ive settled on the conclusion that the five main crew each represent one core tenet of the Trailblaze creed, and i wanna talk about it.
Explore, Understand, Establish, Connect.
Interestingly, you can even match em up to the order they joined!!
Explore: Obviously, this one is Himeko. She repaired the Express with Og Himeko. They did it because she looked at the stars, listened to the stories of the Express, and wanted nothing more than to be the ones out there, exploring the cosmos. Himeko is the unofficial official leader and head of the Express. One of the two who everyone else turns to reflexively. And arguably, Explore, is the most important tenet.. or rather, perhaps, the tenet upon all the others build upon. It was the desire to first explore the stars, which got Akivili to ascend, was it not?
Understand: This is one that could be either Welt or Dan Heng. But I do prefer Welt for it. Welt is.. a nerd. Obviously. He is entirely an academic and a teacher, and you can see that in how he interacts with the world around him. He wants to understand it, arguably not so that he has that knowledge, but moreso so he can help others understand it as well. In Sunday’s quest, Welt arguably didnt really do much imo. He didnt teach Sunday anything in particular.. it was moreso that he was aiding Sunday in understanding himself, and what he wants and allat… also keeping an eye on the wanted criminal lmao.
Establish: Dan Heng is a nerd, and writes down everything yes. While part of that is because he’s just genuinely a huge nerd - he also always uses what he learns to build something new. Dan Heng was the one to facilitate the working relationship between the Heirs & Express in early Ampho, even if Trailblazer was the one who got closer to everyone. Dan Heng was the one to make contact with Boothill in Penacony and build something there. Dan Heng was the one who went seeking the Xianzhou Delegation in Planarcadia to establish an active working relationship there. Dan Heng also was the one whose arc surrounded establishing himself in his identity as a Nameless and Astrak Express Crewmember.
Connect: March is so blatantly connection it hurts. Everywhere she goes, she makes friends. Animal, person, robot.. She’s outgoing and friendly, and she’s ridiculously easy to connect with. Hell, she manages to connect to people within minutes, she manages to connect with people instantly, or even without actually being present and the other party only ever having heard about her. And yeah.. March wants it. Half her goal on every new planet is ‘make new friends’. Connect with new people. She’s also incredibly skilled, at connecting with things beyond others. Problems, emotions, experiences.. March seeks connection like a moth to a flame.
“Wait you said five. What about Trailblazer? There not one left!”
False, my friend! You may or may not remember - i dont blame you if you dont, because it was in passing in long and emotionally loaded patch - but there is a fifth, unofficial tenet of the Trailblaze Creed.
Salvation: It fits the Trailblazer perfectly. Trailblazer’s on the border of having a savior complex. It’s not really their fault though. 5/6 locations, things ended up crashing onto them to play a crucial role in saving the place. Genuinely, they were placed on the Express, to specifically play the role of Hero. The literal salvation of the universe is on their shoulders. Its a weight that the Express & Hunters both are helping keep from killing them, often literally, but in the end, it is the Trailblazer whose actions are the deciding factor in whether salvation arrives or not, because the Trailblazer is basically the sole person whose fate is truly shaped by their own choices. In 3.7, Exotale 8, that much is made clear. The Stellaron Hunters can do nothing but try and influence Trailblazer into making the right choice, and trust in the person they know and care for. Amphoreus could have ended how it did, with the ending brought about by Cyrene, Trailblazer, and then the rest… or it couldve ended with the Remembrance, with Trailblazer & Cyrene freezing the universe and becoming the two living things in all of existence. That choice, was Trailblazer’s to make in the end…. And Trailblazer chose Salvation, even if it was painful, and far more difficult to achieve than the other option.
I would even go so far to say the fact that the Trailblazer fits with the fifth unwritten creed, fits with the fact that Trailblazer is lowk stuck between Finality & Trailblaze.
It also fits with Trailblazer being the one basically considered the public face of the Express in canon.
You think of the Astral Express, the first person to come to mind is the Trailblazer. Then Himeko, and everyone else after.
You think of the Astral Express, you think of them being heroes first, and then explorers, and the rest doesnt truly come to mind unless you’re genuinely looking into them.
Trailblazer & Himeko - neither are the actual official leader of the Astral Express. Yes, one is basically it’s universal representative, and the other is the Navigator. But neither are officially the leader, with the way it functions now, there is no official leader.
Both are still the ones the rest look to first. It’s subconscious, derived from the faith and trust they have in the pair. They have their own opinions - but they always will reflexively look to the other two, specifically wanting to know what they think. It will rarely change their own thoughts, but the fact that they seek out the thoughts of the other two is the important part.
Explore is the tenet in which the rest follow, and Salvation is the tenet that underlies them all.
