studiorat

[studiorat]

#they're the best #they’re amazing and so mu h effort to do #i cannot imagine doing that much reading on a computer screen at a desk. oof #it feels so wonderful to know i made such an impact on someone that they would put in the effort #and the feedback of what moved them and what flew past them is absolutely invaluable for future writing #ao3 #polls #signal boost #fandom stuff

[studiorat]

A - Ships that you currently like a lot. (They don’t have to be OTPs because not everyone has OTPs.) Friendships, pairings, threesomes, etc. are allowed.

B - A pairing���platonic, romantic or sexual–that you initially didn’t consider, but someone changed your mind.

C - A ship you have never liked and probably never will.

D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t.

E - Have you added anything cracky/hilarious to your fandom? If so, what?

F - What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom?

G - Have you ever had an OTP? If so, do you remember your first one? Who was in it?

H - What is your favorite source text for fandom stuff (e.g., TV shows, movies, books, anime, Western animation, etc.)?

I - Has Tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why?

J - Name a fandom you didn’t think about until you saw it all over Tumblr. (You don’t have to care about it or follow it; it just has to be something that Tumblr made you aware of.)

K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?

L - Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves. (Characters you’re neutral about are fair game, as are characters you merely dislike. Characters that you absolutely loathe with the fire of ten thousand suns are exempt, as there is no point in giving yourself an aneurysm over a character that you hate.)

M - Name a character that you’d like to have for a friend.

N - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice).

O - Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of?

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).

Q - A fandom you’ve abandoned and why.

R - Which friendship/platonic relationship is your favorite in fandom?

S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon (prompts optional but encouraged)

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending? 

U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites.

V - Which character do you relate to most?

W - A trope which you are virtually certain to hate in any fandom.

X - A trope which you are almost certain to love in any fandom.

Y - What are your secondhand fandoms (i.e., fandoms you aren’t in personally but are tangentially familiar with because your friends/people on your dash are in them)?

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go! (Prompts optional but encouraged.)

#fandom meme #ask games #ask the studiorat

[studiorat]

Yeehawgust 6 : Wide Open Spaces

Procreate tells me this was about five and a half hours, but I find that quite hard to believe as I started this one more or less around the 7th of the month and have tried to throw even fifteen minutes at it every day since.

This makes the eighth piece I’ve managed out of 31 prompts. 😓 I am not sure how many more I can reasonably hope for with four days left to go. Maybe just one. I haven’t many sketches left to harvest though, so we’ll see. Internet service has been spotty as well due to a local tower going down last Wednesday - the tech laughed at me for saying so, but I suspect the heat fried something in the brains of the tower, given that they can no longer even ‘see’ the tower on their network. First world problems, I know. Remaining process videos for my long-suffering patrons will be delayed though due to abysmal upload speeds.

#yeehawgust #illustration #procreate #yeehawgust 2023 #landscape #wide open spaces

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Yeehawgust 8 : Patrolling the Mojave

Another study that got out of hand and ate almost four hours. Which would be fine if I had the hours to spare anymore.

#yeehawgust #yeehawgust 2023 #art prompt #landscape #illustration #art study

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Yeehawgust 7: Tall Handsome Stranger

Roughly 6.5 hours according to ProCreate. Perhaps I noodled on the details far too long but Asifad is too handsome for anyone’s good including my own, and the struggle to show him off properly is a thing.

I do have a piece for day 6 but it needs… many more hours. Vegetation truly is my bane. So I guess halfway into attempting the challenge is where we give up on going in order. I’m still going to try to do as much of it in this month as I can, because I think the warmups are helping and I think it will help me estimate how many hours I can reasonably hope to claw out of a month.

#yeehawgust 2023 #tall handsome stranger #yeehawgust #novela maldita #horse illustration #procreate illustration

[studiorat]

Sometimes I amuse myself thinking like silly thoughts about the cast of smash brothers as if they all lived in some vast elaborate coliseum-city together and fought on the field as professionals. None of these thoughts are truly formed enough for a proper story, but one time I spent half the day drawing just one room in the bathhouse there for shiggles.

And then I made a comic page out of it.

How did I never post it here…?

Maybe I was locked out of tumblr at the time.

#ganlink #ssbu #super smash bros #tloz fanart #tloz link #ganondorf #silly comic #illustration #corny jokes

[studiorat]

I'm just curious.

If one answer is significantly higher than the rest I might do another one where it breaks it down.

Please reblog for a wider reach. The more fandoms this covers the better.

#595 for the front runner #297 for the next #my average without ganlink!georg is 87 each so #i am fairly niche potatoes #and an even smaller serving thereof after life exploded in my face a few years ago #something something rebuilding and hope and all that jazz #ask the studiorat

[studiorat]

Yeehawgust 5 : Stampede

Roughly 10 direct painting hours if procreate is to be believed, not counting research and whatever time was invested in the sketches and horizon I recycled

#yeehawgust #novela maldita #longhorns #western art #yeehawgust 2023 #procreate #illustration

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Yeehawgust 4 : hold your horses

Rough sketch and lighting study, referencing a deleted scene from La Mala Suerte. Partly cut for length, partly because it seemed to pull the punch of the next event, but I rather regret losing this interaction between Teca and Dan.

#yeehawgust 2023 #yeehawgust #art study #procreate #novela maldita

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Yeehawgust day 3: prompt: “Wanted Poster”

Did I need to paint Eleanor Cecilia and her entire barback to paste up the broadsheet. No, no I did not.

My brain insisted otherwise. For twelve direct working hours.

Enjoy.

#yeehawgust #art prompt #novela maldita #yeehawgust 2023 #elves of color #illustration #procreate #portraits

[studiorat]

Yeehawgust day 2: prompt: “We Ride At Dawn”

I managed to finish the stressful thing for Boring Job today partly by promising myself that once Done, we were going to ignore housework and sketch Teca and Asifad for this one. Hour and a half, mostly the plimsol brush in procreate, with a few foliage and rag brushes thrown in for texture.

Please don’t look too closely at any of the details, it’s just a study, blocking in the rough idea of the thing, warming up the equipment to see if anything still works after months of no access to the studio.

#yeehawgust #art study #novela maldita #illustration #art prompt #procreate

[studiorat]

Vishan.

I have no idea how i never posted him here before? Unless i did and tumblr’s search is just being dumb, in which case, forgive the duplicate.

Anyway.

Meet Vishan.

A devout demonhunter possessed of a magic silvered rifle which is also incidentally fond of killing demonkin of all kinds.

He had another name once, but he won’t admit to it in company or out. We know he left a heavy history behind when he chose his new name, that he lost his parents young, and was separated from his only living bloodkin - a sister, whose name he never shares - when he was still a small boy.

He’s now 25 and has supported himself variously as a simple laborer, a trapper, a horse trainer, a cowhand, and a lawman. He’s short and wiry of build, athletic and flexible. He is illiterate and uneducated, and rather coarse in manners, but he is clever and a quick study.

Minor spoilers for La Mala Suerte under the cut

He is technically married… to Ana Sophia Seshet Riga. The scheme was her idea, ostensibly to persuade her father to change his opinion of Arelis - a semi-nomadic people found throughout the marginal forests of the known word - and folks of mixed heritage.

John Riga remained fixed in his prejudice, and shortly thereafter Ana Sophia picked up everything and everyone in her household - including Vishan - and went west.

The marriage is a cold and distant one, though not even Vishan is certain of Ana Sophia’s opinions about this. No one speaks of it - except Teca, who spends many long weeks trying (unsuccessfully) to persuade Vishan to return to his wife and make a good life in the village.

Vishan has evidenced a strange affliction connected to his compulsion to hunt, which seems to cycle with the moon. He has been both friend and enemy to Tecbalor, a circumstance neither of them particularly understand… and it gets worse as they travel together and physical attraction enters the equation.

He can communicate with - and sometimes compel - animals of all kinds, though he prefers the company of horses above others. He seems to hear the earth herself, and also the rifle that called him to his vocation many years ago.

He’s also very, very bi, and traveling beside Teca gets under his skin in every possible way - despite, or maybe because of, his demonblood.

#portraits #procreate #my oc art #novela maldita #long post #weird western #elves of color

[studiorat]

Yeehawgust day 1: prompt: “Gather the Posse”

No promises for a series yet.

Just.

Threw three hours at a muddy nonsense idea because it seems thematic to try to claw my way back into the saddle for the event. I could use all the help i can get. 😓

#yeehawgust #art study #novela maldita #illustration #procreate #art prompt

[studiorat]

fanfic ask game (do it, this is an order!!)

Hello my angels! Happy International Fanworks Day!! I just found out this is happening, so I made a quick fanfic ask game in honor lol. Reblog if you’re a fic writer and down to be asked these questions! (Especially moots, please entertain me, I’m nosy.)

😂 What’s the funniest comment someone has left on a fic of yours?

🙅‍♀️ What is one trope you refuse to ever write?

😜 Describe a current WIP without using character names. (Points if your followers guess who the fic is for.)

🎶 What music do you listen to when you write?

👀 Do you have any words/phrases you use habitually? 

⏰ What time of day do you prefer to write?

👻 Have you written holiday-themed fics? If yes, which is your fave? If not, what’s one holiday you’d want to write for, and which character(s) would the fic be for?

🗑 What is one fic idea that you loved at first but then scrapped?

🤡 What’s the dumbest thing you’ve written?

😭 Have you ever made yourself cry writing a fic?

💰 What’s one trope you wouldn’t write, except for money?

🔪 Fuck marry kill 3 tropes (asker’s choice of tropes).

🏅 What is the fic you’re most proud of?

☕️ Do you drink anything when you write? Coffee, tea, alcohol, etc?

📚 What grammar mistakes do you always make?

📌 If all your fics/WIPs fell off a ship and were drowning (go with it), and you could only save one, which would it be?

✏️ What is your fave fic from another writer?

⏱ What’s the fic you spent the most time on? (Was it worth it lol)

☀️ Has anyone ever left you a comment that made your day? What did it say?

💡 What’s the weirdest thing you’ve been inspired by?

💋 Fuck marry kill 3 of your own fics (asker’s choice of fics).

❤️ Who is your favorite character to write for and why?

🤔 What’s one genre you’ve never written that you’d like to try?

🖊 What is the most recent line you’ve written?

❓Write an alternate summary for a published fic without using names. (Points if your followers can guess the fic.)

💕 What is the WIP that you are most excited about?

[studiorat]

East Wind wips

Because we’re in a nostalgic GanLink feels mood tonight that’s why (story is ongoing on Ao3 and v much for grownups. I got a scene written for the boys for the first time in months so we are excited in the house of Rat tonight)

#ganondorf #oot link #ganlink #loz fanart #lemon fanfic #fanfic #east wind #wip #ao3 fanfic

[studiorat]

Aaa! Thank you for honoring me with inclusion on this fantastic list. 😭💖 It’s a really nice collection if you guys like my stuff and haven’t read the rest of the list already, definitely add them to your tbr!

I’ve been seeing this asked for a lot, and since I am a really prolific reader of this ship, I thought I would present to you:

THE CONSENSUAL GANLINK REC LIST

These are all fics I have personally read and enjoyed. Most of them are “Explicit” rate. So please heed all tags and all archive content related banners.

All of them are EXPLICITLY CONSENSUAL relationships. No non-con. No rape. Not abusive. No Stockholm Syndrome. Several have a delightful amount of kink. All tend to highlight my favorite relationship trope: Idiots in Love (Seriously, They Are Idiots, Your Honor). Sometimes enemies-to-lovers, sometimes not. Mostly plot driven LongFic with robust worldbuilding, as well as a couple charming shorter adventures/one shots.

NOTE: This list is in no way intended to negatively reflect or comment on fics that do have non-con elements. There are very well written ones out there. This is simply in response to seeing a lot of asks for specifically consensual ganlink flavored fics.

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100% Ganlink Romantic Glory (AKA the stuff we shippers live for):

EAST WIND by @studiorat (E)

The flagship of the NOTHING EMBOLDENS SIN SO MUCH AS MERCY series, where sideways-of-Majora’s-Mask Link travels downriver of time in a neverending groundhog day in an effort to save Ganondorf, after realizing the story he thought he knew might not be as black and white as he was led to believe. For what good is a Hero if he doesn’t save everyone? StudioRat creates a profoundly cohesive world that retroactively draws in the lore from other games and and fleshes it out with their own world building. The narrative challenges the understanding of game play we saw it through the POV of two children and slams it full of nuance, bring the subtext of OoT into the spotlight. Is Ganondorf evil? Its a matter of prospective and bias isn’t it? A young king, trying to protect his people, and playing a delicate game of war and political intrigue as he tries to escape the destiny thrust upon him by the Gods, his mothers, and demons that aspire to see The Great Destroyer return. The problem is, the one Power he believes strong enough to do so is a mythical weapon held by Hyrule royalty. And then there is the matter of the tiny Hylian madman that strolled right into the middle of his plans, who seems to know impossible things about Ganondorf himself, the true reasons of his campaign into Hyrule, and That Which He Desires Most. This is a delightful slow burn is riddled with realistic human emotions and miscommunication to where you become direly invested in Link and Ganondorf achieving a Happily Ever After. SWORDS OUR LAW, the prequel, offers backstory on the First (failed) Attempt of many by Link in this life to prevent Demise from claiming his destined vessel, and explains a lot of his actions in EAST WIND that is not apparent from Gan’s POV (including a massive spoiler at the end you wont want to miss). MOONRISE, of this series, is an equal delight, and is the work that originally inspired EAST WIND. I won’t give away spoilers, but it has a very satisfying ending.

NAVIGATOR by @saltysaph (E)

In Defiance of Fate and All Interested Parties, the fabled Hero of Legend shows up at the Great King Ganondorf’s front door, Sword that Seals the Darkness strapped on his back - and instead of fighting him, salutes him as a friend and offers him a drink. Together, the King and Knight decide they don’t want to be pawns on someone else’s chessboard anymore and embark on their own journey. Updating Mondays and almost halfway through the first of three acts, Act One is charmingly written with snappy one-liners and thoughtful narrative. Not set in any particular game, this one uses Legend of Zelda world-building at large to bring us a new adventure, as new reincarnations of familiar characters, and promises to send Ganondorf and Link on a delightful slow burn journey of temple crawls, shenanigans, and whump. The original temple designs are a treat in-and-of-themselves, I’ve fallen in love with too many background characters thus far, and am here to curl up in a blanket on my couch and read as these two idiots learning how to Navigate (-bad pun drum roll-) each other. SaltySaph has given me a reason to look forward to Mondays.

LET ME LIVE THAT FANTASY by seamonster (E)

Modern Day AU at the intersection of Mafia and Fake Dating. “Link thinks his job is pretty easy. All he has to do is cook dinner and pretend to be someone's husband only one night a week. The pay is incredible and the perks are appealing. So he doesn't question who Mr. G really is, never asks why he looks so lonely when they part ways at the end of the night, never wonders why making the man smile and laugh has Link seeing his job in hues of pink. It doesn't matter to Link if Mr. G is dangerous, he's just playing house. Right?” This one shot is a treat. The author wraps the familiar setting of LoZ into a large modern day city and quickly makes us fall in love with just-wants-to-live-his-life Link and his three cats and Definitely-a-Mob-Boss fake husband. Compelling, well-written, and, as a real boon, on-page clear and consensual negotiation and contracts related to Ganondorf and Link’s arrangement. Theres some other twists, but I don’t want to ruin them. This one is just the right length for a one shot that it feels satisfying, but the world and characters are so compelling, it leaves you also hoping for more.

THE DECOY AU by @st-hedge (E)

Currently in two parts: LET ME HOLD YOU, LIKE A HOSTAGE and its sequel CLOSE YOUR EYES, YOU’LL SEE THE DEVIL’S GRIN. Set in the game-universe of Breath of the Wild pre-calamity when Link was still Zelda’s knight, except Ganondorf is King of the Gerudo with Urbosa as his second-in-command. With the Hyrule King not willing to strike or talk alliances, the Gerudo decide to try to capture themselves a far more reasonably minded Princess instead. Except, what they get, is a sassy little knight that was playing as her body double. Shenanigans ensue, with part 1 building and establishing the relationship between Ganondorf and Link and part 2 doing a deeper dive into a more established relationship and the trials and tribulations that come with it. Hedge also has several other smaller stories and snippets based on their “botw ancient era AU” that are also worth checking out!

KILL THEE AND LOVE THEE AFTER by @studiorat (M)

A What-If fix-it to their own story SORROWS COME NOT AS SINGLE SPIES. SORROWS is apart of StudioRat’s series BRANCHES AND FATE which features time-traveling sideways of Majora’s Mask Link’s trial-and-error run of scenarioes to save Ganondorf from the destiny thrust upon him a more platonic setting (theres some serious great Dad!Link vibes in this series if you are also into that). SORROWS could be read as tragic pre-Ganlink almost-Pirate AU, and KILL THREE AND LOVE THEE AFTER confirms this in a wonderful “What If” of a pivotal moment in SORROWS that leads us to both romantic Ganlink and a happily ever after. You could probably read this independently, but I do recommend at least reading SORROWS, if not BRANCHES AND FATE as a whole to really get a robust understanding of the plot.

SANDS OF TIME by @tirsynni (T)

Another glorious Time!Link-travels-back-in-time-to-save-Ganondorf, except in this one, Link’s adventure (seemingly) does not begin by choice. One moment he is in a cave, nestled in for the night with his trusty mare Epona, and the next, he’s on his knees at the bridge to Gerudo Valley, a much younger (and decidedly less evil) Ganondorf holding a weapon to his throat and declaring him a Hylian spy. It starts a journey for Link of unraveling questions about the past, discovering for What Purpose he was sent to this time, and maybe, just maybe, having a shot of forging a happier future for everyone. The original characters in this story are a delight, both among Hylian nights and the gerudo, with Kali being a favorite of mine. Twinrova also gets a larger and welcomed role. And the way the author works in The Hero’s Shade is fantastic.

SUMMER AND GOLD by @seventhstrife (M)

This one is hot off the presses, and this particular writer’s first foray into Zelda Fic and ganlink. So, please go leave them comments and encourage them. Only a couple chapters in and I’m smitten, hopefully you will be too. Added bonus: Zelda/Nabooru is also in the tags. “A last-minute change means Link has to step in and be Zelda's escort to this year's peace summit. He's not looking forward to stiff, boring meetings and tea with all of the assembled royalty across the nations, but there isn't much he wouldn't do for Zelda. He's more than happy to fade into the background, but the Gerudo King is making that difficult...” Per the author, this is another one that is not set in any specific game-verse, but does seem to be drawing on BotW and OoT so far. Their Link is very endearing, that perfect balance of blushing idiot and complete badass. Spoiler alert: the sparing scene in chapter 2 is FANTASTIC.

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Central Focused Platonic Gan & Link (no other romantic pairings, you can put on your shipper goggles easy peasy):

THIRD EYE by @studiorat (G)

The Hero of Time has awakened the Sages, cleansed all the temples, and solved all of the Demon King Ganondorf’s puzzles and trials. And now, he climbs the tower towards his final boss battle and to free Princess Zelda. Except, he’s had a lot of time to think about things in his weary heroics across Hyrule, questions about the actions of his supposed enemy that seem too philosophical for the fae mind of his fairy companions - like, why would his fated enemy lock himself up in a tower with the lock on the outside of the door? So, when Navi doesn’t seem to have the answer, he elects to ask the source directly. And more importantly, how can he convince Zelda and Ganondorf to get along? This is an incredibly canon compliant One Shot that has fantastic BiForce Triforce interaction, and though it is romance free, has a lot of subtext for shippers to cling to as they see fit or don’t see fit.

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And, if you don’t mind a little Zelda flavor to your Ganlink (Ganzelink):

INTERIM by Starkraving (E)

This one likely needs no introduction, but still belongs on any GanLink rec list. Post-Breath of the Wild Link and Zelda are traveling through Hyrule, trying to figure out not only what their roles will be in this New Hyrule, but what they are in regards to each other as well. “She has no throne. Girls without thrones should not have knights, but hers won’t go. Princess Zelda – the girl who killed Calamity – would love to fade into legend, but Link’s bought a house, he’s fighting off monsters, and he’s selling giant horses to strangely familiar Gerudo men. She'll never have any peace now.”

PEACE AND LOVE by @saltysaph (E)

Pure comfort food, this fic is. Another writer that is able to hyper focus into the human condition and really wrap the reader’s emotions into what is unfolding for the characters. When Ganondorf and Zelda form a political marriage, it leaves Link scrambling to figure out where that leaves him in the aftermath. When he tries to be the honorable Knight and do the “right thing”, the monarchs protest quite thoroughly. The title really says it all. This is truly a story about finding peace and love (and happiness).

I CAN BE YOUR HYRULE by @gingerlotus (E)

Honestly, the description speaks well for this one for itself: The strongest leaders in Hyrule struggle for power and alliances. Ganondorf is brought back from the dead and enters Hyrule to lay claim to it, but he has some interesting plans on how to get what he wants, and Zelda isn't exactly opposed. But things never really work out the way you envision, do they? What starts out as the seduction of a queen quickly puts Gan in over his head. Who is this Hero and what kind of obstacle does he pose to Ganondorf's plans to rule Hyrule?

THE WORD AND LEGEND GO BEFORE YOU by jonphaedrus (T)

Time!Link, now living in Termina, is alarmed when he crosses paths with Ganondorf. Or rather, his “what might have been” Termina double. The two grow closer until one day, Link is approached by a Sheik double - or are they? This is a really cool fic that really plays homage to the dark and a bit psychedelic feel of Majora’s Mask. Together the trio attempt to defy destiny, again, and find that some of their worst enemies they need to overcome are internal.

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#ganlink #ao3 fanfic #fic recs #loz fanfic

[studiorat]

Cover art for Stars, Hide Your Fires

First story in the Branches and Fate cycle. The cover here both alludes to the title and references a scene in the story, though no one has seemed to notice that yet, or the little detail back at the turn of this arroyo. To be fair it’s very small and subtle, but I had hoped it would pluck a string or two at the time I painted it.

Especially since the title is a direct quote which... if you know the source, would give you a bit of access to the non-POV character in a Critical Moment, actually. I do wonder if anyone has noticed this or if it’s just a little nerd reference for myself alone.

Close to my heart, this project, even if my words are having trouble this year with trying to finish the final story in the cycle. (Oulined, fragments, but still struggling to string together the prose.) The other five in the cycle are complete in themselves, though they build on each other.

This fic series is set in a canon-adjacent world of Ocarina of Time, in a timeline where Link has already been through the events of Majora’s Mask and come back, has already set in motion the events of the Twilight Princess timeline, and returned again to a new thread. It builds slowly, an epic and perhaps star-crossed friendship that faces down the question: This place was fated to wither long ago. Who are you to challenge the design of the gods?

It is likely incorrect to hope you enjoy the story, but perhaps you may find something otherwise gratifying in it? 

#ao3 fanfic #loz fanfiction #branches and fate #platonic gan & link #epic friendship #tragedy