The Great Desert (Fan Fiction)

[Arkatox]

Attention people just passing by: This post contains some serious spoilers. I suggest you DO NOT read on until you've completely read The Great Desert.

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@Shadsie: You ever get a review for your book yet? Hah, this may be the first!

I finally finished it and . . . WOW. This is amazing. I loved the book.

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There were a few parts I didn't like. For example, you were a little too descriptive when describing Ganondorf's reawakening in chapter 2. It kind've grossed me out. You see, I know I read stuff like that in books all the time, but I still don't really like it. Oh well, what do you expect from a 13-year-old kid?

Another part I didn't like was a totally unnessisary part in chapter 7, when Link and Navi first enter the second temple (was it the Steel Temple or the Metal Temple?). Link said the "s" word, and Navi complained and told Link to please not say any more "bad words". Then, of course, Link immediately said a string of "bad words" just to show Navi that he could say what he wanted. I think that if this piece of fan fiction were a movie, that conversation would either be in the deleted scenes, or taken out entirely.

I liked the whole thing about who the goddesses and hylians really were. The Aether was a cool idea, too. Unlimited energy is a lot of energy, you know. Though what was with the whole thing of Link/Zelda/Ganondorf being a bet? That whole part is kind've confusing, though I think I understand it.

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“Still, I accept your offer,” Link said.
“What? Are you an idiot?” Midna protested.
“I never said I trusted him,” Link said, cocking an eyebrow at her. “Consider this… utilitarian – a relationship born of pure necessity in a time of desperation. I know that you know all about those. Yes, Midna, I remember now.”
“He’ll never grow to love you like I did,” Midna quipped sourly.
“So, it is settled then,” Ganondorf said.
“Yes,” Link agreed. “First we take care of Cecelia. We can kill each other later.”

You know, I thought it would be really boring if Cecelia turned out to actually be Ganondorf's puppet, rather than the other way around. 'Cause the same "Ganon uses everyone in his evil sceme" thing is getting old. So when Cecelia appeared and kidnapped Zelda and stole Ganondorf's Triforce of Power, I was actually kind've relieved.

Then, of course, Cecelia killed Ganondorf during the final 3-way battle. Cecelia still had the Triforce of Power, so I guess that means no more Ganon reincarnations in Hyrule's future. And also Zelda took the Triforce of Power after Cecelia had been slain, so I guess there won't be any Cecelia reincarnations either. Just Link and Zelda.

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Then there's that part in the credits:

Background Music While Writing provided by – U2, Kansas, Genesis, various artists/whatever Shadsie felt like putting on play.

You just had to put that in there, didn't you?

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Anyway, as you may have been able to tell, I'm pretty horrible at review books. I've actually tried several times in the past, but to no avail. What you've just read is probably the best I've ever done, aka still pretty awful. So, anyway, tell me what you think of it!

~Arkatox~

[Shadsie]

First, thank you. Would you recommend my story to others?

My commentary:

The squicky parts... well, the gore is just how I write. I'm a rather morbid person and have a touch of horror-writer in me. With one of my other hobbies - I've encountered some nasty stuff (I clean and paint found animal skulls. I can tell you what deer brains look like).

If you didn't like that desc, I'd suggest staying away from anything by Stephen King, Dean Koontz and the solo fanfic work for other fandoms by my co-writer. It's a bit lurid, but I really like the idea of the ressurection of an evil wizard-king being pretty gruesome, especially in a fan fiction story that's purposefully "darker and edgier" than the source matieral. Still, I understand why you're put off by that. Not everyone is morbid, which is why I rate high and warn when I write stuff like that.


The Link cursing scene was actually a part of the roleplay that formed the bare basis for the story. I was playing Link and I do not know if I had him say the "s" word or something less harsh, like "damn," but my co-writer wrote a completely shocked Navi and we thought the whole thing was very funny. I debated with myself whether or not to put that in the actual story, but decided to as an homage to the laugher we shared over the roleplay. I also wanted to show my original Link as being "slightly rough around the edges," perhaps moreso than his previous incarnations and it was a good way to do it. It's not a scene that I'm married to, so if something else (some fan-animation or fan game or something that most likely will never happen) were to be made from the story, I would be fine with having that mini-scene omitted. As you said, it's not necessary to the overall story. It pretty much only exists because my co-writer and I thought it was funny.

Cecelia... Cecelia is the creation of Sailor_Lilithchan, was originally roleplayed by her. I constantly was asking her if I was writing her correctly when I created the actual, polished story. Lilith was very attatched to her, so I went along with what she wanted for the character, but I worried that readers would think of her as a "Mary Sue" simply because we gave her so much power. I think we balanced her character out by making her "not someone to be admired" - wicked, insane... someone with angst but not to the point as to be pitied (the evils that she did outweighed any excuses she ever had). I also wound up making quite a lot of power-play between her and Ganondorf.

I am glad and relieved that you enjoyed the twist at the end. I've been worried quite a lot that people would just see Cecelia as a "Mary Sue" for overpowering ol' Ganny in the end.

The Triforce is a mysterious thing. Who knows what will happen after Zelda dies? As it is, she and Link are set to lead the kingdom into a longstanding Golden Age and TGD's Link will wind up being the best king Hyrule ever had. He's probably going to be the only Link to outlive his Zelda. After that, who knows?

Lilith and I actually roleplayed for a while beyond the point at which the polished story ended. We had this whole wedding scene and an assassiation attempt before we got bored with it. It never made story because I thought it would be best to end it at the nice, mysteirous point that I did.

[Arkatox]

Oh, and I forgot to even mention the incident in chapter 10. It's actually not that bad. As you said, you didn't describe it much, so I was actually okay with it, kinda. I think the content in chapter 2 was worse.

Oh, and by the way, how did Ganondorf manage to eat the Lost One's head?

[Shadsie]

It wasn't his head, unless I made a horrible typo I'm not aware of... it was his heart. Ganondorf ate his heart, which he ripped out of his body after giving him a fatal wound.

[Luminary]

Hello Shadsie, I'm just about to begin. Should be good, judging my your other work!

*tips cowboy hat*

[Arkatox]

It wasn't his head, unless I made a horrible typo I'm not aware of... it was his heart. Ganondorf ate his heart, which he ripped out of his body after giving him a fatal wound.

It probably said heart, I just thought it said head.

Yeah, it'd be even harder to tear a head off than to tear a heart out.

[Shadsie]

I did an illustration of the Lost One, but it's pretty grisly. You find it if you really want to if you look up "Shadsie" on Deviant Art. I do not know if I put a Mature rating on it (I sometimes do for my blooider/gorier pictures, just to be safe), but I think I forgot to with the piece. (On DA, if you are registered as underage or are not a member, Mature rated pictures are blocked).

I'd link it, but considering your reaction to Chapter 2, it's something you might not want to see.

[dumb180]

Just finished reading this a couple of days ago. And I'll say.. it was excellent.

The story was quite moving. Several times throughout the tale, I found myself becoming a little concerned for the characters involved. Like at the end there: I honestly thought Link would return to Hyrule and find an aged to death Zelda. Phew..

But I digress. It was great, and I'm glad I read it. *applause*

[clover1234]

This particular fanfic feels...special. I've read a lot of other fanfics, but this one is the most hardworked of all. You did a great effort. It's more like a novel than a plain fanfic...

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[Arkatox]

I did an illustration of the Lost One, but it's pretty grisly. You find it if you really want to if you look up "Shadsie" on Deviant Art. I do not know if I put a Mature rating on it (I sometimes do for my blooider/gorier pictures, just to be safe), but I think I forgot to with the piece. (On DA, if you are registered as underage or are not a member, Mature rated pictures are blocked).

I'd link it, but considering your reaction to Chapter 2, it's something you might not want to see.

Lol, you're right.

I just don't care for gorey/bloody things. Gorey things more than bloody.