#ss mc

[sanguinesky-if]

There are three investigations in the game:

The investigation that the MC is conducting.

The investigation that is being handled by the team.

The investigation that I left for the readers.

You, anon, are an example of how some readers genuinely make me happy with the way they pick up the clues that I've carefully placed in certain sentences and choices, feeling the story before it fully unfolds.

You made me so happy today, because this is the first time someone has come up with the closest theory out of all the ones sent to me.

Thank you for this, truly.

P. S. Please don't mind my little cryptic message. It was just for fun. Probably.

But if you analyze how the MC "woke up" at the start of the story… Actually, never mind.

[the-phantom-peach]

miscellaneous zelda art over the last month

… or something ☕️

[squeakyducky]

When people say Lucifer is a red-flag but this made me believe otherwise

[cracklewink]

Part 4.5/5 of my mlp infection AU, Harmony Syndrome!

I had to split up the finale because I had too many ideas for it and it got too long lol. The actual final part will be along soon!

[jackie-mae]

LOZ art dump! (Not shown: Thousands of scratched out notes of me trying to shove these games into a single timeline as opposed to whatever the hell the hyrule historia one is)

[aru-art]

mhin's moving castle...

[tazzertopia]

how it feels seeing nh vs ss debates online

[fourswords]

hilarious how for 3/4 of the minish cap link's only way to access the cloud tops was constantly having to climb the giant beanstalks from the ground up. like link in skyward sword got access to the bird statues that swirled him back up to the sky the minute he landed on the surface and you physically can't get to the city in the sky in twilight princess without the very convenient sky cannon but in the minish cap you don't get access to the very convenient tornado that sends you up to the wind tribe/palace of winds until almost the end of the game. at least he's able to walk on the clouds but you gotta love how they were like "if this kid wants up there he's gonna have to fucking work for it" and lo and behold

[alasse-earfalas]

It’s about time I talk about my Light Force theory.

First, let’s take a look at the OoT Hylian shield:

Notice the fourth golden triangle at the bottom. Notice how it’s oriented. It’s almost as if it’s meant to go in the empty space between the three other triangles, doesn’t it?

We know that the Triforce was created when the Golden Goddesses finished their work of creation and left Hyrule. Each of the three goddesses has a golden triangle associated with them.

So… Where’s Hylia’s triangle?

Hylia was created by the other three goddesses specifically to guard and protect the Triforce. However, she was not able to defeat Demise on her own, thus leading to the events of Skyward Sword.

But wait a minute, Skyward Sword is the game where you fly around on a giant red bird, right? Well what’s that there on the shield, between the one golden triangle and the Triforce?

A red bird. Huh.

Could it be that the lone golden triangle represents Hylia’s condescension into mortality, her separation from the three goddesses who created her? Could it be that this event left a piece of Hylia behind, some golden power similar to the Triforce, just as the Triforce was left behind by the Golden Goddesses? Perhaps this was the very divinity that Hylia shed to become mortal.

Now, let’s take a look at what Hyrule Historia and the Zelda Encyclopedia have to say about a lesser-known golden triangle in LoZ lore known as the Light Force:

[page 78 of Hyrule Historia & 82 of the Zelda Encyclopedia]

What if Hylia was created out of this “Force, which originally dwelled in all things”? What if she was created from the very world that the Golden Goddesses made, in order to protect it? In her very being dwelled an infinite power to protect against evil, but Demise’s dark power was equally vast; the best Hylia could do was seal him away.

But then, what if she devised a plan: she would split the Light Force. Part of it would remain in her when she was reborn as a mortal and purified in the sacred springs, and part of it would be protected in the realm of the Minish. Later, the Minish would return the Light Force to Hylia’s descendants, and the sacred power would carry on in the female royal bloodline.

As Hylia in Skyward Sword says that she speaks to Link “from the edge of time”, and as she (presumably) prepared the time gates, I like to think that Hylia is also the Goddess of Time mentioned in Majora's Mask. It’s possible that she was known by this title during the events of OoT, and that the Hylian Shield had a golden triangle added to it in order to honor her.

That’s my theory. :)

TL;DR — The Light Force is to Hylia what the Triforce is to the Golden Goddesses, and the Light Force is the random golden triangle that’s depicted on the OoT Hylian Shield.

[batrogers]

So, which Links pay their taxes, for real?

This is a somewhat fast and loose approximation of my recall of historical taxes, who paid them (or didn’t) and how, how they were collected and from whom, and what kind of taxation was even possible under different governments. This is pulled from a couple decades of study into historical society and books I’ve read on feudalism, the social duties of knights, and government structure and instability in both medieval Europe and the Ottoman Empire, among others.

Notes on organization:

1. While this is a response to a Linked Universe post, I am going per game not per Link because a few games must be split. The implications about taxes are drastically different between LttP & LbW, and Minish Cap & FSA. I also wished to include Spirit Tracks bc it’s fun. I am not linking the inspiring post, because I don't believe in attacking people for a ten minute list just because it twigged my history brain.

2. I am excluding games in which Link is not implied to be a tax-paying resident of the country he’s in, so Majora’s Mask, Oracle of Ages & Seasons, and Phantom Hourglass are not included.

3. There are usually overlapping taxes in a society. Here I will mostly address taxes on residents, on vocations or landownership, whether they can pay in coin or in kind, and if they have a household that would pay tax for them.

4. I have placed Hyrule Warriors in Child Timeline here for a few reasons, mostly related to army structure implications, the martial norms of the game and the two preceding ones (large standing armies in FSA and HW; mentions of “prolonged wars” and very military flavoured royal regalia in Twilight Princess.) Obviously this doesn’t strictly mean anything or oblige agreement, but its my habit to do so and I wished to explain the choice.

I apologize so much for how long this is. If you wish to read it in a different format, it's also on AO3. This is 2000+ words. I suppose if you click, I hope you enjoy.

A note on Knighthood:

Knights were a specific, highly trained profession often (but not always) associated with landownership, either someone who was in the household of the landowner, or who was the landowner themself. The trappings of knighthood (weapons, armour, and horse) were quite expensive and belonging to a family of knights implies a specific degree of social status in and of itself.

While a sovereign can in theory bestow any title they want on anyone at any time, usually this requires that there be some service rendered for which this is a gift. (Fucking them, or just being hella attractive, counts.) Because of this, there is a wide variety of things “Knight” can mean, but here we will presume it means some degree of professionalism and attachment to a social status that is both someone who collects taxes from subjects and pays them to a sovereign in turn.

IIII

Skyward Sword =

There is no evidence of centralized government in Skyward Sword, therefore the taxes are going to whoever is in charge of the settlement. They were likely paid in kind (material goods), although Skyloft does have coin. Given we know who’s basically running Skyloft, we can guess they were paid to Gaepora, and at least one tax-funded organization: the Knight’s Academy.

Did students pay taxes? Graduates might be exempt from some taxes if still in service to the city. Afterwards, given he’s usually presumed to be married to Zelda, we can say Link is either paying taxes (or hearing about it personally at dinner), and/or helping collect and distribute taxes to others.

Or, even funnier, setting taxes on the new community because they need supplies to build it.

Minish Cap =

There is a central government in Minish Cap, because they have a monarch! This is probably a small territory: some “kings” have a few villages and fields and that’s it, but it is a castle which requires taxed goods to function because it’s not producing its own.

Link’s grandfather is a blacksmith, and also alive therefore if the census tax is paid per household, Link has nothing to do with it. If its paid per business, he’s an apprentice or employee so it’s still paid by his grandfather. Depending on which taxes were being paid when, they might pay coin or in kind (eg. Labour or goods produced.) While people absolutely did lie and cheat and not pay taxes, I expect the con artistry didn’t involve “refunds” in a modern sense, but that’s probably tax history specialization territory...

Four Swords =

This game doesn’t have enough of a framing story to comment on its social structures, but is superficially similar enough to Minish Cap we can assume the situation matches.

Ocarina of Time =

We literally see Talon paying his taxes in kind in the game. Like, you can’t pay milk as a lump sum so delivering it reliably to the castle could be counted towards his taxes, or he’s getting paid enough for it that will be paying for it later. Either way, supplies are delivered from Lon Lon Ranch by its owner who is still alive after the game and presumably will continue to be responsible for it until he is no longer owner of Lon Lon Ranch.

(Malon likely is a valid heir to Lon Lon Ranch. There is no reason to assume marriage affects her legal claim to Lon Lon Ranch. It is not common for a woman to lose her property in marriage – British law is the exception to historical norms – so even if Talon died she could still be sole and/or primary owner of Lon Lon Ranch, whether or not she is married.)

Link starts out the game not even on a Hyrulean census, with no property to his name, and no social connections. He is not paying taxes because he does not legally exist. Until he is counted on a poll as a resident of either Castletown or Lon Lon Ranch, and until he’s considered an adult (usually by means of acquiring personal property or skill of any value) he’s unlikely to be taxed.

Now, if we include into the assumed connections to the Hero’s Shade who died in elaborate plate mail we get a very different answer. Someone who owns elaborate plate mail of that sort has significant money. He may have received it as a gift for service to the crown, but if so it likely wasn’t the only gift. Plate mail is often associated with knights; a knight of some consequence is likely attached by some means or another to property. Knights under a King usually collected taxes for them... So, in a world where Link has platemail and is a valued knight of the Hylian Crown he may also, like Skyloft, be the person collecting taxes to pass them on. Whether or not that means he now technically owns Lon Lon Ranch by means of owning the land it’s on.... I leave that up to you.

Wind Waker =

Outset Island most likely operates like Skyloft: there is a headman or prominent family who collects surplus to give as aid, either in terms of money or food or services. Within that space, Link living with an invalid grandmother and also underage sister was probably one of those families receiving surplus as social support, possibly on top of whatever his grandmother was still capable of in her old age.

However, Link is implied post-game to leave with Tetra. What taxes did a ship and its crew owe? Harbour dues, customs, and other duties! This varied a lot and was usually addressed whenever someone docked at a controlled port. Often questions were asked about where the materials came from, more or less scrupulously. Sometimes people cared if you just happened to have something without a sound origin, that you had taken from someone else... like we see Tetra’s crew doing in-game...

It may indeed be possible Tetra (and her crew) are wanted for tax evasion and Link gets to be included in that, whatever his age.

Spirit Tracks =

This boy works for the centralized government’s transit system. If he doesn’t pay taxes, it’s because he doesn’t owe taxes because he’s working a tax-funded job and likely has been since he was an apprentice. He is possibly also union and knows the local tax law in extremely nuanced detail. He will judge you for not paying your taxes.

Twilight Princess =

The start of the story is also framed around the village blacksmith making some kind of tax-like offering to the royal family and setting Link up to take it. This is likely not a normal tax, but it does tell us that Ordon Village is considered a designated social unit within Hyrule and therefore we may assume that “Ordon Village” is a taxable entity in its own right. Link, as a resident of Ordon Village, would pay his portion of the village’s tax to the Mayor who arranged for its delivery. If Link marries Ilia, you can expect once again this is someone who either hears about taxes over dinner, or is helping collect them.

If Link leaves and moves to Castle Town, he’d have the joys of all the things large city residents pay for, up front or not, that village residents who are not transporting food and goods long distances but those will be sales and customs taxes, not per-person taxes based off the census or his vocation.

Four Swords Adventures [Game + Comic] =

Link’s family is explicitly positioned as either a knight family, or a legacy castle guard family with close personal ties to the royal family. He also has a living father, who is implied to survive the game/comic. As such, with Link a minor, he’s not paying taxes because he’s not liable for taxes. He also may be paying taxes by means of collecting taxed goods from the lands over which his family has ownership and paying a portion of that income to the Crown themselves.

Interesting, this could also tie into something I’ll mention in more detail below but one form of “evading taxes” can be “refusing to do labour.” If he is from a family whose young men are supposed to provide service to the Crown in the form of military labour, “leaving” is a crime.

Hyrule Warriors =

In this game, Link explicitly starts as a base soldier. It is possible for soldiers to be a form of population tax (and/or control) especially in larger kingdoms or empires. He likely did receive regular pay, but he might also have been considered legal property of the Kingdom, eg a slave. Either way, his upkeep was entirely from the taxes that went into the coffers, whether it was in food or kind. Post-game, he’s likely been involved in rebuilding which again would be in large part executed by taxed goods and labour. He might even be part of the apparatus collecting or setting taxes, especially if he becomes close with Zelda herself.

Link to the Past =

Link is explicitly stated to belong to a knight family, with an adult family member who is (arguably) alive at the end of the game. If he is paying taxes, he’s paying them from taxes paid to his family. Not paying your taxes as a knight family is infinitely more suspicious than not paying them as an individual, because then your monarch wonders what you’re using that money for. Is it rebellion? It better not be rebellion.

Link Between Worlds =

THIS Link is a Blacksmith apprentice. He does not have any known adult family. He may be assessed as part of the household he is apprenticed to; he might be assessed as independent depending on his age and where he is in his training and what the local tax law looks like. If there is a guild he may be assessed by means of his membership... but that may also be a separate tax from what he’s paying per the census. He could likely avoid it altogether, because he’s not exactly important at this age and social rank.

Ravio, on the other hand, is in some way involved with the Royal Family of Lorule (Hilda is personally betrayed he left.) However, Lorule is a failed state. There is no means by which they can collect taxes, nor distribute them... which is likelywhy Hilda has no control over her guards. (People aren’t very obedient when not getting paid.) Recovery to a state where taxation is reliable and people feel it’s worth doing will be a long road.

Zelda I & II =

Same as above: Hyrule is a failed state, at best in the process of recovery in Zelda II. People likely do not trust the tax collectors who do exist to pay their dues to the Crown vs keeping it for themselves. This is a matter of power rules. Link, a minor with no property, is likely of zero interest to anyone unless they sell children. In Zelda II, where he lives close enough to approach Impa with a question, he may be paying taxes if he has a vocation or he may be helping work in the castle, which brings us back to he’s collecting, distributing and/or paid by taxes.

BOTW & TOTK =

Hyrule here is NOT a failed state because they do not have a central government attempting to exert control. Here, things are more like Wind Waker or Skyward Sword: village mayors or prominent families control local taxation. There is limited intercommunity interactions, which are likely a matter of market tax. Link, if he settles in Hateno village, would be accountable to them.

In TOTK, we do see some kind of centralization: there’s the joint effort to construct Lookout Landing and the monster patrols, both of which would require outside support until local agriculture begins. Which communities contribute is hard to say, but most villages at this time are more than prosperous enough to spare the means. A new settlement would reduce overcrowding, increase the land available to farm, and so on: all good things for a prospering world.

(This does NOT imply they are re-establishing the monarchy. None of these groups call themselves “royal”. They’re monster patrols, not royal guards, and Lookout Landing, not a new Castletown. The location has access to already-quarried stone and trade routes going for it, after all.)

Given how Link behaves in both games, it seems likely he would contribute whatever surplus he acquires to these efforts. Out of every Link, I think he is the most likely to be cooperative with taxation... although there may be some arguments about what his taxable means is. Should this be paid in rupees or bokoblin guts? Let’s negotiate!

TL;DR =

Taxes vary wildly across time, space, regions, and forms of government. While some Links live in similar social circumstances, we have at least four really distinct categories: the Knights, the failed states, those with vocations, and the villagers. Similarly, many forms of taxes are for social support, things that Link tends to be characterized as valuing in the games. When people refuse to pay, they either do not see the request or authority as legitimate, or do not have the means to do so.

IDK it’s just infinitely funnier to me to say “Wind Waker Link is wanted for tax evasion because Tetra has never paid a harbour duty tax in her life” vs stating the evasion without cause. All the best!

[sweet-milky-tea705]

He was sooo crazy for this

[weirdraccoon]

MC *pulling Sebastian to her room*: Did you bring protection?

Sebastian *turning nervous*: Why? What's in there?

[squeakyducky]

I didn't know there was a gap behind LOL 😭

[asofspades]

So, I started replaying the TLOZ games in timeline order back at the beginning of June, so far I've beaten SS, MC, (skipped FS because it's multiplayer)OOT, MM, TP, WW, PH, ST and I'm currently playing ALTTP and I'm stuck trying to beat the boss at the Dark Palace, I also started playing FS with my brother but he's super inconsistent about playing on the switch.

I really want to finish playing all the games from the downfall timeline before EOW comes out but seeing how stuck I get on the bosses in ALTTP i might not be able to do so.

Also I wasn't even planning on replaying BOTW or TOTK mainly because I have a shrine left in BOTW plus the master sword trial left to do and TOTK I still have a lot left to have it at 100%

[spoiledblogif]

i'm very curious about your influences! are there any novels, or other interactive fictions, or video games, or movies, or other things that you think of as inspirations?

also i think carter and mc's relationship is very sweet. it's nice how you showed the mc often having options to mimick him a bit in terms of being a bit abrasive or socially awkward (at least the way i played mine, haha).

I' m not sure if I'd point to any one thing as an influence. At least, there's nothing I've knowingly or intentionally mimicked. I've been writing fiction stuff since I was eight-ish and when I was in my teens I did a lot of fanfiction (said as if I don't still write it now), so really this is just the accumulated knowledge of a lifetime of going 'Oh I like that' and absorbing it via osmosis. I guess story-telling wise you could look at everything from Jane Austen to Bioware games to the college courses I've taken. Actually, I'd say my writing style is probably based more on things I've hated than liked lol.

As for Carter and the MC, I'm glad their relationship is proving to be quite popular. He wasn't originally meant to be a father figure and their relationship was originally going to be something much more like "buddy cop partners" stuck in an urban fantasy---which I suppose they still are more or less lol

And yeah basically the snarky and grumpy responses are 100% supposed to be a result of 'I was raised this way by a sentient amalgamation of flannel shirts and cigarette smoke, what do you want from me?'

[oocooartistry]

Linktober Day 31: Free for all!

For our last drawing I did three of my favorite villains from the series. I wonder if the emo bangs are to distract us from their collective lack of eyebrows 🤔

And we're done with Linktober guys!!! This has been a lot of fun and I look forward to next year.