I think Crux has two major principles in his life: Atonement, and Expression. For a good chunk of time, he wants to atone for what he can and can’t remember doing, his actions that caused different people untold pain and misfortune. He wants to do better, not jsut for them, but for himself as well. Then, when he’s gotten older, he feels more deeply the importance of expressing things to those around him. Expressing love for his family, expressing joy for his friends and allies, just acknowledging those around him that have made him into who he is today.

For Valerian, no matter what, he wants to help the people he loves and cares about. Down the road, that takes him down a bit of a dark path, but it’s all for the sake of those he holds near and dear to his heart. He’ll do whatever it takes to keep them safe.

For Crux: it was originally his outfit because of lore complications I was having with him. I knew I wanted him to have a missing/destroyed eye, but I wasn’t sure how I wanted to go about the design, whether it was just covered by an eyepatch, if he would’ve had it visible, or eventually what I settled on for Crux’s early design, having goggles that have an eyepatch built into them. Now though, Crux usually just sticks with a normal eyepatch, I think it fits him a bit better and when he’s with Blaze, he knows he doesn’t need goggles for extra protection.

For Valerian: it was definitely his looks. Designing a fankid between an OC and a canon character was something I’d never done before, and I wasn’t really sure how to go about it! I ended up going with a bit of a lighter blue hair color, and one thing that I need to change but haven’t yet is his eyes! There are those cats that have heterochromia (I think that’s the word?) in their eyes, and I wanna give that to Val since those cats usually have one yellow eye and one blue eye, and Blaze’s eyes are blue while Crux’s eyes are orange/yellow

My OCs? Having moments of triumph? Lol good one Ethan

Crux: Two of his most crucial moments in life both involve him being injured in some significant aspect. The first was after he regained his memories of what he was like before his coma, and the revelation nearly broke him. But, what sealed the deal was a discussion with W that HE arranged himself, to apologize and try to move forward from the past. That encounter led to Crux being poisoned with an advanced neurotoxin, and his index finger being sliced off.

The second moment in Crux's life was decades later, as he and his son Valerian had been blackmailed out to Kazdel by W, on the grounds that if Crux and Valerian did not show up, W would reveal everything about Crux's horrible past to his son. When they arrived, W revealed that information regardless, driving a wedge between the father and son. After this information was revealed, W took the liberty of firing a grenade directly at Valerian, with an intent to kill. Crux dived in front of the explosive, getting hit by a blast that realistically should have killed him. But, he had planned ahead and worn a fairly sturdy set of armor under his outfit, though the blast hitting him point blank left Crux effectively crippled, one of his legs was completely unusable without the assistance of an extensive bionic prosthetic.

Valerian's I haven't put too much thought into yet, but I think it comes when he's reached his later 20s early 30s. Valerian had been helping his close friend Mercy with any of her medical problems over the years, and most of the time he was able to patch her up decently enough. But he started to notice her slowing down, coughing up more blood than usual, things just started to take heavier tolls. He knew that off in Columbia, Rhine Labs was a highly advanced laboratory, and someplace where experimental science was constantly being done, whether it was ethical or not. Running out of options, Valerian did the only thing he thought he could: He grabbed his medical equipment and left a note saying he'd taken a position with a hospital in Columbia and that he would visit when he could. He didn't want his family and friends to worry, but he knew that if he was going to get a chance to see what Rhine Labs was working on behind their walls, he was going to need leverage. As he was packing up his equipment, he took a vial containing the blood of Ifrit, and made his way off to Columbia. He was prepared to do whatever it took to get the answers he was after. Anything for a friend.

For Crux: He's friends or at least acquaintances with several different OCs! From the beginning when he woke up, Crux was lucky enough to have Doctor Sunless (later to be Doctor Sunrise) there to help guide him and get him adjusted to the world he was living in now. Crux is also good friends with Doctor Halcyon and Doctor Jasper! Crux isn't exactly besties with Doctor Seeker, but he respects the man and knows that he does a lot of good work around Rhodes Island, as well as Cetus, the newest of the Abyssal Hunters on board. Crux doesn't have the full picture of what's going on between the Hunters and the Seaborn, but he knows enough, and feels like Deepcolor should have the chance to live on the land with Cetus, and wants the two of them to be happy!

For Valerian there's a whole slew of friend's fankid OCs that are friends with him, but I'll just go over some of the most important relationships for him.

Mercy: Valerian and Mercy practically grew up together, both of them were onboard the landship basically all the time, and they've become the best of friends over the years! Valerian is concerned about Mercy's health a lot of the time as they get older, but he knows that she won't stop living her life, and he'll do whatever he can to support her in that.

Marble: Similar to Mercy, Marble has been a close friend to Valerian for decades, though I imagine the two of them have had their fair share of (friendly) squabbles over silly stuff. Valerian always loves hearing about Marble's expeditions, the wonderous sights he gets to see on such a regular basis, it's all nothing short of incredible to him.

Tourniquet: Valerian realistically didn't expect much when the Vampire showed up at the door to his office in the medbay one day, so thinking back on that moment gets a bit of a laugh out of the Feline now, given how much has happened between the two of them, and just how much he loves her. Tourn isn't necessarily around 24/7, but he knows that any time she's on Rhodes, he can find her (or she'll find him) and they can spend it together, making good memories with each other. Valerian will always try his best to give Tourniquet those happy memories to look back on, so she'll never forget the time they spend together, and can smile fondly at the thought.

Cian: Isa is like Valerian's little brother, no matter what timeline they're in! There's nothing Valerian wants for Isa more than to have fun and know that people care about him. Seeing how serious Isa takes things, or how he'll skirt off to the side of the group at events, Val wants to be there for his little bro from another mo', making sure he walks away from any hangout smiling and happy.

Crux's real name is Amene! From what I had found, Amene can mean "Looking forward with hope", something he tries his best to do after waking up from his coma and eventually when he regains his memories. Crux as a codename on the other hand, can mean a decisive point, but is also something that was used physically as a means of torture, which during his pre amnesia days Crux was known for his brutal interrogations that typically involved psychological torture.

For Valerian, since he's a doctor and works with blood, people and especially kids might be a little bit scared when they have to see him, on account of all the needles and stuff that comes with blood work. In real life,
the valerian is a type of flower that is more recently promoted in things like anxiety relief! His real name Sol, aside from coming from when I was on a Guilty Gear lore binge, was because for Crux and Blaze, when he was born it was like they were staring at the sun, knowing their little boy had a bright future ahead of him.

This is a bit of a specific context, but I think when Crux is just getting adjusted to being his "new" self after waking up from his coma, he has a lot of depressed concern about himself. Who was he before? Why do so many people fear him? And fitting that, I just think of the song Be Honest by Forrest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo1WG4FVl2k&list=PLl4nvk5PTgHmejcBrUwcscOp_VG543WYA&index=10

For Valerian, this is a little more sappy but I think when he's gone awhile without seeing Tourniquet and really misses her, the song Being Human fits his mood (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ8y37jMX4A&list=PLl4nvk5PTgHmj-1T4atrSPKST5z7Xt5RU)

It's not in a literal sense, he has no regrets with loving Tourniquet for exactly who she is, but the way that the song talks about just taking time to go somewhere and live in the moment. He knows he's not gonna be around as long as she will, and he wants to take the time he knows he has to give her those moments to remember fondly.

Crux would really want a chance to go to Siesta with Blaze! Even if it wasn’t the original island, the two of them never got the chance to go out there together and just take in not only the Obsidian festival, but just the entire ambiance of the world not in trouble, everything just the right amount of energetic.

As for what they’d do, I think aside from the appeal of the obsidian festival itself (Blaze would probably support AUS and Crux would be on team DDD, whoever could garner up more support by the end would treat the other to a very nice dinner) the two of them would take a lot of time to swim around, hike through the more natural areas of the island, and at the end of the day they’d probably swim out decently far, have Crux make a little ice patch for them, and just float out on that and watch the stars together, the vacation they missed once, and wouldn’t wanna miss ever again.

(I’m sorry this is so long I know you were probably expecting a shorter answer akskdjskndmsnd)

It wasn’t exactly a pleasant meeting that’s for sure. Blaze had heard about Crux from before he lost his memories, and hardly anything said about him was good. After he woke up from his coma, Crux was seemingly a whole different person, his demeanor had changed drastically from the ruthless bastard he was said to be. Crux was tasked to go into Chernobog with a team of operators to determine his tactical capabilities, Ace & Scout left for that mission with him, and didn’t come back. So after all these horrible things that were said about him, leading into the possibility of a different man waking up, two elite operators wound up dead, and they just happened to be Blaze’s closest friends. She had some…choice words for Crux after that. A few weeks and several broken ribs later, everything in Lungmen started happening, and Blaze was assigned with Crux again. There wasn’t much that could be said about what had happened, both of them just knew they needed to push forward, it’s what Ace & Scout would have wanted.

These two didn’t really get close to one another until after everything in Lungmen happened, with Crux carrying Blaze back to the medics himself, and visiting her every day he could in the hospital. There was a lot of buildup to this, but those moments in the hospital are where Blaze really got to meet Crux, and Crux got to meet Blaze. Neither of them had the same regrets they did before, and while the pain was still there, it was possible to get through it together.

I think his sense of style came from a few people! Sunrise was who Crux first met when it came to the psychology department, and he probably gave Crux a few pointers he had picked up from Utage. Then I think from there he would have probably asked Closure about ordering some clothes for him, since she seems to handle a lot of the special orders on Rhodes!

I think Blaze really likes Crux's style! The fact that he's got all of his floral shirts gives his otherwise rough appearance a bit of a softer feel to it, and on top of that she can easily rock a look with one of his shirts herself! Then with his sweaters and things like that, those are always a cozy option for if she wants to take it easy for a day! Doesnt really have the same impact as Closure's big shirt no pants lifestyle, but that doesn't mean she wont still rock it when Crux is the only one around!