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fatefulfaerie · 2 years

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Serpent

Linktober 2022 prompt #16/31

Word Count: 1,065

Incarnation: Phantom Hourglass (post)

Trigger Warning: Wound Gore

Link and Gonzo’s heads popped up immediately when they heard Tetra scream in the distance, the sailors darting into the tropical forest to find her standing in a clearing looking down at her leg. She looked up at them as if everything was fine. Her brow furrowed.

“Are you two so hard-pressed for a damsel-in-distress that you’ll flock to any scream you hear?”

“But Miss,” Gonzo reasoned. “You never scream.”

Tetra rolled her eyes.

“It was just a serpent, it caught me by surprise,” she shooed them away with her hands. “Now back to your duties. We’re never gonna get off this island with that big hole in the boat.”

“Yes, Miss,” Gonzo said with a quick nod that was almost a bow. “Of course, Miss.”

Yet Link stayed, the now 16-year-old watching as Tetra leaned onto a boulder with a sigh and a wince. He crossed his arms.

“Hey,” he said casually.

“Hey,” she responded, looking up at him. Link gestured behind him with his head. “The boys were asking for you. Why don’t you come to the shore and see why.”

Tetra’s eyes flashed with panic.

“Y-yeah, sure,” she said timidly. “No problem.”

Link was already prepared to catch her when she fell, which was good when Tetra stumbled after her first step. She fell right into Link’s arms, and parsed in her mind an excuse she could give.

She employed every bit of her will power and stood up through the pain, denying Link’s assistance and laughing it off.

“Oh,” she chuckled forcefully, gesturing up to the sun, “the heat. Must have just…lost my footing for a second.”

“Tetra, that serpent bit you, didn’t it?”

“Pfft, no,” Tetra said, lying terribly, but her will power was running out.

“Yes,” she said truthfully with a wince, hopping back to the rock she desperately needed. “Link it hurts so bad.”

Link sighed as he knelt, inspecting the wound without touching it. There were indeed two even puncture wounds above her ankle where the serpent sank its teeth, no doubt a matching pair on the other side. Already her ankle was terribly swollen and red.

“Link,” she said, her breathing shallow and labored as she pressed against the rock. He looked up immediately. “I think I’m going to pass out.”

She weakened like a wilting flower, lilting into Link’s arms, barely conscious as Link gently laid her down on the ground. He gently pressed a couple frantic palms to her cheeks.

“Tetra,” he beckoned. “Tetra, stay with me.”

“Gonzo!” He exclaimed into the tropical jungle. “Niko! Nudge! Anyone!”

There was no reply, and thus Link had no choice but to hoist her up into his arms, ignoring the way his knees already ached, the way her arms were dead weight and the way her head lolled into his shoulder. As fast as he could he ran to the shore, where every crew member dropped what they were doing as soon as they noticed the state their captain was in.

“Get me anything we have on the ship,” Link demanded, setting her down and refusing to put his fingers anywhere else but where he could feel her pulse on her. “Potions, fairies, maybe a couple miracles if you can find them.”

Various feet shuffled grains of sand to hurry back to the ship. Link saw Gonzo kneel at Tetra’s side, not knowing Gonzo was looking at Link, how he was tearing up and shaking as he unsheathed Tetra’s dagger to partially cut the bottom half of her pants.

“I’ll do it,” he said, taking the hilt of the dagger. “You focus on breathing. She’s gonna be okay.”

Link shook his head, tears falling and voice breaking.

“I’m never gonna forgive her for not hiring a medic for the ship.”

Gonzo smiled slightly, eyes sinking in memory.

“She’s stubborn, like her mother,” he said. “And she’s not going to place her trust in anyone that didn’t know her mother. Loyalty is what she values most. Trusting someone new like that is hard for her. Even you went through something similar.”

Gonzo handed Link back the dagger hilt-first.

“She trusts you with her life now,” he said, in a way meant to be encouraging.

Yet it seemed to place a weight upon Link that Gonzo did not intend, a shift of blame like a mountain he didn’t mean to move. Link took the dagger and sheathed it carefully back into its rightful place on Tetra’s hip.

“Link,” she said weakly, Link’s eyes sinking in concern.

“Link!” A crew member yelled, Link turning around quickly to meet them.

“What did you find?” Link said with an imperative insistence. Two glass bottles clinked as Niko showed him.

“A fairy and some chu chu jelly.”

“That’s all?” Link said as he took both, steeling himself that a single fairy may not be enough for something of this caliber.

“A lot fell out in the attack.”

Though afraid, Link decided to at least be thankful for the fairy, rushing back to Tetra’s side and praying to all three goddesses for a miracle as he uncorked the cap.

The fairy began circling around him, lifting him up off even his feet, making him float inches above the sands below. His arms drifted as he worried the fairy would leave without giving Tetra so much as a glance.

Yet, his worries were soon quelled, not just because of the restorative power of the fairies, but because the fairy soon did the same thing to Tetra. She was lifted by an otherworldly force, glowing ethereal as the fairy spiraled upwards until it disappeared into the light of the sun. Tetra and Link’s feet gently rejoined the sands of the surface at the same time.

“Tetra?” Link asked, seeing her ankle was free of any injury and breathing a sigh of relief.

She opened her eyes but their loose state was short-lived, the blue orbs widening at the force at which Link hurtled into her, nearly knocking her over.

“Don’t scare me like that again,” Link said, holding her tight. “Do you hear me? Next time we find anyone who knows anything about medicine we’re dragging them on the boat and paying them with all the treasure we have. That was my last fairy from The Great Sea.”

Tetra melted into the embrace, and let her stubborn nature be flitted away alongside the wind.

“Okay.”

#linktober 2022 #linktober #zelink #telink #the wind waker #phantom hourglass

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ohlookanothercartoontofallinto · 2 years

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Renegade Winds Part 2

You can also go read it (here)

"Where in the world is he!" The young princess paced back and forth in her bedroom. "I mean, he's always late, but he's never this late!" She walked towards her bag, fiddling with the contents inside. "Calm down, Tetra girl, he's probably just taking extra precautions. Yeah, Sky's on duty tonight. He probably needs to be careful….Only he's never careful. UGHHH, Wind, where could you possibly be?"

"You rang?"

"AHH!" Tetra proceeded to clock Wind in the chest. Forcing the boy to fall to his knees. "Oh my gosh, WIND! I'm so sorry, do you–WAIT, DON'T DO THAT. YOUR LUCKY I DIDN'T SHOOT YOU!" Tetra quickly placed a hand on his chest, feeling if there was any delayed breathing.

"Well, I–" Wind started to explain before a hand was thrown over his mouth.

"Shhhhhh, someone might have heard us." Tetra and Wind carefully waited, listening for any possible signs of movement. Nothing stirred, "hew, now WHAT WERE YOU THINKING! Also, are you okay!" Tetra helped lift Wind to his feet, hand still covering his mouth. "I didn't hit you too hard, did I? Can you breathe, alright? Did you bring your oxygen mask? Why aren't you saying anything?"

Wind stared at his best friend, eyebrow raised. Debating if he could lick her hand or kiss it? Which would make her less mad?

“Oh…sorry….” Tetra pulled her hand away, rubbing her arm with it. "Why, umm, why did you take longer to get here?"

"I slept in because of a nightmare…." Wind observed his friend carefully. "Tetra, are you okay? You're more jumpy than normal."

“What, pfffffffffffffffftttt no, I’m fine, see f–Fine!” Tetra gave Wind the fakest smile he thought he had ever seen.

"Tetra…." Wind whispered sweetly, opening his arms up for her to come into a hug.

The girl's body deflated. Inching her way over and resting her head on Wind's shoulder. "I hate being a princess, Wind…I hate it…."

The boy wrapped her in a big hug, letting her know she was safe. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"No–" She snuggled in closer.

"D–did one of your sisters say something again?" Wind hesitated to ask.

Tetra paused, "no…I was just not invited to something…again." Tetra bit her lip.

"Oh…well! Who wants to go to a boring, dumb event anyways! When you can hang out with the city's third coolest vigilante!" The Hylian boy smiled, trying his hardest to make his best friend happy.

The princess looked at him confused, "Who is the first and second coolest vigilante? I assume you would have been the first."

"Ha, no, I'm the third, the second is our lovely Jolene, and first is, of course, the feared vigilante Gallows, with her pistols of justice and smile that could make anyone swoon and fear for their life." Wind winked.

Tetra started to blush, "nooooo, shut up." She pushed her hand against the other teen's face. Him giggling the entire time. "Shall we get going!" Breaking free of the hug and grabbing her bag full of things.

"We shall!" Wind turned, heading towards the balcony doors, abruptly stopping, "shoot, Shoot, SHoot, SHOot, SHOOt, SHOOT, SHOOT!" The Hylian boy flew into the air, panically grabbing hold of the rafters and hiding behind one.

"Wind! What in the world is the–" Then she saw it. "Shoot!"

Tetra launched her bag into the rafters, with Wind barely catching it. "What should I do! What should I do!"

"Act natural!" The boy whispered yelled from above.

"Act natural, act natural? What do I normally do!" The young princess searched around. Diving for her bed where she had left a book open.

"Wait, you read!" The boy's voice echoed.

"Shut up, Wind!" Tetra put all her focus into the book. Meaning she wasn't registering a thing. When a knock came from her balcony door, with two individuals and a bird walking through.

"Tetra," the woman called.

"Hmmm, oh, hi, sun," Tetra replied, attempting to act like she wasn't about to sneak out with her vigilante best friend.

"Oh, Sky and Crimson too, what a pleasant surprise." She grinned her teeth, smiling. "What in the world are you three doing here?"

"Well," Sun rushed over and flopped herself on Tetra's bed. "I wanted to check on you after what happened this morning."

"Oh? You really didn't have to." Tetra froze as she watched Crimson give all of his attention to the ceiling. Sky standing confused beside him. Trying to figure out what was so interesting.

"No, no, little sister! That's the point! I should, and so should everyone else! Honestly, what was that nobleman thinking?" Sun continued talking as Tetra dashed off her bed to stand next to Sky.

"I mean, really, how could a quote-on-quote nobleman just FORGET, the 9th princess of the royal family of Hyrule, I swear–"

Crimson started to lift up his head and poke around the rafters of the room. Wind desperately trying to get away without being seen. The loftwing liked him, which he was grateful for, but he really couldn't afford for him to get excited and blow his cover right now.

"What's he doing?" Tetra pleaded with Sky like she didn't already know.

"I'm not sure?" Sky patted Crimson, trying to get the large bird to stop snooping around.

"AND TO Think mother didn't even defend or QUESTION the miss count, honestly! The utter disgrace!"

Wind now, thoroughly backed into a corner trying to blend into the shadows, was spotted by Crimson. The bird's feathers puffed up, and attempted to get closer to the boy.

Wind mentally screaming, 'SHHHHH No Crimson, bad bird, bad bird.'

Tetra quickly realized what was going on, "Can you get him to stop!" Panic was evident in her voice.

"I–I can try. Crimson down, you're going to break rafters with your weight." Sky desperately expressed.

The legendary giant bird paused for a moment before erupting in a puff of smoke as he became a quarter of his original size and shot off into the rafters.

"Nooooo," Tetra whispered.

"Well…that didn't work." Sky expressed as a loud thump echoed off a wall. "And goodness gracious, what was that?"

The young princess panicked. "Uh, RATS!" Then the banging from the rafters abruptly stopped before starting back up. Tetra knew that the pause was her friend, probably having to process the stupidity she just spoke.

"Rat's?" Sky questioned, concerned for the state in which the love of his life, sister, was living.

"Um, yessss." Tetra needed to explain this fast.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN RATS!" Sun decided to enter the conversation. "Oh my gosh! First! They neglect your title as a princess! Then they stick you in the rotten room where you are forced to live with rats! You know what, that's it!" Sun took Tetra by the wrist, pulling her along. "We are going to go talk to our mother! AND DEMAND THAT YOUR TITLE BE respected! And that you are treated with the same dignity as the rest of us!"

"Wait, no! Sun!" Tetra attempted to pull away, "Sky, help me!" Tetra looked at the hero in desperation.

"Oh, um," Sky rubbed the back of his neck. He agreed with all Sun had said. However, he was not one to be ignorant of the princesses' pleas. "Sunshine, I believe your sister is trying to say something."

Sun stopped, and Tetra knew she only had this one chance to speak before her sister started another rant. "I don't care that I wasn't invited. I don't care anymore. It's not worth half the trouble you make it. I like that my room is up here. The rats don't bother me. Actually, they keep Fable and Phanny from snooping around in my stuff! Thank you for your concern, but I swear I'm fine! I don't care!" The teen took a deep breath, looking at her sister.

She wasn't happy. Her face was a mix of troubled and saddened. "You should, though." Sun looked towards the floor.

"But I don't…not really. Besides, I be more worried about the noblemen telling mother to push back Sky's and your's engagement. Then about your little sister not being invited to a party." Tetra prayed Sun take the bait.

She did…and so did Sky.

"What was that first part?" Sky asked so sweetly, but behind that kindness was a thousand bolts of lighting.

"Umm…I overheard some noblemen talking, and they commented that they were going to get the queen to delay the engagement even further." Which actually wasn't a lie, except she didn't overhear. The men were standing right in front of her when they said it. Tetra had just figured they had no idea who she was.

Sun smiled softly as she let go of Tetra's wrist. "Is that so? Well then."

Tetra rushed to hide behind Sky. Sun liked him. She wouldn't kill him in her rage. Sun started to pace back and forth. Trying so desperately to not blow up. She failed, but at least she tried.

"They…have Got TO BE OUT OF THEIR COTTON PICKING MIND!!!"

"Sunshine," Sky lifted up his hands to try and calm down his future bride.

"Too late," Tetra peeked from behind the hero.

"YOU KNOW WHAT THE AUDACITY OF THESE MEN, TELLING ME WHEN I SHOULD BE MARRIED! SKY AND I HAVE ALREADY BEEN FORCED TO GO A YEAR. HOW MUCH LONGER DO THEY EXPECT ME, US, TO WAIT! YES, I KNOW A ROYAL WEDDING IS A PUBLIC EVENT, BUT THEY CAN NOT KEEP DOING THIS TO US!"

If the older princess had looked up at that moment, she would have been met with the sight of the teenage boy and legendary bird, both staring down from the rafters. Terrified, not even beginning to describe the emotion they wore on their faces.

"YOU KNOW WHAT, NO! I AM GOING TO GO SPEAK TO MOTHER ABOUT THIS RIGHT NOW. I REFUSE TO GO ANOTHER MINUTE WITHOUT KNOWING IF THIS ACTION WILL TAKE PLACE." Sun began to march with purpose towards the balcony doors.

"Thank you so much, Tetra, for warning me about this! We are not done talking about the injustice done to you, but I must clear this up now!" Sun proceeded to throw herself off the balcony.

Sky jumped, "Oh shoot, CRIMSON!"

In a flash, the bird flew down from the rafters, using the cover of smoke to hide his transformation from small to large. Flying like a bullet to catch the enraged princess. Sky dashing behind the bird. "Always lovely to see you, Tetra! So sorry about this!"

"It's okay…Bye, Sky?" The young princess stood there awkwardly, watching as her future brother-in-law waved her goodbye before diving off the balcony after the love of his life.

The teen stood there for a moment, honestly expecting them to come back and the yelling to continue.

"Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo," the voice of Wind echoed through the rafters. Looking up, Tetra had to witness the toothy grin of her hidden vigilante best friend. With his head propped up by his hand. "I'm a rat, you say?"

Without skipping a beat, "Yes, the ugliest and biggest rat in the castle."

Wind squawked, "You hurt me, however," the teen jumped down, letting the breeze catch him slowly descending to be face to face with Tetra. "I'm your rat, so honestly, what's that say about you?" The boy tilted his head.

"That I apparently have poor taste." Tetra shrugged, invading the personal space Wind had already invaded.

"Ha, well, what did you expect!" the vigilante chuckled as he danced towards the door, flicking the breeze to pull down the bag left above. "You literally found me in a trash can when we first met. You had all the warning signs from the beginning."

"No, no, you were flung into a trashcan by the man that was trying to assassinate me. There is a huge difference." Tetra stated, holding out her arms, allowing her bag to fall into them.

"Same difference," Wind winked at his friend, and he pulled an oxygen mask over his mouth.

"Nah, uhhhh!" The princess followed the boy's actions tightening her mask, making sure it was secure.

"Yeah, huuuhhhh!"

The teens headed toward the princess's balcony.

“Nah uhhhhhhhhhhh!”

“Yeah huuhh!”

“Nah uuuuuuuhhhh!”

“Yeahhhhhhhhhhh huuuhhhh!”

“Nah uh!”

"Yeah, huuuhhhh!" Wind proceeded to scoop the princess up in his arms, holding her tight. "Tetra, either way you put it, you still found me in the trash, and you still have poor taste." The vigilante laughed, adjusting his stance.

"Fineee," Tetra wrapped her arms around Wind's neck, "You're still a rat."

"Dang right I am!" The teen shot off into the sky, allowing the breeze and air to carry him and his friend above the clouds, higher than even the birds were willing to go. Directing the flow, so they could get where they needed to go.

#linkeduniverse #lu #linked universe #linkeduniverse wind #linked universe wind #lu wind #linkeduniverse au #linkeduniverse fanfic #linked universe fanfic #lu sky #linkeduniverse sky #linked universe sky #Renegade Winds #Renegade Wind

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anthemxix · 3 years

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whumpay bonus: deleted scenes

my final offering to you for the month~ :)

there were some prompts i started to write but didn't finish, and a few instances where i began a prompt, decided it wasn't working, and then completely started over. i have no idea if these scraps will interest anyone, but it seemed like a shame for them to go to waste. so i hope you enjoy :) thank you <3 <3 <3

day 4, part 2 (fire) - first attempt

“Can I just say again that I really don’t like this plan?”

Wind groaned. “We know, Captain. You’ve been saying that every five minutes.”

“Because it’s a terrible plan!”

Scowling, Wind shuffled back from the impossibly massive archway he’d been peering through. “Look, we decided on the plan hours ago, so just give it a rest already.”

Sky cleared his throat. “Well. I’d like to say that I don’t like this plan either.”

“Oh, how nice of you to contribute that, Sky,” Warriors growled, rounding on him. “Couldn’t have said anything before the literal last minute?”

“Hey, I’ve dissented to this idea the whole time,” Sky retorted, holding his hands up defensively. “Not just because it’s dangerous, but because it’s not our place to meddle in local political affairs.”

“Agreed,” Warriors said. “We’re putting that whole town at risk. It’s not too late to turn back.”

“Since when do you run away from a fight?” Wind goaded.

“Okay, that’s enough,” Time said. Five heads turned his way, expectant, tense, and he sighed in resignation. “The Sailor is correct. We discussed the merits and drawbacks this morning. We’re committed to this plan now. I’m sorry, Captain.”

Wind smirked triumphantly despite Warriors’ heavy frown. “Great. I’ll see you all later then.”

He offered a sloppy salute and turned towards the archway, only for Warriors to grab his arm and spin him back around.

“Ugh, now what?” Wind griped. “You heard the Old Man! The plan is a go!”

The Captain grasped both of Wind’s shoulders and ducked to his eye level, his expression all hard lines. “Listen. At the first sign of danger, you get out of there. This is not worth sacrificing your life over.”

Wind defiantly tried (and failed) to wiggle out of his iron grip. “I’m gonna be fine, Wars! Why don’t you trust me? I’m the most skilled thief we’ve got!”

“I do trust you, and I don’t doubt your skills in the least,” Warriors said. “It’s just…” He hesitated, swallowed. “Tell me you’ll get out of there as soon as there’s trouble. Don’t be reckless.”

The somberness and sincerity (and was that fear?) in Warriors’ tone was sobering, and Wind finally conceded, “I will. I’ll be careful. Promise.”

Warriors’ hands lingered on his shoulders a moment longer, and Wind was surprised to find he missed their weight when they were gone. He didn’t dwell on it, though, nor did he look back as he deftly slipped through the stone archway and disappeared over the ledge.

The Captain crossed his arms, not bothering to conceal his concern as he watched Wind go, and Legend murmured to him, “Hey. You don’t do anything reckless either. Got it?”

“Of course.”

They all knew he was lying.

---

The chamber Wind had entered was more astronomical than any he’d ever seen—it must have filled the entire berth of the mountain, he thought—and even more wondrous still, it was jam-packed with mound upon mound of shimmering rupees, jewels, armor, weapons, vases…treasure. The most extensive treasure trove in this or any era, surely.

Wind grinned to himself. Tetra and her crew would never believe this. Maybe he could smuggle out a shiny little gift for them.

He picked his way across the hills of treasure, disturbing them as little as possible, and stopped near a colossal column. Steadying himself on it, Wind peered around the enormous chamber, and, for the first time since they’d departed the lakeside town that morning, felt a flicker of dismay. He had, of course, expected that locating one specific gemstone in a vast hoard of treasure would be difficult, but he’d underestimated the task. Like kind of, really, severely underestimated the task.

Well, no matter. He didn’t make it this far in his adventures by shying away from impossible odds. Besides, he felt he was graced with the goddesses’ favor today. He and the others had climbed up the mountain, strongarmed their way into the mines, and navigated the maze of corridors without one blip of trouble—and, best of all, there was no sign of the one major threat they’d been warned about again and again.

Wind smiled as he continued across the treasure trove, pausing to sift through some of it now and again. He just needed to be patient and deliberate and quiet, and then he could sneak back over to where the others were waiting and prove to them what a capable hero he was. Warriors said he didn’t doubt Wind’s skills, but he must, at least a little, or he wouldn’t have been so reluctant to let Wind do this.

The Sailor peered across the chamber towards the archway he’d come through. It was well above him now, as he’d descended from the peak of a treasure mound, although he was nowhere near the floor yet. The candle chandeliers suspended from the cavern’s apex offered a fair amount of light, which reflected brilliantly from all the gold rupees and splendid diamonds, but it was not sufficient to see any of his friends.

All the better, he thought as he continued his hunt. If he couldn’t see them, then neither could their enemy, whose other senses outweighed its sight—as he’d been repeatedly reminded by the others, who had all info-dumped him on this particular foe, as if he hadn’t dealt with any himself before.

Wind really did not understand what all the fuss was about. What made this different than any other dungeon, or any other enemy therein? Yes, this particular mission was complicated by the fact that they were helping restore some fallen regent and give him access to this treasure hoard without having all the details on the guy. Wind regularly operated without having all the details, even on missions as significant as this, and he suspected the others did as well, so he wasn’t too concerned about that.

But what was the big deal with the enemy? He understood that provoking this monster put the proximal town at risk, but didn’t that happen with every big baddie they faced? What was so different about this—?

Wind froze, thoughts cut off as he tuned in to the nearby jingle of tumbling rupees. He slowly turned his head, hand on the Phantom Sword’s hilt, expecting to see some stalfos or something emerging from the depths. There had to be someone guarding this treasure, after all.

He was not anticipating a stream of treasure would part to reveal the snout of a dragon sighing in its sleep.

Panic jangled Wind’s nerves, and suddenly he felt like he understood Warriors’ reluctance very clearly.

The tip of this dragon’s muzzle was utterly massive, with yellow, jagged teeth as tall as Wind protruding from its mouth. The rest of it, still concealed by treasure, must have been unimaginably gargantuan. Its steady breaths smelled ominously ashy.

Wind backed up a step, rupees clinking beneath his foot, and held his breath. Perhaps it was time to return to his friends…

As he began to creep back towards the archway, leaving the dragon’s snout a considerable berth, Wind felt a tug of magic. It wasn’t a variety of magic he recognized, but the sensation was unmistakable. His eyes darted around, scanning, until they landed on a strikingly sparkly gemstone, iridescent and oval-shaped and nearly the size of his head.

Dumbfounded, Wind blinked. That. That was the stone! It had to be!

It wasn’t too far from him, but it was downhill, i.e., in the opposite direction of his destination. But he was so close. He couldn’t give up now.

Wind threw a cursory look at the dragon snout before switching course and tiptoeing down towards the stone.

There was another rattling jangle behind him, and Wind paled as treasure shifted to reveal some of the dragon’s tail, ridiculously far from where the snout lie. He tried not to let this bother him as he reached the stone and carefully tucked it into his bag.

Acquiring the target item filled him with some relief, and he started the long trek up the treasure mountains to reach the archway, choosing his footholds cautiously.

He was halfway there when he slipped, smacking face-first into the rupee pile and backsliding several meters with an insufferably loud clanking from the treasure.

He froze, breath bated, heart slowed, as he gazed over at the dragon.

It didn’t move.

Releasing a soft sigh, he straightened up, prepared to resume his ascent, when the dragon snorted.

With dreadful slowness, it lifted its head from its beloved treasure, amber eyes flitting around its chamber as it swiveled its long neck around, searching.

Then it slowly rose, gems and gold cascading from its back, as its enormous, folded wings appeared.

Wide-eyed, Wind didn’t move. He couldn’t. This was, by far, the largest creature he’d ever seen.

The dragon inhaled a great snuff of air, sniffing, then another. Forked tongue flickered between menacing teeth.

And then it spoke, its baritone voice echoing off the mountain walls as it dragged out each syllable.

“Where—are—you?”

Wind couldn’t help the involuntary twitch of his hands. Some coins jingled, and the dragon gazed in Wind’s general direction. It didn’t see him.

“I know you’re here,” the dragon drawled. “I can smell you. I can hear your breathing.”

One massive, clawed foot rose from the treasure depths, smacking down on top of a pile.

Swallowing, Wind shakily began to climb again, with painstaking slowness, on his hands and knees. He was good at stealth. He could do this. Absolutely.

“I can sense your fear. Little thief.”

He faltered, hand twitching, but continued. Slow. Steady. Come on. You can do it.

The dragon lifted another foot, and its third and fourth, until it was fully free of the treasure, its tail swishing in its wake. It grazed against the high chandeliers, causing them to quiver and shoot strange fluttering shadows across the room.

“I do not have much patience for foolish little thieves.” The dragon drew a deep, rumbling breath, its chest beginning to glow a burning orange. Smoke began to filter from its nostrils. “Come out.”

Wind looked up. The archway was still so far away. He tried to move more quickly while staying as noiseless as possible. He had to hurry. He was running out of time. As soon as he got there, they could escape unseen—

“If you come out now, little thief, I won’t kill your friends quite so painfully.”

Wind tripped again, setting off a mini-avalanche of treasure.

The dragon’s head snapped in his direction, its eyes narrowing and lipless mouth curling as if in a smirk. It took a step towards him, and another, its claws clinking as the dangerous orange glow built up along its neck, up its throat, more smoke churning from its snout.

“Are you over there, little thief? I’ll give you one more chance. Come out. Now.”

Wind scrabbled, slipping again, sending more treasure tumbling, and when the dragon opened its mouth, its internal flame heating the room significantly, he lost all caution and tried to run.

---

When the dragon lifted its head, Legend wrapped his hand firmly around Warriors’ elbow.

As more and more of the dragon emerged from the depths, Four said quietly, “I think we need to prepare.”

There was a murmur of agreement, and Legend frowned. Reluctantly, he released Warriors’ arm and muttered, “Old Man, keep an eye on him.”

Time nodded, eyes already on the Captain, and Legend, Sky, and Four headed out for their destination.

Time pulled out his Biggoron Sword, watching the dragon take a step, its booming threats resounding around the chamber. He picked out Wind among the mountains of treasure.

“I need you to know,” the Captain started, drawing Time’s attention, “that I cannot live with myself if he…”

Time nodded, even though Warriors wasn’t looking at him.

“If he goes down, I’m going to save him or die trying,” Warriors said. “Those are the only options.”

“I know.”

Warriors looked at him grimly. “It’s been an honor fighting by your side again.”

Time put a hand on Warriors’ shoulder, and left it there until the dragon opened its mouth, and Warriors jumped down into the pit of gold without another word.

---

Warriors aimed for the dragon’s amber eye, but hit its cheek instead. The arrow bounced uselessly off the impenetrable scales, and Warriors doubted the beast could even feel it; yet the dragon, to his relief, turned towards him.

Warriors nocked another arrow and shot again for the eye, but the dragon simply lowered its head, bringing it close to the Captain, heat radiating from it.

“Another little Hylian,” drawled the dragon. “Where did all your little friends scurry off to, hm?”

day 10 (screaming/silence) - unfinished

Distinguishing night from day is impossible in these woods; the opaque fog that consumes them occludes both sun- and moonlight, perpetually casting a bland grey pall across the trees. It’s disorienting, and Time has entirely lost his grip on the passage of his namesake. He has no conception of how long he and Sky have been wandering around this forest, searching for an exit, and that disconnect disturbs him, prickles beneath his skin.

When Time spots an x carved into a tree trunk, he stops and drags his hand through his hair with a sigh.

Lagging several paces behind him, Sky, too, pauses. “What is it?”

Time points to the marking. “We’ve been here before.”

It takes Sky a moment to register what he’s being told, and then he visibly wilts like an underwatered flower. “Great. That’s great.”

“I can’t keep track of this place,” Time confesses. “It’s as if it’s…shifting.”

“Or we’re getting shifted,” Sky says. “Wild said the fog in his Lost Woods can move him.”

“That’s…unsettling, to say the least.” Time glances skyward out of habit and frowns in annoyance as he’s reminded that he can’t see the sun here. “How long do you think we’ve been walking?”

“I…I really don’t know.”

The elder hero side-eyes Sky, who, alarmingly, appears considerably more ill than he did before. Some time ago, the two of them had stopped to sleep, certain they’d meandered the day away, and Sky woke up dizzy and pale. He insisted he was fine to continue—for what other option did they have?—but he had been growing more and more sluggish as they walked. Now he grips his sailcloth, pulling it tight around his shoulders like a blanket, and looks as colorless as the fog, swaying slightly where he stands.

“Do you need to rest?” Time asks.

Immediately, Sky shakes his head. “I’m fine.”

“…Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I just want to get out of here.” Sky releases his sailcloth to scratch behind his ear, something Time has observed him doing on multiple occasions today (tonight?).

“You keep scratching,” Time says, gesturing towards his own ear.

“What?”

“Your ear. You keep scratching there.”

“Oh…” Sky removes his hand and clutches his sailcloth again. “I dunno. It really itches for some reason. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

Time steps towards him and brushes Sky’s hair aside to see a small but very red bump. “Looks like an insect bite. You should leave it alone.”

Sky hums in acknowledgement. “Let’s keep moving.”

Unsatisfied, Time chooses a direction for them to proceed in. He thinks they’ve taken a different turn than the last time they crossed paths with this tree, but he can’t be certain. Before they leave the area, he pulls out a knife and marks the trunk with a second x.

Time has no idea how long it takes, but eventually, they wind up back at the same damn tree.

His eye twitches as he scrubs a hand over his face. “Okay. We need a new plan bec—”

“Uh, Time?”

He looks behind him to see Sky holding one hand out, blood smudged across his fingers. “What—?” Then he spots the blood trickling down Sky’s neck, staining his hair.

Time moves closer and brushes Sky’s hair aside again, causing the knight to jump a little. “What are you doing?”

Substantially more inflamed, the insect bite behind Sky’s ear has split open. Worse, now that Time is up close, he can see that Sky’s hands are shaking and his pallid cheeks are blemished with feverish pink blooms. “You scratched the bite so much that it’s bleeding… Let’s clean it up.”

He steers Sky beneath the contemptible tree and sets to work washing the bite. It’s worryingly hot to the touch, but what really dismays Time is that the bump, which he expected to feel malleable, is hard, as if there’s a stone beneath Sky’s skin.

“Sky, are you allergic to insect bites?”

“No… I don’t think so? I don’t know, really.”

As soon as Time finishes bandaging the bite, Sky is reaching up to scratch it. Time grabs his hand. “Sky. It is imperative that you do not touch that.”

“But it—” He makes a throaty, frustrated sound. “It itches so badly.”

“I’m sorry, but there’s nothing we can do about that.” Time looks around, as if he’ll magically spy an exit from the woods that he somehow missed before.

“Okay. Okay.” Sky grits his teeth and clenches his sailcloth until his knuckles turn white.

day 17 (phobia) - first attempt

For half an hour, rain had been falling in a steady, serene drizzle so light that Sky hardly noticed it until a stray droplet snaked beneath his tunic collar, slithering cold and uncomfortable down his spine. Absently, he scratched at his collar, as if that would alleviate the remarkably unsettling sensation, just as the rainfall picked up.

He blinked up at the sky, which brimmed with plump, grey clouds, promising wet weather for the remainder of the afternoon.

“Guess there’s no point in waiting out the rain,” he commented over the downpour’s soothing heartbeat.

Beside him, Legend swept his damp hair away from his eyes, minutely scowling. “Yeah, let’s just keep going. The sooner we meet up with the others, the sooner we can track down some suitable shelter for the night.”

Sky hummed his agreement, hoping that in scouting this new area they’d been dropped in, some of the others had found a town. He and Legend had discovered an overgrown trail and followed it for most of the morning, but their efforts were fruitless, as the path seemed to stretch endlessly through uninhabited wilderness.

Minutes later, a resonant boom of thunder rolled across the sky, followed swiftly by a flickering tongue of lightning in the near-distance. All of Sky’s muscles locked up so suddenly that he awkwardly stumbled, only staying upright because Legend’s hand shot out to catch him.

“You okay there, bird boy?” Legend asked, eyebrows arched.

“Yeah, of course,” Sky murmured. “Tripped. That’s all.”

He reached back and grabbed a handful of his sailcloth, pinching and rubbing the silken fabric as he tried to ignore Legend’s scrutinizing stare boring into his temple.

day 25 (goodbye) - unfinished

Dinner is eaten, the dishes washed and packed, and the campfire doused, all in dreary silence. As the last of the fire’s smoke dissipates, Wind speaks. “What happens if we don't go through them? Will they disappear?”

No one answers for a moment. Eventually, Legend says, “We have to go through, small fry.”

“I— I know,” Wind stammers. “I’m just asking, like...what if we didn’t? What would happen?”

“Hypothetically,” Hryule offers.

“Yeah! It’s hypothetical.”

“There’s no reason to consider hypotheticals,” Legend says.

“There’s not,” Wild agrees bitterly. “Don’t make this any harder than it already is.”

He stands, gathering his belongings with a scowl as he adds, “As a matter of fact, we should get this over with.”

“Wait!” Wind jumps up, practically vaults across the now-damp firewood to grasp Wild’s arm.

“No, there's no point in stalling any longer,” Wild says, even as he involuntarily leans into Wind’s touch.

“Of course there is,” Wind argues, eyes wet. “Any more time I can have with you guys is worth it. Even just one extra minute.”

Wild looks away from him as he lightly pulls out of Wind’s hold.

Legend stands now, too, eyes averted. “You’re just making this harder, kid.”

“Goodbyes are always hard,” Four says quietly.

Another moment of silence lapses, until Time stands, plates of his armor shifting.

day 29 (lies/terrible truth) - first attempt

In the lean privacy of a secluded clearing, Twilight offered his confession without pretense or embellishment, a simple statement of facts. He didn’t appear nervous as he spoke, like someone who had been caught off-guard might; rather, he seemed resigned, his words rehearsed, as if he’d known this conversation was an inevitability.

Wild expected—hoped—he would glimpse some relief on Twilight’s face when the confession was done, but that wasn’t the case. He seemed sorrowful, ailing, but not relieved to be rid of the heavy secret he’d burdened himself with. Not remorseful for his wrongdoing.

The oddest thing about this moment, Wild thought as Twilight looked squarely into his eyes, was the quietness. How could the moment feel so still and calm, even as it decimated him? Even as it violently impressed its place into his personal history as a pivotal event? Even as it cleaved his life into a clear before and after?

Through Wild’s cluttered, confused thoughts floated a memory. Not a century-old, faded memory, the kind that abruptly flickered to life in the deepest fathoms of his subconscious and dragged him into catatonia. No, this memory was recent, crisp, bright. He could still feel this memory, could still smell its scents and hear its sounds. It replayed over and over, an inescapable loop, as he stared at the man who only minutes before had his unshakeable trust, his highest admiration, his purest love.

Wild broke eye contact and shook his head, trying to clear it. “You’re lying. You have to be. This makes no sense.”

He only looked back to Twilight when he heard the unmistakable sound of a sword being drawn. He came face-to-face with Twilight’s blade and reflexively jumped back, hand flying to the hilt on his back.

#i save nearly everything i write #i have a doc for 'scraps'#stuff that i've discarded for whatever reason #but that i like enough to save #and it's got 15k+ words atm #not counting this whumpay stuff #and i've considered sharing some #but i didn't know if anyone would be interested #so i guess we'll see how this post does lol #linked universe #linkeduniverse #lu #fanfiction #fanfic #my writing #whumpay2021

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alyss-spazz-penedo · 3 years

Text

Okay, so life has gotten STUPID stressful of late, and these days I have basically no time to indulge happy daydreams AT ALL.

Thus: screw pacing, I'm just gonna toss up this mostly-completed 11th part of the unedited v!Wind fic and then blow through the rest of this fic sometime in the next few weeks, bc I’m not adding any more content to what I’ve already got (or at least not anytime soon).

So yeah, @w1lmutt, expect a larger and more chaotic worddump than usual eventually! (I figure I can worry about proper scenes and editing nonsense if/when I ever move these words over to AO3 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )

<<First Part 10 Final>>

(I made a Masterpost for this!)

They drag the big doors open.

The inside of the cave is poorly lit and offers little in the way of room to stand; a pathway of those monster-built walkways follows the wall around to the back of the cove, but otherwise the space is all open water with an impressive ship bobbing at the center.

Tetra lets out a grunt of approval when she sees it, though she scowls at the massive cage that's been built on its deck. It’s a crude thing, large and runed with ominous symbols meant to contain the imprisoned, but otherwise the ship itself seems surprisingly understated and not-evil for the primary vessel of someone who’d conquered as much of the sea as Phantom had boasted.

At first, things seem fine. Quiet. The ship is untouched, all gangplanks pulled up and cannons pointed out but otherwise unharmed.

Then one of the pirates peeks their head over the railing and spots them.

"Boss! Swabbie! Is that you?" Niko yells, and there's blood all down his side. "Look out! Monsters afoot!"

"Niko!" Tetra calls in alarm, and the pirates who are able to scramble to lay out a plank for them to board. Phantom doesn't bother waiting, yanking his mask on and clearing the side of the ship in a single bound.

"Who did this," he begins, voice distorted by magic and fury.

Then the monsters attack, dropping from the ceiling and rising out of the sea. Every one of them bleeds black.

The heroes fight, of course. The crew has taken a beating, and the gathered Links do their best to defend the exhausted sailors—Phantom most fervently of them all.

It's hard battle. What footing there is is unstable, and their enemies many. Most of them are not suited to aquatic battles, and the waters of the cave are treacherous. They take injuries, all of them.

But when he's standing between their injured and their enemies, when his eyes are clear and sharp and his strikes deadly precise—for the first time, the gathered Links can see the look of a hero about their youngest.

~o0o~

Of course, he proceeds to thoroughly ruin that impression by the time the battle draws to a close.

The monster he's chosen is not a type of creature he recognizes—green, reptilian, fast in the water. Phantom's cut it's legs out from under it, quite literally, and so it writhes on it's elbows and stomach across the wooden deck as it tries to escape him. Outside of their little corner of the ship, the last of its comrades fall to the blades of the traveling heroes.

"Who sent you?" Phantom demands. When he doesn't get a response he likes, he drags his blade through the side of it's belly, long and nonfatal. It squeals in agony.

"You're going to die here," he observes, soft. He stomps on the wound, heedless of the dark blood splashing his sandals. "But it's going to take time. Quite some time, if you so choose. Answer me: who is your master?"

The creature gibbers. Phantom tilts his head, somehow divining meaning from the nonsensical noises of terror.

"A shadow?" he murmurs. "What-?"

Someone steps in. “What are you doing?!”

And it's only because it’s Hyrule—Hyrule who tried to help, Hyrule who’s lightning magic Phantom can still feel painful echoes of in his bones—that Phantom stays his blade. “Get out of my way,” he growls, which is better than the stabbing any of these other interlopers would’ve gotten.

A hand lands on his shoulder. Phantom's sword swings around, action to reaction with no pause for thought in between. The edge stops a hair's breadth away from Tetra's scowl.

"That's enough," she says, and shoots the lizalfos in the head.

Phantom scowls at the dead body, then at her. "I was not finished," he growls.

Tetra yanks on his ear.

"Ow! Hey!" He flails. "Leggo leggo!"

"We have more important things to worry about!" She yells, dragging him around to look at the sorry state of her crew. "Genzo needs a splint! Niko needs stitches and more bandages than we have! Everyone is beat to shit! And only one of us can fly, idiot!"

She lets go of his ear to shove him forward. Phantom stops. He looks.

"Oh," he utters, and he notices for the first time that he has blood dripping down his shield arm. He shakes his head, once, like a dog, and clutches at the wound. He feels very cold. "...Oh."

As though it had merely been waiting for his permission, the lizal corpse finally explodes into dark smoke.

"Right," he breathes. "Right."

~o0o~

"What were those," Phantom demands.

The pirates have been left in the care of the brothers who'd first opened their dojo to the traveling heroes, recuperating from their various injuries. Fortunately, none of the damage seems permanent. A few fairies, some liberally applied first aid, and all the crew should be at least back on their feet within the week.

This, however, has left the group of heroes with nowhere to stay, which led to Phantom reluctantly opening his own home to them. They're packed in there now, sprawled about both floors and generally tending to themselves with experienced hands.

"What do you think?" Legend replies snippily. Phantom scowls at them all, pacing back and forth restlessly in the tight space by the front door.

His glare lands on Four, helping Twilight wrap his wrist—on Wild getting scolded while Legend rests his ice rod on the Champion's ankle—on Hyrule tutting over Sky while Warriors dramatically bemoans his black eye—

He takes in the group's injuries with a dissatisfaction that very, very poorly covers his unease.

"You're not weak," the boy asserts. Time wonders who he's trying to convince. "You wouldn't have beaten me if you were weak. Why was this battle so difficult?"

"You didn't get off lightly yourself," Time points out, nodding to the thick mess of gauze on the boy's arm. At a guess, the boy had tried to block a blow with his shield and forgotten he wasn't wearing one. Fortunate that there's a fairy fountain on the island, or Phantom might've lost strength in that limb.

Phantom waves him off. "I was handicapped," he dismisses, not denying that he wasn't fighting at his best. Time frowns at the excuse. "I'll figure something out to compensate for it, and this won't happen again."

He gets a lot of dubious looks at that; none of them have forgotten that what he's trying to 'compensate for' is the loss of that parasite. Time's almost dreading what the boy might scrounge up to replace that.

Phantom turns away from them sulkily, unable to defend himself and unwilling to look all that suspicion in the face.

"To answer your question," Four starts, with the air of someone steering the conversation back to safer waters, "that's just the kind of journey we're on."

Sky swings his previously-dislocated shoulder in a testing motion that immediately gets him a cease-and-desist look from Hyrule, before he adds, "Those were pretty standard for black-blooded monsters, I'd say."

Twilight, catching the look on Phantom's face, rolls his eyes. "Did you think something the goddess summoned eight heroes to fight would be easy?"

Phantom scoffs, arms crossed. "It took eight of you to fight me," he grumbles, and there's the arrogant little brat they'd met at the start of this. Hopefully that means the kid's feeling better, if he's up to sassing them like that again.

Time rather doubts that—Phantom IS a Link, after all—and so the one-eyed hero makes a mental note to follow up on that later.

#Vinked Universe #the unedited v!wind fic #linked universe #my writing #fanfic #me: tries my hand at action bc this is supposed to be a LU fic #Also me: drops it like a hot potato bc I have no idea how to Fight Scene #next part is just gonna be me turning my notebook upside and shaking it until all the plunnies fall out #I hope ur prepared #this has been a lot of fun but I am just. done #i think it's clear enough where I'm going with things at this point anyways

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deiliamedlini · 3 years

Text

I did this Tier Ranking the other day of Zelda’s with the most to least amount of agency in their games, and I’m going to be honest... I’m still thinking about it. I was getting so annoyed when I played SS the other day because of something that happens that made me mad. So now, I’m going to rant about every single Zelda because she deserves better.

This is my short essay on which Zelda’s have agency in their games and why. Omg if only I could have done that topic in grad school.

So this was my list.

Before you keep going, this is just spoiler central. So, if you haven’t played, say SS yet, heads up.

I’m going to start by saying I’ve never played the Four Swords games nor watched a playthrough. IDK why there are 4 of her, but maybe it’s just ironic to have 4 of them? But that’s my ‘don’t know’ pile. Maybe she’s epic, but I remember her being captured by Vaati in an intro to the GBA game, so I doubt it.

~~~

Most Agency: Wind Waker Tetra, Sheik, and Spirit Tracks Zelda

I almost feel like this part of the list goes without saying. Tetra (WW) is a queen. She’s a captain, has a crew, goes where she wants, helps Link, hurts Link, literally, queen.

Sheik should also go without saying. We don’t see a lot of Sheik actually doing things, but we know she’s doing them. She’s been all over Hyrule for 7 years training, and keeping the world spinning. During the game alone, we know she’s out there rescuing Ruto, trying to fight the spirits in the well, etc. So we don’t see it, but we know it.

And Spirit Tracks Zelda! SHE’S YOUR LITERAL COMPANION!!! SHE’S WITH YOU THE WHOLE GAME, FINDS A WAY TO FIGHT, HELPS, IS FUNNY, IS ACTIVE IN THE KINGDOM, AND IS AN ALL AROUND UNDERATED ZELDA. She lost a little agency because she has no body, but she didn’t let it stop her.

~~~

Good Agency: OOT Zelda, BOTW Zelda, TP Zelda

This is the “I’m in danger of being smited for including these three here” pile. OOT Zelda isn’t in it for long as adult Zelda, and she does get trapped in a crystal almost immediately, but you know she was training for years and managed to stay out of sight of Ganon. And at the end, she holds up an entire castle for you to escape. I want her on my team, but I’d prefer Sheik. Plus, this Zelda is one in SSB sooo does that count? I don’t think so but whatever. I wanted to put her lower, but I was thinking of her off screen and she managed to make it up into the ‘good’ agency pile.

BOTW Zelda. She’s got a lot more agency in AOC than BOTW because she just runs around and basically commands the whole kingdom's army after a while, but in BOTW, she’s held back by everyone! She had the potential! She wasn’t a damsel, she was a smart cookie, she had character, but everyone was like nah girl. Go wander Hyrule doing stuff. And she did! Not because she had agency, but because everyone told her to. She wanted to work with the tech! Let her work with the tech!

And TP Zelda, my girl, I love the thought of this Zelda SO MUCH!! SHE HAS A SWORD!! SHE COULD HAVE USED IT IN THE GAME!! THE CUTSCENE WAS RIGHT THERE!!!!! But you know she defended Hyrule off screen anyway, literally fought with her soldiers to protect her people. Gave her literal life of her own accord, took full blame for things, like, no one told this girl no. She was full blown agency... except that she was locked in a tower for the whole game, then went poof, then got turned into a puppet, then only managed to show off her battle badassery in ONE SCENE aka one of the best multi-stage final boss battles. Just could have pushed her further.

~~~

Okay Agency: Child OOT Zelda, SS Zelda, ALBW Zelda

Child Zelda. She’s a child. She gave Link an instrument and was forcibly (but thankfully) spirited away on horseback. She doesn’t really DO much at this point. But she WILL! So she’s cool, but she’s just a wee sprout still!

SS Zelda: Don’t hit me! I love her, her general plot, and her relationship with Link. But she isn’t even allowed to hug him. She is dragged everywhere, captured MULTIPLE times, stuck in a big old amber crystal thing FOR I DON’T REMEMBER HOW LONG, nearly sacrificed, and is bombarded with memories of a life that wasn’t technically hers and she has to sort through being Hylia and not just Zelda. Poor bean. She’s not at the bottom because you can tell that before the game, she was top tier agency queen.

ALBW Zelda is just... meh. She’s not as bad as ALTTP Zelda, but she doesn’t really do much and then gets stuck in a painting for most of the game. Points if we’re counting Smash Bros again though!

~~~

NO AGENCY: ALTTP Zelda, Oracle Zelda, OG Zelda, Minish Cap Zelda, WW Zelda, PH Tetra, Zelda II Zelda.

ALTTP Zelda is just a sad, sad tale of ‘can you be more damsel in distress if you tried’? She: starts the game in a cell, hides in a sanctuary, is kidnapped again, is sacrificed, is stuck in a crystal, and finally, is chilling in the end credits. Girl. I’m so sorry for you.

Oracle Zelda is apparently the same Zelda as ALTTP and it shows. She hangs out in a house and tells you the weather and then (you guessed it) is kidnapped and nearly sacrificed. This poor bean has gone through too much.

OG Zelda literally pops up at the end of the game and is like HEY you’ve been trying to save me this whole time, in case you didn’t know. And Link’s like omg I have?? Because I don’t even remember her being mentioned outside the info pamphlet and the ending.

Out of order, but Zelda II, she’s the most relatable, because she sleeps the whole game. She’s under a curse, wakes up, sees Link and is like damn you’re cute, and kisses him. If we use the info booklet, it gets worse and her brother used a spell to blah blah. She sleeps. That’s all she does.

Minish Cap Zelda is so precious at the beginning of the game and you can tell her and Link are besties and I wanted more of that! AND THEN SHE’S TURNED TO STONE THE WHOLE GAME. But no, wait, she’s...... almost sacrificed in the process. Deja vu.

Wind Waker Zelda was cool in the final scene, but she spent her entire portion of the game trapped in a basement against her will for her protection. No agency. That’s really all the poor thing gets to do as Zelda.

THEN THE DIRTIEST OF ALL DONE DIRTY CHARACTER MOVES IS PHANTOM HOURGLASS TETRA! ONE OF THE BEST ZELDA’S REDUCED TO NOTHING! SHE IS CAPTURED IMMEDIATELY AND SPENDS THE ENTIRE GAME AS A DAMSEL IN DISTRESS WHO HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED AND TURNED TO STONE. I’m still salty and will hate Phantom Hourglass forever for many reasons, and Tetra being done dirty is one of them.

I feel better now. If anyone actually read all this and has other thoughts on this, I’m fired up and ready to talk because who needs to sleep at 1:30am? Not me!!

#legend of zelda #zelda #princess zelda #ranking things #rant #Zelda's agency #why do some of these games just HATE her #I was not recovered after ranking these Zelda's the other day #agency #zelda series #gaming

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hylianfury · 4 years

Note

I have to ask. How did Zelda and Ganon react when they found out Link was playing house with Sidon? Concubine AU.

Oh… on dear… “Playing house” Is certainly a nice way to put ‘committing murder-suicide’. Short fic incoming here, warning for heavy themes already touched in the fic (aka Link planning to kill Sidon and knowing he had no way out if he did.). I do plan to doodle for them but at the moment I don’t have access to my tablet so… on the other hand, Zelda DID notice how Sidon is looking at Link right now and that’s a whole different story…

Fair warning, this wasn’t planned NOR I took too long writing it so don’t expect high high quality…

- Concubine AU Extra chapter

Zelda and Ganondorf just exchanged the most confused glance as they studied their best friend tinkering with a line of pearls, he had been incredibly silent since the meeting with the Prince and they were expecting his first words to be about whatever was bothering him, not… well…

“No, Link, I can’t really teach you how to shave but… why?”

The centenar just hummed, slowly sliding another pearl in his long string of jewels, carefully counting them and not offering any explanation. He had that peculiar expression that meant his brain was working hard, Link was probably barely listening to them anyway.

“I can… I had plenty of sisters, wives and daughters before but I have to join Tete here in asking: why?”

Zelda couldn’t roll her eyes hard enough, she didn’t know how Ganondorf came up with the story of reincarnating over and over -Link said more than once that as far as he could remember the redhead always joked about it- but since their friend was acting weird… it wasn’t the best time to be weird.

“Good, I need to look convincing.”

“Convincing for what?”

There was a long moment of silence as the centenar slowly placed his tools down on the small, wooden table in front of him.

His lips pressed together in a very thin line and his hands turned white as he clenched his fists, Zelda and Ganondorf exchanged another worried look: whatever was bothering him had to be big, even if Link wasn’t really open about his problems he always talked with the two of them.

“I…” The man hid his face behind a hand and took a deep breath “I’m leaving the unit tomorrow.”

The three of them stood there in complete silence for what felt like an eternity. He was… what? Zelda didn’t know what to say and the gerudo seemed to be equally lost.

“I will move in with the Prince. This is why I’m… getting ready.”

“You are what, now?”

“I’ll officially be the first royal concubine of Prince Sidon, apparently.”

There was a second of shock and Ganondorf stood up, fists slamming hard against the little table between them.

“I’m murdering him.”

Zelda wanted to join in the outrage but barely managed to say a word. Link? Their Link? The little boy who never hesitated to offer dirty jokes but blushed like a maiden whenever the discussion moved to his own personal things? The same boy who, at 22, was embarrassed like a young teen admitting he hoped he’d get his first kiss from that kind Goron he seemed to like so much?

Link wasn’t even that attractive by Hylian standards: he had his growth stunned after the flood between lack of nourishment and between all the problems he had with his leg- it was true she had feelings for him but at the same time Zelda couldn’t deny Link still seemed too young for his age and wasn’t probably manly enough for a zora that was voiced to be gay.

As soon as those thoughts were over, realizations started to sink in: Link had been chosen to be a sex slave. Holy Hylia, it was no surprise he spent the whole day looking at the floor and looking like his death had just been announced.

“Let’s get you to Tarrey Town!” Even if the little man was already raising his hand in ganondorf’s direction to stop him and talk, probably to explain the situation, she couldn’t stay quiet “No one will be able to reach you there, the guardians are set to attack any non registered adult that tries to sneak in the Akkala region, you are going to be safe! I’m not letting a pretentious asshole shark have his way with you.”

“No no no…” Link just scratched his head “I… it’s not like that. Seggin told him about me, apparently, and… he wants me as his strategist or some shit like that, being a concubine it’s only the way for me to sneak in the council.”

He was clearly uneasy but at least Zelda felt a bit better at that, even Ganondorf’s tension washed away a little. It was the single most ridiculous thing both heard in a long while -and they worked with people of the caliber of Beedle and Bolson, they were used to weird shit- but it was slightly better than what they first suspected.

“Since when do you plan to help the Zora?”

“I’m not planning to…”

The fallen princess tilted her head, elbows leaning against the table. It was hard to read whatever was in Link’s head whenever he didn’t want to talk… and this was clearly one of those moments. When the man decided to speak once more it wasn’t to explain his plans, it was to give orders.

“Tetra? Once I get in you will be in charge, make sure you get ready to contact Urbosa, however you do it: you will need to tell her we’re switching sides, it’s going to be our first good chance to see the Domain fall and if we side with the winners and play the victim card well we may be able to get some Land back or some autonomy.”

“Are you planning to sabotage the war efforts? How long before you’re spotted and they kick you out?”

She didn’t like the bitter chuckle that came from the centenar’s lips, there was a deep resignation in it.

“I plan to throw the Kingdom in chaos, even if it won’t last long.” his fingers gently caressed the pearl string he put so much effort in and Zelda connected the dots: Link had a knack for poisons since he lost the ability to walk, of course he prepared a small gift for the Prince. The idiot wasn’t even going to notice it considering Zora swallowed their food whole.

“I see, that’s a great idea but… how do you plan to leave? All our efforts to reach either him or the rest of his family failed so far, if it’s hard to get in it must be equally hard to run away.” Especially in your condition, she wanted to add but kept for herself.

“Tete…” She felt Ganondorf’s warm hand against one of her shoulders and she raised an eyebrow looking at the man who somehow became a sibling for her as well “Don’t you see his face? He’s not planning to come back.”

It was like a cold shower, blood drained from her face as she turned white as a sheet. A glance at her friend, at his almost sheepish smile as he whispered a ‘sorry’ with a small shrug. How could he even suggest… how could he even think… how dared him to look like it was okay for him?

“No. You- you can’t!”

“It’s our best bet to hit the Zora where it counts, you can’t talk me out of this. I know I can’t walk out on my own but it will be fine, I have two pills: one for him, one for me. And it won’t even hurt me, I will just fall asleep…”

Zelda was horrified, for someone who never hesitated to take insane risks to protect others he sounded so ready to throw his life away…

“I won’t allow you-”

“I’m not asking for your permission.”

That tone of voice, the way he stared in her direction with determination and not even blinking… she knew Link well enough to know nothing she could say or do would change anything.

“But Link…” She didn’t even realize she started crying until she heard her own voice cracking as she tried to speak “I can’t… not without you.”

“You can do anything, my queen.” he reached forward, grabbing her hand and taking it to his lips for a quick, formal kiss “I believe in you and I believe in Gan: once the southern borders lose their current leader it will be the perfect time for him to reclaim the throne and for the two of you to move a Gerudo-Hylian offensive. The Gorons aren’t opening their gates, they can’t hide in Akkala and they will have their weakest border attacked by two tribes, not just one… Whatever will happen: destroy them. Okay?”

She was just sobbing at this point. There was no resistance when Ganondorf wrapped one arm against her and pulled the three of them in a goofy, warm hug, for once not even worrying about being careful of his leg.

For a long moment the only sound in the room was Zelda’s cry and the Gerudo was the first person to break their silence.

“I will miss you, little shithead. I don’t really regret not killing you in the crib this time, we had a good run. See you in our next reincarnation.”

Zelda’s hand slapped the red haired man but he didn’t even flinch, Link on the other hand started chuckling. The resignation in his voice, even in that, only confirmed there wasn’t going to be any way to change this.

“I will spend the next hours writing down what you will have to do once the prince is dead but… before that…” Link’s arms wrapped around both of them “I wanted to ask… just for tonight… I know we’re too old for that but maybe we could spend this last night together?”

The two didn’t hesitate before nodding. For the whole evening they barely spoke as Link worked and then they curled together on the hay bed of the centenar, mostly using the Gerudo as mattress, and slept together. When they woke up, Link had already left, he didn’t even allow them to say goodbye.

Zelda and Ganondorf spent the first days waiting to hear about the Prince’s sudden death by his concubine’s hand, mourning a person they both loved dearly. Ways became weeks, weeks turned in a month and they knew something was up. Link was still in the palace, at least for what they managed to hear, and both him and Sidon were just fine.

At the end of the second month the woman decided she had to do something. Pulling all her strings she could probably find a laundry job in the lower levels of the palace, no matter how many favors she had to ask or if she was going to be forced to beg for help.

She offered Ganondorf a hug, passed him leadership in front of their unit’s men and at the beginning of the tenth week she was running around the palace, no one wanted to work under Muzu due to his poor manners but she didn’t care: her goal was to find her beloved knight and nothing was going to stop her.

- - -

Zelda blessed her good luck, not only she ended up under one of the very few elders who openly despised the current Zora leaders, the ray was also close to the prince himself and she finally dared to speak openly with him when Link got hurt.

Seeing him again filled her with joy, no matter how angry she was, and even if they had little to no time to interact and he was drugged as she stitched him together. With the help of the elder she finally managed to see him on occasion and she was even given the chance to be around the prince’s chambers for a lot of ‘absolutely necessary’ cleaning duties… and she was glad to see Link was clearly no longer planning to kill himself and the red Zora.

Not a surprise, really, if he had better ideas and plans there was no way he was picking suicide over anything else.

What WAS a surprise was seeing, over time, watching how Prince Sidon’s attitude toward their common friend was starting to change…

“I think the prince is falling for our bro.”

Ganondorf raised his eyes from the mountain of paperwork that was piled over his desk, when Link was there he took care of it all but now it was all starting to pile up as no one was as organized as the tiny, wary man. He waited, sincerely expecting a punchline as the woman sat on the desk with crossed legs… but nothing came.

“Wait, seriously?”

“Yep…”

The Gerudo’s laughter could probably be heard in the whole building, Zelda rolled her eyes kicking him when he started wheezing, clearly out of air. He gasped a few times before finally finding his voice once more, no matter how he still sounded out of breath.

“He really has no luck in love.”

“Nope.”

“And how do you think he feels about it?”

“I don’t think he noticed, honestly, but then again… you know… Link is Link.”

“Well, my friend-” he got up, reaching for his large bed and pulling a bottle of wine from beneath it “-to our little hero not killing himself!”

“Goddesses above, will you ever stop with that bullshit?”

He didn’t even answer, pouring two glasses and offering one to Zelda.

“And to us: may we be allowed to enjoy the shitshow when he figures that one out.”

Both raised their drinks, grinning, and making their glasses chime together. Link had never been found of the Zora, whatever was going to happen… it was going to be fun.

#sidlink #barely hinted #Concubine!AU #because it's still one sided #the triforce trio #tw:suicide

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vampqueersarchive · 4 years

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In a World Uncertain, Say You’ll be my Stone

Okay this is a original fic by me im sorry if its shit i was listening to an Alessia Cara song when I wrote this and used Troye songs in this as well idk its cute and i love it

Rating: G Word count: 4,427 Warnings: Accidental outing Summary: Freddie a makeup youtuber and his best friend Reese a singer decide to fake date after Freddie accidentally outs himself aka FRIENDS TO BOYFRIENDS (This is straight up fluff yo!)

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An annoying buzz was the first thing Freddie heard, a buzz he wanted to stop. Turning over with a groan he pulled his phone to his face, seeing his sister Katherine's name blinking across the too-bright screen. With weak still slow from sleep hands he finally answered with a sigh. "Hello-" He started voice gruff from just waking up. "You have got some explaining to do Mr." Katherine started in a soft, yet demanding tone. "Mum is going to kill you!" "Kat, the love of my life, Mum can kill me later, it's too early." He mumbled sleepily turning his face into the plush pillow. "Freddie, you're on the front page of every magazine, they caught you kissing Hayden." At that moment Freddie felt everything well up in his throat, suddenly all the drinks he had the night before had turned against him. He felt moments away from crying but also getting sick. "No..." he trailed off, "It can't be." he half-whispered to himself and his sister. "Kat, tell mum I'll call later." without letting her reply, he hung up his almost dead iPhone and did what he couldn't do on the phone. Freddie let himself cry, he couldn't believe he let himself get so absorbed into the night before. He could not believe he did what he promised himself he would never do until he felt that the time was right.

Freddie Barnes outed himself.

It wasn’t the fact that Freddie wanted to stay in the closet or the fact that he didn’t feel comfortable being himself. Hell no! That wasn’t Freddie, as most of Freddie's friends could attest to Bi Pride day he wore pink, lavender and blue as if his life depended on it. People. Biphobic people, homophobic people, transphobic, aphobic, nonbinaryphobic people were the ones he couldn’t handle. As strong as Freddie was he couldn’t handle all the hate that would be directed to him. Freddie knew the feeling all too well, back in Doncaster when he came out and all of his friends left him abandoned. Then a few years ago when his best friend came out and the internet flooded with so much love, but love is always drowned out by the unbearable hate. “Hayden,” Freddie spoke in a small brittle voice. Hayden Sanders his best friend who had to deal with all this hate long before, now getting even more all because of a drunken truth or dare game. All because of me Freddie thought to himself, It’s all your fault. Before Freddie could get any more down on himself a soft knock came from the other side of his door. “Come in” he softly spoke trying not to give the person an indication that he had been crying for the better part of an hour. Hayden slowly stepped through the door, looking about as rough as Freddie did. His long curls in an unruly heap that was meant to be a bun. Tear stain’s running from the waterline of his lashes, in long unforgiving streaks down to his chin. His clothes a wrinkled mess, still in the same outfit from the previous night. And worst of all he refused to meet Freddie gaze. “Hayden please look at me.” Freddie pleaded, his wobbly voice betraying him. However, Hayden still would not look into his eyes, he shuffled across the room towards Freddie bed taking Freddie tight in his arms and releasing the sobs Hayden tried so hard to keep in. This sent Freddie reeling, only tangling his fingers into Hayden’s lilac jumper, sending the tears he tried to hold back down his cheeks. “I’m so sorry Fredd.” Hayden whispered in his thick low voice. “I am so sorry.” Either of them could say any words, they only curled closer into the embrace. ~ It felt as though days past when Freddie woke up to the sound of glass clacking together. Sleepily rubbing the sleep from his eyes, pulling himself out of his large round bed and going to look for Hayden. With each step on the cold hardwood floor, Freddie remembered the hours before. The call from Katherine, another step Outing himself, another step Hayden coming crying, another step After being hit with a repeat of everything Freddie quickly made his way to his small kitchen, only to be face to face with Hayden. Hayden wasn’t himself, his usual bright cheeky smile reached his eyes. But now his eyes were dull, and his smile was just a fake one. As if he was trying to be strong for the both of them. “I made you tea, no milk like you like it,” Hayden said sliding a cup towards Freddie, placing his hands on the small island in the middle of the kitchen. “Freddie, I am so sorry. I can fix this I swear.” He pleaded, his smile faltering as his voice choked with the urge to cry. A few tetras weld up in Freddie's eyes only for him to shake his head. “H, there’s nothing you can do. What’s done is done. It was bound to happen at some point.” He shrugged, opening his arm nodding at his best friend to come in for a cuddle. “Now, all those fanfics of us will double, who knows maybe we’ll be some uni students looking for a new year’s kiss,” Freddie smirked as he sipped on his tea, causing Hayden to groan in response. “I didn’t even think of all the people that ship us. It’s rather cute though don’t you think.” Hayden mused, wrapping his arm around the small of Freddie back, making them connect seamlessly as they always do. Freddie giggled nodding, “I quite like the ones where we fake date each other to be honest. But that’s off the record Sanders.” The stern voice only to be compromised by the joyful expression, sending crinkles up to his eyes. A pleasant silence consumed the two of them before the elephant in the room became too much to bear. “Why don’t I call the lads?” Hayden suggested, looking at the wobble of Freddie's lip. “Please?” ~ Hours later and a distraction of pizza and makeovers lefts Freddie feeling better, that was until he decided to check his phone. As soon as he plugged in his rose gold iPhone, he went about his usual routine and clicked on twitter. As the app loaded Freddie nerves kicked in, dropping his phone to the ground causing Hayden, Ashton, and Liam to jump in their seats. As if in an instant, the boys were all wrapped tightly around Freddie, whispering sweet compliments into his hair. This went on until Freddie was finally calmed enough and stopped crying, mumbling a soft thank you in return. “Lads,” Hayden spoke up only nodding his head before it was just Freddie and Hayden in the room. “Freddie, I have an idea.” At this moment Freddie was up for any idea, that even included running through the streets of London with a bi-colored suit that read out “Freddie Barnes Is Bi” in big glittery letters. “Freddie I think we should fake date.” “Fake date?!?” Freddie screeched. “Hayden you have got to be kidding me, you finally got over all this hate about you being pan. You can finally kiss whoever you want in your videos without being bombarded with hate. Why would you do that?” Freddie whispered, looking down at his lap in defeat. “Fredd, I know how it feels going through this alone. I know how scary it can be, Freddie I don’t want my best friend to ever feel the same thing I did. Please let me help you for once.” Racking his brain with every negative outcome that could happen, Freddie suddenly was met with the widest pair of bright green eyes he had ever seen. At that moment Freddie knew all of his hindsight went out the window. “Okay, Hayden.” - It took Freddie a 30 minute laughing fit, followed by incoherent whispers of “I’m going to pretend to date my best friend” before anyone started to worry. Liam tried to help by bringing Freddie out some tea with lavender, to calm his nerves. While all the laughing made Ashton anxious and thus started to laugh too, causing Hayden to have to take a video of Ashton’s full out hollowing. When Liam finally came back in and connived Freddie to drink the tea, the room became far more relaxed. “So, someone please fill us in on what just caused all of that?” Ashton sounded horse from the laughing fit he just put himself through. “Hayden asked Freddie to fake date him,” Liam replied simply as Hayden nodded next to him. As soon as Liam spoke the hot tea came full force back out of Freddie's mouth in a spit take, sending him into a coughing fit. “Wait you knew?” Freddie coughed out. Liam just shrugged taking a sip of the tea he made for himself. “Who do you think gave him the idea? Look, Barnes, before you get all upset it’s better for the both of you. Coming at this purely from a pr standpoint, you can come out, be happy about your self, Hayden can spend more time with you, and either of you have to deal with any of the hate alone.” Ashton nodded, “Plus that means we can finally tweet about all the adorable shite you two do before you started to date.” He chipped in adding air quotes around ‘date’. “Fredd,” Hayden stated, “It’s the least I can do for you, and you have already done so much for me.” It took Freddie sometimes to think over it before he finally managed to agree. “So what’s our plan?” ~ Freddie knew exactly how this was going to go down, a simple coffee date, a few pap pictures, they hold hands news hits the stands, and then Freddie makes his coming out video. Even though having it all written down on paper helped, it also really didn’t. Things weren’t that simple. Freddie knew if they didn’t make this look believable enough it could all come shattering down around them. His nerves were in high gear making it almost impossible to even fill his brows properly much less try to do a flawless winged eyeliner. Holding up his rose lip liner from NYX he noticed his hands shaking making him even more nervous for the day. Adding his pink macaroon butter gloss, and then adding subtle glittered highlighter Freddie knew he was going to do this. And he was going to be the best fake boyfriend anyone could ever be. Well, that was until Freddie arrived at the coffee place. It was a small hole in the wall place that of course, Hayden would pick out. It looked like a try-hard hipster place that just didn’t feel right, maybe it was the deception he was about to do, or just the place itself but Freddie wasn’t sure about the plan any longer. As if on cue Hayden was right next to him, smiling his wide dimpled grin that melted the heart of everyone Hayden met, and Freddie could not be any more thankful for it at that moment. “H, what if we can’t do this?” Freddie whispered, trying to make sure that his fear didn’t lace his voice. Hayden only grinned wider in response, “I got you, I’ll keep you afloat.” Freddie felt his nerves melt instantly. His hands were no longer shaking, his racing heart slowly coming down to a soft tempo and everything clicking into place. - The date went much the same as any other time Freddie and Hayden are together, at least one picture of the other doing something silly, tons of banter and a few compliments (but of course Freddie still had to make at least one jab, now that Hayden is famous he doesn’t need an ego), and of course plenty of platonic kissing and cuddles. Now it felt so much more forced, causing Freddie to shy away every time Hayden’s hand lingered a bit too long. “Fredd,” Hayden spoke up trying to distract him from any negativity he may be having. “It’s just me it’s okay.” He tried to console only to make Freddie shy away more. “H, it just doesn’t feel right, it’s not for us anymore it’s for everyone.” Hayden could only frown in response as the waitress came to pick up their empty cups, “I’m sorry to intrude,” she started, a thick welsh accent rolling off her tongue “Would you mind if I get a picture?” The pair looked towards each other only to be interrupted by her laughing. “No with me silly, the two of you blokes. Hayden, I’ve been listening to your stuff forever, and Freddie you are just so sweet. The both of you just make me so happy, I kinda just want to see you two the same way.” They both agreed to get up from their seats cuddling close to each other for the picture, as she took the photo Freddie looked over and seen what she meant. Hayden looked so happy to be with Freddie, his eyes light up more than the stars in the night sky. Freddie wanted to name one for Hayden at that moment, but his thought was broken when Hayden asked she send the picture to him on twitter. Freddie knew at that moment everything was going to be fine. - “Fredd,” Hayden hummed out, as they walked out hand in hand into the chilled autumn air of London. Freddie only made a nose in return nuzzling his face into the sleeve of the brown leather jack Hayden sported. The conversation, however, was abruptly halted by the sounds of the camera’s clicking, and whispers of the people behind them. Freddie could only sigh in response before he smiled up at Hayden. “Come on, Boo lets give them something to take a picture of.” Before Freddie could comprehend what was happening, Hayden had to take Freddie and twirled him around, both of them giggling and squealing with delight as their two bodies left almost no space between them. There was a clear crimson blush lining both of there cheeks as another snap went off. Maybe they could do this. ~ The next day Freddie woke up to another annoying buzz of his phone, of course, he knew exactly who it was this time. Hayden's contact name popped up on the screen, Freddie couldn't help but smile and feel so much love when he saw it. “Hel-” He was cut off by screaming in the background from none other than Ashton. “Boo,” Hayden whined into the phone. “They released the pictures and Ashton won't believe me that we aren't dating.” Even though the phone Freddie could tell he was pouting. The usual Hayden pout where he tried to look all angry yet sad, and end up just looking like an oversized toddler. “Put the wanker on the phone,” Freddie giggled rolling his eyes. The phone switched over and a very excited scream erupted through the phone. “Holy shit, Ash can you be even more excited for a little fake relationship.” “Fredd you can't lie to me. I got those Irish instincts and you lot are lying.” Ashton huffed out in pride. Freddie could only smirk at the wildness of his friend. “Yeah, yeah Mr. Ireland. Give the phone back to curls now will ya.” “Give the phone back to curls! Now that's going on twitter.” Ashton shouted as the phone was handed back to Hayden. “Boo I thought you said you were going to fix this,” Hayden said in a mock sad tone. “But it's Ash, what will ya do?” Hayden chuckled out his thick voice spoke in a slow soothing hum, sending a pleasant wave of warm down Freddie's spine. Freddie nodded humming in response before he realized why Hayden called in the first place. “Did the pictures turn out well?” “Fredd don't worry everyone is talking about them, I'm pretty sure Frayden is trending on twitter right now. But I was meaning to ask you something?” “And what would that be the love of my life?” “Hah ha very funny Fredd, but Liam thought it would be a good idea if we did more stuff together. Ya know after you make your coming out video.” That hadn't even crossed Freddie's mind having to make that video, the video where he couldn't turn back. The video where he had to lie and say his best friend was the person he was dating. “Yea,” he whispered into the phone. “Hayden can you be there when I record the video, please I need it.” “You don't have to ask Fredd, you're my best friend. Our friendship comes first.” A smile spread across Freddie's cheeks sending crinkles to the corner of his bright blue eyes. “Come over tomorrow okay?” - Freddie spends the day procrastinating, usually, that meant going on twitter but that was the last place he even wanted to look at. Instead, he decided to do something big tomorrow. He was going to do a coming outlook. Putting on his old vans and a pink knitted beanie he went to the closest drug store and found everything he needed from NYX. Picking up white eyeliner, the ultimate shadow palette, and the matte lip cream in soule, Moscow, and Paris. As he headed for the check out a young boy came up to him and hugged him without any warning. “Hi, Freddie!” The young boy chirped in excitement, “My mum is letting me get makeup thanks to you!” The boy smiled his whole face lighting up. Freddie couldn't hold back the pride he felt in helping this little boy become confident and feel okay to wear makeup. “That's amazing little lad, make sure to-” Freddie was cut off by the little boy finishing his line “Get Nyx because Nyx is best!” the boy smiled hugging Freddie one last time before he went off to get his make up. Knowing by just having his makeup channel he made that much of a difference he knew coming out could only make an even better one. ~ “Thanks for watching everyone and I'll see you next time.” Freddie smiled huffing a sigh as soon as Hayden turned off the camera. “Fredd that was amazing you did so well.” Hayden grinned opening his arms pulling Freddie into a tight hug. “But I hope you realize you're gonna have to do a pan look for the next pride.” “Nahh, you can watch the tutorial.” Freddie giggled pulling away from the hug, finally getting to look in the mirror without so much anxiety running through him. Freddie felt amazing, light pink and purple on his upper lid, flowed into a blue making his eye pop and a white-winged linger flicking out to a dramatic curve. His lips mimicking the bi flag and the sliver and purple glitter lining his cheeks. He then looked up behind him where Hayden was sanding smiling at his best friend with so much pride. “Thank you for being here, H.” “Anything for you Boo,” Hayden said his thick warm voice filling the room. “Liam wanted me to talk to you about something though.” Freddie's mood dropped instantly thinking that he would have to go through his alone. All of his fears welling upon his face as Hayden looked back over to Freddie with a frown. “Fredd, no don't worry. It's nothing bad I promise.” He said taking Freddie's hand and leading him to sit on the bed. “He said we should try kissing in front of the paps, or even when we film one of the videos or when you come to my concert with in the next two months..” He trailed off slowly toning his voice into a mumble. Freddie didn't really know how to respond. He gently squeezed Hayden's hand to try and clam him a bit. “Liam wants to make it look natural?” Freddie asked tracing his finger along the lines of Hayden's anchor. Hayden could only blush and nod, “Um... Yea.” “Well let's practice.” Freddie leaned in first, tipping his head slightly to the left as Hayden leaned to the right. They both fluttered closed, as their lips connected in what Freddie felt like a spark. Freddie hands trailed up and tangled his fingers into the ends of his curls. Hayden moved his arms to wrap around Freddie's waist. The feeling of safety and love spread throughout Freddie traveling to his fingertips. His fingers felt like sparks as he tried to pull Hayden closer when their lips worked together in what felt like a perfectly tuned orchestra playing in a beautiful symphony. To Freddie, the world felt as if the world stood still until the moment they pulled apart. The pulled apart blinking at each other in a form of shock and content, giggling like school kids who kissed their crush out in the schoolyard. A blush spread across Hayden's cheeks only causing Freddie to smile wider. “Come on, Romeo” Freddie started. “Let's film our first video.” ~ The first month went by with ease for the most part. The fans and paps loved their chemistry. They became the most talked about couple in all of 2016 Kimaye be damned. The fans loved when the two of them started to live stream, and even when Hayden made Freddie sing one of his songs. (The hashtag Frayden Sing Youth trended for almost two days.) However, with all the love came hate. Many people would come on Freddie channel and just say he was using Hayden for fame. Others would send biphobic messages to Hayden over Freddie only to get blocked in return. But for the most part, they were accepted. Ashton wasn't helping on the casual dating front though. Every time the lads were together Ashton would tweet something cute they said or even post a picture. Ashton convinced their fans at one point they were living together and adopted a kitten when he posted a picture of Freddie kissing Hayden's cheek as Hayden held up a small sphynx kitten in his hand. In all everything was starting to become Freddie life. Every Tuesday film two videos of his own and maybe one with Hayden. Wednesday was their best friend breakfast date that over the last month turned into a fake dating date. And on the weekends Freddie helped Hayden filming for his new music video series. And today was finally the release of Wild and also the day of the concert. In all Freddie felt a bubble of excitement well up. To celebrate the event Freddie and Hayden were going to do a live stream of them dying their hair matching colors before the event. It was 10 o'clock and Hayden still wasn't there. The hour soon changed over and Hayden still wasn't there. Freddie didn't know what to feel, he tried calling and it was straight to voice mail, he tried texting and no response. It was only 3 hours until the video premiere so Freddie texted once more before starting the live stream. The stream ended as the video went up and Freddie couldn't be more stressed. He kept running his hands through his new bubble gum pink hair as he refreshed his phone waiting and hoping for Hayden. But no call no text, he got nothing from Hayden. That's when the night came crashing in when Freddie got a text from Liam saying “Hayden's sorry.” - Day's went by and there was still no message from Hayden, everyone was tweeting asking when the next live stream would be, or even asking if the two of them were okay. It took a full week before Freddie shut down on himself. Every time he looked in the mirror and saw pink it made him want to shave his head. When he saw the tattoos, he had to pull on a sweater before he would start to cry. One drunken night Freddie could not hold back his feelings anymore, so he called Ashton. “Fredd, hey are you okay?” Ashton's voice seemed just weak as Freddie did until he realized it was 3 am. “Ash, I made my best friend hate me, he won't even talk to me anymore. Why did I do this? Why did I say yes to him.” Freddie sobbed before his words became incoherent. The other end of the line was quite before Freddie whispered in a wrecked voice from crying, “Ashton?” “Barnes,” Ashton started. “H fell in love with you.” ~ Freddie woke up again the same way he woke up two months prior. His phone buzzing but this time it was Hayden. Freddie picked up but he couldn't talk he felt so weak like he couldn't. “Fredd,” Hayden whispered in a soft rough voice from what sounded to be crying. “Can I come in?” “Of course.” and with that, Freddie heard his front door unlock as Hayden made his way into the room. Freddie met him there opening the door and let him in. “So,” Hayden looked town paying with the hem of his pullover. “I guess the cats out of the bag.” Freddie laughed only going back to the stony expression he started with. “Don't you dare make me laugh Sanders I'm still mad at you.” the room went silent as Hayden looked up to meet Freddie's eyes. “Why didn't you tell me?” “Because, why would you love me back? You're Freddie Barnes, you are perfect and amazing, and my best friend. I never meant for it to get this far.” He said voice wobbling try to hold back his tears. “H, you're always going to be my friend, but-” “No Boo, don't 'but' me” Hayden pleaded but before he could get any more out Freddie pulled him into a kiss. “You're always going to be my friend first, and my boyfriend second.” - The two stayed intertwined for the next few hours, nothing could get in between them. They felt content in each other's arms as they talked about nothing and play with each other makeup. The two of them feeling so happy and comfortable with each other they knew it had to be fiat. It was days later when they finally deiced to post a picture. Hours before Hayden finally dyed his hair and they thought it would be the best time to show it off. The picture was posed with Freddie's pink hair and Hayden's soft mint hair as they sat cross-legged holding hands while they kissed then captioned it “Friends before anything else.”

~Fin~

#screaming #i am having a name crisis rn so no name #my writing #original work #original fiction #writing #writingblr #authors on tumblr #authors

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skullsandfairylights · 5 years

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Writer’s Month 2019

Day 4: Trope Prompt: road trip

He couldn’t believe that he was doing this. He couldn’t believe that she had left her spyglass behind, she loved that thing. But most of all, he couldn’t believe that he was hitchhiking.

“You don’t say much, do you?” Asked the bored-looking woman as she turned around in her seat, one arm resting on the backrest and laying her head in her hand.

Link stared at her and blinked. He slowly shook his head and he saw the woman’s eyes flit up and down his figure before she turned back in her seat “Niko!” She called. A head popped up a few rows ahead. “I’m putting this swabbie in your charge.” Niko’s eyes bugged out as he nodded and gave the woman a salute.

“Aye aye, Captain!” He squeaked before he scurried up to sit himself in the seat next to Link. Niko looked to be just a few years older than Link and the ‘Captain’. “So, Swabbie!” He exclaimed, looking far too excited though trying to hide it. “Where are ya’ head’d to, then?

Link hesitated for a moment, hands shaking before he started to sign out his destination. He wasn’t sure whether the other would understand but he had to try.

To his relief, Niko’s eyes quickly jumped to Link’s hands and followed the movements. “Really? That’s a pretty far. What are you going there to do?” He asked, unfazed at all by the sign language.

My sister left something important when she last visited so I’m going to return it. Link signed, shoulders lowering.

“Ah, I see.” Niko looked thoughtful for a moment. “Well, I’ll let Zuko know to plot a course when we next stop. He’s our navigator, he works out the best route between our destinations.”

And true to his word, when the bus next stopped, Niko talked to Zuko who made a note to alter the bus’ current route. Niko also spent time introducing each member of the crew, that the Captain had collected.

Zuko had a picture-perfect memory for maps and could find the quickest or most scenic route from A to B in no time at all. He was often sat up at the front of the bus, seated next to Gonzo, their driver.

Gonzo, apparently had a license to drive almost every kind of vehicle; from a motorcycle to a lorry, from a bus to a train, from a boat to a aeroplane. He was also the second-in-command, following the Captain.

Then there was Senza, who coordinated the different activities that the crew did in each place that they visited. He was in charge of booking the hotel rooms and making reservations at restaurants so that they had somewhere to sleep and eat wherever it was that they stopped. He organised the mysterious appearances that the crew made in each new town they stopped in. Link wasn’t sure what it was that they did, but it seemed like that was what funded the little trip the crew was taking.

There was also Mako who was a genius with technology and had a seemingly endless and unknown number of phones, laptop and similar devices. Every time that Link saw him, Mako had his head hunched over a device, fingers flying over keys, appearing to all the world like he was unaware of anything happening around him. Yet, he was always able to contribute to group conversations when called upon.

Nudge was probably the crew member that Link got on with the best, besides Niko. Nudge was deaf and had been since birth which explained why the crew were all familiar with sign language and had barely bat an eye when Link signed. Nudge was large and muscled and could easily be intimidating at first glance with his glower and serious demeanour. Yet when he got comfortable with someone, Nudge revealed himself to be a big softy. He enjoyed relaxing with his sketchpad, drawing he scenes which passed by the bus windows.

Niko was the closest that Link had to a friend in the crew. Prior to Link’s arrival, he was known as the baby of the crew, the newbie who filled in the cracks, did what he was told and just did the little odd jobs. He took to Link like a mother duck with a chick. He seemed to enjoy having someone to take under his wing and being able to delegate any less-enjoyable tasks to someone else. During the quiet nights, while Gonzo drove down dark roads and everyone else slept, Link and Niko would have silent conversations, hidden away I the back row of the bus.

And then, there was the Captain. She appeared to be around the same age as Link and was the only female on the crew. Her real name was Tetra but everyone in the crew addressed her was Captain and clearly deferred fully to her authority. She was an enigma. Since the first moment he stepped onto the bus and joined the crew, the Captain had seemed to spend her time just watching Link, observing him with a furrowed brow and an uncertain look. She didn’t seem to trust him, addressing the crew and other all equally yet just giving Link a brief passing glance.

However, slowly she warmed up to him by purposely placing herself in the seats next to him when they would stop for food at the some four-plus star restaurant. She would claim the hotel room next to the one Niko, Nudge and Link would be sharing.

And then, one night while the rest of the crew was busy, Tetra moved from her seat near the front of the bus to the row that Link had claimed. “What’s so special about this place that we’re heading?”

Link explained that it was where his sister was currently staying during her gap year road trip and how she had left something behind during her last check-in.

“What’s so important that you have to travel across the country to return it?”

Link dug through his side-satchel and pulled out an antique spyglass, all shiny brass and warn but well-maintained red leather. The light glinted off the magnified glass as he turned it over in his hands.

“A telescope?”

It belonged to our parents. We found it after they passed away and Aryll just loved it. It reminds her of them.

Tetra stared. “I see… what’s she doing now?”

Exploring, experiencing life, following in our parents’ footsteps. They were explorers and researchers. She didn’t really get to know them so she’s trying to feel closer to them now.

“I see.” Tetra paused for a minute. Then she cleared her throat and started to speak softly. Something that Link wasn’t aware that the Captain was capable of. “You know, of you want to stick around after you see your sister, I’m sure we can find a more… permanent place for you in the crew.”

Looking over at her, Link just smiled.

-=[Additional Notes]=-

Okay, I am not really happy with this one. I feel like there’s not really a plot and stuff just happens but there’s not much point. But hey ho, at least I got today’s prompt done :)

#writersmonth2019 #i tried writing words #i made something

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xaz-fr · 5 years

Photo

The Story So Far

@deadpool-scar-bro @hikayelastoria @cornsnoot-fr @redlion-fr @mushroomdraggo @murdoch-fr @tales-around-sornieth @frxemriss @rainhearts-hatchery @rexcaliburr-fr @starry-ampelope @plainstriderbard @reanimatedfr @voltaic-ambassador @sirensage-fr @journey-taken-fr @ally-fr @golden-lionsnake @rookfern-fr @fr-dew (let me know if you’d like to be added to the lore pinglisn't)

Ty and Heliconia are in dragon form, Nads is humanoid for this one

Been waiting to move on with my lore (fucking Astra) before I gened Tyberion here and now I finally did! Fully gened except for his WC scroll which woin'thappen until later in his and Nadalin's lore.

Fresh Coat

Heliconia didn't like what he was doing. Why he was doing it. He looked at his hide in the reflection of a too small mirror. It looked different now. He looked different. He wasn't sure how much he liked it now that it was like this. It was a big change but he'd worked for it. He'd spent a lot of time away from Nadalin to look this way, for her. He swallowed.

“How do I look?” he asked his mother who was laying on a sack chair casually, looking at him preen. He tried to smile but felt too nervous to do so.

“Like you value form over substance,” she said, face disapproving.

“That sounds like something father would say,” he said. It made hi, feel bad. His mother didn't deserve that. But he knew now that she was as manipulated by his father as he had been.

“No, your father would say that you are a disgrace to survival,” Heliconia said. “And that if you cannot get by with yourself and just change everything about yourself to survive than you aren't worthy of surviving.”

“Well thank the Eleven he isn't here then,” Tyberion said.

“Your Charge doesn't care what you look like, son. Neither should you,” Heliconia said.

Tyberion’s head fins closed in annoyance. “I think I look nice,” he said. He had had several of the others help him decide what scrolls he would take the time to gather. Aten had been a great help. Him and Astra actually. It was striking how quickly Aten’s mood had changed once his sister started living with him in that house to the South. If Tyberion didn't know any better he'd say the miserable lout was happy.

And he knew his Charge didn't care what he looked like. But he cared if Nadalin thought he looked good, handsome. The plates along his chest itched thinking about it, right over his second heart. Oh Gods he was going to go see Nadalin soon. That was terrifying. “Does looking this way please you, son? Did you not like the way you were born?” Heliconia asked him.

“Mama,” he said, looking at her, “I was born in a decaying bay full of disease and rot to an insane sire and… you,” he tempered his words. He knew that Heliconia’s words were just bred from fear that he would abandon her. She had her own Charge but Tetra just saw her as a friend, a slightly annoying one at that. “My looks weren't exactly either of your primary concern. And you look lovely,” he added, “but I'm not there anymore. I need to look like I belong in this place. I can't when I literally look like I crawled out of a plague infested not.” His friends would never say it but Aten’s lovely niblings asked why his displayed genes were ugly. Aten had, of course, instantly hushed them and told them that was rude but Tyberion had felt that deeply.

“I suppose,” Heliconia allowed but still sounded unhappy. “And you aren't doing this to get back at me?”

“Mama, no,” he huffed. “Now we should leave. You need to go help Tetra, it's getting rather late in the day.” He went over to his mother and pushed her to his feet. As he did he realized how much bigger he was than her. He hadn't even noticed when he's grown larger than her. It happened while in the Hall.

Heliconia clambered to her feet. “Yes, I suppose so,” she sighed. She rubbed her head against his affectionately. “Don’t come home too late now.”

“I won't,” he promised and then before Heliconia could say anything else he practically bounded out of their shed of a house. Not that it mattered. All they did was sleep in it. It was a warm, dry, place to sleep and little else was needed. It was practical, serviceable, fit Heliconia’s sensibilities.

Once outside Tyberion lept into the air and flew out over the mangroves to where the wind stirred. He landed amid the bamboo stand and made sure he still looked okay. He was very nervous about Nadalin seeing him like this for the first time. He'd been away for a bit getting all his new look applied and now… and now he was showing his Charge that he'd changed. It shouldn't matter of course. She was his Charge. She shouldn't care he looked different. But he hoped she did. Because he had… other feelings for her and oh wasn't that something he could never tell his mother without her getting cross with him. A Guardin and Charge was a sacred bond between two things. She claimed that you couldn't and shouldn't be romantic with your Charge. Of course she did have the bad history of his father pretending she was his Charge warping her perception on what was and wasn't a valid thing you do with ones Charge. At least that was what he told himself so he didn't feel guilty about his feelings.

After making sure he looked alright he stepped out of the bamboo and down the path to where Nadalin's little hut was. She was, as always, at her work table. But at this time of day she was freshly out of bed and drinking a cup of morning tea from Shai’s fields. She was idly making notes of some sort in a notebook and didn't notice him until his shadow fell across her. She looked up and for a moment she looked confused. “Tyberion?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he nodded.

“By the Wimdsinger!” she got to her feet and came around her table, looking up at him. “I didn't even recognize you! But look at you, you're all scrolled. Where did you get so many scrolls?” Her Wimd eyes were bright and curious and not at all as judgemental as his mother’s or as disapproving as he had feared.

“I was saving,” Tyberion said. “It was a busy time for use you know, with the Night of the Nocturne.” He'd never worked so hard I'm his life. “What do you think?” he asked, still nervous.

“Bring your head down here, let me see you,” she said and he obediently lowered his head down to her level. He supposed he should have realized he was hard to see while she was in her dragonoid form.

She took his entire head in her hands and his facial fine snapped open. She had a kind smile spread across her face as she looked him over. “Yes yes, very handsome indeed,” she said with teasing approval. Tyberion’s eyes widened at that. She thought he was handsome!? He tried not to think too much about it. Aten also called him handsome and Aten wasn't interested in him like that. No use getting excited.

“You think so?” he asked her.

“Why not?” she beamed at him. Then she frowned, “Your mother said otherwise didn't she?”

“… Maybe,” he allowed.

“Uhg, you need to stop listening to her, Tyberion. You're much better than she acts like you must be.”

“Yes,” he just agreed. It did upset him that the two most important women in his life, his mother and his Charge, did not get along at all. He found that just agreeing with them about whatever they said about the other without offering any counters or judgement was the best way to go about it. “But you think my new display looks nice?” he said to distract her from her opinions on Heliconia.

“Yes,” she said nicely. “Your future mate is going to be very lucky to have such a well general mate,” she patted his snout. No that was not the reaction he wanted. “You going to help me with so,e work today or does someone else need your services?”

“I am at your disposal, as always,” Tyberion said. Fjord liked to drag Tyberion into helping him and Aten around the Hall because he was still in dragon form and between him and Aten (who was smaller at the shoulder but longer than him) they could bully any piece of lumber or masonry into submission. Johanna also said there would be no working for a while. She was quite exhausted from the Night and needed a respite.

“Great. I need some help cutting down some of the bamboo. It's getting a bit out of hand.”

“Of course. I was rather hungry today, I think I can handle some bamboo.”

“No you silly,” she cried even as she laughed. He gave her a dragon’s smile.

#Flight rising #Fr dragon share #Fr lore share #Dragon share #Lore share #Cypress hall

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fatefulfaerie · 4 years

Note

hi!! i love your writing, it's so good! i have a question: do you have any cute headcanons for zelink?

Oh boy

I don’t think you understand what you signed up for here

Like you didn’t specify a game

I’m going to have to go one by one

I mean it’s a fun activity but whew is it going to be a mess

I apologize in advance

Link’s Awakening

-Marin is a manifestation of Link’s crush on A Link to the Past Zelda

-Link does not die on the open ocean but gets saved by A Link to the Past Zelda on a big ship

-They suss out their past trauma and eventually fall in love, hence the famous picture in A Link Between Worlds

Ocarina of Time

-Link had feelings for Princess Zelda the moment he first laid eyes on her in the garden. It was a childhood crush then but over time, especially when he became an adult, he fell in love with the Princess.

-Link was ULTRA concerned that he couldn’t find the princess anywhere as an adult. He feared that he failed her and their plan and was so relieved when she revealed herself as Sheik. He even cried

-Zelda fell in love with Link during the time that she was teaching him various songs as Sheik. She denied it herself for a while but eventually she accepted her feelings and longed to be with him as Zelda and not Sheik, which is why she foolishly revealed herself to him

-Zelda felt too guilty to keep Link in her time just because of her love and wished to send him back to time where he could relive his childhood

-Link couldn’t muster the courage to confess and figured that him going back was what Zelda wanted, so he complied

-Zelda has to get over her regret and it h u r t s

Majora’s Mask

-I believe that the “forgive your friend” applies to both Navi and Zelda. Link must forgive Navi for leaving him in his time of emotional need after being sent away by his love and he must forgive Zelda for sending him back and forcing him into such loneliness, grief, and almost uncopable trauma that to everyone else “never happened”

-Anju and Kafei foils Link and Zelda (It's a storytelling tool. It means they parallel each other inversely and are thus contrasted)

The Wind Waker

-they’re kids but...Link has a crush on Tetra

Twilight Princess

-this one is really complicated because I wrote a whole fic about it but basically after the events of Twilight Princess he becomes her knight attendant and they fall in love

Phantom Hourglass

-Link realizes that his crush on Tetra is a crush on Tetra about halfway through the game. Linebeck says something snarky like “you didn’t know that? It’s so obvious” or something like that

-Tetra still sees him as the goofball he is

-As they grow older and mature a bit they go from good friends to full-on lovers

Spirit Tracks

-they both have BIG crushes on each other

Skyward Sword

-I don’t even know what to tell you

-I literally wrote two books on the subject

Breath of the Wild

-they change by the hour and they all contradict each other

-Nintendo please give me clarity on Friday

-Okay but they also get married and have twins. Zelda is on bedrest and Link tells her to stay put but she doesn’t listen and goes to where she was conducting experiments (all the way to Blatchery Plain) Link finds her and gets upset that she’s nine months and went all the way out there but she insists she’s fine. They sit and relax for a bit but it isn’t long until her water breaks. They kind of have a dejavu moment when Link says “if we can just make it to Kakariko you’ll be fine”, which is what Zelda said to a very injured link a hundred years ago a while before the “memory” started. Anyways, Link makes a joke like “why is it always here?”. She ends up having the twins at Dueling Peaks Stable. Link and Zelda each get to name one. Link names the boy Elijah and Zelda names the girl Wendy, deciding finally on not continuing the “Zelda” trend. Once Zelda has recovered, and once they get visits from Kass, Sidon, Riju, Yunobo, Teba, and basically the rest of Hyrule, Link and Zelda go back to their home in Hateno carrying their children lovingly in their arms.

-or something like that idk

Thank you so much for the ask!!

Did it satisfy your wildest dreams because I guess I could elaborate idk my head hurts from graduate school applications

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narelleart · 7 years

Text

Why I dislike AqAdvisor.

I’ve seen AqAdvisor gaining traction again and I am really not a fan. It has a lot of flaws, so much so that I don’t at all recommend bothering with it. I think it’s too easy for it to mislead you. Really, I’m sugar coating it. I think it’s a nice idea, but the calculator just doesn’t actually apply to real life tanks, so to me its pretty much worthless. I cannot stand how much positive attention this thing gets when it can so often be very VERY wrong.

Just check this out:

I trimmed it down to the important bits, but this is me just playing around real quick to see how ridiculous I can get this. I would hope you can all look at it and immediately see the things wrong with this imaginary tank without my help, but just in case I picked some fish you’re unfamiliar with I’ll break it down.

So first off, I started out with a 180g tank (the favorite of “monster” fish keepers that like to keep their fish in undersized tanks - I guess 180g just feels really big or something), with 200g filter capacity. I overshot the filter because one of AqAdvisor’s biggest flaws is that everything revolves around filtration capacity - it seems to run on the premise that overfiltering effectively creates a larger usable volume. I’m sure I could get really ridiculous and make a tiny tank with massive filtration capacity, and REALLY see how far I can push it. Maybe I’ll do that next.

Then I started tossing in a horrible mix of incompatible fishes, to see what it would let me get away with. Let’s look at those: 1 x “Lima Shovelnose Catfish”, Sorubim lima - A 19.9″ SL fish that really ought to have a tank no smaller than 500g based on size alone. Aqadvisor thinks it’s acceptable to house a fish in an tank closer to 3 times its length. I have so many complaints with this, but I’ll move on. 5 x “Neon Tetra”, Paracheirodon innesi - A schooling fish naturally found in massive groups, that really ought to be 12+. Aqadvisor let me put a minimum of 5. Oh hey also, check that out. S. lima is a huge predatory catfish, but AqAdvisor isn’t concerned about these little guys getting eaten. 1 x “Guppy”, Poecilia reticulata - These are social, shoaling fish that should not be housed singly. But AqAdvisor thinks a solo guppy is okay, and doesn’t think S. lima is going to eat this lonely little fish either. Also hardwater to brackish? But supposedly they’re compatible with all these soft water fishes. 1 x Royal Pleco, Panaque nigrolineatus - This is no small fish either, maxing out at 13.4″ SL. But AqAdvisor is only concerned about the availability of wood for this fish. This fish does actually fit in this tank size (bare minimum based on size, without waste or activity taken into account), and the tank being overfiltered is good for it being a pleco. I mostly tossed this one in here to see if a waste producing machine would make a measurable impact on water quality values. (Hint: It didn’t.) 5 x Denisoni Barb, Puntius (Sahyadria) denisonii - Tossed them in for fun. 5 is apparently an acceptable shoal size. Another group to fill space. They are river fish though. (See WCMMs below.) 5 x “Galaxy Rasbora”, Danio margaritatus - See my notes on neons, except wow true nano, still supposedly not S. lima food. Maybe AqAdvisor just thinks these fish are too small for the cat to notice or care? (Not accurate.) 5 x “White Cloud Mountain Minnow”, Tanichthys albonubes - Same notes as above small schooling fish, but I’m skeptical about how well their water needs match these other fish. These are clear water, basically hillstream fish that like it cool. The others are tropical, and I know off the top of my head that Neon Tetras are blackwater fish. But AqAdvisor is fine with them living together. 1 x Licorice Gourami, Parosphromenus dessineri - Hang on, hang on, REALLY? Monster cats in little tanks is a special sore spot for me, but I think this upsets me the most. I can have a solo rare fish from a disappearing habitat that needs to be preserved by the hobby, in this mess of a tank? A blackwater specialist that belongs in a breeding project? And oh hey, snack sized for S. lima. But nope, AqAdvisor has no qualms with this. 1 x Zebra Oto, Otocinclus cocama - Did a zebra just for fun. But hey, ALL otos are shoaling fish that require large social groups and established tanks. I’m hesitant to even suggest that 6 is a sufficient minimum - they’d do best if you shoot for more. Aqadvisor let me keep one solo, maybe they thought it was intentionally in there as another snack for the S. lima. (Either way, it will be.) 1x Dwarf Cory, Corydoras hastatus - Also a shoaling fish that needs a group, which AqAdvisor somehow seems completely unaware of. Also will be S. lima food. 1 x African Butterfly Cichlid, Anomalochromis thomasi - Okay, I was trying to last minute tack on the African Butterfly Fish and grabbed this guy by mistake. I know nothing of cichlids. I’m sure there’s something wrong with him being here too, who knows. (For those curious, if I had added the ABF it wouldn’t have told me anything about it eating my nanofish - it just warned me that they jump. Thanks AqAdvisor.)

Take a look at the temperature range. These fish can only be housed together in a way that some of them don’t end up in inhospitable conditions if they are maintained at this one precise temperature. (That means they’re incompatible!) That pH range is a bit narrow too.

And the only note is the concern about providing the pleco wood. At least they don’t want the kiddo (a xylivore) to starve. But for those unfamiliar, AqAdvisor DOES let you know about incompatibility issues right here in this note section if the species has had anything programmed in about it. It doesn’t think these fish are incompatible at all.

AND IT SAYS I’M STILL OVERFILTERING, ONLY NEED TO CHANGE 18% PER WEEK, AND AM ONLY 66% STOCKED! The Panaque alone could be a fully stocked tank. The Sorubim is an overstocked tank. This is ridiculous. This is unacceptable.

This is why you don’t use AqAdvisor.

(Anyone else feel free to see what other horrible stocking it lets you get away with and add them on!)

#I am in such a sassy mood #this is like dripping with sass #can you tell i really hate aqadvisor?#normally i would link all these fish but im just not feeling up to it today #oh well #sorry if this comes off aggressive or whatever im just so done with this dumb calculator #not trying to be mean to the people that use it #maybe youve never come across these issues #if you always stock well you wont have issues #or maybe you dont know better yet #not your fault #but please dont rely on this garbage anymore

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rvb-junior · 7 years

Note

Anonymous ask: do you have any pets? What are their names? Why do you keep them? What got you into keeping them? Do you have any future pet plans? 💖💖

Ok anon do u really wanna get into this convo? Itll take a while.

Okay so im at college so rn the only pets with me are my fishb a male halfmoon plakat named Cosmos Florence the second, a nerite snail named Nertb and a black mystery named Onyx. I keep them because god man i just. I just love em so much ya know? Its like. I have this little ball of hate and rage in my dorm who has such a beautiful personality and then to complement that i have these chill snaild who r just trying really hard. Back home we have even more pets and oh man oh man i love them?? They are what love and joy looks like?? We have my dogs, cat, turtle, lizards, birds, hairless guinea pigs, fish, and chickens.

The chickens are named Short Bread and Oreo bevause of how they looked when they were younger. Oreo is a little spunkyer that Short bread while i think short bread is a little…. Confused? Yeah just generally confused by everything.

We have Mr. T, our full grown, healthy red ear slider who lives in a small pond in the back yard with a few feeder fish he never ate. Those fish have grown to be his pals and he just. Hase never eaten them.

Then we have the birds, Able, who likes to tell at you if u look at her to long. Her hobbys are chewing through toys as she is hanging from them and being suprised when she falls. We then have Birbank, named after the airport my dad found him at, who lives very closely with his bf Ruby. Birbank is a grey and white cockatiel and Ruby is a green Indian Ringneck. They had being more than 2 feet apart for longer than 2 seconds and often u will find Ruby yelling when Birbank flys somewhere he cant go (ruby doesnt know how to fly) and birbank screaming when he realises the mistake he made. Ruby likes to give people kisses and is a lover, not a fighter. Birbank likes to hiss at peanuts and ignore everything besides Ruby. Next we have our Canary, Mango whos fav food is blue berrys and kale. He likes to sing when he hears trumpets and my flute. He has a club foot so when we adopted him the bird rescue we got him from was relived because no one else would take him. He is the most graceful flying bird i have ever seen! Finally we have the zebra finch named Shimmy. When we first adopted him he had a super bad plucking problem and was almost completly bald but hes doing much better now, aggressivly peeping when he hears the canary.

Okay now we have 2 lizards, a leopard gecko named Romeo and a crested gecko named Gargoyle. Romeo is a sweet boi with a chubby tail who loves his crickets fast and his meal worms slow. He has one of those reptile hammocks but he prefers climding his cave more. Gargoyle is a sweet girl who will only eat her food when it starts to harden again for some reason. We dont know why but she does and shes kinda a butt. But ya gotta love her!

Our cat’s name is Figaro and she’s currently bald. She had to get shaved, the vet said shes getting up in her years so when she stopped grooming for a month and got matts in her long fur they said she had basicly cat arthritis. Shes doing good and her hobbies are (well atleast when i was home) meowing in my mouth at 3 am to tell me she ate all her food and wanted more.

Wr have 5 dogs so just get ready for that. All our dogs but 1 is a rescue. Coal is a chow/black lab mix. She was adopted as a pup from a local animal rescue and she kniws the mist tricks. Shes a good girl who likes hugs, treats, and when u massage her face. Her favorite toy is a yellow stick that she will bring to you when asked. Shes the second youngest! Lily is the youngest, i sometiems call her satan but only because she is a trickster! You will turn around and shell be on the table eating food, stealing anything from coal, and trying to think up world domination. She and Coal are super close, when we got her Coal went all MaMa dog and now they are inseparable. What makes it better is that Lily is a half Chihuahua/Pomeranian mix so shes tiny next to Coal. Our third youngest is Scarlet, wr think shes the product of a long hair Chihuahua and a deer head Chihuahua. Shes a primadonna who enjoys her alone time and pets. She also like to be held, mainly like a baby so u can hold her and tub her tum. She also REALLY LIKES CAR RIDES like man even going to the vet shes jazzed. Second oldest is Vinnie, a pug my bro ham adopted. Hes super sweet and good he likes face squishes and whrn he naps his tail uncurles. He stands very proper like hes a gentleman and likes to sit on ur feat. He has a grain allergy so he eats special grain free food. Next we have the oldest of our dogs MY SWEET BABY GIRL GIGI. shes my sun and moon. We got gigi when i was 8 and when i was 10 my sister went to college, leaving her for me to takr care of. And well, shes literally the most important thing in the world to me. My sister got her from a breader (which i dont like cus dogs in shelters need homes) but shes a Brussels Griffon so the breader croped her ears and tail. I DO NOT CONDONE THE PRACTICE OF CROPPING AND PART OF A DOG UNLESS SUGGESTED BY A VET, SOME DOGS GET THEIR TAILS CROPPED BECAUS ETHEY BREAK BONES IN THEM AND THAT IS THE ONLY CROPPING I CONDONE. Her ears were cropped lopsidedb and improperly which brought many problems to her later on. She developed many ear infections that have caused her to scratch her ears until they bleed, has had medication for 3 different ear infections, and has almost no ear canal left. Her vet has told us she is almost deef. Also as she got older she got chronic dry eye and takes medicated eye drops for it but shes fine as long as she has those. She needs loud or sharp sounds to get her attention so i trained her to respond to clapping, whistling (which i do very loudly) and snapping fingers. She is a sweet heartb adn a super velcro dog! I cried for three days after i had to go to college and they drive her up to visit me. When im home she goes looking for me if im out of site for 2 minutes, will wait at the bathroom door for me, stare up the stairs when i go to shower, and press her face against closed doors she knows i went through. Whne she does the last thing i have to drum my fingers on the door so she knows to move back before i open it. I miss her horribly and i skype her almost every day, she gets super excited! The first few days i was gone she actually wouldnt stop barking at night. Shes also a cuddle baby and she doesnt sleep unless she is touching me ao it was probably rough for her. I miss her but ill be able to see her in october when i go to my sisters wedding.

The fish! Okay so my mother has a 75 gallon gold fish aquarium and a 30 gallon in the garage with nithing in it yet (shes thinking tetras). The gold fish tank has 2 butter fly tails and some bristle nose plecos. It also has many a snail rn! A friend of ours dismantled a large aquarium of his own ( he is going through a very hard time financially and im hoping everything works out for him) and gave us the plecos and snails. The snails are 3 rabbit snailsb one nerite (he gave us 2 but the other is with my betta) a few black mysteries, and a golden apple who i named Big Mama.

Lemme tell u about big mama real fast. I call her this because, first of all shes a full grown golden appleb second of all because shes a mama. He had a live planted tank thich included a moss ball he has been taking care of for 5 year, its the size of my head and when we put it in the 75 gallon it because the main pice of the tank. What we found out later was that Big Mama had made her family in ut and we have abou 20 BABY GOLDEN APPLES IN THERE ALONE!! He also gave us an anibius fern which i put in my betta’s tank and after getting to college and living hear for a few weeks i found out there were eggs on it because I KNOW HAVE MANY A BABY GOLDEN APPLE. these ones tho r much smaller than the moss ball ones, mine being hatchlings and those being the size of a finger nail. But anyway they have grown large enough where i can tell they r not pest snails and i will be rehoming them to other fish keepers in my dorms once they get a little bigger.

My mom has 3 hairless guinea pigs. Did you know that at petco people tend to walk in and drop off pets they “just dont want any more”? Well it hapoens a lot and my mom fell in love with them instantly. We have Billy, the oldest, Piggy, the middle in age, and sweet baby Bear who is small and young. They are all good boys and are doing very well so far in their new home! My mom had already owned billy and was looking into getting him friends, (guinea pigs live friends! They actually should be kept in atleast pairs but we were not aware at first, now we know better) all three of them are being slowly introduced! Bear and Piggy already live together but we dont want to rush this process and put billy right into the mix, that would probably be the worst think. They are slowly beibg acclimated to eachother.

I guess you could say i love pets because they are sweet and wonderful. I keep most of them because i know i can care for them, that i have the space, and the resources. I have the time and the will to foster a loving home for all my pets, and so does my family. Animals are a big part of my life and i love all of them with all my heart.

My future plans? Well nothing soon! Im in a dorm so Cosmos and his snail friends are all ivr got planed rn. But i hope to, onece in the distante future, get a tank with a school of danionella dracula in it, they are tiny fishb only getting half an inch in side. But id need a good tank for them since they school about 12 and id like to do the whome thing live plants (i also want one of those rimless aquatiums hnnnnnnnngh) i hope to upgrade cosmos to a larger aquarium b currently hes in a 2.5 which is enough for a betta, sure, but id rather he be in a 5 gallon. But really? I just wanna go home n be with GiGi more than anything.

Thank you for the ask!

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alyss-spazz-penedo · 3 years

Text

Do you remember that time I told you I cried while writing a thing for the unedited v!Wind fic, @w1lmutt. Do you.

Consider this a warning: It’s karma time 8)

<<First Part 6 Next>>

"Oh." Link stops dead, halting their limping journey into the village. He looks around like he's not sure if he's dreaming. "Oh."

“Link? Is that you?” Mesa calls from his vegetable patch. Link sways as he stares at the man, looking like he's seeing a ghost instead of a perfectly hale and healthy Hylian. "Goddesses, you don't look so good. Are- are you holding up alright?"

"He'll be fine," Tetra replies, when it becomes clear Link can’t respond.

"And Tetra too." The man shakes himself. "Aryll was looking for you, Link. You'd... you'd better get on home," he says, horribly sympathetic. Link feels his heartbeat hitch.

"No," he breathes. Tetra nearly drops him as he jerks forward. "No, no no no, I was supposed to have more time- I’m not ready-!”

~o0o~

"Liiiiiiink!" A voice echoes faintly down into the cave. The heroes look up as one, reacting to their shared name. "Where are youuuuuu?"

A beat. "No one recognizes her, right?"

A round of negatives. Then, from further away, "Big brootheeer! Liiiiiink!"

"...You don't think-?"

"The villagers?"

They exchange looks. Time makes his way out of the fountain first. He surveys the now empty forest, frowning. "We should make haste."

~o0o~

There’s a crowd gathered on his doorstep by the time Link manages to stagger his way home. Their grim voices sweep over him like the tide, rushing in and out. He can’t grasp a single word they’re saying.

Sturgeon, the closest thing Outset has to a doctor, is kneeling next to her. He looks up when Link barges in. "Come now, old friend," he murmurs to Link's grandma, patting her hand. "Look who's come to see you. Won't you open your eyes for your dear grandson?"

“Mister Sturgeon? Is she- she’s gonna be okay, right?” Link pants. “What happened?”

“She collapsed outside. Gave poor Aryll quite the fright. We brought her in but... I’m afraid there’s not much to be done, lad.” The old man looks almost calm, almost resigned—already grieving, which isn’t fucking good enough.

Link seizes him by the collar. “What do you mean not much to be-!” He starts to snarl. Stops. Grandma’s eyelids are fluttering open.

“Link...?” She breathes, terrifyingly soft. “Is that you, dearie?”

He drops the useless old man immediately, falling to his knees next to the cushion she’s laid out on. “Grandma, hold on, just hold on, I’ll- I’ll get a potion, no, a fairy, just-!“

“Goodness. It feels... like it’s been such a long time since I last saw you. You’ve grown.”

Link freezes. He clutches at her hand gently, desperately. “No I haven’t,” he croaks. “I was here when you fell asleep. I haven’t- I haven’t aged a single day since then, I made sure-”

“You’ll stay a while this time... won’t you?” She wheezes, hazy and unfocused. “I’d like... to be able... to see you off again...” She sighs, eyes drooping. Her hand falls limp.

“Grandma?” He whimpers. “Grandma, I’m not going anywhere. Wake up, please wake up, just a little longer, I’m- I’m almost ready-” A feverish light enters his eyes. “I finally found it,” he promises her. “A way to show you Hyrule. Fields bigger than entire islands, and forests full of creatures we’ve never seen before, and huge deserts of sun and sand dunes. The winds there are so sweet, not a lick of ocean salt to be found, and it’s so beautiful-“ His voice breaks. “You can’t leave without even seeing it, Grandma. You can’t.”

Grandma doesn't respond.

Instead, Link jerks as a most unwelcome voice offers, “...Try this."

The heroes that did this stand gathered by the doorway, in the space the villagers had vacated to give him some privacy. They look as though they’ve been there a while. The Hero of Time holds out a bottled fairy like a peace offering.

“You,” Link hisses. Stops. Tetra’s laid a supportive hand on his shoulder. “Why would you...?”

“Thank you,” she tells Time in his stead, accepting the fairy and shoving it into Link’s hands. Link stares down at it, shakes himself, and promptly upends the container onto Grandma’s chest.

The little sprite spirals and spirals, scattering pixie dust. Nothing changes.

Frantic now, Link feels for her pulse. It takes him far too long to find it—faint and stuttering. “Why isn’t it working?!”

Hyrule pushes forward. “Let me try,” he offers, hands up like Link is a wild animal he’s trying not to spook. “I don’t have much experience with old people, but I know some healing magic. Maybe I can help.”

Link stares at him, the words taking longer than they should to comprehend. He gnaws at his lip, once, before giving his permission with a tight nod.

“Careful, ‘Rulie,” someone cautions. Link doesn’t bother looking up to see who, eyes fixed on the glowing hands the older boy lays on his grandma’s chest. “You’ve used too much magic today. Potions only do so much.”

"It's fine." Hyrule casts once, words falling musically from his lips. When the light dies, his patient looks no different. Frowning, he tries again, slower, hands running up and down Grandma’s form, picking up her hands and cupping them in his own.

At last, panting, Hyrule shakes his head, and Link could run him through where he stands.

“Why not?! You said you could help!”

“He said he’d try, kid. Back off.” Not unkindly, Legend forces him to step away from Hyrule.

The healer, for his part, merely shakes his head again. “I don’t understand it. There’s barely any life left in her. I’m sorry, but I don’t—I’m not even sure how she’s breathing right now.” He steps away, gently placing her hands back on the blanket. “It’s... almost as though she's been hollowed out. She’s been beyond saving for a long time now.”

“No- no that can’t be right, she was having a good day when, when I- she was outside, she was walking, she was, she wasn’t-!”

The travelers exchange glances. Legend is the only one callous enough to say what they all suspect. “Then that curse probably drained whatever she had left, kid.”

Link whirls on him with a snarl. “You’re lying!“ He yells, fingers itching for a sword that isn’t there. “She wasn’t-!”

“They’re not,” Tetra cuts in. She has her arms folded across her chest, tight. Link still catches the shiver she tries to hide. “If what that... thing did to her was anything like what it did to me... ‘drain’ is a good way to put it.”

Link shakes his head again. “You’re lying,” he chokes. Slower, broken, he whispers, “it wasn’t supposed to hurt her.”

“I’m sorry,” Hyrule repeats again, uselessly. “But I don’t think she’ll last the night. She doesn’t have enough energy left.”

Link is about to do something—beg, lash out, scream, please can’t you use mine, when-

“Who are you guys?” A high voice demands from beyond the crowd of heroes. “Why are you in my house?”

“Aryll,” Link breathes.

His sister doesn’t hear, squirming her way in while shouting, “Link? Big Brother, are you home? Grandma, Grandma she-”

She breaks past the travelers. Stops dead when she takes in the scene. “Big brother? Why are you crying?” She utters. “Grandma’s- Grandma’s gonna be okay, isn’t she?”

Link opens his mouth. Closes it. Trembles.

Twilight, standing closest to Aryll, puts a hand on the girl’s shoulder and gently urges her closer to Link, to Grandma. Like that might do anything. Like that might help.

His hands clench into fists. “Get out,” he rasps. Aryll clutches at his sleeve. They’re both trembling now.

“Are you sure?” Hyrule hesitates, and Link hates the way he looks at them. The way they’re all looking at him and his family. “Maybe we should-”

“Get out get out get OUT!” He demands, voice rising to a shriek. With a sharp swing of his Deku leaf and a massive blast of air, most of the intruders are sent tumbling backwards, out to the porch. The ones that manage to keep their feet are swiftly escorted out by a grim-faced Tetra.

The pirate captain surveys them with cool eyes as they gather themselves, as they exchange uncertain glances. “You don’t need to be here,” she says, giving voice to what they’re all thinking. “Scram. Outset doesn’t have lodgings for travelers; go figure out where you’ll stay if you’re staying, or where you’ll go if you’re going. Except you,” and here she jabs her finger at Warriors demandingly. “You better stick around, because you are going to tell me the whole story later. Now get lost, all of you.”

Her piece said, she whirls on her heel and marches right back into the house they’d all been ejected from. The door thunks firmly shut behind her—a clear warning not to follow.

~o0o~

At the first hint of sunrise, Link knocks on Master Orca’s door.

“I know you guys are in there. I’m not here to fight.”

They crack open the door. Link’s a mess. He regards them all with glassy eyes, and when he doesn’t find what he’s looking for, croaks, “where’s my sword?”

“Why should we give it to you?” They are, reasonably, rather wary at the request.

“I need it to get rid of the blockade. The monsters can’t stay, they’ll scare people.”

They consider this, consider the boy standing numbly before them. Finally, Wild fetches the blade from the depths of his Slate.

Link takes it. Nods at them. Turns around and trudges down to the ocean, single-mindedly making his way to the nearest platform on the water. The visiting heroes follow him as far as the shoreline, where he slips on the Helmaroc Mask and takes to the sky.

In the dim light of the false dawn, they stand vigil and watch as Link wordlessly, mindlessly slaughters his way from one end of the horizon to the other.

#Vinked Universe #my writing #I spent like an hour sobbing when I first came up with this #tw minor character death #minor. MINOR character #fanfic

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repeatsfate · 7 years

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A, K, R!!

vidya games!

K – game you’re most looking forward to?

at the moment it’s super mario odyssey and pokemon ultra sun and moon! and, uh… my inner 12 year old is rearing her ugly head to force me to admit i’m also pretty hyped for sonic forces, oops. lOOK IT LOOKS FUN, OKAY…

i’m looking forward to fe musou too but also i’m pretty neutral on it– everything they’ve revealed has been super incredible so far and i’m looking forward to maining my birb, but i’m more interested in the confirmed fe16 and i’m looking forward to hearing more about that when the time comes.

R – most underrated game?

hmmmm… while xenoblade chronicles itself would certainly fit the bill despite shulk being a giant meme now, i think i’ll take it a step further and go on to say xenoblade chronicles x deserves a bit more love than it got–

despite the very real flaws with the game and some aspects of the story, a thing that draws me to it aside from the ‘if you can see it, you can go to it’ MASSIVE open world and setting on a foreign planet was just how human its supporting cast and even minor npcs are. the game does an excellent job of portraying raw humanity in both ends of the spectrum– where there are heroes, there are people even in man’s most desperate hour that took that second chance as an excuse to be horrible, horrible people. the encounter of alien life goes as swimmingly as you expect, with the remaining fragments of humanity split on how to deal with these new beings in their midst. some choose to try and form alliances and bonds, the others shun and fear the outsiders– many quests actually revolve around the racism in what’s supposed to be a safe haven for the aliens pledging themselves to humanity’s side. the conflict taking up the last leg of the game is one born of human grief and the sting of loss– and when you really get into the motivations behind it it’s so easy to understand why the person did what they did but also acknowledge yeah no you did bad buddy you gotta pay for it now. i just???? it’s so good????

the planet and creatures that make up the game’s setting are imaginative and beautiful, i honestly love just booting it up and wandering. sometimes it’s scary as all heck because OH GOD GIANT MONSTER OUT OF NOWHERE but also… that just adds to the immersion and feeling like you’re a tiny fish in a big, big sea… and when you’re strong enough to stand up to those monsters it’s the most satisfying thing in the world.

the musical direction is honestly up to taste- i personally adore xcx’s soundtrack, but those not a huge fan of hiroyuki sawano’s works might find it lacking. here’s a personal favourite!

point is, it’s super fun, i want to do an araceli run sometime if i can ever be arsed to go back on my wii u or it gets a switch port, and a verse would be fun to play around with… i’m not a huge jrpg person, but i really really like xcx. also, fans of matthew mercer– he’s in this one, too! he plays lao huang, one of my all time favourite characters tbh

point is it is flawed, yes, but it’s also a very solid jrpg that i had fun sinking hours into and i’d totally do so again

A – favourite game of all time?

my top fave game of all time? easy! it’s the legend of zelda: wind waker!

it wins in both nostalgia points and a critical eye as i’ve gotten older– as a little kid, it was the first game i ever actually beat all by myself! the gamecube was the first home console i ever got to own– for a while i lived with my granny, who wasn’t very big on gaming if that makes sense? and then after moving back in with my mom she got me one for christmas and a friend lent me wind waker after i tried playing it at his house and repeatedly got stuck in the forsaken fortress. the excitement of finally making it past that and seeing this big, bright, beautiful world and story unfold before me has stuck with me to this day?? idk how to explain it i just. wind waker was an important game in my childhood, and i’ve played through it a loooooot– mostly i’ve noticed it was during times of stress or particular loneliness. everyone has that one game that’s been there™ for them during times of duress, and wind waker has always been mine.

okay i’m read more-ing the rest of this because i… went on for a WHILE. which is also why i answered it last oops. tl;dr there are many reasons why i love this game and it’s still my fave even now that i’m nearly 23.

as an adult, i’ve found that from a technical standpoint the game holds up really well, too– even without the hd remake on the wii u wind waker is still a very beautiful, stylistic game; a major benefit to having taken the art in a more cartoony direction is that it prevents the game from aging too much; if you were to look at the vanilla gamecube edition now, it still holds up amazingly! (meanwhile, i find that while twilight princess is still lovely, the more realistic art direction tends to date it a little. i could look at the original and just know the era it was made in, whereas if i never saw wind waker before, i would question it.)

the textures are rather blurry, sure, but that was a product of the time– hypatia on tumblr actually produced a mod with hd textures for roms of the gamecube version– check out these comparasion shots of the then-work in progress mod versus the original textures… and then here’s a few polished shots of the mod with a few extra effects dolphin/ishiiruka can provide. in short, the original wind waker is a very, very beautiful game and age has done very little to tarnish that even with the remake’s updated graphics.

but obviously graphics don’t make or break a game, though proper presentation is important– wind waker’s story also resonates with me deeply in various aspects. as an older sister, the initial quest to set out and rescue your younger sibling in danger caught my attention and held it fast; they do a very good job of making you feel attached to aryll, and the scene where she is kidnapped always tugs at my heartstrings every time i see it. watching this young boy who lived the world’s most quiet little life on a tiny island suddenly get swept up into this grand, big adventure to rescue someone dear to him and becoming an actual hero – despite having no relation to oot link whatsoever! – is the quintessential coming of age story that most people can relate to, and watching that change as the game plays out is always really sweet???

it was nice watching link’s development through his little actions: the backing away from helmaroc king when he first storms the fortress and then confident staring it down the second time and then giving it what for– aside from ganondorf himself that’s my favourite boss in the game if only because of those moments of development. link’s not just some kid from outset in over his head anymore– he’s a hero who overcame the trials of the goddesses himself in the name of protecting his baby sister, and he will not fail again. and then, after he could easily just throw in the towel and take his sister home because he accomplished what he set out to do, link goes on and sees it through to the end anyways because restoring order to the world is the right thing to do– there’s no legacy of knights looming over his head like several of his other incarnations. there’s no grand kingdom, there are only desolate little islands. there’s a princess, but… he barely knows her. hell, she didn’t even know she was a princess until that moment.

the story also touches on themes of death and the ends of eras… but also ends on a note of hope and new beginnings– clinging to the past only leads to ruin, and we must create opportunities for ourselves and the world to grow. hyrule is actually completely washed away by the end, and ganondorf goes with it– unless we assume breath of the wild is in the adult timeline, that’s it. he’s gone FOREVER in the subsequent games, with bellum and malledeus taking his place as the main villain. the kingdom link and tetra found is called new hyrule, but that’s all they share in significance– it’s their own land, just like the king said. that final scene of wind waker with the king always got to me– that message of hope is so poignant and powerful, i just. i don’t know how to put it into words, but it’s a scene i love dearly.

then there’s the music and cast of characters, and even quests and gameplay? i know the sailing could get tedious but i always liked it; it was relaxing to me just watching the virtual waves and listening to that beautiful score?? the characters are all bright and unique and fun– they’ve got their own little lives and you can impact them in so many different ways and things definitely change once you do?? like starting windfall vs windfall after you do a few sidequests or even turn on the ferris wheel and lighthouse again feel so different? it’s a neat little detail i’ve always found!!

…i really need to stop rambling about wind waker now i actually dozed off a bit typing this post, oops.

#long post;#◈▏▐ ❛ ɪ ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ sᴀᴛɪsғʏ ʏᴏᴜ / ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʀᴜᴛʜ. ❜ ― ( latrocinari )#◈▏▐ ❛ ᴄʜɪɪ ɪs sᴘᴇᴀᴋɪɴɢ. ❜ ― ( ooc )#◈▏▐ ❛ ᴡᴇ'ʀᴇ ɴᴏᴛ ᴅᴏɴᴇ ʏᴇᴛ. ❜ ― ( meme )

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