the depths au @the-depths-au - Tumblr Blog

a loz au by @bahbahhh surrounding an alternative “bad” ending for totk. heavy angst - story will contain mature themes, violence and blood. reader discretion is advised.

[don’t get lost]

prequel story - linktober 2023

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status: active -just slow

#navigation #the depths au #archive #loz au #totk #fancomic #fanfiction

improbablescience

Korok ask!

Would love a depths korok! Either one of the depth plants or inspecting a poe!

oh man, depths koroks sounds so fun that I'm definitely going to make more of these once I've go to take more screenshots and poke around the depths with this on mind, but here's a quick one based on the peacock trees!

thanks to @miadearden for the screenshot help last night when I wasn't near my switch!

< previous korok

#perfection

the-depths-au

Thank you for the 500 followers and for all the amazing support on the depths story! You guys voted for the hadestown lyrics…hope you enjoy! It’s been an amazing year and I can’t wait to continue to share this story with you all. Regular updates will resume again in February!

#reblogging in honor of Hadestown in theaters #I'm coming wait for meeeeee (fic updates resuming soon!)#the depths au #Hadestown #totk

hgedits

The Artemis II crew naming two previously undiscovered lunar craters (one after Commander Reid Wiseman's late wife).

#just inspiration #I promise I'm still working in this story

⭐Any depths lore would wonderfull ⭐

Ooo, well the biggest bit of lore I've got will spoil the story.

But! I'll expand upon some of what I've already dropped:

-The depths is warm. It's an in-between for many dead things/ spirits but the warmth implies the location itself is very much alive.

-frox is one of the only native species the depths. Other monsters/ beasts require malice or gloom to generate there.

-additionally, the Yiga wondering if frox were spirits (like the travelers statues on the surface) is not wildly off-base. In order to reside in the depths long-term, there needs to be a spiritual element to your existence. Frox consume poes for more than one reason.

-bright blooms can grow into lightroots.

-some surface plants can grow into depths soil as long as it's soil around one of Link's activated lightroots.

-the depths and surface of Hyrule are deeply connected. Significant changes in the depths will manifest on the surface and vice versa.

#the depths au #directors commentary #ask game

Alright madam, you've got a lot of explaining to do! j/k! The main theme of this story is dealing with and processing the grief of and coming to acceptance with a major loss. So it may be too early in the story for an answer to this because it may spoil or dampen the effect a future chapter might have, but what lesson or message do you hope to impart on readers who may be going through or have gone through a loss equal to the magnitude of Link losing Zelda?

Grief is associated with pain. And it is—it can be, staggeringly...unfathomably painful. Because of this, people will often do everything they can to avoid it. Why wouldn't you? Who wants to be in pain? They run from it, try to rush through it, numb it, minimize it. But no matter how we might try to work around grief, it always finds us. It will wait for us to finish whatever we are doing and it declare itself. A day later, a week, months—years.

I love this poem and this perspective. What an alternative...to look at grief not as ONLU pain, but evidence of enduring love. Andrew Garfield gave an interview after he lost his mother to cancer and he talked about grief being all the unexpressed love he has for his mother. And he told her he loved her everyday...and yet, he still has all of this love for her. It comes out in missing her, remembering her, feeling the absence of her in his life and measuring the impact so STILL has on it.

#the depths au #directors commentary #ask game

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ANY BIT YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT I AM SAT

I adore you, Grapie!

Hmmmmmmm.

The theme of being a "we" began back when we first met the Yiga, with them almost forcing the connection in order to try and convince Link to work together to escape the frox and help look for their horses. This is them thinking "we" would be an immediate comfort and shortcut a bond in such a dark, desolate place.

What they don't account for, can't account for,is what is revealed in chapter 14. It's a brief line, but "We" is an incredibly painfully concept for Link. Not only because of Zelda missing, but also because of his original life lost (the Champions, his family, his comrades) and also his memory of them. Secondhand, ghost-like bonds. It's part of why he struggles to accept the help of the sages in totk, part of why he rejects their ongoing support in this story. The universe won't even let him keep his THINGS when he tries to start over...all his belongings lost in the fall before the Upheaval. And now that's happened again in the depths with the frox. He feels he has been repeatedly punished for connection.

#the depths au #directors commentary #bad ending au

nomettesbizzareadventure

Fanfic Writers: Director’s Cut

Reblog this if you want readers to come into your ask box and ask for the “director’s commentary” on a particular story, section of a story, or set of lines.

Or, send in a ⭐star⭐ to have the author select a section they’ve been dying to talk about!

Because it's been a minute since this whole story began, here are the important things to remember/keep in mind (at this point) from earlier chapters:

-In this fic, Link was dead prior to being placed in the Shrine of Resurrection.

-He has a proven ability to communicate and serve the dead/spirits (botw- king, the champions, the dragons, Lord of the Mountain, koroks. totk- Rauru, sages, poes, soldier spirits in depths).

-The fact these poes/spirits/dead often give or show link things he needs.

-Per Tauro's research notes, there have been various temples and sages across time...separately, there appears to be limited Secret Stones.

-The Bargainer described the Temple of Shadow as a place that holds Hyrule's deepest secrets, and wicked history. Grand Poes are required to unlock the temple.

-Secret Stones amplify abilities an individual already has. Death is the only way for a Secret Stone to pass to another.

-The Silent Princess flowers appeared in the depths for Link after he lost track of the Light Dragon. He still has not seen the LD since he entered.

- Link and Impa's conversation end of chapter 1.

#the depths au #directors commentary #loz au #bad ending au #the depths #tears of the kingdom #loz fanfiction

Zelda never returns after the battle with the Demon King. Link is determined to bring her back, no matter what it takes or where it takes him. So when the Light Dragon starts to dive into the Depths, which have remained dark and uncharted since the Gloom faded away, he prepares to descend as well.

the depths

A post-totk “bad” ending au

Rated M: CW for mature themes, violence and blood.

beta reader on this chapter: @zeldaelmo

chapter 14

The blow knocks him back into a sanctuary of forest and stone.

The smooth faces of stubborn gray cobblestones peek through the dense moss carpeting the floor beneath his boots. They become more insistent toward the back of the space, forming a perfect ring around the squat, raised pedestal that waits for him.

Waits for them.

Read the rest on Ao3!

I found this old art in my drafts...this was the cover page for the comic. Figured I'd give it some love!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/54077320/chapters/196347086

#the depths au #loz au #bad ending au #tears of the kingdom #update #loz fanfiction

aiu-ita

Fanfic so good i had to draw some scenes

I finally had some free time (i didn’t but shhh) to finish the comic page i started for @the-depths-au !!!

Drawing comics is one of my fav things and I haven’t done it in a WHILE, so I’m actually super super happy this fic gave me some inspiration to grab the pencil jdjdjsjdjdj.

I also took the liberty to doodle some more stuff, drawing the yiga was so much fun as their body language is so exaggerate. And that one Sidon and Tulin’s interaction was so silly i just had to sketch it out.

If u see this and wonder “what the fuck is Link doing with a yiga clan member” you should go check the author of the fic @bahbahhh ! I had such a good time reading their work and i’m so excited to see how it continues ^^.

Now i have to go to war (uni finals) but don’t forget me i WILL be back 🫡🫡🫡

#AMAZING #THEIR EXPRESSIONS #THIS SCENE!#and more???#that tulin and Sidon exchange is my favorite. I was so back and forth about including it but this confirms good call #THANK YOU SO MUCH #I'm so touched (:

I’m doing my second BOTW-TOTK playthrough so i ofc had to open Ao3 and OMG, i went searching for bronze and I found gold with your fic, I’m obsessed, absolute cinema.

I haven’t drawn a comic in a WHILE but the scenes with the yiga are so hilarious i just had to. I got a lil confused with Link’s arm bc in all the art i’ve seen of the AU his sheikah arm is the right one but in the latest chapter of the fic he’s using his right arm since the sheikah arm died OR i just read it wrong as english is not my first language (and if i messed up with something else pls let me know i’m all ears) … ANYWAY i’m here to offer a little WIP, will definitely post it properly once it’s ready but that may take a little since uni is kicking me on the floor 🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡

Thank you for feeding the fandom so well!! Take your time and drink lots of water :DD

AHHHHHHH THIS IS AMAZING!!!! Im cackling at the "ah! He speaks!" panel And Link's loathing expression. Amazing!!

It should be his right arm that's missing. I just did a quick scan of the published fic to make sure I didn't mix them up (which is very possible!) and I don't see anything. You might be confusing the memory passage in which Zelda tells Link he's bad at protecting his left side (which is meant to explain why his leathers only have armor on that side) with a dash of irony because that's the arm he's left with and the "traditional" arm of the past heroes.

#the depths au #fanart #I'm OBSESSED ALREADY!

Because I'm me, I gave the soldiers in Link's memory all back stories while sketching them. This is why I'm so slow.

Debs: Would have been the first female Royal Guard in 50 years but refused the promotion bc she didn't want to leave her unit. Mentor for Link and the other soldiers in their group. She was the last soldier standing in Castle Town after the Calamity's attack. Struck down by a guardian trying to hold ground for Zelda and the Champions whom they were all told were coming to help.

Root: Trained with the Zora in his youth where he met Link. Wicked with a spear. At the military training grounds during the Calamity's attack, watched the castle go up in smoke and flame surrounded by the young recruits he was instructing. He was struck down by a lynel among a wave of monsters that invaded the camp.

Quint: Born in Lurelin, always wanted a life at sea. His mother had a horrific dream he drowned and begged him to pursue another path. He went as far inland as he could to central Hyrule and became a soldier. Promoted to Royal Guard right before Hyrule fell. Mother so proud. Often stuck up for Link if anyone uttered a negative thing behind his back. Drowned in malice that flooded one of the gatehouses during the Calamity.

Kit: Son of a soldier who fought alongside Link's father. Their paths and skill sets were very similar. He was trained to be Link's "backup" for Zelda's protection at least when she was in the castle and if Link needed rest or was required by the King to complete a task that pulled him from her side. At the time of the Calamity's attack, he was with the King. Blown to pieces as the Calamity surged through the castle.

#the depths au #directors commentary