I love good guys

I'd like to recommend another Zeldatuber: questwithaaron (https://www.youtube.com/@QuestWithAaron).

QuestWithAaron explores where the original Japanese and the localized English differ, and the consequent implications for the lore. Usually, his videos refuse to take sides; they don't pronounce right and wrong, but academically compare and contrast, fully accepting canonical AUs. Yet, every now and again, the localization does something egregious, like saying the literal opposite of the original; the videos don't flinch from those points.

For example, his most recent video, "Zelda Begged Link Not to Die... But We Never Heard it," discusses Zelda's very different dialogue in BOTW after she manifests the sacred power, when Link is on the verge of death in her arms. And of course QuestWithAaron's first three videos were about what is Link's own first-person diary in Japanese and is just an anonymous reference tool in English.

For me, my favorites of QuestWithAaron's videos that I've watched so far tend to inform and educate me about the changes to the religions of Hyrule and the faiths of the individual characters, which the US localization has (understandably) purged and downplayed ever since the very first game. Surely this is largely to avoid upsetting US audiences -- the parents who freaked out about D&D in the '80s would not have bought word-for-word TLOZ for their kids! also, the US is much less secular than Japan and so takes these things differently -- but it's also because it's admittedly far too hard (and probably dull) to "Philosophy & Theology 101" all the Shinto and Buddhist (and Christian and...) concepts in use within the available dialogue text boxes (not many characters would stop their plot advancement to lecture on culture). A few of these videos include "What is Link? The Legend of Zelda's Eternal Hero" and "How Demise's Secret Origin Connects Skyward Sword & Breath of the Wild." (I think many of you know that character-appropriate-faith is one of my story sweet spots. This is another of the elements that has made TLOZ a story I enjoy snuggling down in.)

I checked every recs comm I know, including fancake, and found just 7 total fanfic recommendations for The Legend of Zelda in all its forms, going back to 2014. Of those, only 2 are gen. (I love gen!) And, curiously, none -- zero -- are canon 'ships. (I like canon ships!)

Now, there is a generous plenty of ~4K TLOZ stories on the AO3 that the filters say are gen, even excluding the "Linked Universe" stuff, so I don't mean to complain. I can and will continue skimming through those, sorted by most kudos, or most bookmarks, or most comment threads, or whatever filterable statistic seems promising.

But. Thoughtful recommendations would be sweet, if folks happen to know where I can find them. Thanks!

We had 20 new Highlander stories in hlh_shortcuts this year. Find them all on the AO3.

Here are some that I, personally, subjectively, enjoyed most:

"Moondance or A Series of Extraordinary Events" by hafital
G, gen; ~19K words
Joyful. This story wraps a final sci-fi Gathering apocalypse -- starring Richie and Methos -- around many independent but threaded shorter missing-scene stories from throughout canon and beyond -- starring Richie and Angie, Richie and Tessa, Richie and May-Ling, Richie and etc. -- and not only delivers a happy ending at the last, but is again and again joyful and uplifting throughout. Each of the embedded stories would be lovely on its own. Yet they're strung like pearls on a necklace, progressing in a line, in a circle, in an orbit. It's more than its parts.

"Duo" by jasmasson
G, m/m; ~3K words
Amusing. A sensible outsider perspective delivers grins as it clashes with not-at-all sensible run-a-day HL canon in the persons of Duncan, Methos, and a hunter. The narrative packs satisfying, appropriately worded, canon references that fly over the head of the perspective character straight to the audience.

"Guests for the Weekend" by Annavere
G, gen; ~8K words
Unexpected. I was taken by surprise by how well this combination of characters -- Amanda, Anne, Richie -- came together in this off-to-the-side whodunnit romp of a mini-vacation for Anne, where the stakes are set by thieves so incompetent and security precautions so lacking that Amanda feels embarrassed and Richie plays the bait.

"Holy Ground" by merriman
G, gen; ~2K words
Historical. Have a Darius-lives scenario, with Methos and early Icelandic history. You're welcome. Bonus: Rumination on how the "Light Quickening" did and didn't do the work of reforming Darius, which he must have thought on often, and which I have opinions about.

Richie & Connor:

"In Good Company" by Teratornis
G, gen; ~6K words
Cathartic. Structured mostly as an action scene, a dojo workout, this piece has Richie process some of his many emotions in the wake of Tessa's death, his own immortality, and his encounter with Annie Devlin.

"Cousin's Retreat" by Sharpest_Asp
G, gen; ~1K words
Companionable. Richie gets to train with Connor for a while, as the audience gets to enjoy comparisons and contrasts between our two MacLeods, and the conviction that Richie is an adopted son of this clan.

Randi:

"The Pitch" by havocthecat
G, gen; ~2K words
Constructive. This piece worldbuilds around Randi across a decade, keeping her consistently canonical as it kneads and stretches her more realistic first-season world until it merges seamlessly with the more fantastic late-season canon, landing her as if fated in Joe's lap as he works to reform the Watchers.

"Behind the Story" by coralysendria
Unrated, gen, ~2K words
Transporting. Step into the heart of second season with the groundedness of first season. Tessa's murder is news; it's part of Randi's job. Tessa is also someone she knew; it's emotionally jarring, and emotion is not something Randi is particularly good at, so she gropes through the culturally prescribed motions until she finds her way to Richie, grieving, stunned, alone. We see Tessa through both of their eyes, Richie in that moment through Randi's eyes, and the world that was canon in those days as it must have been.

hlh_shortcuts began releasing on the Winter Solstice, Duncan's Birthday, as is traditional, and will continue releasing a few stories per day until they're all shared. Many thanks to our new moderator team for all their efforts! Thanks to them, and to everyone who wrote and beta'd! Time to read:

• Check out all the 2024 stories.
• Revisit out all the stories from all the AO3 years (probably not the LJ years)

The story written for my '24 fest match released on Sunday: "Behind the Story" (~2K words, gen). The anonymous creator chose not to use archive warnings and not to supply a rating; with no disrespect to those choices, I'd rate it "G" and No Archive Warnings Apply. If you're an HL fan, you're unlikely to find anything triggering here; this is what the show is about, I've always thought.

"Behind the Story" follows Randi McFarland in the days after Tessa's murder, how and where it touches her work and her conscience and her heart, culminating in a Randi & Richie scene I never knew I needed. There is so much Tessa here, through their eyes, and I love it. The story briskly opened long-shuttered second-season rooms in my imagination, and, in passing, dropped at least two bonus story ideas on the side.

I shared a longer comment on the story itself. You can read that for more on what in it caught my attention. Or ask! And of course there are many other stories to choose from, if this isn't your personal flavor of HL.

Recently, I added a goofy, silly, fun ZeldaTuber to my line-up: QuinBoBin. While normally I look for the deep lore theories -- the more complex and fraught the better (you've met me) -- I've recently needed some light, cheerful, pick-me-up content, and this hit the spot! Quinn specializes in edited playthroughs, glee in how fun games are, and cheeky yet comfy commentary that boasts expert gameplay to self-deprecate bumbling gameplay.

Quinn laughs a lot and never has a harsh word for anyone or anything (occasional Korok launches excepted). The closest I've yet heard was a mild, passing reproof to the sad online folks picking on others for having fun with EoW (girl cooties, you know).

If you're already done with (or thoroughly spoiled on) Echoes of Wisdom, try Quinn's EoW playlist. If you're remaining unspoiled, there's TotK, TP, and many others. (Yes, Quinn does draw the thumbnails.)