#hermond

[ryebread-x]

Hermodr!!

Here’s my interpretation of Hermodr, the messenger god!! I feel like out of Odin’s sons he’s one of underrated ones despite what he did in the myths(going down to Helheim to try to get Baldr back from Hel). So, I wanted to design him first when it came to continuing to design my interpretations of Odin’s sons.

As for my design of him, I made Hermodr look more like Frigg but gave him some of Odin’s features as well. I gave him slight Heterochromia, too. I also took a little inspiration from Hermes(since their both messenger gods) with the winged boots and headpiece, as well as the hidden eyes.

[blazernot]

The sequel

[shitpostingkats]

Mythological References in KH:DR (Pt.1)

All of the names, inspirations, and references to norse mythology I saw in the new dark road chapters, with a little bit of my own poetic license thrown in, because that’s half the fun with these roundups :D

This post WILL contain spoilers for the Dark Road finale.

PART ONE - The Characters

When the character designs for dr first dropped, featuring the key class that trained with Xehanort and Eraqus, a lot of people were quick to point out how they all take their names from norse gods/goddesses. They’ve already been covered in other excellent posts, plus, I’ll be talking about them more in my part two. But! With the update, we finally got to meet the eponymous upperclassmen, who also take their names from mythological figures

Vidar - The Silent God. Víðarr is the son of Odin, mostly attested as a god of vengeance, he killed Fenris wolf at ragnarok in response for the doggo devouring Odin. This fits the student leader we see in dr; broody, stern, and occupied with avenging the loss of his classmates. Some scholars propose his epithet of “silence” is specifically a part of his mourning, a part of the ritual retribution he takes part in. (More on that later)

Vala - Seer, sorceress. Not a god or goddess, Vala, or völva, is a northern germanic term for prophetess, which relates to Vala’s analytical predictions, as well as her references to her “vision” and it being unclear if she means her glasses, or a real ability to see the future. Interestingly, she is not named for the norn who sees the future. That honor goes to Skuld. So far, we’ve actually seen two norn names: Urd, meaning “That which has happened”, and Skuld, meaning “That which shall be”. I’ll let the Subject X = Skuld theorists do with that what they wish.

Vali - The Chosen. Not to be confused with Váli, the son of Loki. Váli is another son of Odin (Almost every male student is named after a god that, at some point or another, is attested as a son of Odin. The exceptions are Xehanort, Eraqus, and Helgi.) Váli, however, is a special kiddo, being born specifically to avenge the death of Baldr. According to the poetic edda, he grows to adulthood in a single day. “[He] will kill when one night old – he will not wash hand, nor comb head, before he bears to the pyre Baldr's adversary.” This not washing hand or hair is linked by some scholars to Víðarr’s silence, likely some lost ceremony of keeping a stoic lifestyle until one has delivered justice. He’s also described archer, which is probably where they got the ninja motif. An excellent marksman, he shoots the god who killed Baldr, killing them in return.

Hoder - The Battle Warrior. You may be wondering: who killed Baldr? Well, in the mythology, it’s his brother Hǫðr (Helped by Loki). In most myths said to be blind, (though this is disputed) Hǫðr unknowingly shot Baldr with the one thing that could kill him. And while she doesn’t cause his actual death in the game, it could be said that Hoder was the catalyst for Baldr being overcome by his darkness. They are said to both be reborn after ragnarock, finally free to live together in the peace they could not have in their first life. You know, like....

Ahem.

Heimdall - World-brightener. Now, sadly we’re starting to get to the three upperclassmen we know the least about.  From the few lines they have, Heimdall does seem to be cool, levelheaded, and forward thinking, which matches with the watchman of the gods. Also, Heimdall is often referred to as “the whitest of gods”, probably where the character designers came up with the silvery hair and pale outfit. Other than that, we sadly don’t have enough information to make many connections.

Sigrun and Helgi - The valkyrie and the hunter. I grouped these two together because, again, we don’t know much about them, but also, their mythological counterparts are a pair. They’re kind of of the odd ducks. First off, they’re the only upperclassmen not named after gods. Sigrun was a valkyrie who fell in love with a mortal, Helgi Hundingsbane. However, she was betrothed to another man, and Helgi ended up going to war over the whole mess and dying at the hand of her brother. Heartbroken, Sigrun curses her brother and spends the rest of her life mourning and tending Helgi’s tomb. The second interesting thing is their story doesn’t end there. The original editor of the poetic edda notes that Sigrun and Helgi are actually the second incarnation of this pair; before, they were a married couple by the names of Sváfa and.... Helgi. And then, after their second lifetime, are reborn as Kára and *pinches nose* Helgi. (Seriously man, how do you keep getting reborn with the same name?!?) These two are the only that don’t bear a very strong resemblance to their original counterparts. Aside from being a male and female fighter, I don’t think they even exchange a single line of dialogue. In the downtime where everyone’s napping in the clearing, Sigrun isn’t sitting with Helgi, she’s curled up with Vala (Which I WILL be interpreting for my own purposes, thank you very much. Harold, they’re lesbians) I think the real character inspirations here are meant to be these ideas of reincarnation and rebirth. The cycle of lives, over and over. The memories of past lives and past love. Important themes they start pushing in this game.

That’s the upperclassmen, though! I’ll be making a part two where I cover more general norse inspirations, as well as just little details I noticed, and some theories on what we could potentially see in Missing Link!

[uncommonsprig]

[punkray]

uhm

[penini-art]

Kingdom Hearts Dark Road, AKA: the tales of being a third wheel to a pair of gay keyblade wielders and having varied reactions to them

[imagine-kh]

LOOK AT THEM

[coffeetime88]

Me first hearing about Dark Road: Wow. I really like the designs for the new key kids. I wonder what they were up to while the rest of KH was happening.

After playing the first part of Dark Road: Oh. That's where they were...

quest 20

[69ywivez]

😈 😈 😈 || 👿 👿 👿 || 😈 😈 😈

[rubyfox1134]

So...

I don't get it... So none of them are kairi's grandmother? 😅😂

[ryebread-x]

Who are you planning on designing next Rye? :0

Oooo great question!

As of right now , I'm thinking of designing the rest of Odin's known sons (such as Hodr ,Hermond, Vidar, Tyr, and Vali Odinson). I also eventually want to at least give full designs to both Sol and Mani!

[blazernot]

I should be finishing a math exam thats due tonight but instead I have an au idea

Daybreak Dessert vs Scala Sweets!

Daybreak Desserts is staffed by the khux cast. Its a cat (chirithy) cafe/soda shop that is known for tasty treats.

Skuld and Elrena work with the customers. Elrena has to be constantly reminded to not sass and berate the customers. Skuld is a master of up selling and conflict management. Homegirl got her crap together.

Elrena will be taking her smoke break now.

Everyone helps out but Lauriam and Strelitzia are the main food staff. Lauriam is the boss but Strel is nothing to sneeze at. Shes the reason all the desserts are so cute.

Ephemer is the manager but it's both him and Brain that keeps the place running (and Lauriam/Strel's family's money). Brain is also the reason that they have a great website/app. He's also in charge of feeding the cats.

All the cats can talk they just only talk to the staff since they're too good for the peasants.

One time while Elrena was taking a smoke break she saw a worker from Scala Sweets dump a suspiciously human shaped bag in the dumpster. They made eye contact and now she's scared. Baldr doesn't remember this ever happening.

Scala Sweets is right next to DD. SS has twice the staff but only half the people actually do work.

Vidar and Hoder are the managers. Vidar is swamped by trying to keep the place afloat, so Hoder is the one who manages the rest of the staff. Her grandfather is the owner (Odin) so she can kinda do whatever she wants

Whenever someone doesn't show up to their shift Hoder calls Baldr in.

Baldr is the Jack of all trades master of none. No he does not get paid extra due to it being a "family favor :)". He has no idea how to tell her no. He dreams of burning the place to the ground.

Hoder is seemingly friendly but actually super passive aggressive

"Working hard or hardly working? :)"

Xehanort is the new guy and does exactly what he is paid to do. No Hoder he cannot help there are 30 seconds left on his break. No Hoder he cannot stay late his shift is over. Vidar forgot that xehanort was an employee

Eraqus is a slacker that suddenly cares a lot about work because he wants to look good in front of Xehanort.

Vor really wants to climb up the latter (shes a dish washer) but she's easily distracted. Shes doing her best though so Vidar is patient with her.

Helgi never comes to work but he isn't fired since he's dating Sigrun and shes friends with Hoder.

Urd is a massive people pleaser but Vala and Hermond stand up for her when people get mean

Vala and Elrena are enemies and always try to out mean each other. They pray on each other's downfall

I have no ideas for Heimdall sorry Heimdall.

~~~

Eraqus is really freaked out by the fact that DD was a worker that is literally identical to him in every way. Brain could not care less

"Hmm that guy is my mirror self, weird, anyway-"

Eraqus gets really worked up because, despite them being identical, everyone thinks Brain is way hotter.

Xehanort thinks one of the guys looks like his grandather but doesn't care enough to look further into it

The cats have spoken to each member of the DD staff but the staff haven't told each other since they think it's just them going crazy. Brain doesn't know if the place is haunted or just has a gas leak.

[fridgeful-o-help]

77hree b0ards f0r damekkn0n, lam0. 77heyre a lii7777le lazy bu77 clu7777er fel77 wr0ng s0

[bubblybluejelly]

Kinda old but I think these three would be really fun together

[uncommonsprig]

[xhda1449x]

even their armors are cute. wow