I can see Link being unable to separate the Zelda in the “nonexistent” timeline he fought alongside from the Zelda in his current timeline, who didn’t have to endure the same trials and therefore isn’t exactly the same, and I can see that messing him up too. So I feel like they’d be friends at best, have a professional relationship with maybe some fondness being likely, or cold and distant at worst. It seems most likely that they’re friends but Link keeps her at an arm’s length… by Majora’s Mask he seems to keep everyone at an arm’s length, tbh.

Twilight Princess: Eh. They could be friends, they could become lovers, it could work. But there definitely isn’t enough in the game to say for sure with the latter option. Link very clearly finds her beautiful based on his reaction to seeing her the first time, but he also had the same reaction to Midna lol, boy just goes :O with every pretty girl he sees. 😂 I think he had more chemistry with Midna but he also had time to develop that relationship, and since she’s gone that’s a sadly moot point anyway. But most likely, I think he’ll either end up with Ilia (he does seem to genuinely care about her, and you can see she has some strong feelings for him… you can make them a sibling dynamic or romantic, I haven’t played through the entire game yet so I can’t say for sure, but I can see them getting together) or someone completely different, despite his restlessness at the end of the game, he seems very much a guy who would settle somewhere quiet and have a family eventually. He’s very domestic and gentle and stuff ☺️ And honestly it would be interesting and fun to see the quiet, regal, stoic Queen Zelda get invited to middle-of-nowhere country village to wind down, or for her to invite Link to the castle and his kids sneak along and cause chaos or something 😂

Wind Waker/Phantom Hourglass: I’m pretty sure Tetra and Link found New Hyrule together, so it’s heavily implied they’re a thing. From what I’ve seen they have cute chemistry together, so I’m down for it.

Spirit Tracks: I’ve barely seen anything about this game, but given Zelda is the companion for this one she at least is one of the likelier Zeldas to be in a romantic relationship with Link. Dunno 😅🤷🏻‍♀️ everyone seems to think they are, so I guess I’ll go with it

A Link to the Past/Link’s Awakening/Oracle games: I honestly really like the implication that Zelda and Link are siblings. It’s very different from the others and could have so much potential for either fun or angst! Or both! Link obviously has feelings for Marin, and I do think he’d definitely need a break from romance after Koholint. I can’t say he’d never be interested in another relationship after that, but definitely not for a while.

A Link Between Worlds: 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️ not a clue, never seen an interaction between them

Four Swords: Also not a clue lol

Legend of Zelda/Adventure of Link: I mean, clearly they’re at least friends if Link’s still helping her out six years later, that’s all I’ve got 🤷🏻‍♀️😂

Hyrule Warriors: Ugh. This game lol. They give each other lovey dovey looks, so sure. Why not. At least make Zelda interesting if you’re (general you, not specifically you) gonna write it though. Idk. Honestly, them being war buddies is awesome. But the way this game portrays Zelink grinds my gears so I usually struggle to get beyond that. Link honestly should probably just be left alone after he has Cia’s creepy self stalking after him while simultaneously trying to kill him (girl did not know what she wanted, nor did she know what clothes were). Of Link’s options, he definitely wouldn’t want Cia, Lana would be sweet and loving and kind but he probably couldn’t get beyond her being a part of Cia (RIP poor girl, I really do like her and she genuinely loves Link), and Zelda would be ok. Both Zelda and Lana could be war buddies with Link, which is fun. I don’t think Link/Lana could happen because Cia, and I can see the war and politics after the fact impeding Link/Zelda. LET LINK JUST FIGURE HIMSELF OUT DANG IT HE’S A TRAUMATIZED WAR VETERAN WHO HAS BEEN SEXUALLY HARASSED.

Age of Calamity: Link/Mipha all the way! It’s heavily implied in BotW canon that they were a thing anyway, and here they get the chance to actually live! And be together! As such, I feel like Link is a very caring friend to Zelda, and I also think a strong friendship/siblinglike relationship between Zelda and the Miphlink couple would be adorable (and very beneficial for diplomatic relations between the Zora and Hyrule). I know in botw Zelda had a crush on Link prior to the calamity after he rescued her, not sure if that’s the case in AoC because I haven’t finished the game but it seems less pronounced. Either way, a crush isn’t the same as a strong friendship changing into a romantic one. Also I had this idea that Zelda, being the scientist she is and far more interested in just helping rebuild her kingdom (and perhaps not knowing how to cope with being alone when the guy she crushed on is married), announces some kind of competition or presentation for eligible bachelors and Link and Mipha are facepalming and Link (and Urbosa) is 100% gonna vet all the men by glaring at them from behind the queen and Mipha’s gonna be the Vibe Check girl (Daruk thinks they’re all nice, mostly; Revali is like “keep me out of this nonsense” but will low key stalk all the bachelors to make sure they’re up to snuff)

Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom: Given the fact that these two traumatized beans only have each other for points of reference/mutual understanding of their trauma and entire viewpoint, they very likely get together. I have a hard time with it only because people are so insistent on botw Zelink that they completely disregard Mipha and ship Link with Zelda before the calamity as well, which I do not. But honestly, botw/TotK Zelink is fine with me. Though TotK keeps it so vague sometimes, I feel like you can reasonably imply that maybe they haven’t gotten together yet by that point but they’re very close to doing so. Or it’s early in their romantic relationship.

Echoes of Wisdom: TBD! They haven’t interacted much yet from where I am in the game (Gerudo Desert), but considering (MILD SPOILERS) they didn’t even know each other until he rescued her, it’s gonna take a lot to convince me they’re gonna fall in love. Also, it’s hard to tell how old they are with this chibi style but I get the vibe they’re on the younger teenager side? Nothing’s set in stone for relationships at that age.

…I think that’s all of them?

[morkiemcfly]

I think albw implied that albw Zelda was the descendant of alttp zelink, since the painting of them embracing in the castle implies they got married. So if they did something like that for wild zelink I'd go crazy. Would never happen, but imagine a statue of wild zelink somewhere in the next future hyrule. Or some book or painting. Or some offhand mention about a great hero from the past in the royal family that the next zelda looks up to or something similar that's juuust vague enough.

Knowing me though, all they would have to do is give the next zelda some vaguely wild zelink traits in her design/hobbies and I'd still get deranged about it. They so much as give her blue eyes and I'm gonna be like "that's my granddaughter right there"

Anon are we the same person?? Because I’ve had those exact thoughts too! Like I also would go absolutely feral if we got any kind of vague hint or Easter eggs. Probably unlikely, like you said, but hey, you never know! These games are always chock full of easter eggs and vague mentions of past characters so, fingers crossed 🤞🏻.

And yes, it would be awesome and I’d also get deranged if the next Zelda had any vague traits of wild Zelink, like if she was a geek with a huge appetite or something. But I’m getting ahead of myself lol.

I enjoyed this particular ask so thanks for sending it!

[legendofzeldasilentprincess]

zelink spoilers below

okay now that I know who Sonia is being the FIRST QUEEN of Hyrule alongside King Rauru there are MAJOR parallels btwn Link and Zelda and King Rauru and Queen Sonia 👀 I mean HANDS

we kept seeing how important this scene was in trailers and now knowing they weren’t able to catch each other this definitely means this is a significant meaning that this will play into part at a later time for the story (like when they reunite)

and in the shrines, after you complete it, the statue that is shown is a statue of Queen Sonia and King Rauru with one hand on top of the other hand

plus we get to see this at the beginning with the murals

and when Link “kinda” meets Zelda again

they hold hands for a bit for Zelda to give him the “recall” ability.

but with more parallels King Rauru gave his ability and arm to Link to be able to use since Link’s arm was technically completely destroyed from Ganondorf and Queen Sonia and Zelda have the goddess powers like shown in a memory when fighting off some monsters from Ganondorf to help Rauru defeat them.

and you know with King Rauru and Queen Sonia being a married couple and paralleling with Link and Zelda...that definitely implies the romantic relationship btwn the two ;) 

I think there’s gonna be plenty more parallels that’s gonna show up but I’m currently playing the game with the facts that I have learned so far and basically only have like 3 memories LOL but can’t wait to see them reunite again cause most likely it’s gonna be a scene of them falling and Link being able to catch her

[okartichoke]

hello! I know barely anything about the legend of Zelda but I’ve seen you post a lot of zelink stuff and I wanted to hear you talk about that ship and why you like it because I’m really curious! :D

omg hi rosie this ask is so kind :DDD i would LOVE to talk about zelink (specifically zelink from Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom). I'm gonna try to be pretty concise too lol,,, some story spoilers for BOTW, but I'll try to avoid them o7

(real quick Zelda lore, Zelda (blood of the goddess) and Link (spirit of the hero) are reborn time and time again to defeat evil (though they don't maintain memories)) I do not ship all Zelinks, but I do find the idea of a shared destiny really interesting. In a way, they're the only two who can understand each other. Anyways, I think a major contributor for me with BOTW is just that I love the story and themes of the game overall, one major theme being that of failure (and continuing on despite it). Zelda herself represents this theme a lot. One aspect of this Zelink I like is learning to heal from it.

Now, it's probably evident from the type of art I do for this ship, but my favorite brand of botw Zelink is just "being happy next to each other" lol (as opposed to something more typically romantic). I can't decide if I want them to be together romantically or if I just want them to be good friends, yknow? They are just dorks and I want them to be dorks LOL. Like, Zelda is shown to be an excitable scholar. My favorite interpretation of Link is that he used to be a stoic knight (According to Zelda's diary, he says "With so much at stake, and so many eyes upon him, he feels it necessary to stay strong and to silently bear any burden."), but after losing his memories, he is more free. I like a dynamic of LInk encouraging Zelda's curiosity, and Zelda encouraging Link's emotional freedom. I like them together, again, because they are kind of the only people who can understand each other, especially in Breath of the Wild (They are both born 117(ish) years ago by the end of the game, and most everyone else they knew is gone. Besides each other, they are alone in a new time.)

In terms of actual canon implications, there's quite a few moments. I won't get into all of them, but it's implied that Zelda is able to unlock her powers due to her love for Link (I prefer a more nuanced interpretation that it's out of selflessness moreso, but I digress), her diary entries tell a very cute tale of slowly opening up to and understanding each other more, and there's some moments in some cutscenes.

LITERALLY THIS ONE'S SO SMALL BUT HE GRABS THE TORCH FOR HER WITHOUT HER ASKING AND I LOVE IT LMAOOOO ok thank you for listening i hope u enjoyed LOL

[science-lings]

okay so if i make myself a Dink (dark Link) i would want to make him a version of one of the links that doesn't have a Dink (so not Hero or Gish, or even Huntress or General/ Linkle, or Guardian (maiiced Guaridan counts as a dark link in my eyes))

My first instinct is to give the dink to Sage, not just because they are my blorbo but bc it's easy for my to come up with an idea as to how the dink was made. So maybe Rauru actually removed Links arm (implied to be the case as he mentioned that he had to 'replace' it in his dialogue) and that arm fell into the depths. So all that gloom with the DNA of the hero grew into something that woke up thinking it was the hero (maybe it had made it's way to the secret underground springs under the shrine of resurrection where it was reborn), so in the depths, there's this being that thinks it's the hero just trying to find Zelda and a way out. I could see Sage coming across them while doing the stuff for the spirit temple or even in the depths below the lost woods. (bc it's made of Gloom it may not even be able to leave the depths... who knows I'm just brainstorming lol)

But if I really wanted to lean into the whole 'made to protect the triforce' thing, I could have it be something that King or Queen (sksw Zelink) made after their adventures as a way to protect both the triforce and the Master Sword. That would give my Dink a reason to even have a 'dark' Master Sword that isn't really dark. (It's not evil, just in a different color palette to match Dink's vibe) It likely would know that it's not the same person as Link, and is a creature made by Hylia, likely out of the remnants of dark magic that either Girahim left behind or pieces of the imprisoned that were shed. I love the whole vibe of making something good out of something pure evil. (It's aesthetic would likely include some gold/light/prismatic elements rather than just black gray and red, due to being a creation of Hylia)

I could also have the Dink from the child timeline who has been waiting in the water temple for a hero that would never come, so eventually, he just leaves, and as he's still connected to Hero, he has the same yearning for a normal life but he's also too spooky to be seen around so he's just sadly walking around the woods being all soggy. (I'm gonna be honest here idk if it has lore in tp and I'm thinking about putting some distance between those two stories anyway aka the Heroes Shade is not the Hero of Time, she's just a badass who is in between the family line at some point who had a bad time)

Or I could always just make a guy that I can drop anywhere in the timeline and fuck around and do whatever I want with.

[fioreofthemarch]

Rules: Give us the links to your fics with the most hits, second most kudos, third most comments, fourth most bookmarks, fifth most words, and your fic with the least amount of words.

I was tagged by @zeldaelmo, who rocks!!! I suppose I'll do a quick summary & reflection on each.

Most hits - From the Ground Up - A BOTW sequel. Link and Zelda find their feet in a fledgling Hyrule that has all but forgotten them, getting into plenty of fights, political squabbles, and dimension-hopping rituals along the way. This one got away from me a bit (FTGU remains a hot mess), but I'm still immensely proud of it.

Second most kudos - Hateno Housemates - Post-BOTW. Link and Zelda spend a year finding time and sanctuary in their Hateno House. This was a fic request from @liv-andletdie way back in the day! Still in shock sometimes that this did as well as it did lol, but you can't beat domestic fluff.

Third most comments - The Ballad's Beginning - Pre-BOTW. The untold story of King Rhoam's rule and how everything he did went to hell, lmao. This fic is the problem child. I am immensely unhappy with it but cannot find the energy to fix it and am considering orphaning it (!!!). Kill your darlings is good advice people, sometimes you absolutely should!

Fourth most bookmarks - On the Life of Queen and Consort - Post-BOTW. This was a Zelink week fic! Written from the perspective of Larella, royal advisor, it tells the story of Zelda's reign, her life with Link, and their children post-BOTW. It's very sweet and low-stakes. I'm glad I wrote it.

Fifth most words - Where The World Ends - Spec/Lore fic. Exploring the Lomei Labyrinths, Link and Zelda uncover their original purpose and the great secret they contain. My one and only fic about the Zonai that was immediately ripped apart by TOTK lmfao. Still proud of the way it blends past & present and tells the story of the Ancient Calamity

Fewest words - Oasis Abandon - Zelink fluff through and through. Link and Zelda get invited to a wedding and party it up. I think the title implies something more risque than what actually happens though, lol. I'm not even sure they kiss in this.

Tagging @bahbahhh, @sillylildude and @liv-andletdie (since I already tagged them haha). Hope you are all doing well!!!!!

[trixstriforce]

the funniest person on tumblr is the person who pointed out if u ship zelink for Twilight Princess and for Ocarina of Time its incest bc. yeah. that Link and Zelda would be cousins. that isnt even the only time that would occur ALTTP Link canonically has the blood of the hero as well and its heavily implied Wind Waker Link is also descended from a hero. this is one of the many reasons why "Zelda and Link are destined to be together throughout every life" gets really weird really quickly!! also why u should play games other than Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild lol. itd not that hard to find oldee games online or play them on nintendo online they have the og loz, aol, alttp, la, and mc!

[riddlerosehearts]

Zelda x Link from Legend of Zelda

Shulk x Fiora from Xenoblade Chronicles

zelda/link:

i ship them more in some incarnations than others, but like, they're literally soulmates and every time they interact, no matter which version of them it is, i just love them. i'm playing majora's mask right now and ugh i miss zelda, why is she not in this game >:( also, it actually kind of drives me nuts that botw/totk-verse zelink specifically isn't canon?! like literally how are they not!! the game like. heavily implies that they share a house because "zelda's" house is just straight up link's old house and it has his champion photo and his hairtie and stuff in it. and also only one bed. but then, nope, link doesn't live there anymore and you've gotta buy him another house?? whyyyy nintendo. why would you have zelda steal link's house but keep his stuff in it akjsdfgfdkggd--

okay, sorry. the point is i love zelink lol

shulk/fiora:

i like to multiship with the xenoblade 1 cast, partially because it's a bit of a niche fandom so i'll take what i can get--for example, did you know that one of the most popular ships in the xenoblade chronicles ao3 tag is a smash bros-related crossover ship (it's shulk/robin from fire emblem)? i know this because after i played xenoblade chronicles definitive edition i basically went on a huge xenoblade 1 fic binge and during that time i read a lot of shiora fics! i've seen some criticisms of fiora's character, saying she should be more developed outside of her relationship with shulk, and to an extent i agree but i also still really like how their relationship is portrayed in the game? they're childhood friends who are just really sweet and supportive of each other and i'm glad they get to be happy together. i only didn't circle "i need this to be canon" because of course, they're already canon!

[25ticupsinacupboard]

Saw a post on twitter saying they thought zelda should’ve saved the day in botw with her knowledge science instead of dormant ability activation and ngl as much as I absolutely adore that moment for zelink, seeing that made me realize I agree lol

It’s a cute moment for them because it’s implied that Zelda realizes her love for link or whatever or at least loves him so much that even if she doesn’t know it she’ll do whatever it takes to protect him but with the build up from the other memories, it should’ve been science

From a story standpoint she should’ve like figured out a way to fix the guardians because of her knowledge or smth like that and uses her intelligence to save everyone rather than an ability that never showed any hint of showing up

But the main story is not that part, that’s just yknow history and exposition, smth you don’t even need to finish the game tho it’s nice

Ngl im getting tired, I had more to write but I’ve lost all thought lmao so y’all get an unfinished post

[legendofzeldasilentprincess]

I haven’t finished the game yet for totk or know the whole entire story but I have been hearing about how it felt there wasn’t much zelink compared to what we got in botw but I’m thinking maybe there could be more implications around by npc’s or little hints here and there? cause thinking about it I thought there wasn’t much in botw but it took time for me to understand that damn wait there was so much because of the memories in the past and the hints that npc’s would imply or diaries from other characters and like you’ve mentioned how it was part of the story.

so I’m wondering if we gotta do a little more digging into this…or maybe nintendo devs have more ideas for future dlcs for totk that could add more story to the game (and maybe more implications of zelink cause you never know lol 👀)

I will say though, they make it very obvious zelda is definitely into link but it’s also nice to see hints of link also feeling the same way

BOTW storyline was based in Zelda and links relationship ( memories and all that) with everyone and their mother in the kingdom to rlly driving home how she was in love with him. So I see the angst, the love the fan service BOTW gives us. Because it was PART of the story to defeat calamity Ganon, and look if you aren’t someone who wants them romantic you could easily play the game ignoring the memories and just rescuing her and not get the “romantic ending” ( because it totally was fight me)

So hear me out..

TOTK story has nothing to do with their relationship, it’s based on saving the kingdom and how to get back (albeit to eachother but mostly for the sake of saving Hyrule) so it HURTS not being given the same crumbs as BOTW … but I GET IT. all we really got was the insinuation that MAYBE they live together, we got the cutscene where she talks about link at tea time ( and honestly like, I feel like I’m reaching?) and we got him diving for her in midair and holding her to which she said she woke up to a “warm loving embrace” which idk. It made me happy but something was missing! and of course once again not even a handshake or hug!!!! I’m so sad we didn’t even rlly get an option for a secret ending that gave us some crumbs! We literally got 3 ish implied scenes. But alas… I know different story and not the focus this time so fine… I get it.

EDIT: I’ve let the dust settle a bit and I can also interpret some other cut scenes but idk I feel like I’m doing too much! Lol. The scene where they sword travels back and they both kinda stand there in angst and idk like, “felt” eachother was that a moment or just me?

Open to discuss:

[skyloftian-nutcase]

So I’m kinda curious, I know you said you are not much of a shipping person (aside from like SkSw Zelink and Miphlink) but are there any of the popular ships that stand out either as ones you think are cute or ones you really do not like?

Hmmm 🤔 I’m fairly neutral or just meh about most, but I guess there are a few that stand out? Or maybe I should just list my opinions on the major ones I know of?

BotW Zelink - I don’t mind it post Calamity. Not really into it pre-calamity, it feels like it’s at the expense of a relationship that’s already there (Mipha and Link). But dang the two definitely would be close after the calamity, given that they’re the only ones who have such a shared experience. I could see it being romantic or platonic, and there’s kind of a heavy leaning towards romantic but then totk also makes it seem platonic sometimes too?? Whatever. Nintendo likes to be vague (except Skyward Sword, let’s be real, nothing about that was vague lol), but I can see it happening after everything.

Midlink - I think it’s sweet. I think in canon Link’s most likely gonna either be with Ilia or someone we don’t even see in the game as he travels, but Midna definitely could’ve had a chance with him if there’d been more time for them. They had good chemistry, and the physical attraction was clearly there when Link saw her true form.

OoT Zelink - Nope. Especially Adult Timeline, absolutely not. It’s a pet peeve of mine that people ship this Link with anyone in the Adult Timeline - he is a child in a teenager’s body. NO. Sure, his body might be attracted to people, but his brain sure ain’t figuring it out, and anybody who wants to explore that just… no. NO. As for Child Timeline, I feel like this Link has a hard time reconciling what happened, has a hard time letting go, and would therefore have a really difficult time separating Child Timeline Zelda from Adult Timeline Zelda and that would lead to too many mixed feelings. I can’t see them getting together. This ship is either entirely one sided (I can 100% see Adult Timeline Zelda romanticizing the Hero she’s been waiting for before she really realizes that he’s still a kid, if she ever realizes it) or nonexistent.

Malink - I quite like it. I honestly didn’t really see it in the game, there’s like… enough for it to happen, I guess, but admittedly Linked Universe has made me biased. But given that it’s heavily implied TP Link and OoT Link are related, and TP Link knows Epona’s song, and Malon was a friend of Link’s, and she talks of marrying a knight in shining armor, and Shade is a knight in shining armor… I can put two and two together. And I think they’d be cute together.

Sidlink - Just… why. I get that half the fandom is in love with Sidon, so they project that, but good grief. Link was engaged to his sister. That’s some Hamlet level incest nonsense there. Link may not remember Mipha all that well but Sidon freaking does. Just because the dude is ridiculously sweet and supportive to literally everyone and about literally everything doesn’t mean he’s romantically inclined towards everyone. He’s a golden retriever, there are two brain cells firing between those fins, let the man just be happy and vibe, good grief. I had this opinion before totk came out, and then the addition of Yona made me laugh because I knew the fandom would blow up about it, but she’s honestly really sweet and good for him - I loved when she called him out to help him, she’s a good wife, I like her 😤

Uh… I think those are all the popular ships I have any kind of actual opinions about? Aside from Skyward Sword Zelink and Miphlink, love them both, mwuah. The rest I’m just meh. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Honestly, I’m very inclined to say that just because two people share oxygen together doesn’t mean they’re gonna fall in love. Just because two people might have some chemistry doesn’t mean they’re gonna fall in love. And just because two hormonal teenagers think each other is hot does not mean they’re gonna end up together. But since romance is such a huge thing in fandoms and in our culture, and I am very much not in a romantic relationship and therefore the culture makes me feel like my life is incomplete, I am not very inclined to get into shipping all that much (translation: sometimes shipping is downright annoying to me, and I hate it when fandoms ship characters together just because they like each other as if other relationships can’t even exist or be meaningful), even the ones that I love. My biggest weakness is loving families, though, so that’s usually where I cheat lol.