#split this out from the Hateno Village post to keep that post from getting all messy

[sunset-peril]

Social Relationships - Link Imperial Hyrule (HFS, TotK)

Key -

❤️ - Immediate Family 🩷 - Extended Family 🧡 - Friends 💛 - Working/Business 💙 - True Neutral 💚 - It's Awkward 🩶 - Dislike/Avoid 🖤 - Get out of my life by any means possible (may be willing to kill or severely harm)

Relationships -

Hometown

Check the Hateno Village Social Makeup for a Who's Who

Zelda (Esmerelda) Hyrule - ❤️ (wife, "queen" of pack)

Zelda Ivee Hyrule - ❤️ (daughter)

Reede Imperial - 🩷 (great-grand-nephew)

Clavia Imperial - 🩷 (great-grand-niece, by marriage)

Karin Imperial - 🩷 (great-great-grand-niece)

Sophie - 🧡

Cece - 🖤

Ivee (East Wind) - 💛

Pruce - 💛

Amira - 🩶

Tamana - 💙

Teebo - 💛 (mentee)

Medda - 🧡 (neighbor)

Aster - 🧡 (neighbor)

Dantz - 💛

Koyin - 🧡

Sayge - 💛

Senna - 💙 (nice lady but kind of scary-looking)

Sefaro - 🧡

Prima - 💙

Warten - 💙

Uma - 🧡

Traveling

Riju - 🧡

Buliara - 💛

Sidon - 🧡

Yona - 💛

Yunobo - 🧡

Teba - 🧡

Tulin - 🧡 (has a family-like relationship, but are not related)

Kass - 🩷 (great-grand-nephew)

Impa - 🧡

Purah - 🧡

Robbie - 🧡

Paya - 💚💛 (relationship was awkward for some time, then became a stable working relationship)

Hudson - 🧡

Rhondson - 💛

Kohga - 🖤

Memory

Rhoam - 🩷💚

Urbosa - 🩷🧡

Mipha - 🧡

Revali - 🧡💛 (Link's still not sure if they were friends or not)

Daruk - 🧡

Hyrule's Final Stand Masterlist

[amiharana]

some of my thoughts on link, zelda, and the champions

this post actually started off with me trying to answer the last part of this anon's ask, and then it spiraled into something else, so i'm going to have to make another post about the actual idea 😭 for now, you can have this long-ass fucking thinkpiece i typed up because i love the champions dearly and i wanted a much larger presence from them as i played botw. this post is really long so if you want to read it, please sit down and have a snack while you read.

so the last part of anon's original ask was about the champions singing together and the idea of a found family—

anonymous asked:

Also: imagine all champions, Link and Zelda hanging out on one of the Divine Beasts and singing a song together (i am very weak to champions being a found family)

like you're so #real for this anon. i honestly do hope we get more champions content in TOTK because nintendo completely missed on not expanding on a found family dynamic between link, zelda, and the champions. sure there's the champion's ballad DLC and age of calamity (i haven't played either of these. sorry. i will soon!), but that's not.. they're still dead in the DLC and AoC isn't considered canon i think it's more of an alternative timeline? so that doesn't really count.

me personally i think daruk and urbosa are very mother and father, and they probably were if riju and yunobo are their direct descendants (which is a whole other rabbit hole in itself; urbosa and daruk died most likely leaving little children and spouses behind ㅠㅠ). and maybe that is the point; daruk is the rock (because he's a goron lol) that keeps the family together and in the botw memories is seen to be taking initiative to lead and tell the other champions to get to their divine beasts when the calamity awakens. he’s steadfast and encouraging and jovial and that’s very father of him! as for urbosa, she straight up mothers zelda and link in-game, she's basically zelda's maternal figure after zelda's mom dies. she's not a stepmom, she's the mother that stepped up 💪❤️

mipha bears the Eldest Daughter Curse™ and revali is the moody teenager who’s Not going through a phase, it’s a LIFESTYLE MOM!!!1!1!1!1 and imo link and zelda kinda give goofy twin siblings (imagine like the pine twins) vibes to me

i like the headcanon that link had a younger sister pre-calamity, but i’d like to add my own twist to that. assuming that link used to live in hateno village, what if link's parents split after the birth of his younger sister, with his father taking link and moving closer to hyrule castle to fulfill his duty as a knight, and his mother not wanting to get involved with the war against the calamity and taking his sister to stay in hateno? link must have been really young at the time and barely remembers being able to play with his little sister :( so even if he had a sibling, he was basically raised alone for most of his life. and if his father was a knight of hyrule, i doubt that he could have been the most present father to link either... with zelda's mother dying when she was young and her father being a complete dick, that makes both link and zelda the "only child" kids that were raised in less than desirable familial conditions. and so, i think link and zelda would have their own difficulties integrating into this found family dynamic with the champions.

now i'm not an only child (i have demons for siblings tbh), but i think both link and zelda are very independent people who feel like they can only rely and trust themselves with the way they've been raised. it takes a lot for both of them to learn to be vulnerable and trust others, and they're very much not used to the mismatched deck of personalities they have to deal with within the champions, that being jolly father daruk, very cutthroat mother urbosa, sweet and soft-spoken mipha, and dickhead ass bitch bird revali. how can they navigate through these relationships with their lonely childhoods swept up in prophecies of old? it's much easier than you think and it has to do with anon's idea: strengthening rapport with each other by singing together atop a divine beast >:]

ok i'm joking, i think that's more the apex of the roadmap to becoming a found family, but it's a very cute idea 🥺 after link and zelda are finally cool with each other, there are so many opportunities for each of them to bond with the other champions individually. there's of course zelda falling asleep on mama urbosa in vah naboris, link and daruk have their father-son bonding time by daruk protecting link from getting smashed to a pulp by volcanic boulders, etc etc, but what about mipha taking zelda to all the monuments that detail zora history throughout the domain so that zelda can study them? what about revali teaching link how to use the paraglider so that he can actually hit targets at the flight range and get a chance to finally settle the score between him and link? i actually like that idea a lot, because then we could get an explanation as to why the paraglider even exists in the botw universe (revalink for the win ehehe). nintendo, my dear friend, there could be so much more to this world that you've introduced to us.

on one hand, of course botw is narratively focused on link and zelda and calamity ganon, and mechanically about the open-world map, shrines/divine beasts, etc, that break free from traditional zelda conventions. but it leaves the champions to only be side characters that, though they played critical roles in handling the divine beasts, are nothing more than ghostly figures with a handful of one-dimensional character traits that only create a further disconnect between the current world of hyrule vs. its pre-calamity past. which is why we get champion's ballad and age of calamity, which both somewhat expands on the champions as characters, but never more than giving them a few more traits and interactions that, to me personally, feel empty and inadequate. i want to have these intimate interactions with the champions as characters in the botw map, ones that i can walk up to chat with as though they were sidon or beedle or a random npc traveler. i want to feel close to the champions, and nintendo, though with weak attempts, doesn't give me that.

the picture that purah takes of the champions is so important to me. this right here is peak found family, a group of the most mismatched individuals that somehow meld perfectly together and balance each other out, and we only receive it through the DLC. that's so stupid. sorry nintendo, i want more than three minute long memories of a singular moment in a past life, i want more than npcs telling me who i used to be. i want king dorephan to tell us about the time zelda fell off of a waterfall and mipha immediately jumped after her to save her clumsy ass. i want to look through historical records of the gerudo and find one about urbosa launching daruk at the mouth of a molduking and daruk chewing her out for it later. i want elder kaneli gossip with me about an old rumor about how revali and the hylian champion of the past used to be found asleep together on the floor of the flight range's hut after a long night of training. i want the world of botw to give me signs and stories about how close the champions were with each other and to make my heart ache, to wish desperately to have known them, instead of like, 20 memories that only serve the plot, or honestly don't at all. but i digress!

i know for some people, the presence of the champions were meant to teach link about tragedy and loss and the effect of war and ruin and evil and cherishing your loved ones or whatever, but i simply did not get that message. that was not what i perceived the champions to be, because to me, the game lacked showing the relationships link and zelda had with the champions. like okay, you died and you also happened to know me. what if link doesn't really remember them at all? then what?

you receive twenty or so memories about the champions when including the DLC, and yes i do concede it gives us some more insight about their characters, but it doesn't do much more than that. the cutscene where mipha moves vah ruta to ready its lasers at the castle, where she wishes to see her father and sidon one more time, especially is an excellent example of emphasizing their significance to the people around them, to us as players and spectators to this hyrule... i want more of that.

i could be wrong about some of the stuff i've said, so disclaimer again that i haven't played the DLC or age of calamity, and maybe you do feel closer to the champions when you play those games! fanmade fic and art and headcanons have been really great ways of helping me view them in a multi-dimensional way, but going off the game's content itself, the champions feel like hollow spectres of people we never truly remember or get to know. maybe that's what they're supposed to feel like, but i don't want to feel that way about them. i'm too attached to them now, and i want to get to know them! curse you nintendo!!!

[sorcerervaati]

hey hey the preorders for @memorabiliazine have shipped, which means we can post our pieces! this is a zine about archaeology in botw, and it was interesting to write about the calamity from the pov of someone who had no idea what was happening. this was a fun project, thanks to the mods who made it happen!

Fort Hateno Catelogue #210

[Catalogue ID #210: A mildewed leather satchel of letters, found in a chest (ID #204) in room 1E of Fort Hateno. Details the flooding of Deya Village and the migration of the villagers to Hateno. Author: [unidentified]. Addressee: [unidentified].

Transcription is as follows:]

[ID #210a]

If you’re reading this, then you will surely have seen the flooding. I have never seen anything like it. The river came all the way into the lake sometime during the night and we all woke up this morning to a clear foot of water in our houses. I’ve gathered what I can and gone to stay with Agnes on the far side of the village. Her son’s around the age of our youngest, I hope the kids will entertain each other while we figure out what to do.

[ID #210b]

I waited for you to return, but after another day the water rose to the edge of the village. I hate to think what’s become of our home. Agnes and I took the children and left for higher ground. We climbed the ridge (doesn’t feel like much of a ridge now, so close to the water’s edge) to the mayor’s house on the lake’s south shore. He has family on the other side of the Peaks that he’s hoping to stay with until the waters recede. Half the town is with us, I do not know where the rest are.

Those who had more time to prepare are carrying all of their possessions with them. I wish I had brought more with me. I tried to be practical, to take only food and clothing for the children, but I did bring that lace shawl that you made for me. You know it weighs hardly anything, but when I wear it I feel as though your arms are around me, and it keeps me strong. The girls took with them only a few toys. I should have had them carry supplies as well.

There are a dozen or so travelers from Central Hyrule, who are headed east and strongly advised us to do the same. Their fear is contagious. They will not tell us what happened to their homes, but I cannot risk it coming here.

There is a great deal of smoke on the wind, it covers the stars at night and turns the sun bloody. I have a bad feeling about this. We will go east.

[ID #210c. Note: Orin the farrier has been ID'd as a former employee at the Riverside Stable. His post-calamity whereabouts are unknown]

One of the newcomers is a farrier, named Orin. I asked if he knows your brother but he does not, said he’s never done work in Castle Town. I suppose farriers aren’t a part of the merchant alliance, but I had to ask.

We can see a bit of Hyrule Castle from the mayor’s house, but Castle Town is obscured. What on earth is that red smoke? I want to take the girls as far from there as possible, I don’t care how long the journey is. Our new companions are in agreement, though they still dare not speak to what they saw before joining us, and their distress is so great that we do not press them.

I can only pray that you and your brother are far from the town, and that I will see you soon.

[ID #210d]

It’s been another two days and the lake continues to swell. We cannot stay here. We must attempt to ford the river and pass under the Dueling Peaks. With how quickly the water is moving, I do not know if it is possible, if our boats can go against the current. I will tell you what I have confessed to no one else: I do not like our chances.

Where is this water coming from? When I look to the north I see only a wall of rain, but the sky is cloudless. What sort of curse is this? 

[ID #210e. Note: Due to water damage, only one paragraph is legible]

It seems half a miracle, but we made it across the Squabble. Perhaps I was too hasty to despair. Though it feels as if the world is falling apart, the girls and I are safe. If we could do the impossible, so can you, you can find us. You’ve always been bolder than me. I’m trying to channel your courage, and after today I feel just a glint of it.

[ID #210f]

On the other side of the Peaks, three new families joined us from Goponga. They say that it isn’t safe there either, that they too were overcome by flooding. They passed through Kakariko to get here, and much of our party is splitting to take refuge there. I will not, I want to get as far from this cursed rain as possible, and after crossing the river I do not wish a repeat experience on Lake Siela.

At this rate, we might be following this road all the way to Hateno. It is no more than a few days’ walk all the way to the coast, I know, but we have slowed to a snail’s pace to get around the river. I do not mind traveling so slowly, it gives more time for you to catch up.

Why have you not reached us yet? What horrors befell you? Every night that we’re apart, I beg the Goddess to deliver you to me safely. I’m so tired of praying.

[ID #210g]

Remember when you were a child, and your parents would comfort you when you were frightened or unsure, and you were certain that grown-ups knew everything? They had all the answers, they always planned two steps ahead, they weren’t afraid of anything?

Remember when our girls were born and we held them nice and safe in our arms and swore that we would keep them there forever, that we would always protect them? They’re looking to me, for me to know what to do and where to go. I’m all that’s left of their world.

I wish there was a grown-up here. I’m afraid.

[ID #210h. Note: Some words are partially obscured by mildew and were filled in by the research team]

We have been fortunate that the road past the Ash Swamp is on high ground, for the swamp is flooded [as well. The field] is littered with statues, domes with metal legs, each as tall as a man. [Children] are dying to explore them, and I admit I am curious as well, but our new friends from Central Hyrule insist that we do not approach. Finally, a clue about what happened to them, but we’re left with more questions than ever that we dare not ask.

It’s been a quiet day. We passed more and more [of those statues], and there seems to be a point they are converged upon. Old Man Tam ducked out of the group to investigate, to see if there was anyone there, but there was only a patch of charred grass. He swore that one of the statues moved, that it looked at him. This place feels cursed enough that I believe it.

We will shelter at Fort Hateno for the night. It will do us good to have the protection of the garrison.

[ID #210i. Note: Upon analysis, this letter is in the same hand as the others in ID #210, though written in great haste.]

There was a battle here. There’s so much blood, every breath reeks of copper. Was it the statues that did this? What chance do we have against them?

I know that none of these bodies can be yours, that you’re far, far away from here, but I see your face on each one. The fort offers shelter but I cannot stay here, not for another minute. It’s too horrible. Some have volunteered to stay a day or two more, to search for survivors. I am leaving my letters with them, that you might catch up to us.

I will wait for you in Hateno Village, so long as whatever evil befell the fort has not continued there. If it has… I dare not think of it. There must be some refuge left, and I will find it if I have to walk a hundred days more.

Until we meet again, my love. Who can say if it will be in this life, with the world crashing down around us, but I will look for you in the next life, and the next, until I find you and bring you back home.

May the light of the Goddess shine upon you.

[kittmoon]

Breath of the Wild: A Cannonical Timeline of Events Leading up to the Calamity (Part 3)

Hello all! This is the third and final segment of a three-part post, laying out a strict cannon timeline of events that led up to the Great Calamity. You can find the other two parts here:

Part 1 | Part 2 (if the links don’t work on mobile, check out the #timeline tag)

Reminder that these are long-ish posts. All of the info here has been gathered from:

The original 13 memories

The diaries of Zelda and the King, as well as Zelda’s research journal

The Champion’s Ballad DLC, which includes journal entries and memories from the four champion pilots

Masterworks/Creating a Champion, which includes extra information about the characters and events of importance.

Considering Part 2 ended with the the Champions seeing Zelda and Link up to the foot of the mountain, this final segment of the timeline will address what occurred afterwards - the return of the Calamity.

KEY

🔸Rigidly Cannon

🔺Some Interpretation Needed

🔹Mostly Interpretive

🔸Return of Calamity Ganon

Ganon emerges. The number one emotion driving this scene is fear. No one, not even Zelda, could have imagined what the world would look like when Ganon returned. Revali is the first of the six of them to see it - black, evil, and moving fast. Zelda feels helpless here, especially since she’d assumed that her powers would have awakened before Ganon’s revival. What follows is everyone - Link, Zelda, and the four champion pilots - going through the motions, going to where they were told to go and telling their people what they were told to say. The next few events in the timeline are driven by pure adrenaline.

🔺The Champion’s Return to Their Devine Beasts

This happens on Daruk’s orders. While Zelda is technically the leader of the Champions, it’s stated in Masterworks that Daruk is spiritually the leader of the group and is largely respected. While Revali takes off in a direct flight to Rito Village, Daruk and Mipha travel towards Lanayru. Once there, they split up, with Mipha swimming along Zora River to return to Zora’s Domain and Daruk traveling quickly to Eldin, stopping in Goron City (presumably to warn his people) before departing to Vah Rudania at the top of Death Mountain. Meanwhile, Urbosa, Link and Zelda rush back through the Lanayru Promenade to Kakariko Village. Urbosa takes a horse and heads to Gerudo, while Link and Zelda make their way to Hyrule Castle.

🔺Link and Zelda Arrive at Hyrule Castle

While their original plan had been for Zelda to take cover somewhere while Link faced Calamity Ganon, that plan quickly dissolves once they arrive at the Castle Town gate. Guardians have been corrupted by malice, attacking people and buildings at random. Even more Guardians seem to be emerging from the giant columns that have risen from underneath the castle. The two of them collectively decide to run to safety, beginning to wind their way back to Kakariko Village. It’s important to keep in mind both of their motivations. While Zelda feels entirely helpless here, Link’s number-one priority at this point is protecting her. They also may feel a conflict at abandoning their supposed destiny.

🔺The Devine Beasts are Corrupted and the Champion Pilots are Killed

Ganon sends phantom parts of himself, known as the Blights, to corrupt the devine beasts. It is unclear if the Blights arrived before or after the pilots got to their respective beasts. No champion pilot survives the ensuing battles, and as a result their spirits are forever chained to their devine beasts. Their spirits are freed after Link defeats Calamity Ganon 100 years later.

🔺Link and Zelda’s Tactical Retreat

After fleeing the battle at Hyrule Castle, Link decides to take Zelda back to safety in Kakariko Village. Traveling along the Hylia River, they use the forests as cover. Along their way, they stumble across other refugees and help where they can. It’s stated in Masterworks that Link defeats several Guardian stalkers en route, and this was likely the beginning of the injuries that ultimately led to his defeat.

🔸Despair

Zelda effectively collapses. At this point they may have been running for several hours or days, as it’s unknown how often they had to stop in combat or to rest. A lot of people cite this moment as Link showing true affection for Zelda, where instead of pulling her back up to keep her running to get her to safety as quickly as possible, he stops and listens. Holding her in his arms is either a sign of empathy or a teenage-boy “ack” moment - up to the writer. Either interpretation works.

🔺The Remaining Solders Flee to Akkala Citadel

The Akkala Citadel is potentially the best fortress in all of Hyrule. It’s high vantage point makes it easy to spot enemies, and it is located on the Akkala coast, able to defend Hyrule from threats at sea. It had been prepared for anything...literally anything except Guardians. Losing the fight at Castle Town, the surviving soldiers flee to the Citadel for a last stand against Ganon’s forces. Unfortunately, the Guardians and monsters ultimately overwhelm the Citadel’s forces, and the last of Hyrule’s army falls.

🔺The Battle at Fort Hateno

By the time Zelda and Link arrive at Blatchery Plain, there is a small battle against Guardian stalkers happening at Fort Hateno.* While it’s kind of unknown how the two of them got pushed towards the fort instead of staying on the path, some speculate that they were hearded there by more Guardians making their way through the Dueling Peaks.

* The soldiers at Fort Hateno were joined in battle by castle soldiers who were stationed nearby. Masterworks states that the battle raging at the fort was a small one, due to it being in a relatively remote location in relation to Hyrule Castle (or so the soldiers thought). In reality, it had been because (unbeknownst to the soldiers) Link had disposed of many Guardians on his way down Hylia River. Yes, this is a little hilarious, and yes, this is canon.

🔸Zelda’s Awakening

Zelda’s power undoubtedly awakens because of her urge to protect Link. This is not debatable. Whether it’s because it’s Link specifically or because she couldn’t stomach the thought of another close person dying is up for debate. Either way, Zelda does awaken her power, but not quite in time to save Link, who succumbs to his wounds and dies (or at least goes unconscious). It isn’t Zelda who takes him to the Shrine of Reassurection, but two Sheikah guards. This was the result of Impa having sent out a search party for Zelda.

🔺Zelda’s Route Back to Ganon

Zelda hears a voice coming from the Master Sword (🔹), almost definitely the spirit Fi. The voice instructs Zelda on what to do. She first travels to Kakariko Village, leaving Link’s Champion’s tunic with Impa, as well as a message for Link if (when) he reawakens, however long from now that may be. She then heads to the Lost Woods and is guided to Korok Forest, where she speaks to the Great Deku Tree (🔸The Master Sword). From there, she winds her way back to Hyrule Castle to face Ganon alone.

🔸The Master Sword

However Zelda may have felt leading up to this, by the time she places the Master Sword in its pedestal, she is completely calm and accepting of her destiny. It is after this where she heads to Hyrule Castle to face it head-on.

Thank you all so much for supporting this project! I’m glad I finally finished publishing all of it. Hopefully this will help some people. ✨

[odogaronfang]

Hey, can I hear about your Breath of the Wild au? It sounds cool

thank u so much for asking and i’m sorry i made u wait for this!!

i’m actually kinda in the process of redesigning them so i might post some sketches later but basically

[yeesh this got long ill put a readmore] 

-vio is half-sheikah and a traveling merchant, wanders hyrule foraging and hunting and selling things, makes a lot of money because he’ll bring his wares places they wouldn’t usually be found (for example, bringing lurelin great sea fish to the gerudo desert). he has extensive knowledge of hyrule’s topography and flora and fauna, and enough history under his belt to know where to avoid, or just be very prepared for. he doesn’t stay in one place much, the sheikah in kakariko will lend him a room when he stops by, but he did buy out that empty house in hateno and uses that as HQ, mostly in the winter when it’s dangerous and foolhardy to be on the roads.

-blue started as a hylian spearfisher in lurelin village. she grew up there, the people that cared for her are still there. but life as a fisherwoman is very slow and not at all the kind of life she wanted to lead, so when she was 16 she snuck off in the middle of the night and hauled ass to the lakeside stable near lake floria, used the money she’d made from fishing to rent a horse until she could find and tame her own, and abandoned lurelin. she left a note, told everyone what she was up to, but didn’t go back for a long time. now she goes back a lot, it’s how she makes her living after all, spreads lurelin’s good name and gets them (and herself) lots of business. 

-shadow is a merchant as well, sort of, sells really only meat and the odd gems and precious materials he can scrounge. it’s more a side-job, a way to get pocket money, because mostly he bums off the others- takes some fish and crabs from blue’s hauls to sell, stays at vio’s house during the winters, you get the picture. no one’s sure of his origin; everyone just assumes hylian. his dirty little secret is that he’s an ex-yiga, successfully emancipated. not something he wants to share with anyone, obviously. because of that, though, he’s inherently and irreparably tied to ganon- and, by extension, the blood moon. it isn’t something he shares until years after he’s met the squad™ and gotten comfortable with them, and that’s a main driving point in the au for me: finding out how (and if it’s possible) to free shadow from ganon’s influence.

-green is half-gerudo and raised fully hylian, in a more or less single-parent household, as his mother has many duties to attend to in the gerudo royal guard. he’s very close with his father and they probably send postcards back and forth even if they only travel to the market. he works as a mercenary of sorts: a for-hire monster slayer. he’s a huge history buff, has always loved reading about ganon and his previous incarnations, and was enamored with the idea of being in the princess’s guard detail since he was very little. that, of course, is not possible, so monster-hunting is the next best thing (he’s deathly afraid of keese, though.) he really likes shield surfing even though he’s not great and usually ends up with scraped knees and a dented shield afterwards. and if he isn’t fulfilling a contract or rolling down hills or hanging with his dad he’s probably gardening. he likes gardening. (he sucks at gardening. everything dies. even cacti.)

-red is zelda’s (not the princess) little brother. he’s not really sure what he wants to do quite yet, but he, unlike green, is good at gardening and sometimes helps out hateno’s farmers for some money, and sometimes just because he’s a nice person. also, he found out while trying to make zelda a birthday gift that he’s very good at the more delicate parts of metalworking, stuff like wire-wrapping and the intricate designs like the zora do. he’s thinking about following through with that, but it’s not a definite. he likes exploring a lot, too, but he was never given any formal training in fighting, so he’s leery of it until he gets some proper instruction from the others.

-zelda is not THE zelda, in this au. she was named after The Princess Zelda™ as an honor and a tribute to the latent princess, as many have come to call her. she bears the name with pride (as she should). she’s a seamstress, mostly, with a good eye for detail, and aspiring to learn the spear, because, yknow, weapons are fun, and she needs to protect her little bro. she’s not always with the squad, she has things to attend to in hateno and needs to develop her trade, but when she does she absolutely kicks green off his throne and starts calling the shots, with vio as her tactical advisor and blue as her bodyguard. also she doesn’t let anything near red, ever. she kicks ass, end of story.

some fun, random facts:

-vio’s horse’s name is mocha. he got her when she was just a filly, and raised her himself. and as a silly, literal-minded child, her coat reminded him of coffee. (she’s a sooty bay quarter horse with a mane like a palomino’s, and an irregular blaze and snip on her face.)

-do not, ever, challenge blue to a spar. she’ll knock you on your ass with her spear in .5 seconds. she also teaches zelda how to work a spear. technically the form isn’t correct, as she was brought up taught how to spearfish, but it works well enough.

-red is insanely resistant to changes in temperature. he and zelda lived in hebra for a little over a decade, before their mother died and they moved to hateno. zelda bundles up in 4+ layers if the temperature dips below 70, but red? 40 degrees, he’s out in shorts and a tank top. he lives. whenever they kill a wizzrobe he’s given its rod. no one else can be trusted. he also makes killer hot chocolate.

-green is very good with history but can’t be trusted with maps. he just… doesn’t know how to read them, somehow. if you ask him where any historical landmark is he can give you its coordinates, latitude and longitude and regional climate, but hylia help him if he has to use a map.

-zelda, practiced as she is with her fingers from all her years of seamstressing, is an excellent pickpocket. she doesn’t admit it, and doesn’t want people to know for fear of tarnishing the good noble name of zelda. but she can take your wallet, your keys, your child and your heart and you’d be none the wiser. how could such a sweet girl with such a dignified name do anything of the sort?

-much as shadow likes to brag about being the “””tough guy”””, hes Not. sees a keese? screams. moblin? nope, let the other guys take this one. he and green do bond over hating keese. but otherwise he’s mercilessly teased, once he’s found out. it’s part of the reason he ditched the yiga- too many dealings with those things. he eventually gets over it, because he has to, but he is NOT happy about it.

-red and zelda kick ass at snow surfing. it was their favorite thing to do when they lived in hebra. they’d put selmie to shame. they can shred a mountain like shawn white all day and go back for more the next morning. don’t dispute their titles. it will end poorly for you.

-blue whittles. it’s a big stress reliever, keeps her hands busy, and it was a necessary skill in lurelin, where new fishing spears had to be made nearly every day. she’s also pretty good at basket weaving, for the same reasons, although the lack of sharp objects in it pushes her more towards whittling.

-vio makes his own bows and arrows. along the same vein as blue’s whittling, it’s something to do and at least that way he’s assured of its quality. sometimes they trade projects, or they’ll randomly etch things into vio’s bow, like a strange and permanent game of telephone. more than once she’s carved a dick into his bow. it would be covered in them if vio didn’t find a way to make them into abstract works of art. he tried to retaliate, once, and carved one into the staff of blue’s spear. she picked it out in gold leaf and wore it like a badge of honor until that particular spear broke (embedded in a lynel’s flank). your move, vio.

-they split the task of making food, usually:

green is good at cooking, insofar that vegetables/herbs are involved. if you add meat it’ll taste like garbage. but he’s very good with vegetables. 

zelda is insanely good with spices and sauces and if you let her she’ll burn your tongue out. they get into competitions, to see who can withstand her stuff the longest. no one can beat her. she is feared and respected. mostly feared.

blue does the seafood, predictably. it’s a delicate and precise art, of which she is the master. usually she’s a huge fan of spices but on seafood she vetoes it (most of the time) because, as she puts it, “it’ll be f-ckin’ delicious without anything on top”. she’s right.

vio does all the fancy stuff. as a kid he’d get bored and just read whatever he could get his hands on- many of them were cookbooks. so if they’re looking for a big meal with a lot of weird obscure and really good (if small-portioned) stuff they’ll get him on it, and he delegates helpers from there depending on the dish.

red does mostly bread and desserts, his specialty being pastries and honey candies, and really anything heavily sugar-based. sometimes he’ll saute things in honey and it’s honestly to die for, even though a lot of it sounds kinda weird, like honey-glazed chicken thigh. just trust him. also his pasties are in VERY high demand on long journeys. 

shadow is bad at most things but he’s actually really good at soups, mostly because all it entails is throwing things in a pot with salt water and butter and waiting. he just has a good sense for what to throw in. other than that please never let him in a kitchen. he’ll burn it down, and then somehow manage to burn the ashes. trust red, don’t trust shadow.

-there’s a running joke that green was some kind of forest spirit in a previous life. wild animals will just walk right up to him as though they’ve known him a lifetime. deer will approach him, rabbits hop right up, foxes trail him, birds have landed on his head. no one knows why. he likes to name them, and gives them scraps of his dinner. it’s a sad affair when shadow, oblivious or just apathetic, makes them into the night’s dinner, but at least it’s made with love. green might (definitely) cry a little bit.

-vio has long hair, and one of the favorite traveling games to play is to see how much shit they can get into it before he notices. leaves, twigs, burrs, feathers, small rocks, literally anything is fair game as long as you can sneak it in without him knowing. and if there’s a special occasion, and everyone’s all dressed to the 9′s, and vio’s got his hair done up, they play a different game where they sneak the pins out of his hair one by one. whoever pulls the pin that undoes it completely loses and has to take responsibility for the whole thing. bets are placed, and vio absolutely gets revenge wherever possible. it doesn’t stop them.