#and i'm currently reading this one story where the triforce has the ability to power link with certain amounts of courage when he needs it

[youssefguedira]

Aaah I've been absolutely living for your zelda au posts!!! I want to know everything- there's too much I can't think of where to start!!! I'm gready for absolutely any more details you want to want to share!!! (also, thank you so much for puttling those posts out in the world- your writing is just amazing and beautiful and you're just fab)

anon this is so sweet i wasn't sure anyone was actually paying attention to that au bc it's uh. pretty specific to me personally. so it's really nice to hear that someone is actually reading them and enjoying them!!!!! so, here are some thoughts i have about how nicolo gets the master sword because this is one of the things ive been thinking about recently. along with how they actually get together romantically but i'm not going to tell you that i would like to keep some things a surprise. i also am putting it under a cut bc it got long:

- i know there's no triforce in breath of the wild but i don't care this is my zelda au and i'll do what i want. for non-zelda fans, the triforce is basically the ultimate power, usually split into three pieces, which are courage power and wisdom. princess zelda holds the triforce of wisdom, ganon holds power, and link holds courage. so in this case yusuf's got wisdom (well. not yet) and nicolo has courage.

- i know in botw link got the master sword when he was like 12 but again i'll do what i want. i still havent finalised how old they are yet but theyre not 17.

- so onto what actually happens. at this point, they don't know who has been chosen to be the hero. nicolo has already been assigned as yusuf's bodyguard, the divine beast pilots have been chosen and are currently staying at hyrule castle, and nicolo and yusuf are just about reaching the friends stage.

- so. one morning yusuf wakes up to find nicolo at his door looking a more than a little bit freaked out. yusuf is, you know, worried about this, and nicolo shows him the mark of the triforce on the back of his hand, which appeared during the night after a weirdly vivid dream he had about a forest and a sword in a stone pedestal.

- (now as a quick side note - while in the zelda games the triforce always just looks glowy and gold and cool on the back of link's hand, nicolo's mark looks like a burn mark or a brand. this is because one of the main points in this au is that the triforce/being chosen is a burden more than anything else. it is unwanted. it is stressful. it often results in painful death. the zelda games occasionally hint at this but they're made for children 7+ so don't go into it. i, however, very much do. the triforce can be considered both a blessing and a curse, as it grants you abilities but also forces you to fulfil a destiny you may never have wanted. yusuf's feelings on it are complicated but he mostly considers it to be a curse. we don't see nicolo's feelings on it directly as the first part is written from yusuf's point of view but i will tell you that he has a complicated relationship with it too. this will be hinted at in part 2 but that is... also complicated bc reasons. this was not a quick side note at all. oops)

- that aside, yusuf knows exactly what the mark means, of course. because when his mother died and his father got weird about training he made it a point to learn as much about all of this stuff to try and figure out how to access the sealing power. it didn't work, but this does mean he knows what it means

- so, he takes nicolo to see his father, because he's not quite sure what else to do. long story short they organise a journey to the lost woods, where the master sword is. i probably won't actually call it the master sword within the fic but i'm referring to it that way here. (for non zelda fans: the master sword is the only weapon that can harm calamity ganon. at least in this au, because technically anything can harm ganon in botw but again i do what i want) the champions go along because i like them.

- another important detail in this is that while the mark of the triforce means nicolo is the one destined to wield the master sword, but that does not automatically make him worthy of it. the master sword stands as a test. if you try to pull it from the stone and you are not worthy, you just straight up die. again with the idea of destiny being a curse i feel like i mention that a lot. (it's a test of courage, see: you have to be willing to try anyway, despite knowing you could die. you must also be like kind and not evil or whatever)

- nicolo's not going to die (yet) but you know. nobody knows that. so understandably it's a little stressful. yusuf maybe tries to talk him out of doing it or something idk yet. perhaps tries to call it off when he sees nicolo in pain. but nicolo does get the sword in the end

- and yusuf has... complicated feelings about this. because you see he has been training for years, and he has achieved nothing, and now nicolo has the master sword. in yusuf's eyes, he is everything he is supposed to be, and yusuf is still a failure. (his father also says something like "finally, we are making progress" because yusuf's father is kind of a jerk)

- he gets a little withdrawn after this but then nicolo comes to find him after he doesn't see him at dinner (with cake. this actually happens on two separate occasions in the fic because i have a lot of thoughts and feelings about nicolo acts of service di genova and food as an expression of love) and they like. talk and stuff

- this is an important stage in their relationship tho because before they have been pretty formal with each other and almost-friends but not quite there and this is what moves them past that stage. yusuf is finally able to actually talk to someone. so is nicolo. i am not describing all of it because i do want to leave some things as a vague surprise but yeah

- so that's how nicolo gets the master sword

[heroes-lullaby]

Skyward Sword HC based off of a dream I had:

  Link is a weird kind of sick. As in, when he’s sick, he does things he should not and is too delirious from his ailment to tell between right and wrong.

  You see, the Triforce mistakes sickness as him needing more energy/courage to push on, but it’s entirely unknown to the fact that, as a sick person, you need rest to get better, not power. Thus, a sick Link will often suffer from this more than benefit from it, attempting to do weird and outlandish activities (such as doing extreme stunts on his Loftwing or going exploring in the dark) to satisfy his forced lust for adventure and challenge.

One time, Zelda, Pipit, and all his other friends had to hold him down and force him to sleep because he was determined to go explore more undiscovered parts of the Surface. At 1:30 in the morning.

Usually when his sickness subsides, these whole occurrences are fuzzy to Link, but he apologizes deeply for what his sick self/Triforce does/leads him to do.

Basically what I’m getting at is that the Triforce makes being sick for Link a living pain because it’s literally like “sickness??¿ never heard of her. hey you’re feeling pretty weak so that must mean you need more courage, here we’ll help” and Link just wants to be sick and normal, is that too hard to ask–

((I guess read the tags for a rambling/explanation as to how this came to be))