Mach2K

A little about me:

I'm graduated with an art degree, and working (not in my field of study, sadly). I have two cats and live with my boyfriend of over 5 years. Not only do I write Legend of Zelda fanfic, but I'm currently working on an original piece that I would like to see published, making room for an expansion into a full series.

Some notes about the fanfiction:

Echoes was an old story I started in 2008. In September of that year, my old laptop suffered a hard drive crash, and I lost a lot of the story. I tried to pick it up again, but there's a distinct split in the old and the new. It's a story I've thought about rewriting, but I don't really have the time or the inclination to do it justice. Also, I'm a little ashamed of it now; I wrote pretty brashly about a traumatic experience I have been fortunate enough not to have gone through myself, and I feel that it may be offensive and triggering to uninformed readers. However, I leave it up to track the quality of my writing.

Feeling Ill was a boredom drabble. I was hoping to make it much longer, longer than Echoes, but other stories were starting to bite and unfortunately, I did have to wrap it up a little faster than I wanted. It was either that or abandon it for a while, which, knowing me, would have turned into a complete discontinuation.

Affair was originally a one-shot. I wanted to illustrate as much about the character's lives outside of their relationship in one chapter. But that ended up not happening and it became a fourteen-chapter angst-fest. The hop-around format is very confusing, and for that, I'm sorry. It was hard enough trying to keep the timeline straight when I knew what was going on, so I can't imagine how you, dear reader, have suffered. This story also makes me want to write further shorts that explore Ruto and Malon, as they seem like interesting characters.

To Be Perfectly Honest is a true one-shot, and also a little exercise in how I perceive the characters' personalities. More fuzzy romance, aww.

Control ... I sort of like it. It's my first time writing in a 1st person POV that isn't Zelda. It might end up being the jumping-off point for another long fic that I've had kicking around in my mind, exploring the characters we know so well; what are they actually like beyond wise and power-hungry and courageous?

Coming Home is an old one that I rewrote once. I just love a fic set during winter, there's something about it that makes me feel romantic. Cold snow, lighting candles, having to cuddle up close to someone.

Keep It Safe I started it while in the weirdest mood, inebriated on Sierra Mist and margarita-flavored schnapps. I like it, but I feel like it's VERY close to Coming Home. But I'm trying to bring it up as more humorous than a total sapfest, I promise. Okay, it's totally going to be a sapfest. Sorry, guys.

Hyrule(The Future Mix) is an idea I'd had kicking around in the back of my head for years and years (seriously), sparked by my rampant interest in the underground club scene, specifically raves and techno music. I was like, well, what about if Hyrule was a big name city, in the likes of New York or Chicago? And then that led to man we gotta work some RAVES and CLUBBING into this. I do want to stress, though, THIS STORY IS NOT INTENDED TO CONDONE DRUG USE. I am not here to approve or frown upon your personal use. It is your own personal choice. Do I feel drug use makes the characters kewl? No, not necessarily. I hope to illustrate that the drug use, besides some of the weirder effects, really is not terribly pleasant for the characters. This is also the first time I start naming chapters; each name has something to do with a part of electronic music. For example, "the drop" refers to the point in a dubstep track when the bass clicks in and everything goes crunchy. I've also had some thoughts of providing a 'soundtrack' for this one, whether it be a youtube playlist or something else, or even just suggestions, as I know music is different to everyone. Also, the third chapter contains a shout out to the greatest ignored show of all time, Arrested Development. "My ILLUSIONS, Link! Tricks are things a Gerudo does for money... or horses." GOBendorf. Oh God, a crossover fic? Unfortunately, I don't think I'm as clever as Mitch Hurwitz.

also, a bonus for y'all, enjoy: http:///albums/y109/yotan46/whyyoudothis.jpg

Trials of the Goddesses is, again, an old old story idea that I've had floating around. For years I've wondered what if the Goddesses were bored and wanted to toy with their creations? How would it change these characters and their motivations? Originally it was going to be that there was no Ganondorf, and Link had both courage and power, but I didn't like the directions I kept taking that story. There is a lot of misogynist attitude and language in this, at least between Link and Ganondorf (though Link's is mostly to put Ganondorf on ease and not his outright beliefs) and my thought is that because a sole woman has not run the kingdom in a long time, there would not be that push for equality among the nobility. And Link's a bit of a sleaze, but I intend to treat it less as a "harem anime" sort of characterization and more of a "eh, what else is there to do, and it's not like anyone cares" attitude. Seriously, you can only go and practice swordfighting so many times.

Epilogue is what it is; stories always end when the bad guy is gone for good and it's assumed that everything is going to be fine and everything is going to work out. When does it ever work out? Ganondorf basically declared war on Hyrule, and war has casualties. I wanted to sort of bring up that recovery, that push to get back to normalcy, and what sort of toll has the attack and their struggles had on Link and Zelda?

Also they bang so we can get back to that.

SPOILERS Some notes about places, people, and other entities that appear in the stories: SPOILERS

Ella (Affair) is, as you may have guessed by now, Link and Zelda's daughter born out of their wedlock. She's essentially, as I see it, a female version of Link, but with Zelda's instinct for diplomacy and strategem. She's a bit of a sad character, and I've thought of writing a one-shot between her and Link, but I'm worried it might throw off the storyline of Affair a little bit.

Bertrand (Affair) is another sympathetic figure. The name came before the actual character. Affair needed a foil to Link to show the difference between the two men (and Zelda's heart versus her head), but I didn't want him to be a total bastard. I made him a nice guy, a gentleman, so that in the story, Zelda and Link are really the monsters of sorts, and she's not trying to escape your stereotypical abusive husband. Nor is he a pig. It had to be this way to demonstrate that most times, people can be weak, especially when it comes to what they want against what they should do. In an unseen part of the story, he does die earlier than Zelda, but it's from the stress of running the kingdom and not because of a broken heart (although knowing his wife could never truly love him did not help).

Kerzenacht (Coming Home, Epilogue) is German for Candle Night. The idea of lighting hundreds of candles greatly appealed to me (we would always do milk jug lumineres around Christmas, and yellow candle flame against white snow is a beautiful image) but also it holds the solemnity of a Catholic Mass. It's supposed to be a night of quiet worship to the Goddesses, of being thankful for what you have, and also offering charity to those who have not as a symbol of benevolence (hence why around this time of year, the homeless and destitute flood Castle Market in anticipation of getting food and blankets reliably for at least one night).

Noelmas (Coming Home) is Christmas, obviously. Calling it something else separates the Zelda universe from our own, but it also is something similar to what we have so that it doesn't have to be explained too much. People get drunk and share presents, and there is also a mass feast at midnight (mirroring, in a way, the Catholic midnight Mass they observe in France) for the poor and rich alike. This is also usually the celebration that determines whether or not a new king or queen is fit to rule; if they can't feed the masses for one night, how will they succeed at ruling the kingdom for years? The 'unity candle' is another part of the celebration (and blatantly ripped from traditional wedding ceremony, which the bride and groom light together, hence why in Coming Home Zelda and Link light it together, although that isn't to mean they are married) for symbolically uniting the kingdom.

The Dungeons under the Castle (Control) had to exist. Zelda may have not put them there herself, but they are there.

The skeleton warrior (Control) (Stalfos) is rumored to be kept as its eternal punishment; it was once a Guard Captain for one of the many kings, but betrayed Hyrule to Ganondorf. As thanks, Ganondorf turned him into an undefeatable warrior (as you know, Stalfos can only be 'killed' when their bones are destroyed) but he was captured in a war and recognized by his tattered crest still worn on his ribcage. One of his femurs is kept in a separate cabinet in the dungeon, far enough away so that he cannot reform, but all of his bones are intact, trapping him in limbo between death and life.

The Redeads (Control) are actually two of the oldest rulers of Hyrule, dead for centuries. They were not necessarily benevolent rulers; the dungeons were frequently full under their rule, they did not feed the people adequately at Noelmas (a minor infraction, but a glaring one in Society's eyes), and the blankets and food that are supposed to be handed out at Kerzenacht were in far short supply every year (while there is almost never enough food or blankets for all the poor, the two rulers had a significantly limited quantity, as they didn't see the importance of gaining all the peoples' support). It was little things of tyranny like this. When the knights recognized that the royal children were being raised in a very similar way of sneering superiority, they hatched a coup. At first, most of the nobility didn't care how the king and queen treated the less fortunate, until they realised how poorly run the kitchen was at Noelmas, with food that was either raw, burned, insufficient, or straight up inedible, that they started to worry about their own estates and the value of such.

So a select group of Court folk banded together with the knights and the support of the people. They overthrew the king and queen, charging them with treason to the country by means of blatant disregard for all its people, beheading them and shipping their children into seclusion in temples, where they died childless. A duke and his duchess were elevated to the position of king and queen by vote, as they were noted for showing mercy and benevolence to all people (the workers on their lands and in their house were given larger rations, longer breaks, and slightly better beds at the expense of the noble family's own unnecessary comforts) and they ended up being the Great (some hundreds of generations removed) grandparents to Zelda. The Guard Captain who handed out the sentences (a hard thing for any to do to their own rulers) was the Great (some hundreds of generations removed) grandfather of Link.

Rupee Dreadfuls (Echoes, Keep It Safe) are a take on the very real 'penny dreadfuls', books written in 19th Century England. They came in serials (one part at a time), and costed roughly a penny a piece, as they were printed on very cheap paper. I've adapted this term to be a catchall for the low-brow stories that the common people (and secretly, the nobility) of Hyrule would probably read. This includes what we know, affectionately, as "bodice rippers", or romance novels, which are really just an excuse to write about two hot people getting it on. Much like most of fanfiction.

Skaeldaea, Yynczi, Hyannyndaargh, Schaekzi, Skaeldania, Yyngdos, Oh My God why so many Norse-sounding names (Keep It Safe) is basically a collection of names that kinda sorta sound like they could turn into Zelda, Link, Ganondorf, and Sheik at some point over hundreds of years of dialect degeneration and some other 5.00 linguistic terms. I made them up on the spot.

Corbin Golliet (Keep It Safe) is another Bertrand; made up for the story and as a contrast to Link.

Ambrose Holsten (Keep It Safe) is kind of the real antagonist of the story. He's named after a character in Polgara the Sorceress, notably one of her first love interests. He's kind of an arrogant jerk in this one, but his namesake is not.

House of Skulltula (Hyrule [The Future Mix]) Okay. I really wanted to work in the places and things that we knew from the Zelda games into this one so that it could draw the connections and parallels between 'medieval Hyrule is like THIS and big city Hyrule is like THIS' and so the easiest way to represent the dungeons and other areas was to name clubs after them. And House of Skulltula does sound like a totally sweet club.

La Sfera (Hyrule [The Future Mix]) Haha, I was watching the Korean drama "Pasta" while writing this chapter, and the restaurant the main characters work in is called... La Sfera.

Alejandro (Trials of the Goddesses) is Zelda's betrothed/husband and he is like omg so hot u guise. oh he's gonna die? so um... yep. I TOLD YOU THERE WERE SPOILERS BRO.

Sila, Veru, Brida, and others (Trial of the Goddesses) Eff yeah randomly made up Gerudo warriors! Oh yeah this is totes spoilers because they don't just sit around all day fuckin' Link, they're practically ninja pirate badass assassins. They are going to fuck Everyone. Up.

Verla, Wilhelm, Marion, Jalila, Theo, Nan, Tilda, etc etc etc, (Epilogue) You down with my OCs?(Yeah you know me!)

Link's Man (Coming Home) is his penis.

Thanks for reading all that! As a reward, here's a fun AMV I made: http:///qLeqz8Xyndw