#it feels so good to have a zelda game to default to now

[ganonfan1995]

From my sketch book!! I've been trying to make an effort to use it more, now that it's starting to warm up and I can sit outside.

I generally sketch in pen, just because I hate how smudgy pencil is, and I feel like the ink improves my "decision making on the fly" skills.

[miharuhebinata]

a lot was covered in this new trailer but i think we can all agree that the most important was that

YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR OUTFIT. YOU LITERALLY GET TO PLAY DRESS UP WITH ZELDA OH MY GOD ALL MY DREAMS ARE COMING TRUE THANK YOU GOD AND ALSO JESUS AMEN 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[cloudninetonine]

Which Link does Dink look like? I defaulted to OoT dink in the “and who’s that babe?” reblog, but is there one he specifically looks like?

I also have some thoughts I want to share about the dark Link in Zelda 2, the OG. He isn’t really a dark Link from what I can tell? He is summoned by a not evil man who wants to test Hyrule for one, and I suppose his only point for existing is to guard great powers like the triforce (as that is what Hyrule gets for defeating him), and all he does is copy everything Hyrule does.

If that version of Dark Link were in Player’s Aid, would they still fight? This has been ruminating in my head for days, I’m honestly curious on your thoughts on how he’d interact with Player beyond fighting.

I've seen a lot with the Dink that most people write/draw him looking like Time? (Which makes sense since his first debut was with Time) And I usually see fanart of younger Time.

But that's not what I have planned for Dink, seeing as he's supposed to represent the darkness of all the Links I have it planned that Dink doesn't really have a set form? Unless it's an amalgamation of them all

I'm putting all Dink's shape-shifting to good use, if the man can look like this

All at once he can look like every Link at the same time or shift his body to look like each of time.

This will be addressed on the next chapter! I wanted to add to the horror element of what Dink really is, ya know?

Now for your second point!

I did a quick bit of research just so I could answer this question and have come to this!

That Shadow in Hyrule's game is not Dark Link! There's about 3 categories of shadow based enemy Links.

Shadow Links - Made from Ganon's hatred and evil thoughts manifesting in the Dark Mirror in the form of Link! A dark reflection of Link- Four's Shadow counts as this! He's not a clone, but more like a twin brother raised by Ganon to hate Link? In layman's terms at least.

Dark Link - The evil reflection of Link! He's not just another monster but actually Link himself. He's construction from Shadow magic (and thus is why he Is still called The Shadow, but the Links) I guess the best way to describe him is He's Link's evil clone.

Link's Shadow - As the name said, he's literally just Link's shadow. There's nit much on the wiki but my guess is the old man used magic to use Hyrule's own Shadow against him as the ultimate test to see if he was strong enough to have the triforce of Courage. (I mean he did defeat Ganon so I don't see why Link needed that test but okay)

I think Link's Shadow probably does later inspire the creation of Dark Link tho.

So from that, I feel like Hyrule's Shadow would probably be pretty docile with Player. Sure, they'd freak out at first until they realise that it's just Rulie's Shadow so they're safe. Pretty sure the Shadow is also a nod back to Peter Pan as Hyrule is supposed to be loosely be based on the boy? So, another guess I have is that Hyrule's Shadow could mirror Hyrule in a personality way and could be just as smitten as Hyrule is with Player?

I hope this answers your question, BB!

EDIT: You know, Pinky talks about a shadow eith Hyrule quite a bit....@luimagines I AM WATCHING YOU/j

[goldenteaset]

Setting aside the new Zelda game consuming me, I now have a glamorous (if delaying) mission for Ligature: give Ligature!Legato a look as badass and Nightow-flavored as he deserves. (Thank you to the new Gungrave game for the realization)

"Why not just use his default outfit?" A good hypothetical question! And the answer is "Legato's outfit in the regular Trigun etc. is so connected to his role as Knives' right hand and Vash's antithesis that it feels weird for him to look the same in this radically different context."

...Also PLEASE LOOK AT THIS OUTFIT/POSE ABOVE. LOOK AT IT. I've been holding back with Ligature!Legato for NO REASON. Nightow would want me to go ham, and go ham I shall!

[hylian-demi-gods]

Just finished TotK ! (so spoilers ahead)

I've seen some criticisms about the game itself and its ending, but honestly I think they're exaggerating : everything about the game was on par with the standards BotW had set and some things were even better, which was a hard goal to reach considering how amazing BotW was. Sure, it does have some defaults, but what game doesn't ?

Yes, the sky islands aren't very varied and the Depths are rather empty compared to the surface, but it's meant to be this way, no one's lived there for millennia ! I would have been more surprised if it had been as filled to the brim with things to do as the surface.

The story itself was also good ; I kinda regret that the dialogs before you go to fight Phantom Ganon in the castle doesn't change at all whether you've uncovered all of the memories beforehand or not, but it does make sense that they couldn't make Link tell everyone "the reason we can't find Zelda is because she's a dragon, that one's a fake" : the story had to progress and, for that, he had to chase after the puppet. I wish they'd done something like "oh, you already know it's not Zelda ? Ok but maybe we can still get info if we catch this one, so go !" but well. Other than that it's still a standard Zelda story, just like BotW was : Princess and Kingdom in danger, gotta find shiny sword and champions/sages to help us in the fight and be strong enough to fight the big bad. I like that they gave each race new types of problems for us to solve, like they did in OoT and TP ; I feel like it had been a while since they'd last done that.

The last fight against Ganondorf was pretty good, especially the dragon part : loved that one. We got to fight with Zelda's help ! The little wyrm and small knight against the giant dragon ! And we won because we were so small and sneaky and he couldn't manage to even touch Zelda ! Lovely.

Also, Zelda's relationships : not only does she have many friends in Hyrule when we start, she makes even MORE of them in the past ! Everyone who's ever met her has at least one story to tell about how amazing she is ! She got to have a mom again ! And an actually good father ! Thank the Goddesses for Sonia and Rauru. She even got to have a mad scientist as an aunt and apparently was just as crazy as her in their research ! That girl's personality and life got so much more depth than in any other game before, it's amazing and I love it.

And I also love the symbolism of the hands in this game. It starts with Link's arm getting injured and Link being unable to catch Zelda ; then he gets a new arm, new powers with it and this new arm stores his friends' powers which he gets by holding hands with them (except Yunobo who gives him a check like a real bro) ; and at the end of the game, all the strength he's built up in that new arm is used by Rauru and Sonia to channel their power through him and save their granddaughter. Link went through all these hardships to save Zelda, and the strength he gathered on that journey does, indeed, save Zelda. And he finally manages to catch her. And she's safe. And she's home. That was beautiful, people !

Great game. I'm not sure what Nintendo could add as a DLC, aside maybe from a "Champions' Ballad" like side-story where we get to see more of what happened in the past ? That would be fun, but for now I enjoy the game as it is.

[game-boy-pocket]

Finally...

I've had this on my to-do list for a very, very long time. I didn't play many game boy games because frankly I just don't think most game boy games are very good. But I was still riding a Donkey Kong high after finishing the SNES trilogy and figured, welp, might as well.

I actually bought DK Land when it hit the 3DS E-shops and I just... well I was really put off by how different it controlled. Mostly it's the jumps that bother me. That and of course it has screen crunch, because why make small compact sprites like Super Mario Land 1 when graphics are what wow people instead of the game being pocket sized and portable. Because of that I didn't finish it. I got an everdrive for my GBC and intended to play it there, but I think my rom was corrupted or something, idk the graphics were kind of glitchy, and I just got interested in other GB games. But I prefer playing on a TV anyway, so now that my SNES can play all Gameboy games, I figured this would be how I would finish DK Land.

So this one is without a doubt my least favorite of the mainline Donkey Kong platformers so far... but I don't hate it. I do think it has some good platforming, some interesting stuff that wasn't done in any of the Super Nintendo games like cloud worlds and urban cities, my personal favorite level trope, and some decent musical tunes too. I'm very glad I played this and finished it. I do intend to play the other two DK Land games. Hopefully they'll be a bit better to control. But for now, i'm gonna focus on a different gameboy game, which will lead to me picking an SNES game that came on the SNES Mini back up... Final Fantasy Adventure, AKA Seiken Densetsu... or the first game in the Mana trilogy, whatever you want to call it. Feels like this is a series I've missed out on. I couldn't get into the SNES game but I want to give it another chance, maybe with a few QOL patches or a retranslation. Already enjoying the Zelda like feel of this one.

Did I mention there's romhacks of Super Gameboy too? Check out my cool border. Someone made a tool that lets you adjust settings of SGB. So default control scheme will be A, like it should have been, and I have my own color pallets as well. You can also insert custom borders if you can make them but idk how and I can't find any archives of user made borders sadly. Wish there was a hack that let you play Gameboy Color on this thing, but alas, it seems that'd be impossible since SNES isn't strong enough somehow to display GBC games. So I guess i'll either have to use the GB everdrive stupidly I paid good money for and rarely use, or start playing on my Wii.

[thebleedingeffect]

if you had to like

kin assign. (like what they have in common/resonate with in one another)

the sbi all the different versions of link

what would u give them

i'm curious. it has been in my brain since i saw your carrd.

Ohhhhhh okay I thought pretty hard about this and I think I have a reasonable estimation of what I believe would be sbis kin assignments/most relatable to the links.

First of all, Techno is most similar to TP Link! Why do I say this? Cause surface level everyone believes TP Link to be the most gritty, serious, and even amongst the darkest of the Link's but that's simply not true! Because if anything TP is one of the kindest, most patient of the Link's with a love of animals and helping other people out. Everyone thinks that Techno is this super serious, stoic guy when in reality he's very emotive and cares a ton! He just shows it in a different way than most which people wrongly interpret as not caring/being super dark.

Going off of that, TP Link and Techno both share a love of the chill, farming lifestyle and always default to a protective, defensive role when alongside someone! Also like, they're both absolute sweeties and both share a big big love for animals, you're telling me you wouldn't find Techno in castle town petting all the cats and lowkey ignoring the looming twilight?? Smh, he wants to pet the kitties leave him BE.

Alright, now for me I've always thought Phil to be pretty similar to BOTW Link! The reason I say this is because the both of them are extremely freedom loving and have a highhhhhh affinity for traveling/exploring the lands. Neither of them stay in one place for long and are always itching to learn more! But this also leads to the both of them having buried feelings of loneliness that they have no idea how to deal with or how to approach. Another thing is that both BOTW Link and Phil share the whole 'I'm all alone in a world filled with remnants of the dead and I'm piecing everything together because I'm so hungry to know of what I lost'.

Also just, they're both so so chaotic, but get away with it due to their cute faces and the fact that they're extremely generous and easy-going. WAIT ALSO, both BOTW Link and Phil share the trait of getting distracted so so easily and oops, wasn't I supposed to be saving the princess? Welllllll I'll go do that after I go to this shrine-

And for Tommy! WW Link :D! And I actually have a pretty good explanation to why that's the case. The game is about jumping into the unknown, about exploration, about being risky and willingly submitting yourself to the terrors of the uncharted, free world. Its also about finding the people and companions that make every step of that fear worth it! It's finding the little pockets of humanity that survive in the face of complete and utter devastation no matter what. That feels very Tommy to me! As well as the fact that both WW Link and Tommy are SCARILY stubborn and have absolutely no chill factor whatsoever!! Tommy and WW Link both like to have companions that challenge them AND balance them!(Tubbo and Tetra).

Also like, Tommy feels like the kinda guy who would go along with being shot out of a cannon if it only meant to serve a point. He's stubborn and endearing like that, I love him. Both of them have baby faces which means alot of people like to downplay their emotional depth but in fact they hide some of the most hard hitting morals and messages in the entire story.

Okay now here's the thing, Wilbur is really difficult for me to place cause I've ALWAYS associated him with the Zeldas moreso than the Link's. The fact he has such a strong sense of duty, the authority and respect he carries on his shoulders, the suffocating pressure of wanting to protect his land and people. Its all of this and more than I'm gonna break this a bit and say that Wilbur is OOT Zelda! The reason I say this is because I feel like Wilbur is someone who's always been obsessed with the past, present, and future of the story that he's forced himself to carry. OOT Zelda is someone who carries a SCARILY large responsibility from such a young age that I feel like Wilbur can relate to a ton!

OOT Zelda saw Ganondorf and saw hyrules downfall, Wilbur saw Schlatt and saw L'manburgs downfall. He's also someone who carries so many masks in order to protect himself, just like OOT Zelda, but will uncover his true self around those he truly trusts and loves! Wilbur also carries so much guilt, oh so much, and OOT Zelda is someone who feels extremely similar despite the fact that it was utterly out of their control. They just carry so much in their hands that they feel responsible any time something slightly goes wrong :(

So uhhhhh yeah! That's my answer :]]] Techno = TP Link, Phil = BOTW Link, Tommy = WW Link, and Wilbur = OOT Zelda!

[ghostboyjules]

Wait I just saw that you already answer the ones I sent. How about 14 or 4?

hiii!!! 💕

oh YAY I'm so glad you asked these!! okay so

4. Favorite video game soundtrack?

ofc I can't just choose 1, so I'm gonna say.. Final Fantasy 7, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Stardew Valley, Dark Souls 3, and Bloodborne... yeah those are like. my fave™ faves.

14. Any songs you only listen to when you're in a particular mood?

oh yeah. I have to be in a very particular mood if I wanna listen to Sufjan Stevens. love him, but if you see me listening to him for a while,,, I'm going Through It™. also the song Liability by Lorde. oorr.. I Have Made Mistakes by the Oh Hellos. on a HAPPIER end of the spectrum tho, I have to be in a good awake mood to listen to (most) kpop. Rock/metal is usually what I listen to if I'm in a default mood where I don't really know WHAT I'm feeling like listening to... I have so many genres I frequent that tbh a lot of them are mood based now 😅

thank you so much for the ask!! glad you sent some back ups, I like these a lot 🥰🥰 😘

[soup-mother]

i have more thoughts on this, which is that then if you're tired of "girls" media and want something people put more effort into your choice is basically just "boys" media, and then suddenly like oh great yay the game is more fun but why do i have to play as a guy now? and why are all the female characters just background characters or love interests?

like people treat masculinity is some neutral default, that shouldn't be a controversial statement. masculine language is seen as neutral and respectful (more acceptable to call someone "man" than "girl" for example), masculine clothing is seen as default (so "androgynous fashion" ends up just being masculine clothing, *maybe* with a skirt), and the crux of it: masculine interests and stories are treated as default.

a story where the guy saves the girl is seen as a "neutral" story, and this is going to swing at a giant hornets nest but that's why, in spite of gaming getting "more gender neutral" you still have shit like Zelda being a character entirely offscreen or in cutscenes and totally lacking agency even in TOTK, because it's still fundamentally operating on the idea of it being a "boys game" (just in disguise), and that having say a female protagonist would make it less "neutral" (masculine). does this make sense?

like especially on womens gaming reddits it's such a consistent theme of "i just want good games that are fun, like BG3 and stuff" like people's taste in games gets way more diverse and "neutral" while the storytelling and so on of those games stays masculine. and the majority of men haven't had to do any of that searching for games that respect them in the first place

idk, those are some additional thoughts. like the expectation that it's basically either "girls games" or "normal games" maaaaybe with "boys games" as like COD and stuff is very weird. it feels like at least to an extent things aren't necessarily getting more gender neutral so much as less obviously bright pink and sexist. and like... again as a trans woman like the majority of things people think would be "gender affirming" are kinda.....like childhood gender enforcement in cis girls, and "neutral" games largely still expect me to be a "man" which naturally i don't want, so there's a real struggle to find stuff that isn't shit basically. thankfully there's like a lot of lgbt especially visual novels and stuff but it's very like....if you're not a man and can't simply ignore the discomfort of pretending to be one for a while you're sorta out of luck.

ok manifesto over lol

i have very complex thoughts on this but one funny realisation about being a trans woman and a lesbian and wanting games and stories about women like me being loved, is that like struggle to find good gay media makes you realise how like.... straight women want better too? like the vast majority of stuff aimed at girls and women is sorta just insulting? like i modded Harvest moon so i can be gay but trying to play the default "girls" version just sort of felt like it didn't respect the player at all. like "here's some men, be happy with it".

and related is just how like....if I'd grown up as a girl it's not like i would have been happier. because everything girls are expected to like fucking sucks basically, it's patronising and has the most insulting "morals" and it's just like wow patriarchy sucks.

like it's hard to find "gender affirming" games etc because like.... a lot of stuff aimed at girls doesn't respect girls, and it's hard getting into the mindset that I'm not some alien outside invader for like... having an issue with sexism and not wanting to settle for insultingly patronising ideas of what "girls" are and want.

and while it's not on the same level, like being a trans woman and being exposed to so much media for "boys" and "men" felt almost disgusting? like it was going wink wink "this is what guys like us are into, aren't you a guy?". like you were expected to not have an issue with it and not want anything more...kind i guess? more genuine or focused on emotions? just "here's what men want, here's what women want, they're two seperate categories"

see also: how awful h scenes in eroge are, where like that appeal to the idea of what "men" should want and masculine fantasies genuinely just makes it unpleasant and shit. like wow we really believe in this gender bullshit? it ruins fucking everything lol.

anyway gender thoughts about media and capitalism and whatnot. gender ruins everything once again, you're not a "fake" woman or whatever for not falling for patriarchal brainwashing and being perfectly happy and content living up to perfect standards of aesthetics and beauty standards and acceptable hobbies. it's all just culturally enforced bullshit, turns out people just want games and stuff that are good and respect them and are fun.

[perpetual-fool]

-

This one is particularly ramble-y. I've noticed that my thinking is disorganized.

I had a moment of feeling pretty good. Was watching someone play this game, Lunacid. It's uh, an action RPG, not quite like anything I'm familiar with but the closest comparison I have would be Demon's Souls. Anyway, I think the deal was that what I saw all made sense? The world is sufficiently fantastical and nonsensical that it didn't create any expectations to be betrayed, and the path of progression was very straightforward. There's a lot of standard RPG mechanics: there are enemies which respawn, killing enemies gives you XP and sometimes loot, leveling up makes your character stronger. But in particular, weapons level up too. (Not really how it works, but it seemed like it based on the first few minutes of gameplay.) And I feel this is significant, weapon XP is also gained from destroying breakable objects. So for instance, you could load into an area, break a few boxes lying around, reload the area and repeat until you've maxed out your weapon XP. That is, things are allowed to work the way they appear to work; no big list of exceptions because the consequences didn't work out the way the developer intended. ('Intent' is something I'll get to.)

But yeah, I was feeling uncharacteristically good. And I was having a wave of reasonable thoughts about some issues I had been ruminating over. Like, a lot of the stuff I feel about about, I shouldn't, because it was a direct response to how I was being treated. (Which is tangentially related for reasons I don't know how to explain.)

So I bought the game. I feel okay, but it's not the high I was hoping for. Largely, the game does actually 'make sense' by not having enough structure to be 'wrong'. Like, their isn't enough (explicit) lore to be inconsistent. And it's somewhat rewarding to be playing for an experience that doesn't feel like you're supposed to win. Verisimilitude. Say, there was this.. magic combination maze* with this mysterious book at the end. And I'm not sure what the issue was, maybe my character didn't have high enough INT to read it? But I just couldn't read it. I didn't have whatever it was I needed to unveil this secret, so the game just wouldn't tell me. It kept its secrets. (*combo maze: there is a room with multiple paths, each path leads you back to the same room, if you take the correct sequence of paths then you will be led to the exit instead. For instance: Zelda 1 lost woods) Similarly, there are enemies immune to physical damage, and there's no guarantee that you'll have a weapon which deals non-physical damage. The game will happily let you get in over your head and drown. Though granted, they put up a sign to warn you and gave you a couple 'teleport to safety' crystals for free. But there are things you can't do and fights you can't win. Which brings me to the inciting issue.

I can't beat the final boss. Straightforward explanation is that I built my character poorly. The problem is that the bosses regenerate heath. I think that's a brilliant game design choice for unrelated reasons, but my character just doesn't have the DPS. I went all-in with Dexterity to use bows, but the bows aren't particularly good.

Now I'm confused. And it's not really the game that I'm confused about. Like, it's pretty clear the developer didn't ensure every build was equally viable, and I just need to make a new character. And it kind of seems like what I'm really confused about is my default assumption that the game is right and I am wrong. If I think something is bad, I must just not understand it. (Which is a nasty bit of corrupt logic probably taught to me as a child.) But I think really really what I'm confused about is 'intent-result conflation' gaslighting. Like, it's been relatively common that I'll ask someone why they did something, laying out how they specifically took actions that would ensure that the bad thing happened, and they give a non sequitur non-defense like "well it's not like I wanted the bad thing to happen". Implicitly, "that wasn't my intent, therefore it didn't happen". So, 'surely the developer didn't intend for bow builds to be completely useless on bosses, potentially luring players into wasting 50+ levels on Dex and wasting 12 real-world hours of time for the actual human player, so it must not be happening'. Except, it's not laid out like that. The misfiring in my head is because intent and result is considered the same thing. Not that that's a new concept to me. But at the moment it's like my brain won't accept it unless someone else also confirms it. And I've literally never heard anyone admit something like "I wanted X, but I was wrong about Y, so Z happened'. Or heard any sort of discussion about making sure intent and result are aligned.

I dunno if needing others' approval for my beliefs is something I can fix on my own or not.

And tangent, I did some sorting of my computer files. Once I worked out where everything should go it's very fast. There's no going item by item pondering where each thing go, I just look at the type of thing it is, it goes with the other things of that type. Any my thinking should be equally fast, equally straightforward. But this simple problem spins into a tangent of a tangent and I don't even know what problem I'm trying to solve. And while that's happening there's three different things that need doing and I have no idea how I'm going to transition to that. And why anything?

At the least, I presume fixing my mental health is the most important thing right now. whatever that means.

[onesunofagun]

Undeath in the Era of the Hero of Time : 1

aka Seeing the Hero’s Shade in this TP replay shook up all my feelings of agony again and now I’m working backwards from there because I like to hurt myself.

Part One: An Overview of How Fucked Things Are ™

aka The Blood Soaked Hyrule of OoT’s time 

Take it as you will, in the Zeldaverse, the colour green has an overwhelming association with undeath. 

Sure, sure, life too, I hear you. Farore came down and produced all the living beings that would uphold the law, apparently (specifically not claiming monsters and demons, but that’s another thing). On the surface, that make sense. Forests, lush green fields, prosperity, all of those good things. Green the colour of the most common rupee, green the colour of the Hero’s tunic. Green the colour of magic, and potions that revitalise the body and spirit.

The thing is, revitalising the body and spirit is a flexible idea. To imbue something with new life and vitality can have a lot of implications, especially when you stop talking about the strictly living. 

I feel vitality is certainly the best word, not only because of it’s association with life and potency ala the Goddess origin stories, but in the ways that the game uses green itself, such as a measure of both magic and stamina. Green is the colour chosen to represent the unlocked potential within young Heroes. 

Vitality specifically refers to a state of being strong and active, and it also refers to the continuance of something to exist. That’s a great thing for plants, or economies, or a potion taken by a young Link who’s swung their sword around or fired off a spell one too many times and feels a little low.

But the dead, though?

As it happens, Hyrule is absolutely littered with human remains, in no small part due to the very recently ended civil wars. 

The Civil War, if you need the reminder, is described as a time when the many races of Hyrule were divided and each focused on establishing dominion over the Sacred Realm (because Triforce). I touched on this in my last meta post, but basically, its no holds barred to stop that from happening because if the wrong person gets into the Sacred Realm and makes a wish, it immediately malfunctions. 

The criteria for getting into the Sacred Realm and touching the Triforce without royally fucking everything, is basically impossible for anybody not chosen by Hylia. 

If you are neither of Hylia’s Bloodline (The Hyrulean Royal Family) or one of her Chosen Avatars (The current incarnation of the Hero), you are not supposed to touch the Triforce. Ever. You WILL be found wanting, it WILL shatter, the Sacred Realm WILL be corrupted by your selfish desires, it WILL unleash and onslaught of mystical influence (reflecting your heart) onto the country.

Now, if it’s Zelda or Link who touches it, that’s fine. Good vibes will pour out. An age of prosperity will ensue. The Sacred Realm is in its default state, a blank and neutral wellspring of magical force.

The game has been rigged from the get go because Hylia still had a job to do. She had to get creative because Demise almost captured the flag, so to speak, leading to the snafu of the Cycle and all that because she cheated at the game, but ultimately Hylia’s task was to guard the Triforce. And that still remains true, for the most part. The Hyrulian Royal Family (and the Shiekah by extension) had to stop at absolutely nothing to win the wars and unify the country, and retain the stasis of the Realm and Triforce, because that’s what their divine orders are.

That’s what they’re supposed to do, ‘the very reason that they’re born’, to lend a quote from King Daphnes. With Hylia on their side by default, they’re willing to do a lot of fucked up things to make sure that happens, ‘for the greater good’.

These dark times are a result of our deeds... -- TP Zelda

In OoT The Sheikah are known as the Shadow Folk. They are heavily associated with death, whether that is caring for the dead’s rest in the graveyard, or working as spies and assassins on behalf of the Royals, or dabbling in various forms of necromancy. Red eyes are an established trait of their people. I will note that, at least from a Japanese point of view, red is often used with the intention of intimidating evil spirits. But it is also a color identified with power and vitality.

So, one could suppose, the Sheikah red eye also symbolises power/control over evil and darkness (spiritually).

That’s a little something that plays nicely with things like the OoT Manga’s explanation of the tear on the eye (and the previous betrayal of the Royal family) and the high probability of a Shiekah faction defaulting during the wars and being banished with other traitors to become the Twili. I know the manga isn’t canon and also SS Impa has a tear, but if you squint, that might be because of her own feelings of personal failure to the Goddess after Hylia’s shedding of her Divinity. You could headcanon that. The existence of the Yiga later in BoTW as a similar happening of division and betrayal lend some more weight to things.

Also, Sheikah who defaulted during the civil war might have even been the ones who actually utilised the Shadow Temple. 

Headline: Necromancer ninjas in the process of torturing enough info out of the enemies of the Royal family, who were reportedly seeking the Sacred Realm, decide ‘hey fuck it, let’s take it ourselves’. 

That certainly fits into the description of, ‘interloper skilled with dark magic started to appear, seeking dominion of the Sacred Realm’, for me.

Anyway, to the point.

In ostensibly one of the most haunted areas of the game, Kakariko village, we’re treated to the Graveyard and the Royal Family’s Tomb, the Shadow Temple, and the Bottom of the Well. All of these showcase the obvious death and torture that went on, as well as the creepy byproducts of places so saturated with blood, pain, regret, and hatred.

There are skulls in little alcoves on the walls of the catacombs, literally built of bones, who deliver messages to Link. The ones that whisper these messages are all marked by the glowing green eye sockets. Here, the green is used to make the presence of a ghostly sentience inhabiting the skull. 

Unsettling. Musty. 4/10 heebie-jeebies.

The Deadhand, giver of childhood trauma that it is, really does its job to hammer home the fact that there has been so many deaths, so much anguish and horror, that those remains can seemingly form into entirely new monstrosities. An amalgamate of undead flesh and nightmare fuel, made up of the body parts of torture victims and the grudges of lingering spirits, seeking to consume the living vitality of whatever comes near-- Link wearing green around the thing might as well be red to a bull.

When defeated in game, it typically drops a small green pot that refuels Link’s magic.

This is a common theme with undead enemies, specifically the ones that are of the zombie flavour. Redeads, Gibdos, Deadhands. All of them generally give up, effectively, distilled magic as a drop item.

Terrifying. Probably smells even worse. 11/10 heebie-jeebies.

Literal torture device. So many people died here, the room has a green tinge to it. It is soaked in the spiritual imprint of the pain and anguish that took place here. Blood sits here looking freshly spilled, despite the civil war ending many years prior and the Shiekah having ‘died out’, save Impa.

Elsewhere in the temple and under the well, blood splatters are darker red and at least have the decency to pretend to be old. This means one of two things:

Impa still has to make sacrifices to the Seal that contains Bongo Bongo, or feeds people to the undead creatures who lurk down in the dark so they don’t wander up. (Cue the gasp of ‘so that’s why she let the Hylians into Kakariko! Every so often one of them goes missing!’)

Which is a fun dark headcanon to play with, but probably not the case.

Or more likely, the residual spiritual energy that the green haze suggests manifests fresh blood in a manner typical of extreme hauntings. For the victims, their hatred and pain persists so strongly, that their blood seeps up from the cracks no matter how long it has been.

Poltergeist shit. Slip hazard. 8/10 heebie-jeebies.

Then there is this. Some people say its just another torture thing, it could have been intended to convey some sort of acid dip. If not torture, maybe bodily disposal. And sure, that’s a reasonable guess. 

But it is at the very bottom most cavern of the Well of Three Features, and if it were acid-- for how long the bodies have just been marinating in it-- you can assume nothing would be left of them to stick out. And the fact that all the bodies are neatly spaced, with the arms oddly preserved. They’re presumably like that from lowering bodies in from the wooden beams, the victims may have been tied up with their arms straight upwards. 

But, given the Redeads wandering around nearby, I’m pretty sure that’s what this thing does. Make Redeads.

The liquid itself hurts Link, but Link is also alive, and this pool seems to be lacking much of a glow. It’s green, sure, but it’s not exactly teeming with energy. And I think that might be part of its designated purpose-- extracting that green vital energy from living prisoners, draining them until they’re dead. I’m talking juicing people and scooping out the good stuff like the pulp from a really disturbing OJ. 

But still steeped in the juice as a corpse, you’re basically pickled in magic brine, so then those gross husks crawl out as Redeads. (Hey, you know what’s handy in wartime? Scaring the shit out of enemy forces by sending some zombies at them. And if they kill them, you’ve lost nothing. If the Sheikah could actually control them? Undead soldiers. Excellent stuff.)

But all the pulpy good stuff is gone, and has been for a while, so most of the bodies in there haven’t pickled in enough magic to reanimate, I suppose.

Human juicer that churns out zombies. Out of juice currently. 6/10 heebie-jeebies.

Now, THIS is active zombie juice, if I’ve ever seen it.

This is the Royal Family’s Tomb, by the way. Note the skeletons, picked clean, missing a lot of bones. And that’s a choice they made, because there are also full skeletons around to find. 

There are plenty of Redeads down there, for good measure, so I’m going to assume the skeletons are potential graverobbers who were eaten. If Sheikah can presumably command the dead, then the Redeads down there might actually be a counter measure against thieves. If a thief freaks out in the dark when he realises there’s undead down there trying to eat their face, there is also a good likelihood they’ll trip and splash into this green death. A few seconds of exposure is probably enough to kill the average person, and then if their corpse stews for a bit, you have another Redead. 

Their living energy revitalises the goop. Their body becomes bolstered security measures. It’s a self sustaining system.

Horrific but effective. 5/10 heebie-jeebies.

Also, there’s a chance that a couple of the skeletons or one or two Redeads down there are the remains of the Composer Brothers. But they will get their own special part in this series, covering Poes in particular.

But for the moment, let it be noted: their eyes are also that ghostly green.

Poes are spirits that are unable to move on and who have the unfortunate fate, if left unattended, of turning into phantom monsters who forget their human selves and prey on the living. They tend to pop up the most in two places. One, the Kakariko Graveyard, is obvious and somewhat expected. Dead people, lots of lingering spirits, most of them probably Sheikah and Knights of renown who died in the line of duty. Understandable.

So when you apply the same thought to the fact that Hyrule field is the second most common place to find them, you may as well be concluding that it’s an enormous mass grave of war casualties.

We have established that mass quantities of concentrated death, especially earth that is saturated by the spilled blood of strong soldiers and highly skilled warriors (full of life and magic, as it were), can result in creepy shit made from human remains reanimating over time. 

Poes share their haunting of the field with these bumpkins:

These hauntings are not the result of Ganondorf, or the corruption of the Sacred realm. They are not a particular curse placed by anybody.

The Poes and Stalfolk are present in the game from the very beginning, and quite normal fare for Hyrulean life. Lon Lon ranch and castle town are walled off for good reason, and the drawbridge raises at night specifically in response to the literal skeleton monsters who roam around at night. 

Stalchildren, specifically, seem akin to the Deadhand in that they are not a direct reanimation of any one particular set of remains. Rather, they seem to be mutated amalgamations of various parts. In the case of the Stalchildren, they rise up under the dark of night, a not-quite-human formation of bone and magic. They seem to possess an aimless drive to attack, perhaps possessed still by the orders of the soldiers who died there. 

Interestingly, in a somewhat similar fashion to BotW’s blood moon reanimating the fallen monsters (due to the potency of Malice in the land peaking at those times), Stalchildren only seem to be active under the moonlight. They disintegrate when the sunlight touches them, which promotes the idea that they are the bones of the fallen possessed by the ghostly memory of the war.

They also appear to wear raggy leather kilts, which is a feature they share with the related monster, the Stalfos, who are often acting out the part of a soldier as well. Even better, those bastards are actually WEARING GREEN, to boot, which given the history of Hyrulean Knights prior and their uniforms (SS and Minish cap) is pretty self evident. 

Stalfos, however, are also confirmed as humans who have died under certain unique circumstance (such as the magical influences of the Lost Woods) and reanimated as a consequence of what I assume is basically magic poisoning.

It could be a bit like an overdose, succumbing under the intense mystical forces at play within proximity to the Deku Tree (which the strong of spirit can resist). It could be a draining effect, maybe even just a gaseous version of what’s happening when people come into contact with the green goo, except extracted by the forest spirits and plants (also possible that the strong of spirit might resist). That could go either way.

The forest absolutely does eat people’s spiritual energy, though. RIP to Grog and Link’s mother. They’re Stalfos now.

"Anybody who comes into the forest will be lost. Everybody will become a Stalfos. Everybody, Stalfos."

Upon killing both kind of Stal, however, the bones rapidly deteriorate into flames.

You guessed it: green.

I’ve already pointed out a BoTW reference already, but to add more context back into this thing about the tie between green and things in Hyrule that refuse to die properly:

That last one is cheap of me I’m sorry but we’ll get to him too

So we have established that green has an overwhelming association with not only life, but states of undeath.

The overview is, things were already pretty fucked in OoT Era before Ganondorf got the Triforce.

On to part 2!

[repentantsky]

6 Unpopular Gaming Opinions

I have a lot of unpopular opinions, and if you follow me on twitter, you might have seen a few recently. However, a simple tweet here and there hardly covers my opinions in gaming that might not sit well with people in this space. I know a lot of people get mad over differing opinions these days, but I have more unpopular than popular opinions, and I think I’d like to talk about a few. 

6. If you’re mad about Pokemon games, you’re wrong 

Yeah, I’m getting into it right away, and again if you follow me on twitter, you might have seen this once or twice recently, but getting mad about Pokemon to me, always seems foolish. Pokemon as a series has always been what we call a double A experience. Not quite an indie, but clearly not a AAA experience either. In other words, Pokemon is simple, and the crazy amount of Dexit hate, and other controversies about Sword and Shield, the most recent releases in the series are in my eyes, just plain stupid. It’d be one thing to be mad about something not being done if developers were in a similar situation as say, CDPR devs, but to our knowledge that’s not the case. Pokemon, fun as it is, isn’t that serious. 

5. Western RPG’s are inferior to JRPG’s by default

There’s a simple reason for this. Games made with the western audience in mind, tend to have the same major flaw that a majority of western games do, they don’t explore the emotions of their male characters, espeically if the lead in a male character, half as well as Japanese RPG’s do. On the one hand, I get it, people still talk about FFXIII like the characters are bad, despite their “major flaws” in many people’s view in the west, simply being that they express their emotions openly. It’s a major problem in Western RPG’s though that the main character if male doesn’t show emotions, and that male characters that do, are seen as weak in the games themselves. This leaves female roles to carry all the emotional weight, which in turn pushes the male power fantasy too far in my opinion, and leaves the main characters boring. Many a western gaming fan would pick Geralt of Rivia as one of the best characters ever made, and while he does occasionally get to show some emotion, my pick would easily be more along the lines of Sora from Kingdom Hearts, or Rean Schwarzar from Trails of Cold Steel, because their emotions makes them more relatable and endearing. 

4. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is better than Breath of the Wild

I’m of the opinion as it is, that Breath of the Wild is an overrated game. The climbing mechanics are frustrating, breaking weapons is annoying, and for all the world building and lore that Zelda has as a series, the story is a mess and can easily be told out of order. While Age of Calamity does tell an arguably less emotional story as characters fates are altered from Breath of the Wild, it also tells a more engaging one and characters being on screen longer than they were in the Breath of the Wild, also gives them more time to develop, and be characters we should care about. The Warriors format itself is pretty enjoyable as is, but combined with a story I was more invested in, characters I got to know better than Breath of the Wild ever tried to make them known, and just an overall superior representation of this version of Hyrule, it was simply just a better experience. I can only hope Breath of the Wild 2, ends up having that much story and that much fun gameplay to offer. 

3. The Grand Theft Auto series, is kind of garbage

Now I’m really digging deep. The question is whether or not I’m just going off the rails, or digging my own grave. But seriously, these games are boring. The idea was novel at first when we finally San Andreas, be the bad guy, do whatever you want, all that. Sounds good, and it was kind of fun, but the problem is, GTA hasn’t really ever evolved past that. Sure it starts to look better, but the characters in it are stupid, annoying, and bland, games like GTA V don’t know when to end their main campaign, the series never really took the time to develop the few interesting characters it does have, like Franklin, because they just have to fall into the narrative of crime is good, and it’s just not a fun series because the controls aren’t great. You could do worse, sure, but you can also do better, and it doesn’t feel like Rockstar really wants to try. I’m sorry but the GTA games, are just boring and uninteresting after their novelty wears off. 

2. Final Fantasy VII is just, okay, the remake is also pretty mid

To me personally, Final Fantasy VII is one of those games that really survives on nostalgia, and little else besides. Like, it’s a fine game, passable in the world of Final Fantasy as a whole, but some of it’s plots are not well handled or don’t seem to go anywhere, the ending kind of makes everything you do past a certain point completely moot, and Cloud’s pride is the cause potentially thousands of dead people because he didn’t back away when he knew he should have. Sadly, the remake doesn’t do much better. While it does give more detail to the story, and takes better care to make it make sense, it also is still pretty much the same story, and that’s boring to me. I’ve played this game, I know how it ends, (though possibly not in the remake) it just doesn’t grab me like it seems to have done for so many people. Even saying that, I still like the game a lot, because it’s Final Fantasy, and the series will always mean a lot to me, even the worst of it, but Final Fantasy VII, for me, is just okay, and the remake telling pretty much the same story again, doesn’t endear it to me. 

1. The Last of us Part II, is fantastic

Yeah, something a little more recent to spice up this wild list, why not. The Last of Us Part II, is simply a fantastic game, with a well told story, fantastic characters, and great pacing. It doesn’t shy away from problems in our current society like sexual identity, it’s open to the fact that people are different than each other in ways that many people aren’t comfortable with, and it does it’s part to make open-minded people uncomfortable, by having them play as the woman that killed Joel. A lot of people who hate this game, seemingly can’t get past the fact that it does these things, and look at the game as it’s face value, which is sad, because if you’re willing to challenge yourself, you might find an amazing experience here. Yes, the gameplay isn’t the best, but just like the first game, the story is something far more in depth than anyone could have prepared for. It’s a masterful story, and a great send-off to Naughty Dog, who I personally cannot see myself supporting unless they change the way they develop games. Still, I admire what’s here, and what the developers did with what they were given.

And there’s some of my unpopular opinions, do you have any of your own? Let me know in the notes below, and share this if you feel so inclined. If you want to see more of my unpopular opinions, feel free to follow me on twitter @RepentantSky, since that came up twice, and have an excellent day.  

[aikoiya]

I mean, yeah. But don't whales generally feed on krill which really aren't that much of a challenge?

Also, aren't cats also technically prey too, yet they still possess forward-facing eyes because despite being prey, they are also predators themselves. There's also the fact that whales, as far as I know, only really have orcas & humans to contend with & depending on the type of whale, they might either have bristle-like teeth or even no teeth at all.

Whereas the Dragons in BotW & TotK all have sharp claws with an almost cat-like curve & massive, sharp teeth, meaning that they are carnivores. Which suggests that they actively have to hunt for their food.

Now, I'm not gonna pretend to be an expert on these things, but I guess my main issue with it is the fact that they are dragons & are thus supposed to be badasses by default.

There's also the fact that it only seems to be these specific dragons who have those eyes as most of the other major ones I know of from the games tend to have the forward-facing predator eyes.

Eg. Volvagia & the Great Dragons from SS.

Also, they just make them look derp to me, which I'm sure others find charming, but I just feel like there's another way to make the dragons look approachable without making them so derpy-looking.

There's also the fact that we never see any living animal in the game that could feasibly hunt & kill one of them. As being a prey animal, generally, suggests that they have things that actively prey on them. One example being how orcas hunt whales. But here, the only real adversaries they have are possibly humans & maybe Gleeoks (who themselves seem to be a variety of dragon), which I still believe one of the 3 elemental dragons could body if they put their minds to it.

If anything, the fact that these specific dragons are the only ones to my knowledge that has the derp-prey eyes just makes me wonder what makes them so much more different from the other dragons. Like, is it the fact that they aren't naturally born dragons? It can't be influenced by what type of creature they were before draconification because Zelda was a Hylian & she still got derpy-prey eyes despite being primarily a predator species as most all human-adjacent beings are.

Now, while I could possibly see it if it were the fact that they were previously Zonai & thus were inspired by either goats or Remlits... If not for the fact that even Zonai, despite being inspired by goats/Remlits, also are shown with predator eyes! So, the only logical conclusion that I can come up with is that it has something to do with the draconification itself!

And, if anything, comparing them to snakes by calling them noodles only makes me more certain that they'd look cooler & even more approachable with the forward-facing eyes! If anything, the eyes going 2 different directions, staring at nothing, just disconcerts me.

And that really isn't a good excuse because humans as a species are innately curious & you can't really tell me that having forward-facing eyes would actually deter you from getting a closer look at the massive, eff off serpents slithering through the sky. I mean, we literally took our greatest predators & we tamed them. Those dragons are just challenging us to try doing it to them too.

Now, don't mind me, I get that I'm probably being neurotic about this, but I can't help the fact that it bothers me.

I would actually really like a redesign of them with predator eyes & possibly lion-like brush tails. But that's just me.

Seriously, don't mind me, I tend to get into these sorts of moods & have always been prone to overanalysing things.

Also, people in the comments tryin' to make people cry!

I saw a couple of dragon Links and wanted to add my own design to the slurry. Anyways say hi to the Courage Dragon, whose favorite thing is his wife.

[risingsouls]

[For the past two hours I’ve been trying to figure out what I’ve been forgetting and I finally just remembered. :’3

PSA TIME!

Once again, it’s not really a big thing and not particularly because of what anyone did. Just a few points I want to reiterate as well as some pro tips. It’s probably not needed, but my own insecurity mixed with my dumb, undying love for Nabooru and wanting to do things with her with other muses outside of writing my own bs is probably fueling this so. Here we go!

First thing is just a few small reminders:

This blog is multiship (I’m sure you all knew but it wasn’t in the description I realized while revamping, and while I HOPE you’ve at least skimmed my rules, I’m not going to have a cow over it). You wanna try out a ship with one of these assholes? Let me know. Hit me up. I DO prefer to roleplay them out and go for chemistry than just hopping straight into a romantic relationship (or sexual, but that’s another beast and still requires some plotting with me and permission to boot), but all of them are fair game. That goes for even for Nabooru and Vegeta, despite their relationship within the canon of this blog. 

Same thing for just plots. I’m a slut for AUs if you haven’t guessed, considering half of my current roster are supposed to be dead or I’ve toyed with their canon altogether. I am all about exploring what ifs and breaking the shit out of canon. Best advice is to just hit me up with stuff. I try not to bite too hard. You like a thing I’m doing and want in on that action? Let’s go. You want to run an idea by me that includes a muse of mine? PLEASE. I enjoy writing, and doing so with a partner is so damn fun and fulfilling when we get a plot going.

That said, and this is where things get a little...sticky? I’m going to try and word this as well as possible. No one is obligated to adhere to the plot I’m writing here with my AUs that are slaughtering canon to some degree. I understand that it’s not for everyone. Some people are more into staying as close to canon as possibly than I am and that’s perfectly fine. However, by default, I WILL answer asks, replies, etc. based on what I’M doing unless requested otherwise. Thus, if you want something based strictly in canon or for something where I work my characters into what you’ve got going on, let me know! Communication is key with me, and as stubborn as I seem, I can be flexible. While I do want my own AUs and plots respected as well (I’ve worked hard on them :w;), I am more than happy to offer my characters up for other shenanigans outside of that. Which is why this blog is multiverse as well!

Now for part two. This one is concerning Nabooru.

Because I love her to bits (I’ve been playing and developing her for 10+ years now from the very small role and screen time she gets in Ocarina of Time to a fully fleshed out and, I hope, interesting character, whether that’s in her LoZ verses or, the more used DB ones these days), I want people to feel comfortable roleplaying with her. She will likely always be a main muse, meaning that if I send you things or, more likely, a muse is not indicated for the interaction, there is a good chance you could get her. So, here’s my pro tip that will hopefully help (there’s probably not even a problem and I’m just paranoid but uuuh bear with me okay?)?

Even though I would love to roleplay her in Zelda verses, right now on this DB centric blog, Nabooru is basically a Dragonball OC at this point (but not because I don’t own her; don’t sue me Nintendo, even though I’ve done more work for her than you did). Her DB verses are essentially the main ones now and what I usually default to unless requested otherwise. Knowledge of Legend of Zelda really isn’t needed as, in pretty much every DB verse, that part of her life is in the past and only relevant if it comes up. Thus, approach rping with her like you would any other DB alien OC. Once again, communication is more than welcome. I could literally talk about Nabs for hours, so if you have questions about her in general or the backstory I have going for her as a DB character, I am more than willing to entertain them.]

[fatefulfaerie]

Enraptured

She felt sick, like her chest swam in murky waters. Her eyelids flitted to mere slits and all her senses dulled, her muscles loosening and surrendering where she floated. But it was no issue, no alarm. This was her set normal, a default, something she merely submitted to.

Yes, this is where her hands were, this is the way her head felt, this is the way her body sank into his malice, this pulsating mass.

“Welcome back, Princess.”

His voice, that was his voice, his raspy, grating voice. That calamitous voice that breathed evil without speaking. His tendrils were already hot around her ankles, sliding and wrapping.

“Back?” She questioned lazily. Wasn’t this her reality? Was she somewhere else? No, she couldn’t have been. This was the place she belonged.

Warm tendrils started to wrap around her wrists, her waist. She remembered the first time where that was a preturberance, a violation. She remembered resisting once, before she learned there was no point. This evil thing touching in her places she had never been touched, with a deceiving softness and gentility. It was the tickle of a lover until the evil intent seeped through, until they tightened and tightened.

“Did you think you could escape me?” The voice questioned. “Go on thinking you’ve won? You’re still here, Princess. You will always be here. You know that, right?”

She felt one at her neck. It threatened to choke her. She knew it well. She pushed away her instinct that something was different this time.

But how could it be? This was her hundred-year fight with the calamity.

“I know,” she said. “You know I know.”

“Good girl,” it replied, the tendrils wrapping and and wrapping. Zelda tried to stall her fear by telling herself to submit to it.

Her punishment.

It was her punishment.

This is okay.

“You deserve this.”

“I deserve this.”

“You are a murderer,” the raspy voice said. It started to pull at her long hair. “A failure.”

“I am a murderer,” she repeated, dull and dry, “and a failure.”

“You deserve to be loved the way he loves you.”

“Because he doesn’t,” she replied. “He hates me.”

The voice laughed.

“Yes, my Princess,” it said. “Very good. Because who could love such a horrible creature? You killed your friends and you manipulated him. You ruined his life. And now he will leave you to rot.”

Zelda felt her breathing quicken as the hot tendrils tightened around her body.

“Say it,” the voice beckoned. “Say he won’t come for you. Give up on him.”

Tighter and hotter, burning. She let out a brief exclamation of pain.

“That’s it,” it said. “Give in to it and this will all be over. Give up. He’s not coming. Repeat after me.”

“He’s not,” she started, but the tendrils were so tight that her breath left her with one more sharp vocalization.

“Coming,” she managed.

“He’s dead,” it said. Zelda shut her eyes tight. “You killed him. And it’s time for you to die too. All you’ve done. It’s time for you to take what you deserve. I can help you.”

She had started to shake her head with heavy breaths.

“No,” she said. “He may hate me, but he doesn’t hate Hyrule. He is alive. He is going to defeat you. Mark my words. I will not break this seal. I will not give up on him. He is the light.”

One of the tendrils tickled her cheek, slithering across her mouth until it covered it, her lips. She could almost taste it. Her green eyes burned with hatred and disgust, disdain for this monster.

“It’s just you and me, Princess,” it said. “All the time we’ve spent together in this place. I know you better than you know him. I’ve known you longer. How long must we play this game? One hundred years? Can you take more? Eventually you’ll realize it’s all for nothing. Why not end it all. Let me help you. Break the seal. And let me kill you.”

“You deserve this.”

Link.

That was Link.

His voice was softer, much softer. His words were still fresh in her memory, them being spoken a few hours ago. They soothed her out of her nightmare.

“What?” She had prompted, with a smile he could hear.

‘Love,” he said. ‘Unconditionally...and limitless. You deserve to be loved the way I love you. Please don’t forget that.”

Zelda woke up with a startle, a soft gasp escaping her lips.

She realized she had been ushered back into reality, in Link’s secure arms, scarred skin holding her around her waist. Zelda felt him behind her where they lay, Link conforming to her at every possible point, her bent knees, her back. Only his head was out of place, chin slightly over her shoulder, at a place so that in one movement he could peck her cheek.

Her hands placed on the arms that held her, she stared blurrily as she thought of her dream, the familiarity, how easily she accepted and went back to those times. It hurt her heart even now to think of her having to go back.

It hurt her more to think of this being the dream instead. Was that possible? Was this happiness some crude illusion?

She focused on how his arms felt, searching for comfort before she realized how warm they were.

“Link?” She asked with a crease in her brow.

No response. His steady breaths said enough.

Zelda’s concern shifted to him as she sat up slowly and faced him. She brought a gentle hand to his cheek, his forehead. His messy hair was dampened with sweat.

“Oh Link,” she said, her expression softening. “I told you not to go hunting in the rain.”

She sighed as she slowly slid herself from his hold and from the bed. Zelda swept aside his bangs and planted a chaste kiss on his forehead.

“Who knew such an angelic sleeper could be so stupid,” she said with a smile, admiring his peace with a deep love in her eyes.

With one last stroke of his warm cheek, she stood up completely, heading downstairs.

It was still dark out, but the moonlight illuminated the first floor of their Hateno house. Zelda took a clean white cloth and held it over the water spout, pumping the lever and soaking it wet.

Once she returned to Link, she draped it over his forehead gingerly before proceeding to pull the covers away from him, bunching them up at the foot of the bed.

“Zel?” he asked, Zelda smiling at his hand searching for her on the bed. Zelda took it as she sat down.

His blue eyes cracked open.

“What’s going on?” he croaked sleepily. “Did you have a bad dream?”

“Link, you have a fever,” she said.

“Mm,” he hummed unenthusiastically.

“You are burning up,” she said. “You shouldn’t have gone hunting yesterday.”

His lips cracked a smile.

“Are you saying I’m hot?”

Zelda's eyes went to the ceiling, shaking her head.

“Link…”

“Right,” he said with a slight wince in his expression, turning to face the ceiling. “Fever. That explains the headache.”

“I’m going to get you some water to drink,” Zelda said, keeping her concern. “Is there anything else I can get you?”

Link shook his head slightly.

“No,” he replied. The hand that wasn’t held by hers went to her hair, slightly grown out from the fresh cut of months ago and now dangling around her shoulders. Link held gently a small gathering of her blonde hair. His blue eyes softened. “That’s enough.”

“Link?” Zelda inquired, studying him.

“You’re enough,” he said, looking at the way his fingers played with her hair.

His eyes popped to hers before drifting down.

“You were talking in your sleep,” he said, explaining himself. “Last night...and then just a few hours ago…saying horrible things about yourself.”

Zelda looked down to their conjoined hands, the way they always interlocked, but were ever-changing. Different fingers locking in different places, Link and Zelda caressing every bit of the others’ hand.

“You were back,” he continued, his hand moved to soothe her shoulder, fingers grazing up and down. “Weren’t you? Back where you had to go because I failed you?”

“I failed you,” she insisted quickly.

“But you were back there?” He asked again, as if insisting she answer.

Zelda nodded.

“It was how I felt at the time,” she said. “After a hundred years of feeling those things...it’s easy to fall back into.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

She sighed.

“I was afraid…” she started. “I was afraid you’d crack a smile. Not your smile, but his. You would make some remark about how fun a game it was and then I’d be back there, with you asleep and me just...just...falling for a trick. Again and again.”

“I’m sorry,” Link said. “If I’ve ever...”

“No,” Zelda said with a shake of her head. “No. All this being real...it’s just hard to believe. Sometimes I protect myself. I think being back here has been so good that I’ve been fearing that it’s too good to be true.”

“And you doubt yourself too,” Link surmised. “Because thinking of yourself in such a way for so long...it lingers.”

Zelda nodded.

“Well, you are not a murderer,” he said. “You are not a failure. I came for you and took you back from the Calamity and that is the truth.”

“Link, you don’t have to--”

“I fell in love with you,” he said. “A hundred years ago. I remember what a damn pleasure it was to fall in love with you, Zel. And then to fall in love with you all over again...no man could be luckier than I.”

“It must be the fever,” Zelda said, eyes flitting with concern. “You’re babbling.”

“Everything fell apart when the Calamity struck,” he continued nonetheless. “But I got a second chance because of you. I love you with all my heart. You deserve more than what love I can give you, but you settled for it. And you make me so happy.”

“I love you too, Link,” Zelda said with a smile. She brought a hand to his cheek and was reminded of his malady. “But I have to at least try to get your temperature down.”

Link took Zelda’s hand as she went to stand up, Zelda turning back and sitting slowly.

“I just want you to know,” he said. “If you ever get a nightmare like that again, just remember you are loved.”

Zelda’s green eyes melted.

She couldn’t help but be prompted by the warmth in his icy blue eyes, descending down to lay her chest on his. She breathed with lips brushing his.

“So are you.”

They relented and their lips locked, shared inhales deepening the exchange.

“Did your dreams ever feel that real?” Link asked as they withdrew.

Zelda shook her head.

“No,” she whispered, stroking his warm face with the back of her fingers.

[sky-squido]

For fanfic ask - 4, 18 & 22! :)

4. Are there any writers that inspire you?

HO BOY okay so it’s funny cuz everyone loves the big name ones and while i aspire to be like seeking and sillus and train, it wasn’t anyone huge who got me into fanfic.

like obviously crazy insanely good authors like them make you wanna be like them, but if you feel like you’re not like them? it’s intimidating! fanfic wasn’t really something i’d ever considered trying my hand in.

until i read fics by newer authors, younger authors, english language learners, and they were good as frick. but it wasn’t as scary, you know? these weren’t masterpieces (not to say i haven’t read masterpieces from people younger than me or from folks with english as a second language, because i absolutely have) but they were still the bomb. i looked at them, though, and i saw someone who was trying their best, even though they weren’t like the big names. seeing all the fanfic from people who AREN’T huge and still deciding to write anyway i was like HOL ON! i like to think i’m confident, but seeing all of these people putting themselves out there inspired me to do the same and, well, here i am.

so thanks to y’all little guys out there. you matter more than you know.

18. Wildest fic you’ve ever written?

UM

UH

like dang uhhh While You Still Can is definitely my most chaotic as in all cylinders are firing CONSTANTLY for the entire thing and it’s just 30k of high octane insanity so i’d probably call it my wildest. XD

22. Do you listen to anything while you write?

oh no now you’ve done it.

YES ABSOLUTELY YES WHEN I WRITE FIC, STEP ONE IS SOUNDTRACK!!!

i have a livewriting playlist on spotify that i hop around in. (note: the music i listen to just like,,, in my life is exclusively video game/movie/anime soundtracks, lofi, and Christian rock sjkghdfkg) there’s a lot of Made in Abyss, Celeste, and Kimi No Na Wa on that playlist. for some reason i haven’t put GRIS music on that playlist yet, but i listen to a lot of it.

it’s funny cuz i also listen to a lotta lofi irl but CANNOT write to it. my go-to battle-scene-writing-music has been a lotta HW:AOC stuff but also this is the video i wrote While You Still Can to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtqRjGP3uoY

and this is my default writing music that i go to when i’m not sure what else to play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCAWBoMW37s

of course, i pick other songs depending on scenes and sometime i’m like AIGHT TIME TO GET THIS ONE SPECIFIC SONG FROM XENOBLADE CHRONICLES X. i surprisingly almost never write to zelda music unless it’s relevant to the scene somehow, which i find really funny and ironic.

when i’m writing a scene, i generally leave one song or a couple similar songs in the background on loop until the scene is done, just to keep me immersed in that moment as much as i can.

it’s funny because there’s this one song i never listen to except when i’m writing horrible, horrible angst or trauma and it’s my 5th most played song of 2020,,, (the one i write fluff to is 3rd, but i also listen to it just normally, too)

ALSO when there’s a super peaceful scene where everything’s finally over, (rare in my stuff, i know), i play this one (i also play it on loop when i’m tryna calm down it’s just a really great song ok) which ended up being my 10th most played: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhmHcnDvx2U

anyway that’s that! i hope these answers aren’t too long!! XD