TL;CR MEME

[retellers]

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.

Comments

[recrowns]

hot damn marie you've been busy

[antaressnipe]

I LOVE TL;DR SO MUCH, I CAN'T CONTROL MYSELF.


Ngl, Chiron and Won are fascinating to me because they did not have the relationship I thought they’d have, and while Chiron’s opinions on Won have largely remained the same, it’s more like Chiron has grown more comfortable with what those opinions mean on his end – namely that in a lot of important ways, they are a reflection of each other, both good and bad.

And that is why for a long time, Chiron just. couldn’t quite trust Won fully. He saw the power that comes from being friendly and dependable and kind and wise, but he wasn’t sure if Won was going to abuse that power, couldn’t quite get a solid read on if his friendliness was facetious or not -- or no, it’s not that he thought Won would abuse it since the other never gave any indication of such (and I was working very hard not to let my knowledge of the canon influence Chiron in any way)... but even despite this, Chiron is not blind. He took note of those who would no doubt be powerful motivators, and thus Chiron was just very watchful to see which direction it would all swing. Won found out from the CYOA, but Chiron is deeply pragmatic and will be an absolute savage at those who are in his way, so in retrospect, Won probably would have completely understood Chiron’s hesitancy.

But that’s the thing: Chiron was doing the same fuckin shit. He was loved for his dependability, for his friendliness, for being kind and wise, for being a guide to those who were lost; the only difference is that Chiron knows himself so well that he can account for his own actions, even if that means placing up failsafes to kill him should he no longer be useful. I think it was week 1 that Chiron told Emet-Selch to go to Jeanne should he forget that he was dead, in case the two of them would have to murder him.

That’s how early Chiron was planning to send himself to the gallows. So as a consequence, Chiron is less dangerous in his own eyes because he is well-aware of what must be done to topple him from the throne if necessary.

BUT—WON IS VERY SIMILAR TO THAT, TOO, or just struck Chiron as such. It wasn’t until Yona’s death that it truly clicked into place, that while they’re in the Realm, they will ultimately make a lot of the same decisions because of the burdens they have taken upon themselves. (And even in their individual lives; I gave Won that Chiron memory for a reason, so he could see that Chiron will also cut down loved ones for the sake of duty, it just is what it is)

It’s at that point that Chiron finally accepted what that meant: that he and Won are cut from the same cloth and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. If anything, it cemented that he cannot be the one to reach Won on an emotional level. He couldn’t be his teacher or his guide, probably couldn’t even be a close friend. He couldn't really remind him that he’s still in some ways a child in the eyes of the universe, and there is nothing wrong with that. Won had many things stolen from him, and even if he couldn't stop to grieve, he deserved the love and affection and chances to be happy. Chiron always believed as much.

So with those questions settled and with a more complete picture of the type of people they both are, Chiron… respects Won, a lot, much like watching the general an adjacent army. The kind of person you can talk with while recognizing it’s only through luck and fate that you aren’t standing in opposition. Won is all those things he immediately saw upon their first couple of meetings, and more. But in a very silent way, Chiron just laments the burdens that Won will have to keep carrying. If there’s a huge difference between them, it’s just that Chiron has more years to settle into the burdens he carries, and deal with that trauma, while Won will likely work himself straight into the grave.

-- EXCEPT NEVERMIND, GUESS HE IS GOING TO BE AN IMMORTAL. I really do want a psl where Chiron and Won defeat the logistical odds and cross paths, both of them travelers soaking up their surroundings for the intrigue of learning and being surrounded by others.