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Chain as Cryptids: Most up to Date Character Designs

A lot of the designs have been changed since the original character sheets, and even some new Links have been added. The lore on those character sheets is still true, but here are the updated designs! (This is all art that has been posted before, I just want everything in one place, just for my own sanity)

Firstly, I have updated character sheets for Time, Four, and Wild here!

Sky has honestly not changed much since the original design- just bigger dots on his face! Some drawings I have for him are:

Godkiller

This profile

Bird of Prey

And then we have Time! He also hasn’t changed much. Basically just Fierce Deity armor:

Close up (commission)

And Hyrule!! He’s changed A LOT! Butterfly wings and poofy hair and pants. Definitely a lot shinier!

New Hyrule!

Next is Legend, who has basically only undergone a color change for his Mer tail- from blue to green. (Because Link wears green, obviously. And so that he can still match with Ravio)

Legend’s backstory

Legend with leg

And of course, Ravio! This is a welcome addition! He’s not much changed from A Link Between Worlds, at least when he has legs:

Ravio Lore

Boyfriends

Spirit is also a new addition!

Spirit Lore

Full body and color

Wind has undergone a lot of changes with his Aquili form!

For some reason this comic has the best Wind drawings

And Aquili Wind in color

Four also hasn’t changed very much! Mostly just hair, maybe some refining of their horn shape:

Portrait (not colored)

Twilight got a cool new hair style. And clothing that looked more Ordonian to me:

Portrait (colored)

Animals!!!

Wars had a LOT of design changes! He is a shiny little metal spirit guy and we love him:

Full body color (plus sword)

Dancing lil dude

Might is also a new addition, along with Echo (who….. might be a little too OP for this story…)

Might and Echo’s introduction

Might profile

And lastly, Wild! He used to have a tail. Not anymore! Also he’s missing a boot, poor guy.

Portrait

Sketches

Full body color

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What do you mean I’ve NEVER posted a colored picture of Aquili Wind???

My bad.

Anyway here’s the guy

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ur famous 🫵

Unfortunately, I’m just really slow

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Guys I have. I have 120 asks in my ask box. When did that happen.

A lot of them are art requests and probably a lot of them are bots. But if you are a living actual person, I’m SO SORRY THAT I NEVER RESPONDED!! I promise I saw your ask, I just. Forgot. I can’t promise that I’ll answer all of them. (120, 120, 120). But I see you!! And I appreciate you!! And I’m holding on to those art requests for when I’m wanting to draw and lacking inspiration.

I love it when people ask questions! I love it when people engage with my silly little au! I have so many lovely messages in there, and I appreciate all of you. I’m so sorry I’ve been letting it all pile up!

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A Chain as Cryptids question. Are there any types of Cryptids, like for example Centaurs, Naga, or Elementals, that you wish you had included in your story but haven't had a chance to? If there are certain cryptids you still wish to add, do you think you will end up adding them in somehow, or are you not going to try. Apologies for the weird question, my cat woke me up at 4 and apparently this is what my brain fixated on in my overly tired state.

Hmmm… this is an interesting question!

So, when I made this au, I didn’t really have a list of Cryptids that I wanted to include. I looked at the Link, at their story, and then decided what would fit them best. And for some of them, I made up a whole new thing! Just to best fit their vibes.

Like. I didn’t set out with a quota of creatures to fill. I didn’t know in advance that there had to be an avian. I just thought that Sky deserves wings, you know? Hyrule is so clearly a fairy. Twilight’s just GOTTA be a shape shifter.

That being said, there are a few scrapped concepts. I remember when I was originally making this au, I had no idea what to do for Wind Waker. I knew that a lot of people headcanon that Wind Waker Link can see ghosts, and I did toy around with that idea. At first, Wind was genuinely just going to be a Seer. But I thought that would be too boring. Like, there wasn’t anything visually cryptic about him. And then I started coming up with Lore for Legend, and decided to make up a whole sea monster thing. And I liked that better!

And it would work out in the end, because then I played Spirit Tracks, and HAD to include Spirit. And now he gets to see dead people. And as a Reaper, he’s (in my opinion), cooler than Wind would have been as a Seer.

And FUN FACT!!! Time was originally going to be a centaur. Because he is a horse girl, I thought it would fit. But alas, you could not PAY ME to draw a horse’s body repeatedly for a comic. I cannot draw horses to save my life, so I had to pivot and now we have a very sad God on our hands. He could have been frolicking with Epona but here we are.

(Also please get some sleep)

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Ugh, this au is REAL.

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Cryptid Hyrule redesign maybe possibly?

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In honor of Pride Month what LGBTQIA headcanons do you have for the LU boys, Chain as Cryptid boys, or other AUs you're fond of.

I’m sorry for not answering this sooner! I’ve been recovering after spending a week in a very conservative, Absolutely Cannot Be Gay house. But I’m okay!! And gayer than ever!! And I will answer this on the last day of pride month!

I can’t really speak for LU. Believe it or not, my knowledge of LU is really only relegated to fics? I don’t actually know that much about the real story, sorry!

(The friendliest of reminders that CAC is not Linked Universe. I know that’s not what you’re implying, but I’ve been getting a lot of people tagging my posts as LU fanart recently- more than usual- and I want to make sure we’re all on the same page)

So!!! Cryptids!!

Beloved Bird Boy: is panromantic and asexual and also polyamorous! Cisgender, but will use they/them when imbalanced (because Aepon and Link are separate entities- it’s not really a gender thing, just… plural)

Four: Nonbinary! Sexuality-wise? It’s complicated. Red (they/them) is sapphic, Green (he/him) is straight, Blue (he/they) is aroace, and Vio (he/him) is also gay. So Four is a bit of a mixed bag!

Twilight: Bisexual and cisgender. And painfully single.

Warriors: Literally has no attraction at all. Aroace. But like… in a robot-ish sort of way? He’s not really…. A person? Does not have a biological sex and presents very masculine.

Wild: WHAT IS GENDER??? He is also not a person. Don’t try to explain pronouns to him. He will Not Care. As far as sexuality goes, he also could not care less.

Hyrule: Genderfluid. Fairies perceive gender differently than Hylians, so Hyrule’s identity changes pretty often. The beloved. Attracted to women (whatever “women” means to fairies), polyamorous.

Legend: Cisgender and so painfully bisexual. And is so so in love with Ravio! (But don’t tell anyone).

Ravio: Transmasc and bisexual! And so so in love with Legend. (Tell everyone).

Time: Cisgender and heterosexual. So in love with his wife. Father of two with another on the way.

Might: Cisgender, homosexual. He’s still very young and is just starting to figure these things out. Echo is a lesbian and she and Dohna have this plot to get him a boyfriend, but he is Oblivious. The sweetest guy.

Wind: A literal child. He is twelve. I know that twelve year olds can start figuring things out and I fully support young LGBT people, but for the purposes of my story? I’m not going to focus very much on the sexuality of a child. And neither is Wind! He’s got to focus on being a pirate!

Spirit: Copy and paste exactly what I said about Wind. Only instead of being a pirate, he’s transporting the dead and doing other normal twelve year old things.

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Here have a small stupid sketch as proof I have not forgotten about him.

Even with the au that Should Not Be knocking around in my head, I haven’t forgotten the Cryptids

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Ugggghhhh this au is becoming real, oh no oh no

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not Cryptid au but I can’t not share, this idea has consumed my whole brain

(incredibly messy sketches and awful handwriting, I wasn’t planning on posting this stuff but I CAN’T SHUT UP ABOUT IT)

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A massive thank you to @tashacee , for your amazing writing, beautiful art, and genuine kindness. Congratulations on two years of posting fanfics! We love to read them! Here is my attempt at drawing your guys!!

Close(er) up!

And if they were the Cryptids, just for fun

This was so much fun to do!! I look forward to your future work!

EVERYONE GO READ TASH’S FICS!!!

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On the scale of 1-10, if given the chance, how feral can Cryptid Four be? Just curious.

Solid 8. Easily.

Now, it’s not often that they show that side of them. But like…………….. they can be such a gremlin. I’m not giving a solid ten just because Wild is also there and they can’t compare to Wild. They have at least some critical thinking. Logic. Restraint.

But especially when they’re around the more chaotic of the group? (Especially Wild?) THEY CAN GET UP TO SOME SHENANIGANS.

(I just finished the Four Swords manga. I am thinking thoughts. It might be time for a dedicated Four Lore Post….)

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Ok found the Merspeak alphabet https://www.tumblr.com/sapphicseasapphire/747828546899247104/i-dont-know-if-ill-ever-actually-use-this-little?source=share

But you also state here that Legend has a song to refer to each Link that's from their respective games?

Is Time's the obvious Song of Time or more nuanced Song of Healing. I imagine when Legend meets Malon she'll end up with Epona's Song, the fact she's always singing it might trigger mixed emotions. I mean a Redhead with a beautiful voice, that's not complicated

Sorry!! I got so caught up in Mermay, I didn’t have the mental capacity to think too hard about putting these thoughts into words. Prepare for me to ramble for too long.

Legend’s “songs” that refer to the other Cryptids are just what the Merspeak version of the name sounds like. It’s written as a code version of English, but in the world it exists as a series of clicks and melodies- like whale songs.

Time’s name is different than his song.

His name is given to him by Legend, and used VERY rarely. (Legend will speak in Hylian when he’s with the rest of the Chain. He knows they can’t understand Merspeak). When Legend addresses Time, he’ll just call him Time. But of course, Time is a God worshiped by all…. Or he will be, at some point. So he has to have a name in Merspeak.

Names in Merspeak have to come from the Link’s respective game. It has to be a piece of music that exists in the game, but not in the world of the game. For example, the Ballad of the Goddess is a song that exists in the world of Skyward Sword. It is a song that is already claimed, in that sense. People know how to play it and associate it with a completely different idea, so it can’t be Sky’s name. It was made by the Hylians of that world, so it can’t be Merspeak anyway.

The Song of Time and the Song of Healing are the same way.

But it gets a little more complicated as a God.

Because he does answer to the Song of Time. Later on in the story, when he’s more comfortable with his Godhood, he will Know when that song is played. It summons him. But it’s less like calling his name, and more like calling him to work. It’s not personal. It’s not loving. It’s just… a stranger playing the right notes in the right order to summon a deity that they couldn’t possibly understand. It’s not Merspeak, it’s just music.

Now, Time’s Merspeak name? That is given with trust and understanding. With love. It has to be from either Ocarina of Time or Majora’s Mask, but it can’t be a song that he played during his adventure.

His name is the Opening Theme from Ocarina of Time.

“But Sapphire! That’s a musical motif that Link plays on the flute in game as early as in Zelda 1!”

You’re right. But it doesn’t exist in any of Time’s games, so it counts because I say so. The reason it has to be limited to in game music is because I want it to match the Vibe of the characters. Also because I am a NERD about Zelda music.

Legend only gives names to people that he’s CLOSE to. Realistically, Malon won’t get one. Not even a song she always sings- that exists in the game. And it calls Epona, not her. It should be Epona’s name.

Aaaand of course, in case you’re curious, here are some of the other Cryptids’ Merspeak names:

Legend: As I said, his is the First Search theme from Link’s Awakening. (Keep in mind that Ravio named him)

Ravio: Already has name! Ravio’s theme, Link Between Worlds. (The beloved)

Sky: Crimson Loftwing because COME ON, GUYS. OBVIOUSLY. It’s even a duet, are you kidding me? This song makes me so emotional, I love it so much. My Skyward Sword bias is showing

Hyrule: Palace Theme (Zelda 2) mostly because this song deserves more credit as one of the best pieces of Zelda music ever. And Let Hyrule Be FEIRCE!!!

Twilight: FUN FACT! This Link is the only one to actually have a theme! It’s most clearly heard in the Hyrule Field theme, but it weaves its way into the majority of music in Twilight Princess. So. Yeah, that’s him, alright.

Wind: I’m so tempted to make it the Pirates theme. BUT WIND IS SPECIAL!! HE IS AQUILI!! RAISED ON OUTSET!! BESIDE MER!! He also knows Merspeak- with such an accent that Legend can hardly understand him sometimes. But still, singing his grandma’s name or Aryll’s name brings him comfort on his travels

Spirit: Whatever this is (In The Feilds, I guess). This is one of my favorites of all time, too. It’s so joyful! So adventurous!

Wild: Ancient Zora Waterworks (Tears of The Kingdom). Please please please, I love this song. The Faron Woods motif from Skyward Sword that they snuck in??? And it sounds like something you’d find in Twilight Princess. It sounds peaceful. Almost mournful? But with a silent hope? UGH one of these days, I’m just gonna have to rant about my favorite Zelda songs.

(Realistically, it’d only be a few notes from each song. Or else it’d take FOREVER to have a conversation. But just for fun, we get to listen to the full context)

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Day 31: Lore

I uh…. Struggled a lot with picking a good Legend or Ravio moment to draw for today. To the point where I was too indecisive to give myself enough time for the drawing!! So I did this in like twenty minutes

When Legend was being punished for running away, he was weighed down with heavy robes to keep him from leaving again. And to hide any evidence of his betrayal to his kingdom. He was kept under the watchful eyes of guards and advisors, never left alone.

And yet, he still managed to care for the Aquili prisoners

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Day 30: (evil laughter)

Again, it’s so funny to me that this is how I’m introducing new characters. I guess I have to reveal the real design now, don’t I? That’s only fair.

Soon.

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Day 29: Cryptid Wind

Oh no… he’s self aware