Player Name: Danii Character Name: Florian Leickenbloom Path to Graduation: TLDR: give up his revenge plans, make friends, and find a reason to live for himself.
That was listed at the end of his path and Florian has finally reached that point. It took time, help, and a very patient and trusting hand, but he got there.
It started with his very first post: Johann here ensured that he didn't turn on the setting and saw a benefit to it, then Archer offered him magic instruction and Trevor offered him aid and care in a way that didn't wound his pride. All of this came around to him being willing to see the Barge as an opportunity and not a prison which was the first cracks in his ability to move forward.
Trevor and Archer did the lion's share of breaking through the ice at first, with Xie Lian coming in a close second: their trust in him, support, and treating him well despite (and sometimes because of) being a mage helped start to heal his problems with seeing himself as an abomination. Archer and Xie Lian taking him on as a student also helped him to feel as if he was finally able to claim his own birthright of magic properly and gave him the tools to explore it further. Being able to take his power in hand and use it in a way that didn't manipulate people was very healthy.
Pairing with Archer continued the trend of helping him feel as if this was a working system, as did Archer's behavior after he had a breakdown after his first flood. The very careful, respectful treatment helped him grow trust and the pairing itself took Archer out of his careful social calculations, along with Trevor.
The Barge's environment where killing had such a low return rate on solving a problem gave him the impetus to find creative solutions, such as how he handled Henry after the monster attack. Bringing him 'low' through nothing more or less than essentially exlaxing his food was a high point and set the tone for him and Archer's relationship regarding his actions.
Breaches did their part as well: they allowed him to replace some of the family he'd lost with new people, like Iris and Sweeney who he claimed with intensity, and having siblings allowed him to start to process some of his issues around the loss of his family and especially his sister. Johann proposing added the final piece there, letting him start a new 'family' in his own way that still honored a lot of who he was and what he came from.
A big part of his journey was Johann and his own journey, and Johann's growing responsibility and willingness to handle his own shit allowed Florian to lean into what he actually enjoyed as much as the general barge atmosphere: he was a con artist and a social butterfly but only out of necessity. He was happily able to turn into a bookworm nerd here on the barge and learn about magic and the joy of that (as well as the lack of punishment and/or condemnation helped a lot. This was also supported by Zerxus, bless him, giving him a ton of books. And telling him about his world and the magical scholars there.
He also handled Hilbert being a jerk and messing with Johann through a set of social manuvers, avoiding the temptation to do something horrible and plague-ridden to him. He gave up on revenge multiple times (that, NHS, Strange) as he saw less and less the value of it and his decisions turned to improving matters to hopefully keep it from happening again or providing the means to protect from it.
He also found a way to use his magic to help people he loves: providing protection for people during a crisis, making the bracelets for Nathaniel and Sweeney and Arthur to help them enjoy their time and protect themselves, and in his and Johann's clothing and Johann's knives. The cherry on top was his and Gale's new waypoint near the infirmary: he changed his home for the better and made it safer for everyone. With magic. He helped do that.
One of the biggest pieces that happened was that Xie Lian helped him work through two major pieces of his troubles: the first being his 'debt' to Halandrette (which Xie Lian promised to shield him from if necessary) and the idea that he by his existence is doomed to bring about ruin. By pointing out that he'd paid that lifetime to her already, it allowed Florian to think of himself as his own person for the first time and accept the idea that he might actually be able to have the life and live in a world and not destroy everything he loves.
Last but not least was having a new home, because Elendhaven and his bizarre fixation on it never really was that after they turned on him. Archer did the lion's share of the work there, offering his home, but the whole idea really settled into being Real when Xie Lian offered his own home and asked to list Florian as one of his students officially.
At this point, Florian is engaged, has friends, has family, and has moved past destruction, anger, and revenge (even if he's still quite willing to Teach a Lesson in a non-violent way) and his final act which will graduate him will involve him beginning the process of choosing a home world to end up in. He'll be sticking around to warden (he wants a deal to put he and Johann on the same lifeline) but by making the move to actually decide on the future... he's done it. Graduation time!
Graduation Comment
Character Name: Florian Leickenbloom
Path to Graduation: TLDR: give up his revenge plans, make friends, and find a reason to live for himself.
That was listed at the end of his path and Florian has finally reached that point. It took time, help, and a very patient and trusting hand, but he got there.
It started with his very first post: Johann here ensured that he didn't turn on the setting and saw a benefit to it, then Archer offered him magic instruction and Trevor offered him aid and care in a way that didn't wound his pride. All of this came around to him being willing to see the Barge as an opportunity and not a prison which was the first cracks in his ability to move forward.
Trevor and Archer did the lion's share of breaking through the ice at first, with Xie Lian coming in a close second: their trust in him, support, and treating him well despite (and sometimes because of) being a mage helped start to heal his problems with seeing himself as an abomination. Archer and Xie Lian taking him on as a student also helped him to feel as if he was finally able to claim his own birthright of magic properly and gave him the tools to explore it further. Being able to take his power in hand and use it in a way that didn't manipulate people was very healthy.
Pairing with Archer continued the trend of helping him feel as if this was a working system, as did Archer's behavior after he had a breakdown after his first flood. The very careful, respectful treatment helped him grow trust and the pairing itself took Archer out of his careful social calculations, along with Trevor.
The Barge's environment where killing had such a low return rate on solving a problem gave him the impetus to find creative solutions, such as how he handled Henry after the monster attack. Bringing him 'low' through nothing more or less than essentially exlaxing his food was a high point and set the tone for him and Archer's relationship regarding his actions.
Breaches did their part as well: they allowed him to replace some of the family he'd lost with new people, like Iris and Sweeney who he claimed with intensity, and having siblings allowed him to start to process some of his issues around the loss of his family and especially his sister. Johann proposing added the final piece there, letting him start a new 'family' in his own way that still honored a lot of who he was and what he came from.
A big part of his journey was Johann and his own journey, and Johann's growing responsibility and willingness to handle his own shit allowed Florian to lean into what he actually enjoyed as much as the general barge atmosphere: he was a con artist and a social butterfly but only out of necessity. He was happily able to turn into a bookworm nerd here on the barge and learn about magic and the joy of that (as well as the lack of punishment and/or condemnation helped a lot. This was also supported by Zerxus, bless him, giving him a ton of books. And telling him about his world and the magical scholars there.
He also handled Hilbert being a jerk and messing with Johann through a set of social manuvers, avoiding the temptation to do something horrible and plague-ridden to him. He gave up on revenge multiple times (that, NHS, Strange) as he saw less and less the value of it and his decisions turned to improving matters to hopefully keep it from happening again or providing the means to protect from it.
He also found a way to use his magic to help people he loves: providing protection for people during a crisis, making the bracelets for Nathaniel and Sweeney and Arthur to help them enjoy their time and protect themselves, and in his and Johann's clothing and Johann's knives. The cherry on top was his and Gale's new waypoint near the infirmary: he changed his home for the better and made it safer for everyone. With magic. He helped do that.
One of the biggest pieces that happened was that Xie Lian helped him work through two major pieces of his troubles: the first being his 'debt' to Halandrette (which Xie Lian promised to shield him from if necessary) and the idea that he by his existence is doomed to bring about ruin. By pointing out that he'd paid that lifetime to her already, it allowed Florian to think of himself as his own person for the first time and accept the idea that he might actually be able to have the life and live in a world and not destroy everything he loves.
Last but not least was having a new home, because Elendhaven and his bizarre fixation on it never really was that after they turned on him. Archer did the lion's share of the work there, offering his home, but the whole idea really settled into being Real when Xie Lian offered his own home and asked to list Florian as one of his students officially.
At this point, Florian is engaged, has friends, has family, and has moved past destruction, anger, and revenge (even if he's still quite willing to Teach a Lesson in a non-violent way) and his final act which will graduate him will involve him beginning the process of choosing a home world to end up in. He'll be sticking around to warden (he wants a deal to put he and Johann on the same lifeline) but by making the move to actually decide on the future... he's done it. Graduation time!