#and I just think: what about Rauru?

[mari3with3]

Rauru is a reincarnation of the hero (TotK Spoilers)

Every time a reincarnation of Demise comes to destroy Hyrule there's always a hero to stop it. But where was the hero during The imprisoning war?

Here are the reasons why I think this:

First of all, thanks to the hero from 10,000 years ago, we know that the hero doesn't necessarily have to be a Hylian, he can be any other race.

Rauru and Sonia are parallels to Link and Zelda. We can see this in their eyes (Zelda and Sonia have green eyes, Link and Rauru have blue eyes), in their hair (Zelda's short hair is to contrast with Sonia's long hair, Link's loose hair represents Rauru), and on their clothes (in most of the game Zelda wears Sonia's dress, Link can get the Charged armor which is Rauru's outfit).

In the fifth memory, Mineru says that Rauru has a power of light that can destroy evil and that's literally what the master sword does.

Rauru's theme is an incomplete version of The Legend of Zelda main theme. In Skyward Sword, we find out that the main theme is the hero's song (Zelda has her lullaby, the main theme is Link's song).

In the "Messages from an Ancient Era" side quest, we learn more about Rauru and Sonia's life. We found out that Rauru liked to sneak out of the castle to go hunting and then Sonia would take him back to the castle (in my opinion that's very similar to Link and Zelda's dynamic). This means that Rauru knew how to use the bow, and that is one of Link's most iconic weapons.

Some reincarnations of the hero have a sister (in the case of Wind Waker and Breath Of The Wild), Rauru has Mineru, his older sister.

In the English version of the characters profiles it says that Rauru didn't hesitate to sacrifice himself to save his kingdom, but in the Latin Spanish version it says that Rauru fought with courage to defeat the Demon king (Link is almost always the wielder of the Triforce of courage).

As I said before, when there are a reincarnation of Demise, there are also the reincarnations of the hero and the goddess Hylia. During the imprisoning war the cycle repeated again: Ganondorf was Demise, Sonia was the goddess Hylia and Rauru was the hero.

(This is just speculation) I think Rauru's design is also a proof as well: Most of the Links are blond, with blue eyes, with earrings and have green clothes. Rauru also has these characteristics.

#This is all just a theory #I would like to see what other people think #Ive seen many people saying: we already have Ganondorf and Sonia but where is the hero? #and I just think: what about Rauru? #Zelda #Tloz #The Legend of Zelda #tears of the kingdom #Totk #Totk Spoilers #Rauru #King Rauru #Link #Princess Zelda #Sonia #Queen Sonia #Zelink #Rauru x Sonia #nintendo #mine

[bloobluebloo]

Anyways imagine, as a chief who has sovereignty over his own lands, having to apologize to a “king” who does not have any claim to your land, or even the land he claims as his kingdom for that matter, for failing to respond to **several** invitations to give up your land in exchange for some fabricated sense of protection. There was no coercion at all there; Ganondorf should have gone running with his Gerudo ladies straight to Rauru the second he received such a prestigious opportunity and kissed his feet for such a generous offer, of course.

#looking at my notifications and seeing anything with this fealty scene come up #I always think of this #like imagine the restraint ganondorf had to exercise to not just strangle rauru on the spot #like who the hell are you to claim you can protect my lands better than I can? #maybe Ill make a better king of hyrule what about that? #ganonthots

[ganondoodle]

you know, a plothole (kinda, its one to me) i havent even talked about before is .. how is there basically no sonau tech in the past, or isnt shown nor used; the only thing i remember is that weird half assed way to try and make us care about the apparent time zelda had spent there and tell us in a tiny text you have to find scattered above the sky that she "tamed a construct beast" which .... could be anything bc its so vague and non-interesting and .. maybe one or two non-combat constructs in the background in a few of the cutscenes

but given how many constructs there are alive in totks present, and more are broken down that were probably working back in the past, did they even use anything of it against ganondorf? like, i know its called a war but we only see ganondorf charging on that badass horse we never see again and that bit lasts like .. 5 seconds? and he just ... somehow ends up in that cave so far below the earth with the other sages? HOW did he even get there

the constructs you find in the game can be pretty tanky and packing quite a punch, theres auto-targeting mini tanks, lasers and fire/electric/ice throwers, bombs and otherwise explosives, couldnt they have easily fought against some bokblins even if they were miasmafied

or am i supposed to believe ganondorf became THAT strong just through that little magic pebble (isnt that a little insulting too?), while all the other stone having people are so much more inferior AND have gans bossfight not be that hard is kinda ... weird? i know link is special an all, but he doesnt have a stone and the sages dont really add to his powerlevel, the msot they do is distract gans little clones for a bit

doesnt that, and how irrelevant the whole sonau tech actually is to the plot, feel even more like its a thing put in there just to showcase that they could do it (like ... a tech demo) and like its an unfitting sandbox element just for some very dedicated players to build entire war maschines for viral videos out of but the vast majority will not have that kind of patience nor fun with that (i for one do not care to laser explode or otherwise terrorize little enemy camps with otherwise overly ridiculous weapons bc its not fun and really not worth the effort to me)

#ganondoodles talks #zelda #totk #ganondoodles rants #mini rant #but #i just realized there isnt anything shown of any combat construct fighting #but i dont think people were able to build this stuff after both rauru and mineru died #in fact we see no one fight in that war #besides gan charging on cool horse we never see again for a few seconds #and the stone guys standing around gan with some mud on their faces now suddendly faaaaaaar underground and also at the end of the fight #somehow #do you even need ANY of your abilities to get to gan? #also to be clear #i do not hate people who build godzilla in totk #but i do feel like enabling that was one of the main reasons why nintendo decided to make that the focus #since those videos are what goes viral #rather than say #very good researched theories about lore or something #totk should have been a spin off to focus fully on building and nothing else

[larissa-the-scribe]

My husband is replaying Tears of the Kingdom, and during us trying to cross-reference the memories to figure out where different scenes took place, it suddenly occurred to us both:

In the scene with Ganon summoning the moldugas.... What. what was he doing. The sand ends... you get away from the molduga by using rock, which they can't break... the Great Plateau is solid rock.... What was the plan there, Huey? (insert No Evil gif here)

Some options: 

- He was going to burrow under the foundations of the castle and carry it away to the desert as a trophy

- The molduga were going to yeet themselves at the Hylians and flop around on the wall, clearing a space for Ganon to cross the chasm in a single bound and stand there menacingly

- He was proud of his monster friends and wanted to show them off

- He thought the monsters were Scary and that the Hylians would all run away

- He just wanted to hear the sick beats that come with the moldugas

Feel free to insert any other alternatives in the comments or tags

#the more I think about this the more baffled I get #literally what was the danger #sure a show of power or whatever but like #what about when the power can't Do anything #did Rauru really need to use 20% of his power or whatever when they could have just waited and seen them smack against the change in terrai #anyways #tears of the kingdom #legend of zelda #ganon #ganondorf #molduga #scribe rambles

[veggiecorner]

One thing that I'm afraid about for the next Zelda game is that nintendo is clearly going down the botw route for future titles. I loved botw and totk, but to me these two games HIGHLY prioritized gameplay rather than story. Ocarina of time created a formula for its future zelda titles that in my eyes prioritized story over gameplay (now the quality of the stories could be debated aksjdbakbd)

Overall i just hope the zelda team finds a REALLY good balance between the two

#totk's story WAS better told than botw #but....i did sort of enjoys botw's story more simply because of the story building #that totk really lacked #example: it was fun to imagine the shit that happened 100 years ago #rather than zelda's time in the past with the Zonai #and i will forever say the mystery of the Zonai was really killed off. I loved Rauru and Mineru but i feel like.... #the story would've been the same if they weren't Zonai and we just hylians #you know what i mean? #anyways #is this a rant? kind of #pre-calamity era had sOOO much tension and emotions that I loved thinking about #zonai era....kinda didn't #it attempted to but i couldn't really connect #i wish there was a scene between ganondorf talking to zelda just so she could be like “holy shit uh this is dangerous.....” #OKAY RANT OVER NOW FR #Sorry for sooo many long posts today #a lot of my mind #zelda #totk #botw #loz

[rawliverandgoronspice]

alright new totk headcanon: ganondorf did try to put gloom everywhere when he woke up as a mummy, but rauru is actually the one who caused the upheaval to put every single chance behind link in his fight against ganondorf

#totk #rauru #ganondorf #link #look rauru is skeevy!!! he is a manipulative bitch!!! he would absolutely do shit like this and not tell you!!! #all the ruins have zonai elements in it and bear zonai technology!!! #he was torn from ganondorf as much as ganondorf was torn from him!! #and ganondorf actively tries to stop link from accessing certain sensitive informations contained in zonai ruins #not to mention the shrines #who are just there as military training/purification devices against demons/ganondorf #he would have all the motive in the world --while ganon doesn't why would he do that #but here it's like an unstoppable force meet immovable object sort of deal --and then something separates the two #that's got to be messy #(I know the reality is: they didn't think about character motives like ganondorf uses a false zelda to lead you to the secret stones) #(to awaken the sages that will eventually fight him like girl what are you doing!!!!!) #(but in a better game.....)

[send-me-a-kae-via-subspace]

creature in stem!!!! 🥳🥳🥳🥳🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

#mineru #mineru totk #totk #totk spoilers #kae doodles #in fucking love with her shes so so coool #i would support all her endeavours #i want to see more of her and rauru just the two of them being siblings i think it would be funny. theyre both little bitches i think. petty #petty little creatures #anyway i know a lot of the detailling is innacurrate but what u gonna do about it #i did this with minimal reference. like one ss at a weird angle #overall i really like this!! im having difficulty convincing my friends im not a furry now #also-cant draw a zonai w/o the super epic lashes that was an amazzing design choice everyone say THANK YOU totk team

[twilitfox]

I FINALLY BEAT TOTK!! After like 3 detours for other Zelda games lmao

And I did it in the Twilight Armor set. because I could 😌

It was alright! Honestly, I don't know if I liked it more than BoTW, I'd need to replay that one. It's been a bit. But that last fight was more Zorah Magdaros than I was expecting (iykyk) and not in a good way. Idk, I think people are focusing purely on the spectacle when they say it's amazing, which is fine! Dragons are cool and it's cool that you get to ride around on your girlfriend, but mechanically it's just Colgera again. And yeah, the ending felt like a big ass-pull, I'm sorry lmao. zelda just suddenly isn't a dragon anymore?? With no lasting effects of giving up her entire being? Which clearly wasn't true, but she doesn't even remember any of it?? Link doesn't get to keep the arm?? Or isn't at least down one?? Where even was Sonia before that last bit?? Could they have done that the entire time?? And Link didn't even hug her???!? Also did the ancient sages even have names???? Idk, suspension of disbelief and all that but the little things the devs don't address add up and take me out of it. It'd be easier to ignore if there wasn't so much, or if the rest of the game made up for it and it doesn't for me lol.

That is not to say I didn't have fun with it, honestly I spent more time running around on foot than I did in BoTW (mostly because I wanted to complete the map but still) but I only pushed myself to finish it so I could justify replaying Okami since I already took so many breaks and, well. I don't know how to put it better than that. Solid game, others are better, 7/10

#totk spoilers #just in case #i've seen the theory about Sonia's spirit being trapped in the stone Ganondorf stile from her #but there’s no indication of that in-game #you know what would have implied that? a little particle animation going from sonia into the stone during that cutscene. thats it. #not that it matters cause rauru supposedly moved on before ypu leave the first island and claims there's nothing else he can do for zelda #which ends up being either a very poor choice of words or an outright lie depending on how you look at it #which. why even say that then??? #also like. you'd think the guy would be more concerned that his wife's soul is in the clutches of the demon king #but he’s rather blasé about it #so i don't really buy it #unfortunately that's about as far as i care about sonia and rauru #They're not very interesting characters tbh #so much of their personalities are explained at you instead of shown #sonia in particular only exists to die #i don't QUITE consider it fridging since her death affects everyone #but she's doesn't have any real presence besides being Rauru's wife and having a cute design. She’s like Ilia that way. #rauru's just kind of an idiot #mineru WOULD have been interesting if she was an earlier quest and could talk to you at all #the zonai make me miss the twili #i do thoroughly enjoy the theory that the twili are early zonai tho and you can pry it from my cold dead hands #but the story in this game is. not presented well despite having interesting concepts. #idk i think totk has the same overall problem for me that botw had‚ only worse #in that all the interesting bits have already happened and you aren’t really part of it #which. kind of defeats the purpose of a silent protagonist #even if you toss that out link is less of a character in this than he was in botw #he just. doesn't react to anything he should be reacting to #previous games (ESPECIALLY Skyward Sword) had this figured out #it feels like they ironically went backwards on as much as they went forwards. ah well. #again i DID have fun with this game! i want to be clear about that! but idk. it just. doesn't hold me as well as other games. that's all.

[blood-starved-beast]

~~~~DO NOT REBLOG~~~~

Not to be that person but I've been reading some critiques of totk and how it handles imperialism (and perpetuates pro-imperialist sentiment), and it makes me feel like I'm standing on the sidelines tapping my foot anxiously cause while I agree with the general argument cause yes it does in fact have pro-imperialist sentiment it fails to point out that it comes from Japan. Japan with its own history of imperialism and imperialism apologism specifically. So it's very close to but slightly off mark and makes me frustrated. Especially since this is not the only time Nintendo has inserted pro-imperialist sentiment (looking at you Po/kemon legends:arce/us) and How You Are Not Immune to Propaganda (@ Nintendo devs).

But I refuse to speak of it in detail as I am not Japanese, I am not Asian, and I'm too unqualified (both temporally with relation to my studies and also not in-depth enough) to speak on the subject.

So I'll just sit here. Leg stimming anxiously like I have restless leg syndrome cause yeah I completely agree but I would normally go about explaining why in a slightly different direction but alas I should not and will not.

The only, only thing I will say though, if to make this post relevant to anyone reading this, is that people need to understand that one has to approach Hyrule through the lens that it is created by a Japanese company. The Hyrule religion is based on the Japanese state religion and specifically inspired by the kind that emerged after the Meiji Revolution. This is pertinent to understanding the Hylia lore and Zelda and why the monarchy is Like That, and why it keeps popping up again and again and why they refuse to move away from that model. And this directly ties into the Japanese pro-imperialist sentiment we see in these games.

#I am not tagging this #except maybe #the Discourse #the pro-imperialist sentiment that seeps into this game is part of the reason I cant enjoy this game As Much as bo/tw #not that bo/tw was clean by any means in that department #cause you can feel some problems there but they're not as Relevant to ingame present times excluding the Yiga maybe #but yeah to/tk has some Big problems with that #I can accept that it is flaws with Rauru as a person #but also eugh #anyway I reccomend all of you to study Japan's modern mythos #and how the myth of the Emperor and how the Meiji government revolutionize while cementing the grounds that will become Imperial Japan #and how and why Imperial Japan was like that and what they did #and how just like in the West with its imperialism #Japan seeks to revise history and deny their atrocities and continue to do so #anyways #This is not an anti-Shinto-ism post I am not against its existence #but like many religions it can and has been weaponized by Imperialism #and again I am not attacking anyone #I just think there should be discussion here about these things specifically #edited: for clarity

[autistickaitovocaloid]

totk once again proving that people need to be more normal about anthropomorphic characters

#art talks about stuff #this isn't me going after people thinking rauru/mineru are hot btw keep doing what you like as long as our not a dick about it #this is about the people (mostly on like yt i think?) getting all pearl-clutchy and going ''omg this game has FURRIES in it??? 😨'' #firstly shut up secondly are you going to ignore the anthropomorphic fish and birds that were in the last game and are in this one too #idk i just think people online should like. not get so weird about that kind of thing #i was going to make this non rebloggable but whatever. you're all on thin ice though

[pa-pa-plasma]

zelda blasted moldugas in the gerudo assault scene, it was a group effort between her sonia and rauru. you can see the light coming from her hand. they just channeled it through rauru bc he was/is the chosen hero from that era

I saw that as them just giving him the power to preform such a massive attack rather than Zelda herself blasting them (probably supplied by the sage stone thing which i cant remember the name of). I'd have to rewatch the scene to check (the only one I rewatched was the one where Fi's theme played) but if she seems surprised I take it as more of a "oh shit i/we have that much power??" rather than a "holy shit my attack personally killed all those moldugas" kinda thing. it was Rauru's attack, Sonia & Zelda just supplied an extra power source.

#also when does it say Rauru is a chosen hero #Rauru is just. Rauru. he's just a guy. Link specifically is the chosen hero. he was chosen by Hylia. like. specifically #it isn't just any random guy who fights Ganon. it's Link. like. specifically. #if it was anyone who fought Ganondorf then Zelda would be the chosen hero. & the sages. & everyone & their mother & dog & goldfish #okay as much as i love TotK all i've seen in the fandom so far is Zelink shippers being weirdly rude & people making up information #also TotK fucks up the timeline so badly it makes me sooo mad #TotK has done irreversible damage to the LoZ timeline man #if Ganondorf has been sealed under Hyrule castle since before Minish Cap how the fuck did he reincarnate in OoT #who the fuck is the OoT Ganondorf? which btw is in 3 other games #that specific Ganondorf is in THREE OTHER GAMES! WHO IS THAT IF GANONDORF IS SEALED UNDER HYRULE CASTLE #as a fan of Skyward Sword too this is just. what the fuck. what the actual fuck #if i think about it for too long i start foaming at the mouth & growling & shit #only thing i can think of is this is an entirely new timeline #or the team just honestly doesn't give a shit & is just making games man #btw constructs/robots that are fuelled by magic blue power have existed since before Hyrule was created #they're in Skyward Sword. but their creators have vanished (presumably the Sheikah &/or the Skyloft people) #there's so much information & although a lot of it matches up so much of it conflicts with known accepted information #also people have different interpretations of the shit happening #i could say that actually Zelda wasn't a dragon. she just switched places with one. she was just possessed by one. you can't prove me wrong #it's the same shit with saying ''this facial expression means this thing specifically & i will die on this hill'' #brooo stoppp--assuming everything in this series makes perfect sense & can be proven without a shadow of a doubt makes you look stupid

[currantlee]

Something I love about the memory of Zelda and Sonia in the German dub of TotK...

(Translation: And your Link, too, is surely awaiting your return.)

Sonia uses the phrase "dein Link" ("your Link") here, which in German is a common phrase to indicate the belief that someone might have romantic feelings for another person. And the way Pauliner Weiner (Sonia's German VA) delivers this line very much indicates that she is indeed teasing Zelda a little here! Sonia ships Zelink confirmed!!

But wait. There's more!

(Translation: May one ask who this Link is?)

Rauru definitely notices this too! His tone, as well as the use of the very specific article "dieser" ("this") indicate as much. If he was simply curious about who Link is in order to follow the conversation, he would more likely use the phrase "Darf ich fragen, wer Link ist?" ("May I ask who Link is?"). He is also teasing Zelda a little here.

Zelda's reply is also very sweet! While her first two lines are nothing special (she is essentially just recapping the events Breath of the Wild, as well as what led up to it), it gets interesting once Rauru reacts to her description, once again in a somewhat teasing manner (indicated by both the delivery and the language of the line):

(Translation: Oh, a hero you say.)

To which Zelda replies with:

(Translation: Link is the most steadfast and fearless knight who ever existed.)

(Translation: Yes...)

(Translation: He is so strong...)

That last line is pretty much the same in English, but Julia Casper (Zelda's German VA) does an amazing job making it sound like Zelda is not only admiring Link throughout this entire short monologue she is having, but like she is talking more to herself than to Rauru and Sonia, almost like she forgets they're there for a moment because she is thinking about Link. I really loved this little touch!

Also note that Zelda is not explicitly talking about physical strength in the last line (although she might be. It isn't clarified, leaving the interpretation of what kind of strength she is talking about up to the player).

(Translation: ... and on top of it all, he has a good heart!)

This last part seems to be directed at Rauru and Sonia again. But we're still not done!

After Rauru remarks that Zelda seems to think highly of Link and that the way she's talking about her knight makes him want to meet him, Sonia agrees and delivers a final line that, once again, makes it very clear that the two of them are engaging in a little bit of good-mannered teasing in this scene (both from what's actually said here and how Paulina Weiner delivers the line):

(Translation: Chivalrous, and full of gallantry...)

(Translation: Don't make us so curious, Zelda!)

And then they all break out in light-hearted laughter.

All in all, I really love this scene! Huge respect to the German VAs, who did an absolutely stellar job (not just in this scene, but for the game in general - especially Julia Casper!).

#The Legend of Zelda #Tears of the Kingdom #TotK #LoZ #Meta #Legend of Zelda #LoZ Meta #Analysis #LoZ Analysis #German #German dub #Zelink #Zelda #Sonia #Rauru #Currantlee here #Currantlee translating

[gay-jesus-probably]

Let me just preface this by saying everyone is allowed to have their own opinions, TOTK is a really fun game, and I'm glad that other people have been able to enjoy the story as well.

...But I'm being dead serious with my complaints about the narrative being 100% imperialist propaganda. And I'm getting really tired of people replying to those posts by saying it can't be imperialist propaganda, because imperialism is bad and the game says that Hyrule is the good guys.

Like, guys. That's not the argument you think it is. Yes, I am aware that the game tells us Ganondorf is a flat, one dimensional character with no ambitions, interests or motivations beyond destroying the entire world for the hell of it, and also it's totally not racist because he's green, not brown like literally every other member of his race. Unfortunately literally all of these things are kind of the entire goddamn problem.

See, the thing is, everyone trying to make these arguments is accepting the game at face value. Hyrule is the perfect and almighty nation chosen by the demigod Zonai, and whose royal family has the right to rule due to their divine heritage. The other races exist to serve the glory of Hyrule, and they're happy to do it. Ganondorf is pure evil and must be stopped at any costs.

But that's not how anything works. The story informing me that Hyrule is the ultimate good that has done nothing wrong is the whole goddamn reason why I don't trust Hyrule at all. There's always more of a reason than that. And the game fucking suggests there was more going on! Ganondorf mentions Rauru has repeatedly 'invited' the Gerudo to become Rauru's subjects, and let's be clear here, it doesn't matter how peaceful those 'invitations' were, when the guy who owns every single magical nuclear missile in the world repeatedly demands you surrender to him, there's always going to be an implied threat of 'do it or get magically nuked'. Just that power difference alone shows us exactly why Ganon would feel threatened enough to invade. It's because Rauru was holding a gun to his head, and Ganon was expected to just trust that he'd never pull the trigger.

And yes, even if it wasn't intentional Hyrule was always threatening to wipe out the other nations, considering the entire royal family walked around openly wearing their magical nukes as cute accessories. If they couldn't be safely hidden away, there wouldn't be four other secret stones sitting untouched in a vault until the last second.

But that's never acknowledged. Of course Hyrule is the only nation with the right to the secret stones; even if other races get to touch them, they can only have them if they swear eternal blind loyalty and servitude to the glory of King Rauru and Princess Zelda. Ganon wanting to have one magical nuclear bomb out of a stockpile of eight of them is proof that he's dangerous and evil. I mean my god, what if he just walked around all day wearing a magical nuke and using its power for his own benefit, that would be terrifying. It's only okay when Hylian royalty does it.

And you can't argue that Ganon betrayed his own people, considering we don't get to know fucking anything about his relationship with his people. He's shows as the leader of the Gerudo, we're told he's a hero to his people, he has soldiers that loyally follow him into battle... and then oh nevermind, they all hate him and will spend eternity trying to atone for sharing a race with him. How did the entire race do a complete 180 in the span of at most a few months? Who cares, what's important is that now they accept they exist to serve Hyrule so they get to be the good guys now and we don't need to know why they were following Ganondorf, or why they stopped following him.

Basically my point is that yeah, I fucking know how the game insists everything went down. That's the entire reason I think it's imperialist propaganda, because the entire story feels like Hylian propaganda to conceal and justify some horrific atrocities that caused all of this. I literally do not believe that I'm getting the story through reliable narrators, especially considering that the only people allowed to actually tell me the story are all the characters that have the most reasons to be heavily biased in favour of Hyrule.

When the game shows me protagonists that have a massive amount of power and control over the entire world, then says the bad guy doesn't like that system just because he's evil, and literally nothing and nobody in the game says anything to oppose that take, I have some questions about what the fuck the story isn't telling me. And I'd really appreciate it if people would stop trying to argue with me just by telling me to stop asking those questions.

#tears of the kingdom spoilers #tears of the kingdom #ganondorf #can you tell that i'm annoyed by these people bcause i'm annoyed #...nothing personal if you are taking the story at face value btw #its just that i'm trying to dig into the story to talk about it #and it's frustrating to have people telling me i'm wrong because i'm analyzing the game #like guys... if someone doing a little bit of analysis is all it takes to dismantle the entire story #then it's not a well written story

[ganondoodle]

yeah no of course i cant stop trying still ...

currently trying to get out of the mindset -draw what could be popular- by designing some rough ideas for the weapons shops in the new totk rewrite (fuse isnt a thing here)

to explain; during the first part (before villain rauru reveal and change to shiekah arm) the way to repair or craft weapons is with a new type of NPCs; they are smiths that can repair your weapons, craft them, and have some avaible to buy (mostly for arrows but also small selection of weapons), it costs material and some money, or if you dont have the material/all material, it costs more money but is still doable, price depending on how valuable or hard to get the material is you dont want to spend on it

then after the switch to the sheikah arm and zelda taking on the role of your permanent companion, she can both repair and craft as well (might be limited but expandable with quests, as in that zelda learns more skills- so theres new quests after the switch and you cant just do everything before that) with the difference that you need to have the required materials but it costs no money

this would mean that while no giant change before and after the halfway point of the game, it is definitely different feeling, plus its a convenience that is good to have in the second half but shouldnt be sorely missed in the first, the difference between NPC smith and zelda gives you the option to spend material or money- so you arent forced to grind anything if you need either for something else, plus new quest rewards for the second half and new points of interest in general, similar to a stable but not too close so theres still an element of exploration; they arent super frequent but around the map of the surface enough that you can reasonably reach one in each region (perhaps after aquiring the yiga as allies/or before that in disguise they can do the same for you but are only found in the underground)

it would also allow for more diverse gameplay, if your favorite weapon is about to break (it might not fully disappear but if you use it up it would go into a condition like the master sword when its lost its power, not usable or doing tiny amount of damage, but not gone forever if you accidentally use it too much-) you can decide to throw it away or keep it until you find the next smith, depending on if you already found one and see you are close or havent yet, or spend the material if you have it to instantly repair it

(i havent decided yet if rauru might be willing to repair your weapons, but not to craft them since he lacks the skill (would never admit to it) and he only wants to give you just enough support to enable you to do what he wants you to do- i think that might work better bc its still a difference to zelda, since she can craft too, but not too much so that you would feel like the games forcing you to use the smiths in the first half ... possibly its unlocked with one of the enigma stones, when rauru can claim he is able to do that now bc it lets him recover some of his strength)

what im wondering now, which is a bit important i think, is .. should the smiths be wandering around a set path or have a lil stationary shop? if they wander around it would make it a bit more depending on situation of you wanna use them, but bears the risk of making it annoying if you dont know here they are or happen to be too far away and a lil weird bc should have something to work on there, like an anvil, which would be a lil strange to carry around; a lil shop could potentially turn into a location you keep teleporting back and forth though im leaning towards the shop; you could make helping them build it a quest too, or saving them from monsters? overall i think this idea is a rather nice balance

#ganondoodles talks #zelda #ganondoodles rewrites totk #the smiths are of different species too #one of them will be a hammerhead shark zora #bc i think thats funny

[bloobluebloo]

I dunno if this is my hardcore peddling of Ganondorf propaganda affecting my reading on things, but seeing so many people over on the tweeter say that Rauru is the best dad figure in LoZ games is just like...hmm.

He does try to help her in terms of gathering information in how to get back to her time, but otherwise sort of only pays lip service to any concerns Zelda has when it comes to Ganondorf. Zelda is no longer a young princess that is under the thumb of her father's expectations; she is a ruler in her own time, well aware of what plagues her country. However, even though Rauru acknowledges who she is, he still, like Rhoam, thinks he knows better than she does. Even when Zelda advises him to not confront Ganondorf, knowing full well what she saw in the present, Rauru is arrogant enough to think that because Zelda is here in the past that things will turn out different this time and decides to disregard her advice. He never gives her a concrete explanation for his actions, basically just telling her "not to worry about it" as if she is a child complaining about a boogieman under her bed and not what is possibly the origin of a calamity she spent 100 years holding back. In a way, Rauru becomes this sort of protective father figure where he wants to take the burden of all the hard things off her shoulders and let her focus on finding a way back home. However, considering Zelda herself is a ruler who already put her life on the line for her kingdom, she does not need to be coddled in this way. After all, she is also speaking in the interests of protecting what she knows to be home. It often feels like Rauru is infantilizing her instead of taking her concerns seriously, in the same way Rhoam did. It feels like this infantilization extends to Ganondorf as well, whom he allows to come to court and swear his fealty after attacking Hyrule, as if such a brazen attack was simply a child throwing a tantrum and not a tribe making a bold statement as to what they thought of his "repeated invitations". And then of course he keeps him on a short lease right after instead of treating him as a true threat to his kingdom. It does make me wonder if that was the reason why Zelda confronted Ganondorf with Sonia alone, with Rauru nowhere to be found. Was this yet another instance of King Zonai being dismissive of Zelda's concerns, and Sonia being the one who decided to listen?

Can one be considered a good father figure if he never bothers to treat you like an equal that has something of value to say and to consider? At what point does the kindness become condescending?

#anyways this is my final thot for the night #GOOD NIGHT #ganonthots

[renthony]

I've been playing Tears of the Kingdom while my husband plays Breath of the Wild, and I just can't stop musing about Wild!Link's canon trauma, both medical and emotional. Specifically, Link's memory loss and the way it would be a trauma unto itself.

What if Link, especially early on when recovery is just beginning, mixes up the names of the Champions and the Sages? What if he remembers something that happened with the Champions as happening with the Sages, and vice-versa?

What if Link struggles to keep them separate in his mind when he's dealing with memory slips and PTSD? What if the Sages have learned to respond to the names of the Champions without thinking, because Link is trying so hard to adjust to life with the after-effects of a traumatic brain injury? What if he can't stop grieving because his mind won't stop mixing everything up? It gets harder when the Sages start wielding the Champion's weapons, or if one of them dresses in blue for the day.

After the Upheaval, Link wakes up on the sky islands, alone with nothing but the ghost of a dead king and a plateau that he cannot leave without falling to his death. Does he panic? Does he think, oh Hylia, I thought I was safe, but it's happened again? Rauru can't give him details. Rauru doesn't know how much time has passed. Zelda isn't there. Link is alone, again. He thinks he has all his memories this time, but does he? How much time has passed, what has he forgotten now?

When Link reaches the surface, when he makes it to Lookout Landing, does he break down? Does he confide in Purah or someone else that he thought he'd lost everyone again? That he would find out that all his friends are dead, again? That he didn't dare hope there would be anyone left for him to come home to?

#and that's not even factoring in that PURAH LOOKS DIFFERENT because she re-aged in a VERY SHORT amount of time #which wouldn't help the disorientation AT ALL #original post #the legend of zelda #breath of the wild #tears of the kingdom