tearsofmyswitch

[tearsofmyswitch]

Something something Zelda doesn't mind waiting. She waited a hundred years for Link to wake up and face the Calamity. She waited 10,000 years for Link to find her and the master sword to finally face off against Ganondorf.

She doesn't mind waiting because she knows how the story goes. She knows what kind of narrative she and Link are doomed by. She knows Link will prevail.

But she also knows the narrative isn't what she or Link want. She wants a safe Hyrule. She wants her hero knight to be free. She wants herself to be an explorer, a researcher, a scientist. Being a princess is something she's born into and therefore something she's duty-bound to. Same as Link being duty-bound to being her royal knight.

In those hundred years of waiting and those 10,000 years of waiting, she is content for Link to just... Be Link.

We all joke about how Link is goofing around Hyrule while the Calamity is looming and Zelda is waiting. About how and Ganondorf is gathering power in the depths while Zelda is missing and Link is building contraptions to bring koroks to their friends.

But this is Link. This is him when he's not duty-bound. I'm not saying he doesn't like being zelda's royal guard, but his essence isn't just that. He's just a guy who likes to go around helping people. That stable woman needs a horse and horse cart? Sure, he'll use his new powers to get her sorted out. That man fell down the well (in lego city) and needs help fixing the ladder to climb back up? Yeah, Link's on it. Oh, you need help building this town into something so, so beautiful where everyone from all walks of life can come and meld their cultures together and live in a diverse sort of harmony? Link's your man to see your vision come true.

Link loves his role in Hyrule. As a helper. A wandering hero. As a guy who roams and cooks and tames wild horses and gets rid of monsters and helps anyone and everyone even if they're obviously disguised yiga clan members.

So of course Zelda would want nothing but for him to enjoy his little wonders. This transient moment that had been carved for him to be free. Sure, there is doom looming over him and Hyrule. But he's still fulfilling his promise. He's still protecting them all in his own small way. He's still Link. Just unburdened.

And now that Zelda truly understands the fuckery of time and fate and everything, she doesn't mind waiting. She can wait as long as Link needs to be free. She will roam the skies unbothered and unthinking and in her immortal, unaware state until Link is ready. Until Link needs her.

Until then she's content with waiting.

[tearsofmyswitch]

Give the king a moment he just woke up

[tearsofmyswitch]

A few facts to consider:

Zonai are canonically said to have been considered gods when they first descended from the skies

In Zelda lore there are 3 golden goddesses said to have descended from the heavens, created the world, then disappeared

Zonai know what draconification does, and the side-effects, meaning it has to have happened before

There are three dragons in BOTW named after and associated with the 3 golden goddesses

that is all

alt vers below the cut

not as atmospheric but you can see the colors a bit better

[tearsofmyswitch]

Cannot believe I have yet to hear anyone speak about how ganondorf canonically impersonates princess zelda and the proceeds to get the gorons hooked on fantasy crack.

[tearsofmyswitch]

I have only finished one area in this game and ran straight there can you take a wild guess where I went. Can you.

[tearsofmyswitch]

What the korok sees when I glue his friend to the front end of my vehicle, barreling at 50 mph heading straight for him

[tearsofmyswitch]

find me in the future.

[tearsofmyswitch]

(roleswap au) stop staring at him with those big ol eyes

[tearsofmyswitch]

Hey friends!!!

Please share around if you'd be so kind !! Times are tough

[tearsofmyswitch]

Okay so I have a lot of thoughts about the whole thing of the Gerudo being a race of entirely women, with the only exception being one man born every hundred years, and that man automatically being their king. Now this worldbuilding comes from Ocarina of Time, and there's obviously a metric fuckton of unfortunate implications there, because it was 1998. And it seems that Tears of the Kingdom is sticking with the lore of Gerudo men being extremely rare and becoming the King of their people, which once again has a metric fuckton of unfortunate implications because it's 2023 and Nintendo has somehow gotten even worse about this shit.

But let's set aside the whole... everything, and look at this from just the in-universe perspective. How does it work? I mean, it's pretty clear that there is no overlap between the kings; the old ones are normally long gone by the time a new one is born, but the Gerudo manage to take care of themselves during the hangtime. So they must have an established system of government and leadership that doesn't involve a king, and somehow that system is set up in a way that does a smooth transfer of power once a new king is born and old enough to take the throne. But why bother always declaring a random guy to be your King when you already have a perfectly functional system in place?

I mean again, the whole thing has a lot of sexist implications, but we're not looking at this from a real world context, we're examining it in-universe. And we could just go the lazy route and say that their king is in charge just because he's the only man, but I don't like that. I mean come on, the Gerudo are a race of entirely women, and most of their outside problems come from Hylian men being creepy about it. They are entirely a matriarchy; there is literally no reason for their culture to have an inherent respect for men, even if the man in question is one of them. And they're desert people; they live in an extremely harsh and dangerous landscape, if they don't have their shit together, they will die. By sheer necessity, their culture needs to put a lot of value in being practical, because if they're stupid about things, people die. They really can't afford to have a shitty leader take over, and just letting some guy take the wheel doesn't really fit with the way their culture must otherwise work.

So again, why the fuck do they bother having a King?

I think it's mainly just a ceremonial position. Yes, if the guy is a good leader he'll be in charge, but if he isn't good at being a King or isn't interested in the job... fuck it, they've already got a functional government system that's been leading their people the whole time, why fix what isn't broken? The title of Gerudo King isn't about leadership or power. I think it's more about belonging. Because the Gerudo are a culture where every single one of them can be defined in the same way... and there is exactly one exception once a century. Men are considered to be inherently outsiders at the best of times, and more often they're enemies. A man born into this culture is a natural outsider; he is completely unique, and that means he doesn't really fit into his community. And well... when someone is fundamentally different from the rest of their community, they tend to be ostracized.

So I think that's why the position of Gerudo King exists. It isn't about them needing or even wanting a man to lead them. The title of King doesn't need to involve any leadership at all. It's about giving the man born every century a place in their society. It's a way of saying yes, you are one of us, you are a Gerudo, you belong here, you are wanted and you are loved.

The Gerudo know that every hundred years, one of their children will be fundamentally different from all of his peers. And so their society is built to ensure that a child who is completely different from them will still be loved and accepted. He will always have a place in their society. He doesn't need to earn their love, he has it just for existing. These are his people.

The title of Gerudo King isn't an inherent position of authority. It's a promise of acceptance.

[tearsofmyswitch]

[tearsofmyswitch]

So Ganon huh *shakes like a caffeinated chihuahua*

[tearsofmyswitch]

Link/Tony Hawk: bearers of a curse

[tearsofmyswitch]

Okay but how often do you think Link looks at his new hand and like, moves it around, wiggles his fingers, touch stuff, because he can feel it, and still thinks "that's not my hand though."

Because like, he didn't even get an adjustment period to having lost his hand, he just got hurt, and woke up with a limb transplant.

Like, did the arm,,,, I'm gonna be delicate and say fall off? Or was there a,,,, did rauru have to, preform surgery? If I was link I'd need therapy.

That's gotta be so freaky.

[tearsofmyswitch]

I love how absolutely batshit crazy Ganondorf is in totk and how one can clearly see that in his looks and actions.

Look at him! There isn’t a single sane thought behind those eyes.

[tearsofmyswitch]

Rauru why did you spoil Ganondorf

[tearsofmyswitch]

Zelda travelling around Hyrule after the Calamity and people are tripping over themselves to tell her stories about the Hero because they love that feral cryptid mad man and are so proud of him

'I met him when I was about to get eaten by a Hinox...he jumped off a horse, fired 12 arrows in the blink of an eye and then got smacked in the face with a tree...but then he came back and hacked away at it's legs with this stupidly big sword until it finally died'

'He was wearing this weird patched together mask that looked like a monster but he made enough curry for everyone so we didn't like to ask'

'But...the hero was a girl? She wore these lovely green silks and every time she came out of the Gerudo Canyon she had a bag full of electric safflina to sell to Beedle over there. The Gerudo think she's an amazing fighter, which says a lot, and she always thanked me for looking after her horses when she went into the desert'

'I swear to Hylia that he ran through here wearing nothing but his underwear and a mask shaped like a leaf...claimed he was looking for the Children of the Forest. Sorry, Princess, but I'm not sure he was quite right in the head at the time'

'He used to creep in here silently wearing this grey mask and with enough lizards and beetles that we could make enough elixirs to last for a month. Not sure I ever saw his face without it'

And the entire time Link is stood neatly dressed, three steps away, listening to every word and no one pays him the slightest bit of attention. Because none of them cotton on that 'prim and proper Royal Knight' Link and 'I will defeat this Lynel with a stick, a pot lid and a bucket load of adrenaline' Wild Child Hero is the same man. Especially with how many masks he owned.

When they walk away and are out of sight and earshot Zelda just raises her eyebrow with a smile and he is like '...I can explain...it made sense at the time'