#sidon does not appear but he's talked about

[nolongerapileofashprobably]

Just like how botw had small details telling us the probable ‘canonical’ route Link took (aka Zora, Rito, Goron, and then Gerudo), totk has something similar. I’m sure all players noticed that the newspapers will feature one region that is meant to direct Link to go aid the people there. First is Rito, next is Goron, third is Zora, and last is Gerudo. BUT! They also added something else.

Zelda’s role in the story. Namely, her interactions with Tulin, Yunobo, King Dorephan, and Riju. Annnnnnddd Link’s reactions to her!

Tulin’s interaction with her is one meant to confuse players: Zelda was in the past, but Tulin saw her? So she’s here in the present and we’re chasing after her. Sounds a lot like Skyward Sword, okay (which was released on the switch last year, so anyone who didn’t play it back in 2012 had another chance to). It confuses Link, but spurs him to become a journalist ? Cool, I’m here for it. I did journalism for 4 years, I’m sure Link can do it too!

Then, for Yunobo, he actively speaks to Zelda, we see her figure, and Link will actively gasp whenever we see her. He has a genuine reaction to her presence, because he’s surprised, but then we see pink gloom glow in the mask that Zelda have Yunobo and it makes him freak out land turn against Link. That’s when we start to put together that maybe Zelda is being controlled? Or she’s NOT Zelda, just as Yunobo begins to theorize but can’t quite wrap his head around it.

Next, we have King Dorephan who is actually attacked by Zelda and is injured to the point that he decides to hide from his people as to not create more chaos in this time. He chooses to give Zelda the benefit of the doubt here— he could have easily had his people turn against Hyrule and all Hylians because of Zelda’s actions. But he doesn’t! Because it simply doesn’t make sense. And by the end of the quest, Sidon comes to the conclusion that the Zelda in the past and the Zelda in the present are NOT the same.

And we see that thought truly stick with Link in a cutscene in Gerudo. After defending Kara Kara Bazaar, Zelda appears and Riju calls out for her. There is no gasp from Link like with Yunobo’s story, instead he watches Zelda with a slightly narrowed gaze and does not stop watching where she was last seen until Riju directly addresses him. They actively show the players that Link is suspicious, but he is still so very dedicated.

And it happens again, in the center of the light triangle. Zelda appears and Link begins to walk toward her, but there is no intake of breath, no shock at seeing her… instead he slowly walks until Riju calls out for him.

After Link finishes each phenomenon, going to Lookout Landing gives the players a clue in how Link is reacting. Specifically, if you speak to Buliara before going to see Purah, she says something along the lines of “Purah is up on the top deck, but don’t miss a wrung in your haste to get up there.”

Link is expected to rush. Because everyone is muttering about a figure that MIGHT be Zelda. At the castle. Right. Then. And. There.

Link GASPS when he first looks into the scope— Purah doesn’t even say it’s Zelda, not before Link sees for himself. It’s seeing her, clear as day, and even if Link KNOWS it’s not her… there’s still that seed of doubt that lives in his mind. And then at the castle, Link does twist and turn whenever he hears Zelda. He rushes after her every. Single. Time. She disappears. Despite that he knows it isn’t her, he can’t give up. He can’t. It’s quite literally not in his DNA. He sees it through; he needs to make sure it isn’t her. And it’s all a trap, one he walks right into, because he just HAS to see that it isn’t her.

And if you want to say “but Ash… this is just a recap of the storyline in the present.. not small details” let us just remember that Link’s driving motivation in this game is to find Zelda and bring her home. So many people just ignore these little moments or miss them completely.

And I’ll be damned if I don’t talk about link’s gasps or his twists and turns or his micro expressions that tell us so much about how he is feeling.

[captainn-hook]

Character analysis on Prince Sidon (BOTW vs TOTK)

One thing I love about totk is how the game addresses Sidon’s trauma.

In botw you see how desperate he is for his father’s approval, it’s like Mipha set an impossible standard for dying not only for her domain and her people but for the whole kingdom of Hyrule. In their father’s eyes, she’s the perfect child, not only in personality but also in the way she’s honoured her family. Sidon sees how his father thinks of her, and although the king doesn’t do it consciously, he always put her on an impossibly high pedestal, and Sidon grew up believing that he HAD to meet that expectation, and that he would never, no matter how hard he tried.

When Link tames Vah Ruta and they both go to see the king, he tells his son:

“As your father, I am proud of you for fighting the Divine Beast alongside Link. You have grown much recently. I know you will be a worthy heir when your time comes.”

Then Sidon bows his head, as if he’s overcome with emotions because his dad tells him he’s proud of what he’s accomplished. King Dorephan isn’t a bad guy, don’t get me wrong, but the grief of losing his daughter (in this case, he thought she went missing and had been in the DB for 100 years, he didn’t know she died) made him sort of lose sight of Sidon’s achievements in those 100 years because he was so racked with worry and guilt. So although the king isn’t a bad father, he fails to reassure his son that he doesn’t need to do anything to make him proud (even though Sidon had definitely done stuff to make his dad proud over the years).

(Btw im pretty sure tripple digits in age is considered teens or early adulthood for Zora, so he’s still pretty young, I imagine around Link’s age if he were Hylian)

But that’s about all we get in botw.

So now we move on to totk. And oh boy do we get a load of Sidon angst. Some people might disagree with me but having read between the lines of what Lady Yona talked about (and just WHAT she actually said) in the first half of the water temple quest (before we find it, when we’re up in Mipha court), it really is angsty.

She’s aware of the fact that his sister’s death affected him a lot and still does despite knowing that her spirit moved on, and it (at this point) has started to affect their relationship.

Yona and Sidon have a disagreement before/after the battle with the Sludge Like, where they argue about him going with Link to this pillar of light that has suddenly appeared. It starts with Sidon saying: “Lady Yona! It is far too dangerous for you to be here” in reference to the sludge, but she has none of that.

She tells him that she wants him to go to the pillar with Link, and that: “For a long time, I have been concerned that you are holding yourself back and not acting as freely as I would have expected.” This has some credit because it’s mentioned somewhere how they were both childhood friends, and the Zora live long lives so it’s safe to assume their childhood is prolonged, which means that they’ve known each other for a very long time. Yona knows how he acts and behaves, his mannerisms and his fears, and that’s why she wants to push him to face them.

She tells him that if he goes with Link they’ll be able to overcome this problem, but he hesitates. She notices, asking him what is troubling him, and he hesitates again to speak what’s on his mind. This is when the Sludge Like comes in, and after the battle, the conversation continues.

Sidon hurries back to Yona and says: “Thank goodness. Lady Yona, if something had happened to you... I...” and there’s where it becomes clear just how terrified he is of losing her. He doesn’t finish the sentence, though, he changes the subject and tells her that she should go back to the domain in case more monsters show up. She tells him that he should focus on what Link said and that he can leave the court to them (Yona and the others that came with her). Sidon replies with: “W-well... Of course it would be best for me to accompany him. However, I cannot leave you alone in this dangerous place!” He’s ignoring what’s best and instead focusing on the safety of his betrothed, because of course he would! A monster just showed up and it took both Link and Sidon to take it down, imagine if neither of them were with her, what would happen? What would he do if she got hurt? And then the following dialogue happens (you dont need to read the whole thing, you can just skip to the bold parts):

Yona: “Did you not entrust this task to us already? We will not be on our own for long. We shall be just fine.”

Sidon: “But…”

Yona: “Sidon, my darling... I truly appreciate that you worry so for my safety. It speaks to the kindness in your heart.

But you are the prince of the Zora. One day, you will lead the people of your beloved domain.

I can see right through you, whether you want me to or not. You are yielding to the fear of losing someone you love again.

You must overcome your past and face whatever the future holds with courage.”

Sidon: “But... I...”

Yona: “Enough is enough! You are not acting like yourself! You must leave this place to me!

Sweet Sidon... Do not get lost in the past. You must keep moving ever onward. Just follow your heart, as you always do!”

Sidon: “Like my old self... Like I always do...”

Yona: “It is all right. I swear it. I am not going anywhere.”

Sidon: “I see... And there it is, clear as day... I was giving in to my fear of once more losing someone I love... I… I…

You are right, Yona! I will not give in to this fear! Nor forsake my trust in you! I leave this place to you, my love.”

[skip]

Yona: “All this time he was clinging to regret over being unable to save his precious sister, Mipha... My poor, tormented Sidon.

And to think he was unknowingly paralyzed from taking action because he feared losing me as well...

Yet he has overcome this trial and placed his faith in me. At last, the Sidon I know and love has come back to me.”

During this conversation, Sidon hesitates more than once and you can see it starting to irritate Yona because she knows the potential he doesn’t see in himself, because it’s not just fear of losing a loved one, but it’s his own insecurity from not being able to save Mipha.

He doesn’t care that he was very young and wouldn’t have been able to anyway, he just cares that he couldn’t. In his eyes, he failed to save his sister. And I’m not going to go too deep into this point but it’s clear that she was playing both older sister and mother, because we can assume their mother died a while back (she’s never mentioned and it’s just the two of them and their father even as far back as age of calamity if you want to include that).

What I’m saying is that with technically both the loss of his mother and his sister, it’s safe to assume that he feels some sort of responsibility for not being able to help, even if he was too young to do so, his disregard for the age he was at the time shows how much weight was left on his shoulders after Mipha died.

He never expected to be the heir to the throne, the sole survivor of his family (along with his dad), sure he’s a prince and princes have responsibility, but Mipha was always going to be in the spotlight (not that I’d imagine him jealous of this, it’s simply just a fact, and I think he might have actually even been comfortable with that), she was always going to be the Zora Champion and then Queen one day, so to have all of that suddenly dumped on him after the calamity as a literal kid would’ve undoubtedly had its effect on him.

Yona understands this, she tells Link, knowing he’s probably caught on, how he was “clinging to regret over being unable to save his precious sister, Mipha...”.

She has to reassure her love that she’s okay. “It is all right. I swear it. I am not going anywhere.”, she comforts him because she knows he needs it, he needs her to say it to him because that’s the only way he will believe she is in fact okay.

But his character develops. Sidon realises that in fearing for Yona, he has made her feel as if she isn’t trusted. He recognises the position he’s put them both in, him worrying relentlessly and stressing out about his loved ones because of his trauma, and her having to watch him fall down this never ending rabbit hole and being unable to do much about it because all he tries to do is shelter and protect her, even when it’s unnecessary.

But she does what she can anyway, and it pays off, because he comes back to reality and understands that although there will always be the risk of losing her, he knows that she is more than capable of taking care of herself. He knows of her strength, it was just hard for him to see the situation from her point of view. But she pushes him to do so, and he betters himself for her.

I think he’ll always have some small hint of this trauma response hidden away, but after this discussion, he’s got a firm hold on it, and is willing to control his fears for the love of his life so that they can start to build a life together without the sense of utter doom and despair over his past looming over them both.

I’m glad the writers did this, and didn’t just make them seem like this perfect couple with no issues, it shows a real and healthy relationship, and it shows that Sidon isn’t this perfect person and that he indeed has faults of his own.

That’s my take on it, anyway.

[erimeows]

Habits

Sidon and Link walk side by side, silent as they approach the border of The Zora’s Domain, alone. 

Link arrived the night before with a massive gash that needed stitching and a weary look in his eyes. Sidon asked him what happened and received nothing but a mumble about some infiltration mission gone wrong.

Not fully recovered, Link has made it apparent that he needs to leave to continue fighting the monsters in Hyrule while researching the location of Ganon’s hideout. Or, that’s what Sidon assumes Link is going to do. Sidon doesn’t want to see him go, but he knows better than to object too aggressively, lest he scare the man away for good. 

It’s a cold day. Sidon’s body lets him exist in these temperatures without any issue, so he doesn’t mind it. Meanwhile, Link is shivering because he insists on wearing the same busted armor over the ridiculously thin shirt and pants that he showed up in. Hell, even his shoes have holes in them. Yet, when Sidon offered to have the tailors make Link new clothing, he denied it with a smile and a head shake. While not an unusual occurrence, Sidon wishes Link would put in more effort to protect his fragile Hylian body. It’s a miracle that the swordsman isn’t dead by now.

To make Sidon’s frustrations worse, Link keeps… Staring at him. Whether it’s intentional or not, Sidon isn’t sure. Link is an odd man who Sidon has learned isn’t used to socializing. As a result, Link is constantly staring at people, holding eye contact for far too long. Link continues to stare, even though neither of them are saying or doing much. Those prying, big blue eyes feel as if they’re peering straight into Sidon’s soul. The closer they get to where Link is going to depart, the more anxious Sidon becomes. He averts his gaze and asks-

“Link, won’t you stay a little while longer? We could call this a walk… Go back to the palace, allow you to recover from your injuries for another day or two, spend some time together…”

Link shakes his head, to which Sidon frowns. He assumes that will be the end of it- that Link will leave and not reappear until God knows how long, until he’s injured and at death’s door again, until he needs help. Sidon wonders, briefly, if Link would appear for the hell of it. If Link would show up for him. If Link would show up because he wants to, not because he needs to.

If there weren’t Ganon and the chaos he’s caused to connect them again, would Link ever want to be here? Sidon isn’t sure he wants to know the answer, so he doesn’t ask. Instead, he frowns and averts his gaze from Link. The rejection, even if it isn’t direct, hurts more than most anything. It being so silent yet so glaringly obvious makes it hurt even more. The worst part is that Link- sweet, sweet Link- is oblivious to Sidon’s feelings no matter how obvious the Zora tries to make them. 

Link tilts his head, beautiful cerulean eyes full of curiosity. He doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t have to, either. Sidon knows Link well enough by now to realize that the look isn’t just a look, rather, a question, a ‘what’s wrong?’ wrapped up in a soft gaze and pouty lips. Sidon shakes his head in response, just like Link did to him moments before, and blinks away the tears that threaten to fall from his eyes as Link turns his back to him and leaves his domain.

“Have safe travels, my friend!” Sidon calls out, and as per usual, Link doesn’t respond with anything but a small wave.

~

Later that night, Sidon sits on the edge of his bed, staring at the wall. He can’t help but worry about Link. Where is he at right now? Who is he fighting? Does he need help? 

Sidon wishes he could help Link by traveling with him, but with the responsibility he has to his kingdom, he knows he has to stay put. 

It must be hard to be traveling alone, always on your guard, with no one there to talk to but your own reflection and some avatars who can’t respond. Then again, Link isn’t necessarily the talkative type… Maybe he doesn’t mind all too much. Sidon almost wishes Link did mind the silence. Maybe then, Link would come to see him more often. 

Being in love with Link is hard. Harder than any battle Sidon has ever fought, harder than anything else he’s done. Sometimes he wishes he didn’t feel this way, but when Link is there, it’s hard to regret or despise the love he has for the man.

Yona is in the room. They’re married- they’ve been married- and she’s a wonderful friend. Still, Sidon wants nothing more than Link, and Yona knows this. Bless her, she’s fine with their predicament and is a kind and supportive friend, even encouraging Sidon’s feelings for Link. She’s the only one who knows everything, the only one who truly understands. She came to his personal room to talk about an issue concerning the domain, only for that talk to turn into an hours-long chat about life.

Yona sits next to Sidon with a hand on his shoulder, her soft gaze trained on him as he stares at the wall. The white paint seems to blur into itself as Sidon’s head pounds. Thinking about Link and his self-destructive habits makes him have the worst headaches…

No matter how many years pass, and no matter what Link and Sidon go through together, Sidon still can’t figure the Hylian out for the life of him. Link is so confusing at times… Sidon wonders if Link feels anything at all. But, if Link truly felt nothing for Sidon, why would he do so much for Hyrule? Why would he help the Zora so often? Why would he come to Sidon’s domain when in need of help, if he didn’t feel anything at all? Why would he be so prideful? If Link didn’t feel, his life would probably be much more normal, and much better. No, Link is full of feelings; he just refuses to express them. 

“Sidon, what’s bothering you?” Yona questions.

“It’s nothing, Yona,” Sidon sighs, shaking his head. Between the arranged marriage, promotion to queen, and the relationship she has back home, Yona is dealing with enough. The last thing she needs to have added onto that metaphorical plate is Sidon’s issues with Link… “I’d hate to trouble you.”

“Link left today, didn’t he?”

Sidon swallows, embarrassed.

He’s that obvious… So obvious that everyone aside from Link himself can tell.

“...Yes,” Sidon answers with a nod.

“You wanted him to stay.”

Yona doesn’t ask. Instead, she states the words plainly. 

“I did.”

“Then why didn’t you ask him to?”

Sidon twiddles his thumbs, turning his head to look at Yona. Her brow is furrowed, as if she’s worried about him. She probably is. Every time Link comes and goes, Sidon is a nervous wreck. She’d be a fool not to notice, especially with her knowing how he feels. 

“Isn’t that… Selfish?”

“Isn’t it selfish for him to come only when he needs to? And for him to always leave so soon with such grievous injuries… I’m sure you must be worried for him,” Yona continues. The more she says, the more upset Sidon becomes, because she’s right. “If you two are friends-”

“I don’t want him to stay because he’s my friend,” Sidon interjects with tears welling up in his eyes. As much as he would love to claim that he wants Link to stay out of exclusively concern, or out of something exclusively platonic, he can’t. Yes, he wants Link to stay and recover from his injuries, but deep down, it’s more than that. He wants Link to stay because he loves him. He wants Link to stay because he needs some sort of proof that Link loves him, too. He wants Link to stay because of so many reasons other than a reasonable concern for Link’s habit of overdoing it. “I want him to stay because… Because I…”

“I know you do… It’s hard, isn’t it?”

“What do I do…?” Sidon bows his head, holding it in his hands. “Isn’t it selfish to expect him to cater to my feelings when we’re about to have to fight Ganon?”

“I don’t know. I mean, I don’t think so, but you need to figure that out by yourself and do what you think is best. I hope you’re able to talk to Link and tell him how you truly feel. Regardless of everything, though, whatever choice you make, I’ll support it- and the two of you.”

Sidon is tempted to play off his feelings, to thank Yona for her advice and exit the room as calmly as he can. But then, her arms are around him, holding him close- and for the first time since Ganon came back, Sidon allows himself to be weak; allows himself to cry.

“Yona… Thank you.”

~

The next evening, Sidon finds himself talking with a soldier about some Yiga clan member sightings. Apparently, the nuisances heard that Link was nearby and have been stalking the area to find the swordsman. Sidon has ordered his scouts to capture and bring any Yiga clan members back to the domain for interrogation, but as stupid as the group seems to be, they’re also elusive and hard to detain. 

Unsurprising. With the way everything has been going lately, Sidon can’t bring himself to enthusiastically tackle this problem as he would have just months ago. 

“So… They escaped again,” Sidon mutters, to which the soldier nods with a frown.

“Yes, King Sidon. I apologize for our incompetence.”

“Please, don’t,” Sidon sighs and shakes his head. “We’re stretched thin right now as it is. The fact that you all have been working so hard is more than enough! I believe you’ll be able to detain them next time, so let me know if you need any help!”

“Oh,” The soldier seems relieved, a small smile taking over her face. “Thank you, sir! We’ll catch them next time.”

Sidon opens his mouth to excuse himself, only to catch a glimpse of blond hair out of the corner of his amber eyes. He pauses and turns to look at the men entering through the front door.

“Link!” Sidon calls out, amber eyes widening in horror as another Zora carries Link into the building. Though alive, Link is once again bruised and battered to the point that this soldier who was probably out scouting monsters and Yiga clan members felt the need to bring him back for medical treatment. And though Sidon has seen Link injured far worse than this, he plays the game that they’ve been playing for months on end and rushes to take Link off of the other Zora so he can drape the blond over one of his large shoulders. “What happened to you this time!?”

Link offers a shrug, which is unsurprising. He’s terrible at explaining himself when he’s injured- almost as if he’s more ashamed of showing weakness than he is concerned about his own health. That’s probably exactly how Link perceives the situation. Instead of seeing the concern in Sidon’s gaze, all he sees is judgment that isn’t even there.

Link doesn’t give any sort of verbal answer to Sidon’s question, even as Sidon stares him down, practically begging for one. Instead, he grumbles until he’s placed back onto his own two feet, and stumbles away to the guest chambers that he knows are already waiting for him- right next to Sidon’s room.

And as always, Sidon sighs, but can’t bring himself to say anything.

Yona, who is across the room chatting with his father, merely looks at him and shakes her head. Though she doesn’t speak her thoughts, Sidon can’t help but agree with whatever they must be…

~

By the time his work day is over, Sidon is so exhausted that he goes straight to bed. He debates on going to go talk to Yona, who is a few rooms over, but he’d hate to bother her over something so… Silly. Especially after last night. Crying in front of her over Link was embarrassing enough.

Sidon can’t figure out what he should do. Is it worth putting himself out there enough to go to Link’s room? What if Link sends him away? He’s already so straightforward about the love and admiration he has for Link, and it feels as if Link just ignores it- though the truth is that Link is clearly too distracted by his work to notice Sidon. Sidon can’t blame him. Link is trying to save the world right now- why would he care about Sidon’s feelings in the midst of something so much more important?

Still… Sidon can’t help but be upset over the fleeting moments he gets. He wishes he could tell Link the truth. He wishes Link cared a little more. He wishes lots of things. Maybe he really is selfish…

Almost as if on cue, Sidon’s bedroom door opens. He’s only given the key to a few people, so he turns, expecting Yona or his father. Surprisingly enough, he’s faced with Link, who looks unusually small while sheepishly standing in the doorway and clutching his blanket tight in his arms.

“Link?” Sidon sits up in the bed as Link enters the room and shuts the door behind him. “What is it?”

And for the first time in a long time, Link speaks.

“Please, don’t…” Link shakes his head and averts his gaze, all while climbing into Sidon’s bed and crawling beneath the Zora’s thin covers. “Don’t ask.”

Sidon doesn’t ask. In fact, he doesn’t say anything at all, because it’d take a fool to not realize that Link doesn’t want to talk. Instead, he moves closer to Link, wraps his arms around Link’s much smaller frame, and tries to slow his racing heart. Link falls asleep almost immediately. 

Sidon smiles, pulling back just enough to stare at Link. His hair is a mess, but he looks peaceful, small breaths falling from between his rosy lips. His skin is tan yet dull, covered in scrapes and bruises, and most of his body appears to be covered in bandages. Sidon wonders if he’ll be able to get Link to stay longer this time… If, in the morning, they’ll finally be able to talk.

He doesn’t dare disturb Link’s much needed rest to ask questions, especially when Link requested he not do so. Instead, Sidon cuddles up to Link and falls into a deep slumber, knowing that while this is only the first time they’ve done something like this- knowing Link- it could very well be the last.

~

Unsurprisingly, Sidon wakes up to an empty bed. He almost tricks himself into believing that Link coming to his room in the middle of the night was a dream, but when he sees blond hairs on top of his pillows, he remembers everything from the smell of blood wafting off of Link’s bandages, to the evidence of the many fights he’s been in on Link’s skin, to how fragile Link’s voice sounded. 

Sidon gets up, does his work for the day, sneaks into the kitchen, and then heads to Link’s room with a hot cup of tea in hand. He knocks on the door, to which Link quickly opens it. Link is covered head to toe in clothes prepared for him by the other Zora- they’re too big, but better than the tattered rags and scuffed armor Link had shown up in. Sidon can see bits of bandages peeking out from the sleeves and collars. He still reeks of blood. Even a small chunk of Link’s hair is missing. Whatever battle he was in the other day must’ve been rough… 

Upon seeing him, Link raises an eyebrow. Sidon quickly explains.

“I just- well, I wasn’t sure how you’d be feeling- so I thought you might prefer me over one of the servants!”

Though he doesn’t respond, Link seems to accept the explanation. He opens the door further for Sidon to come into the room and returns to the bed, which is far too large for a Hylian. SLink doesn’t complain about how comically small he appears when he sits with his legs folded on top of the mattress. 

Sidon closes the door behind him and brings the cup of tea into the room. He feels too awkward right now to try and push it into Link’s hands, so he sets it on the nightstand instead. Link grabs the cup of tea from the plate it’s on and taps it with a questioning look before swirling a fingertip in it and giving it a sniff.

“Oh, I made it! There’s no need to worry- it’s safe. Don’t tell me you really have to worry about having your drinks poisoned…?”

With that, Link sips the tea and lets out a sigh. He gives a nod in thanks, but nothing more. Sidon wishes the man would speak to him more. Link is quiet- silent, really. Sidon remembers hearing Zelda say that it’s because he has the weight of the world on his shoulders; because he feels as if he’s meant to silently take on every burden that comes his way. Sidon wasn’t sure what to believe at first, but now, he realizes that Zelda was right. Especially after what happened between the two of them in Sidon’s room…

“So, what fight did you get yourself into this time, my dearest hero?” Sidon questions. “These injuries appear to be worse than the usual ones… And though you’ve shown up here worse for wear quite a few times now, I don’t believe I’ve ever known you to be found defeated on the battlefield either.”

Link’s face turns bright red. 

“Yiga clan members,” He whispers and bows his head in shame.

“You… Got jumped by the Yiga clan members that were looking for you,” Sidon gasps in disbelief. He’s seen Link perform miracles, fighting hoards of combatants and giant monsters single handedly, yet he was taken down by the Yiga clan? “And you actually lost? Link! How exhausted were you to have been defeated by them!?”

Link shrugs yet again. 

And then, Link stares at Sidon as if he has no idea why he’s still there. As if he should’ve left by now. It takes everything in Sidon not to tear up at the look Link is giving him. He rapidly blinks his eyes and stares at Link’s frame. Though Link tries to hide the damage to his body, the blond can’t fully mask his injuries- his face twitches every time he moves with the effort it takes to hold back a grimace of pain, and he’s avoiding putting weight on certain areas. 

Yet, Link quickly finishes his tea and stands, looking around. He shoots Sidon a questioning glance before gesturing to the empty room.

“You…” Sidon pauses as he puts together what Link is wanting. Then, he comes to the conclusion that Link is looking for his things so he can get ready to leave. Again. “The others who found you claimed that you didn’t have anything on your person aside from your sword and the clothes on your back.”

Of course, Link does everything he can to avoid showing his disappointment, but Sidon feels it regardless. Months of gathering weapons, elixirs, clothing, and food- all tarnished because Link decided to overexert himself.

Sidon continues.

“Don’t tell me you’re actually thinking of leaving. Link, you’re not even close to recovered yet!” As Sidon argues, Link walks to the window. He opens the curtains and looks outside. Sidon groans upon seeing Link’s cerulean eyes land on the blood moon in the sky, that of which drowns the entirety of Hyrule in a crimson-hued glow. “I already know what you’re thinking, and no, you are not going to fight them- not tonight, not in your condition!”

Link raises an eyebrow in bafflement as Sidon walks over to where he’s standing and yanks the curtain shut. 

“Usually, I would ask you to stay, Link. Tonight, I am telling you. You are going to stay here until you get better, and then, you are going to stay for a few days after that, until you are well rested, well fed, and…”

Link tilts his head, so against his better judgment, Sidon decides to finish the thought.

“And until we’ve gotten to spend quality time together again.”

“I can’t,” Link finally says something, but it’s not enough- no, there’s hardly any feeling in his voice. It’s a plain statement, an observation, with a blank expression to match. “Not now.”

Sidon sees red. 

It’s unsurprising. He shouldn’t even be mad, just exasperated, but he can’t help it. Link working himself to near death, finding his way to whatever place to recover for the bare minimum amount of time, and then rushing back to work, is so him. Weirdly enough, Sidon loves him for it, but at times like this, all he wants is for Link to learn how to prioritize himself. Worst of all, Sidon knows that he’s more angry about Link ditching him yet again than he is angry about Link’s lack of self-preservation instincts.

“Link, with all due respect, they make squads for fighting these monsters- you shouldn’t be going and doing it by yourself! You need to stay here and recover or you’re just going to go back out and get hurt again! You got lucky this time because whatever Yiga clan members you ran into were incompetent, but next time… Next time-”

“I’m not going to let myself die until Zelda is safe.”

“That’s the problem, that’s it right there,” Sidon points out. Link’s face remains unchanged, unwavering, and it makes Sidon more angry than he thinks he’s been in his entire life. “You don’t care about yourself at all! Zelda would be heartbroken if she knew you were working yourself to death to try to save her! You need to rest or you’re going to die and Zelda may never be found.”

Link fucking shrugs. Again. Sidon, usually so happy and easygoing, wants to send his fist flying through a nearby wall. He’s so frustrated that he could scream. Somehow, he manages to restrain himself to sit down next to Link on the floor. With him sitting down and Link still standing, they’re almost eye level for once. 

“Zelda could die if I don’t hurry up and find her, too.”

“Are you never tired?” Sidon demands, to which Link’s eyes widen. It’s like Link had never considered the possibility of being tired. “Are you never sad? Never in need of a break? I don’t believe I’ve seen you cry before. Even in the worst of pain, you shield whatever you’re feeling, so why do you do it? Do you think I’m judging you? Because I’m not.”

“It’s not…”

“Then why don’t you talk? Why won’t you be honest about your feelings? Why won’t you ever rest and let me help you? You have friends who have made it very clear that they’re here for you, and I am one of them, but you’re not letting me act as a friend.”

“It’s because-...” Link begins, only to cut himself off, shaking his head to indicate that he’s not going to speak any longer.

“No,” Sidon reaches over and grabs Link’s hands. They’re so small within his much larger ones that he can’t intertwine their fingers, so he settles for simply holding them instead. “What is it, Link? Someone needs to know what you’re thinking, and I want that ‘someone’ to be me. Please.”

“Because I’m afraid that if I start talking to you,” Link swallows deeply. His expression shifts from the blank, soulless look that he tries to maintain, into an expression so pained that it makes Sidon realize it’s physically hurting Link to try to open up like this. “I might not be able to stop.”

“Why would I ever want you to stop?” Sidon questions. 

Before he can think better of it, he lets go of Link’s hands, wraps his arms around the man’s body, and pulls him into his lap for a hug. Link freezes, going tense from head to toe. Link grumbles and struggles against the hug until Sidon lets go and sets him back down on his feet. 

“I can’t do this,” Link starts walking towards the door again, running his hands through his tangled hair.

“Do what?” 

“I’ve already started talking to you,” Link answers, as if it’s obvious, accompanying the words with wild hand gestures that Sidon has never seen Link make before today. “And I can’t stop myself, so I need to leave.”

Sidon rises to his feet again and rushes to the door to block it. 

“Link-”

“I love you, Sidon,” Link damn-near yells.

Both of them freeze as Link slaps a hand over his own mouth. 

Sidon’s knees go weak. His amber eyes scan Link’s face, looking for some sort of sign that Link is lying- for some sort of sign that this is a cruel joke, or maybe a dream- but he finds nothing. All Link appears to be, aside from injured and exhausted, is embarrassed. 

“...What?” Sidon’s voice comes out in a whisper, uncharacteristically quiet and unsure.

Silence falls over for them long enough for Sidon to figure it out.

Link does love him. Link is in love with him, and he’s been hiding it.

He leaves because of his obligation- but perhaps- he also leaves because he’s scared, and the weight of all the time they’ve lost falls onto Sidon all at once. How many nights have they spent awake thinking about each other, that could’ve been spent together instead? As Sidon grapples with the reality of the time they’ve wasted, Link sinks to the floor and holds his head in his hands.

“I love you, and I hate it,” Link cries while sitting curled up on the floor. It’s the first time Sidon has seen him cry- the first time Sidon has heard his voice waver and crack like it is right now. This is why Link doesn’t talk. Because when he does, things like this happen. It all starts to make sense. For all these years, and for the months since Ganon’s return, Link has been a dam of emotions just waiting to be broken. “I hate it because I never get to spend time with you, because you’re married, because… I’m scared. What if you die or go missing or get taken away?”

Sidon kneels to the floor on one knee. He doesn’t want to startle Link by hugging him again, but he doesn’t know what else to do, so he stays still and reassures the man in front of him.

“That won’t happen-”

“That’s what everyone else has said,” Then, Link is resting his head against Sidon’s chest and sobbing. Sidon feels his heart shatter in his chest. “And that’s why I hate feeling- feeling like this- and talking about it… I can’t believe I’ve told you these things. I need to leave.”

Link scoots back against the door, to which Sidon captures both of the Hylian’s wrists within his large hands.

“No, you need to stay and get some rest!” He argues. “If you want me to return to my room and leave you alone for the rest of your stay, fine, but I refuse to allow you to endanger yourself any more!”

Now, Link won’t even meet his gaze.

What the hell is he thinking right now?

“I can’t be here you after everything I’ve done and said-”

“What, as if you’ve done anything wrong!? I just wish you would’ve told me sooner!” Sidon exclaims. “I love you, too!”

Link freezes yet again, his blue eyes as big as dinner plates. If Link was making this face in any other context, Sidon would probably laugh.

“...What?”

“I love you, too,” Sidon moves to drop Link’s wrists and hold his hands instead.  “You’re my hero, and I will always be here for you… Not just because of our friendship, but because of my undying love for you. I want you to stay because I want you to spend time with me, and because I want you to be safe. I’m not like the others you speak of. I’m not going to leave you, not ever.”

“You don’t… You can’t really promise… You can’t really feel like-”

“I can, and I do,” Sidon sighs. “You have this idea of yourself that you’re an average man, but half the people in Hyrule would marry you at this point given the impact you’ve had. That includes me.”

Link looks to their joined hands and frowns.

“...What about Yona?”

“We are married, but an arranged marriage and a legitimate committed relationship are two different things,” Sidon explains. “Yona has a lover back home and has voiced that she would support me if I chose to pursue… Us. Though I understand if me being married makes you uncomfortable-”

“I don’t believe it… No, I should go.”

“Don’t believe what?” At this point, Sidon is exhausted. Between the mutual love confession, Ganon, becoming king, getting married, and everything else, all he wants is for Link to be happy and safe. Yet, Link is somehow still making an issue out of his feelings- still trying to escape this situation. “Link, if you want me to leave, that is fine, but you can’t leave in the condition you’re in!”

“I don’t want you to leave! That’s the problem,” Link jerks away from Sidon, storms back to the bed, and lies back on it so he can peer up at the ceiling and cover his face with his hands. “I want…”

Sidon stands once more, going to sit next to Link and resting a hand on the other man’s knee. 

“What is it that you want?”

A pause. A pause that goes on for so long that Sidon suspects Link is going to go silent again.

“You,” Link speaks after far too long. Sidon lies next to him.  “I just… I’ve never wanted anyone like this.”

“This is new to me as well,” Sidon confesses. “And as much as I hate to admit it, I am also scared, but… I believe we could make this work.”

Link uncovers his face and looks to Sidon, meeting his eyes.

“...Is this really why you wanted me to stay?”

“It’s not the only reason,” Sidon answers. “But yes.”

“Then… I’ll stay, at least for tonight. I may have to leave tomorrow… Just to keep up with the monsters. I’m sorry,” Link apologizes, and then clarifies- “For always leaving.”

Sidon shakes his head.

“Don’t be. I just… Want for you to be safe. At least accept some help, if you are going to leave tomorrow,” Silence falls again, but this time, it’s much more comfortable. Sidon briefly wonders if he could get Link to stay until he’s fully recovered from his injuries for once- if they could go fight the Yiga clan together, or if Link would at least accept help from some of Sidon’s most trusted soldiers. “Link… Come to my room for the night. We can spend more time together, and if you need anything… I’ll be there.”

And, finally, Link accepts Sidon’s help.

“Alright… Let’s go to bed together, then.”

[asksidon]

could you do a drabble about teeth/dental care? i feel like its very different between hylians n the zora, it would be cute to see sidon n his sweetheart talk about yet another cultural/species based difference between them. fem pronouns are always preferred when brought up, but never necessary! TIA <3

"So, let me get this straight," Sidon says slowly, seeming to contemplate both your appearances in the large bathroom mirror of your chambers. "You have to go to a . . . a tooth doctor, every six months, to get your teeth scraped with odd machinery? To make sure they're . . . healthy?"

You place your toothbrush down, your evening ablutions having triggered this discussion. "Yes, that's the essence of it," you say, wondering if there was a better way you could have explained. The baffled look on the prince's face is rather adorable, though.

"And if they're not healthy? What does the tooth doctor do, exactly?" He watches as you start to floss. It gives you a good reason to pause and think through your answer. Hylian health topics can be complex even to one who is familiar with them.

"Well, then they figure out what the problem is. Sometimes they can do it just by looking around in your mouth. Most commonly, Hylians suffer from cavities or buildup around the teeth, especially if they haven't had a professional cleaning by the den-- er, the tooth doctor in quite some time," you explain.

"What is a cavity?"

After you explain, he is still rapt with interest in the subject. "Huh. That explains why you've never lost a tooth around me, then. I never realized that Hylians can't regrow their teeth, as the Zora do. Now I feel a bit silly." He eyes your toothbrush, a shadow of something more in his expression, but he says no more on his feelings. "Do you have an extra one of those?"

Suppressing your questions, you dig through your toiletry bag until you find the one the dentist last gave you. You've never had cause to open it, given that you use an electric toothbrush. "Sorry, it's not a fancy one," you say, "but it will get the job done. You don't have to, though. It won't be bad for you like it is for me, if I go without brushing."

"I know. I . . . think it's nice, though. And if you're going to do it, then so should I." He blushes a little. "I do hope I haven't been unpleasant for you to kiss, Y/N."

"Of course not." You are silent for a moment, taken aback both by his sudden interest in Hylian tooth care and his self-consciousness. "You've always taken good care of yourself and your diet, my prince. You have nothing to worry about. I never thought anything about it before now."

He turns from the mirror to look into your eyes. "Truly?"

"Yes. Don't make me prove it to you." You give him a small smirk.

"Hm. That sounds like a threat." The corner of his mouth turns up a little. "So why is it so utterly alluring to me?"

He grins and places the toothbrush down on the counter so that he can pull you close and give you a little squeeze. Conscious of his own massive size, he takes care whenever he touches you, careful to listen to the pattern of your breathing and your heart. He sometimes mistakes the butterflies in your stomach and chest for fear, and he is gentler than you'd like. In response, you hug him tightly, wrapping your legs around him as your feet leave the floor.

"You. Bed. While I finish up here." He gives you a quick peck on the lips that tells you he is still battling somewhat with his self-consciousness, but you decide that if brushing his teeth makes him feel better, you won't argue with him about it. He might need a much bigger brush, though. You wonder if you can find one in the Zora shops on some off chance. You expect him to place you down, but instead, he carries you to your bed and gives you a kiss on the forehead as he sets you down on it.

You start to snuggle under the covers. He pauses and turns back toward you on his way back to the bathroom. "Hey, Y/N. Do you think I could come with you next time you go? To the tooth doctor, I mean?"

"I . . . uhm, sure." Your mind is on a completely different subject by now, so his question jostles you. "If you want."

"Thank you." He smiles. "I'll be back. Get ready to show me some proof." With a wink, he disappears around the corner, the sounds of vigorous brushing ensuing.

[comixandco]

there’s an alternate universe out there where when you reach the sanctum in totk when “zelda” does her little cutscene she ends it by throwing a dagger at you and it whistles just past link’s head as he reacts in shock before readying himself for battle and then you regain control of him as a boss bar appears at the top of the screen that reads “Puppet Zelda, Twisted Memory���

and Link is forced to fight the one he swore he would protect and has been chasing after the entire game, and instead of a sage offering him warnings or encouragement the Zelda belittles him and accuses him of abandoning her and failing her and leaving her to die

and her attacks at the beginning of the fight are those bursts of bright light and the daggers but as you whittle down her health and begin stage two the facade begins to slip and the light bursts are replaced with darkness and she oozes gloom wherever she moves and her movements become more stiff and skeletal and broken

and then once you’ve defeated her she rises into the air all broken and limp but still looking at you and says that it doesn’t matter that she wasn’t zelda because zelda is still gone, trapped in the past with no way to come home she could be burried anywhere in hyrule, and she summons a dark bow of light and draws it back as a red-purple bulging mass begins to form at the arrow tip

and that’s when the sages turn up, sidon unleashing a wave that pushes the bow aside, tulin firing an arrow that riju uses to cast down lightning, and yunobo at link’s side, and they all have their own line of dialogue that boils down to ‘don’t worry link, there’s no way that’s zelda, she would never say those horrible things, and we know she’s still out there because you heard her true voice, so don’t lose hope!’

and then zelda dissolves into gloom with a fit of that uncanny laughter and that’s when that megamind-style ganondorf head appears and makes his whole speech about how they have no idea who he is or was and you get his memory and that he has waited all his imprisonment to battle against link and prove that he is the strongest in hyrule, ‘and then you will fall, link, as rauru and zelda did, knowing that hyrule falls with you. Come to the Depths beneath this wretched castle, and meet your fate, o destined hero.’

and then the zelda-gloom melts away into a heart, and the sages have that post-battle talk about re-grouping at lookout landing, and tell link not to do anything rash because they will find the real zelda together

[sombersummerskies]

A Champion's Love: Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Remembrance Word Count: 2116 CW: None

Want all the chapters? -> Masterlist

~~~ <> ~~~

A hazy scene appeared in your mind. A lake… mountains… grassy plains and rivers far out in the distance. You were slowly moving upwards. You were… sat on a platform? Some kind of mechanical one. Somehow you remembered it as the end of Vah Ruta’s trunk. You remembered a stinging pain in your arm and three deep slashes, though where those slashes came from was an unknown detail. A moblin? Lizalfos?

Beside you was a girl. A Zora woman. She was short, shorter than you. Bright red scales and a rounded crest on her head. Adorned in blue jewels and silver bands with a blue sash strapped around her torso. She had deep, emotional yellow eyes. A bright blue light was coming from her hand as she ran it across the slashes in your right arm.

You miraculously remembered some of the words being said.

“I was thinking,” she spoke in a soft tone, one that somehow perfectly matched her looks and demeanor, “this reminds me of the time we first met. You were just a reckless child… always getting yourself hurt at every turn.”

She paused her speech to turn her gaze up to you, a shy smile gracing her lips before she looked back down at your wounds. “Every time I would heal you, just as I am doing right now. I thought it was funny how, being a Hylian, you looked grown-up so much faster than I did,” she continued on, happily reminiscing.

You didn’t speak, always wanting to hear more from her. You somehow remembered being the talkative one, but were happy to listen and let her speak as much as she wanted to.

She seemed to notice your stare and blushed, focusing more on the healing she was performing. “I was… I was always willing to heal your wounds. Even back then.” she murmured, lifting her hand up. The blue light faded, and you looked down to see your arm which was once bloody and slashed, now smooth and cleaned. No marks or any signs of previous injury.

You thought that you should’ve thanked her. But this was a memory. You couldn’t speak to her even if you tried. So she continued to talk in place of your silence.

“So if this Calamity Ganon does, in fact, return… what can we really do? We just don’t seem to know much about what we’ll be up against,” she sighed, pausing with a look that signified she was thinking of what to say next, “but know this. That no matter how difficult this battle might get… if you- if anyone ever tries to do you harm… then I will heal you. No matter when, or how bad the wound… I hope you know that I will always protect you… once this whole thing is over maybe things can go back to how they used to be… when we were young. You know… perhaps we could spend some time together,” she finished, finally looking back at you and locking eyes, a sincere smile as she looked at you happily.

The memory started fading. You didn’t want it to fade. You wanted to know more- you needed to know more. You knew so little, why couldn’t you learn more? It couldn’t be ending already-

… and before you knew it you were pulled back to reality.

You were shaking after having spaced out for so long. A sharp shiver going down your spine, you finally regained your senses when you heard someone speaking to you.

“What is the matter? Are you unwell?” a voice asked with concern, and you quickly recognized it as Sidon who was standing beside you.

“You are quivering like a hatchling…” Muzu commented, staring at you now, “whatever is the matter?”

It took you a moment to speak, your mouth couldn’t form the words. “I- I remember… I remember Mipha,” you answered, staring up at her stature, shocking yourself by admitting that.

Glancing over at Sidon, you saw that he was staring down at you in awe. That clearly wasn’t an answer he was expecting. He looked as though he wanted to say something or ask you a question, but Muzu quickly caught your attention.

“WHAT?! Do not mistake me for a fool, Hylian! There is no way you remembered her just now, when it is most convenient. In any case, without solid proof, I cannot possibly take you at your word!” he exclaimed, giving you a rather unsavory and accusatory look, “if you have any such proof, now is the time to show it. Do so, and… and I… I shall tell you how to get those shock arrows! Yes, as well as anything else you wish to know.”

Before you could argue, Sidon stepped in to defend you. “Have you truly not figured it out yet? Simply take a closer look at what she is wearing!” he retorted, gesturing to the Zora armor that you bore.

Muzu rolled his eyes as he turned to look at you, “Hm? You really think changing your clothes is going to make me…” he trailed off when he finally noticed the details, “... Eh?! What in the… the Zora armor! Lady Mipha made that by hand… and yet it fits you perfectly! What is the meaning of this?”

“Now you understand, do you not? Now you know who her heart belonged to and who she made this special armor for. The fact that this armor fits perfectly should be proof enough that Mipha made it for her and her alone! You have always disliked Hylians, even before the Great Calamity. That is why Mipha never told you,” Sidon explained, taking a step towards you to stand by your side as he spoke, “Now that you know, you must promise to help her save us all, Muzu. Please… tell us where we can find the shock arrows we need. Knowing you, I bet you have already figured it out.”

The way Prince Sidon spoke made your heart ache. He pleaded with such emotion. It was clear he cared deeply about Zora’s Domain and his people. The topic of his sister likely added to his emotion as well. You respected how genuine he was, even in these times of great need.

“Hmph. I never would have imagined Mipha would make that special armor for one such as she…” Muzu sighed, turning to gaze up at the late princess’ statue. A softened look fell upon his face while he paused to think, before turning back to you, “I do not approve of asking for help from a Hylian, but I suppose it is our only option at this point. I am a proud Zora. That means I must take responsibility for my unwarranted behavior toward you. As promised, I shall tell you where you can collect as many shock arrows as you will need.”

“That tall mountain over yonder… it is called Ploymus Mountain, and there you will also find Shatterback Point,” he explained, turning and pointing up to one of the tall cliff sides north of Zora’s Domain, “A terrifying creature has made its home up there. This awful beast shoots volley after volley of shock arrows. Even a single one could be fatal to a Zora.”

“Aha!” Sidon exclaimed, the sudden shout making you jump, “You must mean that Lynel! He is a man-beast, that one! That beast does indeed wield shock arrows. That is certainly one way to collect them quickly. He is vicious, to be sure. But I am certain you will rise to the challenge.”

Muzu looked lost in thought before nodding his head and speaking, “In order to appease the Divine Beast, I estimate that you will need… hmm… at least twenty shock arrows. Do you think you can gather that many?”

You nodded your head, but weren’t entirely confident. From the way the pair of Zora were describing this Lynel to you, you were already feeling quite intimidated. Were you strong enough to face such a foe yet?

“Why do you still doubt her, Muzu? I have no doubt she will be triumphant!” Sidon grinned, and his enthusiasm helped to soothe your nerves, “okay young one, let’s get moving. The fastest way to Ploymus Mountain is to ascend the waterfall east of the domain. That Zora armor should come in handy. Just swim to the waterfall basin, and then go up the waterfall from there! I’ll wait at the East Reservoir Lake, right by the Divine Beast. Gather at least twenty shock arrows, and then come and join me!”

You nod once more with newfound vigor and smile at him, “I’m on it. Let me stock up at the general store real quick and I’ll be up on Shatterback Point in no time.” you assured him, using the energy in your voice to assure yourself as well.

“Wonderful! Together we shall stop that Divine Beast’s onslaught!” Sidon cheered, giving you one last meaningful look before running off, diving over the edge of the plaza, the distant sound of a splash as he hit the water below. No doubt he was already speeding off to the reservoir.

Now all that was needed was you.

At the general store you purchased as many arrows as they had available before dashing over to the inn and borrowing their cooking pot to cook some elixirs. The small bottles would be easy to traverse with and quite useful for on-the-go healing. All the enemies you’d fought on the route to get to Zora’s Domain meant you had monster parts to spare for brewing ingredients. You’d also purchased a trout while at the store and quickly fried it into a skewer to quickly scarf down.

Once you felt prepared, you climbed to the tallest part of the palace which you could reach. Taking in a deep breath, you spread the cloth of your paraglider and sail down  toward the easternmost waterfall, mentally preparing yourself for the battle to come.

…

Traversing Ploymus Mountain was the easy part. The Zora armor was extremely useful, giving you the strength to vertically swim up waterfalls just as any other Zora could. After swimming up two streams, you had reached the cliff tops of the mountain.

The area was lush, and the higher altitude had lessened the amount of rain- but you were still drenched. Despite being soaking wet there was a nearby lake that looked shockingly refreshing, but now was not the time for distractions. The grass was slippery beneath your boots as you sprinted towards the path that would take you to Shatterback Point.

Unfortunately, there was more than just the beautiful scenery. There was also the local fauna, which meant there were monsters attempting to block your path. After quickly dispersing the  moblins and lizalfos with a few well placed arrows, you found yourself quickly approaching the peak. The higher up you reached, the more your nerves and anxieties seemed to flare. You were becoming incredibly paranoid after the way the Lynel had been described to you. Could you truly beat this terrifying foe?

As you hiked you noticed something out of place. A handful of the trees you passed had intact shock arrows sticking out of them. You collected the ones you found, and had managed to gather eight by the time the path rounded out at a plateau.

Looking around you saw a rather scenic area. A shallow lake in a grassy area with flowers, and while there were some boulders sticking out of the ground it didn’t seem to distract from the view. Pulling out your Sheikah Slate, you surveyed the map curiously. ‘It says I’m right on top of Shatterback Point… but I’m not seeing any monsters up here-’ 

Your train of thought is abruptly interrupted by a vicious roar.

You barely had time to turn and see a shock arrow heading right for you, and managed to duck as it whizzed over your head and lodged in the pine tree behind you.

The source of the arrow was a humongous centaur-like creature with a grizzly red mane and beady green eyes. He was putting his bow away as he reached for the curved sword and shield on his back, hooves pawing at the ground as he seemingly prepared to charge at you. He was the most frightening thing you’d faced on this adventure so far.

Swallowing your fear, you reach for your own shield and guard yourself. You allow yourself a split-second to close your eyes and make a silent prayer to the goddesses. As soon as you finish you open your eyes and harden your gaze.

As you sprint forward you unsheathe your sword. You will not allow yourself to fail.

~~~ <> ~~~

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

[thebalancewentwrong]

The Tears give the champions their powers! (Tears of the Kingdom theory)

I’ve had this theory stuck in my head for the last few days so just hear me out as I go off about this.

Ok, so in the recent trailer we see small gemstones that we now believe to be the titular ‘Tears of the kingdom’.

Zelda is seen holding one but we also see more in the possession of the ‘new champions’

On Sidon’s hand

On Tulin’s talon

So it seems that all the champions will have one, but it seems Ganondorf also managed to get one on his forehead here:

So we got a handful of Tears (presumably 7 based on other theories on murals and such) But what do they do?

Well people have already made the connection to the new recall ability symbol and the that Tear Zelda (and also the Zelda like woman) have.

Perhaps this Tear is what gives Link the time rewinding ability (and perhaps what sends Zelda back in time if that theory is to be believed (Which I do))

I actually believe the below image is the scene where Link sends the Master Sword to the past to be fixed by Zelda (or just keep it there for a while as just time seems to heal the Master Sword) and Zelda gives Link the Recall Tear, thus giving him the ability.

Ok so, the yellow Tear gives the Recall ability, but what about the rest? What do the others do and what are the other races using them for? Well this theory was spawned from this shot in the trailer:

Riju appears to be using Urbosa’s lightning ability! An ability she never used in BotW and AoC so it was presumed she didn’t inherit it, and yet here she is using it now, but how?

Well if we look closely in this shot we can see....

She has one of the Tears on her ear! Is it possible that the Tear is what gives her this lightning ability???

Is it possible that the 4 previous champion’s unique abilities were actually a result of Tears that they kept on them?

Perhaps these 4 abilities (Lightning, Shield bubble, Updraft and Healing) all originate from Tears that the champions were given from the royal family when they became champions?

There are a few plot holes though... so I’ll try to fill them.

Firstly Yunobo. He seems to have inherited Daruk’s Shield bubble ability. But perhaps what he actually inherted was the Tear that he keeps on him at all times? Maybe he’s not fully aware on what it truly does, or he sees it as a ‘protection charm’?

Then there is Revali who calims to have perfected his unique updraft ability. Perhaps the tear’s ability was a bit unruly at first and needed to be trained. Or perhaps other Rito gave it a try but none could control quite like Revali.

I get there is a bit of a leap in logic here but I just can’t get the idea out of my head. It just makes sense to me on how these particular individuals gained these bizarre abilities. I really can’t imaine how Urbosa for instance managed to gain control of lightning. I get she could just be a powerful magic user and that still may be the case but still.

Finally I want to talk about Ganondorf. I believe his Tear allows him to transform into this:

Some crazy powerful suped up (possibly immortal) version of himself (no I don’t think this is Demise. I think there is too much evidence to state the contrary) But anyway it’s clearly made him even more powerful than before.

I think he craves this power in this game and has stolen the Tears and Link has to get them back for the champions. As we know they don’t have the tears all the time from the gameplay and artwork:

No Tears in sight.

And I actually think this shot (below) actually takes place near the end of the game after all the tears are recovered for them.

So anyway, that’s my theory, I just had to get it out there before I exploded. I’m all good now.

I have other theories like how the rehydrated Ganondorf scene actually takes place in the past and his Tear made him immortal and thus that’s why his mummified body is still alive despite it being thousands of years. But I’ll leave that for now.

Thanks for reading!

[three-bunnies-in-a-trenchcoat]

Being in the Shrine of Resurrection for one hundred years, Link hasn't had much of a chance to touch anyone

(It's just 5+1 hug edition)

Link… isn’t sure when the last time he had touched anyone was.

Monsters didn’t count, and throwing a Yiga over his shoulder definitely didn’t. Brushing hands while exchanging rupees or items only lasted for a second… and no matter how many times they try, he simply couldn't touch any of the champions.

Only two of his recovered memories had him touching anyone outside of a combat situation, so clearly he was used to it… so why does it hurt so much when he sees others exchange casual touch? Why can’t it be him on the receiving end of a hug or a hair ruffle?

Maybe this is normal. He only has a month’s worth of memories to his name, and he’s traveled very little of Hyrule. Maybe it’s normal to only touch those close to you.

(But… he doesn’t have anyone. He’s alone with only four spirits for company.)

-

“We are close to Zora’s Domain.” Mipha says one evening, folding her hands in her lap. She looks at the gray storm clouds in the distance. “I know we promised not to push you… but the reservoir is close to full, now. It will be dangerous for not only my people, but those downriver as well.”

“It’s fine.” He says. It’s been long enough; he needs to do something. “I was going there anyway.”

“Oh.” She says, some of the ever present stiffness leaving her. “Thank you, Link.” She brushes a hand against his arm in thanks, but he feels nothing but a cool breeze.

-

“Say, hey there!” A voice calls from above, cutting through the sound of rain.

He looks up, catching sight of a figure waving at him. Upon noticing Link’s attention, he leaps down, landing on the ground with surprising lightness.

“Pardon the entrance, but you are a Hylian, aren’t you?” He nods. “I was hoping perhaps you’d have a moment to talk.”

He tilts his head to the side slightly, curious about what could possibly have been important enough for such a dramatic entrance. “Okay.”

“Splendid! Ah, but I’m forgetting myself. I am Sidon, Prince of the Zora! If I may ask, what is your name?”

“Link.”

“What a fantastic name! Although I can’t shake the feeling I’ve heard it somewhere before…” He muses. “I can tell by the way you carry yourself that you are a proud warrior. You must have quite some skill among your people.”

“I guess.” He’s never really thought of himself like that.

“Right now, Zora’s Domain is in grave danger because of the massive rainfall coming from the Divine Beast Vah Ruta! The only way to appease it is with shock arrows, but I’m afraid we Zora cannot touch them. Will you please accompany me to Zora’s Domain and help us?”

He glances at Mipha, but she’s frozen in shock, staring at Sidon.

“Sure.”

Sidon grabs his hand, shaking it enthusiastically. He grins broadly, showing off sharp teeth. “Thank you, Link, thank you!”

He stares down at his hand, only distantly acknowledging Sidon’s words of warning and the elixir handed to him. The place where skin met scales tingles, and it’s with a still clouded mind that he heads to Zora’s Domain.

-

“Thank you.” Sidon says, tears at the corners of his eyes. “For letting my sister’s spirit rest.”

He nods, Grace sitting warmly in his chest, and pointedly doesn’t look in Mipha’s direction. She’s free to move on, and he doesn’t understand why she decided to stay with him.

“Oh, Sidon.” She says softly. "Have you blamed yourself all this time?"

Sidon drops to one knee, and wraps him into a hug. It’s too much all at once, almost overwhelming, but he melts into the warmth, hugging him back just as tightly.

“Ah.” Sidon says when he pulls back, all too soon. He clears his throat. “That was a bit sudden; perhaps I should not have done that.”

“No!” He says, face hot, and waves his hands frantically. “I didn’t mind, not at all!”

“Very well.” A smile once more appears on Sidon’s face, and he pats Link’s shoulder. “Let me treat you to a meal, yes? I imagine that fight was quite taxing.”

-

Across the continent, the Gerudo Desert is the opposite of Zora’s Domain.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen my home like this.” Urbosa says, as if Link isn’t getting scammed out of all of his rupees right in front of her. “The sunset is beautiful, no?”

“Not as nice as one on the snowy peaks of Hebra, but it has its appeals.” Revali agrees, obvious glee in his voice as he watches Link hand over six hundred rupees. (Honestly, it’s not worth it.)

He rolls his eyes, hurrying back down the ladder with a bundle of clothes in his arms.

-

Before they enter Gerudo Town once more, Riju turns to him, and hugs him. “Thank you for helping my people.” She says, muffled by his armor, and releases him quickly, dashing across the sand with Patricia following her.

He stares down at the empty space, confused, before a warm feeling unfurls in his chest. Not even Revali’s laughter at his stunned expression is enough to shake it away.

-

Riju waves to the side of the throne where a pair of chests lie, still a little flustered from her surprise hug earlier. “These were Chief Urbosa’s weapons, the Scimitar of the Seven and Daybreaker. I think she would have liked for you to have them.���

He opens the chests, and Urbosa comes to stand at his side, inspecting the weapons.

“I don’t know how they were retrieved, but I hope they will serve you well.” She says as he slings the shield over his shoulder.

“Hey.” Buliara says gruffly before he can leave. He turns back, and she reaches out and ruffles his hair. “You did good, kid.”

Link freezes, not moving until the weight leaves his head.

“Take good care of Chief Urbosa’s weapons. If you ever need them repaired, come to me.”

“Thank you.” He says, and rushes out of the throne room, the touch still lingering on his head.

-

Rito Village is cold. He isn’t sure why he expected otherwise, given the warnings he received on the journey there, but the biting wind seems at odds with the warm atmosphere there.

The Flight Range is even colder, and as he puts away his bow, shivering, he’s grateful he decided to spend the rest of his rupees on the snowquill armor.

“Good job, kid.” Teba pats his head. “You might even be as good as Master Revali.”

“I think not!” Revali says, scandalized.

It’s only the sheer absurdity of Revali’s outrage that keeps him from freezing up again, and he ducks his head, hoping it wasn’t obvious. Is this what it should be like? Casual touches, even between strangers? He wouldn’t really call Teba a friend yet, so that couldn’t possibly be it.

-

“Link!” Tulin says, barreling into his legs for a hug. He pats his head, smiling down at him. “Did you see it?”

“He was quite excited when Vah Medoh settled above the village.” Teba says, gesturing to the seat next to him.

“How are you doing?”

“My injuries were not as bad as I feared. I should be asking how you are doing; the battle was visible even down here.”

Link winces, hoping Revali won’t be too upset when he eventually notices the destroyed pillars. “I’m fine. It only got in a few hits.”

Teba hums, and pats him on the head again. “You’ll have to tell the tale another time. It’s getting late; you should rest here for the night.”

Why does he keep doing that? A part of Link screams, even as he wishes the contact had lasted longer.

“I can’t do that.” He says instead.

“Of course you can. Harth, Saki and I have more than enough room.”

-

If Hebra is going outside during a blizzard, soaking wet, then Death Mountain is running into a fire covered in oil. While fireproof elixirs keep him from dying or spontaneously bursting into flame, it doesn’t stop him from sweating buckets.

It’s with those thoughts that he scales the mountain, Yunobo following him. Hiding from the Skywatchers, having to constantly catch his breath for reasons unrelated to the heat, he almost wishes for the spontaneous combustion instead. The only reason his clothes aren’t soaked through with sweat is because the heat dries them too quickly, so it could be possible.

“I’m awfully sorry about this, little guy.” Daruk says when he stops to down his third fireproof elixir. “Rudania would never usually do something like this.”

“Not your fault.” He signs, just out of Yunobo’s sight.

He chuckles, rubbing the back of his head. “Yeah, you’re right, but I still wish there was something I could do to help you here.”

-

“Link!” Yunobo cries when he staggers back down the mountain. “I can’t believe you jumped into the volcano like that!”

He gives him a weak thumbs up, keeping the cryonis summoned block of ice pressed to his forehead. He'd run out of elixirs a few minutes before reaching the city, and it was already taking a toll. “‘M fine.”

Yunobo obviously doesn't think so, because he picks him up and starts rushing through Goron City. It's probably a good thing; he felt like he was going to collapse any second.

“He’s dying!” Yunobo says frantically to the healer.

“I’m fine.” Link insists. “It’s just a few burns.”

The healer, a Hylian for some reason, looks him over. “You can set him down over there.”

“What– no–” He protests.

The healer shoves a bottle of fireproof elixir and one of water into his hands. “Drink these while I grab some bandages.”

He drinks them, and feels mildly better, enough to attempt to leave the bed. “I’ve got to–”

“Whatever you can do can wait, young man.” The healer says sternly, already pulling away the ruined shreds of Link’s shirt. “These burns are quite severe.”

“What’s a Hylian doing here anyway?” He asks, resigning himself to his fate even if it’s just to relieve Yunobo’s hand wringing.

“My partner and I run this place together. He handles any injuries the Gorons might have, and I handle the rest.”

“Is his skin supposed to look like that?” Yunobo asks worriedly.

“Hm.” The healer says. “No. The scarring underneath the burns is quite intensive. Quite old, too…”

“It’s nothing.” Link says. “Can’t you just treat the burns?”

“No. You’ll be on bedrest for the next few days I’m afraid. By Hylia, you must have fallen into lava.” He mumbles the last part to himself. That’s… probably concerning.

“Well, he did jump into the volcano.” Yunobo says.

“He jum–” The healer sighs, and lifts his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Yes, with those burns, I can believe it.”

-

“I’m so glad you’re alright.” Yunobo says a few days later, scooping him up into a hug.

He pats his arm, and hugs him back, the stress of the last week leaving him; the warmth he feels isn’t from Death Mountain’s heat.

-

Standing in the ruins of Hyrule Field, he helps Zelda to her feet, and wordlessly pulls a tunic from his slate.

“Thank you.” She says, letting go of his hand after a long moment. She pulls it on, and rolls up the oversized sleeves.

It dawns on him after a moment– this is the first contact with anything she’s had in one hundred years, of course she would be reluctant to let go. He offers his arm to lean on, and tries not to show that the contact means as much to him as it obviously does to her.

-

Halfway across the field, the Champions’ gifts rip out of his chest; he staggers, falling to one knee and clutching the space above his heart.

Zelda drops down to his side and rests one hand on his shoulder, peering into his face with concern. “Link? Are you okay?”

The warmth of her hand does nothing to replace the hole left by his gifts’ presence. Tears trace down his cheeks, and it takes everything he has just to remember to breathe.

“Gone.” He whispers hoarsely, the word broken.

“Oh.” She says, realization dawning, and pulls him into an awkward hug. “Oh, Link. I’m so sorry.”

He buries his face into her shoulder, tears soaking through her borrowed shirt instantly, and weeps for what’s lost.

-

He runs away to Hebra. Rito Village has always been the place he’s most comfortable, and he can’t face Sidon, who looks so much like Mipha, or Riju, Thunder Helm hanging awkwardly on her head. They’ll ask no questions there, and he knows Teba will let him stay at the Flight Range for however long it will take for the hole in his chest to close.

“I saw the Malice disappear from the castle.” Teba says one afternoon, when Link is staring at the fire, lost in his thoughts. He reaches over, patting Link on the head just as awkwardly as the first time he’d done so. It doesn’t fill him with the warmth it usually does. “You did well, kid.”

“Not enough.” He signs. “They’re gone.”

Teba frowns. “The Champions? They died one hundred years ago.”

“Their spirits. They left after I killed the Calamity.”

“You mean to say– Master Revali has been here as a spirit this whole time?”

“You don’t have to call him Master. He was barely older than me.”

“I… see.”

“I don’t know why I expected them to stay.” He says, signs jumbled together as the words come out faster and faster. “They were ghosts for a hundred years, they deserved to rest. But– it hurts. They didn’t even say goodbye.”

“Hey.” Teba says. “It’s okay to hurt. To us, their deaths happened a long time ago, but it was just a week ago for you."

"It doesn't feel okay. I'm supposed to be a hero, why does it– why does it feel so– why do I feel so weak?!" He curls his hands into his hair in frustration, dislodging the feathers.

"Heroes are people too, kid. You don't have to be strong all the time."

"I miss them." His voice cracks painfully. "I miss him."

"I know." Teba sighs. "My father died a few years back. One day you’ll wake up and the pain won’t be so unbearable.”

“It doesn’t feel like that will ever happen.”

“You’ll just have to trust me, then.”

-

There’s a commotion outside the Flight Range. Link doesn’t pay any mind to it, focused solely on the targets; up here, it’s almost possible to believe the rushing winds are from Revali’s Gale.

“Yes, I know I’m impressive, but please, I must speak with Link.”

A voice drifts through the air, strikingly clear despite the wind, and Link snaps his attention towards it. It… can’t be.

“Well, well.” Revali says, folding his arms behind his back. A strange blue liquid drips from some of his feathers. “Not as good as me, but it’s passable, I suppose.”

Link drops his bow, not caring where it lands, and snaps his paraglider open. He falls to the snow ungracefully, and rushes to Revali, catching him in a hug that makes him stumble.

He ignores the cold liquid, focusing on the warmth seeping through his feathers, the heartbeat thumping rapidly through his chest. Alive alive alive.

“How.” He says.

Revali hugs him back, and he seems almost as desperate as Link does. “There was some sort of chamber in the Divine Beast, like the Shrine of Resurrection. I think it only activated after the Calamity was gone.” He paused. “We were… never really dead.”

That explains the liquid, then. He remembers it dripping from his hair for hours after leaving the shrine.

“Glad you’re okay.” He says, muffled by his feathers.

“Yes.” Revali says, his voice unusually soft. “I’m glad you’re okay as well.”

[bugcatcherwill]

I wonder how Rezek would look in gerudo vai armor? (Seen fanart of a malice bokoblin and moblin in it to try and sneak into gerudo town, and seen so much fanart of other botw and totk characters in the vai set) it’s human like appearance would help make it look more “women” like.

And this is kinda a excuse for due to despite meeting or befriending tribes of hyrule we haven’t seen the monsters try on different armors sets aka give the ones who make the armor a challenge due to they should cater to different body types (except the zora mostly due to the armor is made by the princess for they’re loves, so maybe Sidon makes something like the dragon scale in skyward sword for his monster friends)

You would think they would at least have something to help their defence or element resistance actually I just remembered there is a shop in gerudo town that makes jewelry that helps with defence, hot or cold temps, even one for guardian resistance, maybe the owner could make accessories for the rogue monsters and Rezek brings them back as a souvenir from the town.

And since in TOTK jewels have elemental effects maybe the gerudo jewelry boosts ashen and rezek’s magic

See, what I find interesting about the whole "Who gets allowed into Gerudo Town" talk is that really the Gerudo are only a stickler to Hylians.

There's a Goron there in BoTW which is a race that exclusively uses he/him, and Kass has said he's visited Gerudo Town several times. No mention of Zora, though, but I doubt they'd fare well in the sandy environment in the first place lol.

I have a theory (that I may or may not explore later) that the reason they flat-out ban Hylian men is because so many of them that travel there just can't keep it in their pants and the Gerudo don't want a bunch of weirdos clogging the city for both their and their culture's sake.

But to answer your question Rezek would absolutely slay, but would likely just be allowed in wearing what it usually does.

[moinsbienquekaworu]

@ivory-coronet I've kept playing TotK and oh my god do you want to hear literally every thought out of my head on the topic?

BEWARE OF TOTK SPOILERS ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE

First I love all the little newspaper quests they're silly but they're fun and it's pretty nice going everywhere doing random shit that in like a third of cases are just the Yiga trying to fuck with you. I'd say Penn is useless but actually I think we're splitting the work pretty well: I do all the fieldwork and he writes the articles and gives them to Traysi! Great partnership. I just need the Gerudo Stable and I'll be done, but Ihope you can do stuff with him once the questline is over.

Also I can't help but notice you have way more of an impact on the world in a way? The NPCs remember you, they know who you are more often, I saw the two horse researchers and since I'd already talked to Malanya I got to tell the one who was interested in him that he did indeed exist, it's really really cool. And the rebuilding quests!! The Rito Village bridge! The Lookout Landing mini-stable!! The monster-control crew stuff!!! I really feel like I'm not just doing random sidequests for a reward but that I'm actually contributing to the world and the world knows it.

On the topic of the Wind Temple: it was great, you were right it didn't feel like an annoying dungeon! More like a traditional dungeon but not annoying like they usually are to me. It took me uuuh humiliatingly long to realise you had to use Tulin's gusts of wind on the turbines even though the Sage just straight up tells you to do that lol. The Sages stuff is incredible and I'm absolutely delighted by the fact that I've done a quarter of what was the main quest in BotW but I still don't know what's going to happen at the end of the game. In BotW you just knew where the final boss was and how things would more or less go from the end of the tutorial but here I'm still kind of at a loss. Like there's the Sages but there's also the Depths and the ruins in Kakariko! That said one of my friends who's also playing it said he stumbled upon the Mastersword and the final boss at random just exploring so uh. That must have been weird.

Plus on the topic of the Rito I need to be insane about this to as many people as possible because I was a Revalink kinda girl and I won't forget my roots: when Tulin gets the Great Eagle Bow after the temple... Babe that's MY bow!!! Give it to me it's MINE!!! It does 3x28 damage and it has a great design!!! I got it by beating the dungeon and saving your village almost alone last time!!!! I knew Revali and I wam/am a Champion too!!!!!! IT'S MY BOW GIVE IT BAAACK!!! Make your OWN bow Tulin!!!!! No for real I would be so happy to make a new group for the Sages and Link and make some fabric we can all wear and he can put it on his own bow someone made for him/helped him make but you gotta hand that back baby it's mine!!!!!!

Also I've been to see the Zoras as well and I'm at the entrance of the temple but not there yet so I won't say anything about the dungeon itself but 1) god Sidon.... dreamy sigh. Also 2) Yona isn't that ugly people are just mean. She's great she's sweet and she grew on me real fast. And 3) I really do not care about Finley's appearance relating to her quest in BotW I think it's some fun background stuff but I'm disappointed they didn't give her an older model like they did for Kass' kids. Like she's been waiting for that growth spurt for years now Nintendo just let her gain a few inches!!

Anyway what I want to talk about is the way they handled BotW's existence & a little bit its themes, which I personally think is the biggest flaw of the game. No mention of the Divine Beasts no mention of the towers or the shrines there's some stuff about the Calamity but it's rare I'm sooo mad like I was there for all of it!!! Why are you not saying anything!!!! We can't be forgetting history like three-five years after it happened!! I know they didn't want new players to the franchise to be lost but it's offensive Purah doesn't mention Sheikah tech when explaining the towers it's offensive the Zora chest armour's description just goes 'made by a Zora princess for her future husband' like the Zora princess in question wasn't Link's childhood best friend and he wasn't supposed to be the future husband it's offensive there's no mention of Revali anywhere except the landing is still called Revali's Landing when he had extremely similar powers to Tulin and Teba spent his childhood talking about the legendary champion to him and he has his damn bow in his back!!!!!! I'm so mad!!!! Why Nintendo why!!!

And when I said themes I meant that I'm sad the Sages are all descendants of the original Sages. Cause see the new champions all occupied the same roles as the old champions (greatest Rito warrior, Zora royalty, Gerudo chief, Goron boss (to be)) but while the others all were descendants of the OGs Teba wasn't. It said something about the characters and their villages and what they all valued. And now we're totally forgetting Revali when he's relatively recent (100 years compared to like 5 000) and had similar powers because "what if the player hasn't played BotW". Honestly it made me feel like the shitty 180 the Star Wars sequels pulled with Rey where the message was that whoever her family was didn't matter because she got to decide her own path and - oh wait no her grandpa was Palpatine it was always meant to be fuck off. Like none of them need to be related to the OG Sages but if Sidon or Riju are it's at least coherent with the fact their tribes (?) both seem to have a hereditary thing going on with their leadership. But Tulin really doesn't!! The Ritos don't work like that!! The point was hard work!!! I'm so mad about this one. Note that I don't say anything about Daruk and Yunobo because Yunobo is sweet but Daruk's personality is flatter than a sheet of paper in BotW, especially compared to AoC. I guess at least Mipha's statue is still there and they namedrop her once really badly :)))

Anway I also went to the Depths because I need that camera and it caused me worse stress than walking around Central Hyrule at the start of BotW. So. Not hyped to have to go there more.

There that's it I think but if you have more stuff to chat about don't hesitate to answer or to hit me up 👀 👀👀

[overclockedfamicom]

I've been playing Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom lately; I'm at the Zora story arc.

And honestly? I have to laugh

I'm putting what I'll say next in spoilers.

If they really added Yona as a "no homo" to sidlink shippers they failed miserably and hilariously.

I can see where people are getting at with that claim; she does just seem to be a very last minute add, what with her backstory of being Sidon's childhood friend, and how Link - Sidon's canonical "best friend" - never heard of her, or even knew about the arranged marriage.

But can we just look at some facts here?

- He just constantly praising Link over everything he does from the moment he sees him. Even more than he did in BotW I feel.

- There is literally a statue of Link RIDING on Sidon's back like he did in BotW that is revealed a second before Yona introduces herself.

- Yona talks about how much Sidon gushes over Link, and doesn't even seem phased about it.

- In fact, Yona ENCOURAGES Sidon to spend more time with Link and not to hold himself back. Granted she was talking about going with Link to save the domain but I feel like there COULD be subtext there.

This does not give me the vibe of "she was inserted as a slap in the face to Sidlink shippers". This gives me the vibe of: "Two good friends went through with an arranged marriage to keep up royal appearances, but are in solidarity of each other's queerness" (I mean I don't know if Yona comes across as queer but it could happen).

Also gives me the vibe that - if they do have romantic feelings for each other (Sidon DOES call Yona "my love" in that one conversation, and Yona constantly calls her "darling") - that either they have an open relationship or they're poly.

Either way: Yona's existence in TotK made Sidon MORE queer.

[thebleedingeffect]

Wait how mean would it be if Wild was purposely lied to and led aways to be captured with Cia pretending to be Coreulea? Perhaps an earlier scene could be given where it's shown that Wild hasn't yet reached the final memory? I was thinking that the beginning scene could be a scene to where Wild is telling Purah about the memories and Purah is telling him about the Zelda haunting Hyrule.

Either that or maayybbeeeeee a scene instead of Wild stopping in zoras domain before he continues onto the final memory. There he has a talk with Yona about Zelda and all of the difficulties that the zora have been facing. King Dorephan isn't recovering and Yona doesn't know how to tell Sidon that more than likely... he won't make it. If Mipha was still alive... then perhaps he could've had a chance, but the sickness from the sludge and the injuries he sustained are far too much for what she can handle. The king will likely be dead by the end of the month and the rest of the zora have no idea and Sidon is desperately trying to hold out hope.

Yona makes a request of Wild. She asks him to stay for the night, enjoy one more day with all of them, and help her break the news to Sidon in the morning. Wild is one of Sidon's most treasured friends, so having someone so dear besides herself will surely help him in digesting such a cruel truth. Wild agrees and the rest of the evening passes like normal, until it's nighttime and he cannot sleep no matter how hard he tries. The beds are too soft, the chill of the air is too bitter, the approach of the morning beckons him, and he cannot stop thinking about how he failed Coreulea once again.

I've also been debating of perhaps adding a plot point of there being attempts on Sidon's, Riju's, Yunobo's, and Tulin's lives, courtesy of Ganondorf. If the sages were to be killed- and if he pretended to be the princess- it would undoubtedly break their faith and loyalty to the kingdom. That's why I've been debating... that perhaps both Cia and Ganondorf make appearances in Wild's intro. Wellllll when I say Ganondorf, I moreso mean phantom Zelda, but Ganondorf does make an attempt on Sidon's life.

I'll gen have to think about it, but I very much like the thought of Sidon being nearly killed protecting Wild and he has to fight phantom Ganondorf so that they can both escape with their lives >:3

[christophoronomicon]

So, about Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom...

OK, so I've got more thoughts about Tears of the Kingdom, and since I cannot actually play the game yet I might as well inflict them on you all. I promise it's not my fault, it's in the contract and all... Anyway, actual thoughts after the break, although as I stated last time, I have managed to avoid all spoilers and leaks, everything I know and surmise comes from Nintendo's own published materials (mostly the trailers on YouTube) and the videos of those lucky ones they let play TotK for a bit last week. You could say there are some light Breath of the Wild spoilers in there as well, but since TotK is a direct sequel and continuation of the BotW story, that's pretty much unavoidable. Anyway, you've been warned!

So, I must say I'm impressed with Nintendo's marketing machine this time around. I mean, if you discount the leaks (and as I said I have no idea what's in those leaks so I can easily discount them), we pretty much only know as much about this game as they want us to. And despite that filled to the brim final trailer of nearly a month ago, that's still very little! I mean, we got confirmation of a few things:

The return of Ganondorf;

Zelda surviving her fall (in some fashion at least);

The Zonai being involved in some way;

But those were pretty much already guessed from previous materials. We do have a better idea of the gameplay, however we still have not much clue about the story (is time travel involved, a separate dimension, the sacred realm maybe? Is the Triforce actually going to be a plot point?), which is impressive given how much material has been released in the past few weeks.

Still, among all the stuff that's been released, some of it is actually quite conspicuous by its absence, and absence that seem to imply sharing it would spoil at least some of the narrative.

I'm of course talking about the Champions' descendants! Seeing Riju and Sidon again is great of course, but why is Teba's son Tulin with them rather than Teba himself, and more importantly where is Yunobo? Now in a blink and you'll miss it moment during the final trailer when we see the New Champions run together to the left, you can actually make out the edge of a Boulder Breaker, implying there is a Goron there as well, but why is he kept out of the trailers and the promotional materials? Is it Yunobo himself, and his new appearance is such a spoiler he has to be kept hidden? Or is it a different Goron altogether?

Of course, this could be Nintendo trolling us with red herrings, but I somehow doubt they would do this to us for something that important. At least it does make you wonder what is so important about what is happening to the Gorons that it needs to be kept hush-hush that much. I guess we'll find out soon enough though.

In the meantime, for me there's really only one big, all-important, all-encompassing question that Nintendo so far has refused to answer: are we finally going to be able to pet the dogs?!

[roxannarambles]

(slight sidlink) paella

(a/n: just a scene with link visiting lurelin village,  because I was just there in the game and imagined how it might go.)

Life in Lurelin Village was an exciting one; as a fishing town on the shores of the Necluda Sea, it was always bustling with activity in an ever-changing environment. At times the fishing was abundant and life was as easy as the relaxing, salty breeze. Other times, roving bands of monsters or stormy weather meant that life was much more tumultuous. However, in either case, Kiana felt blessed to live here with her family. No matter what the tides brought their way, it was always bound to be interesting.

As it turned out, today the tides had brought them something especially interesting; a traveler the likes of which she had never met before. As she busied herself with rinsing rice to prepare for dinner, she listened to her husband conversing with the strange new visitor.

"I have to say, Link, when we first saw you approach, we were all positively convinced you were a young Zora coming by to visit. It's remarkable armor, just amazing. And you moved so gracefully, just like them.”

Their guest, a polite young Hylian man, stood there looking somewhat bashful at Sebasto's praise. He was a striking image, in a full suit of scale armor and some sort of skintight, waterproofed fabric that perfectly mimicked Zora skin. Along with the scale armor were silver metal pauldrons, greaves, bracers and tassets, all beautifully marked in intricate patterns. Perhaps the most striking was the headpiece, which perfectly completed the illusion that the man was a Zora, complete with a finned head and crest armor. One of the fins was even pierced with little silver hoops. Kiana had never seen anything like it.

And Sebasto was right. That late afternoon, when they'd spotted his figure at sea, swimming gracefully among the waves and using a silver spear to skewer some pesky Octorocks, they had thought him a Zora who had strayed from the Domain. But what washed onshore instead was a young Hylian man with an energetic aura, earnest, sapphire-blue eyes and a surprisingly gentle voice.

He now spoke with that mellow, gentle tone as he replied,

"You have contact with the Zora, then. That's good to hear. I haven't talked to many Hylians yet who know much about them."

Sebasto smiled.

"Oh, yes, we have a fair bit of contact with them, actually. They often journey to this part of the sea on their fishing expeditions, you know. We trade with them sometimes, too. They provide a lot of freshwater fish for us, and in turn we give them our sea fish. They're especially fond of the porgy. Friendly, good people, the Zora-- although, now that I think about it, we haven't seen much of them lately."

Kiana poured her rice into the cooking bowl and interjected,

"It's been almost a month now. There's a rumor going round that they're having trouble with their dam, so maybe that's to blame."

The man named Link nodded.

"They were, but it was recently resolved. So maybe you'll be seeing more of them again from now on."

Kiana eyed the stranger, who seemed to have a knowing glint in his eyes. Her husband spoke eagerly,

"So you've been up that way? What do you know of the whole business, friend? We're always hungry for a story or for news here."

Their guest looked a little hesitant, but then he said,

"Well, it's sort of a long story, but . . . basically, their divine beast, Vah Ruta, had returned to the Domain and began to pour endless amounts of water into the East lake. The dam nearly burst, but they managed to get the beast back under control."

"My word," Sebasto marveled,

"We've heard stories of the beasts, of course, but we've never laid eyes on one ourselves. Do you know how they managed to tame Vah Ruta?"

Link fiddled absent-mindedly with the beaded sash on his armor, looking a little uncertain. He answered,

"Umm, well, they needed to hit it with shock arrows. The jolts interfered with its circuitry, apparently. I'm no expert, really, but that's the gist of things."

Sebasto laughed and looked delighted.

"Circuitry! What strange wizardry. Aren't the beasts massive? Imagine going up against one just with arrows!"

Link just shrugged a little and smiled faintly.

"There are some brave warriors among the Zora."

"Very true," Sebasto agreed. Kiana stopped pouring fish stock long enough to fix Link with a curious look.

"You never did say, though-- where did you learn all this? Were you actually in the Domain?"

Link nodded. Then, as an afterthought, he added quietly,

"That's where this armor comes from, actually."

Sebasto said,

"Ah! That makes sense. The craftsmanship matches theirs exactly. It must have cost quite the pretty penny, considering the quality."

Link laughed nervously, looking mildly uncomfortable. Kiana was interested in something other than armor, though. Forgetting her cooking for the moment, she sat down on one of the stools and asked eagerly,

"Could you tell us what the Domain is like? I've always wanted to know."

Link looked at her and then smiled, immediately more relaxed.  

"Sure. I might not do it justice, but I can try."

His expression melted into something warm and serene as he seemed to cast his memory back. Eventually, he answered in a soft, meandering tone.

"It's . . . beautiful there. It sits tucked between the Lanayru mountains, a valley filled with waterfalls and pines. The entire town looks like one giant sculpture carved from stone. Everything there shimmers during the day and glows during the night. When you stand in the middle of it all and close your eyes, you can feel everything moving . . . the flow of water is like blood, a sort of lifeforce, I mean. And the Domain is the heart of the valley."

Kiana remained quiet, enamored with Link's description. The young man sighed pleasantly.

"I like that the air is so fresh there, and cool. It's very comfortable. Very relaxing. And the waters, clear as crystal."

He glanced around a little and gestured.

"Similar to here, in some ways. There's a lot of that same feeling. I like it here too."

Sebasto beamed at that.

"Glad to hear we stack up well against it!"

Link nodded.

"You'd like it there, I think. Probably would feel a kinship. And the people, they're wonderful, of course."

Kiana couldn't help but feel a pang of envy. As much as she loved her home, the thrill of travel to such a place was undeniable. She asked,

"Did you talk with them much?"

Link affirmed,

"Yeah. They're a proud race, unparalleled craftsmen and skilled warriors. Full of very bright people. Stubborn, sometimes, but still kind."

Yes, that seemed to match her idea of the Zora. Link still seemed lost in thought on the subject. He murmured,

"And some of them, so passionate . . . almost like a raw force of nature. I've never met anyone so strong and yet so kind-hearted. He's . . . um,"

Link rubbed the back of his finned head, suddenly stopping and looking embarrassed.

"A friend of yours?" Kiana deduced, curious. Link agreed vaguely,

"Y-yeah. I made a lot of friends there."

Kiana nodded. She was pretty sure the young man was blushing a little, but she didn't push it. Instead she said,

"It's wonderful you made friends. I have to admit, the way you talk about it, I wish Sebasto and I could go visiting there."

In a serious tone, he answered,

"I could show you, if you'd like."

Kiana exchanged a look with her husband and they laughed.

"Some day," Sebasto said wistfully,

"Not today, though. Our fishermen haven't been up to that area in a very long while. Not since the Lizalfos became such a problem in the region."

"We couldn't leave the children right now anyway," Kiana said, smiling as she glanced further down the beach where her two sons were playing.

Link amended,

"Some day, then. I'll be happy to guide you when you're ready."

Kiana said sincerely,

"Thank you, Link. That's something I'll look forward to."

Sebasto agreed,

"We've always held the Zora in high regard. It would be wonderful to bring our people closer together."

Kiana stood, returning her attention to the meal she'd been neglecting during conversation.

"A Zora warrior once saved a nearby fishing village, in Hateno Bay, actually," she said, gathering up vegetables to chop.

"A long time ago. We all love a good fish tale, so some of us still tell the story to this day."

Link looked surprised a few moments before recognition crossed his face.

"Oh, right, I'd forgotten about that. I, um, I think I might know that story?"

Sebasto grinned,

"Have you? It's one of our sons' favorite tales. Let me know if it sounds familiar: There once was a Fell Octorock, whose tentacles stretched for miles along the coast; and when it inflated its mantle, it blocked out the very sun. Many fishermen went to confront the beast, but each one failed to return . . ."

Link smiled widely but didn't stop Sebasto, so he carried on.

"The Octorock seized each in his tentacles and inhaled them whole; its pull was as strong as a typhoon, and anyone within range was powerless to escape. Before long, entire fishing vessels were swallowed up into its maw, and the people had no idea what to do. It was unsafe to go fishing or to even go near the shores. The people of the village prayed to the Goddess Hylia for help."

Kiana chuckled at Sebasto's enthusiasm while she diced onions.

"But then one day, a Zora appeared in the village-- an enormous, powerful warrior with scarlet skin and glistening teeth. His name was Prince Sidon, and he said that word of the villagers' troubles had reached him all the way in the Domain. Without any hesitation, he charged the Man-Eating Octorock, snarling and stabbing with his silver spear!"

Link had perched on one of their seats and was watching with a great deal of amusement. Sebasto gestured dramatically as he recounted.

"The Octorock spat huge boulders at the Prince, but each time the Prince dodged out of the way deftly. Just when he was about to deal a fatal blow, the Octorock swallowed him up, like so many of the others. All the villagers thought they were doomed. But as they watched, suddenly, the Octorock seemed to convulse in pain. Then a silver glint appeared, poking out of the beast from within. It was the tip of the Prince's spear! He was still alive, and had stabbed the beast in the stomach over and over!"

Kiana used her knife to push the diced vegetables into the cooking pot, commenting wryly,

"I think he knows the story, dear."

Link laughed, but Sebasto just took it as reason to finish, with as much flare as he could.

"In agony, the Octorock spat him back out and tried to flee, but the Prince seized one of its tentacles and yanked it back, then tore into the monster and finished it off with some mighty twists! The villagers held a feast in the Prince's honor, but for many months afterward, pieces of the Fell Octorock washed onshore . . . as a reminder of how close the town had come to destruction."

Link clapped at Sebasto's theatrical conclusion, still grinning.

"A little different from the story I heard, but beautifully told."

Sebasto shrugged and said,

"Well, stories are bound to change a little as they're told."

Kiana hummed as she stirred the pot.

"Mmm, yes. But if there's any truth to it at all, then we owe a lot to that Zora Prince indeed."

Link glanced away, looking strangely conflicted, for some reason. Then he muttered something, but Kiana couldn't quite catch it.

"What was that?"

Link looked back to her, and repeated sheepishly,

"I, um, I've met him. Prince Sidon."

Sebasto stared, incredulous.

"What? Link . . . with respect, I remind you this was many years ago. My father claimed he was only a young boy when this happened."

Link smiled lightly and said,

"But the Zora are a very long-lived race. Have you not heard this? They can live well past a hundred."

Sebasto blinked.

"Oh," he said, "Of course. I have heard they can live to be quite old. So that means . . . Prince Sidon still lives? Or, is he King by now?"

Link shook his head.

"Still Prince. His father Dorephan is hale and hearty."

"Goodness," Kiana mused,

"How nice to be blessed with such vitality."

"Well this is wonderful," Sebasto cheered,

"You've actually met him! You have to tell us-- is he anything like the stories?"

Link paused, considering. Then he admitted,

"Yeah . . . he really is like that."

Kiana smiled. Her husband enthused,

"Our sons will be happy to hear that!"

Link added hesitantly,

"But, stories like that, they don't really capture who a person is. Only just some small piece of it. He's not just a Zora Prince who did something heroic. He's . . . a really amazing person, too."

As Kiana looked at Link's wistful expression, something clicked in her mind from earlier.

"Is he your Zora friend, then?"

Slowly, Link nodded. Kiana quietly reconsidered her assumptions about the young man. Perhaps not just a humble traveler, considering he had befriended Zora royalty. Then again, perhaps the Zora Prince was just a very welcoming sort of fellow. In either case, their guest seemed to be full of surprises.

"Well! It sounds like you've had some incredible adventures during your travels. I did promise I'd teach you my paella recipe, though, and instead we've been running our mouths at you. Would you like me to teach you now?"

Link looked at her in gratitude.

"I would love that."

Sebasto stood and told them,

"I'm going to go track down our children. I think they've run off to those ruins again Garini is so taken with."

Kiana called after him, amusement in her tone,

"Be sure to tell them if they return covered head to toe in seaweed again, they're going for a dip before they get to eat."

"Yes ma'am."

A gentle calm settled around them after Sebasto left, punctuated only by the seagull cries. Kiana glanced up to notice the sun was very near the horizon now and would soon set-- more time had passed than she'd realized.

"Tsk, we'd better get going on this. Come here, Link, let me run you through the steps I've already done, first."

Her guest came to stand beside her, and she gestured to one of her clay pots of ingredients.

"You start with the fish stock. Good stock gives an important foundation for the dish. We usually use Mighty porgy bones, they're very meaty. Bones, sliced onion, parsley, peppercorns, simmer around 30 minutes. Skim off any of the crud that rises to the top, and strain everything when you're finished. Cheesecloth works best."

"Um, what if I don't have cheesecloth?"

Kiana hummed in thought a moment and concluded,

"Well, use cotton fabrics, then. Anything clean, really."

Link perked up.

"Great. I can do fabrics. Maybe not the clean part, though."

Kiana frowned, but he urged,

"What's next?"

"Um . . . the vegetables are next up. You'll want around half an onion, a couple peppers, three cloves of garlic, four diced tomatoes. You'll want everything chopped very finely and sauté it in goat butter."

She gestured to a bag of Hylian rice beside them.

"Three cups rice. You'll want to rinse the rice first so that it will cook fluffier. Add your salt and your porgy and hearty snails-- make sure to clean those snails well, first, get all the sand out. I'm adding the snails now."

Link nodded and seemed to take mental note of it all, while Kiana worked to finish rinsing off and adding the blueshell snails. She commented,

"Sometimes we might throw some chicken sausage in, but only if I happen to have some on hand. But really, porgy and the snails are excellent all on their own. Oh, I forgot--"

She turned and glanced around the little table beside her that held her spice jars, then picked up a little one.

"Some folks like to add the threads of Swift Violets. It adds a very distinctive flavor, and puts quite a spring in your step. But it's expensive stuff, so we usually do without it-- I'm all out right now."

Link narrowed his eyes and rubbed his chin. After a moment, he asked,

"What do you think about adding Goron Spices to it?"

Kiana considered that.

"That would probably be very good; we always enjoy the added heat when we use extra peppers. I'm afraid Goron Spice is pretty hard to come by too, though."

The young man wordlessly went over to the leather saddlebag that was sitting on the ground, digging around for something. Quickly, he returned with a glass bottle containing a red powder, proudly holding it up and offering it to Kiana.

"Oh, wow. Thank you, Link. I'm surprised you were able to get a hold of this."

She removed the cork and gingerly sprinkled the paella with the spices. Cheerfully, Link urged,

"Add as much as you want!"

She laughed.

"All right. Tonight's meal will pack a punch."

She made sure to be more liberal with her seasoning.

"If you don't mind me asking, where did you manage to buy this from? I'd love to add this to my usual roster of spices, but the traders who visit here rarely have it."

Link rubbed his neck and gave her a little half-smile, then said,

"I, ah, got it in Goron City, actually."

Kiana's eyes widened.

"Truly?"

Link nodded. Kiana exhaled a short laugh.

"You really are full of surprises. I know that you're a traveler, but still-- Goron City is an incredible destination. I hear there are rivers of lava and air that singes your very skin. I didn't think anyone but Gorons could even survive there. How on earth did you manage?"

The young man shrugged a little, as if it wasn't really a big deal.

"It's not so bad. The Gorons make some very nice flameproof armor for Hylian tourists. There's also these elixirs you can make that are surprisingly effective. You can't go jumping into the lava or anything, but they keep your skin from burning off or your eyeballs from boiling inside your own head."

Kiana tried to envision that while she fed some wood into her cooking fire.

"It sounds, um . . . lively."

Link smiled. He admitted,

"It's nowhere near as comfortable and pleasant there as some places, it's true-- but, even Goron City has its own sort of beauty. And the land may be harsh, but the people are good."

Kiana studied Link as she stirred her cooking pot, wondering what drove this mysterious young man. After a bit of silence, she said,

"You travel all over, but tell me, Link-- where is home to you?"

Link didn't answer right away; there was a distant, wary sort of look in his eye. But then he turned and gave a quick smile.

"Well, home is wherever I happen to be at the moment."

Kiana chuckled.

"Very poetic, I like that."

In the silence after that, Kiana found her curiosity still pushing her, though.

"But . . . what of family? Don't you have any-- where do they come from?"

Link's gaze grew glassy again. After a bit, he murmured,

"It's . . . something I'd rather not talk about, really."

Kiana immediately felt bad.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Link-- that was too personal of a thing to ask, anyway. I didn't mean to bring up something sensitive."

Link gave her a reassuring smile.

"It's fine, don't worry about it."

There was a span of awkward silence. Kiana tried to think of what subject to switch to so she could make up for her blunder, but Link beat her to the punch.

"So I'm looking forward to seeing how this recipe goes down with everyone the next time I'm in the Domain."

Kiana covered her cooking pot with the lid so it could finish cooking, then turned to him.

"Do you think they'll like it? I'm not very familiar with Zora cuisine, other than their fondness for fish."

Link settled back down on one of the stools.

"They usually just eat raw fish, actually. It makes up the bulk of their diet. But they do practice a little bit of cooking, too, especially for fancier occasions-- with some surprisingly diverse stuff. I think they might really enjoy your paella."

Kiana felt a little swell of pride.

"I'm happy you have confidence. I hope my recipe can do our little village proud. I'd love to give something like that to our Zora neighbors."

"Yeah," Link said, looking content.

Kiana thought about how happy Link looked whenever he spoke of the Domain. She smiled, a playful glint in her eye.

"Will you be showing the recipe to the Prince, as well?"

"Ahm . . ." Link ducked his head a little.

"Yeah, probably. If you don't mind, of course."

She sat down on her own chair and said,

"It would be an honor. I'm sure you'll do a wonderful job preparing it for him."

"Yeah, hopefully," he agreed, fiddling with the beads on his sash again. Kiana's smile increased a little.

"So from what I've heard about this Prince, he's a magnificent warrior, a wonderful leader, and a kind, caring person . . . is he handsome, too?"

Link balked, glancing away and stammering,

"I, uh-- I don't-- that's sort of--well that's sort of subjective, I don't really, uh . . ."

"Well, subjectively speaking, then," Kiana grinned.

At this point, she was confidant the young man was definitely blushing. After a beat, he deflected,

"He has a fan club dedicated to him in the Domain, so I think the common consensus is yes."

Kiana's brows bounced upwards.

"Oh, my, an entire fan club. And is the handsome Zora prince not yet betrothed?'

Link seemed terribly eager to no longer be in the conversation, but he answered in a strained tone,

"I guess not, no."

"Hmmmm," Kiana chuckled, "Well, it sounds like whoever he ends up choosing will be awfully lucky . . . he sounds like quite a catch."

Link crossed his arms and looked at her, indignant.

"You brought this up just to make that joke, didn't you?"

Kiana laughed.

"Also because I'm just a nosy person. But I'll stop teasing now. Sebasto should be back soon with the kids, and then we can get you well-fed and prepared for your journey tomorrow."

She regarded her guest kindly.

"Wherever it is that journey takes you next."

[enduracarrotchips]

YouTuber AU

Hello welcome to Dating Scandal but with Twitter Involved (nightmare)

A little exposition here: 

Link, Zelda, Sidon, Revali, and Riju are the most popular group of youtubers on the internet and have a huge fanbase that likes to theorize, draw fanart, and write fanfiction about them. Disclaimer, I don’t actually interact with real-person fandoms myself lol there’s just too much potential for drama and misunderstandings & they’re always bound to end in a dumpster fire but that is sort of what this au is about so.

Impa, Mipha, Daruk, and Urbosa are family friends that appear in a lot of their videos/streams. 

(This is an art blog I swear)

enter vidcon 20XX

Link: 

blows stuff up/sets stuff on fire with a side of cooking vids and gaming

most are filmed outside, he does those challenges where you try to cook stuff with limited ingredients/materials

has the largest fanbase of all of them, but not the most…intimidating.

does a lot of collab videos, mostly with Impa, Daruk, and Riju because they have similar interests/channels, but Zelda appears in his videos and is seen filming and the stans read too far into it

simps. i’m pointing at you.

Most popular videos are “shield surfing on rock!—how I broke my leg” “can Daruk eat Impa’s motorcycle?” and “how to inhale ranch dressing.”

Twitter handle is @ arsonistslullabye because he’s a hozier fan

45m subs

Zelda:

theories, analyses, conspiracies, and the occasional e x p e r i m e n t

she once got link to eat a frog for 50 bucks.

most people argue that she’s better than more popular YouTubers because she actually has quality content to give to the world and she has a lot of defensive supporters

She used to get a lot of hate before Urbosa spoke up about it and scared the bejeezus out of everyone

has an actual posting schedule

“Happy Sunday everyone, it’s Zelda Hyrule and today we will be talking about cryptozoology and why blupees exist, you cowards.”

Twitter handle is @ zeldaofhyrule and she is pan. just so you know. One of those calm extroverts that mystify me to this day.

18m subs

Sidon:

fashion/life hacks. Like gourmet troom troom but if they were real people.

Has the 2nd largest fanbase

most of them are girls

Sidon has a boyfriend though, which he told everyone at VidCon a few years ago

cue the drama and shipping and the entire fandom trying to figure out who the boyfriend is. A well known reddit thread emerged that presented the common guesses being Link, Sidon, and Zelda.

“But it can’t be Zelda, Sidon’s gay.”

“I’m not in the fandom but I thought Zelda was a boy??”

“Did you just say Sidon? Is that a typo? Are you saying that Sidon’s dating himself?”

Sidon x Sidon became a fandom joke.

Don’t look at me I’m just setting up all the worldbuilding. every fandom has their weird dark sides and Sidon x Sidon is the Linkcest of the Sidon YT fandom.

Mystery BF is actually Bazz, a pretty inconspicuous guy who appeared in a few of his videos. This was confirmed a year ago, but everyone still ships him with other YouTubers because they’re convinced he was lying to throw them off his scent. He really can’t catch a break and this is why you should not ship real people.

Twitter handle is @ officialprincesidon

says “beguiling” a lot

21m subs ᕙ( ͡❛ ▿ ͡❛)ᕗ

Mipha:

Sidon’s sister, hasn’t posted a single video but just has the channel for show because she appears in so many of Sidon’s videos as a model for his makeup tutorials and whatnot

has 328k for that. Everyone loves her, she’s great. @ mimipha

Revali:

Link’s sworn rival

Link thinks they’re friends

He kept popping up in link’s Twitter threads and making snarky comments until zelda called him out for not even following link (so why was he stalking his acc) which kept the Twitter drama to a minimum

Revali was the catalyst of a few popular memes and that’s where most of his subs come from.

drags link into a few challenges that always get a ton of views because of how competitive they get

“ITS JUST ASININE” is a running joke that everyone tries to get him to say. His @ is itsjustasinine as well

Urbosa is the only person who can win an argument with him

5m subs and growing rapidly. newer to youtube than everyone else.

Impa:

Doesn’t have a channel she’s just a mutual friend of Mipha, Zelda, and Link

Rides a motorcycle, so she is used in a few of Link’s videos.

@ ihaveamotorcycle because she thinks having a motorcycle is a personality trait. the most unruly on Twitter when it comes to replying to fan’s stuff, leaking upcoming videos and generally causing chaos.

Mipha’s girlfriend. That’s how she met Zelda and Link.

Urbosa:

Is actually a model, but she has a ton of YouTuber friends because she’s known Zelda since birth.

when she entered the youtube community she didn’t realize she would be adopting like 15 children

5m subs. her videos are professional & related to her modelling career. @ urbosasfury

I feel like she would do unboxing vids. I’m not sure what she’s unboxing.

Daruk

Just a friend of Link’s, fun guy. yells a lot. once ate a rock and had no reaction.

people are scared of him for that reason

Riju:

yoga & gymnastics & “ha look at how flexible I am its eAsY” videos

you know the type

she also does reactions and is sponsored by save the sand seals charities which she is very enthusiastic about. She’s also Urbosa’s niece and the only minor in the gang (15). I like to think that the champions YT community is actually not creepy so everyone respects her a ton

doesn’t post frequently, she mostly appears in Link’s videos to jump out of airplanes or whatever. And sometimes Zelda’s if she’s interested in the topic. 500k subs, but she’s always really popular when she appears in Link’s videos.

VidCon:

In the months leading up to VidCon, some fans on the internet made a few discoveries: first of all, that the inside of Link’s house is painted green. This is a big deal because all of his videos are filmed outside either in his backyard or on trips that he and the brosquad go on to do…whatever bros do. explosions. idk. The point is he had some announcement about VidCon and filmed it inside. Only the wall and a potted plant were shown.

However, the colour was similar to the the shade of Zelda’s living room. Fans dug through years and years of old videos and found a clip of Zelda walking through a hallway, where there was an open door and a glimpse of a houseplant.

There were 2 types of responses to the theory:

“They could just be roommates guys calm down”

“and they were ROOMMATES?”

others pointed out that Link could just not have a house and had to crash in Zelda’s

Some guy on reddit claimed he had a botany degree and declared that the houseplants in the clips were not of the same genus. Normal people pointed out that the plant would have grown 4 years between the clips and would look considerably different.

#Zelink trended on twitter for a while and people posted other old clips from both of their channels and the frog video blew up again

Impa retweeted a post tagged as #zelink with “rofl” and later publicly apologized for causing confusion.

Fans noticed that in the “can a motorcycle drive over my arm” (it was clickbait he’s fine) episode 2 years ago, Link was eating out of a paper lunch bag with his name written on it in handwriting that a few people claimed to look like Zelda’s, leading people to believe that she had packed him a lunch.

However, this theory was shot down with the counterargument that Zelda can’t cook. although. i mean how much skill do you need to make a sandwich.

No one knows what tumblr is doing at this time

Zelda wore a scarf in her “Save the Sand Seals” video that matched identically to the scarf Link wore when he travelled to Hebra to film a shield surfing video, but it’s been debated wether it’s actually the same scarf or not.

Neither Zelda nor Link has spoken up about the theories, and besides Impa’s one slip on twitter, neither has any of their friends. Zelda received a lot of backlash for the assumption that she was dating Link because he has a lot of delusional fans that didn’t want her to “steal their man” or whatever the hell that type of fan would get mad about

Oh yea and bolson & karson run a zelink fanpage on twitter sorry I forgot about that

after that whole mess, everyone was even more anticipant of VidCon in the hopes that some of their questions would be answered.

The whole batch went to VidCon this year: Link, Impa, Daruk, and Riju are a gang while Sidon and Mipha go together and Zelda & Revali each go separately. Urbosa is there for supervision moral support

Zelda has always been much better at dodging questions that she doesn’t want to answer than anyone else, so her Q&A went without a hitch. When asked to confirm the rumours she said “which one?” and then moved on to the next question (without actually confirming any rumours).

Link is generally a more awkward person but eventually said that he had filmed the video in Zelda’s house because it was nicer and didn’t realize it would cause such an uproar. Fans were disappointed, but Bolson claimed he saw Link and Zelda exiting the hotel elevator on the same floor after Link’s Q&A session. No one believed him.

Fans went back to theorizing over who Link, Zelda, and Sidon were all dating, because apparently they can’t just be dating unknown people and have to be with other YouTubers

Sidon and Bazz got engaged about a week after VidCon, making at least 4 preteen girls cry

actually try 4 million

Sidon x Sidon made a brief comeback but Sidon spoke up about his fandom for the first time ever on twitter and told everyone that no, he was not dating himself. eventually, everyone settled down and accepted that none of them were in a relationship save for a few loud fans.

Link and Zelda still got the occasional “when will you tell us who you’re dating?” comment but most of them were joking and the people who still hardcore shipped them were generally frowned upon. Zelda’s popularity went up after VidCon and she regained the 200k subscribers she’d lost after the first theory dropped.

Two months after VidCon, Link posted a video titled “Zelda and I’s House Tour!” and gave around 45 million people a heart attack

as revealed in the video, they had actually been dating since they were 16 and everyone’s just a fool.

the potted plant is named Hestu.

[triforceangel13]

The Royal Guard’s Secret Ch. 21 (A SidLink Omegaverse Au)

Chapter 21: Fear

Link rushed from the room as fast as he could. He had to talk to Sidon. He had to get out of that room. Their worst nightmares were coming true.

The ones that they didn't want to know now knew what had happened. And if they didn't they were bound to know fairly soon.

And then the king of the Zoras was there as well?! That just made it worse.

His scent was rancid and panicked, the others in the halls avoiding him completely. They knew something was very wrong and Link was not able to control his emotions. He was scared, sick, and just wanted to go back in time.

Bursting into their sleeping quarters he didn't find his mate. Letting out a small whimper of fear he tried to calm himself down until he heard his voice.

“Link, is that you?” came Sidon's voice from the bathroom. Link immediately went in seeing the prince taking a soak for his scales.

The smile on the prince's face fell quickly as Link nearly collapsed in his arms and put himself into the tub with him. He pressed his face to his neck, the tears he had been holding back running down his cheeks.

Sidon's arms were around him right away and held him close. He tried sending out a calming sent but it did very little to temper down the scent that Link was giving off in distress.

“Link, what happened? Did the metting not go well?” Sidon asked. Link shook his head and clung to the prince. There was no way he was going to get Link to talk right now. He needed him to relax first and calm down.

“What in the world is going on?” Mipha asked, covering her face to try to get her nose from being assaulted by the scent. “I could smell him all the way from my room. Goodness, what happened to him?”

“I'm not sure,” Sidon said, petting Link's hair back a bit and rocked him gently in the large tub. “I've got you. I won't let anything hurt you.”

Link cried softly against him, clutching his stomach as he pressed against him.

“Quickly in here,” soon came zelda's soft voice and she closed the bedroom door quietly behind her. Urbosa was quick behind her and followed her into the bathroom as well.

“Oh Link...” Zelda said softly, sititng at the edge of the tub and rest her hand aainst Link's trembling shoulder. The blonde didn't make a noise or acknowledge her as he kept himself plastered to his alpha mate.

“Could someone please tell me what's going on?” Sidon asked “Why is my mate in such hysterics he cannot even speak?”

“The king....my father has found out what happened between you and Link,” Zelda explained. “He knows you two had mated and he knows Link is pregnant.”

“What?” Mipha asked with a gasp, covering her mouth in shock.

“How?” Sidon asked, a frown forming on his face as he looked to Link who seemed to flinch when Zelda explained.

“Ganondorf,” Urbosa sighed. “I was outside the room. He practically tore the words out of Link's throat.”

“That monster is still causig havoc even after he had been apprehended,” Mipha said with a frown, resting her hand on Sidon's arm as he tried to take care of his mate.

Link's eyes slowly shut, his body starting to give out on him as he fell asleep in the comfort of his mate's arms.

The stress had been too much and had decided it was time to force him to relax.

“That's not even the whole thing,” Zelda sighed. “That information came out right after father annoucned he would be announcing him to the kingdom as his son and a prince...I'm not so sure about that anymore now...”

“And to make matters worse, your father has appeared and he does not look happy,” Urbosa finished for her.

Mipha gasped and exchanged a hard look with her brother.

“He's early,” Sidon sighed. “You won't think your father will tell ours of Link's pregnancy will he?”

“I don't think so...but I can't be completely sure,” Zelda said with some hesitation. “But why is your father here?”

Mipha shifted a bit uncomfortably. “I didn't want to lie to my father about what happened. Word got to him that Sidon and I had been hurt and he demanded the truth.”

“It's only a matter of time before Father tries to pull us out of here and that Link's pregnancy will be known,” Sidon sighed. “He is very unhappy what happened to us and might pull the plug on this whole thing.”

“I don't mean to intrude but isn't that what you want Sidon?” Urbosa asked. “I know you don't wish to marry the princess. If the king keeps Link's status, The treaty could still be in effect.”

“I don't want to think about right now,” Sidon said with a rather heavy sigh and he tightened his arms around Link's body. “Right now I need to focus on making Link feel better. He is very, very upset right now.”

The others looked to one another and Zelda gave a small nod. While they had to figure out their situation Link came first and keeping him calm. They would not risk losing the baby.

“We'll let you two rest,” Zelda said. “We will be nearby to stand guard just in case.”

She wanted to protect them. She wanted to make sure that her father was not going to try to throw Sidon into the dungeon as well.

Urbosa gave a nod of her head and guided Zelda and Mipha out of the room despite the zoran princess looked as if she wanted to stay.

Left alone with him again Sidon let out a sigh and kissed Link's sleeping foreahed slowly. This whole thing was a huge mess.

“I'll protect you,” he mumbled to him. “I will not let them take me away, you away, or even our little baby.”

Urbosa had been right. If things went in their favor and Link was still seen as the prince of the kingdom then the treaty could move forward between the kingdoms and the original plans would still be in place. All that would change was that Sidon would get to marry the one that he wanted to marry and their heir would be proof of their union.

But with how the world worked Sidon wasn't sure if they would be so lucky. What they had done had been consenual, Link and Sidon loved one another. It was an accident that Link had ended up pregnant in the first place.

It was wrong when it came to the royal family. Link was still for the moment Zelda's body guard. Sidon was promised to the princess.

Running away was not an option. He knew they would eventually be found and then Link and Sidon would forever be seperated, maybe even losing their child.

The prince's gold eyes closed. He had to protect them both. If it meant he was going to be thrown in the dungeon so be it but he really didn't want that.

His father being there was a bit of a work in their favor even though he knew that this whole thing could blow up in their face if the large king grew angry.

King Dorephan would keep Sidon from the dungeons but he very well could pull him away from Link and his child while Link stayed there.

It would go back to the way things had been before he had come to this kindom in the first place but with a longing so bad that he was sure he would go insane.

Plus it could possibly increase tensions between the kingdoms. They were bad enough as it was and he wanted to avoid that as well.

“I'll protect you,” Sidon said again to Link's hair as he pressed his face into his blonde locks of his sleeping mate.

*

It took some coaxing but after a while Sidon had been able to put Link to bed and have him wrapped in the best warm fluffy blankets after he had gotten him to eat some soup for their little one and into some dry clothes.

Even if things were seeming to fall apart around them Sidon was going to make sure that Link was comfortable and happy as he could be in this situation.

His father had requested an audience with him and his sister. Urbosa had volunteered to watch Link while he rested, the princess having taken to her room.

Sidon knew that it bothered Urbosa when it came to leaving Zelda alone but the princess had told her she needed a moment alone. Sidon hadn't expected this to hit the princess just as hard as it had to Link right now. Unless something else happened.

He met with his sister at the room, looking to her a little nervously. She rest her hand on his arm and then started to walk to the large room that had been set up for their father.

“I'm nervous Mipha,” Sidon admitted. “What will father say about this? Will he force us to come back with him?”

“I'm not sure,” Mipha said. “It all depends on the information that he knows.”

“Right...” sidon sighed, following her to the large doors and he stared up at them. He got along with his father well enough. But when angry he was a force to not want to get inolved with or at least not be on the wrong side of.

“I have something to ask before we enter,” she said. Sidon hesitated on knocking on the door and looked down at her.

“Should he not know about Link, are you willing to tell him?” she asked him. Sidon clenched his fists and closed his eyes a moment. What was he going to do?

“I'm not sure. My instinct tells me to say nothing and protect my mate,” Sidon told her. “But that risks that you and I could be taken away from them.”

“But it would be in the best interest of everyone to come clean and see what comes of it,” Mipha said softly. “Sidon, no matter what happens, you know I'm always here for you and Link no matter what father says. I do find the situation something that is not something to take lightly, but I know love when I see it. You love him.”

“Very much,” Sidon agreed with her. “I would do anything for him. Goddess above, I nearly died for him and honestly...I would do it again.”

Mipha smiled a bit and pat his lower back as it was the only place that she could reach at the moment with her small size.

“Then tell him the truth,” she said. “It would be in the best interest. And who knows, father could make sure that we take Link with us should the treaty fail.”

“I don't think it would be that easy,” Sidon said to him. “Father could put the blame on this entire kingdom for what had happened to us.”

“But always remembered we had helped take this down. We set Link free from this and so many others. I for one am proud of what we helped with, even if it hadn't been...well you know,” She added with a small sigh and knocked on the door.

“I don't regret it but I wish things had happened under different cirucmstances,” Sidon agreed, waiting for an answer at the door. But then again if he hadn't gone to that place he may have never met Link the way tht he had.

“Enter,” came the king's voice from the other side of the door. The siblings look to one another and then Sidon opened up the door.

The king sat on the large bed in the room looking tired  and stressed. It didn't occur to Sidon how terrified he must have been having heard what happened to his only family.

“My children,” King Dorephan said, opening his ams up and a tired smile graced his face. The two of them were quick to approach.

Even with everything swirling around them Sidon took comfort in his father's embrace as he pulled them both to his sides.

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