#lennox was hard to stop because his issues come from all sorts of directions.

[idrisofficial]

Which characters/character do you feel most personally/emotionally involved with and why?

oh this is a very difficult question and i appreciate it very much. as any creator would, i’m inclined to say all of them in different ways…but that’s kind of a cop-out.

i think i’ll say brinne and lennox. they’re not the characters i relate to the most, but i do think i feel the most emotional connection towards them. a lot of what draws me to them is their silent suffering—both of them live in glass prisons of their own making. a lot of this is mental illness related, but their natural dispositions are also of great influence (although lennox’s natural disposition is extremely debatable when you consider nature vs nurture).

brinne was the first of any of my idris characters to exist, and the depth of her development definitely follows suit. her transition from a manic but deeply idealistic teenager to a reticent and self-interested monarch through the buildup of her childhood trauma and the final straw of her near death experience is so deliciously heartbreaking. her loneliness, her codependency with adrian, her sexual and alcoholic coping mechanisms, her deep uncertainty in the religion that gives meaning to her entire life…poor girl can’t catch a break. brinne has always been the focus of idris, and i’ve had fun and i’ve had pain hurting her like i do. most of the actual writing that i’ve accomplished revolves around her, and for good reason. she is at the core of the conflicts plaguing idris’s centuries-old culture and still just a twenty two year old girl who never really got to grow up. sometimes i act as though her teenage self and her adult self are two separate people, but the truth is that they are painfully intertwined. brinne’s suppression of her idealism and desire for change in service to her desperate attempts at self-preservation is what drives her motivations throughout every iteration of this story. she cannot escape who she is, try as she might. and i think there’s something so, so compelling about that for someone in a position of such horrible power like she is.

lennox is layer upon layer upon layer. the fact that he was originally inspired by byakuya togami? we’re not gonna talk about that. lennox has also come a long way as a character, the third to exist after brinne and adrian. he’s an og. lennox was a nice kid up until about age six, where the kindness was quite literally shattered in him to make room for solid perfection. a machine with style. he grew into the role almost too perfectly. the pinnacle of competence, a voice of absolute reason and logic amidst his generally wild and dysfunctional generation of nobles. here is why i feel such connection to lennox. he is ice on the outside, ice on the inside, speaks only when necessary but controls the conversation, and casually usurps the throne from time to time. he has studied these same people for sixteen years, understands most of them sickeningly well, and appears virtually flawless aside from his mansplainer bullshit. but my god is he grumpy, bitchy, flamboyant, perfectionistic to the point of petulance, and baselessly sadistic. he’s the second most powerful person in the country and he has constant migraines from dealing with others’ bullshit. he loves his siblings. he’s one of only two characters to understand his sexuality and he’s deeply afraid of it. he gets no bitches. he’s still mourning the death of the cousin whose death he was responsible for and who he was boyishly in love with. he’s sensible as all hell, but my god, he is fucking losing it. nobody gets that. even the people who hate him don’t get that. they hate him for his pretentious swag but don’t understand how much of a loser he actually is. anyways. i’m on a tangent now. he’s flawless. he’s horrible. there is no changing who he is, but would he ever have turned out like this naturally? lennox is a product of both what others have made him into and what he has forced himself to embody. there is no lennox that isn’t a diamond formed under absolute pressure.

[evolve2]

Height Headcanons!

We all know that the hunters are some pretty varied characters, height included, so I decided to try and settle their heights using their in game models. No screenshots this time, sorry. I couldn’t get any of the medics to sit still, but the camera positions when playing a character helped me get a rough idea. I’ll be posting my thoughts on why I decided on these heights under the read more!

(I also put a bonus rating on how I rated them on attractiveness)

Hyde, Parnell - 8′0

Torvald (Not including his artillery) - 7′9

Markov - 7′7

Bucket, Crow - 6′2

Lennox - 5′11

Lazarus, Abe - 5′10

Griffin, Maggie - 5′9

Hank, Slim - 5′8

Val, Kala - 5′7

Caira, Sunny, Emet - 5′6

Cabot - 5′5

Jack- 5′4 (He might still grow more, but not much)

The tallest of the hunters is Hyde and Parnell! A developer comment on Parnell tells us that he’s a whopping eight feet tall, and that Hyde is pretty close to his height in game, although Hyde’s wiki says that he’s also eight feet tall! I’ll take their word for it.

Parnell is a big, leading ray of sunshine. He can spearhead anything because not only is he charismatic, he’s also easy to spot thanks to his height. And he knows it! He has a big heart and this deep desire to protect his own, but at the same time, he’s a little sociopathic? His short story makes it seem like he has a bit of a cognitive dissonance between actions and people, and how they react. But that’s for another text post! Solid 8/10 (I love his jawline...)

Hyde is a bit of a weird one for me. I always thought he was a pretty average guy, he definitely struck me as kind of short when I saw his portrait picture, but no! He’s a giant, cockney sociopath. At least he’s lovable. (and that tummy?... I like it.) 6.5/10, I’m not interested in crazy flamers, thank you.

After them is Torvald, Markov, Crow, and Bucket! Torvald is taller by Markov by a few inches, and a few inches shorter than Parnell. I’d say that he’s 7′9, Markov is 7′7, and Bucket is 6′2. What’s up with all these tall guys around here?

Torvald. Oooh boy, yikes. The guy is terrifyingly tall, and has a glare that could make a Blitzer cower. Pretty sure his mechanical legs were modeled closely to his human ones. - 6.5/10 (Guys a bit obsessed and emotionally constipated. But hey, you gotta admire that devotion!)

Markov, the Martian Giant. He’s a genuinely good guy, but his quest to die in battle with glory is probably a red flag. This guy has huge protector vibes but he’s also... got a bit of a death wish. Steel is his language! 8/10 (Love the cybernetics though, and that physique?)

Bucket is HuangCorp repair and maintenance chassis, so he didn’t get to choose his height. He does, however, own it smugly. Nothing like staring down your enemy as you blast him to bits. - 7.5/10 (He’s a robotic AI, not that it’s gonna stop some people, but he’s gonna take a while to adjust to the whole romance and dating a human thing. Plus, he’s a sarcastic jerk and rather spiteful if you wrong him. Don’t get on his bad side. SERIOUSLY.)

Crow is tall, looming kind of guy, even if he doesn’t mean to. It’s just how he holds himself, hunched over, tense, that makes me think he doesn’t like being seen or heard. Too bad he’s pretty tall, though. 8/10. (I want to climb this man like a damn tree. Minus points for having the social awareness of a potato.)

After that we get into more normal territory. No more behemoths, although these ones are still tall by Earth standards. We have Lennox, Griffin, Abe, Lazarus, and Maggie!

Outside of her suit, Lennox strikes me as a tall, strong woman, and she definitely knows it. I can imagine her being rather slim and tall, just a few inches above Crow. She loves using it to her advantage to stare down Jack and pressure others into listening to her. And if that doesn’t work, she still has a four ton mecha to back her up. A conversation with Hank reveals that she is also cramped inside of it, so she must have some height to her. - 7/10 (I can appreciate a nice looking lady, even if she’s a bit on the older side. She’s a bit callous though, and changes out her men frequently. Careful! She knows what she wants)

I think putting Lazarus at 5′10 was a good choice, as he’s imposing enough for it to fit his haughty personality but also small enough he can hide behind the assaults and heal them up. Sneaky and lanky. - 6/10 (He’s not bad looking, but his personality really needs some work. He does prank and joke around, but you can tell his heart lies with thanatology, not romance.)

Maggie also strikes me as someone who’s taller than the average woman. She has long legs and really slim physique, a good contrast to her pet Trapjaw, Daisy. Gotta have some heft to you to be able to direct a dog like that around! - 7/10 (She’s got PTSD, is a bit brooding, but damn if she isn’t pretty and headstrong. She’s got the courage to keep going despite being afraid of the future. You’d have a hard time getting her to open up emotionally.)

Abe is average, but it does piss him off when Parnell likes to rest his arms on his head or make fun of him. Not everyone can be freakishly tall giants from a high-grav world. 7.5/10 (This guy is a charmer and he knows it, voice like honey and words of silver. Unless you want your heart broken, try to steer clear)

Griffin is an average fella, not that he brags or even notices. He’d probably say there’s no point measuring yourself when there’s always gonna be someone taller than you. What matters is how you act! - 6/10 (He’s a hunter through and through, and he’s a bit of a cynical guy due to his fame. If you want to serenade this man, make it good! And whatever you do, don’t mention the movies made of him.)

Slim, aptly named, is a thin, slender and slightly taller than average guy. Whatever he lacks in height he makes up for in fire. He’s seriously scrappy and sassy, big personality when fired up. - 7.5/10 (Slim has PTSD, and he’s a bitter, jaded old man. Watching his best friends die horribly will do that. But if you manage to get this guy to open up, you might just get the most loyal, loving person in the world. Self-esteem issues through the roof.)

Hank is a short-ish guy, more stout than he is tall. I get dwarf vibes from him, but he’s still a human. - 8/10 (He’s a gentleman, has a heart of gold, and despite his slang idioms and hillbilly accent, he’s also a genius. He’s also an open kind of fellow, but he does smoke and is probably looking for a long term relationship rather than a fling)

Val is an average woman, but don’t let that fool you. She’s all hidden muscle and sharp intellect. Her eyes, ears and trigger finger is probably sharper than anyone’s on the team. - 7/10 (She’s a spy man, and no matter how honest she is, that’s still going to be a big part of her. If you pursue a relationship with her, it will be on the run.)

Kala is a scientist first, experiment second, and a normal, human with needs last. She’s pretty average but makes up for her height with the power of SCIENCE! - 7/10 (She’s half monster, it’s not gonna be a pretty end to your relationship. But if you still want to chase this doctor at arms, then you’ll find someone who’s been shunning and smothering their feelings for decades. Soft-spoken and will probably cry when you say I love you.)

Caira is an interesting person, still taller than the average woman. She’s got some good muscle to her too, and her personality is really cheery and peppy. Don’t be fooled by a pretty face, though. She won’t think twice about napalming you if you piss her off. - 8.5/10 (She’s kind of mean and has no problem retaliating physically if it comes down to it. Big brain, big heart, but her high morals can make her come off as holier than thou. High energy kind of girl, and also I mean it when I say she’s smart. She constantly goes off on scientific rants, but that’s still really interesting. I love her. She infodumps just like me.)

Sunny is sunshine mixed with a hurricane. A whirlwind of energy, good vibes, and smiles all around. Engineering genius, but she has a few hidden sides of her that make her seem naive or stupid. She knows full well how the world works, and she’s determined not to let it bring her down. Solid 9/10 (She’s twenty one / twenty, and although that’s kind of young, she can still date. Very cute.)

Emet the medic, designed to be of average height and inspire a caring aura and protective feeling. He’s literally created to keep people calm! Real sweetheart, a little oblivious. - 8/10 for his good side. Bad side? 4/10. (The demon core would probably screw you so roughly you’d be limping for days. Not to mention Emet would probably be really shy in initiating a relationship, he’s sort of a man-child. Get past that, though, and you’ve got a nice, caring bf!)

Cabot is canonly referred to as being short, and I think 5′5 is a good place to put him at. I mean, average males can be pretty tall, so if he’s referred to as short, he’s gotta be noticeably short. - 10/10. (Literally husband material, was married, he’s handsome, he’s got a nice voice, own a ship. Biggest challenge would be trying to woo him.)

Jack is literally tinier than a pea. A rowdy, dirty boy. Scrappy puppy. Jackal at heart, even if he doesn’t know what one is. - No attractiveness rating for this guy, he’s too young! Still a little baby. (But from a young standpoint? Probably 8/10, maybe a nine if I knew what looked like.)

I got kind of off track trying to reason about their heights. They just struck me as fitting at the time.