#loz: golden mercy

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Well, y'all saw the Good Ganondorf part of the prompt, now it's time for Evil Zelda >:D

Have a snippet until I figure out what the heck I'm gonna do with this story.

This couldn’t be happening.

Zelda found herself standing before one of the many paintings of her ancestors. The Sacred Diplomat, one of her greatest predecessors, stood serenely, adorned in paint and silk, eyes closed with a gentle smile. The entire Triforce glowed on her hand, almost seeming to mock her.

She had fought a war and won. She had brought peace to her Hyrule. She had united all, despite the impossible circumstances. And she had done so with her Hero. She had married her Hero, had entwined their destinies in such a powerful bond that even evil itself shattered before them.

Yet here she was, crowned ruler only due to her own ineptitude leading to her father’s demise. Here she was, having only just gotten a shaky peace at the cost of so many, only to immediately lose it and her Hero. Here she was, responsible for resurrecting evil incarnate because she had suggested destroying the last seal holding him at bay.

Zelda felt cold dread coil around her, a fear squeezing her heart as if it were trapped in a vice grip. Her palms were sweating, and she balled her fists in determination. She would not go down this easily. She would not be the queen remembered for her failures.

Turning sharply on her heel, she marched along in the dark hallway, eyes alight with determination and cold rage.

XXX

By the grace of Hylia, they had found their target.

Zelda marched into the room, eyes cold as she glared at her enemy. Cia knelt on the ground, her hands bound behind her back, head bowed.

“She was in the Lost Woods,” Impa reported. “It seems most of her power has left her.”

“Most isn’t all,” Zelda reminded her general before returning her attention to the dark sorceress. She approached her slowly, channeling her own magic as she summoned her blade, pointing it at Cia’s neck. “I wonder how happy you are, knowing that Link is in peril? You never could seem to make up your mind if you wanted him dead or not.”

Cia flinched as cold steel met with her bare skin, though her eyes widened as she looked at the queen. “Link’s in danger?”

Zelda gritted her teeth, feeling fury surge through her. The energy it gave her drove her forward, and she pushed the blade closer, nearly knocking the sorceress onto her back. “Don’t you dare act like you care, you hag! You’re responsible for all of this!”

“Your Majesty—” Impa interjected, taking a hesitant step forward.

“Be silent,” Zelda hissed, not taking her eyes off her target. “You, witch, are going to help me. Use your magic to find Link.”

[thepinklink]

@skyloftian-nutcase here she is!!! I hope she meets all your expectations ✨

[aikoiya]

LoZ - Hylia as a Character

Honestly, I really like the fact that Zelda/Hylia admits, rather openly, in fact, that what she did was wrong. Then, she owns up to it.

They could've gone the route that "this is destiny, you must" or made it seem like something entirely righteous & that the fact that it saves everyone automatically makes it okay, but the writers didn't.

What happened. What Hylia put into place was a necessary evil, but still wrong by its very nature of being a necessary EVIL. She manipulated Link, not because she wanted to, or because she was a bad person, but because it was the ONLY way that she could see things working out for the benefit of as many people involved as possible.

Still doesn't make it right, but it makes it understandable. Which are 2 very different things. And I've seen a lot of people conflating the 2. For whatever reason not realizing that you can understand why someone did something & that that something can still be wrong or morally questionable. And that these are 2 things that can exist at the same time.

Because Zelda said it best, "it was a war." It wasn't like what SS Link had experienced, where he was fighting most enemies one on one & it was really only himself who was in danger at a given moment. There were battles with armies & even the game says that the demons killed without mercy. In situations like that, you might have to do things that compromise your own morals & I just...

It makes Hylia so much more human in a way. She's not like the 3 golden goddesses who you only really interact with individuals who have their names & who may just be people that resemble them. (Minish Cap, Oracle of Seasons, & Oracle of Ages.) SS Zelda actually remembers being Hylia.

Thus meaning that SS Link's interaction with SS Zelda in that scene before putting herself to sleep, was the closest interaction any Link has ever had with an actual higher deity.

You get her actual opinion. Her regrets, her apologies. Seriously, she apologizes repeatedly. While it may be filtered through Zelda, who obviously cares very deeply about Link (yes, I ship zelink here, what of it), as she said, she was both Hylia & Zelda. Specifically, still Link's Zelda.

And I... I can't hate Hylia as a result.

Which causes me to not really understand the Hylia hate that I've seen here & there.

Like, it isn't Hylia's fault that she, Link, & Ganondorf were cursed. That was all The Bringer of Demise & his toddlerish butthurt over losing to not just a mortal, but a mortal teen. He cursed them, not Hylia. And what exactly do people think Hylia could've done?

What were her other options? She wasn't a goddess anymore at the time! And we dont even know the rules regarding the Hyrulean gods! There could be some sort of rule of non-interference or only indirect interference unless you give up your godhood that we don't know about!

And, if she hadn't done something, then think about what could've happened as a result.

According to the information that we currently have, Demise would've taken over & made a wish that we don't even know. Not only that, but he had apparently been killing so many humans that Hylia felt the need to lift pieces of land into the air via nothing but magic to keep Demise away from them! Like putting a toy up too high for a kid to reach.

This suggests that they nearly went extinct!

Also keep in mind that she literally gave up her godhood to keep everyone safe!! That's... that's huge!

Also, I hate that there are fans out there who blame Sky for them being cursed!

Dude just finished a fight with a Daimaō (yōkai general). A battle that involved a LOT of lightning striking the Master Sword, which is known to cause temporary deafness, disorientation, ect.

He likely wasn't even aware that the Bringer of Demise had cursed him & Zelda both.

The only person anyone should be blaming here is Demise.

Though, that does bring into question why Fi didn't notify Link of this fact.

LoZ Cultural Masterlist

[thebleedingeffect]

If you’re still up to talking about him

AHHHHHHH of course I'm up to talk about him!! Sorry that it took a lil bit to reply, had to go do work >.< !! BUT I spent most of the shift thinking about my lil guy and by god, I love this guy so damn much.

SO first of all, my personal interpretation of gods in the loz universe is that there are six main gods in total: The Golden Goddesses, Hylia, Demise, and the Fierce Deity. The Golden Goddesses are above them all, but they're more of the... ambivalent, distant sort of gods, the kind of higher power that watches everything at a distance. They have no moral standing, they do not rejoice when the day is saved nor do they mourn when their people die, they simply are. They control the tides of the cycle and pick their heroes when the time comes that the story must repeat once more, but they don't do it out of maliciousness or any sort of human need.

The Golden Goddesses simply are, they watch and control the earth, the tides, and have shaped very life itself, but are very distinctly not human.

Hylia, Demise, and the Fierce Deity are more human than them, and for that reason, they're the ones who came to embody Hyrule itself.

But I'm getting off track, for the Fierce Deity!! So, my personal interpretation is that he's the most human between both Demise and Hylia. Demise understood the feeling of being trapped with too much power in his palms and the urge to tear down the world that had sought to strangle such divine power from his hands. He understood revenge, resentment, the darkness of men's hearts that the Goddesses themselves had gifted him to understand like no other. In this part, Demise understands, but he does not understand nor want to see anything more of their creations as he resents the Goddesses for dooming him to such a role. If the Goddesses wanted a monster, had forged a monster with their own hands and released him onto the world that they just created, than he would destroy as he pleased.

The Goddesses must not have cared much for their creations after all, Demise believes, as why would he have been created for such detestable reasons otherwise?

Demise cannot truly understand what it is to be human, as he has no want nor need to. He inspires the part of Hyrule that thrives and festers off the blood of its own people, that is all he needs to know. That's all he was ever meant to know, and when tried to know more, he simply tasted what true anger was.

Hylia is not human, no matter what legends and myths may tell you, she is and never will be human. Hylia was made to be the great stabilizer of the land, to cultivate and hold the seeds of Hyrule in her own hands. She sees humans, she sees their struggles, how they worship her, how they whisper their names during times of peace and joy throughout the land.

Hylia hears her name on the lips of dying men in vast fields, in near empty cathedrals, between clenched hands hidden in the dark. She hears it all and more, hears how they call out for her protection and mercy in their time of need. Hylia knows, but she doesn't truly understand the desperate need to survive when she is not mortal and after all, all of the suffering is for the greater good. The blood of Hyrule's people will call the hero from across the fields, the suffering of her people will inspire the princess to take up arms, and the sacrifice is worth the price. Whether that price is placing terrifying visions in little princesses head, scaring them awake at night with a scream on their lips. Whether that is not answering a desperate princesses call over all the years, even as the world begins to burn around her. Hylia is not human in the same way that the tides of the ocean are not human, her judgment and mercy are absolute, as is her condemnation and silence.

Hylia hears the desperate prayers of a boy who does not wish to be chosen on a battlefield, wielding a sword that was crafted for his hands alone.

She ignores him, as his suffering is the perfect sacrifice for the greater good and after all, his suffering will never even be a footnote in the great expanse of Hyrule's history. Not when her name must be used to inspire even more heroes and princesses in the future.

The Fierce Deity... is human in all of the ways that they aren't.

So, my interpretation is that the Fierce Deity fought alongside Hylia during the war with Demise, but he was originally just a normal man who rose to the occasion. His courage, his resilience, his hands that were originally meant for lush fields but now wielded a sword, a normal human that had managed to drive the newly forged master sword into Demise's skull. As the war settled, the first hero found that he wasn't human anymore, as Hylia had decided that he would forever be her hero. The Golden Goddesses held no objection to this idea as it meant the wielder of courage had finally been chosen, and the forces of the cycle were finally ready to begin. The first hero had died, but the Fierce Deity had been born in his place. Time went on until threads of unease and suspicion began to rise as the Fierce Deity was more than simply the wielder of courage.

The Fierce Deity had once been a human, and as such, he possessed an understanding of people's suffering, their joy- just how fragile their lives were and how easily their dreams could be dashed away. So, he became not only the wielder of courage, but the very embodiment of the need to protect others no matter the cost. The willingness to bend himself down to evils' depravity as he is willing to destroy himself, to feel both the festering anger and indiscriminate hope of humanity, to feel it all, and to protect above all else.

But, because he was a human first before god, he doesn't quite share the same godlike qualities that Hylia and Demise both wield.

It's because of this and furthering tension that one day... the Fierce Deity finds himself banished to a land so like the one he used to protect, but completely empty of anything divine. He soon comes to realize that the land and its people had been completely abandoned by the goddesses that had created them, left alone to their own survival. No goddesses to listen to their prayers at night, no goddesses who linger in the embers of fire, no giggling goddesses who thrive in the forest, no goddesses in the reflection of the water- nothing. He finds himself trapped in a world that does not know what it lacks, what has been taken from it, and he himself is trapped with no way out.

It's then that the Fierce Deity feels complete and utter betrayal, sorrow and the kind of anger that licks up his sides with the urge to tear down the barriers that hold him. But he can't, not with the mask holding back so much of his power, so much in fact that he can barely feel the world that he was stolen from. For a time, the Fierce Deity is consumed by anger and the lingering taste of abandonment. The goddesses? He somewhat understands, despite the deep-seated sorrow at how Farore had agreed to throw him inside the depths of her own land to rot. But Hylia? The goddess that he had spent countless years protecting? The goddess that had looked at him and saw something more, saw something that was worthy to become something more. The very same goddess that had seemingly come to regret her decision, because he was simply not a hero, he was still a human. The goddess that he had swore to protect and follow all those years ago, and then was the one who watched as he was sealed away.

Needless to say, the Fierce Deity feels extremely betrayed, and it doesn't help that he knows the cycle will continue with or without him. There will be someone who will have his face, who will be his in all but blood, but they'll never know that they're missing something. There will be no gentle hand to guide their hand on the sword, no one who will help protect them, no one who will answer their pleas at night when there's so much responsibility on their tiny shoulders. He knows this, and he becomes so much more infuriated because he feels like he's abandoned his own kin. His own reflections left to wander a land that will use and abandon them, left to live in a history that will live off their sacrifice and blood. More than anything else, the Fierce Deity mourns for them, because he knows the Goddesses never will. He hopes that they will one day forgive him for not being able to escape this cage to protect them properly.

Time passes, of course, but one day the Fierce Deity finds himself strangely endeared to Termina. It is a land that has been abandoned and holds no symbols of the goddesses that has created them. It is a land that has been given a turned eye, a cold shoulder, abandoned to all but the deepest recesses of a cursed forest. The Fierce Deity sees himself in Termina, in its people, and that how he begins to care for the people despite the sorrow still clinging onto his heart that refuses to stop feeling. He hears their dreams, their anger, their sorrow, their hope- he hears it all- and he answers in kind.

He promises that he hears them and will protect them.

That's how the Fierce Deity becomes the patron saint of Termina! He sort of becomes the god known for protection, for justice dealt, of the moon itself, and courage :] a cute little detail is that most people wait to pray until nighttime as it's said that the moon can hear better that way! And their prayers help him feel better, just a bit.

Another detail is that most are pretty quiet of their worship of him, but it isn't uncommon to see people with moon and triforce pendants :] and during the winter solstice, people will paint red and blue markings onto their face to welcome the longest night of the year, or the longest time that the Fierce Deity is free to roam Termina!

I have more thoughts about him but hrm, this is already super long,,,, okay I just love him alot okay-

[yasmeensh]

Zelda 2 - Mystery of Kasuto

Yet again, with more Zelda 2 lore. Since winter break started, I went back to working on my Zelda 2 comic again (it’s been years but I’m still going at it haha). I collected a LOT of information from within the game and from other loz games. I’m at the last stages of getting all the information needed for a fully fledged story (My aim with this comic project is to flesh out the world of Hyrule in the era of decline. Make it feel like the newer Zelda games in terms of lore and plot, but also keep its’ classic essence). HOWEVER! Before I get ahead with outlining a full story, there is one thing that needs to be sorted out. that is, Kasuto Town. Deciding on Kasuto town’s identity will entirely change the aesthetic of the story, how the people will be represented, and even the lore of the Zelda2 pre-story (sleep-cursed Princess Zelda) I’ve spent a while collecting evidence and clues for my theory. I was not sure if I should go ahead with it and solidify it for the comic, so I want to share it and hear what opinions, additions, or contradictions any of you would have. I’m very interested to hear what you have to say on it! Anyways, without further ado, here is the theory:

The basic idea is that Kasuto People are Sheikah. (Disclaimer: This is just a theory and entirely speculative. The aim to try to make sense of Kasuto town with the established canon information we know and fit it to the wider loz world.)

1. Location of Kasuto Town

There are two Kasuto towns. A deserted Kasuto, and a hidden Kasuto.

From what we know of the Sheikah history leading to the downfall timeline, is that The Hyrulean Civil War (Pre-OOT) nearly wiped out all of the Sheikah population. Kakariko was their original settlement, but has since been opened to everyone. So, where did all the Sheikah go? Only Impa is around. WELL, perhaps since the events of the civil war, they decided to take residence far away from Hyrule Castle, and only send their most capable every generation to care for the Princess (Which is always the new Impa). Impa always shows up again as a nursemaid for Princess Zelda in the downfall timeline.

Additionally, as protectors of The Royal Family, it works out how their town is situated next to the entrance to the Great Palace, where the final Triforce is kept (To keep an extra eye on who ventures there?).

Not entirely sure why Kasuto was destroyed. Did Ganon know about the Triforce of Courage being around there? Did he attack them with an army of Moas while they fought to keep him away? This might have led them to go into hiding. They are the only ones who know all the secrets of Hyrule. They need to survive in order to preserve it.

2. Magic

There are two spells taught in the Kasuto towns. One of them makes a small temple (shrine?) come out of the ground. The other spell is the strongest spell in the entire game (thunder).

^ This is the building that emerges from deep underground after using the ‘Spell’. (He finds the magic key there. A key that can open pretty much every door ever. Or at least the palace doors). What IS strange about Kasuto though, is that the palace situated between the towns has an item that acts almost exactly like the Lens of Truth; It’s a cross that allows Link to see ghosts. (In OOT it does the same thing, in addition to looking through false doors and floors. It’s used to track down the Phantom guide in the haunted wasteland). A little suspicious, no? (PS. I’ve been thinking about redesigning the cross item for the comic, and I SWEAR the three parts at the top can easily be made to look like the Sheikah eyelash symbol. Voila) This could all merely be coincidence, but the location next to the Great Palace AND the three-eye-rock palace containing the cross is convenient to make us assume it’s connected to them in some way, especially with the later established lore of the Sheikah.

3. Technology

Ok. bear with me. This is a big one. This will be the game changer. If we can solidify that these Sheikah are just as technologically advanced as the Sheikah in botw, this will completely change how they could be interpreted in the comic.

For starters, only the Sheikah know the details of the legend of Zelda. And here I quote from the Zelda 2 1988 manual:

“There was a door in the North Castle called “The door that does not open.” Only the descendants of the Impa family who served the King knew how to open the door.”

As we could see, access to the chamber and scrolls that provide information on the palaces and Triforce is only accessible to the Sheikah. A private affair between the royal family and Sheikah ONLY? The King that separated the Triforce is the one that was in-charge of building all 7 palaces. Because the Sheikah work closely with the Royal Family, they must be 100% involved (Also, remember how Kasuto town has the magical key that can open all doors in the palaces?) OKAY NOW HERE IS THE TECHNOLOGY PART The elevators. The Elevators.

For the longest time I told myself it must be some kind of pully system. But after I started thinking about Kasuto as being Sheikah, and their heavy involvement with the palaces, I’m starting to think that maybe these are actually electrical (or magical. idk what it is) powered elevators. Sort of like in Breath of the Wild. There is also Rebonack, the Island palace boss with his floating robot horse

Maybe.... Maybe the ironknuckles and doomknockers are also robots? For all we know, they are just heavily armored... things. With no face. We know construction on the palaces must have begun sometime at the end of the Golden Era. That was the time when the Royal Family possessed the full Triforce for countless generations. It was the most prosperous Hyrule has EVER been (in the downfall timeline at least). The Sheikah might have had the time to advance their technology? It’s not too far fetched. After such a long time of prosperity, the King found that there was no one worthy of the full Triforce to continue this golden age (He was scared of his wicked son it seems) so he started this whole project to hide away the Triforce of courage.

(It’s interesting in a way how that King saw that the chaos caused by a separated Triforce is much merciful than the consequences of the full Triforce falling into the wrong hands. It mirrors Princess Zelda’s decision when she broke the Triforce of wisdom into 8 pieces so Ganon can’t have it. She really is wise for a small child. As wise as the ancient king.) Well, what are your thoughts? Would it be plausible that the people at Kasuto are truly the Sheikah? Is it possible that the palaces have technology? This is pretty crucial for the development of this comic project 👀 It will completely change how the palaces will be portrayed, the enemies, and the entire Kasuto settlements (plus if Impa is affiliated with them). WOULD you be fine with such an interpretation? SHARE YOUR THROUGHTS!

[zzariyo]

37? :D

UH OH FIRST IDEA THAT CAME TO MIND IS LOZ

37. Defy

Ganondorf lay in a crumpled, bloody heap at Link’s feet. His breaths were haggard, uneven. He gripped at his stomach where blood seeped onto the stone floor.

How could Link do this to him? How could he have done this to his best friend? The one he grew up beside? Fate or not...How could he?

Hylia saw his hesitation. The otherworldly, cosmically beautiful goddess’ face darkened and her eyes shone a blinding, white light. “Kill him!” Her voice that was usually soft and sweet was shrill and sharp, more of a high-pitched shriek. It echoed eerily in the halls, turning Link’s skin to goosebumps. “Kill him!”

Ganondorf’s eyes opened through his pain and peered up at Link. There was no hatred anywhere. Only the same fondness that was there ever since they were children.

He couldn’t. There was no way he could.

Link was silent for a moment, standing there, his whole body trembling, until he finally spoke.

“No.”

Hylia’s face twisted and churned into something that should have belonged to a grotesque demon, not the merciful, loving goddess she was supposed to be. “You dare defy your goddess?!” Suddenly, she appeared in front of Link, her giant face an arm’s length away from his. Her golden hair floating around them so he was forced to look only at her. “This is your fate! To kill the evil that plagues the land!”

Ganondorf was not evil. Link knew this. He was gentle and kind. He treasured life and his family. He loved sunsets and dancing and morning tea.

He was his best friend. The most important person in his life.

“Do it!” Hylia thundered, baring her teeth that were too sharp for the holy being she should’ve been.

Link gripped the Master Sword in his hands tightly.

“I am not bound by fate,” he hissed at her.

Then swung the sword at her neck.

[lilflowerpot]

You're posting loz e_e botw au keitor, keith as the awkward gremlin hero and lotor and the sciencing royal. Only applicable if Lotor didn't have such a tragic backstory. Or they could just play the game and lose quintents to it. Like someone finds a switch botw pack at an earth store and shenanigans happen?

Playing the game is good, but the AU is better, yesyesyes let me have this.

Lotor, who is being raised by his father to become the next Monarch of a warring state, trained in all forms of combat (at which he’s not bad) and strategy (at which he’s better), but whose first love is science. His mother was Sheikah, her work revolutionary, but upon her death her people broke a thousand years of tradition and refused to serve the royal family while Zarkon stood at its head, and so he ordered their collective execution. Nobody’s heard from them since, but Lotor has a sneaking suspicion that the numbers don’t add up, that the body count’s too small, that somewhere out there - hidden in the far reaches of Hyrule - the village of his maternal ancestors continues to thrive with both life and technology beyond even his father’s most feavoured imaginings.

Keith, who insists he comes from nowhere, no one, nothing: a feral little thing who’s as Hylian as Lotor is - which is to say not enough to appease the people around him, many of whom turn their noses up at the bronzed flesh stretched taught over sinew and muscle, or the way dark hair seems to smoulder like wildfire in the right light. He cloaks himself and hides his face, and this suits him just fine because the climate here is cooler than what he’s used to when the sun has carved its blistering heat into his shoulders like a brand. Keith belongs to the desert - always has, always will - but there’s a lot of pressure there to be something he’s not, and when he leaves he makes sure to wrap the bindings of his fists just a little tighter.

So Keith heads to the heart of Hyrule; for curiosity’s sake, or so he tells himself, because he’s heard great things about the capital and wants to see it for himself, but halfway there with the great spires of Hyrule Castle looming on the horizon, the eager tug in his gut alters course and Keith finds himself stumbling down grassy banks until he’s turned his back on his original destination altogether, and stands instead before a great stone wall, seemingly older than time itself.

Keith is many things, but a quitter isn’t one of them.

It’s a challenge, certainly, but no more so than scaling the sheer Highland cliffs north of home, and he’s done that so many times that Kolivan has run out of reprimands. Once he gets into the rhythm of it, the regular placement of carved stone one on top of the other becomes almost like second nature, even if the excessive rain they get in these parts has worn it down into something smooth as bone. He climbs and climbs and climbs - through the mists and fogs that seem almost as if they’re reaching to tear him from his precarious perch only to curl away at the last second - until finally he’s able to drag himself up onto the parapets, cresting them along with the sunrise, his whole body heaving with exhaustion.

Still… he made it.

Made it where is the next logical question, and not one Keith has an exact answer to, but this - this - is always the best part, and he scrambles to his feet, adrenaline replacing fatigue to flood his veins with a sparking excitement. It’s a plateau, by the looks of it, a great swathe of untamed greenery growing tall and tangled as far as the eye can see. Though he’d climbed up for a good quarter of an hour, the internal drop is scarcely the height of a man, and Keith leaps down into the into the underbrush with an almost primal urge to explore his new territory.

Meanwhile, Lotor is minding his own business in the ruins of Old Castle Town, having snuck away in the night through a tunnel he found months ago that coils through the bowels of the earth from North to South, a single thread of kinship between the new world and the old. He’s picking apart the carvings at Hylia’s base in the temple of his ancestors when he hears it, the howling rage of a bokoblin-hoard scorned, and draws his royal claymore only to find that their beady little eyes aren’t focused on him, but rather a young woman in the decrepit market square below, who twists around her assailants with grace and strikes them down without mercy.

Her hair shines white, her weapon glows blue, and with his heart in his throat Lotor realises she’s Sheikah.

He must move or make a noise or something, because she spins on her heel from where she’s stood in a cicle of bokoblin corpses, and launches her weapon in a swooping arc straight towards Lotor.

It’s hard to say what happens first, but three things do, and in very quick succession: one, the Sheikah woman realises her mistake, recognising Lotor as not a bokoblin but a person, and quite probably as one of her own ilk if the choice of her panicked warning cry being shouted out in the Sheikah tongue rather than common Hylian is deliberate. Two, Lotor draws up his claymore to deflect the projectile, royal insignia glinting in the golden light of morning, but even as he does so distantly recognises that whatever energy the head of the spear is composed of might well cleave right through his blade as if it were still molten. Three, a boy cloaked in red drops out of absolutely fucking nowhere, and intercepts the spear mid-flight, pinning it to the ground between the twin prongs of his of his scimitar’s forked tongue.

There’s a moment of true stillness, all three frozen as if carved from ice, and then the boy looks up with a curl to his lips that pierces Lotor’s heart more completely than the Sheikah girl’s spear could ever have hoped to do.

“Hi,” he breathes, all tousled hair and sun-kissed skin, “I’m Keith.”

[rileyskys]

Must Have Video Games Tag Meme

Alright, so, I don’t post a lot of personal stuff on here, but I guess I can’t fight being tagged by the great @pi3pr0xy​. ;p

So, I got into videogames when I was really young because I had a hip disease, the name is lost on me, but it was something that caused my hip bone cartilage to deteriorate and my bones would start rubbing against each other. I was basically out of commission for playing outside for a few months and my mom had just bought my older brother (who is a big ‘ol redneck) a SNES, which ended up being mine, and the rest is history.

Megaman X - SNES

This was the first game I can remember playing as a kid. This game was the absolute bomb. It had amazing controls, beautiful jraphics, and a compelling story line that pulled me in immediately. This is also the only game I remember playing with my dad who passed away when I was still young. I highly recommend this game to anyone who loves old school platformers.

Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past - SNES

I can already sense people who are fans of Game Grumps that there’s a pattern of me picking some of Arin’s all time favorite games as my favorites, but long before I had the internet, I had a 12″ CRT TV at my grandma’s house. A TV on which I would first discover Link, a small boy tasked with saving all of Hyrule. This game was what jumped me into the LOZ series and I’ve fallen in love ever since. The feeling of adventure I felt in this game was immense. I spent hours finding new things, discovering secrets, and just enjoying being in the world.

Final Fantasy VII - Playstation

Call me a fanboy all you want, but this game revolutionized what I thought games could do. with very limited 3D graphics and pre-rendered backgrounds, this game might not look like much, but it’s storyline was amazing. I was engrossed the moment I turned on the game. The Chocobo, the size of Cloud’s sword, the Highwind, and for the love of God; Materia. The Materia mechanic is what really drove this game home for me. I would grind for hours to get the right Materia for the right fight and I loved it even nowadays when people hate the notion of grinding. I had the dopest selection of Materia for all situations and I couldn’t have been prouder.

Conker’s Bad Fur Day - N64

This is the game that gave me a potty mouth. This fucking squirrel was nuts. From helping a bee fuck a flower with boobs, to fighting a opera singing pile of shit, a creepy zombie level, and even a D-Day re-enactment between squirrels and Nazi teddy bears, Conker’s was Bonkers. Through all the horrible language and imagery, this game was an excellent platformer, and really got me into the N64. I guess the normal game to say you have to play on the N64 is Super Mario 64, but nope, this game all the way.

Left 4 Dead 1 & 2 - Xbox 360

This series was the absolute best at getting you to invite 1-3 friends over and just having a blast slashing and shooting your way through zombies. Seriously, this is the zombie equivalent of Mario Party. I honestly sunk hours and even days into this game trying to get all the achievements. The characters are lovable, the areas are interesting, and the Finales are kickass!

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Xbox 360

Here she is. Big Momma Fantasy. The game that made me feel like a God killing demon. Skyrim, for anyone who doesn’t know, is the fifth game in the Elder Scrolls series, and holy shit, I jumped into this series too late, but this is the one I started with. I’ve never spent so much hours in one day on a game then Skyrim. Playing it on a CRT TV with my iHome blasting Scary Monsters and nice sprites will stick with me until I die.

Borderlands 2 - Xbox 360

Handsome Fucking Jack is the best fucking villain of any game ever.

Nier:Automata - PC

Nier:Automata is a game about anime tiddies, androids, and huge swords, so it hits all my weak points. This game started out super intense and I wasn’t sure how I would enjoy it, but then the world opened up to me and suddenly I felt amazing being in control of 2B, the main character. Her fluid attacking animations and spacious areas to traverse and learn are intoxicating. I got lost in this game so fast. Everything in this game is polished (Besides the optimization issues) and being an android fighting machines controlled by robots is just sick as fuck. I liked the game so much I played it 3 times to get the final ending (Plus the 26 other endings. Yeah, 26 fucking endings), which holy shit, I didn't think there was a game I would enjoy playing 3 times in a row. Oh, but wait-

Bloodborne - PS4

You like Victorian architecture? You like horrible, malformed beasts? You like games that are HARD AS FUCK!? I introduce Bloodborne! I love everything about this game. From the art style to the combat, it's all golden. If you think you have what it takes, and it'll probably take a couple of times, you're gonna absolutely love this game. Oh, did I mention that you can just keep playing it into infinity or you can try your hand at PVP, or not. I sincerely hope you don't. I'm already on New Game +10

Stardew Valley - PC

So. You all know Harvest Moon, right? One of the pioneers of farming games. Want to know something cool? Stardew Valley takes everything that made Harvest Moon great and amplifies it by ten. With beautifully detailed 2D graphics, a lovable town filled with unique friends and potential partners, I played this game far more than any of the others. I've gotten quite bored of it after many, many hours now that I have oodles of money to buy anything, but just when I was about to hang up this game as done but fuck-

They introduced a multiplayer function which you can edit how much money you make from selling things, so you know I played that boy with one other person and made everything 1/4 the price so I can feel like a real farmer, struggling to make ends meet. Honestly though, if you love having a good time, this is the game to play.

Honorable Mentions:

Any Pokemon game, including Pokemon GO.

Fire Emblem: Birthright/Conquest/Revelations - In that order.

God Eater Ressurection - Giant beasts, and giant swords, truck yeah!

Overwatch - Please stop nerfing Mercy, Papa Kaplan.

No Man’s Sky - Everyone hated it, but I loved and still love it. SPACE SHOULD FEEL EMPTY

I guess I got to tag some people too... Hmm...

@point-and-click-adventure @sharkmittens @lilfoxcat Your turn!

[thebleedingeffect]

SPEAKING OF LOZ AU THOUGHTS- anyway im elaborating on how the final showdown between Nocturne, Zelda, and Ganondorf goes down cause it's genuinely tragic to me. Ganondorf being haunted by the knowledge of his fate and the knowledge that the ones before him and after will lead the world into ruin. That the ones he's nurtured and loved all of their lives have always been the ones destined to end him, the knowledge that he knew and festered inside him for years upon years. The truth that he refused to tell anyone, nonetheless Nocturne or Zelda, the agony of them wanting to help him so badly but he never trusted or wanted to burden them with the truth. That they're parts of some bizarre, cursed mix of a divine comedy and tragedy, that he has no part in their stories besides being the villain.

The force the two of them stand up against in the end, good verses evil, a tale as old as time and Ganondorf feels so very old staring down at the two he loves most, the ones he's supposed to hate. Ganondorf can almost feel his ancestors hatred for them bubbling underneath his skin in the late night as he stares down at Nocturne's peaceful form, sleeping quietly underneath the desert moon. Zelda is the more proactive one between the three of them and the first crack widens and splinters during the first genuine fight between her and Ganondorf. She's seen that he's torturing himself but she doesn't know why and he refuses to tell or even let them help or comfort him in the slightest. It's maddening knowing that the truth is just beyond her fingertips but yet even as she's dissolves into begging and declarations that she loves him, please, what's weighing your shoulders down so heavily, my brother?

The legends say that he's the holder of power, the dark king, the evil king, the demon king, that his control over power is unmatched no matter the time or place. But yet, staring down at Zelda, and ignoring how Nocturne flinches from the both of them for hours afterwards- he feels no stronger than the sand against the desert wind. All of this love, this mistrust, the misplaced care for one another with their destinies laid out before them, all of it and more flashes behind Ganondorf's eyes as he plunges pure malice into Nocturne and let's the glow of the triforce spill over Zelda's screams of despair.

Why wouldn't she scream for mercy of her younger brother, the one she's let clutch the tails of her sash since he could barely walk? That she's watched over as a baby and throughout all the winds of hyrule, the boy she's watched cling onto Ganondorf's back and grow into a brilliant prince, a warrior, the best little brother she could ever ask the goddesses for. Ganondorf knows that the both of them never quite stopped seeing Nocturne as the child following the both of them no matter the distance or situation, that they see him and see the sunshine that reflects off his golden hair. Sunshine isn't reflecting off his hair now, instead blood is matted into sickening clumps where his head crashed into the hard floor.

He never was the biggest fan of wearing red, blue was always his color

The worse thing is that Ganondorf knows Nocturne isn't dead, can still feel him shakily breathing as the power of the triforce flickers erratically between them. The glow on his own hand is glowing brighter and brighter but Ganondorf feels no satisfaction, no taste of victory, all he feels as Nocturne's blood spills onto the polished floor is that he promised Nocturne that he would've never be hurt again on that day so long ago. Zelda's screaming abruptly stops and when he finally turns to see her- he sees nothing but rage, the kind of rage that makes the triforce of power pause. The fight afterwards is brutal but tragically short, even as Ganondorf watches the anger, grief filled tears stream down her face as she ignores her own critical injuries to stare down at him and ask why? Was it all to satisfy some goddesses? Did you not trust us enough to simply try? Ganondorf doesn't have an answer for her as he sees death flicker over his vision, granting neither of them any closure as their blood mixes together, Nocturne's untouched as both refused to disturb him even as the world tore itself apart.

Zelda's final moments are empty as she stares down at the sheer unending darkness spilling from Nocturne's body. Knows that whatever emerges from him will not be her brother, her Nocturne, and so with her last remaining thread of strength- plunges the master sword into his stomach and seals him underneath the stone and rubble of the temple of time. She dies believing that she's the last to pass on, that they'll be waiting for her.

Nocturne's moments are of watching the two he loves more than anything tear each other apart, no energy or strength to even move his eyes from the images beginning to burn themselves into his eyes. Watches the way Zelda refuses to meet his eyes and feels the pain of the darkness splitting him apart and of the oddly warm metal jutting into his stomach. He doesn't die, just feels golden chains dragging him into an endless slumber that he hopes he doesn't wake up from.

Untold years later, the temple of time eroded to time and unspoken memories- Nocturne wakes to a face oddly similar to the one he remembers, one slightly aged but undeniably a version of his own.