#this took so long to write aismjddmdmdmm

[salty-an-disco]

here's this silly little thing with Quiet's character progression throughout their loops in my Heathens AU

Originally, was gonna do 3 confirmed loops (as in, the ones I'm gonna go in detail about for my AU, they could be looping indefinitely and never even know, but these are the ones that matter for the story), but decided to go with 4 cuz it fits better for the character arc I have in mind for Quiet

expanded thoughts under the cut

So, I've been roleplaying the Heathens route in my own game as a way to help me flesh out my thoughts on Gary and the routes themselves, and it really helped me solidify my thoughts on their character.

For the first loop, the main idea was just that: 'Baby's First Slaying'

This is Quiet's first time in these woods (that they can remember). They don't know anything else about the world or themselves, only that there's a task they have to fulfill. And while it sounds a bit weird, 'saving the world' sounds like an important thing and maybe something they should try to do.

For the 1st Loop, the routes went as such–

Adversary -> Eye of the Needle: Welp, might as well try to slay this princess!! Unfortunately, Quiet couldn't help talking a little bit, and ended up giving the princess time to retaliate. He didn't back down tho, and gave it his all to slay her.

When he came back, very weirded out by everything, he thought he'd just have to slay the princess again, but no, things are different! The princess is different, she's so much taller and has different things to say! He is honestly fascinated and wants nothing more than to talk to this princess and get to know her more. Unfortunately, that's not what she wants, and the disappointment is almost more hurtful than her crushing his skull.

Witch -> Connected Wild: For whatever reason, the hero really wanted to just save this princess. Forgoing the blade completely and immediately going in to rescue her. He was honestly so excited to meet her, and the door shutting on his face only strengthened his resolve. Then– she began chewing her own arm like a rabid animal. It was like getting hit by a tree branch while sprinting at full speed, and before he could even realize it, he was already stabbing her. Now it's do or don't, he either finishes this or he dies.

He appears back with a weird taste on his mouth and the sudden thought that maybe the princess was always bad news and he just didn't realize it– he still wanna talk things out, see if maybe it wasn't all just a misunderstanding. He still took the knife this time around tho, just in case– The princess seems as suspicious and cautious as he is, and it's obvious she intends on hurting him no matter what he chooses, so might as well go out swing. So you attack. Fighting dirty the same way she is, full of resentment and fear the same way she is, and the two of you get crushed together by the cabin's wilds. When you come back, you do everything you can to not go back to those feelings, and even manage a look into something beautiful–

Next few routes:

Empty Cup: He tried to go through with slaying her this time. He didn't succeed.

Spectre: He did succeed this time! Annnnd that's the reward? Seeing and talking to the princess is much more fun than this, so he helps her out this time.

Happily Ever After: He successfully saved her this time, but this princess was just so…… shallow? Uninteresting? He tried to probe for more but it just seemed to break her, so he suggested staying in the cabin instead, where they both can feel safe. And it worked! Now they can just sit together and eat and play games and not kill each other forever!! So what if they both feel hollow inside? As long as they keep the flames going it's fine, right? ………Right?

Loop 2

The hero is on a path in the woods. But there's something…… dreadful, about this whole thing– a fear he just can't seem to shake off. That no matter what, things will just get worse the more he tries–

While Quiet completely forgets previous loops, there's always a lingering feeling that follows him from previous loops. And the feeling ends up tainting their choices and the routes they go through. For this loop, which I fondly nicknamed it The Dread™️, it's a feeling of fear and paranoia that sticks with him, so of course the first route he gets this time around is–

Nightmare -> Moment of Clarity: He tried to ignore the feeling of dread as much as he could, even ignoring the blade offered to him, he wouldn't let this weird feeling cloud his judgement– and he thought he was doing a pretty good job at it, even refusing to kill or save the princess until he had more information, but theeeeennnnn things started going awry really quickly. He still didn't want to give him to this fear even as he stared down His Nightmare, with his organs just barely holding on, and continued to refuse to make a choice either way till he couldn't anymore.

Next few routes:

The Stranger: Nope. Not even engaging with this cabin–

Wraith from Spectre: OK, fine, let's slay this princess– Oh, you gotta to be kidding me!! (tried to leave Spectre once he saw it was just a ghost, getting Wraith with Paranoid and proceeding to throw her in the pit)

Burned Grey: The Dread™️ didn't leave even in this perfect-looking fairy tale, and is what pushed him to stab her even as she didn't fight it at all.

Wounded Wild from Beast: It was only when looking at what remained of the monster that hurt him, with her heart exposed for everyone to see that he realized– she's just a person. She's been just a person all this time– and he kept hurting her out of a fear of what she could become, not realizing it was him turning her into someone who could only lash out. As he sees all the paths he took in reverse order, he feels empty and remorseful.

Loop 3

That remorse turns into a want to figure out what exactly is going on and how to best help each other in this next loop. He's much more cynical and questioning here, doubting every word the Narrator says, but also not quite able to fully trust the princess just yet. This leads to spiraling routes that only seem to revolve around an endless cycle–

First few routes:

The Cage: I mean– how could he not lol. So intent on puzzling everything out he just traps himself and her all the tighter on this narrative neither of them chose.

Wraith from Nightmare: In his quest to figure things out so that he can do right by her, he only end up re-walking a similar path– the scenery is a bit different, but the destination is the same endless pit.

The Den (with Skeptic): He wanted so badly to reach out to her, to give her a chance to prove his instincts wrong, but the doubts in his mind only trapped them both underneath the earth where they starved.

The Fury from Tower: He tried another already walked path, and was forced to raise the blade to her. The overwhelming divinity he found in the basement by the next time was so difficult to talk through, he felt like he had no choice but to fight against her.

and last, but not least–

The Witch -> The Thorn: once again they were walking towards the basement door, and when Narrator took control of his body, he didn't even bother to look for a way to defy him this time–

Seemed like things were going another eerily familiar path. He kills her, earning her distrust, so they both keep trying to kill each other– till he decided 'no, we're not doing this–' and threw the knife at her feet. It was hard to believe things could really be just as simple as trusting one another to leave the cabin for good, but after everything he's been through, he can only feel relieve drowning out any more doubts he might have.

Final Loop

The Stranger: He can't help it, he still tries to avoid the cabin one last time.

The Damsel: He puts his entire faith and trust on her, and is rewarded by the ability to leave (somehow, it both surprises him and also not at all).

The Witch: He still tried and failed to save her a second time. He's not even all that upset when she shuts the door on his face, and can only smirk at seeing her surprised face when it disappears.

The Spectre: He expected the reward to be lackluster, and already knew he'd be freeing her before even getting to the cabin that second time.

The Prisoner: He couldn't help one small remaining curiosity and went to check the second shackle– patience still rewarded him in the end though.

Then Contrarian is in the final cabin this time, and Quiet throws the blade out the window instead of taking it with him again, "just in case", and they finally break the cycle for good!!! :D