Welcome! This art blog is dedicated to indulging my Zelink fantasies and delusions.
Please call me cali!
🌿Botw, Totk, Aoc (+Aoi) are my main sandbox
🌿Not open for commissions; you may try sending prompts, but it's a toss up!
🌿Apologies for any delay in answering asks in advance! I haven't been diligent about checking notifications here, but I read & appreciate every message <3
I may also take longer to reply if I'm cooking up a small doodle inspired by your ask💖
🌿Online Store
My zelda merch selection isn't big atm, but I want to change that soon...!
🌿This is a side blog. I follow from @califlair and reblog to @hazeleafyy2 !
🌿I also write zelink, under the same username on AO3. My current fic project is "hearth"!
hearth [ Zelda x Link ]
Summary: In which Link was raised as Ganon's right-hand man, but Zelda & the Champions snatch him away.
a botw & totk zelink AU. In which Link was raised as Ganon's right-hand man and is sent to kill Princess Zelda.
[ T-rated; rating subject to change // chapter 13 of ? // AU-canon divergence, temporary amnesia, slow burn ]
> Read chapter on ao3
Or start from the beginning >here
Chapter excerpt:
Just some months ago when Link woke without memories, he felt so lost, unsure of his place in the world. In every place the entourage stopped, he had a small hope that he would learn of where he had belonged.
But in this dark night amidst the frigid Hebra wind, the Princess was like a warm glow lighting up his path— guiding him, giving him direction and purpose.
Wherever the Princess went, he followed. His steps grew more confident as they skipped, dancing and weaving through the crowd. She brought him into the warm burst of light under the lamps, and Link felt like he could soar.
> Read chapter on ao3
> My art tag for this AU
Extra chapter art below!
^ Didn't get time to actually color this one sadly!
^ What exactly did Link expect when he held it out for Zelda to eat lmao
Hi hi! I'm in the thick of editing and uh, a lot of things got added since my last progress update post🫣 So here's a new update!
Newest chapter (ch13) will be posted this weekend, likely Sunday. I'm pretty much done with it, just need to draw a thing for it hehe
I kind of feel bad, cus I'd blabbed to several people that Link will fully regain his memories by the end of ch13 BUT that is no longer true😂 I'm sorry!! That'll happen in ch14 instead ;;;
(Honestly I should just keep my big mouth shut lmao I'm realizing that editing pushes down a lot of events to following chapters)
Good news(?) is that ch13 is now fully dedicated to adorable Zelink moments!! They go on a date, dance together, and make each other blush lots.
My original plan for ch13 was to have a tiny bit of Zelink fluff in the beginning before Link remembers everything within that chapter. But uh, I may have lost self-control and the fluff just kept getting longer and longer. Now it is its own chapter :3;;;;;
Honestly, the rest of the fic (starting ch14 til the end pretty much) will be quite somber & emotionally heavy so... let Zelink have this one last cute date before shit goes down to angst town😔The sweeter the fluff, the harder the angst hits when things come crashing down, after all :3
The new list of future chapters is under read more! Warning for spoilers. But again, uh take these with a grain of salt cus they may change by the time I'm ready to post each chapter sweats;;;
Chapter 13. I’m happy that you’re here. (To be posted this weekend!)
Zelda and Link's little date in Rito Village! Dancing, both of them getting flustered, feeling super connected with each other, etc.
Chapter 14. Pick up the damn sword or I'll make you. (80% edited)
Link fully regains his memories, finally. We'll also get the full picture of what was going on in his POV prior to his capture, back in chapter 1-3. This is the WIP for this chapter art!
Chapter 15. Princess, I remember everything. (50% edited)
Things come to a head in Korok Forest :'D
Chapter 16. I'll kill you if you come any closer. (40% edited)
:'D
Chapter 17. There must be a mistake. I’m not a hero. (60% written)
Link, and the sword that seals the darkness.
The entire fic is currently outlined to be about 22-23 chapters long. Please ignore that, I'm not even going to try to estimate how many chapters this fic will be anymore😂 We'll see how many things I claim in this post are actually true by the time I post my next progress update lmao
I /am/ super excited for all the Zelink hurt/comfort to come though. Anyway, if you've been a reader, thank you for keeping up with hearth! Everyone has been super sweet in their comments and reactions, I am so floored every time I post a new chapter. Thank you.....!!!
hello!! I just want to say that I love your art style and your writing so much! it inspires me to make stuff of my own too :) hope everything is going well!
Hello, anon!! You are too sweet, thank you so much for enjoying my work <3 Happy to hear it's been inspiring to you~ Good luck with your creative endeavors!! 💕
hearth - chapter 12. You need to stay close to the rest of us.
a botw & totk zelink AU. In which Link was raised as Ganon's right-hand man and is sent to kill Princess Zelda.
[ T-rated; rating subject to change // chapter 12 of ? // AU-canon divergence, temporary amnesia, slow burn ]
> Read chapter on ao3
Or start from the beginning >here
Chapter excerpt:
Was Link— self-conscious around her?
She fought down the smile threatening to spill over her lips, her chest fluttering in endearment. She glanced down at his sleeve and let her fingers softly brush against the back of his cold hand as she worked.
A surprised noise spilled from the back of his throat. His arm flew up to cover his red face— but he did not pull away. His face was as red as a Hylian tomato.
How cute.
Just finished reading ch11 of ur fic and lemme tell you there was squealing and kicking of feet involved throughout the experience (simply because I'm a psyco). Anyway, I just wanted to wish you luck and tell you how much I ADORE your writting! ♡
Ahh thank you so much for reading the latest chapter of hearth and sending this sweet message!! 🥹💖 I'm honored to hear that squealing and kicking feet was involved~!
I'm gonna need all the luck to finish writing chapter 15 because it's fighting me so hard ;_;
In the meanwhile, chapter 12 is nearly ready to post!! Just gotta edit some more and draw a thing for it.
Maybe I'll get to update next week (or the week after??), we shall see ^^ Thank you again!
hearth - chapter 11. You should eat. You've helped catch this.
a botw & totk zelink AU. In which Link was raised as Ganon's right-hand man and is sent to kill Princess Zelda.
[ T-rated; rating subject to change // chapter 11 of ? // AU-canon divergence, temporary amnesia, slow burn ]
> Read chapter on AO3 Or start from the beginning >here
Chapter excerpt:
“I’m sorry,” Link started, his voice sounding flat. “I should have held onto it. I shouldn’t have let go. If I hadn’t fallen…”
Urbosa furrowed her eyebrows, suddenly confused. She studied his hunched figure. “Are you hurt?”
He shook his head. His knuckles had turned white against his own arm. His breathing deepened into something harsh and slow. “I— I’ll do better next time. So please…”
Urbosa stared, and somehow that made things worse. Link’s eyes shifted away, the grip on his arm tightening.
“I’m sorry. Really. I’ll do better.”
It was the most Urbosa had heard from him in one breath. But his voice was flat and absent, like he had become nothing but a shell, repeating a mantra of apologies. A desperate plea for something Urbosa didn’t understand.
She's wearing Link's tunic because her clothes got ruined from mud/poison ivy while visiting Link. (Or insert any convenient excuse to see her wearing Link's clothes)
Loving your fic and the wonderful art so much <3 im curious about if you have any plans to bring up the yiga? Does link know (or command) them in this au?
Thank you so much for reading hearth anon!!
I'm a huge fan of the Yiga clan (especially in Age of Calamity! their music is so good too) but unfortunately, I could not find a way to include them in hearth without muddying the character arc I wanted to emphasize for Link😔
Without spoiling too much, I will say that I needed hearth!Link to grow up as alone as possible, with Ganon being the only close human connection his whole life. Link is fated work with Zelda to kill Ganon, so I wanted to make that hurdle all the more difficult for him emotionally (lol sorry Link)
So yeah the Yiga clan essentially does not exist in hearth sadly! I did have another longfic wip for BOTW precalamity zelink where I planned to feature them more heavily, along with AoC-specific characters like Sooga and Astor. Buuut I kind of forgot about that wip since I started writing hearth ahaha;;;
I had like... 3 chapters written for it but we will see if I ever pick it back up once hearth is completed :P
Anyway sorry that was a long winded answer, thank you either way for your interest in where hearth is going!!
Newest chapter (ch11) will be updated within this month for sure! We're almost done editing it.
But it isn't much of a picturesque chapter so I may skip the chapter art for it 🤔 I could just draw general hearth AU art not specific to the chapter, but I also don't want the art to delay the chapter update too much hmm
Ngl I've been so writingpilled the past few weeks it's kind of embarrassing how excited I am.... 💦
The progress status for the next few chapters is under read more! (Chapter titles may contain spoilers, as they are direct quotes from each chapter.)
Chapter 11. You should eat. You've helped catch this.
95% edited
It's an Urbosa centric chapter! Purah also makes an appearance, and sheds more light on the mystery of the gloom swordsman.
Chapter 12. You need to stay close to the rest of us.
85% edited
The calm before the storm, amidst the festivities and cute shenanigans at Rito Village.
Chapter 13. Pick up the damn sword or I'll make you.
70% edited
Zelda and Link get to dance together!!! And then Link remembers everything
Chapter 14. A distant dream that belonged to someone else.
50% edited
Things come to a head, is all I can say :'D Please look forward to angst and action!!
Chapter 15. TBD
20% written
The entire fic is currently outlined to be about 22-23 chapters long. But uh, don't quote me on it cus I'm realizing I tend to underestimate chapter counts :P
Anyway I'm super proud of the progress I've been making on hearth lately so I just wanted to ramble here!!
If you've been a reader, thank you so much for keeping up with the story so far!!💕💕 Your cheers and comments always help me keep my momentum of writing🥹 I can only hope the upcoming direction of the story doesn't disappoint!! 💪
Thank you and see you soon with ch11 udpate news hopefully~
Three positive things, thank you for the tag @hurricane105 !! I finally recovered from momo con trip enough to take a look here hehe
Tagging @threebeandinner @louwhose @miadearden @730kc but no pressure! Apologies if you have done it already, I've been away from tumblr feed for a while and may have missed it;; You can treat it as a small reminder to think about three positive things rn!
For once, me and my partner didn't catch a cold after a convention trip!! It feels good to not be bedridden for days, especially since we already miss work prepping for a con.
I'm super happy about my fic writing progress lately. I haven't drawn as much because of it, but for once I have multiple buffer chapters for hearth rather than posting at the seat of my pants yipee!!
I'm motivated to draw more Zelda merch! I've been cautious about it because art is already my full time job. I love Zelink so much that I'm afraid that I might get burned out and my passion for Zelink will be affected by that pressure. But I've gotten some cute ideas lately and I'm excited to draw them!
A new brainworm! What if Zelink met as kids first 🥺?!
It'd be so cute if little Link was temporarily assigned to guard & watch over little Zelda ahhh
And then they meet again 7 years later when Link gets re-stationed at the castle!!
Height difference reversal yipeee
No calamity in this AU I think!
Link is slightly older than Zelda, but not by much. I just imagined little Link trying to mother hen little Zelda and it's so cute! He tries to get her to stick to her proper bed time and prayer time, but Zelda is too good at sneaking around😂
Link is probably a bit of a stick in the mud in this AU, but tbf he is responsible for the safety of the kingdom's darling little princess. He takes his job very seriously (as seriously as a 12 year old can lmao)
They become besties eventually, Zelda dragging him around all over the castle causing mischief and shenanigans!!
But then Link pulls the Master Sword after a few months, so he's relieved from duty of being Zelda's guard & gets sent out to train / eradicate monsters all over Hyrule. Zelda loses her friend :(
And then the reunion happens 7 years later!!! Zelda remembers Link being so much taller than her back then, always nagging her like a mother hen, chasing her around the castle court whenever she skipped prayers, etc. He got riled up so easily it was kinda cute. She looks forward to meeting her childhood bestie again...!!
But the Link she reunites with is quite different. For one, he's smaller than her now (cute). But he's also gotten so serious and quiet. When Zelda suggests mischief to get a rise out of him, he just quietly nods and follows behind her silently, like a guard that he should be... How boring! He must've gone through quite a lot to have changed this much.
Now Zelda is on a mission to get past Link's serious mask and befriend him again!
And ofc they eventually get together! Don't mind the alpha/omega assignment in the 2nd pic hehe I just thought younger Zelda topping older Link would be sooo cute, ok I'm done rambling thank you for coming to my tedtalk
a botw & totk zelink AU. In which Link was raised as Ganon's right-hand man and is sent to kill Princess Zelda.
[ T-rated; rating subject to change // chapter 10 of ? // AU-canon divergence, temporary amnesia, slow burn ]
> Read chapter on AO3
Or start from the beginning >here
Chapter excerpt:
“I finished my tea but I still can’t feel my fingers at all,” Zelda mumbled, her teeth clattering. She breathed into her reddened hands, clasping them together in an effort to warm her frosted fingertips. “It was much warmer in Gerudo Town when I last visited the desert…”
“I suppose camping out here is a bit colder than in town,” Mipha said mildly, as she took a sip from her tea.
“I’ve got an idea, Princess.” Link turned, rifling through his rucksack. He pulled out several stalks of warm safflinas— the pink buds looked even more vivid under the bonfire light.
Zelda watched curiously as Link crushed the petals between his fingers.
“You can keep your hands warm like this—” He slid the crumbled petals onto Zelda’s palm, before gently rubbing them onto her skin.
“Oh—! The petals are so warm!” Zelda exclaimed, her eyes lighting up in interest. “I didn’t know you could do that with warm safflinas!”
“Tch, you think you’re so smooth, don’t you?” Revali scowled, crossing his wings over his chest. “Doing all that just to hold Princess Zelda’s hands?”
