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brainstorming the other sages (since the only one i currently have is aveli aka sage of earth) and i want them to be like the opposite of their sage element, so they have to work and get character development to truly embody it by the end

like aveli for example, she's optimistic and a daydreamer, she's not down to earth at all, she needs to be more grounded and realistic, not with her head in the clouds all the time — this was intentional, so it takes her a while to truly chanel her sage powers when she feels more in tune with her element

the sage of fire (who I'm designing rn lol) is pessimistic, lazy and usually depressed, again the opposite of fire

the sage of wind, feels trapped, scared of changes, timid, doesn't want to get out of their comfort zone

the sage of water, not flexible, single minded, acts without thinking, impulsive and prone to rage lol

i mentioned it before i think, but earth sage is aveli aka a rito, fire sage is a goron, wind sage is a korok and water sage is an anouki

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we know links are not known for their wisdom but does Zelda actually have any wisdom or is she just as dumb as link here?

uh very weirdly structured question ngl

being silly and me having fun with them doesn't mean that zelda is dumb though?

you can be wise and silly, have a lil whimsy, people (and characters) are nuanced

same with link, he's not entirely dumb— again, me having fun and poking at their dynamic doesn't mean he's dumb 100%, people aren't just one personality trait

both can lock in when needed, i obviously don't have an entire comic going on and what you guys see are just snippets

but zelda is the one who uncovers the entire kingdom conspiracy and retreats the master sword in the end, so yeah, not dumb

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You mentioned that one of your inspirations was inuyasha and now I can totally imagine them yelling at each other across a room or something lmao

LMAO YEAH

chain has to be thankful key doesn't have the ability to make him sit like kagome does with inuyasha cause key would spam that so hard if she could

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reblogging it here as well since it's a little insight over the chaotic design process of these two lol

Hi Miry! I love your art so much! And I wanted to ask you about something. For context, I have been trying to come up with my own Legend of Zelda story for a while now. I saw your Key and Chain OCs and their basic story, and I was wondering how you came up with them (and the story) and if you had any advice. OK, that was it. Thanks for replying if you do, and I can't wait to see the blorbos get whumped some more in that pain sharing Au.

ooooh ok so, my first inspiration was very silly, as most of what i do is.

i basically thought that having a link with the nickname chain would be hilarious cause people call the links the chain, right?

so i wanted a link that could be nicknamed chain or had a chain theme. now, i am an absolute sucker and a huge enjoyer of the enemies-to-lovers trope SPECIFICALLY the annoyances-to-lovers trope and the "forced to work together" trope as well

i knew i wanted my link&zelda to have a dynamic similar to inuyasha&kagome from the early 2000's anime inuyasha, where they hate each other but are forced to work together and eventually fall in love, but they are absolute menaces to each other and tease the other constantly most of the time

so having that in thought, i remembered an early 2000's movie i really liked called stardust, where a guy and a girl get stuck together via a magic rope and have to travel roped to each other

taking all that into account, i decided to zelda-fy it! i love wind waker & spirit tracks, so choosing that timeline for the setting was a no-brainer for me! plus it would be a nice call back to spirit tracks where u work together with zelda as well

link's desing is supposed to be chain theme in the sense that his braid is a call-back to chains cause a chain is kinda like a metal braid right lmao the pattern in his clothes is half a chain as well

as for zelda, her dress is inspired by wind waker's and spirit track's zelda's dress, her hair style is cause i wanted her to have pigtails to go with link's braid

i gave link the bounty hunter job cause i love bounty hunter characters in media and cause it was something i haven't seen being done with other link ocs! zelda's backstory was made so the idea of link catching her made sense and then it spiraled from there and i ended up making a much more complex plot for her in the end

the magic chain was born cause i thought about game mechanics, like the idea it can get longer or shorter could work well while exploring dungeons and solving puzzles, which is why i decided to make it magical instead of just a normal chain

with all that I've been slowly constructing the plot and adding more characters to it and developing early ideas

in the end is all about having fun!!!!!!! and be self indulgent, like everything about those 2 is me going "i enjoy this trope" and slapping them with it lmao

anyway i hope this insight helped!!!

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you guys wanted to see him cry, so I made him cry :)

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HOLY SH*T THERES A WHOLE BLOG DEDICATED TO KEYCHAIN LETS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!

haha YES! they deserved it i think!

I'm still going to post keychain content in my main blog, but everything will be reblogged here as well :)

i felt it was easier to navigate and find everything in just one blog!

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The legend of Zelda: Chained Truths ⛓️ MASTERPOST🗝

(aka where I'll be putting everything about my KeyChain zelink au content)

This is my original zelda story with my zelda & link ocs, they've been fondly nicknamed Key (zelda) and Chain (link) to distinguish them from the canon links & zeldas

The basic plot is that the story happens roughly 100 years post Spirit Tracks in the adult timeline

Zelda (granddaughter of spirit tracks!zelink) is framed for the murder of the king, she manages to escape castle town just for a huge bounty to be placed on her head, she is wanted DEAD or ALIVE

Link, a bounty hunter who only takes "wanted: alive" jobs, stumbles upon Zelda and catches her. Link uses a magical item in the form of a chain to catch criminals, and thus chains himself to Zelda so he can bring her to justice.

Zelda manages to convince him to help her out by offering double the Bounty on her head if he does (and they're successful) Link who's desperate for money to support his family, reluctantly agrees to help her find the truth behind her father's murder.

However, when he's about to unchain them, he finds out the magic key he used to lock the chain is missing, they're now stuck to each other until the key is found or they find another way to unlock their shackles.

They hate each other at first, but eventually warm up to each other.

⛓️DOODLES & COMICS OF THEM 🗝

- OG post

- how they first met

- he jinxed himself

- how the chain works

- oh no she's a hugger

- I don't usually care for criminals

- working together

- open your eyes, Link!

- she's trapped

- now she's here, shining in the starlight

- touch starved

- she will deny she was worried later

- I'm so glad you're OK!

- they tripped and fell

- they think they're so cool

- pocky game

- they eventually kiss (2 years later lmao)

- whump that boy!

- go for it, Zelda!

- he really doesn't like the hero's clothes

- sage of earth, Aveli

- she's a little awkward but she's got the spirit!

- THE CONFESSION

- Link and his siblings

- hold me tight or not

⛓️ WORLD BUILDING TEXT POSTS🗝

- she's so done actually

- possible sages

- ENDGAME

- Zelda's is touch starved / Link is physically affectionate: the dynamic

⛓️ THEIR TAG 🗝

#key&chain loz ocs

⛓️ TAG FOR THE FANART AMAZING PEOPLE HAVE DONE OF THEM 🗝

#keychain fanart

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[ masterpost with info about my OG zelda & link au ]

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I love you to death but I just can't—I just can't pretend we were lovers first

Confidants but never friends

Were we ever friends?

[ ⛓️ masterpost for my original zelda & link OCS 🗝️ ]

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[ masterpost with all info about my LOZ au ]

so I finally designed link’s siblings! also, yes I added references to previous games in some of the designs/names lol

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Well now I have to ask after that kiss drawing

who confessed first and how delightfully awkward was it?

[ masterpost with all info about my zelinks ocs here ]

the feeling when you’ve been yearning and pinning after a guy who thought you were already in a relationship but taking it super slow lmao

anyway, I’m so sorry for replying 5 MONTHS later lmao, bestie I’m so sorry!

also I think I finally decided on post-game clothes for them, so I’m keeping these designs!

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🔑 masterpost with info for my zelda & link OCs here! ⛓️

She’s a little uncomfortable and awkward but she’s got the spirit!

I drew this based on this ask I got regarding how would Zelda handle Link suddenly breaking down crying 🤭

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ALL THE INFO ABOUT MY OG LOZ AU HERE

ok so first sage introduction lol meet AVELI, rito princess and sage of earth ✨

she’s the president and founder of the keychain fanclub ok lmao

I’m still fleshing out her part in the plot, so this is the info I have for now, more to come, EVENTUALLY!

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Quick question for your Zelda ocs, do they ever change outfits? Like I like the idea of different outfits as a collectible like botw, totk, and eow. And they change outfits and hairstyles during the time of the game.

[masterpost of my Zelink ocs]

ok so I personally don’t like the botw/totk/eow style of letting you change clothes whenever lmao sorry anon

I like the idea of clothes/outfits changing while the plot progresses, to show that the stakes are higher or that the character is different now from how they started, showing the progression and development via clothes, and the botw/totk/eow approach doesn’t let you do that

I want Link to get the hero’s clothes when he eventually awakens the Tri force of courage, so Link the bounty hunter is no more and Link the hero is born

I want Zelda to have a different set of clothes when she’s alone during the endgame, to show her growth, etc.

BUT I like the idea of collectible outfits as throwbacks to other games too, maybe u can play with those outfits after u beat the story once, like how u can play wind waker with the lobster shirt in ur second play through lol

I’m still designing Zelda’s endgame outfit, but here have them wearing telink outfits and Link in his hero’s clothes :)

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hopping onto the trend of redrawing the iconic “Go for it, Nakamura!” cover, but with my Zelink OCs :)

this was supposed to be a Valentine’s Day drawing, but life got in the way lol so super later valentine’s everyone!

OG cover under the cut!

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It's dumb but please whump the blorbo. I'm begging for more hurt Chain lmao he's just so cute when he's in pain lmao xD

[ masterpost of my link & zelda OCS ]

sure thing anon, I’m happy to serve 🫡

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I absolutely LOVE your keychain oc's they've been spinning in my brain like a rotisserie chicken since I discovered them.

I am curious though. Zelda has a really hard time with contact and Link seems to really loves it (probably used to it because of his big family?) If Link were ever to just collapse sobbing for unknown reasons (like heavy uncontrollable heart wrenching hurt and anguish :D) would Zelda do the awkward "there there" pat or try hug/comfort him?

Sorry for the long question you have infiltrated my brain so badly I want to write fanfics about them

first of all, I’m so sorry for replying SO LATE!

secondly, I’m so happy you like my silly guys 🥹💖

I did a drawing for this ask that I will upload shortly so I will update this post afterwards with a link to it!

UPDATE: here's the link to the drawing!

but to really answer your question, yes to most of what you said!

Chain is a very tactile guy, he shows affection via touch cause of his big family + constant little siblings hanging around him all the time lol

While Key is very touch starved, she grew up in a royalty bubble where physical touch wasn’t encouraged so yeah, she struggles a lot with it

I feel like, if this were to happen at the very beginning of their adventure she’d probably stand there awkwardly while Chain cries lmao like maybe she’d chime in with a comment that she believes is encouraging but really isn’t

Later on though I feel like she’d try imitating Chain, like when they’re at a stage where they’re starting to get comfortable with each other and going into friends territory, Chain has probably comforted her before via hugging or patting her on the back, so she’d try to do just that

If Chain were the one to need comforting she’d still be VERY AWKWARD and would feel very out of her depth but she’d try for his sake, at least like she’d endure how uncomfortable she is until he feels better!

Chain absolutely appreciates it despite being very embarrassed about it later, he doesn’t really like showing his emotions and usually just hides under an “easy going I’m always fine and chill” facade, so he hates being vulnerable in front of others

Key putting a lot of effort to make him feel comfortable and to support him when he is vulnerable emotionally is very veeery appreciated :)