#you know from the Gerudo town comic

[adrift-in-thyme]

Behold a smol Edward doodle featuring a disembodied hand

[luna-lovegreat]

So one thing I like about Time is that he will talk about his life and journeys

He talks about it! He'll tell the boys stories and answer questions. (...when asked)

Obviously he tells his family- Malon knows everything

But he has also never held back from telling the boys stories or answering questions

I'm still always cackling over him telling them about gerudo town- he is way too proud to brag about being a mischievous gremlin

"I proved to be a greater thief than all of ganons tribe"- oh yeah. He's definitely the good influence. (That's sarcasm, Wars is the one good example for the younger ones.)

He just. He looks so smug to tell them about his experiences with the Gerudo- I love how often we see him just talking to them and answering questions about his life.

Even if it's clearly painful memories- he has still always told them

*sobs*

Obviously Time talks to Twilight the most about stuff- and everyone knows that (to where Sky went to him for questions about Time)

But the thing that get me the most is Wind.

Wind asked about... everything! Wind asked about his first journey and his life- and Time told him

The sheer transition from

"I was wondering... about your original journey"

To

"You told me about your original journey. Everything you said... the sages you described, the old traditions, the old stories- all of it! ...)

And this literally drives me insane because Time told him- Time told him everything! He told him about the sages, traditions- Time literally openly talked to Wind about his first Journey because he asked.

The Hero of Time's story had always been a tragedy- I mean... yikes. Trauma much? But I think people overlook this part of him- that he's older. All the hurt and scars are still there, but he has learned to talk about it to deal with it. And I think I know why- (Read)

Malon Malon Malon Malon!!! Jojo showed this set up for their marriage- Time was and is traumatized. But he and Malon worked to talk through things. I mean. Can you imagine keeping secrets from Malon? I don't want to. I feel like she would throw a cow at me. Anyways.

It takes a lot to work through trauma and learn to talk through it. Malon claimed him tho, so I don't think he had a choice. But seriously- she helped him work through things as family. Which led to a successful marriage for both of them, and got Time to where he can talk about these things with the boys :D

But

Time is a troll, so although he will share his insane life stories.... he will also say he fought the moon with no more context, and tell his wife that they have a descendant but not freaking tell her which one it is.

He's so insane I love it <3

Just don't forget this part of him... don't forget that rather it's sad or goofy or whatever- he will talk about his life. If someone simply asks

:)

.

Art and comic by Jojo @linkeduniverse au! :DDD

@adrift-in-thyme

[linderosse]

Hi there! Id like to ask a question.

I like your idea that the kingdoms Legend went off to adventure to (Holodrum, Labrynna, Hytopia and Lorule) are all in the same place or era rather haha, like they all coexist. Its rather genius!

But that makes me curious, do you have an idea where the kingdoms are located? I know Lorule is a whole other place entirely, but what about the others? Which kingdom is from the north? South? Etc. I'm just curious how far or near each kingdom is, and where Hyrule is between all of them. (Also am I missing other kingdoms?)

Thank you!!!

Yep— the five kingdoms currently entering an alliance in Legend and Fable’s era are Hyrule, Labrynna, Holodrum, Lorule, and Hytopia.

Technically, Legend (and sometimes Fable) have seen even more: Subrosia is a separate kingdom beneath Holodrum, past Labrynnans can visit the present with the Harp of Ages and have canonically traveled to other countries, and Koholint… was as real as a dream can be 🥲. And that’s not counting independently governed countries that are part of the larger conglomerates, like Hyrule’s river Zoras ruled by Queen Oren, or the Tokay island beside Labrynna.

So, background— as you may know, there are four types of non-Hyrule worlds in the Zelda franchise.

Independent government, but owes allegiance to Hyrule (Ex: Every Zora’s Domain and Gerudo Town in the series)

Actual, independent other country (Ex: Spirit!New Hyrule, Hyrule!Calatia (Calatia is not canon to the games, but is a popular fan-canon based on Link’s homeland in the Valiant Comics adaptation))

Parallel world (Ex: Time!Termina)

Dream world (Ex: Wind!Ocean King’s Realm)

The question is: which of these are each of the kingdoms Legend has visited, and if they’re physical, where are they located with relation to Hyrule?

Koholint is a dream world, and is therefore not in this alliance. However, I love Link’s Awakening too much to ignore it entirely in the Wisdomverse. What happened to Koholint will be addressed in The Secrets We Keep :).

As you said, Lorule’s different. No need to place it geographically; it’s a parallel world to Hyrule.

Hytopia seems to be confirmed North of Hyrule according to the (admittedly non-canon) Hyrule Encyclopedia. Apparently it’s also confirmed in ALBW? I don’t remember that, but it’s been a while since I’ve played ALBW so I believe it. According to the Encyclopedia, the Hytopians wear frilly clothing to brave the cold northern climates. That’s hilarious and I love it. I’m going with north for this one.

Hyrule is where Hyrule is :)

Finally, Holodrum and Labrynna are claimed by the Encyclopedia to be parallel worlds, but I disagree with this. The Encyclopedia is non-canon, and iirc also says Termina stopped existing after Time left, which I refuse to believe as well. Sure, it looks like Legend gets teleported to Holodrum/Labrynna by the Triforce in the beginning, but later, Impa, Fable, and a bunch of Hylian knights make it over there just fine and I doubt they did so using anything other than normal physical means. In the Hyrule Historia timeline (which I pretty much mostly follow), the Oracle games happen before Link’s Awakening, which means Legend sails home from Holodrum/Labrynna. But Legend is also pictured riding somewhere on a horse at the beginning. Therefore, we can deduce that perhaps one of the two countries borders Hyrule on land, and the other is a separate continent— or both are connected by land, but you could take a boat back to Hyrule if you wanted. My money’s on Labrynna being off to the West so far— the eastern Labrynnan forest border connects to Hyrule’s woods, and this leaves the southeast ocean of Labrynna open for Legend to sail back to Hyrule to, through the Sea of Storms where the storm at the beginning of Link’s Awakening seems like it could work (Legend has already shipwrecked there once before, but he’s totally the kind of guy to want to brave those waters again either as a test of strength, challenge, or punishment.) Jury’s still out on Holodrum!

I’m actually playing Oracle of Seasons for the first time right now (on Wednesdays and Fridays! 😇) and just finished Oracle of Ages last week— so I may update my views on Holodrum as I unlock more of the game’s map!

Tl;dr: Fable’s got a whole intricate mess of a chronospatial geopolitical situation to deal with here. Mad respect to our diplomat Zelda <3

[newartistgirl]

Lu little details (1)

  It’s the little details what make me hallucinate every single time there’s an update. Now, eventhough I may forget plenty of the ones I noticed while reading or thinking through (and some other I might have missed), I’m gonna try to list some of them.

  Im going to focus more on reference-to-games details not little details about the dynamics between the group.

  1. The first posts actually are full of references. Like really full. It would be endless to point out all of them. (Twilight and the soup, Legend and the seagulls, time being the one talking to the fairy, different views of the princess, Wind and the soup too, Twilight quoting Rusl (It’s not the only time), Legend thinking of “a separete world”) My favourite, probably, is Wind asking for Kaepora to repete what he had said. In this category I might add everything she took under consideration when decicing not just their personalities but also even their ages, and all the answers to some questions, being actually incredible the fact that Twi is ambidextrous (Tbh i don’t know what’s actually more impressive, the fact that jojo carefuly has in mind the dominant hand of each Link or the fact that someone, actually managed to notice Twilight would change hands) (Maybe I was not paying attention) (Now, I’m wondering if that drawing of Time shooting it was intentional. Because, if you look carefully, he is actually holding it like a right handed person would)

  2. Wild not knowing about wallmasters. This is the most obvious and straight to the point one of the boys having lived in different Hyrules and having had different adventures, however, in the comics that follow the stroryline you can also get from what they say several times hints of this exact same thing. Anyway, my favourite example of this is Sky asking who Ganon was.

  3. I would add here the different opinions of the Links on different matters (I’ve already mentioned the different views Hyrule and Wild have on the princess). Another example of this would be Wild and Wind “arguing” about Kings of Hyrule. It makes so much sense. (I’m not gonna go down that opinion/personlity lane, but it’s worth mentioning) And Twilight and Legend complaining about knights, all based on the game experiences.

  4. That image of Twilight holding a puppy and Wild, completely unbothered, next to him. I really like that kind of sense of humour, and it’s a funny tiny irrelevant detail that I very much appreciate.

  5. Warriors referencing his game. I think it’s happened three times. First, when they are talking and he hides himself from a lady and Hyrule laughs at him saying it’s the third time he’s done that, because being a lady’s man has already been proven as a danger .Second time, with the traitor little comic (I missed that one, ups). And third, while talking about the master sword and how “believing you are invencible” it’s a dangerous way of thinking. I know all Links actually make references to their respective games, but some other references feel more remarkable. 

  6. I almost forget about it. That conversation between Time and Wild about having entered Gerudo Town is another example of diference between the Links. It’s just that this one has a special place in my mind merely because I had never actually thought of that and it’s in fact wonderful how Wild reacts to hearing Time’s approach into granting himself respect and access to the town. Similar to this, due to the fact that it’s straight up linked to Wild, we have that scene where the gerudo outfit is descovered and he gets teased. (Fun fact; I had no actual clue that goron spice was actually a cooking item in botw until I red this. I had never shopped in the Goron City. And yeah, either I had already beaten Ganon or I was about to)

  7. In Lon Lon Ranch, as expected, we also have several references. Being the most noticeable; Malon explaining Hyrule wht they keep sugar water bowls around, the couple’s mask hanging on the wall, or how sky loves cuccos. (A little also “innocent” one may be that Malon straight up mocks her husband’s nose? Being this a reference to the design of the hero of Time)

  8. One that I also skipped (and very much love) is Twilight seeing some kind of resemblance between Time’s Captain’s hat and the Heroe’s Shade. We also see more Majora’s Mask references, being maybe the most obvious one Time saying: “Poor kid... He met a terrible fate”. Like, I can hear the Salesman’s laugh.

  I`m gonna leave it here for now evethough there are plenty more nice details that show the attention to detail of this comics. However, maybe it’s better to divide this into more defined categories, such as the different games or even characters. And maybe, that way, I can stress how much I appreciate some of those, because, let me tell you that I could rant on about every single one of this nonstop, specially if it’s related to who they are as characters. There’s in my opinion just too many good things to say about this guys and how the whole group works.

(please, correct any spelling mistake. I’m not a native speaker)

[blueskittlesart]

A while back you were talking about how you’d write a comic based on BotW and you mentioned you’d retcon the transphobic Gerudo questline. I was wondering how you’d go about doing that? I’m genuinely curious, cause that part of the game always made me feel weird as well 😅

yeah ok. so i think that the botw gerudo are. difficult to retcon because of some of the lore implications of their politics so this is a tricky situation. in this hypothetical scenario i'm trying to write this in a way that A. conveys the story fairly accurately or at least doesn't feel out of place in the overarching plot, and B. keeps most of the lore surrounding the gerudo intact, while still removing the major transphobic elements. in order to keep the gerudo lore and the overall vibe of the quest intact, I can't completely retcon the 'women-only town' thing out of existence even though the idea of women-only spaces can turn really transphobic really fast, so this is gonna be a bit of a balancing act lmao. bear with me here

what we need to decide first is how insanely dedicated we are to the sanctity of the original storyline and/or how much we're willing to overlook for the sake of canon accuracy. the easiest and most obvious way to fix it would be to retcon the obstacle that requires crossdressing entirely and give link another way into the town, by proving his identity to the soldiers on the outside or somehow contacting riju beforehand instead of sneaking in. however, i know that many (MANY) fans really like the gerudo set for. various reasons. and in this hypothetical scenario i can envision my head being bitten off by angry fans who didn't get their femme link content. so. we have other options we can look at.

if we want to keep the crossdressing, there's going to be some inherent transphobia we are going to have to overlook. for link to have to crossdress, he has to 1. be rejected from the town on the basis of his presentation and 2. sneak into a women-only space by dressing femininely, both of which can get really bad really fast. there are some minor changes we can make to make this feel a lot less overt, at least, such as cutting that shitty man outside the town who talks about wanting to get in to harass the women inside and either cutting or being a lot more respectful about the crossdresser who link gets the outfit from. no matter what, this isn't gonna be the perfect scenario, though.

what i think i would do personally is sort of. combine these 2. i'd have link get to the oasis, talk to a couple people and come to the conclusion that it would be hard (not impossible) for him to get into gerudo town as a man, and have him throw around the idea of showing off the sheikah slate or something as proof of his identity without actually going to the town and trying it. he'd rest at the oasis for the night, and the next morning would end up meeting either riju or someone in the royal guard at the oasis who recognizes his identity based on the slate and gives him the gerudo set, not to SNEAK IN to the town, but so he doesn't stand out/get stared at when he DOES enter. they would then enter the town together and the quest would proceed as normal from there. this is the best way i could think of to remove the idea of him cross-dressing as a tool of INFILTRATION without totally nuking the entire quest line. not perfect, but. well. look at what i had to work with here. i did my best

[links-in-time]

Link Fanfic

Links in Time: The Beginning of something

Part 9

Latest upade for my Link Universe inspired fanfiction. Please enjoy and check out the comic I have started!

"So what's our plan now then?" Legend asked, before spooning in a mouth full of stew.

The group sat either side of a long table in the guards mess hall. Bowls of stew and thick slices of buttered bread were passed along the table along with mugs of water and juice.

"Yeah, do we keep searching for these researchers? Or do we keep to our original quest to find Zelda?" Hyrule asked.

"If the Yiga symbol we found was an indication that they've been in the castle recently. They could have kidnapped the researchers," Wild said, staring down into his mug.

"Do you have any idea where they might have taken them?" Time asked.

"My father was looking for Yiga hideouts with my brother. If we can find them they might know what the Yiga have been up to." Maari spoke up. The others looked along the table in her direction.

"Do you think we could find them? I'd rather not take us on a long detour if possible." Time stressed, thinking about how they had already been drawn into local issues. When their real goal lay far ahead.

"I know where they were headed. Father told me he was going to scout out the Great Plateau. During the upheaval there was a lot of Yiga activity there around the old ruins."

"I cleared out the Yiga from the Plateau," Wild stated, gripping his spoon a little too tight.

"I don't know if they went back, but my father was searching for my mother."

Maari paused, as she realised she was going to have to share some more of her story with the heroes. Wars sent her a sympathetic look from across the table.

"My mother disappeared six years ago. She was fighting the Yiga when she vanished. Father hoped that if he went in search of the old Yiga hideouts that he might be able to find her."

"Do you think you could find them of we went to the Plateau?" Four asked.

"I believe so. Sheikah are pretty good at finding our own tribe," Maari replied firmly.

"Let's not forget we have a pretty good tracker of our own!" Legend beamed, as he grappled Twi with a one armed hug.

"Le'me go you crazy vet!" Twi protested, easily pulling free of Legend's smaller form.

"It's not my favourite place in Hyrule," Wild began. "But, it isn't far from the Gerudo Desert. We wouldn't be making much of a detour on our path," Wild said, as he looked up at Time.

The older hero considered for a moment.

"I think we should get to the bottom of this mystery," Time stated, talking slowly as his mind churned. "If we can rescue those people we have a responsibility to try. And perhaps we can slay some monsters on the way!"

The rest of the gang agreed on the plan and once supper was over they retired to their shared dorms in good spirits.

***

Early in the morning Maari and the heroes left Castle Town. They spent the morning trekking across Hyrule Field towards the Plateau. They encountered a handful of bokoblins and lizalfos setting up camp in the woods around Lake Kolomo. However they provided little challenge for nine heroes and a Sheikah warrior. They stopped for a break at the bottom of the plateau cliffs.

"So this is where you began your first adventure?" Sky asked Wild, as he stared up at the cliffs. Wild nodded.

"The Shrine of Resurrection is hidden up in the hills behind the old Temple of Time." Wild replied, waving his hand in the general direction he was talking about.

Time's ears twitched and he looked up at their conversation.

"The Temple of Time? " he said.

"Yeah, it's a ruin, but there's a giant goddess statue inside. But then I found a different temple of time in the sky islands. And Sky said he had a temple of time in his era too." Wild began to ramble, as he pulled another apple out of his pack.

"Another temple of time?" Time asked, his voice was laced with fascination and intrigue. "Can we go see it?" He asked, almost sounding like a child at a fair.

"Weren't you the one who wasn't sure about this detour in the first place?" Wars reminded him, raising an eyebrow.

"That was before I knew there could be a connection between this Hyrule and my time." The old hero retorted, hands on his hips imitating his wife.

"Hold on, hold on, we came here with a mission in mind. Let's see if we can find Maari's father before we go exploring old ruins, okay Time?" Twilight prompted.

Time sighed and nodded at last. "You're right pup, I guess we should get back on task. Maari, do you think you can pick up their trail?"

"There's a place they might have started. An old ruin in the woods," Wild interrupted before Maari could reply. "Sorry, Maari. But I routed the Yiga out of the plateau after the upheaval. I should be able to find their old hideouts again."

"Okay but we should all be on our guard, the Yiga never like to abandon anything if they can help it." Maari agreed, urging the others to draw their weapons and shields.

They climbed the long slope up between the collapsed stone walls towards the plateau. Eyes and ears alert as they walked towards the lowlands of the plateau. Small pools and ancient ruins littered the area. In the distance they could see the trees at the edge of the woods where Wild was leading them.

The trees were old and gnarled, and in such dense cover the group grew uneasy about the possibility of an ambush waiting for them. Every bird brushing through the leaves, every twig breaking underfoot sounded like potential danger. After they had been walking in silence for a while Twilight lifted his head and sniffed the air.

"There's a campfire up ahead," he whispered, so as not to alarm the group.

"Where?" Asked Time. Twi pointed ahead of them. Although there wasn't any smoke visible.

"Through that thicket there. I can smell the smoke on the wind."

"Could be Yiga," Wild pointed out.

"Could be my father and brother," Maari reminded him.

"How should we approach?" Warriors asked.

"I can get closer undetected much easier alone than if we all go together. If they're Yiga I can deal with them. If it's my family I'll call you." Maari suggested.

"Absolutely not!" Time protested. "If it's Yiga and they're as bad as Wild has said they are, you should come and get us and we can deal with them together."

The boys couldn't accurately describe the look on Maari's face because her nose and mouth were covered by her mask. But the glare she gave Time should have burnt him to a crisp where he stood.

"Old Man," Wars said, as lightheartedly as he could manage, "we've all seen that Maari can hold her own in a fight. I think we can trust her to take care of herself."

"I don't need you to argue on my behalf Captain!" Maari rounded on Wars, who was a little taken aback by her outburst. "Oh whatever, just stay here and don't make a sound."

Maari then did whatever the equivalent of silent stomping was and disappeared among the trees. Silence decided over the group and no one seemed to be able to make eye contact, especially Time and Wars, who were usually quite close.

Maari on the other hand was focused on herself and her surroundings. She blocked out the background noise of the boys and the other animals in the woods, and listened to what was going on ahead of her. Now she could smell the smoke she had a better idea of where the camp might be. Maari decided to stay down-wind and use the smoke as cover. However, staying low meant her view was blocked by the trees and undergrowth. She scouted around for a better vantage point and spotted a fallen wall which she could climb to get higher into the canopy.

From higher up Maari spotted the camp fire between some more crumbling walls. There were signs that someone had been there recently. A pile of fresh firewood, and a kettle had been placed next to the fire. And a tarp was pitched and strung against one of the walls as a shelter. But there was no one to be seen. The were no obvious signs of who the camp belonged to so Maari remained cautious as she moved closer.

She kept to the shadows provided by the walls and the slowly descending sun, moving slowly and with precise movements. Just as she got close enough to feel the heat of the fire she felt a movement in the air behind her. Her muscles tensed ready for action. In a flash she drew two daggers and spun around to face whoever had snuck up on her.

"Maari?!" Her brother exclaimed, beaming while holding a spear alarmingly near her head.

"Karu?!" Maari looked up at the face of her little brother. "I nearly killed you!" She replied, jamming her daggers back into her belt.

"I'm sorry, I was just coming back to camp and I saw someone by the fire. I didn't know it was you." Karu retorted, stabbing his spear into the ground.

"You know that's bad for the blade," Maari pointed out, getting to her feet.

"Yeah I know."

"Where's father? Is he with you?"

"We spotted a group of travellers headed our way, he went to spy on them," said Karu.

"Huh, that figures. Wait here," Maari insisted, as she turned back the way she had come.

Meanwhile the boys had taken the weight off their feet as they waited for Maari to return.

"Why are you so mistrusting of Maari?" Wars asked Time, while he picked dirt out from his fingernails.

"I'm not mistrusting," Time replied shortly.

"You sure are prickly about it though," Legend pointed out.

"What do you want me to say. The people I trust most are my wife and the eight of you. Not only are you all chosen heroes but you've earned that title in my eyes ten times over. Forgive me for not implicitly trusting someone we only met a few days ago."

Again they fell into silence until Time sighed.

"But you're right, she volunteered to help us and she's given us no reason to distrust her so far. I'll apologise when she gets back."

"Ahh, Wars is just sticking up for her because he likes her!" Four teased, elbowing the Captain in his arm.

"So what, she's nice. I thought most of you liked her too," he replied, rubbing his arm and preying he wasn't blushing too brightly.

A rustle in the bushes caught their attention and all conversations stopped. Maari appeared through the trees and raised her hands.

"It's just me," she said. "AND THESE GUYS ARE WITH ME!" She shouted, confusing everyone.

"Maari who are you shouting at?" Wild asked.

"That would be me," an older man replied, as he dropped down from a large oak tree near by. "Apologies for dropping in on you like this, but I had to make sure you weren't a threat before you reached our camp."

"Everyone this is my Father, Gartan," Maari introduced him.

He appeared to be in his late forties, wearing traditional Sheikah clothing and a woven hat. He had an eightfold blade at his hip, which he held as he bowed to the group.

"Maari, I didn't expect to see you out here. I thought you were with Paya," Gartan frowned, as he approached his daughter.

"I'm still in Paya's service. I'm helping these heroes solve the new monster problem," Maari replied.

"Indeed, come through here and we can talk by the fireside," Gartan gestured for the others to follow.

They soon found themselves in the little clearing surrounded by ruined walls, where Karu was tending the fire.

"Maari, who are all your friends?" He asked, as they appeared from the forest one by one.

"We can talk about that later. Right now I have some important questions for you both about the Yiga, and what they might be planning." Maari replied, as she crouched by the fire.

During the following hours the gang listened as Maari spoke with her brother and father. They discussed what they had found as well as the new information Maari had found out about the Yiga. Gartan wasn't surprised by the missing research crew. In fact while staying over at the Outskirt Stable they had learned about some missing villagers.

"We assumed it was due to the recent resurgence in monster activity. But the Yiga sigil you found suggests otherwise." Gartan mused. He sat on a log by the fire, elbows on his knees, chin resting on his coiled fingers.

"When we set up this camp we found evidence that some Yiga had been here recently. I was lucky enough to find a lost notebook in the trees," Karu announced, producing a small black leather bound book from a pouch in his kimono. "I thought it might hold some clues. But it's written in code so no luck there."

"Can I see that for a moment?" Wild asked, reaching out for the notebook.

"Sure, but like I said, it's unreadable if you don't know the code." Karu insisted, shrugging as Wild took the book.

He took it to a quiet corner of the ruin and pulled out his Purah Pad. Curious to see what he was doing Four followed him. Gartan meanwhile pushed himself to his feet and sighed.

"Maari, why don't you come do a perimeter check with me," he urged, turning away from the fire and walking out of the circle of firelight.

Wordlessly Maari followed and soon the two of them had walked a small distance from the camp.

"I hope you can help us get to the bottom of these kidnappings Maari. But why don't you ask the question you really want to ask?" Gartan asked, giving Maari a reassuring smile.

"I'm afraid to ask. The fact that you've been away for so long makes me suspect what your answer is going to be." Maari sighed, looking up at the trees overhead as she walked.

"You'll always be afraid if you don't ask the hard questions Maari."

"Alright. Have you found any sign of mum?"

"Did you ever wonder if Karu and I had been away so long because we were following a lead?" Gartan uttered.

Maari's eyes flared wide and she had to take a deep breath to keep her heart from pounding.

"You found something? Something about mum?"

"That notebook wasn't the only thing Karu found. We ran into some Yiga disguised on the road near the Crenel Hills. Only a few soldiers trying to move supplies. Once we dealt with them we looked through their manifests, which were not written in code. There was a name of a commander written at the top. The person who seemingly had ordered the movement of the supplies. The name was Commander Melyn."

"Mum," Maari whispered to herself.

"Of course, Melyn is not an unusual name," Gartan continued.

"But it is a Sheikah name," Maari pointed out.

They had come to a stop in a circle of sunlight between the trees. Father faced daughter as she looked up at him, a glimmer of hope growing in her eyes.

"Yes, it's a Sheikah name."

"But if her name was on the list... Then she's..." Maari stumbled over her words, as her thoughts rushed by too fast for her to comprehend them.

"We don't know what it means. It's one clue that lead us to this camp." Gartan replied, still speaking in a slow measured tone. "The manifestent mentioned they were moving the supplies to the old Yiga hideout in the Gerudo Mountains. We wanted to check a few more hideouts before coming back. I didn't want to bring back news without following it all the way to the end. I didn't want to give you false hope when you couldn't come and help."

"The Gerudo mountains?" Maari asked. "The heroes are travelling to the desert to find Zelda. Perhaps I could travel with them as far as the mountains." Maari was almost talking to herself now.

"No Maari, it's one thing travelling and fighting in a group. But alone, against the Yiga, as your father I can't allow..."

Gartan was interrupted as two of the boys came crashing through the trees towards them.

"Twi, Captain? What's wrong?" Maari asked, as the two young men approached them.

"It's the Old Man. He got itchy feet waiting for you to come back and ran off." Wars explained, gesturing over his shoulder with his thumb.

"Where would he...?" Maari started to ask. Then she remembered how interested Time had been in the temple ruins. "No wait, I can guess where he went."

< Part 8 : Part 10 >

[1tsjusty0u]

OK SO. poking around the property of hate comic yes yes. BUT BOTW OCS??????

>:D !!!! AND HAHA… MAYHAPS..,,,,,,,

i dont have a lot (yet) but i do have some! and some are more for funsies than others

first ones!!!!! the court poet and kass’s mother! i have an unfinished sketch of these two. the poet probably went a lot with zelda for shekiah tech escapades, so he probably knew purah robbie and link by proxy. i think hes heard of impa but hasnt really Met met her.

kass says that the poet knew a bit about ancient civilizations, though i dont know if he was actually interested in them? im taking this as he studied rigorously on them for a bit until being a poet/creating art became more of his priority. also because im not having link and zelda be interested in each other romantically thatll beg the question if the poet is still classist, which is a very funny thing to say out of context! for me i think he still is, its just more of an internal thing. (though i dont know how that will work with his upbringing? also i dont know how thatd work in general- in botw there wasnt really an upper class ? maybe the soldiers or knights were but the rich arent really depicted in that game (which makes sense considering the calamity), but i dont know how id translate into pre-cal. are class structures Exclusive to castle town and the closer you are to the castle the more likely nobility will exist. does the same apply for other races like the zora or gerudo..) i think he was raised in castle town but wanted to learn more about his heritage as a sheikah

kass’s mother is Just Some Guy. shes skilled in the sword, cannot play the accordion to save her life, and i like to think she was a mail person. she would probably do things reserved for warrior rito without permission and simply outrun consequences if there were any (likely social consequences, but otherwise i dont know how theyd stop her). she and the poet are friends (no i dont know how they met yet, and no i do not know how itd work with classism. the poet thinks kass’s mother is the Odd One Out and the rest are filthy low-life peasants or something and she sucker punches him. however they would still be friends despite the classism . being friends with the poet but shes shaking her head constantly to show she doesnt condone being nobility)

next is sheik! they r here more for fun than anything else. i think they were a shekiah assassin/warrior who just really liked sheik from the legends so they strived to be just like them. basically a teen finding out about naruto and consistently cosplaying as kakashi for the rest of school (/positive). they have a Mysterious and Cool persona, like the know more than they do, however that is a complete lie and if anyone spent more than a second of time with them Theyd Know. so to avoid that sheik basically just dodges social interaction the best they can. i dont think most people know they exist as theyd probably be a knight guard and guard in inconvenient places. i also like to think that theyd guard/spy on link specifically, but that depends on how important you think the royal family would view the hero/master sword as, and how paranoid youd think theyd be. otherwise every time theres no guards except link dont worry its simply shiek theyre just out of view of the camera hiding behind a rock or something similar

i also have links mom and aryll, though i dont have too much to say on them. they have roots in lurien/faron (and that may? be apparent once i design them including link) but i hc that they live in hateno and link visits yearly. aryll is younger and keeps asking for impractical souvenirs. stuff from savage lynel gear thats too heavy for her to carry or a brick from the castle. she’d think mipha is the coolest person on the planet, and would want to learn spears because of it. she’d also want to meet the champions and keep asking link to bring them over (he does not </3). but otherwise shes doing her own thing. she probably knows sword stunts/tricks due to link but isn’t knowledgeable in fighting itself. if someone Were to fight her she’d simply bite them <3. losho harbor is probably a notable spot for Family bonding (boat rides or sand structure making) however yeah not too much to say! good mom and good sister

the rest is misc ocs i know Exist but have done 0 (zero) things for . this includes making characters for. basically knights, maids, townsfolk, and people who have relationships with the champions (like mentors or friends). yeag 👍

[karakulialiny]

My favorite champion is twisted😰

Urbosa was well aware that if she tried to take control of the possessed Vah Naboris, she could die from the huge amount of malice emanating from this beast. Zelda also tried to dissuade her:

"Please, Urbosa! Don't go! If you die, I'll be all alone."

She looked with pity at the girl whom she had long considered her daughter, and wanted to live for her. But at the same time, Urbosa understood that if she did nothing, then the whole Gerudo town could die. And she made up her mind.

"Sorry Zelda. But I have to do this for all of us. You won't be alone after all. I know that."

After these words, Urbosa, with the help of a harpoon, climbed onto Vah Naboris and began to change the direction of its movement. Slugs of malice immediately reached out to absorb their victim, she experienced unbearable pain, but did not give up. The huge colossus could not stand such quick maneuvers and soon fell off its feet. Gerudo town saved! But then something crawled in the direction of Zelda and the guards standing next to her. The girl took a closer look and was horrified - Urbosa was crawling towards her, but instead of an arm she had a huge black-crimson blob, and the lower part of her face was bare to the bone. The guards decided to act immediately: they took spears, put them in the jaw of their former cheif and began to push them apart. Then they began to stab at this zombie with spears until it stopped showing signs of life. This sight shocked Zelda, and even a hundred years later she have nightmares from this moment...

Of course, the events described may not fit into the events of the game (of course, because I didn’t play it and didn’t even watch walkthroughs, I learned the plot through fan posts), but AU is AU for that, to change the plot for yourself. Moreover, one guy was not satisfied that Age of Calamity ended on a happy note, without the deaths of Champions. So, I decided to fix it in my future fanfic on WattPad. Yeah, originally "Backstories" was supposed to be a comic, but then I thought it was too much for me. Plus, my friend TiringAtom got me hooked on writing fanfiction😁. Twisted Urbosa inspired by these grim fanarts.

{Previous drawing] [Next drawing}

[russeliarat]

So you know my last post where I gave Link two Yiga outfits for fun? Yeah, so I have the entire concept written out now. It feels more like it would be a comic/book, so go wild and free with those cinematic angles in your imagination because god knows I don’t have the time or energy to actually make either for this.

Thanks to @best-of-brassbox for fuelling my Yiga obsession and giving me ideas for this scenario without knowing. Your writing inspires me, and I won’t lie, if I keep talking about how cool you are, I would have topped the word count for longest novel ever written.

The Yiga have been attacking the Gerudo more and more frequently and Riju suspects that a new master may be involved. Link is sent to find out more about the Yiga Clan’s methods of disguise and magic, as well as about this new master/second-in-command, so that Gerudo Town can be protected as well as Kakariko Village and other at risk spaces. Saula accidentally overhears and is asked by Riju to create a mock-Yiga clansmen outfit for Link, however is told he needs to gain a picture of the outfit for her to do so. He is asked to get a picture of a new rank of clansmen named ‘Yiga Trainee’, which his outfit is modelled around.

As explained in the previous post, Yiga Trainees are essentially newly trained clansmen or those about to begin their training. They are rarely seen attacking Link, but will trigger at certain locations and will almost always be disguised. When Link talks to them/buys something from them, they will be prompted to then attack him. It is later found out that many of these are amateurs and newly young adults and so are quite weak, however are always supervised by a footsoldier or bladesman which will also need to be defeated.

One way or another, Link manages to get caught once inside the hideout as someone not previously in the Yiga ranks and is brought to the new master of the Yiga so his punishment is decided (note that he is absolutely beaten for this trickery). The new master’s room is similar to an old tatami room, though the floor are lined with hardwood instead and is on a raised platform from the ground. Behind a panelled curtain, the new master sits at a short-legged table in seiza. A bladesman guard informs the master of their arrival and is encouraged to take Link into the room, quickly ushered out once doing so. From there, Link learns that the new master is a young girl of only about 14 or 15 years of age. She sits in a black kimono decorated with pale blue embroidery, her sleek black hair tied neatly into a complex bun, though it’s noted how her hair is white at the roots after being dyed pitch black.

Link is then interrogated by the girl, soon learning her title as ‘Master Rikko’, the young niece of the now-deceased Kohga, and his only surviving relative. Rikko asks Link why he wishes to become a Yiga and he makes a backstory on the spot about being an amnesiac whose family had been wrongly executed by the royal family and their Sheikah assassins over the generations. With Link’s wheat gold hair temporarily dyed brunette and his name unrecognized as the one ‘Hyrule’s Hero’ possesses, Rikko gives Link three conditions under which he can join the clan.

The first is if he can beat three ranks of Yiga one after the other in a beat down thinly-veiled as a ‘sparring match’. The second is if he can retrieve an artefact hidden within the hideout in a certain amount of time. The third and final condition is solving a puzzle known that even elites have difficulty completing. Such were the rules that Rikko would allow him to join. Each task shows Yiga culture as well as using skills from outside the clan that Link learned which would render quite the challenge for any normal Yiga.

Once completing the tasks, Rikko begrudgingly allows him to become a trainee, but warns him that acclimating to the Yiga lifestyle is not easy. After being dismissed, Link can hear Rikko muttering about how desperate she’s become to accept a Hylian outsider to kill the hero. It turns out that Link drummed up quite the amount of attention, mostly negative, some positive, due to his entrance. He is labelled as a trickster and ostracized, though a mild-mannered, meeker trainee named Val somewhat befriends him and ends up getting to know Link as he treats his wounds and properly dresses him. He explains to Link how their peers view Link and how he’s known as strong, but not in the Yiga way, so will be taught to abandon his Hylian techniques or they’ll be beaten out of him.

After a short while, Link and Val find themselves in the company of one another after a particularly hard day of training. In the confines of a dark corridor, lit only by a single candlelight, their backs pressed against opposite walls, they talk about Yiga culture and the day-to-day life. Val tells Link about Master Rikko, how she’s crumbling under the pressure of the job of leader after Kogha died, and how she’s truly mourning under her facade of harshness. Apparently, she refuses to leave her room, except from when she is forced to attend one large event - a tournament, where the skills of different clansmen are shown off as they are pitted against each other. Rikko will be forced to attend to ‘bless’ the champion and put the winner to the test as she is now the clan’s leader. Link expresses a want to compete, though Val explains how without even the slightest knowledge of Yiga magic, he will be wiped across the floor by other trainees. Link convinces Val to teach him magic by night, building up his basic skills and how to manually bring forth his magic as he has not inherited his power and cultivated it during his childhood like Val had. Over several weeks/months, Val shows Link different people who will likely attend the tournament and the two slowly figure out each one’s weaknesses and strategies as they train.

Eventually, the tournament comes around and Link enrolls, much to the ire and mocking of his peers. Because of his observational skills, training, and Val’s help, Link barely manages to make it to the top, even with his less than fantastic magic. When Rikko comes to fight him, she defeats him, but she praises his efforts. Though he didn’t manage to defeat her in battle, the fact he could even get so far at his skill level was a feat in itself. After the battle, Rikko takes him to her room, where she presents him with an old tome along with pile of aging notes and papers from inside of a hidden compartment of her room. She tells him to memorize the spells and techniques within as they will be useful for his growth, though also states that he can come back to ask to view it again if he wishes.

Over the next week or two, it becomes a matter of learning these spells and disguises to find an opening to steal the tome. One day, Link is told he will be taken along on a mission to watch and learn from a higher-up (footsoldier/bladesman) who would deal with a traitorous ‘Yikah’ (a Yiga who has returned to a Sheikah way of life). However, he sees Riju subtly grab his attention and hide a note in a crack in a ruined wall. Luckily, the higher-up doesn’t notice as Link sneaks it into his uniform to read that night.

When he looks over the note that night (even as he’s mercilessly teased), it reveals that Riju had found a way into the walls of the hideout and has spent the last few weeks attempting to rig an explosion above the very chambers he and other trainees slept in that would go off if hit by lightning - courtesy of the lightning helm. All Link needed to do was retrieve whatever documents necessary and create a signal for Riju to create the distraction while he escapes. Finding that the very next night was the perfect time to retrieve the tome and notes, Link managed to use his learning techniques to sneak into Rikko’s room, only for her to wake and begin a panicked interrogation. After finding Link using the Sheikah Slate to store away the documents, she shouted for the guarding clansmen to execute him. After taking them out, Rikko herself comes to fight him, though is quickly distracted by an explosion and is killed when Link instinctively chucks a throwing knife into her head.

Riju’s head pops in through the ceiling and explains that she set off the explosion after hearing all the yelling for Link’s death and requests the tome, which she will safely transport home by taking an escape route through the walls and back to Gerudo Town on Patricia. Link manages to follow her, but they get stuck going through a familiarly dark corridor and are stopped by Val, who expresses his feelings of betrayal. Riju tells him that he doesn’t have to stay in the cult, but he refuses as it’s all he knows and has. He makes an attempt at their lives, though Link stops him, almost killing Val but decides last minute to merely knock him unconscious. Link returns his borrowed hakama set to Val. Him and Riju finally make the homestretch to Gerudo Town, where Riju thanks Link for his assistance and assures him that the information gathered will keep everyone safe from the Yiga.

[crazynightbeliever]

About the LU Issues

lAs an observer)What I know:

People have the Right to be Upset

Jojo said they made mistakes, and that they’ve grown since then.

Jojo could have been any or all of the accusations, but is making apologies for it.

Jojo is probably learning more about these different minorities/groups but let’s see what happens next.

Please read all of this, I have both sides and facts I tried my best.

1.Jojo probably should have specified what they were apologizing for. Perhaps they didn’t because they didn’t want to talk about it or they wanted to include everything because there is so many different things. It is suspicious.

2. Jojo  said English is not her first language. That means that they probably don’t know the different specific wordings in English. Did you know that by using certain words in a certain context it can change the entire meaning. That’s why word for word translations sound weird. Jojo probably didn’t learn the American or English formats for apologies either. English is a hard language and specific phrases indicate very specific things that you can’t get from just the basic definitions of each word. People from different cultures have fundamentally different ways of speaking and what to prioritize when speaking. Iv’e noticed grammar errors in her comics different times.

3. DID: Jojo said that they were being straightforward and that they thought quotations was used to specify things. She listed off what people thought @phantom-noir(just to say, this is what i made up when i was writing the comic)and used the phrase they heard in quotations. Jojo put the phrase in quotations though thinking it had to specified. It seems that Jojo doesn’t know about DID which is a serious disorder (no disrespect I’m literally quoting a person that is a part of system @alasse-earfalas,this person explains it much better than me) and that its often represented HORRIBLY whenever it is. Because either it’s a insane villainous character or its romanticized. For someone who is not part of a system or  a professional, portraying something that is barely talked about can be incredibly hard to do accurately. They didn’t say “your headcanon is wrong, only follow what I say” or that “DID is a fake disorder” or anything along those nasty lines.

3. WHITEWASHING: Ok, first off. He’s GREEN. Check out @ loz-fandago. Personally, as a person that the Gerudo are carictures of, I really don’t like their clothing designs because of how stereotypical they always seemed. But I love how Botw explained specifically that the leader, the example of the Gerudo Urboda, hates Ganondorf. He is literally the ultimate villain that goes in a pig demon form. If he was dark skinned do you know how bad that would be? Not to mention, she’s drawn him light green (in the TP sword post) and dark green in the (marin in hyrule warriors post.) NOT TO MENTION, she completely redsigned her old marin (white with straight red hair) to  have curlier hair and darker skin. How is that racist if she’s making the Island girl actually have a natural tan istead of being extremely pale?

4. The vai thing: It was a joking, jesting comic. Not against anyone, but just a “oooooooh Wild’s got a giiiiirlfriendd” teasing. It a callback to what urbosa says in the dlc pack, “When you visited Gerudo town how exactly did you get in? Could it be that you dressed in that outfit again?” Not demeaningly either.

5. Queerbating: Ok, that is promising/making it appear lgbtq will be represented but isn’t. Jojo never said that there would be any lgbtq characters. About them all being cis, alot of straight people don’t default their characters as lgbtq because people represent themselves. Maybe someone is aro or ace and we don’t know. Maybe Jojo didn’t think about that type of representation and just went, ok some of them don’t have more obvious romantic interests. I guess I’ll just default to Zelda’s because she’s always constant.

6. Furry/Otherkin: Jojo did depict the furry in a smelly fursuit and the otherkin saying “how does it feel to be human” in a perceivingly demeaning way. A psot I can’t find said theyr’e a furry but said they can take the joke, but I’m not sure if they’re honest. That was years ago and Jojo said that they have grown. 

Conclusion: Sometimes, people are surrounded or raised by people who are racist and not even realize it. Then people are told about their behaviour and what is most important is if they choose how to react. Jojo apologised, who knows if it’s sincere, but maybe she deserves a chance. Maybe this creator doesn’t deserve to be bullied and even have incorrect information spread out, or mistakes from years ago dug up to paint them as a villain. Maybe these minorities or offended people who aren’t a part of the minority, need to give this person a chance to learn and grow because two wrongs don’t make a right. When someone apologises you should give them a chance and not harass them for because that makes you what you hated. Someone who harasses and bullies. Give them a chance instead of cutting the bud, ending a place so many people loved, and bullying someone. Don’t make an enemy or be one when you can make a glorious alliance that will help everyone. Make peace not war.

[queenof-literature]

Gerudo - LU Request

Hi all! Thank you to my first request! @anantisocialpeopleperson​ who requested Wild telling stories about his time in the Gerudo Desert. This is based off of Jojo’s comic when Warriors finds Wild’s vai clothing. It’s going to be a little different though :). Apparently Oases is the plural for Oasis? The more you know. I also wrote this hyped up on energy drinks so that was fun.

The entire camp was laughing at him, and Wild was an odd mixture of hurt, embarrassed, and pissed. Even after he had poured Goron Spice into dinner, they were still chuckling and smiling. Even Twilight, who when Wind “informed” him of the situation when Wolfie disappeared and Twilight came back instead, laughed his stupid head off. Wild didn’t really mind his vai clothes. It was nice to pretend to be a different person sometimes, even if that other person was a girl who happened to seduce men for boots…

Wild didn’t really feel comfortable talking with all his friends laughing at him, so he decided to whistle slightly to get their attention, and sign a quick dinner’s ready.

Wild smirked slightly as some heroes looked at the dish in disgust, while others tried their hardest to eat it and not hurt his feelings, aka Sky.

“Wild you can’t expect us to eat this!” Warriors squawked, and Wild’s smirk only grew from there.

“Wild.” Time only had to use half of his “I’m Time so you better listen to me” voice for Wild to dump out the food and restart a quicker dish.

“Whose clothes were they anyway Wild? I had no idea you had a lady friend.” Warriors wiggled his eyebrows.

“I don’t have a lady friend.” Wild sighed out.

“Ohhh I see. Multiple lady friends! Wild you sly dog!” Warriors yelled suggestively.

“No that's not it either -”

“I told you Warriors it’s probably a gift for someone.”

“Either way Wild is still getting out there!”

“Why are you being such a pervert Warriors-”

“Pervert? Legend I swear to Hylia I’ll-”

“Enough!” Time commanded. Thank Hylia. At least he could see Wild’s slight discomfort at the attention directed at him. “It is none of our business what is in his bag. Wild is welcome to tell us if that’s what he wants. I won’t stop him if he pours Goron Spice in our meal again. I can handle it at least. Can the rest of you?” The heroes gulped and went quiet for the first time that night.

“Time is right Cub. We’re sorry if we made you uncomfortable, but you’re welcome to tell us if you want to. If not that’s okay too. That is totally up to you. No questions asked.”

Wild bounced the idea in his head. He didn’t like talking about his scars, or his past, or the Shrine of Resurrection that much, he didn’t want to be a burden. But the Gerudo Desert was kinda fun. There were the sand seals, the beautiful oases, the weird fight against Master Kohga… The rest of the boys told fun stories about their adventure around the campfire, and Wild felt his voice would work well enough. Maybe sharing his stories with his new-found brothers would be fun.

“Okay. But let me finish dinner.” Wind cheered which startled Wild slightly. He hadn’t noticed the heroes looking at him with badly concealed hope. Wild barley ever talked long about his adventure! And judging by his Hyrule it had to be entertaining!

Twenty minutes later, the band of heroes were all sitting comfortably around the campfire, looking at Wild as they began to eat.

“So… you know I had to free the Divine Beasts. Naboris, Urbosa’s camel, was the last one I got to. Which is probably a good thing considering the Ganon Blight in there was the hardest of them all.”

“What’s a Ganon Blight?” Hyrule asked, tilting his head. Wild felt something cold strike his heart.

“U-um. W-well when my friends fe-fell… it was because of those things. Ganon made them. They’re why the other champions are dead.” Wild said the last words of the sentence with a mundane voice, as if he tried to feel no emotion when thinking of them.

“Oh… I’m sorry Wild I wouldn’t have asked if I had known.” Hyrule and the rest of the camp looked somber.

“Don’t be sorry. It was a perfectly fair question.” Wild smiled slightly at Hyrule to show that no apologies were needed. Hyrule smiled back at his best friend.

“Anyway, before I could gain control of the Divine Beast, I had to figure out how to get on it. So I had to talk to the chief of the Gerudo, who I later found out was a 12 year old named Riju.”

“12?” Warriors coughed out. “What a young age for such a large amount of pressure.” Warriors trailed off. Everyone could tell he was thinking about his own situation when he became a captain.

“Yeah, she definitely feels pressured. But she is a wonderful chief for her people, and she grows more and more into her role everyday.” Wild stated, pride lacing his voice. “I tried and tried to sneak in, but no matter what wall I climbed or what entrance I tried to sneak into, they caught me everytime and threw me out. I could sneak into the Yiga hideout no problem. But Gerudo Town? Forget it!”

“Wait, what in goddess’ name is a Yiga?” Twilight questioned his protege.

“Oh, um, they come up later in the story.” Wild glanced slightly in Legend’s direction, who knew about the Yiga from a late night heart to heart when Wild couldn’t sleep and Wolfie wasn’t around. Wild never wanted to wake Twilight up if he didn’t have to.

“So I had to find another way in. That’s when I heard that there was a man who would sneak in dressed as a woman…” There gasps from the groups and muffled laughter when many realized where this was going. “Yeah, yeah. The clothes aren’t for a girl. They’re for me. I bought them off the man, er, I actually don’t know if he wants to be called a man or not. Anyway, I didn’t have any other choice!” Wild huffed, avoiding eye contact with the group.

“Well now I see why you seemed so uncomfortable when I told you how I got in.” Time winked at Wild, who flushed further.

“Keep going! I want to hear more!” Wind cried enthusiastically.

“Um, okay.” Wild wasn’t used to people being so enraptured with what he had to say. It actually felt kinda nice. “So I got the vai clothes, and the next morning I finally got into Gerudo Town! It’s really beautiful. There’s a whole market, and a secret store for voe clothes and a place to rent sand seals - oh! Sand seals are seals that you can ride with a shield and they’ll pull you behind them! - and there’s a giant statue above the chief's room with water flowing down and going around to the rest of the town. There’s also a jewelry shop that I got all my earrings and circlets from. There’s also a whole place for the chief’s prized sand seal that will tell a prophecy if you feed her fruit! And there’s the place where the guards train and the throne room which is also so colorful and pretty and-” Wild grew embarrassed and trailed off. He got excited talking about the beautiful town in the desert. Sometimes while he was there he could forget about the looming threat of Ganon for an hour or two. Never more, Zelda needed him. But it was nice there. They welcomed him with open arms, even if he had to be dressed as a girl.

“Um… sorry.” Wild didn’t notice that around him as he rambled on, the smiles of the group only got wider. Wild had come such a long way from the shy and jumpy teen who had barely said a word to them. Wild slowly coming out of his shell was a relief to the entire group.

“Don’t be embarrassed Wild. We love hearing about the things you love about your Hyrule.” Surprisingly, Legend was the one who spoke what the rest of the group was thinking. He hated seeing Wild scared to talk. Scared that they would leave him if he talked too much and “annoyed” them. He’d be damned if Wild thought that he couldn’t talk to his heart's content after being almost completely silent for years.

“Yeah Wild! I wanna see it one day if I can sneak in too!” Wind confirmed Legend’s statement, along with the other boys. Statements of how they enjoyed hearing his thoughts. On the inside, part of him was doubtful, that they were only being nice to him. But Legend had started the conversation, and Legend didn’t say things he didn’t mean if he started the conversation. So most of Wild was bursting with happiness. It felt nice to share the wonders of his Hyrule.

“Oh, um, thank you.” Wild spoke out awkwardly. Not quite knowing how to respond to people caring for his thoughts. “Well once I was finally in, I went to talk to the chief. Her guard’s name is literally Buliara. She is terrifying. They figured out almost immediately I was a voe, but Riju knew that I was someone her people needed. She sent me after the Thunder Helm, a treasure for the Gerudo that was stolen by the Yiga.”

“These Yiga again. Who are they?” Time asked Wild. Time had his usual stoic and mischievous face but on the inside, he was truly happy Wild was talking so much. The more questions they asked, hopefully, the more Wild would talk.

“The Yiga are a group of assassins that are devoted to Ganon. I believe they were once Sheikah who joined forces with Ganon long ago. Their symbol is the Sheikah symbol but upside down. They dress as normal travelers, and get you to stop and talk to them. Then they jump out of their disguise and attack you. And their main goal is to well… kill me.” A beat of silence.

“They what?”

“Wild why didn’t you tell us?”

“You’re being hunted by assassins?”

“Oh my Hylia have they gotten to you at all? Have they hurt you?”

“Wild are you okay?”

“Are they still after you? Are you in danger?”

Wild waved his hands to quiet them down slightly, which they did reluctantly, their worry that Wild would stop talking overcoming their questions.

“I’m okay. I’ve gotten into fights with them before, and some are harder to defeat than others. They are still active somehow even though Ganon is dead, but whenever we’re in my Hyrule I keep my eye out and have us travel off road as much as possible! I promise.” Wild seemed slightly nervous they would get mad if they thought he put them in danger.

“Wild they didn’t ask if we were okay. They asked if you are okay.” Legend reprimanded gently.

“Wait, Legend, did you know?” Sky asked.

“Yes I did. Wild told me one night. I also helped Wild keep and eye out for them in his Hyrule. I wasn’t going to break his trust.” Legend huffed.

“No one is mad at you two. We just want you to be safe, Wild.” Time voiced, calming everyone down significantly.

“I’m okay. They mostly stayed out of cities.” Wild stated, relieved no one was mad at him for keeping that to himself. He didn’t mean to outright lie to them, it just never really came up.

“Is this why you don’t like main roads and crowds, Cub?” Twilight questioned gently.

“Um that’s one reason yeah…” Wild rubbed the back of his neck. The rest of the group looked at each other, relaying a silent message. That was another thing to work on. Getting Wild to grow more comfortable in civilization without chipping away at his instincts. No one minded. It was the least they could do for Wild.

“Um, I’ll continue now if that’s alright?” After a few words and affirmative noises, Wild continued with his story. “The Yiga hideout is kinda built into the mountains near the edge of the desert. It’s a pretty amazing place without all the murderers.” Some chuckles came with Wild’s observation.

“I got there with the help of a sand seal and some rare sand boots that I - um - acquired.” Wild had that look of mischief in his, which only peaked their curiosity.

“Nope. Wild you do not get off that easily. I know that look. How did you get the boots?” Twilight urged.

“Uhhh. I kinda seduced a man who thought I was a pretty woman?” Wild voiced tentatively.

“NO WAY!” Warriors doubled over laughing heartily. The rest of the heroes were laughing so hard, half of them were out of breath within the first few seconds.

“You did what?” Time looked genuinely surprised, also laughing merrily at the image of Wild playing up his disguise.

“Well he was kind of creepy. He kept flirting with me when I didn’t show interest. I made it clear I didn’t want to go out with him, but he wouldn’t have it. So he then bragged about his sand boots that he was showing off for oncoming girls.” Some people in the group gagged at that. “He explained that they were rare and they spread your weight out across the sand, and the inventor died. I asked if I could buy them and he said that he would trade them for a picture of the missing Eighth Heroine Statue. He lended me his snow boots that worked in a similar way and I went into the mountains. I found it, but when I returned he admitted he was worried sick and that he made up the whole thing! He just wanted a chance to bond with me! But I got the picture so he had to give me the boots.” Wild finished proudly. The other heroes were in a mix of awe and pride.

“I am so proud of you.” Legend spoke with a smirk. Wild blushed at that.

“What happened next?” Warriors was still struggling to control himself and stop laughing.

“Well I wanted to keep the snow boots and the Heroine had a missing sword-”

“Oh my Hylia!” Time face palmed while the rest of the group fell into fits of giggles.

“Go back to the Yiga Clan!” Four demanded. He wanted to know what happened at the hideout for Hylia’s sake.

“I found a captured Gerudo guard within the hideout, along with a lot of bananas. The Yiga are obsessed with bananas. Don’t ask, I don’t know either. She warned me that the guardsmen would be too powerful to face on my own, and that I needed to sneak in if I wasn’t going to run away. I snuck all throughout the hideout. Climbing ladders, using stasis and bananas as a distraction, using my runes to cause some damage without them knowing. It was actually a lot of fun.” Some of the older members rolled their eyes. Of course Wild thought sneaking into a highly secure assassin base and wreaking absolute havoc was fun.

“After weaving my way in and finding all sorts of treasure, I found a secret metal door. I used magnesis, only to come face to face with a large open area, blocked by the cliff surrounding it. And in the middle was a giant bottomless hole!” Wild paused for dramatic effect, causing Time and Twilight to look at each other and chuckle quiet enough that Wild wouldn’t notice. It was nice to see the cub having so much fun. Looking around, he wasn’t the only one. Wind had his head in his hands, eyes sparkling up at Wild in excitement. Legend, Four, and Warriors had perked up, waiting with anticipation in their eyes. Hyrule and Sky looked on in both excitement, and worry for their friend. Obviously he was still alive, but hopefully he didn’t get any scars from the ending of this story.

“Then in a cloud of smoke, a yiga clansman in a weird jumpsuit and a big belly appeared! Ranting about being the great Master Kohga, fumbling around, and barely having the balance to strike his ridiculous poses!” Wild finished off his pause with a small laugh. There were mixed reactions. Some of the older heroes grumbled about how anticlimactic it was, to which Wind shushed them since he was still expecting a fight. The rest of the group laughed at the image of Wild facing off against the man he had described.

“He starts to fight me by disappearing behind conquered walls, and summoning giant spheres over his head to throw at me. Then when that didn't work, he hovered over the bottomless pit and summoned metal balls with spikes to throw at me. We battled for a while, I luckily had my runes so I could crash his own weapons into him and attack him while he was stunned. He kept conjuring walls so I had to crash his spheres down onto him over and over and keep attacking. Finally he got fed up. He was going to use the sacred art passed down from yiga master to yiga master. He summoned a giant sphere! One ten times my size! I probably couldn’t use my runes on it. But he kept going on and on. Checking to see if I was there, talking about getting rid of me. I was a little intimidated by the size I have to admit. But suddenly, with the slightest nudge of the wind, the ball rolled into him at the slowest pace I’ve ever seen and he got thrown into his own bottomless pit by his own ‘secret ancient art’.” Wild finished with a loud, light hearted laugh, that caused fondness to grow in all the members of their group. Wild’s laugh was carefree and young. It was like the wind ruffling the grass and the rapids of a stream mixed into one. It was a sight and a sound they all burned into their memories.

“I grabbed the Thunder Helm and left. After Master Kohga’s death, the hideout was completely abandoned. Not another member in sight. The Gerudo guard managed to escape with no one watching and returned safely. I got the helm back to Riju and together we rode sand seals to Naboris and shot bomb arrows at its feet. Naboris could shoot lightning, and Riju’s helm could only protect the area around her. So I had to control my sand seal to stay in her range, and also shoot at the giant camels feet, while not getting crushed!” Wild threw his hands in the air as he talked, a giant smile adorning his face. It pulled on his scars, so it was a little uneven when he grinned that wide, but it was still a beautiful sight for his brothers.

“Finally I could board Naboris and solve the puzzles. I defeated Thunder Blight and I finally had all the Divine Beats free again!” Wild finished off his story with a smaller, but equally happy smile. It seemed the dawn on him how much flare he had put into his story, and he once again realized how much attention was on him. Before he could be too embarrassed though, Wind threw himself at Wild’s middle. Wild tensed for a second. Sky was slowly getting him used to human contact, but it was still a little strange. Not bad or unwelcome anymore, just strange. Slowly Wild’s body relaxed and he gently hugged Wind back, much to the delight of the younger hero.

“That was amazing Wild! You have to tell us more stories! What about the other divine beasts? What other big enemies did you face? Are there any more ridiculous ones?” Wind threw his questions out like a hurricane, eyes shining and smile beaming. It always warmed Wild’s heart to see Wind excited. Wind was capable and brought a variety of skills to the group, but he also brought fun, youth, and happiness. Wild really enjoyed and respected it.

“That’s enough for tonight.” Time said gently. Wild silently thanked him. He enjoyed telling his story, but his throat hurt slightly. He hadn’t talked that much for that long in… well... As long as he can remember actually.

“What? I can’t sleep now! That story was awesome!” Wind cried out, still attached to Wild like an octopus.

“Then you can take first watch.” Warriors teased. Wind squawked in indignation and threw himself from Wild to Warriors, both beginning to play wrestle on the ground. The band of heroes looked on in amusement. Twilight looked at Wild and smiled, winking at him like Time had done earlier that night. Wind was right. Perhaps Wild would tell stories more often.

[callunavulgari]

TOP 25 FICS OF 2019

1. these roads will take you into your own country by @notbecauseofvictories | American Gods | Laura Moon/Mad Sweeney | WIP | 33k

Here’s a joke for you: a Muslim, a zombie, and a leprechaun walk into a bar in Misery, Indiana. No one stares, because no one in the puckered, shitty asshole of Misery, Indiana gives a fuck. The Colts are playing.

Heather Says: So. It’s funny that another of @notbecauseofvictories‘s stories is at the top of my list again this year. Keep in mind this list is sorted by when the fic was read rather than favorites (because that would get real complicated real quick). Clearly there must be something about January. There’s just something about the writing that is easy to slip into, be it a Star Wars fic or a Labyrinth fic or even a fic about Johnny and the Devil. This was lovely and I can’t wait until it’s finished.

2. eighteen wheels on an uphill climb by @honkforhankcon | Detroit: Become Human | Hank/Connor | 91k

Hank is going to die. He’s going to die right here in Kentucky, 53 years old, halfway to broke, and tragically sober. Survived only by a nine-year-old St. Bernard and the 31-year-old twink who delivered the fatal blow.

Heather Says: I don’t think that this is the first DBH fic that I sought out after beating the game, but it is the first that I loved enough to make it to this list. I didn’t think that I would go for a modern au for this fandom, certainly not a modern au wihere Hank is a truck driver and Connor is a sex worker (albeit briefly?) but here I am.

3. Fuck pride (pride only hurts, it never helps) by ImogenGotDrunk | Detroit: Become Human | RK900/Gavin Reed | 41k

After the android uprising, Connor becomes a permanent fixture in the DPD. That’s fine. Gavin can accept that. The dipshit’s more human than he used to be, and a decent detective to boot. Gavin can deal with him being around. What Gavin cannot deal with is Connor’s replica; two inches taller, blue-eyed, and with a mouth that Gavin doesn’t know whether to punch or take between his teeth. The RK900 model has been assigned as his partner for the foreseeable future.

Heather Says: I also never thought that I’d like a fic with Gavin in it. But I got curious about all the Reed900, and well, this fic really won me over. The writing is fantastic, and it softens Gavin while still keeping him believable. Also, well, I like the enemies to lovers thing.

4. Almost Cool by @blacktofade | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Ryan/Shane | 30k

While filming the Yuma Territorial Prison episode, Shane gets bitten by what he thinks is a bat. Spoiler alert: it's not.

Heather Says: This is actually the first thing that I read for this fandom. In fact, this is the fic that got me into Buzzfeed Unsolved in the first place. I’d seen a lot of art and gifs and fics pass my way, but I was only ever slightly interested in what I saw until this fic came through my inbox and piqued my curiosity. 

5. Pride by @astolat | Game of Thrones | Jaime/Brienne/Cersei | 22k

Jaime didn’t understand why Cersei suddenly insisted on trimming his hair and shaving his beard, but he also didn’t care to fight her on it, even though he’d just as soon have kept the beard: it was bitterly cold in the small tower room with its arrow-slits. 

Heather Says: Wowza. This fic was intense. I’ve always loved Jaime and Brienne. I’ve loved them since the second book, which was read at least a few years before I started loving them in the show. Adding Cersei to their dynamic would have probably been almost impossible to pull off if it was anyone else, but @astolat lives to surpass my expectations.

6. Skin and Scales by Ernmark | The Penumbra Podcast | Lord Arum/Sir Damien/Rilla | 18k

The man glares, and this time, Damien is certain it isn’t a trick of the light: those eyes are violet as amethyst. He wears disdain like a second skin–- or, perhaps, like the scales that he is missing. “Lord Arum?”

Heather Says: I was one of those people who skipped through all of the Second Citadel episodes during my first listen through of Penumbra. The stories were good, but the pull of Juno was too great. A couple months after I finished, I went back and listened to everything I didn’t. And let me tell you. Lizard monster. Honorable knight. Bookish girlfriend. Poly. It hit every single button I had and then some. This fic really hit the spot when I ran out of story.

7. someone you like by caela | She-Ra | Adora/Catra | 5k

catwithabat u think ur so hipster but u just look like a lesbian 27m she_ra @catwithabat bc… i’m a lesbian. lmao 5m

Heather Says: Noooot usually a big fan of high school fics. Namely because I’m not in high school anymore and well, after you read so many in your teenage years they sort of lose their luster. This one was phenomenal enough to change my mind.

8. Sands of Time by @tirsynni | Legend of Zelda | Ganondorf/Link | WIP | 98k

Link awakens in the desert with no idea how he got there, to encounter his worst enemy...except it was the King of the Gerudo, not the King of Evil, he faced.

Heather Says: I have seen a lot of really good Link/Ganondorf art over the years, but never really stumbled across a fic that didn’t have judicious amount of non-con involved. But the Breath of the Wild 2 trailer happened, and everybody started drawing really pretty art, so I went looking. And lo and behold, @tirsynni saved the day with this gorgeous time travel/fix-it fic. 

9. killed with kindness by veterization | Persona 5 | Akechi/Akira | 52k

Goro can't quite figure out why so many people keep acting like they're his friend. (Or: the one where the Phantom Thieves decide to know thy enemy, befriend thy enemy, love thy enemy, crush on thy enemy).

Heather Says: I’ve read a couple of veterization’s fics over the years, and to date they have never disappointed me. They published this in June, and I think I clicked on it mostly because I was bored and hadn’t read any good P5 fic yet. This was basically just what the doctor ordered, and I was really happy to find something where Akechi’s story went ever so slightly different.

10. paper thin by @ebonybow | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Ryan/Shane/Sara | 9k

Shane’s new neighbors are a morning-sex kind of couple.

Heather Says: So I went into this one knowing very little about how Sara fit into things. I didn’t know she was Shane’s girlfriend. I’d never even seen her, but I clicked because I like poly and I trust the author. I was 100% not disappointed. There’s also another fic with a very similar dynamic here, which is also aces.

11. damn.nation, now available on itunes by @kaikamahine | Good Omens | Aziraphale/Crowley | 11k

When lowly tempt-pusher Amphora (formerly of Stairwell 7B North, before she Fell,) gets the notice that end times are nigh, she gleefully quits her job and cancels her Netflix subscription and takes her place among the legions of hell. This, it turns out, was a bad plan.

Heather Says: Elizabeth may have only written one fic this year, but she made it a damn good one. I’ve always loved her OCs especially, so I was pretty tickled that this is 10k+ of outsider pov. Also, demons! Demons are great! This demon is great! I want like 9 seasons and a movie about Amphora, just saying.

12. The Dragon and Her Wolves by hapakitsune | Game of Thrones | Jon/Sansa/Daenarys | 60k

When the truth of Jon's birthright is revealed, control of the North and Daenerys's claim to the Iron Throne are both called into question. To preserve their tenuous alliance and secure her rule, Daenerys puts aside her personal feelings to arrange a marriage of political convenience between Jon and Sansa Stark.

Heather Says: What do you mean season 8 didn’t exist and the show totally ended with a three way relationship between the two most powerful women in Westeros and Jon Snow? Never been a big fan of Jon/Sansa before this, but this is another of those writers that I would literally trust if they wrote a fic about a fork and a spoon.

13. never tell me the odds by @wildehacked | Wolf 359 | Eiffel/Hera | 9k

“I tried Star Wars," he says, adjusting the phone under his neck, "and it was way underwhelming.”

A shaky breath from her end. “Well, where did you start?”

Heather Says: I don’t remember which of @wildehacked‘s fandoms I started reading first. Most recently it’s been The Magnus Archives (more on this later). The point is, they’d written Wolf 359 fic and it had Hera and Eiffel and it was literally everything that I’ve been looking for since the series ended.

14. Find Me Somebody by raiining | Good Omens | Warlock/Adam Young | 11k

“You left me,” he said. “You both left me, for him. And I can’t even blame you, because I’d have left me for him too.”

Heather Says: There was an Art. The art was lovely. So I went looking, because that’s what I do when faced with beautiful art depicting a rare pairing. And I found the holy grail. Like, possibly my favorite Good Omens fic? Ever? 

15. flirting with fire by @brawlite | Stranger Things | Billy/Steve | WIP | 7k

Steve's a cop, Billy's a firefighter. It's not a grudge, it's just a regular old small town rivalry.

Heather Says: Okay so brawlite has written a lot of great stuff this year (more on that later), but I read this in bed at the beach house this August while I was reeling from both a horrible sunburn and like seven hours of mild to moderate day-drinking while everyone else was still throwing back shots right outside my bedroom door. Jaws was playing on the tv and I wasn’t even paying attention to it, because THIS. Long story short, I’ve been thirsty for more ever since.

16. gold, when you find me by mmtion | The Flash | Iris/Barry | 53k

It's not that Iris hates The Flash, per say - more that she hates writing about The Streak in a weekly, pun-heavy comic based on The Flash.

Heather Says: I never would have thought that a canon pairing would make it to my Top 25 list, but here we are. I like Iris/Barry a lot better when they don’t grow up together and spend a lot of time playing the Superman game, apparently. Also, this was really well-written, and sexual tension has never been something I’ve felt from Barry and Iris, but I felt it in this fic. Just. Damn.

17. never gets old by @brawlite & @toast-ranger-to-a-stranger| Stranger Things | Billy/Steve | 78k

Falling in love with a cam boy named KingSteve isn't the smartest thing Billy Hargrove has ever done, nor is it the most healthy -- but the good choice is rarely ever the fun choice, and Billy is all about living life fast and loose.

Heather Says: Told you I’d come back to it. brawlite and toastranger are a fantastic team. last year was cherry pie and under the covers, this year it’s camboys and cop/firefighter dynamics. Also, I have a really strange fascination with fics where a character has an instragram. It’s really, incredibly strange. Also also, every time I see this fic title I get that one Discovery Channel song stuck in my head. And no, it probably isn’t the one you’re thinking.

18. ways to save the world by @wildehacked | The Magnus Archives | Martin Blackwood/Jon Sims | 19k

“I left you,” Martin says softly.

Heather Says: And we’re back at wildehacked too! The Magnus Archives was a thing that happened to me. This is I think the first fic I read for it while listening, and it was so very close to what we got in canon. I think when it comes down to it though, I still prefer this fic, even if the ending of this season was pretty fantastic.

19. The Denial Twist by beethechange | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Ryan/Shane | 35k

“This is kind of surreal,” Shane says, taking a sip of his tea. It’s piping hot and delicious, except it tastes like hot chocolate and not like tea at all. “Sort of—Wonka-esque, right? Or Alice in Wonderland.”

Heather Says: While the vampire one is my favorite both because it is excellent and because it was my first, this one was bizarre and sexy and also I read it like only a month or so ago! The dancing was my favorite part, but having dreams to work with made this story fantastically interesting and I loved every second of it.

20. silver in our lungs by taywen | Spinning Silver | Miryem/The Staryk Lord | 4k

The marks had been with Miryem for as long as she could remember. There were a number of them, all the same shade, following one after the other around her left wrist. They were pale as old scars, though they felt no different from the rest of her skin, and her mother claimed that Miryem had been born with them.

Heather Says: I really like soulmate aus. There’s so many different ways to twist them and the way they can sometimes change the dynamic entirely and other times not change them at all is just fascinating. I’ve been hoping there would be more Spinning Silver content on ao3 and running into this while I was trying to decide what I wanted to do for yuletide was a real treat.

21. you got me begging, begging, i'm on my knees by plalligator | The Queen’s Thief | Attolia/Eugenides/Costis | 5k

Costis has a particularly enlightening evening. (or, that struggle when you're a guard who's in love with your rulers and it turns out you would kind of like it if they bossed you around a little)

Heather Says: I accidentally re-read the King of Attolia and it made me consider ships I had perhaps not previously considered. This was really lovely and just steamy enough.

22. something more alive than silence by pageleaf | The Queen’s Thief | Attolia/Eugenides/Costis | 21k

It was a good thing that six months after the king had promised to halve the guard, he still hadn’t done it, because since then, there had been two attempts on the king’s life.

Heather Says: I want to only type the words AGONIZED NOISES to describe this fic because that’s basically my headspace when I get 21k of a shiny new ot3, but I mean. Really. This is super good and maybe my favorite yet? Why didn’t I start reading this fandom when I first read the books?

23. Timing it Right by DragonBandit | The Bright Sessions | Mark/Damien | 14k

The dragon chooses, Mark knows that as well as any boy born in a weyr. He'd never considered what that would mean if the dragon picked someone you hated. He's starting to think that was a mistake.

Damien's gold rises at Whitney. Mark tries to make things right.

Heather Says: This should actually be somewhere back in March, but I apparently closed out of the tab at some point. I never really got into Pern much. I have the first three books, but got most of the way through the first one a long time ago and then never picked it back up. I didn’t think I would like this, mostly because of the fact that I hadn’t gotten into the books, but was surprised to find that I absolutely loved it.

24. Keep It In Your Sights Now by LuckyDiceKirby | Shades of Magic | Lila/Kell/Holland | 9k

Holland travels with Lila and Kell. Somewhere along the way, they reach an equilibrium.

Heather Says: I love the new things I’ve discovered during my yuletide trompings. I don’t think I ever actually considered this pairing when I first read the books, but I am just so enamored with the idea of the three of them together. Like, why did I not realize that potential back then? This was lovely, and I loved it, and I want so much more out of this pairing than what ao3 has to offer me.

25. Charioteer by petrichoral | The Queen’s Thief | Gen & Costis | 13k

Captured in battle and stuck in the Mede capital, Costis has given up all hope of seeing his country again. But Eugenides has a habit of turning up where he's least expected.

Heather Says: Technically this shouldn’t be on here because I only read it today, but it was really wonderful and so canon typical. Gen and Costis were perfect in it, Irene was perfect in it. Everyone was perfect and nothing hurts.

[goddess-nerd]

So I wanted to help clear something up I think has been confusing the Zelda fandom for awhile

I really wanted to post this because I don’t see a lot of people realizing this and I think it’s important to talk about this detail as botw 2 is going to be here when we least expect it and as a Zelda theorist it’s kinda my job to point out such details. So let’s talk about the tribe of the desert:the Gerudo. The Gerudo like all beings can come in many shapes and sizes.

Each being different from the last. Heck the game even introduces a transgender character to help you while not shoving it right in your face. However there’s something that I don’t think a lot of people realize about these Gerudo is that they don’t let men into Gerudo town. Now to anyone who has played Ocarina of time this comes as a huge shocker because that rule was never applied before. So what happened? Well it’s something we only hear about once and it’s something not everyone picked up on. https://youtu.be/M0wNyN3Iw6s

Urbosa mentions calamity ganon taking on the form of Gerudo. Now you may think she’s referring to OOT ganondorf but not exactly. She’s referring to this one:

Ya know the one that prompted the internet to flood with some of the most amazing fan art and comics ever? (Keep that coming by the way it’s amazing what you guys are doing) ya but this is a detail that no one and I mean no one has talked about. Think about it for a second: why would the Gerudo run the risk of being connected with the demon king again? The whole reason they don’t let them in is because there afraid to let another ganondorf into this world but there’s a issue. Ganondorf can’t be reborn because he hasn’t died. He’s mummified exactly like the sheikah monks.

Now it’s important to remember we have absolutely no idea why they decided to mummify his body but that might be revealed considering that eiji aonuma has said that botw 2 is gonna be as dark as majora’s mask https://youtu.be/msm8UYKatnE

Of course all of this is all purely speculation as any theory is but I really felt like I needed to point this all out considering botw brought a bunch of new people to the franchise and a lot of people don’t really know a lot of this stuff. And the thing is this entire discussion doesn’t even need to rely on the timeline which is definitely helpful to me. Seriously I fear the Zelda timeline with the whole of me being. That discussion is just.........scary.

[theultimateegghead-blog]

Dusty Dunes and Shimmering Sands, some Deserts levels!

The Desert is a large expanisive area with little rainfall. In games the desert can serve as a world for the game to take place in, or a single major level. Deserts can be treacherous to cross and can be full of mysteries, dangers, or just sand...sand...its coarse, rough and irritating, and it gets everywhere.

Mojave Waste – Fallout New Vegas The desert can be a cruel unforgiving place, bitter cold or scorching hot, the embodiment of thirst and hunger. The world of Fallout is hostile, but this cut of the American Wasteland is home to some nasty surprises. While not as untamed as the capital waste, the Mojave waste can easily claim the lives of anyone found in its embrace. Home to giant bugs, super mutant clans, raider gangs and other monstrosities, this desert is a lethal place to be, on top of that, with a certain roman-inspired army lurking about, best to keep your gun loaded when exploring these waste. However, it isn’t terrible, as there are several settlements that are welcoming…more or less, and there is a group called the NCR which ‘tries’ to keep this waste safer than most. Still, be weary out there…

Tabora – Ratchet and Clank Going Commando

One of the many planets this duo visit. Planet Tabora at first seems like an empty planet, vast deserts filled with debris of who knows what, and of course some lava filled caverns. However, track into the large sandy expanse and you will find powerful crystals. Finding these crystals scattered about can hold benefits, but beware, some nasty monsters lurk under the sandy dunes…

The Ark – Halo 3 The longest level in Halo 3 takes place in a desert on the Ark. Here the master chief will combat against plenty covenant warriors, including plenty of brute squads. There are plenty of vehicle sections, including a portion where you can ride in an awesome Scorpion tank and lay waste to anything around you. The covenant pull no punched in this battle, they will throw as much against you as they can including a scarab tank that has to be destroyed. Plenty of battles, plenty of epic moments, and plenty of times where you can watch in sheer awe at how terrible the ai is at driving. Good luck trying to find the secret skulls in this level, especially if your playing alone.

Reptilia – Bug! Its technically just a desert themed film set, but its close enough. Reptililia is a dangerous level full of traps and enemies, from grenade throwing soldier ants, to automated scorpions, and deadly horned lizards. The main character must navigate the platforms, avoid rocks, tornadoes, and kamikaze flys as he makes his way to the end boss. You might find yourself racing a famous blue hedgehog if your lucky! Beware the lizard pits and deadly falls, it’s a step up in difficulty.

Corel Desert – Final Fantasy VII This desert is home of the Gold Saucer, the biggest theme park in the entire world! However, we are not here for fun and games, we are here for the harsh inescapable desert under the theme park. People who break the laws of the park are sent down here, and this is a place where there is presumably no escape without a vehicle. Also beware, if the man with the gun arm wasn’t enough of a problem for you, then the giant ruby weapon lurking in the sands will surely do the unwary adventure in.

World 2 – Super Mario Bros 3 Super Mario Bros 3 introduced many new concepts into the Mario series, and while a desert was in Super Mario Bros 2, that game was not originally a Mario game to begin with. So we look here to super Mario bros 3. In this world, you will face many perils scattered across the levels, pyramids with bouncing fireballs. Tricky mazes and of course, the deadly angry sun. After all of this you will have a showdown with one of the koopalings inside their airship!

The Sparagus wasteland – Jak III This desert serves as essentially half the main world of Jak III, for the most part, you will be traveling by car, as traveling by foot is both dangerous and a severe waste of time. The desert is very big and home to different landmarks, and several missions, including the final boss takes place upon these dunes, located in this desert is a city of outcast, a oasis, a base for villainous marauders and a temple. You’ll have a wide assortment of vehicles to choose from to explore the desert at your leisure and hunt down the vehicle based bonus missions within. Overall, its huge, its somewhat empty, and it’s a good place to drive.

The Badlands – Team Fortress 2 The main setting for Team Fortress 2, the badlands is a large expanse of land that host the war between the Red mercenaries and the Blue mercanaries, now unless you read the comics and know the surprisingly expansive and fittingly ridiculous lore of TF2, then the badlands are just another desert. However in this desert are several of the most famous maps of this successful online game. Mines, canyons and forts dot the landscape, oh and there is a town nearby where everyone is a victim of lead poisoning so…yeah that’s a thing. Either way, this is a fitting and fun environment for the 9 mercs to reign havoc.

The desert – Journey The setting Journey, a large desert with ruins. This desert is huge, with large dunes that you can slide down on, and plenty of secrets to discover. Ancient temples that go deep into the earth and high towers dot the desert and serve as most of the path to the mountain top, a literal sea of sand that glimmers as you surf over it. Who knows, you just might make a friend as well. Be on the look out for a super rare flower.

Egypt – Serious Sam

The main setting for the first game of the serious Sam series. In this game you will fight through tombs, towns and deserts to repel an invasion. Large scale battles with hundreds of foes can happen at any moment. The desert itself is huge and home to some secrets, and some tough enemies and bosses as well. Most of the levels are linear and its hard to get lost for the most part. Plenty of guns and ammo as well, so its time to kick…wait wrong series.

Mirage Saloon – Sonic Mania

Mirage Saloon is a spectacular new level in Sonic Mania, and is home to MANY call backs. It has a sky chase zone clone, a train sequence somewhat reminiscent of Sonic Triple Trouble. In the second act, Sonic or any other of the playable characters will go through a wild west saloon that is somewhat inspired by a scrapped zone from sonic 2. Jump out of giant revolvers and fly through the air, bounce around in the saloons, and it all comes to a boss battle with one of the hard boiled heavies, who can transform into some long neglected characters.

Gerudo  Desert – Breath of the Wild

By far the largest desert on the Zelda series, this desert is huge and home to many interesting locations. A small Bazaar, some huge ruins, a fairy fountain, the town of the Gerudo and the hideout for the wicked Yiga. Oh and of course on eof the four divine beast is found here. This place might seem empty at first, but it is home to many adventures! Make sure to wear heart resistant clothes…and be ready to go on a cross dressing adventure that will totally not inspire a mountain of fan art. Beware of the monsters in these sands though, the Lizafos are one thing, but there might be something far more dangerous lurking beneath the dunes…

[odogaronfang]

Ember, elegant, and danger.

[[i’ll do these as separates, just cuz, but i guess i’ll keep em along the same span of timeline in the botw au]]

ember;

Going on adventures alone is difficult and, though she’d be loath to admit it, really not so enjoyable. They’d agreed about a week ago to split up, to get some information on the behaviors of the divine beasts, and she’d been tasked with traveling to Gerudo Town- they only let women in, after all, and Zelda would be busy in Hebra, so she was the immediate choice. She’d agreed, because the climate of the desert was more like her hometown than Hebra’s, or the Eldin region’s, and she’d been vetoed for the zoras’ domain because Green had “called it”. At least it wouldn’t be cold, she’d said, and in the vast emptiness of the desert she laughs, then.

“Yeah, at least it isn’t cold.” She snorts, gives two middle fingers to the cool, implacable moon and pulls the thin blanket tighter around her. As soon as dusk had fallen she’d begun to notice the temperature drop, and now, halfway through the night, it’s near-freezing and miserable.

She has no wood, why would anyone bring firewood into a desert after all, so she’d gathered as much nearby foliage as she could and settled with her back to a boulder, knocked a rock against the head of her spear until a spark had caught, and she’d managed to kindle a little fire. It had lasted, for a little while, and she savored every second of its warmth.

But it’s out, now, little more than embers, blown to tiny fluttering red-orange bits by the vicious winds, and she’s near-freezing and growing desperate for something hot. She resolves to beat Green into the ground for not warning her once she gets back, if she survives this night.

(She does, and she’s welcomed, shivering and angry, into Gerudo Town just before dawn, by a group of laughing eight-foot tall women; she isn’t sure whether to feel dwarfed and insignificant or grateful and, perhaps, smug.)

elegant;

The zoras’ domain is one of the most beautiful places Green has ever seen in his life. He’d been astounded even at the simple grace of the towers posted just along their borders, and the bridges that spanned the paths across rivers were no less stunning, but neither fully prepared him for the heart of the domain. It’s breathtaking, awe-inspiring, gorgeous- he’s seen a wonderful handcrafted rendering of Hyrule Castle in its heyday, and it can’t hold a candle to the wrought silver and sapphires of the soul of the zoras’ homeland, small though it is.

His zora guide seems amused and proud at his expression.

“It’s wonderful, isn’t it?” Tula, as she’d introduced herself as, says, and pats him on the shoulder. “It’s the pride of our people, right here.”

“It’s incredible,” He agrees, and tries not to stop to admire every little arch of the bridge as they walk by. Vio is the one with words, not him, but… “It’s… elegant, if I had to put it in a word.”

“It’s elegant and more- there isn’t any single word that can really capture it. Which is why calming Vah Ruta is so important to us. Or one of the reasons, anyway. If Ruta floods the domain… centuries of work of our skilled artisans, gone just like that. King Dorephan has worked himself into a terrible worry over it.”

Green can’t help but cast a nervous glance at the waterspout looming behind them, a beacon to the raging beast. “Especially if it killed Champion Mipha…”

“Rest her soul, we don’t think that’s what happened, exactly,” Tula says, hastily, “Princess Mipha’s control over Ruta was absolute, and their bond was unshakable. Nothing could have changed that save interference by another being. Of course, we have to prove that theory- which is why we need Hylians, like you, to get in there and find out.”

“It’s a lucky coincidence, I guess. A few friends and I have been looking for information on them, the divine beasts I mean, trying to see if we can do anything about them.”

That seems to excite her, and her pace quickens (though it isn’t difficult to adjust, their legs are so short). “Friends, you say? Hylians as well, these?”

“Well, some. One’s a sheikah, and another half sheikah, and I’m half gerudo actually so I don’t know if I count, really.”

“That’s wonderful news!” She tugs insistently at his wrist, past the smooth silver of the memorial of Champion Mipha and to the stairs that lead to the king’s chamber. “To think- sheikah, and one of gerudo blood, this will be even better than just hylian. Tell me, are any of you skilled with a bow?”

“Uh, the half sheikah is, his name’s Vio-”

“Come, come, save the details for the king, he’ll be just ecstatic to hear this, this is better news than we could have hoped for!”

He’s rushed with all haste into Dorephan’s audience chamber, and is met with a king the size of a house, and a prince hardly up to his waist (both of whom he bows to, unsure of how to handle himself in presence of another’s royalty). He introduces himself and, at Tula’s prodding, offers details on himself and his friends, and that goes into strategy discussion and something that sounds suspiciously like an agreement of some sort, and he leaves to his special luxury guest suite in the domain wondering what he’s just gotten himself into.

danger;

Vio is very aware of the dangers of Hebra, mundane and otherwise. Zelda makes sure to remind him- mind thin ice, check for solid footholds, hollow a space in the snow in the event of an avalanche, check your hands and feet every hour or so for frostbite, if you hear a howl get somewhere inaccessible to quadrupeds.

She’s known Hebra half a lifetime, and she’s wary, so he’s wary; it’s all in good sense, of course.

“Do monsters run as rampant here as they do in the warmer regions?”

“Yes, but in a different way, I guess. The camps aren’t as frequent, but they come in bigger groups.”

As they discover hardly an hour later.

It surprises Zelda- “I’d never seen an encampment here before”- and it puts him off a little. Bigger groups is no exaggeration: it’s a dozen of them, at least, but probably more, bokoblins and moblins and pale blue lizals clumped around a fire comically small for their group.

“We will find another way,” Vio murmurs, takes her arm and pulls gently, and she goes to turn, and her foot cracks a crust of ice and all eyes are on them.

It’s chaos from there, too many against too few, a seven to one ratio at the least, and Vio is ill-suited to the terrain and Zelda’s too outnumbered to be effective with her small quick weapons. Quickly she takes the role as diversion, gives Vio time to pick them off, it’s the safest option, or it is in theory.

“Get back,” He calls to her, when no more than half have fallen, dead or otherwise incapacitated, “Far back, go down the slope if you must!”

She’s not sure why he says it but she does it anyway, favoring the probability of surviving a slide downhill over melee against six monsters twice her size. She takes one with her as she goes, knocks it off balance and sends it careening down, locks her feet in the straps of her shield and follows it. Just as she reaches the bottom she hears a crackle, and then a loud noise that sounds almost like a parachute catching the wind, and a burst of heat sears her face even at that distance.

A fire arrow, she thinks, clever, at least against the lizals, and drives her knife into the moblin’s head when it tries to rise. It’s a little while before she chances to move, because it’s too quiet for her liking, not a word from Vio since he’d let the arrow fly. She picks her way up the hill- it’s easier now, with some of the snow melted to reveal footholds.

“Vio?”

“I am alive.”

It takes a moment of looking around, but she finds him, sitting against a log the moblins had been resting on, checking his bow for burns. She’s wary, as she crosses the snow, but no ice chus burst from the drifts, so she sits beside him, sighs and slumps against the damp wood.

“Hell of a fight,” She says, and scrubs at a spatter of bokoblin blood on her leg with a handful of snow.

“Hell of a fight,” He agrees. Satisfied with his bow’s condition, he frees it of its string and stores it for the time being, takes out the first aid kit he keeps tucked in his pack. “Need anything?”

She agrees to a bandage; she’d missed a good dodge by a fraction of a second, and the little slice on her stomach stings against her undershirt. It’s only when she’s handing back the roll when she notices Vio’s got one hand shoved into the snow, the surrounding sleeve alarmingly blackened, and when he pulls it out the ice is stained pale red.

“Vio, what happened?”

“I was careless with the fire arrow is all. Not enough time to take proper precaution.”

“That’s a bad burn.”

“It looks worse than it is, fortunately.”

She’s skeptical, watches as he smears some bitter-smelling salve on it and wraps it in bandages and eases his glove over it. “That didn’t burn?”

“I suspected this might happen. I took it off before I got the arrow.”

“We need to get that checked out by a healer. There’s a stable not too far from here we can go to.”

“Tomorrow, maybe. We ought to get our rest while we can. The danger is past, for now.”

[totk-headcanons]

What about trans guy!Link, like difficulties with becoming a knight and stuff. And he passes so well that he has to tell Zelda that he wasn't born biologically male. Maybe the other champions as well

Warning: May include offensive and triggering language.

(its also kind long i think so i’ll add a read more)

Revali continued to dramatically huff as he fanned himself in an attempt to cool off from the desert heat. Daruk couldn’t help but laugh at his Rito companion, boasting about how mild the temperature was in his own opinion. “Its ridiculous that we aren’t allowed inside the town, but Link is,” Revali scoffed. “I’m going to die of thirst.”

“If the Princess desires his company, then who are they to protest?” Daruk replies, tilting his chin over to the Gerudo guards.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Revali thinks, the Princess and her knight make their leave and head over to the two with Urbosa in tow. Zelda waves, and opens her mouth to begin speaking, when two irritated-looking travelers call out to the party. “Hey, isn’t that Link?” One of them asks, pointing.

“Yeah! That’s the Princess’s knight!” His friend confirms. “How’d he get into the Gerudo Town?”

The first man slaps the back of his hand on his friend’s chest. “Oh, you know! Link’s a transy!” The two men laugh. Revali looks to Link with an unreadable expression and notes his now balled fists and furrowed brows.

The latter traveler mockingly puts a finger to his chin in thought. “Oh, that’s right! I remember when they wouldn’t even let her try to unsheathe the sword from stone! But the girl just wouldn’t give up!”

As they continue to laugh, Revali removes his gaze from Link and shoots up onto his feet. Ready to lunge forward, he takes a few steps until Zelda speaks up. “I will not stand here while you insult my appointed knight like so!” Finally, the two men cease their laughter and they look to another in embarrassment.

Urbosa pushes Link behind her and strides over to the men. “Link is more of a man than either of you could ever be combined!” Daruk follows from behind and picks them up and tosses them back to the ground with so much as a huff and watches as they scramble away back where they came. He dusts his hands off and laughs triumphantly, while Zelda turns to Link with concern all over her face.

“Link...are you okay?” She asks, reaching for his cheek. “Is that story true?”

Link clenches his jaw and nods his head. “With all the trouble the soldiers at the unsheathing ceremony gave me, I figured it would be better if I just kept my mouth shut once I was in the castle.”

Zelda rubs her thumb gently over his cheek reassuringly. Revali makes his way over and gives Link a firm pat on the back. “You are a warrior. A damn good one at that.”

Link nods and gives them all an appreciative smile.

[mod makar]

there was a comic/au that I based this off of and if someone could find it, i’ll link it to this scenario