Welcome to Joyful June: a fanworks event where the goal is to let our favourite characters be happy!
The prompt calendar above is designed for maximum flexibility: if you canāt do something for every single day in a week, you can still do one thing based around that weekās theme!
(Or you can just do as much as you can anyway, whatever, the point is also for us to have some fun, but the completionism urge is strong)
Tag #JoyfulJune and #JoyfulJune26!
AO3 collection: joyfuljune26
What sorts of works?
Fanart, fanfic, music, anything that you would normally consider fanwork.
What fandoms are allowed?
This event originated on the Linked Universe discord, but any fandom is welcome! Be sure to tag the fandom clearly and if youāre creating for something in a nested fandom make sure you tag the right one (Linked Universe rather than Legend of Zelda; Rings of Power rather than Lord of the Rings, etc.).
Will you be reblogging work?
Iāll be following the tag and will do some reblogging, but I am but one person and canāt guarantee Iāll get everything, especially if a lot of people take part.
Do I have to do/post work on the day listed in the calendar?
Nope!
Is NSFW allowed?
Sure, but please tag it #NSFW and note that it wonāt get reblogged here (Iām keeping this blog PG).
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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A one-shot for Joyful June Week 2 (Comfort). Written for a sprint on @linked-universe-discord.
First finds more than one kind of comfort.
[AO3]
---
Link jerks awake and for a moment he's disoriented. His weight is balanced wrong. The wall at his back feelsā¦ different.
It takes a moment for him to realise that he's lying down. He's no longer standing chained against a wall, weight resting on shackles around his wrists and the stone at his back.
He's lying down. On a soft bedroll, a blanket laid over him.
He gasps, tasting the soft night air, and finds there are tears wet on his cheeks and trickling into his ears.
"First?" says a quiet young voice.
He opens his eyes with another gasp. Wind was evidently on guard and now he's kneeling beside Link's bedroll, just outside arm's reach.
"Are you all right? Was it a nightmare?"
Link winces internally with a stab of shame. The boy shouldn't be comforting him; he should be the one offering that, though he's never been good with children.
Wind settles back on his heels. "You don't have to tell me," he says. "But perhaps I can help a bit." He smiles faintly. "Between you and me, you're not the first one I've talked to when they've had a nightmare."
Link sighs again, his eyes travelling to the sky in front of him, filled with a thousand stars. Open. Free.
"Itā¦ was no nightmare, young one," he says quietly. "Not that woke me. Iā¦ do not think these are tears of sadness."
Wind tilts his head curiously.
"Will you look at the sky with me?"
"Wellā¦ I'm supposed to be on watch, but sure, I can watch from there for a bit." Without further ado, Wind lies down beside him. Link raises his arm, moving willingly to accommodate the warm body pressing against his side, rather than having it forced into position and held with a chain.
"Thank you," he says. "I'mā¦ sure I will sleep again before long."
Wind nods. "I guess the stars are different in this era? Sky said they'd changed compared to his, and you're even older."
Link nods sadly.
"Well, I can see some constellations I recognise. Shall I tell you their stories?"
Link tilts his head to look at him, surprised. "Iā¦ would like that very much. Thank you."
Wind nods briskly and starts to speak, tracing shapes in the sky with a finger. Link doesn't really listen, letting the boy's voice wash over him, feeling the soft support under his back and the friendly, warm weight against his side, tasting the free air, gazing at the open sky.
And if more tears of relief and delight run from his eyes, neither of them comment.
A one-shot for Joyful June Week 3 (Adventure). Written for a sprint onĀ @linked-universe-discord.
First tries to apologise and Legend is having none of it.
[AO3]
ā
"I feel I should apologise," said First, breaking the silence.
Legend looked at him. "For what?"
"All that you have suffered. You most of all; it seems you have been forced to undergo a great deal."
Legend laughed ruefully, fingertips tracing over the rings on his fingers. "Well, a lot of it's been rough, that's true. There's a lot I wouldn't have chosen if I'd known in advance. But that doesn't mean you have to apologise."
First frowned at him, clearly confused.
Legend sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Well, for a start, it's not your fault. You didn't ask for any of this any more than the rest of us. But anyway... it wasn't all bad." He grinned. "I made a lot of my best friends on my adventures. Had some of the most fun I've ever had. There's a lot I wouldn't have chosen if I'd known in advance, like I said, but I'd have missed out on a lot. Life on the road has plenty of benefits."
First didn't look like he quite believed it, but he smiled back tentatively.
"You need to lighten up," scoffed Legend, jumping up. "Come on, let's go find Hyrule and Wild and go scouting." He reached out a hand, his smile broadening, and after a moment First took it.
A one-shot for Joyful June Day 11 (Lullaby). Written for a sprint on @linked-universe-discord.
Time tries to create a lullaby.
[AO3]
---
Time - just Link again now, but he would always be Time, especially right now - hardly dared to breathe as he looked down at the tiny bundle in the crook of his arm. His free hand was tangled in Malon's as she slept in the bed beside him, exhausted.
It had been a long couple of days for him since she'd felt the first pangs and had caught his eye. He couldn't imagine how long it had been for her.
The baby - their baby, their little one, their future, the proof of the promise that had been made when he introduced Malon to Twilight - stirred slightly, tiny nose wrinkling. He hushed her, looking sidelong at Malon. She also fidgeted in her sleep, as if she could feel that their daughter might be waking.
Time hushed them both, wanting to let Malon sleep a little longer. Soon the baby would need more milk, but if she wasn't quite hungry yet he wanted Malon to get her rest.
The baby stirred again with a soft whimper.
Time glanced sidelong at Malon again, then started to hum softly, rocking the baby a little. He had never really been musical. He could play tunes he had learned by heart, but not create anything new of his own.
But here was something new. Something far more magical than any string of notes from an ocarina. And she deserved her own song. Zelda had a lullaby of her own, and Time was going to give one to his daughter. So he hummed, putting together strings of notes in any old order, trying to find something that sounded just right. Tunes he'd learned on his adventures. Tunes he'd learned from merchants and farmhands and people he met at the market in Castletown.
Tunes he'd learned from his boys.
Nothing really fitted. But the baby in his arm and the woman lying by his side both quietened as he fumbled his way through the years represented by the songs he carried with him.
He never did find a single lullaby, but what he offered seemed to be good enough. And that was good enough for him.
A one-shot forĀ Joyful JuneĀ Day 30 ((Found) Family). Written for a sprint onĀ @linked-universe-discord.
Wild can't remember his parents, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a family.
[AO3]
---
Hyrule sat down hard next to Wild, letting out a little huff of breath and looking out over the moonlit land beyond.
āSomething wrong?ā he asked. While Wild liked wandering alone as much as Hyrule did, it wasnāt normal for him to sit alone like this.
Wild sighed heavily. āItās nothing, really,ā he said. āJustā¦ just thinking.ā
Hyrule leaned back on his hands, swinging his legs over the edge of the little cliff on which they sat, letting the stillness of the night settle softly around them. Letting Wild choose whether or not to continue.
At last, the Champion sighed again. āItāsā¦ a lot. A lot of things. I donāt really knowā¦ I donāt know what it was.ā
āA memory?ā guessed Hyrule.
āNo. Thatā¦ might have been easier. It wasā¦ I supposeā¦ā Wild tilted his head back, closing his eyes. āNo, I donāt know what it was. Something justā¦ it felt like there was a memory there, but it never came. So all I had wasā¦ a gap.ā He ran his hands through his hair.
Hyrule nodded.
āYou knowā¦ I had a family once,ā said Wild bitterly. āAnd I donātĀ rememberĀ them. Nothing about them. And every now and then something willā¦ thereāll beĀ something, but it never goes anywhere. And IĀ know itās there, butā¦ā He shook his head.
Hyrule thought he could guess what had triggered this, even if Wild wasnāt aware of it. Heād also noticed a flash of homesickness in Fourās eyes when Time threw an arm around Twilightās shoulders for a moment.
Wild ran his hands through his hair again. āAnd theyāre dead, anyway,ā he said bitterly. āAnd since the one thing I do know is that my father was a knight - an officer, it sounds like -Ā he, at least, is probably dead because of me.ā
āHey,ā said Hyrule firmly. āYou know that isnāt true.ā
āYes, it is. Whose fault could it be?ā
āGanonās.ā
Wild scoffed at that, drumming his heels a couple of times against the cliff.
āLook, I donāt know if this helps, but Iāve got some idea of what you mean,ā said Hyrule.
There was a momentās pause, then Wild half turned to look at him.
āI donāt remember my family either. I was pretty young when they died.ā Hyrule shrugged slightly. The thought had no power to hurt him any more. āPeople looked after me as best they could, stopped me wandering into any rivers and gave me places to sleep and what food they could spare, but I didnāt have aĀ family. Not really. So I found one for myself.ā
Wild looked away again.
āIāve got Impa now. And the Zeldas. And a few others here and there.ā Hyrule smiled slightly. āAnd I have all of you.ā
Again, he let the comforting stillness of the night float around them like thistledown.
Wild was the one who broke the silence. āItāsā¦ not the same,ā he whispered, his long hair half hiding his face.
āNo, but it doesnāt have to be, does it? Fruit and fresh bread arenāt the same either, but theyāre both good.ā
He thought he saw a momentās smile and his heart lifted a little. That was progress.
āI supposeā¦ā Wild sighed, a little less heavily than before.
āYou havenāt got parents any more, and nor have I. But weāve got brothers. Weāve got each other. And youāve got your Zelda, and your friend Sidon, and the guy who built your house.ā
That got a momentās startled laugh. āI supposeā¦ I suppose Bolson is kind of aā¦ weird cousin,ā said Wild.
Hyrule grinned. That was definitely a smile. āRight.ā He patted Wildās arm. āWe canāt get people back. Weāll never see our parents again and might never even know what they looked like. Weāre not like Four, or Legend, or Wind, who have blood relatives they can go home to. Weāre not like Time and Twilight, who found out theyāve got each other. But that doesnāt mean we donāt have a family.ā
Finally, Wild looked up, eyes gleaming in the moonlight. āNo,ā he said quietly. āI suppose not.ā
Hyrule gently nudged his elbow and after a moment Wild shifted closer so they were leaning shoulder to shoulder.
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A short fic for Joyful June Week 1: Magic. Written for a sprint on the Linked Universe discord and also @lu-community-write-a-thon!
Link from Adventure of Link/Hyule from Linked Universe uses his Fairy spell for the first time
[AO3]
---
Link took a deep breath as he slowly summoned up his magic. The old man had explained the spell in detail and he knew he'd understood it. He was experienced enough with magic by now that he could follow descriptions of how the power that gathered deep in his soul should flow, and he'd encountered enough fairies to recognise the shape and feel they left in the world, which would otherwise be the missing piece. He had even taken a moment to feel out the sensations in the air as he'd scooped up a bottle of the Water of Life to give to the old woman who'd introduced him to this latest teacher. He had everything he needed.
But that didn't make him much more comfortable with casting a spell that would change his very physical nature. The old man had assured him it wouldn't hurt, and there was very little reason for him to lie, but a mistake in the casting of the spell could be disastrous.
Still, Link was used to taking risks. He was used to getting hurt, even hurt badly, and he told himself this was no different. He had a doll to hand in case something went badly wrong - his last one, but if he needed it it was always worth it - and it was time to stop dithering and try this spell.
With another deep breath, he folded his hands on his chest, straightened his back, and with a quick mental flick pulled the magic out of his soul and around himself as if unfurling a blanket.
Despite the old man's assurances, he'd expected pain. Instead, the magic filled him with a glittering warmth. He felt the wings flashing out of his back, felt himself shrinking, but it was as if he was a breeze, air forming a new shape rather than a boy of flesh and bone. It was somehow freeing, bringing a lightness and mobility that he wished could go on forever, dangerous though he knew that probably was.
And then it was over. All in a moment, he was a fairy, hovering in the air where he'd been sitting.
He'd got it right first time.
And that triumph and the lingering feeling of freedom and joy and the knowledge that the sky above was suddenly open to him sent such a frisson of excitement through him he couldn't help spiralling upwards with a delighted cry. The air seemed to sing under his wings and he shed tiny, sparkles like droplets of water as he shot upwards between the leaves of the trees overhead and towards the sun. For a moment he hung, hovering, looking down at the little forest in which he'd sheltered for his experiments. He could feel the magic underlying the land, see it when he looked for it. The gleam of hylian life in the village where the old man and old woman and her daughter lived. The little silver-green pinpricks of birds in the trees. The warm, deep green of the trees themselves.
Link breathed deep, though in this form he didn't need to, letting the magic in the air flow through him with a deeper, truer joy than the sparkling excitement of flight. Now he could understand why fairies chimed and sparkled the way they did, if this was their everyday life.
Soon he would have to land again. He couldn't travel far in this form and, more importantly, couldn't risk forgetting how to change back. But for the time being he savoured the magic, looked out at the sun and the jewelled magic of the land below, and let the excitement and triumph and deeper joy flow through every fragment of his body.
A one-shot forĀ Joyful JuneĀ Week 4 (Time). Written for a sprint onĀ @linked-universe-discord.
Reflections on the passage of time leading up to Malon and Time's wedding.
[AO3]
ā
Years had passed since the boy from the forest had first come to Lon Lon Ranch and bonded with Epona.
Fewer years since he had come to live there, helping out around the farm and camping somewhere nearby until Malon's father had persuaded him into first a partitioned-off corner of the barn and then a bed in the attic.
Fewer years since Malon had started to notice that he was tall and handsome, that his smile was rare, but bright when he watched foals playing in the field or tasted the first of a batch of fresh cheese.
Fewer years since she'd noticed that his smile was brightest and most frequent when he looked at her.
Fewer years since she'd confronted him about always running away and insisting that there would always be a parting and he'd told her about the world and the life he had known.
One year since they'd sat together outside the farmhouse and finally poured all their feelings into thousands of words.
One month since he'd returned from an adventure with a garish ring and they'd laughed as he tossed it aside and handed her something more suitable.
One week since she'd put the final stitch in a beautiful new dress.
One moment since time had stopped running.
She hung suspended between one heartbeat and the next, staring into his blue eyes, holding his calloused hand.
Then she slipped a plain golden band onto his finger and time ran again, unspooling into countless years, all of them yet to come.
A one-shot for Joyful June Day 19 (Forest). Written for a sprint onĀ @linked-universe-discord.
Hyrule loves forests.
[AO3]
ā
Hyrule loved forests. He loved the mists and mysteries of Wild's Lost Woods and the playful koroks that hid in nooks and crannies among the branches. He loved the towering, mountainous trees of Twilight's era and the overgrown orchards of Legend's. He even loved the odd little tree-islands of Wind's, where trees within trees poked up out of the endless ocean, promising dry land and shelter.
But most of all he loved the dark, tangled forests of his era and the little copses of growing trees that would be the forests of its future. Every shoot. Every space under writhing roots where a fox could make its den. Every dark bush that hid a harvest of mushrooms in the leaf-mold below.
To unaccustomed eyes, Hyrule's forests looked menacing, and to unaccustomed travellers they were dangerous. But to Hyrule they were growth and strength, memory and promise all in one. Like the hills and caves, they had been here since before he was thought of and would be here still when he was gone. Like the land itself.
When he stood in the shade of a forest in any era, he could smell the green life of the trees. But the smell and the feeling was always strongest when he stood among the darkness and furtive sounds and hidden dangers of his own.
