This is a directory for all basic information in my fic How to Live (When You're Already Dead). You can look stuff up here for reference! This will be updated as the fic progresses, so PLEASE be wary of all potential spoilers—two options for this, let me know what you want. Just adding onto the main list here or posting separate chapters with the new info in those new chapters, labeled for what chapters they update too in the main fic. That said a lot of this is convenience information, and won't actually spoil the plot for ya! If you see something missing let me know, or have requests!

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Note: Most of the games are in-canon in this AU. I've changed a few things around and definitely played with the official timeline (if that's even still applicable rn), but Skyward Sword, Twilight Princess, OoT, Spirit Tracks, etc all progressed pretty much like the game did. When a specific hero is mentioned (and i swear im not calling sp link the hero of trains guys okay) it's perfectly fine to assume the normal game plotlines happened. Any tweaks appear before/after the game itself, or just stress themes already in it. This is especially important with Skyward Sword and the Hylia thing. The only exception is Link Between Worlds, which will be detailed at a later date.

The Triforce: Everyone knows about the Triforce and its Bearers—the myth is integral to Hylian religion and culture, plus the Triforce shows up every hundred years or so so the Sheikah didn't even bother trying to keep this one on the downlow. The Triforce was created by Din, Nayru, and Farore at their point of ascension when they left the world. It is made of three pieces, Wisdom, Courage, and Power. Each piece personifies a trait of the Three, as well as what makes a true leader in the eyes of the Goddesses. According to legend, one with a pure heart can unite the pieces and their deepest wish will be granted. No one has managed to restore the pieces since they were originally broken apart, however, so the truth of that is up for debate. The bearers are born with their marks, and when one is born the other two are not far in following. The Triforce itself reacts instinctually and often passively throughout its bearers' life, but can be consciously controlled. It is sentient, and it is not a whole artifact—each piece is looking for its equivalent of a 'soul mate', basically, and when they remain together they cannot do that. After being split they were able to find their proper wielder, and after Wisdom was splintered the dissonance in each piece stopped, because each shard could find its true owner. Put simply, the Triforce as a whole artifact no longer exists. Instead each individual shard is its own thing. Most people think it will never be whole again, and nobody bothers with that.

Power: Belongs to the Gerudo King born every hundred years. Currently possessed by baby Ganondorf. Tends to be very wild and unpredictable, so teaching its bearer to control it is a huge priority for everyone—it has a history of driving its wielders insane. Because Sheik bears Wisdom's Power, there is a great hope that he will be able to teach his nephew how to control it before it is too late.

Courage: Belongs to the Hero. While Power and Wisdom are born every hundred years and are public figures, no bearer of Courage has come forward since the last great Hero (the Hero of Twilight). Not much is known about it.

Wisdom: Belongs to the Princess of Hyrule. Currently possessed by Zelda. Every Princess born with Wisdom is named Zelda. These bearers show up a little more frequently than the others, but are not as scheduled as Power (being every 100 years). Records indicate that the bearers of Wisdom tend to have much more control over their pieces than the others. Wisdom itself has been fragmented even farther than the Triforce itself, into three equal pieces: Wisdom's Courage, Wisdom's Power, and Wisdom.

Wisdom: Belongs to Zelda. Essentially the 'Wisdom's Wisdom' portion but that's repetitive to say and to type.

Wisdom's Courage: Belongs to Tetra, and is always born to the Gerudo. The bearer is always named Tetra, too.

Wisdom's Power: Belongs to Sheik, and is always born to the Sheikah. The bearer is always named Sheik, too. Shares some similar traits with the Triforce of Power, like it being explosive in power and usually very unpredictable.

WHY THE ISSUES WITH WISDOM? See Hylia for how it got split in the first place. Everyone knows Wisdom is born to the Hylian Princess. As in all the people of Hyrule. After it was first fragmented and the people realized their princess no longer bore the Triforce piece she should have, it caused massive conflict and civil wars—most took it as a sign that the Princess was not worthy or that it had been stolen by the other races, as its other pieces showed up among the Gerudo and Sheikah. This has long since been forgotten by Hyrule. In order to keep the peace and prevent such warfare, the Sheikah have taken it upon themselves to kill every Sheik and Tetra as soon as they are born. Also, by giving those children titles rather than proper names the Sheikah seek to prevent anyone from seeing them as human.

The Sheikah: A race of red-eyed people who dedicate themselves to the protection of Hyrule, the dead, and serving Nayru. One does not need to be born Sheikah to become a Sheikah, but that rarely happens with ordinary folk. Because the Sheikah deal so intensely with dangerous situations, they often die young. As such, before one can 'truly' become a Sheikah they spend two years with the Gerudo and two years with the Hylians, to figure out if they really want to be Sheikah. If they chose to leave they undergo a ceremony that removes their Sheikah blood—literally DNA shit here—and they then enter into life as a Hylian or Gerudo civilian. If not, they undergo their Shadow Trials and enter the Shadow Temple itself. If they emerge they are considered full-blown adults and Elders. If they don't, they're dead. Because they take such great care of the dead somebody at some point thought they'd be fit enough to handle every other dangerous artifact in existence, so the Sheikah take care of those too. When Hyrule, Termina, and the other surrounding countries stopped warring ages past and entered into a peace treaty, it required the dissolution of their military forces—this is when the Sheikah stepped up to serve as the protectors of Hyrule. Very stressful jobs. As such they tend to be paranoid and very very proud of themselves. Many Hylians resent them for this.

Government: The Sheikah are basically independent of the Crown. They are ruled by a council of the eldest Sheikah, though Grand Councils that meet in times of massive troubles are made of all those who've passed their Shadow Trials, AKA Elders. A single Elder is in charge of each Sheikah Reservation, and there is one in each of Hyrule's provinces. Those single Elders basically have final say in everything besides Council meetings, where the majority decides, though they do listen to/take advice from the other Elders in their province.

Religious Beliefs: The Sheikah believe in the Three, though they primarily worship Nayru. They recognize Hylia as a powerful entity, but do not pray to her. Their religious beliefs have changed over time in regards to Hylia—they used to worship her above Nayru. Something happened and now most Sheikah regard her with a little disdain. Some say their total devotion to the Royal Family is nearly religious in tone, but they do not worship them.

The Elne: The Elne is what the Sheikah call the Lost Woods. Currently houses the Temple of Time, and is the home of Skull Kid and Majora. It was once the home of the Kokiri and the Great Deku Tree, before the tree withered and the Kokiri fled (where, even the Sheikah don't know). Still dangerous, and filled with violent creatures, but it is hidden so deeply in Faron Woods that very few people find it without already knowing where it is.

The Temple of Time: The entry point for the Sacred Realm and the resting place of the Master Sword. After a relic called the Shard of Agony was destroyed within its halls, its power made it impossible to lie within the Temple's halls. Currently in ruins, and beneath the protection (sort of) of Ghirahim. After Osfala's bullshit the dead the Elne avoids the Temple.

The Master Sword: See Fi in characters. The Blade of Evil's Bane. Created by the Goddess Hylia to protect Hyrule's people against an unfathomable evil. Currently enshrined within the Temple of Time, where it waits…

Dead Spots: Places around Hyrule that are impenetrable by magic. No magic gets in, no magic gets out. No one knows how they are created, but they are very troublesome. People can walk into one without realizing it, and while electronics work pretty well within them sometimes weird things happen. Supposed to be impossible to destroy, but Sheik managed to do it—current theories say that an immense surge of power can break through them. Rather rare.

Blessed Senses: Each of the three human race in Hyrule are supposedly gifted with a heightened sense by the Three. Nayru gifted Sheikah eyes to See with, Farore gifted Hylians ears to Hear with, and Din granted Gerudo tongues to Speak with. Not everyone can use these gifts, and if one can that doesn't mean they'll keep that ability into adulthood. The Sheikah are able to see past illusions, and those that keep their ability are able to See into the future. The Hylians are able to hear very well, and those that keep their ability are able to Hear the Three. The Gerudo have heightened taste and those that keep their ability are able to Speak to the sand and wind—control it, to some degree. While there are allegedly a few Gifted Hylians in the Priesthood, there's no guarantee they can actually hear the Three. Only one Sheikah has the ability to See, and the child is under Malladus' protection and lives in Ikana. The Gerudo are very tight-lipped about their own Gifted, though some records indicate it is very common to keep their ability into adulthood in varying degrees of strength. Super strong power is rare, but weak power is pretty common.

Sheikah Eyes (and Relics): The eyes of the Sheikah are very important to them. Removing a Sheikah's eyes (or a Hylian's pointed ear tips or a Gerudo's tongue) a punishment only for the absolute worst of the worst. Hasn't been done as a punishment in centuries. If these pieces are collected, however, the power they hold can be harnessed and stored in artifacts. While these artifacts defy the Three and are blasphemous by nature, the power they bring is incredible and some dare risk it. The Sheikah have destroyed two of the three created after the Great Betrayal (The Eye of Truth and the Shard of Agony), and hid away the third, the Mask of Truth. When destroyed these items saturate the surrounding area with their power.

The Goddesses: Nayru, Din, and Farore. The primary (though technically not official) religion of Hyrule is the worship of the Three. Nayru closely watches over the Sheikah and makes her favor or disfavor known pretty clearly, as does Din with the Gerudo. Farore has a pretty hands-off approach. Like different styles of parenting. That said, it isn't as if the Three talk extensively to their people. Nayru inducts people into the ranks of the Sheikah and it is believed ones skill is tied to Her favor for them. Din inducts her people into womanhood but only really speaks with the Gerudo King because he's (wait for it) SPECIAL. She doesn't like when they go nuts and kill people so she tries to mitigate damages a little bit. Farore just plays tricks for the most part—luck is believed to be her doing. She also plays favorites, but pretty much only with Heroes (yes with a capital H). They cannot and do not physically appear in Hyrule or the world, but they can leave messages and speak through visions and dreams. Most priests who serve them serve a specific goddess because it's easier, but Hylians tend to worship all of them.

The Goddess Hylia: The secondary religion of Hyrule is the worship of Hylia. Devotees are pretty iffy about acknowledging the Three at all because of inconsistencies in their doctrine—some believe Hylia is the only Goddess, while others sort of skirt around the existence of the Three. Some of the latter believe Hylia split herself into the Three, some think the Three just never existed (despite lots of evidence to the contrary), and so on. Hylia worshippers believe that Hylia is a Goddess who protects Hyrule and its people against evil. She has acted consistently as a barrier against the forces of evil until her Blessed and Chosen Hero arrived to finish off the evil. They believe she watches over everyone, but demands her people act on their own to better themselves. This is partially because they believe she sacrificed everything to protect them. If it's possible to have the ghost of a dead deity acting as a permenant guardian angel, that's what Hylia is.

History/Lore/Non-Religious Aspects: Hylia was a being created by the Three to protect their creations against the negative aspects of their existence. After Nayru created law, balance was created—and their power needed a counterbalance, to keep the equilibrium of the world. This was Demise. The Three left Hylia to protect the world, and departed before that evil force could grow too powerful. Hylia did a lot of bad shit, though she ultimately did succeed in demolishing Demise's physical form and entrapping his essence within the Master Sword. She ended up separating from her divinity in order to assume a mortal form. That divinity acts as the guardian angel previously mentioned, mindless but protecting Hyrule and its peoples. She became Zelda. After the events of Skyward Sword the Triforce was unsealed and released, and Hylia thought it best she wielded Wisdom. Wisdom didn't like that much, especially 'cuz she did really horrible shit with it, eventually ending in the death of the Hero of Sky. Fi shattered Wisdom after that, to prevent Hylia from ever holding that much power again. Before Hylia could fully process what had happened and try to rectify it while the split was still fresh (and therefore able to be undone) her mortality kicked in. She's not reborn with her all of her memories, or even any memories all the time. Each incarnation is different.

Majora: A deity of Termina. Technically genderless but after the Fierce Deity assumed a male persona Majora decided a female one suited her just fine. A trickster, manipulative, and mischievous. At some point she was trapped in a mask, and can't do much terrorizing without being worn. Skull Kid is very dear to her, and the only thing she doesn't share with the Deity—the only thing she will never share with the Deity. Currently chilling with Skull Kid in the Elne, though eventually she's going to want to return home. The Hero of Time brought her back after his adventures in Termina, not realizing what she really was. She hasn't been back to her own country since. Extremely possessive and with some violent tendencies, and even in a country of foreign magic, still very powerful. She adores children and her worshippers, and though she might cause them pain or stress, she ultimately protects those who favor her. Likes Sheik because she knew he'd take her back to Skull Kid, and likes Kafei because he gets frustrated easily and she likes fucking with him.

The Fierce Diety: A deity of Termina. Whereabouts unknown, though probably sulking in a cave somewhere because Majora hasn't come looking for him yet. Was extremely attached to the Hero of Time, because he's an asshole and considered the Hero the only person worthy of him. That caused some jealousy drama between him and Majora. BUT Termina's currently pretty peaceful 'cuz it's not stuck in the middle of their spats. Which is usually the chief reason they're in trouble.

Great Fairies and the Fairy Queen: Created by the Three to aide Hylia and to help watch over Hyrule and its people. Most are pretty chill, but the Fairy Queen is the greatest of them and she'd nuts. Actually claims souls of children when they die, if she likes them. Pissed because she wanted to steal Sheik's soul from Nayru but he wasn't killed as a child. The Great Fairies are not allowed to take people's souls, but with Hylia being reborn and not remembering, she doesn't get to put them in their place often. Killing them is a very dangerous thing, because their power doesn't dissipate but instead remains concentrated at the site of their murder. They migrate now that Hyrule is all techy and people are everywhere, to leave their fountains and relax for a bit or get away from dangerous situations. While Osfala cut down a few of their number, their population is not static, so they're doing peachy.