[Image Description: 5 colored drawings of Legend of Zelda Fairies reimagined in a humanoid form for the Linked Spirit AU. 1st: Hope and Spryte fly next to each other, holding hands losely while Spryte gestures as if to explain something. Hope grins excitedly. Hope's tunic is red and pink. He has light blue and purple insect wings with feathered antenna. Spryte has blond hair, a simple pink tunic, and light blue wings. She has dark blue antenna with a blub end. 2nd: Navi hovers, one hand to her chest. She has short blue hair, and her body is light blue with a fur-like texture. She wears white armor and a blue skirt. Her wings are a light blue 3rd: Proxi raises a hand up, looking excited. Proxi has dark blue furred body, with white hair in a braid which ends with three blue beads. Her antenna are curled into spirals. She has white puffs of fur around her neck and ankles. She wears a light blue shirt with a flower-like shape at the bottom, and white shorts. Her wings are a sky blue. 4th: Tatl and Tael look at each other, Tatl's hands on her hips, Tael with a hand on his chest. Both of them have a base yellow body color, with patterns on their feet and hands. Tatl's patterns are a deeper yellow, while Tael's are violet. Tatl has blond hair in a ponytail, and wears a yellow dress with a tear pattern at the end. The top of the dress mimics the silhouette of Navi's armor. Tael wears a dark blue jumpsuit, with tattered ends of the shorts and short sleeves. Both of them wear a hoop belt similar to the band of Skull Kid's hat. 5th: Neri, Celia, and Leaf are in a small circle together, Celia's hands on the other's shoulders, and Neri & Leaf holding hands in front of Celia, they have dark skin similar to the Great Fairies in Wind Waker. Neri has a simple blue dress with teal bubbles on the bottom of the dress. Her hair is in a bun with a ponytail beyond it. Her wings are blue with teal tips with a shield like shape in the upper wings. Celia has yellowish green short hair. She wears a light yellow dress with a green line on the bottom of the skirt. Her wings are yellow with a simple line pattern. Leaf wears a red dress with sharp v cuts in the edges. He wears a deep red vest with long tails. His wings are red, with a diamond pattern in his upper wings. End ID]
Fairy friends!!! These designs are kinda my compromise between wanting consistency and wanting to keep them close to their in-game designs. Thus why the Glowing Ball Fairies have colored 'fur' (idk what it's called on insects but it's That, not fur-fur).
In universe, the difference is kinda like how the Wind Waker Healing Fairies are humanoid while the Phantom Hourglass Companion Fairies are glowing balls. The glowing fairies have higher levels of magic, and the hairs, kinda like bees, store it and make them glow.