jackthesparrow: only 50 rupee's? I'd bet a whole gold rupee on that one!

It’s been years since you wrote this and I read this now in a time of pandemic and deep disarray in my community. I never thought I’d live to see history happen the way it is unfolding now. This story has brought me such amazing comfort as I myself, grieve what life used to be, and how it will never be the same after this. We will need to reclaim the world and my hurting community; to make new memories and learn to live differently. And though it will never be the same as it was when I was younger, perhaps it will be better. The clouds of grief will part and the storms will be fewer and far between- and like this beautiful story you wrote life will go on and be beautiful, better than it ever could have been before, just not how we had planned. This story has brought me such comfort, such distraction, such peace. It’s allowed me to call the feelings I have by name: Grief and Hope, Courage and Sadness. Thank you so much for this work of art. I plan the reread the last few chapters throughout this trying time to help me continue to give myself full permission to feel all that’s bubbling up inside me.

I plan to read more of your stories when my heart is ready. But for now, I want to sit with this one.

Thank you again.

Wow what an incredible story. I cannot express to you the tears and relief and love I felt during this journey. I just finished playing breath of the wild, and the ending felt me wanting something a little bit more, and you have exceeded that for me. I can attest to your comments at the end regarding a crumbling childhood, as college graduation is approaching and grief has been a theme of my current life. Your relation of this to the crumbling of Hyrule spoke volumes to me, and I leave this story with an appreciation for Link’s world that will be with me forever. Thank you for creating a story that reaches deep into organic thought and emotion that is not only felt by the characters, but reflected in myself. This is incredible! I will for sure be reading your other stories.

50 rupees on misko being the actual leader of the Yiga

This made me feel joy and sadness at the same time. Thank you.

Score:
987659487361807485 / 10

Best fanfic I've ever read. ever. Better than most books. I stumbled upon this by chance, and it was everything I needed to better appreciate BOTW.

One of my favourite things you did was tell us to watch memories and show their scripts. it created a beautiful framework for your writing.

You also played with my emotions so well. I both love and hate this. There were so many wholesome little gems throughout this story that made my heart soar, but also so many times when this story hurt. I loved the ups and downs throughout the story. It was incredibly compelling.

I started reading this as it was being released. I remember checking in every week to get the next issue, and then being so disappointed with myself for reading it so quickly! Boy the weeks sure went by slow while I was doing that. I followed the release pretty closely until you got up to the Calamity. That was heartwrenching. Your writing was so powerful, and perhaps even too much for my poor little heart at times. I ended up taking a break from this for awhile as reading about all your loved ones dying was starting to hit a little too close to home for me during that part of my life. However, I always kept this as a bookmark in my browser so that I could come back to it when I was ready.

After some time to heal, I decided I could handle it again, and I'm sure glad I did. but man oh man that was so rough when that little girl from Mabe came. that definitely brought me to tears. This is a masterpiece.

There are so many other things I wanna say, but I just binged the last few chapters and it's late. Thank you 10000% for sharing this with us. I'm so glad that I found this. Please keep writing, you're so good at it, and I can't wait to see more of your stuff!

I just gotta say - I’ve NEVER read TLoZ fan fiction before but the story of BoTW just killed me. So much potential for character development, backstory - and this story delivered. I don’t know what I expected but the way you weaved canon together and gave it your own soul and connection? Amazing. I love this story so much. You’ve set impossibly high expectations for any future stories I read in this fandom. I will always recommend this story first to anyone looking for BoTW, and I will always come back to reread this. Love love LOVE.

This embodied the grief of Breath of the Wild that I had never quite been able to articulate. Thank you for making something real 3

Thank you for writing this, i loved every word . Take care!

I don't really know what to say, I've honestly yet to leave a review on any fanfiction, but your note after the epilogue compelled me to give it a go. It'd been a while since I'd even read any fanfiction, but with the lack of any details on the Breath of the Wild sequel, the current Nintendo Direct drought, and E3 being called, I just couldn't wait any longer. And sweet mother of god could I not have chosen a better read! Skyward Sword has been my favorite Zelda since it came out (The motion controls are fine, bite me), and I couldn't help but tear up over Groose. I turned on my switch and visited the locations as I read. In my mind as I read I pictured Mabe Village as some "off map" location, but finding out the ruins were really in game right next to the ranch ruins astounded me, and I spent at least 20 minutes walking around, imaging links old home and trying to find what wall I think Link would've engraved the names into. I'm honestly sad that BotW2 will likely contradict this story, because it completely scratched my itch and I loved it so much. I'm so excited to read your other work!

Ahaha too many emotions. Well done. 10/10

172829 729 93849247726

Finito Iroruis

This was truly an incredibly story, able to make me feel a myriad of emotions due to how well it was written. Well done, and wish you all the best with whatever you choose to do in the future :)

Very good story! Absolutely loved it. Really pulled at the heart strings in many places.

Reading your authors note at the end, I can see how you were able to capture the feelings you were going for in the story. For me, BOTW was my first Legend of Zelda game. (Sadly. It was very enjoyable and I regret not playing others while I was a kid.) But because of that, this ruined Hyrule is the only one I know. But you have given me a very good visual through this story. And you really captured the loss of the country and land. It’s very impressive!

Wow... it's over... It's always bittersweet for me when the world I've created in my imagination from the stories I read finally finds peace, the characters find joy and love, and the emotional roller coaster slows to its stop. Dang, this story is so emotional. It's undeniable you put so much into it to achieve this.

Honestly, this is one of the best stories I've ever read. You made me angry, sad, excited, regretful, sorry, happy, frustrated, joyful, content, and more, through it all. I felt what the characters felt. I even felt helpless like they did at times, whether it was during the Calamity, during Link and Zelda's fervent conflicts early on, or when I thought their relationship might shatter in Kakariko (even though I kinda knew Link had a plan). Through it all, things turned out as beautifully as I had hoped. All the puzzle pieces fit together just right, not one missing, not one extra leftover.

You truly gave me a new perspective on Breath of the Wild as a game, and as a story. It's a tragedy. I'll never look at it the same way. Sure, I knew of the Calamity, the disasters, the Champions' deaths, but you showed how real and deeply catastrophic it would have really been; the game's story doesn't scratch the surface. Thank you for that, honestly, I was missing a side of this game that needed to be there. I won't raid ruins I come across without feeling something like regret, and taking a moment of silence for the fallen, if not even passing by them entirely.

You also gave me a new perspective on Zelda as a person. I knew she was strong, but wow, she's as powerful mentally as a goddess, literally. It's impossible to comprehend the torture, the pain of losing everyone in your life, and being imprisoned 100 years... 36,500 days... 900,000 hours. And she did all this after basically all hope was lost. She's. So. Strong. Wow.

The Ganon encounter was interesting. Though the game doesn't show these scenes, and I haven't read Creating a Champion, I could see his happening. I like how you showed some history behind these ancient beings, still struggling against each other even now, their spirits showing through like they have from the beginning. Pretty epic, though hopeless for the heroes at that time. And was not surprised about Misko, shows just how rotten he was. This does provide a stark contrast to his helping Link with his songs though, I can see how amending his crimes would be a motivator. It was redemptive, knowing what he'd eventually do.

There is so much good to be found in here beyond loss and tragedy. Link and Zelda were basically enemies, they became close friends, they finally figured out they were in love, and it's beautiful. Link is strong too, gotta say, holding back his desires, until even the princess couldn't hold herself back. It was very heartwarming to watch the transformation, and a bit maddening, haha. And Link reading his books, trying to grow into what he needed to become for Zelda, that was very touching. In the closing chapters after Ganon returned, I couldn't help but see Skyward Sword Link and Zelda coming through, literally replacing the faces of BotW Link and Zelda at times in my mind's eye. I know you mixed in other game references, and that worked well. Oh, and Sir Groose was one of my favorite characters. There's so much more that I could mention, but I need to wrap up, haha.

Overall, incredible work. Even though I've read a few stories that retell BotW's story, yours is still quite unique, telling of what happened before, after, and between the game's memories. A story within a story too, with Zelda telling it to Link. It worked very well. I read through it in 3 days, staying up past midnight all three, because I couldn't stop reading. And last night, with only the Encore left for me to read this morning, I actually dreamed of this story and it's world, but I can't remember hardly anything. Ironic, eh? Guess it make sense, I become obsessed with stories until I've finished reading through them, yours was no exception.

Thank you for writing this, and I hope to see more from you in the future!