FanficRecs Alternate Ending: Detective Ganondorf and the Case of The Great Flood
Wind Waker is a great game in its own right, sadly lacking much to explore. With 49 square areas to explore and only 6 dungeons at best to explore, this game felt kind on the short end of the stick of development (not to mention some places were just perched rocks for treasure searching). The adventuring was fun though, as was exploring for treasure. What really compelled it though was the back story of the mysterious disappearance of the Hero of Time that failed to save it when Ganon returned and the once great Hyrule being sunken under the sea...
This story explores that. Taking place after Link's second arrival to the Forsaken Fortress, Ganondorf starts looking for answers of what REALLY happened to the Hero of Time (because taking to account of what happened in Ocarina of Time, he was sealed away when it happened). Over the journey, he questions several people from the Great Deku Tree to Valoo, even so much as to whisk Tetra early from her shelter (with her pirate crew no less) while Link questions the duties of Sages and the transition between sea-like Zora's to the bird-like Rito's.
This story, in a few hour read through, is quick entertaining, as it shows Ganondorf in a rather sympathetic light as the game did too. Of course, he's more of a Anti Hero kind of guy who knows that he and Link have the same enemy, but he won't hesitate reminding others he's the King of Evil and therefore can't be trusted. Also, he makes it quite clear that there's a BIG difference between conquering a country and drowning it to the kingdom come.
All and all, lots of Continuity Nods, studies made on the series history, and even side jokes made to crack a chuckle. The epilogue seems to focus more on a side issue of the Gerudo race being brutally prejudiced before now accepted in the new kingdom with open arms, but it makes sense to the rest of the story, and seems to give this incarnation of Ganondorf a great deal of piece of mind. Highly recommended for a different take on the Wind Waker story that explores many unanswered questions tackled in a intriguing light.
FanficRecs OK... For What It Is
The story is primarily about Ganondorf, in the part of WW post-Forsaken Fortress 2, trying to rediscover some lost bit of history about Hyrule. Specifically, how did the previous Link, as well as several sages, die. This leads him on a voyage around the world, talking to sages and the guardian spirits, as well as unearthing an ancient relic to find the truth. He does this because he believes that there is a third party who's manipulating events to destroy Hyrule.
This is an Alternate Universe Fic for Wind Waker and its backstory. One problem is that the story doesn't make this clear up-front. That's a problem, since it takes a while to get to a point where the events it portrays simply cannot happen in accord with WW. So for most of the work, I assumed that the investigation would be for naught and everything would proceed as the game directed. The work takes on a different flavor when you know that it's actually rewriting WW, not merely adding to it.
Another problem is writing style. The author makes very little effort to make the children sound like children. Link and Tetra have a rather substantial vocabulary, which makes them feel much more like adults than children. Also, the narrative is not written purely omnisciently, but it will every now and then broadcast the thoughts of someone who isn't the viewpoint character for that scene.
With AU fic, the thing that most influences where you like it is how much you like the changes. And I... don't much care for them.
Spoiler alert:
I don't much like Daphnes being evil here. First, it was really obvious, so the mystery aspect kinda fell apart. Second, it just seemed so very much like the author wanted to make Ganondorf less evil, so she had to come up with someone more evil as a baseline of comparison. Thus, we have Daphnes murdering Link in a fit of jealous rage over losing Zelda to him.
How pedestrian.
Speaking of which, making Ganondorf less evil. That's one of my pet peeves. I see no reason to believe that Ganon thought of his people as anything less than tools to be used to amass power. Even in WW, Ganon talked about what he coveted, not what he coveted for the sake of others.
It's not a terrible read (for fanfic), and if the changes sound interesting to you, you should have a go.