I have a small thing to say while I'm relatively healthy atm- when I first got on tumblr I promised myself I wouldn't be posting while I'm sick. That was years ago, and I didn't trust my brain to keep it together when I'm not well. I loosened up on that over time, but at the start of this year I decided to go back that- not posting if I am ill.Well. Guess who's immune system has been rather wimpy, and has been sick on and off the whole year. Me! ToT it's like every time I get better I'm too busy trying to get my life together to be here, and then I get a fever or something again. So that's to say, I'm still lurking here, just not interacting... it is always nice to see and/or hear from you Lofty.
(Stitch and Daisy)
p.s. Any advice? If you post when you're not feeling well, do you have any like rules for posting if sick/exhausted in some way? I've matured a lot since I made that one upon making an account here, so I'm wondering if I stop following it now lol. It doesn't look like my health issues will be fading... I think I gotta learn to live with it. And I want to be here.
Ok so, it's about The Scene(tm). The 'Vio was seperated for five minutes and this happened?' one.
Reminder for anyone who needs it- manga reads right to left
Vio learns that Ganon's behind the mess in the forest. Not knowing all the facts he decides to tell the other versions of himself that are... somewhere. Surely also thinking to get back together, right?
Then Vio is interrupted by Shadow, who would like to foil his mission.
Shadow starts talking- not attacking? In the first view of his face he looks downright friendly. Vio is staying his hand as well.
Because for Vio, provoking Shadow is a horrible idea. Shadow flattened all four of him earlier, Vio knows his sword will not hurt Shadow, and when threatened with the four sword, Shadow laughed at it.
If Shadow attacked him, Vio would lose that fight.
Shadow's words are playing to Vio's pride, his emotions and upset; hoping Vio will listen and he'll get information from him. He wants information, and to cause division among the already-divided Link(s)- to get Vio to talk to him instead. Vio figures out what's up pretty early tho
Vio's face all over sticks out to me- he is thinking, and fast. And by the bottom of the page, he looks intensely tense. Scared, because of the direness of his situation.
Shadow is here, insulting the other colours, saying Vio's the one who can see the big picture, and when Vio points his sword at him, Shadow pushes it away like it's a toy.
Vio is alone. The others aren't there. It just so happens that Green is falling asleep, Blue is frozen, and Red. is starting a fire.
...yeah they aren't meant to be seperated
Green. Blue. Red. Links. Guys. Vio's in trouble. Get it Together, or he dissapears, and you won't all see him again for eighty-seven pages, by which time Green falls asleep again.
So Vio's stuck in small talk with Shadow, and his last line on the page is what stuck out to me-
'L ... Let Go...'
Shadow is literally pulling on Vio- clearly not going to let go. Vio's face has shifted to uncertainty, and he clearly does not want to help Shadow, but he can't get away.
Vio is scared-he's in an impossible situation, in full flight or fight or both mode, so he thinks, and goes along with all that Shadow is saying is best, and... Vio was talking to himself when he said to let go.
At the end of the page. Vio's fist is tightly clenched around his sword, then he says to let go, and then his hand falls open and he lets his sword fall.
Despite knowing his sword wouldn't hurt Shadow, Vio has a tight grip on it. Vio's body is leaning back, because how much harder could it be to make that choice? I think him having to tell himself verbally to let go of his sword speaks to how difficult this was for Vio to go through.
Cognitively Vio already knows what he is going to do; he transitions into his fake-out-villian-era by the next page.
To let his sword fall, his hand empty- this took more than his sword. Vio let go of more than the handle- he gave away his freedom, he was with Shadow now. He gave away his brains for acting, he has to pretend all the time for a time. Vio let go if his free time, he was making a sacrifice for a cause. He let go of his joy and potential peace, his heart in the right place. He was letting go of his dang survival instinct. Most importantly, he let go of his core. The Link that is his real name- he let go of his identity as a hero to play the part of a traitor, he hid himself. He had to let go of the other heros trust.
I just... It feels like Vio had had a choice later in the book. Like he and Shadow never fought, what made him even want to betray the others at all? That was a crazy plan to think of. Was that even necessary? Did Vio really want to be away from the others that badly? Was he actually tempted by Shadow- Was Vio Really That Prideful To Do This By Himself?
'Vio betrayed the others'... nah. That was his grand-scheme-of-winging-it-and-pretending-to-join-Shadow-plan because he was being threatened.
Vio started thinking when Shadow started talking. In an impossible situation, he never wavered from what was good, and he started planning, then acting.
The next page
Congrats Green. Nice to know you got the 'sleepy boi' Link trait. Now you won't see Vio in so long, you'll get the breath knocked out of you once you reunite. /j
Working with autistic kids is fun because I enjoy being patient and there for them, and I get it (autistic adult speaking); I understand that to this child, they feel like the world is melting as they meltdown, that everything will be horrible forever. I breathe with them, I get them space, don't belittle their feelings, I try to talk, or supply fidgets and gentle direction- all the stuff that helps them, as child busts into tears, devestated.
Meanwhile, their offending snack lies uneaten on the table, the badge on the label that wasn't there before on top.
The Fastest Way to a Hero's Heart by @sprite-and-the-bunnydragons (Thanks, @luna-loveboop!)
That first night, Wild believed both his new friends’ excuses.
After a week, he didn’t believe a word that came out of their mouths around mealtimes.
As Head and Only Chef, skinny Heroes were not something Wild could abide.
Or
Wild notices some things about Hyrule and Warriors. He turns it into his mission to make sure they’re happy, healthy, and loved.
This one is so sweet - I love Wild's determination to find out what's wrong with Hyrule and Warriors and get them to eat something, and the way he goes about figuring it out is clever. It's also a nice take on Links being paranoid around other Links and the anxieties heroes can feel.
You might like this if you enjoy Wild making plans and taking care of his brothers.
So, I'm someone who was introduced to Legend of Zelda predominantly through Linked Universe. I have not played any of the games or watched any playthroughs, and have only read one of the mangas so far, specifically Minish Cap. Most of what I know comes through the wiki, analysis videos, and friends telling me things about the series. And as a Four fan, specifically a Linked Universe Four fan, something about how large sections of that fanbase treat him really rubs me the wrong way.
(Putting the rest below a cut so you don't have to read my whinging if you don't want to.)
Namely, how Four, uniquely out of all the other Links, is... just not allowed to be his own person. Either he's four separate entities in a trench coat, or he's playing second fiddle to his own evil clone. It's like... the fandom doesn't care about him as an individual. He feels like he’s always part of a set, either because people prefer his individual pieces instead of him as a whole and complete character on his own (aka the way he's consistently been written in the comic from day 1), or because they want to see him and his evil clone make out or be a dynamic duo. Regardless of how his relationship to Shadow is written, Shadow more often than not takes center stage or has equal billing with Four in fanfic.
Which is strange to me, because every Link has had to say goodbye to a companion or loved one at the end of their adventures, some that they were even implied to have romantic feelings for, but Shadow is constantly looming over Four’s character in fanfic in a way that none of the other Links' supporting casts do. Just think about how strange it would be if in every other Twilight-centric fanfic, the author found a way to reconstruct the Twili mirror or otherwise concocted a way to bring Midna back so she and Twilight could be together again, and Midna was elevated to an honorary member of the Chain, traveling with the group alongside the rest of them.
Even Legend doesn't get this treatment with Marin. He angsts over her plenty, sure, but people leave her gone/dead/out of reach far more often than not. Time hardly ever gets Navi back save the very few instances he goes to the Downfall Timeline and meets her there (and even then, he can't take her with him, she has to stay behind). Wind never gets the King of Red Lions back and rarely gets Linebeck. Even Four and Ezlo never reunite, and Four had a far better relationship with Ezlo than he ever did with Shadow, even if you decide to incorporate the manga canon into your own personal headcanon. And yet, manga!Shadow is considered so integral to Four's character that he must always be included somehow. All the other Links are allowed to grieve, find closure, and move on, yet Four is not.
This all gives me the feeling that a lot of people... don't really like or care about Four as his own character or his relationships to the other Links. They either like the Colors and/or they like Shadow and simply want an excuse to write them/him. Shadow's connection to Four in particular is often used as a convenient excuse to bring him back into the action and to make Four “more interesting” by association. Four is a means to an end, it's Shadow who is the true star of the show. When this specific interpretation of Shadow is not, as far as we know, even canon in the first place! The LoZ mangas are not canon to the games, they are separate entities altogether. ofc it's fine to bring in elements of the mangas to flesh out headcanons (Piyoko our beloved); Jojo even did this in part with her characterizations of Four’s pieces (Blue being hotheaded, Red being emotional, etc.), but LU is first and foremost a love letter to the LoZ games. And I have read exactly one (1) fic that portrayed Four's Shadow as unabashedly evil as he was in the Four Swords game.
To be clear, I don't hate manga!Shadow by any means, but it's getting hard to not resent the character on some level when he so constantly overshadows Four (pun not intended). When Four cannot exist as a character separately from him, when they are constantly a matched set that is joined at the hip in every other fanfic, every other AU. Even if I might enjoy some of those fanfics and AUs, occasionally you just want some variety, man.
And lest you think I am being hyperbolic in my assertion that the fandom vastly prefers Four as part of a set with Shadow instead of exploring his relationships with the other existing Links in the comic, I ran the numbers on AO3, going through all of Four’s common relationship tags, both platonic and romantic (excluding Four’s Colors in most of my tallies because there was only 1 or 2 for each of them, not enough to really matter). This is what I found:
Four & Sky = 202 fics
Four/Sky = 6 fics
Total fics where Four’s relationship with Sky is highlighted = 208
Four & Time = 111 fics
Four/Time = 19 fics
Total fics where Four’s relationship with Time is highlighted = 120
Four & Legend = 297 fics
Four/Legend = 3 fics
Total fics where Four’s relationship with Legend is highlighted = 300
Four & Hyrule = 156 fics
Four/Hyrule = 5 fics
Total fics where Four’s relationship with Hyrule is highlighted = 161
Four & Twilight = 166 fics
Four/Twilight = 6 fics
Total fics where Four’s relationship with Twilight is highlighted = 172
Four & Wind = 242 fics
Four/Wind = 27 fics
Total fics where Four’s relationship with Wind is highlighted = 269
Four & Warriors = 120 fics
Four/Warriors = 1 fic
Total fics where Four’s relationship with Warriors is highlighted = 121
Four & Wild = 230 fics
Four/Wild = 6 fics
Total fics where Four’s relationship with Wild is highlighted = 236
Dot & Four = 57
Dot/Four = 32 fics
Total fics where Four’s relationship with his Zelda is highlighted = 89
Four & Shadow / Shadow & any combination of the Colors = 251
Four/Shadow / Shadow/any combination of the Colors = 251
Total fics where Four/his Colors’ relationship with Shadow is highlighted = 502
-
To contrast this, let’s look at the breakdown of fandom darling Legend’s relationship tags:
Legend & Sky = 393 fics
Legend/Sky = 7 fics
Total fics where Legend’s relationship with Sky is highlighted = 400
Legend & Time = 321 fics
Legend/ Time = 14 fics
Total fics where Legend’s relationship with Time is highlighted = 335
Hyrule & Legend = 1,026 fics
Hyrule/Legend = 58 fics
Total fics where Legend’s relationship with Hyrule is highlighted = 1,084
Legend & Twilight = 334 fics
Legend/Twilight = 4 fics
Total fics where Legend’s relationship with Twilight is highlighted = 338
Legend & Wind = 349
Legend/Wind = 6 fics
Total fics where Legend’s relationship with Wind is highlighted = 355
Legend & Warriors = 727 fics
Legend/Warriors = 26 fics
Total fics where Legend’s relationship with Warriors is highlighted = 753
Legend & Wild = 511 fics
Legend/Wild = 18 fics
Total fics where Legend’s relationship with Wind is highlighted = 529
Legend & Marin (+”Link & Marin”, + “Linked Universe”) = 20 fics
Legend/Marin (+”Link/Marin”, + “Linked Universe”) = 352 fics
Total fics where Legend’s relationship with Marin is highlighted = 372
Legend & Ravio (+”Link & Ravio”, + “Linked Universe”) = 291
Legend/Ravio (+”Link/Ravio”, + “Linked Universe”) = 555
Total fics where Legend’s relationship with Ravio is highlighted = 846
Legend & Fable = 139 fics
Legend/Fable = 25 fics
Total fics where Legend’s relationship with his Zelda is highlighted = 164
So, let’s break this down a little. Shadow is Four’s most popular relationship pairing by a landslide, having 502 fics compared to the closest other relationship pairing, which is Legend at 300 fics. That’s almost double the fics he has with any other character. By contrast, Four is Legend’s second least popular fandom relationship pairing, with only his Zelda, Fable, having fewer fics with him. In addition, the amount of fics Legend has with the other characters is much more evenly spaced out, with Ravio trailing Hyrule by 238 fics, and Warriors only trailing Ravio by 93 total fics, while 10 out of 11 relationship tags reach or surpass 300 fics. Four, conversely, has not surpassed even 200 fics with 5 out of 10 characters, making the sheer surplus of Shadow fics (who, may I reiterate, is not even LU canon like Ravio or Marin are) seem even more overwhelming by comparison.
Now, obviously, I'm not the fandom police. People can do what they want, write what they want, draw what they want, have whatever headcanons they feel like, we’re all here to have fun. I know that the FS manga fandom has a long history in LoZ spaces, and people are really attached to the headcanons and pairings from that manga. The FS manga Link(s) and LU Four just aren’t the same character, though, inasmuch as Jojo took a couple elements of that story to flesh out her version of the character, and as a big fan of this character as he appears in LU canon, it just... it's hard. My boy is such a cool and multifaceted character the way he's portrayed in LU canon, and he deserves to be appreciated on his own merits more, not just as half of a ship/duo or the trench coat that other more beloved characters hide inside.
I just desperately want there to be more fics exploring his relationship to his predecessor Sky, to his successor Time, to his possible descendent Wind, to Twilight, the guy he probably gets along the best with in canon. I want to see him go on tiny adventures with Hyrule, talk about the Palace of the Four Sword with Legend (or at least just be blacksmithing buddies with Legend), talk about teamwork and tactics with Warriors, get pulled into harebrained schemes against his better judgement with Wild. But no. It’s just "Exploration of how the Colors relate to each other/Let’s resurrect Shadow, gang!/I have been unable to think of anything but my bestie-slash-boyfriend Shadow since the day he left me, I’ve pined so much TT TT/This guy who just came out of nowhere to save the day is Shadow, he’s joining the Chain and will be traveling with us from now on,” again and again and again and again. And I’m just so flippin’ tired. orz
I know every stan of every LU Link is in the trenches in some way when it comes to fandom mistreatment/mischaracterization of one’s blorbo, but this is my particular trench, and it's feeling increasingly lonely here. 😔
I know I'm probably just yelling into the void, but if you have any similar pet peeves, about Four or any of our other blorbos, feel free to share. Getting stuff off your chest can be therapeutic sometimes.
(Tagging @luna-loveboop and @parvanovel since y'all are the ones who urged me to post this. Hope it was an interesting read. 👍)
