Oh Blue. Ohhhhh Blue. DO I?!?!??!?! HECK YES I DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Listen......... Come hither and hear my tales...........
Valk. Is. Silly. AND SHURIKEN IS SILLY! They are both goofy and weird little guys but they're also, fucked up. So very fucked up and strange and deeply traumatized in very similar ways. Okay.
Two words. Cognitive. Dissonance. Feeling comforted by something hurtful, having conflicting feelings, feeling. Out of place. Conflicted.
Darkage was not only physically dangerous, but mentally tormenting as well. To be torn away from his sister, told she was an outlier and a disgrace, forced into this life he never wanted to live, and the worst part is that he found COMFORT in it, he felt AT HOME, he THRIVED in that environment. Sure, it was emotionally taxing, horrible to grow up in, but it gave him PURPOSE.
And now, he's still conflicting with himself, even years after escaping, he YEARNS to go back, even after all of the ways he's been hurt and manipulated, because he feels like that is his home.
Valk has something similar going on in that he must be incredibly conflicted about Firebrand specifically. This is his beloved grandfather, the man who basically raised him, now a murderer and despised by the public. That's gotta be. Very confusing.
They also take on similar roles when it comes to Dom and Vine Staff. In Valk's case, he feels somewhat responsible for Dom (he IS the older one) and wants to protect him from any harm that may come his way. Dom has clearly been through some traumatic stuff, his whole eye got ripped out, but maybe Valk is so focused on caring for him that he. Forgets to think about himself sometimes...
Shuriken is a little younger than Vine but he still feels responsibility over her, a need to protect her, because she's faced so much hardship and turmoil. She's very stunted socially, not close with many inphernals, so of COURSE Shuriken would feel a need to be there for her and keep her safe.
Now. So far I've just been listing all of their similarities. But what if I told you. These two have one thing that makes them narratively opposite.
Valk. Is saddled with responsibility he does not want. After Firebrand's disappearance, who are the people gonna turn to? The other SFOTH don't care for mortals and most of the public can't trust the, Ban Hammer is widely hated due to his tyranny and egoism, it seems like the only direct relatives (excluding Sword himself) of the Swords ARE Valk and Dom.
Have you ever noticed how Flipside tower, this massive monument dedicated specifically to Valk and Dom, is RIGHT in the center of Crossroads? And have you ever wondered how these two became SO famous just from making music, to the point where they've branched all the way out into hosting phights and phestivals?
There's a very important fact about Phighting lore that I think is often overlooked. Unless someone took over for Firebrand (unlikely), Crossroads doesn't have a leader.
This is one of the biggest cities on Inpherno and it DOESN'T HAVE ANY FORM OF GOVERNMENT.
That's why there's so much. Tension. Y'know? Soda has described inpherno as a 'post dystopian world trying to recover" (<- paraphrasing) and we can FEEL it. Things are NOT ideal in their world right now and everyone's kind of trying to ignore it but it's. Happening. Made even worse by the fact that Blackrock is actively trying to expand and. Who's gonna stop em?
So Valk. I'm not saying he's the president, but he and Dom are sort of unofficially keeping watch on everything, y'know? But like. Did Valk... Really WANT that? If he got to choose for himself? He was raised in such a calm environment and now all of the sudden the whole world is on his shoulders....
Now Shuriken. Shuriken is just a guy who works at a cafe, no worries, nothing insane, but he's. A vigilante. BY CHOICE he is a vigilante.
Because after being raised in the intense environment of Thieves' Den and, SPECIFICALLY being recruited into Darkage's sort of. Military. He just feels pointless! He can't just work at a cafe and do nothing because he feels so unbelievably pointless and miserable, and he SEEKS OUT this danger and responsibility so he can have a purpose again. Shuriken NEEDS that thrill.
And his life is worse for it too! He'd tired all the time, Sling yells at him thinking he's lazy, Vine can surely tell he's hiding something, Ban Hammer is even knowledgeable of him, but he does it anyways, because he just NEEDS it.
For a ship that isn't canon they sure do have some INTENSE GODDAMN PARALLELS!
Wow I. Have never posted about this ship and SUDDENLY I'VE GOT THINGS TO SAY!!!!!
I will say I see them both as aro so this is like a QPR situation okay but STILL. They kiss. Okay bye
