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Four Swords - Blog Posts
Hear me out: Sky and Four as Gods
Sky is the god of Fate, skies and love
Four is the god of Magic, forests and luck.
This is entirely a self indulgent au that makes very little sense so enjoy
Designs!
I picked these two to be gods because I love them and thats the only reason
Lore and the blueprints of a story under the cut <3
Sky becomes a god after Skyward Sword, but doesn’t directly feel the effects until Zelda passes of old age. He properly takes up the title as god, form changing over time to become more godlike. He now resides in the heavenly realm, a place where he can watch over the world and make sure Fate goes as according to plan.
Sky’s design
He’s represented by eyes, and it is said that he can view through anything that has an eye on it. His cloak can become wings, and if you look long enough the eyes on his outfit may blink. He often uses lightning as a weapon.
Sky looks after Hyrule as it develops, until he Sees the events of Four Swords and recognises the power of a potential god.
Unlike Sky, Four becomes a god after his passing. He appears in the heavenly realm? And is shocked to be meeting THE god of Fate himself. Four is like a faun but with the lower half of a minish because they represent his domain the best. He can split into the colours who still need to design but they all look similar.
They look after Hyrule together until the events of OOT, when the timeline splits. This causes some issues, and Four and Sky have to try to deal with the time travel without disrupting the fabric of the universe, so they seperate the timeline into three sections, the smallest amount they can. This drains the both of them and they fade into myths.
Over time they will regain power, occasionally assisting the new heroes without them noticing. Four will place good items for them to find, while Sky will make sure their story ends well. The downfall timeline is the hardest to affect, because it was never meant to happen.
Then the war of eras happens.
The dramatic re-merging of the timelines causes the two to become major players in the story again, possibly even appearing in Warriors battles? (Im coming up with this on the spot okay, don’t judge).
Once that is finished, they don’t fade into legend again. Their stories are passed down and they become almost worshipped.
Time takes its course and we get to pre-BOTW. Calamity Ganon was not supposed to rise that early. He broke the laws of fate itself, which causes Sky to have a panic because wtf??? That’s not supposed to happen???
Four does his best to aid the hero while Sky is out of commission, and helps Zelda unlock her powers. He uses his magic to help heal the hero while he’s asleep in the shrine. BOTW happens, Four and Sky calls upon Fate to make sure Ganon does not rise again once Link has defeated him. That’s the end of the timeline. Sky and Four, thinking they’re done, finally let themselves rest. Hylia (because she still exists despite doing nothing to help the two), decides that she should ignore Fate and bring all the heroes together, including the two that are currently gods. When she pulls them all together, Sky and Four are very confused to wake up as mortal hylians again, and don’t even recognise eachother at first. They travel with the Chain, knowing a lot more than they let on. Eventually it gets revealed that they’re gods.
Don’t really know where I’ll go with this but feel free to use this because I know I’ll likely never touch it again
Cop: You’re recieving a ticket for having three people on a bike.
Blue: Shit.
Green: Wait three??
Cop: Yeah??
Red: Oh Hylia- VIO FELL OFF!!!!
And thus, Triforce heroes was born.
Green: We’re playing Scrabble. It’s a nightmare.
Red: Scrabble? Scrabble’s great!
Green: not when you’re playing with Vio. They put in words like “ephemeral” and I put “dog”.
I love the different fandoms sort of reactions
(Below cut bc I don't want to clog up the dash.)
Dream smp? Oh yeah an adult just going to go traumatize some minors. nothing too special. The usual.
Hermitcraft? yeah, build some farms and make big builds. Always make sure to lag the game and DONT FINISH THE BACK!!
Amphibia? Heck yeah Anne, Sasha and Marcy will return to Amphibia. Ships? Y E S. They got two hands/SASHA IS COMFIRMED TO BE ATTRACTED TO WOMEN.
Four swords? We just accepted that we are the smallest Legend of Zelda Cult and just totally cool about it. Yeah, Its fine. Shadow and Vio are cute. Green must.. protecc. Red just chill. Blue waves giant hammer.
Linked Universe? Twiddes (god lord I hate myself for actually writing that...) Warriors rich, and Wild popular. Oh and Hyrule can't cook, Four is afraid of green peppers and is metallic. Time is old, Legend has *trauma*, Wind is a pirate, Sky sleeps. Twilight is wolfie. Dark Link? Nah I think you mean Dink.
Owl house? Hunter, trauma. Luz, trauma. Gus? Trauma. Hooty? Tra- okay Hooty is Hooty. King? SOBBING. Willow? probably the least traumatized out of all of them. Eda, no arm. Raine? PAIN. Litterally anyone else? Sad. Belos? Ew, sewer stuff. Collector? WHAT THE-??!! p o w e r.
My hero Academia? Ships here, Ships there. You get a ship and You get a ship. Ships for EVERYONE!
then litterally in Riordan verse, Kane cronicles underrated, magnus chase is great, and Pjo is fan favorite. HoO we ship a character with a brick. (it literally says its cannon in the wiki. Look for yourself) Trials of Apollo? Idk haven't read the books but JASON DIES.
And yeah, thats all I wanted to say. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
I need more Red from the four swords fandom.
Please I want to see my precious boy :3
So some Red Link anybody??
The expression sheet is by @magicalpouchofmagic :D
Okay bunches of these aus are not mine and I think I should tell you guys which aus these are inspired/from.
The lost au is mine.
Linked universe is from @linkeduniverse .
As far as I know, there is no active spirit, glitch techs, villian, interverted, My hero academia, persinality swap, malice, only survivor, betrayed, street fighter/zombies, lonk, bad end, or cursed aus currently out there.
I think there are bunches of pokemon aus, but I have never seen any Four swords pokemon aus. (At least… not yet)
Modern aus, there are just is many. I could name them all, but I’m pretty sure that their is just too many…
The band one is (kinda, it was more inspired because I didn’t really know that this person made a band au before making this…) @ballad-of-the-demon-king ‘s band au… but only kinda? I… i really didn’t look at present aus..
Shadow didn’t die is also a very popular au and I don’t think I can name them all.
Lil Red is inspired and kinda from the little linked chain au.. i don’t know who its by, but if any of you know., please tell me!
Pre-Adventure is a linked universe au. I don’t know who it is by, but it does exist.
Once again, there are quite a few Adult aus. The one I mainly took inspiration from was by @askthe4swordfamily . There is undoubtedly more aus out there though.
The lots of Ravios au is by @bowl-of-ravioli . Highly recommend and is great!
The dragon prince is my friend’s au idea, but they aren’t on tumblr so yeah. They also have the avatar au idea.
There are once again, so many corruption aus, one being my lost au. A good one is @telemna-hyelle ‘s palace of the four fic. This Red is not from that au, but its still a great au nontheless.
Species swap is another linked universe au. This Red is not from that au, instead he is mainly inspired by that au’s four. No clue who came up with this au so I’m going to leave it blank for now.
As far as I know, also no Four swords or linked universe Hogwarts au. Sad.
Finally the shadow is inspired from @kaenith mirror!mirror au.. (I think thats the name? I may not be 100 percent sure. All I know is that its also called role reversal au.) I don’t know of kaenith actually made the au or not, but I saw their designs and loved it.
Also the ship one.. I think its safe to say that there are so many aus of that… soo uhh.. yeah.
If I missed any, please tell me and everyone, I’m sorry for the ping if you got one!!
(If you don’t want to be mentioned. I can change that)
i think i like the four swords manga so much bc there is some just. very up my alley character and ship archetypes in there, but also the message itself and emotional beats hit surprisingly hard?
(long analysis below)
i like the idea of this character who is so ATTACHED to the idea of being an outsider and harming others, because he believes that he will never belong in the light with them. over the course of the manga, shadow link develops genuine fondness for vio, shows vulnerability through that fondness, and gets betrayed. no matter how real the feelings were between them, vio couldn't bear to hurt his friends or the world. it devastates shadow link; really gets to him. i wonder if he even knew he could have these feelings, falling for the very ruse he attempted to use on vio to get him on his side. while shadow is very ridiculous and theatrical in general, it doesn't seem fake when he expresses that he's glad vio has joined him. it also seems very real when he breaks down after the betrayal.
zelda choosing to be kind to shadow rather than mock him for being foolish is like the final straw that shatters his world view. she asks if he really thinks the light will hurt him, and challenges the notion that he isn't a hero deep down. she's not making excuses for him or telling him who to be; she's naming his deepest insecurities loud and clear and telling him it's okay to be scared. she's not rubbing salt in the wound of vio's rejection, but instead suggesting that shadow could find belonging with others if he took a leap of faith and tried to be their friend without an ulterior motive. shadow gets so giddy about the idea of doing havoc with vio, and it's like buddy, you're experiencing happiness because you like vio, not because you like being evil. i think deep down, we all just want to find Our People. and i can't stand to be cynical enough to suggest that we all don't have at least someone out there for us. it's just harder for some people to belong than others, as is the case with shadow.
shadow link is messed up and destructive to the people around him, unable to even imagine belonging in the light so he settles for chaos in darkness--but he submits, by the end of the comic, to the terrifying truth that he is deserving of love and capable of loving. i say terrifying because in an allegorical sense, it's kind of the equivalent of saying "i'm gay/mentally ill--i can't change that the world is harder for me, and it will be harder to find people who understand me, but i'm doing a disservice to myself and anyone i could hypothetically love by not trying to be my best self." it's a great and fairly uncommon message, especially for teenagers and young people in general.
i mean dude, talk about a bizarre but weirdly resonant reflection of the "gay teenager developing feelings for their best friend" experience. shadow link sets out to manipulate vio at first by appealing to his ego, no personal stakes in the game, but almost IMMEDIATELY falls DOWN BAD for this guy and becomes incredibly emotionally vulnerable around him. shadow link is genuinely LIVING for the time he gets to spend with vio, being as chaotic and theatrical and unrestrained as he pleases. he really believe that vio sees him, and likes him for who he is (which for the record i think is true, but vio also cares about his friends and the fate of the world, things that hold no meaning to shadow).
vio betrays shadow and it genuinely hurts, and that's kind of incredible for a short comic with a lot of goofy moments. and then shadow's resolution is vindicating too, he has agency in the choices he makes, and he does the right thing because he finally believes he doesn't need to remain in the darkness. he disguises himself to help the four because he knows they don't trust his face, really demonstrating the selfless desire to end all the magic shit that put him and the others in archetypical dark/light boxes. shadow link changes a lot in a short period, but the fact that to the end he believes that he still isn't like the others is negated by them saying he's part of "the body" and their friend. his "death" is very simply put in the text--"when a shadow turns to light, it disappears." it's not like a real death. it's a permanent and meaningful statement on how much shadow has changed, and found belonging and acceptance. if shadow's physical form came from feelings of spite and resentment, it makes sense that it no longer needed to exist.
and to TOP IT OFF, he does "end up" with vio and the others, if we're viewing The Full Link as an allegorical friend group or community. he's not quite as homogenous as they are, but rather serves as a shadow of the four. i love the panel where he's giving a thumbs-up from link's shadow so much. that's so simple and obvious, but honestly poetic. because like, in some ways you're never going to be just like everyone else. finding friends who are also gay or mentally ill doesn't make you any less of who you specifically are, and in at least some ways your friends and loved ones are always going to be different from you. i don't like it when the ultimate takeaway from a story is "once you live happily ever after, the darkness will be all gone," because hello??? some things never go away, and the darkness has, for better or for worse, made you who you are! qualities i see in shadow link are sardonic humor, unusual expressiveness, and a deep sense of caring towards His People/Person. those are fueled partially, but not entirely, by his not-great circumstances and deepest fears... but they're also where he shines.
you can be different from other people without resigning yourself to an lonely and unhappy life. coming out doesn't make you any less gay; seeking treatment doesn't magically cure mental illness; but acknowledging yourself for who you are is life-changing liberation, and necessary in the pursuit of happiness. these are huge and scary steps that especially young people are struggle to take, settling for resentment over the possibility of rejection. shadow link takes a chance and finds belonging, but still maintains the parts of himself that give him such a distinct personality. he is accepted for who he is, and at the end of the day who he is is not dark force whose sole purpose is to ruin lives, but just a strange gay-ass little dude who's a little bit extra but good at heart. and vio, as well as the others, appreciate that wholeheartedly. at the end of the day, the Whole Link just isn't the Whole Link without his shadow.
i don't know man, it's always special to me when an angsty character is written not as a joke, but as an opportunity to give people hope. even in the most obscure of places, even in ways that i can analyze endlessly but mean nothing to the average person. maybe none of this was the authors' intention. even if the manga was just, like, a shallow implementation of tropes and characteristics i'm a SUCKER for, i'd still love it to bits.
but i do see something a little deeper here, i can't help it. clearly the story has resonated with a small but dedicated group of fans, many of whom read the manga as kids or teens. i'm... honestly a little jealous of that. it's the kind of story i needed, and the kind of story i wish to tell. this series is truly a gift that keeps on giving.
Happy 20th anniversary Four Swords manga!!! Thank you so much for such an amazing story, and a wonderful community xxx
FS GAME NO WAY
i made a silly little platformer game about red and blue! i'm not distributing it because i don't want to get sniped by nintendo(??) but you can watch a vid of it → here
i've never coded a game before this and it's far from perfect but. if you ever wanted to see red rescue blue while fighting keese and wizzrobes... now you can!! this is how i cope with no fsa port
Can I suffer with you...
I love the manga so much they are my silly boys I love them
funnily enough i had no plans to draw fs during linktober it just happened inevitably
FAILING AT HALLOWEEN ART . . . We got distracted with Stardew Valley and now we're just here....BUT It gives me ideas for Fixtober!!!! I know Disgaea is gonna be in that mix, definitely Stardew, Four Swords and probably Adopt Me admittedly because, I did play it for awhile and got a Bat Dragon so heh, I was kind of happy !!! Sorry for the late postings of the art, but I do have a little doodle for you guys, since we got new markers at 5Below!!
Her name is Arcadia!! I'll be posting more about her soon!!!!
Headcanon time! Here is:
What would happen if a different link were split by the four sword?
I posit: the colors/elements are assigned to different traits based on what each color/element is associated with. Ex: Four sees fire as warm and comforting, so his red link, associated with fire, is a warm and comforting individual. I shall also give them all names. We're starting with Skyward Sword Link, aka Sky here!
Red Sky: Magma. Having grown up in Skyloft Sky never had much experience with fire, so it's very much a new surface thing that's incredibly dangerous. Magma is a very curious type, that doesn't really know their own strength. Taking all of Sky's wonder at this brand new world, plus his pretty great strength, and putting it into this bass of energy.
Green Sky: Twister. Sky, despite living in the air, really doesn't have a good experience with active winds. A twister just up and launched his gf onto the surface man, and they're a hazard when flying on his own loftwing. As such, Twister is harsh, violent. All of Sky's rage, plus some really good swordfighting skills.
Blue Sky: River. Water's actually a pretty nice constant in Sky's life, though Faron didn't do a good job keeping that image. River is a calm, soothing type. Maybe a little overbearing, surrounding the others on all sides and making them feel claustrophobic. Sky's mother hen tendencies condensed.
Violet Sky: Dune. Leaning a bit more into the associations with the color purple this time we have a lot of the love for Zelda plus the ever-shifting nature of the dunes of Lanayru desert. Dune is pretty all over the place, emotionally. He's the one most likely to express them, too. He's sorta Sky's emotions but that's not entirely accurate, because the others still have a lot of emotions. Also gets to play the harp, helps center him.
With their dynamic, I imagine River falls into the leader role. In the sense that they keep everyone on track and not dead at least, Twister is their battle strategy. River doesn't really mind the role of leader? None of the others are really vying for it. Twister kinda tries but every time the others are like "no, you're still in time out for X." Dune and Magma are just happy to be along for the ride, though there is no guarantee that they won't wander off somewhere. Magma because something looks interesting and Dune because they're just following the highest energy person right now.
If they had to be given combat roles then Magma is the tank, Twister is the rogue, River is the Healer and Dune is the distraction. Dune is perfectly fine just running around irritating their opponents and catching their attention so the others can get good hits in, so I guess support in a way?
You know, as someone who adores the Four swords adventures manga, I'm always confused by Green's characterization. Vio, Blue, and Red are obvious. Brains, brawn, and heart respectively. But Green? He's just a tad to vague for me. His main thing in the manga is some form of classic heroism, which doesn't really feel like a character trait iykwim? It always just kinda feels like he's supposed to be Link™ but that kinda defeats the purpose. So! I'm going to be rambling about a couple Green concepts that I think give him a bit more spice.
Aggressively average Green. Exactly what it sounds like, he is so horribly, terribly average at everything. Take his dubious characterization and dial it up to 11. Massive potential for an identity crisis, and easy to paste into the manga. His heroism is sorta the only thing he clings to, after all, if he's not the hero, who is he?
Mans fucking tired Green. This dude has been trying desperately to wrangle 3 would-be heroes into some state of cohesion, because he's the actual braincell. Sure, Vio has a lot of facts, but he has no common sense. Green is just trying to make sure his brothers(?) don't die. If it were up to Green, they would all be sitting at home with some hot cocoa and a kitty.
Go with the flow Green. Drawing particularly from the four elements that forged the four sword, we're leaning into the idea of the air element. Green's got absolutely 0 braincells this time, he's moving on vibes. Oh, we're four people now? Sounds good to me. I'm in the middle of the desert? Sure, why not. Vio's being gay with the enemy? Good for him. This is arguably harder to implement in the canon, but we can just say at the time he was just doing what felt most in line with the goal of "be a hero, save Zelda"
Ew Vio Green. Leaning more into their rivalry that was pretty awesome, we're making Green as opposite Vio as possible. While Vio is all "the ends justify the means" Green thinks you can't break the rules even for a good cause. While Vio is very into book learning, Green is very experience oriented. While Vio is an introvert, Green is an Extrovert. You get what I mean? Relying on Vio's incredible characterization to help bolster Green's.
Add more green character types in reblogs or comments pls! I really wanna see it, or heck, if you have complaints about another FSA manga character I'd also love to hear your changes!
I've decided to draw the Link with the best fanfics (fight me on this I dare you,) and the most fun to write, Four! Very different from Minish, thank you very much. Four is just a slightly too smug adult and he's got some issues when it comes to flirting with dark mischievous villain types. Absolutely Vio's fault.
Some sketches of the four(five?) gang! Featuring my horrendous handwriting. (I’ve written about Shadow the most lol—he is my blorbo forever)
Don’t ask me how Green’s hairstyle even works. It just looks pretty
Close-ups under the cut:
I love them so much. Surprisingly I have never played fs or fsa (or minish cap), or have read the fs manga—but I still love them.
If you wish to inform me on any of their lore, please go ahead! I’m sure I missed something from the wiki and fan content.
LU Soul Eater AU: Four
I must admit, Four has a really edgy 2014 lab AU that I spent too much time thinking about. I did have fun though so here’s his backstory and a trigger warning for unethical human experimentation. I don’t think it’s anything more graphic than what would be in Soul Eater.
A small disclaimer: I’m going mostly off of what I remember from the manga for any sense of canon, I haven’t had the privilege of playing the game yet. 😔
I think I mentioned before, but each of Four’s colors are a different type of knife. Together they’re able form the four sword.
Green is a machete.
I decided on that for him because I think that machetes look really dangerous, showing up in a lot of horror media, and can cause a lot of harm, but that is not what they are meant for. Machetes are meant for clearing bush and foliage away to clear paths through forest or jungle. They can be used to obtain resources. A trailblazer or leader might use this knife. Green grew up with his father who was a captain in the royal guard. Green was being groomed as a weapon for the Princess Dot. Upon manifesting as a machete, a lot of people, especially Green’s own father, were disappointed and believed him to be a poor weapon for a princess looking crude and brutal. Together, Dot and Green proved the masses wrong, with them both proving themselves as leaders before fighters.
Vio is a throwing knife.
Vio is a child runaway. I can’t figure out what would be a good reason for him to run or what his family would be like, but I imagine he learned a dangerous secret. I also like to think that despite Vio being very smart, he can be unreasonable and is able to rationalize himself into making bad choices. He’s a throwing knife because it takes a lot of learning and skill to be able to wield a weapon such as that. It also takes something crazy to throw your weapon away from you and be able to rely on it to return. Vio can be recalled by his meister, but it has to be of his own accord. He can also control his flight to some degree. Up until the events I’ll describe in a minute, he had never been wielded before.
Blue is a trench knife.
In the background of the events during my story, there’s a war raging in the background that’s much more prevalent in Warrior’s story. This has caused a lot of children to be orphaned, Blue included. He grows up in a poorly funded orphanage and gets into a lot of fights growing up. I chose a trench knife for Blue because it is a very brutal weapon, something which I think he can be. It’s also a weapon that when you use, you know that you are aiming to really hurt your opponent and that you have to get really close to do so. There are also two main ways to use a trench knife, the blade, ofc, and the brass knuckles which I think kind of show how Blue thinks outside the box, especially in combat. It’s also a weapon that’s mean to be used when your back is against the wall.
Red is a Switchblade.
Red also grew up in an orphanage also due to the war. He and Blue grew up in the same place but weren’t close with each other. He definitely grew up more of a lover having a high level of empathy. Despite being picked on, maybe bullied a bit, Red is the type of person who never wants to hurt somebody else even in self defense. I chose the switchblade for Red because it kind of conceals its nature most of the time hiding in a sheath. A switchblade is a weapon that has to be used in close quarters, but unlike Blue’s trench knife, the opponent might not even recognize it as a weapon until it’s too late. Switchblades are spring loaded and fast, but by pressing a button, the user has a lot of choice before they use it. I think Red would be able to stop himself from being triggered in his weapon form if he tried hard enough.
All of the four were born in the same year, all being roughly the same age. (Yay this means I can choose their zodiacs!) When they were all 11, each of them were kidnapped in the same winter by a witch called Vaati. Vio was first, being a homeless child he was hungry enough to be lured in by the prospect of working for food and board. This later would be something he feels ashamed of thinking himself more clever than that. Next would be Red who thought he was helping an elderly woman carry her groceries home… into a dark alleyway. Blue would be next, probably just being classically kidnapped after he poked around somewhere shady. Green would be the last, going on a personal mission to investigate the rapid disappearance of kids from the city he lived in.
Vaati is a witch who is trying to make weaker weapons stronger in order to arm the army of the ancient evil (ganon) that he and many other witches are trying to revive. For his first experiment, he wants to fuse several small/young weapons into one big stronger one. He chose the four because they’re young enough to be malleable but old enough to actually be able to turn into their weapons. They also conveniently have a lot in common, age, gender, and weapon type which Vaati thinks will make it easier to fuse them.
Vaati begins a series of experiments that don’t really seem to make sense to the four. He’ll force them all to work together to complete puzzles only to rip them apart for the next few. Vio, who’s been there the longest, plays along well knowing what to expect. Green, who’s been training already for a long time, doesn't struggle too much with physical or mental challenges. Red and Blue however struggle a lot causing Vaati to use crueler and crueler experiments to get them to obey.
Vaati’s struggle with Red and Blue resides in that Blue fights back the most and is actually quite brawny for a tween and Red won’t fight at all refusing to take his weapon form and even if he does, he won’t unsheath. Blue is something Vaati must subdue and break in. Red is something to trigger. He routinely exposes them to extreme temperatures, Blue the cold and Red the heat, and subjects them to frightening simulations. (I’m basing this off the manga with blue being frozen, red in the burning village, the giant poe)
Most confusingly, he makes the four wield each other which is not natural/impossible for weapons to do. Vaati achieves this with the help of magic.
Vaati works using his own son Shadow as an assistant. Shadow is a similar age as the boys and enjoys the power he gets to lord over them. Secretly, he’s really happy to have so many other kids around. That being said. He hasn’t been properly socialized so his idea of trying to play with them is just by mildly tormenting them.
Vio is the first to start befriending Shadow. Like in the manga, he does this with the intention of later betraying him, planning on using him as means to escape. He unexpectedly begins to genuinely like Shadow and starts to experience extreme guilt in thinking about what he’s going to do. Nevertheless, Vio begins to start faking Stockholm syndrome. This is really confusing for the rest of the boys. Blue thinks that Vio is bad person and is actually siding with Vaati. This leads to a fight between them that results in Vio being separated from the rest of the boys. (I didn’t mention it but they’re usually locked in the same room between experiments.) Red believes that Vio actually has Stockholm syndrome and feels really bad for him. Green can see through Vios' plan but just thinks that it’s a really bad idea. He doesn’t say anything though because he doesn’t want to ruin it for him just in case it does work.
Red is the next to befriend Shadow, though it’s unintentional. Despite everything, Red does his best to remain kind, maybe not so much to Vaati, but to Shadow, sure. Red thinks that Shadow is just a brainwashed kid, which he’s kind of right about. Shadow starts to like Red because he’ll go along with any game he wants to play.
Green falls after Red gets more chill with Shadow. The games they play look fun and Green really didn’t have a lot of chances to play growing up. He starts to take a page from Vio’s book, trying to pry information where he can from Shadow. Somehow he feels less bad about this than Vio does.
Blue thinks everyone is going crazy in here so he takes to verbally bullying Shadow whenever he swings by. Shadow, being a weirdo, thinks that it’s a form of banter so he just bullies Blue back. Unexpectedly, and to his own horror, Blue finds it really fun to be able to have a witty back and forth with somebody who can match his level.
Shadow for the first month or two is really his dad kidnapped people his age. It’s so FUN having people to play with! He even has a best friend now in Vio. He doesn’t really think about the implications of his dad hurting his new friends, and his role in that, until they start acting different.
Vio starts having panic attacks (out of nowhere!/s) and can take hours or even days to calm down rendering him unable to even speak. This is the first thing that rattles Shadow. It’s the first time he felt hurt seeing somebody else hurt. His attempts to calm Vio down begin selfishly, wanting him to stop acting weird and to start acting like his best friend again. Eventually it turns into genuine and raw concern. Shadow, for the first time, feels bad because somebody else does. He starts just really wanting Vio to be okay.
His other playmates start breaking down too. Red is too exhausted now to play. He sleeps most of the day away and when he’s awake he’s too shaky and weak to do anything. Blue becomes dissonant, stuck staring at walls. He won’t respond to even the strongest of Shadow’s remarks. Green is caught between caring for the other two. He becomes too busy to try and pry information out of Shadow.
Then a day comes where Vaati gathers each boy and throws them into the middle of a collection of runes drawn on the ground with a combination of their blood. A flash and they’re all rendered into their weapon states, unwillingly. After a few moments there’s another flash and only a single weapon remains. The Four Sword. When the weapon takes its human form back, only one terrified boy stands sharing features of the four that formed it.
Despite Vaati’s satisfaction, Shadow feels that something REALLY wrong just happened, and it did. He later visits “Four. Four is shell shocked, barely able to walk, confused, and really, REALLY scared. He looks at Shadow and begs him to let him out. Shadow obliges.
Picking up the newly formed Four sword, Shadow vanquishes his own father and runs with his new friend Four. Shadow was greatly wounded in the fight, his father cursing him to never stand in sunlight. Four is traumatized and so confused. He decides to go to Green’s father, now technically Four’s father, unsure of where else to go.
The two boys tell the story to Four’s dad and a proper raid is unleashed on Vaati’s lab, leaving out the parts where Shadow was Vaati’s accomplice for most of the time. No body is found. Four’s father tries to defuse him, which just terrifies him. Shadow gets some medical treatment but most people don’t want to treat him, as he was Vaati’s son.
Four’s father, unsure what to do with two traumatized children, dumps them on his father, Four’s grandfather who lives out of town as a blacksmith. There they all heal and after a few years learn to defuse. They’ve all spent so much time together though that they can’t bare to part. They are literally part of each other now. Green’s father decides to give them all knight training and Shadow learns how to wield each of them and Four properly. They all know how to wield each other too but this is uncanny for a lot of people. Weapons wielding weapons…
Shadow goes missing at the end of a dangerous mission. All too soon, Four is called to accompany 8 others on a holy quest. He sets out determined to save the world and his best friend.
And that’s Four 😭 goodness that ended up a lot longer than I expected.
Please, and I’m begging 🙏🙏🙏, let me know what you think, your own headcanons, critiques, questions, ANYTHING. And who you’d like to see next!
Thank you 💕
for all of you who didn't got their fav Link in the first poll :)