Midna gestures wildly at Zelda, who sits like a stone unbothered by the vitriol being launched at her. “This is stupid. You going to get her in line here?"
“I don’t know what’s happening.”
Zelda flips a page of her magazine. “It’s a case out in the Gerudo Highlands,” she explains. Oh. That is far. Why the hell would they go out there? Zelda’s bored eyes look at him from above the magazine. “There’s a Twili temple out that way that’s experiencing a leak, and they need assistance.”
Link stares at her. “Sounds like they need to call a plumber then.”
The Scientific Hyrulean slaps down on Zelda’s desk. “Don’t be obtuse,” Zelda chastises. “It’s a super spooky supernatural leak.”
Part 8 of Link and Midna's Investigative Services
Smothered Mate
Complete
By the late winter of 1930, Link has to face the dumb dog's mortality, but the bean nighe will never let him go it alone, and Link finds himself stalked on a job.
“Ye’re not giving him yer surname,” Link finally snaps.
“It’s the kind of nepotism that calls for a security expense write-off," says Midna.
“I don’t think ye know what a write-off is,” Link retorts. “Also, I’d like tae remind ye that while we got away with the Misko spaghettification incident, Revenues and Customs isn’t liable tae be so kind.”
Link mistakenly believes that’s the end of it when Midna doesn’t say anything more.
As he races down the cliffs to the beach, he feels something soft and uneven underfoot. Link pulls his skimmer away to find a mouse lying on the path, dead. He stoops to take a closer look at it. Blood has spurt from its mouth, though he’s not sure if he’s the cause honestly. It strikes him that he may have killed the small rodent, but he doesn’t think much on that.
No, that’s not the odd part of it. Of course there are field mice and rats on the island, but the rodents are never this close to shore, and they certainly keep out of the open where men are known to frequent, the skittish things that they are. The likelihood, essentially, of him running across a live and healthy mouse is slim.
When he comes to the shore, the captain is sitting in his waka ama’s main hull, staring out into the ocean. Seeing him approach, Tetra quickly wipes her eyes and nose, her cheeks a dark, rosy color. Her strange purple eyes are swollen and puffy. The shattered expression on her face is so different from her usual confident, steely air.
WILD GO
In Progress
They say the heat makes people crazy. Deep in an economic depression, the simmering civil unrest reaches a fever pitch on Summertide in Castleton when the Yiga cause a citywide blackout. When Link offers to accompany Zelda to check on her ailing father, he quickly finds he has more to worry about than the dark when rioters flood the streets and a killer takes advantage of the chaos to make a final sacrifice to the Old Gods.
Zelda gapes at the blackness beyond the window of Romani's. Suddenly it feels like she’s floating in some dark cloud, not high above a city that should be filled with the glow of lights and neon. Five minutes pass, then ten, then fifteen, but no sign of the lights coming back on. The quiet murmur begins to pick up to a light chatter and then to animated talking in the restaurant.
The first was Revali on Summertide. The next was Urbosa on Autumntide. Then on Wintertide was Daruk. Mipha was last on Springtide. Rusl wonders who might be so unlucky to face Calamity tonight. The fierce look in Mipha's little brother's eyes and the way they demanded that somebody DO SOMETHING haunt Rusl even in the waking hours.
Zombie Cake
In Progress
He opens the door to the bus to let the sound of the rain in. The drops beat against the roof in a fast tattoo. He yawns widely, trying to hold it together for a bit. Squatting in front of the open door, he watches as the rain comes down across the plains. He kind of misses the ocean, he thinks.
As if summoned by that thought, he hears his slate buzz. He ignores it. It buzzes again. He rubs his nose. The buzz comes through again. Link puffs.
He reminds himself that he loves her as he reaches behind him for his slate. Even if he wants to toss her into the ocean.
Link barely scans the barrage of messages on his slate and just calls her. When she picks up, he tells her, “Hey, I’m outwith Kakariko. I’m alive. No meds. You’d like these stupid frogs statues they’ve got.”
“You weren’t answering!”
“Yeah, I was sleeping,” he yawns. “Hold on…” He taps through his slate to get to the fitness app and opens it up. “Yeah, so in the last twenty-four hours I’ve slept… almost seventeen of them.”
“No way.”
“Want the screenshot?”
Bury Them Bones
In Progress
Standing just outside the portal is a beast of a man, at least twice Link’s size. The behemoth turns to the pair at the threshold of St Fi’s grounds. “This is as far as I can go, yes?” he asks the behemoth. The beastly man grunts and turns to watch a pair of cardinals flutter by.
Zelda gives Link a small curtsey, and he feels his face redden. He is not used to such courtesy, not deserving of it. “Until next time,” she says, and she walks through the portal with a polite nod to the behemoth.
Link watches her go for a spell until he feels the stirrings of guilt, knowing he is shirking some of his duties within the cathedral. He looks over to the guard, who seems to take no notice of him. Trying his luck, he leans over through the portal. “Do you wish to lose your head?” comes the low rumble, and Link immediately straightens.
Link has one year to prove himself innocent so long as he stays within the grounds of St. Fi's cathedral, and he swears to the gods that he'll do it.
Synopsis: Standing just outside the portal is a beast of a man, at least twice Link’s size. The behemoth turns to the pair at the threshold of St Fi’s grounds. “This is as far as I can go, yes?” he asks the behemoth. The beastly man grunts and turns to watch a pair of cardinals flutter by.
Zelda gives Link a small curtsey, and he feels his face redden. He is not used to such courtesy, not deserving of it. “Until next time,” she says, and she walks through the portal with a polite nod to the behemoth.
Link watches her go for a spell until he feels the stirrings of guilt, knowing he is shirking some of his duties within the cathedral. He looks over to the guard, who seems to take no notice of him. Trying his luck, he leans over through the portal. “Do you wish to lose your head?” comes the low rumble, and Link immediately straightens.
Link has one year to prove himself innocent so long as he stays within the grounds of St. Fi's cathedral, and he swears to the gods that he'll do it.
In a gothic setting exploring the concept of "sanctuary," Link is framed for the murder of the man her serves, while a an unhappily married Zelda runs into him on their way to the same cathedral. This author has evidently done their research, filling out the historical details to satisfaction! Familiar names take on a whole new role in this gothic, medieval noir. - sparklyhyperbole
I'm a sucker for a good murder mystery, and this one pulled me in right away. The setting is so vividly set right from the first sentence, and the characters are beautifully drawn as well. I immediately sympathized with both Zelda and Link, and was hooked by the way the first chapter unfolded, keeping me in suspense about what happened. I'm finding myself utterly spellbound by the story playing out here, and eagerly await more! - onlybythestars
An interesting setup that's bound to lead to plenty of trouble. The setting is already rife with tension, with lots of personal threads to unravel. It'll be interesting to see how this setting is explored as we continue. - amelias-hart
A darker story that focuses on the harsher realities of life for those without power. It's tense with Link's life being at stake if he so much as makes a single misstep, but it's very comforting to see the characters come together and look out for each other. - louwhose
Thanks for tagging me @mistresslrigtar and @amelias-calamity-quintet
Currently Reading: Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones and doing a re-read of Scapegoat by Richard Lemon
Last Film: I can't remember, honestly lol. Something horror, probably.
Last Show: I can't remember this either lol. I mostly watch horror game playthroughs on YouTube or whatever nonsense Avoiding the Puddle is up to.
Last Song: Sowieso by Mark Forster
Coffee or Tea: Big green tea fan, but there are a few black teas from a local shop I love. One's like a banana nut one.
Sweet or Salty: Sweet, usually, but sometimes I get a salt craving.
Currently working on: Big fat surprise, Midna and Zelda's Shadow Services. I have quite a few WIPs on AO3 currently, but that one's the current main focus to complete.
Also working on completing and revising Ghost Lights, which is a piece of original fiction.
Gonna tag @pitchblackespresso, @ladyhoneydee, @metro-mtp or anyone else who wants to play
A new traditional piece for the challenge with my friend!
This time I chose the character XD (obviously who else but my grumpy old man) the theme was "items from his game" how could I not choose the bunny hoods!
The technique used is acrylics, I almost never work with these so it was a great opportunity to use them!
Hope you like it!💖
If you want to suggest a theme or any Zelda or Zelda AU character for the next challenge, I'm looking for suggestions XD
Challenged Tagged by @inolabean to do some manga panel redraws, but I'm not nearly cool enough to go for epic Puppet Zelda fighting scene. Instead, have one of my favourite Marink panels from the criminally underrated Link's Awakening manga
He considers whether he’s just looking for excuses now, but does he really need an excuse in the first place? He’s a godsdamn adult and can do what he wants, after all.
The horned statue looks at him.
Link huffs, not liking its accusation.
Just because he lives in a van bus (bus, it’s definitely a bus) doesn’t mean he’s not an adult.
The horned devil is practically snickering over there. As if to tell him that maybe he wouldn’t be so focused on whether it’s a van or a bus if he didn’t care so much.
Link scowls at the thing. “Maybe get yourself a job at the DVLA, ye jobby,” Link hollers at the statue before sliding his door shut with a snap so he doesn’t have to look at the thing and can enjoy his noodles with some peace.
Not gonna lie, I think I popped off a little with this one. I experimented with an airbrushed ink look in addition to the near-lineless approach I’ve been using for poster-style art, and I’m really pleased with the result! My shapes came out a lot cleaner and I had great fun adding in the details. Drawing the goofy little faces on the Tri fairies was my favorite :)
Query for the archive I suppose: What ones would be your top three choices for horror fans?
Hmmm, for horror. Alright, we've got some options here. There's of course variety in horror, so I'm going to try covering a spread.
The first one that comes to mine is In the Blood by @zeldaseyebrows. This is a fantasy zombie apocalypse and it does not go easy on the body horror of its creatures. Some very fun exploration into the many Zelda races and what kind of zombies they would be.
If you want more gothic horror, I would recommend What Dreams May Come by @pocketseizure. The work is beautifully moody, an absolutely gorgeous aesthetic, would highly recommend. This read like walking through a cathedral.
Many of @inolabean's works dabble in horror, but for the sake of having a spread of flavors out here, I'm going to mention WILD GO for something with heavy physical horror. There's a serial killer on the loose. Half of Castletown is on fire. Everything is about to get worse and very excited for the ride.
For works that explore body horror outside of zombie fiction, Alternate Triforce by @alternate-triforce has a very interesting unique kind of monsters called "rifts." These monsters mutate people who come in contact with them. This work is over all rated Teen, so on the lighter end of these, but still very fun exploration in design.
And for a silly horror, I put in horror into the wiki for the backend to see what would come up and I was reminded of What You Ask For by @the-twilight-duchess. It contained the tag "Customer Service Horror." Viewer discretion advised for Ganondorf having to deal with as particularly prickly princess at his place of work.
Thank you so much for the ask! Hopefully this gives you some reading.
