Words and Things

A side blog for @musical-chan that has my actual AO3 user name. Amazing, I know. You can find me at https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrsMusica

[mrsmusica]

Father of Time 2: The Ganondorf War Chapters 34, 35 and 36

Oh, hi Tumblr. I swear I didn't forget you exist. I've just been very busy....

ANYWAY

Dark Link faced the fences that blocked him from Hyrule Field and, hopefully, the hero. He knew that he could climb the ladder at the side and go around.  He did!  He wasn't stupid.  But those fences upset him.  Burning anger at their existence flooded his mind.  He had never been more upset at anything in his life.  His life had not been that long. He raised a hand, pulling on skills that were not his, and thought about fire.  The large burst of flame that appeared surprised him and he slammed it into the ground instinctively, spilling the power out from him in a flood he couldn't control. The fences, large metal ones that had never fallen, not even to bomb flowers, crumpled under the force of his magic.  When the air cleared of acrid smoke, crumpled lumps of metal slag were all that remained. Oops.

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

There was a small snag in his plans when he finally got the first jars to the Forest Temple; the fairies at the fountain were terrified of them.  They screamed and clustered at the far side of the cave from him, harsh rings and jingles proclaiming their displeasure.  He didn't understand why; they hadn't been that angry about the mushrooms, though they hated talking about them.  He looked down at the jars in his arms, eyebrows furrowed, and wondered what was different.  After walking the winding tunnels to his room and returning to collect more, only one fairy was brave enough to hover around his head.  He looked up at her and did his best to speak clearly. It was surprisingly easy after the dust he had already absorbed. "What did I do?" "That's fairy dust!" He frowned.  "I thought it was magic dust." "That's what fairy dust is!  It's magic! Pure magic! It's what happens when we…when we…when we DIE!"

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

"Oh for Mothers' sake, Link, just fight him and get it over with."  Aevum rubbed her forehead as Link paced around the great room, muttering to himself about where to look next.  The goddess stood with Nocturne and Oceanis around the large dining table, pouring over maps and notes while they discussed the strengthening sandstorm.  Link paused his march and crossed his arms tightly over his chest, frowning at his aunt. "I'm not going to just kill him!  He's more than just magic and he deserves a chance to live!"   "Because that's a great idea, I'm sure."  Aevum sighed and dropped into a chair.  Link glared at the dark-skinned goddess, unaware of how strongly he resembled his dad at that moment.  Off to the side, Oceanis looked upwards towards the ceiling, coughing to restrain a laugh.  Link ignored him.   "What's that supposed to mean?!" "Please. You are not that stupid–"   "Aevum." Nocturne's voice was heavy with reproach as he looked up from a stack of notes.   "He isn't! He knows exactly what kind of chaos another teenager identical to himself would cause!"

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[mrsmusica]

Father of Time 2: The Ganondorf War Chapter 33: Serenade of Shadow

On a quiet day in spring, explosions suddenly rocked the waters and bridges of Lake Hylia. They shook the foundations, though they didn't open the door, and caused a chain reaction that was felt deep into the furthest reaches of the temple. Magic sparked and jumped, causing an illusion of water and sky to flicker briefly…

And then he woke up.

He was under a tree in a room filled with illusion. Pebbles fell from the sky, landing with soft, liquidy plinks in the shallow water. Small waves, signs of aftershocks, lapped up against his island.

He looked down at his hands and saw shadowy, translucent skin. Thoughts swirled in his mind, an incessant voice that whispered "defeat the hero" over and over again. He put his grey hands on a darker grey tunic, patting his chest, then his shoulders, then reached backwards for a sword. There was none. No shield either. No armor of any sort. Just tunic and pants and boots. 

There was no hero either.

(Read the rest on AO3!)

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

(holy shit the embed worked)

[mrsmusica]

Father of Time2: The Ganondorf War Chapter 31: Lost Shadow

The next morning, Malon yawned as she dropped down hard into her chair and placed the deep blue parchment square on the table.  Talon turned, arching an eyebrow at his daughter as he shook the handle of his skillet.  "You're a bit late this morning, dear."

"Sorry, dad.  Busy day yesterday!" 

"Hmm."  Talon turned back to the stone stove, pushed the eggs around for a moment, then turned back.  "Speaking of, how are you finding the time to visit Link so often?  That trip takes almost two hours."

Peeking out of her tangled mess of hair, the teen stared at her dad for a moment, then smiled slowly.  "Magic."

"M-magic?"

"Yeah.  Dad, surely you know that Link–"

"Yesofcourse."  Talon swallowed and turned away again, thinking of High Priestess Nadile and the castle mages.  He paused and glanced upwards, thinking of Link and his family and the voice he had heard in the priestess' office.  For not the first time, but perhaps the second, he considered what Link's father was.  He exhaled quietly.  "Is it safe?"

(Read the rest on AO3!)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/64438891/chapters/206553806

(not even gonna fight the embed today)

[mrsmusica]

*drops an Aspen and runs away*

IT'S THE BOY! 💜💜

I've never really considered his outfits much I guess. He dresses like a kid who gets fancy clothes. Which, honestly, is a bit like Link in those respects. Nocturne got his son some high quality clothes for sure. I like the outfit! He really does look good in purple and the little wave crest is very fitting.

Thanks so much! I love seeing people put the OCs on canvas!

[mrsmusica]

Father of Time 2: The Ganondorf War Chapter 30: Deity

A long, hot bath helped the itching, sticky feeling on Link's skin.  The bathtub felt much too small, though he knew it fit the other deities just fine, and he found himself pushing into a corner just to feel like he had more room.  He had seen his dad and the others in it.  It was more than big enough for a god.  It just felt like everything in his life was too small all of a sudden.  All of his clothes, the chairs, the table.  It was an unsettling realisation of what life in the house must be like for his dad and the rest of the deities.  Link had grown so used to everything feeling a little bit big that he had forgotten why it was scaled so large in the first place.  Now he was that big too and unable to become smaller.

As he pulled on a pale blue-grey tunic that belonged to his father, it was a sharp reminder just how small he normally was in comparison.  Once, years ago, he had snatched one of his dad's tunics off the drying line and thrown it over his head, the material falling almost all the way to his feet.  He had laughed as he flapped the over-long sleeves, making jokes about it being a wonderful dress.  He'd grown since then, of course, but even now Nocturne's shirts were too loose to wear in any sort of normal capacity.  Well, not at this moment and that was the problem.

(Read the rest on AO3!)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/64438891/chapters/205351021

(the embed is failing *again*)

[mrsmusica]

Father of Time 2: The Ganondorf War Chapter 29: Shield

It is easy to reach the gods, when they are needed.

Most do not know this because they assume you need to offer them goods or pray in the temple or make specific gestures or any of the many hundreds of little things mortals think the gods desire.  Maybe in some universes that's true.  Maybe some gods even begin to like that sort of thing and come to expect it.  It's never needed and it's so much easier to call upon them than anyone ever expects.

All that's required is to desperately need their assistance.

Nocturne was out the door running the moment Malon's prayer echoed in his ears.  Luna knew what he needed before the whistle passed his lips.  The god ran to his galloping horse and pulled himself up in a single, fluid move full of grace and purpose.  Within seconds, the pair were merely a white blur across the field.  Nocturne could not move through time, not without his Sister's help, but he had no need when sufficiently motivated.

(Read the rest on AO3!)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/64438891/chapters/204023056

damnit embed, why you no work?

Also, yes, I'll get to my asks eventually. I WILL get up some of the anniversary things I want to eventually. I'm just so overwhelmed with life at the moment that it's taking a lot longer to get through the to-do list. Thanks for being patient with me.

[mrsmusica]

Father of Time 2: The Ganondorf War Chapter 28: Growing Pains

Five days later, Link and Saria snuck off to Termina for Little Link's third birthday and immediately got in trouble for it when they returned.  Hylian and Kokiri stood in the middle of the Great Room, Nocturne in front of them with his arms crossed over his chest, eyes narrowed.

"Careless!"  His voice remained controlled, not slipping into the booming anger it once had when Link was younger, but dripped with disappointment.  "To just leave our realm without permission! How was I to know if you were safe?  What if you had been spirited away once again?  I did not raise you to be so thoughtless!"

Link frowned at the floorboards.  "I told you it was fine! Nothing happened! Anju and Kafei loved the surprise and we came right home afterwards."

"I had already informed you that leaving Hyrule at this time was not recommended.  You specifically went behind my back and–"

"I proved that it was okay!"  Link looked up into his dad's eyes, scowling deeply.  "There was no good reason not to go!"

"The reason was that I said no."

(Read the rest on AO3!)

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Also, look, I know I've been late a lot recently. I got so sick around Christmas. I was miserable. And I was going to post a delay post here and FORGOT! I'm so sorry!

Also, I've seen those asks! And I will update the picrews and stuff just as soon as I have a spare moment! I changed some of my tumblr names a few months back and that might have broken links I had to stuff on the fics! You can always browse HERE for all my fic-related things. I try not to reblog anything there but my stuff (except when I MESS UP) so it's not too bad of a scroll if you're looking for picrew and lore posts

I have over half of the next chapter written so hopefully I can get the next update out on Sunday or Monday of next week. Finger's crossed!

[mrsmusica]

Father of Time 2: The Ganondorf War Chapter 27: Fathers and Family

Queen Tumlea paced in her room as she waited for Aspen to return from the mysterious training he and the other young nobles were invited to.

All of the guardians and parents knew what sort of land Hyrule was with its long wars and strange antagonists, the stories of which were passed down over the centuries.  The heroes of Hyrule were legendary, even to those who lived outside its borders.  The mages and soldiers were rumoured to be some of the best and nothing they had seen thus far disputed that.  None of the nobles would outright deny their children the chance to receive training from any of the experts the country had to offer.  As young as Aspen was, Queen Tumlea could not deny his good fortune to be invited to semi-private instruction.

She still worried.

(Read the rest on AO3!)

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[mrsmusica]

It’s that time again~!!!!!

Happy Holidays! (Yes I know I’m early but bleh-)

I’m gonna be honest, I originally wasn’t gonna finish this. It just wasn’t coming together, so I decided to just touch up some things and then leave it.

Then I accidentally finished it. But yeah, that’s why Link and Nocturne aren’t glowing and the tree’s purple even though they really should and shouldn’t be, respectively. I just liked it too much to try and fix it :)

Hope you’re having a good day!

Oh! It's beautiful! I think the colours work really well, even the purple tree, because it really fits the ambiance of the scene.

I love how you can tell Link is so happy to see his dad. I like how the stars are the real focal point here. When I was writing that scene, I was sort of picturing the dome in a planetarium, where the starts are many and brilliant and I think this really shows it off so well.

I adore it. I've loved all the pieces you've done for FoT so far and I'm always honoured when you draw more! Thank you so much! 🥰🌟

[mrsmusica]

Father of Time 2: The Ganondorf War Chapter 26: The Ocean Is Restless In My Ears

For the first time in days, Aspen was out of the castle and it was glorious.

Sure, it was only to the army's training grounds but it was a really nice day and Ambrosias was nowhere to be found!  He'd take his wins where they came.  All of the suitors and other young nobles had been invited to what Zelda had simply called defense training. No one had to ask defense from what but questions from parents and interested teenagers had produced no details at all.  Many of the invited parties had agreed to come right away and the ones who didn't? Well, Aspen wasn't surprised by their absence at all.

Of course, Ambrosias and Ashford; such things were below their station, or so they claimed.  Alexander had also turned down the offer, potentially to spend the time with the other two.  It didn't seem like he had learned his lesson as well as Bartholomew had.  The ever-quiet Emil (or was it Ezekiel?) didn't appear to be anywhere around and neither were two of the Hyruleans, Owen and Mullin.  Quercus hadn't come either, though Aspen had begged him to, and was probably in the grand library with his nose stuck in a book instead.

(Read the rest on AO3!)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/64438891/chapters/197196076

[mrsmusica]

Father of Time 2: The Ganondorf Wars Chapter 24: Encounters

Nothing quite went to plan for Nocturne after his vigil.

Mortals often expected perfection from deities but that was rarely ever true.  Things went wrong frequently when one's job was to fight the worst of existence, a foe that could often match one's self in power.  To an outsider, it might seem like a plan but in truth, the gods were excellent at improvising when a situation took a turn for the worst.  Most of the time, anyway.  Nocturne knew he needed work on this. He had been much better at handling unexpected situations before his incarceration in the mask and he was working diligently to reinstate his former patience…but it was still a trial. His foolhardy behaviour in the Depths still gave him twinges of shame.  As he stared into the sands at the edge of the desert, fighting with his need to find out immediately what was wrong, it struck him that maybe he had always been a bit short tempered and impatient. In the past, he had always won and thus had never suffered consequences for his shortcomings.  Now that he had a son that relied on him, his potential failures sat heavier on him, held his hand when he might have rushed forward. Now he worried when something went wrong. 

Like now. 

The Heroine of the Sands was missing.  Not that he had seen her physically in the past few years but they could always sense her presence in the sands.  The storm was still there, her own barrier against theirs, but it was devoid of her particular flavour of tainted divinity.  Nocturne stood there for an hour, two hours, trying to sense where his Sister might have gone, worried about the implications, before she suddenly swirled into the currents again, her voice mocking him for losing to Majora.  That he was used to.  That was how it should have been.  But he didn't mention her absence and neither did she.  She couldn't have escaped the desert; he knew the wards were too strong for that.  It concerned him. It ate at a core of doubt that grew inside him.  It was impossible and therefore, it was a sign.

(Read the rest on AO3!)

Father of Time 2 Chapter 24

(embeds broke again, please accept this humble link)

[mrsmusica]

"•ܫ•" here! (it's kind of obvious who I am but I'm having fun with this :D)

Happy early FoT's 2nd anniversary! Since you said you wanted some questions, here are mine (I may have gone a bit overboard).

I remember you saying Father of Time was meant to be a Linked Universe fanfic, what was Father of Time's original plot?

What were your favourite parts to write?

Any lore tidbits you would like to share?

What do people in Hyrule think of outside of Hyrule? They feel a quite isolated from everyone else.

What non-spoilery things can you reveal about Nocturne's previous Chosen?

What's going on in the depths now that Enma's spending a good portion of time above ground?

How's baby Volvagia?

Other than Nocturne, which of the Deities can cook? And who's the best and worst at cooking?

that should be it, I think.

Oh boy! QUESTIONS! :D

So, Father of Time was spawned from one of the weekly prompts from the LU server; au where everything is the same except for *one thing.* I wrote a snippet where the Chain is visiting Time's home for the first time and they meet the Fierce Deity. Time introduces him as his dad. I didn't really have a *plot* in mind, you see, it was originally just fun stories of Link being adopted by FD and it would eventually end up with Time joining the chain except as a much more cheerful man. I think it was around chapter 15 when Link and Deity made it to Nayru's Mountain that I realised this was never going to fit into the LU framework ever again. 😂 (You know, I think I have that snippet somewhere. I should post it for the anniversary)

My first favourite chapter was 26. Like, I really enjoyed everything up to then but when Deity got his own POV chapter and I started writing his history and his mental processes, MAN. Pretty much any time we see the Fierce Deity being the Dadity, I'm having a great time. Along those lines, most of "Link and the Deity" has been a pure passion project to write; so much great FD thoughts! That all being said, I also *really* enjoyed writing the Researcher fight. I had an idea for her and putting it together was amazing.

Oh man, there's too many. Though I do have a fun ideas for what happened after Link left the other two timelines. When he dies in Downfall, Zelda settles down at Lon Lon Ranch with Malon while she directs the kingdom being rebuilt. She was pregnant during the final fight and about 8 months later gives birth to a little girl that she names, you guessed it, Zelda. Eventually Adult Zelda and Malon admit feelings for each other and settle down together. The castle takes a very long time to rebuild and Malon hires people to watch the farm while she lives in the castle with Queen Zelda. In the Adult Timeline, Queen Zelda mourns the loss of Link but feels like she's done right by sending him away. Eventually she takes on suitors and marries a very nice, very handsome Prince Aspen from Akkala. :) They have many children. They do not know the downfall of their kingdom is coming...

Most of the peoples outside of Hyrule are rather in awe of the magic the kingdom contains but the land had been in the middle of a civil war for 50 years and only the bravest of traders would dare wander into that territory while it was actively being fought over. Many Hylians *left* Hyrule to escape the constant fighting (for instance, Tumlea's family moved to Akkala). It's only been 15ish years since the fighting stopped and while there are more traders getting in, a lot of other kingdoms are wary.

The mortals during the Demon Wars were a hardy lot, always having to defend their lands against the minions and lieutenants of the evil armies. They were more tribal, only just starting to form small communities wherever they could scratch out enough land for potential farming. Night's Chosen was a dark skinned, dark haired woman in her 30s who hadn't settled down and started a family. She was an expert at weapons and was often out on the battlefield, defending what they could from the demons. She loved being out at night which is most likely how she ran into the god the first time. Whatever else she was like, only Nocturne remembers and he is not yet comfortable with sharing.

The Depths are BORING. There's no one down there trying to dig up things, the lights are off half the time and pretty much it is the plaything for strange creatures and a calm place for souls to pass through. The Bargainers keep an eye on things and are ready to let Enma know if there's anything they can't take care of themselves but the other deities were correct when they said not everyone needs to be in their territory all the time. Enma is now allowed to go down there but ze's far too busy taking care of Volvagia and trying to teach that idiot Link how to control his sleeping mind. Ze's having a good time, though ze'll never tell anyone that.

Volvagia is doing great! They're a happy fire spirit, at least double the size they were when the deities found them. Enma's not entirely certain but ze thinks the dragon might be a she? But ze doesn't want to pry. Ze'll be moving the "little" tyke into the Fire Temple just as soon as ze's sure it's safe. I swear I will get Link in there *soon* but every time I think I'm going to put them in the Fire Temple, something else happens. Oh well.

Oceanis is a great cook....when he bothers. He's been studying humans (and Hylians) extensively since he and his sister joined and he knows far FAR more about mortal society than he was letting on. He just doesn't cook because he doesn't have to eat that often. At least, that's what he thought. Holo is the worst at cooking. They don't even bother with the Rock Roast and tends to eat things plain off the ground. 😂

[mrsmusica]

Second question:

How many protectors were there before the demon war? My current thoughts are between 80 and 100 for vibe based reasons. (Mostly)

(also I do *have* another question however that was made by the economist who lives in my brain and is thus not good)

-Existing Theoretically

This was actually harder to answer than I thought it would be because I am constantly adding more deities to the past (and future) as I think of them. There was definitely dozens at the beginning. I'm not sure I'd go as high as 100 because they can cover a lot of territory but as we've seen with the Twins, there can also be multiples for a single "element", so to speak. Technically there's even two time goddesses.

But just as an example, here's the list of deities as I have them down right now. Not saying what their status is but we know that many have already passed on.

God of the Night (FD)

Goddess of the Day (Hylia)

Goddess of Time (Aevum)

God/Goddess of the Oceans (Oceanis/Thalassa)

Goddess of the Mountains (Hebra)

Lord of the Wild (Satori)

Goddess of the Flows of Time (Labryn)

Protector of the Seasons (Holo)

Protector of the Dark Depths (Enma)

The Deku Tree

Levias

Jabu-Jabu

The Ocean King (Oshus)

The Windfish (Marin)

Heroine of the Sands

Protector of Vast/Deep Forests

Goddess of Summer Storms (humanoid)

Protector of the Wind (giant hawk)

God of Warm Waters (humanoid but very creature)

Protector of the Eastern Wilds (fox deity!)

Unknown third protector by Holodrum and Labrynna

Protectors across the northern divide (they are apparently gone)

The dragon gods from Skyward Sword (wonder what happened to them)

I guess that's as good of a start as any. Maybe there's more than I thought!

[mrsmusica]

Even MORE FoT fanart!

Friends are so good to me. The amazing @imperialkatwala made me a cute scene from chapter 3 of Father of Time. Yes, the stabbing scene. It really is the best one and part of the reason the fic became a thing in the first place.

Post by @imperialkatwala · 1 image

💬 0  🔁 14  ❤️ 61 · His son stabbed him! He's very proud. Fanart of chapter three of Father of Time by @musical-chan :D

Some of you might know Katwala as a really amazing author and you'd be RIGHT! While it doesn't have anything to do about Father of Time, I feel like I should still point out vir AO3 page for people to discover. :D

https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImperialKatwala/pseuds/ImperialKatwala

[mrsmusica]

We're still doing the fanart thing

Enma, the enigmatic, gender-NO deity has been an interesting addition to the cast. Ze uses neopronouns, despises being noticed and is desperately lonely for zir family. And ze has had exactly one piece of fanart done for him, which I adore.

A cute little blupee handed us this one and I think it's adorable. And yes, that IS a Nocturne blog. Huh. Weird.

[mrsmusica]

The Beginning of Fanart

The next two pieces are kind of fanart, but not exactly. You see, two years ago I was on the big LU server and was slowly losing myself to the Fierce Deity obsession. I came up with the idea of big, scary god-man escaping the mask and adopting the young Link and a lot of very fun conversations were had about what FD would be like as a dad.

And then the scene was created. You know the one, that eventually became chapter 3, where FD is stabbed in the shoulder by his own son. This was immediately connected to the meme of the dad who got shot in the shoulder with an arrow by his own son and a couple of artists got right on that!

The name on the art says "Maetchilla" I think but I've never really been able to find a source. It's so incredibly fun and I've kept it on my hard drive these past two years because it makes me laugh every time I see it. If anyone wants to claim the art, please message me and I'll give you credit!

And the other one similarly sits in "I have no idea who drew this" but there's no obvious signature on it. I love how this is the fairy sword that impaled FD and Link is a lot more calm about it. Again, if you're the artist and want credit, please let me know!

In a way, these are the beginnings of FoT though I was already half plotting out fun stories and writing them (thus completely giving up on the long LU fic I had been working on. oops) Having people laugh and joke and make art about silly ideas was half the fun.

[mrsmusica]

Fanart with some serious ears

The art style on these ones are SO FUN. I got two pieces, actually, and the first was an in ask sometime around last year's holidays, I believe. I'm pretty sure it's the first piece of art anyone did for FoT that put Link in his dad's hat. I love when people catch the details like that. Holding them SO GENTLY

A while later, they made the following art for one of the final dungeon chapters!

Post by @imlurkingintheshadows · 1 video

💬 0  🔁 10  ❤️ 32 · The face of someone who is in waaayy over her head. Fanart for the newest chapter of MrsMusica’s Father of Time! Malon

I love the overly long ears and the facial expressions and everything about both pieces. It's fun to see how people interpret the length of the hair or the presence of scars on Link's skin. Even if it's not exactly the way I picture in my mind, it's so AMAZING to see! Thank you to everyone who's gone out of their way to put my ideas to images. I love every single one.