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TL;CR MEME
1. Comment with your character.
2. Receive comments from others.
3. Reply to their comments with long ballads and explanations of your characters' relationship throughout the game.
4. Suffer as we have suffered over your CR.
1. Comment with your character.
2. Receive comments from others.
3. Reply to their comments with long ballads and explanations of your characters' relationship throughout the game.
4. Suffer as we have suffered over your CR.
claude
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while Kano's impression of Claude is that he's popular and outspoken and extraverted and everything Kano "hm"s and 180s at
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Basically, Claude is popular and outspoken but uhhhh that's all a persona.
SOME BACKGROUND FIRST:
Back in Fodlan, he's actually wildly unpopular and very controversial. Basically, he mysteriously showed out of no where and was made heir to the leading house of one of the most powerful nations on the continent. Before he showed up, it looked like there was going to be a shift in power so his appearance really threw off some political plans. People tried to undermine him by digging into his past but... he kept it all covered up and doesn't tell anyone about himself. He's the subject of a lot of rumors but he doesn't care if people don't like him or don't trust him. He's really flippant about all of it and just jokes about how he has a lot of enemies and no one should trust him because he's a schemer. Without getting into spoilers too much, it's because he spent his entire childhood being hated and alone. He ran away from home to escape his problems and created a whole new character for himself which is the character everyone sees now. He's using this persona to achieve his own personal goals and dreams and he won't hesitate to lie, scheme, and use people* to accomplish them. (*He actually gets better at this in canon and tries to be more honest and work with people instead, tho.)
TL;DR: His carefree, casual, confident, and friendly demeanor is all an act to cover up the fact he's actually a lonely and hated guy. Because of the nature of his secrets, he also just keeps everyone at a distance. He acts friendly and talks a lot but once you really think about it, no one really knows anything about him.
Hikaru in particular mentioned that Claude's smile is similar to Kano's and like... actual canon first impressions of Claude lmao. His smile is the fakest thing about him.
And as upset as everyone was about Kano's removal Claude like... really respected how he went down fighting because he would have done the same thing. Again, avoiding big spoilers but Claude's a survivor and if he's going to die, he's going to go down fighting and die on his own damn terms. I always planned if Claude ever had to be executed, he'd do the same in most contexts.
I think the really big difference tho is like, even if they have similarities, their approaches seem to be different and I'm not canon familiar enough to really comment. But Claude's a complicated faker with a troubled past but he came out of his situation with a JRPG protag dream so he has a lot of love and hope for people and the future of the world. He knows the world is a terrible place filled with a lot of hate and sadness but instead of giving into it, he wants to create a better world. And the person Claude pretends to be is the person he really wants to be... it just isn't the real him now.
I'm canon blind so I only know what I do from threads and OOC discussion BC GOD DAMN KANO KEPT COMING UP AND RUINING CLAUDE'S LIFE FOR WEEKS but the impressions I always got were that they had certain similarities but still had some big differences.
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KANO KNEW NOTHING ABOUT RUINING CLAUDE'S LIFE BUT I THINK IT'S HILARIOUS I can't believe he keeps inadvertently and thoroughly ruining people's lives even after he is dead, this is like what he did to Bucky but 100000000% worse, his letter crimes.......
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He knew he'd passively sinned in a way that created a lot of grief/stress for people so he truly wanted to leave that whole week behind him but he ended up getting real close to Izumo who was close to Kano? And when he realized that he was like "fuck" because Claude will lie and use people but he's not a cruel person and draws the line at emotionally manipulating people which is how he felt. He felt like he'd inadvertently taken advantage of her when she was miserable about Kano. AND THEN HE COULDNT LEAVE HER ALONE BECAUSE THEY WERE TEAM MATES AND IT JUST. KEPT. COMING. BACK.
SAME WITH HIKARU. Hikaru confessed her Kano crimes to Claude and Claude was like why. does. this. boy. keep. coming. back. HE TRULY FELT HAUNTED BY KANO FOR WEEKS.
And then his letter crimes? HIS GOD DAMN LETTER CRIMES. Because Claude knew about Hilda the entire time. He knew about Hilda Thursday evening. So he saw that dang letter from "Raven" when he was already having a shit week and he had no idea why Raven would be against Hilda and Claude was shook. It's also how he found out the dead were able to communicate with the living and up until that point, Claude didn't believe in any sort of afterlife so he was like THE DEAD SHOULDNT SPEAK THEY SHOULD JUST STAY QUIET. He was so afraid the other dead were maybe talking and it would put Hilda in danger and he was so stressed on top of his other stress. That letter was the last straw for him he lost his dang mind for the weekend and needed an intervention. The letter by itself wouldn't have done anything to him but it was just on top of everything else?? WELL DONE KANO YOU WRECKED HIM.
After that, he was kind of free from Kano's curse tho even if Hikaru would bring him up once in awhile but by that point, Claude had found peace and come to terms with things.
AND SORA GAVE CLAUDE A MESSAGE FROM KANO OUT OF NO WHERE?? And Claude still has no idea what the actual fuck is up with that message but like... Kano. KANO!!! CURSING CLAUDE THROUGH OUT THE GAME.
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to be perfectly honest Kano would have pursued making Hilda's life living hell so much more if Bucky hadn't landed in the graveyard and all of the sudden Kano had an in-person target to direct all his evil SO AT LEAST THAT'S THAT, BUCKY TRULY SUFFERED TO SAVE EVERYBODY ELSE
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So obviously, Claude looked up to Chiron like, a lot. Claude, as a character, is used to being judged, hated, and looked down on. He's a schemer and a liar too so he was fine with the idea that people might figure him out and all of their trust and respect and take it all back. This is just to preface saying Claude generally wouldn't be bothered if people disliked him in game.
But he'd be really bothered if Chiron was ever disappointed in him. :(
Claude's had a pretty whack life and doesn't have many gentle, guiding figures in his life. His parents are very tough love, his first combat instructor (whom he trusts with his life!) was very tough love, and most of his teachers are at worst, very tired of him and at best... part of a system he hates.
He's had two types of education: The one where he needs to be strong or he'd literally die and the one that has tried to indoctrinate him and make him a person that could be used.
So meeting a teacher that was... Gentle but strong? Supportive but willing to call him out on his bullshit? Challenge him but also work with him? That was wild. He's only ever met one other person like that (Byleth! The original Teach!!!) but he ended up forgetting her gradually and completely pretty early so Chiron became his stand in Byleth to an extent. Even Chiron's pragmatism and the way he was just really hard to read at times reminded him of "an important person."
Claude's a really confident person. He's smart and he knows it and he's used to being one of the smartest people in the room, even in rooms with other teachers/authority figures. This was not the case with Chiron and it was very humbling but also made him admire and look up to him more. It pushed Claude and made him really want to live up to Chiron's expectation and be the person Chiron thought Claude could be!!!
... Which is why whenever he couldn't do it, he took it hard. He couldn't even really act like he didn't care either because he respected Chiron too much to even consider not caring. Honestly, Chiron could just look at Claude and get him to confess his some of his sins on the spot if he really wanted to because around Chiron. Which he did when Claude revealed some of his true self/identity to him.
He always really respected that Chiron would never tell Claude what he wanted to hear. When he spoke to Chiron about what he would do if Jeanne was in danger, Claude was asking because........... he'd known Hilda had killed Cater and said nothing to anyone while Kano got scapegoated. (': He'd selfishly protected one of his own friends instead of defending an innocent person, oops. Chiron did NOT make Claude feel better with an easy, nice answer and just... reaffirmed what Claude was thinking (there is no easy, perfect answer and he'd have to figure it out for himself). It was honestly the BEST answer because... if Chiron had led Claude to believe he'd done the right thing, Claude would have hated everything and gone into, "I'm going to destroy and change everything then" mode but if he'd told Claude he'd done the wrong thing... Claude would have hated himself. SO GOOD JOB KEEPING A DEER BOY FROM NOT GOING DOWN A POTENTIALLY (SELF-)DESTRUCTIVE PATH, CHIRON. Even if he went down a vaguely self-destructing one for like half a week later. It's fine. He came out of it fine.
Also I guess the last thing is.... Claude really did feel sorry for turning Chiron into a llama. It was his only item and he didn't really have any choice about what he was going to do. He knew Chiron was having identity issues but he figured it would be "best" to turn the horseman into a llama instead of a person. Maybe instinct would kick in and Chiron would be more okay than others? MAYBE? At least he knew Chiron enough to have a guess how he miiiiight react so like, he rolled with it. He wasn't going to be satisfied with any outcome so he just cursed Chiron and braced himself for the consequences tbh. He wouldn't be himself if he didn't give his teachers a hard time once in awhile.
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Anyway starting with something shallow but Claude always thought Alex was one of the prettiest and most graceful people in the game. He IC joked that someone like her could probably be on Swan's team and he wouldn't be surprised for aesthetic reasons.
Going beyond that, he was always interested in her and respected her. She was so helpful and kind when he was planning his feast and he admired that about her and it left a really good first impression on him. Admittedly, he was worried about her at first once the murders started because she seemed like she could have been a soft person but over time, she was able to get through each week with what seemed like a certain level of grace and calm so he realized she must have been much stronger than he initially thought.
Over time, he started to learn a little bit about her life. Knowing she came from a place that was difficult, her handling of the situation in game started to make a little more sense to him. The Realm was difficult but Alex's life had been difficult too, you know? It was probably just a matter of adjusting one lame situation to another. Claude's got a protag heart so he was very sympathetic about that and wanted Alex to have better experiences and he sincerely wished for a better world for her.
When he saw that memory of her HITTING A GUY WITH A PIPE??? He was surprised but also... not? By that point, he didn't doubt Alex was strong and would help others but he didn't expect her to go into a situation where she was clearly at a disadvantage and just go for it. Claude is someone who doesn't like to take big risks if he can help it (he'll do it, he just doesn't like it). So seeing that was incredibly admirable to him and he really respected her.
He'd always pegged her for like... a steadying figure in game. Someone people could go to for peace of mind and safety if they really needed it. Claude had his own support network so he never had to seek her out like that but he definitely recognized Alex as a valuable and precious person in the Realm.
AAAAND LASTLY I'm sorry that when she called him out for cursing Chiron, he was so blithe about it hahahaha. But Claude did it knowing he'd make people angry and as someone who's been making people angry since the moment he was born, his way of coping with that is just... embracing all judgement and not caring what people think about him. He really did feel bad which is why he just accepted his curses after and didn't bother explaining himself/asking for forgiveness. He didn't need Alex's approval in game since he had his own people so it was fine. But he really did feel bad and acknowledged her feelings on the matter. He just filed them away to remember later.
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Coming into this, Claude was honestly just interested in Hua Cheng. His IC profile card was interesting. He was interesting. He was fun to talk to. Claude is an inquisitive person with a dangerous amount of curiosity and it was really only natural he'd be drawn to Hua Cheng.
Being randomly bonded to him that one week was unfortunate because Claude is allergic to closeness but like, the two of them worked it out. I know we handwaved the two of them figuring out how long they could be apart without it getting bad and that they'd try to stick together for curfew. So it was good! Claude appreciated that because heeeeeee also noticed that Hua Cheng was dangerous in the sense that he could probably poke at Claude and figure him out real fast.
Then he ended up splintering that night and he was SUPPOSED to have Hilda with him but he ran into her and decided to turn a blind eye. He stayed with HC and XL instead and like... by that point in the night, there was no hiding what was happening to him. He was genuinely in a really vulnerable state and the two of them really looked out for him that night. He was so, so, so grateful to them and felt like he really owed them after that. He wanted to make it up to them by helping them in return.
They ended cursed to hate each other and that was real unfortunate because he really did like Hua Cheng. It was actually really easy hating Hua Cheng because laughs a lot....... all Claude had to do was hate the parts that reminded him of his fake self. But when it was all over and Claude realized he'd caused Hua Cheng even more trouble and even voted for him? After he'd helped him out before? HORROR.
Finding out Shima was behind it all, Claude felt responsible for it because he knew that while he'd been intentional, Hua Cheng was probably random. Which ended up being right lmao.
ADDING ONTO MORE TROUBLE... when Claude was starting to have his dang break down and falling apart because of his sins, China Dads really pulled through for him. I know we plotted it out to make it happen but IC, Claude didn't expect to get support from them there. As someone who's never been understood growing up, having people who could understand him was a huge deal. After that, they knew his sins though so he could never leave them. They were stuck with him. Hua Cheng was stuck with him.
MEMSHARE WEEK WAS A SURPRISE TO CLAUDE TOO. Everyone in Fodlan/Almyra stays in their own neat little boxes. Claude's one of the very, very, very few characters of mixed race in canon so he's never really met anyone like himself before. Realizing Hua Cheng was similar to him even in that context? Wild. Big surprise. He really felt for Hua Cheng and his heart resonated with him a lot.
Unfortunately by that point, Claude had started to forget some pretty big things about his past. In that memshare we actually threaded, he'd forgotten he was a prince and ever growing up in a palace! So Claude couldn't remember where memory took place exactly and he couldn't remember the conversation the guards had. He also couldn't completely understand why someone would want to kill him because as far as he remembered at the time, he was discriminated against for being mixed but he wasn't important enough to be MURDERED/ASSASSINATED??? By the end of the week, he'd forgotten ever growing up outside of Fodlan so that whole part of his past was gone.
Then they really started working together with Xie Lian too and that was just... /chef's kiss They became very valuable allies for him. He recognized them as an amazing source for information but he also noticed that they were both just incredibly reliable people. People relied on them! He relied on them! And on top of that... they were just good people. He started to see how good Hua Cheng was and could really related to him in a lot of ways even if they didn't agree. He understood Hua Cheng's anger over certain events in game. He also understood and greatly appreciated Hua Cheng offering to like... not kill certain people for the Foxes. He knew that Hua Cheng was fine with any acceptable victim and Claude really, really understood that. Claude just couldn't give him any names personally because at that point because... he wasn't the one doing the killing. He understood why the murders had to happen and it wasn't his place to make things more difficult for anyone. It wasn't his time to be selfish. His role wasn't to pick and choose who would live and die in that moment so he left it in the hands of those killing and just relayed the names the Foxes gave him.
Uuh at the end of week 5, I had Claude completely forget everything about Almyra and his parents. He was also starting to forget a new Golden Deer almost everyday until he completely forgot them all week 6. He'd already forgotten Byleth completely week 4. I mention this because basically, Claude lost a lot of context for his struggles. He still remembered being hated. He remembered living everyday just to survive. He couldn't remember why people hated him and he'd forgotten a lot of love and support in his life. All he had were his Realm relationships and a few odd relationships back home (which weren't very close ones).
We joked about China Dads and Ohana but uhhhhh... after awhile, they really were like his parents in this weird found family unit??? Not actual parents but definitely like, head figures in this weird little family and Claude really looked up to Hua Cheng and Xie Lian. He knew he wasn't like either of them 100% and he related to both of them in different ways. Like a son that takes after both of his parents but isn't completely like either one... that was was Claude and China Dads. There are two AUs out there where Claude meshes with one more than the other but in this loop, he had a nice balance with both of them.
Anyway I love Hua Cheng and Claude. Claude loves his China Dad. Thank.
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