plagueybirb

[plagueybirb]

Been thinking a little about a post-BOTW generation (but not in the TOTK timeline) and what that might look like years, decades, or even centuries into the future. This might get long, so fair warning. I like to ramble.

Does Hyrule have a royal family still? Who knows, maybe. But maybe it's one not connected to Zelda, and it just happened naturally on it's own, or maybe even was elected for some reason. Can a royal family be elected? I don't personally know, I'll admit I know fuck all about royal families and all the politics involved. Anyway, new royal family, but no Goddess bloodline. They're just a buncha guys.

Hateno is BUSTLING. It went from simple farming village to a social center to rival Castle Town in Central Hyrule. Suspiciously, there's a lot of blondes there. A concerning number even. And at least one of them knows a little too much about magic and Sheikah tech (which by now is pretty widespread). (And maybe another one that's a suspiciously good swordsman. They're best friends with the magic/tech one with suspiciously triangle shaped birthmarks on the backs of their hands.)

Speaking of, the level of tech definitely isn't "modern" by any means, but it's definitely been more incorporated into Hyrulean life. All the weapons grade stuff is obviously locked up, but lots of people have Slates of their own. There are less painters, more people just going out and taking pictographs with their Sheikah Slates. They're fairly easy to manufacture I think, a lot of parts came from broken and decommissioned Guardians that Old Link was going around taking out. Construction workers have heavier duty ones, with something like Magnesis to haul around materials.

They made a lot of things out of those old Guardians, the ones that don't work anyway. Clocks, airships, all sorts of stuff. Maybe even the Gossip Stones make a new, more techy looking comeback!

Kakariko is still THE Sheikah settlement. Impa's and Paya's descendants have been the chieftains for most of the time, with a few of them occasionally leaving to go work with their great-times-a-million aunt Purah. She's still alive for tech reasons, and is always working on something new. Because of her, Hateno became sort of a Sheikah settlement as well, a lot of Sheikah just stayed there to study the now locked and powered down shrines and just never left. The warp pads still work, but only with Slates that have high enough clearance. Why? Because there's a still functioning warp pad somewhere very forbidden that's full of one too many Dead Hands and the Hylian royal family aren't about to go digging up THAT mess of bloody history. And if you somehow find a way there anyway and you aren't the next hero? Suddenly you don't exist anymore.

ANYWAY. The shrines and Divine Beasts are tourist attractions. Sidon has mixed feelings about it.

A lot of the younger Zora are still around, and maybe even some of the elderly ones are too still. Sidon definitely is, and I can only imagine he got even bigger than he was in BOTW. He's definitely king by now, and Zora Domain is thriving! Zora from across the sea visit sometimes, and are continuously baffled by the stories from BOTW era. "What do you MEAN you had to deal with two Calamities a hundred years from each other? WHAT DO YOU MEAN A SINGLE COMA PATIENT SOLVED ALL YOUR PROBLEMS??"

Goron city is stretched all the way around Death Mountain now, sort of like a ring. And despite being so far away from Gerudo Desert, the gem trade between them is better than ever. They're quite good friends! A lot of the slates armed with Magnesis are located here, and the Goron safe versions are HEAVY. Imagine Sheikah tech, but a brick. No touch screen, only buttons. It gets dropped and a crater forms instantly. Sheikah Nokia, for Gorons.

Moving on. Because I miss the Kokiri, I like to imagine that some of them made a return eventually. Personally, I don't think Koroks or Kokiri can die of natural causes, so all the original Koroks are still there. All of them are hanging out in the forest, which is still as confusing and mysterious as ever. Maybe one or two Kokiri venture out of the woods to interact with the world at large and are probably Hyrule's source of fairy myths. Both the little winged pixie ones and the unsettling "whisk you away and keep you forever" ones. One guy saw a Kokiri walking into the forest with a Skull Kid and immediately assumed the worst. So yeah. But the Kokiri are on good terms with the Gorons! The Koroks would be too, but uh. Koroks can't really be seen by normal people? I think? I'm not completely sure but it sounds correct.

The Rito get crossbows now. No particular reason, I just think crossbows are sick and the Rito should have them. And I know there's a Rito out there that dual wields them and thinks they're the coolest bird in town. (At the expense of having maybe only two shots max before they have to finagle a reload midair or land to do it, but still) The Rito also are in charge of the mail system. Because it's funny, they all get little mail pouches and red mailman hats. The hats never stay on, and are constantly getting lost. People are constantly finding mailman hats and putting them into mailboxes to be returned. They're ALSO getting stolen by the Yiga all the time. Those guys gotta steal mail somehow, and I think it's funny if they're just really extra about it.

Master Kohga is still alive. He just refuses to die. He's alive to take naps and cause problems on purpose.

Speaking of problems, the Gerudo have to deal with them a lot still. They may not attack the now sprawling desert city oasis entirely, but the Gerudo do have to deal with being bought out of their entire banana stock all the time. But hey, the money they get from it is objectively better than having a Yiga airship attacking it or something like that. The Gerudo chief isn't happy about the Yiga presence, but she'd really rather not cause a war between them. One, it would be terrible for business. And two, the Yiga are assassins located in a secret hideout where many a violent attempt to locate it has resulted in death and the bodies being sent back as a warning. While a Yiga is disguised as the person. Delivering their own dead body basically. It gets the message across.

And with Calamity Ganon gone, there is yet again, one single boy born every so often among the Gerudo. Not every hundred years, the cycle is far too out of sync to be any attempt at regular, but enough that it's known that there is occasionally a boy born. With all the legends and myths, everyone is understandably a little nervous. I think it would be neat if Ganondorf wasn't the evil guy this time around, and he's just some dude who's really into all the dark magic and stuff that usually comes with being the Evil of the era. He's a lot more focused on his people and his own studies than anything truly nefarious. Maybe his worst crime is getting a Noble Pursuit before he's legally allowed to. Which actually begs the question: Is that a crime in Hyrule?

Does Hyrule have established drinking laws? At what age can a Zora legally drink? Can a Goron get drunk? Is drinking and flying/swimming a publishable offense among the Rito and Zora? How much alchohol does it take to get a Goron drunk, if they can even get drunk at all? Does alcoholic milk exist or is that solely a Termina thing? Can the Kokiri/Koroks legally drink at all? Can you tell I've thought a lot about this?

That's all for now, maybe I'll think of more later

[plagueybirb]

Absolutely thrilled to share my full piece for @silentprincesszine!! I was honored to get to draw Zelda as Sheik from Ocarina of Time.

I hope you enjoy this piece as much as I enjoyed making it <3

Leftover sales are open as of posting this!

[plagueybirb]

Zelda - Sheik

Something simple I animated way back. Should really do more Sheik stuff.

[plagueybirb]

I think Kohga would absolutely kill it in the dance studio business. Have you heard his theme song? You can't tell me he and his boys didn't create a whole dance number to go with it

[plagueybirb]

You'll never believe what I found

feel like the song of healing is one of those songs that you could do literally anything to and it would still sound good

[plagueybirb]

Thinking again about your sheik with tattoos concept

me 2

[plagueybirb]

It's my birthday and I made a promise to myself to not do any work on my day off and to make a Yiga Headcanon Post for the first time in a long time, so... Well you see since it is my birthday, and this is my very favorite subject at the moment, and I feel like doing a cute topic, here are some...

Banana Bread Relationship Headcanons!

My Kohga and Sooga didn't get together romantically until after the Calamity was vanquished. Sooga survived the encounter with the four Blights by the skin of his teeth (a topic for a different post, so I can stay on topic), made it back to Karusa Valley (greatly assisted along the way) shortly after Calamity Ganon was beaten, was helped along massively in the healing process by a visit from Mipha, and... Was incredibly surprised when, once he'd recovered enough to be out of bed and walking around, his Master invited him to his quarters and asked if he wanted to be partners.

But let me back up a bit! More than a bit, really. I'm not going to go into detail here about Sooga's entire backstory outside and within the Yiga Clan, but one important thing to know for this topic is that by the point Kohga asked his question, Sooga had been infatuated with him for about ten years. Ten. Years. Since he'd become a Blademaster at age 20. He'd been working for years already to train and hone himself for the position, to pay the Master back for his life, but at his induction ceremony, he saw Kohga in the lantern-light, standing above him and conferring such an honor upon him, and... To call it a crush would be to belittle it, because it was not a little "oooh the Master is so handsome teehee~" kind of thing at all. You've seen the depths of this man's devotion right in canon, and his determination to serve Kohga. Well after that ceremony, there was also an attraction element mixed in with that. Which Sooga knew he had to just push down, no matter how the years went on and he grew to a more appropriate age and progressed through the ranks and distinguished himself. Because the great Master Kohga would never see him, just Sooga, as anything but a skilled and useful sword, at best. Right?

Meanwhile Kohga...I've alluded only obliquely to the fact that Kohga had a couple prior romances under his belt, but now I'll tell you that these were half his lifetime ago. In his 20s. Both ending in death. In particular, the second of these, a woman named Noor, was Kohga's partner from the summer after he became Master at 25, to the autumn of the next year. And she was killed by monsters out on a scouting mission Kohga sent her on. Because he's the Master, and he sends people on missions. And oh, that hurt Kohga deeply. He knew, of course, that as Master, this general kind of thing would happen. It hurts whenever any member of the Clan dies "on his watch." He cares about all of them--every single person in the greater family that is his Clan. But having just lost both his parents (and his first love, who had also been his best friend) very soon before this, Kohga was devastated by Noor's death. And it caused him to lock up that part of his heart--the part that wanted very much to fall in love romantically--for many, many years. Behind layers of flirtation and one night stands he carefully made sure would stay that way, behind walls he didn't let anyone past. Oh, he was still the cheerful, morale-boosting Master. In fact, he grew into that role quite well over the following two decades, and it's genuine! Just because he'd decided not to ever let himself have romance again doesn't mean he wasn't happy (and I mean that, I'm not trying to be sarcastic)! But I tell you about this so that you know. That when Sooga took over as Kohga's Right Hand a few years before the Calamity, Kohga was NOT looking for love. There was no way that would ever happen for him again. Right?

But it was when Kohga and Sooga started spending more time together as Master and Right Hand that Kohga came to actually really like the guy, like in a friendly sort of way. They really hadn't spoken much before that (which was Sooga's doing--he wanted to protect the Chief as a Blademaster, certainly, but...there was that whole "I'm not worthy" Thing coupled with the fact that Sooga...is a very socially anxious fellow), and Kohga was enjoying getting to know this big strong strapping stoic guy. Even making him laugh sometimes! ((Oh wow, those aren't butterflies in your stomach when that happens, are they Kohga? No, of course not. You're just being yourself, you like it when people laugh at your funny remarks. You're very funny! Nothing is happening here.)) And Kohga came to rely so much more on specifically Sooga as a second in command and gallant protector, while Sooga quietly and invisibly self-immolated from the inside out at the thought that he and the Master were getting along. That they were...becoming friends? No, surely not. The Master already had so many long-time friends. Sooga couldn't compare--wouldn't dare try to put himself in any sort of informal position with Master Kohga! No, his shameful wishes for companionship had to stay in his head. The Master was just being nice. The Master is nice to practically everybody. Nothing is happening here.

So let me put all this rambling in tl;dr form: Sooga knew he was in love, but never would have shown it in any way that wasn't simply Doing His Job As Right Hand. Kohga was starting to fall for Sooga but had conditioned himself not to notice this due to trauma. Sooga was the pining/repressing dork, Kohga was the denying/oblivious dork.

Kohga says that the way he knew he had romantic feelings for Sooga was because running away from his Right Hand and leaving him to certain death made it feel like his heart, already raging and torn from losing so many of his Clan-mates to Astor's betrayal just hours earlier, had been completely destroyed. Just like with Noor. Sooga had been his Right Hand. His to order. And Sooga was going to die protecting The Master. Kohga realized there had still been a little bit of his pushed-down heart that hoped, one day, to find a partner, and that it had been snuffed out. He finally realized. His fanfic-trope 'oh' moment was that he thought Sooga was dead, and that they'd never even had a chance. And then he got on with working his very hardest to save the rest of the Clan, with his alliance with Zelda and his fight against the Calamity. He mourned Sooga along with the others, and was never going to tell anyone what he'd felt.

But then Sooga came back. Sooga lived.

And it turned out Kohga did have a chance.

And he decided--vowed--not to let it pass him by.

Anyway that's their relationship's "backstory," you could say. Next I shall say...

That although Sooga definitely was in Devoted Right Hand Love with Kohga, and although Kohga was letting himself relearn how to be in love with anyone at all but specifically Sooga, and although they are now married and incredibly adorable together, they have faced some psychological roadblocks in getting to the point they're at now.

On Sooga's side, it's the whole I'm Not Worthy Thing. He was so sure that Kohga couldn't possibly really have feelings for him--not that he'd ever accuse Kohga of lying to him!!!!! Sooga had Kohga on a pedestal. As the person who saved his life and gave him a new one. As The Stupendous Chief of the Yiga Clan Master Kohga. So it took him some time, at the start of their courtship, to a) let himself to think of Kohga as a man and truly a partner he's allowed to care for, not only a Master to be served faithfully; b) allow himself to believe that Kohga really wanted him; and c) let himself ever relax and stop trying to Get a Good Grade in Boyfriend instead of being himself. This manifested as a whole bunch of awkwardness. Thinking way too hard about whether it was okay to reach for Kohga's hand because what if it's not the right time or what if Kohga doesn't want him to or what if somebody sees and thinks "ew, what would the awesome and amazing Master Kohga be doing with Sooga? Sooga doesn't deserve him"??? Going mute when Kohga flirted with him because he has difficulty enough choosing words sometimes and didn't want to Say Something Wrong. Refusing to stay overnight with Kohga after sex because he certainly wouldn't want to disrupt his Master by getting up for training drills at dawn. Etc etc. Sooga really had to try to get over this. But he has.

On Kohga's side, it's both his past trauma surrounding losing loved ones (havng to accept that loving someone is putting your heart at risk for loss and then doing it anyway), and... Well, a nagging fear that Sooga saw him only as The Master and not as himself (are you seeing the mirror images here?). Kohga doesn't have the same Not Worthy issues as Sooga. Man's got a massive ego and loves himself to pieces. So it wasn't a lack of confidence generally, but more him just really needing reassurance that he wasn't forcing Sooga into a relationship purely by dint of being The Master. That Sooga wasn't just going along with his outing ideas or having sex because Sooga never disobeys. That Sooga really wanted him. The man he is behind the mask, the man he is behind closed doors, the man he is in his heart, not his title. That. This was something he kept mostly to himself, manifesting only as occasional testiness/frustration when Sooga would hesitate too long or not just say what he wanted instead of what he thought Kohga would want to hear.

And on both sides, well...there was the Banana. You know the one. The thing is, Sooga had hinged his whole life's purpose on that banana. And Kohga...didn't remember it. All right, he remembered giving a ragged-looking child a banana and bringing him back to the Valley and handing him off to his then-Right Hand Chisao to join the Clan. He didn't remember that was Sooga, until Sooga reminded him while convalescing (a few days before Kohga asked for their partnership). This was for several reasons, ranging from "Sooga doesn't look like that kid--not only is he huge now, Kohga hadn't seen his true face literally since that one first meeting" to "Sooga tried his very best to stay away from Master Kohga and not be noticed in any more than a passing capacity until he'd a) gotten his mask/learned to disguise himself AND b) trained with blades and magic enough that he could start Blademaster training and maybe just maybe eventually pay Kohga back. For the Banana." And the fact of The Banana kinda fueled both their hangups about the relationship. For Sooga, it was because he was still trying to chase after Being Good Enough to have received the blessing that the Banana symbolized. For Kohga, it was because he had to wonder if Sooga was still just trying to pay off a debt. For Sooga, it was a bit of "how could you forget this thing that was so important to me? (But also thank the ancestors you did, I’m glad you don’t think of me as that sad child.)” For Kohga, it was "how did you not know I was joking? even after all this time? why would you try to die for me over a stinking banana???"

Yes they were a little at cross-purposes and misunderstanding each other at the start, despite their mutual attraction and genuine desire to be partners.

But Kohga really wanted Sooga, and let Sooga know that with all kinds of encouragement, and compliments, and touches, and gifts, and giving him space to find his words, and just all around sappiness and doting (and really great lovemaking). And Sooga really wanted Kohga, and let Kohga know that with quiet moments, and making time for him, and opening up, and heartfelt words, and an all-around change from rigid diligence to honest trust and warmth with him (...and really great lovemaking lol). They talked these things out, eventually, sharing their past hardships and stories and over time, coming to feel comfortable sharing all their thoughts and feelings about each other openly. And so now! They are both very confident in their bond! And they are one of those unstoppable power couples that's actually good at communicating and ridiculously hot together!

AND NOW FOR SOME REALLY CUTE AND SWEET STUFF!!

Their first little "date" involved Kohga helping the still-strength-recovering Sooga with his desert gardening and an errand for the Clan's head apothecary (I've mentioned before that Sooga did chores for the apothecaries as a child and has planted a bunch of cacti and succulents in a sort of natural garden). Koh got Sooga talking about plants while they trotted around watering things and moving Miss Kira's herb pots around, and ended up hanging on every word <3. Because Sooga was actually being casual and chatting. And Sooga enjoyed it too, because Kohga was taking an interest in him and helping with his task (without his having had to ask--he was still feeling pretty weak but did not want to show weakness in front of Kohga at that stage).

Their first kiss was a week into their partnership. Kohga was being stupid in his head about Does Sooga Actually Like Me because they hadn't kissed yet, and was kind of cringe about asking for it. And then he spontaneously combusted when Sooga did it. Gentlest kiss ever. Boy when I say that while Sooga fell first, Kohga fell HARDEST...

Of course Master Kohga gets served the best food of the batch at every meal time--choicest bits of meat and such. He very quickly started sharing them with Sooga nonchalantly. Now that Sooga is Lord-Consort he gets special treatment too, but they're always feeding each other with their chopsticks and being obnoxious.

Speaking of food, one of their very favorite outings to go on is picnics on Satori Mountain. To just sit up under the ever-blooming cherry trees and enjoy some snacks and flavored waters, enjoy each other's company, hike around a little and see the beautiful natural sights...

I'm only barely alluding to their sex life because I wouldn't wanna suddenly blindside anyone with raunchy stuff, but I will say. That the first time Sooga did stay overnight and literally sleep with Kohga after the two figuratively "slept together" (exactly two months into their relationship), Kohga was incredibly happy. It was like the two had turned a corner in the relationship, and started becoming truly close and much much less guarded with each other.

Kohga's the gift-giver of the two. He learned of Sooga's sweet tooth and now he goes out of his way to pick up Gerudo hard candies at KaraKara Bazaar or little cakes in Castle Town when he's there on business. Just anywhere he goes, whether Sooga's with him or not, it's Buying Little Treats for Sooga O'Clock. And y'know. If Sooga's huge honkin' gold and ruby betrothal necklace wasn't a bludgeon of a clue that Kohga's goal is to give Sooga all the finer things he can manage, I don't know what could hit harder.

Sooga's more about spending quality time. He's got so many duties as Right Hand and has historically been horrible at delegating any of them because of How He Is, so actually taking time out to be with Kohga--taking a nap together, bringing Koh a hand-packed lunch at the Royal Ancient Lab if he's working there that day, indulging one of Kohga's "let's go somewhere!" whims--is a big way he shows he cares.

Kohga knows very well that Sooga's a workaholic and he appreciates Sooga taking so much of his own workload and doing so so so much for the Clan. <3 But since they've been partners, Kohga's been trying to step up more and not just let himself make Sooga do all the administrative stuff. In a way, he's trying harder to be the kind of Master deserving of a Right Hand like Sooga. In another way, he just wants to give his husband a break sometimes. If he has to, he can order Sooga to take a break! But he'd really rather just say, "You know, it's been a while since you went to hang out with Mipha. Why don't you hop up the tower and go see her? I'll have this inventory checked by the time you get back." It makes Sooga smile. Kohga lives for Sooga's smile.

Sooga knows very well that Kohga's a social butterfly and he appreciates Kohga taking the lead in conversations when the two of them are around other people. But since they've been together, Sooga's been trying to be more sociable too, and not just stand silently by as the Intimidating Right Hand role. In a way, he's trying harder to be a true partner to Kohga, to show an interest in his friends and to take some of the onus off his mate to always be the one talking at formal events and meetings. In another way, he really does want to be a part of Kohga's social life. If he has to, he can tell Kohga he needs a break from a big crowd and would prefer they step away to be by themselves for a little while. But he'd really rather just step in to add a point about one of the tech projects Kohga's working on at the lab, or to inject one of his pointed little jokes. It makes Kohga smile. Sooga lives for Kohga's smile.

Kohga's favorite part of Sooga's body is his big strong chest which is so comfortable and warm and lovely to rest one's head on and doze off. A close second are his arms. Sooga's favorite part of Kohga's body is--oh you thought I was gonna say the belly or the butt, right? no!!--his back. He thinks the curve of Kohga's spine down the center of his big Inverted Eye tattoo and right to the dramatic spot where it meets his backside is just divine perfection.

Once Sooga got more confident in the relationship, in letting himself be loved and show his love for Kohga openly, he realized that Kohga really really wants him to do that. As in, Kohga loves PDA. Loves it when Sooga puts a protective arm around his shoulders when some snotty Hylian's giving him trouble at one of those periodic Leadership Conferences at the castle. Loves for Sooga to slip a hand onto his waist and squeeze while they're at a crowded shop. Loves to be pulled around a corner in the Complex and trapped against the wall for a kiss. All such little gestures that show how much Sooga wants him. And so. Sooga does that just as much as he can~

(Which Sooga also enjoys doing. It's not just for Kohga's sake. He's gotten kiiiinda possessive. Not in the sense of being jealous if Kohga so much as talks to someone else. Or even flirts. Kohga's a flirt. Sooga knows this and finds it endearing that his partner is so funny and cute that way. Not in the sense of feeling superior to others because he "bagged the Master," or anything so crass. But possessive in the sense of reaaaaally loving it when people Know they're Together. That he is Kohga's, and that (for as long as Kohga desires it) Kohga is his. Wearing jewelry that's essentially a collar with Kohga's insignia on it fuels him.)

Kohga's pet names for Sooga include: darling, love, sweetheart, and my star, which is a family thing for him and a reference to Yiga marriage vows. Sooga's pet names for Kohga are: my love, my dear one, and most of all, beloved.

Finally... @quasar-kaiser asked me wayyyy back on Kohga's birthday in April what their most memorable gift was. Well for Sooga from Kohga, it was indeed his betrothal necklace, in of course a close tie with Kohga's Bond gift to him at their wedding, of a shamisen song and a love poem recited before the whole Clan and several visiting dignitaries. That Kohga would use his time and skill to create such works for him, and that he was willing to perform them for essentially the whole world...what a heady joy! Sooga hardly felt himself worthy of it...but...he believes Kohga feels he is, and that is nothing short of a dream come true.

And for Kohga from Sooga, it was...his name back. His name. I've posted at length about how Kohga had a name before he was Master, but that every Master takes on the name Kohga and it's taboo to ever call a Master by their before-name ever again. Even among family. (Kohga's mother stopped calling his father by his name instantly when he became Master. He was only ever Kohga, even in private, after that. Koh, who was nine years old at the time, has not forgotten how jarring this was, and then sixteen years later how sad he felt when she stopped calling him by the name she'd given him, too.) Sooga didn't even know Kohga's before-name, because Sooga wasn't part of the Clan when Kohga lost it, and no one would ever have dared tell him. But after they became engaged--intended--Kohga told him. And Sooga, who had been told about the taboo, was certainly touched by that gesture, but he felt very anxious when Kohga added, that if Sooga wanted to, he could call him by it. Sometimes. Maybe. When they're alone. ...maybe? No, Sooga responded, not wanting to even get Kohga's hopes up with a "maybe" that would never become reality. It's not permitted. Not even for lovers, not even for the betrothed. It would be...wrong. Kohga couldn't really blame Sooga--he'd known it was a long shot. He was being selfish, asking that. Selfish also, to still keep secretly thinking of his old name as his "real" one. So...imagine his intense surprise and utter overflow of emotion when, on their wedding night, right after they'd been intimate for the first time as husbands, Sooga murmured, right against his lips, "I love you, my..." and then his name. HIS NAME. Spoken to him for the first time in over 25 years.

Kohga started out the relationship worried Sooga only loved The Master? No. Sooga loves HIM. This gift was the proof, as if he needed more. And as he told Sooga in his wedding poem, he is going to love him back and sing his praise, in the best words he can find...until eternity ends.

That's all for now, folks! Hope you've enjoyed this sweet sticky banana bread!

[plagueybirb]

sometimes, especially after a long stretch where I can't create anything, I have this need to create something 'beautiful'. Like that's all that fills my head. I gotta do it or it honestly impacts my self-worth. And the BEST PART is that nothing I've started previously can be worked on until I've scratched this itch (mostly bc I'm extremely depressed when I can't draw and I become convinced if I touch an older project, I'll just make it worse and then always associate how I Fucked It Up with that project alone

it is the Biggest Reason I struggle to finish projects tbh

anyways I needed to make something beautfiul, so I grabbed a Sheik sketch I've already done (its low stakes bc I never made that sketch with the intention of painting it) and started trying to Arcane-ify him. You can see the exact moment I actually pulled up my refs and realized I made him far too pale. You can also see the moment I realize I should make his cloak Japanese indigo

he's not done yet, but he's close, so fingers crossed I can finish him and make him a nice lil reward for my patrons.

[plagueybirb]

Apparently I have goddamn Willy Wonka as a neighbor now

All I've been hearing for an hour now is a very faint, bass boosted "oompa loompa doopity do" over and over again

[plagueybirb]

I would read the absolute FUCK out of this

Concept: a LoZ story where the Hyrule Royal Family, which has over seen Hyrule for generations and had the blessings of the goddess(es), had been ousted. For another family? For a democracy? Doesn't matter, just that one or two generations back, Hyrule's last Princess Zelda vanished into historical obscurity.

Now Hyrule needs the next set of triforce bearers but there's no easy path to finding Princess Zelda's descendants so while Link keeps the destruction of Ganon's new forces at bay, he has to find this cycle's Wisdom bearer.

But he doesn't find the next Zelda.

He finds the only two surviving descendants of the entire royal family - a young man with blonde hair and red eyes named Sheik and his youngest sister, the white hair, blue eyed child named Tetra.

[plagueybirb]

Who is Baldur and why do they have so many gates?

[plagueybirb]

we need to talk about this hw sheik concept art. the tboy swag is off the CHARTS

the hood is such a good detail, adding to the mystery of who they are and where they came from. the tails of the scarf add grace to go with their agility, exposed shoulders and tight top half prioritising dexterity over armour and smoothness of figure

the colours are another thing I really like, the black and blue both once again adding mystery, but also the needed element of stealth that so many sheikah employ in their techniques (hw Impa seems to be the outlier to this, with her massive sword commanding images of power and respect for her visible high rank). the hints of red in the ties at the waist, knees, and ankles tie in the red of their eyes in a very subtle but important manner - the joints that drive their actions, their fighting, and a discerning eye keeping watch from up high, dubious in their intentions and if they can be trusted but clearly not to be trifled with

i'm fond of sheik's final design too, of course, but wow do i love this one even more. it's amazing. love sheik

[plagueybirb]

Echoes of Wisdom made a wise decision to not give me a cucco echo because I would've eradicated the local monster population

Echoes of Wisdom also made a mistake by not giving me a cucco echo because what do you MEAN I can't throw invincible bloodthirsty chickens at my sworn enemies??

[plagueybirb]

happy ace day to sheik

[plagueybirb]

I think we should be a little relieved that the Sages are on our side to be honest. Just a little. Because honestly, elemental based powers like theirs can get wildly scary without explicit limits. Now, literally anything can get to scary levels if you just think about it long enough, but for these purposes, we're just talking elements because that's what the Sages have as powers.

Now, I'm not sure if any of the OOT/TP Sages have powers, beyond whatever the medallions might do, Rauru and his weird ability to find adult Link sized clothes/accessories in what is essentially a void, apparently shapeshifting, and sealing Ganondorf. But I can imagine Impa has some hidden abilities due to being a fully trained Sheikah and we should probably be happy she only uses them when necessary.

Wind Waker Sages are much the same. No real powers, just musical abilities and the magic involved that powers up the Master Sword. And there's only two of them, unless the ones from OOT are still hanging out somewhere.

It's around TOTK that things could start to get properly spooky.

Maybe it's because I had my brain permanently altered after watching ATLA (specifically That episode) as a kid, but we're all lucky that Sidon is such a nice person. As the Water Sage, he could've easily been the most terrifying one out of them all. He could theoretically do so much worse than just giving Link a nifty bubble shield and separating water from the sludge. If he were ANY less kind, he'd be an utter terror to his enemies, even more than he already is as a massive red shark with razor teeth, wicked spear skills, and just his own achievements even before the Sage thing. Maybe not fully controlling people, because I doubt the magic/abilities work the same way, but even something as simple as turning that shield into just an outright water orb around a person. He could drown a man if he's not careful. Or separate the water from their body and leave them a dried husk.

Tulin too. If he were just a little older, a little more battle weary, he could do some pretty spooky stuff. Beyond just launching materials and monsters off ledges. Strong enough wind can lacerate skin, strip flesh from bone, and a ton of other stuff. And since it seems he can only push that wind in front of him, he can't rip air from a person's lungs thankfully. But. You know what he could do, in theory? Force enough air into someone's lungs to make them pop. Now, he's still young, so I don't think he's even considered it as a possibility, but it's still there. We're lucky this kid just wants to help out and sticks to archery.

As for Yunobo? There's not a ton he can do that fire doesn't already do on it's own. Burn people, melt flesh, cause wildfires. Maybe turn himself into a massive fireball and roll straight through enemies? He would just. Rather not. Probably for the best.

Riju is just as straightforward. Just zap the enemies until they stop moving. But more. Cover a wide enough area and just electrocute it all. Pair it with water of any kind (even Sidon's water ability) and she'd be capable of wiping out entire fish populations and whatever poor souls happened to be in the water or even slightly wet. She wouldn't even need to fine tune her aim, there's no need when you just keep throwing lightning until there's nothing left.

Mineru? Straight up possession. You think you're safe? Whoops, Mineru needs a new body and you weren't using it for 'the greater good' anyway. She can possess technology of both her own and other's design, and what is a body if not a fleshy mass of electrical connections and biological computers?

I'm not even going to go into Zelda's Recall ability. It's basically diet time fuckery in the most simple of terms and time travel shenanigans hurt my head. This woman is going to cause another Song of Storms paradox all on her own, but probably worse somehow. Hell, she technically already has in a way, TOTK as a whole feels like a sideways timeline we got shoved into because of time shenanigans.

And yes, I know he's not a Sage, and has definitely done scary things before, but I gotta give Kohga an honorable mention. That man has absolutely summoned a spiky ball inside someone before, accidentally or purposely is irrelevant. It caused such a mess that he just doesn't do it solely to avoid the cleanup involved.

We're not talking about Link. You know why.

[plagueybirb]

Horrifying thought for you all. What if the reason Link can't 'kill' any of the Yiga Clan is because none of them are technically 'killable'. Because they're all undead.

The Sheikah were implied to have basically created the concept of the ReDead back in OOT. Regardless of whether or not that knowledge was kept over the generations is up for debate, but that doesn't change the fact that the ReDeads still exist, are freakishly scary, and might not actually permanently go down unless the body is burned or otherwise destroyed somehow.

The only member of the Yiga to have been known to die is Sooga. And we never see the body afterwards, so who knows if he truly died or not.

Kohga is basically indestructible himself. He survived a fall that would kill even Link if Link wasn't Hylia's special boy, and launched himself into space on their next rematch which he also survived despite all odds. He simply can't die, and neither does he change at all for at least a century. And for all we know, he could be even older than that, because he was already Not Young before that. What if the Yiga Clan just. Perfected ReDeads? Found a way to let them keep their minds and personalities?

What about the bananas, you ask? They gotta eat something other than brains or flesh or whatever made the ReDeads in OOT latch onto people.

And hey. Kohga's a smart guy. Who's to say he didn't figure it out as a way to keep himself (and maybe later a certain favorite blademaster) alive?

Just uh. Probably best not to try and peek under the masks.

[plagueybirb]

You know what I call a missed opportunity?

Modern AU Link NOT being from Pennsylvania