Zelda appreciation post I guess?
WEEEEELLLLLLLLL it's been a long time.
Been a long time, has it?
Okay enough of that silliness, HI FELLOW ZELDA FANS! ARE Y'ALL READY FOR ECHOES OF WISDOM??? I KNOW I AM!
I love The Legend of Zelda. I love this series. I've loved it since... I've existed and been able to comprehend what The Legend of Zelda IS. I was born in 1986, the year it came out in Japan (it came out in the US in 1987). My big brother states that I did play the first Zelda in the first few years of my life, though I don't remember doing so. Either way I absolutely adored the Legend of Zelda cartoon (official sources state it aired in 1989, but I thought I was younger than that when I watched it - but then again, a lot of my childhood runs together, so what ya gonna do? *shrugs*
And the first one I have very strong memories of playing is A Link to the Past. I ABSORBED everything within that game, it was very sacred to me. I still remember when we first got the news of there being a "Zelda 64" - I WAS SO READY. I read every magazine article I could, I fantasized about what a Zelda game would look like in three dimensions, I made my first piece of fanart that wasn't bad when I finally got my hands on official artwork of the new Link (I even made a logo in the corner, mistitling the game because all I knew the title by at that point was my brother, who did not know what an ocarina was and misremembered it as orquitz or something like that???? LOL Memory lane thanks for making me laugh instead of leading me headlong into a depression spiral
I don't know why I'm rambling on and on about my childhood a la Zelda. What I really wanted to get around to is, I've often (understatement) dreamed of what it would be like to play as Zelda, to have Zelda have her VERY OWN GAME. And now she's finally getting one! Granted, my favorite Zelda was the one from A Link to the Past - and then that title was given to the one from Ocarina - and I don't really think that changed for a very long time, though I do love Tetra more as a character. I don't consider Tetra a princess or a Zelda because... She ISN'T either of those things. She is Tetra, and I love her as Tetra. Case closed. When I played Minish Cap I DEFINITELY loved that Zelda with all my heart, but sadly she gets DiD'd pretty early on and we don't get as much time with her as with OoT!Zelda. So it was an... almost-tie? TMC!Zelda obviously has more personality for her very short amount of not-petrified screen time, but OoT!Zelda does a LOT more and isn't DiD'd til the very end so we get to spend a lot of time with her (granted, as a cross-dressing Sheikah impersonator, but show me a person who played through OoT and didn't become attached to Sheik and I will show you a LIAR)
It wasn't really until Skyward Sword came out that my "favorite Zelda slot" was OBLITERATED. This Zelda... Hold on, I'm gonna cry...
I love Skyloft Zelda. She is so wonderful. Yes I know I just said all that stuff about OoT!Zelda doing so much throughout the game, and we spend a lot of time in SS barely getting to see her because of her duties, BUT... I think SS!Zelda has the most personality out of any of them. And I appreciate her interactions with her Link so much. She's... so... wonderful! Most of the time if I say "her Link/his Zelda" about a particular pair in any given game I'm just saying "They're from the same game". But no. Nononono... no. Her Link IS... HER Link. And she is obviously, HIS Zelda. And their interactions make my heart explode. I... a;sdlfkjas;flksj;sl
I don't ship ZeLink most of the time
LoZ/AoL, sure, have at it, whichever Zelda Link wants to go for, or neither, whatever (in a fanfic I'm writing Link and the current Zelda REALLY like each other, while Zelda I (the one we woke up at the end of AoL) treats Zelda like a niece/granddaughter and gives her advice and is just a comfortable, loving, supporting presence. But that's just how I like to imagine it all)
ALttP/LA - I 100% ship Link with Marin (I'd like to ship Marin with myself too-I MEAN WHAT? UH I SAID NOTHING) and want to believe he found her somewhere after all that and no one can take this from me. Zelda probably married one of the six maidens and I fully support her
OoT/MM - I think it's obvious from the fact TP!Link lives where he does and has a horse named Epona and the boy at the local farm is named after a Kokiri... that Link married Malon. Which I 100% support. Not just because I've been in love with Malon since the turn of the century I think Malon is wonderful, buuuuut... also, Zelda and Link are most likely twin sister and brother in OoT and yeah... I don't do incest shipping. No thank you. HOWEVER... I also think Link and Ruto would be cute together. Judge me all you want, I know people hate that ship, but I can't help imagining some alternate world where they grew up together, Link taking every chance he got to dive into the shortcut in the Lost Woods to go hang out with his fish gf. ADORABLE. MaLink is still def my OTP as far as this game goes though (idk who I'd ship with Zelda but maybe she meets some cute Sheikah somewhere idk)
OoS/OoA - Maple exists. I'M JUST SAYING
FS - ...........I ship myself with Vaati, that is my only comment
WW/PH - I uh. Actually my headcanon is that much later when they've found their new land, they sail back to tell everyone, and Aryll comes with them this time, and eventually she and Tetra fall for each other. What do I base this on? Nothing. This is a completely baseless headcanon. You can criticize it all you want. Just know that will never stop me from putting it in my fanfiction. As for Link... Honestly, if WW!Link were aromantic it would not surprise me at all. But if you NEED to ship him with someone, how about Medli or the moon guy on Windfall (I'm sure he has a name but I can't remember, sorry. I just always liked him for some reason - NOT LIKED-HIM LIKED HIM, JUST LIKED HIM AS A CHARACTER.)
FSA - See my comment above about shipping myself with Vaati
TMC - I JUST WANT TO KISS VAATI, STOP JUDGING ME
TP - Call me simple but I really think he likes Ilia. idk. It's obvious that even though he couldn't stand Midna at first, if you watch the ending, he grew to care for her A LOT throughout their adventures together. But that caring doesn't necessarily have to be of the romantic variety. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but that's the great thing about not making unnecessary additions to good works of art: its fans can interpret things in all kinds of different ways! Wow! What a concept!
Spirit Tracks - Link: I like trains (no but seriously I think ST!Link and Zelda together is SO CUUUUUTE (that's two (2) ZeLinks from me so far)
Skyward Sword - Link and Zelda 100%!!! (that's 3, and the best ZeLink IMO)
ALBW - I ship Link with the thief girl in Lorule (I gave her a name years ago but can't remember what it was? Somebody dive in my archive and tell me (no you really don't have to) and Zelda with Irene. Yes, I know, once again, completely baseless. Also I ship Hilda and Ravio
TFH - Styla can have anyone she wants with her unmatched style. Meanwhile the three Heroes probably formed a polycule and live out the rest of their days happily with each other. Because nothing says "I love you" quite like keeping two other people on your shoulders while ravenous monsters are coming for your life so the person on the top of the totem pole can fire arrows at an annoyingly small switch a quarter mile away to make a bridge appear
BotW/TotK - Who flipping cares? Wait... *checks notes* Ah.... Apparently a LOT of people care. Alright then.... *takes in a deep breath* Mipha is dead and so are my dreams, goodbye
I haven't really kept it a secret that I don't want more BotW-style Zelda (neither have I ranted on it much here, I think, but I could be wrong) but... IF you want to know...
I loved Breath of the Wild. I played it for hundreds of hours. I explored every place. I even played the main plot that I didn't really care about. I loved having a huge detailed Hyrule to run around. I didn't like the map in general, I didn't like names from the previous games just thrown onto locations with little to no thought, I didn't like certain places being where I personally felt they shouldn't be, etc. But I really, REALLY enjoyed playing it for a long time. Even though to me, it did not feel like a Zelda game at all. And that feeling just grew and grew as time went on. BUT. I was totally up for a new one, given they fix/remove/add some things. And then a new one was announced! Before it had a name, we got that trailer with the creepy music and dehydrated Ganondorf! Woo, new game! I personally couldn't wait for the next Zelda game that would be... NOT that... And wanted a return to classic Zelda MUCH more than a new BotW. But hey! New game! YAY!
But.. Eiji Aonuma kept saying things that made me more and more upset. That BotW was the new direction for the Zelda series. That TotK was the only Zelda thing they were working on (other than the Zelda Game & Watch) for the foreseeable future and had no plans to make anything else for a WHILE. That... really broke me down, I'm not gonna lie. The Legend of Zelda... broke my heart.
I didn't play any Zelda games for a long time. Probably more than a year. Until I finally randomly started playing Oracle of Seasons and replaying the first Zelda. And that led into my festival of playing all the ones I haven't finished yet, which I'm still in, though it comes and goes. I didn't become REALLY excited for Zelda again, until Echoes of Wisdom was announced. My Goddesses, that Nintendo Direct was ON FIRE! It just kept throwing so many games I want to get. But Echoes of Wisdom was definitely the highlight for me. And it's still the game I'm most excited for! I would love a Zelda game where I get to play as Zelda from the very first game. Or as the one from OoT or Minish Cap, or as Tetra! Or DEFINITELY as Skyward Sword Zelda. But that's what fanfiction is for. I for one am very, VERY excited to meet this brand-new Zelda, and get to know her, and fall in love all over again.
It's been hours since I first started typing, I don't even remember what this was supposed to be about, I just...
Take care, everyone. I Heart Container all of you~
