sharp

Started on 3d models a while ago (lowkey abandoned but i pulled helbutt to the finish line more or less since I decided to turn him in for an assignment) and tried to keep the essence of their designs in the modern clothing.i was supposed to just do armor for helputt but then I realised I'd DIE trying to sculpt it since I'm not that good at it yet...

Ran would become a fashion model (with these looks... I mean of course he would) thanks to barkat's connections after getting out of a longstanding shitty corporate job under stirbargen. He'd be the legal guardian of Nero and they'd live together and during summer vacation he'd go to his Nous family. Ran would also have health issues (mainly awful af migraines) and combined with a job with non-regular working times Asella would want to use that to fight for custody of Nero even though the boy wants to stay by his side.

and helputt would be a car mechanic working both as contract work and in some high end vehicle brand alongside the entire hamel city roster. He'd drive a motorbike hence the leather clothing which alongside the helmet would design-wise correspond to his armor while the motorbike would correspond to his cannon weapon (I'm not sculpting that shit ever). He would live alone after Chung moves out for high school/college and in spite of having a good sum of money he would stay in the same (showing its age atp and getting decroded) apartment that Chung was raised in and back when his wife was alive since hes not able to let go of the last good memories.

They'd meet when Ran's car broke down (convenient) and then every now and then on rare occasions. Ran would notice Helputt is lonely and that he seems to secretly enjoy spending time with him and Nero. And he would use that to make him take care of Nero when he himself can't whenever his health worsens. So a one-sided toxic relationship ❤️

I loveee making shit up like you wouldn't get it

The (unfinished) comic draft was meant to establish Ran's backstory a little but as time went on my headcanons as to how and when Ran and Aren's bodies separated (and where Helputt would be) shifted around and I'd have to remake too much of it to be worth the time 💔

The contents still more or less hold up, I headcanon that among the chaos present in the red demon territory Stirbargen had forced Ran into his army (that's the motivation for the last illustration in the post). He saw potential in his powers and had decided to take advantage of it, giving himself more leverage in the wars between demon territories by exploiting Ran as a simple soldier rather than giving him any higher position in the ranks - because back then Tir used to yearn for the throne, supported the Demon King's agenda of concentrating all power in one hand, and he didn't want anyone to threaten it. (that's why it's interesting that Lu seemed to gain sympathy for Stirbargen when he got emotional over how 'well' the Demon King has ruled the demon realm, completely omitting the fact that he has done so by stifling anybody that opposed him and Tir supported it. That's why it's nice to see Ran laughing him off!!!!!)

After many years passing, I like to think that Barkat has offered Ran a possibility of escaping the army and taking revenge on Tir (by sealing him) in exchange for a future favor. And Ran, with not much choice, has accepted. And years later, once Ran took over the red demon army and honed his skills as a tactician, now becoming a threat to Barkat's prophecy, had to inadvertently fulfill her favor and invade Elrios alongside other demon armies. This way Barkat would eliminate both Tir and him from the prophecy that she foresaw - that the return of a demon king would bring the end of the world, and she wanted to remove anyone that could possibly be powerful enough to achieve it.

This is also interesting because I think that Ran was THE person in that prophecy, but has ultimately been stopped by the El search party. Stirbargen mentions that if Ran achieves his goal in the Abyss to become the next demon king, his power will be uncontested and irreversably change both Elrios and the demon realm. From Barkat we learn that prophecy, that the coming of a new demon king will bring about the end of the world, and later in Atma'Ram story we learn that the purpose of creating the seed of life was to find a being powerful enough that, once the seed was absorbed, it could summon the god of Henir themselves - the power of origin that could end the world.

The El search party in the end hasn't truly defeated Ran like they had most enemies until that point - they had to run since they couldn't rival his power. And it's interesting that, at least how I see it, what Ran was supposed to become in Birth of Origin has been indirectly mentioned in the places I mentioned above but no character in the story really caught on.

And this combined with Helputt and Nero returning to the story... And does anyone remember what Aren said in the abyss quest line. That Ran, Henir's order and Helputt are all connected? And years later, after many new regions this seemingly random dialogue line gets confirmed because Helputt and Nero meet a Henir member and ask them for a favor? I might totally be coping but I have a feeling Ran still has some role to play in the story. I don't wanna jinx it though so I'll shut up now !!!!!!!!!!