fatefulfaerie's fairy tales

My presence on Tumblr has been very different from how it was say two years ago. After I was harassed on Twitch and Discord by males sometimes double my age and stalked in-person, (in a way that gives me still-present PTSD) I deleted my original discord server and took time away to heal. This was in 2022, but since then I never was able to get back into the Tumblr community the way I was. I could have tried harder, but between grad school and keeping up with my mental health, it was no longer a priority. It makes me sad, but I don’t think I can ever get back to the momentum I had here. It sounds like I’m feeling sorry for myself but honestly, I no longer am dependent on numbers and likes and followers for my self-worth. I haven’t been for a while. That’s a big thing for me.

I still write. In fact, I graduate with an MFA in Creative writing in May 2024. I’m happily engaged to someone I love very much and am making plans to move to Canada so we can start our life together. I am happy and healthy the way things are.

I love the Zelda series. I love writing. I have ideas for fanfics, trust me, I have ideas. I’m not saying I won’t write and post fanfiction here anymore. It will just be more sporadic, thus I encourage you to not expect much from me, and you can unfollow me with no hard feelings.

I am very proud of where this community has gone and my small part in its growth. You are all such wonderful people and I know you will all do great things. I’m sure you are doing great things. I don’t even remember the last work I read that wasn’t mine. Wow have I stepped out of touch.

For the requests that were made over a year ago now - I am genuinely sorry. I’ll do them someday, and that’s a promise.

Chapters: 16/32

Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom

Rating: General Audiences

Relationship:

Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)

Characters:

Zelda (Legend of Zelda)

Link (Legend of Zelda)

Yiga Clan (Legend of Zelda)

Hyrulean Soldiers

Original Legend of Zelda Character(s)

Purah (Legend of Zelda)

Sidon (Legend of Zelda)

Yunobo (Legend of Zelda)

Hoz (Legend of Zelda)

Great Deku Tree (Legend of Zelda)

Ganondorf (Legend of Zelda)

Rauru (Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom)

Josha (Legend of Zelda)

Penn (Legend Of Zelda)

Riju (Legend of Zelda)

Buliara (Legend of Zelda)

Tulin (Legend of Zelda)

Summary: When a growing illness breaks out at Lookout Landing, Zelda's plans for a calm life in Hateno are derailed. As looming threats build upon each other in the very center of Hyrule, certain mysteries must be uncovered in order to bring the kingdom to a true peace.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/84561441?view_full_work=true

Chapters: 8/?

Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)

Characters: Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Link (Legend of Zelda), Yiga Clan (Legend of Zelda), Hyrulean Soldiers, Original Legend of Zelda Character(s), Purah (Legend of Zelda), Sidon (Legend of Zelda), Yunobo (Legend of Zelda), Hoz (Legend of Zelda), Great Deku Tree (Legend of Zelda), Ganondorf (Legend of Zelda)

Summary: When a growing illness breaks out at Lookout Landing, Zelda's plans for a calm life in Hateno are derailed. As looming threats build upon each other in the very center of Hyrule, certain mysteries must be uncovered in order to bring the kingdom to a true peace.

Diary Entry #8

I tried to keep it under wraps as much as possible, but today Queen Sonia asked me directly of the nature of my relationship with the swordsman I mentioned. I admitted everything, my feelings before the calamity, after the calamity, our times at Hateno, our touch-and-go courtship as we evaded the relentless Yiga, and then our wedding in secret at Martha’s Bay. When she asked why I didn’t mention it before, I talked about my father. He would have seen such things as trivial, and a waste of time and energy. Considering I am to start training with Sonia, such fraught emotions surely had no place in such serious circumstances. If I’m to go home using my powers or even something else Mineru suggests, surely my time is better spent not pining after Link.

But Sonia smiled. “Don’t you see?” She said. “Your father thought your power would unlock by pushing away what you feel and proving your undying loyalty to the goddess. He didn’t know that you had to instead be true to your emotions.”

She went on to explain that she thinks my powers are actually very relevant to my feelings for Link. She was glad I told her, and assured me that I don’t need to prove anything to her or Rauru. What a comfort she is!

She asked one more question before she was called away to attend to her duties. She asked if I held anything against my father, and I said no. He was under a lot of pressure. I wish I had more time, any time really, to get to know him without the Calamity being something he dreaded. I know how worry changes people, and I never knew him without it. I believe the person Link encountered on the Great Plateau is what my father was really like. Sometimes I ask Link to tell me about it all over again. The things he said that went over Link’s head at the time were things I think he almost knew I would hear someday.

Diary Entry #7

Today was so embarrassing.

I was at a banquet with all of the court members when one of the younger noblemen came up and asked if I was “intended”. I cannot believe the dots didn’t connect in my mind. What else could he have meant?

Regardless, in the moment, I heard myself saying, “intended to what?”

He laughed with a blush and explained. Intended for marriage. In my hesitation I met eyes with Sonia, who was out of earshot but noticed my discomfort.

“I’m...”

The other night I left Link out of my personal history on purpose. I didn’t want my training with Sonia to turn into my experiences with my father. I was afraid of her criticizing my emotions, my instincts, my distractions.

“I’m not available.”

I said it quieter and I don’t think Sonia heard me. In fact, I probably would have gotten away with it if she didn’t come up to me a few minutes later saying, “he seems nice.”

I politely excused myself from the event all together.

Diary Entry #6

I just woke up from a nightmare.

In it, my mind played replayed what happened before I was transported here to the past. In it, Link jumps after me just like before. Only this time, instead of getting caught by that mysterious hand, he just continues to fall, a complete free fall to the depths below, nothing to grab onto, nothing to break his fall, no paraglider. He kept falling, reaching for me.

As he fell, things started to appear, tree branches, beds, bodies of water, things he could break his momentum with. He called my name again, and was so focused on trying to see if I was there in the dark, depths below that he didn’t seem to notice anything that could have saved him. 

Diary Entry #5

In Zonai culture, I’ve discovered that each and every stroke painted upon their bodies is significant. I still have much more research to do on the subject, but the most pertinent thing I learned was that no one ever paints themselves.

Today I was seen by a shaman who entered the room without a word, studied me in my entirety for an indeterminate amount of time, before painting two small white tears below each of my eyes and leaving in silence. 

At the time, I didn’t try initiate conversation, thinking perhaps he was like Link when we had first met, and preferred not to talk. 

Later, when I asked Sonia what had happened, she explained that the shaman was a servant of the Goddess Hylia. With her guidance, he knew how to express the inside onto the outside, and that it is from him that the marks of everyone in the kingdom come from.

Since getting here, I wonder what the marks mean about me. Perhaps he saw the sadness in my eyes, the displacement I held upon my shoulders, the way my cheek yearned for the touch of my lover, the way my ears reached for answers, for solutions, for reasons.

I should be grateful for the opportunity to research so closely such an unknown part of the history of Hyrule, but I must admit, I can’t stop wanting to go home.

Sonia tells me that Mineru will be able to meet with me soon. Perhaps she will have a way for me to return home! I’d also like to ask her about getting the Purah Pad working again.

Diary Entry #4

I’ve been thinking about the fact that I’m in the past, maybe even overthinking it. 

Tonight, I dined with King Rauru and Queen Sonia. Since it was so formal, Queen Sonia and I went on a nighttime stroll afterwards. I told her about how Urbosa and I used to do the same thing, and the rest of my past kind of spilled out from there. I could tell Queen Sonia was listening intently to me explaining the loss of the champions, but before I finished completely, a thought occurred to me.

What if me being here is for a reason? What if I can fix all of that?

Sonia stopped her stride and took me by the shoulders and said the following:

“What I’ve learned about time is to stay in my own perview. There are some things we are meant to change and some things that are better remaining untouched. If something feels like a massive undertaking to rewrite, it is best left undisturbed.”

I nodded. She was right. If I am here for a purpose, whatever I do shouldn’t feel wrong, shouldn’t feel like I’m reinventing the wheel, so to speak. 

“Time is about flow,” she continued, “It ebbs, and you must breathe with it.”

Diary Entry #3

I explored a tad around the castle and met such interesting characters!

The first interaction I had was with a woman who mistook me for someone else. She apologized profusely when I ended up not being her friend, but we struck up a conversation regardless. She was tall and slender and wore a tight, blue bodice that flared out off-kilter. Her loose, white pants matched the cuffs on her shoulder-revealing sleeves and her shoes reminded me of the ones I used to wear as a princess, royal blue and gold. When I told her that I used to have shoes like that, she excitedly gave me a riddle:

I can only walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. If not, my feet burn and scald. I cannot see myself in mirrors but my eyes have fantastic vision. I starve, but cannot seem to eat the food I catch. What am I?

After some thought, I told her I didn’t know. She said that I will. Perhaps by writing it down here, I’ll get it someday!

The next person I ran into was a salesman, trying to get me to spend money on this game he had set up. He wore thick, brown clothes with black boots and a red tapestry draped over his shoulder, gold accents lining his garb. I told him I had no money, but I wanted to know what the game was. He seemed excited nonetheless, a said it was a game of strength and endurance. Zonai mechanisms inside posed combat challenges, and if you lasted through three rounds, you would get a prize. I smiled softly, thinking of how Link would win, but wouldn’t care for the prize. The salesman then told me that he has to keep changing the prize, that his customers continue to be dissatisfied. He told them that that’s how the game works, but they didn’t listen. I suggested no longer humoring them, and I went on my way.

The last person I encountered before I decided to head back dressed light, and seemed to be coming back from an adventure on horseback. The garment that hung around his chest depended on his necklace and didn’t reach his waist. It silently flaunted his abdominal muscles without boasting them. As I approached, he had begin to nurse an injury to his horse’s left hind leg. I asked him what happened, and he lamented pushing the poor girl too hard. I told him I had a friend who was really good with horses and he jumped at the idea, wanting me to fetch him immediately. Oh how I wish I could. After I had stammered through a reason why I couldn’t, I nursed the wound as well as I could, remembering Link’s teachings. While I did, me and the man talked about where he had gone, that he had just returned from an adventure attempting the find the highest peak in Hyrule. When I asked him why, he said, “why not?”

Diary Entry #2

Queen Sonia has just departed the chambers in which I was so graciously given, for the time being at least. The kindness I have received has been so overwhelming that I just don’t know how to repay it. It has been less than twenty-four hours and I already feel indebted to them. 

Queen Sonia’s morning visit had come with breakfast - a warm, fulfilling meal of pork and eggs with a side of fruits quite foreign to me - and a change of clothes. 

Queen Sonia’s attendants fitted me in the royal garb of this time period. I can already tell that this is (thankfully) a time before corsets, the off-white dress I was given far more freeing to move in. Layered beneath the hem of the dress is a comforting shade of deep, dark green, the same fabric used for the tapestry secured via the top of the dress. It is quite warm here, it likely also being the summer months, so I am grateful for the lack of sleeves.

My “secret stone” had been fitted into a beaded necklace, with stones similar to the ones connected to the narrow tapestry. I was also given earrings and a small Zonai diadem. At the time, I breathed to hesitate, but as nice as Sonia was, I didn’t feel it appropriate to innundate her with all of my experiences surrounding the crown that came with my bloodline. I took it all without a word, and thanked her. My travel clothes had been getting quite in need of a wash!

She told me to let myself rest and adjust, and that she’d see about getting me an audience with Mineru. There seemed to be something she wasn’t saying, something weighing on her mind, but I didn’t press it. She encouraged me to explore the castle and the town as I saw fit. She made sure I knew I was anything but a prisoner, and I assured her that I knew. She left with an apologetic look, like she wished she could stay and spend more time, but had other duties to attend to. It is a phenomenon I am familiar with. In fact, being in a castle like this again, though it has its own Zonai flair to it, is haunting and eerie.

Nonetheless, I imagine both Queen Sonia and King Rauru will be great companions as I attempt to reach home. Traveling back in time could have ended up much, much worse, and I have no choice but to be ever-so grateful.

Diary Entry #1 (Mirror)

Diary Entry #2 (Companion)

Diary Entry #3 (Zelda)

Diary Entry #4 (Night)

Diary Entry #5 (Sacred)

Diary Entry #6 (Horror)

Diary Entry #7 (Noble)

Diary Entry #8 (Tunic)

Diary Entry #9 (Secret)

Diary Entry #10 (Race)

Diary Entry #11 (Dance)

Diary Entry #12 (Favorite Game)

Diary Entry #13 (Link)

Diary Entry #14 (Fairy)

Diary Entry #15 (Sword)

Diary Entry #16 (Time)

Diary Entry #17 (Dragons)

Diary Entry #18 (Shopkeeper)

Diary Entry #19 (Reward)

Diary Entry #20 (Mask)

Diary Entry #21 (Spirit)

Diary Entry #22 (Favorite Character)

Diary Entry #23 (Element)

Diary Entry #24 (Deity)

Diary Entry #25 (Ganondorf)

Diary Entry #26 (Echo)

Diary Entry #27 (Rest)

Diary Entry #28 (Bones)

Diary Entry #29 (Deku)

Diary Entry #30 (Mount)

Diary Entry #1

I don’t even know where to begin. I always kept a diary because my mother used to. She said it helped her process things, the good, the bad, and the in-between. It’s done the same for me.

I’m in the past. Over ten thousand years in the past. Just writing it out sounds insane.

I’m tired, and I can see it in the mirror. I’ve been very well-taken care of and King Rauru and Queen Sonia are two of the nicest people I’ve ever met, but I feel quite overwhelmed nonetheless. The girl in the mirror looks like the one that exhausted herself praying before a goddess statue.

I’ll likely be able to process things better in the morning. I wish I could go to sleep only to discover that this is all a dream, but I know that I can only hope for the alternative: getting a good night’s sleep and resting my worries for now.

Perhaps tomorrow I’ll be able to find more positives in my current circumstance. If Purah were here, I know she’d say “Chin up, Princess.”

For Linktober 2024 I will be writing in full Zelda's Personal Diary during the time in which she was stuck in the distant past in Tears of the Kingdom. For this project, I am writing 31 entries, each of which will either be prompted by or include the word for each corresponding day.