#i know its armor but. can you call the botw one an armor. i mean | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

powdermelonkeg · 3 years

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So, BO2W Breakdown

Buckle up, this is gonna be a long one.

Here we’ve got Ganon’s...energy taking over Link’s arm. Ordinarily, I’d call it Malice, but based on what it turns into, I’m just going to be calling it corruption. We don’t get much information from this scene besides this expression:

Link’s grabbing the corruption with his other hand, and wincing. It looks painful. I personally think it’s for cinematic effect that it was included, but it COULD be a gateway into a Phantom Hourglass sort of mechanic--Link has to function on a time limit, or using the corruption’s power could drain his life.

Next we’ve got a closeup of Ganondorf. F in chat to the rehydration theorists.

And the closeups of his jewelry. The only significant thing I can see is his necklace, which looks like a cross between the Gerudo symbol and a Fleur de Lis:

But what I’M most interested in is this tie on his belt:

For one, it’s WAY bigger than it needs to be, and that’s deliberate. Ganondorf’s got a jewelry aesthetic he’s already hit above; everything else is gold, why not this bit?

Most importantly, you can barely make it out, but the designs either look Sheikah or Zonai--they’ve got that same kind of swirly busy pattern to them. The red tint and tan-ish lines in it makes me think it’s possessed Sheikah tech.

Next, we’re shown Zelda falling. This looks like it happens right after these two caps from the first trailer:

So we reach for her as the ground collapses, and evidently, we fail to pull her back up. So my next question for that scene is going to be what the in-game reason is for us not diving in right after her. Maybe we won’t get one, since the appeal of the original BOTW was that you could fight Ganon whenever you wanted.

Up next, we’ve got a skydiving shot:

The first thing to notice is that Link’s pose while skydiving is just about identical to his pose in Skyward Sword:

Second is that, yes, he’s falling towards a floating island, and that in itself is noteworthy, but he’s FALLING. There’s something either above him that he jumped off of, or a force that carried him high enough TO fall, and I doubt Nintendo’s encouraging magnesis flying.

So, there’s a few options: Loftwings making a return (which is unlikely, but a hope I have), something like Revali’s Gale boosting Link up for a cinematic shot, indicating that the corruption arm has that kind of power, or islands higher than the one shown here.

Now the island itself:

In Skyward Sword, Skyloft looks like this:

And (spoiler alert) we loose this island here over the course of the game:

Now, it’s not a PERFECT 1:1 match, as most things between games aren’t, but a quick rotate and overlay shows it’s got the same kinds of shapes between the two. The same “W” shape along the eastern side, the same tiny island off the northeast point, the same relative edges.

Now, I don’t know what happened to the plaza at South Skyloft, or the Knight’s Academy isle, but it could very easily be drift away from the central island.

The presence of other islands through the clouds seems to support that theory. Now let’s look at Link here:

The outfit is new. We haven’t, to my knowledge, seen one of this design in other games. My gut reaction to this image was “oh, we go back in time and we’re the first hero now!” because it’s vaguely reminiscent of Tapestry Hero.

But upon closer inspection, that theory’s null and void. Under Link’s tunic in the image above, you can see that he’s still wearing the shorts he woke up in in the first game. So either Sheikah boxers haven’t changed in 10,000 years, or it’s taking place in present day. Jokes aside, I’m curious to know if the outfit he’s wearing is modeled after Tapestry Hero.

Next thing to point out is the obvious:

Link’s arm here looks less prosthetic and more...withered, I almost want to say. The corruption here’s made his hand look frailer, and armored them up with Zonai patterns before it fades out at his shoulder. Based on how the tattoos look, I think they’re an artifact of the corruption taking hold.

Also, the belt here:

Aesthetic purposes, or specific function? The presence of the second, smaller one on the side reminds me of Skyward Sword’s adventure pouch, which could be how the new game handles inventory size:

Next we’ve got another flying shot:

It seems like he’s flying towards Ruined Skyloft, and you can see the bottoms of islands above it, possibly meaning that the sky serves as more than just a hub world like it did in Skyward.

Now let’s look at the paraglider he’s using. It’s new.

This is how the paraglider looks in the original BOTW. It looks like we still have the Rito symbol in the center, but other than that, there’s a LOT of changes here.

First off is the color. We’re now blue and gold. The shade of blue makes me think of the Kochi Dye Shop’s navy blue:

So, possibly a dyeable paraglider?

The new pattern surrounding the Rito symbol makes me think that it’s combining the paraglider with Skyward Sword’s sailcloth:

Other than that, there isn’t much else to say about the paraglider besides the handles looking like they’re made of bone. Craftable paragliders? God, I hope not.

Back to Link:

Here we have him in different gear than the last shot. He’s wearing the snow boots, he has a shield with a stylized Eye of Truth looking upwards, and he looks like he’s carrying a traveler’s sword and an unknown bow. The presence of the bow makes me think that the shield here is a lower tier item, rather than this game’s Hylian Shield equivalent.

Now, let’s get a better look at the horizon:

The trees here look a lot like the smaller trees you can find in Akkala, but there’s a distinct lack of red among them.

Then it looks like we’ve got some ruins at the furthest isle.

Whatever the rock formations are over there, they don’t LOOK natural.

Another thing I noticed is the bottoms of the islands.

These look a little too geometric to be natural, too. Now, this one, I’m a little muddy on, because it COULD be a stylistic choice. But it also reminds me of the Shrines if you clip out of bounds:

And a little bit of the dormant Gate of Time from Skyward:

My money’s on the cube-like nature of the islands’ undersides being deliberate, rather than just a far-off render.

And then there’s this thing!

What is it? It doesn’t look broken at all; look how nicely the roof(?) is kept. The ribbing on the sides makes me think it might be a Zonai thing, but the shape makes it difficult to figure out. A giant temple? An airship? A sloped coliseum? This thing haunts and vexes me.

Our next shot is presumably from one of the islands, based on the color. Here we can see that there are definitely ruins all over the place. Link is in the same gear as before, so I won’t touch on him.

This, however, has my interest. The design here has more geometric patterns--Zonai ruins?

We’ve got another one off in the distance here. Sky checkpoints, like Sheikah towers?

Now this guy here. There’s a LOT to look at. First off is the eye design, it’s the same sort of upward looking one that Link has on his shield in the previous shots.

The energy that’s pulling this thing towards its base looks like the same green energy that surrounds the arm holding Gan in place in Trailer One:

This stuff. That, plus the fact that the robot has to be pulled into its base rather than just existing, implies that either A: Link activates it himself, like a trial thing, or B: that the green energy here functions in the same way Malice does in the original BOTW.

This pattern at its base is intriguing, too. I don’t recognize the gold symbol in the center, but the green around it reminds me of the portals from Twilight Princess.

Which, yes, everyone’s already said that the Twilight Princess patterns look like Zonai things. But another thing this weird dial thing reminds me of is from Lanayru Desert:

On top of that, the color palette of this guy looks like that of the Lanayru Robots from Skyward:

BO2W robot on the left, Lanayru robot on the right. Given that Skyward is a lot more vibrant than other non-Toon Zelda games, I think this is a fair enough comparison to draw similarities from.

And then we get a closer view of the sky ruins from the last shot. I don’t know if the geometric pattern in the corner is a deliberate carving, or wear from time, but since the pattern looks ALMOST mirrored around the corner, I’m going to go with the former.

A better shot a few frames later. The robot has HANDS, which I do not like in any way shape or form. However, we get a better look at the sky ruins.

We haven’t seen this style of stairs before, to my knowledge. The pedestal out front looks like a light source, and it has the same floral egg thing the robot above has on each shoulder; the eggs could easily be a power source for Zonai tech. And at the top of the stairs, we see a pedestal, backing up the theory that these ruins function as our new Sheikah towers.

This is our next shot. Which...

Unikoblins. Can we talk about that? UNIKOBLINS.

Anyways, Link is here again in his old clothes. This is a very early game shot, because his right arm isn’t corrupted yet; this means we get to explore Hyrule before we embark on the main quest. Which gives rise to a question: Where’s Zelda?

The hopeful side of me wants to say that she’s a tutorial companion, like Navi or Tatl, at least for the beginning here. The pessimistic side of me thinks that she’s waiting for us at a predetermined location, and this is just part of getting to her.

Now the unikoblin structure itself is built on a Talus, meaning that the dev team at least intends to have more inter-monster interactions. But if you kill the Talus, does that mean that the base falls apart, or does it just drop down as a separate entity?

Also, what are these background ruins? The one on the left looks like it’s a distinctly different style than the one on the right. It looks almost like a giant guardian arm.

Our next shot is Link’s arm getting corrupted. Which, first of all, the effects look beautiful.

Now, we can see a corner of Link’s hip here, and we know that this is his right arm. So Link’s lying down here. Unconscious? Knowing how Zelda games like to start with Link waking up, probably. Although it looks like at least part of his shorts got an update.

We can see what looks like circuits here. It looks a bit like the electricity puzzles you can find in the Divine Beasts and Shrines in the original.

Then we’ve got these strange symbols.

Whatever this circular stone he’s lying on is, it looks a lot like the Zonai puzzle from the “A Fragmented Monument” sidequest.

This one that everyone thought was the Mirror of Twilight for years.

Our next shot is Link using the corruption powers against enemies:

The spike ball itself looks solid; the question is, is this a duplication power, or a visualization of how the spike ball is set into motion?

We see it barreling over a poor Unikoblin or two, but I’d like to turn your attention to the Moblin and the background.

The moblins here have helmets, and the bases, while they carry the same design, look like they have more cause and effect in mind. The left base’s rock, for instance; that’s a lot bigger than the rocks we got to play with in the last game, and it looks like we can barrel anything in the screen over with it.

The helmet, though, concerns me a little bit. It looks natural rather than forged; like it’s the moblin’s horn, just very much deformed. Does it mean a harder enemy, or is it just for flavor?

Our next shot is this strange flower thing. Note that Link’s right arm is perfectly fine in this shot, meaning that it’s still early game.

This is what Link’s flamethrower looks like. And this:

Is Zonai art.

So the question is, what IS the flamethrower? My first thought was that it’s either a new item in its own, or it’s a Sheikah Slate upgrade. The latter might sound a little far fetched, but Link in this game is right-handed, and in BOTW, he always held the slate in his LEFT hand when using it.

We have more of the weird faded designs that we saw on the Sky ruins:

And we’ve got some kind of pedestal or stage behind the ground flower thing:

It looks like it’s either an altar or a grave, from what I can tell. The stairs aren’t the same design as the ones in the sky, and there aren’t any patterns on it.

More importantly, though, is that this place is underground. This could be a part of the game you’re required to go through, in order to get to Raisin Gan.

A few seconds later, though, we get our answer to what the flamethrower is!

It’s a shield!

Off to the left side, we can see pillars with more weird scribblings towards the top. These match the Sky ruins’ pillar shape, with a narrow base and a wider top.

Our next scene is...weird.

We see a puddle splash in reverse. It’s hard to tell if it’s actually water or not, but the design on the ground implies that it’s either been there for a long time, or that that’s a dedicated splash spot. And the quality and zoom makes me think that this is part of a cutscene. Return of the timeshift stones?

We then see Link...surfacing out of the island? I don’t know how else to describe it. However, his arm is changed again, and glowing, meaning that this is a corruption power. And the “water” he rises out of here looks a lot like the puddle in the last clip.

We get a good look at the Zonai Lights:

A Sky ruin that looks like it contains a room:

And a glimpse of other isles’ ruins in the far distance.

And then as the camera zooms out...

We can place a location!

We’re right over Thundra Plateau!

We also get a mildly better look at the back wall of the sky ruin, which looks to be some kind of table:

The next scene is Hyrule Castle:

The ground shakes and it starts to rise up. However, notice that the columns surrounding the castle are now missing.

We’ve also got red sparks in the air, like we would have in a blood moon. However, due to the sky color, we can assume that this is a conscious decision by Gan himself, and that he isn’t drawing power from his surroundings.

We then see that power bleeding out of the ground. It’s MUCH more red than Malice is, which has always been a kind of burnt pink-ish color.

However, even though Ganon lifts the castle up, he doesn’t lift it very high.

The castle’s about triple the height it was. But since we’re talking Skyloft levels of floating islands, this is still pretty ground-level. What’s interesting to me, though, is that in this shot, despite the game now being about sky islands that we should be able to see from ground level...there aren’t any here. This, to me, means that there’s going to be a sudden appearance of the isles in the sky, rather than them simply being accessible now.

And that’s the whole trailer! I have many questions.

My blog! If you have any opnions/questions/theories, feel free to drop an ask!

Part 2 is up! We missed a lot!

#botw #botw2 #bo2w #the breath just got wilder #breakdown #analysis #e3 #trailer #theory #zelda #loz #nintendo

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antihero-writings · 3 years

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In the Temple of Dust

Fandom: The Legend of Zelda (Breath of the Wild)

Character Focus: Link

Summary: After Link completes all the shrines, even though he's stronger than he's ever been...he still isn't sure he can be the hero everyone expects him to be. So some old friends try to cheer him up. Or...maybe they're more than just friends.

Notes: I've been playing Breath of the Wild for the first time lately, so when Tale Foundry's prompt this week ended up being "In the City of Dust" that's immediately where my mind went to, haha! I had to get the BotW fic idea out of my system first. I've also wanted to write a BotW fic since starting, and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity!

This was also a bit inspired by a couple youtube videos: Zeltik's video on the Forgotten Temple potentially being Skyloft, and the Deathly Loneliness Attacks amv.

Please note that I have a very limited knowledge of the Zelda series as a whole (and I have actually not reached this point in my game yet)...so please forgive me if there were any inaccuracies! I tried my best, and I hope it was cool!

I hope you enjoy it! If you do, please consider reblogging, and/or leaving a comment!!

In the Temple of Dust

The hero took a look behind him at the crumbling columns and moss covered stones, the tree breaking out of the wall, and the now destroyed guardians lying among the ruins like the rest, a great sigh of this place, the last things alive silenced.

This whole place felt like a memory, long buried. What once must have been a grand temple now home to skeletons and monsters…and sometimes creatures that were both

He wished he remembered.

He turned forward and made his way to the foot of the goddess, where three chests sat waiting.

As his steps sounded, he heard the faint notes of music. Something like an ocarina. He looked around for the lone player, but there was nothing, no ghosts nor memory. Just, imagination or hallucination.

Did he know this place somewhere, sometime? Now it was nothing more than forgotten; forgotten by more than him alone, enough that that was a part of its name.

The goddess smiled down upon him from her place on high, the statue here taller than any of the others he’d seen, like the people who once lived here were closer to her than anyone else.

He bowed his head to say an extra thanks for good measure.

As he knelt down before the chests, and reached out to open one, his throat held his heart.

This was it. This was the reward of more than a hundred shrines worth of work. The worth of the weight of the world. Surely this would be far more than an ordinary weapon or arrow. This would be the treasure of ages.

It clicked, and he raised the lid. Sitting in the belly of the treasure chest was a green tunic.

He paused a moment to look at it quizzically, before gently reaching in and pulling it out, observing the craftsmanship, the design…trying not to feel disappointed. He wouldn’t have thought the armor of ages would be so plain. But he shouldn’t judge it for looks alone. Surely it was very valuable.

He lay it across his leg and moved on to the next chest. This was a pair of pants to go with the tunic, and the final, a hat, something like a nightcap.

Before he let disappointment overtake him, he decided to put them on. Surely he’d feel something when he did—stronger maybe? They had to be special, important, powerful. They couldn’t be anything less.

But when he put them on, he didn’t feel any stronger, any braver, any better equipped for life’s trials.

He looked at his reflection in a rusty shield in a last ditch attempt to unearth some sort of memory from his subconscious, but only more memoryless mind remained.

The echo of a hero. That’s what he always saw. Echo of a voice laid to rest a hundred years ago. A simple green tunic, without any special abilities, wouldn’t change that.

His face twisted as he groaned, pulling his sword from his back, and swinging it angrily at the air before shoving it into the ground, the sword that seals the darkness merely a stake in the mud, a monument to a lost cause.

He thought this sword would prove his worth, to others as well as himself. When that didn’t work, he thought completing all the shrines would give him answers, make him feel like the hero they all said he was. And though he was stronger than ever, it seemed the emptiness was deeper than that.

He sat on the edge of the staircase.

“Aren’t heroes supposed to have some special powers or something?” he scoffed to the empty air, leaning back against the staircase. “Or at least a sidekick? A memory to their name?” a pause. “I’m sorry I just...” A whisper: “I don’t know if I can save Hyrule after all.”

“What are you talking about?” He started at the sound of a child’s laugh…though the voice sounded oddly distant.

As he reached for the sword he found the speaker was resting his arms casually on the sword. He was indeed a child, but one that looked…oddly similar to himself. Not to mention, well…half transparent.

“You’ve had many powers over the centuries. ” He almost jumped as he saw another version of himself.

“I could control the wind! ” Another raised his hand, this one a child too, even younger than the first.

“I could walk on walls, and between worlds.” If he wasn’t mistaken, it was the painting on the far wall that spoke—he was sure it hadn’t been there before.

“I could become whatever I wanted to be, through the power of putting on a mask, ” said one leaning against the shrine, hiding his face.

“I could control time, ” said the original speaker.

“But that doesn’t make you a hero.” A wolf with strange markings walked in silently, and spoke seemingly with his thoughts.

“Can’t…Can’t you take me back to her then?” the hero asked the ghost of the first speaker. “Before all this started?”

He’d seen more than one ghost before—they even gave power to him. He knew there were enough strange things about this world to be all too fazed by this sight. Besides, perhaps it was just a dream after all. Best enjoy it while it lasts, rather than waste time being freaked out.

The child smiled. “Time was my game. This... ” he backed up, lifting his hands to gesture around him. “This is yours. ”

“What is?”

“Why this world, of course! ”

“It’s so wide, ” the shadowed one spoke.

“You’re freer than you’ve ever been,” said the wolf

“I guess…”

“What’s wrong? ”

“I mean, sure I’ve defeated monsters, and helped some people, and succeeded at the trials but—! What’s that matter if I don’t remember anything? I just…I don’t feel like the hero they all want me to be.”

“Do you think any of us felt like a hero? All we did was go around defeating monsters. ”

“And go on adventures! ” The wind one said, and they chuckled in reply.

“Did you ever consider that maybe being a hero was about more than that?” the time one spoke. “About something in here?" He touched his heart, (though the hero couldn’t feel his fingers).

“And he doesn’t mean the spirit orbs!” the wind one called, and the others laughed.

“You already have it in you.” He held out the sword to him. “I promise.”

“...Does…” He took the sword, observing his reflection in the metal. “Does it have to be this lonely?

“What are you talking about?”

Another version walked out, one who perhaps looked more like himself than the rest, and for a brief moment this place was a city in the clouds. This one’s eyes flicked briefly to the sword before saying,

“You’ve never been alone.”

Link looked around at all the ghosts, seemingly of his past selves, who all smiled in turn, and finally noticed they were all wearing the green tunic. The same one he got from the chests, now placed on his own.

“Now go kick Ganon’s butt!” The wind one put a fist in the air.

More laughter, even a few cheers, and Link smiled, rubbing the back of his neck as he replied.

“Well…I suppose I can at least try.”

The world breathed, and he shut his eyes against the wind. When he opened them again, they were gone.

The scene was a strange one to be sure, and he’d never profess to understand it. He still wasn’t quite sure he’d ever feel like the hero they all expected him to be. But as Link picked up the Master Sword, and walked back out in the world, the words of ghosts and lost memory ringing real in his head, he felt, at the very least, more like a hero than he did yesterday.

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wildshero · 3 years

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ooc: welp i went ahead and spoiled AoC for myself, under the cut are spoilers you have been warned

im super disappointed in nintendo for making everyone live. the game would have been so powerful to have the true ending that leads straight into botw. but they just love their split timelines don’t they. not every game has to end happily at risk of spoiling spider man: miles morales that game has a very bitter sweet ending with death involved, and no one is complaining. i just don’t get why they had to ahead and ruin a timeline they already firmly set up. like the game was described as being a view into what happened before the 100 years, but its not that if you go and change the whole damn story.

like ngl if botw 2 takes place after aoc i’ll be kind of disappointed, like aoc erases everything from botw

like all the heartache and shit is erased in aoc, and it takes away everything that link and zelda fought for in botw in order for it to not happen, which is fine, but at the same time like calling forth the “new” champions from the future to fight alongside you isn’t an answer to the problem. it just creates a huge paradox

so from here on out are basically my thoughts to watching the cut scenes

its just bad writing, not to mention straight up stealing the fact that zelda and impa can understand the egg from droids and their “masters” from star wars, the egg is her music box... and plays her lullaby. like stop forcing the egg on us please

why can no one see hestu til zelda can? like scuse me, no link can see the giant brocoli just fine despite this cut scene. also hestu not remembering link in botw if this scene is real? like COME ON

mipha is shit at hiding her crush

the not ganon character is a seer who wants to control their own calamity possessed egg, and sooga is like its not for mortals to control

it is weird seeing link without the slate on his armor, there’s a place for it, but its like not there.

i know its hyrule warriors and you gotta have more than two people going but like impa being there at the spring of courage... like love her all you want but nah fam this aint it also it steals story elements away from link, i know the boy is selectively mute BUT JESUS give him something please

also its like link being the hero means nothing in terms of the slate and the towers, and then the shrines. its like all of it is meaningless in this game, which like revali says what’s the point of link then

calamity comes early? what the hell? this game. im so upset, but also like rhoam getting unnecessarily angry at link for doing what he’s supposed to like jesus fucking christ then he lowkey dies like okay

purah being there when zelda breaks down and its not just link... like the whole story of botw is like fucked, and zelda has time travel tears now

like all the things that happened in botw that built the characters is erased, like everything is a group effort which like is disappointing. i love how the new champions come BUT at the same time it defeats the point of the champions ballad, and the solo battles that link has to face.

alot of the story telling elements are repeated like more obviously than in botw which is saying something

all that the new champions are seeing is for nothing... like they will go back with these memories and it will suck cause they know the current state will have been changed and so what they see will be burdens they carried alone and for nothing for their future people

link’s sacrifice is for nothing, so thanks for diminishing that for me AOC. like him fending off the four blights unlocks zelda’s power but like seriously what is the point of him in this game, he is literally useless, like he straight up disappears. and her power isn’t unlocked via her love, but seeing link fight, and then thinking of the loss of her father

the yiga joined the good side? the fuck aoc

oh link is magically back now. why is he even in this game?

her father isn’t dead but was transported to the temple of time cause of a relic zelda and her mom found. THE PLOT ARMOR, its a shield its literal plot armor oh my god. which lead to her power awakening having no real meaning

literally everything from botw is unwritten, all the strife and everything that was fought for in botw is literally gone

i liked that teba was not a fan of revali’s attitude but like he then becomes a simp for him like dude you can still be in awe and think he’s a jerk to link and in general

ah a blood moon at the end... *eyeroll* okay

harbinger ganon... *squints*

the seer becomes sucked into ganon and the egg attacks zelda and link deflects its blast killing it... WHAT IS THIS WRITING

cool zelda is crying more over this damn egg than her people in BOTW, so zelda is like 5 when her mom dies in the castle (?) its not clear, and her dad is like training only now

also the eggs name is terrako

who needs the master sword the darkness when you’ve got egg boy and zelda’s sealing power, no wonder its shit 100 years later. fi realized she wasn’t fucking needed

slice him through like butter link that’ll do it *eye roll* what happened to that courage power from the fucking master sword scene? what sealing are you doing with that sword? you sliced through him. LIKE?

things that i kinda like, and appreciate character wise

link gets flustered easily. revali revels in the fact that link will be the fallen knight and his reputation what little he has will be ruined, it is also well known that link is in fact a nobody meaning his family is not noble born, but that does not mean his family, read his father, on this blog is a nobody.

urbosa defending link from revali’s bullshit

link fighting malice champions from the totally “not ganon” hooded figure

link is officially considered a champion, and talks with urbosa

impa being pissy with the egg, i feel it. i am tired of the fucking egg pushing himself in too

sooga is the only character i want to see in botw2

link can teleport more than one person is confirmed, though three max is like it in a weakened state.

as much as i hate how many paradoxes this creates, yunobo and sidon’s enterances are very good, and teba’s and riju’s are similar. urbosa recognizing she’s in trouble is very in character for her imo.

i liked that all in hyrule worked together but like at what cost

i prefer this design of calamity ganon

the master sword lets FUCKING DISCUSS

ahahaha no. link pulls the sword when he’s a kid. I WANT TO HAVE A DISCUSSION NINTENDO GIVE ME YOUR NUMBER

like the scene is cool and all but we’re gonna be rewriting that bullshit. the only thing im taking from it is apparently link and the sword together have some courage power a-la zelda’s healing power... NOT THAT IT MATTERS CAUSE HE DOESN’T GET TO FUCKING USE IT

HOWEVER he does not pull it for the first time right then and there, sorry nope, not happening

The story is very much zelda’s which it should be, but like every moment that could have been link’s was taken by another character because of how hyrule warrior’s opperates. like if you want to play as zelda this is your game

im just disappointed, it erases everything from botw quite literally. it gives the new champions memories that they bare alone because zelda and link wont be there in 100 years to help them with it...

link was useless in the game. like you could literally write him out and have the same game, having the master sword literally does fucking nothing because of how OP zelda is. like its called legend of zelda and rightfully so but Link becomes a literal footnote. purah and others takes his place in all the important scenes that were his before.

and like i said if BOTW2 takes place after this its gonna be disappointing and not as dark as nintendo is intending IMO, they should have let this game end the way it does in the lead up to BOTW, it would have been so much more rewarding in my opinion yes you “technically lose” but you would still get some awesome final moments with zelda, and it would hype you up for BOTW.

there were parts i liked obviously, but there were major issues, and this is JUST STORY BASED, im not even talking game play.

#tw: aoc spoilers #ooc: out of memories #i am so disappointed

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bubble-tea-bunny · 5 years

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the fairy fountain

[jaime lannister x reader]

author’s note: inspired by botw, which i have been playing a lot recently (and might write for?? hmmMMM). enjoy, lovelies((:

word count: 6,028

He finds it on accident.

Dusk begins to settle when Jaime slows his horse to a stop just off the Kingsroad, at a small inn next to a similarly small farm. A couple of children play in the tall grass, but pause to observe the newcomers. The other soldiers traveling with Jaime follow his lead, sliding off their horses before tethering them to the hitching rail. Though no one says anything, the atmosphere is slow and tired, for the day had been long, and they still had, at the very least, a day and a half more of much the same until they arrived back in King’s Landing.

Jaime lingers, fatigue getting the best of him as he takes his time dismounting. He waves his men to go on ahead; he’d join them shortly. The reins are wrapped around his hand but before he can even come close to the rail, his horse neighs and bucks, attempting to tug itself away. He’s only barely able to keep his grip on the reins, fingers curled tight, and he’s scrambling to soothe his horse but it isn’t effective. It doesn’t seem to hear his low murmurs, and he can’t reach up to stroke the side of its face when it’s moving around as much as it is.

And he realizes something is wrong. His horse doesn’t just do these things, doesn’t act out. Anger momentarily rises within him for this reason, his patience thin for a royal steed who’d been disciplined to be better than this. For after all, what could be thought of a knight who could nary control his own horse? Nothing very good, that’s for certain. But it’s also because he understands how unusual this is that he is able to placate his irritation, instead doubling down on his efforts to calm the restless animal.

It still pulls hard on its restraints, and Jaime knows it’s holding back. If it wanted, it was more than capable of knocking him off his feet and dragging him along. Nonetheless, the determination that seems to sprout from nowhere confuses him. What did it want?

“What do you want?” he questions aloud, enough to be heard over the horse’s whinnies but quiet enough that those inside the inn and the kids running by the farm don’t hear. His horse snorts, digs its hoof into the ground once, twice, shakes its head so that its mane and its ears flop. All at once it stops its fighting, like it understands what Jaime’s saying, and Jaime repeats himself, quieter now, as he watches his steed closely and strokes the fur of its neck, for it can’t speak but maybe like humans it can speak through its eyes and they have trained together, so Jaime knows it better than anyone else.

That’s why, when he deduces that perhaps his horse wants to go somewhere, he gives no second thoughts to slipping his foot through the stirrup and getting back into the saddle. While he has no destination in mind, his horse apparently does, and he can’t help chuckling at the ridiculousness of it, that now the horse is leading the man. If his soldiers were out here, they’d ask him what he was doing, and then, he might ignore whatever it is his horse is wanting to say, wanting to show, because the man leads the horse and of course the horse isn’t wanting to show anything because it’s not intelligent in that way. Yes, of course and Jaime would force it to calm down so that he can join his men inside.

But his feeling are different when he’s alone with his horse, the absence of other voices making it difficult to ignore that feeling in his gut, to entertain the animal’s curiosity because maybe they are more intelligent than people think.

The horse follows Jaime’s commands to back away from the rail and turn around, but after that, Jaime allows it to do as it will. They’re facing the Kingsroad, but rather than get back onto it, they cross, delving into the thicket on the other side. Here, the trees are so densely packed that what little light is left of the day is blocked out, but had it been midday, it would still be dark. Jaime brings a hand up to the pommel of his sword, wary of any danger and continuing to wonder where they could possibly be going. Was he wrong to assume his horse was walking somewhere specific? Maybe he’d been seeing things in the bleariness of fatigue, and now the two of them are merely wandering.

He’s not stuck debating with himself for long, for a spot of light grabs his attention in the dimness—multiple spots of lights do. They’re small but incredibly bright, flittering about but never straying far from the peculiar formation they surround. Jaime’s eyes narrow as he tries to figure out what that formation is, because he’s not quite prepared to believe that it is what he thinks it is. He wants to get closer, but there’s no need for directing his horse to go in that direction because it’s walking towards the mysterious cluster of trees all on its own.

The fireflies surround what Jaime can no longer deny is a giant flower, petals splayed out to welcome a sun it can’t see. A trail of stones forms a walkway to the center, where a small pond sparkles with the reflection of the fireflies’ light. Mushrooms of varying color sprout in a circle around the flower, and the moment Jaime’s horse steps within those boundaries, it slows to a stop.

For a moment, Jaime hesitates to dismount, unsure of what he might find. Remaining in the saddle would ensure a quicker getaway. A part of him considers that it shouldn’t be suspicious given that he stands now before a large flower, which hardly seems threatening, but the other part of him, the part that makes him cautious, is making note of how unusual a sight like this is, and flower or not, he’s never come across anything like it.

He’s not sure how long he stands there, staring at the scene in front of him, expecting something to move or to change, but the pond is still and the fireflies continue their patternless paths, some of them coming close to his horse’s snout, circling around as if wanting to play before floating back. Jaime doesn’t know what he should do. Should he leave? Should he attempt to explore? He says that he’s found this place on accident but he understands deep down that isn’t the case because his horse had walked here with no instruction on Jaime’s part, had walked with purpose, like it’s always known what’s been hiding in this forest. And it had led Jaime right to it.

Movement in his peripherals breaks Jaime from his internal conflict, a small shifting of grass and a swaying of a petal, like something had just run by it—or behind.

“Hello?” Jaime calls out, his eyes narrowing. The hand which has remained on his sword pommel all the while tightens its grip. “Is anyone there?” All that follows is silence and he second guesses whether or not he had actually spotted anything to begin with. He’s got sharp eyes but maybe in the dark they are only playing tricks.

Beneath him, he feels his horse shake its head with a short snort and dig its hooves into the dirt, displacing pebbles. And that’s when he notices you there, just behind the far petals, peeking over timidly, head visible only halfway so that he meets your gaze almost entirely obscured by shadow but for the gentle glitter of the fireflies passing over and across it, and perhaps even within because eyes are windows and all these lightning bugs are your suns.

You watch him, and he watches you, but then your attention strays, switching to the horse whose head is held high. Jaime notices it’s looking right at you, thoroughly enraptured, like it knows who you are.

“Will you come out from there?” Jaime speaks again, and luckily, you don’t hide as soon as you hear his voice. You don’t answer but you’re clearly hesitant to reveal yourself. He understands. This may well be your home (though he can’t fathom why or how anyone could live here, tucked away in the darkness of the woods) and a strange man has just wandered in, but as said strange man, Jaime is inclined to think that everything else about this—the giant flower that somehow no one has stumbled across before, the abundance of fireflies, his horse’s enchantment by you—is stranger. He ponders briefly if perhaps he’s dreaming, but if so, he’d like to see more, as much as he can before he wakes.

His question gets him nowhere, so to ease the nerves he assumes you feel, his hand leaves his sword and he dismounts, his horse’s reins held loosely in his hand as he stands next to it. “I won’t hurt you.” He doesn’t miss the way your eyes slide back to his steed, and he uses that curiosity to his advantage. “You can pet him, if you’d like.”

For the second time, his horse is what draws you from your hiding place, and now you fully reveal yourself, stepping to the side so you can round the large petals that had done well to conceal you. Your white dress is simple, thin and featuring dirtied, tattered edges from being dragged along the dirt. With every slow, steady step, your feet peek out and he finds them bare. Long hair cascades down your back, un-styled and disheveled. If this were King’s Landing, you would warrant no extra glance. When compared to the refinement of those in the capital, you are hardly extraordinary, and there, you’d fit in best with the smallfolk, and he might never see your face. But out here with the little lightning bugs trailing on your heels, Jaime knows you are far from ordinary.

You stop several paces away, the final bit of uncertainty keeping you from covering the gap. He exhales silently, observing you carefully and nodding in reassurance that it’s okay to come closer and you are a deer in the wild. Any sudden movements would frighten and scare you off, so he stays rooted to this spot, the boots of his heavy armor sinking into the moist soil. Your footfalls are silent, your lack of any shoes meaning your feet don’t press into the dirt with each step. Rather, they stay right at the surface, like you’re weightless.

Finally, you are near, near enough that your outstretched hand reaches the horse’s snout and Jaime can hear your little sigh as your lips curve into a small smile. You’re so enamored by the animal that it’s like you’ve forgotten he’s there, but he doesn’t mind. It gives him a chance to study you in better detail, surveying you from head to toe and wondering what you’re doing here, deep in the woods.

“Do you live here?” he inquires, breaking the quiet. His eyes scan the surrounding area for any sign of a cottage, but sees none.

Never pausing in your gentle stroking of the horse’s fur, you turn to Jaime, neither nodding nor shaking your head. He’s unsure if you understood him, and concludes that if this is the case, his conversation with you is going to be a lot more difficult than he thought. But thankfully, you know the common tongue, for you nod once.

His next question was to specify where, exactly, though he can’t shake the suspicion that the answer would be, well, here: with a flower whose size is more fit for whimsical children’s stories than reality, and with the lightning bugs, and with the small pond. This is your home, and maybe in a few hours, when he truly begins to tire and runs the risk of hallucinations, he’ll think about the scene which he has stumbled across and reason that this is all from a book and he’s stepped into the pages to join you. Though what had caused this strange turn of events, that he should find himself crossing over from his plane of existence into another, into yours, he can’t say.

A quiet snort draws Jaime’s attention to his horse, who looks thoroughly contented by your ministrations. The smile is still on your face, tender and fond despite the fact you’ve never met it until now. Perhaps it speaks for a connection that had always been there. After all, it was Jaime’s horse that had found this place, had walked a line straight to it. The longer he watches the two of you interact, like old friends, he comes to realize you’re what his horse was searching for.

The more he thinks, the more confused he becomes. With furrowed brows, he presents another question. “Who are you?”

Once more, you’re slow to respond, gaze sliding over to him. It’s your turn to study him, the expression on his face and the overwhelming curiosity etched into every line. His concern now shifts to the idea that while you know the common tongue, you might not be able to speak, and his query can’t be answered with any movement of your head. But your striking eyes seem to pierce not just into but through his soul and he understands that’s not a concern at all. Maybe the sense of myth and mystery which saturates this nook of the forest is a hint, one that you wait for him to grasp before you should grace him with any sort of reply.

He’s asking the wrong question.

“What are you?” he rephrases, and with bated breath he waits, scrutinizing the muted glow behind your eyes like burning embers, the deathbed of a fire as the sun peeks over the horizon.

And you smile just a tiny bit and it’s amused and Jaime is caught off guard because it makes you seem so human and the sentiment is no longer strange to state because he knows you aren’t—aren’t human, aren’t like him—and you open your mouth to utter your first words in what has thus far been a one-sided conversation.

“You’ve met me before.”

Jaime is only more confused. Perhaps you’d meant to do it, phrase your sentence the way you did, having been given a soft voice by the gods upon your creation to give softly spoken riddles. If this is a game, he has no desire to play. He just wants answers. Surely you sense his frustration, but you don’t give him a direct response because you know Jaime is at your mercy. This is a game, and it’s yours, and he has no other choice but to play if wants to learn anything.

So he takes a deep breath and plays your game, wracking his brain for where he could have possibly met you in the past. Had his claim that you’d fit in with the smallfolk at King’s Landing hit the nail on the head more than he’d first assumed? Maybe you live in the capital and he had quickly passed over your face, barely registering it before it was out of his mind completely. But then why are you all the way out here? Kings Landing is still about two days’ journey south, and there’s no other horse in sight. You couldn’t possibly have walked the entire stretch.

Evidently, to see him focusing this hard has caused you to pity him enough that you grant him another hint. “You’ve met me in the lines of old books and in the voices of the ones who keep them.”

Jaime’s eyes narrow and he does his best to interpret the still vague sentence. The only line of thought this new piece of information is leading him down is so silly it’s absurd, but with one quick glance at the large flower behind you, he throws caution to the wind and follows the path, right down the rabbit hole.

There’s a large library in the Red Keep housing tomes thousands of years old. Jaime had delved into a fair few when he was younger, tutored by the elders who oversaw the care of those books. They knew every story in the finest detail, and imparted their knowledge both of the concrete and the abstract, of the history of this land and the mythos and magics which sprouted throughout that timeline. He’d met you somewhere there…

His eyes lift from the ground to meet your gaze, and the embers have rekindled so that the haze of the heat dances and he is pulled in, tumbling through time until he is just a boy and he’s reading those books and hearing those stories and there are no pictures and there are no pictures. The previous claims of feeling like he has stepped into the pages of an ancient leather-bound had not been unfounded because his subconscious knew all along and there are no pictures because there had been nothing to draw. Of course.

“You’re a fairy,” he says finally. This gives you pause as you stop petting the horse, your hands dropping down to your sides as you look at him. He glimpses over your shoulder at the flower and the water and the fireflies and it’s beginning to make sense, the pieces falling into place.

Incredible. He lets out a breath steadily and it’s the slightest bit shaky. How many others had seen this sight? And why hadn’t any of them made record of it on paper? He takes in his surroundings with a renewed understanding, and as he returns his gaze back to you, where you still stand before him, by his horse, waiting patiently for him to come to terms with what he has learned, he speculates that perhaps it wasn’t that those who’d come before couldn’t do it, but that they wouldn’t. The shroud of mystery kept the fountain safe, kept you safe, because now that Jaime knows where he’s heard of you, he also knows what you’re capable of, and it bode well for you to remain as nothing but a bedtime story.

To bear witness to a scene like this is to call his perception of reality into question. You had always been here, tucked into these woods, called the animals who roam and wander in this place your friends. You should be nothing but a rumor, but Jaime, despite his earlier fatigue, is wide awake now, and this is no figment of his imagination. And suddenly anything seems possible and he can’t help it, the way his heart squeezes as he thinks that, because it’s a breath of fresh air which fills his lungs and the crystal lens through which he’s seeing life and life is beautiful and so are you and the fountain you call home and it’s truly no wonder the ones who have discovered your hideaway would want to keep you concealed from anyone that might seek to disrupt all of this.

A sense of calm washes over him, and you notice this, apparent by the little upturn of the corner of your lips, and maybe that’s why he needed to figure it out by himself. Coming to his own conclusion is where that power came from.

There’s no hesitation in his resolution to keep you a secret. He doesn’t voice it, but he doesn’t need to; you could discern his decision just by looking at him. Once night fully falls, he returns not to a waking world, for he had never fallen asleep, but to one distinctly absent of you, and none of it feels right, not anymore. The encounter with you hadn’t lasted long, even if it had felt like it, felt like time had slowed to a near halt, and when he arrives at the inn, the soldiers barely notice he’d been missing. They’re consumed in conversation, laughs loud and exaggerated due to the alcohol, but Jaime doesn’t care about the ruckus. He’s so caught up in his thoughts he doesn’t join them for dinner and goes straight to his room.

The noises are muffled behind the door once it shuts, and a series of thuds bounces off the walls as Jaime sets his sword aside and sheds his armor. He sits on the edge of his bed with a quiet groan, his body more than ready for sleep. He blows out the candle on the nightstand, lays down, and stares at the dying light of the wick thinking about your eyes until his own are too heavy to keep open. And he dreams of a closed flower alone in an empty field but it’s not lonely, for the fireflies keep it company and their light peels the petals back, a full bloom at midnight.

Two days later, he rides into King’s Landing, but he’s already yearning to return to that special patch of the forest. As he hands off his horse to the stable master, there’s a glint in the animal’s eye, as if it has that same longing to go back, and Jaime can’t say out loud that yes, we’ll go back, I promise, for there are other ears listening now, but he gives it an extra pat on the neck, a motion he hopes can speak for him instead.

When he has the chance, he pays a visit to the library, and tries not to sound too eager as he asks about the location of a specific book. He finds the appropriate corner, runs his index finger along the spines, murmurs the titles to himself. The tome is fourth from the end of the shelf, and he pulls it out carefully, for the bindings are weak and too hard a tug would tear it. He takes a seat at the nearby table and flips through it, waving away the mustiness that’s gathered within the pages over the years.

He almost skips over the passage. Since there are no pictures, he has to skim the paragraphs closely to check if he’s at the right chapter. And then he comes across the writings about creatures called the fae, with their rings and their attachment to animals and then, at the very end, a brief discussion on the existence of fairy fountains—mostly speculations, sprinkled with theories of location and appearance, but ultimately brushed off as nothing more than rumor. The section ends here, no picture to complement the words, not even an artist’s interpretation.

You’re a well-kept secret, possibly the best in the entirety of Westeros, and Jaime plans to ensure it stays that way. The last line of the page states that a fairy is only found when it want to be, and actively searching for one would prove to be a fruitless expedition. At this, he tilts his head. Had you known Jaime was the one who would find you? Or had you simply emerged from your fountain after a thousand years of slumber and waited for the first person who should cross your path? Regardless of which situation it was, he considers himself very lucky to have been that one.

The more days pass that he’s away from you, the more he comes to understand the extent of your power. He can’t travel out on his own without raising some suspicion, so he’s simply stuck attending to his duties until the next opportunity he has to ride along that particular stretch of the Kingsroad. All the while his chest aches for that hiding spot shadowed by the thick clustering of trees and for that sensation your presence offers, of feeling lighter than air, like he might grow wings and fly. He wants to be close to you, and with every hour, minute, second when he’s not, he thinks he could reach in and grab at his heart just to pull it out and discover a chunk of it missing, and the hole growing larger still.

Fireflies have been making their way to King’s Landing (Jaime wishes he could make his way back to you). At sunset, when the sky morphs into oranges and reds then into dark blues and purples, the yellow spots of light blink among the trees and in the streets, and little kids chase them around to catch and put in jars, where they might watch that steady glow from their rooms, the last thing they see before they sleep. And Jaime would like to keep you in a jar of his own so you could always be with him.

An eternity seems to pass before he’s finally on the Kingsroad again, traveling to another hold on business for the king. All of it passes in a blur, the journey there, the matters discussed with the ruler who presides over the region. Then on the ride back, the clock resumes its normal speed, the tick-tock an echo counting off every step his horse takes.

The inn is unchanged, as is the small farm next to it, and Jaime observes them fondly now, given what they signal to him. He doesn’t dismount even as the other soldiers do, and they ask if he’s coming inside. He tells them he’ll head inside in a bit and to go in without him. They don’t question it. Once the last man has entered the humble little rest stop, Jaime turns his horse around, and they cross into the woods.

Jaime has no need to call out to you when he gets to the fountain, for you aren’t hiding. Rather, you’re perched on the edge of the pond, knees drawn to your chest and arms wrapped around them. You’re staring into the water, watching the reflection of the lightning bugs, but look up at the sound of the jingling reins. You spot Jaime and smile warmly, and it reaches your eyes, and he can almost swear that it’s like you’ve been waiting for him all this time. Do you dream of him too?

You stand but remain at the pond’s edge, hands clasped in front of you. Welcome back you greet quietly, and yes, he’s certain you’ve been waiting for this day, judging by the twinkle in your gaze. You’ve no doubt been more patient about the time gone by, but that’s no surprise because though you don’t look the part, you are thousands of years old, and what are a few weeks more for someone like you to wait?

Jaime grins the moment he hears your voice, and he dismounts, walking his horse the rest of the way to you. You scratch the animal’s head in greeting, taking the time, as you had before, to meet its large black eyes and communicate silently, a hello and a nice to cross paths again and other things too, maybe.

As you pet it, Jaime lets the reins slip from his fingers. There are no hitching rails here, but they’re not needed. His horse doesn’t stray far from this spot, remaining in the light of the fireflies and what bit of the sun pierces the canopy above. So he allows his horse to wander where it will, and it settles on a spot to eat some grass moist from dew.

You have never ventured far from these woods, have never walked a distance great enough that this large flower is out of sight. Jaime says he’d like to show you all of Westeros and he’s imagining now what that might be like, because for him, the novelty of the kingdoms has faded. He has traversed them over and over, and the only part that seems to change is the seasons. But to have you around would be that new experience that he may not have necessarily been looking for but one that is nonetheless welcome, as he watches the awe light up your face and he’ll wish he could feel that again for himself but the next best option was to feel them through you, and that would be plenty. And perhaps he’d procure a boat to sail the Narrow Sea, if that’s what you wanted.

“I would like that,” you murmur, not wanting to disrupt the peace. You don’t go beyond conditionals because it’s all those reveries will ever be, for you can’t leave the fountain. Jaime knows this, of course; he’d read about it, and the reality leaves him crestfallen, but that doesn’t last long because you ask him instead to describe it to you, the far reaches of this land you’ll never see, and he does so. He spares you of the boring technical details and puts his storytelling skills to use for he has told many stories of his adventures and he recounts them now to you, and you hang on his every word, and you’re the only audience he cares about.

By the end of it, at least of the current string of tales, he lapses into a brief silence, and then glances at you, where you sit next to him by the pond whose water ripples when a leaf floats down and lands on the surface. “You’ve really never tried to leave?” he asks, still unable to comprehend how long you’ve been alive and how not once has the urge gripped you to even attempt to explore, and see what might happen.

The question requires no context and you shake your head but you don’t look sad about it. He learns why with the next words flowing from your mouth like water in the desert. I’m content to be here you remark, holding out your hand for the fireflies to flitter around, and one rests its wings and settles atop the pad of your finger. You let it stay there as long as it likes, and then you look at Jaime and it’s at this point because you are so close to him that he starts to think it’s not the fireflies that make your eyes glitter but something else, something from within and maybe that’s all the light this flower needs, perpetually open, like an offer of a warm embrace. When someone like you brings the world to me, I can’t be left in want of much else, can I?

Your sweet smile warms Jaime from the inside out, and he wonders if this is how you feel, with that eternal sunshine burning in your chest. He wouldn’t mind feeling this way forever. “I guess not, no,” he responds, chuckling and turning to watch the firefly in your hand take off. The air is filled with the buzzing and chirping of insects who have come out now that it’s cooler, and Jaime spots his horse shaking its head, swatting away the fireflies who get too close and tickle at its ears.

The peacefulness overwhelms him, enough that he forgets himself, his mind and spirit melding with his surroundings until it’s impossible to distinguish what is what in the swirling mist which manifests as the slow breath you let out in the increasingly chilly night. In this patch of forest, there are no names, no titles. There’s just him and you and that’s all that seems to matter and everything past the edges of the forest seem so inconsequential in comparison. How could Jaime hope to return to the drudge of all that?

In the months since the last visit his heart has squeezed and fought to escape the confines of its cage, on a search for the place it feels most at home. He had always been so convinced that he was meant for the Kingsguard, meant to be most comfortable with a sword in his hand and the name of Kingslayer following wherever he should go. But he watches while you run your fingertips through the water and his convictions grow shaky, his chest squeezing so tightly now it hurts, as if it were telling him it is so close to the object it’s been looking for all this time and Jaime need just reach out to touch you to set it at ease. And perhaps his prior ambitions had been sorely misplaced because he has never been more comfortable and sure of himself than he has right here.

“You look like you’re thinking very hard about something.”

Jaime blinks and sees your grin, barely illuminated by the lightning bugs and the moonlight. He smiles and nods—You caught me—but he doesn’t brush it off, taking the opportunity to state aloud some of his thoughts for you to hear.

“The people that find you, did they feel like this too? Like…” A beat of contemplation, and then a deep sigh. “Like they’re home.”

He watches you closely, studying your expression, and it takes you a second to reply, for you’re considering his question. And then you take in a lungful of air, staring out into the darkness, where the nocturnal animals roam.

“Those who have found this place find what they want to find,” you explain slowly, wanting to choose your words carefully. “A spring of knowledge, a fountain of healing, simply a place to rest for a while. And now, as it seems with you, a home.”

The way you phrase your response implies this is the first instance anyone has felt this way upon discovering the fountain. But Jaime knows it’s not the fountain itself that’s the reason for why he feels like this, it’s you, and it never could’ve been anything else, and he wonders if he’s foolish to fall in love with a fairy, but the softness of your smile and the embers in your gaze tell him otherwise. He is no fool at all.

Jaime has no idea what time it is when you must part. If he had his way, he’d stay with you until sunrise, prolonging the moment as much as he’s able because truthfully, he doesn’t know when he’ll next be able to visit. You walk with him to his horse, but before he gets on, he turns to you and slowly lifts a hand to set on your cheek. Your large eyes remind him of a deer's, but you’re not skittish anymore. You lean into the warmth of his skin as his thumb strokes the slope your cheekbone.

“You’ll be here when I return, won’t you?” He’s not sure why he asks this; you’d been here waiting expectantly for him after your first encounter, so why would it be different? He supposes it’s because now that he’s acknowledged what he feels, what it means for him to be at the fairy fountain and with you (and it means everything), he’s nervous it might be ripped away from him. To hear your reassurance would quell those worries.

You grin, bright and beautiful, and set your smaller hand atop his own. “A home always waits with welcoming arms.”

You’re a fairy of few words, but they’re always the right ones. Jaime smiles and his soul is melting. He leans down to set a gentle kiss on your head, and he lingers, lips brushing against your hair, memorizing this instance so that he can dream of it, play it on repeat in his mind’s eye, a way to keep you near him no matter the distance in between.

The fireflies guide him back to the Kingsroad, and they’re quickly replaced by the fires burning in the sconces of the inn. He glances over his shoulder, at the silhouette of towering trees, but the small spots of light have disappeared. He hardly pays attention as he goes through the motions of dismounting and tethering his horse to the rail. His movements are sluggish, like he’s just woken from a long nap. With one final pat on the animal’s back, Jaime heads inside, where no one but the innkeeper is up.

In his room, he lays on his back, staring at the ceiling barely lit by the moon and stars and waiting for sleep to claim him. In the hazy line separating consciousness and unconsciousness, he comes to the conclusion that he’s not falling in love; he’s already fallen. And he would gladly do it again and again and again—

#jaime lannister x reader #jaime lannister imagine #game of thrones imagine #game of thrones #jaime lannister #bubble-tea-bunny #queue

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tfloosh · 6 years

Text

Discovery

Week 4 is here!!! I’m starting the week off with some post-game BotW Zelink. Enjoy!!!

Zelda was exceptionally giddy when she woke that morning. Today was the day Link promised to take her exploring across Hyrule. Sure it was disguised as a trip to reestablish diplomatic relations with the four faces across Hyrule, but Zelda knew Link saw it for what she really wanted: a chance to rediscover Hyrule. So much had changed over the past one hundred years. Even little Hateno Village had grown from a few sparse rice patties and homes to a thriving town. She had enjoyed staying at Link’s house there and talking with Purah about the changes in technology while she had been fighting Ganon, but she needed to get out and see what was left of her country.

“The Princess can only thrive in the wild,” Link had said teasingly the night before.

Link had their horses saddled and ready for their journey just as the sun was breaking into the sky. They had enough food for the first leg of their journey, which would take them to the Zora’s Domain.

“Are your old friends still there?” Zelda asked once they set out on the path to the Dueling Peaks. “The ones you would play with when you were younger. What did you call yourselves? Bazz’s Bad Bunch?”

“The Big Bad Bazz Brigade,” Link corrected, his cheeks turning slightly pink. “And yes, they are all guards for the Domain now. One of them, Rivan, even has a daughter.”

“That’s so strange to think about,” Zelda mused. “So much of Hyrule seems untouched through those hundred years, but then you meet the people. The grandparents who were children during the Great Calamity, the people who grew up with the legend of Hyrule at its height.”

“The Rito assumed I was a descendent of the Hylian Champion,” Link explained. “I didn’t know how to correct them. How do you say you’re not a descendent of yourself?”

Zelda laughed.

***

“I want to show you something,” Link grinned as they repacked their horses. They had stopped for a quick lunch in Kakariko Village and were about to head out again, but apparently Link had other plans.

He grabbed her hand and led her back toward the east gate. Zelda wanted to ask where they were going, but the grin still on Link’s face told her he wouldn’t say. They raced up the side of the mountain and past the shrine that was there. Link picked a beautiful blue flower and handed it to her.

“Nightshade,” he said. “It will help reduce noise from movement if cooked properly, and it glows in the dark.”

“Link, did you study the properties of herbs and plants while you adventured across Hyrule?” Zelda’s eyes lit up.

“Inadvertently,” he grinned. “But that’s not what I really wanted to show you.”

He led her further into the forested area until they caught sight of what appeared to be a giant flower.

“It’s a Great Fairy’s spring,” Link explained. “I thought you would want to see it.”

“Why didn’t you show it to me any of the other times we were here?” Zelda gasped as she walked forward to inspect the spring further.

“Because we were busy then,” he shrugged. “And this trip is all about discovering new things.”

Zelda rolled her eyes and gave Link a small shove. They spent the next twenty minutes looking at all the different plants around the spring. Zelda smiled at seeing a small cluster of Silent Princesses, and Link informed her of the augmentation properties of all the samples she had collected.

“I’ll have to start a research journal for this trip,” Zelda said as they rode down the slope to the ruins of Goponga Village.

“We can get a book in the Domain,” Link said.

***

“I will forever be amazed by the beauty of the Zora’s Domain,” Zelda sighed as they stood before the statue of Mipha. “It is fitting that the greatest craftsmen in all of Hyrule would memorialize her in stone. I pray the ending of Calamity Ganon has given the Zora here even more closure over the loss of their Princess.”

“It truly has, Your Highness,” Prince Sidon smiled down at them. “The elders have even welcomed Ruta shutting down. I would even go so far as to say Father doesn’t mind it either.”

“Oh, I don’t mind Vah Ruta shutting down,” Zelda said. “I would just like to know why. Even after all these years, we still know so little about how the Divine Beasts work. I’m afraid those who would know best are our lost Champions.”

“But that can wait ‘til tomorrow,” Link said.

Zelda whipped her head around, “What?”

“We’re going exploring tonight,” Link smiled. “Sidon agreed to show us the Veiled Falls.”

“I remember that waterfall,” Zelda grinned as the two led the way to their destination. “I believe that’s where I first met you, Sidon, though you might have been too young to remember. Mipha was teaching you how to swim up waterfalls.”

“I do remember her teaching me,” Sidon frowned. “But I did not know you were present.”

“Yes, Mipha agreed to pilot Ruta then,” Zelda saw Sidon’s frown deepen, so she changed the subject. “You were so small then, I almost didn’t believe Link when he introduced you.”

Sidon laughed, “At least swimming up waterfalls is easier now.”

***

“These fireproof elixirs are disgusting,” Zelda made a face as she took another swallow.

“You seemed to enjoy making them well enough,” Link smirked.

“Because that was science,” she complained. “I wish your flamebreaker armor fit me.”

“You still feel the heat in that,” he pointed out. “So trust me when I say drinking the elixir is much better, despite the taste.”

“It’s been so long since I’ve been to Goron City,” Zelda skipped along the path to examine a smotherwing butterfly. “Has it changed any?”

“There’s a new rock sculpture of Daruk,” Link answered quietly so he wouldn’t scare off the butterfly. “At least I think it’s new. You’ll remember better than me.”

“Is your memory really still that spotty?” she turned away from the butterfly to examine him more closely.

“I remember memories of us best,” he blushed. “But details from them are hard to make out sometimes. And it’s hard to piece together memories from when I was younger.”

“Do you remember your family at all?” Zelda’s brow furrowed.

“I know more about them from what other people have told me,” Link started walking again to have something to do. “My memories are best triggered by locations or sensations, and we lived in Castletown.”

“Which is in unrecognizable ruins,” she nodded understandingly. “Then we will have to rebuild.”

“What?” Link froze where he stood.

“You deserve to remember your family and other childhood memories,” Zelda said without stopping. “I remember mine far too clearly, and I don’t want to be the only one that suffers with embarrassing childhood memories.”

“Hey wait a second,” Link jogged to catch up with the now laughing Zelda.

***

“So how much of our time together do you remember?” Zelda asked as they cut across Hyrule Field toward the Gerudo Desert.

“More than you think,” Link said, a small smiled crossing his face. “Those pictures you left on the Sheikah Slate really helped, and I could fill in most of the rest on my own.”

“And the, uh, feelings that came with those memories?” she blushed, letting her hair fall in front of her face so Link wouldn’t see.

“Those are a little disconnected,” he admitted. “I didn’t find the places in your pictures in order, so I got a little mixed up with the feelings I had while experiencing the events and the feelings I felt remembering the events. I felt anger toward you when you went to that shrine in Tabantha without me, but when I remembered it, I had already remembered your struggles and anxieties, so I knew why you were taking your anger out on me. So I remembered I felt anger, but now I also remember compassion and wanting to help you, and I really want to slap the old king sometimes, Hylia bless his soul.”

Zelda couldn’t help but laugh, “I understand. I’m surprised you can keep it all straight.”

“I tend to focus on my feelings from the second go round, which makes things somewhat easier,” he shrugged. “And probably better for you anyway.”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” she cried indigently, but Link was already sprinting away on his horse, laughter flying with the wind.

***

Link found Zelda sitting on the edge of the platform next to the Akh Va’quot Shrine. She was talking with Kass. Link could imagine Kass telling her all about his teacher, the Sheikah poet who worked in the old Royal Court. Zelda was aware of the bard’s feelings for her; the Sheikah’s songs were not subtle, but she never had the heart to spurn his feelings. Link thought the whole thing was quite ridiculous, but he had enjoyed Kass’ stories of his teacher after the Great Calamity struck nonetheless.

“Ah, hello Link,” Kass said cheerily when Link finally joined them on the ledge. “Here to enjoy the beautiful night as well?”

“There is no better place to see the stars,” Link smiled and let his legs dangle next to Zelda’s off the ledge.

“Kass, would you mind if I talked with Link alone?” she asked in that sweet way no one could ever say no to.

They sat for a time in silence after Kass left, and Link was never one to start a conversation, so he waited for Zelda.

“I’ve been debating whether or not to talk to you about this,” she started. “But after talking with Kass, it would seem that you already know.”

She looked at him, her green eyes shining in the blue light from the shrine.

“Link, I have romantic feelings for you, and I didn’t want to make you feel pressured to return them, which is why I held them in since we were reunited,” she smiled. “But I have loved you for one hundred years.”

Link smiled back and moved his hand so it rested on hers, “I don’t remember much of the past, but I do know I loved you until my dying breath, and I remembered I loved you before I remembered your name. I would be happy to always walk by your side, if you would have me.”

“Only if you consent to walk beside me,” Zelda laughed. “No more of that three paces behind business. I could always feel you staring at me.”

“It was a part of the job,” he laughed back. He squeezed her hand. “I’ll always protect you.”

“I know,” she said before leaning in to kiss his cheek.

Link reached over to cup her cheek in his hand and gave her a proper kiss.

“I’ve been waiting one hundred years to do that,” he smiled.

“Well you don’t have to stop now,” she grumbled.

Link pulled her closer, “Yes, Princess.”

#zelink #zelink month #zelink month 2018 #botw zelink #botw #loz #flooshfics

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heartofhryule · 6 years

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Breath of the Wild: Captured Memories - Chapter 6

First and foremost; SPOILER WARNINGS. If you have not played The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, or completed the Captured Memories Quest and want to stay unspoilered for it, DO NOT READ. Keep Reading link provided for that reason. So I am writing these as I play through BotW for the first time - which means they probably won’t be ‘one-a-day’ consistent - I have finally gotten all of the memories, but not yet gone for the final fight at Hyrule Castle. #Soon. I will post them as I can though! Promise! I also plan to include links to the cutscene for you to watch at the bottom, if so desired - at least for the ones I can find. Any other warnings that become necessary, I will add for content as I go. For now, enjoy!

Hot hot hot! lol

I really like Daruk in all the cinematics. Optimistic, forthright, stalwart, devoted to his land and kingdom, and ever in support of the Hero - he's a solid dude, no pun intended. While EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THIS GAME is hard to write, this one was less hard just because Daruk is such a cool character. I predict Urbosa will be similar. I. Love. Her. #UrbosaIsBestChampion #SaltyBirdRivaliTakeNotes

One thing I try to do with the cinematics from the games, is not add too much if any dialog for Link - since of course in game he doesn't speak. If I continue with a scene after the cinematic ends in the game, that's one thing. When we get to the Silent Princess memory with the frog, trust me, there will be more. But there are times where at least when writing, its a little awkward that Link says literally nothing - so, while I don't want to add TOO much, so that you basically can watch the cinematic (links provided at the ends of chapters) and then read this for "a little bit more", I did add a line or two in a few chapters now, and I foresee this trend continuing. Nothing extreme, but I felt it needed acknowledgement.

Speaking of Rivali the Salty Bird... his chapter will be next. I swear to Hylia, I wanted to strangle that stupid parakeet. He's a badass... but so, so obnoxious. So, here we go! I'll try and have Salty Bird up as soon as I can, and thank you for staying tuned!

Chapter 6 - Daruk’s Mettle Hot. Hot hot hot. Volcanos were hot. Sure, his Flameproof armor bought in town, and his elixirs helped. But it was still hooooot. Things were looking more familiar nowadays. He didn’t remember faces or names, but things were feeling… familiar. Like he knew he’d been to Goron City before in more than just his memory of Zelda saying they would be heading there. He’d had a feeling he knew where the shop was, and had been right.

He felt as though it had already been a lifetime since he’d awakened in the Shrine of Resurrection feeling lost, drifting outside of time, detached, frustrated and alone.

But then, he’d never truly been alone.

Zelda’s voice had awakened him. Zelda’s voice spoke to him, to warn him of the Blood Moon each time it rose, or when he needed to know something very important. Her voice called his name in his dreams, and he had begun dreaming of her - from before. Snippets here and there. A white dress, a spring, her tears. Things that when he woke slipped through his fingers if her tried to grasp too hard, but it was enough to fuel him forward. Landmarks were familiar now - perhaps not why, but sometimes, it came to him.

Like looking at the carving of Daruk in the side of Death Mountain, he’d known it, and the memory had come rushing back.

***

They had been standing atop Vah Rudania, traversing the side of Death Mountain in the great, hot wind of the mostly quiet volcano.

“Yeah! I think I’m finally getting the hang of controlling this Divine Beast!” Daruk exclaimed proudly. It wasn’t a boast of vanity, but rather an honest statement of pride and hope from a Goron of integrity. Link knew that, he could feel it. He remembered Daruk, and that he liked him a great deal.

“I’ll tell you what… it sure is a blast piloting a toy like this around!” Link smirked incredulously at his friend and shook his head. A lumbering, enormous piece of ancient technology that they barely understood… and Daruk called it a toy. That was the Goron Champion in a nutshell.

“Let those other champions know,” the rock eater continued, “They’ll have to eat their gravel if they want to keep up with Daruk!” The Goron looked around them, drawing Link’s eye and smile to the scenery. “Speaking of which, can you believe this view?” Just look at all those delectable rocks sprinkled on those mountains… Mighty tasty.”

Link chuckled and cut his eyes to Daruk, knowing the Goron sometimes forgot other races didn’t eat rocks. He would have to take the Champion’s word for it. “It really is a great view, my friend.”

Sharing a few moments of companionable silence, Daruk was the next to speak. “I may not know a whole lot about the Calamity Ganon thing… but mark my words: I will protect this land of ours to the death.” Fist clenched with the vigor of his oath, Daruk grinned and raised his other hand saying, “Right, little guy?”

It happened too fast for Link to dodge or mitigate, and when Daruk slapped him on the back in friendship, it knocked the wind right out of the Hylian Knight. Link gasped and leaned forward, eyes bulging a little as he reached up to what would no doubt be a great bruise on his back by evening.

“Hey, by the way…. Congrats on becoming the princess’s appointed knight. That’s a really big deal! Protecting the King's daughter,” Daruk chuckled, “No pressure.” Still trying to catch his breath and recover from the Goron’s platonic affection, Link winced and nodded but looked to the sky.

“Seriously, though. The Princess is a strong personality - so strong she can’t quite see the range for the peaks,” the Goron Champion added with a scratch of his head. “Remember that, and you’ll be fine.”

No sooner had Daruk finished than a great rumbling started around them. “Huh?” Daruk said and turned his eyes to the mountain. Link thought at first in might have been Vah Rudania beneath them. But when the ancient, mechanical salamander had stopped and seemed to be as it ever was, he too looked to Death Mountain.

Daruk was frowning now. “What the-?”

As they watched, boulders came flying from over the peak of which they stood in the shadow. One, flew directly at them, like a meteor plummeting to the earth. With a great cry, Daruk spread his large arms, balled his hands into fists, and smashed his knuckles together. Just as the boulder would have struck him and also Link, a great angular barrier of red-orange light - like the fires of Death Mountain itself - appeared around them, deflecting the wayward and deadly debris.

“Alright, so what was I saying?” For a moment, Daruk seemed nervously dismissive until he saw the serious and concerned look on Link’s face. That had not been normal, and if Link understood that, Daruk had to know as well.

Turning back to the mountain, Daruk’s voice was a touch softer as he said, “That was a little strange…” They both observed their surroundings and the volcano about for a collection of heartbeats. When it seemed no other boulders were to become airborne, Daruk looked down to Link. “As far as I know, Death Mountain has been quiet for decades. But if the mountain is shivering enough to send down boulders that size, then--”

The Goron paused, and Link turned to raise an eyebrow at him. Daruk just kept his eyes on the volcano. “Nevermind. Forget I said anything.”

With a look of incredulity, Link crossed his arms. “Then what, Daruk? Do we need to leave the mountain, is there fiery death coming for us all and I need to get the princess out of here yesterday… what?”

Daruk was silent as the stones for a long, breathless moment as his blue eyes beheld his beloved mountain. “I don’t know, little buddy, I don’t know. And that, is what worries me.” The sense of foreboding Link felt at those words should have told him then, things were going to go wrong…

***

As the memory faded, Link scrubbed both hands over his face. Daruk; strong, honest, proud, brave Daruk. His friend. They couldn’t have known, not really. It was not as though a few wayward boulders screamed, “Run from the hills! Ganon is coming!”

But a part of him still felt like he should have known.

There was nothing for it now. Like Mipha, Daruk’s spirit was trapped inside the corrupted Vah Rudania. Yes, Link needed the Divine Beasts to aid in his assault on Hyrule Castle and Ganon. More to his immediate point, he wanted to free Daruk. It was the least he could do for his old friend. But, he was going to need help. All he had to do was find this Yunobo and get up the mountain.

Somehow, he had a feeling that was going to be much harder than it sounded.

---

Once again, Link found himself standing over the main control panel of a Divine Beast, knowing that once activated, he would not be coming back. The Fireblight Ganon had been trying, and he was hot, tired and covered in ash. But one thought had bounced around his mind the entire time he fought - he was fighting for a friend he had failed 100 years ago. The knight hoped that, like Mipha, perhaps he would get to see Daruk one last time.

As the Main Control came alight under his Shiekah Slate, the plant like structure of the ancient controls turned blue, Link heard a cheer from a familiar deep voice. “Great work, little guy!”

Turning, Link smiled to see Daruk, mostly intangible, but no less a present force than he had ever been in life. Arms out in victory and gratitude, he took a step forward. Link squared up to greet him, swallowing against the rise of emotion in his chest. “I owe you big for this. Because of you, my spirit is finally free. Can’t thank you enough!”

The Goron Champion scratched his head in the gesture Link had come to remember meant Daruk was nervous, confused, or apologetic. “I feel like I should apologize. I was doing all I could to protect Hyrule when that thing got the best of me. Sorry that me resting with the rubble caused such a mess.”

The knight nodded, and took a breath to assure his old friend that it wasn’t his fault, but Daruk continued. “The good news is, is that Rudania is now back under our control! That means that our century old Ganon beat-down plan can finally go into effect!” As the embers flickered in their ever ascending dance around them, Link had to drop his eyes at Daruk’s optimism. He felt responsible somehow, if not for the cause then at the very least for the resolution. He owed that to Daruk, and Mipha… and Zelda.

��I’m gonna take this thing down the mountain. I’ll have a better shot from there. And then, once you’ve made your way into Hyrule Castle,” Daruk clenched his fists in front of him, “We’re gonna light that thing up!” Slamming one fist in to the palm of the opposite hand, Link nodded, not trusting his voice.

“I wanna give you something. It’s a special power of mine called Daruk’s Protection. It’s no good to me now that I’m a spirit… but it might be useful for you.” Slapping his hands together, even in spirit Link felt the tremor in Vah Rudania from the great Goron’s strength. “Here it comes!”

Pooling energy grew between the Champion’s hands as he drew them apart, and when the red orb entered link this time, it was warm, and fire licked throughout his aura. He instantly knew how to summon the power. Planting his feet and punching his fists together in front of him, the angular-sphere encompassed him as he had seen it around Daruk over a century ago.

Looking up to Daruk with deep gratitude and sadness, knowing their time was drawing to a close, Link worked his hands as the tingle of magic faded. Daruk just smiled. “From this moment forward, the power of protection, from the depths of my soul, now lives in you.”

Link wanted to, felt he should say something, but the glow of golden energy around him heralded that Daruk was sending him to safety. Looking back to his friend, Daruk nodded. “Good luck, little guy. And… give my regards to the princess!” With one last flash of light, Link was gone.

Daruk’s Mettle - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzrJlTjHjag Freeing Vah Rudania - https://youtu.be/IFvkz_oA-m8?t=335

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shir0ch4ns-art · 6 years

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Chapter 22: Voe

The sun scorched the arid land below. Its unforgiving rays kissed the dunes and the people who inhabited them. Bleaching one and darkening the other. This does not bother the denizens of the desert, in fact they thrive in it. Building bazaars and towns in oases. Eventually leading to a kingdom and palace. All entirely lead by women. The Gerudo were an ancient race, molded by the harshness of their home, and built to withstand anything.

Hylians on the other hand have to be absolutely mental to travel that far into the desert. Which was what Vincent thought as he tried to keep cool in one of the outer oasis bazaars. Although everyone was free to travel the desert, Gerudo town was very strict on their no man policy. And so he had to wait elsewhere for their informant. But by Din it was hot. Even in the shade it was still sweltering, that informant better arrive soon or he might just turn into a puddle in this heat. Now that he thought about it, whom, did they send here. There was no way a hylian can withstand this place for an hour, let alone a week.

As the troop pondered this someone came into his view. And his jaw dropped. A gorgeous gerudo woman had arrived with two servants. She was decked out in all sorts of finery; circlet, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, rings, you name it. She wore an elegant attire that blended perfectly with armor, with the exception of a sheer veil over the upper half of her face hiding minute details. Her body was toned and athletic, as is the case with the Gerudo, but somehow it seemed a bit more so than usual. Basically she was the prime example of a Gerudo elite. Now Vincent can see why so many would flock here, if to just be able to even have chance at glancing at one of these beauties.

Distracted he didn't realize that the woman was headed in his direction until she was practically in his face. All logic flew out of the window as he attempted to speak. All that came out was a high pitched squeak of "I'M MARRIED!" He remembered a tradition of the Gerudo was to go out and find men to marry or mate with. So he said what he thought was important at the time. Unfortunately he read the situation wrong as the gerudo stopped in her tracks and burst out laughing. A deep belly laugh that was bordering on hysterical.

Red faced from not just the heat anymore, Vincent slowly came the realization that this woman was most likely the informant he had to meet with. And that her laugh was starting to sound suspiciously familiar. Very familiar. Embarrassment turned to horror as he realized the laugh was the exact same laugh he had heard before if somewhat huskier now. He had to ask, because it was just impossible for it to be him, but just in case it was him. "Volga?!" He managed to squeak out. Goddesses he was going to turn into a mouse with all the squeaking he did.

Yet to his further mortification the woman managed to nod amidst "her" giddy fit.

"Wha- how- I mean- wha?!" Vincent spluttered. He was thoroughly confused and horrified at the knowledge that he was checking his friend out. He needed answers dindammit.

"I *wheeze* I was, oh man you should've seen your face. I was ch-ch-chosen t-t-to- I can't do this. Lana! Oh goddesses," she turned around to control her mirth as one of the "servants" walked forward. How the hell did he not notice she had blue hair. Oh, she didn't have blue hair, it was black now. Looking at the now raven sorceress he silently pleaded for her to explain what was going on.

Despite her own giggles she managed to explain the, quite frankly hilarious, situation. Apparently the princess had held a secret audience with one of the gerudo guards. She, Kara, had explained that they feared there was an interloper among their ranks but had no way of discreetly weeding them out as they all know each other. So she proposed to the princess that she offer someone to "tour" the palace and listen to the walls. But they also had to be well trained, otherwise they will not gain any respect. And a woman for, obvious reasons. Of course they will try to make the lucky female appear as gerudo as possible but there were a few problems with that. One being that naturally occurring redheads among Hylians was quite rare, especially in castletown and the area around it where most of their female soldier are from. Two, no Hylian woman was as tall as a gerudo, it was just too tall even with heels. And Impa could not go as she would stick out and she needed to be at the princess' side at all times in case of an attack.

The dilemma was resolved when one lost, red headed, 7 foot, knight barged in by accident looking for a different conference room he was suppose to be at. With a bit of magic and a wardrobe change he became Visalia, an ex guardswoman who was honorably discharged due to a grievous injury. She then traveled around Hyrule gaining an enormous amount of wealth due to the fact that she had found a vein of precious gems in Death Mountain. Feeling homesick she returned to see how much had changed in the palace and requested a tour of it and to stay for a week.

The rest, as they say, is history. She was well received, told all of the gossip, discreetly found the mole, and was to be escorted home, end of story.

"But what are you two doing here?" Vincent queried. Cia had revealed herself as the second, now blonde, "servant" while Lana explained the events leading up to the encounter.

"Oh, that's simple. We're Visalia's handmaidens to help her out with her 'grievous injury.'"

" The spell we used to turn him into a woman actually needs to be constantly redone so this was the least suspicious way we could do it." Cia cut in.

"Aaaannd you were ok with all this?" He turned towards the bespeckled knight.

"Of course. Why, should I not be?" The genuine look of confusion was what really got to Vincent. Of course the dragon knight wouldn't have a problem with this, his whole family was like this. How could he expect anything less.

"No, you shouldn't have any logical reason to not be ok with this," the troop then slyly queried, " Sooooo, what's it like?"

Knowing exactly what he meant the hybrid merely stated, "Eh, different. Not bad but not really my thing."

"Really, why?"

"My center of gravity has really shifted and I need to be more careful when I walk in tight spaces. And believe or not I actually can't fit in most places I used to be able to."

"Yeah. Big, busty, and hippy couldn't fit between two walls!" Cia guffawed.

"They were too close together!"

"Oh! Don't forget the hidden crawl space under the palace!" Lana squealed.

"You said you wouldn't tell anyone about that!" Volga shrieked. "Whatever, lets go to the inn and change me back. Kara had better hold up her end of the deal." Swishing around he sashayed off in the direction of an inconspicuous building to the left, jewelry swaying perfectly with the movement.

"...so, how long did he practice doing that?"

"Two days."

A/N: When I got to Gerudo Town in BoTW I made the joke that Volga could easily be a gerudo based on the guard's description: Tall, red hair, and abs. Of course I had to write this chapter.

Regarding Volga's lack of reaction to being a woman I realized I kinda created a perfect society for quite a few marginalized groups. The Reptilian Clan can virtually be anything they want to, there are no secondary sex characteristics and nobody really cares about how they identify themselves since they're mostly a militant group so if they can fight then it doesn't matter. Females can still lay eggs regardless if they had mated with a male or not and it's all done in secret so nothing is actually revealed. And everyone's adopted so there's no "oh but he's the father/she's the mother" backstab reveal. -\_(ツ)_/- Of course he wouldn't find anything wrong with being a woman for a few days.

Up Next: And they call it puppy love.

#fanfic wednesday #my fic #he's not that bad #chapter 22 #hyrule warriors #volga #lana #cia #my ocs #vincent

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ohthehypocrisy · 6 years

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Breath of the Wild 2 Idea Dump

I’m not putting a Read More break on this because I really want people to see this or even skim over it just a little. If you don’t care you’re free to ignore this post.

Below is a composite list of things I’d like to see in a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild. All of these are just my ideas and are subjective ways to improve upon the previous game’s gameplay and story and other things.

Overworld:

-As the game is a direct sequel to BotW, the overworld would require very little changes. Of course the land itself will change because of developments like new towns, excavations of mountains or forests, bridges, as well as other minor things.

-The exception to this would be The Great Plateau and Hyrule Castle. Hyrule Castle would become a historical site whereas a new Hyrule Castle would be built within the Great Plateau. The time between BotW 1 and BotW 2 would mean that the castle would still be in development, but it would look almost finished. (i have no basis for this suggestion, I just think it would look cool)

-Examples of new towns would be where the original Shiekah Towers stood. Remember that they were hidden until BotW 1, so these towns would be built around these landmarks. While defunct now, the towers are treated differently by each town. Some research them, others treat them as godly gifts.

-This means that civilization would be established around these ordinarily inhospitable areas like that one in a bottomless pit or in the Gerudo mountains. This is justified as much of Ganon’s malice has weakened, Guardians all over Hyrule shut down forever, and people were allowed to prosper in the wild.

-Hyrule in BotW was definitely big, but it could be bigger. The border could be expanded and allow much further exploration, such as islands, mountains, and maybe even some sky islands. It could even be teased to call some of the sections things like Holodrum Border, or Termina Isle. Wouldn’t that be something?

Story:

-You are a 15 year old kid living in Tarrey Town, if you remember that sidequest from BotW 1. Of course, you can be either a boy or a girl, but unlike in BotW 1, you choose your name since you are an unrelated incarnation of Link.

-Tarrey Town is a rich melting pot of different cultures and species. The town was originally built on top of a plateau but extended into the forest and lake below once it expanded.

-The head chief is Grooson, having been put into power fairly recently. He is from a long line of Gerudo woman that moved into the village when it was first built and is proud of his bloodline. Grooson aspires to be great just like the previous chiefs and vows to protect his town from harm, and is especially protective of kids like you. (Naturally this means the story takes place at the minimum of 100 years)

-This means you are a sort of pampered child. Your uncle is one of Tarrey Town’s soldiers and has been hoping you would join the royal army just like he did, but Grooson doesn’t approve of kids like you wielding weapons and training. As a result, you are inexperienced with weapons and in fights in general. Your uncle promises to get you into sword training on your 16th birthday.

-It all comes crashing down when one day the town is attacked by monsters. Although most of the citizens managed to escape, you don’t see your uncle escaping with your group. Grooson stops you from looking for him and tells you to go to Hyrule before tossing you into the horse drawn carriage and sending you away to try and hold off the monsters to cover your escape.

-(BIG OL EMPTY SPACE BETWEEN HERE AND YOUR TRIP TO THE LOST WOODS) The royal family believe that it is time to draw the Master Sword once again, but they do not know who could be the hero reincarnate. As you are the only child wearing green and with blonde hair, you are sent and accompanied to the Lost Woods in an attempt to pull the Master Sword. (and also to avoid unnecessarily putting multiple children in harm’s way)

-But to everyone’s surprise, the Lost Woods had been burned to the ground, the Great Deku Tree reduced to cinders, and the Master Sword shattered from its pedestal, only its hilt remains.

-Before leaving, you hear a weak voice from the remains of the sword. You pick it up without telling the knight accompanying you and you return to Hyrule Castle.

-While everyone is panicking over the apparent destruction of the Master Sword, the swords spirit appears to you one night, lost, dazed, and confused. She is ghostlike and missing most of her body, and conversations with her yield very little as she is constantly forgetting details, until you show her one of the pieces of the Master Sword.

-She tells you that’s her memory and she takes it. She remembers her name (Fi of course) and function, but nothing else. You tell her what happened, and she tells you what to do. You must go and find the pieces of the Master Sword and return it to its former power in order to combat the new evil.

-Because of her limited memory, she cannot offer insight to locations, people, items, enemies, animals, or anything. She can, however, save “blueprints” of weapons and adapt their form, but this costs magic and it runs out over time. You get the first blueprint inside New Hyrule Castle of a sword.

-Fi has lost her monotonous voice over the years and gained a curious and optimistic persona, as well as a minor wild streak that shows up during battle (for instance, she will suddenly shout attack commands when an enemy is stunned or leaves themselves open for attack. I mean, shoving the sword into enemies thousands of times over the years does something to you).

-Meanwhile, the Royal Family is reinforcing their army, but are shorthanded in messengers that could send letters requesting assistance to other regions of Hyrule. You are granted the opportunity to travel and send these messages as quests and side missions, all of which can help you and reward you with items and allows you to explore the world at your own pace (although without a Shiekah slate, you are only given a barebones map. Fi will later be able to help you with this once she has more memory and can draw data from Shiekah towers).

Gameplay:

-Fi has a limited memory and magic system, but it grows exponentially once you have gained more of them. By gaining a blueprint, the Master Sword can take the form of any weapon at any time, but its use is limited by magic. The upsides are that these weapons won’t break, but physical weapons will retain an advantage over the Master Sword (such as bonuses from armor, the ability to throw them, magic usage, etc.)

-However, if you have a physical weapon, she can copy its form temporarily. This can be useful if the weapon is about to break. She will only have the ability to copy the form while you have the weapon physically, as she lacks the memory to maintain the form once it’s gone.

-Keep in mind that due to Fi’s limited memory, you won’t be able to access every blueprint right away. Pieces of the Master Sword (henceforth known as Master Shards) are hidden all around Hyrule and can even be in the possession of other people that think it’s a rare material. Whereas Korok Seeds could help you expand your inventory, Master Shards replace them in BotW 2. Not every single Master Shard is needed to beat the game.

-Blueprints are acquired by locating the original shrines from BotW 1 and collecting data from them. Not all of them will have weapon blueprints.

-Fi can obtain blueprints for objects other than weapons, such as a temporary bridge, a binocular, a ladder, rope, a lantern, a paraglider, and other incredibly useful items for exploring Hyrule. The effectiveness of these items increase the more magic you have, which is what will be limiting you early game and stop you from, oh, say, generating a ladder to the top of Death Mountain or something.

-When using a blueprint weapon, magic can be spent on extra powerful attacks such as the spin slash, or causing a minor earthquake with a hammer.

-With enough memory, Fi will be able to save recipes of your most successful meals and potions, and will be able to save more later. She will even notify you if you have collected enough materials for a specific recipe if you ask her to.

-Fi will log the wares of a town after you’ve visited their shops so that next time you visit, she can tell you if they are selling items you happen to be low on. She needs memory for this, though, and once this becomes available to you she will only be able to log one town at a time and will need more memory for more towns.

-Likewise, she will log enemies if she has the memory to spare and save their possible drops as well as attack patterns. Side note; she will compliment you after a battle if you lost little to no hearts and show concern if you lost a lot of them and ask that you take a potion or something.

-As said before, not all shrines will have weapon blueprints, as some of them will have data for weapon skills you can use to improve your combat abilities, such as a downward sword stab, pole vaulting with spears, and the spin attack among other things. These come in the form of combat trials against enemies that are vulnerable to these skills.

-(Not sure if runes and the climbing mechanic would return for this, just stating this here)

I might actually add more to this, but I think that’s all I got without going into specifics such as weapons and item crafting and junk. But this is what I would think to be the ideal BotW sequel that could come out after the first game. Please tell me what you think and if you have your own ideas. Thanks for reading.

#legend of zelda #breath of the wild #botw #sequel #botw2?

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semi-imaginary-place · 4 years

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fe3h blogging 5 because I’ve been posting on discord and I can’t remember what number I was on oct-feb???

So I'm doing another no recruit run and realizing how much planning I need Me: why do I do this to myself Specifically its SS usuing none of the black eaglea So Byleths going to be soloing until I can recruit all the church staff... or flayn comes along...

Lambert and the death knight have the same voice actor. Lambert=death knight. Mystery solved

Loog was only able to gain faerghus independence because the emoire was already weakened from its failed invasion of dagda

Also its part if the seiros canon that a great evil darkness came out of the north. That couldn't posaibly feed into racism

The greatest sin this game has commited was giving gilbert a redemption arc

if only the devs weren’t cowards...

Why does dorothea even have A supports with guys? Her head is filled with only girls. has she ever shown interest in a guy?? Beyond a I want to be financially secure and tolerate your presence. everyone else is bi/pan[ Except caspar Hes just an idiot

I'm gonna post hot takes for the sexuality of each character and yall cant stop me

Edelgard: lesbian Hubert: Edelgard Ferdinand: pansexual Linhardt: grey spec pan but prefers men+ Caspar: too stupid to evaluate Bernadetta: "I want friends" Dorothea: big lesbian Petra: pansexual

Dimitri: confused and repressed Dedue: gay Felix: swords redheads Ashe: pansexual Sylvain: pansexual prefers women Mercedes: pansexual prefers women Annete: lesbian Ingrid: pansexual prefers men

Claude: Demi pansexual/romantic++ Lorenz: ~~noble obligations~~ pansexual and repressed Raphael: grey ace/aro+++ Ignatz: pansexual prefers women Lysithea: pansexual++++ Marianne: pansexual Hilda: pansexual but usually dates guys Leonie: grey ace

+Linhardt feels romantic/sexual attraction but not strongly. He feels romantic love but he doesn't get crushes. ++Claude is the type to fall in love slowly after an emotional connection has already been formed and then get a crush after they've been going steady for 10 years. +++Raphael feels romantic/sexual attraction but not strongly and usually prefers queer platonic relationships ++++more to do with the individual than gender, but girls are cute

Game crashed and I lost like 4 hours of progress TT^TT

I'm on SS (which is the only route I haven't played) and hnnnnng I miss claude its been like 3 months since I played VW. Also I need to write down a time line some time but the stuff the agarthans have been pulling feeds the world builder in me. especially hyrm

as nice as the idea of all the lords getting along and talking things out is, it wouldn’t work out in canon, Edelgard has tunnel vision. Dimitri is irrational and would rather listen to his hallucinations that evidence. And no one trust Claude enough to believe him

Hilarious really how Edelgard will call for Hubert to carry you despite her massive strength and how hubert looks like a gentle wind will blow him over

Macuil/Indech: Shun society. Run off into the wilds. Have vaugue legends be told of you. Be a crpytid

linhardt is such an unrepentant bastard

I had a dream where I could make male units pegasus knights. And then I woke up to cruel reality

Alois is growing on me. At first I was like uuuggg another bumbling idiot. But you know what? Fuck Seteth for not giving Alois more vacation time to see his family

Cavalry units be like: crushes a watermelon with their thighs

Some of the knights were bullying Alois. Who was it. I will bring them untold pain.

Reason #??? to punch Gilbert: he saw this poor child struggling to control his strength and went this boy doesn't need to learn how to control his strength, what he needs is more strength training. I mean absent emotionally distant and all over shitty father to annette is reason number 1. But dimitri is reason number 2. Oh let's make this kid lift rocks and run around the moutains at night in full armor in winter. Instead of being able to pick something up without breaking it and you know be able to perform basic daily tasks. Let's make a human shaped weapon instead of a functional person. Gilbert single handedly ruined AM for me because he just wouldn't stop messing up everyone else's lives

Each character's recruit requirements are what they admire/respect in a person

I forgot hubert becomes unavailable in month 2. and now I'm stuck with his stupis razor

Hot take. BotW Link and part 2 Ingrid have the same haircut

I'm on my last route (SS) but i hate rhea so much...

why do you think maurice/the beast's crest was used to make aymr?

Also all the nameless backgound characters have brown hair but of the main cast, its only dorothea and claude

Annette’s handwriting: Neat and cute. Linhardt writes in cursive because he cant be bothered to lift his pen Sylvain has nice handwriting. Ingrid's is very functional, felix's is half way to chicken scratch lots of sharp angles. Dimitri cries on the inside at the thought of picking up a pen. as a kid Dimitri has terrible handwriting and breaks a pen every 5 min. He practiced so hard. Most of what people think is his handwriting is Dedue's (neat and pretty) because dedue writes most of his letters for him

me playing azure moon: I want out. get me off this death train

Finally getting alois's support and wow he's like a human shaped puppy in the sahpe of a middle aged man. Always falling over himself. Ridiculously happy. 100% all the time. Running and barking everywhere

Fact of the day: dorothea hates eating fish

Alright. Seteth and Flayn's descriptions of her mom are very different. Where is the truth??? Seteth was like shes demure, quiet, pious, and honest. And Flayn's says she's like Judith

game is forcing me to flirt with Alois? Can I not please!

I keep saying it but Lorenz grows on you like a fungus. He has excellent supports

i want to weave gold thread into claudes hair

Under rated character development: Dorothea. Every one of her lines in part 2 makes me want to cry. "every rose has its thorns" -> "only thorns left on this rose" Her character development is that she just gets worn down by the war and I want to bundle her up in a blanket and give her a cup of warm milk. Dorothea is so full of love. So she feels the sorrows of the war so intensely.

FE3H needs better dads. I mean even jeralt and seteth aren’t great dads. They're just not down right horrible. Jeralt is emotionally distant with an alcohol problem that byleth had to clean up after him. But there are worse dads Alois seems decent but he needs to spend more time at home. Seteth should have given Alois more vacation time. They aren't terrible dads. But they aren't getting medals either. Love their kids but have flaws of their own.

ANNETTE DESERVED BETTER THAN GILBERT Burn him at the stake No wait. He’d want that

My loathing for gilbert is beyond description. He hurts everyone around him, then doesn't listen to what they have to say, and then keeps continuing his existence as a sad sack of shit. 1. Emotionally distant, strict, and often absent father. Clearly cared about his work for than family. 2. He then straight up leaves with out a note or telling his family anything. 3 knows that annette is looking for him and avoids her. 4. Annette just wants her dad back. That's what would make her happy but he denies her that because he's a selfish bastard. 5. Then he goes on and on about his man-pain while not helping anyone. he self flagellates and blames himself a lot but he never tries to change and so he stays there, is this cycle of self pity. "Ohhh I have sinned and can not be forgiven" .and I'm like why not do right by the people you hurt? And he's like "no no I have sinned. I cannot see them" or some other bullshit. He also gets some bullshit redemption arc that I want to scrub clean from my memory because he doesn't deserve it. Annette's support is all about oh i forgive you. And it puts all the emotional labor on annette and just makes me real angry. And i am going to stop thinking about that disgrace of a human now.

Seteth is controlling. Wont let flayn have friends. Boys arent qllowed to talk to her. She can't go out. He has to know where she is 24/7. Seteth really is suffocating Flayn. Early in the game Flayn compares herself to a hot house flower, confined to a green house, doomed to die outside it. It bring up the question which is better, to live a long life in constant fear and isolation (remember flayn is very much a people person), or to live a short fulfilling life. The answer of course is that it should be flayns choice. But Seteth denies her autonomy. Flayn is not quite an adult, but even discounting the decades* that she has lived, even a teenager should have some say in the direction of their life. Time and time again Flayn expresses her will and Seteth ignores her. She is allowed little existence outside of him. Its also hilarious how bad their cover story is. Its true they love each other but Seteth causes Flayn a fair bit of suffering. Its played for comedy sometimes. And Flayn to some degree tolerates it because she understands that he does it for her sake, and she understands the real danger she is in. They just disagree with what is an acceptable degree of risk. Seteth tolerates no risk which at that point can't be called living. Flayn accepts the danger and believes it is worthwhile to enjoy life and help people despite it. the counselor box also reveals that seteth has been stalking her and think her talking to dudes is bad despite that having nothing to do with the danger of the agarthans.

A fun thing to think about is if Flayn was born of 2 nabeteans, she's a human halfie, or someother sothis bullshit. I reviewed the sea nd sky paralogue recently looking for answers and there were some hints? Maybe? nothing definative. all we know for sure is that flayn’s mom died in the nemesis war. Also I have a hypothesis that flayn was in a regenerative coma for most of the 1000 years so she's been active less than 200 years which is why Seteth treats here like a waylaid toddler.

the flayn seteth c support is great Seteth.exe crashes and then reboots right in front of our very eyes

Catherine has such big wlw energy. I didn't quite realize it until I got her supports but hooboy. Saw a lady so pretty she forgot she almost died pfft. And this is just with rhea. The catherine-shamir supports themselves are gold.

Catherine: ever see a woman so beautiful you forget you almost died and decide to devote your whole life to her?

Catherine->Shamir: i get worried when you go out on missions on your own. I'm not there to protect you. I'm scared of you leaving me behind. I never want to leave you side. Between my life and your life i'd choose your life me: ! Shamir: i don't know what the future holds, but let's get married me: !!!!!!!!!!!!

Also catherine/christoph was a thing in the past. Highschool sweethearts. Before she executed him for treason

Ahahahhha this is great! And by great I mean hilarious. Dimitri dies even more offscreen in SS than in VW. Ghost dimitri in ss made me laugh but do we ever get an explanation for ghost dimitri or it like the cf finale? Themetically significant. Sure lets go with that

I'm really starting to see where the parts of vw and ss were smushes together

Embarr has the best night life

Recruiting sylvain into the gd feels mean. I'm taking away the only one with 2 braincells to rub together

Under all the noble bullshit, Lorenz really is a great guy

Do you think every demonic beast looks unique and its only that the devs didnt want to make more models that they dobt look different in game?

Recruiting sylvain into the gd feels mean. I'm taking away the only one with 2 braincells to rub together in the blue lions

Sylvain is warm

I wish we got to explore derdriu

PETRA DESERVES BETTER WRITERS. and give her a fluffy coat. She's gotta be cold in garreg mach

Count Varley is at the top of the hit list

Add alois onto team i'm scared of ghosts (lysithea, ashe, annette)[5:44 PM] That's it. I'm kidnapping alois from the church's clutches and taking him home. The church doesn't deserve him. And he hates his job

W h y i s everyone from faergus so eager to give up their personhood

Does faerghus seem really backwater to anyone else? Faergus reminds me of like 900's europe while leicester and adrestia are more like 1600's europe. they still have that germanic warrior culture thing going. This is deep in the dark ages. I will accept the later half of the dark ages though since its post introduction of christianity. Leicester and Adrestia feel more like 1600-1700s They feel not quite french revolution, but getting there. Yeah like the old institutions (crown and church) are still there but the cracks are showing. Also the clothes

I thinki talked about this before. But when I say dorothea deserves the world. DOROThEA DESERVES THE WORLD. she’s been through so much

I need to go compare this with the verdant wind scene, but I was under the impression that sothis was in a regenerative coma after the war with the agarthans. But nope according to ss she was straigt up dead huh

i know I'm suppose to be fighting but I spent the last 30min exploring shambhala again

Damn it Shamir! Why'd ya have ta crit. I was trying to get dialog!January 2, 2020

gatekeeper > you < gatekeeper's identical twin brother who's on the opposite side of the war Its a sandwich

Oh wow the church really was up to some bloodborne level stuff

I turned every single one of the black eagles into a brigand (except linhardt and hubert). Brigand gang brigand gang

The devs knew Claude and Lindhardt would just be too powerful. They had to be separated. thats why they dont have a support chain. Sylvain and Claude has more energy but Sylvain has the conscious that Lindhardt lacks. I mean Lindhardt singlehandedly lock picks the holy tomb and disables rhea's magic mechs all while complaining he's sleepy. Sylvain can be bullied into doing things and I love him for it. Ah. I want both support chains

After Jeralts death both Claude and Edelgard both tell you that the world will continue spinning regardless of what befalls you personally but they do so in rather different ways. Edelgard phrases it like pull yourself together or the world will leave you behind. Claude phrases it like personal tragedies are such a small thing in the face of the world. You may have suffered a loss but there is so much to the world beyond that. There are still worthwhile things in the world. Both of say the world doesnt stop for you but mean different things. And both are trying to motivate you to pull yourself together. Whereas dimitri is like: you want vengence? You should go for vengence. I'll help you rip them apart. I'll kill for you.

Edelgard is socially awkward and blunt. She's also very practical minded so she doesn't know how to won't say something comforting when she can say something useful. She's trying in her own way To motivate byleth to start picking up their life. Edelgard doesn't get people. Social interaction is a total mystery to her. She's just too stubborn to realize it. At a couple points you can tease her and she thinks you're threatening her. She's not good at the people thing. While she can come off a little rough because she doesn't understand how other people work. Hubert understands other people rather well and is an asshole anyways. List of characters who have threatened byleth: dimitri, hubert, sylvain, jeritza, catherine

Was sothis one of the divine dragon tribe? a lot of the other divine dragons had green hair especially the ones worshiped as gods (duma, mila, naga, tiki). But not fae or nowi. I always got that dragon stones were like a dragon's essence sealed away so that while in human form they could stave off dragon degeneration. But what are crest stones. Were they made by the agarthans (artificial dragon stones) or are crest stones a natural part of the nabeteans and the agarthans just harvested them. Or... ARE THERE BOTH. But the pov characters cant tell the difference. This one group has messed with how many nations now?? SS has an interesting tidbit that's been stuck in my head: In the final map of SS its revealed that all high ranking church officials recieve Seiros' blood and a crest stone shard. WHERE ARE THE SHARDS COMING FROM. DAMN YOU SETETH YOU CANT JUST SAY THINGS LIKE THAT AND LEAVE ME. because if they are seiros crest stone shards that neans crest stones are not an Agarthan invention. But that condridicts VW where rhea says creststones are made of nabateab hearts. tldr: I'm confused. where are those fragments coming from??? Wait. This is all assuming a nabetean needs their heart inside them to live. Given how violently rhea reacts to losing even 1 crest stone I don't think she used the ones of her brethern. Which logically leaves only one weird possible answer. That rhea took her own heart/crest stone and has been giving out fragments. I mean she probably retrives the fragments when the priest dies.... this also means that nabeteans can survive with their heart outside their body... like a litch.... which I mean given sothis isn't too suprising? ??

VW and SS have such wacky endings. Let's go fight the cyberpunk mole people now!. Zombie invasion? : check Weird bloodborne stuff and then we fight rhea?: check

Yeah VW was my first route and whew that was a wild ride. AM is so tame is comparison. but SS and VW lack the setup to pull out twists like that. If this was like Nier: Automata where you get endings sequentially, it might have worked. But on their own the last 2 maps don't have anything at stake

hmmm switching the final battles of verdant wind and silver snow? What would make a better story and why? rhea kinda works because SS is all about rhea and saving her from herself as well as a revival of the church. But Nemesis also brings closure to Rhea's arc. She's been stuck for the last 1000 years to to fight the man who killed her most important person for good is like also really good thematically. VW is all about something new. Doing away with old structures and what better than to kill the pope? But facing the 10 elites also works for VW because that's the begining of the crest/nobility system you are literally killing. I just like recruiting everyone and then killing the 10 elites with their own weapons wielded by their descendants. its symbolic

Byleth is an excellent brigard. Went beigand and then wyvrn and their strength was higher than dimitri's

Claude: Rule? Nah. Gonna go be a scholar in an isolated mountain range. Books

Sylvain is a himbo wannabe

I should recruit annette and let her kill gilbert... The one thing I'm worried about is that it'll hurt her more than it'll hurt him ... can I get crusher in crimson flower? If I were to recruit everyone and then get them all killed, what route would that be best in? Guess I'll be doing a death pact AM run some time in the future

Also koei tecmo and intsys are cowards for gender locking classes. From a gameplay perspecrive too some characters are locked out of their ideal classes (war master for catherine and gremory for lindhardt). And then there's the in lore significance. Let hubert ride a pegasus.

Dorothea spent the entirety of their paralogue hitting on Ingrid. And then the RING at the end??? and they can’t support. Also Ingrid should have gotten an A support with Mercedes. They get along so well

Edelgard got the best designs in the game but Dorothea got the next best

Its canon. Edelgard thinks Claude grew up to be hot. Edelgard acknowledging that Claude is hot but but that she’s going to kill him anyways is just so good ....aaaaand one again I'm a coward who couldn't bring themself to kill Claude. But the completionist in me really wants to. The scene after sparing cluade between him and edelgard has kept me up too many nights. What are the emotions here? My first guess was loss, grief. Someone else has interpreted it as aggtession though. And maybe we are both over thinking this but to me Claude's lines here say "I have failed"

Dorothea deserves a dragon

Caspar is actually real good for bernadetta. Its like talking to a sack of potatoes and doing so forces her to communicate better, firmly express herself, etc. Caspar has such great supports with all the ladies really

I really am just linhardt. I too disregard authority and despise being woken up...

I feel like we should all appreciate dorothea more. Death to the haters

ingrid equipping the duscar cavalry battalion is like "I can exploit their labor so it’s alright"

I found felix was my solace in AM just because everyone else goes full death cult. despite how much i wanted to punch him when he told ingrid to go get a husband. Also I should note I'm not sure felix whole heartesly believed what he said to Ingrid. I got the impression he said the thing he knew would upset her the most. Not necessarily what he believed. That said he may actually believe it too. Ingrid and felix remind be of squabbling siblings just saya the worst stuff to each other. Unless felix has actively confronted the notion of faerhgus patriarchy he probably has internalized some of the beliefs. We all do. Thats why theyre so hard to dig out

Since we talk a lot about dads. Let's talk margrave edmund. tldr: complicated and interesting relationship with marianne. What we know: he adopted marianne some time after her parents died, before she enrolles into the officers academy. Marianne says he's usuing her as marriage bait to marry up and increase the standing of house edmund. This tracks with what others say about edmund: he's politically ambitious. And he's good at it enough to have gotten house edmund a seat at the round table. In pretty much all her endings, he tutors mariannne until she's a political savant. He forbid her from leaving the monestary in part 1. Now let's go in between the lines. In part 1 marianne seems nervous of margrave edmund, but she also seems nervous of everything is part 1. In part 2, along with being more comfortable with herself she seems more familiar with him. After the end of part 1 she likely returned to house edmund despite the attack being the perfect cover to disappear. We don't get get much on edmund's personality buy he comes across as ruthlessly practical. The sort that goes "I can and will use everything to get what I want". He likely adopted marianne not out of charity or compassion but so the house could have a crested heir and so he could use her as a bargining chip to other houses. But he sees enough potential in her to train her to be the next head of house. I think what started out as "ah another piece i can use" transitioned into a more friendly relationship as marianne began to assert herself and margrave edmund came to acknowledge her as more than how she could benefit him. I don't think he ever got over the "how can i use this" mentality but I'd like to think that after some years they came to get along. Ah yes I meant to do a hyrm thing and put it off for months. The Agarthans had long been infiltrating the empire and slowly increasing their influence on the government. In an attempt to stop this emperor ionius ix attempted to gain more power for himself to counter them by centralizing the government and taking power away from the nobles. House Hyrm attempted to defect to the leicester alliance with the help of house ordelia. In retaliation the Agarthans under the guise of the empire killed the members of house hrym and took control of hrym and ordelia. Also in response to ionius' move, the top ministers of the empire backed by the Agarthans began the insurrection of the seven where all political power was taken from the emperor. The Agarthans than experimented on ordelia and the royal family to implant crests while usuing hrym as a base of operations. After Emile killed that scrumbag baron bartels as well as the rest of the bartels family. Edelgard thought he could be useful as a piece not already controled by the Agarthans, and with their helped fabricated him a new identity as jeritza von hrym since hrym was a puppet for the Agarthans. Lord Arundel (Thales) then ensured jeritza a spot at garreg mach so he could act as an inside agent.

Anyone know the significance of rhea's mech's names (wilhelm, iris, etc.). past friends? lol would it be messed up or what if its powered by his corpse

Jeritza really is an acquired taste... wow

... I wonder sometimes if I like making things hard for myself... like I'll make rules like 4+ units have to attack an enemy before I kill them... or certain units can't be next to each other or just other abitrary rules. Anyways I'm just complaining because I did all this on the final map while under leveled last night (?) and am now just going "...why" at myself

Also, I wish we got the option of keep class headgear. Some of it looks really cool and some of the classes (bishop??) look incomplete with out it. Let me have my little hats! Like mortal savant gets an oni mask which looks rad. And warlocks get flowery witch hats! Just finished crimson flowers again with warlock and then gremory dorothea and was like hmmmm.... she needs flowers in her hair

Also if you look up dimitri's dancer skirt you'll see he's wearing black short shorts

Team heretic: edelgard, hubert, petra, claude, leonie, linhardt in the closet: lorenz

So for those of you that keep up with my rambling... remember how i said the funal cf cutscene makes no sense? Did sothis self terminate? If she dud than why arent there records of other crest stones disintigrating? Or is it a sothis specific thing? Its possible sothis’s consciousness is stored in her creststone/heart but then how can you still s support her in CF? i've been trying to logic and reason this for several months and i cant get it to all fit. But on a symbolic level its like the coming of a new age, sothis' hold on the world (and her influence on byleth) disappears. Live on without dieties (literally in byleth's case). The new age of humanity and all so byleth becomes a normal human, no god powers yada yada. I think claude is the only one that knows byleth has no heartbeat?? (Maybe? I cant remember) since claude reads jeralt's diary. Thematic significance > narrative consistency. There's also that rhea goes beserk in SS and not VW, when the same stuff happens to her in both. Which doesn't add up for me. And Nemesis ...is he still sitting there in the other routes... Where did he get an army anyways? I assumed the agarthans just had a whole army frozen...But then why didn't they use it earlier? And can you imagine just a whole city of cryo pods underground. Just there.

Anyways I'm off to kill all the blue luons and solo with dimitri on maddening! Can I get gilbert killed in AM or is he too plot important. I've been playing on casual like a coward so far

Ah ashen wolves shadow cinders looks edgy. I wonder why they have 4 kids in a dungeon. Theres that npc that talk about hiw garreg mach needs the abyss to survive. I wonder why they keep this system

I dont keep up with english VAs but it'd be funny if yuri was voiced by yuri lowenthal

anyone with a crest has less of a chance of demonic beasting than someone with no crest in lore. In gameplay you can use any crest weapon as long as you have any crest. You just wont get the added benefits of that specific crest

Yuri is very pretty and I’m weak for beautiful long haired men. But i kinda wish the nintendo would let us have BEEF

If only i could have 300 save files...

Yuri really just is Leon with amnesia. Down to the red eyeliner...

Who let balthus into a highschool

I have that insistent desire to punch the writers for putting dorothea and mercedes through all that

Manuela. Has. So. Much. Love! And her line about how [as teachers] we cant lose the students to violence or cowardice

The head of felix plopped onto a generic brawler body will always be funny to me

Yeah... sylvain really treats you different when male. There was a reason were many reasons I really wanted to punch sylvain when I first started playing. namely the misogyny

male Byleth just looks really good as a swordsmaster

From a gameplay perspective I think divine pulse should have been removed for maddening. From a story perspective they did a pretty good job integrating time mechanics as god powers

I wonder if Jeralt reminded Rhea of Wilhelm

i love giving bad advice for the advice box

why is tea time is the hardest part of the game

Seriously. How does garreg mach even work? Fail school and you get sent to the dungeons for life. What.

Sylvain would totally be one of those dudes with too much money dolling out patronages

Let hilda be warmaster

Hmmm edelgard... fatalism....

Please mod gilbert out of the game Lorenz has got a good heart. But the words that come out of his mouth sometimes...

Oh yeah you know that rainbow flash dream sequence right at the begining of the game? Is it me or did I see skyscrapers in it

The inside of byleth's head is a smash tournament

Seteth can die and I'll kill him. (Ok ok I don't actually hate the guy. But I don't like him either. He's the type I'd tolerate working with but want nothing to do with outside of the professional setting)

Caspar and linhardt really are THAT comedy duo. I need a whole book dedicated to their paired endings

Sylvain's dick is still the funniest joke on the internet

The weirdest part of part 2 felix's hair isn't even the aggresive side sweep. That can be explained by having stiff straight hair. Its the limp pony tail. If your hair is that stiff, any ponytail that length is going to stick straight out like as anime character. I have this hair type. I've succeded in replicating the side sweep, the ponytail doesnt work

give mercedes a gun cowards

Marianne with a cute bob. Marianne with short hair. very home of phobe of intsys not to make marianne like an actual werewolf or something

devs should have let Bernie learn how to beat her dad to death with her bare fists

I've returned home to my boy. I love Claude!

Mortal savant ignatz. I mean strength in swords and budding talent in reason. Youre going to ba a magic samurai ignatz!

I had forgotten how much gd plays like a mystery game. Also, whatever I said earlier I take it back. Lysithea has a crush on Leonie

I keep trying to imagine an adrestia that isn't tropical (because why else would they wear heavy coats), and failing...

I really love raphael. He's so good

Claude's this interesting mix of cynical and idealistic yeah. He has a number of strong ideals and believes in the potential of humanity to do good, to grow and learn, to come together and built. But he also struggles because at the same time he also believes humans will usually choose the easier path of ignorance and hate. People are cruel and don't care.[5:30 AM]He's really cynical about what people are actually going to do

Sylvain's just layer upon layer of unhealthy coping mechanism

I don’t really like the ingrid/claude ship. ingrid tends to fixate on one shallow quality in a person and then ship them shit about it. and that’s the support. and the writers don’t have her ever acknowledging the rest of the character’s personality or admitting her first impression might have been incorrect. that especially doesn't pair well with Claude who hides so much of himself. Out of all the characters Claude can A support Ingrid's the only one I where I went "whyyyyyyy"[10:02 AM]It really felt like the typical C-B support. Of i cant stand you because of 1, 2, and 3. To hey maybe you aren't so bad

i can't help but think the empire and alliance are incredibly stupid for making lorenz a cavalier. He's terrible at it.

Hold the phone. Was jeralt a soldier in the leicester independwnce war? (On thw faerhgus side). But thats 300 years ago. All we know is that hexs older than 100. The almyra unvasion is another option. Its also possible that jeraly wasnt involved in any war

So I'm trying to get rhea killed on the last chapter of part 1 for GD and wow its really hard to lose the fight this way. Enemies will avoid her like the plague. I cant believe I'm struggling to lose a fight Rhea is unkillable. I have taken no actions for 15 turns are she is still not dead Starting to think its impossible to lose by rhea death in this battle Turn 31. Its only raphael and hilda left Yeah as long as you have 1 unit to keep enemy infanty out of the pink squares this map is inpossible to lose on hard mode 60 turns. All of Rhea’s spell and weapon uses are gone and she still wont die. I give up

I've been thinking of hilda dimitri hypothetical supports recently and i think they"d be halfway between her lorenz+ferdinand supports and her marianne supports.[1:48 AM]Hilda is the QUEEN of suckering people and dimitri is the biggest sucker in the game[1:51 AM]But like marianne's clumsiness, dimitri can't do basic tasks well so hilda hoisting her chores on him is sure to backfire hilariously. He also has that kicked puppy pitifulness that part 1 marianne has so hilda will end up feeling sorry watching him struggle and help out[1:52 AM]But these 2 are both deeply compassionate so they could actually get along. You know... i can see ferdinand and claude hating each other's guts. But there's such potential for personal growth...

Why is it that the agarthans have the most named npcs out of any factionJump

If gilbert is what it means to be an "exceptional knight". Then i dont want it. I dont want knights and i especially dont want execptional knights

I like playing on hard because i never have to worry about winning a fight only about how many style points I can rack up.

Why does fodland new year start on month 3. Look i get that the japanese adopted the chinese calendar system of new year in early spring before adopting the gregorian calendar so "new years" events ended up split between month 1 (new years celebration) and month 3/4 (start of school). But that makes no sense for fodlan. In universe it doesnxt make sense. Why not have month 1 start in spring or have the new year in winter. Ok let's be real. The real reason its like this is that due to globalization and post ww2 american influence not to mention european colonialism, the gregorian calander is the one the world runs on. So its for us players benefit that month 1 is in winter and month 6 is summer. But in universe it doesn't make sense! Not unless you start making really convoluted excusrs[4:00 AM](Sorry southern hemisphere No representation for you today) This only works for chinese new years because its 2 different calender systems being used at the same time. Which doesn't make sense in fodlan because why would rhea allow a new calander system in given her isolationist policy. Or if its a remnant of an old calender system, there's no way it lasted 1000 years

If jeralt hadn't been killed by kronya, he would have been consumed by the hivemind in SS and you would have been forced to kill him

The devs really went out of their way to give jeritza a unique class huh. He's a dark knight+swords. You can say it. He's just a dark knight. Yet they really went and slapped death knight on him[2:49 PM]Also as a pc his crit rate in underwelming

The s suport cgs are more stylized and its a little jarring

Is it only me than. Who get ways too many support points thant hey know what to do with.

We need a cats remake but its called rats and is dimitri in every role

I want a lysithea hilda a support[5:48 PM]Hilda's the only ine lysithea likes from the start[5:48 PM]They have mutual respect for each other[5:48 PM](Also side note. Wow lysithea is mean to ignatz. Poor baby)

Reminder that its Marianne who title drops vw

Did I miss something? Felix becoming the top advisor for all of fodlan seems like a bad idea. The only thing that comes close to showing he's competant is his ingrid support where it shows he's decent at tactics. Reason number 76 for why I'm worried for fodlan post AM. Along with ... ya know .. the Agarthans still running around.

One part of vw i didn't like was when the merchants went woohoo no regulations and free trade yay!Jump

I'll be honest. 7 year old me would have swindled dimitri out of his good halloween candy

#fe #fe3h

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sage-nebula · 7 years

Note

8 for Alain, 18 for BotW Link, 33 for BotW Zelda, 34 for Sycamore, aaand 41 for Satoshi!

Alan:

8.) Dreams

Ever since the Flare crisis—ever since all of … that … ended, sometimes Alan has dreams about Lysandre.

It’s difficult to call them nightmares, because they aren’t nightmares in the typical sense. Nightmares, as he has always understood them from childhood, usually involve something horrifying. Nightmares are supposed to consist of ax murderers, or terrifying demons, or being drowned, that sort of thing. But these dreams … aren’t like that. Instead, they’re always dreams of … they’re not memories. Even if they start out that way, that’s not how they stay. Usually they’re dreams of the present, except different, because in these dreams Alan’s present reality is that Lysandre is alive, and Alan is—for whatever reason—either working for him again, or, worse, actually living with him. It’s horrible; Alan feels with every fiber of his being that it’s horrible, that it’s wrong, that he doesn’t want it … but he also knows, in the dream at least, that it is reality. It’s inescapable. He has to accept it, no matter how ashamed it would make everyone who cares about him, no matter how miserable or anxious it makes him, no matter how much he struggles to remember how or why things ended up this way. They’re not … nightmares, exactly, but every time he has one of those dreams, he always wakes feeling shaken and uneasy, and everything about the rest of the day he has to face feels off. He feels off, in ways that hardly anyone notices, but that he wouldn’t be able to explain even if they did.

These dreams never go away. They’re often different—once he had a particularly strange one in which he had, mentally, been sent back into the past, back to the years when he was working for Lysandre, and was stuck there despite his knowledge of how things would end up—but they never go away. Even over a decade later, when it all should have been well and truly behind him, he still finds himself waking in the earliest hours of dawn, shaken in a way that makes him tug his blankets up over his head for a few minutes before he kicks them off completely so he can go spend some time with Lizardon before the day takes off.

(I have a fic on this subject here.)

Link, Hero of the Wild:

18.) Winter

Winter was, objectively, the worst goddessdamned season.

Oh sure, some would say that was a subjective opinion, that Link was speaking for himself and therefore it wasn’t objective at all, especially since all of his vitriol came from his “personal feelings.” Well, Link would say that his personal feelings held a lot of validity, thank you very much, especially since it was his personal feelings that drew him to start going after the Divine Beasts not ten minutes after throwing himself off the Great Plateau with nothing but a rusted sword, thin clothes that were poor excuses for armor, two apples, and a paraglider. That worked out real well for him when he landed and was immediately attacked by a swarm of keese, and then attacked by a camp of three bokoblins and two actual goddessdamned moblins when they heard his panicked screaming as he tried to hit the keese with his sword (which promptly broke, because did he mention it was rusted as fuck?). Yeah, that was real great, but you know what? He still did the thing anyway. He still made it through all that bullshit, and went after the Divine Beasts, and fought off the Ganon Blight within them, and did a whole bunch of other honestly suicidal, nonsensical bullshit, because his personal feelings told him that it was the Right thing to do. So if his “personal feelings” were valid enough to justify him saving Hyrule from Calamity Ganon, then Link felt that his “personal feelings” were valid enough to say that winter objectively sucked.

And you know what? He was going to say it. Winter. Objectively. Sucked.

What good was winter? No good, that’s what. Winter was when everything got really, ridiculously cold. And you know what, that wasn’t too abnormal in certain parts of the world. Goddess freaking knows Link had to tromp through enough snow during his quest, and don’t even get him started about how many times he fell in that freezing damn river while trying to get to the frigging shrine on the Great Plateau so that he could get the spirit orb to appease the ghost of Zelda’s dead father (and honestly, if His Majesty didn’t approve of Link as a son-in-law after all this, then Link had picked up on a lot of modern day rude gestures that he would love to educate His Majesty on, because for someone who really wanted Link to save his kingdom and also his daughter, he made getting that paraglider a real pain in the ass). But in winter, everything was balls to the walls cold. Every part of the world was freaking freezing, except maybe Death Mountain, but excuse Link for not being able to spend an entire season cooped up inside a volcano because the rest of the world couldn’t handle being even halfway decent.

Farore.

And you know, some people would say he was just being whiny about the temperature. “Boo-hoo,” they’d say, “you don’t like the cold.” Well, first off, Link thinks it’s real rich for people who let monsters waltz around like they owned the place for ten thousand years to tell him “boo-hoo,” and then even more rich for them to get offended when he says this when he was able to learn how to fight them off by himself when he spent ten thousand years naked and asleep in a chamber. And oh, don’t give him that “well YOU got ten thousand years of rest” bullshit, because he only got that after he died, and he was weak as a day old kitten when he stumbled out of that cave, blinking into the sun, an apple shoved into his mouth by an old man who then gave him a stick and told him to venture off into the wilderness with no clue on what to do. He was naked, do you hear him? Naked. And yet he was still able to fight off bokoblin, so you know what, he doesn’t want to hear it.

“But you’re the Hero—” And you are people with hands, feet, eyes, and ears. You can fight bokoblin if you really try and put some backbone into it, don’t start with him.

Anyway. Where was he? Oh, yeah. Winter sucked, and the reason why it sucked was because everything was cold, and that really, really sucks when you spend 95% of your time sleeping outdoors. Here’s a newsflash: Campfires don’t warm your entire body at once. Do you know how uncomfortable it is to be huddled up in a mass of snow-soaked clothing, constantly tossing and turning so you can warm one side of your body while the other half freezes over again? Yeah, Din, thanks a whole lot for not making your fires more all-encompassing. It’s going to be real easy for Link to save Hyrule when half his body has frostbite. Oh, and when he’s half-starved, because a good portion of the world’s animals go into hibernation in the winter, and crops don’t freaking grow, and food is scarce so villages are charging an arm and a leg for it, and you know, Link would part with his limbs, he’s not too attached to them after ten thousand years of having them, but it might be kind of hard to save Hyrule with just a single arm and leg. He could probably still do it, if you gave him time to figure it out, but it just might be a little harder than it already is, and you know, it’s already kind of freaking hard enough in the dead of goddessdamn winter.

FARORE.

All right. Link is being a little unfair. It’s not exactly nice of him to drag the people of Hyrule for not doing anything to defend themselves from monsters when they are average citizenry who are, obviously, innately completely helpless, and incapable of learning basic self-defense. And okay, okay, that’s mean, too, he needs to be nicer to the people, but it’s just hard, you know, when he’s freezing no matter how many fucking layers he piles on, and his fingers are stuck to the hilt of his sword, and he hasn’t had a decent meal in a week because he has no food, and it’s snowing again, and do you know how much of a pain in the ass to climb mountains in snow? It’s at least possible, unlike when it’s raining (for real, fuck the rain, you can take all of your goddessdamned rain back, Nayru, take it back!), but for fucksake, climbing snowy mountains is not fun, and in winter, all of the mountains are snowy mountains.

But still. He’s being mean, and he knows it. Zelda wouldn’t appreciate that, even though Link knows she can be just as scathing as he, and more eloquent about it, too. But still, she wouldn’t approve, and he knows that, and he needs to be a little nicer, at least where the peoples of Hyrule are concerned.

He just really.

Hates.

Winter.

Princess Zelda:

33.) Safe

Her father kept a safe in his chambers when he was still alive.

There were multiple safes and treasure keeps around the castle, some known to the staff, and some hidden. There were some treasure troves, Zelda thought, that were probably unknown even to her. Hyrule Castle was a storied castle with many secrets; rumors and legends surrounded it, tales of ages past that certainly none alive today (and probably none alive ten thousand years ago) could verify. But while there were rumors of secrets the castle would take with it long past its destruction, there were some safes and treasure troves that Zelda knew to be true, and one was the safe that was embedded in the wall behind the headboard of her father’s bed.

Once Calamity Ganon is defeated, Zelda returns to her father’s chambers. She never knew what was in the safe. Once again, there were rumors; Zelda overheard some of the servants talking about it, ten thousand years ago. Some of the more ludicrous stories were that keys to the Sacred Realm were kept within. Others speculated that they were merely precious gems. Zelda didn’t know, and in honesty, she had never felt compelled to ask. Whatever was in the safe, she had known ten thousand years ago that it would not help her. If it would, no doubt her father would have given it to her. He had been just as desperate as she for her to unlock the power that slumbered within her. Had there been anything in the safe that could have enabled her to do that, he wouldn’t have hesitated to hand it over.

But now that ten thousand years had passed, and her father was long since deceased, Zelda felt compelled to check. She went by herself, without Link, to see what it was her father had kept in that safe. It wasn’t greed that compelled her, and the curiosity she felt was slim. Rather, it was the state of her kingdom. Link had done a fantastic job saving Hyrule, as she had known he would, but the Hyrule that he had to save … well, there wasn’t much of it left, anymore. There were settlements of people all across the land, but they were impoverished. They would need help to get on their feet again. And if there was any help that could be offered, any at all … if there was anything in her father’s safe that could pay for the reconstruction of the kingdom, she had to use it.

So she returned to his quarters once the castle was safe again, and shoved the bed away from the wall. She used her telekinesis to undo the lock (such an easier feat than restraining Calamity Ganon), and pried the door open.

Her heart stilled as she saw what was inside.

There were no jewels inside the safe. There were no keys to the Sacred Realm. There wasn’t anything, except …

Drawings.

Gently, Zelda lifted aged pieces of parchment out of the safe. The drawings were simplistic, and clumsy. They were childish, as could be expected, given that they had been produced by a child.

Her.

The drawings were hers. Some were in mere charcoal, and others were in paint, but they were all … she had drawn all of them. There was a drawing of herself, her father, and her mother; there was a drawing of the stable boys tending to the horses; there was a drawing of flowers, and another of apple trees, and yet another of one of the Rito emissaries. There was a drawing of Impa, too.

Zelda went through the drawings one by one. She could still remember drawing some of them. Others, not so much. But they were there, each and every one, until she had stopped producing them altogether. She wiped her cheeks after a couple errant tears fell onto an illustration of a dog chasing an apple, and set the pictures aside as she looked back in the safe. There was one last portrait inside—a small, personal one—separated from the stack that Zelda had removed from the safe. She picked it up with trembling fingers, and stifled a sob with her other hand as she looked down at it.

It was a self-portrait, at least partially, painted by her mother. Unlike Zelda’s own artworks, this one was masterful. Her mother had captured both herself and her father when they were younger, smiling, laughing—in love. Zelda set the portrait aside and buried her face in her arms, unable to stop her sobs or tears from flowing now.

There had indeed been treasures in her father’s safe. Just not the type everyone had gossiped about.

Sycamore:

34.) Affection

Augustine doesn’t have one primary love language. He has three: Words of affirmation, physical affection, and gift giving.

The type he employs somewhat depends on the person, but it also depends on his mood. He likes picking up gifts for those he cares about while he’s out and about, on a whim. There doesn’t need to be a special occasion to give a gift, he feels, especially if it’s something small, a little token of, “I saw this and I thought of you.” (Of course, gifts are given on special occasions, absolutely. But it doesn’t have to be a special occasion.) And it isn’t at all uncommon for him to ruffle Alan’s hair, or gently give Gabrielle a hug, and if he’s upset, then he certainly loves to be hugged, and finds comfort in cuddles. And as far as words of affirmation go, well—those are normal, aren’t they? Why shouldn’t he tell his loved ones when they’re marvelous? Why shouldn’t he tell them that they’re loved? (Not that he’s always the best at communicating things that need to be communicated—he’ll always kick himself over the fact that Alan had any doubts at all that Augustine saw him as a son—but he will tell someone on a whim that they’re wonderful, that he’s glad to have them there. He can’t imagine not doing that.)

So Augustine is, at his core, a very affectionate person. He loves doling it out, and he of course likes receiving it in turn, though it isn’t always strictly necessary. But that said, he does struggle a bit with the remaining two love languages, however much of a mastery he has on the other three. When it comes to acts of service and quality time … those two can certainly be struggles.

Acts of service tend to be a struggle for Augustine in two parts. As far as doing them is concerned, Augustine is often both so wrapped up in his own duties that he doesn’t have very much time to complete someone else’s work (not that acts of service are all about work, but—), and he’s also always so focused on gift giving, or showing affection through physical or verbal affirmation, that acts of service seem a little … unnecessary, or even performative to him, not to mention perhaps a little … not lazy, per se, but … perhaps … demanding on the part of the one who wanted them? And as far as receiving goes, well, Augustine doesn’t really ask others to do his work for him (having lab assistants is different, because they need jobs, too), and when it comes to grander scale things, well … in all honesty, he would prefer it if Alan would stop risking his life to try and protect Augustine’s. It’s supposed to be the other way around, if anything (this is one act of service Augustine doesn’t feel is unnecessary or performative, given that he is Alan’s father), and really, he would be a lot more grateful just to see his son alive, happy, and well. That’s all he wants. That’s all he’s asking for.

So acts of service can be a bit difficult, and trust in the fact that this struggle Augustine has with this particular love language did cause some strife during his university years, given that his roommate Fulbert was all about acts of service, and Augustine was not, and so in freshman year in particular there were a lot of “fights” that wouldn’t have been fights at all had they realized that their hurt feelings all spawned from a misunderstanding about whether they liked each other or not. (Which they did, but Fulbert just wanted Augustine to perhaps take some initiative to clean the dorm once in a while, whereas Augustine didn’t understand why Fulbert wouldn’t compliment him, or give him a friendly hug, or sometimes bring him back a smoothie from the on-campus smoothie shop. Fulbert didn’t realize that Augustine was trying to be friendly by always trying to hug him or get his favorite snacks when he went out on grocery runs (rather than being clingy or trying to buy his friendship), and Augustine didn’t realize that Fulbert doing Augustine’s laundry along with his own wasn’t Fulbert being a neat freak, but rather was Fulbert trying to be helpful. It was just … a bit difficult, for a little while.

(“I just don’t understand why you still hate me after all this time!”

“What the—I don’t hate you, whatever gave you that frigging idea?”

“What do you think? You never say a single nice word to me, you push me away when I try to hug you—”

“I don’t like to be hugged—”

“Who doesn’t like to be hugged?!”

“Me!”

“You’re always so cold—”

“I—I do your damn laundry every week, I’m always cleaning your side of the dorm, I make sure you get to class on time—”

“I don’t ask you to do any of that, Fulbert, and you never appreciate how I always make sure to get your favorite chips from the—”

“I don’t ask you to do that, either! And maybe it’s not about asking, maybe I just help you out because I want to—”

“Well, maybe I just get your snacks because I want to!”

“Why do you want to buy my damn snacks?”

“Why do you want to do my laundry?”

“Because I want to make sure you have something clean to wear so you don’t get yourself sick!”

“Well I want you to be happy, and I know that having your favorite snacks while you do your homework makes you happy!”

“Wha—since when do you care if I’m happy?”

“What are you talking about? I’ve always cared!”

“Since when?”

“Since always! You’re the one who doesn’t—”

“If I didn’t care about you, I wouldn’t give a damn what you do or how sick you got because you think a cereal bowl’s still clean after the first use so long as you wipe it out with a paper towel first.”

“It’s clean enough—”

“It damn well is not!”

“… So you really don’t hate me?”

“Of course I don’t frigging hate you. Whatever gave you that stupid idea in the first place?”

“I don’t think we need to go over this whole thing again.”

“… Yeah. You’re probably right about that one.”Idiots, the pair of them. In their defense, they were ~18, but still. Idiots.)

Ash:

41.) Memory

Ash doesn’t remember his father.

He thinks he should remember his father, and sometimes, if he tries hard enough, he can almost make himself believe he does. He has pictures of him, or at least one or two; he has one in his bedroom, a framed candid photo of his dad with his chikorita (his dad’s chikorita, that is, not Ash’s own then-Chikorita, now-Bayleef), and he thinks his mom has at least a couple somewhere, though they never look at them. Sometimes, if he looks at the picture of his dad long enough, he thinks he can remember some things from when he was very small. He thinks maybe he can remember his dad holding him when he was a baby, or what his dad smelled like. He knows he … probably doesn’t. Babies don’t have memories from when they’re that small. But whenever he asks his mom, she always gives him positive answers. That’s just how his mom is, and he knows that’s a fact, because there were times when he’d go downstairs in the middle of the night to get a glass of milk when he was real small, and he’d hear his mom crying in the kitchen, but when he went to see if he could make her feel better like she always did for him, she’d smile real bright and tell him that everything was just fine, and what was he doing up so late? It was way past his bedtime. She was lying, and he knew it, and he also knew that the reason why she was lying about crying probably had something to do with the fact that his dad was never home, and they didn’t have very much money because his mom had a hard time running the restaurant all by herself, and he didn’t think his dad ever sent money home for the them. (But whether he did or didn’t, Ash really didn’t know for sure. His mom never liked to talk about money very much with him, unless she was uncomfortably apologizing for not being able to get him the coolest new toy that all the other kids and especially Gary had, but Ash never really cared about that, and he hoped she believed him when he said it. It was always good enough for him just to have her as his mom.)

But even if his mom remembers his dad, Ash himself doesn’t. He knows things that his mom has told him. He knows that his dad is a pokémon trainer, somewhere out there in the world, and he knows that his dad would be proud of him, because his mom said that his dad would be. And Ash hopes that’s true. His mom wouldn’t lie on purpose, unless she was trying not to worry him, but … well, sometimes Ash thinks about what it will be like if he ever runs into his dad on his journey. He can’t remember him, but that’s okay; he can always make new memories of him. He wonders what his dad will think when he meets Pikachu, or Ash’s other pokémon. He wonders if his dad’s chikorita is a meganium now, and he wonders how his dad’s meganium will get along with Bayleef. He wonders what it’ll be like to talk to his dad, and if … if he’ll be mad, maybe, when he meets him, if he’ll be a little mad, like how Brock was when his dad finally came home. He at least doesn’t think he’d try to turn his dad into a doll, like Sabrina did hers, even if he had that power, but he thinks … he doesn’t remember his dad, but he remembers how hard it was on his mom, raising him by herself, because even when he tried not to cause too much trouble, trouble usually had a way of finding him. He remembers the nights he’d walk into the kitchen to find his mom crying at the kitchen table, a lot of papers spread over it that he realizes years later were probably bills. He remembers that his mom was only eighteen when he was born, and that if she was on a pokémon journey herself at the time she probably had to end it, but that his dad hadn’t ended his even though Ash was just as much his son as he was his mom’s. And he thinks … maybe he would be a little mad, if he ever got a chance to meet his dad. Because maybe his dad would be proud of him, and maybe Ash wants his dad to be proud of him, but maybe … maybe Ash isn’t very proud of his dad. And maybe he doesn’t remember his dad, but maybe his dad should have remembered him and his mom, and maybe it seems like he didn’t, and maybe … maybe Ash is a little mad about that, yeah, if he thinks about it.

But it’s complicated, and Ash isn’t always the biggest fan of thinking about complicated things. And truth be told, he doesn’t need a dad, anyway. He’s got his mom, and his mom is the best mom in the world. They’re the only family they need.

Whether he remembers (or ever meets) his dad or not, that’s good enough for him.

#ryttu3k #headcanon meme #my valiant dragon son #feisty cinnamon roll son #fic fix

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beholdthepowerofyuri · 7 years

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Hyrule Warriors - BotW

So, with the Switch out, one thing it’s been noted for is releasing either undated ports or straight-up sequels to Wii U games (they’ve done it with Mario Kart 8, Pokken Tournament, Splatoon, and they’ve heavily implied that they’re going to do something similar with Smash 4), I wouldn’t be too surprised if they eventually revealed either a port or (probably more likely) a sequel to Hyrule Warriors.

So, obviously, they’d have to capitalize on the hype of BotW, and include at least one (if not all) of the Champions if they did. And I could see each of them working fairly well. As such, here’s my speculation on what each of them could possibly bring to the table...

First is my personal favorite out of the Champions, Urbosa

She’d be a Lightning warrior, and her weapon would be “Scimitar”; Level 1 - Gerudo Scimitar (which also has her equipped with a Gerudo Shield) Level 2 - Moonlight Scimitar (which also has her equipped with a Radiant Shield) Level 3 - Scimitar of the Seven (which also has her equipped with the Daybreaker) Level 4 - Scimitar of the Seven+ (same as level 3)

With her huge, muscular build (*drools*), I can see her being a bit of a lightning bruiser who’s both fast and powerful, but is a bit lacking in defense due to the Gerudos’ overall tendency to wear little armor and leave a lot of skin exposed.

Her X attack (or Y if you’re like me and prefer the “Zelda Style” control settings) would be to use Urbosa’s Fury; she snaps her finger, and a bolt of lightning comes down directly in front of her, doing a small amount of damage, but stunning anyone hit by it. Additionally, several of her combos could end with a powerful shock via Urbosa’s Fury.

Lastly, her special attack would be a powerful sword combos, ending with her calling upon Vah Naboris to unleash a massive, wide-range blast of lightning. Or something like that. For obvious reasons, I thought it would be neat to utilize the Divine Beasts in some way or another for each of their Special Attacks. ------------ Next is Daruk;

He’d be a Fire warrior, and his weapon would be “Goron Blade” Level 1 - Cobble Crusher Level 2 - Stone Smasher Level 3 - Boulder Breaker Level 4 - Boulder Breaker+

He’d be about what you’d expect from a large rock-man weilding a giant metalic sword-hammer; slow, powerful, and tanky. Admittedly, his overall fighting style would probably feel similar to Darunia’s, though I can think of a few ways to keep them form being basically clones of each other.

The biggie would be his X (or Y) ability; Daruk’s Protection. Similar to the likes of Ruto and Twili Midna, he’d have a separate meter that would increase as he dealt damage to the enemy. Once said meter is full, you activate his famous barrier by pressing X/Y, which will block any and all damage from enemy attacks. To keep it from being too OP, it’ll only last for a few seconds.

Another possibility is to include a counter mechanic similar to the parrying from BotW. If you activate Daruk’s Protection right as an enemy is about to hit you, they get stunned, which leaves him open for a punishing counterattack. Additionally, there’s always the possibility for some “barrier bashing” (like shield bashing, but with a barrier) in some of his combos.

For his special attack, he’ll call upon Vah Radunia, who will proceed to kick a conveniently located volcano and make it erupt. Daruk protects himself with his barrier, while the are around him is bombarded with a shit-ton of magma bombs. ------------ After that, we have Mipha;

Surprisingly, she’s Water. Imagine that. And her weapon will be “Spear” Level 1 - Zora Spear Level 2 - Silverscale Spear Level 3 - Lightscale Trident Level 4 - Lightscale Trident+

Okay, so Mipha was a bit tricky, and I ultimately ended up taking some liberties with her when I came up with ideas for her. Aside from being adorable, the only thing she had going was her healing ability, Mipha’s Grace. Dunno if something like a free heal would fly in a game like Hyrule Warriors. But I didn’t want to leave it out, since it’s such a huge part of her in the game.

As such, Mipha’s Grace functions similarly to Fi and Cia’s X/Y ability; rather than an attack, it gives her a temporary buff to Defense.

As for her fighting style...honestly, just picture Ruto with a spear, and that’s more or less the mental image I’m getting. She’s very swift and graceful, and while each individual attack doesn’t deal a whole lot of damage, they’re quick to execute, so the damage adds up rather quickly; kinda like the spear weapons from BotW.

Additionally, while some of her attacks would still involve water, I figured out a fun way to further separate her from Ruto; have some of her combos involve flinging Cryonis cubes. I mean, Vah Ruta used them during the “battle” against it (also that entire sequence is easily one of my favorites in the game), and she does have control over Vah Ruta. So it’s not too far fetched.

And let’s be real, HW has already taken more than a few liberties with various characters’ movesets, so why not?

Anyways, for her special attack, I thought it’d be fun to base it on one of the shrine quests.

Basically, once you clear Vah Ruta and get the Lightscale Trident, there’s a shrine you can unlock by heading to a place called the Veiled Falls, where there’s a waterfall and a shrine platform. What you have to do is swim up the waterfall with the Zora Armor, then use the aerial spear attack (a death-from-above stabbing attack) and land on the platform.

So basically...that. She calls for Vah Ruta, who sprays a waterfall-like stream from its trunk for her to swim up, and then she dive bombs spear-first into the group of enemies, creating a shock wave that smack anyone nearby. ------------ Last, and certainly least (because I honestly don’t like this guy), is Revali.

His element would be Light, but only because I didn’t want to repeat elements, and Dark wouldn’t really make sense. Honestly, if they do make a sequel, they should add a Wind element. That’d be a lot more fitting. Anyways, his weapon is “Bow”. Level 1: Swallow Bow Level 2: Falcon Bow Level 3: Great Eagle Bow Level 4: Great Eagle Bow+

At first, it was kinda hard not to picture Revali playing a lot like Medli, with the only obvious difference being that he he’d have a bow and not a harp. Fewer gusts of wind, and more arrow barrages. But as far as how they move around, a lot of the ideas I was coming up with ended up being cases of “wait didn’t Medli do that?”

With that said...yeah. His X/Y attack is more or less the same as Medli’s. He uses Reveli’s Gale to fling himself and any opponents next to him into the air, then he can either do a flurry of rapid attacks against the enemies in the air, do a dive-bomb attack against enemies on the ground, or perform a few air dashes.

Because I don’t see the follow-up attacks working well with a bow, I figured he could brandish a Feathered Edge for these (and a few of his other combos), possibly as a nod to how Link can use both a melee weapon and a bow in both games. Honestly, there’s no other reason for it other than it might look kinda cool. Other than that, though, most of his attacks will involve multiple barrages of arrows.

For his special attack, he’ll leap into the air and call upon Vah Medoh, who will swoop in and bombard the area in front of where Revali was standing. Then he’ll pull out his bow and fire three Bomb Arrows simultaneously. I can’t help but picture it being done in slow motion, as a shout-out to the mechanic from the actual game. ------------ Anyways...yeah, that’s pretty much it. This isn’t meant to be a prediction or anything, and if it actually does happen, I’ll be surprised if they’re anywhere close to what I’ve put here. This is just something I thought of when I was bored that I feel would be pretty sweet, and decided to post for the hell of it.

Also, can we get a Giant Boomerang weapon for Link? ‘cause like...that’s kinda my favorite weapon in BotW. I don’t even know how a moveset centered specifically around it would work, but I want one.

Anyways, I’m done. If you like what you see here or think you have an idea that would work better, I’m more than open to comments and/or criticism. Just...you know. Try to keep it civil is all I ask.

#the legend of zelda #breath of the wild #hyrule warriors #speculation #random #just for fun

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deebormzone · 7 years

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Deep Breath

It’s been about a month since The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild came out, and I haven’t said anything about it yet.

I beat the Wii U version of the game. I’m staying away from the Switch for now since the console has a few technical issues and almost no games. If they clean up their act a bit, it’ll probably be worth it during the holidays alongside Mario Odyssey.

Here’s what I thought about the wildest Zelda game yet.

Is it the best Zelda game? The question comes up fairly often.

I think it has to be. It’s the biggest, but also the most detailed, a huge world built to be explored. The only way an older Zelda game can top it is if you’re ranking them based on their quality “for their time”, and I only care about whether a game is good right now.

It’s very different from the usual Zelda format, which was largely unchanged since Link to the Past. Some have said it’s not a Zelda game at all, but if the essence of Zelda is exploration, Breath of the Wild does a better job of capturing that essence than the rest.

When I started the game, I wasn’t quite sure how I felt. It seemed a little basic, and I wasn’t feeling as enthusiastic as the previewers leaping at the chance to climb stuff. On the contrary, climbing felt like a slow hassle. But things picked up once I made it off the plateau. I may have just been bored by the parts I had already seen.

Once the game had really started, everything was golden. I had loads of fun running around, fighting tough enemies, cooking various types of skewer, and engaging in my number one most favorite video game activity: gettin’ stuff. Some people hate the weapon durability, but not me. Low durability means weapons everywhere, which means more gettin’ stuff. It’s similar to one of my favorite games, Dead Rising, which is one of the reasons I was looking forward to Breath of the Wild so much.

As an extra treat, the world of Hyrule is more fleshed out than ever. All the characters have proper names and unique dialogue. The races (Zora, Goron, Korok, Rito, Gerudo) have beautiful settlements and full sets of equipment and weapons. The Gerudo in particular have gone from being reclusive bandits to having one of the nicest settlements in the game. There are plenty of little moments across the world that are great fun to experience, a couple of favorites being attacks by Yiga clan assassins, the sidequest to build a new town, and the appearance of the blood moon.

Despite all the good to be found in Breath of the Wild, some parts got on my nerves. Shrines, for example. Whenever I found a shrine, I was punished by having to solve a puzzle. I know it’s not kosher to complain about puzzle-solving in a Zelda game, but in this one they’re just roadblocks in the way of fun adventuring. Worst of all are the “apparatus” shrines, which force you to use motion controls to rotate the environment. I like playing with the Pro controller, and whenever an apparatus comes up, I have to go across the room to get the Wii U gamepad. Then the controls are floaty and awful. There’s no reason not to let me tilt the apparatus with a control stick, Monkey Ball style, but they just had to shoehorn in their shitty gimmick. They use it infrequently, but it’s always a letdown when it shows up.

Stasis challenges also bug me. These are physics-based puzzles requiring you to freeze a boulder or something, then hit it with your weapons to send it flying. The trouble here is twofold: it wastes weapon durability, and the boulder’s direction is based on your imprecise position and direction. My response is to avoid using Stasis whenever possible, and I have to give the game credit for allowing alternate solutions... sometimes.

The game feels weakest when forcing specific playstyles. The low point of the whole game, for me, was a stealth-escort mission in the Korok Woods. I usually don’t bother with stealth in any game because it’s slow. Breath of the Wild has a well-developed stealth system, and the best thing about it is that I can ignore it completely and fight with honor instead. The Korok escort, however, is very slow, and there is no escape.

I was a bit let down by the game’s ending, which was a standard “you saved princess. youve winner” ending. Maybe it’s foolish to expect anything more from this series, but it seemed abrupt after all the visions of the past fleshing out Zelda and Friends. Also disappointing: this game’s Ganon has given up on being a character and has decided to be a large spider instead. I guess we all feel that way from time to time, but Calamity Ganon is not very interesting. A shame, but there are so many other interesting folks in the game that it isn’t a huge loss.

Something unfortunate happened once I had finished the main plot: the game didn’t feel as fun. I didn’t get nearly as much pleasure from exploring because nothing held any value. Wearing a full suit of upgraded Soldier’s Armor kept enemies from being able to hurt me. The cooking system, a joy at first, became dull as soon as I realized the best recipe is always one radish plus anything. Maybe it’s just me?

Now, I’m especially interested in the game’s Hard Mode. It’s being added this summer as paid DLC, which is pretty scummy unless real effort goes into building it. My cynical side (I don’t actually have any other sides) is sure it’ll be a hack job with higher damage numbers, but if they’re charging for it there’s a small chance they’re preparing something special.

How special? Here’s a Hard Mode idea I’d pay for: Play as Zelda. Reverse the plot, sealing Link in Hyrule Castle while Zelda sleeps. She’s about the same size and build as Link, and they even wear the same clothes half the time. Making her playable shouldn’t be much of a stretch from a modeling perspective. Besides other Hard Mode changes, Zelda isn’t combat trained, so playing as her would naturally be harder. Give her the chance to forge her own path, just like she wishes in Link’s memories. Loads of people have been asking for it. There’s even a precedent: entering your name as Zelda activates Hard Mode in Zelda 1, and Breath of the Wild takes a lot of inspiration from that game.

Princess Difficulty is such a perfect fit that it almost feels inevitable, but it would screw up their obligatory princess-rescue plot and also ruin all their Hilarious Jokes™ in which Link dresses as a woman. So Hard Mode will probably just be bigger numbers for $20.

Breath of the Wild is most fun as an under-geared, wimpy hero fighting to survive against a dangerous world. My favorite part of the game was Eventide Isle, which takes all your equipment and makes you start from scratch. I was sad to learn it was the only challenge of its kind. How about a game made up of a hundred Eventide challenges? I’d be down for that.

Speaking of which, now that I’ve finished Breath of the Wild, I’m curious about where the Zelda series will go next. BotW feels like a new era, and director Aonuma has said future titles will use a similar open-world structure (which he calls “open-air” because Nintendo loves making shit up). So what’s the next step on this new, airier path?

It might be a mistake to wish for a revisit of the old during a time of new beginnings, but I will anyway: this would be a great time to revisit Majora’s Mask. Breath of the Wild’s detailed open world would pair well with Majora’s scheduled events, adding a fourth dimension to exploration. It could also let me indulge my love of starting over with nothing! Do regular people like that sort of thing too?

To recap... Breath of the Wild is a breath of fresh air for an old series, and I’m sure loads of game journalists have used that metaphor already. Its few flaws are eclipsed by hours of raw adventure. It’s a great game, sorely needed after some mediocre titles, and I’m excited to see what Nintendo does next.

#Zelda #Breath of the Wild #I will hate motion controls for all eternity

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lightseal · 6 years

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ON THE GAME’S ENDING.

I waited until the DLC was released to make this post out of fairness, but seeing as it did not take place post-game as many were expecting, my position on the ending has remained the same.

I’ll be blunt: I was NOT pleased with the ending of BOTW. If you liked the ending, then that’s perfectly fine!! I’m really happy you enjoyed it, and I wish I could feel the same. But unfortunately, I felt it was a severe let down after seeing the amazing gameplay and characters that were presented to us. I’ll expand upon my thoughts more under the cut.

There are two parts to this: what I thought of the ending, and what I wish the ending would have been.

LETS TALK ABOUT THOSE PLOT HOLES.

Yes, Zelda games and timelines are often FILLED with plot holes. They have limited time and game opportunities to explain every little thing to us, and I don’t expect them to make a comprehensive world guide for each game explaining how every part of the world works.

HOWEVER. BOTW gave us questions, and the ending answered maybe one of them. I say one, because you could ask yourself “Is Zelda okay?” but at the end of the day, it’s a LoZ game. There’s never a real sense of ‘oh no! Zelda might die!’ because the games always end the same way -- Link saves the princess and typically, they defeat Ganon together. Sure, she’s in danger; sure, something bad could happen to her. But is she going to die? No. There’s nothing in the previous LoZ formula that would make you think so. So it’s basically a given that she’s going to be okay.

But BOTW threw out the old formula -- they made the game open world. You could tackle challenges in any order, you never had to wait to do ONE dungeon in order to access something. There was voice acting, and so many new features of gameplay that made it something fresh and new while retaining its familiarity. The game didn’t pull any punches; the fights were HARD unless you did tons of shrines for heart containers, leveled up your armor all the way, and had buff food/potions. But otherwise? You’d get knocked flat on your butt. You’d get very familiar with the game over screen.

It’s a game clearly designed for a more mature audience; it takes you, the player, seriously.

So when you hear Zelda’s voice for the first time, you might think she’s speaking to you through the Sheikah Slate -- sort of like in Wind Waker. But you learn very quickly that she’s calling out to you from within the castle. That’s VERY important to keep in mind.

Remember the Divine Beasts; the moment you step foot onto one, you hear the respective Champion’s voice. They’re no where to be seen, but they tell you about the map and a basic run down of how to proceed. That’s the same thing Zelda did. Except, the Champions were SPIRITS. So it makes sense that they have some degree of dominion over their beasts.

But what about Zelda? She’s not a spirit. So why is she able to speak to you from such a vast distance? Why is she able to give you a heads up about the Blood Moon every time, no matter where you are in the world? She says she’s been watching over Link, but how could she have done that? The game doesn’t explain. Not a word about it.

The game makes her omnipresent, but that makes no sense within the context of the game. If she could speak to Link, why couldn’t she speak to the Champions? They were able to speak even before their beasts were released from Ganon’s control, so why couldn’t her and her friends chat for those 100 years instead of them all being alone? If it were because of the beasts’ influences for some reason, why couldn’t she speak to her father, who was just hanging around on the Great Plateau?

The only way this makes sense is if ZELDA HERSELF WERE A SPIRIT. Hyrule Castle has the same map mechanics as the Divine Beasts, and it would make sense that as a spirit she would have power and dominion over the lands of Hyrule, enabling her to speak to Link even across great distances. The Champions retained their abilities for one hundred years and then they passed them down to Link; they never stated they would ever lose them. They never said there was a time limit, or that their powers were fading. So it would fit the storyline if Zelda’s sealing power also remained with her as a spirit, and she was able to use it to keep Ganon at bay for a century.

This would also explain why Zelda did not age. You may think -- “But in Skyward Sword, Zelda sealed herself away for even longer than a hundred years and she didn’t age either!” And that’s true, but in SS, Zelda sealed herself away within a crystal. She wasn’t conscious, she didn’t speak to anyone. She was in a state of Stasis, as Link was for the hundred years before the game takes place. So it makes sense that neither SS Zelda nor BOTW Link aged, but there’s no reason why BOTW Zelda didn’t.

When Zelda makes her appearance in the ending, she comes flying out. She levitates, casually descending as if she’s done it a thousand times. She appears cloaked in glowing golden light all around her -- just like the spirits, save their lights were green and hers was gold. But that would make sense, given that she’s the goddess-blooded princess/Hylia reborn/whatever.

But that light dissipates, and she’s -- just fine? She summons basically a sun, and then is like -- ‘anyway! whatever, moving on.’ Even SS Zelda, who was just asleep, not conscious and actively fighting to keep Ganon at bay, collapses when she awakens. She’s tired. But BOTW Zelda doesn’t even get to have her moment of ‘oh thank goodness it’s finally over now I can rest.’

You’d think of all the characters, it would be BOTW Zelda who got that moment, given her character arc is about her struggling under the weight of her destiny. It’s about her finding herself and her path and having this amazing inner strength despite all the terrible things she went through. But the game doesn’t even give her that. And it keeps her alive, and for what reason?

Because if Zelda died, she couldn’t continue the Hyrule line. That’s it. Zelda has all the traits of the spirits, but the game gives her plot-armor and magically keeps her alive so she can have children. Because the game team didn’t want to say BOTW was the last game in the ‘timeline,’ even though they don’t make the games in order anyway, so it wouldn’t mean anything if they made it the bookend for the series.

IMAGINE THE ENDING IF ZELDA WERE A SPIRIT.

You beat down Ganon, and she comes out in that golden light and creates a little orb with the royal crest on it -- almost like when Link got the other Champion’s powers. Instead of giving it to link, she forces it into the weakened Ganon, sealing his existence from within himself. In doing so, she loses the holy powers passed down to her by the goddess, but Ganon is gone forever, hooray!

The skies start to clear and the sun comes through the clouds over the castle -- peace at last! The camera pans to Zelda, and her name pops up as it did with the other Champions -- “PRINCESS ZELDA” and below that, “The Last Princess of Hyrule.”

King Rhoam had “The Last King of Hyrule” beneath his name, so it would be a great callback to that, and put it in a different light. The player thought he was the former king of Hyrule at the beginning of the game, but now with Zelda being a spirit it becomes clear they are the last of their line. There may be a new royal family to lead Hyrule someday, but the kingdom’s rulers will no longer be those who descended from the Goddess herself.

So Zelda reveals herself to be a spirit, and then the Champions appear in the background ( blurry at first, since the focus is on Zelda. ) She says she’s been watching over him, praying for his safety, but she doesn’t ask “Do you remember me?” she says instead -- “You really are the hero I remembered all this time.” Even if the player didn’t get all the memories, they’ll know it doesn’t matter; because courage is never forgotten. He is still Link, noble and kind and courageous even if he doesn’t remember her. So she doesn’t need to ask.

She turns and walks to stand in the center of the Champions, all of them facing Link. They each give a final parting line, and when they are finished Zelda thanks him for all he’s done, and then smiles and calls him the HERO OF HYRULE.

She and the Champions turn and walk towards the castle, disappearing in the order you cleared the Divine Beasts until Zelda is alone, but she keeps walking. The camera pans to her feet, and then she stops, and it zooms out to reveal the King’s feet just ahead of her. She turns one last time to look at Link, and she simply nods, then turns back towards her father. Link starts running as fast as he can towards the castle, and you see Zelda and the King go through the front door. Link makes it there, breathing heavily, but when he walks in the room is empty.

He sighs and looks down, then turns back and looks out towards Hyrule. It pans over the landscape, and shows people coming out of houses and the stables, looking towards the sky and the castle. The white stallion that was a descendent of Zelda’s horse comes up the pathway to the castle, and Link gets on, riding off towards the now free land of Hyrule as the camera zooms out and the logo appears.

If you got all the memories, then instead of the additional cutscene, there is muted footage of Link, Zelda, and the Champions traveling together pre-calamity that plays during the credits. They’re shown talking and laughing together, cooking at a campfire, etc... Either way, after the credits, Link is shown returning the Master Sword to it’s pedestal while the epilogue track plays softly in the background.

The loose ends are tied up, and the player is shocked. They saved Zelda from her century long battle, but they didn’t save her life. Her life ended one hundred years ago when they failed to beat Ganon the first time. It’s implied without her goddess-powers, she won’t reincarnate again. But with her sacrifice, Ganon was vanquished for good. Peace reigns in Hyrule, and Link is left to watch over it. It’s a bittersweet ending, and something new. A break from tradition, just as the gameplay had been.

#△ Darkness vanquished ( OOC ).#△ Analysis.#△ HC.#△ PSA.#hi this is important and im gonna post it now bc i just did my promo too!!#naturally there are ending spoilers but its all below the cut #oh heck ill still tag it #botw spoilers

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