deerington; application

[hylights]

IN CHARACTER

Character Name: Zelda
Canon: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Canon Point: the end of the game, after the secret ending

In-Game Tattoo Placement: back of her left wrist
Current Health/Status: 100% fine!
Age: 17, however she was sealed away without aging for a hundred years, so technically 117
Species: Hylian

Content Warnings: mass deaths due to a large scale catastrophe, survivor’s guilt, parental death.

History: http://zelda.wikia.com/wiki/Princess_Zelda (scroll down to Breath of the Wild section)

Personality: Zelda grew up acutely aware of her duty and her destiny. Both her mother and grandmother had the sealing power of their bloodline, and always told her she would inherit it. Knowing its importance, Zelda dedicated herself to endless training and devotion to the gods, desperate to unlock this sacred power. After 11 years of trying with no success and pressure from her father, Zelda developed serious guilt about her inability to do what everyone tells her is her duty. This guilt manifested in a number of ways, including lashing out at the boy who was her appointed knight, and doing whatever she could to research Calamity Ganon so that she could help another way. Zelda has spent many years insecure and frustrated by what she sees as her failures. While she has now unlocked the power within her, it will be a slow process coming to terms with these years of self-recrimination.

Zelda is an avid researcher, fuelled both by a desire to help her kingdom and by a personal fascination with learning about the world. Zelda has her own research rooms in her castle, and spends hours investigating ancient technology, animals and plants. She gets very enthusiastic about the idea of new discoveries, and is eager for others to share in her excitement over such things as a frog having special properties. While her research had a practical purpose in trying to forestall Calamity Ganon’s rise, she harbours intense curiosity that would be there regardless of the stakes. If she had been able to, Zelda would have spent more of her time researching, but duty got in the way.

Being a royal princess and future ruler of the kingdom, Zelda became adept at formality and the solemn role she must play. Her father remarks that even when her mother died, Zelda did not cry, but showed a grave understanding of the loss - and her impending role. Over time this meant that Zelda did not often express her sadness and self-doubt, instead doing her best to perform the duties her father and kingdom expected of her. It’s only when she’s alone or with someone she trusts like Link that she lets herself break down. Even then it takes a lot - the failure of all her plans and deaths of those she holds dear that cuts her to the heart, the weight of expectation finally crushing her. Her diaries are evidence of her self-doubt and struggle to untangle the emotions she feels, in an environment where to show such doubts would be hazardous to appearances.

While Zelda can come across as stuffy and petulant at times, she’s aware of her own faults and works to correct them. She gradually befriends Link and learns to navigate the issues between them, and is open to his advice about horses. Though she’s often solitary as a member of the royal family, and feels cowed by her father’s admonishments, she never loses sight of the future and what they’re working towards. That said, she has a habit of talking incessantly about her research and her discoveries, sometimes heedless of if anyone is listening. When she can’t work things out on her own, frustration can take over, and she’s not above sniping at a companion if they interrupt her during these moments.

Zelda is at heart a caring soul. She is compassionate for her friends and family, and hates the idea that she can’t aid them. The events of the Great Calamity brought home for Zelda how much she cares for her friends, and gave her the strength to keep going after immense loss and despair. For Zelda, doing the right thing by the kingdom is paramount, even if it means having to lock herself away in a terrible situation. After 100 years spent sealing Ganon Zelda still trusts in Link to save the kingdom and find her again, demonstrating the resilience of her hopes and bonds with others. The end of the game shows Zelda intending to rebuild the kingdom, saying there’s a lot of work to do, but she and Link are the ones to do it. She has always borne responsibility for her kingdom without fault, even when her own failures have made it difficult for her. Her experiences in facing the Calamity have tempered some of her expectations. By the end of the game, she acknowledges that her powers may be starting to diminish, but says that she can live with that. With the crisis over and the years of pressure to unlock her abilities now behind her, Zelda has come to terms with what fate lead her to and is learning how to live without her powers overshadowing everything she is.

Abilities/Powers/Weaknesses & Warping:
- Sealing power: the ability to ‘seal’ beings of great evil away from the world. This is used only with Ganon in the game, but could conceivably be used on other things. In Deerington this will only affect hostile monsters within the setting. This power is not as strong as it was during the game, given that Zelda’s abilities are fading over time, and will be inconsistent. This is light-based magic inherent in her bloodline. Zelda can also seal herself away with the evil to ensure the seal holds.
- Surge of light: Zelda is capable of blasts of light magic that can nullify or destroy evil forces in the area. In Deerington this will only impact hostile monsters in the setting, and will be inconsistent in effectiveness.
- Telepathy: Zelda is shown communicating to Link telepathically throughout the game and is “watching” his progress. I would not play this out as her being capable of telepathy with anyone else, but she may have some sensitivity to other people’s attempts to read her mind.
- Spiritual sensitivity: Zelda can hear the voices of certain spirits (such as the Master Sword). This is a diminishing power as of the end of the game so would fluctuate a lot.
- Summoning the Bow of Light: Zelda is able to manifest the Bow of Light out of the air, and can seemingly do this at some distance from herself. I won’t have the Bow of Light available to her when she enters Deerington since one of her items counts as a weapon, but I might get it using AC points later on.

It is not specifically stated in the game, but it’s implied that Zelda is the holder of one or more pieces of the Triforce. This only ever manifests as the Triforce symbol on the back of her hand when she’s using her abilities, so I don’t intend on her using any of the Triforce’s other canon abilities from other games.

Inventory:
1. Sheikah Slate. This is an iPad-like device that has a range of functions/abilities. These are: Magnesis (moving metal objects), Cryonis (creating ice pillars in bodies of water), Stasis (freezing an object in time for a few seconds), two bomb types and a camera. Each function needs to recharge before it can be used again. The Slate also contains maps of Hyrule and photos already taken. If any of these are considered too much I’m happy to lock off some functions.
2. Travel clothes (shirt, pants, belt, boots).
3. Prayer outfit (white dress, sandals, gold jewellry).
4. A handful of rupees, her canon currency.

Writing Samples:
https://soddersays.dreamwidth.org/33619.html?thread=9066067#cmt9066067
https://soddersays.dreamwidth.org/33619.html?thread=9007443#cmt9007443

OUT OF CHARACTER

Player Name: Essie
Player Age: 32
Player Contact: dudemeister or PM

Other Characters In Game: Nicholas D. Wolfwood
In-Game Tag If Accepted: zelda: essie
Permissions for Character: https://hylights.dreamwidth.org/3298.html
Are you comfortable with prominent elements of fourth-walling?: Yes
What themes of horror/psychological thrillers do you enjoy the most?: Survival horror, fighting hordes of monsters, distorted realities, facing inner demons.
Is there anything in particular you absolutely need specific content warnings for?: Finger-related torture.
Additional Information: