#tnc-n3cl rambles

[tnc-n3cl]

Fanfic/Fancomic Rec Thread

Figured I'd go ahead and do a fanfic and fancomic recommendation post! I have a bunch of stuff in my to be read list so I'll be rebloging this with updates as I go through it. It's going to be dominated by Legend of Zelda fics. Feel free to reblog this with your own recommendations! Any fandom welcome!

Not on Ao3

A Remedy for Madness by @anivethia: (DeviantArt Link) The first Zelda fanfic I ever read! Set entirely in the Twilight Realm mostly before the events of Twilight Princess. A healer named Ylith is saved from a rabid kargorok by a magicless man named Otheno and the two fall in love, his quest to cure her of her curse turns into a mad quest for power and vengeance against his half-brother Faheem and their relationship turns abusive. And then Zant starts turning people into Shadow Beasts and imps... If this was on AO3, it would probably be rated M. Warnings for abusive relationship and rape. [Also go check out her art!]

Spirit of the Sword by @theskywaker: (Tumblr Link) Fancomic revolving around the events of Skyward Sword and Link and Fi's bond, at least until the canon divergence. Probably would be rated as T.

Heart of a Champion by @zelda-freak91: (Tumblr Link) BotW fancomic. After freeing the Divine Beasts, Riju asks Link to retrieve something stolen from the Gerudo Clan by the Yiga, under new leadership after Kogha's defeat. Things go awry and Link gets some unexpected help. Would probably be rated M, warnings for blood and violence.

AO3 G (General Audiences) Rated Fics

Through the Eye of Truth by @ghirahimbo: A two chapter BotW fic exploring the idea of the Champions being wandering spirits (though only Revali and Mipha appear in the fic) aiding Link, disguising themselves in the form of their early concept art (at least in Revali's case). 3,826 words.

Eventide Wanderings by @coconi: A Twilight Princess ficlet collection featuring a couple snippet of Midna and Link's journey across Hyrule. Fun moments of them together. 1,354 words.

Travel a thousand miles (without leaving my sight) by @heleentje: A sweet Amali/Kass fic in which Link helps Kass deal with homesickness by cooking his favorite food. 2,693 words.

AO3 T (Teen and Up) Rated Fics

Shared Sunrises by @coconi: A two fic Botw Revalink series. Come Morning Light (13,347 words, 1 chapter): Set in a BotW AU/Canon divergence where the Champions were possessed by Ganon rather than killed. Revali and Link share a bed after the fool Hylian got himself soaking wet diving into the freezing waters of Lake Totori while trying to get a treasure chest. Cue reluctant Revalink. | Meet Me Halfway: A series of moments between the two of them, chapter 2 having a wonderful angst filled PTSD episode for Revali. Come Morning Light was one of the first fics I read on AO3 and the start of my descent into Revalink Hell!

A Memory Scavenger Hunt by if_i_mae: A BotW AU/Canon divergence fic in which the Champions were placed in the Shrine of Resurrection with Link, and like him lost their memories. Great fic but sadly unfinished and the author seems to have dropped off the face of the internet. 247,332 words spread across 50 chapters, I binged the whole thing over three days! This is a Revalink fic that takes 30 chapters or so before getting to the Revalink. Also has Urbosa/Zelda's Mom in the flashbacks. So much Link angst and existential crisis. [Unfinished]

Pinesong by @ghirahimbo: Quite possibly the most popular Revalink fic. Follows BotW canon until it doesn't. I really liked the parts about Link training under Kass as a musician. 61,443 words across 8 chapters.

Swan Song by @coconi: Canon compliant BotW fic, Link travels to Rito Village hoping to quickly return the Great Eagle Bow and say his goodbyes to Revali, Vah Medoh has other plans... This fic almost made me cry! 4,923 words.

How dare you trick me into dating you, and how dare you make me okay with it- Revali, probably by @geryuthespacesquid: A fun short College/Modern AU that actually keeps the Rito as birbs (hard agree with the author's tag: "have giant birds roam the streets you cowards"). Revali flies out of the dorm he shares with Teba to avoid Saki and spends the night at Link's, shenanigans ensue. 2,662 words.

A Bird of Prey by Metatextual: The Yiga disarm Revali, unfortunately for them he's a 5ft tall raptor and his bow just makes dispatching enemies cleaner. Graphic depictions of violence, blood, 777 words.

Let You Wash Over Me by @coconi: Twilight Princess fic, Link has a nightmare and Midna comforts him. 1,400 words.

Pale White Moon in a Navy Blue Sky by @geryuthespacesquid: BotW fic where Revali gets resurrected after the events of BotW with no memories and a different appearance. 16,083 words, 7 chapters. [Unfinished]

Accelerando by @ginneke: Inspired by @acetier's Revalink fanart. Revalink in which Revali and Link share moments as Link uses Revali's Gale. 1,129 words.

Temporary cure for pride and affectation by @unmaskedcardinal: Revali is injured on the battlefield and saved by Link. Also known as the Revalink barf fic (based on the info that parrots will vomit on their owners as a sign they like them). 923 words.

Emergency Contact by @unmaskedcardinal: Part of a collaboration with DeathByStorm called The Agency (which I'll be linking to later...). Set in a 90's-ish AU of BotW, Harth is called to the hospital after being called because he's Teba's emergency contact. 1,642 words.

The Boyfriend Technicality by @unmaskedcardinal: Also part of The Agency, but set before the events of the main fic. Gesane has been staying with Guy while on leave, but surely that doesn't mean they're boyfriends? 1,932 words.

AO3 M (Mature) Fics

Revali and Link's Asinine Adventure by Eridan_Writes: Another Champions Possessed fic, Revali wakes up in Rito Village's inn most confused, having lost to Windblight and being absorbed by the thing, he decides to travel with Link as he goes to free the other Champions (mostly to make sure he stays on task.) Oh, and he's got a broken wing. 54,398 words, 7 chapters. Interestingly there's a scene that predicted a mechanic in TotK. I also enjoyed the dynamic between Revali and Urbosa in the flashbacks. [Unfinished]

Rito Chronicles (AU) by @unmaskedcardinal: An excellent series of fics focusing on the Rito! Every NPC from BotW gets their chance to shine! Must read if you're a fan of the birbs! Most of the series takes place during the events of BotW, with Age of Intolerance (the big damn Kass fic) mostly set before BotW, and The Flock pts. 1 & 2 set afterwards. Rating varies with fic but most of them are M, so far I've read the five long fics.

Uneasy Lies the Chosen of Farore (revised) by @drsteggy: Original Game fic, a 42 year old Link is on his way to retirement when he suddenly draws the Master Sword. Reluctant hero, rejecting the call, angst, existential crisis, PTSD, jerkass father, horse facts, action! 103,970 words spread across 45 chapters. There are smut scenes in this fic but they can be skipped.

Honorable Mentions

So I haven't finished these but I've seen enough to be comfortable making recommendations.

When Love Awaits by ShanoaWarrior: (AO3 Link) A Final Fantasy Tactics fic following Alma Beouvle at Riovanes Castle after she was kidnapped. Alma/Izlude fic. I read 4 chapters of it and it was getting good but Final Fantasy VII Rebirth distracted me and I haven't gotten back to it. Playing the FFT remaster should put me in the mood to read it... 31,118 words across 11 chapters.

Reuniting as Champions by @axidentshappen: (Tumblr link) A Revalink comic set during the pre-Calamity events of BotW. I've seen a few pages that are really good and need to make myself sit down and read the whole thing. Love the art style!

Familiar Familiar by @proxycrit: (Tumblr link) A TotK rewrite comic in which Zelda is not sent back in time and Link and Zelda travel Hyrule together. Only seen a few panels but I am intrigued.

I'm going to do some smutty fics now so if you're not into that you can stop reading now.

AO3 E (Explicit) Rated Fics (Mind the tags in the fics!)

The Agency by @unmaskedcardinal and DeathByStorm: Teba, recently divorced and discharged from the military needs a job. He gets an offer from Urbosa that sounds too good to be true. He really should have read the fine print... A 90's-ish AU in which Teba works as an escort for famed Rito tech CEO Revali. Come for the Tebali smut, stay for the incredible worldbuilding! Or vice versa! (Pun intended. >:3) 66,700 words across 13 chapters.

Preen Oil by @unmaskedcardinal: Part of The Agency but set after the events of the main fic. Teba and Revali have an argument about personal hygiene and fuck about it. 4,762 words.

Rito Chronicles Smut by @unmaskedcardinal: Smutty oneshots that fit into Rito Chronicles, often offering alternate POV's of events within the main fics. So far I've only read Ariane/Gesane: Foreign Territory, Reunion, and Stifled | Chase Away the Darkness (Saki/Teba) | Harth/Saki/Teba: Three to Mend, The View from Above | (Harth/Saki) To Speak Aloud | (Harth/Teba) The Nights to Come | (Guy/Rito OC, M/M) Lost in the Green. These fics are hot, but also tend to have some sweetness in them.

Revalink Heat by @unmaskedcardinal: Three Revalink Smut fics, in which Revali is in the middle of his heat cycle and Link offers to help.

Remember Me, My Love by Perversions: Final Fantasy IX smut Freya Crescent/Fratley, set after the events of the game. 2,935 words.

I never said I didn't love you (you just assumed so) by Morning_Glory_Skye: Kass/Teba smut that's part of a series. 2,347 words.

Love is to share (mine is for you) by Morning_Glory_Skye: Continuation of the previous one, now with Kass/Teba/Zora OC (M/M/M) smut. 3,038 words.

Swords are meant to be wielded (here, use mine) by Morning_Glory_Skye: Revali/Sidon/Link threesome, in which Revali and Sidon were already a thing and got tired of Link watching and not admitting he wanted to join in. 3,001 words. These are all part of a fic series I'm going to have to check out at some point.

The Face Behind the Champion by cappycino: Tebali smut. 1,806 words.

A Warrior's Obligation by DeathByStorm and @unmaskedcardinal: Age of Calamity Tebali smut, in which Teba's time travel triggers his heat cycle and Revali helps him out. 4,998 words.

Embodiment by toushindai: Mineru finds a schematic for a sex machine and tests it out. 1,395 words.

That body, and this one by toushindai: Mineru decides to explore her body while inhabiting her construct. 1,302 words.

[tnc-n3cl]

I know Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment just came out but I'mma ramble about what I think they should do next.

Hyrule Warriors 2

You see the first Hyrule Warriors was an over the top, fan-servicey, completely bonkers love letter to The Legend of Zelda franchise as a whole and I think it's about time to do that again.

What's the story? Who cares! The first one was about a lady simping for Link so hard that she split into two people and broke the timeline. So, IDK this time the villain is simping for Ganondorf. Or for a diversity win: evil lesbian brakes the timeline simping for a princess that's the mortal incarnation of a goddess (Zelda). Or perhaps do a more serious take and have Null from Echoes of Wisdom breaking the timeline as part of his goal to end reality.

The important part here is gameplay...

AoC/AoI inspired gameplay: The OG HW is fun, but good gods do they run you ragged... "Link, West Stone Keep is about to fall!" "East Stone Keep is under attack!" "Sheik needs immediate aid!" "Hylian Captain needs immediate aid!" "Hylian Captain has fallen! Morale of troops lowered! Troops defecting!" I'd rather not do that shit again...

At least one (1) character from each Zelda game is playable, preferably more: Basically OG HW's roster but now with EoW/Botw/TotK/AoC/AoI characters thrown in. Hell throw in some Cadence of Hyrule characters in for shits and giggles! Go back and get some more characters from the older games! Let me make a team of Kass, Medli, Hestu, and Makar and kill the enemies with the power of music! Bring in Minish Cap Link and have Ezlo do the talking for him the way Proxi did for HW Link! Midna's Sync Strike or whatever AoI calls the combo moves with ANY Link is to turn him into a wolf. (Toon Wolf Link! Better yet, Link's Awakening Remake/EoW style chibi-Wolf Link!) Oh that's too many characters! No such fucking thing! Give every single Zelda fan the chance to play as their most favoritest blorbo! Throw every freaking Zelda character into the game! If somebody wants to kick monster ass as Unnamed River Zora NPC#3 from EoW let them!

Roster thoughts: Should it be the same Link, Impa, and Zelda from OG HW or new ones? Hmm... I do love HW Impa's BFS... I NEED playable Kass bring him back Nintendo, please!!!! Can you imagine Revali and Midna messing with each other? Revali and Ezlo sassing each other and blanketing Hyrule in salt? Yes please! Minish Cap Link's special attack could be to use the Four Sword to split into 4 Links to wail on a target. Rauru, Mineru, Sonia from TotK. Preferably all four Champions but I've at least gotta have Revali cause...

Bring back the character intro scenes and victory animations: ...Revali's would be cool. Yeah they'd get old fast probably but still I miss them. Also bring back the dramatic treasure chest opening sequences. I wanna see Revali open a chest to the old school big chest opening music. Tulin could just IDK climb in that chest and pop up holding the piece of heart or whatever...

More missions that let you have a full 4 person team: Let me kick monster ass with Revali, Teba, Tulin, and Raphica. BIRD UP!

Fully realized Villain Campaign: OG HW gave us both Cia and Ganondorf's story so a HW2 should do the same with it's villian(s). Can you imagine the interactions between Kohga, Ghirahim, and Zant? Them all arguing over who's Gannondorf's favorite/competing for his attention. You think Ganondorf would get sick of their shit or think it's the funniest thing ever?

Playable Villain Roster: Yuga (ALBW), Agahnim (ALTTP), Kohga, Ghirahim, Zant, Vaati, Veran (Oracle of Ages), Onox (Oracle of Seasons, he could bond with Volga over dragon stuff), Byrne (Spirit Tracks), Null as a bonus unlockable character after beating the game like Calamity Ganon in AoC (Switches between Echo Link/Echo Ganondorf/Echo Zelda for basic controls, true form for special attack).

Bring back the Adventure Mode: So OG HW had an extra thing called Adventure Mode where you moved across an 8-bit version of the maps from various Zelda games (complete with appropriate music from the games) and did different missions on each square basically looking for the final boss to beat the map. So yeah, bring that back but throw in BotW/TotK/EoW's map. Give me a ALttP map instead of a Zelda 1 hard mode map. Also bring back the fairy raising thing cause why the fuck not! Let us make smoothies for our faeries.

[tnc-n3cl]

Trying to finish up some things in FFXV before starting a New Game+ and one of those things is getting all of the recipes. A fair amount of them are just copies of meals served in the game's restaurants.

Ignis, the royal family's butler, is out here pirating meals from roadside diner franchises. He literally copies Eos' version of McDonald's fries. He would in fact download a dish.

(Of these the funniest is when he turns what looks like a slice chocolate cake with berries on top into a little miniature pie beery pastry thing, when everything else looks more or less like what the restaurant serves.)

[tnc-n3cl]

So I picked up Mina the Hollower it's fun but I have died so many times... I'm trying not to use the modifiers that make the game easier cause it disables the feats (achievements/challenges).

It's less Zelda and more Castlevania. It's got some Zelda whimsy and the top-down gameplay, but the mechanics are more Castlevania than Zelda. There's several primary weapon choices but opening cutscene and key art shows Mina with the whip/mace (at the beginning you can pick the mace, a pair of daggers, or a hammer). Then there's an assortment of Subweapons Sidearms that use Hearts Joules and finally various trinkets that provide different boosts.

Like Castlevania there's an Axe and Dagger sidearm. Although Mina's dagger is more useful since it behaves more like Castlevania's boomerang. You can even hit it with your main weapon to bounce it back towards the enemy.

The Axe generates a shockwave on impact (there's a feat for damaging four enemies with a single axe throw).

There's some rocks that skip of water and bounce off walls, like one of the subweapons in Symphony of the Night.

There's a bicycle subweapon.

There's a parasol subweapon that can be set down to deflect attacks or held to glide over pits (for about three tiles).

In the main town there's a couple characters named "Townspossum" and that made me chuckle. (Yes they're possums.) There's a giraffe in one house and her body is on the ground floor and her head is on the second floor.

[tnc-n3cl]

Assuming what I read about there being 999 Korok seeds in TotK is correct, then I have 5 Korok seeds left to find.

Which unfortunately means carefully and systematically scrolling the entire map for those last five seeds... (Cause this whole Korok hunting thing has been a very on/off random "oh let's do hebra today", "i haven't been to the geurdo desert in awhile", "let's go to eldin!")

Then I still have a hundred or so recipes to unlock...

[tnc-n3cl]

More HWAoI video rambles. Sholani and Ronza (new Gerudo) are using AoC Sidon's 'hit button and precise moment to enhance attack' gimmick. I do like that Ronza's attacks can summon sandstorms.

OMG Cadlan (one of the new Zoras) has an attack where he chucks water blades at enemies and it's basically the same animation as Zora Link's fin boomerangs from Majora's Mask!

I continue to yell at my screen over some of the decisions the person making these videos are making. (Most characters are well over the recommended level and the player keeps burning all their rupees training them. Not changing out allies before missions, especially when it would have been cheaper to level up the two Gerudo ladies from Lv 30 to 36 rather than the two Zora guys that were around Lv 20 something for that one mission that forces you to use the extra characters. Why are you selling all your monster extracts when you've got hundreds of monster parts you could sell instead? Why aren't you upgrading weapons? Why are you wasting Zonaite Steel with Seals on upgrades where those seals won't be transferred?)

*Sigh* I'm going to have to specifically look up videos of Pinnec and Vence gameplay or buy the game if I want to see them in action aren't I...

(Speaking of Vence, shout out to the Zelda Wiki's "See Also" Rito banner image (that can be seen at the bottom of this Pinnec article). I know the context but it still looks like Vence said something stupid and Raphica's giving him the stink eye over it.)

[tnc-n3cl]

Thinking about how in BotW/TotK you can straight up eat a meal/switch weapons/change clothes while paragliding or swimming or climbing, etc.

Now so far in my fic I've been more realistic about things. And while Link's probably only changed his outfit like three times over two fics, I got to thinking, what if when he gets Rauru's arm I just say Zonai magic lets him snap his fingers and change clothes/weapons instantly? IDK I think it might be funny...

(I've already written that his inventory is being handled by the Sheikah Slate. It just dematerializes his stuff and stores it, like a pattern buffer from Star Trek. [Probably partly inspired by other BotW fics, maybe inspired by the Elite Force Star Trek games, but seasons 3-5 of Discovery (which take place in the 32nd century, like 1,000 years after the first two seasons and like 800 years after the end of VOY) actually has personal pattern buffers to store stuff. And maybe personal replicators making their phasers.].)

[tnc-n3cl]

Rito Warfare Thoughts - Talon Archery

So I'm going to finally post these rambling thoughts I've had on the Rito! BotW introduced us to the idea that the Rito are master archers, and also made the Rito full birbs compared to their harpy-like Wind Waker appearance. Concept art for BotW shows Rito firing bows with their feets...

File:BotW Rito Male Concept Artwork.png

And while Teba does this as one of his moves in Age of Calamity, Revali does not, instead using his wings as hands. I have two issues with this idea that I'll go into detail about below, but first I'm going to go ahead and tag @critical-birb cause I'm interested in their thoughts on this.

Now the first issue is aiming. The way Teba fires in Age of Calamity and the way its depicted in the linked image makes me think they'd have a hard time aiming. Or at least aiming down the arrow as is typically depicted in media. I vaguely remember hearing something somewhere that there are other archery techniques that involve focusing more on your target than trying to aim down the arrow, so maybe Rito could do that. (I also they'd they'd probably wreck their hips or not be able to draw the bow back far enough with their short penguin legs but maybe I'm wrong.)

This could also be addressed by simply having the Rito orient themselves in a different way, which a couple of very talented artists have done already! @asurth with Teba and @luchaaa with Revali. (I'd post direct links but I don't know how the artists would feel about me using their art to make a point on a headcanon rambley post...) (BTW, You should go check out their work when you're done reading this!)

You also have Tulin's method in TotK, gripping the bow in both talons and using the beak to fire the arrow.

File:TotK Tulin Artwork.png

The problem with this though is that he is smol and adult Ritos are looong. I doubt they'd be able to pull this off...

But the biggest issue is actually nocking arrows. Tulin is the ONLY Rito actually animated with a quiver in the games.

File:TotK Tulin Turnaround.png

The position of his quiver would easily allow him to reach back and pull an arrow with his beak, especially if Rito have super bendy birb necks. (Also look closely, he's attached feathers from his parents to his quiver!)

Now the concept art for Revali does have a quiver, from the angle it looks like it's attached to his waist in the same manner a sword would be, but that could be an optical illusion.

File:BotW Revali Concept Artwork.png

(Side note that for the Champion's Ballad DLC for BotW, Mazli is sent out to watch Dinraal and he has a bow but now quiver.)

Now obviously firing with your talons would allow a Rito to keep flying instead of the dropping and firing with your wings method. But where would you fit a quiver with talon firing. Their legs are pretty short and you'd want two points of connection for the quiver so it stays stable. Like if you attached it to their thigh and ankle they'd jab themselves in the vent You might could devise some way to hang it lower but then it would drag when they're walking on the ground.

After much thought I think I've finally figured it out. Modern snipers typically work in two person teams, a sniper and a spotter, with the sniper doing the sniping (obviously) and the spotter picking out secondary targets/looking out for trouble. (Or if you prefer a more period appropriate comparison knights and squires.)

In other words, Rito typically operate in two person teams. Let's say an older more experienced warrior would be the archer and an apprentice or novice would serve as the arrow-bearer.

The archer would either draw from the arrow-bearer's quiver or the arrow-bearer would pass arrows to the archer. When the arrow-bearer runs out, they switch, and the novice draws from the experienced warrior's quiver to fire.

Obviously Revali being a loner is why he mostly uses the wing firing method. (Also maybe the act of falling is what triggers the time slowing thing, and Revali's deliberately falling to take advantage of it.) And if they're on the ground they'd be using the wing firing method so the logical place for a quiver would be on their back, either positioned like Tulin's or Link's. Also I'd be willing to bet that BotW/TotK Link's quiver is a Rito design. I figure they've made some way to ensure arrows don't fall out when your flipping and turning in the air. (Side note the Zora probably have a similar set up for underwater archery.)

(This is mostly general Rito headcanon theorizing but it'll probably work its way into my fics at some point... More fic-specific RIto warfare tactic thoughts may get posted later.)