#minish design of clover is not final

[endlesschain-au]

Various Magma Doodles

[winnie-wine]

Minish cap thoughts part 16

Temple of Droplets The music is so goo holy shit. I like the dark and broody dungeon songs a lot more than just the like. Tense ones? Like Deepwood and the temple of droplets are good, the approach for the stormwind ark... the water temple in totk was not great but the music here was also so good. There's something about the temple of droplets dungeon theme that is like.

The bass does a lot of heavy lifting for the mood. Then there's the descending line, and the glockenspiel (thing?) that has melodies in minor key. And the strings that just hold and are sad progression of chords.

It gives more of a vibe of "There's something wrong here...." rather than "You're in danger!" that the fire temple in MC does. It's a more evocative type of tension imo. It's less about enemy jumpscares and more about dread.

So what's there to dread in the temple of droplets?

Well. It looks like it's not. Supposed to be frozen.

There's clovers frozen under the ice. They aren't wilted like they would be in winter or autumn, suggesting the freeze happened suddenly. Then, there's the fact that it's apparently warm enough outside the temple that sunlight getting IN immediately melts everything.

Then, there's the fact that it's called the temple of DROPLETS, not the temple of melting, or ice or anything. Methinks this temple isn't supposed to be frozen over.

Also, this dungeon has pots that throw themselves at you, like the place is haunted. Bit weird.

More pictures that are less about lore and I just thought are funny

Image: Ezlo warning Link "Watch your step! I don't want you to trip over anything..."

I said way earlier that Ezlo and Link don't have a grandfather/grandson dynamic yet, well. Now they do! We've gotten there! I don't think Mr. "Why are you standing there human child, jump into battle and save me!" Would have shown his worry so sincerely. In the past, he HAS worried, but always in a "If you go down, I do to, so you better watch it." type way. If this were the first dungeon, it would have been "Don't want you to trip because if you fall off a ledge so do I" not just simply leaving it as worry for Link. It's sweet.

Image: Ezlo saying "Link! Where are you? Are you still there under me?"

This is the dialogue that precedes the "don't want you to trip" one, but this one's just kinda nonsensically funny. Like yeah. You didn't feel yourself be taken off his head, not that Link seems to be able to remove you himself. It's so silly, your honor.

Finally, this!

This dunegon is fully minish size, and because you fell THROUGH a crack in the ice to enter, when he leaves he just kinda. Floats upward, sparkling mystically like he's being raptured or abducted by particularly fashionable aliens or something. Lastly, if my hypothesis is right and this dungeon is NOT supposed to have ANY ice, then it looks like the entrance is wide enough that when you descend here, you'd be standing on this central platform with a 360 waterfall around the perimeter. Falling infinitely. (To the depths?) and I think that's a rad design, personally. Reminiscent of the goddess springs.

Now, the boss. Is one pissed off octorok. I love the continuation of "not threatening when big monster is boss when small" but if i remember correctly, this is one bitchy octo, even for it's kind. I am about to fight it.

Fought it! I love that it squeals like a pig. That's so cute. Also, it's based off the '86 Zelda octorocks, which have 8 legs, while this one only has four and just. Looks kinda weird? This one also has the flower thing you set on fire, and the ability to like. Release ink like a squid, but in the air to darken the room. It's fascinating how ocstpus/squid like it is while also being like. If I asked "what animal is this based on" and showed an octorock I wouldn't fucking guess either. Oh well. Now I have the water element!

[twin-chains]

For this AU, there will be two groups of heroes with maybe six people per chain. I wanna include every canon game and then some but a few of them unfortunately might not make the final cut cause there’s just so many. They’ll definitely at least make cameos though.

Here’s the list of possible TC heroes so far:

Chosen (Skyward Sword) - maybe

Hero (mentioned in SS manga) - cameo

Mini (Minish Cap)

Mighty (mentioned in MC intro) - cameo

Four (Four Swords, FSA)

Neptune (Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass) - definitely

Tracks (Spirit Tracks) - maybe

Mask (OOT, Majora’s Mask) - maybe

Twi (Twilight Princess, Crossbow Training lol)

Legend (ALTTP, Oracle games, Link’s Awakening) - definitely

Clover (ALBW, Triforce Heroes) - definitely

Ember and Aqua (Triforce Heroes) - cameo

Fay (TLOZ, Adventure of Link)

Star and Sun (BS TLOZ, AST)

Captain (Hyrule Warriors)

Tears (BOTW, TOTK) - definitely

Aspect (mentioned in TOTK) - cameo

Still debating on which ones to include and playing around with their designs. My aim is that the two chains are organized to better balance out and reflect each other without being too crowded or confusing

The heroes that will definitely be in the main chains are Neptune, Legend, Clover, and Tears!

[space--cadet-glow]

Theory: The Irony of Vaati, Part Twelve: Ensembles, Seasons, and Plot

There is a classic thing called the "Four Element Ensemble", where if there is a group of four people, they each tend to be paired up with one of the Four Elements: Fire, Earth, Wind, and Water. "The Minish Cap" created the Four Sword with the Four Elements, and thus you could argue that each of the four Links match up with an Element due to the colour scheme; like Red and Fire, Green and Earth, Blue and Water, and Vio and Wind. But the Element colours got swapped at one point, so you could argue that it is Red and Fire, Green and Wind, Blue and Water, and Vio and Earth. But that's beside the point.

What about Vaati? How does he work with the Four Element Ensemble? I say this, because he has four forms... "Wait, four?" you argue. "Don't you mean FIVE???"

Yes, yes I do. But Minish Vaati would be the "base" form, and the Four Element Ensemble would be comprised of his other four, non-Minish, forms: Vaati's Hylian disguise, Vaati Reborn, Vaati Transfigured, and Vaati's Wrath.

So, which element represents which? In order of "The Minish Cap" 's plot progression, it would be Hylian Vaati and Earth, Reborn and Fire, Transfigured and Water, and Wrath and Wind. How well does this work out?

First, Vaati's Hylian disguise with Earth. If anything, it's symbolic of his origins as a forest-dwelling, tiny, Minish. The Minish tend to be associated with the Earth, for example: the Forest Minish wearing robes made out of leaves, the Mountain Minish digging up/mining the Earth, all types of Minish leaving items hidden around the grass for humans to find, and the general symbol of of the Minish is the four-leafed clover. Then again, it could be a tie back to Melancholy. What I mean by this, is that in Part Three of this theory series, I talked about the "Minish Cap" main characters (Link, Ezlo, Zelda, and Vaati) and how they all matched up to one of the Four Temperaments: Phlegmatic, Choleric, Sanguine, and Melancholic. Vaati ended up matching 100% with Melancholic. And the Melancholic Temperament tends to be associated with the Element of Earth (and Phlegmatic with Water, Choleric with Fire, and Sanguine with Wind). So, this could be the explanation as well. So, technically speaking, Vaati's Hylian disguise is associated with Earth, and had a tie back to both his personality and his origins as a Minish.

Then, Reborn with Fire. Reborn has FIRE SLEEVES. And throws fireballs. I think this is a perfect match. Reborn is associated with Fire.

Then, Transfigured with Water. I have no idea how this matches. Unless you think of Transfigured being the first form that Vaati has that isn't made out of his physical body (which it is), and think of this form as a "gelatinous mass", which in turn would be like Water. That could work??? At this rate, Transfigured is stuck with Water.

And finally, Wrath with Wind. Wrath shares his design with the appearance Vaati takes on in both "Four Swords" and "Four Swords Adventures", where he declared himself the almighty Mage of Winds. Like Reborn, this matches perfectly. Wrath is associated with Wind.

So, the Four Temperament Ensemble would DEFINITELY be: Hylian disguise and Earth, Reborn and Fire, Transfigured and Water (out of a technicality), and Wrath and Wind. It is strange how the order the Four Elements appear in-game matched with what happened to Vaati.

But, people like to shoe-horn in a FIFTH Element if there happens to be a group comprised of five people rather than four. And what is that controversial Element? Heart.

And Heart would match with Minish Vaati. The Minish love humans, Vaati seemed to love Ezlo long (and perhaps, even greatly) enough that Ezlo never saw his rebellion coming, and Minish Vaati started the love Hylian-disguised Vaati would have for both the Magic Hat and increasingly-stronger forms of power, such as the Light Force.

Well, which elements go to which seasons? If we assume that the Picori Festival took place in spring (like when people tend to place it on St. Patrick's Day), then it's Spring and Earth, Summer and Fire, Fall and Water, and Winter and Wind. With the exception of Fall and Water (ironically, just like Transfigured and Water), it seems to work out.

With Spring, all the grasses and flowers grow and bloom from the Earth. Summer is warm and Fire threats are up. Fall and Water could be the Water cooling down the temperature??? And Winter with cold Winds that blow snow.

If that is the case, then I would like to bring up an old theory of mine: Link and Ezlo's adventure in "The Minish Cap" took a year. On top of the Elements matching the seasons, both Ezlo and Vaati say that the Minish Door only opens once every one hundred years. And Ezlo has to abruptly leave at the end because the Door is closing. Assuming that the Picori Festival was set on the first DAY of the Hundredth Year, and because Ezlo has to leave because the Door is ready to close...

It can also be assumed that the Hundredth Year is over, and that Link and Ezlo's journey to rescue Princess Zelda and take down Vaati took a full year.