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0ctopus-vase-phas3 · 20 days ago

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Tbh i just want to know why you like hollytaya but not eternalberry or b x a at all? Pitaya is a shitty person to hollyberry too. But they get a pass and eternal sugar doesn't? You say you can see b x a as a onesided thing but then why not hollytaya too? Why would she like pitaya and not es when they've both treated her badly? If she can forgive pitaya for what they did even though they never said sorry or made up for it then why cant she forgive es too? Not trying to start shit, i'm asking a legit question because I'm confused, like i see everyone hate bxa all the time but love hollytaya even though they're like. The same thing? And pitaya has done shitty things to hb too? But it's ok when they do it I guess? Idk i just dont get it man

Haha ok so I wrote more than I thought I would, I guess this serves as my case for why I like Hollytaya.

Here’s the TL;DR: I think Hollytaya has a good character arc attached, Eternalberry is good and I do like it, but I still prefer Hollytaya more.

I go into your comments more specifically under the cut:

So!

I disagree with some of what you said about Holly and Pitaya. Let me explain:

I’m not out here going to parade Pitaya as the most innocent guy around, because that would be misunderstanding Pitaya’s character. Yes they’ve definitely terrorized HB’s kingdom, took her throne in her absence even. But in summation they’ve (1) historically had a respect for Hollyberry’s strength, and 2) already had an arc where their relationship with her improved.

Let’s walk through their interaction in the Red Dragon story:

Cookies and their villages are being attacked and burned down. Hollyberry starts out believing Pitaya’s up to no good again, because naturally, the Red Dragon’s name being attached to such awful things makes sense. She fights them early on, but it’s a little too easy because their power’s been sapped. After questioning them (with juice, which they really like), Pitaya’s honesty is tested when they make the proposal to help them get their strength back. Holly and Wild don’t believe them at first, but by the end of the story, Pitaya proves to stay true to their word.

The shittiest thing Pitaya’s done to HB, as far as we can tell, is threatening her kingdom, burning farms (implied but could be any other dragon too), and taking her throne in her absence. But something to note is that Pitaya doesn’t go out and hunt cookies specifically. Hollyberry admits this is true:

(And if Pitaya was one to not burn cookies in their houses, and instead… burn cookies outside of them, she might’ve brought that up, no?)

It seems like Pitaya, despite being one of the many dragons that plagued the Hollyberry kingdom, wasn’t the worst one to. They were definitely the main (or strongest) one, if the legend of Hollyberry defeating them got so much fanfare, but possibly not the worst… I’d wager the kingdom would be a little more hesitant to make Pitaya part of their culture if so. Who’d want to see replica taxidermies, statues, paintings, and get merchandise and plushies of the dragon who killed entire families? Why would Hollyberry (or any of her family) approve of that??

I don’t think Hollyberry would be this trusting out the gate if Pitaya was known to be anything else, especially someone who goes out backstabbing and hunting cookies for sport. They might be a nuisance, but they stay true to their word. Pitaya is honestly more reliable than Starscream.

(Something to note too: in the screenshots I’ve shared, they’re making a deal to help each other. Later on though, after Holly learns about the binding contract, she asks if that is what she and Pitaya made. Pitaya says no since it wasn’t in dragon tongue, thus showing that they were willing to take Holly on her word.)

And be for real /nm, when was the last time we saw a ship between rivals who had years and years and years of fighting each other, coming together as allies against a common threat?

Jumping ahead to the climax of the story, it does look like for a second that Pitaya was using Hollyberry to break her soul jam. But it’s not the entire truth - in order to defeat the Red Dragon (a facsimile of Pitaya made by DE), Holly has to sacrifice her soul jam that is partially bound to the contract Pitaya made (was tricked into making) with DE.

Pitaya was almost pulling a Beast move there, getting Hollyberry to agree to destroying her soul jam. BUT it’s not for any devious plot, it’s for protecting the cookies and kingdom they used to terrorize. They even do it in Dragontongue, meaning their oath can’t be broken. If Pitaya was that conniving and evil, would they have wanted to put themselves in a position like that?

Even when they and Holly find another way around the oath, they still stay true to their word, once again proving they don’t need to force themselves to do the right thing. They respect Holly, despite all the fighting they’ve done, and the countless times she’s defeated them (they are lowkey mad when she left after the war! They want her back!! They want their rival back to fight!! That was their whole thing in the story mode). Holly, versely, respects Pitaya’s strength and honesty. They might be the same dragon that took the throne, but they’ve changed, so much that they’re willing to give up their old menacing ways.

You’re right that Pitaya never apologizes for what they did, but what they chose to do in the Red Dragon story instead was arguably more powerful than what words could do. And Holly never forgives them, yes, personally I wouldn’t want her to—but regardless, she knows them well enough to know all the actions they take are genuine.

Now here’s what I have to say about Eternalberry:

There’s a reason why I’m not as uncomfortable with Eternalberry as I am other BxA ships, and it’s for the reason that Eternal Sugar didn’t hurt HB as much as the other Beasts with their ancients. Her tactics relied on psychological and emotional manipulation above anything else, and while HB was affected by it, she had a good support system with her to keep her from spiraling too far. Awakening even helped her understand how to talk to Eternal Sugar, arguably in a similar way to Pitaya!

But with the way ES reacts… how do we know she listened? Hollyberry does the hero thing by telling her she can change, but Sugar is so hellbent on keeping her that despite acknowledging for a second, she slips right back into doing anything she can to keep Holly there and make her hers.

When the paradise begins to crumble and Holly does her thing protecting Eternal Sugar despite everything, we get The Yuri Scene:

But note that Eternal Sugar is asking if Hollyberry changed her mind. Changed her mind on leaving most likely, all because she protected her from falling debris? That’s just what Hollyberry does, she protects those who she believes can possibly change! It’s certain HB believes ES can, but the question is if ES actually wants to.

Now- ES does say she’ll think about it! But it’s, for now, up to interpretation. Was she really promising to do that, or was she too lovestruck by what Holly just did to say anything but yes? (It’s really funny to me to imagine that she simply yes ma’amed Holly, because whoa… woman just protected her.., awoogah!!!!!)

Personally, this strikes me as more one-sided than Hollytaya. Now correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t recall ES saying sorry either. She did lighten up after listening to Holly, but she was too lovestruck to really do anything else. Well, beside make the garden prettier for her return… but that’s ES assuming Holly will return, which as Holly says, depends on whether or not ES commits to changing the same way Pitaya did.

If the other BxA ships like Mysticcacao, Burningcheese, and Shadowvanilla were closer to Eternalberry in how the beast was actively encouraging the ancient’s happiness and comfort in exchange for their company—not threatening them or hurting them or psychologically tormenting them first thing—then I’d probably be more comfortable with them. It helps that ES’s whole thing is happiness, so there was no incentive for her to really get into Hollyberry’s head until she started doing what she didn’t want, which was try to leave.

I don’t want Holly to forgive ES either, because the stuff she did was unforgivable. But if people can look past that and construct ideas for how they’d come together as partners, then people who like Hollytaya can do the same!

You’re right in how Sugar and Pitaya are similar, just different antagonists with different methods and different ways Hollyberry overcame them. For me, and I’m sure others who like Hollytaya, it’s the fact the two of them came together as allies despite everything, and all that I said above.

There’s one thing Hollytaya has over Eternalberry though, and that’s the fact Pitaya became an ally. The two of them worked together to stop a common enemy, and in the process, understood each other a little more. It’s a foundation us Hollytaya fans like to run with, and a very good launchpad for any hero x villain/rival x rival ship. Holly understood ES, but they haven’t had enough time to really work things out. Holly told ES that she’d give her a chance if she fixes herself, and that made ES go from desperate and angry to eerily calm really fast… but who knows if that was because she was actively listening, or because the Hollyberry she loves (or loves the idea of) shone through? I wouldn’t put it above ES to love the idea of Hollyberry instead of her - keep in mind how she was elated whenever HB did anything but be the strong-willed defender of her people, ready to take on any challenge including ES’s mentality and methods themselves.

And again: I don’t dislike Eternalberry (bc don’t get me wrong, I love me a good toxic yuri situationship!), I just prefer Hollytaya. There’s a whole lot of juice in a ship between ES and HB that can be explored, but I prefer the character development Holly had with Pitaya and the rival x rival dynamic. They’ve known each other for much longer too, enough for there to be more juice than Eternalberry, at least for me. I don’t see Hollytaya as one sided either, there’s a mutual respect between them that can turn into mutual feelings for each other.

If you prefer Eternalberry over Hollytaya, that’s fine! I’m not going to dislike people for shipping them, or any BxA for that matter. I just hope I helped you (and anyone else) understand my thought process is all! I went off on a ramble, so hopefully all of this makes sense and is easy to read. Sorry if it’s not 🥹

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