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- Elegant, entertaining, noble, yet dangerous... The more of a person like that, the more I want to destroy her, but I can also settle for the next best thing, destroyed by her... it's not impossible!
- —Sparkle's voiceline about Black Swan.
SparkleSwan is the femslash ship between Sparkle and Black Swan from the Honkai: Star Rail fandom.
Canon[]
Sparkle and Black Swan are both Penacony characters originally established as VIP Guests invited to The Feast to represent their factions, The Masked Fools and The Garden Of Recollection respectively. However, Black Swan herself revealed in "Masquerade Duet" that Sparkle was hired by an unknown individual to come to Penacony, therefore she may not have really been an invited guest. The two first met one another in "Masquerade Duet", which was set prior to the events of the Penacony Trailblaze Mission. Whilst it was not explicitly stated, it was implied that they may have known each other before that, and it was not actually their first meeting.
Sparkle is a member of The Masked Fools implied to originate from the planet Edo Star. She puts on a very chaotic and somewhat insane personality, seemingly being someone who will cause all sorts of chaos purely to feel what she defines as "Elation", and seems to lack respect for others. Her true identity is unknown as she puts on all many different "faces", with it even being implied that even she does not know who she truly is, nor does she feel any emotions.
Black Swan is a Memokeeper from The Garden Of Recollection, originating from an unknown planet. She portrays herself as an extroverted person with a gentle and teasing personality, frequently calling characters pet names such as "dear" or "darling". As she is both an extremely intelligent individual and a Memokeeper, she holds information about the world others could never begin to fathom, and therefore is willing to make difficult choices for the greater good. As a Memokeeper, she does not possess a physical body, having discarded it to travel through worlds as a Memetic Entity. She feels very strongly about collecting unique memories, with that being the main goal her life strives towards. Like all Memokeepers, she also holds the belief that life is fleeting, and the only truly eternal thing is memory, therefore if something is preserved in memory it will live forever.
Sparkle and Black Swan seemingly have very different personalities and views on the world, however instead of contrasting one another, they compliment each other perfectly, and the two get along very well. Sparkle is obsessed with Black Swan, with it being heavily implied she has romantic feelings for her, proclaiming herself as a huge Black Swan fan and constantly trying to get Black Swan's attention. In return, Black Swan finds Sparkle to be a fascinating person, seemingly wanting to understand her, and is more than willing to humor and tease her. Whilst the two are not necessarily friends, they both hold good views of one another and get along quite well, both calling each other the affectionate nickname "my dear".
Should One Awaken At Midnight[]
After being sent to The Dreamscape by Sparkle, the main character and Firefly are rescued by Black Swan, who brings the main character back to The Express. The Express Crew thank Black Swan for bringing the main character back, and after introducing Black Swan, Himeko asks the main character what happened. After explaining, Welt reaffirms that the one who attacked the main character was a girl in red who was able to shapeshift, to which Black Swan says her name is Sparkle and she is a Masked Fool that has infiltrated Penacony.
Black Swan muses that it is unlikely she will be bothering them again for a while, as right now she is probably patting herself on the back for doing a job well done. Welt remarks that it seems like Black Swan knows Sparkle well, to which she responds that of course she does, as she knows everyone on Penacony. She then clarifies that whilst Sparkle's tricks can cause hallucinations the strange Dreamscape Sparkle sent the main character to had nothing to do with her, and actually originated from Penacony itself. March 7th inquires what Black Swan means, and she states that Penacony is collapsing, turning back into its true form as it sinks.
Masquerade Duet[]
This section is in need of major improvement. Please help improve this article by editing it.
Keeping Up With Star Rail[]
This section is in need of major improvement. Please help improve this article by editing it.
For Black Swan's Keeping Up With Star Rail, Sampo was invited to be the co-host alongside Owlbert, however he never makes it as Sparkle decided to take over.
Quotes[]
- “Elegant, entertaining, noble, yet dangerous... The more of a person like that, the more I want to destroy her, but I can also settle for the next best thing, destroyed by her... it's not impossible!”
- — Sparkle's voiceline about Black Swan.
- “Hm, a fascinating young girl. Although she didn't say so, however I suspect she always really wanted to be "seen" by people. Her mind is the most extremely chaotic place I've seen, but it holds the most powerful weapon- intuition.”
- — Black Swan's voiceline about Sparkle.
- “My dear Memokeeper, do you dare entrust your back to me?”
- — Sparkle's voiceline when added to the same team as Black Swan.
- “Little lady, this time make sure you don't overdo it. ”
- — Black Swan's voiceline when added to the same team as Sparkle.
- “Don't worry. She won't be bothering you for now. She's probably patting herself on the back for a job well done.”
- — Black Swan about Sparkle in "Should One Awaken At Midnight".
- “Memokeeper of The Garden, I've been watching you for a long time.”
- — Sparkle to Black Swan in "Masquerade Duet".
- “...My dear, do you have a crush on me? Well then, seeing as you're so interested in me, let's play a little game.”
- — Sparkle to Black Swan in "Masquerade Duet".
- “This is so her style, isn't it?”
- — Black Swan to Sampo about Sparkle in "Masquerade Duet".
- “So, why exactly are you so interested in Sparkle's challenge? Or is it... you care about her as a person?”
- — Sampo to Black Swan about Sparkle in "Masquerade Duet".
- “Even among the Fools I know, Miss Sparkle's sense of humor is unique.”
- — Black Swan about Sparkle in "Masquerade Duet".
- “Miss Sparkle is really a fascinating person. Her heart seems chaotic, but is easy to understand, like an actress on stage, and like a child who longs to be looked at.”
- — Black Swan about Sparkle in "Masquerade Duet".
- “What a cute answer.”
- — Black Swan to Sparkle in "Masquerade Duet".
- “But that was Miss Sparkle's painstaking effort, how could I really be willing to skip it?”
- — Black Swan about Sparkle in "Masquerade Duet".
- “My dear, why so serious? Haven't you been having a great time? I have, at least.”
- — Sparkle to Black Swan in "Masquerade Duet".
- “You take "memories", I gain "joy", we can get what we need from each other. Since we're such kindred spirits, and you and I are both alone… why don't you come together with me, and dance Pas De Deux together?”
- — Sparkle to Black Swan in "Masquerade Duet".
- “I'm sorry, my dear. My dream dance partner… I already have someone chosen.”
- — Black Swan to Sparkle about Acheron in "Masquerade Duet".
- “I also prepared a good gift for you- A Dream Bubble- recording the life and death story me and the beautiful Memokeeper shared!”
- — Sparkle to Trailblazer about Black Swan in "A Thousand Bells At Dawn".
- “Plus I'm a HUGE Black Swan fan too - I know everything there is to know.”
- — Sparkle about Black Swan in Black Swan's "Keeping Up With Star Rail" episode.
- “Oh, look at her, the mastermind of odds, treating combat like a simple card trick... She's really... awesome~”
- — Sparkle about Black Swan in Black Swan's "Keeping Up With Star Rail" episode.
- Owlbert – “Miss Sparkle, are you really a fan of Black Swan?”
- Sparkle – “Fanatic, fan... same difference.”
- — Sparkle and Owlbert about Black Swan in Black Swan's "Keeping Up With Star Rail" episode.
- “Miss Black Swan is always so composed, I can't help but want to see her trip over~”
- — Sparkle about Black Swan in Black Swan's "Keeping Up With Star Rail" episode.
Fanon[]
SparkleSwan first gained a small fanbase back when the 2.0 leaks first began. The leaked image of Sampo and Black Swan standing over Sparkle's "dead body" got people curious on what their dynamic would be with one another, and a few people even took interest in shipping the two in a poly ship with Sampo. Additionally, their leaked voicelines about each other also provided a lot of fuel, especially Sparkle's, as the remark about being wanting to be "destroyed" by Black Swan had some extremely suggestive undertones which caused quite a few people to ship them. However not all of their original fanbase was leak followers, some people shipped them purely due to them being the new 2.0 five star duo, or simply because they looked good next to each other.
The release of Penacony brought their joint companionship mission, "Masquerade Duet", and provided a lot of fuel for the ship, making their popularity increase. Players were quick to comment on the large amounts of implications and ship fuel the mission brought, especially on the fact Sparkle straight up asked Black Swan if she had a crush on her.
Whilst SparkleSwan are quite liked as a ship, and was originally Black Swan's most popular ship, they were very overshadowed by AcherSwan, and ended up becoming neglected by the fandom in favor of both AcherSwan and other Sparkle pairings. However, some shippers who ship both SparkleSwan and AcherSwan choose to ship them alltogether in a poly ship, Acherswanabi.
Majority of shippers see SparkleSwan as "canon", as Sparkle's behavior towards Black Swan can easily be interpreted as Sparkle having a crush on her, and many believe that Black Swan is well aware of her feelings. Some shippers think that it is a one sided crush, with Black Swan simply humoring her, whilst others think she likes her back and is flirting with her in return. Sparkleswan are also quite popular among Korean fans, likely due to more suggestive nature of how Sparkle talks to Black Swan in the Korean text in comparison to Chinese, Japanese or English.
SparkleSwan is Sparkle's most popular ship, and Black Swan's second most popular ship, typically being rivaled by Black Swan's most popular ship, AcherSwan, as well as ships such as Samkle, SwanRobin and Sparkfly.
Currently, SparkleSwan have 20+ works on AO3.
Fandom[]
- FAN FICTION
- Black Swan/Sparkle tag on AO3
- Sparkleswan hashtag on Twitter
- Sparkleswan posts on Twitter
- Black Swan x Sparkle posts on Twitter
Trivia[]
- In Chinese, both Sparkle and Black Swan call each other "亲爱的" which can be translated as "my dear" or "my darling", and is almost always used romantically.
- In Japanese, Sparkle calls Black Swan "カワイ子ちゃん" which can be translated as "cute girl" or "cutie", and is viewed as a typically romantic and very teasing thing to call someone.
- In Korean, Sparkle calls Black Swan "자기야", which can be translated as "honey" or "baby", an explicitly romantic term used among couples.
- Additionally, in both Chinese and English, Sparkle refers to other characters, such as the main character, Firefly and Robin, as "my dear" . "자기야" is what "my dear" was translated to in Korean, however, in the scenes where she refers to said characters as "my dear", "자기야", let alone any sort of affectionate nickname, is noticeably absent. Therefore, Black Swan is the only person that Sparkle refers to as "자기야".
- The two make a brief cameo in "The Knocking at Ungodly Hours", showing the scene of them from "Masquerade Duet" where Sparkle asks Black Swan if she really thinks she can leave, and Black Swan apologizes that she has already picked her dream dance partner in response.
- When Sparkle asks Black Swan if she has a crush on her in "Masquerade Duet", the word she uses in Chinese is "暗恋", which literally means "secret love".
- In "Masquerade Duet" when Sparkle remarks that Black Swan is so interested in her, the word she uses in Chinese is "感兴趣", which can mean romantic interest.
- When Sampo asks Black Swan if she cares about Sparkle as a person in "Masquerade Duet", the word he uses in Chinese is "关心", which in this context would mean having care or concern for the wellbeing of someone.
- In "Masquerade Duet", Sparkle invites Black Swan to dance "Pas De Deux" with her. The Pas De Deux is a dance duet performed in ballet in which a couple perform identical dance steps. In the 19th Century, a romantic Pas De Deux was developed involving closer and more intimate physical contact. One of the most well known Pas De Deux is the "Black Swan Pas De Deux", featured in the ballet "Swan Lake", and performed by Prince Siegfried and Odile. There is a type of Pas De Deux called a Grand Pas De Deux a structured dance that features five parts, with all five parts sharing the same theme of a love story or the partnership that exists in love. The dancers will typically portray expressions of affection and intimate thoughts between the romantic partners they are dancing as.
- Additionally, the name of "Masquerade Duet" in Chinese references this, as it is "假面双人舞", meaning "Masked Pas De Deux".
- On Black Swan's Character Introduction, Sparkle's Note says "Memokeeper, my memories are guaranteed to be bright and colorful and full of stories! Read mine! Read mine!"[1]
- On Sparkle's Character Introduction, Black Swan's Remark says "There is always a difference between fantasy and reality, but the truth... that is hard to deduce~"[2]
- In Part IV of Black Swan's lore, she mentions a joyous memory from Sparkle, remarking on the dramatic hues of joy, confusion and humor it carries. However it can not be called happiness, as it is far from happy, just like the future it points to.[3]
- In Morose Monsters (VI), the main character and Mr. Bigwig run into Sparkle. Straight afterwards, they run into Black Swan right near where Sparkle was, implying that the two may have been together, or Sparkle was instead stalking Black Swan.
- Black Swan's JP VA, Nabatame Hitomi, was asked in an interview what characters other than Black Swan she was interested in, to which she responded that she was interested in Sparkle and the naughty feeling about her. She shared that whilst recording, she found the story of "Masquerade Duet" very theatrical and amusing, and thought it showed Sparkle and Black Swan's relationship well. She went on to say that she would be happy to see everyone's responses, and was personally looking forward to it.[4]
Gallery[]
- Main article: SparkleSwan/Gallery
Variations[]
- Acherswanabi refers to the ship between the two and Acheron
- Sparkleswanrobin refers to the ship between the two and Robin
- SparkStelleSwan refers to the ship between the two and Stelle
- SwanSparkFly refers to the ship between the two and Firefly
- Penacony Women refers to the ship between the two, Acheron, Firefly and Robin
