take my sword and shield and listen.

azure. 23. obligatory loz sideblog. lover of all zelda games 1986-2015.

[entombed-horse]

Silly mouse boy

[fourswords]

i know i never shut up about the four sword but anotherrrrr reason i think the four sword is really interesting because everything surrounding it pertains to life. (and i think that kind of supplements my old idea that the four sword would eventually just. literally eat ganon alive inside the seal by virtue of the fact that it's sucking the life out of him lmao). and i do mean EVERYTHING to do with the four sword relates to life in some way, down to the very elements used to reforge it:

"You got the Earth Element! The power of the earth is the source of all living things. The Earth Element is the embodiment of that power."

"You got the Fire Element! Flames bring light to darkness and warmth to all. The Fire Element is the embodiment of that power."

"You got the Water Element! Water quenches thirst, ends drought, and nourishes life. The Water Element is the embodiment of that power."

"You got the Wind Element! The wind carries the seeds of flowers, scattering life across the land. The Wind Element is the embodiment of that power."

the force that the four sword (and the picori blade once upon a time) wields—and absorbs as shown through force gems—is something contained within all living beings ("light force" and "force" kind of get used interchangeably because it's obviously nobody was really thinking of proper continuity when the games were being made; for the sake of my sanity i'm just going to refer to force as the stuff in all living beings and the light force as the Giant Source of it that was passed down in the royal bloodline), and hyrule historia actually refers to force as "the breath of life". obviously the main use of force in the games is to defeat the bad guy but it's really neat to me how every link that wields the four sword is essentially holding a weapon made up of the literal essence of life itself. the master sword has alternative titles like "the sword that seals the darkness" and "the blade of evil's bane" but i think if the four sword had any alternative title out there it would be "the sword of life" because that's genuinely just. what it is. it's a product of taking the light force the picori blade already wielded (since the hero of men used it prior to it being gifted to the princess zelda of his time) and combining it with the elements necessary for nourishing life in all its forms. it would suit it methinks

[rileymorph]

Shadow Link 5 minutes before he gets blown up

[misellapuella]

Great Butterfly Fairy from Minish Cap!

[blinkees]

request for @mischievousmeh, credit required if reposting, thank you!

[fourswords]

ezlo... the grumpy grandpa ever...

i was going to respond to this with a list of quotes from him that really show how he's the grumpiest grandpa ever but then i remembered this one quote from him that goes:

"There are some strange creatures on Mount Crenel… Creatures I've never seen before, and your sword alone won't beat them! Don't give up hope, though! Try your other items on them! Well…you don't need me to tell you how to do your job. Just deal with those monsters, and I'll take care of everything else."

i think the "Well...you don't need me to tell you how to do your job" is funny and interesting in equal measure because it's such a stark contrast from other companions for links who were on the younger side (think oot link with navi and ww link with the king of red lions) at the time whose purposes were definitely more aligned with, at the very least, helping link to do his job as a hero (navi with z-targeting, the king of red lions with helping link get around and also kind of. manipulating him into becoming The Hero™). but ezlo is canonically fucking clueless about damn near everything that doesn't involve his niche realm of being a "famous minish sage" who is "renowned for his amazing creations" (according to his figurine description). like:

"A strange nut that will allow us to understand the Minish language… The Jingle Nut, did he say…? No, wait… That's not it… Ah, I remember now! It was the Jabber Nut. That's what it was… Come on, my boy! We've got to find the Jabber Nut!"

"Have you ever visited Hyrule before? What? You have? …What's it like? Not that I… I mean, I've seen it before! Of course I have! I'm very well traveled. I just wanted to see…what you thought of it!"

"So! We must infuse the White Sword with the elemental power. That means we must find the elemental sanctuary. And the way we do that is… Um… Well, I'm sure we'll figure it out!"

"So there are three books that we're supposed to return, right? Link, I'm sure you can handle it! Don't get me wrong! I'd love to help! But I'm a great Minish sage! I don't understand your big, human ways! So…I'm counting on you!"

there are a BUNCH more examples but you get my point. i just think it's really, really funny that out of the few companions that younger links had at that point in time, it's in the minish cap that said companion is like "ehhhhh i don't need to tell him what to do he's smart enough to deal with it himself. he just needs to be yelled at to stop dawdling and GET A FUCKING MOVE ON sometimes." which is also kind of exemplified by this line of ezlo's near the end of the game, too:

"We will get through this! We have all of the techniques and power you've gained in your journey! And we have your wisdom and courage as well! Link! I believe in you!"

it says a lot that he attributes not only courage to link but wisdom as well. link has so so so so so SO much personality in this game and between his own flavor text/internal dialogue when interacting with things and ezlo's running commentary on link's attitude/words/expressions/reactions to things it's SO plain to see (ex: "Link, I know this may not be a great time for it, but... I wanted to say thanks for everything you've done. I'm very grateful for-- Hm? What? You're freaked out? You're not used to me being nice!? Fine, then! Forget I said anything!"/"You're so energetic all the time… Not that I'm saying you're hyperactive or anything! I meant it as a compliment! Like…you've got a special talent for being WAY too peppy or something."). and i love it so much. it's also exemplified by this line of dialogue which is absolutely hilarious to me:

"Do you have to ask me about every single little thing?! Just figure it out for yourself, you big baby!"

anyway. for the sake of not going on a 500-year tangent about how ezlo is my number one favorite companion and the hero of the minish is my number one favorite link and how much i adore all the dialogue in it. i'll end it here. <3

BUT ALSO FUN FACT DID YOU KNOW THAT LINK ACTUALLY CANONICALLY DIDN'T BELIEVE IN THE MINISH PRIOR TO THE MINISH CAP:

"So, where in the library would any Minish folk live, anyway? Maybe those people who say the Minish exist "only in stories" might be right! Hey! Link! What's that look for? Don't tell me you were one of…them? You're kidding me! You're wearing a Minish person on your head, you oaf! I certainly hope you believe in us now!"

[fourswords]

hey! i'm posting this across pretty much all my social medias lol.

SO. i'm a college student, right. and i have exactly one semester left. and my financial aid isn't enough to cover the entirety of my last semester (i'm about $2500 short). and i'm kind of in a tight spot because a guy hit our family's car and we just had to get a new one (the old one still runs, but damages cost money to fix and we need transportation. never live in rural mountain areas guys), and obviously there are bills to pay as well, and on top of studying i'm also kind of looking after my elderly cancer patient father all the time. everything is just kind of hitting at the same time.

so everything's devolving very quickly into a mess right now! i'm already making a list of things i can sell haha. and like, that's fine, we'll figure it out, it's not an emergency. but if you're feeling generous and are an enjoyer of my many ramblings or whatever, i made a kofi. absolutely no pressure at all, but i'd appreciate anything immensely. thank you for reading! :)

edit: my cashapp is also here, if that's easier on anyone. :)

[maareyas]

if you're cold, he's cold. bring him inside!!!!

((started playing ALttP! I'm bad at it! 👌))

[dinomintz]

Not sure what happened to Navi in the end. My headcanon is that fairies for quests + healing "move on" after they fulfill their role for angst (but also because I can't imagine Navi leaving unless she had to?? that's her boy??), but regardless, I imagine Navi would dance around the topic of her departure.

Even after Link's coming of age journey, while there is a part of him that knows he will likely never see Navi again, he's still got that child-like whimsy his fairy will come back. She never said goodbye, after all.

[angeban]

Sheik

[infiniteesun]

my favorite thing to do in tmc is to put link and ezlo to sleep every so often

[fourswords]

okay so you guys know how the other day i was talking about ezlo and link in the minish cap (and how much i love them) and how ezlo is honestly a really hilarious companion for literally saying "Well...I don't need to tell you how to do your job." and pretty much leaving everything in the adventure up to link (who happens to be one of the Very Young Child links) aside from being a grumpy old nag (affectionate) and then later in the game commending him for not only having courage, but wisdom as well. so i started thinking about how that was kind of interesting and then started thinking about how he's the only wielder of the four sword who isn't split into four completely separate copies of himself and instead just splits himself into translucent, temporary copies that vanish the minute they hit anything—they're just there to do whatever task link needs to do (like push a rock) and then vanish. and the whole thing serves to create a very independent version of link which, while not unusual in the zelda series as a whole, IS extremely unusual when it comes to. y'know. the subset that is the four sword series. which is entirely based around cooperation!

and personally i am not someone who necessarily "likes" the minish cap manga all that much. like yes i think it's a cute little story and it's fun to read for sure but it doesn't actually add anything of value to the game's story as a whole (unlike, for example, the fsa manga) + (it doesn't even include the splitting mechanic?????) so it's absolutely not something i regard as anything to draw characterizations from. HOWEVER. i did remember this line that actually really fucking reinforces my point:

Ezlo: Link! Attack him now! Link: Vaati, it's not... ...your body that makes you a monster. It's that you... ...use other people to strengthen yourself. Me? I rely on my own power!

i'm including it because this entire theme does actually seem to be heavily mirrored throughout the entirety of the actual minish cap game. ezlo spends the whole time complaining and urging link to quit dawdling and go faster but also he basically goes "yeah i have no idea what to do here" multiple times throughout the game (hilarious for a companion) and link is, quite literally, dependent on himself and himself alone. even his splitting is just made up of direct copies of him that follow his every move! and that's something that goes against the whole point of four swords as a subseries(?) to the point where the fsa manga itself has link being all "ooooh i work better ALONE" and frames it as a BAD thing. which is genuinely the funniest thing ever. the hero of the minish is apparently so competent at his job as a hero that the rules of four swords as a whole (split apart! work together!) don't apply to him. he doesn't need anybody else. he's got this in the fucking bag. don't even worry about it

[stillunderyourbed]

honk shooo mimimimimim

[strawberry-carpcake-deactivated]

Hm

[animusbell]

cant believe there's a game where princess zelda gets literally murdered in the first hour and then her ghost possesses gigantic scary suits of armor to help you out and people slept on it because it's a DS game

[infamouslydorky]

Learning to grow up

[twunkishwritingclub]

Everyone talks about how weird the plot of Skyward Sword is from Groose or Link's perspective but nobody ever mentions how insane that game must have been for Zelda. Like imagine you're just chilling in your hometown, flirting with your crush a little, and then suddenly a random tornado grabs your ass out of nowhere and you fall down to the surface realm which you literally never knew existed, and you immediately find out that you're the reincarnation of an ancient goddess and you have to stop the apocalypse, and then there's time travel bullshit and you gotta slumber in a crystal for a couple thousand years and then you're being sacrificed to resurrect a dark god. But then your crush comes and saves you and you become mayor of a new civilization and shack up.

Like even one of those things would be enough for a world-shattering existential crisis and our girl went through like 16 crises in one game.