The Future is Bright by socksock is a BotW role swap AU where Zelda is the Hylian champion and Link is the Prince. Zelda has amnesia from the shrine of resurrection but also has given birth to a baby boy during her quest. I adore this story so much and I have reread it at least five times. The pining is brilliant, the chemistry between Zelda and Link is hot as hell, and the fight scenes are brilliant. This is THE best role reversal AU in my opinion. Besides the main change of swapping out their roles, there are many other creative changes that work so well. It is such a satisfying and fun story, and I would urge you to read it if you have not already done so.
The beautiful art on the front cover was done by @lunabrush. I have had this textblock ready to be cased for over a year at this point and had been looking at pieces of art of Zelda as the hero for a while. I decided to organise the art myself as I had a really specific vision of how I wanted the cover to look. @lunabrush fulfilled the commission so beautifully, I mean just look at it! I really love how the picture came out (just look at the plait! the baby! the mastersword!! look at Zelda's face!!!) She was a dream to work with, I cannot compliment her and her art highly enough! This was the first time I commissioned art for a fic I was binding and it was so fun!
The back cover is a screenshot of Hyrule castle from BotW which I have blurred and edited the saturation slightly to better match the other colours on the cover. Again my maths was slightly out with the spine but overall I am very happy with it.
Once again, an absolutely huge thanks to @airplanned for giving me permission to bind this story and to edit my copy to be an edition that uses UK spelling!
congrats on 600 followers <3 may i request a little roleswap fic with prince link and hero zelda?
So I asked you if you wanted angst or fluff and you said fluff but apparently the question was do you want a lot of angst or a little angst. I don't think I know anything else. Oops...
Also a big thank you to @aurathian I could not for the life of me remember the word "smitten" but it was in your recent oneshot and I was like THANK YOU BIG BRAIN. Also read her role swap fic it's so much better than mine: https://aurathian.tumblr.com/post/654926454174416896/a-thousand-words
At First Sight
“How did it go?”
Prince Link nearly jumped out of his skin, but hid it well enough. He completely forgot that his royal advisor said he would meet him in his chambers before the banquet. Robbie was a sheikah, but he wasn’t exactly subtle in his appearance, which made Link wonder at how he didn’t notice him when he come in. He replied to the inquiry nonetheless as he looked into the mirror, straightening the crown atop his head and making sure his face was clean, tiny things that showed his newfound vanity crystal clear.
“How did what go?” Link asked.
“Meeting your knight attendant?” Robbie said, standing up. How could this boy forget? “I heard she’s the best sword wielder in the land."
“Oh,” Link said. “F-fine yeah, fine.”
Robbie’s forehead creased. He could only see the back of the young man’s head, the dirty blonde hair cut to proper length and trimmed every few weeks at the Queen’s behest. Link had never voiced an objection, not caring a lick about his looks. Robbie paced forward with crossed arms.
“I’m gonna be late for the banquet,” Link said, finally stopping his obsession with the mirror and heading back towards the doors, but Robbie grabbed his elbow and yanked him back. He got a good look at his face and…
“Are you smitten?” Robbie asked, almost not believing the color in his cheeks, the frenzy in his blue eyes.
“No.”
It was a bald-faced lie. Robbie could tell even without Link chuckling through it.
“O-of course not.”
Link ripped his arm from Robbie’s hold and the poor prince had to keep his heart from stinging. Of all the swordsmen and women in the land, why her? Why those green eyes? Why that golden hair? Why that outfit of brown leather that accentuated-
Link clutched his eyes closed with a sigh.
He was in trouble.
“You and I both know you can’t run from me,” Link heard Robbie call after him. Couldn’t he just drop this? “Who is it, the general’s daughter with the brown hair? That red-haired girl who follows you around with love poems? Oh Hylia, it’s not a commoner is it? Tell me it’s not a commoner.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Link said, his fists balled. He was practically storming away. If he walked any faster, his white pants and royal blue tunic may have caught fire.
“Is she going to be at the banquet?” Robbie continued. “Is that why you suddenly care about how you loo—”
“Why does it matter to you?!” Link barked as he turned on his heel to face Robbie, who was taken aback by the lash of anger. Link absolutely seethed, his chest heaving heavy breaths.
“Why?!” Link repeated, obviously expecting an answer, but apparently he changed his mind. “Why do you have to know everything about me? Why do you have to know that within ten minutes of meeting my knight attendant, my lips were on hers? Why do you have to know that I, Prince Lincoln of Hyrule, fell in love at first sight with the daughter of a farmer in Hateno? Why do you have to know how distraught I am that my mother would never accept our courtship?!”
Robbie let Link storm away, feeling terribly guilty for how had pushed the young man, who was only eighteen and yet preparing to rule a broken kingdom.
But Link stopped in his tracks when he noticed that Robbie wasn’t following him. The prince hugged his arms close, seeking the comfort he was never readily given.
If Link wanted to say something, he never did.
“I’m sorry,” Robbie said, after heave Link sufficient time to put his words together. “I didn’t know. I guess…I guess I’m used to the little boy who told me everything about his day. Sometimes I forget you are all grown up now, that what is on your plate is far heavier than what you had for breakfast.”
Link stewed in silence but Robbie could hear him sigh, could see his head tilt to the ceiling.
“I’m not going to the banquet,” Link said. Robbie could hear his honesty. “I’m going to see her. I can’t stop thinking about her.”
Link finally turned his head.
“Will you cover for me?” Link asked. Robbie graced a smirk.
