Midna gestures wildly at Zelda, who sits like a stone unbothered by the vitriol being launched at her. âThis is stupid. You going to get her in line here?"
âI donât know whatâs happening.â
Zelda flips a page of her magazine. âItâs a case out in the Gerudo Highlands,â she explains. Oh. That is far. Why the hell would they go out there? Zeldaâs bored eyes look at him from above the magazine. âThereâs a Twili temple out that way thatâs experiencing a leak, and they need assistance.â
Link stares at her. âSounds like they need to call a plumber then.â
The Scientific Hyrulean slaps down on Zeldaâs desk. âDonât be obtuse,â Zelda chastises. âItâs a super spooky supernatural leak.â
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.
âYeâre not giving him yer surname,â Link finally snaps.
âItâs the kind of nepotism that calls for a security expense write-off," says Midna.
âI donât think ye know what a write-off is,â Link retorts. âAlso, Iâd like tae remind ye that while we got away with the Misko spaghettification incident, Revenues and Customs isnât liable tae be so kind.â
Link mistakenly believes thatâs the end of it when Midna doesnât 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 heâs not sure if heâs the cause honestly. It strikes him that he may have killed the small rodent, but he doesnât think much on that.
No, thatâs 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 amaâs 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 sheâs 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, âHey, Iâm outwith Kakariko. Iâm alive. No meds. Youâd like these stupid frogs statues theyâve got.â
âYou werenât answering!â
âYeah, I was sleeping,â he yawns. âHold onâŚâ He taps through his slate to get to the fitness app and opens it up. âYeah, so in the last twenty-four hours Iâve slept⌠almost seventeen of them.â
âNo way.â
âWant the screenshot?â
Bury Them Bones
In Progress
Standing just outside the portal is a beast of a man, at least twice Linkâs size. The behemoth turns to the pair at the threshold of St Fiâs grounds. âThis is as far as I can go, yes?â 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. âUntil next time,â 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. âDo you wish to lose your head?â 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.
Zugzwang is a Link and Midna's one-shot that spun from cut bits of Smothered Mate.
Zugzwang translates to like a compulsion to move. In chess, it's when every move available worsens your position on the board. So the chess theme continues lmao.
There's not much plot to it currently since it's from cut bits, but it takes place in 1930 and covers more inter-office antics between the trio, and Midna continues to commit to acts of micro-feminism lol.
âEw. Why are they pushing so hard for lower hemlines?â Midna complains, flipping through a magazine as she sits on the corner of Zeldaâs desk. âLike people literally cut off their skirts. Youâre not just adding that back.â
Zelda looks up from her own reading, waiting to see if thereâs more to Midnaâs complaints, but she simply frowns and flips the page.
âMoney,â Link answers from his office after a quiet beat thatâs only filled by Courageâs soft snores from the corner.
The magazine slaps Midnaâs thighs and knees, and she sends a glare over towards Linkâs open door.
Zelda holds out her hand to take a look, and she displeases Midna when she points out, âMm, well, these are more the length we had around in â21 and â22.â
âYou had knee-length then,â Midna says.
âIâm a rebel pioneer,â says Zelda, handing back the magazine to Midna. âBut Linkâs right: Itâs money.â
Midna is sour about that.
âThey add even three centimeters to yer hemlines, and thatâs literal millions in the garment industry. Theyâll be able to sell thousands oâ meters more fabric with a lower hemline.â
Midna looks back towards Linkâs office and hollers at him, âHow do you know that?â
âI read.â
Zelda giggles, but she quickly averts her eyes when Midna locks in on her.
Can you tell me about Ghost Lights and Ghosts on the Shore? âşď¸
I'm actually close to finishing Ghost Lights, and Shore is not far behind! Ghost Hearts is the third story. The three move in reverse chronology and mostly take place in a city called Warrich that has cultural quarters that sort of mimic a post-WWII occupied Berlin. Just no occupation lol.
Ghost Lights is the first to read, but it occurs last over the end of 1935 to 1936. Lauchlan Huntly is a jazz musician who is forever cold. His wife Kreszenz has an infallible memory, and while they suffer greatly from child loss at home, she uses the cabarets he performs at to maintain their closeness. When his friend Bastet finally returns to his life after a decade, he quickly finds out she only does so to get his help as she brings to his doorstep three monstrous crones that eat the hearts of humans and have her as their most wanted target.
Ghosts on the Shore takes place over 1924-25 and unveils a much more carefree Lauchlan who hasn't fully been saddled by grief or sacrifice. He's desperate to figure out a way to save Bastet and eventually Kreszenz from their cosmic tethers, but he is also plagued by dreams of the sun and moon colliding.
Ghost Hearts shows a teenage Lauchlan in 1918 and 1919 as he wanders a desert wasteland and sand sea with Bastet before he ends up setting her down her doomed path.
Ghost Lights:
He shrugs and tells Lulu, âSheâs been interested in like some weird shite, I guess. Voodoo kind of things? I donât know. Iâm trying to stay out of it.â
âSounds spooky,â goads Lulu, wiggling her fingers at him.
âStop,â he groans. âOch, Iâm so over spooky shite.â
The phone rings, startling Lauchlan.
He reaches over, picks up the handset, and drops it immediately. âRemind me to kill whoever stole our bar seats,â he gripes, but Lulu only finds it funny.
Another cylinder drops in the tube station when the waitress comes by and snags his glass, and Lulu takes that one out as well. She sniggers, reading over the note, and tries to hold it out to him. âNae wanting it,â he grumbles.
âI really think you should read it,â Lulu insists.
âI canât be fashed,â Lauchlan grunts.
âYouâre no fun, you know that?â
Another beer is dropped off for Lauchlan, and he sets the second note aside without reading it.
Ghosts on the Shore:
Lauchlan Huntly, self-proclaimed asshole, supposes that he could have been a bit more civil about everything, but she elbow-punched him in the jaw.
So you know, sheâs literally the best.
Except she absolutely does not appreciate his marriage proposal. âIf itâs the blood, thatâs on you,â he tells her.
Kreszenz Noll just gapes at him.
Her mouth falls open, unsure, then clamps shut. Her face blooms like a brilliant tomato, and then she spits at him, âI was going to apologize, but if youâre just going to be ridiculous, forget it.â
Lauchlan loves it.
âGo away.â
He does not.
Her teeth grind, and she grabs her cart to drag it and herself away from him, but itâs far easier for him to just step alongside an overburdened library cart. She frowns at him, absolutely not having any of his nonsense. At this point, heâs just there to scunner her, basically.
Itâs the best.
She decides that it is most definitely not.
âLife is better when you donât take it so seriously,â he tells her, but Kreszenz huffs at him and pulls her cart a little further down the aisle.
There was no real plot plan for that one haha. It started as a way to write Zelda fairy tales, essentially. I don't remember where I was going with this one, honestly lol, and my Japanese has suffered over the years since I don't speak or read it enough.
I'm not sure it'll be one that I ever get around to finishing, but maybe some of the ideas in it could be incorporated into something else more defined.
Mukashi mukashi, he thought as he trekked up the dirt path. Afternoon sunlight flitted through the late summer trees. Insects buzzed in a pulsing chorus that filled his ears. His boots clapped against the dirt. The tip of one caught a rock, and he kicked it up the path. He paused. Sweat clung to his brow, and with one shirt sleeve, he wiped it away.
Yes, mukashi mukashi, yama no naka ni ojiisan to obaasan ga sundeimashita. That was how the story began, he told himself, and once more he picked up his pace.
In the dead of winter, an old man who lived in the mountains came upon a statue of Farore. To protect her from the harsh winter elements as she had protected him, the old man placed the hat from his own head upon the statue.
The young man came to a stop on the mountain path as the image of an old man placing his hat upon Farore came to his mind's eye. The statue that stood before the young man was weathered. Sharp edges had been worn away by the elements to soft and almost indistinguishable features. He supposed the statue had a generic face mukashi mukashi. Farore stood before him with her hands out, welcoming him into her presence.
The young man shifted the firewood he carried on his back, then he bent into a bow and clapped his hands together. He offered his prayers and gratitude to his stone patron. When he straightened, he studied the statue for a moment more. The grass had grown wild, and the creeping charley had crawled its way up Farore's robes.
RULES: make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous, and tag as many people as you have WIPs. People send an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and you post a snippet or tell them something about it
Thanks for the tags @louwhose and @mistresslrigtar!
I looked through my WIP list, and there's not been too much of a change since I last had this one come around lol. I did end up posting Bury Them Bones since last time, but here's the other unposted/unpublished stuff:
Black Elephants
Egress
Ghost Lights
Ghosts on the Shore
Ghost Hearts
Was war das?
Bury Them Bones
Mukashi Mukashi
Nevergreen
Scotch Game
Wayward Queen
We Looked Like Giants
White Elephants
Zugzwang
Oof, I know I'm behind on this as it is lol (sorry if you've been tagged already). @karama9, @ladyhoneydee, @improbablescience, and anyone else who wants to play!
Archive query: What works explore Twili lore? A general exploration, the Twilight Realm or the people, etc.
Absolutely can help you find some works that explore the Twili in different eras. Again, limited to my memory and what I've read.
A Crossing of Stars by @ixtaek has the party go to the Twilight Realm and one of the sages is Twili. Very fun exploration of its magics.
Depth of Darkness by @reallybadgirlcovention features the Twili as an upcoming faction with their own lore. Will be interesting to see where this one heads.
Goddess of Secrecy by @amelias-calamity-quintet has a Twili Sage from the Twili who didn't return when the Twilight Mirror was shattered. They have a new culture since they stayed in Hyrule.
Growing Up Gerudo by @growingupgerudo is one I'm admittedly not caught up on, but some of the panels I've seen show some exploration into the Twili.
Link and Midna's Investigative Services by @inolabean has a unique twist on Twili culture, it plays a big part in the mechanics of the Twilight Mirrors the party keeps ending up with through the series.
Linkubus by RoughIntheDiamond features a "Twilight Realm" but also explores Twili culture separately in this Midzel work.
Tale of the Realm Walker by @tnc-n3cl very centrally follows a Twili OC and shows how their society has changed in the last generation.
Song of the City by ReBuggy very centrally features the negotiations with Zant and Ganondorf, discussing how the Twilight Realm has survived and how they interact with the wider world.
Beloved Journals (are just her scrapbooks & her research logs) by @colormehazelnut
It's not purely diary entries, as there is also prose between entries/letters, but dammit this is my fic rec post so it counts. Anyway I love good writing. I love when writers capture the voice, mannerisms, and vibes of a character just right. I also love post-totk stories that have Zelda and Link just hang out and go on adventures, they deserve it as a treat. And I never pass up the opportunity to read about Researcher Zelda. Basically, a microcosm of all my Favourite Stuff
13. an AU
Link and Midna's Investigative Services by @inolabean
Hands down one of my favourite fics ever. Where do I even begin with my all-encompassing love for this entire series, but especially the first installment. The immaculate prose. The clear effort, respect and research that went into every aspect of the setting and characters. The fantastic overarching mystery and build-up. The roadtrip adventure. The banter. The ride or die romance that is pure joy to read. Courage. It really, really has it all and I will never stop recommending it
18. A fic you've reread 3x or more
begin again by @bahbahhh
This was one of the first fics that I read when joining the Zelda fandom on tumblr, and lemme tell you it raised the bar to high heavens for me. The sheer hopefulness in the narrative, of people recovering from a tragedy and looking forward to begin again GETIT. Like sure there is a lot of work to be done, but it is all worth it, because they are building towards a bright future. I ADORE how Zelda is written here. Her struggle to find her place in a world that (from her perspective) has long moved on without her, figuring out her relationship with Link who, again from her unreliable pov, she believes is surely trying to cut ties with her. The pure đĽđĽđĽ that are those first and last lines, and how they come full circle, UGH. I hold this fic gently
Groose Bado is entirely unimpressed that itâs Midna calling him up this time, and the day before Yule of all days. She rolls her eyes and demands that he not hang up. âI got questions,â she sneers.
âYeah, that sounds like a hard pass,â Bado immediately replies.
âDonât you hang up!â
Bado groans. Like sheâs physically got him held hostage. Please. âWhat do you want, Dahl?â he whines.
âLink wonât talk aboutââ
âGonna stop you there,â he cuts in. âIâm hanging up.â
And he does.
Rude.
Midna calls him back. Three more times, to the operatorâs thorough annoyance, but like whatever. When Bado finally answers again, heâs full on whining. âReally, youâre going to call me Dahl?â she spits into the phone.
âYou literally call me Bado,â he points out.
Midna does not like being called out on her own shenanigans.Â
Thank you everyone for the many kind words about my ridiculous art project! And equally importantly, thank you for all the new plants and ideas you sent.
Here's the first request from @inolabean!
I really need to give this one another go with heavier handed colouring tools (this was done at work with my tiny set) because look at this plant, it's glorious.
Also bonus, today's library book lesson on painting plumeria.
Still hate this paper (I'm trying painting on the "back" with it pre-sprayed with water so it kind of either). Maybe if it's not too hot I'll bike over to the art store and treat myself to something that doesn't irk me so much.
queryin' that archive in search of horror fics, please
Sure thing. I ran a list for this before with some notes, but here are all the fics we currently have listed as horror.
Alternate Triforce by @doomed-era is largely action adventure, but its creature concepting with the rift leads into some gnarly body horror when explored. With how bright the regular color palate is, it makes the rifts stand out in stark contrast too!
Between the Devil and the Deep Sea by @inolabean was a fantastic story exploring social dynamics within the cage of a lockdown. This one brings back the dread of Covid very well.
Bury Them Bones by @inolabean is still getting started, but the premise of Link being framed and trapped in a cathedral for sanctuary sets up a premise of not being able to physically run. Certainly a good framework for more suspense to come.
The Ghosts of Yesterday by @only-by-the-stars has a battle very early in that was bone chilling. I don't want to spoil this one, but it was a fantastically uncanny fight, felt the weight against the thing in each strike.
In the Blood by @zeldaseyebrows was fantasy zombie apocalypse. Already a unique set up, but this work went above and beyond with leaning into the unique body morphology of the different Zelda species as monsters. To include at least one I don't think you're expecting.
Link & Midna's Investigative Services by @inolabean is such a good ride, though mind the cosmic horror. There are a lot of terrifying things from beyond the veil that this largely non-combat part has to figure out how to start. It's quite the treat to watch them puzzle out their current horror and how they'll stop it as the series goes.
Rise of the Blood Moon by squishney is setting up for a very grim adventure and some fantastic exploration in death magics. Zelda can speak to ghosts, though this power has left her something of a Cassandra for the opening. We'll see how the apocalypse changes that.
What Dreams May Come by @pocketseizure is a beautiful setting. The creator has said the Souls games and Bloodborne were inspirations and you can feel it in the gravitas of this work as Zelda is slowly called to the ruins of a kingdom she's never known but can't escape.
WILD GO by @inolabean is also early in, but this one is setting up for some great thriller vibes as everything is very literally one fire. Castletown is burning and there is a very gruesome killer on the loose.
Actually being in the house-house with Anjean was much different from his previous placements due to her abrasive nature and lack of micromanaging parenting, and he just sort of operated like she had the same sorts of expectations his prior placements had. At first, it was just weird. Anjean seemed to consider him showing up promptly in the afternoon after school (when he didnât have detention) to be some strange phenomenon, but she never said anything about it. Link suspected that she mightâve actually appreciated it. He was her only placement at the time.
Then, when the summer rolled around and Link found himself on break with nothing to do, Anjean quite literally booted him out of the house-house. âGo find something to do,â she snapped, a bit sick of him snoozing around the house. âEat dirt for all I care.â
Link did not try eating dirt.
Stripes asks him why not.
âI know fourteen-year-olds are pretty brainless, but I wasnât that daft,â Link huffs.
Stripes looks at him like she doesn't particularly believe him.
Synopsis: 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 city wide 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 sheâs 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.
Content Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, Horror
Amidst an unprecedented heatwave, an economic depression, and an arsonist group causing civil unrest, a serial killer stalks the streets of Castletown, taking sacrificial victims at each turn of the season. Following a city-wide blackout, Link offers to escort Zelda to see her ill father, but unbeknownst to them, Calamity has already chosen his final victim and is set to claim her before Summertide's end. The story already has all the makings of a great supernatural thriller, and I am here for it. This author is incredibly talented at writing rising tension and juggling many characters with distinct voices, and I am excited to see how the story unfolds! - PitchBlackEspresso
The stakes are high immediately in this story. Modern-ish set up, feeling like mid-century, and the action is in a City thatâs suffering from a recession and currently, a nasty heat wave. Not to mention a gang of arsonists and a serial killerâŚ
Itâs nerve wracking in a very good way.
Link and Zelda are a very interesting duo, with Link struggling with survivor guilt and Zelda clearly very interested in this boy who practically lives in a different world than she does.
There is darkness here, mind the warning tags. But if youâre up for it, it promises to be quite a ride! - Karama9
A thrilling mystery awaits as the lights go out over Castletown. This one is weaving a lot of threads in together to get to the heart of this mystery and I am excited to be along for the ride for the heat after our cast as this adventure reveals itself. - amelias-hart
