#gaddison

The theme is paperwork bc its what loosely connects these three unrelated drawings lol. Can you tell I wasn't very focused today.

Pic 1: The cut content from the army branches/ranks post, was supposed to show Rivan wearing his Lieutenant badge, but I got distracted by the opportunity to draw Bazz's office.

Rivan being lieutenant is very convenient for Bazz, since there’s very few people he trusts more, and he needs someone capable of taking over whenever he's away. Despite his goofy sunshine personality, Rivan is actually one of the more competent guards with lots of field experience, and people tend to listen to him just because he's too damn likeable.

He is completely hopeless at dealing with anything management or politics related though, so he can't be left in charge for too long. Maybe when the times are calmer.

Pic 2: What even is all this paperwork that Bazz keeps complaining about? Most of it is just really, really boring reports. Every Guard intervention in the city, monster patrol, suspicious activity, it all has to be diligently reported. Bazz then takes the reports, cringes at all the typos, and summarizes them into one big daily/weekly/monthly report that will be presented at a Council meeting. Aside from that there's training regimens, guard rotations for the week, inventory, reassignments, budgeting...

We can't forget the matter of actually being the -City- Guard either; a concerned/hurt civilian is supposed to turn to them for immediate help, and then it's decided if the case needs to be elevated or not (oftentimes this kind of legal proceedings generate the most paperwork).

Given the sheer volume of things that need to be written down, Zora actually do use paper quite a lot, it being by far the most convenient medium for daily use. Anything deemed worthy of long-term storage (in Guard's case e.g. monthly reports, yearly budgets, more significant legal cases) is sent to a scriptorium to be transferred to stone tablets.

Bazz is actually quite well liked by the scribes for being very succinct in his documentation. There's a dartboard with Sidon's face on it.

Haven't seen you in a while, Torfeau! She's the one who most often handles Bazz's paperwork delivery bc she's a good egg who doesn't read important correspondence.

Also an end-of-day Bazz's desk looks almost clean, wow.

Pic 3: While the required Guard paperwork seems overwhelming, it's pretty manageable once you get the hang of it and is not actually the case of Bazz's chronic lack of sleep. That would be snooping around in old government archives and making personal copies of anything that looks interesting, or is off-limits (which makes it automatically interesting). He just likes knowing stuff, okay???? No other particular reason >:U

Gaddison is the only person (to Bazz's knowledge) who knows the full extent of this operation, and she kinda begrudgingly respects it, just on the account of the audacity. Sidon has Suspicions, but something tells him to not look too closely.

+as a bonus, I recorded a timelapse of the bazz&rivan pic! its a mess bc I kept forgetting things and then its not even for the final version bc I remembered that cast shadows are a thing like. next day.

They're like around ther early 50s here, so the time when young Zora are assigned some easier jobs or start pursuing apprenticeships.

Rivan and Gaddison help out with fishing, while Bazz is doing the rich kid's path of getting formal education and being spear trained by Seggin.

In their free time they're your typical teenage gang of punks who bother everyone smaller than them just because they can. Rivan's the instigator most of the time, while Bazz is the one who makes sure they don't get into any actual trouble. The boys being a nuisance was actually what lured Gaddison back to them (she's been doing her own thing until now) - with her pretty terrible reputation, loitering with equally bad-behaving old friends sounded honestly great.

They all had their reasons for acting out actually, Bazz's being (unsurprisingly) his father, who at this point was very actively pursuing a political career in the (very unstable) Zora Court. Which made him even more annoying to be around, and Bazz had to be around him for the spear training.

Gaddison was a mess ever since the Calamity wiped out both her home and her whole family in Goponga. Her childhood was kinda just being passed around between overloaded communal care places and then getting kicked out of different sharehouses for "bad behavior".

Rivan, out of the three of them, had the most normal family and went through the war with minimal trauma, he was kinda just living his life vaguely assuming he'd follow in his mom's healer footsteps.

So when she died suddenly, while helping out a Guard unit during a monster control misson, it was a real shock to both him and his dad. Trello got incredibly depressed (and finally started letting Seggin's talking points get to him) and Rivan just found himself angry and aimless. Taking the medicine path suddenly didn't sound so obvious, and what's worse, the neighbourhood kinda assumed he'd take over his mother's community organising duties (she was one of those people who hold the whole thing together with a smile on their face). He couldn't do it, everybody got mad, he failed the med apprenticeship qualifiers (didn't even try to prepare), his dad got mad, and then there was no other opportunities because Trello was to wrapped in his own issues to help him out.

At least his oldest friend was equally upset with his place in the world, so Bazz Brigade was back online, kinda. Definitely not under this name though.

Bazz being able to wave the "do you know who my father is" card around was definitely something that made this whole troublemaking thing possible. Both Rivan and Gaddison were initially conflicted on the ethics of it (it's objectively wrong to abuse your social standing to avoid consequences! also you don't even like him. hypocrite.) but they had to admit it was nice to finally not be bothered about acting out.

Before I get into more character-specific lore, this picture is a good ilustration of Zora in various moments of their childhood (which I will talk about in detail later, once I'm done wrangling the contents of Rivan's photo album).

Link is around 11 here, so he still hasn't pulled the Master Sword and thus is free to mess around with his Domain friends. This would make Bazz 29yo, Rivan 25yo and Gaddison 23yo - a Zora equivalent of an older child to a preteen. Bazz's height doesn't actually have that much to do with the fact that he's older, he just happened to hit an early growth spurt.

(Wait, who gave this kid a real sword????)

Then we have Mipha at 57yo (something like a 14-15yo teenager, very short for her age, she should be at least a full head taller at this point) and a slightly younger Kodah, who is in her 40s.

Sidon should actually be like, barely hatched and still bopping around in a pool as a tadpole if we followed the proper canon, but I stretched the timeline a bit for the sake of having a cute group picture. He's therefore in his 6yo, freshly-figured-out-this-legs-business toddler form.

Now, our beloved Big Bad Bazz Brigade (A+ for naming, Bazz, really).

(Did you know that in Japanese it's called ちびっ子スババ団 (Chibikko Subaba Dan) which would translate to something like "Little Bazz Gang"? Japanese Bazz gets the gold star for being Slightly Less Cringe I guess.

Bazz came up with the Brigade in his late teens (so as something like a 6/7yo), to make his and Rivan's escapades sound more serious, Gaddison joined shortly after, impressing the boys with her confidence and strength.

As a kid, Bazz was an absolute terror to both adults and other children. He wouldn't do anything that made him look uncool, he talked back to grown-ups he considered lower status, and then bullied kids who wouldn't accept his perceived superiority during games.

(I mean, he was rich, with important parents, and also pretty big and strong for his age. No wonder it went to his head. Also can't forget all the parental neglect.)

The Brigade only worked if he was the leader and if it was also named for him, of course. Rivan already had some special treatment from Bazz, being his oldest friend (also his parents were basically raising Bazz at this point). Gaddison found him obnoxious, but putting him a chokehold a few times seemed to grant her some amount of respect. And was easier than like, actually talking to people.

Other kids weren't very interested, needless to say.

Early Brigade days consisted mostly of catching frogs and whacking reeds with sticks. Bazz turned out to be a pretty good leader, coming up with activities, organizing heists and then (usually) weaseling them out of any consequences. It was little more than Messing Around But With A Name though.

Then 4yo Link arrives in the Domain and suddenly the Brigade business becomes much more serious. As soon as he realizes how valuable the tiny Hylian child is, Bazz immediately gets him to join his club and is later a bit disappointed about being stopped from sparring with a literal four year old.

For roughly six years Link travels back and forth between Hateno and the Domain, usually spending at least one season in a year with the Zora. He mostly hangs out with the Brigade, as they always seem to get in the most exciting predicaments. As they teach him how to swim and fish and handspeak, he becomes more Zora than Hylian in their eyes.

When Link's around 10yo, he and Bazz start practicing with swords. Rivan and Gaddison are a bit dejected, as they're too small to join, and Bazz seems to care about little else at this point. The Brigade is in shambles.

After a 12yo Link pulls out the Master Sword, his visits suddenly stop and the Brigade is now left completely aimless. They try to go back to pre-Link times, but it doesn't really work. After around two years Link starts appearing in the Domain again, though for much shorter periods and he usually just hangs out with Mipha.

At 16, Link is now officially a knight and somehow this results in him visiting the Domain a bit more regularly. In the meantime Bazz got another growth spurt, putting him roughly at Link's height, which means they can train proper swords now. This seems to catch Link's interest, enough that they are kinda hanging out again. Bazz still has to share him with Mipha though, which makes him quietly furious (she already took his dad! when will she have enough!).

Rivan and Gaddison come over for post-training lunches sometimes. Kodah tries to join the Brigade, but is denied (we all know you just want to be around Link, Kodah).

Around this time 4yo Sidon is finally allowed outside the palace, and seeing how the Mipha-Link-Bazz connection makes the Brigade hover in his periphery, he also wants to join. Is denied on the being-a-baby grounds. Bazz feels really smug about telling "no" to a Prince (who is a literal baby).

Then Link becomes Zelda's knight and his Domain visits stop for good. The Brigade sees him once or twice on official Hylian Royal Business, but he pretends he doesn't know them. It sucks. The group loses momentum again while Bazz, being tall enough to hold an adult size spear, starts getting trained by Seggin.

After that the Calamity strikes and well, childhood clubs stop mattering for a very, very long time. With how important Link became for the Brigade, it can't really go on after his death. It's dissolved without anyone really saying anything and Bazz, Rivan and Gaddison each deal with the war and its aftermath separately.

Zora may not drink for hydration, but recreational purposes are another story altogether. There are a few non-alcoholic options, such as hot or cold herbal infusions or teas (expensive!), but it usually is some kind of alcoholic drink that gets served at a party or gathering.

Zora have much higher tolerance than most other people in Hyrule (unless you ask a Gerudo), mostly on the account of being rather large and their slow-ish metabolism. Thus, if they drink, they drink a lot. And they do have a lot to choose from.

On the weaker side, there's mild rice wine and watered down fruity stuff. It's mostly served with casual meals and is barely considered alcohol at all.

The most popular stuff Zora drink when going out or having a party is a type of herbal spirit, watered down to one's preference (not dissimilar to ouzo or raki) accompanied by various salty snacks.

Then there's a lather large choice of wines made from a wide variety of plants (fruit is a problem when fresh, but fermenting/distilling gets rid of the most problematic bits), mostly favored by the herb haters and some nobles who want to pretend they're better than the commoners.

In theory Zora could drink stuff like beer, ale or mead, but since they don't have much use for the necessary ingredients on the daily basis, they don't really bother sourcing them just for this purpose. After trade went back to normal, some taverns started importing limited quantities as a curiosity.

Of course Zora also make a wide variety of unnecessarily strong distilled spirits, mostly from herbs. This is the kind of drink that's more of a luxury and meant to be consumed in small quantities. Almost all of these are considered a poisoning hazard by most of Hyrule, so you're unlikely to find them outside of the Domain.

Zora don't really have a legal drinking age, though obviously common sense is applied, like, you don't give wine to a baby and shop clerks will think twice before selling hard liquor to someone not looking fully grown. Zora kids usually start getting served milder drinks at home with dinner around the time they hit their final growth spurts (so at 40-60, which would be roughly 14-16 in our years).

The guards, unsurprisingly, tend to drink especially heavily (it is their major bonding activity), to the point that some amount of tavern outings are included in the yearly expenses (Bazz spent two weeks arguing for it with the palace accounting when drafting the Guard budget). On a daily basis they have to buy their own alcohol though, They mostly go for the common herbal spirits and wine, as these have the best price-to-value ratio when one wants to become shitfaced.

Pic 1 is more of a special occasion, which means the drinks are paid for from the Guard budget (it's just the cheap stuff though! Bazz wishes he had something better but then he'd have to buy for everyone and he's not made of money).

Also, a glimpse at the Zora tavern! It's just a big room with a few very long kneel-height tables (the guards stash their weapons and less comfortable armor bits underneath). Drinking is a social activity and the assumption is that you want to have as many friends around you as possible. The cheaper alcohol will be served in bottles or jugs, along with complimentary snacks, while the more high quality stuff is available per glass at a special order.

Bazz is the only one from the Brigade who -drinks-, and he has some rather concerning levels of tolerance. Rivan will sip his one drink throughout the night, but dip once the party becomes too much. He's actually pretty judgemental about Bazz's alcohol habits (especially because he was there once they started and he knows exactly how unhealthy they are) and also really dislikes being hit on by his drunk coworkers. He's also worried about Dunma, who insists on joining the outings for socializing reasons. She used to sit with the other youths, but after some less than pleasant experiences she consistently finds herself flanked by her dad and Gaddison.

Gaddison is probably most normal about alcohol, usually having a few casual drinks throughout the night. She's terrible at the social part though and most people tend to avoid her anyway, so she usually sits at the very edge of the table and either leaves with Rivan and Dunma, or the moment she sees Bazz cross the shitfaced threshold.

(1. she Will Not deal with him in this state; 2. Drunk Bazz is significantly less effective at shutting down people trying to be weird at her)

As for Pic 2, one of the perks of getting Link back in Bazz's life was getting a high quality drinking buddy (before that the best option he had was, funnily enough, Sidon, and usually they'd just end up talking about work anyway).

Bazz has a taste for the most cursed, borderline medicine-adjacent stuff (Link isn't that far off comparing it to paint stripper) and has a sizeable collection stashed in his office. Rivan knows about its existence and every once in a while threatens to pour it all in the Reservoir, heedless of the ecological disaster that would cause.

Pic 3 is just Sidon enjoying a glass of wine while going through some late night paperwork. He's (embarrasingly) not really fond of the herbal stuff and actively repulsed by whatever is in Bazz's glass on any given day. Bazz is well aware of course, so he always offers to share just because he finds Sidon’s poorly hidden wince hilarious.

EDIT: Also for those curious:

Dinner parties are usually held at Rivan's, since he's the only one with any cooking skills and his house is the most convenient. Bazz's place would be much more comfortable for hosting this many people, but then they'd have to include Seggin and no one wants that (Trello is cranky but much less intentionally hostile, so Rivan usually ends up extending the invite to him as well, this is his dad after all). Zora diet is much less varied than a Hylian's as it is ultimately majorly raw fish/meat based. Most Zora don't even really bother with cooking or seasoning their food - they enjoy the raw taste and texture and don't get sick from parasites and such anyway. A healthy diet should include some amount of greens, usually kelp and algae but leafy vegetables and herbs also work. Zora can eat small amounts of roots, mushrooms, some grains and some fruit, but they tend to process them via pickling or brining for easier digestion. Rice is a common side/base, even though it doesn't provide much actual nutrition (good for filling up when there's not enough protein though!). Legumes, wheat, milk and stuff heavy in sugar are a hard no for a Zora stomach. Hot spice doesn't cause any serious digestive problems, but consuming it tends to make one -really- snotty which is kinda bad table manners, so it's an acquired taste.

The dish spread I drew is a bit chaotic (flavors don't pair super well and there is way too much variety for a casual meal) but it showcases the main logic of Zora cooking I think. A proper meal will have a bunch of small dishes, most of them (if not all) cold, and they're meant to be picked at and shared by everyone. The main course is almost always some kind of raw fish dish (or smoked, if there's no fresh catch available). Rice and seaweed/pickles are offered as sides. Everything is served plain, and vinegar, salt or fish sauce are used to season the meals to one's taste. For hot dishes, there's various soups, Rice Fried With Things and then fancier stuff like meat steamed in leaves/kelp or herb grilled fish. No fruit, sugar or wheat means Zora have very limited dessert choices. Most popular are rice cakes (can be sweet or savory) or egg-based puddings of sort. Zora don't really drink for hydration (they'll get that water in them anyway throughout the day) so beverages are usually just there to compliment the food. A common choice for a casual gathering like this is cold herbal infusion or mild rice wine (Bazz has been explicitly banned from bringing anything stronger than that to Rivan's house).