Adult Ryoji Because He Deserves To Grow Up But Also I Punted All My Headcanons Onto Him

For the record I am doing AU stuff, just not on here anymore

Mask

Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask

He/they

17 y/o (mentally 19)

Hylian (raised Kokiri)

The legendary Hero of Time, first to reveal Ganondorf as a threat to Hyrule. Said to have foresight on exactly what to do next, as if he had experienced this all before. Mask is a rather mysterious figure, having traveled the world for quite some time, looking for a place to belong. When the world comes knocking with the perfect opportunity to reunite with old friends? Well, who is Mask to say no to that?

I GOT TO PET THE DOG MY LIFE IS COMPLETE

IT'S THE DOG IT'S THE DOG IT'S THE DOG

HE'S WAGGING HIS TAIL AND SMILING FGHGBB I LOVE HIM I WILL MURDER FOR HIM

I mean if u wanna share more lore you know none of us would say no, I absolutely adore the fact that Four shrinks to Minish size to make sure Hyrule is ok. And the fairy lore in general is top notch, WORLD BUILDING FOLKS!! Gosh just an absolute treat of a loredump, TYSM for answering my ask!

Hiii, I ADORE your chain as Cryptids AU, all of your art is gorgeous and every character is wonderfully unique, I wanted to ask for a lil more lore if possible? While Four is my favorite character we have not had nearly enough asks for Hyrule! And fairies in general, in your au are they more fae-like with some trickster tendencies or very kind and giving like the Minish? Thoughts on bottles, etc? TYSM!

Oh boy oh boy do I have some Hyrule Thoughts. And some general fairy thoughts as well!

(Under the cut because this is gonna get long)

For this au, I’m thinking of just Zelda fairies. Little glowing balls of light that flutter on fragile wings, iridescent and magical and gentle. Fairies have an affinity for magic: all kinds of magic, though they’re best known for their healing abilities. There isn’t a single archetype of what a fairy’s behavior will be. Some can be tricksters, some can be kind, some can be shy, some can have the most ill of intentions. Fairies are like people, really, in that they’re not just all one thing. (This is what separates them from spirits, really. They’re just on the cusp of ascension, but unlike Koroks or Blupees or Dragons or anything like that, they cling to their mortality and allow themselves to grow and evolve. Because of this, Hyrule is not a part of the telepathy circle).

There are many communities of Fairies, and they tend to group up around a Great Fairy as their leader. There are some colonies that are independent of Great Fairies, though, but they are rare to find, as they are at a much higher risk.

You see, while Fairies are magical, they’re very fragile. Usually, a typical Fairy wouldn’t posses enough magic to defend themself against a Hylian captor. Docile and tiny, they’re quite easy to bottle up and carry off, and easily discarded once they’re used. Great Fairies are much more powerful than the average Fairy, and even more powerful than a Hylian, so sticking around them is preferred. They protect the others.

Hyrule is a very unique case. You see, he was born with the Spirit of the Hero. For this au, the Spirit of the Hero acts as an enhancer for any kind of spiritual or magical power a Link already possesses. For example, Twilight is only able to shift because he’s descended from a God and possess the Hero’s Spirit. (Otherwise, one of his parents would have had God Powers TM too, and they probably wouldn’t have died so soon).

In Hyrule’s case, having the Hero’s Spirit grants him much more magic than a typical Fairy- almost as much magic as a Great Fairy herself. All of this power in such a small frame… no one is the wiser. Hyrule has enough magic to properly defend himself (if he had any sort of training… which, as a child, he didn’t) and most importantly, he has enough magic to hold a Hylian disguise for a LONG TIME. His glamour can change the way that he’s perceived but cannot change his actual shape. Others can see and even touch his changed form, but it is not real.

ANYWAY. Yeah. Bottles. Fairies are afraid of them, are afraid of Hylians. And Rito and Gerudo and Gorons and Zora and monsters and literally everything under the sun. When you’re two inches tall, everything is a threat.

Fairies are hunted mercilessly by Hylians, mostly. They’re never killed, not outright, but they’re taken from their colonies and shoved into a tiny bottle, sometimes for weeks and months on end (Fairies don’t starve as quickly as other species would, able to expend magic to keep their little bodies functioning). That being said, they often do not survive captivity. A tiny little bottle, often shoved in a bag and jostled around, no light, no food or water, all alone, just glass on all sides. It’s no place for a Fairy. Even if they do make it out (after expending magic to heal whatever wound they were abducted to treat), they will rarely make it back to their Great Fairy before succumbing to magical exhaustion or being captured again.

On the topic of magical exhaustion: Fairies have a limited amount of magic they can expend before they have to recover. Even one as powerful as Hyrule has their limits. Recovery almost always means rest, and it can mean their body does a forced shut down and simply stops working for days at a time. Often, Fairies are more hungry when they’re recovering, as magic can no longer be used to sustain the body.

Hyrule is less vulnerable to this than other Fairies would be, but when he’s standing next to the Chain? And every single one of them is hurt? After a fight where he’d used his magic to take down dozens of monsters? All while keeping up his glamour? Yeah, he’s gonna be feeling that one.

Telltale signs of magical exhaustion before it gets to the point of actually passing out: Physical exhaustion, drowsiness. Headaches, sudden hunger. Feeling cold. Often, the other heroes might notice Hyrule picking up an extra serving at mealtimes or ask to huddle up with someone at night (oftentimes Sky, as his wings are very warm and he doesn’t bat an eye when asked to cuddle). Hyrule sleeps longer, but never seems to gain any more energy.

Magical exhaustion, if pushed too far, can be fatal.

ANYWAY. When Hyrule first joins the Chain, he forces all of them to free any Fairies they might have. He enforces that rule as others join, and is hesitant to lower his glamour. I’m think that for a long time, they don’t even know he’s a Fairy. He’s terrified that if they find out, they’ll bottle him up and use him for healing and never let him go. For. Long time, he’s terrified of them. Fairy Bottlers surround him. It’s not until he physically cannot keep his “Hylian” form up that the others find out what he is, and he never expected them to be so understanding. So… apologetic. Actually legitimately regretful of their Fairy Bottling pasts.

ONE MORE THING. Four can turn Minish sized. When Hyrule works himself to magical exhaustion and passes out, he goes back to his True Form, the two inch tall lil Fairy. And of course, when that happens, it’s really really difficult for the Chain to move him or help him without accidentally hurting his tiny body. So Four will shrink down and help him to bed, check to make sure that he wasn’t hurt when he fell unconscious, and stay with him at their size so he’s not alone when he wakes.

I have many more thoughts but this is getting actually so long. I apologize!

Thoughts about Akechi because he's infected my brain

We really never see the "real akechi" in Persona 5 or even in Royal, I think. That's not to say there aren't honest moments and real emotions, but every moment we have with Akechi is him trying to get us to serve some greater goal of his. In vanilla that goal is obvious: he wants to get close to you to further his vengeance on Masayoshi Shido. In the third semester that goal is less obvious but I'd say he wants you to think he's an irredeemable monster and that you shouldn't care about him so you reject Maruki's deal. Third semester is slightly more honest with Akechi- his convictions and feelings are all real, but he portrays them in whatever way will get you to do what he wants while keeping you at an arm's distance.

I think the only moment in the whole game where Akechi isn't putting up some sort of mask is after you beat him in the engine room. Before he's kinda having a big feelings moment so while it's honest, it's an extreme. After? He has no more reason to act, he just has his one request: destroy Masayoshi Shido in his stead. And you do, for the last request of the boy you never really got to know.

So who is the real Akechi? I don't think Akechi knows himself, I think he's lived so many years with a mask as Shido's Assassin or the Detective Prince or a pleasant boy that he doesn't know which is real. I don't think we'll ever see the real Akechi, not in anything mainline, both because they better not be making another Persona 5 and because there is no 'real' Akechi without the masks, without the deception. His character is like Joker's, he's constantly tailoring himself to be what he needs to be because that's the only way a bastard child like himself can survive. It's why I like wildcard Akechi fics so much, because he's just as malleable as Joker. They're rivals, after all.

Y'all ever just be bumming around your preferred fanfiction website, realizing that no one's written this one thing you really want to see, and going "fine! I'll write it myself!" And then staring guilty at the works in progress you really want to finish as you open a 15th Google doc?

SOMEONE HURT THE DOG I'M GOING TO RIOT

Also they said the dog might be a persona user so.. are we going to give the dog a gun?

Looking for a LU fic! Please help. Four ends up stuck with Dink, and in a vein similar to Threats and theatrics by hrtruona has to pull off a big act of the colors fighting each other. Details may not be entirely accurate, but I really wanna find this fic

Oh yeah so it turns out working a job while still living with your parents, specifically when one of your parents works the exact same job, fucking sucks. Like, I told my workplace I couldn't do 6 am shifts, they scheduled me for a 6 am shift. I would honestly just skip the shift as a 'fuck you I set my boundaries' but they can literally call my parents on me. I am currently staying up late and eating unhealthy food in hopes that when morning comes I will be deemed too sick to work this fucking shift.

Honestly I would rather be fired than work for a place that doesn't respect my boundaries with shifts but again, parents. This job is hell and I hate it and I hate working for a corporation that treats me like a robot.

I know Ren is the player character and somewhat kinda a self insert but I will never understand fanfictions that make him hate people he clearly obviously canonically does not hate and, in fact, absolutely adores. The two biggest offenders for this are Morgana and Akechi.

Morgana and Ren are absolutely inseparable, Ren couldn't do anything when Morgana wasn't there. Ren takes care of Morgana, lets him sleep in his bed, comforts him when he has nightmares. They're brothers, your honor. If Morgana were human his last name would, in fact, be Amamiya before he inevitably gets folded into the Sakura family with Ren.

Akechi was literally Ren's greatest wish, like yeah sure you could interpret that platonically somehow, I don't know exactly how you would do it, but Ren does NOT hate Akechi. He wants Akechi to have a shot at life, he doesn't want to forget him. They are in some very complicated vaguely homoerotic rivalry and both are absolutely giving their all to it.

I'm totally making a new Links Meet AU, I've yet to come up with a proper name for it (suggestions are appreciated) but for now I'm just sketching up character ideas. The story itself is kinda... Not entirely clear, as well, maybe it'll just be an ask blog? Suggestions are appreciated!

Yes these are all sketches on random sheets of paper I use for work, I find it easier to get all the broad stuff done in little sketches and refine the design later.