300k reads on GoS! Let's go!

I actually, genuinely cannot fathom that number. 13 years of working on this fic, coming up on a year since I came back to finish it and nearly wrapping up its first round of edit, and 300k reads! GoS is solidly in the top 20ish most read LoZ fics on Wattpad. And I cannot thank people enough for giving it a chance.

As a thank you, I'm planning to do a full bonus week of uploads for MoaH - Part 2 to celebrate since that's my active project. That should start this Sunday. There were some suggestions to run an event, but due to some life events currently, I cannot do that and commit to a prize. But I have a pin in it! GoS is also almost fully imported to AO3 now (should be this weekend), so maybe go give it a look if you haven't before.

I feel like a milestone that big gives me some space to get on my soap box a little. And so with a number that big, here's what I want to say:

I started Goddess of Secrecy in high school. I didn't beta read it. I didn't optimize it for uploads. There was no marketing strategy or real upload schedule. I didn't have any social media to promote it. Hell, I barely edited the thing if my current pass is any indication. I just did it. And kept going. Was I any good when I started? Absolutely not! But I kept trying. And I got better. And here we are.

You do not need to be the best there ever was to start. In fact, you won't be. No one is. But you will never get better if you don't try. It's scary, I know. But you can do it. I mean, if I can you can. There was no magic to that, just persistence. You have to start. Your story is better told imperfect than never told at all. And the world needs your stories. Get out there and tell them!

Turns out I never fucking posted the "Fierce Deity Link is Link's buddha mode" rant. So here goes, modified from the messages I sent to my little brother over a year ago, otherwise I can't get peace of mind.

In the game, Link actually becomes a buddha, and the Fierce Deity form is when he reaches that state/unleashes that aspect of himself. Fierce Deity isn't just a sick ass name for the form, it's literally a type of deity mostly associated with Tibetan Buddhism, if I'm not mistaken. Fierce deities, also known as wrathful deities, are basically aspects of buddhas that protect others from threats to enlightenment (Majora, amirite?) and clear the path for that in a spiritual sense.

How does Link acquire the Fierce Deity mask? First he has to help everyone in Termina to get their masks, THEN he has to give all of those masks, his possessions, away. Off the cuff, I'd say giving up your earthly possessions is one of the bigger tenets of Buddhism as a whole.

And now let's take a nice look at Fierce Deity's design. If a character's design is good, every part of it has a purpose.

What is the dominating color of the design? That's right, it's blue. You shouldn't be surprised to know, then, that blue in Buddhism symbolises wisdom, purity, and healing.

Fierce Deity has a dark blue bodysuit underneath. Well, in Hinduism (which is honestly kiiiiiiiiind of adjacent to Buddhism) blue skin is basically a sign of a heavenly, enlightened being. And that bodysuit Fierce Deity is wearing sure is tight enough to look like skin.

His eyes are white. In a lot of cultures this usually symbolizes possession, but in Buddhism specifically the Buddha is often depicted with his eyes only partially open, which could leave only the whites of the eyes visible. Similarly, his hair is white (I'd argue silver but same thing in this case), which is the color of purity. Also usually in pop culture, especially in Japanese media, silver hair is the mark of an exceptional and often a supernatural character.

As for the patterns on his face, all I can think of is kabuki makeup, kumadori. I haven't found any evidence that makeup like that is used in Buddhism. In kumadori, red color is used for heroic characters, while blue is used for villains. Why Fierce Deity has a blue pattern despite being a hero, I have no clue. Red and blue colors can be used together in one pattern, but the blue always carries a negative connotation. But moving on, in the official illustration Fierce Deity seems to have red patterns in the place of eyebrows, but in game they're brown despite him having white/silver hair. Well, in kumadori brown makeup represents monsters and non-human spirits, which is kinda fitting in this case.

Moving on, Fierce Deity has a crescent moon on his armor. I'm not entirely sure if it was made into a crescent moon only to make it clear that it's a moon symbol, or if the crescent itself represents something. But the moon in Buddhism symbolises truth and enlightenment according to some source I managed to dig up once and then lost. It could also represent the mind in itself. The moon does have some meanings deeper than I can get to, but it's also important in denoting significant days for Buddhism in the lunar calendar.

The triangle symbol is also pretty vague. Legend of Zelda has the Triforce, but this is only one triangle, not all three, so it might have another meaning. In Buddhism, according to some sources I could find, triangles symbolise the "three bodies of buddhahood" which are the bodies of ultimate reality, bliss, and the physical body we all have.

Then let's look at the three gems Fierce Deity has on his neck. It's not just some meaningless bling to tie the design together, because they do have a meaning. As a set of three, they likely symbolize the Three Jewels of Buddhism, where each stone represents a part of buddhahood: the Buddha, the dharma, and the sangha. These, in layman's terms, mean "the exemplar", "the teachings", and "the religious community" respectively. So I suppose that in Fierce Deity Link's case it means that he takes part in all of these aspects and thus is enlightened.

Lastly, the sword. It could be an extremely stylized vajra, a kind of a pointed battle club that is an indestructible and irresistible force. There's a lot more symbolism behind the vajra than just that, though. The sword could also be based on something called the "infinite knot" which overlaps itself without beginning or end and symbolises infinite wisdom and compassion among other things. The sword has one blue and one green blade. Blue is, again, wisdom. Green, on the other hand, means peace and balance.

Also, the line "could this mask's powers be worse than Majora's?" when receiving the Fierce Deity mask is pretty clear when you know what kind of being he is. Fierce deities deliberately make themselves appear demonic and terrifying to scare away demons. He's also meant to be op, not just as a treat for the player for getting all the masks, but because that's what fierce deities are. Also it's rich coming from the literal villain of the game who dies in the next 3 minutes thanks to Fierce Deity.

All in all, 11/10 design. To make it any clearer that this is Link as a buddha you'd have to slap a lotus flower or a dharma wheel on that bad boi

...

Please forgive me because my understanding of Buddhism is pretty basic, but isn't a Buddha someone who no longer needs to reincarnate?

Because... that fits in eerily well with my take on Fierce Deity in one of my stories. Literally tied it to the end of Link's cycle of reincarnations.

the thing about disability is it really does sometimes boil down to "wow i wish i could do that" and then you can't. and it sucks.

accomodations are important but i think they miss the point of this post. sometimes you can't do it. at all. someone needs to do it for you or it will never happen.

"and then you force yourself anyway" folks im starting to think some of you really do not understand what it means to not be able to do things.

Teaser Thursday (I found an Araki snippet I thought I had already shared - whoops!) For those of you awaiting the next chapter. And many, many thanks to @amelias-hart for this very pretty cover art!!

Chapter Sixteen - Echos of a Siren's Wisdom (3k words left to write for this one 😭) Anyway, enjoy some Captain Araki daydreaming...

It’s bad enough he’s had the princess breathing down his neck (and not in a good way) these past few days, now he has to deal with Impa’s sharp looks. And the nymph. He can’t forget about her no matter how hard he tries. She’s back, pleading for him to do the right thing, and be the master she knows he truly is deep down inside. His scowl deepens. Who would have thought he’d rue the day he’s surrounded by three beautiful women? Not that it matters, since there’s only one who has captivated him since the moment he first laid eyes on her.

His gaze trails to Zelda standing just a few feet from Impa. She’s woven her hair in a practical braid–its plaits shimmer in the sunlight, contrasting with the dark blue of her vest. How he’d love to spend a day alone with her on a deserted beach somewhere. He’d count all the varied shades of blonde strands that combine on that lovely head of hers to make the finest color of gold he’s ever seen. Maybe if he asks nicely when they reach their next port of call, she’ll agree to another outing.

He might as well jump overboard and try his luck with the tentalus. Even if she said yes, there’d be so many strings attached, Link would find himself tangled up in knots quicker than a jailbird sings. She’d no doubt tell him she’d be happy to accompany him, after he saves Hyrule.

god keep ur fucking kink meme shit out of ao3 tag y'all make this fandom even more insufferable than it already is and thats saying something!!! The kind of shit y'all post require a fucking trigger warning it doesnt belong in a safe space

Hello! I see there’s been some confusion! Allow me to clear something up: AO3 is not a safe space.

Let me repeat that. Archive Of Our Own is not a safe space, not in the way you mean it.

From the AO3 Terms of Service:

Why does the Archive have a goal of maximum inclusiveness?

What kind of content do you allow?

The ratings/warnings policy is really minimal. Why is this?

The stated desires/goals when AO3 was conceived and initially developed can be found here, on a livejournal post from @astolat (founder of VidCon, Yuletide, and AO3, and all around fannish legend). In short, the goal was “allowing ANYTHING – het, slash, RPF, chan, kink, highly adult.” 

And that, in fact, is precisely what AO3 hosts. You see, AO3 is a safe space for fanfiction. It’s a safe space for people to explore all kinds of fannish content without fear of banning, deletion, or legal reprisal. It was founded, designed, and developed to be a safe space for fandom and fannish works.

There also seems to be some confusion about the nature of safe spaces vs. trigger warnings. A fannish work that merits a trigger warning isn’t something that doesn’t belong in a safe space. The trigger warning is what MAKES something a safe space despite the presence of fannish works that merit warnings.

Something else to consider: there are many other things that include het, slash, RPF, chan, kink, and highly adult material, in addition to incest, pedophilia, infanticide, necrophilia, rape, bestiality, sadism and violence, adultery, and all manner of other things. 

So holding individual women (because that’s what fandom primarily is, women exploring their sexuality in a safe forum filled with other women doing the same) accountable for their fictional exploration of things that a) exist in real life in genuinely damaging forms, b) have significant impact on women themselves, thus leading in some part to the urge to explore those things safely, and c) have existing in movies, television, popular culture, the Bible, and in all of literature since literature began? Well, that’s just an extension of the same culture that polices women’s sexuality in the first place and drives them to find safe ways to explore it.

Ding ding ding we have a winner 🙌🏼

AO3 was pretty much meant to be a safe space …  FOR WRITERS.

FOR WRITERS TO POST PRETTY MUCH ANYTHING AS LONG AS IT IS ADEQUATELY WARNED FOR AND MEETS THEIR CLEARLY POSTED CRITERIA.

IT LITERALLY EXISTS TO PROTECT FANWORKS FROM BEING CENSORED, THREATENED BY LAWYERS, OR TAKEN DOWN OR ALTERED AGAINST THE WRITER’S WILL. THIS APPLIES TO ALL WORKS THAT MEET ITS TOS. ALL OF THEM. YES, INCLUDING AND ESPECIALLY THAT REALLY ICKY ONE.

THAT IS LITERALLY ITS PURPOSE FROM THE VERY BEGINNING. IT WILL NOT CHANGE ITS PURPOSE AND SUDDENLY DECIDE SOME KINDS OF CENSORSHIP ARE OKAY NOW BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE YELL.

If this makes anyone personally uncomfortable, there’s a very easy way to avoid that. Just don’t use AO3. Problem solved.

I guess I should be glad that we have built a world where young fans can be so deeply ignorant of fannish history that they think that the mechanism of repression they’re invoking wasn’t originally built and used to silence them, and so easily could be again.  Their assumption is that they are entitled to have fandom feel comfortable and safe for them; it literally does not occur to them that within their own short lifespans you had to have separate and sometimes secret lists and archives for slash because “nobody wants to see that” and “it’s gross/against God’s will” and “what if the children see it!!!”  (I remember a man knitter having to quit the freaking knitlist because he took such shit just for referring to his partner as “DH/DB” (dear husband/boyfriend) the way the women knitters did theirs.)  And even within the slash community…the very first Smallville slash mailing list tried to ban strong language and graphic content.  A rebel splinter had to break off and found ClarkLex to publish all kinds of stories.  That was only in 2001!  

I know it’s a good thing that we’re now in a world where indignant young people have no idea how vulnerable they historically have been and still are in this particular context.  The time before: that was worse, for many people.  But it’s still very tiring to see.

Please, indignant young people, do start up your own archives where the Problematic Content is banned.  You’ll be setting each other on fire within the year over just where the line is to be drawn.  And advancing your actual cause not at all. 

AO3 is big and easy to use and I have seen some fucked up shit there.

Fandom is becoming mainstream. We need to reconsider if “because you CAN write it, no other reason necessary” is a good philosophy these days. It may be that AO3 needs to reconsider its philosophy and possibly change.

Excuse me? What’s wrong with writing something “because I can”? What other philosophy do you want us to adopt? Let’s see if this fits mainstream criteria of normalcy, of “good” and “moral”?  And the answer to that is: NO. A huge big NO. This is why AO3 was created after LJ strikethrough in 2007 - because we wanted a space where it didn’t matter how weird or kinky or fucked up a story is. Where it didn’t matter that it’s not mainstream. Where we wouldn’t be judged, nobody could delete our stuff and nobody could try holding us legally accountable simply for writing something that’s not to their tastes (as long as there is no actually illegal material). 

Why would they “need” to do that? For what reason? AO3 is precisely what we need - apparently now not only to ward off attacks from outside fandom as it used to be, but from inside fandom as well.

“It may be that AO3 needs to reconsider its philosophy and possibly change.”

NO. Ao3 doesn’t *need* to do a damn thing. If you (and plenty of other people, evidently) think that fandom needs a more mainstream, sanitized space/archive go ahead and make it happen, the source codes are out there (and good luck deciding about how clean is clean enough).

I have seen this exact response given over and over again -make your own space, go on and do it yourselves- and it’s always ignored or treated like a dismissal. It’s NOT a dismissal, this is how everything in fandom gets created. This is how ao3 was created: a bunch of people wanted it enough to make it happen. We donated money, time and workto make it happen. And the folks at ao3 did such a good job that the result is now the biggest and most well known fandom archive. But it was born from a bunch of people who wanted to give fanfics a safe space and were willing to work for it.

Every time I see people huffing and ignoring the perfectly logical suggestion to “get together and create the fandom space that you want” I can’t help but think that they just don’t care enough about their ideas to be willing to put in the work (and if so, why should we care enough to do their work for them?) or worse, are just in it for the joy of policing and shaming others

THIS.

We didn’t like how it was done elsewhere, so we built AO3. You don’t like how AO3 does it? WELL GO BUILD YOUR OWN SPACE INSTEAD OF DEMANDIG AO3 TO DO AS YOU PLEASE! DAMN IT!

This entitlement is so disgusting.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

As we say in Danish, “if you don’t like the smell of the bakery, you can eat somewhere else.”

Chained Truths by @mirensiart

Adventure Fantasy | General | Tumblr | Ongoing

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You can find @mirensiart here on Tumblr.

Almost there!

Have you played either before?

The OP's pronouns are she/they

university professors love to create the most fucked up pdf ever known to mankind. it's enrichment for them.

what HAPPENED here

You will be happy to know they were like that back when they were making physical copies too.

Slumber Party in Suthorn!

Click for better quality!

Intro and Master List

Bio:

Hi! I'm Abby, I'm a Christian, and I love to write! I write both original works and LoZ fanfiction. You can find the link to my main blog right here if you want to check out any of my original stuff!

I started playing games in the Zelda franchise in 2023, when I picked up Breath of the Wild for the first time! Since then, I've played Skyward Sword, Wind Waker, Tears of the Kingdom, Echoes of Wisdom, Twilight Princess, and Ocarina of Time. The franchise has quickly become a huge part of my heart and I'm so excited to learn more and connect with other fans of the games.

2024 Masterlist

2025 Masterlist:

Multi-Chaptered Fics:

A Link to the Stars

In Progress

My current WIP! In collaboration with @coffebits

The planet of Hyrule has known peace for decades. Princess Zelda, heir to the throne, has gotten to watch her best friend and general of the Hylian army, Link, explore neighboring planets, lead diplomatic missions, and defend their planet against possible attacks for years.

But when a strange moon appears in the Hylian skies, shining with hostile light, Zelda is the first to volunteer to investigate. Link and his right hand man, Ganondorf, enlist their services alongside her. As the team begins to study the strange moon, they soon discover that it is filled not only with fearsome monsters, but an ancient evil that seems to call to the spirits of each one of them. Will they be able to neutralize the threat to protect Hyrule, or will the presence of the moon unleash a curse that has lain in wait for generations?

To Fall in Love with a Goddess

In Progress

Link, a man revered for his courage and prowess with a sword, has drawn the attention of the gods. Unfortunately, it is to his detriment. The gods are envious of his praise, and resolve to take it from him, at whatever cost.

When Hylia is sent to Link’s village to place a curse on him to wane his courage, she finds herself falling in love with him instead.

So what happens when a goddess falls in love with a man that every other god dislikes?

Well, she marries him, of course.

A Link to the Stars: Constellations

Bonus stories, bonus chapters, and deleted scenes from A Link to the Stars

One-Shots:

Diplomatic Immunity

Link scales a national monument. Zelda is being blamed for it.

Waking Up Next to You

For @mistresslrigtar's birthday event

It's only been a few days since Link defeated the Demon King, and all Zelda wants to do is return to the life they had. She wants to wake up beside her husband, spend her day in relaxation, and rest knowing all is well. But she soon finds out that she cannot force a piece into a puzzle it no longer fits. That doesn't mean she can't try.

Colds and Confessions

Written in collaboration with @hyylia for Zelinktines

Zelda is bedridden after the Calamity, fighting a sickness that just won’t let up. Link is doing his best to care for her, all the while fighting his own sickness: a lovesickness for the very princess wasting away in his bed.

Weddings in Hateno

Written for Loftwing Letters 2025

Link, a simple Hateno farm boy, has always had a crush on the village schoolteacher, Zelda. Through the years of their friendship, he’s never worked up the courage to tell her how he feels. But a wedding in their village might just give him the perfect opportunity.

Hide and Seek

When a game of hide and seek in Ordon Village results in Colin getting lost in the woods, Link steps up as a one-man rescue team.

Get to Know Fanfic Authors

Thank you @amelias-calamity-quintet for the tag!!

1. How many works on AO3? 24

2. Total AO3 word count? 323,619

3. Top 5 fics by kudos:

4. What fandoms do you write for? Just Legend of Zelda at the moment, though I have been tempted to expand more than a few times

5. Do you respond to comments? Yes! I might miss some here and there but I love reading and responding to comments and I have a special fondness for my consistent commenters and love to see them pop up

6. Fic with the angsty ending? In Between technically ends just seconds before the very first Tears of the Kingdom cutscene, so probably that one! I usually write very happy endings. Also one of my one-shots, Light Conversation, is basically just angst all the way through lol

7. Fic with the happiest ending? To Become an Immortal Dragon ends very softly with a lot of hope, but also Vows of a Hero ends in the same way so take your pic! Though I think the overall fluffiest ending is Lyrics of Love which ends in a proposal.

8. Do you get hate? I can't say that I have, I've gotten some "this isn't my style" comments but nothing worse than that!

9. Do you write smut? Nope!

10. Ever had a fic stolen? Not that I'm aware of but I guess I have a new fear unlocked

11. Have you ever co-written a fic? Yes! The plot, character arcs, and world building for A Link to the Stars are all written by coffebits and I simply write the scene-to-scene stuff based on her outline.

Also, I wrote Colds and Confessions with @hyylia for Zelinktines!

12. All time favorite ship? Definitely Zelink (as that's all that I write) but I have a special place in my heart for BotW Zelink and Skyward Sword Zelink. Also the Zelink in A Link to the Stars has me absolutely vibrating with excitement every time they look at each other

13. Writing strengths? I've been told my prose is very clear and accessible and that I write in a way that makes fics feel like page-turners so I guess that?

14. Writing weaknesses? Definitely overarching plots, I tend to be a pantser and sometimes it lends itself to me having to rewrite a lot of stuff to make the overall plot more coherent

15. First fandom you wrote for? I wrote a self-insert Harry Potter fanfic on wattpad when I was 13 lollll but this is my first foray into writing for fandom since then

16. Favorite Fic you’ve ever written? Ohhh definitely A Link to the Stars, the collaboration is so much fun and the art just makes me screech with excitement. Outside of that, I will always have a fondness for To Become an Immortal Dragon because it contains some of my favorite Zelink interactions I've ever written even though the angst is heavy hehe

I'll tag @hyylia @mailrebel and @summonerluna as well as anyone who wants to participate!

PREVIOUS / FIRST ❤️ More pages on my Patreon ❤️ Page 50, 51 & 52 ! And thus, Link will be attending the Festival 🥲 Aaaaaand he'll be wearing his new dress for at least 65 more pages ! 😂 Ganon's pretty proud of himself ☺️

I've decided to do the same formula here that I do with my Patreons: Fewer updates but bigger ones :) Now this one is still quite small, but it marks the end of this small Act in Hytopia. We should have another update around the end of the month! ❤

I've also finished my storyboard contract, so expect a little bit more activity from me around here ☺️

Get to know your author

Thank you @amelias-hart for the tag. I'll play since I'm procrastinating on writing today 😅

1. How many works on AO3? 44

2. Total AO3 word count? 482,977

3. Top 5 fics by kudos?

Third Time's a Charm

I Belong to You

Enjoy the Silence (technically the very first LoZ story I wrote, Love in the Age of Calamity, is third, but it's hidden at the moment, so...)

Captain Link Araki and the Harbinger of Destiny

Can't Do This Again

4. What fandoms do you write for? LoZ

5. Do you respond to comments? Yes

6. Fic with the angsty ending? Silent Scream

7. Fic with the happiest ending? that's a toss-up. One ends with a pregnancy announcement (Third Time's a Charm) and the other with an engagement (Love is Forever) So, take your pick.

8. Do you get hate? a couple of times in my Tumblr inbox (which makes zero sense. I write fluff for crying out loud. lol)

9. Do you write smut? *ahem* yes 😅

10. Have you ever co-written a fic? yes!! 4 published, 1 in progress

A mother's love is... - BotW short story with bahbahhhh

Practice for Keeps - SS one-shot with Zelmo

DIY Bed Building 101 - TP one-shot with Zelmo

A Chance at Romance - BotW short story with hyylia

11. All time favorite ship? uh, Zelink

12. WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? The Bawdy Bard (Pulicose Link of Pronken!) it's a modern medieval times/ren faire au

13. Writing strengths? characterization and dialogue

14. Writing weaknesses? descriptive writing

I tag @zeldaelmo @sparklyhyperbole and my mind is drawing a complete blank, sorry ya'll - anyone who wants to play