#the wolfbred chronicles

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The Wolfbred Chronicles - The "Lost" Tribe - Part One - Moonlight, Markings and Musings

“You're… Wolfbred?” Zelda couldn't help herself but laugh. 

Her bodyguard looked up at her. His face looked like he wasn't sure whether he was offended or very, very confused by her laughter. 

“No, no… Father hates Wolfbred. He said he'd never knight another one. You're a personal bodyguard knight, Link. Father would never.” 

Urbosa watched as the small, previously-assumed-to-be-Hylian man just looked at Zelda with a completely blank stare. The moon was on his head, painting his eyebrows white along with the mythical swirl of a wolf long gone that was shimmering on his forehead. She pressed on her temple as she tried to recall how her dearest friend interacted with these creatures, and how she determined that they were Wolfbred. Eventually, she bent down to his level and pointed firmly at his hand. “Give, Link, give.” 

Almost instantly, Link offered up his hand. 

“Wow! How did you do that? I've never seen the Tiny Princess get more than a black stare.” 

“Wolfbred were a passion project of my dearest friend. I remember she gave them orders in a particular format. Simple orders in a simple format. I also remember something that could prove… particularly challenging in our future here with Link.”

“But what's with the hand, Urbosa?” Revali tipped his beak from her. “Did you just want to order the guy around?”

“The Queen told me a Wolfbred could be identified by the wrist. I needed his hand to check his wrist to see if he is truly Wolfbred, like I believe he is.” Urbosa retrieved her scimitar. “Catch, Link, catch.” She gently tossed the blade, handle outwards, to Link. A soldier like himself should catch it no problem. 

And he did catch it… at first. His hand grasped the handle, but he dropped the blade when he turned it over. 

Urbosa snatched his hand back, he leaned away from her.

“Okay, so the so-called hero is clumsy, what does that tell us?”

“He's not clumsy. He's Wolfbred.” She held up his hand. “See?” 

“What in the-?” Revali muttered. “Those are some messed up thumbs. No wonder he couldn't hold onto your dumb sword.”

Urbosa bit her tongue. “His thumb is set back, partially on the wrist here.” Link yanked on his hand, she spoke soft. “Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you, Link.”

“Is that all, Urbosa? I fail to see how a simple mutation of the wrist was enough for exile.”

“No, of course. That's just a unique trait of the Wolfbred. He's got the marks on his face too.”

“But… he looks so much like a Hylian.” Zelda wanted to touch his markings, but Link kept pulling his head away when she reached out. “I'd expect him to have fur, or a tail at least.” 

“But of course! They're supposed to be super soldiers. Part of their charm was that you couldn't identify them from afar, which meant enemy armies couldn't target them as easily. Once upon a time, the Hyruliean army was primarily Wolfbred.” She sighed. “We Gerudo were nearly ravaged by the Wolfbred of those days.”

“Oh boy, wolf in the name and descended from war crimes? Wouldn't be surprised if he was Rinkū's son.” 

Link turned his head to Revali after hearing that name. 

“R-Rinkū's… son? His father is named Ordon!”

Link whipped his head back to Zelda. 

“Ah, Tiny Princess. Revali's not talking about a literal son. More like a descendant. A great warhound from ancient times. He was basically the pet of an ancient queen. When she was killed in battle, he… kinda went on a rampage. Goron, Rito, Zora, Hylian… but especially the Gerudo. He and his pack of warhounds slaughtered without mercy… much like this Calamity Ganon is planning to do now.” 

“We… Gerudo have since come to forgive. His queen is believed to have been slaughtered by Ganon, who is believed to have once been Gerudo. If we will not stand to have Ganon's actions associated with our people… then we should not do the same to the descendants of Rinkū. However, I know not all of Hyrule feels the same way. My dearest friend risked her reputation to free the Wolfbred from exile…” 

“It is said that the queen's sole female relative was the only one who could command them to stop. The king himself found his orders on deaf ears. Probably why your father dumped him off on you. He has the Sword, so we have to keep him around, but hey, the female Royal will keep him in line.”

Zelda's face exuded fear, disgust and anger. 

Urbosa bent down to her. “Don't listen to Revali. Hyrule is known for its bloody history. This is simply his. But of course, if Gerudo and Hylia's own can commit atrocities and not be remembered by them, then Link here shouldn't either. He's a sweet boy. I assure you, his fear of you greatly outweighs your fear of him.” 

“You… said there was a complication with him?”

“Ah, yes. You see, because the Wolfbred were exiled for so long… ah, this might be easier to show you.” Urbosa looked towards Link. “Link, there's a carriage with horses near the stable. It will hurt if you get hit.” 

Link turned his head at his name, but didn't respond to the rest of the sentence. 

“Urbosa, where are you going with this nonsense?”

Urbosa held her hand up to silence the bird. “Link,  there's a hit with stable near the hurt. It will horses if you get carriage.”

Link continued to stare at her, staying perfectly still and emotionless. 

“As you can see, little bird, Revali, Daruk… plain and simple, it doesn't matter if I speak coherently to him. Link can't speak Hylian.” 

~~~~

Hyrule's Final Stand Masterlist

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Currently, I am planning to replace "Uncovering Lineage" with a more flexible collection of one-shots and short stories called "The Wolfbred Chronicles".

Simply put, I am absolutely tired of editing Uncovering Lineage to fit the Wolfbred lore because the fic no longer fits with the original lore. I plan to tweak it, add it to the Chronicles and then delete the non-Chronicles version

Having a collection will hopefully allow me to explore and explain Link and his people without having to come up with situations to force the words out of the poor boy's mouth.

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So Why Did Mipha Make the Zora Armor?

DISCLAIMER - This post/lore document is extremely specific to the Hyrule's Final Stand AU and its lore. This is how I've chosen to structure and answer this question after 4 years of contemplating, researching, and playing both Breath of the Wild and Age of Calamity.

Also don't anyone dare try to apply my explanation for ship war purposes. ZeLink may be canon to Hyrule's Final Stand, but I will not tolerate my lore being used to attack people shipping either. Henceforce, neither ship will be tagged. If Tumblr throws this into those tags anyways, oh wells. Behave yourselves

Warnings - Dubious age of consent, age of consent under 18, arranged marriage/marriage of convenience (really more "engagement of desperation" than M o C), genetically modified humans, mentions to incest/inbreeding (both potential and actual), mentions to mating/breeding seasons, miscarriage/stillbirth, brief reproductive physiology (not graphic)

Acknowledgements - I do not condone, encourage or otherwise believe that the above warnings are ethical, moral, or otherwise acceptable. This is very much a Lesser of Many Evils scenario where everyone leaves burned. Inclusion ≠ Condonement

Also I listened to this on complete loop for the past like 4 hours while I wrote a good chunk of this + made the final edits, so have fun with that if you want. no I don't like what it's from and I don't want to associate with the source, but the fact remains that I have listened to it for five hours straight as I write this don't @ me

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Obviously, applying hindsight to the series, we know Link marries Zelda and has a daughter with her. So why did Mipha, a dear friend to Link and Zelda both, create such an item for Link? Shouldn't she have known about their relationship?

The answer is complex, kind of ugly, and showcases both Mipha/the Zoras understanding of the Wolfbred/their plight and Mipha's care for Link.

The reason Mipha made Link the Zora Armor even without being in an established courtship/engagement with him was directly related to Link's place in the Wolfbred society and the Wolfbred at the time.

This is inclusive of several reasons

1. The fact that Wolfbred don't require any sort of dating relationship before marriage/matehood like other tribes do. 2. They tend to select their life partners from the pool of people they were raised around. And Mipha knew this because the Zora and Wolfbred were close allies, with a community of them living in Goponga. 3. Wolfbred males are not biologically compatible with Zora females due to the sheer difference of their reproductive systems (primarily that, without being too graphic, the Wolfbred reproduce through pregnancy and the Zora by egg laying) and the Wolfbred's literal genetic modification (which of course affects how they reproduce in general) locking them to only be viable to other Hylian-based races like the Sheikah, Gerudo and of course, Hylians. Furthermore, intercourse is important to Wolfbred health; especially to the males (who the tribe believe can actually die if they fail to 'bond' when kept in female company) 4. The Wolfbred's genetic modification altered their perception of Non-Hylian Tribes (mentioned henceforth as NHT), either preventing or severely impairing their ability to perceive the NHTs on the same level of "humanness" as HTs. This physically prevents them from developing romantic/sensual attraction to members of a NHT. Realistically, there are likely exceptions, but that is not the standard. 5. Despite points 3 and 4, Link was in a desperate place for a mate, and the Tribe was just as desperate for him, so Mipha decided that (due to points 1 and 2) she'd decide to shoot her shot.

After all, the Wolfbred tend to select mates from their childhood friends/acquaintances.

But what drove their desperation? What make a Zora female an appealing mate to a Wolfbred male?

The Wolfbred Tribe was experiencing a reproductive crisis in that era known as the Pup Drought. Not only were Wolfbred fertility levels incredibly low, but the vast majority of pups that were conceived were either miscarried or stillborn. This led to only 3 live pups in thirty years: Pryze (25, male), Link (15, male & Sydnei's brother) and Sydnei (6, female & Link's sister). Had Link been born female, the exiled tribe could have easily paired Link and Pryze together and been… not great but at least not in the desperation they were in. To further stress matters, the tribe's last unbonded female was a sibling to the tribe's preferred male, and depending on when she hit puberty, Pryze might be too old or even dead as Wolfbred typically live only to around 30-35 due to their health problems. (More about why Pryze wasn't an option later)

And one very particular about Wolfbred is their innate desire for their "queen", which in Divine Beast Construction times literally meant the Queen of Hyrule, but in modern times simply meant the Wolfbred's wife (if male) or pups (if female). And males especially, if they spend too long unbonded, can experience (primarily) physical but also mental problems. Especially if they're stuck in female presence. They're designed specifically to serve that queen, and her absence causes problems. And Link was getting to that point with his (at this point in time) 2, going on 3, unbonded mating seasons and his job as Zelda's personal knight. At that point, he had absolutely no viable options, other than his sister. Poor Ordon (Link's dad) was driven to deliver a we're-too-desperate-to-bother-saving-face "help my son get a wife" message to each of the Champions when he encountered them. Link was 15 and had seasoned twice. It was not known at that point if a Wolfbred could make it through more than two unbonded seasons, as the effects of each 'failure' tend to compound, and Link was clearly miserable. While 10-years-older Pryze should have been more of a focus for the tribe than Link, the 25-year-old's complete failure to season or suffer any ill effects led the tribe to conclude he was sterile, which focuses the tribe's attention even further onto Link and Sydnei. Although the lack of female presence in Pryze's life, poor diet, or other circumstances may have also prevented such, in hindsight.

So Mipha made her move. By outright proposing to 15-year-old Link? No, absolutely not.

Instead she proposed herself to the tribe as a whole, as a substitution to his contingent engagement to his sister.

This worked as follows - 1. when Sydnei was born, he was automatically engaged to her due to him being the most preferable available male from the tribe (only because there were only 2 males and 1 female left, and Pryze was well… Pryze) 2. When Link was 15, Mipha approached Ordon (had Midna Marie still been alive, she would have been approached too) and presented herself as a potential swap for Sydnei and provided her reasons for offering such ("I'm not his sister" and the benefit that becoming Zora royalty would do for the safety of the tribe despite the reproductive barrier being two major reasons, on top of her care and affection for him) 3. Ordon was impressed, but had one problem. Link had already hit his first season, which made him an adult Wolfbred two years before at 13. This meant that Mipha would have to convince Link to swap his contingent bride, not Ordon 4. As much as Link wasn't really interested, he was convinced to change his contingent bride to Mipha after her and Ordon were able to convince Link that he was worth more than accepting the first Gerudo/Hylian who thought he was interesting-looking. And besides, what are you going to do? Say you'd rather marry your sister just because she's more sexually compatible? 5. Mipha and Link went before the Elder Circle of Hateno so Link could plead the Circle, and they accepted the swap 6. Despite that Link wasn't 100% content with this new arrangement, this took off the extreme strain placed on him of having to marry his sister should he fail to secure a preferable bride. Besides, he was still entirely within his rights to search for a more preferable mate, this agreement just changed who he'd marry if he wasn't able to find anyone else

Because of the contingent engagement, Mipha had extreme probable cause to believe Link would eventually become her husband. She was even legally permitted to officially propose before Sydnei reached "adulthood", but Link could turn her down as long as his sister was still a pup and they'd still be contingently engaged. Once she hit her first season, they would be officially engaged even if Mipha didn't officially propose again, or if Link had turned down an official proposal earlier; so long as Link hadn't married/mated to a more preferable female for the tribe (read: a Hylian/Gerudo/Sheikah woman).

Hence why she made the Zora Armor. Link was getting older, and while he and Zelda had been flirting and seemingly interested in each other, there was no clear indication that a) they'd even be able to marry due to Hyrule's laws and views towards the Wolfbred b) would be able to marry in time to preempt the contingency and c) were even looking towards a potential marriage between them.

It was a very new and volatile situation that was even less likely that the agreement Link and Mipha had entered. In fact, later on Zelda would even ask Mipha if she'd permit Zelda to propose to Link. The ball was firmly in Mipha's court to decide, ultimately, if she'd let Zelda "threaten" her contingency. Mipha did choose to permit Zelda's proposal, wanting Link's well-being more than her desires, which led to Link and Zelda's marriage. But Mipha was given a lot of control over the situation. And that's how the Zora Armor, wholly intended for Link, is able to exist despite Link's love for Zelda. and why Muzu isn't incredibly fond of Link in BotW/later HFS material

~~~~

Hyrule's Final Stand Masterlist

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Me, a week ago: I have a whole week off! I'm gonna write so much!

Me, right now: I have a page. Take it or leave it

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I am honored to be the enemy, if it means this suffering ends. - Queen Zelda

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Just realized there's an error in the chapters of Wolfbred Chronicles that I've already published, so now I have to figure out how to fix it.

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Advice for you guys -

If you come up with great character ideas while in the bed

You better get out of the bed and do some scribbling because you are NOT going to remember in the morning

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Hyrule's Final Stand - Masterlist

Lore and Worldbuilding Overview (may have errors)

An Oversimplified View of ToZA's Royal Family

Hateno Village Social Makeup (TotK-era)

Wolfbred: The Affection Coded Beast Tribe

So Why Did Mipha Make the Zora Armor?

The Infected Dreamscape - Concepts and Lore from "Trial of the Zora Armor"

No Way to Forget - The Tragedy of Midna Marie Imperial

Testosterone Imbalance Disorder (Failed Mating Syndrome)

Wolfbred Social Titles

Hyrule's Caste System

Hyrule's Caste System - List of characters and their castes

Character Masterlists

*coming soon*

Book Covers

Trial of the Zora Armor

Saying Goodbye

Successors

Other Art

Link and Zelda Original Reference Sheets - Trial of the Zora Armor (disclaimer - Link is missing his facial scars due to them being added later on)

Link's Reference Sheet

The Wolfbred Chronicles - A Short Story Collection

The "Lost" Tribe - Part One - Moonlight, Markings and Musings

The "Lost" Tribe - Part Two - To Zora's Domain

Trial of the Zora Armor

TOZA Chapter One

TOZA Chapter Two

TOZA Chapter Three

TOZA Chapter Four

TOZA Chapter Five

TOZA Chapter Six 

TOZA Chapter Seven

TOZA Chapter Eight

TOZA Chapter Nine

TOZA Chapter Ten

TOZA Chapter Eleven

TOZA Chapter Twelve

TOZA Chapter Thirteen 

TOZA Chapter Fourteen

TOZA Chapter Fifteen

TOZA Epilogue

Saying Goodbye (readers recommend tissues...)

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Successors

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Epilogue 

Link, Wolfbred King

Chapter One

Chapter Two

One-shots and Ficlets

Khosha, Wife of Revali

Kabre's Tale

Guilty as Ganon

Guilty as Ganon - Epilogue

To Heir is Champion - Urbosa

Monthly Events (-tobers, May events, etc)

2021 Shiptober - Day 1 - Enemies

Zora May 2024 - Sentimental/Tears

Other

Link actually had knight friends (based on AoC content)

This discussion about Wolfbred lore that I'm shoving here until I get less lazy and write it down neatly in another post

Iconic Queen Zelda quote that's going here for whatever reason

Link's Social Relationships - TotK era

TotK Era Headcanons/Trivia

"Perfection" aka "Failure" the "Perfect" Ancient Wolfbred

This TotK Sage Link Idea That I Got Struck With

King Rhoam's Contrition (courtesy of @aikoiya)

~~~~

Yes, you are permitted to make fanart/fanfiction of anything linked above.

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The Wolfbred Chronicles - The "Lost" Tribe - Part Two - To Zora's Domain

“What do you mean, ‘Link can’t speak Hylian?’” 

“Well, if the Gerudo were cut off from Hyrule for ten thousand years, we wouldn’t speak Hylian either.”

“Then what does he speak?”

“That… I don’t know. I thought they were extinct until the moon revealed Link’s markings. If anyone would know, I’d assume it’d be the Zora royal family since most of the Wolfbred in the King’s service were relocated there.”

“Well then, I must make a trip to the Domain then, with Link in tow.” 

“Would you like me to accompany you?”

“I thank you for your offer, Urbosa, but I feel Link and I should travel alone. Besides, you have your people to tend to, and the journey should give me a chance to review Link in a new light.”

~~~

“Yes, that is correct. The Wolfbred have a language all their own.” Mipha smiled fondly at Link as she affirmed Zelda's words. “I'm surprised that you did not know.”

“Ah, well, the knights are not particularly chatty when in my presence.”

“Oh, I did not mean that, Zelda. I meant that I am surprised your father did not tell you.”

“Father gave me… virtually no information regarding Link. He told me that Link is descended from my mother’s best bodyguard, and that he would be assigning Link as my bodyguard. That was it.”

“Oh, dear… probably just didn't want anyone to find out what Link is.”

“What language does Link speak? It would be irresponsible to have such a barrier between me and him, considering he has given his oath to serve me until death.”

“My apologies, but I don't know what it's called. Goponga in the wetlands has become a very Wolfbred heavy settlement since the guards were sent here, but I'm not sure if we currently have any guards in the Domain itself who can speak in both. It is a… guttural language, I will say, only high-ranking Wolfbred soldiers typically learn both. Your mother's personal bodyguard, Link’s father as you said, was one, for example. He knew Hylian. Most Wolfbred don't really want to learn it unless they have to… they don't want to know what the Hylians are saying to them. Did your father tell you anything of Link’s father?” 

“Not exactly but I… vaguely remember Mother's bodyguard. Or rather, he was her favorite bodyguard. She had quite a few guards, but he was typically the one who followed her around like Link does with me. Of course, he wasn't on duty when Mother…” Zelda shooed away Mipha's offer of comfort when it was offered. “Maybe things would have been different if he'd been on duty that evening… I can see why they prefer to know only their native tongue, Hyrule blames them primarily for her death.” 

“They are not seers. For Hyrule to have expected such foresight from them, it is a frustration that many of the Wolfbred stationed here have expressed. They were denied agency to do anything but follow orders, so even if they had been given such foresight, they likely could have done nothing but watch.” 

“I do remember Mother continually scolding Father on the matter, that he could not order them to be dogs and expect them to act Hylian. I must have faith that some of her wisdom reached him… there is nothing I can do if Father disregards her.” 

“Perhaps my father knows if any Hylian-speaking Wolfbred are in the Domain. We should go and ask.”

Zelda tentatively turned towards Link. She may not necessarily be fond of having a strange, werewolf guard follow her every moment for the rest of her life, but that didn't mean he was unworthy of basic communication with her. Father had mentioned that he was about her age, just thirteen. He deserved for her to try.

Perhaps the Goddess heard this unspoken prayer, unlike all the others, because she heard footprints and a resounding bark.

“Ah, Sir Pryze! Good morning.” The red Zora waved out towards a Hylian-looking guard who approached them. 

“Morning, Princess.” The knight bowed to Mipha. When he saw Link, Zelda noticed Link's eyes lighting up. The knight had a surprising amount of splatter-like markings on his face and arms. Perhaps an accident? 

Mipha helped him tuck a lock of his red hair back into his helmet. “Perfect timing, Sir Pryze, we were just talking about our need of a Wolfbred. Link does, unfortunately, not speak enough Hylian for a smooth transition into a bodyguard.” 

Zelda could feel the fluttering in her chest rise. “Sir Pryze is a Hylian-speaking Wolfbred?” 

“Small.” Pryze pinched his fingers before casting a quick glance over her figure. “Bigger, Princess.”

“Yes, Sir Pryze. Princess Zelda has grown quite a bit since you've been to Castle Town.” 

Link looked towards Zelda for approval, then bowed to Pryze once she nodded. Pryze bowed in response to him, then a few sounds varying from woof-like to more of a chuff came from him. Link nodded. 

Pryze simply turned towards Mipha after his exchange with Link. “King know more Hylian.” 

“Yes, I'd figured the same, Sir Pryze. We should meet with my father.”

~~~

“Hmm, you wish to know more of the Wolfbred people? Yes, I believe I may be able to oblige.”

“A full recount is unnecessary, King Dorephan. If you would, just briefly, provide enough information for Link and I to transition into these new roles without being overly transparent of their history. I would wish for Link to provide whatever history he considers sacred by his own will.”

“But of course. How open your heart must be to him and his people. Very well. The Wolfbred have a communal society much like that of the Zora. To see a solitary one such as Sir Link here is unusual. Traditionally, they prefer to remain in groups with other Wolfbred and like an assigned duty. Many of them, if they lived outside their homeland, served as foot soldiers in the Hyrulean army for these two reasons. I supposed it was how they were made.”

Zelda looked over at Link and Pryze. While Link had never been more than a few paces away from her since they left Central Hyrule, Pryze had also drawn ever closer to Link. It did make sense, she too would prefer a familiar face if the lands of Hyrule were unfamiliar to her like they were to the Wolfbred, but the way Dorephan implied that they grouped together by design raised a million questions to her scientific mind. She cleared her throat, stepping forward so that the Zora king might allow her a question. “‘Made’, Your Majesty?” 

“Ah. That is a history that I… am not sure I am at liberty to explain. But there are records from long ago that suggest… They might be proof of the claim that the Sheikah rivaled the power of the Goddess. Of course, any definitive records were lost when the Sheikah and Wolfbred were chased out of Hyrule, and I dare not threaten our relationship as the Wolfbred’s sole ally for mere speculation.” Almost instantly, another Wolfbred who carried a large bag of fish in her mouth trotted into the throne room, bowing on all fours as she offered the large catch to Dorephan. “Ah, thank you for your generosity, Kokiri.”

Zelda’s eyes widened as she glanced towards the fish-bearing woman. Her shoulders were open as she looked up at the Zora king, something she’d never seen Link do naturally. She’s seen him do it hundreds of times, of course, a knight must appear strong and confident on duty. However, it was always a forced stance.

Pryze finally stepped away from Link’s side, helping two armored Zora carry the catch to wherever they needed.

Dorephan resumed his conversation with Zelda once Kokiri, Pryze and the Zora guards had gone off to their other matters. “I will say to you, there is a painful curse that has bound Wolfbred for hundreds of generations. A chain that only Link can break. He would never ask for such, but for the sake of our dear allies, help him, please.” 

“A… curse?”

“Yes, a very painful one. Link is the first of his kind to even have a chance to break it, and I fear it may take an act of the Goddess herself for him to be able to do so. Surely, you will learn of the curse in its entirety as you and him age.” 

“I… see. Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“But of course. Anything for Hyrule’s princess.”

~~~~

Hyrule's Final Stand Masterlist

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Me: *makes The Wolfbred Chronicles to be a collection of fics and short stories so I don't have to worry about a coherent plot*

Me: *forgets that despite all my notes and tries to make a coherent novel out of it, adding fifty pounds of stress into my life*

Me:

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The problem with introducing a lot of Link's background lore in The Wolfbred Chronicles is that I need to figure out a way on how to be... subtle, for lack of a better word.

The Gerudo lore discussion from yesterday (?) definitely made me think about how I wanted to tackle this one.

I gotta learn to be subtle, or else I don't think this is working out in my favor as an author. But this is gonna require some trigger warnings regardless