#faume

because what, except for the two of them being fundamentally different people, could have prevented their downfall?

Didn't you promise me? You said we'd always be together -Mephisto

mephisto- obviously- shouldn't have turned his own soldiers into zombies, shouldn't have adopted a repulsively heartless fighting style, when his one friend has so much empathy for everybody. faust had to have that trait, to be the one person in the world who cares for mephisto, who values him above his own life

faust, meanwhile, shouldn't have turned a blind eye when he had the perceptiveness to figure out something's wrong with talulah, when he knows mephisto would fail to. but faust would rather relate and understand than create conflict. he'll fight others to protect mephisto, but he can't fight mephisto.

ah, thats a bit tough, because i tragically forgot most of my old headcanons for them ;-; hmm.

one hc that i liked was that faust liked tinkering with stuff and working with his hands. it makes sense given his turrets and that it would have been useful for him on the streets and in the tundra. this was when eunectes was the only pythia op and i, starved for content, went "maybe engineering is a pythia thing" and just rolled with it a little

some others:

because his family found it annoying when eno sang, he went to the sewers to sing, which is how he and sasha met

sasha's most treasured possession used to be a single tattered book that he found on the streets and didnt know how to read. eno ended up accidentally breaking it, as it was barely held together by the time they met. eno felt super guilty and this contributed to his "i dont want to make choices" mindset

eno used to cry when he killed bugs; however, sasha reassured them that they were only insects. this was later twisted when eno began to think of people as insects as a way to justify killing them

sasha's greatest wish used to be to go to school and have a normal education

eno tried to kill his family before he was infected (as sasha told him). it failed, and his family was disgusted, so they infected him and threw him out

faust was also indoctrinated by kash and had his thinking subtly manipulated, just to a lesser degree than mephisto. things like his impression of rhodes island, tactics, he and eno's chances, etc

this was like lowkey alluded to in the dialogue but: after eno killed his family, he took the brainwashed street children with him and showed them to sasha

(in the voice of somebody trying very hard to sound normal) YES hi absolutely. by faust being pretty you do mean every appearance he has right?

(apologies for the occasional bad quality - i'm watching a pirated version)

Arknights Prelude to Dawn Episode 2

Arknights Perish in Frost Episode 5

OH WHOOPS TUMBLR BROKE. the middle part (more anime screenshots) is getting added in a reply sorry

From the anime's promotional art: Tweet #1 / Tweet #2 / Tweet #3 / Fan Wiki Source

Arknights 2024 Special Commemorative Animation PV

Come to Light Official Music Video

Lullabye MV (drawn by reoenl)

Arknights Animation PV Partial Necrosis / Arknights Animation PV Roaring Flare

i think (?) that a common misconception ab codependency is that its where two people cant live without each other and cant function on their own. that's not quite true! instead, its a relationship dynamic in which one person (the codependent) continually sacrifices their own needs and wellbeing for the sake of another (the enabler).

the codependent feels worthless unless they are needed. the enabler needs support and another person. its an incredibly unhealthy relationship dynamic that can often lead to abuse.

right off the bat, we can see how faume is codependent. we can see how mephi forms his identity around giving other people what they want, only existing because it's what someone else wants. however, in their relationship, faust seems to be the more codependent one.

the trajectory of his life and the situation he ended up in is formed around mephisto. he infects himself for mephisto, sacrificing his own health and life for him. he follows him, letting go of his entire life in order to accompany mephisto into a life of oppression. later, instead of asking mephisto to leave reunion with him, something that he clearly wants, he stays quiet and chooses to sacrifice his happiness.

codependent people will often stay quiet and avoid stating their own opinions and feelings, often lying. they'll often feel responsible for other people's actions. they tolerate behavior that belittes or hurts them. they have chronic anger. they lack a sense of identity, with an inability to make decisions or identify what they're feeling. they'll do anything to hold onto relationships. they have poor communication skills, and a lack of trust in themself and others.

these are all things that, in part, relate to faust. they are also things that relate to mephisto. we can see in their relationship specifically how faust is the more codependent one: mephisto is the one that leans on faust and seems to need him. faust is the one that avoids stating his feelings. faust is the one that sacrifices his happiness and wants for mephisto. faust is the one trying to keep everything together that seems to feel the pressure of it.

faust's entire character arc is based around not talking ab his feelings; he feels responsible for what mephisto does; he tolerates talu and mephi's treatment of him; he seems to have a lot of hidden anger (why did you say you would die for that monster?); he follows mephisto around instead of defining his own identity; he displays a lot of indecisiveness and lacks awareness of his own feelings (not leaving, "i didnt know if i could say anything anymore"); infecting himself to stay with mephi; he never opens up to anyone, even the people he's closest to, indicating a lack of trust.

as a side note: mephisto also seems to be codependent. a lot of the above traits also apply to him, along with these other ones that dont really apply to faust: need for approval, need to control others.

i do really like how the two of them explore the concept of codependent relationships. sometimes, the person that you love hurts you. sometimes, they hurt you even without knowing. sometimes, they hurt you and you cant find it in yourself to blame them. sometimes you hurt yourself for their sake, and sometimes they dont even know. and then you let them hurt you over and over. and maybe you hate them a little even though you love them.

More information can be found on the Faume week carrd:

..and on the official Twitter.