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ok I've seen the headcanon that the first hero is also the fierce deity pop up in a couple unrelated places now, which is making me start to wonder if this is an actual theory people have and not just a "why not" thing. I have genuinely never heard of it and I'm kinda confused

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OKAY so after some thinking I have acquired: the basics of an original LOZ story.

The princess has been kidnapped! At least, that's what Hyrule assumes, as 13-year-old Zelda has vanished from the castle. Combine this with a possible Ganon sighting in the far reaches of the kingdom and the conclusion is obvious. Luckily, there's a fella named Link in the army, with blond hair, blue eyes, and prodiguous swordfighting skills; he doesn't have the Triforce mark on his hands, but surely all that can't be a coincidence, right? Go forth Link, and save the princess!

Except the princess wasn't kidnapped; she ran away. Princess Zelda has had a special interest in monsters for as long as anyone can remember, and through her research has become pretty sure that they are sapient and that treating them as ontologically evil is wrong. After hearing rumors about a village on in the far reaches of Hyrule that lives in peace with its monster neighbours, she set out to see if this was true, and to gather the evidence necessary to support her claim that Hyrule has unjustly been suppressing and massacring monsters.

However, there's many in the Hyrulean government who do not wish for her to succeed. Chief among them is the commander of the Hyrulean army, Hylius; the ever-present threat of monsters has enabled the military to consolidate large amounts of respect, influence, and power. If it's revealed that this 'threat' is mostly fabricated, the army stands to lose a lot of power, and the commander will stop at nothing to keep it.

The Triforce of power is housed in Castle Hyrule, to prevent it from being used to attack them. The king is useless and easily influenced. The queen died only a year ago. A giant pig monster is slowly being assembled in the mountains. And then there's one more little thing.

'Link' is not Link at all and definitely does not have the Triforce of courage.

Characters:

Zelda is a precocious and stubborn princess, determined to do what's right and even more determined to learn about her beloved monsters. Despite being a kind girl, she tends to piss off everyone she meets (it's the autism). Her mother died a year ago and everyone dismisses her actions as a girl gone mad with grief, but she's been planning this since she was 10, thank you very much. She loves plans, lists, structure and ordening things in general, and is easily upset when things don't go the way she planned.

Link's real name is Ralph. He is 17 years old, two years younger than his older brother Link. His brother disappeared six months ago, his mother is in denial, and so when Link was called up for the draft Ralph decided to steal his identity in order to prevent his eventual jail sentence for draft dodging. He does not want to be here and doesn't care to hide it. However, after hearing Zelda out he decided she had a point and decided to help her. She reminds him of his brother. He's cynical, sharp, responsible, and would've been an emo kid in modern times.

Commander Hylius is not very popular among the people, to his great dismay. Still, despite facing a number of scandals in his 30-year tenure in the army he has somehow managed to maintain a clean reputation; mostly, people just find him uncharismatic. Now 50 and starting to see the signs of old age, Hylius is desperate to leave a mark, to create a legacy. Armed with a blessed sword passed down his noble family for generations, he is determined to find a grand monster to slay — even if that means he has to invent one.

Still under construction, obviously; among other things, I need to figure out the different monster factions, the secondary characters, and general plot progression. So, as always, everything in this post is subject to change. But I think this is a fun base.

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Memory 11.5 (another BOTW AU oneshot)

Posted to AO3 here.

As the rain continues to fall, Zelda asks Link to sit beside her. (a little study on how Zelda and Link think, and how their viewpoints clash with one another's.)

"You should really come and sit here, now. You'll catch cold."

Link did another set of sword guards before turning to Zelda. Cold rain drenched his uniform, but he didn't really mind. He'd done drills in the snow before— usually the exertion would help keep him warm. 

Zelda patted the ground next to her. "Come on."

Link took a step forward, but his hesitation was enough to make Zelda gesture for him to come into the little rock outcropping again, so he hurried his steps and ducked under, keeping a respectable distance from her side. He brought his knees up to his shoulders and sat down neatly. 

"One moment," Zelda said, digging through her bag and bringing out a crushed cheese pastry wrapped in paper. "Here you are. It's not fresh anymore, but I wanted to save it for when I wanted privacy, and I...really haven't needed it yet." 

Ever since she had learned that Link was somewhat food-motivated, Zelda had kept little things in her bag to bribe him with. If she wanted to be left alone, he had ways of giving her more space now, but he couldn't say no to a snack. He dug into the cheese pastry, and relished the sharp flavor as he chewed. 

A heavy, wet thing made a muffled thud as it fell around him, making everything go dark. Link yelped in confusion and struggled to throw it off for a second before Zelda panicked, and pulled it away from his face. 

"Sorry!" Zelda exclaimed. "I thought you might be cold, so I threw Lily's blanket onto you!"

Link shook his head. "I couldn't see." She seemed honest, so he decided to let it slide. He snorted, and stuck his cheesy fingers into his mouth to get the last few crumbs. 

"You didn't answer my question," Zelda said. 

Link looked up slowly, wrapping the blanket around himself. "Huh?"

"What you would do, if you decided you didn't want to be a knight?" 

He really had assumed it was rhetorical. "I've never thought about it."

"Never? You don't think about those sorts of possibilities?" 

Link shook his head. 

"I'm always thinking about what could have been. If…things were somehow different than they are now, if I just understood more than I did. They're usually better than reality." 

"I don't see a point," Link said. 

"Really?"

"I mean, we're here now. There isn't much to do about that." 

Zelda made a noise, like she was going to say something, but she quieted, sinking her chin into her knees. Thunder growled overhead, and the storm clouds darkened from a pale grey to something darker. 

"Your training used to bother me," Zelda mumbled. "But now, I just wonder why you do it so much. You're already so accomplished."

"I can't lose my skills. Besides, look at this." He mimicked unsheathing his sword as quickly as he could. "I've got bad form there if I don't concentrate."

"I really think the reason you didn't talk is because so many of the things you say are absolutely ridiculous. You were going to catch a cold. Calamity Ganon won't be defeated by how you unsheathe your sword." 

"Still don't want bad form."

"Why does it matter?"

His wrist throbbed. He felt the cold catch up to him, and his muscles ached from the ride to Deya Village. They hadn't stopped there for long, despite the villagers' insistence. Link should've known better.

"Ah, you're worried about...looking bad, aren't you."

"I remain committed to excellence," Link said, parroting a portion of the Royal Guard's motto. "A little." 

"It's...counterintuitive, isn't it," Zelda asked, "that there is so much pressure on us to succeed that we suffer because of it."

Link shrugged. "If I exert myself too much, that's my fault." 

"But if you're doing it because of someone telling you that you must," Zelda insisted, "then is it fair to blame yourself for that?" 

"I don't think it's good to think of the world in terms of fairness, Princess." 

"The how do we determine when someone is being treated unjustly, if we don't think of fairness?" Zelda insisted. "This isn't fair, and I need to do something about it one day."

"Life isn't fair," Link blurted out, then snapped his mouth shut. 

"I'm very aware of that. I'm saying we need to make it fairer!" Zelda balled one fist, and gently hit the ground with it. "We need to find a way to stop false accusations against good men and women of being traitors. We need to find a way to reconcile with the Sheikah Tribe and the Zora fully. We need to bring Hyrule closer together, to tell them that they are not useless in the fight against the Calamity. Something desperately needs to change, and I intend to lead the effort." 

"How?" 

Zelda's chest puffed up, and she glanced up at the ceiling of the outcropping, her expression steely before it faded into uncertainty. "I don't know." 

"You could ask the king about it."

"Sometimes I wonder if he cares," Zelda replied moodily. "Did you hear about the recent reports on monster hunting?"

"They're paying less for bounties, right?" 

She nodded. "They're fighting these beasts, then getting paid less, so they fight more, and are killed. Civilians being slaughtered by monsters,  and there isn't anything I can do besides pray."

"No one's forcing them to," Link said. "They can sell the monster parts. There are people who want them." 

"Something is pushing them to do it. I don't know what should be done, but it's...it seems unfair." 

Link went quiet. The storm had begun to clear, as fickle as its sudden appearance had been. Sunlight shone through it, shimmering on drops of rain.

"You have a good heart, princess." He didn't know if that was enough, but it was true. "You'll figure something out."

She looked at him in surprise, then, slowly, a smile curled up her face. "I certainly try. Thank you." Standing up, she brushed off her clothes, and watched the sunshine peek through the clouds. "I suppose we should go."

Link pulled the horse blanket off, and folded it before sticking it under his arm. He nodded. 

"I really do worry about you, though."

Link snorted, and he felt an inkling of a grin start to spread. "Same here."

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Recently started playing Ocarina of Time and I love the official artwork for it, so I did a little art style replica for the YT thumbnail!! The lad is so fun to draw like this it's bonkers honestly

(btw you can catch the playthrough here!)

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PURAH !!! haven’t art-ed in a while and i’m happy

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ganondorf's cheekbones

that's it that's the post

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quick little painting of Link in his blue mail.

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marin doodle request. i think about her 10000 times a day. when i’m not drawing her irl i’m drawing her in my mind

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Gummy bear

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i know this joke has been made before but like

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i occasionally still think about this one post from someone (lovely person btw. I don't have anything against them) talking about how they liked this one ship because it was a lot of things at once and you could do practically anything with it

gotta say I could not relate less. if i like anything it's for a specific agonizing reason which is why I need to do everything myself

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I finished it :D

I want to blow up this chapter with a nuke but it must be done. I must get it done

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thumbnails are EVIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ok bye

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some of you have never had your notp be the most popular ship in the fandom and it shows

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That would actually make an interesting book.

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A land stained with a history of darkness, drenched in blood.

A place where troubled, regretful spirits gather.

My piece for @bloodmoonzine a while back! Loved doing something related to Ikana Canyon, still one of my favorite areas ever. Poor Pamela.

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Hey Minish Cap fans how's it going <3 what's it like having the best taste