kidowos' burrow

I couldn't put into words the theory about the character I wanted to tell, so I had to draw it. Ehh.

At first glance, Rook Hunt is shown to be one of the most open characters about the things he feels and values. He is clear and loud about his adoration of beauty, his admiration for living things, and his obsession with people he perceives as "the most beautiful."

Like Kalim and Silver, Rook is described as an honest and genuine person. Despite his flowery words, he is usually determined in his opinion and never strays from what he thinks is necessary. He does not lie or hide his admiration for people, he genuinely seems to see beauty in everything he lives and feels a deep desire as a hunter to know every detail of his prey.

That said, as the events, books, and Rook's own narrative of letters unfold, we notice one thing very clear about his character.

Rook Hunt is superficial.

Despite showing a great appreciation for any type of beauty, we see that Rook never really delves into them. We don't see Rook wanting to get to know anyone better, he just remains a distant and apathetic observer.

Initially, Rook doesn't really get involved in intrigues, or pretend to be interested in knowing the stories of those around him; he actually seems to have a much greater appreciation for knowing little about who his prey really are. Sure, he may know that their favorite color is yellow or that their favorite food is lasagna, but he will never care to know where these tastes came from.

And in the same way that he sees everyone superficially, Rook also makes an extreme point of showing himself superficially. Rook who hides his freckles, who hides any part of his body with heavy clothes and who talks so little about his own life and his tastes. What is his favorite color? His favorite movie? What is the name of his hometown? What are his dreams? These are all questions that no one could answer, because Rook refuses to show this part of him.

Rook is like Cater when we see it from this point of view. Both of them, terrified of letting people delve into their stories, tend to show a superficial and more blatant form of themselves so that people don't try to find out more than they would like to show.

Even the way he is a fan of Neige could be seen as superficial. After all, Rook doesn't know exactly who Neige is outside of the cameras or social media. He doesn't really know who Neige is, but the way he pursues Neige is enough for Rook to admire this pure beauty of the boy. Such a brave boy, with such a dark background, but Rook never cared to really sympathize with who Neige is, or with how much Neige may have sacrificed to be in this position.

Rook admires the idea of Neige, and even the idea of Vil. He is satisfied with these superficial versions that he created in his mind, and doesn't seem to have any interest in going deeper.

But something changes that, an event drastically changes Rook's psyche and makes him see someone beyond the superficial, beyond all social masks, for the first time.

Everything changes with...

Rook is one of the people who were extremely traumatized by the overblots, and none of us talk about it enough.

Initially, Rook wanted to hold on to the "idea of who Vil was." The Vil he knew and admired, his shallow and empty version, would never try to hurt Neige because of an event like the VDC. He wouldn't frame a fellow student, one who is from his own dorm and younger than them, for a heinous crime.

But Vil did. Vil tried to kill Neige, in an act of clear psychosis before his overblot, but the fact was still there. Rook, who saw everyone in such a superficial way, ended up ignoring all the red flags about Vil's actions, he ignored anything that could break his little fantasy and let things follow their course.

However, one thing Rook didn't expect from himself was that he genuinely loves Vil. Even in his overblot, what should have been Vil's ugliest side, Rook saw the beauty in every act and attack. Rook saw the beauty in the ugliness, in the bitterness, in the superficial version of Vil breaking down.

Rook, amidst the chaos of the overblot, realized how much he cared for Vil and how he regretted not having gone deeper. Not having talked more, discovered more, understood more.

This is reflected in the next books and some events. Rook seeks to know more about Vil, to better understand his motivations and history. Rook is dedicated to being on Vil's side, even if he has to break into one of the most secret organizations in the entire world or fight thousands of overblots.

But the trauma haunts him at every moment. The guilt of that day, the guilt of having voted for someone else, the guilt of not having been a better friend to Vil and the guilt of not being one anymore. Nightmares still haunt him, as mentioned in book 6, and guilt eats away at him, as demonstrated in book 7. Rook is human for the first time, scared and confused, but it is only with this humanity that he is able to create more bonds of friendship at school.

It is with the trauma of the overblot, with his mask breaking a little, that he is able to deepen his relationship with Vil, Epel and even Trey.

That said, the real Rook remains hidden, trapped inside himself, without clear glimpses of who Rook is beneath the cheap French until...

Rook is an insecure person. He has no confidence in who he is or in the things he likes.

It is said during book 7 in his dream that Rook tried to talk to his dorm mates about the things he admires and likes to watch, but they ended up getting bored or bothered by the subject and ended up distancing themselves from Rook completely.

Rook and Jade share in this, a love for things that few people seem to have the interest to understand, but a very well hidden need to scream at the top of their lungs everything they love and have this passion reciprocated.

But unlike Jade, Rook keeps most of it hidden. He, even in his dream, wants to keep this shameful part of him locked away from common eyes. But at the same time, when he sees people showing the least possible interest in it, he throws himself headfirst into showing everything.

The real Rook, the one who is so well hidden, is insecure about his tastes and has people finding him strange. He, who remains so confident in the face of other people's judgments, cannot imagine simply showing such a delicate part of himself without starting to cry.

And in this delicate part there is the guilt of the overblot. A guilt that, because of Malleus, was distorted and disturbed in the idea that Vil would be better off far away from Rook. That Vil's problems would simply disappear if he and Neige were friends, if Rook was never there to "betray" Vil.

But this is superficial, this is a superficial and cruel view of their entire relationship. And Rook knows this, Rook when remembering reality knows that this whole dream is an offense to everything that Vil and Rook are.

Because Vil is not a superficial person. He is a person full of layers, dreams and desires, and Rook is capable of seeing Vil in such an... empty way? Disregarding everything Vil has been through and suffered? It's like Rook is committing that betrayal all over again, that of ignoring the truth and clinging to what would make him happier.

But that's not the truth. That's not who they are, their truth goes far beyond that.

Rook and Vil are more than that.

They are...

Rook doesn't see himself as something beautiful. In reality, he seems to have a great disregard and lack of affection for himself, and due to a very clear low self-esteem, he also expects the people around him to see him the same way. Those who could never get past Rook's superficial mask could actually see beauty in him.

But Vil and Epel did.

Vil, who should have been furious with Rook at so many moments. How he didn't choose their group in the VDC, or how he abandoned all of Pomefiore on a suicide mission taking Epel and Yuu with him. Rook expected anger, frustration, and even hatred, but he was met with affection and understanding.

Vil always saw beyond Rook's mask. Maybe not completely, maybe he didn't see all the details of who Rook really was, but he managed to catch the little things that changed everything in Rook's narrative.

What Rook felt ashamed of, Vil took between his fingers and saw as something he appreciated. Even amidst the frustration of losing the VDC, Vil still appreciated Rook's honesty above all else. He didn't feel angry at Rook, or take his attitude as a "betrayal", in fact Vil seemed to feel almost ashamed that he hadn't noticed before that Rook admired Neige so much.

Epel wasn't as graceful, he couldn't see through the cracks in Rook's well-constructed mask, but he simply stopped caring about the riddles Rook told and became attached to the actions Rook took after book 5. Rook, who was so distant and preferred to remain in the role of observer, was finally taking so many actions that seemed completely absurd, but which brought a deep admiration for who Rook is.

Epel and Vil saw beauty in Rook. In his talk, in his passions, in his desires and obsessions. They saw far beyond what Rook is to the world, they increasingly delved deeper into Rook and the person he genuinely is.

Rook throughout book 7 is painfully loved by Epel and Vil. The three of them have seen the ugliest, most shameful, and foolish parts of each other and learned to see the beauty in it. And in that beauty, they find a genuine and honest love, a friendship that has gone far beyond them to the point of creating a small family.

Rook's story, his narrative, the way he changes throughout the events and books is so sweet to watch. Because for the first time, the hunter who originally took up only a second of the story, has become one of the protagonists of the narrative itself.

I feel like I got a lot out of my system when I wrote about sewing Mary's white outfit, partially because they look and function pretty much the same, and partially because I was secretly sewing them both at the same time. Like the white outfit, though, this black outfit also has some discrepancies when compared to her canon outfit.

Firstly, I accidentally followed the same steps as when I made the hat for the white outfit (although please note that I improved the proportions of the hat this time). The accent colour of the white outfit is blue, and the hat has a blue stripe at the bottom. It would stand to reason that the black outfit would have the same stripe in its accent colour - red. For whatever, that is not the case, and the hat is actually supposed to have a grey/silver stripe at the bottom. I realised my mistake before finishing the hat, but decided to stick with it because I liked the look.

Secondly, the lace on her gloves is supposed to be black and gold. When I made the white gloves, I used non-stretch lace and painted the edges gold with acrylic paint. For the black gloves, I instead used stretch lace, because I wanted them to fit very snugly. If you look at Mary's gloves in the art from the artbook, they look shiny and skin-tight, almost as if they're just painted on. I tried to find gold stretch lace, or even gold stretch thread to embroider them like I did the sleeves, but had no success. If anyone has suggestions, feel free to leave them.

Thirdly, the fabric I used for the gloves is very delicate and ripped in several places. I like this look, so I decided to keep it. If you look at her gloves closely, you can see that the lace appears to be broken in places. My lace is fine, but I figured tearing the gloves themselves was close enough lol.

I re-styled the wig to look more similar to her hairstyle in the manga. It looks more natural on my face and casts fewer weird shadows. I also changed up my makeup to be more dramatic, and I think I like it better this way. It makes my eyes look bigger, which in turn makes my face look more like a doll's.