If I had to describe this story in one word, it would be: epic. This takes the Zelda universe, specifically from the Ocarina of Time/Twilight Princess timeline, and goes full bore into the dark realism aspect of what the Zeldaverse could be like if taken at face value for the dangerous world that it is. The scope of the story is impressive, spanning over many years of in-story time and covering ground from the Gerudo Desert, to Death Mountain, all the way south to a new country of Nevachrea. The entire world is the stage and many characters will love, fight and even die within the chapters of this fanfic. There is plenty enough description about what the story consists of on the main page, so I won’t rehash it here. Instead, I’ll dive deeper into what I feel makes the story great.
What makes this fanfic stand out from the rest is how unapologetically relentless it is in treating its characters and storyline with honesty and realism. There are no compromises made to dumb down the material nor are there sacrifices made to appease readers with the ending. The author knew what they were doing (after reading the chapter notes!). The overall focus the story was trying to achieve, I believe, was to deconstruct what a hero really is. What comprises a hero and what qualities should he have? At what point does a hero stop being a hero and instead turn into something else entirely? When does self-righteous good become bad? The story seeks to track Link’s descent from the hero he became in Ocarina of Time to someone so scarred that he loses his way as a hero.
Along the way, it makes a convincing case on the effect of war and its lasting/lingering effects on those who experience it, sometimes in a rather graphic, shocking way. I’ll admit there were scenes that were hard to stomach, but pushing past those, there is a grand story here that brings all Zelda characters into the stark reality of their world. Not everything is sunshine and roses. There are real threats out there, heavy decisions to make and harsh consequences to follow. Finally, a fanfic that isn’t solely based on a one-shot lemon or pairing but one that seeks to tell a deep, involving story. I’d recommend it specifically to mature, adult readers due to some of its content.
Unapologetically Real
If I had to describe this story in one word, it would be: epic. This takes the Zelda universe, specifically from the Ocarina of Time/Twilight Princess timeline, and goes full bore into the dark realism aspect of what the Zeldaverse could be like if taken at face value for the dangerous world that it is. The scope of the story is impressive, spanning over many years of in-story time and covering ground from the Gerudo Desert, to Death Mountain, all the way south to a new country of Nevachrea. The entire world is the stage and many characters will love, fight and even die within the chapters of this fanfic. There is plenty enough description about what the story consists of on the main page, so I won’t rehash it here. Instead, I’ll dive deeper into what I feel makes the story great.
What makes this fanfic stand out from the rest is how unapologetically relentless it is in treating its characters and storyline with honesty and realism. There are no compromises made to dumb down the material nor are there sacrifices made to appease readers with the ending. The author knew what they were doing (after reading the chapter notes!). The overall focus the story was trying to achieve, I believe, was to deconstruct what a hero really is. What comprises a hero and what qualities should he have? At what point does a hero stop being a hero and instead turn into something else entirely? When does self-righteous good become bad? The story seeks to track Link’s descent from the hero he became in Ocarina of Time to someone so scarred that he loses his way as a hero.
Along the way, it makes a convincing case on the effect of war and its lasting/lingering effects on those who experience it, sometimes in a rather graphic, shocking way. I’ll admit there were scenes that were hard to stomach, but pushing past those, there is a grand story here that brings all Zelda characters into the stark reality of their world. Not everything is sunshine and roses. There are real threats out there, heavy decisions to make and harsh consequences to follow. Finally, a fanfic that isn’t solely based on a one-shot lemon or pairing but one that seeks to tell a deep, involving story. I’d recommend it specifically to mature, adult readers due to some of its content.