#And also maybe something post Liberty between Serenoa and Cordelia

[kelbunny]

I know I said I probably wasn't going to draw anything for myself until after artfight just so I don't get burnt out early, but gosh dang it I want to draw Cordelia and Catiua interacting. And just draw Catiua in general. Or draw her with her brother. Or draw Cordelia with her brother(s).

I am normal about tragic sibling characters I promise.

[kelbunny]

Roland for the character ask game? :)

:D

First impression

I latched onto Roland instantly. This was back with the debut demo (the chapter 6-7 one), so I got a good peek at his early game angst, and boy, did I want to see him break. I could tell he was already slotting into that role.

And I only got more interested after he was pointed out to be wearing Maxwell's mask in an early trailer. Masked men my beloveds.

Impression now

I wanted him to break, and break he hecking did. I'm a huge fan of his tragic slip into his own despair. I have so many thoughts about him all the time.

He's the most interesting and well written character in all of TriStrat in my opinion. The fact that his major character flaws (his self doubt, recklessness, etc) are visible from as early as chapter 1 really helps set him up for later in the game. And I really love how chapter 17 gives him two major paths to go down. You've got his own ending, where he gives into those negative qualities about himself, and golden, where he, with Serenoa's guidance, works to push himself to be a better person. I think about his mid battle convo with demigod Idore a lot, where he admits he has been struggling to find himself.

And there are so many more thoughts. At some point I really aught to turn on voice to text and just dump all my thoughts about this princling, bc boy, they are many and not always coherent haha.

Favorite moment

I really, really like his part of chapter 18 Golden, where he tries to reason with Gustadolf as well as the fight itself. He still hates Gustadolph, but he's putting his trust in Serenoa's plan even if it means siding with someone he still considers an enemy. That he's allowing himself to lean on Serenoa's conditions till he has the strength to stand up for his own. And when negotiations fail and it turns to battle, you have his mid battle convo with Gustadolph, where he admits that that desire for revenge has been eating away at him. It's feels like a good first step for Roland as he tries to climb out of his despair.

And then there's his battle with Serenoa in liberty, where he breaks but in a far different way than utility. Despite how much he treasures his friendship with Serenoa, he's envious that Seranoa had everything he didn't: fatherly love, the support of his people, even just skill in battle. And the fight is so hecking good. It's by far the most charged of the three and it's the one I consistently rewatch.

Idea for a story

I've mentioned wanting to write a post golden comfort thing between him in Cordelia in her ask, but I also want to write or comic something short and emotional between him and Serenoa set between arriving at Wolffort after escaping Whiteholm and the order to surrender Roland to the Duchy, where Serenoa tries to help ground a Roland who's trying to come to terms with everything that just happened.

I also want to write something post liberty of what leads him to where he is as a wandering monk haha.

Unpopular opinion

I don't think Roland is ooc in chapter 17, I just think a lot of people aren't really recognizing his motivation of why he's aligning with Hyzante. I won't go super in detail here as I did that in a seperate post.

Favorite relationship

There are, so many!

First and foremost, his sibling relationship with Cordelia. I said this before, but I'm a sucker for sibling relationships, especially if the older sibling is the protective type. Like maybe it's just me also being and older sibling but just like, siblings man.

On a similar note, the friendship between him and Serenoa. Part of the reason I like the Liberty Ending Battle between him and Roland is because it hurts so much because they had such a natural friendship between them, so seeing in break is heart-rending. They 100% feel like they've been friends for years, and they feel brotherly, even before learning that they are brothers.

And then there's the father-son dynamic of him and Maxwell. One of my very few complaints about Triangle Strategy is that they should have allowed the two to interact after Maxwell recovered though if they had been given the chance to interact, I doubt Roland would have come to his chapter 17 decision. A talk with his dad would fix him

Favorite headcanon

Despite him being my favorite, I do have to admit I don't really have any haha, outside of some post ending speculations like him rising up against Serenoa in Liberty.

I guess one that there is is that I don't imagine him as the religious type, both towards the Goddess as well as towards whatever religion is big in Glenbrook glances at Cordelia's cleric class, but I do imagine him leaning towards the Glenbrook God/Gods post liberty as something to try and rally the people around, if only because he's referred to as a monk at the end of Liberty.