Inteyvats, a soft flower that turns to figurative stone when it’s taken away from its homeland, and can only rest once it’s returned home.
When she returns home, will she also turn to dust? It feels…peaceful. Even the thought of it. To be with Aether again, to have her name called, to rest in familiar warmth and simply be done. Dust, turning and glowing under rays of sun. Home.
But does ‘home’ still exist? She has done so much. She has killed and massacred and tortured and played a role in the end of civilizations. Five hundred years is a long, long time. What will be at the end of the road for her? A field of blooming flowers, like the ones they have always wanted to see, and a gentle rest amidst soft petals? Or is it the feel of metal through her chest, a cold rejection and sharp shards and a brutal shattering once she can no longer hold herself together?
Some nights, she wonders where Aether is, and if he can come back to her. Some nights, she thinks of his face and can’t sleep anymore, for fear of what expression he may have. Home. Stone. Dust.
She can’t allow herself to shatter just yet, no matter how much she may want to.
no matter what, they always think of each other T-T this game for reallllllll traveller forgetting all their other questions, simply wanting to ask why they can't stay together abyss sibling, remembering what their sibling said all those years ago, perhaps wanting their sibling to see the name. not to mention, the indication they they're concerned about how the sibling perceives them (i was soooooooooooooooooooooooooo right about this in my headcanons and im so vindicated and i love them so much) caribert is probs my fav npc now ngl Q-Q he's technically very gary stu vibe but he hits all my soft spots and the part with him at the end with the twins!! i wish all of them could be happy together. all these memories....whats going to happen to them? (anyway I love the indicated dainsleif angst, theres very vague hsr vibes to it. i wonder what had happened to them, and why dain was excluded...?)
The animated short inspired me to go back to my 2022, 4k words with categories analysis on the twins that maybe one day hopefully I'll finish, but here's some of the quick-edited twins I made from cutting and pasting hangout images! Some headcanons I had that seem a bit confirmed
People are more easily drawn to Aether while Lumine pays more attention to people
Aether as talkative and sociable (why people are drawn to him) while Lumine is more quiet/reserved
but, she's really affectionate to the people she loves!!
Lumine appreciates beauty more, and points beauty out to Aether (sharing food, sharing kite, taking the time to step into a lake)
Things I didn't guess but i really love
lumine is playful!! She's actually a bit more childish than I had expected but I love how that follows the way she's the younger sister
Aether and Lumine switch off quite a lot in who's being chatty that day (among themselves). In the quest, Aether was the one excitedly chatting as they walked along the beach, here, Lumine seems more upbeat/playful.
Anyway here's the quick edits I spent WAY too much time on
A lot of these fit really well which made me happy TvT
Disclaimer that a few of these are horizontally flipped for the duo effect but since I made most of them in 2022, I'm not sure which are. These are taken from hangouts!
Angst and longing and sadness aside, the fact that at least 85% of my Outlander twins personality headcanons/analysis/hypotheses seem to be TRUE makes me SO HAPPY
Are you already on your way? I've come with you this far, I'm never really lost, Our paths will surely cross.
this this this this
i feel like their journeys and character arcs change drastically depending on who the traveller is. Lumine as a reserved girl who becomes a villain? Stereotypical. Lumine as a reserved girl who has a coming of age arc underscored by grief and loss and insecurity? amazing Also if Aether is the abyss sibling then it's like, wtf happened for the sunshine guy who cares so much about his sister to become so cold? He talked SO MUCH in that dream flashback and when he meets his sister again, he says like 2 sentences?? Maybe it's the passage of time or whatever but the extreme change in his character creates so much interest
I love Aether as the traveler and Lumine as the Abyss princess I think that makes a lot of sense and is really fitting for the story. Plus abyss Lumine is hot af 🫶
But
I much prefer Lumine as the traveler and Aether as the abyss prince. I’m probably biased as I picked Lumine but I just find it really interesting. It’s a bit generic having the sunshine boy the good guy and the cold mean girl the bad. If you reverse it and make it the sunshine boy turned bad and the cold mean girl forced to be the hero, it becomes a much more compelling story.
Just imagine, the man who’s too kind for his own good, always helping people, friendly and social, has gone through that much trauma and pain that he wants to get revenge on the very people he once stood for. On the brink of insanity from all of the hatred he feels.
Now imagine Lumine. Cold, distant, calculating. Someone who’s never been in the hero role before and has suddenly just been thrust into it out of nowhere. She’s in her brothers place. This is a scenario her brother would thrive in. Not her. To make matters worse, she still has absolutely no idea where he is. She doesn’t know what to do. She’s absolutely trapped.
She has to learn to adapt over time. Learn more empathy. Be able to make friends more. Feel like she can truly trust people. It’s a learning curve for both of them. Lumine learning that she can trust people other than her brother, Aether learning that he can trust a lot less people than he originally thought.
Though, with everyone new Lumine meets she becomes more and more agitated and even more angry over time. She wants her brother. She doesn’t want to save nations. She doesn’t want to save people.
Her and Aether are two halves of one whole. They are what the other isn’t. They can’t cope properly without each other. All she wants is him. Imagine her desperation when she learns he’s missing. Her frustration and anger as no one properly helping her or taking her seriously. Knowing he’s alive but where the hell could he be!? Her utter relief and joy when seeing him again. Thinking they are going to go back home.
Now imagine her distraught when that same brother chooses the abyss over her.