#but i have more ideas for him than i do fs link

[starshipdecay]

My headcanons for how the Four Sword works! (Featuring two ocs-of-sorts, Hue and Prism <3)

[kheprriverse]

I caved and decided yk what... dragon Ares au. -> Dragon AU lore-dump

Slightly different story? but its like mostly the same except Ares (and Apollo) were seemingly abandoned eggs found by a squad in the hyrulean army and raised by Artemis(Zelda) and Athena(Impa). Everything dragon-lore-related that I've been (not so subtly) sprinkling is also all the same, including Volga, but the effects of being raised by hylians makes itself clear in Ares and his sister.

The rest of Hyrule Warriors still plays out somewhat similarly except that yk... Ares is a dragon. I mean who wouldn't want to steal a dragon for your own army?

Also since he was raised by hylians who have 0 idea how dragons actually work, especially fire dragons (because of how sparse they are), he probably has no idea he could have a hylian form like Volga.

Oh. Also he knows how to use a sword.

[asofspades]

I'm making a list of my favourite Four HC

- He has a necklace made from a shard of the dark mirror to remember Shadow and a strand of his hair is dyed purple in his honour.

- I like to count Four swords and Four swords adventures as separate adventures, so he's been on 3 adventures.

- Four Swords personally would be literally Link and 3 copies of him, I like to consider this as if the clones you can make in Minish Cap just had a solid body and thinking ability but Link does go back to being the same at the end of the adventure

- Obviously I like to incorporate the FS manga to his last adventure and this time Link splits into four different beings each a main part of his personality but over the course of the adventure they sort of become their own person

- That's why I headcanon that Four isn't really link as he was before his last adventure, for me all of the colours went back together into one body but remained separate, they usually work together and that would be Four as we know him.

- Obviously I love the HC that we have seemed to collectively agree on that Four's eyes change colour depending on who's more dominant at certain points.

- I do think that sometimes not all of them are driving the wheel together and that might be because they just went through a moment that required a lot of one of the specific colours or they're in disagreement

-That leads me to the HC that Four gets migraines when the colours are not in sync, which is another one most of the fandom seems to share.

- I'm also a fan of the "dark portals scramble the colours and thus Four" collective HC

- particularly I like to think that Four is both distrustful of dark magic because of the whole Vaati resurrecting and Ganon thing, and the soldiers and his father being controlled by that magic but also it makes him sad because it reminds him of Shadow's magic

- Also, while I HC that Vio was the closest to Shadow for obvious reasons I think when they merged into Four their memories and feelings were instantly registered by each other and now the other colours also appreciate Shadow for more than just sacrificing himself for them and Hyrule.

-I like to HC that he was almost the same age as Time was in OOT for his first adventure, as a bonus I like to think his bday is on the Picori Festival day which adds an extra layer of depth to both the beginning of his first adventure and his relationship with the Minish

- Following that logic I like to HC him as being freshly 8 y.o for his first adventure, around 11 for the second and almost 14 for the 3rd, and as such I love the idea that Vio and Shadow kind of developed crushes on each other.

- On that same note, since we can see Link as a soldier in the FS manga, but obviously there's only his Grandpa in MC, I like to HC that his father was deployed somewhere far away from Hyrule for diplomatic reasons (he's the captain of the royal guard after all) and he comes back after the first adventure. He gets told about what his child did and decides him joining the Royal Guard would be a good idea

- Following the previous HC, I like to think Link is not really enthusiastic about joining the Royal Guard because my boy got raised by his very cool blacksmith Grandpa who loves him very much and he's a little blacksmith at heart. Which kind of explains why he looks a bit done about being part of the royal guard, aside from the fact that he's literally saved Hyrule on his own before. That is also the reason he's so proud to be a blacksmith but never talks about having been in the Royal Guard.

- This is a more niche HC but since Four's era is way before OOT and way after SS I like to think the legal age changes a lot and so I HC that in Four's Hyrule you're considered an adult at around 14 so he's already working an paying taxes and is of marring age by the time he joins the chain.

- That brings me to another point and it's that I HC Four to be 16 in linked universe (I think that one's also pretty much shared by the fandom) but since legally he's been an adult for 2 years he gets thrown off by people calling him "kid" despite technically being the second youngest, he's a kid in basically everyone's time but his and I find that idea hilarious.

- Another commonly shared HC, four hasn't grown or has barely grown a cm since his first adventure because he overused minish magic, I like to add a twist and since you also turn into a minish in FS I like to think he grew a tiny bit between his first and second adventures but the overuse during the 2nd one was what did him in.

- Another HC is that four can in fact use the minish magic by himself, making him one of the Links with innate magic ability. Going a step further I think both Hyrule and Time can detect some Fae magic emanating out of him due to his entrenchment with the minish and his earring and sword (after all the four sword was forged form the remains of the Picori blade), Legend can sense some light magic coming off of him (he can canonically use innate magic and is attuned to magic artifacts) and Twilight can sense something similar to Midna's magic and the twilight mirror due to the dark mirror shard necklace Four carries.

Technically Wind can use light magic just because but I like to think he senses magic but really doesn't know what he's sensing at all because nobody bothered to explain magic to him even though he uses it a lot and often.

- okay, the shield think, we know the Shield in WW and MC are quite literally the same shield. And while I support people who have the whole "wind is Four's descendant" HC, for me personally I think people just knew it belonged to a hero and the people who found it after the great flood decided to keep it and it ended up becoming a family heirloom. Particularly they just mention that it belonged to a hero, and it's the first and only time that they don't mention that hero being the Hero of Time like they do in every other instance.

- the Palace of the Four Swords is a tricky one because me personally, I like to think that Four's soul is tied to his sword not only because he forged it but because of his second and particularly his 3rd adventure. Thus, when he dies he turns into a sword spirit and in the downfall timeline the sacred realm becomes the dark world and all inside it becomes corrupt and the sword that has been resting there for eras along with it's spirit gets corrupted as well prompting the events that happen at the FS palace in ALTTP.

- personally I like to think that since the Sacred Realm gate never opens in the child timeline the sword just rests in it's palace (built out of the elemental sanctuary that became the four sword sanctuary) along with it's spirit. And for the adult timeline it just rests underwater along with the rest of the old Hyrule forever undisturbed.

I find it really tricky that the splitting of the timeline ends up affecting previous heroes in the long run but it makes sense.

-Also, because SS takes place way way before MC I like to think the story of Sky is barely known outside of the Royal Family who might know a bit just because it's tied to their very existence. However I find that I like the idea that the people of the sky do know a version of said story and are descendants of the skyloftians who never took to the surface and that's why after living on the surface for a while by themselves they decided to go back to the skies and build a city on the cloud tops. Coincidentally since the Minish did come form the sky as well they might know about those stories. I think the molemits found in the wind ruins might be a version of the mogma mits from SS and the gust jar might have been inspired by the gust bellows from SS.

- Take I like, the blue ocarina in OOT that seems to be an heirloom of the Royal Family is in fact the Ocarina of Wind from MC, timeline wise it is the earliest apparition of that ocarina. My personal HC is Four gives it to Zelda either as a parting gift before parting on a trip where he ends up dying or he simply has it on his will to give Zelda that ocarina when he dies. With time the Royal Family unknowingly or knowingly infuse it with the power of the Goddess giving it the abilities we see in OOt and then in MM but, by the time it gets found by Legend in ALTTP is has basically lost all abilities except for the one to call a bird to bring you places. Personally I like to think that in the fallen timeline since the ocarina is in Link's hands when he fails it gets lost after being used to open the sacred realm and a regular someone ends up finding it prompting the side quest you do in ALTTP to get it.

- I also think that Four's relationship with his father is a bit rocky since he left the Royal Guard to become a full time blacksmith.

Some Colour headcanons

- Red enjoys using the fire rod but he doesn't like when people mess around too much with fire in forest because it reminds him of the third adventure

- Blue hates the cold because of the time he was encased in ice during the 3rd adventure

-Green has a need to save everyone because he still feels like he failed people during his 3rd adventure

- Vio likes to act all smug about his traitor act but he actually feels very bad about having tricked and betrayed shadow and he feels guilty that Shadow sacrificed himself after having been betrayed.

- Green also blames himself for Shadow and he finds it hard to be around their father because of the whole 3rd adventure.

[read-write-thrive]

JATP x DBDA crossover where the Phantoms are free but Willie still isn’t and Caleb is playing dirty now that the boys have bested him (possessing Nick but also cmon he definitely has more magic up his sleeve) so they start trying to figure out Magic on their own, which is really just Julie and Flynn googling things and trying out various types of magic/spells/scam artists in the area, only for someone to come across something to do with the DBDA who are happy to take the case 👀

I have too many WIPs for this but just some ideas floating around my head:

- Crystal at first butts heads with Julie and Flynn (residual mean girl tendencies/differing senses of humor) but end up bonding over being surrounded by (dumb) dead teenage boys

- None of the Phantoms are good at proper spells but their music 100% has magical properties that is utilised in whatever final battle type event happens

- Edwin has come to terms with Charles’s eccentricities but the Phantoms are a whole other type of teenage boy and I think he would be just so catty about it all. Like why are they cute and so stupid this is ridiculous why the Hell did we even take this case can they please take this seriously

- Charles and Reggie vibe. I don’t make the rules

- Flynn can’t see the boys either which naturally leads to hijinks

- Monty attends a concert (he deserves to have fun) and while I considered him being the link between the two groups I think it would be funnier if he decided to go to a concert and runs into them coincidentally

- Based on a precursory AO3 search I’ve seen some fics where Monty gets in trouble with Caleb which makes sense with the whole magic familiar angle but I’m not copying here so I won’t get into that

- I think Willie interacting with DBDA would be wild. Like. Dead pretty boy with a sense of humour and tragic backstory? They’re all swooning fr

- Niko (shhh) gets along with Julie and Flynn IMMEDIATELY like they are talking about shows and DIYing things together and it’s great

- Crystal gets along better/faster with Julie and Flynn with Niko present fs

- There’s at least one dance number with everyone involved

- possessed!Nick is still trying to woo Julie and not only do we get the Phantoms side eyeing him but now we get the DBDA just openly judging him (Crystal roasts the shit out of that fedora and she’s RIGHT)

- Crystal would decimate any of Carrie’s attempts at being bitchy so I think we have to redeem Carrie for that reason alone

- DBDA goes to a JATP concert and the boys are actually awful at vibing there. Like Crystal is relatively normal (idk if it’s her scene but she’s been to concerts before) but Edwin does not know what to do at a modern concert and Charles is used to a much different style of dancing/concerts (I don’t know enough abt aka punk to elaborate unfortunately but ykwim)

- girls night includes style swapping bc the DBDA girlies deserve some butterfly clips and the JATP girlies deserve some eyeliner

- in the nature of JATP I don’t think Caleb gets sent to hell in the end but I do think his ending needs to be ridiculous. Like have him get the Night Nurse treatment and get eaten by that fish so he can be redeemed by Kashi

- not to bring up Monty again but I think he sticks around and keeps up with the JATP crew more than the DBDA (he is not interested in any more of that Hell/monster energy and that’s so valid of him)

- montage of Edwin and Charles teaching the Phantoms ghost abilities (I can’t remember if/how they vary between shows but if so shhh or explain it away yk)

- Unseen Emily reprise and it’s all the boys mourning loved ones. Just for the feels.

- Actually just more backstories for everyone please

- Love ballad/slow song that Willex and/or Payneland dance to 🥰

- Palasaki being openly in love (which inspires whatever the Flynn x Carrie ship is bc I love them)

[sunfloo-wers]

four for the character questions?

OK OK OK OK FOUR

(I'm so tempted to make this about the Colors too, and do like 5 different ones (one for Four, one for each Color, but we'll see how it goes)

favorite thing about them

I can't pick between character design and personality sooooo

I really like the tunic, I know it's a color pallet nightmare and shouldn't work, but it makes him visually stand out against the greens and blues of most of the chain, which I think is fun! (also pretty colors) (and smol)

From a personality/characteristics view point, I really like the complexities with his character! It's really difficult to see him as a 2d character, because of the Colors, which I think is really fun! Stick four different, but still somewhat flat sometimes (as is their point kinda), characters together and you get the real humanity of a fully fleshed out person unavoidable in the character!

least favorite thing about them

Hmmmmm, this is difficult because I love the little guy, but I'd have to sayyyyyyyy... drawing the bangs/headband thingey? from a purely selfish point of view, because I do like how they look, and it's a fun way to differentiate character designs, they're just so hard to drawwwww

favorite line

Not really a line, but when he just fucking cackles in Dawn pt4 when Wars says "I think you ought to practice some teamwork. It could use some improvement."

brOTP

hmmmmmm, I'm very fond of Four and Dot's platonic relationship, but I'll get into that more in a later section soooooooo

In the chain at least I think Four and Wind are cool because of the underestimation bondings be it because of age, or babyface/height, or just being the small ones! Although, Four and Sky is also a really nice dynamic... AND the Four and Legend one is real fun, both because their personalities work very well together, and the whole Palace of the Four Sword angst potential >:3

Honestly I could speak towards any sort of within the chain relationship and can't pick just one :(((((

OTP

Four and Shadow, I am nothing if not predictable (more specifically Vidow because of the manga, but BlackSmith (or whatever the Four and Shadow ship name is) is fun too!). They're just adorable and horrible okie? :3

nOTP

I'm just generally not a big fan of romantic Four and Dot, no disrespect to people who do like it, but I think they're better as besties! Like, I think MC!Link at least was very young (and FS(A)!Link was also fairly young I think, but more of an early-middle teen than like 8 or 9), so romance was probably the last thing on his mind, just "I gotta save my best friend!"

And! They've known each other since they were children because their parents were friends and Hyrule Town is a fairly small town, no? This could be argued towards a friends-to-lovers plot line technically, but I just automatically file "known each other as kids" under "a subsection of siblings" because of my own experiences (and the aroaceness) sooooooooooo... yeah...

random headcanon

Colors: I think Red and Blue bake stuff together a lot and give it out to the rest of the people of Hyrule Town for fun, or maybe they open a bakery! (this is all after the events of lu, or before I guess)

Four specifically: I really like the idea that he keeps a journal/diary. Writes down everything type journal. This is a fairly popular head cannon I think (maybe????) so for an out of left field one have... uhhhh...

He goes crazy for raspberries. Sure why not, that feels like it weirdly works for some reason

unpopular opinion

I don't think I really have that many unpopular opinions (unless something else here is that) buuuuuuut, maybe something about him being at least a little morally grey? Like, I get heros and all that jazz, but like... let him be at least a little morally grey hmmm?

I guess that's not really unpopular, I just see "hero character is good' and think, how about no, not exactly, and for him it works!

song i associate with them

Okay, I don't have one for Four, couldn't find one in the "all o' it" playlist, but I did find one for Vidow so I hope this suffices:

Little Soldiers by The Crane Wives

(I am nothing if not a puppet for the Little Soldiers Renchantyn propaganda, and it has only made me realise it kinda works for these two as well)

favorite picture of them

As you've probably assumed by now, I cannot pick just one sooooo:

He's so little, so very smol, and the overhead pov just makes It so much more apparent hehhe (also angy little guy)

This one is just hilarious due to the context, another iteration of little guy

and these two because they are new and we all love them :P

(all art credit to Jojo over at @/linkeduniverse of course)

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This was really fun thank you so much for sending it in! :D

[evansblues]

Does Chris have any clairs or spiritual gifts?//

Red Flower,

That's exactly what I was going to talk about before answering the anon question.

He has spiritual abilities like the rest of us. But once again, you have to love and respect yourself in order to awaken them. Alcohol, drugs, sex overdose (because sexual energy is sacred and directly linked to the spiritual world and when its directed properly makes wonder) but also lies, meanness and judgment lower your energetic frequency and prevent you from connecting with your guides.

He grew up in a religious environment, but not a spiritual one, even though he's very inclined towards these questions. He's very curious about the secrets of the invisible world, but nobody wants to talk with him about it. Neither his family, nor his friends, who seem to mock him a little on the subject.

Ha has been misdirected in pseudo philosophy that are more intellectual than anything. He cut himself off from the Source because he felt he had to in order to survive, as he literally crave to regain his link with the universe because he has a vague recollection of what it's like to be in osmosis with God.

The day he stops sabotaging himself (yes, it will happen!) he'll be able to read others clearly. He'll feel who he can trust and who he can't. He'll also be able to see the future in his dreams and be inspired in his art to do things he's never done before. There's something about his voice. The tone of his voice soothes suffering souls because he understands them better than anyone. Often those who've been through the worst are the best at what they do, because they know what they've been through to get to know their true selves.

Once again, it seems that the reunion with FS will unlock that.

Let me know EvansBlues if you have the same feeling about it.

Namaste. Infinite Gratitude.

You’re like that one friend who agrees with me and I’m like “see I told you”. 😂 I don’t think his friends and family are subtle about their distain for his spirituality. I think they’ve openly mocked and shamed him, which is why he turned to substances. It’s also why I have talked poorly about them, fairly openly.  I think he’s extremely gifted in many different ways, and that’s part of what he’s here to do, among other people. 

As someone who also grew up with a lot of gifts, it’s really hard if you’re not surrounded with the right kind of people, even if they mean well, it can feel very isolating, and it can cause a lot of dissociation. He’s a lot more social than I am, so he medicated to maintain his personal connections. It’s hard to be a Gemini and to have his gifts, I can only imagine.  It really infuriates me that when he talks about his “shhhh” schtick; quieting the mind and telling it to shut up because those are his gifts trying to talk to him, those are his thoughts trying to help him, those are his intuition trying to come through for him. He just adopted the idea that if everyone around him tells him to shut up then he should tell himself to shut up too, and it makes me really angry. He’s surrounded by assholes who hinder his growth because it makes them uncomfortable.

I’ve been seeing similarities in the charts that I’ve studied, both of the people that buy readings from me and celebrities I look at and even just my friends and family. There’s a big shift in the collective coming. He’s a big part of that.

[zartophski]

I know nothing so tell me about your Four Swords Link if you got him and/or Shadow please and thank you

Oh boy do I have some guys for you! >:) the Four Swords Links account for 8/33 of the Links in my au, so here's an info dump of what I have for them so far:

Four Swords:

So, the Four Swords game is going to be one set of FS wielders. These Links were actually quadruplets and so, when one of them pulled the sword, it was just the sword that split into four, because it recognized four heroes already existing. In this au, their nicknames are One, Two, Three, and Four, which sounds kinda strange but I have a Reason for it.

I'm taking these four guys and giving them the upper class background. They're from a noble family, been childhood friends with Zelda but in a semi-diplomatic way, etc etc. But they're all named Link. So they got numbered, I guess, when they were born because blah blah father worried about inheritance claims so Link the First, Link the Second, etc etc so they have known birth order and known placement in the political family hierarchy. Now, this used to go to One's head as the "I'm the first born so I'm the most important" and the whole group squabbled all the time about it because that's just how they were treated growing up. But they had some rough times during their quest and definitely said some things in the heat of the moment that had to be talked over at some point so now they're mostly chill. And they're now very attached to each other, because they went through hell and back and figured out they were all miserable because of the family issues and they're making amends now and looking out for each other.

Four Swords Adventures:

These guys. These are the Colors that might be more familiar to most people. I'm not basing their entire vibes on the Manga, but if I do pull ideas from the Manga it'd be for this quad. They're Green, Blue, Red, Vio, and they did know a Shadow Link, but I'm still on the fence on what Shadow's role will be here.

Their story follows the plot line of the game: rescue the six maidens, find the four stones, save the brainwashed knights, climb the Tower of the Winds and save Zelda. And then they fight Ganon. I'm thinking their backstory would be, again, kind of like the Manga. He was one Link, the son of a knight who was one of Zelda's personal guards. The sword splits him into the four, and doesn't revert him back to one ever. So now his dad is kinda like "damn okay ive got four sons now" and Zelda's like "sick more friends" and the four are generally unbothered. It was a shaky start, but they're generally a lot more in sync than the Numbers are.

And for funsies, here's some more tidbits about the individual fighting styles of the Numbers and the Colors

One: ranged support, big fan of bombs

Two: Uses the bow mostly, also the one with the Gnat Hat, so pretty good with stealth too

Three: Puzzle solver, sword wielder, really good with the boomerang

Four: the best in the group with hand to hand and general melee combat. prefers the sword for sure

Green: Fire rod fire rod fire rod fire-- It's the only magic item they have that he's not terrible at. But recognizes that not every solution is fire, so mostly uses the sword

Red: Mostly sword-based combat, really good eye for details and clues and puzzles

Blue: Magic! Holding on to both the bombos medallion and the quake medallion. Very big and powerful magic, definitely prefers that over the sword

Vio: ranged support with the bow, but he also has a hammer that he is not afraid to use

I still have more to figure out about them, but this is the basic rundown of what I have so far <3

[russeliarat]

Decided to do a oneshot for Four Swords Himekawa based on an irl experience I had and the internal feelings I still have about it. Special props to people who relate. So I’ve never written anything for FS properly before so please go easy, I’m trying my best lol.

Despite what others may think, being a shadow to someone was a comforting endeavour. You didn’t have to move or interact with others and could stay as anti-social as you wanted. You could feel the tickling of a faint conversation from your other halves’ mind against the tips of your ears, just out of reach. You had ever-lasting companionship.

But recently, a sense of unusual dread found its way wriggling into Shadow Link’s body when thinking of such things. He could feel the tension of his friend’s body in his own muscles - actually, did he even have muscles in a flat form dictated by light? His eyes always felt tired, and though there was no way to emerge from his shadow form than being asked to by the other Links, he could bet that if he looked in a mirror, his own eyes would be dull and bloodshot. It was hard not to notice Link’s eyebags and random, sleepless twitching, even as he worked hard to fall asleep and gain back his usually repetitive sleep routine.

But why did it bother him so? He couldn’t tell if the building pressure festering within his chest, making his body red-hot with a chill, was his or Blue’s or one of the others’ or even all of them. Which was strange. All four of them had gotten so much better at teamwork, especially while having to control a messy body with each of their four exaggerated, somewhat narrow-minded, well, minds. Or at least, he assumed so. The four coloured Links hadn’t split apart for more than several weeks at that point, so either everything fit perfectly into place or everything had silently imploded.

Shadow guessed he shouldn’t have been as surprised as he was when Link found himself unexpectedly crying in the middle of the night. He wanted to do something about it, but he couldn’t figure out who was upset (thought it was likely Red as usual), but supposed it was for the best that he couldn’t speak freely in this form. He would only mess everything up, especially with how he knew only Vio really took any kind of liking to him, even if it all turned out to be fake in the end.

He also was surprised he was surprised when Link started lashing out at every inanimate object in his general vicinity, especially since Blue and Red were the only ones to be almost exclusively dedicated to strong emotions in this merged form, but usually Vio and Green kept them in check. Shadow felt his knuckles burn with every punch and his ankles painfully itch the longer Link tried so hard to keep himself crouching to the floor in a corner. The most he could do was stare into the cracked mirror across the room that looked accusingly at its assaulter and his reflection. It was odd to see his own face in the mirror after being confined to a black silhouette for so long. It felt so foreign - so wrong. He felt like an imposter in his own body. Just the idea sent himself into the early stages of a depressive rage, let alone the mere image of the broken mirror itself setting off alarm bells in his head.

Shadow wondered if Link could feel him trying to stroke the boy’s thick, blond hair. He wondered if each individual Link would be able to feel it. Where his hands cold? Where they too calloused and bruised? Did his sharp nails hurt Link’s scalp?

So absorbed in his own mullings, Shadow Link barely snapped out his stupor when his companion stood up and snatched a metallic, very familiar sword - a sword he still hated - from beside the bedpost. The light that came from the glow of the Four Sword, sending prisms of harsh, bright light all over the room, even momentarily terrified him, though he had only the small condolence that it didn’t scare him as much as it did before.

Once again, Shadow was a mere bystander.

Each coloured Link stood facing the wall beside their bed in a line before reclusing into their own invisible corner of a square, looking at each other in their own distraught, accusatory way. It was peculiar to see Vio so silently upset and Green so out of control. And Red so angry. And Blue so frustrated, all he could do was shake and let the tears flow. The room felt so hot from the tension, but Shadow couldn’t help his blood running cold.

All at once, the stuffy, silent, tense air collapsed in on itself and everything seemed to go to shit in a matter of seconds.

“For the last damn time,” Green cried out in a commanding yet whispering volume, “I’m sick of how you’re all treating each other. All three of you need to get your act together before we lose control somewhere we can’t discuss this properly.”

“As if that didn’t already happen!” Unexpectedly, it was Red who seethed with rage. “And don’t act so above us! You’ve been all high and mighty as leader, but you know you’re just as bad as the others.”

“It was you who got us into this mess, Green,” Vio pointed out, a cool side-eye pointed vaguely in his direction.

“And how was it my fault father got attacked by that damn monster?!”

Vio seemed to spit out his words, “You suggested we take out that monster camp. If you didn’t decide to override mine and Red’s judgements, our father would have followed us into the forest.”

“It wasn’t even just my decision! Blue wanted to kill them just as much as I did!”

Blue stood there, covering his wet face in a mixture of assuredly embarrassment, distress, and some form of anger - there was always anger. But even then, he was deathly silent apart from his hiccups and uncontrollable sobs. How out of character...

“Even then, it was father’s decision to follow us anyway!” Green continued trying so hard to defend himself, wringing out the hem of his tunic in frustration.

“Don’t kid yourself.” Red seemed to be inching closer to Green. “You go on to accuse Blue when he openly told you he was unsure we could kill them, and now you accuse our own father when he gravely injured in a medical room?! Why, Green?”

“He isn’t an idiot who needs to be protected, Red! Nor is he some superhuman, god-like being who can kill every monster in Hyrule!”

“It seems sometimes you forget that too, Green...”

“Oh for once in your life, Vio, just have some damn empath-”

“SHUT UP!” Blue cried out suddenly, shaking in his spot. “ALL OF YOU JUST SHUT UP! STOP FIGHTING FOR TWO SECONDS!”

It had its desired effect.

“IT’S MY FAULT, OKAY?! IT’S MY FAULT IF THIS SETTLE THIS STUPID ARGUMENT! FATHER’S DYING AND NO ONE CARES!”

The Blue Link’s knees fell weak, falling to the wooden floor with a harsh thud, still sobbing into his hands. His usual anger seemed to manifest into something somewhat self-deprecating. Was this really what his friends had resorted to? One so optimistic about those close to him, he’d defend them ‘til the Sun died out. The second so confident and egotistical in his leadership, he’s become so sure it wasn’t his fault at all and implicates others. The third so calculating and distant, he seemed cruel in his analysis. And the fourth in such a self-deprecating, furious spiral, his nervous breakdown finally spilled over the edge. Shadow found himself discovering and questioning a lot that night, huh?

Vio humphed, turning away from the group on his heel. Green grabbed his shoulder, equally cruel in his tone as he demanded to know where his counterpart was going. 

“To find Shadow Link,” he answered simply. “I’d rather be with him than any of you right now.”

“Of course you’d rather be with some manipulative bastard that almost killed us. So fitting for someone who can’t even decide if he wants to be on our side or his,” Green mumbled.

“I dare you to say that again,” Vio struck him a vicious, deadly glare. When Green didn’t respond, Vio smacked his hand away from his shoulder.

This felt so wrong. Was Shadow stuck in his own nightmare? He felt so betrayed. Or was terrified a more fitting word?

“Shadow!” Vio called out, “Where are you?”

He had barely a choice but to emerge. If he hid any longer, another fight was sure to ensue without intervention. Not like he could change anything since his presence usually meant trouble for others, though. Shadow guessed Green possessed the same line of thinking despite the many months since Vaati’s defeat and their first merge. He technically shouldn’t even be alive right now.

The corner felt so comforting when he saw the stares he got. Even being stuck in that rickety, broken mirror would be better than being stared down. Perhaps it was unusual to see the tears from Blue, or the sharp glare still held in his crimson eyes from Vio, or Red’s intense furrowed brow, or Green’s confident, offensive posture. They were him and he was them, after all.

“You just had to call him out.” Shadow wasn’t sure who muttered that comment. He could barely keep track of these new developments in everyone’s personalities anymore.

It didn’t matter since Vio snapped back at him with an icy voice. “Are you going to accuse him of killing father too?” It must have been Red, then. Red always got unnerved around Shadow, though his once innocent nature kind of made that a no-brainer, especially through the traumatic shit Shadow may or may not have put him - all of them - through.

“Why are you dragging him into this? It’s not like he even has a family to care about, anyway! He doesn’t even know what any of this mess feels like!”

Right. That.

He should feel offended, but he’s learned he shouldn’t if he knows what’s best for himself. After all, once a bad guy, always a bad guy. It’s not like he has empathy and considers himself a part of Link’s family. It’s not like he can’t express his emotions without being accused of being a liar or manipulative like he once was. It’s not like people can change.

“Low blow.”

Shadow couldn’t even fathom who was talking now. He didn’t even want to know. He focused solely on the pathetic mutterings of Blue, still curled into himself on his knees, ignored on the floor. Shadow never thought he’d relate to the angry one.

“-dow. Shadow!” Vio was calling for him. Shadow was so wrapped up in his own mind, he didn’t even realise Vio’s tight grip on his shoulder this entire time. He barely caught the annoyed huff Vio let out upon finally being heard.

“Yeah?”

“Forget it.” And he walked away. He walked away. Without another word.  He left.

Shadow looked around to see Red and Green similarly annoyed with him. Did he just see Green rolling his eyes at him? No, surely he’d gone mad... right?

And they too filtered out of the room.

Shit.

Suddenly, it dawned on him. They didn’t care to talk to him. They didn’t care to finally allow him to roam around and form his own opinions different to theirs. They asked him a question to seek his approval. And he failed to respond the way even one of them wanted. Again. He’s just a failure to them. And they’ll never want him out again.

Shadow look down at Blue, now crying into his hugged knees. Poor, pathetic thing. He sat beside Blue, fiddling with whatever he could find, but it didn’t take long before Blue threw himself into Shadow’s arms. And it was just him and Blue, against the world.

He didn’t know what to think now. Not just, but most definitely, about the argument and changed dynamics within the group and the irreparable damage this night caused, but also how being the Links’ shadow didn’t seem quite right anymore.

He didn’t get a chance to move or interact with anyone because they were embarrassed he would do something wrong. The tickling of faint conversation upon his ears from the Links’ minds, just out of reach, felt like whispers he was never meant to hear. Was his ‘ever-lasting companionship’ always as cold and one-sided as it is now?

It was enough to make a shadow cry.

[apho-sappho]

The brain is not working but I wanted to send something but I don’t have proper questions sooooo, is there anything you want to talk about?

Or if you want specific asks about the wonderful wips uhhhhhhh is there any details about how they (any of them) look that you’ve not talked about yet? Or haven’t said in a while?

Like, is there any prominent difference between Clammie (Calamity, sleepy brain wanted to call him Clammie and who am I to refuse) and Wild visually? Besides the scaring I guess, I assume Cal has less scars… maybe not though you’ll have to say!

HEHEHE I have so many ideas for the difference between Clammie and Wild,,, for one I imagine Clammie would have a lot more lightning & fire burns as well as some frostbite ones below his armor bc of the fire & lightning & ice moblins, lynels, hinox, and guardians he's had to deal with. I also imagine he'd have some malice scars bc surprise surprise there's also malice moblins, lynels, hinox, and guardians (which are also HORRIBLE to fight)

I imagine he'd have the same length of hair tbh but in combat he religiously puts it up, he refuses to allow it to become a weapon against him. I also imagine he'd be a lot more ambivalent/positive towards bananas too

Also, he fears the other champions a LOT more than Wild does. As someone who mains Mipha,,, holy fuck she can be terrifying (her finisher is literally drowning the enemy,,,,,,). ALSO, I think he'd have a lot more violent means of ending enemies, because his flail finisher when it comes to lynels is straight up lassoing it around its head and fucking yanking, and I imagine if it was a more graphic game he would've straight up beheaded it. I really wanna write a fic where he does that and the chain reacts

Generally I think Calamity would still be 17 when he joins the chain meanwhile Wild would be like . 19 or freshly 20

One thing I find really funny about the differences between botw/totk and aoc is that in aoc you can just straight up down a noble pursuit as Link and it gives a +7% damage boost, which I find hilarious bc Wild can't drink yet this fresh faced 17 year old (actually I'm pretty sure he was still 16 when we first get the recipe for noble pursuit) can

I joked with a friend that he just straight up blacks out whenever he drinks it and wakes up covered in blood with the champions staring at him

I also imagine that he has a very high liquor tolerance and anything under literal moonshine & noble pursuit doesn't effect him very much so when they're at bars he and Wind are usually having serious conversations/vents about their past meanwhile the rest have had 2 cups of beer and are karaoke-ing in the back

For my other Links/Linkle wip a couple fun facts:

I plan to break them up w/ parts about certain members of the other chain, the first one is focused on Vidow and how he now fits in with the group (plus Four minus the brain's attempts at not drawing attention back in the chain)

The second one will be focused on Calamity and his relationship with Revali bc I am nothing if not predictable (also plus Wild dealing with the fact he's in the past)

After the events of FS, Four merges again but is COMPLETELY disjointed, and Dot has to use her magic to force a split so they can figure out what to do

Three starts crying over a rice ball

Linkle's grandmother is a religious type who won't let Linkle and the group sleep in the same room

Time and Wind team up to threaten Cia

Aaaand that's all I can think of for tonight!!! I'm also working on my Sheikah Warriors au rn

[thiefxking]

Just some random Link (multiple Links) hcs and Timeline hcs.

Please note, before reading any of this, that this is just an idea of mine and I am not going to cling to it for anything. This is mostly just me trying to make sense of things and sharing what I thought of. I blame my doing this on having drifted her from the Tolkien fandom... this stuff happened there all the time in rp and not.

The Links

Sky is not the First Link but he is the one who started the Curse and that nonsense. First, the actual First Link, is Sky's ancestor (possibly his grandfather but definitely not his father). Sky is also the ancestor of the rest, and is where some of them get Dreams from.

Minish (possibly the Hero of the Four Sword but possibly not) is not related to most of the Links but is Wind and Spirit's Ancestor.

Time is the ancestor to Legend (see the Fic I have yet to write), Wind (see a different fic or hc that I have yet to write) and Twilight. He is aware of this but only when in a different time period because the Goddess of Time (who shall be named eventually... i hope) doesn't want time to be messed up more than it already is. He is actually alive but came close enough to dying that the part of his being that was the Hero's Spirit moved on. (He was in the twilight realm for a while and is now a spirit wolf wandering)

Legend is the Hero of Hyrule's ancestor. Legend is actually two different Links in a red robe with an extra side of trauma for flavor. He eventually found Marin again (thanks to Warriors) and she was his wife (I have more ideas but that's all for now for him).

Twilight is Four's ancestor (FSA) and Warriors' ancestor (HW) before eventually becoming the ancestor and travel buddy of the Hero of the Wilds, he copies Time with that and either somehow travels there as a Spirit and is a wolf, or he 'dies' somehow and is there (See yet another fic or hc that I have yet to write).

Wind is Spirit's ancestor.

The Timeline

First's time through Minish (who probably forged the Four Sword but idk yet since I haven't finished that game much less played FS) is one solid time period.

Time's time period is where things get weird and the Timeline breaks and breaks and the Goddess of Time whines about certain others not paying attention. The first break is where Time dies (obviously) and we all know that runs down to the Hero of Hyrule (loz and taol). The second break is obvious as that's how we get Wind and Spirit.

The third possible break is less obvious since it may have been just a dream, that's in MM where no obvious heroes follow him since he completely left that timeline. I have become fond of seeing this as another break because it, in my mind, explains why Hyrule sort of backslid technologically. In TP and WW we know they had cannons and so likely firearms of some sort but in ALttP and the past era in TotK we don't see any of that technology. Further in OoT the soldiers all had metal armor, something that also seems to be the case in FS and to a lesser extent SS where the academy students all seemed to wear some sort of chain mail. Ultimately I want to say that the past of TotK was in this timeline set before the timelines converged (something I like attributing to HW) but not long before since Zelda was there after and all the locations in BotW had names from people or places in all three timelines.

The last timeline is obviously the one with Twilight and the most direct path, in my mind, to the Era of Breath of the Wild.

... I am not an expert on any of this but it's the best I can some up with to explain some of the stuff we see in all of that.

[bluntforcefem]

You mentioned needing to figure out their TotK outfits, so what do you have for their BotW outfits? And what was their awakening like?

current outfit sketches! numbers are shorthand, because i think the way that botw link's aspects would split are wildly different from fs link's (i will get into this in a sec!) if i HAD to assign rough fs assignments, it's vio -> blue -> (???) -> green in that order (there's no good red stand-in - i don't think botw link is Built Like That)

my concept for their awakening is liable to change, but i've settled pretty comfortably on the concept that instead of a separate four sword, link was put in the shrine of resurrection with the master sword - and fi went, hey, it's been a hundred years and all your companions are dead, and i haven't been able to heal either, this is a problem. so she expends the last of her energy to split link into four, as it was in old legends she didn't quite witness - that way link wouldn't be alone on his journey. it works, mostly. has some side effects (hi, shadow) & i think a lot of the four swords shit has otherwise integrated itself in here, so it isn't solely for link's loneliness (the vestiges of hylia probably gave it a nudge) but. fi cares. anyways link wakes up in the shrine of resurrection and there is Four Of Him (old man vc hey. i need to make more paragliders)

here's my original concept sketches as to how each link shakes out

which basically splits them into a two-way dichotomy of past-present, wherein like. two is present-present, where both their personality and motivation is formed by their present circumstances, and three would be present-past, where their personality is shaped by their original one but their motivation is not their duty to the princess/hyrule but rather the world itself for the sake of it. one is past-past, four is past-present. you know how it goes. like i said before, i felt like botw link splitting is different because he has a different thing he needs to learn from the experience? and he's a different person from fs link - considerably more mature, and also considerably more repressed (HI, SHADOW. dont even fuckin worry about it). the tone is different but the silliness remains. they name themselves after random objects they find in the wild rather than colors

back to the totk outfit thing: my only concrete ideas so far is that one (stick) is a dinraal outfit type of guy, while i think three (bee) would fit really well with the mystic headpiece (but coordinating that with the rest of a fitting outfit might be difficult). i spent a lot of time tonight just gathering outfit pieces from around the map to start testing shit out but theres so much fashion souls

[breadwithpoprocks-fandom]

ops tags^

So like, Sheik (a!oot) is a fighter in smash but in-game...kinda gets his shit handed to him at every turn lmao. Same with TP Zel, so those two are up for debate. Child!OOT has virtually no fighting skills but when she grows up she might participate in the Imprisoning War to yeet Ganon into the Twilight realm so its also a shrug for her. (Tho they both can wield bows!). ALBW is also a fighter in smash but afaik there's no real evidence she can fight outside of it.

Tetra fights in HW! And, of course HW Zelda/Sheik can fight in a variety of ways. Good for her! ST Zelda ALSO fights in HW! Though it's as her ghost/armour form so she'd probably need some training for her hylian one. Unless post-game she retains the ability to go ghost?

AOC can also fight since yknow that's the flavor of game and she'd be one of the nukes. Sksw Zel would also be a nuke BUT! she's also a melee fighter! Remember that she was in the knight's academy too! She knows how to wield a sword! And while I don't think BOTW Zelda would be too helpful-- a lack of training and also the Hylia's powers fading post-game, there's a case to be made with TOTK Zel since she spent however long in the past participating in THAT Imprisioning war plus whatever power you hc her keeping from the secret stone deal.

ALTTP/LA Zel defo has some kind of magic ability (tho whether its combative is up for debate) but I know in the manga she can wield a fencing sword and tried to attack Agahnim with it (and also DID attack Link with it lol).

OOX Zelda has no evidence of fighting or magic afaik. Neither does FS, FSA, or MC.

(edit bc I forgot the original games lmao) (and wanted to add the unofficial ones)

LOZ1 Zel has no fighting ability OR magic ability in canon but like... that is a world overrun with monsters. IMO she's got to have SOMETHING. AOL Zel is finniky bc in game she's asleep and clearly failed the fight with the evil wizard what's-his-face BUT in all the supplemental material (cartoon, manga, comics) she's a fighter on par with Link (but without magic afaik).

NOW ONTO THE UNOFFICIAL/UNRELEASED ZELDAS

EOW! You cannot keep her from the front lines after her adventure. She is NOT going to watch the people she cares about get spirited away again. No idea if she's going to lose her wand at the end but even if she does she'll find a way, she's very creative. Would be more than happy to learn from the others.

COH Zel- she's already a fighter, tho she might dance while doing it. Same with Shadow Zel from the same game.

FOE Zel didn't really do anything? But by WOG she's become a boss bitch protagonist. Good for her!

ZA Zel is also a boss bitch protagonist and has genuinely seen the Horrors. With regular tloz stuff? Easy. A nuke not because of magic, but because she can just DECIMATE them.

Hilda-- that bitch BITES!! She is a FIGHTER!

Styla (TH)....Is not a fighter. But she is very good at stealth, so maybe a scout? If she were to learn, she'd be the rogue.

Already mentioned the original cartoon BUT Captain N Zelda is also a bad bitch u can't keep her down. She doesn't bite but WILL go for the throat <3

If I ever write a Zeldas meet au (it'll happen soon) it'll be over in like 10k words/10 in fic minutes. They wouldn't have trust issues or whatever they would just fix it immediately by pointing the nuclear bomb Zeldas at the problem. Maybe soften it up a bit first with the melee fighters. Only reason it would take longer was if the problem wasn't right next to them to start with

[rikeijo]

Today's translation #27

(Will my wish come true and IceAdo manifest itself if I do 1000 translations...?)

Production notes Part 2.

Ep 8.

Victor and JJ

Victor is cold towards JJ simply because he is not interested in him (laugh). He doesn't even really remember JJ's name, because he is a person, who doesn't even try to remember something if he is not interested in it. In contrast, for JJ, Victor is the person JJ needs to challenge. Rather than looking up to him, JJ wants to be equal to Victor, his rival, so to not think of Victor as somebody he cannot compare to, JJ from time to time calls out to Victor as if they are friends. But I think JJ is afraid to lose more than anyone else. (Kubo)

Ep 9.

Link to the real world

We thought that because it's fiction, we should have the settings a little bit ahead of the real world, and so we made Seung-Gil and Emil jump quad toe loops. Nowadays a few skaters can already land this jump successfully. About Seung-Gil, I think he will be in a great condition during next Olympics. It seems that he and JJ had some history together when they were competing in juniors, so I think it's quite fun to imagine what kind of past it was. (Kubo)

Ep 10.

Otabek Altin

In private life, he's a DJ, and has a lot of street, or should I say rascal friends. That's why Yurio thinks Otabek is so cool, because he has so many things that Yurio doesn't have, but wants to have. Yurio was very happy that Otabek wanted to be his equal, without any strict superior-inferior hierarchy. And on that day, when Otabek asked him "Are you coming? Or are you not coming?"… (Kubo) [Note: There's nothing more. She just left it like that… xD]

Ep 11.

[Nothing here]

Ep 12.

Victor's tears

We animated Victor's tears so they are not flowing down his cheeks, but fall down from the ends of his eyelashes. People who are not used to crying cry just like that, without changing their face expression or trying to wipe their eyes, with tears just dropping down, one by one. (Kubo)

A secret story about production of the last episode

When I was writing the storyboards, the temporary title of this episode was "Yuuri says he's going to retire.". I wanted to make Victor say: "The kanji 勝 in Yuuri's surname stands for 自分勝手, thinking only about yourself/being self-centered", but he doesn't speak Japanese that well, so I threw that idea away (laugh). Also, in the storyboards I included a moment, when before Yurio's FS, Yuuri tries to tell him that he's going to retire, but he can't say it, so finally he doesn't… But because we didn't have enough time it was cut out. (Kubo)

Phichit's dream

Phichit didn't tell Yuuri about his dream because he also wants to surprise him. Every skater thinks not only about their future, but also how can they build a world, where they can enjoy skating even more and about what they can do for their country. (Kubo)

[Notes: "The kanji 勝 in Yuuri's surname stands for 自分勝手, thinking only about yourself/being self-centered" - Imagine how absolutely hilarious would it be if Victor started analyzing kanjis like a Japanese language nerd during their argument...? Shame Mitsurou didn't use this idea... That would be just too cute to witness ✨ And what Yuuri's reaction would be like...? Mitsuroooou...]

[stormblessed95]

https://mobile.twitter.com/KpopTruth3/status/1455506675209736200 is there some genuineness to this thread ? ( I think you will delete this because you usually don't answer questions which is against your idea. Even if there are real video proofs you won't answer it. But I hope you atleast answer thus, because there are original clips of each incident attached to the thread. )

If yes, God he's so rude. The way he HIT jimin with that pillow, it's does looks so painful. You can compare how yoongi and jk hit Jimin. Don't say it's just a soft pillow because he himself told he got really hit. So it IS painful and he knows it, we knows it and he hit jimin 3x times unprovoked. He needs some help really.

And calling other members ugly ? OK some members have called each other different names in PAST, when they were teenagers, inexperienced and not groomed. But JK calling jimin's bare face ugly ? In 2015 when he's about to be an adult ? Or in 2020 calling taehyung 'frog' and making fun of his dress, taehyung looked down. JK making fun as if he's God who's extra handsome. Taehyung's green suit and jimin's green Gucci jacket trended and they were known even In those names among locals and JK wore some cheap check jackets lol. Ofcourse he lacks taste in styling and dressing.

And who is he to decide what is important and unimportant in a group vlive. Members speak things they have to say, when he himself does 2 - 3 hours boring solo vlives. Atleast jimin had taehyung who encouraged him to speak and namjoon questioning JK.

And jimin plays basketball when he WANTS. And if he wishes he shows it to us. Why did dude is making comments on it behind jimin's back. As if he himself didn't bought his dog for extra attention and screentime. That dog had more screentime than jimin.

From this thread I think he's having some major jealousy issue with other 2 members of maknae line. He knows they are his major competitors in fandom regarding streaming and solo fanbase. And he knows Taehyung have the biggest fanbase individually and jimin have the most loyal fans in fandom no matter solo or biased. So he's showing his jealous ass through these weird behaviors.

But at the same time he's crooked af, so is using the big 2 ships including these members. Someday use taehyung and avoid jimin like plague and if jimin expose him, will say it's coz he's bored etc. No wonder they are called FS when jungkook behave like this. Next day will stick to jimin, be rude to taehyung and say he is and was awkward him. Need some help immediately.

Not me letting you bait me into answering this. The reason I don't normally answer stuff like this is not because it "goes against my views" but to try and save you the embarrassment of announcing to the world that you are an idiot who let's themselves get manipulated by any kind of long thread online with out of context video clips or screenshots and twisted words. Should have just saved us all some time and told me that you are incapable of thinking for yourself. Your thread is from a known Jungkook anti. YOU are a jungkook anti. And you should be embarrassed. Everything you posted was twisted and taken out of context. This literally just makes you look so dumb.

You, my dear, have a lot of suppositions that you’re considering fact here, and I think, when you have a minute, you should take a good chunk of time to reflect about everything you’re sure is true. The only person who seems jealous and unhappy here.... is you.

As for everyone else, the account linked in the anon message is a huge JK anti. All they do is hate on JK. That's the whole point of their account. Please go report and block them.

[vagueandominousvibes]

Something I wanted to say that I like about your recent FS fic chapter: I love the way the story is affected by having Arn be the pov character. Not only is it interesting to see his thought process and trauma, but seeing the extent of the latter I think keeps him very sympathetic even when he was fighting with Vio. Because yeah, Shadow attacked the castle and then made Arn think his son was dead, on top of everything else. He's obviously gonna have strong feelings about that. And it doesn't help that Vio is the Link doing this, since he can come across as aloof and even unnerving at times. We as readers know the truth of both Vio and Shadow, but Arn of course doesn't. Love that dramatic irony.

Hi there!

I'm so glad to hear you're enjoying the way the story is affected by Arn's POV!! One of the joys of fanfics is that the reader usually knows more than the character(s), especially if the POV character only has a minor/liminal role in the original work, so exploring that minor/liminal character's thoughts and feelings based on their incomplete/warped knowledge makes for a pretty interesting narrative. It's essentially playing "cat and mouse", but the mouse is the knowledge the character is trying to catch, and whether or not the character catches it depends on what trust they manage to build.

And yes, Arn's traumas play a large role in this. I'm not a parent myself, but I have a younger sister who I love very much, and the idea of losing her — even momentarily — is not one I like to entertain. I don't think Arn's pain would be any less than that — especially when he discovered that Link actually was gone, and he instead had four other sons who, sure, are somewhat like Link, but also are different from him. I very much think he blames Shadow for his loss, and the idea of Shadow being brought back? It raises all his guards. It's not going to be easy for him to work through that.

[scrawnytreedemon]

AUGH JUST SAW YOUR RESPONSE OKAY *throws a small boy at you* Vaati!!! (please god I hope nobody asked about him while I wasn’t looking-)

THERE WE GOOOO!! And not to fear! We alone are mouse-boy enthusiasts in this chili's tonight.

Right! For some context, I've only had direct experience with Minish Cap, and that was via an LP. I have a general gist of his motivations in Four Sword and Four Sword Adventures, but nothing more; as such, my characterisation will largely hinge on his depiction in Minish Cap.

Without further ado--! Let's begin.

First impression: Oh god, there's a fair bit? I had the idea that he was this gloating, menacing but lowkey bland villain by wider-fanbase standards who fit the mould of your standard arrogant-cunt sorceror-- Either that, or this bitch Gumpy™. There were also characterisations of him being this leery fuck who didn't know how to keep his hands off women-- I imagine largely thanks to his deeds in Four Swords.

Impression now: He feels like something right out of some early '00s kid DeviantArt page and I mean that in the most delightful sense. He's literally an albino mouse-fairy boy who was an apprentice to one of the most revered sages in his people's society, only to go, "NO!!! I do n o t t e wish to be Tiny Mouse anymore!!!" and then fucking stole the cap and fucked shit up. Vaati comes across as so juvenile here, and I'm genuinely surprised I don't see people outside of hardcore-Vaati stans lean into this? Because that's pretty fucking important, the fact that he's essentially a preteen that stole a bunch of power to... become God??? His motivations are disjointed, and while it's smart that he sat back and watched instead of leaping in like many others(cough, cough, Ghirahim) tried to do, but at the same time it lends itself to an utter lack of presence on his part, as he game's antagonist-- And I suppose this methodology makes sense, considering he is a kid. I say this about every Zelda villain, and I'll say it about him too: there's alot of untapped potential at play here, I think, were you to merely examine his character or toss him into a room with others and see how that character plays out. Vaati's fundamental immaturity makes a good contrast or even unveiling in regards to the motivations of his compatriots; maybe calling into question whether any of them know what the fuck they're doing. On a minor note, he's alot more jovial than I anticipated. It's obviously of the aloof-sneering variety, but I really didn't expect it; again, I'm surprised no-one thinks to convey this? It was a pleasant little discovery.

Favorite moment: The twist-appearance as Link and Zelda flee to the Elemental Sanctuary-- I knew it was going to happen, if they'd left it there a major thread in regards Vaati's ascension would have gone unresolved. Even still, the bossfight afterwards was underwhelming, from the looks of things, y'know, considering he's a demigod, but again I think that ties back to his complete lack of experience and self-discipline; and I'll be real, I was side-eyeing Ezlo the entire time with how willing he seemed to dismiss Vaati and place all the blame on him; nevermind that Vaati was his charge, and his behaviour speaks to Ezlo's methods more than anything else, but I'm getting off track.

Idea for a story: I'd say a moment of quiet reflection; maybe he's hauled himself up to his (stolen) room after a long day, and we get insight into his thought process and motivations. Maybe even some second guesses-- Only briefly, of course. Why stop, when he's this close to becoming a God? But it's lonely at the top; lonelier than one can ever imagine. But who is he to worry? At least he'll be lonely and powerful, and with that power he'll... he'll... He'll get to it, whent he time comes.

Unpopular opinion: Probably that I find more mature, surly depictions of him jarring? But I'm guessing that has more to do with his FS and FSA appearances-- Again, limited scope here. I don't think this one will be particularly controversial by Tumblr Zelda standards, but I really found it so jarring how Ezlo and the narrative as a whole seems so keen on avoiding why Vaati got here? All we're told is that he was fascinated by the darkness in the hearts of men, but like, why? And why did that metastasise into such destructive tendencies? Because alot of people do get curious of morbid topics, and in regards to psychology, that can blossom into an education in that field should that spark be nurtured-- I think it would have been incredibly beneficial to have had a Minish capable of looking into man's darker nature and seeking caution based on that-- After all, wasn't Ezlo's inability to anticipate that what lead to all this? The only time I can remember when Ezlo properly touches on the issue is at the very end when he apologises to Princess Zelda, saying that it was his fault any of this happened-- And he's right to! Especially considering what Zelda's been through. But any consideration as to Vaati and what brought him here is sweeped under the rug immediately. There's no desire to examine this; no want to dirty their hands with this filth. And like, is that not concerning? Regardless of the affection in it that becomes apparent toward the end, Ezlo reprimands and talks down to Link on serveral occasions; am I the only one wondering what part that played in all of this? How it could have worsened an already precarious mind like Vaati's? To be very clear, this isn't an absolution of Vaati's deeds-- I have no interest in doing that, as I don't think villains need to be absolved in order to gain consideration; rather, this is a frustration of how Zelda once again refuses to give that consideration to its villains, save for the fleetest of moments.

Favorite relationship: The thing about Vaati is that he's isolated, almost completely divorced from the cast in any meaningful interpersonal way; all bridges are either burned, or absent. And that's jarring, isn't it? I think any relationship could be a good one, and take his character in a number of interesting directions. Link? A foil, in regards to them both being under Ezlo's tutelage, and a potential for him to examine his own maturity; a question if he retains any innocence yet; maybe, even, if any of this is worth that. Ezlo? A confronation of the past he seems all to eager to throw away; all the bitterness and the contempt, all the hurt they both seem loathe to acknowledge. Zelda? Well, she's in stone for most of the game so I don't know how that'd work, but assuming this is an AU where she's merely interned instead of petrified, I think the examination would be similar in regards to Link's, but with the questioning amped up to 100 late-arc, that despite everything he's doing to set himself above others he's taken a shine to her, and now he's stuck wanting to pursue his goals but also... He admires her. He can't help it. He's loathe to admit it, but that firey sweetness she seems to hold for everyone and everything is enthralling; and they all return it, too-- Maybe, just maybe, he considers, even a little, that love may be more desirable over power-- Whether he pursues it, however, is to be seen.

Favorite headcanon: Oh!!! God, I can't remember who suggested it, but when I was scrolling through the tag, someone brought up the idea that Vaati's boss-morphs might be the closest we have to actually catching a glimpse at Hylia's true form-- And I can see it, now! The whole eye-thing actually makes alot more sense, if you consider it cognate to the Sheikah All-Seeing Eye. On the whole, it's a wonderful headcanon that adds so much to what initally seems to be the epitome of Zelda's eye-fixation, tying a villainous character to something adjacent to light, to holiness. If I might throw another idea in here, my own observation, I can't help wondering if this:

Is far more akin to this:

Than anything else.

It's certainly make Ezlo's horror at Vaati's new form more understandable, and also serve as a lovely tie-in that Fuckign Around With Dark Forces™ leaves you looking like a little goblin person.

But yeah! That's that :) Sorry I'm late, hopefully though this makes up for that.

DO let me know what you think, though! I'd be delighted to hear your own thoughts on the matter.