#ganondorf: of course i don't have anything to do with the goddesses that's a hyrule thing

[gloriousmonsters]

it looks slightly more natural on Technically Big Boy (still 11 on the inside and panicking) Link rather than teeny baby Link, but I still think Din's Fire looks like it was made to be a Ganondorf move

[transskywardsword]

Oh hey!! I've finished sksw so I was really curious and wanted to hear your thoughts about Ghirahim and Demise :DD only if you wanna of course!! I had no idea that Ghirahim's and Link's last confrontation was gonna be THAT dramatic lmao. Though there is one thing I'm curious about!! I've seen a handful of Ghirahim enjoyers saying that Ghirahim resented Demise for throwing him aside? When if anything Ghirahim looked more than happy to serve Demise even if I meant being back into a sword?

Really I'd just love to hear your thoughts cause there's So Much going on there that I don't have the slightest idea where to start sjsjsjs

okay im an totally out of it rn (gotta love heat exhaustion, i work outside and it was 105 degrees today and i got very heat sick) but i could talk about ghirahim for hourssss so THANK YOU

so, i think people so often simplify ghira to just 'minion', but that does both him and demise a huge disservice. so we know ghira is a sword spirit like fi-- she is the master sword and he is demise's blade. so just as fi was 'programmed' (for lack of a better word) to serve link and then grew attached regardless, i see the exact same happening with ghira. pre imprisonment, he served demise out of expectation, but throughout the battles and demise's temporary defeat, that grew into actual emotional attachment. the sheer amount of emotional outbursts he has in skyward sword is proof enough to me of his connection w demise, but i think hyrule warriors REALLY shows how he has grown past simple duty into genuine dedication. ghirahim serves hw ganondorf bc ganon is tied to demise, but his fight dialogue shows a very fast, very intense devotion. ghira isn't the type to jump to serving someone so quickly; i think his connection with hw ganon is a sign of his dedication to demise, even after demise is sealed permanently. he is desperate for any connection to demise, and hw ganon is a means to an end to get that.

i don't see ghirahim as tossed aside by demise right before the last battle as much as i see him be a little frightened of loosing the agency he had developed. he'd been given rule of the surface, and obviously enjoyed that, and demise returning him to the sword rips that away from him, which i don't think he enjoyed very much lol. BUT i also think he got over that reaaaal quick, bc to him, he means nothing in comparison to demise. demise is his master, almost godlike in ghirahim's dedication to him. if demise asked him to walk of a cliff, ghira would skydive off it. demise placing him back into the sword was a little upsetting to ghira, but ultimately was minuscule emotionally in comparison to the pleasure of serving his master.

ultimately, while ghirahim is a sword spirit, i see him taking the spot of demise's champion/hero, just like the first hero did for hylia. he seems too valued (based on him being made ruler of the surface) to be 'just' some spirit, and demise obviously trusts him to resurrect him, which ghirahim ends up successfully doing! they are not equals in any means, but i do think ghirahim is seen more as a companion to demise than hylia saw fi. (i could take for hours abt hylia and fi but thats for another time) After all, if he was just some spirit, why would demise give him a personality, especially such a big one? demise made him like that instead of a calculating robot, and that makes me think he did so with the intention of ghirahim being in a role of power, fighting beside him, more than he intended ghira to be 'just' the sword, ya know?

and a note on ghirahim and fate: i think demise goes after the triforce not bc he's ~evil~ demon king, but bc he's been forced to take up the mantle of a god of darkness by the golden goddesses and fate. hylia is a goddess of light, of purity, and in loz it is made explicitly clear in multiple games that light needs a dark. i see din/nayru/farore as creating demise to be that dark. he is fated to be evil, and wouldn't that piss you off? wouldn't that make your furious? to be born just with the intent to be horrible? to be fated to be evil? so i think demise accepted fate and went 'fuck it ill be evil'. seeing his master do so really convinced ghirahim that fate is real, and that things happen for a reason, though he still very much feels he has control and free will.

anyways, this is mostly word voimit bc im sick and can't think straight but ahhhhh ghirahim is my fav villain in the whole franchise i love him so much!!! thank youuuuuu

[matriarchsdevotee-archive]

🌟 + Ganondorf

This Might Kill Her

There it was, the one thing she refused to discuss in public. How could she? Aside from lying, of course. She did that a lot, when this subject was concerned. She heaved a sigh, fingertips pressed to her brow.

"I... You wouldn't understand if you didn't know him before."Did it make a difference? Nabooru swore there was a point at which Ganondorf changed, but even she had a hard time putting a finger on it.

"It was... I was the first of us." It was easier if she explained from the beginning. "Heirophant Ashio, long may she be remembered, died before the raid. I don't know why she picked me, but she did. For a year, I worked with Chieftain Y'erli and General Usta. I had no fucking idea what I was doing." I still don't. "Then the raid happened. Every Gerudo over the age of 19 slaughtered in the night. The traitor became king, obviously, but it shouldn't have happened until he was twenty." She quieted for a moment. The older she got, the more she suspected that raid hadn't actually been carried out by Hyrule..."

And then Aveil joined us a year after. We were so goddess damned young, I just..." She held her breath, steadying herself. The sooner she got on with it, the sooner she could finish."He wasn't bad when it started. I mean, no worse than the rest of us. He'd been outside the desert before, he was a good speaker, he said he'd get recompense, get aid from the East. I believed him at first. We all did." She was ashamed to admit it, but there was no use lying about it. Besides, if the damn King of Hyrule fell for his routine, what chance did they have?

"We were... Well, we weren't fine, we were children trying to resurrect ourselves, but we got by. He spent more and more time in Hyrule, I spent more and more time doing his damned job for him, along with my own, and..." She allowed herself a chuckle, more exasperation than mirth behind it. "Well, this doesn't reflect well on me, but I was certain he was conspiring with the royal family against the rest of us.""He'd come home, we'd scream at each other, I begged him to stay and help, he insisted this was going to help, and so on it went. By the time he assassinated the Hyrulean king - we had no idea, by the way - I was..." Another snort, this one in self-judgement. "I was trying to get the silver gauntlets to challenge him to karai. I absolutely would have died, but that wasn't the point. What he was doing wasn't good for us, it was actually much worse than I thought."

Where did that leave them? She hadn't spoken to him in years, and if she tried she knew they'd kill each other. Each considered the other a traitor, she knew as much. There was nothing worse in the world than betraying ones' people, especially when put in a position to guide them. So what was left of their relationship?

Nabooru stared at the paving stones beneath her, drained of any energy she may have had. "Anything we had is gone. No point in dwelling on it."

[thiefxking]

Yesterday it was Ganondorf. Today it is Link (Time). Once again I am back to my 'he prefers to be called Time' nonsense this time with added Zelda, Impa, and others.

"Come now, Hero of Time," Zelda's tone was playful and matched how she moved, "tell me what you think."

"Hmm?" He looked at her then away again before Impa cleared her throat. "I am just a Captain of your army, my opinion doesn't matter."

"Please?"

He sighed, looking away towards the courtyard he knew the soldiers under his command would be waiting. His eye ached and the scars over it hurt for a moment. At last he shook his head.

"I think what we are doing with the Gerudo is a mistake. Driving them to the deepest parts of the desert or outside of Hyrule entirely? It is cruel especially for those innocent of their King's crimes."

He saw his own mother fleeing into the forest while holding him close, a chance vision given by a Goddess so he would know one of his parents in some form. At his side his hand curled into a fist, whether it was a reaction to the pain or the anger he felt or something else he couldn't tell.

"We could abort that course." Zelda mused and he shook his head immediately.

"If we do that then we will never have any sort of peace with them. The Gerudo are proud and many are warriors in some form. We challenged them as a people and if we back down after doing so then we become cowards and ones only worthy of contempt." He shook his head again, his right eye open so the red hue would be noticed. He knew Zelda and her need for meaning, red- especially Sheikah red- meant truth in many ways, and he used that. Blue and red both focused on her. "We must keep going, but nothing says provision cannot be made for their eventual return to Hyrule."

"If that is what you think best." Zelda agreed softly.

"You are blessed with Wisdom, Zelda, what does that tell you?"

A moment of silence then her shoulders slumped. "You're right..."

"Captain! We're ready to go."

Turning to the soldier he gave a gesture then took a step towards him. Zelda caught his arm before he got any further.

"Come back safely, okay? I still need you."

"If the Goddesses will it I will." He nodded then continued to join his troops. He noticed that some of them seemed distracted and sighed, running a hand through his hair and tugging some of it down over his right eye as he did so. "Gentlemen, kindly explain why you seem so distracted. We are getting ready to defend our homes surely that demands more attention than you are giving it."

"Sorry Captain... it's just. Warren heard the Princess call you Time and we thought-"

"Sir, would you allow us to call you such too?"

"Huh?"

"Um... you don't really seem to respond to Link very quickly so it just..."

"A trial run, sir. May we call you Time as a trial run?"

He knew he looked ridiculous, staring at his soldiers with his mouth agape as it was. It stunned him though that they asked him this, but it surprised him more that he was seriously considering it. Sighing he nodded slowly.

"A trial run, if it doesn't work then you forget about it."

They didn't know he was the Hero of Time and never would if he had a say in it. Perhaps they would think that he was called Time because of his mental clock or something, he could hope, but somehow the prospect of being called that instead of Link or worse the name his father had chosen for him seemed oddly appealing.

"Anything else?"

"No, Sir."

"Then get moving."

He watched as they scrambled to finish gathering their things. As he did so a shadow moved behind him and he half turned his head to see her. Impa stood there looking amused with her arms crossed.

"The Princess bade me to tell you to be careful out there, and I ask that if you see her, the desert Sage, be kind."

"I am always kind."

"I know." Impa hesitated in an odd manner and he turned to look at her. "Be careful, Time."

He hadn't expected it, the feeling of somehow settling with the use of that word from his title. It was though, it was as though some part of him that had been adrift and wandering found a guide to where he needed to be. He was reminded of the Song in the Lost Woods and how it never led him astray. That was how he felt and as it settled comfortably over him Time smiled at her, nodding.

"I'll do my best."

The surprise on her face only made his newfound sense of being better. Time. He could live with that, and he would keep it because that was his. He was the Hero of Time once but now? Now he was just Time. His smile widened as he joined his soldiers to finally head out.

[matriarchsdevotee-archive]

💭 + the Sages

I Might Have Too Many headcanons

She's slightly terrified of Saria, both because she gets anxious around people who are too nice and because she's worried she'll accidentally hurt her feelings. She also really wants to teach the Kokiri to say fuck, so equal grab bag there.

She absolutely cannot stand Ruto outside of professional obligations. She finds both her and her father to be equally elitist and entitled, and she finds Ruto's persistence hunter method of romance exhausting and slightly unnerving.

Nabooru didn't have many interactions with Rauru, but she'd generally characterize him as the least interesting kind of academic; one too afraid to get into the fray and too book-learned to accept anything outside his scope of influence.

Darunia is probably her closest friend amongst the canon sages, after they got over some initial friction. Darunia is one of the only sages who can take her snark and throw it back without anybody's feelings being hurt, and the Gorons share the custom of playfighting as a form of affection. She occasionally asks him for advice on general governance, and returns the same when he asks for it.

Nabooru has a complicated relationship with Zelda, which is probably to be expected. She thinks she's a far better leader than her father was, even if disregarding his toxic policies with her people. Frankly, she's impressed she was able to survive Ganondorf's reign in any state, and she's deeply impressed by Zelda not abandoning her country. At the same time, she doesn't feel that she can be completely at ease with her. Nabooru is very rough-and-tumble and she knows she's not exactly refined. She's also not remotely subtle, and she's not going to mince words to save feelings. By contrast, Zelda is poised, regal, and well-spoken. Ultimately she trusts Zelda, but finds it difficult to relax around her.

I'm not going to lie, Nabs has a teeny tiny little crush on Impa, even if she'd never label it as such. Nothing is as attractive to her as competence which may as well be Impa's middle name. She's everything Nabooru wishes she was - reserved, confident, and ever-ready to thwart those that would do her or those in her protection harm. They don't talk much, since they're both up to their necks in their everyday duties, but whenever they get the chance, Nabooru takes Impa's words of wisdom to heart.

And for funsies, in verses in which Sheik is a different person, he's one of Nabooru's closest friends. Like Darunia, he can manage her outbursts relatively painlessly and can hurl back her sarcasm. They've gone through similar hardships, and even if she's baffled by the Sheikah's continued allegiance to the crown of Hyrule, it's something she can ultimately respect. He's one of the first people she vents to and she'll always be available to do the same for him.

As for the need to be a sage in general, she resents it. Nabooru has had functionally very few choices in her life - she was inducted into the temple before she could read, she was declared Heirophant despite never wanting the title, and became Chieftain essentially by default. Her duties as sage are exhausting and, to her mind, entirely futile. The Gerudo acknowledge the Golden Goddesses as creators, especially Farore, but they don't pray to them as a matter of course. Why would you pray to those who never answer? She also strongly suspects that, emboldened by the curse of the ancient as well as the Triforce of Power, it's only a matter of time before Ganondorf returns in some form. She'd much rather plan for that day than try to stave it off with meaningless entreaties to the Gods