ArtBeaver!

she/her fanart + thoughts + probably original art commissions are not open

[artbeaver]

generational

ahhhhh!!! This took so long and idk how I feel about it. The concept is pretty basic. I tried to get a good mix of Zelda eras (Zelda 1 through Tears of the Kingdom), but it was difficult because during the 2000s her design was so consistent game to game. Tetra is in the center because she deserves so much more. the link to the past blue dress also deserves more but I forgot about it until the final stage of this

here's the games I was trying to reference:

[artbeaver]

In honor of pride, the man of all time, Keith kogane

He looks a little funky but whatever. Klance is canon, uhh nothing else new to say. I think the cyan was a choice.

[6pencilsofvariousheights]

all of a sudden I have four fandoms and drawing anything is impossible. how do I choose bro

[artbeaver]

if 2020 is back in style with the hantavirus I propose we bring back bo burnham and the ratatouille musical

[artbeaver]

im not scared for link to speak im scared for him to be British

zelink is so American boy x British girl

[artbeaver]

I played botw on my original account for the first time in two years and I was just struck by the difference between it and tears of the kingdom

Now first, I’d like to preface this by saying that I adore tears of the kingdom. I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited about a game. It has its strengths (ultra hand, fuse, all the mechanics cuz why was cryonis a thing). It’s beautiful but like…

something is missing. But, in my opinion, it’s the fact that there’s just too much going on for the story to make any sense.

botw very clearly depicts a post apocalyptic world. It’s a story of love and hope but ultimately loneliness and grief. The graveyard in kakariko with that one dead mom, satori mountain, Sidon and Mipha, the kingdom of hyrule, the ruins, all of it creates this intensely lonely atmosphere.

and that’s why the game works. You’re this character who has no one left from his time. His situationship is fighting ganon indefinitely, his friends are all dead, and I choose to believe that he has a sister in hateno who at this point is also dead. He has impa, but he doesn’t even have any memories of her nor does he really gain any. His world is gone.

botw’s environment, through the ruins and silence is able to communicate its message.

totk, in my opinion, fails to do that. It doesn’t have a clear message. Age of imprisonment is the only thing that makes the imprisoning war even kind of interesting, and the sky islands and depths are empty but aren’t lonely in the same way.

I don’t think totk needed to be lonely. But, I wish it would’ve used a different map and a new iteration of the characters. Make a world that’s vibrant and full of life and can feel busy! Or, at the very least, make hyrule interesting again! Show towns actually being rebuilt! Totk failed because it kept the lonely landscape, added a bunch of rocks and green robots to it, and then acted as if this created a real message

[artbeaver]

I like that no matter how hard you try the Zelda timeline just is made up. Everything is conflicting with everything else. Tears of the kingdom is after breath of the wild which is after all the other games in theory and has the same springs of power courage and wisdom as skyward sword (plus a suspiciously similar large goddess statue but hey it’s not in the same geographical location because the rest of the map doesn’t work out) which is the start of the timeline but it’s also not because totk and the zonai and rauru being the first king is really the start and the end and the timeline splits and maybe it comes back or maybe totk and botw are just separate but then why in totk are there outfits for the hero of the sky and the hero of time and hero of all these other timelines that I thought were separate and what is hyrule and did it just unflood at some point and also fi and Ghirahim are canon but also a construct that runs off of a shard of the master sword is really more the soul of the hero than Fi but also fi’s theme played in a trailer and oh okay I guess now totk and botw are just in a separate box on the timeline that’s great what does the box mean does demises curse still even exist in the stupid box?

[hilariousseagoat]

K but like

At the beginning of most of the zelda games(or at least the ones that I've played) it says "This is but one of the legends of which the people speak"

Like, they're stories.

So maybe the stuff from the other games is just in reference to the stories.

Did they happen in the botw/totk timeline? Idk maybe. But they could also be like lotr or one piece etc

[artbeaver]

according to Nintendo a few years ago, those games all fall on the timeline. You’re right tho that the legend of Zelda is supposed to be a legend, but for some reason Nintendo keeps on telling us that there is a definitive timeline with all these splits and possible merges

botw when it was released was kinda established to be at the end of the timeline (a little unclear whether or not it was a merge of the timelines or just at the end of one of them). However, when TotK came out, Nintendo put the two into the little box. the whole thing is nonsense tho

[kokiriofthevalley]

my Zelda timeline

(don't think too hard about this I made this at 2 in the morning)

[artbeaver]

I love both of them so so so much. Both of their stories are fundamentally about destiny. Skyward sword Zelda is the first, she’s the first reincarnation of Hylia and there’s no one who really gets it. She’s this daughter, friend, and whole person, and is completely stripped of that by hylia. All of her autonomy is removed. But, in the end, her efforts to stop demise just result in all future Zelda’s having that same autonomy removed from them. Botw Zelda is the first to really acknowledge these pressures. Her dad knows that she isn’t ready, she knows she’s not ready, and basically the whole kingdom knows that she’s not ready. She never gets to be a teenager. Botw and skyward sword Zelda are the only Zelda’s to really acknowledge this pressure that they face as a result of their destiny. They’re forced to make sacrifices. So, I drew them together!!! I think botw Zelda isn’t hugging skyward sword Zelda back because she does blame her, in some way. We see that in the memory of the trip to mount hylia that Zelda is frustrated with the goddess and I think that frustration would carry over to skyward sword Zelda. Skyward Zelda would want to comfort someone she doesn’t know how to comfort.

I’m assuming that botw is still canonically related to skyward sword but honestly who knows. Totk messed the worst timeline ever up. Who knew it was possible.

[artbeaver]

[artbeaver]

link and Zelda are the first ever iPad couple

[artbeaver]

and he did.

[artbeaver]

link sketch because im still at the restaurant

[artbeaver]

im back! so are they! i haven’t drawn anything dc in a HOT sec so this isn’t perfect but it’s art so what

I love all of them and they love each other. Kinda wanted to capture that childhood defining friend group that you’re brutally forced to drift away from (canon event). I was rereading tractors which was part of the inspiration for this (tho they do not look very tractors-y) and then I read my friends by Fredrik Backman and while I did have problems with that book it also captured that nostalgia that plagues Tim and Cassie. sorry for making tim lwk chopped and putting them in a slightly pink void.

[artbeaver]

I won’t be here when you come back.

quick sketch before bed 🛌 anyways I’ve never really drawn Adam so he looks a little funky but ehh

[artbeaver]

very messy Keith sketch

[artbeaver]

Red and blue ship dynamics this short and tall ship dynamics that

IDCCCCCC

GIVE ME SNOWBOARDER X SKIER