Oh 3.5 how i loathe and love you. The pure fucking Trailblazer angst im gettinggg oh my god.
Something I realized going through this? For TB? 3.3 to 3.5 has probably happened in the span of like. a fucking week. Aglaea died and eVERYTHING WENT DOWN HILL. Because the time spent in Aedes Elysiae? Non-canon! We kicked off 3.5 with the same conversation we ended 3.4 in! Theres no time jump!
Aglaea died, then TB went and fought Aquila like three days later and Cipher died and the world started ending, then Mydei and Cassie and Tribbie sacrificed themselves to slow the Flame Reaver, then Trailblazer went BACK and they lived through either all 33M cycles or fragments of them. Got tossed into Aedes Elysiae, and immediately threw themselves back into the action. There was probably like, all of two days MAX for them before Lygus sent them to the fucking Backrooms.
Then what was like an HOUR for them at the MOST if not a few minutes, they come back anD A THOUSAND YEARS HAVE PASSED. Everyone they know on this stupid planet is dead... AGAIN. AND THIS TIME?? THIS TIME IT WAS TO BUY THEM TIME! TO BUY ENOUGH TIME TO WAIT FOR THEM TO COME BACK... EVEN THOUGH THEY HAD NO WAY TO KNOW THE TRAILBLAZER WOULD COME BACK!
Because they believed in the Deliverer! Because Cyrene believed in her companion!
All of this in like a week for the Trailblazer! Its been years for them, and only days for the Trailblazer! They dont even know how long has passed outside of Amphoreus! The Trailblazers sense of time is going to be SCREWED in 3.8. I would never trust my own perception of time after all this bs.
And can you imagine how fucked screwed up they must be after this cycle? Every other cycle, the Chrysos Heirs died for the Flame-Chase. They died to Khaslana, to buy time just for someone to come. For the pale dawn. But this cycle? The Chrysos Heirs all chose to die. Every single one of them this time. They all sacrificed themselves, willingly. Once again to buy time for the pale dawn, but this time they knew who that dawn was, they were dying to buy time for the Deliverer. It was personal this time. Every other death was to buy time for the Trailblazer yes, but without ever knowing what their death was for.. because it was just for the Flame-Chase. This time it was for the Trailblazer, and they knew it.
That had to fucking screw with the Trailblazer. They were already shown to be worried about their ability to take Khaslana's place. And then tHIS FUCKING HAPPENS??? Cyrene they are NOT confident rn my TB looked like a sad wet cat. In the span of like a few hours, their friends came back to life and all DIED FOR THEM. They are not okay.
And despite everything! They were locked in! They kept fighting! They were not going to give up even with the crushing weight of all the expectations and hope on them. The Trailblazer is currently one of the ONLY deciding factors between the universe and its end as we know it. And they are not letting that slow them down! They are taking moments to grieve, before keeping fighting! They are probably fueled by those expectations tbh. The Trailblazer always fights stronger when its not them they were fighting for.
OH! And i got more evidence for my fucking Blessed versus Pathstrider thing too. Specifically the whole 'headspace needed' type thing. TB was using the bat up until the Lygus fight. After they speedran losing their friends again. Where they thus use the fucking LANCE. Probably bc Hysilens was there. If not for Hysilens it would 100% have been the Bat or the Pen.
Also the self restraint the TB had lmao? I would NOT have been talking I woulda seen that fucking robot not as an illusion and i woulda SWUNG. Actually probably at the illusion too.
The Trailblazer shipbait this patch was pretty cute too. Hysilens bath scene was a bit much tbh but ehhh what can you do. She was pretty. Also? I just realized how fucking SAD the scene Hysilens and TB meet up again is in hindsight. 1000 years, and Hysilens pulls the SAME MOVE she did when they first met with the 'shush' thing. Thats sad. 1000 years for her, and she didnt forget. I hope Hysilens follows us into 3.6 tbh. Let us save ONE Chrysos heir hoyo come on..
Evernight was sweet too. Trailblazer knew those Garden mfs werent their March. They knew Evernight WAS their March, even if she was different. Evernight calling them 'My dear' and 'dear' promising to watch us... even emo March still cares so much about the TB. And Evernight is almost 100% firmly on our side. The bs lygus said abt the remembrance was not about Evernight, her interaction with the memokeepers was clear.
and my god. They are doing their damn fucking best to push the CyBlazer agenda. And ignoring the people screaming about Elysia, i will take it happily. They are cute tgt. And Cyrene is literally the Trailblazer's memosprite.. adorable. Honestly their whole relationship is adorable. The handholding thing at the end, the smile the Trailblazer had when Cyrene showed up for the Dormammu ive come to bargain bit. Even without the Aedes Elysiae stuff, CyBlazer is so cute. 3.7 i await ur arrival with terrified excitement. Pls dont kill her i will cry.
Yk who deserves to cry? Trailblazer. They deserve to cry. And i'd say a vacation but the last two vacations they tried to take did not end well. What they deserve is probably just some time to curl up in their bed and scream into pillows.
This is like, also their first solo Trailblaze atp? They really ARE alone at this point. Cyrene got separated from them pretty fast, is separating from them again from what i can tell. They'll probably meet up with Dan Heng PT and Evernight pretty quickly in 3.6 but like.. they are alone right now. For someone all but stated to have abandonment issues explicitly, im sure that they're doing GREAT rn. They were SO happy to see Herta it HURT. They were seeing someone they knew for the first time in AGES from their POV! Like!! They werent alone! If only for a few minutes.
Honestly Herta and Trailblazer is so dear to me. Idc as ship or wtv HertaBlazer can be cute (few fics tho lol) but just.. they're so dear to me. Herta is one of the first people they met, one of the people who have been following their journey from it's start. Canonically too! The Herta literally has been one of the few constants in the Trailblazers short existence of trauma. and like. yeah she probably messed them up a little with the BS SU stuff she's had them do but still. She's someone they look up too, someone who canonically has a great amount of faith and care in/for them. It's probably so reassuring for the Trailblazer to know, while they are basically on their own inside the Simulation, they are not alone, they still have their family on the outside fighting with them.
(what the fuck are Himeko and Welt doing rn btw i need to know?? Theres probably not much they CAN do tbh. It's probably fucking killing them. all i can see them doing is trying to get as much as they can outta Black Swan assuming she hasnt fucking dipped yet. ... damnit now i want a story arc focused around Himeko and Welt in 4.0 dealing with the fact they couldnt really do anything to help TB (And Dan Heng and Evermarch) when they were fighting for both their life and the sake of the entire fucking universe. Himeko is already canonically shown to be the type of person to put the wellbeing of her crew above her own and like. suppress everything bc she's the navigator and has to keep it tgt. Welt probably is tweaking over the fact he cant do anything to help the 'kids' (young adults) who are all but his students while they fight, unless he wants to pull out that secret strength March is so fond of calling out for. Both of them are 100% going to feel like they failed their charges when this is all over... mmm im gonna make a fic outta that idk how but i will.)
Yk what hurt me? The lack of Phainon. Trailblazer, Dan Heng, and Cyrene are all but confirmed to be the last people to remember him.. it hurts. Cyrene probably wont even fully remember him all things considered, and Dan Heng wasnt as close.. it really will just be the Trailblazer. Unless the Trailblazer uses the "As I've Written" (As We've Written?) to reboot the memories of the Chrysos Heirs with the cycles the TB has been in. Its likely tbh. And im hoping. even though i doubt they'll bring Phainon back to life.
Look, either Cyrene or Phainons dying. Maybe both. Hopefully, NEITHER.
Ohhhh one more thing I found fascinating? The fact that Herta (I think it was her, im starting to flag lmao) said she doesnt know how Dan Heng and the Trailblazer even got into Amphoreus. March as well iirc, which idk if i do.
While it could 100% just be bc of Trailblaze, its not confirmed. Herta would probably say that if so, right? Thats what the assumption has been, why would they explicitly state the reasons unknown...??
Its most likely Trailblaze stuff, but yk what'd be interesting? If it was due to the Stellaron. Lygus clearly was fascinated with the Stellaron, it wouldnt be that much of a stretch.
Related to that. What the FUCK did Lygus mean about the 1-in-3 chance thing about becoming powerful (cant rmb the exact line rn sorry). Did he plan on making The Trailblazer the vessel for Irontomb if the TB agreed?? Or like. Does he have some way to help the TB ascend to emanator status with the Stellaron??
Nanook is 100% interested in the TB far more than we had all first assumed, that's for sure.
Speaking of Nanook (man im really all over the place rn i should go to bed damnn)
But Speaking of Nanook. Im coming to the realization that this is really just a preview for the Trailblazers future, on a smaller scale.
"On a smaller scale- their tryna stop the end of the universe rn??" Yeahhhh by stopping the birth of an Emanator.
The Trailblazer is going to face NANOOK THEM-FUCKING-SELF. And. they fucking know it. They've known it for awhile. They've 100% never once mentioned it to anyone else really but like. They know thats their future. What the Stellaron Hunters have been pushing them towards.
The Trailblazer had to have some moment during the 3.5 quest where they were like "Oh. This is what it feels like." Because this will NOT be the last time they are the Trump Card against Destruction. This will not be the last time they are the driving force, the one everyone is placing their hopes on, their blind trust in. And they had to have the realization that, in comparison to what it will feel like in the future, this is so, so small. Because its only their companions on the Express, the Genius' and Amphoreus right now. In the future? Who knows how many peoples, planets hopes will be placed on them. And that had to fuel them, really. that had to help them push onwards.
had a thought of a angst/crack thing where like. The Stellaron Hunters, or at least, Elio, had to know about all this. About the Fucking Torment Nexus (Lygus really saw that TB was taking Phainon/Khaslanas place and went "GREAT, TORMENT NEXUS FOR YOU!) that they had to go through. And they were NOT WARNED!! Or mb Kafka will say smth ominous in the bartending event i wouldnt be surprised. But like. If i had companions who could tell me the future and they didnt even VAGUELY warn me about the HELL I was about to stumble into I'd be so fucking salty. "Why wont you play any games with me dude" "OH I DONT KNOW WHY DIDNT YOU TELL ME ABOUT WATCH-YOUR-FRIENDS-ALL-DIE-AGAIN-AND-AGAIN LAND." likeee dude just a WARNINGGG IT COULD BE VAGUE AS HELL JUST?? SOMETHING??
Im 100% gonna have more thoughts later but i NEED to crash now. If my brain lets me... ill probably fail tbh but like, the Chronic Pain is also starting to Not Like how much ive typed lol