#so so normal

First of all let's get this out of the way that I love both SS1 X Mason and Stratoshine.

The short answer is that it's the appeal of their storytelling and dynamic that I really, really like.

Their personalities (at least, in my interpretation of the timeline) nicely complement each other's, which is what lays the grounds for their initial friendship and then later romance, and this stays true even 300 years later. Even though they've both been through so much (Anshine needing to look after Star Sanctuary and the Angels, Stratosfear being treated like a puppet) and their personalities have inevitably changed, they *still* match each other in some areas and agree to put in the effort to meet in the middle for others. Which is why they work so well both pre- and post- Pointification.

Their dynamic makes it such that one isn't constantly "fixing" or supporting the other, but rather the relationship is one where both sides do take care of each other the best they both can.

And then there's the story itself. A story that involves two young (is 29 and 35 still considered young lovers?? Idk) lovers. The mayor of a town and the person who's heroically stepped up to save said town, where the two of them initially just interacted whenever Maynot had to thank Aster (SS1) for their hard work when he came back from the last Expedition with his arms full of Stars, and it eventually became the two of them working together in the Observatory trying to gather as much information as they could on Stratos, as the two of them realise the other is extremely into astronomy and begin to develop a strong friendship over it. How the two of them would take time out of their schedules (whether it was Expeditions or Mayoral Duties) to meet up and stargaze or just relax at cafes together for lunch or a quick snack. And then comes the night where, whilst stargazing (at what stars had been restored to the night sky) together, let's just say they accidentally misunderstand each other and end up holding hands which leads them both to start questioning if they're more than just friends.

So from that point on, they both realise that they actively look forward to seeing the other, where Mason would wait for days or even weeks for Aster to return from the ongoing expedition, Aster would spend their days thinking about Mason whilst camping in some harsh terrain.

And eventually, when all is said and done and when Stratos is finally defeated, the two of them decide to go stargazing together after the Maytown Celebration… where they both learnt they had the same idea of proposing to each other after the celebration and then spend the night laughing about it and exchanging rings. Normally this was where the story should have ended and the two of them would then go on to happily get married BUT as we all know The Red X is a scumbag and doesn’t let people have nice things. So that bastard gives Aster a nightmare where he’s told about the timeloop, how this is the 42nd (or whatever number) loop and everything that’s going to happen. And the next night, the Second Starfall (aka the red stars) happen and he’s forced to pack his bags and travel all 7 Worlds again whilst knowing what’s going to happen to hime once he’s collected all 80 Stars. All while Mason notices him getting more and more worried over *something*.

when Aster finally collects 75 stars, he and Mason figure out the that last 5 Stars probably landed in the neighbouring Trap Town, and Aster promises he’ll come home safely and quickly despite Mason’s concerns.

But the Narrative has other plans, and for the first 41 loops, I think we all know what happened and why Aster never actually came from Trap Town. The timeline would reset, “Stratosfear” would be sent back in the loop, and the story would go on and on for his entertainment.

but then on the 42nd loop, instead of saying nothing and heading off, Aster instead breaks the timeloop by telling Mason about everything. Which leads to him getting Pointified as Aster is forced to watch his to-be husband bleeding out (because of the wings needing to emerge) whilst turning into someone else as Celesteal mocks him. This ends in Aster fleeing to Trap Town, gathering the last 4 stars and then going down the long hallway, getting Pointified for the last time and being thrown into the Pocket Dimension immediately afterwards.

I’d like to imagine his pocket dimension was somehow linked to the Temple of Shadows in Star Sanctuary, so that’s why everyone could see/hear the calls of distress when visiting the Temple. The converse is also true, being that Stratos could hear (or at least sense) when Anshine was in the Temple and would listen to whatever he was saying to cling onto whatever he could. That was Mason’s voice speaking to him, whether it was him talking about his duties taking care of Star Sanctuary or “I don’t know why I find the way you call for help familiar to me… I don’t even know why I find myself coming back here to tell you about everything.”

And this goes on for 300 years by the way.

Finally, the events of AF2 roll around, Willow (my SS2) goes through all 9 Worlds, teams up with the Points… and then has the tea party. I’ve previously talked about the tea party scene (see this post) so I won’t repeat myself but ohh the angst potential on this being their first time seeing each other again in 300 years :)

A little later we get THE GLORIOUS SCENE that happens after Stage 1 of the final Boss Fight (“Anshine, I’m so, so sorry…”). Ask any stratoshiner and they’ll tell you about it and the irreversible impact that scene between them had on us. The way Anshine tries to defend Stratosfear euehehejrjfjjf. boyfriends. And also the way Stratos keeps on staying near him in the postgame 🥹

For the one year gap between the events of POC and COS, I’d like to imagine that the two them got closer again and Stratosfear would tell Anshine everything about the past they had together to help him slowly recover the memories of his pre-point self. In fact, Anshine was the first of the Points to achieve a Chipped Symbol thanks to how much Stratos was telling him about the past :) (a little elaboration on what I mean by “chipped symbol”: in doe’s timeline Pointification works a bit differently when it comes to the Symbol and how it shatters. Basically a Point needs enough of their memories from their past life to Chip their symbol, which is a sign that it is ready to shatter. The Point then has to manually grab their symbol and break it themselves, causing the Symbol to Shatter and the Point to regain all their memories. So a Chipped symbol is a sign that the Point has enough memories to Shatter it, but is choosing not to for the time being for whatever reason.)

The two of them spend that year quickly falling for each other again (the line between Aster/Stratosfear and Mason/Anshine is gone by now), and taking care of each other. Stratos with his PTSD, Anshine often overworking since they now have to manage both Star Sanctuary and the entirety of Sky Emporium. Another things is that Stratos follows Anshine almost everywhere. He doesn’t mind Stratos clinging to him like this because the company is nice (“he acts like a big puppy dog and I love him so much for that”). Stratos does also try to learn from Anshine about how to handle and work on managing Star Sanctuary + Sky Emporium since they want to help their husband manage the workload!! and they also engage in more domestic activities (see this) when they’re both more free.

So yes a year of that passes by and Voixer is back. The COS trailer says everything it has to for me (GAY GAY HOMOSEXUAL GAY AJEKFKJEEK THE WAY THEY INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER, and again, see one of my previous posts about Anshine’s Gay Panic while them and Willow were in Tick Tock Gardens.

Since COS never released, this means that we have full creative liberty over how we want the story to go. Which is why in doe’s crown of shadows OH I HOPE YOU LIKE STRATOSHINE cause there’s a ton of it. Forget the original plans on how Stratos was going to be gone for the entire story up until the ending where we learn Voixer was taking them hostage.

How it goes is that Willow and Anshine find him whilst exploring W2 and you get to watch a cute little reunion scene :) and they then proceed to act like the most queer couple to ever exist for the entirety of COS. I kid you not. not only do they openly engage in pda which is mostly just leaning on each other, hugging or handholding but that doesn’t mean they haven’t tried to kiss each other in public other before when they *think* no one’s looking, they will sometimes (and also shamelessly) start flirting with each other, much to the embarrassment of the other in the moment :) and yea a lot of defending each other and Willow from whatever of Voixer’s minions are out to get them (Willow because they’re SS2, Stratos for their remnants of their time freeze ability leftover from the abilities they were given for the Narrative, Anshine cause if you take the fellow who’s literally leader of the Sky Emporium, you’ll destabilise everyone else) (of course, all this stuff and a lot more will be elaborated on in my complete AF Document where I write out my interpretation of how the full timeline went! This is just the surface level content)

that continues all the way from W2 to W6, and W7 is where the three of you head off to find Voixer once and for all. To summarise what happens in W7, Anshine is left wounded (don’t worry he ends up fine in the finale) by Voixer in an attempt to manipulate Stratos into working with him, except they refuse so you and him work together to do the final boss fight against Voixer. You two eventually win the fight and the three of you quickly leave the Exosphere as it all collapses around you, meet back in the Sky Emporium with the rest of the Points and everyone lives happily ever after. Yay!

and then the credits would roll and the final cutscene would’ve been the two of them finally getting married.