stardustaces - Tumblr blog

[stardustaces]

{ hc that sei and kyu are the names the trailblazers adopted after waking up on the space station, and that caelus and stelle are the names they were given by the stellaron hunters before their memories were wiped. }

{ remind me to elaborate on this later. }

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☀! I'm curious

☀ What’s your rp pet peeve?

{ I could answer this a few ways, but the question reads to me as more general and less platform-specific (tu.m.blr, t.wt, di.sc.ord...). I know a lot of us put a bit of ourselves into our characters- that's what makes them really feel alive. Canon or OC, it happens, and I love when writers do that. I encourage writers to do that. It helps you connect to your work on a more personal level, which in turn gives you more depth to work with.

That said, you have to know where the line is drawn between you and the character you write. Even self-inserts need that line, I feel. At the end of the day, while the way a person writes and the character(s) they write may reflect, for better or worse, on the kind of person someone is, mun != muse. It's a boundary I've seen too many people forget, even in regards to their own characters. In the end, we're all a bunch of losers (affectionate) playing pretend on the internet with our blorbos (also affectionate). It's very important that as RPers we never lose sight of that. }

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the salty af munday meme

Because, like it or not, we’re not all balls of sunshine all the time. We can be pure salt when we want to be.

☠ What does someone have to do for an instant unfollow from you?

♥ What’s the WORST thing that has happened to you rp wise?

♦ What was a mildly annoying thing that has happened to you rp wise?

♢ Has anyone ever tried to steal your blog? Your headcanons? Icons? All that jazz

♚ How many people don’t like you?

⚜ How many people do you not like?

✮ Have you managed to stay away from drama?

☄ Have you ever been in the middle of drama?

☯ Have you ever tried to bring peace to a situation?

☼ How long do you stay mad?

☀ What’s your rp pet peeve?

☁ Have you ever forgiven a partner when you shouldn’t have?

☂ Have you ever been forgiven when you knew you shouldn’t have been?

☢ What fads/trends are you so over?

☣ Have you ever rp’d with someone you knew for a fact was abusive but tried to give them a chance/to make up your own opinion on the roleplayer? Did they change or did you understand what people were talking about?

♨ Have you ever made a public call out post?

❀ What has made you completely lose your chill?

✿ What do you think about public call out posts?

✂ A fandom that you feel isn’t open and accepting?

✉ A fandom that you feel is open and accepting?

✦ Thoughts on duplicates following you?

✧ Do you agree with reblog karma or is it forced interaction?

❥ Has someone ever ruined an FC or character for you?

❦ Has someone been jealous of you?

❧ Have you ever been jealous of anyone?

✖ How has Tumblr RP changed since you started?

♒ Thoughts on the fandom you’re currently rping in?

❣ How salty are you feeling right now?

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Ah.

That wasn't exactly the informative answer he expected- nothing like the "focus on so-and-so" or "think of this-and-that" that he thought he would hear. Perhaps an answer like that would have made the situation less harrowing to think of, but that was just it, wasn't it?

There was no easy answer, just as there was nothing about the general's story that wasn't harrowing. If he or any survivors aboard slipped up, that was it. There was no room for error.

Perhaps he should count himself lucky that there has been such a thing in every case so far- but how long was that lucky streak going to last?

How long would it be before his next encounter with a body-snatcher would be every bit as dire as with the general's encounter with the Puppeteer Jellyfish? Before one mistake could lead to him being trapped as a passenger, an observer, in his own body, with no way out?

"...please, sir," Sei bows, his voice suddenly heavy with desperation.

"Teach me. I need to know how you do it."

As though life or a fate worse than death were on the line-- not at the moment, but at some point, it would be. How many forces out there employed body-snatching as a strategy? How many forces out there could wrestle control of someone's body like that?

His expression darkens as a memory comes to the forefront- that Blade guy Dan Heng had told him about. He was immortal, too, wasn't he? What was his deal, again?

The way Kafka had him restrained, very much like a dog on a leash, in a manner of speaking- it was because of his mara... a condition the immortals aboard the Xianzhou were all susceptible to, right? A condition Sei was all too familiar with, by nature of having gotten into more scuffles with mara-struck goons than he'd like to admit...

Though his head remained bowed, he wanted to look up at the general with a quizzical eye.

What about internal forces that could wrestle control of someone's body...?

"Stay calm?" Despite the smile tugging at his lips at Sei's applause, the general can't help but find his eyes widening with momentary disbelief in the wake of the question. "Dear boy, I was terrified — as was every other man aboard. Many a time our hands were shaking so badly we could scarcely even sign."

The grimace on Sei's face is not lost on him. For a man still so young to be subjected to the torment of a robbed autonomy, and in such a nature as well... There's no doubt that Sei received some level of training in combat, but Jing Yuan has seen him fight; most of his reaction is instinct. And while instinct can certainly be impressive, instinct can also get rattled, cause one to lock up, lose control. Yes, that's it, isn't it? What Sei is asking him about is control. He goes quiet, lost in thought. Stay calm...

"...When it comes down to a matter of life or death, instinct oft takes over. But, with the jellyfish, that simply wasn't an option. Other lives aside from my own were at stake. I suppose you could say I didn't have a option to be anything but calm, for their sake." A soft chuckle rumbles from his throat, one that seems both gentle and wry at the same time. "I appreciate your attempt at subtlety, dear boy, but why don't you ask me what's really on your mind, hm?" The question is a tease, accompanied by the general propping his cheek on one fist. "Simply telling you of my past battles will not lend to your own benefit; levelheadedness in the wake of a crisis is only developed through experience. I am willing to teach you, my astral friend, for as long as you continue to return to the Luofu. It is the least I could do to repay you for your assistance with our Stellaron troubles."

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{ ykw? I’ll take it }

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"I was someone before I met my friends aboard the Space Station..."

"...so I must have been someone before Kafka, too, right?"

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(for kyu!)

"Mya." There he is, sitting on a banister in a patch of sunlight that illuminates his fur as if he has a quest, just for her. The General is always reliable, isn't he? With a flick of his tail, he almost seems to beckon the trailblazer over; but of course, who is to say? He is a cat, and he cannot speak. But as Kyu approaches, her destined quest becomes readily apparent: give the General some good chin scritches.

"!"

Perhaps it's with just a little too much eagerness, the way she strides on over. She's found her mark- she isn't letting him get away until the mission is complete.

"Easy now...~" the batter coos, gently reaching a gloved hand under the cat's jaw and lovingly skritching his chin. Yesssss.

"Good kitty...~ ooh, you're so fluffy..."

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Whispering 'pspspspsps' as she traverses the streets of the Luofu.

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If there were yet more room to pour irritation from his brain into his expression, surely, it would show on his face. Was it all a joke to her? No, he had no way of determining whether or not Blade was speaking on his own or under Kafka's influence. Of course he didn't.

Sei turns his back to Kafka, his lungs drawing in air- breathe slow, breathe deep, he commands himself internally. His body follows suit, and he feels cool air enter through his nose, and warmer air exit through his mouth.

It does little to help calm himself down.

It had to be the truth, didn't it? He just... felt it, somewhere in the hollow of his chest cavity.

"I'm kidding. Our Bladie isn't the type of person who cares for wordplay or lying."

Our Bladie. 'Our,' as in the Stellaron Hunters'? 'Our,' as in 'yours and mine?'

It strikes Sei that both can be true. Both are probably true- or at least were, at some point- because he was once one of them.

'Our' Bladie, as in 'yours, mine, and the other Stellaron Hunters.'

He turns himself back towards Kafka- as if a dog hearing its name called, just in time for his nose to be poked- he recoils slightly, taken aback at the sudden closeness.

"Does that satisfy your curiousity?"

He nods- reflexively. It's too late to stop himself- he reacted too soon. No, he wasn't satisfied. There was still more to know...

"So... what's that make us? Family?"

Her silence is a pointed one, smile never changing, as Kafka patiently waits for the Trailblazer to sort out his own conclusions. That was in fact the point of her game and it seems he is finally cluing in.

The stellaron hunter did not appear the least bit surprised at the reveal of Blade being the one who exposed her lie, though she is not above admitting that she has underestimated just how much having a past meant to them.

"He did, did he? And you believed him." Kafka humoured. A deliberate tilt of her head is given in careful calculation. "How can you determine if he's truly telling you that of his own accord...or if he did so under the influence of my spirit whisper?"

Silence stretches thin between the both of them for a few tense seconds before she takes pity on messing with him.

"I'm kidding. Our Bladie isn't the type of person who cares for wordplay or lying."

Reclining on her seat, Kafka hums softly as she mulls over Sei's demands. Finally she leans forward....and promptly pokes the tip of his nose briefly.

"You are someone who was destined to receive and host a Stellaron from the moment of your birth. Before that task is concluded however, I was responsible for teaching you combat skills, general knowledge and protecting you. The reason why you don’t remember is that I wiped your memory before the operation at Herta Space Station. Does that satisfy your curiousity?"

@stardustaces

[stardustaces]

sei and kyu my beloveds, where do i even begin? i can't wait to see more of them (i miss u pls return from the war aaaaaa). there's something about the way that sei is so careful and deliberate that i am absolutely drawn to. i love him so much!

{ aaaa; how'd i miss this? i love that you love sei! i knew i needed contrast between the two, so i leaned into making sei the cautious, tactically minded one (who isn't immune to letting his emotions get to him, let us be clear) and i ended up enjoying his character a lot more than i expected! thanks for the kind words! }

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tell me your honest opinion of my portrayal

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alias / name : ace. (also answers to alice or elec.) birthday : 13 aug zodiac sign : leo sun, gemini moon, leo rising height : 5'0" hobbies : writing, curating playlists, fighting games, board/tabletop/card games, vintage/antique restoration (toys, electronics, consoles) favorite color : blue! hard to pick a shade i like more, i like 'em all! favorite book : the p.erks of being a w.allflower, by stephen c.hbosky. tore through that book while bedridden with a fever, years ago, and i adore it to this day. last song : Boys～光り輝く明日へ～ by MASH last film / show : d.une, part two. recent reads : The A.rt of War by Sun Tzu, the Q.uran (for educational purposes), and I'm not afraid to admit I recently read all 42 volumes of D.ragon B.all by Akira Toriyama. inspiration : duality- two that are one. finding one's place in the universe. what it means to leave one's mark on the world, learning how to leave one's mark on the world and what kind of mark to leave, and refusing to die without having made one. heavenly bodies. music. capability and responsibility, and how they can stand in accord and/or contention with morality, law, and order. awe and terror in the face of nature's beauty and brutality. story behind url : it's the name of the destruction trailblazer ult, but since there are two trailblazers on this blog, tack on a plural! but also, i go by ace, so it's kinda threefold! fun fact about me : i have a degree in electrical engineering!

gleefully stolen from tagged by: @everlastiingiimmortals tagging: YOU (if you haven't already done this)

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{ remind me to get back on the horse for the p.e.nacony campaign asap }

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{ guess who just learned about the early joke ending of hsr }

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grabs you. hi <3 i wanna see you write more of your hcs in the open, so!!

what are Sei's and Kyu's thoughts on Dr. Ratio? how did their opinion of him differ between first impression to the end of the 1.6 mission?

“Great, another of you insufferable geniuses.”

That was the first thing that came to Kyu’s mind, encountering this strange masked man talking to himself as he played chess- against himself. This opinion only sunk upon meeting him face to face for the first time.

Kyu, put simply, isn’t a fan of people who make her look stupid. That’s her job. The way he talked (Aeons, did she find his cadence obnoxious), the way he carried himself, the way he referred to himself as an ‘actual genius’ as if almost everyone she’d met who said that didn’t all carry the same attitude- all of it rubbed her entirely the wrong way, and being interrogated as though she had something to do with the attack on Herta didn’t help matters. Were she not wary of embarrassing Asta in front of a colleague, she’d probably have sternum-checked him straightaway. Her attitude was very much on the defensive, and despite her best efforts she very nearly lost her cool.

As the 1.6 mission progressed, she began to develop a greater respect for Ratio’s way of thinking, and as a fellow combatant- maybe he wasn’t so bad, when he wasn’t carrying a preconceived bias against her. His actions, to her, spoke far louder than his initial accusatory words (and his speech pattern, which she'd come to be less grated by over time). To say nothing of the kind of thinking he displayed in their DMs- I can’t express to tell you how Absolutely On Board Kyu was with the idea of retrofitting the Astral Express into a giant mecha before she realized what Himeko would have in store for her.

"Pleased to meet you, Doctor. I’m sorry we had to meet like this.”

Sei, however, being much more rational and cool-headed by comparison, immediately saw the Doctor as someone he could stand to learn something from, regardless of what his attitude on him was. Whether he rubbed him the wrong way or not, there’s always a takeaway to learn from everyone. Dr. Ratio was no different, even if he’s starting to grow weary of the antics of people from the Intelligentsia Guild and the Genius Society. There is respect, make no mistake- mixed with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Sei grew to think of Ratio in a similar regard to Kyu, respecting his combat prowess and no-nonsense attitude, even looking to him as another teacher to learn from (something he feels Ratio might not appreciate, for some reason he can't place) but was far less gung-ho about retrofitting the Express into a war machine.

@everlastiingiimmortals

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{ you know i had to do it to em. }

{ original mashup/transition here }

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"What made you change your mind?" (Marvi to Kyu~)

"YOU CAME BACK FOR ME!" PROMPTS. (still accepting.)

"Nothin', damn it. I don't leave anyone behind, not if I can help it."

Depleted of breath, Kyu looks up at Marvelous from where she sits on the ground, half-lidded eyes still burning with leftover energy. She can stand- she just needs a minute... or two, or five.

"You're not hurt, are you?"

@mysticallities