#{but i'd have to be really into want to explore the religion in Zelda before diving any further}

[askganondorftobadragmire]

Religions

There are two main types of religion; Followers of the Divines and Children of the Tutelaries.

Followers of the Divines is the worship of one or both of the trinity of gods. If it's the latter, they can keep the two groups equal but mainly prioritize one.

Children of Tutelaries is the worship of a patron deity. They typically place it over the trinity of gods, but one can believe in both equally/unequally. There's one for most races (+ a few that pertain to countries), but one doesn't need to be of that race/country to worship.

There's a more detailed list under the cut.

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Goldessism is the worship of the Golden Goddesses (Din, Nayru & Farore). Followers can place one of the gods over the others, but typically, they keep the trio as equals.

Darkedity is the worship of the Darkened Gods (Demise, Majora & Oni). Followers can place one of the gods over the others, but typically, they keep the trio as equals.

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Hylism / Lanity is the worship of the Hylian & Terran deities, Hylia & Lana, respectively. Despite her death, Hylia is still regarded as their main patron deity. A typical farewell: "May {Goddess} Hylia/Lana light your path."

Lancism / Cialm is the worship of the Sheikah deity, Lancia (now known as Cia). Despite her splitting apart, Cia is still their patron deity.

Demisity / Majorism / Onity / Ridalm is the worship of the demon & monster deities, Demise, Majora, Oni, & Ridagir, respectively. Despite his death, Demise is still regarded as their main patron deity.

Vayrevism is the worship of the Gerudo deity, Vayrevi. A typical farewell: "May the Desert Goddess give you strength."

Fuzemonity is the worship of the Kokiri/Skullorok & Minish deity, Fuzemos.

Jabism is the worship of the Zora deity, Lord Jabu-Jabu.

Valooto is the worship of the Rito & Draconian deity, Valoo.

Tidialm is the worship of the Goron & Mogma deity, Tidia.

Makuism is the worship of the Labrynna & Holodrum deities, The Maku Trees {Makua & Makun respectively}.

Leviato is the worship of the Ordona deity, Levias.

Ballumedity is the worship of the Calatia deity, Ballumedus.

Nilamism is the worship of the Twili deity, Nilama. A typical farewell: "May the darkness never take you and the light never forsake you."

[whitehairedanimeboyfriend]

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Hey all! I'm Crim. Here's a little about me.

I like to draw, play videogames, read, watch anime, and write.

My favourite authors are Douglas Adams, Neil Gaiman, Phillip Pullman, and Terry Pratchett.

I am very firmly against the whole anti movement. I think adults should be free to explore whatever they want to explore within the confines of fiction.

I am very far on the left, though I'm not tied to any one leftist camp.

My favourite foods are sushi, cheesecake, and bubble tea.

I'm in a lot of fandoms, but my main ones are Neon Genesis Evangelion, Zelda, Chainsaw Man, and Kingdom Hearts.

I am queer and indigenous. I am always open to questions about myself and my identity. I am comfortable being an educator, mostly about my queer identity, I tend to be more of a listener with regards to indigenous culture, as my connection is complicated and an ongoing work in progress.

I am an atheist and I do not hold space for any religion or spirituality. I will not seek people out in order to attack them in their own spaces, and I am against bigotry related to ethno-religions. But I will speak my mind when the topic comes up and is relevant and I will occasionally speak frankly about atheism without apologizing for it. If you have a problem with this then you should unfollow me.

I do no tolerate drama or engage with callout posts. If we are already friends and I have you on discord, and you notice I've frequently begun involving myself with people you think I'd have a problem with, let me know over discord. I don't really care what a random tumblr user I've never spoken to before thinks is problematic.

[minas-linkverse]

At a risk of being controversial: I really dont enjoy the fanon trope of making Hylia a villain. I dont claim people who do that are evil or sexist, there's obivous writing potential there and people are allowed to explore it. I personally however find it uncomfortable, and I want to speak out in case someone else feels the same and would be relieved to not be alone.

Hylia as a character is a ...fairly new addition to franchise. We first learn of her in skyward sword, a game that's story aims to explain the reincarnation cycle's excistence.

I think due to that, and how in botw we see the first canon story that potrays the cycle as bad, its easy for new and old fans to point at hylia and go: I dont trust this. (It doesnt help Hylia is connected to vague christian imaginary and people have their own issues with religion.)

Again I dont blame people for this, some fans are new, some are coping with religious trauma, and some just wanna explore the cool concept that is reincarnating heroes.

However, my discomfort comes from a few facts in this matter that I want to put out there for people to consider.

My first issue is that Hylia is not the person who started the issue. We know the evil force that is Demise existed before the cycle, and for some reason or another Hylia nor the other goddesses could not stop him. Hylia made her plan in order to seal demise away for good, and it didnt work. It just didn't work.

It doesnt matter if demise cursed the reincarnation thing or if Hylia decided it'd repeat forever. The fact is that theres a malicious unquestionably evil force that a goddess tried to stop and failed.

You can dislike her plan all you want, but hindsight is 20/20 and all that—

Okay, breather, I am passionate about this but I know my opinion isnt the objective fact. Maybe Hylia could stop this cycle and try something else, maybe she is inhuman in mind and spirit and doesnt comprehend the horrors she has caused. We don't know and you can fill these blanks as you see fit.

But uhm, this does bring me to my second opinion, which might be harder to take seriously it you're disagreeing with this post already.

I think there's sexism around how fans treat Zelda and Hylia, not helped at all by Nintendo's own actions.

I see people be put off by skyward sword Zelda, perhaps writing her unemphatic and clueless of Link's battles to find her. So much so that we ignore the fact she too was ripped from home, told she has to be someone else, and forced to drag her best friend along so the world wouldnt end. She is a victim too, but why do we forget this?

In my opinion it's partly due to the bad writing of women Nintendo keeps doing. Zelda is written so... perfect. Nintendo refuses to aknowledge her flaws as a person and instead is like look how pretty she is, she apologises and Link forgives her, so you should too! ...When, if you dont do so, it feels like you're being manipulated or dismissed whenever she is on screen.

An issue that repeats with Hylia as well. With many Zeldas in many games.

To react to that tonal dissonance with writing Zelda/Hylia as evil is... normal, I think. I don't blame people for feeling that way.

But,, That seems unfair to me. A female character with potential to be complex and good was failed by the writers, and now we as fans continue from that point with making her even worse.

I dont dislike fans who do this, you're just participating in fandom the way you see fit, but I cant enjoy it, it makes me upset. These women are not evil, Link isn't the only character being hurt deeply, and if you could please consider female characters beyond how they hurt ya boy, I'd be so relieved.

...

I'll repeat what I said at the start, I dont claim people who do this are evil or sexist. People are having fun in fandom, and ngl demise sucks as a villain and Hylia is way more interesting to explore.

I just... I think its worth asking yourself why her. Why you don't or do like Zelda. Engaging in things you love with an analytic eye is genuinely good for you and the media you're enjoying.

This in no means is meant to come off as an attack, Im just requesting we look at another angle of things, maybe just to say we did.

I uh, thanks for reading.

[paradox-n-bedrock]

2) if I couldn't get love. I'd love to hear more about the dynamic between Lilith and Marie here. How did you even start with that? Did you try to find their common ground? And please share more about your ideas regarding the marassa jumeaux that Marie introduces to Lilith here.

(Find the fic here.)

I mean, writing an OT3, though I hesitate to label the series that, since the dynamic between Lilith and Marie remains in the infancy of flirting and a wealth of mutual respect, and whether it stays there is up to the reader’s interpretation... So, perhaps to rephrase, considering the potential of non-monogamous relationships in fic, one has to consider that there is usually one oddball side of the triangle (or whatever) - the pair that has less or no canon interaction, a less plausible dynamic, or no intention of romance. The ones that are initially connected by their mutual interest in another character. But I like to explore that (and as someone with, uhhh, real-life experience in the matter, sometimes that dynamic turns out to be more compelling than anyone expected). Anyway, I was seeing quite a few posts questioning how Marie as a Catholic was going to maintain a relationship with Zelda - and setting aside that interfaith relationships are a thing, and level of adherence to religious doctrine varies widely among every population (and she’s already openly into women) - it more made me wonder how she would regard Lilith, who exists mostly outside that doctrine and has had personal experience with God. I was thinking that Marie is more than secure enough in her faith to not be shaken by beings outside of its purview existing. And she already knew of Satanic witches. So she would be intrigued more than anything, curious about what the larger picture looks like. 

And, outside of the religious aspect, we’re back to her perceptiveness. She’s not someone who could overlook Lilith’s pain, even if she tried. That’s made worse by how vulnerable Lilith was when they first met in An Offering of Trust. Lilith knows she’s exposed around Marie, and is not happy about that, but Marie’s also been nothing but respectful - Lilith is ancient and powerful and has done nothing to harm her, so there’s no way Marie would be any other way. Lilith is still prickling, questioning Marie’s motives because that initial exposure is not easy to get past, and perhaps that’s why this is their first extended one-on-one interaction, but she’s also warming to her. Not having her vulnerabilities exploited or poked at is always a novel experience for Lilith. In my book, kindness goes so far to disarm her, as we’ve talked about before, and I’m weak for her interacting with anyone that will freely offer her that.

Regarding the Marassa, the creator’s first children, I was really not trying to say anything about them being the same beings. In fact, I was explicitly trying to avoid drawing those sort of conclusions, since we are talking about real religions that face real oppression (referring to Vodou and Judaism). I just wanted to explore the connections that would be so obvious to Marie, faced with Lilith, despite her not being a figure in Catholicism. Since Vodou was formed through the forced syncretism of West African beliefs with Catholicism, it gets a little complicated. Bondye is the same as God, the lwa are associated with Catholic saints, there’s so much overlap in imagery - particularly regarding serpents (which I dove into a bit before) - and the Marassa Jumeaux/Marassa Trois draw an obvious parallel to Adam and Lilith and Eve. But there are major differences, as well: they’re siblings and children, not fully formed adult spouses; they can be any combination of genders, but most often two boys or three girls; and they do have saints they are associated with. 

The big thing that struck me is they are both twins and triplets (Vodou is great about holding simultaneous contradictory ideas. I wonder what Marie thinks of Zelda’s tendency to do the same in everyday life.) And that a child after twins is regarded as a delayed part of those twins, and extraordinarily powerful. I’ve yet to write a fic regarding Lilith’s relationship with Eve, but that immediately made the usually quiet Lilith voice in my head go off. In my headcanon, her relationship with Eve is deep and significant - Lilith is the serpent that gave her knowledge, maybe even of magic. She wanted her to have autonomy from Adam. And Eve listened and valued her. Lilith will forever hold Eve in high regard, she thinks of her as the wise one, regardless of magical ability or lack thereof. So, that was the moment that kicked off this fic. Marie mentioning the Marassa to Lilith and Lilith immediately drawing a comparison to Eve, and then - unintentionally because she’s not thinking very fondly of her in this moment - between Zelda and Eve.

(I’m now going off on a mental tangent, where Lilith did teach Eve magic, but also convinced her to sign the Book of the Beast. I just saw this gifset where Lilith is saying, “We’ve all done unspeakable things to help the ones we love,” and the thought of her betraying Eve due to Lucifer’s manipulation is going to break me. What if that was the first step down the path we see her on? What if her self loathing over that is what began the corruption of her physical form? Nope, I hate this, thanks, brain. No need to go full CAOS dark.)