So I've been told that my work list looks daunting. I think a lot of people see the Calamity Quintet+++ series and think they need to read the whole thing but this is not the case! While some of my works share connected timeline business for the Calamity Quintet's overarching story, all of my Original Legends are standalone! Hopefully this chart helps you pick one to start with!
Beyond that, the commonalities are that all of these works are "Classic Quest" Original Legends, they chiefly feature Zelink (though a few have some other additional romances like Triforce Trio in RA, the all Sages polycule in SotS, and Zelimpa for TotG), they all aim to generally fit Nintendo's style and tone, and they are all long.
Alt text and links under the read more.
Where should I start with the Calamity Quintet++?
Do you care about the Quintet's timeline?
Yes -> Goddess of Secrecy
No -> Long or Really Long?
Long or Really Long?
Really Long -> Mark of a Hero (Try On Your Mark for a sample!)
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A Cross-Legends collaboration featuring Cinders of Life by @amelias-calamity-quintet and The Sword Master by @doubtfulloser. Check it out on AO3!
A young boy and girl find themselves in some sort of dream realm with Heroes and Princesses from eras past, where they have to navigate a great palace if they have any hope at returning home.
🤔 Are there parts of canon you wanted to pull from in your OL?
🎮 If your OL was a game, what unique game mechanics would it have or genre would it be?
✌ What's your general approach to making an OC for fanworks?
❤ Favorite trope(s)
Thank you for the ask @tnc-n3cl! I actually have several OLs, so I'll probably going to project hop a little on answering these.
🤔 Are there parts of canon you wanted to pull from in your OL?
Considering I start writing my first fic, Goddess of Secrecy, in response to the official timeline getting released and wanting to remerge it, I think it's safe to say I like doing timeline faff. But that's developed more broadly in recent years. After BOTW came out, I really didn't like the 10k time skip thing. It's something I have beef with in fiction in general because it's something a lot of creators do without actually thinking about the scope of that time. Considering that I was already doing a timeline convergence theory as the basis of GoS, this very quickly led into my overarching metanarrative project that I call the Calamity Quintet (hence where my Zelda side blog's name comes from, @amelias-calamity-quintet) in which I've connected five distinct legends together to tell a story on the decay of history. It's a completely optional layer to my stories for people who like ARGs, because while I think the timeline should never be required for Zelda as a series, I do think it can be a fun additional layer to a narrative. I think ARG level stuff like the timeline helps encourage people to hunt and analyze the text for wider connecting themes, and even if it's all crack theories for fandom, that's positive engagement with media.
Other than that, let's see. Mark of a Hero pulls on a lot of relics, both new and old, to make an absolutely unbalanceable adventuring party. Restoration Age was wanting to explore the Sheikah tech in its prime and thinking about themes of how modernity affects our perception of "advanced" technology (there's a lot of retrofuturism in RA). Cinders of Life, I wanted to work on honing the idea of Zelda's central themes in hope in contrast to a setting in ruin. Day After Destiny specifically was meant to tie in the BOTW tapestry at that point. That's a very brief summary of them, but they all are also in on that big timeline faff business, so they pull broadly from the series in general.
And then A Taste for Adventure, I wanted to write a silly one like Triforce Heroes. I think all of my OLs have aspects of silly in them, but aTfA specifically is all silly (the number of people who have started it to think something terrible will happen immediately has me worried 😅 this one's the evil food wizard story, not my dystopian, haha)
And all of my works feature classic puzzle dungeons with mini bosses and bosses. It's actually one of the things I get complimented on a lot, so I'm going to take that as a statistical sign folks like them.
🎮 If your OL was a game, what unique game mechanics would it have or genre would it be?
Oh, it would vary per work!
GoS would probably be the most classic 3D adventure, close to OoT. Its main mechanic is that it would be co-op or at the very least all of the companion characters are summonable much like the Champions ended up being. I designed the dungeon order a lot like ALBW, where the first five dungeons are fixed in order and then the last eight are rotateable. There was originally a table somewhere where the relics for each of the Sage Temples (that second set) would one shot a different Sage Temple's mini boss. It's unfortunately been lost, but I suppose that's the costs of working on a project for over 13 years. Maybe I'll remake it as I'm working on second pass of edits to finalize the thing.
MoaH would probably need to be a JRPG if it had any hope of fitting on a Nintendo console. But that also fits into its primary mechanics in Link having companions and a lot of the combat for the work are designed around setting up team combos with relics and general skill sets. So something maybe Chrono Trigger like, though I'm partial to more of an aRPG combat style myself.
RA has Link and Zelda traveling together, so it would definitely be co-op but in a It's Takes Two kind of way in that each character has their own unique skill set, and combining of the two allows for unique puzzle solution. This one is modern, so Zelda is actually a bit of a hacker and would be able to recode the magi-tech that makes up the dungeons where as Link is more of a scrapper and would use that tech for traps and stuff. Both of them would have combat abilities though.
CoL also has Link and Zelda traveling together, though I think its gameplay would end up being somewhere between Pikimin and Dishonored. They both have their own skill set with Link as a plant wizard and Zelda as a hard light mage, and the plot has them moving through the main cities to regrow parts of them, both to restore the area, but also growing certain plants in certain places allows for progression in the dungeons beneath. As far as the Pikimin part of it, CoL would have a time limit for each of the cities until it's restored.
DAD would be a strategy game, in the vein of Fire Emblem, XCOM, or possibly in a more action combat style like older Dragon Age and Mass Effect titles. This work is about a second quest given to a war veteran Link and Zelda, plus the commander of their army, so having a lot of the game play on tactics of both outmaneuvering the enemy while also solving puzzles seems like a great blend of the unique playstyle with Zelda.
And aTfA would be a farming sim closer in the style of Rune Factory, in that there would be combat and full dungeons while also having a farming element. Link's family being included in the work is actually the novelization of a mechanic there in it of itself. While farming might be relaxing in a farming game, waiting on a farm to grow in a book would slow down the plot, so Link's family was added in as to explain the background passive farming he'll be able to return to throughout the work to pick up ingredients before he heads to his next dungeon.
✌ What's your general approach to making an OC for fanworks?
I personally love making OCs for Zelda works. I think OCs for OLs makes the most sense in a thematic analysis of Zelda, since we don't generally see repeats for cast. There are some, but the majority of characters in a game will be original to (even if there are some reoccuring themes).
My approach to making them though is to pick a race and then two or three character traits. One of those should make them standout from their environment. A princess Moblin, a race organizer who rides an ostrich, a talking gourmand "sheep." If the traits of those characters get to be interesting enough, then sometimes I pick them up to make them more prominent characters with the addition of fuller motivations and character arcs.
I also try to lean into using the Zelda races since they're there to use. While humans and Hylians are very common of course, having a diverse population helps the whole thing feel like Zelda as much as the more bombastic traits can.
❤ Favorite trope(s)
I am a known sucker for the cheerful/snarky/serious trio for any party, I will repeat it over and over again, I'm sure. Jokingly, I will say slow burn, but only in that I don't write romance as a main plot (how's 180 chapters to get to that first GoS kiss doing me?). I do like a good mentor character, and a mundane origin story for a Hero. Uh, that's all I can think of right now.
Almost a year ago I shared this milestone in the @expanding-hyrule Discord:
And I'm super thrilled to say that I've hit another major one before the end of this year:
What an absolutely amazing accomplishment! This will be by the end of the year over four books! To include the longest three of the series! I feel so incredibly accomplished and I would not have gotten this far without the support of not just my readers, but the amazing and outstanding support I've gotten over this year for Expanding Hyrule.
But we should be totally clear. I didn't write over 2,000,000 words in MoaH.
I also:
Finished editing the last 100,000 of Goddess of Secrecy and began its second pass of edits, reaching close to 35,000 words added to the work so far
Edited Restoration Age, Cinders of Life, and Day After Destiny to include cuts, revisions, edits, and whole new chapters to tide over their remaining hiatus (Which I should be back to RA before the end of next year)
Wrote the intro chapters to A Taste for Adventure
Wrote all of On Your Mark
Wrote three full prompt collabs for Cross-legends with the very talented @doubtfulloser, @karama9, and @doomed-era
So much behind the scenes from running EH this year from blog posts to coordinating events!
Read and reviewed 69 works in the EH archives and counting! (Nice)
Built the whole EH website which we're getting very close to launching fully, to include just teaching myself css scripting (we're still learning, be patient)
A dozen other ones shots, storyboarding, and personal projects I didn't share
And then I wrote over 2,000,000 words in MoaH
Anyway, there's a reason why the admin role on EH is called "The Menace Themself." Here's to finishing out 2025 and on to 2026!
To I don't think anyone's surprise, I'm participating in the @expanding-hyrule's #EH Sparknotes It challenge since I am also participating in the @loz-extended-gifting's Original Legend Gift Exchange! I am going to be condensing all of my OLs into one post as to not bloat the tags since I have so many. You can find them under the read more in their creation order.
Goddess of Secrecy
Link (17) is a nameless, an outcast by virtue of not having a family name, for no crime of his own. He spent his life in Eveningale Village, a helpful hand and a secret swordsman even if the favor would never be returned.
One day, Link is visited in a dream by the Drex, Endeavor Westwind, and tasked with becoming the Hero of his era. Guided by this mysterious visitor and their hawk, Link plunges into the forests for Deku Fortress, the first of many, many dungeons to come.
Through his quest, Link must first prove himself a Hero to the Golden Goddesses, all four of them this time, to draw the Master Sword. After that, with the help of Endeavor, the tenacious Zelda, the stalwart Impa, and many more companions, he must find each of the eight Sages before Ganondorf and his general Zeal can plunge Hyrule into ruin.
Mark of a Hero
Link Sayre (27) is a Marksman, a mercenary and a monster hunter in a Hyrule with a surplus of magic. One day, at the request of his former mentor, Ambrose, he and his guildmate, Saddiqah El Amin, agree to break into the Temple of Time to stop an evil wizard. Only to find himself blackmailed by the eldest princess of Hyrule into pretending to be the Hero.
Tasked with the new "Hero act," Link and his companions must travel all over Hyrule to reopen the path into the Temple of Time, from Deku's Shelf with its seedy Korok crime lord to Laketown and its haunted guardian and on to Goron City and its treacherous heights. Until finally, they return to the Temple of Inverted Time to open the way to Princess Zelda's rumored power and our pretender finds more truth to the tale.
Having drawn the Master Sword, Link is now tasked to seek out the Sacred Sealing Stones, one gifted to each of Hyrule's neighbors, to reopen the Sealed Door and the power sealed behind it. But between him and his goal is Ganondorf and his many generals, none of which are going to go down easily. The road is long ahead, but the party is determined to see it through to the end.
Restoration Age
Link Sayre (21) is a college student and part time equestrian. After four years of college and no degree to show for it, his life is starting to feel rather listless. One day, his best friend Dwarf suggests they go visit a site from their childhood--an abandoned temple outside of town.
The trip turns surprisingly sour as Link and Dwarf's arrival awakens a magi-tech computer that mistakenly takes them as the Hero and the Enemy, absconding with Dwarf and throwing Link into a dungeon. After Link manages to prove himself through the dungeon's trials, he's released to track down the next temple on his "quest," only to find a lot of reporters waiting for him.
After a brief run-in with law enforcement, Link is snuck out of custody by Princess Zelda. Each of them with their own goals, the two set out to take on the Restoration and hopefully keep it from sending Hyrule back to the dark ages!
Cinders of Life
Link Sayre (10) is an adventurous young kid living in a Hyrule Ganon has succeeded in taking over. The country is in shambles but that's not going to stop Link and his friend Feya from doing their best to put a little greenery back in Castle Town.
Their days of gardening go awry when Feya is caught using magic by the city guards. To keep them from continuing to hunt his friend, Link reveals he too can use magic and is taken off to Hyrule Castle where he meets the King and Queen himself. There the wheel of fate starts to turn again.
Alongside a mute Zelda, Link is tasked with freeing the Great Fairies from the mounds they buried themselves in to bring life back to Hyrule. Between them is King Ganon, whose humanity is all but lost, alongside his arcanely crafted children, the Mahjul. The journey is a dangerous one, and it'll be no small feat for these two to restore Hyrule to what it once was.
Day After Destiny
Link Sayre (42) is a war veteran of the Ash Uprisings and, as of the day our story begins on, to be crowned king alongside his wife, Zelda. Hyrule still shows the scars of the war not even twenty years prior, but with the royal family five heirs strong, there is hope for a future in Hyrule.
Tragedy strikes the night of Link and Zelda's coronation. A masked Kargaroc rider steals their children in the middle of a surprise monster assault on Castle Town. A new war now looms on the horizon of the kingdom.
With no idea where their kids have been taken, Link and Zelda, along with their commander Jacques, set out to reclaim their titles of Hero and Princess a second time to save their kids. So many unknowns between the risk of a new Enemy and old wounds bound to reopen, there's no time to lose!
A Taste for Adventure
Link Sayre (15) is a farmer, quite content with his life in rural Hyrule on his family's farm. That all changes when he and his siblings happen upon a pair of Deku Scrubs corrupted by a strange magic. They say their states were inflicted on them after they ate some badly tasting food.
After saving the Deku Scrubs, and sharing a meal together, Link crashes into an underground cave where he stumbles upon the "sheep," Yaftan. Revitalized with a scavenged meal, Yaftan insists that she must return to Princess Zelda.
Flying back to Link's farm, Link tells his family he plans to escort Princess Zelda's "sheep" back to Castle Town. He's given supplies for the road, before waved off on his adventure to trials unknown!
Song of the Sages
Link Sayre (17) is an aspiring bard--storyteller and fighter extraordinaire! She has spent her life in Haven, training for the day she will head off on a life of adventure with her mom.
Those plans are suddenly expedited with Princess Zelda herself appears in Haven's temple, having snuck out Hyrule Castle on a quest of her own. Zelda believes an Enemy is soon to appear and is going to find the Hero herself to prevent disaster from arising.
Since it's dangerous to go alone though, Link joins her for this quest. What awaits them remains to be seen, but it's bound to be filled with magic, mystery, and adventure! And maybe kissing a few girls.
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I was tagged by @mistresslrigtar over on my main. Thank ya for tagging me. Since these fics are all Zelda, figured I'd move it to the alt.
Share the first lines of ten of your latest fanfics (or up to if you have fewer) and tag ten people! I am going to modify this a little bit because of how some of my fics open to the first full sentence and after the prologue so they're not all identical.
Goddess of Secrecy (original legends, G)
Eveningale was small, a farming village, nestled on the outskirts of the Deku Forest.
On Your Mark (original legends, pre-story to Mark of a Hero, T, bonus sentence for length)
An arrow. It was always an arrow.
Mark of a Hero | Part 1 - Hyrule (original legends, T)
A breeze slipped through [the trees], brushing over limbs heavy with fruit.
Mark of a Hero | Part 2 - Farona (original legends, T)
Years of this as apprentices, neither Link nor Saddiqah rose to the bait, to Ambrose’s obvious dismay.
Bookmarked (supplemental work to Mark of a Hero, original legends, G)
First, we’ll need to go back to a long time ago, when your greatest-greatest-greatest grandbaba was still alive at least.
Restoration Age (original legends, T)
One of two [lecture halls] that Oakpoint State College is very proud to have.
Cinders of Life (original legends, G)
Curled up among the overgrown grass rested a small boy.
Day After Destiny (original legends, T)
Two people curl around each other, the shorter behind the taller as he wrapped his arm over his partner’s side.
A Taste For Adventure (original legends, G)
Not far from the banks of Zora’s River and the edge of the Deku Woods is the Fairhaven Farm.
Lost Stories, New Legends (original legends Links Meet, T)
It’s quiet at the edge of reality.
And then 10 people to tag, oh. Who hasn't been tagged already? Let's see: @doomed-era, @the--voided, @pelicanpig, @ixtaek, @sillylildude, @karama9, @thetwilightwriter, @spicymcbean, @bahbahhh, @spoiledspine, and anyone else who would like to participate.
It's been a minute since I've done one of these and I can't find the original, so might as well redo it! Also, I've recovered some art so I can include that.
As a side note, the art I'm including is from a banner I did back in 2017 and is outdated in a lot of specifics. I will include it at the bottom for reference, but the style choice I made was to use the same palette for the whole Quintet, though that does not end up being accurate to their descriptions in the works. I will include details in how not beneath the pictures.
Goddess of Secrecy (GoS)
Link: Secrets
Zelda: Truth
GoS is a quintessential style adventure if there ever was one from me. This started as me wanting to smash the timeline back together in 2012, and ended up with a 13 dungeon romp touching on most of the series. Link gets woken up by a bird, and it is kinda non-stop from there. This work also is a slice of my journey of becoming a writer. While I plan to polish it some more, there is something nice in letting it be a snapshot of where I've come from.
GoS is honestly the hardest for me the synopsize. Do you know what the Zelda franchise is? A fourth Goddess getting tossed in there complicate things enough for ya? That's GoS in a nutshell. That is underselling it a lot, but it is the main draw. While it does some fun things, the foundations are pretty basic. But that makes a great springboard for the rest of the Quintet to build off of!
The Zelink in this is very slow. They get as far as a first kiss and some minor handholding. It starts off with Zelda being enamored with the idea of the legends and the romanticism of "my hero" and all that, but ends with the like "oh wait, that means we've got a war to fight." It is very first high school crush in the middle of the apocalypse. The epilogue does imply that they have a kid together, but I also see interpretations where they drift apart after the initial everything is at peace again phase and are just life partners or good friends. I personally see them as a very subdued couple.
This one is pretty accurate! Zelda is not that thin and her hair is likely a little darker (I believe it's described as honey blonde at one point), but they were supposed to be pretty iconic to the standard set up. GoS Link has a unique Master Sword was more of what set him apart. Otherwise, heights and appearances are how I picture them! Gap is not proportionate, but the 5'4'' and 5'10'' notes are correct!
Mark of a Hero (MoaH)
Link: Sayre
Zelda: Robin
The epic! MoaH is gigantic, a 9 book long series in the works, likely with a prequel. I originally called this one a D&D AU, but have since taken it out to avoid confusion on suggesting that it's like, set on the Sword Coast or something. It does aim to invoke the vibes of a D&D game; the batshit planning, the inner-party banter, a lot of references. And then also is a Zelda game. This one follows a duo in their late 20s as they fake being the Hero & Princess only to end up with, oops, you flew a little too close to the sun there, didn't y'all?
I've said before that GoS & MoaH in particular share a connection, and it is the strongest in the Quintet. GoS is to The Hobbit what MoaH is to Lord of the Rings. And I mean this more than just one is the adventure prior to the other. If GoS is the "there's a magic invisibility ring because I said so" book, the MoaH is the "yeah, but why." Part of this has to do with just the space MoaH has to explore, but it also has to do with the tone. GoS is a fun, light-hearted adventure fantasy. MoaH is a far more grounded high fantasy epic. It is still fun, but it also takes more time to explain and explore the world.
This is a very adult Zelink relationship. While there are no sex scenes in the book, there are a lot of sex jokes and there are implied sex scenes. The two are very interested in each other, but this relationship has to stand for nine books. And that relationship grows. It starts off with the will they-won't they in book one, and then some honeymoon phase in two and three, but Zelda is also very blatant with Link that if their relationship is going to work, then they have to work out what kind of partnership they have (king or consort, since typically Hyrule is ruled by equal monarchs in my settings). They're going to have fights, they're going to talk about long term relationship plans, it isn't just about flirting (though they do that a lot), it is also about the kind of lasting relationship they want.
Largely accurate in general design. Link has dirty blonde hair in the fic, and his guildmark would be higher up, it is lower here to be visible in the the concepting. He is taller in this one, this was a design detail to highlight his being older and that's a character point for him. Notes are not accurate though by how much. He is 5'9 and she is 5'7. But clean shaved, yeah, this is about right.
Zelda is described in work as being plus-sized ("having visible weight") since she's both a noble and a mage. She also has green eyes. Otherwise, designs are accurate.
Restoration Age (RA)
Link: Tech
Zelda: Glitch
We're starting to get into genre experimentation here. RA is a modern setting, but very unlikely to be how you're expecting it. Every modern AU I've read for LoZ always has Link as some bodyguard/elite soldier type. And while that has its merits, I wanted to do something different. I also wanted to write a modern setting without guns. Not that guns don't exist, but that they're not used. It was this basis that I started concepting RA.
You ever seen War Games (1983)? You're on the right track. Magic supercomputer gets woken up and is threatening to reset Hyrule back to the middle ages. This one has 80s-90s teen adventure blockbuster written all over it. Link is a college student who just wanted to go visit an old stomping ground one last time with his bud Dwarf, oops, kickstarted the apocalypse! Now he and Zelda are having to balance rushing the quest to keep the computer from totally "restoring" the kingdom while also not doing that because who in their right mind agrees to work with the evil magic supercomputer?
Zelink in RA is very stressed college students who are, again, in the middle of the apocalypse. It is based on teen blockbusters, there's gonna be a cheesy relationship. This one is still early in, but I see them having a very "can we go back to our quiet gamer lives yet" relationship where they both want to be introverts but the world might be ending, so they can't.
Designs are accurate in rough. Link is, again, actually shorter than Zelda, but otherwise, all good. I would honestly flip their height so he's 5'5'' and she's 5'8''.
Zelda on the other hand is not in a lot of the physical features. Again, green eyes, hair is not accurate color. Zelda is a natural brunette in this one, but when she meets Link, she's bleach blonde with pink tips with only a little of her roots showing. This grows out through the story. Also fuller figure, I just didn't know how to draw body types at this point. These two have the Triforce marks like GoS & MoaH.
Cinders of Life (CoL)
Link: Moss
Zelda: Sunbeam
Of all the OLs currently in my line up, this one I think will be the black sheep. In no small part the original version of the work was a lot darker than the current version aims to be (to be fair, as of writing this, there is a content warning on the work that will fall off with another round of edits, but it is still a grim setting.) Post-apocalypse and dystopian both do apply. This is a Hyrule were Ganon "won" (he came back after the last duo died and so there wasn't anyone to stop him) and the plot is picking up several hundred years into the aftermath.
That said, this is a hopeful story. It is about the resilience of youth. Link is a plant mage and Zelda has some pretty overpowered light magic commands, and the two of them are off to restore the four Great Fairy fountains with the help of the Queen of Hyrule. It is very two optimistic young people walking through a bleak backdrop trying to make the world better. They are regrowing gardens to affect the dungeons underneath the earth, the primary mechanics are very much about growing something out of ruin. But I understand if this one is going to be a skip for some folks.
There is not explicit romance in CoL! They do start at ten for this, and while I know there are kids who experience romance that young, I'm writing this duo as particularly young as to emphasize their age in contrast to an early plot point spoiler that I haven't written yet, so romance feels counter to that. I do leave it open for interpretation that something could happen post-quest, but at the very least, they are close friends for their whole lives because no one else understands that thing it is that they went through quite like the other. I personally see that going Zelink after they've had time to heal, but it isn't planned to be explicit in text.
This set is hard. I honestly came back to CoL and said, this Link probably isn't white. His nickname is Moss, and so I imagine he has curly hair, and it is described as brown. I am hesitant though because it's making the Link in the worst setting the POC one, and that feels iffy to me. There's a part of me that thinks GoS Link also isn't white, considering the nameless plotline accidentally ended up with a felons' rights conversation I didn't realize I was gonna stumble into, and I do like the idea of not having this Link be white as to avoid implying with the narrative of the "oppressed white class" considering Ganon does appear vaguely Gerudo for part of the work, but it's still in debate for me. Race is not a huge part of CoL (unlike MoaH or RA where it does get brushed against) in setting, Ganon and the Queen are the only Gerudo at the start of the work and the Hylians are all of different complexions, but it's just. Mmm. We're thinking about it.
Zelda is mostly accurate. Again, green eyes and her hair is a little darker than this pale shade. She may also have a darker complexion, but previous notes for the same thoughts. Also, neither of them have the Triforce mark.
Day After Destiny (DAD)
Link: Dad/King
Zelda: Queen/Mom
We're back to standard high fantasy! Woo! This is a second quest for this pair. After being called to fight in the Ash Uprisings (named after monster ash), Link and Zelda married and "got busy." Twenty-ish years after the end of the war, they now stand to peacefully inherit the throne from Zelda's parents and begin their own rule. And then the plot kicks in and their kids get kidnapped, oops!
This one does kind of assume the "good king" trope. There is some playing with it for sure, but the basis of the story is on the tin. If the duo got married, they would be royalty, and a lot of the game design mechanics for this one put it as like, an RTS? So having them be the top commanders of the kingdom is just the set dressing to make that work. Narratively though, this story focuses more on the idea of both fighting to make a better world for the next generation and also the burden of war. It regularly talks about the escapades of the Uprisings between the main party but also the weight that event holds on them now and the idea of having to face it again. They obviously do, it's their kids, but it's definitely explored what the costs are.
Considering the premise, yeah, DAD's Zelink. It's an adult Zelink, but a much more tempered version than MoaH. They've had five kids and now they've got a kingdom to rule while they save said kids. Their bombastic romance filled youths are gone, though the romance definitely isn't. It's just not as loud. I feel worth prefacing because of timeline with ages given in the story that Link and Zelda waited on this one to have kids not because of any transposed marriage beliefs from our world, but because they wanted time to heal before they tried raising people.
The heights, they are flipped! Short Link all the way, baby.
Otherwise, pretty accurate. They're both starting to gray. Link's hair is probably darker, and he for sure has a beard by now. Like, a well maintained one, but he's got a beard.
Zelda is fuller figured (she has had five kids) and once more, green eyes. They also don't have the Triforce mark.
A Taste For Adventure (aTfA)
Link: Farmer
Zelda: Sugar
Y'all, this one's not going to be very serious. It's a farming sim Zelda idea and like. All the dungeons are gonna be flavor themed and the evil food wizard's theme is dubious. Like. I love it, but there's a reason I'm not changing the Quintet to include it. This is the Triforce Heroes of my collection, it's going to be a very silly premise.
But yes! Right now the idea if that Link finds a gourmand magic sheep? Debatably sheep in a dungeon and takes it to Zelda, who sends him off to all the dungeons for plot that is not yet determined. Stop the evil food wizard. Something like that. Like I said, it's still cooking! But this work will absolutely be an excuse for me to talk about food a bunch. I know the boss mechanic is going to be feeding them some fancy dish to cure them of the dubious food magic's influence.
Link is slated to be a farmer, but because I think having the plot wait on the seasons to change for food growth would be very slow, there will actually be very little direct farming in it. Probably some magic farming in the dungeons, and he will have a family back home on the farm to do some passive farming for him while he adventures, but the novelization will definitely cut a lot of the farming sim elements of the concept for the sake of a fun story.
It's gonna be very fluffy Zelink, I know that much. Her nickname's Sugar because he's for sure got a drawl. Zelda's going to have a dungeon and her theme is Sweet, like. I don't know to the degree, but it's gonna be fluff for sure.
Heights unpicked, but Zelda is of course taller. Since this one isn't colored in, Link is a strawberry blonde. Definitely freckled and heavily tanned if not just a darker complexion.
I wanted Zelda's dress to be like those ballgown cakes where they stick the Barbie in it. Her hair is braided too like braided bread (not very well pictured here). Look, she has a dungeon and the theme is Sweet, she's going to be extra poofy princess-y in this one for it. I'm going to say chocolate brunette to go with the sweet theme too, but we'll see on the final details once I get to it.
Song of the Sages (SotS)
Link: Glitter
Zelda: Gold
SotS is looking to be an eight person polycule, magical girl inspired, super camp adventure and I love them. This one is also not going to be very serious, but it is going to be seriously fabulous! A lot of this is probably going to end up taking inspiration from something like Boyfriend Dungeon and like, part dating sim-part action adventure game, all lesbians.
Link is a girl in this one! She is taller than Zelda, though not by a whole lot and not the tallest in the polycule. She had pink hair and like real high boots and super bard energy.
Zelda starts off this one pretty modest, covering a lot of herself. Her main theme is gold and indigo, the latter chiefly being represented by her hair. A slightly more monochrome cookie kind of vibe for her against Link's very high energy girlfriend vibes.
I did three collab works this year for @expanding-hyrule's Cross-legends' challenge, Ode to Dreams with @doubtfulloser, Double Dungeon Run! with @alternate-triforce, and Side Quest for Two with yourself.
28. Favorite work you wrote this year?
Considering I wrote four books, 2 million words, a pre-story, and some...additional content, I feel like we're gotta say Mark of a Hero. Though I am really excited how energetic I am about Restoration Age and the rest of the Quintet that the edits let me go back and poke at. I'm stoked about the final books of MoaH, for sure, but RA's gonna be fun, I can already see it.
