#which is usually nice for me and my social ineptitude but also occasionally is not. for example when i need to ask maestro a question lol

[supercantaloupe]

also i swear to gd i Need to get less weird and anxious about the mere concept of talking to maestro. i have known and played with him for seven years and in that time he has been literally nothing but kind and friendly and helpful and supportive. and yet every single time i have to ask him a question (or if he comes to talk to ME or like sends me an email or something) i swear to gd my heart starts racing like i’m about to get banned from every orchestra ever or something

[starfolk7]

(I think this will take a while for you, but i got curious xd) Ornstein and Rowena

Oh my god. You’re right, this is gonna take me a while. It’s gonna be a long one. Apologies for the lack of a read more line. *cracks knuckles*

Which deadly sin are they?

After a lot of deliberation, the one that fits Ornstein the most in my mind is Pride. While he was a successful Captain of the Knights of Gwyn and thus probably highly aware of the needs of the surrounding people, he tends to think himself superior, especially when he first meets Rowena. Here is this bumbling little Undead human, dragging this sword on the ground, and she thinks she can walk into that cathedral and win against those that served their Lord under much more dire circumstances? The thought is, to him, laughable. Still, he has a fair bit to learn from her, and not about anything he expects.

Which of the seven virtues are they?

Diligence, no question about it. Does he have to be somewhere in ten minutes but with no clearly feasible way to pull it off? He’’s going to make that appointment, so help him. Did Gwynevere tell him to look after this Undead girl and make sure she lives to see the Kiln? Yes. Does he like the idea? Far from it. Will he do it anyway? As much as he likes to think he could walk away, he wouldn’t dare stray from his duty, no matter what it is. Unless something dire caused him to do so, that is.  

If confronted with the need to choose: goodness or kindness? Do they believe in a distinction between the two? (Think the Witch vs the Baker from Into the Woods.)

Kindness is a way to measure the goodness of a person. There are other factors that go into this, of course, but that is a main avenue of determining the quality of someone’s character, provided the circumstances aren’t wildly out of the ordinary. 

What do they have the least tolerance for?

When you’ve been a Captain for so long and you’ve probably overseen many other knights in addition, your tolerance for incompetence gets rather low. Hence why he has such a hard time not correcting Rowena on every little thing she does. However, he’s starting to figure out that she responds rather well to gentle prods in the right direction as opposed to harsher forms of criticism. At least then she doesn’t start showering him with insults and the occasional obscenity. 

I also like to think that his tolerance for loneliness is actually kind of low. He probably spent so long amidst the other Knights of Gwyn, and then suddenly, that company is just gone. In addition, no one really knows how well he got along with Smough. Enough to fight off the Undead that wandered into the cathedral, yes, but beyond that? Who knows? What I’m saying is, he needs more socialization and refuses to acknowledge it. You can only spend so long lost in your thoughts before the lack of company begins to change you. 

Which flaws are they aware of? Do they consciously work on them?

He’s. So. Stubborn. This is only magnified by the equally stubborn Undead he’s traveling with. He’s getting a little better about conceding to some things, but there’s still that major part of him that just sits there and says “my method is better” or something along those lines. Half of the problem is acknowledging it, though. Heaven forbid someone tries to call him out on it. 

What view/belief are they most wrong about?

I think he’s got this skewed perspective of humans. It would stand to reason, since he was basically among gods and he himself was granted a special soul. In comparison, humans are just...wow, they’re annoying and in the way. How a good chunk of them have survived this long is beyond him. The Undead Curse doesn’t help things, and he’s only further baffled by Rowena’s actions. But there’s still plenty of room for him to grow. Perhaps his view of humans will change. 

Their opinions on loyalty?

Loyalty is so important to Ornstein. If you’re sworn to a person or a task, you keep to them/it unless something catastrophic occurs to the bond. He has a few issues determining what exactly those catastrophic terms are, but it’s something he keeps in the back of his mind. Regardless, it’s a good chunk of why he didn’t stop Rowena from punching Patches into the ground. Sure, he stopped her from outright killing him, but Patches broke a bond of trust. Honestly, Ornstein would have been shocked if Rowena didn’t lash out. 

So you know their lawful/chaotic good/evil alignment. Do you want that to be a rule they function by for the entire work, or will they be challenged enough to shift into a different square?

As it stands right now, Ornstein falls under the Lawful Good square overall, in my opinion. However, it’s entirely possible (and very probable) that he will at least fluctuate between Lawful and Neutral Good, if not shift entirely. Gotta leave room for powerful knights to grow in different ways, y’know?

Unless all of your characters have devoted a lot of time to puzzling out their philosophy, no one’s perfectly consistent. How are they hypocritical? Where do they contradict themself? Will they be challenged on it?

Ornstein has a pretty solid policy on loyalty, duty, all of that. However, he likes to make it rather apparent, at least to Rowena, that he’s not enjoying this particular duty. I’m fairly certain he aspires to show some level of compassion, as well, but it falls rather short when it comes to the Undead. There’s a particular exchange that’s pointed this out already:

“Running errands for the damned, are we?”

She shot a glare at Ornstein, who was just as still at the bonfire as when she left. “They are not damned. Not if I can help them.”

“While you actions are admittedly admirable for someone of your ineptitude,” he started, “you cannot help every being you come across. You have your own quest to embark upon.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to let others suffer along the way.”

The level of suffering that the surrounding Undead are saddled with aren’t immediately apparent to Ornstein, and because of the previous Undead that have attempted to kill him, and the bonus of Rowena, he’s not as inclined to devote his energy to caring. You could say that the time he spends with Rowena challenges this point quite a bit. 

How does their personality present conflicts and challenges in their setting/story?

The fact that his goals and Rowena’s goals initially conflict presents a good amount of conflict. Neither of them want anything to do with each other, and he sees her as wildly inferior to himself. It makes working together that much harder. Their vitriol is starting to wane, but given that they’re both stubborn and have different views of the world, they’re still going to have plenty of conflict down the line. Certain circumstances will also force his hand on things that will create personal conflicts. Many, many personal conflicts. He’s going to have more issues than a tabloid stand, and he already has enough.

Alrighty, onto Rowena!

Which deadly sin are they?

Wrath. Wrath all the way. As kind and forgiving as she can be, Rowena can unleash a terrifying sort of fury. If Ornstein hadn’t stopped her, she might have flat out murdered Patches brutally. She’s sought out revenge at least one other time, not counting the times in her life before she was afflicted by the Darksign. She can be a vengeful and petty young woman when she wants to be. There’s usually some sort of reason behind it, but either the reason is childish or she takes her actions too far. It’s only gotten worse on this journey, since nearly everything and everyone is out to kill her. There’s a lot of pent up frustration that she hasn’t fully expressed, and she probably won’t admit to much more of it until later.

Which of the seven virtues are they?

Kindness. Rowena is full of compassion and empathy towards her fellow Undead, and she goes out of her way to help them, even though she has plenty on her own plate to worry about. She’ll even do small things to make others happy, like bringing them simple gifts or holding a nice conversation with them. She’s slowly learning to apply this kindness to Ornstein, but it’s a work in progress.

Side note: Kindness is apparently also considered to be one of the Knightly Virtues. Make of this what you will. 

If confronted with the need to choose: goodness or kindness? Do they believe in a distinction between the two? (Think the Witch vs the Baker from Into the Woods.)

Rowena believes that people’s actions speak more for the kind of person they are than the promises they make. Someone can tell her all they like that they’re going to be a good person, but she’s more inclined to believe them if they’ve been kind to her or someone else before. Bad actions are redeemable to a point. Then again, her tolerance for said actions has gotten considerably lower since starting her adventures...

What do they have the least tolerance for?

Cruelty. She has basically zero tolerance for people that hurt others just for the fun of it or for their personal gain. She has memories of hunting others down for doing this in her time before the Undead Curse. Seems like this has carried over to her current journey.

Rowena also can’t stand to be told what to do for very long. She’s very much accustomed to figuring things out for herself, so following strict rules and facing constant scrutiny is a huge source of stress. 

Which flaws are they aware of? Do they consciously work on them?

Rowena is painfully aware of the fact that she’s stubborn and loses track of her surroundings if she’s caught up in a whirlwind of emotion. But again, she’s spiteful to the nth degree, and she will build a fortress out of spite if she feels the situation calls for it. She’s slowly working her way out of that habit, though. No one’s going to succeed if she keeps it up, and Ornstein is pretty handy to have around. 

What view/belief are they most wrong about?

She tends to glorify the people like herself and side-eye the beings who had all of the power. In a way, it’s reasonable, considering her position and what she’s had to deal with. However, it also clouds her judgment and hinders her progress. So, she’s kind of right, but not completely right. Her protocol needs a bit of tweaking. Not everything is quite as black or white as she likes to think it is sometimes. 

Their opinions on loyalty?

Very important. It’s a subject she and Ornstein agree on. She’s been tempted to run off and ruin his duty, not to mention all of the times she’s threatened to poison him, but she doesn’t. She learns how important it is to him, so it’s one of the first signs of consideration for him when she settles into her journey with Ornstein and doesn’t run off into the void of Lordran. Besides, he’d probably find her pretty quickly. She’d get stuck in a tree or on a cliff and he would just shake his head before helping her down.

So you know their lawful/chaotic good/evil alignment. Do you want that to be a rule they function by for the entire work, or will they be challenged enough to shift into a different square?

Currently, Rowena is sitting pretty in the Chaotic Good square. Rules can and will be broken. Well, the rules that are left in this dying land, anyway. As long as it helps someone, including herself, and works towards solving the problem at hand, she’ll probably do it. However, there’s probably a few things that would occasionally dip her into the Chaotic Neutral square. For the most part, though, she’s Chaotic Good. 

Unless all of your characters have devoted a lot of time to puzzling out their philosophy, no one’s perfectly consistent. How are they hypocritical? Where do they contradict themself? Will they be challenged on it?

She preaches kindness, but has trouble going through with her own philosophy when it comes to people she’s none too keen on being around for long periods of time. Even though her anger towards Ornstein is starting to soften, she hasn’t exactly treated him well. It’s going to take a lot to rectify that attitude.

How does their personality present conflicts and challenges in their setting/story?

Her entire being creates conflict. Rowena escaped her home and wandered the world until she was snatched up and thrown in the Northern Asylum to rot for eternity. When she finally did escape, she faced a multitude of horrors. She was forced into the role of the Chosen Undead simply because no one else had really made it that far. She had nowhere else to go and not many people to trust, so she threw her faith into Frampt and rushed headlong into Anor Londo, hoping that her life would become marginally easier. Instead, she begged for Ornstein’s mercy, was saddled with said knight as a travel companion, and has to learn how to reconcile her own personality with his, lest they end up murdering each other at their earliest convenience. They’re stubborn, and she’s downright exhausted from everything she’s had to deal with, but her options are limited, and the thought of going Hollow terrifies her. She wants to end the curse, and this is the only way she knows how. It’s worth trying. Still, the thought of failure cuts at her drive. Basically, she’s a tiny bundle of fear and confusion and she’s not having a good time. Nevertheless, as frustrated and clueless as she is, she presses forward. Sitting around isn’t an option she can afford.

Welp, that’s the second Dark Souls related essay I’ve written in...three days? I don’t mind, though. It’s really fun to think about these things and write them down! Plus, I love these two a lot.