#totk roleswap au

[orphetoon]

(roleswap au) stop staring at him with those big ol eyes

[verflares]

(click for higher quality!) draconified link concept ive been chipping away at this past week ..... here's my funny little compendium concept for him:

"A heroic spirit has taken the form of this bestial dragon. Unlike it's kin, this creature exhibits an extremely aggressive disposition. It appears highly territorial, and will relentlessly chase down those who disturb its skywide patrols - of which it seems to be endlessly searching for either a long-time vassal or foe. Unfortunately, it seems the spirit within has long since forgotten exactly who it was looking for…"

[its-roachii]

totk spoilers ///

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

"Where am I?" (part one)

★ next ★

roleswap au pages 1-4. these are some of the more boring pages so i figured i'd get them out of the way. expect more pages soon >:)

[nellywizard]

// TOTK Spoilers

Where Are You? (LU x TOTK AU Comic)

“Hours later, when the ground began to shake and rubble fell from the sky as they rushed outside to watch Hyrule Castle rising off the ground, malice flooding out of every crack in the land, and one of their members declared missing in the aftermath, Twilight found himself desperately wishing he had pushed a little harder.” — CubanCracker62. “Dark Clouds on the Horizon.” Archiveofourown.org, 11 June 2023, archiveofourown.org/works/47814853. Accessed 20 Jan. 2024.

The making of this comic and story was very heavily inspired by CubanCracker62 on AO3 and their Tumblr @wizard-finix , I highly recommend that you check out their story on AO3, send them your support and kudos, and boost their “The Chain in TOTK” and “Linked Universe fics” series!

This comic in itself was a one-by-one project that I worked on when I could find the time for it. So if you notice how my style changes on each page, it was from weeks to a month or so of improvements in my skills (which I’m highly proud of!).

Linked Universe © jojo56830

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom © Nintendo

Dark Clouds on the Horizon © CubanCracker62 on AO3

[sciencelings-arts]

Main Quest

~Find Link~

Complete

Fic: The Unironic Magical Properties of True Love

WC: 2561

Zelink heavy reunion fluff

Alternate versions (and LORE) under the cut!

First image without all the chrysalis effects, yassified master sword

No sword oh no, also better look at the clothes for fun fact time: I based his outfit on an Indian sari and just want to let you know that out of view they collect at his angles into some billowy pants. Everything else was me messing around and vibing. That amputated arm needed a pretty sheer sleeve yk?

Now, about the phoenix-ed Master Sword… idk she deserved a redesign and I adore Phoenix imagery and symbolism and the master sword already has some vague wings on the guard and I really wanted to lean into it somehow. I just liked the vibes idk.

[mylonelydreaming]

My jaw hit the floor from watching this trailer and seeing how spot-on it is with Nintendo's own trailer! This is incredibly impressive work by the mod team!

[clairiko]

Roleswap AU

[assorted-aesthetics]

hero of the wild

[r0sequarks]

doodles for a tears of the kingdom roleswap au, because those will forever be my jam and i really like the idea of playable zelda. notes/rambling under the cut.

Scavenged Zonai tech instead of Ultrahand (she made it herself??)

idk if the stone stays a necklace or goes on a hand or what

Maybe Zonai glasses? idk

She has an undershirt b/c boobs. Patterned off main padding.

Zonai Survey Team + Hylian Armor (people just give Zelda shit)

Bow of Light - summons freely, acts like Master Sword, powers up with shrines?

Text is readable (Purah: stealing my look! rude!)

And then the general core conceits of Playable TotK Zelda:

Archer - ranged combat focus/optimized

Princess/General - focus on group combat (sages / monster squad / Gerudo Town)

Priestess - Light + Time magic, upgrades

Zonai Researcher - extra knowledge in ruins, can read tet, can do more with scavenging

I need to finish the final boss fight before I decide what entirely Link's role ends up as, but he's sent back in time injured with the broken sword while Zelda is teleported by the Purah Pad away to the Sky Island. IDK if she still has Rauru (or Mineru) as a guide, but even if she does, she's a lot more self sufficient, and scavenges/builds the tech to interface with Zonai devices herself instead of just being given the Ultrahand. I think she still gets the same abilities, but like. She's doing it herself. very stressed out this is fine energy.

Zelda on the sky island is probably more than a little feral researcher. It's her getting used to combat. When we started with the broken master sword, I though the game was going to let you keep it and power it up over time; I'm glad that's not how it went but I do think it would be interesting, so Zelda gets to summon a bow and it levels up over time (probably connected to the shrines system, because Holy Light, but idk how exactly). She can use swords and other weapons, but she definitely defaults more ranged.

Zelda also gets magic, which is obviously the Time Rune stuff, but I think also it would be cool if she had a light power unarmed attack (similar to but weaker than the Yiga Earthwave you can unlock). I like the idea of a playthrough where you never pick up a sword and you just keep light blasting people and dodging even though it is almost certainly the weaker attack. feral untrained self taught mages are and forever will be my jam.

When Zelda returns to Hyrule proper, I think the reactions are very different, because everyone pretty much agrees she's in charge (even if, perhaps, she doesn't). I also think that, well, people are less worried about Link being missing than they are about Zelda - the Lucky Clover isn't running stories about him, y'know? As such it's driven by what Zelda wants - which is to find Link, even if it''s not what others want.

Zelda as princess I think also plays interestingly into the group combat TotK introduces; I think in her game she acts more as general and they're more common. Not that she can't be on front lines, but it'd be pretty easy to play letting the Sages eat up melee while she's sniping. I also think she gets magic that can heal allies, making them more useful in fights to some extent. This would maybe be very messy in a real game but this is a theory baybee!

Although I think that's probably similarly limited / you don't have to drag people around while climbing mountains. Which, to be clear, she still does. It's been like five years and she's clearly been traveling the world with Link still at her side, there's no way that she's not just as feral an adventurer as he is. She's just better as passing as normal.

The big change in exploration is the various ruins, because she actually knows shit. I like to imagine there's some feature Zelda can use to sort of take notes on basically any Zonai or other ancient shit you find anywhere. She doesn't need to run back to Kakariko Village to translate, she's putting stuff together herself. This is maybe manifested by Zonai glasses/mask, which replaces/augments the Camera feature? And then upgrades to help you better see stuff? idk. [let the purah scope zoom in and out. ideal fix. kthxbai]

as for how Zelda interacts with the world...that's kind of complicated but really interesting. she's the beloved princess, but she is the Princess, and for the other four nations, specifically, Not Their Princess. like the dynamic with the Sages definitely changes. There's probably some themes there to parallel Zelda with Rauru but like that means there are Implications and I need to think more on that than 2am.

[skrunglesage]

*shaggy voice* like, give me playable zelda or give me death, dude

[scenicphoenix]

Totk roleswap because of course I am doing that

(might add on to this when I completely finish the game. I have only mentioned stuff i am absolutely certain about currently)

Link and Zelda finding Ganondorf is different, instead of Rarus hand imprisoning him, its fragments of Sonia and her Time magic. Raru was killed instead of Sonia, his Stone stolen by Ganondorf. Sonia using her stone and time magic to seal herself and Ganondorf in a bubble of frozen time.

Link gets sent to the past instead of Zelda, he was the one to end up falling instead. The Sonias Zonai stone ending up on his person during the chaos of the fall. Zelda while trying to catch Link and ends up grabbing the master sword instead, this is the moment Link teleports to the past and Zelda to the Sky islands

Links arm was still infected with gloom and needed to be amputated when he arrived in the past. The Zonai stone he arrived with helped keep the gloom at bay. Raru takes him under his wing due to his remarkable abilities in serving the light, and to help with the gloom infecting him. Sonia is impressed by his abilities in time magic as well, his flurry rush has a unique use of time magic.

Link doesn't immediately connect the dots of Ganondorf being the corpse that attacked him and Zelda. He does know he absolutely doesn't trust him. Ganondorf doesn't like Link either, mutual hatred for the other.

Before officially meeting Ganondorf, where he tries to brute force his way into taking over Hyrule, the battle goes differently. Instead of a beam of pure magic that nukes the Moldugas, due to not having Zelda around, with Links Zonai stone combined with a boost from Raru and Sonai. Link is able to destroy the Moldugas one by one at a fast pace, a super powered version of his flurry rush. This battle was much more close and Link was a last resort that Sonia suggested last second as a desperate measure. Her hope of powering up his flurry rush worked, she just wished she didn't have to put him in such harms way, however.

Raru is dead, the sages have fallen, Ganondorf is sealed away thanks to Sonia but that's only temporary. Link is at the temple of time, a tale as old as time, he's hoping for an answer, he gets one. Through the sands of time he and Zelda unknowingly briefly connect, Zelda sending not only the master sword but a large portion of her powers of light to him. He briefly remembers that the master sword can heal any damage done to it over time if the holy power is strong enough. He remembers what he was told about Zonai stones and the sacred dragons.

Link turns into a sacred dragon so he can heal the master sword and arrive in the future. Although he isn't a dragon of light like Zelda would have been. He's the dragon of time. A large green dragon that can be seen entering and exiting portals from different eras of time ever since his ascension into the dragon of time. Is the one you're approaching the correct version of him? Will it be the one where the sword is healed or still healing? His golden mane seems to be made of sand. His tears leave behind Sundilions instead of silent princesses. He has one less legs than the other dragons. Zelda feels safer around this dragon and he wonders why. She figures out why when he finds all the dragons tears.

Zelda wakes up at the sky islands, and is led by Sonia. Much like how Link was led by Raru. With Zelda being the mortal goddess and not infected by gloom, he is not restricted by the door of the temple of time like link would have been. Giving the sword and a portion of her powers to link through a hole in time. Now being weaker due to him sacrificing most of his powers to heal the master sword, Sonia guides her to shrines on the islands to help rebuild her strength.

Due to Zelda being distantly related to Sonia and his status as mortal goddess even if she has been weakened, she is able to open the shrines and use anything with the Zonai symbols on them. His reason for going to shrines is to strengthen her powers over light again after giving most of it to Link through time for the purpose of healing the master sword.

I don't think Zelda would fight with a sword or similar weapons. I think he would like bows and magic based weapons and attacks. Distance is her friend, although I doubt you want to be hit full force at close range by his powers even when she's weakened. He's a force to be reckoned with. He's the descendant of a goddess for Pete's sake.

Zelda would love exploring the skies and the depths.

The dragons of times portal ls only work for him. Although you can look through them and see the different eras he's traveling from or to. There are three noticeably different dragons of time, all based on how much the master sword has healed. The first one where he's basically just turned into a dragon and the sword is still heavily damaged. The second one where he's right in the middle of the past and present, the master sword is noticeably still damaged but on its way to being healed. And the third one where it's the most recent version of himself, the master sword is completely healed. But all three can travel through time, and you won't know which version of him it is until you check the master sword. If you try and pull one of the still damaged swords you will be flung into the nearby skies. A good way to get to higher sky islands.

I wouldn't be surprised if Zelda disquises herself, feeling like he can't completely be there for her kingdom without Link. Plus i think Ganon and the Yiga would be more aggressive at hunting him down. Zelda's also never got to try out fully being a him before being a princess and all. Sheik time. I like gender fluid Zelda. Why not both gender? Also Sheik gets to be included, everybody loves Sheik

Some things I haven't added because I would need time to figure it out and write it down. Like Links growing relationships with Raru and Sonai, Mineru, how the final battle goes before and when Sonai seals Ganon, ect. The more dialog heavy story bits mostly.

[orphetoon]

roleswap

[vivinavina]

Sage of Swords: A TotK Roleswap AU

Edit: This AU now has a fic, read it here:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/48501826

Basic Roleswap AU between Zelda and Link, with the twist being mostly on Link’s side of things after he gets sent back in time to ancient Hyrule. Lots of people have Link’s Secret Stone be like the Champion’s Blessings, or Time powers in an echo of canon. In this AU, Link’s Secret Stone enhances his resilience, forming an arm brace to keep the gloom at bay, keeping it from killing him but leaving the arm mostly usable, though not strong enough to wield a sword.

Cue Link having an existential crisis as the thing they spent the last five years of their resurrected life and most of their pre-Calamity life training for: being a soldier. Link does not take it well, kind of rejects Sonia and Rauru for a while, training to try and overcome the literal demon energy in their arm even though it’s awful and painful and self-destructive, despite them trying to get him to rest and heal.

Sonia and Rauru take Link to ask Mineru for advice, but they go to her before and go like, “Hey Sis, this feral child will kill themself at literally a 0.1% chance of going home. Maybe don’t mention draconification.” This leaves Link with no hope of going home (Zelda had the hope of improvising her time powers, Link doesn’t even have that), and has to come to terms with figuring who Link is without the sword.

After much tears and bonding with Sonia and Rauru, Link finds out a lot of things about herself, most crucially that she’s a girl. Adjusting and becoming happier with herself, learning little things and hobbies she missed out on.

(Meanwhile, in the present, instead of chasing visions of Link like you chase Zelda in canon, Zelda is chasing sightings of a mysterious “Thief,” a woman in archaic dress and an arm brace like Link left her in the Temple of Time. A “Thief” who carries the Master Sword and might know what happened to Link.)

But of course, things have to end tragically. Ganondorf plans on taking a secret stone, and Link, Rauru and Sonia’s little… adopted daughter? advisor? confidant? Ganondorf’s not sure but she would be the easiest to overpower and steal a stone from. No magic or martial skill to stop him from getting what he rightfully deserves. And he almost succeeds, but (Sonia? Rauru? Unsure which atm, both are juicy drama) step in to take the blow meant for Link.

Link realizes, “Oh, this is what happens when I don’t be a soldier, people die,” and almost all of her character growth gets undone. She fuses her Secret Stone to the Master Sword and uses its evil-sealing properties to forcibly and violently purge the gloom from her body, swearing herself as the Sage of Swords, and begins a self-destructive vengeance that lasts the Imprisoning War.

Will link a Part 2 if I decide to continue this.

[its-roachii]

totk spoilers ///

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

"The Gerudo Assault" (part three)

★ first ★ last ★ next ★

"Yes."

[nellywizard]

Hey, guess who joined the TOTK and the LU bandwagon???

Not the first original AU, but you get the gist. Instead its Wild who gets thrown back in time via secret stone teleportation, and Zelda/Flora gets stuck in the sky islands and attempting to find Wild while stopping strange occurences in different regions of hyrule BUUUUTTT the rest of the chain is there to help her find their missing 9th member.

*UPDATE*

lol I forgot legend pink highlights and twi and time tattoos sorry!!

[sciencelings-arts]

Queen of Light Sonia bc it makes more sense to me and I wanted to make an AU where she doesn’t get killed off and gets to be important to the story

Close ups under the cut because I like making my intricate details too small!