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vegaly-art · 1 year

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Ortho Shroud is NOT a Child, a Comprehensive TWST Analysis

Heyo! I am just your average TWST fan with a very deep appreciation for characters and love of overly verbose essays. I have a few I’ve written out in the past on characters I like (and especially Ortho, as I find him generally interesting AND misunderstood) and I thought sharing my opinions with the fandom could do a bit of good. :) Also it helps set up for some secret-ish projects coming to this blog soon enough ;). Also spoilers for Book 6, and many of Ortho’s Vignettes under the cut

Ok so, to start of I think I should preface by explaining Ortho's fanon interpretation (or at least the most popular one that I have seen), just for context so I can compare and contrast it to my own analysis of his in game character. Ortho in fanon is, in his simplest form, a child. I assume that this stems from 3 main reasons. His appearance, voice, and mannerisms. Ortho Shroud is quite short, and though we cannot be certain of the timeline of his creation, his body is AT LEAST a few years younger in appearance than his technical age, due to the way that he was built by Idia. His voice is also rather high pitched, even compared to some of the other younger speaking characters such as Epel, and his mannerisms can be perceived as somewhat juvenile. He does have a slightly more simplified speech pattern unless talking about facts/statistics/robotic speech forms; he is very bouncy, moving around often, kicking his feet, etc; and his tone of voice also has a lot of emotion put behind it, leading to a more enthusiastic delivery. While all these things are true on the surface, I believe that they're a rather surface level interpretation of him, and applying the 'child' label to Ortho but not to other characters (Notably Kalim, Epel and Idia all for different reasons) is hypocritical. Mind you, I am NOT saying those 3 or any other characters are actually children, even mentally (though some of them are a touch childish), but simply that Ortho holds lots of similarity to them and, in my opinion, should be held to similar character standards.)

In terms of explaining and why I PERSONALLY think this fanon interpretation is surface level, I've got to get my categories down first. :P So I'll go through: - Physical appearance and traits (voice, tone, etc) - Expression - Emotional Maturity (And character comparisons) -And some Psychology because I'm a fuckin nERD Hope that works out. (Mind you, each section here is bolded so if you’d like to read through a particular section, feel free. Also, I will reference some vignettes or character comparisons in this essay, and also have more sources at the very end for further reading about Ortho within the game itself. So no wiki articles or whatever :P) Physical Traits and Appearance

So starting with appearance, Ortho is quite short with a larger drawn head and eyes, but beyond that his actual frame is relatively fair for a teenager in the TW style, and just... by the rules of biology. He definently reads as either a rather thin short guy, or one who's yet to go through puberty which kinda makes sense since he was recreated from a kid who likely had at best just started puberty and then fucking diED- He has the broader shoulders (not as much so as say Idia but similar to Epel, Riddle, Ruggie or Kalim). He's skinnier than most of them so it's not one to one but he is similar. Head size when compared to his body is again similar to Epel and Riddle (no surprises there) And he has relatively well sized arms and legs, that are much more similar to other NRC students than say... Cheeka, for instance, who if he had the body of a 10 year old he would look MUCH closer to. Also it should be mentioned that he is significantly different than silhoette Ortho (who is about 8-9 years old). He is taller, with longer hair, MUCH stronger shoulders and an overall more varied silhoette in terms of shoulder/waist/hip ratio. He was clearly modelled to look older than Ortho when he died, and matches well with the other 16 year old characters on that front. Also, short guys exist. Like... Ortho’s Height guys, who are adults, not even teens. I feel like this is sometimes forgotten...

When it comes to his voice, yes it is rather high pitched for a guy, not helped by how expressive he also is (which I'll cover in the Expression section), however he is still at the end of the day voiced by a Male VA, and while not a COMMON voice type, I know a few guys with similar voices. Also, mind you, short/young looking men already exist in the game and are generally not called that. The main example is Epel, obviously. However he is not treated like a kid, potentially because of his actual inclination towards traditional masculinity (wanting to be tall, and buff). Same with Riddle too. He wants to be taller, and sees his short height as a detriment, while Ortho does not. Epel also wants a deeper voice, while Ortho does not, etc. However, I think his physical appearance and traits are not the main reason he's called a kid. But rather, his expression, as well as his much more subtle forms of maturity.

Expression

Ortho acts in a way many may consider 'childish', especially with his expressive voice, strong mannerisms in terms of hand movement, 'juvenile' interests, and his generally playful movements in his chibi animations. However, while yes these things are associated with kids, you know what they're ALSO associated with???

DING DING DING! Correct!

Neurodivergent people!! :D

Who get infantilized often for doing things like... hopping from side to side on their feet, or having strongly expressive (or inexpressive) voices, holding very strong fixed interests in things like video games, etc. Well... isn't that a coincidence. Ortho has all those traits (and more, including things like literally having to RESEARCH social cues and norms from things like films, extremely strong sense of justice and somewhat black and white thinking, masking behaviours for negative emotional states or social incongruence, etc). .3. While I do think that to some extent these traits were, in universe, meant to represent the childish side of Ortho, we must also remember: Ortho is an ever changing AI, that so closely approximates a person he may as well be judged as one. And when putting that into context, his traits moreso seem like his chosen form of self expression. Because he has moments of being serious, or quiet and mature, in vignettes and the main story. He just choses to not act like that all the time for one reason or another. :P

Also, just to put it a bit into perspective, Kalim actually has a very VERY similar in expression to Ortho. Arguably you could say he acts even MORE 'childish' than Ortho does. He's extremely expressive in voice and posture, he's very positive and passionate and sweet, he's not the best at taking care of himself or taking responsibility for things, etc.

I don't think Kalim is a kid though, nor does most anyway. He's got his dumb or uncareful moments but he is also a housewarden, and has a slightly more 'normal' voice and build for someone his age... but if his expression is not childish, why is Ortho's?

Emotional Maturity

Oh boy- Ortho's emotional maturity is like... honestly insane. And mind you most of this is just from in game, and to put it into perspective I'll be comparing him to none other than his own Big Brother IDIA SHROUD!!

Wee :D. Ok so...

Ortho is a helper around Ignihyde dorm, and it's kind of implied he does things for both Idia and the dorm in several vignettes, like cleaning, grocery shopping, and other chores (based on vignettes and his Guest Room dialogues). He's also smart, good with handling emergencies like injuries and other medical issues, high stress situations where he has to make hard decisions about what/who to sacrifice for one reason or another, etc.

Idia is the housewarden of Ignihyde dorm, and is shown to be much more challenged in most of these regards. He doesn't take care of himself and his space much, though this is moreso due to severe depression, anxiety or other mental illnesses, which is understandable. He has been shown on several occasions to just... shut down when important decisions need to be made. And he forks over many of his own responsibilities, housewarden duties, emotional labour and other things like that on Ortho all the time, while not considering Ortho’s own feelings very much. He does grow from this and get more involved and serious when STYX is involved, and post Book 6 generally, but he's still not as skilled at it as Ortho.

Not to mention Ortho's emotional knowledge and maturity. This boy can read people's emotions almost unnaturally well due to his research and some sensors and context reading, and he has been shown on several occasions to put his own wants and needs aside for the sake of others, especially his brother. He comforts Idia whenever he needs it, and is always putting on a bright smile for everyone around him, even when he is implied to himself be at least somewhat upset. Because he knows that sometimes that's necessary.

Psychological Development

Also if we talk about emotional maturity, I shall also bring Psychology into this and discuss a bit about Adolescent brain development. Generally this development starts around ages 10-14, and continues until the ages of about 23-25 in most children, though it tends to start a bit earlier for AFAB people than AMAB people on average. Here are some key things that develop during this time:

- Sense of identity (Generally begins to solidify around 16-19, and becomes rather fixed though obviously not concrete, around the ages of 23-25)

- Understanding of in the moment cause and consequence, as well as reasoning. (Varies, but often solidifies around ages 16-25, but is very very variable). Teens and young adults are extremely impulsive because their frontal lobes are not fully developed, meaning they are at least partially incapable of having strong future based reasoning in the moment. Of course they have the ability to rationalize large consequences, or look back in hindsight, but in moment to moment action they're less likely to be rational, and more likely to do things that may jeopardize their education, reputation or even life.

- Friend Group formation. This is an essential part of the early to mid teen experience, since teenhood is when most people start to see their strongest bonds shift from being within family to outside of it.

- Understanding and Empathy. Proper Empathy by definition is usually present by age 6, however teen years are often defined by a unique form of self-entitlement and self-focus (though unintentional) that may cause issues with empathy. This is mostly due to having to navigate extremely complex emotions and experiences all at once, and because they can be so variable it takes several years of experience to build up true empathy, ESPECIALLY for adults such as parents/teachers, children, or otherwise people outside the age group. Mind you, all of these CAN be achieved at much earlier ages than the ones presented here. The numbers here are general averages based around how one is socialized as well as average rate of brain development, however it is still generally limited by age GROUP. So someone who is in the 10-13 group may not be able to develop the traits more associated with ages 17-19, but someone 14-16 could.

Now... take a guess which of these milestones Ortho has passed?

I'll spare you the wait.

It's basically all of them. (Not entirely of course, he still has much to develop, but the development of most of these has at least gone a decent ways.)

Ortho's identity, while still fluid, is clearly extremely centred even when we first meet him in game, and in all his cards he's seen to be rather consistent regardless of who he's with. He's curious, playful, cheeky, extremely intelligent and also notably EXTREMELY empathetic to the point of being almost scary (even if that empathy is not always... accurately placed if that makes sense) . Also he identifies a lot with Freshmen even before becoming one showing he views himself in a similar age range. And not just in an emotional way. While yes, Ortho clearly has empathy for others in the base term, it goes deeper than that. He is able to understand when he should be more strict, and when to be more lax. When to try and push someone to be better and when to be emotional support. He has a very deep understanding of what makes up people's minds and intents (known as Theory of Mind, which usually solidifies between the ages of 17-21 on average, though starts development around age 13), and acts accordingly. This can be seen in many of his cards. He is able to assess why Trein's cat was upset easily, and handled him with care (until he blew up the tree :P). He was able to see that Idia needed time alone when he didn't go to the Entrance Ceremony, and put his own want (to go with Idia, or go at all) aside to be there for him, and when Idia was becoming too reliant on his lab coat, he took it away (knowing it would only inconvenience him a bit), and also after warning him that it could have potential consequences (which it did have. He started a rumour about being some crazed ghost which Ortho deciphered as being about him IMMEDIATELY) Also on that note, he's acutely aware of cause and consequence, and has extremely strong reasoning skills. Not only is he clearly very good at pattern recognition (by virtue of being a robot), but also he has been shown to often be one of the most consequence aware characters. He understand the importance of education, and of mental health, and of outfits and behaviours and so on. This is EXTREMELY uncommon until mid-late teens/early 20s.

Final Thoughts

Now, I am not saying he has the same mental maturity as someone in their early 20s (he’s no Leona), nor that he does NOT have his immature moments. Of course he does, he's 16, but the point I am making is that there is simply SO MUCH about him that is NOT childish, and also so much that IS. Because he's a teenager and that is 100% expected, normal, etc. Ortho is extremely knowledgable academically, personally and socially (not that he is always entirely accurate but he IS knowledgable, so once he knows what he’s dealing with he’s good at doing so) but also he’s pretty mature compared to many other characters. Not as much so as Leona, Vil, Lilia or Malleus, but he’s up there. Even though his understanding of social cues is AT TIMES lacking, he’s impulsive, he does not fully grasp human ideals, and he’s easy to manipulate because of his singlemindedness, he’s got a lot going for him in the maturity angle.

I'd argue that his exact presentation, however is most similar in concept to Jamil. Both of them are smart, and careful, and extremely EXTREMELY perceptive, but keep that hidden under a mask of averageness or youthfulness. However what Ortho is MAGINALLY better at than Jamil is his self-prompted Self Reflection and ideological change. He can put aside his own feelings for the good of others, and compartmentalize and deal with his negative emotions. Not always in healthy ways... but in ways that were not SUPER destructive most of the time. Jamil can, and does as well, but his world view makes reflecting on himself a bit more diffucult because he’s so focused on external circumstances for most of the game (Besides Book 4, a bit of Book 5, and a LOT of Book 6).

But back to Ortho: Ortho was able to forgive and still care for Idia even after his overblot. He was able to accept for a long time that he was not Idia's brother, but had to play the part anyway for his sake. He accepted that he would not get a lot of things he wanted, though admittedly not in the healthiest way all the time. Ortho don’t call yourself selfish for wanting things pls-... And, after all was said and done, he was able to get enrolled as a First Year at NRC... clearly showing that he is of similar maturity compared to the other 16 year old students.

Ortho is a 16 year old. And all this and more is why I think this.

Further Reading/Sources in Game that support my points: - Ortho’s Dorm Uniform Vignette: He directly states he thinks of himself as a freshmen, and it also shows his careful planning, knowledge of (and how to subvert) concequences, and extreme knowledge of emotions of others and how to use them against them. - Ortho’s Archetype Gear Vignette: Shows his empathy and knowledge of Animals and people - Idia’s Labcoat Vignette: Shows his knowledge of cause and concequence, as well as basically directly compares it to Idia. - Ortho’s Burst Gear Vignette: Shows his ability to put his emotions aside for others, shows empathy and selflessness, understanding of boundaries, and overall a very mature and healthy and selfless outlook on life. - Book 6: Shows basically everything I talked about in this Essay. From his being 16 from offhand comments and being admitted as a Student at the end of the Book, to his knowledge of cause and concequence and ability to reason well and think through that stuff fast, emotional maturity in how he comforted students as well as his own brother, as well as his immaturities like his selfishness, closedoff-ness from other students and extreme sheltering, etc, and neutral things I may or may not have mentioned like his near obsession with Idia that he was programmed to have that makes him biased in his brother’s favour, his hyperfixations and general excitability, a taste of his existencial nightmare of a life (OH I WILL MAKE A POST ABOUT THIS), etc. - Ortho’s Stargazing Gear Vignette: Ortho’s selflessness and genuine care for Idia, emotional maturity and so on. - Ortho’s College Gear Vignette: He has an extremely good understanding of his general intellect and skill, is very self aware and sure in his identity, and shows a love for learning and changing and friend group formation, both eccencial to the teen experience. Ortho’s Role in the Fairy Gala Remix Event/Fairy Gear Vignette: Shows his drive and passion, his understanding of concequences and clear both interest in the gala and understanding of it’s improtance, creativity, ability to act on others’ pity and other emotions, very good spacial reasoning and more. Ortho’s Halloween Gear Vignette: Him being similar to Kalim <3 Book 5: Ortho has some appearances in Book 5 and it shows both his playful teendome, as well as his emotional intellect, care for his brother, support for him even if he doesn’t find a situation ideal (since he knows he’s doing his best), etc. :) I will not be mentioning Book 7 as I have not read it yet, nor his cerberus gear. Mind you these sources are not extensive, just a quick list I made to prove a lot of my points but not all. :P I will expand upon them in future posts. That is all!! Have a great day everyone and hope this made you think more about the amount of effort subtly put into Ortho Shroud and his characte

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