The Zelda Diarist

Rules: Shuffle your “on repeat” playlist, post the first 10 tracks, and tag 10 people.

So. I intentionally listen to music maybe once a year (yes i'm very cool and hip, thanks for asking). I don't really have a playlist at all. What I do have is listening to tree.fm while doing data entry, so I went there to get 10 forest ambiance recordings to listen to.

Hong Kong, Lantau Island

Chile, Valdivia

Slovenia, Trnovo

France, 2 Rue de IOrne, Colombelles

Brazil, Atlantic Forest, Cantareira State Park

Austria, Schwendberg Hippach-Schwendberg

Germany, Zeil am Main

Ireland, Soundctuary Cappaduff, County Clare

Austrailia, 4 Finniss Vale Dr

Hong Kong, Lantau Island (second time! so I did it again and got Ecuador, Yasuni National Park)

You picked the best ship imo 😎

💕 How did they both realize “oh wait, this is actually love”?

Man, there's so many ways this could go! I think Zelda definitely starts crushing on Link first, so she probably has a period where she's like "Pfft this isn't love. We're just friends. He's just a really nice guy and I enjoy spending time with him. It's not like it means anything." Then she ultimately wakes up in the middle of the night after having a pleasant dream about Link and very shockingly realizes "Oh my gosh, I think I'm in love with him 😱😶". And then from there she accepts her feelings and becomes much more forward with Link lol.

And on that same note, I think Zelda has to show Link a lot of affection before he's willing to clue in. He definitely spends a good chunk of time in denial imo. Like "Oh, the princess could never like someone like me. She's just kindhearted and sweet. I'm sure she bats her eyelashes like that at everyone. And touching people's arms over and over again isn't that romantic, right???" 😂 He eventually figures it out though and accepts that he is allowed to fall in love with Zelda. And from there things become very simple and straightforward haha 😌❤️

😴 Who falls asleep first & who watches them with heart-eyes?

Hmmm this one could go either way. I feel like Link tends to fall asleep easier than Zelda, so I guess she's the one watching him with heart eyes? I can definitely see her having quiet moments in bed where she just feels so grateful and affectionate for the man beside her 💖

🌅 Do they go on sunrise / stargazing dates? Which one do they love more?

Oh absolutely. I feel like getting out of the castle/city is one of their favorite date ideas lol. If I had to pick which one they like more... I guess stargazing? I feel like they're more willing to go outside at night than they are to get up early in the morning 😂

Revival by @imagineaspen

Fantasy | General | AO3 | Complete

Synopsis: Every child in Hyrule grew up hearing stories of the Demon King.    No one could agree on what the beast looked like.  Some claimed it was a midnight blue, standing tall on two legs with its trident in its grip; others insisted it was green and scaled; still others said it was not beast at all but a great dark dragon.  Nor too could anyone agree on where the beast was sealed by the wise Princess Zelda of a thousand years ago and her courageous knight: deep in the belly of Death Mountain, in the thickest fog of the Lost Woods, even on an island in the sky above the clouds. Only two things were certain: the Demon King was evil incarnate, and was especially disposed to eating misbehaving children; those that stayed up too late, or did not eat their vegetables, or were unkind to their mothers.  Every child feared the day the monster would break free from its seal, at least until they grew older and realized the Demon King was nothing more than myth and legend, a fairy tale as real as the Wind Fish or the Light Spirits.  A story to pass on to their own children, they decided, and that was all. Queen Zelda was not so sure.

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A fun story featuring a Princess Zelda that has a long term fascination with the legends surrounding the Demon King. With war looming over the horizon, she makes the journey to the Gerudo desert in order to plead for their assistance, and in the process uncovers that the Demon King is in fact real and still very much alive, who she frees with the assistance of a very curious Gerudo scholar. This story has a comedic undertone that makes it a very fun read. - bloobluebloo

An absolute delight of a fic, showcasing a Zelda full of life, curiosity, and take-charge spirit, pursuing the legend of the Demon King in her own way... and then pursuing him as a person! I had a ton of fun with this! - onlybythestars

A fascinating exploration of having the legends for reference just to pull one of the main characters out of myth. I will admit a bias for Falon in this story and his exploration in contrast to the Demon King, but the promises of Zelda and Ganondorf learning more about each other are also a delight. Absolutely recommend a read! - amelias-hart

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You can find @imagineaspen at AO3.

Chapters: 23/? Fandom: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda) Characters: Link, Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Original Characters, Original Hylian Character(s), The Sheikah, The Gerudo, Gorons (Legend of Zelda), Zoras (Legend of Zelda), Original Legend of Zelda Character(s), Hylians (Legend of Zelda) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, modern hyrule, Urban Fantasy, Canon Compliant, Gerudo Link, Nerd Zelda, Post-Botw Hyrule, Childhood Friends, Male-Female Friendship, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Friends to Lovers, Road Trips, Awkward Romance, Family Dynamics, Slow Burn, Domestic Fluff, Worldbuilding, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Modern Royalty, Legend of Zelda References, Sheikah Culture, Link (Legend of Zelda) is a Dork, Family Shenanigans, Past Relationship(s), Living Together, Alternate Universe - Bodyguard, Plebeian Princess, Dorks in Love, Falling In Love, One True Pairing, secretly in love, Yearning, Longing, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Idiots in Love Summary:

UPDATE TIME YES,YES! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

please don’t let the hobbits down 🌿

Smiling Bats

Like, it's not weird for wholly original romance novels to have otherwise disposable friend characters who act as author mouthpieces at crucial points in the story. (It's also not uncommon for romance novel characters to have NO close friends or family, in my experience, which is a different thing.) Former fanfics do not even slightly have a monopoly on, "Hey, what's up with this weird friend character? They seem a little out-of-place here? Also seems like you're maybe under-utilizing the weird, comedic relief friend, tbh; they could be doing more in this story."

Audience familiarity with (and affection for) the characters and their relationships to one another can be one of fanfiction's strengths re: storytelling. You can play with a lot of reader expectations this way.

Anyway, if I was reading a Coffee Shop AU Star Wars Reylo fanfiction (you could basically use this example fic to ward me personally off like garlic against a vampire, tbh, but let's pretend)... even if Finn had nothing to do as a character in this story besides be Rey's coworker at the coffee shop, I would be even more suspicious and dismayed if Finn was completely missing. We EXPECT to see at least briefly all of the major members of a cast in an AU fanfic of certain length, barring unusual circumstances.

Even if he is almost completely irrelevant to the meet-cute at hand, I WANT to know where Chewbacca is in this AU! I want to enjoy a little chuckle when, idk, C-3PO is turned into a high-strung, middle-aged office guy with either a short, non-English-speaking husband or a Border Collie-Corgi mix dog named Artoo that runs his entire life. It's delightful to see the characters I know and love in the background!

But when you file the serial numbers off of AU fanfiction, a character's role in a story can no longer be Being That Character. Now, you potentially have a bunch of story elements that conflict slightly or conflict very seriously. Now, you may have additional characters whose presence is no longer perfectly explained by the fact that you are expected to include all the Avengers in your MCU fanfic.

Now, Not-Chewbacca's quirks cannot be explained away by him Being Chewbacca. And suddenly, readers are like, "Hey, kind of weird throwaway detail for Not-Kylo's dad to be a former drug runner who lives in a van with an old, foreign war vet! Is that going to be relevant later???" Once you cut the fanfiction strings, your new story may feel riddled with inconsistencies and missed opportunities. Why are these characters here if they're 1) not contributing to the plot, 2) not contributing to character ans relationship development, and 3) not even really contributing tonally (humor, angst, fluff) to the story?