#and to him ganondorf is essentially a monster

[caramel-catss]

rewatching episode five of hero's purpose... noticed this about how link looks at ganondorf as he appears before him

vs how ganondorf sees link when he realizes who he is

[skyloftian-nutcase]

For the prompts:

Eepy time for eepy Time? Time getting pillow piled? Heck, Time getting cuddle piled? Big brother Everyone? Baby brother Time?

Adventuring was such a strange mix of emotions.

When Time had been little, the thought of adventure had consumed him. He'd wanted to go explore the Lost Woods, he'd wanted to fight monsters and find his fairy companion. After his journey and fight against Ganondorf, adventuring was all he had left.

But once he'd settled with Malon... adventuring still had its pull on him, and he enjoyed it. Truly, he did. And it was an honor to fight for others and protect everyone.

But by heaven did he miss just being home.

It usually took about three days for it to really hit him. He was still a victim of the excitement of setting out for somewhere new, after all, and so the first day or so he would be fine with his new journey. But by the third or fourth day, he'd miss the warmth of his bed, the embrace of his wife, the sound of her singing, the laughter from his father-in-law, the purring of the barn cat, the sound of hooves and mooing and neighing. He missed all of it.

He missed the company. He missed his family.

This journey was a little different, he supposed. He'd never had so many traveling companions, and one of them was family. But he was in charge here, and he had to keep them all safe. It didn't quite hold the same comfort to it.

Yawning, Time stretched and tried not to think about it too much. They'd just left Lon Lon Ranch a few days ago, so he knew the ache was hitting him, but he had to focus.

It was hard to focus when he was so tired, though.

Time huffed somewhat irritably. He was certain he wouldn't have felt this drained when he was younger. Then he huffed again. It wasn't like he was that old. Not physically, at least. He just felt old sometimes.

Time yawned again and scowled at himself for the gesture. Stop that.

"Old man, I think you need a nap."

The words were good natured coming from Wild, but Hyrule snickered, elbowing Legend and commenting that Time truly was old. The eldest Link huffed a little, amused and mildly annoyed, but he just waved a dismissive hand. "Probably so. Let's set up camp, though."

He let Warriors delegate tasks to the group, assisting Wind with gathering firewood. When the little sailor tried to carry more wood than his infinitely larger and stronger predecessor, it didn't go unnoticed.

Honestly. Being older didn't make him decrepit, for Farore's sake. The gesture was sweet and endearing, but slightly exasperating. When Hyrule joined them and Wind very helpfully pointed out that their leader was tired and they should carry most of the wood, Time finally just picked up both heroes, wood piles and all, by the back of their tunics, letting them squirm and wiggle as they protested their predicament.

Twilight laughed as the three reentered the camp. The gauntlets Time wore made the boys' weight essentially nothing, but he still felt even more drained nonetheless.

This was definitely just him being homesick. That and the fact that the hadn't slept well the last few nights.

Well. Probably that more than anything. But he did miss home.

Time glanced at Twilight, smiling at him as the rancher corralled the now grumpy Wind and still cackling Hyrule towards the fire pit Four had made. He could hear Malon's laughter in the man's own, and it warmed his heart.

And then he yawned again.

All right, this is just ridiculous.

Giving up, Time waved off Wild's question about dinner, heading for a corner to unpack his sleeping gear and take off his armor. He noticed Sky had already nodded off, having been in the process of unpacking his own things and just slumped over them instead. How that boy was ever comfortable in any of the places he passed out was beyond Time.

Oh, to be young, he supposed. He could curl up anywhere in his youth and wake up fine. Nowadays if he sneezed wrong he'd pop something.

Well. Youth was fleeting, and time was cruel. There was no point lingering on the matter.

Time plopped down next to Sky, unfolding his bed roll. The boy didn't stir, snoring lightly into his own bedroll that was halfway pulled out of his adventure pouch. The elder Link felt a twinge of sympathy for the exhausted teenager, opting to help get the boy's blankets unpacked so he could rest in a more comfortable position. That would imply he had to wake him up, though.

Well, maybe he should just leave him be. Sky's sleeping habits were all over the place, but the boy made do well enough.

Time yawned for what felt like the hundredth time that day, and he carefully removed his armor. Rubbing his face, he pinched the bridge of his nose, just standing there a moment and trying to muster up the energy to unpack everything. Honestly, he was fine just sleeping on the ground at this point.

He heard movement, and he glanced over to see Sky awake, groggily unpacking Time's sleeping items instead of his own.

"Sky," Time called softly, trying not to laugh at the addled teenager. "Wrong bag."

Sky paused, confused a moment, and then laughed, shaking his head. "No, no, I meant to. You look tired. I just... wanted to help a little. I promise I didn't go through your stuff, your mat is beside you bag."

Time stared at him a moment, and Sky halfheartedly backed away a little, misreading the man's naturally stern gaze. The elder hero was about to reply when Warriors walked up behind them, chuckling.

"Sky, you're such a mother hen," the captain commented. "I'm pretty sure the old man can do it himself. But I brought you both some water since you didn't refill your supply."

It was amazing how little escaped the captain's notice. Time gratefully took the water skin provided to him, settling on the ground beside Sky, who relaxed a little at the proximity.

Twilight joined them soon after. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Time answered. Honestly, while Warriors kept tabs of everyone in a more tactical manner, Twilight was far fussier. It reminded him of Malon again, and he felt his heart both ache and soften. "Just a little tired."

Wind skipped over, plopping his own supplies down beside Time. "You're not sick, are you? I feel like you're not usually this sleepy."

Time sighed. All this attention was getting to be too much, but it was endearing nonetheless.

Legend wandered over silently, settling close by and pulling out some mending project he'd been working on. It looked like Four's undershirt - it probably was, as the boy had torn it in the skirmish they'd had yesterday.

"I wonder if we'll see Wolfie," Hyrule noted as he made his way over to the group, still armed. "I kind of miss him. He was good at alerting about danger."

"I still wish I could hug him," Wind grumbled. "He's so soft, but he's so grumpy!"

"He's not grumpy," Twilight huffed, and Time laughed. "He just doesn't like being coddled. He's a wolf, not a puppy."

It was probably the sleepiness, but Time found himself overly sentimental. "There's always a little bit of pup left."

Twilight watched him a moment, annoyance gone, eyes a little wide with gentle surprise. He softened slowly, making his way over to Time and sitting down beside him. Time was distracted, watching his descendant, and he missed that Warriors and Sky finished setting up his sleeping arrangements until the captain started walking back towards the fire. Time turned to thank Sky, at least, and found the young knight already passed out over his partly unpacked roll once more.

How...? Time shook his head, outright laughing quietly at the kid's antics, and elbowed Twilight. "Help that poor boy, will you?"

Twilight laughed too, nudging Sky gently. Wild came next, a bowl of warm stew in hand, quietly but earnestly waiting for Time's approval as he ate it. When Time gave him a warm smile and nodded his head, the cook brightened immensely, heading back to get another bowl.

Dinner was usually spent around the campfire, but this time all the boys meandered to Time's corner. The conversations were quiet, and it took a solid hour to convince Hyrule to finally put his sword down, but eventually Time found himself unable to keep his eyes open. Sky leaned against him, steadily falling asleep, and it was somehow the last little push his body needed to shut down.

Time awoke in the middle of the night, neck aching a little from leaning against the tree as he was, his head plopped over Sky's. He couldn't escape his predicament, though, as he found himself completely surrounded. Wind was using his legs as a pillow alongside Four, Twilight was in wolf form curled up on his left side with Wild snuggled in his fur, Hyrule had settled a step away from the others, curled around his sheathed blade, Legend was at his back, eye mask on and snoring, hand ghosting against Time's tunic.

Warriors sat across from him, eyes alert and sparkling in the firelight. When they locked eyes, the captain gave a little smile and a nod.

Time sighed, smiling in return, heart warm. Perhaps he wasn't quite so homesick anymore.

[catreginae]

LU x Demon Slayer

I don't have the time or motivation to start a whole giant crossover fic but I still think about it from time to time because it is fun and the tags I got on my last post made me think.

Anyway, due to ramblings, this is going to have a cut!

Also, this post will assume you're caught up with the anime up to the end of the Hashira Training Arc. I haven't read the manga so I'm doing a lot of heavy lifting with the anime.

If I did a crossover, it would be a fusion. I want the boys to use breathing styles and I like to imagine that they're all hashiras being sent down to track down a troublesome demon who is turning others into demons on mass (Dink's ability to infect monsters to make them stronger is kind of like how receiving the blood of a demon also makes you a demon).

Basic Story Elements

The fic would be mostly about taking down Demon Dink. Demon Dink could fill the role of Muzan but if we're wanting it to be more Zelda like, Demise could also be Muzan and bosses like Ganondorf, Zant, and Cia could be part of the Twelve Kizuki. Choices!

Unfortunately, making them all hashiras kind of makes it hard to have the Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenitsu trio. It also makes it hard to have a Nezuko. However, if only most of them are hashiras, then we could make a trio. I think either Colin or Aryll could work as a family member turned demon (even though they are a tad young, I think) and have Wind or Twilight be Tanjiro. You could make a trio from whichever boy you like.

One last thing is that Lon Lon ranch is totally the Butterfly Mansion and Malon is always around to nurse everybody back to health.

Breathing Styles

Now for the fun part! I feel like a lot of this could be debated because it's so open to interpretation! It also doesn't seem uncommon for people to just make up their own style (looking at you, Inosuke) which would also fit the guys. I also tried my best to give everybody a different one.

Warriors - flame breathing. Warriors has always felt like a fire guy to me and that might because I strongly associate him with the fire rod. What captured my imagination the most is that Flame Breathing has a form that resembles a dragon and Warriors can use his fire rod to summon a dragon (gif credit - click for more gifs of Warriors using his fire rod). I can't shake the fire vibes from Warriors, honestly.

Wind - Wind breathing. I know, I'm lame for picking a breathing style with his name in it but Wind is the guy who teleports via cyclones and what does wind breathing look like? It's the most obvious style you could pick for him but it works. No need it make it complicated..

Twilight - Stone breathing. We haven't see much of stone breathing in the anime yet but I feel like Twilight could sub in for Gyomei well. Both have a past of looking after young children, both like cats, both are strong (Gyomei's whole section of the Hashira training regiment is essentially strength training), and both of them use a giant spiky ball on a chain. I'm not sure if you need a flail for stone breathing but like I said, I feel like Twilight is a decent stand in for Gyomei, who uses this breathing style.

I couldn't find a gif of Twilight using it so you get this picture I took from Zelda Dungeon:

Four - mist breathing. Mist breathing is about being hard to predict (as if shrouded in fog), which I think is something that suits Four, who uses his height and agility to his advantage. It kind of makes me think of that page in The Shadow 2 where he dives under a lizalfos to give Time an opportunity for a sneak attack. Four was kind of tricky for me but now I kind of love the idea of him using this style.

Legend - water breathing. This is another one where I don't have anything super concrete Water breathing is versatile and lends itself well to being modified, which I think suits somebody who can be called a veteran. I also like how much it flows, which fits with the dancer headcanon a lot of people like for him. I think Legend would in particular would excel at it to the point of making his own forms for it like Giyu has.

And now, for the guys that gave me a harder time.

Sky - thunder breathing. I think thunder breathing suits Sky thematically in that Sky actually used lightning in his fight with Demise. It's a semi-popular headcanon for him to have the ability to manipulate lightning because of this. Sky is capable of being fast as well, so I don't think Thunderclap and Flash is out of the question for him either.

However, I can't quite let go of the hinokami kagura/sun breathing because that's the first style and in LOZ, he's the first hero. I think anything that looks like fire suits him a lot but I do have a hard time letting it go. Maybe he learns thunder breathing first and sun after.

Wild - beast breathing. Beast breathing is one that Inosuke made up himself with little influence from anybody else because he didn't really grow up with people. I think this sort of things suits Wild, who had to learn to not just survive but thrive in the wilds.

I also kind of like sound breathing for him but ultimately, I figured beast suits him a bit better. I also think it would be cool if before he got amnesia, he had a completely different breathing style and learned something new while he was out on his own without his memories.

Hyrule - thunder or flaming derivative? I feel like Hyrule is also someone who is likely to end up with his own unique breathing style, though I can't figure out if thunder or fire would suit him better because both work. I'm stumped.

Time - maybe sound-breathing? Sound breathing, at least the way Tengen uses it, is flashy, loud, and also uses giant blades on a chain. Tengen also sees battle in a musical sense in that he reads a demon's battle style as a musical score and Time's one of the most musically inclined. Legend would be the other only person who compare in that department.

However, I'm not completely sold on Time using sound breathing because I think stone breathing suits him too and I'm kind of mad about that. I also have a hard time seeing Time using the amount of explosions that Tengen uses. We could turn him into an Urokodaki-like figure and we just have two people who use stone breathing but ehhh, I don't exactly like a retired hashira or demon slayer travelling around with ones who are on active duty.

Anyway, that is it from me. I would love to see what other people have in mind!

[dumpster-lizard]

There is a very interesting Yiga journal entry that details a legend that classifies an onslaught of Gibdo as "the wrath of the excecuted"

If you follow the directions in that log it leads you to the ancient Gerudo burial Grounds, which is the only place in the depth where Gibdo naturally spawn (not counting Queen Gibdo Arenas)

It brings up interesting implications, and perhaps a personal attack on the Gerudo themselves from Ganondorf. Compared to the other regional conflicts, it seems particularly mean-spirited.

The Rito are plagued by an endless blizzard. Which. Isnt necessarily dangerous for them outside of isolation. They're built for the cold. Food and supplies are harder to come by but they handle it very well.

The Gorons are plagued by a rock roast that mind controls them. Lots of folks like to compare this to drugs but the first thing that came to mind was something akin to "Dragon Sickness" from the Hobbit. Where the dwarves became obsessed to an unhealthy degree to the riches they mined. The Gorons are essentially the "dwarf" race in LOZ (kinda like how Zora are the long lived Elf culture), so a plague of greed and gluttony seem thematically appropriate. Not to mention that might very well be Ganondorf's impression of them.

The Zora are plagued by pollution that falls from a water treatment plant that is clearly of Zora architecture, but is intertwined with Zonai tech far more than the Stormwind Arc imo. There are some interesting implications here, but im gonna summarize it as this: The water from that plant had to come from somewhere, and the pollution had to go somewhere. This could be read as the Zora getting a taste of their own medicine (albeit 10s of thoasands of years too late)

Then there are the Gerudo. The people who raised Ganondorf, who he ruled over, who initially helped him attack hyrule, who betrayed him for a reason we are never given. They are attacked by an army of monsterized undead, the likes of which we only see from a Gerudo burial ground in the depths. These are GERUDO UNDEAD. They are reduced to insectoid beasts, to the pests that Ganondorf now sees his own people as. There are implications of this that depend on where this sits in the timeline. Are they reminders to the atrocities committed against the Gerudo from days long past? Are they reminders of the deaths of Ganondorf loyalists that may have been killed when the rest of the Gerudo joined Rauru?

All we know is that they were executed.

[doomed-era]

that's so cool!! yeah i was a little curious cause i did see posts of those characters with the date of posting like. YEAARS ago and i was like waiiit. How much would you say it's evolved from the first iteration? Or how much stayed the same throughout the years?

haha oh god. I might start yapping about this.

it has changed a lot. it's honestly still in the process OF changing; I have a general idea of how it'll end and progress but nothing is set in stone and things may end up changing. I don't think they'll change drastically though. lately ganon's personality has gone through a major overhaul as I realized I made him really skittish and wayy too nice. so now he's mean and more like the character he's "supposed" to be :]

overall, though, it's changed a lot, especially from 2017-2019. my first idea was essentially "what if ganondorf had the triforce of wisdom and because of that tried to kill link first." so the first draft of alternate triforce was basically ganondorf trying to kill link with hammers until the previous hero, lionel, found him and took him to hyrule castle to be safe. link and zelda were also the same age in that draft, and I think zelda accidentally shot link in the stomach? ow.

then I got tired of that and moved onto the second draft. that was when I decided that ALT was going to be in the downfall timeline! ganon turned into this weird. goop thing that absorbed monster souls (undertale) because link from zelda ii died. lancelett was part of the knights of hyrule and died. sola (you haven't met her yet) was a guy and worked with ganon as a monster rights advocate. link had biological parents! he got kidnapped. zelda was dating pike, she was part gerudo, and ciless was her cousin and part of a "backup group" of royal family members who could use sealing powers. there were two planned endings. both of them were bad.

third draft is basically what ALT currently is, with extensive reworking. characters have changed and been shifted around into different roles, their personalities and histories have changed drastically, but the main plot has basically stayed the same. it's sort of a mixture of the first and second draft.

sorry for going off on a tangent but uh. now you know...?

[ganondoodle]

I only just found your fancomic and art now and I’m really curious as to where Farore, Nayru and Din fit in with your AU, and where Courage fits in with it all too; is the first Link/hero that Hylia chose supposed to be the reincarnation of Courage?

Well, you see, i kinda took the zelda lore and remixed it until it tasted good to me uwu

actual answer is i rewrote the lore .. or put it in a different context so it might be confusing at first and i dont know just how much into detail you want me to explain bc .. theres alot .. like ALOT

to sum it up rly shortly:

in my AU/comic the gods (here a rough sketch i did last time i redesigned them, tho this is only nayru, actually all three are one entity but also not, like three bodies melted together at the hips down)

-each created a world, and once life started to thrive there they chose a mortal to call them to come to them, the gods then killed them and used the mortals spirit to create a deity, not mortal, but no god either, as their servant

"Courage" (not actually their name, just a word to call them since their language is long lost) is the first one to be created, but fails the purpose the gods had intended for them rather quickly; so they abandon them and flood the world until nothing but Courage survives, out of madness/desperation Courage then destroys the ancient statue of the gods and promptly discovers a path to another world through it

and that is the second world, in which "Demise" (also not his actual name) resides, he is the deity of that world and has so far succeeded, although not quite like the gods intended; he was told essentially the same prophecy we hear in the intro of skyward sword (invasion of a monster etc.) this monster is in this case Courage, who attacks Demise, who in turn seals Courage away quite easily, which isnt how the prophecy went, he was supposed to die, which makes him doubt the whole plan and starts intentionally delaying working further on it, so long in fact that Courage, now mishapen (similar to the imprisoned) and mindless, breaks free of the seal Demise then kills them, but loses one of his blade spirits in the fight (he used to have two here in my AU), now that the gods plan is not doable anymore (since Courage is dead) they abandon him and his world alot of stuff happens here, inclusing mortals turning to war, then against him, and him destroying his version of the triforce as he saw it as the source of the conflicts; but in the end his world dies a slow death by drought, just like Courage he destroys the ancient statue of the gods in his world and woop theres a path there

which is Hylias world, so, Demise is taken by wrath and grief as this world was allowed to thrive while his own died seeks to reach the the gods in revenge by all means necessarry but is quickly stopped by Hylia, who instead of sealing him like she was ordered to, spares his life, bc who she encountered was not what she was told, and wishes to know why that is, why the gods would lie to her

this is where the comic itself starts, the first encounter of her and demise is the first chapter :3

it is a theme that courage is very similar to link and demise to ganondorf (tho my hylia not that much to zelda hmmmm) but here it has no ACTUAL connection, and the triforce trio as we know in canon has no actual great lineage, no reincarnation, just mortals manipulated by the gods to make them do their bidding after all three deities revolted against being used as the gods puppets

as you can see, im very bad a summing anything up, i hope this didnt sound too lame or something, there is alot of thought and heart put into this story (i even have the background stories of each deity from before they were deities, even tho it doesnt come up in the comic) and i hope i will keep my motivation and passion for this giant project alive enough to get at least more than one chapter done (i have a bad track record of failed comics, im horribly afraid of abandoning this one too bc i put so much more work and love into it already, i guess it depends on the support from you guys how far i will be able to go qwq)

feel free to ask me anything about it, cant promise to respond right away but i cherish nice asks to a point that i dont want to post answers bc then its gone from my inbox lmao

anyway, its 3 am, goodnight and perhaps ... hopefully this gave you a rough idea of what im going for >o<

[locus-p0cus]

ao3 is down so for something to do- ganon isn't evil. At least not inherently.

I've been reading a lot of things about how monsters are sentient beings that are just taken over by Malice- and this is essentially canon, as far as I'm aware, because of the Moblin living in a cave in one of Hyrule's games (I forget which one). So wouldn't the same be true for Ganondorf?

There's gotta be at least one Ganondorf who wasn't corrupted. There's a boy born to the Gerudo every hundred or so years but there's not a world-ending threat so bad that a Link is reincarnated even close to that often. And don't go- "Ooooh but Locus they might just not be Ganondorf and just some Boy" because One that's a boring counter-argument and you're boring, and Two, even if he wasn't the Literal Incarnation of Demise, I think he'd still be named Ganondorf. You can't tell me there aren't HUNDREDS of Princess Zeldas just because everyone looked up to her and wanted their daughters to have a blessed name, and the same for Link. Why not Ganondorf? You could probably argue they wouldn't name him that cuz Ganondorf was supposedly Evil but then why is ANYONE named Ganondorf in that case? I think there might be a cultural context to the name for the Gerudo because that would be cool if there was

all this to say there should be a Zelda game where you can save Ganon and purify monsters cuz this cycle where two white kids repeatedly murder some guy is kinda fucked up for everyone involved

[fragmentedlegends]

Calamity Ganon vs Ganondorf

Monster, man, and an unbreakable tie—Calamity Ganon is a manifestation of Ganondorf’s hatred and rage, so what exactly does that mean? Is it intelligent? Can it be reasoned with? How much was the Ganondorf below Hyrule Castle aware or in-tuned with Calamity Ganon?

Calamity Ganon

The Calamity is an intelligent creature—it wouldn’t have been able to learn from its previous defeat and thus strategize otherwise. This is where the idea of using technology against him again becomes flawed. It relies on the idea that this beast won’t be able to foresee this move or have an idea of how to side step it this time, which clearly, was an oversight.

Calamity is not, however, a creature that is able to be reasoned with. Its entire purpose of existence is to act upon its rage and is focused on the destruction of Hyrule. It is violent, ruthless, and will sacrifice anything or anyone to accomplish its goals.

Ganondorf

Ganondorf, the man, has all of this within him, for he is where Calamity sprung. If necessary, he too will make sacrifices to achieve his goals, no matter how large or cruel they may be. It is not his first play, nor necessarily his last. He's also, unlike Calamity, able to be reasoned with (to an extent) and tries to keep his battles between warriors, though he believes collateral damage in all of its forms are to be expected from war. He does not lose sleep over the innocent lives slain, but he does acknowledge that it is an unfortunate consequence and all the more reason why his reign should come to fruition, with the logic there being that under his rule war would no longer be a necessity.

He would not attack a defenseless village out of spite, for example, but if his enemy sets up station there, then they've now made it a battleground and anyone on it is free game. While under Calamity's rule, Ganondorf's beasts have free reign and are essentially loose in the wild, under his original command they were more like soldiers awaiting their orders.

Beast and Man: Connection

There is a mental and spiritual connection between Calamity and Ganondorf, though as two separate entities, they do not experience things at the same time. The events that Calamity partook in are not automatically transferred to Ganondorf's memories or knowledge. That being said, Ganondorf does recall his Century War with Princess Zelda, as this was between their spirits more so than their physical forms.

Had Calamity won its war, it would have used its remaining power to awaken Ganondorf, who laid in stasis beneath Hyrule Castle. This would have weakened it to a similar level of power as the other beasts that Ganondorf created, and he would have had the same control over it. Calamity would have taken a smaller version of its Dark Beast form.

[aikoiya]

LoZ - MOM (Alternate Timelines)

I'd suggest looking over MOM 1 & MOM 2 before reading this, as you might not understand it all without the context.

---

There are 4+ total timelines here; one where Ganondorf & Nemma lose, but Ganon decides against swallowing the Secret Stone, a timeline where Ganon & Nemma win & they kill Link, one where they win, but Nemma manages to convince her husband to spare Link, one where they lose, but for one reason or another, Ganon still decides to swallow the stone & regrets it with every fiber of his soul for the few moments that he has left. This one has 2 endings: one where they win, Link dies, & the Demon Dragon lives, but Nemma spends the next several years trying to find a way to bring him back. And one he dies, but Nemma lives, that I'll go into later.

There's also one where Gdorf wins, but it's due to Nemma getting killed in battle, one where both die, & the last one is where Nemma dies, Gdorf turns into Dragondorf, & kills Link.

The one where Gdorf & Nemma lose, but he decides against swallowing the Secret Stone is considered the main timeline & the preferred ending. So, we aren't going over that one here.

---

In the timelines where they win, they become king & queen of Hyrule. Though, in both Ganondorf has to contend with the fact that ruling Hyrule wasn't all he thought it'd be. For one, more land & more people means more fucking paperwork. And more responsibility!

Which means more stress!

He doesn't know how he didn't think of that before because by all accounts, it's just simple addition. Or rather, multiplication in this case.

Ganon only had a single small town to deal with before, now he's essentially got 7 times that!

The hell was he thinking?!

---

In the one where he kills Link, he has no army besides the monsters & the Yiga, which he loses the ability to revive monsters every Blood Moon because I'm making it so that Link destroys Gdorf's Secret Stone in this timeline anyway, thus there would no longer be any Blood Moons besides the naturally occurring ones. Thus, he tries to take the ones from the new Sages, but they all destroy their Secret Stones, too. So, even though he technically won, all he'll have left is himself & Nemma.

Who will be supportive, but will not sugarcoat the fact that he kinda gambled with his kingdom & lost.

He can end up as Hyrule's king still & even pretty quickly, because even though Hyrule has started to heal here & has some knights & guardsmen, that won't really hold up against an essential army of people who have been training diligently for more than 7 years, generation after generation since their clan's inception. Specifically with the goal of conquering Hyrule in mind.

Also keep in mind that we really don't see any new formally trained Sheikah in BotW & TotK, so Hyrule doesn't even have them.

---

In the timeline where Gdorf is convinced to spare Link (who he seals away in an interesting twist), he gets to keep the Secret Stone, but chooses not to use it unless he needs to as he's very wary of the whisper in the back of his mind.

And despite everything he did for them, he has to acknowledge the fact that the majority of his people no longer follow him &, honestly, kinda hate him. (Not that I doubt there'd still be some that would choose to follow him. I mean, Neo-Nazis exist IRL, so why wouldn't there be Neo-Ganists or something here?)

Anyway, he conquers Hyrule more easily here, but since the Sages don't know that they can break the stones, they don't think to try.

However, I'm gonna say that his 10,000 years sealed trying to eat away at Rauru also took its toll on Ganon's Secret Stone. Thus, his Demon King powers will definitely be nerfed here. Along with the corroding effect of his Shōki. So, if nothing else, Hyrule's weaponry would now be twice as durable as they were during TotK. They'd still break much too fast to be normal & the realization that it was her husband who was causing it would miff her beyond belief. A) Because it meant that any weapon that she makes would be liable to break within a number of days rather than years. B) It'd mean that she'd become a frequent visitor of Death Mountain as she'd return there frequently in order to obtain more Rock Octoroc stomachs to make more Rocktoroc Wax to make sure none of her weapons break while she's using them.

However, it'd also give her a chance to continue to study how exactly it was that his Shōki affected weaponry & possibly finish experimenting on ways to forge weapons that were less susceptible to his Shōki's corrosion.

This will cause there to be war in Hyrule as Ganondorf slowly fights against the resistance led by the Sages.

He might still end up as king of Hyrule here, but it will be a while coming still.

---

Finally, there's another timeline where Ganondorf goes through with swallowing the Secret Stone. Whether it's because Demise has sunk his claws into Ganon's psyche so much that he took control, or Ganon was so addicted to the power that he could no longer stop himself, or the thoughts didn't really connect what would happen & what that would mean for his wife, but regardless, the results are the same. However, the moment after he swallows it & feels the power begin to surge through him, he catches sight of his wife & then what he just thoughtlessly did & the fallout of his hasty actions for his beautiful bride registers on his face as dread sinks like a boulder into his stomach. Mirthful, manic glee turns swiftly into a look of "Oh Goddess, no! Make it stop!" Before he suddenly looses himself to the draconification.

Nemma is utterly shocked as she has ZERO idea what the hell just happened or why because she knows nothing about the Secret Stones. Only what she heard from her husband.

Either way, Nemma, being the decisive person she is, sort of takes a stand to guard atop Dragondorf's head & defends him however she can. But now that she has both Link & a LITERAL DRAGON (which, keep in mind that she's only ever fought Gleeoks which are lesser, corrupt dragons) to fight & essentially only herself.

But, for just a moment, Link & Nemma see reflected in each other, odd mirrors of themselves. For what they see is themselves reflected back at them. Of what they could of been if their circumstances were changed. It's an uncanny feeling of being seen. Of deep & unparalleled familiarity. Of knowing someone in a way that is only matched by knowing one's own self.

And in that moment they know... that their reflection won't give up. They won't stop. They will fight to kill if it means protecting the one they love most. Because they know that that's what they themselves would do. Is what they're doing. So...

Someone was going to die today.

The resulting clash is nothing short of truly epic.

Unbeknownst to anyone present, too focused upon the battle at hand, their hands glow with the mark of 3 triangles. And for both, only the right triangle is lit up with gold. But for both, only half that triangle is filled in. Link left; Nemma right.

Their altercation leaves both warriors battered to within an inch of their lives. And they find in each other a different sort of match.

But in the end, only one can win. Destiny would have it no other way.

And, unfortunately... Women just don't have the same levels of stamina as men...

Nemma collapses to her knees & Link takes the opportunity given to him to pierce the Secret Stone in Dragondorf's forehead & he dies. Just before his final moments, clarity fills the Demon Dragon's eyes. His only thought, "Nemma..."

With one final push, he caught her in his claw & curled around her protectively.

And upon impact with the ground, Dragondorf shattered, leaving his wife safe on the ground.

Needless to say, Nemma is devastated. Absolutely heartbroken. Her initial reaction is much like Alma's from Encanto during the song Dos Oruguitas in the scene where Pedro confronts the invaders. Just, utterly shattered.

Then, she sort of goes feral & now has an extra burst of adrenaline, which she uses to lash out at Link. For the first time in probably her life, she's letting her emotions rule her. But she couldn't beat him when she was in control of her emotions, so when she's fueled by nothing but seething hate & a desire for revenge, she's got even less of a chance. As such, despite the terrifying boost to her magic that she experiences, she still loses. And when it's over & she's restrained, think Azula's scary-ass breakdown at the end of Avatar: Last Airbender.

Beforehand, she had a relatively neutral opinion of Hyrule's Royal Family. Sure, she wasn't fond of them, but she didn't actively hate them.

Now, she despises them. Absolutely loathes them. And, honestly, I believe that Rauru's spirit would be heartbroken as he'd never wished for this outcome for her. He tries to apologize, but she just bears her teeth, canines sharp as daggers, & snaps at him, indigo eyes as sharp & hard as honed steel with a cold, wolfish glint that promised a swift, yet agonizing death as angry tears poured down her cheeks.

And, honestly, I feel like Link would feel absolutely horrible. Because, holy fuck, he just killed this woman's husband. Who she obviously loved with all her heart & who likewise loved her in return. That's gonna be hard to rationalize, let alone justify. Because, he just went through something similar with Zelda (again, I will die on this hill; they are fucking married, your honor). Which, he'll feel even worse about after Sonia channels his & Rauru's powers through her to Recall Zelda back to being Hylian. Because how unfair is it that he & Zelda get their happy ending when Nemma doesn't?

Like, how do you rationalize this? Sure, Ganon killed Sonia first, but then Rauru kidnapped & sealed Nemma away. Then, Ganon essentially ate away at Rauru. Then, to save Hyrule, Zelda gave up her self, & Link killed Nemma's husband to protect Hyrule & to avenge Zelda, but now she's back. So, who was in the right here?

Anyway, when Nemma learns that everyone she'd ever known was gone. Just gone, & that she's an entire myriennia (period of 10,000 years) away from everything she ever knew, she'll become drained & fall into a deep depression.

I'm not sure what comes next, but either she'll be imprisoned or she'll be released.

In the case of being released, she ends up as the new head of the Yiga, who she sharpens into an absolutely deadly force. For one, by teaching them NOT to reveal themselves before an assassination! While she doesn't hate Hyrule or its people, she does hate the Royal Family for the part they played in upheaving her entire life & destroying her family. It isn't just about Ganondorf, though he's a very big part of it. It's also her grandmother & her friends & the fact that not only does she not know what happened to them, but she also didn't get the chance to say goodbye & will most likely never even learn where they were buried or even if they were buried at all. It's everyone & everything that she lost. It's the work she put into being a good queen, now meaningless. It's the loss of the home that she & Ganondorf had built & that someone else is living there & even if they weren't, she can't even go back to take comfort in his presence because it's been 10,000 years since the smell of him has worn away. It was the fact that there wasn't even a body left to bury! Not even his clothes! All that was left was his Sheikah Stone Earring & the wedding gift she gave him, Fa'gáron Bojaqàr'è.

There was nothing else.

She. Lost. EVERYTHING!!

Either way, she'll eventually find that she was pregnant with Ganon's child & that'll end up keeping her from committing Sepuku. It's a boy. The next Centennial King & Ganondorf's newest incarnation.

Of course, the newest iterations of Kōme & Kotake try to take him from her, but let's just say that they don't get very far.

This new "Ganon" (who won't be named Ganon here, but for all intents & purposes, he plays Ganon's role; maybe I'll name him Jaqàrasïm, meaning shadow protector; Jàq for short) is extremely loved & cherished, but here, his hatred of Hyrule will be fueled by the loss of his father & his sorrow on his mother's behalf. And due to not using black magic, he has the same skin color as other Gerudo rather than the green complexion that his father had, if a shade or 2 lighter due to his mother. He'll also have Nemma's ocean blue eyes that will slowly turn red over time until they reach the shade of ruby red upon mastering the Mind's Eye. However, Jàq will never be able to open Sahasrara as, because much like his own mother, he will be unable to just let go of his earthly attachments.

It also won't be just for power's sake. And, in fact, Nemma will have raised him to value only the power that he earns with his own 2 hands. Which, he'll embody a lot of his mother's values. He'll still have that innate desire for power & the invasive Demise thoughts in the back of his head, but he'll have been taught how to control it & to not let himself be defined by his thoughts. That unchecked power is more a curse than anything else, as it was partially what took his father from him.

Either way, as a result of this, he'll embody the heart of a true king despite being a largely morally grey individual.

When he attacks Hyrule, it will be personal. And he'll fight like both his father & his mother.

He'll fight for the life they could've had together.

And, honestly? I think that he'd succeed. He'd be a damn good king, but he'd rule with an iron fist, though sheathed in a velvet glove much like how his mother had ruled the Gerudo in the past & how she continued to rule the Yiga afterwards.

Either way, he'll have a deep understanding of both Gerudo & Sheikah traditions & fighting arts as his mother taught him as such.

I don't know if he'll become the Gerudo King, but he'll always love his mother, who will likewise always be on his side.

Just like Nemma was ride or die for Ganon, she'll be ride or die for Jàq too. Until the day she dies & even beyond that.

Jàq will also fight using his father's Fa'gáron Bojaqàr'è.

Anyway, Jàq isn't actually Ganon reborn the way his father was the previous Ganon & the 2 before him. The reason being that Ganon had literally only died just 9 months before Jàq was born & that's not nearly enough time for a soul to be ready for reincarnation. Jàq is actually a completely new soul, born of the union between Nemma & Ganondorf, which new souls can only be born from the union of soulmates. The only part of him that was actually Ganon's before, was the hatred of Demise that bore the curse as it was time for the next incarnation of Demise's hate to be born, like right then, & so was the next Centennial King, so Demise's Hatred just basically went, "see ya, bitches" & jumped ship to a new body. In this way, Jàq isn't Ganon, but he takes on his role.

(I have mixed feelings for this timeline as, on the one hand it's just soo angsty~! >:3)

(On the other hand, I want Ganondorf, Jaqàrasïm's father, to have his life with Nemma.)

---

Regardless of which timeline we're talking about, I want Ganondorf's spirit, with the last of his strength, to place an enchantment upon both his & Nemma's souls. So that whenever they are reborn in a new life, they will be drawn together in one way or another.

He doesn't care what their relationship ends up being in each one, but selfish man that he is, he doesn't want to keep doing this cycle anymore without her.

---

For the rest of the Meeting One's Match saga, do to my LoZ My Fanfic Masterlist.

[russeliarat]

The ACTUAL TotK AU  I Have

I’ve passed all of my mock exams, so instead of me finishing coursework, have my TotK ‘AU’(?) thing. Basic pitch stuff. It’s long so I hope you like reading. (Btw I’ve been working on this for 4 months, any edits or additions are presented like this. It slowly starts to read a little more cinematically the further you read because more cohesive ideas started forming later on. I originally started writing in December 2022)

So just like in the trailers, Link and Zelda come across Ganondorf’s dirty corpse, which awakens from seemingly god knows what. Ganondorf breaks free of the hand-seal, breaks the ground under Zelda, and murks Link’s arm and the Master Sword. The recoil from his impromptu amputation sends Link also careening into Zelda’s death pit. Ganondorf’s being all menacing and shit, but the hand comes round and becomes Link’s new arm to stop him dying of blood loss/shock/to cauterize the wound.

Basically, the hand sent Link and Zelda back like 10,000 years or so, where Hyrule’s normal except for the giant floating sky islands everyone’s oddly cool about. In the first few days that Link and Zelda aren’t able to participate, Ganondorf has already gotten to work influencing Hyrule, bringing monsters back in a far more plentiful variety, manipulating his way into the castle and making tensions run high in all regions, and throwing Hyrule into general disarray. With knowledge of the Yiga Clan, Ganondorf manages to convince their leader of him being able to bring the downfall of the Hyrulean Royal Family and their Sheikah servants, and get them to follow his plan, which includes hunting down and killing any man who bares a sword on his back and is capable of a good fight. He also tells them to keep what’s left of the now scrapped Divine Beasts close to their territory and until careful watch, knowing that their reuse could lead to his defeat.

Link first wakes up in this temple which is essentially the Zonai temple for Hylia, who is the Zonai Goddess of Wisdom (yeah everything everyone knows ab Hyrule gets all sorts of fucked up and will send theorists into a mental breakdown). Her high priestess Hylia named ‘the Aama’ greets Link since he was apparently passed out in the forest for no reason, and they hit it off well and become friendly. She does note the glowy arm Link has is real powerful Zonai magic and even their resident amputee high priest hasn’t got that ability yet so Link has to be some kind of special, like blessed by the gods special but the gods are being weird and cryptic as usual. While the Aama deliberates about their next moves with Hylia, she sends Link to Iulii Village (the Zonai settlement)  to mingle with townsfolk, promising to give him some proper clothes so he doesn’t die from head exhaustion since they live in the rainforest. He meets the Vamai and Zoclu, the God of Courage (Ekoza) and Power’s (Kikias) high priests while they’re running a celebration for something. Basically it’s for exposition about the Zonai and stuff.

Eventually, Link comes back to the temple and talks to the Aama, who tells him to visit Hylia inside the temple, who lives behind a curtain deep within her chambers. They basically reveal that Zelda was found with Link, but she was all kinds of fucked up and can’t remember anything but healed somewhat quickly thanks to residual Zonai magic that kinda just attached to her when they fell together. Hylia tells them about whatever’s going on with Ganondorf and that by getting seven stones from across Hyrule from each race, she can repair the Master Sword, jog Zelda’s memory, and hopefully murk Ganondorf (because again, Zonai magic is powerful asf). Before they leave, the Aama gives Link his toga and tells him that the Zonai gods possess the final stone and that they won’t go easy in their trials.

Off they go to collect the six other stones from each remaining race, which can be done in any order, but Zelda gets her memories back in chunks and so her personality slightly changes every time she views one (but there’s other memories scattered around Hyrule that don’t affect her as much as the main ones). She would also play like the Wolf Link amiibo as a support fighter, but she literally sprints after Link and copies his moves and stuff which would be cool. Kickass Zelda.

The different stone quests go as such;

They head into Castle Town and tell an old woman and her grandson about how they need to see the Hylian monarchs to obtain a ‘certain item’. The woman tells them that there is no chance they’ll even be considered in Zonai clothing and is taken into her tailoring shop, where a regal outfit is tailored and fitted for both Link and Zelda before the end of the day, when she walks off to arrange plans to get the two into the castle. When asked why the woman wishes to help them, her grandson (who is her male assistant) tells them how she once worked in the castle as the royal seamstress, but due to her Sheikah heritage, was punished harshly for a simple mistake and was forced to leave the castle and become a freelancer. The woman comes back after a short pause and tells them that she’s arranged for an old friend of hers named Impa - Princess Afian’s bodyguard and personal caretaker - to escort them around the castle and gain access to the royals. They request the help of the Hylian monarchs who brush them off, but the duo soon learn have a daughter (who isn’t a Zelda, but is alleged to be conceived between the King and a Great(?) Fairy so ooo worldbuilding) thanks to Impa, who becomes important because Afian asks Link and Zelda to help her find stuff to rebuild her ‘latest invention’ when they get some alone time, of which Impa supports them doing. The princess is a lot like Zelda, seeing as they both have tinkering and science running through their heads 24/7. They agree and it turns out, the fixed build was actually the origins of the Master Cycle Zero since it was supposedly an abandoned prototype for a fifth Divine Beast that the Sheikah were forced to abandon. Afian gives the two the spiritual stone she apparently found the treasury, which is weird because it’s very clear the Hylians and Zonai are on two very different sides of history. Impa scolds the princess, but allows them to keep the stone on the one condition that not a single word is uttered about the Master Cycle and Impa forces the princess to get rid of the project now that it’s finished in order to not upset her parents. The princess chooses to give this to Link and Zelda.

Link and Zelda can also come across the ancient Zora, this specific species being called the Riverbed Zora, who live in Zora’s Domain and are kind of a mix-up between OOT and BotW Zora, compared to the two other Zora called the Lake Zora and Ocean Zora. For context to this quest, Lake and Riverbed Zora are the most important. Essentially, they come upon a magician who is in the process of being accused of performing ‘dark magic’ (Zonai magic) and is awaiting a kind of trial to see whether this is true or not. There have been rumours going around that this girl will be banished if found guilty and likely to live with other Zora due to the Riverbed Zora’s alliance and political agreements with the Hylian monarchy, who despise the Zonai due to a long-standing generational dispute about the differences in their religions. This magician girl asks Link and Zelda to help prove her innocence and direct them to talk with the Lake Zora to recreate the kind of magic she had been alleged to be practising. The Lake Zora are affiliated with the Zonai and share customs, but also share a semi-allyship with the Ocean Zora, who act as a neutral party in Lurelin Village, and the two are additionally tasked to gather materials only in Lurelin for the Lake Zora to help them with the craft. So they go do that and can get various results based on what’s made/performed, but ultimately she is declared not guilty with the right choices and she gives the duo one of the seven Zonai stones in private, revealing that she really does practise Zonai magic but asks them to keep it a secret.

At some point, they’ll also come across a Gerudo woman who is attempting to leave Gerudo Town and causing a ruckus, only to be denied due to how dangerous it is to be alone with how aggressive the Yiga Clan are within the desert. As it turns out, this woman is attempting to get her daughter back, who had been kidnapped by a Yiga clansman after disguising themself as a woman joining a festival. In the aftermath of the incident, normally no guard would let anyone in or out of the town, but it turns out that the Zonai had sent a message letting the current chief know that the two would be arriving to earn one of the spiritual stones. The only man in Gerudo Town, the Gerudo King, Usimo, has his attention brought to this ruckus and defuses the situation, bringing Link and Zelda to his throne room to discuss, telling them that getting anyone back from the Yiga is essentially a death wish and to leave it for him to solve politically since there may be many other children and adults taken hostage. Zelda refuses and proposes the most insane idea of infiltrating the Yiga and taking the child back from under their noses. The king relents after a long back-and-forth where Zelda attempts to prove their worth, though modifies it to make it safer and that only Link can go to lessen any potential - and inevitable - suspicions, but that should she get a signal, would blow the hideout up when Link were ready to leave as a kind of safe escape plan. The plan goes through, with preparations made such as a tailor making a custom suit etc, and Link gains a friends from within the ranks despite being considered an outsider who guides him through Yiga life. Eventually, Link is able to go up against other Yiga in a gauntlet of sorts and fights the Yiga leader, and though he loses, is accepted to actually learn Yiga magic from an ancient tome that passed down the more complex spells due to the achievement of a trainee working his way up to almost beating them. A little while later, Link gives the signal for Zelda, who ignites the place from inside the walls using metal, lightning, and the thunder helm. The two escape with both the child and the tome full of spells as an added bonus. As a thanks, Usimo gives the duo the spiritual stone for proving their worth and considers them Gerudo heroes. This stone was given as an act of allyship between the Gerudo and the Zonai.

The next quest to be discovered is of a group of Gorons who created a home deep within the hottest regions of the desert who escaped Death Mountain, surviving on spicy elixirs and rocks from the cliffside. They can either be found in this home or within Gerudo Town scouting for help once the Gerudo’s quest is fulfilled. At this moment when the quest hasn’t been completed, Death Mountain isn’t being an active volcano like usual. In fact, there’s a noticeable drop in temperature when approaching and a singular Goron standing guard will turn any travellers away because everything has frozen over. A Goron that has taken over a leadership role (though is very distinctly not the chief of the Gorons), Gigi, tells Link that something from within Death Mountain must have fed on all of the surface magma since none of it has been able to actually reach the volcano to keep it active and warm, thus thrusting a large portion of the Goron population into an impromptu hibernation period. Those who managed to escape found themselves housed within the desert to keep warm. Link and Zelda convince this leader to give them some kind of physical proof to be able to pass into Death Mountain, and the two discover that the spiritual stone was taken from the Gorons by this monster and disappeared into the complex cave systems to feed on the lava. These cave systems were actually closed off by the escaped Gorons who came back with elixirs to seal away the monster to prevent any more harm until it could be fixed, and so Link and Zelda have to go through this kind of dungeon-crawling, crudely-built bomb puzzle maze to get to the inner belly of Death Mountain, where they find the beast feeding on the lava, and kill it. Turns out that in the wrong hands for too long, powerful Zonai magic can turn regular people into distorted monsters and that’s what happened with this monster. They were a regular person visiting Death Mountain with very strong kleptomaniac tendencies, stole the spiritual stone, and was morphed into the beast. They all escape out of the mountain and find that with the fresh magma, the Gorons have begun to return to normal. If the chief, Tatemba, sees that Zelda already possesses other stones, he gives away theirs with some questions asked, though gets a second opinion from Gigi otherwise.

Atop a large sky island housing an erected rock with a wooden settlement, Link and Zelda find the Rito to request for their spiritual stone. However, the Rito’s chief were absent at that moment on undisclosed business and so the two were directed to talk to the second-in-command, who is a bit of a cocky ass. His name is Skirth. They attempt to negotiate a way to gain the spiritual stone, but with a combination of pride in himself and the Rito and of no knowledge that the Zonai leaders wanted the two to earn the stone, Skirth fervently refused. Fortunately for them, a little group of Rito children had grown to root for the Hylians and became disappointed. Skirth has quite the soft spot for children, especially his daughter, and relented, except he kind of didn’t because he gave the two an assumedly impossible task given Link and Zelda’s lack of wings: entertain and follow the Rito children around the sky islands, accomplishing what’s basically a bunch of side quests for them until sundown. He has no idea they have their own paragliders. So the two go ahead and do that and it’s specifically shown that his daughter called Bo, a girl wanting to become a Rito warrior which is forbidden for girls and women, took quite the attachment to Link and Zelda. This eventually manifests when no one notices Bo goes missing and they all eventually go to Skirth to get the stone they earned (and cheer the two on), when the chief comes back in a hurry. It’s revealed that a large monster had been blocking off a certain snowy section of Hyrule with a giant snowstorm too deadly to venture into and the chief was away with a bunch of warriors to figure out how to kill it, only for them all to be adjourned and come back to find the plans, weapons, and arrows gone, and a certain little girl missing. Link and Zelda immediately go to kill the monster and find Bo barely holding it together with damaged wings and 0 bow-shooting experience in the middle of nowhere in a snowstorm. They manage to kill the monster and ask Bo what the hell happened, to which she answers that she got upset that she couldn’t become a Rito warrior but was so inspired by the two that she gained the confidence to fight off the monster. Zelda manages to tell her that it was far too dangerous but compromises that she can train to be a ‘land warrior’ instead of a Rito warrior and defend Rito Village from the land instead of the skies. Bo is happy with this and asks the two to train her, to which her father (who came along to fetch his daughter) responded to not push their luck and that she’s too injured to train for anything at all. He then goes on to give Link and Zelda the stone, saying they more than earned his respect for saving his child... and also to keep his initial promise.

High above in the sky islands, the Deku Tree resides with his forest children, the Koroks, within the Korok Forest. This is one of the few quests that are asked to partake in directly from the Zonai and must have completed like 3 other quests to do because of memory shit for Zelda’s character development. Asked by a few Zonai women who worry over their children playing rough with the little forest spirits in the future as their children won’t believe of their existence and refuse to be taught about them, they ask Link and Zelda to take some kind of picture after inspecting Link’s Sheikah Slate. They agree but mischief ensues because they’re the Koroks. They end up having to find and chase around Koroks of different types to take pictures of until they find a small, lone Korok with a very unique wisteria leaf seemed to have gone missing. The two soon find the Korok in a large, hollowed out tree within almost a kind of mystical grove back on the surface. It turned out that the Korok had found this tree while exploring and saw a little gravestone engraved with an ancient fae language that this Korok has been researching for a very long time. All he managed to figure out was the grave was dedicated to a Hylian boy who left his forest home eons ago. Not only that, but within the tree, behind the little living space the Korok had set up on a whim, he had a large rock cover a hole in the wall the tree had half-grown from. Upon entering, the Korok explains that they must leave or the two will ruin his research, though calms down and openly shares it once discovering that Link and Zelda where sent by the other Koroks to find him, furthered by the realisation of the incredibly strong magic stones hanging at Zelda’s hip and Link’s similarly powerful arm. He tells them about the rock and how it hides a mural he cannot understand due to a lack of cultural knowledge of Hylians - hence his research on the grave - and asks the two if they can help him with any context if he escorts them to the mural. They agree. Behind the tight squeeze, the rock hides is a large, open cave, blocked off on all sides. The walls are lined with small torches that had become unlit in the ages since the cave was last visited. On the other end of the cave was a metal mural with carvings of the previous princesses of Hyrule and their time’s respective heroes. Zelda remembers this from an old book she read a long time ago and can already feel a memory tickling at the corners of her vision, though none fully emerge (I haven’t edited this in a while so I forgot to mention that the stones can become vessels for one’s memories and emotions which is why Zelda holds these stones so dear to her heart - though they don’t give her any memories, she gains them exactly the same way Link did). The Korok offers for them to come back any time they like and that he’d love to share any more research with them. That’s when a previous Korok who had asked Link to find the other one came into the tree upon hearing his voice and scolds the missing Korok for his long parting, though sobs through his shouting. This is when we learn of the Koroks’ names; Brondu, the missing Korok, and Esri, his brother. Esri requests for his brother return, if only for a gathering that had been talked about all through the quest, and they ask that Link and Zelda join for thanks of finding and indirectly leading Esri to Brondu. Gathering back with the rest of the Koroks, they play music and dance til the sun sets. Esri gets the idea for Link to take a picture of everyone performing together. Brondu bashfully presents a stone to Zelda as form of a thank you gift, having no idea it was an offering made by the Zonai and merely thinking of it as a shiny, smooth rock. After the Koroks let the two travellers go, they travel back to the Zonai to show them all the pictures of the Koroks for mothers to warn their children of roughhousing and angering the forest spirits. It turns out that a child had found a nearby Korok and the children flock to play with him. A mother scoffs but thanks the two for their efforts.

As these little quests progress, tensions rise higher and higher behind the scenes as it turns out that Ganondorf’s influence has been able to get into the heads of the Hylian King and Queen. Ganondorf manages to make Princess Afian tell him of Link and Zelda and where they are, and not knowing any better, tells him of their acceptance into the Zonai tribe. He gets the monarchs to order the destruction of the Zonai after the quests, though Afian and Impa make their attempts to warn them of the incoming attacks. At this point, Link and Zelda have already been summoned to the Zonai temple, so that the Aama and Hylia could direct them on their next move. There’s a scuffle between some Zonai warriors and Impa and Afian, with the Zonai thinking they’ve come to attack them, but Afian runs to Link and Zelda, showing their affiliation and the Zoclu (who is nearby) and the Aama order them to halt their attacks. Afian blabs that they’re gonna die if they don’t hurry, and it concerns the two priests enough to usher them to Kikias’ temple where they may discuss this with the god. Once the Aama has rushed to get the Vamai, (through some kind of item I haven’t decided on) they are able to communicate the events with all three gods, who reside within the next temple Link and Zelda would progress to. Impa and Afian fully explain the details of the impending civil war and Zelda has a reaction to Afian’s description of the man who asked her about them, inciting a memory about Ganondorf. With Zelda’s recollection, they were able to come to the conclusion that they would defend against the Hylian alliances and work on their next moves while Link and Zelda attempt the fend off Ganondorf. 

They send the two off to the Sun’s Doors, a large sacred temple where the immortal and mortal can supposedly collide, yet has forbidden mortals from entering as it could change their humanity forever and usually only gods enter. The Sun’s Doors is also where Hylia, Ekoza, and Kikias resided as they were told of the rising tensions from Hylian alliances and the Zonai alliances from their high priests and worshippers increasing as the story progressed. The Sun’s Doors is this giant temple in the sky, higher than any other sky island which seemingly stretches into the clouds. The three gods congratulate Link and Zelda for getting this far and request for them to go through a kind of ultimate trial to gain the last spiritual stone, that would recharge the power to it’s maximum once all are gathered. They theorise that with all seven stones, the two would be able to rid Ganondorf’s influence of Hyrule and hopefully resolve the impending war before it’s too late. Zelda asks why they don’t just reveal themselves to be rid of the conflict caused by the different religions and Ekoza asks what she would think would happen if they were to destroy one of the connecting ties of Hylian life across the country and if it would even be right to do as such. They eventually go on to progress through trials within the temple, all a combination of the different skills the two were tasked with utilising throughout their journey to force their way to where the last stone is held. However, none knew of the fact that Ganondorf had attached a small piece of his Malice magic to Princess Afian before she ran to the Zonai, hoping to influence her too, yet he seemed to strike gold when she fled to the Zonai and attached a small piece of his magic to Zelda, managing to escape to the Sun’s Door with them. It was Ganondorf’s final chance to achieve that last push for ultimate power over Hyrule and it’s surrounding countries.

Ganondorf’s Malice was able to take form from within the Sun’s Door upon gaining an easy access to the seventh stone, jumping from Zelda’s back and becoming a disgustingly sublime beast, representing how his hatred was reunited with his soul and his overwhelming desire to finally be done with this cursed cycle of reincarnation. The beast takes the title of The Rot, a more literal name for its meaning. The Rot takes claim of the seventh stone and Link and Zelda has to furiously fight for ownership of the stone, but it’s all for nought as Ganondorf’s magic has one again become far too powerful for the hero and princess, and the holy gods must come to their rescue to banish the beast from their realm. Despite this, none could gain back the seventh stone, and just as quickly as their arrived, the two must leave to capture the stone back before Ganondorf is able to use it for his own desires. Coming back to Iulii Village and seeing the Zonai ready for war was a sight to behold. The Zoclu offers the two a place to fight beside the warriors, assuming the seventh stone had been retrieved, but when hearing of The Rot, hastily abandons his position to take them to Hylia’s Temple, where the Aama hastily writes letters to their allies requesting assistance. They all knew what was happening, and they knew it was likely going to be a losing fight, but this little village and the temples and homes and lives within are all the Zonai have, and they have to fight to protect it. They even go as far as requesting the help of the neutral Ocean Zora. The scrolls are hastily shoved into Link and Zelda’s hands and the Vamai begs them to play messenger because as much as they’d like to send carrier birds, the Hylian allies would shoot them down. Not even the Rito would be left unscathed without checks by Hylians, a war was about to commence. The Vamai just begs the two to humour them and stop chasing after that soon almighty evil to send their only chance of survival. When they accept, they do it under the guise of the night they returned to, hidden by shadows. The three high priests see them off, thanking them for their help, but telling Link and Zelda to not get absorbed into the war and to focus on Ganondorf once their messages have been relayed. The Vamai chases after the two, who ride on horseback, and beg them to return back safe. The priest knows their race will be left irreversibly damaged, if not completely destroyed, and wants at least someone to come back and remember their names and their faces. They regretfully admit that they have to be cowardly and hide their people but is told the strongest form of courage is to admit when you’re not as brave as you once thought. Zelda tells the Vamai to hide the Zonai innocents among their allies and to only disguise as Hylians when push comes to shove. The Vamai cries their possibly final farewell.

The letters are delivered. The Gerudo are very far away yet they relay a promise of effort to do whatever they can to assist a race of people and the two their indebted to. Link and Zelda ask the Great Deku Tree if the little forest spirits could do anything to help the struggling Zonai, and though their physical prowess is far too weak, their magic is strong and will attempt to aid in guiding the falling people. The Rito feel the need to refuse, seeing as they themselves are a very small, newly established race and the chief must see fit to protect his own people. The Ocean Zora say similar, that they cannot offer their combat, but offers their caves for hiding. The Lake Zora stand proudly for the people they share their culture with. And although they had the most powerful Sheikah in the Hylian army on their side, the Hylian monarchy would have her and the little princess executed if they found out about their involvement with the Zonai. 

On the way, strange behaviour began to exhibit in Zelda; she would slowly get more angry at the lack of help from the supposed Zonai allies even if the reason seemed sound enough to Link, she would clutch at her string of spiritual stones as if it pained her to let them go, she’d go for long stretches of silence between her sentences as if she were spacing out. It came to a head when suddenly, Zelda slumped off her horse onto the ground, where the equine ran far as if sensing danger. Even Link’s horse starts to kick and nicker. When he went to check on Zelda, there seemed to be a distant, confused look to her eyes, as if glazed over. Zelda threw Link away from her, more powerful than before, clutching the string of stones close, letting out a pained scream as she looked to change form. She now seemed bird-like, sporting feathers instead of hair, covering her whole torso and arms, and the bones in her feet crunching as they morphed to talons. And as quickly as it happened, Zelda ran. Link seemed to chasse her all over Hyrule, attracting the attention of soldier beginning their first marches to battle. And every time, he’d manage to stop her from climbing walls or running away with scary agility, he’d be forced in his hand to slice away at the things that made her monstrous, hoping it was like Ganon and the Divine Beasts, that Zelda would be fine if all that remained was the parts that were her humanity. But it didn’t. All that sliced off was a sticky ooze of green-blue blood and the tearing of skin and feathers. She ran to the Korok Forest, the natural protector of the Zonai and Hyrule as she became weak and unable to fight back. The Great Deku Tree urged his children to hide from the fight that ensued and something in Zelda just clicked, triggering a memory. Leaving a weak spot open and fully in battle mode, Link thrust the Master Sword into Zelda’s abdomen and she crumpled against him, holding onto his shoulders weakly. It hurt her, yes, but at least she gained back her senses for a few moments and she was free of whatever those stones and those temples and that magic made her. Even though he attempted to lay her to the floor and apply pressure to the wound after realising his mistake, Zelda knew better, instead handing him over the string of six stones, asking him to make it alright for her and them, and asking why it was always them that took such a fall. What did they do to deserve something so cruel? Link mourned heavily, but had to push it down to make it alright once seeing the Koroks and hearing their promise to take care of his friend.

He left for Ganondorf, hidden within a castle rife with conflict. He dressed as if a Castle Town member, and acted the part, saying his thanks to the old woman of the tailor’s shop and asking her to keep his clothes safe. She refuses as they’re a part of him now, made specially by her and her grandson. She asks why he’s in such a hurry, they need to hide within the shop, but he brushes her and her grandson’s worries off, saying he’ll be fine, and rushing back out to the castle. With a bit of stealth and brute force, Link manages to make his way into the castle. Walking in makes him nauseous from the stench of Malice burned into his mind, but a single thread of powerful magic leads Link to where he needs to be. Within the great hall of the castle, Ganondorf puppeteers the King and Queen from their thrones, throwing wave after wave of guard at Link, themselves going to fight the hero when their numbers are exhausted. But Ganondorf gets bored when Link merely knocks them out and shows off his shiny green new toy. Ganondorf, in a display of power, raises the castle from the ground and suspends it high into the sky, far higher than any island bar the Sun’s Doors. He toys with Link about this is the culmination of thousands of reincarnations, of thousands of struggles with Hyruleans - with the gods - to do right by his people. He asks Link why he doesn’t let Ganondorf have his victory and let Hyrule’s suffering end, there’s even one of Hyrule’s worst civil wars unfolding right outside the castle walls. He concludes it must be a sense of duty, or perhaps morals, or maybe even cowardice towards his own inevitable death?

They clash, fighting for the stone that could remake or rebreak Hyrule. When Ganondorf gets a little too hurt for his liking, he resummons The Rot and forces Link to fight it again. But Link is fuelled by the deaths of his loved ones and the idea that he’ll near see the people he first woke up to meet all the way back in his original time. Link finds power from mourning, Ganondorf takes power from suffering, but they both take power from loss. That’s perhaps why Link is able to wrestle the stone from Ganondorf, they are equal in their pain and so equal in their power. It’s just destiny that Link happens to win. With Ganondorf on his knees, bleeding from his wounds and magic exhausted from the most strenuous battle of the cycle, Link reunites the seventh stone with the ones on Zelda’s string. He punches Ganondorf in his rage, once for the first Calamity he now fought and all the people who have and will die, twice for the second Calamity that was struck upon Hyrule and the people of his original time who suffered for 10 years, and a third time for the unnecessary death of Zelda, his new family, and the Link he used to be. Ganondorf smiles. Link tackles him off the cliff they fought upon, whispering his only words his reincarnations have ever spoke in front of Ganondorf - a promise that, no matter what, Link will keep him in his own personal hell forever. Ganondorf laughs manically as they fall, even though the odd green glow the surrounds Link’s new hand, powered by the seven stones, clawing at Ganondorf of its own accord as they both seemingly fall and fall and fall.

An unknown amount of time later, Ganondorf’s corpse lays motionless within a cave that seemed to have naturally formed itself around him. He’s sealed away by a glowing green hand that swirls around the cave structure, the tail ends of its magic etching sorrowful cravings of Zonai into the walls and tunnels. A quiet stepping can be heard and a faint torch glow illuminates the cave walls. Two familiar faces appear curious and approach, but something menacing tickles at the back at someone’s mind.

[monpalace]

hi so completely unrelated anon here— i’ve been stalking this whole thread on athena, aphrodite, songbird, atalanta, etc. mayhaps, can i have the lion thoughts about atalanta? thoughts, perhaps, involving the whole century long situation? the yearning!! the longing!!

hey anon! i saw your other ask and dw abt it! i'll take any opportunity to spill my thoughts, but i kinda held off since atalanta is more 🧚🏽‍♀️'s creation and i didn't wanna like,, shoehorn (???) it-- but at the same time, like i said, if i'm prompted i will ramble and make no sense whatsoever. so.

in atalanta's original story, she was turned into a lion by artemis/zeus because she lost her virginity/having sex in his sanctuary (respectively), right? i'd imagine that [name] was turned into an animal by ganondorf because she had relations (either romantic or sexual, both would be good enough reason for him) with wild/flora

(keeping in mind that [name] is gerudo and i'd imagine that ganondorf wouldn't take kindly to any of them (the gerudo) having relations with his enemies-- especially the ones that are his sworn, eternity-long enemies that kill him almost every single lifetime)

(she likely didn't even know he was the link or recognize that flora was the princess. they were just two foreigners she took a liking to and ganondorf wanted to be safe and assure nothing came from it)

(but on that note, i like to ignore most of what botw/totk say lorewise when it comes to each race/species. i like to imagine that even though the gerudo supposedly turned ganondorf away from them, they're still 🤞🏽 with him because being in cahoots with him put them in a lot of danger)

i imagine that ganondorf wouldn't turn [name] into an animal like a lion, but rather a monster of sorts? maybe a unique lynel that's not white, blue, golden, or silver-maned? either that or an animal that can only survive in the desert (to lessen the chances of link finding her) that's mystical like a blupee?

(i also think that ganondorf planned to turn her back after a certain amount of time (not a century) but got caught up with his battle with zelda in the castle and was perpetually like "wtf am i forgetting")

it wouldn't take long for rumors surrounding [name]'s sudden transformation to spread among the gerudo and news of a mythical creature to reach outside the deserts.

the gerudo know better than to approach [name] with malicious intentions not only because she's still their sister regardless of her form, but because the monsters that are always surrounding her act like bodyguards (more assurance. they aren't aggressive to gerudo). her tale is a required story for (gerudo) mothers to tell their (gerudo) daughters as both a cautionary tale to be careful of who they choose as lovers and so they're aware that she (and her monsters) are friend rather than foe.

(the monsters are like the hippomenes to her atalanta, just platonically)

[name]'s tale isn't known outside anyone gerudo. it's to both keep her safe from hunters looking for their next animal to mount or sell and because they don't want to go through the very long process of gaslighting/jailing anyone who saw her out in the desert.

with only monsters for companions as you go throughout a seemingly endless desert with the occasional (seldom) visitor from someone you have to watch age as you stay the same is both lonely and disheartening, especially since you're essentially trapped in said desert with no chance to interact with anyone outside of it.

i'd figure that the gerudo would take [name] (and, by association, the monsters) back to the main city for festivities and celebrations so they're able to remind her that she still has a place with them, as well as make it so she's not just in the empty desert, by herself, with only monsters for company a few days/weeks out of the year.

uhmmmm,, talking about the pining/longing from atalanta during the 100 years (it is Not my strong suit), i personally think it'd be more like "there is no way i let this manlet rizz me into being cursed," and blaming herself?

like, yeah, part of her longs to be with wild/flora again because,,,,, woah,,,, she'd never been so infatuated with someone like she has been with them, but the other part is screaming "if i get out of this i'm becoming celibate," and it's a constant battle of that until she's eventually like "i'm never getting out of this. why would i stay stuck on someone who's probably dead now," because word travels fast and it wouldn't take long for her to find out wild/flora is dead/hasn't been seen for a while.

so now she's over them. supposedly. after maybe 5-12 years because she wasn't gonna spend the rest of her (possibly endless) existence hung over someone she'd never see again.

(and it wasn't even getting over them? it was more like repressing any and all feelings by calling them mean names and recognizing their flaws-- but then overtime it's like "damn. i kinda miss the way he would frog blink at someone when they talked a little to long," or "huh. the way she side-eyed anyone who came at her wrong was kinda cute" and suddenly repressed emotions have come back tenfold)

anyways 🧍🏽‍♂️ like i said longing isn't my strongsuit so i dont think i have many thoughts on that? it's mostly centered around her transformation, possible events that happened while she was the creature, and her getting out of it?-- but i also like the idea of [name] keeping some of her creature-features when she's turned back (by either flora post-ganon battle or wild) (wild turning her back are separate thoughts), so post totk, she and [totk spoilers] [totk spoilers] [totk spoilers] and wild gets to have fun with that.

idk i'll have to write [name]'s experience with the century in a drabble or smth

[skyloftsword]

Tears of the Kingdom's Story Summarized (Part 1)

Just wanted to summarize the story of TotK because I'm bored. Spoilers of course.

Ok so, after Link and the Champions saved the world from the Calamity once and for all, peace finally returned to Hyrule. The Divine Beasts stopped working entirely, essentially becoming just scrap. So Link and Zelda decided to let the Master Sword have some rest and went to go help work on rebuilding Hyrule for a few years, starting with Hateno Village. As time goes on, gloom starts to become more and more prevalent in Hyrule, causing Link and Zelda to go down beneath Hyrule Castle to investigate. They go to the Great Deku Tree first to retrieve the Master Sword and discover that sacred power can help make the Master Sword become even stronger. The intro segment plays out and Zelda talks about how after the Calamity, the castle started to go into neglect. The Calamity is the reason Rauru's seal finally broke and gloom started to finally spew out of the castle. The two of them meet Ganondorf, Zelda falls and goes back to the founding of THIS Hyrule, Link gets carried by Rauru to the Great Sky Island and has his burned hand replaced so he can live.

Zelda's perspective:

Zelda wakes up in a familiar but not-so familiar area and is found by the first King and Queen of THIS Hyrule. They take her in as if she was their own (they're blood related, Rauru and Sonia's child is never shown on screen (or children)). They go meet up with Mineru to see if she can help find a way to return Zelda back to her original time to be with Link again. Unfortunately for them, the only way back was via draconification, which according to what they know is irreversible (which they clearly never tried many times to reverse draconification). A while after this, Ganondorf and his army attack Hyrule in an attempt to conquer it. This is where Sonia teaches Zelda how to amplify a Secret Stone's power. Ganondorf notices the stone on Rauru's hand and smirks, thinking of potential plans to get his hands on one. After he loses, Rauru invites Ganondorf to the castle to get him to apologize. He does apologize, however the apology is not genuine and they know it, which is why they want to keep a close eye on him (which they clearly didn't do a great job at). A little while later, Zelda, Rauru and Sonia have some tea time. Sonia teaches Zelda about how her Time power works when her teacup falls. They then talk about Link, Zelda gushes about him greatly, about how his heart is true and is amazing. Some time later, Sonia is asked by a puppet of Ganondorf disguised as Zelda to have a private meeting. Sonia and Zelda set up a trap since it was very obviously suspicious. However, this trap ended up backfiring completely, getting Sonia killed and letting Ganondorf snag the Secret Stone right off of her. Ganondorf then lets out a loud howl, alerting the monsters of the world. Rauru notices and tries to attack but Zelda warns him not to do so because Ganondorf is too powerful at the moment. Attacks happen all over Hyrule causing Rauru to need to gather all of the Sages to discuss their next move. Mineru tells him that its too dangerous to fight Ganondorf alone, Rauru agrees, giving the rest of the Sages their own Secret Stones. The night before the final battle, Rauru grieves at Sonia's grave. Zelda then approaches him and warns that they will all lose to the Demon King during the battle. Rauru reassures her saying that it doesn't matter if he falls, the noble swordsman Link will be the last line of defense, he will save the world from Ganondorf once and for all. With that, the final battle happens, they attempt to defeat Ganondorf but end up fatally wounded. Rauru then sacrifices himself with one final act, blaming himself for all of this, sealing Ganondorf for hundreds of thousands of years. Later on, Zelda tells the Sages that Link will then save Hyrule and asks them to lend him their assistance. Some time after all of that, Zelda approaches the pedestal that Link sends the Master Sword back in time to, she then receives it and makes her happy knowing Link is safe. This also makes her realize what she must do. She goes to Mineru first, who was horribly burned and on her death bed basically to tell her she will become a dragon. Mineru is gravely opposed to this, however she promises to help in any way she can. She then puts her spirit inside the Purah Pad, which was given to a Construct to later on be given to Link. Zelda then performs the most heartbreaking action in the franchise (in my opinion at least), she turns into a dragon, spending hundreds of thousands of years roaming around Hyrule mindlessly. While painfully turning into a dragon, she starts to cry in agony. The tears from her fall onto the earth, which will later on be marked with Geoglyphs by Hylians. With that, this is the end of Zelda's perspective.

Link's Perspective:

Link wakes up on the Great Sky Island with a new hand given to him by Rauru. He notices the decayed Master Sword on the tree root in front of him. He then approaches a strange device with two dragons eating each other's tails. He exits the Room of Awakening and skydives down into the water on an island below. He is then given the Purah Pad by a Construct, who tells him to meet Zelda at the old Temple of Time. He attempts to do so, but Rauru appears out of nowhere, telling Link he needs to power up the arm. So Link goes to the three Shrines that Rauru told him to go to, the door then opens up and inside is a Secret Stone floating. Link touches it and receives Zelda's Vow: the ability Recall. Link then tries to go to the back of the Temple of Time but cannot, as he needs to become a little stronger. Rauru then tells Link to warp back to the Room of Awakening to get one last Blessing of Light. Link does this and returns to the Temple of Time. Once he opens the door, Rauru then gives his final farewell to Link, telling him that he truly is just like what Zelda said. Link then sends the Master Sword back in time for Zelda to receive in the past. With that, Link then jumps down to the mainland of Hyrule Kingdom and heads to Lookout Landing. While Link was asleep, Purah had Lookout Landing constructed so that everyone could look for Link and Zelda much easier as they had been gone for quite some time. Upon arriving, Link is given a warm welcome from everyone that recognizes him. Josha, the new Sheikah scientist who was told to study the Depths (but isn't allowed to go in there because she's just a kid), calls for Purah. Purah then rushes out the door of her base asking Link where he and Zelda went and what happened. After everything was explained to her, Link then is told to go find Captain Hoz at Hyrule Castle. Upon meeting Captain Hoz, they spot "Princess Zelda", which is later on revealed to just be a puppet of Ganondorf. Going back to Purah, she then asks Link to wait a day so she can finish up the Sheikah Tower there. After waking up from a nap or whatever, Link meets her at the base of it, she gives him a Paraglider and sends Link up to the sky above with the Tower. After this Link is told about horrible situations that are happening in four areas of Hyrule. He is advised to assist the Rito with their problems first. On the way to Rito Village, Link finds a new Stable, called the New Serenne Stable and close by spots Impa looking at one of the Geoglyphs. He goes to Impa (WHO RECOGNIZES HIM), talks to her and goes on a balloon trip to take a look at the Geoglyph. Link notices a hole, which when he inspects it has one of Zeldragon's tears. He then sees the moment that Zelda had awakened in the early days of THIS Hyrule. So, with that Link starts his quest to assist Hyrule with its problems, awaken four of the new Sages and to find all the Dragon's Tears. Once he's done with those, he returns to Lookout Landing and is told to approach Hyrule Castle's upper part as "Princess Zelda" was spotted there. He is then taken on a wild goose chase around the castle only to end up at the Sanctum. The puppet then reveals themselves as Ganondorf, the Sages show up to help Link and stop the Phantom Ganons that were summoned. After this battle Link is then told to search for the fifth Sage at Kakariko Village. Link goes there and tells Dr. Calip, Tauro and Paya to let him investigate as the Zelda that told them not to go to them was just a puppet of Ganondorf. He then finds hints about the Zonai Ruins, having Tauro, Dr. Calip and him go there and investigate the ruins. Link then goes and finds the Charged Armor Set and performs a ritual to clear up the Thunderhead Islands. Link then goes through the island chain and reaches Dragonhead Island where he first hears Mineru's voice. Mineru tells him to bring her mask down to Tobio's Hollow. (End of Part 1)

[dumpster-lizard]

Wish we had a better idea of how long the imprisoning war was.

We know the Calamity practically happened within a span of a day- a few days, at most, but the takeover was practically instant. And it mainly just effected Hylian settlements.

In what little we have, we see someone reporting that the last gerudo town had fell- so the people in the distant past must have held out much longer. At least by a few weeks or so.

Then theres where it ends... which is underground, for some reason? Makes me wonder if this was a case of him luring them there or if they chased him. My thoughts lean towards the latter.

What better place to kill the last Zonai then the world they tried to bury? Plus, a confined space gives him the advantage in a fight- they wouldn't be able to flank him. Considering Ganondorf seems to be the only one who knows how to unlock the full power of the stone- he must have known his limits, too.

He knew his power didn't necessarily outmatch those of all 7 sages- unless he determined the battlefield. Unless he beat them down with waves of gloom infected monsters on their way down to him.

Im a fan of the headcanon that Gloom essentially has vampiric effects- draining the life and vitality from the people and land it infects, and transferring it to Ganondorf. Basically giving him a slight additional boost during the fight. (side note- Ganondorf healing a little everytime he hit you in the final fight would have been an awesome if not terrifying mechanic)

You gotta wonder how desperate it had to be for them all to run into such an obvious trap.

[giriduck]

How funny that the Zelda narrative team is teasing us with a ton of ageless pictographs, because it’s such a handy way of conveying information without any context to timeline. I am absolutely sure the teams working on the game are gleefully reading fan speculation and cackling at the community engagement. Rightly so. The hype is real.

Bunch of Tears of the Kingdom speculation under the cut.

Regarding the pictographs themselves, the art style between Breath of the Wild / Age of Calamity and Tears of the Kingdom are fairly distinct from each other, which implies different epochs and/or different cultures created them. Both have Mayan-like aesthetics, but BotW art is more painterly (it was on a tapestry, after all), whereas the artifacts chiseled in stone are more squared-off and angular. Also the unique writing system.

I keep going back and forth as to whether or not the Tears of the Kingdom pictographs in Trailer #3 are from a time long before the Attempted Calamity of 10k years ago, during an era of pre-Ancient Sheikah tech. That would explain the significant lack of technology in the art.

If that is the case, then when were these made? Is that red, menacing flood—seemingly controlling a horde of monsters—malice? Sure looks like it. So probably post-Ocarina of Time-era (or parallel) and Twilight Princess (or parallel) by large margins. Maybe this was the first time Ganon/Ganondorf started using malice-as-magic, long before the events of 10k year ago, when we know that he returned in that form of pure boar energy? Maybe the ancient warriors of that day sealed him away with their magical arm.

The first TotK trailer anchors the story to the discovery of Ganondorf’s dusty body in miserable stasis, presumably under Hyrule Castle, in structures that may pre-date the Ancient Sheikah astral observatory built down there. That might be where the heroes 10k years ago, “sealed Ganon’s power at the source,” according to Sheikah legends. That aligns to the hypotheses above.

Or, perhaps that mysterious group was actually still around 10k years ago, but something happened to them between Ganon’s sealing 10k years ago and now.

Which, if that was the case, begs the question: how and why was that history lost? Where did those folks disappear to? The sky islands? Perhaps because the King of Hyrule’s ban on technology post-Attempted Calamity drove them off? Are they a separate, older group that is almost like a third Sheikah faction? Hence the symbiology reminiscent of the Inverted Eye in the pictographs, and the Sheikah Eye on the new shield and some of interactables in the sky in Trailer #2?

After Ganon's defeat, the King of Hyrule of that era 10k years ago dismantled and buried advanced technology and sent the world back thousands of years in trade, life expectancy, etc., all while essentially destroying the Ancient Sheikah. He canonically waged war against them, imprisoned and/or killed those who opposed him.

So what were Link, Zelda, and the Champions of that era doing when all that was happening? Surely they would oppose all of this, right?

Is that what Zelda (if that’s her) is doing in that pictograph? Aligning to the leader of that mysterious sky faction? Was this all wiped from the history books because it was a dark time in the Royal Family’s history, not to be remembered?

Which makes one wonder whose tears for which kingdom. Hyrule of the present, sure. But given the ages-old Sheikah tear, maybe this dives more into their history, and the more tyrannical side of Zeldas’ (plural intended) family?

[jira-chii]

Appreciating Helmaroc King, the most satisfying antagonist in Wind Waker

This post is a retrospective appreciation post analysis on a boss in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, including how its role in the plot leads to one of the most satisfying and memorable gameplay experiences.

~spoilers for a 19 year old game (up to the Helmaroc King boss fight)~  

My first encounter with The Wind Waker was a 20-minute demo on the Legend of Zelda: Collectors Edition, which came bundled with the Gamecube. My child self instantly became enamoured with the colourful graphics and endearing characters, enough to convince a purchase of the full game. After completing the game however, the disc was left to gather dust, as our attention shifted to bigger and newer things...until in the year 2021, nostalgia hit us like a truck and we replaced our broken Wii. 

Re-experiencing Wind Waker all over again with something more than a ten-year old’s reading capacity, I noticed something quite shocking. That is, that the game, despite being almost 20 years old, was still as good if not better than I remembered it. Admittedly the graphics were still very much early 2000s quality (that’s why there was a HD remake), but the story still held up so well, and I even have a renewed appreciation of it now that I understand more Zelda lore. 

There were so many wonderfully memorable moments seeing Toon Link in action again, but I especially want to talk about one of my favourite bosses: Helmaroc King.

Helmaroc King is very much the first antagonistic creature you encounter in the game, and what an impression he leaves. Link’s peaceful everyday life on the idyllic Outset Island is thrown into turmoil when the humongous black bird flies overhead. After a series of events, Helmaroc King kidnaps Link’s sister, Aryll, thereby setting in motion the gears of fate that lead our hero on his great quest. 

There are multiple encounters with this big bad bird. The first is the kidnapping, the next is when Link is catapulted into the Forsaken Fortress, Ganondorf's lair. Our first foray into the Forsaken Fortress is also essentially our first real dungeon...but it's a terrifying stealth mission, because Link doesn't even have his sword! 

Poor Link is forced to hide under barrels and sneak under the noses of Moblins, before he is finally able to make his way up to the room where Aryll is imprisoned. But his victory is short-lived. Despite retrieving his sword, he is powerless against the fearsome Helmaroc King, who treats him as nothing more than a tiny pest, flinging him far away into the distance...

Thus begins Link's quest to get stronger. He traverses the Great Sea, visiting various islands to retrieve the three pearls of the goddesses before overcoming the Trial of the Gods. Finally, he returns to the Forsaken Fortress, more confident than ever, with nothing less than the motherf*cking Master Sword in hand. 

In stark contrast to the first venture, we are now free to relish in our bloodlust, mercilessly cutting down all the monsters that stand in our way instead of cowering under a barrel in fear. I cannot understate how good this feels; it is such a brilliant way to show Link’s growth as a character while giving us the gratuitous revenge story we deserve. 

And now with that brilliant set up, we head into the boss battle.

The first thing that really makes an impact for me here, even before the fight itself, is the music. It is without a doubt my second favourite sound track in the whole game (sorry, Molgera takes first place). As the pirates bustle about saving the girls, Link stands defiant as this heroic tune plays. It is super hype and really highlights our hero's renewed confidence. Aryll is safe, but as Tetra aptly puts it, “big brother has unfinished business”. 

And seeing him like that, having experienced everything that has brought him to this point, I can't help but feel so proud of him. It's like everything he's done is finally coming together. Link has finally conquered the monsters and saved his sister. Now it's time for pure revenge.

Everyone appropriately leaves Link alone to face Helmaroc King, and right on cue the big bird descends.

The first stage is a race to the top as the stage floods. It's not terribly difficult but it is exciting. Concealed Bokoblins leap at you from out of pots, and Helmaroc periodically crushes the platforms with his huge beak. What happens if you make a wrong step and fall? Well, nothing actually. Link is fine, he just swims back up. But it's still pretty dramatic! 

It's also delayed gratitude. We can't attack Helmaroc, save for one good swing of the hammer at the top, but you just know that damn bird is gonna get it soon...

The lead up to the second stage is cinematic. Link is alone on the rooftop. As the roof opening closes, Helmaroc whooshes up through the gap at the last minute, even doing this majestic spin. Then the battle begins.

I don't think this fight is particularly notable honestly but can I just say the Skull Hammer is one of the most satisfying weapons in any Zelda game period. And we're literally beating in his brains with it. 

Helmaroc King's defeat also fully lets you bathe in the glory. The monstrous bird is lit up by spotlights as it dramatically meets its end in an explosion of smoke and feathers. There was no need for all that fanfare, but they still put in all that effort to light him up, allowing the entirety of the Forsaken Fortress to witness my victory...Gosh, it's like they purposely designed this fight to be as satisfying as possible!

The Helmaroc King fight really marks an important milestone in Link’s journey. Being able to gather the strength but most importantly the courage (aha, see what I did there) to make it all the way to this point was no small feat. And the game fully acknowledges that. Given Wind Waker Link is not actually related to the Legendary Hero, up until this point saving and getting revenge for Aryll was his number one priority. Everything he had done since stepping foot off Outset Island was all for this moment. And boy, does he finish the job spectacularly. 

(Naturally this incredibly satisfying pay-off is just another build up to emphasise the inevitable disappointment at the next revelatory plot twist when he encounters Ganondorf again but that's a story for another time.)

[vortexbeyondthestars]

so a while back before i had tumblr i had a BIG zelda phase and with it came all sorts of fun things.

like making a crackhead zelda theory. and since i have no one else to share it with you all get it <3 how lucky

demise’s counterpart (+ history of lorule i guess)

yall i just came up with a crackhead zelda theory bc that’s how i do.

ANYWAY, what if majora is actually the lorule version of demise??? all we know abt majora is that it was created by some ancient tribe that used it for hexing rituals.

so what if that ancient tribe was in the original version of lorule, inhabited by the original people of lorule (as in, not the loruleans in albw), and the ancient tribe created majora’s mask, based on a god they worshipped, the god of chaos?

they used it for their hexing rituals, and powerful people such as the leaders of the tribe would get to wear it. however, when they wore the mask, they would become possessed by their god’s spirit, so the others could worship it. the mask gave its wearers great and strange powers that made them the most feared and respected person while they wore it.

however, after taking the mask off, the leaders would noticeably be crazier and less morally sane than before. the tribe still continued to use it, despite its effects, and the god grew more and more comfortable with the tribe and started to ask them for things like sacrifices and whatever else.

the tribe listened. it went fine for a long, long time, but then there was a breaking point when someone who wore had worn the mask had gone mad and slaughtered half of the tribe before they were stopped.

the tribe realized their mistake, and so they tried to hide away the mask.

the mask caused so many problems that “they locked it away,” according to the happy mask salesman. what if the golden goddesses and hylia noticed what was going on in lorule, so they created a twin for hylia to watch over lorule, who would be much like her but not exactly the same?

that twin would be loria, whom would eventually become hilda. loria chose her hero much like hylia, except loria’s was a man name ravio. ravio and loria sealed away majora for the ancient tribe. the goddess then breathed new life into the world, the loruleans were created, and the ancient tribe was allowed to stay in lorule as well for their part in helping seal majora away. (the ancient tribe eventually faded away and derailed into what we see as the monster cult, but that’s for later.)

but the seal was not perfect. loria knew this would happen, that majora would break free, so like hylia, she sent out herself as an incarnation.

like in skyward sword, the first hilda is taken to purify herself, while her counterpart ravio is trained to defeat majora. he has the counterpart of the master sword and the spirit, mi.

so ravio defeats majora, and it’s sealed away again inside the mask and not the sword like demise is, proving the be the first mistake the loruleans made. the only thing keeping majora inside the mask was the power of the master sword, which in turn was powered by the triforce and the golden goddesses.

however, majora gave one last final hurrah and spat a curse on ravio and hilda: they would be plagued for the rest of their incarnations of its chaos and hatred. this curse causes, you guessed it, yuga!

the mask was watched over for ages, while various incarnations were born, until eventually, one of the hildas destroyed the triforce. when the triforce was destroyed, so was the sword, and thus the seal on majora’s mask. so majora broke free and took control of its own prison, with nothing to contain it. this happens around the same area in the timeline as right before the child timeline in hyrule.

there were still yugas, though majora had broken free, its curse still reigned strong. this majora was not the same as the god anyway, it was a twisted version of it, driven mad in the time it was stuck in the mask.

majora became even more chaotic and demented than it was before its imprisonment. it no longer wanted to conquer- it wanted to destroy, and it wanted to destroy anything it could set its sights on.

however, majora realized that without most of its powers, it would be practically useless to try and destroy lorule, even without the triforce. so it wanders.

unfortunately for everyone, the first person who finds the mask is someone who isn’t exactly sane. this person put on the mask, and though they managed to take it off, they were driven mad. they stumbled around, wandering wherever their crazy mind told them to, the mask still trying to leech its mind. though majora had broken free, its powers were nearly gone, and so all it could do was try and nudge the person sometimes.

the person eventually runs into the happy mask salesman, who is traveling from hyrule in his attempt to find majora’s mask. luckily for him, the unfortunate person stumbles upon him. the happy mask salesman offers to take the mask from them, and so he finally succeeds in his goal.

the happy mask salesman was actually one of the last members of the ancient tribe. his ancestors managed to travel from lorule to termina to hyrule, and so the happy mask salesman grew up with the knowledge. he also grew up with the tales of majora’s mask and wanted to have the mask of his ancestors back in his hands, and he wanted to have its powers, too.

and majora recognized his aura from even far away, so he influenced its poor host to move towards where he was. majora knew that the happy mask salesman was a descendent of one of its creators, and so it wanted to find him.

and the happy mask salesman wanted to find the mask, too. he managed to get majora some of its magic back with his ancient magic.

side note: this is why all of the moon children appear like the happy mask salesman. majora remembered its original creators, but only barely. it modeled the moon children after the happy mask salesman because that was the only member of the ancient tribe it remembered.

anyway, many of majora’s powers are restored, except for the invulnerability to everything except for the lorulean master sword. since the sword is gone, so is its hold on majora, and in turn, so is majora’s hold on it. majora can be damaged by anything now, which is how link manages to defeat it.

skull kid steals the mask from the happy mask salesman, yada yada yada. then majora’s mask (the game) happens. the reason majora is so vindictive against link is not only because link “interrupted its game,” but also because link reminded him of the man who had sealed had it inside the mask in the first place… which makes sense considering that link is hyrule’s ravio!

anyway, majora is killed, and instead of being sealed in the mask like last time, it is released into the world, spreading like dust in the wind, since link was unaware of its true nature. it manages to return to its lorule, where it bides its time until it can strike again…

ok so there’s my background for majora n stuff, but now i wanna explain why i think this is a cool theory.

demise’s personality is quite the opposite of majora’s. demise seems to be calculating, having whole plans and grand schemes. majora is a psychopath. “lorule versions are just like their hylian counterparts in this version, though,” you must be wondering. i actually have an explanation for that!

when the triforce and master sword were destroyed, so was the hero’s courage, the princess’ wisdom, the incarnations’ incredible power and coldness. and the god’s sanity and calculating plans. ravio became cowardly. hilda became unwise. yuga became weak and reliant on ganon for power. majora become demented and psychotic.

essentially, it became the opposite of demise, just like ravio is the opposite of link, hilda is the opposite of zelda, and yuga is the opposite of ganondorf.

plus not only is majora’s mask in link’s home in albw, but there’s the mask cult in lorule. like i mentioned above, the ancient tribe eventually degraded into that masked monster cult, as all of their old customs got flanderized into what we see in the game. the only thing that remained the same was the heavy reliance on masks. they didn’t even remember their god, majora, but they would later…

yeah this became a LOT longer than i wanted it to be lol. i might add more later.