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.)

My favorite ZeldaTuber, Zeltik, posted his close-reading explication of the lore and story of Echoes of Wisdom yesterday. I enjoyed it immensely! He did exactly what I was hoping he would. It's not only as good and as connective as any of his previous game condensations -- which I hesitate to call "summaries," as they are much richer than that word implies -- it hit a home-run right off the top with one specific major canon lore and fan theory connection that I had not yet put together on my own. Key into lock. Lost puzzle piece found under the table where it clearly was waiting all along. Chef's kiss!

When you're ready to be utterly spoiled on everything that matters most in Echoes of Wisdom, I recommend Zeltik's "Lore and Story of 'Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom' Explained" (YouTube, 55:40).

(Next, I'm looking forward to TheLadyOfLore's take...)

The everywoman '24 stories have released! The exchange has 69 total works in 56 fandoms. Check out the collection sorted by fandom or in the complete works list.

Fandoms include Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Captain Marvel & The Marvels, Dungeons & Dragons (Cartoon, 1983), Hawkeye, Labyrinth, The Lord of the Rings, 6 kinds of Star Trek, 3 kinds of Star Wars, and Stargate SG-1.

I personally received both an exchange story and a treat!

• "Girl Time" (D&DC, T, gen, ~700 words). This vignette gives Sheila and Diana a quiet, restful interlude between episodes, an opportunity to relax from the often frantic pace of their adventures and reflect on the actual weight and emotional wear of those adventures. It's full of canonical allusions, yet with an undemanding touch that doesn't require a reader to know the references. Thought-provoking!


• "The Acrobat's Dream" (D&DC, T, gen, 100 words). This drabble shows Diana triumphant, solo and as a teammate, her hard work and talent fulfilled, both on the Olympic podium and by having made it home from the Realm. Satisfying!

Of course there is a story by me somewhere in the mix. Author reveals are scheduled for this coming Friday, August 9.

saturdaymorningex, the animation exchange, did release overnight! Find 21 total stories in its AO3 collection. Fandoms include AtLA, BatB, D&DC, Pinky and the Brain, My Little Pony, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Yu-Gi-Oh!, X-Men: Evolution, and more. (To my personal surprise, a full ~25% are rated M or E. Interesting!)

The story written for me is delightfully for my Dungeons & Dragons (cartoon, 1983) request: "A Challenge for the Acrobat" (G, gen, ~1K words).

It stars Diana (clearly!) and creates a scenario specifically to comment on a key difference between her and the others, that her totemic weapon of power facilitates an astounding skill that she already had -- had already earned -- back home, while the others are directly and newly dependent on their weapons to interact with the dangers of the Realm. That is, the others' weapons are metaphorically related to their characters; Diana's is literally manifesting her skill as a gymnast. In addition to thoughtfully giving Diana the spotlight, which I love, the story also gestures to my fondness for interludes between adventures -- those moments of downtime trailing connections to what comes before and after.

Challenge #9: Rec your newest thing -- enthusiasm, obsession, fandom, earworm, etc.

Yesterday, I read an impressive Journey to the West AU fanfic, told from the dragon-horse's perspective, in which Monkey is mute. (This is a sober re-imagining, not the bonkers humor I often go for in JttW.) This change makes humanity (and Heaven) take him even less seriously (though Buddha treats him exactly the same). Removing his voice swallows his patter and boasts and exposes his foundational motivations in new, evocative ways. Killer final line. "Spring Unheard" by Idonquixote (T, gen, ~8K words).

A few days ago, I finished watching the five episodes of Echo, the latest MCU show on Disney+, the first officially under the "Marvel Spotlight" imprint for standalone, don't-need-to-know-canon, adult-aimed productions (Werewolf by Night belongs there, too, imo, if they're willing to relabel it). The title sequence -- theme song and graphics -- is absolutely fantastic, ten out of ten. ( Further opinion is a high-level spoiler )

I'm presently spacing out the final few episodes of season one of My Adventures with Superman because I don't want it to be over. This is my kind of Superman! A very good guy being good! This is a show that deeply understands why Superman must rescue the cat. The story is so clearly told by people who love the characters, and who change them only in ways that make them more essentially themselves for today's audience. I adore how they addressed and subverted certain tropes, like Lois finding out Clark is Superman. Fundamentally, this is a story where he is Clark to the bone, and Superman is just his work clothes, his "customer service voice," and I am there for that. (I think that the "my" in the title is Clark's.)

I contributed 6 D&DC recommendations to fanart_recs in November. If you're interested:

• "When they were happy..." by Manzanachan (G): Recommendation | Image
• "Dungeons and Dragons Crew" by Gndagnor (G): Recommendation | Image
• "Venger" by Manzanedo (PG-13): Recommendation | Image
• "Tiamat" by Cavalcanti (G): Recommendation | Image
• "Sheila from Dungeons and Dragons - Redesign" by Robson M. (G): Recommendation | Image
• "Dungeons'n'Dragons - Girls" by Tidi-Lebre (G): Recommendation | Image

Maybe I will do more sometime.

By a curious quirk of the show's age and the internet's age and the licensing of reruns, almost all the D&DC fanart online is by artists who live in the southern hemisphere (mostly, but not exclusively, Brazil). I understand that Robson M. (appears once in the list above; could have supplied all six slots) actually made the leap to pro illustrations for Wizards of the Coast.

I gather that the show is running on the new DnD channel/linear-streaming thing now. (I have the "red box" DVDs and haven't looked into that, so don't know details.)