My favorite thing about the dichotomy between Ratio and Aventurine is how much their struggles contrast each other. Aventurine has been to hell and back, so his whole life is a performance because that’s the only way he knows how to survive
Then you have Ratio, who has had a much more stable upbringing where his biggest hurdles seem to be academic. This is common enough that it’s a struggle a lot of us players can relate to, whereas Aventurine's trauma is just on a whole different level
Because of his personality and upbringing, Ratio is comfortable in his words and actions even if he comes across as an asshole or silly. He’s fine with being off-putting because he doesn’t feel the need to hide his true self. Aventurine’s the opposite, and he’ll act as nice as possible to convince you that he’s not an asshole if it’s to his advantage
Their contrast also shows in how they treat their own versions of “currency” or “power”. Ratio’s a frustrated philanthropist who gives away the currency of knowledge for free because he thinks it’ll benefit the galaxy as a whole. Aventurine might use more pleasant words than Ratio, but he will not give you anything for free unless there’s a benefit for him. Since he grew up with nothing and works for the very capitalist IPC, he sees money as one of his sources of power, and it literally shows in his attack moves
In the Penacony main quest after Aventurine talks to Acheron, Aventurine acts like he doesn’t care if he lives or dies. He even tried to convince himself, but Ratio saw through the act and realized he needed a genuine person to care(I believe the others in the IPC care about Aventurine, but because of the nature of their positions it may not come across as genuine to him)
Even though the “Doctor’s Note” was framed as knowledge, the real message Ratio was sending was that he wholeheartedly didn’t want Aventurine to die. Dr. Ratio, a man who has zero shame in being himself, was one of the only people who could get through to Aventurine, a man who never shows himself, in his darkest moments
Okay, so if Khaslana's hair isnt blonde but dyed gold because of blood, do you think you'd find a few baby-white hairs at the base of his nape and skull
sorta long yandere!constance x gn!reader yap... walk with me guyz
constance is such a yandere without even needing an au... she's so cunning so evil wow i actually need that STAT. she's so the type to do everything within her possibilities to have you feel safe and comfortable around her... buttttt not entirely for good reason. she's constantly (haha) butterying you up until you're all soft and pliant around her,, until she can mold your attitude and behaviour into whatever shape or form she pleases.
and she has multiple ways of going about this. shes CALCULATED. constance is almost always agreeing with you. no matter what. she wants you to speak your mind in its most honest, rawest of ways, and being in constant agreement allows you to do this the most comfortably TT though she can take a peek right into your memories, constance gets a certain type of rush when you say her the whole truth and nothing but the truth directly to her (that freak). she knows you so well at this point, better than the back of her hand. on rare occasions that she thinks you're lying, she gets EXTREMELY passive aggressive. or at the very least, she withdraws a lot of the affection she so easily pours into you. she'll 100% sift through your memories to check, and when she finds out she was wrong about you lying? its not any better </3 because shes thoroughly distraught at the idea of getting you wrong... send help.
anywho, if she ends up actually disagreeing with you, she's not the type to really punish you for something so simple. she's met countless of individuals who don't like how she conducts herself, so its no surprise that you wouldn't be 100% on board with everything she suggests. if anything, it makes you more enjoyable to her... like a gamble of seeing if she'll put you off or if you'll enthusiastically agree with some of her most controversial behaviours. okay, sorry for getting sidetracked, but when she does actually disagree with you, she does it oh so softly... it's like the gentlest of let downs when she sighs and shakes her head. though she does find the dismay on your face painfully endearing, shes quick to ease you from being blue with a gentle caress and an (empty) promise to consider things your way. you believe her every time for some reason and she loves it even more.
anyways, circling back to affection, she really is the worlds most affectionate yandere >< even when you're doing the bare minimum, she lavishes you with praise and words of affirmation. if you haven't cashed in at least 50 praises from her a day (and i mean at least), check outside because the sun might be rising in the west. anyways, shes ALWAYS cooing. it's her default voice setting with you at this point. it's so bad (well... maybe not bad) that it becomes jarring when she switching between her voice with you and her voice with others. she definitely notices your surprised blinks when she does this, and uses that fact against you when you disagree too much to her liking. all of a sudden she's no longer speaking to you sweetly like before. she really, really withdraws. it's like she's speaking with a stranger </3 ugh.
so, when you finally, finally let your guard down around her and begin to open up (because, trust me, something instinctual has you keeping it up), she eeeeagerly welcomes it while filing EVERY little thing you say away. its likely that she already knows any new bit of information of yourself you offer her, but the way you convey it yourself paints her a whole different story and teaches her a lot, so she listens extremely carefully. btw, if you thought she wouldnt, you're dumb, because she WILL use the things you tell her against you if she has to. mention a fear of yours once? brother. worst idea imaginable. the next time you 'act out' (which is hard to decipher what exactly that means), she'll put you in a scenario involving that very fear, just to "save" you from it so that you'll never disobey or doubt her again. remember that one time you told her about something you promised her? wait... you don't remember??? she swears you did, and how could she be lying if she remembers everything else you said that day so clearly??
you see what i mean?? i didn't even mean to ramble this long but constance is naturally such a yandere that i can't help but get into it fr... ugh. be careful around her guys fr
After finally reuniting with Stelle, Dan Heng always stands a little bit closer than before. Sometimes he touches her without meaning to. A subtle brush against her, just to subconsciously reassure himself that she's real, and she's here. He still doesn't ask her, but when she playfully suggests goodbye hugs, he will gently wrap his arms around her and squeeze, breathing her in for a moment before letting her go.
Stelle doesn't comment on it, just holds him back quietly. Let's him touch her when he needs to. Sometimes she holds on a little longer than before as well. If she hears he's been having nightmares she'll stay in the archive with him, reading while he sleeps, his tail curled around her ankle or wrapped around her waist.
No one mentions how he's gotten a lot more clingy with her, it's just accepted that after what they went through, Dan Heng needs to be near Stelle as much as he can. And sometimes, Stelle needs it too.
thinking about the dynamic/parallels between Himeko and Asat Pramad.
we could say that technically, he's not the "real" Ryusuke, because he isn't, but he's the only Ryusuke that Himeko has ever known. he raised her. except, did he? if he's telling the truth, and the Himeko we know really is an imagenae, he didn't raise her at all. he raised Himeko, but not the Himeko we know. which makes Ryusuke's behavior even MORE fascinating because he still treats this Himeko like his daughter, buying all her merchandise and praising her to other people, including the other Lord Ravagers.
on the other side of this, Himeko treating him like her father is so compelling if she turns out to truly be an imaganae. their dynamic fascinates me because it's essentially two people who don't know each other trying their best to fulfill the role they're expected to play in each other's lives. which is kind of estranged father and daughter core anyway lmao
HAS ANYONE ELSE REALIZED ALL OF THE ASTRAL EXPRESS HAVE THE SPECIAL STAR RAIL PASS’ ON THEIR OUTFITS BC I HAVE
(technically it’s like. a variation or smth it may just be an astral express insignia thing but idfk—)
FOR REFERENCE :
AND NOW LOOK
The Trailblazers both have a belt thingy and some sorta stop watch too in gold and red which matches the astral express colors AND I JUST THINK ITS SO CUTE! it’s such a small detail and I wouldn’t have noticed if I wasn’t vigorously examining the Trailblazer’s outfits for reference but I adore it so much.
(Also I HC that the garter belt on Fem Trailblazer’s right leg is March’s bc the blue is SO out of place in her outfit — idc if she woke up with it; neither trailblazer would’ve woken up w the Astral Express either and the teal-aqua wtv color matches with March’s camera and ribbons so there!
Haven’t found anything like that on the trailblazers for Dan Heng, unless u include the mid-tone turquoise strap that holds their pocket watch which is also suspiciously colored oddly in regards to the rest of their outfits so :>>)
1800 words of yapping about the Trailblazer, Finality, Trailblaze, Akivili, the Hunters and the AE Crew.. Im really obsessed with them, damn.
Theres a fair few parallels between the Trailblazer and Cyrene, and at this point I think its going to be important to the Trailblazer's lore to look at Cyrene's. Im gonna be using Caelus instead of Trailblazer from here on out since thats my TB.
Cyrene is a fragment of an Aeon, with the possibility to become an Aeon. She was also affected by a Stellaron before she could properly form, thus weakening her. She was left a heart and soul without a body. She then evolved from there thanks to PhiLia093.
Meanwhile, we have Caelus who has some.. rather enigmatic info on his backstory. According to Kafka, he's a 'being' (not person) accidentally created by an Aeon- but left without a soul. Seemingly the only reason we have a soul is because Elio guided Kafka to them so as to grant them a soul. Im almost fairly certain this is in part referring to putting the Stellaron within him, though. At the point in the story where the two are playing truth or lie, it makes sense Kafka wouldnt be entirely transparent with him- not to mention, the later lore we've gotten has seemingly contradicted a fair few of the 'truths' Kafka tells tbh.
Im still a believer of the idea there was another Stellaron Hunter that found Kafka with Elio, but at this point, im not entirely sure its Caelus. Or at least, not Caelus in the exact sense of it being a pre-memory wiped version of the Trailblazer.
It's pretty damn obvious the Aeon who accidentally created us was Akivili by now, all things considered. We've gotten multiple references to the Trailblazer BEING Akivili, and being actively called Akivili. Two Aeons outside of the SU have referred to Caelus as Akivili, or at least let them be referred to as Akivili- being Nanook, and Nous. Both of whom, are likely some of the only beings in the universe who knows what actually happened to Akvili. And then Aha in SU, despite being aware of the fact they're in SU, still goes along with Caelus being Akivili. Ive been saying it for ages, but theres no way thats a coincidence atp. It was one thing that Caelus fits Akivili in the SU the best out of everyone whose tried, it's one thing for a Self-aware Aha to keep treating Caelus as Akvili. It's one thing for Black Swan to call the Trailblazer Akivili. Its one thing for the Lord Ravagers to call the Trailblazer Akivili in Nanooks presence. But then, Nous referring to Caelus as Akivili, to Caelus?
Nous also implies that the Trailblaze is either the fourth finality or The Finality itself (I CALLED IT, I CALLED IT). Nous also not only called Caelus 'nameless one' but also 'fateless one' which i believe are equally important, and two sides the same coin. Nameless one is obviously in reference to him being a follower of the Trailblaze and a literal fucking Nameless, but i think 'Fateless one' is in reference to him being a follower of the Finality, and to a lesser extent, a former Stellaron Hunter. And yes, I do mean follower of the Finality in the present sense.
Because at this point, I think the followers of the Trailblaze are followers of the Finality. Somewhat at least.. And somewhat vice-versa. I dont think the majority of the followers of the Finality follow the Trailblaze, but I do believe that the Stellaron Hunter's do. Theres a lot of ties between the Stellaron Hunters and the Trailblaze, from similar ideals, to literally half the Stellaron Hunters WANTING to be a Nameless on the Astral Express. And then the Nameless of the Astral Express specifically, I believe, are Finality followers, because they do all believe there is a destination for everyone on the Express, they do believe inevitably, they will reach their own destination. They just never know what that destination is till they reach it- and by now its looking like that destination of theirs wont come till the very end lmao.
Theres also Kafka's words when she pops up in the quest to take into account with that too. She directly references Cyrene's possibility to become Fuli- being the 'beginning'. Thus the 'end' would be Caelus, and if Cyrene were to become Fuli and thus the beginning, (Fuli restarts the Universe at its end after all) what would the 'End' be? Terminus. The Aeon of Finality. (I can NOT believe that theres actually starting to be legit evidence for the goddamned crack theory i made based off that motherfucking pocket watch. btw, call me insane, but istg that watch reminds me of the clock fucking thingy seemingly representing Terminus in the last stellaron hunter myriad celestia) I dont think that Himeko showing up alongside Kafka (to borderline tease Caelus with her and the others backstory istg woman) is just bc they're thematic parallels in a mentorship (NOT MOTHERLY ISTG THERES A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PARENT-CHILD AND MENTOR-MENTEE RELATIONSHIP PLEASE) role to Caelus. The two of them are currently the representatives of Trailblaze and Finality. (Interestingly, the both of them also showcase a LOT of the ideals of the opposite path too, which.. more credence to the Astral Express Nameless follow Finality, and the Stellaron Hunters follow Trailblaze thing too)
I think that, just as Cyrene was able to either choose Destruction or Remembrance as her path, either becoming the Demiurge or becoming Irontomb, i think Caelus has the capability to either become Akivili or Terminus. But at the same time, just as the Demiurge was apart of Irontomb but separated, I do think that Akivili and Terminus arent exactly separate Aeons.
This is where I think Stelle comes in. I wasnt expecting to see her EVER, but I think it makes sense for her to pop up at this point in the story. At the beginning of the story, we get to pick between Caelus and Stelle, and considering the fact that unlike in Genshin, both trailblazers are used more or less interchangeably, I dont think there IS a soft canon Trailblazer like Aether is all but stated to be the Canon Traveler. I dont think there is much a difference between the two. Which ever Trailblazer you have Kafka pick at the beginning is the Canon Trailblazer, and then I think the other is the mirror of your trailblazer. The Trailblazer you play as is one who leans towards the Trailblaze, and then the other is the one that leans towards Finality. But until I see otherwise, I dont think that they're properly separate people. Rewatching the cutscene where Nanook gazes on Caelus, we have an unknown voice- TWO actually, speaking to the Trailblazer.Its unclear, but it sounds more like a mesh of Caelus and Stelle speaking both over each other, and one at a time. And both voices seem to be speaking to the Trailblazer directly, in the exact moment they're in, not memories of the past.
Another finality thing with TB thats never mentioned- this bitch can deadass see the future?? Literally. Its happened three times thus far. Both when Nanook gazes on them, and then both when we warp both times in the Penacony quest. (Acheron is also implied to have some semblance of future sight, but im like 99% sure thats more emanator stuff on her part, tho finality and nihiity being connected makes sense too) I dont see anyone mention this. Please. This bitch can get glimpses of the future- none of the other Finality followers, asides Elio have ANY implications that they can do that. Wtf.
Stelle appearing could also be a manifestation of the Stellaron, but considering what she says, I really doubt it.
Also, Cyrene and Caelus being connected by the Stellaron was really interesting for me bc wdym that it can do that?? Is it bc Cyrene's a daughter of anāsrava? Or because she was effected by a Stellaron herself?? Is it just the Stellaron doing Stellaron bs?
All of the Astral Express thus far have a thing with duality. We have Welt and his whole thing from HI3. We have Dan Heng and Dan Feng. We have March and Evernight. We technically have Himeko and her HI3 counterpart, but we also havent gotten her focus patch yet so im banking on her having a duality focus too like everyone else. The Trailblazer NOT having a duality focus doesnt make sense considering that theme- ffs we have Sunday too and HE ALSO HAS A DUALITY FOCUS! We also have duality focus with the fucking Stellaron Hunters. Blade and Yingxing. Firefly and Sam. Elio the Cat and Elio the human (on one hand, i want him to stay a cat, but also i wouldnt be surprised if he isnt..). We havent gotten patches PROPERLY focused on Kafka and Sivler Wolf yet, but all things considered i'd say that the two of them are more so in the first half of their duality, considering Silver Wolf is getting an SP in the future, and Kafka is gonna have all sorts of importance later on. With the Trailblaze and Finality duality, the main players we have for those paths, them ALSO having a duality makes sense.
Im not exactly sure WHAT i think Stelle is, but it's not the Stellaron, and I dont think its anything as simple as the trailblazers sibling tbh. Hell, maybe its something even closer to Cyrene & PhiLia093- where we had the incomplete and weakened version of Caelus (the Trailblazer) and then Stelle, the complete being who the Trailblazer ended up replicating and more or less taking the identity of. I dont know. That'd be really fucking cool though.
Oh, another interesting thing. When Himeko repaired the express, it spoke to her, and asked if she wanted to go on a journey. When wondering what kind of journey, the response is "A journey to the beginning". Himeko refers to that as the Express's home. According to Nous, the beginning is still unknown. Which makes sense to be the Expresses home then- the whole purpose of the Express is to take a journey into the unknown. But the Express isnt one that travels back in time. You know what IS something that travels back in time? Terminus. Terminus' whole fucking thing is that they ascend at the end of time and travel BACKWARDS TO THE BEGINNING. They are also said to be asleep too. Do with that as you will.
I dont really have any direction to take this post from here, or any proper conclusion to draw really. Im excited to see where the Trailblazer's story is going, and im interested to see what's being done with the Finality and Trailblaze dynamic. I cant wait for Edo Star atp, mostly because it's implied ALL the Hunters will be there, AND more Trailblazer focus and lore.
Hey do you guys think Dan Heng's vidyadhara tail and horns take concentration to hold in? Do you think when he sleeps they come out or if he gets super distracted about something they come out?
Like imagine you're just hanging out with Dang Heng and begin to stroke your fingers through his surprisingly soft hair, as a sign of affection and after a bit he's just so relaxed and focused on your touch that his horns pop out.
Do you think that if you were sleeping alongside Dan Heng and he couldn't think about keeping his vidyadhara parts concealed because he's sleeping that his tail would just pop out and wrap around your waist and hug you?
You're spending a nice night with Dan Heng and decide to stay in his cabin after looking through the express' databank for such a long time. You sit down next to him on his futon and all of a sudden his tail wraps around your waist and you're pulled closer to him.
Does Dan Heng's tail perk up when he's happy, does it wrap snuggly around him when he's sad or feeling withdrawn, does it sway in the air when he's excited? Hoyoverse I need answers.
