On the topic of ships, what do you dislike about Ilink and what would have to be changed to make it a viable ship for you (if possible)?
Hmmmmm… I guess my problem with it is Ilia. I completely understand why people love it and I understand that it’s the one that’s most likely be canon, BUT I find Illia a super boring character and I do not like her.
In my fics I usually have to write characters I dislike, and when I write those characters, I try to be as respectful as possible cuz I know people love those characters. And by doing that, I grow to like those characters cuz there’s potential to their characters that I never appreciated before. It happened with tp and aoc/botw/totk Zelda, where I grew to like them despite them being at the bottom of the list for me. I can appreciate them. But Ilia? There’s nothing for me. She’s super generic and one dimensional to me. She doesnt actually drive the plot forward, and could EASILY be written out of the story. That might get me executed for saying that but I stand by it. she really isnt that important and feels shoehorned in for some reason. I probably wouldnt feel this way if she wasnt completely ignored after getting her memory back, cuz she really DOES do nothing, and I just cant get behind it. I wish so badly I could like her, I really do, but there’s nothing for me.
So she likes horses, whoopdie doo that doesnt mean anything to me. She’s hot headed, that’s not bad except the way it’s done is stupid. She steals my horse, yells at me, and doesnt let me have her. She’s not a bad person but that ALWAYS irked me since playing tp, cuz that’s MY HORSE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!! I NEED TO GET THE SWORD TO THE CASTLE GIRL!! Maybe if this was done differently it wouldnt bother me cuz these arent traits I hate, but the way theyre done is so irritating to me. And I know she didnt know about Talo but surely she’d know that I had a job to do right? Idk, it couldve been done better
She gets kidnapped with the kids but I keep forgetting about her cuz the kids steal the show 100%. Colin couldve easily replaced Ilia with being the one at the hidden village instead, maybe not losing his memory, but I feel he had a greater impact on Link and the story than Ilia. I couldve saved Ralis without Ilia being there, she was just there, and the amnesia plot was so stupid. It really does Ilia a massive disservice cuz we dont get the chance to know her! Cuz she’s not herself the ENTIRE GAME! And we couldve done the whole city in the sky without her. Like she’s a big character but everything we do for the sake of the story has Ilia plot happening on the way, you know? It’s not actually the focus? We find her and the focus is Ralis. We go to get her memory back and the focus is the city in the sky. I really feel like she’s not vital to the story at all, and then at the end she does nothing. I guess she DOES give you the horse whistle but you get it at the end where you rarely use Epona so it’s REALLY not important 😭😭
The biggest thing for ilink to work for me is to give ilia more character moments. Make her more sassy and fun, maybe even tease Link a bit here and there. Have things be flirtatious and playful. Cuz she’s just nice and then gets mad sometimes. That’s not enough.
Have her be Link’s main motivation throughout the entire game. You dont save her until you get to the hidden village, where she and Impaz are taking refuge. She doesnt lose her memory. You go the entire game trying to reach her and finally Shad gives you a lead and you go there. You and her are so relieved to see each other again. This not only makes her important to Link (cuz being told that she’s important is not enough), but it also gives us motivation the entire game to save her. Why do we love skyward sword zelink? Cuz Zelda was Link’s motivation for the entire game. He constantly asked for her and was always so happy to see her. In TP, Link does not give those same vibes, especially in comparison to him and Midna. Midlink really overshadows it for me so giving more to Ilink would make me like it more despite it.
That’s what would help me like it more. Give Ilia more character traits that I can latch to and like, and give her greater importance to the story. Cuz the game just tells us she’s important but doesnt actually show it to us.
