if you are here, im asking you to draw my favs or you're here cos ur nice to me and actually wanna see my interest
there are spoilers for ffxiv, so if you dont want any, just click on hoji, ardbert, or art for me for references!
no top/bottom dynamics in my brain for them... anything goes the more i thought about it
if you HATE drawing ffxiv clothing, you can put them in casual clothes. i must make them a closet
IMPORTANT COLOR REFERENCE NOTES (the rest can be tldr):
He has dark hair, it has a greenish hue, but it's ok if you make it black. I tend to just make it green cos i like it.
Present day hojicha is tan!
Present day hojicha has dark blue eyes, similar to ardbert's but DARKER!
Past hojicha is only a little lighter because he doesn't leave his forge
Past hojicha has yellow/golden eyes :)
There's a feather on the back of his head that's white in the reference(i cant change it T_T), BUT I'D LOVE FOR IT TO BE BLACK. thanks.
This is present day hojicha, he mainly wears the first outfit. He's a man in his 30's. This version of Hoji is very blunt and crass! He mostly keeps to himself until he thinks it is a good time to speak partly because he is very efficient with his energy. Smiling takes too much energy and he's ugly doing it. He believes this as he decides to do all these weird fetch quests and other tasks the regular man asks of him. Very knowledgeable about certain things like rocks, ores, materials, but overall isn't very intelligent. His job class is paladin because he wants to protect the people... EFFICIENTLY AND THE MOST BORING WAY >=D
This is past Hoji, maybe in his early 20s. He's very sweet and kind, but still tries to keep to himself. He works as a blacksmith and sometimes does work for free if you give him a cool rock. He's also a handyman in town, able to build pretty much anything if it requires ore/metal! He mostly stays holed up in his forge shop because he doesn't know how to fight.
Present day hojicha with friends Stinky and Ren: (all photos by wen)
The top ardbert is present day ardbert. He's older and in his 30's! He has facial hair and a worn out soul.
The ardbert in the 2nd row is him in his early 20s. He's a hero starting out and has to wear ugly gear sometimes because it's part of the main story :D He has no facial hair here and has so much youth/energy!
This is ARDBERT AS A LALAFEL hahaha. it's so cute.
PAST HOJI+ARDBERT:
How they met:They both lived on the First. They were still young, early teens, when they first met. Hoji was still a blacksmith apprentice and Ardbert was just learning how to fight. Ardbert requested an axe for his journey since he still has a baby axe, but couldn't afford it at first. Hoji offered to make him one even though he's never crafted it on his own before. HOJI FELT BAD THAT ARDBERT IS BROKE T_T Ardbert would bring back ore every now and then to help make this axe. They would chat, hoji info dumping about rocks/ores. Ardbert sharing the kind of creatures he'd run into when he'd collect the materials. Eventually, the axe is complete and it's super high quality mega-materia melded axe that is so strong. Ardbert would take this along his journies on the first. He would come home to get it repaired by Hoji, and from there their friendship and love would bloom!!!
thanks wen for the awesome photos
Their dynamic in this life:
Ardbert your typical extroverted protagonist. Bright eyed, ready to jump in to save people. Hoji is your introverted nerd who enjoys learning, creating, and helping others in his own way. Ardbert is known as the Warrior of Light on the first. For the longest time, Hoji did not know Ardbert was the Warrior of Light. No one ever referred to the WOL of the first as Ardbert. Although hoji is quiet, he is very stern. He will go HE ASKED FOR NO PICKLES!
The original axe(BRAVURA):
The tragedy of the first:
While Ardbert tried to pursue the truth of the Ascians, the world began to slowly engulf in light. He would check back home frequently out of being worried his hometown would get destroyed by sin eaters, until the day would inevitably happen. He never got to see his hometown turn, he only came home to it one day. He had to slay everyone in his hometown, everyone he knew. When he arrives at Hoji's forge, Ardbert sees he's become the light warden of this area. Ardbert had to kill Hoji with his own hands, and with that he has nothing left on the first!!!! RIP!!!! He should be filled with rage, but instead, he continued to find a way to save his home. The home, he and Hoji cared about deeply. I imagine this scene to be very dramatic in my mind... my brain werms. Eventually, Ardbert and his party would have to give up their bodies in order to travel to the source. That's where we will have present day hojibert ;D
PRESENT HOJI+ARDBERT:
It starts in heavensward, when you first meet ardbert in the present timeline. It's 40 years into the future when Ardbert arrives on the Source(where present ffxiv takes place). He was on a mission to kill this world's Warrior of light.
LITTLE DID HE KNOW!!!! The warrior of light on the source is Hoji Cha. A bit of Ardbert's soul stayed with Hoji that allowed him to live on stronger and better in another timeline. When they first meet, his party doesn't immediately confront the source's warrior of light. They allow Ardbert some space to ponder and build resolve to pull through on their mission. There, Ardbert meets Hoji one on one in Ishgard. He was strangely mining some cloud micas to sell on the marketboard. When Ardbert introduces himself as Ardbert to Hoji, Hoji is just tilts head "um... hoji." eyeshifts. Ardbert is heartbroken, Hoji doesn't remember him AND Hoji is a weirdo silent freak. He starts snOOPING. He spots Hoji fighting and killing monsters as a Paladin. Hoji is also spotted picking his nose and scratching his balls. Behind a tree, ARDBERT GOES WTF!!!! This isn't my Hoji. Why is this one... so CRASS!!!!! But when he follows him throughout Ishgard, Ardbert sees Hoji doing random fetch quests and helping out the town. Ardbert goes... wow that is ... my hoji a little bit. But Hoji is point blank "are you a weirdo stalker?" Ardbert snaps back into reality and goes "NO! im actually the warrior of darkness! here to kill you! mwuahahha" Hoji is just :| "right" proceeds to do quests. Ardbert is torn! That's my Hoji but also not.
Ardbert goes back to his party and does his best to shake off the thought that this is also Hoji Cha. His party is just hug hug, cos they're all bros, BUT TRULY THEY'RE ON A MISSION. He does his best to separate his past from his present and tries to pull through! Where they ultimately fail on their mission... I thought it would be such sauce when he goes "one life for one world.. is this not worth it??" but he looks at hoji and is just AUUUGH AKIRA he is MY world, but I have to do the right thing and save the First. He gets flashbacks of when he had to slay Hoji as a sin eater and he strengthens his resolve for real to slay the man he once loved... because HE'S LIKE THIS IS NOT THE SAME MAN. Anyways, all that happens and Ardbert+co gets sent back to the First...Where he spends another 100 years as a ghost wandering the First seeing it slowly crumble to what will be the present day Shadowbringers.
Hoji Cha arrives on the First. He stays in an inn in the city. Ghost Ardbert does his thing and yaps to himself going, "i always miss you, i think about you all the time wandering these parts" something CRINGE/romantic/longing and Hoji Cha is like what the hell. "yuck?" turn over and ardbert is just "YOU HEARD THAT?! YOU CAN HEAR ME?!?!" and Hoji Cha just goes "yeah and that's gross, i met you for one day. what's wrong with you?" and Ardbert who's normal reaction is to fight back is at ease and finally heard. IDK I GET SAD THINKING ABOUT HOW HE WANDERED THE LANDS ALONE FOR 100 YEARS.
Insert shadowbringers story here, and Hoji Cha follows Ardbert's path.. you kno. it gets emo. They eventually reach Ardbert's hometown in Kholusia along the mountainsides. Ardbert shows the remnants of what was an abandoned hoji's forge. They exchange emo tales of everything inside there.. and Hoji goes "I'm sorry, im not him..." PAIN!!! but it was then Hoji's heart begins to open to the warmth of Ardbert's soul. While it is weathered and broken, bits of his original soul seep through and hoji is just blushes. (i want to imagine a scene here he puts on riphoji's old dusty apron and ardbert is like it gets too hot to wear the apron along with everything else so- and hoji immediately taking off his shirt and goes like this. and ardbert is just gasp...hes buff like my hoji. the way of the blacksmith) maybe there's a scene where hoji accidentally falls onto ardbert or ARDBERT GOES LOOK OUT WATCH OUT! accidents... ardbert looks into hoji's eyes and notices they're not the same yellow but a weird tint of blue. he continues to convince himself hoji isn't his hoji. meanwhile hoji is noticing more and more how kind and thoughtful ardbert is. ANWYAYS HUHUHUHU
THEY RUN INTO SETO WHO RECOGNIZES HOJI. I think it would be interesting if hoji is like eyes widens... wait i named my chocobo seto too.... what in the.. looks at ardbert who remembers hoji calling his chocobo 'seto' This grandpa amero suddenly is like runs around, sudden youth, shares more exciting stories about ardbert and how awesome he is. and ardbert is just blushing in the background as hoji stares at ardbert's ghost self. Seto says somethign along the lines of wow it feels like you guys have the same soul. That strikes ardbert and hes in deep thought from there. They continue to banter so much on their journey and hoji goes "sometimes i wish i could punch you. i'd win in a fist fight." they would say stuff like this and go quiet out of #loss but ardbert would joke and go "i'd let you win"
Then that one time in the inn when you kinda get your one heart to heart with ardbert happens. Hoji is like "I'm kinda jealous of your Hoji. You have a good heart." and Ardbert is just flustered like wtf r u sayin. and Hoji is all "I know I'll never be your Hoji... The hoji you loved. But something in my heart tells me that I love you." Something straight forward that Ardbert gets taken aback and a blushing mess "I blame our time difference haha don't even worry about it or force yourself to see it my hoji's way" something funny to make it lighthearted. Hoji admitting to himself his heart longs for Ardbert's kindness going "I... wish I was your hoji or be able to feel the love he did." because he has difficulty understanding feelings of others and his own. HE'S AUTISTIC MAN!!! Hoji just shakes his head in frustration and does a bow "hi im hoji cha and I want to get to know you..." puts hand out to shake ardbert's hand. and Ardbert just thinking.. "maybe in every life- somehow we're meant to be together" something emo in this revelation. Continuing to blush and accept that he'll love every form of Hoji in any life even if it means having to do it all over again. It would be cute if Hoji asks Ardbert out on a date even if it is his ghost self. and hoji cha looks insane walking aroudn the cryssarium with him. Ardbert going "I'd buy this flower for you" and hoji putting it in his hair pondering if it's really for him or whatever ardbert's hoji was. and ardbert would go "and yes, it's really just meant for you" Ardbert's fallen in love all over again knowing his love for the original hoji can exist along with this one. #emo
THEN THE END OF SHADOWBRINGERS HAPPENS AND I GET SAD THINKING ABOUT IT!!!!!! if you had the strength to take another step.. could you do it?! could you save our world.. hOJI WOULD REPLY "what all by myself???" and ardbert is like heh... no way of course not. we fight as one. They both have a piece of azem's soul!!!!!!!!! idk is this selfcest if they both have azem's soul. i dont wanna think about it. End of shadowbringers happens and Hoji is heartbroken he couldn't hear ardbert's voice anymore. he's like damn, i finally realized i love u and now ur gone this is fucked up. but he continues to scratch his own balls.
AFter the events of shadowbringers, elidibussy ends up possessing Ardbert's real body. Hoji immediately knowing something is wrong, but he's delusional about it. Elidibussy is all oh.. heh .. you like this liek this? and Hoji is al lTHIS IS MESSED UP. He's upset elidibussy would mess with ardbert's resting body.. .but also wtf ardbert's still looking great LOL like I thought you dead man after 100 years what happened. I guess this is what happens when you have the echo. In the sad reality route, they truly part ways allowing Ardbert to rest and he's a weird Hojibert fusion that works like Garnet from SU when he travels back to the source. He always longs for Ardbert in this life.. In my delusional alternate timeline(canon to me), I'd want Ardbert to claim his body back because he does have the echo. Together they both can travel to the source to continue ffxiv SO I CONTINUE MY DELUSIONS.
this is hojibert song when ardbert does lay to rest and hoji has to live on without him.. just like how ardbert had to wander 100 years without hoji. that's its own flavor...
anyways, in delusion timeline they adopt gulool ja and continue their adventures together. he teaches ardbert how to dance on the arcadion dance floor even tho honestly they both can't dance XD OMG AND THEY ENJOY TACOS TOGETHER
a photo gallery of all the cool art i got... IF I HAD ONE
