#and how would solaris feel about being the cause of something like that? being praised for a herald of zoraxis' domination?

[the-valiant-valkyrie]

the thing about the death engine that people don't think about enough was just how uncompromising it was. it was more than a mission. it was more than a life threateningly dangerous mission. it was a fork in the road for both the agency as well as zoraxis.

the death engine remains as, in the agency's own words, one of "the most powerful weapons known to humanity". if it was left to ravage every known agency base on the face of the planet, the results would have been cataclysmic. likewise, the agent destroying it was the first real domino in the toppling of zoraxis' empire. it would go on to cement one solitary operative as zor's personal enemy.

the agency and zoraxis' fates were thoroughly intertwined the day of the death engine mission. but so were the agent and solaris'.

saying that out loud, it may sound horribly obvious. the two of them were in a situation where neither of them expected to survive. of course their fates were intertwined. what else could they have been? but as much as the mission was a crossroads for their respective corporations, it was equally as important for their own futures.

one of them was bound to win, and the other bound to lose. even if both of them died. even if- as we've seen- neither of them died.

"there's only one agent who could have pulled that off, and they died on the death engine". have you ever thought about that? even before phoenix got their name- even before zoraxis knew they were still alive- they were already reveling in the infamy they gained from that moment. even when zoraxis thought they died, the phoenix still won. they destroyed the death engine, and even after their 'death', they continued to haunt everyone who worked there. a cautionary tale. a legend.

do you not think that if solaris succeeded- killed the agent in some way, or let them kill themself with their ineptitude- she wouldn't have been heralded as a hero to zoraxis? not as though she's particularly loyal to the company, but it's clear that even at the position she's in now, she still is at zor's mercy in regards to what she's allowed to design and create.

if the agent died- if the death engine destroyed every known agency base- she would be one of, if not the most lethal operative zor has. that would have come with power, prominence, the freedom to truly do what she wants… and really, that was the only reason she decided to work with zoraxis in the first place.

there was only one way the death engine could have played out. one of them would succeed where the other would fail. one of them was doomed to be a stepping stone for the other's success.

in that regard, from a narrative perspective, the phoenix and solaris are not foils, but mirrors of one another. they have their very stark differences in loyalty and morality, true, but in those ten or so minutes up in the death engine, they may as well have been one and the same. fighting against the same fate, whether they knew it or not.

to this very day, the phoenix's success is propped on top of solaris' bowing spine. it didn't have to be this way.

[crusherthedoctor]

Unpopular opinion: praising a product for its potential is not a compliment in the slightest. Everything has potential. Everything has the chance to be great, with the right time and care. But ultimately, the final product is what has to be judged.

That being said, there is a difference between judging something for its more objective qualities or flaw, and judging it based on the amount of personal enjoyment it brought you - which yes, might involve thinking on how you would have tackled said product. You can say "I know it's bad but I had fun with it and its flaws inspired my creativity", as much as you can say "objectively I have nothing to criticize but it didn't suit my tastes". Just try to keep the two perspectives separate.

strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree

The first part is why I refuse to be swayed by all the attempts to paint '06 as a hidden masterpiece, and that Colours and Generations were somehow the TRUE descent of the franchise. Because a lot of what they say about '06 ultimately boils down to "it's good, it just needed to be a little more good". Wow, such insight, but too bad for them, the hypothetical is not what myself and everyone else paid for.

Yes, there are some things I admit to liking in theory: Solaris is one of the more interesting monsters conceptually, and I think Elise is a good character who simply had the bad luck of being misused. I'm not staunchly averse to giving '06 credit for anything that's not the soundtrack... but I don't pretend its not '06; despite feeling more personal distaste for Frontiers nowadays, for reasons you are well familiar with by now, I still consider '06 the objective worst in the series due to how it affected Sonic in the eyes of fans and non-fans alike... well, Chronicles is tied with '06 cause of how blatantly trashy that game is, but you get my drift.

As for your second point, there are plenty of things that are relevant to me with both of those perspectives. On one hand, Wrath of Cortex is an alright game but is mainly just Crash 3.5, and Enter the Dragonfly only requires taking one look at it to see it's not a complete product, but I've always liked both of them regardless because I think they have a lot of appealing concepts going for them. Then there's the funny edgelord bang bang black hedgehog game, which I'm always ready to criticise (like '06, it too is not suddenly perfect storytelling just because the Fuck Pontaff brigade says so), but just as ready to praise the levels and missions I like, the scenes I think are good... or "good" (:P), the soundtrack as always, and of course, the depth and complexity of Black "Citizen Kane" Doom.

On the other hand, there are several popular games, shows, etc - none of which I'll bother naming this time around because I don't feel like getting my ass kicked verbally today - that I don't consider bad objectively, but they either don't interest me or turn me away for one reason or another. Or their fandoms hype them up too much.

[glorykrp]

SHOWING RESULTS FOR: HYUN.

✩ Hyun Seungjae                       ✩ August 9th, 1996      ✩ Brisbane, Australia                 ✩ HEX

LATEST RESULTS ON THE TOPIC.

Hyun Sungjae – Artist Profile. Hyun is HEX’s vocalist. He trained for 3 years prior to debut.

HEX “SOLARIS” Music Video – Youtube. Feb. 18, 2015. Watch the official music video for HEX’s debut song.

HEX’s Hyun Featured on Dazed & Confused Editorial – Naver. ❬ +2,667; -194 ❭ Seungjae-yah, Charm are always cheering you on!

RELATED SEARCHES.

» Nebula Silver          » HEXTIC Album          » Hyun Scandal

PERSONAL LIFE.

The youngest of three children, even though Seungjae had wanted peace and quietness in his life, he had always been reduced to either the one that was being annoyed by his older brothers, or the one that was being watched too closely by his parents. It didn’t help that his siblings had exceeded expectations at everything they did, whether it was academically or socially, the two were known for succeeding on first tries with ease. Jae on the other hand, was sub-par in comparison to the standards created by the ones that came before him.

If asked, Seungjae would say he enjoyed the first fifteen years of his life living in Australia, the fact his father had been transferred from the company he worked in before he had been born not something he could have changed. But truth is he has his fondest memories of his childhood on holidays where the family would drop him at his mother’s side grandparents house in South Korea, his other brothers often leaving to spend it with the other side of the family. He doesn’t feel proud of it it, nor would he ever say it out loud, but his love and respect for the couple that took him in for a few months every year has always been far bigger than what he feels for his mom and dad. The values he learned and person he has become more an accomplishment of his grandfather and grandmother than his parents.

In South Korea, on those vacations, was where he had the freedom to express himself, not diminished to a punching bag nor an inferior version of his siblings, he was able to feel happiness on small things such as being praised for simply doing the dishes and helping out at the house, to singing along to old songs with his grandma. That was when he learned he was a good entertainer, when more often than not the simple house would receive friends of his relatives and he had the liberty to sing, dance and charm them. The idea to try out for Nebula came from one of his grandmother’s friends, her own kid being a trainee himself and all she could see was potential on the young Hyun. — Two summers afterwards, he was auditioning to join the company, without his parents knowing. 

It wasn’t his vocals, at not even fifteen far from perfect, that caught their attention. It had been his bright smile and ability to keep up conversations with adults much older than him, the confidence in his words and radiant nature that left them speechless. The added bonus of the other languages he knew, thanks to his grandfather that taught him when they had nothing better to do during his vacations. In 2012, after begging his family, the contract was signed and he permanently moved out from Australia. What he hadn’t expected was the level of comparison and competition from his home would rise even more when so many other talented young people were fighting for stardom. He was eager, his overachiever self and the need to stand out — to both be picked up and never have to leave — driving him into becoming an outstanding trainee. Not the best on any attribute, but definitely the one that tried his hardest and trained the most to the point of exhaustion.

He was losing hope before finally being chosen to join HEX, the first call to share the news was to his grandparents. Everything ran smoothly through the first year of debut, although the competition in his life was far from being over, now at extreme levels with so many other groups out there, he kept going with a smile on his face, convinced that this had been his purpose in life. To entertain and be in front of the spotlight.

The rise to both fame, and the high popularity with the international fans, came to almost a halt when in the beginning of 2016 a video taken by one of his friends was released to the world. It was nothing serious, not in his opinion at least. The setting was a pool party and Seungjae looked drunk out of his mind, he was leaning forward to the camera saying hello and laughing like no tomorrow, eyes watery and moves too sloppy, it barely lasted thirty seconds but it was enough to cause repercussion. Out of anger from his, now ex, friend releasing it with harmful motives and the sudden backlash from fans saying he should behave better and set an example he went on a tweet spree. The things he said ranged from being offended that others thought they had a right to his personal life, to how bitter it felt that the people he gave his all for were tearing him down for simply having fun. He deleted it all within minutes later, but the damage had been done already.

Guilt still runs through his veins because of it, even if it has been more than a year, for letting fans down and also the other members of HEX that didn’t deserve any of the negative press that came with it. Especially after the end of 2016, he has been doing his best to behave and show the world he has changed and wishes that such thing never happens again. Not only for his sake, but for the entire group. Through his charm, kindness and new found purpose, he hopes he can continue to bring some joy to those in need like his grandmother taught him.

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES.

Charisma, that’s his best quality. No one matches his power to get the attention when necessary and how effortlessly he is able to conduct interviews and appearances. Even though he lacked when in comparison to the other vocalists in the group, as time passes he has been improving through hard-work and dedication, the fans being his main source of support when it comes to him pushing himself to be better. He has always admired the dancers in the group, and in the past year has also been trying to make progress on that department, he is by no means bad at it, but knows that through practice can grow on that area as well.

His weakness range from both psychological things — like his extreme perfectionism which constantly brings him to tearing himself down when not exceeding expectations on whatever he has to do, and easily boredom which leads to problems focusing — to not being good at basic things the rest of his group is such as rapping and acting. He plans to try and improve on the ladder in the future, but at the moment would rather focus on learning more languages and maybe an instrument or two.

2017 INTERVIEW.

Up until then his answers had been precise and sharp, no hesitation nor pauses between the questions and the replies, a sly smirk on his expression as he navigated the conversation perfectly towards where he wanted it to go. But upon hearing the ‘how are you feeling?’ coming from the other end of the phone he stopped, suddenly the perfect definition of the deer in the headlights. “What do you mean?” Jae hated the sound of his own voice, the crack in the middle of the sentence giving away that he was uncomfortable. “You already asked me that, hyung.” He added with a tsk and a shrug of shoulders, even if his sibling couldn’t see him.

“I asked how you were doing, you said okay. Now I’m asking how you’re feeling. — It’s different.” The older Hyun said, not continuing any further and letting the call fall into nothing but the static of the cellphone, the silence between the both of them as big as their physical distance. Seungjae sighed, a crease setting between his eyebrows as he bit at the inside of his cheek, body slouching against the chair he had been sitting on for what it felt like hours in God knows what hotel at a God knows which city they were performing that night. Should he tell the truth? That he felt so tired about the recent events it was like he was carrying the world on his shoulders? That he knew his reaction had been immature and if he hadn’t millions of people watching his every move he would definitely had been better dealing with it? That the guilt for drawing more negative attention to the group had him dreading every interaction with the only other people that might understand what he was feeling? That he felt like he let down everyone and at that point just wanted to beg for forgiveness?

“Listen, they need me for a photoshoot thing now — we’ll talk later, ye? Tell mom and dad I said hi.” He lied, not waiting for a reply before ending the call.

[the-valiant-valkyrie]

some more ieytd headcanons but ones specifically centered around zoraxis staff. prism is mentioned but not really in a spoiler way. nothing is mentioned that the trailers haven't already revealed so idk

Juniper

Struggles to keep long term relationships of any type because showing that he cares about people is incredibly difficult for him. He likes to imply it and just… hope the other person knows. But what seems obvious for him is incredibly vague for others around him.

(He has lost most of his friends and all of his partners to this phenomenon and he’s really bitter abt it)

He hates embarrassment so much that the second he starts to feel it his brain translates it straight into rage. Unfortunately, this quick fuse normally causes something to happen that only embarrasses him further.

He talks to himself a lot. Which means that he thinks to himself out loud, but he also literally talks to himself. Refers to himself as ‘John’ and hypes himself up whenever he’s about to do something he deems important. 

His conceit actually comes at the consequence of making him incredibly paranoid. Whenever someone’s talking or laughing, he always needs to take a second to eavesdrop and make sure they’re not talking about him. 

Roxana

Suffers from very intense time blindness- both in regards to her work, as well as her personal life.

Robutler being there was probably the only thing stopping herself from wasting away after she left the Agency. She can, will, and has forgotten to eat, drink, and sleep while she’s been working on projects before. 

Names are incredibly important to her. They’re a sign of basic respect, and over the years that mentality has affected how she communicates with… pretty much everyone around her. She uses them a lot more than the average person would because of that.

(It makes talking w/ Fabby so hard because calling her ‘Fabricator’ feels. bad. That’s not a name dude. even Zor has a name Fabs come on work with her here.)

Really hates unpredictability. Only eats from a small pool of foods because that’s the only stuff she’s absolutely certain she’ll like. Working with her robots is so comforting because she’s always aware of exactly what their thought process is going to be. 

Solaris

She’s naturally very loud. Volume control is pretty much never at the forefront of her mind, but at the same time she gets really annoyed when people tell her to keep it down.

Believes (wrongfully, mind you) that everyone else has at least a neutral relationship with her. Is completely unaware that some of the crew are absolutely terrified of her.

Says what she means and means what she says; rarely ever sugarcoats stuff, and hates needing to decipher other people when what they mean and what they say don’t intertwine.

Praise doesn’t really do anything for her. Obviously it’s nice to receive, but it doesn’t make her feel any better about the work she does. In that regard, she’s entirely self motivated.

She’s very prone to sleepwalking. She’s learned the hard way to cut herself off from her projects and actually go to bed after too many incidents of her wandering around in the lab, bumping into who knows what.

Fabricator

Gets mad easily, and stays mad for a really long time. The sort of person to shake with how visceral her anger is. ‘An eye for an eye’ is one of her daily affirmations, she is not above revenge in the slightest.

She enjoys the way that most people shrink away from her in fear, and plays up her unnerving demeanor just for the fun of it sometimes. However, sometimes people will be scared of her when she’s not even trying, and she will be completely oblivious as to why.

(It's like that scene in Bad Guys where they can’t even get a check for their meal because the staff are all cowering, so they just have to leave the cash on the counter. Waiters in the kitchen drawing straws trying to decide who’s gonna be forced to serve her)

Poison has been her special interest since before she was even working with Zor. Obviously, they’ve only fueled that fire of hers since.

Absolutely adores creatures that people would consider stereotypically terrifying, so long as they have aesthetic appeal. She’d wear a live snake around her neck like a feather boa. She baby talks to Zor’s scorpions. She takes design inspiration from tarantula coloration. You get me.

Speaks with her hands a lot. If you stand too close to her she’ll probably poke your eye out.