The rust stings my eyes.
Surely the salt is a menace.
Don't patronize me! This predicament is your design!
I did not wish this...
That's exactly what you did.
Would that this had not been my wish.
Insincerity. You envied them their youth, their vitality. You were jealous of the squalor into which you plunged your kingdom, and humiliated by it. You could not allow another to purge your domain so you, "Went down with the ship", as it were. *chuckles* Vanity. Pray, has your unparalleled selflessness eased your spirit?
Puns, blackguard? A low stoop for a king, 'fore a king.
You're a shipwreck!
And you, a stone. And now both keep company with the fish and eels. My failings are my own, and you are the worm, calling the lion low. You coveted the fortune of your neighbor and would have robbed the new generation of opportunity! Your craven carcass rotted in a festering citadel as you stole the light from the eyes of the remaining good souls of the world! Curb your accusations, spineless wretch...
Ha ha ha...your shame has weakened you, brought you to your knees, shattered your defenses. You point condemnation in every direction and claim pure intent. You hide behind a straw wall, thinking yourself above question. But your greed robbed her of her heritage, your envy stole her innocence. You are, yourself the theif who snuffed the light.
Circumstance found you and your people plagued by famine and drought. And when at last, only you remained, you were left holding the weight of your regret and burden of your impotence. You misplaced your anguish at your ineptitude and pined for those things which had passed.
...blast this corroded spike and its maker and the wind that brought you blessing! It itches and burns, it writhes through my head and burns through my mind! A thousand ancient curses on you!!!
Your quarrel is as dated as your oaths, fiend.
A quarrel that began in the scorching desert at your cold shoulder. As in life, you shirk responsibility and wield blame as this blade! You witnessed the plight of my kin yet held your nose to the sky. May the wind of guilt score your conscience and topple your self-righteous ego!
And now the heart of the matter, your refusal to accept your gross negligence and failure to lead your pack of cut-throats in a manner befitting the title, "King of Thieves". Once again, you play the martyr, twisting history to your whim and casting aspersions with prejudice. Your world's fate can be credited to none other than yourself.
Our world's fate came about at your hands, Daphnes! Your heart is a hard as...as mine is now!...GAH! Curse the fire of this sacred blade! When finally it dissolves in the salt of this foul sea, I will again rise and you, you will remain restless in the pit of the world forever!
That pain is but a shadow of my agony at my failure to lead Hyrule to prosperity! Blaze with pain forever, swine! May the name Ganondorf be ever reviled! May the tongues of Hyrulians spit the syllables with contempt! May your memory be an indelible strain upon the memories of every generation!
And you, "Deposed King of Hyrule", may your name be forgotten to the ages, may your line end in disgrace and obscurity! May Hyrule languish in paucity and fail utterly as its scattered tribes debase themselves to ruin! Desolation overtake even the echo of your title!
Long live the King of Nothing!
Like most of my writing these days, this one turned out to be a bit esoteric. Unlike most of my writing from the old days, I didn't intend for it to be. I put this bit out for a writing competition here on ZD-i so I was intentionally trying to make it more accessible than some of the things I write. I used two characters who are well-known to the Zelda fanbase and had them interact in a conversational way in an attempt to make it an easy read. I planned for it to be easy to follow, to flow as conversation should, and to be straight forward with little actual substance, as that makes for easier reading and therefore, more enjoyment on the part of the reader.
That style, of course, doesn't fit my literary paradigm. I prefer to struggle line by line to pick out subliminal themes and root out hidden concepts and entendre. As I wrote, I decided that the identities of both characters should be obscured but slowly revealed as the conversation progressed. I mean, I've got to have my cake and eat it as well, right? So that, of course, makes it hard to follow if I'm intending it for an audience who will give it, at best, a single read if not simply skimming through it. Knowing this, I wanted to drop bright neon keywords into the conversation to catch the eye of the casual reader but alas, keywords have a habit of revealing too much in a cryptic piece.
So I come to the end and I say, "This is why I hate writing dialogue, it's a constant stream of 'he said this' and 'she said that'. What can I do to avoid this obvious pitfall?" So I ripped all pretense of quotation away from the intercourse and colored each speaker's voice independently. Honestly, I also figured the color would make up for the slog of comprehension the reader was undertaking as well by removing repetitive phrasing and breaking up the work for the eye.
All in all, I was actually quite pleased with the way it turned out, even if it is a departure from my favored style of writing. I've put together a little breakdown of some key points.
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The rust stings my eyes. (Ganondorf: the Master Sword is rusting and the rust is hurting Ganondorf's eyes as it corrodes.)
Surely the salt is a menace. (Daphnes: hinting that they are under the ocean. This shows us a callous and unrefined side of Daphnes.)
Don't patronize me! This predicament is your design! (Ganondorf: An angry response to Daphnes childish taunt. The predicament referred to is the fact that Hyrule is drowned and both kings are dead.)
I did not wish this... (Daphnes: An honest response of regret at having wished for Hyrule to be flooded.)
That's exactly what you did. (Ganondorf: A hint that the other speaker is Daphnes as he literally WISHED on the triforce for Hyrule to be flooded.)
Would that this had not been my wish. (Daphnes: He believes the results of this wish were necessary though not ideal.)
Insincerity. You envied them their youth, their vitality. You were jealous of the squalor into which you plunged your kingdom, and humiliated by it. You could not allow another to purge your domain so you, "Went down with the ship", as it were. *chuckles* Vanity. Pray, has your unparalleled selflessness eased your spirit? (Ganondorf: He doesn't buy that Daphnes is truly torn about sinking Hyrule. He believes Daphnes was jealous of the opportunity that Link and Zelda had before them and didn't want them to have the chance to restore Hyrule where he had failed. He then jabs at Daphnes by accusing him of running away by "going down with the ship", an obvious allusion to Daphnes assumed form on the Great Sea, the King of Red Lions. He wraps up with a sarcastic inquiry about how Daphnes feels about turning tail.)
Puns, blackguard? A low stoop for a king, 'fore a king. (Daphnes: Daphnes takes exception to being taunted about his altered form and calls Ganondorf out on it, telling him that it's beneath a king to slander another king using puns.)
You're a shipwreck! (Ganondorf: Reacting violently to the pithy retort, Ganondorf's cool slips and he flat-out name-calls the king of Hyrule.)
And you, a stone. And now both keep company with the fish and eels. My failings are my own, and you are the worm, calling the lion low. You coveted the fortune of your neighbor and would have robbed the new generation of opportunity! Your craven carcass rotted in a festering citadel as you stole the light from the eyes of the remaining good souls of the world! Curb your accusations, spineless wretch... (Daphnes: Daphnes takes Ganondorf's comment in stride and plays the "turnabout is fair play" card by name-calling Ganondorf a rock, which he now is. He then alludes to them being at the bottom of the sea with fish and eels. He backhands Ganondorf with another name, 'worm', and elevates himself by calling himself a lion, another reference to his boat form. He defends his sinking of Hyrule by reiterating that Ganondorf would have killed Zelda and Link and had been kidnapping little girls and bringing them to his fortress. Twice, here, he impugnes Ganondorf's courage, first by calling him craven, then spineless, both contrasting him with Link's courage.)
Ha ha ha...your shame has weakened you, brought you to your knees, shattered your defenses. You point condemnation in every direction and claim pure intent. You hide behind a straw wall, thinking yourself above question. But your greed robbed her of her heritage, your envy stole her innocence. You are, yourself the theif who snuffed the light. (Ganondorf: Coming back strong, Ganondorf tells Daphnes that he's fooling himself by believing that Ganondorf is the one to blame. He probes deep by implying that Daphnes had not only failed as a king but as a father due to his selfishness. And, of course, the obvious misspelling of the word "thief" which was a bit of a Freudian slip on my part.)
Circumstance found you and your people plagued by famine and drought. And when at last, only you remained, you were left holding the weight of your regret and burden of your impotence. You misplaced your anguish at your ineptitude and pined for those things which had passed. (Taking the high road, Daphnes ignores the direct attack and focuses on the implication that he is to blame for the current status of Hyrule. He asserts that Ganondorf is impotent, inept, and unable to live in the present, captivated by the past.)
...blast this corroded spike and its maker and the wind that brought you blessing! It itches and burns, it writhes through my head and burns through my mind! A thousand ancient curses on you!!! (Ganondorf: Here, Ganondorf is distracted by the Master Sword in his face. He outright curses Daphnes as well as the Master Sword, Hylia, and the wind itself.)
Your quarrel is as dated as your oaths, fiend. (Daphnes: He takes the opportunity to point out that Ganondorf is complaining about things which he had been battling and failing against since time immemorial. He also engages in some harsh name-calling, calling to mind the demon-king as a hint to the reader at who is talking.)
A quarrel that began in the scorching desert at your cold shoulder. As in life, you shirk responsibility and wield blame as this blade! You witnessed the plight of my kin yet held your nose to the sky. May the wind of guilt score your conscience and topple your self-righteous ego! (Ganondorf: Now he finally admits to his quarrel and defends it by blaming Daphnes directly for the downfall of the Gerudo. He again refers to the wind and the Master Sword, this time actually calling it a blade, another escalation toward revealing who the two characters are.)
And now the heart of the matter, your refusal to accept your gross negligence and failure to lead your pack of cut-throats in a manner befitting the title, "King of Thieves". Once again, you play the martyr, twisting history to your whim and casting aspersions with prejudice. Your world's fate can be credited to none other than yourself. (Daphnes: Seeing Ganondorf's accusation for what it is, though ignoring any truth in it, Daphnes berates Ganondorf for avoiding responsibility and calls him the 'King of Thieves', giving away to many readers who the other speaker is. He breaks down that Ganondorf is playing innocent and wallowing in self-pity when he should be taking responsibility as leader of the Gerudo.)
Our world's fate came about at your hands, Daphnes! Your heart is a hard as...as mine is now!...GAH! Curse the fire of this sacred blade! When finally it dissolves in the salt of this foul sea, I will again rise and you, you will remain restless in the pit of the world forever! (Ganondorf: The other speaker is positively identified now, with Ganondorf's final assertion that Daphnes is to blame for the fall of the Gerudo due to his refusal to help the tribe when he saw them in danger. The pain of the Master Sword distracts him once again and he curses the Master Sword again. He warns that when the blade finally rusts away in the salt water, he will again be free to avenge his people but Daphnes will remain a restless ghost, unable to do anything to stop him on the bottom of the ocean.
That pain is but a shadow of my agony at my failure to lead Hyrule to prosperity! Blaze with pain forever, swine! May the name Ganondorf be ever reviled! May the tongues of Hyrulians spit the syllables with contempt! May your memory be an indelible strain upon the memories of every generation! (Daphnes: This is Daphnes' coup de maiter, in which he finally certainly reveals the name of his adversary. First, he compares the pain in Ganondorf's head to a fraction of the guilt he feels at having failed his people. Then he crafts a compound curse which he lavishes heavily on Ganondorf. Each of his curses is an oath that Ganondorf will ever be remembered as a leader, Ganondorf's worst fear.)
And you, "Deposed King of Hyrule", may your name be forgotten to the ages, may your line end in disgrace and obscurity! May Hyrule languish in paucity and fail utterly as its scattered tribes debase themselves to ruin! Desolation overtake even the echo of your title! (Ganondorf: Ganondorf's penultimate verse. He heaps a compound curse upon Daphnes, each of his oaths being a promise that Daphnes memory is so tarnished that it will die out, Daphnes' worst fear. His hope is that Daphnes will forever be forced to go on as a ghost but without the respect or fealty of his people.)
Long live the King of Nothing! (Ganondorf and Daphnes: Finally, though both wish for the opposite fate for the other, they both raise their voices and lob a final insult at each other. The homogenity of their curse contrasting their differences and uniting their similarities as each calls the other the king of nothing. This is evinced by the red and blue colored voices coming together as a violet voice.)