Character/Username: Lup / hellawrath Player: Laura Character Themes: The most obvious symbol for Lup is fire - both its vast potential for destruction as well as its warming, nurturing, protective aspects if it is controlled and channeled properly. Same as her fire spells, her wrath fuels her determination but must also be controlled and directed in order to not lead to more damage (verbal or physical) than is helpful in the moment. Control over herself, her fury and her powers is another key part of Lup. The powerful magical artifact she created, the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet led to absolutely horrific amounts of destruction because it caused the wearers to lose all self-control and give in completely to their anger. But if worn by someone who could control it (and used it morally), an endless source of fire could have immense creative potential.
More broadly but still tying into these themes, power and the loss of power play an important role for her. Ever since she was a powerless, homeless orphan fighting for survival and looking out for her brother, the acquisition of (mainly arcane) power meant safety, control over her own life and reaching her goals. Later, during the mission with the rest of fantasy NASA, growing furiously in arcane power was her main focus in most planes and it meant not just her own survival but that of all realities everywhere. Getting trapped in the Umbra Staff saw her endure a total loss of power and agency, an almost complete loss of self. She fought constantly to gain even a sliver of agency, putting all power she still had into channeling her own spells through the umbrella in a few key moments. Even here in LifeAftr, having her powers so severely limited was and still is a source of stress and anxiety, feeding not a little bit into her trauma surrounding the loss of her existence/self. If she can't light up half the island in a powerful show of force, how can she make sure she's really here and seen by others?
Being a twin, I like a bit of mirroring, half of a whole kinda stuff for her, but the main thing here is balance. The twins are opposites in many respects and have always balanced each other's flaws, or not even flaws so much as... preventing each other from leaning too far into their natural tendencies. Taako calms Lup's wrath, curbs her recklessness to some degree, Lup makes him take risks, curbs his selfishness, and so on. They're at their best when they can function in tandem.
Another important theme in her life and her overall canon is family. She went from being rejected by her parents at a young age and being handed around among other uncaring family members, having only her twin as true family, to gaining a found family in her Starblaster crew, learning over a century how to care for them and be cared for. This theme has continued in LifeAftr by forming a family with Ren and "adopting" more kids like Chara and Seto.
Family represents the importance of relationship bonds to the story and to Lup. Bonds are what powers the Starblaster, they're what hold the planes of existence together and they eventually turn the fight against the Hunger around. To Lup, bonds are what enable her to turn into a lich without, again, losing her sense of self and control. If she, in her lich form, lost her bonds (canonically her strongest bonds are her love for Taako and Barry, and I would certainly count Ren and Chara in here as well), she would lose her grip on her identity and she would be overwhelmed by her own arcane powers, becoming massively destructive and dangerous. During the Relic Wars, she turned against her bonds to take too much control of the situation, too much responsibility, leading her to go off on her own to try and lock away her relic, which led to her death and being stuck in the umbrella, and ultimately to everyone having their memories erased.
A few other things that don't tie as neatly into each other: the color red, for the IPRE uniform but also her lich form being a red robed specter. Her umbrella, which was her prison (due to her own hubris, because she's the one who designed it to consume arcane energy of defeated mages, never anticipating that she'd be defeated one day), but it's also how she accesses and directs most of her power, and she has taken ownership of it again. Her trauma and fear of being forgotten, unseen, unheard, again being a loss of agency, self, and bonds. Life and death - she champions life, loves life, but her relic has one of the highest death counts and she is undead. And there's her fiery optimism, hope and faith that enable her to push through unbearable circumstances.
no subject
Player: Laura
Character Themes: The most obvious symbol for Lup is fire - both its vast potential for destruction as well as its warming, nurturing, protective aspects if it is controlled and channeled properly. Same as her fire spells, her wrath fuels her determination but must also be controlled and directed in order to not lead to more damage (verbal or physical) than is helpful in the moment. Control over herself, her fury and her powers is another key part of Lup. The powerful magical artifact she created, the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet led to absolutely horrific amounts of destruction because it caused the wearers to lose all self-control and give in completely to their anger. But if worn by someone who could control it (and used it morally), an endless source of fire could have immense creative potential.
More broadly but still tying into these themes, power and the loss of power play an important role for her. Ever since she was a powerless, homeless orphan fighting for survival and looking out for her brother, the acquisition of (mainly arcane) power meant safety, control over her own life and reaching her goals. Later, during the mission with the rest of fantasy NASA, growing furiously in arcane power was her main focus in most planes and it meant not just her own survival but that of all realities everywhere. Getting trapped in the Umbra Staff saw her endure a total loss of power and agency, an almost complete loss of self. She fought constantly to gain even a sliver of agency, putting all power she still had into channeling her own spells through the umbrella in a few key moments. Even here in LifeAftr, having her powers so severely limited was and still is a source of stress and anxiety, feeding not a little bit into her trauma surrounding the loss of her existence/self. If she can't light up half the island in a powerful show of force, how can she make sure she's really here and seen by others?
Being a twin, I like a bit of mirroring, half of a whole kinda stuff for her, but the main thing here is balance. The twins are opposites in many respects and have always balanced each other's flaws, or not even flaws so much as... preventing each other from leaning too far into their natural tendencies. Taako calms Lup's wrath, curbs her recklessness to some degree, Lup makes him take risks, curbs his selfishness, and so on. They're at their best when they can function in tandem.
Another important theme in her life and her overall canon is family. She went from being rejected by her parents at a young age and being handed around among other uncaring family members, having only her twin as true family, to gaining a found family in her Starblaster crew, learning over a century how to care for them and be cared for. This theme has continued in LifeAftr by forming a family with Ren and "adopting" more kids like Chara and Seto.
Family represents the importance of relationship bonds to the story and to Lup. Bonds are what powers the Starblaster, they're what hold the planes of existence together and they eventually turn the fight against the Hunger around. To Lup, bonds are what enable her to turn into a lich without, again, losing her sense of self and control. If she, in her lich form, lost her bonds (canonically her strongest bonds are her love for Taako and Barry, and I would certainly count Ren and Chara in here as well), she would lose her grip on her identity and she would be overwhelmed by her own arcane powers, becoming massively destructive and dangerous. During the Relic Wars, she turned against her bonds to take too much control of the situation, too much responsibility, leading her to go off on her own to try and lock away her relic, which led to her death and being stuck in the umbrella, and ultimately to everyone having their memories erased.
A few other things that don't tie as neatly into each other: the color red, for the IPRE uniform but also her lich form being a red robed specter. Her umbrella, which was her prison (due to her own hubris, because she's the one who designed it to consume arcane energy of defeated mages, never anticipating that she'd be defeated one day), but it's also how she accesses and directs most of her power, and she has taken ownership of it again. Her trauma and fear of being forgotten, unseen, unheard, again being a loss of agency, self, and bonds. Life and death - she champions life, loves life, but her relic has one of the highest death counts and she is undead. And there's her fiery optimism, hope and faith that enable her to push through unbearable circumstances.