I'd forgotten just how much fun my tablet is.

Try not to make too much fun of this. I worked really hard on it.

Anyway, this is an illustration to go with a fan fiction I am writing that takes place in an original-era Hyrule with it's own Link and Zelda. My co-idea jockey is :icon lilith-chan: Zelda's design is based off hers in an earlier illustration for the story that she did -- [link]

Yes, the fanfiction is, indeed, a Legend of Zelda WESTERN. And, yes, Link has a gun. The Master Sword is quite prominent in this poster to show that the swords remain important, even though guns are around, too. The Blade of Evil's Bane still is supreme. The fic is actually more of a mix of fantasy/sci-fi/western. It's basic premise is that "after the Great Sea comes the Great Desert." The Timeline for it is a mish-mosh - it doesn't follow the whole "Timeline split" thing, but gleefully congeals the games into one (singular) big timeline. (Which means that BOTH Wind Waker and Twilight Princess are referenced as being a part of the Desert!Hyrule's history). We do not care what is supposedly "confirmed by word of the creators" on this - we're doing what works for our story, AU and all. (Therefore any argument on this matter in the comments will be ignored). The story makes reference to most of the Zelda games. If I've played it, there's a reference to it in the fic somewhere.

Also.. yes, again, Link has a gun. RELAX. I'm not a part of Nintendo's team or anything - I write fanfiction... ie. I'm having fun and wasting time. Given the volumes upon volumes of terrible and way-out there fan fiction I've seen, Lilith and I are doing no more butchery or dishonor to Hyrule than has already been done just by playing with a few unorthodox ideas.

I painted the background based upon a photograph I had taken back when I lived in Arizona. Link took me the longest of any of the elements of this picture. Zelda cooperated with me and went rather quickly. I did the Master Sword in vector with some Photoshop-painted highlights. I am very pleased with it.

For those wondering, the fan fiction that this goes with can be found

here, at the grand cesspit known as fanfiction dot net:

[link]

And, for those unwilling to set foot in the land where fanfiction goes to die, it is also at the reputable fansite, North Castle:

[link]

The fanfiction dot net account gets updated more frequently, so fast readers who are interested may want to be brave and dive on in over there.