#rayek

I won't lie to you all, this is mostly me memeing on how the entire Head, Hands, and Heart arc rips off Star Trek. It's actually something I've been wanting to compare and contrast for a long time. This time it'll be superficial, but next issue we'll get into pon farr vs Recognition.

Rayek, because I'm in my Rayek feels.

Aroree...? I don't often see Aroree analysis but I see from your reread you have some Glider feels so I'm curious!

Ooh, all right:

Rayek

- How I feel about him: That is complicated. He's one one of my fav characters in the entire series, and sometimes I want to punt him to the moon out of frustration. I love him, I hate him. I want to shake him until he gains some sense. I read someone comment on him once (I wish I could remember where) that he would be thriving if he could just get out of his own way, and it's SO TRUE.

- Who do I ship him romantically with: Back in my Scroll of Colors Forum days, I would have said Winnowill. The name I went by there, Allura, was actually an oc of mine that was their daughter. Nowadays though? Not sure. Maybe still Winnie, but only because I don't really have any better ideas. They both need to grow a bit. I hope Rogue's Curse stays canon, because I liked where it was going.

- Non-Romantic OTP: Ekuar. 'Nuff said.

- Unpopular opinion: He had every right to be mad at Cutter like he got. The wolfriders rode into his village, kidnapped his girlfriend, stole food and supplies, and then moved in like they had done nothing wrong. It was understandable in the end, especially since we saw it through the wolfriders' pov, but Rayek wasn't wrong to be mad about it. It least originally.

- What I wish would/had happened to him in canon: I wish all the character growth he got would stick for more than a few issues before he forgets it all and gets in his own way again. Like, bro. You learned this lesson already. Twice. Three times! I've lost count now.

Aroree

- How I feel about her: I liked her at her introduction, but once Siege rolled around, she just got annoyingly clingy to Skywise. Very one-note and boring. And sure, it could have been an interesting character growth to confront that become her own person, but Skywise just sort of let her be obsessed with him, and no one ever really addressed it. She started to break out of it a little around Shards and Dreamtime era, but then she faded into the background again and didn't really do anything with Venka's GoBacks. How did she change? Did she like the rough and rowdy tribe? Did she ever find another lovemate or lifemate? We see he4 just sort of hanging around the only other glider in Final Quest but... she doesn't really DO anything. In summary, some interesting potential that never got off the ground. (Like a lot of things in Elfquest, unfortunately.)

- Who I ship romantically with: I honestly don't know. Back in High School I started writing a "what if the wolfriders never went into wrapstuff" and made a whole family tree and characters who would be there when the palace reappeared, and I know I had her hook up with someone, and I genuinely do not remember who. I think she should have taken a GoBack lover, but the Pinis don't really like fleshing out GoBack characters unless they're villains or comic relief, so *shrug*

EDIT: I've decided her GoBack lover should be a girl. I don't know who, but she needs a girlfriend.

- Non-romantic OTP: I like the idea of Aroree and Aurek bonding over their shared past and being besties, but that's just the Final Quest I wrote in my head.

- Unpopular opinion: Not sure if it's unpopular or not, but I actually like that, even 10,000 years after the fall of Blue Mountain, Aroree still called Winnowill "Lord" more often than not. It shows how she's still a bit traumatized by the whole ordeal. IF ONLY THEY WOULD HAVE ANALYZED THAT AND DONE SOMETHING WITH IT.

messy doodle of rayek and Alistair :>

Oh ho, let's go!

Merrill: I haven't thought of DA2 in a while, outside of some standard "Fuck the Chantry!" discourse, and it isn't really a fave due to Bioware making all the elves look like a cross between starving cats and stick insects in that installment. So not much to say about Merrill, alas.

ALT

Rayek: My gf is actually reading through Elfquest for the first time right now, and I'm following along. And whew, the absolute fucking dive in Rayek's characterization between the OQ and SoBM really telegraphed the rest of Pini's contributions to the character, huh?

ALT

Northstar: Nothing here should surprise anyone. Happy 30th anniversary to Northstar's coming out issue, too bad Marvel couldn't even give him a short in this year's Pride anthology.