By happy coincidence, the Gibdo attack on Gerudo Town grants the Gerudo archaeologist Rotana a breakthrough in her research on the Seven Heroines. Link’s assistance was invaluable in locating the first mystical orb of the Heroines, but Rotana has resolved to find the others on her own. As she speaks with the residents of Gerudo Town, Rotana becomes acquainted with the virtues espoused by the Heroines and learns that knowledge can be found in surprising places.
I love Rotana as a character, and it’s one of the highlights of Tears of the Kingdom to listen to her lectures. Also, as an academic, it’s a guilty pleasure for me to write about research and fieldwork and the hurdles on the way to publication. Still, what I really wanted to do with this piece was tell a story about everyday life in Hyrule. Because Link is the hero of a video game, everything seems to revolve around him, so it’s interesting to get an outside perspective.
In particular, I wanted to see the characters in Gerudo Town living their best lives and solving their own problems without Link’s help. I hope this story draws the reader into a beautiful setting where the everyday quests of regular people are just as meaningful as Link’s journey to rescue Zelda.
The story is on AO3 here:
https://archiveofourown.org/works/57922744
I’m honored to have contributed this piece to Residents of the Wild, a gorgeous digital fanzine celebrating the NPCs of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. The zine was published on August 3, and you can still order a digital copy during the Zeldathon charity event beginning on August 13.
I consider myself extremely lucky to have my story illustrated by the legendary Linktober veteran Taboonle, who created a radiant portrait of one of Hyrule’s premier scholars. Taboonle draws amazing character art as well as cute comics with a gentle sense of humor, and you can check out his work on Instagram (here) and on Tumblr (here).
Digital Fantasy Diary 