𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒏 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 ・ ᴀᴄᴄᴇᴘᴛɪɴɢ @soulgave sent : 🪦 📜 🐾 📿 💢
[ 🪦 ]ㅤ what would they want on their gravestone but never admit aloud ?
Actually, the thing she'd never admit is that she doesn't want a gravestone at all. I answered a WoLqotd about a year ago (I think?) which was "how would your WoL like to be remembered?" and my answer was I think she'd rather just fade into obscurity, though it's a bit more complicated than that— and what isn't with her?
When she was young, she fancied herself a hero. She wanted to be the one to free Doma, to be its savior, but her line of thinking was incredibly naïve. Unsurprising, considering she was a kid, but I digress. At this point, she's tired! She just wants to rest and wants the world and all its problems to let her rest.
What makes it complicated is her relationship with Azem. Persephone taking over Koharu's body/soul gives her a major identity crisis that puts her at war with her own desire to be forgotten.
Despite leaving the Convocation—and thus technically being barred from having a crystal of their memories made—Azem was, essentially, deified in the sundered world, even if no one fully realizes it. You can see it in the Azim Steppe in Othard, in Azeyma in Eorzea, and very likely in scattered other places across Etheirys. Though Emet-Selch didn't personally have a hand in Azeyma, I don't think it's too far of a stretch to suggest that he did have a hand in making sure Azem was remembered in other places, especially given that he seems to have left Azem's symbol in various places that he thought they'd enjoy seeing (ie. Alzadaal's Legacy, a place he explicitly told the WoL to go check out). Even if the rest of the Ancients are forgotten, he has ensured that Azem will be remembered in some way.
The point here is that Persephone is so etched into every corner of Etheirys that she will never be forgotten, even by her own soul. As time goes on and Koharu is less and less able to divorce herself from Kore, as Kore surfaces and Koharu fades, Koharu will be "forgotten". It's just... not how she'd want it to go. She wants to fade away into the background and just be, but she wants to be remembered as "her". I'm sure she won't be "forgotten" by the people and places whose lives she's touched, whether she likes it or not, especially after bringing an end to the Final Days, but it would be more as a living memorial than anything. I really don't think I'm doing a good job of explaining it hsjklghsa IT'S COMPLICATED
But yeah, it's not something she'd actually say out loud to anyone, so I think her remains would likely end up enshrined in Swallow's Compass alongside the keepsakes belonging to her parents that she'd left there during the Doma-centric role quests in Endwalker. Being laid to rest with her family is probably the next best thing she could ask for and I wholeheartedly believe Hien would make that happen. ♡
[ 📜 ]ㅤ is there a story they love sharing with others ?
Answered!
[ 🐾 ]ㅤ do animals like them instinctively ?
Answered!
[ 📿 ]ㅤ what superstition or ritual do they cling to ?
I think being on the road, especially so far from Othard, makes it really difficult to offer prayers to shrines. Despite that, she does try to find a way to give prayer and leave offerings for the kami. Likewise, she does her best to perform harae/harai, or, purification rituals. Not being able to visit shrines as often as she'd like, the method she uses is usually misogi harai, which is is traditionally achieved by being submerged under an active body of water (a waterfall, river, etc.). The intent of harae is to cleanse the body and soul of impurities and negative energies, often before making offerings to the kami, so these practices generally go hand-in-hand for her.
[ 🌪️ ]ㅤ who have they never forgiven and never will ?
Herself feels like a bit of a cop-out answer, but, y'know. She has a lot she holds herself responsible for and doesn't know how to let go of guilt.
Those who had a direct involvement with Doma's conquering and subjugation. The Brutus siblings in particular, having grown up with them. Zenos, of course, who was particularly egregious because Doma didn't actually matter at all to him; it was just another place, another battlefield. And... she has very complicated feelings about Emet-Selch. As the emperor of Garlemald, he is the source of Doma's woes. He founded the Empire, he gave the order to "go forth and conquer", he deliberately timed his "death" in a way to incite as much chaos as possible. And he did it all to get back all he lost. At the end of the day, she can't genuinely say she wouldn't do the same, given the means to do so. But as much as she understands this, she was someone directly impacted by it and she cannot—will not—forgive him.
Urianger. She gave him a second chance after his deception in Heavensward, but it happened again in Shadowbringers (twice if you count "let's not tell the WoL about this just yet" in the Eden raids), and again in Endwalker with the Loporrits. He was confronted about the instance with the Loporrits, but didn't actually come clean before being confronted. She will never trust him again.
𓆩❀𓆪
