#i just love links little character arc in botw

[rawliverandgoronspice]

I think what particularly annoys me with the "zelda was always gameplay before story" is that... it's not true? At least I don't think it's true in the way people mean it.

Zelda games were always kind of integrating story based on the standards of the time. When game stories were in game pamphlets, Zelda's stories was in the pamphlets. ALTTP tried to tell a pretty complicated stories with the limitations of the time. OoT was actively trying to tell an epic, cinematic tale packed with ambiance and expand what 3D could offer that 2D games struggled with. Majora's Mask is deeply character-driven in many, many ways. Wind Waker and Twilight Princess are both pretty concerned about their stories, down to the point that some people were bored by TP's cutscenes in particular. Skyward Sword, from what little I have played it, is very very invested in its characters and their journey (and 2D Zeldas have Link's Awakening, Minish Cap... None of them are visual novels, but they are concerned with emotional journeys, character arcs, mysteries about their own world...)

What is true is that the narrative wraps around the mechanics, and not the other way around. The mechanics drive themes, aesthetics, emotional beats and character journeys; and that's great. The world is a puzzle, and the world is delightfully absurd when it needs to be, full of heart when it calls for it, dark and oppressive when it suits the player experience.

That does not mean the games aren't invested in their stories. Even BotW has a pretty complicated story to tell about an entire world rather than one specific tale or legend --all of it at the service of the gameplay, which is exploration and mastery of your environment.

So. Yes, none of the Zelda games are million-words long visual novels that care deeply about consistency and nuance; but stories don't need consistency or deep lore to be meaningful and serve an emotional journey. Again: gameplay is story. The two cannot be so easily parsed from each other.

And Zelda as a franchise obviously care deeply about story, characters and setting (and still does right now --otherwise there wouldn't be a movie), even if it doesn't try to imitate prestige narrative-driven games, which is great and part of why I love this series so much. Doesn't mean it couldn't have done better in the past, it obviously could have, but I feel like pretending that nobody ever cared about story or character is just... false? It's a huge disservice to the devs too. Some of them obviously cared immensely.

The "gameplay above story", at least in the extent to which it is paraded today to defend TotK, mostly, is a really recent development. And I think it's one that deserves to receive some pushback.

#thoughts #tloz #zelda #the legend of zelda #totk critical #(sort of) #(I mean this is the subtext) #guys in 1998 nintendo was trying its darnest to make an epic story (with uhhh the writing that it got) #(love that game to bits but won't defend the actual writing) #the fully gameplay-driven game was mario 64!!! #I think this perception is also partially the fault of that “narrative game” category that is just.... kind of like Prestige TV but for gam #as if most games don't have some form of storytelling within them #and that coherence and vision and consistency are part of game design too #and will hurt a game's enjoyment if not handled correctly #a really really paired back narrative game is really difficult to pull off actually! #because you still need stakes and some degree of intrigue #so you need to figure out how to introduce this without walls of text and is it narrative design? is it game design? it's both!! #anyway anyway

[a-person-whos-alive]

Why TotK fails Zelda

Heads up, this is a long post. Ive cut this down like a motherfucker but it still reads very long. My thoughts are divided into four main categories;

1. Her relationship with her magic & tech

2. Her relationship with Hyrule

3. Her relationship with Link

4. Her relationship with the player

Also, these are my opinions, I'm certain there are people with far better analysis skills than me! I am just in love with this franchise and a little disappointed with the recent game. Zelda as a character holds a special place in my heart and its sad that her character was done dirty like this.

Theres a TLDR at the end and before I forget, SPOILERS!!!

1. Her relationship with her magic & tech

Zelda is not someone who magic came easily to, and I think BotW & AoC did a great job exploring that. They contrasted her natural interest with the sheikah technology and her lack of power and it was 😘👌

How did TotK do? With the Zonai tech being the main selling point, how would Zelda, a scholar at heart, interact with it? To my memory, the only interaction she has is to put Mineru's soul into a piece of Sheikah tech and hand it to a construct.

Well what about magic? Finding out she has light AND time powers was at first a great throwback to OoT with the Sage of Time. The fact that her Time magic awakened immediately unlike the Light magic in the last game was a nice contrast. But then, she immediately has a similar dilemma, she can't USE her magic to propel herself forward because she doesnt know how. Unlike BotW though, she has the "mother" she was lacking to teach her. This was a decent set-up. It was different enough to be its own thing but still was familiar enough. This is up to memory 4 - Mineru's Council

The issue the NEXT MEMORY, memory 5 - Gerudo Assualt shows her being even more proficient than Sonia. We don't see her train, or struggle, or even ask a question about how the stone works. She just does. It's not until memory 8 do we see her get any guidance about her powers? And even then we don't see her attempt recall at all. In the next memory she simply uses it perfectly and effortlessly.

The purpose of her strengthening Time Magic was to get back home. Yet, she gets back home by swallowing a sacred stone, that she already had the ability to do at any point. She turns into the LIGHT dragon, using her LIGHT magic to strengthen the Master Sword. Her whole arc about her magic was pointless because in the end she used the powers from the previous game for everything important.

2. Her relationship with Hyrule

Positives first! Its clear that Zelda loves her people, and during the 7? year gap she obviously took the time to connect with them and problem solve. Penn's quest really demonstrates this, and so does the Hateno school quest. (Even if the children don't believe in the Calamity). I found it very endearing that the people had such faith in her, that even with Ganondorf causing havoc with her face, people refused to believe it. The Great Fairies MUST have seen wrong because it was dark, Dorephan MUST have been mistaken, the Stable Trotters MUST have seen someone else - Zelda wouldn't do that.

I additionally liked that Zelda wasn't immediately trying to set up a monarchy again. In fact, she seemed to be doing the opposite. She wasn't living in Central Hyrule, at Looking Landing, she was living in Hateno. She was a teacher, and on some level a researcher (even if the Don Dons were scrapped ideas from the first trailer).

But the second she goes to the past, she is put back in her box. Her interests in tech are non-existant, she does not interact with anyone who isn't royalty, the King doesn't listen to her about Ganondorf and tells her to not to worry - after all she's just supposed to wear that white dress and hope her magic works soon. She's regressed back to before the Calamity, waiting for something terrible she knows is coming and is powerless to stop.

Crucially, she doesn't speak to Ganondorf once.

This is by far the most egregious waste of their characters in my opinion, and I've just deleted a 3 paragraph Ganondorf discussion - another time. But come on! This is legitimately the PERFECT scenario for Zelda to find about about WHY people opposed her royal family, WHY everyone she's ever loved died in Calamity caused by this guy, WHY she's had to go through all this. But no, if they did talk, it wasn't on screen.

Ive seen in translations of parts of one of the interviews with a developer saying she was able to see what a ruler should be like by going to the past, but until a see an official source I'm going to hope that's not true

3. Her relationship with Link

"Link is still entrusted with the role of protecting Princess Zelda." - Hidemaro Fujibayashi https://www.npr.org/2023/09/13/1199307678/zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom-dlc-video-game. Maybe I'll write a post about Link sometime, but I'm focusing on just him and Zelda.

Whether you ship the two or not, the pair would obviously have a unique bond from both fighting the Calamity and losing the Champions/everyone. So, how did the pair cope with the destruction of everything the love? How did Zelda come to terms with the ruins of Castle Town, the harsh reality of all those who were dead? Zelda doesn't have Link's amnesia to temporarily soften the inital blow.

TotK explores none of this.

Similarly, there is a level of formality on how Zelda speaks of Link. When she tells Rauru of Link she starts, "He is a royal knight. He had been originally appointed for my protection, but later he became a hero by saving both me and Hyrule from a great evil". Not "he and I became close" or even "he became my friend". Zelda is talking to the two people closest to her right now,

All their interactions are the bare minimum.

Link has ALWAYS been a self insert for the player, but he's still a character, and more recently Nintendo has been acting like having emotions means a player can't project onto them. Zelda is Link's closest person, and when she returns he is piece of cardboard, at least help her up!

4. Her relationship with the player

First, as everyone who played BotW will know, many things were removed or changed in TotK to allow it to be standalone for new players. Sheikah tech was removed, important characters forgot Link, the majority of the last game was rarely if ever mentioned. Kass

However TotK does not properly establish Link and Zelda for new fans AND doesnt not elaborate for old fans. They interact twice until the end - the intro and memory 1. All of her characterisation is in that little history moment, the rest of it is 50% sacred power lore and 50% time power lore. Additionlly, anyone who is new to the game has no context for her light powers.

Actually, TotK literally retcons her light magic to be from Rauru and not Hylia. Which was the WHOLE POINT of BotW so great sequelling there guys.

TLDR: The Conclusion

Wow, you made it this far. Or you skipped to end, I would too. My main gripes with Zelda:

> She doesn't interact with Zonai Tech.

> Her arc is about learning time power to go home, only for her to not use said magic and instead use the light magic from the last game to fix the sword and be a light dragon.

> Having her worries about Ganondorf shot down by the King and not holding her ground/ insisting (did you learn nothing from Rhoam??)

> never interacting with Ganondorf him being in Hyrule as a diplomat

> nintendos approach to her and link, they dont once touch while both conscious. Not even a handshake or pat on the shoulder. See images above with prev. Zelda and Link.

> the instance on making it not complicated for accessibility to new players, but also not fleshing it out enough to be compelling on its own.

#legend of zelda #tears of the kingdom #totk #zelda #zelink #skyward sword #??? #kind of #if i said all i wanted to say about skyward sword zelink it would be three times as long #i dont even ship totk zelink but im mad for yall #i hope this is readable #i do math all day #i have little media literacy #i try

[ponett]

I saw in your FFXVI review that you'd played Tears of the Kingdom. What were your thoughts on Zelda's role in the game and story?

it was okay. i'll put this below a read more for spoilers. this will also talk more about the stories in general, because i feel like i can't say much about zelda's storylines without doing that

generally, i think i liked the execution a little better than how botw told its story. i loved botw, but it felt like the entire story was already 99% finished by the time link woke up. i didn't feel like i was developing a relationship to those characters as the player, i felt like i was being told about things that just kind of happened around link 100 years before i took control of him - things that he barely reacts to because of how little this version of link emotes in cutscenes. zelda was pretty fun at times, but her arc is really just "she's under immense pressure from her father to live up to her destiny as the reincarnation of hylia and save everyone... and then she does it, the end"

so i preferred the execution in totk, where it felt more like link and zelda had parallel adventures occurring in the present and the ancient past. zelda sets up a lot of things for you in the past, but you also have all the stories of the sages. they're not amazing or anything, but like, those are characters that YOU, the player, met and helped as part of YOUR adventures in the previous game, and now you'll continue to work alongside them and help them save their home regions. those storylines are built upon YOUR actions as the player, making you an active participant, as opposed to being told about link's relationships with the champions. and because link is completely absent from zelda's storyline, you're on the same page as him as you piece together what zelda was up to on her own, so i found that more engaging

the actual content of zelda's storyline in totk is, like... fine. she admittedly feels like kind of a passive observer for a lot of it, a mere point of view character for us to see what rauru was doing, until she finally has the idea to become a dragon and repair the master sword. but i thought that was a cool narrative move. that sacrifice feels like more of an interesting act of agency on her part than her living up to her father's expectations in botw

of course, yes, in the end zelda has to turn back to normal. she can't stay a dragon. it's cheap, but i dunno. did we really expect anything different? to me the only part that REALLY feels like a cop out is the fact that the tens of thousands of years she spent as a dragon are written off as feeling "like a dream" to her, rather than leaning into zelda waiting so many millennia to reunite with link. embrace that drama! but, like. it's a zelda game. they were always going to give us that happy ending where link and zelda are reunited and everything's back to normal

i think the thing to me is that, like. at this point in my life, at the ripe old age of 29, i accept that the stories in most zelda games are nothing to write home about. games like link's awakening and majora's mask are the exception, not the rule. zelda games have fun worlds and characters, they have occasional moments of brilliance, but they're straightforward hero's journey stories made to support the gameplay first and foremost. and most of the 3d zelda games at this point have some sort of ass pull in the final act - shit like zant being pushed aside for you to fight ganondorf, or tetra getting whitewashed and turned into a completely different character the second they reveal she's a zelda

i go to other games when i want a really nuanced, emotional story with a bittersweet ending. i'm not waiting up for zelda writing to blow me away like that, in the same way that i'm just playing other games with female protagonists instead of waiting up for them to make a game where you play as zelda

#fanofsmbx #ask

[ezlo-x]

hi...cmere if you want to hear my current thoughts of totk... (spoilers ahead ofc)

Hi :] so since everyone is taking a different path on playing this game this is what I have so far

Currently I have completed the tutorial section, have only Dragon Tears #1 and #2, and completed the Wind Temple

I wanted to write down my thoughts after I finished w the tutorial section but I was just so excited to play I just kept going until I finally decided to take a small break from playing the game for almost the entire day lol. ALSO I will include pics...in some parts

ANYWAYZ THE BEGINNING SECTION I NEED TO GET THIS OFF MY CHEST CAUSE I WAS LOSING MY MIND ABT IT. So when Zelda explains how the "gloom" works I WAS JSUT "...that sounds like the Malice im my au HMMM NO WAY I PREDICTED THIS MY BRAIN HUGE" JNSDKJFNSD I liked that we get to see a little bit more of Zelda before she disappears but also! I liked how she is still prevalent in the story and aids Link at some point in the tutorial section. Also I just find it funny how she appears to people like ghosts knfgskng I know for sure that would be explained why later on.

Now to the tutorial, I had a lot of fun with the shrines better yet all the shrines in general have been super fun. None of them have been a drag to me I have a lot of fun especially that you have to use your arm abilities and that stuff never gets old to me. TBH THO there were a few moments when traveling around the island where my muscle memory is to press "x" to paraglide when I suddenly remembered I don't have the paraglider JFNGKDNF I was yearning for that paraglider.

Sorta of a side note I am really loving how npcs have more personality, like Purah and Robbie just radiate so much more as characters than in BotW. I am loving so far the new npcs it makes the world feel less empty.

Now...to the moment i've been waiting to talk abt. The Dragon tear memories

I love them. I love them SO SO MUCH ESPECIALLY SONIA BUT I FEEL LIKE I LOVE RAURU JUST AS MUCH IDK THEY ARE VERY FUCKING CUTE I CANTTTTT I WANT TO CHANGE MY BANNER TO THEM BUT I KNOW ITS LIKE SUPER SPOILERY OUGHHHHHH

My friends insisted to get the memories in order cause that would make me into an emotional wreck so I can't wait! <3

Now to Rito Village/Wind Temple. First of all, the Rito Theme when its in the blizzard got me a little emotional ngl. It might be cause Wind Waker was one for the first tloz games that i introduced myself to back when I was 14 and hearing it so desolate it almost got me. AND THEN SEEING THE KIDS ALL ON THEIR OWN OUGH (I want to know where's Kass tho...).

TULIN!!! Tulin is adorable idk I enjoyed his character how his stubbornness on doing things on his own was changed to teamwork makes the dream work arc idk it was cute. Teba not being present makes sense to me as he's the new Rito Elder and all. Glad the dude is not dead KJFNGKDJNF

Now the journey to the Wind Temple was so fun it was so fun like idk how to describe it. The ost was amazing especially when finally reaching the temple when you ascend high above the blizzard storm and then you glide down and UGH it was so amazing. The Wind Temple was just as fun it felt like your good old Zelda temple and I love that so much. THE BOSS AS WELL YOUR TYPICAL EVIL CRUSTACEAN WITH WINGS AND UGH!! I Love it I love it sm

NOW AT THE BEGINNING ENTERING THE WIND TEMPLE when the voice appeared, at first I thought it was Rauru. But then I took a second take and he sounded differently than Rauru and I said "oh is this the ancient champion?" AND I WAS RIGHT ITS THE WIND SAGE AND OH OH OH OK

I WAS SO....💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥 YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN//? HE LOOKS RAD THE OTHER SAGES LOOK JIST AS AMAZING. AND THEN-

THIS BITCH GOT HORNS!!!! WHAT 💥💥💥💥

HONESTLY ok time to put my critical hat here. Im honestly not expecting anything crazy with Ganondorf like idk I am excited but at the same time I do have that worry in the back of my mind that he would be your typical evil villain. ESPECIALLY SINCE THEY HAVE SUCH A SOLID STORY WITH GOOD WORLD BUILD like I hope they don't blow it up. and ngl I kinda forgot abt Ganondor for a moment cause I've been so fixated over Sonia and Rauru KJNGDJKFNGKDFJ I CANT WAIT TO MEET THE FIRE SAGE THOUGH RAAHGHHGGHH AND THE ZONAI NEXT TO RAURU OUGH I FORGOT HER NAME BUT RAURU MENTIONS HER IN THE SECOND DRAGON TEAR MEMORY THATS HIS BIG SIS!!!!

One more thing I forgot to mention (theres so much stuff don't get me started to how much I love the depth) the soundtrack is phenomenal. When diving down from either the sky or to the depth it so pretty. And like I said the ost where thats building up when reaching the Wind Temple *chef's kiss* AND how the Wind Temple's theme mixes both Vah Medoh's theme (attacking and inside) and Rito Village. Reminding you what you're fighting for especially in Tulin's case

I am having a lot of fun with this game I am currently just wandering around in the Hebra region. ALSO NOW THAT I REMEMBER I WAS REALLY THROWN OFF BY THE SUBTLE CHANGES THE MAP HAS I STILL AM AND I GET IT for like ppl who played BotW make it feel completely different/new. Honestly its fun it feels like im exploring Hyrule for the first time again its nice <3

and that is all I have tbh I might disappear and come back w more ramblings. I want to say more but I don't want this post to be super long. The fact that I only got one Temple complete and two memories and I still have a lot more to do is so crazy to me

anywayz have some pitcures of Sonia and Rauru cause I love em very mucho <3

#totk spoilers #txt

[smilesrobotlover]

Hyrule Warriors?

Since I did the regulars Hyrule warriors I’ll talk about Age of Calamity :) hope you don’t mind!

Ok, so, I understand why this game is so hated. Nintendo practically lied to us, marketing this as a prequel, which yeah, was a sucky thing to do. I don’t like that either. But…

Idk this game is weirdly special to me dhsksbsksbk. I 100% the game, dlc and all, and when you’re able to look past the fact that they lied to you, this game is pretty good! The fighting when you’re playing the right character is far more satisfying than Hw, and it’s a lot easier for me to play each battle. It was fun to 100%! I like Terrako, I like what they did with Rhoam, and yeah I’ve started to like Astor just a little bit. He’s my scrunkley loser. The introduction of Sooga was super cool and Kogha’s character was just, incredible. Plus they picked the PERFECT voice actor for him.

It’s really annoying how much it doesn’t follow botw tho. Like it’s connected, but not canonically. If I recall correctly, link pulled the master sword when he was 12? So what’s he doing here? Also they just… really tried to force Link and Zelda into the same proximity :/ I didn’t connect much to their relationship in botw but this game REALLY forced it huh. It’s annoying and it’s also disappointing how they didn’t explore Link’s family? Or anything about Link? Like great we have more stuff about Zelda but like, what about Link? Also why does Terrako follow him around when he’s obsessed with Zelda lol?

I also wish that they did more with the champions. Like giving them actual character arcs. I felt like they had so many ideas but such little time to actually explore any of it. Especially revali, who has the potential to being an extremely complex character. I also wish they did more with Sooga. He and Byrne kinda suffer in the same way to me :( I’m glad he’s at least playable in the dlc, but still.

But, I did love young robbie and Purah. The two scientists are so sexy it’s not even funny. And of course Impa is such a beloved omg I love her so much <333 tho she feels mega sidelined at the end :(

Also uh…. Why isn’t Astor playable? Unless I’m missing something but I’m very disappointed that Astor, the main villain, is not playable in this game? Pls if he is playable tell me cuz I wanna play as the crusty man.

Ok sorry I’m jumping all over the place but I did like calamity Ganon, he looked super cool. And harbinger Ganon also looked super cool. Like dang they went all out! And watching everyone fight at the castle was super dope :)

Now, even tho the gameplay is more fun and satisfying than Hw, it’s only more fun when you have the right character. Some of the characters in this game are painful to play as. The fairies, daruk, and Yunobo are ones that I hated playing as. They’re so painfully slow and it’s not fun :/

Idk this game has many good things and many bad things. But I like it a lot! It’s a good one!

#asks

[kosmic-arts]

thinking about totk and how the plot sucked.... its the same shit where i feel depressed with kh because it has so much potential but botches it entirely at every turn. totk was such a disappointment plotwise. like, i enjoyed playing it a lot, but i couldn't shake this ever present feeling of bitterness every time anything plot related happened. they completely retcon any and all worldbuilding established in the first game, and replace it all with zonai shit that we're all just supposed to buy was always there. they are so underdeveloped, its mindboggling. i really do wish it had been link going back into the past rather than zelda. as link i feel like im doing chores the whole game while zelda is out there experiencing the actual plot and getting to make difficult choices. like?? i thought i was supposed to be playing the main character... i love zelda, just not botw/totk zelda. she sucks!! sorry 😬 her arc is cool and interesting, but i ultimately don't care because its all told in disjointed flashbacks where most of the actual character development happens without us seeing. zelda goes from hating link and being a petulant child, to being cool with him and chill. we never get to spend any substantial time with her, so all we get is the characters and the rest of the narrative constantly trying to convince you that zelda is so nice and perfect and youve gotta save her right?? and link totally cares about her even though he looks bored as hell 24/7 and seems only invested in this because its his job and hes gotta be home by 5. skyward sword was smart enough to give us like, an hour with zelda to establish link's friendship with her and just that alone does wonders. who doesn't love skyward sword zelda!! i was invested from start to finish trying to reunite with her. also do not talk me about the occasional silly dialogue options link has, or him clenching his fists sometime.. thats not good enough. i honestly dont like botw/totk link either; hes barebones asf. wind waker link is 1000x more alive than botw link; ocarina of time link too and all he does is scream, and TP link!! he ACTS impulsively and with rage when the kids from his village are taken- botw link doesnt have shit on any of his predecessors sorry!! ok. i got a little off topic. basically the totk plot had the minimal possible effort put into it, and it sucks and i hate it. even though the story in botw was very lightweight and straightforward, it was infinitely more riveting than totk, and for that reason i still think about and remember botw more fondly.

#ramblings #tloz totk #tears of the kingdom #the legend of zelda

[nikibogwater]

Aight, y’all know the deal by now. I’m someone who takes stories way more seriously than I’m probably supposed to. I revel in a good emotional shake-down brought on by an epic tale. Time to put on my Sentimental Goggles and really dig into this latest Zelda game, and see if I can explain why I feel it has the darkest and hardest-hitting story of any in the series so far. TotK Spoilers begin below the cut. 

To start, we must acknowledge the precedent set by Breath of the Wild. BotW, despite being set in a post-apocalyptic wilderness teetering on the brink of destruction, is very much a story about hope. Zelda even says as much during the game’s opening: “You are the light--our light--that must shine upon Hyrule once again.” In the midst of a devastating catastrophe, one little seed of hope survived--Link. BotW follows this little seed as it at last blossoms into a force that is powerful enough to defeat the Calamity and put Hyrule back to rights. It’s a pretty straightforward and feel-good plot, even if it does have its fair share of bittersweet elements.

The thing that makes Tears of the Kingdom so effectively dark is that it begins by mercilessly ripping away that sense of hope that was a constant in its predecessor. Everything Link and Zelda fought for is undone in an instant. Hyrule is in even greater peril than before. This is no longer a tale of a budding seed of hope, it’s a frantic, desperate scramble to preserve what little remains of their world. 

Throughout much of this story, Link’s biggest motivation is reuniting with Zelda. While he serves as a light for Hyrule as a whole, Zelda has always been a light for him, and for us as the players. I don’t think it’s too much of a controversial statement to say that BotW’s iteration of Princess Zelda is the most well-developed in the series to date. Zelda has always been the heart and soul of the series, but this is especially true for BotW because she is no longer just Link’s partner in destiny or childhood friend. She is a fully-realized protagonist with a character arc that endears her to us as the players. She isn’t just important to Link, or to Hyrule at large. She’s important to us. Which is why I felt a legitimate sense of grief and despair when Link discovered that she couldn’t be rescued this time. No joke, there were a few minutes where I actually wanted to stop playing after seeing the final Dragon’s Tear memory. 

Breath of the Wild’s story is a statement of hope. By contrast, Tears of the Kingdom’s story is a question, one that most of us don’t want to even consider: What do you do when hope dies? What do you do when your light is taken away from you? The answer is perhaps as merciless as the question: you just keep going. Even if there is no Zelda waiting for you at the end of the fight (at least as far as Link knows), you still have a job to do. You still have to face the dark depths and the nightmares that dwell within. You still have to fight, even when it seems like there is no chance of winning. 

In this way, both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom feel like more than just games to me. They’re the kind of story that I carry with me into the real world. The kind that I look back on when I need to feel hopeful, or push through my own dark depths. Sure, it’s not a masterpiece of literature or anything, but it was a story that resonated with me all the same, thanks in no small part to TotK’s commitment to embracing the dark and the hopeless. There are times when it is enough to be reminded that I am strong, that I am capable of overcoming any challenge set before me. But when that challenge is no longer a puzzle or a personal flaw--when it’s say, grieving the loss of a loved one or longing to return to a happier time, it is just as comforting to be told, with brutal honesty, that yes, this feels hopeless. This feels like it could never possibly turn out alright in the end. But you must keep going. You must fight until you find your hope again, even if it can’t be the same as it was before. After all, that is what it means to be the light--their light--that must shine upon the world once again. 

#legend of zelda #breath of the wild #tears of the kingdom #loz botw #loz totk #totk spoilers #meta analysis

[nocturnalfandomartist]

What did you think of Zelda’s story in TOTK? Do you think she got to play an even more active role in the story than a lot of past games? Personally, I found it to be as triumphant as it was tragic, to the point where she’s now my favorite version of Princess Zelda. What are your thoughts on her character arc in he game?

(SPOILERS AHEAD) OHhhh my gosh, I can't even begin. While I'm a firm believer in the idea that Zelda always has an important role (even if we don't see it), this one really tugged my heart strings. The parallels to Skyward Sword were sooooo shattering to me. I really wish she was playable (I'm writing a longfic right now that's an alternate take on TotK where she is), but I'm so glad she still had her own adventure even if the player wasn't part of if. In a way, it parallels what she went through in BOTW. She has no control over an inherited power as a dire threat looms overhead, a maternal figure perishes before they can teach her fully, a group of the most skilled in Hyrule isn't enough to stop the threat, and a King loses himself to the source of evil. But this time, Zelda's seen it all before. She knows there is something she can do, even if it sacrifices herself and puts everything on Link. It makes me feel so bad for her. 100 years was already long enough, now 10,000? It really emphasizes just how much she cares for Hyrule and Link above herself. I love an emotional arc, and this one was no exception. I'm glad she still got a happy ending after all she witnessed.

Here's a bonus, a sketch for a little post TotK Zelda design! She keeps some of Sonia's accessories and wears a crown of Silent Princesses. The final art will have hints of her dragon design, too. Thanks for the ask!

#legend of zelda #the legend of zelda #loz #loz fanart #zelda fanart #loz zelda #tloz #totk spoilers #totk fanart #totk thoughts #tloz totk #totk #loz totk #totk zelda #zelda totk #zelda tears of the kingdom #tears of the kingdom #loz tears of the kingdom #zelda #princess zelda #light dragon #totk light dragon

[lastoneout]

Is it really accurate to call what happens to Zelda in TOTK fridging? I was under the impression that fridging meant “villain hurts or kills character to motivate MC.” But Zelda’s sacrifice feels like the opposite of that to me since she makes a choice of her own agency right at the end of her character arc. Also, while it’s true she has absolute love for and faith in Link, she’s also making her choice for the sake of the kingdom she grew to love (she would be leaving behind the schoolchildren she loved and taught too). It actually really resonated with me, considering how she had spent the previous few years living her life and forming connections with the people of Hyrule.

I've been mulling over this question since I got it and like, it's frustrating bcs I do think overall thematically and in terms of Zelda's personality and fate and powers and stuff that this choice makes sense, and I actually really like it in a lot of ways, but like...just because this was well written and thematically made sense and was supposed to be a tragedy doesn't mean it was the ONLY way a sequel to BotW could have gone, and it really shows a lack of creativity on Nintendo's part that they cannot seem, or are unwilling, to tell a LoZ narrative that does NOT feature Zelda getting shoved in a box for a significant portion of the game.

I'm also less willing to give them the benefit of the doubt on this one, if only bcs you have to use parts from the light dragon to upgrade your armor. It might make sense to some degree, but Zelda just feels very much like she exists to sacrifice her entire body and mind and soul to help Link ~fight better~ and the fact is that is a role a lot of female characters get shoved into, where their very bodily autonomy is treated as disposable bcs it's To Help A Man, and it adds to the feeling that they didn't like, think of how it's kinda maybe a little yikes to use a female character for her body like that.

So idk...it may work in this narrative, but it's been over 25 years of Zelda being put in a box for whatever reason, it's starting to get...suspicious, that Nintendo can't manage to imagine a narrative where she isn't.

Also I guess fridging might be the wrong word in this context, but this is essentially what I meant by that.

#Im torn I really am #totk spoilers

[marvel-starwarsfangirl]

Looking Back: Spirit Tracks over 10 years later

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks was my very first official video game ever. I was first introduced to LoZ through my cousin. So, for Christmas, I was gifted with a DSI and Spirit Tracks plus Phantom Hourglass. Since the first time I popped that cartridge in, I knew Spirit Tracks was going to be something special. I was mesmerized by the world, the music, and the characters. As I played more and more Zelda games like Ocarina of Time, Spirit Tracks became that fun, little game I played as a child. However, that little game always had a special place in my heart. Playing it now, for the first time since I lost my original DS and copy of the game in 2019, it still remains my favorite.

The world: The world of Spirit Tracks to me is breathtaking. This world feels so real to me. There is so much to explore. Yeah, the train can be tedious, but aside from that the map is huge. Skyward Sword feels so limiting in what you can explore. And don't me wrong, I love Hyrule field, but even that feels small to me at times. Twilight Princess has the best Hyrule field of the older games. Spirit Tracks has so many places to explore. Although the villages aren't, I still appreciate the unique design of all of them.

The dungeons: While the dungeons or bosses in this game will never be as grand as the Ancient Cistern or spooky as Arbiter's Grounds, I still adore them. To me, they are what dungeons should be: challenging with fun puzzles. And that's the key word here: fun. These dungeons do a great job implementing the puzzles and items collected. I love how the Tower of Spirits continues to get challenge your puzzle-solving skills. The bosses also are just fun adventures for Link to take on. They don't need to be crazy or super grand because this game is meant to be a fun, little adventure.

The characters: We could argue which game has the best characters for hours (it's Skyward Sword stop arguing). That being said, I say Spirit Tracks has some really great characters. The Lokomos are all unique, Cole is a delightful little menace, and Byrne stole my heart. Thanks the the side quests, we do get some pretty fun interactions with the various npcs throughout the game. I love the teacher who has to disguise himself to get out of the castle. The rabbit man and his wife make for a cute romance story. And Ferrus is just a jolly man who loves trains. It's a great cast.

This game also has one of my favorite versions of Zelda. Just like with Skyward Sword, Spirit Tracks does a great job setting up her relationship with Link. Their relationship is so genuine and wholesome. They're friends who may pursue a romantic relationship when they're older. It's that good. They also gave Zelda a personality and stuff to do other than show up for the first and last few minutes to dump exposition. Y’all want playable Zelda? Well, here she is! She's adventurous, funny, caring, and feisty. There's so much life to her. She helps Link as much as she can and is a way better companion than Navi ever could be. Zelda is amazing. Her interactions with Link are stellar. I also love that the game shows just how much the two of them love and care for each other. Link and Zelda are perfect.

And yes, Byrne was my first fictional crush. It's his design I tell you. I love broody, tall men. It's that simple. But also, he does have a great arc. He becomes evil because he wanted power. Yet, he still had a soft spot for Anjean. After he's betrayed, he realizes the horrible truth and decides to help the heroes. Thanks to Anjean and Zelda's forgiving nature, they take Byrne in and help him. In turn, it is he who helps Zelda reclaim her body and gives his life. He's wonderful *sigh*.

The music: Spirit Tracks has some of the best Zelda music in my opinion and it's sad that it gets overlooked by like... every other game. I will be brutally honest, I genuinely don't remember any of the music from BotW or TotK. I'm sorry, that's the truth. But, I always remembered Spirit Tracks' music. From the upbeat title theme to Byrne's unique leitmotif, the music has always been fun. Cole's theme is one of my personal fave villain tracks. I love the music changes as you ascend the Tower of Spirits. I love the Lokomo songs even if the flute mechanic was a tad annoying at times. I love the Demon Train's intimidating theme. The Dark Train's leitmotif was the og anxiety bringer way before the guardians were even a thing.

The Story: I also adore the story of this game. When an ancient evil strikes, Link, Zelda, and co. must rally to save the day. I like that the train in this game actually has a meaning. It's not just a means of transportation; the tracks have magic in them that protect the world from demons. It's simple but effective. There are fun side quests that are optional but yield satisfying rewards and nothing feels too repetitive. In short, it's great. One thing I really appreciated was that Zelda couldn't just enter her body right away. She had to focus her power. It makes the game more interesting. And it’s one of the only Zelda games where she basically dies. This game has stakes!!!Byrne's death shows that there are consequences for one's actions and sacrifices that must be made. Saving the world isn't an easy path. Overall, I think it's a fun and effective story.

The Downsides: Obviously, it's not a perfect game. The flute mechanics are frustrating at times, especially when playing the Lokomo songs. I can't begin to tell you how annoying it is when you play everything right and the game still says retry. The train can also be a bit tedious. It does take time to get from place to place. At least the game isn't rushing you. Thankfully, the portals and force gems help make the journey more bearable. Finally, Malladus isn't that memorable of villain when compared to Demise or Ganondorf. Even Cole is more memorable and he's the secondary antagonist. The design of him sucks and isn't screaming "demon king" at all. That being said, Malladus' actions do standout. His murder of Byrne and using Cole as a vessel without the latter's consent are legit great moments. It does establish his cruelty and willingness to do whatever necessary to win. Also, Possessed Zelda is freaky.

If y'all made it to the end of this post, congrats. I know I'm in the minority when I say Spirit Tracks is my fave Zelda game, but I'll defend it nonetheless. It's a cute and wonderful game. I'm excited to replay it again in the near future. For now, I'll continue to listen to the music. I love this game so much guys.

#the legend of zelda #spirit tracks #link #princess zelda #anjean #byrne loz #link x zelda #nintendo #DSI games #nintendo dsi

[rawliverandgoronspice]

"And I genuinely don’t think either of you understand HOW Zelda turns back to a Hylian at the end of the game.

I’m sorry but these are exceptionally poor analysis and criticisms of the game and it’s cut scenes." As the anon who wrote the ask who started this, I'll just say... nah. Also, pro-tip, don’t be angry, eat a banany. 🍌 You say that all the elements give a lot of insight into Zelda, her relationship, and all that… and then just explain it in the most barebones accusatory way possible, instead of just giving a polite counter and constructively explaining WHY you disagree. Since you apparently just wanna be angy that someone doesn’t like what you likes, and explains why they criticise it, I don’t think there really is a point to argue.   Honestly, my best tip is: Eat nanner, shhhhhhh, touch grass, go sleep. Move on. Ps: Banana’s are the worst.

Also, lemme add, add some spice to your salt: “It reveals Zelda’s feelings for Link which have clearly significantly changed since Breath of the Wild.” I did not feel like they changed much at all, Zelda still feels like she’s simping for Link hard, it's just a few years later now. 😜 Extra bonus: Yeah we know why Zelda got turned back into a Hylian with no repercussions. Bc it had to happen, bc reasons-McGuffin.

Hey!

Yeah, sorry this thing escalated on your ask anon. It got significantly worse after that, so I did block the person because at some point it becomes clear they were having an argument with someone who was simply not in this virtual room and might probably not exist at all anywhere, so there was no point in engaging with a brick wall who was hurling insults based on half a paragraph taken out of context. Pretty sad way to use your free time or deploy love for the media you enjoy, but! To each their own I suppose.

But yeah, I did look it over to see if I missed something, because somebody's tone being inacceptable doesn't mean their arguments also are, but. Yeah. Zelda had her arc of going from being cold and angry with Link to learning to rely on him in Breath of the Wild already, and then literally holds the fort for a hundred years just holding on to the desperate trust that he will arise and become a hero and be capable of defeating the scourge if only she can buy him as much time as she can, which is *crazy* devotion-wise (and also active! in TotK she mostly talks about how much she trusts Link --I guess she turns into a dragon to restore the Master Sword for him, but again I don't believe she really has any other choice and it's not a struggle she must maintain over a hundred years always relying on her own resolve all the way through, so it doesn't translate as hard in my opinion). It's literally her affection for Link and her urge to protect him that awakens her powers! This arc worked great in Breath of the Wild! But TotK loves nothing more than to rethread every character's arc, except again, but less compelling and complicated and without emotional rises or character changes.

Also: a kind tumblr user out there who did not play any game but TotK, believing the marketing that you could basically jump in blind, pointed out to me that there is *no way* to catch onto any of that complexity of their relationship if you haven't played BotW (not that I think it particularly helps). Same deal with the parental thing: they did not bring up the relationship between Zelda and her dad at any point, which makes it a non-information for newcomers. While it is fine to lose some degree of nuance and be a little confused if you jump in a second videogame after the first videogame, you still need to provide something for people to hang onto, and, as I feared, the refusals to expand on BotW backstory didn't seem to help the newcomers familiarize themselves with Hyrule particularly well. Even in extremely well known IPs, it is important to re-establish the bases: jedis are sensitive with the Force, the Ring corrupts its bearer, etc etc. And this was not particularly well done here (for example: it is never explained that Ganondorf is a sorcerer on top of being a Huge Guy that will break your spine with a punch, which makes the appearance of Puppet Zelda *before* he grabs the stone extremely confusing --this relies on pre-assumptions about Ganondorf and a familiarity with the series and its tropes to make any sense, and this is yet another example of what I mean by: this game is awfully self-referential while not really standing on its own two feet).

As for the argument that Zelda was returned to a hylian because of Rauru's arm, Rauru again but ghost (??? hello again?) and Sonia (??? WHY are you here) are actually using recall on the Secret Stone? It's a cool headcanon, and honestly that would have been great and made sense (I mean, a little empty thematically again but at least a cool setup and payoff), but I see nothing that supports that in practice beyond that the power deployed is the color of gold, which, yes, is the color of Recall, buuuut it's also the color of Light and good things and the Triforce and divinity and a billion other things.

If this was what we were meant to take away, then: 1) the actual particles and sound effect of Recall should have been used instead of a vague halo of magical sparkles and 2) the Secret Stone should have hovered and glowed above her chest Laputa-style (thinking of Sheeta from Castle in the Sky, which I'm 99,9% sure was the visual inspiration anyway).

This does not happen. If them using Recall was the intent, then it's badly conveyed. But I see no textual reason to believe this is what's going on.

#asks #thoughts #totk spoilers #totk critical #when will my brain return from the imprisoning war... #zelda #botw #thanks for the ask! #general note however: #I always welcome nice asks that are kindly showing support in uhhh trying times haha #but try to not attack the other part anonymously through the ask system #it puts me in pretty awkward situations where I want to be !! thank you!! but also not. stir up the flames. #I don't particularly want to foster an atmosphere of vindictiveness if I can help it!!

[michpat6]

any hcs on why hylia denied zelda her powers for so long?

hi anon, thank you for sending this! sorry it’s taken me so long to answer 😭

so BASICALLY, I think hylia denied zelda her powers (if we’re under the assumption that it wasn’t zelda subconsciously holding herself back for whatever reason AND that hylia is an Active Force, two ideas that I think can coexist) for a few reasons:

1. Hylia thinks Zelda doesn’t “mean” it

by this I mean that in the spring of power memory, the way that zelda prays is very monotone and fast, like she just wants to get it over with. then she starts airing her grievances to the goddess, asking why her powers haven’t come to her and that heartbreaking, “what is it? what’s wrong with me?”

so if before the goddess statue zelda appears to rush through her prayers, if all she cares about is herself and not hylia at hylia’s altar, why would hylia give her what she wants in the form of her powers?

(yes I do like the morally gray hylia approach, no I don’t think hylia is a villain. she’s a goddess, so to expect her to act like a human and be nice all of the time/perfect is something I personally disagree with)

I’m also not zelda bashing, I LOVE botw zelda, but it’s just a fact of the story that she is just the littlest bit selfish when it comes to how she approaches her prayers, spending time with the ancient tech and whatnot, which she totally should be able to do, she’s a kid and she is doing everything she possibly can to unlock her powers, but the reason those powers unlock when they do, while motivated by her love for link, is because she commits the act of total selflessness in sacrificing her life for his (this is the crux of her character arc)

so, to say that hylia finally smiled upon her in that moment because of her selflessness isn’t the most insane idea, but it depends on how you view hylia as a character

2. Hylia was testing Zelda

this is kind of the first headcanon but a little bit to the left

instead of teaching zelda a lesson about selfishness/selflessness/godly devotion, hylia was testing her patience. how long can you survive on nothing but your own intelligence and willpower? how long are you willing to wait for salvation to fall into your lap?

why was she doing this? i think because she knew the Divine Beasts would fail, that the calamity would win and that link would fall and that the only way to possibly stop Hyrule from being totally destroyed is if zelda held it back for as long as it took the shrine of resurrection to heal him and wake him up.

and if zelda was willing to wait her entire life for her powers to manifest, if she was willing to die without them just to Hyrule could have a chance in the form of link, why not give them to her? why not reward her? why not let her wait the hundred years for her Hero to wake up and save her? she’s been patient this entire time, what’s a little more waiting?

3. Hylia wanted Calamity Ganon to win

“but michpat6, you just said you think that hylia isn’t a villain!” and I don’t think she is! I’m just thinking about breath of the wild 2

because, like, say zelda did unlock her powers the first time she prayed for them, she would have a mastery of them by the time the Calamity hit on her 17th birthday. she and link defeat it and the champions live and everyone lives happily ever after.

ganondorf’s skeleton is still under the castle. because the calamity has been sealed away, im sure that no one thinks to look for the reason why it sprouted from hyrule castle in the first place, because all of the damage we see in botw comes from the guardians and such. if it came from the calamity itself, the sanctum wouldn’t be as intact as it is 100 years later.

if no one finds dehydrated ganon, whenever he wakes up after what triggers him to start moving again (I think it’s the proximity of Zelda’s powers but that’s a whole separate thought), then another calamity is free to start OR ganondorf himself starts causing problems

how this is all prevented, of course, is that zelda unlocks her powers at the last second and waits for link for a hundred years, and she gets the time to think about everything and realize, “hey, why did the Calamity come from under the castle?”, so that when she’s free she can check it out herself and then botw2 starts

this one is the reachiest reach every lmao but until botw2 comes out I can’t be proven wrong 😂

those are my main headcanons, and thank you for wanting to hear about them!! i love going deep into the meta of zelda and theorizing about hylia 😍

#asks #botw zelda #botw #breath of the wild #zelda #hylia #legend of zelda #loz #zelda theory #zelda headcanon #zelda meta #botw2

[only-by-the-stars]

for the Choose Violence ask game:

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

*deep breath*

REVALI ISN'T DEEPER OR BETTER WRITTEN THAN THE OTHER CHAMPIONS, EVERYONE JUST THINKS HE IS BECAUSE HE'S MALE AND RUDE

like. please. please. everyone is so quick to dismiss Mipha as "her story is only about Link", but what is Revali's story about? that's right, a ton of his focus is his rivalry with Link. even in AOC we don't meet any of his friends or family, anyone with a personal tie to him in his own era. and when he's not focused on dissing Link, he spends most of the rest of his dialogue spouting arrogance and that "I need to be the BEST!!!" stuff you can see in countless animes. he's not as unique as people think, and there's little to suggest any of the vulnerability his fans ascribe to him. even in his diary, where you'd think he'd open up more, he acts arrogant and makes a snide remark referring to Zelda as "talentless".

but. you know. he's a guy. so of course he has more potential than the Champion who has family and friends and a whole community that we meet, who gets Zora Monuments and diary entries talking about stuff to do with things other than Link (like her reactions to Vah Ruta, her birth, the moment when Dorephan agreed to let her pilot Ruta, her ghost speaking to her loved ones after her death), who was both a healer and a warrior and thus has that duality in her, who wants to see her father one last time as she stands atop Ruta after being freed, who got some really nice scenes with her family in AOC, because you know. she's a girl, and she fell in love with her childhood friend, and she's kind to people. so boring!

I actually would argue that she is the best-written Champion, because of all that. they're all underwritten, but Mipha gets more depth to her than the others, I think, because of the reasons mentioned above. we don't get any direct connections for any of the others. but because she's a girl and she had romantic feelings for Link, she's dismissed, and the snide arrogant guy gets touted as the one with the most potential. fucking typical of fandom, to fawn over the underwritten man and lavish fanon on him while dismissing the woman as not worthy of the same. I know I'm swinging a bat at a hornet's nest with this, but I'm just so tired of this happening across fandoms and so tired of it happening to my beloved Mipha, specifically. fandoms PLEASE care about fictional women. this is not a request.

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

see above: Revali. I came out of his portion of SoaC with more of an interest in him because I enjoyed doing my own interpretation, but it's still a fucking Struggle when I see his more obnoxious fans being Like That.

ditto BOTW/TOTK Zelda. like. there are legit criticisms to be made about her writing, such as how her arc in BOTW would've greatly benefited from a deeper exploration of certain beats, a linear storyline, and please I hate how her interest in science is treated as just a silly quirk that serves no purpose and Rhoam Might've Been Right About It, but either way amounts to nothing as she just needed to fall in love and BAM! powers! and I hate how a lot of the people who dislike her will accept all this uncritically and criticize this interest of hers and hold her solely accountable for the Calamity, and I really hate how TotK not only flattens her into the Perfect Princess who does everything well and everyone is disturbingly blindly loyal to, but again doesn't let her do anything but sacrifice herself, with her interest in science again being relegated to a minor quirk.

(AOC I love you for making her love of science actually matter to the plot. I am kissing you on the mouth for this and so much else, you don't deserve all the hate that's directed your way just because people wanted a grimdark rehash of BOTW's backstory.)

but. also. her fans are so weird and annoying about her??? and they try to have it both ways??? like according to them she's THE MOST NUANCED CHARACTER EVER for being awful to Link, but also she did nothing wrong and she only yelled at him ONE TIME, YOU GUYS, there was nothing shitty about the rest of her behavior and couldn't have made him that miserable or put him in danger of royal reprisal if one of her attempts at ditching him went badly (like it very nearly DID in the Yiga cutscene). and also you're a misogynist if you don't think she's the bestest ever and ship her with Link, but it's okay if they make hateful comments about Mipha, or other female characters in the series that people DARE to ship with various Links. only z*link allowed!!!

... as you can see, it is a Struggle for me with her too. I don't hate her, I see her (sadly wasted) potential and hate how she was treated in TotK, I enjoyed her a lot in AOC and have had fun writing her in certain AUs of mine, but also. the fans. eugh.

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

this... soulmates/fated lovers thing that z*link shippers live for? a hard no from me, buds. hard no. it basically robs the characters involved of their agency and turns each version of them into puppets who will inevitably fall in love with the same person in every lifetime (and this doesn't even make sense because Zelda's not a reincarnation??? she's a DESCENDANT of the other Zeldas and Hylia???), and that... is horrifying to me. that's a curse IMO, and not romantic at all. The Good Place remains the only take on the soulmates concept I'll accept:

"If soulmates do exist, they're not found, they're made. People meet, they get a good feeling, and then they get to work building a relationship."

#arkon-z #thanks for the ask! #yes i am a hater sometimes but it also can stem from love #i contain multitudes

[iti-iskuna]

No wait I need to know more about the locked tomb au 😭

omg y'all are feeding into my brain rot i may actually have to write it 💀

it wouldn't exactly follow the roles of the characters in tlt because i'd be putting completely different characters into this universe and i'd want to bring a good mix of the botw/totk themes into the tlt universe, but okay my very loose collection of Thoughts (spoilers for tlt ahead, putting beneath a read more):

- Zelda as the 9th house adept who is struggling with achieving her full necromantic powers

- Link as her cavalier that she constantly berates and takes her anger out on because he's so good at his role and she is not

- Despite not being as in control of her powers, Zelda is still as smart as Harrow is, and understands the theorems behind necromancy incredibly well, she just struggles to apply them

- Actually I think that's Zelda's whole problem, she's so smart that she gets so into the weeds of the mechanics of necromancy that she forgets to see the forest for the trees

- I think Zelda would be as religiously dedicated to the tomb as Harrow, I think she would still have opened the tomb and fallen in love with Alecto (who would be Hylia in this AU) (Zelda is absolutely a bisexual icon to me, personally, and i am right) (so is Link but that is not relevant atm) and I think her parents would have killed themselved as Harrow's did

- ohohoh the psychological fuckery between Zelda and Link in Canaan House

- ohohoh the tenderness of the pool scene w/ Zelink

- other houses' adepts and cavs come from the pool of characters the player directly interacts with in BOTW

- not sure who would take the role of the 6th house because Palamedes and Camilla are So Important To Me but whoever it ends up being will retain the dynamic between them because honestly they are as much my favorite characters as Gideon and Harrow are

- the original lyctors come from the original champions that died pre-BOTW

- honestly I don't know who would be John but I kind of like the idea of just keeping him as John because I think calling him "Jod" is so fucking funny

- Link as the self-sacrificing son of Jod? Literally Jesus? yes? yes?

- debating on if I would make the races of Hyrule human analogs (like instead of a Goron being a literal rock person, just like making them a huge, beefy, muscly dude) or keeping them as-is

- I don't think Link would be as much of a Jock Dudebro as Gideon is, but in the games through his dialog options we see that he has a sense of humor and is kind of a little shit, I think it would be interesting to see the opposite of his character arc in this AU: going from someone who's a joker to someone who takes his duty so seriously that he completely shuts down and stops talking

anyways those are my preliminary thoughts, if enough people would be interested in reading it I may write it! rn i'm trying to finish up some old fics for another fandom and also work on my poetry and original fiction offline, but if this is something that enough people want to read from me specifically I may consider writing it. anyways ty for letting me word vomit my half-baked ideas anon ily

#mo speaks #ask #anonymous #botw #legend of zelda #zelink #totk #tlt

[theclasspectscholar]

Here's what I have for Tears of the Kingdom so far:

This was actually what inspired me to finally make this blog because one of my friends said the sages reminded him of classpects and I had a lot of thoughts.

Let's start with our main boy Link

Link is a Knight, obviously. He is a passive server, serving Zelda and the royal family first and foremost. It's his purpose in life. Now for his aspect, I believe he is a Heart player. The aspect of heart is very closely tied to the concept of souls. In botw, the main quest revolves around collecting the souls of the champions, in totk it revolves around him collecting the avatars (basically souls) of the new generation of sages. Heart is also tied to identity, and in botw, Link spends the story trying to remember who he is, through finding the memories scattered around Hyrule. He also deals with ghosts more than the average hylian. The first character you meet in both botw and totk after waking up is a ghost, the manifestation of a soul. This would make him the Knight of Heart, one who serves heart, or serves through heart for others.

Now for Zelda, things are a little more complicated.

This is because Zelda's aspect is not Time, despite her being the sage of time. In botw at least, Zelda is a Light player. Personality-wise, Zelda fits the bill of a Light player perfectly. The Extended Zodiac quiz describes light players as "the universe's knowledge-seekers." and says that "They are, above all, driven to learn and understand. They are great alchemists, able to take multiple sources of information and synthesize them into something useful. They are scholars and researchers, absolutely dedicated to knowledge for knowledge's sake." and if that doesn't describe Zelda, I don't know what does. In botw Zelda's arc focuses on relevance, she struggles with being important, and has the pressure of being an essential part in defeating Ganon. Also her motif throughout the game is light. Any time she speaks to Link, her voice is accompanied by a bright light, the same light that shines when her power is finally awakened. For her class, I think Page makes the most sense here. Pages start out as incredibly weak, not having any grasp over their aspect at all, but when they do reach mastery over their aspect they become one of the most powerful out of the classes. This reflects Zelda's arc throughout the game perfectly, making Zelda the Page of Light. In totk however, Zelda is the sage of time, and her character arc in the last game has been fulfilled. If we operate on the idea that her new aspect is Time, I think it makes a lot of sense for her class to be Witch. Witches are innovators, changing their aspect or changing through their aspect for themselves. This makes sense at least at the point in the story I have gotten to, as it seems that Zelda has traveled back in time and is changing historical events. Further evidence to support Zelda being a Witch comes from @homestuckexamination who describes witches as "Passionate about that which they love, they can be heavily influenced by their interests and by their surroundings." This fits Zelda's personality strongly and sort of makes up for her no longer being a light player. This would make Zelda the Witch of Time.

The next character I want to do is Tulin, because I just beat the Wind Temple.

Tulin is the sage of wind, so it makes sense that his aspect is Breath. Breath as an aspect of the story has those tied to this aspect move the plot forward. Tulin is antsy, he can't be tied down and he desperately wants to stop this blizzard and save his village. He disobeys everyone telling him to wait and let the adults handle it. He flies ahead and stubbornly rockets head first into the tornado to stop the blizzard. For his class, I think Heir fits him the best. He is literally an heir to the secret stone and the title of sage of wind. In the sense that he changes wind, he physically changes the direction of the wind to propel others forward and he even changes Ravali's vertical gust power to a horizontal one. This would make him the same classpect as June Egbert, and I think Tulin is very June coded when he talks about his dad. Thus, Tulin is the Heir of Breath.

I will update this post with the rest of the characters as I complete more of the game. Some that I'm figuring out right now are Ganon, Sonia, and Rauru but I feel like I need to unlock more Dragon Tears cutscenes to figure them out.

#tears of the kingdom #totk #homestuck #homestuck classpect analasys #legend of zelda #Lily Jade does classpecting

[aur0ralights]

I have invited myself to a thing cus i think its ✨n e a t✨

Rules: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have wips. I have deemed that this isn’t just for writing either. Sketch titles? Comics? Dnd campaigns? If you have an unfinished project, it counts!

For convenience sake im gonna seperate these into sections! Im gonna bold the current projects im working on because not only am i going to steal the tag game from @arecaceae175 and im also gonna yoink their formatting 💅

Comic ideas!

* One Way Ticket Anywhere (ravioli comic)

* Linked Galaxies (PLS ask about this one, i love it)

Youtube videos!

* Animatic Retelling of Hyrule Warriors (this one is also a good one to ask about)

* YT video explaining Nintendo’s Zelda timeline and why its WRONG-

* Wind pirate vibes playlist

* Animatic Retelling of Wind Waker & Phantom Hourglass

* Animatic Retelling of Ocarina of Time, Majoras Mask, and the Death of the Hero of Time

Art!

* List of fics i wanna draw fanart for

* Goretober but LU

Animations!

* lol this is a ransom

* Time is not dad, he is magic claw

* Just get out

* Don’t you dare make me fall in love with you

Essays!

* Timeline order, Character Arcs and trauma :sparkle:

* The stats of link

Stories!

* Oops i adopted 8 children

* BOTW space AU, link and champions

* Theatre AU

* Mer AU

* Gods, Demons and Devils AU

* Reincarnation AU

* Theyre all faries. Tinkerbell edition.

* Why does shadow call you babygurl?

* 13 brothers choose brotherhood or being King lol. Also in space.

* A failure Modern AU

* Sleepy man gets a family over the course of thousands of years

* Sky centric sleep paralysis short

* Time becomes a dad part 2 electric boogaloo

* Hyrule gets attacked for being a good person

* Another superhero AU but its crack

* Humger Ganes (Hunger games 1.0)

* Warriors centric Hunger games 2.0

* Oop this is an assassination

OK, its all there! Now its yalls turn! Hehehe

@socialc1imb @marinovels @sunny-flake @blossomingwaters @spacebagel54 @thatstupidlozfanacrossthestreet @ilaiawanderlust