#let us continue to make Zelda content

[kbluebirdart]

Hi! It's been a while. hope you're all doing well.

Firstly, I see that there seem to be some drawing requests in my inbox, I'm not taking requests at the moment. thanks for giving me some good ideas for drawing though. actually, I may draw them for later!

BTW, this is late but ever since I found out that there will be no DLC for totk, I was bummed to learn that the Zelda team really wants to move to the next new Zelda world already. I respect their choice nonetheless.

I hope that we the fans will continue to make Zelda content, and keep the fandom alive and fun as always. I'm sure the Zelda team/Nintendo would notice that. Please continue to support that and we all will be alright!

[genericpuff]

Lore Olympus just pulled off the biggest whiff in webtoon history.

I promised I would choose one of two headlines and of course, this is the one we wound up with. But should we really be surprised? Rachel herself seemed to be telling on herself down to the minutes leading up to the finale, fully confirming to us that yes, she's been writing this comic at the last minute, by the seat of her pants, for ages now.

(that second one was literally posted TWENTY FUCKING MINUTES BEFORE THE COMIC UPDATED.)

Welp, let's get into it. Possibly the last essay I'll ever write about this dumpster fire of a comic (but probably not, let's be real LOL)

CONTENT WARNING: DISCUSSION OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AND FASTPASS SPOILERS FOR THE SERIES FINALE AHEAD!

Holy crap, where to even start with this. I knew it was going to be bad. I knew it was going to be rushed. I knew it wasn't ever going to live up to what I had hoped it would be years ago when I was still a diehard fan.

But I didn't think it was going to fall quite this hard. Despite bracing myself for the worst, Rachel has once again let my expectations down through a final display of explosive mediocrity and disappointment.

Yes, the episode is called "You're Welcome", and yes, that instant "ick" you're feeling is the exact same as what we're all feeling. This title plays into the dialogue later, but what a shitty, lowkey mean-spirited title for the series finale.

Now, before we get into the actual episode, the WT ads for this are just... so desperate and misleading.

They are trying SO HARD to hype up something that isn't there, and at the last minute to boot, because Rachel definitely hadn't written any of this ahead of time.

First off, the bit about the gods being in "eternal chaos" of course isn't a stake worth worrying over because Gaia literally does away with Ouranos in the first 5 panels.

Did you really think I was joking about that 5 panels thing?

That's it. That's the death of Ouranos. As mysteriously and quickly as he arrived, he was gone, after Gaia ripped out of him what appeared to be some purple sunny side up - but it's actually, in fact, Apollo.

And that's when we start to get some of the worst dialogue I've ever seen throughout LO. Remember when I said LO's dialogue was like Shenmue 3? Welp, the finale decided to continue that tradition and further fuel the suspicion that this entire thing was written by ChatGPT.

Oh, by the way, that "thank you, ma'am" was Artemis' first and last line of the episode. So once again, just like in Episode 248, we're completely robbed of her reaction to Apollo being a rapist piece of shit and the character development she could have had as a supporting character. The women in this "feminist retelling" really couldn't be more half-baked.

Gaia stumbles upon Persephone, and I'm not even gonna fucking bother showing the panels where Gaia says it's time to "make things right" because they literally don't matter. Why don't they matter? Because Rachel just had to get in one more pointless time skip.

We're shown a sequence of pointless images that I'm not gonna show as I don't want to waste my image limit on them, depicting Hades having a sad day because his small wife isn't with him and oh nooo what could have happened?? Did Persephone finally divorce him ??

Nah, we couldn't possibly have an actually happy ending in this comic. Instead we get a completely pointless phone conversation between Hades and Hecate-

Not only is the grammar particularly bad in this episode, but the actual script-writing is atrocious. We literally did not need this phone conversation to happen because-

-we're cutting BACK TO THE PRESENT THAT WE JUST CUT AWAY FROM FOR A 3 MONTH TIME SKIP. FOR NO REASON BESIDES SHOWING HADES BE SAD OVER SOMETHING THAT ACTUALLY ISN'T THAT BIG A DEAL, AS YOU'RE ABOUT TO SEE.

I- I LITERALLY HAVE NO WORDS. I HAVE NO WORDS TO DESCRIBE WHAT THE FUCK THIS IS. ALL I CAN HEAR IN MY BRAIN IS THE LEGEND OF ZELDA ITEM GET MUSIC-

-BECAUSE THIS WHOLE THING SUDDENLY SOUNDS LIKE SOME CONTRIVED FETCH QUEST. WHAT DO YOU MEAN HADES AND PERSEPHONE HAVE PROVEN 'TRUE LOVE' IS REAL? WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY HAVEN'T USED 'LOVE' AS A FORCE FOR DESTRUCTION?? ARE WE FORGETTING THAT HADES MUTILATED A GUY IN THE NAME OF 'LOVE'? THAT PERSEPHONE LITERALLY INVADED THE HOME OF HADES' CANONICAL FIRST WIFE BECAUSE SHE FELT MILDLY THREATENED BY HER?

This whole concept of "true love" that Rachel is trying to convey feels so juvenile especially for a series that has sold itself as being mature and thought-provoking and progressive.

HAHAHA SO FUNNYYYYYYY why does Rachel write like this. this is, at best, the writing of a 13 year old on fanfiction.net, which I SHOULD KNOW, because I WAS ONE OF THEM. BUT I'M 28 NOW AND RACHEL HAS ANOTHER 10 YEARS ON ME.

Okay, this is the part where I'm CONVINCED Rachel either just mashed this into the episode in the MINUTES leading up to its release, or she used ChatGPT or something. Because NONE of this dialogue makes any sense. Beyond how stilted and lifeless it is (seriously, this dialogue reads like something from Empress Theresa) Gaia is clearly meant to 'replace' Erebus here which I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO EVEN EXPLAIN IS SO FUCKING DUMB, but ALSO what is even Persephone trying to communicate here? "That is true, but it was a deal I was willing to make and ties me to the Underworld. Please don't change me." What? Gaia hasn't even insinuated that she's going to do anything to Persephone, why is Persephone immediately jumping to this conclusion? What does 'changing' her mean? Is she asking Gaia not to force her to sacrifice something (which she never did)? Or is she asking Gaia not to strip her of her Underworld status? Because again, why is that even something Gaia would do?

Maybe this is harsh but I'm pretty sure even Empress Theresa is more coherent than this, what in the flying fuck is Gaia talking about?

"I can just see the potential for conflict! To relieve you from the burden of the whats, the hows, and wheres." Like... okay, first of all, that second sentence isn't even a complete sentence, it's a dependent clause left hanging, but also what the fuck does this MEAN. Is she EXCITED for the conflict but then contradicting herself by saying she wants to relieve Persephone of that conflict? Or is she saying she can see the conflict it would cause for Persephone to have to perform duties in both realms and trying to insinuate that she's going to relieve her of those complications?

Here's what I think happened - I think that second 'sentence' wasn't supposed to be a sentence, but the start of the sentence to the next panel-

So with that theory in mind, the sentence becomes, "To relieve you from the burden of the whats, the hows, and wheres, you are to spend three months in the Mortal Realm to do spring and the rest of the year in the Underworld. That seems fair to me."

It's still a very poorly written line of dialogue, but at least with that fix in mind it makes sense. But man, you can really fucking tell this episode was submitted at the last minute because that's a serious syntax error that should NOT have happened in this two-time-Eisner-winning comic.

Errors aside, it's clear that Rachel is following through on having Persephone spend only three months in the Mortal Realm, rather than the traditional six. There ARE other translations that have that number closer to four, but those four are the time she spends in the UNDERWORLD, meaning she's always spending either equal or MORE time in the Mortal Realm. Of course, Rachel doesn't want her self-insert small wife power fantasy to actually have to be separated from Hades despite this being a retelling of The Abduction of Persephone, so instead of her spending three months in the Underworld, she's now spending them in the Mortal Realm, literally doubling the MINIMUM amount of time (four months) she was originally meant to reside in the Underworld.

But oh no, apparently those three months are STILL NOT SHORT ENOUGH FOR PERSEPHONE-

Of course, Rachel "Retcon" Smythe had to have her cake and eat it too. I always worried something like this was a possibility, but I never thought she would actually prove me right - not only is Persephone only separated from Hades for three months out of the year, but actually he can visit her any time he wants to, so really, they're not separating at all.

I think Rachel needs to look up "reunion" in the dictionary, because if you can visit each other any time, then that means the 'reunions' are no longer special occasions. This completely removes any semblance of depth or meaning from all of the storytelling leading up to this, all of it with the expectation that this was a retelling of the Abduction of Persephone, because that's what Rachel said it was going to be. At this point it's safe to say that Rachel has zero business attempting to "retell" mythological stories, because she doesn't even seem to grasp the concept of why they were written the way they were to begin with. Either that, or she really just doesn't care, and the only reason for making LO a Greek myth comic at all was to propel her career.

This also brings me back to those promotional ads, the other one that posed the question, "Will sacrifice be enough to bring these two back together?"

This is stating the obvious, but I need to make it perfectly clear - Hades and Persephone have never sacrificed a single thing. The only thing they could POSSIBLY quantify as a "sacrifice" is "not being tied at the hip for a few hours", because even Persephone going on the equivalent of a work trip next door is apparently enough to make Hades sad as we saw in the 3 month time skip panels. Why is Hades so sad and lonely if he can visit her any time? Why is he acting like he hasn't seen her in years when he's actually on his way to reunite with her? Why is Hecate calling to ask him if he's "okay" as if he JUST got separated from her, but actually he's about to literally go to the Mortal Realm to reunite with her?

Hades hasn't 'sacrificed' a damn thing, neither has Persephone. They've both always gotten exactly what they wanted, even at the cost of breaking the story's own established rules. Their 'sacrifice' is equivalent to what billionaires think are 'sacrifices' when they can't buy another yacht or go on that third overseas vacation for the month.

And even outside of this episode, when have these two ever sacrificed anything?

I've tried so hard to think of what sacrifices have been made by the characters within LO, and I genuinely can only think of one - and that was when Artemis chose to go to the Mortal Realm with Persephone instead of staying with her family in Olympus. That was a genuine, selfless sacrifice, made by a character who has been shelved in favor of focusing on the self-centered pink and blue airheads.

Being forced to be apart for a couple days to do the equivalent of a day job and whining about it the whole time is not a 'sacrifice'. Neither of these characters have ever sacrificed anything, they just feel like sacrifices because they have the integrity and empathy of soggy cardboard.

sigh Anyways, we're back in the present and Hades and Persephone immediately decide they're gonna have sex because ofc, and then we get this gem of a panel-

MMMMMM

FUNNYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY JOKE

For some reason it's just a common thing for people to just be in Hades' home, and they can't seem to get any privacy as a result of this, but I digress. Turns out they still need to have that coronation for Persephone.

There is... so much wrong in these three panels.

First, to state the immediate issues - why the fuck are they mentioning Apollo at Persephone's coronation? Like first of all, no shit Apollo isn't gonna be there, but also, if this is supposed to be an event for and about Persephone becoming Queen of the Underworld, then why in the WORLD is Apollo even being mentioned? This is supposed to be a "feminist retelling" where the victims are empowered and heal from their trauma, but LO once again can't try to show any sort of positive growth for the victims without bringing up the assaulters and giving them screen time. It just goes to show that Rachel's idea of "healing" is purely rooted in the revenge, and not the growth. It's a very high schooler approach to this subject, hellbent on showcasing how all the meanies from the past are losers now and life just sucked for them forever, but inadvertently proving its own point that the victims haven't and can't move on because the narrative is spending so much time on caring what's going on with the abusers. It's the "I don't care! Look at how little I care! I'll prove it to you by putting in the effort of showing you how little I care!" approach, it doesn't really feel like moving on.

It's not about how Persephone and his other victims could have grown and healed, no, Rachel always needs to highlight just how much worse the bullies and haters and abusers are doing to make the victims seem like they've healed by comparison. Don't get me wrong, I can understand wanting to showcase the downfall of a character like Apollo, but this just... isn't the right context for that? Because it's once again taking attention away from the victim to focus on the abuser. It's once again spending screentime on the voices of the oppressors rather than the oppressed.

And speaking of, what the fuck is this punishment even? I knew Rachel wasn't gonna be able to resolve this plotline properly, she never had the capability to, but ... community service? Are you fucking for real? What is this even a punishment for even? Was this EXCLUSIVELY the SA, or does this ALSO include his attempts to overthrow Zeus by poisoning him, nearly killing Daphne, Eris, Eros and Psyche, trapping Eros and Psyche in an enchanted basement, and framing his father's 'death' on his half-sister? Because if so, how in the world is anyone content with community service? He hasn't even been turned into a mortal, HE'S STILL A GOD, so what's to stop him from going "WE'LL MEET AGAIN, SPIDERMAN" and trying something else? How is this a reasonable resolution in ANY context?

This is why I talked at length about what an issue it was to hide what Apollo really admitted to. Because now we really don't know what exactly he confessed to, and thus we can never really see the point of views of the victims outside of just Persephone - and we still don't even get Persephone's, because she just walks away from him and then he gets eaten by Ouranos and next we see of him is him doing community service! Once again, any emotional development that could be given to Persephone and the other victims is stripped away to make room for the point of views of the oppressive men. In this, the two-time-Eisner-winning "feminist comic" that is LO.

And that brings us to the "where are they now" segment. Yes, as we all feared, there's a "where are they now" segment, and it's as rushed and underwhelming as we ought to have expected it to be.

There is just... so much to unpack here, and yes, all of it is delivered in the dumbest way possible that only raises more questions than answers.

So Rhea and Metis are just back and we're not gonna talk about the implications of them being alive again?

Dionysus is a 3 month year old in the body of a teenager / young adult, and his mom is just alive now because Hades conveniently got his hands on more ambrosia and brought her back to life offscreen? But somehow Triptomelus and Hedone are still child-sized relative to their ages?

How did they 'heal Zeus'? And why is he so content with losing his power as King and Apollo being sentenced to community service after making an attempt on his life? How does he feel about the letter that Hera gave him? Did he even read it?

Where the fuck is Hebe in all of this? Is she okay? Do people still think it was her who put Zeus in a coma? Or did Apollo confess to that, too?

You're telling me Hera and Echo are just in a relationship now despite the fact that Hera is literally racist towards nymphs and there is ZERO reason for them to have a relationship in the comic beyond the fans making gratuitous headcanons out of it? How is Rachel, a bisexual woman, so bad at writing actual lesbian relationships and giving them the same amount of attention as the heterocis ones without shoving them into the background as props for insincere queer rep? And what about Hera herself? How did she overcome her role as the Goddess of Marriage to finally divorce Zeus?

"Ares is still a dog!" Haha! Ares is still a Persephone simp! Happy end!

Why is Eros just standing there smiling at the camera struggling to be seen past Hedone who's just floating right in front of him? You're telling me there wasn't a better place to put her out of that entire panel?

"Hades and Thanatos have been making more time for each other. Sometimes they even have a conversation." I'm sorry, is this supposed to be funny? The man abused Thanatos for years, treated him as just a lowly employee when he was literally his adopted son, and now you're trying to play it off as a joke that they're "making more time for each other"? What the fuck is this?

TGOEM disbanded? Why? What about the women who were genuinely a part of it?

Also, Artemis and Selene are just good friends now because reasons? Because they're both affiliated with the moon, I guess? Why is Selene even in this comic-

"They are still looking for Kassandra". Who? And why? This feels like such a last minute addition to acknowledge a character that the comic spent WEEKS foreshadowing only to have her finally appear as a pointless McGuffin, but it's so last minute that it does nothing. I'm assuming it's Eros and Psyche looking for her, but like... why can't they find her? They're gods, tracking down one mortal shouldn't be that difficult LOL ???

And also, where the fuck is Leto?? You're telling me she was an accessory - maybe manipulating Apollo, maybe not - but we don't see what happened to her? Is she just back to being a social outcast then? jesus christ this comic isn't finished-

Kassandra is where the "where are they now" sequence ends, and we're treated to one final horribly written dialogue scene between Hades and Persephone, where they tell each other how much they love each other in a desperate attempt to convince the audience that this is, in fact, a romance.

There's this thing in romances called chemistry, and if you're good at writing it, you shouldn't have to write dialogue like this. You should be able to see how much the characters love each other through their actions, through their small behaviors around each other. It's not always about what they say out loud, it's about what they don't have to say, because when two people really share that close of a bond based on love and trust and chemistry, words often aren't necessary.

Hades and Persephone do not have that chemistry. It has been apparent for years now, but this final exchange really is the nail in the coffin. There are no microexpressions or subtle emotions, no subtlety in their word choice, and nothing unique setting their voices apart. It's all just "wow thank you for being such a wonderful amazing partner, you are amazing and I love you" word salad that has to do all the heavy lifting for the completely non-existent chemistry that's been at its absolute worst throughout this entire season.

And worst of all, despite this story trying so hard to be focused around Persephone, around her story, her trauma and her healing, her voice... it's still all just about Hades. In the end, she's thanking Hades, and forcing him to say "you're welcome". All of it is trying so hard to convince us that Hades has been a positive addition to her life, that she 'owes' so much to him, but we've obviously seen plenty throughout the comic that begs to differ. And even if he were a better person than he is, it still doesn't change the fact that once again, the men are being held up above the women, with the women being grateful to the men who choose them. LO can try its hardest to convince people that it's feminist, but it is, at best, reinforcing the very same structures of the patriarchal system that it claims to despise and rebel against.

We do get one line from Hades acknowledging Persephone's part in the relationship-

-and it falls so fucking flat because it's still about him and what she does for him, and because nothing about their relationship was built on any sort of organic chemistry. There was a lot more chemistry back in S1, but it was still predicated on Hades lusting after a vulnerable 19 year old girl.

Yep, and that's it. That's the end.

Except it isn't because Rachel wanted to try and be smart by including an 'epilogue' that's really just stretching the episode out pointlessly for another few panels. And of course, we had to get another time skip, just a final dose of salt in the wound, this time to years ahead when we inevitably had to reconnect with Persephone and Hades in the future after Melinoe was born.

To recap, Melinoe doesn't remember... because Hades had Morpheus erase her memories.

This plotline has really started to give me the ick because it actually feels very familiar. Bear with me here, because I'm gonna go on a bit of a tangent about my own original work, but it's because I wrote a plotline exactly like this years ago.

There's this... turning point, in Time Gate: Reaper, when the main character Uzuki is kidnapped by a Reaper (see: undead) who wants to experiment on her in the hopes that he can somehow gain her abilities to bond her soul with others (which later allows her to literally possess people after she becomes a Reaper herself). Mitsuhiro, the male deuteragonist who kickstarts the plot by telling Uzuki she's got a limited amount of time left to live (which he knows thanks to his magical death timers that mark themselves on his skin), feels an immense amount of guilt after finding out she was kidnapped by the Reapers (at this point she's been gone for three months), as they were originally after him; he worries that she was made a target simply due to him associating himself with her, and vows to rescue her.

With the help of some other spunky teenagers and anime trope characters, Mitsuhiro does eventually rescue Uzuki - but for the three months she had been gone, she had been tortured, abused, and experimented on, causing her mind to split and for her to lose any sense of awareness of who Mitsuhiro or her other friends were. She was no longer herself after the hell she had been through.

Mitsuhiro's solution to this is to have Springlock - another Reaper with motivations that are not yet clear to the cast - erase her memory. This is not a light decision that comes without consequences - for the remaining duration of the story, Uzuki is plagued by night terrors and panic attacks, unable to really remember what happened to her aside from whatever brief flashbacks her brain recalls in its haze of memory loss. She is traumatized, both physically and mentally. She has lost three months of her life and memories, and doesn't know how to explain why she's covered in scars that are still healing, why she's missing organs, why she's now blind in one eye, and why the sound of scraping metal and ticking clocks gives her panic attacks. Mitsuhiro has convinced her friends that she's suffering from memory loss due to trauma, but only he knows the truth that he forcefully took her memories away from her, without her consent. This was not the right choice to make. It was not noble of him, it was not a grand gesture of love, he made a decision on her behalf without her consent that has now resulted in her becoming a nervous wreck. Sure, she still would have had PTSD if she remembered what happened, but at least she would know why and could then seek adequate help. Without those memories, she has nowhere to begin to heal. And so we see the consequences of this throughout [AFTERBIRTH] and even the upcoming Thread of Fate. It is a long-term problem that is not going to be solved overnight, especially not with Mitsuhiro withholding information from her.

Reading about Melinoe having dreams about her experiences trapped in Tartarus with Kronos ... it felt familiar enough that I had to talk about why the insinuations of this are so fucked up. I know there are people who are gonna handwave it away as "she's just a kid", "these are gods so what does it matter", etc. but ... it just feels like such an oversight to have Hades effectively erase her memory of her trauma and then hint at them still being present in her mind through her dreams. She did not ask for that. And the fact that she's now dreaming about it all does not bode well. But we're supposed to think Hades made the correct choice, regardless.

But none of this is effectively expanded on or explained, because we get one final scene of Melinoe and Demeter visiting Persephone, who has just given birth to... Makaria?

So it turns out Persephone and Hades are just able to have biological children now. Don't know why, but of course they both look exactly like Hades.

What I was really confused by though is the fact that it's Makaria and not Brimos. Do you remember Brimos? The child that was foreshadowed in Hades' original fantasy dream sequence about his future children about Persephone?

Either Rachel completely forgot about him, or she saw all the criticism over the fact that Brimos isn't a confirmed child of Hades and Persephone (rather, an epithet that can apply to basically any Underworld god including Persephone and Hades) and that her "research" was dependent on a book she read when she was 13 and decided to axe that. But she went to the effort of establishing that all the dreams Hades had were , in fact, canon visions of the future, so good job Rachel, you created yet another plothole on top of the hundreds of others.

And that's where the series ends, on a final nuclear-family-photo of Persephone, Hades, Melinoe, and Makaria. Of course, Dionysus and Thanatos aren't present in this shot because this is Lore Olympus and only biological children count /hj

Why Rachel couldn't move the "the end" portion to THIS part, I don't know, but I'm also expecting way too much of the person who finished this 20 minutes before it was due.

So that's it. Six years and that's what we get. I didn't expect much, but I was still incredibly disappointed, as were many others who walked away from this dazed and confused. Maybe it's all the "haters" deserve at this point. But what of the fans? While many of them are celebrating this ending at best and tolerating it at worst, I can't help but think of the fans of this comic who hung on for so long in the hopes it would "pay off", just for it to go out as gloriously as a wet fart.

As for me, I have such mixed feelings about Lore Olympus ending, but none of them pertain to the comic itself. Most of what I'll miss from this comic isn't the comic itself, but the people who have made reading it every week so fun, the artists and writers who have enriched the content with their own interpretations of what could have been, and the experiences of being part of such an amazing community made up of people who are as long-term-obsessed about this piece of media as I am.

I get people who ask me a lot if it's "worth it" to be so engrossed in the LO slander, who assume that I'm going to "regret" ever being a part of it all... but from where I'm standing right now, I couldn't ask for a better view.

Even if I didn't love every minute of it, everything I have here I owe to this comic. This stupid, wonderful, boring, amazing, pile of shit comic.

[irenkaferalkitty]

The Chain Means Pack

(art credit: my dear friend Poppy! Thank you so much!)

In honor of my birthday month, I've decided to de-anon my massive Linked Universe fanfiction series I affectionately refer to as "The Behemoth". Welcome to...

The Chain Means Pack.

Chain Means Pack (or CMP) is an explicit ABO fanfiction series first published on AO3 on July 4, 2023. So - let me tell you more about it!

CMP is an LU Linkshipping & canon-shipping AU series born out of my frustrations with common ABO tropes.

I love these characters, I love this setting, and I wanted to take a stab at doing it justice with as much internal and game series consistency as possible.

Yes, I am aware of Jojo's post concerning fan-content for LU. I won't be parading this series before her. I originally started posting this series as an Anonymous work in order to minimize potential backlash given how hostile the LU fandom can be regarding Linkshipping content in general. However, as it has now been well over a year of receiving very positive feedback, I've decided to go ahead and de-anon this series.

All in all, I am delighted with how CMP continues to unfold! I've poured everything I know and love about The Legend of Zelda game series into it. The way the story has grown and evolved - without straying too far from the original story outline - makes me incredibly proud.

If you'd like to give CMP a try, here's where to start (links below the cut):

Series start: Alpha Challenge & Series Page link

Plot-focus story start: Involuntary Island Vacations

Chronological story start: Once Upon a Time (non-explicit story!)

Non-explicit stand-alone stories:

The House Beyond the Bridge Link bought a house. It's empty. Or, Link finds his new home weirdly upsetting, Wolfie has All The Concerns, and Bolson can't stop offering super discounted prices.

The Pain of Not Knowing Why "I left him," whispered Twilight. "Or rather, I was taken away. I was at his side when he stormed Hyrule Castle. It took us days to clear it out the monsters filling its halls. And right as we were preparing to enter the last chamber… I was dropped back into the spring feeling utterly shattered but I couldn't remember why." Or, Twilight is devastated without knowing why.

The Girl Burned by Malice The Calamity ends and the world changes. Sometimes in small ways. Or, Link brings home a girl who stinks of Malice. Post BotW.

You've Got Mail! There's a strange man in scant white clothing waving a letter at her. Or, Flora gets a letter.

Rain Falling Like Tears Guardian husks litter the plain outside Fort Hateno. And Link… remembers. Set during Breath of the Wild.

In the Wind Fish's Dreams Once upon a time, a girl named Marin lived with her sire in Mabe Village on the island of Koholint. She loved her home and all the people in her village, and happily joined in celebrating Mamasha and Papahl’s new baby. Up on Tal Tal Mountain Range, the Wind Fish slept in his egg and all was well. Or, Marin was created in a dream

[ginneke]

fmk? try fml

written for a @flashfictionfridayofficial prompt, 'forced to choose'

BotW characters, modern!au setting, don’t think about it too hard - the idea was just unworkable in a more canon setting.

vague pretensions towards Revalink; content warning for implied alcohol/drug use. Dialogue heavy.

(about 1,090 words, I think?)

—

A sly look crept onto Purah's face. "Mipha."

Revali bristled. "We agreed not to mention any names in this room."

"You agreed," Purah said. "I didn't. Now, 'fess up."

He glanced at Mipha; she was shaking her head, a glint of amusement in her eyes. "It was nice knowing you all," she said, softly, and gave him an indulgently forgiving smile.

He definitely couldn't kill Mipha. "I abstain."

"Not allowed," Purah sing-songed back.

"It's the rules," Zelda piped up from the corner of the room, still sounding half asleep. She didn't look nearly so prim and princess-y with her hair tumbled around her in heavy snarls and her feet propped up against the wall. Hopefully she'd missed the part when Revali had needed to consider his chances against her stepmother. "You have to - hic - choose."

The party had already been dying down for a while by this point; they were among the last left, along with Zelda, who barely counted (she'd been asleep for the last hour), and a gaggle of Impa's friends, who'd retreated with her into her room to discuss musty matters of philosophy, or whatever it was that provoked such a buzz of debate behind closed doors. (Robbie, Purah's flatmate, academic rival, and "worst friend/best enemy", had likewise disappeared, though for a different kind of conference.)

They ought to be dragged out here and face the same indignity, Revali thought, still searching for a loophole that wasn't forthcoming. He would be forced to choose, one way or another.

"Tch." There was only one option. "Marry," he said, leaving just enough of a pause to take in their looks of shock, before continuing, "because spouses can't be compelled to testify against each other in a court of law, and we'll both be in need of the alibi."

Purah threw her head back and cackled. "True to form, you can't give up on the murder."

As if she was one to talk: "Robbie," he shot back.

"Killing." A curl of smoke drifted towards the ceiling. "Definitely killing."

"You've killed half of campus between you," Zelda pointed out. "Is anyone still alive?"

She said it like Revali was responsible, when the whole thing started because Purah just happened to be bored and this was less destructive than letting her build fully-functioning catapults out of the communal toaster. The catapults were works of art. The toasters were never the same again.

"Oh! I've got one for you, Zel..."

Outside, a roaring in the alley died down to a grumbling purr. Revali tilted his head towards the sound, trying to determine whether it was -- but it couldn't be. That guy had been given the night off from princessly bodyguarding duties.

"...Wouldn't have expected that from you!"

Whatever he'd missed, a glance at Zelda's burning-red face confirmed he ought to be glad not to have heard it.

"Maybe we should finish this now," Mipha suggested, the voice of reason -- or perhaps the voice of not wanting to be the one sober enough to hold anyone's hair (or feathers) back in the morning. But speaking up only brought attention her way.

"You've been quiet, Mi- Aren't you curious at all?"

Purah took up Zelda's line of attack: "Nobody's psyche you want to peer into?"

"Not really," said Mipha, too hesitantly for her own good; Purah continued to prod until she could only do her best to put her foot down.

"Last one," she said.

"Make sure to choose wisely~."

Revali and Mipha glanced at each other. Don't ask me, he thought, only for Mipha to say, "Revali-"

He glared. Mipha mouthed an apology.

Then ask Purah - Revali tried to signal it with his line of sight. 'Killing' Purah would be one way to end the game for good; they'd be within their rights to ignore the protestations of the so-recently deceased.

"Fuck, marry, or kill - um, let's see..."

Nobody had locked the door. A rush of cold air swept inside, trailing frosty fingers down the back of Revali's neck, and Mipha looked up in surprise. "Link?"

"Fuck!" Revali swore, lunging for the low table where Purah's stash of 'herb' was in full view; that guy was so straight-laced and boring that the only time Revali had ever seen an expression on his face was when Purah pulled it out in public. Then the realisation of what he'd said slammed into him.

Ignore that.

Zelda tried to sit upright, an inelegant manoeuvre given her previous contortions. "Link! What are you doing here?"

Silently, he pointed at the clock they'd deliberately forgotten to consult at any point, then held out a small object that should have been in Zelda's bag...

"Oh." It was Zelda's phone. "Oh, no - Urbosa's going to kill me - "

Link tossed it her way. His eyes scanned the room and settled on Revali; a frown was in them.

"Revali," Purah said loudly, "what did you just say?"

Mipha clapped her hands together, bracelets rattling. "That's it, game over!" To Revali she mouthed, Really?

"Nooooo," Purah said, "we need to know more about this. Confession of the century. Revali, you want to do what - "

"Pluck off," he snapped.

"That wasn't what you said before."

Making another valiant effort to maintain order, Mipha said, "We agreed this would stay in this room. Even you voted for that rule."

"Linky's in the room," Purah pointed out unhelpfully.

Revali made a grab for his scarf. "I'm leaving," he said, then left, though it was too late for a bus and too dark to fly and his legs never liked to cooperate after a drink.

Link caught up to him before the end of the street, jangling keys in a question.

"No," Revali said. "Absolutely not." He didn't know how much Link had heard, or pieced together. "There is no way -"

--

Revali didn't talk for the rest of the trip. The rush of air from a motorbike wasn't too dissimilar from the wind in his braids during flight. He told himself, firmly, that that was the only enjoyment to be found in this.

It wasn't long before they pulled up outside Revali's place.

Gratitude. Remember gratitude. "Thanks, I guess," he tried, though Link said nothing back, of course.

This was too awkward to bear. Revali turned his back on him and rummaged for a key.

"About before," Link said abruptly, steps clanking away down the metal steps - "Maybe when you're sober."

Revali froze. Before he could confront Link, Epona's engine growled back to life. He could only watch the red light sink into the darkness.

"As if," he muttered, and went inside.

[lightmothx]

TOTK/BOTW RANT

Hot take that's not that much of a hot take - but, Zelda should've honestly been the Protagonist of TOTK. That's what makes the Role Swap aus so good. Tears gave us a world we're already familiar with, flops it on its side with the Upheaval plotline. I think we should've let the Sheikah technology stay Link's thing for the sake of BOTW, and then have TOTK's Zonai stuff be Zelda's thing. Zelda was a huge history buff in BOTW, so having her figure out all the Zonai lore and whatnot would've been perfect.

Not only that, but her exploring Hyrule and seeing the good Link has done for the people would've been awesome. I would've settled for a DLC even where we get to play as Zelda during her plot in Old Hyrule with Rauru and Sonia, but we got nothing. That's not fair at all. Wild Era Zelda had more character than ANY previous Zelda we've ever seen and they sideline her at every turn, reducing her once more to a damsel that needs saving, when we've seen she's more than capable of holding her own (in Age of Calamity).

I liked the whole Light Dragon plot, but they made it a point over and over again that "becoming an immortal dragon is irreversible" only for us to magically turn her back with The Power of Friendship™. It would've been more interesting to get that ending as a 100% competition benefit, but even then, Zelda shouldn't have been completely fine if you know what I'm saying. Like you're telling me Link slept for 100yrs and forgot nearly everything about his life, but Zelda slept as a Dragon for Hylia knows how long, and she's just okay?!

This is why a lot of people complained that TOTK felt a little lackluster compared to Breath of the Wild, and I completely agree. What was the point of having the Champions and their descendants be such a huge thing in BOTW, just to create an entirely new plot with The Sages in TOTK? What was the point of introducing the Light Dragon, Demon Dragon and Sacred Stones if we got NO information about the Dragons that were already in BOTW? (Dinraal, Naydra, Farosh). People can ramble on and on about theories and whatnot but I would've loved CONFIRMATION or even a SIDE QUEST. We got a lotta useless new lore to try and erase perfectly good lore bits we had.

And I hate to be the dork wearing rose colored glasses or whatever the saying is, but this is why I prefer older Zelda games, because sure -- Nintendo didn't confirm everything, but they confirmed enough for people to properly string lore themselves. Nowadays I feel like Zelda content creators are just grasping at straws to try and patch plotholes that Nintendo just shrugged off. And then for them to be like "We came up with TOTK because we had SO many DLC ideas for BOTW", just to release a half-ass game and be like "We did everything we wanted to do with this era ☺️" WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL OF THOSE IDEAS?! I really hope this isnt a continuous thing because I'm getting too old to wait YEARS for a new game to confirm absolutely nothing about the previous one.

[gossamerufansubs]

Two pages from HEROINE magazine Volume 2 (2004). This edition focused on independent heroine tokusatsu production companies such as Eiyu Club, Center Island, and more.

English translation below the cut:

Page 1

[Header] Eiyu Club

[TN: The kanji seem to mean “movie” and “amusement” together but 映遊 in itself is not a word beyond the name of this club, so I will use the spelling they use themselves in their works, “Eiyu”, here]

[Left of photo where Suzuka is being choked by a masked villain] The heroines from the club that has produced many masked heroines have gathered together! Let’s support these cute and cool heroines.

[In the blue box titled ‘data’] 

Cyber Lady Suzuka

Suzuka Power-Up Plan by Dr. Mori (1998)

Suzuka's younger sister, Haruka, has been captured by Zelda. Suzuka, along with her ex-boyfriend and pilot Yoshiyama Ryo, Haruka’s boyfriend Amemiya Akira, and the creator Dr. Todoroki, set out to rescue her. However, the enemy uses Haruka as a hostage and sends out three monster minions. Suzuka struggles and takes heavy damage as it happens to be the time for her regular maintenance. Dr. Todoroki decides to completely enhance and modify Suzuka. Can Suzuka defeat the three monsters and rescue Haruka safely?

Cyber Lady Suzuka 2 – Dr. Todoroki Speaks of Suzuka’s Secrets… (2000)

Zelda's officer, Kiri, attempts to control the girls with a “hallucinogenic hypnotic drug.” And the next target is Haruka… Haruka is in danger!! Dr. Todoroki reveals the secret of Suzuka’s birth, and what are the outrageous weapons that will be installed in Suzuka?

[In large blue box in bottom right corner]

About Eiyu Club

The Club's Devotion to Masked Heroines

In special effects works, there are heroines who support the hero and sometimes sacrifice themselves to help him. There was a group that wanted to make works centered around such earnest “heroines.” This is how Eiyu Club was formed. A few volunteers pooled their money to produce and sell works, using the profits to update equipment and fund the next production. This pattern has remained unchanged since the early days.

After shooting two films featuring "Cyber ​​Lady Suzuka," the Seria Project was launched with the next title character, and during that time, the relatively inexpensive film "Lila" was shot using mass-produced masks, which also served as a test for updated equipment. “Seria” had its character design outsourced, and the mask modeling was entrusted to one of Japan’s top sculptors, leading to the creation of a beautiful masked heroine. The work also marked the first time professional actresses were hired, and with the use of CG and special effects, it became a major leap for the club.

The next large project was the planning of “Auscensia Memoria,” which inherited the setting and background of “Seria,” featuring two characters and even further improved designs. During this time, the action team from Seria worked with the original character “Wind” created by team If for another production. “Auscensia Memoria” became the club’s first DVD work, and to aim for even higher-quality productions, future works would focus on “internal competition” to further enrich the content.

Works such as “Ciao,” “Kou,” and “Mother-Daughter Robot” were created following this approach, and attention will continue to focus on the “earnest” activities of charming masked heroines.

[Caption of three overlapping photos below blue ‘data’ box] Suzuka is cornered with no escape. What will happen next? A desperate, life-or-death pinch! It was a gripping fight scene that kept me on the edge of my seat. Since masked heroines don’t show facial expressions, conveying their emotions depends entirely on the skill of the voice actor. However, Suzuka is an android, so she doesn’t panic or make a fuss.

[Next to the photo of Suzuka lightly jogging] Suzuka stands out with her eye-catching costume color and distinctive mask.

[Next to a photo of Suzuka holding up a cinder block like a serving tray] I don't know why she's holding a block, but that miniskirt is captivating. Go, Suzuka!

[Next to a photo of Suzuka getting punched] Suzuka gets punched hard by the enemy. Even the way she takes a hit is done with passion. Hang in there, Suzuka!

[The block of text below the large full-body shot of Suzuka] Cyber Lady Suzuka is controlled by Suzuka’s former lover, Yoshiyama Ryo. Suzuka is now controlled as a “battle doll” by a remote control during combat. Emotions could negatively affect her performance, so her “fear” from her human past is no longer present. During battle, Suzuka has no speech function. It’s probably Suzuka’s wish that she remains an android, as her memory is transferred into the mechanical body, and she is revived in the form of a cyborg. Suzuka was killed by the evil organization “Zelda.”

Page 2

[Text in upper left of page] Lila (Red Lilac) - Dream of Shudder

[TN: I’ve seen this written as Lila and Lilac in various materials, making a strict translation difficult. So I will stick with “Red Lilac” as the name of the movie, but Lila as the name of the character in the movie.]

This is the form that Akane takes when she combines with a doll through "Musou Genshin," a power created by her father to fight against the dream invader "Baribas”.

[In red “data” box] Lilac (Red) Version “Dream of Shudder” (2001) - On one lunch break, Akane meets an unfamiliar man. After Akane sees a suspicious light from the man, she is plagued by nightmares that night. The man's true identity is the dream invader "Baribas." He plans to destroy the "Musou Genshin" created by Akane's father and enters Akane's dreams. Akane is attacked by the man in her dream. At that moment, the doll she had been holding suddenly begins to sync with her. Then, Akane transforms into "Lila" through "Musou Genshin" embedded in the doll and challenges Baribas.

[To the bottom left of an image of Red Lila crossing her arms over her chest] The thighs peeking from the hot pants are cute.

[Below the full-body image of Red Lilac] The pattern of a full-face mask with hair growing from it is the same as in the Mighty Lady series, but Mighty uses a bodysuit while this one is costume-based, showing the difference. Of course, there is no giant transformation.

[Small text next to Red Lilac’s left boot] Intense Heroine Feature

[Large header text] Blue Lilac - Pure Heart

[Text to the left of header text] A caring and cheerful heroine!

[Below circle-framed images] Lila Lapis Lazuli (Blue)

Originally a normal 1/1 figure [TN: a figure scaled to be human sized], she was given life by "the sanctuary of life" and begins to take care of her owner, Daisuke. She’s absolutely the "pushy wife" type. Surprised Daisuke is then visited by his childhood friend and idol talent Honoka, causing a commotion. A rivalry for Daisuke begins between Honoka and Lilac. 

[uwudonoodle]

I played my first Zelda game when I was 27 years old.

I consider myself a lifelong Zelda fan. Let me explain:

Growing up, my boomer parents bought into the whole, "video games rot your brain," propaganda of the 90's. They didn't want to spend the money on it, nor did they want us wasting hours slaying pixel mosters. But my older siblings (I have 3 who are around 20 years older than me, yes, I'm the baby) had their own money to spend. My brother had his own TV in his room, and an original NES. Me and my nephew (he's only a year younger than me, did I mention I was the baby?) used to sit on my brother's bed and watch him play. I was fascinated by it. My brother primarily liked combat games, but my favorite of his was Mario and Duck Hunt.

When my brother moved out, he gave his NES to my nephew, because his mom (my oldest sister) didn't have any qualms about her kid playing video games. My sister and nephew lived with us for many years. I got to watch his passion and collection of video games blossom, while almost never getting to take part myself. My parents were fine with me watching him play, but didn't want me participating very much. So aside from the few short games where I got to be player 2, I was only an observer.

My older sister, who also liked playing her son's games sometimes, got him The Legend of Zelda. It was the best game I had seen so far. The story was everything I loved. You could be a hero, and carry a special sword, and save the kingdom and the princess. You could explore and discover so many amazing things in Hyrule. It was so exciting to me. I only got to see snipets of it though. The game was a little difficult for a 4 and 5 year old, and his mom couldn't always be there to help us (or read the text for us). My sister eventually got Link's Awakening on the GameBoy, so she could play it uninterrupted while leaving the bigger console to her son to play easier games. (To this day, Link's Awakening on GameBoy, in black and white, is her favorite game in the world.) I sometimes watched her play GameBoy over her shoulder, so I could see what happened to Link. I never got to see the full story for either game, but I always worried about the fate of Hyrule.

When I was 11, my sister and nephew moved across town. I still visited them all the time. At this point, I might have gotten away with actually playing the games, as my parents might not have found out, but I was too shy in my abilities by then. All my peers had spent years learning to use controllers and do combat. I was still like a drunk 4 year old when handed a controller. I still liked video games, but was more content to watch others play rather than make a fool of myself. Plus, the best games were usually single player, whuch my nephew played, because it was hos Nintendo. I just enjoyed watching him play Mario while I cheered from the sidelines.

In the summer of '99, my nephew got a new game for his N64 - a new Legend of Zelda game. I was over the moon. For weeks, I spent nearly every day at his house, helping him through dungeons. Ocarina of Time was so much cooler than the bits of old Zelda games I remembered. Not only was it a beautiful environment, but Princess Zelda was a real character. I wanted to be her for Halloween so badly.

I helped my nephew through the 3 first dungeons in the game, and fell in love with the land of Hyrule and the characters even more than before. It was my comfort game, even though it wasn't mine.

School started up again, and I was so busy, weeks went by before I was able to visit my nephew again. But I daydreamed about Hyrule all the time. The first time I was able to see my nephew again, I excitedly asked if we could please play Zelda. I was desperate to know what happened in the story. I stupidly hadn't realized that he'd continue playing it on his own. Understandable, but I nonetheless felt betrayed. I loved this story so much, but was once against reminded it wasn't mine.

He pulled up the game to show me where he was at. Link was suddenly older, and Hyrule looked different. Everything was dark. The charming land I loved was gone, with storm clouds and redeads in their place. Without any context for how the story changed so drastically, I didn't feel like playing much anymore. He finished the game without me.

As me and my nephew got older, we got busier, and had less time to play games together. A few years later, my sister and nephew moved out of state. He was one of my only connections to video games. After he left, I only occasionally encountered games at friend's houses, but anytime I tried to play, they made fun of how terrible I was. People laughed at me for driving into the walls in Mario Kart, and enjoyed using me as target practice in FPS. I eventually declined any invitation to play games with people. I was only good at watching them, so that's what I did.

Throughout high school, my ears would prick up whenever I heard someone mention Zelda. I told them I was a big fan, but they'd blow me off when they heard I'd never actually played it. I heard about the releases of Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword. I'd ask people what the games were like, but resigned myself to the face that I'd probably never see them. Even so, Zelda was always in the back of my mind. I thought about buying Hyrule Historia just so I could have some connection to the story I loved.

When I was 26, I started dating a guy who was an avid gamer. I told him I didn't play, but asked what his favorite games were. When he said Zelda, my eyes lit up, and I told him that was my very favorite game! He, of course, looked very confused until I explained. He invited me to play games with him even though he unfortunately didn't have any working consoles that had Zelda on them. But he still wanted to play with me. It took a lot of coaxing, but he was the first person who was patient with me while I learned the controls. He showed me lots of cool indie games on Steam, and got me a few mobile games I could play myself.

It was a start, but video games had gotten so much more complicated and expensive. I wanted to be a proper gamer, but it was difficult to justify the cost to get started, or the time it would take to learn when I had a full time job and bills to worry about. Then one day, my coworker who was trying to get rid of some things, posted a used N64 for sale, and one of the games that came with it was Ocarina of Time. I counted the money I had leftover after paying my bills, and went for it.

I had moved back in with my parents by this time, but what were they going to do? I was grown, and had my own money for video games. I snuck that N64 up to my room giggling all the way. After some trial and error, I got it hooked up to my TV. I about cried when I heard the title music. I was finally going to play Zelda! And I had the privacy to screw up as much as I wanted as I learned the controls.

It took me more than 4 hours to get through the Deku Tree, but I was having the time of my life! I had snacks, a blankey, a sweaty controller in my hand, and I was playing Zelda! I was a gamer!

When I came down to have dinner with my parents, they asked me what I was doing up there for so long. I finally confessed that I had bought my first video game and was happily playing it. My mom rolled her eyes, and my dad put his head in his hands. He said, "All these years of keeping you away from that stuff, and now you've brought it into our own home." I laughed and told them I could do whatever I wanted now. They rolled their eyes at me, then left me to play.

Unfortunately I got stuck in Jabu Jabu. My beginner skills were not up for any difficulty curve, and my aged controller had a lot of drift. I called my gamer boyfriend over, and he helped me through it. I didn't want to wait anymore to see the story, so I had him play through the hard parts, while I farmed for ruppees and supplies when he was at school. Over the next few weeks, I finally got to see the game that had haunted me for more than 15 years.

Even in all that time, even after I had joined social media and followed multiple Zelda pages, I somehow never had the ending of Ocarina spoiled for me. My boyfriend kept it under wraps too, so the reveal that Sheik was Zelda... I FREAKED THE FUCK OUT! All this time Princess Zelda was even cooler than I had thought! I finally met my childhood hero, and she was better than I imagined. I couldn't believe they had made a princess that badass in 1998. I still loved Hyrule, and Link was so cool, and Zelda was amazing, and my fairy tale story was everything I wanted it to be.

I later married my gamer. (Us with our matching Zelda hoodies. We wear them when we want to be an extra obnoxious couple.)

Breath of the Wild had come out around this time, and we both really wanted it, but couldn't afford it. A few years later when we had some more spending money, I suggested a new game console, and hinted that we could play the Zelda together again. He came home with a Switch and BOTW. I was scared to play it, as these were totally new and very sensitive controllers. So he played the main story bits while I watched. On my own, I practiced how to control the camera. Combat still scared me, but I suffered through so I could explore. I think I climbed every tree on the Great Plateau, lol. I loved foraging for ingredients and cooking new foods.

We eventually finished the BOTW together, and I was in love with it even more than Ocarina. I tried to play BOTW more on my own, but eventually gave up. I didn't think I could fight Lynels or Guardians, plus I was an adult now and had bigger priorities.

When we heard there was going to be a sequel, I was ecstatic. As the date got closer for Tears of the Kingdom, I realized this was the first time in my life I'd get to play a Zelda game on release day. I knew I needed to get better so I could play it along with the rest of the world. With 100 days left, I made a goal that I would restart and complete BOTW all by myself.

I played a few hours every day. Even though I had to look up tips and tutorials sometimes, I got better. I not only finished the game, I 100% it with just a few hours to spare before TOTK came out.

It was amazing being able to take part in the online chatter and news about TOTK, instead of sitting on the sidelines wishing I could be involved. And I was able to play it myself this time, without help. It was wonderful, and I loved the game so much.

It wasn't until after I beat TOTK that I joined Tumblr. When Echoes of Wisdom was announced, I got to be part of the building excitement within the fandom for the first time - the trailer reactions, the memes, all us fangirls screaming at finally being able to play as Zelda.

I played the Link's Awakening remake to prepare myself, and finally got to play as my princess on release day. (I still haven't finished EoW because adult life happened, but I still adore tiny Zelda, and will definitely finish it here soon.)

I've now played 4 Zelda games, completed 3, 100% 1, partially played 1, and watched my husband play 3 more. I've also watched playthroughs on YouTube of nearly every mainline Zelda game (plus the CDI games). I'm excited about what I still have to discover (I long to see Spirit Tracks, and husband's favorite game - Majora's Mask). I'm still working on improving my gaming skills, but I can't wait to see what the franchise holds in the future.

I'm a lifelong fan, because I never forgot that little pixel hero I saw as a kid. I'm grateful I got to grow up to be that hero, and now I'm writing my own chapter with my fanfic. I love being part of this fandom. Because fandom is about love, and I have always loved Zelda.

[arkus-rhapsode]

No, the Switch 2 is not another Wii U

I know video game content is my least viewed content on this blog, but I’ve been seeing this talking point spouted over the last few days and I decided to use what little voice I had in the world to say something. So, the last few days have been rough for the Switch 2. Kinda funny how for almost an entire year the question was “When Switch 2?” To now actually being here and pissing off basically everyone with a pulse. However, a certain saying I’ve been hearing a lot is that they believe or hope that the Switch 2 will be another Wii U for the company.

This line of thinking is just plain wrong. Simply because why the Wii U failed and why the Switch 2 has the potential to fail are two completely different things.

Let’s start with the Wii U, for those who don’t remember, the Wii U was going to be the follow up to the ultra successful Wii console. And its issues were already obvious out of the gate, and I’m not just talking about the game pad, but I kinda am. Because at the time of its announcement, many weren’t even clear if the Wii U was a new console or an add on to the Wii. The announcement for the Wii U was so miscommunicated at the time that the President Satoru Iwata lamented not even showing off the full console itself.

The second, most obvious issue facing the Wii U was the innovation that Nintendo banked on. The Wii was highly successful due to the fact that its motion control innovation managed to capture the attention of gamers and non gamers alike. It was as simple as “pretend like you’re bowling with the remote and the action happens on screen.” Rather than simply continue with that model and add more power to it, a Wii 2 if you will, Nintendo opted to focus on focus on asymmetrical gaming, using the dual screens to create a unique experience. While this sounds interesting on paper, it’s clear that in practice asymmetrical gaming is inconvenient to how one actually plays video games. You don’t actively play video games with the control at the level of your direct vision. While there are certainly people who had fun with this, it was never going to recapture the audience the Wii had. Nintendo’s desire for innovation was under cut by its ability for practicality.

This reflected in the games, which outside of Nintendo’s first party offerings, very few large game devs took advantage of the Wii U architecture. If they even made games for the Wii U at all. With major publishers like EA flat out discontinuing any development of Nintendo hardware. Even going as far to call it “Crap.” Other companies like Ubisoft basically changed direction on any exclusivity support for the Wii U. Rayman Legends was promised as an exclusive for the system at first, but changed due to fact the Wii U ecosystem was so minuscule. Ubisoft’s ZombiU a launch title for the Wii U made to show off what the system could do would be ported to other platforms under the name Zombi and would cancel a sequel due to poor sales.

Even Nintendo’s own first party offerings, suffered. This was during the New Super Mario Bros era, where 2D Mario games were now criticized for becoming overly homogenized. There was no traditional Fire Emblem, no traditional Kirby, no Metroid period, and… whatever was Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival. The console wouldn’t get a 3D Zelda until its own dying breath.

When you put this all together it’s no wonder the Wii U was so unprofitable for the company.

So with all that said. Is any of this applicable to the Switch 2? Well because the console isn’t even out, it’s impossible to predict how it will preform in its lifetime. But, I believe we can make some judgement calls based on the facts available to us.

Let’s start with its announcement. While yes, it is true that the Switch 2 did fail to include any price in its huge announcement and it has caused the the narrative of the Switch 2 to spiral out of their control, the Switch 2 was nothing if not transparent on what the system actually was and what it came with. This is going to be a bigger, thicker, stronger version of a switch. That is what it is. What it has failed to communicate is the pricing of its games. But when it comes to innovation-it’s just more of the same stuff people already like.

And let’s talk about the games. Unlike the Wii U, we can already see Nintendo capitalizing on already highly anticipated franchises like Mario Kart and Donkey Kong. As well as having advanced versions of the next Pokémon Legends title and Metroid Prime 4. Now it’s possible that the release of new Switch 2 games will be as low as the Wii U, but as of now, we have no real evidence to believe that is the case. There is also the fact that right out of the gate, Nintendo has highlighted its exclusive deals with third party developers. The biggest being the much beloved developer FromSoft creating an exclusive Souls game for the console with a release window of 2026.

Speaking of third party developers, many of them, do not have a reason to believe that this machine will be poor in terms of gaming experience. With even articles right now talking about how developing for the switch 2 is similar to developing for a mid tier PC. In fact, the implementation of mouse controls has actually expanded to types of gameplay gamers have used on other platforms.

While there are some similarities like this being a sequel system to a highly successful console and doesn’t include a pack in game. When you look at the broad reasons for the failure of the Wii U: that being poor communication of the product, innovation vs practicality, third party support, and first party offering, it’s pretty easy to see that the these consoles aren’t applicable.

Now of course there are issues facing the Switch 2’s launch that the Wii U never could’ve predicted. Such as the new game keycard system optional to some publishers, to the purchase of game upgrade packs for switch 1 games. And of course games not being priced competitively. So why are so many saying “this is the next Wii U?” Well it’s because during the Wii U era, Nintendo as a company was at its most vulnerable and most desperate after coming off a pretty successful run with its previous console. This resulted in them needing to offer better deals to consumers AND push them to truly innovate in the game of gaming hardware and software.

With the above issues mentioned, there a very real and palpable desire for Nintendo to return that state once again. Where, once again it can’t just have “60 dollar games or get lost,” it might actually need to make concessions to the players. It remains to see if that will happen or not. However, if it does happen I want it to be clear, it’s not because the Switch 2 is “the Wii U all over again.”

The Wii U wasn’t bad because it was anti-consumerist. It was bad because it was a bad console.

[luimagines]

HELLO HELLO !!!!!!!! can i request a continuation of the boys non confession angst where in the part 2 they go to their world and have to deal w their feels about not confessing before reader left? ty ty!!!!

Well yes I can! :D

Let's make it worse before it gets any better :)

Masterlist

Part one will correspond to the first half which you can read right here!

Part one will include Sky, Wind and Four.

Content under the cut!

Sky

He's been kicking himself ever since he returned.

The goodbyes between the rest of the group was less than lackluster. No one else had it in them to give long fanciful speeches about their time together or to drag out the moment longer than necessary.

He kinda wished they did though. It would have made the pain of the currently reality a little less real. He would have been able to play it off as a short time thing or get a little more closure.

Sky pulls on the rope to help set up a wall to a new house they're building on the surface. He's had to learn fast about a lot of thing it takes to survive.

Sure the surface is a lot safer than it used to be. The destruction of Demise, the sealing of the darkness, the victory over the monsters made it so there was little left to fear for the rest of his life. But he still needed to eat and there was still the weather to look out for.

Life of Skyloft was a lot easier. He was more than happy to admit that.

But something tells him that it would all be worth it.

There would be people here after him. There would be an entire kingdom and peace and adventure and love.

You love your home and your people and your friends.

It all starts with him.

So he has to make sure he gets it as perfect as physically possible. Sky has never been more afraid of failure than when that thought crosses his mind.

The older ones start to question if he's going to settle down and start a family and be the head of the tender village- but he can't bring himself to think of that kind of future.

Not when he wanted you so badly to be a part of it.

However, that would be rude. To hold onto the idea of you when you were never given a chance to respond to him was a crime onto itself. Sky knows that he's more in love with the idea of you or what you both could have been than with you as a person, even if he loves the memory of you still.

He curses himself for being a hopeless romantic. It would be easier if he could bring himself to move on. To mourn you and the life that would never be.

Zelda and Groose are worried about him. They try to get him to be excited about everything that's been developing around them- and he smiles and laughs and waves them away. He doesn't want to let them know.

But it aches. He knows you would have loved to see it too.

Sky kicks himself once more.

How can you love someone that hasn't come into existence yet? You might as well be dead.

He cuts his finger on the rope and drops the wall.

Sky flinches and goes to pick it up once more. Maybe if he held on tighter-

Wind

Getting back home after everything was strange. It felt like some unforgettable dream. It felt real but also not. He knows that he didn't have that scar before he left through the portal- but he also knows that maybe things would have been a little more different. Right?

His sister and grandma welcomed him with open arms and a homecooked meal. Tetra and the pirates and let him sail for a few week again and the island treated him as if he hadn't gone missing at all.

Then again, he supposes that they are quite used to him disappearing for weeks or months on end at this point.

He knows that the others were real, though. They all left little nick nacks. Either from when they visited prior or given right before he went through the portal. He has a little keep sake from everyone.

Except you.

Did he dream you up? He couldn't have. He wasn't that crazy?

Did he dream all of them up?

Everything goes back to normal a little too easily. When he came from his first adventure, there was no normal for months. Every day was spent keeping close to the house and trying to keep an eye on the sky and his sister at the same time.

Wind finds himself frowning constantly these days.

He can't stop thinking about you. He wants to know if you've found something cool today, or if you've gotten a new scratch. He wants to go exploring again. He wants to hold your hand as you both go through dungeons.

He wants to make you food and try your own. He wants to make bracelets with you again and play in tall enough grass where you both could hide in. He wants to take you out on his boat and show you all the little things his keep discovering in his world.

He misses you.

Even if the others saw him as a little brother, you were his equal. You trusted him to look after you just as much as you were looking after him.

Wind thought that he would have been a better at this. He knew that he would miss everyone, but he was going to be fine. He grew up. He learned from them. He got stronger. Faster. More durable. Everyone gave him something to hold dear to his heart.

Yet... if could choose one person to see again, he would pick you in a heart beat. Hands down. No questions.

He sniffles. He didn't know loving someone could hurt so much. Would it have better or worse if you knew?

It doesn't matter. He blew his one chance to find out.

Did you miss him too?

Four

Four got back to work as if nothing had happened.

After he cried his heart out by the side of the portal, the others went in as well. He's not sure about the order they all went through. He thinks that he was somewhere in the middle.

He was dropped off right outside his home. It was late. Just before dawn.

He opened the door and went right to bed. His pillows was soaked with tears when he woke up- but he felt strangely empty.

Four tried to go back to his usual routine. Word of his arrival was quick to spread and soon the commissions were rolling in faster than he could keep up with. He had to put a hold on them once more so that the customers wouldn't be waiting for long periods of time.

It was therapeutic almost, getting back into his craft. It's mind numbing to an extant. He doesn't have to think much outside of what he needs to do to bend the metal to his will. If he was being honest with himself, these were some of his greatest projects yet.

Somehow though, each project traces back to you.

How you would have reacted to this? Would you have liked this color? you mentioned that this leather was the most comfortable in your hand. Would be proud of this one? Would have used something like this? You weren't a fighter. Would it have been light enough for you to use?

Four slaps himself each tie he catches himself curving a project to fir something that you would have liked or used.

It's not as mind numbing as he would have thought.

He gives his latest project to the customer and receives the other half of his pay. He's wrapped it in a white clothe and tied it with a small red ribbon. It looks like the one you would have had on your bag.

They take it without a second thought- shattering his little flashback.

Four waits until they're out of his shop before he groans loud enough to shake the whole building and promptly slams his forehead against the front desk.

"Tough customer?"

Four winces at the voice but refuses to look up. "...Something like that..."

"Got the job done?" Zelda pokes the top of his head.

"...Yes."

"At what cost?"

Four feels bad about lying to her. He hasn't told her a thing about you. Knowing Zelda, she would pity him. And the last thing he wants is her pity. Even if she is his best friend. "Everything."

"Well that's a bit dramatic, Link." Zelda smile, albeit it's a small one. She's noticed that he's been off and she knows that he's hiding it from her. She can't figure out what went wrong though. Zelda sighs and brushes his hair away from the counter top so that it's draped over his back. "Rupee for your thoughts?"

Four bites his lip. It's been months now but he still can't bring himself to say anything specific. "....I miss them..."

"You were of the same spirit." She says gently. "It was a whole group of heroes who no doubt went through similar things that you did. I'm sure it was the most you've been understood...As much as I try..."

Another wince. He hasn't really thought about the rest of the group all that much. "I know Zelda. I appreciate you. You know I do."

Zelda sighs. "I came to see if you would be willing to have lunch with me."

Four finally lifts his head up, eyes tinged with a red ring around them. Maybe some time with Zelda would do him some good. He needs to get out his own head for once. "...I'd like that Zelda..."

Part 2

[ffviidirtyconfessions]

Rebirth has thoroughly drained my enjoyment of the remake trilogy. I no longer feel obligated to try and play the games anymore. I don't even want to play ever crisis. And honestly that's the one I was looking forward to the most, because that was supposed to have a game version of Advent children. But it doesn't seem like it's going to happen because of how shitty and terrible rebirth has been. I waited years for that game, just this whole remake in general, and now I just feel so drained. I, myself, only got 20 hours into the game. Just 20, and I pre-ordered the game. It is safe to say that I will no longer be playing a final fantasy game unless I see play through that I like of it.

I really, truly feel your pain here. After all's said and done, I honestly feel like the best thing Rebirth gave me was the chance to see Advent Children on the big screen. This is coming from a person who's been putting off buying a PS5 until I see a game that's worth it on it. This wasn't worth it. So I can't even imagine what it's like actually having bought it.

Even in those first 20 hours, I'm sure you already experienced so much of what I find weird, offensive at worst, and just off-putting about this game. It extends everything to such a strange point, the opening Nibel Mountain sequence being the first offender of all. Everything takes so much time to do and yet gains so little depth, oftentimes less than the original game, which had limited space. It's an insanely huge game that turns out to feel mostly empty. There's constant "upgradable collectables" around every corner, even serious story relevant corners, a required card game, chocobo racing everywhere I guess, and don't even get me started on the Chadley world intel thing that was literally for some reason just ripped out of Zelda Breath of the Wild (????). It wants to be 500 different other popular games and stops being a Final Fantasy game.

The story, too, is just as distracted. It has what I might call "interrupting cow" syndrome. Nothing is allowed to just sit. You have to see the next flashiest thing right away, even if it feels emotionally dissonant from whatever just happened. Oh yeah, let us not forget the random DEAD MOBILE GAME PULL that takes up SO MUCH TIME????? WHO THE FUCK IS GLENN LODBROK ACTUALLY OR AM I JUST A BAD FF7 FAN BECAUSE I DON'T THINK I AM- ahem. This general problem worries me most in the places that matter most to me- specifically in that they seem to want to erase Cloud's mental illness. His memory problems are suddenly credited to "degeneration" instead of what it is, which is trauma, what they always implied it to be in the first place. This escalates as the half-baked Zack alternate timeline whatever thing continues. I genuinely think they are really hurting the story by downplaying (if not removing) the emotional cores of loss and trauma in favor of... fighting fate?? The multiverse??? Something?????

All around it feels like it needed way more time in development. It feels rushed while being completely bloated with "content". It doesn't even look very good 90% of the time. I feel like they barely got used to the PS4's tools only to be stage-hooked by Sony over to the PS5.

The ending in particular (don't know whether or not you figured out what they did with it so I'll avoid spoilers) leaves me wholly unenthusiastic for the next installment. And yet I feel I can't completely look away from it. Something about train wrecks makes me need to look at them, but I completely respect your decision to step away, especially when it comes to your own hard earned money and time. If it's any consolation, you're not alone in disliking this.

Apologies for the length of this post. Unfortunately, I am an English major.

[tokiro07]

Perhaps I should get out of the habit of thinking about future games every time a novel and groundbreaking video game gets announced, but the endless potential is the best part for me, so let's talk about what Echoes of Wisdom could mean for the Zelda franchise if successful

Outcome 1: Playable Ganondorf

If Nintendo is willing to listen to our collective desire for a true Zelda game, there's now the possibility that they'll listen to the slightly quieter but still significant desire for a Ganondorf-led story in the Zelda universe

If Zelda's game is puzzle-focused (Wisdom), and Link's are exploration-focused (Courage), then Gandondorf's would be combat-focused (Power). Perhaps Nintendo could take inspiration from Dark Souls or Devil May Cry depending on whether they want to focus on difficulty or style, giving the player either a sense of earned skill or a power fantasy

I also wouldn't mind if we got other playable characters going forward, though aside from Ganondorf I can't really see any character being a big enough name to draw a general audience. Like Tingle is a super popular character in Japan, so he got a couple of games, but how likely is say, Midna to get her own game?

Though, she may not need to get her own game, per se, when instead...

Outcome 2: Other Playable Zeldas

It seems like Echoes of Wisdom takes place in the same era as Link's Awakening, assuming that Grezzo isn't just reusing the art style. If that's the case, then this is the same Zelda as in Link to the Past, which means that this story is expanding on that particular iteration of the Zelda bloodline

If they do more Zelda Zelda games, they'll certainly want to introduce or experiment with different mechanics rather than just doing the Echo mechanic ad infinitum, and the sheer number of Princesses they have to work with means that they have plenty of places to draw inspiration from while also being able to revisit each of their associated eras

Revisit Ocarina for a Sheik game. Revisit Wind Waker for a Tetra game. Revisit Skyward Sword to explore Zelda's relationship with the Goddess Hylia. Revisit Twilight Princess so she can team up with Midna. Revisit Adventure of Link to elaborate on the fact that there are two Zeldas running around there!

I'd love to learn more about Vaati and the Minish, or Byrne and the Lokomo, or Hilda and Lorule! Whether these are sequels or interquels, Zelda's perspective in each of these eras would be such a great opportunity to expound on the franchise's lore

Not to mention Breath of the Wild's Zelda! I know they said they won't do another sequel in that era, but Zelda's time in the past in Tears of the Kingdom could easily have been its own game! If they want to continue on with the Breath/Tears style, I really think that Zelda herself would be a fantastic way to keep things fresh

Of course, there's also the distinct possibility of...

Outcome 3: NEW Eras

Rather than recycle old content, Nintendo could just continue to add new eras and iterations of the reincarnation cycle as they always have and just bounce back and forth between using Link and Zelda based on which they feel is more appropriate for the story or mechanics they feel like designing around

Thinking of novel ways to shoehorn a plotline into existing Zelda stories might be difficult, especially if doing so would require contradicting or negating major elements of said stories. Doing something for the sake of being cool goes to waste if it just pisses off the fanbase, so it might be better to just make something wholly new

The Echo mechanic is kind of out of nowhere anyway, there's nothing about it that requires it be in the Hero of Legend era, or even that it be an ability unique to Zelda specifically. Link's a blank slate, but one who always holds a sword, so the overall gameplay of the franchise has a pretty consistent throughline. If Zelda keeps getting her own games, they'll likely keep coming up with new magic-based puzzle-centric mechanics to differentiate her from Link, but each one will feel completely distinct from the others, possibly to the point of being unrecognizable aside from sharing the name alone

However, it's also possible that there will be one particular throughline to make them feel consistent...

Outcome 4: 2D/3D Split

As I said, Nintendo has gone on record that they plan for the 3D Zeldas to be in the open-world Wild era style for the foreseeable future, and it's been almost a decade since the last 2D Zelda at all (assuming you count Tri Force Heroes, and if not, it's been well OVER a decade since Link Between Worlds), so it really does seem like Nintendo has been moving away from that style

Until today, that is. With Echoes of Wisdom, it's clear that Nintendo hasn't completely abandoned the more traditional top-down style, and instead may be attempting to give it more of its own distinct identity. It's a great opportunity to rebrand, as one of the reasons they may have been hesitant to make 2D games was for fear of muddling the brand. I personally think that would be silly if true, but I also will embrace this excuse to revisit my preferred form of Zelda gameplay

I'm not saying that they'll permanently make the 2D games exclusive to Zelda herself, but it does seem like something that might become emblematic of the current era until there's either another change in artistic direction or in management

None of these possibilities are mutually exclusive, and there are certainly other possibilities than what I've projected. There may not be any intention of making a Zelda-led franchise, or they might specifically root this series in this specific iteration of the Zelda character with different abilities

Whatever happens, whatever Nintendo chooses to do with this section of the series, I'm extremely excited for Echoes of Wisdom and I look forward to the breath of fresh air it brings to the franchise as a whole

[styrmwb]

I beat Wargroove 2.....'s Greatest Custom Campaign Ever

Warning: Lots of glazing and ego coming up ahead

Back in October of 2023, ShadowMarioXLI (henceforth referred to as Eric, and found here, amongst other places) started creating a campaign in Wargroove 2; a sequel, to the one he made back in the original, featuring a story centered around the 41 Alliance + Mega Squad community. This endeavor would eat away hundreds of hours at this poor retired content creator and father, but it was a labor of love. Now, it's finally out!

Now you may ask, why do I care? This isn't even the main Wargroove 2. You haven't even played Wargroove 2. You haven't even played Wargroove 1. Well... I'm a part of the community! I've seen this campaign personally rip and tear Eric until he was done; so when I see that, plus I know that me and my friends are gonna be in it? I mean, I'm buying the game for this alone; and holy shit. All of the effort he put in was worth it.

The reason I'm writing this post, is because the man made A Full Game. Well. Obviously the Wargroove team made the game. But like, map design, story, you know. Full game! I HAVE to consider this as its own entry! Let me just barf the adoration I have over this wonderful experience for a million paragraphs.

#gameplay-and-map-design

Now, to clarify. This is not a Wargroove 2 post. I am not talking about the main game at all. Maybe I'll play it one day, but to be honest it's just not my concern right now. But to get some initial groundwork done, my background in strategy games is more Fire Emblem than Advance Wars, which Wargroove seems to be a lot more similar to (similar! not same. don't kill me.) But I did get the hang of it. I'll probably use that comparison a lot going ahead, so bear with me.

Anyways, what's really special and unique about this campaign is the map design. Every single map feels like it's not the same as the other. There are some more traditional maps, such as the first; capture buildings, build your army up, go fight the enemy commander. But then as you progress further, even the more traditional style maps have some kind of gimmick. Fog of war, magic items littered around everywhere, the enemy commander getting buffed for your units dying, it makes the whole experience feel super fresh; and that's not even talking about the not traditional maps! From a combatless puzzle map, to things that felt like Fire Emblem, with no buildings, just your units as you escape from a sewer, to a full on Zelda dungeon???? Dude. Even when I didn't care so much for the map, I could still appreciate the concept and creation behind it (there's really only one example here, where you're controlling 2 separate armies that eventually converge. I struggled.). They all have a unique identity. I liked being able to see the intended pathway through, as there was usually a very clear flow; such as going upwards and left, progressing as well as running from the horde of mobs running down the right, or swooping below an army to take a back path to the objective. I never felt Lost.

While most of the maps are super exciting and filled with combat, my real favorite maps were the ones where you just... walk and talk. There's about 5 of them? I think? They remind me of the inbetween sections in modern FE games, like the Monastery in Three Houses or the Somniel in Engage. A nice time to breath, explore, and relax; continuing to make progress in the game, but also resting. I think these sections helped me power through (I word this like it was a chore, it wasn't I promise), as not only was I able to progress the story, but my energy could be conserved for longer sessions. With the nature of the combat flow of this game, maps do take a while for the most part, and starting out, I could really only get through one or two a day (this sped up over time) due to Personal Energy Banks. The breathers were great.

Back to in the maps, I loved the usage of mechanics in the game. As someone that has not played the main game, I was learning as I went; and some of these maps were actual tutorials for me, without Literally being a tutorial. Some maps would teach me how to use a character's groove (their ult, basically) successfully by giving reoccuring usages, and/or building the map specifically around it. Some of my favorite examples are giving me a bunch of 1 HP idiots to learn how to Tee Off properly, or the aforementioned puzzle map showing me how to connect units to make the proper electrical shock. It's not even just the characters with grooves, I also got the hang of individual units with this. My top example of this is that sewer map I mentioned; it gave me an army of frogs that I could use to pull my enemies into the water, which I proceeded to never let go of and tried to abuse as much as I possibly could throughout the whole campaign LMAO; by the end of it, I feel like I had a really good sense for the game (to give credit where it's due, it wasn't just Eric's awesome map design, but the codex in the base game was very helpful.)

More things that made the maps fun and engaging; bonus objectives and secrets. Most every map had side goals to get higher star rankings for the map (I'm fairly sure this is a main game thing so I'm sure I'd like it there too), and they absolutely affected how I would play out the map, plus give it replayability if you didn't manage to get them all in the first try. As for secrets; there's a lot. A carry-over from his last campaign in the previous game, every* map has one space that if you bring a commander character there, will give you a fun little cutscene, developer commentary, and a bonus unit. Once I learned about these, they became a primary objective for me as much as I could. Not only do I get to hear my friend's thoughts, but then I also get something that helps me win my struggling battles!... most of the time. Or Eric will fuck with me and give me the most useless thing to exist. Jerk. Those of course, aren't the only secrets in the game. He hid a whole extra mechanic behind one, not to mention countless other lines of dialogue or alternate paths.

A couple more things that helped my experience, are base game creations. Sorry man, can't give these to you. The adjustable difficulty was a god send. I am Not great at this game, and the ability to make it easier (but not Too easy) was so needed. Plus the option to undo turns helped me learn the game properly/help me when I make stupid misclicks. Other than that, I really do love the groove system. Each character feels unique, and a lot of them felt super fun + turned the tide of battle. Tee Off is my absolute favorite. Finally, units. Golems and Frogs are my absolute joy. When I can flood the map with my army? I'm living on top of the world.

I think that even if you aren't able to appreciate what I'm going to be talking about going forward, you can appreciate everything here, and can still get something from this campaign. Now:

#the-part-where-i-talk-about-all-the-text (Plot + Setting)

I'm gonna be an Absolute Mess in these next parts, I Apologize.

The text is the other reason that this campaign brought me so much joy. A very, very, Very large script full of jokes and references in the form of a very silly yet creative plot, delivered from the mouths of caricatures of members of the community. From frame 1, it is a delight to read every text box possible (and there is A Lot holy shit); I don't think it's even possible to read every line of text, cause he just accounted for so many edge cases.

I think before I talk about the actual plot or anything, I have to talk about what it contains and why. Like I've said, this is a story that's a celebration of a community. Most every character is a real person with their real username. Other characters that inhabit the world are our Discord server's emotes (I'm not kidding.), and then a fair couple others that are either a video game reference, or a reference to something in the past relating to the community; and speaking of our Discord server, that's where it takes place. A very silly combination of an actual fantasy land and an online community that when you think about it too hard makes no sense but it believes in itself and it's great. Everything. is related to Eric and MegaFreak400 (like and subscribe and follow and donate to him he's my very good friend)'s creations and history, including their old Youtube Let's Play collab group of CrystalStarStudio. So you're gonna get a lot of silly video game references, a lot of mentions of trivia, of Maze Games, of naming game tunes, cause that's what all of this is! So now with that kind of background base knowledge, Hopefully what I'm about to say won't sound as insane (I mean, it's still gonna be insane. But insanity is fine if you can follow it).

The first campaign follows the adventures of :blueghost: the emote as they make friends and enemies through the Discord server, preventing it from falling under the clutches of the evil Pond (very funny) and the Star Warriors, led by the villainous SlimKirby (also very funny). So then what is it followed up by? Well, after a bit of a cast switch up, as people have left, joined, or became more prominent in the community (me!!!!), we get less of a lone character's journey, and more of Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame. In a plot that tries its best (and in my opinion succeeds but I am biased) to give a highlight to each Actual Person behind this, that also expounds on some story beats from the last campaign, the people of the 41 Alliance + Mega Squad band together... against Discord itself. There isn't a main character, the entire server is the main character. Sure, there are points of view you follow more than others (ME BABYYYYYY I'M THE MAIN CHARACTER), but it presents a bunch of storylines that are all able to tie together very nicely, especially right at the end.

Not that I would have been able to make anything close to it myself, but I genuinely think this is the best thing Eric could have had as the concept for this campaign. Having the enemy force be an entity rather than a specific person leads itself to a lot of very funny bits, but I also feel gives more respect and love to the Actual People that are referenced in the game. It was also very clever, taking the minor mention of Discord Nitro, and turning it into a whole plot arc. For one, the Star Warriors color just matches the Nitro color irl, so it works great there, but also it continues to feed into that reasoning for the antagonistic force to be something beyond a person. Also from there, I feel like the story follows up very well from the last one; especially in the way it handled new characters, or "dead" characters returning (using Discord and Nitro as the method for this as well was a very smart play). Another thing I think was a WONDERFUL play, which was not needed at all, was the prologue chapter. A walking map that contains as much cast/references to the last campaign as possible that gives people that don't know what anything is background knowledge, including a complete retelling of the first campaign in a massive cutscene, very similar energy to ATLA's Ember Island Players episode (this was on purpose, I'm directly referencing the dev commentary).

As this was my first experience with this fictional world, the novelty of it was nice and fresh for me. I loved how most areas, behind the veil of being a fantasy location, were just channels of the Discord. Others were locations that continued to fit into this universe by being a video game reference, or a community reference. It all fits together very nicely, where despite being ridiculous, it stays consistent. There's an arena, every fantasy world has an arena, but the combat is referred to as Smash. The administrators of the server are treated as the rulers and have their own island instead of a mod channel, but they are still referred to with the normal phrasing. Our never used #tv-spoilers channel becomes a desert, our #bulletin-board channel and #scheduled-events channels are still called those, but in universe serve an actual societal function of being the news network or a location. It's very silly, but very clever, and the way that it's all treated as normal helps suspend disbelief. You don't think about how this society works, you're just able to accept it.

#the-part-where-i-talk-about-all-the-text (Characters)

If you're reading this far, you probably know me, or have read another one of these posts. You know how I get about characters. This isn't any different. I'm sorry.

I think the best possible experience I could have had reading the dialogue of these characters, is thinking of the real person behind it. Yes, not a single person is exactly like their real life counterpart. Some are caricatures, some are a single bit turned into a whole person. But behind all of that, is a bit of the soul of that person. I absolutely love reading a piece of dialogue and thinking "yeah they would say that.", even if it was just one line for some, or every single piece of dialogue for another; and I think this really shows the love that was put into this project.

I'm not friends with absolutely everyone mentioned in the game. Not that I hate anyone of course, it's just the nature of community that you don't get to know everyone. It happens! But the people that I DO know, that I talk to near daily, it made me so happy to see what was done with them. Some of my personal favorites (personal bias/knowledge coming up ahead I'm very sorry, but also know there's more than just this):

Mega's high standards forming into becoming a great trainer and leader (and his frustration fitting VERY ACCURATELY in that final map). I also got a kick out of the constant flow of video game titles being thrown into his dialogue, or whenever he would say "it's anyone's game".

Eric poking fun at himself in the nature of retirement and parenthood through the lens of a king putting down his crown.

Pond's "hot takes" turning into an entire villain arc (but also because they aren't that in real life getting to be a friend :D). I liked the walking map where their redemption arc started, especially in the film conversation.

Summer's lovingly antagonistic nature being shown and flanderized in the form of a self-centered dog. (I think more than anyone I felt "she would say that" the most with her character)

Zany, along with his increased presence, being more than just a character based off his username, and more skeletal, in line with his actual brand. (I actually popped off at this)

Lucas's journey of shiny collection turning into being a legendary Collector. Something about the giant hammer and his general nature fits quite well in my head too, heheh.

Sallas's D&D history coming out in their dialogue, as well as the concept of being a Dragon Master (I've fought him in Pokemon. This is not an exaggeration.)

PK's whole character was hype incarnate. Once I learned about the history of him being the secret character in Eric's previous creations, it made his reveal and bit amazing. Honestly probably one of my favorites in the game.

Nam's pacifism truly being able to shine. I don't think there's anyone I can respect their morals and will more, it deserves to be shown like this.

Darth's competitive nature was shown quite well. I can't think of a better role for someone who I think I've had the most close calls with in Name That Game Tune.

Naran is someone who's personality and speech lends itself very well to a character. I loved the concept of Coach Naran guiding the battlefield with sport plays; and of course the obsession of the Yak Utopia fitting very well with the bits he loves to latch onto (positive, I promise).

Q of course gets to be full of cat puns; and her avatar was picked so well that I was genuinely convinced that vampires in Wargroove were just cats. I was ready to accept that. Something about her being the usual archiver of channels/running the no-context account being turned into a reporter fit very well.

and the part where I get to have the most ego

Me and my best friend, Sneaky (Nina) getting to be a duo unit worked perfectly. She fits very well as the louder one of the two, always talking about bugs and being more involved in the "thievery" aspect of our in universe job. I get to be the less confident one, but full of Final Fantasy references, and my general love of RPGs presenting itself as me wanting to be a great, famous adventurer. I could not be happier with how we were presented. AND OF COURSE WE'RE ALSO THE MAIN CHARACTERS OF THE SERVER SO YEAH WE'RE GONNA HAVE A HUGE AMOUNT OF FOCUS WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Again, there's SO much more love and accuracy beyond those examples. These were just my favorites. (IF YOU ARE A MEMBER OF THE SERVER I PROMISE THIS IS NOT A REAL RANKING OF YOU I'M TALKING ABOUT THE CHARACTERS THIS IS HARD)

Of course, while they aren't real people, I have to give credit to the Actual main characters of :blueghost: and :greyghost:, the Maze Game duo. A couple silly sprites made by Mega for Eric's game turned into full on characters. You could make a whole video essay of how their single expressions and horizontal/vertical movement turns them into the positive leader and vengeful warrior they are in the games. It's honestly astounding how Eric was able to turn some molehills into mountains here.

#a-creative-interruption

I was originally going to talk about the character of the Discord army in the last section, but then I realized; the reason why it's so enjoyable is something that's in the entire game. I gotta section it out. Bots in real life are nearly infinite. They're everywhere, they're annoying, they hurt people's accounts. It's why we don't have em in the server. So to turn that into an endless, alien invading army of robots? That's amazing. To have an abuse of a system given turn into a terms of service violation, leading towards deletion, and to turn that into an uncaring force ready to destroy the world? Perfect. To take the name of Discord's logo, and to turn that into the main villain. Outstanding. It is such a creative way to take the inspiration behind the campaign, and to turn it into a storytelling medium; and that's true of the entire game. It's creative! Like I was saying with how the world is presented as a fantasy land, but referred to with real life online terms, that's such a fun concept. Then you go into the map design, and of course the fact that they're all so unique is even more proof. To combine these two, I think the greatest shine of creativity in this format is one of the final paralogues, where :greyghost: and PK are in an ancient archive searching for a copy of Banji, :greyghost:'s friend. It takes the concept of file storage, turning it into a literal library. It's full of puzzles and mini battles. It takes that library concept further by placing books of trivia of the community, and fun references to the past. To tie all of this together, to have a really cool experience narratively AND mechanically is a wonder.

#the-part-where-i-talk-about-all-the-text (Funny)

To get back to the writing aspect of this game (and probably a shorter section but still just as important): it's very funny. Sure, humor is subjective, and of course a lot of the content matter is community injokes, but I think Eric's writing is absolutely hilarious; I found myself laughing INCREDIBLY loudly at at least one moment in nearly every chapter. (The reveal in the puzzle level was the best thing ever, not to mention the nearly never ending mini Stanley Parable he put in Nina and I's first map) Beyond the injokes, there's a healthy amount of fourth wall breaking, poking fun at gaming and the world with topics like remakes and AI (not just those but those are the ones that stuck with me) that serve both entertainment and a bit of coping with the state of what we all love. So many characters speak in dumb bits and references, and for the most part they really just appeal to my stupid sense of humor (I'm in this community for a reason I suppose). So many puns. So. So. SO many puns. I would love to see Eric's search history when it comes to this game's script. Gotta be(e) hilarious. The best part of this being a custom campaign for a game rather than its own entity, is that it's ABLE to be this too. It feels free.

#sm41triviahq-finale

I've been writing this off and on all day. Continuing to read this back and make sure it's like, legible; I feel like I could continue on forever, but I also feel like I'm gonna go in circles, so it might be time to wrap up.

This campaign was such a joy to play through. Eric put so much hard work into it, and like I've said to him a bunch, and will say again: it was worth it. The joy of a strategy game with awesome map design; the novelty of seeing my friends and all the members of the community past and present represented in this story that's more coherent than it has any right to be; the video game references, the internet humor, the absolute absurdity of it all, with love baked in.

In a way, I almost feel like this is a case study of sorts. You know, several times when playing it I was surprised. "One guy made this." Granted, some might say an entire community made this, but come on. One guy made this. And I think you could really look at a piece of media like this, and not only learn a lot of the people it represents, but the person who's lens you're looking through. I dunno. There's something kinda artistic about it that I think someone with a degree could do better than me at talking about, but it does help the experience.

I do not think that anyone not in the community, not Literally in the game like I am, will get 100% the same amount of enjoyment that I did. But I do think; that this is something that anyone who has knowledge of video game internet communities, modern and classic, or someone that likes strategy games, CAN get enjoyment out of. It's a very special beast.

The download code is 35LG5DUA. I have links to both Eric and Mega, the most important people in all of this up above, plus a couple other things, please check them out.

10/10. A labor of love that's also impressive in gameplay, and has brought me countless amounts of joy through laughter and heartfelt smiles.

[fioreofthemarch]

Finding Her - final chapter

Link makes notes, takes photos and keeps time on his quest across Hyrule, in the hopes of finding Zelda and staying sane until he does. [ Previous | First | AO3 ] with artwork by @nocturnalfandomartist at the end!

A photograph of Hyrule Castle seated on a rocky mesa of petrified Gloom. Where once malice and corruption rose high into the air, there is nothing but clear skies. 

A photograph of the rolling meadows of Hyrule Field, with Lookout Landing approaching just over the next hill. Ahead of the camera walks a woman wearing traditional garb, her short golden hair still a little damp.

A photograph of a group of Sheikah, young and old, at the gates of Lookout Landing as they greet the golden-haired woman. Their arms are outstretched towards her, tears in their eyes. 

A photograph of the five Sages of Hyrule, crowded around the woman as they draw her into a group embrace. The woman has her back to the camera as a young Gerudo vai hugs her tightly. 

The same picture as above, only now the woman has turned to the photographer. She smiles, surrounded by her friends and allies. Despite the weariness on her face, she radiates warmth and contentment. She is finally home. 

Caption: Thank you Rauru and Sonia. Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you tha

---

Welcome to the Purah Pad!— Home Screen —

 Today’s Purah Pointer: [Placeholder - Robbie can you please add something? Do NOT call me if you can’t think of anything.]

> Camera (Scanner) 

Scanner sub-function selected. Please place text to be scanned in view of the Purah Pad camera.Scanning…Processing��

Scanned text uploaded. Eight (8) documents have been added to the Purah Pad.

1. BATTLE IN THE SKIES: A SPECIAL LUCKY CLOVER GAZETTE REPORTby Penn of Rito Village (Guest Correspondent)

26th Satorember 104AC 

The citizens of Hyrule were treated to an extraordinary sight yesterday after what appeared to be an enormous, demonic dragon emerged from the ruins of Hyrule Castle.

It was approximately midday when what is being dubbed the ‘Demon Dragon’ appeared. Eyewitness accounts state that a second entity, which some have called the ‘Light Dragon’, was also spotted and appeared to confront the Demon Dragon, however this has not been verified. 

About an hour after the Demon Dragon appeared, there was a colossal explosion in the skies that caused several grassfires on Hyrule Field. These were swiftly contained by brave volunteers of the Zonai Survey Team who happened to be in the area. The Gazette can confirm there were no ground casualties.

Earlier this week, the swordsman Link and the Sages of Hyrule departed Lookout Landing to mount an assault on the Demon King Ganondorf. The outcome of that battle is not yet known, and investigations continue as to whether this mission has any links to the Demon Dragon. 

More to come. 

2. A letter, with a stamp that reads ‘Rito Courier Certified’

Link,

Forgive the chicken scratch, I don’t write a lot of letters. 

I heard the Princess is back. Good for her. Knew she wouldn’t abandon us. Good job dealing with the Demon King too -- you saved all our tailfeathers there. 

Tulin’s back with us now. Just writing to say thank you. He’s got a long way to go, but I can tell that hanging out with some responsible adults has put him on the right track. Though sometimes I wish he’d never learned about this Sage business. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard ‘Would a Sage have to do his chores, Dad?’ Ridiculous. 

If either you or the Princess need a holiday, Rito Village welcomes you. I’d sure like to hear the story of the battle against Ganondorf from someone other than a cocky teenager. Let’s just hope that’s the last of Hyrule’s troubles for now. We all enjoy a good fight, now and then, but a broken wing never really heals if you know what I mean.

Fly well, Teba, Elder of Rito Village 

3. A pamphlet advertisement printed on paper that smells of fireproof elixir

MINE-CART LAND: GRAND OPENING 

YUNOBOCO IS PROUD TO PRESENT THE PRIDE OF ELDIN CANYON, NOW OPENING TO THE PUBLIC FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME. COME FOR A FUN-FILLED DAY WITH ACTIVITIES FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY:

‘THE ROCK ROAST REBELLION’ DINNER AND SHOW 

MINE CART RIDES AND TARGET MINI-GAME

MINE TOURS 

MINING

THIS ONE-OF-A-KIND ATTRACTION IS NOT TO BE MISSED. CONTACT YOUR LOCAL YUNOBOCO SALESGORON FOR TICKETS. 

FIREPROOF ELIXIR SOLD SEPARATELY.

YunoboCo is the author of this pamphlet for the purpose of copyright. © YunoboCo 104AC

(overleaf)

Link! Zelda! 

Look at this! Isn’t it great!? We got it back from the Lucky Clover Gazette just today. Took a bit of negotiating with Traysi to let us use her printers, but we got it done. I can’t believe Mine-Cart Land is gonna open for real — it’s all thanks to you or we’d all be Demon King lunch!

The other Sages said you’d gone back to Hateno to rest. They’ve all got fire ants in their pants wanting to get back to rebuilding, but I say we’ve all deserved a break. How many people can say they saved the world twice? 

Anyway, let us know next time you’re in Eldin. Slergo and Offrak have been asking about you every day. Dinner’s on us!

Yunobo 

4. A letter written in silver ink on lily white paper, in cursive that borderlines on unreadable 

The 8th Day of Octoroktober, 104 After Calamity 

Princes Zelda Bosphoramus Hyrule 5 Wildflower Crossing, Hateno Village Necluda, Hyrule 

The Reception Celebration of the Wedding of Their MajestiesKing Sidon and Queen Yona of the Zora 

By command of the King, the Advisor Muzu is directed to invite

Princess Zelda Bosphoramus Hyrule And Sir Link, Knight-Captain of the Hyrule Royal Guard

to be present at Zora’s Domain on the 3rd day of Naydrember, 104AC

Dear Princess Zelda, 

I hope your recovery in Hateno with Sir Link has been restorative. As Winter draws closer and the days shorter, time of respite is often best spent with close companions. 

My dear Sidon has told me all of what happened to you in the ancient past, and I must extend my deepest sympathies for the hardships you have endured. I cannot even begin to imagine them. I must also express my gratitude that Sidon has returned to us. While he is so humble as to pass all credit for the victory against the Demon King to Sir Link and his fellow Sages, to those in Zora’s Domain he is a hero.  

It would give us great joy if you could join us in a month’s time for I do so wish to meet you. However, I will understand completely if you choose to remain in the quiet solace of home. 

Sincerely, Queen Yona of Zora’s Domain

5. An informal letter, written in an assured hand 

Zelda,

Did you also get an invite to Sidon and Yona’s wedding? Or second wedding? I’ve never even been to Zora’s Domain. You will have to tell me what to wear. Is it cold? Is there really water everywhere? Not that I have a problem with that. 

So your sabbatical with Link has been just ‘good’? I get the sense you’re holding back details. If you don’t want to put anything in writing, you can call me using the Purah Pad. I could tell, Zelda, that when Link brought you to Lookout Landing after our battle with the Demon King, he couldn’t wait to whisk you away again. And what’s this about leaving Hateno next week? So soon!

I suppose I understand. You and I have our kingdoms to take care of. It is nothing less than our duty to do as much as we can. Heroines, I don’t think I’ve ever had a holiday. Even going to Lanayru is ‘official business’ as Chief of the Gerudo. But I will get to see you, and we can talk and laugh and drink all evening. Until then, sister. 

(Or you can simply call me! I want to hear everything, Zelda. Even if he proposes. ESPECIALLY if he proposes). 

Yours, Riju

6. A typed letter, on paper with a watermark of a Sheikah eye 

10.20.104AC

Princess Zelda and Champion Link Lookout Landing Central Hyrule

Princess, Champion--

Thank you for your latest report from Lookout Landing on the rebuilding efforts post-Upheaval. I trust that Purah isn’t working you too hard and that Josha is proving a very dedicated assistant. I know that Impa’s instruction was for you to rest as long as you need, however I disagree. On the contrary, I believe that engagement and activity is the best way to stay invigorated. It worked for me after all.  

I’m pleased to report that the manufacture of a second Purah Pad is nearly complete. I’ll need to finish the work at my lab in Akkala, so will be returning there. You’re welcome to visit any time. I suggest doing so before Dincember. Once Winter starts in Akkala, it really settles in. 

Speaking of Akkala, Granté visited last week and wishes to relay that the house Link purchased from the Hudson Construction Company is complete. He also said something about not knowing if you wanted plants or children’s toys in the house and that he ended up purchasing both. I suggest you liaise with him directly on that matter. 

Regards, Robbie 

7. A hastily scrawled note bearing the mark of the red Yiga eye

To the scoundrel who calls himself Link,

You have slighted us for the last time! Master Kohga will have his vengeance. 

Already our forces gather weapons of ultimate death beyond your comprehension! Just last month, we debuted the HOVERDOOM MK.4!   

Your day of reckoning approaches. As soon as we find his excellency , you will know true fear! So just let us know if you have seen him… if you want to live!!

Damn it, why am I even writing this note? I’ll just leave it in our hideout in Karusa Valley. Link will never get in there… 

8. A carefully and neatly written note, on lined paper 

Zelda, Hyrule’s adored Princess 

I am dictating this note to Josha, as my construct arms cannot grasp a writing quill. I had intended to create an attachment to allow this, however it was not to be. 

It is my request that you gather the Sages to Lookout Landing, where Link and I have built a new balloon ship. Link may no longer have my brother's arm to aid him, but his strength and endurance have proven invaluable in this endeavour. With this ship I intend to bring everyone to the Temple of Time on the Great Sky Island. It will be my gift to them as Sages, and then I must depart. 

There are words I must say before then that I fear will fail me if I try to convey them to you in person. However, you mean a great deal to me, so I have written them down instead. 

Zelda, my dear friend. You had no obligation to aid my people, yet you sacrificed everything to do so. When I thought all was lost against the Demon King, your faith and hope for the future gave me the will to continue. It was your bravery in the face of annihilation and your vigilance over many millennia that turned the tides in our favour and allowed us to finally end the war. Hyrule will be forever in your debt and this act will be your legend. 

I am merely grateful to have survived to your era, to have met your friends and allies (whose wedding feast I was honoured to attend), and to have seen that Hyrule will be under the care of those who are not only wise, but courageous and kind. One such Hyrulean sits at my side now, helping me write you this letter. 

As a final note – during your absence, I saw firsthand just how deeply Link cares for you. When you described him to me, I pictured a brave Knight of course, but the Link I met was more than that. He overflowed with tenacity, even in his darkest moments, and while the past half-year has been difficult, I don’t think he ever truly gave up hope of seeing you again. You are to him as the sky to the stars and the ocean to the waves; whatever you dream of he will dedicate himself to its fruition. I will leave you content in the knowledge that together, you will guide Hyrule to new beginnings and greater futures. 

We will be ready to travel to the Great Sky Island in three days. I hope you will join us on the journey.

— Mineru 

---

Log date: 14:00. 11th month, 12th day 104ACLocation: Akkala Beach, AkkalaWeather: Calm 

Well, it is done. I have read every log, viewed every photo and listened to every recording on this Purah Pad. It is quite the account; the valiant quest of Link, a Knight of Hyrule, to awaken the Sages, defeat the Demon King, and reunite with his beloved Princess Zelda. 

With me. 

I scarcely know where to begin. I can hardly believe I am here at all. Yet, I am here, thanks to Link and the Sages, and Queen Sonia and King Rauru… All of them devoted themselves to Hyrule’s salvation, for which I will always be grateful. Link tells me I was of aid in the final battle, and while it is true that my power was able to restore the Master Sword, a blade is only as strong as its wielder. 

So is this it then? Is this true peace, after all this time? I myself have been restless, falling from memory to memory. I cannot shake Rauru and Sonia from my mind. They were the ones who gave me my life back after all, or so Mineru theorised before she left us. It feels like only yesterday that I was dining with them all in their grand palace. I keep expecting to find Rauru in his hall talking with his constituents, or Sonia out in a garden tending the flowers, or Mineru lost in a book within her vast library. I wish we could be together, but I take solace that they can now rest. I will honour them by protecting the Kingdom that fate has passed to my care – it seems the least I can do. 

Since that fateful day of the defeat of the Demon King, Link and I have attempted to rest. However, I believe it is in neither of our natures. We spent some time in Hateno, the first two days of which we did little more than sleep. During that time, Link clung to me day and night, protesting the second I was out of his grasp, as though to pin me to the earthly realms lest I float up into the sky again. Then, once it became clear I was back for good, neither of us could bear lazing about. The more he told me of his quest to find me, the more I wanted to see all of our friends and allies again. The more I told him of my journey in the past, the more he wanted to show me the Zonai relics he had found. We were back on the road within a week, and have just come from Lookout Landing to visit Akkala and see our new house. 

In quiet moments I have been reading the extensive field notes that Link has kept on this Purah Pad. I cannot describe the feelings they provoke in me. I am constantly struck by the tremendous efforts of all those in Hyrule. Their headstrong Princess set another Calamity upon them, and never did they despair, only banding together to vanquish Ganondorf once and for all. And Link… he suffered so greatly when he learned what happened to me. I’ve felt compelled to apologise for it, and often. When I was lost in the past I ached to return home, but I accepted my sacrifice as necessary. I never thought what sacrifice really meant. To lose yourself is one thing; but to be lost to all those who love you? Such consequence didn't occur to me at the time. 

He does love me, doesn't he? It overwhelms me to read his words, they tremble with it. Yet somehow I never knew. I was so foolish as to never even tell him myself. All that time together, before the Calamity, before the Upheaval, and we never said such simple words. We took for granted that which felt obvious but could be so much richer if confessed. We’ve remedied that now, many times over. And I do love him, more than anything, and I want the life he dreamed of for us. Certainly, we have already begun, first with the house in Akkala, and lately with much practice at the necessary steps towards a family of our own. (I do hope no one but Link ever reads this.)

To that point, this will be my only entry into this particular Purah Pad. It is no longer mine. Through every hardship and triumph of the past half year, this little device has been Link’s constant companion. So I entrust it to him now, to continue recording our story and the story of Hyrule. I pray it will be a good one, though perhaps with a little less excitement than what has occurred thus far.

By the Goddess’ Grace,

Zelda 

A photograph of Link, resting underneath the shade of a palm tree on Akkala Beach. He wears his ancient Zonai tunic – a makeshift beach outfit – and has his hair loose. His eyes are closed and he appears to be taking in the warmth of the sun, and the cool of the ocean breeze. 

Caption: I better wake him up, the sleepyhead...

---

Log date: 14:30. 11th month, 12th day 104ACLocation: Akkala Beach, AkkalaWeather: Calm

A lot has happened. Plenty to write. This Purah Pad has given me a voice I didn’t know I had. Think I’ll start with an account of how we defeated the Demon King (or Demon Dragon) for that Lucky Clover Gazette column Penn mentioned… 

But not now. Not for a long while. 

Zelda’s here. We’re both here. It’s a sunny Autumn day and we have a home to go back to, one that’s up on a hill, overlooking the sea. I’ll make her dinner; a meat and rice bowl maybe, with ginger and Hyrule herb? Then tomorrow we’re back on the road – the whole Kingdom is ours to explore. I’m up for anything – somewhere new to find, someone new to meet, a new puzzle, a new enemy, a new fight. I can face it all, face anything, with her or without. But it doesn’t matter, not right now. She's here, in my arms, watching me type this. Better not write too long. Fate gave us back the time we nearly lost. I’m going to make the most of it. 

Until next you hear from me, 

Link 

A photograph of Link and Zelda, together on the shore of Akkala Beach, the sun shining above. Link laughs and blushes as Zelda snaps the photo – still smitten, even after all this time. 

Caption: Home and heart, heart and home. 

artwork by the wonderful @nocturnalfandomartist

[cypheroo]

Info you may need! ~♡

(Now including my masterlist!)

Ask box : Open for requests/questions!

Before sending in a request please do keep in mind what I am and what I am not willing to write. Other then that let your requests run wild! It can be as basic or as complex as you'd like! Also all requests will be looked at as gender neutral unless specified otherwise!

You can request one of three things! A character match up, a full fanfic, or a buncha little headcannons!

Ask box info continued!

1. Requesting a matchup! (open!)

when requesting a match up please let me know what series you want the match up from, if you want a romantic or platonic match up, and your pronouns.

Try to let me know things like your pronouns, your likes and dislikes, your personality, etc! Any info you'd like to share! Please don't share insanely personal info as your safety is also important!

2. Requesting a fic! (open!)

Tell me the series/characters you'd like! Specifically, I'd ask you to request one character when wanting a fic as I'll be putting a lot more effort into the fic and wouldn't enjoy writing the same plot over and over again!

Please understand that I can't promise the fic I write will be perfectly what you imagined! I really would love to write exactly what you'd like but that's not totally possible!

3. Requesting headcannons (open!)

Headcannons work around the same as fic except I don't mind you requesting more character’s (ex : I'd like general relationship headcannons for all three of the love and deepspace boys separately! ) the amount of character’s is up to you all I ask is that you make it reasonable! With headcannons your also able to be a bit more specific!

Fandoms I write for!

Most aphmau series

One piece

Death note

Food fantasy

Love and deepspace

Resident evil

Some final fantasy games

Free!

Blooming Panic

Our Life

legend of zelda

Others as well, I'm open to a lot of fandoms lol, just ask.

What I will and won't write.

Will write!

Fluff

Angst

Hurt comfort

Non gendered terms for reader

multiple parts / series if asked!

Won't write!

ANYTHING SEXUAL.

Yandere

Abuse (only exception is when talking about the past)

Rape

Assault

Heavy gore

Before you interact!

I'd like to note that I am 18 if that makes you uncomfortable, please don't interact!

This is a safe space for anyone who enjoys x reader content, if you don't enjoy it that's fine! Just move on!

I am not OK with any racism, sexism, or any other hateful content. I will never condone it as well.

I love talking to people! Please interact if you enjoy any of the fandoms I'm in! PLEASE BE MY MUTUAL IM BEGGING!

Other info!

I've been writing for a few years now and I love making anything others will love!

Keep in mind I am only on my phone so it may look bad on pc! I'm sorry!

I also work a lot (going to collage soon!). Writing is a pass time!

I use all pronouns and don't mind you calling me whatever your comfortable with!

MASTERLIST

Love and deepspace

To Change | Zayne fic!

Aphmau mystreet

Family? Fuck No. | Garroth fic!

MYSTEET MATCHUP | Katelyn and Laurence! matchup and headcannons!

Differing Tastes | Zane fic!

Aphmau Diaries

The Rose on The Sill | Zane Ro’meave fic!

A Private Celebration | Garroth fic!

The Stories never told before | Garroth fic!

I'll forever see you | Garroth fic!

How they care | Laurence and Garroth small fic and headcannons!

Morning Confessions | Laurence fic!

Relationship headcannons for Laurence and Garroth! headcannons!

MCD MATCHUP! | Katelyn and Laurence! matchup and headcannons!

MCD MATCHUP! | Usopp and Jeffory! Matchup and headcannons!

One Piece

ONE PIECE MATCHUP! | Usopp and Jeffory! matchup and headcannons!

Food Fantasy

That one time you protected me | Sanma, Bamboo Rice, and Coffee fic!

Ouran highschool host club

I've Seen You Before | Mori fic!

Nanbaka prison

The King of Hearts | UNO headcannons!

Jujutsu Kaisen

Let me Fall for you While we're at it? | Yuji fic!

JJK MATCHUP! | yuji! matchup and headcannons!

[shingekinohyrulewrites]

An Ordonian Wedding

Link and a very pregnant Zelda enjoy their honeymoon in Ordon.

Read on AO3 here

WARNING MATURE CONTENT AHEAD MDNI :

Pregnancy sex, oral sex

“Are you ready?”

Queen Zelda of Hyrule, freshly married, stood examining herself in front of a mirror. It was the late morning, with bright beams of sunlight streaming through the giant windows in her private chambers. Her dark hair, still curled from the previous night, framed her delicate face. Although she was pregnant with her first child, her face was still slender, her cheeks the only giveaway that she had gained some weight. A simple, pastel pink dress adorned her figure, the material just flowing enough to hide her baby bump. She turned side to side, letting out a quiet sigh as she took note of how - well, how large she had become.

“My love?”

The sound of her husband’s voice had her turning. Link, the Hero of Twilight, stood in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe. He was dressed in a simple navy tunic, the material stretching over his broad shoulders. When she didn’t respond, he slowly approached her before letting his hands come to settle over her bump.

“How is our child doing this morning?”

“Rather restless,” Zelda frowned. “And hungry as well.”

“Mila came in while you were asleep to ask if we wanted a meal prepared before we left. It is waiting for us downstairs.”

She smiled, nodding before turning around to fully face him.

“I still cannot fathom that we are married.”

Link laughed, his chest vibrating against hers.

“It does feel like a dream, huh?”

He pressed his lips to the top of her head, murmuring into her hair.

“I meant every word I said in my vows. I love you, Zelda. I’m happy to serve beside you as your husband.”

Her heart swelled in her chest and she pulled back to kiss him gently. The two broke apart after a moment, smiling at each other before holding hands and making their way downstairs. Mila and Ezlo were waiting for them at the foot of the stairs, chatting animatedly. They became silent upon seeing the couple making their way down, big smiles gracing their faces before they bowed before them.

“Our Queen!” Mila exclaimed.

“Mila, please, I’m still just Zelda to you.”

“Oh, come now,” Ezlo frowned. “Be proud of your title. You have worked hard to earn it.”

He turned to Link then. “You as well, King Consort.”

Link grinned. “You flatter me, Lord President.”

“Can we go to breakfast now?” Zelda asked, which made everyone laugh.

Mila and Ezlo joined them for breakfast, happily continuing their conversation from earlier. Since Zelda and Link were going to be gone for three months, the couple had asked that they join them for their final meal. The couple were set to celebrate their honeymoon, with the public believing that they would be traveling outside of Hyrule to bask in their newborn bliss. However, the reality was the two would be staying in Ordon, where Zelda was set to give birth.

“Are you excited to go back home, Link?” Mila asked.

“I am,” he beamed. “It’s been a while since I’ve been back.”

Zelda tried to hide her flush as she recalled the last time her and Link had been in Ordon. It had been a wonderful time, and she was certain it had been one specific night there that their child had been conceived.

They finished breakfast with light conversation before they all made their way to the Royal Stables. A plain carriage awaited them, set to be pulled by Epona and another Royal horse. The couple’s departure had not been announced, with the reason being that the couple was seeking privacy after the recent attack on the kingdom. It was this attack that had led to the “three month honeymoon”, with the couple set to enjoy their time together to be able to rule the kingdom successfully. The Hylians, just happy to have their kingdom in one piece again, were happy for the couple and were eager to have them back.

Mila helped Zelda into the carriage while Link and Ezlo busied themselves with checking the luggage to ensure nothing was missing. When everything looked good, the two embraced before Link hugged Mila.

“You watch over our Queen!” Mila warned Link.

“Mila, leave my husband alone!” Zelda called from inside the carriage.

Link laughed, stepping into the carriage and saluting Mila.

“She never leaves my eyesight or my mind. I assure you she is in good hands.”

“We will arrive once the baby is born,” Ezlo promised. “Be safe and enjoy yourselves.”

With that, the carriage door was closed and the horses set off. Link sat across from Zelda, letting out a long sigh as he relaxed into his seat. Zelda giggled, rubbing her belly absently as she stared at Link fondly.

“You can sleep on the ride. I will probably nap as well.”

They awoke just as they were riding over the bridge that signified their entrance into Ordon. Link let out a loud yawn while Zelda stretched. The carriage came to a stop in front of his home, and the two carefully stepped out. Only Mayor Bo and Rusl were there to greet them, as the couple had asked for privacy during their time there.

“Congrats you two!” Mayor Bo beamed.

Rusl, who had been at their wedding the day before, looked fresh despite the late night.

“It is good to see you after the festivities. You both look well.”

“Thank you so much for allowing us to stay here,” Zelda said. “We truly appreciate it.”

“Are you kiddin’?” Mayor Bo laughed. “Anythin’ for young Link here. He will always be an Ordon boy.”

Link flushed, reaching up to rub the back of his neck in embarrassment.

“We shall let you two settle in. Our town doctor will be coming in to see you in an hour, Your Majesty.”

“Oh please, just Zelda,” she groaned.

The ladder leading up to Link’s home was still there, but a small lift sat alongside it now. It had been constructed to help Zelda, as she was nearing the end of her pregnancy. While Link scampered up the ladder, she took the lift, which was rather fast. He helped her settle in, carefully setting her down on the couch while he disappeared to retrieve their belongings. Once they were brought in, he sat down beside her and stared at his house.

“So, our honeymoon huh?”

***

Their first day was spent relaxing, with Link cooking a delicious dinner that they enjoyed in front of the fire. Fado had asked if Link could help out with herding some Ordon goats, and he happily agreed to do so. Zelda was going to spend time with Uli, Rusl’s wife, and get some advice from her about motherhood.

Zelda waddled over to their bed, letting out a long sigh as she sat at the edge of it. Link walked over, looking at her worriedly as she stroked her face.

“Are you feeling alright, my love?”

“The usual tiredness,” she said, sighing again. “I just feel so heavy.”

“You are carrying our baby! Your body’s working a lot to make sure he’s nice and healthy.”

“I know,” she frowned. “I just . . . it’s a strange feeling.”

He sat next to her, taking her hand and squeezing it gently.

“I think you are breathtaking. I am so proud of you for handling the pregnancy so well.”

She smiled, turning her head to lean in and kiss him. He had a childish look on his face, seemingly happy from a simple kiss.

“I will never get tired of you kissing me.”

He leaned in this time, kissing her deeply. His hand came up to cup her face, his thumb stroking her cheek affectionately. They broke apart, panting slightly.

“We don’t have to go further if you don’t want to,” Link insisted.

“It’s our honeymoon night.”

Zelda reached behind her to untie the top of her dress, and it slid slowly off, revealing her bare chest. She grabbed Link’s hand to her breast and made him squeeze her.

“I may feel horrible, but I still have needs.”

Link kissed her again, his free hand tangling in her hair. Her hands grabbed at the bottom of his tunic, pulling back to yank it over his head before kissing him again. They broke apart again so he could remove his trousers while Zelda laid down on the bed. He crawled over her, eyes soft as his hands came to rest on either side of her head.

“I don’t want to hurt you. Are you comfortable?”

“Um, my back is hurting laying down,” she admitted.

He moved past her to collect the pillows and helped her lay on her side.

“Here, use the pillows as a support. Try and relax.”

The pillows helped and allowed her belly to rest on them. She felt Link place another one in the middle of her back, and she felt her body relax. His lips ran along her bare shoulder, pressing kisses as he made his way up towards her neck and up to her cheek.

“I’ll go slow, okay? You tell me if you need me to stop.”

She nodded, and she felt Link get comfortable behind her. One of his hands wrapped around her to grab at her breast again. She let out a quiet moan, turning her head back to look for him. He immediately kissed her, gently lifting her leg so he could slide in between. His tips gently pressed against her opening, rubbing against it to collect her arousal before slowly pushing in. Zelda shivered, grabbing onto his hand and whispering out his name.

“If you need me to stop, I’ll stop, okay?”

His pace was slow, his hips pressing against her bottom. His fingers continued to squeeze her breast, gently kneading her nipple as he kept on humping her slowly. The pace was driving her mad, and she needed more from him. She moved her hips in time with his, slamming back against him.

“Faster,” she gasped out. “It feels so good.”

He let out a quiet groan, his free hand coming up to squeeze at her hips to steady himself as he began to fuck her faster. The bed began to squeak under them, keeping pace with his rhythm. She tried to clutch at the bedsheets, mouth falling open at the sheer pleasure she was feeling. Her hand shot behind her, trying to desperately grab at any of Link’s skin, settling on his hips and lightly scratching at it.

“Zelda,” he gasped out.

She could feel his hot breaths on the back of her neck as he grunted and groaned out. Her hips had kept on moving, somehow managing to keep up with his pace. She was beginning to tire, which Link sensed. He paused for a moment, catching his breath before scooting close until his back was flush against hers.

“I want to feel you,” he whispered. “You’re so beautiful, Zel.”

Tears welled into her eyes. Damn hormones.

His movements slowed down, but he reached his hand down to rub at her clit. She immediately clenched around him, causing him to gasp out. He rubbed faster, moving slightly faster to try and help her to the finish line. She came with a shudder, moaning out his name as her whole body tingled with her orgasm. Link finished not long after, his hand reaching for hers and interlacing their fingers.

“I love you so much. I’m so excited for us to spend forever together.”

He gently pulled out, carefully disentangling himself before getting up to gather a wet towel to clean her up. He was gentle, carefully parting her legs to wipe at the sweat and fluids before helping her get comfortable with the pillows. By the time he returned, she was fast asleep.

***

“Link! O’er there! The baby is escapin’!”

Zelda was sitting on the edge of the field, resting on a blanket with Beth and Colin. She wore a sunhat, her hair flowing loosely behind her in the gentle wind. One hand rested absently on her belly while the other held her up. Beth was making a flower crown while Colin watched Fado and Link work.

“Wow, Link is so cool,” Colin sighed. “He’s been away for so long but he herds goats like he never left.”

Zelda looked up, shifting her focus away from Beth’s craft. Link had managed to catch up with the baby goat before it escaped into town. He threw it over his shoulder, yelling to Fado that he had gotten it and making his way towards the barn. Heat coursed through Zelda, admiring how strong her husband was and wondering if he could do that to her . . .

“Queen Zelda?”

She turned to look at Colin, who was staring at her with a worried expression.

“Just Zelda,” she smiled. “We are all friends here, Colin. No need to be formal.”

He gave her an unsure smile.

“Come, why don’t you rest your head on my lap? We can watch the sky.”

He perked up at her suggestion and carefully crawled over to her. Beth shot him a jealous look before continuing on with her crown. Zelda let her hands run through Colin’s hair, humming softly as she continued to watch Link. Beth used Colin’s head as a guide, carefully approaching and sliding it on his head.

“What do you think, Miss Zelda?”

The flower crown was made of wildflowers and smelled slightly sweet. She smiled, turning to look at Beth in approval.

“It’s wonderful.”

“Would you like one? I can take some proper flowers from my Mom’s garden.”

“No need,” Zelda laughed. “I don’t need you getting in trouble.”

“I do it all the time,” she shrugged. “Plus, it’s you, she won’t mind.”

“Well, if you insist.”

“Insist on what?”

Link walked over, wiping his hands on a rag before throwing it over his shoulder. He had removed his shirt, left in his traditional Ordon trousers. Zelda felt her mouth go dry, blinking rapidly as Beth babbled on and showed off her flower crown. Link was oblivious, listening intensely and nodding along. Sweat dripped down his toned chest, leaving trails along his tanned skin. Zelda swallowed slowly, suddenly feeling really warm.

“Zel? Are you still going to see Uli?”

She was pulled out of her reverie and saw the group staring at her.

“O-oh, yes. Colin, would you mind walking me to your home?”

He jumped up, holding out a polite hand. The two left the field, waving goodbye to Beth and Link before heading into town. Mayor Bo greeted them, sitting on his porch as they passed by. Uli was sitting on her porch as well, greeting them with a bright smile. Colin was asked to go inside and clean up for lunch while Zelda settled into a chair beside her.

“How are you feeling today, Queen Zelda?”

“Just Zelda, please,” she groaned.

“Right,” Uli chuckled. “So? Any aches or pain?”

“Nothing more than the usual. My back, my feet, my pride.”

“I remember that,” Uli sighed. “It feels . . . foreign.”

“Yes!” Zelda gasped. “I feel as if I am not completely a part of my body.”

“It’ll fade once you get closer to your delivery date.”

The thought of delivery had Zelda nervous, which Uli immediately sensed.

“You will be alright. You are blessed by the Goddesses themselves. I am sure they will be by your side.”

“How was it for you?”

Uli’s eyes glanced up to the ceiling in thought.

“Colin was rather easy. I felt the contractions, and he was delivered within the hour. His sister, however . . .”

She sighed, shaking her head.

“The stress from Rusl being away for so long took a toll. Her delivery was stressful. It took over a day for her to come into the world. But, by the Great Three above, it was well worth it.”

Zelda paled. Uli’s hand shot out to gently grab at hers.

“All will be well. You are on your honeymoon, and your husband will be by your side.”

Link and Beth were walking on the path, talking animatedly. Her hand was in his larger one, and he was careful as he led her towards her home. Zelda smiled at the sight.

“He’s going to be an excellent father. He has always been wonderful with the Ordon children.”

The door opened, revealing Colin’s face.

“She’s awake, Mom. Can you come in?”

“That’s my cue.”

The two stood, embracing each other tightly.

“Don’t be afraid to stop by. I am happy to help as much as I can.”

***

The first month of their honeymoon was calm. The days were filled with Link herding goats and Zelda visiting Uli or reading underneath a shady tree. Their evenings consisted of a home cooked meal and making love. Zelda was seven months now, her belly evidence that she was, well, pregnant. She had been able to hide it with loose dresses, but it was impossible now. She was also dealing with dizzy spells, often having to lie down and rest. The town doctor had assured her it was normal, and insisted she drink lots of fluids and lay down.

Link began to hover around her, staying by her side whenever he noticed she began to get dizzy. He was quick to fetch her some water, gently guiding her to the bed and helping her get comfortable. Fado understood that he wouldn’t be able to help as much, but Zelda insisted he not worry and continue to help him.

“Are you crazy? My wife needs me!”

His Ordon accent was slowly creeping back, which drove her wild. Her dizzy spells were beginning to get in the way of their intimacy. Link insisted it was alright, but Zelda was needy and frustrated.

As another two weeks passed, the dizzy spells began to subside, but now Zelda faced more exhaustion. Before she had managed, most of her tiredness coming in the form of aches and pains. However, now she often felt so tired that she had to lay down and sleep. She slept most of the day, getting up to use the bathroom before crawling back into bed. Link checked on her often, creeping in after herding goats and pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead before slipping out again. The doctor, once again, assured her it was normal and suggested that they begin developing her birth plan.

“I assume you will be delivering at home?”

She nodded, glancing over at Link.

“Yes, that is the plan.”

“We will have to set up a bed for you, unless you don’t mind the mess.”

Zelda and Link had agreed a home birth would be best for privacy, but had yet to really work out the details. The two exchanged a nervous look.

“We shall set up a bed. No worries, Your Majesty.”

“Please, no need for the formalities,” Zelda smiled.

“Right. We can go ahead and send a midwife over daily to practice breathing exercises with you and teach you stretches for when your contractions begin.”

The couple nodded, and the town doctor studied them for a moment.

“You . . . are having a son?”

“Yes,” Link said proudly.

“Do you have a name picked out?”

“Griffin,” Zelda smiled.

The doctor’s eyes looked up to the ceiling in thought.

“Strong lord or prince,” he mused. “A name fit for royalty.”

The couple had agreed on breaking the tradition of having the same names passed down. While their children would eventually inherit the kingdom, they didn’t want their names to put pressure on them. The two anticipated a long period of peace and hoped their children would continue that legacy.

After their appointment, the two walked back to Link’s home. Zelda was hungry, and Link happily stated he would prepare a meal for her while she rested. She lounged on the bed, drifting in and out of sleep while he cooked. He placed two places of Ordon beef, rice, and potatoes on the dining table. Zelda sat at the table, quickly picking up her utensils and chowing down. Link watched her with loving eyes, smiling to himself as he slowly fed himself.

The two sat in front of the unlit fireplace, basking in their post-food glow. Zelda rubbed her belly absently, feeling their son kick gently.

“I fear our son is going to be as active as you.”

Link turned to look at her, eyes flicking down to her belly and seeing it move. He reached over and rested his hand over him. He felt the little feet kicking before it suddenly stilled.

“Does that feel weird?”

“It feels like . . . butterflies? But much stronger.”

He hummed, rubbing her belly absently.

“I’m excited to be a father with you, Zel.”

Tears welled in her eyes. Damn hormones.

“I jus’ know we’re going to be great parents. We already love Griffin so much.”

“Oh Link,” she sighed. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Zelda.”

He leaned across to kiss her, pressing their foreheads together.

***

Zelda fell asleep a while after, leaving Link to slip out and go check on Fado and the goats. She awoke a little after dusk, groggy and extremely thirsty. After waddling to the bathroom, she poured herself a large glass of water and downed it quickly. She wiped her mouth, glancing around the home and seeing it empty. The fireplace hadn’t been lit yet.

The door opened then, revealing Link. Two bags hung from his arms, with fresh produce threatening to spill out. Zelda tried to rush over to help but Link stopped her.

“Sit down, Zel. Don’t worry.”

He quickly placed the bags down and lit the fireplace. His home filled with warm light, automatically relaxing Zelda. She sat at the edge of their bed, watching Link flit about as he put the produce away. Once done, he walked over and knelt down before his wife.

“Are you alright? I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you woke up.”

“Just thirsty, but I’m alright now.”

He nodded slowly.

“Um, Zel?”

She slowly cocked her head to the side.

“I really want to taste you right now.”

Her mouth popped into an “o”. Although she was feeling more and more insecure in her body, it never ceased to amaze her how Link was quickly able to make her feel desirable. He cocked his head to the side, waiting for her answer.

“A-are you sure?”

“Positive.”

He leaned forward, tilting his head up to kiss her. Her hands came to wrap around his neck, pulling him close and kissing him hard until they parted for air. He helped her lay onto her side, helping her get comfortable on her pillows before lifting her dress up. The last glimpse she got of Link before she threw her head back was him grinning at her between her legs.

***

The day before Zelda was due, Link arranged for a picnic on the banks of the Ordon Spring. The clearing was quiet minus the sound of the water rushing from the small waterfall. The weather was still warm, the sun casting its rays onto the happy couple. He had spent the previous day preparing their basket, crafting a delicious lunch and various snacks for Zelda to munch on. He had carefully packed a pitcher of lemonade that Uli had prepared for them.

“Link, this is wonderful,” she sighed after taking a long sip of her drink.

“I wanted to make sure we had some peaceful time alone before we have company tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” she smiled, leaning over to kiss him.

They were silent as they listened to the birds singing in the trees and the water bubbling near them. Zelda angled her head towards the sun, closing her eyes and basking in its warmth. The back of her hand began to burn, and she figured the sun was just warming it as well.

“Uh, Zel?”

She slowly opened her eyes to see Link staring at her, wide eyed, raising his left hand. The Triforce was glowing brightly on the back of his hand, and she glanced down to see hers glowing as well. They slowly turned towards the pond to see the water glowing before a figure erupted from it.

“Ordona,” Zelda whispered.

The Light Spirit of Ordon, Ordona, appeared, floating over the water. It took on the shape of an Ordon goat, staring at the couple with its blank expression.

“O Great Ruler of Hyrule, and Hero chosen by the Goddesses.”

The couple bowed their heads in respect.

“I must bless thee and your soon to be heir. The land of Hyrule will prosper under your rule.”

“Thank you, Ordona,” Zelda replied. “You are too kind.”

“You two saved this land from darkness once again. You deserve endless blessings.”

The couple was basked in a warm light, bringing a sense of peace to them. Ordona’s prayer echoed in their heads, whispering of blessings, health, and abundance.

“Do not be afraid, Zelda. Your child will be brought into this world under the guidance of the Goddesses.”

With that, Ordona disappeared, leaving the couple alone once again. Link turned to look at Zelda, worry creasing his brow.

“Afraid? Are you scared, Zel?”

“I . . .”

She sighed. The last thing she wanted was to burden Link, especially since he was already nervous about the delivery.

“I’m just afraid that something may go wrong tomorrow. Childbirth isn’t exactly a . . . pleasant experience.”

His expression shifted from worry to sadness.

“Zel . . .”

He gently clasped her hands, brushing his lips gently against her knuckles.

“Do you ‘member our wedding vows? I promised to stay by your side no matter what.”

He gave her a reassuring smile.

“I promised to comfort you, and I plan on doing jus’ that tomorrow.”

He kissed her, his hands moving to cup her face. When they parted, it felt as if Ordona had blessed them again. His hands moved to rub her belly, leaning down to speak to their unborn son.

“Now listen here, Griffin. You better do your best not to hurt your mama tomorrow! She has been through enough already.”

Zelda giggled, shaking her head as Link continued to reprimand their son.

“Link, I think that’s enough. Let’s not traumatize him before he is born, hm?”

He laughed, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

“Let’s hope he has your personality and not mine.”

She smiled, leaning into his side.

“I hope he looks just like you, especially your eyes. I adore your eyes, Link.”

He chuckled. “I hope they look like you, darlin’. You’re much more of a looker than I am.”

This time, instead of rubbing her belly, he leaned down to kiss it. Zelda smiled, closing her eyes and basking in the sunlight again. Although she was afraid, she knew if she had Link by her side, all would be well.

[superbloggertech101]

How Nintendo Switch 2 Is Changing Product Launches

A New Standard for Hype: How Nintendo Built Anticipation

Nintendo knows how to keep fans on edge, and with the Switch 2, it played its hand masterfully. The company didn’t opt for a flashy trailer or press-heavy reveal. Instead, it created a slow drip of updates that kept speculation alive and conversations buzzing. Every whisper from industry insiders and subtle hint in financial reports fed the public’s appetite.

This low-volume, high-intensity approach led to a natural buildup. Gamers, analysts, and content creators filled in the blanks. Nintendo let the community do the work, spreading speculation across YouTube breakdowns, Reddit threads, and Twitter posts. Even without showing the product outright, the Switch 2 gained momentum simply because Nintendo trusted the demand.

Rather than flooding the market with ads, the company leaned on mystery. It gave the audience just enough to stay curious but not enough to get bored. This restraint set the stage for one of the most tightly controlled marketing rollouts in the gaming world. What Is Nintendo Switch 2?

Nintendo is a globally recognized gaming company known for gaming franchises like Mario, Zelda, and Pokémon. The original Nintendo Switch, released in 2017, revolutionized gaming by blending handheld and home console experiences in one device. It became a bestseller worldwide. The Nintendo Switch 2 builds on that legacy with upgraded performance, enhanced graphics, and a refined design. While official details remain limited, early previews suggest it’s aimed at pushing immersive portable gaming to a new level, continuing Nintendo’s tradition of innovation and accessibility.

Invite-Only Preorders: Scarcity Meets Strategy

When Nintendo announced that Switch 2 pre-orders would begin as invite-only through the My Nintendo Store, it wasn’t just about logistics. It was a statement. Scarcity sells, and when done intentionally, it amplifies both urgency and exclusivity.

By sending early access codes to select users, Nintendo engineered a gated environment. This method ensured smoother site performance, but more importantly, it tapped into human psychology - what’s limited becomes valuable. Preorders weren’t just a checkout process, they became an event.

Instead of making the launch a frenzy of crashes and complaints, Nintendo shaped a more personalized funnel. The approach mirrors successful high-end sneaker or luxury fashion drops, proving how even gaming hardware can embrace luxury-style rollouts.

More companies are now watching closely. Invite-only systems might soon extend beyond games into gadgets, SaaS tools, and even software trials. Nintendo made scarcity feel good, not frustrating.

The Role of Community Buzz and Influencer Seeding

Nintendo has always had a strong community, but with the Switch 2, it actively turned fans into marketers. Influencers in the gaming ecosystem were subtly looped in without overt sponsorships. Content creators on Twitch and YouTube received early info nudges, potential beta access that hinted at insider status.

The result was a wave of videos speculating on design, features, and what the device would mean for developers. Viewers trust creators far more than they trust ads, and Nintendo used this to its advantage.

Memes, predictions, and reaction content filled social feeds, acting as free promotion. This “earned media” gave Nintendo far more reach than any ad spend could deliver. Unlike traditional ads, fan-made content carries authenticity.

The buzz didn’t just hype up the hardware - it validated it. If everyone you follow is excited, you feel you should be too. It’s a marketing ecosystem powered by fans and reinforced by digital creators with loyal followings.

Global Launch, Local Tactics: Tailoring for Markets

Nintendo didn’t treat the Switch 2 as a one-size-fits-all release. The company leaned into regional data and retailer partnerships based on past performance.

In the U.S., preorders opened early and were focused online, where most customers prefer digital shopping. Meanwhile, in parts of Europe and Asia, select in-store promotions and local-language influencer campaigns helped build regional traction.

Language support, cultural tie-ins, and country-specific bundle offers played a key role in shaping perceptions across borders. The marketing was global, but the execution felt personal.

Tech companies often struggle with synchronizing launches across continents. Nintendo, however, demonstrated that flexibility wins when each market feels uniquely catered to.

What Other Tech Brands Can Learn from Nintendo

Many brands approach launches with a checklist: post teaser, schedule ads, email the list, repeat. Nintendo proved there’s a better way. Strategic silence, carefully planted scarcity, and influencer trust-building create more meaningful anticipation.

Consumer electronics companies often forget the emotional element. Nintendo tapped directly into nostalgia, tribal loyalty, and curiosity - the same emotional triggers that made the original Switch a cultural staple.

Tech launches should focus less on specs and more on the story. Why should a buyer care about this product? What narrative surrounds its release? Apple did it with the iPhone, and now Nintendo is doing it with gaming consoles.

Preorders can be more than sales - they can be brand-building moments. For marketers watching the Switch 2, this was a reminder that restraint can be louder than shouting.

Qwegle’s View on Launch Marketing for the Future

At Qwegle, we help tech brands prepare for exactly these kinds of shifts. The Nintendo Switch 2 is a prime example of emotional product storytelling layered with strategic scarcity. Our team believes that marketing isn’t just about first impressions - it’s about lasting connections.

Through data-driven behavior tracking, customer segmentation, and creative planning, Qwegle supports tech companies looking to stand out in noisy markets. We help brands design launch experiences that speak directly to their audience’s expectations - and exceed them. Whether you’re unveiling a gaming device or software suite, the Switch 2 teaches one clear lesson: treat your launch like a cultural moment. That’s the mindset Qwegle brings to every client partnership.