#ganon: now i have finally bested you-

[rosehipandroots]

no thoughts head empty besides wanting to sell my soul for a botw companion game where you play as zelda beating ganon's ass in uno for 100 years

[svtskneecaps]

yknow as a wee bab i always kinda assumed i'd be the range type of video game fighter yknow keep to the background, wait for a chance, preferred weapon is a bow or whatever

nah. "sprint in and mash the attack button until it stops moving"

[shearlin]

Hot take about Sky angst, regarding the curse of Demise, because I haven't seen anyone talking about this possibility in all those years I've been in LU fandom.

Guys...

Sky has no idea about the curse

Because think about it. Why would he know about it?

My man has been electrocuted multiple times, with magical - basically divine - lightnings in attempt to defeat Demise. All the while fighting for his life with a literal GOD OF EVIL, after spending an entire afternoon fighting an army of monsters and a Demon Lord/creepy ass Sword Spirit. Not even mentioning how worried sick he must have been that entire time, if this time he was also too late too save Zelda.

(always too late too slow not enough and late late late)

I don't know about you, but I don't think he was in any state of body or mind to listen to some dudes last words, when he had to focus on not passing out because he has to make sure Zelda/Sun is alright.

(It got a bit long so rest of the rant under the cut)

Fi gave him clear, that Demise received a mortal blow and that now it's only a matter of time until he dies and that was all Sky needed to stop paying any attention.

Just go through the motions. His vision is blurry, but that's alright just stay awake. Fi chimes to rise his sword. He does. There is some black smoke suddenly surrounding him, but Fi get's rid of it with her light so it's fine. It's probably why she asked him to rise her skyward. The last fifteen minutes he's been following her directions nearly blindly anyway, because his mind is still foggy, he's not sure where he is or what he is doing he just have to get to Zelda.

And then she's there. And everything is fine.

Impa fades, Fi sleeps and he finally rests. Or rather crashes as the exhaustion finally catches up to him.

But he recovers, as best as he can, and live on.

And then eight other heroes, just like him, appear and take him on a quest across the time. They become friends. Then brothers. Soon he feels like they knew each other their entire lives and can't imagine how he can move on after the inevitable goodbyes.

He is so happy that no matter what, there will always be someone among his people, someone from or even outside of Hyrule, to stand up against evil, no matter how many times it will try to show it's ugly face. He's a bit bummed that there even is a need for a hero to show up, but hey! He is not so naive to think people are and always will be only good. Things happen. Some people are just terrible, and some take it out on the entire world.

But somewhere along the line, he starts to notice... something weird.

They all fought that same guy (some of them even multiple times!) called Ganon or Ganondorf. And while he is overjoyed that none of them even heard the name of Demise, he feels kind of singled out. Few of them mentioned an idea of reincarnation. Mentioning Zeldas' connection through blood of the Goddess and their connection through a spirit.

A spirit of a hero.

He always though it was a figure of speech. A way to describe someone courageous who fulfills the quota of being a hero.

But it's not about a spirit of a hero.

No.

It's the Spirit of the Hero.

His Spirit.

An idea begins to form. A distant memory he didn't even knew he had. Maybe nightmares about that fateful fight starting to get clearer by night. Maybe he spends some time talking to Fi and he does not like the feeling he gets from her chimes, even if she can't really talk in her slumber. Maybe he even prays to Hylia in some distant era in an unfamiliar place, so she can deny or confirm his suspicions.

Goddesses, please, may he be wrong.

Because he loves them all like a family. Because they are family. Because he has seen their haunted expressions and blank eyes, he has heard their stories and horrors they went through and nearly all of them were so young, too young, and the thought that he was the direct cause of it-

Sky had no idea that Demise trapped his spirit in a cycle of reincarnation. He had no time to process it or find coping mechanisms before the adventure with the chain happened. He found out during it, slowly putting it together and coming apart at the seems before their eyes.

Sky didn't know about the curse.

And I say, it could be really interesting to watch Sky fall.

(And if anyone knows a fic exploring this idea please let me know! I searched but couldn't find any)

[multi-fandom-imagine]

«Love Me Harder || King Rauru ||

Warning1: Monster fucking { Zonai x Hylian!Reader }here so if you don’t like that then please scroll on by.

Warnings 2: P in V, Knotting, biting / marking, cream pie, a little rough fucking, Rauru has quite a mouth on him, squirting.

A/n: I apologize if this sucks 😩, it’s 2am.

It felt like it’s been ages since you’ve been with your King, and with the matter with Ganon dealt with everyone was celebrating. Your hand grasping your husbands as you pulled him towards the bed room.

A snort left his lips the moment you were out of sight and it seemed your husband had other plans on where he wanted you. A light shiver running running down your spine already imagining his cock pumping into your pussy, you were preset wet he wouldn’t even need to get your ready.

“This is always my second favorite bit.” Rauru murmured against your neck aligning his blunter cock against your dripping entrance.

Feeling your cheeks grow warm you adverted your gaze for a moment, to curious for your own good. You couldn’t help but ask. “W…what is your favorite?”

“Why, it’s watching my Queen lose their fucking mind.”

A cry slipped passed his lips, his hand muffling the the sound of your voice as his cock slid into your warmth. Your eyes squeezing shut as your nails dug into his shoulders, feeling the soft fur. You’re never quite prepared enough not go almost cum the moment he slips inside of you. Your lower back now lifted from the wall.

“Such a good.” Pressing his snort to your neck you were finally able to find your voice. A cry that communicates your needs in a better fashion that you could ever put into words, you cum for the first time just feeling you love slowly slide deeper inside of you. His claws digging into your plump ass as he pressed you against the wall. Chuckling deeply, Rauru sunk his fangs into your neck, sucking at the skin enough to leave a mark. “I think my Queen is enjoying this.”

It was hard not to miss the look on your husbands face as he held your waist with a single hand. “Do not worry my sunshine. You will be happy in the end.”

Closing your eye, you tried to keep your thoughts coherent but it was like he knew what you were thinking. Perhaps it was written on your face right now, you could see it on his even though it was subdued. Every time your spasming cunt squeezes down on him, you can see and feel him pause momentarily, grunting in pleasure, holding back the urge to ravage your cunt.

Rauru always enjoyed teasing you, on his first outstroke you can’t help but groan deeply arching your back off the wall as the pleasure washed over you. The texture of his cock just rubs you in the most amazing way and with how you’re so fucking tightly wrapped around him that it’s impossible not to have the entire inside of your pussy stimulated every time he with draws and pushes in.

He always manages to steal your breath away as he knows it too. With a firm hand on your waist to keep you in place while he continues to pump into you, it does not take more than three strokes for you to come again, your hips bucking into his immovable grip as you cried out his name not caring who might hear as your eyes squeezed shut in the throes of passion as you felt your King quicken the pace.

You scream. You can’t help but cry out his name, your dress was now in tattered around your shapely hips as your legs were raised higher as he thrusted himself balls deep inside of you, feeling him gore harder as he pulled you in for a sloppy kiss.

Plunging inside your wet pussy, the Zonai brings you to another thundering orgasm, light dancing in front of your eyes as you shudder and buck against him. You did your best to keep your legs wrapped around his waist as your back stayed pressed against the wall letting the tidal waves of ecstasy wash over you with every single thrust.

His free hand reaching up to grasp your breast, massaging the nipple with one of his talons and finally after what feels like hours of having him between your legs you sense he is close to cumming, something you are far to used too.

It is the way he grunts deeply, the measures rolling of his powerful hips giving way to desperate savage thrusts. The sound of skin slapping against skin echoing across the castle walls. The closer he gets to his own orgasm the more of a beast he becomes, his speed increasing until you are loudly screaming his name, shaking in his grip.

When Rauru finally cums, both of you give long, loud groans of desperate relief as his thick hot cum begins to gush into your pussy, his knott swelling. A slight soreness hits you and er everything feels so incredibly good. Panting and moaning you slumped against your King, your face nuzzling into his neck as you did your best to catch your breath. “That…was fucking amazing.”

Snorting, Rauru gave the mark on your neck a small lick followed by a kiss to your temple. “It was worth the wait.”

Sighing, you could easily fall asleep like this but knowing Rauru and how long you both waited sleep was going to be for sometime.

“Are you ready for round two Sunlight?”

“Of course I am.”

[heleentje]

So there's a take that crops up every so often in the Breath of the Wild fandom, and it goes something like this:

Windblight Ganon is such a piece of cake! If Revali were as talented as he claimed to be, he wouldn't have been defeated by it, so clearly he's just an arrogant blowhard.

I disagree. Because while Windblight might have been relatively easy for the player to defeat, circumstances conspired against Revali in every possible way.

Strike 1: The Blight Ganons were tailor-made to defeat the Champions

While it's not stated outright, the Blights seem to be custom-made to put their respective opponents at the worst possible disadvantage. So while Link can avoid the whirlwinds on the ground, they would be very disruptive to Revali's Gale (something he's only been able to do consistently for a short while). Arrows, too, can easily get blown off course by the wind even when using a heavy bow (so can a Rito, who is presumably lighter than a Hylian).

If, on top of that, it was raining (implied by memories #16 and #17), then Revali's favoured bomb arrows would have been useless. Not a great recipe for a fight.

Strike 2: Rito don't see well in the dark

Botw is a game that doesn't tell you a lot upfront, but you can find a wealth of information in every little corner. Case in point, in Gerudo Town there's a Rito named Frita. And she has a very interesting tidbit to share if you talk to her at night.

[Image ID: A Rito named Frita in Gerudo Town says: "Us Rito... We haven't got the best night vision, to be honest."]

When the Calamity emerged, an unnatural darkness blanketed the land. A darkness that persists from its appearance all the way through Link and Zelda fleeing and their final stand at Fort Hateno, up until Zelda temporarily sealed the Calamity (memories #15, #16 and #17).

That’s without even mentioning the laser show Windblight Ganon puts on. Ever encountered a car with LED lights on a dark road? Now imagine how Revali felt.

Strike 3: Revali had to fly non-stop for hours to get to Medoh

After sinking some hours into playing botw, you probably get used to warping all across the map via the shrines. Going from Lurelin to Rito Village is a matter of seconds. And if the Sheikah had been able to unlock the Sheikah Slate fully in the past, that would have been a massive boon to the war effort.

Unfortunately, they didn't. Which means that, when Calamity Ganon emerged, all the Champions had to take the long road to their Divine Beasts.

Now what does that mean for Revali? We can hazard a pretty good guess, but we don't have to, because the art book tells us: Revali flew straight from Lanayru East Gate to Rito Village. It's hard to tell exactly how long that would have taken him, but I'm estimating that would be about 8-10 hours flying non-stop.

[Image ID: A map of Hyrule showing the presumed routes the Champions took to get to their Divine Beasts. Revali's is a straight line across Hyrule.]

Which means Revali (like the other Champions) was probably already exhausted by the time he got to Medoh.

Aaaaaand that's three strikes, he's out!

But if that's not enough for you yet, here's one more thing. Admittedly, this is less solidly canon than the previous parts, but it's conjecture that, in my opinion, is backed up by the Champions' Ballad DLC.

Strike 4: Revali lacked his best weapon and may have been injured

The artbook shows us another salient tidbit. Revali could have detoured if he wanted to, but he didn't: he flew in the straightest possible line across Hyrule Field.

Hyrule Field, better known as the center of the chaos at the time.

Can we really expect a Champion, especially a Champion who's so eager to prove himself, to not stop and at least try to help? And while trying to help, what might have happened to him?

When you fight the Blights in the illusory realm, you gain a set amount of equipment, implied to be what the Champions carried with them at the time. And with Revali, something's missing.

[Image ID: The bow inventory during the DLC fight against Windblight Ganon. It includes a Falcon Bow, Duplex Bow and Phrenic Bow.]

Where's the Great Eagle Bow?

Would Rito Champion Revali, greatest archer in known Rito history, really not be carrying his signature bow, when every other Champion carried their favoured weapon?

This, combined with his route straight across Hyrule Field, makes me suspect that he did engage the Guardians, lost his bow, and may even have gotten injured in the process.

So there you have it. Just about everything was against Revali in that fight. And while Link, and by extension the player, may have had an easy time of it, they went into it at full health and with all the advantages of the Sheikah Slate.

Meanwhile, Revali arrived at Vah Medoh after a frantic hours-long flight only to be thrown into a fight he didn't expect against an opponent tailor-made to counter his every move, while he was unable to see properly and lacked his best weapon. And he still managed to put up one hell of a fight.

[frost-link]

Hiya, May I requested for Sidon with a female hylian S/o when he was arranged marriage to Yona cause Him and S/o sadly force to breakup and the S/o leave the Zora Domain. Here the twist the S/o shocked to discover days later she's pregnant with his child but scared to tell him worrying how his father, Zoras, Muzu (Especially Muzu) reacts. So she decides to keep it to herself.

Before the events of TOTK Sidon and Yona not married yet. A traveler came to visit the domain to tell a story of seeing a hylian woman playing with a baby half zora/ hylian in the water of lurelin village.

(Ooh! This is a very interesting idea! I'd love to write this! We'll see how this goes! I hope it turned out okay!)

"Unexpected"

You were in a small hut with a doctor sitting before you. It was beyond humid outside with the temperatures scalding the air. The sun still found a way to pierce its heat inside the room. Your eyes stared at the doctor with pure apprehension.

"After our tests, we confirm that you are indeed pregnant Ms (Y/n). Congratulations!" The doctor stated with a firm tone, adjusting her glasses.

"Oh." You responded, not knowing what to say. Your (e/c) eyes stared at the floor, they reflected hundreds of emotions that went through your mind.

"You seem nervous, it is a natural feeling to experience! Have you told your husband about the news?" The doctor tried to ease your worries after noticing your body language. You then looked up at her, fear immediately piercing into your veins. You haven't even considered the idea of even telling Sidon. You left Zora's Domain originally finding out about Sidon getting engaged with Lady Yona, both of you were forced to break up. It had only been a week since you left. Now hearing your suspicions about being pregnant were true, it felt even more like a stab. You didn't even think it would be possible to become pregnant by a Zora since you were a Hylian. However, there you were. How would Sidon even react to hearing this? How would his father, the King of The Zora himself respond? What terrified you the most was how Muzu would react. Even after Calamity Ganon, Muzu was still skeptical about hylians. You sighed looking at the doctor.

"Um... It's complicated. I don't have a husband." You stated in a quiet tone still obviously nervous. The doctor soon slowly nodded giving you an empathetic look.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed. Well, I wish you luck for your pregnancy!" She stated, patting me on the back. After you had left the doctor's office it wasn't too long after you had settled down in Lurelin Village. You decided it'd be the best place for you and the baby. It was a small closed off village, far from Zora's Domain. You wouldn't have to worry about anyone finding out. It was also a perfect place for a Zora-Hylian hybrid to be. There was plenty of water for their Zora side, and plenty of Hylians around for them to interact with in the future.

P.O.V Change to Sidon

Two years had gone by since I had seen (Y/n). I kept busy steering my mind clear of her. I busied myself with Princely duties and kept Zora's Domain in check. An older couple had made their way into the domain and they seemed to be talking with each other. They were simply tourists, however it wasn't long before they were surrounded by quite a few Zora. One of my guards approached me. It was none other than the captain of the guard, Bazz. He had lightly tapped my shoulder.

"Your Highness, you probably want to come hear this..." I had looked over to Bazz giving a firm nod, approaching the couple. I finally was within earshot of the two older hylians.

"Yeah, the baby was out by the water playing with their mother. I was worried for a moment before I realized it was part Zora. In all of my years, I had never encountered something half Hylian and half Zora. It is simply unheard of." The older man stated. Another voice chimed in.

"The baby kind of looked like that big Zora over there!" An older woman stated, pointing at me. All of the Zora surrounding the couple immediately turned to me. My golden eyes had widened in shock. A... Baby?!

"It couldn't be..." I muttered softly to myself, lost in thought. One of the Zora approached me, immediately grabbing me by the wrist dragging me away from the crowd who went back to listening to the couple. It was Muzu, he looked skeptical.

"You have to go investigate this yourself immediately and dismiss whatever story that these Hylians are making up. I doubt there's even a child. However if it's real and if it's yours do you have any idea what that means?" Muzu yelled out, looking up at me. I only continued to stare in silence, stunned. Was it even possible? Muzu was quick to continue in the absence of my voice. "It means that you must immediately bring the mother and child back with you and we will have to have a royal meeting about what to do next! Now hurry up and get going!" He stated clearly angry and annoyed, shooing me off. I quickly nodded, immediately making my way out of the Domain and to Lurelin Village.

P.O.V Back to Yourself

You were sitting in the water with your half Zora half Hylian child, holding them up in the water as she/he giggled looking up at you splashing small droplets of water. You smiled softly at your baby before she/he pointed to something.

"Da! Da!" The baby called out, you looked surprised but then shook your head.

"No! Me mama!" You said pointing to yourself, however you noticed your baby wasn't looking at you. You turn your head to see the love of your life you haven't seen in almost two years. Your mouth immediately drops. Sidon hadn't reacted yet, his eyes were fixated on the baby you were now cradling in your arms. He slowly took a few steps to you, then crouched down looking closely at the baby, holding the baby's small hands in his. The minute he made eye contact with her/him he immediately knew it was his. Tears started forming in his eyes, as he slowly took the baby from you, cradling the small baby in his large hands. He had the biggest smile on his face seeing his own child. A minute had gone by before he finally looked down at you, his smile fading.

"Why didn't you tell me..?" He asked softly, almost comforting yet also with a hint of pain. You only looked at him with sad eyes, still shocked seeing him.

"How did you even find me?" You returned his question with one yourself. Sidon sighed, returning the baby back to you before the both of you stood up.

"Word tends to get around fast." He replied bluntly, he then rested his larger hand onto your cheek. "Please come back to Zora's Domain with me so we can figure this out together." He pleaded. You were quick to shake your head.

"Sidon... I already have built a life here with the baby... I... I can't face your father with this! You're also probably married by now! I don't want to make things weird" You said with a sad look, he then returned the same look to you.

"(Y/n)... I can't bring myself to understand hard it is, I can't believe you kept yourself hidden away for so long. However, I do know that I still love you. I never wanted us to break up... However, you have to come back to the Domain." He affirmed pulling his hand away.

"What about Lady Yona?" You quickly responded worried. Sidon was surprised by your urgency but then his eyes widened.

"Wait... Now that you are with my child, I can probably call off the engagement. The baby would immediately be the next heir to the throne after me as the child counts as my first born. He then smiled brightly at you and the child. "We'll make this work!" You then finally nodded in agreement.

"Alright... I'll go back with you." You said and his smile grew wider.

After the two of you got back, there was a meeting that immediately went into effect. Due to the baby being Sidon's, Lady Yona and Sidon called off the wedding and engagement. Soon enough the both of you were engaged not too long after to soon be married with your guy's baby who was soon to turn two years old. Most of the Zoras were accepting of you and the baby, however some of the older Zoras were not too happy about it. However, that didn't matter to either of you.

[syndxlla]

best friends don’t look at each other the way we do

A low stakes, high rewards and self-indulgent Zelink fanfic. Canon-compliant, takes place between BOTW and TOTK

chapter three: She is beautiful, I am a mess

Read chapter two here

My masterlist

Song: Lights are On by Tom Rosenthal

Summary: Link processes his destiny while Zelda slowly recovers. Link meets with an old friend, and realizes how much he wants to Zelda in his life.

Warnings: PTSD, implied self-harm, illness, trauma

Word Count: 3.3k words

Authors note: The last line of this? Scrumptious. I ate that up. Also I’m going to start doing different pieces of art/gifs at the start of each chapter mostly so I can see the differences in the notifications! Thanks for all the support! Everyone has been so kind this is easily the most supportive fan base I’ve ever written for.

Link doesn’t leave her side the entire night, yet again. He sits on a stool pushed against the bed, and watches as she breathes in the sleep. He refuses to sleep, which means he’s gone about four days now with very little actual rest. This normally wouldn’t be a problem, but fighting Ganon on the second day of that no sleep schedule has really taken a toll on his physical health.

In his quiet contemplation as Zelda rested, the weight of what just happened set in. His heart rate rose as he remembered the sight of the Calamity, its spider-like body dripping with malice and disgust as it sneered at him. The stench is still pungent in his memory, his bad ear still beats with the blood that filled his body as he faced his destiny for a second time. He’s supposed to be courageous, unafraid and rarely daunted by his fate, but in reality he’s terrified.

Link doesn’t think he’ll ever forget the feeling in his bones as witnessed by the beast. How he felt paralyzed, how the night before he prayed to the Goddess that he wouldn’t wake up. Make someone else do it, please.

He could never admit this to anyone, and even struggles to admit it to himself. If he’s supposed to be the closest thing to the God of Bravery, why does he feel like such a pathetic coward most of the time? Maybe it was his reckless abandon that caused his status, or the fact that he’s so desensitized to the horrors of his knighthood. But those things do not equate to courage.

What even was courage, he asks himself.

He looks at Zelda. “She is beautiful”, he thinks “I am a mess”.

Link places a nervous thumb to her jaw with trepidation. He gently holds her face, soft enough that it wouldn’t wake her. Her skin is so soft, her eyelashes so gentle, her breathing even. Does she have any idea how beautiful she is when she sleeps?

When day finally breaks, Link realizes how cold it’s gotten in the house, and he takes the brave step of leaving the sleeping princess to build a fire in the hearth. He does so quickly, using a fire arrow. He pulls on a warm shirt, and quickly returns upstairs to Zelda.

She was awake, looking up at him.

“You should keep sleeping.” He whispers.

She groans, “Why did you leave?” She was aware enough to tell?

“I built a fire.” Link explains, "It's cold.”

“Oh.” Zelda whispers, “I am cold.”

Link crosses to his dresser and pulls out a woven blanket from the bottom drawer, draping it over her and the blanket she already had. She whispers thank you. ”Did you dream?” Link asks.

Zelda nods.

“It was me and my mom, we were eating and laughing together.” She describes and Link smiles. He places his hand against her forehead, and feels that she’s burning up. Of course she has a fever, that would cause her body to have the chills, that on top of a cold house wasn’t a good fit.

“How are you feeling?” He asks, vocalizing from a whisper for the first time.

Zelda thinks about it for a moment, she’s so snuggled up in the blankets all he can see is her face. “I’m not sick.” She states. Link is skeptical, but he nods.

“Go back to sleep.”

“Are you going to leave me again?” She asks.

“I might. I think I’ll go into town and get some things from the market, and I should probably send a message to Impa that we’re alive.” Link explains. Zelda frowns.

“I’m scared to be alone again.”

Link frowns, “You’ll be okay. But you need to sleep, your body is trying to recover from-“ He stops himself, he doesn't need to explain any further.

“You need sleep, too.” Zelda replies. She was right.

“I’ll be fine.” He shrugs it off. “But you need to promise me that you’ll be okay if I leave for a few hours, alright?”

Zelda groans, “You’ll come back, right?”

“Of course.”

It’s a few more hours before he leaves, he waits until Zelda falls back asleep, and it’s mid-morning when he finally does. He makes his way into Hateno Village, which is as lively as ever. He first stops in at the general store, buying a few essential items, and telling the store keeper about where he was last.

“You’re telling me you got rid of that thing at Hyrule Castle?” He asks, skeptical. Link just nods and shrugs as he examines a swift carrot. Like it was no big deal. The man laughs behind the counter, “And you lived to tell the tale? I don’t believe it.” He scoffs.

Link sets his items on the table between them, digging out a handful of rupees. “Well, I lived to tell the tale of Naydra last year, you all witnessed that, didn’t you?”

“I suppose… but that thing at the castle is a legend, I never even saw it. Just got told ghost stories of it as a boy.” His voice was gruff.

Link smiles, “whatever you want to believe, you don’t have to believe me.” Link sets to rupees down.

“That’s more than the cost.” The man states.

“Keep it.” Link pushes it towards him before putting his items in his pouch. “Use it to fix your roof, I saw it was leaking.”

The man smiles, “you’re always so good to us, Link. This village owes you.”

“You don’t owe me anything, except maybe your trust. The story will spread and rumors will, too.” Link turns to leave, but stops just outside of the door, speaking over his shoulder. “It wasn’t a ghost either, it was a spider-like thing that hatched out of a cocoon with giant axes and swords.” Link opens his arms up to show the size, “Probably at least the size of three oxen!” The shopkeeper's face goes pale, “But that wasn’t even the hard part!” Link starts to smile mischievously, “Then we took the battle onto Hyrule Field, and he turned into a massive pig. As big as a house, or bigger.”

The owner was dumbfounded, unable to reply at first, but then he shook his head, “You have quite the imagination, Link!” He chuckles and waves him off. Link just grins as he exits the shop.

He makes his way up the mountain to Purah and Symin’s, making a stop at the farm to pet the cows and help the owner with a broken fence post in trade for some milk. It was about noon now, and he wasn’t expecting to take as long to get to the Tech Lab, but the fence was absolutely destroyed. The farmer didn’t know what caused it, but it certainly wasn’t a cow…

The light on the Hateno valley is warm and inviting. It will be the harvest soon. Link had missed his days here. Early on after he woke up, he spent weeks at a time in this little village. Mostly because he was still too poor to afford sleeping anywhere other than his home. It was a safe home base for him when he was freeing the divine beasts. It wasn’t until he had laid his friends' spirits to rest that he became the wild child of the forest he was now. The last year or so he stopped spending more than a few days anywhere, it was the anxiety of the upcoming battle he kept avoiding that caused him to become such a nomad. He learned that it was always free to sleep in trees.

He gets to the lab, and before he can even open the door, Purah is swinging the door open. “Linky! You’re alive!” She cheers, looking up at him.

”I am,” Link replies with a smile, “and Zelda is, too.”

Purah smiles wide, her eyes becoming fiery, “Incredible. Is she okay!” She opens the door for Link, he enters the messy-as-usual lab, setting his sack of goodies down on the table.

“I don’t know…” Link shakes his head, “She’s very tired all the time, and she passed out quite unexpectedly last night.” He sighs. “I’m actually rather worried about her.” He admits. “It took me a long time to wake her up after she passed out, too. Longer than it should have.” Purah walks over to the table before climbing on top of it to Link’s eye-level.

“But she’s alive! And I’m assuming her body has been preserved, no?”

“It has, she doesn’t look a day over seventeen. But her spirit and her mind has changed, she’s tired.”

“Aren’t we all…” Purah shakes her head, “But no one as much as her.” She shrugs, “I would love to run some tests on you two, it might help me figure out my age issue.”

“More tests? I thought you said you were done with me?” Link groans.

“Nope, now that Zelda is here I want to take a sample of her DNA, too, and see if I can reverse-engineer it to cross with my DNA and get me back to my preferred physical age. I’m sick of this.” She gestures to her child-like state.

“When she’s feeling better I’ll ask her. I’m sure she’ll say yes, considering her love of science and all.”

“Alright Linky, what are you here for, I know you didn’t come to just talk, you always need something from me.” She teases.

“Alright Purah… don’t be mad.” He says as he reaches into his pouch to pull out a smashed and destroyed sheikah slate: the same one that got him through his quest.

Purah’s face goes white. “You did not just do that to an ancient piece of indestructible tech.” She reaches for it, taking the device in her hand and cringing.

“Well it wasn’t that indestructible, now was it?” Link asks with an awkward laugh.

“How?” Purah asks, traumatized.

“It happened while I fought Ganon, it kind of… exploded, and then he trampled it as a giant hog in Hyrule field.”

“That is…” She chooses her words carefully, “Epic, Linky.”

“You’re not mad?”

“No! But you’re gonna be when you can warp to sheikah hotspots. You’ll just have to go on foot like the rest of us. Speaking of, did you see what happened to the shrine in the ocean?”

“What?” He obviously didn’t.

“It sunk back into the ground, completely gone! Symin watched it happen! I’m curious about that happening to the other sheikah tech…” She gets lost in thought, and Link realizes that they all might disappear just as fast as they were found. “No one is gonna be more heartbroken about this than the Princess.” Purah finishes her thoughts.

“I’m hiding it from her. She can’t take a heart break in this state.” Link groans, sitting down in one of the chairs by the table. “Purah… I need you to send a message to Impa. I would go myself in person and be back by dinner but I can’t because the slate is gone. I know you sheikah have weird ways of communicating through distance, especially you sisters.” Link sighs.

“Oh she’ll beat you if you don’t go in person. You know how she is.”

“Yes. Which is why I am absolutely sick over this. But I can’t leave Zelda, she’s not okay, and I don’t know how long it’s going to be until she is.” He explains. “Impa can be mad at me all she wants, but she deserves to know that we are both alive and safe, and Ganon is not.”

Purah squints, “Fine. But you owe me.”

“As if saving the world wasn’t enough.” Link scoffs playfully.

“Hey! Don’t get cocky, no one likes a cocky hero. Besides, it’s not like you did it on your first try.” Purah jumps down from the table and Link’s entire body seizes. She freezes in her tracks when she realizes she said that out loud. She slowly turns around to see Link tense and unhappy. “Linky… I’m sorry I didn’t mean-“

He says nothing at first, “Is that what you guys say about me?”

“Link, we've always pushed each other's buttons like that.”

“It’s fine.” He sighs, it wasn’t fine. He signs, “I’m leaving. I don’t need anyone else’s shit.” He always signed when his emotions were at risk of betraying his words. He didn’t want to upset someone with his words. Purah isn’t very good at signs, but she gets the gist.

It was rare to see Link genuinely mad, especially at someone he cared about and knows is good. But that was out of line.

“Link…”

“Will you just tell Impa that we’re okay. Both of us. The calamity is gone and we’ll come visit as soon as we get our strength back.” He grabs his belongings and heads out.

“Wait-“ Purah tries to stop him but he leaves too fast. He takes a deep breath when he gets outside, looking out towards the sea. He walks towards the edge of the cliff, staring out at the horizon, letting the salty sea air blow on his skin. He looks where the shrine that lived in the water once was, and nothing was there but the original mound of island sand it sat on.

Back at home, Zelda is still in bed, and Link frowns when he sees her. He sits on his stool next to her, placing his hand against her forehead again. Her fever hasn’t broken.

“I’m home.” He whispers, and she stirs awake, her green eyes looking up at him. She smiles.

“I had the most wonderful dream.” She sighs. “We were at the beach, you and I, and Impa and Urbosa… and my mother.” Link worries that she dreams about those who have passed, he brushes some of her golden hair out of her face. “We looked at the water and listened to the seagulls. My mother was so beautiful and healthy, not like how she was when I remembered her.”

Zelda was very young when her mother died, and she was quite ill for the years leading up to her passing. Link remembered that, he remembered many of the things Zelda opened up to him about in their final days before The Calamity. “Do you want some water?” Link asks, she nods. He stands up, making his way to the well outside and scooping a bucket of it before coming back in. He finds her sitting up in bed.

“Did you get up all by yourself?” He asks with a smile. She nods, her face still pale and expression lost. She was much worse today. Link scoops some water out with a cup, and hands it to her. She shakily holds it in both hands, bringing the wooden mug up to her lips and sipping lightly. Link sits beside her this time, but he feels petrified.

In the last two days they've already crossed so many boundaries. He feels as though he has to be the stoic Knight from before, never looking at her for too long, not speaking unless spoken to, and especially not touching without explicit permission. That was a whole lifetime ago, however, and he’s barely the same person he was when those were the rules.

But even so, he can’t help but follow those roles that he keeps breaking. He shouldn’t see her in such a state: shirt too loose, eyes droopy, sighs so gentle and alluring it could tame a lynel.

He knows no one is watching them, no one is there to judge them, but he cannot bring himself to hold her hand as she shakes, even though he desperately wants to. Placing his hand on her head to check for temperature and burns in her hair from her face was already a serious breach of protocol, and yet when he did it, he felt so comfortable, so safe. He felt more like himself.

Maybe what’s holding him back is the knowledge that she didn’t lose her memories. To her, he is supposed to be that obedient servant.

He knows they got very close towards the end. Based on the memories he’s recollected, he knows they broke those rules far more than they should have. But it was always by Zelda’s instigation. She wanted him to place his hand on the small of her back as they walked, she asked him to lace up her goddess dress, she initiated the gentle touches and hugs of despair.

Now, he’s terrified of taking advantage of her in her sickly state, but he wants so badly to lie with her. To finally get some rest of his own, in his own bed, holding the girl he worked so tirelessly to rescue.

He wishes he could rest as a reward.

He reminds himself that her presence, safety and life is reward enough.

And goddess, is that a wonderful reward. Her weight sinking down the bed, her intoxicating smell, their shoulders just barely brushing. She was incredible, completing a feat that no one had ever come close to accomplishing, and here she was, in his home, in his bed, wearing his clothes.

Link's stomach flips, and he immediately forces himself to relax. Realizing how immature his though process was. This was a princess, not a girl in the Gerduo Brothel. He was confused.

“What are you thinking about?” She asks him, pulling him out of his rampant thoughts. He snaps back to reality.

“What?” He turns to see her looking up at him with her shiny eyes. “Oh…” He desperately wants to tell her, tell her that he’s thinking of her and only her. For three years he spent sleepless nights staring at the heavens and thinking about her. How he hungrily searched for every memory just to hear her voice, and how he took her diary out of the castle to read every page, even the ones that were scribbled with doodles and blacked-out poetry. He wanted to tell her that he fell for her the moment she told him to open-his-eyes, and when he finally remembered what she looked like, she was even prettier than what he imagined.

“…Horses.” He says, dumbfounded and foolish. She smiles.

“I’ve always admired how you loved them. You were the best rider in all of the guard, I fully believe it’s because of how gentle you were with them. They trusted you, which made them listen to you.”

The way she spoke was so thoughtful, so intelligent. Link catches himself accidentally looking at her lips, but yanks his eyes away.

“W-What were you thinking about?” He asks.

She looks off, swallowing thickly. Zelda then lifts her hand, holding it palm up, staring at it. Nothing happens.

“My gift isn’t working anymore.” She states. “I tried while you were getting the water, and look, nothing.” Zelda explains. Link looks at her hand, not knowing what he’s supposed to see.

Her hand is so soft, her fingers long and slender, her nails clean and rounded to perfection.

Her wrists are littered with old scars.

Link wants to take her hand. She sets it down in her lap, “I suppose that’s alright. I don’t need them anymore.”

“What was it like?” Link asks. “In that castle.” Zelda shudders. “You don’t have to say.” Link states.

Zelda carefully constructs her words, “Cold. All the time I was cold. I wasn’t conscious usually, but I wasn’t… unconscious either. I know it makes no sense. I was in a sort of trance. Time seemed to move at a rapid pace while also simultaneously standing still.” She looks at him, rotating her body to face him, he mirrors her.

“Did he ever… say anything?” Link asked.

Zelda nodded, “In the beginning he would whisper constantly, but it was an ancient language I didn’t understand. The longer time went on, the more tired he got, but the wiser I became. He spoke less, and I was able to pick up on certain words and phrases. He didn’t expect me to last as long as I did, that’s for certain.”

Link listens intently, “How did you do it, last so long?” He asks.

Zelda’s big, green eyes meet his. She takes his hand with hers.

“Because I knew one day you would wake up.”

—

Read Chapter four here

[gwynndolin]

What do you mean "tricks you into thinking it's a good game"? I'm curious because I'm a totk hater (felt more like a fanmade dlc scale mod) but I thought botw was pretty good.

botw obviously has its moments. The Great Plateau was a great introduction to the game, for instance.

But. You do everything that you can do for the rest of the game on that plateau. (Nearly) all of the what the game is going to do is shown to you in the first 5ish hours of gameplay, and those 5 hours are then stretched into a 70ish hour game. Every moment between leaving the Great Plateau and the final fight with Calamity Ganon is riding that high of that first initial experience with the game’s concepts. There is a reason why a lot of people’s most favorite trial in the whole game is when the game throws you onto a deserted island with none of your gear and asks you to rough it again like you were doing 50 hours ago. It’s because the best part of the game was when you were fresh to the experience, often forced to solve the games combat encounters with unique methods; engage with its unique emergent gameplay.

Why even start to bother with that stuff later on though? You actually literally can’t usually. Late game mobs become such sponges to damage that I actively avoided fights because each non trash mob (even the trash mobs would take longer too) would take like 45 seconds to fight. Why try to do a silly funny bomb explosion when the setup takes just as long as the fight only to result in doing a quarter of their health or something. Just press B a bunch of times.

Totk actually did this to me too! Enough time had passed where I was willing to be open to that experience again. And it worked on me! For the first few hours, exploring the Great Sky Island felt like I was playing botw for the first time again. I actually started to think my harsher feelings for botw had all been exacerbated by time or that i had misremembered how it felt to play the game. I was pretty locked in to the whole experience. Then I got on the ground. The false visage of a fresh experience melted away. I was in the same hyrule field as before. I think someone messed with the terrain tool over there. 👉🏻

its like chewing gum. The flavor starts out real strong, and its a fun chew, maybe you haven't had gum in a minute, so this is like, a pretty stimulating experience. But after a while you realize you've had this piece of gum in your mouth for like, the whole day now. And theres no flavor left in it anymore. And you've worked this piece of gum so much now that its like, kinda hard now? But like, looking for a trash can is kind of out of your way so its like, whatever. I'll keep chewing this gum for now. And then like, hours later you're like, wow. I've been chewing this gum for so long now that my jaw kind of hurts. So now you're looking for a trash can. You finally spit the gum out and theres still a lingering flavor of spearmint in your mouth. Not enough to like, re experience that first chew again, but you know. You had a stick of gum. It was alright. My jaw hurts though. I’ll probably have another piece in a few weeks.

[zeldadeservesabreak]

“Where did all the Sheikah tech and shrines go?”

… is one of the most annoying questions I’ve seen repeated over and over again by people and theorists. Because the answer is quite literally in your face the entire game if you just pay attention to the details.

There’s actually 3 very obvious reasons for the shrines and towers disappearing. And since I get this question a lot, I’m gonna answer them here:

1. They were repurposed by Robbie and Purah.

This is the most direct answer with evidence you can clearly see. Purah and Robbie are still tinkering with stuff, and the Purah Pad is a perfect example of this. It is very clearly still Sheikah technology. It looks and acts just like the Sheikah Slate, but it’s more refined and streamlined. So it’s pretty apparent that since the events of Breath of the Wild she and Robbie have continued their studies and made improvements on the tech.

Additionally every one of the sky view towers houses guardians underneath. This is very clear in the little cut scene that plays out when you activate one for the first time. Guardian legs pop out, and then apply the appropriate gear to you before launching you into the sky. If you pay attention to Link’s reaction as well, the first time this happens in Lookout Tower he is visibly FREAKED OUT by this. No doubt a reflexive defensive reaction to his time fighting Guardians in the last game.

So the tech isn’t entirely gone. It’s been repurposed.

2. It was dismantled on Zelda’s orders.

This is not explicitly said, but it’s heavily implied. Zelda has been traveling with Link since the first game and helping to rebuild Hyrule. Part of healing from a calamity is removing evidence of that calamity so that people can move on with their lives and not be reminded of the thousands that died.

This is also probably because Zelda feels guilty about the role she played. After all she was the one who unearthed the guardians in the first place. She set up the very same guardians that eventually got possessed by Calamity Ganon and DESTROYED THE WORLD.

Also, having finally stopped the calamity it is in Hyrule’s best interest to remove technology that could still be beneficial to your enemies. The last thing they need is another calamity happening that reactivates all the dead Guardians… again. (More on this later)

You can find evidence of this in many places where shrines once existed now only exist an empty patch that resembles the shrine’s shape. These patches are clean, do not disturb the landscape much at all, and it seems much more controlled and surgical compared to what I’m about to talk about in the next section. I believe these patches are where Zelda’s construction team are responsible for dismantling the shrines.

So it’s pretty clear to me that healing the land from the calamity by removing them and any other Sheika tech/shrine would be a priority.

3. Ganon’s Gloom destroyed the rest.

This is also not explicitly stated, but is pretty clear when you examine the facts. Gloom is extremely dangerous. Far more dangerous than the calamity’s corruption. Gloom saps your life away and is the reason all weapons in Hyrule just suddenly decayed when the upheaval happened. It’s so powerful that it literally decayed the Master Sword! The most powerful weapon in the Zelda franchise got instantly destroyed by gloom from Ganon’s initial attack.

So taking this evidence and extending it further… what’s something Ganon would want to get rid of? How about something that could be used against him? Like, say…. The divine beasts and the guardians… or how about a magical shrine that could resurrect a fallen hero?

His calamity form was destroyed by the technology initially, and while he took his revenge by possessing them the next time, the divine beasts were eventually ripped away from his control by Link and the sages were able to fire upon him yet again. So that tech is dangerous and Ganon isn’t dumb. He’s not gonna risk the same mistake happening again.

And there is evidence of this as well. If you travel around Hyrule, in many of the places where Sheikah shrines once existed you will often find bandit camps or giant gloom infestations with sink holes into the depths.

So what happened to the divine beasts and the rest of the Sheikah shrines and tech that wasn’t repurposed or dismantled? Ganon’s gloom destroyed it.

Conclusion.

I know that it’s frustrating that there aren’t many reference to these things by NPC’s. It could easily have been handled by a couple lines of dialogue by a few random characters here or there. But to be honest I look at this as just another puzzle left by the developers.

Like so many aspects of the Zelda franchise, it’s often left to you (the player) to piece together clues and small details to form your own conclusions to things. Environmental storytelling is very much a huge part of both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom’s world building. To me the fact that there are so many clues about what happened is an indication that the developers did understand that people would question this.

The problem I’m seeing is that after asking the question “where did all the Sheikah tech go?” people are either too unimaginative or very unobservant, and don’t bother trying to ANSWER that question.

The answer is in the game. It’s all around you. You’ve been walking over it, around it, and diving into it (quite literally) while you’ve been playing.

[deepseaorcapt]

Hi, saw you mention missing writing for Revali. Was curious how would you envision (HCs) a Revali that survived Calamity (AoC) but a time skip passes and the events of Totk begin?

Hello! Thanks for your suggestion, I honestly have been thinking and debating on this for quite some time. It seems like it's time that I finally put my ideas out in the world! My first time doing HCs but I hope you enjoy it!

Revali surviving the Calamity and his life with his spouse:

I like to think Revali gained some sort of scar from the fight with Windblight Ganon.

A long scar in the form of a beam that goes across his chest and the side of his neck when he got hit.

From an outsider’s perspective, it didn’t seem that deep, but the medics concluded it was much of an injury to tell him he shouldn’t exert much into physical activities.

Unfortunately, he still does overtrain from time-to-time to the dismay of his, now, spouse.

On top of that, he still leads the rito warriors, organizing the operations and their duties to protect Rito Village. Sometimes, he takes hours just training and planning with the village elder.

It takes a lot of convincing to get him to rest, but the moment he sees the desperation in your eyes, he sighs and heads home with your arm wrapped in his.

"Revali." 

"I know, I… I’m sorry"

Since the calamity, Revali has been trying to be better at depending on others, especially since he’s chosen to have you in his life, not wanting to hurt you more by shutting you out.

Still, bad habits die hard. At the very least, he tries.

Getting home, it became a habit to lightly caress the scar on his chest as you both lie in your shared hammock.

The sensation bothered him for the first couple of months, but eventually, he couldn't sleep without it.

It's like a comforting feeling that he's alive, lucky enough to survive and live with you. Fortunate enough to see Hyrule again in its glory; For that, he's extremely grateful to Goddess Hylia.

There are a lot of days where he wakes up in the middle of the night.

Throat dry and eyes wide, awakened by the nightmare that haunts him in the form of Windblight Ganon. 

It’s only when he feels your body lean towards him in the hammock when he relaxes.

On most days, you wake up feeling his panic, consoling and letting him find comfort in your embrace.

But in the rare instance you stay asleep, he takes a walk or a flight just around the village.

There is just this one time where you woke in the middle of the night, looking for his warm blanket of wings in your shared hammock. 

In a panic, you ran around the village. It was only when you noticed a string of smoke from the flight range that you finally let go of the breath you didn’t know you were holding.

Still a bit sleepy, you make your way to him. Finding him, staring at his bow once more with paranoia in his eyes.

Your embrace wakes him up from the thoughts that plagued his mind, his tears made yours water in response.

Since then, he has been trying his best to wake you up on those nights; Trying to actually ask for help, knowing that he doesn’t have to be alone anymore.

[wayfayrr]

Hey I saw your post, that the requests are open so I want to give you one.

I don't know if your tears got ripped out of his adventure and joined the Chain or after his journey where he got arm back. So what about. Reader replaces Zelda as the Light Drago , completely or basically pushed her away from that is your decision. But I kinda want fluff where Reader helps Tears beat that overgrown lizard named Ganondorf and catch them, where he finally can say how he feels as they helped him through his first journey with Wolfie.

What I'm leaning towards with him is post journey but he has a prosthetic rather than getting his own arm back, it's something he built himself and still has the abilities from the game, another thing I'm trying to incorporate is a few things that make him different from wild, they'll show themselves in time but the one that's most important for this is how he didn't have wolfie :3c

these little reqs are gonna just be tiny drabbles to flesh him out a little more, and like you asked it's just a bit of fluff post ganon with him and reader - it doesn't really go into depth about the how but it's post reader being turned back. I hope you'll like it!! <3

“You’re scratching again, do you want some more salve?”

“Only if it isn't a bother.”

“It's never a bother - nothing is if it's for you. You don’t need to wait for the itching to get bad, or for me to notice for you to ask. I’ll do anything to help you, you know that.”

“I do.”

He knows the reason I don’t ask just as well as I do, it’s an unspoken acknowledgement that he keeps trying to get me to change my mind; he just doesn’t know how close he gets to changing it. He knows it wasn’t his fault that I was dragged into this mess, that it’s not his fault and that I hate how he blames himself for every accident that led to it. 

“Then stop dragging out whenever you’re in pain.”

“I don’t want to be a bother though, I can deal with this. It’s nothing compared to what you went through, you’re already doing enough helping me get home.”

“It doesn’t feel like enough, you spent millennia as a dragon, you fixed the master sword, you were the reason I could kill ganon. I can never repay that.”

Seems like that was enough to push him to the edge, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes and threatening to overflow as he applied a cool salve to the patches of scales still dotted upon my skin. He’ll never stop feeling guilt for me having ended up helping him throughout both of his quests not as long as we have to keep doing this, the best I can do now is try to minimise it. Pressing a couple of kisses to his face feels like the best place to start. 

“And you don’t need to, if I had the chance to go back to the start and do this all over I would.”

“Wh- but why? All of those wasted years, all that time away from your home… why would you do it all again?”

“Because it means I get to be with you. I wouldn’t trade that for anything lilac.”

I’ll never get over how red he gets whenever I call him that, the reaction alone is priceless.

[capricorn-the-goat]

Finale of the Chain trying to figure out the timeline (Zelda edition)

DUSK: sorry… no

CHAIN: H u h

LULLABY: the timeline is off limits to talk about. You can literally ask us about anything else, just… not the timeline.

LEGEND: they better have an AA in this hyrule

WIND: um… why is it off limits?

SUNNY: the timeline is just one of those topics that each reincarnation knows not to talk about or try to explain. All of us (*gestures to all the Zeldas*) have seen what happens to the timeline and… well… we just decided not to deal with it.

DUSK: believe us, you really don’t want to sit down and really talk about it. From the timeline split…

FABLE: to the fact that the Fallen Hero timeline shouldn’t exist with what we know…

DOT: and the constant and never ending contradictions…

SUNNY: we all just gave up on it a long time ago.

FLORA: in the hundred years I held off Ganon, I got a good look at the timeline, and… really came to regret it because I get migraines now every time I think about it.

ATHENA: Hylia almighty it’s so complicated.

TETRA: anything but the timeline.

TIME: … Alright, changing subjects. *to Lullaby* did you know what would happen when you sent me back?

LULLABY: kind of? I knew it wouldn’t exactly fix everything in the time that I lived in, but I trusted you to try and fix it for another version. And… I wasn’t exactly thinking clearly.

TIME: yeah it’s all right. Probably for the best that it happened anyway.

LEGEND: speak for yourself.

FOUR: isn’t there a basic way to explain everything?

DOT: *sigh* not really. From the contradictions and chronological issues to the fact that no map of Hyrule looks the same, all of us are just done with it at this point.

TWILIGHT: back up back up… what was that about hyrule changing?

DUSK:

DUSK: you-

DUSK: there are nine of you

DUSK: how did you never notice…?

CHAIN: ?

*zeldas converge*

*five minutes later the chain is looking at maps of all of their versions of Hyrule*

WARRIORS: let’s go find that AA meeting

TIME: what… how… how the fu-

LULLABY: yep.

TWILIGHT: it’s… what?

FLORA: apparently Hyrule has very active tectonic plates.

LEGEND: Why does nothing look the same?!?!

DUSK: We honestly have no idea. Our best guess… Ganon.

*five minutes of silence later*

WILD: *to Dot* oh, by the way, we’re your ancestors cats?

DOT: wh-

DOT: what the fu-?

[hyrule-in-a-pokeball]

GANONDORF AND "CALAMITY" GANON: TWO SEPARATE BEINGS

Calamity Ganon, as we know, was more like a primal force of nature, though it did display some level of intelligence with its ability to formulate and execute plans (Spawning the blights and unleashing them, corrupting the Guardians, etc) it wasn't exactly a big brain genius. I mean, come on, it had 10,000 years to plan, and the best it came up with, while effective, was "Uno reverse lol" And with an additional 100 years its plan became "Cyborg time!"

And then just. "Big pig!"

It wasn't a tactical genius. It won because Hyrule was overly reliant on the ancient Sheikah technology to the point that they were helpless against that very technology when it was turned against them.

But what the hell was Calamity ganon? Well, we see it in three, maybe four forms. Pig Cloud

Which Creating a Champion states is a "spirit composed of malice"

Fashion disaster Ganon

An incomplete, slapped together body made of Malice and machinery (Apparently he started building this body when he sensed Link awaken in the chamber of resurrection)

Kaiju Ganon

A body formed of pure malice as a final "screw you though" after his cool new cyborg body was destroyed.

And the fourth body is possibly the malice itself, seeing as he seemed to be hell bent on using it to make his new bodies. It was like clumps of flesh just sort of laying around waiting to be assembled into something.

So now that we know the calamity's 3 (or 4) main forms, I want to focus on the pig cloud, because I think that is Calamity Ganon's truest form. The malice is something it created, either intentionally or as a byproduct of simply existing, and its other bodies were things made of that malice.

Now, we know that Calamity Ganon was utterly destroyed at the end of Breath of the wild. It didn't like, return to Dry Ganondorf in the depths. That thing got nuked.

And that means that Ganondorf's consciousness was always in his dry body and not acting through the Calamity. In fact, when Rauru seals him away, he taunts Rauru and says "Thousands of years will pass in the blink of an eye" which to me says he knows he gonna be stuck in that spot for a hot minute.

The Calamity spawned from him, but it was not him. Its almost like a giant, out of control Phantom Ganon thats just sort of up there doing its best. But with Ganondorf sealed away, how did Calamity Ganon get loose? Well, it might seem odd, but I think Majora's mask (the object) can point us in the right direction

Majora's Mask was once just a normal mask. Carved from normal wood. (actually if you look at the renders it looks more like it was carved from stone, but whatever) It wasn't alive, it didn't possess magic powers. It was just a mask. A mask used in ancient hexing rituals. Over time, the negative energies created from those hexing rituals sort of infected the mask and eventually became conscious, with the mask acting as a body. It was a Tulpa that was housed inside the mask. (A tulpa is a concept in mysticism of an object or being that is created through mental or spiritual power. To make it extremely basic: A tulpa is an imaginary friend that stops being imaginary. Actually in that sense, Phantom Ganon is basically a tulpa.)

So, Ganondorf, sealed away, conscious or not, was just seething. Pure hate for Hyrule, for Rauru the first king, and all his descendants. That hate was so pure and intense that it basically manifested as Calamity Ganon. The pig cloud. A separate entity born of Ganondorf's sheer spite and hate.

And if you need further proof that they are not the same entity, we need only look to Ganondorf's profile in Tears of the Kingdom, unlocked after completing the game.

Ganondorf had been slowly working on his revival for 100 years INDEPENDENTLY of Calamity Ganon. Link and Zelda just pulled a "wrong place/wrong time" when they found him at the exact moment the seal finally weakened enough to break.

Man what would Ganondorf have done if he broke out of his seal like 5 or 8 years earlier, made his way to the surface, and found pig cloud ganon just up there partying?

[redundantz]

In ancient LOZ au, do you have any ideas for how Link would tell Zelda everything? would she see him as a monster or realize who he really is?

Sorry I took so long to answer this!! （；´д｀）ゞ talking about story stuff coherently when its not just in my head is hard for me. In the Ancient Era when Link gets turned into the shade in the final battle. It actually happens right infront of Zelda so she knows its him.

But she's terrified. Her childhood best friend has turned on them (been corrupted) and is trying to overthrow Hyrule and kill them and their people. And now her other best friend just transformed into something almost unrecognizable by something that was suppose to help them. (the Zonai artifacts under the Castle) As a Shade he still has consciousness but the sealing jewlery uses the persons life force and using them takes a lot of power and will. So not much talking happens as they are also in the middle of a battle with Corrupted Ganondorf. but in the end Zelda understands even though it breaks her heart... I have a pretty old art piece where shade Link awakens and sees TOTK Zelda for the first time. HERE and knows it is Zelda but not his Zelda. That thousands of years have passed and he wont see her again.... but he had to what had to be done to save her, Hyrule and even Ganon.

[skyward-floored]

Whumptober Day 25: Storm, “You’re not delivering a perfect body to the grave”

The second prompt is more vibes then anything, there’s no dead guys here. Probably. Hopefully.

This is a continuation to day 22 :) It’s a lot of plot, but it’s plenty painful as well heh heh. There will be another part after this as well.

Day 22

Read on ao3

Warnings: much of the same as the first fic, more creepy vibes, blood, injury, some implied kidnapping, a liiiittle body horror, and an animal injury

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A scream shatters Twilight’s peaceful sleep, and he jolts awake, sitting up and looking frantically around before realization hits him.

It’s Time. Woken by a nightmare yet again.

Twilight sighs, sad acceptance settling over himself as he calms down, and he looks over at the older hero. But the sight isn’t the usual one they’ve become accustomed to these past weeks, and Twilight immediately moves closer.

Time is gasping for breath, both eyes wide as they stare up at the sky, and Warriors is unsuccessfully trying to get him to look at him. He’s pale and shaking— which, unfortunately, has lately been the norm— but usually by now Time is sitting up and getting ahold of himself, and acting like he’s fine.

Instead he continues to lie there, gasping like a drowning man.

“Time,” Warriors repeats, Legend kneeling next to him with a pinched look on his face, “Link, can you hear me?”

Time’s breath rattles, but after a long moment, his eyes finally turn towards Warriors, blue and white both blown wide in terror.

“Did... what happened? He’s never done this before, was... was it the same nightmare?” Wind finally asks quietly, voicing what the rest of them are wondering.

“No,” Time gasps, face white, sweat pouring down his face. “No, it was— it was different.”

Twilight and Legend exchange looks, and Time chokes in another gasp, still trying to calm down.

“...I think you’d better tell everyone your dream, Time,” Warriors says in a grim voice. “And then you can explain to us what was different this time.”

Time gives him a look, but Warriors is firm.

“The time for secrets is over. If we’re going to figure this out, we need everyone’s help,” the captain finishes more softly, and Time closes his eyes, dragging in another ragged breath.

Twilight grabs his necklace and shifts into wolf form, moving to sit beside Time. His mentor reaches out a shaky hand, and Twilight allows him to run his palm over his head, running down to the thicker fur at his neck. Normally he balks at being petted like a common pooch, but under circumstances like these, he’s found it’s the best way to provide comfort.

And it helps. Time’s gasps slow, his breath evening out. His hands still shake, but he looks more settled, and begins to explain the nightmare he’s been having for nearly a month now.

Twilight already heard the explanation once, but it’s almost worse the second time with the others listening, knowing what’s coming. All of them are dead silent as he speaks, faces holding several differing emotions, but Legend’s face especially seems to crease more and more as he tells them of the violence and death he’s privy to every night.

“That... sounds like a legend in my time,” Legend murmurs as Time finishes the explanation. “Of the Hero before me. The Fallen Hero.”

“Who?” Wild asks in a whisper, and Legend’s throat bobs as he hesitates.

“Legend goes that the hero before me fought against Ganon, but... failed,” he explains, crossing his arms. “The princess of the time was forced to seal Ganon away without him, with the help of six other sages.”

Legend swallows.

“There’s a bit more to it, but... the legends say the hero died. Like... in Time’s dream.”

Time seems to have lost what color he’d regained, and his hand clenches slightly where it’s resting in Twilight’s fur.

“But you said it was different this time,” Warriors interjects, voice steadying. “How did it change?”

Time breathes out, and launches into a second explanation.

He tells them all how the beginning of the dream had been the same, but at the point where it usually ended, it had continued, into a confusing darkness and broken bodies, and images Time had trouble explaining, and couldn’t make sense of. Twilight wonders if he might leave a few details out based on how he hesitates at certain points, but he doesn’t call him out.

“And the end was clear,” Time finishes in a more serious voice. His fear seems to have hardened into anger, and Twilight eyes him worriedly. “The rest was confusing, but there’s no mistaking it. An enemy I thought long gone is back... Majora.”

Legend and Wild both look up, and the champion hesitantly reaches into his pouch, pulling out a mask in almost dizzying colors, with yellow eyes and small spikes at the edges.

“You’ve mentioned an enemy by that name before... when I showed you this,” he says cautiously, and Time nods.

“Yes. The mask that housed it was identical to this one,” he says as Wild hands it to him. “Though this one is empty, possibly a replica. Many years ago I destroyed the demon, but... it should not have been possible for it to return.”

They all chew on that for a moment, an owl hooting somewhere in the forest.

“...Unless it’s the Shadow’s doing,” Warriors finally says in a grave voice. “He’s brought back many an old foe. Who’s to say he can’t resurrect a demon?”

“That would take a lot of power,” Hyrule speaks up, his face shadowed with worry. “Even a dark being like the Shadow would need some kind of help, a conduit, or cursed object maybe—”

“It doesn’t matter how he’s back, we gotta stop him!” Wind interrupts, his face dismayed. “If Time’s dream was real, then there’s at least two people he was possessing and captured! They need our help!”

Twilight breathes out, and shifts back into a hylian, sitting down next to Time.

“You’re right sailor, but we don’t know where they or the demon are,” he says. “Time just said they were in a dark, stone room. That doesn’t narrow it down much.”

Somebody makes an odd noise, and Twilight looks over at Legend, raising a worried eyebrow at how pale he suddenly seems.

“...Veteran?” Sky asks, and Legend swallows.

“I have a mask like that as well,” he says in a low voice. The others turn to stare at him. “I could tell it had some dark magic in it when I found it, kept it for safekeeping. Maybe... maybe it’s like Hyrule said. Maybe all the Shadow needed to bring the demon back was the mask.”

A stunned silence falls over them, and Twilight looks at Time, his face still pale and grim.

He’s a bit less receptive of his ancestor’s mood now that he’s not a wolf, but there’s an equal mixture of anger and fear and worry on his face, along with the dark circles from so few nights of sleep. A change in the routine of torture he’s been submitted to seems to have woken him up a bit, and his face is more alive then it’s been in a while.

As horrible as the circumstances are, Twilight is a little glad.

“Where is it?” Time asks finally, and Legend pales again, as if he’s just realized something.

“It’s at my house.”

(...)

They break camp and leave immediately, knowing time is of the essence. It’s still dark out, but they’re close enough to Legend’s house that the veteran knows the way, leading them silently with a pinched look on his face.

Twilight can only imagine what’s going on in his head at the moment. Legend’s house is right by the castle, and not much further from Kakariko— if there’s a demon loose, it could have already wreaked all sorts of havoc.

Not to mention the fact that Legend’s house isn’t empty.

Twilight glances at Legend again, the veteran looking like he’s barely keeping himself from bolting off with his Pegasus boots.

Legend’s never explained exactly who Ravio is, but you’d have to be a fool not to notice how similar they look. Twilight is sure there’s a story there, but the point is, Ravio is important to Legend, despite what the veteran may show outwardly.

And he’s all but confirmed to be in the same location as a demon Time tells them once destroyed the world.

“...he means nearly destroyed, right?” Wind asks in a quiet voice as Time explains a little more about Majora to them, but Time doesn’t answer.

The information doesn’t make much sense, and neither does any of the situation, really. All they know for sure is that Time’s been plagued by nightmares for nearly a month, identical to each other except for tonight’s, in which two people had been alternatively possessed by a demon mask in a dark room somewhere.

They’re working solely off of assumptions and coincidences otherwise, and there’s a large part of Twilight that desperately hopes all of this truly was just a nightmare.

He knows better then that though. Nightmares like Time has been having aren’t normal.

They never are.

They reach Legend’s house at dawn, rays of sunlight barely peeking through the clouds that blanket the sky. Twilight feels a little hopeful at the lack of obvious destruction from the outside of the building, or the surrounding area.

The fact that the house is still standing must be good, right?

Legend doesn’t waste a moment in running up and shoving open the door, the others right behind him.

The veteran’s house is always a disaster, but as Twilight walks in, he sees it’s even worse then normal. Furniture has been knocked over, and books and maps and items are all over the place, mixing with glass from a broken window. Twilight sees clear signs of a struggle, things that look like they’ve been thrown, weapons fallen out of reach.

Any hope that it’s a coincidence goes out the window when he sees blood on the floor, and Legend quickly checks the rest of the house, shouting for Ravio.

But there’s no sign of the purple merchant, and Legend comes back into the main area with a grim look on his face.

“The mask is gone,” he reports in a biting voice, looking at a particular portion of the wall. “And so is Ravio.”

“There was dark magic used here, a lot of it,” Hyrule says quietly.

“That all but confirms it,” Warriors says as he closes his eyes, a grieved look on his face. “Majora is back.”

A quiet chirping noise punctuates the end of his sentence, and Twilight pricks his ears, turning his head towards where it had come from.

“Rancher?”

“Shh,” Twilight says in reply, and the others go quiet as he picks his way across the room.

He steps over a pile of what look like various magic rods, and over to a stack of maps, fallen all over the floor in a large pile. The chirp rings out again, and Twilight follows it to the corner, where the maps are piled particularly high.

Twilight lifts up several pieces of paper and parchment, and near the bottom, he startles at a little blue and white bird underneath.

Sheerow’s wing is crooked, blood in his feathers, and he fluffs up at the sight of Twilight, angrily clacking his beak.

“What is it?” Four calls, and Twilight crouches next to the bird, studying him.

“...It’s Ravio’s bird.”

“Sheerow?!” Legend asks, and the bird perks up a little, letting out a pained squawk as he shifts his wing.

“Easy, little guy,” Twilight soothes, and Sheerow glares at him a moment longer before slowly smoothing his feathers.

He blinks and tilts his head curiously as Twilight continues to make soothing noises, and Twilight scoops the little bird into his hands. Sheerow lets out a tired peep as Sky picks his way over and runs a finger over his head, and the bird looks relieved to have finally been found.

“Yep, this is Sheerow,” Sky confirms, having studied the bird a few times before.

“Ravio never goes anywhere without that stupid bird,” Legend mutters with a frantic undertone, starting to pace among all of his items thrown on the floor, “and I’ve never seen Sheerow get hurt, not even when he’s pulled weapons off me in stupid dangerous areas, or dragged me home even, how could he have—”

“Legend, calm down,” Warriors says, and Legend whirls on him.

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” he yells. “My house has been broken into, my roommate’s been kidnapped, it’s extremely likely a mask got stolen and a demon got resurrected using it, the whole kingdom is probably in danger, and not to mention all those stupid dreams Time keeps having that are telling the future or past or I don’t even know!”

Warriors goes silent, and Legend swipes an angry hand across his eyes.

Sheerow lets out a squeaking sound in Twilight’s hand then, and nibbles his finger, bobbing his head towards Legend.

“Whoa, okay, you want to see Legend?” Twilight asks softly, and Sheerow chirps in an insistent way. The rancher picks his way back across the room, Sky in tow, and holds out his hands to Legend, the veteran looking at him with emotion swirling in his gaze.

Sheerow squawks, and jumps out of Twilight’s hands onto Legend’s shoulder, pecking lightly at his ear.

“Ow, what is it you stupid bird?” Legend asks, all bark and no bite, and Sheerow lets out another urgent series of chirps.

“Wait... I think he’s trying to tell us something,” Wind says, eyes wide. “Is that it, Sheerow?”

The little bird chirps, bobbing his head, and the heroes exchange looks.

“Wait, do you know where Ravio went?” Twilight asks suddenly.

Sheerow chirrups louder then ever, and Legend scoops him off his shoulder and into a hand, rifling in his pouch with the other. He pulls out a potion, and pours some into his palm, offering it to Sheerow.

Somehow the little bird knows what he’s doing and eagerly sips it up, beak clacking. He stretches his bent wing a few moments later, no longer bent, and does a little loop in the air, a triumphant caw ringing through the house.

“Can you help us find Ravio?” Legend asks seriously, and Sheerow chirps in a determined way and flies right out the door.

Legend leaves his disastrous home without hesitation, and the rest of them follow, Twilight staying by Time’s side as they run. The older hero has been doing a little better since they’ve been given something to do, but he’s still running on barely any sleep, and Twilight admittedly isn’t sure he’ll keep up.

Sheerow guides them to the east, the land growing more hilly as they go. The clouds above them thicken as well, white turning to grey, and Twilight can smell rain in the distance, a mark of the coming storm.

Time drags the longer they go, but he stubbornly keeps at it as they follow Sheerow up crumbling stairs and across old bricks. It’s an hour or two after they leave Legend’s house before they reach the yawning maw of a large temple, and they pause, getting their breath back, looking to Legend for information.

“Eastern Palace,” Legend reports, Sheerow flittering nervously around his head. “Pretty easy dungeon on the scale of things, mostly low-level monsters. I had to do it twice actu— would you stop that?!” he snaps at Sheerow, and the little birds chirps in offense and goes to sit on Sky’s shoulder. “As I was saying—”

Twilight hears thunder off in the distance, and a light rain begins to fall on their heads, small noises of dismay coming from them all. They move to go inside the palace, but then Sheerow lets out a noise like a shriek, and Time stops dead in his tracks.

The rest of them stop as well, drawing their weapons seconds after Time does, and Twilight hears Time let out a sharp inhale as footsteps echo from the entrance to the palace.

Two yellow eyes appear, and then a figure steps out into the rain, bringing with it sharp inhales from them all.

The figure that’s stepped out is barely recognizable as Hylian, his tunic torn and covered in blood that the rain begins to wash onto the stones at his feet. Darkness is coalesced around where the blood is thickest, patches over his skin in several places, twined like vines across his arms and legs. It covers the injuries that must be there, but what’s most noticeable is the mask covering his face.

It’s identical to the one Wild possesses, but its eyes glow with an extra malice as it seems to look around at them, stopping when it’s gaze reaches Time.

“Well well. I was wondering when you all were going to show up,” the boy says in a voice that makes Twilight’s heart stop.

He sounds almost exactly like Time.

He spares a frantic look at his mentor, and sees that Time’s face has gone eerily blank, though the glint of horror in his eye is impossible to erase.

Who’s under that mask?

“Where’s Ravio?” Legend demands, his gaze like steel as he points his sword at the demon.

Majora ignores him.

“My, you’ve grown, Hero. I see you’ve had some fun with some masks yourself!” he titters, staring at the markings on Time’s face. “Power like that is enticing, isn’t it?”

Time doesn’t falter. “Fight us as yourself,” he demands, his voice more matching the thunder that’s growing closer. “A puppet is unbecoming.”

“On the contrary, I rather like him,” the mask giggles, tilting his head so a few blood-soaked strands of blond hair are visible. “I’ve waited for revenge at my only defeat for a long time, and this only sweetens it. No... I think I’ll be keeping him.”

He pauses, and a flash of lighting strikes nearby, sending him into sharp relief.

“Or should I say... you?”

Pure horror hits Twilight like an arrow, and Time moves at the same time as the boy, a horribly familiar laugh ringing over the sound of thunder.

[ganondoodle]

I'm curious, in your totk rewrite, would the final fight with Ganondorf be the same, or would you do something entirely different?

somewhat, this is a bit of a different take on ganondorf though, it makes more sense in context of his changed ... or added rather, backstory;

you fight him once before, not a phantom like in canon but him physically, were hes still trying to cope with the horros he had lived through being half awake for such a long time so he isnt much for talking, at the end of it he has like a breakdown that essentially causes cataclysm 2.0 (that might even open up new caves that were previously just cracks in walls too) and which spawns the miasma/memory trees that contain his memories, all of which you need to collect to unlock the ending-

structurally the final fight is similar:

theres a horde of enemies you fight all together and the sages get taken away once you reach ganondorf; when you find him hes all calm and collected but does not allow zelda to talk to him despite her understanding how it had come to all of this and her wishing for a different solution; the fight begins but over time as he loses HP he start to act differently, less calculating and like he is in control and more and more aggresively, and more jumpy like he is afraid of something

phase two he gets too cornered and activates his enigma stone + the sages rejoin you, he is visibly just trying to put an end to you using everything he has to offer, phase two of phase two, he loses it and changes into a beast form (a miasma version of the best forms we know basically, i made a sketch of it once but it was only a rly early concept; i need to put more boar features on that

(unsure whether i want this to be his engima stone active version or the actual beast one) after he changes into beast form he charges at link and zelda and essentially burrows through the earth with them, breaking through the surface in the hyrule plains where the dark beast ganon fight happened in botw, here you fight him in the open, any weathher and time of day can happen here so its a much more diverese vibe each time; he is very fast in this form, if you are familiar with bloodborne im thinking of something akin to the first phase of ludwigs fight but a little more coordinated

this fight ends with zelda telling you to shoot at her so she uses her shielding powers (sth she can also do in the game itself) to reflect your arrow in a certain angle (reference to how ww zelda shoots an arrow you need to deflect in order to defeat gan but in reverse), it hits the ornament keeping the enigma stone in place from the side and it flings off

the battle seemingly ends with beast ganon falling to the ground, zelda tries to run and take it away but gan is still awake and sees in her how sonia sealed him way back, so in a last ditch effort to avoid the fate he had just escaped (despite zelda not wanting to do any of that) lunges for the stone and swallows it

he transforms into a dragon snatching up the both of you and flying high into the sky, zelda can wriggle free but falls and while she could land safely with her paraglider gan is flying off with link so she makes a last moment decision to take in her enigma stone as well, she transforms, rams into gan to free link and a somwhat similar fight as in canon happens, though i would like zelda to be more openly agressive towards dragon-gan

sicne in this version gan doesnt have his stone on the forehead somehow but inside like you would expect you need to fly into his mouth to end the fight, assuming you have found the lab that held the moonbloom (perhaps kogas so tie him nicely into it all) needed for the reverse dragon medicine (bc i wanted to involve links passion for cooking somewhat i thought it would be cool if he takes the chrage on that to make that special dish), you now use it, causing gan to spit out his stone and reversing (still unsure whether he survives this or not, but i thought of the scene from spirited away when chihiro gives haku the lil herb thingy to make him spit out whats killing him when i was coming up with this) zelda catches you again and you use the second charge on her to reverse her as well, boom you got your epic falling scene, the sages also now have made their way up through the tunnel, perhaps they catch gan too

this is a super rough current concept for it, it might all change still so dont take this as the final version, still working on it all after all