#linkle reader

TW: Noncon, Stockholm, Lima, brainwashing, death, panic attacks, & madness. Possible tragic end.

Where Ganondorf has won, both Zelda & Link are dead, but Link took his Triforce piece with him in death, so Gan has to search for it. He uses Black Magic to stay alive, young, & strong.

The Reader was born with the Triforce of Courage bound to her more tightly than any before.

When he finds her, he senses the Triforce in her & kidnaps her, but no matter what he does, he can't remove it from her & it isn't responding to him.

Ganondorf learns from his sorcerers that the Hero placed a seal upon the piece with his dying breath that would make it so it can't be retrieved from a corpse, so if he ever plans to get it, it must be with her alive or he'll have to go looking for it again.

So, Gdorf decides that if he cannot have the Triforce of Courage, then he will simply have to settle for possessing the Heroine as his concubine.

Which is what Reader becomes.

I see this becoming something of a Beauty & the Beast meets Stardust situation, but much darker.

Reader is spunky, determined, & defiant with eyes sharp like a predator. Sometimes even downright feral & is likely to try & bite & claw at Gdorf for his troubles. (I can definitely see them bickering like an old married couple in the end.) A real spitfire that bears the unnatural talent for fighting & the understanding of weapons that all past Heroes were known for. Though, while she is strong like past Heroes, she is not quite as much so as previous ones due to her sex. However, she makes up for it with an unnatural agileness, flexibility, & stealth that makes her difficult to keep a hold of & fight back against.

Perceptive & observant, Gdorf often feels like she's dissecting him from a distance & it makes him uneasy.

She's also quite intelligent, logical, & a master debator.

A year or so later, his sorcerers discover that the only way he can obtain control of the Triforce of Courage is by possessing her heart.

As a sick fuck, he naturally assumes that it means he needs to cut out her heart & eat it while still somehow managing to keep her alive, but by that point, he'll have developed an obsession with her & taken her into his bed, making her his favored concubine. (Yes, I do mean rape. It's gross-nasty, but in this situation, I see Ganondorf being the sort who would get a sick satisfaction out of dominating the Heroine who was meant to kill him.)

He sort of waffles about it before deciding that he can simply wait for her to grow old & lose her beauty & usefulness as a bitch before doing the deed.

Eventually, more will be learned & it'll be revealed that the requirement wasn't literal, in so much that he needs her to fall in love with him. At which point, she'll freely give her heart to him in a figurative sense, thus giving him ownership of the Triforce piece bound to it, which will let him make the wish he wanted. However, making said wish will kill her.

Asshole doesn't even hesitate.

Initially, he uses a love potion on her, but all it does is make her adoring, submissive, & obedient. Turns out, the love must be genuine & such potions are, by their very nature, false & effectively halt the development of actual emotional attachments, so he's forced to have an antidote made. (Which takes at least a month, during which he finds that he has mixed feelings about the enchanted infatuation. On the one hand, he likes how affectionate, agreeable, & downright eager she's become to please him. On the other hand, he'd liked her feistiness, biting wit, & how she used to challenge him.) Which, once Reader realizes what the asshole did, she'll be pissed!

Either way, Gdorf really switches gears upon learning how he can get his wish. Still abusive & dominant, but he's at least trying to make an effort to be... agreeable? He also makes an effort to be flirty & charming. Dude even takes advice from the few subservient to him that are in successful relationships to try & exploit how such love works. Which include several Gerudo & the entirety of the Yiga.

Who have basically replaced the Hylians as the majority while the Hylians & Sheikah have been made into slaves. Their males tend to only have 3 options in life: serve Ganondorf as part of his army, menial labor, or breeding studs for the next generation of Gerudo. This typically results in them becoming sex slaves, prostitutes, & concubinusi (male concubines).

And those men who join the army & catch too much attention as warriors are still liable to be made into a concubinus in the harem of a high-ranking Gerudo in an effort to make strong Vai for the next generation. In many ways, if you are born a male Hylian or Sheikah, you're effed.

Most men upon being selected for a Gerudo's personal harem, can only hope to woo her so that she may choose him as her husband.

Interesting thing, the conquering of Hyrule wasn't just bad for Hyruleans, but also the Gerudo culturally. As it has resulted in them losing sight of one of their most sacred beliefs: monogamy & partner exclusivity. Though many of the lower & middle class Gerudo still practice these things, the Gerudo elite have become swollen with arrogance & pride, thus resulting in them forsaking their race's beliefs in pursuit of their own pleasures. As such, more & more Gerudo have begun to take multiple husbands. Beforehand, even just 2 spouses were enough to get side-eye & whispers, while 3+ was considered folly. Now-a-days, it isn't unheard of for most elite Vaien to have 3 husbands.

One thing that is still sacred is the dismissing of one's harem upon engagement. Though there have been 1 or 2 who have tried to keep theirs even after marriage which, in the past, would've been unheard of & the sign of an addled mind. They would literally be condemned for insanity.

See, the Gerudo have always been sex positive, but culturally-speaking, there was a big difference between having fun & being lose with your body. And concubinusi & harems were considered perfectly fine so long as you weren't married, as marriage is considered a sacred commitment not to be trifled with.

The reason for this is due to infidelity being seen as a huge taboo amongst the Gerudo. To the point of death being considered an appropriate punishment. Which led to them accepting the Hyrulean goddess of love, passion, & pudicity, Karina (called Vah Kàvtrïna by the Gerudo), a long time ago.

Though, some good things have also come of it. Such as the Vaen of Talthïrï now being allowed to marry. (To learn about Vaen & their effects on the Gerudo culture, go to Vae & the Spring of Talthïrï. Be warned, it's kinda weird.)

Which, the sex industry is, unfortunately, flourishing. And the ancient Gerudo practice of Feminizing the Enemy is still alive & thriving.

Not to mention how Ganondorf has gone full colonialism. As in, he's burned Hyrulean churches & all their books. He's basically destroyed all Hyrulean religion & replaced them with Gerudo theology & books & temples. Though, he didn't even try to rewrite history. In fact, he makes it very abundantly clear that Hyrule was conquered & rather arrogantly dares anyone to even try to rebel against him.

Ganondorf very publicly revels in the fact that the Hylians know that they were once something more than what they are now & have since been reduced to slaves.

This was a full-scale hostile takeover where Ganondorf now rules as the God-Emperor of Hyland (the continent on which Hyrule can be found).

Anyway, in the course of making the Reader fall for him, Ganondorf will slowly grow to become more attached to her, enjoying her company & conversation, to the point where he's actively contemplating not making the wish. At times, he even feels slightly guilty for what he plans to do to her.

And it isn't even as though his plans are a secret. I mean, he never kept it hidden from her & neither did the Gerudo or Yiga under him. So, Reader is very aware what his goals are. And even though he hasn't said that he plans on killing her once her usefulness has ended, it's pretty damn obvious & Reader ain't naive or stupid.

Besides, Gdorf's loyal minions often boast about how she'll be made an example of.

Moving on, this can either result in Lima Syndrome (for the good end) or full-on Stockholm (very bad angsty yandere, slightly psychological horror end). Or possibly starting off with Reader's ardent defiance, before going Stockholm, then slowly Lima works itself over on Gdorf, but Reader becomes a broken shell of her former vibrancy & spiritedness due to his abuse & obsession. However, Gdorf finds that he doesn't like this new, sad & emotionless, obedient version of the Vai & that he misses her lethal bards & fiery witicisms. Part of what initially sparks this dislike for her obedience & submissivness being that he can't get a good fight out of her anymore. She no longer even tries & essentially let's him win.

Same with whenever he has her play strategy games with him & even when he breeds her. She's just become a doll in his hold, one that keeps her eyes shut tight & bares with it until it's over even when he makes her look at him, it's evident that her vigor is gone. Keeping herself silent throughout. Which, if he's being honest, actually really stings his pride as he comes across as the type who takes a lot of pride in being a spectacular lover who can drag the most wanton of sounds from his partner. He'd especially taken joy in hers.

As such, Ganondorf finds himself beginning to try & put her broken pieces back together & through that, he begins to legitimately fall in love. But this might become a double-edged sword as, by beginning to actually care about her, he could become all the more possessive of her & begin to become extremely protective of her, to the point where he might become a different kind of abusive. The more subversive & devious kind. In such a situation, he turns from an unrepentant & sadistic yandere to what is termed a "soft" yandere, meaning he begins to feel guilty for the things he does to her. (Though, that doesn't mean that he stops.)

Either way, he claims her as his property outright.

Or, if we wanna go super-duper angsty, maybe he still decides to go through with his plan, but if the writer goes that direction, I'd kinda like to see Ganon regret it to his dying day. (Not for abusing her, mind, just for killing her. That'd be way too much of a heel-face turn for this specific Ganon.) Like, make it a Pyrrhic victory. Whether because him being in charge eventually leaves him as the king of a barren wasteland or because Reader's memory haunts him. Or possibly both. Like, make him legit mourn for her & feel deeply guilty, but perhaps too proud to acknowledge it or even understand that he does feel guilty. Maybe he goes more than a little cray-cray & sees her everywhere like how Jinx from Arcane sees Mylo & Claggor. Then, when the next Link appears, all he can do is compare the Hero or Heroine to Reader (mentally & verbally) & it really makes him look off his rocker. Hell, maybe he goes looking for the other Triforce pieces again specifically to bring her back to life so he can keep her for himself? Which, let's be honest, would just be salt in the wound.

It'd basically cement how she'd be unable to escape & her only hope was that she'd grow old or sick & die. She may even go insane.

Whatever the writer prefers.

Either way, I'd like to see him take her as his queen at some point. Whether or not it's of her own free will & if it's become a semi-healthy relationship by that point is entirely up to whoever's writing.

I imagine it taking between a decade & several hundred years to get to the end if you go the extra mile.

---

In the case that Ganon goes through with it, the moment he obtains the final piece of the Triforce, he feels a surge of triumph. Of accomplishment & adrenaline.

Ganondorf's time was at hand. There was only one last obstacle between him & his destiny.

And in that moment, he sees the expression on the would-be Heroine's face. Though oddly stoic in the same way her predecessor had been where she normally wasn't.

Even still. He'd known her so long that he could read the minute signs of what she was feeling.

Sad acceptance. Pained defeat. Expectancy. Heartache.

Coming doom…

He'd placed that look upon her face & it caused his heart to clench strangely.

*He loved her… He loved her so much… but that hunger gnashed its teeth for more power from within his mind.*

Irrationally irritated, Ganon turned away from her. “You knew this was coming. It's your own fault for falling for the enemy…” He said dismissively.

“... I know…” The tiny sound of her voice was paradoxically emotionless & broken. It caused an odd stutter in his chest.

With that, Ganondorf makes his wish & the moment after the words left his lips he could feel the power sweep over all around him & with it came elation. Instinctively, he prepared to turn to his little Heroine in a gilded cage to boast to her as he always did when he was successful at something, but then a heavy thud sounded behind him, causing his mind to pause & catch up with him. There was suddenly a strange feeling of loss & absence.

The giant of a man almost couldn't look at her, but when he did, he found her crumpled on the ground & unbearably still as he knew she would be.

And like chips appearing in a column that bears too much weight, fissures began to appear in the normally cold & stalwart structure of his heart. It seemed that her face was frozen in a position of crestfallen resignation in preparation of a foreseen & dreaded, yet inevitable occurrence.

He swallowed thickly, shaking slightly from some heretofore unfelt distress before turning away & leaving her body there in the dark.

In the end, Ganon had one of his Yiga assassins deal with her. But then he'd caught sight of where he was headed with a bundled white sheet.

The furnace…

And an odd, primal panic & fury came over the now king of all.

G: “Did I tell you to burn her?!”

Y: “N-no, my lord.”

G: “Then, what did you think you were doing?!”

Y: “I… my apologies, Sire. I just assumed… She was the Hero destined to kill you, so I was following the procedure for disposing of enemy corpses.”

Dark power exploded around him like fire. A living shadow.

G: “She was MINE!! I WON'T HAVE YOU TREATING HER LIKE FILTH!!! HOW DARE YOU TREAT WHAT WAS MINE WITH SUCH DISRESPECT!?!?”

And he slaughtered the assassin before gently taking the sheet-covered body into his bloodstained arms.

As he lifted her up, the sheet fell off her head & he saw that she was beginning to show signs of degradation.

It was like an icicle shot through his chest as he looked down at his dead concubine. She was so cold now where she'd once been warm & so very alive & vibrant.

And she appeared so much smaller than she'd ever seemed before…

She'd always felt so much larger than life.

It was… disquieting to see her so still & quiet.

Ganondorf trembled silently as he stared at her.

…

He shook himself.

She'd been a means to an end.

Always had been. From the very beginning, thus was what he'd planned to do.

And it'd been worth it.

He was King of Hyrule.

Not just king, but the Emperor of Hyland. Practically a God! The whole continent bowed before him or ran in fear.

It was worth it.

—

Ganondorf began to wash his hand frequently.

He buried her in the garden. In her favorite spot. Where he'd often found her sitting beneath the Satori Tree, just listening to the birds.

He held no funeral, but his heart seemed to mourn all the same.

Ganon almost immediately noticed how different the castle seemed without his little prize.

Had it always been so quiet before her?

And his bed seemed so much bigger & emptier &... colder now…

Had she really become such an enormous part of his life?

He suddenly didn't know what to do with himself without her there. He could always conquer another kingdom but... It was just more of the same...

It was like he'd lost something vital. Something that had become an integral part of his life was now glaringly absent.

He struggled with sleeping. Whenever he closed his eyes, he saw her crumpled form & face in death engraved on the inside of his eyelids.

Holding the pillow she used to use helped somewhat…

Until her scent faded from it. Then he went searching for anything that she'd come into contact with.

All the clothes she'd worn, her scented oils, her jewelry. All of it.

And he placed a spell upon them all to extend the length of time that they'd retain her smell.

Before long, he began using the bathing products that she once used in an effort to keep some semblance of her scent with him.

Even wearing some of her jewelry.

—

Ganon had his minions diligently keep the garden well taken care of. Especially the area around her grave.

At some point, it struck him.

Why was it that he was more miserable after achieving his life-long goal than he was before?

Why could he never be happy??

She was the closest he ever really got.

Slowly, over the coming years, her scent began to fade, though the time it took was supernaturally extended.

And Ganondorf found himself falling into a sort of fog where he refused to think about her.

Yet, at the same time, desperately clung to items that she'd been fond of or that reminded him of her.

To the point of hoarding them in her old room from before he had her relocated to his.

Almost turning it into a sort of very sad, twisted little shrine.

—

Then… her scent faded altogether… That's when it struck the Gerudo square in the chest with the force of a Lynel's kick.

She was gone…

And he'd killed her…

A Gloom fell upon him.

He suddenly couldn't breathe.

Sound began to get fuzzy.

Then he remembered that hers was the soul of the Hero. To whom he was eternally bound as enemies. It was her destiny to find him again to try & take from him his kingdom.

Maybe. Perhaps.

He could see her again?

From that moment on, he anxiously awaited the coming of the next Hero.

Only for when the time came, to find a Hero, not a Heroine.

One so completely unlike his caged bird that Ganon had to push down his disappointment.

Then… for some reason. All he felt was rage.

He didn't even wait for a sporting fight, Ganon just executed the boy & began to wait for the next Hero & hoped for something that he knew deep inside would not happen.

Lifetimes passed with multiple Heroes & Heroines, some like her in some ways, others in other ways, & others not at all. But not a single one had that same spark that Ganon had so admired.

There was always something just… not quite right about them.

And he always made such abundantly clear to the new “Heroes.”

He honestly sounded quite mad in his ramblings.

He became obsessed.

And with every lifetime that passed, the once verdant & green landscape of Hyrule began to wither into a barren wasteland not unlike the desert home he'd come from.

For he'd never stopped his minions from raiding or pillaging. Never stopped them from killing the farmers & other civilians for it was now “a place where only the strong could survive.” So, the people began to leave when they could or else die off. And with no one left to kill besides roaming, warring tribes of jaded vaggabonds & scarred survivors, the monsters moved on to destroying all else around them.

Not to mention how the birth rate had plummeted along with the survival rate for children. Meanwhile, the rate of miscarriages as well as the infant mortality rate had both soared. After all, what is weaker than an infant?

With every subsequent generation, there were fewer & fewer. So, the few who had stayed in Hyrule struggled with even starting a family & many died childless.

Not to mention the fact that constant conflict really isn't the most ideal situation for a society to progress or even civilization in-general. Because anything you build is liable to be destroyed.

It wasn't until 800 years later that Ganon realized; what was the point?

The desert had followed him. This was no longer the Golden Land he once sought so ardently. More so an extension of the no man's land from which he came.

What even was "Hyrule" without it's people or it's lush greenery?

A pile of dirt with a fancy name. Utterly worthless...

Once more, he had ruined something beautiful in his pursuit of power. And his desire for a world where only the strong survived, had been what salted the earth.

—

At some point, Ganondorf snaps.

He wanted her back!

He needed her back!

Why wasn't she coming back???

Didn't she love him?!?!

She gave him her heart! So she must've!

Eventually, the panic began to creep in again.

Once more he couldn't breathe.

The emptiness. The absence. The loneliness. The unbearable guilt & regret.

Everything was so…

He felt both exposed & suffocated.

Darkness seemed to creep around his vision as his fingertips went numb, then slowly moved up his arms, & the same words from before repeated brokenly in his head.

She's gone… She's gone. She's gone. She'sgOnEsHe'sGoneShe'SgonEshE'sgoNe!

She. Is. GONE.

Then the final blow struck.

He would never see her again as she was before he KilLeD her.

It was the first time he could ever remember crying.

No...

He would get her back!

If he got his caged bird back, everything would fix itself.

He… the Triforce!

A deranged grin spread across his face.

He would wish her back!

He just had to find the pieces again!

He could… He could wish her her own soul, one separate from the Hero of Legend!

—

I'm going for a feeling of creeping regret & despair. Where it doesn't immediately hit him how monumental of a mistake he made. Like, not just by killing Reader, but his wish & even his entire ideology.

Then, suddenly, the fact that he'll never, ever see Reader again or hear her voice or hold her in his arms as she had been before death touched her… That even if he manages to wish her back, she'll forever be touched by what he'd done.

And it's too much. Something inside him breaks irreparably.

---

When he wishes her back, I want Ganon to immediately place an unbreakable curse upon their souls. She would be the Heroine & she would always be born alongside the Hero as his sister. Whether twin or elder mattered little. That way, one way or another, Ganondorf would always be able to find her just by locating her brother.

And they would always be drawn together as not even death would keep them apart!

In the end, he eventually comes to really love her. But it's a broken, twisted kind of love.

—

I'm really going for deranged madman here.