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i love love loooooooove so so so much that one of luke's biggest character traits is that he's a liar. sure, he gets better as his romance route progresses, but every time he says "when have i ever lied to you!" to rosa i MUST laugh. sir you spent your entire reunion lying to her about where you've been. you spent 85% of your pre-anniv personal story lying about your illness. even in his cards, he lies about his true feelings so so so often. he lied about when he returned to stellis, having been back for a month or so and avoiding rosa the entire time. in main story he lies so much about the things he does. he lies to protect the people he loves but that doesnt change the fact that he's a liar. sometimes he's really bad at it, but when it came down to the big stuff he was very good at it. lying comes easily too him. even now that he's gone through character development for the better in his romance route, i bet that he still needs to bite back the instinct to say the more palatable lie instead of the more painful truth. lying comes easily to him. it makes me want to grab him by the shoulders and shake him vigorously but man is it such a juicy character trait. hes the character portrayed with symbols of loyalty and devotion but he lies through his fucking teeth. and he definitely lies to himself too, and he lies so well that sometimes he tricks himself into believing it's the truth
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love this post. mwah
now here's each of these assigned to an nxx boy
first -> vyn. he is literally a mental health professional and so he'd know the vocabulary of his issues and how to tackle it. the only thing holding him back is the fact that he'd be very averse to showing any kind of vulnerability, weakness, or fault. so he'd be like
vyn: i am aware i have problems and i know what they are, as well as how to treat them. nobody else has to know this though.
second -> artem. he is a self-aware and intelligent man who would be able to realize that there are Signs but he would also be more susceptible to frustration on how to actually handle it, partly also because of an aversion to showing Wrongness. so he'd be like
artem: i sense i have symptoms but i don't know how to deal with them. perhaps i can put this off...indefinitely.
third -> luke. mister repression avoidant liar extraordinaire!!! he will ACTIVELY push people away and belittle his struggles, like it's not a big deal and he'll get over it! he likely wouldnt be too aggressive (it'll be more likely that he smacks a strained smile on his face instead) but he would be incredibly beat-around-the-bush-y and averse to anybody getting close to him while he's going through Whatever It Is He's Going Through. so he'd be like
luke: it's fine! i'm fine! this is nothing, i'll get over it! wanna go grab a burger? :D
fourth -> marius. NOW WE'RE TALKING. i'm not saying he's stupid, i'm saying he's so deep down in denial that it doesn't even occur to him that he might have problems. like it doesnt even compute for him. he doesnt have to vocabulary for what he's going through because he, in the first place, doesnt even believe theres anything wrong. so he'd be like
marius: haha yeah when i'm stuck in a cold dark location i like toooootally zone out and like, breathe all weird, then brain totally shuts off, all empty. same thing happens when people bring up mom or how long giann's been gone, haha. it's just. it's Funky Time. things get Funky. wdym it's a problem? it goes away pretty quickly and becomes Empty Time! and it feels pretty swimmy for a while but hey, at least i'm able to get some work done once the Empty Time hits. haha
vyn: good lord
artem: i...i don't think thats a regular response
luke: man even i can tell that's a problem. and that's rich, coming from me.
marius: it's not! it's---it's funny! guys, you can laugh, you know? uh. please laugh....please?
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the take of "artem is so boring i don't get why people like him" always makes me laugh because like. .. wording aside, that's kinda the point! the appeal?!
he's introduced as this Serious and Cold suit wearing senior attorney of themis, which in most otome would indicate your typical Sexy and Smooth Daddy Dom. like. the first official art we see of him is him sweating and pulling his tie loose. upon global launch, advertisements for tot always included the first evo of his atmospherics ssr out of context.
but the twist is that he's just A Dude. he's respectful and gentle with rosa. he struggles to make friends because he's really socially awkward, takes his work seriously, and has a resting bitch face. he has a film review blog and likes to write fan scripts. his dad wasn't around much and rarely visits. despite appearances, he is deeply empathetic. he's surprisingly idealistic in regards to his work and the impact he wants to make on the city. he grew up not wanting to cause trouble for the adults in his life and as a result has great difficulty acknowledging what he's struggling with and expressing how he feels. he's easily flustered. he has been called out on his bullshit several times by rosa. his father figure is missing and he would do anything to save him. he is earnest in all he does. he is only friends with one person at work and that's celestine, the founder of the law firm and a family friend of his mother's. he's endearing!
despite the prestige and pedestals people place artem on, he is literally just A Dude and i think that's neat
I think this is why I love TOT dudes so much. They appear a trope but instead, are a full exploration and deconstruction of that trope.
From Artem appearing like a Cold Black Suit Boss trope but actually being just some dude who is actually really kind and awkward, learning to better socialise.
From Marius appearing like a Spoiled Rich Boy trope to actually being just someone struggling with ambition and responsibilities of his family name.
From Luke appearing like Childhood Friend Sunshine trope to being just someone struggling with being seriously ill, hypocritical due to his circumstances and seriously self destructive.
And.. well, it's a little hard to dissect Vyn to a trope but I think I have made my point already.
I just love these boys SO much and they all have so much love to give. So much kindness to show. So much affection to lay.