[peachblossxms]

i'll remember you

Ao3

Word Count: 24k

Rating: T

Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Pairing: Link/Zelda

Summary: When Zelda thinks about it, it's like they never really knew each other at all.

header by @aurathian! thanks so much my love

preview below, you can read the rest on Ao3:

He’s different from the boy he was one hundred years ago, Zelda realizes. She watches his back as they walk slowly away from the crumbled castle, his long hair swishing with each step he takes, and her thoughts come to a steady pause.

This Link is different from the one she once knew. He had always been shy, quiet, a little reserved, but with all the time they had spent together before, he had grown comfortable around her. Their friendship was something she treasured. He lit a fire in her heart without her even knowing until it was far too late.

And now they are here, standing several feet apart, both in memories and physical distance. Zelda remembers everything they had been through together, from the littlest things to the grandest memories they shared. Link remembers none of it.

Zelda doesn’t realize she is frowning until she meets Link’s gaze and sees him looking at her. There is a careful look in his eyes, like he’s trying not to intrude on something. Maybe he knows how lost in thought she is.

“You alright, Your Highness?” he asks, and that is when it hits Zelda fully.

The formality of his speech towards her—it makes her heart weigh heavier in her chest. Once upon a time, he had reluctantly dropped the formalities upon Zelda’s request and, eventually, fell easily into the habit of addressing her like a friend. But he has forgotten that. Of course he has.

When Zelda thinks about it, it’s like they never really knew each other at all.

And in a way, they didn’t.

[oh2bloved]

It's a full time job admiring all the ways that you're inspiring

[desmess]

[lemonloven]

well wishes and affection

[c3lest1ann]

repost old pictures here :)

[emillustrating]

shadow and light

[magdaamm]

My second favorite game after Majora's Mask!

It's stupidly edgy and bloomy and LotR styled and takes everything Ocarina of Time did so perfectly and builds on it. To me this is also just THE most beautiful Zelda design I love her so much!

[cokalee]

All my zelda photocards! I finished them a while ago, but figured I should post them all together.

You can get them on my etsy here!

[stillunderyourbed]

link post-sksw doodles

[shellshooked]

sunset in lurelin

[paintedlight1]

Skyward Zelink

[velinxi]

A dance that never ends

[Prints available here]

[mizukkay]

Every love-song, is about you!

day 7 — @zelinkcommunity

[aquaticpal]

@deiliamedlini requested a Zelink version of that LotR scene, you know the one. Send all your therapy bills to her.

[nothingbutloveforyou]

i think waiting together is a love language. wait for the train with me, so we can talk a little longer. wait for dinner with me, we can slow dance in the kitchen. wait for me until i can talk after crying my eyes out, hold me, we will figure it out. wait for me when it gets rough, i know i can get through this (with you). wait for me in the car, this song is too good to not finish listening to it. wait for the first snow with me, cold red noses and bright eyes. lets wait for each other, i love you.

[neon-pink-witch]

Im a non-driver. When I was working retail nightshift I always had to wait for my parents to pick me up. Sometimes a few minutes, sometimes an hour and a half. This was the early 2010s and mid 2010s so I didn't have a smart phone. Just a slider and a mp3. I always sat by myself, something I didn't mind.

Until one day one of co-workers (after I'd been shamelessly flirting him) waited with me. We talked about music and he introduced me to Johnny Cash. No one had ever waited with me before.

That was 7 years ago. We've been married 6 years and have a child together.

Waiting together is absolutely a love language

[aurathian]

things that have stuck with me as a woc in (the zelda) fandom

Hey all. This post is mostly about the Gerudo and my own experiences in fandom as a Middle Eastern woman (will be using acronyms such as MENA and woc), because the longer I stay here the more insane I become. This post is mostly about a lot of horrible stereotyping, misogynistic, racist, etc. headcanons, and just downright horribly offensive comments I've witnessed that have stuck with me throughout my time here.

There are a lot of other problems in this fandom with a lot of other aspects of the games (the Zonai...) which I won't touch on, as the Gerudo resonate closest with me and I feel I have the authority to speak on these issues as I am MENA, and they are based on MENA stereotypes.

TW for racism, misogyny, xenophobia, abortion... it's just strange.

The most notable thing I've experienced during my time in this fandom is being spoken over, as a woc talking about woc issues, by white people. White people who were MY FRIENDS.

One instance that sticks out to me is when someone shared their art of Urbosa in a Zelda server. It was really sexualized, and her waist was EXTREMELY tiny. Below the art, the artist said, "her waist is snatched because she got an abortion." She didn't say this about the other characters she drew. Only the woc.

Do I need to elaborate on why that is a horrible, disgusting thing to say?

This really upset me. What upset me more, however, was that nobody spoke up. Nobody said hey, this is wrong, and what you said is gross. When I spoke about this with my friends, they continued to bash the art style or whatever and ignore the fact that what was said was disgustingly racist. Then, after repeating about 5 separate times the impact this had on me as a woc (because nobody was listening to me and the most action that was taken was hug emojis), I got asked: Are you MENA?

They chose to ignore the racism they were witnessing and then questioned my (already stated) credibility. To question my capacity to be upset, hurt, and angry. These were people I called friends.

This next instance was not me being spoken over, but it was... weird. In a Zelda server, someone shared their headcanons for their personal AU. One of these headcanons was:

The Gerudo stop aging until they meet their significant other.

The Gerudo stop aging until they meet their significant other.

This was to justify the person's pedophilic ship with Riju, which... yeah. Self explanatory. So not only that, but you are tying the life and worth of WOC to their partners which, in-game, are men. The Gerudo do not continue their lives until they met their partners. The woc do not continue their lives until they meet their partners.

Be real.

This person ended up getting called out (after MUCH convincing from me to do so...).

These are two specific instances that have stuck with me during my time in fandom, but now I'll touch on more general stuff.

The only way people speak about Urbosa or other Gerudo characters is sexually or violently. It seems we only have the capacity to say "yes mommy Urbosa step on me! Crush my bones!! Yes!!" which is actually extremely harmful. You can like the Gerudo. You can think they're sexy or hot. But you need to be more mindful about how you speak about them, because if the only way you can express your feelings about these woc is through acts of violence, that is a problem. Because you cannot see the Gerudo as characters beyond being man-hating lesbians to satisfy your own fetishes. By acting this way, you also contribute to the idea that Gerudo women cannot be feminine because they are brown-skinned. No other race in Zelda is spoken about this way.

The Gerudo are often attached to other characters, as mentioned previously. I think this is most commonly and easily seen with Urbosa. Whenever she is discussed, it is in relation to Zelda (mother-daughter relationship) or Zelda's mother (having an affair or whatever other headcanons there may be). It is rare that Urbosa is written on her own, outside of her relationships. Not like she has an entire society to run or anything.

Let's also not forget about the sexualization of Link in his Gerudo vai outfit. Yes, it's cute. Yes, it looks good on him. But so many of you borderline fetishize him wearing it. However, I don't think I know enough to speak on this specific issue, so I will stop there with that.

I will never forget the time I came across a post saying that the existence of Ashai, a pale Gerudo, is racist.

Here is Ashai. She teaches the dating lessons in Gerudo Town. As you can see, she is paler than a lot of the Gerudo.

However, contrary to the westernized belief that all Middle Eastern people are literally brown-skinned Muslims, the Middle East is extremely diverse. Middle Eastern people are pale, dark, brown, tall, short, Muslim, Christian, Jewish. We are not carbon copies of each other like this poster wanted the Gerudo to be. In fact, this same exact identical-ness is what made early versions of the Gerudo so racist. The one thing Nintendo did right was having a diverse range of skin tones for the Gerudo in BOTW, and by saying Ashai's existence as a pale Gerudo is racist, you erase all of that progress.

Race is not just in your skin tone. It's in your eyes, your nose, your mouth, your ears, your body. That is why, despite being pale, Ashai is Gerudo. Ashai is a WOC.

This post is not intended to stir up drama, because if you believe racism = drama, that is not on the poc calling it out.

If you are a white person who is friends with POC, this doesn't make you exempt from contributing to the harmful stereotypes or racism.

Sit down. Listen. And reflect.

[st-hedge]

Ocarina of time link, my blorbo, my silly little yellow guy, I tried to redesign him so many times but every time I scrapped it cuz I barely changed anything. Maybe I just like his dorky outfit too much. I’ve done a redesign of his green outfit before so why not the red tunic and we know the true inspiration for this

So, why would gorons sell heat/fire proof tunics with correct sizes for say hylians? Naw we are gonna be doing some tailoring on the spot and there is no dorky cap included (the patterns are the enchantment which create the protective property of the fabric). I usually draw OoT link with a little ponytail but decided why not see him with short hair. The biggest change I made this time is leaning into the lore that OoT happened some hundred years before the ancient era that botw describes (according to the Zora monuments) and I did this by giving link some armour that looks like that neither metal, wood, or leather material that is used by sheikah but looks weirdly organic. The patterns look like tree roots so I thought that’s perfect and then I decided let’s make it look like there is no way to take it off, mostly to imply that he is shackled into the role of a hero. So yeeaaaaaahhhh