#with Wild having Mipha’s diary

[ladye-zelda]

Another idea for Wild’s dark form: a horse

Think about it: all of the divine beasts exist in BotW and what does Wild get for his divine beast? A motorcycle in the shape of a horse

[multbasa]

Thinking about Sidon and how old he might be, there are actually a couple of clues in Breath of the Wild.

Link's childhood friends from Zora's Domain remember him very clearly even though it was over 100 years ago:

"We used to swim together when I was but a child... Remember? Well, it has been 100 years since then. And now I'm over 130 years old."

–Rivan

"What is the Big Bad Bazz Brigade password? Fluffy white clouds! Clear blue...[Zora] [...] The only people who know that password are members of the Big Bad Bazz Brigade!

–Bazz

"We...used to play together all the time."

–Gaddison

Sidon, on the other hand, only has a fuzzy recollection:

"I recently remembered something...a fuzzy memory from my early childhood. There was a swordsman that came by every so often and spent a considerable amount of time with Mipha."

–Sidon

Rivan states that he was a child when he, Bazz, Gaddison and Link all played together as part of the Big Bad Bazz Brigade while Sidon says he recalls a "swordsman" in his early childhood.

Link was skilled with a sword from a young age and Bazz mentions that Link taught him sword fighting, but to call a Hylian child of 4 a "swordsman" is quite a stretch. Therefore, he must be recalling Link after he had the Master Sword when he would visit Mipha which was at least 3 times according to her diary since he acquired the sword.

Also Link must have been part of Bazz's brigade when he was a child because he did not visit the domain so often after getting the Sword according to Mipha's diary which states that it was ages between two visits. Sidon also recalls that Link spent so much time with Mipha when he was there that he felt Link was stealing Mipha away from him, so Link wasn't running around with Zora children saying things like "fluffy white clouds, clear blue Zora" when his responsibility as the chosen hero was heavy on his shoulders. Link was skilled in combat since he was 4, so he likely trained with Bazz while they were both kids as well since he had more time and freedom to do it then rather than later.

Therefore I assume that Rivan, Bazz and Gaddison were all part of the same generation along with Mipha and Kodah (another one who knows Link from his time in the domain), so I don't think it is a stretch to assume that they would be of similar ages.

In my previous post about Zora lifespans and ages, I used the developer note for Paya's age to determine Link's age since she was made to be around his age: 18-20 years old. We know Link is at least 17 and born before Zelda because he ascends Mt. Lanayru with Zelda on her 17th birthday, and only those of 17 or older may ascend the mountain.

I also determined that the Zora may grow at half the rate of Hylians, so 40 years old would be about the same development stage as a Hylian at 20 years old. Mipha, who is an adolescent actively growing to full size as she was never considered unusually small for a Zora, would have been a similar development age to Hylians of 15-17.5 years old which places her around Zelda developmental age at the time of her death which falls in line with what Urbosa says about her, Zelda, Link and Revali:

"Zelda, Revali, Mipha, and Link are so young. They are Hyrule's future. Daruk and I hope to help them see that future."

–Urbosa's diary

I placed Link at 19 years old in my last post simply because it was right in the middle of Paya's age range, so I'll use that number again to simplify my math since him at age 4 would have been a nice 15 years before the Calamity.

If Mipha was at least 30 but no older than Rivan whom I considered about 35 at the time of the Calamity, then she would have been 15-20 years old when Link was 4 assuming that he is 19 at the time of the Calamity.

This means that Zora like Rivan can recall things 100 years ago when the are around 20 years old, so Sidon would have had to have been younger when he saw Link in the time leading up to the Calamity.

If Sidon was born around the time that Link first came to the domain, then he would have been old enough to remember Link around the time of the Calamity. Even if Link was 17, Sidon would have been 13 when the Calamity struck. If Link was 19 then Sidon would have been 15.

Therefore I think placing him at about 10 years old when the Calamity struck would be more likely as that would be the equivalent to a Hylian of 5 years old which would be well within an age of fuzzy recollection.

The elephant in the room is Mipha and Sidon's mother who is never mentioned even once. We know that Zora hatch from eggs because Muzu makes a reference to "hatchlings", so whatever happened to Sidon's mother could have been from even before he hatched.

If Mipha did write about her mother or her brother's birth in her diary, it would not be unexpected that the paper pages were damaged by water in the domain while it was lost for 100 years. It's surprising that her paper diary could have survived at all in the Zora's Domain—I wonder where she left it...

[edit] actually Mipha's mother is mentioned once on one of the Zora monuments about Mipha's birth, but there is no mention of what happened to her or when Sidon was born.

Anyway...I think it would make sense that Sidon was about 10 years old and vaguely recalls Link when he would visit Mipha. This is very speculative of course—all that we know for certain is that Rivan is over 130 years old and recalls when he and Link swam together as kids but Sidon cannot recall Link very much at all 100 years ago.

[ghostyv]

I wanna talk about something real quick.

Ok warning I go off on a tangent about fanon legend.

TLDR:Legend isn’t a prick; he’s just jaded, his teasing is from a place of love, and the “rivalry” between him and wars is brotherly and legend is actually extremely compassionate, people just take one small trait and act like it’s the entire personality.

People love to act like Legend’s such a major prick but when you reread LU, he’s really not. Legend’s actually pretty nice. Yeah you can call back to when sky talked about how he doesn’t pay much attention to his attitude, i get that—he doesn’t pay much attention, but he’s not as big a prick as his fanon version suggests. I noticed this when I was watching those LU as tiktoks/vines/random vids on my phone videos on YouTube. Legend’s always made out to be the world’s biggest douche to Wars and yeah I get it’s exaggerated but it’s made out like they hate each other. They don’t in the slightest. I’ve seen genuine siblings who act worse to each other—firsthand. I’m the eldest in my sibling group and have two younger brothers who show no mercy to neither each other nor me, I’ve been insulted by them more than anyone. Legend loves these guys. I think the only reason he can sometimes act like a jerk is one, he doesn’t notice it and two, he most likely tries to keep everyone at arms length because he’s lost people close to him and doesn’t want to go through that again. He’s not some shallow prick—he cares deeply. Take for example in the comic about mipha’s diary. Wild says “I know you love to tease” tease implies just joking around, for one, and two when wild tells him it was Mipha’s, Legend says “ ‘was,’ sorry to hear that” and wild tries to brush it off and he goes “no, i really mean it. I’m sorry to hear that.”

It brings wild some solace. Legend knows loss and he’s not heartless. He knows where people’s limits are and teases lovingly—for some people that’s a love language. My cousin and his best friend are like that, they tease relentlessly but know it’s all out of love. Another instance—legend and Hyrule seem to be two of the closest out of the group. He’s protective over him and a direct call to that is when they were fighting the shadow and Hyrule tries to jump in the fight and Legend grabs his arm

The point to this entire post is that Legend’s only trait isn’t that he’s some prick. He’s so much more complex than that. His teasing is from a place of love, he doesn’t hate Wars like fanon would suggest and honestly their “rivalry”(and it’s a stretch to call it that) is brotherly if anything and his sourness would mainly be an attempt to keep folks at arms length because he doesn’t want to be hurt again.

[skyloftsword]

Why Tears of the Kingdom is the Breath of the Wild I was hoping for

Alright, so before I get into my rant. I really like Breath of the Wild. It's a very fun game and the events of 100 years ago are super interesting. It just... unfortunately let me down after Skyward Sword in two aspects that I personally feel Tears of the Kingdom succeeded at for me. Story and dungeons. Also please don't tell me to watch a Youtuber on why TotK is worse than nuclear war. I make my own opinions and my take on TotK is very unlikely to change. I have done 6 playthroughs and still feel this way. Spoiler warning.

Okay, so my issue with Breath of the Wild's story is how it feels like a mess at times. The memories don't even try to tell anything coherent outside of the final few. Some of them even need journals for any payoff as well. This system also limited the Champions from getting any development or character arcs. It took until Tears for me to appreciate them because Hyrule was still grateful for them. Revali's bow being treasured by Teba, Riju prays to Lady Urbosa in her diary, Mipha got Mipha's Court and Sidon's entire character arc was about how her death still haunts him and he doesn't want that to happen ever again. Daruk... got lights added to his statue's eyes I guess. Anyways, Tears' equivalent to them is the Neo Sages. Tulin, Riju, Sidon and Yunobo. They each get their own arc and you can tell how much they have grown since Breath of the Wild. What makes them better here is that they actually are relevant for more than just the Divine Beast boarding segments. Sidon deals with fear of losing his beloved Yona just like how he lost Mipha 105ish years ago, yet Yona and Link bring him to his senses. Riju goes from being stressed out about how she's too weak to defend Gerudo Town from the Gibdos with her aim, but Link returning reassures her. Tulin goes from being arrogant and thinking he can do anything all by himself to realizing that charging ahead all on his own is a bad idea and that working as a team is the best way to do things. Yunobo goes from being a manipulated crack dealer to being cowardly again for a bit to becoming courageous and willing to fight to defend Hyrule. These arcs help me appreciate the characters a LOT more. The Old Sages intentionally aren't fully fleshed out characters and its fine because they're barely on screen (their names are Ruto, Darunia, Nabooru and possibly just Medoh for the Rito Sage). Ganondorf being an actual character really helps as well. He wants to use the godlike power of the Secret Stones to his advantage to achieve total rule of the world (in the English localization at least). Rauru and Sonia are wonderful characters that actually try to help Zelda achieve her goal of returning to her time (nice opposition of Rhoam forcing her to achieve her light powers and being harsh towards her). Unlike the events of 100 years ago, the memories/Tears in this game actually focus on telling what led to the Imprisoning War in a specific order. The events in the memories and Tears also are all relevant and side stuff was pushed to the Stone Monument side adventure. Unfortunately the game is less linear than Breath (which honestly should be the other way around and is a massive storytelling issue), however Impa at least alludes to the order of the Tears when you go to the Forgotten Temple after the first one. The Fifth Sage quest is also an incredible questline that did what BotW should have done. It showed the Imprisoning War and how Ganondorf shouldn't be taken lightly. I seriously feel let down not seeing Link and Zelda fight the Calamity and losing. Also thank god you don't have to do an absurdly tedious backtrack quest to unlock the Camera, Tears, the Champion Leathers and the Kohga fight.

Onto the dungeons. I don't get why people switched up on the Divine Beasts in a positive way. They have a great gimmick and the "fights" are cool but that's it. The puzzles are... fine I guess? The visuals are cookie cutter and so are the bosses in every aspect except gameplay (and are basically just the Calamity split into 1/4). Tears' Temples are legitimately the most enjoyable dungeons in the series for me. The atmosphere, music, puzzles having a large amount of solutions, etc. Not to mention the boss fights actually being unique and very fun this time (BotW had some bangers too like Koshia and Thunderblight) and have unique fight themes that are so, so, so good. Seized Construct might be my favorite non-final battle boss theme for me. Also the pre-dungeon segments actually feeling like dungeons for 4/5 of them really helped make me like them more. Both games also have great and bad Shrines. TotK has far less bad ones and has a much better vibe with it's Shrines.

Anyways, ramble over. Thanks for reading. The only reason I made this post was because I was pissed off due to personal reasons. I love these games and this series so please don't take this as me hating BotW.

[tragicsibsshowdown]

The Siblings have been Selected!

are you ready to see your favorite sets of tragic siblings go head to head? Well here are you contestants entering!

Polls will be random for the first round and continue on from there bracket style!

And if you would like to make some propaganda… well just make sure to use the tag #tragicsiblingshowdown2023 bc I do wanna see it!

Azula and Zuko from Avatar The Last Airbender

Diluc and Kaeya from Genshin Impact

Donald and Della from Ducktales 2017

Nahyuta and Apollo from Ace Attorney

Vi and Jinx from Arcane

Caleb and Phillip Wittebane from The Owl House

Mari and Sunny from OMORI

Chara and Asriel from Undertale

Luffy and Ace and Sabo from One Piece

Lucas and Claus from Mother 3

Ingo and Emmet from Pokemon

Sam & Dean Winchester from Supernatural

Ed and Al Elric from FullMetal Alchemist

Eda & Lilith Clawthorne from The Owl House

Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng, and Jiang Yanli from Mo Dao Zu Shi

Miles Edgeworth and Franziska Von Karma from Ace Attorney

Dick Grayson and Jason Todd from DC

Dess and Noelle from Deltarune

Rillaine and Allen from Evilious Chronicles

Elsa and Anna from Frozen

Thor and Loki from Marvel

Garmadon and Wu from Ninjago

Klavier Gavin and Kristoph Gavin from Ace Attorney

Andrés, Guillermo, Kara and Tamara from Enderbomb

Natsu & Zeref Dragneel from Fairy Tail

Floofty And Snorpy Fizzlebean from Bugsnax

Adaine and Aelwyn Abernant from Fantasy High

Maki and Mai from Jujustu Kaisen

Strelitzia and Lauriam/Marluxia from Kingdom Hearts 

Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha from Naruto

NiGHTS and Reala from NiGHTS into Dreams

Thalia and Jason Grace from Percy Jackson

Bianca  and Nico Di Angelo  from Percy Jackson

Rameses and Moses from The Prince of Egypt

Mephone 4 and 4s from Inanimate Insanity

Taako and Lup from The Adventure Zone

Ianthe and Coronabeth Tridentarius from The Locked Tomb 

Dante and Gene from Minecraft Diaries

Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire from A Series of Unfortunate Events

Kamado Tanjirou and Kamado Nezuko from Demon Slayer

Hornet and The Hollow Knight from Hollow Knight

Killua and Alluka Zoldyck from Hunter x Hunter

Celestia and Luna from My Little Pony

Vash and Knives from Trigun

Mipha and Sidon from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Lumine and Aether from Genshin Impact

Alice and Reko Yabusame from Your Turn to Die

Brambleclaw and Hawkfrost from Warrior Cats

Ponyboy and Darry from The Outsiders

Aaron and Alex Stowe from The Unwanteds

Shigeo Kageyama (Mob) and Ritsu Kageyama from Mob Psycho 100

Hiro and Tadashi Hamada from Big Hero 6

Shadow and Maria from Sonic 

Annie and Hallie from The Parent Trap

Ophelia and Laertes from Hamlet

Ajax and Teucer from The Odyssey

Yin and Jin (The Gold and Silver Demons) from Lego Monkey Kid

Starfire and Blackfire from Teen Titans

The Afton Siblings from Five Nights at Freddys

Kanna Kizuchi and Shin Tsukimi from Your Turn To Die

Hershel Layton and Jean Descole from Professor Layton

Stan and Ford Pines from Gravity Falls

Saeran and Saeyoung from Mystic Messenger

Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa from Star Wars

ROUND 1 MASTERPOST

Post-Round One Update

ROUND 2 MASTERPOST

ROUND 3 MASTERPOST

ROUND 4 MASTERPOST

ROUND 5 MASTERPOST

REVIVAL ROUND 1 MASTERPOST

REVIVAL ROUND 2 MASTERPOST

REVIVAL ROUND 3 MASTERPOST

REVIVAL ROUND 4 MASTERPOST

FINAL ROUND MASTER POST

[austinmaris18]

Personal Thoughts on Yona (No Bashing)

I'm gonna be honest, I hate shipping discourse because at the end of the day, characters aren't real and muting tags, posts, accounts are a thing. I also don't want to clog the Sidlink tag with discourse bc it's bad enough on twitter. However, if there's one thing I've learned about myself, it's that when something's bothering me, I need to talk about it, if only to process it. So, apologies but here I go. I will say that I feel like this is a nuanced take, so I guess if you're interested in that feel free to read. Disclaimer before I go in: there will be absolutely no Yona bashing. This post isn't to bash or attack Yona, anyone who enjoys Yona individually or paired with Sidon. I don't necessarily dislike her as a character, I'm more annoyed at the writing surrounding her introduction.

I've been thinking a lot, and I think the reason that Yona's introduction bothers me so much is because it mirrors (more than likely unintentionally) a pretty annoying heteronormative trope. In Jeffrey Brown's book Love, Sex, Gender, and Superheroes (an amazing analytical book in general, would highly recommend) they note that following the publication of Seduction of the Innocent in 1954 - which claimed amongst other things that Batman and Robin were a couple - there was a sort of moral panic about comic books. This was also during the era of McCarthyism, and so to avoid Senate action, the comic industry created the Comics Code Authority, which partly ensured that "illicit relationships" weren't hinted at, and in 1956 Kate Kane as Batwoman was introduced to be a love interest for Batman to reinforce his heterosexuality.

Now, am I comparing Sidlink to the supposed queer subtext of Batman and Robin in 40s and 50s comics? No. Am I saying that Nintendo purposefully introduced Yona for the same purpose as DC did Batwoman? Not necessarily. I just think it's almost comical how similar the situation feels, and the writing doesn't help either. Now, Yona is apparently Sidon's "dear childhood friend" and is also from a different kingdom. That in and of itself feels so awkward because again, we've had Breath of the Wild and Age of Calamity AND their respective DLCs, and not once have gotten mention of Yona or her kingdom. Not in a throwaway line from an NPC, not in the murals of Zora's Domain, not in Mipha's diary. (Also, I know that technically, Age of Calamity isn't canon. But it still had input from the Zelda team, and it provides a supposedly canon view of the settlements in Hyrule before the Calamity.) Especially considering the fact that we get confirmation from Sidon's mural and King Dorephan's dialogue that the engagement to Yona is political/arranged, this engagement was not really foreshadowed in any meaningful way other than this sort of heteronormative notion of "He's a prince so he'll have to get married at some point." Like, Sidon had a whole fanclub in BotW, and not one of them knew?? Did the engagement happen in the six/seven years between BotW and ToTK? Again, for a race of long lived beings like the Zora, that feels a bit hard to believe.

This in particular is what makes her introduction so jarring. We've seen all the countless Twitch and YouTube streamers reacting, the TikToks, the tweets and Tumblr posts of people shocked and disappointed. Here's where I point back to the fact that Aonuma and Fujibayashi even addressed the fact that Sidon was so popular during the BotW DLC Dev Talk. That's not to say they were aware of the ship or even cared enough to have taken the action of mitigating any potential queer readings. Other than reactions to the gameplay and the overall story, I don't think Nintendo particularly cares what we do, think, or ship. But they did know that Sidon in particular was a standout popular character, and so it seems so strange to not pair him off in a more well written way.

That's before even mentioning the whole Zora mural where Sidon parallels his relationship with Yona to that of Mipha, literally calling her a sister. There's also no getting around the fact that he uses that phrasing as in Spanish, French, and the original Japanese (those are the languages I read, so that's what I'm referencing) so it's not an English localization quirk. And I know there's the line about his feelings become more "difficult to quantify" but again, why? Why not just say he admired her instead of comparing her to Mipha in that way if they want to show us there was something there even in their childhood? I know it's meant to be sweet and to depict a sort of growth of feelings between them, but it reads strangely.

So we have these aspects and then we compare this to Sidon's interactions with Link this game. (Also before that, I want to acknowledge something: the vast majority of us who ship Sidlink or just enjoyed Sidon's character were never under the illusion that Nintendo would go towards any canonical romance between Sidon and Link.) We arrive to Zora's Domain to find a statue of us riding Sidon from the Vah Ruta battle. There is a whole Hylian bedroom constructed near the area where Sidon and Link fought Vah Ruta (more built out than the bed area Mipha used). The whole "Link Shrine" Sidon has singing his praises. Sidon literally getting down on one knee, taking OUR HAND in both his hands before presenting us the ring (I know that the other champions say the same oath and give us rings, it's the imagery of a proposal that I'm referring to). Link standing equally distant to Sidon as Yona during Sidon's crowning. Yona telling us that when Sidon speaks it's more than likely to talk about Link. Already Yona's introduction so funnily parallels heteronormative tropes, but to actually have so much imagery and subtext for Sidon and Link makes it feel even more crazy? I think this is where people get so hung up on the idea that "Yona was just introduced to get in the way of Sidlink." Honestly, I think the interactions with Link are more probably concessions for fans (not necessarily shippers) because again, the devs know how popular Sidon is. But it compounds with the manner in which Yona is written into the game.

All that being said, I don't necessarily have a neat conclusion to draw from these thoughts, but going back to the Batwoman parallels, I do think it's a shame Yona won't have to chance to canonically develop further the way Batwoman did. After all, despite her original introduction, most people nowadays think Batwoman and think of Kate Kane, the redhead badass lesbian superhero. But that happened over the course of decades in a medium that iterates narratively on the same characters over and over. Even if we get a story DLC for ToTK that has more Yona content, I don't know that it would be enough to smooth over how awkward her introduction was, and it's hard to believe Nintendo would make another direct sequel or carry over Sidon and Yona to the next version of Zelda. But we can already see Yona's iterative growth through fandom!

Now listen. I know myself, and the truth is I'm never going to actively ship Sidon and Yona. But I'm sure there are amazing artists and writers out there who will flesh Yona and her relationship and history with Sidon out (whether that includes Link in a polycule or not). I'm glad that the game has made the interpretation of a lavender marriage between Sidon and Yona who have their respective paramours possible (with the politically arranged aspect of the marriage, Sidon's boisterous actions concerning Link, Yona's acknowledgement of Link's importance to Sidon). I'm looking forward to fics, standalone art and comics that take that route. I'm sure that there will continue to be art and fanfiction that don't acknowledge ToTK or Yona, and I will surely be consuming those as well. I really hope the homophobia and general discourse towards Sidlink subsides, because it's been surprisingly overwhelming on Twitter. I also hope that there aren't people actively attacking posts about Yona. After all, muting and blocking words, tags, and accounts are options across all social media platforms.

This post will definitely be a one off for me, and I don't ever see myself making another post like this again. I honestly might also delete this post in the future now that I've properly written out my thoughts. Anyways, time to get back to drawing practice and working on my fics.

[kholnt]

I just wanted to say how much I looooooovvveeee your Lost Link fic! I love the idea of what would happen if Wild remembered his past. I wanted to know how you think his knight training went? I definitely think that it was a terrible experience that gave him a whole wagon full of horrible coping mechanisms and bad habits(and from where the fic is going, I'm guessing you think similarly), but I wanted to know how you thought his training went. Anyway, just wanted to say how much I appreciate and love your work, Thank You!

WAAAH THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND WORDS!!! (but give all of the writing credit to @/eponatheestallion <33 cannot emphasize that enough) BUT! you basically got it in one! his knight training was NOT kind to him in the slightest. i mean, even with the canon material we HAVE it still doesn't particularly spell a good time. (staring at mipha, zelda and purah's diaries respectively. and creating a champion. and possibly aoc but thats a different timeline + i barely know anything abt it so its there In Spirit) i will warn you that this ones gonna be long bc botw diaries TEND TO BE YAP SESSIONS! AND im a yapper so i'll just give you the tldr:

lost's knight training was abhorrent for his mental health and plays into a LOT of his mannerisms and why he is the way he is

ANYWAY! i'll just talk abt things that have been established either in the au or in botw canon :) any blanks you can fill on your own

as for canon things heres some things that stood out to me (formatted to be paragraphs for my sanity):

"A youth named Link was brought to me a hundred years ago, covered in wounds and on death's doorstep. Link… So young, yet so courageous. He was the youngest knight to have ever been appointed to the Imperial Guard at Hyrule Castle. He was also a gifted swordsman who was selected as captain of Princess Zelda's personal guard. I thought his skills would be enough to defeat Ganon in glorious fashion…

It was the best we could do…" -Purah's Diary

~~~~~

"When I finally got around to asking why he's so quiet all the time, I could tell it was difficult for him to say. But he did. With so much at stake, and so many eyes upon him, he feels it necessary to stay strong and to silently bear any burden.

A feeling I know all too well… For him, it has caused him to stop outwardly expressing his thoughts and feelings. I always believed him to be simply a gifted person who had never faced a day of hardship. How wrong I was… Everyone has struggles that go unseen by the world… I was so absorbed with my own problems, I failed to see his." -Zelda's Diary ~~~~~

"At the request of Hyrule's king, a group of outsiders came to greet us at the domain. One of them was a Hylian child of only about four years of age. His name was Link. He made quite a first impression. He was curious and full of energy, with a ready smile. Are all Hylian children that way?

One thing that surely sets him apart is his swordsmanship, which I hear is exceptional. He has even bested adults. He must be somewhat reckless, however, as he was covered in bruises. Wishing to be helpful, I healed his wounds for him." ~~~~~

"Link came to visit the domain. It feels like forever since he was here last. He no longer resembles the child I first met. He is now an accomplished knight and keeper of the sword that seals the darkness. I am so proud. However… He hardly speaks anymore, and smiles even more rarely. He is still the kind soul I knew, but something has changed.

I asked him if something had happened, if something was wrong. He merely shook his head. Perhaps it is his newly acquired height, but I feel he is ever looking past me, into the distance beyond…" -Mipha's Diary

~~~~~ "The details of how Link obtained the sword a hundred years ago have been lost to the mists of time, but since he was in possession of it for a number of years prior to becoming a Champion, he was likely around twelve or thirteen years old when it happened."

~~~~~

"After the Champions for the Divine Beasts were chosen, there was an incident at Hyrule Castle. A Guardian went berserk during a test run. Link deftly defeated it, earning himself a great deal of recognition. Impressed, King Rhoam made him Princess Zelda's appointed knight. With no regard for his own personal safety, he loyally fulfilled his duty to guard Princess Zelda with his life." -Creating a Champion

(there will be another thing later but its separated for a Reason.) ANYWAY! these are like. BIG things in canonical material that I feel like are important, especially if they're highlighted. i'm not really going to elaborate much since its kind of spelled out already but i'll say a few things nonetheless (also for consistencies sake i'm going to say lost but do know this ALSO applies to wild) he was the youngest knight appointed in history. like even that alone is FUCKED??? i don't remember if it was something in canon, fanon or something kay n i made up (but it doesnt rlly matter since its canon to the lost hero au ANYWAY!) but he became a knight at TWELVE soon after pulling the sword. then proceeded to become a royal guard at 17. this is a kid surrounded by adults in a generally Unsafe Environment, that alone is enough for some level of fucked. ill explain the "hes been training since he was four" later since i have Thoughts about that, but on a unrelated note do notice that mipha makes the assumption that lost is reckless and not through actually seeing him being clumsy. hyrulean guard when i get you now, to me the vow of silence was something that stemmed from before the calamity and started up in his training. because thats a twelve year old being forced to be a hero when he never got the choice to. OBVIOUSLY hes going to shut down. again, this will be expanded upon later also. lost is canonically self sacrificial. VERY self sacrificial. no further comments, just saying OKAY. NOW ITS LATER BC ITS TIME TO YAP ABT THE "inspired by canon but like. its canon plus." canon is bent in specific ways bc the way link is characterized (in cac specifically) makes him very uh,,,, inhuman i suppose. i love looking at scenarios where decisions have consequences, and it's that specific reason why i enjoy "what if" aus so much.

yes, lost was still trained when he was four. no it was not formally. to me, lost had an interest in swordsmanship because his dads a knight! hes going to be exposed to at least a little bit at an early age. he was insistent on wanting to learn, so with the power of sticks, pot lids, and a lot of positive reinforcement, he learned how to do the movements of swordfighting. he'd never been given a proper sword until the guard brought him to zora's domain. lost's dad never wanted to force the position of hero onto him, so he never gave him a sword. everyone knows that he's the hero except him, and lost's dad would rather keep it that way until he's old enough to climb mount lanayru (it happens much earlier than that) now abt the fucking "According to tales told by the long-lived Zora, Link visited Zora's Domain when he was younger and formed a bond with them, defeating a Lynel and teaching various skills to Zora children. This story sheds light on both his physical abilities and his strength of character." from creating a champion just like. isn't canon in this. the only other recorded time lost fought a lynel in zoras domain was when he was already zelda's guard and he was not younger. so by proxy it must've been when he was four WHICH ISN'T HAPPENING SORRY GUYS!!!! i'm not having a four year old fight a lynel hero or not!!!! it's referenced in lost hero canon (the soldiers accompanied made jokes and tried to egg lost on but it got shut down real quick since a. his dad was there and b. literally anyone who have thinking caps would go "yeah um... no actually!") and now its fanon time :))) when lost was in the army, he was usually trained separately from the other knights, mostly because of skill difference. as a CHILD he was able to clear soldiers, he needed different training period. as for the actual formal training, it was extremely strict. terrible conditions stemmed from an awful reward "system" (that usually led to lost being extremely fatigued and starting an endless loop of punishment. there is a reason why lost can push through awful conditions: hes used to it) all blanketed with the justification of "he's the hero of hyrule." they trained him to be a weapon, not a person. he doesn't have a sense of self nor an identity outside of "hero" "champion" or "weapon." things like "brother" got stripped from him when he joined the academy. they didn't bother with setting up a future for him. he eventually figures his shit out but thats YEARS down the line, and even then he's still suffering from this,,,, self objectification? idk how else to describe it when he wasn't getting grilled for "not swinging his sword hard enough" or having his foot a centimeter off even though he hasnt had the privilege of Basic Necessities To Survive in (insert timeframe) he was usually doing something in the coliseum. as it turns out, having the hero show off in front of an audience by fighting a lynel (or multiple) is a GREAT money maker! shame he wasnt usually told beforehand!

being forced into heroism is a big reason as to why hes the silent knight. he never wanted this. being separated from his family (whom of which i have Many thoughts about. same for his childhood honestly) and surrounded by strangers who have no care for who he is but rather what he stands for was absolutely awful, and only made worse by his age. being silent and just dealing with it is how he coped, and its eventually going to boil over (just give it a few years) his knight training was one of THE worst things to happen to him, right under failing to save his kingdom and inadvertently being the cause of hyrule's demise. it's the reason why he acts the way he does. he wasn't allowed to forget, so instead it influences almost everything he does, says and thinks. SO YEAH IT WASNT A GOOD TIME

[newartistgirl]

Lu little details (2)

  Following the last post I made, which, to be honest, hadn’t thought would be read as much as it has been (given the fact that the last update was some time ago I was not expecting to see that much people reading about linkeduniverse), here I bring more little details that always manage to surprise me, and show the thought behind.

1. Legend is, in fact, reading an actual in-game quote from Mipha’s diary. I know maybe this one is not shocking but it’s always appreciated. 

2. The variety of items they use. It’s not just reduced to the most obvious ones, their sword, shield, and bow (being recognisable and distinguishible the designs of each. There you go, more and more details). We also can see items, such as the hookshot, the clawshot, the whip, fire, ice and dominion rods, or even the stasis of the skeikah slate. And some others but not being used, like the rest of items Legend hoards.

3. Does Legend asking Four what he thinks about upgrading the master sword count as a reference to games detail or personalities/opinion detail? However, there it is. While Legend has in fact done that, Four seems somewhat averse to the use of magic swords.

4. An obvious reference to Breath of the Wild is Wild breaking his swords several times. Another detail that may be a little less obvious, not because it’s hard to get but because it may get forgotten, is Wild saying “I’m just glad this wasn’t my good shield”. As we know, Wild probably has a wide range of weapons, and I find really close to my BotW experience the not using the “good shield” case except for accounted occasions. In fact, we never see him using any of the highest damage weapons in his game. Probably this is because he won’t have them in the comic.

5. Just like the Links, all monsters are mixed. Regardless of the Hyrule ore time period thay are in monsters from all games have been showing. I think it’s more than on purpose the fact that after Wind recieves his mail monsters from the Great Sea show up. Like, Time says it. So no, not a big reveal but...

6. Usually little posts not focused on the storyline, due to their purpose, have a huge amount of references, usually shown in a rather comical way. From Legend and the floor tiles, Four frustrated cause no one knows who Vaati is, Time advising Hyrule not to drink from the well, to Malon and the aliens or that impossibly endless magic bag our hero carries around. I  love every single one of these.

7. Twilight thinks of Midna several times. I’m not just talking about when he literaly refers to a princess beatuiful as the setting sun who shatterd his heart into a million pieces, but also when he looks at his shadow in a rather nostalgic way, which, of course, it’s not a common thing to do.

8. Four and that combat againts the octorok. I personally suffered that battle just like he describes it. And I ought to remark Legend’s snarky comment because, even as a short person, found it funny. (I’m gonna end up having to make a post for each Link cause I could also add a lot about this two but about more subjective matters)

9. Wild uses the ladle Sky carved him. And the fact that Sky actually carves is like one of the nicest character details as a reference to the game so far. It’s easy to skip that detail in the game itself so props for adding that.

10. Time loves to quote, and this time, he is quoting his future self. I the comic, when he finishes a fight along Wind, he tells him: “In every battle, you have a little more of the look of a hero” which is oddly similar to what he says to his descendant in Twilight Princess: “You have a little more of the look of a hero than you did before”. Not complaining. Any reference to the Hero’s Shade makes me happier. 

11. All that conversation between Twilight and the veteran turned into a bunny is full of references to their games that, obviously, happen to be past events in the heroe’s lifes that may or may not have had a big impact on them.

12. Sky being the one to run out of breath. If you have played Skyward Sword you know about the stamina wheel which, ulinke in BotW, can’t be upgraded.

13. Bellum and Vaati references are more than “references”. I frankly doubt someone missed those. However, theres a more sublte reference Four makes while talking to the Rancher. In this scene he talks about Dark Mirrors, this being a reference to his adventures, which Twilight inevitably connects to “his” mirror. (Love also that scene. Easily one of my favourite duos)

I probably have skipped a lot more cause the comic is full of them. I hoped you liked this. If while reading I notice more I make another part, but for now this is what I have. Happy new year btw!!

(I apologise in advance for any spelling mistake. i’m not a native speaker)

[exceedinglygayotter]

Before TotK came out I was thinking about how many people were probably going to write the logical continuation of all those “the champions came back to life after BotW” fics by writing fics where they’re around for the events of TotK, but after having beaten the game I’m honestly not sure how that would even work, narratively speaking. Nearly every part of Breath of the Wild is intrinsically connected to the Champions, while TotK is so totally disconnected from them. TotK was so dead-set on moving on from the Champions that combining the two just feels unnecessary and contrived, even for a fanfic.

The Divine Beasts aren’t just gone, they’re completely absent, without even a hint as to why they’re missing. If it weren’t for Symin mentioning them during the history lesson you could almost argue that they’d been retconned. Mipha’s mentioned by name a few times, Urbosa only in Riju’s diary, Revali only on the sign for Revali’s Landing, and I don’t think Daruk’s name is said once. Daruk’s Protection is also just missing despite Yunobo having it in the last game, as is the scrap of Daruk’s Champion cloth he wore around his neck.

And from a narrative standpoint, the new Sages make the Champions mostly redundant. That’s kind of the point of them, they’re the successors to the Champions -- even their mechanics are echoes of how the Champions worked in BotW. If you tried to have them both be in the story of TotK you’d end up with Link having four companion characters, and then another four companion characters who do basically the same things. It’s not impossible to still give all of them distinct and interesting narrative roles, but I feel like most people who try to write something like this would just make half of them stay behind and not do anything while the other half sticks with Link. Which, y’know, works, but it’s not really a great solution.

The only ways I can think of to really make this idea work well are to totally rewrite the plot of TotK, or write Age of Calamity fanfic where the Upheaval in that continuity happens a century before it does in canon (which would still require rewriting most of the plot of TotK due to almost none of the same characters being around and Hyrule not being ruined yet.)

I guess you could lean into how out of place they are, how the entire world kind of moved on and left them behind a century in the past, but that only works if they get resurrected after TotK happens or right before it, since if they come back right after BotW then they’ve already been adjusting to that world for several years by the time of the Upheaval.

Honestly I’m probably just going to be writing fic that ignores TotK entirely. I can’t really imagine any stories I want to tell with these characters that would be improved with the addition of the events of TotK.

I might just be unimaginative and a bad writer though, who knows. There’s probably going to be a load of people who will have a go at the idea and do it really well, and I look forward to seeing those.

[ginneke]

Flash Fiction Friday - #213: "Ten Years Later."

@flashfictionfridayofficial has released today's prompt and I've been ~inspired~.

—

I wrote an AU of my own AU, 'A Seed of Song', in which -- ten years after the Calamity -- a juvenile Rito tries to learn more about her Hylian dad, guided by her dead father's diary.

Told in reverse chronology. 1k words exactly in GDocs.

—

And The Time Has Flown

Characters: The Chick (A Seed of Song), Aryll, Purah (mentioned), Impa, Sidon, Revali (posthumous)

—

"The Director told me you're here. That you're healing. 

"...Are you? I'm not doubting her! But— Are you really gonna wake up? 

"...Are you really my father?

"Nobody can tell me. But if you are… Please. Come back. Come back."

—

"Hi! Um. I'm looking for Lady Purah?"

Aryll pauses and looks the little Rito girl over. She doesn't seem much taller than an eight-year-old, and her russet-and-cream feathers are in substantial disarray from a long, hard flight. 

"The Director?" 

The little girl nods. Her eyes flash with hope.

 "You want that big building up the hill, then," Aryll says, pointing the way, and tries not to smile at the flicker of dismay on the girl's face that soon turns into grim determination.

"Thanks."

"You'll have a hard time getting up there, you know," Aryll calls after the child as she starts hopping away up the path/ Her legs are only little. "It’s late. I'll be running supplies up there tomorrow morning. You're welcome to stay with..."

- us, she almost says, but that's not right anymore. It's just Aryll in that old house across the Firly, after Gramps passed away and Ma went out hunting and never came back, and Nanna didn't wake up one morning, and—

And Dad and Link both died, far away from home, when the Calamity came.

“You promise?”

The girl says it with such suspicion that Aryll has to laugh. “Promise.”

She beckons for the Rito girl to follow. As they near the bridge, she thinks to ask, “What's your name?

The girl chirps out, “I’m—"

—

"...I see."

The child fidgeted from one foot to the other. "Do you... believe me?"

Truthfully, it is quite the wild and incredulous tale. If she hadn't been an unwitting witness to some small part of the tale, she might not have believed it.

But Impa had found herself cast as a silent intermediary, letting Link's letters slip out of the castle with minimal disturbance and no eyes but her own setting sight on their contents.

Champion Revali's replies had been scarcer, and neither side had given much indication of the regard that might imply a shared parental duty, but...

Purah told her, just once, of the champion's chick. Her older sister had always enjoyed keeping secrets. It would come as no surprise if Purah knew something more.

So Impa puts her doubts aside for now, and tells the child what she knows, and sets her on the path towards Purah.

...And that evening, when the shadows fall and the village turns still, Impa walks to the island where the Goddess Statue stands and prays Link might wake and return to them soon.

For Princess Zelda's sake, and for this child who calls herself his.

—

This year, Gaddison is chosen to wield the Ceremonial Trident. Not for the first time, Prince Sidon longs to be bigger. Then he might be the one to carry it instead.

He's distracted anyway. There's a Rito perched on the cliffside the entire time, though they don't make any move to approach, watching the subdued ceremony in silence and shifting only when Laflat steps forward and sings the song that Sidon hates them singing.

By the time the festival ends, and Sidon manages to glance up at the cliffside again, the Rito has gone.

He tracks them to a pond, south of the Veiled Falls, and finds them sitting at the edge of the water, a book in their wings and a bow set within reach.

They are - she is - singing. But it's not the simple version, the way Laflat sang it: it's Mipha's version, and Queen Sela's before her, with a few unknown turns that speak of another voice that passed it on.

Sidon picks up on all of that, but he can't make sense of it. "How do you know that?"

The Rito snaps her book shut, guilty. "I — my dad sang it to me when I first hatched."

"...You're a Rito," Sidon points out.

"Um. Yeah?"

Rito don't marry Zora. Do they? Maybe there's something he doesn't know. "How was your dad a Zora?"

"They... weren't? They were Rito. And Hylian. He's the one who sang to me. My uncle said he was a knight in service to Hyrule's princess..." 

That's wrong. She's wrong. Princess Zelda only had one sworn knight. Everyone says so. And he was...

"The Hylian Champion was gonna be my sister's husband," Sidon tells her with certainty. His father says it's true, and all the councillors believe it too, even if they hate Hylians now. "You're mistaken."

It's the wrong thing to say. The Rito girl flies into a rage. "I'm not lying," she shrieks, "you're lying!" 

"You're wrong!" Sidon yells back. "Why would my sister have made him that armor if they weren't…"

Everyone says it! Mipha loved Link. Mipha wanted to marry Link. So why does this girl think she can barge in and say otherwise?

But she flies off before Sidon can say so, winging her way south, away from Zora's Domain. Well. Good riddance, Muzu would say.

...He still feels bad about it. If he sees her again, he'll try to say sorry.

—

He keeps talking about giving her a name.

No matter that I've told him she has a name, and it's only a sad quirk of his biology that he can't say it. How else would she recognise when I'm talking to her? Really. She doesn't need a Hylian name yet.

—

...Loath as I am to concede the point, he might - inadvertently - have one.

And the name he suggested wasn't that unacceptable...

I wonder if she ever felt this way when I was young. Probably not: the way people speak of her, she thought herself invincible.

I should thank her for that lesson, at least. No warrior is invincible. Any battle might be our last. I knew that, but...

It took until now for me to understand it.

Yes. That name will do. I'll tell him when we meet at Mt. Lanayru…

[adrift-in-thyme]

Is anyone gonna else point out how casually Wild talked about his own death and getting back up again? I thought it was hilarious.

But now we know just a bit more on how much he's told the chain, they know he died. But he didn't go into the very specific details given Legend didn't know who Mipha was when he started to tease Wild about having her diary.

I love that too! Our boy’s really over there just like, “yup I died and came back to life. I’m pretty darn cool.” XD

His whole energy in the update is great. He’s so happy that Twi’s alive again that he’s practically bouncing off the walls. And his teasing little brother attitude is more prominent than I think we’ve ever seen. It feels like I’m playing botw again, cracking up at whatever snarky remarks Wild answers the npcs with lol

And that’s so true! I guess now we know he was telling the truth in this panel

Makes me wonder if one of the Chain asked him about his scars. I can’t imagine them prying much, given their own experiences, but maybe one of them pulled him aside and asked gently? Or maybe Wild just alluded to it early on. From his behavior in botw it seems he doesn’t put much energy into hiding things (looking at you Mr. “Yeah random npc I’m the Hero, the Chosen One, the Bearer of the Master Sword. Any more questions?”). So it doesn’t surprise me that he’d let it slip that he’s already had a run in with death.

(He probably joked about it lol)

Mipha, however, is much more personal than his own death. He basically faced death and conquered it. But the ghosts of his past, the fractured memories of people he once knew (and maybe even loved)? They inflict too much pain for him to face just yet.

[alasse-earfalas]

Differences between AoC Link & BotW Link

I'll call them "Age" and "Wild", respectively.

It's tempting to think that Age is just Wild from before the Calamity struck, but if you pay attention, it becomes very clear very quickly that not only is that not likely the case, it's downright impossible. There are key differences between the two Links that happen even before Terrako hops back in time, and these differences point to each Link being an entirely different person. So let's examine those differences, shall we?

1. Wild first pulled the Master Sword before becoming Zelda's bodyguard. Age pulled it after. This right here is where a lot of the other differences stem from. We know from Zelda and Mipha's diaries in BotW that Wild was appointed to be Zelda's personal knight after he was already wielding the Master Sword. Age, on the other hand, was appointed to be the captain of her personal guard (another key difference I'll get into later) because of his exceptional skill in battle, being a "moblin slayer" and thus impressing the King. Age didn't pull the Master Sword until after he'd been captain of Zelda's security detail for some time.

2. Pre-Calamity Wild was quiet for Reasons™. Age is just a naturally quiet guy. One of the interesting things we learn about Wild from Zelda's diary is that, after pulling the Master Sword and thus being revealed as the Chosen Hero, Wild was under a ton of social pressure. He opted to go quiet—nearly silent—in an effort to instill confidence in those around him. He even did this around old friends such as Mipha, who noted the drastic personality shift in her own diary.

Age, on the other hand, never had this kind of personality shift. His quiet, steady, reliable demeanor is firmly in place before Terrako shows up, which is well before he finds the Master Sword. This implies that Age is just naturally like that, which gives some fun context to Age's other displays of a more Wild-like personality: eating gravel on a dare, scarfing down an entire rock roast like it's normal, shield surfing through hordes of enemies (potentially in his underwear), etc.

3. Wild and Zelda had a lot of one-on-one time before the Calamity, whereas Age and Zelda were almost never alone together. Wild was Zelda's sole bodyguard during her travels, both before and after the Calamity. Age, on the other hand, was captain of her personal guard, which consisted of at least Impa and often a few other knights as well. This is a very interesting difference because of how it affects Zelda and her relationships with each of them.

I'll start with Age. While it's clear via certain cutscenes that there's definitely some attraction between him and Zelda, it's very subdued and definitely not a point of focus for either of them. They each tend to go toward other people in the group to let their guard down a little and have some social interaction: Link hangs out with Daruk and the other knights in Zelda's guard, and Zelda turns to Urbosa and Impa for comfort and advice. This means that Age and Zelda never really have a chance to get to know each other. Thus, their relationship remains professional, as Princess and bodyguard with some attraction sprinkled in.

Wild and Zelda's relationship is completely different. Zelda tries to remain professional with him at first, but with him already wielding the Master Sword and with no one else readily available to turn to, her frustration becomes too much. She starts venting to him, about him, inadvertently opening up and showing him a bit of her true colors, or at least her honest feelings about the situation. This is a Zelda with no one else to turn to but the young man she unfairly despises. She even recognizes that this is unfair to him, as seen in her diary, but she doesn't know what else to do.

For whatever reason, be it out of obligation or choice (her demand that he return to the castle—a direct order from the Princess—could have given him an excuse to ditch her), Wild stayed faithful through all of it and stayed by her side. While we don't know exactly what was going through his mind and heart at the time, we do have a couple of clues.

First, as evidenced by conversations with Urbosa, he seemed at least mildly annoyed by Zelda's constant attempts to shake him, and remained doggedly determined to protect her no matter what he had to endure. Second, Zelda is the only person he ever opened up to. We know he was very close to Mipha, and yet, when she noticed him struggling and asked about it, he kept up the act of being fine. But when Zelda asked a similar question, despite how difficult it was for him, he opened up to her.

Over time, Wild and Zelda opened up more and more to each other. When Zelda had a breakdown at the Spring of Power, Wild was the one who comforted her. He was the only one there. Same thing after the Calamity struck, when she collapsed into Wild's arms, sobbing. Compare that to what happened in Age of Calamity: yes Age was there when Zelda had similar breakdowns, but it was primarily Impa who comforted and reassured Zelda every time something went awry. There was no opportunity for Age and Zelda to really get to know each other or bond the way Wild and Zelda did.

Which makes it all the more interesting to me that Age's and Zelda's dogged need to protect each other is what "unlocked their power", in a sense: Age was chosen by the Master Sword upon struggling to reach and protect Zelda against impossible odds, and Zelda was running to Age under similar circumstances when her own powers awoke. Clearly there is a link (ha) between them, even though they're not as close as their BotW counterparts.

4. Pre-Calamity Wild never carried, nor used, anything but the Master Sword: no shields, no bows, no spears, etc. Age, meanwhile, used all of those things. The most interesting difference (to me) between the battle at Fort Hateno in BotW vs. in AoC is that Age had a freaking shield. In none of the memories that Wild recovers is he ever carrying anything other than the Master Sword, which left him at a huge disadvantage when the Calamity struck and very well could have directly lead to his death.

The simple question, then, is why? Why didn't Wild ever carry or use any other weapons? Given the muscle memory he displays with these weapons in BotW proper, he clearly had the skill to wield them, so why not bring at least a shield and a bow to use alongside the Master Sword? This question is never answered or even brought up, but I think it's an important one. We could stipulate that he was under orders not to, or that he felt like he couldn’t. Whatever the reason, it was clear that Wild put a much greater emphasis wielding the Master Sword, specifically, than Age did.

I find all of these differences fascinating because, from what I can tell, Link is the only character who is clearly a completely different person in each game. All the other changes in the other characters could be traced back to the difference in circumstance: Zelda is less toxic to Link because she has Impa and Urbosa to turn to; she's more formal because she retains her seat as Crown Princess; Rhoam has a change of heart after being saved by a guardian shield; etc. It makes me wonder why Link is the only one who's so fundamentally different.

I, personally, like to think that Age and Wild were twins. Wild died young in the AoC timeline, and Age died young in the BotW timeline. We know from the existence of the downfall timeline that the death of a Hero can absolutely split the timeline, so it's not entirely out of the question.

While this twins theory would aptly explain both their similarities and their differences, it wouldn't explain other differences in the world, such as AoC Hyrule not having Ancient Shrines nor the Shrine of Resurrection. Could the ancient Sheikah somehow peer into the future and see which twin was destined to survive, and prepare accordingly? Or is there some other explanation? Ultimately AoC isn't canon anyway, but it's still fun to think about. 🙂

[ofstormsandfire]

do u have any zelpha thoughts

I have many zelpha thoughts! They're sadly a little harder to pin down and write about than the revalink thoughts, but by god do they exist. In many ways, they're very similar to each other—both are princesses with inherited(?) magical power, both play an important role in the fight against Calamity Ganon—but in many others, they very much aren't. Rhoam, of course, is the guy who pushed his daughter so hard away from her interests that he very well might have made it harder to unlock her sealing powers and doomed himself in the process, because OH YOU AREN'T ALLOWED TO DO ANYTHING FUN EVER. Sure, he regretted that in the end if you look at his diary, but—and this is crucial—Zelda had no way of knowing that.

And then we have Dorephan, who didn't want his daughter to pilot a Divine Beast at all because he was afraid (justifiably, in Breath of the Wild) that it would get her killed. I won't get into my feelings regarding Age of Calamity here, but while a lot of it is obviously not remotely canon to what happened in BOTW, I don't think it would be unreasonable to assume that Mipha promised a similar thing, that she would come back (a promise that she couldn't keep, because she died) in that timeline.

I think that Zelda would try very, very hard not to be bitter about that, given that Mipha is literally one of the nicest people she's ever met—but she would be bitter, regardless of how well she hid it.

Also very possible that, given that we never see a hint of Mipha's mother in the picture, she's dead too? So. More parallels.

(...I really, really should write more of my totk zelpha fixit. Because. God. It lets me delve into those things, and also the fact that both of them are so very traumatized and so very young.)

I'm grossly oversimplifying a lot of things here, sorry, but. Tl;dr yes I have zelpha thoughts and I wish there was more fic for them that didn't just have them as the B pairing to revalink. Because I love revalink too, don't get me wrong! But I'd love to see more lesbians. The world can always use more lesbians.

Strictly speaking, sapphics would be a better term given that Mipha is well-established to canonically have a crush on Link, and Zelda gives me bisexual vibes, but. Semantics.

Thanks for the ask!

[autumngremlin]

Introducing: BotW/TotK DR

L O A D I N G . . .

"You have shown unflinching bravery and skill in the face of darkness and adversity. And have proven yourself worthy of the blessings of the Goddess Hylia."

This may be one of my most confusing DRs jesus fuck

Arien, She/They

Occupation: Knightess, Second Hylian Champion

Weapon: Heroine's Bow

Acts similarly to the Master Sword in terms of being used against Ganon/Ganondorf. Has it's own abilities

(This is not my only weapon, just the most known one amongst others)

Favorite Flower: Blue Nightshade

Home: Castle Town; east side (before Calamity)

Relationships

Link (aged to an adult): Confidant. The way to describe our relationship is a complicated one— we were incredibly close before the Calamity and had been in multiple battles together, though as King Rhoam had gotten more desperate for Zelda's powers to awaken, we started drifting apart because of our duties. The fondness I have towards him that implied more than just friendship had vanished due to losing my memory, and those feelings don't make it's return. And of course, he's an amnesiac too.

Zelda: Close friend. Before the Calamity, she had given her approval/blessing to Link and I because of our bond. Other than that, she's roughly the same as canon

Jack: This isn't seen until the Tears of the Kingdom era, but we were old souls that had reincarnated from the Zonai/Ancient Hylian period— lovers that promised to find each other again somehow... even though Sheikah technology had put me in regenerative stasis for a century and he wasn't around for the Calamity to happen. (AKA I'm not putting this man through the same fate as me)

Revali: Also complicated in a sense. He had romantic feelings towards me that I didn't know about, but it never got addressed with the severity of the impending Calamity. I only found out when Teba gives me a pile of unsent letters that were with Revali's diary. I apparently don't find some peace of mind until the gap between the events of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, despite having seen his spirit.

The Rest of the Past Champions (Daruk, Mipha & Urbosa): We were very close friends with all of us working towards one goal— sealing Calamity Ganon. But that didn't go too well, now did it?

Teba (has his own because he doesn't become a Sage): He's.. a guiding figure in a way? His dad talks are helpful when I'm not trying to instigate any banter for the hell of it while trying to get my memories back

The New Sages (Sidon, Yunobo, Riju and Tulin): God, I adore them/p I have almost a sibling bond with all of them, especially Tulin since he's itty bitty in the Breath of the Wild era. I wouldn't be surprised if I come up with silly nicknames for all of them

Purah and Robbie: They're dorks, but in a smart and silly way. Buut Purah pestering Link and I about our memories while trying to get them back has caused Link (or myself) to lash out a couple of times. Yeah, good stuff/s

Divider: saradika-graphics

[tragicsibsshowdown]

ROUND 1 MASTERPOST

Each round will get its own masterpost, but here is the one for round one! All matches have been completely randomized! Tag propaganda with #tragicsiblingshowdown2023 and/or tag this blog in it!

NiGHTS and Reala from NiGHTS into Dreams vs Eda and Lilith Clawthorne from The Owl House

Strelitzia and Lauriam/Marluxia from Kingdom Hearts vs Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng, and Jiang Yanli from Mo Dao Zu Shi

Ed and Al Elric from FullMetal Alchemist vs Dante and Gene from Minecraft Diaries

Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha from Naruto vs Caleb and Phillip Wittebane from The Owl House

Luna and Celestia from My Little Pony vs Thalia and Jason Grace from Percy Jackson

Annie and Hallie from The Parent Trap vs Diluc and Kaeya from Genshin Impact

Brambleclaw and Hawkfrost from Warrior Cats vs Taako and Lup from The Adventure Zone

Lumine and Aether from Genshin Impact vs Starfire and Blackfire from Teen Titans

Thor and Loki from Marvel vs The Afton Siblings from Five Nights at Freddys

Natsu and Zeref Dragneel from Fairy Tail vs Garmadon and Wu from Ninjago

Kanna Kizuchi and Shin Tsukimi from Your Turn To Die vs Nahyuta and Apollo from Ace Attorney

Yin and Jin (The Gold and Silver Demons) from Lego Monkey Kid vs Mari and Sunny from OMORI

Hiro and Tadashi Hamada from Big Hero 6 vs Vi and Jinx from Arcane

Vash and Knives from Trigun vs Miles Edgeworth and Franziska Von Karma from Ace Attorney

Ajax and Teucer from The Odyssey vs Stan and Ford Pines from Gravity Falls

Killua and Alluka Zoldyck from Hunter x Hunter vs Chara and Asriel from Undertale

Sam and Dean Winchester from Supernatural vs Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire from A Series of Unfortunate Events

Azula and Zuko from Avatar the Last Airbender vs Mephone 4 and 4s from Inanimate Insanity

Kamado Tanjirou and Kamado Nezuko from Demon Slayer vs Lucas and Claus from Mother 3

Andrés, Guillermo, Kara and Tamara from Enderbomb vs Saeran and Saeyoung from Mystic Messenger

Adaine and Aelwyn Abernant from Fantasy High vs Aaron and Alex Stowe from The Unwanteds

Elsa and Anna from Frozen vs Shadow and Maria from Sonic 

Ingo and Emmet from Pokemon vs Hershel Layton and Jean Descole from Professor Layton

Luffy, Ace, and Sabo from One Piece vs Ramses and Moses from The Prince of Egypt

Ponyboy and Darry from The Outsiders vs Maki and Mai from Jujustu Kaisen

Floofty And Snorpy Fizzlebean from Bugsnax vs Klavier Gavin and Kristoph Gavin from Ace Attorney

Bianca and Nico Di Angelo from Percy Jackson vs Hornet and The Hollow Knight from Hollow Knight

Dick Grayson and Jason Todd from DC vs Ianthe and Coronabeth Tridentarius from The Locked Tomb 

Mipha and Sidon from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild vs Ophelia and Laertes from Hamlet

Alice and Reko Yabusame from Your Turn to Die vs Shigeo Kageyama (Mob) and Ritsu Kageyama from Mob Psycho 100

Rillaine and Allen from Evillious Chronicles vs Donald and Della from Ducktales 2017

Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa from Star Wars vs Dess and Noelle from Deltarune

[sunnidaydreamer]

Zelda Rant

The more I think about Tears of the Kingdom, the more disappointed I am.

I miss Breath of the Wild.

Yeah it had it’s problems, what game doesn’t? No game is perfect.

But it was a hell of a lot more coherent.

The world was supposed to feel empty, because the world was still recovering from a traumatic world-ending event, that was still happening!

The settlements were small and far apart because they had lost THOUSANDS of lives!

Towns, small villages, the CENTER OF HYRULE ITSELF, all destroyed.

If the game wasn’t Nintendo and had the rating it did we’d be seeing Fallout levels of skeletons, blood stains and remains around.

(that’d be kinda cool ngl)

What about all the incredible technology?

The Sheikah! They were intelligent, they created it long ago, and what we see in the game is just the remnants of what they used to have.

Why was it gone? Because a jerkass king thought the Sheikah were a threat, and made them destroy or bury it.

Why do we have the Yiga? Because not every Sheikah was alright with this. The royal family made their own enemy.

Why are the shrines there, doing what they do? Because a Calamity had already happened once, and they knew it would happen again, so they made them and put the puzzles and monks in them to prepare the new Hero.

We learn about the Calamity that happened one hundred years ago, the Champions, things like that over the course of the game proper.

The memories system worked because Link had no memories, and the locations were acting as a trigger for these memories he’d lost.

He didn’t regain all of his memories either. Just the important one tied to that location.

We have the chance to read diaries that give insight as well.

We learn more about the characters writing them, and others as well.

We learn more about Zelda and how hard things have been for her since the death of her mother, and the prophecy being told.

How she feels like the lowest of the low, a true and utter failure.

But we also learn about Link.

It’s through Zelda’s diary that we learn why Link is always silent and expressionless.

We learn through Mipha’s diary in the dlc about her friendship with Link, how she feels, etc.

And the environmental storytelling as well.

The abandoned and destroyed remains of towns, the ranch, the castle itself.

I can’t remember where it’s said exactly but I remember learning that Bolson’s company uses wood because all the stonemasons and resources teaching about building with stone, the equipment, etc were gone.

And yes, the Zonai ruins, that we only know are called Zonai because of the map.

It had mysteries, some of which were even found out/theorized by fans before even the first teaser trailer for the squeal!

Like that the Calamity's source had to be beneath Hyrule Castle, since that’s where it emerged from.

You can’t have Ganon without Ganondorf, so people said that he must be sealed down there.

And they were right!

A mystery that had a logical answer, an answer that made sense.

But there were mysteries that a lot of us… really didn’t want answered.

Who was the Hero of the Calamity of 10,000 years ago? Who were the Zonai people? What are the dragons?

These were fun mysteries with as many answers as stars in the sky, and a lot of the fun came from making up our own answers.

And like I said, the game isn’t perfect by a long shot.

The rain mechanic having no way to combat it. If it rains while you are climbing you better hope you’re close to the top or be prepared to wait it out for however long it rains, which can be a long time.

The weapons breaking also have nothing you can do about it. Have a unique weapon, perhaps an amiibo drop?

Welp, enjoy it while it lasts, or get the house and mount it on the wall to never be touched.

The only weapons you can break and ‘fix’ are the Champions weapons, and those are pricey materialwise.

Then there’s the Gerudo's… everything.

They are still objectified, in game they are fetishized, with multiple Hylian men trying to find a way in so they can find girlfriends/wives/sex.

There’s at least one man always outside of the city, implicitly waiting for women to leave so he can try to flirt and score dates. He even has a quest he deems impossible ready to more or less trap a woman into spending time with him in the hopes she’ll fall in love with him.

He admits as much when you dress as a vai and talk to him about the quests, saying the Eighth Heroine was an urban legend and he wanted an excuse to get close to Link.

There’s the matter of the quest to get into the city. While many enjoy the Gerudo Vai set, many people have pointed out the transphobic elements in the quest, especially regarding the person you get the set from.

Are they a transwoman? Are they a man who dresses as a woman to sneak into the female only town for some reason? Are they some kind of pervert? The game leans more toward them being a man, but that leaves the question of why they dress in Gerudo Vai clothes.

Gerudo Town also brings up the issue of how would they treat a transwoman? Is she a woman in their eyes, even if she looks more masculine? Or would they not allow her in, as she was born and is biologically a male?

Or is it as some have theorized, and as long as you seem to identify as a woman by dressing in feminine clothing you are a woman to them?

The laws of Gerudo Town around men don’t help. While it’s understandable that they would have issues due to Ganondorf, in BotW and TotK they treat men as both horrible creatures and the ultimate life goal.

We learn in Tears that at a certain age any Gerudo child outside of Gerudo Town is taken from their parents to be raised in Gerudo Town. We see a group of these girls, at least three I believe, seemingly under the care of what I can only call a governess.

They break up families, and the father is not allowed to see them until they are considered adults.

In Tears we see what happens if he tries: a man hears about the trouble at Gerudo Town, where his wife and daughter currently are, and sneaks in to make sure they’re alright.

He’s caught, and locked in a dungeon with no comment on when, or if, they plan to let him out. And his family isn’t allowed to see him, if they even know he’s there. The guards very well might not have even told his wife that he was there.

When you enter in Tears you don’t need a disguise, because the town is in shambles. The creepy shoe guy is even waiting on the top of the City walls looking for women, and if I recall right he never leaves even when it’s fixed.

In Tears when Link initially talks to one of the girls she covers her face and looks away, as young girls are forbidden to look at men as it’s bad luck or something. The girl had to get permission to talk and look at you. Later an older Gerudo warns you about behaving, like you’re some pervert waiting to strike.

The Zora also have issues, mainly concerning aging.

Mipha and Link are childhood friends, with Mipha even commenting on how young Link was when they met and how incredibly powerful he was even at four years old.

But it never states how old Mipha was. In fact we never learn how old she was at all.

Link is most likely seventeen, and Zelda turns seventeen the day the Calamity hits.

But we don’t know how old Mipha, Link’s other implied love interest, was.

And with what we know of Zora’s and how they age this has led to… potential problems for some people.

Not helping is the quest where, in English, you deliver a love letter from a young Zora(who has the model of a child) to a grown Hylian man.

From what people have found, in other translations the letter is a pen pal letter not a love letter.

It doesn’t help that they kept her child model in Tears, her saying something like that she hasn’t hit her growth spurt or something.

But she’s supposed to be an adult.

It bugs people to the point where I’ve seen fics where Link has a child and refuses to take them to Zora’s Domain so as to prevent a Zora from falling in love with them while they’re a child.

It’s poorly explained how they age. You could have just said that the Zora live longer, but the game implies they age faster? How much faster? Body and mind? Just mind? How does it work?

There’s also some confusion with Gorons.

Yunobo is Daruk’s descendant. But Gorons are born from the earth.

So how is Yunobo Daruk’s grandson? How did he inherit Daruk’s power, if Gorons don’t have things like bloodlines? Does it have to do with where a Goron is born? Like in a certain area makes you family? If so, why is it only Yunobo who inherited Daruk’s ability? Surely others would be born from that area too.

The Yiga are also… not that great, you could say, and I KNOW that’s gonna ruffle some feathers.

They’re a joke, in essence, especially Kohga.

They’re obsessed with bananas, and with Kohga.

Kohga, who is admittedly strong, but is characterized as a lazy, overweight dumbass with a fluffed up ego.

His boss fight is centered around you making him hit himself, so that he is stuck in the sand with his ass sticking out so you can hit him.

You don’t even finish him off, he gets thrown down the pit by his own technique.

And somehow survives.

(I call bullshit)

His questline in Tears is also one of the most annoying as it’s you chasing him around the depths before he, once again, takes himself out with his own technique.

I saw someone theorize that they’re portrayed the way they are as Japan has a cult problem, and that portraying them as competent and cool etc would risk glorifying cults there.

I truly hope that’s why, and I can understand it.

But they’re a little too much of a joke for my tastes.

And I still can’t understand their motives.

They want to support the Calamity, and in Tears Ganondorf, and end the world.

Like, they know the world is going to be destroyed, and that includes them, right?

In Tears Kohga even admits as such.

So why are they supporting the Calamity? They must have an amazing pr strategy since in BotW someone states that the reason only Paya and the two girls are the only young Sheikah around is that all of the others ran off to join the Yiga clan.

(In Age of Calamity, which has a dubious relationship with canonicity, they’re portrayed as wanting revenge on the Royal family, but also that they care enough about each other that when Kohga finds Astor sacrificing his peoples souls to fuel the Calamity the whole clan turns against it and joins the rest of Hyrule fighting the Calamity. I enjoyed this portrayal way more than in BotW/Tears, but that’s just me.)

Also, personal nitpick/opinion: Bolson construction and continued into Hudson construction is a fucking cult. You have to swear to name your child a certain way when you marry, and Rhondson was not told this either, and is kinda bullied/gaslit into agreeing to it when she marries Hudson. Grante has to add ‘son’ to his name before they’ll give him a job. It’s a cult.

Tears has so many issues story wise it makes peoples heads spin.

Where is all the Sheikah tech?

You’re telling me in the time between BotW and Tears they went to every corner of Hyrule and, what? Dismantled everything?

They tore down the towers? Took apart the Guardians? All of them?

The gigantic Divine Beasts, the fucking graves of the Champions? Just gone?

Not a trace of Sheikah tech is left, not even the slate.

These things, this tech, that was vital to the first game is just… gone? Save for a lone decayed Guardian on top of the Hateno Tech Lab?

And as far as I’ve seen, there is no explanation in game for it.

It might as well have never existed.

The time travel also makes no sense.

From what we are made to understand it’s a closed loop. We know this because Ganondorf knows who Zelda is and deduces who Link is the moment he wakes.

So Zelda would have had to have already gone to the past from this point, as we see her do.

But that raises some problems.

The Master Sword is broken, and Link sends it back in time to Zelda, who becomes a dragon to soak it in her sacred power to restore it.

So… how is it available for the Hero of the original Calamity? How is it available for Link to find at twelve? Why was it in the pedestal in Korok Forest if it should be with Zelda and getting restored?

How are the geoglyphs only visible after the Upheaval?

Did Zelda know Link would lose his arm and have it replaced by Rauru’s? Yes she saw his arm hurt, but she had no way of knowing it would need to be replaced.

So why is everything reliant on Rauru’s arm? Kohga can’t access autobuild because he doesn’t have it, this is made clear every time we pursue Kohga during his quest, there is no other explanation given.

Link needs it for the temples, he needs it when he finds the door leading to Mineru’s head for her construct.

Was the plan to always replace Link’s arm? Even if it wasn’t damaged beyond repair?

He even needs it to see the dragon tears, as recall is what triggers them.

Without Rauru’s arm, Link wouldn’t be able to do anything.

Why is Zelda’s power changed to time instead of light? So that Rauru can remain the Sage of Light?

Yes, in OoT she’s(unofficially they never say it in game as far as I know) the Sage of Time, but in BotW it’s established her sacred power is light. Unless you’re implying that she was using her power over time to seal Ganon for that 100 years.

I highly doubt Nintendo thought that far ahead.

So it had to have been changed to keep the reference to Rauru being the Sage of Light.

And it makes no sense.

It’s obvious that Zelda’s power being changed to time was not only to keep Rauru as the Sage of Light, but to get Zelda out of the way.

By sending her irreversibly back in time there’s no way for her to contribute to the main story except through the memories.

A system they should not have brought back.

It worked in BotW because Link had no memories and was rediscovering them.

Here, it comes across as a cheap way to give story without real effort.

And the memories shown have such wild time differences between them that we only get fractions of story. As well as how easy it is to get them out of order, and thus spoil everything for yourself.

And when you do get them all, doing so before the mission at Hyrule Castle or even any of the temples, takes away from the story because you know that the person you’re seeing isn’t Zelda.

A fact which Link apparently keeps to himself, letting everyone worry endlessly over where Zelda is.

If Zelda had to be sent back in time, why not make it to where when we find a dragon tear we switch to playing as her for a little while? Let us experience the story as Zelda as it happens. Let us interact with the npcs ourselves.

We would care more about them, learn more about them.

Instead we’re given scraps of information that need to be slightly supplemented by an optional side quest telling us that Zelda was totally having the time of her life, she made so many friends, if only you could see.

So let us see!

Why does Ganondorf want to cover the world in darkness? He was a human, Gerudo, not a demon or anything. So why does he hate the light? Why does he value strength so much? Where did his survival of the fittest mentality come from?

When he became the Demon King, what happened to his Gerudo followers? Did he abandon them? Were they turned into monsters?

How did he kill Sonia? He had no weapon, we see no blood.

Did he break her spine? Punch her soul out of her body?

The way it plays out getting bit by a mosquito would have taken this woman out. A gust of wind would have blown her very soul away.

You went out of your way to show us Ganondorf as a weapons master, even in the Gerudo Assault memory showing several Gerudo behind him holding his weapons.

At no point is he ever implied to do hand-to-hand, so why does he have megaton punches?

Just have him stab her from behind with his spear, her hair could block the wound and blood.

Did the Gerudo Sage follow him once, like Nabooru? Or was she always against him?

How convenient is it that all of the original Sages are the ancestors of the new Sages?

We’ve already talked about the issue with Goron lineage and how that makes no sense, so how is it possible that not only are all of the modern, and apparently the original, Sages leaders of their people(except Tulin) in some way(Sidon is king, Riju is Chief, Yunobo by way of being in charge of Yunobo corp which the Gorons rely on), but that their lines stay in power over potentially 20,000 years or more.

And we know they were in charge because they had the power to swear their entire races into the royal families service. And their people just go with it.

Also just how long ago is the Imprisoning war?

I throw out 20,000 years because the last Calamity was 10,000 years before BotW, so maybe that one was 10,000 years after the Imprisoning War(maybe the malice needs that long to collect and make Ganon).

(and no I don’t give a shit that it’s called ‘gloom’ in Tears. That shit is malice to me.)

So how long has it been between the Imprisoning War and the Calamity of 10,000 years ago?

Why is everything suddenly related to the Zonai, despite our only ever hint to the Zonai being their ruins in Faron, which apparently aren’t even their ruins, but ruins made by Hylians to honor them?

Why are they suddenly the God rulers who descended from the heavens who established Hyrule?

Then mysteriously died off/disappeared leaving only Rauru and Mineru as full-blooded Zonai?

How is the Hero of 10,000 years ago suddenly(supposedly) part Zonai, if they were all gone?

Wouldn’t that make him a descendant of Rauru and Sonia? We know they must have had at least one child, as Sonia senses a blood connection between her, Zelda and Rauru. It’s never so much as implied that Mineru is even married let alone that she has a child.

(I refuse to believe that the Hero is part Zonai. He looks nothing like a Zonai. That is a Frankenstein monster of some kind. I prefer the theory that he’s from the people shown in the statues in the Depths.)

Also were the Sheikah inspired by the Zonai tech? Or was at least some of the Zonai tech inspired by the Sheikah tech via the Purah Pad?

How were the sky islands raised? How were they kept in the sky? How were they hidden? And in such a way that it took the Light Dragon breaking through said barrier to reveal them?

In BotW it is shown that there is a barrier if you follow the dragons long enough. You’ll eventually see them ascend into a hole or portal of some kind in the clouds.

Can any of the dragons break this barrier? If so why wasn’t it broken before the Upheaval?

With the reveal that swallowing a Secret Stone turns you into a dragon, the mystery of the dragons is thrown out the window. What else are we to assume except that they are people(most likely Zonai) that swallowed a Stone for some reason?

This kills any sort of fun/mystery associated with them.

They’re all called servants of the sacred springs, named after the Three Golden Goddesses(the only reference anywhere in BotW/Tears to them), leading to so many theories.

Were they the Goddesses themselves? Were they created by them to guard the springs?

Nope. They are(most likely) just Zonai who swallowed a Stone for some reason. Zonai who probably just happened to have names referencing the Goddesses.

Since, ya know. For some reason by the era of the Wild only Hylia exists, despite not being mentioned(timeline wise) since Skyward Sword.

Also, really playing up the Skyward Sword refs in this game aren’t they?

The sky islands, the reforging of the Master Sword, Ganondorf’s Demon King form basically being Demise.

Throw in Ghirahim and the refs will be complete!

(speaking of I am really surprised there’s no ref to Ghirahim. Like at all. Not a weapon, not a clothes item. He’s one of the most popular Zelda villains, where’s his rep Nintendo?)

Ganondorf is also just… evil to be evil. Because the iconic villain of Zelda is apparently not allowed to be deeper than evil for evils sake.

After so long out of the spotlight this man is still just evil because he can.

Lame.

Sonia and Rauru are little better, we know next to nothing about them.

All things that would have been made better by making the dragon tears playable segments where we could interact with them.

I don’t care enough about Mineru to be affected by her heartfelt farewell in the true end.

We don’t know anything about her aside from her and Zelda having being nerds in common. Apparently they were good friends, but we don’t get to see that.

Zelda is so sad when she moves on to the afterlife and I’m eating a snack as I wait for the rest of the credits.

Plus her Sage ability is near useless. If she kept what you attached to her it’d be fine, but they break so fast that I don’t even bother.

Most of the Sage abilities are not great.

Sidon is, to me, useless except against the Muktorok.

Yunobo you can at least use for mining and breaking rocks.

Riju is OK I guess.

Tulin too.

But chasing their asses down just to activate them…

I don’t bother.

And then you activate them when you don’t mean to, so you lose stuff or get damaged or something.

Hate it. 0/10.

I also have issues with the way Zelda is returned to being human.

A huge deal is made about how swallowing a Stone will irreversibly turn you into a mindless dragon, there is no turning back.

….Unless you know and matter enough to the ghosts of Rauru and Sonia, in which case they magically have the ability to reverse the process.

I know that there was no way they’d keep her as a dragon, but that was such a cop out.

Also, wasn’t Link’s arm ‘beyond saving’? Did we just rewind his arms removal and destruction while we were at it?

If someone lost their head, could they just rewind them to a point where it was attached?

We could have had a whole quest dedicated to finding out how to return her to human form! Impa mentions looking into it.

But all we get is someone pressing the rewind button and everything is fixed! Hurrah!

Consequences don’t matter if you’re Link and Zelda!

Alright, I’m ending this here I’ve gone on too long.