#ch tag: her
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
lightandfellowship Ā· 3 months ago
Text
KHDR Re:Write - Giving Hermod A More Prominent Character Arc
Tumblr media
Urd's rewrite can be found here.
The tl;dr:
Hermodā€™s initial motivation:Ā To uphold the "greater order" and follow the rules no matter what.
Hermodā€™s struggle:Ā He doesnā€™t always agree with the rules, and following them often results in both him and his friends getting harmed. His commitment to following the rules even at the cost of himself partially stems from him feeling like he has no control over his life, and he copes by assuming that (most) authority figures are trustworthy, competent, and have his best interests in mind.
Hermodā€™s conclusion:Ā He needs to be willing to break the rules and think for himself in order to do whatā€™s right and protect his friends.
Below the read more is a rough outline of how I would implement this character arc into the story. Be forewarned that it's a fairly long and text-heavy post.
Four notes before we begin (feel free to skip):
Rather than this being a full-fledged rewrite where I get to go ham and do whatever I want, instead my goal is to try and demonstrate how the game in its PRE-EXISTING state could have given Hermod a more clear and satisfying character arc via fairly minor changes to the dialog, characters, and story. I want to see if this could have been possible without having to expend too much extra time and resources, since it seems like a lack of time/resources/budget is why his story got cut in the first place. So I wonā€™t be doing anything drastic like creating entirely new episodes or anything like that. Same worlds. Same number of episodes. Same sequence of events. Same overarching plot.
Ideally, I would have liked to convey certain details about these characters and their story via secret reports/diary entries. Specifically, the sorts of details that would slow the pace down or feel a little too direct/clunky if addressed within the story itself. However, because of the self-imposed restriction I talked about in point 1 (i.e. no drastic alterations to the game or additions that would require extensive effort to implement), I won't be utilizing such a format, and so I will sometimes have the characters speak a bit more openly/directly about their feelings/thoughts than I otherwise would've liked.
Because I have a lot to say, I won't be providing summaries of the episodes I'm discussing as I explain my story changes. A fairly solid recollection of the game's events is...perhaps not required, but certainly helpful for understanding what I'm talking about and how I arrived at my choices.
I don't claim to know better than the writers or even be an experienced writer myself, this is just how I personally would approach giving Hermod a more prominent character arc, because I think we can all at least agree that Hermod didn't get enough focus in this game. If Hermod's story hadn't been cut (presumably), I have no doubt that Tomoco Kanemaki would have come up with something better than what I'm proposing here.
But anyway, without further ado:
Hermod's Motivation and Personality
Tumblr media Tumblr media
"Simple as that."
During the flashback where the underclassmen are asked why they want to become Keyblade Masters, Hermod is initially flustered at the question, as if he either didn't have a good answer prepared or was reluctant to say what it was. He averts his gaze and noncommittally agrees with everyone elseā€™s reasons, avoiding the question somewhat, but then he clarifies that heā€™s doing it so that he can ā€œuphold the greater order." This phrasing is a little vague, but I assume he basically just means that he wants to uphold the law of Scala, Keyblade wielders, and Light.
Based on his behavior and dialog here, it almost seems like Hermod became a Keyblade wielder for much the same reason as Eraqus: it was just expected of him. It was what he was told to do, and he always does as heā€™s told. But he nonetheless is content with the path chosen for him because he knows that itā€™s the best way to uphold order and protect his loved ones. As his official bio states,Ā ā€œhe plays the role of big brother as he looks out for and takes care of everyone.ā€
Honestly, I think even in the base game Hermodā€™s ā€œarcā€ is fairly obvious: he goes from strictly following the rules to being willing to break them for his friends. However, the problem is that the game doesnā€™t really focus on Hermod enough to make this arc feel sufficiently developed and explored. As in, the end of his arc just kinda happens abruptly with very little build up. So, in my rewrite, Iā€™m going to have Hermod more frequently demonstrate his commitment to upholding order, and have him do it in a way that impacts the events of the story more, while also having the narrative address the consequences of that mindset more directly.
Also, as an aside, Hermod's official bio makes special mention of his anger, but I donā€™t think the game showcases that aspect of his character enough? So I'll try to incorporate his anger into the story just a tiny bit more. To be clear, I don't really want his anger to be framed as, like, this major character flaw of his (for the purposes of this rewrite, his major character flaw is going to be his aforementioned strict rule-following), I just want it to crop up more often in the story to add more Flavor to his character. It seems like the original intent was for Hermod to be the fire to Urd's ice, but the game doesn't really convey that all too well, if you ask me.
Before we move on, I want to quickly summarize some canon aspects of Hermod's character that are going to be important to this arc, things that are consistently established about him throughout the game, to the point where it would be silly of me to list every single example of these character traits as I walk you through my rewrite (I will be mentioning some of them in more detail later, though).
He's a model student. Hermod tends to be the one who takes charge in class; he's the one who approaches Odin with the underclassmen's issues, speaks on behalf of the underclassmen, and volunteers for tasks. He also tends to prioritize Odin's wishes and judgment.
There's some implied friction between him and Eraqus that eases up as time goes on. He tends to give Eraqus annoyed and disapproving looks whenever Eraqus talks back to Odin or says something ignorant. That being said, he also seems fond of Eraqus, smiling and laughing at jokes about his antics.
With that, let's get into the rewrite.
Episodes 1-2: Establishing Hermod's Character, and "The Problem"
To start off with, I want to point out a small detail at the very beginning of the game that leads me to believe that Hermod isnā€™tĀ actuallyĀ satisfied with being such a well-behaved rule-follower.
When the underclassmen talk about the potential existence of newborn worlds that donā€™t have rules or laws set in place yet, Hermod, after some quiet contemplation, remarks withĀ ā€œThen the rules can be changed...ā€ (this is even the quote chosen for Hermodā€™sĀ official bio, no less!) The fact that this thought crossed Hermodā€™s mindĀ at all, and the fact that the narrative choseĀ him specificallyĀ to be the one to deliver this line, makes me think that he has some unspoken desire to see the rules be changed despite his best efforts to be a model student. This is great, because it provides a decent foundation for his character arc and hidden depths.
TANGENT: I want to highlight a moment in Episode 1 that will be relevant to this rewrite later. Namely, Hermod getting annoyed at Eraqus talking back to Odin. (As I said before, there are several other moments throughout the game where Hermod looks at Eraqus with an annoyed/disapproving look, but I'm only going to mention this one.)
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Anyway, on to the actual changes. First off, much like the Urd rewrite, Iā€™m removing the mechanic from Episodes 1-3 that lets you choose your third party member for the cutscenes. Why? It just doesn't make for good writing in this particular case; the dialog has to be at least semi-generic across all the characters in order to make swapping them out easier, and that's simply not conducive to giving the characters unique character traits and individual focus.
Episode 1 is mostly uneventful and focuses more on Urd in my rewrite for her, so let's move on to Episode 2.
Urd is your party member for this episode (for reasons I explained in Urdā€™s rewrite), and Hermod, Vor, and Bragi are the three party members that get put on trial. And rather than all three of them yielding to the Card Soldiers because they unanimously agreed to not mess with the world order, instead it was HERMODā€™S idea specifically. Bragi suggested that they fight back, and since Vorā€™s bio mentions that she ā€œshies away from battleā€, she suggested that they try to run away and evade capture. Hermod points out, however, that the best way to avoid disturbing the order would be to follow the laws of this world and not cause trouble.
Vor and Bragi are hesitant but ultimately decide to trust Hermodā€™s judgment on the matter, as they tend to rely on him as a big brother figure anyway. This serves to highlight how Hermod will follow the rules and obey authority even when he doesnā€™t necessarily agree with whatā€™s happening to him or is put in serious danger because of it.Ā Now, none of this happens on-screen of course, because we also didn't see what happened in the base game either, but we'll find out about it after the trial.
Speaking of the trial. When Xehanort, Eraqus, and Urd find the other underclassmen at the court on trial, it is Hermod who is leading the defense. In the base game, either Bragi or Hermod will lead the defense depending on who you picked as your third party member, but since I want the trial plotline to focus more on Hermod, in this rewrite it is only ever Hermod who stands in front and speaks to the Queen of Hearts. (A quick note, if you compare the two different versions of this scene, the one where Hermod leads and the one where Bragi does, Hermod comes across as a bit more apologetic, whereas Bragi puts his foot down more about what he's willing to take responsibility for. Hermod: "Okay, I apologize for trespassing." vs Bragi: "Wait, I'll own up to tresspassing, but that's it.")
Anyway, back to Hermod and the rewrite. At first, he's a bit of a bootlicker, being very polite and trying his best to placate the Queen while also calmly defending himself and his friends. After a while of trying and failing to reason with the Queen however, Hermod loses his patience and explodes at her. He pretty much immediately regrets it and tries to backpedal in a panic, stammering the entire time, but it's too lateā€”that was the last straw for the Queen. Just like in the base game, Xehanort, Eraqus, and Urd recognize the danger and intervene to try and talk the Queen down from executing their friends. The cutscenes then proceed just like they do in the base game, with the Queen demonstrating that her rule is based on her subjects living in fear of her.
After the trial, the discussion the underclassmen have about the darkness in people's hearts being more dangerous than the Heartless still happens, but either before or after it there is a separate (but still interconnected) discussion where Hermod apologies to the others and takes responsibility for his idea to surrender themselves to the Card Soldiers, explaining his reasoning for why he did that. Namely, that as Keyblade wielders, it was their duty to not disrupt the order in any way, and their hands were tied.
Xehanort and the party exchange Knowing glances to indicate that this isnā€™t uncommon behavior for Hermod (and also that theyā€™re not exactly pleased about how quickly and easily he relented to the Card Soldiers, not putting up much of an argument or fight) but they silently agree to not confront Hermod about it since he had no way of knowing what a farce the trial was going to be. Perhaps letting themselves get capturedĀ wouldĀ have been the correct decision if Wonderlandā€™s court system was actually fair. Instead they assure him that they understand why he thought that not fighting back or running away was the best decision in the moment, but nonetheless he needs to be more careful in the future. Hermod agrees and is genuinely apologetic for putting his friends in danger, but thereā€™s still a hint of irritation in his expression. He still thinks that adamantly refusing to disrupt the order was the inarguably right decision to make; after all, itā€™s what they were specifically instructed to do by Master Odin. And if there's one thing that Hermod refuses to do, it's break the rules.
Episode 3: Minor Details of Note
Episode 3 isn't a Hermod focused episode in my rewrite, but there are two details from this episode that I find worth mentioning.
Detail 1: Unique dialog from Hermod that won't exist in my rewrite (because I have Vor slotted for Episode 3) but I think says a lot about Hermod: "But the Tweedles didn't seem to be cowering under [The Queen's] rule. They looked happy enough to me." Does Hermod perhaps consider himself "happy enough" with his life, and thus makes no attempts to change or improve his circumstances?
Detail 2: When Eraqus starts getting angry and upset at Xehanort because Xehanort said that the upperclassmen might have been felled by darkness (presumably, a painful reminder of the fate that befell Eraqus' grandfather), Hermod looks sympathetic, puts his hand on Eraqus' shoulder, and tries to calm Eraqus down. Though Hermod is sometimes at odds with Eraqus, he seems to know about what happened to Eraqus' grandfather, and tries to be understanding about it. At the end of the day, they are good friends even if they don't agree on everything.
Episode 5: Further Emphasizing Hermod's Personality and His Dilemma
Canonically, Episode 3 (if you choose Vor to be your party member like the game prompts you to) and Episode 4 are more Vor focused, and in my rewrites Episode 5 is Urd focused, but we can squeeze a couple of minor Hermod moments in Episode 5 to keep things balanced.
Specifically through Cogsworth and the Beast, as people of authority in the castle that Hermod can show respect to.
With Cogsworth, I just imagine Hermod being very polite with him and being more than willing to help him get the rose back, giving him respect as the head of the household.
Same goes for the Beast (in fact, in the base game it is Hermod who speaks/approaches the Beast first, not Urd like you'd expect), but when the Beast tries to viciously attack Hermod despite the underclassmen being very polite and reasonable with him, afterwards Hermod makes a comment about how surprised he is that someone in such a respectable position as lord of the castle would act like that and yet still garner such love and loyalty from his servants. Genuine loyalty, not the fake, fear-based loyalty that the Queen of Hearts commanded back in Episode 2.
"There's still much we don't know about this world and its residents. Perhaps we're missing something important. Or perhaps this world is like Wonderland; it's just the order of things." says Xehanort. "Maybe he's not so bad once you get to know him?" offers Urd.
And like, that's the thing, right. The Beast definitely needs to learn how to treat his servants better, but he lashes out because he's hurting, not out of genuine disdain for them like the Queen of Hearts, and deep down he really does care about his family at the castle even if he doesn't always show it. If Hermod can somehow recognize that that is what's going on, if he can recognize what exactly makes the Queen of Hearts and the Beast different despite their similar temperaments, then he can also realize that "Hey, people who genuinely care about you and your wellbeing probably deserve your loyalty more, and those who don't, don't." (Not that the Beast is a terribly great example of this given his nonetheless inexcusable behavior, but you get the idea.)
I can imagine Hermod starting to realize what conditions are required to birth true loyalty in people's hearts after they return the rose to the Beast, and the party finally sees him in a more calm, grateful state. This could be a discussion that Xehanort, Hermod, and Urd have as they leave the castle, capping off their adventure there.
BUT regardless of whether or not Hermod ends up seeing the hidden humanity of the Beast, once again Hermod is being presented with a wrathful, flawed authority figure wielding power against their subjects in unfair ways, and not yet recognizing how his alarmed and frustrated emotional responses to these scenarios could be applied to his own life and circumstances.
(And, honestly, maybe seeing such extreme examples of anger being wielded carelessly and spitefully against people who don't deserve it would make Hermod re-examine his own anger issues too and learn how to wield/direct his anger more responsibly? I know I said I didn't want his anger to be the focus of this rewrite (especially since anger isn't inherently bad) but the connection that can be drawn here is still a little too juicy to pass up, don't you think. Also, in addition to the Queen of Hearts and the Beast being examples of extreme anger wielded carelessly, there's also Hades to consider, who is known for his own unique brand of fiery, explosive anger as well. Keep him in mind for later.)
Episode 6: Confrontation and Introspection
The next set of major events relevant to Hermodā€™s development occur in Episode 6. In fact, Episode 6 is like, THE Hermod episode.
Episode 6 starts off with Jafar trying to trick Xehanort, Urd, and Hermod into going to the Cave of Wonders and fetching the lamp for him, lying about how the lamp is crucial to saving the kingdom. In the base game, Hermod is the first one in the group to show sympathy for Jafar and start falling for Jafarā€™s ruse, to the point that Urd worriedly grabs his hand to stop him when he starts to approach Jafar after overhearing Jafar's "woes".
Tumblr media
In this rewrite, Iā€™m taking inspiration from that little interaction and having Hermod beĀ wayĀ more trusting of Jafar than Xehanort and Urd are, implicitly respecting Jafarā€™s authority as the royal vizier. So rather than Xehanort being the one who agrees to help Jafar (because he has suspicions about the lamp and wants access to the Cave of Wonders) with Hermod acting surprised/displeased at Xehanortā€™s willingness, instead it's Hermod who enthusiastically agrees to help, with Xehanort and Urd acting a little surprised and displeased but nonetheless going along with it (due to the aforementioned "the lamp might be important to our mission actually.")
There's also a moment during this scene where Xehanort and Urd start poking holes in Jafar's sob story and Hermod seems surprised/displeased that they're so rudely questioning Jafar like that, and obviously I'm keeping that in since it exemplifies Hermod's hesitation to question authority.
Afterwards, as the party makes their way down into the Cave of Wonders, Xehanort voices his doubts about Jafarā€™s intentions. In my rewrite, rather than Hermod instantly trusting Xehanortā€™s judgment of Jafarā€™s character, instead I want Hermod to argue with Xehanort about it. Hermod doesn't understand why Xehanort is accusing Jafar of nefarious intentions without any evidence to back it up, especially since Jafar seemed so...NORMAL and COMPASSIONATE compared to the other authority figures they've encountered so far. He's just trying to save his city, is that really so bad? says Hermod.
Xehanort, realizing that "I can feel his greed/darkness tho" doesn't really qualify as hard evidence, but ALSO being kinda fed up with Hermod's inflexibility and compliance up until this point, calls him out on not thinking for himself and just blindly following authority even when they're so CLEARLY suspect. Must I remind you about what happened with the Queen of Hearts, Hermod?
Hermod, shocked and offended at being criticized like that, and also getting defensive at having his Major Character Flaw thrown into his face, scoffs but doesnā€™t argue the point further. However, heā€™s still very visibly angry, and short with Xehanort whenever they do happen to exchange words. "Whatever. Let's go find this lamp already and get back to our mission." Or something like that.
Itā€™s only when the party runs into Bragi and Eraqus who reveal that Jafar tasked them with the exact same dangerous mission too without ever mentioning them to Xehanort and company that Hermod is finally convinced that Xehanort had been right all along. Jafar was treating them like disposable pawns and knowingly sending them into a death trap.
He also realizes that he was naive to trust Jafar so easily just because he was a charismatic authority figure. Before, Hermod was presented with the unfortunate reality of some authority figures just being plain cruel and incompetent and careless, but here he learns that they can also be deceitfully charismatic on top of that, and that it's not always going to be obvious when you're being taken advantage of.
He apologizes to Xehanort for (yet again) dragging his friends into danger due to his own personal hang-ups and choosing to trust Jafar, a stranger, over Xehanort, his close friend. Feeling the need to explain himself, he confesses that lately, he has felt like he has had no control over his life (perhaps with the implication that his family is really strict and expect way too much from him?), and the only way he knew how to cope with that was to assume that the authority figures controlling every aspect of his life were trustworthy, knew what they were doing, and had his best interests in mind. If he believed that with all his heart, then he could accept his lack of freedom to make his own choices, and be content with it. Xehanort, realizing that he was overly harsh on Hermod earlier, apologies as well.
TANGENT: Once again, I wish to highlight a moment from the base game that will be relevant later. Namely, Hermod and Eraqus starting to act more and more like each other.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Moving on: In addition to Vidar trying to recruit Eraqus in the lamp room, I want Vidar to try to recruit Hermod as well, because there's an awfully convenient similarity between the two of them that's relevant here. In that very scene, Vidar talks about how he and his friends heeding what they were taught (i.e. ā€œdonā€™t mess with the order no matter whatā€) is what resulted in four of them dying in the first place. Vidar had to learn the hard way what happens when you blindly follow the rules without considering your own opinions on what the right thing to do is. This lesson isĀ absolutelyĀ what Hermod needs to learn, too. Perhaps Vidarā€™s entreaty isnā€™t enough to convince Hermod to join him, but in conjunction with the Wonderland fiasco and Jafarā€™s deceit from earlier, itā€™s certainly enough to make Hermod start re-evaluating himself.Ā 
Specifically, I can imagine this theoretical Vidar and Hermod interaction slotting somewhere after Hermod's canon line "...upsetting each world's order is the worst thing you could do." (Is it? Perhaps Hermod will change his mind about this very soon...) Maybe it goes something like this (my added dialog in italics):
"I don't have a clue about true darkness and how much of a threat it is, but upsetting each world's order is the worst thing you could do." says Hermod, angrily. "'Don't upset the order,' huh? That's what we were taught, too." [Upperclassmen classroom flashback, followed by Vidar explaining that the other upperclassmen are dead, just like in the base game.] "And what about you, Hermod?" "Huh?" Hermod's anger gives way to confusion. "How has 'upholding the order' treated you and your friends so far? In Wonderland, and here in Agrabah?" (<-knowledge he got from spying on them.) "..." "If there's one thing I've learned from all of this, it's that you can't let darkness have its way. Not ever. Otherwise, it'll take away everything you care about the moment you give it the chance. If you wish to protect your friends...then you must fight it. So why not join me, and fight it?"
Hermod, much like Eraqus, refuses Vidar's offer, being worried about what might happen to the worlds if Vidar continues to steal the items of world order. But now he has something to mull over.
Episode 7: Realization and Resolve
Episode 7 is where Hermod's arc concludes (naturally, since he dies here.)
A couple of canon moments from this episode I want to highlight before we get to my changes, since I think they're important to Hermod's arc:
In the scene where Odin and the underclassmen discuss Vidar's plans to purge true darkness, Odin says to Hermod and the underclassmen "However, it has not yet been determined that what we face now is true darkness. And if it is indeed so, will you risk the lives of countless others to save your friends?" A question that we will actually get an answer to quite soon.
After Odin relieves the underclassmen from their duty, Hermod despairs over this fact and acts like there's nothing they can do about it since Odin's word is absolute. We see his anger and frustration spill out due to his conflicting feelings on the matter. He seems to be at a crossroads, unsure of what the best thing to do is. You get the impression that he is on the cusp of doing something uncharacteristic of him.
Tumblr media
Anyway, Episode 7 remains mostly the same up until the Hades boss fight that occurs due to Hades claiming to have imprisoned Bragi or Baldr. Hermod, after much internal conflict, finally decides to break the rules and agrees to fight theĀ literalĀ GOD of the UnderworldĀ (you could not have asked for a more fitting ending to Hermod's arc than that) in order to save his friends, wielding his anger compassionately and strategically to protect what's most important to him. This acts as a bookend to the Wonderland episode; there, Hermodā€™sĀ refusalĀ to fight an authority figure nearly got him and his friends executed, but here heā€™s finally realized that he needs to follow his heart and do whatĀ heĀ thinks is right, even if that means disregarding his orders or disobeying those in power. He nearly got his friends killed last time; he wonā€™t let that happen again.
Tumblr media
However, instead of Hermod showing upĀ afterĀ the Hades boss fight, I want him to show upĀ beforeĀ it and actually be involved in the battle. And since Eraqus and Hermod are usually at odds with each other due to Eraqusā€™s flippant and disrespectful attitude towards authority, I think it would be very emblematic of Hermodā€™s change of heart for him to protect Eraqus in the battle. (Remember those canon Eraqus and Hermod moments I highlighted? This is where they finally pay off. This moment of Hermod putting himself in danger to save Eraqus works without me having to add any extra details to lead up to it. Nice.) So at one point Hades getsĀ very closeĀ to offing Eraqus. but Hermod jumps in front of him just in time to fend Hades off, getting seriously injured in the process.Ā 
So later in the dark corridor when Hermod starts passing out way before Urd does, itā€™s specifically because of the extra wounds he sustained in the fight, adding another layer of tragedy to his death. He stood up for his friends and what he believed was right, discarding his strict adherence to the rules and disrupting the order in the process, but the ironic cost of that choice was that he was too hurt/exhausted to properly protect Urd and himself from Baldr. He did his best, and realized his error in time, but unfortunately that just wasnā€™t enough. This game is a tragedy where nothing goes right despite how hard the characters try to change for the better, after all.
And that's my pitch. As before, if you have any ideas, feedback, or criticisms, feel free to add on. Thanks for reading to the end.
38 notes Ā· View notes
knockknockitsnickels Ā· 2 months ago
Text
Tumblr media
I think this is one of my favorite lines from the Wraith route because of (imo) how much the meaning changes depending on if you got there via Spectre or Nightmare. For Spectre, it honestly strikes me as a genuine question. Why are you doing this to her? If you're on the Spectre route, you presumably already know the Narrator can't really be trusted, since you had to reject his reward to get here. What are you hoping to gain from continuing to hurt her? For Nightmare, it honestly just makes me sad. As the Shifting Mound describes her, "She desires only companionship, but the only thing she knows is how to hurt." This line feels like a plea from someone who genuinely doesn't understand why you keep rejecting her. She wants to be with you, but she just can't understand how to do that in a way which doesn't hurt you.
#at the risk of getting put on a list there is something tragic & relatable in nightmare#someone who desperately wants to make connections but just can't understand how#anyway wraith is one of my favorite princesses for stuff like this (and bc tragedy aside her route is a riot)#also im sorry if she doesn't say that line if you got there via nightmare#that's how i got her and i could've sworn she did? But i only found footage of her saying it in spectre#slay the princess#stp#stp wraith#the wraith#stp spectre#stp nightmare#side note archetypal/heart#(slash so i don't accidentally tag them)#pointed out on another post of mine that you get wraith via nightmare by killing her and via spectre by leaving her in the basement#in both cases its a rejection of her (rejection being one of wraith's main themes)#which makes me speculate on spectre's ch 3 (which i think we currently have very little info on?)#Trying to run from Nightmare should technically be a 'rejection' as well#but you get MOC from that (and from choosing to stay with her)#imo bc you're just repeating the same inaction which got you into this situation in the first place#you don't want to slay her. you don't want to set her free. So you just leave her there (again)#and so you get MOC where things have only gotten worse and you have no choice left. Because you chose *not* to take action again#So I wonder if spectre 3 will be a similar 'repeating your past mistakes' type of deal#i was skeptical about it coming from stabbing yourself while she possesses you or trying to crush her bones#but it does make sense with that in mind#im curious if it'll parallel MOC#except instead of having no choice but to free the princess you have no choice but to obey the narrator again#maybe you both end up stuck in the cabin forever again?#idk#sorry i probably should've put all of that tag in the post lmao
359 notes Ā· View notes
1alchemistart Ā· 1 year ago
Text
Tumblr media
hurried and did some art of she šŸ‘€
1K notes Ā· View notes
toypretend Ā· 1 month ago
Text
Tumblr media
binge watched all of clone high w/ irl bestie over the weekendā€¦ they wanted me to draw transfem jfk and i wanted butch jfk. did both <3
166 notes Ā· View notes
asmodeusamaryllis Ā· 12 days ago
Text
Tumblr media
94 notes Ā· View notes
soren-apologist Ā· 1 month ago
Text
time for more soren character analysis:
Tumblr media
petrineā€™s battle conversation with soren in chapter 23 has always been a favorite of mine, and now that iā€™m looking at it again i noticed a few extra details:
itā€™s important to mention that this battle takes place directly after ike and sorenā€™s a-support, in which soren confesses heā€™s a branded and expects to be shunned, only for ike to tell him that it doesnā€™t matter and he wants soren to stay by his side regardless.
anyway, besides ā€œNow let me show you true fear!ā€ being a really hard line, itā€™s really cool to see how sorenā€™s reaction to his branded status being pointed out changes so sharply over the course of a handful of chapters. i already analyzed his reaction to nasirā€™s betrayal where heā€™s agitated over the fact that he could have prevented it if nasir hadnā€™t threatened to reveal him being branded to the army, so seeing him being so confident in himself is great, and iā€™ll touch on why here.
one of the reasons i like to say the game treats ike and sorenā€™s a-support as canon is actually this particular conversation. soren, having just been reassured that ike will always want him at his side regardless of who or what he is, now suddenly has had his biggest fear and insecurity taken off his back. he doesnā€™t need to hate himself for being branded because ike, the only person whoā€™s ever truly mattered to soren, doesnā€™t care at all.
back to the conversation, sorenā€™s judgment over the situation at hand is no longer clouded by his own self-loathing. instead of comparing them as branded and seeing himself as just as horrid and disgusting as petrine (tiger branded, fun fact), heā€™s able to instead compare them as individuals and realize that what heā€™s done up to that point will never measure up to the atrocities sheā€™s committed. i think the best part personally is just how disgusted soren looks by the notion he and petrine are the same, because heā€™s rightā€” him being cutthroat and pragmatic is nothing compared to everything petrine has done in daeinā€™s nameā€” and the fact he can clearly see this means that, for the very first time, heā€™s finally starting to heal from the mental wounds inflicted upon him by his childhood.
overall, i like this little nod to soren starting to learn to grow and change from who he was at the beginning of fe9. itā€™s more clearly seen in radiant dawn, where heā€™s calmer to the point ranulf even comments on it, but these little inklings implying the start of sorenā€™s healing are really cool to see.
86 notes Ā· View notes
chrisginny Ā· 3 months ago
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media
CHRIS NOEL in Dead Poets Society
+ the pink sweater white headband outfit
66 notes Ā· View notes
bi-scottsummers Ā· 4 months ago
Note
Hi, hello, just came here to say that I love your fic "trending in Japan". I was wondering if you had headcanons regarding Kenji or Emi or interpersonal relationships and stuff. Many hugs for you.
hi hello, thank you for the encouragement and hugs! After some thought ive realized I do in fact have some hcs about some of the character dynamics in the movie as well as just kenji himself, cause hes captivated my entire brain:
Kenji & Emi
Emi does not have teeth but she does inexplicably have a teething phase. kenji is forced to hide all his (salvaged) fancy cars in the garage bc the corvette's already been chewed to hell and his heart is gonna give out if he has to watch any more classics get wrecked
he reads her bedtime stories. A lot of aesop's fables, because theyre short and fun and hes trying to raise his monster daughter with good morals. emi goes hogwild for these but its unclear if she actually understands what hes saying; kenji's pretty sure she just likes the silly voices he uses for different characters
they go flying together! they go first thing in the morning before breakfast - it helps kenji shake off the grogginess of sleep and emi gets to stretch her wings. shes not able to go very far for very long initially, but as she grows and gets those cardio gainz she almost gets to be quicker than him. they have races and play air tag :)
while she doesnt have the vocal range to speak english herself, it becomes clear that emi does understand it well. (kenji also develops an ear for her chirping/squawks, though body language & facial expressions play a big part in communication for both of them) during her (much later) rebellious phase she'll simply pretend not to know what's being said when kenji is telling her to do something she doesn't wanna do, which frustrates him to no end
Kenji
developed a pretty massive chip on his shoulder after moving to the states. it wasn't just bitterness over his dad staying behind, though that was a part of it. this is canon but he was picked on in school for "how [he talked], how [he looked] and what [he ate]." he felt like he had something to prove to both his father and the world. he threw himself into sports - specifically baseball - and his academics, and he did so well that it forced everyone to shut up about how he was different from them and focus on how he was better than them
^ playing off this: kenji had a bonkers fucking yonkers routine when he was a kid/in highschool. he'd get up hours before school started to practice his swing, go for a ~1hr run, workout, study, etc. He'd go to school, come home, and do it all again. this is exaggerated but my point is that this kid was DETERMINED and had the discipline to see that determination through to the end
didnt have many friends because of all aforementioned things. he had acquaintances, and he was invited to parties and outings and stuff (never went), but he spent most of his free time hanging out with his mom. he never really had a "parents are so embarrassing" phase. he always liked to do anything with his mother: going to the bank, going grocery shopping, watching cheesy telenovelas till ungodly hours in the morning, etc. she was his no.1 supporter, confidant, and best friend
he played for his university's baseball team and got scouted at 19. his mom forced him to finish his bachelor's first so once he graduated with his degree in kinesiology at 21, he was drafted to the dodgers
Kenji & Ami
both of them, up until meeting each other, were totally dedicated to their career (and child) so they had basically 0 time for friends. theyre both borderline losers but theyre juuust good enough at what they do for people to admire them instead of finding them sad and lowkey pathetic
kenji is way more into the idea of being friends than ami is. hes pretty enthusiastic about it; he thinks that they have a kind of rapport, since they share a similar work ethic and are both (unbeknownst to ami) single parents. he calls her to chat abt random things. ami initially isnt superrrr into it; she thinks kenji is kinda lonely and desperate for human connection, & it isnt until her mom points out that she has not spoken to anyone outside of work-related reasons in 10+ years that shes like oh shit, i am also lonely and desperate for human connection. so she grudgingly acquires a friend. theyre both really bad at it
need to clarify that in my mind their dynamic is 95% kenji yapping about work and drama in his personal life (circumventing the 8m baby kaiju hes raising) while ami goes "mhm mhm" and takes notes until kenji notices and is like What are you doing. at which point ami is like...... right . nothing. im listening. and forces herself to put the notepad away. she has a hard time disengaging from the reporter mindset and just hearing something intriguing without turning it into an article. the other 5% are the rare moments where theyre connecting super well - ami's psychoanalyzing the hell out of whatever kenji just said and hes like what are you my therapist. over time she starts opening up to him, too, and eventually theyre comfortable enough to be having philosophical discussions over breakfast just for funsies
before kenji reveals that hes ultraman, ami thinks hes in a gang. he keeps showing up to their lunch "dates" with like bruised eyes and fractured bones and gets all shifty when she tries to ask about what happened. when she eventually confronts him about it, hes so offended that she thinks hed be involved in something like that that he tells her about being ultraman
thats about all i can think of rn, though im sure ill think of more after rotating all the characters in my head for a while. thanks again for stopping in, i appreciate the support :)
66 notes Ā· View notes
zootopiathingz Ā· 3 months ago
Text
My issue with Vaggie and her character
(TW: Opinionā€¼ļø)
Iā€™ve been wanting to make a rant about this for a while and Iā€™m sure other people have already done it, but I figured I might as well share my thoughts because I like to think my opinion matters to some people lmao. Anyway, I wouldnā€™t read this if youā€™re like a die-hard Vaggie/chaggie fan, but thatā€™s up to you!
So Iā€™m sure some of you by now heard the news that Charlie and Vaggie are getting another duet in S2 which apparently will be about their sex life. Which like, ok sure. In a show like this I expected a sexual-themed song to happen eventually. Hereā€™s my issue with this though;
If you need to make an entire musical number about how much your main couple fucks, because of the severe lack of any hints of a sex life between them in the first season, then itā€™s not a good pairing, and this feels like a desperate attempt to give them chemistry that they just donā€™t have.
I saw someone say something similar on Twitter and I really couldnā€™t agree more. Some of you are going to say ā€œyou only say that because you donā€™t ship Chaggie!!ā€ Youā€™re right. I donā€™t ship them. Because thereā€™s nothing there for me to root for. Like, at all.
Letā€™s start off with the fact that Vaggie has no personality outside of being Charlieā€™s girlfriend. I tried to like her character, I really did, but sheā€™s honestly the most forgettable to me in the entire show. Some of you might disagree with me, but be honest and answer me this; can you name one interesting thing about her character that doesnā€™t involve her relationship with Charlie? And what she adds to the plot besides being Charlieā€™s ā€œvoice of reasonā€? (Which sheā€™s not, she basically just gentle-parents Charlie into not doing things that Charlie wants to do)
Letā€™s take a look at some of the other characters in our main cast: Charlie, princess of Hell, desperately tries to help other people even when nobody believes in her cause. Alastor is a powerful overlord whoā€™s supposedly helping out with the hotel, but clearly has ulterior motives that have yet to be revealed. Angel Dust is a famous porn star in an abusive relationship with his employer and is on a path to redemption himself. Husk is a former overlord who lost all his power to his gambling addiction and is now being forced to play bartender. Lucifer, the king of all Hell, a fallen angel who lost his will to dream, a shell of his former self. For fuckā€™s sake, even Lilithā€”whom we have yet to even hear speakā€”has a more compelling plot; sheā€™s been gone for seven years, sheā€™s in Heaven having made a deal with Adam and we have no idea why.
And what does Vaggie do exactly? She gives Charlie advice, she helps run the hotel, she.. occasionally threatens to hurt people with an angelic weapon (you know, the thing that kills souls for good?)
Ok so sheā€™s also a fallen angelā€”a former exorcist in Adamā€™s army that leads to exterminations. Now that could have been an interesting plot point. It does explain a little why sheā€™s so aggressive and skilled in combat. The scene with her practice-fighting Carmilla for answers was probably the most interesting scene that prominently features her. And even then, Carmilla kinda steals the spotlight for me, as Iā€™m actually way more invested in her character and her background (seriously, why is she so knowledgeable about angelic weapons and Vaggieā€”the literal former angel herselfā€”isnā€™t?)
This was honestly a twist I didnā€™t see coming, and it had so much potential to add more to Vaggieā€™s personality and character as a whole. Seriously, losing her wings and her fucking eyeball mustā€™ve been severely traumatic. She might hold some grudge against Adam and Lute for abandoning her and tossing her aside like she was nothing, even after all that work she put in to be one of the top exorcists. She could maybe miss Heaven and even if sheā€™s content living in Hell, a part of her will still always long to go back to what was once her home.
ā€¦But no, the entire reason sheā€™s a fallen angel is just to create conflict between her and Charlie. And that barely lasted a whole episode.
Again, everything about her and her ā€˜personalityā€™ all narrows down to Charlie. Not only is this a terrible foundation for the main couple of the series, itā€™s also just extremely unhealthy realistically speaking. Even episode 3 alludes to the toxicity of Vaggie thinking she has no purpose outside of helping and protecting Charlie. And I find it funny that Charlie is so taken aback, but she doesnā€™t actually say anything to correct Vaggie, becauseā€¦itā€™s true.
Itā€™s very frustrating for me to say this. Vaggie had so much potential to be at least a somewhat interesting character, but instead sheā€™s always resorted to being Charlieā€™s partner/sidekick. Ik this has a lot to do with Vivziepop being terrible at writing female characters but imma be real, even Loona interests me more and they almost have the exact same traits (grumpy, aggressive, insecure, etc.)
Iā€™m gonna try and wrap this up the best I can. Honestly guys, ship whatever you want but for me, Chaggie just has no appeal at all. For the first four episodes, I didnā€™t even know they were a couple. I assumed Vaggie had some sort of unrequited, unhealthy crush on Charlie. Hazbin Hotelā€™s writing is already kinda bad to begin with, but if I canā€™t tell that your main female leads are in a romantic relationship within the first few minutes of their screen-time, thatā€™s really saying something. And I understand wanting more wlw relationships in media, but having two female characters together just for the sake of having a wlw relationship in your show is not good representation. You need to actually have chemistry between them, you need to make them compelling characters as individuals, and sadly Vaggie is too one-dimensional that, on her own, she has nothing going on, and Iā€™m not rooting for her and Charlie.
And Iā€™m sorry but I can already tell Iā€™m going to cringe so hard at this ā€˜sexyā€™ duet between them next seasonšŸ’€
33 notes Ā· View notes
gammaraydeath Ā· 6 days ago
Text
Tumblr media
i can't post my drawing yet so take this instead
27 notes Ā· View notes
mocha-tapioca Ā· 1 year ago
Text
Tumblr media
šŸ€ oh baby, isnā€™t life so
FUCKING INCONSISTENT ā‰ļø
116 notes Ā· View notes
lightandfellowship Ā· 1 year ago
Text
Concept: Hermod and Urd's armor become Lingering Wills that haunt the dark corridors.
Every once in a while Xehanort swears he sees them in his peripheral vision when traveling the corridors, but they never approach him and simply disappear when he turns to look at them.
Other people traveling the corridors are not so lucky and may in fact face a really tough duo boss fight. Especially if you happen to have white hair.
65 notes Ā· View notes
sangre Ā· 4 months ago
Text
A VERY DESCRIPTIVE PROFILE OF YOUR MUSE. Ā REPOST, DO NOT REBLOG, with the information of your muse, Ā including headcanons, etc.
pawn and arisen edition!
TAGGED BY: no one i stole this from myself :}Ā  TAGGING: @reides @the-lovely-lady-luck @interstices @ritens @soloavengers
@muracasardis @pawnguild @lepidopteralabyrinth @edgier-than-a-diamond
@ishgard @hit-tab @lesbianbreastmilk if you like!
Tumblr media
name: adamaris solvesal nicknames: ā€œadaā€ to her sister, only. ā€œmarisā€ with close friends. ā€œvesā€ in a formal/informal sense, and obviously, pawn titles/endearments. age: thirty-three. race: human. gender: fluid, predominantly she/her but happy with he/him. Especially likes masculine titles ā€“ lord, king, sir. mx. and mistrex (acofaf reference). are also good. orientation: bisexual. zodiac: cancer. moral alignment: chaotic neutral. class/subclass: warfarer; mystic archer + sorcerer. briefly trained in spearhand, but she liked the on-hand brutality more than she wanted to deal with at the time and didnā€™t like it as an outlet. effectively ā€œiā€™m not unpacking all thatā€ and moving on. very proficient spellcaster, exceptional archer. the back definition hehe background: she and her younger sister (diantha) were taken in by their grandma, who was already rather old when she took them in. their grandmother was a fish and abalone/jewelry merchant who had adamaris take lessons at the apothecary so that she might be helpful in an emergency. diantha helped her grandmother with fishing and collecting things for the shop! (adamaris did this too of course, i think she just spent more time at lessons as elder sib.) interests/hobbies: mapmaking, navigating, astronomy, sailing, reading. spoken languages: dd2 equivalent of common as well as pseudospanish. also, the arisen's innate ability to understand the dragons after losing their heart. profession: the arisen, sovran-to-be. height: 5ā€™7ā€ colors: deep pink reds, pale red-browns, dark purple-red, almost black-red, wine red. the wine dark sea. fruits: raspberries, cherries, mango, lime, strawberry. drinks: ciders, guava and citrus juices, pulpy drinks like with aloe vera... alcoholic beverages: sweet/white wines, fruit sangrias, mango margarita with tajin, in theory... smokes: nope drugs: not really. just kind of hasn't had the time. drivers license: CAN drive a carriage. ever been arrested: almost and then she lifted the guard and threw him off the cliff in the inside of the jail. that's their fault for having cells that open up into cliffs of endlessness
pawn info under readmore:
Tumblr media
name: yvaine nicknames: yve (adamaris), vaine. age: ??? race: pawn - yvaine is more draconic in NG+, admittedly. his pointed ears and fangs are from plague overexposure. and other things. :-) gender: transmasc, he/him. orientation: bisexual. zodiac: sagittarius somehow. moral alignment: neutral good in first run, but chaotic neutral later and then in NG+ class/subclass: he was a mage to begin with! he was also a fighter, but his steady class now is thief. i think he likes having his 2 big knives. background: a somewhat eccentric summoning. adamaris attempted to frankenstein a body prior to becoming an arisen (with parts from corpses) but could not bring it to life/reanimate it/give live to it as what would have been a homunculus/a familiar. however! adamaris' first rift summoning brought her face to face with the animate version of that body she built. except... this time, he's very much alive. so there's a sort of inexplicable tether to his coming to life and rift-traveling! he doesn't remember much of his life prior to being summoned, so he and adamaris are in the same boat to start with. but. much has happened since then. interests/hobbies: he's a bit of a history and the arts dweeb. i think he loves seeing where things come from and learning about the stories that make up people's lives. music makes him cry like all the time. so he has been studying how to play the lute! spoken languages: dd2 equivalent of comic, and the language of dragons as well. profession: effectively the sovran's 'seneschal'/advisor/right hand/assassin. before that point, he's just my party's sweetheart. :-) height: 5'9" colors: lavender! pale lilac/desaturated brown, silvery purples! like silk, moonlight, like opal and fluorescent purple. and crimson red. fruits: honeydew..! kiwis, passionfruit, plums :) and papayas drinks: mulch. just kidding umm. very strong things! like i just think he's weirdly fond of VERY strong flavors or bitterness! i can't think of anything to describe this outside of black coffee but you get the vibe alcoholic beverages: i don't think alcohol affects him much but i also think he doesn't like the way it does feel for him. smokes: no. drugs: no by happenstance but he would try some substances recreationally with maris if it ever came up haha. drivers license: NO! ever been arrested:Ā no he's too fast.
26 notes Ā· View notes
ddeongies Ā· 4 months ago
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media
LIA UPDATE THIS IS NOT A DRILL
37 notes Ā· View notes
heartorbit Ā· 2 years ago
Text
Tumblr media
my friend richeh
289 notes Ā· View notes
milkbreadtoast Ā· 6 months ago
Text
Tumblr media
started reading this one and there's only 11 eps out but it's really cute so far i like it... clicked on it bc the art looked rly good and IT IS i like the art style a lot and it's v well drawn... its also funny and i like the mc a lot shes cute?? obv 11 eps isnt enough to say much abt where the story will go but im enjoying it so far at least šŸ‘€... it feels like im watching a cute lighthearted anime haha.. ALSO LOOK HOW GORGEOUS THE ART IS
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
37 notes Ā· View notes