#sonofcarnelian

[unimportant-ramblings]

Ramblings watches Halo

Season 2, Episode 1: Sanctuary (or quem patronum rogaturus)

Have you family Spartan? Have you faith?

In which I try to recall what happened in season 1, our characters are reintroduced (this time with more character), John MasterChief goes to the saddest brothel of all time while he and the show deal with the impossibility of serving two masters.

In 2022, I waded unknown water for my internet best friend @sonofcarnelian who had done the same for me with the likes of Frank Herbert's Dune and Bridgerton season 1 (two properties often paired). Readers of my posts will remember that I have absolutely no experience with Halo, aside from it's place in pop culture.

Therefore, we represented the core audiences they were looking to appeal to in season; big fans and no nothings. 

I enjoyed Halo season 1 a great deal, probably because I had no expectations beyond bonding with my friend. Even more surprisingly, I got both of my parents invested in it, and they liked it even more than me. Less surprisingly, both my beloved mutual and my brother, fans of the franchise already, were less impressed. 

Due to this, season 2 is in the same position as last season, but this time in reverse. Last season I wrote about how decisions were made to appeal to a wider audience; taking off that helmet, female characters and characters of color introduced (not that I know there are none in the games, I do not, I just know they almost always have them helmets ON), romance, we see JMC’s ass a couple times, human characters in the covenant etc. This season we are telling the established audience of video game fans that yes others are here, but we have not forgotten you. And I can not speak to the effectiveness of this maneuver, that is for my cohort, but I can speak to how they are attempting this balance. So far, the attempt is clumsy, but I have seen it done worse.

The first season began with Kwan as our POV character, a young woman from the planet Madrigal which was about to be overtaken with the Covenant, who are ugly cgi creatures, until she was rescued by John MasterChief and the UNSC took over Madrigal. I think. 

Season 2, aside from a cold open, which we'll get to, is this situation inside out. JMC and silver team (who consist of Kai, who has a little crush on JMC, but also got a very suggestive haircut in season 2 so we'll see and the other two who last season Did Not Matter) are on babysitting duty after the dramatic end of last season (they went rogue, John MasterChief had sex, his gf returned to being evil and died, it was a whole thing). We are then introduced to a group of religious people who do not want to leave this planet which is about to be glassed. Glassing is not a thing that happened last season, there was a ground battle on Madrigal, but after conferring with my brother who knows the games, this is much more in the fashion of what usually happens. Here we begin the three pronged status quo change which was deeply jarring to me but we're supposed to believe the show has always been like this:

The Covenant are the main threat: last season was about John MasterChief and his awakening as a full person, realizing that the people he served lied and manipulated him. While the covenant was present; Makee (ex gif) was covenant and they killed people, this was not the driving tension of last season.

Religion: again, the covenant were religious and Kwan had a family tradition, this season has religion as a central piece. Beyond connecting us to Earth (when that one foot soldier said he was a Baptist I was SHOCKED like baptist-baptists? Papist, we let baptist go to space?) I do not yet no the purpose of this, but it is interesting texture.

Secondary characters matter now: Last year the following characters mattered: JMC, Kwan, Halsey, Kai, Miranda, Makee, Soren and that is IT. And aside from those first three, their connections to John MasterChief mattered more than anything about them. Here we have bonding between Kai and Vannak (he has removed his pellet and has been very interested in animal planet, which is nice!) and as we go, our pool of characters continues to grow, as does their connections to each other. Hooray!

When questioned if JMC has family or faith he recommits to his team, both silver team and general ground troops. He goes off to see hey why the fuck are comms out and uh-oh sister, the convenant is here! prowling about, taking out their comms. Already, to me, the fight seems better but as we found out last year I don't know what makes an action scene good. The covenant at least look less uncanny valley. JMC teams up with Perez, the last of her unit, and just as JMC and Perez are overwhelmed and surely doomed, they back away, FOR SHIPPING REASONS MAYBE? because that is my girl Makee in the fog for real let's go Reylos let's go. He's hearing her voice in the shower girls!

We get another shot of JMC half dressed but it is not hot, he is way too ripped and it's like buddy! are you okay. We also saw him like this in the cold open where they ripped out Cortana and both John MasterChief and the audience are feeling her absence. We are also introduced to our new Halsey, His name is Ackerson and he gives Silver team the "I'm not trying to replace your mom" spiel, we can only hope that means he too is fucking Keyes.

Last season, I detailed a lot of ex Spartan Soren, his high camp wife and little son and oof it's not going great for them, and it's really boring. Soren, after being a good guy and helping Kwan, has lost favour with the pirates and ultimately gets super betrayed by his crew and a space cop who he should have clocked immediately because he talks like Samwise Gangee. Also Kwan is at Soren's house now and is scaring his kid in a cave. So that's fun.

Meanwhile Ackerson is trying to gaslight (glasslight? is this anything?) by step-dadding the hell out him with false concerns over his mental health and allusions to his lost gfs (Cortana, Makee and Halsey, who of course is also his mom love that). The party line is that JMC did not see the Covenant and is crazy. Silver team is out of commission and Cobalt team is being sent out like there is nothing going on. This makes JMC naturally very anxious so he GOES TO A DIGITAL BROTHEL TO HANG OUT WITH FAKE CORTANA I LOVE THIS SHOW. Love how the AI is insecure. Love he wears a hoodie. Love that we're giving Reach, and the population of Reach City some color with a Red/Blue light district. Good stuff

Time will tell whether the balancing of two audiences will work; my biggest apprehensions are about the quality of the character writing and balancing our subplots, but tbh? I will forgive all plot holes if they keep giving me high camp.

But what will my cultured friend say? I'm very excited to see!

In the mean time:

[dlartistanon]

Three for the Arknights asks, please!

3. When did you start playing?

In the year of our lord, April 20th, 2020. I’ve stuck with this game over two years now, and I’ve never looked back. I’ve had so much fun with AK; if I had to get addicted to a mobage, I’m glad it’s this one. The gameplay, characters, stories, and lore… there’s always something grabbing my attention and it’s prevented me from getting burned out so far.

[ur-promethean]

I have loved your writing since I started following you but your Sergeant Johnson is pitch perfect without being cliche. Absolutely incredible!

AHHHH IM GLAD!!!! THANK YOU

[courtmartialme]

it's the second time i accidentally post an ask while i'm replying to it and don't know what to do about it so i have to delete it in shame so here's a screenshot of the ask instead. @sonofcarnelian

FAVORITE EVER is riza's promised day outfit... i prefer her hair up usually but i also really think the blood with the disheveled hair down add a lot to the look because i love to see my beloved baby miserable <3 the oversized jacket is very moe and cute. there should've been more blood

also her "default" outfit that is the turtleneck + gun holsters + either uniform pants or the black pants she uses when undercover. peak riza to me, you can tell by the amount of times i've drawn it lol

her summer outfit from fma mobile also changed my brain chemicals irreparable she's so cute they did such a good job with it. i love the way they respected her character in how she wouldn't want to have her tattoo showing and that it didn't stop them from giving her a cute outfit... she's sooo........ i love Her

honorable mentions:

-riza's paperboy outfit.. so gender!! made for me specifically.

-riza with the black overcoat. it makes her look so round i wanted to see her wearing that more.........

-and also riza in her pajamas looking so mom it cured all my parental issues. i love her

[cecikiwi]

Mara Jade commission for @SonofCarnelian !

[grimoirering]

Leonie in 25 please!

[artsbysmarty]

I love Lotte! Keep up the amazing work with all your OCs!

Aaaaaa thank you!! 😭 I’m gonna be honest I love drawing Lotte the most she’s got such an easy design

[chewytran]

What's your favorite piece of art you created in 2020?

ah!!! i think this one!

i’m just very happy with how the lighting and atmosphere of this one turned out :,,,) and i like the sort of drama that it has with the people in the foreground blocking the view a bit. i think there’d still be some things i’d tweak on it, but overall, i’m happy with this one!! 

[mascindulgence]

Did you follow Morrigan into the portal???

NO I DIDNT BECAUSE THATS WHAT I GOT THE FIRST TIME AND IT FELT... SO BITTERSWEET...... AND SO PERFECT STORY WISE? one final kiss, and one final goodbye

[kinschi]

Happy birthday!

Thank youuu!! 😊

[unimportant-ramblings]

Sometimes I'm about to make a post that boils down to "I love that this isn't that sexually explicit" and @sonofcarnelian speaks into my brain and says "catholic ass...." and I save the post to drafts. He's right

[georgetheblob-art]

I’ve been real shy about asks as of recently but I figured I would let u know that i appreciate all ur nice messages, whether they’re asks or comments or in the tags, I see them all and I’m so grateful!! thank u for being so kind to me!!

[demi-pixellated]

I absolutely adore your art and the Garreg Mach Knights is an amazing, top tier AU idea! Fantastic stuff!

TYSM

I’ve always been interested in volleyball but never had an avenue to properly explore it so I’m having fun messing around and researching and i really wanna draw silly locker room chats with the girls 😋

[diadoescomics]

I don't have a question, I just love your comics! Thank you so much for the wonderful art!

Aww jee! Thank You for the lovely comment!

[galway-bae]

Can I just say that I love, love, love your version of Cortana. She's so wonderfully soft and human!

thank you! she’s a lot of fun to draw

[strawberryybird]

Spare some Ignatz and Leonie thoughts, ma'am? For a humble Leonatz fan?

it’s leonatz time !!!

i truly do not know what the conventions are for headcanon or ship posts so if this seems like a stream of consciousness about leonatz and my own verdent wind ending fanon... that’s because it is.. fhdgbfhg

i know in their ending it has them both disperse and reconnect after a few years, but my jury is out on whether i want the golden deers as a whole to faff off in separate ways and grow into themselves outside of war or Stay As A Family Forever a la my CR vox machina willful ignorance.. 

.. ok i accidentally wrote half a fic. It’s unedited and unbeta’d and it’s really a stream of consciousness.. but have it anyway fhdgkh. lmk if this needs a content warning?

so lets say the deers all stay as one big patchwork quilt of a unit (other endings be damned) and they.. all move up to Goneril territory because Claude needed to be near Almyra, and Hilda is Hilda, so off they went. With the truth of Lysithea’s crests coming to light, and the reality of it setting in, it feels like the war didn’t end, it just changed tact. 

For Hilda and Lorenz, it’s become a diplomatic whirlpool of exchange of resources and information in a post-war world where the Church is in shambles, the crest nobility system is barely holding itself together, and there’s a ticking time bomb with white hair resting in the sun room upstairs. And the only ones who knew what had happened were little piles of ash in an underground bunker. 

Marianne dives even further into healing magic and the information they swiped from Slither, with Hanneman across the desk. Manuela was stretched thin enough between Enbarr, Garreg Mach and Byleth’s side, but there was a place at their table for her too. 

Byleth chips in what she can, where she can, already spread thin enough across the country. Her soft mint hair is always a welcome sight in the library. Claude has to travel between Almyra and Byleth after the war in their effort to kick in Fodlan’s walls for good. Raphael comes with them all at first, but soon he’s also out travelling across the former Alliance, helping rebuild and show the best side of the deer’s little army - the unrelenting hope of the world they were fighting for. But he’s back every few weeks with his bright smile and brighter news. 

It seems like everyone has their place in this new world they’ve stumbled into. Leonie’s never been much for studying more than military tactics - goddess knows magic had never much taken to her. Give her a bow and a target and she’s golden. Ignatz had always had an open book of some sort or other - but the level of detail Marianne and Hanneman were going in tended to be reserved for his watercolours. 

(It just takes a moment for them both to find their feet in this new kind of fight)

Their old teachers had swept Garreg Mach for any books that could possibly shed light on Lysithea’s health, and Seteth and Manuela had returned to Hilda’s castle with sackfulls of manuscrips and books they dug up from the wreckage of Thales’ chambers, and all these books needed a good home. So they lost a bedroom and gained a library with a built-in wardrobe. 

Somehow both Leonie and Ignatz ended up in there at an ungodly hour of night, both intending to do the most useful thing they knew of: reading books they don’t understand. Because that was what everyone else was doing, and firing arrows at the problem wasn’t going to cut it this time. 

They don’t talk at first. Because it’s them, and of course it’s them. They know each other so well, just a smile suffices for a whole conversation.

On the second night, Ignatz’ candle burns out in its own puddle of wax. Ignatz stammers out the same ‘sorry’ he’s been stammering at her for 2 years of school and 5 years of warfare, and Leonie brings in one of the gas lamps from outside the door for some proper light. Issue solved. Ignatz closes the heavy curtains to make the light seem brighter, and the room seem warmer, and he gently thanks her, as he’s always done. Leonie shrugs it off like she passed him the salt, because that’s what she’s always done.

The third night, she stops being cowardly because there’s no longer time for that (there was never any time for that), and asks for Ignatz’ help with one of the Slither’s manuscipts. 

Next to her, Ignatz flushes red as roses (or blood, or Edelgard’s armour, Carmine red as Ignatz once told her) and says he was actually just about to ask her for help on the one he’d been studying.

They both miss a beat.

Leonie knows she shouldn’t be laughing at their own uselessness, but goddess, it’s the most cathartic thing she’s felt in three weeks. “You’re meant to be the smart one of us”, she says, lightly cuffing his shoulder, smile still on her face. “I always was a bit duff at tome smarts.”

“Oh no,” he stammers back, “I was never very good at magic without Professor and Lysithea’s help. Plus, it was only Cutting Gale, it’s nothing like any of these texts.”

“Plus,” Ignatz continues, adjusting his glasses, “You’re a brilliant battle commander. You always know just what do on the battlefield. It’s amazing,” his blush was still high in his cheeks, “how much you carried our army.

“I don’t know if we ever said thank you.”

Leonie stopped short and looked at Ignatz, candlelight caught in his glasses.

“You don’t need to thank me any more than I need to thank you. It was war, we did what we had to.” She said, missing nonchalant and landing in the netting some real emotions.

Leonie had been forthright about her feelings, and the war only reduced her bullshit tolerance to a cool zero. If something needs to be said, she says it. Always has done.Apart from fear. Fear is the one that sits in her throat at night and wraps its fingers around her memories of Jeralt’s last rattled breaths, and the rain, and the way Lysithea gets worse as the storms roll in from the sea.

The war has changed, but the game remains the same. Don’t let your loved ones die. And the less she understood how to fix Lys, the more useless she seemed to in this brave new world.

“Battle tactics aren’t much use when reading unhinged medical texts, Ignatz.” Leonie said, looking at their decimation of order on the table, with quills and ink and parchment spilled over the resources. 

And he smiles at her. “Neither is painting. I’ve had 5 years to feel like I’m a useless cog in the war machine, and you’ve only had 5 months, Leonie. But I get it.”

Leonie pretends her laugh isn’t as watery as it is, and Ignatz has enough exposure to Lorenz’ noble prattling to politely ignore how her cheeks flushed with various emotional reactions. 

“So a knight and an artist walk into a library at midnight.” 

Ignatz chuckles lightly, “now that’s a Claude-level of bad joke”

They spend the rest of the night talking, and by the time sunlight is streaming through the curtains, Leonie feels a little bit lighter.Only a bit lighter, that is. But as Ignatz had once told her in the forest, his arms full of paint and hers full of arrows; it’s a nice thing to be understood about this kind of thing.