#these were meant/were written to be general loz too

[meanlesbean]

Chapter commentary

are people interested in seeing my chapter commentary for Cadence of a Legacy? idk. I'm posting it anyway. voila.

Chapter 1 notes are longer than the others because I included more detail about the planning of the fic. Anyway, here there be: musings on family and brotherhood and how it shows up in linked universe fanworks, Hyrule as an arsonist, Wild's economy, and more info about card games than anyone else probably cares about. minor totk spoilers about one sidequest but nothing plot related (if you need, skip the bullet that starts "pre-totk release".) Here we go:

Chapter 1 - The Woods Between

I am not joking about having a phone note that says “making peace with your inner child when your inner child has physically manifested and wants to cause problems on purpose”. I would include a screenshot of said note, but then you would all see how long I have been toying with this idea and that’s too embarrassing

IMO, there is an astounding lack of fic focusing on the relationship between Time and Twilight even though they are the only ones who interact in game canon. And I’ve read every good Time-centric fic probably a dozen times. So unfortunately that meant I had to go write my own. Unfortunately the plot that I came up with doesn’t work with Time (or Mask) as the POV character, so it evolved into a Twilight-centric fic as well. 

The bones of this chapter were mostly written in a notebook last year at my terrible job when I had a desk in the corner and nothing to do 85% of the time. Large parts of the set up of the chapter remain the same from this draft, with even a select few of the lines staying the same word for word. But the handwritten version, which covered all of Chapter 1 and parts of Chapter 2, was only about 7 pages front and back (rip to the 11k monster it became)

Literally I never would have posted this fic if I hadn’t read the the FMA fic series demon alchemist and realized that the reason I hated my draft so much was because the narrative voice was too impersonal

So I started working on this fic again last fall with a lot more attention paid to establishing a clear voice, and I finally started making solid progress, to the point where I made it a goal to share it on AO3, which I have not done in a long long time

Hyrule’s missing fingers are a reference to the demon alchemist series btw. I do imagine he lost them from an enemy’s throwing ax or mace. Twilight complaining about the number of enemies with throwing weapons is also me complaining about how hard Zelda II is. fucking Dairas. 

Other fic inspiration includes: Call Them Brothers, for getting me thinking about situations in which Warriors doesn’t know that Time is the kid he fought with in the war, and more generally, Sinnatious’ LU and LOZ fics for inspiration on Time’s voice. 

I cannot tell you how much time I spent rewriting and reworking the first half of the chapter. Honestly writing that first part was just like. Agonizing. Nothing was working for so long. Every time I tried fixing a problem, I created two more. I was very close to cutting out the scene of Twilight scouting and the camp shenanigans and skipping to Twilight meeting Mask, but then it felt like everything went way too quick. I was very relieved when people liked the wrestling scenes because that whole section had me tearing my hair out. The things that kept me going were spite and also how desperate I’ve been to get back into writing. Literally that one defunctland tweet. 

In contrast, the second half of the chapter (everything from the Epona grooming scene on) came so easy. All of the latter stuff was written and edited within like 2 weeks. My favorite scene from this chapter actually ended up being that part with Twilight and Time taking care of Epona. 

More specific notes:

My take on Twilight’s aversion/distrust of magic is that he has a really strong sense for it, but he doesn’t have much of a knowledge base of how magic works. So this results in Twilight frequently getting a lot of information that he can’t make sense of, and it really fucking freaks him out. 

I know fandom likes to characterize Wild as the group arsonist, but I think Hyrule would be just as big if not a bigger arsonist, which was why I had him be the one to suggest using fire. If you want to uncover all the hidden items/heart pieces in the OG Zelda without a guide or walkthrough, you have to burn so many trees. Like, if you are ever stuck in that game and don’t know where to go next, 70% of the time your solution is either bombs or fire. 

I played ten thousand rounds of “should their titles (ie. rancher, captain, etc) be lowercase or capitalized?” while writing this. I know people usually have them call each other their fandom names, but tbh that always throws me off just a little, even though I 100% get why people do it because good lord it would be easier.

I feel like a lot of LU works (speaking generally about the fandom output as a whole, not about any particular fic) leans heavily into the emotional support and comradery aspect of the chain as family, and does not include nearly enough of like. annoying each other on purpose and play violence and rubbing each others’ faces in the dirt. which is a big reason for why I kept the wrestling scene.

Maybe it’s because me and my family members were little demons but like. I have brothers and mostly boy cousins, and a solid 60% of our time as kids/teens was spent playing some variation of King of the Rock. I appreciate the found family softness, and there will definitely be a lot of that in this fic, but my experience with siblinghood includes a lot of chasing each other around with wiffle ball bats and trying to strangle each other. The Links are brothers! and sometimes that means that you will try to ruin your brother’s whole day just because you are mildly bored. 

Warriors and the teens are playing Rummy. I imagine that the group plays a lot of card games, and since I grew up playing tons of cards, I have put way too much thought into all of this. Other popular games among the group (depending on how many people they have) probably include Texas (Ordon?) hold em, whist, knockout, BS, gin rummy, and hearts. Hearts can get contentious with them though because you can engage in coordinated sabotage. Four and Legend are not allowed to be partners in Whist because they’re the only ones who can count all the cards in play. There is a near-unanimous group ban on Spoons because it got too violent.  

Legend having heterochromia is inspired by an Oracles manga panel redraw someone posted on here years ago that I cannot for the life of me find again

I have this headcanon that Wild, in comparison to the rest of the gang, is absurdly rich but does not really realize it because he just does not have a ton of shit to actually spend money on. This is based on the ridiculous amount of rupees/gems I have on my 100% botw file and also my own musings on the state of Hyrule’s economy post-calamity. Mostly I think that post-calamity Hyrule does not have super discrete classes like most other Hyrules do, and that a luxury economy does not really exist. 

Pre-totk release I actually thought: okay, Wild has a lot of money, but his luxury purchases are limited to like fancy armor, which is directly related to doing his job as the hero. It’s not like most other eras where you can go build wealth by buying up a ton of land. And then totk came around and let you go buy a sizable swatch of land. I still think my original idea mostly holds true, if only because the monster-free areas of Hyrule where someone could safely make a land claim still seem to be pretty limited (even the totk house has monster camps right across the road from it). 

Mask is not dressed in the green tunic for two main reasons, one of which I’ll keep to myself because it felt way too spoilery when I wrote it down. Most importantly, it shows that time has passed since Majora’s Mask. In fact, in chapter 3 we'll learn that it's been just about a year since then. The Kokiri tunic is no more because he grew out of it :( 

I didn’t find this reference until after publishing, but I imagine he’s dressed more or less like this. Except he has his green cap and a leather belt, baldric, and boots.

[attllhak]

Flora’s Musings

So, here’s the WingAU fic I mentioned. It’s the first one I wrote and features the fun trope of “The Unreliable Narrator That Is History”, which I had a lot of fun with.

I, don’t have a tag list for this AU at this point. So, this part is just my preamble I guess. So, preamble over, here’s the fic.

-------------------

Zelda ran her fingertips between her shoulder blades. She tried not to think about what wasn’t there.

Her wings would come in, she hoped, no she knew they would. They had to. As the princess fated to stop Calamity Ganon it was her duty to unlock her sealing powers, face him, and earn her wings.

It was why she was down here now, in the hidden and secret library they’d excavated. No one cared about this area of the castle, but Zelda loved it there. It was so full of knowledge, and there were records about the Queens and Princesses of the past, ones who had wings themselves.

It was certainly a good excuse to hide down there and do research.

There weren’t many documents on the founders of Hyrule, but she’d translated a few of the ancient texts and had learned much. Apparently her powers came from the fact she was descended from Hylia herself! There were exactly three paintings of her down there, and all of them were old and weathered. Two, one of her alone and one next to her husband, the first King of Hyrule, who was holding the Master Sword, his own wings giving him away as the first of Link’s incarnations, were so old almost all of the colour was gone. The last one, however, had been tucked into a book and, protected from the elements, retained some of its colour.

The goddess reborn had gold wings, bright and shining and as beautiful as everyone expected them to be. Her Hero, however, had red wings, a bright crimson with soft gold flight feathers. What was more, this painting seemed to depict them in their downtime, the goddess still dressed up and all, but leaning over the edge of her throne. Her Hero sat on the dias and leaned against the throne, and was messing with something in his hands that the goddess seemed to be watching, though age obscured what it was. It was entirely unprofessional and sweet, and it made Zelda happy. It made them seem less like untouchable figures of pure good and more like real people. She liked that they were people too.

There was only one picture of the next Queen, and it was so old and weathered that Zelda was scared to touch it lest it crumble into dust. This queen had smaller wings, though Zelda couldn’t tell what colour they were supposed to be. Her Hero was there too, and he had four wings, and Zelda couldn’t be sure but it almost seemed like each wing was a different colour. She couldn’t find any other record of these two, and so she’d taken a picture of the image on the Sheikah Slate to preserve it. This painting was important.

One of the Queens came from the point in history called the Split, a strange period of several thousand years where very different events happened at the same time. They had, through the records in the castle libraries and the temples across Hyrule, figured out this Queen had lived three different recorded lives. Regardless, she always looked the same, or similar at least, in all of her lives. She was a warrior, and her wings, indigo and white and flecked with gold, were always held in a way that showed pride.

Her Hero wasn’t always with her, in two of her lifetimes she ruled alone. In one of them, her Hero had died trying to fight Ganon, and was buried with wings wrapped about him, as was traditional for Heroes and their Queens. The Queen had been Princess then, the books say, and was only 17. I made Zelda uneasy, Link had turned 17 just a few months ago, and her 17th birthday was fast approaching. To think the Hero of Time could die at 17 made her worried for her own Hero. The next of the two he just, wasn’t there. There was no record of the Hero after he defeated Ganon, he just vanished without a trace. Zelda still wanted to know why. The last life gave the most information on the Hero, but he wasn’t listed as a Hero at all. There was no fight in this life, just peace and a failed arrest. As far as historians could tell, this was the most accurate life of hers, but Zelda wasn’t so sure. After all, she and the head of her Royal Guard both had wings. Something had to have happened. These were the only records of the Hero of Time where his wings were visible. A beautiful metallic copper, with darker bronze flight feathers. He seemed to keep them close to his body, like he didn’t want anyone to pay attention to him or them. He apparently married a farm girl in this life.

There were different heirs in each of these lives. For the first life the Queen was a fighter, one with all kinds of magic at her fingertips. Her wings were pink and red, and when she spread them a little bit of gold could be seen at the base of them. This was a Queen who never shied away from the many, many issues her people faced. And many issues there were, records argued whether the number of quests her Hero went on was five or six or twelve. He seemed grumpy in every painting, but after seven-ish quests Zelda would be too. His wings were pink, a million different shades at once. He also seemed to prefer long tunics or dresses to pants. Apparently he didn’t like pants.

After them came a pair of Queens. Zelda initially thought they were cousins, but apparently one was the other’s ancestor, as bizarre as that was. Only one of the two had wings, a soft amber or honey colour, a safe, warm brown. The Princess didn’t have wings, but was no less important if the records and paintings were to be believed. Their Hero didn’t look like much, but his wings, a deep, dark green with earthy brown flight feathers, told of his heroics enough that his looks didn’t have to. Records said he married the Princess, but they never had children, instead helping the Queen raise her bastard twins as a group. Zelda wondered if perhaps the three had all been together, so to speak, and the twins were actually his.

In the second life, there was only one heir, a woman who was named ‘Tetra’ and not Zelda. Her wings were blue, with red separating the blue from gold flight feathers. It was a beautiful colour. Her Hero was usually pictured at her side, his silver tipped sea foam green feathers shining next to her. Those two were always painted outside, and usually on a boat of some kind.

Following the timeline that was decided to be ‘true’, the Queen following the Queen of Three Lives was her great-granddaughter. Her wings, sleek and graceful, were solid black save for the lowest layer of feathers, which was a soft golden-orange colour. Her Hero was hardly ever at her side, history said he spent most of his time in his home village or on assignments for the Queen. Zelda didn’t know if they didn’t get along, or if he hated the city and castle, or why it was that he was never around his Queen, but there was only one painting of him next to her. His wings were big, wide and strong, a range of soft oranges with a rare black feather scattered across them. He also wore a strange charm on a rope around his neck, but no one seemed to know what it was.

The only other Queen, save for the one from 10 000 years ago, was one with a story so outlandish that historians debated on whether or not she was real. She always held a sword or bow in hand, and her wings were either spread for flight or held in close for combat. They were gold, with white flight feathers that seemed to go indigo at the base of each feather. Black flecked the gold, making it obvious she was a fighter. Her Hero was always with her, his wings out behind him, flared up in a show of pride or confidence, a rallying cry for his troops. They fought in a war, so the records claimed. His wings were gold, shiny silver spots scattered over his wings, not dissimilar to the stars in the sky, that made his wings look like they glittered. He was beautiful, as was his Queen, and it was clear that the two were very close.

There weren’t any records on the wings of the Queen 10 000 years ago, nor her Hero, and Zelda didn’t know why that was. Perhaps those records were lost when the Sheikah split. It was unlikely she would ever know.

Zelda didn’t know when her wings would come in, and some days she feared they never would. It was a comfort at least that Link’s wings hadn’t come in yet either.

He found her a few hours later, bringing her a blanket and some food. He sat with her and politely signed a request for her to read to him. They read all through the night, and Impa found them the next morning, Zelda leaned over the desk with her head on her arms and Link leaning on the side of her desk, head tilted back and drooling. She left them there.

When the Calamity hit and she didn’t get her wings she felt like such a failure, especially since Link’s wings had just broken skin a few moments ago, greyish brown wings that were still all fluff coming through the slits in his tunic designed to accommodate them.

She sat next to him in the Shrine of Resurrection, just before they sealed it. His wings were still small, they had never had the chance to come in fully before he fell. She reached over and brushed hair from his face, watching his relaxed features and ignoring the burns on the rest of his body.

“Don’t worry, Link,” she whispered. “I’ll make sure they’re all safe until you wake up,”

She marched on the castle then, staring down the Calamity and ready to give everything she had to keep him at bay.

She reached forward, holding her hand out to the monster and ready to fight. She could feel the triforce on her hand burn in response, her body spilling a radiant golden light. The monster dove for her, and she held her ground, eyes open and ready to stand and fight.

A push on her shoulders, then the pressure bursting and wings spread out behind her.

Blue and white feathers sat on the ground where she was moments before.

(---)

Link stepped into the castle, tiny wings fluffed up in anxiety and nerves making them quiver. He paused as he moved towards the heart, lifting one foot.

Under his boot, was a pair of blue and white feathers, perfectly preserved from when they fell there 100 years before.

[howtowhumpyourhiccup]

Febuwhump Day 5 - Duty To One’s Family

Summary: Written for Febuwhump Day 5. Set during TP. As Ordon Village's designated big brother, Link has always been the one to look out for the village children and keep them out of trouble. But then King Bulbin came along and shattered that for all of them.

Warning: /

Rating: General

Characters: Link, Midna

Pairing: /

Words: 979

Fandom: Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Prompt: “Take me instead”

Whumpee: Link

Author’s Notes: First LoZ submission to this month-long challenge. I'm happy that I managed to write another Zelda fic.

Constructive criticism is appreciated.

Enjoy!

Ao3

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The woods of Ordon have always been quiet, they have always been peaceful. Though, very few in Ordon ever dare stray too far from the safety of the village, the woods outside of their home have always had a comforting atmosphere to them.

But they are quiet now, restless, scared in a way. It's like the wind brushing through the trees brings with it a foreshadowing message of trouble and darkness.

Always so in-tune with the forest and the life that thrives within it, the changes have reached Link and they unsettle him greatly.

But wait, why is he standing in the woods? In the Ordon Spring to be exact? He's sure he's meant to be doing something, but what? It's on the tip of his tongue and yet it alludes him at the same time, like a memory he just can't grasp no matter how hard he reaches.

There is something wrong, he can feel it in his gut. "A warrior's gut" Rusl used to call it, but Link never considered himself as one.

His gaze lifts and the skies above him darken. A storm? No, it's something different, something darker, something he has never seen before, separate from his world and yet inseparable.

There is the snorting of an animal behind him, he turns to find the gates leading out of the spring and the inky blackness behind them. There's a strange orange glow to it.

It's twilight, he somehow knows.

Before it stand three large boars with riders and they stare down at him with red eyes. They are armed and their dark green skin blends ominously with the darkness behind them.

And in their arms?

The children.

Horror fills his heart and the clouds darken above them as the wind grows.

They are pale and unconscious, limp in the arms of their kidnappers, who silently stare and stare at him.

How? When?!  Was he not looking? Was he not doing his job as their big brother?

Shaking his head, he wants to step out of the water, but he can't move, he's frozen, his feet won't move, and he feels like this isn't the first time.

The Bulblins take their leave, turning their boars to disappear into the blackness and taking the children with them.

Colin, Beth, Talo, Malo, all of them. Even Ilia.

Link wants to call out their names, tell their kidnappers to stop and come back, but his words are stuck in his throat and his hands won't sign them. They tremble uselessly by his side. Is staring all he can do?

Maybe, he can't at least force the words to come.

"Don't..." His voice is but a whisper as he wants to beg them to stop this. If not through his hands, he talks very little, but never have the words felt as heavy as it did now.

"Take me." It's the first full sentence he manages, despite its short length.

"Take me instead!"

He shouts, but they don't listen.

"Take me!"

They disappear into the twilight.

"No, take me!"

They're gone.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"No!"

Though a quiet young man, Link's shout wakes Midna up as well. Her eye peeks out of the darkness, narrowing his way.

He's sitting beneath a tree as trekking through Hyrule without Epona has been a tiring endeavor. He hadn't meant to fall asleep like this, he'd simply wanted to sit for a little while and rest his legs until he could make the rest of the journey. Now it's night and hours have passed.

"I told you this was a bad idea." Midna tells him as if he can help it that he had a nightmare. She doesn't bother leaving his shadow to see if he's alright after that fright, simply peeking out of the darkness to scold him from there.

Though he glances at her, Link doesn't respond and simply looks away instead. Midna says a lot of things, a lot of hurtful things, and he would rather not hear any of it in this state of mind.

He wipes at his eyes to find them wet and his heart aches, not such a surprise after the nightmare he just had.

The kids have been on his mind, they are on his mind. Every hour of every day, with every step he takes and every enemy he slays, they are constantly on his mind.

To Colin, to Beth, to Malo and Talo, he is their big brother. He is the one who keeps them out of trouble, who separates Talo and Colin when the former picks on the latter again. He's the one to keep them safe, the one who gets them out of the trouble they do find themselves in. He's the one they look up to.

Ever since they were very, very little, he's always seen it as his duty. They are family, after all, and family looks out for one another.

He was there when Colin and Ilia were taken and he was the one who did nothing. He was frozen, barely able to even move, and by the time he could, it was already too late. The guilt is more than he can bear.

And they expect him to be a hero? He feels undeserving, inadequate.

Link looks at his shadow, finding the eye gone as Midna must've retreated. Did she catch onto his want to be alone? She's usually not that observant. No, wait, she is, she just usually doesn't care.

But he's been sitting here and resting for much too long and he should get going. Sleeping underneath a tree isn't going to help him find the kids. He stands and grabs the sword and shield he'd placed beside him to unburden his back.

Crossing Hyrule is a long trek to make, especially on foot, so the sooner he gets going, the sooner he can reach the twilight-covered Eldin province.

[trueeasiann]

what’s going on with the BOTW Big Bang?

NOTE: this post was originally posted as a reply to this announcement made earlier today by the BOTW Big Bang mods. I’m reposting it in the general tag for informational purposes since the mods have hidden my reblog, along with other dissenting opinions.

for those out of the loop: this announcement was made by the mods because a participant in the BOTW Big Bang Discord server posted in the #shipping channel that they were concerned about art that was posted of a ship.

the relationship was Urbosa/Zelda.

the participant stated that they were a minor.

Zelda is 16 or 17 years old in the game’s canon.

Urbosa is around Zelda’s mother’s age, which can be anywhere above 16 years older than Zelda.

the participant stated that they were uncomfortable because this resembled a pedophilic relationship.

the participant was given a warning by mods that they were being an anti-ship which was not allowed in the server.

at least one other participant agreed with the original participant’s sentiment.

the original participant apologized for their statement.

shortly after, the #shipping channel was completely deleted.

I would like to state at this time that I am a ship-friendly person!!! I firmly believe that everyone has a right to ship whatever they want, to revel in their own kinks, and to express their own opinion on the Internet. Urbosa/Zelda shipping is not the issue here.

rather, as the mods have said:

“This event is meant to celebrate the characters and dynamics of BotW and give an opportunity for fans to create content they love. This has been the case since the inception of the event, and it will continue to be the case until the stories are written and the art is drawn.”

and yet, by banning minors – SIX WEEKS AFTER SIGNUPS OPENED – the mods have taken away that opportunity to celebrate and to create content for BOTW from a subset of those fans: their fans under 18 years of age. which is a key target audience of Nintendo’s for the LoZ series.

this is NOT how an inclusive community operates. it also does not solve the issue!!! adults can be uncomfortable with a particular ship for whatever reason too!!! and i do NOT mean that certain fanart has to be banned outright either – but at the very least, make efforts to keep it limited to the people that are itching to see it. that’s what a good moderator does, yeah??

i believe that a good moderator also does NOT accuse participants with legitimate concerns of “shaming” and “bullying” what folks ship. just as different people like different ships, different people also have different boundaries! a good moderator will work to accommodate those with stricter boundaries, not… get rid of them completely??

I also think that A GOOD MODERATOR WOULD NOT CENSOR FELLOW FANS THAT DO NOT AGREE WITH HOW THEY RUN THINGS. please see screenshots under the cut:

Exhibit 1

@bhujerbanwrites​ posted her intent to drop out in the Discord server, with the purpose of generating discussion, at 9:18pm EDT.

her message was deleted at 9:19pm after a mod acknowledged it:

Exhibit 2

@spicychestnut123​ posted her intent to drop out in the Discord server, again with the purpose of generating discussion, at 9:36pm EDT.

again, the message was deleted that same minute, after acknowledgement from a mod:

this goes beyond just shipping preferences. as a result, I will not be participating in any Big Bang event hosted by these moderators in the future.