I love your post sksw hc ideas! one thing I'm curious about is how you percieve Ghirahim's interactions (if any) with the residents of Skyloft, since he naturally wouldn't seem very willing to speak with many people
Anybody who is able to understand german, read Skyward Sword: Glimpses PLEASE! Or, idk how good the language models are so far, translate it! It's so worth it AAAARRGGGHHH GRAAAAGGHHH!
Bc this fic is basically what I based my HCs on... the main difference is just that I didn't make Ghirahim a human and kept him a demon.
Anyway. I will start rambling now lol
Ghirahim thinks only the lowest of the people there at first. It's only Link he respects (since he is the best sword fighter alive and he is the best sword at hand, so in his mind this is only a natural fit) but would also not tell him that to his face. I think about their relationship a lot as Link saying what he feels without Ghirahim ever telling him such things at all (at least not in a language Link could understand) and instead showing it (sub)consciously in his behaviour and actions. Which includes trying to make himself fit in to a certain extent.
This would not be an overnight thing. It would take at least a year. And at the beginning I think he would avoid most contact outside of the one with Link at all. There's nobody he would respect to any amount and Groose would avoid him A LOT anyways and with Zelda it's complicated.
Zelda had to accept Link's decision (he would function as a voucher for Ghirahim and his actions and be responsible if anything went south) and even though it hurts her, she feels a bit responsible for him going that route.
Ghirahim would be extremely hesistant to face Zelda. In the grand scheme of things this wasn't a personal matter. And Zelda would understand that too. However, he still tried to kill her, so she wouldn't be too keen on reaching out to him in the first place.
[For me this whole thing is about facing and working through trauma/mistakes a bit and living life through your own terms and choices made by yourself and not a Goddess that planned out your existence. That's why Link would even come around to finding the sword at all.]
But Zelda is an emotionally intelligent person and she would see the difference in both of their behaviour/demeanour and relationship and would have to come around to accepting that this is good for Link (however shocking that might be) and it's even better for Ghirahim (however reluctant and negating he'd be). She would have to accept the loss as well and stop chasing a boy that still loves her more than anything but can't anymore in the way she dreamed about. And with that acceptance I think she would be the one to take the first step and approach Ghirahim more often.
This might come in small ways like seeking his advice on matters regarding the settlements, inviting both of them for a dinner explicitly or (and I think that would break the ice lol) asking him about anything fashion related. This would be a shared interest for them after all. They would get around to liking each other (which would be even more shocking) and they would have a talk about what happened and what is happening right now and bam! This is actually one of my favorite and absolutely most underdeveloped friendships in fandom!!! Like wake up people!!! They would be so fun together aaargh! Sorry. Back to the script.
With Zelda being friends with the demon, suddenly he wouldn't seem so scary and distant anymore. The beloved Goddess Hylia and the even more beloved Zelda spends so much time with this weird creepy man, he can't be that bad, right? And suddenly you have more and more people mustering up the courage to approach them. First only with either Link or Zelda around, then some even on their own.
At some point there would be talk about the residents needing to make more weapons to secure the settlements and surface more. Link would be quick to ask Ghirahim — who is a very talented blacksmith — to make a sword or two to show them his skill.
[Girlies (gn)... I love the HC that Ghirahim (a weapon) makes weapons in his free time!!! In my HC all weapons he uses (except for the rapier) are made by himself. I also love that Link does wood carvings and Ghirahim does metal work!!! Gggraaagghhh I love them so much i'm going to kms!!!]
And people would lose their mind over the quality. Suddenly Ghirahim sees himself at the end of admiration mixed with a bit of fear left in the back of people's minds. Exactly what he craves lol. I'm not sure if I want him to make a business model out of this as well or if it's a thing he does under Zelda... his swords would become smth of a status symbol... hmmm... in my fav fic he makes it a business which makes sense in the narrative (and omg Lebenssinn is so good you guys don't understand 😭😭😭) but idk how this would be handled in my HC...
But yeah! This is how it would play out over the timespan of at least 13 months... maybe a bit less, depending on the speed of the settlement... Groose would be also more willing to accept him around bc of Zelda but would never be like close friends with him to any degree. It's a "I trust you as far as I can trust Zelda and Link, but we don't need to get along" relationship that is very mutual.
