#wildstar one year later

[badaxefamily]

A year ago today, I got news that was devastating to me, but entirely expected. I should elaborate a bit on exactly what WildStar means to me.

Being autistic, my brain latches onto things seemingly at random, and won't let go. They're called special interests, and technically are different from hyperfixations though there are similarities. Though whether the individual is hyperfixated on them or not varies over time, special interests tend to stick around at least in the background all the time and often last one's entire lifetime. I personally have a few special interests, including dragons, Pokemon, and as of the beginning of 2012, WildStar.

Somewhere around there, the last MMO I had played, Phantasy Star Universe, had closed or was about to close (I don't remember exactly) and I was actively searching for a new one for my brother and I to play together. My requirements were strict: No medieval fantasy settings, sci-fi of some variety was required, just like Phantasy Star. Lots of character and style, no excessive violence or sex, just fun. I actually found a site that lists ever sci-fi MMO that exists. Most didn't even make the short list for me, being too close to medieval fantasy, too serious, or too violent. Only one really stood out: a game still in development, the only information available being a cinematic trailer from 2011 and a few early "interviews" with the characters in the trailer. I was absolutely fascinated right from the start. The art style, the story of a ragtag bunch of exiles stumbling across something of galactic historical significance sure to lead to untold adventure, the undertone of a space Western! It was all perfect.

I eagerly sought out ever scrap of info I could. I listened to music tracks that were put on YouTube. The first song I ever heard was "The Rescue Mission", which originally played during a cutscene in the Northern Wilds, when the escaping Exile ship is destroyed. I didn't know that was its purpose at the time though, I just heard the masterful note-slinging of Jeff Kurtenacker. The song still gives me goosebumps to this day. I remember hearing that song for the first time and thinking "this is the one." I even got to play - sort of - in the stress tests. I say "sort of" because the point of those early tests was just to hammer the servers with too many people, which caused pretty much everything to break. I remember in Stress Test 1, only Dominion characters could be made, and some of them weren't finished yet (Chua for example), so I made a male Draken named Jedidiah because there wasn't a name randomizer yet and I was in a silly mood. I wandered around Crimson Isle, unable to really do anything because the lag prevented combat from working, but I was getting to explore! The world was coming alive. In early 2014 I was in the Winter Beta, and loved every moment. I also took my testing job seriously, diligently documenting anything that seemed off. I wanted to help make this work.

I could go on and on. The first time I saw Celestion (another "this is the one" moment), the time the Lolilopp challenge bugged and the hallucinations got stuck visible, the inside jokes, the strange creative processes my characters went through. But then my wrists would be tired from the typing. I have to stop somewhere.

Last summer, after months of no new content being added and uncharacteristic silence on the part of the devs, I and the other "oldbies" were suspecting closure was imminent. The publisher was NCSoft after all, notorious for never keeping a published title around unless it could go independent. I held out hope a bit longer than many, ever the optimist. But eventually I recognized what was happening. I started playing FFXIV, I could barely even log in to WildStar, knowing its fate. After the announcement, and the final farewell in November, even I was surprised by how distraught I was. Hadn't I known this was coming, for months? That was when I really realized that WildStar was a special interest. And that's important for many reasons. Special interests really have to be indulged in. Refraining, or worse, taking one away, is psychologically damaging. And unforgivable sin, a personal attack. And that is why I have such unending vitriol for NCSoft. They took away a special interest, something that has never happened to me in my entire life. No amount of logical thought can shake the instinct-level feeling that I personally was attacked, my joy stripped away by greedy and uncaring strangers. The best I can do is the Thumper rule: if you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all. There are still a few Carbine folks working for NCSoft, and I can't bring myself to say anything positive about what they're doing. The best I can do is remain silent. Other times - when in like company - I can be a bottomless mine of salt.

I don't want to end this post on such a sour note, so I'll relate an anecdote from Winter Beta: In Whitevale there's a quest where you're supposed to help the Pell with a ritual, and one of the things you have to do is interact with an Eldan machine. At one point during testing though, the machine couldn't be activated from the ground. The game would think you were too far away. The temporary solution to this was to climb on top of the machine and activate it from the top! At the time, the two factions couldn't communicate at all, so helping each other required getting creative. At least once or twice, I informed opposite faction players of how to get around this bug by /pointing at the machine, then jumping to the top of the machine and jumping up and down on it. Pantomiming and emoting were frequently used this way, but that instance is the only one I really remember. I just think player ingenuity is interesting like that.

I made friends in WildStar that I still like to pal around with. We’re still sending each other videos and memes on Discord with “Is this (character)?” or “This is H4H”. WildStar will never really be gone to me.

[tearuefulvt]

Has it really been a year since my favorite MMO of all time shut down? Damn. I still miss it, obviously. In other games I find myself trying to double jump or double-tap dodge out of something, or holding shift to sprint even if I haven’t played Wildstar in a year. The muscle memory still remains. Wildstar still remains in my life. I still doodle Sly. I still listen to songs, then point out to Jake that it reminds me of Bird n Sly. I still talk to plenty of people I met in Wildstar. I now can say I have a fiance because of Wildstar. Bird, Iso, Linne, and myself still play an MMO together. It’s just WoW Classic, which is a pale comparison to Wildstar but we made a Guild called <The Exiles>, I named too many of my characters after Wildstar stuff, and it feels nice to still have that connection to Wildstar. I miss it. I wish Wildstar had been released a little sooner to ride the MMO boon, or a few less things had gone wrong for Carbine or anything that would have made the game last longer but hey- I still have all these fun time memories, tons of art, and writing for characters I love, and got to make some awesome friendships that are still going strong despite the game being gone.

[esperanta-dragon]

What saddens me the most about the fate of Wildstar is, if they would manage to keep going until now or if they released it the few years later, Wildstar would probably bloom.

Other MMOs survived because they were from universe with a big reputation and with big company willing to keep it alive and improve it. Wildstar was completely new and out of nowhere.

It was not as addictive as WoW but the game could have been improved incredibly over the years, they just didn’t get time and resources. And to be honest, I believe many WoW refugees would find a shelter here and Wildstar would be one of those MMOs people welcome when WoW fell down.

I miss Nexus.

[fancoloredglasses]

Star Blazers: The Quest for Iscandar (episodes 15-17: Lysis Takes Up the Gauntlet)

(Thanks to Cardiv 5 Zuikaku )

[All images copyright Claster Television Productions, Sunwagon Productions, and Academy Productions. Please don’t sue me]  

PREVIOUSLY ON STAR BLAZERS...

Earth has been hopelessly irradiated by a race known as the Gamilons, and in one year’s time, even the underground cities the survivors have fled to will be unlivable.

The people of Earth have been sent a message from Queen Starsha of the planet Iscandar, a planet 148,000 light years away.  She has sent Earth plans for a Wave Motion Engine to assist them in coming to Iscandar to retrieve a device known as the Cosmo DNA, which is capable of removing the radioactivity.

The Wave Motion Engine has been installed on a converted WW2 Japanese battleship known as the Yamato (rechristened the Argo) and crewed with an inexperienced team of volunteers known as the Star Force, commanded by Captain Avatar.

Since leaving Earth, the Star Force has all but eliminated the Gamilon presence in the solar system and are now en route to Balan, the halfway point to Iscandar, and are scheduled to arrive in 23 days.

However, in doing so they have earned the attention of the leader of the Gamilons, Desslok.

Desslok assigns one of his top generals, Lysis, to eliminate the Star Force.

If you would like to follow the series, KissCartoon can help you with that.

On Balan (where, naturally, there’s a Gamilon base) Lysis arrives to relieve the current commander, General Volgar.

Lysis makes sure to let Volgar know the pecking order by insulting the decor.

Meanwhile, the Argo’s engines suddenly lose power.

It turns out the Argo is being drawn toward a galactic whirlpool (a proto-black hole) The Argo passes the husks of many ships that were caught by the whirlpool. Suddenly, the Argo detects a Gamilon ship moving among the wreckage.

Meanwhile, Lysis has taken an armada of ships to seek out the Star Force. Volgar reports that the Star Force is trapped in the whirlpool and it may destroy the Star Force for them. Lysis is disappointed by this news.

Back on the Argo, Wildstar is preparing to take on the Gamilons, but Venture tells him they need to conserve their energy to try to escape the whirlpool. Wildstar gets more frustrated as the Gamilons fire upon the Argo. As Wildstar prepares to return fire, the ship detects Lysis’s armada.

What’s more, Sandor reports the ship’s navigation instruments are going haywire, so they’re useless for trying to escape. The Gamilons open fire...

...and have worse aim than Imperial stormtroopers. However, the Argo passes the center of the whirlpool, which drains the ship of all power. (and yet the Gamilons still can’t hit the broad side of a broadside!) Suddenly...

...the Star Force receives a message of encouragement (and more importantly, an influx of energy) from Queen Starsha of Iscandar (if she could do this, please explain why she couldn’t send the Cosmo DNA herself) that allows the Argo to free itself from the whirlpool. As they reach the edge, the Argo performs a space warp to escape the Gamilons (Are you telling me the armada, which traveled the distance from Balan (which iss 23 days away for the Star Force) to the whirlpool, can’t catch up with the Argo and continue the fight?)

Later, Wildstar and Venture note that Nova resembles Starsha (all the women on this show seem to look alike)

Back on Balan, Lysis (who would’ve had to pass the Argo to return to base) notes the Star Force is a worthy adversary.

 As the Star Force continues, Nova shows off her dress to everyone in the mess hall

Now, I haven’t seen too many women on board, and I’m sure the 22nd century military is very progressive as far as allowing people of all genders and sexualities to serve... but you’d think Nova would realize she’s flirting with danger by flirting with the crew right now.

Unfortunately for Nova, the first being to flirt back is IQ-9, which embarrasses her and she runs off. Later, IQ-9 admits to Wildstar and Conroy that he has feelings for Nova (I’m not entirely sure their hardware is compatible)

In the Captain’s quarters, Nova speaks to Captain Avatar about IQ-9′s behavior. Captain Avatar says he’ll have maintenance look at IQ-9. Just then, the ship’s alarm goes off and Venture reports the ship is approaching a habitable planet where they may be able to replenish their food supply. Captain Avatar sends Nova and IQ-9 to scout the planet.

Once IQ-9 has Nova alone on the scout craft, he figures it’s the perfect time to ask her to marry him.

I think she was a bit shocked.

Nova manages to (somehow) land the ship in (sorta) one piece, but obviously they forgot to secure their safety harnesses before taking off

If this wasn’t a kids’ show, I’d swear IQ-9 was copping a feel in this scene. Fortunately for Nova, this is anime, not hentai. The pair leave their awkwardly-parked ship and exit to scout on foot.

Meanwhile, their ship has not gone unnoticed as some of the native life forms (which resemble humanoid bees) have found it.

Meanwhile, Nova and IQ-9 have discovered what looks like an alien beehive. Nova decides to enter and investigate, where they encounter one of the bee people...

...who tells the rest of his people to capture them! Unfortunately, they’ve gone deep enough into the hive that they can’t communicate with the Argo.

The bee people take Nova and IQ-9 to the center of their hive, where the bee people are making...space honey, I guess. Nova and IQ-9 are tossed in a cell. IQ-9 somehow computes that the bee people have been enslaved by the Gamilons through their queen to make the space honey. He also computes that the bee people that captured them are a rebel faction trying to resist the Gamilons, and they think Nova and IQ-9 are Gamilons (this is why consistency is important in animation. If you recall Gamilons originally had Caucasian-like skin tone before it suddenly became blue. Also, how the hell did IQ-9 compute all that from observing the bee people for like 5 minutes?)

Meanwhile in the bee queen’s throne room, the queen asks the Gamilons for advice in dealing with the uprising, to which they say that’s her problem...unless she wants Gamilon to rule for her. Also, there’s a Gamilon tanker en route to pick up the space honey.

Meanwhile, the Argo detects the Gamilon tanker approach and Captain Avatar tells Wildstar to send out the Black Tigers (is he gonna let Conroy actually lead the squadron this time?) The Black Tigers fire rockets with a timed fuse at the tanker

Meanwhile, in the bee prison, IQ-9 computes that the rebels plan to kill them. Nova thinks IQ-9 doesn’t have to worry, since he’ll just be recycled. IQ-9 tells Nova he’s alive. So...he’s an upgraded Johnny-5?

(Thanks to Fandango)

Just as Nova and IQ-9 are having a Moment, the rebels show up to take Nova and IQ-9 to their leader

Meanwhile outside, the bee queen and her people are throwing a party, presumably to welcome their Gamilon masters in the tanker. Then the rebel leader calls for revolution, bringing Nova and IQ-9 forward. Most of the crowd think this is a great idea. The rebel leader tells the queen that if she is truly their leader, she’ll fire on the Gamilons with a laser cannon that for some reason they have handy.

The queen mans (bees?) the gun and prepares to fire, but instead shuts down the gun and tells her guards to deal with the rebels. However, just as the tanker lands...

...the timers go off on the Black Tigers’ missiles.

This steels the rebels’ resolve as they attack the queen, as well as Nova and IQ-9 (who they still think are Gamilons), but IQ-9 puts his chassis between the rebels and Nova to protect her. 

At that time, Wildstar arrives with a rescue party, but the bee people still think they’re Gamilons and attack them as well. However, the only injury is to IQ-9′s mechanical heart...

Nova tells the rescue party to fall back, while the bee people call IQ-9 a monster, which further hurts his feelings.

Later, back on the Argo, Nova tells IQ-9 that the bee people finally realized they were against the Gamilons as well and supplied them with food (including some of their space honey) IQ-9 says that, despite their differences, he still loves Nova. Nova accepts this, even though she doesn’t feel the same way.

As the Star Force continues toward Balan, General Volgar is trying to convince General Lysis to use the new weapon he’s developed...

...but Lysis isn’t having any of it. However, Volgar decides to being out the weapon anyway...

...an organic weapon mentally controlled by Volgar, which he instructs to form a giant space dinosaur he calls a Balanosaurus. Volgar wants to take his Balanosaurus to confront the Star Force, but Lysis refuses.

Speaking of the Star Force...

...Captain Avatar has once again collapsed on the bridge! The Captain is rushed to sickbay, where Dr. Sane informs the Captain he must operate on him immediately (for radiation sickness?)

Meanwhile, the Star Force closes on Balan. Volgar takes the initiative and sends the Balanosaurus after the Argo (he’ll either get a medal or a court martial for this)

Back on the Argo, Dr. Sane finishes his surgery, but isn’t sure how much it will help the Captain. On the bridge, their radar detects the Gamilons approaching and sound battle stations. With the Captain down, Wildstar and Venture argue as to whether to fight the Gamilons or run, but then Orion says they could be coming in too fast to evade them.

Volgar releases the Balanosaurus, so Wildstar makes the decision to open fire, but that merely scatters the organisms and the quickly reform.

So Wildstar orders the Wave Motion gun to fire on the Balanosaurus, destroying it. So...I’m guessing Volgar won’t be getting a medal for this.

Eventually, the Captain wakes up from the anesthesia (Does he ever take that hat off?) and the crew breathes a sigh of relief. As the Captain recovers, he commends Wildstar for his actions to save the ship.

Meanwhile on Balan, Volgar isn’t getting any commendations from Lysis. Instead he’s lucky he’ll be able to sit after Lysis chews his ass off.

[wildstar-unofficial]

I’m gonna be reblogging people’s posts looking back on WS, a year after the servers’ closure. If you don’t want to see them, they’ll be tagged “wildstar one year later”.

[rizardofether]

Introducing a new story/setting, Roadtrip Through The Stars is a Sci-Fi space setting with some characters I’ve put together from originally different settings. So far these are the main characters, here’s some more info on them:

Species:

- Rezhi is part of a rather large amount of shapeshifters from another dimension, they generally don't leave but Rezhi is adventurous and likes exploring and interracting with others, their appearance is unknown as even Rezhi's main appearance is only an approximation of what they truly look like

- Mesmer is very secretive of their species, it is unknown what they are called but they have shared some bits of information, they are lizard-like, have scaly skin, but they are adapters and can modify their bodies slightly, adding fur, giving gills or other features to enable survival in different conditions, they are also quick learners and can learn a new language completely within a day

- Pierce is a cyborg though it is unknown what species the organic parts are, as they are also extremely secretive, though as they hail from the same planet as Techwright they are most likely either human or an anthropomorphic species

- Moff is a species called moth, not like the moths on Earth however, they are simply named after them as they as people did not come up with a name for themselves, simply going by the species found on Earth, they are rather similiar in appearance to moths but have proper fur and can survive in much colder environments, have large mouths that are completely hidden when closed, they are also somewhere between carnivores and omnivores, mainly eating meat, but capable of consuming most other things if necessary

- Critz is an unknown species aswell, he himself is unaware what he is aswell, as he was found orphaned in a pod, he is capable of moving with either all four limbs or just two, he can see in the dark and due to this his eyes glow in the dark

- Techwright is an anthropomorphic lizard, they are a rather common species on their planet and have features you'd expect from them

- Ratt is a Luris, something that looks somewhere between a dog and a rat but bipedal

- Crew is a Sovereign Mind, race of hivemind-like beings with no physical forms, so they take over host bodies

Planets:

- Rezhi is from an entirely different dimension

- Pierce and Techwright are from the same planet, inhabited by anthropomorphic animals and humans

- Mesmer and Critz are from unknown planets Critz is unaware of his homeplanet, Mesmer is just secretive

- Moff is from a moth planet, only recently discovered that has no space travel

- Ratt is from Luris homeplanet, a planet with huge differences in climates, from a desert area himself

- Crew is from Sovereign Minds’ homeplanet, a dark and desolate place, they don't really live there since they conquer other planets and rule over them

Clothes:

- Rezhi's people don't have the concept of clothes and so he doesn't wear clothes unless shapeshifted into a species that does, if he were to try clothes for his real form he uses in our dimension, he would like to try fancy suits, colourful ones most likely

- Mesmer wears a body suit with a transparent poncho over it, it is unknown what other members of his species wear

- Pierce wears a black full-body suit under their armor, then a thinner layer below their actual armor (think chainmail) along with their helmet, which shows their expressions beneath their mask, though it can be programmed to show whatever they want

- Moff does not wear clothes, and neither do any of their species generally, they are adapted to not wear any and it would just get in the way, some do wear accessories, Moff wears some occasionally

- Critz has custom-made clothes for his body-shape, he mostly prefers comfortable clothes like sweatshirts and pants, for engineering he has some more suited for the job

- Techwright wears mostly coats and a large scarf around their neck which usually covers their face aswell, along with their hero job gear, tech and weapons

- Ratt wears oversized sweaters and other loose clothing along with shorts, for his mechanic job he does have more protective gear aswell

- Crew does not wear clothes as they are currently in a robot body, their people wear clothes depending on the creature they are controlling

Bonus, Character Creation Origins:

- Rezhi was first made as a Chua in Wildstar, from there I kept making them in different games, mostly the ones I played enough to have multiple characters, their palette has always been bunch of bright colours

- Mesmer I made many years ago, the name and colour palette based on the mesmer profession from Guild Wars 2, the design itself I made as an OC for Wander Over Yonder, with the purpose of making an ask blog for them, which didn't last even a day, so they became just a general alien character

- Pierce I made as an OC for Nefarious game/comic, to be a mercenary working for Crow, whose minions armor design bits can still be seen on them

- Moff I made mostly out of inspiration to have a moth character and one with a huge hidden mouth

- Critz was originally made in Star Trek Online as bit of a half-joke, extremely tiny and feral captain of a ship, later I made him in Second Life using a ghoul body, the final design is a fusion of these two, as the STO design wasn't monstrous enough

- Techwright I saw in a dream, though their design was vague beyond bits and pieces so I commissioned an artist to do the design from there

- Ratt and Crew were designed by me specifically for this setting, with Ratt's design being inspired by Invader Zim combined with a dog, not Spiral Knights Gremlin despite ending up looking like one, oops, Crew is just basically a roomba

I am currently working on this story and am very interested in brainstorming it, so if people are interested, please send me asks about it to help me brainstorm stuff for it.

[rimeforge]

grabbed a few of these from the Character solidifying meme because i wanted to do em.

1. How does your character think of their father? What do they hate and love about him? What influence - literal or imagined - did the father have?

So’theas Wildstar was a very strict man. He only had one goal with his children and that was to make them obedient and his views of “perfect”. As it stands, none of the siblings would fall under this category. For Uriel, he was too wily, too rambunctious, even in his teenage and adult life. More so the fact he did not approve of Uriel’s desire towards men. His relationship with his father, especially in later years, would become strained as a result. To this day, Uriel couldn’t say what his feelings for his father were.

2. Their mother? How do they think of her? What do they hate? Love? What influence - literal or imagined - did the mother have?

Uriel was closest with his mother. Telianna was a kind soul, one he learned his patience and understanding from. The one thing he does not agree on is how often she would try to defend So’theas’s actions and words. Uriel feels fortunate enough that Telianna still lives, given the fact they’re the only two surviving members of their family, but since his undeath has seen her barely a handful of times. He wishes he could visit more but, well, that’s pretty difficult to do when she does not recognize him and refuses to accept the boy she mourned and buried (despite not having the body to do so) still walks this land.

3. Brothers, sisters? Who do they like? Why? What do they despise about their siblings?

Uriel has two other siblings; Rhovan and Haeli. He’s got big middle child struggles. Rhovan, his older brother by a good solid hundred years, was always the one watching over them and the one who tried to protect them as much as he could from their father and his harsh words. It was also Rhovan that sparked Uriel’s interest in becoming a Farstrider. Rhovan would later die during the Troll Wars. His younger sister, Haeli, was always the quiet type unless she was around her brothers. She would go to become a magistrix, aiming for the title of Archmage, but her plans wouldn’t be seen through as she would (momentarily) give them up to raise her daughter Veia. Whenever rumor spread to Quel’thalas about Arthas’s invasion plans, Haeli was quick to take Veia to be raised in Dalaran. For years, Uriel wouldn’t hear from her. She would die in front of him later on, along with Veia, during the Purge of Dalaran.

They were all pretty close and protective of each other. They constantly argued and bickered, as most siblings do, but at the end of the day they were still family and that was more important than anything. Uriel misses them every day. He makes a point to visit their family grave site on the anniversaries of their deaths.

22. Who are their friends? Lovers? ‘Type’ or ‘ideal’ partner?

Uriel’s friend group, after the whole shebang that happened with Itillan and Von’delar, is... Damaged, to put it simply. Zatna and himself will likely not be on good terms for quite awhile. If ever again. And it still breaks his heart to think so given how close and inseparable the two were. He still feels a bit awkward around the others, Keizi and Mo’hir especially, and meetings with them are usually punctual and short for fear of more unwanted confrontation about it. At this current point in time, he’s got two friends he knows are still there for him. That being Tiria and her wife Sylmaeise.

As for lovers, Uriel’s evidently got a trend of dating those guys that match his personality. Good humored people, usually, who know how to make him laugh and smile who he knows won’t abandon him. (Well. With the exception of Von with that one, as it stands.)

23. What do they want from a partner? What do they think and feel of sex?

Honestly? He just wants someone to love. Queen intensifies? To cherish and to go on stupidly cheesy dates with.  He wants a best friend he can act a fool with without judgement (double points if they join in with him! They can be stupid together.) Sex is great and all, in his opinion, but he’d much rather focus on the romantic aspect of his relationships. The sex is just a great bonus.

On that subject, his sex drive hasn’t been as prevalent as it used to be. It could just be his working through his grief and other emotions hindering it. Every so often, at least every other week give or take, he does strike the mood to get down and dirty. In those moments, he does have a friends with benefits type deal with a fellow death knight but, really, it’s much more satisfying with a partner he’s romantically involved with rather than these flings.

25. What are their hobbies and interests?

Unsurprising to literally anybody, Uriel’s got a hobby for making cat toys for his feline friends and can often be found fiddling with leathers and other materials as he fashions them into toys. He’s also picked up engineering but he wouldn’t necessarily say it’s engineering. He just likes taking things apart, figuring out how they work, and (attempt) at putting it back together. When asked why he does this, Uriel will simply shrug and say he likes to keep his hands busy. Which isn’t entirely a lie. Keeps the hands busy and the mind focused on something other than his demons.

26. What does your character’s home look like? Personal taste? Clothing? Hair? Appearance?

He doesn’t have much by choice. Too used to losing everything or leaving everything behind. What he does have are a few mementos from Itillan and his former life, a few photos hung up near his bedside, and various feline paraphernalia. (catnip, aforementioned toys and toy scraps, treats, etc.)

32. How does your character react to stress situations? Defensively? Aggressively? Evasively?

His first instinct is usually to fight, if the situation allows for it. He’s pretty reckless in the sense he goes headfirst into danger without really giving much of a second thought about it.This has only gotten worse now that he’s alone as he doesn’t really care what happens to himself anymore. Whatever happens, he probably deserves it anyways.

33. Do they drink? Take drugs? What about their health?

Health isn’t really a concern for someone that’s, well, dead. What does a “healthy” zombie look like? He couldn’t tell you, that’s for sure. Uriel definitely drinks more than he lets on, though.

42. What does your character want most? What do they need really badly, compulsively? What are they willing to do, to sacrifice, to obtain?

Honestly, it’s been a bit weird to have Uriel end up alone. He’s always had someone, both during his life and unlife, so suddenly not having to worry about anyone but himself is... Odd both on an OOC and an IC front. i need to give him nice things he deserves. If asked this question, he would reply with the gif above.. He just likes romance, okay!

However, what he really needs is stability in his life. To make better decisions.

43. Does your character have any secrets? If so, are they holding them back?

His biggest secret that he will take to him to whatever final death may await him is the fact he killed Yasil. With no regrets. And would absolutely do it all again if given a second opportunity. He despises the fact he had to lie about it, thus painting her as a “hero” and one of the lost champions that gave her life to defending Azeroth from the Legion but. The silver lining he clings to is the fact she’s finally out of his life. Permanently.

[mecharina]

A letter to Southern Grimvault

I guess this is my ‘Good-bye to WS’ post. 

After the initial announcement of the game’s shut down two weeks ago, I haven’t had any idea how to properly express my feelings about Wildstar being close down. Seeing other people’s posts here and lurking on the many groups in discord of the news, I just felt a giant wave of sadness come over me and I couldn’t properly express that.

But I guess I’ve gathered my thoughts enough to where I’m writing this, so. It’s mostly for me, just to come in terms with everything. So take it as you will if you do read it.

P.S. It’s Long. P.P.S I’m not good at writing, so pardon for any odd phrasing or grammar lol

I used to farm the area for heartichoke (and later bloodbriar when it became more profitable) late at night w/ my mechari (To my best son, Romulus). It was a very routine thing I did when I didn’t (at the time) have a guild to partake in activities with.

Passing through Conqueror Square, around 10-11 pm PST, when the only physical activity you could see in Illium was at best, 2-4 people, was a normal sight for me as I headed to the transporters. (Rapid transport? I’m stingy) It was the end of a day for most, but the beginning for me as it was my goal, through this repeated and really obsolete method at the time, to gain more plat.

When loaded in, I put my mini-map on maximum size so I would be able to discern which crops to farm and others to stay away. (I didn’t use a mod to pin point which was which. I never had felt the need to.)  Minimized all quests windows, locking them into place so I didn’t accidentally click on them when I was moving around. I ignored nchat for the most part, but did take the occasional peek when curious. 

All the while, I would be listening to the movie “The Grand Budapest Hotel”. Why that particular movie to this map? I really have no idea, to be frank. I don’t own a physical copy of the movie. And I’m more of a fan of Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox really. But this was the movie that always played in the background as I farmed. Eventually, the movie came synonymous with this map. It was just automatic for me to put it on-- late at night, with my earphones plugged in. Any extra noise in game, except the sfx for moving around in the world, would be the only thing I would be listening to for next 2-3 hours.

As the third party host site played the movie in the background, I farmed in S. Grimvault. I definitely do not have the lines memorized by heart for this movie despite me listening to it on repeat. But I’ve connected parts in the movie as to what areas in the map I would be located at the time. The first lines, “It is an extremely common mistake: people think the writer’s imagination is always at work...” would indicate myself being near Vigilant Incursion, just before the Strain Wall event on Dommie side. I’d run up the hill and make my way around the perimeter, closes to the wall as I looked over whether or not there was something I wanted to farm there. 

“Ten? Are you joking? That’s more than I’d pay an actual dealer -- and you wouldn’t know chiarascuro from chicken giblets,” line would usually be before or about around the Charlie Company Crash area, Exile side. To “Don’t flirt with her.” approximately around the entrance to Northern Grimvault between the two Exile and Dominion outposts. If the line was heard before I past the area, meant I made good time, or if a little after, meant I needed to pick up the pace. (Why it mattered whether I hurried along with farming had no real consequence, of course I didn’t want to spend the ENTIRE night there.)

The lines were sorta like markers for me, the starting point being at the Dominion drop in, all the way around through Exile side of S.Grimvault and through the perimeter of the Strain infested areas before coming back around to Vigilant Incursion. Given this was the path I always took when farming, I took to noticing and exploring things. Only natural for me. Since no one was ever really there, save the occasional leveling player or a bot attacking at monsters. (I swore the first time I saw a bot, I thought legitimately it was a real person... In the back of my mind I kinda did hope it was a real person. Goes to show how lonesome of a person I was then lol). 

I know I could have just searched google and typed up things like “Locations of Elite Bosses in S.Grimvault” or “What areas do Champion Bosses spawn in S. Grimvault” but my intention was never to fulfill the achievement quota when I was there. Finding and fighting bosses was a side quest I gave myself when farming. (The extra gold never hurt.) And they became part of the farming routine as I gathered and found more of these bosses and where they were located. (I only ever tackled fighting the rock and strain champion bosses, the charging rhino creature and the Eldan bot were some I couldn’t last long enough to win against.)

The entire routine itself, this farming in Southern Grimvault, was something I did look forward to in the late evenings. I would probably be done around 2-3 am, willing if I didn’t stay longer. Eventually, all the prior set up just became a blur, like, you’ve done it plenty of times, so much so it goes by like ‘that.’ At this point, as I farmed, I thought about things, stuff pertaining to WS in-game, lore, or character development.

One thought I repeatedly went back to in terms of WS was the economy, that if more people played, and how heartichoke and bloodbriar would soar as hot ticket items on the market. I imagined myself to be one of those stuck-up vets (at farming) who knew all the good spots and places to gather said items, being a little greedy and garnering enough plat through this practice to reach the milestone of 1000 plat. ( A personal goal <o/ ) 

Or story ideas for my characters, coincidentally most of them concerned Rom because I always played him during these times. How he’d go to the market the next day, after rigorously spending the day/night prior harvesting these crops, how he’d haggle with merchants and make a pretty plat. How he’d send Kalua to university in Cassus, or help fund/support his brother Remus’s endeavors with the Torine. Just little plot/character ideas that came into mind at the time. 

By the time I hear the credits roll in the background, I’m back near Vigilant Incursion. Upon arriving, I make a quick visit to the renown vendor, sell my extra loot and organize decor/items I’ve gotten and head back to Illium. Most times I’d head back into housing, but recent (recent as in months before when I still farm regularly) I’d just be in Illium and log off. I’d call it a night and that would be the end of it.

I suppose, why I’m writing PARTICULARLY about this personal routine rather than the times I’ve RP’d or done raiding, or gone through the story of WS, or even the drawings I’ve done for the game... is that-

That I thought I’d always be able to come back to it. 

When I felt sad, or down, or wanted to relax after a long day, late nights farming in Southern Grimvault always gave me a peace of mind. The map was vast enough that I could spend 2-3 hours, while listening to a movie, to farm, explore, and goof around. I’d be able to process myself through this simple action of swinging giant claws at a plant or garnering a couple gold from a boss.

But now that this is something that won’t happen anymore, it’s a bit sad to think that I won’t be able to enjoy that routine. Of course there will be other things, but specifically this and the things I’ve experienced through Wildstar, a whole lot of it...

I am going to miss it. I knew it was going to be gone at some point, but I wasn’t afraid to hope a little. Just a bit more, another day, another month, a year, even longer, for content that may have come to bring it back to its feet. But in the end it didn’t. And come Nov. 28th, the game will shut down and WS will be gone. It’s my first mmo, and I guess I’ll never really get over the deal that it is over...

But as everyone has said at this point, the memories of the game, making friends, enjoying the content, how long you’ve been playing either at the beginning or near the end. It’s something to keep despite all the sadness about the news. All of that, I’m really happy to have been through, being able to meet new people, doing things, having fun. 

So, I’ll close this off saying:

Thank you, Southern Grimvault. Thanks for being a map that let me feel like an explorer and enjoying the aesthetics you had to offer with your golden fields of towering exanite to your strain infested pulsating caves.

Thanks everyone, for all the content you create and your passion that kept the game alive through the years.

And to Wildstar for its crazy sciency magical space cow-boy world that I took great enjoyment in.

The giant 10 foot robot appreciates it. 

[aldridge-asset]

8 + 3 + 13 + 20 please!

Not sure what universe/incarnation you wanted but I’ll answer where they apply best!

3. Have they ever lost a loved one? What happened to them, and are they the same as they were before they lost them?

She has indeed lost a lover. In Wildstar as a Mordesh woman, she lost her first fiance Ingvald to the Contagion without becoming Ravenous first. Over three arduous days, she remained by his side. 

Though it isn’t touched on so much in @wethatkindoforc and I’s Fallout 4 rp, Rook prior to becoming a Ghoul and coming to the US did have a few lovers. Each of these relationships lasted as long as they could, as they were part of allied tribes and constantly on the move as they passed through the area securing trade routes among other tasks. Each time, she only saw these men while they remained in her village and never returned. It’s unknown whether or not they survived post-war Canada beyond that. Cruel as it is, Rook understood what she was getting into each time but it does stick with her for her many, many years afterwards. 

8. Does your character have any enemies? If so, who and why?

As he’s also made an appearance in both her Fallout 4 and Wildstar universes, Mathias Gray is a reoccurring enemy of hers and among the few she actively fears in both settings. In Fallout, he is a renowned slaver of great power and prestige. Rook barely escapes his grasp by viciously biting his arm in a last ditch effort, where he retaliated by knocking out three teeth (the ones that would later be replaced by her metal ones) and delivering a hideous blow near her eye that left her with a very familiar scar. In Wildstar, he resumes his slaving ways but also delves into many other facets of underground activity. At one point he captures Rook and feeds her blood to a malicious artifact long hidden away but tied her family line so he could discover how it worked. Unlike his Fallout incarnation, Wildstar Gray gets what’s coming to him and is slain.

13. What does it take to make your character cry?

Knowing she is the reason her loved ones are hurt.

Across her varied incarnations, it’s always an excruciating pill to swallow. At times it is due to her position in the story, other times this is because of her innate, unending wanderlust and feral tendencies. The former is especially true for Dragon Age: Inquisition as the Inquisitor, as she leads forces and companions alike into situations where they very well may not come back. She does care for her soldiers, craftsmen, traders, etc immensely and makes personal rounds through the ranks to speak with them, to know how much she appreciates, respects and honors them all for taking up her banners. Sure, it could be said by her growing opposition that she is a bleeding heart in the most literal sense of the phrase, but a forgotten title of Embracer carries its weight across the ages indeed. 

20.  What was something they struggled with greatly and how did they overcome it? 

Once more, across her incarnations, Rook has to actively curb her instinct to pick up and leave once she’s learned everything as others become involved. She isn’t without practicality, however. The ones she deems hers will inevitably force her to put down some semblance of roots. The task then becomes how to channel her drives into other things, which is where much of her insistence to teach others comes from, along with an evolving maternal instinct. Rook is knowledgeable and earthly from her travels, but she can also understand when it’s more important for her to stay instead of go. 

[nextstarblazers]

EPISODE 19

“We all know Homer pretty well, and his outburst this afternoon sort of bothers us. He said things I’m sure he didn’t mean--but still, he did touch on what’s worrying all of us. Just what are our chances, really, of getting to Iscandar and returning to Earth with the Cosmo DNA?” -- Mark Venture

This is the last of the smaller, more personal episodes that make up the spine of the middle section of the first series of STAR BLAZERS, and it’s a good example of how the human drama was just as important, if not more important, than the space battles and pyrotechnics in the success of the show. Once again, it’s a bit blunted from its source material, but it still packs an emotional wallop, and is about greater considerations concerning faith and hope and fortitude than any other show during this time period was delivering.

The episode opens by immediately establishing its point of human drama. Homer, the Star Force’s communications officer, is at his wits’ end, and so he goes to visit Doctor Sane. He complains of a constant ringing in his ears, and he can’t eat or sleep. Recognizing the twin signs of homesickness and stress from being cooped up aboard ship for several months, Dr. Sane recommends a session in the Holography Room, a concept that had been set up in one of the earliest episodes of the show, but not touched upon since.

This was more than a decade before STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION made the Holodeck a recurring locale and plot point of its series, and it functioned in much the same way. Nova projects Holography Tapes that Homer recorded before the ship left Earth, reconstructing Homer’s home town. (Presumably, these films were made before the Gamilon bombing, as they seem to be taking place on the tranquil surface.) But when Homer sees his elderly mother gathering wood, he has a full-on emotional breakdown. Nova is mystified as to what is going on with him.

Part of Homer’s stress, it seems, may be due to a new development. Under mysterious circumstances, and despite now being 70,000 light years from Earth, the Star Force has discovered that it can once again communicate with its home planet. It’s a source of much joy among the crew as the recovering Captain Avatar calls in to Earth Defense Headquarters to update them on the Star Force’s mission (In YAMATO, a number of specific details are listed that STAR BLAZERS omits, such as the fact that their mission is presently 51 days and 61,000 light years behind special, but that by warping twice a day for a distance of 1,200 light years each time, he believes they can be back on Earth in 152 more days.) but some uncertainty to, as the crew becomes aware of just how bad conditions are currently on Earth.

Adding to this, Homer bursts into the room and has a full-on meltdown: “You’re all a bunch of idiots listening to that! What are you all doing here? Do you like being fooled? Don’t you realize no one here knows anything at all about where we’re going? Captain, have you ever been to Iscandar? Every space warp takes us further into the dark unknown! We’re on a fool’s errand, and Gamilon is waiting, and waiting, and waiting! They know all about space! They’re playing with us! They let us go a little ways, then pounce! Like a cat with a mouse! You don’t know how bad things are on Earth! They won’t tell you!” It’s a tour de force performance by Homer’s voice actor. When Captain Avatar asks Homer about the source of his information, the communications officer hyperventilates and passes out. 

Morale continues to break down for the Star Force crew that evening, when Captain Avatar invites the senior staff to dinner, to thank them for their assistance during his recovery period. Rattled by Homer’s outburst, Mark Venture takes the opportunity to voice what is running through everybody’s minds at this point: is Homer right? Is their mission to save Earth doomed? What, really, are their chances of success, alone against an overwhelmingly more powerful enemy force? STAR BLAZERS makes an interesting and positive choice here, to eliminate the upbeat cut of music that plays over Venture’s monologue in the YAMATO episode. It’s one of the few times that I can think of where the American show drops music from the soundtrack--but it lends a greater sense of weight to venture’s question.

It falls to Captain Avatar to try to put the crew’s mind at ease, even while he must be holding some of the same misgivings himself: “Venture, we’ve come this far together. It’s true we don’t know what lies ahead, but no one knows tomorrow. There are no guarantees. We know we’ve been entrusted with the life of Earth. Only the Star Force can save Earth. To do that, we must believe in a future for all of us. To do our job today. If we don’t, we’re lost. Earth is lost.” The rest of the meal passes in silence.

At this point, as they did a few episodes ago, the production team on STAR BLAZERS chooses to shuffle a few scenes from the source material, to more clearly convey what is going on. So at this point we cut (with a bad slice on the music cue) to Balan, where an aide reports to General Lysis that their communications relay satellite is allowing the Star Force to contact Earth, and that this is all a psy-ops strategy to destroy the morale of the crew (while also gathering intel about the Star Force, I’d assume.) In YAMATO, this scene doesn’t show up until much later.

As the previous music cue fades up again, we see Homer awaken in the middle of the night and make his way down to the communications room, dismissing the crewman who is on station there. With nobody else around, he contacts Earth--and specifically, the home of his elderly parents. He’s been doing this routinely, we learn--and his father is extremely ill. 

Actually, he’s quite a bit more than ill, but STAR BLAZERS cuts out the harshest portions of this next bit from YAMATO, as Homer’s mother tells him that Food is growing scarce and that riots have become a daily danger in the underground cities. In order to provide for his wife, Homer’s father went out into one of the riots to secure them food, and was terribly injured as a result. (STAR BLAZERS chalks up his conditions to fatigue from having worked so hard to build the underground cities.) 

As his mother turns the viewscreen to the bed in which her husband lies, so that he can see his son Homer one last time, Homer’s father tells him to get back to Earth, that his mother needs him--and then he dies. Again, STAR BLAZERS conceals this death, having him simply pass our--but you can see the sheet covering his face in the very last shot in this sequence, as Homer turns to discover that Wildstar has learned his secret. Almost insane, Homer bolts from the room.

Homer races to the bridge where, for some reason, Venture is the only one on duty, piloting the Argo. Homer begs Venture to turn the ship around: “Venture, we’ve got to get back to Earth! Turn around! It’s not too late yet! Please! I’ve been talking to Earth! My family--my father’s sick! My mother--s-she cried! Look, I’m begging you! We’re never gonna make it! Turn back!” Again here, Homer’s voice performer really sells the genuineness of the moment. But it’s to no avail--Venture will not chance course, and so Homer races out again, just steps ahead of Wildstar, who’s been pursuing him. 

The pair call down to Conroy on the flight deck, who saw him creeping around near the space suit lockers. YAMATO provides a bit of ill-timed fan service at this point, as Nova comes out of her room in her nightgown. She was looking out of the porthole in her cabin and saw Homer drift past, scaring the hell out of her. From here, we get a wonderful shot of the very end of the standard Argo fly-by, with Homer left in its wake, trying vainly to swim through space back home.

This is the point in YAMATO where the narrative switches to Balan and General Lysis explains about the communications satellite he’s set up to follow the Argo and allow them to communicate with Earth. STAR BLAZERS instead has another rough music cut as the Argo, amazingly, comes to a halt and the Black Tiger squadron is dispatched to fly a search patrol for their missing crewman. It’s a very human gesture, but given that the fate of all mankind is at stake, it’s a bit astonishing that the Star Force puts the mission on hold this way. 

Meanwhile, Homer is floating through space, experiencing a full-on nervous breakdown. He hallucinates the Earth in the distance and half-passes out trying to reach it. Amazingly, he floats crash-bang into the relay satellite that’s been following the ship. It’s a pretty huge stretch given the size of space (and the fact that STAR BLAZERS never establishes that the relay satellite is literally trailing the Argo) but we’ll go ahead and give it to them. Recognizing the satellite for what it is, Homer realizes the implication and the danger to the Star Force that it represents. But he has no way to contact them. (You might think that, being the communications officer, he could use this enormous transmitter he’s sitting on to send them a message. But no such luck.)

Fortunately for Homer, Wildstar comes across him just a few minutes later. Now snapped back to reality by his discovery of the relay satellite (YAMATO spends a few seconds and some repeated footage in making Homer’s sudden recuperation feel more earned) Homer tells Widstar what the satellite is all about, and they destroy it using the guns in Wildstar’s fighter.

Communication with Earth is now once more cut off, but perhaps that’s for the best. “Our next message, we’ll be on our way home, “ says Homer, “with good news from Iscandar!” It’s quite a turn-around for the young officer, whose language almost makes him seem a bit Born Again. But it makes for an upbeat ending, and that’s what’s called for her. As the pair and the rest of the rescue team returns to the Argo, narration tells us that there are still only 255 days remaining for all life on Earth, so the mission must go on!

[eldanseeker]

I don’t really know what these screenshots are, except some expression of my feelings right now. The hidden shrine near Seeker’s lab is as close to a place of reverence and contemplation as Seeker ever gets; and to me as the player, it’s a calming place to just park my character for a little while as I think.

When I first started playing WildStar almost two years ago, I had difficulty getting into it, coming from a more fantasy-focussed RP and MMO background. But now, trying to process that the game will be shutting down, it’s incredibly distressing to think that one day soon there will be a day when I just... won’t be able to log on, admire Seeker’s outfits, greet my RP friends, and see which of them left me a surprise on my housing plot because I never revoked their building permissions.

I’ve enjoyed nearly everything about WildStar - the lore, the combat, the storylines, and especially the housing and RP aspects. I’ve forged such strong friendships with people I met in this game, and spent far too many hours building my three housing plots. This game and the people in it got me through the six month aftermath of a horrific car accident. And today I cried unashamedly when I heard the news of its fate.

I know these characters, these stories, will continue, and I’ll still be just as in touch with my RP buddies as I am now. But I’m not going to deny the sadness I’m feeling right now. Visually, immersively, when it comes to my experience with this game as a roleplayer, I don’t think it can be replaced. So yes, I’m grieving now, because I need to. And later, when I’ve processed things, I’ll be looking forward to discovering how Fantastic Enterprises will be moving forward into a new future.

Regardless of the different ways people are looking at this and reacting to it - we all deal with things in our own ways - I am truly grateful to be a part of this community; roleplayers and builders and artists and writers who have all come together to share their ideas and passion for an amazing game. You’ve made the remarkable world of WildStar even more vibrant and expansive and I thank you for sharing it with all of us.

[mathemagiks]

Hey, so I might not be in the game until later today... or maybe even not at all today, or maybe very briefly. Today is the shut-down day of my first ever MMO and I’m going to be there for that. 

But... god it’s just so surreal in the worst way. I haven’t been in the MMO scene very long. I literally started playing them only four years ago. I’ve never had to go through watching your favorite games go. And as much as I’ve been gung-ho into 14 and making a new home for myself there, WildStar was my first home, and where I’d wander back to. I need to see it off, even if it kills me.

Bonus first-ever-incarnation-of-Ehn (then called N) and Rascal under the cut.

N (and his player) started off in WildStar, and while he wasn’t the first toon I rolled, he was admittedly the one that got me started into this whole MMO RPing mess, and the one people know me best as. He was an aurin, and a class called an Esper (since the pet class in this game was an engineer and their robots). Rascal was a vind, and still just as goofy.

[rhenal]

The trials of a Nexus Archivist

          Or, my personal WildStar preservation project

In the weeks leading up to the shutdown of the WildStar servers, I went back to the game in no small part on order to finish a project I had begun not long before I stopped playing about a year before. (My playing of the game was mainly fragmental. I played quite intensely for about a month or three, then I dropped off the face of Nexus for a year or more - much like I do with my Tumblr. I think it has something to do with my whole ADHD + Aspergers deal. It makes your brain things weird and inconsistent.) It was a thing mainly for myself and a dear friend of mine, who didn’t play the game much but was in absolute love with the world and its lore, just as I was. 

This project was as simple as it was sizeable: Find and document every single Datacube in the game. This took the form of copying down the text-form content of all datacubes - from both factions - into one single text document, sorting the cubes after author. As one could not mark and copy the text from the game’s lore window, I did this manually.

I could not really look them all up on wikis either, because despite there being a total of three WildStar wikis (to my knowledge), not a single one had much of anything on any content released after the game’s initial release. This meant that quite a few cubes and their content were things that - to my then-current knowledge - I could only find in game.

This ended up being quite an undertaking, as you might imagine. Especially as one of the Arcterra cubes - from the last real story update and therefore the LEAST likely to be found outside of the game - was locked behind a 20-man event that could only trigger about once every two hours or so, within a 10-15 minute window of time. This was an event that no one played anymore.

My inability to get at this particular cube was quite frankly a key factor in why I stopped playing until this last month or so of the game’s lifespan. In hindsight, this makes me even sadder. I missed a lot. But that’s life, isn’t it.

Either way, as luck would have it, on the very first day that I returned, I asked the one person still actively playing at the time in the one circle I was part of if she happened to have it unlocked.

She wasn’t much of a lore hound. She wasn’t by any means disinterested, but it was far from her main interest with the game. But as it happened, she had it. And she was kind enough to take the time to write it down in the chat, so I could add it to my text collection.

It was, frankly, the happiest day of, like, the entire month for me, at the very least. 

And of course, not an hour later, that one event I was talking about was triggered, and people played it, and I actually got to the cube. Just perfect, no?

Still. I absolutely credit her, Aurora Azuray, for allowing me to get that one, seemingly impossibly to get cube, event be damned. 

In the end, I managed to get them all. Every single cube in the entire game, all gathered up into a single 87-page text document. And by that point, I still had about three weeks left, So I decided to go a bit further - gather all of the TALES magazines and the Secret Ops/Enigma Chamber reports as well. And I did.

And right on the very last day of WildStar, on November 28, that was when I learned of the WildStar RP community. A very, very passionate, lore-loving community. Who have already, to my knowledge, compiled all of this and more, and have for years. I gotta say, I felt a bit cheated. And not even mostly because it now felt like all of my work had been pretty much pointless - though that was certainly part of it - but because here was this big, sprawling RP community that I, as a Housing enthusiast, had been living pretty much right next door to, and would have LOVED to be part of, but I had no idea. And that.... That just sucks so much, you know?

But after all that, do you know what was the most difficult part in all of this? The most challenging part of putting together this entire collection of lore that I have now gathered, and aim to upload on AO3 as soon as I just fine-tune a few things? It was the simple fact that WildStar, being an American game, had all its lore written in American English. I’ve always been taught to write in British English. 

Do you? Have ANY IDEA?! HOW MANY TIMES!?! I HAD TO CORRECT MYSELF!?!? HOW MANY WORDS I HAD TO RE-WRITE!?!?!  ALL BECAUSE OF THAT ITTY-BITTY DETAIL!?!?! DoOOoO YooOouUU!?!?!

Because it’s a lot.

[datela-vodenit]

A Night Out (1/3)

Heyo~! This was an RP between Mecharina and I!

I’m uploading this in 3 parts just because of the sheer length of this rp. This first part’s going in the Wildstar tag, but the other two parts will be kept out of the tags and on my blog.

Kalua belongs to @mecharina

Also, I glanced over this fic while transcribing it, so if there are an abundance of errors... I apologize deeply.

Without further ado, enjoy!

It wasn’t unlike Taren to be so cheerful, Davvik knew that well. However, observing Taren these last few days has been quite… an interesting experience. The aurin seemed happen, yet he talked with a distant tone, as if barely listening to whatever Davvik had to tell him. And for the first time in years, Taren was actually sleeping at a normal time. Something was off. 

In the evening, Taren was frantically pacing about the house, messing with his hair and patting down his clothes. Davvik watched him, perched on his cushioned seat with his arms crossed over each other. He raised a brow as the aurin stopped to take a look at his wrist comm. Suddenly, the boys ears perked up and he sprinted towards the exit of their house. Davvik nearly tripped over himself trying to catch him - he was fortunate enough that Taren still had a tail at this point. He caught the hairy appendage, Taren whipping around in a fright. He took one look at Davvik’s hand and his expression turned to one of annoyance. “What? What is it?” He exclaimed, pointing towards the door. “I kind of have to be somewhere, Dad!” “Mind telling me where first?” Davvik grumbled out, still keeping a firm grip on his son’s tail.

Taren groaned, eyes shifting from the ground, to the door, to his father, and back again. He sighed loudly and set his hands on Davvik’s, looking at up him. “I’m meeting up with those friends I told you about! Look, let me go, please! I’m losing time as we speak!” Taren slipped onto his knees for dramatic effect and gazed up at his father with puppy eyes. “Please?”

He knew what Taren was doing, ever since he was a kid, he’d do this whenever he wanted something very badly… and it worked most of the time. Davvik sucked in a breath and looked down to his son with an incredulous look. He had promised Taren before that he’d start giving the aurin some space and allow him to lead a life without Davvik constantly doting him. So he let go of Taren’s tail and gave him a small wave to shoo him off. Taren’s watery eyes turned bright as he dashed towards the door once more, “I’ll see you later tonight! Love yah, Dad!” As the door shut and the sound of Taren’s hoverboard started growing fainter, that’s when Davvik had gone out the door as well in pursuit of his son. Taren’s fluttery behavior was not normal for sure, but it felt very familiar to Davvik. He could only hope that his suspicions would be wrong.

Kalua settled on a stone bench within the entertainment district of the city. It wasn't too often she found herself in that particular part of Hei Xing, but noted to herself to make that change. What with its plush walk through gardens and clean walkways - it reminded her a bit of Illium, and in turn, gave a sort of comfort one finds themselves to latch onto in unfamiliar places.  After the debacle back in the restaurant-bar a couple of nights ago, Taren and she had walked around the city, curious of what else it had to offer. Through its high volume of crowds and bright lights, the two managed to settle their eyes on the pyramid shaped building from their spot near one of the platforms overlooking the area around the building. At her suggestion, the two planned another meeting to enjoy the shows offered there, but not before having a bit of fun of course. Stretching her arms outward, Kalua gave her surroundings a once  over. She had texted Taren of her arrival and was waiting patiently for her little furry friend. Golden yellows scanned the area once more before she settled her attention to her communicator, the little mechari keychain dangling under it. "...Tareeeeeeen where are youuuu?" She says, faintly sing song.

Taren rounded the corner and shot towards the entertainment district of Hei Xing. He was glancing down at his comm and back up, making sure he wasn’t running people over with his hoverboard. “Damn it,” He cursed to himself. “Dad really cut my time short with that whole tail grab move!” The time given on his comm said he was 30 minutes late. He grumbled and lowered his wrist, finding out he was headed straight towards a bench. Taren yelped and tried slowing down, the edge of his board scraping the surface of the ground. It was to no avail as he was sent over the bench and barreling towards the ground. He tucked himself in and rolled a ways away before leaping back up onto his feet… in front of Kalua. He stared at her for a moment, a blush plastered on his cheeks. He gave a nervous chuckle and went to lean on the bench, trying to act like all that was meant to happen. “So, Kalua! Kept yah waiting?” He chittered, sending a finger gun at the drakeness.

She only had looked to him with wide eyes at the... arrival. Kalua could brought herself to smile brightly, laughing a little at his antics. She shook her head towards him, bringing a finger to his forehead and poked it with affection. Her tail swaying some behind her along the space between the bench and the colorful hedge filled with flowers. "Not at all. Well," she paused a moment, adding to it, "A tiiiiiiny bit. But it's no big deal really." Kalua kept her eyes on him, seeing how a bit frazzled he was. "You sure like making big entrances! I just don't know where you're gonna appear, then BAM all of a sudden, there you are!" She tucks a little bit of hair behind her ear, continuing. "It's fun."

Rubbing the back of his neck, Taren gave her a wide grin and chuckled lightly, "Oh, you know, gotta make my presence known! Besides..." He stepped back a ways and began flexing his arms in a feverish display. "Who wouldn't want to stare at this paragon of power!" Taren mentally patted himself on the back for that usage of "paragon." --- Davvik had arrived at Hei Xing, a look of worry in his eyes. This may have been a stunning city, but it was also filled with dangerous opportunities around each corner. He trekked up a bridge, seeing his son head towards the entertainment district of the city. He quickly spotted his son and leapt towards a steel wall and peeked around its corner. Taren was... flexing his biceps in front of a... draken! Davvik pulled himself back, his eyes wide with shock. What was Taren doing with a draken? Flexing in front of her no less! He seemed happy and enjoying himself so far, but... Taren was known for getting into trouble without even realising he's in it. Davvik craned his neck around the corner, ignoring the judgmental eyes of passerby. He had to observe them further...

       ---

Kalua watched Taren as the aurin presented to her his muscular fortitude. To say she wasn't impressed was far from it-- blinking once. Twice. She was surprised, despite the aurin's short stature, she had not seen one like Taren with such a physique. Not that she had hung around aurin that much, still, she was quiet, taking the time to look before a smile appeared on her lips. "Wow! You're certainly not lying," Kalua rested her hands on her lap, leaning in her upper body towards the aurin. "Iiiiis it okay to touch? Or are they only for showing?" She teased.

Taren’s ears perked, his face now coated with a tint of pink. That’s something no one had asked him before surprisingly... or perhaps they were too afraid to ask in fear of his father. He paused his show of guns, looking between his bicep and Kalua’s bright expression. “I- uh, well...” he sputtered, trying to figure out if she was joking or not. Regardless, he approached her further and held out his muscly arm to her. “I mean... go ahead...” He mumbles as if failing to sound like he was teasing back.

The smile on Kalua's lips only widened and she shuffled herself a bit on the bench before moving a hand to his offered arm. Clawed, but slender fingers moved to somewhat rest against the muscle. She cants her head, curious of how it felt, as she moved her hand down his arm, stopping at the wrist before going back to the bicep. "They're so firm!!" Her smile hadn't waned at all during this, she looked even more astonished than before. "You must have worked so hard to get these, Taren- What kind of regiment did you do? It must have been intense." Kalua gently presses a thumb to the smooth curve of his arm. Taren was definitely different than most aurin.

His blush grew tenfold. Taren didn’t actually think she would go for it! His arm twitched noticeably, but he didn’t remove it has her claws glided over his arm. He coughed into his free hand and straightened himself out as she continued to glance at every corner of the appendage. Kalua was definitely not like most draken he had met, surprisingly not bloodthirsty or roaring into a fit of rage. She was... bright, bouncy, and touching his arm. Thinking back on his training, he remembered taping a draken’s face to a punching bag and wailing on it - a surprising yet effective tactic that Taren should leave out of his explanation... “Well, you know,” he began, trying to look elsewhere but her. “I’ve been doing this since I was a kid! You see, I started out with-“ —- Davvik observed the draken touching Taren’s arm, shocked that his son would even allow it! He remembered all the times Taren would burst into his room, crying about another nightmare with draken chasing him down halls and breathing fire with glowing eyes. And yet here he his, letting some strange draken lady feel up his arm!  Davvik resisted the urge to get up and confront the two, it would have to wait till later. He held his position, hands resting over his pistols... —- “- and then it starts over again with another run the next day!” Taren finishes, a smile of pride on his face.

"Wow!" At this point, Kalua had stopped her curious touch at his arm, both hands settling back onto her lap as she looked to Taren with genuine attention to his physical endeavors with training. "You do a whole lot just to keep and shape- and improving. That's really admirable, Taren, being so committed to grow and improve."  Moving herself up, Kalua stood to stretch a moment before promptly placing her hands on her hips, pumped up by Taren's enthusiasm, she felt ready to tackle the day's activities. Her golden gaze laid rest to her short friend, that smile ever present on tender lips. "Your enthusiasm is so infectious- I'm even more excited about this evening!" She exclaimed. "There's some time before the show starts, so we have time to kill~"

Taren had smiled at her compliments. It wasn't very often that people asked him about how he trained himself. Her words felt even better with her gleaming expression... "Perfect!" Taren shouts alongside her, pumping his fists into the air. "What did you have in mind then? An evening stroll, grab a bite to eat, going to the marketplace?"

"Why not all three?" Turning into one direction in particular, one that led toward the bustling evening market. Kalua gestures to Taren with excitement, wanting him to follow her as she led their little duo through the crowded path. Each step the drakeness took seem to have a bit of a skip, her tail bouncing along with her movements. Turning her head one way at the shout of an excited salesmen selling jewels, claimed to in the deep trenches of Malgrave's oceans- whipping her eyes another way as a ekose woman yelled out a finished order, a plate of deliciously delectable food. "It's so exciting isn't?? You don't really see things like this on the Arkships..." She says aloud enough for Taren to hear.

Taren watches her walk eagerly to the marketplace before following her there, his own tail wagging excitedly. He gazed at the many cramped storespaces, making sure he kept a steady pace with Kalua. He twitched in surprise, shifting his attention back to the drakeness. "Wait wait wait," He sprinted in front of her, walking backwards with a look of awe. "You got to be on an Arkship?" --- The mordesh grunted in frustration as the two left in a hurry towards the marketplace. What was she taking him there for? He heard something about a "show" but nothing else. Regardless, he walked lightly after them, making sure to keep out of their sights. To say the least, it wouldn't be hard hiding in a crowd such as this. He was at a reasonable distance behind the two before Taren started running in front of the draken, where he would definitely see Davvik. The mordesh frantically looked everywhere for a possible hiding spot. He spotted a spare hat, snatching it and placing it over his head and ears. He looked away, pretending to peruse the hat shop he had stumbled upon, glancing every now and then to his son. "Very good find you have, sir!" Davvik flinched as the lopp storekeeper spoke to him. He put on a menacing look, the poor lopp's ears dropping down in fear. "Eh heh... Happy store browsing then!" the storekeeper sputtered out before turning to another customer. Davvik rolled his eyes, the pair were shrinking further and further away from him. This was more difficult than he initially thought. He set his hat disguise back on the counter and continued along the pathway carefully.

---

Kalua slowed her pace in order to not to just run into Taren as he moved to sprint in front of her. She only grinned at his obvious awe, bringing a hand to tuck some hair gently behind her ear. "Yeah! A few times. You look at me like I've seen everything on it," she chuckled. Moving in such a way that her friend had not the need to constantly be in check of the people walking behind him. In the corner of her eye she sees a sign for caramelized treats and stops. Gesturing with her hand to him, the two gather at the stall, candies wrapped in colorful plastics and artisan boxes filled to the brim with other forms of candy. "My..." she wasn't too sure how much she should share about THAT side of her life, specifically of her father's position as a high ranking commanding officer. Which allowed her to visit when fancy gala balls and dinners were held up there. Kalua stalled a bit, asking for a free sample of one of those caramelized glow-melon bits. Handing one of them to the aurin. "My job let's me go to the arkship on occasion." That technically wasn't a lie. Throwing the sample into her mouth, she chewed slowly, before making a very contented sound at the flavor dancing through her taste buds. "Have you not been on one before? Gambler's Ruin?"

Taren shook his head lowly, "No, I've spent my 18 years on some dusty trade ship, hauling cargo." He plucked the treat from Kalua's fingers and gandered at it, continuing with a miffed tone, "Alongside that, most of our crew were mercenaries that went on exploration missions or downed the rare dominion ship we would come across. But me? I was stuck in the loading bay checking ion canisters or oiling the valves on some ship I already checked eight times!" He began walking away from the storefront, about to place the candied piece in his mouth when a crash from a store a ways from him caught his attention. Taren's ears drooped, squinting his eyes as an ekose store owner started shouting at someone, the only thing visible of said person was a boot sticking out of a pile of homemade baskets and chairs. Rolling his eyes, he flicked the candy in his mouth and turned to Kalua, "Anyways, I'm just glad I'm far away from that ship and out here!" --- Davvik had not treaded carefully enough. He had his eyes set on the draken, watching to see if she'd try anything on Taren at the treat shop. However, he had run himself into a tower of baskets, stumbling over a row of chairs and being buried under them. He could hear the store owner cursing at him "Watch where you're going!"  or "It took me weeks to make those!" All that didn't matter to Davvik, as long as Taren didn't notice him. There was a gap where Davvik could spot Taren, seeing the aurin looking his way. He held his breath for a moment as Taren stared towards him... his son looked away, disinterested. He let out a sigh of relief.

---

Kalua had already finished her sample by that point and was about to buy a small bag of the treat. Handing a couple of silver to the owner before giving her thanks. Her eyes flickered from the commotion of baskets as well but were promptly put back to Taren at his explanation. "One dusty cargo ship- you should be glad to be out of there!" The expression on her face showed genuine surprise at the amount of years on just one ship. Thinking to herself she couldn't last that long, a year maybe but- Taren was amazing on his part for having lived through what seemed monotony. "Goodness, Taren- I wouldn't know how'd you manage something like that..." another thought formed into her head. "Wait, so are you 18 years old?"

Kalua pointing at him curiously. If she were to admit it, she thought he was much younger... maybe because he was short.

Taren nodded to her comment about the ship as he continued his way down the marketplace strip. His head jerked back with her question about his age. “Wh- Well, I’m actually 19-“ he paused his sentence, slowing down his pace to a stop. He held his hands in the air and closed his eyes. As he opened them her turned to her, a confused look with a hint of offense, “What- how old do you think I am?”

There's much silence. Kalua's eyes darting between him and their surroundings. Her tail behind her sweeping slow, indicating how she felt. Her smile, a mix of flustered, embarrassed, and  hint of guilt as well, wavered along her face. "...B-Between fifteen and sixteen..." Her voice is a bit high as she spoke, her hands brought up to fidget.

Taren's eyes widen and his ears lower. His brows furrowed as he looks over his body to catch a glimpse of any indication of how he could be... that young. He doesn't help his case as he begins to whine, "Wh- How do I look fifteen?! I look nothing like a fifteen year old!" He wanders closer to her, practically on his toes, trying to match her height. "Just look at me, I look so mature! The beard, the muscles, my height-!" He blinks in realization, gazing down at his short stature compared to Kalua. "It's because I'm short, isn't it?"

Kalua was silent. Though her eyes spoke volumes as she shrugged from side to side in a meekly fashion, while still fiddling with her fingers. Seeing Taren's downed expression, Kalua quickly tries to make up for the situation,  having now moved her nervous widdling to determined fists. "B-But! I was wrong! Absolutely wrong to think that of you, Taren." She nodded her head rapidly, wanting to properly do this. "I apologize for assuming things about you like that, I-I guess it goes to show how much I know about Aurin." Kalua emitted a weak chuckle, but nodded once more for good measure, adding to the emphasis, her lips caught up in a determined line. "You are most absolutely mature- and, and I shouldn't just jump to conclusions about someone I don't know a lot about." Kalua's gaze sent downward before peeking under her bangs, golden yellows contrasting to the shade of white. "Could you forgive me...?”

Taren drew himself back, surprised at the draken's manners again. He should be used to it by now, but it's just so strange seeing a draken acting so kind. He held a hand up, moving it towards her arm. Reluctantly, he placed the open palm on her forearm and said, "I-It's fine! Don't worry about it!" He switched to a lighter mood and gave her a smile. "I mean, I get that all the time anyways. People always think I'm some sort of baby, like I can't even take care of myself." He muses, pacing a few feet away from Kalua. "I know my dad always gives me that kind of trouble. He never gives me the space I need." The aurin scratches the back of his head, looking at the ground for a moment. He turned back to the drakeness, putting the wide grin back on, "Again, don't worry about it! Now you know I'm a gen-yoo-ine adult!" He points to a shop filled with extravagant clothing, "Hey, come on, let's check this stand out!" --- Davvik had recovered himself from the basket pile, and managing to get the store owner off his back, before disappearing into the shadows once more. He kept his eyes on his son, who seemed like he was trying to calm the draken in some way. Did he rile her up or something? He couldn't tell much, but he hid behind  a curtain, watching out for any stray baskets he knocked to the ground.

---

Kalua can't help but smile, eagerly nodding her head to his suggestion. The two coming over to the stall he had mentioned, Kalua couldn't help but be dazzled at the explosion of colors that flooded her gaze. Blues dancing away through accents of gold and green. Royal violets, soothing and luscious with hints of silver pattern speckled throughout the fabric of the dress. "Wow... these are so well made-" her eyes widen to the tag. Muttering under breath, "-and so much cheaper than in Illium...."

Taren chuckled, "You got that right!" He dashed towards a rack of short shirts, looking like it was vomited on by a mother's scrapbook. All the beads and plastic jewels clacked together as Taren held it up to Kalua. "Definitely wouldn't find shirts as eccentric as this back at your capital!" The aurin joked as he shook the shirt, a smile on his face. He held up the shirt close to his hair next to the beads on his head, "But it matches with me!" Taren lowered it from his head and gave it a curious smile, humming to himself in thought. "I wonder..." He mumbled. Hoisting the shirt up over his head, Taren wriggled his arms through the holes, managing to get his arms through. However, when the shirt got to his head... "Uhm... I'm stuck." Taren grumbled, his words muffled through the technicolor fabric, his ears drooping out the top.

Kalua had turned attention from the clothes before her view to her side. Observing the obvious conundrum Taren was in, she couldn't help but let out a suppressed chortle, setting down the shirt she was holding back onto the table, soon joining her friend. "It looks like it-!" She chimes, a hint of a giggle in her voice. "Need some help?" Assuming he wanted to put it on properly. "Maybe the hole is too small..." She hummed.

Taren's ears perked He backed away from her, holding his hands up while shouting, "No no no! I got this! Give me a second!" He tried wriggling his arms every which way he could. The hair on his tail was standing up, trying his best not to rip the shirt. The aurin was bumping around the stands, disturbing some customers along the way too - they all gave him dirty and confused looks as they watched him struggle. "Hold on! I got it!" He yiped, nearly falling onto his backside.

Kalua quickly tried to side step him, reaching her arm in support- just in case he did fully fall. "Taren, just let me-!" She quickly moves her hands to what she could discern to be his shoulders through the fabric. Gripping firm, but not so much to surprise the young aurin. Accompanied by an apologetic glance to those around them, she settled her focuses back on Taren. "Pleaaase... can I help just with this ooone little thing? Pleaase?" She tried using her best cutesy voice, which tended to work with a lot of people.. if done properly.

---

Davvik craned his head around a curtain, spying on the whole situation - his eyes widened. From his perspective, it looked like the draken was smothering him with a shirt! The mordesh's expression grew to one of rage. On impulse, he went for his pistol and aimed towards the struggling two... --- "No really, I can do this!" Taren shouted as he tried prying himself from Kalua's grip. He had to give it to her, she was holding on pretty tight. Suddenly, the sound of a gunshot rang through the air, startling Taren enough to rip himself out of the shirt. He heard the customers yelp and the sound of both him and Kalua falling onto the ground. When he came to, he sat up, watching the crowds look every way to find the source of the shot, but nothing had been seen. Taren noticed him and Kalua had not been hurt, with the exception of a singed shirt. "Shhhhhhhoot..." Taren hissed in shock. He padded his way towards Kalua and patted her shoulder shakingly, "U-Uh... how about we go grab that bite?" --- Davvik ducked behind and alley way, clutching his pistol to his chest, his expression wide with disbelief at what he had just done. He had aimed to stun the draken, but with Taren struggling so much, he was afraid he'd end up hurting the boy instead. So he hesitated and ended up shooting just as the draken was stretching out the shirt. Slapping a palm over his face, he decided he should stick further to the shadows for a while before he goes back to observing Taren and this... stranger…

--- She had her hands on her head, blinking once the loud bang had soon receded, but the obvious commotion of the crowd talking about the incident caught her senses. Kalua stiffened a little, with the sudden contact to her shoulder, but relaxed once she saw the familiar face of her aurin compatriot. "Y-yeah, I'm sure there's like... hundreds of food stands around," she managed to say without too much stutter. Sitting up and soon standing, Kalua helped Taren up to his feet. She pressed a hand to her chest, the pitter pattering of her heart subsiding some as she calmed down. "Let's continue on this way, yeah?"

[fancoloredglasses]

Star Blazers: The Quest for Iscandar (episodes 23-25: Iscandar and Beyond)

[All images copyright Claster Television Productions, Sunwagon Productions, and Academy Productions. Please don’t sue me]  

PREVIOUSLY ON STAR BLAZERS...

Earth has been hopelessly irradiated by a race known as the Gamilons, and in one year’s time, even the underground cities the survivors have fled to will be unlivable.

The people of Earth have been sent a message from Queen Starsha of the planet Iscandar, a planet 148,000 light years away.  She has sent Earth plans for a Wave Motion Engine to assist them in coming to Iscandar to retrieve a device known as the Cosmo DNA, which is capable of removing the radioactivity.

The Wave Motion Engine has been installed on a converted WW2 Japanese battleship known as the Yamato (rechristened the Argo) and crewed with an inexperienced team of volunteers known as the Star Force, commanded by Captain Avatar.

The Star Force has defeated a Gamilon fleet that was tasked with destroying them. They are now on the edge of the Great Magellanic Cloud, the galaxy that is home to Iscandar.

As the Argo enters the Magellanic Cloud, their navigation instruments begin malfunctioning, pointing them to a different heading than they are going. Sandor says there’s nothing wrong with them, so it’s coming from an outside source (gee, I wonder who...)

Homer checks for a signal, and finds out it’s not the Gamilons, but Starsha of Iscandar! Starsha congratulates the Star Force on nearly completing their journey (well, half of it anyway; they still need to get back to Earth) and tells them to follow her homing signal to the eighth planet in the system.

Later on the observation deck, Wildstar and Nova pose for a picture with the Magellanic Cloud in the background.

(Isn’t it cute that they thought we’d still be using cameras with film in the 22nd century?)

Nova calls the event their first date, which is a bit of a shock to Wildstar.

Meanwhile, the signal from Iscandar suddenly stops. Wildstar wonders what the issue is, since they still have the navigation heading. Then Venture tells him that there are two planets in the eighth orbit.

Suddenly, the blue planet vanishes (Homer guesses it’s due to jamming, but how can jamming a radio signal make part of a visual disappear?) and Eager reports incoming missiles!

Wildstar orders the ship’s guns to shoot down the missiles, but a number get through and cause a metallic cloud to form around the Argo, causing the ship’s instruments to go haywire as Venture tells Orion to stop the engines.

Wildstar doubts his ability to command as a result, but orders Conroy to fly out and get samples from the missiles’ debris (FINALLY! Conroy gets to do his job!)

Once Conroy returns, Sandor analyzes the missile fragments, deducing they are Gamilon in origin. Wildstar wonders if the Gamilons are on Iscandar, while Sandor offers two theories: either the Gamilons are occupying Iscandar...or working with them!

Yeah...that’s my reaction too, Wildstar.

Suddenly, Wildstar remembers there are two planets out there, coming to the conclusion that one is Iscandar...and the other is Gamilon! (OK, so why the hell are the Gamilons attacking a backwater planet 148,000 light years away? There’s GOT to be closer planets to pick on!)

Meanwhile at the capital of Gamilon (which is revealed by be under the surface of the planet), Leader Desslok receives a call from Queen Starsha, who chastises Desslok for attacking her guests. Desslok reveals that both Gamilon and Iscandar are doomed planets. Desslok is planning on colonizing Earth once the radiation does its job (again, Earth is 148,000 light years away. There HAS to be someplace a hell of a lot closer. Hell, they could’ve colonized Balan!) She then mocks Desslok for not being able to defeat a single battleship from that backwater planet (neglecting to mention that she gave them the means to create their most dangerous weapon)

Desslok then gives his people exposition that they should already know: Due to the volcanic nature of Gamilon, there are two crusts with a hollow space between (where the Gamilons live) Gamilon’s volcanic core is becoming unstable, belching sulfurous compounds into the air and sea, turning their waters into sulfuric acid. For this reason, they are seeking a new home on Earth (you’d think if they asked nicely then Earth would’ve welcomed the Gamilons, especially if they shared their tech)

Desslok then reveals his latest scheme: he will use a giant magnet beam to pull the Argo (now surrounded by the magnetic missile debris) into Gamilon’s seas, then alter the weather to make sulfuric acid rain down on the Argo, dissolving the ship. So Desslok is now stealing tech from Wile E. Coyote?

(Thanks to Connor Ratliff)

Meanwhile on the Argo, Wildstar questions Starsha’s motives (you’d think Earth Defense would be doing that before the Argo even left Earth) when Starsha contacts the Argo, confirming that Iscandar and Gamilon are twin planets.

Later in Captain Avatar’s quarters (where the Captain is now spending most of his time due to his radiation sickness), Wildstar briefs the Captain on the day’s events. Captain Avatar reminds Wildstar that the Gamilons stand in their way of reaching Iscandar.

Suddenly, the ship is rocked as the Gamilons’ magnetic beam pulls the Argo under the outer crust of Gamilon.

The Argo makes a splash landing in the Gamilon sea. Wildstar orders IQ-9 to analyze the sea, but...

...apparently IQ-9 forgot to fasten his seat belt. While Nova and Sandor reassemble IQ-9, a storm starts over the Argo. Once he’s reassembled, IQ-9 tells Wildstar they’re in a sea of sulfuric acid and will dissolve the ship. Venture immediately tells Orion to hit full thrust on the engine so they can get out of it, but...

...the supports for the newly-repaired Bridge #3 are weakened enough that it falls off, now destroyed for the second time in as many episodes. Sandor reports the rain is also sulfuric acid. Then, as if things weren’t tense enough, Eager reports incoming bombs from above!

Then the narrator chimes in, signaling one hell of a cliffhanger!

When we tune in the following day (the station I watched the show on followed a M-F airing) the Gamilons continue to up the ante by launching missiles.

Meanwhile, Desslok orders General Krypt to intensify the storm (since their gunners can’t hit the broad side of a broadside)

Unsure what to do, Wildstar comes to see Captain Avatar, who advises Wildstar to submerge the Argo (he estimates the hull is thick enough to survive 10 minutes underwater...err, underacid) and use the Wave Motion Gun on one of the volcanoes to trigger a chain reaction violent enough to distract the Gamilons so that the Argo can escape.

The crew is, to say the least, apprehensive about this plan, but follows Wildstar’s lead as IQ-9 scans for a volcano powerful enough to pull off this insane plan.

As the acid starts dissolving the extremities of the ship, IQ-9 finds the Argo’s target. Wildstar fires the Wave Motion Gun...

The blast sets off the volcano, which was connected to other volcanoes that also erupt violently, destroying the nearby Gamilon city. Desslok looks at the results of his plan...

...and loses his mind, cackling madly at this absurd turn of events as he realizes he doomed his own planet with his obsession, but at least he destroyed the Star Fo--

...nice try Desslok!

Desslok, still coming back to reality, thinks it’s a ghost ship, but orders all missiles to fire on them. General Krypt tries to reason with Desslok before he actually does destroy Gamilon. However, Desslok has well and truly gone full-on Elmer Fudd on Bugs Argo.

On the Argo, Sandor gives the laundry list of damage reports to Wildstar as Eager reports every Gamilon missile heading their way.

Wildstar orders all functioning guns to shoot down as many missiles as possible. Unfortunately there are more missiles than guns, so the Argo continues to take damage. Then Wildstar comes up with a so-crazy-it-might-work plan: fly the Argo into the center of their command center so any stray missiles will damage them as well.

The explosions from the stray missiles destabilizes the support pillars holding up the outer crust, causing it to collapse.

Desslok’s command center is destroyed and he is barely able to reach an escape craft as the Star Force limps off to Iscandar.

Speaking of the Star Force, they once again take heavy losses in this battle with the Gamilons as Wildstar surveys what’s left of the ship. During his survey, he discovers Nova collapsed on the deck, crying. She says she’s tired of all the fighting, especially so close to Iscandar. Wildstar says he thinks this was their last battle against the Gamilons (on the one hand, YA THINK?! You just wiped out their planet! On the other, way to jinx it Wildstar!)

As what’s left of the Argo clears what’s left of Gamilon and Iscandar is visible over the horizon, Captain Avatar delivers a rousing pep talk from his bed.

Upon orbiting Iscandar, Starsha sends a homing signal to the Argo so they know where to land.

...and they’ve already rebuilt Bridge #3 again. Do they have a warehouse of those things? Venture lands the Argo in the ocean near the capital city and the command staff (minus Captain Avatar, who’s still sick in bed) disembarks to meet Starsha

Starsha mistakes Nova for her sister Astra (who flew the ship that delivered her message to Earth...also, as I’ve noted, all the important women in this show look very similar), but Wildstar informs her that Astra didn’t survive the trip.

Starsha then begins having her drones load the crates of parts needed to assemble the Cosmo DNA aboard the Argo, so Sandor’s team can assemble and test it on the return trip (please tell me why Astra couldn’t fly all these parts to Earth when she brought Starsha’s message?)

Starsha allows the crew a bit of shore leave while the Argo’s repairs are made. Nova notices that, although the planet is breathtaking, they haven’t seen any inhabitants except Starsha. Startha then reveals she’s the last of her race; the rest were killed by a mysterious disease. She then leads Wildstar and Nova back to the city where she reveals...

...Wildstar’s brother Alex! OK, I wanna know how THAT was possible, considering his ship crashed on Titan!

Fortunately, Starsha explains. It turns out that Alex survived the crash, only to be taken prisoner by the Gamilons. The ship carrying him to Gamilon was damaged and crashed on Iscandar, where Starsha nursed him back to health (highly implausible, but not the craziest thing this show has tried to pull off)

Starsha is visibly distressed when she asks that the Star Force take Alex with them back to Earth, but Nova realizes Starsha has fallen in love with Alex.

On the Argo, Alex has an emotional reunion with Captain Avatar...

...and Sandor. Wildstar suggests bringing Starsha with them as well.

Meanwhile, Orion’s assistant Sparks makes suggestions about staying on Iscandar instead of returning to Earth. After Orion tells him off for even making that suggestion, he tells Nova he needs to take her to see someone.

However when Wildstar makes the suggestion, she politely declines, saying that she can’t bear to leave her home. She then shows Wildstar an image of crew from the Argo on one of Iscandar’s islands. It turns out they want to settle, but the island is unstable and could sink at any time. Wildstar immediately excuses himself and rushes back to the Argo.

On the Argo, Venture tells Wildstar that Sparks and 12 others have deserted. Sparks radios in to tell Wildstar they’re staying. Then Nova gets on the radio to cry for help. So...they intend on making her an unwilling brood mother? That’s not creepy at all...

Then Eager reports a tidal wave coming their way. Wildstar orders Venture to take off and Conroy to send a rescue party for the deserters. However, only Nova survived (were the others really worth saving, given what they intended on turning this anime into hentai?)

On the Argo, Venture reports the ship ready to return. Captain Avatar defers to Wildstar (is he really just a Deputy Captain by this point?), who gives the order. Captain Avatar once again asks Starsha to join them, but again she declines.

As the Argo prepares to leave, Starsha (at Nova’s urging) declares her love to Alex. Alex realizes he loves her as well and decides to stay behind.

Wildstar is disappointed, but wishes Alex the best, glad his brother is alive and happy.

All in all, the Star Force spent about a month on Iscandar repairing the ship and revitalizing themselves. They have just over 4 months to make the trip home, when it took then just over 6 to get there. Of course, it shouldn’t take as long since they won’t have to worry about the Gamilons...right?

As the Argo makes its long journey home, Sandor completes his work building the Cosmo DNA. The return trip is relatively uneventful as they make it back to the Milky Way and can communicate with Earth Defense once again. Wildstar reports to Earth Defense about Captain Avatar’s radiation sickness.

Speaking of the Captain, he hints to Dr. Sane that he knows he’s dying, but wants to live long enough to see Earth once more as it was.

On the bridge, Venture prepares the ship for its final space warp before reaching Earth, commenting how quiet it is without the Gamilons.

Oh, you just had to jinx it, didn’t you? The remnants of the Gamilons, led still by Desslok, prepare to fire their not-at-all-egotistically-named Desslok Cannon (similar to the Wave Motion Gun) at the Argo as it warps away. Furious, Desslok orders his crew to warp after them (without plotting a course)

Three guesses what happens next...

Desslok’s ship and the Argo materialize in the same space. Desslok takes advantage of this stroke of luck and boards the Argo, sending toxic gas ahead of them.

The Gamilons begin their assault in the engine room. Orion warns the bridge of the attack. Wildstar takes Gunnery Assistant Dash and Conroy to help fight them off.

He then comes face-to-face with Desslok, who laughs about the ship being commanded by a cadet (well, it is rather absurd...), then reveals his latest scheme: he will knock out the crew with his radioactive gas (that the Gamilons can breathe just fine), then crash the Argo into Earth Defense HQ.

In Sickbay, Nova (why is she doing nursing duties instead of being at her radar post on the bridge?) hears Venture’s announcement about the radioactive gas and immediately runs out of sickbay (without a mask)...

...to the Cosmo DNA (well, guess now’s a good a time as any to test it)

Surprisingly, it works, dispersing the radioactive gas. However...

...she had taken a hell of a lungful of the gas and collapses, falling from the Cosmo DNA! (Let that be a lesson kids: WEAR YOUR MASK!)

Meanwhile, it seems the Gamilons can’t breathe Earth-like air and retreat as the radioactive gas vanishes, warping away as they break free of the Argo.

Sandor tells Wildstar what Nova did (and the price she paid)

(You know, I really wish they had built more to this Moment rather than just hinting at it throughout the series)

Sandor rushes to get Dr. Sane as Wildstar’s emotional barriers crumble.

In Captain Avatar’s quarters, Wildstar has all but given up hope that Nova will recover, but Captain Avatar reminds him that the Star Force is all about hope and not to give up.

Some time later, the Earth is within sight! The crew is joyous about returning home...well, almost all of them. Wildstar mopes to Sickbay to see Nova.

I’m pretty sure that’s against doctor’s orders, Wildstar...

Wildstar takes Nova to the bridge to see the Earth together. We are then treated to an inner monologue about how Wildstar didn’t realize his feelings until he realized he could lose her. Typical guy...

The bridge crew clears a path for Wildstar as he tells Nova’s unconscious form all about his plans for them to settle down together.

However...

...you knew he wasn’t gonna give up that easily. The Gamilons prepare once again to fire the Desslok Cannon. However...

...we are treated to one final deus ex bullshit as Sandor reveals he treated the ship in a reflective coating similar to the Reflex Gun satellites that deflects the energy from the Desslok Cannon back at the Gamilons!

With the Gamilons well and truly defeated...wait...*dramatic pause*...nothing? OK.

With the Gamilons actually well and truly defeated, the Argo continues on to Earth.

In the Captain’s quarters, Captain Avatar asks Dr. Sane for some private time as he gazes on the Earth for the last time...

...and passes away as Dr. Sane returns.

Meanwhile on the Bridge...

...Nova awakens from her coma! There is a great celebration as Dr. Sane arrives to tell the crew of the captain’s passing.

It’s not stated in the series, but according to the Star Blazers wiki, the Argo returned with just under a month remaining.

[sno4wy]

Yesterday, with a heavy heart, I bade farewell to my favorite MMORPG. 

Having been a hardcore gamer and one of the world’s top players in WoW for more years than I’d care to acknowledge, I was very skeptical when Wildstar was released and hailed as “the WoW killer”. It didn’t take long for me totally see how that could’ve happened, for Wildstar’s potential was great enough to inspire even a burnt-out and jaded veteran gamer like me. The combat was so dynamic and interesting that, from the getgo, players would learn the importance of facing, positioning, moving smartly, and other aspects of situational awareness. That, coupled with the ability to double-jump, dodge-roll, and an announcer that totally loves his job, the leveling experience was never grindy, which I can’t say for any other MMO I’ve played. Heck, I’d even go so far as to say that each “ding” was the ultimate feel-good experience, as far as you can get from an MMO anyway.

But, what ultimately did Wildstar in was the (lack of an) endgame. I started playing Wildstar towards the end of my WoW career, which coincided with Wildstar’s launch, and after a thrilling leveling experience, I found myself immersed in the same toxic attitudes that I’d sought to escape, except belonging to people who possessed not even a fraction of the skill of those I left behind. The prospect of reliving the early 40-man raiding nightmare of WoW was so unappealing to me that I abruptly stopped playing Wildstar, and didn’t again until recently, four years later, when I’d heard that the game was shutting down for good.

So, I leveled a character again, to experience the bittersweet nostalgia one last time. Just as I’d brought my favorite character into Nexus the first time, I did so again for the final time. In the game’s final two hours, I, along with hundreds of other players that’d gathered to say goodbye to the game, got turned into cupcakes, sheep, and gigantified. 

Goodbye Wildstar, I shall miss you dearly.