#nourasia

[marimeeko]

For any remaining fans of OSR that follow me, I had a dream that a trailer released for the Oban Star Racers sequel

And it was actually very heavy on Nourasian culture and specifically other warriors? There were beautifully animated fight scenes Nd of course molly and Aikka, and even heard Jordans voice 😭

OK and the thing is, the trailer came out right after I started actually going to my local rec center for water aerobics classes(a silly little idea I want to explore now that we have moved) so maybe this is like a sign that HEY maybe go do that thing 🤣

@redvioletpanda-art

[apuppetmuseum]

@carpemusa asked: ‘ surprised to run into you here. ’ for Jordan from aikka

"Frankly, I'm surprised too. It took me awhile to find this place." He grinned, pushing his way through some plants carefully so he could hop onto the path that Aikka was on. It was almost too casual, considering they were currently on Nourasia. "I haven't exactly memorized all the placements of all the planets yet." He grinned and rubbed at the back of his head.

He seemed to be wearing the signature avatar robes, but the front was left open and showing he wore very casual clothes underneath. It was kind of a jarring difference, but with a snap of his fingers the robes disappeared and he was left with his military casual outfit, sticking his hands in his pockets. "I promised Eva I'd drop in and check on you." Which explained everything in one sentence, but he would be lying if he said that he wasn't wanting to visit Aikka on his own terms aswell. Rivalry be damned, he missed the prince. Not that he would EVER say that aloud.

"Haven't been causing too much trouble, have you?"

[artbyanca]

All I want for Christmas is space elves and their adorable giant flying puppies! And for a few million euros to fall into Sav’s lap so we can get the sequel off the ground.... 

[sinnena]

When you realize that Nourasia and Jakku have the same hairdressers...

[ennviktin-n]

How hard is it to imagine a handsome fifteen-year-old, ooooh x333

[redvioletpanda-art]

It's been a while

Mokka Week 2018 starts before Inktober does this year!

Will you join us?

Reblog if you are and spread this information

[interstellar-elf]

A little Nourasian/worldbuilding rant sort of

Given the focus I give to world building in series, I feel like I need to reiterate this. Early in the fandom history, there was a person who headcannon (though the way it was brought up, it wasn’t so much headcannon as “I say it’s true because there isn’t any evidence saying I’m not even though there is”) that Nourasians were a vegan (not vegetarian) society and had “walls” to keep out “barbarians”. I feel like I need to bring this up in lieu of worldbuilding and how “not” to worldbuild, even if it’s for established fictional worlds like Oz and Oban. 

Let me start this out straight: I have nothing against veganism or vegetarianism, but I feel like when writers make a fictional society/culture vegetarian because “they love nature”, it really doesn’t feel so much as “you did your research”, it’s more of “I think vegans are morally superior people and my mary suetopia is definately vegans, despite using hunting weapons and wearing leather, because fuck you” and it doesn’t really work in the long run. In fact, large scale agriculture, even growing just fruits and vegetables, isn’t ideal for the environment, especially an environment that doesn’t get enough rainfall per season to sustain a large amount of plants to grow. Making your fictional culture vegan/vegetarian doesn’t make them look morally good and upright in any case, it just makes you look like a total a-hole or a vegan who has an agenda and needs a soapbox. It also reeks of colonialism (given how white vegans won’t go after industrial farming practices but willingly go after Alaskan Inuits for hunting whales), classism (given how you can get a couple of apples costs more than a happy meal), and laziness/ametuerness due to how many times this gets by for just without any research.Just don’t do it. I don’t care if you are writing something inspired by AtLA; unless you put some thought behind the fact that your fictional culture is vegan, it won’t sell. 

Now the reason why I had a problem with this outset, is mostly because in order to be a vegan society, Nourasians should not have weaponry associated with hunting. And that is bows and arrows. The bow in general is first and foremost a weapon associated with hunting prey animals, though for the most part it probably started with animals like deer, birds and other swift and small animals. Arrows have been developed for hunting different kinds of animals, such as birds, deer, and even fish. Before they were used in warfare, bows, be it longbows or shortbows, were originally used for hunting, and the fact that Nourasians have it probably indicates Nourasians hunt animals using bows and arrows, and it also indicates what kinds of animals Nourasians hunt, as if Nourasians hunt on the backs of flying insects, they probably are hunting large scale herd animals they can get close to. In addition, if I’m not mistaken, there was a spear. Spears are also another original hunting weapon that is mainly used for hunting large animals either close up (probably on a domesticated riding animal like a horse) or from a distance depending on the type of spear. But for the most part, it indicated that Nourasians hunt animals. Another piece of evidence of Nourasians not being vegetarians is the fact that they wear and use leather. Leather cannot be made from plants, and cannot be produced unless using animal skin, salt, and a mineral or plant compound to tan it. And it may indicate that Nourasians may have some access to large domesticated animals or hunt animals that are used for every piece, since the tanning process may also include the brains to soften leather. What one needs to understand about societies that relied on animals that they hunted or herded, is that these cultures would use almost everything from an animal to work for them. Bones can be used for glue and carved for utensil handles or other objects, meat would be used for eating and salted/smoked to perserve for the future, fat was used for making tallow, soap, shortening, and pemmican, etc. Literally an entire “this society is vegan” concept gets thrown off the cliff when you realize there are huge faults in that assumption. And having a “love of nature” has little to do with being vegan; if anything considering how Aikka cares for G’Dar his insect mount and the canon of Nourasian culture that we do know, Nourasians as a whole, respect nature. “Respect” is the keyword here. You can love nature, but to respect nature, to understand that nature isn’t a happy land that doesn’t have predator prey dynamics or hazards or dangers, is almost better when you consider world building. 

Another aspect of worldbuilding is understand that you cannot just put something in that is easily debunked in canon itself. And that is with the whole concept of walls existing on a world that has flying insect mounts. It doesn’t fucking work when you apply logic. If you have flying insect mounts or domestic animal mounts that can climb up vertical walls or can destroy walls, it just doesn’t make sense to put up walls around your fantasy city. It’s like having a city trying to protect itself from fire and water elementals with fences made of cardboard. Hell, walls didn’t even work in series in which they did help keep out the invading force, like Attack on Titan or Pacific Rim. And to say “oh but lots of medieval cities had walls!” is not going to work. There are many civilizations that never needed walls, because they were on an island (such as the Minoans) or in a hostile environment (such as a desert, rainforest, etc.). In other words, don’t put walls in a fantasy world were flying animal mounts, dragons, and airships are the norm. If anything, you could use another form of protection, such as towers with archers or giant crossbows. Use your imagination and models from history when it comes to anti-aircraft weapons.

The last point would have to be applying xenophobia to a culture that doesn’t display it. Just because you take the whole idea of Nourasia being based off of “feudal Japan” wholecloth and apply “Japan is xenophobic” and then justify that in lieu of how canon treats that, it doesn’t work. By and far, Aikka gives us a good look for the Nourasian outlook on how they treat people who look and act different from them. The very first thing Aikka does is help someone who isn’t a Nourasian. Aikka could have allowed Molly to get trampled, but he doesn’t. And given how Aikka is basically supposed to be the “representative” of Nourasia in the series, and how he talks about Nourasians as being “peaceful” and “friendly” seems to contridict a kind of “xenophobia” argument. 

The one thing I just want to point it out is to reconsider simplistic worldbuilding on a scale and understand logic with established things in the fictional world you’ve created or that’s been created that you are adding headcanon/fanon to. 

[qatheauthoress74]

Awesome. Makes me really want a sequel to Oban: Star-Racers even more.

Anyone was at the Livestream who also just died when they showed this?

Apparently it's a concept idea for Aikka's planet to have different princes for different regions and i mean look at how cool that is!!

[nightskyfoxyy]

“[...] ‘Whats that stuff on top though?’ Farids expression changed into a mischievous smirk [...]. ‘Farid, what is it..?’ she asked again, swallowing hard.

With a slight giggle, he finally answered. ‘Crickets.’ “ (Ch. 11) (’Of Monsters’ on Ao3)

[spunoflight]

Nourasian Spells

In studying for my one shot fanfic, I speed watched the whole series of Oban Star Racers then replayed and took notes on every spell that Aikka uses. I made some connections in each of the spells that are quite interesting. Below I will list the spells and then my observations. *Un Sekai G'dar Wakar(7)- speeds up G'dar *Un Sekai narama terra ubarar(7)- band of glowing braids, wind vortex, splits rock *Un Sekai narama sefar(17)- flash of light when lands *Un Sekai nurama kubarar(24)- streaks of light then sparkles, done of destruction *Un Sekai shalanar(24)- purple orb that encases, allows telepathy, protects? *Un Sekai nurama terra obarar(25)- giant orb of blue that pushes back The number is the episode that the spell appears in followed by a brief description of what it does. What I noticed that is similar in almost every spell is that if it has two or more words following Un Sekai the first word ends in 'ama' while the ending word end in 'rar'. I'm not a linguistics major so I don't know what it would be in forms of conjunction and whatnot, but I just thought that this was very interesting and furthers my belief that the spells are in some sort of ancient Nourasian tongue

[planetoban]

Savin’s Answers from Twitter, Part 5!

Pretty much done with the backlog; this post covers tweets from November 2018 through May 2019

As always, tweets are in order from most to least recent, and answers may not 100% true/canon since things are bound to change during production of the sequel. Text is unedited save for formatting; in a few places I added [comments] for context.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Also: If you’re going to ask Savin something, please be respectful and appropriate. He’s a person just like you and me.

-

@NekoItoi: Will the bluray be released for Region A or solely region B? As I really want to finally own Oban in hd

@EiffelSavin: The bluray will be crowdfunded and region free

(x)

@Helloworld1012: Maybe U could get a adventures of young Aikka series funded

@EiffelSavin: Actually we're developping both a sequel and a spinof, which would reveal a lot about Aikka's past...

(x)

[talking about rick]

@Antarasis: Pretty metalhead.  👍 And losing your ability to pursue your #1 passion is such a heavy hitting topic. Was interesting to see a character confronted with it. Especially to see an admirable character give in to anger because of helplessness and make him act unpleasant/unlikable.

@EiffelSavin: I agree. Characters that are not just plain black and white are very interresting to follow.

(x)

@Helloworld1012: out of curiosity, Do U [Savin and Thomas] prefer the Eva & Jordan romantic pairing and prefer that Eva & Jordan be a couple or the Eva & Aikka romantic  pairing & prefer that Eva & Aikka become a couple? I heard from a discord chat that U both have different views in

‏@Helloworld1012: who Eva should end up with. And do Romantically pair Eva with one of them.

@EiffelSavin: I don't remember disagreeing with Thomas over this and would rather leave the choice to the audience - both relationships are important ! This being said, the question of who Eva likes most may resurface in the sequel, if we get to make it...

(x)

@Xanidos43: is it still possible to get the newsletter? i would love to support and buy the blu ray upon release.

@EiffelSavin: There will be more newsletters to come. For now just register on the bluray page of the http://obanstarracers.com  website

(x)

@Helloworld1012: Hey I’ve noticed for quite a while, that Aikka and Eva in the concept art physically look to be about the same age, please give us this one hint. Is the fact that Eva and Aikka look physically the same age in the concept art have something to do with the plot or OSR

@Helloworld1012: 2? Or is it just because you and @Thomasintokyo just wanted to show what Eva and Aikka could possible look like when their older?

@EiffelSavin: One possible direction for the sequel is for it to take place a few years after the original show. Hence the concept art. But this is still under discussion and would also depend on who finances the series

(x)

@Antarasis: Can we have a show about poor Muir, haha? Oh god, if I'd have the time I'd so make a parody show about Muir. There should be Muirs in Skyrim instead of mudcrabs. And Muir should get a skin in FightCrab. x'D Aaah, the potential of Muir. Please don't commit suizide, little crab.

@EiffelSavin: I could easily imagine a series about the adventures of "young muir"(!) Not sure we could get it funded though ☺️

(x)

@AldrenMcneal: Hi there! i recently watched an Oban Star Racers video and found out a potential sequel was in the works. i found your twitter and realized it was announced back in 2017. How much progress have you made since then? Do you have the story planned out? Thanks!‏

@EiffelSavin: The story is planned out but we need investors - and time as well, since we're all involved in other projects too. Hopefully a successful bluray release we'll help refocuss everyone's energy

(x)

@Bfahome: I heard rumors in the past that there's a "full" version of Oban's English opening, "Never Say Never".  Are those rumors true and, if so, who would be the ones to have it?  Would it even exist still?

@EiffelSavin: I'm not sure about this. I think the only version I ever heard was the opening version. For your info our US partners felt very strongly about using that song.  I gave my OK because it was pretty catchy, even though the op credits were created to match Yoko Kanno's title song.

(x)

@EiffelSavin: Thanks a lot to the 1000+ #obanstarracers fans who took the time to answer our little survey. Here's what you answered to one of the first question asked. Among the alien racers, it seems Spirit made quite an impression #animation #anime #surveys #jetix #nhkbs #toowam

@MattGiusti: The lack of Sul on this list is very sad.

@EiffelSavin;: Sul came right after and would certainly have fared better if the question was who's your favorite alien character. Bear in mind that the list of choices here included some of the main characters of the show, like Jordan and Aikka and that one could only give a single answer.

@rhodanum: I'm quite surprised at how high Spirit ranked (higher than Stan, Don and Maya!) and that Jordan ranked higher than Aikka. The latter is especially surprising, given the gigantic number of fanworks (fanart, fanfic) featuring Aikka or Aikka x Eva, compared to Jordan or Jordan x Eva

@EiffelSavin: Aikka ranked first in some territories but overall Jordan came first - among the voters at least. I would be interesting to see if female and male voters voted equally - or predominantly - for one or the other...

(x) (x)

@GabrielAubry2: What happened to Prince Aikka after he returns to Nourasia? Won’t the Crogs on the planet be angry at what he did on Oban?

@EiffelSavin: Good question indeed but bear in mind their leader crashed on Oban and that there were fierce rivalries between the rest of chiefs. This must have slowed them somehow. Plus there's a new Avatar! 🙂

(x)

@RakkuBoi: ust took the survey. It's probably asking for too much but one idea I expressed was the possibility of including autographes. Maybe on the art cards that might be included? Your's or @Thomasintokyo would be AMAZING.

@EiffelSavin: Point noted 😉

(x)

@kueekueeng: from a fan who's been waiting for years, is "The 2 Queens"  movie ever going to be released?‏

@EiffelSavin: Finding funding on the French market as proven more difficult than anticipated but we haven't given up and have also started working on an animated series adaptation, possibly with a more "radical" artistic direction. More news hopefully soon...

(x)

@SonicMrgame2017: Which program you guys used for animation?

@EiffelSavin: Here are the programs the team used for the animation: Pencils (well sharpened), large and thin Erasers, and most important: thousands and thousands of sheets of Paper 😉

@SonicMrgame2017: Yeah, but, the animation was done in cels or you guys used some kind of digital ink? PD: Respects!!!! I love handrawn animation

@EiffelSavin: Oban used digital paint and compositing. When we produced the series it was the very last days of painted cells in Japan, where it lasted longer than in other countries. I think the last series that used painted cells was "Sazae-san". 🙂

(x)

@quantum_cuboid: QUESTION. Can you give us any insight as to which characters will make a return in the OSR sequel? There were many good characters, and a few that make me wonder whatever happened to them!

@EiffelSavin: I'll give you one: Eva (!) 😉 For the rest I prefer to keep quiet for now but feel free to make suggestions ☺️

(x)

[note: this thread is originally in French and I used Google Translate]

@supalinocelosu: So it was the authors directly who led the # ObanStarRacers

@ EiffelSavin: I think that should be the norm but apparently no ... I was also present during the English dubbing in Vancouver. But this time there was a director of English voices. I was commenting but not directly the direction of US actors

(x)

@theinmaskedboy: Could you clarify a doubt sir? 1) What happened with him when he arrived on the earth, because at the end of the galactic race he did not mention again .. 2) There are some loose ends in history, like the crow .. Was he eliminated from the race? or just leave?

@EiffelSavin: Spirit did not make it to the final 3 so he was eliminated & returned to his home planet. Regarding Rick, his job was done so he went back home too. We had crazy plans of making a sequel with him starring as a private PI (!)  Who knows we may reuse that in 1 form or another

(x)

@Taibhse_Designs: Now this is a beauty to see, any concept art for the whizzing arrow or other paint job ideas other than the bunny exist that never made it to print?

@EiffelSavin: yes. We did more than 10 paint job tests before going for the actual ones :) That certainly could be something for the new art book.

(x)

@Taibhse_Designs: I have the original DVDs still in good condition with the cardboard sleeve, I atleast rewatch the entire series once a year and would love a Blu-ray version. Would love to see some stats on the ships like actual scale, measurements, or official heights of the characters.Taibhse Designs added,

@EiffelSavin: That could be a cool extra actually, or something to add to a new art book. If you join the Oban Bluray Project newsletter on http://obanstarracers.com  we'll soon ask you about the type of features and goodies you'd like to have.

(x)

@TheRealZentron: The 1080p 4:3 version is the most crisp out of the three, but I like the cinematic scope of the 16:9, I just wish it was as crisp! Still, can't wait until the Blu-Ray comes out, hopefully it will be available to and playable in the UK!

@EiffelSavin: The bluray will be, for the first time, in the original rate of 24f/s and will be zone free‏

@TheRealZentron: That's great to hear Savin, thanks for the info! I'll sure to place my order once available, it'll sure be good watching OSR HD on my 70" 4K TV! Will the set also include the original Molly Star-Racer trailer in HD or the regular SD?

@EiffelSavin: I'm working on this. The pb is to get the rights to the music. In all cases it will be sd as it was produced that way but we'll try to upscale it in the best possible way from the best source available.

(x)

[Original question deleted]

@EiffelSavin: That was my notes, yes: Maya cut off from her family because of her choice to become a racer with Don, and Don having old parents that died early. Thus no grand parents for Eve to turn 2. But since we never go beyond that in the story, U can make up your own idea on backstory 🙂

(x)

@LovesOban: Please tell me because I’ve been obsessing over this, but even though he wouldn’t be as skilled as Aikka, Cannan or a Nourasian knight in martial arts, & Even though in 2082 DW isn’t the most athletic & even though DW is more brains than brawn & doesn’t have brute strength, in

@EiffelSavin: Don Wei is not a "big man" but he's determined and has grown quite tough, at least since Maya's death. Do you remember the first time he meets Rick and his biker buddies in the middle of the desert?  He stands up to them pretty well, doesn't he?

(x)

@HG_Alsmyr: are you going to have Thomas Romain join you for the Ōban sequel by chance?

@EiffelSavin: Yes. We've already started to collaborate on the sequel and spinoff projects. Working together again was very touching actually 🙂

(x)

[comicsin5panels]

“Oban Star Racers” retrospective month(and a half) PART 3.

With four victories, Molly is one of the six pilots who made it to the semi-finals of the great race of Oban. In the semi-finals, each pilot has to compete against each other in individual races and then one more against the first racer they faced in the semi-finals. So six races in total. The three pilots with most wins then makes it to the finals that takes place on Oban, the home planet of the all-powerful Avatar.

But the Earth team gets a rotten start, being defeated by the Grog pilot Toros.

What is especially is frustrating is the fact that the Earth team didn’t make mistakes, they did extremely well, actually. Molly’s piloting skills was without faults. Toros was just tougher and had a much better ship that was faster and powerful enough to cut through the Earth ship like a knife through hot butter.

The worst part is not so much that Earth lost one of their six races, but the fact that the ship’s hyperdrive got completely destroyed. The ship can be fixed, but they can’t replace the hyperdrive with the resources they have at the moment.

The second race is an disaster as well, and in that case, it’s everyone on the Earth team’s fault. Molly has made a friendship with one of the other pilots, prince Aikka of the planet Nourasia. His “ship” is a gigantic beetle named G'dar. G'dar is fast and nimble, but he is organic, so the damages he receives can’t be fixed like the ones on an artificial vertical. Molly can relate to a degree since her ship is fragile, so they make a deal not to use weapons against each other when they compete.

The problem is that it is not her call to make. Sure, she is right, it is for the best since the prince has a magical bow and arrow much more powerful than the weapons the Earth ship has, but Molly’s partner Jordan who control the guns has no reason to trust him, and Don Wei has strict orders to win no matter what, so it is “logical” to attack Aikka before he can take them down. So Molly goes behind her team’s back and lock the weapons. She would have won the race if the weapons hadn’t been unlocked again, making Aikka believe he had been betrayed so he shot the Earth ship and won the race.

See, this points out the biggest problem with the Earth team: They don’t trust each other. It doesn’t matter who is right and wrong here, what matters is that they don’t work together that well since they keep bickering with each other.

Don realizes that Molly won’t listen to him, and that he doesn’t know how to talk to a teenager who won’t be impressed by his fierce temper. So he get’s Rick(the pilot who should have been the pilot for Earth until he ended up with nerve damage) to help him do something about the team.

Rick Thunderbolt was probably my favorite character in the show. He became the back bone of the team. His experience with racing makes him the perfect coach for Molly, making her go from being a good pilot to an EXCELLENT pilot. And most importantly, he actually believes in her, he doesn’t treat Molly like a fifth wheel, but as the pilot who can win the race for Earth.

But he also reminds Don that his short temper was what resulting in Don firing Rick despite him being his champion racer and that Molly needs him to trust her instead of criticizing her all the time. Because of Rick, the Earth team becomes a unit instead of a bunch of people who are either yelling at each other or worrying who to listen to. The open communication is what makes Molly win the next two races.

So, Earth has lost two of their six races, then won two of them. Next time, we will talk about the last two.

I’m Waezi2, and thanks for wasting time with me.

[fangirlingpuggle]

Crog Eva AU- Growing up: Understanding

Pre series ficlet, Vea finds out why the Crogs invade other planets

Aka, I make up Crog culture and Vea has all of the uncles

Vea’s been living of Kramm for over a year when she asks it

Her dad, some of her uncle’s are discussing a new invasion, she’s sitting near the window she hadn’t been really been reading the book in hands for a while now, listening to her family talk, and that one question had began repeating in her head.

Her Uncle Voxx growls something shaking his head and leaving the conversation, moving to sit near her he takes one look at her and one of his eyes quirk slightly “something on your mind Vea?”

She blinks up at him biting her lip slightly before asking the question that’s been floating around her head “…Uncle Voxx how come we invade planets?”

He stares at her wide eyed before looking back at the rest of their family and Vea realises the room has gone very quite very quickly

Turning she sees her father and other uncles looking at her

Vea suddenly worries she shouldn’t have asked, it was wrong, are, are they going to abandon her leave her like.

She feels a hand on her head and looks up to see her dad staring down at her reassuringly behind her she can see the rest of their talking again, but not about the invasion, their tones are different

“…we will tell you” her dad says calmly “just be patient”

“we’ll ask he Imperium tonight” Uncle Draxus says “it shouldn’t be an issue”

“Some people will try to make it an issue” Uncle Iokois said glaring at the side

“not if they know what’s good for them” Uncle Voxx added

“we should have told you earlier” Her dad says before standing up and moving away “your one of us Vea you need to know”

It’s 3 days after that her father tells her it’s time.

She follows him out of their compound, the surrounding towns, further than she’s travelled before and in the opposite direction to the northern tribes where her other uncles live. She pulls her thick cloak closer around her as the ait becomes colder, and the land gets more desolate and uneven.

When they reach the mountains Vea stares in awe they’re huge and jagged sharp like the teeth or claws of a wild animal, her father grabs her hand and guides her through a small hidden walkway, one that from every angle just looked like more mountain she follows wide eyed.

She can’t help the gasp of awe as she sees the crystals in the passage.

There are beautiful jewels that shoot up everywhere like stalactites, blacks, red and gold everywhere all pulsing and shining brightly and she smiles brightly at them.

When she sees them on the other end of the tunnel her smile fades, breaks and shatters.

All around them are crystals but they’re all broken, some shattered to a million pieces, some burned down, some cut in half…it looks like a war zone.

Her father’s hand tights around hers and he walks her through the jagged remains, they’re everywhere though filling the entire valley…just broken crystals…and pools of black.

Vea blinks down at one of the pools around them, there are lots of them but some are really low barley any black liquid in them, it’s black like ink, or tar, or oil but it seems different how it moves is…it’s defiantly a liquid but it’s not like any she’s seen before

“Vea...this is why we fight” her father begins and she looks up at him he’s staring forward intently “this is why we invade worlds and will continue to”

He kneels down and looks her in the eye “Vea… these are the pools of origin, these are how Crogs are born”

Vea stares at him wide eyed and looks back at the pools “these pools are all over Kramm, these ones in this ground are for the Western tribes”  he explains “you see Crogs can…well we do not reproduce like most species, one or more of us, normally a bonded pair, but more than 2 or even 1 alone can place part of our essence our spirit and blood into a pool it will bond with the pool and create in time a new life” he explained  and Vea could only stare in wonder

“that’s amazing” she whispers as she stares down reverently into the pool

Her father is quite “this is the greatest guarded secret of our race” he explains “no other race, no one outside of us knows of this” Vea turned back to him “because the one time we did, the one time the Crogs allied with someone else….” He turned to the crystals “they tried to destroy them…to destroy us and they almost succeeded” she says nothing as her father continues “hundreds of years ago we had an alliance with another race, one we trusted with our origin…when they betrayed us they attacked every group of pools destroying the crystals which help give life to the pools…destroying their power and resources” they both looked at the remnants of the crystals “of course after that we destroyed them…but the damage was done…our planet alone cannot sustain these pools, so take what we need by force”

“we don’t make alliances” Vea began as she looked around “because we’d have to tell them why we needed them and…”

“our planet , our race cannot survive another attack on these pools” he nodded

The 2 stayed their for a while in silence before he held out his hand began to lead her back

Vea stared back at the pools for a long moment deep in thought before looking up at her dad she thought back to history books in schools teachers calling the Crogs monsters and demons and “I think humans would do it” she mumbled

She father glanced back at her “…so do I”

The walk back in deep silence before Vea stops  as they approach the town looking up at her dad “I don’t think every race would though”

Her father just ruffles her hair and they continue on, she’s pretty sure he doesn’t think the same as her.

She sees the first baby when she’s 7, it’s her cousin Locus.

When her uncle Reeos takes her to see the pool at first she stares in once at the ball of yellow light flowing around in the pool.

When their born Vea get’s to the one of the first to see them, their just a ball of black inky substance with 2 big yellow eyes and 2 inky dripping pointed ears, they wrap themselves around her arm and Vea nearly cries…she loves her baby cousin so much!

“they won’t get a solid humanoid form for a good few years, and even them they’ll be able to revert it back to this form until they come of age” Uncle Reeos explains biting back laughter as he watches her hug him close

At the time Vea doesn’t register the explanation her response to this explanation is simply “CAN I TEACH THEM TO FLY WHEN THEY GET OLDER?”

She’s 15 when it happens she was working on repairing and upgrading one of the tridents when she gets a com from her father and uncles saying there’s an Imperium meeting, an urgent one and asking her to watch her cousins

Locus and her watch the triplets and their other little cousin while giving each other worried looks.

This isn’t an invasion meeting; they are way more structured nowhere near as frantic and last minute.

Vea has the horrible worrying thought what if Kramm is under attack’ or something similar, she swallows down her worry and keeps calm she can’t worry her cousins, though looking at Locus they may be thinking the same.

She even gets calls from her older cousins in the Northern tribes and even the twins from South, her friends and also evill masterminds; give her a call wondering if anyone has any idea what’s happening, it’s the one time she sees the twins freaking out.

Needless to say she is on edge and pacing when her dad and uncles arrive back hours later, both her and Locus run up to them wide eyed and frantic.

“…Nourasia has offered an alliance” her Uncle Iokois explains when they enter

Vea feels her mouth drop open

She remembers her thought all those years ago

Not everyone will betray them

The Nourasians are meant to be honourable race

Vea feels herself smile

This time the alliance will work.

She wants to hope so at least.

AU notes for Crog culture

1) Baby Crogs are like little blobs of ink with pointy ears and big eyes and are ADORABLE 2)Crogs are normally male or non binary in this, though some do identify as female

Thanks for reading =)

[artbyanca]

Coffee

Happy late mokka week! I was in the hospital for the last week, so I’m posting everything now. 

[jackdragonstreasure]

Prince Aikka of Nourasia! I've been losing it since I found that a sequel may be possible. His outfit from the promo pic we see of him for the possible sequel(I cheated and made his hair thicker cause i dont like the think hair look they had for him) bottom corner is me playing around with a possible older him in royal clothes. I might make a full version later. Bottom pic of him in chains is just a thing I was playing with try to learn lighting. Eh it has mixed results. Story he lost a fight and is a prisoner of the person who defeated him. (also my premonition that since 10 years have passed and what your able and unable to do or show in cartoons have changed i have the hope/fear that Savin and his team are not gonna pull punches or hold back on destroying us. Aikka and Eva never had the best luck in OSR its gonna be WORSE in the sequel i feel it in my bones.)

[noble-royalty]

Drafty draft

The air outside was warm and pleasant, even gentle at some extent. Eva breathed deeply, swinging her legs in the air rather childishly. From the very top of Wei Company’s building the glimmering city of her teenage years looked almost pitiful. It couldn’t compare to the beauty of Oban, nor was it as breathtaking as the Holy City of Dol Eva had had the luck to visit. Just a regular human city, like any other on Earth. Skyscrapers, shinning lights, cars and a few lone, scrappy buildings. Eva laughed to herself, taking some more sips of the beer that rested in her right hand. Somehow, such sentimental thoughts always seemed to fill her mind whenever she found time to come here. This rooftop was very similar to the one she had spent time on at Stern. Not as if Eva wanted to remember the place, but the habit of sitting on roofs and just enjoying the view was something she no longer could get rid of. In fact, initially Eva had planned to hang out with some co-workers at the bar, but soon found herself bored of their company. Mostly because the majority of them had chosen to talk about some love troubles, which only made Eva roll her eyes. It felt like the only topic men could discuss under the influence of alcohol. Eva couldn’t blame them, though. They lived simple lives, following the common, habitual path. She, on the other hand, had been flying across the whole galaxy and kicking Crogs out of the invaded planets. Of course, not by herself. Her long-known, close friends had been helping her. Aikka was one of them.

 Eva’s lips curled into a wide grin. She used to be literally crazy about him. There were many reasons any woman would. Aikka’s sole manners was something. Not to mention, that affectionate smile of his could really make one’s head spin. Lastly, Aikka was undeniably handsome. Possibly even more handsome than all the males she had seen in the life. Nevertheless, it didn’t change the fact Aikka was engaged to a Nourasian princess from a wealthy family. It had been arranged marriage, sure, but back in the day it had crushed all of her teenage dreams and hopes for something more than a good friendship with him. Eva let herself muse about the delicate topic a bit, before focusing on the drink. There was really no use pondering about what could have been. She was glad they had at least stayed in touch and remained great pals. (Eva could even call Aikka her best friend at this point). Suddenly the door behind her cracked and a familiar figure of the prince appeared in her sight. The famous saying worked just fine. Eva had to think about him, and here he was.

“Do you mind if I join you?” Aikka enquired, having approached the spot where Eva was currently sitting all by herself. He had been seeking her company for a while since they returned. As polite and courteous as ever. Eva moved to the side, slapping her hand against the cold surface as an invitation. There was more than enough space for the two of them. “Nah, I don’t mind, make yourself comfortable,” she flashed him a friendly smile. While Eva honestly wondered how in the world he had managed to figure out her whereabouts, his company didn’t bother her in the slightest. She felt fully comfortable around Aikka (despite formerly being in love with him) and it was a mutual feeling. “It had been quite a tiresome day I must say. Although looking at you one wouldn’t say you just returned from a dangerous mission,” he teased, taking notice of the empty beer cane next to her. In fact, there was a whole package behind her, but Aikka couldn’t see it.

 He tended to refrain from drinking any alcohol, so, unlike Eva, his hands were almost completely empty (not counting the little bottle of water he had taken from the space ship). “I’ll take it as a compliment, my dear prince,” Eva winked, giving his shoulder a nudge, “C’mon, wash that serious expression off your face and drink with me.” Having said that, Eva threw him one of the canes in a smooth movement. Aikka caught it. “You know more than anyone that I don’t drink Eva...” Aikka hesitated, observing the colorful design. “But if you wish for it so much, I will be glad to comply with your request.” He opened the cane with a characteristic ‘whoosh’ sound and let himself try it. A grimace of dislike touched the royal features. The taste was quite bitter and not something Aikka was used to drinking. He preferred far sweeter beverages, mostly made from specific fruits that grew on Nourasia during the sunny months. Nevertheless, Aikka made another sip, hoping it would get better. Eva was watching the whole process with fascination. “Oh, that’s my Aikka! Taking challenges and being a real man,” Eva teased him back, curling one arm around his neck in a friendly manner a moment later. To think that she was too shy to even hold his hand at Oban. Funny, how the things have changed since then.

 Aikka didn’t move, used to such physical contact from her side. Yes, he was officially a married man, but he felt absolutely nothing towards the Nourasian princess chosen by the Court. He even refrained from touching her in their private time. With Eva, on the other hand, he himself desired to be near her as much as possible, even if their interaction never went beyond the friendship line. (At least he believed so). The brief moment of silence didn’t last long though, broken by a sonorous laughter. Blinking in confusion, Aikka looked at Eva. His hand with a cane stopped a few centimeters away from the mouth (He had actually decided to drink it to the very end not to offend her.) “Pardon me. Have I said something funny?” Aikka was a bit taken aback by the sudden change. “No, I mean- Just before you came I was thinking about how I used to have this huge crush on you,” she laughed, waving her hand in the air. The light blush touched Eva’s cheeks, “Like I was this fifteen-year-old teenager, you know, and then you appeared out of nowhere so dashing and handsome like a prince charming, well, yes, you are a prince, I mean I was bewitched by you and all this. Typical teenager behavior I still feel a bit ashamed of…”

Aikka’s brows knitted, he wasn’t quite getting what exactly she meant by ‘crush’. Nor was he realizing the reason for Eva’s loud laughter. Having noticed the incomprehension of her companion, Eva only laughed more, scratching the back of her neck. “Ahah, sorry, sometimes I forget you don’t know the slang- I mean, how you say that, I was in love with you, like romantic attraction of sorts. Teenagers, they are so sentimental. I had to tell you sooner, but yeah, ha-ha, kind of how it is,” she attempted to explain, feeling slightly embarrassed. A dreadful silence established between them for a few seconds. And then Aikka choked, coughing loudly. Eva froze, observing how the prince’s dark skin turned almost purple. The great amount of beer got spit on the blue spacesuit, dirtying it with large brown stains. Dashing and handsome, huh? Eva almost regretted blurting such a thing out. “Hey, Aikka, are you okay?” Eva asked, crooking the head to the side in slight bewilderment. Aikka didn’t respond, attempting to cover up his embarrassment. The realization hit him so hard that the whole world seemed to stop for a while. She used to find him romantically attractive. Memories of Oban and Alwas flashed in front of his eyes. Everything fell into place - her red face, the worry and those sincere smiles. It wasn’t just simple friendliness as Aikka had thought. Eva, the woman he had and still viewed as a strong, fierce and extremely attractive one had actually harbored such feelings for him. It wasn’t a dream was it?

“Hey, don’t get worked up because of it, it’s not like you liked me this way, so...” Eva gave him another light nudge, trying to ease the mood (Oh dear, had she just made it awkward?). “And what if I did?” Aikka’s voice was quiet, almost inaudible, as he rubbed his face with hands. The large blush hadn’t disappeared at all, however. “You mean...” Eva said, stunned. ”You mean that you liked me too? Like you viewed me as a possible girlfriend?” Aikka gave a short, hesitant nod instead of an answer. “Oh wow, I feel flattered- What a funny coincidence,” Eva laughed again, taking a handkerchief from the pocket and handling it to him. “Here, wipe your face, you have beer everywhere.” Truly, Eva didn’t know what to do with this information. It felt pleasant to know that her feelings hadn’t been one-sided in the end, but still it barely changed a thing. She merely hoped that her little unintended confession wouldn’t put an end to their friendship. (Especially to this special feeling of comfort she had around Aikka). Although…maybe teasing him a bit isn’t that much of a bad idea, after all? It could be fun. “I am sorry, I just- I was sure you have never viewed me this way,” Aikka breathed out huskily, cleaning his suit and face from the sticky liquid. Having finished the procedure, he hesitatingly turned around to give the handkerchief back. “Thank you.”

Suddenly Eva’s phone rang, strident sound making both of them flinch. Not without a grumble, Eva flipped it open to see Don Wei’s face on the flashy screen. She didn’t even have to answer to know that her father required her immediate presence. “Seems like I have to go, there is some urgent stuff needing my help,” Eva sighed, then leaned closer to Aikka and, much to his shock, gave him a soft, yet long peck on the lips. “See you later tonight, my prince,” she smirked, mischief sparkling in the eyes for a brief moment. (His face was priceless. It was worth giving him her first kiss). Aikka’s face turned even redder, as Eva was walking away. His fingers touched the lips in some daze. Did she just kiss me? Aikka groaned, feelings as if his head was about to burst. He was confused with this sudden romantic affection. Was she just joking around? “Eva, please, don’t do such confusing things. Otherwise, I may fall for you all over again…” Yet those quiet murmurs didn’t reach her and merely dissolved in the evening air.