the trashy modern zelink au is a semi-conceptual narrative set in modern-day hyrule where link is a renowned but unhinged student athlete who wields the master kitchen knife, and zelda is a frustrated company heir (and child of a shady businessman) who wields the power of the triforce, which is a gun. this honestly started off as a joke but i just kept on adding to it, so now i'm obsessed.
they both have prophetic nightmares telling them of an eventual armageddon that will be brought by the calamity ganon, a malicious undivinity that periodically wipes out hyrule every 10,000 years. bound together by the spirit of the goddess hylia, they are instructed by her apparition in their dreams to fend off the upcoming apocalypse.
they first meet each other in tenth grade, and much to their disbelief, they also find out that they've been sharing the prophetic nightmares this whole time, like the both of them enter a fucked up dream realm together whenever they sleep. after an unpleasant fight, they separate just before college, the bond they shared over their supernatural traits left behind but not forgotten.
it's tenth grade, and zelda gets partnered up with a classmate for science class at the beginning of the year. the classmate isn't even paying any attention, which annoys zelda to no end. wait. what's that on their paper?
zelda wakes up in the dream realm. hylia introduces them to a new friend. they look... familiar. this wouldn't be the last time zelda meets them in their prophetic visions either.
after a week of nonstop dreaming about the apocalypse and link's green arm and link's face and link's stupid knife, zelda confronts link at their locker.
they have lunch and zelda quizzes link about their dreams. zelda deduces that hylia likes to play favorites, which is strange because... hylia feels like a mother to them.
just a comparison between one of zelda's high school outfits and the one they wear for the first part of their college life
it's urbosa! zelda's cool godmother and gerudo noble looking so snazzy in their traditional wear.
link moves to brazil to start seriously training for competing in sports, seeing as they're the youngest most successful soccer player in the world. meanwwhile , zelda stays behind in hyrule to study business administration in entertainment management, preparing to take over their father's talent agency.
they would stay separated, that is, until link breaks a bone at the olympics and has an epiphany. link moves back to hyrule to attend the university zelda studies in for their second year, as well as making a news spectacle of themself. zelda, as it turns out, is the last to find out.
the great nation of hyrule 7s national team captain link mabe was forced to withdraw from the brazil 20XX summer olympics after sustaining a debilitating and bloody injury to one of their legs on the football pitch last week, the 19th of august.
it's the olympics, you're on the ground and you can't stop crying.
since healing their leg, link has returned to tending to soccer goals much to the great metropolitan hyrule varsity team's pleasure. zelda bets lon lon milks on link's goals: for every goal they miss, they buy zelda one at the local pub. link deliberately misses a few just to play catch up with them.
zelda hates business management. zelda hates their father. zelda hates companies. they beg link to cut their hair with the magical knife that cuts through anything as an act of defiance.
just a fancy piece of zelda on their little throne loveseat. newfound confidence and all. also quick little doodle of link emitting the same threatening vibes
played around with some pinterest outfits, designing zelda's leg tattoo, and thinking about them in a car
just a few fluffy pieces! zelda has a burner phone to contact link because of... reasons.
this is going to be their main outfits for the following end times. zelda's blue suit has some kind of divine influences, i think they get the outfit right after they get the gun to signify that from that point on, it's all business and no play. link's soccer uniform is due to see some worse days. yes, that's the sweatband of the wild and the letterman of the wild. at some point they get the legwarmers of the wild as well.
zelda wakes up in the dream realm once again, but this time hylia takes on the form of a being so large that zelda can't accurately comprehend her size. it almost blinds them.
they retrieve the sealing power of the triforce, which materializes into a ranged weapon that launches pellets of goddess light. basickally gun has been got, babey!
just a concept of link's sheikah-made motorcycle with zelda at the back shooting at whoever's in pursuit of them.
link and zelda wait for whoever -or whatever- is on the other side of the door.
this is where i first got the idea for the trashy au... litrally just gave zelda a gun and pulled up some soccer poses and then, the rest is history!! i really want to stick to the vibes of this one where they're both just feral af.