“ …I suppose reading. Kathryn would agree with me, I believe. ”
I can indeed! There’s also sword fighting, stuffy collecting, video game playing, writing, drawing –
“ I shall stick with just my answer. There is no need to bore with long lists of personal intrigue. ”
But ‘lexei, it’s Minky …
“ … i don’t follow. ”
Minky wants to hear about all of this stuff! So you should tell her more about your romance novels, and all those doodles and drawings you like to do– oh, let’s not forget your extensive and preferred study on magic-mana and how that’s going!
“ … I believe you have told her for me. Thank you, Kathryn. ”
"Alexei, it may be hard hard for you to hear this but..I forgive you." (Saw you lil head canon thing and had to send it to you and hi!)
“ your highness … please … refrain from speaking before you take in all current situations … I understand it may feel easier to just forgive, but you must think before you do so … ”
What was he doing back in the Empire? He knew that, if anything, he’d have more luck staying under the radar if he stayed within the guilds. ( more accurately, hidden outside of the guilds, where he could take care of monsters at his leisure and no-one would disturb him, thinking his campfire just another scout. Still ... he was drawn back to his home. The reminiscent sound of horseshoes on cobblestone, the soft murmuring and calls of the market, the sweet smell of food, a palette he’d gained so many years ago from his youth with the variety of spices made his eyes close for just a second --
Mistake.
No sooner had Alexei closed his eyes, had he been jolted, the hood of his cloak falling back as he ran into a knight with blond hair. “ pardon me, i was not ... ” His voice drew off into silence, quickly going to pull up the hood of his cloak, hoping his voice had yet to give him away quite yet.
Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there;
Alexei gets handed a mug with a snowman painted on it, and a big bag of fresh coffee.
it had taken a while to find Alexei during the season. Nobody usually could find him … but, Raven knew where he would be. And he waited … waited until Alexei was done with the thing he did every year. The silent vigil, eyes closed, head lowered, not asleep, but dead to the world. The colder weather did not seem to hinder him at all as the early peaks of a sun rose ‘pon the day after the holiday.
alexei lifted himself up, slowly, gingerly, joints popping multiple times as he stood, brushing off knees, his cloak, and turned to leave, head back to the inn where he would stay one more night and then leave.
and there, at the doorway to his room, stood Raven, leaning against it, the older man freezing for only a second before there’s a handing over of a gift, and Alexei ... he looks at it as if someone had just slapped him. The surprise oddly clear before it is quickly clouded and his eyes dive away from Raven’s.
“ i hope you realize, ” he begins, “ I did not get you anything... ”
Alexei … in politics … hooo boy, big can of worms here.
Alexei wasn’t always good at politics, or at least, not THE GAME of politics that was played in the empire. From a young age, he avoided semantics, tried to keep to his own way, his own ideals, keeping himself upright without using any of the noble’s tactics deter him from what he knew he had to do and how he had to do it.
However, he was always very sociable. An extreme people person, able to watch and see someone’s face and shift his words and tone to fit to what was needed of him at the time and give what someone either expected or needed at that time. Or, at least, when he wanted to.
However, he got exceedingly better at playing the game after the incident where a corrupt council member destroyed some of his people in front of him, ordering the secret assassinations from Schwann who then learned his new trade. He didn’t hold back anymore, his smiles were pointed, his eyes were sharp, and he never flinched from the responsibility to get people to do what he wanted.
Examples of this are also in the game; the fact you never see Alexei coming. There are no hints he would go against you, in the party. He even offered help, pardoned Yuri, was among the same group of knights FLYNN, the person you were looking for, who’s morals are so high, was in. You are shown the knights are to be corrupted and horrible, but when you meet him, there isn’t any hint that he’s the reason behind the corruption, in fact, it appears he’s fighting just as much as everyone else in your party is.
Alexei wasn’t always a bad man. Alexei wasn’t always someone so twisted and jaded to the world that he would turn to the political structure and sink to their level …
Even in my post!Game-verse, he’d have some difficulty getting used to not using politically correct terminology or keeping off to himself and showing emotions much more freely because, in the empire, during the council meetings, if you showed any emotions, you were likely to get ripped to shreds for being too emotionally invested, thus your judgement was clouded.
Alexei is a very interesting character when it comes to Estellise Sidos Heurassein. I say this because there’s a few things IN GAME that’s interesting and a few things that’s headcanon that I adore, and Uyen knows all about this. Oh my god, Uyen knows …
Okay so first let’s start with the in-game material.
Estelle calls Alexei by his name.Now, that might not seem like a big deal, but, look at it this way, Estelle is a very proper person, and she knows and does refer to other people by their titles or gives them the ‘respect’ they have. However, when say talks about the commandant, which would be a REAL EASY thing to say, she doesn’t call him that, or call him “dinoia”, of which everyone would know, she calls him ALEXEI.
Alexei, his first name, even as he calls her ‘her highness’ and ‘your majesty’. That, to me, speaks volumes, especially at this critical stage we see Estelle, because this point is the point where Estelle is just beginning to change, become more relaxed and less up-tight about titles or how to address other people, but she’s not quite there. Yet we see that comfort from her RIGHT THERE.
Like Gosh darn it, you realize how significant that must be? ( i really want to see the japanese for that scene when Alexei comes in to pardon Yuri and the rest of them where Estelle calls his name and see if it’s the same, because if it is? And I see no reason it shouldn’t be … THAT IS REALLY SIGNIFICANT.
Because after all, look at Japanese, the honorifics and everything they use … she would most definitely call him by his last name along with an honorific, but if she doeSN’T THAT MEANS THEY WERE SUPER GODDAMN CLOSE.
Now, let us head into HEADCANON territory.
Alright, so I have a lot to say on this topic. Alexei is shown to be a very political person, as well as a man of high intelligence, good planning/tactics, as well as at least looked up to, if not well-liked by most people that know him, save perhaps a few upstart purist knights who dislike the progress and change Alexei has made to make HIS DREAM a reality.
Alexei is ALSO at the least in his fourties by the time Vesperia rolled around, since he could not be younger than 21 when he achieved the title of “Commandant” and we know he got it more than ten years ago, though that might only be eleven or twelve. However, this also means we can assume he’s spent at least 5-10 years previously in the knights to get to his position, which means plenty of time in the Castle, guard duties, lower assignments, all of which he can find our little ball of energy, Her Highness, Estellise.
Of course Estelle would cling to Alexei, especially at first. Most NOBLES have brown or black hair, the only ones with GRAYING hair are generally very old, and here a man comes in a sparkly uniform she’s seen with this strange hair color … She herself would probably be infatuated with how thin and soft it is, not to mention, the feeling of finally someone like HER coming around, since she’s been seen as a very odd person with her bright pink hair. So, she would get along with the knight in that instance.
Not to mention, Alexei, as much of a people person he is, has a very, very big soft spot for small kids. Just like … god, give him a kid and he will take care of them forever and ever and spoil them and play with them ( when he doesn’t have work ) and read to them and just …
He probably, when he could, left to help the princess, having her know him BEFORE he was a commandant, learning his name, telling her if she ever needed help, to ask for him and he would do the best he could to help her. Finding her in the gardens, making flower crowns, getting one placed ‘pon his head and her scolding him for taking too long to find her.
Him giving her this love of reading and books and knowledge that he himself had found to be his only comfort within the Nobility. The friends ‘pon the page becoming just as real as the friends they met in person. Making them become alive to her, making her wish to bring and spread stories to children …
I’m …
These two … are just so precious, okay?
Then let’s talk about HIS BETRAYAL.
Alexei’s betrayal has two key factors in it, and one very specific person who could have stopped it all early on, but never questioned him. The worst thing about this, in the instance he never questioned, you can see Alexei’s face in realization.
The key points are going to be ONE pre!Game, shown to us in Kokuu no Kamen, and the other IN game, when Alexei tells Schwann secretly to watch out for the princess and to follow them.
Alexei is not a very STABLE man, at least, not by himself. He knows what to say, knows how to say it, how to convince people he’s stable, but internally he’s a lot more mixed up about things than people probably ever see. He opened up to Schwann ( Damuron, in his mind still ) telling him about what happened, how he understood, how he could do nothing, how he wished he could have saved them.
Told Schwann, he was the only one Alexei had, and Alexei asked something of him, he did not expect Damuron to be able to give, however it was SCHWANN who answered in a bland tone.
And that’s when the realization really struck. Damuron was gone. Dead. And he was alone. He had to become the stable pillar, had to become the person people –specifically Schwann– relied on. And he would do anything to not lose him as well who supported his plan.
So, when he learned that Estelle was the key he needed …
I assume, a very similar situation to then happened. Different, but similar. Alexei would tell Schwann his plan. And Schwann, would be more hesitant here and this is where Alexei would pressure him. Demand that he didn’t know what was right anymore, they were so close. They couldn’t go back. Not after everything they both did … and Schwann would yield.
And that final part holding Alexei together would shatter.
So the next time he looked at Estelle, she was no longer a person, but a tool. Something to be used. Just as Schwann was.
And that’s when he made the decision. Knew Schwann was going to die. It was what he wanted. He’d known Schwann had wanted to die since ten years ago, he just didn’t have the guts to do it. So, it was time to get rid of this weapon …
After all, he just got a new one. One of much greater supposed strength than Schwann was.
The most horrid thing about this though, is Alexei made no move to hide this thought process. The princess, when she tried to speak to him, got cold, aloof responses, snapped at the be quiet, how she couldn’t understand. How she should let the big boys talk and just keep her mouth shut. Alienating her, as he had done to everyone else …
He was always alone.
And this betrayal solidified it, ripping Alexei and Estelle’s relationship apart.
Even if Estelle could forgive him, Alexei would never be able to look over what he did. It was unforgivable. It was something he had to accept the consequences for.
I might write anything from a paragraph to a whopping essay, but send me something you’ve noticed about my characterization or just something you want to know about my muse and I will write what I can!
once you get this, it'd be super rad if you'd share 5 random facts about yourself. then, pass this on to 10 of your favorite followers. ( for the mun )
Well I suppose I should answer this and not procrastinate, aye? For once? Yep, Herpsy shall answer the thing while they work on doing raw Dezel icons from the manga –
Herpsy likes watching zeropunctuation and finds his very cynical humor to be very entertaining, even if I do not agree with all of his points, it’s always neat to see a few of them and go “oh my god I know what he’s talking about”
Herpsy is very weird introvert. I like to talk to people and I do ramble quite a lot around people i really like, but otherwise … I … just awkwardly sit there like a derp.
Herpsy has an older sibling who is 22 years old.
Herpsy is horrible at talking with people online. I dunno??? I don’t mean to? Just keep messaging me, I’ll answer at some point.
Herpsy has started to keep a list of all fo their classes and draws a muses face/expression reacting to the different materials in the class depending on which muse is most awake. To be honest, most of that has been Anubis, or my Genocide!Papyrus from Undertale. I believe Harry Whitehorse also joined the last one ‘cuz he was bouncy and helping me stay awake ( also thank Samee )
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