sorry to keep you waiting!
A boy who lived alone in the woods with his sister and their fae companion until he met Lunya and her friends. Kind, reliable, and optimistic to a fault: he earnestly believes the parents who abandoned him and his sister will come home for good any day now. Or is that just a quietly desperate wish?
✧─Early Life
When the Bough Breaks
To understand Butter and Pancake's story, you have to begin with their parents: Scotch was on the cusp of adulthood when he came across a woman in the woods, battered and bruised but with no sign of struggle around her. He brought her into his home and nursed her back to health, and upon learning she had no memories of anything, gave her a name and a place to stay. It was easy for Scotch and Cremia to fall in love—easier still to begin a little family together with the birth of their first child, Nimbus. But things wouldn't stay that simple.
In the 1563rd year of the 7th Astral Era, when little Nimbus had just seen his second summer, the skies above Mor Dhona were set aflame. When the Battle of Silvertear Skies settled into the dust, the Echo sprung forth, awakening the minds of dozens across Eorzea. And one of those awakened minds was Cremia. In a single heartbeat she remembered everything of her life before Scotch—particularly that she was not of this world and she left behind her dearly beloved husband and daughter.
She had a new life and Scotch and Nimbus now, so surely that could have, should have been enough—but Cremia's mind wouldn't let her rest. Tormented by the afterimages of the life she used to live, she joined the mass migration of would-be adventurers as they stormed across Eorzea in the beginning of the Age of Adventure, searching for something, anything, that could lead her to her real home, Scotch following her without question to her motives.
Meanwhile, Nimbus continued to live in the house his father carved out of a tree alone, but not entirely—there was one other soul living in their neck of the Black Shroud: a Duskwight woman named Marle.
Marle was more than a little peeved that Cremia and Scotch so thoughtlessly abandoned their son the way they did and she took it upon herself to raise the boy.
✧─Another Story
A Realm Reborn
The start of something new
Butter met Lunya and the «flowr» gang early into their adventurer days and almost instantly found himself with a crush on the strangest and crankiest girl he'd ever met. After their first encounter in Gridania they seem to keep popping up here and there all over the Shroud until eventually they can all recognize him when they see him and actually call out to him when they pass by. The Gridanians didn't exactly approve of a forestborn child consorting with outsiders so frequently and casually, but they couldn't say more than a few passive aggressions because of their growing influence.
new day, new life
As Lunya got the mansion set up she thought about the two technically-orphans in the Shroud and got an idea. The next time she encountered Butter, Pancake, and Cinnamon at the market she offered Butter a job and included in the employee benefits were free housing and food.
Butter immediately took the offer and while he accepted rooms for him and Pancake he didn't want to officially move in, unable to abandon his family home in case his parents came back. The rest of Lunya's team of retainers were very friendly to him and taught him how to help around the house when he asked them to, but for some reason they never actually called him out to work..?
Is this a prank? Where are the cameras?
Somehow, Butter wound up on Hildibrand's field trip into the deranged. At first it was a fun little adventure for him and Pancake and Cinnamon, running around and solving cases, and he thought the Inspector was actually pretty neat and funny until Babycorn pulled him aside before the Battle on the Big Bridge with a confession to make... that she had a crush on Hildibrand.
Heavensward
waiting for a sign
When the Warriors of Light departed for the celebratory banquet in Ul'dah, no one at home thought anything of it. They waved off the others with smiles and sat down for their own dinner only for Tsuna to arrive just hours later with news that they were accused of murdering the Sultana and a manhunt had begun for the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. Immediately the house went on lockdown and Tsuna returned to Ul'dah to keep an eye on the situation. If the Crystal Braves were willing to frame the heroes of the realm then there was no telling what they'd be willing to do to their loved ones, and their hunch was right—while Kan-e-Senna and Merlwyb Bloefiswyn were determined to remain neutral, that neutrality meant they couldn't stop the Crystal Braves from patrolling outside of Lunya's own home.
Anxious from not knowing what was going on with his friends and being trapped inside the mansion, Butter tried to distract himself by playing with Pancake and Linnet.
Stormblood
Butter took it upon himself to be responsible for Cherrypit while Babycorn was gone, which... didn't pan out the way everyone thought it would thanks to Cherrypit stowing away to Hingashi in a barrel. Sorry, Butter. Cherrypit called Butter every night via linkpearl, which did a lot to keep Butter calm about losing the little guy.
Get well soon!
When news broke that the Warriors of Light were taken to Ishgard after a certain Zenos-shaped disaster in the Ghimlyt Dark, Sirius went to visit and Butter asked to come along. It was the first time Butter had ever been to the Holy See but he was more preoccupied by the sheer extent of the Warriors' injuries and how despondent they all looked. For a few weeks, the pair remained there to help tend to smaller matters for the others like cooking and keeping them sane as they recovered in bed, and here Butter finally got to see Babycorn again. Once it was time to return home, he brought souvenirs for Pancake.
I think they call this "schadenfreude"!
Butter isn't available for the mishaps in Doma but he hears about the ending of Hildibrand's Stormblood adventures from Babycorn in the sense that she hysterically cries about it in the middle of the mansion front foyer for everyone to hear.
Shadowbringers
It's like a shovel talk but positive!?
With the Warriors of Light and Scions on the First, Butter volunteered to help take care of things around the Rising Stone in their absence, having grown a lot braver about leaving the Shroud over the last year. He took up residence in a spare room up in the apartments the Scions used and got to know the non-Archon Scions better during his stay. Whenever Krile finished her healing shifts and had enough energy to stay awake and drink coffee in the main hall, she and Tataru grilled him for details on his crush on Babycorn and unofficially adopt him as an honorary Scion.
Butter was cleaning around the main hall when the Warriors of Light burst back in with spirit vessels in tow and was reasonably surprised when Lunya left for a bit only to bring an entire husband back with her. He took the time to get to know her and Babycorn's "coworkers/best friends/found family" as they all recovered in Dawn's Respite in an interesting but happier parallel to the last time he'd stood by Babycorn's sickbed, and once the gang was up and about again he got invited to come along for some of their smaller adventures, particularly the foray into Matoya's Relict.
Endwalker
A distant chorus
Since he's not an actual Scion, Butter didn't get a pass to go to Sharlayan and is at home during most of the MSQ, keeping in touch with the gang through linkshell. Sirius sent him and Pancake to Sharlayan towards the end of the MSQ and they arrived during Bonds of Adamant(ite) with relics from Lunya's own vault to use for the starship. The siblings remained in Sharlayan up until the end of the MSQ as guests of the Students of Baldesion and Butter occupied himself by running odd jobs throughout the city and Labyrinthos and accidentally got several offers to join not just the Last Stand but also the Gleaners. He and Pancake stood with Krile and Tataru during the Ragnarok's return and celebrate with the Scions once the Warriors recovered from their battles with Endsinger and Zenos.
And now for something a little different...
Once the Scions and the Warriors recovered from the ordeal at the end of the universe, everyone went their separate ways and Butter and Pancake returned home to the Lavender Beds. Lunya eventually popped in and dragged them off to Thavnair with her, wanting another tank for the gang's dive into the ocean Alzadaal's Legacy, after which he decided to hang out in Radz-at-Han longer when the Warriors made it their new home base once they decide to explore the void. Babycorn asked Butter if he wanted to come on the void adventure but he had to decline to look after Pancake, despite Pancake having a grand old time drinking non-alcoholic drinks from a pineapple in the meyhane and encouraging him to go with them.
A breather but not the good kind
Tragically, being in Thavnair means Butter has to reunite with one Gentleman Inspector when Babycorn caught wind of Nashu being in the area. He was pretty unenthused about this even before it turned out there's more than one of him.
Also, Lunya accidentally gave him a concussion during 6.45 when she uses his and Babycorn's heads as leap pads to slam dunk a coblyn basketball. At least it turned out Babycorn's just not into aliens, and unlike someone else he can say with full certainty he's fully human.
Also, at the same time this is all going on, two unexpected faces appear in Thavnair.
and the winner of the "worst mom award" goes to...!
Cremia and Scotch Veil make their first appearance in front of their children in over a decade in Radz-at-Han. Stunned, Butter asked them what they're doing here and where they've been all these years and Cremia mysteriously hinted at there being one answer to both questions. The parents take the time to bond with the kids, though Pancake and Cinnamon clearly weren't all that sold on it and the Warriors and Scions were very displeased, Lunya especially. Cremia eventually dropped the reveal to Butter on why she left the Shroud and that she finally figured out the one thing powerful enough to send her home: a Starsinger.
In a panic, Butter asked what she plans to do with a Starsinger and if she's found one. Cremia mused on several old theories of her's and it becomes apparent she barely missed meeting the Warriors of Light multiple times over the years as she brings up white auracite and Allagan technology and the Heart of Sabik.
Cremia revealed her true name is Rheia, a survivor of the Thirteenth. Lunya protested that the Thirteenth is uninhabitable and there's no way her husband and daughter are alive as she knows them now, but unable to be deterred, Cremia declared she knows the Starsinger's identity and proceeded to snatch Babycorn up and disappear. Uh-oh!
At the end of 6.55, Butter takes the last name Moontide.
Dawntrail
Vacation! Butter gets to come along and so do Linnet and Pancake :)
✧─The Boy With Rabbit Ears
Butter's been a kind and honest boy since he was very young, shaped by Marle's patience and her willingness to do anything for complete strangers. Given the isolation of his childhood, though, he remains a little gullible and of poor self-esteem, thinking little of himself and comparing himself in unfair ways to others. Since he grew up so quickly in order to care for Pancake he doesn't have a full grip on his emotional control and gets jealous over little things and doesn't quite know what to do about that.
He picked up Lunya's habit of acts of food service as a love language—he stuffs his pockets with snacks for his sister and friends and he'll randomly shove food into others' hands impromptu.
Appearance
Image
3'0", of average height and weight for a Lalafell. He wishes he got his height from his Viera blood, or at least enough that he could be taller than Babycorn by an ilm or two. His most notable features are his leporine ears that are about as long as his torso and his small fluffy bunny tail. Butter's a pretty average guy otherwise. That being said, he's actually quite strong, though he has no muscles to show for it.
Features
Butter's hair is a dark cool-toned brown and seems to defy the laws of gravity. Remarkably pointy, it flies everywhere it pleases and denies the taming power of a hairbrush or some gel. It's really just like that.His eyes are a striking bright blue-green, clear like a meadow creek. Sometimes when he's in combat a strange light will flash in them—wonder what that's about? His pupils seem to be a dark shade of teal thanks to a very thin layer of gloss over them from a bit of Dunesfolk blood on his dad's side.
He's got freckles on his cheeks and on his upper arms, but they're pretty faint—they get darker and more prominant when he's in the sun for too long. The tip of his nose is dark but there's a light rabbit-like mark at the very end that he got from his mother.
Voice
He's just Pit from Kid Icarus Uprising.
Repertoire
JUST A LIL GUY─Dark Knight, Rank A
When the Scions scattered after the Bloody Banquet the residents of Moontide Manor were forced to stay within the estate's property as several turncoat Crystal Braves came to patrol Lunya Lanya's home. Frustrated and nervous about being cooped up and having his every move watched, Butter was offered swordtraining lessons by Arcturus, who watched Lunya pick up a whole sofa once and sort of assumed that was just a Lalafellin Thing(tm). Luckily for Butter he was also on the rather strong side for his size and took to learning a greatsword with ease, which has been his primary combat art since.
ARCHER─Rank B-
Butter never formally learned archery—he was interested in the Archers' Guild when he was younger but assumed registration would require gil, which he didn't have much of to spare. He bought a cheap bow from a traveling merchant and taught himself so he could hunt for meat and leather. His aim's quite good, but his technique still leaves a lot to be desired.
Fending for himself in the woods meant Butter had to teach himself a lot of things just to survive or even improve the quality of his life by just a fraction, so he's unintentionally become a master in a slew of crafts. He made all of his and Pancake's clothes on his own and can cook a 5-star restaurant-equivalent meal and the sprawling garden around their old home was planted and grown entirely by himself. Arguably the only thing he can't do is laundry. For some reason???
JACK OF ALL TRADES─Omnicrafter, Rank S
Butter used to sell trinkets and other things he made at a local craft fair in order to make gil when he and Pancake were living alone in the Shroud. He became pretty well-acquainted with the regulars and the merchants, who taught him how to improve his crafts.
Relationships
| Arcturus | Butter and Arcturus didn't really interact until the end of the 7th Astral Era quests, given that Arcturus was an imposing guy and Butter didn't want to bother anyone. When the Warriors of Light were forced to flee into Coerthas after the disastrous Bloody Banquet, it was Arcturus who held the fort back at home, and during that time he noticed how antsy Butter was being surveillanced by the Crystal Braves. He took the boy aside and offered to teach him the art of protection, giving him his own greatsword, and you could say that the rest is history. |
| Babycorn Starsinger | Growing up having to raise his own sister, Butter never had any friends his age in their isolated corner of the woods. Babycorn was the only other person he'd ever met who had any idea of what it was like to live the way he did, and seeing that cranky girl still wholeheartedly devote herself to her sibling despite anything and everything made him feel less alone—and caused his heart to skip a little beat. Maybe it's a little dramatic to say he fell in love with her at first sight, but that precious first encounter definitely drew him back to her over and over and over again until that warm feeling in his heart really did turn into love. Babycorn's… not exactly the poster child for a perfect first love. The girl eats worms, for Nophica's sake. But as long as her heart stays true and as long as she'll let him, Butter wants to stay by her side, even if that might only lead to heartbreak. Only time will tell. |
| Cherrypit Starsinger | Butter would like Cherrypit even without Babycorn's influence—honestly, what kid isn't a little weird one way or another? He's (relatively in proportion to being a walking corpse) happy and healthy, and any quirkiness that comes with age (or being dead) is totally normal and understandable. If anything, other people should be jealous that their toddlers can't walk on their kitchen ceilings. |
| Lunya Lanya | Lunya's an existence that Butter imagines a big sister would be like, but she's also… kind of his mom? Not that he'd ever call her that since she's just three years older than him, but her affection for him and Pancake leans toward the same motherly kind of affection she showers Linnet and Cola with. Either way, she's someone he relies on a lot and trusts wholeheartedly, and Lunya is incredibly proud of how hardworking and responsible he is. |
| Oleo Mouries | Butter's best friend, only partially because they're the first boy each other ever met their age and kind of stuck to each other like urchins. |
| Cinnamon | Cinnamon's been with Butter for as long as he could remember—and vice versa, considering she was made for him—but he couldn't actually understand her until he woke up with the Echo. Since Marle first made her, Cinnamon's done everything she can to be a good influence for Butter and later Pancake. Mostly. She couldn't help but pick up her creator's crass language, which Butter can't help but panic over her using around Pancake despite Pancake being unable to understand. |
| Rheia "Cremia" Veil | Butter's mom and a woman who doesn't belong in this world. Cremia's been sporadically in and out of Butter's life ever since he was two, having fled from the Black Shroud shortly after the Battle of Silvertear Skies for reasons still unknown to her family, but Butter knows how much his mom loves him. At least, he thinks he knows. |
| Pancake Moontide | Butter's little sister and the most important person in his life. He's certain he would have died from loneliness if Pancake (and Cinnamon) hadn't entered his life. |
| Scotch Veil | Butter's dad. His fondest (and only real) memories of Scotch all involve his signature mun-tuy stew, which Butter would later in life realize didn't actually taste all that good. |
| Hildibrand Manderville | An archnemesis of Butter's in love and war. Not that Hildibrand knows it or is actively participating. There's nothing necessarily… unlikeable about Hildibrand, despite Lunya swearing up and down that the man is only trouble, but it's kind of hard to keep his composure when Babycorn only has eyes for a man with no eyebrows. |
| Marle Serrure | A woman whose face and name Butter can no longer remember. Marle raised Butter in place of his parents' when the Age of Adventure began. |
The Unsundered
Aristaios
(he/they)
A relatively normal citizen of Amaurot, besides his huge crush on the biggest weirdo in the city who didn't even know he existed. Aristaios was generally unoccupied with the larger going-ons and governing of Amaurot or the creations of concepts, happy in his ordinary life as a cook in a small, unassuming restaurant, at least until a girl named Maize showed up one day and stole his heart and also two jars of uncooked spaghetti. For some reason. Some of her dolls' hair looks kind of familiar, though.
✧─Miscellaneous
Trivia
Butter's birthday is the release date of Final Fantasy VII Remake. His half-sister Cirrus, Cremia's daughter from her home reflection, is actually Butter's shard. Butter's favourite fruit was pomegranates up until the end of post-Endwalker. He can play a mean trumpet solo. The other retainers had him learn so he could join their weekend jam sessions. He would be such a good crewmate in Among Us he just love his little tasks. He would love Warioware. He loves chores.
TV Tropes
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Pets
Maple: A corgi gifted to Butter by Lunya for his 25th nameday. She loyally trots after him everywhere and seems to take after the woman who raised and trained her, most evident in her ability to carry Butter???
Verses
TO THE EDGE OF OUR FATEPacific Rim AU. Butter is one of several orphanlings taken in by SCION that live in the Vesper Bay Shatterdome. His parents were Jaeger pilots in the Deadwind Shatterdome but after their death he and his baby sister were taken in as military wards. |
CRYSTALS IN THE SKYCastle in the Sky AU. A girl with a strange crystal falls from the sky into a little village and Butter and Pancake embark on an adventure they never could have imagined as they race to Rebena Te Ra against a man named Galdes. |
Motifs
Similar Characters & Inspirations
Cloud Strife & Tifa Lockheart (Final Fantasy 7) Kamado Tanjiro (Demon Slayer) Mochizou (Tamako Market) Pazu (Castle in the Sky) Percy (Fire Emblem 14) Pit (Kid Icarus) Sora (Kingdom Hearts) Terence (Tales of Pixie Hollow) Toon Link (The Legend of Zelda)
Etymology
Butter was originally named to link him to Babycorn. Butter + corn. Both his first and last names, Nimbus and Veil, are cloud terminology. Because he's partially based on Cloud Strife. Cremia and Scotch's names are linked to Butter's—Cremia is for buttercream and Scotch is for butterscotch. Cremia's real name, Rheia, is an alternative spelling for Rhea, the name of the mother of the gods in Greek mythology and the major character in Fire Emblem Three Houses. The name Rhea may be connected to the word rhoia meaning pomegranate, which in Greek mythos are infamously the fruit of the dead that permanently bound Persephone to the Underworld when she ate one and harkens to Cremia being trapped on the Source. Marle is the name of a supporting character in the Final Fantasy VII Remake who houses Cloud and loves Tifa like a daughter. The Marle of Butter's backstory is based on her.
Footnotes
Original characters referenced on this page, with Tumblr URLs.
- Babycorn Starsinger, Cherrypit Starsinger - @hqmillioncorn
Header photo by Aleksandr Eremin.