Oooooh god. The way that Damien is the first of these that I'm doing laughs. We've talked about this a lot Cola and I still am constantly finding new ways that their CR surprises me.
I think if Damien really wasn't himself in the sense of being rude as shit, Rindo wouldn't have gravitated as much as he did even if at first he really didn't grasp that they were somewhat similar people. I want to say that maybe he did, but I don't think he had enough foresight to really determine that. I do think, however, that Rindo realized very early on that Damien understood certain things in ways other people didn't.
"But - when you want people to be honest with you, you end up hearing a lot of shit that you wish you hadn't."
"I think I get that. Maybe that's why I always found it easier to talk like this. You can have a little more control about what you say and how people take it, and what people will say back."
"... But you also can't fully connect with people like that. Not really."
I think a good crux of their relationship really was that they were two people who were trying to figure out how to actually connect with other people and doing it in ways that were considered unusual or intense or even just not really doing it despite thinking they were giving their best efforts. Really early on, Rindo realized Damien had powers at one point and lost them and that, too, was something he resonated with especially right after he got his phone case back and started getting some of his memories. It was something that he couldn't quite relate to anyone else about, because people either had their powers and lost them by being in the Prism, or didn't have powers at all. With Damien it was the unique set of circumstances of losing the power back in their own worlds and trying to figure out how to move on and live with that.
Damien like. Never babied him LMAO LIKE HE WAS TRULY SO RUDE TO HIM and Rindo was just like 'ah, yes, this is actually what I want in a friendship' but I think it's solely because despite being emotional in different ways Rindo is also pretty pragmatic and oftentimes overthinks about how things will impact everything else. Damien as a whole can be selfish but I think Rindo himself has the capability of being similar, so talking to Damien was sort of jarring because a lot of things the guy said were alarming, but there were also several things he agreed with. We've talked about this and a large part of it is that I do read Rindo as a depressed teenager even before canon starts, and especially after at his specific canonpoint and Damien kind of knew how to actually approach him, when to push and when to leave things alone. There were a lot of people Rindo spoke with, but Damien was one of the people he actually felt like was listening to him even if the answer was just arguing with him or sympathizing with him instead of actual advice.
"Even people that want to be left alone usually want to talk to somebody after a while."
It's kind of difficult to really pinpoint when, exactly, they became friends. Especially since for a long while Rindo wasn't even sure Damien liked him, period, but then eventually Damien roasted him by saying they were friends and he couldn't even dispute it. After a certain point in time Rindo really kind of just wanted friends and wanted to talk to people and Damien usually fit the bill of not babying him, hanging out with him, and letting him braindump and actually get to know him at his own pace.
"... I've made a lot of bad choices. But I'm still here, so."
"Maybe you have, but it's not like you're a bad person."
"I kind of am a bad person, kid."
" I think you can be both a bad person but still a person who is getting better at not being a bad person and that's probably where you are."
A lot of Rindo's arc this game also centered around his efforts not being enough to change things and I think that reflected in Damien a lot, too, which is why even though their endgame refracting thread was really short it kind of hit a lot that Damien was (mostly, in his opinion) being as honest as he could be and made it a point to say he could only do so much. Rindo truly did believe that it was enough because it was with intent and that kind of made him feel better about not being able to do enough even if he wanted to. I think he, like, recognized eventually that Damien was actually changing from being a huge asshole to being someone who was actively trying to reach out to people and be less of an asshole. It is very much a case of "you're a bad person but you weren't as bad to me as you could be and I see your efforts" but look. Listen. That's also Rindo himself.
He would absolutely die before ever admitting it but he did end up feeling kind of a familial relationship with him toward the end and he became someone Rindo really trusted. Somehow Damien got a lot of the fears and worries Rindo had and phrased it back at him in a way that helped him calm his mind a little and start to really assess. Also, hilariously, Damien was the only one to suggest going back to Fret's point in time and it truly threw him for a loop but also me because I had also not at all considered that so thanks ig. Can you believe that literally one of the first texts he's going to send Damien is probably a selfie of him and Fret being alive? Wow.
I COULD KEEP GOING BUT THIS IS ALREADY LONG, they were essentially the same person and I think he really often swung from wanting to shove him off a cliff and wanting his approval and like. Wanting Damien to acknowledge he maybe cared about Rindo at all? It was a mess, it's fine, sometimes you just want someone to acknowledge you matter because they matter to you. But overall this was definitely one of, if not his actual favorite person in the game.
Picks up the peanut and puts him on a shelf. You and Cola really came for my life by making sure these were the first two tl;crs I'd do I hate this.
Anyway. Listen. I think it's incredibly funny that Kashuu truly only befriended Rindo initially by force in a way that he couldn't even dispute it and he just had to deal with this stray cat constantly showing up. But simultaneously I don't think he ever really truly had a moment where he disliked Kashuu.
We've vaguely talked about this but the fact of the matter is that Kashuu is very much like Fret! Kashuu and Fret have very similar personalities and even when Rindo didn't remember all of his memories with Fret, Bass was there and Rindo recognized the similarities. Kashuu from very early kind of felt "safe" to him albeit incredibly overwhelming, so for the first part of their CR he was like. I don't want to necessarily say "shy" because that's not entirely right either, but he was really keeping a distance to get a feel for what Kashuu was like and debating if he wanted to go down this road to deal with an extreme extrovert.
"That's why there're people who like to talk more and ones that like to talk less, though. Good balance. Guys like me get to poke guys like you into reaching out a little more, and guys like you remind guys like me to be careful about the kinda stuff we say."
"Yeah, until people like me tell people like you to stop talking for a while. ...talking to you has always been a little easier than others. Probably for that reason. Like it's comfortable but I don't really know why."
"...Really? I mean - I'm glad, if it has been. I still mess up a lot when I'm trying to make my thoughts and feelings into words, but... I wanna be the kinda guy that's easy to talk to."
Over time, Kashuu stopped being kind of superficial and social and became someone that Rindo actually felt like he could open up to and talk to. He was one of the people that consistently checked in with him each week and that really changed how he viewed Kashuu and how much he came to like him. He kind of recognized early on that they could both use distractions from what was going on, but Kashuu also was pretty good at giving him the option to talk about stuff if he really wanted to (even if it took several weeks to get to that point.) For a lot of their interactions it was just kind of decompressing and learning things and getting better at coping, and I think the most unique part about their CR is that one was human and one was a sword but both of them were still really trying to learn, like, how to be human? How to engage and what to say and what to do.
I think he finally sort of Got that Kashuu wasn't entirely put together when he brought Rindo cookies and made a point to mention that the presentation wasn't the best instead of focusing on the act itself. I wouldn't say that he truly fully understood all of Kashuu's insecurities, but he did seem to pick up that Kashuu was similar to himself in that they were trying and wanted to be acknowledged/remembered while also not wanting to be completely perceived.
"That's the funny thing! A lot of leaders see themselves as leaders, but most of the ones I remember real well don't really see it in themselves."
A lot of the people that Rindo got really close to in-game were people that were in similar situations and he could just kinda go "oh mood?", and Kashuu fit that bill, especially when Rindo finally remembered being the leader of the Wicked Twisters. I think Kashuu highlighting that leaders don't always think of themselves as qualified helped ease some of his worries not only about his memories, but also about being a Resident since a large part of his struggles in the end were knowing he was in a better position but not quite knowing how to help people. Kashuu usually made sure to ask Rindo what, exactly, he thought would help rather than telling him what he should do and that's a lot of why he trusted him enough to be a little more open with stuff.
"It's okay - sometimes the point of helping isn't to get to a solution, y'know? Sometimes there aren't any solutions to find. Sometimes you just gotta stand there and yell about how shitty and unfair things are so you feel a little better and you don't get smashed by all the weight of those feelings when you gotta move forward."
Truly cannot emphasize how much it helped to know that the people he admired most also did not have a fucking clue part of the time. With Kashuu, he tried for a little while to be brave and responsible but it eventually became kind of easier to talk to him more like captain to captain communication and he could confide some of his worries in him without feeling like he was overloading him.
Also Kashuu's personality is just kinda magnetic, and it put Rindo at ease really early? KASHUU GOT AWAY WITH SO MUCH LIKE CASUAL HANDHOLDING AND GETTING RINDO TO PLAY FOR HIM AND JUST CONSTANTLY SHOWING UP??? Very funny. But it was that sense of camaraderie and especially when Kashuu and Rindo both were thinking of how the group as a whole was functioning as a team and how that would help them later. He didn't always entirely agree with the things Kashuu said (timetraveling...) but he agreed like 90% which is higher than a lot of people. Kashuu also like. He wanted to leave, but he never really outright fought with Rindo about leaving and I think that helped with Rindo's pacing in terms of him deciding what to do with his own memories and his own ideas.
Overall, he cares about Kashuu so much it's disgusting because that's just a sword-version of his best friend while also understanding parts of Rindo he can't quite verbalize. Time to go back and honor the Edo period some more I guess.
Well! Okay! So like Rindo told Hot Pants himself, when he first met her she was actually sort of intimidating to the point he wasn't entirely sure how to feel. She was strong and she was brave and very, very Verdant in a way he almost couldn't entirely conceptualize. Hot Pants was a very unruffled sort of person, and that was both admirable and a little strange to him given how much of a mess Rindo is himself. Despite this, however, he did initially want to get to know her and I think the way she reached out to him bit by bit helped ease him into the idea of actually trusting her.
"Memories bring their own pain. But in the end...I'd rather be the one who remembers. It means they live in some form, even if they're not there in the world."
For a while, he wasn't totally sure what he could and couldn't tell her and what she did and didn't want to know. Hot Pants was an adult and older than most of the people he's dealt with canonically and even in Chroma itself (Shale and Steel notwithstanding because obviously they're old.) Rindo did his best to be neutral, mostly, because that's what he thought was best in this situation. Hot Pants was someone that struck him as no-nonsense and responsible and willing to do what it took to keep things balanced, but the change really came when she actually started asking him to spend time with her on Saturdays after trial. The mutually beneficial distractions meant a lot to him, and upon knowing and realizing that even she was starting to be a little affected by what happened, it helps him open up a little more to start explaining some of the things he was thinking and feeling, and some of the things she told him really helped redirect his thoughts (i.e. the idea of remembering the dead becoming part of the reason he wanted to clean up the cemetery, thinking about the people lost, thinking about leaving the Prism ever, etc.)
"Being a hero, anyways...it's a burden. But I think maybe knowing that you've helped people, that you've saved people...maybe that's worth it all, in the end. The suffering and heartbreak. You did good in the world."
To him, for all intents and purposes, Hot Pants is someone that's been working toward something greater and someone that would classify as a hero which is probably why the idea of her being dead where she's from freaked him out. Obviously being from the Reapers Game and everything he knows about second chances, but it just didn't settle right. People who are trying to do good things and are trying to save people from corrupt beings of power shouldn't just be taken away like that. The longer they spoke, he sort of lost that frame of mind where he viewed her as being so powerful and put together and began to see her more as a trusted friend and confidant who was trying to help the whole problem and not just fixate on getting out of the Prism and going home. The way Hot Pants approached the plot was, in a sense, really interesting to him because Hot Pants still made it a point to continually say that they had to find ways to face the hard and scary parts and push them all ahead.
When she refracted, of course, he freaked out. The Residents never knew ahead of time who refracted and who killed, but it was obvious her colors were off when she came to visit on the Saturday she killed November 11, and it worried him a little that the Animals wouldn't be able to help purify her and help her, that she'd lose her second chance. It was a refracting effect to have her be ambivalent about it, but it really kind of frustrated him enough to wake up and start to act again like "this is still bad, and we have to find a way to stop it." Hot Pants didn't always ask him what he thought about stuff, but she did make it a point to ask him how he was feeling and try to be supportive and that actually meant a lot to him. Probably more than he could verbalize.
"It's a fair question. But sometimes, letting it simmer and grow inside is only going to lead it becoming a bigger problem. Facing things like that is...tough. I won't lie. But there are times that you need to bite down on the bullet. Its up to you when those times are."
In a sense, I think he wanted to be a little more like her even if he wasn't sure how to or in what capacity. He wanted to be someone who could keep their head up and continue treading water, someone who could keep fighting for people and someone who knew how to keep a decent balance in things. I think he mostly felt like she was a good example to follow even if it wasn't quite in the way he'd do it. She was both someone he vaguely idolized and also a close friend, and even in the end where he felt a little embarrassed or tried to push aside how he felt because he didn't want to dump it on her, he did at least feel comfortable enough making the attempt and that's probably all one can really say for Rindo. More than anything, he valued her company and her support and I think going back he'll definitely remember the things she's taught him in order to keep moving, hoping that maybe someday she'll really get a second chance because she deserves it, in his opinion.
Here's the thing about Emet-Selch and Rindo's view on Emet. They butted heads almost immediately but not even really aggressively so? It was more that Rindo truly could not wrap his head around half of the things Emet said to him and how things were on his own star, which led to Rindo thinking Emet just wasn't listening to him which led to him kind of falling back and deciding he didn't have to try to get along with everyone.
"But when one can look back upon their life and take pride in their actions, when they can look about at the world they belong to and feel they have done their part-- when they look upon their works and find they are best continued by others, when they have done all they wished to... then shall they find the satisfaction that encourages them to return.
It is a matter of thinking, "Yes, there is naught else I need or wish to do, naught which requires my hand alone."
I feel like Emet and Rindo have a very funny relationship that could basically be summarized as being kind of like in-laws or weird extended family that moreso exist in each other's presence than really having a strong connection themselves. At first, Rindo really just kind of had a bunch of questions and could not wrap his head around being born and only doing one thing, having a talent, using that talent to give back, and then perishing when his use was finished though it's mostly because, as Emet guessed, he's young. He doesn't knoww hat the hell he wants or what he's doing, so to hear how things were on Emet's star really confused him and then he felt stupid for not having a satisfactory answer and then he decided not to pursue it because he doesn't like feeling stupid and also it wasn't important.
I think a lot of why he gave Emet another chance is because he was aware how attached Fret became to him, and while his best friend's a fool, he knows Fret wouldn't just like anyone and so Rindo kinda went "Okay, there has to be more to this guy than he's letting on then. I guess I'll try again." It also helped that Vax seemed to vouch for Emet a lot, too, and Vax being one of Rindo's other favorite people was enough for him to reconsider.
Even if they didn't eventually get along, I think he would have accepted Emet into the circle and at least been cordial to him because of how important he is to Fret and Vax. (Mostly Fret.) Eventually they started to talk and enter into a more easy acquaintanceship, and it's funny because I'm not even sure if now he'd consider himself and Emet friends? He likes him well enough but it went from being kind of "oh yeah we exist in the same space" to something more like "Oh you're my friend's dad so I have to be polite to you and I can trust you with certain things."
Being on the Fret-side of their joint CYOA also helped, I think, because he did have vague memories of knowing how much Emet's capable of caring about people, and Emet's always struck him as someone very goal-oriented and focused which are qualities Rindo does actually like. He can understand exactly why Emet was sorted Crystalline and he seemed to always have an easier time talking "business" with him more than actually getting close and sharing things about himself until he was forced to. Rindo admired the way that Emet did his job, and the way he operated in the Prism with the other animals, if only because despite being an idiot he can acknowledge and respect intelligence. He thinks Emet is the kind of person who will keep fighting for what he ultimately wants and will stop at nothing to get it, and that's also something he thinks is important and can respect.
"...there must be some way. Souls should not simply cease existing-- this cannot be right."
"Maybe it can't be right, but it is. He's gone, and I can't fix it anymore the way I used to fix everything. So unless I find another option this is where we are right now."
"Then we shall have to seek one. I refuse to see the two of you have your willingness to help us result in this."
Regardless of his own personal feelings, he wasn't about to deny that Emet had a presence in the Prism that was incomparable to a lot of other people's. He was important to people, and ultimately he also never really settled for just letting things lie while also having a duty to his own stuff. Which was. Confusing. For Rindo. But that happens when you're a teenage timetraveler with dead friends and a lot of stubborn resolve. I think especially toward the end he did have a new appreciation for how Emet thought about things and the way things would be handled, and he's pretty much resigned himself to knowing he'll see him again soon anyway. But it's fine. Emet went from someone he had little interest in to someone mildly important, and while he's still not totally sure where they stand with each other it's a comfortable relationship now and he can deal with that perfectly fine while knowing at least someone is around to trade ideas and rub two braincells together when Vax and Fret are in the same room. An ally in intelligence, if you will.
Pixi you get one anyway because I said so. Anyway, it's funny because for a while Rindo truly was not sure what to do with any of the Marines and this includes Yams. Yasusada, to him, was something of a huge mystery and a lot of what he learned initially came from Kashuu. But I think the most important thing is that Yasusada's always been very polite even when outright disagreeing to Rindo's face and that was the main reason he bothered listening at all.
"I think most people mean well. We want to help. I know that's true for me, and Kiyomitsu and Buzen. But I think... there are some choices only you can make, right? And some missions that only you can do. Maybe this should be up to you. ...But sometimes, you need to rely on other people, too. And you might not realize that until the very end. So maybe this is like that, instead."
He doesn't quite know what it means to be a sword, but I think he felt a certain level of kinship both with Yams and Kashuu in the sense of a.) learning how to really be human and b.) knowing missions have to be completed and having things to protect. Despite the fact that he and Yasusada didn't exactly 100% agree on everything and in fact both stood on opposite sides of the issue for a while, it was important to him that Yasusada never pressured him and also reassured him that whatever choice he made it would be his own. For whatever reason, a lot of people really let him just do that. For a while, I think he was never quite sure how to hang out with Yasusada one on one because he's not an especially social person like Fret and he's not a stronger fighter with a duty like Ei and he's not wise like Cads. He's just himself, and it meant that he fumbled a few times and never quite knew how to ask Yasusada if he just wanted to spend time together to try and get to know each other. It made him come off as standoffish and that frustrated him and it was just kind of a mess.
But Yasusada was one of the first (maybe actually the first?) of the Marines to invite him to come hang out at the apartment and spend time with all of them, so by reaching out his hand and offering it to Rindo that really solidified the kind of person he thought Yams was. He's aware of the swords having missions and working as a unit, so he figured Yams was someone who also understood the concept of being a team and accomplishing things.
"We won't be reckless about it. And I know it's scary. But if nothing changes within a few days, then... we'll have to make some kind of move."
Even later on, he seemed to realize that they both had similar reasons for why they felt the way they felt about things while being on opposite sides. One wanted to stay in the Prism and one wanted to live because they couldn't bear the idea of losing their most important person at the end of the day, and it didn't like. Escape him. That there were similarities in the partnership between Yams and Kashuu and himself and Fret even if he didn't completely understand why.
I think a lot of how he felt about Yasusada was that he was a very important person in terms of how he tried to look at the situation pragmatically again. Yams brought up several good points about the Prism and why people needed to leave, but again he never forced an opinion on Rindo. It was weirdly diplomatic, he thinks, and it's something that helped him feel a little more comfortable talking it out with him.
"i think you can feel however you want its just how you decide that act that really matters right?
Overall I don't think Rindo thinks of them as close or anything, but he would call Yams a friend and he'd fight to protect him. They're comrades, and he likes him more than he likes a lot of other people because of how Yams' personality is. Marines aren't exactly known for balance, but they are people-oriented in several ways and I think that's where they overlap. Both of them understand the idea of devotion to certain ideals and people and both of them, I think, are fairly stubborn about it. Even knowing the risks involved, Yams is someone who didn't stop until the job was completed and Rindo's over here like "wow that's so intense and brave."
That's not to say he thinks of Yams as being cool and untouchable and someone to aspire to be. He thinks he's weird. He thinks he's kinda goofy. He think he has a lot left to learn about posing as human but it's not like Rindo himself doesn't have a lot left to learn about being human. He thinks Yams is a kind person and that he's someone to be trusted though, and I think that's probably the most important thing he could ever want to feel about him. In the end he's grateful that they were able to get what they want, and while he's busy running from the time police he's going to actually try to do better to see if he can kind of emulate that same sense of honor and duty while growing to be a better person.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
DAMIEN;
I'm a lion trying the best that I can, I thought you got what you wanted
Don't you understand that I'm running much faster that I ever did before
And you're not in the position to make that demand
Oooooh god. The way that Damien is the first of these that I'm doing laughs. We've talked about this a lot Cola and I still am constantly finding new ways that their CR surprises me.
I think if Damien really wasn't himself in the sense of being rude as shit, Rindo wouldn't have gravitated as much as he did even if at first he really didn't grasp that they were somewhat similar people. I want to say that maybe he did, but I don't think he had enough foresight to really determine that. I do think, however, that Rindo realized very early on that Damien understood certain things in ways other people didn't.
I think a good crux of their relationship really was that they were two people who were trying to figure out how to actually connect with other people and doing it in ways that were considered unusual or intense or even just not really doing it despite thinking they were giving their best efforts. Really early on, Rindo realized Damien had powers at one point and lost them and that, too, was something he resonated with especially right after he got his phone case back and started getting some of his memories. It was something that he couldn't quite relate to anyone else about, because people either had their powers and lost them by being in the Prism, or didn't have powers at all. With Damien it was the unique set of circumstances of losing the power back in their own worlds and trying to figure out how to move on and live with that.
Damien like. Never babied him LMAO LIKE HE WAS TRULY SO RUDE TO HIM and Rindo was just like 'ah, yes, this is actually what I want in a friendship' but I think it's solely because despite being emotional in different ways Rindo is also pretty pragmatic and oftentimes overthinks about how things will impact everything else. Damien as a whole can be selfish but I think Rindo himself has the capability of being similar, so talking to Damien was sort of jarring because a lot of things the guy said were alarming, but there were also several things he agreed with. We've talked about this and a large part of it is that I do read Rindo as a depressed teenager even before canon starts, and especially after at his specific canonpoint and Damien kind of knew how to actually approach him, when to push and when to leave things alone. There were a lot of people Rindo spoke with, but Damien was one of the people he actually felt like was listening to him even if the answer was just arguing with him or sympathizing with him instead of actual advice.
It's kind of difficult to really pinpoint when, exactly, they became friends. Especially since for a long while Rindo wasn't even sure Damien liked him, period, but then eventually Damien roasted him by saying they were friends and he couldn't even dispute it. After a certain point in time Rindo really kind of just wanted friends and wanted to talk to people and Damien usually fit the bill of not babying him, hanging out with him, and letting him braindump and actually get to know him at his own pace.
A lot of Rindo's arc this game also centered around his efforts not being enough to change things and I think that reflected in Damien a lot, too, which is why even though their endgame refracting thread was really short it kind of hit a lot that Damien was (mostly, in his opinion) being as honest as he could be and made it a point to say he could only do so much. Rindo truly did believe that it was enough because it was with intent and that kind of made him feel better about not being able to do enough even if he wanted to. I think he, like, recognized eventually that Damien was actually changing from being a huge asshole to being someone who was actively trying to reach out to people and be less of an asshole. It is very much a case of "you're a bad person but you weren't as bad to me as you could be and I see your efforts" but look. Listen. That's also Rindo himself.
He would absolutely die before ever admitting it but he did end up feeling kind of a familial relationship with him toward the end and he became someone Rindo really trusted. Somehow Damien got a lot of the fears and worries Rindo had and phrased it back at him in a way that helped him calm his mind a little and start to really assess. Also, hilariously, Damien was the only one to suggest going back to Fret's point in time and it truly threw him for a loop but also me because I had also not at all considered that so thanks ig. Can you believe that literally one of the first texts he's going to send Damien is probably a selfie of him and Fret being alive? Wow.
I COULD KEEP GOING BUT THIS IS ALREADY LONG, they were essentially the same person and I think he really often swung from wanting to shove him off a cliff and wanting his approval and like. Wanting Damien to acknowledge he maybe cared about Rindo at all? It was a mess, it's fine, sometimes you just want someone to acknowledge you matter because they matter to you. But overall this was definitely one of, if not his actual favorite person in the game.
KASHUU;
I've got my heavy heart to hold me down
Once it falls apart my head's in the clouds
So I'm taking every chance I got
Like the man I know I'm not
Picks up the peanut and puts him on a shelf. You and Cola really came for my life by making sure these were the first two tl;crs I'd do I hate this.
Anyway. Listen. I think it's incredibly funny that Kashuu truly only befriended Rindo initially by force in a way that he couldn't even dispute it and he just had to deal with this stray cat constantly showing up. But simultaneously I don't think he ever really truly had a moment where he disliked Kashuu.
We've vaguely talked about this but the fact of the matter is that Kashuu is very much like Fret! Kashuu and Fret have very similar personalities and even when Rindo didn't remember all of his memories with Fret, Bass was there and Rindo recognized the similarities. Kashuu from very early kind of felt "safe" to him albeit incredibly overwhelming, so for the first part of their CR he was like. I don't want to necessarily say "shy" because that's not entirely right either, but he was really keeping a distance to get a feel for what Kashuu was like and debating if he wanted to go down this road to deal with an extreme extrovert.
Over time, Kashuu stopped being kind of superficial and social and became someone that Rindo actually felt like he could open up to and talk to. He was one of the people that consistently checked in with him each week and that really changed how he viewed Kashuu and how much he came to like him. He kind of recognized early on that they could both use distractions from what was going on, but Kashuu also was pretty good at giving him the option to talk about stuff if he really wanted to (even if it took several weeks to get to that point.) For a lot of their interactions it was just kind of decompressing and learning things and getting better at coping, and I think the most unique part about their CR is that one was human and one was a sword but both of them were still really trying to learn, like, how to be human? How to engage and what to say and what to do.
I think he finally sort of Got that Kashuu wasn't entirely put together when he brought Rindo cookies and made a point to mention that the presentation wasn't the best instead of focusing on the act itself. I wouldn't say that he truly fully understood all of Kashuu's insecurities, but he did seem to pick up that Kashuu was similar to himself in that they were trying and wanted to be acknowledged/remembered while also not wanting to be completely perceived.
A lot of the people that Rindo got really close to in-game were people that were in similar situations and he could just kinda go "oh mood?", and Kashuu fit that bill, especially when Rindo finally remembered being the leader of the Wicked Twisters. I think Kashuu highlighting that leaders don't always think of themselves as qualified helped ease some of his worries not only about his memories, but also about being a Resident since a large part of his struggles in the end were knowing he was in a better position but not quite knowing how to help people. Kashuu usually made sure to ask Rindo what, exactly, he thought would help rather than telling him what he should do and that's a lot of why he trusted him enough to be a little more open with stuff.
Truly cannot emphasize how much it helped to know that the people he admired most also did not have a fucking clue part of the time. With Kashuu, he tried for a little while to be brave and responsible but it eventually became kind of easier to talk to him more like captain to captain communication and he could confide some of his worries in him without feeling like he was overloading him.
Also Kashuu's personality is just kinda magnetic, and it put Rindo at ease really early? KASHUU GOT AWAY WITH SO MUCH LIKE CASUAL HANDHOLDING AND GETTING RINDO TO PLAY FOR HIM AND JUST CONSTANTLY SHOWING UP??? Very funny. But it was that sense of camaraderie and especially when Kashuu and Rindo both were thinking of how the group as a whole was functioning as a team and how that would help them later. He didn't always entirely agree with the things Kashuu said (timetraveling...) but he agreed like 90% which is higher than a lot of people. Kashuu also like. He wanted to leave, but he never really outright fought with Rindo about leaving and I think that helped with Rindo's pacing in terms of him deciding what to do with his own memories and his own ideas.
Overall, he cares about Kashuu so much it's disgusting because that's just a sword-version of his best friend while also understanding parts of Rindo he can't quite verbalize. Time to go back and honor the Edo period some more I guess.
HOT PANTS;
Today I stood and walked away
I'm never coming back this way
I've got my things, I'm here to stay
I'll try to walk another way
Well! Okay! So like Rindo told Hot Pants himself, when he first met her she was actually sort of intimidating to the point he wasn't entirely sure how to feel. She was strong and she was brave and very, very Verdant in a way he almost couldn't entirely conceptualize. Hot Pants was a very unruffled sort of person, and that was both admirable and a little strange to him given how much of a mess Rindo is himself. Despite this, however, he did initially want to get to know her and I think the way she reached out to him bit by bit helped ease him into the idea of actually trusting her.
For a while, he wasn't totally sure what he could and couldn't tell her and what she did and didn't want to know. Hot Pants was an adult and older than most of the people he's dealt with canonically and even in Chroma itself (Shale and Steel notwithstanding because obviously they're old.) Rindo did his best to be neutral, mostly, because that's what he thought was best in this situation. Hot Pants was someone that struck him as no-nonsense and responsible and willing to do what it took to keep things balanced, but the change really came when she actually started asking him to spend time with her on Saturdays after trial. The mutually beneficial distractions meant a lot to him, and upon knowing and realizing that even she was starting to be a little affected by what happened, it helps him open up a little more to start explaining some of the things he was thinking and feeling, and some of the things she told him really helped redirect his thoughts (i.e. the idea of remembering the dead becoming part of the reason he wanted to clean up the cemetery, thinking about the people lost, thinking about leaving the Prism ever, etc.)
To him, for all intents and purposes, Hot Pants is someone that's been working toward something greater and someone that would classify as a hero which is probably why the idea of her being dead where she's from freaked him out. Obviously being from the Reapers Game and everything he knows about second chances, but it just didn't settle right. People who are trying to do good things and are trying to save people from corrupt beings of power shouldn't just be taken away like that. The longer they spoke, he sort of lost that frame of mind where he viewed her as being so powerful and put together and began to see her more as a trusted friend and confidant who was trying to help the whole problem and not just fixate on getting out of the Prism and going home. The way Hot Pants approached the plot was, in a sense, really interesting to him because Hot Pants still made it a point to continually say that they had to find ways to face the hard and scary parts and push them all ahead.
When she refracted, of course, he freaked out. The Residents never knew ahead of time who refracted and who killed, but it was obvious her colors were off when she came to visit on the Saturday she killed November 11, and it worried him a little that the Animals wouldn't be able to help purify her and help her, that she'd lose her second chance. It was a refracting effect to have her be ambivalent about it, but it really kind of frustrated him enough to wake up and start to act again like "this is still bad, and we have to find a way to stop it." Hot Pants didn't always ask him what he thought about stuff, but she did make it a point to ask him how he was feeling and try to be supportive and that actually meant a lot to him. Probably more than he could verbalize.
In a sense, I think he wanted to be a little more like her even if he wasn't sure how to or in what capacity. He wanted to be someone who could keep their head up and continue treading water, someone who could keep fighting for people and someone who knew how to keep a decent balance in things. I think he mostly felt like she was a good example to follow even if it wasn't quite in the way he'd do it. She was both someone he vaguely idolized and also a close friend, and even in the end where he felt a little embarrassed or tried to push aside how he felt because he didn't want to dump it on her, he did at least feel comfortable enough making the attempt and that's probably all one can really say for Rindo. More than anything, he valued her company and her support and I think going back he'll definitely remember the things she's taught him in order to keep moving, hoping that maybe someday she'll really get a second chance because she deserves it, in his opinion.
EMET-SELCH;
We're all just dyin' to live
I know there's something better
I can not fight what's falling apart
I'll get myself together, together, together
My shield of rusted metal
Can't keep this world from falling apart
So let's tear this down together, together, together
Here's the thing about Emet-Selch and Rindo's view on Emet. They butted heads almost immediately but not even really aggressively so? It was more that Rindo truly could not wrap his head around half of the things Emet said to him and how things were on his own star, which led to Rindo thinking Emet just wasn't listening to him which led to him kind of falling back and deciding he didn't have to try to get along with everyone.
I feel like Emet and Rindo have a very funny relationship that could basically be summarized as being kind of like in-laws or weird extended family that moreso exist in each other's presence than really having a strong connection themselves. At first, Rindo really just kind of had a bunch of questions and could not wrap his head around being born and only doing one thing, having a talent, using that talent to give back, and then perishing when his use was finished though it's mostly because, as Emet guessed, he's young. He doesn't knoww hat the hell he wants or what he's doing, so to hear how things were on Emet's star really confused him and then he felt stupid for not having a satisfactory answer and then he decided not to pursue it because he doesn't like feeling stupid and also it wasn't important.
I think a lot of why he gave Emet another chance is because he was aware how attached Fret became to him, and while his best friend's a fool, he knows Fret wouldn't just like anyone and so Rindo kinda went "Okay, there has to be more to this guy than he's letting on then. I guess I'll try again." It also helped that Vax seemed to vouch for Emet a lot, too, and Vax being one of Rindo's other favorite people was enough for him to reconsider.
Even if they didn't eventually get along, I think he would have accepted Emet into the circle and at least been cordial to him because of how important he is to Fret and Vax. (Mostly Fret.) Eventually they started to talk and enter into a more easy acquaintanceship, and it's funny because I'm not even sure if now he'd consider himself and Emet friends? He likes him well enough but it went from being kind of "oh yeah we exist in the same space" to something more like "Oh you're my friend's dad so I have to be polite to you and I can trust you with certain things."
Being on the Fret-side of their joint CYOA also helped, I think, because he did have vague memories of knowing how much Emet's capable of caring about people, and Emet's always struck him as someone very goal-oriented and focused which are qualities Rindo does actually like. He can understand exactly why Emet was sorted Crystalline and he seemed to always have an easier time talking "business" with him more than actually getting close and sharing things about himself until he was forced to. Rindo admired the way that Emet did his job, and the way he operated in the Prism with the other animals, if only because despite being an idiot he can acknowledge and respect intelligence. He thinks Emet is the kind of person who will keep fighting for what he ultimately wants and will stop at nothing to get it, and that's also something he thinks is important and can respect.
Regardless of his own personal feelings, he wasn't about to deny that Emet had a presence in the Prism that was incomparable to a lot of other people's. He was important to people, and ultimately he also never really settled for just letting things lie while also having a duty to his own stuff. Which was. Confusing. For Rindo. But that happens when you're a teenage timetraveler with dead friends and a lot of stubborn resolve. I think especially toward the end he did have a new appreciation for how Emet thought about things and the way things would be handled, and he's pretty much resigned himself to knowing he'll see him again soon anyway. But it's fine. Emet went from someone he had little interest in to someone mildly important, and while he's still not totally sure where they stand with each other it's a comfortable relationship now and he can deal with that perfectly fine while knowing at least someone is around to trade ideas and rub two braincells together when Vax and Fret are in the same room. An ally in intelligence, if you will.
YASUSADA;
Hard to be soft, tough to be tender
Come take my pulse, the pace is on a runaway train
Help, I'm alive, my heart keeps
Beating like a hammer
Pixi you get one anyway because I said so. Anyway, it's funny because for a while Rindo truly was not sure what to do with any of the Marines and this includes Yams. Yasusada, to him, was something of a huge mystery and a lot of what he learned initially came from Kashuu. But I think the most important thing is that Yasusada's always been very polite even when outright disagreeing to Rindo's face and that was the main reason he bothered listening at all.
He doesn't quite know what it means to be a sword, but I think he felt a certain level of kinship both with Yams and Kashuu in the sense of a.) learning how to really be human and b.) knowing missions have to be completed and having things to protect. Despite the fact that he and Yasusada didn't exactly 100% agree on everything and in fact both stood on opposite sides of the issue for a while, it was important to him that Yasusada never pressured him and also reassured him that whatever choice he made it would be his own. For whatever reason, a lot of people really let him just do that. For a while, I think he was never quite sure how to hang out with Yasusada one on one because he's not an especially social person like Fret and he's not a stronger fighter with a duty like Ei and he's not wise like Cads. He's just himself, and it meant that he fumbled a few times and never quite knew how to ask Yasusada if he just wanted to spend time together to try and get to know each other. It made him come off as standoffish and that frustrated him and it was just kind of a mess.
But Yasusada was one of the first (maybe actually the first?) of the Marines to invite him to come hang out at the apartment and spend time with all of them, so by reaching out his hand and offering it to Rindo that really solidified the kind of person he thought Yams was. He's aware of the swords having missions and working as a unit, so he figured Yams was someone who also understood the concept of being a team and accomplishing things.
Even later on, he seemed to realize that they both had similar reasons for why they felt the way they felt about things while being on opposite sides. One wanted to stay in the Prism and one wanted to live because they couldn't bear the idea of losing their most important person at the end of the day, and it didn't like. Escape him. That there were similarities in the partnership between Yams and Kashuu and himself and Fret even if he didn't completely understand why.
I think a lot of how he felt about Yasusada was that he was a very important person in terms of how he tried to look at the situation pragmatically again. Yams brought up several good points about the Prism and why people needed to leave, but again he never forced an opinion on Rindo. It was weirdly diplomatic, he thinks, and it's something that helped him feel a little more comfortable talking it out with him.
Overall I don't think Rindo thinks of them as close or anything, but he would call Yams a friend and he'd fight to protect him. They're comrades, and he likes him more than he likes a lot of other people because of how Yams' personality is. Marines aren't exactly known for balance, but they are people-oriented in several ways and I think that's where they overlap. Both of them understand the idea of devotion to certain ideals and people and both of them, I think, are fairly stubborn about it. Even knowing the risks involved, Yams is someone who didn't stop until the job was completed and Rindo's over here like "wow that's so intense and brave."
That's not to say he thinks of Yams as being cool and untouchable and someone to aspire to be. He thinks he's weird. He thinks he's kinda goofy. He think he has a lot left to learn about posing as human but it's not like Rindo himself doesn't have a lot left to learn about being human. He thinks Yams is a kind person and that he's someone to be trusted though, and I think that's probably the most important thing he could ever want to feel about him. In the end he's grateful that they were able to get what they want, and while he's busy running from the time police he's going to actually try to do better to see if he can kind of emulate that same sense of honor and duty while growing to be a better person.