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s-kinnaly · 10 months

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Ooooooh this is beautiful~! So nice to see Zelda and Ganondorf with the seals! So looking forward to the politics of intrique and how their relationnship will develope~ Thank you so much for writing this~! Looking forward to more!!

Fighting Fate: Chapter 2

Ch.1,

(Wow you guys really wanted a continuation of this….well who the heck am I to deny yall. Consider this a confirmed series that I will write out. Enjoy!!!)

Ganondorf smiled to himself as he overlooked his kingdom, to see the women and children going about their days as the sounds of the desert surrounded the area with the sun beginning to set for the day. He looked over his shoulder to see Zelda at his desk writing out a letter to be sent to all of the realms as to inform of the union that would come to pass. He couldn’t help but find it a bit funny that she needed a plush pillow in order to sit properly as the desk was much bigger.

He knew that this union would be a difficult one to accept, but if he was truly to insure his peoples freedom then he would be willing. But in the back of his mind he knew this union was not entirely unwelcome. She was a fair and wise girl for such a young age and his attempt to wed Sonia was never going to come to pass, he scoffed at the memory of when he first saw Queen Sonia when both of them were teens. She was just as beautiful as she was now, but years of being apart caused them to drift apart, especially when he found out her betrothal to the Zonai. A memory that would haunt him for the rest of his days.

A small tap on his arm made him flinch ever so slightly as he looked down to see Zelda holding the finished letters.

“You wished to over look the letters did you not?” She asked as he nodded to her and took them to read them. In short they were a simple and none showed of any fear or warning of their union. The ones to the Zora, Goron and Rito were straight to the point and offered comforting words in showing that the union was agreed by both parties. The one written to the hyrulian though were written more as a sign of peace, saying more how the Gerudo were treating her fairly and how no hostility was found with him. It was strange to see how she wrote positive words of his people when many hyrulian saw most Gerudo as thieves and warriors with no mercy.

“They are acceptable. I will have my fastest riders send them to your guards at the border then they can deliver them to each realm.”

“Before you do there is one matter you still need to do.”

He gave her puzzled look as she handed him the quill.

“A show of good faith with your signature and mine on each of them will show that there is no hidden agendas or tricks for the others to worry for.”

He scoffed.

“As if they would care for what I think. They will never truly trust us.” He gestured out to the kingdom.

“Then make them. I promise you…it will help. They will see that you truly wish for peace, trust me on this matter King Ganondorf.”

He was about to speak out once more but he knew there was no point, she was quite headstrong and stubborn, she would make a better Gerudo than Hylian with such traits. He walked over to the desk and signed his name at the bottom of each letter and she signed her own name next to his.

“Perfect, now they may be sent out. She said walking up to one of the women guards who kneeled down and took them bowing her head to both of them leaving them in the room by themselves.

Ganondorf simply shook his head pinching the bridge of his nose realizing that there would be even more political matters in the future. Something a warrior king truly hated…maybe even more the idea of swearing fealty to Rauru.

Zelda turned her gaze to him and softly coughed to get his attention.

“If you would be willing…I would like to see more of your kingdom. Perhaps a walk around the city before it gets too dark.”

He thought on it for a moment before walking over to the throne grabbing his blade in hand. As he motioned for her to follow him. She did so trying to match his speed, every step he took would be equal to three of her own. She watched as he walked ahead of her down the main stairs to see the women guards she had come with were being offered some fruits and drinks as some of the Gerudo women placed fabrics down on the ground clearly showing good faith. The guards noticed her walking with him and for a moment were about to stand up at attention until she waved a hand at them for them to be at ease. It pleased her to see that not all of the Gerudo seemed to hate the Hylians, perhaps staying in his domain would truly help the kingdoms relations.

They both turned at the corner of one of the alleyways to where she saw a few of the small shops, most with food and clothes where she saw other traveling hylians offering trade. She had heard that Ganondorf was open to the trade of the people who were wondering the deserts as not all Hylians were sworn to the crown and preferred the life of being on the open road.

“King Ganondorf!” She heard the sound of multiple small footsteps running their direction to see many young kids run up to their king were he leaned down smiling at each of them gently rubbing their heads messing up their hair in the process. One of the children snuck up behind and climbed up his back making him sigh as they tried to topple him over with no success. Zelda smiled and couldn’t help but laugh at the sight. She saw his gaze fall on her for a moment before the children stood behind him looking over at her. Clearly a bit nervous to see a hylian of her stature. She could see them whispering to him and suddenly he chuckled to himself as he pointed to her and whispered them something that made them all smile and run up to her.

“Lady Zelda come with us! Please you’ll want to meet them.”

“Yes please miss you with love them they are the cutest sand seals.”

“oh I suppose…alright…woah” She said as the girls gently pulled her hand forward and some gently pushed her legs forward. The sigh made Gannon smirk to himself as he walked behind them carrying two of the girls on his shoulder as they gripped his hair laughing as he walked.

Zelda saw the children bringing her to a side stable where a large pen was. The children let go of her hands and ran to the fence to look at the sand for any vibrations. Zelda as well was a bit curious as she looked at the sand with them until a small rumble could be seen but then disappeared.

“Aw no fair, they must be sleeping.”

“Well perhaps all they need is to hear his call.” one of the children said looking up at Ganondorf. He rolled his eyes for a moment as he spoke.

“They are not sleeping children…they are simply waiting.”

Zelda looked curiously at her and then back at the sand when suddenly two of the biggest sand seals she had ever seen pounced out of the ground bringing their heads to the top of the pen.

“In the name of the goddess…they are huge. I never imagined they grew this big” Zelda said as the children laughed and smiled as they walked up to them giving them pets. Ganon walked beside her putting the two children on his shoulder on the ground.

“They have to be, they are mine to command and ride. None of the smaller ones could handle me.”

“Oh…” She said as got a better look at them as they licked the children’s hands and faces. One had much more grey than brown fur with a red mane with larger tusks than the other. The other while the same size had blueish fur with a white mane to match. She saw one of the children pick up a whole melon from the side of the pen and offered it to them, eating it in one big bite.

“Miss, here here your turn.” one of the children offered a smaller piece of melon to her pulling her closer to them. Zelda smiled as she broke the piece in half offering both of them. The seals hummed to themselves as they each ate them so quick that it almost surprised her. They licked her hands and gently nuzzled their mouth toward her hands trying to lick up the juice left on them. She started to laugh at the feeling as she watched the children smiling and laughing with her. Ganondorf watched with a bit of surprise and curiosity.

Most hylians were not used to sand seals yet she seemed to be completely at ease around them, it was as if she had seen them before yet he knew she had never been to his kingdom before, he simply chalked it up to her having seen them when she arrived but still it was a bit odd.

Suddenly the sound of a spear hitting the ground was heard as two women stood behind looking to the children.

“Children the moon is out, you should head home for the night. You will all need your rest to become great warriors.”

The children looked a bit disappointed as they simply nodded as Ganondorf held a hand out to the warrior women giving the children a moment before leaning down to them and putting his blade away from their sight as he opened his arms out to them and offered a giant hug making each of them smile and laugh as he lifted them from the ground as if they weighed nothing. They all laughed as he placed them down on the ground running off into the directions of their homes. he smiled to himself before looking over to Zelda who was utterly shocked.

The demon king that she knew would never have done that, heck it was almost impossible for her to even imagine. Yet here he was offering them kind actions like a father would to his children.

“So surprised to see such acts from their King…” He said a bit coldly to her thinking the look she gave him was one of judgement.

“No. Its…its just nice to see they are enjoying their childhoods…I never really had such an option.” She grew a bit saddened as the memories of her father constantly criticizing her for her interests in the tech and the loss of her childhood when her mother passed. She honestly couldn’t recall the last time her father made her smile like that.

He looked ashamed of himself for what he said. He should have known that being related to the royal hyrulian family was no easy task, after all the responsibility was not unknown to him. She looked to see Ganondorf facial expression change as he looked at his sand seals and then out at the gate leading into the desert and immediately a thought came to his mind.

“Did you still wish to see the lands of my kingdom?”

‘Of course.”

He hummed to himself for a moment as he whistled to the his seals that perked up their ears and immediately ran to the front of the gate. She watched as Ganon tied a small supply back on to the back and checked the ropes tied to the gigantic sled, he stood on it and checked the ropes before offering his hand to her.

“Your not afraid now are you? Tough girl.” He said with a small smirk.

She shook her head as she took his hand letting her stand in front of him with his arms on either side holding onto the handle of the sled. He kicked up the reins and in an instant the seals ran off into the vast ocean of the sand. She felt her whole body hit into the front of his as she tried to keep herself stable until she felt his arm wrapped around her midsection. She couldn’t help herself by grabbing his arm, to be both surprised and maybe perhaps a bit welcome at the gesture . The sand seals rushed into the dunes past multiple sinkholes almost too close for comfort, jumping out of the sand so quickly made her whole body lift off the sled a bit making her laugh but also scream surprisingly as she saw them climbing through the thick desert sand up the hills to see a small oasis that seemed to be void of any people. The cool desert air pricked her skin as she felt the grains of sand cling to her skin and clothes. The seals stopped just a bit short of the small oasis shaking off their fur as Ganondorf looked down at her only to laugh loudly at the sight. Her hair was slightly a mess and still she clung onto his arm with her legs shaking a bit.

“That was….that was not what I expected.”

“Hahaha. Perhaps you would want to try it again so you get used to it.”

“No, no, I’m fine with us stopping here…” She said looking down at her hand on his arm, immediately feeling her ears getting a bit warmer as she quickly moved it to fix her hair.

“You…you can let go of me now.”

“Are you sure about that?” He said moving his arm lower so she was sitting on it lifting her up to his eye level.

“I wouldn’t want my new bride to hurt herself.”

“Y…..yes I am very sure…please.”

“As you wish.”

He smiled to himself as he placed her back on the ground as he stood off of the sled untying the ropes allowing the seals to drink from the oasis. He looked behind him to see Zelda looking out into the now illuminated sands by the moon. The wind howling into the night as the faint hue of the kingdoms lights could be seen. He breathed in the night air, moments like this reminded why he was fighting so hard for his people. He knew what the other realm thought and in truth he couldn’t have cared less. All he really wanted was freedom, both for his people and himself. For years he hated that the knowledge of Demise’s curse flowing through his blood made all those who looked upon him as nothing but a monster. The moment from his birth he was told that he would lead the people to their true value…yet he would be hated and feared by all. Perhaps it was foolish of him to hope that he could change his fate.

Suddenly he felt his sand seals leaning on him offering a comforting nudge of their heads as he pet them. He leaned over to the sled and untied the rug that he kept with him in case he was to scout for days on end along with his troops. He placed it down on the hard ground as he watched his older seal sitting behind him as the younger seal lay down beside him breathing slowly knowing fully well the children must have fed them more than they thought they could handle.

As he looked over Zelda and noticed she was shivering. The moon light glazed over her skin making her look almost like a holy spirit as the dress she wore which was lightly covered in sand blew in the air in time with her hair. Yet she was still a sight for sore eyes, truly one he didn’t expect to enjoy.

“Lady Zelda…” He said seeing her turn around gripping her arms as she noticed him sitting down beside his seals with an arm gesturing to the spot next to him. The moon illuminating his body in a low glow as the gold accessories he wore gleamed in the light. His vibrant red hair surrounding his frame as the loose Gerudo clothes blew in the wind. She was now completely nervous. Why was he being like this to her? They were not wed and yet he was acting completely differently than she ever expected. This man was the reason for all the pain in her time, Mipha, Urbosa, Revali and Daruk. All of them died by his hand, the pain inflected on her kingdom and Link.

Link… She had almost forgotten that he was searching for her in their time. But she knew the choice she made was for the best. By marrying him, all the deaths and suffering that happened will never come to pass. But then again there was no true guarantee that it would happen…after all with the blood of the goddess in her veins and Demise in him…fate might be cruller to them than any past incantations. She would not allow such a fate to happen again…not if she could stop it.

“You’ll freeze if you just stand there.” He said this time patting the rug as if it were no big deal.

She simply nodded in agreement as she sat next to him as the younger of the seal cuddled up to her allowing all the warmth to return to her body. She looked up at Ganondorf and spoke.

“…Thank you. In truth I did not think you to be like this to a woman you barely knew…seeing as we both have strange fates…”

“You should know by now that I am not a complete and utter monster. I am a man first and a king second. Whatever the other realms see in me…I will change that fate. No matter how it must be done.”

He looked down at her.

“I can see in your eyes that you wished at some point that you never had the blood of the goddess in your veins…for what reason you need not tell me…but clearly your family sees you as thing to be relished on a pedestal…a holy figure.”

She saw him look up at the stars and sighed. She knew what he meant, living a normal life was never going to happen. She had to grow up fast and learn to fight off the Calamity since she was very young. While the protecting the realm was more than enough a reason to do it…it was never truly enough for those around her. Only the champions and Link truly understood her and yet…here she was sitting with their enemy so to be wed and in truth felt that he too understood her struggle.

“I do hope that this…” She gestured to both of them.

“Will truly work.”

“We will have to wait and see.” He said leaning back. When he felt her lay her head against his arm which surprised him seeing her gently petting the younger seals head making it hum in appreciation. He could feel his heart beat ever so quickly at the sight as a small blush came upon his face as he ran a hand through his hair trying to ignore it.

“King Ganondorf….”

“Hmm.”

“I meant to ask, what are there names” she said pointing to the seals.

He pointed to the bigger one and then to the smaller one.

“ Cerbofog and Tuguk.” the seals moved their heads in response but soon calmed down and layed back down in the sand.

“Really…Huh…”

“What? They are Gerudo warrior names. What would you name them?”

“Well…personally they look more like Blubber and Flipper to me…”

The look on his face was one of pure cringe at the idea of the names for him being so…casual. It didn’t help that when she called them that they actually looked up with wide smiling faces barking in excitement.

“See…even they like the idea of nicknames like that.” She said rubbing their fur causing them to roll over in pure joy as she ruffled up their manes in a friendly manner. He was never gonna the hear the end of this from her. But the sight of her laughing as the newly appointed Blubber and Flipper loved on her even more than before made him sigh to himself…for once…in a very long time did he feel peace.

#zelgan #ganondorf #zelda #sand seals #totk

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s-kinnaly · 10 months

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I love it! Mama dragon on the prowl~ This is amazing! I miss this story sooo much~!! Thank you so much for writing this! You’ve shown so much lore and background :D Looking forward to read moooore~! <3 <3 <3

Legend of Zelda: Glacier’s Forge

Chapter 9: Six Feet Under

The noise had to be a hallucination. Either that, or it had to be snow falling or perhaps a chunk of rock off the mountain side. Several Direnors stared at the giant Grand Hall doors before glancing at one another. The blizzard would freeze any living soul into solid ice if one dared to step foot outside. Therefore, a knock on the door was impossible. Hunger and cold could break even the strongest of minds. Men and women had snapped under the strain of trying to keep some semblance of sanity during rough times. For a moment, the Uskarians thought that madness had arrived to take hold. Or horrors upon horrors, the Frost King was outside, taunting them with his knuckles rapping against the wood, waiting with his abominations.

That was, until a loud, urgent trill was heard from outside.

Na’seema perked up at the noise and hurriedly waddled to the door.

Keep reading

#kanisa #vidar #na'seema #zelgan children #covarog #zarazu

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s-kinnaly · 10 months

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Ganondorf is determined to figure out the strange girl King Rauru and Queen Sonia have claimed as their ward. He follows and stalks and listens, her sweet voice and her gentle words and her delicate smiles. He wants to know everything about her, to tear apart her mind and learn all her secrets.

He doesn't expect her to walk right into his waiting arms.

sneak peak/teaser for my eventually TotK fix-it fic, That Divine Light, which explores what would've happened if Zelda saw past the benevolent image Hyrule tried to present and decided to seek the counsel - and company - of the one Gerudo King whose presence she can't chase from her mind.

or for now, at least, some good Zelgan smut

#I love it~#zelgan #ganondorf #zelda #totk

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s-kinnaly · 11 months

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More! I need more!! I have a big grin on my face reading this! Thank you so much for this! So looking forward to read more!

Fighting Fate: Chapter 1

Zelgan Fic For the wonderful and inspiring @s-kinnaly

(Let me know if you guys want me to continue.)

Zelda’s nerves were almost completely shot at this point in the meeting of the Gerudo King. The kings eyes were fixed on the Zonai King but every few moments she would catch them on her instead clearly he was not at all interested in the words of the king. It was only when Rauru motioned for him to rise from his kneeling position did his attention return.

“There is one other matter I have been told by our dear relative Zelda that you two wished to confer with in private, if you are still willing Lord Ganondorf.”

Rauru said however not before looking to her for confirmation for her approval. Zelda simply smiled and nodded to him as she walked down the small stairs to stand in front of him. Standing so close to him she was able to get a much better look at him.

A blind person could see how strong and built he was. But what truly caught her attention was his eyes. They didn’t show hatred toward her or even any malice from his incarnation of Demise. All she saw were the tired eyes of a man who clearly wanted change.

She could feel her whole body shake ever so slightly as she tried to remain calm. She watched as Ganondorf turned to his troops motioning for them to await for him outside. Zelda in turn watched as Rauru and Sonia left while the guards followed behind leaving through the main door.

Silence….complete and utter silence fell upon the room as they both stood in front of the other. But it was she who spoke first.

“King Ganondorf of the Gerudo. I see it in your eyes that you can sense in me what I can sense in you.”

Ganondorf eyes slightly became wider as he could feel a echo of the powerful aura in her. The stone she wore glowing a faint gold. He could sense the goddesses light in this small Hylian. And for a moment his mind wondered as to how someone so small could hold so much power. In turn she could sense malice in his body but it had clearly had not been fully awaken…at least not yet.

“Yes, Lady Zelda… I can sense the light of the goddess Hylia in you just as you can the malice of Demise will always torment me…”

He kneeled in front of her to meet her at eye level as he place the blade beside him away from her.

“A fate and a curse that I wish to change…”

His voice was low but his words were as warm as the Gerudo desert. She could sense in him…at least for now…that he was not lying.

“However…” he said and almost instantly did his words turn cold as he looked around the castle.

“These walls have many eyes and ears. I would prefer we speak on the matter in a more trusting place.”

He was silent for a moment and in a quick fluid motion he simply grabbed his blade and turned away from her walking toward the gates of the castle but stopped short as he looked over his shoulder to her.

“Come to my kingdom in one weeks time. There we shall speak of your offer, that is my term. Agreed?”

Zelda merely bowed her head knowing all too well that this man was both cautious and ambitious. A combination that she knew could be dangerous. But she knew this was for the best for not only their people of this time period but the future as well, after all it was her duty.

“As a sign of good faith I will lower my forces on our borders. I will await for your arrival. Lady Zelda”

“Are you sure you wish to go through with this Zelda? I understand our fates are etched in stone in the future. There is no guarantee that even if he accepts your proposal, that he will keep his word.” Mineru said crossing her arms with a concerned look on her face.

“I know you’re worried for me. But with there being no other way to return to my time. I must find a way to keep peace between our lands for as long as I can.” she said touching the stone on her necklace.

“There is truly nothing we can say to change her mind dear Mineru. I believe in her and if this is truly how we gain peace…then we must stay hopeful.” Queen Sonia said as she walked up to Zelda taking a hold of her hand giving a silent prayer.

Zelda smiled to both of them as Rauru stood behind them. Both of them understanding the other even without words. Zelda stepped back from them as she saddled her horse, a fair and giant steed that had been gifted to her.

“I promise…” was all she said as she rode off with a small group of Hylian soldiers to protect her by Rauru’s orders

Seven days and nights pasted when they had arrived at the border of the Gerudo kingdom. Zelda could see along the border were many female warriors but far less than what expected. Between the mountains and up ahead of the path was a small troupe of Vai warriors blocking the path beside what looked to be a scouting tower. Zelda stopped her horse as the leader walked ahead striking the ground with her spear.

“Sav’aqq. Lady Zelda, we of the Gerudo have come to escort you to our King. However your voe warriors will not be permitted in the city. Is this acceptable?”

Zelda nodded and saw the troops turn around as they walked down the path leading to a small stable with a few sand seals awaiting for their riders. She dismounted as only the few female hyrulian that had accompanied her did the same. The Gerudo women called for their sand seals and motioned for the others to get on. Zelda wrapped her arms around rider as the sand seals sped forth quicker than she had ever known they could.

It was only a matter of a few moments when they arrived at the gate to the city. A few eyes glared in caution as few children hid behind walls as their mothers stood in front of them with a hand on their weapons.

“I didn’t expect such fear toward us…though I suppose I should have been aware that we would not be as welcome than the others have been.”

“What would you expect, Lady Zelda. Years of distrust will do that to anyone. Vai or voe.” The commander from before said as she walked them closer and closer to the home of their ruler.

Up ahead of her was the castle for the great Gerudo King. It was much bigger than from her time, multiple fabric were wrapped around the top of it connecting to the taller buildings with a large archway at the front adorned in gold and carvings of their history. There she saw him standing at the top of the stairs there in the blazing sun and being honest to herself, she could confirm with herself in that moment that he was truly a handsome man.

The last time she saw him he was nothing but a rotten corpse but now, it was like the moon from the sun. His long red hair blew in the desert air as the clothes he wore clung to his well toned and shaped form. A chiseled body only adorned more by the gold he wore as he looked down at her. While he wore no expression he had to admit he was surprised that she had come all this way.

She let her guards wait outside as she walked up the stairs to watch as he kneeled before her once more this time with no blade in hand and instead offering his hand to hers which she took as the eyes of every Gerudo laid on her and he spoke.

“Welcome to my Kingdom.”

“I am honored to be here. King Ganondorf.”

He smiled to her almost mischievously, clearly he enjoyed it when she called him king. He released her hand as he turned around to the large throne in the center of the room. He waved a hand at his guards.

“Leave us.”

They bowed their hands before leaving the royal chambers as Zelda stood before him he got a much better look at her. She did have some similarities to Queen Sonia, strange though how he had never heard of her before.

“So what is it that you would ask of me, Zelda.”

“I have a proposition that may benefit both of us. I propose a political marriage between us. To ensure that no harm be done or come from each of our kingdoms.”

A large smirk ran across his face for a moment as he leaned in a tad bit closer in his throne to look at her directly.

“Do not toy with me dear Zelda…I know that the Zonai have no love toward me or my people. Marrying you would be not different than swearing my services to them. My people deserve to be equals not servants.”

“Then allow me to stay with you here in your kingdom. In the realm of the Gerudo instead of Hyrule. And I swear that I will make Rauru allow you to rule as a King of the Gerudo not a lord. Your people and ours will have no more ill will toward the other if they see us married.”

He said nothing as he looked her up and down for a quick moment. She was not unattractive. But there was one matter that crossed his mind.

“Are you even of age to ask such a thing. I may not be the best ruler but I will not share a bed with a child.”

Zelda’s face went red for a moment but not at the thought of what he suggested but forgetting that she was technically older than she looked but he was even older in those terms. She gathered herself as she looked at him.

“Yes I am…and the offer still stands. Even if you think low of my kind. I want what is best for both our peoples. There will be no need for war. Your people will live not just survive.”

Ganondorf chuckled to himself.

“Your kind? You think I hate all Hylians? Tell me my lady, did you ever wonder why my annoyance is focused more toward Rauru than anyone?”

“Surely because of his want for you to swear fealty to him?”

“Well…I must admit that was some of it. But that was not it entirely. You see dear Zelda…Queen Sonia before caught my eye. For more reasons than one…”

Zelda was slightly taken back. Did the man she know as the Demon King have feelings toward Queen Sonia before she had been wed.

“But now…I will be even more honest toward you dearest Zelda…you have peaked my interest in this union.” He said sitting up from the throne adjusting his hair to it laid over his shoulder.

“I would hope it to be a marriage not completely void of affections.” He said with a smile on his face as he watched her cross her arms.

“That depends on two important factors for this union to work.”

“Oh? and what would that be?”

“First, You respect me as a partner and a woman and treat me no lesser than if I was one of your own, in return I do the same. I will not treat you as a possible threat but instead as a man and a partner.”

‘and secondly?”

“We cause no harm to the other, only then can we have complete faith in one another.”

“Hmph…So be it.”

He lowed his head down to her and smiled this time seeing her for the Hylian woman she was. The dress she wore clung to her form beautifully the pure white color only adding to it as the accessories she wore shined a bit in the sunlight making her look more radiant than the days before. Her green eyes shining more vibrantly as she looked up at him without any fear in them.

She was different from the other hylians. She was intimidated by him but there was no fear. In truth his interest was now peaked and so was hers. Could she change the future doing this? or would it be all for not. It didn’t matter to her, if there was a chance to change their fates she would take. No matter what.

#awesome!!#yeeees!#zelgan #ganondorf #zelda #totk

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s-kinnaly · 11 months

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I need a fanfiction of Ganondorf and zelda having a political marriage to try to change their fates. I need the drama, the politics, the manipulation and heartache TwT but I suck at writing.

#myart #totk #ganondorf #zelda #zelgan #legend of zelda tears of the kingdom #tears of the kingdom

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s-kinnaly · 11 months

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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s-kinnaly · 11 months

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Seeing as the Gerudo turned on Ganon, he might not have been that much better of a ruler.

First of all, we literally have no idea, because the only ancient Gerudo that we actually get to interact with is Ganondorf himself, and he has nothing to say about his own people. The ancient Gerudo sage doesn't count btw, she doesn't have a name, we never even see her face, and she has literally nothing to say except repeating the exact same dialogue as the sages for the other races. The narrative does not treat the ancient sages as people; they are four completely interchangable weapons that are owned by the royal family.

And secondly, I don't care how Ganon ruled them; the Gerudo only get one man every century, if their king sucks, they've obviously got their own system of government to fall back on. I have no idea what kind of authority the sages had among their own people, but honestly I'd say if the four of them were in charge of their respective people, then they were just puppet rulers appointed by Rauru, given that all four of them happily agreed that to sell their entire race into servitude the second Zelda asked them. Say what you will about Ganondorf, but I fucking know that if he was told the Gerudo people existed for the sole purpose of serving the glory of Hyrule, he'd drop kick Zelda into the fucking sun.

And don't get me started on the implications of the cultural differences we see between the independent Gerudo and the annexed Gerudo. The background Gerudo characters all have their own models, and we can clearly see that the ones siding with Ganon have their own unique looks - for example, the amazing lady with the mohawk that summons the molduga swarm in that one flashback. And men are never mentioned in these flashbacks at all, which implies that the Gerudo genuinely didn't care about settling down. Ganon even speaks derisively about marriage, implying that it's very rare for Gerudo women to make serious romantic commitments with men. It implies that their culture is more along the same line as their portrayal in OOT - they are a closed culture. Men trying to force their way into their areas are arrested, and mocked for being entitled dumbasses. Outsiders are only welcome if they can prove that they respect the Gerudo as people, and aren't just there to try and pick up chicks. It's never outright said, but OOT also makes it pretty clear that the Gerudo women just aren't interested in marrying outsiders - close relationships occur with other Gerudo, Hylian men are only considered useful for making babies.

Meanwhile the Gerudo we see serving Hyrule are all trying to measure up to Hylian beauty standards, and appeal to their men. Their one goal in life is to meet a man and get married. Men are welcome in their lands, and only kept out of the town itself... and even then, there's a small army of guys trying to force their way into the town anyways, which is brushed off as just haha, boys will be boys. No men allowed isn't even about independence, it's just a silly romantic tradition.

Of course this is just a fictional culture in a game world, but it's still really fucking uncomfortable that the 'evil' Gerudo are the ones that have independence, both politically and socially, and display a unique culture that refuses to tolerate disrespect from outsiders. Meanwhile the 'good' Gerudo are the ones that canonically exist to serve a kingdom where 95% of the population is light skinned (even setting aside the unfortunate implications, just saying one race exists to serve a different one is super fucked up), they have classes on how to be more appealing to Hylian's, and their entire social structure is built around finding a Hylian man to marry, making them all inherently dependent on the goodwill of outsiders. Even their biggest value of 'women only' is treated as a joke; men trying to trespass in BOTW are just shoved back out the door, letting them keep trying all day if they want. The crowds of men plotting to force their way in are laughed off as a joke. Nobody cares that there's a guy running laps around their city walls and trying to trick women into being alone with him. I mean for fucks sake, in TOTK we find that the creepy guy trying to lure women away has taken advantage of a massive disaster to get into the town, and he's still there once things return to normal. You can't kick him out, or alert anyone to his presence. And the Gerudo just tolerate Hylians blatantly ignoring their boundaries. For fucks sake, TOTK even reveals that the seven legendary heroines they've been revering the whole time were actually completely useless and unable to achieve anything... because they needed the eighth hero, a Hylian man to teach them basic tactics and do all the heavy lifting.

TOTK does not respect the Gerudo people in the slightest. It doesn't respect anyone who isn't Hylian or Zonai.

...This got a little off track, but the point I'm trying to make is, no, I don't consider the Gerudo turning on Ganon to mean anything. The entire game does not feel like the real story of what happened, it feels like the propaganda version of history meant to make Hyrule look as good as possible. I genuinely cannot believe that we're being told the real story about the Imprisoning War, because none of it feels real, and we don't get to know any details that might have made Hyrule look even slightly imperfect. We're told that Ganondorf is evil because he hates Hyrule, and he hates Hyrule because he's evil. The Gerudo people followed Ganondorf and saw him as a hero of their people, then suddenly he was their worst enemy. Hyrule is a perfect kingdom that has strong, equal alliances with the other races, but also all of the non-Hylian races exist for the sole purpose of serving Hyrule, and their leaders are expected to swear eternal loyalty and submission to the Hylian royal family. King Rauru and Queen Sonia united all of the races in peace and equality, which is why they're sitting on the world's supply of magical nuclear missiles, and every member of the Hylian royal family is allowed to walk around wearing them as cute accessories, but everyone else only gets them at the last second, and they all need to outright swear to only use that power to benefit Rauru and his descendants.

There's just so many fucked up contradictions, and so many hints of something more nuanced going on... but the story refuses to acknowledge any of it, and just keeps aggressively pushing the narrative that Hyrule is the ultimate good and couldn't possibly do anything wrong. I don't even believe that Ganon was a bad king honestly; we never hear why his people stopped following him. We also never even see if the Gerudo people turned on him at all; all we know is the ancient Gerudo sage wanted him dead, and given that she also happily sold her people into slavery, she's not exactly the most trustworthy source of information. All we know is that Ganondorf was a hero to his people, only one of his citizens is ever shown having an issue with him (and her motives are never explained), and then he lost the war and was sealed away, leaving his people open to be conquered by Zelda and annexed into Hyrule. By the time we see any Gerudo actually opposing Ganon (apart from the ancient sage), it's been ten thousand years since the war, and all anyone knows is the Hylian version of the story.

#i wish we delved deeper into ganondorf before he turned. so much potential there to explore

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