#;himeko

[ancientforgcd]

"WITNESS...THE WILL OF THE MECHUSSY!"

"Kiana, no."

[ancientforgcd]

Himeko: I often feel like I've dreamt of similar scenes on certain nights. In the dream, I see blurry faces. I don't know who they are, but I sympathize with all of them, fighting for survival against some unfathomable force... Their confusion and fear are lucid to me... But I also remember they chose never to give up — just like Miss Robin.

I would assume this is a hi3rd reference, especially since in the JP dub she says "kanojo-tachi" which is 'they' but all female. In that case it would refer to Kiana, Mei, Bronya and co. especially since 'never giving up' is a central theme in hi3rd as well.

[ancientforgcd]

Himeko backstory crumbs from easy-to-miss dialogue...

So I recently became aware of this obnoxiously well-hidden dialogue with Himeko and Welt when you talk to them on the train at a very specific point in the story, around the end of the Jarilo-VI main quest. (Those wiki pages have the full text with both dialogue branches, but I also found this video to confirm that these scenes actually exist in the playable game as opposed to being dummied-out content that was datamined for the wiki.)

I'm especially interested in the Himeko dialogue because so much of her background is a giant question mark. Of course, I'm pretty sure she's being deliberately misleading here.

Himeko: What's up, (Trailblazer)? Back on the Express slacking off, huh?

> I'm here to listen to your stories...

> I'm free for now and want to hear you talk about the past...

Himeko: Oh, I almost forgot about that... Then, to make a long story short, where should I begin?

> Himeko, when did you first board the Express?

Himeko: Now that's got me stumped...

Himeko: Seven years, eight years... No, that's not right. I'm sorry. I'm not Dan Heng — I've never kept a diary aboard the Express.

Himeko: The Express traverses through different worlds, and the flow of time can become blurry...

Himeko: But I'm clear about the beginning of my story with the Express. That day just so happened to be my birthday. Back then, I was hiking outdoors and looking for a place without any light pollution to observe the light and orbit of Heaven's Finger.

Himeko: Then, using a telescope, I saw a bright spot streak across the sky. I thought it was a comet and thought nothing of it.

Himeko: But it wasn't until the spot grew bigger and bigger that I realized there was something wrong... That thing pierced straight through the atmosphere without burning up, and flew straight at me.

Himeko: So I drove as fast as I could to get out of there, until I heard a loud crash behind me as if the entire world had been flipped upside down...

> A crashed UFO?

Himeko: It was the Express.

> A meteorite?

Himeko: It was the Express.

> The... Astral Express?

Himeko: I saw a train half-buried in a huge crater. When it happened, I said to myself that this cannot possibly be a thing of this world. It's too dangerous to get close to it...

Himeko: But, out of basic human curiosity, I dared to take a closer look. I keep thinking to myself, just one look, just one look.

Himeko: So, I figured out a way to go inside the Express. The internal structure was incredible, especially its engine...

Himeko: By the time I came to my senses, I had already passionately finished fixing the Express and was already embarking on a journey aboard it.

> What kind of wild plot is this?

> This is mind-control, right?

Himeko: Many developments in life are inherently unexpected or uncontrollable, just like your experience with the Express.

> When did you and Mr. Yang meet?

Himeko: About that... Um... When did Welt get here?

Himeko: Many years ago, Pom-Pom and I were tasked by Herta to go to the abandoned and ruined world of Salsotto, looking for a special material called Cadence Glass...

Himeko: Just as the Express finished its warp jump, we picked up an unknown signal. It was coming from the wreckage of a huge starship.

Himeko: Based on the Express Safety Manual, such an obviously dangerous signal should be ignored. You have no idea whether the party sending the signal is a victim needing rescue, or a bandit lurking behind a trap...

Himeko: But out of basic human curiosity, we decided to take a look and immediately set out for Salsotto to do our business.

Himeko: Welt joined up with us after that.

> Wait... You're missing lots of details, aren't you?

> What exactly happened?

Himeko: There was no torturous rescue process, just the normal procedures. In the end, there were two new passengers on the Express.

Himeko: They chose to work for the Express as a way to say thanks for saving their lives and pay off their rescue-related expenses.

Himeko: How about that? Is that good enough to satisfy your curiosities?

Himeko: Well, satisfied or not, you can ask Welt if you have any more questions. If you'll excuse me, (Trailblazer), I have to get on my work now.

Himeko: You can go and chat with Welt if he has the time...

Some thoughts:

RE: How long ago she boarded the Express. (I'll assume "boarded the Express" refers to when she started space travel on the train, not just when she first entered it after finding it.) Even though she says "that's not right" immediately after, the fact that she even threw out seven or eight years ago as an estimate is wild.

Himeko's Character Story III emphasizes that her memory is very good (and I don't think it's being ironic), so it's interesting that she (supposedly) doesn't remember how long it's been since she's been on the Express. Makes me especially suspicious of that time she told TB "Who exactly you are escapes me, but you seem familiar to me." (I bet she instantly knew exactly who we were!) Tbf, there's cases where different star systems have different rate of time flow.

Her story about finding/repairing the train largely matches her Character Story I, but with a different selection of details and different vibes, e.g. story says she was lost in the wilderness and probably injured. Also, they both say she saw the Express land, but her regular train chat says the Express landed on her homeworld "long before I was born." Is this an error, or did she time travel?

Who wrote this Express Safety Manual? I'm surprised it says to avoid ships sending distress signals.

Somehow, Himeko's Character Stories hit different after the recent story (3.7), though it's hard to articulate why. The writers' use of repetition tying Story IV back to Story I, the reference to something being both the start and end of a journey, the emphasis on her memory...plus how the plot has recently been about cyclical events and the magical Remembrance definition of memory...I don't know what this means. She's probably not stuck in a time loop, but I have no other ideas.

[ancientforgcd]

"Are you frying chicken, baby? Haha, just kidding. You make a lot of noise when you pee. I like that."(Himeko)

Himeko stared at the Vacosian for a few long seconds, the smile on her face becomign a bit strained, despite the clear warning behind it. "Ruby, I'm going to give you one chance to reconsider what you just said." She lifted her cup of coffee and took a sip from it, before putting it down. Ignore the fact that it seemed to crack from Himeko's grip alone.

"Last chance, if you ever listen that closely again, I'll be asking Pom-Pon to remove you from the Express personally."

[ancientforgcd]

৻ꪆ(Himeko

Send ৻ꪆ For One Trauma My Muse Has And How They Cope/Don't Cope With It In Their Everyday Life

Himeko had grown accustomed to watching people leave.

Every passenger who boarded the Astral Express had their own destinaion and Himeko understood that better than anyone that their journeys couldn't remain intertwined forever. Still, every empty room and abandoned seat left more of an impresson on her than she allowed anyone to notice. She coped by keeping herself busy; Maintaining the Express, memorizing the crew's habits and making certain that everyone had somewhere warm to return to.

Himeko rarely spoke about the possibility. Instead she prepared for most emergencies, checked in without making it obvious and quietly placed herself between the crew and anything that threatened them. She had accepted that they might leave one day, but she simply hadn't accepted the possibility that they might never come home.

[ancientforgcd]

Herrscher’s Last Resort

six shots of over-extracted espresso

burnt chicory concentrate

unsweetened cocoa powder beetroot juice

mung bean syrup fermented black garlic

an entire crushed energy gel

a pinch of salt and chili powder

one unidentified ingredient Himeko refused to explain

It would look almost elegant, red foam and all, but one sip would make Ruby's body briefly reconsider immortality. She'd stay standing through sheer will alone, take a second sip and then collapse face-first onto a table ten seconds later.

Himeko would just catch the cup before it spilled. "Oh dear, I may have adjusted it a little too close to Vacosian standards."

[ancientforgcd]

How does Himeko feel about Kiana?

Fandom OC Ask Meme

Himekos feelings towards Kiana in the HSR Verse are a mix of instinct, memory she can't justify and a weird kind of affection that sneaks up on her even when she tries to treat Kiana like any other guest.

In practical terms, Himeko reads Kiana as trouble the moment she steps on the Express. Not danger, not a threat, but the kind of person who bends rules by existing. Someone who carries weighti n her posture, someone who reacts a bit too fast to danger, someone who keeps looking at doors like she's waiting for something. Himeko has seen enough passengers to recognize when someone's past is bigger than their story.

She also trusts Welt and Mr. Yang doesn't bring strays lightly. So she accepts Kiana without much question, even if she keeps an eye on her.

But beneath all that, Himeko feels an odd pull. She does not know why, there's this sense that Kiana walks in with a shadow behind her, something Himeko can't articulate but refuses to ignore. It hits her in the tiny moments. When Kiana laughs too laugh, when she moves like she's been fighting for years, when she flinches at certain keywords, Himeko notices. Because she's good at reading people and Kiana's contradictions stand out.

There's also the fact that Kiana feels familiar without a reason. The kind of familiarity you don't bring up because it sounds irrational, but you still trust it. Himeko wouldn't say it aloud, but she treats Kiana the same way she treats the younglings of the Nameless; Someone who needs guidance and space at the same time. Someone who pretends they're fine, but definitely isn't.

Honestly, Himeko likes her. Kiana brings chaos, but she also brings energy the Express didn't know it neeed. She teases March 7th, argues with Dan Heng about logic, tries to spar with the Trailblazer and somehow helps repair things she has no business touching. That combination of warmth and recklessness is exactly the kind of person Himeko gravitates to.

If she had to summarize it for someoneelse on the Express, she'd probably shrug and speak:

"Kiana? She's from the same world as Welt. That alne tells me she's worth trusting. The rest...I'm figuring out. She's unpredictable, but she's good a good heart and the express has room for people like that."