I reblogged poll of underrated LU characters with most of this rant, but you know what, I want to make an original post because I feel like making this easier to read.
Wind is underrated and disrespected often in the LU fandom. Not constantly, but more than other Links.
Do you know how many fics literally sideline Wind? Like completely. They go "you go over here and away from the rest because you are baby and should not go through the horrors or this 'subject' is too mature for you"?!? Wind save Hyrule before gaining teenhood and saved a dying world, but dealing with “adult topics” is too much for him? I’m not talking sexual stuff, I do get that obviously. But anything else? Slavery, a 9-to-5 type job, or country politics, are we really going to act like Wind can’t handle those? That he has to be sidelined in most modern day AUs because “he’s a kid” and should never be anything more?
Do you know how many fics take away Spirit Tracks as a future adventure from Wind? Because ST!Link has to be his own person. And every time I’ve seen it done, Spirit’s existence come at the cost of Wind. Because Spirit is always basically identical to Wind. Most even make a point to decribe Spirit as Wind's "twin" except he's "more mature." Why? Idk, because he’s older than Wind while still being his twin? Because Spirit is in love with his Zelda? I have no idea. And when Spirit isn’t older than Wind, he’s younger and so takes the youngest spot away from Wind. The problem isn’t Wind being the youngest, it’s people treating him like he’s inept. Which they still treat him like baby even if Spirit is magically the youngest. For the record, I like Spirit Track the game a ton but for heaven's sake stop taking away from Wind for a character that isn't even canon to the LU! (Not fandom policing, just vocalizing frustrations.)
Do you know how many fics and situations I have read that defang Wind entirely? I have read fics where Wind marvels at Wild stealing weapons from enemies. Wind. The original Link that yoinked weapons from bokoblins and moblins. What is even going on? Not to mention how many act like he's the least stealthy Link when his first dungeon is all stealth based to many gamers' chagrin. And Wind keeps using that stealth throughout the game without items. I once read a fic where Warriors gets possessed, and Twilight has trauma from his Zelda, the woman Twilight spoke twice to, being possessed while fighting Warriors to defend Wind. Meanwhile Wind moped and blamed Twilight for fighting against Warriors and hurting him. Again Wind. Who had to fight a possessed Linebeck, his literal companion for that adventure. Wind in that fic was acting like Twilight was insane for fighting a possessed person. The mischaracterization simply to make another more popular Link look cooler makes me want to scream.
Win stabbed Ganondorf through the skull. This image exists:
He's the only Link to give Ganondorf such a brutal end. And yet, he's too baby to do what? Deal with horrors? Understand how to deal with a job? Not to mention that his world is more an apocalypse than any of the others except maaaybe Wild. His world literally went through a worldwide flood and was suffering from a lack of winds that cut off travel between islands isolating already small population. There were no fish in the entire Great Sea that can be eaten. The sea itself was cursed. Wind grew up in a land where people scrape and fight (not each other but scarcity) to survive. And he's a bright kid because he saw all that and chose to change it. He brought his world out of despair and into hope before becoming a teenager.
And yet too many in the LU fandom act like he's too young to know the cruelties of the world. Do you think in a world as desperate as the Great Sea, Wind was somehow sheltered from the world's cruelty? On an island that when his sister was kidnapped, the adults just shrugged their shoulders at the tragedy and let a child go save his sister on his own? When the two other girls kidnapped by Ganondorf were left for dead by their own fathers while Wind pushed on to bring his baby sister back? Where King of Red Lion (as much as I loved him) treated Wind initially like a poor replacement for a hero long gone?
Wind is not a baby. He is very child-like and bright eyed. But he's not like that because he did not see the darkness of the world. He saw it, and he chose to turn away and look at the light instead. Seeing Wind reduced to "funny pirate kid who doesn't know what consequences are" or "kid tag-along to the rest of the group" irritates me to no end. And it happens over and over and over again.
Wind is the most underrated Link at present, and it is frustrating. Please take my guy more seriously.
Ngl, optimistic characters get this treatment a lot. Like, Wind can pull pranks and act silly, and still be the guy that specifically trained with a sword before going off to rescue his sister. There seems to be this misunderstanding that characters with blood under their nails can’t act with hope in their hearts, and Wind is the LU fandom’s greatest victim of this.
Wind did stab Ganon in the head. He’s been trying to stab this large, powerful man the entire game. Still! Wind can hope for and create a future!
It’s not explicitly stated in the fun cartoon game, but Wind’s first adventure is violent. There is no promise to a princess, he does not set out bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to save Hyrule, he doesn’t even set out because he heard of a villain. Wind sets out because an evil, bitter old man stole his baby sister and is keeping her in a cage with other little girls. Wind sets out knowing, even if quietly, that when he finds Aryll he’s gonna have to take care of whatever or whoever stands in his way. His motivations are on par with Twilight (from the renowned “emo” LoZ game).
I wouldn’t call Wind gritty, because he isn’t. But he is violent in his own way. He also has unfathomable determination (courage) to protect his loved ones, whether that means fighting a centuries-old threat with a magic sword or leaping onto a ghost ship that appeared out of the misty abyss.
Wind can cry in fics. Any one of the Links can cry in fics! Given reason by the narrative. But when writers so obviously knock out or make Wind weaker on purpose because they don’t want to learn how to handle a child warrior … it’s disappointing.
And a little ironic. Half (or more) of the Links were child warriors. And people are just fine bringing that up for angst potential. But when an actual, current child warrior is in the limelight, some of you guys cower.
This isn’t a callout post, i’m just stating it bluntly this once since op brought up the topic. Just this once, i’ll say it. Some of you just don’t wanna think about Wind’s situation, and it affects how he is characterized.
Wind is fun, but he’s more than that too. Just like how Time is more than a father figure, and Wild more than an idiotic feral teenager, and Hyrule is more than a nervous healer, and Warriors is more than just a knight of Hyrule.
Wind is not some empty child character to make the other Links look like heroes. He’s the Hero of Winds.
Hey question. If I felt like making a post in the future concerning what I envision the Zeldas are up to in the LU Kpop AU, would that be okay? I know it would be different to what you had in mind, and at this point maybe my take on the AU has diverged enough to split off into its own self-contained offshoot where I do my own thing and you do yours, but I just wanted to ask to avoid stepping on toes, since you had the OG idea and all!
I'm definitely not the first one to think of this, and your ideas are so great, it would be a shame to keep them to yourself ☺️ I think for sure your ideas align more closely to the Korean Kpop culture, while mine uses the bare bones and overlays modern Hylian culture (or what I think that would look like anyway). I would be tickled to see your take!
Also, I haven't thought much of the Zelda's at all, past a few vague ideas. I would be super interested to see what you think of for them too!
I hope you wouldn't mind me taking inspiration from your ideas in the future. I think that's one of the best parts of fanfiction. I keep a running mental list of popular headcanons, it's a fun challenge to remember what fanon lore applies to each different fic 😆 same goes for me, you can take and leave what you think best applies to your world, I don't have any problem with it at all!
I read @eclectickefi 's fic, The Water Creeps to My Chest. It's an interesting take on Sky, and I ejoyed it very much. So I drew a scene. This isn't how it was described in the fic, but i wanted to keep the creeper Ghirahim vibes. There should be people bustling about in the background, but I'm tired of working on this.
I drew a background this time! It's crappy, but it's there.
Here's a link to the fic. It's short but a good read.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
As some of you may know, I'm the person behind the LU AU Directory, which is a list of major AUs for the Linked Universe fandom. (It's basically a really, really long fic rec list.)
Normally, in May, I spend several hours scouring Ao3 for new AUs that have been posted over the last year. (In this case it would be 2025-2026.) However, I don't have the time to manually sort through that many fics on Ao3 because I'm moving 1,700 miles in a month.
So I'm asking for a little help for the 3rd edition of the directory.
If you know of an AU that's been posted on Ao3 that you think deserves a spot in the directory, please let me know by sending me an ask! Anon is on so you don't have to worry about giving away your main blog.
Rules/FAQ:
The AU has to be posted on Ao3.
The AU has to affect all characters (ex: a mer AU has everyone be a mer, not just Legend).
You can suggest your own AUs.
Submissions are open until July 1st, EDT.
Please provide a link to the AU, not just the title.
You can leave commentary on why you like an AU or a silly award/superlative you think it deserves.
Feel free to reblog this post to spread awareness.
But, one issue that has remained unaddressed throughout the entirety of the LOZ canon and apocrypha is the lack of a royal mint.
This implies that rupees are a commodity (a physical material that has value) rather than a fiat currency (a currency not backed by a commodity but by faith in a specific government that ensure it's value).
Most modern governments use Fiat currencies because:
"Fiat money isn't a scarce or fixed resource like gold so central banks have much greater control over its supply. This gives them the power to manage economic variables such as credit supply, liquidity, interest rates, and money velocity." [1]
We can see evidence of Hyrulean government's failure to manage their economy during the runaway inflation of Wind's era
This graph depicts the price to buy an arrow in each specific era of the Legend of Zelda games. The price of arrows between Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass jumped by two rupees and arrow, indicating inflation.
The Origin of Rupees
So if Hyrule's Royal Family isn't minting rupees, where do they come from?
The Hyrule Compendium entry for blupees mentions that "these peculiar little things have a penchant for collecting rupees" but the identity of the compendium's author is unverified and so is their research.
The unregulated nature of Hyrule's commodities-based currency becomes a problem in Tears of the Kingdom, when Koltin asks Link to slaughter all 167 bubbelfrogs.
The life cycle of blupees, bubbelfrogs, and the King of the Mountain requires further study but it is evident that when a blubbelfrog is killed, a blupee is generated. So Link's quest to collect bubbelgems introduces 167 more blupees into Hyrule's ecosystem. These 167 extra blupees eat, drink, and more importantly to us, shit.
So how much did this quest impact Hyrule's economy? To answer that question, some math is required.
The first number we need is the average amount of rupees that blupees shit. To determine this, I shot 30 blupees and fitted the resulting data to a standard distribution.
Blupees Moneybags Georg who shat 51 rupees was an outlier who should not be counted and thus was removed from the dataset.
Multiplying that average amount of rupees that blupees shit by the blupee population [2], gives us the amount of rupees being shat in hyrule.
As you can see, a lot more rupees are being generated during the events of Tears of the Kingdom than in Breath of the Wild. How big of a problem is this? Well, to answer that, we need to know the size of Hyrule's economy.
The Size of Hyrule's Economy
I deciding to determine the size of economy by collecting the prices of every item sold in Hyrule by every merchant (except Ramella, I forgot Ramella).
With the collected price data, we are able to estimate the amount of currency changing hands among the people of Hyrule every year.
So after all this, we can see that the amount of rupees being shat per year should cause significant inflation. And yet, you may recall from our first graph, the price of arrows hasn't significantly changed and neither has the cost of most goods and services across Hyrule with some limited exceptions.
So why aren't prices skyrocketing?
Because the Great Fairies act as the Federal Reserve. They regulate the economy by removing varying amounts of money from circulation via their enchanting services.
In Breath of the Wild, the Great Fairies collectively charge Link 11,600 rupees to wake all 4 great fairies.
In Tears of the Kingdom, they charge Link per individual item of clothing enchanted. This, in total, costs 78,280 rupees.
Accounting for a target 2% rate of inflation, the Great Fairies remove 3.28% of all rupees shat during Breath of the Wild. In Tears of the Kingdom, their rupee removal rate is 5.17% of all rupees being shat.
The Great Fairies are definitely removing less rupees than are being shat but most blupees inhabit far-flung locations that most Hyruleans are not venturing to in these chaotic times. I have confidence that the Great Fairies can adjust their rate of currency removal should the need arise.
But who is attempting to cause this inflation and why?
One thing has always bugged me about Tears of the Kingdom, it wasn't the emptiness of the depths, or the fact that it was easy to miss out on the paraglider, or even the fact that that one cutscene kept being repeated after every temple. It was that Koltin asks you, Link, to go on a rampage of ecological destruction, to hunt the species of Bubbelfrogs to Extinction.
Koltin is clearly passionate about his quest to become a Satori, but he also has a secondary motive, to help out his brother: Kilton.
Kilton started his own currency that competes directly with the rupee and admits as much.
Kolton recruits Link under false pretenses in order to destroy the Bubbelfrog population, increase the amount of blupees, and cause skyrocketing inflation. This would devalue the rupee and incentivize the adoption of mon as a currency.
In the end, Koltins crimes caught up with him and Link helped the Great Fairies stabilize the economy, but Kilton is still out there and who knows what he has planned next.
The problem with making a comeback poster emulating the most iconic photo of a character's career is that first I have to make that iconic photo. Anyway here's Warriors circa 3-4 years ago.
I tried to make his coat look shiny, but i dont know if I succeeded. I do like how the metal toes/heels came out though. I also tried to make it seem like the light is shining through his cape wherever there aren't any folds, which kind of worked out. Room for improvement for sure. As a photo, is it really all that memorable? I dunno.
For @gertrudemanatee's Linked Universe Kpop AU, concerning various ideas/headcanons/musings. My initial ideas for Wind, Legend, and Time can be found here, but I'll include them here for ease of access. Obligatory disclaimer that this is me just throwing macaroni at the wall for fun, and should not be taken as canon to the AU. All art is @gertrudemanatee's. I'm using Kpop/Korean terminology because that's the idol industry I'm most familiar with, but obvs things would be somewhat different if the AU takes place in a modern version of Hyrule vs the real world Kpop industry.
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Stage Name: Time, formerly Fierce Deity
Birth Name: Link LonLon née Kokiri
Position: Leader, Center, Lead Vocalist
Age: 24
Birth Date: November 21
Height: 183 cm (6'0")
Blood Type: A
Nicknames: Old Man, Sprite, Mask (Warriors), Fairy Boy (Malon)
Singing Style Example: "Heartbreak" by Minho
This is not Time's first rodeo in showbiz. Started out as a child actor, joined the idol industry very young and debuted as a soloist before quitting and disappearing for a number of years before abruptly turning back up in the public eye as an employee of Hero Inc.
Has become rather jaded, but his group and wife bring out the best in him.
Secretly married his longtime crush during his hiatus years and took her surname rather than the other way around, nobody knew until he just casually dropped it in a random interview one day after his return to show business and caused a fandom bloodbath the likes of which has not been seen before nor since. Did a good job of weeding out the more problematic fans, though.
Not naturally a leader but is expected to be one since he is now the oldest of his group, and he takes his job seriously.
Youngest child turned eldest brother; has started youngest child suddenly turned oldest brother; has started more prank wars in the dorms than the rest of the members put together. No one suspects him except Wind. One day Wind will prove their sage leader is secretly an evil gremlin. One day.
Talented musician and composer; co-writes most of the group's songs with Legend.
Was a big fan of Four's work as the underground rapper Light Force, was instrumental in recruiting him for Hero Inc. and is still Four's #1 hype man during performances.
Represented by a clock or stopwatch emoji in covos, both used interchangably 🕰️⏱️
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Stage Name: Sky
Birth Name: Link Stravinsky
Position: Main Vocalist
Age: 21
Birth Date: November 18
Height: 168 cm (5'6")
Blood Type: B
Nicknames: Birdie, Songbird, Sleepyhead (Legend)
Singing Style Example: "Dreaming" by Kyuhyun
Unequivocally the best singer on a technical level, gets all the most difficult parts in their songs.
Has a knack for quickly learning choreo and is a very expressive and passionate performer, but can take or leave dance when divorced from vocal performances.
Biggest dichotomy between onstage persona and offstage persona. The fans call his two modes "Stormy Sky" and "Clear Sky" to differentiate them. Some add more moods like "Blue Sky" when he seems subdued or sad, but Stormy and Clear are the two main ones.
It is an open secret that he is dating an idol from a rival girl group, but they are so cute that most fans don't even care and support the relationship.
Only child -> middle child of 9 pipeline.
The Chill Hyung of the Hyung Line (Sky+Twilight+Wars+Time)
Has a knack for stringed instruments, and fans always love seeing him perform guitar and harp solos during concerts accompanied by his angelic vocals.
Bird and bird merch lover. Has a pet red factor canary named Crimson Apple that has his own fandom and an entire Instagram account dedicated to his shenanigans.
Can sleep anywhere at anytime. It's a game among the fans to see if they can spot him sleeping in the backgrounds of Vlives and bts videos/photos.
Can fire out the most devastating clapbacks and go back to smiling serenely in .5 seconds flat.
Represented by the red bird emoji in covos 🐦
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Stage Name: Hyrule
Birth Name: Link Mac Aodha
Position: Lead Vocalist
Age: 16
Birth Date: February 21
Height: 168 (5'6")
Blood Type: B
Nicknames: Rulie, Honeybee
Singing Style Example: "Expression of Love" by LUCY's Sangyeop
Sky may have the most technical vocal skills of the group, and Time has the most experience, but Hyrule has the most raw potential. He still needs some training and experience, but he has the potential to surpass both of them someday if he develops his instrument properly.
Prone to vocal strain if he pushes himself too hard, but when he hits them notes just right 😙🤌
Grew up a very poor orphan, lived with his aunts, auditioned on a whim when idol tryouts were held in his hometown, and was bewildered when he was the only one who was offered a trainee contract.
Has a down-to-earth, humble, boy-next-door energy that's very endearing to fans. Rulie stans are an especially dedicated and protective bunch.
Loves all his brothers dearly, but Wild is his soulmate, and the two are inseparable, one year age difference be damned. Wild refuses to let Hyrule call him hyung, he forbids it.
Can and will slip away from the group the first chance he gets to go exploring in new places. Warriors has joked (he's not joking) about getting him a child leash.
Notoriously bad cook. Tried to make a surprise dinner for the rest of the group and made Wild cry on camera about the state of the kitchen afterwards.
Trained for only one year before debut. Makes up for his lack of technical expertise with sheer passion, drive, and raw talent.
Portrayed a sacrificial victim with magical cursed blood in an MV storyline once, and the memes have never stopped since.
Goes to church every Sunday without fail and sometimes drags a couple of his brothers with him.
Represented by a sun emoji in covos ☀️
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Stage Name: Wild
Birth Name: Link Ritterman
Position: Main Dancer, Sub-Rapper
Age: 17
Birth Date: March 3
Height: 169 cm (5'6")
Blood Type: B
Nicknames: Champ, Buddy (Hyrule), Nutcase (Legend)
Dance Style Inspo: Stray Kids' Hyunjin
Is the main dancer of the group, even young as he is. He started contemporary dance classes when he was 7 and instantly knew that's what he wanted to do with his life.
Family consists of mom, dad, and younger sister, but he took to being one of the younger members of the group with great gusto. He enjoys having older people around to lean on rather than having to be the strong one all the time.
Has been a trainee since he was 12; is used to the grind of the industry and was in another agency before this that didn't treat him super well.
Was on a survival show where he competed for a spot in a 5 member co-ed group called The Champions. He was the last contestant to be eliminated on a technicality from the final lineup. He beat himself up for a long time about it, but his personality has mellowed out a lot since transferring to a new agency that treats their idols way better than his old one.
If he's not in the dance practice room, he can usually be found in the kitchen experimenting with new recipes or out exploring the city and nearby countryside with his bestie Hyrule on their days off.
Only member of the group who can't carry a tune in a bucket. Not for lack of trying. His dance prowess makes up for any vocal deficiencies, though, and he does occasionally rap.
Walking natural disaster. Tends to break things if he's not careful. He is not often careful. There's a long standing bet that Four will eventually snap and throttle Wild one of these days after he breaks one too many things.
Undisputed variety show master. There is nothing he will not do for The Bit.
Represented by the frying pan emoji in covos 🍳
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Stage Name: Warriors
Birth Name: Link Taylor
Position: Visual, Face of the Group, Main Dancer, Vocalist
Age: 23
Birth Date: August 14
Height: 180 cm (5'11")
Blood Type: O
Nicknames: Wars, Captain, Captain Hardass (Legend), Pretty Boy (Legend), City Boy (Twilight)
Dance Style Inspo: VIXX's N
The main visual even in a group filled with a lot of great looking guys. Is also the other main dancer alongside Wild (yes, the group has 2 main dancers, it happens).
Recruited off the street due to his looks at the age of 21. The agency was lucky Wars took ballet as a kid and ice skates as a hobby, so he wasn't starting from square one when it came to every aspect of his training. Is sometimes accused by haters for getting into the group based on his looks rather than talent because he spent only 2 years in training before debut (Hyrule is immune from much of this criticism b/c Hyrule is much younger).
Dance style is elegant, poised, and controlled compared to Wild's dramatic, passionate, powerful style. They contrast each other nicely.
Considered the "princely" type, with people swooning over him left and right wherever he goes. Gets the most sponsorship deals out of the whole group and therefore is in charge of advertising the group to the general public. Does not look a gift horse in the mouth, but also dislikes constantly being reduced to his looks and nothing else.
May or may not pick up a very creepy sasaeng at some point that may entail extortion and blackmail and result in a trip to the hospital and police station and a whole lot of therapy.
Time may be the dad of the group, but Warriors? Warriors is The Mom™. He serves as deputy leader when Time is indisposed.
The one unequivocally in charge in the dance practice room.
Used to babysit for Wind and his younger sister, and also went to the same school as Time back in the day. The three of them hang out a lot outside of work.
Has the classic Tom & Jerry dynamic with Legend, the two's spats and banter are most beloved in the fandom.
Represented by the crown or sparkle emoji in covos, both used interchangeably 👑✨
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Stage Name: Wind
Birth Name: Link Schipper
Position: Maknae, Lead Dancer, Sub-Vocalist
Age: 14
Birth Date: December 13
Height: 157 cm (5'2")
Blood Type: O
Nicknames: Windy, Squirt, Guppy, Gust (Legend)
Dance Style Inspo: Astro's Rocky
Took him awhile to adjust to his role as maknae b/c he is Oldest at home and being coddled by anyone but his granny does not come naturally to him.
Very responsible, mature, and wise for his age, tends to look after his hyungs rather than the other way around.
Budding choreographer (wind waker=conductor)
Works very hard to keep up with the group but his voice is still changing and pretty unstable as a result. He'll eventually grow into it.
Mostly there for the Cute Factor™ and to appeal to the middle schooler demographic rn, but will grow into a very talented choreographer and composer after enough tutelage from the older members of the group.
Closest with Four, who is his distant cousin, Warriors, who he looks up to immensely, and Time, who he both looks up to and babysits in equal measures, depending on the day and Time's mood.
Younger sister Aryll is his number one fan and visits him every so often to drop off his granny's home cooking. All his bandmates adore her.
budding artist, draws in his spare time, particularly maps. Wanted to be a cartographer before he got into dancing.
lover of water and all water sports. Grew up by the beach and learned how to swim almost before he could walk.
Got in a prank war with Time that nearly destroyed their dorm, got scolded by Warriors for nearly 3 hours afterwards, now there is a strict "no live animals" clause when it comes to pranks.
The entire fandom's baby boy.
HATES doing aegyo. HATES it. His teenage pride dies a little more each time he's on a variety show.
Represented by the dancing leaf emoji in covos 🍃
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Stage Name: Legend
Birth Name: Link Alphonson
Position: Main Rapper, Vocalist
Age: 19
Birth Date: May 14
Height: 165 cm (5'5")
Blood Type: O
Nicknames: Ledge, Tokki (Bunny), Bunny Boy, That Pain In My Ass (Warriors)
Rap Style Example: "Smoky" by Joohoney
Became a trainee when he was 10, the second earliest of any of the members (only Time has him beat).
Sharp-tongued tsundere with a great eye for fashion and a great ear for music. Is the one member always sporting outlandish hair colors (pink is his most iconic).
Fangirls swoon over his bunny teeth, and he flat out refuses to get braces no matter how much Hero Inc begs and cajoles.
GNC king, can and will express himself however he wants, and you can get bent if you have anything negative to say about it thank you very much.
The member closest to being a true all rounder; great singing voice, striking looks, can play like 10 different instruments, can keep up just fine in the choreo, but rap and songwriting is where his real passion lies.
writes all his lyrics himself and is famous for his rapid-fire delivery that can flip on a dime between harsh and angry and gentle and vulnerable
Only child to middle child. Oldest of the Maknae Line and tends to fuss over the members younger than him in his own way.
Grew up on an apple farm with his bachelor uncle and parents, but the family lost it all to a fire when he was a kid, which spurred his desire to go into show business and earn enough money so they could rebuild.
Serial nicknamer
Well-traveled, has been to the most countries out of his group, hoards souvenirs and gifts like nobody's business. You never know when something could be useful!
Had a girlfriend as a trainee who passed away from illness, used songwriting to help him cope with the loss, and some of the group's most iconic songs were conceived during that time.
Strongly associated with rabbits, especially pink rabbits, and is often given them as gifts by fans at fanmeets.
Represented by the rabbit emojis in covos, both used interchangeably 🐇🐰
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Stage Name: Four
Birth Name: Link Smith
Position: Lead Rapper, Sub-Vocalist
Age: 19
Birth Date: December 2
Height: 148 cm (4'10")
Blood Type: AB
Nicknames: Quatro, Little Guy, Short Stuff, Pipsqueak (Legend)
Rap Style Example: "Persona" by RM
Seven months younger than Legend, and Legend never lets him forget about it.
One of the quieter members in interviews and bts content, but has no concept of a poker face. Wins the the title of Member Most Likely to Get Turned Into a Meme due to the faces he makes a la Monsta X's Hyungwon.
Short king, only member under 5 feet, including the maknae. He's unbothered by this and always says he's not short, everyone else is just too tall.
Extremely observant, sees All™, will come to check on you if he thinks you're having a hard time. This is a threat.
Does things purely for the drama, there is no bit he will not play to the hilt if he thinks it will be funny/interesting enough. For better or worse.
Only child to middle child pipeline, is perfectly content where he is on the age order, though he dislikes it when people mistake him for a child younger than Wind or otherwise infantilize him because of his size. He's a grown-ass man, dammit! Treat him like one!
Grandfather is a blacksmith, father is in law enforcement, mother was a stay at home mom before she died in a car crash when Four was seven.
Enjoys crafting and making things with his hands, either in the forge or out of it. Makes a lot of the group's accessories. Compulsive tinkerer.
Also quite good with tech. You have a problem with a vehicle or your electronic device, Four can probably at least diagnose your problem if he can't fix it himself. He has a longstanding feud with Wild due to him constantly having to fix everything Wild breaks.
Joined the underground rap circuit as a way to express himself and his feelings. Quickly made a name for himself due to his unique style of rap that sounds like he's having full-blown conversations with himself. His most famous mixtape has him holding a series of four-way dialogues between personifications of his mind, heart, passion, and spirit, all with unique voices and rap flows.
Possesses probably the highest raw IQ of the group. Not that it matters much since the members' brain cells tend to cancel each other out when they come together, but. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Gym bros with Twilight.
Represented by the four leaf clover emoji in covos 🍀
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Stage Name: Twilight
Birth Name: Link Shepherd
Position: Visual, Sub-Rapper
Age: 22
Birth Date: November 19
Height: 178 cm (5'10")
Blood Type: A
Nicknames: Twi, Wolfie, Mutt (Legend)
Rap Style Example: "People" by Agust D
Time's cousin, and Time is very protective of him. Joined the industry to follow in Time's footsteps before Time's return to the public eye in order to help out his adoptive parents, who were struggling financially with their ranch.
Country boy, not as used to living life in the fast lane as some of the others, refuses to downplay his rural accent even if he might get made fun of for it.
Body mod king, has a ton of tattoos and multiple piercings.
Certified Horse Girl™. Also a Certified Animal (and Child) Whisperer in general. Never met an animal (or child) he didn't like.
Was made a rapper due to his deeper voice once he joined the agency even though he had no prior experience with rap. Does a lot of the backing vocals on the group's songs even though he's officially listed as a rapper.
Is capable of going hard and fast with his raps, but prefers to ride the beat and meander instead of going as fast as he possibly can, more chill and relaxed than frenetic and punchy. Personal solo work usually involves contemplation of life and nature.
Warriors may be The Mom™ and Time is The Dad™, but Twilight is the ultimate Big Brother™.
Took Wild under his wing during their trainee days when Wild transferred into the agency and was really having a hard time. Those two are quite close.
Was supposed to have the "dark, mysterious, and sexy" image, which died a fiery death the second someone put an animal in front of him while the cameras were on.
Associated with dogs and wolves even though his favorite animal is the Ordon goat.
Has sent people to the hospital with just one flash of his washboard abs. The world was not ready to see him shirtless. The members joke that they can't let him take off his shirt too much during performances if they want to still have a living fanbase in two years.
The argument of who is the better visual, Wars or Twilight, has raged within the fandom since before debut and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. The boys will also argue about it. On camera. While the other members egg them on. It's always very funny.
Knows all the girl group dances. All of them.
Represented by the wolf emoji in covos 🐺
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Misc
Age order: Time -> Warriors -> Twilight -> Sky -> Legend -> Four -> Wild -> Hyrule -> Wind
Maknae Line = Legend, Four, Wild, Hyrule, Wind
Hyung Line = Time, Warriors, Twilight, Sky
Vocal Line = Time, Sky, Hyrule
Dance Line = Warriors, Wild, Wind
Rap Line = Legend, Twilight, Four
The group is called "CHAIN" in all caps, which would be an acronym for something, probably something that doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, in the grand tradition of Kpop group names.
Fans of CHAIN are called Pendants.
The fans affectionately call the dance line "The Ws," since their stage names all start with W.
You absolutely know they did the classic Soul Swap gag on one of their variety shows and it immediately went viral. Warriors having to imitate Legend and Sky imitating Wind were highlights.
Main group concept entails a lot of sword and sorcery fantasy elements, exploring the idea of heroism and courage from different angles.
I know I said I would disappear, but I forgot to share a discovery, and I'm too excited and can't focus on anything else (it might be an obvious thing, but I've never seen anyone talk about it, so here we go)
So, while working on my recent Four animation, I, of course, used some panels from Sunset pt 6 and 7 a lot as a reference/inspiration/just to stare at Four giggling kicking my feet like a weirdo, you name it. And while looking at one particular panel I noticed
that Blue's hair is kinda.. red
I didn't think much of it then, decided that the lighting was playing tricks on me. But then, when I started looking for a shield reference (right here) I saw that it was not lighting at all and that each of them had a different shade of blond
That made me think of a headcanon that I've seen in some fanart/fics, where Four's eye color changes depending on his emotions. I personally don't use it (I'm not really a "Colors overtaking Four" believer), but I've always thought that it was a fun one, and it also works well in fics, so why not
WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY is: imagine the sheer comedic potential of Four's hair color changing instead of his eyes. When someone pisses him off so much his hair actually gets more red. When he starts overanalyzing something it gets darker. And everyone around him being like "you guys seeing this shit". IMAGINE
That's it from me. Thank you for your attention. I'll go draw stuff now that my brain is not buzzing
I love him. I can't stop looking at him. Is Hyrule a bunny too (possible ancestor Legend because of the Calatia thing)? Are Four and Wind the same animal (they have the same shield, which was passed down in the family)? Some people head cannon Wars and Wild being related because of the Knight vibe. It would be so funny for the chain to find out how they're related just from a dark world romp 😂
Time's promo poster is finished! I like it a lot. Simple but dramatic. There's gotta be some kind of tagline or something, but I don't yet know what it is. Maybe it'll come to me later. Totally open to suggestions from cooler, smarter people.
Still not toally happy with the way I'm drawing Time, but he'll do for now. You can read more about HPop Time under the cut, or you can just enjoy the pretty picture!
In my HPop AU, Link was an HPop star from the ages of 16-23, as his stage persona Fierce Deity. He was insanely successful, and during his time as an idol his agency became one of the two largest in the industry, mostly due to his popularity, as it gave Ghirahim (hes the agency's COO, that's its own story) the leverage he needed to make brilliant business decisions.
Link was 22 when he met Malon and he decied not to renew his contract so he could marry her (awwww). He didn't leave the HPop industry though. He stayed on as a mentor to new talent, a job he really enjoys. He spends most of his time checking up on his mentees, and so he doesn't realize that he's an HPoP legend still widely regarded as one of the best HPop idols of all time (a nod to the ongoing popularity of OOT).
He assumes his fans have moved on and forgotten about him, as is the way with HPop idols once they are out of the spotlight. Meanwhile, there isn't a soul in Hyrule who doesnt know who he is, and his music is still played regularly on the radio.
When Ghirahim informs Link that not only is he going to be a member of the agency's new flagship idol group, he'll also be the leader and main singer, Link thinks Ghirahim has finally lost his mind. Turns out it was Malon's idea though, so there's really nothing he can do. He'll put his all into it, but it's been 7 years, and he secretly worries that no one will want to see an old washed up idol like him perform, and he'll end up bringing the other members down with him.
Unbeknownst to him, his very large and very active fanbase has been clamoring for a comeback from almost the moment he stepped down...
