Just a place for reblogs :))

If you have any new ideas for your botw-totk rewrite that you wanna chat about or even just thoughts regarding AoI, I'm open to listen. 😄

Hello!! Well I'm fine! Just desperately waiting for something to happen on Zelda's 40th anniversary :D

...Which is just a few days before my own birthday so I would really love a surprise, hehe 😇 but I'm also trying to keep my hopes low!

What about you? How is it going with your new job?

To be honest I'm focused on another comic project these days so I have almost entirely stopped working on my rewrite. But I've been feeling like going back to it lately! I especially miss working on my own version of Hyrule and thinking of the rebuilding effort, what to do with the NPCs, etc., it was so much fun ^^

I still haven't played AoC and I don't think I will :/ First I'd need to get a Switch 2 and it doesn't seem that interesting at the moment, and second... I just can't anymore with that story and anything TotK related haha.

Oh this street with the umbrellas sounds like a dreamy place! I’d love to see it!

Haha yes, it’s probably for the best that they changed the dialogue! Even though the original still cracks me up. I told you the French translation was a bit wild 😅

It is sad, that's the Child Timeline for you! I guess I wouldn’t love OoT as much as I do if I didn’t enjoy my share of tragedy 😇

Oh, is that so? I don’t remember these Gerudo who expressed discontent. I might have missed something!

A game focusing on the Gerudo would definitely be interesting!

Well, I understand your point of view, but is it really possible for them to stay themselves if they have to share their city with Hylians? Also the Gerudo can't have sons and raise them according to their culture, so there would constantly be new Hylian men arriving and needing to acclimate. They can never really mix and become one people, and that sounds really tricky to me.

I don't know. I guess this is a sensitive topic for me because I can't help but see a parallel with what's happening here in France with mass migration. It is not a positive change at all and I hate every aspect of it. I wouldn't want the Gerudo to feel like their home has been stolen from them too, and I think it could create tensions. But I'm probably being dramatic because of my own experience ^^

Of course this doesn't entirely apply to the Gerudo since we are talking about their fathers and husbands, etc., not complete strangers. But it's very telling to me that they've been keeping even their own families at a distance all this time, they must have a very good reason to do so… and to me it could be this.

Yes, San Juan was dream~! I really enjoyed it!

But the kind of wild obviously varies greatly from moment to moment.

This is true. Just something about a dash of tragedy to make a story even more compelling. Like adding a dash of salt to cookies to enhance the sweetness of the sugar.

Well, one of the “discontented” Gerudo was Malena (the Gerudo desperately seeking Molduga Guts in BotW & Gleeok Guts in TotK to make medicine for her ailing husband) & the other was Muava (the elderly woman who was sitting beside the Gerudo Town Goddess Statue in BotW).

But, again, I might've read too deeply into what those two Gerudo said. At the same time, it's also possible that it could be a result of a difference in translation. As for which specific lines cause me to not be quite so convinced of the Gerudo's contentment with how things are in Gerudo Town (though not necessarily with the fact that there's no men there) here they are in English - Muava: “Oh, the Goddess Statue has been here since long before I was even born. No one here really believes in that stuff anymore, though, so they tend to avoid stopping here. Kind of like they avoid me…”

Malena: “I thought I'd finally gotten out of this town... Never thought I'd have to come crawling back…”

Here's one more that does pertain a bit more to men - Yaido: “It would be a lot easier if there were voe somewhere nearby. Just… waiting for us to discover them.”

This is a fair observation. Though, I don't believe that I said the Gerudo would need to share their city, just that there should be a bit more leniency in regards to guests. Afterall, they allow a couple of Gorons in &, by all accounts, they are an entirely masculine-presenting race from what I know. Even one of said Gorons didn't seem to understand why he was allowed in.

No, I understand & don't begrudge you that at all. I'm probably being dramatic as well by keeping on, in fact. I think that the difference is that the situation in (what seems like) most of Europe today is that the immigration appears to be en masse & barely controlled. In what I'm suggesting, this wouldn't be an issue unless it were a literal invasion.

Possibly… I dunno. You could very well be right about the Gerudos’ original reasoning for the law. I guess that part of it is that it seems to come from a place of superstition rather than anything logical. To the point, in fact, that it's illegal to sell men's clothing in Gerudo Town…

I'm not sure, it simply feels… a bit off…

Haha yes, that comparison with the cookies is spot on! I do hope I can write a compelling story.

Ah I see, I remember these three! I didn't think of them in the context of men being allowed in the city, but they do express some form of discontent. Yaido is especially interesting, but it sounds like she would be happy with men simply living nearby.

Yeah I know that was not your original idea, but we were talking about an extreme and improbable situation where all the husbands would be staying during the day haha. Otherwise things would be fine if they only allowed a few selected men to enter, it's not that big of a deal. Though I would be careful about younger vai taking a liking to that and starting to advocate for more and more men to be allowed in the city, it could escalate.

I guess the two Gorons being allowed in BotW were meant as a joke since they are a bit of a... sexless race? Even though they present like males. It seems the Gerudo changed their mind in TotK anyway, since they are not letting Gorons in anymore.

Yes that's definitely the problem in Europe, it's crazy how far our countries have fallen. But again I'm only talking about this in the context of the Hylian husbands being allowed in town and not a few guests ^^

I'd say superstitions can be born from a very real ang logical need and help ensure things stay as they are. And who knows about the illegal male clothes store, maybe the Gerudo tried opening up their city to men before and didn't like the end result, and now their laws are even stricter.

Ah yes I remember trying to find a husband for Ardin too for my TotK rewrite! I was considering Kanny (a Hylian mushroom vendor found in Hebra in BotW, who happens to dislike the cold and becomes a Cece fan in TotK), or maybe Maypin (a traveling bug merchant found in the Canyon) but it feels a bit more random. Most of the other men found around Gerudo Town feel a bit like creeps haha.

(I keep forgetting to add these to minimize on space, but not this time!)

In all honesty, the 1st two might not have anything to do with the lack of men. They could, in fact, be hinting at other issues. Potentially even issues unique to the Gerudo culture as a whole. Regardless of what those issues are, though, they're big enough that an elderly woman feels ostracized by her people & a younger one considers returning to her own hometown seeking aid for her ailing husband to be “crawling back.” All that I know is that there's more going on in Gerudo Town (specifically, behind closed doors) than what the majority are letting on. And, in all honesty, that's one of the reasons why I think I've begun to find them so compelling. It's not some feminist dream society. There are innate problems with them that cause some degree of unrest amongst their own, just like any other society.

Either way, while I might've unintentionally exaggerated a bit, I still like the idea of the Gerudo at least having family nearby.

I suppose so. And I agree in regards to the young Gerudo wanting to allow more men into the city. It's a very probable scenario to take place, but in this specific instance, I feel it's important for whoever's in charge to stand her ground.

Oh, I've no doubt that the Gorons being allowed in was probably a joke originally. The problem is that there are fans like me out there that read more deeply into things than is strictly necessary. XD

Though, I'm honestly not sure if the Gorons as a whole weren't allowed into Gerudo Town in TotK. All I know is that the Goron outside of town wanted to treat his friend to the services available in Gerudo Town, but because his friend was a man, the guards wouldn't allow him in & the Goron couldn't understand why. So, it's possible that Gorons were no longer allowed in or it could be that this specific Goron simply refused to enter without his friend. Both are possible.

I understand. It's awful, but I still believe that the situation in Europe can heal. It may never be the same, but I believe it can get better if people over there decide to take a que from Japan in this specific instance & I'll be praying for that.

I very much agree. Superstitions can very easily originate from places of logic. The problem comes when we forget the true reasoning behind them, though. Otherwise, they cease to be logical & become far easier to handwave. Then, it's only a matter of time before they're no longer followed & then people have to relearn those superstitions the hard way.

Oh, absolutely agreed. Far too many creepers.

Funnily enough, I'd been considering Agus, but it just didn't click for me. I feel like he'd need to be someone honest & maybe a bit serious. Someone who'd give Ardin a bit of a stern look when she starts telling tall tales to make a sale. Nothing cutting, just a dry look with an arched brow. The sort that would garner a sly grin & a stuck out tongue from her. Or at least that's the vibe I'm getting out of the situation for who I'd personally pair her with.

For my version of the AoC timeline, I'm having Ardin be essentially the same, except… How do I put it? … I suppose, less tired & more energetic. Just overall more happy. Still a little bit tired, but more so in a satisfied sort of way? As in, the sort of tired you get after working hard, yet being proud of the results. Also, she has a bit more actual knowledge regarding mushrooms than in canon due to the family business, but beyond that, she's mostly the same. Meanwhile, I'm thinking of having Gotter be more stressed as, here, he's put himself under a lot of pressure to live up to his great-great grandfather's culinary legacy. At the same time, he'll be determined to achieve his goal of one day exceeding his ancestor's success & becoming the next Royal Chef.

Thanks, I actually quite like Nintendo's decision to add the stables in the Wild games as it really does make logical sense to have them. So, I wanted to incorporate them & add a bit more depth to their existence. There's really just this... certain something to the concept. Not necessarily the same as the classic walking into a tavern at the beginning of an adventure, but it's no less atmospheric to come trotting up to a stable in the middle of the night, I think. Just in a different way. :)

I keep forgetting to add these too!

Sure, the Gerudo are by no means a perfect society. Though in the case of Muava I wonder if the original intention wasn’t for her to be referring to men not being interested in her anymore, since she also talks about this with Link. Can’t remember what she says in French, I’ll have to check. But if she truly is talking about the vai avoiding her, it sure is a bit concerning. She seems to be a pretty chill lady, not someone an entire town would have reasons to avoid. Could it be that older women who didn’t get married and had no children are frowned upon?

True, it’s up to the chieftain to stand her ground.

I don't remember the exact dialogue, I thought both the Goron and his friend were not allowed in this time. You might be right about this!

I hope the situation here can heal, and that we are not headed towards more and more violence. Yeah we really need to follow Japan's example, though our specific problem here is that we've already handed French citizenship to millions of immigrants when that should never have happened. But well, let’s not dwell on politics haha.

Oh I didn't remember that much detail about Ardin! That's interesting, I think that would be a great dynamic between her and her husband.

Yeah I really like the stables too, and it's interesting how the stablehands seem to have their own traditions that set them apart from other Hylians. I'd say though that it fits the game's atmosphere that they're so... open, but it's also a bit weird in a world that's supposed to be filled with dangerous monsters and wild animals haha. But they're cozy and quite unique, and a great addition to the world of Hyrule.

Well I haven't worked on my TotK rewrite in months, probably close to a year now. I was struggling a bit with the plot and also changed my theories regarding the timeline and stuff, which means a good part of what I had planned doesn't work anymore. Now I'm focusing on my OoT comic but I'd still like to return to my rewrite one day, though it's so much work I'm not sure I can do both. Maybe instead of a full blown comic I could just share ideas and sketches, I don't know. At least I really enjoyed thinking about the rebuilding effort and what to do with all these NPCs, so I'd like to work on that again at some point.

As for my OoT comic, I'd say it's going well! I still have a lot of things to figure out about the plot but I'm getting there. It's quite challenging to try filling all the gaps between OoT and TP, and I've also made a few choices that are not making things easier for me (though I do hope they make the story more interesting). I'm having fun though, and so far I'm happy with the parts of the script I've managed to write. Right now I’m trying to figure out how I should open the story.

And I just hope the rumored OoT remake won't make what I'm doing incompatible with canon haha.

Understandable. I had to go digging through dialogue to get the lines I showed you to begin with, so I understand.

You're right, that is very possible. I may've simply been associating that line with the line about Muava lamenting over not having found a husband younger in life. But, I will say that you hit on exactly the reasoning that my mind immediately went to: older vai who didn't get married & had no children being frowned upon. It isn't right, but that's exactly where my mind went when I read her dialogue. And the reason it did is because, from the perspective of the Gerudo as a people, it would make sense if that sort of stigma was something that naturally developed. Because, as a people, each Gerudo has to have at least 1 child if not 2 just to be safe. A Gerudo not having one would likely mean that the other Gerudo might feel as though they need to "pick up the slack" as it were. While this obviously wouldn't be the intent, logically speaking, people are naturally predisposed to think unfavorably about something they feel is causing their lives difficulty even if it isn't intended. Of course, I could be completely wrong.

That is tricky. Well, all we can do is the best we can & pray, so I'll take that seguay & change the subject! No more politics.

Thanks. For whatever reason, I like matching people up.

Hmm… You're right, but all that means is that the concept of stablehands needs to be modified a bit in this instance. Perhaps more old school shepard? Did you know that shepherds were badasses? Because they often had to fight off wolves on their own, so to protect their flock, they needed to know how to do so. Maybe that could work? To be a stablehand at one of the more far off stables, you need to be able to protect your lodgers? Or perhaps, you at least need to have people on staff who can?

I certainly wouldn't give up on it, but it's good to take a step back sometimes. Hopefully, you'll be able to come back to your TotK rewrite later, refreshed & with new ideas to propel the story forward.

Definitely a challenge, but also one of the most fulfilling parts of the process, I find. Finding ways to make canon fit with headcanon, including in terms of timeline, can be very fun.

I hope the same. Though, I also hope that the remake is more than just updated graphics.

Ah yes, opening the story. Always difficult. And funny you should ask! It's not going well! Just like you, I also am stuck on the opening for Nemma's story & it's getting on my last nerve! XD

It's so sad. I wish I had friends nearby to brainstorm with one-on-one more often. I feel like I make so much more headway when I'm able to talk about it.

I'd say the same reasoning also applies to women of other races, except they need to have at least two children each unlike the Gerudo. From that perspective a Hylian woman who didn't have children would be more of a burden to other women. But maybe the Gerudo simply value motherhood a lot more (and they really seem to make their travels in order to find a husband some sort of initiation rite). Maybe they aren't even supposed to return to Gerudo Town without having found a potential husband?

The stablehands could be trained in combat already, who knows! And we have an example of a stable with a guard (Hoz) with East Akkala Stable. Though it would still seem wiser to have walls haha.

Another thing that doesn't really make sense is the lack of adaptation to climate. Snowfield Stable has to be so cold!!

Yeah I hope I can return to my rewrite someday, though my interest isn't nearly as high now. And writing about OoT is a lot more important to me, so the comic takes priority ^^

It sure is fulfilling, and I want this story to feel as canon as possible! But what I love most is studying these characters and watching them interact. I especially enjoy writing about this doomed version of Zelink haha.

Well I'm torn between wanting new content and fearing that it's going to ruin the perfect balance that OoT is to me (especially seeing what most of the content from BotW and TotK was). I'd be really happy already with a gorgeous and modernized version of the game I could play on the Switch, instead of having to emulate the 3DS version with HD to textures to enjoy it on a bigger screen.

Writing the opening is difficult! I almost feel like I should wait for the story to be complete before I can decide how it should open, but not having a proper opening also makes it harder to write the rest haha. Also the story will be alternating between past and present since I need to explain what happened between OoT's ending and MM, and I'm still not sure how I'm going to handle that.

If you have any new ideas for your botw-totk rewrite that you wanna chat about or even just thoughts regarding AoI, I'm open to listen. 😄

Hello!! Well I'm fine! Just desperately waiting for something to happen on Zelda's 40th anniversary :D

...Which is just a few days before my own birthday so I would really love a surprise, hehe 😇 but I'm also trying to keep my hopes low!

What about you? How is it going with your new job?

To be honest I'm focused on another comic project these days so I have almost entirely stopped working on my rewrite. But I've been feeling like going back to it lately! I especially miss working on my own version of Hyrule and thinking of the rebuilding effort, what to do with the NPCs, etc., it was so much fun ^^

I still haven't played AoC and I don't think I will :/ First I'd need to get a Switch 2 and it doesn't seem that interesting at the moment, and second... I just can't anymore with that story and anything TotK related haha.

Oh this street with the umbrellas sounds like a dreamy place! I’d love to see it!

Haha yes, it’s probably for the best that they changed the dialogue! Even though the original still cracks me up. I told you the French translation was a bit wild 😅

It is sad, that's the Child Timeline for you! I guess I wouldn’t love OoT as much as I do if I didn’t enjoy my share of tragedy 😇

Oh, is that so? I don’t remember these Gerudo who expressed discontent. I might have missed something!

A game focusing on the Gerudo would definitely be interesting!

Well, I understand your point of view, but is it really possible for them to stay themselves if they have to share their city with Hylians? Also the Gerudo can't have sons and raise them according to their culture, so there would constantly be new Hylian men arriving and needing to acclimate. They can never really mix and become one people, and that sounds really tricky to me.

I don't know. I guess this is a sensitive topic for me because I can't help but see a parallel with what's happening here in France with mass migration. It is not a positive change at all and I hate every aspect of it. I wouldn't want the Gerudo to feel like their home has been stolen from them too, and I think it could create tensions. But I'm probably being dramatic because of my own experience ^^

Of course this doesn't entirely apply to the Gerudo since we are talking about their fathers and husbands, etc., not complete strangers. But it's very telling to me that they've been keeping even their own families at a distance all this time, they must have a very good reason to do so… and to me it could be this.

Yes, San Juan was dream~! I really enjoyed it!

But the kind of wild obviously varies greatly from moment to moment.

This is true. Just something about a dash of tragedy to make a story even more compelling. Like adding a dash of salt to cookies to enhance the sweetness of the sugar.

Well, one of the “discontented” Gerudo was Malena (the Gerudo desperately seeking Molduga Guts in BotW & Gleeok Guts in TotK to make medicine for her ailing husband) & the other was Muava (the elderly woman who was sitting beside the Gerudo Town Goddess Statue in BotW).

But, again, I might've read too deeply into what those two Gerudo said. At the same time, it's also possible that it could be a result of a difference in translation. As for which specific lines cause me to not be quite so convinced of the Gerudo's contentment with how things are in Gerudo Town (though not necessarily with the fact that there's no men there) here they are in English - Muava: “Oh, the Goddess Statue has been here since long before I was even born. No one here really believes in that stuff anymore, though, so they tend to avoid stopping here. Kind of like they avoid me…”

Malena: “I thought I'd finally gotten out of this town... Never thought I'd have to come crawling back…”

Here's one more that does pertain a bit more to men - Yaido: “It would be a lot easier if there were voe somewhere nearby. Just… waiting for us to discover them.”

This is a fair observation. Though, I don't believe that I said the Gerudo would need to share their city, just that there should be a bit more leniency in regards to guests. Afterall, they allow a couple of Gorons in &, by all accounts, they are an entirely masculine-presenting race from what I know. Even one of said Gorons didn't seem to understand why he was allowed in.

No, I understand & don't begrudge you that at all. I'm probably being dramatic as well by keeping on, in fact. I think that the difference is that the situation in (what seems like) most of Europe today is that the immigration appears to be en masse & barely controlled. In what I'm suggesting, this wouldn't be an issue unless it were a literal invasion.

Possibly… I dunno. You could very well be right about the Gerudos’ original reasoning for the law. I guess that part of it is that it seems to come from a place of superstition rather than anything logical. To the point, in fact, that it's illegal to sell men's clothing in Gerudo Town…

I'm not sure, it simply feels… a bit off…

Haha yes, that comparison with the cookies is spot on! I do hope I can write a compelling story.

Ah I see, I remember these three! I didn't think of them in the context of men being allowed in the city, but they do express some form of discontent. Yaido is especially interesting, but it sounds like she would be happy with men simply living nearby.

Yeah I know that was not your original idea, but we were talking about an extreme and improbable situation where all the husbands would be staying during the day haha. Otherwise things would be fine if they only allowed a few selected men to enter, it's not that big of a deal. Though I would be careful about younger vai taking a liking to that and starting to advocate for more and more men to be allowed in the city, it could escalate.

I guess the two Gorons being allowed in BotW were meant as a joke since they are a bit of a... sexless race? Even though they present like males. It seems the Gerudo changed their mind in TotK anyway, since they are not letting Gorons in anymore.

Yes that's definitely the problem in Europe, it's crazy how far our countries have fallen. But again I'm only talking about this in the context of the Hylian husbands being allowed in town and not a few guests ^^

I'd say superstitions can be born from a very real ang logical need and help ensure things stay as they are. And who knows about the illegal male clothes store, maybe the Gerudo tried opening up their city to men before and didn't like the end result, and now their laws are even stricter.

Ah yes I remember trying to find a husband for Ardin too for my TotK rewrite! I was considering Kanny (a Hylian mushroom vendor found in Hebra in BotW, who happens to dislike the cold and becomes a Cece fan in TotK), or maybe Maypin (a traveling bug merchant found in the Canyon) but it feels a bit more random. Most of the other men found around Gerudo Town feel a bit like creeps haha.

(I keep forgetting to add these to minimize on space, but not this time!)

In all honesty, the 1st two might not have anything to do with the lack of men. They could, in fact, be hinting at other issues. Potentially even issues unique to the Gerudo culture as a whole. Regardless of what those issues are, though, they're big enough that an elderly woman feels ostracized by her people & a younger one considers returning to her own hometown seeking aid for her ailing husband to be “crawling back.” All that I know is that there's more going on in Gerudo Town (specifically, behind closed doors) than what the majority are letting on. And, in all honesty, that's one of the reasons why I think I've begun to find them so compelling. It's not some feminist dream society. There are innate problems with them that cause some degree of unrest amongst their own, just like any other society.

Either way, while I might've unintentionally exaggerated a bit, I still like the idea of the Gerudo at least having family nearby.

I suppose so. And I agree in regards to the young Gerudo wanting to allow more men into the city. It's a very probable scenario to take place, but in this specific instance, I feel it's important for whoever's in charge to stand her ground.

Oh, I've no doubt that the Gorons being allowed in was probably a joke originally. The problem is that there are fans like me out there that read more deeply into things than is strictly necessary. XD

Though, I'm honestly not sure if the Gorons as a whole weren't allowed into Gerudo Town in TotK. All I know is that the Goron outside of town wanted to treat his friend to the services available in Gerudo Town, but because his friend was a man, the guards wouldn't allow him in & the Goron couldn't understand why. So, it's possible that Gorons were no longer allowed in or it could be that this specific Goron simply refused to enter without his friend. Both are possible.

I understand. It's awful, but I still believe that the situation in Europe can heal. It may never be the same, but I believe it can get better if people over there decide to take a que from Japan in this specific instance & I'll be praying for that.

I very much agree. Superstitions can very easily originate from places of logic. The problem comes when we forget the true reasoning behind them, though. Otherwise, they cease to be logical & become far easier to handwave. Then, it's only a matter of time before they're no longer followed & then people have to relearn those superstitions the hard way.

Oh, absolutely agreed. Far too many creepers.

Funnily enough, I'd been considering Agus, but it just didn't click for me. I feel like he'd need to be someone honest & maybe a bit serious. Someone who'd give Ardin a bit of a stern look when she starts telling tall tales to make a sale. Nothing cutting, just a dry look with an arched brow. The sort that would garner a sly grin & a stuck out tongue from her. Or at least that's the vibe I'm getting out of the situation for who I'd personally pair her with.

For my version of the AoC timeline, I'm having Ardin be essentially the same, except… How do I put it? … I suppose, less tired & more energetic. Just overall more happy. Still a little bit tired, but more so in a satisfied sort of way? As in, the sort of tired you get after working hard, yet being proud of the results. Also, she has a bit more actual knowledge regarding mushrooms than in canon due to the family business, but beyond that, she's mostly the same. Meanwhile, I'm thinking of having Gotter be more stressed as, here, he's put himself under a lot of pressure to live up to his great-great grandfather's culinary legacy. At the same time, he'll be determined to achieve his goal of one day exceeding his ancestor's success & becoming the next Royal Chef.

Thanks, I actually quite like Nintendo's decision to add the stables in the Wild games as it really does make logical sense to have them. So, I wanted to incorporate them & add a bit more depth to their existence. There's really just this... certain something to the concept. Not necessarily the same as the classic walking into a tavern at the beginning of an adventure, but it's no less atmospheric to come trotting up to a stable in the middle of the night, I think. Just in a different way. :)

I keep forgetting to add these too!

Sure, the Gerudo are by no means a perfect society. Though in the case of Muava I wonder if the original intention wasn’t for her to be referring to men not being interested in her anymore, since she also talks about this with Link. Can’t remember what she says in French, I’ll have to check. But if she truly is talking about the vai avoiding her, it sure is a bit concerning. She seems to be a pretty chill lady, not someone an entire town would have reasons to avoid. Could it be that older women who didn’t get married and had no children are frowned upon?

True, it’s up to the chieftain to stand her ground.

I don't remember the exact dialogue, I thought both the Goron and his friend were not allowed in this time. You might be right about this!

I hope the situation here can heal, and that we are not headed towards more and more violence. Yeah we really need to follow Japan's example, though our specific problem here is that we've already handed French citizenship to millions of immigrants when that should never have happened. But well, let’s not dwell on politics haha.

Oh I didn't remember that much detail about Ardin! That's interesting, I think that would be a great dynamic between her and her husband.

Yeah I really like the stables too, and it's interesting how the stablehands seem to have their own traditions that set them apart from other Hylians. I'd say though that it fits the game's atmosphere that they're so... open, but it's also a bit weird in a world that's supposed to be filled with dangerous monsters and wild animals haha. But they're cozy and quite unique, and a great addition to the world of Hyrule.

Well I haven't worked on my TotK rewrite in months, probably close to a year now. I was struggling a bit with the plot and also changed my theories regarding the timeline and stuff, which means a good part of what I had planned doesn't work anymore. Now I'm focusing on my OoT comic but I'd still like to return to my rewrite one day, though it's so much work I'm not sure I can do both. Maybe instead of a full blown comic I could just share ideas and sketches, I don't know. At least I really enjoyed thinking about the rebuilding effort and what to do with all these NPCs, so I'd like to work on that again at some point.

As for my OoT comic, I'd say it's going well! I still have a lot of things to figure out about the plot but I'm getting there. It's quite challenging to try filling all the gaps between OoT and TP, and I've also made a few choices that are not making things easier for me (though I do hope they make the story more interesting). I'm having fun though, and so far I'm happy with the parts of the script I've managed to write. Right now I’m trying to figure out how I should open the story.

And I just hope the rumored OoT remake won't make what I'm doing incompatible with canon haha.

If you have any new ideas for your botw-totk rewrite that you wanna chat about or even just thoughts regarding AoI, I'm open to listen. 😄

Hello!! Well I'm fine! Just desperately waiting for something to happen on Zelda's 40th anniversary :D

...Which is just a few days before my own birthday so I would really love a surprise, hehe 😇 but I'm also trying to keep my hopes low!

What about you? How is it going with your new job?

To be honest I'm focused on another comic project these days so I have almost entirely stopped working on my rewrite. But I've been feeling like going back to it lately! I especially miss working on my own version of Hyrule and thinking of the rebuilding effort, what to do with the NPCs, etc., it was so much fun ^^

I still haven't played AoC and I don't think I will :/ First I'd need to get a Switch 2 and it doesn't seem that interesting at the moment, and second... I just can't anymore with that story and anything TotK related haha.

Oh this street with the umbrellas sounds like a dreamy place! I’d love to see it!

Haha yes, it’s probably for the best that they changed the dialogue! Even though the original still cracks me up. I told you the French translation was a bit wild 😅

It is sad, that's the Child Timeline for you! I guess I wouldn’t love OoT as much as I do if I didn’t enjoy my share of tragedy 😇

Oh, is that so? I don’t remember these Gerudo who expressed discontent. I might have missed something!

A game focusing on the Gerudo would definitely be interesting!

Well, I understand your point of view, but is it really possible for them to stay themselves if they have to share their city with Hylians? Also the Gerudo can't have sons and raise them according to their culture, so there would constantly be new Hylian men arriving and needing to acclimate. They can never really mix and become one people, and that sounds really tricky to me.

I don't know. I guess this is a sensitive topic for me because I can't help but see a parallel with what's happening here in France with mass migration. It is not a positive change at all and I hate every aspect of it. I wouldn't want the Gerudo to feel like their home has been stolen from them too, and I think it could create tensions. But I'm probably being dramatic because of my own experience ^^

Of course this doesn't entirely apply to the Gerudo since we are talking about their fathers and husbands, etc., not complete strangers. But it's very telling to me that they've been keeping even their own families at a distance all this time, they must have a very good reason to do so… and to me it could be this.

Yes, San Juan was dream~! I really enjoyed it!

But the kind of wild obviously varies greatly from moment to moment.

This is true. Just something about a dash of tragedy to make a story even more compelling. Like adding a dash of salt to cookies to enhance the sweetness of the sugar.

Well, one of the “discontented” Gerudo was Malena (the Gerudo desperately seeking Molduga Guts in BotW & Gleeok Guts in TotK to make medicine for her ailing husband) & the other was Muava (the elderly woman who was sitting beside the Gerudo Town Goddess Statue in BotW).

But, again, I might've read too deeply into what those two Gerudo said. At the same time, it's also possible that it could be a result of a difference in translation. As for which specific lines cause me to not be quite so convinced of the Gerudo's contentment with how things are in Gerudo Town (though not necessarily with the fact that there's no men there) here they are in English - Muava: “Oh, the Goddess Statue has been here since long before I was even born. No one here really believes in that stuff anymore, though, so they tend to avoid stopping here. Kind of like they avoid me…”

Malena: “I thought I'd finally gotten out of this town... Never thought I'd have to come crawling back…”

Here's one more that does pertain a bit more to men - Yaido: “It would be a lot easier if there were voe somewhere nearby. Just… waiting for us to discover them.”

This is a fair observation. Though, I don't believe that I said the Gerudo would need to share their city, just that there should be a bit more leniency in regards to guests. Afterall, they allow a couple of Gorons in &, by all accounts, they are an entirely masculine-presenting race from what I know. Even one of said Gorons didn't seem to understand why he was allowed in.

No, I understand & don't begrudge you that at all. I'm probably being dramatic as well by keeping on, in fact. I think that the difference is that the situation in (what seems like) most of Europe today is that the immigration appears to be en masse & barely controlled. In what I'm suggesting, this wouldn't be an issue unless it were a literal invasion.

Possibly… I dunno. You could very well be right about the Gerudos’ original reasoning for the law. I guess that part of it is that it seems to come from a place of superstition rather than anything logical. To the point, in fact, that it's illegal to sell men's clothing in Gerudo Town…

I'm not sure, it simply feels… a bit off…

Haha yes, that comparison with the cookies is spot on! I do hope I can write a compelling story.

Ah I see, I remember these three! I didn't think of them in the context of men being allowed in the city, but they do express some form of discontent. Yaido is especially interesting, but it sounds like she would be happy with men simply living nearby.

Yeah I know that was not your original idea, but we were talking about an extreme and improbable situation where all the husbands would be staying during the day haha. Otherwise things would be fine if they only allowed a few selected men to enter, it's not that big of a deal. Though I would be careful about younger vai taking a liking to that and starting to advocate for more and more men to be allowed in the city, it could escalate.

I guess the two Gorons being allowed in BotW were meant as a joke since they are a bit of a... sexless race? Even though they present like males. It seems the Gerudo changed their mind in TotK anyway, since they are not letting Gorons in anymore.

Yes that's definitely the problem in Europe, it's crazy how far our countries have fallen. But again I'm only talking about this in the context of the Hylian husbands being allowed in town and not a few guests ^^

I'd say superstitions can be born from a very real ang logical need and help ensure things stay as they are. And who knows about the illegal male clothes store, maybe the Gerudo tried opening up their city to men before and didn't like the end result, and now their laws are even stricter.

Ah yes I remember trying to find a husband for Ardin too for my TotK rewrite! I was considering Kanny (a Hylian mushroom vendor found in Hebra in BotW, who happens to dislike the cold and becomes a Cece fan in TotK), or maybe Maypin (a traveling bug merchant found in the Canyon) but it feels a bit more random. Most of the other men found around Gerudo Town feel a bit like creeps haha.

If you have any new ideas for your botw-totk rewrite that you wanna chat about or even just thoughts regarding AoI, I'm open to listen. 😄

Hello!! Well I'm fine! Just desperately waiting for something to happen on Zelda's 40th anniversary :D

...Which is just a few days before my own birthday so I would really love a surprise, hehe 😇 but I'm also trying to keep my hopes low!

What about you? How is it going with your new job?

To be honest I'm focused on another comic project these days so I have almost entirely stopped working on my rewrite. But I've been feeling like going back to it lately! I especially miss working on my own version of Hyrule and thinking of the rebuilding effort, what to do with the NPCs, etc., it was so much fun ^^

I still haven't played AoC and I don't think I will :/ First I'd need to get a Switch 2 and it doesn't seem that interesting at the moment, and second... I just can't anymore with that story and anything TotK related haha.

Oh this street with the umbrellas sounds like a dreamy place! I’d love to see it!

Haha yes, it’s probably for the best that they changed the dialogue! Even though the original still cracks me up. I told you the French translation was a bit wild 😅

It is sad, that's the Child Timeline for you! I guess I wouldn’t love OoT as much as I do if I didn’t enjoy my share of tragedy 😇

Oh, is that so? I don’t remember these Gerudo who expressed discontent. I might have missed something!

A game focusing on the Gerudo would definitely be interesting!

Well, I understand your point of view, but is it really possible for them to stay themselves if they have to share their city with Hylians? Also the Gerudo can't have sons and raise them according to their culture, so there would constantly be new Hylian men arriving and needing to acclimate. They can never really mix and become one people, and that sounds really tricky to me.

I don't know. I guess this is a sensitive topic for me because I can't help but see a parallel with what's happening here in France with mass migration. It is not a positive change at all and I hate every aspect of it. I wouldn't want the Gerudo to feel like their home has been stolen from them too, and I think it could create tensions. But I'm probably being dramatic because of my own experience ^^

Of course this doesn't entirely apply to the Gerudo since we are talking about their fathers and husbands, etc., not complete strangers. But it's very telling to me that they've been keeping even their own families at a distance all this time, they must have a very good reason to do so… and to me it could be this.

If you have any new ideas for your botw-totk rewrite that you wanna chat about or even just thoughts regarding AoI, I'm open to listen. 😄

Hello!! Well I'm fine! Just desperately waiting for something to happen on Zelda's 40th anniversary :D

...Which is just a few days before my own birthday so I would really love a surprise, hehe 😇 but I'm also trying to keep my hopes low!

What about you? How is it going with your new job?

To be honest I'm focused on another comic project these days so I have almost entirely stopped working on my rewrite. But I've been feeling like going back to it lately! I especially miss working on my own version of Hyrule and thinking of the rebuilding effort, what to do with the NPCs, etc., it was so much fun ^^

I still haven't played AoC and I don't think I will :/ First I'd need to get a Switch 2 and it doesn't seem that interesting at the moment, and second... I just can't anymore with that story and anything TotK related haha.

It's going well! Better than any of my previous jobs, so I'm hoping that it stays that way! Obviously, I know that there'll be rough patches & difficulties here & there, but I mean for the most part. I feel like I'm actually helping! :D

Woah! I didn't know that! No wonder you're anxious! It must've always felt a bit like an early birthday present, huh? Well, now I'm hoping for the same!

Hey, wherever the winds of inspiration take you, it's probably best to follow, lest they begin to blow in a different direction. I'd take advantage of it, personally.

Eh, that's fair. It IS the longest-running portion of the series since the Era of the Legendary Hero, so I can understand. And I really don't blame you for not getting the Switch 2. In fact, I think Nintendo could definitely use a couple plates of humble pie as they appear to have been acting pretty greedy lately.

So, I say enjoy yourself! XD

Personally, I found the story of AoI to be a big step up from what we had in TotK. I'm actually glad for it because I was sorely lacking in details regarding the actual world back then & the game's helped in that regard. Though, there's definitely some tweaks I'll need to make to get it to fit. Nothing too serious, tho.

For instance, I now know that Nemma has beef with the Zonai, but it's actually not Rauru. No, instead it's Mineru & the use of both Chef Constructs & especially Blacksmith Constructs. The fact that the Zonai royal family mass produces weaponry is the sort of thing that was grind against the Masamuna heiress' very core. And then to learn that they commonly have Constructs make their food would give her the distinct impression that the Zonai were derelict & overreliant upon technology to do things that aught be done by oneself.

Also, I'm having Gan wait a year before he enacts his plan to draw Rauru away from the castle. And once he does take the stone, he won't immediately create the Archfiend of sand. That won't happen until after the Gerudo begin to give up hope of getting their queen back as it'll feel like a betrayal to Gan.

Also, something amazing is that I was wrong when I despaired, thinking the River of the Dead wasn't there in Rauru's era, so I can STILL do the super creepy lore I wanted to! 😁

And I love Lago. His gameplay is probably one of my favorites in the game & now, he's the father of Larémy as well as the sensei who trained Nemma in the art of using water as part of her swordplay. So, she'll definitely have a good amount of Lago's influence in her own fighting style.

But this also makes things more complicated for Lago, as I'm sure you can expect. *vibrates happily*

The actual story's been fairly slow-going all things considered, but I'm still managing.

I just can't seem to finish the literal first scene! 😤

Any other games you been enjoying lately? I've been super invested in Stardew Valley myself. Really charming little game. Very whimsical, but also very chill. :3

I've also made good progress on my own timeline theory (I think I mentioned wanting to get rid of the Downfall Timeline and to put Minish Cap and the Four Sword games on their own branch at some point?). It definitely has some fanfiction elements and I might have managed to make things even more complicated, but I find it more satisfying than the official timeline ^^

This is great, I'm happy for you!! I hope it stays that way too :D

Well I usually don't expect anything but this year is a bit different since it's the 4Oth anniversary! I'm not really hoping for something as big as a new game but maybe we'll get a movie trailer or something (like they did for Mario). Or maybe a long awaited Switch 2 port for TP, but I'm not going to buy a new console just to play a game I've finished 50 times already haha. Anyway, one more week to go!

If the Wild era was my favorite part of the series I guess I wouldn't mind that it's been almost ten years ^^ It's just that I already wasn't the biggest BotW fan and now I'm kind of a TotK hater, so I really need the next game to be something different with new versions of Link and Zelda. And hopefully something a bit closer to the old formula, with a more linear story and real dungeons (EoW was a step in the right direction for me).

Yeah, I'm not really okay either with what Nintendo has been up to lately.

AoI definitely improves on TotK's story but I feel like all of this should have been told in the game, it doesn't sit right with me that we have to buy a new console and a new game to get the full story. On top of that it didn't answer any of the questions I had and even made things more confusing, so I'm not very happy with it haha. And I'm really disappointed in the way they treated Zelda's character and literally turned Link into a robot this time, but I'll stop there before this turns into a full blown rant again 😆

At least I'm happy the game gave you fuel for thought and more material to use! I didn't even know who Lago was haha. And I completely get that Nemma wouldn't agree with the way the Zonai were using constructs! I'm sure it's going to be an interesting conflict between them.

Oh! What creepy lore do you have in mind for the River of the Dead? It's always been so intriguing to me!

I haven't really been playing games, except for my first playthrough of Oracle of Ages I started back in November. I haven't finished it, don't really know why since I was really enjoying it, but I guess I just have other stuff to do! Also my eyes have been really dry and tired lately so I've been trying to reduce my screen time (which is hard when your main hobbies are drawing on a tablet and working on a comic project in Google Docs :/).

Thank you! I'm just doing the best I can to help!

As for the 40th anniversary, I'm honestly kinda hoping for a remake of something from the Downfall timeline. I mean, it certainly seems to be heading in that direction. They've been putting new installments in that timeline a bunch, I feel. A Link Between Worlds, Link's Awakening, Echoes of Wisdom. So, I'm really hoping for either a remake or reimagining of the Oracle games. Which, I know is probably expecting a lot, but I definitely think it's possible.

Though, for Zelda 1 & 2, if not this year, then I'm almost willing to bet money on the possibility that (provided Zelda is still as big as it's been), then a decade from now there will be either a remake or reimagining of Zelda 1 & 2 announced. Because it'd almost be the perfect time for it.

Eh, the Wild Era just wasn't your era. It happens. 🤷‍♀️

Oh, very much agreed. It's really dumb that they decided to put the bulk of the storytelling in the flipping dynasty warriors game & so little of it into the open-world game. Like, if they really wanted to do the majority of the story stuff on the Switch 2, then why didn't they just have EoW be the last entry on the Switch & have TotK & AoI primier on the Switch 2 as a set, but with all the story integrated into both?

Because, as it is, even with the Zelda Notes, TotK feels way too empty & shallow, which is something I've been noticing with a couple open-world games lately.

Thank you! Oh, Lago's just cool! He's this swordfighting veteran bodyguard for the late Zora king who swore never to pick up his blade in shame for having been unable to protect his king. His gameplay is so fun! He wields the Zora Sword, which is a first! But he showcases some serious samurai levels of skill! He even gets elemental attacks! As in attacks that actively count as water element! And the water element actually does something against fire enemies now! And there are elemental Lynels!! No golden ones, though.

(Btw as an aside, I think that I finally know a decent way of explaining the difference between water & ice as elements. The two are undoubtedly linked & very often overlap, but there are still slight differences that exist. Water as an element is just water & will always be water in some form or another, while ice is more accurately cold. Because, again, only water & anything containing a decent amount of H2O falls under the category of water, but any & every liquid with a freezing point, regardless of whether or not it contains H2O, falls under the category of ice, if that makes sense? So, in laymen's terms, all water can eventually be considered ice if frozen, but not all ice is water.)

Alright! Here's a usurp I wrote in regard to the River of the Dead:

“In the time before Hylia became the Custodian of the Triforce, Sheikaku & Karina traveled the land protecting the innocent & killing the wicked. However, at times, they would find those who repelled them on a level beyond that of others. Their righteous fury was such that they found simply killing them to not be enough. Because of this, they created Judgement’s _ (Moon God’s Judgement?), now referred to as the River of the Dead. Sheikaku made it to be eternally winter there. Because of this, the waters were forever freezing. It is believed that all who drown there, if they had continually committed a crime of a certain grievousness, then upon dying, their souls would become trapped there. But not simply trapped. Suffering eternally. Though a ghost needs neither breath nor warmth, they are still forever consigned to experience those feelings. So, they were made to always feel the sensation of freezing & being weighed down & dragged deeper into the very darkness. To always be drowning without relief.

However, that this will only happen to those guilty of very wicked crimes & any who swim in that water who was also guilty of similarly awful crimes, they would find themselves haunted.

If you’ve never seen it, there’s a horror movie about the Temagami spring in America that kills one person in order to heal another. And the souls of those that drowned are trapped forever in its waters. Just… this seemingly endless expanse of dark water that is filled with people, hair drifting around them. So, something like that, but all with eyes wide with panic, mouths opening & closing as though desperate for air, their arms & legs struggle eternally to try & reach a surface that they never will. Skin almost appearing blue with how pale they were, accompanied by patches of frost & blackened extremities, as though afflicted by frostbite. Just… terrifyingly haunting. But, imagine that each ghost there appears to be weighed down by heavy chains in a similar way to how the ghost of Marley from the Christmas Carol did. Combined with the experience that Bootstrap Bill from Pirates of the Caribbean was forced to endure when his crew tied his boots to a cannonball & had him tossed out into the ocean. The way that Bill described it. That feeling.” And the royal family only sentences those who've committed the most despicable of crimes. Not just against individuals, but on a massive & organized level. Things like slave-trading, sexual slavery, mass murder/attempted genocide, cannibalism, other similarly despicable things.

Moving on, I'm glad that you've been reducing your screentime! Hmm… Maybe take up a physical medium for your art? Sometimes going back to basics is a good idea.

For instance, I'd never really been very good at painting myself because I was more drawn to colored pencils, but due to my new job, I’ve been doing watercolors a lot more lately.

So, maybe try drawing or painting or watercolors?

Right?? Stardew's been really fun! Though, I've specifically been playing modded Stardew of late. Which is even more fun, though it can also get a bit overwhelming if you're new to the whole modding thing, which I am.

I would really like a remake of the Oracle games too, though maybe not in the same style as Link's Awakening and Echoes. But I think what these games need the most is new music!! I never thought I'd have to turn it off while playing a Zelda game, but OoA's soundtrack is just so horrible it gave me headaches. I feel though that the addition of the Oracle games to the Nintendo Switch Online makes the possibility of getting remakes soon less likely, but I could be wrong.

Oh I'd love remakes of Zelda I and II, especially since I've never played AoL (this game is scary haha).

They could easily have found a way to show more of the story in TotK, by letting us play as Zelda during the memories for example. I'm honestly glad TotK isn't the long awaited Switch 2 new Zelda game, I would have been so disappointed. It definitely feels empty and shallow as it is.

Lago sounds interesting and fun to play as! And you're right, ice isn't necessarily water.

This is great! And creepy indeed. I like this explanation for the eternal winter on the western part of the Great Plateau.

Yeah I could go back to traditional art, but I have this irrational fear of having to relearn everything since I haven't done so in years haha. Also I'm mostly working on the story for my comic these days, so I'm happy just taking notes and writing instead of drawing. I enjoy doing that on paper but I also use the Dark Reader extension to put Google Docs in dark mode, it really helps with my eyes.

Interesting perspective. Please, tell me more. I personally like to use some of the less canon games to help explain stuff.

For instance, “if Link was so necessary, why were the 7 Wisemen able to kill & seal away Ganon in ALttP?” Simply put, they weren't. A different Link & Zelda had jumped forward from a pre-OoT event & they, alongside a third commanding power over music, killed Ganon together, then returned to their homes. It was then that the 7 Wisemen came in & sealed Ganon into the Sacred Realm.

Basically, in my timeline, Cadence of Hyrule came between Minish Cap/Four Sword & Ocarina of Time. Mostly because it just made sense to me & gave me some ideas to play with.

Obviously there'd be some tweaks, but I give myself more leeway when using the spinoff games. It's something I really like about my timeline.

Understandable. All we can do is hope that the Nintendo crew takes a moment or two to do a bit of soul searching. And if they do remake the Oracle games, I REALLY wanna see more regarding the feud between the 2 types of Zora, as well as Piratians, Subrosians, & even just humans! I especially really wanna see more about the architecture of the Zora's underwater homes!

So many missed opportunities…

He is! Lago's also got a super deep voice, too! Love a deep voice. X3

I'm kind of debating if I should have Nemma see Lago as a father figure alongside her grandfather. Maybe have him be protective of her in a way.

Oddly enough, I really found the characters in AoI to be very endearing overall!

And oh my goodness… Raphica's hair. I just love it so much!

Thank you! I like a bit of myth here & there.

Maybe that's the problem? You don't need to relearn anything for it to be a relaxing hobby, just doodle. Put lines on paper & let your inner artist guide you without judgement of what you're making or the expectation of putting it out there to be judged by others.

Well, whatever you decide, at least you realize that the fear is irrational. Though, I can't help but wonder if you've decided to never go back to physical art, because if you ever did with the intention of doing so with the seriousness of an artist, then you'd need to relearn the skill anyway.

It most certainly does have mods! And so many! Of course, you have to be careful that you don't use any that would conflict with each other, but so long as you do, it's actually pretty simple once set up! Also, you'd either need a gaming computer or a graphics card suited to gaming or the game itself won't play, unfortunately.

Now, as far as mods go, it mostly depends on what it is you're looking for. For your first time experiencing the game & its story, I'd mostly stick to what I think of as “Vanilla Plus” mods. These are mods that mostly just take what's already there & expands upon it without adding too much in terms of content. Maybe some quality of life things.

You told me about your timeline placement for Cadence of Hyrule, I remember! Though I wonder, why do CoH Link and Zelda leave Ganon with the full Triforce in your theory? Are they not able to take it back from him?

Okay here we go! It's just obvious to me that the events described in ALttP have nothing to do with OoT, and that the Seven Wise Men are not the OoT Seven Sages. There are just too many differences between these two stories (I think anyone who has played both games can easily see this), and on top of that the alternate scenario of the Hero of Time's death/defeat makes this whole thing even weirder.

Now not only does ALttP make no sense as a sequel to OoT, but ALBW also doesn't work properly as a sequel to ALttP (or a sequel to ALttP-OoX if you believe these games really have the same Link) even though ALBW is literally titled "A Link to the Past 2" in Japanese!

At the beginning of ALBW we know that Ganon is sealed away with the Triforce of Power, when he was supposed to be dead at the end of ALttP (ALttP Link doesn't seal him, he kills him, and is then able to make a wish on the full Triforce). In OoX, Koume & Kotake manage to briefly resurrect Ganon but Link instantly defeats him. Ganon never gets the Triforce of Power here, and he certainly does not end up sealed away with it! Conclusion: both the events of ALttP and OoX do not match at all with the story we are told in ALBW!

We do have a game with a very similar story to the one told in ALBW's prologue, though: OoT. Here we have a Hero guided by a Princess, who together with the Sages manage to seal Ganon away—though they are not able to take the Triforce of Power from him.

(Also, something weird I've noticed is that the English translation of ALBW tells us that these Sages are "descendants of the Seven Sages", which clearly marks them as a different group from the OoT Seven Sages. This was very surprising to me since the French version calls them "les Sept Sages" (the Seven Sages) just like in OoT, they are never stated to be descendants of anyone. I found the original Japanese text thanks to Reddit and it appears that the English version is wrong, which is also confirmed by dialogue between Sahasrahla and Link. This makes the association with OoT even stronger!!).

In my timeline, I keep the three branches after OoT but I replace the Downfall Timeline with something different that allows me to place ALBW after OoT. This branch is created by OoT Zelda, the same way the Child Timeline is. The idea here is that the Great Flood happens during her rule in the Adult Timeline, so she uses the Ocarina of Time to send herself back in time in order to prevent this, as she did with Link. She leaves behind her husband, King Daphnes, their children, and the Triforce of Wisdom that she divides in two. Her goal here is to create a new timeline where she doesn't send Link back to his childhood, so that he can help seal Ganon again and save Hyrule from the Great Flood.

(Btw this is a story I'd really like to turn into a comic too!! It makes OoT Zelda's life even more tragic since she of course blames herself for sending Link back to his childhood and leaving Hyrule without a Hero, and she also has to leave her family behind in the Adult Timeline and start her life again after OoT. Of course I am not aiming for Zelink here (since Zelda is technically a mature woman with a husband and children while Link is a traumatised 10 years old stuck in the body of a young adult) and this whole thing makes their relationship quite complicated. They also have to live waiting for Ganon's return and knowing what will happen if they fail, and Link now has to defeat Ganon again as an older Hero… which I find really fun and would love to see in a game someday).

So that's it, Link, Zelda and the Sages manage to seal Ganon away again and prevent the Great Flood. Gan is sealed as Ganon this time and not as Ganondorf, so that things are coherent with what we see in ALBW. Link ends up entrusting the Seven Sages with the Triforce of Courage, while the Triforce of Wisdom gets passed down in the royal family. The Temple of Time is destroyed by Ganon when he returns, which is why the Master Sword finds itself in the middle of the Lost Woods, and the Spiritual Stones become the Three Pendants. As for Gramps, well, maybe he is the lingering spirit of OoT Link instead of ALttP Link, which mirrors the Hero's Shade in TP/the Child Timeline.

The next game in this timeline is ALttP, with a new Ganondorf, then of course Link's Awakening, and the last one is probably Echoes of Wisdom. I separate OoX from ALttP and LA because it's obvious to me that these games don't share the same Link and Zelda. First Zelda's design in OoX looks nothing like ALttP Zelda (she actually looks quite similar to OoT Zelda), and she also acts like she is meeting Link for the first time in OoX. I also really like the idea that Koume and Kotake are the same witches from OoT trying to revive their son/king, and the only timeline that makes this possible is the Child Timeline. So my Child Timeline looks like this: MM > TP > OoX > LoZ > AoL. I'm assuming that the Triforce gets reassembled at some point after TP and ends up under the care of the royal family.

I also like that this creates a better balance between the three branches of the timeline! The Child Timeline feels abandonned in the official version (and FSA should be a direct sequel to FS since they were supposed to have the same Link and Zelda) while the Downfall Timeline is basically where they cram up classic-looking games they don't know what to do with. It's also a bit weird that the timeline with the "what if the Hero died" scenario is the one with the most games.

Sorry that was a bit long, haha! I tend to get carried away when I talk about this. I hope this all makes sense, it’s not that easy for me to explain all of this in English!

Well, turns out Nintendo didn't do anything yesterday. That's kind of… sad. Anyway. I'd love to see all of this too in a OoX remake! Especially the two types of Zora.

I do like the characters in AoI, especially Raphica and Ardi! Not so much Calamo and the Knight Construct, though. It's just the story and lore I don't really enjoy.

I guess the thing is that I don't really see drawing as a relaxing hobby! To me it's the craft I use to make my ideas come to life and I'm constantly trying to get better at it, I don't do it to relax. If I want to relax I just do something else haha.

Oh no, I haven't decided to never go back to physical art or anything, it just isn't my priority right now. My ultimate goal is to make comics and maybe animations, and the best way to achieve that is to focus on digital art.

The part regarding CoH Link & Zelda not taking the ToP back, I have yet to figure out. 😅 At the same time, I'm already attached to the unknowing tragedy of the sequence of events, so I'll just have to think of something!

Hmm… Have I told you about the near soap opera-level of drama surrounding the identity of OoT Ganondorf's father?

Or the fact that CoH Link was OoT Link's father & CoH Zelda was OoT Zelda's mother? That CoH Link was the creator of many of the magical instruments that we see later as well as the Wind Waker, which has a secret function that turns it into a sort of magical rapier? I even made some art of it! I'm very happy with it! :D

Huh! I didn't know that the descendants part had been incorrect. I also hadn't considered the idea of Zelda sending herself to the past either. It would certainly change things.

Okay, I think I get what you're going for now. It isn't so much that you're getting rid of the Downfall Timeline as a concept entirely & more so swapping it out for a different one that makes more sense to you. Am I understanding this correctly?

Either way, it's most certainly not something I would've thought of & it sounds like it has real potential.

It's alright, I think I get the basic premise. You certainly put a lot of work into it too! I might need a Jullbnt Timeline to reference for the future, though. XD

Yeah, it was really disappointing for them to not do anything for Zelda's 40th.

Really? I loved Calamo & the Knight Construct. I thought it was a really creative way to have Link in the game while also not. And I found Calamo to be a very interesting take on a Korok.

Ah well, to each their own, I suppose.

I will also say that I like the idea that Qia eventually marries Cadlan, because he's very much like Sidon. And I really appreciate that they brought back the mid-tier weapons as well as adding in new ones. I really wasn't expecting any new Forestdweller weapons especially, but we got them!

And I really feel like the game was somewhat confirming my theory regarding different people aligning with different elements aside from what the Sages are known for. I'm telling you, Sholani is Wind aligned & Ronza is Earth, specifically Sand! Meanwhile, Pastos’ element seems to be Earth. Even if they didn't specifically give those characters’ Special Actions actual elements.

Have I said those already? I might've repeated myself... Sorry. 😅

Aaaaah! I understand now. Then, yeah, if drawing really isn't relaxing for you, then you're right. It wouldn't be the best choice. Hmm… Then, are there any hobbies of yours that you do find relaxing, & if not, then what about forgotten hobbies?

Personally, I used to love going fishing with my grandpa. I don't think it really even matters if I catch anything, sometimes it's just nice to get outside & enjoy the quiet peace of nature. At the same time, I understand that fishing might not be for everyone, so if it doesn't hold any interest for you (or if fishing laws make it difficult where you live, I've no idea how they work in France 😅), then maybe just think back to things that you used to enjoy growing up & even want to get back to, but you always keep putting off?

Or who knows? Maybe you should turn more towards trying new things & getting a bit adventurous? Like, what about activities that you've always wanted to try your hand at?

It doesn't even really need to be a long-term hobby either. For instance, my mom used to be very involved with scrapbooking, but now she's more into decorating cakes, cupcakes, & cookies. All it has to do is be a hobby for the moment.

*nods sagely* Understood. Praying all the best in your endeavors. Animating sounds super hard, but also really amazingly cool.

Well I'm sure you'll find something! If I remember correctly OoT Ganondorf is the King of Hyrule's son in your version of events? CoH Link being OoT Link's father sure does make things even more tragic. He's not aware the Hero of Time was his son, is he?

Oh I love the idea that CoH Link could be the creator of the Wind Waker and other instruments, it just makes so much sense!

Exactly! I just don't like that the Downfall Timeline is an alternate scenario that is not supported by the games in any way, and to make things worse the story told by Hyrule Historia doesn't even match with AlttP's backstory. So yeah I'm keeping the three timelines after OoT but replacing this one with something different that doesn't involve killing the Hero of Time off-screen.

I'm glad you think this has potential!! And here's my complete timeline since you asked for a reference 😇

Yes this is a monster of a timeline with 5 branches :D I can explain the two other ones but I'm not sure you'd like another wall of text!

I don't know, I found Calamo a bit annoying and I don't like the idea that Link can just be replaced by a robot. Maybe it would have helped if Zelda had shown a bit more interest towards it, I don't know. And I guess I would have preferred for the story to focus more on her than on Rauru and the Knight Construct.

Ah yes I thought the same thing about Qia and Cadlan! Even though it doesn't really make sense since there are thousands of years between Cadlan and Sidon haha, but it definitely looks like it was the intention.

Well I don't know enough about these characters but I believe you!

I enjoy crafty hobbies in general, stuff like diamond painting, papercraft or model building (but I do it in moderation since it's so time consuming). And of course reading (mostly fanfiction nowadays), taking walks, and playing music/singing. I play the transverse flute and… the ocarina :D

It's so great that you had this bond with your grandpa! I'm not sure I'd enjoy fishing but just spending time in nature with loved ones always sounds nice. No idea about fishing laws here, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were completely absurd haha.

Yep! Oot Ganondorf's father was the King of Hyrule & you're correct, CoH Link is completely unaware of his connection to OoT Link beyond the obvious.

Many thanks! I enjoyed the piece of lore about the Wind Waker too!

Thank you very much for the reference art! This should be very helpful in the future!

Really? I found Calamo funny & that his relationship with the Knight Construct was very sweet. Admittedly, he does seem to be cut from a similar cloth to Kohga, just not as… Kohga. Yet, at the same time, for whatever reason I found Calamo to be more endearing than Kohga.

Understandable. Though, in all fairness, Zora typically live to be something like 400, so there's probably far fewer generations between them than Rauru & Zelda. And if my theory regarding Zora royalty is true, then due to them being Zora royalty, every time a new heir ascended the throne, they would both grow in size soon after in a similar way to how the alphas of some species of sharks do, as well as gain an extra century or two of life (this is based on how the Wild Era Zora's ages seem to line up with the number of spots they have on their heads & that, despite Dorephan & Muzu being around the same age, Dorephan has more spots than Muzu). As such, while I very much agree with you, I also feel like it's actually a tiny bit less absurd than the Zelda thing.

Diamond painting? Not sure if I've ever heard of that, might need to look it up. Other than that, those all sound like lovely hobbies! Though, I definitely understand moderation. Ooo! Wind instruments! The transverse flute's always looked so dainty to me & the ocarina is a fun one for more than the obvious reason. I wish that I had learned how to play an instrument. Though, I've always wanted to play the violin myself. There's just something about them that's so… so versatile & fun!

But back on topic! My immediate suggestion is the ocarina. While I know very little in regard to instrument maintenance, if your ocarina is wooden, it'd likely be easier to take places & not as likely to break.

Though, you might also consider getting a panflute or possibly even branch out into a stringed instrument like a ukulele or lyre, but then again the process of learning to play a new instrument, even if at your own pace, might be more stressful than relaxing. So maybe not? 😅

Yeah, it was always nice going to visit my grandparents growing up. And most definitely. Actually, I'm sure that taking a nice nature walk just to observe nature & the wildlife could be a nice option as well. Birdwatching is also always an option. So's calligraphy, puzzles, pottery, sewing, knitting, etc. Stop me if I'm not helping any.

Yeah, that's fair. And you'd be correct in your assessment! Stardew is pretty addictive! I'm also hoping that Haunted Chocolatier will be worth it. It definitely seems like the type of game that'll focus more on the more cooking side of things (which I always like), but I still wonder just how creative it'll get. And will it just be the typical types of chocolate (white, milk, dark) or will it also have some of the less known chocolates as well as ruby chocolate, buttermilk chocolate, & potentially types of chocolate sweetened by means other than sugar? Maybe even cocoa grown in different terroirs resulting in different flavors. Like how cocoa from the Dominican Republic has an almost buttery taste to them (which I've actually had once, it was really good).

These poor boys! Well I guess CoH Link is better of not knowing. I think I remember now that he was supposed to be the Hero instead of OoT Link, but his death during the civil war forced his son to become the Hero of Time instead?

What do you think happened during the war by the way? I've spent a lot of time thinking about the Hyrulean Civil War myself (especially for my comic project) and I'm always curious to see how others interpret it.

(sorry if we've already talked about this, can't remember)

You're welcome!

Yeah Calamo was funny and endearing at first but I got tired of him pretty soon haha. I also found the revelation that he's now the Ancient Tree Stump a bit... ridiculous. But at least I'm so glad he didn't become the Deku Tree, I really feared this was where the game was headed! 

He's definitely cuter than Kohga, but I'm much more interested in Kohga and I find him a lot funnier ^^

Sure the Zora live longer but that's still a lot of generations between them. But yeah I see your point, and it's honestly fun that they hinted at this through character design even though it doesn't really make sense, I'm just nitpicking haha.

Diamond painting is the most relaxing thing ever to me! You create an image by sticking coloured beads (the "diamonds") to an adhesive canvas, it's a bit like pixel art in real life. They sell kits online (my favorites are famous paintings), but now I just have so many leftover diamonds that I like to make my own. I once spent months on this and I still can't believe I'm that crazy haha:

It's huge, close to 70 cm in height 😆

Oh I wanted to play the violin as a child too! Though my first choice would have been the harp. Neither were available in my little town though, so I went with the flute instead (my parents insisted my siblings and I should take music classes). And it's great! It also makes learning another wind instrument pretty easy, which is why I had no problem teaching myself the ocarina. 

It's never too late to learn music! You should go for it if you want to!

Well I own two ceramic replicas of the Ocarina of Time at the moment (original I know!) and one little 6 holes green rupee that I don't really know how to play yet. I'd really like to get a wooden one, I'm curious about the sound difference and I want an ocarina that's not a Zelda replica. And as you said it's a lot easier to carry around since it won't break ^^

I actually bought a recorder flute some time ago but I haven't really found the time to experiment with it, though I think it shouldn't be too hard for me to learn. I have to get back to it someday! I've tried the guitar too but it's a lot more difficult for me to practice seriously without a teacher (so not very relaxing indeed).

I guess I don't really need a new hobby though. I'm hoping to be done with my apartment by next week and then I want to focus on my comic until I actually manage to get it done. I'm tired of not being able to follow through with my comic projects!

Haha I'm not surprised you would enjoy a game focused on cooking! Well Stardew Valley looks pretty detailed and complete to me so we can hope this one will be too ^^

That's fine. I understand.

Correct! That or it was supposed to be the both of them together with Tempo teaching Time the ropes along the way. But yes, you're correct.

It's fine. I forget things all the time, so it'd be hypocritical to be upset over something like this.

And, funny that you mention it! I have a lot of it planned out! Not all, mind you, but the main plot points are planned. You see, the Civil War was actually a setup by the Interlopers (I'm aware that they came much earlier on the timeline according to the official timeline, but I figure that a little creative liberty won't hurt). See, in the manga, it originally started as a conflict between the Gorons & the Zora. And the Hylians were of 2 minds, some wanted to stay out of the conflict to act as a mediator in case things went too far, while others wanted to get involved now. Needless to say, the Royal Family had chosen to remain mediators. But because of both the Interlopers & some help from the Gerudo, who by a young Ganondorf's orders (egged on by Kōme & Kotake as he was only a teenager at that point), had begun to see descent amongst the Hylians. This eventually lead to the rebellion at the palace which resulted in the assassinations of both Tempo & Harmony (CoH Link & Zelda). We see in the manga that Tempo is killed by a rebel, but what we don't see is King Benjor running off to find his wife & newborn daughter. When he arrived in their chambers, he found a trio of shadowy figures standing above his wife's corpse, blade aloft & dripping with blood from her throat.

One of them stood poised over a bassinet, a dagger ready to end his wailing daughter's life before it'd had the chance to really begin. And the king saw red. Needless to say, there were 3 other dead that night, but no more of them bore the blood of Hylia.

This is when Impa came in, roughed up as she'd also been targeted. As Benjor was silently freaking out, baby girl in his arms, as much to reassure himself as to comfort her, Impa removed the masks of the assailants, only to be met with hauntingly familiar white hair & red markings.

This information sent betrayal riveting through the newly-named widower, then rage. In a fury, he, Impa, & his army marched on Kakariko to demand answers or enact vengeance.

However, upon arriving, they are shocked silent to find that the riot had likely been only one part of a twofold attack as ⅔rds of the Sheikah who'd been living in Kakariko were now dead. The Siege of Kakariko was a bloodbath & the very thing that caused Kakariko to become open to the public during OoT.

Now, I'm sure that I've already told you about the Hyrulian Revolution. The one I loosely based on the French Revolution. But, for short, Benjor's grandmother, as well as the 3-4 generations of rulers before her, had all been AWFUL. Just horrible. And one of the things that they did was mistreat the Sheikah & reduce them to their metaphorical attack dogs. Now, the Sheikah themselves had been a very important part of the Rebellion, but once everything had been settled & the reign of Bloody Queen Mera had ended, it was suggested by one of the Sheikah Elders that new rulers be put into place.

What they hadn't expected was for the people of Hyrule to choose to return the crown to Mera's twin children, Sonia & Saphio.

Saphio once more abdicated his role, as he found that he had his own dreams to follow, leaving the crown to Sonia, who became queen & her husband, Rauru of the Pastoral House of Sahasrahla, as king.

Now, while most of the Sheikah were all for this arrangement & satisfied with the results, some weren't.

I mean, 3-4 generations of mistreatment & subjugation, alongside the desecration of their temple, wouldn't feel great. And such wounds will only heal if they're allowed to. So, if someone isn't willing to let go of that hurt, then it can fester & become something truly awful.

This is the origin of the Interlopers in my version of things. They were mostly Sheikah who did not wish to be subjugated by the Hylian Royal Family ever again. Though, some also believed that it should be the Sheikah to lead Hyrule as their clan had always been dedicated to the goddesses. Plus, the first queen of Hyrule had been a Sheikah, Queen Nekarina Sahasrahla. So, they saw it as their right to lead Hyrule's people for, (in their minds) where the Royal Family had betrayed the goddesses & mistreated their people, the Sheikah had remained faithful & true to them.

The Interlopers had allowed those feelings to fester & grow. And eventually, when the fighting between the Gorons & Zora began, they knew their time to strike was near.

And the Siege of Kakariko was the Interlopers taking out the loyalists within their clan. It was utterly horrifying. A slaughter.

During that time, the gates to the village were sealed shut. The Interlopers donned masks (contemplating them having Yiga-like designs, just for fun) to hide themselves & whenever they killed a loyalist, they mutilated their face so as to keep anyone from being able to figure out who was part of the splinter cell via process of elimination.

But when the lookout saw the king's army on the approach, they retreated. Their greatest weapon is their cunning, afterall.

This is where Hyrule, itself, entered the war. And one of the big things that the Interlopers did during that time was attack farmers, fishers, ranchers, etc. They even attacked Lon Lon Ranch in an attempt to destroy Hyrule's food sources which results in a food scarcity that they'll continue to feel even many years after OoT. (There are some parts that I haven't gone into. Particularly, Talon's wife as well as the role that Saphio, Sonia's father played into the success of the rebellion, how Benjor went temporarily mad until his father, Sage of Light Rauru, returned from his pilgrimage to Holy Mount Lanayru slapped him across the face, snapping him out of it, how the continued loyalty of Impa & her fellows humbled Benjor in a way that hurt as much as relieved him, but that can be for later.)

Of course, Hyrule still manages to win, but in the process most of the Sheikah were taken out. So, since there weren't many left, Hyrule opened Kakariko to the public.

As for Calamo vs Kohga: Hey, to each their own, right? If you find Kohga more interesting than Calamo, then that's all there is to it.

Eh, I nitpick too, so I understand. And yes, even with the context that the Zora live longer than Hylians, it's still fairly ridiculous.

Ooohhh! Diamond painting looks so pretty!! That somewhat reminds me of a couple things we used to have over here when growing up! One was something known as Light Bright. It was this black board with holes in it that you'd plug into a wall. And it'd give you a number of different colored pegs that you could insert into the holes & they'd light up to make a picture. Another was something where you'd take these things called Perler Beads & the pegboard they come with, then you'd use the pegboard to make pictures. Once you've done that, you glue them together & when it's done drying, you remove them from the pegboard. Obviously, the diamond painting appears to be much more sophisticated, but the memories were very sudden.

Oh, that's so amazing! It's also super aesthetic if you think about it. I have this image of someone sitting beneath a tree contentedly playing a flute alongside the breeze… Very pretty. :)

Hmm… Maybe I will… I'd love to learn music, that's for sure…

Oooo! Aren't recorder flutes able to mimic most any sound with enough experience? Very cool!

Well, whatever it is that you choose, I hope it all goes well. You have so much talent as well as hardwon skill that I'm sure you'll be able to make that comic a hit.

Same! Stardew's very fun! There's just so much whimsy packed into that game!

Exactly! And actually, a few of the flora that I've come up with for Hyrule are somewhat based on those found in Stardew. One is the Spice Berry, which is the inspiration for my Piqurrants. Though, I take inspiration from the real world Northern spicebush berry (Lindera benzoin) & clove currant (Ribes odoratum). Did you know that you can dry spicebush berries & clove currant, then grind them down into a powder, the spicebush powder can act as a decent substitute for allspice, if a bit more fruity, while the clove currant powder acts as a decent substitute for cloves? It's so cool!

Though, if your sister happens to have a lot of clothing in Stardew, with decreasing room to store it all, maybe tell her to buy a dresser from Robin. Turns out, it works as a sort of chest (with unlimited space might I add) specifically for clothes. I only just recently learned about it & it’s just so good!

I really wish that the game had something similar for fishing supplies, tho. Which is why I love the Tackle Box mod. It makes it so you can buy a number of tackle boxes that come in different colors from the town fisherman, which works exactly like the dresser, but only for bait & lures. The best part is, unlike the dresser, you can pick it up & carry it around with you! So, if I were to give you a list of simple & low impact Quality of Life mods that don't change anything about the game or its story, the Tackle Box & Bigger Fridges mods would be amongst them.

Oh! I did learn about something VERY interesting a bit ago! There turns out to be actual IRL women only settlements in the world, but I've only learned of 2: Umoja, Kenya & Jinwar, Syria.

Now, the big difference between these real-life communities & the Gerudo is that in both Umoja & Jinwar, men are allowed to visit, but only in the day & only if they behave. They are not allowed to stay & live there. Though, specifically in the case of Jinwar, any boys raised there are allowed to stay & live there as they were raised with "Jinwar values." But in the case of Umoja, while boys may be raised in these places with their mothers, upon reaching 18, they must leave. However, they are still allowed to visit & potentially even stay on a temporary basis. Even being allowed to sleep overnight.

How interesting is that!?!?

Like, there's still a bunch of issues, but I can't help but think that I'd much prefer this sort of model regarding the Gerudo.

For me, I think I'd like the Umoja model for them, but instead of "any man can visit so long as it's daytime & they behave," I think it'd fit their society more if a man had to fit certain criteria. Things like being the father, step-son, or half/step-brother of a Gerudo, at least 2 other Gerudo vouches for his character, has proven himself through a series of tests/trails/ordeals, a/o has performed some huge favor or survice for the Gerudo as a whole. And, I think it'd be important to check off at least 2-3 of those things, but if a man does, then he's given a Gerudo Token, which acts as a day-pass of sorts allowing him entry. He still needs to behave & not break any of their laws, as well as leave at nightfall (unless he was raised by a Gerudo), but he's allowed to enter the town & use their services. So, basically, a sort of expansion on how Link manages to gain entry of the Gerudo Fortress/Gerudo Town in OoT & TotK.

Haha well you might have noticed I don't really care about the official timeline! It doesn't make much sense anyway 😇 In my opinion you're free to do whatever you please with the Interlopers War since TP Lanayru doesn't tell us exactly when it happened. Your version of events implies that the Twili were banished to the Twilight Realm not too long before TP though (only a few years before Ganondorf himself), unless OoT and TP are separated by a few centuries in your timeline? Personally I like to think that TP takes place a century or less after OoT, so that TP Link can be Time's grandson or great-grandson. 

Lanayru also specifically says that the Interlopers were banished because they "tried to establish dominion over the Sacred Realm", so depending on how closely you want to follow canon you might want to take that into consideration (but if you don't care that's completely fine, I'm not the timeline police 😆).

Oh I need to re-read the manga, I didn't remember that part about the Gorons and the Zoras starting the war! It's interesting, though I've always preferred to see it as a civil war amongst the Hylians themselves (with some involvement of the Gerudo and of course the Sheikah). In my version it's a succession war after the Queen's death (OoT Zelda's mother). The King manages to keep the throne but the war ends with a betrothal between the very young Princess Zelda and future King Daphnes from WW. I like to suffer so no Zelink happy ending here either 🥲

Wow, this scene feels like it's straight out from House of the Dragon! It hurts reading about a Zelda and her Link getting slaughtered like this but at the same time... it's a pretty cool story haha.

You really have thought all of this through, this was a very fun and interesting read! I especially liked the part about the siege of Kakariko, as grim as it is (the face mutilations are a clever detail). It makes perfect sense that the Sheikah wouldn't be too happy about serving the royal family after generations of mistreatment...

(And I had a laugh out of Rauru slapping Benjor back to sanity, that's a really fun picture 😆)

Have you heard the rumor about an OoT remake coming out this year?? It's been going around for some time but it seems more likely to be true now that Nate the Hate "leaked" it. I'm both very excited and quite scared!! I'd be overjoyed to see my favorite game make a return (especially with new content), but I'm not sure a remake can capture the magic and charm I love so much. At least I hope that if this is true, they won't turn OoT into the same type of repetitive open world that BotW and TotK are.

(We might also get new context about the Civil War, which I hope won't get too much in the way of my comic project...).

Oh I didn't know about Light Brite, it looks like fun! I had Perler Beads as child too, and diamond painting is definitely a prettier, more sophisticated and more satisfying version of that!

Haha I don't know about reproducing most sounds but I'm sure you can do a lot of fun things with a recorder flute! Though I only got mine because I wanted to try playing Vivaldi concertos... and the Milk Bar songs from ALBW 😆. Talking about it made me finally want to play it and well, I think I'm obsessed now!!

Well that's so nice of you to say! I'm not sure I'm much of a writer though, but I'm trying my best. I really want to do this!

I didn't know that! It's honestly quite impressive to me that you know so much about flora and food ^^

Well my sister doesn't have a lot of clothes yet in Stardew Valley but she'll definitely buy the dresser when she'll need it :D That sounds like a great mod! She plays on the Switch though, not sure she can easily install mods.

No worries, Twilight is still very much Time's great grandson. And it still takes place only a century or so before TP, but you do make a decent point regarding the time, so maybe there's a bit of time dilation between Hyrule & the Twilight Realm?

That's right! Lanayru DID say that, didn't they? Hmm… It's possible that some of the higher-ups of the Interlopers became power hungry & actually turned against the gods, then decided that they would govern the cosmos better, but then that wouldn't explain why the rest of the Interlopers were also banished. Though, the fact that they were banished rather than outright killed says that maybe there's more to the story… Hmm… I'm sure I'll figure it out. Thanks for bringing that up! 😁

Well, in a sense, it was the Hylians fighting themselves. But also, to me, there's a small, but still existent difference between Hylian & Hyrulean. Hylian refers to the pointy eared humans that we all know, while Hyrulean refers to residents of Hyrule, so it can refer to any of the other races living there as well.

In my version of things, it's sort of a multi-sided war with the many races fighting against each other: Goron vs Zora & Hylian-Sheikah vs Interloper with the Gerudo sort of stoking the flames like an opportunistic heckler on the sidelines. Meanwhile, the now widowed king is just trying to get a handle on all this chaos.

Interesting idea! A succession war definitely invites intrigue. Though, if nothing else, at least Daphnes very much tried.

Thank you for your kind words! I tried very hard to make the scene evocative, so it's good to know I managed to do well. It sucks that they die, but that's just part of how things go, unfortunately. 🥲

Oh, I have better! I have a scene from an AU focusing on the perspective of a surviving Sheikah & I'm trying to make it as tense & scary as possible. *bounces excitedly in her seat*

Oh, it's only fun from an outside perspective. Inside, it's sobering, which is exactly what Benjor needs. But yes, it's pretty fun.

Yes, I have heard of the OoT reimagining & I am cautiously optimistic about it! I feel the same. I do hope that the world is more expansive than in the original, but not so expansive that it feels… empty like TotK did. Hopefully, the Zelda Team just needs to find the right balance between the two extremes. I gotta say that I find Okami to have been a decent example of such.

I hope so! I am VERY interested in the idea of an actual in-universe war that didn't involve a Link.

Yeah, Lite Brite was very fun. :)

Oooo! Sounds so fun! Love a bit of classical music! I wonder if you could play the Four Seasons, too? Or the Phoenix?

That's okay, writing is a skill like any other, it just takes time, dedication, & practice.

Thank you! <3 I find this sort of information to be very interesting. It's just another way that lets me appreciate my home. There are just so many wonders out there. So much beauty. And just like how I've always admired people with green thumbs, I've also always admired people who can cook, so I've been trying to improve at it myself. But being me, I tend to research more than is most likely necessary.

Hmhmhm! That's true. If nothing else, she's aware of the mod now. So, if she ever decides to get it on Steam & start modding her game, then she'll have at least one Quality of Life sort of mod to look at.

Time dilation between the Light and Twilight Realms is possible! And you're welcome! I'm sure you'll figure it out ^^

Haha yes, this war before OoT has been referred to as "the Hyrulean Civil War" for some time now but it’s never mentioned as such in OoT, or any game as far as I'm aware. I suppose the source for this is Hyrule Historia, and… I don't give that book much credit. To build my own timeline I only take as canon what is said and shown in the games themselves.

All we know about the war in OoT is what the Deku Sprout tells Link: "Some time ago, before the King of Hyrule unified this country, there was a fierce war in our world." Pretty vague, so I think there's a lot of room for interpretation here, and I can make it a mostly Hylian civil war ^^

(By the way, in the French version the Deku Sprout talks with a lisp… which makes this entire passage about the war and Link's parents absolutely ridiculous. It will never stop being funny to me that the French translator thought it appropriate to turn THIS scene into some stupid joke 😆)

(Never gets old haha. Honestly the French translation is hilarious. And I haven't told you about the Bombchu merchant yet!! They had to rewrite his dialogue for the 3DS version because the original was way too… offensive by today's standards 😅)

Daphnes was just a very young child at the time of the war, just like Link & Zelda were. His mother tried, though! I'm not making our King of Red Lions the one who started the war ^^

Oh that sounds interesting. Haha yes I guess the slap isn't fun from either Benjor or Rauru's perspective.

Ah yes I loved Okami!! Been I while since I played it though. I agree, making OoT's world bigger just for the sake of it without quality content would be a terrible choice. I'm a bit afraid for the dungeons too, it's very likely they'll get dumbed down… I'm still offended by TotK's Water Temple haha.

I could probably play the Four Seasons on the transversal flute, yes! It's not my favorite piece by Vivaldi though, I much prefer his sacred music (especially sung by Philippe Jaroussky), arias, and concertos (this is the one I absolutely want to be able to play on the recorder, I'll get there with a bit more training!). I know a version of Spring on the recorder that is quite interesting though, I feel like you can close your eyes and picture little birds singing and responding to each other. I admit I don't know what the Phoenix is!

Haha yes, I get the need to research more than necessary ^^

Yep, but only really around the islands southwest of America due to their proximity. Even still, it's a family thing & something I've been enjoying because it lets me touch on experiencing new cultures. At the same time, I also tend to take the opportunity to try new things aside from culture. Things like food! XD Especially stuff that maybe I'd been a bit too picky to try before.

Thank you! And I'll try!

That's alright. I understand. I guess that I just like playing with things a bit too much? For me, everything is up for grabs, regardless of the degree of canon.

I suppose.

Okay, that's adorable! I love that! Like, yes, it's silly, but it makes me wish to give the Deku Sprout a big, tight hug. Really? I hadn't known about the rewrite of the Bombchu Merchant. That's interesting, but it wouldn't surprise me. At the same time, I also hope they don't try to water down the more serious topics.

Ah, I understand. So, the typical arranged marriage thing. I think that I was more so worried that it was a case of getting married to an older man, but now that I'm thinking about it, I wonder why I was even worried to begin with?

That's alright. I get why it'd seem funny for Rauru to slap Benjor from here. Sometimes, I get too wrapped up in the scene itself & don't take a step back.

Oh, definitely. That WOULD stink. No watering down the water temples, please Nintendo.

Understandable. I guess that I just have memories of Fantasia & Fantasia 2000 that always come to mind. Oh, wait! I think my wires got crossed. I meant Oiseau de feu! Similar, but different all the same.

Makes sense, though, I don't see why it would be wrong to integrate the Gerudo Token thing. Maybe I'm just being stubborn, but I guess that I don't really see a culture that can only exist via such systemic exclusion to be a culture worth preserving. Especially when those very same rules are allowed to be bent when it benefits them. To me, it's a legitimate moral dilemma, but then I suppose that this is just a case of agree to disagree? 🤷‍♀️

Oh you must have had a great time there! And I'm sure the food was delicious! :D

Haha yes, everything is up for grabs if I like it enough! And if it makes sense to me. And Hyrule Historia has a lot of stuff that doesn't make sense (at least in my opinion) or that I dislike.

The Deku Sprout is very cute! But he definitely makes Link's story and the War sound a lot less serious haha. They only changed the Bombchu Merchant's dialogue, they didn't water down other parts of the story ^^ I still find his original dialogue hilarious but I definitely understand why they had to get rid of it haha. He was a caricature of an Arabic merchant, with a very heavy accent and an actual name (Sabib al Mamoud 😆).

Well I didn't really explain much so I understand your worries haha! Yes it's a typical arranged marriage, and one that doesn't end up being completely unhappy. Zelda would of course have chosen Link had she been given the chance, but she'll grow to love Daphnes, too. Link isn't going to be around for too long anyway, since I'm having him become the Hero's Shade quite young.

Ah yes I see!! L'Oiseau de feu is such a beautiful piece!

I understand your perspective, but I'd say it's up to the Gerudo to decide whether their culture is worth preserving as it is. They have never expressed a desire for change in the games so to me it doesn't seem like the majority would want to welcome men in their city, but of course you can portray them differently if you want.

The Gerudo Token isn't wrong, it all depends on the actual number of men that would be present during the day. Like if all the Hylian husbands live nearby and visit their wives during the day, then life in the city changes irrevocably (and it's very different from occasional visits of a few handpicked men such as Link). But I'm re-reading what you wrote and it seems it would still be pretty selective, so I guess I'm just being difficult and it should be alright!

If you have any new ideas for your botw-totk rewrite that you wanna chat about or even just thoughts regarding AoI, I'm open to listen. 😄

Hello!! Well I'm fine! Just desperately waiting for something to happen on Zelda's 40th anniversary :D

...Which is just a few days before my own birthday so I would really love a surprise, hehe 😇 but I'm also trying to keep my hopes low!

What about you? How is it going with your new job?

To be honest I'm focused on another comic project these days so I have almost entirely stopped working on my rewrite. But I've been feeling like going back to it lately! I especially miss working on my own version of Hyrule and thinking of the rebuilding effort, what to do with the NPCs, etc., it was so much fun ^^

I still haven't played AoC and I don't think I will :/ First I'd need to get a Switch 2 and it doesn't seem that interesting at the moment, and second... I just can't anymore with that story and anything TotK related haha.

It's going well! Better than any of my previous jobs, so I'm hoping that it stays that way! Obviously, I know that there'll be rough patches & difficulties here & there, but I mean for the most part. I feel like I'm actually helping! :D

Woah! I didn't know that! No wonder you're anxious! It must've always felt a bit like an early birthday present, huh? Well, now I'm hoping for the same!

Hey, wherever the winds of inspiration take you, it's probably best to follow, lest they begin to blow in a different direction. I'd take advantage of it, personally.

Eh, that's fair. It IS the longest-running portion of the series since the Era of the Legendary Hero, so I can understand. And I really don't blame you for not getting the Switch 2. In fact, I think Nintendo could definitely use a couple plates of humble pie as they appear to have been acting pretty greedy lately.

So, I say enjoy yourself! XD

Personally, I found the story of AoI to be a big step up from what we had in TotK. I'm actually glad for it because I was sorely lacking in details regarding the actual world back then & the game's helped in that regard. Though, there's definitely some tweaks I'll need to make to get it to fit. Nothing too serious, tho.

For instance, I now know that Nemma has beef with the Zonai, but it's actually not Rauru. No, instead it's Mineru & the use of both Chef Constructs & especially Blacksmith Constructs. The fact that the Zonai royal family mass produces weaponry is the sort of thing that was grind against the Masamuna heiress' very core. And then to learn that they commonly have Constructs make their food would give her the distinct impression that the Zonai were derelict & overreliant upon technology to do things that aught be done by oneself.

Also, I'm having Gan wait a year before he enacts his plan to draw Rauru away from the castle. And once he does take the stone, he won't immediately create the Archfiend of sand. That won't happen until after the Gerudo begin to give up hope of getting their queen back as it'll feel like a betrayal to Gan.

Also, something amazing is that I was wrong when I despaired, thinking the River of the Dead wasn't there in Rauru's era, so I can STILL do the super creepy lore I wanted to! 😁

And I love Lago. His gameplay is probably one of my favorites in the game & now, he's the father of Larémy as well as the sensei who trained Nemma in the art of using water as part of her swordplay. So, she'll definitely have a good amount of Lago's influence in her own fighting style.

But this also makes things more complicated for Lago, as I'm sure you can expect. *vibrates happily*

The actual story's been fairly slow-going all things considered, but I'm still managing.

I just can't seem to finish the literal first scene! 😤

Any other games you been enjoying lately? I've been super invested in Stardew Valley myself. Really charming little game. Very whimsical, but also very chill. :3

I've also made good progress on my own timeline theory (I think I mentioned wanting to get rid of the Downfall Timeline and to put Minish Cap and the Four Sword games on their own branch at some point?). It definitely has some fanfiction elements and I might have managed to make things even more complicated, but I find it more satisfying than the official timeline ^^

This is great, I'm happy for you!! I hope it stays that way too :D

Well I usually don't expect anything but this year is a bit different since it's the 4Oth anniversary! I'm not really hoping for something as big as a new game but maybe we'll get a movie trailer or something (like they did for Mario). Or maybe a long awaited Switch 2 port for TP, but I'm not going to buy a new console just to play a game I've finished 50 times already haha. Anyway, one more week to go!

If the Wild era was my favorite part of the series I guess I wouldn't mind that it's been almost ten years ^^ It's just that I already wasn't the biggest BotW fan and now I'm kind of a TotK hater, so I really need the next game to be something different with new versions of Link and Zelda. And hopefully something a bit closer to the old formula, with a more linear story and real dungeons (EoW was a step in the right direction for me).

Yeah, I'm not really okay either with what Nintendo has been up to lately.

AoI definitely improves on TotK's story but I feel like all of this should have been told in the game, it doesn't sit right with me that we have to buy a new console and a new game to get the full story. On top of that it didn't answer any of the questions I had and even made things more confusing, so I'm not very happy with it haha. And I'm really disappointed in the way they treated Zelda's character and literally turned Link into a robot this time, but I'll stop there before this turns into a full blown rant again 😆

At least I'm happy the game gave you fuel for thought and more material to use! I didn't even know who Lago was haha. And I completely get that Nemma wouldn't agree with the way the Zonai were using constructs! I'm sure it's going to be an interesting conflict between them.

Oh! What creepy lore do you have in mind for the River of the Dead? It's always been so intriguing to me!

I haven't really been playing games, except for my first playthrough of Oracle of Ages I started back in November. I haven't finished it, don't really know why since I was really enjoying it, but I guess I just have other stuff to do! Also my eyes have been really dry and tired lately so I've been trying to reduce my screen time (which is hard when your main hobbies are drawing on a tablet and working on a comic project in Google Docs :/).

Thank you! I'm just doing the best I can to help!

As for the 40th anniversary, I'm honestly kinda hoping for a remake of something from the Downfall timeline. I mean, it certainly seems to be heading in that direction. They've been putting new installments in that timeline a bunch, I feel. A Link Between Worlds, Link's Awakening, Echoes of Wisdom. So, I'm really hoping for either a remake or reimagining of the Oracle games. Which, I know is probably expecting a lot, but I definitely think it's possible.

Though, for Zelda 1 & 2, if not this year, then I'm almost willing to bet money on the possibility that (provided Zelda is still as big as it's been), then a decade from now there will be either a remake or reimagining of Zelda 1 & 2 announced. Because it'd almost be the perfect time for it.

Eh, the Wild Era just wasn't your era. It happens. 🤷‍♀️

Oh, very much agreed. It's really dumb that they decided to put the bulk of the storytelling in the flipping dynasty warriors game & so little of it into the open-world game. Like, if they really wanted to do the majority of the story stuff on the Switch 2, then why didn't they just have EoW be the last entry on the Switch & have TotK & AoI primier on the Switch 2 as a set, but with all the story integrated into both?

Because, as it is, even with the Zelda Notes, TotK feels way too empty & shallow, which is something I've been noticing with a couple open-world games lately.

Thank you! Oh, Lago's just cool! He's this swordfighting veteran bodyguard for the late Zora king who swore never to pick up his blade in shame for having been unable to protect his king. His gameplay is so fun! He wields the Zora Sword, which is a first! But he showcases some serious samurai levels of skill! He even gets elemental attacks! As in attacks that actively count as water element! And the water element actually does something against fire enemies now! And there are elemental Lynels!! No golden ones, though.

(Btw as an aside, I think that I finally know a decent way of explaining the difference between water & ice as elements. The two are undoubtedly linked & very often overlap, but there are still slight differences that exist. Water as an element is just water & will always be water in some form or another, while ice is more accurately cold. Because, again, only water & anything containing a decent amount of H2O falls under the category of water, but any & every liquid with a freezing point, regardless of whether or not it contains H2O, falls under the category of ice, if that makes sense? So, in laymen's terms, all water can eventually be considered ice if frozen, but not all ice is water.)

Alright! Here's a usurp I wrote in regard to the River of the Dead:

“In the time before Hylia became the Custodian of the Triforce, Sheikaku & Karina traveled the land protecting the innocent & killing the wicked. However, at times, they would find those who repelled them on a level beyond that of others. Their righteous fury was such that they found simply killing them to not be enough. Because of this, they created Judgement’s _ (Moon God’s Judgement?), now referred to as the River of the Dead. Sheikaku made it to be eternally winter there. Because of this, the waters were forever freezing. It is believed that all who drown there, if they had continually committed a crime of a certain grievousness, then upon dying, their souls would become trapped there. But not simply trapped. Suffering eternally. Though a ghost needs neither breath nor warmth, they are still forever consigned to experience those feelings. So, they were made to always feel the sensation of freezing & being weighed down & dragged deeper into the very darkness. To always be drowning without relief.

However, that this will only happen to those guilty of very wicked crimes & any who swim in that water who was also guilty of similarly awful crimes, they would find themselves haunted.

If you’ve never seen it, there’s a horror movie about the Temagami spring in America that kills one person in order to heal another. And the souls of those that drowned are trapped forever in its waters. Just… this seemingly endless expanse of dark water that is filled with people, hair drifting around them. So, something like that, but all with eyes wide with panic, mouths opening & closing as though desperate for air, their arms & legs struggle eternally to try & reach a surface that they never will. Skin almost appearing blue with how pale they were, accompanied by patches of frost & blackened extremities, as though afflicted by frostbite. Just… terrifyingly haunting. But, imagine that each ghost there appears to be weighed down by heavy chains in a similar way to how the ghost of Marley from the Christmas Carol did. Combined with the experience that Bootstrap Bill from Pirates of the Caribbean was forced to endure when his crew tied his boots to a cannonball & had him tossed out into the ocean. The way that Bill described it. That feeling.” And the royal family only sentences those who've committed the most despicable of crimes. Not just against individuals, but on a massive & organized level. Things like slave-trading, sexual slavery, mass murder/attempted genocide, cannibalism, other similarly despicable things.

Moving on, I'm glad that you've been reducing your screentime! Hmm… Maybe take up a physical medium for your art? Sometimes going back to basics is a good idea.

For instance, I'd never really been very good at painting myself because I was more drawn to colored pencils, but due to my new job, I’ve been doing watercolors a lot more lately.

So, maybe try drawing or painting or watercolors?

Right?? Stardew's been really fun! Though, I've specifically been playing modded Stardew of late. Which is even more fun, though it can also get a bit overwhelming if you're new to the whole modding thing, which I am.

I would really like a remake of the Oracle games too, though maybe not in the same style as Link's Awakening and Echoes. But I think what these games need the most is new music!! I never thought I'd have to turn it off while playing a Zelda game, but OoA's soundtrack is just so horrible it gave me headaches. I feel though that the addition of the Oracle games to the Nintendo Switch Online makes the possibility of getting remakes soon less likely, but I could be wrong.

Oh I'd love remakes of Zelda I and II, especially since I've never played AoL (this game is scary haha).

They could easily have found a way to show more of the story in TotK, by letting us play as Zelda during the memories for example. I'm honestly glad TotK isn't the long awaited Switch 2 new Zelda game, I would have been so disappointed. It definitely feels empty and shallow as it is.

Lago sounds interesting and fun to play as! And you're right, ice isn't necessarily water.

This is great! And creepy indeed. I like this explanation for the eternal winter on the western part of the Great Plateau.

Yeah I could go back to traditional art, but I have this irrational fear of having to relearn everything since I haven't done so in years haha. Also I'm mostly working on the story for my comic these days, so I'm happy just taking notes and writing instead of drawing. I enjoy doing that on paper but I also use the Dark Reader extension to put Google Docs in dark mode, it really helps with my eyes.

Interesting perspective. Please, tell me more. I personally like to use some of the less canon games to help explain stuff.

For instance, “if Link was so necessary, why were the 7 Wisemen able to kill & seal away Ganon in ALttP?” Simply put, they weren't. A different Link & Zelda had jumped forward from a pre-OoT event & they, alongside a third commanding power over music, killed Ganon together, then returned to their homes. It was then that the 7 Wisemen came in & sealed Ganon into the Sacred Realm.

Basically, in my timeline, Cadence of Hyrule came between Minish Cap/Four Sword & Ocarina of Time. Mostly because it just made sense to me & gave me some ideas to play with.

Obviously there'd be some tweaks, but I give myself more leeway when using the spinoff games. It's something I really like about my timeline.

Understandable. All we can do is hope that the Nintendo crew takes a moment or two to do a bit of soul searching. And if they do remake the Oracle games, I REALLY wanna see more regarding the feud between the 2 types of Zora, as well as Piratians, Subrosians, & even just humans! I especially really wanna see more about the architecture of the Zora's underwater homes!

So many missed opportunities…

He is! Lago's also got a super deep voice, too! Love a deep voice. X3

I'm kind of debating if I should have Nemma see Lago as a father figure alongside her grandfather. Maybe have him be protective of her in a way.

Oddly enough, I really found the characters in AoI to be very endearing overall!

And oh my goodness… Raphica's hair. I just love it so much!

Thank you! I like a bit of myth here & there.

Maybe that's the problem? You don't need to relearn anything for it to be a relaxing hobby, just doodle. Put lines on paper & let your inner artist guide you without judgement of what you're making or the expectation of putting it out there to be judged by others.

Well, whatever you decide, at least you realize that the fear is irrational. Though, I can't help but wonder if you've decided to never go back to physical art, because if you ever did with the intention of doing so with the seriousness of an artist, then you'd need to relearn the skill anyway.

It most certainly does have mods! And so many! Of course, you have to be careful that you don't use any that would conflict with each other, but so long as you do, it's actually pretty simple once set up! Also, you'd either need a gaming computer or a graphics card suited to gaming or the game itself won't play, unfortunately.

Now, as far as mods go, it mostly depends on what it is you're looking for. For your first time experiencing the game & its story, I'd mostly stick to what I think of as “Vanilla Plus” mods. These are mods that mostly just take what's already there & expands upon it without adding too much in terms of content. Maybe some quality of life things.

You told me about your timeline placement for Cadence of Hyrule, I remember! Though I wonder, why do CoH Link and Zelda leave Ganon with the full Triforce in your theory? Are they not able to take it back from him?

Okay here we go! It's just obvious to me that the events described in ALttP have nothing to do with OoT, and that the Seven Wise Men are not the OoT Seven Sages. There are just too many differences between these two stories (I think anyone who has played both games can easily see this), and on top of that the alternate scenario of the Hero of Time's death/defeat makes this whole thing even weirder.

Now not only does ALttP make no sense as a sequel to OoT, but ALBW also doesn't work properly as a sequel to ALttP (or a sequel to ALttP-OoX if you believe these games really have the same Link) even though ALBW is literally titled "A Link to the Past 2" in Japanese!

At the beginning of ALBW we know that Ganon is sealed away with the Triforce of Power, when he was supposed to be dead at the end of ALttP (ALttP Link doesn't seal him, he kills him, and is then able to make a wish on the full Triforce). In OoX, Koume & Kotake manage to briefly resurrect Ganon but Link instantly defeats him. Ganon never gets the Triforce of Power here, and he certainly does not end up sealed away with it! Conclusion: both the events of ALttP and OoX do not match at all with the story we are told in ALBW!

We do have a game with a very similar story to the one told in ALBW's prologue, though: OoT. Here we have a Hero guided by a Princess, who together with the Sages manage to seal Ganon away—though they are not able to take the Triforce of Power from him.

(Also, something weird I've noticed is that the English translation of ALBW tells us that these Sages are "descendants of the Seven Sages", which clearly marks them as a different group from the OoT Seven Sages. This was very surprising to me since the French version calls them "les Sept Sages" (the Seven Sages) just like in OoT, they are never stated to be descendants of anyone. I found the original Japanese text thanks to Reddit and it appears that the English version is wrong, which is also confirmed by dialogue between Sahasrahla and Link. This makes the association with OoT even stronger!!).

In my timeline, I keep the three branches after OoT but I replace the Downfall Timeline with something different that allows me to place ALBW after OoT. This branch is created by OoT Zelda, the same way the Child Timeline is. The idea here is that the Great Flood happens during her rule in the Adult Timeline, so she uses the Ocarina of Time to send herself back in time in order to prevent this, as she did with Link. She leaves behind her husband, King Daphnes, their children, and the Triforce of Wisdom that she divides in two. Her goal here is to create a new timeline where she doesn't send Link back to his childhood, so that he can help seal Ganon again and save Hyrule from the Great Flood.

(Btw this is a story I'd really like to turn into a comic too!! It makes OoT Zelda's life even more tragic since she of course blames herself for sending Link back to his childhood and leaving Hyrule without a Hero, and she also has to leave her family behind in the Adult Timeline and start her life again after OoT. Of course I am not aiming for Zelink here (since Zelda is technically a mature woman with a husband and children while Link is a traumatised 10 years old stuck in the body of a young adult) and this whole thing makes their relationship quite complicated. They also have to live waiting for Ganon's return and knowing what will happen if they fail, and Link now has to defeat Ganon again as an older Hero… which I find really fun and would love to see in a game someday).

So that's it, Link, Zelda and the Sages manage to seal Ganon away again and prevent the Great Flood. Gan is sealed as Ganon this time and not as Ganondorf, so that things are coherent with what we see in ALBW. Link ends up entrusting the Seven Sages with the Triforce of Courage, while the Triforce of Wisdom gets passed down in the royal family. The Temple of Time is destroyed by Ganon when he returns, which is why the Master Sword finds itself in the middle of the Lost Woods, and the Spiritual Stones become the Three Pendants. As for Gramps, well, maybe he is the lingering spirit of OoT Link instead of ALttP Link, which mirrors the Hero's Shade in TP/the Child Timeline.

The next game in this timeline is ALttP, with a new Ganondorf, then of course Link's Awakening, and the last one is probably Echoes of Wisdom. I separate OoX from ALttP and LA because it's obvious to me that these games don't share the same Link and Zelda. First Zelda's design in OoX looks nothing like ALttP Zelda (she actually looks quite similar to OoT Zelda), and she also acts like she is meeting Link for the first time in OoX. I also really like the idea that Koume and Kotake are the same witches from OoT trying to revive their son/king, and the only timeline that makes this possible is the Child Timeline. So my Child Timeline looks like this: MM > TP > OoX > LoZ > AoL. I'm assuming that the Triforce gets reassembled at some point after TP and ends up under the care of the royal family.

I also like that this creates a better balance between the three branches of the timeline! The Child Timeline feels abandonned in the official version (and FSA should be a direct sequel to FS since they were supposed to have the same Link and Zelda) while the Downfall Timeline is basically where they cram up classic-looking games they don't know what to do with. It's also a bit weird that the timeline with the "what if the Hero died" scenario is the one with the most games.

Sorry that was a bit long, haha! I tend to get carried away when I talk about this. I hope this all makes sense, it’s not that easy for me to explain all of this in English!

Well, turns out Nintendo didn't do anything yesterday. That's kind of… sad. Anyway. I'd love to see all of this too in a OoX remake! Especially the two types of Zora.

I do like the characters in AoI, especially Raphica and Ardi! Not so much Calamo and the Knight Construct, though. It's just the story and lore I don't really enjoy.

I guess the thing is that I don't really see drawing as a relaxing hobby! To me it's the craft I use to make my ideas come to life and I'm constantly trying to get better at it, I don't do it to relax. If I want to relax I just do something else haha.

Oh no, I haven't decided to never go back to physical art or anything, it just isn't my priority right now. My ultimate goal is to make comics and maybe animations, and the best way to achieve that is to focus on digital art.

The part regarding CoH Link & Zelda not taking the ToP back, I have yet to figure out. 😅 At the same time, I'm already attached to the unknowing tragedy of the sequence of events, so I'll just have to think of something!

Hmm… Have I told you about the near soap opera-level of drama surrounding the identity of OoT Ganondorf's father?

Or the fact that CoH Link was OoT Link's father & CoH Zelda was OoT Zelda's mother? That CoH Link was the creator of many of the magical instruments that we see later as well as the Wind Waker, which has a secret function that turns it into a sort of magical rapier? I even made some art of it! I'm very happy with it! :D

Huh! I didn't know that the descendants part had been incorrect. I also hadn't considered the idea of Zelda sending herself to the past either. It would certainly change things.

Okay, I think I get what you're going for now. It isn't so much that you're getting rid of the Downfall Timeline as a concept entirely & more so swapping it out for a different one that makes more sense to you. Am I understanding this correctly?

Either way, it's most certainly not something I would've thought of & it sounds like it has real potential.

It's alright, I think I get the basic premise. You certainly put a lot of work into it too! I might need a Jullbnt Timeline to reference for the future, though. XD

Yeah, it was really disappointing for them to not do anything for Zelda's 40th.

Really? I loved Calamo & the Knight Construct. I thought it was a really creative way to have Link in the game while also not. And I found Calamo to be a very interesting take on a Korok.

Ah well, to each their own, I suppose.

I will also say that I like the idea that Qia eventually marries Cadlan, because he's very much like Sidon. And I really appreciate that they brought back the mid-tier weapons as well as adding in new ones. I really wasn't expecting any new Forestdweller weapons especially, but we got them!

And I really feel like the game was somewhat confirming my theory regarding different people aligning with different elements aside from what the Sages are known for. I'm telling you, Sholani is Wind aligned & Ronza is Earth, specifically Sand! Meanwhile, Pastos’ element seems to be Earth. Even if they didn't specifically give those characters’ Special Actions actual elements.

Have I said those already? I might've repeated myself... Sorry. 😅

Aaaaah! I understand now. Then, yeah, if drawing really isn't relaxing for you, then you're right. It wouldn't be the best choice. Hmm… Then, are there any hobbies of yours that you do find relaxing, & if not, then what about forgotten hobbies?

Personally, I used to love going fishing with my grandpa. I don't think it really even matters if I catch anything, sometimes it's just nice to get outside & enjoy the quiet peace of nature. At the same time, I understand that fishing might not be for everyone, so if it doesn't hold any interest for you (or if fishing laws make it difficult where you live, I've no idea how they work in France 😅), then maybe just think back to things that you used to enjoy growing up & even want to get back to, but you always keep putting off?

Or who knows? Maybe you should turn more towards trying new things & getting a bit adventurous? Like, what about activities that you've always wanted to try your hand at?

It doesn't even really need to be a long-term hobby either. For instance, my mom used to be very involved with scrapbooking, but now she's more into decorating cakes, cupcakes, & cookies. All it has to do is be a hobby for the moment.

*nods sagely* Understood. Praying all the best in your endeavors. Animating sounds super hard, but also really amazingly cool.

Well I'm sure you'll find something! If I remember correctly OoT Ganondorf is the King of Hyrule's son in your version of events? CoH Link being OoT Link's father sure does make things even more tragic. He's not aware the Hero of Time was his son, is he?

Oh I love the idea that CoH Link could be the creator of the Wind Waker and other instruments, it just makes so much sense!

Exactly! I just don't like that the Downfall Timeline is an alternate scenario that is not supported by the games in any way, and to make things worse the story told by Hyrule Historia doesn't even match with AlttP's backstory. So yeah I'm keeping the three timelines after OoT but replacing this one with something different that doesn't involve killing the Hero of Time off-screen.

I'm glad you think this has potential!! And here's my complete timeline since you asked for a reference 😇

Yes this is a monster of a timeline with 5 branches :D I can explain the two other ones but I'm not sure you'd like another wall of text!

I don't know, I found Calamo a bit annoying and I don't like the idea that Link can just be replaced by a robot. Maybe it would have helped if Zelda had shown a bit more interest towards it, I don't know. And I guess I would have preferred for the story to focus more on her than on Rauru and the Knight Construct.

Ah yes I thought the same thing about Qia and Cadlan! Even though it doesn't really make sense since there are thousands of years between Cadlan and Sidon haha, but it definitely looks like it was the intention.

Well I don't know enough about these characters but I believe you!

I enjoy crafty hobbies in general, stuff like diamond painting, papercraft or model building (but I do it in moderation since it's so time consuming). And of course reading (mostly fanfiction nowadays), taking walks, and playing music/singing. I play the transverse flute and… the ocarina :D

It's so great that you had this bond with your grandpa! I'm not sure I'd enjoy fishing but just spending time in nature with loved ones always sounds nice. No idea about fishing laws here, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were completely absurd haha.

Yep! Oot Ganondorf's father was the King of Hyrule & you're correct, CoH Link is completely unaware of his connection to OoT Link beyond the obvious.

Many thanks! I enjoyed the piece of lore about the Wind Waker too!

Thank you very much for the reference art! This should be very helpful in the future!

Really? I found Calamo funny & that his relationship with the Knight Construct was very sweet. Admittedly, he does seem to be cut from a similar cloth to Kohga, just not as… Kohga. Yet, at the same time, for whatever reason I found Calamo to be more endearing than Kohga.

Understandable. Though, in all fairness, Zora typically live to be something like 400, so there's probably far fewer generations between them than Rauru & Zelda. And if my theory regarding Zora royalty is true, then due to them being Zora royalty, every time a new heir ascended the throne, they would both grow in size soon after in a similar way to how the alphas of some species of sharks do, as well as gain an extra century or two of life (this is based on how the Wild Era Zora's ages seem to line up with the number of spots they have on their heads & that, despite Dorephan & Muzu being around the same age, Dorephan has more spots than Muzu). As such, while I very much agree with you, I also feel like it's actually a tiny bit less absurd than the Zelda thing.

Diamond painting? Not sure if I've ever heard of that, might need to look it up. Other than that, those all sound like lovely hobbies! Though, I definitely understand moderation. Ooo! Wind instruments! The transverse flute's always looked so dainty to me & the ocarina is a fun one for more than the obvious reason. I wish that I had learned how to play an instrument. Though, I've always wanted to play the violin myself. There's just something about them that's so… so versatile & fun!

But back on topic! My immediate suggestion is the ocarina. While I know very little in regard to instrument maintenance, if your ocarina is wooden, it'd likely be easier to take places & not as likely to break.

Though, you might also consider getting a panflute or possibly even branch out into a stringed instrument like a ukulele or lyre, but then again the process of learning to play a new instrument, even if at your own pace, might be more stressful than relaxing. So maybe not? 😅

Yeah, it was always nice going to visit my grandparents growing up. And most definitely. Actually, I'm sure that taking a nice nature walk just to observe nature & the wildlife could be a nice option as well. Birdwatching is also always an option. So's calligraphy, puzzles, pottery, sewing, knitting, etc. Stop me if I'm not helping any.

Yeah, that's fair. And you'd be correct in your assessment! Stardew is pretty addictive! I'm also hoping that Haunted Chocolatier will be worth it. It definitely seems like the type of game that'll focus more on the more cooking side of things (which I always like), but I still wonder just how creative it'll get. And will it just be the typical types of chocolate (white, milk, dark) or will it also have some of the less known chocolates as well as ruby chocolate, buttermilk chocolate, & potentially types of chocolate sweetened by means other than sugar? Maybe even cocoa grown in different terroirs resulting in different flavors. Like how cocoa from the Dominican Republic has an almost buttery taste to them (which I've actually had once, it was really good).

These poor boys! Well I guess CoH Link is better of not knowing. I think I remember now that he was supposed to be the Hero instead of OoT Link, but his death during the civil war forced his son to become the Hero of Time instead?

What do you think happened during the war by the way? I've spent a lot of time thinking about the Hyrulean Civil War myself (especially for my comic project) and I'm always curious to see how others interpret it.

(sorry if we've already talked about this, can't remember)

You're welcome!

Yeah Calamo was funny and endearing at first but I got tired of him pretty soon haha. I also found the revelation that he's now the Ancient Tree Stump a bit... ridiculous. But at least I'm so glad he didn't become the Deku Tree, I really feared this was where the game was headed! 

He's definitely cuter than Kohga, but I'm much more interested in Kohga and I find him a lot funnier ^^

Sure the Zora live longer but that's still a lot of generations between them. But yeah I see your point, and it's honestly fun that they hinted at this through character design even though it doesn't really make sense, I'm just nitpicking haha.

Diamond painting is the most relaxing thing ever to me! You create an image by sticking coloured beads (the "diamonds") to an adhesive canvas, it's a bit like pixel art in real life. They sell kits online (my favorites are famous paintings), but now I just have so many leftover diamonds that I like to make my own. I once spent months on this and I still can't believe I'm that crazy haha:

It's huge, close to 70 cm in height 😆

Oh I wanted to play the violin as a child too! Though my first choice would have been the harp. Neither were available in my little town though, so I went with the flute instead (my parents insisted my siblings and I should take music classes). And it's great! It also makes learning another wind instrument pretty easy, which is why I had no problem teaching myself the ocarina. 

It's never too late to learn music! You should go for it if you want to!

Well I own two ceramic replicas of the Ocarina of Time at the moment (original I know!) and one little 6 holes green rupee that I don't really know how to play yet. I'd really like to get a wooden one, I'm curious about the sound difference and I want an ocarina that's not a Zelda replica. And as you said it's a lot easier to carry around since it won't break ^^

I actually bought a recorder flute some time ago but I haven't really found the time to experiment with it, though I think it shouldn't be too hard for me to learn. I have to get back to it someday! I've tried the guitar too but it's a lot more difficult for me to practice seriously without a teacher (so not very relaxing indeed).

I guess I don't really need a new hobby though. I'm hoping to be done with my apartment by next week and then I want to focus on my comic until I actually manage to get it done. I'm tired of not being able to follow through with my comic projects!

Haha I'm not surprised you would enjoy a game focused on cooking! Well Stardew Valley looks pretty detailed and complete to me so we can hope this one will be too ^^

That's fine. I understand.

Correct! That or it was supposed to be the both of them together with Tempo teaching Time the ropes along the way. But yes, you're correct.

It's fine. I forget things all the time, so it'd be hypocritical to be upset over something like this.

And, funny that you mention it! I have a lot of it planned out! Not all, mind you, but the main plot points are planned. You see, the Civil War was actually a setup by the Interlopers (I'm aware that they came much earlier on the timeline according to the official timeline, but I figure that a little creative liberty won't hurt). See, in the manga, it originally started as a conflict between the Gorons & the Zora. And the Hylians were of 2 minds, some wanted to stay out of the conflict to act as a mediator in case things went too far, while others wanted to get involved now. Needless to say, the Royal Family had chosen to remain mediators. But because of both the Interlopers & some help from the Gerudo, who by a young Ganondorf's orders (egged on by Kōme & Kotake as he was only a teenager at that point), had begun to see descent amongst the Hylians. This eventually lead to the rebellion at the palace which resulted in the assassinations of both Tempo & Harmony (CoH Link & Zelda). We see in the manga that Tempo is killed by a rebel, but what we don't see is King Benjor running off to find his wife & newborn daughter. When he arrived in their chambers, he found a trio of shadowy figures standing above his wife's corpse, blade aloft & dripping with blood from her throat.

One of them stood poised over a bassinet, a dagger ready to end his wailing daughter's life before it'd had the chance to really begin. And the king saw red. Needless to say, there were 3 other dead that night, but no more of them bore the blood of Hylia.

This is when Impa came in, roughed up as she'd also been targeted. As Benjor was silently freaking out, baby girl in his arms, as much to reassure himself as to comfort her, Impa removed the masks of the assailants, only to be met with hauntingly familiar white hair & red markings.

This information sent betrayal riveting through the newly-named widower, then rage. In a fury, he, Impa, & his army marched on Kakariko to demand answers or enact vengeance.

However, upon arriving, they are shocked silent to find that the riot had likely been only one part of a twofold attack as ⅔rds of the Sheikah who'd been living in Kakariko were now dead. The Siege of Kakariko was a bloodbath & the very thing that caused Kakariko to become open to the public during OoT.

Now, I'm sure that I've already told you about the Hyrulian Revolution. The one I loosely based on the French Revolution. But, for short, Benjor's grandmother, as well as the 3-4 generations of rulers before her, had all been AWFUL. Just horrible. And one of the things that they did was mistreat the Sheikah & reduce them to their metaphorical attack dogs. Now, the Sheikah themselves had been a very important part of the Rebellion, but once everything had been settled & the reign of Bloody Queen Mera had ended, it was suggested by one of the Sheikah Elders that new rulers be put into place.

What they hadn't expected was for the people of Hyrule to choose to return the crown to Mera's twin children, Sonia & Saphio.

Saphio once more abdicated his role, as he found that he had his own dreams to follow, leaving the crown to Sonia, who became queen & her husband, Rauru of the Pastoral House of Sahasrahla, as king.

Now, while most of the Sheikah were all for this arrangement & satisfied with the results, some weren't.

I mean, 3-4 generations of mistreatment & subjugation, alongside the desecration of their temple, wouldn't feel great. And such wounds will only heal if they're allowed to. So, if someone isn't willing to let go of that hurt, then it can fester & become something truly awful.

This is the origin of the Interlopers in my version of things. They were mostly Sheikah who did not wish to be subjugated by the Hylian Royal Family ever again. Though, some also believed that it should be the Sheikah to lead Hyrule as their clan had always been dedicated to the goddesses. Plus, the first queen of Hyrule had been a Sheikah, Queen Nekarina Sahasrahla. So, they saw it as their right to lead Hyrule's people for, (in their minds) where the Royal Family had betrayed the goddesses & mistreated their people, the Sheikah had remained faithful & true to them.

The Interlopers had allowed those feelings to fester & grow. And eventually, when the fighting between the Gorons & Zora began, they knew their time to strike was near.

And the Siege of Kakariko was the Interlopers taking out the loyalists within their clan. It was utterly horrifying. A slaughter.

During that time, the gates to the village were sealed shut. The Interlopers donned masks (contemplating them having Yiga-like designs, just for fun) to hide themselves & whenever they killed a loyalist, they mutilated their face so as to keep anyone from being able to figure out who was part of the splinter cell via process of elimination.

But when the lookout saw the king's army on the approach, they retreated. Their greatest weapon is their cunning, afterall.

This is where Hyrule, itself, entered the war. And one of the big things that the Interlopers did during that time was attack farmers, fishers, ranchers, etc. They even attacked Lon Lon Ranch in an attempt to destroy Hyrule's food sources which results in a food scarcity that they'll continue to feel even many years after OoT. (There are some parts that I haven't gone into. Particularly, Talon's wife as well as the role that Saphio, Sonia's father played into the success of the rebellion, how Benjor went temporarily mad until his father, Sage of Light Rauru, returned from his pilgrimage to Holy Mount Lanayru slapped him across the face, snapping him out of it, how the continued loyalty of Impa & her fellows humbled Benjor in a way that hurt as much as relieved him, but that can be for later.)

Of course, Hyrule still manages to win, but in the process most of the Sheikah were taken out. So, since there weren't many left, Hyrule opened Kakariko to the public.

As for Calamo vs Kohga: Hey, to each their own, right? If you find Kohga more interesting than Calamo, then that's all there is to it.

Eh, I nitpick too, so I understand. And yes, even with the context that the Zora live longer than Hylians, it's still fairly ridiculous.

Ooohhh! Diamond painting looks so pretty!! That somewhat reminds me of a couple things we used to have over here when growing up! One was something known as Light Bright. It was this black board with holes in it that you'd plug into a wall. And it'd give you a number of different colored pegs that you could insert into the holes & they'd light up to make a picture. Another was something where you'd take these things called Perler Beads & the pegboard they come with, then you'd use the pegboard to make pictures. Once you've done that, you glue them together & when it's done drying, you remove them from the pegboard. Obviously, the diamond painting appears to be much more sophisticated, but the memories were very sudden.

Oh, that's so amazing! It's also super aesthetic if you think about it. I have this image of someone sitting beneath a tree contentedly playing a flute alongside the breeze… Very pretty. :)

Hmm… Maybe I will… I'd love to learn music, that's for sure…

Oooo! Aren't recorder flutes able to mimic most any sound with enough experience? Very cool!

Well, whatever it is that you choose, I hope it all goes well. You have so much talent as well as hardwon skill that I'm sure you'll be able to make that comic a hit.

Same! Stardew's very fun! There's just so much whimsy packed into that game!

Exactly! And actually, a few of the flora that I've come up with for Hyrule are somewhat based on those found in Stardew. One is the Spice Berry, which is the inspiration for my Piqurrants. Though, I take inspiration from the real world Northern spicebush berry (Lindera benzoin) & clove currant (Ribes odoratum). Did you know that you can dry spicebush berries & clove currant, then grind them down into a powder, the spicebush powder can act as a decent substitute for allspice, if a bit more fruity, while the clove currant powder acts as a decent substitute for cloves? It's so cool!

Though, if your sister happens to have a lot of clothing in Stardew, with decreasing room to store it all, maybe tell her to buy a dresser from Robin. Turns out, it works as a sort of chest (with unlimited space might I add) specifically for clothes. I only just recently learned about it & it’s just so good!

I really wish that the game had something similar for fishing supplies, tho. Which is why I love the Tackle Box mod. It makes it so you can buy a number of tackle boxes that come in different colors from the town fisherman, which works exactly like the dresser, but only for bait & lures. The best part is, unlike the dresser, you can pick it up & carry it around with you! So, if I were to give you a list of simple & low impact Quality of Life mods that don't change anything about the game or its story, the Tackle Box & Bigger Fridges mods would be amongst them.

Oh! I did learn about something VERY interesting a bit ago! There turns out to be actual IRL women only settlements in the world, but I've only learned of 2: Umoja, Kenya & Jinwar, Syria.

Now, the big difference between these real-life communities & the Gerudo is that in both Umoja & Jinwar, men are allowed to visit, but only in the day & only if they behave. They are not allowed to stay & live there. Though, specifically in the case of Jinwar, any boys raised there are allowed to stay & live there as they were raised with "Jinwar values." But in the case of Umoja, while boys may be raised in these places with their mothers, upon reaching 18, they must leave. However, they are still allowed to visit & potentially even stay on a temporary basis. Even being allowed to sleep overnight.

How interesting is that!?!?

Like, there's still a bunch of issues, but I can't help but think that I'd much prefer this sort of model regarding the Gerudo.

For me, I think I'd like the Umoja model for them, but instead of "any man can visit so long as it's daytime & they behave," I think it'd fit their society more if a man had to fit certain criteria. Things like being the father, step-son, or half/step-brother of a Gerudo, at least 2 other Gerudo vouches for his character, has proven himself through a series of tests/trails/ordeals, a/o has performed some huge favor or survice for the Gerudo as a whole. And, I think it'd be important to check off at least 2-3 of those things, but if a man does, then he's given a Gerudo Token, which acts as a day-pass of sorts allowing him entry. He still needs to behave & not break any of their laws, as well as leave at nightfall (unless he was raised by a Gerudo), but he's allowed to enter the town & use their services. So, basically, a sort of expansion on how Link manages to gain entry of the Gerudo Fortress/Gerudo Town in OoT & TotK.

Haha well you might have noticed I don't really care about the official timeline! It doesn't make much sense anyway 😇 In my opinion you're free to do whatever you please with the Interlopers War since TP Lanayru doesn't tell us exactly when it happened. Your version of events implies that the Twili were banished to the Twilight Realm not too long before TP though (only a few years before Ganondorf himself), unless OoT and TP are separated by a few centuries in your timeline? Personally I like to think that TP takes place a century or less after OoT, so that TP Link can be Time's grandson or great-grandson. 

Lanayru also specifically says that the Interlopers were banished because they "tried to establish dominion over the Sacred Realm", so depending on how closely you want to follow canon you might want to take that into consideration (but if you don't care that's completely fine, I'm not the timeline police 😆).

Oh I need to re-read the manga, I didn't remember that part about the Gorons and the Zoras starting the war! It's interesting, though I've always preferred to see it as a civil war amongst the Hylians themselves (with some involvement of the Gerudo and of course the Sheikah). In my version it's a succession war after the Queen's death (OoT Zelda's mother). The King manages to keep the throne but the war ends with a betrothal between the very young Princess Zelda and future King Daphnes from WW. I like to suffer so no Zelink happy ending here either 🥲

Wow, this scene feels like it's straight out from House of the Dragon! It hurts reading about a Zelda and her Link getting slaughtered like this but at the same time... it's a pretty cool story haha.

You really have thought all of this through, this was a very fun and interesting read! I especially liked the part about the siege of Kakariko, as grim as it is (the face mutilations are a clever detail). It makes perfect sense that the Sheikah wouldn't be too happy about serving the royal family after generations of mistreatment...

(And I had a laugh out of Rauru slapping Benjor back to sanity, that's a really fun picture 😆)

Have you heard the rumor about an OoT remake coming out this year?? It's been going around for some time but it seems more likely to be true now that Nate the Hate "leaked" it. I'm both very excited and quite scared!! I'd be overjoyed to see my favorite game make a return (especially with new content), but I'm not sure a remake can capture the magic and charm I love so much. At least I hope that if this is true, they won't turn OoT into the same type of repetitive open world that BotW and TotK are.

(We might also get new context about the Civil War, which I hope won't get too much in the way of my comic project...).

Oh I didn't know about Light Brite, it looks like fun! I had Perler Beads as child too, and diamond painting is definitely a prettier, more sophisticated and more satisfying version of that!

Haha I don't know about reproducing most sounds but I'm sure you can do a lot of fun things with a recorder flute! Though I only got mine because I wanted to try playing Vivaldi concertos... and the Milk Bar songs from ALBW 😆. Talking about it made me finally want to play it and well, I think I'm obsessed now!!

Well that's so nice of you to say! I'm not sure I'm much of a writer though, but I'm trying my best. I really want to do this!

I didn't know that! It's honestly quite impressive to me that you know so much about flora and food ^^

Well my sister doesn't have a lot of clothes yet in Stardew Valley but she'll definitely buy the dresser when she'll need it :D That sounds like a great mod! She plays on the Switch though, not sure she can easily install mods.

No worries, Twilight is still very much Time's great grandson. And it still takes place only a century or so before TP, but you do make a decent point regarding the time, so maybe there's a bit of time dilation between Hyrule & the Twilight Realm?

That's right! Lanayru DID say that, didn't they? Hmm… It's possible that some of the higher-ups of the Interlopers became power hungry & actually turned against the gods, then decided that they would govern the cosmos better, but then that wouldn't explain why the rest of the Interlopers were also banished. Though, the fact that they were banished rather than outright killed says that maybe there's more to the story… Hmm… I'm sure I'll figure it out. Thanks for bringing that up! 😁

Well, in a sense, it was the Hylians fighting themselves. But also, to me, there's a small, but still existent difference between Hylian & Hyrulean. Hylian refers to the pointy eared humans that we all know, while Hyrulean refers to residents of Hyrule, so it can refer to any of the other races living there as well.

In my version of things, it's sort of a multi-sided war with the many races fighting against each other: Goron vs Zora & Hylian-Sheikah vs Interloper with the Gerudo sort of stoking the flames like an opportunistic heckler on the sidelines. Meanwhile, the now widowed king is just trying to get a handle on all this chaos.

Interesting idea! A succession war definitely invites intrigue. Though, if nothing else, at least Daphnes very much tried.

Thank you for your kind words! I tried very hard to make the scene evocative, so it's good to know I managed to do well. It sucks that they die, but that's just part of how things go, unfortunately. 🥲

Oh, I have better! I have a scene from an AU focusing on the perspective of a surviving Sheikah & I'm trying to make it as tense & scary as possible. *bounces excitedly in her seat*

Oh, it's only fun from an outside perspective. Inside, it's sobering, which is exactly what Benjor needs. But yes, it's pretty fun.

Yes, I have heard of the OoT reimagining & I am cautiously optimistic about it! I feel the same. I do hope that the world is more expansive than in the original, but not so expansive that it feels… empty like TotK did. Hopefully, the Zelda Team just needs to find the right balance between the two extremes. I gotta say that I find Okami to have been a decent example of such.

I hope so! I am VERY interested in the idea of an actual in-universe war that didn't involve a Link.

Yeah, Lite Brite was very fun. :)

Oooo! Sounds so fun! Love a bit of classical music! I wonder if you could play the Four Seasons, too? Or the Phoenix?

That's okay, writing is a skill like any other, it just takes time, dedication, & practice.

Thank you! <3 I find this sort of information to be very interesting. It's just another way that lets me appreciate my home. There are just so many wonders out there. So much beauty. And just like how I've always admired people with green thumbs, I've also always admired people who can cook, so I've been trying to improve at it myself. But being me, I tend to research more than is most likely necessary.

Hmhmhm! That's true. If nothing else, she's aware of the mod now. So, if she ever decides to get it on Steam & start modding her game, then she'll have at least one Quality of Life sort of mod to look at.

Time dilation between the Light and Twilight Realms is possible! And you're welcome! I'm sure you'll figure it out ^^

Haha yes, this war before OoT has been referred to as "the Hyrulean Civil War" for some time now but it’s never mentioned as such in OoT, or any game as far as I'm aware. I suppose the source for this is Hyrule Historia, and… I don't give that book much credit. To build my own timeline I only take as canon what is said and shown in the games themselves.

All we know about the war in OoT is what the Deku Sprout tells Link: "Some time ago, before the King of Hyrule unified this country, there was a fierce war in our world." Pretty vague, so I think there's a lot of room for interpretation here, and I can make it a mostly Hylian civil war ^^

(By the way, in the French version the Deku Sprout talks with a lisp… which makes this entire passage about the war and Link's parents absolutely ridiculous. It will never stop being funny to me that the French translator thought it appropriate to turn THIS scene into some stupid joke 😆)

(Never gets old haha. Honestly the French translation is hilarious. And I haven't told you about the Bombchu merchant yet!! They had to rewrite his dialogue for the 3DS version because the original was way too… offensive by today's standards 😅)

Daphnes was just a very young child at the time of the war, just like Link & Zelda were. His mother tried, though! I'm not making our King of Red Lions the one who started the war ^^

Oh that sounds interesting. Haha yes I guess the slap isn't fun from either Benjor or Rauru's perspective.

Ah yes I loved Okami!! Been I while since I played it though. I agree, making OoT's world bigger just for the sake of it without quality content would be a terrible choice. I'm a bit afraid for the dungeons too, it's very likely they'll get dumbed down… I'm still offended by TotK's Water Temple haha.

I could probably play the Four Seasons on the transversal flute, yes! It's not my favorite piece by Vivaldi though, I much prefer his sacred music (especially sung by Philippe Jaroussky), arias, and concertos (this is the one I absolutely want to be able to play on the recorder, I'll get there with a bit more training!). I know a version of Spring on the recorder that is quite interesting though, I feel like you can close your eyes and picture little birds singing and responding to each other. I admit I don't know what the Phoenix is!

Haha yes, I get the need to research more than necessary ^^

If you have any new ideas for your botw-totk rewrite that you wanna chat about or even just thoughts regarding AoI, I'm open to listen. 😄

Hello!! Well I'm fine! Just desperately waiting for something to happen on Zelda's 40th anniversary :D

...Which is just a few days before my own birthday so I would really love a surprise, hehe 😇 but I'm also trying to keep my hopes low!

What about you? How is it going with your new job?

To be honest I'm focused on another comic project these days so I have almost entirely stopped working on my rewrite. But I've been feeling like going back to it lately! I especially miss working on my own version of Hyrule and thinking of the rebuilding effort, what to do with the NPCs, etc., it was so much fun ^^

I still haven't played AoC and I don't think I will :/ First I'd need to get a Switch 2 and it doesn't seem that interesting at the moment, and second... I just can't anymore with that story and anything TotK related haha.

It's going well! Better than any of my previous jobs, so I'm hoping that it stays that way! Obviously, I know that there'll be rough patches & difficulties here & there, but I mean for the most part. I feel like I'm actually helping! :D

Woah! I didn't know that! No wonder you're anxious! It must've always felt a bit like an early birthday present, huh? Well, now I'm hoping for the same!

Hey, wherever the winds of inspiration take you, it's probably best to follow, lest they begin to blow in a different direction. I'd take advantage of it, personally.

Eh, that's fair. It IS the longest-running portion of the series since the Era of the Legendary Hero, so I can understand. And I really don't blame you for not getting the Switch 2. In fact, I think Nintendo could definitely use a couple plates of humble pie as they appear to have been acting pretty greedy lately.

So, I say enjoy yourself! XD

Personally, I found the story of AoI to be a big step up from what we had in TotK. I'm actually glad for it because I was sorely lacking in details regarding the actual world back then & the game's helped in that regard. Though, there's definitely some tweaks I'll need to make to get it to fit. Nothing too serious, tho.

For instance, I now know that Nemma has beef with the Zonai, but it's actually not Rauru. No, instead it's Mineru & the use of both Chef Constructs & especially Blacksmith Constructs. The fact that the Zonai royal family mass produces weaponry is the sort of thing that was grind against the Masamuna heiress' very core. And then to learn that they commonly have Constructs make their food would give her the distinct impression that the Zonai were derelict & overreliant upon technology to do things that aught be done by oneself.

Also, I'm having Gan wait a year before he enacts his plan to draw Rauru away from the castle. And once he does take the stone, he won't immediately create the Archfiend of sand. That won't happen until after the Gerudo begin to give up hope of getting their queen back as it'll feel like a betrayal to Gan.

Also, something amazing is that I was wrong when I despaired, thinking the River of the Dead wasn't there in Rauru's era, so I can STILL do the super creepy lore I wanted to! 😁

And I love Lago. His gameplay is probably one of my favorites in the game & now, he's the father of Larémy as well as the sensei who trained Nemma in the art of using water as part of her swordplay. So, she'll definitely have a good amount of Lago's influence in her own fighting style.

But this also makes things more complicated for Lago, as I'm sure you can expect. *vibrates happily*

The actual story's been fairly slow-going all things considered, but I'm still managing.

I just can't seem to finish the literal first scene! 😤

Any other games you been enjoying lately? I've been super invested in Stardew Valley myself. Really charming little game. Very whimsical, but also very chill. :3

I've also made good progress on my own timeline theory (I think I mentioned wanting to get rid of the Downfall Timeline and to put Minish Cap and the Four Sword games on their own branch at some point?). It definitely has some fanfiction elements and I might have managed to make things even more complicated, but I find it more satisfying than the official timeline ^^

This is great, I'm happy for you!! I hope it stays that way too :D

Well I usually don't expect anything but this year is a bit different since it's the 4Oth anniversary! I'm not really hoping for something as big as a new game but maybe we'll get a movie trailer or something (like they did for Mario). Or maybe a long awaited Switch 2 port for TP, but I'm not going to buy a new console just to play a game I've finished 50 times already haha. Anyway, one more week to go!

If the Wild era was my favorite part of the series I guess I wouldn't mind that it's been almost ten years ^^ It's just that I already wasn't the biggest BotW fan and now I'm kind of a TotK hater, so I really need the next game to be something different with new versions of Link and Zelda. And hopefully something a bit closer to the old formula, with a more linear story and real dungeons (EoW was a step in the right direction for me).

Yeah, I'm not really okay either with what Nintendo has been up to lately.

AoI definitely improves on TotK's story but I feel like all of this should have been told in the game, it doesn't sit right with me that we have to buy a new console and a new game to get the full story. On top of that it didn't answer any of the questions I had and even made things more confusing, so I'm not very happy with it haha. And I'm really disappointed in the way they treated Zelda's character and literally turned Link into a robot this time, but I'll stop there before this turns into a full blown rant again 😆

At least I'm happy the game gave you fuel for thought and more material to use! I didn't even know who Lago was haha. And I completely get that Nemma wouldn't agree with the way the Zonai were using constructs! I'm sure it's going to be an interesting conflict between them.

Oh! What creepy lore do you have in mind for the River of the Dead? It's always been so intriguing to me!

I haven't really been playing games, except for my first playthrough of Oracle of Ages I started back in November. I haven't finished it, don't really know why since I was really enjoying it, but I guess I just have other stuff to do! Also my eyes have been really dry and tired lately so I've been trying to reduce my screen time (which is hard when your main hobbies are drawing on a tablet and working on a comic project in Google Docs :/).

Thank you! I'm just doing the best I can to help!

As for the 40th anniversary, I'm honestly kinda hoping for a remake of something from the Downfall timeline. I mean, it certainly seems to be heading in that direction. They've been putting new installments in that timeline a bunch, I feel. A Link Between Worlds, Link's Awakening, Echoes of Wisdom. So, I'm really hoping for either a remake or reimagining of the Oracle games. Which, I know is probably expecting a lot, but I definitely think it's possible.

Though, for Zelda 1 & 2, if not this year, then I'm almost willing to bet money on the possibility that (provided Zelda is still as big as it's been), then a decade from now there will be either a remake or reimagining of Zelda 1 & 2 announced. Because it'd almost be the perfect time for it.

Eh, the Wild Era just wasn't your era. It happens. 🤷‍♀️

Oh, very much agreed. It's really dumb that they decided to put the bulk of the storytelling in the flipping dynasty warriors game & so little of it into the open-world game. Like, if they really wanted to do the majority of the story stuff on the Switch 2, then why didn't they just have EoW be the last entry on the Switch & have TotK & AoI primier on the Switch 2 as a set, but with all the story integrated into both?

Because, as it is, even with the Zelda Notes, TotK feels way too empty & shallow, which is something I've been noticing with a couple open-world games lately.

Thank you! Oh, Lago's just cool! He's this swordfighting veteran bodyguard for the late Zora king who swore never to pick up his blade in shame for having been unable to protect his king. His gameplay is so fun! He wields the Zora Sword, which is a first! But he showcases some serious samurai levels of skill! He even gets elemental attacks! As in attacks that actively count as water element! And the water element actually does something against fire enemies now! And there are elemental Lynels!! No golden ones, though.

(Btw as an aside, I think that I finally know a decent way of explaining the difference between water & ice as elements. The two are undoubtedly linked & very often overlap, but there are still slight differences that exist. Water as an element is just water & will always be water in some form or another, while ice is more accurately cold. Because, again, only water & anything containing a decent amount of H2O falls under the category of water, but any & every liquid with a freezing point, regardless of whether or not it contains H2O, falls under the category of ice, if that makes sense? So, in laymen's terms, all water can eventually be considered ice if frozen, but not all ice is water.)

Alright! Here's a usurp I wrote in regard to the River of the Dead:

“In the time before Hylia became the Custodian of the Triforce, Sheikaku & Karina traveled the land protecting the innocent & killing the wicked. However, at times, they would find those who repelled them on a level beyond that of others. Their righteous fury was such that they found simply killing them to not be enough. Because of this, they created Judgement’s _ (Moon God’s Judgement?), now referred to as the River of the Dead. Sheikaku made it to be eternally winter there. Because of this, the waters were forever freezing. It is believed that all who drown there, if they had continually committed a crime of a certain grievousness, then upon dying, their souls would become trapped there. But not simply trapped. Suffering eternally. Though a ghost needs neither breath nor warmth, they are still forever consigned to experience those feelings. So, they were made to always feel the sensation of freezing & being weighed down & dragged deeper into the very darkness. To always be drowning without relief.

However, that this will only happen to those guilty of very wicked crimes & any who swim in that water who was also guilty of similarly awful crimes, they would find themselves haunted.

If you’ve never seen it, there’s a horror movie about the Temagami spring in America that kills one person in order to heal another. And the souls of those that drowned are trapped forever in its waters. Just… this seemingly endless expanse of dark water that is filled with people, hair drifting around them. So, something like that, but all with eyes wide with panic, mouths opening & closing as though desperate for air, their arms & legs struggle eternally to try & reach a surface that they never will. Skin almost appearing blue with how pale they were, accompanied by patches of frost & blackened extremities, as though afflicted by frostbite. Just… terrifyingly haunting. But, imagine that each ghost there appears to be weighed down by heavy chains in a similar way to how the ghost of Marley from the Christmas Carol did. Combined with the experience that Bootstrap Bill from Pirates of the Caribbean was forced to endure when his crew tied his boots to a cannonball & had him tossed out into the ocean. The way that Bill described it. That feeling.” And the royal family only sentences those who've committed the most despicable of crimes. Not just against individuals, but on a massive & organized level. Things like slave-trading, sexual slavery, mass murder/attempted genocide, cannibalism, other similarly despicable things.

Moving on, I'm glad that you've been reducing your screentime! Hmm… Maybe take up a physical medium for your art? Sometimes going back to basics is a good idea.

For instance, I'd never really been very good at painting myself because I was more drawn to colored pencils, but due to my new job, I’ve been doing watercolors a lot more lately.

So, maybe try drawing or painting or watercolors?

Right?? Stardew's been really fun! Though, I've specifically been playing modded Stardew of late. Which is even more fun, though it can also get a bit overwhelming if you're new to the whole modding thing, which I am.

I would really like a remake of the Oracle games too, though maybe not in the same style as Link's Awakening and Echoes. But I think what these games need the most is new music!! I never thought I'd have to turn it off while playing a Zelda game, but OoA's soundtrack is just so horrible it gave me headaches. I feel though that the addition of the Oracle games to the Nintendo Switch Online makes the possibility of getting remakes soon less likely, but I could be wrong.

Oh I'd love remakes of Zelda I and II, especially since I've never played AoL (this game is scary haha).

They could easily have found a way to show more of the story in TotK, by letting us play as Zelda during the memories for example. I'm honestly glad TotK isn't the long awaited Switch 2 new Zelda game, I would have been so disappointed. It definitely feels empty and shallow as it is.

Lago sounds interesting and fun to play as! And you're right, ice isn't necessarily water.

This is great! And creepy indeed. I like this explanation for the eternal winter on the western part of the Great Plateau.

Yeah I could go back to traditional art, but I have this irrational fear of having to relearn everything since I haven't done so in years haha. Also I'm mostly working on the story for my comic these days, so I'm happy just taking notes and writing instead of drawing. I enjoy doing that on paper but I also use the Dark Reader extension to put Google Docs in dark mode, it really helps with my eyes.

Interesting perspective. Please, tell me more. I personally like to use some of the less canon games to help explain stuff.

For instance, “if Link was so necessary, why were the 7 Wisemen able to kill & seal away Ganon in ALttP?” Simply put, they weren't. A different Link & Zelda had jumped forward from a pre-OoT event & they, alongside a third commanding power over music, killed Ganon together, then returned to their homes. It was then that the 7 Wisemen came in & sealed Ganon into the Sacred Realm.

Basically, in my timeline, Cadence of Hyrule came between Minish Cap/Four Sword & Ocarina of Time. Mostly because it just made sense to me & gave me some ideas to play with.

Obviously there'd be some tweaks, but I give myself more leeway when using the spinoff games. It's something I really like about my timeline.

Understandable. All we can do is hope that the Nintendo crew takes a moment or two to do a bit of soul searching. And if they do remake the Oracle games, I REALLY wanna see more regarding the feud between the 2 types of Zora, as well as Piratians, Subrosians, & even just humans! I especially really wanna see more about the architecture of the Zora's underwater homes!

So many missed opportunities…

He is! Lago's also got a super deep voice, too! Love a deep voice. X3

I'm kind of debating if I should have Nemma see Lago as a father figure alongside her grandfather. Maybe have him be protective of her in a way.

Oddly enough, I really found the characters in AoI to be very endearing overall!

And oh my goodness… Raphica's hair. I just love it so much!

Thank you! I like a bit of myth here & there.

Maybe that's the problem? You don't need to relearn anything for it to be a relaxing hobby, just doodle. Put lines on paper & let your inner artist guide you without judgement of what you're making or the expectation of putting it out there to be judged by others.

Well, whatever you decide, at least you realize that the fear is irrational. Though, I can't help but wonder if you've decided to never go back to physical art, because if you ever did with the intention of doing so with the seriousness of an artist, then you'd need to relearn the skill anyway.

It most certainly does have mods! And so many! Of course, you have to be careful that you don't use any that would conflict with each other, but so long as you do, it's actually pretty simple once set up! Also, you'd either need a gaming computer or a graphics card suited to gaming or the game itself won't play, unfortunately.

Now, as far as mods go, it mostly depends on what it is you're looking for. For your first time experiencing the game & its story, I'd mostly stick to what I think of as “Vanilla Plus” mods. These are mods that mostly just take what's already there & expands upon it without adding too much in terms of content. Maybe some quality of life things.

You told me about your timeline placement for Cadence of Hyrule, I remember! Though I wonder, why do CoH Link and Zelda leave Ganon with the full Triforce in your theory? Are they not able to take it back from him?

Okay here we go! It's just obvious to me that the events described in ALttP have nothing to do with OoT, and that the Seven Wise Men are not the OoT Seven Sages. There are just too many differences between these two stories (I think anyone who has played both games can easily see this), and on top of that the alternate scenario of the Hero of Time's death/defeat makes this whole thing even weirder.

Now not only does ALttP make no sense as a sequel to OoT, but ALBW also doesn't work properly as a sequel to ALttP (or a sequel to ALttP-OoX if you believe these games really have the same Link) even though ALBW is literally titled "A Link to the Past 2" in Japanese!

At the beginning of ALBW we know that Ganon is sealed away with the Triforce of Power, when he was supposed to be dead at the end of ALttP (ALttP Link doesn't seal him, he kills him, and is then able to make a wish on the full Triforce). In OoX, Koume & Kotake manage to briefly resurrect Ganon but Link instantly defeats him. Ganon never gets the Triforce of Power here, and he certainly does not end up sealed away with it! Conclusion: both the events of ALttP and OoX do not match at all with the story we are told in ALBW!

We do have a game with a very similar story to the one told in ALBW's prologue, though: OoT. Here we have a Hero guided by a Princess, who together with the Sages manage to seal Ganon away—though they are not able to take the Triforce of Power from him.

(Also, something weird I've noticed is that the English translation of ALBW tells us that these Sages are "descendants of the Seven Sages", which clearly marks them as a different group from the OoT Seven Sages. This was very surprising to me since the French version calls them "les Sept Sages" (the Seven Sages) just like in OoT, they are never stated to be descendants of anyone. I found the original Japanese text thanks to Reddit and it appears that the English version is wrong, which is also confirmed by dialogue between Sahasrahla and Link. This makes the association with OoT even stronger!!).

In my timeline, I keep the three branches after OoT but I replace the Downfall Timeline with something different that allows me to place ALBW after OoT. This branch is created by OoT Zelda, the same way the Child Timeline is. The idea here is that the Great Flood happens during her rule in the Adult Timeline, so she uses the Ocarina of Time to send herself back in time in order to prevent this, as she did with Link. She leaves behind her husband, King Daphnes, their children, and the Triforce of Wisdom that she divides in two. Her goal here is to create a new timeline where she doesn't send Link back to his childhood, so that he can help seal Ganon again and save Hyrule from the Great Flood.

(Btw this is a story I'd really like to turn into a comic too!! It makes OoT Zelda's life even more tragic since she of course blames herself for sending Link back to his childhood and leaving Hyrule without a Hero, and she also has to leave her family behind in the Adult Timeline and start her life again after OoT. Of course I am not aiming for Zelink here (since Zelda is technically a mature woman with a husband and children while Link is a traumatised 10 years old stuck in the body of a young adult) and this whole thing makes their relationship quite complicated. They also have to live waiting for Ganon's return and knowing what will happen if they fail, and Link now has to defeat Ganon again as an older Hero… which I find really fun and would love to see in a game someday).

So that's it, Link, Zelda and the Sages manage to seal Ganon away again and prevent the Great Flood. Gan is sealed as Ganon this time and not as Ganondorf, so that things are coherent with what we see in ALBW. Link ends up entrusting the Seven Sages with the Triforce of Courage, while the Triforce of Wisdom gets passed down in the royal family. The Temple of Time is destroyed by Ganon when he returns, which is why the Master Sword finds itself in the middle of the Lost Woods, and the Spiritual Stones become the Three Pendants. As for Gramps, well, maybe he is the lingering spirit of OoT Link instead of ALttP Link, which mirrors the Hero's Shade in TP/the Child Timeline.

The next game in this timeline is ALttP, with a new Ganondorf, then of course Link's Awakening, and the last one is probably Echoes of Wisdom. I separate OoX from ALttP and LA because it's obvious to me that these games don't share the same Link and Zelda. First Zelda's design in OoX looks nothing like ALttP Zelda (she actually looks quite similar to OoT Zelda), and she also acts like she is meeting Link for the first time in OoX. I also really like the idea that Koume and Kotake are the same witches from OoT trying to revive their son/king, and the only timeline that makes this possible is the Child Timeline. So my Child Timeline looks like this: MM > TP > OoX > LoZ > AoL. I'm assuming that the Triforce gets reassembled at some point after TP and ends up under the care of the royal family.

I also like that this creates a better balance between the three branches of the timeline! The Child Timeline feels abandonned in the official version (and FSA should be a direct sequel to FS since they were supposed to have the same Link and Zelda) while the Downfall Timeline is basically where they cram up classic-looking games they don't know what to do with. It's also a bit weird that the timeline with the "what if the Hero died" scenario is the one with the most games.

Sorry that was a bit long, haha! I tend to get carried away when I talk about this. I hope this all makes sense, it’s not that easy for me to explain all of this in English!

Well, turns out Nintendo didn't do anything yesterday. That's kind of… sad. Anyway. I'd love to see all of this too in a OoX remake! Especially the two types of Zora.

I do like the characters in AoI, especially Raphica and Ardi! Not so much Calamo and the Knight Construct, though. It's just the story and lore I don't really enjoy.

I guess the thing is that I don't really see drawing as a relaxing hobby! To me it's the craft I use to make my ideas come to life and I'm constantly trying to get better at it, I don't do it to relax. If I want to relax I just do something else haha.

Oh no, I haven't decided to never go back to physical art or anything, it just isn't my priority right now. My ultimate goal is to make comics and maybe animations, and the best way to achieve that is to focus on digital art.

The part regarding CoH Link & Zelda not taking the ToP back, I have yet to figure out. 😅 At the same time, I'm already attached to the unknowing tragedy of the sequence of events, so I'll just have to think of something!

Hmm… Have I told you about the near soap opera-level of drama surrounding the identity of OoT Ganondorf's father?

Or the fact that CoH Link was OoT Link's father & CoH Zelda was OoT Zelda's mother? That CoH Link was the creator of many of the magical instruments that we see later as well as the Wind Waker, which has a secret function that turns it into a sort of magical rapier? I even made some art of it! I'm very happy with it! :D

Huh! I didn't know that the descendants part had been incorrect. I also hadn't considered the idea of Zelda sending herself to the past either. It would certainly change things.

Okay, I think I get what you're going for now. It isn't so much that you're getting rid of the Downfall Timeline as a concept entirely & more so swapping it out for a different one that makes more sense to you. Am I understanding this correctly?

Either way, it's most certainly not something I would've thought of & it sounds like it has real potential.

It's alright, I think I get the basic premise. You certainly put a lot of work into it too! I might need a Jullbnt Timeline to reference for the future, though. XD

Yeah, it was really disappointing for them to not do anything for Zelda's 40th.

Really? I loved Calamo & the Knight Construct. I thought it was a really creative way to have Link in the game while also not. And I found Calamo to be a very interesting take on a Korok.

Ah well, to each their own, I suppose.

I will also say that I like the idea that Qia eventually marries Cadlan, because he's very much like Sidon. And I really appreciate that they brought back the mid-tier weapons as well as adding in new ones. I really wasn't expecting any new Forestdweller weapons especially, but we got them!

And I really feel like the game was somewhat confirming my theory regarding different people aligning with different elements aside from what the Sages are known for. I'm telling you, Sholani is Wind aligned & Ronza is Earth, specifically Sand! Meanwhile, Pastos’ element seems to be Earth. Even if they didn't specifically give those characters’ Special Actions actual elements.

Have I said those already? I might've repeated myself... Sorry. 😅

Aaaaah! I understand now. Then, yeah, if drawing really isn't relaxing for you, then you're right. It wouldn't be the best choice. Hmm… Then, are there any hobbies of yours that you do find relaxing, & if not, then what about forgotten hobbies?

Personally, I used to love going fishing with my grandpa. I don't think it really even matters if I catch anything, sometimes it's just nice to get outside & enjoy the quiet peace of nature. At the same time, I understand that fishing might not be for everyone, so if it doesn't hold any interest for you (or if fishing laws make it difficult where you live, I've no idea how they work in France 😅), then maybe just think back to things that you used to enjoy growing up & even want to get back to, but you always keep putting off?

Or who knows? Maybe you should turn more towards trying new things & getting a bit adventurous? Like, what about activities that you've always wanted to try your hand at?

It doesn't even really need to be a long-term hobby either. For instance, my mom used to be very involved with scrapbooking, but now she's more into decorating cakes, cupcakes, & cookies. All it has to do is be a hobby for the moment.

*nods sagely* Understood. Praying all the best in your endeavors. Animating sounds super hard, but also really amazingly cool.

Well I'm sure you'll find something! If I remember correctly OoT Ganondorf is the King of Hyrule's son in your version of events? CoH Link being OoT Link's father sure does make things even more tragic. He's not aware the Hero of Time was his son, is he?

Oh I love the idea that CoH Link could be the creator of the Wind Waker and other instruments, it just makes so much sense!

Exactly! I just don't like that the Downfall Timeline is an alternate scenario that is not supported by the games in any way, and to make things worse the story told by Hyrule Historia doesn't even match with AlttP's backstory. So yeah I'm keeping the three timelines after OoT but replacing this one with something different that doesn't involve killing the Hero of Time off-screen.

I'm glad you think this has potential!! And here's my complete timeline since you asked for a reference 😇

Yes this is a monster of a timeline with 5 branches :D I can explain the two other ones but I'm not sure you'd like another wall of text!

I don't know, I found Calamo a bit annoying and I don't like the idea that Link can just be replaced by a robot. Maybe it would have helped if Zelda had shown a bit more interest towards it, I don't know. And I guess I would have preferred for the story to focus more on her than on Rauru and the Knight Construct.

Ah yes I thought the same thing about Qia and Cadlan! Even though it doesn't really make sense since there are thousands of years between Cadlan and Sidon haha, but it definitely looks like it was the intention.

Well I don't know enough about these characters but I believe you!

I enjoy crafty hobbies in general, stuff like diamond painting, papercraft or model building (but I do it in moderation since it's so time consuming). And of course reading (mostly fanfiction nowadays), taking walks, and playing music/singing. I play the transverse flute and… the ocarina :D

It's so great that you had this bond with your grandpa! I'm not sure I'd enjoy fishing but just spending time in nature with loved ones always sounds nice. No idea about fishing laws here, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were completely absurd haha.

Yep! Oot Ganondorf's father was the King of Hyrule & you're correct, CoH Link is completely unaware of his connection to OoT Link beyond the obvious.

Many thanks! I enjoyed the piece of lore about the Wind Waker too!

Thank you very much for the reference art! This should be very helpful in the future!

Really? I found Calamo funny & that his relationship with the Knight Construct was very sweet. Admittedly, he does seem to be cut from a similar cloth to Kohga, just not as… Kohga. Yet, at the same time, for whatever reason I found Calamo to be more endearing than Kohga.

Understandable. Though, in all fairness, Zora typically live to be something like 400, so there's probably far fewer generations between them than Rauru & Zelda. And if my theory regarding Zora royalty is true, then due to them being Zora royalty, every time a new heir ascended the throne, they would both grow in size soon after in a similar way to how the alphas of some species of sharks do, as well as gain an extra century or two of life (this is based on how the Wild Era Zora's ages seem to line up with the number of spots they have on their heads & that, despite Dorephan & Muzu being around the same age, Dorephan has more spots than Muzu). As such, while I very much agree with you, I also feel like it's actually a tiny bit less absurd than the Zelda thing.

Diamond painting? Not sure if I've ever heard of that, might need to look it up. Other than that, those all sound like lovely hobbies! Though, I definitely understand moderation. Ooo! Wind instruments! The transverse flute's always looked so dainty to me & the ocarina is a fun one for more than the obvious reason. I wish that I had learned how to play an instrument. Though, I've always wanted to play the violin myself. There's just something about them that's so… so versatile & fun!

But back on topic! My immediate suggestion is the ocarina. While I know very little in regard to instrument maintenance, if your ocarina is wooden, it'd likely be easier to take places & not as likely to break.

Though, you might also consider getting a panflute or possibly even branch out into a stringed instrument like a ukulele or lyre, but then again the process of learning to play a new instrument, even if at your own pace, might be more stressful than relaxing. So maybe not? 😅

Yeah, it was always nice going to visit my grandparents growing up. And most definitely. Actually, I'm sure that taking a nice nature walk just to observe nature & the wildlife could be a nice option as well. Birdwatching is also always an option. So's calligraphy, puzzles, pottery, sewing, knitting, etc. Stop me if I'm not helping any.

Yeah, that's fair. And you'd be correct in your assessment! Stardew is pretty addictive! I'm also hoping that Haunted Chocolatier will be worth it. It definitely seems like the type of game that'll focus more on the more cooking side of things (which I always like), but I still wonder just how creative it'll get. And will it just be the typical types of chocolate (white, milk, dark) or will it also have some of the less known chocolates as well as ruby chocolate, buttermilk chocolate, & potentially types of chocolate sweetened by means other than sugar? Maybe even cocoa grown in different terroirs resulting in different flavors. Like how cocoa from the Dominican Republic has an almost buttery taste to them (which I've actually had once, it was really good).

These poor boys! Well I guess CoH Link is better of not knowing. I think I remember now that he was supposed to be the Hero instead of OoT Link, but his death during the civil war forced his son to become the Hero of Time instead?

What do you think happened during the war by the way? I've spent a lot of time thinking about the Hyrulean Civil War myself (especially for my comic project) and I'm always curious to see how others interpret it.

(sorry if we've already talked about this, can't remember)

You're welcome!

Yeah Calamo was funny and endearing at first but I got tired of him pretty soon haha. I also found the revelation that he's now the Ancient Tree Stump a bit... ridiculous. But at least I'm so glad he didn't become the Deku Tree, I really feared this was where the game was headed! 

He's definitely cuter than Kohga, but I'm much more interested in Kohga and I find him a lot funnier ^^

Sure the Zora live longer but that's still a lot of generations between them. But yeah I see your point, and it's honestly fun that they hinted at this through character design even though it doesn't really make sense, I'm just nitpicking haha.

Diamond painting is the most relaxing thing ever to me! You create an image by sticking coloured beads (the "diamonds") to an adhesive canvas, it's a bit like pixel art in real life. They sell kits online (my favorites are famous paintings), but now I just have so many leftover diamonds that I like to make my own. I once spent months on this and I still can't believe I'm that crazy haha:

It's huge, close to 70 cm in height 😆

Oh I wanted to play the violin as a child too! Though my first choice would have been the harp. Neither were available in my little town though, so I went with the flute instead (my parents insisted my siblings and I should take music classes). And it's great! It also makes learning another wind instrument pretty easy, which is why I had no problem teaching myself the ocarina. 

It's never too late to learn music! You should go for it if you want to!

Well I own two ceramic replicas of the Ocarina of Time at the moment (original I know!) and one little 6 holes green rupee that I don't really know how to play yet. I'd really like to get a wooden one, I'm curious about the sound difference and I want an ocarina that's not a Zelda replica. And as you said it's a lot easier to carry around since it won't break ^^

I actually bought a recorder flute some time ago but I haven't really found the time to experiment with it, though I think it shouldn't be too hard for me to learn. I have to get back to it someday! I've tried the guitar too but it's a lot more difficult for me to practice seriously without a teacher (so not very relaxing indeed).

I guess I don't really need a new hobby though. I'm hoping to be done with my apartment by next week and then I want to focus on my comic until I actually manage to get it done. I'm tired of not being able to follow through with my comic projects!

Haha I'm not surprised you would enjoy a game focused on cooking! Well Stardew Valley looks pretty detailed and complete to me so we can hope this one will be too ^^

That's fine. I understand.

Correct! That or it was supposed to be the both of them together with Tempo teaching Time the ropes along the way. But yes, you're correct.

It's fine. I forget things all the time, so it'd be hypocritical to be upset over something like this.

And, funny that you mention it! I have a lot of it planned out! Not all, mind you, but the main plot points are planned. You see, the Civil War was actually a setup by the Interlopers (I'm aware that they came much earlier on the timeline according to the official timeline, but I figure that a little creative liberty won't hurt). See, in the manga, it originally started as a conflict between the Gorons & the Zora. And the Hylians were of 2 minds, some wanted to stay out of the conflict to act as a mediator in case things went too far, while others wanted to get involved now. Needless to say, the Royal Family had chosen to remain mediators. But because of both the Interlopers & some help from the Gerudo, who by a young Ganondorf's orders (egged on by Kōme & Kotake as he was only a teenager at that point), had begun to see descent amongst the Hylians. This eventually lead to the rebellion at the palace which resulted in the assassinations of both Tempo & Harmony (CoH Link & Zelda). We see in the manga that Tempo is killed by a rebel, but what we don't see is King Benjor running off to find his wife & newborn daughter. When he arrived in their chambers, he found a trio of shadowy figures standing above his wife's corpse, blade aloft & dripping with blood from her throat.

One of them stood poised over a bassinet, a dagger ready to end his wailing daughter's life before it'd had the chance to really begin. And the king saw red. Needless to say, there were 3 other dead that night, but no more of them bore the blood of Hylia.

This is when Impa came in, roughed up as she'd also been targeted. As Benjor was silently freaking out, baby girl in his arms, as much to reassure himself as to comfort her, Impa removed the masks of the assailants, only to be met with hauntingly familiar white hair & red markings.

This information sent betrayal riveting through the newly-named widower, then rage. In a fury, he, Impa, & his army marched on Kakariko to demand answers or enact vengeance.

However, upon arriving, they are shocked silent to find that the riot had likely been only one part of a twofold attack as ⅔rds of the Sheikah who'd been living in Kakariko were now dead. The Siege of Kakariko was a bloodbath & the very thing that caused Kakariko to become open to the public during OoT.

Now, I'm sure that I've already told you about the Hyrulian Revolution. The one I loosely based on the French Revolution. But, for short, Benjor's grandmother, as well as the 3-4 generations of rulers before her, had all been AWFUL. Just horrible. And one of the things that they did was mistreat the Sheikah & reduce them to their metaphorical attack dogs. Now, the Sheikah themselves had been a very important part of the Rebellion, but once everything had been settled & the reign of Bloody Queen Mera had ended, it was suggested by one of the Sheikah Elders that new rulers be put into place.

What they hadn't expected was for the people of Hyrule to choose to return the crown to Mera's twin children, Sonia & Saphio.

Saphio once more abdicated his role, as he found that he had his own dreams to follow, leaving the crown to Sonia, who became queen & her husband, Rauru of the Pastoral House of Sahasrahla, as king.

Now, while most of the Sheikah were all for this arrangement & satisfied with the results, some weren't.

I mean, 3-4 generations of mistreatment & subjugation, alongside the desecration of their temple, wouldn't feel great. And such wounds will only heal if they're allowed to. So, if someone isn't willing to let go of that hurt, then it can fester & become something truly awful.

This is the origin of the Interlopers in my version of things. They were mostly Sheikah who did not wish to be subjugated by the Hylian Royal Family ever again. Though, some also believed that it should be the Sheikah to lead Hyrule as their clan had always been dedicated to the goddesses. Plus, the first queen of Hyrule had been a Sheikah, Queen Nekarina Sahasrahla. So, they saw it as their right to lead Hyrule's people for, (in their minds) where the Royal Family had betrayed the goddesses & mistreated their people, the Sheikah had remained faithful & true to them.

The Interlopers had allowed those feelings to fester & grow. And eventually, when the fighting between the Gorons & Zora began, they knew their time to strike was near.

And the Siege of Kakariko was the Interlopers taking out the loyalists within their clan. It was utterly horrifying. A slaughter.

During that time, the gates to the village were sealed shut. The Interlopers donned masks (contemplating them having Yiga-like designs, just for fun) to hide themselves & whenever they killed a loyalist, they mutilated their face so as to keep anyone from being able to figure out who was part of the splinter cell via process of elimination.

But when the lookout saw the king's army on the approach, they retreated. Their greatest weapon is their cunning, afterall.

This is where Hyrule, itself, entered the war. And one of the big things that the Interlopers did during that time was attack farmers, fishers, ranchers, etc. They even attacked Lon Lon Ranch in an attempt to destroy Hyrule's food sources which results in a food scarcity that they'll continue to feel even many years after OoT. (There are some parts that I haven't gone into. Particularly, Talon's wife as well as the role that Saphio, Sonia's father played into the success of the rebellion, how Benjor went temporarily mad until his father, Sage of Light Rauru, returned from his pilgrimage to Holy Mount Lanayru slapped him across the face, snapping him out of it, how the continued loyalty of Impa & her fellows humbled Benjor in a way that hurt as much as relieved him, but that can be for later.)

Of course, Hyrule still manages to win, but in the process most of the Sheikah were taken out. So, since there weren't many left, Hyrule opened Kakariko to the public.

As for Calamo vs Kohga: Hey, to each their own, right? If you find Kohga more interesting than Calamo, then that's all there is to it.

Eh, I nitpick too, so I understand. And yes, even with the context that the Zora live longer than Hylians, it's still fairly ridiculous.

Ooohhh! Diamond painting looks so pretty!! That somewhat reminds me of a couple things we used to have over here when growing up! One was something known as Light Bright. It was this black board with holes in it that you'd plug into a wall. And it'd give you a number of different colored pegs that you could insert into the holes & they'd light up to make a picture. Another was something where you'd take these things called Perler Beads & the pegboard they come with, then you'd use the pegboard to make pictures. Once you've done that, you glue them together & when it's done drying, you remove them from the pegboard. Obviously, the diamond painting appears to be much more sophisticated, but the memories were very sudden.

Oh, that's so amazing! It's also super aesthetic if you think about it. I have this image of someone sitting beneath a tree contentedly playing a flute alongside the breeze… Very pretty. :)

Hmm… Maybe I will… I'd love to learn music, that's for sure…

Oooo! Aren't recorder flutes able to mimic most any sound with enough experience? Very cool!

Well, whatever it is that you choose, I hope it all goes well. You have so much talent as well as hardwon skill that I'm sure you'll be able to make that comic a hit.

Same! Stardew's very fun! There's just so much whimsy packed into that game!

Exactly! And actually, a few of the flora that I've come up with for Hyrule are somewhat based on those found in Stardew. One is the Spice Berry, which is the inspiration for my Piqurrants. Though, I take inspiration from the real world Northern spicebush berry (Lindera benzoin) & clove currant (Ribes odoratum). Did you know that you can dry spicebush berries & clove currant, then grind them down into a powder, the spicebush powder can act as a decent substitute for allspice, if a bit more fruity, while the clove currant powder acts as a decent substitute for cloves? It's so cool!

Though, if your sister happens to have a lot of clothing in Stardew, with decreasing room to store it all, maybe tell her to buy a dresser from Robin. Turns out, it works as a sort of chest (with unlimited space might I add) specifically for clothes. I only just recently learned about it & it’s just so good!

I really wish that the game had something similar for fishing supplies, tho. Which is why I love the Tackle Box mod. It makes it so you can buy a number of tackle boxes that come in different colors from the town fisherman, which works exactly like the dresser, but only for bait & lures. The best part is, unlike the dresser, you can pick it up & carry it around with you! So, if I were to give you a list of simple & low impact Quality of Life mods that don't change anything about the game or its story, the Tackle Box & Bigger Fridges mods would be amongst them.

Oh! I did learn about something VERY interesting a bit ago! There turns out to be actual IRL women only settlements in the world, but I've only learned of 2: Umoja, Kenya & Jinwar, Syria.

Now, the big difference between these real-life communities & the Gerudo is that in both Umoja & Jinwar, men are allowed to visit, but only in the day & only if they behave. They are not allowed to stay & live there. Though, specifically in the case of Jinwar, any boys raised there are allowed to stay & live there as they were raised with "Jinwar values." But in the case of Umoja, while boys may be raised in these places with their mothers, upon reaching 18, they must leave. However, they are still allowed to visit & potentially even stay on a temporary basis. Even being allowed to sleep overnight.

How interesting is that!?!?

Like, there's still a bunch of issues, but I can't help but think that I'd much prefer this sort of model regarding the Gerudo.

For me, I think I'd like the Umoja model for them, but instead of "any man can visit so long as it's daytime & they behave," I think it'd fit their society more if a man had to fit certain criteria. Things like being the father, step-son, or half/step-brother of a Gerudo, at least 2 other Gerudo vouches for his character, has proven himself through a series of tests/trails/ordeals, a/o has performed some huge favor or survice for the Gerudo as a whole. And, I think it'd be important to check off at least 2-3 of those things, but if a man does, then he's given a Gerudo Token, which acts as a day-pass of sorts allowing him entry. He still needs to behave & not break any of their laws, as well as leave at nightfall (unless he was raised by a Gerudo), but he's allowed to enter the town & use their services. So, basically, a sort of expansion on how Link manages to gain entry of the Gerudo Fortress/Gerudo Town in OoT & TotK.

Haha well you might have noticed I don't really care about the official timeline! It doesn't make much sense anyway 😇 In my opinion you're free to do whatever you please with the Interlopers War since TP Lanayru doesn't tell us exactly when it happened. Your version of events implies that the Twili were banished to the Twilight Realm not too long before TP though (only a few years before Ganondorf himself), unless OoT and TP are separated by a few centuries in your timeline? Personally I like to think that TP takes place a century or less after OoT, so that TP Link can be Time's grandson or great-grandson. 

Lanayru also specifically says that the Interlopers were banished because they "tried to establish dominion over the Sacred Realm", so depending on how closely you want to follow canon you might want to take that into consideration (but if you don't care that's completely fine, I'm not the timeline police 😆).

Oh I need to re-read the manga, I didn't remember that part about the Gorons and the Zoras starting the war! It's interesting, though I've always preferred to see it as a civil war amongst the Hylians themselves (with some involvement of the Gerudo and of course the Sheikah). In my version it's a succession war after the Queen's death (OoT Zelda's mother). The King manages to keep the throne but the war ends with a betrothal between the very young Princess Zelda and future King Daphnes from WW. I like to suffer so no Zelink happy ending here either 🥲

Wow, this scene feels like it's straight out from House of the Dragon! It hurts reading about a Zelda and her Link getting slaughtered like this but at the same time... it's a pretty cool story haha.

You really have thought all of this through, this was a very fun and interesting read! I especially liked the part about the siege of Kakariko, as grim as it is (the face mutilations are a clever detail). It makes perfect sense that the Sheikah wouldn't be too happy about serving the royal family after generations of mistreatment...

(And I had a laugh out of Rauru slapping Benjor back to sanity, that's a really fun picture 😆)

Have you heard the rumor about an OoT remake coming out this year?? It's been going around for some time but it seems more likely to be true now that Nate the Hate "leaked" it. I'm both very excited and quite scared!! I'd be overjoyed to see my favorite game make a return (especially with new content), but I'm not sure a remake can capture the magic and charm I love so much. At least I hope that if this is true, they won't turn OoT into the same type of repetitive open world that BotW and TotK are.

(We might also get new context about the Civil War, which I hope won't get too much in the way of my comic project...).

Oh I didn't know about Light Brite, it looks like fun! I had Perler Beads as child too, and diamond painting is definitely a prettier, more sophisticated and more satisfying version of that!

Haha I don't know about reproducing most sounds but I'm sure you can do a lot of fun things with a recorder flute! Though I only got mine because I wanted to try playing Vivaldi concertos... and the Milk Bar songs from ALBW 😆. Talking about it made me finally want to play it and well, I think I'm obsessed now!!

Well that's so nice of you to say! I'm not sure I'm much of a writer though, but I'm trying my best. I really want to do this!

I didn't know that! It's honestly quite impressive to me that you know so much about flora and food ^^

Well my sister doesn't have a lot of clothes yet in Stardew Valley but she'll definitely buy the dresser when she'll need it :D That sounds like a great mod! She plays on the Switch though, not sure she can easily install mods.

If you have any new ideas for your botw-totk rewrite that you wanna chat about or even just thoughts regarding AoI, I'm open to listen. 😄

Hello!! Well I'm fine! Just desperately waiting for something to happen on Zelda's 40th anniversary :D

...Which is just a few days before my own birthday so I would really love a surprise, hehe 😇 but I'm also trying to keep my hopes low!

What about you? How is it going with your new job?

To be honest I'm focused on another comic project these days so I have almost entirely stopped working on my rewrite. But I've been feeling like going back to it lately! I especially miss working on my own version of Hyrule and thinking of the rebuilding effort, what to do with the NPCs, etc., it was so much fun ^^

I still haven't played AoC and I don't think I will :/ First I'd need to get a Switch 2 and it doesn't seem that interesting at the moment, and second... I just can't anymore with that story and anything TotK related haha.

It's going well! Better than any of my previous jobs, so I'm hoping that it stays that way! Obviously, I know that there'll be rough patches & difficulties here & there, but I mean for the most part. I feel like I'm actually helping! :D

Woah! I didn't know that! No wonder you're anxious! It must've always felt a bit like an early birthday present, huh? Well, now I'm hoping for the same!

Hey, wherever the winds of inspiration take you, it's probably best to follow, lest they begin to blow in a different direction. I'd take advantage of it, personally.

Eh, that's fair. It IS the longest-running portion of the series since the Era of the Legendary Hero, so I can understand. And I really don't blame you for not getting the Switch 2. In fact, I think Nintendo could definitely use a couple plates of humble pie as they appear to have been acting pretty greedy lately.

So, I say enjoy yourself! XD

Personally, I found the story of AoI to be a big step up from what we had in TotK. I'm actually glad for it because I was sorely lacking in details regarding the actual world back then & the game's helped in that regard. Though, there's definitely some tweaks I'll need to make to get it to fit. Nothing too serious, tho.

For instance, I now know that Nemma has beef with the Zonai, but it's actually not Rauru. No, instead it's Mineru & the use of both Chef Constructs & especially Blacksmith Constructs. The fact that the Zonai royal family mass produces weaponry is the sort of thing that was grind against the Masamuna heiress' very core. And then to learn that they commonly have Constructs make their food would give her the distinct impression that the Zonai were derelict & overreliant upon technology to do things that aught be done by oneself.

Also, I'm having Gan wait a year before he enacts his plan to draw Rauru away from the castle. And once he does take the stone, he won't immediately create the Archfiend of sand. That won't happen until after the Gerudo begin to give up hope of getting their queen back as it'll feel like a betrayal to Gan.

Also, something amazing is that I was wrong when I despaired, thinking the River of the Dead wasn't there in Rauru's era, so I can STILL do the super creepy lore I wanted to! 😁

And I love Lago. His gameplay is probably one of my favorites in the game & now, he's the father of Larémy as well as the sensei who trained Nemma in the art of using water as part of her swordplay. So, she'll definitely have a good amount of Lago's influence in her own fighting style.

But this also makes things more complicated for Lago, as I'm sure you can expect. *vibrates happily*

The actual story's been fairly slow-going all things considered, but I'm still managing.

I just can't seem to finish the literal first scene! 😤

Any other games you been enjoying lately? I've been super invested in Stardew Valley myself. Really charming little game. Very whimsical, but also very chill. :3

I've also made good progress on my own timeline theory (I think I mentioned wanting to get rid of the Downfall Timeline and to put Minish Cap and the Four Sword games on their own branch at some point?). It definitely has some fanfiction elements and I might have managed to make things even more complicated, but I find it more satisfying than the official timeline ^^

This is great, I'm happy for you!! I hope it stays that way too :D

Well I usually don't expect anything but this year is a bit different since it's the 4Oth anniversary! I'm not really hoping for something as big as a new game but maybe we'll get a movie trailer or something (like they did for Mario). Or maybe a long awaited Switch 2 port for TP, but I'm not going to buy a new console just to play a game I've finished 50 times already haha. Anyway, one more week to go!

If the Wild era was my favorite part of the series I guess I wouldn't mind that it's been almost ten years ^^ It's just that I already wasn't the biggest BotW fan and now I'm kind of a TotK hater, so I really need the next game to be something different with new versions of Link and Zelda. And hopefully something a bit closer to the old formula, with a more linear story and real dungeons (EoW was a step in the right direction for me).

Yeah, I'm not really okay either with what Nintendo has been up to lately.

AoI definitely improves on TotK's story but I feel like all of this should have been told in the game, it doesn't sit right with me that we have to buy a new console and a new game to get the full story. On top of that it didn't answer any of the questions I had and even made things more confusing, so I'm not very happy with it haha. And I'm really disappointed in the way they treated Zelda's character and literally turned Link into a robot this time, but I'll stop there before this turns into a full blown rant again 😆

At least I'm happy the game gave you fuel for thought and more material to use! I didn't even know who Lago was haha. And I completely get that Nemma wouldn't agree with the way the Zonai were using constructs! I'm sure it's going to be an interesting conflict between them.

Oh! What creepy lore do you have in mind for the River of the Dead? It's always been so intriguing to me!

I haven't really been playing games, except for my first playthrough of Oracle of Ages I started back in November. I haven't finished it, don't really know why since I was really enjoying it, but I guess I just have other stuff to do! Also my eyes have been really dry and tired lately so I've been trying to reduce my screen time (which is hard when your main hobbies are drawing on a tablet and working on a comic project in Google Docs :/).

Thank you! I'm just doing the best I can to help!

As for the 40th anniversary, I'm honestly kinda hoping for a remake of something from the Downfall timeline. I mean, it certainly seems to be heading in that direction. They've been putting new installments in that timeline a bunch, I feel. A Link Between Worlds, Link's Awakening, Echoes of Wisdom. So, I'm really hoping for either a remake or reimagining of the Oracle games. Which, I know is probably expecting a lot, but I definitely think it's possible.

Though, for Zelda 1 & 2, if not this year, then I'm almost willing to bet money on the possibility that (provided Zelda is still as big as it's been), then a decade from now there will be either a remake or reimagining of Zelda 1 & 2 announced. Because it'd almost be the perfect time for it.

Eh, the Wild Era just wasn't your era. It happens. 🤷‍♀️

Oh, very much agreed. It's really dumb that they decided to put the bulk of the storytelling in the flipping dynasty warriors game & so little of it into the open-world game. Like, if they really wanted to do the majority of the story stuff on the Switch 2, then why didn't they just have EoW be the last entry on the Switch & have TotK & AoI primier on the Switch 2 as a set, but with all the story integrated into both?

Because, as it is, even with the Zelda Notes, TotK feels way too empty & shallow, which is something I've been noticing with a couple open-world games lately.

Thank you! Oh, Lago's just cool! He's this swordfighting veteran bodyguard for the late Zora king who swore never to pick up his blade in shame for having been unable to protect his king. His gameplay is so fun! He wields the Zora Sword, which is a first! But he showcases some serious samurai levels of skill! He even gets elemental attacks! As in attacks that actively count as water element! And the water element actually does something against fire enemies now! And there are elemental Lynels!! No golden ones, though.

(Btw as an aside, I think that I finally know a decent way of explaining the difference between water & ice as elements. The two are undoubtedly linked & very often overlap, but there are still slight differences that exist. Water as an element is just water & will always be water in some form or another, while ice is more accurately cold. Because, again, only water & anything containing a decent amount of H2O falls under the category of water, but any & every liquid with a freezing point, regardless of whether or not it contains H2O, falls under the category of ice, if that makes sense? So, in laymen's terms, all water can eventually be considered ice if frozen, but not all ice is water.)

Alright! Here's a usurp I wrote in regard to the River of the Dead:

“In the time before Hylia became the Custodian of the Triforce, Sheikaku & Karina traveled the land protecting the innocent & killing the wicked. However, at times, they would find those who repelled them on a level beyond that of others. Their righteous fury was such that they found simply killing them to not be enough. Because of this, they created Judgement’s _ (Moon God’s Judgement?), now referred to as the River of the Dead. Sheikaku made it to be eternally winter there. Because of this, the waters were forever freezing. It is believed that all who drown there, if they had continually committed a crime of a certain grievousness, then upon dying, their souls would become trapped there. But not simply trapped. Suffering eternally. Though a ghost needs neither breath nor warmth, they are still forever consigned to experience those feelings. So, they were made to always feel the sensation of freezing & being weighed down & dragged deeper into the very darkness. To always be drowning without relief.

However, that this will only happen to those guilty of very wicked crimes & any who swim in that water who was also guilty of similarly awful crimes, they would find themselves haunted.

If you’ve never seen it, there’s a horror movie about the Temagami spring in America that kills one person in order to heal another. And the souls of those that drowned are trapped forever in its waters. Just… this seemingly endless expanse of dark water that is filled with people, hair drifting around them. So, something like that, but all with eyes wide with panic, mouths opening & closing as though desperate for air, their arms & legs struggle eternally to try & reach a surface that they never will. Skin almost appearing blue with how pale they were, accompanied by patches of frost & blackened extremities, as though afflicted by frostbite. Just… terrifyingly haunting. But, imagine that each ghost there appears to be weighed down by heavy chains in a similar way to how the ghost of Marley from the Christmas Carol did. Combined with the experience that Bootstrap Bill from Pirates of the Caribbean was forced to endure when his crew tied his boots to a cannonball & had him tossed out into the ocean. The way that Bill described it. That feeling.” And the royal family only sentences those who've committed the most despicable of crimes. Not just against individuals, but on a massive & organized level. Things like slave-trading, sexual slavery, mass murder/attempted genocide, cannibalism, other similarly despicable things.

Moving on, I'm glad that you've been reducing your screentime! Hmm… Maybe take up a physical medium for your art? Sometimes going back to basics is a good idea.

For instance, I'd never really been very good at painting myself because I was more drawn to colored pencils, but due to my new job, I’ve been doing watercolors a lot more lately.

So, maybe try drawing or painting or watercolors?

Right?? Stardew's been really fun! Though, I've specifically been playing modded Stardew of late. Which is even more fun, though it can also get a bit overwhelming if you're new to the whole modding thing, which I am.

I would really like a remake of the Oracle games too, though maybe not in the same style as Link's Awakening and Echoes. But I think what these games need the most is new music!! I never thought I'd have to turn it off while playing a Zelda game, but OoA's soundtrack is just so horrible it gave me headaches. I feel though that the addition of the Oracle games to the Nintendo Switch Online makes the possibility of getting remakes soon less likely, but I could be wrong.

Oh I'd love remakes of Zelda I and II, especially since I've never played AoL (this game is scary haha).

They could easily have found a way to show more of the story in TotK, by letting us play as Zelda during the memories for example. I'm honestly glad TotK isn't the long awaited Switch 2 new Zelda game, I would have been so disappointed. It definitely feels empty and shallow as it is.

Lago sounds interesting and fun to play as! And you're right, ice isn't necessarily water.

This is great! And creepy indeed. I like this explanation for the eternal winter on the western part of the Great Plateau.

Yeah I could go back to traditional art, but I have this irrational fear of having to relearn everything since I haven't done so in years haha. Also I'm mostly working on the story for my comic these days, so I'm happy just taking notes and writing instead of drawing. I enjoy doing that on paper but I also use the Dark Reader extension to put Google Docs in dark mode, it really helps with my eyes.

Interesting perspective. Please, tell me more. I personally like to use some of the less canon games to help explain stuff.

For instance, “if Link was so necessary, why were the 7 Wisemen able to kill & seal away Ganon in ALttP?” Simply put, they weren't. A different Link & Zelda had jumped forward from a pre-OoT event & they, alongside a third commanding power over music, killed Ganon together, then returned to their homes. It was then that the 7 Wisemen came in & sealed Ganon into the Sacred Realm.

Basically, in my timeline, Cadence of Hyrule came between Minish Cap/Four Sword & Ocarina of Time. Mostly because it just made sense to me & gave me some ideas to play with.

Obviously there'd be some tweaks, but I give myself more leeway when using the spinoff games. It's something I really like about my timeline.

Understandable. All we can do is hope that the Nintendo crew takes a moment or two to do a bit of soul searching. And if they do remake the Oracle games, I REALLY wanna see more regarding the feud between the 2 types of Zora, as well as Piratians, Subrosians, & even just humans! I especially really wanna see more about the architecture of the Zora's underwater homes!

So many missed opportunities…

He is! Lago's also got a super deep voice, too! Love a deep voice. X3

I'm kind of debating if I should have Nemma see Lago as a father figure alongside her grandfather. Maybe have him be protective of her in a way.

Oddly enough, I really found the characters in AoI to be very endearing overall!

And oh my goodness… Raphica's hair. I just love it so much!

Thank you! I like a bit of myth here & there.

Maybe that's the problem? You don't need to relearn anything for it to be a relaxing hobby, just doodle. Put lines on paper & let your inner artist guide you without judgement of what you're making or the expectation of putting it out there to be judged by others.

Well, whatever you decide, at least you realize that the fear is irrational. Though, I can't help but wonder if you've decided to never go back to physical art, because if you ever did with the intention of doing so with the seriousness of an artist, then you'd need to relearn the skill anyway.

It most certainly does have mods! And so many! Of course, you have to be careful that you don't use any that would conflict with each other, but so long as you do, it's actually pretty simple once set up! Also, you'd either need a gaming computer or a graphics card suited to gaming or the game itself won't play, unfortunately.

Now, as far as mods go, it mostly depends on what it is you're looking for. For your first time experiencing the game & its story, I'd mostly stick to what I think of as “Vanilla Plus” mods. These are mods that mostly just take what's already there & expands upon it without adding too much in terms of content. Maybe some quality of life things.

You told me about your timeline placement for Cadence of Hyrule, I remember! Though I wonder, why do CoH Link and Zelda leave Ganon with the full Triforce in your theory? Are they not able to take it back from him?

Okay here we go! It's just obvious to me that the events described in ALttP have nothing to do with OoT, and that the Seven Wise Men are not the OoT Seven Sages. There are just too many differences between these two stories (I think anyone who has played both games can easily see this), and on top of that the alternate scenario of the Hero of Time's death/defeat makes this whole thing even weirder.

Now not only does ALttP make no sense as a sequel to OoT, but ALBW also doesn't work properly as a sequel to ALttP (or a sequel to ALttP-OoX if you believe these games really have the same Link) even though ALBW is literally titled "A Link to the Past 2" in Japanese!

At the beginning of ALBW we know that Ganon is sealed away with the Triforce of Power, when he was supposed to be dead at the end of ALttP (ALttP Link doesn't seal him, he kills him, and is then able to make a wish on the full Triforce). In OoX, Koume & Kotake manage to briefly resurrect Ganon but Link instantly defeats him. Ganon never gets the Triforce of Power here, and he certainly does not end up sealed away with it! Conclusion: both the events of ALttP and OoX do not match at all with the story we are told in ALBW!

We do have a game with a very similar story to the one told in ALBW's prologue, though: OoT. Here we have a Hero guided by a Princess, who together with the Sages manage to seal Ganon away—though they are not able to take the Triforce of Power from him.

(Also, something weird I've noticed is that the English translation of ALBW tells us that these Sages are "descendants of the Seven Sages", which clearly marks them as a different group from the OoT Seven Sages. This was very surprising to me since the French version calls them "les Sept Sages" (the Seven Sages) just like in OoT, they are never stated to be descendants of anyone. I found the original Japanese text thanks to Reddit and it appears that the English version is wrong, which is also confirmed by dialogue between Sahasrahla and Link. This makes the association with OoT even stronger!!).

In my timeline, I keep the three branches after OoT but I replace the Downfall Timeline with something different that allows me to place ALBW after OoT. This branch is created by OoT Zelda, the same way the Child Timeline is. The idea here is that the Great Flood happens during her rule in the Adult Timeline, so she uses the Ocarina of Time to send herself back in time in order to prevent this, as she did with Link. She leaves behind her husband, King Daphnes, their children, and the Triforce of Wisdom that she divides in two. Her goal here is to create a new timeline where she doesn't send Link back to his childhood, so that he can help seal Ganon again and save Hyrule from the Great Flood.

(Btw this is a story I'd really like to turn into a comic too!! It makes OoT Zelda's life even more tragic since she of course blames herself for sending Link back to his childhood and leaving Hyrule without a Hero, and she also has to leave her family behind in the Adult Timeline and start her life again after OoT. Of course I am not aiming for Zelink here (since Zelda is technically a mature woman with a husband and children while Link is a traumatised 10 years old stuck in the body of a young adult) and this whole thing makes their relationship quite complicated. They also have to live waiting for Ganon's return and knowing what will happen if they fail, and Link now has to defeat Ganon again as an older Hero… which I find really fun and would love to see in a game someday).

So that's it, Link, Zelda and the Sages manage to seal Ganon away again and prevent the Great Flood. Gan is sealed as Ganon this time and not as Ganondorf, so that things are coherent with what we see in ALBW. Link ends up entrusting the Seven Sages with the Triforce of Courage, while the Triforce of Wisdom gets passed down in the royal family. The Temple of Time is destroyed by Ganon when he returns, which is why the Master Sword finds itself in the middle of the Lost Woods, and the Spiritual Stones become the Three Pendants. As for Gramps, well, maybe he is the lingering spirit of OoT Link instead of ALttP Link, which mirrors the Hero's Shade in TP/the Child Timeline.

The next game in this timeline is ALttP, with a new Ganondorf, then of course Link's Awakening, and the last one is probably Echoes of Wisdom. I separate OoX from ALttP and LA because it's obvious to me that these games don't share the same Link and Zelda. First Zelda's design in OoX looks nothing like ALttP Zelda (she actually looks quite similar to OoT Zelda), and she also acts like she is meeting Link for the first time in OoX. I also really like the idea that Koume and Kotake are the same witches from OoT trying to revive their son/king, and the only timeline that makes this possible is the Child Timeline. So my Child Timeline looks like this: MM > TP > OoX > LoZ > AoL. I'm assuming that the Triforce gets reassembled at some point after TP and ends up under the care of the royal family.

I also like that this creates a better balance between the three branches of the timeline! The Child Timeline feels abandonned in the official version (and FSA should be a direct sequel to FS since they were supposed to have the same Link and Zelda) while the Downfall Timeline is basically where they cram up classic-looking games they don't know what to do with. It's also a bit weird that the timeline with the "what if the Hero died" scenario is the one with the most games.

Sorry that was a bit long, haha! I tend to get carried away when I talk about this. I hope this all makes sense, it’s not that easy for me to explain all of this in English!

Well, turns out Nintendo didn't do anything yesterday. That's kind of… sad. Anyway. I'd love to see all of this too in a OoX remake! Especially the two types of Zora.

I do like the characters in AoI, especially Raphica and Ardi! Not so much Calamo and the Knight Construct, though. It's just the story and lore I don't really enjoy.

I guess the thing is that I don't really see drawing as a relaxing hobby! To me it's the craft I use to make my ideas come to life and I'm constantly trying to get better at it, I don't do it to relax. If I want to relax I just do something else haha.

Oh no, I haven't decided to never go back to physical art or anything, it just isn't my priority right now. My ultimate goal is to make comics and maybe animations, and the best way to achieve that is to focus on digital art.

The part regarding CoH Link & Zelda not taking the ToP back, I have yet to figure out. 😅 At the same time, I'm already attached to the unknowing tragedy of the sequence of events, so I'll just have to think of something!

Hmm… Have I told you about the near soap opera-level of drama surrounding the identity of OoT Ganondorf's father?

Or the fact that CoH Link was OoT Link's father & CoH Zelda was OoT Zelda's mother? That CoH Link was the creator of many of the magical instruments that we see later as well as the Wind Waker, which has a secret function that turns it into a sort of magical rapier? I even made some art of it! I'm very happy with it! :D

Huh! I didn't know that the descendants part had been incorrect. I also hadn't considered the idea of Zelda sending herself to the past either. It would certainly change things.

Okay, I think I get what you're going for now. It isn't so much that you're getting rid of the Downfall Timeline as a concept entirely & more so swapping it out for a different one that makes more sense to you. Am I understanding this correctly?

Either way, it's most certainly not something I would've thought of & it sounds like it has real potential.

It's alright, I think I get the basic premise. You certainly put a lot of work into it too! I might need a Jullbnt Timeline to reference for the future, though. XD

Yeah, it was really disappointing for them to not do anything for Zelda's 40th.

Really? I loved Calamo & the Knight Construct. I thought it was a really creative way to have Link in the game while also not. And I found Calamo to be a very interesting take on a Korok.

Ah well, to each their own, I suppose.

I will also say that I like the idea that Qia eventually marries Cadlan, because he's very much like Sidon. And I really appreciate that they brought back the mid-tier weapons as well as adding in new ones. I really wasn't expecting any new Forestdweller weapons especially, but we got them!

And I really feel like the game was somewhat confirming my theory regarding different people aligning with different elements aside from what the Sages are known for. I'm telling you, Sholani is Wind aligned & Ronza is Earth, specifically Sand! Meanwhile, Pastos’ element seems to be Earth. Even if they didn't specifically give those characters’ Special Actions actual elements.

Have I said those already? I might've repeated myself... Sorry. 😅

Aaaaah! I understand now. Then, yeah, if drawing really isn't relaxing for you, then you're right. It wouldn't be the best choice. Hmm… Then, are there any hobbies of yours that you do find relaxing, & if not, then what about forgotten hobbies?

Personally, I used to love going fishing with my grandpa. I don't think it really even matters if I catch anything, sometimes it's just nice to get outside & enjoy the quiet peace of nature. At the same time, I understand that fishing might not be for everyone, so if it doesn't hold any interest for you (or if fishing laws make it difficult where you live, I've no idea how they work in France 😅), then maybe just think back to things that you used to enjoy growing up & even want to get back to, but you always keep putting off?

Or who knows? Maybe you should turn more towards trying new things & getting a bit adventurous? Like, what about activities that you've always wanted to try your hand at?

It doesn't even really need to be a long-term hobby either. For instance, my mom used to be very involved with scrapbooking, but now she's more into decorating cakes, cupcakes, & cookies. All it has to do is be a hobby for the moment.

*nods sagely* Understood. Praying all the best in your endeavors. Animating sounds super hard, but also really amazingly cool.

Well I'm sure you'll find something! If I remember correctly OoT Ganondorf is the King of Hyrule's son in your version of events? CoH Link being OoT Link's father sure does make things even more tragic. He's not aware the Hero of Time was his son, is he?

Oh I love the idea that CoH Link could be the creator of the Wind Waker and other instruments, it just makes so much sense!

Exactly! I just don't like that the Downfall Timeline is an alternate scenario that is not supported by the games in any way, and to make things worse the story told by Hyrule Historia doesn't even match with AlttP's backstory. So yeah I'm keeping the three timelines after OoT but replacing this one with something different that doesn't involve killing the Hero of Time off-screen.

I'm glad you think this has potential!! And here's my complete timeline since you asked for a reference 😇

Yes this is a monster of a timeline with 5 branches :D I can explain the two other ones but I'm not sure you'd like another wall of text!

I don't know, I found Calamo a bit annoying and I don't like the idea that Link can just be replaced by a robot. Maybe it would have helped if Zelda had shown a bit more interest towards it, I don't know. And I guess I would have preferred for the story to focus more on her than on Rauru and the Knight Construct.

Ah yes I thought the same thing about Qia and Cadlan! Even though it doesn't really make sense since there are thousands of years between Cadlan and Sidon haha, but it definitely looks like it was the intention.

Well I don't know enough about these characters but I believe you!

I enjoy crafty hobbies in general, stuff like diamond painting, papercraft or model building (but I do it in moderation since it's so time consuming). And of course reading (mostly fanfiction nowadays), taking walks, and playing music/singing. I play the transverse flute and… the ocarina :D

It's so great that you had this bond with your grandpa! I'm not sure I'd enjoy fishing but just spending time in nature with loved ones always sounds nice. No idea about fishing laws here, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were completely absurd haha.

Yep! Oot Ganondorf's father was the King of Hyrule & you're correct, CoH Link is completely unaware of his connection to OoT Link beyond the obvious.

Many thanks! I enjoyed the piece of lore about the Wind Waker too!

Thank you very much for the reference art! This should be very helpful in the future!

Really? I found Calamo funny & that his relationship with the Knight Construct was very sweet. Admittedly, he does seem to be cut from a similar cloth to Kohga, just not as… Kohga. Yet, at the same time, for whatever reason I found Calamo to be more endearing than Kohga.

Understandable. Though, in all fairness, Zora typically live to be something like 400, so there's probably far fewer generations between them than Rauru & Zelda. And if my theory regarding Zora royalty is true, then due to them being Zora royalty, every time a new heir ascended the throne, they would both grow in size soon after in a similar way to how the alphas of some species of sharks do, as well as gain an extra century or two of life (this is based on how the Wild Era Zora's ages seem to line up with the number of spots they have on their heads & that, despite Dorephan & Muzu being around the same age, Dorephan has more spots than Muzu). As such, while I very much agree with you, I also feel like it's actually a tiny bit less absurd than the Zelda thing.

Diamond painting? Not sure if I've ever heard of that, might need to look it up. Other than that, those all sound like lovely hobbies! Though, I definitely understand moderation. Ooo! Wind instruments! The transverse flute's always looked so dainty to me & the ocarina is a fun one for more than the obvious reason. I wish that I had learned how to play an instrument. Though, I've always wanted to play the violin myself. There's just something about them that's so… so versatile & fun!

But back on topic! My immediate suggestion is the ocarina. While I know very little in regard to instrument maintenance, if your ocarina is wooden, it'd likely be easier to take places & not as likely to break.

Though, you might also consider getting a panflute or possibly even branch out into a stringed instrument like a ukulele or lyre, but then again the process of learning to play a new instrument, even if at your own pace, might be more stressful than relaxing. So maybe not? 😅

Yeah, it was always nice going to visit my grandparents growing up. And most definitely. Actually, I'm sure that taking a nice nature walk just to observe nature & the wildlife could be a nice option as well. Birdwatching is also always an option. So's calligraphy, puzzles, pottery, sewing, knitting, etc. Stop me if I'm not helping any.

Yeah, that's fair. And you'd be correct in your assessment! Stardew is pretty addictive! I'm also hoping that Haunted Chocolatier will be worth it. It definitely seems like the type of game that'll focus more on the more cooking side of things (which I always like), but I still wonder just how creative it'll get. And will it just be the typical types of chocolate (white, milk, dark) or will it also have some of the less known chocolates as well as ruby chocolate, buttermilk chocolate, & potentially types of chocolate sweetened by means other than sugar? Maybe even cocoa grown in different terroirs resulting in different flavors. Like how cocoa from the Dominican Republic has an almost buttery taste to them (which I've actually had once, it was really good).

These poor boys! Well I guess CoH Link is better of not knowing. I think I remember now that he was supposed to be the Hero instead of OoT Link, but his death during the civil war forced his son to become the Hero of Time instead?

What do you think happened during the war by the way? I've spent a lot of time thinking about the Hyrulean Civil War myself (especially for my comic project) and I'm always curious to see how others interpret it.

(sorry if we've already talked about this, can't remember)

You're welcome!

Yeah Calamo was funny and endearing at first but I got tired of him pretty soon haha. I also found the revelation that he's now the Ancient Tree Stump a bit... ridiculous. But at least I'm so glad he didn't become the Deku Tree, I really feared this was where the game was headed! 

He's definitely cuter than Kohga, but I'm much more interested in Kohga and I find him a lot funnier ^^

Sure the Zora live longer but that's still a lot of generations between them. But yeah I see your point, and it's honestly fun that they hinted at this through character design even though it doesn't really make sense, I'm just nitpicking haha.

Diamond painting is the most relaxing thing ever to me! You create an image by sticking coloured beads (the "diamonds") to an adhesive canvas, it's a bit like pixel art in real life. They sell kits online (my favorites are famous paintings), but now I just have so many leftover diamonds that I like to make my own. I once spent months on this and I still can't believe I'm that crazy haha:

It's huge, close to 70 cm in height 😆

Oh I wanted to play the violin as a child too! Though my first choice would have been the harp. Neither were available in my little town though, so I went with the flute instead (my parents insisted my siblings and I should take music classes). And it's great! It also makes learning another wind instrument pretty easy, which is why I had no problem teaching myself the ocarina. 

It's never too late to learn music! You should go for it if you want to!

Well I own two ceramic replicas of the Ocarina of Time at the moment (original I know!) and one little 6 holes green rupee that I don't really know how to play yet. I'd really like to get a wooden one, I'm curious about the sound difference and I want an ocarina that's not a Zelda replica. And as you said it's a lot easier to carry around since it won't break ^^

I actually bought a recorder flute some time ago but I haven't really found the time to experiment with it, though I think it shouldn't be too hard for me to learn. I have to get back to it someday! I've tried the guitar too but it's a lot more difficult for me to practice seriously without a teacher (so not very relaxing indeed).

I guess I don't really need a new hobby though. I'm hoping to be done with my apartment by next week and then I want to focus on my comic until I actually manage to get it done. I'm tired of not being able to follow through with my comic projects!

Haha I'm not surprised you would enjoy a game focused on cooking! Well Stardew Valley looks pretty detailed and complete to me so we can hope this one will be too ^^

If you have any new ideas for your botw-totk rewrite that you wanna chat about or even just thoughts regarding AoI, I'm open to listen. 😄

Hello!! Well I'm fine! Just desperately waiting for something to happen on Zelda's 40th anniversary :D

...Which is just a few days before my own birthday so I would really love a surprise, hehe 😇 but I'm also trying to keep my hopes low!

What about you? How is it going with your new job?

To be honest I'm focused on another comic project these days so I have almost entirely stopped working on my rewrite. But I've been feeling like going back to it lately! I especially miss working on my own version of Hyrule and thinking of the rebuilding effort, what to do with the NPCs, etc., it was so much fun ^^

I still haven't played AoC and I don't think I will :/ First I'd need to get a Switch 2 and it doesn't seem that interesting at the moment, and second... I just can't anymore with that story and anything TotK related haha.

It's going well! Better than any of my previous jobs, so I'm hoping that it stays that way! Obviously, I know that there'll be rough patches & difficulties here & there, but I mean for the most part. I feel like I'm actually helping! :D

Woah! I didn't know that! No wonder you're anxious! It must've always felt a bit like an early birthday present, huh? Well, now I'm hoping for the same!

Hey, wherever the winds of inspiration take you, it's probably best to follow, lest they begin to blow in a different direction. I'd take advantage of it, personally.

Eh, that's fair. It IS the longest-running portion of the series since the Era of the Legendary Hero, so I can understand. And I really don't blame you for not getting the Switch 2. In fact, I think Nintendo could definitely use a couple plates of humble pie as they appear to have been acting pretty greedy lately.

So, I say enjoy yourself! XD

Personally, I found the story of AoI to be a big step up from what we had in TotK. I'm actually glad for it because I was sorely lacking in details regarding the actual world back then & the game's helped in that regard. Though, there's definitely some tweaks I'll need to make to get it to fit. Nothing too serious, tho.

For instance, I now know that Nemma has beef with the Zonai, but it's actually not Rauru. No, instead it's Mineru & the use of both Chef Constructs & especially Blacksmith Constructs. The fact that the Zonai royal family mass produces weaponry is the sort of thing that was grind against the Masamuna heiress' very core. And then to learn that they commonly have Constructs make their food would give her the distinct impression that the Zonai were derelict & overreliant upon technology to do things that aught be done by oneself.

Also, I'm having Gan wait a year before he enacts his plan to draw Rauru away from the castle. And once he does take the stone, he won't immediately create the Archfiend of sand. That won't happen until after the Gerudo begin to give up hope of getting their queen back as it'll feel like a betrayal to Gan.

Also, something amazing is that I was wrong when I despaired, thinking the River of the Dead wasn't there in Rauru's era, so I can STILL do the super creepy lore I wanted to! 😁

And I love Lago. His gameplay is probably one of my favorites in the game & now, he's the father of Larémy as well as the sensei who trained Nemma in the art of using water as part of her swordplay. So, she'll definitely have a good amount of Lago's influence in her own fighting style.

But this also makes things more complicated for Lago, as I'm sure you can expect. *vibrates happily*

The actual story's been fairly slow-going all things considered, but I'm still managing.

I just can't seem to finish the literal first scene! 😤

Any other games you been enjoying lately? I've been super invested in Stardew Valley myself. Really charming little game. Very whimsical, but also very chill. :3

I've also made good progress on my own timeline theory (I think I mentioned wanting to get rid of the Downfall Timeline and to put Minish Cap and the Four Sword games on their own branch at some point?). It definitely has some fanfiction elements and I might have managed to make things even more complicated, but I find it more satisfying than the official timeline ^^

This is great, I'm happy for you!! I hope it stays that way too :D

Well I usually don't expect anything but this year is a bit different since it's the 4Oth anniversary! I'm not really hoping for something as big as a new game but maybe we'll get a movie trailer or something (like they did for Mario). Or maybe a long awaited Switch 2 port for TP, but I'm not going to buy a new console just to play a game I've finished 50 times already haha. Anyway, one more week to go!

If the Wild era was my favorite part of the series I guess I wouldn't mind that it's been almost ten years ^^ It's just that I already wasn't the biggest BotW fan and now I'm kind of a TotK hater, so I really need the next game to be something different with new versions of Link and Zelda. And hopefully something a bit closer to the old formula, with a more linear story and real dungeons (EoW was a step in the right direction for me).

Yeah, I'm not really okay either with what Nintendo has been up to lately.

AoI definitely improves on TotK's story but I feel like all of this should have been told in the game, it doesn't sit right with me that we have to buy a new console and a new game to get the full story. On top of that it didn't answer any of the questions I had and even made things more confusing, so I'm not very happy with it haha. And I'm really disappointed in the way they treated Zelda's character and literally turned Link into a robot this time, but I'll stop there before this turns into a full blown rant again 😆

At least I'm happy the game gave you fuel for thought and more material to use! I didn't even know who Lago was haha. And I completely get that Nemma wouldn't agree with the way the Zonai were using constructs! I'm sure it's going to be an interesting conflict between them.

Oh! What creepy lore do you have in mind for the River of the Dead? It's always been so intriguing to me!

I haven't really been playing games, except for my first playthrough of Oracle of Ages I started back in November. I haven't finished it, don't really know why since I was really enjoying it, but I guess I just have other stuff to do! Also my eyes have been really dry and tired lately so I've been trying to reduce my screen time (which is hard when your main hobbies are drawing on a tablet and working on a comic project in Google Docs :/).

Thank you! I'm just doing the best I can to help!

As for the 40th anniversary, I'm honestly kinda hoping for a remake of something from the Downfall timeline. I mean, it certainly seems to be heading in that direction. They've been putting new installments in that timeline a bunch, I feel. A Link Between Worlds, Link's Awakening, Echoes of Wisdom. So, I'm really hoping for either a remake or reimagining of the Oracle games. Which, I know is probably expecting a lot, but I definitely think it's possible.

Though, for Zelda 1 & 2, if not this year, then I'm almost willing to bet money on the possibility that (provided Zelda is still as big as it's been), then a decade from now there will be either a remake or reimagining of Zelda 1 & 2 announced. Because it'd almost be the perfect time for it.

Eh, the Wild Era just wasn't your era. It happens. 🤷‍♀️

Oh, very much agreed. It's really dumb that they decided to put the bulk of the storytelling in the flipping dynasty warriors game & so little of it into the open-world game. Like, if they really wanted to do the majority of the story stuff on the Switch 2, then why didn't they just have EoW be the last entry on the Switch & have TotK & AoI primier on the Switch 2 as a set, but with all the story integrated into both?

Because, as it is, even with the Zelda Notes, TotK feels way too empty & shallow, which is something I've been noticing with a couple open-world games lately.

Thank you! Oh, Lago's just cool! He's this swordfighting veteran bodyguard for the late Zora king who swore never to pick up his blade in shame for having been unable to protect his king. His gameplay is so fun! He wields the Zora Sword, which is a first! But he showcases some serious samurai levels of skill! He even gets elemental attacks! As in attacks that actively count as water element! And the water element actually does something against fire enemies now! And there are elemental Lynels!! No golden ones, though.

(Btw as an aside, I think that I finally know a decent way of explaining the difference between water & ice as elements. The two are undoubtedly linked & very often overlap, but there are still slight differences that exist. Water as an element is just water & will always be water in some form or another, while ice is more accurately cold. Because, again, only water & anything containing a decent amount of H2O falls under the category of water, but any & every liquid with a freezing point, regardless of whether or not it contains H2O, falls under the category of ice, if that makes sense? So, in laymen's terms, all water can eventually be considered ice if frozen, but not all ice is water.)

Alright! Here's a usurp I wrote in regard to the River of the Dead:

“In the time before Hylia became the Custodian of the Triforce, Sheikaku & Karina traveled the land protecting the innocent & killing the wicked. However, at times, they would find those who repelled them on a level beyond that of others. Their righteous fury was such that they found simply killing them to not be enough. Because of this, they created Judgement’s _ (Moon God’s Judgement?), now referred to as the River of the Dead. Sheikaku made it to be eternally winter there. Because of this, the waters were forever freezing. It is believed that all who drown there, if they had continually committed a crime of a certain grievousness, then upon dying, their souls would become trapped there. But not simply trapped. Suffering eternally. Though a ghost needs neither breath nor warmth, they are still forever consigned to experience those feelings. So, they were made to always feel the sensation of freezing & being weighed down & dragged deeper into the very darkness. To always be drowning without relief.

However, that this will only happen to those guilty of very wicked crimes & any who swim in that water who was also guilty of similarly awful crimes, they would find themselves haunted.

If you’ve never seen it, there’s a horror movie about the Temagami spring in America that kills one person in order to heal another. And the souls of those that drowned are trapped forever in its waters. Just… this seemingly endless expanse of dark water that is filled with people, hair drifting around them. So, something like that, but all with eyes wide with panic, mouths opening & closing as though desperate for air, their arms & legs struggle eternally to try & reach a surface that they never will. Skin almost appearing blue with how pale they were, accompanied by patches of frost & blackened extremities, as though afflicted by frostbite. Just… terrifyingly haunting. But, imagine that each ghost there appears to be weighed down by heavy chains in a similar way to how the ghost of Marley from the Christmas Carol did. Combined with the experience that Bootstrap Bill from Pirates of the Caribbean was forced to endure when his crew tied his boots to a cannonball & had him tossed out into the ocean. The way that Bill described it. That feeling.” And the royal family only sentences those who've committed the most despicable of crimes. Not just against individuals, but on a massive & organized level. Things like slave-trading, sexual slavery, mass murder/attempted genocide, cannibalism, other similarly despicable things.

Moving on, I'm glad that you've been reducing your screentime! Hmm… Maybe take up a physical medium for your art? Sometimes going back to basics is a good idea.

For instance, I'd never really been very good at painting myself because I was more drawn to colored pencils, but due to my new job, I’ve been doing watercolors a lot more lately.

So, maybe try drawing or painting or watercolors?

Right?? Stardew's been really fun! Though, I've specifically been playing modded Stardew of late. Which is even more fun, though it can also get a bit overwhelming if you're new to the whole modding thing, which I am.

I would really like a remake of the Oracle games too, though maybe not in the same style as Link's Awakening and Echoes. But I think what these games need the most is new music!! I never thought I'd have to turn it off while playing a Zelda game, but OoA's soundtrack is just so horrible it gave me headaches. I feel though that the addition of the Oracle games to the Nintendo Switch Online makes the possibility of getting remakes soon less likely, but I could be wrong.

Oh I'd love remakes of Zelda I and II, especially since I've never played AoL (this game is scary haha).

They could easily have found a way to show more of the story in TotK, by letting us play as Zelda during the memories for example. I'm honestly glad TotK isn't the long awaited Switch 2 new Zelda game, I would have been so disappointed. It definitely feels empty and shallow as it is.

Lago sounds interesting and fun to play as! And you're right, ice isn't necessarily water.

This is great! And creepy indeed. I like this explanation for the eternal winter on the western part of the Great Plateau.

Yeah I could go back to traditional art, but I have this irrational fear of having to relearn everything since I haven't done so in years haha. Also I'm mostly working on the story for my comic these days, so I'm happy just taking notes and writing instead of drawing. I enjoy doing that on paper but I also use the Dark Reader extension to put Google Docs in dark mode, it really helps with my eyes.

Interesting perspective. Please, tell me more. I personally like to use some of the less canon games to help explain stuff.

For instance, “if Link was so necessary, why were the 7 Wisemen able to kill & seal away Ganon in ALttP?” Simply put, they weren't. A different Link & Zelda had jumped forward from a pre-OoT event & they, alongside a third commanding power over music, killed Ganon together, then returned to their homes. It was then that the 7 Wisemen came in & sealed Ganon into the Sacred Realm.

Basically, in my timeline, Cadence of Hyrule came between Minish Cap/Four Sword & Ocarina of Time. Mostly because it just made sense to me & gave me some ideas to play with.

Obviously there'd be some tweaks, but I give myself more leeway when using the spinoff games. It's something I really like about my timeline.

Understandable. All we can do is hope that the Nintendo crew takes a moment or two to do a bit of soul searching. And if they do remake the Oracle games, I REALLY wanna see more regarding the feud between the 2 types of Zora, as well as Piratians, Subrosians, & even just humans! I especially really wanna see more about the architecture of the Zora's underwater homes!

So many missed opportunities…

He is! Lago's also got a super deep voice, too! Love a deep voice. X3

I'm kind of debating if I should have Nemma see Lago as a father figure alongside her grandfather. Maybe have him be protective of her in a way.

Oddly enough, I really found the characters in AoI to be very endearing overall!

And oh my goodness… Raphica's hair. I just love it so much!

Thank you! I like a bit of myth here & there.

Maybe that's the problem? You don't need to relearn anything for it to be a relaxing hobby, just doodle. Put lines on paper & let your inner artist guide you without judgement of what you're making or the expectation of putting it out there to be judged by others.

Well, whatever you decide, at least you realize that the fear is irrational. Though, I can't help but wonder if you've decided to never go back to physical art, because if you ever did with the intention of doing so with the seriousness of an artist, then you'd need to relearn the skill anyway.

It most certainly does have mods! And so many! Of course, you have to be careful that you don't use any that would conflict with each other, but so long as you do, it's actually pretty simple once set up! Also, you'd either need a gaming computer or a graphics card suited to gaming or the game itself won't play, unfortunately.

Now, as far as mods go, it mostly depends on what it is you're looking for. For your first time experiencing the game & its story, I'd mostly stick to what I think of as “Vanilla Plus” mods. These are mods that mostly just take what's already there & expands upon it without adding too much in terms of content. Maybe some quality of life things.

You told me about your timeline placement for Cadence of Hyrule, I remember! Though I wonder, why do CoH Link and Zelda leave Ganon with the full Triforce in your theory? Are they not able to take it back from him?

Okay here we go! It's just obvious to me that the events described in ALttP have nothing to do with OoT, and that the Seven Wise Men are not the OoT Seven Sages. There are just too many differences between these two stories (I think anyone who has played both games can easily see this), and on top of that the alternate scenario of the Hero of Time's death/defeat makes this whole thing even weirder.

Now not only does ALttP make no sense as a sequel to OoT, but ALBW also doesn't work properly as a sequel to ALttP (or a sequel to ALttP-OoX if you believe these games really have the same Link) even though ALBW is literally titled "A Link to the Past 2" in Japanese!

At the beginning of ALBW we know that Ganon is sealed away with the Triforce of Power, when he was supposed to be dead at the end of ALttP (ALttP Link doesn't seal him, he kills him, and is then able to make a wish on the full Triforce). In OoX, Koume & Kotake manage to briefly resurrect Ganon but Link instantly defeats him. Ganon never gets the Triforce of Power here, and he certainly does not end up sealed away with it! Conclusion: both the events of ALttP and OoX do not match at all with the story we are told in ALBW!

We do have a game with a very similar story to the one told in ALBW's prologue, though: OoT. Here we have a Hero guided by a Princess, who together with the Sages manage to seal Ganon away—though they are not able to take the Triforce of Power from him.

(Also, something weird I've noticed is that the English translation of ALBW tells us that these Sages are "descendants of the Seven Sages", which clearly marks them as a different group from the OoT Seven Sages. This was very surprising to me since the French version calls them "les Sept Sages" (the Seven Sages) just like in OoT, they are never stated to be descendants of anyone. I found the original Japanese text thanks to Reddit and it appears that the English version is wrong, which is also confirmed by dialogue between Sahasrahla and Link. This makes the association with OoT even stronger!!).

In my timeline, I keep the three branches after OoT but I replace the Downfall Timeline with something different that allows me to place ALBW after OoT. This branch is created by OoT Zelda, the same way the Child Timeline is. The idea here is that the Great Flood happens during her rule in the Adult Timeline, so she uses the Ocarina of Time to send herself back in time in order to prevent this, as she did with Link. She leaves behind her husband, King Daphnes, their children, and the Triforce of Wisdom that she divides in two. Her goal here is to create a new timeline where she doesn't send Link back to his childhood, so that he can help seal Ganon again and save Hyrule from the Great Flood.

(Btw this is a story I'd really like to turn into a comic too!! It makes OoT Zelda's life even more tragic since she of course blames herself for sending Link back to his childhood and leaving Hyrule without a Hero, and she also has to leave her family behind in the Adult Timeline and start her life again after OoT. Of course I am not aiming for Zelink here (since Zelda is technically a mature woman with a husband and children while Link is a traumatised 10 years old stuck in the body of a young adult) and this whole thing makes their relationship quite complicated. They also have to live waiting for Ganon's return and knowing what will happen if they fail, and Link now has to defeat Ganon again as an older Hero… which I find really fun and would love to see in a game someday).

So that's it, Link, Zelda and the Sages manage to seal Ganon away again and prevent the Great Flood. Gan is sealed as Ganon this time and not as Ganondorf, so that things are coherent with what we see in ALBW. Link ends up entrusting the Seven Sages with the Triforce of Courage, while the Triforce of Wisdom gets passed down in the royal family. The Temple of Time is destroyed by Ganon when he returns, which is why the Master Sword finds itself in the middle of the Lost Woods, and the Spiritual Stones become the Three Pendants. As for Gramps, well, maybe he is the lingering spirit of OoT Link instead of ALttP Link, which mirrors the Hero's Shade in TP/the Child Timeline.

The next game in this timeline is ALttP, with a new Ganondorf, then of course Link's Awakening, and the last one is probably Echoes of Wisdom. I separate OoX from ALttP and LA because it's obvious to me that these games don't share the same Link and Zelda. First Zelda's design in OoX looks nothing like ALttP Zelda (she actually looks quite similar to OoT Zelda), and she also acts like she is meeting Link for the first time in OoX. I also really like the idea that Koume and Kotake are the same witches from OoT trying to revive their son/king, and the only timeline that makes this possible is the Child Timeline. So my Child Timeline looks like this: MM > TP > OoX > LoZ > AoL. I'm assuming that the Triforce gets reassembled at some point after TP and ends up under the care of the royal family.

I also like that this creates a better balance between the three branches of the timeline! The Child Timeline feels abandonned in the official version (and FSA should be a direct sequel to FS since they were supposed to have the same Link and Zelda) while the Downfall Timeline is basically where they cram up classic-looking games they don't know what to do with. It's also a bit weird that the timeline with the "what if the Hero died" scenario is the one with the most games.

Sorry that was a bit long, haha! I tend to get carried away when I talk about this. I hope this all makes sense, it’s not that easy for me to explain all of this in English!

Well, turns out Nintendo didn't do anything yesterday. That's kind of… sad. Anyway. I'd love to see all of this too in a OoX remake! Especially the two types of Zora.

I do like the characters in AoI, especially Raphica and Ardi! Not so much Calamo and the Knight Construct, though. It's just the story and lore I don't really enjoy.

I guess the thing is that I don't really see drawing as a relaxing hobby! To me it's the craft I use to make my ideas come to life and I'm constantly trying to get better at it, I don't do it to relax. If I want to relax I just do something else haha.

Oh no, I haven't decided to never go back to physical art or anything, it just isn't my priority right now. My ultimate goal is to make comics and maybe animations, and the best way to achieve that is to focus on digital art.

The part regarding CoH Link & Zelda not taking the ToP back, I have yet to figure out. 😅 At the same time, I'm already attached to the unknowing tragedy of the sequence of events, so I'll just have to think of something!

Hmm… Have I told you about the near soap opera-level of drama surrounding the identity of OoT Ganondorf's father?

Or the fact that CoH Link was OoT Link's father & CoH Zelda was OoT Zelda's mother? That CoH Link was the creator of many of the magical instruments that we see later as well as the Wind Waker, which has a secret function that turns it into a sort of magical rapier? I even made some art of it! I'm very happy with it! :D

Huh! I didn't know that the descendants part had been incorrect. I also hadn't considered the idea of Zelda sending herself to the past either. It would certainly change things.

Okay, I think I get what you're going for now. It isn't so much that you're getting rid of the Downfall Timeline as a concept entirely & more so swapping it out for a different one that makes more sense to you. Am I understanding this correctly?

Either way, it's most certainly not something I would've thought of & it sounds like it has real potential.

It's alright, I think I get the basic premise. You certainly put a lot of work into it too! I might need a Jullbnt Timeline to reference for the future, though. XD

Yeah, it was really disappointing for them to not do anything for Zelda's 40th.

Really? I loved Calamo & the Knight Construct. I thought it was a really creative way to have Link in the game while also not. And I found Calamo to be a very interesting take on a Korok.

Ah well, to each their own, I suppose.

I will also say that I like the idea that Qia eventually marries Cadlan, because he's very much like Sidon. And I really appreciate that they brought back the mid-tier weapons as well as adding in new ones. I really wasn't expecting any new Forestdweller weapons especially, but we got them!

And I really feel like the game was somewhat confirming my theory regarding different people aligning with different elements aside from what the Sages are known for. I'm telling you, Sholani is Wind aligned & Ronza is Earth, specifically Sand! Meanwhile, Pastos’ element seems to be Earth. Even if they didn't specifically give those characters’ Special Actions actual elements.

Have I said those already? I might've repeated myself... Sorry. 😅

Aaaaah! I understand now. Then, yeah, if drawing really isn't relaxing for you, then you're right. It wouldn't be the best choice. Hmm… Then, are there any hobbies of yours that you do find relaxing, & if not, then what about forgotten hobbies?

Personally, I used to love going fishing with my grandpa. I don't think it really even matters if I catch anything, sometimes it's just nice to get outside & enjoy the quiet peace of nature. At the same time, I understand that fishing might not be for everyone, so if it doesn't hold any interest for you (or if fishing laws make it difficult where you live, I've no idea how they work in France 😅), then maybe just think back to things that you used to enjoy growing up & even want to get back to, but you always keep putting off?

Or who knows? Maybe you should turn more towards trying new things & getting a bit adventurous? Like, what about activities that you've always wanted to try your hand at?

It doesn't even really need to be a long-term hobby either. For instance, my mom used to be very involved with scrapbooking, but now she's more into decorating cakes, cupcakes, & cookies. All it has to do is be a hobby for the moment.

*nods sagely* Understood. Praying all the best in your endeavors. Animating sounds super hard, but also really amazingly cool.

Well I'm sure you'll find something! If I remember correctly OoT Ganondorf is the King of Hyrule's son in your version of events? CoH Link being OoT Link's father sure does make things even more tragic. He's not aware the Hero of Time was his son, is he?

Oh I love the idea that CoH Link could be the creator of the Wind Waker and other instruments, it just makes so much sense!

Exactly! I just don't like that the Downfall Timeline is an alternate scenario that is not supported by the games in any way, and to make things worse the story told by Hyrule Historia doesn't even match with AlttP's backstory. So yeah I'm keeping the three timelines after OoT but replacing this one with something different that doesn't involve killing the Hero of Time off-screen.

I'm glad you think this has potential!! And here's my complete timeline since you asked for a reference 😇

Yes this is a monster of a timeline with 5 branches :D I can explain the two other ones but I'm not sure you'd like another wall of text!

I don't know, I found Calamo a bit annoying and I don't like the idea that Link can just be replaced by a robot. Maybe it would have helped if Zelda had shown a bit more interest towards it, I don't know. And I guess I would have preferred for the story to focus more on her than on Rauru and the Knight Construct.

Ah yes I thought the same thing about Qia and Cadlan! Even though it doesn't really make sense since there are thousands of years between Cadlan and Sidon haha, but it definitely looks like it was the intention.

Well I don't know enough about these characters but I believe you!

I enjoy crafty hobbies in general, stuff like diamond painting, papercraft or model building (but I do it in moderation since it's so time consuming). And of course reading (mostly fanfiction nowadays), taking walks, and playing music/singing. I play the transverse flute and… the ocarina :D

It's so great that you had this bond with your grandpa! I'm not sure I'd enjoy fishing but just spending time in nature with loved ones always sounds nice. No idea about fishing laws here, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were completely absurd haha.

If you have any new ideas for your botw-totk rewrite that you wanna chat about or even just thoughts regarding AoI, I'm open to listen. 😄

Hello!! Well I'm fine! Just desperately waiting for something to happen on Zelda's 40th anniversary :D

...Which is just a few days before my own birthday so I would really love a surprise, hehe 😇 but I'm also trying to keep my hopes low!

What about you? How is it going with your new job?

To be honest I'm focused on another comic project these days so I have almost entirely stopped working on my rewrite. But I've been feeling like going back to it lately! I especially miss working on my own version of Hyrule and thinking of the rebuilding effort, what to do with the NPCs, etc., it was so much fun ^^

I still haven't played AoC and I don't think I will :/ First I'd need to get a Switch 2 and it doesn't seem that interesting at the moment, and second... I just can't anymore with that story and anything TotK related haha.

It's going well! Better than any of my previous jobs, so I'm hoping that it stays that way! Obviously, I know that there'll be rough patches & difficulties here & there, but I mean for the most part. I feel like I'm actually helping! :D

Woah! I didn't know that! No wonder you're anxious! It must've always felt a bit like an early birthday present, huh? Well, now I'm hoping for the same!

Hey, wherever the winds of inspiration take you, it's probably best to follow, lest they begin to blow in a different direction. I'd take advantage of it, personally.

Eh, that's fair. It IS the longest-running portion of the series since the Era of the Legendary Hero, so I can understand. And I really don't blame you for not getting the Switch 2. In fact, I think Nintendo could definitely use a couple plates of humble pie as they appear to have been acting pretty greedy lately.

So, I say enjoy yourself! XD

Personally, I found the story of AoI to be a big step up from what we had in TotK. I'm actually glad for it because I was sorely lacking in details regarding the actual world back then & the game's helped in that regard. Though, there's definitely some tweaks I'll need to make to get it to fit. Nothing too serious, tho.

For instance, I now know that Nemma has beef with the Zonai, but it's actually not Rauru. No, instead it's Mineru & the use of both Chef Constructs & especially Blacksmith Constructs. The fact that the Zonai royal family mass produces weaponry is the sort of thing that was grind against the Masamuna heiress' very core. And then to learn that they commonly have Constructs make their food would give her the distinct impression that the Zonai were derelict & overreliant upon technology to do things that aught be done by oneself.

Also, I'm having Gan wait a year before he enacts his plan to draw Rauru away from the castle. And once he does take the stone, he won't immediately create the Archfiend of sand. That won't happen until after the Gerudo begin to give up hope of getting their queen back as it'll feel like a betrayal to Gan.

Also, something amazing is that I was wrong when I despaired, thinking the River of the Dead wasn't there in Rauru's era, so I can STILL do the super creepy lore I wanted to! 😁

And I love Lago. His gameplay is probably one of my favorites in the game & now, he's the father of Larémy as well as the sensei who trained Nemma in the art of using water as part of her swordplay. So, she'll definitely have a good amount of Lago's influence in her own fighting style.

But this also makes things more complicated for Lago, as I'm sure you can expect. *vibrates happily*

The actual story's been fairly slow-going all things considered, but I'm still managing.

I just can't seem to finish the literal first scene! 😤

Any other games you been enjoying lately? I've been super invested in Stardew Valley myself. Really charming little game. Very whimsical, but also very chill. :3

I've also made good progress on my own timeline theory (I think I mentioned wanting to get rid of the Downfall Timeline and to put Minish Cap and the Four Sword games on their own branch at some point?). It definitely has some fanfiction elements and I might have managed to make things even more complicated, but I find it more satisfying than the official timeline ^^

This is great, I'm happy for you!! I hope it stays that way too :D

Well I usually don't expect anything but this year is a bit different since it's the 4Oth anniversary! I'm not really hoping for something as big as a new game but maybe we'll get a movie trailer or something (like they did for Mario). Or maybe a long awaited Switch 2 port for TP, but I'm not going to buy a new console just to play a game I've finished 50 times already haha. Anyway, one more week to go!

If the Wild era was my favorite part of the series I guess I wouldn't mind that it's been almost ten years ^^ It's just that I already wasn't the biggest BotW fan and now I'm kind of a TotK hater, so I really need the next game to be something different with new versions of Link and Zelda. And hopefully something a bit closer to the old formula, with a more linear story and real dungeons (EoW was a step in the right direction for me).

Yeah, I'm not really okay either with what Nintendo has been up to lately.

AoI definitely improves on TotK's story but I feel like all of this should have been told in the game, it doesn't sit right with me that we have to buy a new console and a new game to get the full story. On top of that it didn't answer any of the questions I had and even made things more confusing, so I'm not very happy with it haha. And I'm really disappointed in the way they treated Zelda's character and literally turned Link into a robot this time, but I'll stop there before this turns into a full blown rant again 😆

At least I'm happy the game gave you fuel for thought and more material to use! I didn't even know who Lago was haha. And I completely get that Nemma wouldn't agree with the way the Zonai were using constructs! I'm sure it's going to be an interesting conflict between them.

Oh! What creepy lore do you have in mind for the River of the Dead? It's always been so intriguing to me!

I haven't really been playing games, except for my first playthrough of Oracle of Ages I started back in November. I haven't finished it, don't really know why since I was really enjoying it, but I guess I just have other stuff to do! Also my eyes have been really dry and tired lately so I've been trying to reduce my screen time (which is hard when your main hobbies are drawing on a tablet and working on a comic project in Google Docs :/).

Thank you! I'm just doing the best I can to help!

As for the 40th anniversary, I'm honestly kinda hoping for a remake of something from the Downfall timeline. I mean, it certainly seems to be heading in that direction. They've been putting new installments in that timeline a bunch, I feel. A Link Between Worlds, Link's Awakening, Echoes of Wisdom. So, I'm really hoping for either a remake or reimagining of the Oracle games. Which, I know is probably expecting a lot, but I definitely think it's possible.

Though, for Zelda 1 & 2, if not this year, then I'm almost willing to bet money on the possibility that (provided Zelda is still as big as it's been), then a decade from now there will be either a remake or reimagining of Zelda 1 & 2 announced. Because it'd almost be the perfect time for it.

Eh, the Wild Era just wasn't your era. It happens. 🤷‍♀️

Oh, very much agreed. It's really dumb that they decided to put the bulk of the storytelling in the flipping dynasty warriors game & so little of it into the open-world game. Like, if they really wanted to do the majority of the story stuff on the Switch 2, then why didn't they just have EoW be the last entry on the Switch & have TotK & AoI primier on the Switch 2 as a set, but with all the story integrated into both?

Because, as it is, even with the Zelda Notes, TotK feels way too empty & shallow, which is something I've been noticing with a couple open-world games lately.

Thank you! Oh, Lago's just cool! He's this swordfighting veteran bodyguard for the late Zora king who swore never to pick up his blade in shame for having been unable to protect his king. His gameplay is so fun! He wields the Zora Sword, which is a first! But he showcases some serious samurai levels of skill! He even gets elemental attacks! As in attacks that actively count as water element! And the water element actually does something against fire enemies now! And there are elemental Lynels!! No golden ones, though.

(Btw as an aside, I think that I finally know a decent way of explaining the difference between water & ice as elements. The two are undoubtedly linked & very often overlap, but there are still slight differences that exist. Water as an element is just water & will always be water in some form or another, while ice is more accurately cold. Because, again, only water & anything containing a decent amount of H2O falls under the category of water, but any & every liquid with a freezing point, regardless of whether or not it contains H2O, falls under the category of ice, if that makes sense? So, in laymen's terms, all water can eventually be considered ice if frozen, but not all ice is water.)

Alright! Here's a usurp I wrote in regard to the River of the Dead:

“In the time before Hylia became the Custodian of the Triforce, Sheikaku & Karina traveled the land protecting the innocent & killing the wicked. However, at times, they would find those who repelled them on a level beyond that of others. Their righteous fury was such that they found simply killing them to not be enough. Because of this, they created Judgement’s _ (Moon God’s Judgement?), now referred to as the River of the Dead. Sheikaku made it to be eternally winter there. Because of this, the waters were forever freezing. It is believed that all who drown there, if they had continually committed a crime of a certain grievousness, then upon dying, their souls would become trapped there. But not simply trapped. Suffering eternally. Though a ghost needs neither breath nor warmth, they are still forever consigned to experience those feelings. So, they were made to always feel the sensation of freezing & being weighed down & dragged deeper into the very darkness. To always be drowning without relief.

However, that this will only happen to those guilty of very wicked crimes & any who swim in that water who was also guilty of similarly awful crimes, they would find themselves haunted.

If you’ve never seen it, there’s a horror movie about the Temagami spring in America that kills one person in order to heal another. And the souls of those that drowned are trapped forever in its waters. Just… this seemingly endless expanse of dark water that is filled with people, hair drifting around them. So, something like that, but all with eyes wide with panic, mouths opening & closing as though desperate for air, their arms & legs struggle eternally to try & reach a surface that they never will. Skin almost appearing blue with how pale they were, accompanied by patches of frost & blackened extremities, as though afflicted by frostbite. Just… terrifyingly haunting. But, imagine that each ghost there appears to be weighed down by heavy chains in a similar way to how the ghost of Marley from the Christmas Carol did. Combined with the experience that Bootstrap Bill from Pirates of the Caribbean was forced to endure when his crew tied his boots to a cannonball & had him tossed out into the ocean. The way that Bill described it. That feeling.” And the royal family only sentences those who've committed the most despicable of crimes. Not just against individuals, but on a massive & organized level. Things like slave-trading, sexual slavery, mass murder/attempted genocide, cannibalism, other similarly despicable things.

Moving on, I'm glad that you've been reducing your screentime! Hmm… Maybe take up a physical medium for your art? Sometimes going back to basics is a good idea.

For instance, I'd never really been very good at painting myself because I was more drawn to colored pencils, but due to my new job, I’ve been doing watercolors a lot more lately.

So, maybe try drawing or painting or watercolors?

Right?? Stardew's been really fun! Though, I've specifically been playing modded Stardew of late. Which is even more fun, though it can also get a bit overwhelming if you're new to the whole modding thing, which I am.

I would really like a remake of the Oracle games too, though maybe not in the same style as Link's Awakening and Echoes. But I think what these games need the most is new music!! I never thought I'd have to turn it off while playing a Zelda game, but OoA's soundtrack is just so horrible it gave me headaches. I feel though that the addition of the Oracle games to the Nintendo Switch Online makes the possibility of getting remakes soon less likely, but I could be wrong.

Oh I'd love remakes of Zelda I and II, especially since I've never played AoL (this game is scary haha).

They could easily have found a way to show more of the story in TotK, by letting us play as Zelda during the memories for example. I'm honestly glad TotK isn't the long awaited Switch 2 new Zelda game, I would have been so disappointed. It definitely feels empty and shallow as it is.

Lago sounds interesting and fun to play as! And you're right, ice isn't necessarily water.

This is great! And creepy indeed. I like this explanation for the eternal winter on the western part of the Great Plateau.

Yeah I could go back to traditional art, but I have this irrational fear of having to relearn everything since I haven't done so in years haha. Also I'm mostly working on the story for my comic these days, so I'm happy just taking notes and writing instead of drawing. I enjoy doing that on paper but I also use the Dark Reader extension to put Google Docs in dark mode, it really helps with my eyes.

Interesting perspective. Please, tell me more. I personally like to use some of the less canon games to help explain stuff.

For instance, “if Link was so necessary, why were the 7 Wisemen able to kill & seal away Ganon in ALttP?” Simply put, they weren't. A different Link & Zelda had jumped forward from a pre-OoT event & they, alongside a third commanding power over music, killed Ganon together, then returned to their homes. It was then that the 7 Wisemen came in & sealed Ganon into the Sacred Realm.

Basically, in my timeline, Cadence of Hyrule came between Minish Cap/Four Sword & Ocarina of Time. Mostly because it just made sense to me & gave me some ideas to play with.

Obviously there'd be some tweaks, but I give myself more leeway when using the spinoff games. It's something I really like about my timeline.

Understandable. All we can do is hope that the Nintendo crew takes a moment or two to do a bit of soul searching. And if they do remake the Oracle games, I REALLY wanna see more regarding the feud between the 2 types of Zora, as well as Piratians, Subrosians, & even just humans! I especially really wanna see more about the architecture of the Zora's underwater homes!

So many missed opportunities…

He is! Lago's also got a super deep voice, too! Love a deep voice. X3

I'm kind of debating if I should have Nemma see Lago as a father figure alongside her grandfather. Maybe have him be protective of her in a way.

Oddly enough, I really found the characters in AoI to be very endearing overall!

And oh my goodness… Raphica's hair. I just love it so much!

Thank you! I like a bit of myth here & there.

Maybe that's the problem? You don't need to relearn anything for it to be a relaxing hobby, just doodle. Put lines on paper & let your inner artist guide you without judgement of what you're making or the expectation of putting it out there to be judged by others.

Well, whatever you decide, at least you realize that the fear is irrational. Though, I can't help but wonder if you've decided to never go back to physical art, because if you ever did with the intention of doing so with the seriousness of an artist, then you'd need to relearn the skill anyway.

It most certainly does have mods! And so many! Of course, you have to be careful that you don't use any that would conflict with each other, but so long as you do, it's actually pretty simple once set up! Also, you'd either need a gaming computer or a graphics card suited to gaming or the game itself won't play, unfortunately.

Now, as far as mods go, it mostly depends on what it is you're looking for. For your first time experiencing the game & its story, I'd mostly stick to what I think of as “Vanilla Plus” mods. These are mods that mostly just take what's already there & expands upon it without adding too much in terms of content. Maybe some quality of life things.

You told me about your timeline placement for Cadence of Hyrule, I remember! Though I wonder, why do CoH Link and Zelda leave Ganon with the full Triforce in your theory? Are they not able to take it back from him?

Okay here we go! It's just obvious to me that the events described in ALttP have nothing to do with OoT, and that the Seven Wise Men are not the OoT Seven Sages. There are just too many differences between these two stories (I think anyone who has played both games can easily see this), and on top of that the alternate scenario of the Hero of Time's death/defeat makes this whole thing even weirder.

Now not only does ALttP make no sense as a sequel to OoT, but ALBW also doesn't work properly as a sequel to ALttP (or a sequel to ALttP-OoX if you believe these games really have the same Link) even though ALBW is literally titled "A Link to the Past 2" in Japanese!

At the beginning of ALBW we know that Ganon is sealed away with the Triforce of Power, when he was supposed to be dead at the end of ALttP (ALttP Link doesn't seal him, he kills him, and is then able to make a wish on the full Triforce). In OoX, Koume & Kotake manage to briefly resurrect Ganon but Link instantly defeats him. Ganon never gets the Triforce of Power here, and he certainly does not end up sealed away with it! Conclusion: both the events of ALttP and OoX do not match at all with the story we are told in ALBW!

We do have a game with a very similar story to the one told in ALBW's prologue, though: OoT. Here we have a Hero guided by a Princess, who together with the Sages manage to seal Ganon away—though they are not able to take the Triforce of Power from him.

(Also, something weird I've noticed is that the English translation of ALBW tells us that these Sages are "descendants of the Seven Sages", which clearly marks them as a different group from the OoT Seven Sages. This was very surprising to me since the French version calls them "les Sept Sages" (the Seven Sages) just like in OoT, they are never stated to be descendants of anyone. I found the original Japanese text thanks to Reddit and it appears that the English version is wrong, which is also confirmed by dialogue between Sahasrahla and Link. This makes the association with OoT even stronger!!).

In my timeline, I keep the three branches after OoT but I replace the Downfall Timeline with something different that allows me to place ALBW after OoT. This branch is created by OoT Zelda, the same way the Child Timeline is. The idea here is that the Great Flood happens during her rule in the Adult Timeline, so she uses the Ocarina of Time to send herself back in time in order to prevent this, as she did with Link. She leaves behind her husband, King Daphnes, their children, and the Triforce of Wisdom that she divides in two. Her goal here is to create a new timeline where she doesn't send Link back to his childhood, so that he can help seal Ganon again and save Hyrule from the Great Flood.

(Btw this is a story I'd really like to turn into a comic too!! It makes OoT Zelda's life even more tragic since she of course blames herself for sending Link back to his childhood and leaving Hyrule without a Hero, and she also has to leave her family behind in the Adult Timeline and start her life again after OoT. Of course I am not aiming for Zelink here (since Zelda is technically a mature woman with a husband and children while Link is a traumatised 10 years old stuck in the body of a young adult) and this whole thing makes their relationship quite complicated. They also have to live waiting for Ganon's return and knowing what will happen if they fail, and Link now has to defeat Ganon again as an older Hero… which I find really fun and would love to see in a game someday).

So that's it, Link, Zelda and the Sages manage to seal Ganon away again and prevent the Great Flood. Gan is sealed as Ganon this time and not as Ganondorf, so that things are coherent with what we see in ALBW. Link ends up entrusting the Seven Sages with the Triforce of Courage, while the Triforce of Wisdom gets passed down in the royal family. The Temple of Time is destroyed by Ganon when he returns, which is why the Master Sword finds itself in the middle of the Lost Woods, and the Spiritual Stones become the Three Pendants. As for Gramps, well, maybe he is the lingering spirit of OoT Link instead of ALttP Link, which mirrors the Hero's Shade in TP/the Child Timeline.

The next game in this timeline is ALttP, with a new Ganondorf, then of course Link's Awakening, and the last one is probably Echoes of Wisdom. I separate OoX from ALttP and LA because it's obvious to me that these games don't share the same Link and Zelda. First Zelda's design in OoX looks nothing like ALttP Zelda (she actually looks quite similar to OoT Zelda), and she also acts like she is meeting Link for the first time in OoX. I also really like the idea that Koume and Kotake are the same witches from OoT trying to revive their son/king, and the only timeline that makes this possible is the Child Timeline. So my Child Timeline looks like this: MM > TP > OoX > LoZ > AoL. I'm assuming that the Triforce gets reassembled at some point after TP and ends up under the care of the royal family.

I also like that this creates a better balance between the three branches of the timeline! The Child Timeline feels abandonned in the official version (and FSA should be a direct sequel to FS since they were supposed to have the same Link and Zelda) while the Downfall Timeline is basically where they cram up classic-looking games they don't know what to do with. It's also a bit weird that the timeline with the "what if the Hero died" scenario is the one with the most games.

Sorry that was a bit long, haha! I tend to get carried away when I talk about this. I hope this all makes sense, it’s not that easy for me to explain all of this in English!

Well, turns out Nintendo didn't do anything yesterday. That's kind of… sad. Anyway. I'd love to see all of this too in a OoX remake! Especially the two types of Zora.

I do like the characters in AoI, especially Raphica and Ardi! Not so much Calamo and the Knight Construct, though. It's just the story and lore I don't really enjoy.

I guess the thing is that I don't really see drawing as a relaxing hobby! To me it's the craft I use to make my ideas come to life and I'm constantly trying to get better at it, I don't do it to relax. If I want to relax I just do something else haha.

Oh no, I haven't decided to never go back to physical art or anything, it just isn't my priority right now. My ultimate goal is to make comics and maybe animations, and the best way to achieve that is to focus on digital art.

If you have any new ideas for your botw-totk rewrite that you wanna chat about or even just thoughts regarding AoI, I'm open to listen. 😄

Hello!! Well I'm fine! Just desperately waiting for something to happen on Zelda's 40th anniversary :D

...Which is just a few days before my own birthday so I would really love a surprise, hehe 😇 but I'm also trying to keep my hopes low!

What about you? How is it going with your new job?

To be honest I'm focused on another comic project these days so I have almost entirely stopped working on my rewrite. But I've been feeling like going back to it lately! I especially miss working on my own version of Hyrule and thinking of the rebuilding effort, what to do with the NPCs, etc., it was so much fun ^^

I still haven't played AoC and I don't think I will :/ First I'd need to get a Switch 2 and it doesn't seem that interesting at the moment, and second... I just can't anymore with that story and anything TotK related haha.

It's going well! Better than any of my previous jobs, so I'm hoping that it stays that way! Obviously, I know that there'll be rough patches & difficulties here & there, but I mean for the most part. I feel like I'm actually helping! :D

Woah! I didn't know that! No wonder you're anxious! It must've always felt a bit like an early birthday present, huh? Well, now I'm hoping for the same!

Hey, wherever the winds of inspiration take you, it's probably best to follow, lest they begin to blow in a different direction. I'd take advantage of it, personally.

Eh, that's fair. It IS the longest-running portion of the series since the Era of the Legendary Hero, so I can understand. And I really don't blame you for not getting the Switch 2. In fact, I think Nintendo could definitely use a couple plates of humble pie as they appear to have been acting pretty greedy lately.

So, I say enjoy yourself! XD

Personally, I found the story of AoI to be a big step up from what we had in TotK. I'm actually glad for it because I was sorely lacking in details regarding the actual world back then & the game's helped in that regard. Though, there's definitely some tweaks I'll need to make to get it to fit. Nothing too serious, tho.

For instance, I now know that Nemma has beef with the Zonai, but it's actually not Rauru. No, instead it's Mineru & the use of both Chef Constructs & especially Blacksmith Constructs. The fact that the Zonai royal family mass produces weaponry is the sort of thing that was grind against the Masamuna heiress' very core. And then to learn that they commonly have Constructs make their food would give her the distinct impression that the Zonai were derelict & overreliant upon technology to do things that aught be done by oneself.

Also, I'm having Gan wait a year before he enacts his plan to draw Rauru away from the castle. And once he does take the stone, he won't immediately create the Archfiend of sand. That won't happen until after the Gerudo begin to give up hope of getting their queen back as it'll feel like a betrayal to Gan.

Also, something amazing is that I was wrong when I despaired, thinking the River of the Dead wasn't there in Rauru's era, so I can STILL do the super creepy lore I wanted to! 😁

And I love Lago. His gameplay is probably one of my favorites in the game & now, he's the father of Larémy as well as the sensei who trained Nemma in the art of using water as part of her swordplay. So, she'll definitely have a good amount of Lago's influence in her own fighting style.

But this also makes things more complicated for Lago, as I'm sure you can expect. *vibrates happily*

The actual story's been fairly slow-going all things considered, but I'm still managing.

I just can't seem to finish the literal first scene! 😤

Any other games you been enjoying lately? I've been super invested in Stardew Valley myself. Really charming little game. Very whimsical, but also very chill. :3

I've also made good progress on my own timeline theory (I think I mentioned wanting to get rid of the Downfall Timeline and to put Minish Cap and the Four Sword games on their own branch at some point?). It definitely has some fanfiction elements and I might have managed to make things even more complicated, but I find it more satisfying than the official timeline ^^

This is great, I'm happy for you!! I hope it stays that way too :D

Well I usually don't expect anything but this year is a bit different since it's the 4Oth anniversary! I'm not really hoping for something as big as a new game but maybe we'll get a movie trailer or something (like they did for Mario). Or maybe a long awaited Switch 2 port for TP, but I'm not going to buy a new console just to play a game I've finished 50 times already haha. Anyway, one more week to go!

If the Wild era was my favorite part of the series I guess I wouldn't mind that it's been almost ten years ^^ It's just that I already wasn't the biggest BotW fan and now I'm kind of a TotK hater, so I really need the next game to be something different with new versions of Link and Zelda. And hopefully something a bit closer to the old formula, with a more linear story and real dungeons (EoW was a step in the right direction for me).

Yeah, I'm not really okay either with what Nintendo has been up to lately.

AoI definitely improves on TotK's story but I feel like all of this should have been told in the game, it doesn't sit right with me that we have to buy a new console and a new game to get the full story. On top of that it didn't answer any of the questions I had and even made things more confusing, so I'm not very happy with it haha. And I'm really disappointed in the way they treated Zelda's character and literally turned Link into a robot this time, but I'll stop there before this turns into a full blown rant again 😆

At least I'm happy the game gave you fuel for thought and more material to use! I didn't even know who Lago was haha. And I completely get that Nemma wouldn't agree with the way the Zonai were using constructs! I'm sure it's going to be an interesting conflict between them.

Oh! What creepy lore do you have in mind for the River of the Dead? It's always been so intriguing to me!

I haven't really been playing games, except for my first playthrough of Oracle of Ages I started back in November. I haven't finished it, don't really know why since I was really enjoying it, but I guess I just have other stuff to do! Also my eyes have been really dry and tired lately so I've been trying to reduce my screen time (which is hard when your main hobbies are drawing on a tablet and working on a comic project in Google Docs :/).

Thank you! I'm just doing the best I can to help!

As for the 40th anniversary, I'm honestly kinda hoping for a remake of something from the Downfall timeline. I mean, it certainly seems to be heading in that direction. They've been putting new installments in that timeline a bunch, I feel. A Link Between Worlds, Link's Awakening, Echoes of Wisdom. So, I'm really hoping for either a remake or reimagining of the Oracle games. Which, I know is probably expecting a lot, but I definitely think it's possible.

Though, for Zelda 1 & 2, if not this year, then I'm almost willing to bet money on the possibility that (provided Zelda is still as big as it's been), then a decade from now there will be either a remake or reimagining of Zelda 1 & 2 announced. Because it'd almost be the perfect time for it.

Eh, the Wild Era just wasn't your era. It happens. 🤷‍♀️

Oh, very much agreed. It's really dumb that they decided to put the bulk of the storytelling in the flipping dynasty warriors game & so little of it into the open-world game. Like, if they really wanted to do the majority of the story stuff on the Switch 2, then why didn't they just have EoW be the last entry on the Switch & have TotK & AoI primier on the Switch 2 as a set, but with all the story integrated into both?

Because, as it is, even with the Zelda Notes, TotK feels way too empty & shallow, which is something I've been noticing with a couple open-world games lately.

Thank you! Oh, Lago's just cool! He's this swordfighting veteran bodyguard for the late Zora king who swore never to pick up his blade in shame for having been unable to protect his king. His gameplay is so fun! He wields the Zora Sword, which is a first! But he showcases some serious samurai levels of skill! He even gets elemental attacks! As in attacks that actively count as water element! And the water element actually does something against fire enemies now! And there are elemental Lynels!! No golden ones, though.

(Btw as an aside, I think that I finally know a decent way of explaining the difference between water & ice as elements. The two are undoubtedly linked & very often overlap, but there are still slight differences that exist. Water as an element is just water & will always be water in some form or another, while ice is more accurately cold. Because, again, only water & anything containing a decent amount of H2O falls under the category of water, but any & every liquid with a freezing point, regardless of whether or not it contains H2O, falls under the category of ice, if that makes sense? So, in laymen's terms, all water can eventually be considered ice if frozen, but not all ice is water.)

Alright! Here's a usurp I wrote in regard to the River of the Dead:

“In the time before Hylia became the Custodian of the Triforce, Sheikaku & Karina traveled the land protecting the innocent & killing the wicked. However, at times, they would find those who repelled them on a level beyond that of others. Their righteous fury was such that they found simply killing them to not be enough. Because of this, they created Judgement’s _ (Moon God’s Judgement?), now referred to as the River of the Dead. Sheikaku made it to be eternally winter there. Because of this, the waters were forever freezing. It is believed that all who drown there, if they had continually committed a crime of a certain grievousness, then upon dying, their souls would become trapped there. But not simply trapped. Suffering eternally. Though a ghost needs neither breath nor warmth, they are still forever consigned to experience those feelings. So, they were made to always feel the sensation of freezing & being weighed down & dragged deeper into the very darkness. To always be drowning without relief.

However, that this will only happen to those guilty of very wicked crimes & any who swim in that water who was also guilty of similarly awful crimes, they would find themselves haunted.

If you’ve never seen it, there’s a horror movie about the Temagami spring in America that kills one person in order to heal another. And the souls of those that drowned are trapped forever in its waters. Just… this seemingly endless expanse of dark water that is filled with people, hair drifting around them. So, something like that, but all with eyes wide with panic, mouths opening & closing as though desperate for air, their arms & legs struggle eternally to try & reach a surface that they never will. Skin almost appearing blue with how pale they were, accompanied by patches of frost & blackened extremities, as though afflicted by frostbite. Just… terrifyingly haunting. But, imagine that each ghost there appears to be weighed down by heavy chains in a similar way to how the ghost of Marley from the Christmas Carol did. Combined with the experience that Bootstrap Bill from Pirates of the Caribbean was forced to endure when his crew tied his boots to a cannonball & had him tossed out into the ocean. The way that Bill described it. That feeling.” And the royal family only sentences those who've committed the most despicable of crimes. Not just against individuals, but on a massive & organized level. Things like slave-trading, sexual slavery, mass murder/attempted genocide, cannibalism, other similarly despicable things.

Moving on, I'm glad that you've been reducing your screentime! Hmm… Maybe take up a physical medium for your art? Sometimes going back to basics is a good idea.

For instance, I'd never really been very good at painting myself because I was more drawn to colored pencils, but due to my new job, I’ve been doing watercolors a lot more lately.

So, maybe try drawing or painting or watercolors?

Right?? Stardew's been really fun! Though, I've specifically been playing modded Stardew of late. Which is even more fun, though it can also get a bit overwhelming if you're new to the whole modding thing, which I am.

I would really like a remake of the Oracle games too, though maybe not in the same style as Link's Awakening and Echoes. But I think what these games need the most is new music!! I never thought I'd have to turn it off while playing a Zelda game, but OoA's soundtrack is just so horrible it gave me headaches. I feel though that the addition of the Oracle games to the Nintendo Switch Online makes the possibility of getting remakes soon less likely, but I could be wrong.

Oh I'd love remakes of Zelda I and II, especially since I've never played AoL (this game is scary haha).

They could easily have found a way to show more of the story in TotK, by letting us play as Zelda during the memories for example. I'm honestly glad TotK isn't the long awaited Switch 2 new Zelda game, I would have been so disappointed. It definitely feels empty and shallow as it is.

Lago sounds interesting and fun to play as! And you're right, ice isn't necessarily water.

This is great! And creepy indeed. I like this explanation for the eternal winter on the western part of the Great Plateau.

Yeah I could go back to traditional art, but I have this irrational fear of having to relearn everything since I haven't done so in years haha. Also I'm mostly working on the story for my comic these days, so I'm happy just taking notes and writing instead of drawing. I enjoy doing that on paper but I also use the Dark Reader extension to put Google Docs in dark mode, it really helps with my eyes.

If you have any new ideas for your botw-totk rewrite that you wanna chat about or even just thoughts regarding AoI, I'm open to listen. 😄

Hello!! Well I'm fine! Just desperately waiting for something to happen on Zelda's 40th anniversary :D

...Which is just a few days before my own birthday so I would really love a surprise, hehe 😇 but I'm also trying to keep my hopes low!

What about you? How is it going with your new job?

To be honest I'm focused on another comic project these days so I have almost entirely stopped working on my rewrite. But I've been feeling like going back to it lately! I especially miss working on my own version of Hyrule and thinking of the rebuilding effort, what to do with the NPCs, etc., it was so much fun ^^

I still haven't played AoC and I don't think I will :/ First I'd need to get a Switch 2 and it doesn't seem that interesting at the moment, and second... I just can't anymore with that story and anything TotK related haha.

It's going well! Better than any of my previous jobs, so I'm hoping that it stays that way! Obviously, I know that there'll be rough patches & difficulties here & there, but I mean for the most part. I feel like I'm actually helping! :D

Woah! I didn't know that! No wonder you're anxious! It must've always felt a bit like an early birthday present, huh? Well, now I'm hoping for the same!

Hey, wherever the winds of inspiration take you, it's probably best to follow, lest they begin to blow in a different direction. I'd take advantage of it, personally.

Eh, that's fair. It IS the longest-running portion of the series since the Era of the Legendary Hero, so I can understand. And I really don't blame you for not getting the Switch 2. In fact, I think Nintendo could definitely use a couple plates of humble pie as they appear to have been acting pretty greedy lately.

So, I say enjoy yourself! XD

Personally, I found the story of AoI to be a big step up from what we had in TotK. I'm actually glad for it because I was sorely lacking in details regarding the actual world back then & the game's helped in that regard. Though, there's definitely some tweaks I'll need to make to get it to fit. Nothing too serious, tho.

For instance, I now know that Nemma has beef with the Zonai, but it's actually not Rauru. No, instead it's Mineru & the use of both Chef Constructs & especially Blacksmith Constructs. The fact that the Zonai royal family mass produces weaponry is the sort of thing that was grind against the Masamuna heiress' very core. And then to learn that they commonly have Constructs make their food would give her the distinct impression that the Zonai were derelict & overreliant upon technology to do things that aught be done by oneself.

Also, I'm having Gan wait a year before he enacts his plan to draw Rauru away from the castle. And once he does take the stone, he won't immediately create the Archfiend of sand. That won't happen until after the Gerudo begin to give up hope of getting their queen back as it'll feel like a betrayal to Gan.

Also, something amazing is that I was wrong when I despaired, thinking the River of the Dead wasn't there in Rauru's era, so I can STILL do the super creepy lore I wanted to! 😁

And I love Lago. His gameplay is probably one of my favorites in the game & now, he's the father of Larémy as well as the sensei who trained Nemma in the art of using water as part of her swordplay. So, she'll definitely have a good amount of Lago's influence in her own fighting style.

But this also makes things more complicated for Lago, as I'm sure you can expect. *vibrates happily*

The actual story's been fairly slow-going all things considered, but I'm still managing.

I just can't seem to finish the literal first scene! 😤

Any other games you been enjoying lately? I've been super invested in Stardew Valley myself. Really charming little game. Very whimsical, but also very chill. :3

I've also made good progress on my own timeline theory (I think I mentioned wanting to get rid of the Downfall Timeline and to put Minish Cap and the Four Sword games on their own branch at some point?). It definitely has some fanfiction elements and I might have managed to make things even more complicated, but I find it more satisfying than the official timeline ^^

This is great, I'm happy for you!! I hope it stays that way too :D

Well I usually don't expect anything but this year is a bit different since it's the 4Oth anniversary! I'm not really hoping for something as big as a new game but maybe we'll get a movie trailer or something (like they did for Mario). Or maybe a long awaited Switch 2 port for TP, but I'm not going to buy a new console just to play a game I've finished 50 times already haha. Anyway, one more week to go!

If the Wild era was my favorite part of the series I guess I wouldn't mind that it's been almost ten years ^^ It's just that I already wasn't the biggest BotW fan and now I'm kind of a TotK hater, so I really need the next game to be something different with new versions of Link and Zelda. And hopefully something a bit closer to the old formula, with a more linear story and real dungeons (EoW was a step in the right direction for me).

Yeah, I'm not really okay either with what Nintendo has been up to lately.

AoI definitely improves on TotK's story but I feel like all of this should have been told in the game, it doesn't sit right with me that we have to buy a new console and a new game to get the full story. On top of that it didn't answer any of the questions I had and even made things more confusing, so I'm not very happy with it haha. And I'm really disappointed in the way they treated Zelda's character and literally turned Link into a robot this time, but I'll stop there before this turns into a full blown rant again 😆

At least I'm happy the game gave you fuel for thought and more material to use! I didn't even know who Lago was haha. And I completely get that Nemma wouldn't agree with the way the Zonai were using constructs! I'm sure it's going to be an interesting conflict between them.

Oh! What creepy lore do you have in mind for the River of the Dead? It's always been so intriguing to me!

I haven't really been playing games, except for my first playthrough of Oracle of Ages I started back in November. I haven't finished it, don't really know why since I was really enjoying it, but I guess I just have other stuff to do! Also my eyes have been really dry and tired lately so I've been trying to reduce my screen time (which is hard when your main hobbies are drawing on a tablet and working on a comic project in Google Docs :/).

I craved fluff.. so I whipped some up

process under the cut

Time Family Au!

Thank you @linktheacehero for the suggestion of kid's names (Saria really suited her)

This took way longer than I expected 😭 it was originally a 6 pages but had to cut it short since I have work to do and also comms (Also artblock got in the way T__T)

The last fictional character in your camera roll is now your older sibling/parental figure

Uh oh....

(art of my boy drawn by @birdyoh !)

Nink... I feel like I'm in danger

No pressure tags!

I had to scroll back a while and… nooooo……….

I am okay with this. Aspect doesn't really have much going for him in this area, but he's not a terror like the previous two. Nink especially, oh boy.

WE GET TEDDY EARTHBOUND AS OURS. WE ARE SO COOKED YALL

This is a surprisingly good outcome; I feel like Dick would be a great dad. Art is by @/absolute-0zero, I think (they seem to have deleted the post it's from though).

YEEEEEEAAAAHHHHHH!!

Anyway, I just learned about a blog called botwandtotknpcs &, while I'm sure that you probably already know most of what they have posted, you never know if they might end up coming across something that you hadn't, so who knows?

Also, I've been loving your Zelink advent art. It's so cute❣️

Anyway, praying for you & yours to recieve all joy, peace, & blessing this Christmas season. God bless you! 🫶

Hello!! I'm fine, just a bit tired ^^ I can't wait for the holidays, I have two weeks off around Christmas that I'm going to enjoy with my family✌️

What about you? Looks like you've been doing great :D

Oh I think you've already told me about this blog! It is really useful (and I know how much work it is to catalog all these NPCs because, well, I did the same thing for myself haha). Thanks for recommending it!

I'm glad you're enjoying my Advent calendar!! I can't wait to post the next drawing (that I actually managed to finish in advance for once). Aaand it is my favorite pairing 😇

Mostly, I've been thinking of bringing my Peanut Butter & Jelly Thumbprint cookies (peanut butter thumbprint cookies with jam or jelly in the indent) & these adorable little cookies I just learned about called “Cream Cheese Mint Wreaths.”

Oh, I have! I think that I may've finally found the job I've been looking for. Sure, it isn't exactly what I went to school for, but there are some aspects that are art-related. Plus, it won't be physically demanding & I get to help people! 💓

Hmm… I definitely remember telling you about a blog centered around the NPCs, but I don't remember if it was the same blog, so if it was, then oops. 😅

Sorry about that.

Well, the Zelink art is all super cute, so it's only natural. Though, I wonder… Would you consider Ravio & Hilda to be a Zelink pair even if not exactly Link & Zelda? Or Fierce Deity & Hylia? 🤔

Either way, I look forward to whatever else you have planned.

Look at this very handsome squash <3

...Sorry haha, couldn't help it. My mom sent me this yesterday and it kills me everytime I look at it 😆

That party sounds like fun! And you can't go wrong with peanut butter cookies :D

Oh I'm so happy for you!! What kind of job is it if you don't mind me asking?

Did I get the two blogs mixed up? I'll have to check but I definitely know this one 🤔

Hehe, all I'm going to say is that I'm including as many pairings as I can since I need 24 of them 😇

(I just won't do the CDI games for obvious reasons)

He does look rather at home amongst the other gourds, doesn't he? :3

I love my peanut butter cookies. It's just such a simple recipe, but turns out so yummy. :D

If you want, I can teach you! I know that you probably wont be able to eat it often, but it might be nice on days off.

It's fine, I'm working at a day school to help adults with disabilities to learn life skills. Mostly, I'm working to help them learn how to work with art, but I'll help where I'm needed.

Eh, I could've been the one who got mixed up. It would be no shock.

Hmm… You know, you could potentially do 2 or even 3-6 pictures for FSA, one with Link & Zelda before the Four Sword, 1-4 with the Colors & Zelda, & one with Shadow & Zelda. Depends on how many more you need.

It's funny to me that the gourds are the same shade of green as his eyes 😆

Yeah sadly anything that has gluten in it is a no for me, it gives me too much pain :/ But my sister enjoys baking and would love your recipe!

That’s so great!! I’m sure you can make a difference in their lives, and isn't that beautiful!

Spoiler: I love the stupid cartoon so much, it’s definitely on the list haha. These two are so much fun to draw. I also thought of doing something similar to what you suggest with FS or Shadow/Dark Link but wasn't very excited by these ideas ^^

He's such a cutie!

Ah! Except that MY peanut butter cookies only need 3-4 ingredients & are naturally gluten-free, because none of those ingredients include flour! :D

Just peanut butter, sugar, & an egg are all you need for the original recipe, which is why they're often called Magic Peanut Butter Cookies.

Thanks, I look forward to doing what I can for people. :)

Hmhmhm! I don't blame you, evidently, it's actually pretty good & may even be the originator of the bomb-jump technique. Also, there's another, different old cartoon called Captain N where Link & Zelda appear a few times as well. That one is actually pretty fun too from what I remember, but it's also pretty cheesy which can either be a good or bad thing.

Oh! That's great! I'm glad & can't wait to see what you come up with! 🫶

Now this gluten-free recipe sounds interesting! I might try to make some if I need something sweet someday 👀

Haha yes I remember the bomb-jump in the cartoon! There's also an episode that kind of predicted Spirit Tracks, with Link following Zelda around as a ghost and trying to return to his body.

Wow I had never seen the Captain N episode! Didn't really like how Link was handled there but it was still fun to watch ^^

Oh, it's just about the easiest recipe you can make while still being considered baking.

1 cup peanut butter, ½ cup sugar (any kind), & 1 egg.

Preheat the oven to 350°F / 177°C, mix together ingredients until uniform, roll into balls, place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, cross with a sugar-coated fork, then bake for 10 minutes. Done!

The thing I really like about this one is that it's easy to modify the recipe for whatever you want. You can toss the balls of dough in sugar, just sprinkle them with sugar rather than toss them in it, maybe add ½ tbsp of vanilla extract. For more extreme changes, you can decide to use different kinds of peanut butter depending what else you're gonna do with them. For instance, smooth peanut butter is good if you plan to add chocolate chips because it won't be as thick. Or for a more tender cookie, you can use half/half white & brown sugar.

One I recently made up involves making them into jam thumbprints, but I think those might work better with chunky peanut butter. Not sure yet, tho. While I'm not sure if you have this sort of thing over there, I made them to mimic classic peanut butter & jelly sandwiches in cookie form which has a bit of nostalgia for kids. X3

But, at its base, it's just peanut butter, sugar, & egg. They're super simple & really yummy!

Ooo! I was unaware of the ghost Link episode! I'll have to see if I can pester my brother into watching it with me later. 😈

Eh, Captain N's very much a product of its time sort of cartoon, but it's also one of those crossover cartoons. You know, Simon Belmont, Megaman, Kid Icarus, Mother Brain, etc. You really don't see that sort of thing much anymore…

It sure does sound like something even I could make with my legendary cooking skills! I've had enough sugar for now during the holidays but I might try it later ^^ And I think I can find chunky peanut butter here!

I hope you can watch the episode with your brother! It's one of my favorites. I really like this show haha, it never fails to make me laugh and I wish there were more episodes 😆

Yeah it's a bit sad that we don't get this kind of cartoon anymore, they were a lot of fun.

I know, huh? These peanut butter cookies are one of my favorite recipes & I've been using them as an easy recipe to get myself more used to baking, in-general.

Ooooo! That does sound fun! Only issue is, finding a time when my brother's not feeling opposed to it. I asked him to watch the show with me last night & he wasn't feeling like it at all.

Oh, definitely. I miss those old cartoons. Which ones do you remember the most or were your favorites? I know that the Hannah-Barbara ones did the crossover thing frequently. Scooby Doo even had an entire show where the Mystery Gang solved mysteries with guests. Both fictional characters & those based on real life stars.

The Scooby Doo ones were definitely a favorite of mine.

But, other than Hannah-Barbara, the Captain N cartoon, & the House of Mouse cartoon, I don't remember too many instances of this being common.

I hope you can get him to watch it with you! But I understand that this show isn't for everybody haha.

I can't think of other cartoons that did the crossover thing either besides the ones you cited ^^

Scooby-Doo definitely was one of my favorites too! And I remember watching mostly French cartoons such as Totally Spies, Marsupilami, Tintin, Ratz or Titeuf, and of course classics like Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry.

Not sure if Les Mystérieuses cités d'or/The Mysterious Cities of Gold was well known outside of France and Japan? I loved that show and its opening song!! When I was a bit older I also liked 92 Batman and X-Men Evolution.

Ah, it isn't that he dislikes the show as he'd been the one to first introduce me to the show, I believe. So, it's more that he just wasn't in the mood right then.

I remember Totally Spies! We had it over here! Not my favorite, but it was still fun to watch.

I know about Tintin, but I've never heard of Marsupilami, Ratz, or Titeuf. I might need to look those up later. And, yeah, the Looney Tunes & Tom & Jerry were classics.

I also never heard about The Mysterious Cities of Gold, but it sounds very interesting!

Aaaaah! Batman: the Animated Series will always be such a great show. Tho, X-Men Evolution was also amazing.

However, I think my personal favorites were definitely Gargoyles, Teen Titans, Static Shock, Spiderman.

Teen Titans & Static Shock were the shows I'd run home after school to be able to watch (though, Jackie Chan Adventures was also a great show too), but Gargoyles & Spiderman: The Animated Series were the shows that I'd stay up past my bedtime to watch.

I was pretty sure you would only have heard of Totally Spies and Tintin haha! The other ones are mostly adaptions of popular French comic books and wouldn't be well known outside of the French speaking world (I guess).

I'd love to rewatch Les Mystérieuses cités d'or someday to see if it was as great as I remember! It's a historical fiction with fantasy/sci-fi elements about the lost civilisation of Mu.

Oh, really?? Cool! The Mysterious Cities of Gold sounds super cool when you put it like that!

And yes! Gargoyles was a super fun show with more of a focus on things like midieval myth, involving a bunch of British Isles folklore & legends such as Shakespearan & Arthurian myth, the fae, & of course, Gargoyles! It may well have been where my interest in such things first spawned.

Specifically, it centers around a small clan of Gargoyles from Medieval Scotland become anachronisms in modern New York & learn to navigate their strange new home.

It's... really, really good! 🥰

Also, I'm pretty sure that half the cast also played in Star Trek, which is fun. So, yeah. Definite recommendation. 😂

Static Shock, however, is VERY different, but no less fun. It takes place in the DC universe with Superman & Batman, but focuses on a teen boy name Virgil living in modern Chicago. It's really well-done & it deals with some surprisingly difficult topics while also handling them pretty well, I think.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there were a could of fumbles here & there because when aren't there? But for the most part, it tended to handle those topics maturely.

Tho, I might've mixed up a detail regarding Static Shock. It might take place in Detroit, which actually isn't very far from Chicago, but it's still a different city.

Not that it really matters much. 😅

Oh, I forgot! There's also another show that I'd been obsessed with for years, tho it was during my teenage years.

Anyway, I just learned about a blog called botwandtotknpcs &, while I'm sure that you probably already know most of what they have posted, you never know if they might end up coming across something that you hadn't, so who knows?

Also, I've been loving your Zelink advent art. It's so cute❣️

Anyway, praying for you & yours to recieve all joy, peace, & blessing this Christmas season. God bless you! 🫶

Hello!! I'm fine, just a bit tired ^^ I can't wait for the holidays, I have two weeks off around Christmas that I'm going to enjoy with my family✌️

What about you? Looks like you've been doing great :D

Oh I think you've already told me about this blog! It is really useful (and I know how much work it is to catalog all these NPCs because, well, I did the same thing for myself haha). Thanks for recommending it!

I'm glad you're enjoying my Advent calendar!! I can't wait to post the next drawing (that I actually managed to finish in advance for once). Aaand it is my favorite pairing 😇

Mostly, I've been thinking of bringing my Peanut Butter & Jelly Thumbprint cookies (peanut butter thumbprint cookies with jam or jelly in the indent) & these adorable little cookies I just learned about called “Cream Cheese Mint Wreaths.”

Oh, I have! I think that I may've finally found the job I've been looking for. Sure, it isn't exactly what I went to school for, but there are some aspects that are art-related. Plus, it won't be physically demanding & I get to help people! 💓

Hmm… I definitely remember telling you about a blog centered around the NPCs, but I don't remember if it was the same blog, so if it was, then oops. 😅

Sorry about that.

Well, the Zelink art is all super cute, so it's only natural. Though, I wonder… Would you consider Ravio & Hilda to be a Zelink pair even if not exactly Link & Zelda? Or Fierce Deity & Hylia? 🤔

Either way, I look forward to whatever else you have planned.

Look at this very handsome squash <3

...Sorry haha, couldn't help it. My mom sent me this yesterday and it kills me everytime I look at it 😆

That party sounds like fun! And you can't go wrong with peanut butter cookies :D

Oh I'm so happy for you!! What kind of job is it if you don't mind me asking?

Did I get the two blogs mixed up? I'll have to check but I definitely know this one 🤔

Hehe, all I'm going to say is that I'm including as many pairings as I can since I need 24 of them 😇

(I just won't do the CDI games for obvious reasons)

He does look rather at home amongst the other gourds, doesn't he? :3

I love my peanut butter cookies. It's just such a simple recipe, but turns out so yummy. :D

If you want, I can teach you! I know that you probably wont be able to eat it often, but it might be nice on days off.

It's fine, I'm working at a day school to help adults with disabilities to learn life skills. Mostly, I'm working to help them learn how to work with art, but I'll help where I'm needed.

Eh, I could've been the one who got mixed up. It would be no shock.

Hmm… You know, you could potentially do 2 or even 3-6 pictures for FSA, one with Link & Zelda before the Four Sword, 1-4 with the Colors & Zelda, & one with Shadow & Zelda. Depends on how many more you need.

It's funny to me that the gourds are the same shade of green as his eyes 😆

Yeah sadly anything that has gluten in it is a no for me, it gives me too much pain :/ But my sister enjoys baking and would love your recipe!

That’s so great!! I’m sure you can make a difference in their lives, and isn't that beautiful!

Spoiler: I love the stupid cartoon so much, it’s definitely on the list haha. These two are so much fun to draw. I also thought of doing something similar to what you suggest with FS or Shadow/Dark Link but wasn't very excited by these ideas ^^

He's such a cutie!

Ah! Except that MY peanut butter cookies only need 3-4 ingredients & are naturally gluten-free, because none of those ingredients include flour! :D

Just peanut butter, sugar, & an egg are all you need for the original recipe, which is why they're often called Magic Peanut Butter Cookies.

Thanks, I look forward to doing what I can for people. :)

Hmhmhm! I don't blame you, evidently, it's actually pretty good & may even be the originator of the bomb-jump technique. Also, there's another, different old cartoon called Captain N where Link & Zelda appear a few times as well. That one is actually pretty fun too from what I remember, but it's also pretty cheesy which can either be a good or bad thing.

Oh! That's great! I'm glad & can't wait to see what you come up with! 🫶

Now this gluten-free recipe sounds interesting! I might try to make some if I need something sweet someday 👀

Haha yes I remember the bomb-jump in the cartoon! There's also an episode that kind of predicted Spirit Tracks, with Link following Zelda around as a ghost and trying to return to his body.

Wow I had never seen the Captain N episode! Didn't really like how Link was handled there but it was still fun to watch ^^

Oh, it's just about the easiest recipe you can make while still being considered baking.

1 cup peanut butter, ½ cup sugar (any kind), & 1 egg.

Preheat the oven to 350°F / 177°C, mix together ingredients until uniform, roll into balls, place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, cross with a sugar-coated fork, then bake for 10 minutes. Done!

The thing I really like about this one is that it's easy to modify the recipe for whatever you want. You can toss the balls of dough in sugar, just sprinkle them with sugar rather than toss them in it, maybe add ½ tbsp of vanilla extract. For more extreme changes, you can decide to use different kinds of peanut butter depending what else you're gonna do with them. For instance, smooth peanut butter is good if you plan to add chocolate chips because it won't be as thick. Or for a more tender cookie, you can use half/half white & brown sugar.

One I recently made up involves making them into jam thumbprints, but I think those might work better with chunky peanut butter. Not sure yet, tho. While I'm not sure if you have this sort of thing over there, I made them to mimic classic peanut butter & jelly sandwiches in cookie form which has a bit of nostalgia for kids. X3

But, at its base, it's just peanut butter, sugar, & egg. They're super simple & really yummy!

Ooo! I was unaware of the ghost Link episode! I'll have to see if I can pester my brother into watching it with me later. 😈

Eh, Captain N's very much a product of its time sort of cartoon, but it's also one of those crossover cartoons. You know, Simon Belmont, Megaman, Kid Icarus, Mother Brain, etc. You really don't see that sort of thing much anymore…

It sure does sound like something even I could make with my legendary cooking skills! I've had enough sugar for now during the holidays but I might try it later ^^ And I think I can find chunky peanut butter here!

I hope you can watch the episode with your brother! It's one of my favorites. I really like this show haha, it never fails to make me laugh and I wish there were more episodes 😆

Yeah it's a bit sad that we don't get this kind of cartoon anymore, they were a lot of fun.

I know, huh? These peanut butter cookies are one of my favorite recipes & I've been using them as an easy recipe to get myself more used to baking, in-general.

Ooooo! That does sound fun! Only issue is, finding a time when my brother's not feeling opposed to it. I asked him to watch the show with me last night & he wasn't feeling like it at all.

Oh, definitely. I miss those old cartoons. Which ones do you remember the most or were your favorites? I know that the Hannah-Barbara ones did the crossover thing frequently. Scooby Doo even had an entire show where the Mystery Gang solved mysteries with guests. Both fictional characters & those based on real life stars.

The Scooby Doo ones were definitely a favorite of mine.

But, other than Hannah-Barbara, the Captain N cartoon, & the House of Mouse cartoon, I don't remember too many instances of this being common.

I hope you can get him to watch it with you! But I understand that this show isn't for everybody haha.

I can't think of other cartoons that did the crossover thing either besides the ones you cited ^^

Scooby-Doo definitely was one of my favorites too! And I remember watching mostly French cartoons such as Totally Spies, Marsupilami, Tintin, Ratz or Titeuf, and of course classics like Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry.

Not sure if Les Mystérieuses cités d'or/The Mysterious Cities of Gold was well known outside of France and Japan? I loved that show and its opening song!! When I was a bit older I also liked 92 Batman and X-Men Evolution.

Ah, it isn't that he dislikes the show as he'd been the one to first introduce me to the show, I believe. So, it's more that he just wasn't in the mood right then.

I remember Totally Spies! We had it over here! Not my favorite, but it was still fun to watch.

I know about Tintin, but I've never heard of Marsupilami, Ratz, or Titeuf. I might need to look those up later. And, yeah, the Looney Tunes & Tom & Jerry were classics.

I also never heard about The Mysterious Cities of Gold, but it sounds very interesting!

Aaaaah! Batman: the Animated Series will always be such a great show. Tho, X-Men Evolution was also amazing.

However, I think my personal favorites were definitely Gargoyles, Teen Titans, Static Shock, Spiderman.

Teen Titans & Static Shock were the shows I'd run home after school to be able to watch (though, Jackie Chan Adventures was also a great show too), but Gargoyles & Spiderman: The Animated Series were the shows that I'd stay up past my bedtime to watch.

I was pretty sure you would only have heard of Totally Spies and Tintin haha! The other ones are mostly adaptions of popular French comic books and wouldn't be well known outside of the French speaking world (I guess).

I'd love to rewatch Les Mystérieuses cités d'or someday to see if it was as great as I remember! It's a historical fiction with fantasy/sci-fi elements about the lost civilisation of Mu.

Oh, really?? Cool! The Mysterious Cities of Gold sounds super cool when you put it like that!

And yes! Gargoyles was a super fun show with more of a focus on things like midieval myth, involving a bunch of British Isles folklore & legends such as Shakespearan & Arthurian myth, the fae, & of course, Gargoyles! It may well have been where my interest in such things first spawned.

Specifically, it centers around a small clan of Gargoyles from Medieval Scotland become anachronisms in modern New York & learn to navigate their strange new home.

It's... really, really good! 🥰

Also, I'm pretty sure that half the cast also played in Star Trek, which is fun. So, yeah. Definite recommendation. 😂

Static Shock, however, is VERY different, but no less fun. It takes place in the DC universe with Superman & Batman, but focuses on a teen boy name Virgil living in modern Chicago. It's really well-done & it deals with some surprisingly difficult topics while also handling them pretty well, I think.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there were a could of fumbles here & there because when aren't there? But for the most part, it tended to handle those topics maturely.