#I LOVE what the Gerudo could be SO MUCH. OH MY GOD. THE POTENTIAL.

[fuck-em-up-your-grace]

I NEED Zelda lore with good historical allegories PLEASE hire me Nintendo I would make so many good metaphorsssss

[hisuianhellion]

//Top ten other Zelda characters you would like to see as fallers? Asking for a friend

((... oh dear christ this is gonna be a THING HUH??? Okay uh... hmm.

Let me be frank. I'm biased here. I like characters with a lotta pull in the plot. Side-characters... nnnyeh, not so much? So I hope this list includes someone you've been thinkin' about. Also this list is not in order. I would love any of the below... okay maybe Linebeck, Navi or Skull Kid are at the lowest priority but I just wrote these as they came to my mind I'm sorry--

Tulin. My boy. Tulin. My son. Tulin. I love this child with my whole heart and the BOY is my BOY and this BOY is the BOOOOOY. He would do so damn good in a Pokemon setting. My only gripe is that he'd kiiiinda prolly not be all that happy. Unless he ended up with Link/Lianka. He'd be chill then.

Revali. However. This has a giant asterisk attached: because there's ALREADY A REVALI BLOG. So I can and will suggest they smash into each other at mach 3 and make things start happening. If there wasn't? I would put him at 1. No joke. Him and Lianka being actual rivals would be fantastic, genuinely, it would fit so PERFECTLY. He's honestly my favorite of the four Champions... at least the Japanese characterization of him that isn't... kind of a dick, the localization team did him a bit dirty imo.....

Ganondorf. This man... this goddamn man. He just steals the show any game he's in, doesn't he? Ocarina of Time? A basic interpretation, but a THREATENING one. Wind Waker? THE HIGHLIGHT. OF. THE GAME. Twilight Princess? Shows up at the VERY END and proves he is every bit the force he's portrayed as (final boss being cheeseable notwithstanding). Tears of the Kingdom? My fuckin' guy. My. Fucking. GUY. HE KICK... SO MUCH ASS........... perfect villain blog character, GOD he'd be so good.

Ganondorf, but NOT EVIL. Or, perhaps, reformed in some way! I want you to blame Growing Up Gerudo for me becoming enamored with the idea of a Ganondorf that breaks the cycle of hatred Demise forced upon him. The internal AND external turmoil that could cause, the feeling of loathing for himself and those that harmed him at odds. My man in Wind Waker wasn't as clear-cut as you think. He WAS evil, despite the "coveting that wind" excuse he gave. But what if he was being SINCERE--

Navi. She deserves a chance. She does! Don't you tell me she doesn't! She is not annoying, she was their very first attempt at a companion that could help! My girl got done dirty by the fanbase and if she ended up capable of being a Trainer or Eebydeebied and needed some help? I'd be all for that. Girl's a floating encyclopedia anyhow, she'd be perfect for Pokedex research.

Skull Kid. POST-MAJORA'S MASK. Let them have their character development. They are allowed a happy ending as a treat, okay? Besides! We already have a "Shady Mask Anon", so like... c'mon. It fits better than you think.

Linebeck. The sniveling, cowardly "real man of the seas" himself. My guy is absolutely deserving of a good, great, FANTASTIC delve into potentially no longer being a sniveling, cowardly, actual real man of the seas. Prolly in Hoenn, considering things!

Urbosa. If I had to pick a non-Rito champion, her. OR... OOOOOORRRRRR... for much the same reason?

Riju. Both of these girls deserve all the time in the limelight, and I adore both of them as characters. Strong, commanding women with literal lightning powers? H'oh. They can kick SO much ass.

Tetra. My favorite Zelda. The game did her dirty by shafting her into a role of just being a damsel in distress the moment she learned who she was. She deserves to be a fuckin' Pirate Queen. She deserves every damn chance to be a swashbuckling, secretly caring, absolute badass of a hero as much as anyone else.))

[gay-saltasaurus]

I finished Tears of the Kingdom and HOLY FUCK that was so good. Before playing I just expected BOTW but like, more of it. And I was excited for that! I fucking love BOTW! I just assumed no one could top one of the best games in the past decade. Where else can you go if you're already standing at the top of Mt Everest?

And then apparently Nintendo said "Get in loser, we're going to the fucking moon."

There's so much in this game. And usually that's a recipe for disaster, but somehow TOTK makes it work surprisingly well. It's not perfect of course, the depths in particular felt a bit empty sometimes. But the new mechanics and the Zonai devices create so many possibilities that work together beautifully. You have potentially dozens of solutions for almost every problem, and somehow it's still fun and challenging. As someone who works in games, I'm just fucking stunned. Seriously how the fuck did they pull this off.

This game also managed to hit the mark for me emotionally. If a game manages to hook me, I will willingly swallow that hook. I'll digest that shit. I'll eat the whole rod. TOTK had an advantage because BOTW got me emotionally attached to Zelda, but it still managed to get me even more invested in saving her. BOTW I took my time and really wanted to savor the experience before finishing the story. I tried to do that here, but from the beginning the story had me really curious to find out what was going on, so I finished the Tears of the Dragon quest and got an unexpected gut punch. So obviously I was hooked and needed to save Zelda right fucking now hold on babygirl I'm coming oh God there's a SWORD in your SKULL. I did stop occasionally to just chill out with Dragon Zelda, sit on her head and watch the sunset together, which was always nice. I'll probably do another long post at some point comparing the storytelling styles of BOTW and TOTK, because they're both great in very different ways.

The fight with Ganondorf was so much better than BOTW. BOTW it was much easier than I expected, to the point that the divine beasts almost felt a little unnecessary. This time even with the sages I had to pull out to gather more sundelions and do some shrines, and even then it was tense as hell. Then the third phase with the dragon fight was HYPE AS HELL THAT WAS FUCKING AWESOME DRAGON ZELDA IS SO FUCKING COOL. GOD and that ending was great, I'm totally satisfied. That fucking hand callback ruined me. Only 2 notes, 1) not a huge fan of Link magically getting his arm back and 2) CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE GIVE ZELDA A HUG SHE DESERVES IT

Overall, I love this game. It's a massive achievement on a design level, the gameplay is great, I love the story, it looks amazing, music is really well done, Sidon is a gift, and Gerudo Town continues to be the land of my dreams. Also you can ride dragons which automatically makes it 10/10.

[mememan93]

Age of calamity Full review

This is not spoiler free! 

TL:DR its not that its a bad game exactly, just that i have a shit ton of criticisms about it

So because i wanna ramble its gonna be confusing so im gonna split it into groups so the ramblings make sense

The gameplay

I actually love the dynasty warriors gameplay! admittedly i’ve only played hyrule warriors before this, but i still love the gameplay! The rods were a nice touch, but i wish you could BUY apples instead of having to find them

also what was with the reccomended levels? we went from reccomened level 6 to level 28 inbetween 2 consecutive levels

The Story

HOO BOY. The game was initially marketed as a prequel, and even though i had my doubts that the champs were gonna die onscreen and have nintendo leave it at that (zelda is STILL a kids game guys) it was somehow worse than i expected? lots of people have said it felt like a fanfiction and they arent wrong. timetravelling egg, ze//ink being pushed on us (ill explain later) The villain being that (also later) The yiga clan. Like it started off fine, but right after hyrule castle is when it started to get bad

The music

So the music was pretty good! I do have a few ones that i like, namely mipha, urbosa, and revali’s battle theme and Astors non battle theme. It was pretty good, but ill admit i dont remember a lot of it (im listening to the ost as i type this) Astors theme was a good theme, but it doesnt translate well into its battle theme. 

The Voice acting

Its bad. It feels stale, the only character whose voice acting was REALLY good was khoga. When ninendo decided to go with voice acting for fire emblem 3 houses, they hired Patrick Seitz as a voice director, the way he directed the (already amazing) actors was spectacular. Idk who age of calamities Voice director is, all i know is its not the same guy

Listen to this video of the voice acting in fire emblem 3 houses, you’ll see what i mean

Astor

Yes, he gets his own segment i have that much to say

Astor had SO MUCH potential that was just wasted. when he was first announced, people noticed the gerudo symbol on his clothes that they did *nothing with*, so many theories came out, i was in a discord that notices that the thing he holds looks kinda like a corrupted giant core. I feel like when they made his only goal to make sure the calamity happens they made him a worse ghirahim (not that ghirahim was bad, ghirahim is y favorite villain, they just took all the good things about him, removed it and made astor.) also i feel hes gonna be dlc which is disappointing because i dont want to spend more money on this game. I think if he was from the same time as terrako, and only came back to stop terrako from fucking up the timeline it would have been more compelling. Speaking of which...

The egg

oh. my. god. The whole game i wanted to punt this thing. when i got the chance to beat it up in the last level i went FERAL over that. i still think that if zeldas bond with that egg is as deep as it wants us to believe, zelda wouldn’t’ve needed to hear it sing to remember it. i cannot tell you how much i cringed when the “hes a knight as well” line happened. 

Zelda

Its not a secret that i dont like botw zelda. but this game just made me dislike her more. maybe it was the fact that the game was so focused on her feeling sorry for herself that annoyed me? maybe it was *still* her voice? maybe it was the...

Zelink

*Disclaimer* i am a multishipper* when it comes to zelda games. i ship zelink in skyward sword and spirit tracks (i ship Midzelink in tp so that sorta counts) i dont think he ship itself is bad. 

*As long as its not like pedophillic, incest, or just creepy

The way almost every cutscene with link and zelda is like pushed romantics, we dont see any of the resentment between them from botw. they pushed off mipha and link, which was one of the things that interested me about botw, with like 2 lines about it, only between mipha and daruk. D a r  u k

Have i covered everything? i think so, but its like 12 am and im tired

[ticcytx]

TICCY PLAYS ZELDA BREATH OF THE WILD part 3: Gerudo desert

Yes I know that after the Zora I was probably suppose to go for the Gorons, but this is an open world, and I do what I want (real reason: ... I hate lava levels)

But before the plot, some random things I did these days I’m very proud of.

1: I TOOK ALL MY COURAGE AND I WENT TO FIGHT LYNEL I was super scared, Lynel is insane and I was 98% sure to fail, so I went there with super buffed defense and my best weapons...

GLORIOUS tha’s it, I won the game.

my throphies~

2 SO I DECIDED IT WAS A GOOD MOMENT TO FIGHT A GUARDIAN I mean, I defeated lynel, I can defeat a guardian... right?

right. ok so I found the right way to dead with these demons.. omg at the end it wasn’t even targetting me anymore, it was just...depressed and defeated. I almost felt sorry for it. But it was for a brief moment.

Next time on this channel: can we defeat guardiancopters too? stay tuned.

Gerudo Desert

In ocarina of time, the gerudo fortress is one of my favourite places, so understand me if I was so impatient to go to check it out. Also I didn’t saw the gerudos yet in this game so...

SDFGHFGF omg those ABS do not mess with them dfgh Omg so the theory of them leaving their place to travel the world, get a mate and go back with female children was canon oh my god. Thanks nintendo to give us these infos \ o /

Soooo of course Link can’t get into the citadel since he is a boy.... and the answer killed me.

I’M SO GLAD I GOT IT UNSPOILERED oh my god I’m still laughing

sdfdg LINK you are a wonderful lady, so shy (bless this game)

Soo back to our quest, meeting the small matriarch

She is so cool I’m gonna cry.

SMALL QUEEN I bet she will get tall like Sidon when she is adult.

Baha the quest to get back the helmet was fun, why these giants uberstrong ninjas are so crazy for BANANAS. their most precious treasure. Their boss was fun, it looked scary but was very easy to take down

Now that we got the helmet,we can go to free the next giant colossus/guardian/robo camel. if ONLY THE SEAL COULD GO WHERE I WANT IT TO GO. I almost got killed in the stupiest way and Riju kept yelling at me, I’m sorry I failed you.

The dungeon itself was easy tho?? I found it easier then Vah Ruta, but maybe because I got the theories behind these puzzles. The Boss tho wAS INSANE WHAT THE HECK. Maybe it was because I was tired, sleepy and angry that I couldn’t find a way to fight his thunders, I gave up and I took a glimpse to the boss fight guide I’M SORRY I was really stuck and embittered. Of course the pillars were made of iron dfgf they looked like made of stone. orz.

WELL. I saw her in one of the memories but I wish I could see her for the first time here. Dang Urbosa is COOL. SO DAMN COOL I like her voice and her character sdfdg snapping thunders like a boss. I love Gerudos so much I’m glad I took this path.

Ok, super important info right here: Urbosa mentions Nabooru as the ancient gerudo sage that inspired the name of vah naboris (and it was something I noticed already, but I wasn’t sure if it was just an easter egg like all the names on the maps, or if it was made by purpose). I know it doesn’t means a lot buuuuuut I have to keep it in mind for later theories.

 I love this game you have no idea.

And now for the memories section:

(^^^^ holy f Link these are tons of enemies anD IS THAT A BLACK LYNEL?!! I’m out.)

Get these memories become one of my favourite parts. I’m like “ok in this pic you see this thing and that element and that castle angle, so it must be around here somewhere”. And dang, I think this is the first time we see this aspect of a Zelda? Usually all the princess knows more or less what they have to do and how to guide you. Breath Zelda is so.... confused and “inadeguate”? Poor darling oh my god, she can sense that the danger is coming, but doesn’t know how to deal with it. Speaking of memories.... ... I’m gonna get the hyrule castle one WATCH ME I want to know more about it

target aquired, no guardians on my way. I’m going.

there are like 2 guardians walking around but so far no one saw me. I’m ready to fight those damns, I just really want this memory.

SUCCESS! Aaah it was a good one (and even if goron was talking, I heard Zelda saying stuff in the bg like “may you be the sacred hero, in the folds of time, in the twilight shadows, in the infinite seas and the clear skyes...” and I was grinning because it’s impossible for them to know all those heroes versions together, but they still can aha.)

And while I was thinking about all this...

bibibibiibibbibi

bi bibye I’m out.

I miss now just 3 of them, I can’t wait to get them all.

Some cool not plot things I found around the way (warning potential spoilers):

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oooh hohoh so I decided to go on the top of snowy mountain to visit the wisdom fountain and oooooooooh dang there it is, the blue dragon! More black now tho...

this is not creepy at all.

it was a good fight aaah, go now dragon, you are free.

And then  I saw this glowing mountain, like what the??? there is something up there I need to check?? The music then went all scary, I thought it was some gian Lynel or something similar sdfgf but then

oh it’s a mystic fountain. Omg is that a special horse, can I get it?

OH MY YOU CAN RIDE IT FOR REAL AAAAH. sdfdg this thing has like 5 sprints and never gets tired, and it’s name is LORD sdgfdgd I found the lord of horses people, I don’t need Epona anymore.

This dude: seems that around here there is something or someone called Lord”. Ah yes, I love blind npc.

sddsgd the guy at the stables “oh what a nice a horse wanna register it- wait a second isn’t that LORD? A re you CRAZY? HE IS GOING TO CURSE US ALL!!” sdfdgd well, at least it was a nice ride, I gave him an apple, he posed for me for my camera and then it left. Good bye lord of horses.

Not happy tho I decided to complete the giant horse quest. I was expecting to see some kind of monster or something weird...

oh my god I saw already something like that....

this is... no wait I don’t want to get my hopes up, they will kick me out for sure bringing this beast to the stabels...

OH MY GOD I CAN I HAVE GANONDORF’s HORSE oh my god, I have them all now, Epona (thanks amiibo), Zelda’s white horse and this giant beast. oh my god. I love this GAME IS RIDICULOUS.

And that’s is everyone, next time I will go for the Gorons, i promise.

[sage-nebula]

Top 5 Pokemon types (I assume Fire and Dragon will be up there!), top 5 Pokemon locations (from any regions, gameverse or animeverse), top 5 BotW locations, top 5 Zelda characters that aren't Zelda or Link, aaand top 5 Hogwarts classes!

Hmmmm, let’s see!

Top 5 Pokémon Types:

Fire

Ghost

Dark

Dragon

. . . Normal . . . ?

Fire has been my favorite since Gen I, wherein I gleefully set Erika’s entire gym ablaze with my charizard, laughing all the while at the idea of grass-types posing a threat to me. (I’m awful, I know.) I also have two on my One True Team™, so that’s a testament to how much I love them, haha. I loooooove most ghost-types, both in terms of lore and overall design, but I never had one on my OTT™ until Gen VII graced us with the amazing grace that is mimikyu. Dark-types are also great; I love most dark-types, even if the only one I have my OTT™ is my umbreon. When it comes to dragons, I prefer ones that are dragon by species over dragon-type, technically (e.g. I’m always going to prefer charizard and consider charizard to be more of a dragon than, say, Alolan exeggutor, which may be a dragon-type but is not an actual dragon by species), but a lot of dragons by species are also dragon by type, so it still does count. And lastly, I don’t think I have a fifth favorite, but, uh . . . normal types are cute . . . ? Hahaha.

Top 5 Pokémon Locations:

These are practically all going to be in Johto, orz. All the same, not in any particular order:

The Charicific Valley --- It’s literally a wild charizard reserve, what’s not to love? Even if it’s anime only, it’s still a place where charizard can live freely and happily. It’s a dream come true, tbh.

Ilex Forest / Celebi’s Shrine --- This whole area has a very mystical feeling, especially since Celebi’s Shrine is so unassuming, yet so important when it comes to the fact that a time-traveling legendary has an attachment to it. And it makes you wonder, like, did people used to pray here? Is it possible that the people of Azalea Town still do? Johto pays so much more adherence to legends than Kanto does, so it’s possible . . . but it’s also possible that it’s forgotten. Ilex Forest just has a sort of Lost Woods vibe to it, though. I love it.

The Burned Tower / Bell Tower --- Likewise, I love both of these towers for a similar reason. There’s so much history here, and with the Bell Tower especially you know that it still is visited by Ho-Oh in the right circumstances. These are sacred places, even if (or perhaps especially because) one of them was burned to the ground. It just has that sort of feeling to it, that you’re walking somewhere special whenever you go there.

The Ruins of Alph --- THE GREATEST MYSTERY IN THE WORLD, THE GREATEST SOURCE OF LOST POTENTIAL, LIKE---what is this place? Why is this place the way it is? Radio signals don’t work there. The unown haunt it. But why? We know that the Sinjoh Ruins might have something to do with it, given the connection there, and that Arceus and the unown have some kind of connection, but we still don’t know what, precisely, that connection is. There’s so much mystery and I feel that there’s so much more to be done with the Ruins of Alph, more dimensions that can be accessed from them, more that can be uncovered and explored. I want to uncover that, I want to see it!

All of the mystical / legendary islands in Hoenn --- Okay, there are too many to list here, but like . . . Mirage Island, which changes location and really does appear and disappear like a mirage. Faraway Island, which to this day is the only known habitat of Mew. Birth Island, where you find Deoxys in the original Gen III games. Southern Island, where you find one of the Latis. And all of the mystical islands where you find Hoopa’s Rings in ORAS. Like . . . these places, they’re always so remote, the music is usually mystical and fills you with this sense of wonder and legend and myth. God, I crave this sort of thing, these are always my favorite places, and Hoenn was so great for that because they could include so many different little islands scattered throughout the region. (Something you would think Alola would have done as well, but alas . . .)

So yeah, all my favorite places are in, like, Johto or Hoenn, hahaha. But really, I love mystical, legend-infused places. Give me your remote islands with legendaries. Give me your sacred places of ancient worship. Give me your alternate dimensions with your eldritch abominations. I want to see and explore it all.

Top 5 BotW Locations:

My House --- I’m really attached to the idea that Link has a home, haha. I like to keep Keith there a lot, I always go back there to cook, et cetera. I really love that Link has a place to call home amidst all the adventuring and traveling.

The Temple of Time --- I’m mad that the Temple of Time can’t play an actually important role in this game, even if I kind of understand it. Even so, I’m very attached to the Temple of Time and probably always will be. It’s sacred to me even if it’s just a cool place in this game where the Old Man tells you who he really is.

The Lost Woods --- This is the best rendition of the Lost Woods yet. Although I’m not too fond of Korok Village itself (too many framerate drops, the music isn’t great, Koroks are annoying), I love the Lost Woods, how creepy and ethereal they are, and the music is fantastic. A++++, best Lost Woods yet.

The Forgotten Temple --- One of my newest favorite locations. To me, the Forgotten Temple is definitely linked to SS. How much is debatable; that’s clearly the Statue of the Goddess in the very back, but I’m not sure if this temple is supposed to be the Sealed Grounds (maybe built on top of the Sealed Grounds?) or what. But it has a very mystical feel to it all the same, so I love it.

The Mounted Archery Camp --- In truth, I can’t decide on a fifth, so this one will go here because JINI IS WAITING COME WIND OR STORM, AND WANTS LINK TO BE CAREFUL. ;__; JINIIIIIII

I’m really attached to Jini, okay.

Top 5 Zelda Characters (that aren’t Zelda or Link):

Tatl --- Tatl is always going to be best companion, best girl, as far as I’m concerned. I love how she actually had a full personality of her own; she’s incredibly snarky (especially in the N64 original; they toned her down for the 3DS remake and I’m mad), unwilling to help at first, and is extremely focused on protecting her little brother, Tael, regardless of what happens to others. But she develops; she becomes more helpful, more attached to Link as well, and she even continues to develop after you beat the game once, because the first time you go to the moon she doesn’t want to go until Tael says that, fine, he’ll go. Every time after that she jumps at the chance, saying that Link is her partner and if he’s going, she’s going, too. I love how much development, personality, and history she gets. She even gets it in response to other characters, such as how she keeps snarking Kafei as he tells his story. Tatl’s not a perfect person, but I love that. I love her. (And I mean, she’s a wonderfully protective big sis. Give credit where credit is due.)

Urbosa --- QUEEN. Urbosa is everything I ever wanted from the Gerudo and more. She’s clearly a fierce warrior, but she also has a nurturing aspect to her as well with how she looks after Zelda and the others. She’s incredibly badass with the way she calls lightning with finger snaps. And on top of it all, she calls upon Gerudo history and marks her beef with Calamity Ganon as being personal due to the time he was reincarnated as a Gerudo. Fuckin’---I love her. Far and away the best Champion in the game (excluding Link, of course). I love her. 

Marin --- Marin is especially notable because of how much characterization she got despite the fact that Link’s Awakening is a GB game. She could have easily been just another boring maiden, but we see that she, too, takes to calling Link “thief” if he steals from the shop; Link gets to go on a date with her, in which we see more of her personality through the various shenanigans they get up to; and we even learn that she has suspicions about a world outside of Koholint Island, that while everyone else on Koholint believes that there is no world outside of the island, she does. And she’s so desperate to see what’s out there that she daydreams about being a seagull, just so she can fly away. That’s pretty deep for a GB!Zelda character, and I love that she was fleshed out so much. I’m always going to love my girl Marin, and I’ll always headcanon that she, like Link, washed up on Koholint’s shore. I hope that she got to find a life outside of the island one day, as a person or seagull or otherwise.

Kafei --- Not only is Kafei being notable for one of the few (and perhaps the first) instances where you get to play as someone other than Link temporarily, but I love him as a character, too. I think my favorite part of Kafei is how deadpan he is about so many things; he refuses to even acknowledge Tatl’s snarking, much less rise to it, and he insists on calling Link “green-hat boy” for pretty much the entire time they know each other. But he’s also so sincere; if you fail to get the Sun’s Mask back, his despair over losing it is palpable. I do wish he realized that Anju would accept him regardless, but even so, that’s just another fault, and characters who have flaws are good. I love Kafei, he’s great. (And I also still believe that he’s a Terminian Sheikah.)

Fi --- Lastly, Fi. I wish that we saw more development from her over the course of the game, but the connection between the Hero and the Master Sword has always been important to me, and SS just made it even more so. Her goodbye can still bring tears to my eyes. Here’s hoping that the BotW DLC gives us a chance to see her interact with this Link. Please, Nintendo. Please.

Top 5 Hogwarts Classes:

Care of Magical Creatures

Defense Against the Dark Arts

Transfiguration

Charms

Ancient Runes

Those are the ones I’d be most interested in, anyway!

[thegeminisage]

zeldablogging! i actually quit playing hours ago but i didn’t have time to post it until now

firstly my bro came over and let me use all his amiibos and i got epona and some SWEET gear, but it's like, a random chance to get one of the three piece fo each one, so he has to COME BACK so can get everything

i got one of link's iconic hats haha im Sad

also i went to the wasteland tower and i can see the divine beast from there!! i think with the flying island bird thing i've now seen them all

altho if that ship thing really is the beast and i can see if from that far away...holy Fuck. they are so Big

my brother wanted me to go north to the woods at the top of the map to get the master sword, but im just not Ready yet. i wanna see more plot. he also told me that there was no special quest for it which like :/ weak?? im disappointed tbh

the interactive map shows a stable along the road so i guess i will start there!

i'm a little intimidated by the big desert tbh

god everything here is so tall and vast...i'm pretty sure bits of this are from one of the cool parts of the trailer

omg there's a talus on this hill

dont feel like fighting it now tho lol

KASS IS HERE <3

omg four dudes lost in the gerudo region...now THIS sounds familiar

ahaha :')

actually, i think i'm gonna go ahead and head to gerudo town first before exploring everywhere...which is the opposite of what i SAID i wanted to do after death mountain but this desert is big and vast and it'll be easier to keep track of what i've done, and tbh i'm afraid of running into the divine beast while i explore LMAO

plus: i wanna see plot!

i like that horses follow the roads, i can kinda see the sights and scope it out a little before Deep Exploration

wait can i not

oh god can i not ride my horse out here....?

oh jesus

ohhh my god what a long walk.......haha i've become spoiled

oh well here we go

lol i put on the link hat and got like. overwhelmed, emotionall.y too much. so much. to see him in green rn. altho lowkey disappointed he hasn't been in green for most of the game thats just His Color

omg it gets Cold in the desert at night!!

i bet in the daytime it gets hot hahaha

ooh i got a gerudo shield and scimitar from this lizalfos! nice!

WOW ANOTHER GERUDO HI HELLO IM GAY

uh

why......doesn't my map work rn

what the fuck??

i opened it and?? static??

please tell me it's the divine beast and not an area thing i can't LIVE without my map

wow the air got all green and windy here when i walked towards a shrine...dnw dnw 

see this is why i worried about exploring but it's Right There if igured it'd be no trouble

thats what i get for thinkin

omg a SAND SEAL?? they are so weird lookin haha and it scared me for a sec moving thru the gloom like that. thought it was a monster

uh

it strikes me with no minimap i can't fast travel and everything looks just the same out here...what if i get lost?

oh there's the shrine thank god

omg my map works inside the shrine ;w;

tbh i dont feel like doing it rn i'd fast travel out of this green shit if that didn't mean having to start the whole walk over

i guess i can just fast travel to the shrine itself at least now i know the direction i need to walk to get out

yep and here goes the temp climbing. jesus

luckily i prepped for this when i stop to cook i like to make a bit of everything and i knew i was coming somewhere hot, so

LMFAO out of sheer curiosity i took all my armor off and that worked too.

ohhh amn this no-map green-sand no-visibility thing is WIGGING ME OUT dude i pray it's a divine beast thing bc i can't explore like this AND i couldn't really see the whole beast bc of the sand. so. fingers crossed

please let me find the road please let me find the road please let me find the road

put all my armor back on bc i spotted an enemy and thats super weird even without special food the sun isn't killing me anymore...maybe it's a noontimeish thing? but no, it was sunrise before and 10am now.......mysterious. i don't like it. i do not like the desert. i Do Not like the desert.

I JUST HEARD THE BEAST ROAR

oh my god and there it is...what even IS that jesus christ

it's so big im scared and crying

and the lightning!!! it's so powerful!!!!

like, my brother said the dungeons were too easy but the FEEL of these things...they truly are fucking divine

oh thank fuck i see fire. help me please

MY MAP'S BACK YES

thank GOD

and i'm at gerudo town i think!! somehow

but i missed the oasis and i know there was a memory there painter dude told me ):

wait, no...this IS the oasis! yes!!!!!! i made it to the road in the perfect spot!!!!!!

wait they;re saying here "voe" aren't allowed in gerdo town...oh my god are they being serious rn

I HATE THE DESERT LMAO

but frankly i can't blame them. tbh if i had a society of all females i wouldn't let any men in either.

there's. so many pretty women in here. they're so tall. i'm so gay

omg there's a rito and a goron here!

oooh the highlands tower sandstorm apparently dies down for a few hours every day!! good to know x_x

god if it IS a regional thing im totally fucked.

oop the temp kicked up again once i left the oasis

WAIT i almost forgot the memory jesus christ!

ok ok

WHOAAA HOLY FCK

zelda was running from the yiga clan and link stepped in and saved her at the last second AND THE MAIN THEME PLAYED A LITTLE

altho i kinda hate this helpless damsel zelda stuff...i guess it's mostly par for the course, tho - very few games have had her able to fight and even the ones that did got her captured at the very end

there's a rock outcropping here and i can SEE the sandstorms, jesus

i hope they're less frequent after i free the beast

maybe the one near the shrine/tower broke up for a sec and that's why the temp kicked up? everyone says it does once a day...but my map didn't change lol so idk

lol got to tell a gerudo she was my dream girl

haha so they travel and leave to find husbands and have kids? she mentioned "training"... great potential for trans characters here but alas that's WAY beyond nintendo rn

i like that they speak another language, it makes the world feel bigger and more real (and they even teach you some!!)

omg you can RIDE the sand seals?!

i...need a shield...to sand seal SURF

that sounds. like the coolest thing ive ever heard in my whole life

apparently there's a guy who slips in every night that i could follow!! i wish i could just sneak in myself, tho

all right nothing doing so i loked it up and APPARENTLY YOU HAVE TO CROSSDRESS LOL i love it

like i've seen that outfit in guides and i thought it looked a bit nonfunctional

altho i hope this plotline doesn't make crossdressers the butt of a joke!!

aw you can tell the person on the rock "you're a man" but im gonna pretend she's trans and not be a jerk

AAAH I LOOK PRETTY

ok, i absolutely gotta dye these pink

AWWW LINK LOOKS BASHFUL WHEN TOLD HE IS A GOOD-LOOKIN GAL

MY SWEET SON

yes i am fast traveling this instant to dye these

i know this game is probably being gross about this but frankly i love the idea of agender link

and these are my favorite clothes i wanna wear them and ride my pink horse all the time

aaah and now i am pink!! tbh i'd love to sneak in now but i have a stream to get ready for ))):

maybe i will just look around really quick i still have a few minutes

im usually a little late starting anyways lol

ooh the music in the day here is rly cool!

OMG A LIL BABY GERUDO GIRL SHE'S SO CUTE im crying

LOL THERE'S A GORON HERE

why did they let him in! i thought there were no girl gorons

lmao even he doesn't know......omg

omg an OLD gerudo too finally!!!

gaaaah i wanna look around more but my time is up for tonight!!

[mrneighbourlove]

A Gerudo Story: Tebanem and Klinge.

Klinge toured the castle halls. He enjoyed the small walks he could have on his own around the castle interior, taking in the grandness of it all. So much history over the generations, personal included as well, in every inch. His concentration, however, was broken by two young men running around the corner, one of them smashing into him and falling into the floor.

Keeping his balance from the crash and looking down Klinge saw Prince Tebanam on the floor, and a son of a court member if Klinge recalled, panicking from the collision.

“Ow, that really hurt.”

“Tebanam, are you alright?!”

Klinge screamed internally from potentially harming the prince but kept steady. Tebanam was such a care free lad, and Klinge enjoyed how the prince took great interest in Gerudo history. If he unintentionally hurt him he would never forgive himself.

“Prince Tebanam, you are not hurt are you sir?”

“I’m fine Commander. Sorry for running into you.”

“You can address me as just Klinge Prince Tebanam. No need for ‘Commander’.”

“Then in return how about we just leave it at Tebanam if you don’t want formalities.”

Tebanam gave the commander a smile. Klinge reached down and yanked Tebanam up to his feet.

“I’d recommend getting checked out for head wounds. Running straight into a heavy suit of armour can’t be good for you.”

“Coming from the guy whose personal training gets me and my brothers and sisters rocked around like ragdolls. I think we’ll be fine.”

The boy with the prince dusted him off with deep concern in his eyes.

“You sure you’re alright?”

“Yeah, he’s intentionally given me worse. I’ll be fine.”

“Alright, good. I need you in peak condition.”

Tebanam gave him a smile beaming with joy.

“Let’s go. And sorry for once again running into you Klinge.”

“Think nothing of it.”

Klinge watched as the two boys ran off. They had a sparkle in their eyes that brought Klinge back to a younger time in his life. Ah, the joys of youth. Klinge continued his stroll down the castle, noticing the rainbow shining through the window. Looked like the storm outside had just finished.

- 

“Lazy oaf, sending me to do something he could get in an instant.”

Klinge made his way down to the basement of the ninth tower. Ghirahim wanted him to collect a scroll of some sort from storage, insisting it was important, but not important enough to grab himself. And since the demon still outranked him, Klinge had little say in the matter on being a dog going to play fetch.  

Klinge yanked open the door to the basement and descended down the steps. He looked around some of the shelves but didn’t see any scroll. Must have been in the closet door. Opening it he came to a sudden stop. Before his eyes he saw Tebanam and the younger man from before, naked and on top of each other in passionate love making. Tebanam was thrusting up and down.

When Tebanam eyes took notice of the armoured warrior, he locked onto him with a burning primal fear exploding.

“OH MY GOD! Get out!!!”

Klinge quickly stepped outside and shut the door. He heard the panicked rushed voices coming from the two men. Klinge took a moment to process what he just saw, and, with a deep breath, knocked on the door. This would take the most careful planning of words and intention. A prince and the son of a council member engaging in sexual intercourse. The scandal would be worse than any in Hyrule’s history. Klinge tried to soften his words with his tone.

“I’m coming in about ten seconds. Get changed.”

Klinge waited a moment, and opened the door. The two young men had at least their pants on, and fumbled their way on getting their shirts on.

“Boys, calm-“

“No, you weren’t supposed to be here!”

“Lord Jazoh please-“

“No he’s right, what the hell are you doing down here!?”

“I came to get a scroll Prince Tebanam.”

Tebanam looked to his right and threw the closest piece of paper at Klinge. Tears were streaming down his face.

“There you go. Now get out!”

“Prince Tebanam I-“

“JUST GO!”

Klinge firmly shut the door and blocked the only exit out, using his large frame to keep them in.

“No.”

“Why, so I can feel more embarrassed?!”

Klinge took a softer stance. He had to let Tebanam know that there was no danger.

“Boys, there is nothing to be embarrassed about. I want you to trust me. However, I’m going to have you both just take a deep breath and calm down.”

Tebanam and Jazoh looked at each other, and did as they were told, but still had worry in their eyes. Jazoh looked at Klinge, the black knight’s presence unnerving him.

“If my father finds out about this-“

“He won’t.”

“You sure?”

“Nothing leaves this room. Tebanam, how long has this been going on for?”

“Almost a month now.”

“Why keep this a secret?”

Jazoh shuddered, barely able to stop shaking from the thought of what would happen if this got out.

“Because my father would never allow this. As a member of the court he despises the very thought.”

“I see. Rinku’s first girlfriend made Zelda have a panic attack; can imagine how those stooges in the court would burst in comparison.”

“That’s why this has been a secret. No one can find out. Not Moma, Papa, or anyone else.”

“I understand. But you both should know that the King and Queen would support you in the end. And you have my support. Love, no matter what shape, shouldn’t be something that is ridiculed and snuffed out.”

“But-“

“Follow your hearts and do what’s right. And I promise, as ex. Head of the Royal Guard, and your protector, you are safe with me.”

Klinge crossed his heart and smiled under his helmet.

“It’s our little secret.”

Tebanam gave a huge sigh of relief and hugged the Darknut, catching Klinge off guard with the sign of affection, and tears of joy starting to fall down even harder.

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Klinge patted him awkwardly on the back. He barely received this kind of contact anymore. It was nice though. Never having a child himself, Klinge couldn’t help but see himself as father figure sometimes. Hell, the kids even sometimes called him “Uncle Klinge” as little children. It filled him with pride to help Tebanam.

“Anytime Tebanam.”

Klinge let go, grabbed the scroll, and started to leave.

“I’ll go now. So sorry for interrupting you. And this wasn’t a bad spot to hide all things considered.”

Klinge gave small one handed salute.

“Have a fine rest of your evening gentlemen, and know you aren’t alone.”

-

Klinge exited the board room of Captains, council members and other military leaders. It had been a long meeting over the petty charade of how to integrate Lorleidian guards into noble protection units. The snotty men and woman argued and debated why they wanted pure Hylian units watching them. He turned to Captain’s Kelly and Tulilad with an angry gruff.  The insults were unbearable today. Against the Lorleidians sure, but also oddly enough a resurgence against the Gerudo.

“God damn nobles. How they are still able to come up with new insults infuriates me to no end. I am close to boiling the next fool uses his tongue in such a way. Don’t they understand that sacrifice to their pleasure must be taken to achieve success? It took so many goddamn years for them to get used to the Goblins and Undead, now we have to restart the whole damn thing over again!”

Both Captains rolled their eyes. Tulilad picked up his stride to keep up with the Commander.

“Sir, maybe you and the nobles would get along more if you didn’t undermine them every given chance.”

“Or threaten them.”

“By and I quote, “Crushing their greedy fat eyes into their skulls” if they couldn’t see change.”

Klinge shrugged his shoulders. He had never gotten along well with the nobles of Hyrule. They represented everything wrong with the country. He was fine with a relationship of fear between them, because they knew who would come out on top in the end. Klinge even had a few secretly assassinated over the years against the ones who would dare plot to end the lives of the royal family. He understood why they were necessary to the country, but by god did he wish Ganondorf had just done away with them all when he became King. Maybe when Zarazu ascended the throne she could be convinced to make some changes to the hierarchy.

“Speaking of that, I appreciate the gesture, but perhaps in the future we should watch our words.”

Klinge turned to see Queen Zarazu exit behind them. The Lorleidian had bags under eyes from the stress of keeping her composure in. She was glad her friend was there to be the first to put the council in its place and back her up. Her people had done so much for Hyrule over the years, yet those damn nobles still fought tooth and nail to stop change from occurring.

Klinge smiled to the Queen, a mischievous smirk forming on his lips. How odd, over the years he had grown more human and expressive with his emotions.

“Aw come now, I’m sure it would be fun. Besides, there is so much you can do to those vultures. You ever seen a rich man run around with his wig cut to pieces, or better yet, on fire? Damn hilarious.”

Zarazu gave a laugh. The man’s dark sense of humor amused her, at least when directed towards the right people.

“I’m sure it would.”

“Seriously though, on your command. Poof.” Klinge made a motion with his fingers and a small amount of dark fire flickered in his hand.

The two shared another jolly laugh. Tulilad and Kelly looked at the Knight and the Queen in amusement. It was nice to see their Commander have opened up to more people over the years. Especially after his first encounter with Queen Zarazu. She had brought a new and, dare they say, caring side to the Commander that before could only be rarely seen.

After the warrior had said his goodbyes, Klinge went around the corner to go into his private courters when he found Ganondorf waiting for him at his door. Oddly enough the king and a few others had been missing from the meeting. Klinge knew immediately by the look of rage that something was wrong.

“Yes, my liege?”

Ganondorf trotted up to him and yelled right in his face.

“My office. Now!”

Klinge did as he was commanded. He tried to quickly recall if he had done anything out of line. Entering the office he found Zelda sitting at the end of the desk with a bottle of gin next to her. Her glare was ice cold and pointed straight at him. Klinge’s muscles tightened, he was not in the mood to have a snapping argument with the queen.

“Take a seat Commander.”

Klinge did as he was told, but only because Ganondorf was in the room with her, taking a seat beside his wife. If Zelda wanted to be on point, so would he.

“What is this about?”

“This is about our son, Tebanam.”

Klinge’s mind cracked like a piece of glass. There could only be one reason for him being called here. They knew, and if they knew then others must have known. Yet he put on a poker face in his voice hoping for a different outcome.

“What about the Prince?”

Ganondorf’s fingers cracked.

“Don’t be coy Klinge. You know exactly what.”

Damn it. So they did know. Klinge still tried to keep up the façade in his voice though.

“I don’t know what you are-“

Ganondorf slammed his fist into the desk, dark energies rippling.

“You know exactly what we are talking about here you bastard!”

Fine, no point in hiding it now.

“I do not see what this has to do with me. The prince’s sexual preference matters not to me!”

“So you did know, why did you not come forward to us right away? We are his parents. If you told us what happened between him and  Jazoh, the situation may have not grown out of control.”

Klinge’s hands tightened, a pit in his stomach growing.

“What situation?

Zelda gave a sigh and squeezed tightly around her glass.

“Uro Spegeil, Jazoh’s father, somehow found out about the relationship between his son and Tebanam. Rumors are already going through out the court. When we asked our son who knew of his “activities” with Jazoh, he told us you were the only one who knew.”

Klinge stood up from the chair. He had to see Tebanam and see if he was ok.

“I can fix this.”

“Sit down Klinge! Because you didn’t tell us right away, the situation has spiralled out of control. We could have done something to help him!”

Klinge snapped at Zelda, he knew exactly what the damn Hylian meant by “help”.

“Really, what would you have done Zelda? Placed guards around Tebanam, given him a scolding to “fix” the way he loves people? Because it worked so well the first time around after you discovered Rinku’s first relationship! God forbid you love a child who can explore their sexuality!”

The small bottle almost broke under Zelda’s rage from the commanders comments.

“How dare you. I love my children for who they are.”

“Please, being gay isn’t a high Hylian standard and you know it! If you had it your way, your perfect flowery Hylian way, you would have-”

“Be silent Klinge!”

Klinge looked over to see Ganondorf slam his fist once again into the desk, shattering it in two. Klinge, however, was still angry himself, and would not be dismayed by Ganondorf’s power.

“King Ganondorf, Queen Zelda. If you brought me here to scold me you are wasting your time. I didn’t tell you because I felt it was in the best interest of Tebanam. I wanted his privacy to come first!”

Zelda breathed deeply. She had tried so long to keep her children safe, both physically and mentally, but now a terrible omen laid in her stomach. The courts, who had despised her husband and children for years, finally had something to tear their teeth into. The only minimal bit of comfort she felt was that Klinge did what he though was right and legitimately cared for her son.

“If you don’t mind your majesty, I wish to see the young prince.”

Ganondorf was hesitant, but Zelda gave a tired nod, with one final fiery glare at Klinge.

“I doubt your looking for permission but you may proceed. Just know this, if anything like this happens again with our children, and you keep the knowledge to yourself, I will have your undead head removed from your body.”

Klinge growled from her threat. Even now they still couldn’t be fully at peace with each other. If Zelda wanted to take her stress out on him from the situation, that was fine with him.

“I’ll remember that comment the next time an assassin sneaks his way into your room Zelda.”

Klinge stormed out of the office before either the King or Queen could have a reaction from his comment and made his way as quickly as he could to Tebanem’s room. Just as he made it and was about to open the door, he heard someone behind him. Turning around, he then had to look down to see Rinku, her short stature easily recognizable.

“Oh, Commander Klinge, long time no see. What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to see Tebanem.”

A small look of grief and pity graced Rinku’s face. She knew exactly what her brother was going through.

“Yeah, me too. Say, why don’t we go in together.”

Klinge nodded his head. It would be nice to have some support on this. Opening the door he let Rinku in first. Tebenam was by his window, curled up and watching the night sky. From this distance he was looking out to the lands beyond Hyrule.

“Hey bro.”

Tebanem turned his head, surprised to see his elder sister. His eyes looked devoid of colour and life, as if something had been ripped from his very soul.

“Hey sis.”

Rinku walked over to him and sat beside him. “You doing alright?”

“No.”

“You want to talk about it?”

Rinku put an arm around her baby brother for support. Thankfully Tebanem didn’t object. However when the prince saw Klinge a bitter anger started to grow in him.

“Klinge.”

“Yes, Tebanem?”

“You said that everything was going to be alright.”

Klinge did not like where this was going.

“I did. I told you it was our secret, and I didn’t make that public.”

“Yet the information got out anyways.”

“Tebanem, your family and I can help you. I told you you’d be safe, you and Jazoh can still have a happy life together. I won’t let your mother or even the nobles get in the way of that. That’s a promise on my part.”

Klinge reached a hand out for Tebanem. God he just wanted him to be happy. The smile Klinge wore slowly disappeared as he released Tebanem had no intention of reaching out.

“Jazoh’s gone.”

Both Klinge and Rinku had surprise slapped across their faces. Rinku held her grip on her brother a little tighter.

“What do you mean?”

“As I walked through the castle today I picked up on the new remarks whispered behind my back by the staff and nobles. I quickly knew what this could only mean so I hurried to find Jazoh. Instead I found his father. He told me he had sent Jazoh away to be cleaned in spirit. He called me a disgusting desert pig swine who stole Jazoh’s heart and corrupted him and that he would do everything in his power to make sure my name was damaged beyond repair.” Tebanem started to have tears come down his face, yet he retained his low tone, never breaking into a sob. These were the tears of a broken man. “I never even got to say goodbye. So what the hell can you possibly keep safe Commander.”

Klinge’s hand shaked. Guilt stabbed him in his gut. He should have watched more carefully over the boys. “Tebanem, I only wanted…”

“Get the hell out.”

Rinku watched as Klinge took a physical step back. She had never seen the Commander so rattled by words before.

“Tebanem, that’s not fair to Klinge.”

“I want him gone Rinku.”

Klinge’s hand slowly balled into a fist. With a small bow, he reluctantly followed the prince’s command. “As you wish, your highness. I suppose you’d like to be with actual family now.”

“I would. Now leave.”

Klinge left the room and slowly shut the door behind him. The balled fist he had squeezed tighter and tighter, until blood started to leak from it. The prince was angry at him because he couldn’t protect him. Klinge had failed him, had completely shattered his promise. Klinge’s eyes then flared from sadness to wrath, a hatred kindling inside him. If he couldn’t protect Tebanem from the ridicule of the court, he would avenge him. Starting with the bastard who dare hurt him so.

-

Uro Spegeil entered his living courters and sat at his desk. Sending his son away out of Hyrule was taxing, as well as arguing with boy’s mother on doing so. But seeing the look of fear as the young Gerudo prince squirmed when he told him that he’d never see Jazoh filled Uro with content. How dare that ingrate, that desert rat confuse Jazoh so, and worse, defile him before wedlock.

Uro took out his secret stash of wine from his draw and poured himself a glass. Taking a sip he nearly dropped his bottle when he finally noticed the figure standing in the corner of his room, illuminated by the moonlight peering through the room.

“Who’s there?! Identify yourself before I call the guards!”

“I am the Guard.”

Klinge walked forward more into view, his presence towering over the noble. Uro wasn’t sure what the High Commander wanted.

“Why have you broken into my room?”

“I told you, I am the Guard. I protect the royalty, and you have made the terrible mistake of targeting Prince Tebanem.”

“Are you here to threaten me? Because if you are, just leave now. I won’t be dismayed in my actions, that little rat deserves everything coming to him. Besides, you can’t do anything, I haven’t broken any laws.”

Klinge took another step closer to Uro, his hands crackling.

“You hurt my boy. And for that, I am going to kill you.”

Uro dropped his wine glass in terror and took as much distance as he could between himself and Klinge as he could.

“Are you insane? I’m a council member! You can’t touch me!”

Uro desperately tried to find something to defend himself, grabbing a small dirty butter knife.

“That’s right! If you do touch me, people will know it was you. How many times have you threatened to tear a nobles head off or stab him to death?”

“That’s why I’m not going to lay a finger on you.”

“What in god’s name are you talking about?”

Klinge merely pointed down to the broken bottle on the floor. Uro didn’t quite get it until a feeling in his gut started to stab him. Falling to his knee’s his eyes started to bulge and the air turned hot. He looked up through the red haze and the pain to see Klinge stand over him.

“Not the first time I’ve done this. Your right though, a more hands on approach would give myself away, so that’s why I only use poisons for situations like these. You can thank the Deku for coming up with such a dangerous toxin. Burns up your organs, causes you to exert any fluids and feces you have from your body, cuts off the air supply, as well as put you in the most unimaginable pain after a minute of taking it. Well, if you aren’t a Deku that is. Don’t worry though, there’s always able body nobles just itching to have your position, and nobody will miss you.”

Uro started tearing at his throat, desperate for any kind of clean air.

“I do hope you savoured that wine. Maybe in the next life you’ll think twice about hurting a Gerudo you Hylian mutt.”

Klinge watched the last bit of life be torn from Uro as he twitched on the ground, foam and blood leaking from him. Feeling content with what he did, he left the room as fast as he could. Best nobody witness him at the scene of the crime.

-

A little more than a month had passed since Klinge slew Uro. People were shocked, but assassinations against nobles were nothing new. Hell, this actually helped Klinge’s case on convincing the nobles to not be picky with having Lorleidians be there bodyguards. Yet, Tebenam had still refused to talk to him. Klinge thought that he out of most would be thrilled for Uro’s death.

Klinge decided that maybe he should confront Tebanem directly. Maybe it would be best for Klinge to tell him he was actually sorry in his failure to protect the boy. At least then he could feel less guilty. Over the last month Klinge had threatened more and more nobles daring to speak out against Tebanem, and those were against just the rumor’s he heard himself. He hoped the stress wasn’t too much for Tebanem. It had been a week since he had been at the castle, just coming back from an inspection, he worried about the boy immensely every day he was gone.

Klinge knocked at the prince’s door.  “Prince Tebanem? Are you there? It’s Klinge.” There came no reply from the other side. “I just wanted to say that I am sorry.” Once again came no answer. After a minute of waiting and the occasional knock, Klinge decided Tebanem wasn’t in his room. Maybe one of his siblings would know.

Klinge made his way through the castle, until he found Kanisa practicing her dancing. My how she moved like the wind. When she took notice of the commander, she didn’t stop her practicing until she was finished. With her last stride she took a bow towards Klinge, who gave her a clap of congratulations.

“Nicely done Kanisa. I can see why so many have fallen for you. No one can make a heart sing for joy like you can.”

Kanisa blushed from the commander’s compliments.

“What can I do for you Klinge?”

“Actually I was hoping to find your brother, Tebanem. I haven’t spoken to him for a while and I just wanted to check in on him. He wasn’t in the library or at his room. I thought you or one of your siblings would know.”

The smile on Kanisa’s face died off and was replaced with that of a burden.

“Oh, you didn’t know.”

Klinge was curious, but a little worried at the same time. Did something happen to her brother while she was away?

“Know what? Kanisa, please, if there is anything you need to tell me, do so.”

Kanisa walked off the stage and took one of Klinge’s hands and held on gently.

“Klinge, Tebanem is gone. He left the castle four days ago. I… I don’t think he’s coming back.”

Terror went through Klinge. He should have been there to stop Tebanem, or to at least talk to him.

“Why. Why would he leave?”

“He couldn’t handle it anymore. The people of the court kept ridiculing him, despite everyone’s best interests to protect him. So he just left it all behind.”

“No.” Klinge looked towards the exit. His mind was racing. He had done everything he could to protect Tebanem. Given him extra protection detail, threatened nobles, even bribed people to stop antagonizing him. He started to move towards the exit, if he hurried, maybe he could pick up a trail. Kanisa still held on, stopping him from going forward.

“Klinge please, he’s gone. There is nothing you can do now.”

Klinge’s hand shook in Kanisa’s. He started to tremble throughout his body.

“No, you don’t understand. I was supposed to protect him; I was supposed to protect you all. Yet, even after I promised him safety…I failed. I failed to protect him. I…” Klinge’s guilt caused him to collapse into Kanisa’s arms in a supporting embrace. “Oh goddesses, I wasn’t there for him. I told him he’d be safe, yet I failed. I failed Kanisa.”

Kanisa soothed the commander as much as she could. She was glad that someone had tried so hard to look after her brother and cared for all of her siblings so much.

“This isn’t your fault. Things will work out in the end, trust me.”

Despite her kind words, Klinge felt nothing but misery in his heart. Since his reincarnation, he had barely felt human emotion besides rage and wrath, or the pleasure of others pain. But now he felt true sadness. After failing to save Cipher and his child, he considered this his second biggest failure in life.

-

“ ‘And so Ralco carried his beloved Cleo down the steps to his horse carriage, ready to whisk her off to a far off country. This was his last chance for escape.  Suddenly, Baron Von Issia stepped into view and drew his blade. He was hell bent on making Cleo his. Taking his blade, the baron stabbed the thief through the heart, saving Cleo from the scum!’ God damn it Issia, Cleo isn’t yours to take!”

Klinge continued to read his light novel, becoming more furious as he discovered Issia was the one to end up with Cleo. A whole three hours and this was how the book ended?! He slammed the book close and threw it in the garbage heap where it belonged. His private office was filled with unfinished crafted weapons, scrolls, books, and documents stacked upon each other. He had a special shelf for historic books and novels Kanisa had recommended. His walls were always filled with weapon racks containing old swords and armour, mostly Gerudo, but now also on the walls were drawings and small paintings he had done.

Klinge turned to the painting of the Gerudo Desert he still had to complete. It was odd how much free time he had on his hands now a days. True, he always had the freedom to do tasks at his own pace, but when he first moved into the castle, there was always someone that needed drilling, inspections to sort out, criminals to hunt down, look out for threats against the royalty, etc. Even after he promoted Tulilad to the head of the Royal Guard, he still trained knights, help raise and teach the children, stop more than one war against Hyrule, as well as put an end to other disasters. There was just no time in the early years to focus on something more than just combat, bloodshed, and hatred. Now he could just…do things. He found himself getting bored, and like any enemy, he’d do anything to kill it.

Klinge took the brush and carefully continued his work. The brush was his dagger, making clean strokes. Even when he was living he never did this, but he had learned so much culture even in just the last twenty-nine years that it inspired him. And after some practice, he was getting very good at his craft. If mastering weapon and martial art techniques could be done, then so could this.

After another hour he was done. Klinge looked the bright orange and the curves of the sand, and was especially proud how he got the shadow right with the sun. Looking at the painting alone he started to miss home. The blazing heat, the warm feeling you get when you stood barefoot on the sand, the cool breeze at night. It had almost been five-hundred years since his birth, how he longed to feel the desert as a living being again. A loud bang at his door shattered his concentration. He could hear the muffled voice of Tulilad from the other side.

Klinge walked over and unlocked his door, starting from the bolt at the top, the chain in the middle, then finally bar. As High Commander he couldn’t be too careful of assassins in his rest. Klinge stood perfectly with the door open just enough so Tulilad couldn’t see inside his room.

“Yes, Captain, what is it?”

“Sir, I’ve been at your door for five minutes trying to get your attention.”

Klinge was surprised. He concluded the painting must have captured him more immensely then he previously thought.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. How can I help you Tulilad?”

“Commander, it’s Prince Tebanem, he’s back from one of his expeditions.”

Klinge’s heart skipped a beat from hearing that. It had been so long since he had seen the prince. Unlike Orana, whenever the prince came back from home, he barely stayed long. Also, because of these short windows, Klinge had missed the first two times Tebanem returned, as he was out on assignments outside of the castle for days at a time. First Kanisa and her new lover Vidar had come back from the North for a visit, now Tebanem had arrived here at the same time? The gods had favoured his hand this day.

“Thank you for alerting me of this Captain. I will be down to see him immediately. Just give me a moment first.”

Klinge shut the door and went over to the painting he had just finished. He had planned this being displayed above his bedroom, but now he had a new idea. What better gift to give to Tebanam then this? Rolling it up carefully, Klinge sealed up with scroll wrapping and hurried his way done the palace. As he walked through, he heard the buzzing of the staff, all them excited for the prince’s return. To be perfectly honest, Klinge was worried. The last time he saw the boy, although it had been many years, Tebanam was in a hurt state. He hoped he fared better now.  

He heard the excitement come from the family room behind the door. At least it seemed like they were in good spirits. Klinge crossed his heart for luck and entered.

“So Faris and I were double crossed. The Baron’s guard were moving to box us in and steal back his treasure. With all the artifacts in hand, we stuffed ourselves into the mine cart and rocketed ourselves down the shaft. At the end, was an opening to outside the mountain, and we flew out to the lake below, having the water save our skins. By the gods it was a hell of a ride.”

The whole family laughed from Tebanem story. Klinge saw how the boy grew, and how the spirit he had before the scandal was back in him. And by Din, the facial hair on him.

Klinge took notice of the new comer in the corner of the room. A strange man with a dark skin tone, purple hair braided into dreadlocks, and tattoo markings on his face and what was visible on his arms. The man also took notice of him, and when he spoke his voice was calm and low.

“Hey Tebanem, you’ve got another visitor.”

Everyone turned to look towards to who Faris was referring. When Tebanem saw Klinge, he gave him a small smile. Damn, did he have some explaining to do. The rest of his siblings and their spouses gave him room to walk towards the commander.

“Hey Klinge.”

“Hello Tebanem. You’ve been gone a very long time.”

“I know.”

“I haven’t seen you in years, and all you can say is “I know”? You didn’t even stick around long enough on your last two returns to say hello.”

“Um, yeah. I’m sorry about that.” Tebanem took a deep breath. “And I’m also sorry for the way I treated you the last time we talked. I was just anger and hurt.”

“That’s ok.”

Klinge and stared at Tebanem for a while in silence after words. It made his siblings unsure of what Klinge was going to say next, and it unnerved Tebanem to no end. Klinge then relaxed his shoulders and squeezed hard around Tebanem in a hug, surprising everyone in the room.

“I missed you. You’ve been gone for so long.”

Tebanem hugged him back, patting the back of his armour, while trying to not suffocate.

“Me too. Can you put me down now?”                                                    

Klinge was the first to let go, but still held his hands on Tebanem’s shoulders, really examining him.

“Look at you, all grown up. Even have a fine beard growing here. I’m impressed. So according to your siblings you’re a treasure hunter eh?”

“Yeah, I’ve been trying to find knowledge and artifacts around the world of different civilizations. Especially on the Gerudo.”

Klinge’s eyes shot out in amazement.

“You’re serious, our people?!”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ve even got a haul of stolen artifacts from our tribe here at the castle.”

“That’s amazing boy! What’s your research like?!”

Tebanem smiled from ear to ear, taking out a research book. Ganondorf and Covarog grinned from both men’s excitement.

“You ever see Klinge this excited before Papa?”

“Maybe when you were first born, but other than that, no.”

The two Gerudo’s chuckled as Klinge and Tebanem carried on. Klinge took a moment’s pause to look back to the new man in the corner.

“So, Tebanem, who is this burley gentlemen?”

“Oh of course, where are my manners, Klinge this is Faris.”

“Faris huh? Is he a friend, bodyguard, lover?”

Klinge took note of the body language Tebanem gave him, revealing the answers. How he started to nod at bodyguard, but the moment Klinge so causally dropped lovers, the prince was blushing redder then peaches.

Tebanem tried to have something to reply when Klinge tilted his head at his flushness. Damn him for catching off guard. He watched as Klinge made his way over to Faris.

Faris on the other hand, wasn’t fully quite sure what to make of the black knight, except that he was huge. He stood slightly taller than Tebanem’s brother, Covarog, and his presence was unnerving. His aura quickly went from a possible friend to a danger just from walking from Tebanem over to him.

“So Faris, I just need to ask, how does Tebanem make you feel?”

“I care for his wellbeing if that’s what you are asking.”

“Very, good, straight to the point, I like that. Because I just want you to know that terrible things can happen to those who treat Tebanem poorly.”

“Like what?”

Faris’s wasn’t sure where Klinge was going with this, but it felt very much like an interrogation. Immediately everyone in the room stepped forward, because they knew exactly where Klinge’s first impressions could go. Tebanem stepped between himself and Klinge.

“You are not allowed to scare my boyfriend.”

“Come now, I just wanted to get to know him better, give him my special charm. Maybe a little sparring session?”

Cass, Corsaire, Vidar and Zarazu shook their heads.

“Don’t you dare.”

“You should stay away from the lad.”

“Let’s not.”

“Please for the love of Voda, do not.”

Klinge rolled his eyes and gave a huff. “Fine, perhaps another time.” Klinge looked deep into Faris’s eyes and spoke in soft cold whisper.  “Like if you break his heart I will tear your spine from your body with my bare hands.”

Tebanem smacked his hand down his face. So this is what his siblings had gone on about Klinge being terrible with meeting new people. He honestly hoped he didn’t scare Faris away from wanting to visit Hyrule again. “What did I just say?”

Faris gave a gulp but didn’t break his gaze, though the warrior in front of him had a killing intent behind him. He was as cold and black as the void just staring him down. “I’d never do anything to hurt him, you have my word on that.”

Klinge leaned off him, content with the answer. “Good. Now boys and girls, there is something I’ve been meaning to give you all.”

Klinge took out the painting he had, and rolled it out flat for all to see. Everyone was blown away by what they saw. Ganondorf especially stunned.

“Klinge, is that-“

“Our old home, the Gerudo Desert.”

Covarog and Ralnor loved how the shadows were cast down, Orana and Kanisa overjoyed by the waves of orange, and Tebanam the shining sun and bright blue sky in contrast with the sand. Zolori came behind Klinge and gave him a pat on the back.

“You’ve been practicing.”

Klinge gave a nod.

“Yeah, thanks for the inspiration.”

Tebanem scooped it up, in love with the art.

“And this is for all of us?”

“Yes, I hope you enjoy it.”

“Thank you Klinge.”

After the kids finished fawning over the art everyone mingled for a while. A small party had been prepared for Tebanem’s and Kanisa’s arrival. Grand amounts of food and drink had been prepared. Klinge talked with Kanisa before excusing himself to see Tebanem. The Prince was just with Faris’s, avoiding the nobles from the castle. Klinge’s presence was a nice distraction.

“Klinge, what can I do for you?”

“Tebanem, I was wondering if I could talk to you privately.”

“Sure.” Tebanem looked to Faris’s and gave him a peck on the check. “Be back in a moment.”

Klinge and Tebanem walked around the corner of the party, away from all the noise and people.

“So Klinge, what is it?”

Klinge looked at Tebanem and gave a heavy sigh.

“I wanted to tell you that I am sorry I failed you.”

Tebanam took a double back.

“What are you taking about?”

“All those years ago. I told you I’d keep you safe. My sole purpose was to keep you, and your brothers and sisters protected from harm. Yet I couldn’t. I broke my promise to you. I tried so hard to keep your dignity intact. You left because I failed in helping you Tebanem. I’m….I’m a failure.”

Tebanem couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Did Klinge feel this guilt the entire time he was gone? He had no idea how to respond at first.

“Klinge…”

“I’m sorry Prince Tebanem.”

“Hey”, Klinge looked up from the cheerful change in attitude from Tebanem’s voice. “What did I say about you calling me a Prince?”

“But I-“

“I left for my own reasons. And you can’t carry this unimaginable, unfair burden on yourself. There was nothing you could do on your own to protect me and when I was angry at you, I was at my lowest point. I was cold. If anyone should be apologizing it should be me. I’m sorry that you felt this guilt all this time Klinge.”

Klinge took a deep breath, these words helping him expel the feelings of worry he had carried over the years.

“I just, care about you boy. I care about all of you.”

“I know Uncle Klinge.”

Klinge gave a mighty cheerful laugh, but his voice was soft and warm.

“You haven’t called me that since you were a tiny child.”

“I wouldn’t if you didn’t care so damn much. Kind of overwhelming.”

“You know, it has been a while since you’ve had a combat lesson. How’s your sword arm?”

“No, we are not going there.”

“Nonsense, it will be fun. Tell you what, if you tell me about all the culture of our people you’ve found, I’ll go easy on you.”

“How about I show you the culture itself, think my last catch will intrigue you and the rest of the family immensely.”

Klinge was blooming under his helmet. The resurgence of Gerudo culture, and all because of Tebanem.

“That sounds delightful. Tell me, if you remember your history so well, who was the only Gerudo sage in our history?”

“Pfff, that’s an easy one. Nabooru.”

Klinge gave Tebanem a light pat over the back, almost knocking the prince over.

“Very good. Glad to have you back boy.”