#were during the events of sksw. Link is always some kid chasing zelda ans zelda is always someone dealing with herself as a cog in a machin

[strawberrycircuits]

thoughts on groose 🎤

GDOOSE YEAH UEHA GROOSS MY FIRNEND GOROSOOSS !!!! takes the microphone and eats it. i love groose oh my god !!!! character of all time. hes set up at a one note bully character to act as the antagonist for the tutorial levels when everything is, like, low stakes and part of the player getting used to things, and once the plot kicks in you kind of Forget about it, yk? he was just a bully and he served his purpose in the narrative bc now we arent dealing with stakes as low as "my loftwing is gone! and the prom wing ceremony is tomorrowww!!!" we're dealing with centuries long prophecy and zelda being gone and the fate of the world blah blah blah.

and then the best scene in the series happens and its like no! nope! sorry bud but we r making this guy plot relevant!!!!! and then they made it the best thing theyve ever done.

groose starts out being actively antagonistic towards link and weirdly objectifying of zelda and its like okay. ok. you have seen this character a billion times you know what this is and where this is going. zelda falls from skyloft and groose is so devastated he stays in his room up until The Scene happens, and when you talk to him a few things are abundanty clear; he blames link for what happened, he desperately misses zelda (but believes shes alive), and he thinks he can do... something. hes not sure what, but If Anyone Is Going To Save Zelda, Its Going To Be Groose. bc hes just some kid! he doesnt know about the fuckinf. implications of hylia and demise and destiny n all that all he knows is the little shit he hates won a ceremony which allowed him to go flying with zelda, and now zeldas gone and maybe it wouldnt have happened if HE had won instead-- if HED been there for her instead of link. and then hes the only character to be like Hey. Why is link gone all the time. Whats up with the massive pillars of light in the cloud barrier and why does link keep going into them. so he figures out link is up to something and hes like fuck that i want in!!!! and he follows. and he rightfully freaks the fuck out abt the surface lmao that scene specifically is excellent.

and sksw links interactions with him are so... interesting? like hes obviously sort of annoyed with him at times (or even angry when it comes to groose stealing his bird :[ ) but every scene i see him in hes either just like :o :/ :I or hes, like, genuinely amused or happy. and hes overwhelmingly understanding towards him or seems to just be like "uhh. ok" when groose is trying to instigate something. like he just doesnt care and when he does he seems to genuinely want to be nice to groose. and groose spends the first bits of the game thinking link is like. everything wrong with the world lmao. which is funny bc his hatred towards link is primarily fueled by 1. jealously about zelda (which. ill get to how he treats zelda.) and 2. this like? general anger about how well links life is going despite the fact he doesnt, like... try in life, at that things are going well for him regardless. and link just doesnt rlly care and still finds reason to be kind to him at times (which is so funny when u pay attention to sksw links character. that guy will lie and say some random concerned persons friend died for the comedy of it but will offer understanding to his fuckinf high school bully. what is wrong with him im obsessed!!!). and then hes told that, for one, zelda is part of something WAAAAY bigger than him, and that link is literally sacrificing everything to save her as was ordained centuries before he was born and hes like. omg. fuck that. this guy?? are u KIDDING. and it takes him watching link fight the imprisoned for him to be like ok. i think ive been an asshole. youve got this shit link im sorry.

so he stays behind and he helps the old lady in the temple take care of herself and keeps her company, and he starts tinkering with machines and he finds a purpose down there. and that purpose isnt "find zelda to spite link' its "help link find zelda." and that weird objectifying crush he has on zelda transforms into a genuine care for her safety more than anything else, to the point i cant even rlly decipher if he still thinks he loves her or if he knows whats best for her, and for him, and for link in the end and hes just content seeing her happy-- whatever it is that brings that. in ghirahims final battle, he catches zelda as shes dying and yells at link to finish this for them all, and that he'll make sure zeldas safe, and you can TELL its bc he wants her to be okay and wants link to be okay and not bc hes like. oh yeah smooching time or whatever HE GROWS !!!!! HE MATURES SO MUCH IN THIS STORY AND BECOMES A MUCH KINDER MORE GENUINE PERSON AND ITS SO ?????!!!! also he gets a cannon called the groosenator and its genuinely vital to fighting the imprisoned later on iirc. HE HAS A ROLE TO PLAY IN THIS SHIT JUST LIKE HE WANTED! JUST LIKE HE CAME DOWN HERE FOR!!!!!! ITS JUST UNDER MUCH MORE NOBLE CIRCUMSTANCES THAN HE ORIGINALLY INTENDED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ik this is contentious theory with a lot of holes but i like the idea that groose got wrapped up in demise's curse, but less for like. trying to consolidate this games stupid lore and more for the thematic implications of it. bc thats, like... essentially admitting he played such a massive part in helping link and zelda that even fucking DEMISE had to admit he did and had to make sure he paid for seeing through with his death. groose, the character who was told to sit back and let the hero deal with it bc hes not a part of hylias plan, who said "no, im doing *something* here, even if its only to help," had a GOD admit he was crucial to his death as much as the chosen hero and the fucking goddess reborn.

i love groose. holy shit.

#Also i think him and link should hold hands sometimes. but beyond that oh my god hes such a compelling character despite being goofy as shit #AND HE STAYS GOOFY!!!!! that never goes away!!!! 'if you see zelda again tell her i said whats up' 'this is a little story i think we shoul #call Legend of Groose' HES SILLAY EVEN AFTER THE DE BASTARDIZATION ARC. put him in every game from now on forever /srs #ohh wait one more thing abt the demises curse theory. uhh that curse kind of always sets the characters back to square one from how they #were during the events of sksw. Link is always some kid chasing zelda ans zelda is always someone dealing with herself as a cog in a machin #much greater than she is as a person and ganondorf. #... ganondorf is always fueled by an overwhelming hatred of someone he sees as inferior (when theyre not) and a general idea of Get Zelda. #idk. its fun to think about the implications of that sort of thing ig :)