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topazadine · 2 months

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Okay, okay, here's perhaps my spiciest and most controversial take yet.

Now, before I even say anything, please note that I am talking specifically about fantasy. Not retellings of myths, not historical fiction set in different countries, nothing like that. This is for second-world fantasy, where you're creating a whole different world.

Ready?

Stop making everything so damn complicated!

This is not to say that you can't have a rich and exciting world filled with lore, religion, different societies, traditions, unique geographies. Not that. Of course we want that: it's the whole reason we read fantasy. I'm talking about something else.

This is my simple takedown, and you can read the rest to better understand what I mean:

Stop jamming your story with five billion weird words.

Don't use super complicated nouns.

Keep the characters to a minimum so we can know and like them.

Don't yammer on about all the backstory.

Stop making readers do homework just to understand things.

Focus on the feeling a story gives instead of the intricate worldbuilding.

And lastly, a pre-emptive note to those who are putting their hackles up and telling me why they are an exception.

Why is it important to keep things simple?

A lot of people shy away from fantasy because they assume that every fantasy story is going to be so complicated that their head will hurt. Not in terms of plot - many people like complicated plots - but in terms of terminology and history. Things that ultimately don't really matter to the plot.

We as writers often assume that everyone cares about our story as much as we do and is equally captivated by every detail. This is simply not true.

To your reader, your story is not their life's work: it is entertainment that they want to be able to enjoy at their leisure. It's a distraction from their difficult lives and all their real-world frustrations. If they get really into it and, say, write fanfic or whatever, that's amazing! But they're not likely to do that if they feel like they'll be jumped on for doing something wrong or that they have to include every single little detail.

For example, I wrote over 1 million words of Touken Ranbu fanfic. Touken Ranbu, at its heart, has a very simple premise: you've got a bunch of legendary swords that were turned into hot men and fight evil time-traveling monsters. You can understand it with just that. There are layers to it, though, that you can slowly untangle. That makes for good writing because it works on multiple levels depending on how much you care about it.

I would have given up on the story if I felt like I needed a dictionary just to understand the plot. Most people would. Language needs to be accessible and premises need to be clear, or no one is going to want to go deeper.

Subtle little details that people can pick up are way more enjoyable than tossing every single factoid at people so that they feel overwhelmed and can't think. It's wonderful to have rich layers of symbolism, mythology, etc. That's excellent. But you can only get people to care about those things if they can actually comprehend your damn story.

A lot of the things that turn people off from fantasy are all about a writer's ego, and it oozes through the work. People can tell that you're wanting them to pat you on the back for putting so much shit in your story. It's annoying and a total turn-off when you make readers work so hard to comprehend what you're saying.

So what exactly am I talking about? This.

Using made-up terms for everything that could easily be explained with a normal English word

When I am writing fantasy, I imagine myself as a translator. After all, my made-up societies have their own made-up language (Seinish) that is referenced a few times.

However, I'm not using Seinish words all the time. I'm writing in English. I didn't write out a Seinish dictionary or even come up with most of the terms because, honestly? Most readers don't care. They want to understand what's going on in as simple of terms as possible, with only a few specific terms that remind us that we're somewhere different.

I may use some specialized terminology, but it's always couched in context clues that make us aware of what it is without actually having to just say "sdlkjfslkdjf, also known as a marketplace."

For example, in The Eirenic Verses, the High Poet Society has religious centers called meronyms. (Which actually isn't a made-up word.) We know they're religious centers because we see all the religious leaders living there. Someone sees the term "meronym" and goes "oh yeah, that's the religious place" and moves on.

It's one of the only confusing, specialized terms in the book other than place names, which people expect whenever they're reading fantasy. Because of that, it stands out and is easy to remember. It's not one of 1029310283012830132 different terms someone has to remember in order to follow along.

Even Tolkien, famed for literally writing an entire extra book full of lore for his stories, doesn't really use that much specialized terminology except for place names. My favorite author, China Mieville, only uses specialized terminology for things that have absolutely no basis in our reality and that can't be explained otherwise. And he's an extremely eloquent guy who uses the weirdest words possible whenever he can. If he can write a book that's mostly comprehensible without a cheat sheet, you can too.

If there is an English term for what you are trying to explain, just use that, for the love of god. The point of writing a story is not to show how smart and special you are: it is to tell a story. You need to remove as many barriers to access as possible.

Things that get a pass and can be made up most, if not all, of the time:

Place names (as in specific places, not categories of things)

Peoples' names

Languages

Species that don't exist in our world

Modes of transportation that don't exist in our world

Magic that can't be explained in any other way

Technology that can't be defined by our language

Look, if you have an animal that is basically a dragon, just call it a dragon. If you've got a wheeled carriage, call it a carriage. Call earth magic something based in earth terms, like "terravitae" or something, idk. There should be some connection to our world in your terminology because you are writing this in English for an English-speaking audience.

It doesn't make you a lazy writer, it makes you one that wants people to understand what you're talking about. Again, imagining yourself as a translator is a good way to keep yourself from going ham on the nouns.

Proper nouns that are way too complicated

Let's look at some well-known proper nouns from fantasy.

Middle Earth

Narnia

Earthsea

Discworld

Westeros

Ankh-Morpork

Bas-Lag

Wonderland

They're all ... simple. They're not a million syllables with weird intonations and accents and all that. If you showed this to a medieval peasant, they'd probably be able to pronounce them and would likely understand that they were place names.

Unless there's a good reason to have a weird name, don't use one. Come up with something simpler.

All of these I mentioned are three syllables or less, making them easier to remember. In fact, I'd argue that nearly every proper noun in your book should be no more than three syllables. Maybe one or two four-syllable ones.

Any very weird name should be balanced out by several easier ones so that it stands out.

40 million characters

Younger writers often want their world to feel very lived in, so they introduce dozens of characters with their own names, descriptions, backstories, etc etc etc. The problem is that this is a huge mental load on your reader, especially if a lot of the characters have very similar names. It makes reading your stuff into a chore rather than an enjoyable experience.

Now, some literary greats do have a lot of characters. But they get away with it because they're great.

I'm not great, so I don't do that.

I'd also suggest that you don't do that, regardless of how good you think you are.

To see if you have too many chracters, write out a dramatis personnae and rank it in terms of importance. Does your top tier have like 15 characters? Cut some. Figure out where they are in the story and if they don't exist for more than a few pages, delete them. Absorb them into someone else.

If a character is only in one scene, don't bother naming them. They don't matter enough. This reduces the cognitive load for your reader because they can see that character for what they are: a background person who exists only briefly.

Any time you name a character, they need to have deep plot relevance. The more unusual your character's name, the more important they should be. And they should have some sort of relationship to another character, preferably the main character. Otherwise, why are they there? Why do we care? Go away!

Way too much backstory

I am an adult and my brain is filled with 50 million other things. I have to remember stuff for my job, I have a to-do list, I have family I care about who needs me.

Your story is not the end-all be-all of my existence. Hell, my story is not the end-all be-all of my existence either. I want to be able to pick up your book, understand what's going on, and then delve a bit deeper or even make up my own headcanons.

I do not need the entirety of your story's world thrown at me right off the bat. It is overwhelming and tiring. Imagine if you visited a different country and someone immediately came up to you and started spewing the whole history of the country right after you stepped off the plane. That's what you're doing to your readers!

Think also about how you approach your everyday world. Do you reel off a million facts about your personal history the instant you meet someone? No, of course not. It'd be weird and creepy.

Are you constantly recalling facts about your city while walking down the street? Do you even know any major facts about your city? You probably know a few little trivia points and that's it. Because it's not relevant to you, and it's not relevant to your readers, either. I can't recall off the top of my head when Cleveland was settled, but I can tell you that we have the world's first Dunkleosteus fossil in our museum, because that is interesting to me. That's the kind of thing that makes a place feel lived-in, not four hundred thousand pages of exposition about the place's history.

Give your readers time to settle in, and reveal things slowly as they make sense. Maybe we hear a little bit about the country's government as they pass a parliament house, or because they have to visit the city center for a different reason. If it's not pertinent to the current scene, then don't put it there.

I've got tons of lore for my world. Some of it may be referenced one singular time, and some of it may be never referenced at all. That's okay, because it's just for me to get a better sense of the place I created. If a reader doesn't need it, then I don't bother putting it in, because it might detract from their enjoyment.

Overall: stop making your readers do homework!

We do not want our readers to feel like they are working when they are reading our stuff. Excellent writers can infuse deep themes and symbology into their stories without making it feel like work. These are the writers who are remembered forever, because not only have they made a good story that you can enjoy at a surface level, but they have also twined in deeper themes that you can dive into after you've digested the story.

I did my undergrad in British literature, so I read a lot of Shakespeare and contemporaneous authors. Shakespeare is considered complicated by modern standards because of the Elizabethan language, but if you translated it into modern terms, his stories are simple. People betray each other and stab each other, or fuck each other, or get transported to weird magical worlds.

You could watch a Shakespeare play and think absolutely nothing of the themes, but still enjoy the story. You could know absolutely nothing about Greek history and still get the gist.

This is because Shakespeare specifically wrote his plays to appeal to a mass audience. He was a god-tier author when it came to balancing symbology and plot. To be like Shakespeare, be simple. Remember that your reader does. not. really. care. all that much. They don't.

It's very unlikely that your writing is going to become someone's life's work and they're going to spend their whole existence studying. Cool if true, but unlikely.

Your job is to make a story that people like and want to read. Only when you've gotten people liking and reading do you get permission to go ham with the backstory and the characterization and the weird names, because they trust you to create a story that they will like. Otherwise, your primary objective is making people feel things so they want to feel more things and read more stories.

People care more about how a story makes them feel than the specifics

Yes, of course there are outliers to this who really want every single detail of the world, but those are few and far between. You should not tailor your story to these exceptions. Think about the average everyday person.

I have many books that I love, but I can't tell you everything about them now. I can, however, tell you how I felt when I was reading them: the plot twists that made me gasp, the thing that made me cry. I can give you a general, sweeping impression of whether I liked or disliked the story and what made me feel something. This is what people recommend books based on: how they felt.

Your story should focus on the plot and the emotion. People watch movies, listen to music, read books, or look at art to feel something, not to memorize factoids for later usage. Even if they do want to memorize factoids, they won't do that if they haven't built an emotional connection to the story.

While in life, we want facts over feelings, it's opposite in creative writing. We want feelings over facts. The emotional resonance, the mood, the characters, the plot: that is what is important, not showing off how smart you are and how much you have thought about your story.

"But Topazadine, I am special and different! I'm not going to follow your advice."

Sure. Go ahead. I can't stop you. If you want to have a million characters and an entire dictionary to explain everything, that is your choice.

No one can tell you how to write; my advice is just advice.

If you don't like what I have said here, then feel free to ignore it. You don't need to justify it to me or anyone else.

However, you must recognize that this may not resonate with readers. It will turn people off.

I'm not a completionist, and neither are many others; they'll roll their eyes and click out when they are faced with ten pages of character names upfront.

Of course you should always write for yourself first, but if you are planning to write fiction for any level of commercial appeal and you intend to make any amount of money on your work, then audience does matter. If you want kudos or comments on your AU, audience matters. You won't get engagement if you are alienating people.

Your writing decisions are always your own and no one can demand you do something different. You just need to decide whether your personal satisfaction in writing your story in a certain way outweighs your desire for validation, and, perhaps, money. I can't tell you the answer for that; it's up to you.

If you enjoyed this, maybe you'll consider reading my fantasy book, 9 Years Yearning, which does not have 121238103 characters and 3230123 strange words. It does, however, have double-tsundere-mutual-pining-gay-boy-awakening. And horses. It's also just $3.

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anthurak · 4 months

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So I have a hunch that we’re going to find out that Ruby actually has some… special connection to the Relics.

See, let’s consider for a moment the fact that as of the end of Volume 8, all three of Jinn’s answers have been questioned. Which, according to everything we know, means that it should be a hundred years before more questions can be asked, and by extension, before we could see Jinn again.

Now the thing is, I think we call all agree that it is EXTREMELY unlikely that this is the last we’re meant to see of a character like Jinn in RWBY. If for nothing else than it feels like we’re meant to get at least one more vision from her in a big ‘Once More, With Clarity’ reveal.

Like you know the theory that the main reason for the Unreliable-Narrator nature of Jinn’s vision in Volume 6 was because Ruby’s question was ‘What is Ozpin hiding from us?’, meaning that Jinn’s answer was framed ENTIRELY around what Oz knew, or BELIEVED, ie; all the info/propaganda he was told/fed by the God of Light about what happened while he was dead.

So I think it feels like a pretty natural step that we could wind up seeing someone, likely Ruby again, doing a redux of that moment where she asks Jinn a far more direct question, say; “What happened to Old Humanity?”, to get the TRUTH of what really happened.

Which all means that our heroines are somehow going to get MORE answers out of Jinn. And since a hundred-year timeskip seems… unlikely, to say the least, that leaves us with really just two options:

Time-manipulation shenanigans to ‘speed up’ the normal hundred-year recharge, which we don’t have any kind of precedent for at the moment.

Or, it turns out that there are ways of BYPASSING Jinn’s normal three-question limit.

Which brings us to Ruby, who just so happens to have a mysterious inborn power apparently originating from the very being who CREATED Jinn and the other relic spirits.

Basically, I’ve got a hunch that Ruby’s Silver Eyes, possibly as a result of developing/realizing more of their powers, turn out to give her what is essentially ‘administrator access’ to the Relics, allowing her to bypass their normal restrictions.

Like getting more answers from Jinn.

And the funny thing is, we’ve actually ALREADY seen Ruby get both relic spirits we’ve met thus far to, shall we say, skirt the rules a bit.

Ruby got what was essentially a freebie out of Jinn to get herself more time to use her Silver Eyes against the Leviathan: “And while you do not seek knowledge, just this once I was give it freely.” Also note that Jinn’s warning was merely that she would not be summoned ‘without a question’ again. What if it turns out that Ruby is actually capable of asking Jinn more questions? It’s also worth noting that this instance feels distinct from what we saw later when Hazel and Emerald summoned Jinn seemingly for free: Unlike Ruby, Hazel was ‘seeking knowledge’ when he summoned Jinn, and the fact that the so-called ‘password’ worked gave him all the answers he needed, which in turn satisfies Jinn’s mandate to answer questions. Which again feels rather distinct from the outright FREEBIE that Jinn gives Ruby.

And then of course there’s the whole bit where Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang got Ambrosius to SUPER-skirt his own rules to make Penny a new body. Which we’re still a bit hazy on HOW they got that to work. Again, given that it was Ruby who summoned Ambrosius, what if it turns out that she was able to get him to BYPASS his normal restrictions?

Another neat little detail to all this is the fact that we are actually two-for-two on Ruby being the FIRST person shown on-screen using each of the relics. She’s the first person we see using the Lamp to summon Jinn, and again the first person we see using the Staff to summon Ambrosius. So I can’t help but think we’re likely to see this pattern continue with the Sword and the Crown.

I realize some of these on their own might feel like a bit of a stretch, but taken together I think we can start seeing a pattern:

Right now, Ruby is two-for-two on both being the first person shown on screen using a relic AND getting what seems to be special treatment from both relic spirits AND just so happens to have a power that apparently originates from the very being who CREATED the relics in the first place.

I can’t help but feel like this is all going somewhere…

#rwby #rwby analysis #rwby theory #Ruby Rose #rwby relics #rwby jinn #rwby ambrosius #rwby silver eyes #this really feels 'deliberately foreshadowy'

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howtofightwrite · 8 months

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So happy you're back after all this time! I have a question, do you happen to know how people fought in ancient rome? Particularly gladiators and soldiers? Sorry if this isn't the blog for this question tho!

I think we've covered both of these questions independently over the years.

Gladiators were a performance sport. It was more about glorifying the Roman Empire and its victories, than a conventional fight. As a result, most Gladiators were armed with specific variant, “loadouts,” designed to cosplay as various enemies that The Empire had conquered, and they only fought against specific countering variants. Specifically, the variants would be matched in such a way that it would be difficult for either combatant to have a decisive advantage over the other, with an eye towards creating situations that would result in a lot of visible injuries, without serious harm to either participant.

In case it needs to be said, gladiators were a significant financial investment, and they weren't casually killed in the arena. The point was for visible injuries, and a bloody spectacle, not a slaughter. Sometimes someone would die, but having them die on the field wasn't the intention, and they generated a lot of money, and on the rare cases when they were killed, it was meant to be a climactic moment, not someone taking a blade to the gut and collapsing mid-fight.

Obviously, I'm barely scratching the surface here, because it gets a lot deeper, but the simple answer is that in the vast majority of cases, gladiators were armed with weapons that were designed to make seriously harming their foe difficult to impossible. Also, the gladiators were something that evolved and became more complicated over time. When they first started in the Republic, it was a much more stripped down structure with prisoners of war being given a sword and shield and forced to face off against one another.

As for the Roman Legions. I'm not sure I've ever seen a comprehensive description of their training techniques. The Testudo, (or Tortoise) is one of the more famous examples of their specific combat style. Legionaries would create a shield wall, and the soldiers behind the front line would raise their shields to cover the formation against attacks from above (usually arrow fire, or thrown spears.) While being able to strike with javelins. In practice, the formation had issues, including being vulnerable to siege fire, and mounted archers were able to easily flank the formation. It's a neat story, but the formation had serious limitations.

One thing we haven't talked about before (I think) was the Roman's use of biological warfare. During sieges, they would load (locally sourced, I assume) corpses onto catapults, and then launch them into the besieged city.

Beyond, the major thing about the Legions was the extremely disciplined and orderly combat formations, with a lot of attention paid to managing battlefield movement. It wasn't so much about exceptional individual performance, so much as their ability to operate as a unit. This isn't a particularly mind blowing concept today, but in an era when professional soldiers were the exception, or limited to the elite forces, it had slightly more impact.

Regarding the details of their training, I've never seen any of that come up. Now, granted, I've really tried to research that degree of Roman history. So, if you're asking, “how, exactly, did they swing the gladius?” I don't know, and I don't remember ever seeing anyone credibly claim they had that insight. As far as I know, the only surviving Roman training manual was De Re Militari, (there's around 200 surviving Latin copies) which is far more concerned with overall strategic planning and command. If you're trying to write Roman era military fiction, it's probably worth reading. So, I'm not sure this is exactly what you were looking for, but I do hope it helps.

-Starke

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#writing reference #writing advice #writing tips #how to fight write #starke answers #roman empire #history

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frogonamelon · 27 days

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GUESS WHO FINALLY GOT PARAMOUNT!! WOO!!

After well over a year of being in this fandom, I was finally able to see the series finale!

Some minor spoilers for folks who don't have access to season two below

This might be an unpopular opinion but the fight scene at the end of Battle Nexus New York is probably my new favorite fight scene in the series (including the movie). It's the only time we ever get to see the entire clan/family fighting and its brilliant! Cassandra catching April's bat midair and wielding it herself, Splinter sliding in and knocking Draxum's feet out from under him to save his life, Mikey chucking a mode of transportation at the Shredder for the second time this season its great!

As for the inspiration for this, two particular standouts this season were Leo and Cassandra. They have interesting parallels in their arcs, both finding themselves in leadership positions and gaining new mentors. Casey getting a position she always chased before finding out it's not something she really wants vs Leo having a position he never wanted thrust upon him. Leo losing his new mentor figure vs Casey saving hers at the last minute.

I wish we had gotten more time to savor General Jones. It's the scariest she's ever been, and I love it! This woman almost kills Big Mama for daring to imprison her master within less than three minutes of being given the chance! I see 03 Shredder/ Karai in her.

Leo, meanwhile, is wielding what would be (in this hypothetical au) Karai's sword. A single katana as opposed to his previous superfluous odachi. I could see him picking it up right before he knows they have a retreat plan, knowing how dangerous it is to be completely unarmed in front of such a foe and wanting to protect his family (and wanting something to remember Gram Gram by).

Technical Notes:

I did Cassandra first and inverted it. Color picking from that is how I got Leo's.

There's a lot of opposites between them:

Cass is top and front lit whereas Leo is back and bottom lit.

Leo is standing tall and facing upward whereas Cass is leaning forward in an almost bow and facing downwards. Same with Shredder and Karai

Shredder has his back to his General whereas Karai almost presenting her g-grandson.

I changed the yellow prominent in the ring to purple since it's the color that Big Mama and The Shredder share.

In designing General Jones, I blended usual depictions of Casey Jones with depictions of The Shredder and Karai.

Cassandra's previous mask that covered her mouth is now replaced with one that covers her eyes. Take from that what you will.

I cannot draw the turtles without some sort of pants on. Sorry, I just can't

#This was my first time back lighting a character #ouch #rottmnt #rise of the tmnt #riseofthetmnt #tmnt #tmnt 2k18 #tmnt 2018 #rise leo #cassandra jones #rise karai #rise shredder

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aragaki · 10 months

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This probably isn't a new headcanon or anything but I gotta share my thoughts.

In my mind, the reason why there are two different hero weapons in the Sanctuary is because one was supposed to go to each of Sparrow's children. The hammer for Logan, the sword for the HoBW, the pistol for Logan, the rifle for the HoBW.

They're living weapons that change with their users. You can't tell me Sparrow — the master blacksmith — didn't create them on their own.

The Sanctuary was meant for BOTH royal siblings. Sparrow couldn't have imagined what Theresa was going to do, pitting them against each other like she did for the "gReAtEr GoOd."

I also can't imagine Sparrow would ever refer to Theresa as their guide after she used them for decades to get control of the Spire. If Sparrow had known, I think they would have warned Logan and the HoBW not to trust anything the blind seer says.

And maybe it's my own bias but I can't imagine Sparrow leaving everything magical to their secondborn child. There's no way in hell Sparrow could have known only one of their children would have overt Hero abilities. Sparrow only manifested their powers in their 20s so when they died, they fully could have thought Logan would be capable of using magic and accessing the Sanctuary.

(And I refuse to believe Logan got NOTHING from his heroic bloodline, he just can't use Will abilities)

I don't know. It just feels to me that the HoBW was given the things meant for Logan but that might be projecting the fact that Logan was my Sparrow's favorite child lmao

Like yes Albion needed a fully manifested Hero leading the fight but if/when destiny called on their children (aka Theresa being manipulative again) I can't see Sparrow expecting them to fight in any way other than together.

So they were each left a weapon and a wish from a parent who adores them both that when the hell comes knocking at their door they would face it together. Sparrow took every horror on alone. They would never wish that on their children.

tldr: I headcanon that Sparrow made the hero weapons themselves expecting both Logan and the Hero to work together and make use of them. They weren't able to because Theresa meddled and their children were manipulated the same way they were

#fable #fable 3 #fable iii #logan #king logan #fable logan #hobw #hero of brightwall #fable 2 #sparrow #this probably doesn't make sense #i'm probably going to find this super rambley later but i'm about to go to bed #but i wouldn't be able to unless i got my thoughts out #i cannot help being a logan apologist and a theresa hater

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cooking-with-hailstones · 9 months

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Forever Bound to the Soul of the Hero

Fi's retelling of the Breath of the Wild Memories

(Rated T: Canon typical violence)

For @linksthoughtbrambles

Awakening

I have been asleep for a very long time.

The woods where I was laid to rest have flourished since their destruction in the last war. The spirits of the forest are chittering with nervous anticipation as I spark back to wakefulness. The Great Deku Tree rumbles his warm welcome, even though my awakening signals a portent of doom.

I feel the evil gathering in the land. Even in my sleep, I have sensed the aura of dark energy seeping into the earth, the trees, the wind, the shifting of stone on stone.

It is hard to tell how long it has been between cycles. Sometimes millennia will pass, sometimes only a hundred years. But every time the evil comes, someone will be chosen to fight back.

I can feel him out there. He sees me in dreaming, and he knows a great destiny awaits him.

It will soon be time. I shall be raised skyward once more.

Ceremony of Innocence:

“ Hero of Hyrule, chosen by the sword that seals the darkness… You have shown unflinching bravery and skill in the face of darkness and adversity. And have proven yourself worthy of the blessings of the Goddess Hylia. Whether skyward bound, adrift in time, or steeped in the glowing embers of twilight… The sacred blade is forever bound to the soul of the Hero. We pray for your protection…and we hope that-- that the two of you will grow stronger together, as one…”

I am afraid.

Much has been lost in the generations since the last champion of the Goddess bore me across his shoulders. I can see remnants of the technology, lingering vestiges that have not decayed over the millennia. But so much knowledge is gone.

There is no mystery here as to why this spirit maiden is unable to awaken her powers. The Sheikah elders from whom she must receive guidance and instruction in every generation have lost their influence over the royal family. They are only now, through their adept understanding of ancient technologies, able to regain some of their former status. But the king and these so-called priests of Hylia take no account of the Sheikah’s wisdom. Instead, they have her bathing in the sacred springs, without any of the other rites of purification. They have her speaking prayers that carry no meaning and no power. And this blessing she speaks over Link, over my new master…

This cannot be all there is. There is so much more to do. The hero’s soul has not been tempered, not been tested. While the sacred realm has long been sealed, the Sheikah of generations passed have devised many trials to strengthen our bond. But they are dormant, so it seems that this, too, is forgotten.

I have been reduced to some mere symbol, a figurehead in this war.

I am very afraid.

Listening

“From here, we’ll make our way to Goron City. Then we’ll need some adjustments on that Divine Beast so Daruk can manage it as easily as possible. He’s figured out how to get it to move! However, it’s apparent that we still have much more to learn. But to think, that Divine Beast was actually built by people… That means we should be able to understand how it works and use it to our advantage.

These Divine Beasts…so much we don’t know… But if we want to turn back the Calamity Ganon, they’re our best hope.”

My master always listens keenly to the spirit maiden Zelda, even though he lacks sufficient technical understanding to truly follow her excited monologues. She has much of Hylia’s wisdom and ingenuity. She is passionate and dedicated to her craft. In some ways, she is the most like Hylia of any of the spirit maidens I have ever encountered. I estimate that, given proper training and access to the correct tools, this spirit maiden would have a 78% likelihood of being able to forge an entity similar to myself.

The lack of technical comprehension in this era continues to trouble me greatly. The slate the spirit maiden is holding is an invaluable tool, designed by the Sheikah to interface with my technology and assist in the transmission of information, transportation, and a myriad of other utilities that they cannot even fathom. All of these have been designed by the Sheikah to aid the fight against Ganon, and it is only being used at a fraction of its capacities.

“Tell me the truth… How proficient are you right now, wielding that sword on your back? Legend says that an ancient voice resonates inside it. Can you hear it yet…hero?”

My master stops in his tracks. He cannot, I think forlornly to myself. I can see his thoughts, I am coming to know him little by little, but still, he cannot hear my voice. No matter how much I scream, my master only perceives me as an echo in his subconscious.

Being the hero is not just a matter of drawing the sword – he isn’t tested. He has not passed through the goddess’ trials and forged the bond with the master sword through the goddess’ flame. His spirit may very well shatter when he confronts the agent of Demise.

He is angry and sad and cannot tell her. He tries to listen for the sword but no one has ever taught him how, and I am too weak to reach him.

And even now, I can feel the stirring in his heart. Every reincarnation of the Goddess draws the soul of the hero to her side. Whether friends or lovers, they cannot bear to hold hatred between them. I can feel the way his heart quickens when he has to grab hold of her. I know the thoughts he does not allow himself to think.

He says nothing. She turns away in a huff, thinking this means he has nothing to say.

Devotion and Resentment

My master has awoken, suddenly aware of Zelda’s absence from Tabantha stable. This is hardly the first time she has tried to evade him, but over the last few months he has become far more adept at finding her.

There is a 75% probability that he has deducted that I am the reason he is able to trace where she has escaped, no matter how clever her trickery. He feels it not like the dowsing I used to perform, but rather as an itch behind his eyes. A compulsion that pulls him forward, towards her, demanding that he be near her. It was designed by the Goddess, that their souls should find each other. And I will always pull them together. He can no more stop following her than he can stop breathing.

After a fierce gallop across Tanagar canyon bridge and nudging his horse up to the ancient columns, he finally starts to relax. I can feel the tension leave his shoulders.

Zelda, however, seems far from pleased.

“I thought I made it clear that I am not in need of an escort,” she says with great indignation. “ It seems I’m the only one with a mind of my own. I, the person in question, am fine, regardless of the king’s orders. Return to the castle. And tell that to my father, please.”

She was in the process of examining one of the shrines left by the Sheikah monks, meant to temper the hero’s spirit and strengthen him for the trials ahead. These are objects of curiosity for Hylians, and for Zelda in particular, but they are meant to play a vital role. It is essential that the hero be able to access these shrines. Without completing a significant portion of the shrines, I predict a 98.2% chance that the hero’s spirit will break.

My master takes this in stride. It is hardly the first time he’s weathered such outbursts. He steps in line, always three paces behind her.

She whirls around. “And stop following me!”

She is so angry with him, all the time. She does not understand that Hylia’s chosen hero will follow her to the ends of the earth and beyond. He will follow her through time, through space, through any hardship, just to see her safe and the land protected.

She does not yet know that she and the land are one. And he is now starting to realize that his duty, his destiny, is to protect them all.

A Champion’s Compassion

“Ah, well…you certainly got here fast. I should have expected as much from the princess’s own appointed knight.” The Gerudo champion looks down at the sleeping Zelda. “She was out on a survey all day today. Still as the sands now…” Turning to look at my master, her eyes sparkle in the desert night. “So…? Spill it, boy. Have the two of you been getting along all right?”

Quite the opposite, I think to myself. He must have heard the thought, because he winces.

The champion laughs. “It’s OK… I know. Your silence speaks volumes.” She sighs, looking down at the sleeping princess on her lap . “She gets frustrated every time she looks up and sees you carrying that sword on your back. It makes her feel like a failure when it comes to her own destiny.”

And hardly fair, given how little progress this hero has made in his own right, I think sullenly. They are both so unprepared, so untested. Training drills and prayer are hardly enough to strengthen their spirits. The champions have been through much more rigorous trials to connect with their divine beasts. I am happy to say that Zelda’s confidence in them is well founded.

“Don’t worry, it’s not like you carry blame in any of this.” She sighs, stroking Zelda’s hair. “It’s unfortunate. She’s put in more than enough time. Ever since she was a young girl, she’s gone through rigorous daily routines to show her dedication. She once passed out in the freezing waters trying to access this sealing power. And she has nothing to show for it… That’s the motivation driving her research. I’d be doing the same thing.”

I appreciate the Gerudo champion. She is a formidable blademaster, a dedicated champion, and a wise and supportive presence in Zelda’s life. Far more than can be said for the useless aristocrat that calls himself the king, without a drop of Hylia’s blood to his name.

“She really is quite…special. You be sure to protect her with your life.” She looks at my master with a piercing maternal gaze. “It’s quite the honour.”

He knows this. I know he dreams of it every night. He knows he will fight and die for her. He meets Urbosa’s gaze, and I sense she knows it too.

The champion reclines on her cushions. She has done much to make her divine beast a more comfortable abode, befitting a Gerudo chief.

“The night brings a chill… It’s probably time we take her in. Or...” She smirks as some mischief crosses her mind, then with a snap of her fingers, the desert sky lights up with electricity.

My master stumbles at the quaking thunder and Zelda wakes up, frightened. Neither of them have ever been particularly fond of storms and lightning, even if they don’t know why.

“Urbosa! What was that?! Did you feel that?!” Zelda gasps, before catching my master’s shadow by the doorway.

“Wait, what--how did you-- what are you doing here?!”

He blushes furiously, and though the darkness might conceal the pinkish glow from some, Urbosa’s gaze is far too sharp to miss it. She leans back with a hearty laugh.

“Wha-what’s so funny?”

“Ah, you, my dear.” Urbosa wipes a tear of mirth from her eye. “One day you’ll laugh about all of this.”

I hope she is right. They deserve to laugh.

Blood on the Sand

MASTER! I am screaming as loudly as I can. MASTER! DANGER! GO!

He feels my desperation, dropping the bundle of arrows he was examining from a merchant in the Kara Kara bazaar, and takes off sprinting towards the pull that he’s grown used to, the itch behind his eyes that’s always there. But now it is more acute, so loud he must be able to hear the ringing of the dowsing call in his ears.

He rounds the corner and sees them. Those cursed agents of evil, seduced by the false promises of Demise, and they are chasing Zelda over the sands. They cackle, their wicked sickles glinting in the hot desert sun. There is a cold rage in my master’s heart, and he puts on another burst of speed, drawing me from my scabbard. I brace myself, ready for the battle, as the Yiga’s blade curves towards Zelda’s fallen body.

My master is quick, and ruthless. I feel myself slip through the Yiga’s neck with a cold efficiency as warm blood soaks the edge of my blade. The body drops to the ground as he wheels around to face the other two. I can sense their fear, and I calculate only a 26% likelihood that they will attempt to continue the fight.

Sure enough, they scatter and vanish into the desert wind. My master does not take his eyes from them until they are truly gone, only then sheathing my bloody blade and turning towards Zelda. He gives her his hand to help her upright. “Are you hurt?” he asks fearfully. I can feel his heart still pounding in his chest.

Her eyes. She has never looked at him with any fondness before, but her eyes are brimming with gratitude and care. “ No, I’m fine, I just…” she pauses, and bursts into tears.

I know Link is thinking nothing of propriety when he wraps his arms around her. I know she is thinking nothing of resentment when she buries her face in his shoulder and sobs, the fear and adrenaline rushing through her body.

Maybe this is the beginning. Maybe this is how their spirits will grow. Maybe this is how evil will lose.

Laughter

I am not supposed to feel emotion. It was not part of my design. Yet after spending millennia borne by Hylians and getting to know their innermost thoughts, I have inevitably adapted to many of their traits.

To that end, I am beginning to feel… frustrated.

“There’s one! Oh! And another! The flowers we have in Hyrule aren’t just beautiful…They’re also quite useful as ingredients for a variety of things.”

Today the spirit maiden and my master are out on a field survey. I am grateful that they are getting along better, and that her resentment seems to have given way to a nascent friendship. My frustration is not with them. It simply irks me to see the Sheikah slate being used like some ordinary pictobox.

She gasps with excitement, and Link quickly settles down beside her.

“This one here is called the silent princess. It’s a rare, endangered species. Despite our efforts, we can’t get them to grow domestically yet. The princess can only thrive out here in the wild. All that we can hope…is that the species will be strong enough to prosper, on its own.”

She smiles, sadly, and my master’s heart flutters. He understands her meaning as clearly as I do. Neither of them can thrive here. They know that their destinies are not waiting for them inside the castle walls.

The prayers, the training, the wasted time, the technology that they’ve only uncovered 18% of the capabilities of… they must feel as frustrated as I do.

The somber moment is dissipated as Zelda gasps with excitement and lunges forward.

“Is that what I think it is?! Look at this, I don’t believe it, but I actually caught one! This delicacy is known to have very, very potent effects under the proper circumstances. Tada!”

She opens her hands to reveal… a frog. My master recoils slightly.

“Research from the castle shows ingesting one of these can actually augment certain abilities. We wouldn’t be in a controlled environment out here, but with your level of physical fitness…you’d be a perfect candidate for the study! Go on! Taste it!”

Link makes a truly disgusted face.

“Oh come now, I’ve seen you eating Goron rock roast. Surely you’re not put off by a little bit of mucus for the sake of scientific inquiry?”

She may have a point there. This particular incarnation of the Hero’s spirit seems to have a stomach made of cast iron.

With a resigned sigh – he truly cannot refuse her anything – he leans down towards her hands… and the frog leaps straight into his face. He startles, falling backwards on his rear as the frog scampers away.

Zelda collapses to the ground in a fit of infectious giggles, and soon enough the pair of them are leaning on each other as their laughter echoes through the hillside.

The Question of Destiny

In truth, I do relish sword drills. It is for my benefit as well; learning how my master moves, what his grip is on the sword, the gestures he favours. My algorithms internalize and optimize every movement. As we practice together, we grow closer. Even if he cannot hear me, he knows that I am with him, helping to guide his actions and see that each strike lands true.

Zelda watches him closely from her shelter beneath the tree.

“I doubt this will let up anytime soon… Your path seems to mirror your father’s. You’ve dedicated yourself to becoming a knight, as well. Your commitment to the training necessary to fulfill your goal is really quite admirable. I see now why you would be the chosen one.”

He stiffens slightly. His father had only died a year ago, and the wound was still fresh. But Zelda seems too lost in her own thoughts to notice.

“What if… One day…You realised that you just weren’t meant to be a fighter. Yet the only thing people ever said…was that you were born into a family of the royal guard, and so no matter what you thought, you had to become a knight. If that was the only thing that you were ever told… I wonder, then…would you have chosen a different path?”

There was no other destiny for my master. He was born to be Hylia’s chosen.

Not for the first time in my long existence, I wonder at the cruelty of the Goddess’ choice of mortal champions in this cosmic war.

Link pauses a moment before returning me to the sheath across his back.

“This… isn’t about me, is it?”

Zelda blushes. “I… well…”

He takes her hand. I can feel both of their heartbeats quicken.

“I think…” he pauses, choosing his words carefully. “I think that no matter who I was, where I was born, whatever was expected of me…”

“Yes?”

“I would find my way to you.”

Prayer and Dedication

It is a unique pain that my master must experience, and thus I experience alongside him. The unique pain that comes from watching someone you love torture themselves for circumstances beyond their control.

These prayers are useless. She is not praying to a Goddess. She is meant to awaken the Goddess within her own spirit. But they still cannot hear me, and nothing I could suggest to my master would have any effect. And so, I sit, sheathed and silent as my master and I ache at the desperation in Zelda’s voice.

“I come seeking help, regarding this power that has been handed down over time. Prayer will awaken my power to seal Ganon away… Or so I’ve been told all my life.

And yet… Grandmother heard them--the voices from the spirit realm. And Mother said her own power would develop within me. But I don’t hear, or feel anything!

Father has told me time and time again… He always says, “Quit wasting your time playing at being a scholar!” Curse you…”

Holy water splashes against clenched fists.

“I’ve spent every day of my life dedicated to praying! I’ve pleaded to the spirits tied to the ancient gods. And still the holy powers have proven deaf to my devotion. Please just tell me, what is it…? What’s wrong with me?!”

Link’s composure finally cracks. I am truthfully relieved when he drops me down on the stones and splashes into the spring, wrapping a sobbing Zelda in his embrace.

“There’s nothing wrong with you. We’ll figure this out, together. I promise, Zelda, I promise…” He strokes her hair, and she weeps all the more.

I cannot weep, it is not in my design. I should not feel emotion, but despite my programming, I have begun to understand something of grief. Oh, children, what have we done to you?

They may not succeed. They may not have the strength and ability to fight off the coming Calamity. But I will fight back. The Goddess created me to protect and guide her chosen. I must do whatever I can.

Calamity and Corruption

The final spring. The last hope they had. And just as I had predicted, nothing happened.

The champions all do their best to conceal their dismay, offering words of encouragement to Zelda, but to little avail. The Zora champion starts to say something, but –

The ground shakes.

The sky darkens.

The Rito champion launches himself skyward to see what’s taking place, but before I even hear his horrified gasp, I know what has happened.

My master leaps forward to support Zelda as she stumbles. He does not need to be told either. Just as with every Hero’s spirit preceding him, he has seen this moment in his dreams since he was an infant. But he is not ready, Zelda is not ready and the Calamity must know this as well. It has chosen this precise moment of despair to strike.

The champions disperse, each of them racing back to their Divine Beasts. Without the spirit maiden’s sealing power, the only hope at holding the Calamity at bay now lies with the strength of the champions.

Link and Zelda, now alone, race down the promenade towards Kakariko village. Bolts of purple and black tar seem to be streaking across the sky overhead, the sunset rapidly disappearing behind the dark clouds.

This is unfamiliar to me. What kind of attack is the Calamity readying? I have never witnessed this before.

They keep running, over the Sahasra slope and towards Hyrule field. The castle is the nexus point. Link must be ready for when the champions reach the divine beasts for their attack. We must try to defeat the Calamity, with or without the Goddess’ power. There is only a 2.6% chance that we succeed, but 2.6% is not 0.

beep

What…?

beep beep beep beepbeepbeepbeep

A guardian! Link and Zelda both heave a sigh of relief. The guardians have been deployed from Castle Town to protect the surrounding villages. At least that will provide some measure of safety.

Wait... Something’s wrong.

POW!

Without a moment to spare, Link tackles Zelda to the ground out of the way of the guardian’s deadly line of fire. Without a second thought, he pulls me from my scabbard, leaps forward and drives me straight into the guardian’s vulnerable eye. It sparks, fizzes, and collapses, purple smoke billowing out of its joints.

“What’s going on?” Zelda screams, as torrents of purple-black tar continue to pour from the sky onto Hyrule field and Castle town. “Why did it fire at us?”

Wasting no time, Link grabs her arm and whirls around, sprinting back the way they came and dragging Zelda behind him.

“Link, no! We need to go to the castle!”

“Zelda, we – ”

A bolt of purple tar slams into me.

“The master sword!” Zelda cries.

CORRUPTION!

This is the Calamity’s plan! Oh, Hylia, no!

He has remembered his defeat from 10,000 years ago. He remembered the technology that was turned against him and his armies, and his hatred and malice are now corrupting every element of Sheikah technology, and everything they interface with.

Including me.

NO! I twist through the dark tendrils reaching through my circuitry. YOU WILL NOT TOUCH ME. I WAS CREATED BY THE GODDESS HYLIA, AND I WILL NOT YIELD TO YOU, FOUL AGENT OF DEMISE.

I push back along these tendrils of malice, burning them away with the divine light of the Goddess. I reach through the telepathic link I share with the Sheikah technology, cutting and blazing through the spreading rot. The Sheikah slate, the towers, the shrines, all the creations designed to interface with the Hero’s soul, I can still connect with them! With every scrap of energy I have left, I burn away the malice creeping through their networks.

The malice fights back, the darkness spreading… but I will not yield.

Exhaustion and Despair

The forest near the bottomless swamp is dark and twisted, the tangled roots and mud are treacherous in the shadow of the storm. It is almost dawn, they haven’t slept, they are still running. I can feel the exhaustion creeping in, their stamina depleting. I too am exhausted - still fighting against the malice, trying to keep it at bay. I cannot help them any more than this.

Zelda stumbles and cries out, falling to her knees on the path made slick by torrential rains.

“How… How did it come to this?”

My master kneels beside her, desperate to move along, but reticent to force her to keep running.

“The Divine Beasts…The Guardians… They’ve all turned against us. It was Calamity Ganon. It turned them all against us!”

She is weeping in earnest now, rivers of tears meeting the raindrops already pouring down her face.

“And everyone--Mipha, Urbosa, Revali and Daruk… They’re all trapped in those things… It’s all my fault! Our only hope for defeating Calamity Ganon is lost, all because I couldn’t harness this cursed power! Everything--everything I’ve done up until now… It was all for nothing. So I really am just a failure! All my friends, the entire kingdom, my father most of all… I tried, and I failed them all… I’ve left them all to die…

“Zelda…” he grips her tighter. “Zelda, we have to go. There may be soldiers who can protect you at Fort Hateno. We need to go.”

She nods miserably, taking his arm and standing up again. They turn to the misty shadows, and keep running.

I truly had hoped their love might be enough.

Hylia Reborn

They are tracking us. Some corruption of their programming has locked them to our signal. Perhaps it is me they are tracking, a beacon of the Goddess’ light flickering amid the swirling chaos of malice.

Wouldn’t that be ironic.

The guardians homing in on us are coming thick and fast. While I am able to target their weak points with a respectable accuracy, I was made to cut through Demise’s creations - beings of corrupted flesh. I was never made to fight these machines.

Link is exhausted. Almost two days with little sleep and hardly any food, he has taken more than his fair share of blows. There are gashes across his legs and arms that are oozing blood, and three of his ribs are broken. I predict that he will lose consciousness in less than four minutes.

But Zelda is unharmed, for now. Nothing else matters to him at this moment.

He stabs me through the eye of yet another guardian, staggering backwards and leaning on me heavily.

“Link, save yourself! Go! I’ll be fine! Don’t worry about me! Run!”

He can hardly hear her through the blood rushing in his ears, and the incessant beeping as they scan for us. I don’t know what to do! The Goddess left no instructions for this. I have never witnessed my master die.

Another guardian has spotted us through the husks of its fellows. My master is so tired, and I have no strength to give him.

And yet Link pulls me up once more, readying himself and covering Zelda with his body, as the laser flares to life.

This is it.

Hylia, forgive me. I have failed you.

“NO!”

Zelda leaps forward, throwing herself in front of Link, hands raised in desperation. What is she -?

The world explodes with golden light.

Link winces, but does not shield his eyes. Nor would I, if I had eyes to behold this sight. The light radiates from her, guardians exploding and collapsing in its wake.

She did it. Hylia has come into her own!

“Was… Was that…? The power?” she whispers in the sudden quiet that follows as the corrupted machines power down.

You did it, Zel. he thinks, and seeing her safe, he finally yields to the pain.

She whirls around as he falls. “ No, no…Link! Get up!” She lifts him into her arms, hardly noticing the blood soaking into her ruined dress. “You’re going to be just fine…”

He looks up to her, eyes full of pride, of sadness, and love, and then he lets the darkness take him.

Our telepathic link snaps. I cannot sense his thoughts anymore. He is... gone.

Hylia help me, I did everything I could, but I could not save him. May the Goddess forgive me.

The Goddess holds his body and weeps.

But, wait.

Against the pommel of the sword, I feel the slightest pressure.

thump thump

A pulse. A pulse! His heart is still beating. He might yet be saved!

With my limited remaining computing power, I desperately run through the calculations. The medical infrastructure needed to treat these wounds is sorely lacking in this era of Hyrule, but... Yes! It is there! Reaching through the Sheikah network, I can feel it, safe from the Calamity’s corruption. I remember the monk Maz Koshia designing this shrine for just this reason. The Shrine of Resurrection.

Above me, Zelda shifts. Slowly, she starts to relinquish him, not noticing the pulse that I can feel, still beating ever so faintly in his chest.

No. NO! She cannot let go!

HYLIA, HEAR ME! I am screaming through broken circuits and fragmented code. I have been damaged beyond anything I was designed to withstand, I am decayed beyond measure, but she is awake! She must listen!

ALIVE

My strength is fading, but she cannot abandon him! Not now!

ALIVE

“The sword…?”

She has heard me! YES.

“So he can… He can still be saved?”

QUICKLY, THERE IS NO TIME! THE SHRINE OF RESURRECTION ON THE GREAT PLATEAU. YOU MUST TAKE HIM THERE, NOW. IT IS THE ONLY WAY.

“I… how..?”

“Princess!” a voice echoes from across the field. The Sheikah, loyal to the last, have tracked the Goddess here. Their timing could not be better.

“Princess! Are you all right?”

She draws herself up with a strength I have never seen in her before.

“Take Link to the Shrine of Resurrection. If you don’t get him there immediately, we are going to lose him forever! Is that clear?! So make haste and go! His life is now in your hands!”

The two men nod, immediately setting to work to stabilize him for the journey. They lift him carefully, wrapping his deepest wounds in bandages, before melting into the shadows as only Sheikah can. Zelda watches them disappear into the rain, then grips me hard, clutching me to her chest.

“You speak? I can hear you? How? How is this possible?”

With the last bit of strength I can muster, I answer. YOU ARE AWAKE.

“The power?”

YES. THROUGH YOUR GRACE AND WISDOM, AND LOVE FOR MY MASTER, YOU HAVE FOUND THE TRUE POWER OF YOUR SPIRIT.

“What do I do?” she cries. “How can I seal the Calamity without Link? Without the champions?”

BREATHE, ZELDA.

I am not meant for this task. I am meant to guide the hero, not the spirit maiden, but I carry enough of the Goddess’ memories to know what must be done while she waits for the hero to return.

YOUR POWERS SHOULD NOW CONNECT YOU TO THE SPIRIT MAIDENS WHO HAVE COME BEFORE YOU. LISTEN TO THEM. THEY WILL GUIDE YOU.

She looks startled, but she does what I say. Sitting in the mud amid the husks of the defeated guardians, she takes a deep, shuddering breath. Her ancestors gather around, and I hear the whispers of Hylia’s past incarnations floating past me, just on the edge of hearing. She glows with a faint golden light in the falling rain. After a few minutes, she opens her eyes.

“Yes.” She says. “Even if he cannot yet be defeated. I can hold the Calamity at bay. I… I have done it before.”

MANY TIMES

She nods. “And what of you? I cannot bring you with me, but I cannot leave you here.”

I am barely capable of speaking anymore. The decay of the malice has been stopped by her light, but I am already close to shattering.

I AM WEARY. I MUST HEAL.

“Of course, what must I do?”

TAKE ME TO THE LOST WOODS. THE CHILDREN OF THE FOREST WILL LEAD YOU THERE.

Laid to Rest

With the spirit of the Goddess awakened within her, Zelda can now see the korok spirits guiding her, from the field of battle all the way through the Lost Woods. Now she stands at the roots of the Great Deku Tree. At last, I can rest. In Hylia’s light, my master and I shall both become whole again.

“Your master will come for you. Until then, you shall rest safely here. Although the Slumber of Restoration will most certainly deprive him of his memories, please trust me when I say that I know he will arrive before you yet again.”

She places me carefully back in the pedestal at the Great Deku Tree’s roots. I feel myself slipping into my deep sleep once again.

As my consciousness fades, I hear the Deku Tree ask “If I may be so bold…what is it that you are planning to do next, Princess?”

Zelda looks resolute. “The Master Sword… I heard it speak to me. It seems that my role is unfinished. There is still something I must do.”

“I sense there is great strength in your dedication.”

She has greater strength than ever. She is not alone anymore. The spirits of her ancestors are guiding her now, all the way back to the first Zelda who sealed Demise for a thousand years, waiting for her hero to return.

“Great Deku Tree, I ask of you, when he returns, can you please relay this message… Tell him I—"

He interrupts her. “ Now, then… Words intended for him would sound much better in the tones of your voice, don’t you think?”

She smiles up at him, nods in understanding.

As my consciousness finally slips away, I think to myself, dearest Zelda. He already knows. He loves you too.

Awakening II

He is awake, and so am I.

The spirits of the forest are chittering with excitement. Even as I rest here, I can hear the Great Deku Tree stirring with anticipation. We all felt the call of the spirit maiden locked away in Hyrule Castle, calling him once again to her side. I have felt her longing for him these hundred years.

This time, he will grow strong in spirit. This time, we shall fight together.

This time, the Calamity will fall.

Thanks so much for reading! You can also find this fic on AO3

#emily writes #my writing #fanfiction #skyward sword #Fi #loz fi #zelink #botw zelink #BOTW link #BOTW Zelda #hateno house gift exchange #hateno house #linksthoughtbrambles #gift exchange #fi lore #sheikah tech #calamity ganon

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pinkestmenace · 2 months

Note

⚔️ (Crossed Swords) - What weapon(s) do they wield or specialize in, if any in particular? Any special properties? Do their weapons have names or epithets? [e.g. MK’s Galaxia, Morpho’s Doomblade]

🧋 (Boba Tea) - Come up with a Kirby Café item themed around your OC! It can be a savoury dish, a drink, a dessert, or something else entirely.

And, of course, a funny one,

⚙️ (Gear) - Do they have any knowledge of, or connections to, the Ancients? What do they think of them?

There's her club, obviously. Which is exactly what it seems: a big, heavy, pointy object. You can smash things with it. Simple.

Then there's her gauntlets, of course. I've already shown this in a couple drawings, but the gauntlets aren't just for punching hard or giving her bigger hands. The palms can release blasts that serve to repel enemies or boost her. Her boots can do this too, to let her jump high or pivot quickly while wielding her heavy club. She's surprisingly mobile like that even if her wings can't quite carry the weight of her and her club together. She can also still access her dimensional storage while she wears them. (Handy to summon/put her club away quickly or switch weapons on the fly!) The pointer fingers also have the ability to shoot laser blasts. They can only do this when she makes a finger gun gesture, though. That way she can never shoot herself in the hand, just like she has to spread her hands fully to make the palm blasts. By the way, her actual hands are entirely inside the palm area, so her fingers are not inside the gauntlets fingers. Those are solid and entirely mechanical. She operates the gauntlets by pressing sensors inside the palm that correspond to each finger. They are pressure sensitive and give feedback to some extent, so with practice she can bend her gauntlet's fingers exactly as far with exactly as much force as she wants. (So she can actually grab and hold things instead of crushing everything instantly.) Would she name her gauntlets? You know what? She probably does have matching nicknames for them. I haven't come up with anything funny yet, though.

I know it's technically not a weapon, but now that I'm busy talking about her armour I might as well mention her helmet. Olympea, being mothlike, has antennae that give her an excellent sense of smell (for a couple highly specific things). The red parts on top of the 'horns' let air pass through to her antennae inside, which means she's still able to use this even when wearing her helmet. It also leaves space at the back for her wings to move.

🧋 (Boba Tea) - Come up with a Kirby Café item themed around your OC! It can be a savoury dish, a drink, a dessert, or something else entirely.

Aaaah! Coming up with a café food was so difficult! I didn't want to reach for the silly pea soup or club sandwich option again.

Anyway, enter the Mumbo-Jumbo Ice Cream Dream Combo! Made with raspberry, mango, matcha and smurf blue moon ice cream scoops arranged in a row and topped with respectively a galette and ruby chocolate roll, caramel shards and dark cherry, rock candy and lady finger, and salty liquorice rope and toasted mini marshmallows.

⚙️ (Gear) - Do they have any knowledge of, or connections to, the Ancients? What do they think of them?

Considering she lived on Halcandra, which I treat as the main hub of the Ancients before they fell apart into science and magic factions, you bet she does! I actually pepper what little dialogue I've given her with some Jambandran words. Of course, during the period where she was alive and well that wasn't quite Jambandran yet. That didn't come until after the schism, when the magic faction in hiding retained that dialect and the science faction changed until it was no longer recognisable.

But what does she think of them? Well, they're her people and she's one of their heroes, so she wants to keep them safe! She is not good at magic, so she leans towards the science (well, technology and gadgets) side. But just because she isn't very magically gifted doesn't mean she dislikes magic and magic users. If she knew how the tensions between the two camps would grow it would bother her very much.

@kirbyoctournament more 🫛 lore

Masterpost

#ask box #ask and i shall answer #ask game #ask meme #Olympea #Olympea HoY #the heroes of yore #🫛#my art #my drawing #ibispaint

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aesolerin · 6 months

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hey. heyehyhey. remember that talk we had about Leper's broken sword and the symbolism of how he broke and all that

well, it gets BETTER/WORSE. and all the more interesting to think about! Wanna know what he says in DD2 when given a whetstone, to sharpen his broken blade?

like, on its surface, it seems simple: he's just projecting and using it as a way to mourn the loss of his looks due to the onset of his disease, right?

Except! (as we talked about): his sword breaking had nothing to do with his looks!(1)

after all, here he is, with his full blade in hand right before the deed that ended with both of them broken: already in his leper gear at this point, with all the symbolic weight that has. (plus just what it could mean in the mundane narrative sense, if we put all our reality warping headcanons aside for just a second, lol) he likely still considered blade still 'handsome', then, as it hasn't shattered yet, no? (and his word choice when talking about it is interesting, too - his blade didn't just break, it shattered. for all that they're synonyms, one word carries a lot more violent and explosive imagery than the other, doesn't it? that this is the word he comes up with when thinking about this moment... it has a lot of interesting implications for how he looks back on it. plus, using it as a way to describe the outcome of his actions here, even if only partially, brings some level of... unintentionality to the consequences, I suppose? i dunno the best way to phrase it, but, like: when it comes to how we use the word in the English language, people knowingly break things all time, whether metaphorically or literally; people break locks to get access to things/places otherwise unavailable to them; "you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet"; ending a romantic relationship with someone is called a breakup, etc. for all that the term implies some level of damage, it's often a controlled use of damage, or something that can be fixed back up later with few repercussions. it's not too dire or drastic for something to end up broken, I guess is what I'm getting at.

For something to have shattered, though? that's almost always implies that the damage wasn't a knowing/intended consequence. At the very least that they did more damage than intended; one would very rarely go out of their way to shatter someone's heart during a break up; if someone shatters a mirror due to punching it, they likely weren't thinking rationally when trying to rid of their reflection; a kid shattering a house's window is gonna get in big trouble if found out, whether that was their goal or not. And that's also part of it - if a person did expect they'd shatter something with their actions, it ascribes to them a level of cruelty and callousness that the word 'break' just doesn't come with as subtextual baggage.

all of which is to say; while the Leper may or may not have expected to come out of his own purge broken, it would have been FAR more self-destructive if he went in expecting it to be shattered by the end. As such, it's very hard for me to think the level of self-damage done was intentional on his part. BUT ANYWAYS. back to the actual topic of this ask xD) What exactly was it that he thought was 'handsome' about his symbolic self before this, as compared to after? Was it the full weight, even as necessary as he thought it was, of killing his own subjects in cold bloo,d and thus no longer being able to truthfully say he'd never knowingly brought harm to those from his kingdom? Was it some level of happiness or enjoyment he got out of the action, thinking such a thing made him monstrous or sadistic?

Was it the calculated cruelty he was able to act with, meaning he at least partially abandoned any beliefs he may have had in kindness and empathy in interacting with others?

However you interpret such a thought process, his interactions with Jester would likely be a huge fucking wake-up call. because, let's be real, the fool would feel less than zero compunctions about calling any and all murder that happens 'sexy', and he'd be joking about it only like. half of the time. if that. xD Though, to be fair, Sarmenti would probably throw around the term 'handsome' less often. Comes a bit too close to sounding sincere, after all, could ruin his reputation as an Unrepentant Silly Asshole if the others picked up on it.

-----

(1)....Though, admittedly, Leper's phrasing in saying he/his blade was "Handsome, once, before it shattered" could just as validly be read as him having lost his handsomeness even before something in him symbolically broke..... But that take is a lot more straightforward in its interpretation, and thus much less fun for me to ruminate on for hours on end. so. ;p

What's your thoughts on all of this, if anything? You agree with any particular interpretation of it, or have an entirely different take? Do you think I'm overanalyzing this too much for DD2, where the reality warping nature of the setting might make the heroes' takes on themselves less reliable than in DD1? (if so, fair!) Just interested to hear any and all of what's going on in your noggin' after reading this!

Leper has so many layers.... so many parts of both of these games live rent free in my head, but this guy and the fucked-up clown are at the very top.

i personally lean towards the more simple 'musing on his “lost” attractiveness' interpretation. it's clear from DD1 and DD2 that Leper has a deep connection to his blade, probably considering it something of a friend or a kindred spirit. it's been with him through so much!

the term 'shattered', though, i do agree is very evocative and there's an intent to it. Leper (and the writers!) didn't simply say 'broken' for a reason. perhaps he feels he shattered himselfa fine and powerful blade in a moment of rage/weakness/self-defense/fear. it's still usable though, even in this shattered state, so Leper will keep on truckin' until his body inevitably gives out.

when the time comes and he's comfortable showing the others his Shrines, though, Jester will call his retaliation a work of art, with only the thinnest veneer of sarcasm. now there's a man who was in control of his fate! there's a man who did not roll over and die when demanded! there's a man who had the guts to do what needed to be done as soon as possible instead of taking the abuse for years and years and years! i'm sure the other heroes would also take Leper's side and assure him that what he did was right on some level, but Jester's agreement hits a bit different.

here's a funny lil interaction between the two of them i formulated with another friend:

Jester, covered in blood: you still love me right?? 🥺

Leper, for the fifth time that day: yes, i do 😊

Leper, changing his bandages: truly i am a wretched thing, a walking corpse... 😔

Jester, kissing his forehead: absolutely not, you're hot as fuck and built like a brick shithouse 😤

#ask #itsbeenliketenyearsitsprettywild #long post #darkest dungeon #dd leper #dd jester

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blueskittlesart · 1 year

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I know you're not fond of Twilight Princess, but what would you think if they brought back worldbuilding elements from it (the Twilight world and Midna, mainly) to a newer game? I'm not familiar enough with the series to know a whole lot, but that stuff at least seems really neat to me from my secondhand knowledge, but if Twilight Princess was as bad as you say... I would love to see them revisit it somehow with the BotW/TotK continuity.

i have this. thing about twilight princess. we know this. but genuinely even looking at the lore from an objective standpoint i think trying to pull any of it into other games is a bad decision at best and actively detrimental to the new game in question at worst. there are two main reasons for this:

the first is that mainline, non-sequel zelda games have a general rule about standing alone. in order for the games to remain accessible to players of all ages and backgrounds, every original (non-sequel) zelda title has to be able to function as an introduction to the franchise, meaning any lore required to understand the story must be exposited WITHIN the story of that game. the few lore-points that HAVE been adapted from other games (sacred realm, oot ganondorf, talking sword) are generic enough that they can be explained briefly within the story without taking too much time away from the player's journey. while those of us who ARE versed in the lore might have a deeper understanding of the overarching implications of these elements, NOT understanding the history behind them isn't going to impede your understanding or enjoyment of the game. for example, this is likely the practical reason why fi was never named or appeared in botw beyond her generic sound effect and the glowing of the sword, because even players who don't KNOW fi are able to tell from context that the sword is magical and is speaking. not knowing who fi is doesn't impede your ability to understand how and why the sword is speaking, given the rest of the context of botw's story. the two elements of tp that you mentioned, the twilight realm and midna, are VERY difficult from a writer's standpoint to work into a game without requiring the player to understand the plot of twilight princess. neither element easily fits into a new cycle's story without requiring a ton of expositional explanation which will inevitably take players out of the story, and relying on convoluted lore that new players won't even be familiar with to drive your story just sets you up for failure.

the second reason is that, from a writer's standpoint, neither midna nor the twilight realm were well-written enough in TP to be compelling. lmao. If you're going to adapt world-altering lore like the twilight realm into consistent canon, you need to have a firm grasp on the implications of adapting it. even the writers of TP had no fucking clue what the twilight realm was or where it came from or how it tied into the existing world of hyrule at all. literally the first sentence on the zelda wiki for twilight realm history is "The Twilight Realm's full history is incomplete." adding something like a new dimension to your consistent canon is world-altering. when you do something like that, it HAS to be thought-out and for good reason, or you're just confusing your audience unnecessarily. IF the twilight realm was to be brought back, it would HAVE to be with explicit knowledge of of how it effects the narrative and theming of the story its being written into, something that wasn't even present in the game where it was introduced. the same goes for midna; if you bring her back, she needs a reason to be there. she needs narrative weight and thematic consistency with the entire rest of the game, things that were barely present in her original story. ripping these elements out of their own game and tossing them into another only makes them more likely to feel out-of-place and confusing to players. And to be completely honest, almost anything that writers wanted to accomplish with the twilight realm could be done just as easily utilizing the sacred realm, an element which is already in consistent canon and is much easier to write into a given story than something as mysterious and confusing as the twilight realm. with midna, almost anything that she would accomplish could be accomplished by a game-specific guide character, which is already staple of loz anyway. using a game-specific guide character would also remove any potential confusion for new players who lack the context of midna's past appearances. the only reason you might NEED midna as a character is if you ALSO have the twilight realm and specifically require a twili guide character to explain it, but. for all the reasons stated above. you shouldn't have the twilight realm. lol

#tp critical #like. i know we all love the overarching lore and are obsessed with consistent canon and game callbacks #but if the game can't stand on its own it cant stand period. consistent canon is less important than a legible standalone game #ive said this before but i NEED you guys to remember that up until skyward sword there WAS no consistent canon.#for almost 25 years the zelda devs were making standalone games tied together by a few consistent elements of gameplay #and then AFTER they made 25 years worth of games they sat down and connected them all.#thinking about how the game fits into the overarching lore isn't usually a priority for these devs. and i don't really think it SHOULD be #their priority is telling a good story and giving players a good gameplay experience.#where it fits into the overarching lore can be figured out after the fact the same way it was for every game pre sksw.#pulling WHOLE GAME-SPECIFIC CHARACTERS AND SETTINGS into a new game makes little to no sense. that's not really what the games are about #anyway. rant over

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would-this-pokemon-be-a-friend · 11 months

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i know this guy won’t get a good ranking at all, but… eeeehhh, kartana?? i guess they live in the forest with humans and all and they’re even able to understand basic human language (they speak it in reverse and the one in the anime understands what ash is saying) so yeah-?

Hey, it’s the blog’s very first Ultra Beast! These ones are… well they’re a bit tricky. See, since they come from another dimension from our own, they can be rather unpredictable. We don’t have a wealth of information or data about them, since they were only encountered for the first time recently. That being said, as far as kartanas go: it seems like they would make a good pet, but there is a lot of risk involved considering their abilities.

Size certainly isn’t an issue. Kartana are teensy tiny! Despite coming to our world from another, they seem friendly enough. While I don’t usually include information from the anime in my analysis, simply because I haven’t seen much of it and it would add a lot mor data to sift through for every post, since you brought it up I will cover it’s anime appearance. It did seem like the kartana Ash encountered could understand him very well, and it even helped save the Pokémon School from a meteor! That being said, according to Bulbapedia, Ash only encountered that kartana because it had been slicing through random objects all across Melemele Island, causing a lot of problems. This indicates that, while kartanas seem to get along well with people, they are also unpredictable in their behavior and perhaps even mischievous (Again, I’m not super well-versed in the anime, so feel free to correct me in the comments!)

As previously alluded to, kartanas are expert cutters. It’s said that a kartana’s body is “a dangerous weapon in itself” (Sun), as its paper-thin body is so sharp that it can cut through solid steel with ease (Moon, Ultra Sun). Kartanas have access to a move pool filled with potentially lethal moves, given their sharp biology, from Air Cutter to Night Slash to Sacred Sword. Despite their size, kartanas can cause a lot of destruction. We don’t have a great indication of their aggression level in the pokédex, but their unpredictable, alien nature makes it risky to adopt one. Vets and pet behavior YouTube channels alike would have no idea how to help you care for a kartana or manage their behavior!

All this being said, it’s possible that a kartana wouldn't even want to be adopted into a home in our dimension. It's very possible that any kartanas you may find travelled through an Ultra Wormhole by mistake, and simply wants to go home to the other kartanas. It may be better to try and help your little friend d find a way home so that they can live the best life for a kartana.

#pokémon #pokemon #kartana #pkmn irl #pr-d

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dr-docktor · 5 months

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Local Docktor thinks its a fantastic idea to crossover his two biggest interests at the moment.

First for some context (don't worry, I'll keep it brief). One of my best friends has been working on a table-top RPG since like high school called Percentile. And its the main game that the group plays for our campaigns. Thus, it never leaves my head.

You know what else doesn't leave my head? Spies are Forever.

So here I am. Planning out what theoretical character sheets would look like for Owen and Curt. I'm so normal. I swear. Below the cut includes my insane ramblings on this topic.

I will also be playing a little fast and loose with some of the rules here because making character sheets in this game, while fun, is LENGTHY. And I'm insane but I'm not THAT insane

Ok so I want to start with Owen because I'm making him a mage and I LOVE building mages.

For the sake of simplicity I'm gonna keep 'em both human. (boring I know. but the list of ancestries is so long it almost overwhelms me for this)

To quickly explain the percentages: That is basically your rate of success on any given skill/action. So the higher the number, the more likely they are to succeed!

Owen's Stats

Power represents magic. POW is just another word for mana. And size mainly only impacts things like how easy you are to tackle/grapple and what spaces you can squeeze into.

So he's got 10 HP

14 POW

2 Soak (armor, it takes 2 points off of whatever damage they were hit with)

+28 initiative bonus (initiative dictates who goes first in combat. The higher your number, the more likely you are to go first)

and can move 5 squares per turn (turns last 6 seconds), or 6 if he runs.

All fairly standard for a human mage. The interesting stuff starts with choosing his spells.

In Percentile, the standard mage can have a few collections of spells called Spell Schools. They can only have one spell from each school prepared at once but can spend 6 hours a day switching them out safely (or do it within seconds if you wanna feel the consequences)

So here's the spell schools I think he'd have

BLAST -> its in the name, you get several spells that are just different types of blasts. So magical bullets, lasers, etc.

CHANGE -> He'd probably use this spell school mainly for his DMA disguise but instead of a mask he can physically change his appearance for several hours a day.

VISION -> Great for espionage and detective work. Spells include making you really good at looking for stuff, being able to see events that transpired previously within a room, and gathering information.

WOUNDING -> Gives him access to several magical bladed weapons. Good for Torture and homosexually sword fighting your ex lover.

really good... ouch.

Skills/knowledges are another story and are one of my least favorite parts of character building so I'll briefly go over it.

High intimidation, spot hidden (looking for stuff. almost every percentile character needs a decent spot hidden), move quietly, resist, and rapine (rapine is like sleight of hand, pickpocketing, handling small and/or delicate things)

Middling physical skills like jumping, climbing, etc. first aid, hide, and survival

Low grapple.

His knowledges would include

High performance (haha actor man), espionage, and literacy

Middling lore

Low cooking. and everything else. He can cook its just all post WWII British food which I think should qualify for being bad at it.

OK NOW FOR MY FAVORITE PART: Traits and Scars.

SCARS

his scars include more physical stuff like reduced hearing and chronic pain (player would roll a dice to see how bad the pain is that day to see if he needs to use a mobility device). But also include

Untrusting - CHAR INT based - compelled to roll an idea check to see if someone is lying every time he starts a new interaction with someone. On a fail he believes they are lying no matter what

POSSIBLE TRAITS

Magic Hair, for my long-haired Owen fans. Basically he has hair that's so cool it makes him more charismatic.

Strong Promises. Whenever the character makes a promise, they get a bonus to whatever stat that will help them achieve that promise.

Plotting. Whenever characters with this trait record or speak out a plan, it functions as if they practiced it for an additional day. Perfect for villain monologues.

Pull At Soul. Characters with this trait declare a goal during each level up. These goals can be something like “plan with everyone in the party about the mission & use that plan”, it can be “avenge my fathers killer” “seek out & find the sage” or more abstract things, “Die & be born anew in the eyes of my community” or “See the moon as it truly is”. They cannot tell any other characters about this goal. Once they achieve this goal as determined by them & the GM, anytime they are at 1 HP they can choose to level up.

Buddies! -> Select another character. Decide on a secret handshake, set of gestures, or exchange. It does not have to be uniform, but does have to be meaningful. Anytime you perform this with them, and one of you gains exhaustion, instantly both of you gain 1d3 to a stat. They do not have to be the same stat, select them when you take the maneuver. If the other dies, this trait is removed, granting the character back the trait points, and the character gains a -1d3 to that stat forever. (THE FUCKING HANDSHAKE)

I think that's all for Owen!!

It's Curt's turn!

God I was SO tempted to make him a Ragamuffin for this. But I'm sticking with humans. I don't even know why. I just think it would be funny. Something fun about the 'brute' being made of fabric and fluff.

Anyway. Stats!!

12 HP

8 POW (not important given he's a fighter and not a mage)

3 soak

+27 Initiative bonus

and can move 4 squares per turn, 6 squares if he's running.

Instead of spells, fighters get weapon proficiencies and maneuvers! Maneuvers are basically fancy fighting styles and actions.

Possible weapon options: Short sword (what they fight with in the show), a gun, and fisticuffs. Mages also get a weapon or two and tbh these could all apply to Owen too.

Possible maneuvers:

Taunt -> It is what it says on the tin, mock your opponent to try and make them get sloppy and target you instead of your allies.

Reckless Strike Back -> When dodging an attack, you can take one extra damage to attempt to hit your opponent back. If you fail you take extra damage.

Induced Sloppiness -> Make yourself unpredictable! on a success you get bonuses to damage and to land hits. Those attacks are really difficult to parry and dodge. On a fail your opponent gets a bonus to parrying and dodging.

Dodging into My Blade -> you must have this maneuver readied. If you opponent dodges your or your allies attack while this is readied, you can basically say "Lmaoooo" and attack them again

Skills!

High physical stuff like jumping and climbing, resist, move quietly, hide

Middling intimidation, spot hidden, repine, and grapple

Low first aid (scared of own blood) and listen.

Knowledges!

High linguistics, cooking, and espionage

Middling riding arts (for cars and stuff)

Low almost everything else (doesn't mean he's dumb. Fighters just aren't built for having a ton of knowledges)

Possible Scars!

Alcoholic - CON based - Roll a withstand check upon the GM's orders to see if you feel the urge to take a drink. On a fail you either take a swig or suffer withdrawal

Bad With Magic - POW and CON based - Anytime characters with this scar roll a check involving power expenditure, the GM describes it as if they are deeply unsettled by it, that it seems strange, random and scary, and that they are somehow making a mistake, regardless of what the magic does, how it functions, or if they succeeded or not.

Possible Traits!

Poison Blood -> Anyone eating characters with this trait takes 1d6 necrotic damage per SIZ consumed, and the character can take 1 HP from themselves to coat weapons in their blood, which deals 1d4 necrotic damage or stuns the enemy for 1d4-1 turns. It will add this effect to 1 attack until it dries in 3d6+CON turns. (something something alcohol-poisoned blood)

Sturdy -> While at max HP characters with this trait cannot be reduced below 1 HP in one hit.

Natural Jester -> Anytime characters with this trait crit fail any check, anyone who witnesses it must roll a withstand check or be stunned for 1 turn.

Fast to The Fight -> Add +3 to initiative rolls (can be taken more than once)

There's actually a TON of traits that could fit Curt but I'm capping it off here because I will go overboard.

Anyway thanks for reading! Sorry if any of this is incomprehensible.

#docktor's note #spies are forever #owen carvour #long post #curt mega #ttrpg #saf #I did NOT proofread this so this might just be incomprehensible nonsense #good luck to any brave soul who decides to decipher any of this #the way I posted the same stats twice and just didn't notice... anyway it should be fixed now

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missmungoe · 1 year

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Hellooo!

I was wondering is the fic about kid luffy sleeping in the bar and shanks carrying him upstairs in AO3? I mean it probably is not because I have already re-read most of them.

If it is not I think it would be great for download and easy access.

And I have stressful times right now, have lots of exams and work. I have to take my mind out of them a little. Soooo can I ask kindly are there any snippet that you can share? I mean I think I already memorized most of them especially Andromea 😄 WHİCH WAS JUST EPİC. Buggy and my girl Makino what a duo.

And finally thank you for all your amazing stories.💙

Hi! I haven't posted that fic to AO3 (yet) because it's a scene from a longer one-shot. I know it's been a WIP for ages and that I could just post the scene and be done with it, but I also really want to finish this fic, so once I have, I'll post it on AO3 ;)

And I'm so sorry to hear you're having a stressful time! I'm not sure this snippet will make it any less stressful, but here's a sneak peek of my next update, which believe it or not is Bind Me to the Tide - aka, the Soulmate AU I started and then didn't touch for three years (oops). But hey, better late than never!

She ran.

The darkened cottages disappeared as she hurtled past them, half-stumbling in her desperation, her skirt gripped between her hands and her breaths gasping. She didn’t even know where she was going, knew only that she had to run, even as she felt the tug where she’d cut her finger, like an invisible tether, drawing her back towards the bar, and the captain she'd left there.

The look in his eyes was burned into her mind, the moment of recognition she'd feared ever since he'd walked through her doors. Or maybe it was in her soul she felt it, a brand carved as deep as the scars on his face, and a knowledge just as cruel: that there was no running from the truth, or from him, now that he knew what she was.

She ran so hard she tasted blood, her breaths sobbing as she stumbled through the dark, the village behind her as the forest opened up ahead. It was almost too dark to see, nothing but the moon to guide her, the star-strewn sky weighing heavily over the fields where the windmills waited, their sails silent in the still air.

An idea seized her, and before she could second-guess it she’d climbed the fence, nearly falling in her hurry and scraping her palms on the rough planks, too panicked to remember that he’d be able to feel it, but she wasn’t thinking as she ran through the tall grass, her boots slipping in the soft soil as she scrambled for the door to the windmill.

The darkened interior greeted her, the round chamber lit by the shaft of moonlight piercing the mill’s only window. A stack of crates leaned against the far wall, and a ladder climbed up to the level above. As a child, it had been everything from a castle to a pirate ship, climbing the ladder with her imaginary sword, or a book tucked under her arm; had been whatever her imagination had needed it to be at any given moment.

Now Makino needed it to be a hiding place, although it wasn't chores or a scolding she was hiding from, a little girl's worries, back when she'd known no greater fear than her mother's disapproval.

Huddling behind the crates, her knees drawn up to her chest, she tried to be quiet, but even with her brow pressed to her knees, she couldn’t stifle her shivering breaths. Her heart was beating so loud it hurt, and she wondered, terrified, if he could feel that, too.

But even if he felt it, the bond only bound them through their pain; as far as Makino knew, it couldn’t tell him where she was.

Maybe he wouldn’t think to look for her here, if he thought she'd try to lose him in the forest. Maybe he’d even think she’d fled to Goa, and search for her there. If she could just stay hidden long enough, then maybe…

But even thinking it, she couldn’t forget his eyes when he'd looked at her and known, a recognition so vivid she still felt it, like the dull throbbing in her fingertip. And she knew then, in the quiet depths of her soul, that there was no escaping her fate, or the bond. That she could run and hide all she wanted, but that there was no way he would leave her port now that he knew.

No, there was only one thing that would grant her freedom now, the only thing that could sever a soul-bond. Even bound by the Fates’ will, there was one choice she was still free to make, even if it would be her last.

The door to the windmill creaked open, and her breath seized as her eyes flew up.

The pale moon outlined the tall figure in the doorway, his cloak draping from his wide shoulders, as though he'd dragged the night with him. He wasn’t wearing his straw hat, although with the moon behind him, Makino couldn’t see his face, but then she didn’t need to, a hundred nightmares resurfacing, the shadowed figure in her dreams replaced with his features as she knew them now, the high, regal brow and the chiselled jaw, and his breathtaking features warped with the wide, gleeful grin that had been carved into her memory.

Stepping across the threshold, the moonlight illuminated his scars, and she felt the phantom pulse in her own, and Shanks had barely taken a step inside when she moved, snatching the corkscrew she kept at her belt, the polished handle gripped between her white-knuckled fingers and the sharpened tip pressed to the soft underside of her throat where her pulse leaped wildly, her voice lashing from her, sharper than Makino had ever heard it.

“Don’t come any closer!”

#Shanks x Makino #Shanks #Red-Haired Shanks #One Piece Makino #One Piece #opfanfic #One Piece fanfiction #mungoe writes #Soulmate AU #and ahhhhh thank you!!!! I'm so happy you liked Andromeda<3

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spokewar · 30 days

Text

VERSES UPDATE: 3/?

FANTASY / URBAN FANTASY : Season of the Selkie.

what is it?

a verse for fantasy/magical worlds where obi-wan is a leopard seal selkie and magical librarian.

Obi-Wan Kenobi never knew his birth family, he was instead raised by a forest sprite by the name of Qui-Gon Jinn until his early twenties when Qui-Gon was murdered by a demon. His very first few years of life were spent as a seal, but the more he grew, the more time he spent on dry land. And though Qui-Gon had been a peacekeeper, he'd believed in defending yourself and others. Thusly, Obi-Wan was trained in the art of sword fighting and combat. His primary weapons became two enchanted reeds, hollowed out to contain water, which could be shaped into dangerous blades with his hydrokinesis. Living with Qui-Gon in various forests and jungles, Obi-Wan spent all his time swimming in freshwater and it wasn't until his mid-twenties that he was bold enough to venture into the ocean. Its call was strong and once in the water, he didn't emerge until he was miles and miles away from home. Something was clawing at his heart and he was not strong enough to ignore it. When he next touched land, he was at a coast with a looming lighthouse. It stood tall and empty at the top of a jagged cliff. It was there he met an ancient troll who called himself Yoda, claiming Obi-Wan came from a line of fae ancestry. His fae blood was thin and if it hadn't been for his selkie lineage, he wouldn't have had powers over the water at all. Still, he was fairy enough that he was given a sacred duty to guard a very old and very powerful library. The truth of who first founded it was lost to time, but the fae people saw the importance of it and decided to shield it from those who would use its secret knowledge for evil. Too dangerous to keep whole, the library's contents were split and placed in different locations across the continents. This way, the world's most powerful collection of spellbooks, artifacts, and elixirs was not so easily accessible. The library is enchanted to be hidden from regular humans (located at the top of the tower, inside the light source which shines out to the sea) and is only able to be seen by people with magic in their blood or who know a (very rare) spell to see past its glamour. Though Obi-Wan calls the lighthouse his place of residence, his true home is in the caverns beneath it. Carved deep into the cliff side and only accessible through the ocean are a series of tunnels and beaches hidden from the sunlight. It is where Obi-Wan stores his most precious items, including his pelt if he's ever forced to part from wearing it as a cloak. As an adult, Obi-Wan has two wards of his own: a powerful spellcaster by the name of Anakin and his little shadow, Ahsoka. He lives in a small coastal town—most of its residents human as can be—where the weather ranges from cold to freezing and he lives fairly under the radar. If folks come to Obi-Wan for help, he will help as best he can, but he usually doesn't seek out trouble unless his two wards are as well.

tldr: Obi is a shapeshifting seal who guards a magical library and runs a light house. he is also a trained warrior and part of a council of fairies.

when will i be using it?

oh, you know

more notes:

selkies are not seen as dangerous and this is a mistake

despite not showing it, obi-wan does have fae blood and you would do well not to do things like: give him your name or an iron skillet

he gets paid to run the lighthouse. i think he's technically a government employee

#obi v update #timeline: season of the selkie.

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betterbemeta · 1 year

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You know my biggest disapointment with breath of the wild was the Shiekah, they turned the VERY indian inspired group into bland ass ninjas and in the story that most revolves around the shiekah's agency that feels off, i suppose an indian group being servants of a european monarchy sucks but the erasure still leaves a bad taste in my mouth, what do you think?

I've never heard that the Sheikah were inspired by Indian art. Which does not mean it can't be a read-- I just haven't encountered it before. I WILL say that I noticed a LOT of architecture inspired by South Asia and India in Skyward Sword. But the dungeons and ruins in that game are rarely associated with a specific people, only 'the ancient past' and 'the goddess Hylia'. I wish we actually got confirmation that ancient Sheikah were associated with those ruins, rather than the only direct clue to Sheikah culture in that game being a time traveling exposition lady.

We had really few direct depictions of Sheikah architecture and customs before BotW, and in that game the 'ancient' Sheikah features were designed with the Jōmon period, the earliest known Japanese art and culture. The 'modern' Sheikah features were also very Japanese in aesthetic.

This kind of brings me to the point I want to bring up and reply to in your ask, which is that I take slight issue with the idea that Hyrule is a 'European monarchy.' I think it could be easy to read it that way where I live, because we tend to trust the aesthetics of stuff in a story to match up to locations in 'real life.' If we see a guy wielding a 14th century straight longsword we tend to assume the guy, within the bounds of style, is a medieval European dude. We don't expect him to lift his helm visor and reveal he's Japanese.

But for the same reason we look at anime characters and assume that many of them are probably intended to scan as Japanese to a Japanese audience, I think we need to extend that to Legend of Zelda. Even though the Hylian monarchy isn't wearing fashions that look Japanese, their nationalist myth throughout many games is set up to be extremely familiar to the domestic Japanese audience. Link and Zelda may be Blondes but the Sheikah analogs to a 'japan' themed culture are given white hair.

(Somebody else than me might have better insight into Anime Hair Colors.)

I live in the USA, 'the west', so by default narratives about imperialism and orientalism most accessible to me are going to assume whiteness and euro-centrism. But I feel it would be wrong to frame a piece of Japanese media as about whiteness, especially when it's clear that we can see the same type of stuff happen wherever racism and imperialism intersect.

There's only so much detail or nuance I can really have, given that I'm a white person in the anglosphere who's able to take Asian Literature in college, and Use Wikipedia, and Compare mythology, history, and news out of other countries to Video Games.

But yes, with all that said. It does put bad tastes in my mouth. Basically any depiction of entire cultures existing in some way to ensure a monarchy's security will do that, and the recent installment TotK extends to other fantasy races the horrible fate that has always been slapped onto the Sheikah: bound by an oath to serve Hyrule, Zelda and by extension, Link who paradoxically exists to both be the nation's tool but also the inheritor of everything in it.

#botw #totk #totk spoilers #totk critical #legend of zelda #the hylians are japanese and their imperial myth is japanese and their artifacts are japanese and the game is comfort food to japanese norm #and that doesn't make any of the issues better

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majorproblems77 · 11 months

Text

Musical Master sword headcannon post!

So exactly one person asked for this (Thanks @ajscico.) And that's enough for me because I care about this head cannon so much!

I've spent a long time building it and trying to get details together so that it makes sense as to why each link has the instrument he has.

This post is LONG, It goes through my reasonings for each Link plus the extras. Throwing a few names down while I work, as this headcannon is still changing. The only concrete thing is the Main 9.

Do feel free to ask me questions! I'll happily speak about this all day!

To save your feeds, I shall begin under a cut.

You clicked in? Oh man, Thank you so much!

You can have access to the cookie jar! :)

Please note! I have not got a musical background!

So to start I'll explain what the head cannon is.

Fi can speak to every person who is worthy to hold her. She designates a different instrument for each worthy person upon their first contact with her - During the events of linked universe.

This 'speech' comes in the form of an instrumental, that each person is able to understand. Unless Fi is actively trying to speaking to multiple people she is only heard by the person who her music is aimed at.

(Or in the case of the chain. When she is handed to each member she greets them with their instrument. - Sky is aware and can hear every greeting and hence knows every person's instrument immediately.)

It's important to note that it is Fi, Who assigns the instrument based on the person. They don't get a choice in the matter.

Alright, so to begin, Let's start with the Chain

Time - Ocarina Warriors - Chello Twilight - Pan flute Four - Flutes (A group, 4 to be exact ) legend - Pan drums Hyrule - Bells Wind - Windchimes Wild - Piano Sky - Harp (More specifically the goddess harp)

I'll start with the obvious members

Sky - Goddess harp Man spent his entire journey learning songs on the goddess harp, It was gifted to him by Zelda the love of his life and the person he did his whole journey for. It's a comforting sound for him, as it's something familiar. It reminds him of his home.

Time - Ocarina Time spent his first journey learning music like Sky did but I like to think that as his first instrument (his original fairy ocarina was gifted to him by a good friend) the sound would be a comfort. While Fi doesn't speak to Time very often because She is aware of his opinions of her there is still a designation for him anyway.

Now the rest - You'll begin to spot a theme with these :)

Warriors - Chello

Now, this may seem like an odd choice. (or maybe not.) But I had a few things I was thinking when I was looking into Warriors instrument.

1 - I wanted him to have a string instrument 2 - it needed to be a classical one 3 - Couldnt be a violin (I had another chain member with that at the time)

Warriors is very mature, and i wanted an instrument which resembles that maturity. so as with the rest of my choices, my first choice was to go to the Hyrule warriors theme tune.

(So many wind instruments) But also string instruments.

Chellos can also be played in 2 ways, Just plucking on the strings and by using a bow.

One creates a sharp and precise sound, while the other draws notes out into groups. In my eyes, it shows the two ways he fights. fighting groups is his speciality. (Playing the long notes with a bow). But he also capable of making shorter notes, all be it with restrictions.

Twilight - Pan flute

I wasn't sure where to go with Twilight to begin with, but I settled on the pan flute.

They look like this!

But it's one of the instruments used in the Ordonian village soundtrack. (Found here) As a big family man, I can see Twilight with a song that reminds him of home.

Four - Flutes (plural)

Now at first, I'd actually given four handbells. But, something about it just didn't sit right. I trialled several instruments for four. Trying to juggle what I know about him, his soundtracks and the like. Then I settled on a group of flutes.

There are different pitches of flutes (Concert flutes specifically) which sound slightly different but are obviously all the same instrument at the end of the day. Which reminds me of four.

Here is one type, I'd probably have this type be the main type. so for Green.

Then

Blue - C base (an octave lower than the flute above) Vio - G alto flute (lowest pitch of the concert flute variants) Red - Picallo (High pitch small flute)

Legend - Pan drum

I went with Pan drums for Legend after much deliberation.

They look like this

Again based on a soundtrack this one. (Links awakening title) Of all his journeys I've always considered his journey in links awakening to be his most important. Even with the outcome being what it is he made friends and family that were very important to him while he was there. The memory of his time there would be a comfort.

Hyrule - handbells

Now Hyrule was a little more difficult, as when I was first starting to put this together I wanted everyone to have something 'classical' so so synth, techno etc. I settled on handbells, as they are more unusual of an instrument.

Like Hyrule, they are something a little different and unique! And something that has a really complex sound set if you use several in tandem with each other.

Heres what im talking about

While I don't own a set of handbells so I can't test I do know roughly what they sound like. So i had a fun time going through the Legend of Zelda 2 soundtrack (Mainly the title theme )and figuring out if it would sound good with that instrument.

Wind - Windchimes

Now either, this was an odd choice for you, or an obvious choice. But yes, 'windchimes' is actually an instrument from the percussion family.

They look something like this

And sounds very much like the ones you have hung up outside in your back garden. They remind me of the ocean, and i like to think, He would have one hung outside of his home.

Wild - Piano

Now as you might have figured out by this point This is another one that I based around a soundtrack. I love the BOTW soundtrack. Its amazing.

Now there are several types of piano, i was thinking of using a grand piano.

These ones!

I like to think that Wild was maybe taught off to the side by Zelda while he was her knight. I mean come on Zelda is a princess. She must have some form of instrument training. Maybe it reminds him of her. Maybe it reminds him of a home he can't remember.

Ways i can make wilds story more tragic i suppose

With those members out of the way, there are three more specifics we need to address

Zelda's

Now the Zelda's are easier than I thought they would be. I've come to the decision that they will hear the same instrument as the respective link. But at a different pitch.

Now what exactly depends on the individual, Four may become an exception to this rule and might use a separate instrument entirely just cause he technically already has four pitches he uses.

Group

I've decided that the best way for Fi to communicate with everyone at once is to use her current wielder instrument. (This does extend to the Zelda's)

So for example

If Time's Zelda (lullaby) was holding Fi as she was talking to everyone they would all hear the higher-pitched ocarina that she hears when Fi speaks to her.

If Sky is holding her, and she needs to address the group. She would use the sound of the goddess harp.

And so on for the entire group.

First - Violin

Now some of you may be surprised to find him here. As he's not appeared in any of my works at the moment. But. Something in me felt the need to set him an instrument anyway.

We have so little information about the man that's tough to give a full reason as to why I've given him the violin. As First is basically a character I have to create from scratch, we shall have to see if my reasonings change. But for now, he gets the violin.

I think thats everyone!

Thanks so much for having an interest in this! It means the world!

#linked universe #linkeduniverse #LONG POST #No trust me its really long #lu headcanons #linked universe headcanons #headcannon post #Musical master sword #My first lu Head cannon #Im very excited #I'l talk about it all day please do feel free to ask me questions!#If you want to use it do ask!#The corner of headcannons!

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