#tears of the kingdom is fine but it’s not Zelda to me and when we get a new loz game it’s not even close to a return to form 😭

[bambeebirdie]

I’m not sexist but i swear when I learned in the new Zelda game I didn’t get to play as my favorite man ever I wanted to kill myself

[multicolour-ink]

Highlights from the Nintendo Direct (8/2/2022)

- SPLATOON 3 "SIDE ORDER" DLC

- Crying tears of joy at seeing Superstar Saga in the Nintendo Online lineup 😭❤

- Minish Cap! (really want to play it)

- PROFESSOR LAYTON TEASER COMING OUT OF NOWHERE

- Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

[looseratinthegarage]

Slashers S/O getting their period. Maybe?

I haven’t done a request in so long- but I’m on my period rn and felt inspired to write this! Enjoy to anyone who still follows me after my many disappearances.

S/O getting their period

Michael

Michael notices everything. And I mean everything. You’ve been more irritable lately but he hasn’t been able to deduce why… He enters the bathroom to use it when he sees strange wrappers in the trash. His first thought is that you’ve been hiding candy from him and he’s pissed. But when he unwraps it he sees a bloody pad/tampon. He stares through the item for a moment, trying to process what the hell is happening. He then throws it on the ground and stomps down stairs. You’re sitting on the couch playing the new Zelda Tears of the Kingdom game. He then takes the controller out of your hand and throws it to the side. He lifts up your shit and sifts through your hair for an injury or any blood.

“M-Michael!? What are you doing?” You say with surprise. He then grabs your pants and takes them off, leaving you in your undergarments. He is able to see that you are wearing the same thing he found in the trash. I points and looks concerned

“I-I’m just on my period! I’m fine..” You blush heavily and reassure your boyfriend that you’re not dying.

He doesn’t know what to do. His mom taught him about this stuff when he was a boy, but he only knows the basics. He’ll at first not understand why you’re being so ‘dramatic’ about everything. But when he realizes it really does hurt, he’ll try to help you, in his own little Michael way of course.

Thomas

Thomas wakes up for the day and stretches his arms. He feels something wet in the bed next to him. He lifts his hand and sees blood. He instantly panics and looks down at you. He rips the covers off of you and sees a large red stain underneath you. He shakes you awake.

“Huh- what? Baby, is there something wrong…?” You say half asleep. He points to the stain and your stomach drops.

“Oh god I’m so sorry Thomas! I’ve been trying to use cloth for my period because we don’t have pads/tampons- oh and now I’ve stained your sheets..” You look apologetic and absolutely mortified. But as soon as he hears ‘period’ he relaxes. His mama raised him right, so he doesn’t make you feel bad about leaking on the bed.

He picks you up and takes you to the bathroom. He runs you a warm bath and puts bubbles in it. He kisses your forehead then walks back into his room. He takes off the sheets and brings them outside to be washed.

Throughout the day he checks on you, often getting yelled at Hoyt for ‘slacking off’. He brings you teas, chocolate, snacks, meals- anything you need. His hands are incredibly warm, so in the night he holds you close to him, putting his hand over your stomach, soothing the cramps.

Yautja

You and your mate were training. You were running obstacle courses, they’re mad for yautja so they’re different. Think ninja warrior stuff. While running and jumping and climbing your pad shifts in your underwear and the flood gates open. You have blood running down your leg, but you’re too focused to notice.. but your mate does. He looks concerned.

“Bleeding. Why?” He uses the least amount of English possible to convey himself.

“Huh?” You stop at one of the platforms and then feel it running down your leg. You look down and feel mortified as your period blood runs down your leg for all to see.

“O-Oh god… sorry about that..” You also notice you’ve gotten blood on the course. You cover your face in embarrassment as your mate walks up to you.

“Are you hurt?” He asks softly, putting his clawed hand on your shoulder.

“I-It’s just my period. It’s similar to the thing that happens to some yautja after the breeding season, if they haven’t gotten pregnant…” You say embarrassedly and a bit shyly.

“Very well.” He seems unphased by it, happy to know you’re not hurt and that it’s just a natural occurrence.

“Why are you hiding from me? Blood does not scare a warrior such as I.” He purrs and runs his finger down your bloody leg. He then brings it up to his mouth and licks it off with his tongue.

You blush and nod, hugging him. He gives you yautja natural remedies for your period. If you have extreme cramps or excessive bleeding he’ll use some medicine or even quick surgery to fix the problem. Don’t worry, yautja pain meds are a lifesaver. You practically feel nothing, just a little sore is all. He will take care of you the best he knows how, and don’t be afraid to give him pointers. He’ll take notes.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

am i the asshole for not lending my uncle my copy of zelda tears of the kingdom?

i (17f) have two uncles which are relevant to this story, both maternal. they're the oldest and youngest (not sure exactly how old, one is around 30 and the other is in his late 40s/early 50s.)

last year, the older uncle lent me his copy of zelda breath of the wild. this was after about a year and a half of him having it. during that time he made sure i was well aware how difficult and lengthy it was, which was why he couldn't give it to me to play yet. i don't profess to be a gamer or anything- i just enjoy playing videogames, and i didn't really know what the zelda series was at the time, so i kind of just shrugged it off. when he finally did give it to me, it was after i let his kids borrow my personal copy of animal crossing, and he kind of just stuck the cartridge into my hand while i was leaving and insisted i take it.

i was and still am a student, and just didn't have the time to start casually playing until a few months later in the spring, around may. i really enjoyed it and got 75% of the way through by the time summer vacation rolled around, which was when my cousin (his son) started dropping by to ask when i would be giving zelda back. i told him every day for three consecutive days that i would give it back when i was finished, but he was really anxious to start playing because my uncle only lets them have their nintendo switch in the summer. i offered my cousin his selection of any game we had (as we have done multiple times). he said he'd already played all of our games and that a couple of the newer ones my brother had gotten for his birthday were "trashy" and left.

the fourth time he came over he basically stood in the doorway and demanded the zelda game, said it was his dad's, and that he'd give it back when he finished it. my mom scolded him because of his attitude, saying that my uncle mostly just borrows whatever games they want to play from us for up to a year and a half at a time, and we never complain. she told me to go get the game and give it to him, and he started crying and left before i could. my uncle came over ten minutes later to smooth things over and left with botw. he never gave it back and i never got to finish it.

back in around november, my younger uncle, who is unmarried and has no kids, gifted me zelda botw and totk, specifically because he'd heard about what happened with my older uncle. when my older uncle found out at thanksgiving, he asked me to give totk to him. i told him i was busy with college apps and haven't opened it yet and he said it was fine, and that he would play it and give it back in a few days. i refused, saying that i wanted to open my own game when i wasn't busy, and my mom, who was also there, agreed with me and said that i deserved the experience of opening a present and enjoying it on my own time. he tried a few more times to convince me unsuccessfully and eventually relented.

two months ago i opened botw and am making very slow progress on it because i just don't have the time to finish it as quick as i'd like. totk is still in the plastic on my dresser. a few days ago my uncle messaged me asking for totk, and i ignored it. my mom told me just to tell him i already lent it to someone, but today he turned up on my porch while i was waiting to go to school and asked me for it, and in my exasperation i said, "i haven't even opened it yet." he again told me to let HIM open it and that "he'd give it back in three days after finishing it," and just to let him have it. i told him no. and then i told him no several more times. at one point he got annoyed and said, "fine, be like that," and walked away.

some additional context: my uncle is not broke. he makes six figures and has a very good engineering job. he bought a ps5 almost as soon as it came out. he makes the conscious choice not to purchase his own games, i guess because he feels no need to when he could just borrow them from us instead? my family doesn't make a lot of money but my mom saves up so we can have games, usually as birthday or holiday gifts. i have never borrowed a game from him except botw because he doesn't have any to lend. i also feel like if he really wanted zelda totk that bad he could just buy it himself, because he can definitely afford it. my mom, maternal aunt, and cousins (not his kids) are all on my side, and my aunt says that my younger uncle doesn't like my older uncle and would be pissed if i lent them to him. on the other hand i just feel bad for holding out and being difficult because i want to open it on my own time, and i even though i don't like him as a person i still feel guilty for being rude to and pissing him off because he's my mom's oldest sibling.

so, aita for not lending it to him?

What are these acronyms?

[ladyjenise]

Thoughts on why Ganondorf makes "that face" in Tears of the Kingdom

I'm several months late, but I didn't want to post spoiler stuff when the game was fresh and, frankly, I had quite a whack summer. So here we are.

Anyway, onto the meta: my thoughts on why Ganondorf makes "that face" in Tears of the Kingdom.

Yes, this face:

One of the first things I want to do is credit some rad metas that helped me along in my thought process:

-Discussion of Ganondorf's facial design from a technical and creative standpoint

-Discussion of Ganondorf's outfit

And now to the actual meta! Will include spoilers for Tears of the Kingdom.

When the screenshots of Ganondorf making "that face" first hit the internet, there was a lot of lol and wtf, which was fair. Most people weren't that far in the game yet. Actually, not sure it was even out yet (there was an early leaked ROM floating around at some point pre-release). I don't want to dwell much on people's initial reactions as I think if you're here reading you've already processed your initial feelings on seeing it. And your initial reaction of LOL WTF is fine. Out of context, it probably made little sense.

But let's talk about context: Ganondorf makes this face after killing Sonia for her Secret Stone. He's literally laughing over her dead body as Zelda calls out vainly to the fallen queen. It's a very heinous, dramatic act. And I think, in context, that confused people even more because his face, on first glance, feels over the top and silly for such a serious moment. However, it's not there because Nintendo's devs don't know what they're doing. At least, that's what I'm trying to argue here.

Let's discuss the build up to this scene in the story chronology: Ganondorf tries to use moldugas to attack the fledgling kingdom of Hyrule. It goes badly because Rauru, alongside Sonia and Zelda, are able to use Secret Stones of the Zonai to fend off the attack. It's a very lopsided victory.

Ganondorf takes a moment to pout before observing the Secret Stones. Ganondorf correctly observes that brute force will not be enough. Not one to sit back on his failures, Ganondorf is clearly already hatching a new plan. End of scene.

We next see Ganondorf at the court of Rauru and Sonia, bending the knee in what we know is a false act of fealty. Of course, this scene is a reference to the plot of Ocarina of Time (where we spy on Ganondorf through a window as he bends the knee to the King of Hyrule, who is out of the shot). it's also a glimpse of Ganondorf the schemer.

If you had not met Ganondorf before playing Tears of the Kingdom, you might actually think Ganondorf is just a mindlessly violent guy (and he is that too, don't get me wrong). You might not have expected this dude to roll up to the court of Hyrule and start playing the political game. His character design looks like the exact kind of guy who could punch your head clean off your body. Just look at him:

He's a brick wall. He looks like a big tough guy, and maybe he's just some big dummy who only understands violence. It's a stereotype Nintendo has subverted again and again with his character. And there Ganondorf is at the court of Rauru serving backhanded compliments like a pro. And while Rauru assures Zelda that he knows Ganondorf is up to shit, he's really got Rauru convinced that he can handle him. As we shall see, Rauru was mistaken. But that's Ganondorf for you. His character is about subverting expectations. This is what makes him so very fun.

Even his costume, with the reversible robe, tells you a lot about who he is. On the outside, a calm, clever, cultured man. On the inside, he's ready to fuck your shit up. I love it.

Back to the scene.

After assuring Rauru he simply wants to play nice and have the protection of Hyrule, Ganondorf serves some cunty lines implying Rauru is an interloper and an outsider etc before leaving. And it's at this point I noticed that when Ganondorf takes his leave, he makes this really flourishing move with his arm that made me stop and think.

You can probably find the scene online somewhere, but here's a screenshot of what I mean:

And note that he also uses his sleeved arm, creating that extra diva flourish as he goes. We also get a real good fast look at how colourful and different his sleeve is. He's turned his back to Rauru and the others after swearing his fealty. His changeable nature is displayed to the player. It's a nice wink and nod to Ganondorf's later betrayal. Only Zelda has a real inkling that he's really, really bad news and probably shouldn't even be there. But if you've played Ocarina of Time, you understand that Zelda isn't listened to until it's too late.

Returning to the flourish itself: Ganondorf didn't have to do this. And Nintendo didn't have to waste animation time having him do this. But they did. And they did it again when he laughs over Sonia's body. And they do it again when he swallows his Secret Stone. They just. keep. doing. it.

Why?

Why do all this extra dramatic animation for Ganondorf?

Those familiar with kabuki (a classical form of Japanese theatre) are probably screaming KABUKI, and I would agree. I didn't immediately get there at first only because my background was in another form of classical theatre: Greek (ask me about my unversity minor lol). I'm not going into a deep dive on either classical Greek theatre nor kabuki because that's a lot, I'm not really an expert or super familiar with the details, and I also think their Wikipedia pages will probably give you a decent summary of what you might want to learn details on. However, classic Greek theatre is old as shit and has a lot of great stories with characters you'll recognize. I recommend.

What I need you, dear reader, to understand about classic and ancient forms of theatre is their emphasis ON emphasis. It's a lot of what we might think of as exaggerated elements, over-the-top forms, and straight up spelling shit out to the audience. Real archaic shit. Because the world we are watching in these memories IS archaic to Link. There's 10,000 years between the memories we see and Link's time. It's like we, as Link, are viewing a kabuki play or a Greek play about stuff that happened then. It makes perfect sense to have Ganondorf act like he's in an ancient play. And that's how you get shit like this:

This is all theatre.

But why is ancient theatre so weird? It's not. We think it looks weird because it's unfamiliar to us. Most of us don't grow up watching ancient plays. Even those of use who read Shakespeare in school are usually sweating through the now-archaic English (it was only 400-ish years ago!) You're not equipped, and that's cool.

And honestly, if you are familiar with Ganondorf, he truly is a creature of theatre. Just look at this castle he builds in Ocarina of Time:

He destroyed Hyrule Castle to build this giant fucking castle levitating over a pit of lava. Like why? Because he CAN. Because he can't do anything in halves.

Also, his outfits. Look at this shit. He can't tone it down. I don't think he could if he tried.

Coming back to Ganondorf's face when he kills Sonia: when Ganondorf's face contorts and he starts to laugh evilly, we are told in very certain terms that he's made a critical choice. If you weren't sure before, you're being told now: He's evil. There's no going back from this. And he's embracing it. There is zero remorse. Killing her was the act he needed to move from man to monster. It's very important that you, the player, understand this. It's a moral thing. And I don't mean like "If you like this character after you are a bad person" type of thing. That's not what I mean here (and what people who have weird obsessions on the internet often misunderstand just so they can start fights over dumb shit). What I mean is that the storytellers need you need to understand your character's motivations for wanting to fight this guy.

And the next scene plainly shows what I'm talking about: Ganondorf takes the Secret Stone and literally turns into a demon king. He's no longer a man. He's this other, immoral being now. Bye bye, human Ganondorf, hello monster Ganondorf! That's it.

Going back to his eating of the Secret Stone, which changes Ganondorf from good ol' demon king to the for realsies demon dragon, he says some lines about giving up his "body" and "mind" and, frankly "everything", just so he can win. But also it's a desperate last attempt at keeping hold of the power that has so horribly blinded him to the truth.

That last part is ironic for Ganondorf, a man who was clever enough to get into the heart of Hyrule, steal their powerful relic, kill the queen and ALMOST become king. Because that's his ultimate failing. He's smart, clever, and his wins get the better of him. His addiction to power means he never stops to consider he might have weaknesses he cannot yet see, or that, as Rauru warns him, his arrogance and blind faith in his own abilities and talents might be his downfall.

In a way, the story is just as much about Link searching for Zelda and Zelda trying to figure out her role in the world as it is about the fall of a powerful man. Is it tragic that Ganondorf let himself become so corrupted by power that it would slowly transform him from man to demon? I guess it depends on who you ask, really. (I think it's fucking cool)

[fatefulfaerie]

Tears

“Link!” Penn exclaimed, wings outstretched in excitement. “What a great sense for news you have! Here I am chasing a new lead on the Princess and my partner appears before my eyes!”

Link hadn’t seen Penn since they finished chasing all the leads they had on the Princess’ whereabouts. It was at least a month since they went from stable to stable, Link almost believing the Yiga’s tricks and getting barely a wink of sleep until all twelve were dead ends. He was left just as lost as when he started until he found Impa and sunk himself into the mysterious geoglyphs that dotted the land. Link hadn’t yet found the courage to admit to anyone the truth about Zelda, so he pretended the best he could to be the eager, young reporter Penn knew him as.

“I’ve heard that Zelda has a homestead here in Hateno,” he continued. “Villagers tell me it’s across this bridge, but I’m afraid I’m at a standstill. You see, investigating her home for clues seems to go against my morals as a journalist. This may have to be a story we leave be.”

It was public knowledge that Princess Zelda lived in Hateno. That was no news story.

“What’s the lead?” Link asked. “Was she seen here recently? S-since her disappearance I mean.”

“It may be hearsay but rumors have been circulating that the Princess is married,” Penn said. “The villagers here have no idea what I’m talking about, so I’m thinking it’s no more than gossip. Traysi wanted me to check it out nonetheless. I’m thinking we at least find the may–”

Link averted his tear-filled gaze.

“Link, are you all right?”

“I…I’m fine,” he stammered. “Just…allergies.”

“Where,” he began weakly, but forced his voice to be stronger. “Where does the lead come from?”

“An old Zora at the Domain,” Penn answered. “He’s losing his memory but tends to spout some random things about his long life in an effort to keep a grasp on it. His niece heard him talking about marrying the Princess to someone, but he didn’t specify who. She was so excited about the prospect that she sent word to Traysi.”

Link looked notably nervous as he hugged his arms close.

“Don’t…don’t run the story,” he said in a hushed voice, no longer meeting Penn’s gaze at all. 

Penn looked confused.

“Link…what do you mean? Do you know something?”

“It just…it paints her in a bad light.”

“Link, I know you care about the princess’ public reputation. Your work at the paper honors that gleamingly. Your search for the absolute truth is inspiring to the whole team. You service our kingdom and our princess well.”

Link steadied his nerves with a deep breath and a slow blink of his eyes.

“It was me,” he admitted, quietly at first.

Penn blinked, shocked. He assumed he heard wrong.

“What?”

“It was me!” Link finally burst out pointing at himself. “All of it, everything. The mysterious hero who came out of nowhere and saved Hyrule from the calamity, me. I brought Zelda here and we built a life, and it was a good life. I married her because I loved her. We didn’t tell anyone because goddesses the Yiga were trailing her everywhere and everyone was looking at her to rebuild but I guess it doesn’t matter anymore because she’s gone, okay? She’s gone! That’s it, that’s your story. She’s a magic, floating dragon in the skies because I failed her again. She sacrificed herself for this kingdom and no one will ever know because there’s no proof! Nothing! No one else sees the dragons but me, so that’s what I have for you, absolutely nothing! I have nothing!”

Link panted and Penn stared. He blinked his eyes once, twice. Link expected him to call him crazy. Instead, he pointed his white-feathered wing at the house across the bridge.

“That’s your house?”

Link’s disbelief was shown in his face.

“Yes.”

Penn looked at the house for a moment, letting the breeze sift through his feathers.

“Link I think in a time like this Hyrule would quite like to hear a story like this about their Princess,” Penn said. “I don’t think your story paints her in a bad light in the slightest. In fact, it may be the heartwarming tale people need right now.”

Link’s gaze angled down and pondered the suggestion.

“And no, they won’t believe that she’s turned into a dragon,” Penn continued. “But they will believe as I do how much you loved her, and how she must have loved you.”

Link nodded.

“If you don’t mind I’d like to interview you,” Penn admitted. “In the house you built together. You’ll get final approval of the story I send to Traysi.”

Link looked up and over at the house. It felt like he hadn't been there in ages, like it was a lifetime ago that he went in scouring for clues, hoping she'd just be around the next corner. Waiting for her was like waiting for a sunrise that would never come.

“No, I don’t mind.”

[loz-furbies]

Breath of the Wild / Age of Calamity / Tears of the Kingdom Zelda, part 1/2

The final Zelda (so far) of this character review series is the most developed of them all, and probably has more character content to her in just one game than any of the others, and she has three to boot! With full voice acting (I'm JP voice only), a huge and personal role in the story, diary entries, notable relationships to multiple characters and being discussed by many NPCs there is a lot to talk about, but I'm mostly going off of memory and rewatching the cutscenes since it would be too much work to research every mention of her in all three games.

Design

(Ancient dress Zelda model from here)

Not going to copypaste my thoughts on her BotW look since this is long enough already.

It is a pity that Zelda didn't get a full redesign for TotK, but I'll take what I can get. The bob is really cute! And unusual among the Zeldas too, and I guess a nice way to represent that she has moved to the commoner lifestyle.

As for the ancient dress, it looks perfectly fine on its own, but since I value it when the designs have their own unique identity, I wish it wasn't so similar to her white dress from BotW. Maybe there is some connection, like Sonia used to be a priest so maybe the dress design survived through millennia as a prayer dress or whatever, but since that's not actually in the game, I'm not giving credit for that.

The bulkier and sort of unrefined jewelry does a good job making the outfit look ancient, but it's still fancy enough that I can believe it to belong to the royal family. That decorative accessory on the front of the dress is really cool looking and a nice and consistent detail among all the ancient clothes, but man is it a pain to draw. Finally I really like the big earrings and the tear makeup is a great little detail.

When I first saw the Light dragon in the final Zelda memory I thought it looked kind of doofy, with its bright colours, clumpy eyelashes, bulging eyes and borzoi nose, but it has since grown on me. I once read that some Pokemon designer said in an interview or such that if a Pokemon design looks too cool, they add something uncool to it to make it more memorable, and I think it's a pretty good design philosophy. There have been several LoZ designs that have shocked me at first, but eventually I get used to them and they will look just right. They could have given the dragons a more cool or elegant look, but that would have also risked making them more generic. Also the eyes give a good impression about Zelda's state that nobody is home there.

Character

This iteration of Zelda is easily the most fleshed out of them all, since we get to see so much of her relationships, character development, emotional reactions to plot events, and also stuff she does outside the immediate plot.

BotW Zelda's dread over the impending doom and the self esteem issues that rise from it are a large part of the story. There are other Zeldas who also worry about the Plot, but in BotW Zelda's case it's incredibly personal since her failure to do her crucial job in preventing the disaster is at the core of the story. According to Rhoam's diary, she had already internalised her duty at the age of six (and this caused her to not show any weakness even at her mother's funeral), and from there she spent her life trying and failing to awaken her powers. This lifelong crushing sense of responsibility and guilt and the failure to live up to her demanding father's expectations give BotW Zelda a very melancholic vibe that constantly pops up through the game. Though I must say that in the memory where the champions perform their little ceremony and Zelda gives a long speech to Link, her voice acting gets really awkward when it sounds like she's about to start crying with every word.

Once she finds her inner strength, Zelda gets her badass moments as well. I especially like the grand finale of BotW where she, glowing with power, calmly stands before Calamity Ganon's pig form and doesn't even flinch when he charges at her. And in the TotK flashback cutscenes she can apparently be taken to a battle against Ganondorf as a part of Rauru's sage posse.

I called out Skyward Sword Zelda for being a bit too much of an ideal girlfriend, so I'm really glad that the memory where BotW Zelda lashes out at Link exists. It works to prevent her from being just a pure maiden who is victimised by unfair outside circumstances. Or I mean that does happen to her, but letting her display some negative traits (like frustration and jealousy) that she's personally responsible for as well makes her feel more like an actual person and not just a perfect victim.

Even if BotW Zelda's heavy burden is a huge part of her character, luckily that's not all there is to her. And not just because being multifaceted of course makes her more interesting, but also I find it a lot more realistic that not every moment of her life had been constant suffering.

One of her most charming and notable traits is her nerdy scientist side. It certainly sets her apart from the other Zeldas, and also gives her something else to do than just worry about the plot and be a princess. The memory where she geeks over a frog and goes on such a ramble over its scientific properties that she forgets basic social norms is such a great piece of characterisation, and it's cute how her enthusiasm returns in TotK where she's excited over Zonai discoveries, and is also into Mineru's constructs. According to AoC, studying was also apparently something she did with her late mother as a child.

Her research notes also detail how together with Purah and Robbie they discovered various things about the ancient Sheikah tech, but I do think it's a little disappointing how we don't get much anything concrete about Zelda's contributions specifically. There's a lot about her being interested in the Sheikah technology and how she apparently was a part of research group, but all actual discoveries are attributed to different characters or left vague, so as a result she comes across more like an enthusiastic hobbyist who in the end doesn't actually get anywhere. I would have liked it if for example Purah's diary had a line of how Zelda's efforts helped them understand the Guardians better or something like that, but now you have to imagine her contributions yourself. The closest we get is how in AoC she gives one Sheikah artefact to Rhoam, which ends up saving his life, but it's not quite what I'm looking for since Zelda didn't know what the item would do, so it feels more like luck. But even if the execution didn't quite land, I'm glad that AoC took the time to give some kind of resolution to the Rhoam-forbids-Zelda-from-Studying aspect and has to admit that he was wrong. And regardless the Sheikah tech works well to give Zelda her unique identity, and it's also nice how two of her weapons in AoC are based on it.

BotW Zelda also has a playful side, like for example she runs up to play with a dog she just saw, or jokes with Urbosa about how they both had to act all formal in front of an audience despite being long time friends. She is also a very proactive character; thanks to the "find the memories" gameplay, we see her travel all across Hyrule instead of just sitting at her castle, she's the one to handle all business with the Divine Beast pilots (and since they're all high ranking individuals among their people, this makes Zelda pretty politically active as well), and BotW ends with her wanting to work on rebuilding Hyrule.

Zelda being active continues in TotK, where there's a lot of little snippets how she has founded a school, installed memorial monuments, managed survey teams, worked on gardens, and so on. And of course she also immediately volunteered for investigating the Gloom situation at the start of TotK as well, and from the stone tablets we can read how she also got into fiddling with Constructs and fashion in the ancient Hyrule. Obviously it would have been nice to actually see all of this instead of just reading or hearing it second hand, but I understand that not everything can get a fancy cutscene, so it's at least nice that this was included in the game at least in some fashion.

I touched on it in the part about her nerdy side, but let's also bring specific attention to the fact that BotW Zelda also has a delightfully weird and chaotic side to her. She tries to feed a frog to Link, and the TotK stone tablets tell about how she would ride Mineru's construct despite the protests of the chamberlain. And while the recipe she cooks in AoC is a legit BotW recipe, the way the scene is depicted clearly makes her come across as eccentric in her cooking.

AoC also casts her in a leadership role once her powers finally awaken and she becomes more confident. Honestly I prefer the insecure nerd Zelda over the charismatic leader because I don't think she quite has enough credibility to pull off rousing speeches to masses at this point of the story, but I guess it does make sense for the kind of story they're telling

Her powers are pretty inconsistent between games, BotW is obviously all about awakening her sacred sealing power, and the game ends with her saying that she used all that up. And then TotK reveals she had two different powers all along; Sonia's time power comes out of nowhere and Rauru's light power overlaps with her BotW ability a lot. But I can live with a discrepancy like this since I like the story of TotK.

Since I brought up how it's nice that Skyward Sword is implied to have a knitting hobby, I suppose it should be mentioned that BotW Zelda made the Champion's blue clothes and accessories. Though here it feels a lot less important and even a bit tacked on, since BotW Zelda already has so much going on that is more important and meaningful to her character. But I guess crafting clothes is princessy enough of a subject that Rhoam approves of spending time on it instead of prayer practice and even brags about it. A different little detail that I like more than this clothing thing is that we get to learn Zelda's favourite food (fruitcake).

In Japanese Zelda uses polite language, but no honorifics. I'm no Japanese expert, but to me this comes across as keeping a polite distance from everyone, while also implying status ("I'm a princess so I don't need to use a honorific for you"). Also in the beginning of AoC, Link (who at this point is just a random knight to Zelda) kneels in front of her and she doesn't even acknowledge him, so it appears she's pretty used to her standing. The stone tablets in TotK also describe her having an undeniable air of nobility.

[dracomelody]

Let me start by saying I love the Zelda franchise. I'm a casual gamer, and I haven't beaten every single game in the series (I haven't finished Zelda 2 and I haven't started Oracle of Ages, and I haven't played most of the spinoffs).

When Breath of the Wild came out, it instantly became tied with Twilight Princess as my favorite Zelda game. BotW was a breath of fresh air (pun intended) and I loved how I could play the game at my own pace, and I loved the freedom to explore wherever I wanted from the start. I thought the story was great and the gameplay was unique. The dungeons fell a bit short (they were short and easy, and the bosses kinda sucked), but they were creative, and I loved the champions enough that beating their bosses felt satisfying, if only since it avenged my old friends. Its themes of finally getting closure from the past while helping in the present was handled beautifully, and the final memory brought me to tears.

When Tears of the Kingdom was announced, I was HYPED. I was so excited to see Ganondorf's return and the consequences that would have on the world in this new story. I was wondering how they would handle reusing the same map, especially with the new abilities (Recall was what I was most excited for since it had so much potential to use in puzzles). But the more I saw of TotK regarding its map and game mechanics, the less interested I became.

I thought we would be able to keep the shrines as warp points on the surface (and the focus of the game would be on exploring the Depths and the Sky). Instead, all traces of the BotW's story were lost. No Shiekah tech, no towers, no (Shiekah) shrines. Ok, fine, it's whatever. But that meant you were required to explore the SAME overworld the SAME WAY as you did in BotW: finding dragons tears (finding memories), finding/beating Zonai shrines (finding/beating Sheikah shrines), and finding lookout towers to gain a map of the area (climbing the Shiekah towers). Why? What's the point of all of that in the same overworld, when the focus SHOULD be on making the Depths and Skies interesting instead?

The skies were too segmented and barely had anything in them. The depths were mostly empty aside from enemies and DLC armor from BotW (which makes most of the amiibo useless, btw. Also, THEY GOT RID OF WOLF LINK. I WILL NOT FORGIVE THEM. Lol), and finding the Lightroots as the priority made it tedious to explore. The caves on the surface were so small that they hardly mattered unless you wanted to hunt all the frogs.

I thought the dungeons would be more unique from each other this time around, maybe play on different types of gimmicks or themes. Instead, it's just more of the same gimmick that BotW had: find a few terminals and then beat the boss.

Since TotK is a sequel, I thought its story would be in real time, directly driving the gameplay. Instead, the story takes place forever in the past, and ultimately has no bearing on the plot outside of Zelda's location, AND the exact same story gets replayed after every dungeon you beat. I understood it the first time, thanks.

The ancestors in the past story don't really mean anything to me because they're...nobody. I don't even think they had names. They didn't do anything to make themselves stand out from their descendants, or even have a connection with their descendants aside from being their ancestors. But I digress.

In terms of reusing the world, I thought the old ruins (like the ranch ruins in BotW) would have been rebuilt, or a few new towns would have been added, but INSTEAD it's just the same old world with added monster camps and Lookout Landing and maybe another town that was so forgettable that I don't even remember it.

Ok, so it wasn't what I expected. That doesn't make it bad, right?

Well, I gave it a chance I just really didn't care for the building mechanics. The fusion mechanic is great, but I still feel like I'm cheesing my way through the game instead of actually solving puzzles the way they were intended. I feel like I'm just brute forcing my way through the game, and that doesn't make me feel clever or smart the way older games used to when I'd figure out a unique puzzle.

Oh well. Some games just aren't meant for some people. I still had fun just exploring and messing with Koroks, and I liked that I could have more horses (but they left out the ancient bridle and saddle from the BotW DLC =( )

So now that they've dropped trailers for Echoes of Wisdom, I thought: this is it, they're going to do something different. And we're playing as Zelda!! Zelda has so many cool abilities!!

But instead, the new gimmick in the game is....a rod. That anyone can use. Using Zelda's powers in a game where you play as Zelda? NOPE. Just give her a weapon Link could use, except now we don't have Link's sword/shield or arsenal of other items. We're just a powerless girl with a duplication wand.

Ok, ok, it can't be as bare-bones as that.

The world should be unique and encourage you to explore and navigate the different terrains, right? NOPE, just summon a million beds and climb over everything.

Open world games can be fun, but when you have NO LIMITS then it becomes boring. There's no thought or challenge or maze or puzzles in order to progress; you can easily use the mechanic to build your own solution to every single problem from the start. And building your own solution means relying on knowledge you already have; it doesn't require you to learn how to problem-solve, the way puzzles are meant to. Usually, in this case, I'd WANT to progress in order to see what will happen in the story. But we all know that the Zelda team doesn't gaf about the story, at least not anymore. So what's the point?

Just echo a cucco to fly over gaps, or summon a few objects as a staircase to climb up ledges. Using these echoes in dungeons has the potential to make things fun, but in the overworld? I just don't see the appeal of cheesing your way through every obstacle. And I already had my fill of going wherever I wanted in BotW and TotK. Making the overworld an actual world worth navigating would be NEW at this point.

I feel like EoW should be a short little spinoff game or something. At least then I wouldn't feel so disappointed in a main series game. I'll check it out for the story alone, but if TotK's story is anything to go on, I'm sure EoW's story will be lacking as well.

I'm not dropping out of the fandom just yet. But I feel like they're really cashing in on BotW's success by making every game a worse knockoff of it. They're using playable Zelda as a dirty tactic to win over fans like me who have wanted to play as Zelda with her established abilities.

[ashleyleygraves]

Every time I look at Tears of the Kingdom criticisms, they aren't even about actual criticisms, they just don't like the story. It's fine to not like the story. But when you criticize, you need to explain why and how you would've fixed the problem. (No, saying "I would've changed the whole story" is not the why and how.)

For example, I didn't like that there wasn't any explanation on where the Sheikah technology went until a developer basically panicked in an interview and said that it just vanished after the Calamity. I would've made it so that while Purah is explaining the Purah Towers and/or Purah Pad, she offhandedly commented that she got the parts from the guardians/shrines/Divine Beasts.

What really irks me is the "but the story doesn't line up to past Zelda games" that's right. Good job on understanding that. Ocarina of Time had 2 direct sequels: Majora's Mask and Wind Waker. Zelda 1 has a direct sequel: Link's Adventure. Wind Waker has a direct sequel: Phantom Hourglass. Breath of the Wild has a direct sequel: Tears of the Kingdom.

The only thing that was promised was that it was a sequel (and technically also prequel) to Breath of the Wild. People take the timeline way too seriously. Twilight Princess is technically after Majora's Mask, but we are only told that from the timeline. The Hero's Shade was hinted at being the Hero of Time, but just like the Bridge of Hylia existing in BotW/TotK those hints were just made as a reference.

The Zelda timeline doesn't make sense. Why did 4 Sword adventure take place in the Child timeline? How does a "the hero is killed" timeline exist if the hero canonically wins? Why is it only Ocarina of Time that had the timeline split when time travel is a common thing in many Zelda games?

Sure, you are allowed to not like the story, but stop blaming it on Nintendo not caring about the Zelda timeline. They were all meant to be a brand of games with the same name, we as a community just wanted a timeline, so Nintendo just made one and threw it at us.

If you want to argue that it has no connection to Breath of the Wild, please replay the game again and see how many things are connected:

If you've played BotW, your horses transfer over

Zelda has made monuments dedicated to the people that lost their lives to Calamity Ganon

People still remember him. I've seen arguments that people don't; so I will say: talk to the Zora, the people around Lookout Landing, Master Kohga, the Sheikah, some of the Rito, Riju and her right hand, and Yunobo.

If you've beaten the Champions' Balad DLC, you keep the picture of the Champions.

Anyway, I just needed to rant because I keep seeing "criticisms" that are just bitching at the story, which as I said before: if you don't like the story, that's your opinion, but don't think that's what a criticism is because it's not.

[roseytoesy]

vore ask cause im not sure if this was mentioned before, do your predcrushes stay strictly as pred or do you have moments of like wanting to make them prey so you can keep them safe and close too (vore is a comfort for me <3) -opossum anon

OH heck yea!

first off thank you so much for this ask opossum anon! I've been itching to write something for a while but had no set inspiration. also congrats on being my first real ask in like 4 months.

Anyway! onto your ask! warning it will be very long cause I went a bit crazy remembering all my pred crushes.

Also warning to start I start off on legend of zelda and don't stop for like 6 names... also sorry for the crazy comments im just letting my mind barf all over this post.

I have had pred crushes on just about every enemy in most legend of zelda games, but ill stick to ones that make the most sense for this ask otherwise this will take forever.

Ghirahim: sassy demon lord and sword to the demon king demise, very much a pred from how he likes to be above those around him. could I see him as prey? honestly no, especially not with that tongue. this man can summon daggers with a snap of his fingers, so unless he's somehow willing, there is no way you'll survive his onslaught to your insides.

Link: the hero of legend and owner of the triforce of courage. yes yes yes. Hes been hurt in many games, been saved by others many times too. so absolutly i can see him needing some rescue and rest inside an allies coughsidoncough stomach.

Midna: we meet her in her cursed imp form. She's bossy and mischievous, but not invincible. I have daydreamed many times about her when I played twilight princess. and yea I could see her needing to be eaten and kept safe from the harsh light of the day/light spirits. she wouldn't be happy but she would show appreciation for it once she realized why its happening. Her twilight form is much more powerful so I honestly don't believe that that form would need protection.

Sidon: BIG SHARK MAN. A favorite of many for his award winning smile and large stature and larger heart. I adore this Zora so much and many others agree that he is a kindhearted pred. Could he be prey? sure in dire circumstances but he would have to be shrunk in the first place for anyone to even have a chance of getting him down. he wouldn't mind as long as he was made aware that it was safe.

The imprisioned: A hulking beast that is the cursed form of the demon king. its literally a giant spiky egg with only 2 legs and a giant mouth. I have pred crushes on a lot of the boss monsters but this one is the most memorable cause duh. and no this is a monster with dark magic. no eating.

Ganondorf: specifically tears of the kingdom, man has a DILF body. his story is so cool and he takes great pleasure in the suffering of others, being above them. he is an amazing villainous pred, but never prey.

Abigale (from stardew valley): my crystal eating wife! a girl with sass and a kind adventurous heart, maybe some magic too. A gal who is fine being eaten or eating the farmer when either are in trouble. She adores the idea and its like a new adventure every time since everything is moving and stuff. She would be very thankful for the save even if it is a bit unconventional.

Reaper leviathan (subnautica): Giant monster everyone knows and fear. An apex predator of the sea. could it be eaten? maybe when shrunk, but good luck. Those teeth and pinchers are wicked sharp.

Emperor leviathan: A beautiful smart creature of the deep, who wanted nothing more than to ensure her children could go out into the world. a kind pred who has minor healing properties thanks to that special enzyme. Not one to be eaten though as one of the largest creatures in the entire game. even her babies are the size of an adult human.

Al-An: I totally haven't been making my own architect OC for this exact kind of thing noooo. in my heart I like to think that he would be a good protective if not a bit oblivious pred. if he were much smaller, maybe he could be eaten but the body shape and density would make things very difficult. also with his ability to just teleport out if he was unwilling.

John J Juniper (I expect you to die): HHHHHHhhhhhhhhh charismatic preds are a weakness dude. This amazing actor turned villain had some of the best lines and subtle hints for just about anything in this game. he would adore eating an unexperienced agent. He wouldn't take well to being eaten, especially by an agent, he would squirm and kick and make all kinds of comments. maybe he will eventually calm down but that's only if he knows he's stuck/safe and if he knows/trusts the person who ate him.

Doc Ock (marvel Spiderman villain): those arms make good restraints and the energy he gives off is just to perfect. he was a kind man before the implants. and with the no way home movie he was able to regain his senses. I love both corrupt or kind preds so this is amazing. You would have to make sure that he (and his arms) were comfortable with being eaten otherwise you could easily be skewered. in a dangerous situation when he would need help, yea he could understand. maybe study it himself later.

Remus (sanders sides): this guy is literally intrusive thoughts personified. he would happily eat or be eaten by anything/anybody. he finds it a crazy idea and adventure. really odd prey that asks some insane questions. he does get into trouble but since he's imaginary he can handle whatever happens. he appreciates that you care enough about him to eat him, like some crazed beloved animal.

Beel (obey me): The personification of gluttony. like come on. He already hints at eating the player so many times its just normal conversation with him. I think that if he was shrunk and some how satiated he would be ok being eaten, he understand what its like to be so hungry you could eat a person or 5. If he was in danger yet somehow you weren't then he would be ok with it, if you were both in danger he'd be more likely to eat you to protect you. he'd rather die protecting others, since he failed once before.

Floyd (twisted wonderland): This crazy eel twin loves to play and mess with other guppies around him, so of course he loves to scare people via vore. probably a more common occurrence for merfolk since swallowing things whole is a common thing fish do. he would not be happy in a stomach, mostly just because its so boring. he has quite a bit of power to him so be careful cause he could cause some damage if he decides to be violent.

jade: The more silent and deadly of the twins. he is a mastermind of mischief and manipulation, enjoying the torment of others. He only consumes others when truly hungry or he needs a special kind of power trip after some form of immense disappointment. he might not seem too upset about being eaten if he was in danger, but know that he is plotting to get you back in some way for this. even if its safe you gave him a decent scare, its only fair he returns the favor~

Azul: The caecilian business man himself. a sly pred who doesn't indulge on others very often, he likes to think he's above that compared to the twins habits. Nevertheless, when he gets a special opportunity he wont turn it down. he has been eaten in the past before. and he vowed it would never happen again, outside of Floyd and Jade. So you would have to be very close to him otherwise it's going to be very difficult and afterward your life will be hell from the Octavinelle group. if youre someone he trusts and he was truely in danger, he would curl up inside and shutter, its hard to admit he needed help, and in such a way as traumatic as this. poor dude will need some time to recover.

Sun/moon (security breach): the day care assistants have such an amazing personality to them! so many fun stories for them too out there. sun isn't much of a pred but will be in dire situations. meanwhile moon is very much a pred and will gobble up troublemakers to detain them more often than not. gives them a good scare too. both would hate being eaten, the wetness of insides doesn't mix well with an animatronic body. even if you ate sun they would change to moon in the darkness inside, unless provided with a light. sun is miffed and a bit more sassy about it, more upset at the cleaning he will have to do. and moon is similar but more dangerous. if unwilling he will rip apart soft insides.

Eye of Cthulhu (terraria): again I'm a sucker for monsters that are mostly mouth. fun monster pred. could you eat him, not really since it has the ability to phase through the ground and objects easy enough.

Leshy (inscryption): The scribe of beasts, who acts like one himself when in control of the game. the way he grabs the player and makes them go through hard animalistic trials and sacrifices, it only makes sense that he would make a good pred. likely describing everything like the DM that he is. He would not be happy about being eaten, even in a dire situation, he hates being overpowered, finding it unbelievable in many cases. would he be understanding, yes since of course his whole moto is "sacrifices must be made".

Extra!! my soul mate @abellyfulloffriends my beloved switch. he protects me and I protect him on hard days. and yes I would absolutely tuck him away and protect him when he needs it cause he would do the same for me. Its a wonderful thing we have. Just wanted to add this in cause I'm a sap.

[starlitangels]

Talk Nerdy

Listen, Erik said Link would be Vincent's main in Smash Bros because Vincent has a fondness for the character and fell in love with Breath of the Wild like the rest of us did. That is enough for me to decide Vincent is at least kinda a Legend of Zelda fan. And as a Zelda fan, this was just an excuse to be a Big Nerd. 1.2k words

—

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! I just need one more hit..." Vincent muttered under his breath. So focused on his game that he didn't realize I was standing in the archway behind him. He didn't hear me, smell me, see me—nothing. I smiled and watched Colgera fly around the screen while Link and Tulin furiously flew around in the swirling wind.

Biting my lip, I crept out of the archway and behind the couch. Vincent swore as he took a shot with his bow and it shattered. I smirked, leaned down until I was right behind his ear, and raised a hand.

I dropped it onto his shoulder. "Whatcha doin'?" I asked loudly.

Vincent swore and nearly threw his controller into the TV. Instead managing to only arc it over the coffee table. "Lovely!" he exclaimed. "Don't do that to me!" In a blur of movement, he had his controller back and the game paused. He spun to look at me. "What was that for?"

I laughed. "I'm sorry," I said around my laughter. "I couldn't help it. You were so focused you didn't—you didn't even notice I was right there. I had to see how close I could get!"

He sighed, giving me an affectionate—but exasperated—shake of his head with a little grin. "You're a menace," he said.

I shrugged. "Just for you, and just when we're alone. Because you love me."

"I do. I do love you." I leaned across the back of the couch and met his lips in a kiss. He reached and grabbed at my hips, hauling me over the back of the sofa while I shrieked as I flopped down onto the cushions. He cackled. "There we go. We're even now. And you get to sit with me and watch me play."

"Fine with me."

He kissed the top of my head and unpaused the game. Quickly equipping a new bow to try and shoot Colgera again.

"Rare for a Zelda boss' weak spot to not be their eye," I joked.

"Mmhmm," Vincent agreed, barely paying me any heed.

We sat in relative silence, broken only by Tulin's encouragement and the boss music and various sound effects like the cyclones and Vincent's controller clacking, for a few minutes.

"You're running out of cold resistance," I said.

He cursed under his breath and paused, searching his menus for another dish of food for cold resistance.

"Didn't you get a portable pot in one of the Zonai capsules?"

"They don't work in boss fights," he replied. Right as he found another meal he'd made to fight the cold and had Link eat it. He unpaused and went right back to it.

"Damn, this track slaps," I said quietly.

"It really does. I barely noticed it my first time playing through this game since I was so focused on the fight. Now, every time I restart, I always fight Colgera first. It's the best boss fight."

I smiled. "How many times have you played through Tears of the Kingdom in the last six months?"

Vincent shrugged. "Like five or six. But I don't search for all the Koroks every time. Just as many as I need to get all the spaces in my inventory. I still haven't found all of them on my main Switch profile's save. They added more. It was already a pain in the ass finding nine-hundred in Breath of the Wild. Now there's a thousand. They managed to shove a hundred more into almost the exact same map."

I smiled. "These are your favorite Zelda games, aren't they?"

He didn't even break his concentration from the boss fight. "Maybe. Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Ocarina of Time are pretty high on the list too." He moved around with his motion controls to aim his bow. "Twilight Princess is high on that list," he added. "I'd only been turned for six years when it came out and I was in the perfect moody, dark headspace to vibe hard with the game's aesthetic. Maybe the nostalgia helps keep it that high on my favorites. It's also just a good game to boot. And, if I may say, the most iconic appearance for Princess Zelda. She was barely in the game and yet when I hear the name 'Princess Zelda', I always think of her Twilight Princess look before even her Breath of the Wild one."

I smiled. Mmm... talk nerdy to me, you lovable dork, I thought fondly. "I never finished the Forest Temple in that game. Much to my best friend's chagrin. Twilight Princess was their favorite Zelda game while we were growing up."

Vincent shot me a quick look. "We'll fix that. I'll break out the Wii or the Wii-U and we'll get you through it."

"If we ever have time," I muttered sarcastically.

"Fair point. We'll find time. The fact that we don't really need to sleep as much has helped me get through this game multiple times."

I snickered and continued watching him.

The Rito Village/Dragon Roost Island theme hit and washed over our living room in a wave of nostalgia. Vincent sighed in rapture at it.

"This music is so good," I whispered.

"Uh-huh," he agreed. "Nintendo really went off with all the Tears of the Kingdom music. Remember that trailer's saxophone?"

"Mmhmm." I grinned. "Remember the first trailer to feature Ganondorf's voice and the entire internet blew up like 'Matthew Mercer'?"

Vincent started laughing. "That was hilarious. So many memes."

"Yeah. It was great." I gasped. "You're on your last shot, Vin!"

"I know. I'm so close."

"You know, if you did this with a Multi-Shot bow, you could do this a lot faster."

"Yeah, yeah. But I like doing this fight first. It's a challenge." He let go of the button on his controller. Link loosed the arrow.

It arced toward Colgera. Vincent and I both held our breath.

It struck, breaking the final bit of cracked ice.

"Yes!" Vincent cheered, pumping his fist into the air. I whooped and let him give me a kiss.

"Good job, lover boy," I said.

"Thanks, lovely." He gave me a soft look. "I forgive you for scaring me to death."

I burst out laughing. "Thanks. And you're welcome."

He kissed my hairline. "Were you wanting a turn on the Switch or were you just coming in to watch me play?"

"I was actually coming in to ask if you wanted a hot cocoa or something but I saw an opportunity that I couldn't pass up."

"Menace," he accused affectionately.

"Playboy," I retorted. He grinned.

"I would actually love a hot chocolate though," he added in a cheeky little whisper, curling his shoulders up and smiling like a mischievous kid.

I smiled. "I'll get some made for us. You're cute." Kissing his curly, glossy blue-black hair, I got up from the sofa and went toward the kitchen while the cutscene kept playing on the TV.

—

Tag list: @pinksparkl @zozo-01 @thegoldenlittlerose

[echoesofwisdomcountup]

139 Days since Tears of the Kingdom Released. Guess who finally finished Totk’s main story quest last night! Spoilers under the cut.

I have a few things to say about the final fight. I approached the final fight with no fear, mostly complaining about how much malice there was on the way down. I thought it was a smart idea that the game takes away the sage avatars as if to warn you that you’re getting close to the boss fight. I adored the cutscene where the actual sages show up and fight off the respawned temple bosses. There was just something so nice about “you don’t have to fight alone you know” and also funny because I have a feeling the sages are just a little exasperated. Then the Ganondorf fight… HE STOLE LINK’S SIGNATURE MOVE. I was both angry and shocked when he flurry rushed Link BUT THEN HE FLURRY RUSHED LINK’S FLURRY RUSH. Seriously I was cursing him out when he counter flurry rushed. It was amusing to see energy ball tennis make a return but ughhh the flurry rush thing was annoying because I kept accidentally trying to wack Ganondorf with the master sword on instinct. Oh oh I though it was interesting how his forward rushes and some of his movements gave me flashbacks to the Skyward Sword final fight. And then there was that second phase part where his heath bar just kept growing until it was to the right side of the screen. My friend was laughing so hard when I said “hey excuse me you stop that right now” at the heath bar. Overall I immensely enjoyed those phases (except when the hearts started permanently decreasing because fuck you Ganondorf.) Then the dragon fight had me so excited because Zelda came to catch Link. We got to ride on her head and fight Dragon Ganon together. It just really felt like we were doing it together, all three of us, Link, Zelda, and Fi. Every time I destroyed one of the tumors on Dragon Ganon I jumped off and dived yelling “ZELDA CATCH ME PLS!” Also there’s just the fact that Dragon Ganon sucked ass at aim like someone please give him aim bot because he didn’t hit me once. He fired at me blank range when I went to stab his forehead and still missed. I was heckling him outloud the entire time. AND THEN THE ENDING. Seeing Sonia and Rauru again and then Zelda is falling and we had to catch her. I really liked how it came full circle and I was happy and accomplished. I was completely fine until Zelda looked at Link and said “Oh Link, I’m home.” Instant K.O. Made me immediately burst into tears.

As you can see I enjoyed the ending of Totk.

[genericpuff]

If I can ask, since you mentioned liking the legend of zelda, what's your opinion on the recent announcement from Nintendo that there's gonna be a Tloz live action movie?

I've seen a lot of people mad because it isn't animated, and I honestly feel the same way. Like, I don't wanna give a not-even-released-movie bad faith (we haven't even seen a trailer for it), but you know... Live action movies based off videogames don't tend to turn out... Well. I hope I'm mistaken of course, but I'm honestly concerned too.

oh god

i am not excited

i wish i could be

i wish i could be hyped for it the way 6 year old me would have been

but the odds just aren't stacked in its favor with the team it has onboard, fucking avi arad, wes ball, and derek conolly

a middle of the road hit or miss producer whose movies often make or break franchises

an industry baby director who directed three crappy movies from the same failure of a franchise and a couple indie flicks

and a mixed-reviews-at-best writer who came up with "somehow palpatine returned"

and yeah the fact that it's live action... why couldn't it have been animated? You're telling me that Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom was inspired by Ghibli films and you STILL went for a live action approach instead of making it animated by, idk, Ghibli?? or shit, Studio Ponoc even!

and you just KNOW there's a high chance it's gonna be done in the live action disney remake "looks like shit the day it airs" way, not the practical effects "ages like fine wine" lord of the rings way

i want to be optimistic, i want to be hopeful, but i'm just not the kid i was when this movie SHOULD have happened

it happening now just feels like another soulless cog in the multiverse machine, y'know what i mean? the super mario bros movie did well so now ofc it's time for nintendo to 'expand' their film franchises and i just... i'm so tired. i can't. i've spent too long having zelda as my hyperfixation all throughout my childhood to have it go out this way (╥﹏╥)

[nocturnalfandomartist]

💛 I Remember You 💛

Time Elapsed: 1 hour, 11 minutes

Program used: Ibis Paint X

(This doodle is me coping with the Tears of the Kingdom trailer and pretending they aren't about to be traumatized more).

BotW/ToTK will forever be my favorite version of Zelink. They've been through a whole lot together, and seeing them reunited at the end of BoTW is so sweet (especially in the context of the diaries outside of the English translation)! Such a shame everyone's probably dead. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted...

I cannot express enough how agonizing it has been to wait for more news on TotK! So when I saw a Nintendo Direct was coming up, I was unable to focus on anything else. I knew we were bound to get info, but I was NOT READY FOR THIS

Everything about that trailer was so well done, it makes the wait for May seem even longer! A few thoughts I had personally:

1. Ganondorf is pretty decent casting. I'm admittedly surprised he doesn't sound hoarse or anything considering he's a reanimated corpse, but it's still menacing!

2. I'm convinced Ganondorf and Zelda are going to take the forms/powers of Demise and Hylia at this point with all these parallels...

3. POSSIBLE MORE RUNES MAKE ME SO EXCITED! We thought Link getting a motorcycle gave us too much power... Now we have cars and mechanical gliders.

4. It doesn't seem Zelda is getting damseled! That makes me so happy. I figured she wouldn't be playable (unfortunately), but it at least seems she'll have a presence throughout the story! Perhaps a Skyward Sword situation where she must go on a journey of her own? Maybe in the form of flashbacks to the previous Zelda from 10,000 years ago? If it goes with a SS route, maybe that leaves room for a playable Zelda in post-game.

5. All the monsters look stronger than before, and there are even new ones! I tried to see if those dino bird things matched up with any classic enemies, but they didn't seem to be so. Either way, they're awesome!

6. I can't wait to explore where all the characters are after a potential time skip. Zelda especially! She got so much character in BotW, and I am going to love seeing more of it!

7. If Zelda doesn't end up becoming Hylia, I'm also wondering if the previous Zelda ends up being revealed to be the same one (same with Link) due to time travel shenanigans like in Skyward Sword.

8. If Zelda and Link don't kiss or address Zelda's feelings for him at least once I will be very sad (but I'll love the game anyway).

9. I hope to see the cycle broken here. That seems to be where this is leading! It would be great to watch Zelda and Link finish off Demise's curse once and for all and finally have the peace Hyrule has been fighting to have for eons.

10. Hopefully Link's diary won't be lost in translation this time! Adding those little details like that made BotW even better than it already was.

11. LINK THREW THE MASTER SWORD ASIDE TO CATCH ZELDA I CAN'T- But poor Fi. Hope she's doing okay with the whole Malice infestation thing. This is a stretch, but perhaps there will be a return of Ghirahim or his sword form. That'd be cool.

12. It looks like there's potential for more old-school dungeons! With the Divine Beasts seemingly inactive, Link may have to travel through monster-ridden ruins to drive them out of Hyrule.

13. I'm excited to see details on the time between BotW and TotK, like how Zelda got her hair cut! It'll be nice to see which NPCs changed and which haven't (Beedle is probably the same and will be the same even as all of existence crumbles around him).

14. Maybe the memory mechanic will be implemented again by Link recalling his past life 10,000 years ago?

Alright, sorry for the ramblings here. I'm too excited. I have lots more thoughts, but I'll share them in the future. May 12 can't come fast enough!

Reblogging is fine, but please don't post this anywhere else without linking the original post. Thanks!

[ponett]

I saw in your FFXVI review that you'd played Tears of the Kingdom. What were your thoughts on Zelda's role in the game and story?

it was okay. i'll put this below a read more for spoilers. this will also talk more about the stories in general, because i feel like i can't say much about zelda's storylines without doing that

generally, i think i liked the execution a little better than how botw told its story. i loved botw, but it felt like the entire story was already 99% finished by the time link woke up. i didn't feel like i was developing a relationship to those characters as the player, i felt like i was being told about things that just kind of happened around link 100 years before i took control of him - things that he barely reacts to because of how little this version of link emotes in cutscenes. zelda was pretty fun at times, but her arc is really just "she's under immense pressure from her father to live up to her destiny as the reincarnation of hylia and save everyone... and then she does it, the end"

so i preferred the execution in totk, where it felt more like link and zelda had parallel adventures occurring in the present and the ancient past. zelda sets up a lot of things for you in the past, but you also have all the stories of the sages. they're not amazing or anything, but like, those are characters that YOU, the player, met and helped as part of YOUR adventures in the previous game, and now you'll continue to work alongside them and help them save their home regions. those storylines are built upon YOUR actions as the player, making you an active participant, as opposed to being told about link's relationships with the champions. and because link is completely absent from zelda's storyline, you're on the same page as him as you piece together what zelda was up to on her own, so i found that more engaging

the actual content of zelda's storyline in totk is, like... fine. she admittedly feels like kind of a passive observer for a lot of it, a mere point of view character for us to see what rauru was doing, until she finally has the idea to become a dragon and repair the master sword. but i thought that was a cool narrative move. that sacrifice feels like more of an interesting act of agency on her part than her living up to her father's expectations in botw

of course, yes, in the end zelda has to turn back to normal. she can't stay a dragon. it's cheap, but i dunno. did we really expect anything different? to me the only part that REALLY feels like a cop out is the fact that the tens of thousands of years she spent as a dragon are written off as feeling "like a dream" to her, rather than leaning into zelda waiting so many millennia to reunite with link. embrace that drama! but, like. it's a zelda game. they were always going to give us that happy ending where link and zelda are reunited and everything's back to normal

i think the thing to me is that, like. at this point in my life, at the ripe old age of 29, i accept that the stories in most zelda games are nothing to write home about. games like link's awakening and majora's mask are the exception, not the rule. zelda games have fun worlds and characters, they have occasional moments of brilliance, but they're straightforward hero's journey stories made to support the gameplay first and foremost. and most of the 3d zelda games at this point have some sort of ass pull in the final act - shit like zant being pushed aside for you to fight ganondorf, or tetra getting whitewashed and turned into a completely different character the second they reveal she's a zelda

i go to other games when i want a really nuanced, emotional story with a bittersweet ending. i'm not waiting up for zelda writing to blow me away like that, in the same way that i'm just playing other games with female protagonists instead of waiting up for them to make a game where you play as zelda

[fanartfunart]

The Well of Memories

Summary: post Tears of the Kingdom, Zelda thinks back on what happened, and what she can and can not remember. Link makes a connection with the feeling.

Happy 1 year anniversary to Totk! Here's a short drabble

(Totk Dragon Tears spoilers)

Zelda looked out at the endless sky, brows knit together. She tried to tease out her hazy recollection of swallowing the stone and everything after, but it refused her. Each droplet of memory felt like it was encased in a bubble too far to reach. Something that happened but never did all at once.

The edge of a cloak fluttered against her shoulder. A pair of legs slipped off the edge of the sky island next to her and settled there. A warm presence against her. Link. She slowly allowed herself to lean against him. He let her stay there, cozy and comfortable.

"Rupee for your thoughts?" Link whispered.

"...I had scars. Before. The battle with Ganon had been- I had wounds I never thought would heal." Zelda raised her hand, tilting it in the light. The skin was smooth and seamless. "They're gone. As if nothing had happened…. It disturbs me."

Link nodded softly. Zelda dropped her head against his shoulder. He hooked his chin over the top of her head.

"I know it would probably be far too much to comprehend, but I just wish I could at least recall my time as a dragon. It- it weighs in my mind as this untouchable pool, deep and mysterious."

She looked up and traced a mindless path in the sky "Continually, I ask myself: Did I help anyone for those thousands of years? Was I a symbol of Hope? Or was I a symbol of Desperation for my ancient friends? Did I do anything in the light of the first Calamity? I had to have been there. Did- did it rouse any part of my humanity when I saw it? And our own-" Zelda clutched the fabric of her pant leg. Link's soft presence was warm and far too light. She felt a need, a craving for pressure.

"I know for a fact I never saw such a dragon as you described. But- but is that because I was not ready to See? Could you have, then? Would we have known what would be if you hadn't-..." She threw her hand up and shook her head "No. I- doubt it would've been apparent regardless…"

Zelda sighed, heavily, "It just- it was such a monumental, terrifying, heartstopping decision. I- I felt as if I was to die." Zelda clutched at the stone at her collar. "I almost was, in many ways. And- I- I can't remember the last moment. I can't. I don't know if I ever felt relief. If I ever knew peace, even just once, for those thousand years."

Zelda took a breath.

Link said nothing.

It was a curious sort of nothing, because he had gotten at least slightly more talkative recently. He still took his time to consider words in situations such as this. But he was quick with a comforting hum or something to indicate the thought being made. Instead, it was a stark rigid silence. It reminded her too much of his knighthood.

She ducked her head, "Apologies, I didn't mean to overwhelm you with my thoughts. … I feel as if I'm a cacophony of emotion. I know it would be difficult to understand…"

Link was still quiet.

"Link?"

One more agonizing beat of silence, and he shook himself from it, "I know what you're talking about."

Zelda blinked. How could he possibly know? Then with sudden clarity, it clicked. A near death. A rebirth without memory. "Oh. Oh! I'm so sorry I didn't mean to-"

He snorted and giggled softly at her. Zelda frowned, looking at him to protest the indignity of his amusement. He soothed a thumb- his left, she noted, despite his right being the first to move- over the crease in her brow. "It's perfectly fine."

He looked to the distance of sky for a moment, the thoughtful hum settling in the breeze. "I- I think they come easier, softer, when you let yourself breathe," he said eventually, "They may never come to you. Perhaps it's a gift. To rediscover old sights as new. To live with fresh eyes and enjoy the moment." Link smiled, eyes closed, face soft with light haloed in his wind-tossed hair.

Zelda smiled, keeping her gaze to what was close. In her reach. She wrapped an arm around Link's shoulders. "We'll discover together," she said.

Link smiled softly, "Yes, together."