#so yeah I’ve been playing botw

[dapperenby13]

Loz fans, I offer you my first full art piece for the fandom……

The title is “Blood Moon”

[cillixn]

Cillian looks like if a keebler elf was sexy

fuck i—- 🫢 you’re kinda right ???? oh my god i hate that this is actually valid

[cheaploafs]

i keep saying i am going to draw but i just end up not drawing, these last two weeks have been just terrible for my brain mentally

[rinstaro]

Tbh I don’t have an idea for this one kore, but smth horny asf with my bb time or even wild cause I’ve been having a bit of a rough time

hope ur well and thank you!!

-💫

of course, anything for you dear. this took so long!!!! sorry i’ve been so dead lately, life is tryna whoop my ass. i was playing botw and changed into the barbarian set and…… yeah. you know how it “bolsters links fighting spirit”? in my head it just makes him a lot more feral so it makes him horny too. i hope you like it! and i hope you feel better soon! i promise that these rough times will pass 🌟

cw: he’s a little mean, doggy, forest sex, reader is implied to be shorter than him, slight predator/prey dynamics, y’all are just messing around… or are you? reader has a vagina no pronouns, not proofread <3

minors do not interact.

you played with wild’s stuff all the time. he didn’t mind so long as you didn’t hurt yourself. his swords, his bows, and especially his armor. no matter how many rupees he’d spend buying you whatever clothes you wanted, you were always fascinated with his instead.

his knights armor was heavy and sturdy. his climbing gear showed off his toned arms. his sheikah armor had you drooling.

the only set you hadn’t seen on him was the barbarian armor. you always wondered about the set. the headpiece was just a little scary, so you asked him what the armor was for when it covered so… little.

“it makes me a little more…. it’s easier to fight.”

he left it at that, but it made you curious. so it made him stronger, but you wanted to see that firsthand. you asked him if he’d put it on for you to which he shied away. “i don’t think you’d like it…”

you rolled your eyes, begging him to do it, just once. he eventually caved. when he did, you immediately realized why he was hesitant to show you his armor.

he looked fucking divine.

the way it exposed the best parts of him had you salivating. you circled him, trailing your gaze up and down his body. the tattoos that manifest on his torso and legs... you wanted to taste them for yourself. “i cannot believe you hid this from me,” you mumbled. you wrapped your arms around him, tracing his skin with your fingertips. you could hear his breath hitch as you teased him relentlessly.

suddenly he grabbed your wrists, looking at you with a hardened gaze.

“i’m not sure if we should… do that right now.”

you could tell wild was holding himself back, so you decided to kick it up a notch. you dropped to your knees in front of him, batting your eyelashes when he hisses. your hands trailed down to his thighs, nails scratching the skin ever so slightly. “come on, you don’t wanna have fun? at least let me– oh!”

the grip on your wrists tightened, and you were locked in place. your heated gaze met his, and you shuddered. he looked like he was about to eat you alive. wild’s nostrils flared as he stared down at you, seemingly trying to keep himself together. he slowly leaned down, eyes never leaving yours.

“sure, let’s have some fun.”

that’s how you ended up deep in the forest, heart racing and wild hot on your trail. this was harder than you thought, but it was definitely exciting. the deal he made you was simple. just a quick game of hide and seek.

“you get five minutes. if you win, you get your way. if i win, i get mine.”

you took off as soon as he uttered the word ‘run’, excited giggles ringing in his ears as he watched you. he waited til you were out of sight, and even gave you an extra minute. after counting, he started walking at a leisurely place in the direction you took off in, grinning to himself.

sure, this was a little unfair. you didn’t stand a chance against him without the set, let alone with it. but you didn’t need to know that. you wanted to have some fun, so he’ll entertain you. wild wondered how long you’d last when he finally got you under him.

you stopped to catch your breath, hands on your knees as you panted. surely this was far enough. you'd been running at full speed for a while, and you were sure at least 2 minutes had passed. you had to have gotten pretty far.

only moments later did you hear a loud “thud” from behind you. you spun around to be met with trees and shrubs, the silence making you uneasy. your eyes scanned the area only to find nothing. probably just some animal, right? even if it was, you weren’t gonna take the chance. you slowly backed away in the opposite direction of the noise, keeping an eye out for any movement.

when you turned back to run, you were met with the hard surface of someone’s chest. you groaned, rubbing your nose before your eyes widened at the sight of your boyfriend.

“i win, right?”

you opened your mouth to protest, quickly being cut off by him gripping your chin. his hold was gentle but the look in his eyes was anything but. “l-link?” he wore a twisted little grin, as if he’d just caught his first meal in days.

“so we’re doing this my way. i’ll still give you one choice. do you want it here, or do you want me to chase you back home?” your knees buckled at his words, your mind reeling. you couldn’t even begin to speak, sputtering out nothing but nonsense. wild huffed, grabbing your wrists and pinning you face first to the nearest tree. he pinned your arms on the side of you and spoke, “don’t move.” you nodded hastily.

“you know you look really cute when you run? it was hard not to take you right there. the wait was worth it, though,” he grinned. his fingers traced your spine, his hunger only growing as he watched you shiver.

wild placed a hand over your eyes and started trailing love bites down your neck. you whined. the bites felt hard enough to leave marks, yet you could still tell he was holding back. you pushed your ass back against him, trying to rile him up.

your boyfriend growled, suddenly biting down harshly on your neck. you whimpered loudly as your arms twitched with the need to move, which didn't go unnoticed.

"look at you, still trying to be a good pet. ah, its a little late though. you've already pushed me to my limit," he snarled, landing a smack to your ass. he watched the flesh jiggle, humming contentedly. without warning, your bottoms were ripped from you and thrown to the ground. the roles were now swapped, wild on his knees before you- well, behind you.

you felt him part your folds with his thumbs, watching your sex drip with arousal. you squealed at your sudden nudity, arms reaching back to grab him. he quickly put a stop to that, grabbing both wrists in one hand. "on the tree. don't interrupt me."

you obeyed his orders, bringing your arms back to yourself and placing them on the tree. once he was satisfied with your position, he gave no warning before licking a long stripe up your cunt. you moaned shakily, the pleasure between your legs making you tremble. wild hummed, tongue swiping across your clit at a rapid pace.

he ate you like a man starved, your position not allowing you any room to squirm. you moaned his name over and over, and it only seemed to make him more ravenous. a mix of spit and slick dripped down his chin while his nails dug into your thighs. he'd been waiting for this for far too long. "l-link, im gonna- keep going, please!"

your boyfriend wasn't listening to your whines, tongue fucking you until your eyes crossed. he was doing this for him.

only a couple moments later did you gush all over his face, legs shaking in his grasp. wild didn't stop even when you whimpered for him to slow down. he made sure you were licked clean before pulling away from your cunt.

"b-babe what- oh!"

you weren't sure when he undid his belt, but you felt the head of his cock push against your folds.

"you always taste fucking amazing. be sure to give me another taste later," he whispered in your ear. his buttercup blonde hair tickled your shoulder as he leaned over you. "that wasn't loud enough for me, though. maybe i just need to be a little rougher, then you'll scream for me right?"

without another word, he pushed his cock into your cunt making your eyes roll back into your head. it took no time for you to adjust to his size, and he took no time in starting up a mean pace. the sound of his hips slamming into yours rang in your ears, every pleasurable thrusts making your head spin. one hand left your hips to grab your hair, tugging slightly. you winced, the pain sending heat right to your cunt.

"oh, you like that? squeezing me so hard— so cute, baby, thinking you could beat me," he groaned. you could only respond with loud moans, your brain turned to mush. "sound so pretty, gonna cum?" you nodded frantically in response, begging for him to keep going. he watched your cunt suck him in, your ass jiggling with every mean thrust.

"p-please, feels good!" your words slurred together, drool beginning to drip from your chin. it was too much and yet you wanted more. he was hitting your g spot with every thrust, his balls slapped against your clit, and you couldn't imagine a better way for this game of yours to end. you heard him snarl before he picked up his pace.

"f-fuck! 'm my god yes!" a few more thrusts and you were spasming in between him and the tree. wild stopped his movements, relishing in the feeling of your cunt squeezing around him. he chucked to himself as he watched you writhe. he suddenly frowned, realizing he hadn't been able to see your face when you came. oh, well. he'll just make you cum again.

wild pulled out, turning you around and staring you in the eyes. he then watched as your chest rose and fell, mouth hung open as you tried to catch your breath. the ferocity that was temporarily sated was now rising again.

you yelped in surprise when he lifted you up, wrapping your legs around his waist. your back rested against the tree as you furrowed your brows in confusion. "b-babe?"

"you're so gorgeous. how many times do you think i could fuck you til your legs gave out?" he questioned casually, a dark smile on his face. your legs clenched against him, hands coming to rest on his shoulders while he held you up by your thighs. you swallowed thickly, unable to answer. "hm? three? four? or more than that? well, i guess we'll see..."

wild never broke eye contact as he slipped his cock back into you, not even giving you a moment before fucking you at a savage pace. your back arched against the tree as you squirmed in his grasp. he pounded himself deeper into your cunt, his growls getting louder and your vision beginning to turn white. he was too much, fucking you so mercilessly and yet you couldn't bring yourself to want to stop. is this what he meant? he thought you wouldn't like this?

"l-link!"

"hm?" he answered, never faltering in his pace.

"harder!" your boyfriend's eyes widened slightly in surprise before he huffed in disbelief. you just continued to surprise him. he adjusted his grip on your thighs, leaning in so that you two were nose to nose.

"i've always wanted to see how much you could take."

[hollysoda]

Okay so I know that totk turned one year old a couple of days ago but I was away for the weekend and didn’t get a chance to post something about it. Now I’m home again, I think I wanna just put some thoughts down

Firstly, I still love totk. It was a really fun game and had just as much fun playing through it complete blind as I did playing botw with only a loose knowledge of the game. In fact, I enjoyed it more than botw. Maybe it was because I knew more about Zelda than what I did back in September 2022 when I first played botw, or maybe it was because I could see the improvements they made when it came to dungeons and overall exploration. For at least six months totk was my favourite zelda game. Now, a year on, it isn’t.

I think on reflection totk is a very flawed game. While it is technically genius, story-wise it’s incredibly weak, possibly the weakest in the entire franchise. Here are a few points worth mentioning:

Why bother bringing back Ganondorf if he isn’t going to have any real motive? Is there a reason why he’s fighting with Rauru and seeking his own secret stone, or is he just doing it for funsies? Part of the reason why Wind Waker Ganondorf is so good is because he has a strong and clear motive. Without any motive, totk Ganondorf just feels like an enemy rather than a main antagonist

The main thing that drives forward a story is a theme to take away from it. Breath of the Wild’s theme was exploration and lost memories, Skyward Sword’s theme was loyalty and/or devotion, but it’s hard to tell what totk’s theme is. Sacrifice could be the outstanding one, seeing as both Zelda and Rauru make crucial sacrifices for the sake of Hyrule, but where else is it seen in the story? Totk just tries too many things, and having a clear theme would just help to solidify things

For a game that was supposed to solve the mystery of who the Zonai were it sure did a poor job at doing so. I absolutely adore the Zonai and in my opinion Rauru and Mineru’s designs as some of the coolest in the entire franchise but my god. Their lore is so underdeveloped it hurts. We know the bare minimum about their civilisation and culture. We still don’t know why they died off, why they built the labyrinths (and by extension who the Lord of dragons/owls/boars are), why they have secret stones in the first place, why is the Temple of Time in the sky when it was originally on the ground and most importantly why is draconification a forbidden act. If you’re gonna imply that the three dragons introduced in botw were once people then tell us!! Totk deserved a dlc that could explain all of this and not leave us in the unknown

Saying that the Sheikah technology just “disappeared” is an absolutely awful way of saying “uh yeah we never thought about that”. That’s some god awful world-building and planning on the developers behalf. Even if they just said that after the Calamity it lost its magic and then parts of it were repurposed for new technology, like the Skyview towers, it would be so much more believable. The Divine Beasts should have at least been in the game somewhere, perhaps in the depths. The lack of Sheikah tech makes the game feel so disjointed from botw, and makes totk feel as though it’s only a sequel because it has the same characters in it

The ending of the game just doesn’t sit right with me. Why bother having Mineru beg Zelda not to swallow her secret stone if in the end she would be able to turn back into a human. I understand the developers want a happy ending but at least let there be consequences. Let Zelda’s memory be a bit hazy or give her dragon features like many artists have done and let Link permanently be an amputee

Also the Ancient Hero angers me. I’ve got no problems with him not being a hylian because honestly it makes it wayy more interesting knowing that not every hero was hylian, but just explain why. If he’s some sort of Zonai, why doesn’t he look like Rauru and Mineru? Is he some sort of hybrid or a different breed of Zonai? And why does the tapestry depict him as a hylian if he’s not? Seems like an oversight more than anything

I think I should stop there because this post is getting long but uh TL;DR totk could have been a phenomenal game if they spent more time planning out the storyline and fleshing out lore. I get it, the game was originally botw dlc, but after so many delays we at least deserved a better story.

I do still love this game though Tears of the Dragon goes HARD

[fourstarsoutofnine]

can i request a short fic with wind where him and reader get separated from the chain inside a dungeon so now they have to work together to make it out alive? i'm very happy to see ur back i love ur work <3

A/N:Absolutely, and thank you so much!! I love writing for Wind, he’s precious. Also, I’m taking a little bit from undertale as far as the puzzles go. I haven’t played many Zelda games with dungeons other than minish cap, but it’s been a hot minute since I’ve played that as well, a few months at least. I remember a great deal about the undertale puzzles however so I’ll be getting inspiration for the puzzles from that. Also that one episode of gravity falls, if you’ve seen it. The bunker episode. It also heavily shows here that my main Zelda games are botw/totk—oops.

Warnings:none really other than fear, obvious botw/totk favoritism, and heavily made up puzzles/traps.

Escape

(wind and reader)

You’d been walking in this dungeon for what seemed like hours, and with no end in sight. You and the sailor had long since lost the group, and were making a good hearted attempt to find them again, but things were looking rather grim.

“It feels like we’re going in circles…” you muttered. Your hand hurt from holding the torch, so you passed it off to the sailor, and put a hand on his back to bring him closer to you. You knew he was very capable of holding his own, but he felt like a brother to you and you didn’t want to risk anything. He was still just a kid, and if you could take any fighting off of him to protect him, you’d do it in a heartbeat.

“How long have we been walking?” He looked up at you, your face dimly lit by the fire.

“I couldn’t tell you.” You sighed. Finally you came upon a corridor you didn’t recognize, eagerly following it. It led you to a room with buttons on the floor.

“Oh hey, a puzzle!” The sailor said excitedly and moved forward to step on one before you pulled him back by his shirt.

“Wait! We don’t know what these do, we need to be careful!”

“Oh, yeah, right…” he looked it over. You took the torch in one hand, and one of his hands in the other.

“Okay, step on it carefully…” you said and he gently put his weight onto the button. There was an eerie silence before a click!, then suddenly the floor fell out under him. You snatched him up to you and backed up as fast as your legs would carry you. Just your luck, though. You stepped on another button. Your head whipped around you as all of the buttons sunk in and the walls started closing. You set the sailor down. “Run!!” You shouted before taking off, his hand in yours to make sure he kept up. You pulled him up ahead of you and shoved him into the exit so you were sure he’d be safe. You, however, had your foot caught.

“Y/n!!” The sailor shouted. He held his hand out for you and did his best to pull you. The prognosis looked dimmer and dimmer for you. That is, until you finally pulled your foot out. It left a big scrape on your foot, and you lost your shoe, but at least you were alive. There was no time to think about that now, though. You sprinted towards the exit, trying to ignore the sharp pain on the top of your foot. You landed with a big thud just before the walls closed completely. Both you and the sailor sat on the dirty, dusty floor of the dungeon, breathing heavy. You looked at him and laughed weakly.

“How much you wanna bet the others found a cool room with treasure or a hot spring or somethin?”

“That’d be our luck.” He laughed. He stood and helped you up before the two of you continued on. The next room you found yourselves in was almost worse than the last one.

“Whoa, candy!!!” The sailor said, looking all around. To you, there was no candy in sight.

“Sailor, don’t trust it.”

“But—it-…I’m so hungry…”

“I know, we’re trying to find the others… I don’t see any candy here, bud. It’s trying to trick you.” To you, it showed exactly what you wanted most. And naturally that looked very, very tempting, but you knew the illusion. You’d looked away for just a moment, and the sailor was making his way towards what to him was a bowl of candy. When he got closer, you saw a like-like extend itself out of the wall.

“Sailor!!” You pulled him back before it could swallow him whole. You pulled your bow out and shot it, the monster flopping onto the ground where you could kill it while it lay momentarily unconscious. The room’s illusion dissipated around you, revealing many holes in the walls with like-likes all within them and the two of you once again made a break for it, favoring your lives rather than anything in there.

The next room finally led you to what you wanted. Your group. They looked at you confusedly when you came in disheveled. Your foot was bleeding, you were missing a shoe, and the sailor didn’t look much better either. His clothes were slightly torn.

“What happened to you two?” The vet asked.

“Don’t ask…” you sighed. The group took a moment to rest while the traveler tended to the wound on your foot, and the sailor got a snack to eat. You were patched up, given other shoes, and while finally back with the group, you all made it out of the dungeon.

[blueskittlesart]

I absolutely ADORE your analysis about LOZ and it’s really made me think more about the franchise (and BOTW in particular, which I… may have a slight addiction to playing?)

You’re the Zelda Person to me, so I was wondering if you had any ideas on what would happen if Link or Zelda died before their cycle was complete. Would the world just… immediately reincarnate them? Would it be some sort of irreversible failure and Ganondorf would win?

(also, I’ve heard theories that there was supposed to be someone who isn’t Ganondorf who would get the Triforce of Power, but because of his interference they were just never found/never found the Triforce of Power and I was wondering what you thought about that)

Canonically this has happened! i don't even need to theorize because we have a genuine canon instance of a link dying before he defeats ganon lol. I don't know how familiar you are with the loz game timeline, but due to a time-travel mechanic in ocarina of time, the timeline splits into multiple potential outcomes after oot. there are three separate ways the confrontation with ganondorf in oot can go for the hero of time--he can win and go back in time, win and stay an adult, OR he can lose and fall at the hands of ganondorf. in the timeline where the hero of time dies, the next reincarnation cycle takes place during a link to the past. this game is a few hundred years or so after the death of the hero of time and oot's zelda, so we actually do know for certain that the reincarnation doesn't happen immediately. to keep hyrule safe after the hero of time's death, oot's zelda and the sages seal ganon into the corrupted sacred realm, but the damage to hyrule has already been done and it enters an era of decline. by the time alttp link is born, hyrule is a much smaller and less powerful kingdom than it was during oot. however, alttp ends with the new link and zelda successfully defeating ganon, so one link's failure doesn't necessarily mean the end for hyrule either!

as for your second question, there are a couple instances I can think of of someone who isn't ganon trying to get their hands on the triforce and/or generally fuck with hyrule, but usually these characters are secondary antagonists serving ganon somehow. the only instance i can think of of an antagonist who ISN'T directly a minion of ganon is vaati, who appears in minish cap & the four swords games. vaati explicitly wants power and goes after the triforce for this reason, but it's unclear if he's a demise incarnation or just some idiot who wants to be king. (i think he probably isn't a demise incarnation solely because he was originally minish, not human, but that deals with a bunch of lore stuff we don't need to get into rn.) so yeah, there are other people who occasionally try to get at the triforce, but if ganon exists in their version of hyrule they're usually serving him.

If you mean someone other than ganon inheriting the physical power of the triforce of power post-oot-triforce-split, most games that follow oot are still dealing with oot's ganondorf because for whatever reason he really doesn't like to stay dead. in a hypothetical instance where he DID reincarnate, i don't think there's any reason the triforce of power wouldn't end up with the "new ganon" (meaning the new incarnation of demise, whatever form it might take.) if wisdom and power have reliably followed around the same hero and princess's bloodine/spirits for hundreds of years, i see no reason why power wouldn't also follow ganon/demise's spirit around after being initially bonded to it. It's possible that a new ganon might not LIKE inheriting the power or choose to use it in a different way than his predecessors, but i think on some level it's always going to be a version of ganon who ends up with it.

[hestusjamsession]

I’ve been depressed so I decided to do what normal people do when they’re depressed and make a list of my favorite Legend of Zelda fanfics thus far. I think I’ll make a Linked Universe one next.

Almost all of these fics are finished and most are multi chapter. Some are quite long too. I also tried to include a variety of ships and stuff. I’m a multi-opportunity shipper, what can I say?

I know a few of the authors are here on Tumblr but I can’t for the life of me find them. So if anyone knows the usernames of the authors so I can tag them I’d appreciate it.

Anyway…

*cracks knuckles*

1. Make a Wish, Make it Count by LiliansMalice

Three very different people get forced to work together to find a powerful relic that can grant them wishes and solve their (admittedly pretty bad) problems.

It’s got angst, it’s got humor, it’s got found family vibes. And demons. Lots and lots of demons. Such a good read y’all need to check it out. Also, if anyone knows of any more fics like this let me know!

2. Honor Among Thieves by DawnTheRithmatist

The Master Sword has been stolen and as things start to go missing around the castle Zelda decides to do some digging which ends up with her becoming pen pals with a wanted thief.

Zelink fic which Link goes full rogue and koroks are eager accomplices.

3. Beating Around the Bush by Umbreonix

Revali retires from the air force and becomes a remote bush pilot. His life is all well and good (if boring) until a slightly feral researcher from the University of Central Hyrule derails his entire life.

This fic is genuinely hilarious and also heartwarming. Umbreonix writes Revali so well. Revlink fic with a modern spin. (Side note, the fic “Finding Link” by the same author is also really good)

4. Displaced by Socksock

What do you do once you’ve saved the day? Yeah, Link and Zelda don’t know either. But Link has monsters to kill and cool new outfits to find and Zelda has massive bridges to rebuild and loyal knights to smooch so they’ll be ok.

This was one of the first fics I read after beating BOTW. Novel length Zelink goodness with lots of humor and healing and Link dressing up like Tingle because he’s like that.

5. K.K. Love Song by Socksock

Anything by Socksock is gonna be great but this fic literally kept me sane while I was working on site during the Pandemic. Oklahoma be like that.

Modern Zelink fic where the hot new Shiekah Slate game Animal Crossing brings a Princess and a cook closer together. Link apparently does a good KK impression.

6. Nothing More, Nothing Less by Farbsturz

Ravio, Bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom, must head to Hyrule to help it’s Hero defeat the Calamity. Ravio, Bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom, is not sure about this.

Ravio plays Breath of the Wild. Or- the Ravlink fic you didn’t know you wanted.

7. The Queen’s Tournament by AshleysWrittenWords

In order to become Queen, Princess Zelda must marry. Zelda’s plan? Part 1: Host a tournament were the winner gets her hand in marriage. Part 2: Enter said tournament in disguise so she can, to quote Merida from Brave “shoot for her own hand”. And it all goes according to plan until Link decides to enter the tourney as well.

I THINK I might have read this, or something very similar, once upon a time on Fanfiction.net. Twilight Princess-ish Zelink.

8. Branded by Embyrinitalics

In a land haunted by war, two lonely people find solace within each other.

This one’s got a somber vibe to it, but it’s beautifully written and it hits me in the shipper feels so yeah.

9. The Wolf of Farore by Wayward_Chronicler

The Legend of Zelda meets The Witcher in a fic that is technically not finished but has 71 chapters and more character cameos than you can swing a sword at.

Long fic fam this one’s for you. 😘

10. Interim by Starkraving

Link and Zelda have just defeated the Calamity and are wandering Hyrule when they meet a strangely familiar Gerudo who wants to buy Link’s giant horse and has no idea what he’s about to get roped into.

The Link/Zelda/Gan fic filled with angst, humor and lots of Gerudo grammar lessons.

This was the other fic I read right after beating BOTW. Fair warning- its rated E so it’s got spicy parts to it. But if you don’t mind that it’s a fantastic read.

11. Re-Domestication by AnthemXIX

The description says it best: “A semi-feral amnesiac and his wolf guardian try to get along with the locals.”

A really good BOTW Link and Wolf Link fic that isn’t Linked Universe related (Though the author has written several really good LU fics as well). It’s part of a series and they’re all really good.

12. Secrets of the Shadows by @skyloftian-nutcase

When Link goes missing, Rusl finds a wolf instead of his adopted son and ends up making a terrible mistake. Hopefully he can make it to Kakariko in time to rectify it.

Papa Rusl angst because it’s good for the soul.

[spinningbuster98]

Castlevania Symphony of the Night Part 4: Nocturne in the Moonlight

Up until now I’ve been singing this game’s praises and, to be fair, I will continue to do so in future videos. However I believe the time has come for the other shoe to drop so to speak and ask a very simple yet tricky question:

Is this a Castlevania game?

Some may think this question to be stupid but others may understand what I’m getting at here

Sotn marks a major departure from what had previously been established in this series. Keyword being MAJOR

Nowadays we live in an era when popular game franchises are applying drastic changes to their formulas, often taking elements from other more popular series, in other to gain more appeal. Zelda and Sonic have gone open world, God of War has gone The Last of Us with RPG mechanics etc

And honestly? Sotn is not different in this regard

This game not only has barely anything in common with the previous ones but it’s also their complete opposite in many ways

Gameplay wise? The classic games were linear, level based, tough as nails and gave you limited movement and resources that you had to make the most of

Sotn is non-linear, it’s one big map, it’s FAR easier and it gives you a ridiculous amount of movement options and items, 90% of which you’re never even gonna use

Story wise the Classics were very simple, Sotn and onwards will try to be more story focused (well relatively speaking) and melodramatic. Some future stories also jump the shark according to some fans but we’ll get to those in the future

Even its artstyle! I love Kojima’s artwork don’t get me wrong, ESPECIALLY her work in this game which I think is her strongest, but I absolutely hate it when people talk about her as if she was the one responsible for creating the series’ visual identity, as if the previous games had no art directions

I know people joke about Conan the Belmont Simon but...that was the series’ artstyle! Gothic, drawing a lot from classic horror but with super macho barbarian men dressed like He Man! We only chuckle at them now because Kojima’s bishonen artsyle replaced them. And no: I am not bitching about “muh yassification of muh manly men” or anything like that, mine is an issue of visual identity: the series literally flipped the switch from one extreme to another

Some poeple may say that at least narrative continuity is kept with the previous entries but that’s not fully true either, as this game retcons Alucard and Dracula’s backstories in order to introduce the stuff with Lisa, when both characters already had a backstory as told by the japanese manual of Castlevania 3! And yeah I do prefer the version introduced in this game, as I feel it creates at the very least more narrative contrast between Alucard and his father, for them to draw their opposite resolves from the same tragic events. But the point is: rather than trying to fit into the established canon, this game’s story forces its way into it by erasing the parts that don’t suit it

For as beloved as this game is, there are quite a few fans who despise it, everything it stands for and everything that followed it, considering it Castlevania in name only, something that killed the actual series and then went around wearing its skin

And honestly?

These people are...not exactly wrong

At least when other series change, even drastically, you can usually tell that their later games are supposed to be part of said series. Yeah Frontiers is a BOTW knockoff, but it still fundementally plays like a boost game, a formula that, while divisive, still derives its most basic idea from the general concept of “hedgehog goes fast and busts up robots” of the first few games. Yeah BOTW has alienated lots of old Zelda fans due to its hyper focus on open world design vs actual dungeons, but at least said open world structure had already been contemplated in a way by the past titles, not to mention many other gameplay mechanics from older games, like lock on and sword fighting, are still being used

If you take away the ability to get hearts from destroyed candles and the classic subweapons that is it. Gameplay wise it’s got nothing else in common with what came before and for that alone I can’t say that the people who hate this game are unjustified, not to mention that it’s got flaws of its own even ignoring any identity issue, though more on that at a later time

I, however, am not one of them

Let me ask you another question: if this game is not Castlevania...then what exactly is it?

Because, to go back to the earlier comparisons, games nowadays (hell ALWAYS if we’re being honest here, remember all the Sonic knockoffs in the 90s?) tend to quite clearly chase trends and you feel it when they’re just chasing trends because they tend to just adopt elements from what is hot and popular at the moment without actually doing anything truly unique with it

I can’t quite say the same about Sotn

Oh sure it quite clearly uses Super Metroid’s design philosophy as an inspiration, and the devs themselves have stated that Zelda was also an influence (and of course Simon’s quest), but it doesn’t just stop at emulating that formula

Keep in mind that back then there was no Metroidvania genre, there weren’t a million indie games taking a crack at the style, there was only Metroid, which had 3 games and wasn’t super popular. That formula had been established by only 3 games and by a generally strict set of features. Sotn was the very first game to look at Metroid’s general design philosophy and decide to do its own spin on it

Because to say that Sotn is just a Super Metroid clone and little else would be untrue I believe, as the two games, despite their similarities, play very differently

Metroid has a greater focus on mobility and acrobatics, on speedrunning and long-distance shoot em up combat

Sotn has rpg mechanics, close quarters combat using swords, spells and features transformations as a way of getting around fast

Yes there are clear similarities but it’s sort of like comparing Mario and Sonic: the latter was very clearly inspired by the former as they both are in the same genre, and since Mario defined platformers as we know them today, it’s inevitable that Sonic would take plenty of cues from him, but to say that Sonic plays the same as Mario just because he adopts those same base gameplay mechanics that the plumber introduced is untrue

Does this mean that it’s unjustified to criticize the game for how different it is? No. What I’m saying is that I don’t believe Sotn to be a simple case of just shamelessly ripping off another series. It has certainly shed its previous identity in an unceremonious way and that is absolutely a problem, but in the process it also created for itself a new identity that, while not for everyone, is absolutely its own and no one else’s, complete with its own set of positives and negatives, just like the Classic games before it (because yes people: Classicvanias also had issues, which is something that I generally don’t see people talk about a lot, probably because the discourse tends to boil down to “old game bad”, but maybe for another time...). If you wanted to play a Metroidvania game back in the 2000s your options were limited to either Metroid or Castlevania, and there were good tangible reasons to play one or the other. There is a reason why Sotn is considered the forefather of the genre alongside Super Metroid: one founded the formula, the other showed that it was flexible. Of course I have to admit that I’m a bit biased, since I already love Metroid’s core formula so Sotn’s style naturally appeals to me, but generally I’m someone who tries to look at the positive aspects of a game, even when it doesn’t necessarily respect its roots, as I believe that if something is good and fun, at least to me and my tastes, then it doesn’t deserve to get thrown in the trash on principle. But I can totally understand those who don’t think themselves, I myself have my limits on this as well

So to answer the question: no Sotn is not a Castlevania game. But it’s also a Castlevania game, just one that is its own thing that is unique

If you ask me most of this issue boils down to Konami deciding to focus exclusively on this formula while completely ignoring the Classics. If they had tried to keep a sort of balance, to release games of both styles in tandem things would have probably been more balanced. But I suppose this just wouldn’t have ever happened in the 2000s, when short level based sidescrollers not named Mario were seen as old news

[gemglyph]

Question

Have you played/are you playing TOTK?

BUNNIES

Also yeah I preordered the game and I’ve been playing it since I got all 900 korok seeds in botw. So probably the Sunday after release…

But I haven’t played it since my surgery I’ve been too tired….

[chayannecraft]

hey the last drawing will probably be uploaded tomorrow!! i know you'll understand but i've been very busy today :)

anyway i'm curious about if the other eggs have any sort of role in your au??

OH and if you want to talk abt what chayanne and phil's relationship is like, i've been very curious about that lol bc it seems like phil's both very protective of him and doesn't care about him that much. not saying you haven't thought it out i'm just eager to look more into his character!

Hello!! Yeah no I understand I’ve been super busy too. Finals season and everythang. It’s a curse. Oh my god. (Which is why im so late answering this ask hello omg!!!) But anyways yes hello oh my god questions!!!! 💖💖💖!!!!! YES!!! I WILL ANSWER

The other eggs have very loose roles but they do exist!! They sort of take up the space of the descendants-of-the-champions roles that Sidon and the others fill (although I’m not sure who is who at the moment, would have to think about that a little more!!) (I have no idea what role Tallulah plays, but I think she might be traveling around with Wilbur, more info on that later) but sometimes they’re also just like, normal random kids. They are all friends I promise. I don’t have a lot on them though so this is not that coherent.

CHAYANNE AND PHIL. WOUGH BOY. THIS IS A LONG ONE

You were right in that Phil is very protective of Chayanne!! I think a part of him knew Chayanne was The Chosen Hero, but when faced with the decision to send him off to what very well could have been his sons death, if not horrific trauma he was like um. No lol. Not doing that.

A consequence of the storyline in general is Phil isn’t very mentioned a lot, so it gives off the idea that he’s uncaring towards Chayanne, but I promise you that’s not the case!! (Not to make fun of you or call you out of course). Phil is actually very loving towards his son, and was devastated when he ran away with the Master Sword.

Then (for reasons I haven’t thought up yet) he’s pretty distracted but desperately trying to get his kid back. Until the calamity happens and they fail. Then he’s under the impression his son is just dead and he’s in mourning for the next 100 years (Why is he still alive in 100 years, you ask! Well! I took everything from these kids and I think taking their parents is a little bit too cruel so everybody is blessed by some sort of god that expands their lifespan a couple hundred ok :D!!!)

And then a little bit after botw someone goes to Philza and is like hey. The hero is back. He’s hanging out with Princess Pomme. He looks a lot like the missing hero from 100 years ago. Your son. Might be your son Phil. And Phil basically takes 3 seconds to process this before clawing himself up from his depression and being like OK. WE’RE GONNA GO GET HIM!!! AND IF ANYBODY TRIES TO STOP ME IM MAULING THEM. Of course he gets to hyrule RIGHT as totk plot starts and Chayanne goes missing so kind of an L BUT THEY DO REUNITE!!!

They get their moments. They also get a really tearful reunion where Chayanne is like dad im so sorry for running off oh my god :( I forgot you for a hundred years you must be so upset with me. And Philza is hugging him like oh my god my kid is ok. Oh my god. YOU’RE GROUNDED FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE WHAT THE FUCK. And then just caries him around. And probably has some sort of beef with Missa because that’s Chayanne’s Hyrule-Dad. Meanwhile Pomme stands in the back ready to kill him if he makes one wrong move.

There’s a side story kind of sequel relating to that where Pomme and Chayanne have to grapple with the fact that Chay is also a prince and his dad misses him dearly and wants him to come home but they don’t want to be separated ever for the rest of their lives. Maybe even some parent bonding. Like a little family-person drama to contrast the cursed-destiny-supernatural-calamity drama and probably some Death Family Bonding.

[rose-of-pollux]

Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by @knickynoo, thanks!

(Tagging @belphegor1982, @threephantomrey, and @radarsteddybear and anyone else who wants to do this!)

How many works do you have on AO3? Including the selection of ancient fics I just brought over from a dying FFN, 527.

What's your total AO3 word count? 1,836,538 words

What fandoms do you write for? Currently, my main fandoms are 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and Back to the Future, with some Haunted Mansion, Hogan's Heroes, Hades, Pokémon, Super Mario, and Legend of Zelda thrown in. And I've dabbled in other fandoms, as well.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

“Heroic Resolve” (Man from U.N.C.L.E., light slash)

“A Devil Put Aside for Me” (Super Smash Bros, gen)

“If Wishes Were Cats” (MFU, light slash)

“Desperate Times” (MFU, light slash)

"Some Things are That Simple" (Super Smash Bros, gen)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? I try to, but between real life and my ADHD, I don't often get to them as quickly as I'd like to. Also FFN has completely stopped sending notifications in the last several months, so I genuinely have no clue if anyone has left a comment there. :/

What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? ...I haven't written it yet, but one of my future 13 Ghosts fics is going to be an angsty semi-resolved resolution that carries over to the next fic. Currently, however, the angstiest ending is probably “All Dead, All Dead” (Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild/Super Smash Bros)–it’s about BOTW Link realizing that the events of World of Light in Smash Ultimate makes this the second time that he failed to prevent a disaster, that he’s lost more this time than last time during the Calamity, and is now carrying even more survivor’s guilt as a result.  I normally don’t write such angsty fics with no resolution, but as this is World of Light, and everyone’s restoration is a foregone conclusion if you’ve played the game, I felt it was fine as is.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Most of my fics have happy endings, but the happiest is probably "O, Brave New World" (13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo)--just that ending scene of everyone hugging in the rain after Daphne casts her first successful spell during her magic training... Yeah.

Do you get hate on fics? Not really, but I do get people who either complain that the fic makes no sense after admitting they jumped in the middle of a multichapter fic without any context, or I get someone who does not understand dramatic irony and wonders why Marty is acting the way he is when he's extremely stressed and not thinking things through as a result.

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? Love them! Craziest one is probably the MFU/Haunted Mansion crossover I did earlier this year ("The Grim Grinning Ghosts Affair"), but the BTTF/Hogan's Heroes one I'm planning is going to be right up there.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Yes, one of my Super Mario fics was stolen along with other writers' on FFN back in 2020; thankfully a friend of mine in the fandom AND a kind stranger both alerted me to it, and I and the other victims reported the thief and got the stolen fics removed.

Have you ever had a fic translated? No, but I have had one transcribed as a Podfic by someone else–“You Can’t Judge a Book” (Hogan’s Heroes, Gen).

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yes, once, on LiveJournal a long time ago; it was a Hogan’s Heroes fic with an otherworldly spin; I’m not entirely sure if it still exists.

What's your all-time favorite ship? Napoleon Solo/Illya Kuryakin!

What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? Most of all, the Monkeesfic I left hanging, because it was the literal final installment of the arc I was writing.

What are your writing strengths? Characterizations, or so I’ve been told–I can jump from fandom to fandom, and have everyone remain perfectly in-character. Also, dialogues. My writing has always been dialogue-driven.

What are your writing weaknesses? Descriptions. As improved as I am when compared to 2008 when I started posting stories online (and you can tell by looking at some of those that I brought over from FFN to AO3), I yearn for the ability to pull off the whole “Show, don’t Tell” as good as certain people I could mention (Vincent Price and Paul Frees, mainly).

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? It can be tricky depending on the language, but rewarding if it all works out.  In Hogan’s Heroes, LeBeau switching between French and English happens nearly once per episode, so I endeavor to do that (with plenty of help from Bel, I will admit). For Illya speaking Russian or Ukrainian in MFU, I throw it into Google Translate and pray it comes out coherent.  His dialogues are the most challenging by far since I’m on my own. For Flim-Flam speaking Nepali in 13 Ghosts, I have a much easier time since Nepali is similar enough to Hindi (which I am decently fluent in).

First fandom you wrote for? Pokémon, way back in 1999 (though those fics will never see the light of the internet, ever).

Favorite fic you've ever written? Going to do this for my main three fandoms–

Man from U.N.C.L.E. -- the aforementioned Haunted Mansion crossover, "The Grim Grinning Ghosts Affair" (mostly gen, but established Napollya bickering and canonical Hatbox Ghost/Beating Heart Bride going on in the background); The Ghost Host and Madame Leota draw Napoleon and Illya to the Mansion under admittedly false pretenses in the hopes that the mortal duo can help the Hatbox Ghost wrangle the mad spirit of Constance Hatchaway.

13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo -- "Class Reunion" (gen); Vincent brings the gang to his school reunion, and as Daphne, who's been learning magic from Vincent, is determined to prove herself to the assembled witches and warlocks, there is trouble brewing as a nefarious plot involving the Forbidden Arts underway.

Back to the Future– “‘Cause I Might Not Make It Back” (Gen).  Marty is pursued by a renegade scientist to be used as leverage against Doc, resulting in him getting stranded in 1932, stricken with amnesia.  As 1986 Doc searches for Marty, the ripple effect fails to kick in as his 1932 counterpart finds him, and is tasked with trying to figure out how to get Marty’s memory back, as well as keep him out of the clutches of his renegade pursuer.

[skyward-floored]

This is random but do you have a favourite au you like to write? Sorry if you've been asked this before-

Also I really love your writing style and often binge read your works for comfort !! You also seem like a lovely person, so please continue existing

Uhh yeah sorry if that's a little weird- I hope you have a good time of day !!!

You know I don’t think I’ve ever been asked that! It’s a hard question XD I think they’re all my favorites, for different reasons!

Incredibles au I often go to when I’m in a real family mood, like if I want sibling/parent stuff, or if something funny happens to me irl and I want to put it in fic form :)

Hdw au I like to do because it’s like the other flavor of family drama, and it’s fun to extrapolate from canon how things would go with Impa and Volga both being related to Link.

All my original zelda ideas are fun to play with because I can be really creative and just mess around with them! And also anything I want gets to be canon haha

True form is the extreme family angst version, and nice for when I’m in a midlink mood, tragic as it is. Also nice when I want to write romance, but feel like something other than zelink.

Uhhh I think I’m missing some let’s see... my botw dark link au is fun because botw was my extreme favorite game for a long time (I played it literally every day for good year or two lol), and making up some after game stuff was fun... even though totk probably messes all of it up ha.

[fruitanddarkness]

✒️

Send ✒️ and I’ll tell you a muse I’ve thought about writing, but never did

OOc;; Ok long-ish post.

AAAA ok this was back when I was first getting back into tumblr after a several year hiatus. I had this version of Gerudo Link I really wanted to write; this was when BOTW was fresh on the market and muses from the game were spreading across the RP-space like butter on hot toast. I made a whole blog and everything, I even think back to it now and I still get some old feelings of 'OH YEAH BRUH THAT WOULD BE SICK' because I really like the idea of what if he was raised within the gerudo village as a woman but still ended up becoming the chosen hero like we see in the game. It makes me sad I was never able to fully explore that, but that doesn't mean I can't now? I still have yet to play TOTK because I still technically haven't beaten the first game and my neurosis is being neurotic.

Other muses that are more recent are Muichiro, Beelzebub from the Hellava Boss series, and Mash from Mashle: Of Magic & Muscles. Mash is honestly my most recent comfort character and I relate to him on so many levels. I also think it would be funny as fuck to throw him at other muses just to see what happens because his whole premise is this: "Autistic gym rat gets into wizard school because his strength basically allows him to do magic. Local ballistics and wizards are bamboozled by his rizz."

Muichiro.. I'm hesitant because he started as a HC/AU version of him and I truly don't know if I could do a 'standard' of him justice. I will admit however, I do have strong hesitancy about writing HH/HB Beelzebub just because of the inherent drama that exists in the fandom even if you simply mention the name. And after some discord convo's with a friend, I'm honestly chomping at the bit to write Bee. Thing is, I am a humble creature who lives under a rock and exists only when summoned. I usually don't interact with fandoms and just try to vibe with my friends/mutuals when I do have the energy to write. The last thing I want to do is make people uncomfortable, but this is the internet, I cannot win every battle.

Lastly, I've been wanting to get into writing my OC's more. Ones that yall don't know about. My friends have been telling me they deserve more love and should be revamped bc they are very much overdue considering the last art I did of most of them them was 6 years ago.

[breannasfluff]

I have a dog named Coco, she is just so adorable and I could love her to death. Coco:

My favourite food is butter chicken with like naan bread and rice. Would have that for breakfast probably.

I LOVE LINKED UNIVERSE AND LOZ THEYRE BEST! My fav LU Links have to be Legend, Sky, and Wild. Can put so much angst into them, but also lots of fluff. My favourite Zelda game is Breath of the Wild, it's just majestic. Don't get me wrong TOTK is wonderful but BOTW is just better for me.

I like drawing, but don't have much artistic skills. I mean, eyes and hands? Just so hard to draw 😭

I ADORE writing (most of the time) and my teachers have said I go beyond school expectations, and need to go outside of school for writing. So, I am currently in a writing contest! My ao3 is slushiesandpizza if you ever want to read something of mine.

I play two instruments, the piano and the clarinet. With piano, I've been it for a couple of years, and I can play the original Legend of Zelda theme song. Still learning a lot. My current piece that I am working on is a Whole New World from Aladdin. With the clarinet, I am not as skilled, but I can play a few songs. I am going into band this year again so I'll probably learn some more.

I'm christian, so yeah. I won't talk much about that in case you don't want to hear it.

I'm also Canadian!

My favourite movie is Harry Potter, all the way. Love that series so much, and have read the books.

My favourite book however is a book series called Hooky, which is basically about these super cute twins that are witches and face a lot of trouble with their parents and the non-witches. In my opinion, Hooky is underrated. It's a Webtoon graphic novel.

The only thing about me, is that I am super picky with food.

Anyway, sorry if this was too much, but here you go!

Awww Coco is adorable! Legend and Wild are definitely wonderful characters, especially when they get a chance to bond.

Writing is such a great skill to practice! I really enjoy it, even when it frustrates me. Just remember to take breaks! (Something I’m bad at, haha).

Very cool on the instruments! I played piano for about 10 years, but not anymore. I’ve got a mini ocarina necklace and it’s fun to play Zelda songs on it!

[donniesexceptionalmind]

Omfg you like BotW and TotK?? I’ve got BotW but I currently don’t have the funds to buy the sequel myself TwT (~~maybe I can ask your brother to buy me a copy too!! /j~~)

But yeah, I’m saving up to buy one for myself and I cannot describe how happy I am you avoided story spoilers because I’ve been trying so hard to not watch anything spoiler-y till I play through it myself but it’s so **diffucult**, gAH.

Anyways, hope you & ur brothers r having a good day/night/whatever!

-Curious Anon

Phew, I am happy you liked my small infodump!

You will have so much fun when you get your hands on Tears Of The Kingdom! 🤌🏾✨️

I DO recommend to play the entire Zelda franchise. It's so great & just - mmmmwaaaaah!!!

My favourites would be:

Majora's Mask (N64, 3DS)

Minish Cap (GBA)

Wind Waker (GameCube, WiiU)

Breath of the Wild (& Tears of the Kingdom) (Nintendo Switch)