Hi :] A very important question
How do Mouse and Gen get along?
(sorry if this was asked before, I couldn't find anything about it and my vpn isn't working right now so I can't open AO3)
They haven't interacted all that much yet.
Gen has let Mouse take the lead while they're traveling since Mouse seems to be the most familiar with the area, but they haven't had any one-on-one chats. He was worried when Mouse disappeared without warning back when everyone was at the inn, but that was more of a general worry that anyone would feel in that situation. To Gen, Mouse is just a guy he's travelling with who has knowledge about the area that could be beneficial.
Mouse doesn't have any strong opinions about Gen. He doesn't have any strong opinions about most people so far. I suppose he's happy there's someone who can take on the burden of actual leading. He can kind of point everyone in the right direction and then fall behind.
It's possible the dynamic will change as time goes by, but I don't have high hopes. In a group this big, I think they will hang out in separate circles. Gen with the older heroes and the kids, and Mouse with his few people or on his own.
Mask is only an inch shorter. Let's compare their swords. It's kind of hard to tell when their swords are always held at an angle or changes size between art styles, but Mouse's and Mask's swords look to be a very similar size.
His sheathed sword is almost as big as he is. So if he and Mouse are similar heights, Mask's Gilded Sword might be bigger than Mouse's sword.
Mouse's in-game sword is really smol:
Source
Meanwhile Mask can also wield this:
Source
It's a two-handed sword (for his size) that is bigger than he is.
It's no wonder that Mouse focuses mostly on shielding while he waits for an opening for his little dagger sword. Mask actually has a pretty similar fighting style, but he's a little more dynamic with circling enemies and dodging attacks. Wind too, but add on jumping over the enemy like a madlad - or Mouse. Meanwhile, the other little guys, Junior and Mini, are rolling all over the place to dodge attacks and get behind the enemy.
Song: Du Hast by Rammstein, which isn't his favorite, but I think it's more recognizable than Engel.
Sky: “Are they singing about killing someone?”
Vet: “No. It sounds like it’s about…a romantic relationship?”
Sky: “Aw!”
Mouse: “It’s good that it’s not something bad.”
Sky: “You didn’t know?!”
Mouse: “I only speak Hylian.”
Vet: “…I don’t think they love each other.”
Sky: “Aw…”
Later, Mouse: “Zelda, this one is romantic!”
Zelda I: “I still don’t like it.”
Mouse: “Aw… What about this one?”
Zelda I: “No.”
Results of the poll:
Y'all were correct! Although I think I set it up a little too obviously in hindsight.
On the other hand, no one voted rap and that's his second choice.
One evening, the group’s healer was organizing some of his stuff. Mouse didn’t have much, but some items were pretty big. After pulling out small things like a candle, a fancy-looking key, and a wooden flute Cap had called a recorder, he drew a decently-sized raft from his small bag, catching the attention of half the camp. He blushed and set it aside.
“I didn’t know you were carrying such a big item in your little bag,” Gen said with a raised eyebrow.
Mouse shrugged shyly and went back to sorting through his bag. “It’s come in handy before.”
“Oh, you have Pegasus Boots, too?” Forest commented as Mouse pulled out some winged boots.
Mouse shook his head. “No, they’re just boots.”
“So the wings are just decoration?”
“No, they let me walk over water.”
“They WHAT?” Wind cried out from the other side of the camp, interrupting his conversation with Ember.
Mouse shrugged again.
“Why did you say they were just boots if they let you do something as cool as walking on water?” River asked curiously.
“They aren’t called Pegasus Boots or anything like that. They’re just boots.”
“They can’t just be boots!” Forest exclaimed.
“I can’t help what they’re called…”
Quartz leaned forward. “You mean these fancy boots that let you walk on water that I know more than one of us would be dying to have only go by the name of ‘boots’?”
“Yeah.”
Cap leaned back and crossed his legs. “We need to come up with a better name for these.”
“Yeah, calling ‘em ‘boots’ doesn’t differentiate them from yer normal boots that you always wear,” agreed Twilight.
“How about ‘Winged Boots’?” suggested Sky.
“A lot of us have winged boots that serve a completely different purpose,” Verdi replied quietly so as not to wake Mini, who was sleeping on his lap.
“Yeah, but those are called Pegasus Boots. It’s different.”
44. How casual are they? (As in how formal are they and/or how good they are at acting casual when things are Not Casual)
That is an excellent question. Thank you for asking. 💖
They both default to whatever equivalent to formal they know.
Aspect especially has very straight posture, and he speaks words he has clearly thought through in advance. Like many who learned, say, English for example, as a second language through study, he has a surprisingly large vocabulary, and he likes to speak as accurately as possible. Each sentence is curated beforehand so that the meaning is as precise as he can make it, leading to it sometimes sounding a bit stilted. He's very self-conscious about his accent, which he worries makes him hard to understand. It really doesn't. 😅 Despite being perfectly understandable, he's given his speech subtitles via sign language, a language that most people can't even understand, so instead of clarifying his speech, he just looks a bit odd. But it makes him more confident when speaking, which is all that really matters. It's actually rather impressive. Since sign language has a different sentence structure, he's not usually signing the same words he's speaking, but rather some other part of the sentence.
Aspect also mainly sticks to his formal wear, including the jewelry.
Getting comfortable and used to the group means he'll speak a little more freely, but he's still quite formal.
Mouse is a weird case. Like I said before, if he's unsure about what kind of situation he's in, he defaults to formal. But he's also kind of the equivalent of a street rat, (I only realized the pun after I wrote this 🐭 - maybe he's more of a field mouse), so his version of formal is still a bit casual most of the time.
And that's what the other Links assume, judging by his clothes and general aura. It would surprise them to find out that he has a very nice change of clothes in his bag. He doesn't wear them when traveling, but he HAS lived in and out of the castle for the last 6 years. That's his home base when he's not traveling. He knows how to address royalty. He knows how to use tableware, though that isn't as complicated in his time as in some eras, because all of the disasters have left a lot of etiquette kind of forgotten, or at least not important. I'm talking about having a million pieces of silverware and a lot of the other weird fancy people manners. But as far as what table etiquette is left: he knows how to do it and will default to it at a table. Overall, the Zeldas are pretty lax with him about that stuff anyway. Zelda I (the sleeping one) is actually quite surprised that she's so out of place with her fancy etiquette.
On the road, everything goes out the window. Invite him into a house and that's one thing, but put him in front of a campfire and anything is possible. He's almost always traveled alone, so there's never been anyone to say anything.
So the way the Chain sees him at first is a nervous young man who speaks politely, though not fancily. (He will get more relaxed as he gets comfortable in his current situation.) But for some reason, he never directly says "thank you" or "sorry." He finds other ways to show gratitude or share his apologies though. For example, he will say "my apologies." He appears to have one outfit, which is obviously very well-worn, though he's very diligent in keeping it repaired and as clean as he can. They're in for a shock when they meet the "spent his teenage years in the castle" side of Mouse.
