#yeah i just don’t vibe with the tone or characterizations they do

[cookii-moon]

FULL Dragons Rising thoughts and opinions!

PLEASE BE AWARE SPOILERS FOR EPISODES 1-10 OF DRAGONS RISING LIES AHEAD!!! If you have not watched it PLEASE be aware that the following contains both massive and minor spoilers for the entire plot of part 1, if you haven’t seen the full thing and wish to go in without spoilers I HEAVILY recommend you save this for later. I put this message here for those who do not have the spoiler tags filtered.

so… new ninjago show! So far? Absolutely love it. It’s shaping up to be interesting and… …well written??! I really enjoyed It, especially the characterization. Sooo good. No concrete opinions on the overarching plot yet, since.. it isn’t out… BUT I do think it’s shaping up to be pretty great.

Now without further ado-

1: Characters

1.1: Arin

I’d say I enjoy him! I do like how he’s portrayed as giddy and all ready to learn, his dream basically just came true and it’s great. Man hyper fixated so much that he taught himself an ancient art style and like yeah that tracks.

I like his design - you can tell he’s had a rough life by the dirt on his shirt and the scratch marks on his face, but he tries not to give up hope or let it get to him too much. I also like how he has a haircut commonly associated with black people and they kept the theme by also having that one line about a haircut he tried to get reference Zane’s, since Zane also has a haircut commonly used by black people. Nice lil way of alluding to a potentially POC character while still using the Lego skin tones.

His little moments where he lets his struggles get the best of him and showcases how his life these past few years have also impacted him for not just the better but also worse - they’re great. Nice way of balancing his character and personality with his experiences while not losing the charm. Things like him being all self deprecating sometimes, or how he felt seen when people looked up to him - they’re great. Not as much as I’d like, but i get the feeling that while this part was more focused on Sora and her backstory, the next might be more centered around Arin.

On a more personal note - while I think he’s great and has potential, I dunno if he’s really my thing. I don’t hate him, I actually like him, just not as much as some other characters right now. I think he needs some time to grow on me, or it’s just not my thing. Either way, he’s cool. Also I love how he just slaps his medallion on his face when he gets second place… it’s so dramatic-

1.2: Sora

aaaa trans kitty cat girl my beloveddd she’s just ugghhhh I love her so much. Probably one of my favorite new characters. I liked her but was scared they’d go too far with the generic big sister trope and she’d never get any deeper than that but boy I’m glad I was wrong.

I love her design. The whites and blues a pinks? Really glad they didn’t just go for a full color again, it makes her more distinct! I also love the prosthetic arm SO MUCH. Rare to see any sort of disability rep in media. Even rarer to see prosthetics. (Also yes ik it’s possible it’s just like armor or smthn but given the way it moves I’m like 99% sure it’s a prosthetic, plus I could be wrong but It looks a lot like she has it off during the scene where Lloyd wakes them up, since you can’t see her gold/prosthetic arm where it would usually be. Only going based off of pictures and memory here tho so.) < — haaaahaaaa yeah so uh future Cookie here, wrote that part before the statement came out..yeah that aged poorly. Look maybe they said it’s armor but I REFUSE to accept it that is a prosthetic to me. My mind has engrained it as a prosthetic meaning I couldn't change my mind even if I tried. Leaving that part in tho for histories sake. - Also, the Japanese cat girl is such a vibe. I love how I was right with the blue scrunchie in my art of her.,The power of character design.

I loved her story so much. She was just a kid with a love for technology and making the world a better place, she got offered what she thought was her dream job only to realize the cruel truth she’d likely been ignoring, in such a traumatizing way by the person she looked up to. She got shunned not only socially but by her own parents, being told she was a horrible person for prioritizing the dragons life over her cities energy and questioning the dictatorship. She grew to hate her home and fled and made a life for herself. I love her lil deadname tease, I love how she feels towards her powers and how she feels like she isn’t all that Lloyd thinks she is, how she clearly has issues and also her personality. Her siblings energy with Arin is so good. I love when Lloyd and Arin doubt who’s side they’re on too. I like how she doesn’t learn to control her powers like some ex machina when it’s needed on her own. She tries her hardest but fails and instead of constantly letting that get her down she still tries to fight without them, even if it doesn’t always go well. Dhdhfjdjs I could rant all day.

So uhh yeah i love her. Kitty cat girl. I really like the duality between her and Arin but also the stuff they have in common like sndhdhsben. I mean it should be obvious I like her. She’s in my title thingymajig and I made art for her. But still. Hdjdjdhdh I LOVB HER.

Also this isn’t part of my analysis but when she gets fake IDs if you translate the ninjagan on her card it reads “Sora Surname” as a placeholder and I think it’d be hilarious if we just started using that as her last name tag since this community is obsessed with them. Sora Surname. It’d be so funny. Please tag your posts Sora Surname.

1.3: Euphrasia

So like when dragons rising first released I saw quite a few peoples hating on this girl and imo I actually really like her. I feel like the hate is sort of unfounded but I’ll get into that later.

I like her!! I like the idea of her being a cloud kingdom monk, i like the new cloud kingdom designs, I like that FINALLY girls seem to exist there, and her wanting to ignore and hide her powers because she’s happy where she is and she doesn’t want to lose it. Side note, I do prefer this cloud kingdom, I feel like it leaves more room. Like if someone doesn’t like the idea that they write destiny at all they can just.. chose to see them as a sort of religious group who doesn’t actually write fate, and then if you like the idea that they can control some amount of destiny you can say that they do have control over some parts of it, but that they simply can’t control everything and in the end it’s not only up to them but also the people of the world if the prophecies come true or not (personally I like to think that’s how it is/is implied) or that they COULD control destiny but can’t anymore after the merge. Idk you can stretch it more and I like that. So much better than the old cloud kingdom imo.

Back to Euphrasia, I do like her story and the little we see of her. I’m not actually bothered by the fact that she only appears in one episode. I’ve seen people complaining about it but come on guys, we literally only have ten episodes, would you have preferred that she randomly pops into imperium when she has no logical way of getting there and that’s where like every single other episode takes place?? There physically wasn’t anywhere else she would have appeared after episode 5 unless you made her join Sora and Arin, which not only would you need to lengthen the plot to develop her as a character with interactions since they JUST met, but also it’s refreshing to have a new EM who isn’t one of the new MCs.

the OTHER reason I see people hate her is because of Morro. Obviously, she’s the new master of wind, meaning Morro is dead, and his element went back to the cycle and found a new host. So people are upset.

guys. Guys we literally knew this. We’ve known he was dead since like 2015. We’ve known he moved on to the departed realm since 2016. We’ve known that the wind element has gone back to the cycle and found a new host for YEARS. That doesn’t mean Morro suddenly doesn’t exist. He just doesn’t have his element anymore. He could still appear in the new series, and even if he doesn’t I’m honestly ok with that. His arc is done and i get the feeling he’d go out of his way to avoid the ninja after the merge anyway. It isn’t Euphrasia fault, stop hating on her D:

I don’t have much else to say about her yet. I loved her story and moments and design and vibe and everything but there isn’t much else to talk about bc of the smol screen time amount, so yeah.

1.4: Wyldfyre

Silly wolf-raised-girl-trope-with-a-dragon-twist. I love her so much. Not sure I’d call her one of my favs yet (uuugh they’re all my favs… sobs..) only bc we didn’t see much of her character interactions n stuff.

Her design is so pretty. The colors make her look like a Qilin to me which I love so much.

I do like how she’s knowledgeable enough with humans to be able to interact with the rest of the cast while still keeping her draconic behaviors or knowledge that she gained by being raised around them. I think it’s a nice little limbo and I feel like we’re gonna see at least one identity crisis from her now that she’s in the group.

I’m usually not much of a fan of these types of characters but I actually really like her and I’m excited to see where they go with her. Plus, her powers and the lighting they give off are so pretty.

1.5: Lobbo

I had to include him. Look at him. I CALLED IT. I TOLD YOU ALL, ALL THE WAY BACK IN THE TRAILER DAYS I POINTED OUT LOBBOS MECH. I SAID I LOVED HIM ALREADY AND I WAS RIGHT. TAKE THAT INTERNET!! I unironically love him he’s so funny nobody understands him he’s just THERE with parental and relationship struggles and it’s just so funny to me. Little silly orb man. Now onto the villains!

1.6: Empress Beatrix

So I like… love her design, it’s so menacing and I think she’s so awesome looking. Super gender too. I find her weird rules funny but also sometimes I want to punch her in the face. Like.. why did she get so mad about Rapton being incompetent, but then.. fire Ras… who didn’t really do anything wrong except for fail that ONE time.. instead of Rapton.. who physically isn’t competent whatsoever?? Like I don’t get it?? It felt so random. Maybe it’s some form of her wanting to feel superior and in control so she got rid of Ras as a statement. But then… why not also fire Rapton, who thinks highly of himself bc of the position you gave him?.. I dunno I don’t get it maybe they’ll tell us in part 2.

1.7: Lord Ras

Ah yes, the guy people seem to really like. I’ll be honest, I don’t get the appeal?? Like his design feels out of place, which I guess is intentional but I just.. don’t really like the look of the awkward head mold. It’s a personal thing ig. His personality is just kind of boring to me and we don’t know anything else about him because he’s that scary bad guy general except oh wait he screwed up once and got thrown in prison!! Like I don’t get it?? Look guys he’s not even that attractive. I might be aroace but even I can tell that much. It’s the voice isn’t it. Y’all are simping for the voice smh /lh

I guess his whole “plan” thing is a bit interesting but even that isn’t something I’m too interested. I kinda just found him pretty boring and I felt disinterested whenever he showed up.

like in the last few episodes it felt like they were trying to make us feel bad for him with the way the empress treated him but like, they don’t give us anything to feel bad for?? I dunno the whole thing felt awkward and clunky.

Maybe my opinions will change in part 2 where we’re probably gonna find out more about him, but until then, meh.

also I want to punch him in the face sometimes. I dunno he’s just being all th e r e and boring and so I want to punch him and get him off of the screen because it’s like an annoying type of boring. Yk like an annoying torturous silence. But boring. Yeah that. No offense I don’t hate him I just want to punch him off of my screen.

1.8: Rapton

Silly goofy guy. I’ll be honest I found his incompetence a bit.. annoying? Like I get he’s supposed to be comic relief but like it doesn’t feel right sometimes?? It’s just a personal thing ig. I feel like having some comic relief villains is ok but imperium just has too much comic relief in their villain roster?? Like Ras and Beatrix are pretty much the only capable ones in a fight. Ras got chucked in prison and barely shows up or does much, and Beatrix still has comic relief elements in her ridiculous laws and such. LaRow could count but shes not really a competent fighter since she cowers and nopes out the second Arin tries to fight her. I feel like it just.doesn’t work with imperiums vibe having rapton as a general, and honestly i didn’t find his jokes funny (but ofc humor is subjective). I don’t dislike him, I just don’t really care about him. I want to punch him in the face whenever he shows up but out of annoyance.

1.9: Dr. LaRow

She shows up and I want to punch her but this time out of malice and hatred. She’s a good villain and I like how they handled her but I physically can not feel anything but spite for this woman and I love that. Great villain. Hate her with every fiber of my being which is how it should be.

1.10: Dorama

I don’t have much to say about him asides from that the magician vibes are fun and that I want to punch him in the face for his attitude towards living beings.

… apparently I really feel like punching all of them. Huh. I swear I’m not like this usually I dunno something about all these villains is just punchable.

2: Interactions

Honestly? I’d say the interactions in this show were great. Sora and Arin are great foils to each other and best buds. My only thing is I hope the show doesn’t try to push a ship (I’ve seen people complain about shipping them and while I see their dynamic in a platonic familial sense I have nothing against people shipping them romantically atm since we don’t know of anything that’d make it problematic, I just don’t think it should be forced in canon) but I choose to be hopeful and say it probably won’t. Lloyds interactions with his new students are amazing and so funny srfvjrtfjer Lloyds really gone from the guy who didn’t know what a VCR was to the guy who probably still doesn’t know what a VCR is (somehow) but has now adopted two strays and needs to pretend to know what a VCR is. It’s so funny. The sibling bicker between Lloyd, Kai and Nya was ok, I guess? Never cared much for the RGB sibling idea… Iknowww shame on me but uh was it just me or did the interactions feel a bit… forced? I dunno, something about it just felt off. Was it just me or did anyone else feel like that?? Also Soras interactions with Dr. LaRow and Rapton… so good… Overall I like the interactions even if the ones between the ninja felt a bit forced.

3: Writing & plot

So I enjoyed the writing.. specifically the characters dialogue and such. I think this season has some really good balance between dialogue and characters. I liked the pacing a lot up until the imperium episodes. I don’t have a problem with them on their own - I liked the conflict it sparked and the stakes and seeing Sora’s backstory, but I also felt like it dragged on too much?? Like Sora kept escaping and then getting captured and then escaping and then going back like it felt really backtracky and it kind of messed with the consistency and the pacing, yk?? Also the battle with the protacs definitely felt like the writers were trying to stall or smthn. Idk.

Also, did Zane popping up feel.. unnecessary and rushed to anybody else?? Like the IDEA was awesome and cool, things were great up until they opened the pod.. then Zane pops up and he doesn't really do anything except for immediately become a generic background exposition tool, he barely even interacts with Kai and Nya. Having him there felt so… unnecessary? He doesn’t DO anything. You could get rid of him and just give them another way of activating the monastery and it’d change nothing. Plus it’s NOT explained and he’s just so… unemotional and “whatever” about it that it just… feels so unnatural?? Idk I can’t explain it. Maybe it’s just me not liking how they seem to be reverting to making Zane more of a robotic exposition tool like after s4. I don’t like it. You could’ve just left him to part 2 though.

I’ve seen ppl complain about the “retcons” with Lloyd saying he trained under Master Wu for years and being shown as a child, but like, they’re not really retcons…? From what I remember they never give us any sort of specifics towards the timeframe in which S1-S2 takes place outside of S2 taking place only a few weeks after the S1 finale, but that doesn’t really apply to the ENTIRE season. It’s not Impossible that the events we see all take place over the course of a few years, since most of the episodes aren’t connected to each other beyond the overarching plot. And nothing ever said that Wu didn’t train Lloyd. What we see isn’t the only training that took place. Maybe I forgot something important that says otherwise, but the idea that S1-2 took place in only a few weeks/months is completely fan made, meaning it wasn’t a retcon. Sure, maybe it seems weird, but it’s never been stated otherwise. Now, if it IS a retcon, I’m not complaining for one. Why, you might ask? Because them using child Lloyd and saying he trained under Master Wu for years might mean we can FINALLY be rid of the Tomorrows tea confusion!! We could have him grow up naturally, or age him up and clarify and elaborate on how it works, we could FIX the entire stupid argument that has been going on for YEARS. I for one am ecstatic at that possibility. Also, it means we might get additional context and stuff for S1-S2, which sounds fun ,so honestly I have no problem with it. There have been worse plot holes/retcons *glares at Nyad from across the room*

I can’t say much about the overarching plot yet, since obviously it isn’t out, but it’s shaping up to be pretty exciting!

4: Worldbuilding

I feel like I can’t judge this TOO much considering the nature of part 1. I absolutely loved the crossroads and the mix of different cultures, real splatsville vibes, but I do feel like we should get to see more of how the other realms are doing. Imperium felt a bit.. strange? Like it’s just a massive city of humans right?? I don’t really get why it had to be an entire separate realm, I think it should’ve been more unique on like a larger scale. I dunno though. Honestly there wasn’t much worldbuilding in this part, so I hope we get more soon.

5: Visual design & animation

Okay so this new series is BEAUTIFUL. The colors and the backgrounds are so much more vibrant, the lighting is so pretty, the environments are amazing, they kept the wild brain clothing textures and just uuuugh I love it so muchychxhazjchcjdiwhthfs the animation felt very expressive and ueuahahehfhdsj I have no words props to wildbrain and the animators/artists. It’s so pretty.

Overall this part was great and I’m really excited to see what comes next!!

also uh on a side note this post took me *checks date* uhh 2… 2 weeks.. y e a h. So uh. Enjoy.

#ninjago #ninjago dragons rising #dragons rising #ninjago dragons rising spoilers #ninjago spoilers #dragons rising spoilers #ninjago arin #arin ninjago #dragons rising arin #ninjago sora #sora ninjago #dragons rising sora #dragons rising ninjago #ninjago euphrasia #euphrasia #euphrasia ninjago #dragons rising euphrasia #ninjago wyldfyre #wyldfyre ninjago #ninjago wyldfire #sora surname #I’m doing it #lloyd ninjago #lloyd montgomery garmadon #ninjago lloyd #lloyd garmadon #nya ninjago #nya smith #ninjago nya #Cookie’s thoughts

[everettswritings]

may I please request regressor shining glitter cookie headcanons ? :3

Yes you may, thank you for asking so politely! I don’t have Shining Glitter Cookie yet and I haven’t completed the story so I don’t know much about her, but I’m gonna try my best because yeah. (Side note: no NSFW interaction is allowed, SFW only!)

I imagine her as a younger regressor because she just kinda gives off that vibe, I don’t why but most cookies give off that vibe.

She has a pretty wide range of ages, but it generally stays between baby and toddler(1-5)

Definitely has a regression room and you can bet that it’s mostly pink and purple, it’s also split into two sides for when she’s younger and when she’s older.

The baby side definitely has a lot more soft things, like soft toys and soft blankets. I can also imagine the colors being a lot softer and toned down. You know those cribs with canopies over them? She absolutely has one, I won’t be convinced otherwise.

The toddler side is closer to her aesthetic as an adult, the colors are a little brighter and it’s less soft and cozy than the baby side. Plus this is where the solid plastic and wooden toys are, aka the big girl stuff!

Nevertheless, both sides definitely have music related items, mostly toys because she’s too small to handle her actual music stuff.

Definitely has a regression playlist. Is that low hanging fruit considering that most of her character is based around music? Yes, but am I wrong?

Has lots of outfits and, if she’s regressed to a baby, has pacis that match all of those outfits. And probably bottles and other accessories too, why not?

Most of those accessories are hair accessories, she loves playing with her hair when regressed! It’s so big and shiny!

Oh yeah! Speaking of pacis, I imagine that 99% of all the pacis she owns are deco pacis. It’s kinda hard for me to imagine her having a normal one, she’d probably only wear it to sleep so she doesn’t risk breaking another one.

Since she’s known to be stubborn, I’d like to imagine that she often gets into arguments with caregivers because she wants something that they won’t give her(like juice or a new toy). The funny thing though, is that while the caregiver is speaking normally she’s just babbling angrily. I don’t know why I think that’s funny, but I just kinda do.

Not exactly the brattiest, but not exactly the not-brattiest. She’s more like a perfect in between, y’know?

Sometimes she’s the sweetest girl on the planet and other times she’s an insatiable monster of chaos that won’t be quelled until she receives what she wants!

But really, what little isn’t like that?

And that’s it! This is a lot shorter than most of my other headcanon things, but I hope y’all enjoyed it either way and I hope I did a good job with the characterization. Have a good one 🫶

#everetts writings #headcanon #headcanons #age regression #agere headcanons #cr kingdom #crk #sfw agere #cookie run kingdom #shining glitter cookie

[catty-words]

Oh! The mustache thing and David. Okay, okay. It still feels kinda weird to say someone is racist over this, but yeah, now that you point it out I see it. I had a childhood friend who got in a foreign exchange student program for a year in high school and when she came back she told us how since the gringos couldnt say her name properly they just defaulted to calling her "Brazil" 😑

I feel a bit called out about twitter, even if its true and I'm only there cuz I'm an addict being held hostage. I've also curated my fandom experience, but I was really needing more info and saw stuff that bummed me out while researching 🥲🥲 I dont mind seeing people criticize characters cuz like we are all entitled to our opinion even if I disagree, but I guess it kinda shocked me still. I guess I forgot about how in some ship wars I participated in when I was 13 some people would call the other characters rapists and stuff after being away from typical fandom toxicity for so long lol.

About the tone shift: yeah I did, but it didnt feel "drastic", just different. In a bad way. Like one of the first metas I read talked about how Devi lacked autonomy in season two and I was like YES THAT WAS WHAT I WAS THINKING even thought not really I was just "wait why is this feeling a bit off... weird... let me play the next episode and just hope is merely a vibe" I dont hate season 2 as much as you seem to, however season 1 and 3 are indeed superior. Season 3 is my favorite out of the three because I really like how the characters matured. A favorite episode is probably 1x10, like the scene of Nalini with dr. Ryan moves me, then Ben driving cackles me up, then I back to being moved by them spreading Mohan ashes with beautiful day playing, then boys like you as "you stayed" and benvi kiss and paxton calling and back to the kiss and I'm like OMG WHAT IS SHE GOING TO DO I HAVE CLASS TOMORROW AND ITS ALMOST TWO BUT FUCK I NEED TO KEEP WATCHING THIS. I always feel like that when I'm rewatching even if it's not two am and I dont have class the next day lmao

You are going to think I'm super horny but probably "why don’t you show me the bitty spark you’ve been saving for his mattress?". It's the one I reread the most after all. The awkwardness of the situation?? Their great characterization??? Devi having no idea of what to do with Ben of all people making her feel like that??? Fab and Eleanor still unsure about him at school and being cutely protective of Devi??? Ugh, just kill me already (please dont)

"you're gonna fall (but i'll catch you)" is also great! I love to read adults au for shows about hs characters and hs aus for shows about adult characters idk why but there are not enough adult aus for nhie in my opinion and yours is my fave!!! Plus Ben being so into stories is adorable as someone who really sees herself in Abed Nadir. Plus the way is not just about their romance but also Devi dealing with grief and her complicated relationship with her mother and self destructive tendencies and... ugh I just love it.

It still feels kinda weird to say someone is racist over this, but yeah, now that you point it out I see it. - i think the disconnect comes from the way fandom uses words like 'racist' to build cases about how it's Objectively Wrong for anyone to like a certain character, whereas the word itself applies to a whole spectrum of behavior and morality. like, it shouldn't actually be that uncomfortable to admit that ben can be and is sometimes racist, he is a walking definition of privilege. him internalizing racist sentiment should hardly be surprising. but it also doesn't make him irredeemable scum. he's obviously a really caring character, as well.

on a related note, yikes @ those students who committed micro-aggressions to your childhood friend. as they get further and further into their life, may they reflect and do better rather than double-down.

I dont mind seeing people criticize characters cuz like we are all entitled to our opinion even if I disagree, but I guess it kinda shocked me still. I guess I forgot about how in some ship wars I participated in when I was 13 some people would call the other characters rapists and stuff after being away from typical fandom toxicity for so long lol. - i get it, i get it. for me, there need exist a gaping divide between exposing myself to critical or even harsh reads of characters i love and/or identify with for the sake of refining my own read of the text and giving the time of day to people who aren't engaging sincerely with the text. protect yourself in the echo-chamber!

About the tone shift: yeah I did, but it didnt feel "drastic", just different. In a bad way. - VINDICATION

but jfgdf - I dont hate season 2 as much as you seem to - i feel compelled to clarify that it's not that i hate season two, not really. it's more that the season let me down and then, by nature of netflix shows' release schedules being what they are, forced me to sit with that disappointment for over a year. it's that i love season one SO MUCH, i couldn't reconcile how much i didn't vibe with season two. on paper, you're right, the tone difference is not drastic, but the emotional response it elicited in me definitely was.

and I'm like OMG WHAT IS SHE GOING TO DO I HAVE CLASS TOMORROW AND ITS ALMOST TWO BUT FUCK I NEED TO KEEP WATCHING THIS. I always feel like that when I'm rewatching even if it's not two am and I dont have class the next day lmao - i love you for this, and 1.10 is such a valid choice she really is That Bitch

You are going to think I'm super horny but probably "why don’t you show me the bitty spark you’ve been saving for his mattress?". - first of all, embrace the horny within. it's important to the show that you do, we're in the spirit of the source material here! second of all, this choice makes me really happy because i love that fic and generally speaking, people are a little shier about giving feedback on smut but, like, that's hands down some of my best writing (both for d/b and more generally). so. thank you.

Fab and Eleanor still unsure about him at school and being cutely protective of Devi??? - you may already know that i'm writing a long-form follow-up with 'bitty spark' acting as the prologue since it sounds like you picked through my blog a bit and i feel like i never shut up about the sequel BUT ANYWAY one of the best parts about it is ben finding himself enmeshed in the girl squad, if i do say so myself. (x)

I love to read adults au for shows about hs characters and hs aus for shows about adult characters idk why but there are not enough adult aus for nhie in my opinion and yours is my fave!!! - okay, well now i'm going to think about you every time i read an adult AU for a high school show or a high school AU for an adult show.

thank you for fueling my vanity and for stopping by my askbox in the first place!

#anon #replies #i guess i'll put this in my general show tag? #never have i ever

[zalrb]

"He wasn’t even looking at it. His head was turned toward her, his eyes peering into hers for any hint of impact or injury. She could get lost in those eyes -- that brilliant green. She was lost. Elena’s lips parted."

excuse me for my lack of originality but im gonna start this ask with the same sentence i used for my last ask.... HERE. WE. GO.

He smiled at her, his eyes glinting with … what was that? Amusement? Charm? Was he charmed? Did she charm him? Why was her heart beating so fast?

love how effortlessly elena opens up to stefan

"She should keep walking. It would be smoother that way. Cool. Indifferent. Unaffected. It’d be what Caroline would tell her to do. She was almost around the corner. No, she couldn’t help it. She felt drawn back. A pull. She had to see him one last time. She turned her head and felt a jolt when she saw that he’d been watching her the entire time."

WHSKSHSKSJWJJSJSJSJSJSIJSJSHSSJSJSSJKWNSKDHFKENEKDKFJEKKEKEJDJDJE IM A GIBBERISH MESS AND ITS YOUR FAULT ZAL

btw reliving the scene where stefan stands up for elena is so delightful

"Elena felt suddenly moved by that. Something in Stefan’s tone, in his expression told her that he was no stranger to loss. It was almost like he could feel the pain of that day as if he'd lived it."

this is the kind of intuition and spiritual connection i crave in a ship

"It was weirdly comfortable. Elena didn’t feel the need to talk to fill the silence. It was also strange how calm she felt. Earlier, being around him made her nervous, light-headed, and now she just felt ... anchored."

IM VOLUNTEERING

“You don’t like talking about it.” The way he said it, Elena knew he wouldn’t press the subject if she didn’t feel like continuing.  

WHSOSHJSJSJDJDJJDJE love the contrast between her interactions with damon vs stefan. damon made elena feel so uneasy she felt like she HAD TO answer, while stefan offers an safe space where she has the freedom to share IT she wants to

"How did he know that? Know her? Elena felt … recognized. And bare. Yet … safe. This. Was. Crazy."

and the feeling … that feeling … of being recognized had deepened into something more acute, more intense and she felt the urge, the need to be that person, that space for him. Right then and there, she wanted to pour into him, and wanted him to ---

this fanfic is so pure and beautiful. my soul is cleansed ❤️

ALSOOOOOOO

i love how the characters are actually acting like teens here. the gossip, the teasing, etc. again we barely get this in the show

same applies to elena being a worried sister. i love how active she is in this fanfic

your characterization is always so on point, THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS WITH US

Yay! Yes, I definitely wanted it to be a feel-good, giddy, heartwarming vibe.

ALSOOOOOOO

i love how the characters are actually acting like teens here. the gossip, the teasing, etc. again we barely get this in the show

Yeah! I definitely wanted to make it high school and what it would be like if her parents were alive and she didn't have the "cloaked in sadness" bit.

WHSOSHJSJSJDJDJJDJE love the contrast between her interactions with damon vs stefan. damon made elena feel so uneasy she felt like she HAD TO answer, while stefan offers an safe space where she has the freedom to share IT she wants to

exactly, i wanted it to be like compulsion without compulsion.

[jeanmoreaux]

May I ask, what made Solitaire a 3 star read for you? (I haven't read it, but I'm a big Heartstopper fan!)

hi there! yeah, i’m happy to answer your question!! i think it’s important to mention that it was actually a reread (i put it on the wrong list on my post, but i changed it now). i think i read solitaire for the first time back in 2015 or something. so before heartstopper was even a thing. back then i gave it two stars because i *really* didn’t like it. as a 17 year old i thought the climax and resolution of the story were stupid AND i was *extremely* bitter the story wasn’t what i wanted it to be AND i was actually more intrigued by the side characters than tori. like, i’d rather read about charlie or micheal than her. (in 2016 i got my wish with heartstopper lmao but that’s another story lol).

this time around, i actually liked solitaire much more, and i feel like i have a new found appreciation for it i didn’t have before. it’s a solid debut and i can’t even imagine writing something as competent at age 17! while i was too self-absorbed and ego-centric at 17 to see it, as a 24 year old i get what alice oseman was trying to do with this novel. it makes some great points on teenage angst, identity formation, mental health and human connections from a teenage perspective. still, it definitely reads like a debut of a young author, which is probably why it landed right in that three star spot for me. (just to clarify, three stars, for me, are solid reads that will probably appeal to and be enjoyed by people who like the genre/type of story in general, but they don’t do anything particularly well that stands out to me). in the case of solitaire, the plot is a little bit flimsy and unbelievable towards the end (which is an issue with contemporary settings that go for a realistic feel more so than fantasy ones). in particular the characters’ motivations for certain actions feel a little unbelievable or cliché. a lot of the messaging is also pretty on the nose. the character work also isn’t the best; most of the characters feel a little shallow and flat at times, and i would have love to see a little more nuance in the way their ‘complexity’ was presented and explored. also, if you’re a fan of heartstopper, i don’t think solitaire might necessarily be up your alley. not just because the tone is a little darker since tori is struggling with her mental health and the story is told from her POV, but because the characters feel different to what you might expect after having read heartstopper. the heartstopper characters aren’t in the story much, if at all, and when they appear things are just slightly off. for example, nick and charlie feel more like alternative universe versions of themselves? it’s hard to explain, but they do/say things that feel slightly out of character for them (if you think of them as how they are characterized in the graphic novels). nick has more ‘dude bro’ vibes, charlie is a bit more judgemental. tori, too, is slightly altered from her heartstopper version. for what it counts ben is still the same—a massive piece of shit, maybe even worse than in heartstopper. all that makes sense considering heartstopper only really started to be a thing AFTER solitaire was already out and alice approached the graphic novel with a different tone/message/feel in mind.

like i said, there is nothing massively wrong with the novel, it’s just not oseman’s best work, which i don’t expect from a debut. since solitaire, they had time to hone their craft which is why their new works are better written. and while solitaire makes for a decent debut it’s not as great as it probably could have been. if you’re interested in read it, i would recommend it though!!

#if you have any specific questions don’t hesitate to send another ask or message me #i’m always more than happy to share my thoughts and opinions on the books i’ve read :) #i hope you’re having a lovely weekend <3 #answer

[pencilscratchins]

are you gonna watch falcon and winter solider?

nah, the mcu just isn’t my thing— like i’m just never gonna be into that take on the universe. but gay rights to those little fruits, more power to them

#someone said ‘mcu finally learned how to properly queer bait’ tHAT TOOK ME OUT SKSKS #yeah i just don’t vibe with the tone or characterizations they do #i really gave it the old college try but after i hated almost literally everyone of those movies #i was like ‘oh i’m only trying to like this bc other people expect me to have an opinion’ #i’ve come to terms with my indifference and will no longer waste time SKKS #ask #anon #not art #everytime i post that im not watching something ppl try to convince me to watch it #and i get it u just want a creator you like to make art for that thing thats fine #but also if i say i dont wanna watch it its nothing personal to you #not does it impeach on your enjoyment of the show #it just means i have no interest and have no interest in being convinced #i can make my own decisions! ive been doing it for a bit now sksks

[probably-haven]

Hello!! After seeing what you wrote about xiaoven fics I went to see what things you usually write and omg, your archon Venti headcanons????? I am absolutely in love. So if it isn't annoying, could you talk about xiaoven or Venti or Xiao or whatever ship or character you like? I don't care what you are going to say, I just want to know more about your thoughts ^^

I- is this... bestie, this is essentially a free ramble pass- kerujsgheskdfug. Trust me when I say that in no way is this, and in no way will it ever be annoying in the slightest- i literally- lets just say rambling off thoughts is kind of my specialty, especially when provided a topic to branch off of because otherwise I'm just- really indecisive about it so- iujskdh yeah- 100% definitely down to talk about Venti, Xiao, and/or Xiaoven XD. Also, yes- it may have been awhile since i last posted one(cuz again, indecisive about which direction to take part 5), but the Archon War Era Venti headcanons are still without a doubt my favorite posts I've made. It's just such an interesting topic with such endless potential that so few people actually think about or consider or even realize is there, so i always just get really psyched whenever i see someone interact with them lol.

.... this ended up being a bit of a mess: warning in advance

Anyway! onto the actual content!

- You see the thing about Xiaoven is that there's a lot of different ways that it could end up working out, and just personally my favorite way of portraying Xiaoven in my mind is as an unlabeled relationship because if anyone in genshin would give off that vibe its these two. And a number of other reasons.

- Firstly, I heavily headcanon Venti as being an aroace polyplatonic or perhaps heavily demiromantic. However, regardless of this I just don't think that Venti is really the kind of person to worry about how he should label his feelings, thinking it's silly to try to put them in one box or the other, especially with feelings and emotions being as fluid as they are in general. Plus it fits his whole God of Freedom vibe. I just- dont think he's the biggest fan of labels or social categorization in general.

- And secondly on the hand of Xiao... his defense mechanisms are very much ingrained in his personality. It's probably hard enough for him to not go into fight or flight(the answer is fight) at the slightest affection at first, at the slightest feeling of vulnerability. Even further down the line, with his fierce dedication to Liyue, I cant help but get the vibe that the moment he recognized that he was falling for Venti he would begin avoiding him, not only to avoid distraction from his duty, but to avoid corrupting him or losing him in general like he has with like basically every other person he gets close with(even believing that the cycle had repeated once more when he first heard of Morax's death)... now imagine Venti tryna slap a label on their relationship and tell me Xiao would have a positive reaction.

- The thing with Xiaoven.... honestly, i feel like theres more ways that it can go wrong than it can go right, but if they do manage to make their relationship work out, it's just simply beautiful in all terms of the word.

- Lets talk about killing. - During the Archon War, both were forced to kill a large number of people and gods alike- Venti out of a need to remain alive to protect Mondstadt, it's freedom, and the nameless bard's legacy by extent- and Xiao out of servitude to the god that was once his master

..... actually- break here- ive talked a lot about Venti on this blog but I havent actually spoken about Xiao all that much- so i should probably do that a bit first... do note though that my characterization of Xiao is pretty flexible actually- this is just- the possible characterization of him that i tend to favor as being the most- uh- "realistically complex"

-

Theres a line I saw this one time in a certain story: "He is a trained weapon. That's what he is, was, and always will be. You cannot change that so stop trying." And i just- think its a really interesting concept- that applies pretty well to Xiao now that i actually think about it. - the concept behind it is this: After spending more than a vast majority of his life killing or otherwise in battle, it's become a part of who he is, a normalcy that after centuries and centuries would be near impossible to get rid of or reverse, and even if it was possible, with his karmic debt constantly eating away at him its unlikely he has enough time left for that to happen. - it sounds like a cruel thing to say about him- but in context it's actually pretty layered and i think about it a lot. It's not as much a "he's a killer lol, that his whole personality" its more of a "The centuries of trauma he experienced have conditioned him into a constantly alert and battle ready mindset while also shaping his dehumanizing inferior-in-worth-but-superior-in-capability view of himself that would have likely been necessary to get through those time, and at this point he's been under that conditioning for long enough that it's essentially ingrained itself in his personality."

- the main idea is- it's a part of who he is, that needs to be accepted as who he is because its not something that he can just up and change. It's not all he is of course but his constant battle mode, as though always waiting to be ambushed or to be granted a new target to eradicate.

a couple character story quotes:

-"His past of service under the evil god had rid Xiao of his innocence and gentleness. All that remained within him was the means to kill and the weight of his sins. The only way he could be of service to mortals was in combat." -"Xiao does not feel any hatred. Having lived for over two thousand years, no single karmic debt constitutes anything more than a fleeting memory. No grudge can last a thousand years; nor is any debt so great that it cannot be paid off in this time. Xiao has spent many long years alone. But his battles have never been in vain." -"where did Xiao have to return to? He was merely leaving the battlefield." -"since Xiao wages a constant war against dark forces powerful enough to devour Liyue in its entirety, any bystanders who witness him in the heat of battle are likely to end up as collateral damage." -"The war he fights can never be won, and will never come to an end." -"Because ultimately, the one with whom Xiao wrestles is himself."

i feel like at some point this very nearly did consume his whole personality, almost turning him into nothing more than a being of slaughter under Morax's control, devoid of any "humanity" at all, consumed and corrupted by his karmic debt like his fellow yakshas before him. - until he experienced a moment of clarity- a song in the wind, the peaceful melody of a dihua flute. - and pulled back from the border of something he wouldnt have been able to return from, there a was a shift in his mind- a concept grown unfamiliar enough with time that it took him a great time to identify what it was; a curiosity. Something that there was no place for on the battlefield, something that by all means should have been completely useless to Xiao, and yet he held onto that curiosity, slowly regaining over time, a sense of who he was and who he could choose to be with each song that the wind chose to carry towards him every once in a blue moon.

and eventually that curiousity turned to longing. Longing "for a day to come when he will wear the mask and dance — not to conquer demons, but to the tune of that flute amid a sea of flowers"

...... uh- heh- if you couldn’t tell already i have a tendency to make my characterizations/analyses of characters more serious that i probably should. 

to summarize: Xiao is constantly toeing the line between his ingrained nature and his humanity- almost as though still trying to decide how much of that humanity he deserves to have, how much he is allowed to have, and how much is safe to have.

^looking back after writing this, i think the best way to explain it is that this is the view that i keep in mind/the lense that i tend to most enjoy looking through and refering back to while examining and/or analyzing his character, actions, story, lines, and overall personality.

idk- i kinda got off track but i just think its a really interesting interpretation to think about because it has some really interesting implications ig- it’s not the full extent of how i view him of course, but i kinda got ahead of myself and its long enough as is so ill just elaborate as i go- Lol i actually have in progress playlists for both him and venti and just- vibes- i could ramble about the playlists alone for hours explaining everything... It’s probably a problem- uh- ill keep going now lol.

anyways! stepping off the angst path for a brief break! Brought to you by their lines in the snow: both waiting for it to get thick enough, Venti for the purpose of a snowball fight and Xiao for the purpose of a tasty and nutritious breakfast.

but its actually something of note that Xiao doesnt actually need to eat so anything he does eat is usually out of obligation or enjoyment- so like.... snow.... like i dont blame him, but of all things- an adeptus who refuses to eat basically anything but almond tofu looks at the freezing-cold-floor-water that yeeted itself from above and decided at some point- damn- that seems more edible than basically ever single actually edible thing ever.... im gonna eat it- like- im glad if eating snow makes him happy but- at the same time...

He probably convinces Venti to eat snow too though and Venti wouldnt even resist I mean he’s wind and has probably consumed worse things in his time so- 2 anemo cryptids with glowing tattoos sitting in Dragonspine monching snow in the dead of night is an amusing thought to me.

- kay, now back to more serious-toned thoughts

One of the things about the ship that i really like is the different contradicting parallels between them:

A lot of how i view Xiao’s character is someone formed largely by the things he cant control and who was forced to accept that accepted that and learned to thrive in it as much as he can.  Venti on the other hand is surrounded by things he cant control and is ever adapting to control as much as he can while embracing whatever he cant as being part of the unpredictability of the world, seeing beauty in it. 

both of them have lost people and do what they do to honor their memory: Xiao continues to do what the Yakshas once did And Venti chooses to do what his friend couldn’t

Xiao’s power coming from himself  and Venti’s from others And both seem to appear to use their power for their own gain while truly helping others behind the scenes

both have killed a lot of people during the archon war Xiao views it as another necessary event out of his control and Venti would likely view it as a tragedy he chose to enact himself

and this is where we meet out balance

Xiao- contrary to how i think a lot of people view him as thinking of himself as a monster- seems canonically to have accepted this as part of his duty, as long as those he killed are not mortals. I dont think he enjoys it no- but someone has to do it and he’s just accepted that its a part of his duty Venti on the other hand-

See the beauty of the ship- as someone with an angst-centric mind- is this- these are two of the most traumatized mfers in the game 

Xiao is by far the one who needs the most help and who can serve to benefit most from the ship- but he is nowhere near self aware enough to recognize that there’s anything wrong or unhealthy about his mindset in the slightest-

whereas you have the contrast with Venti who sorted through most of his trauma with the nameless bard alone during the archon war and while the result appears more healthy- is still really not- but he’s not self aware of that either because i mean- who’s going to tell him? nobody even knows. 

however- venti is aware enough to notice flaws in Xiao’s mindset and “Venti” enough to want to help them through it-

Xiao- while not aware enough to recognize the flaws in Venti’s mindset, can recognize where it contrasts with his own, and is blunt enough to point it out- and then it’s out there to be mulled over- 

they’re so similar and yet so different and a feel just conversing between the two of them, being in each others precense, just being exposed to two mindsets that are so very different could do both of them a whole lot of good.

GEEE THAT BIT OF RAMBLING HAD LITTLE TO NO DIRECTION AT ALL- LET ME-- LET ME MAKE THIS START MAKING SENSE- WITH... DYNAMICS OR SOMETHING

I don’t think Xiao needs to sleep really- and i dont think that sleeping would do anything except make him uneasy at first- he’d probably just get nightmares after all he’s been through- but with Venti he would soon learn that it doesn’t have to be that way, lulled into the first peaceful sleep he’s had in... as long as he can remember.

anywho back to not making sense cuz im fickle and i think most questions about ships are best displayed through character interactions so like- a possible exchange thats cliche but cliches exist for a reason

Xiao: Why do you try so hard to help me, it isn’t easy. I know that much Venti, with the most adoring expression: Because you’re worth it, obviously Xiao: But surely there are others more deserving of- Venti: No Xiao, everyone is just as deserving as the next person, you included Xiao: Then why me above others? Venti: ehe, cuz ur my warrior of course [O//////O oh shit, hes right] Xiao: My contract is with Morax alone [gay panic but in broody yaksha]

it’s kinda difficult cuz neither of them really address their feelings.  I mean Venti does but he does it very indirectly and its rare that he ever does it with like- genuine directness- even spilling his backstory was in the form of a song- and told in the third person- so a lot of their interactions would often have some deeper meaning, especially with Venti being the bard he is. 

I come up with a lot of- errant thoughts about Xiaoven- but this is making me realize that a true analysis of their ship is rather difficult because it just encompasses so many dynamics so its hard to settle on just one and not go rambling about who knows what bouncing from one end of the ship to the other-  Because you truly can and thats the beauty of it

within one moment you can be having a heartfelt conversation about the archon war the impact of lost friends and times past, and the next moment Venti is trying to forcefeed Xiao an apple while Xiao screams about disrespecting the adepti and its just- so lovely

so while they have picnics with nothing but apples, dandelion wine, and almond tofu they can sit down and talk about the dreams Xiao once devoured, and the dandelion wine and apple cider that the first Ragnvindir invented from the plants that never could have grown in Old Mond. The foods that tasted of familiarity, or of the grilled ticker fish Pervases always used to eat, foods that tasted of friends and frankly family that had since passed, glaze lilies and cecilias and qingxin flowers scattered in the surroundings and woven into Xiao’s neat braids and Venti’s now messy ones, rebraided by the steady and inexperienced hands of one unused to gentle action. 

and then of course Venti steals Xiao’s tofu once the mood becomes too grim and replaces it with a bottle of wine that Xiao refers to as “vile poison,” a remark that fatally wounds Venti as he collapses on the floor, proclaiming how he can only be healed by a Yaksha’s kiss. Xiao ignores this of course and simply takes back his tofu with a slight smile on his face, but as Venti persists he soundlessly places a kiss on his own palm before intertwining their fingers and pulling him back up from where he was dramatically sprawled on the floor, grumbling about how such action was “unbecoming of an archon.” A sign of affection only Xiao would ever know about. But Venti is literally wind and I hc his senses work differently anyways so he definitely knows- plus Xiao’s face is red as the blood of his enemies and the way he is pointedly not looking at Venti at all really speaks volumes anyways. 

 -Venti playing epic battle music whenever Xiao goes into fights in what looks like a ridiculously extra performance to anyone else but is actually doing wonders to keep Xiao’s karma at bay

-Venti preaches the practice of “kissing wounds better” and Xiao is unfamiliar with this medical treatment but views it as unnecessary regardless because adepti have accelerated healing, doesn’t mean he’s going to stop him though. 

-Messages whispered on the wind

-Venti’s 1000 year sleep- an accident, not a fun time for the yaksha, and not a fun time for Venti once he woke up. Venti is actually more afraid of restful sleep than Xiao is, hence the sleeping in trees thing, but when Xiao is there, he can sleep restfully with faith that Xiao wont let another millennia slip through his fingertips. 

- Xiao tends to make excuses when doing things that aren’t necessary to his duty, like in his birthday voice line “Have this, it’s a butterfly i made from leaves... Okay. Take it. It’s an adepti amulet -- it staves off evil” because at the current point in his progress it helps him to feel like he’s allowed to do these things. Not wanting to put him off from progress, Venti never comments on his excuse but never fails to whisper a quick reminder of how proud he is of how far Xiao had come.

- Xiao’s karma saddens Venti greatly- not only because of how it effects Xiao but also because its a reminder that as much as Venti tries to honor the memory of those he’s killed, there will always be those who resent him for it, and when he took the option of living away from them, he truly can’t blame them. - And when he gets too wrapped up in thoughts, whether around this topic or similar ones or otherwise, eventually, he’ll hear the sound of a flute on the wind. It’s not divine by any means, but as his own wind connects him to the source, he gets the sentiment all the same. “What impact does one individual’s remaining wrath have on the present. You have done much to help the living in the present” the unspoken idea that Xiao has included himself in that statement, because now, with Venti’s help he’s beginning to learn just how to experience living for himself. 

- Venti’s form and Xiao’s mask are off limit topics though because if either mentions it the other will counter with the opposite and the mood will turn immediately bitter at the idea that both know that what they’re doing is destructive but neither are willing to change

- Venti who has different tells for negative feelings than most people because as much as he likes to pretend it is- this form isnt his, and Xiao who is able to identify those

- many fanfics and headcanons have Venti recognizing when Xiao is uncomfortable and getting him out of those situations. I see that and I love it but i raise you: - Venti taking Xiao to Mondstadt, careful that he doesn’t get to the point that he’s uncomfortable. And nothing goes wrong exactly, but Xiao notices the the way Venti’s cape is blowing in the wind, the way he’s holding his weight, barely on his feet so much as floating on the wind, connected with the ground only for the sake of appearance, all the while he looks just as happy go lucky as ever. And without a word, he grabs his hand and teleports them both out of Mondstadt.  - turns out it was just a slight thing that reminded him of the archon war (cuz i will die on the hill of him having more tragic backstory than just Decarabian), and he of course gives a sincere if not flustered thanks to Xiao, because he’s really not used to people noticing. 

- Venti trying to vent sneakily through fictional stories and Xiao is just like “Didn’t that basically happen to you” and Venti is just like “<_< shit”

- Venti once said affectionally that he wished he had met Xiao sooner and Xiao immediately and seriously shot it down by saying “If you had, I would have been forced to kill you” and both of them now stay up at night wondering who would have won that fight, not sure which result would have hurt more. (because honestly I have no idea who would win in that fight and that terrifies me- I like to think it would have been one of those legends that end with “and the fight persists to this day” or something along those lines)

- “How long have you been together?” “Adepti have no need for-” “1000+ years T^T how dare you deny our love” “O///O our...? ...useless”

- its disney- let me explain- i have this- i have this headcanon inspired by watching too many animatics- - so venti has a human form that isnt his- which he would have had to get used to moving in- and he’s a bard- - uh- anyway- as a third degree black belt in mixed martial arts, i can speak as an authority on this(not really an authority since i havent gone since quarantine but lets pretend). We have a thing referred to as the big three(most things do), and those things are martial arts, gymnastics, and dance. The idea is that they reflect really well off of each other and the best in any one category are good in all three. Timing, balance, form, discipline, technique, hand-eye coordination, grace, ease of motion, they all play a part- anyway-

- Venti taking Xiao’s prowess in martial arts and acrobatics and teaching him how to dance, and as someone who’s extremely skilled in the first two, the third comes easy to him, almost naturally. And it’s delicate and beautiful and lovely and it isn’t hurting anyone. And Venti points all these things out and more and despite how much Xiao insists that he feels ridiculous he truly does enjoy it and it goes a long way towards helping him form more healthy views of himself and his worth.  - Verr Goldett walked in on him once and made a joke about performing at the inn. unfortunately Venti was there and agreed on Xiao’s behalf before he could protest and- and it wasn’t as bad as Xiao thought it would be... he still wouldn’t do it again though without reason, but with good enough reasoning he could probably be convinced. 

- anyways point is he likes dancing to Venti’s songs and i just think that’s really cute - just picture the idea that all the animatics you see actually have the potential to be canon- ugh

- venti tries holding something out of Xiao’s reach since he’s taller and Xiao just fucking teleports 

- both need their space but when they dont, all they have to do is speak the other’s name and they’ll be there.

- and because i just had to.... love languages

- lets start with Xiao- i don’t think he’d view acts of service or quailty time as a love language tbh, and he blunt but really bad with words so affirmation is out, leaving gift giving and physical touch. However, he seems to view most material things as meaningless so- - Xiao who’s love language is in his fleeting touches, something he’s only recently grown comfortable with because of Venti, and now is giving back, which he knows he doesn’t have to do, but that he want’s to, though he’ll still continue to make excuses for each one. “you were shivering” “The inn is high up, you could have fallen..... I said what I said, you’d question an adeptus?”

- and as easy as it is to say words of affirmation for Venti- he does that for everyone- i want to say his is actually acts of service - its the acts of service that let him see just how much Xiao has progressed afterall, from teaching him to dance, to playing another song on the flute, to supplying him with the almond tofu he seems to enjoy so much. Every little thing he does helps Xiao to grow and he couldn’t be happier about that. 

-

- of course most of my headcanons for the ship do take place latter into the relationship because- y’know the less serious unhealthy vibes allow for greater range of thought, but i do still love to think about the serious implications so i kinda hopped back and forth. So sorry about how messy it is btw, i kinda- got carried away- it kinda got some kind of structure near the end tho so- maybe it’s okay. anyway- back to... lol something, we’ll see where thought forests lead. 

#genshin impact #genshin xiao #genshin venti #xiao #venti #xiaoven #genshin analysis #genshin headcanons #xiaoven headcanons #xiaoven analysis #this is a mess i really shouldnt be putting all these tags but oh well #oh wow the grammar and spelling here is truly repulsive #sorry to all my english teachers i have failed you all

[d-criss-news]

20 Questions With Darren Criss: How Acting Has Helped Him Make New Music

While Darren Criss has graced our TV screens with a range of characters, from high schooler Blaine Anderson on Glee to serial killer Andrew Cunanan on The Assassination of Gianni Versace, he was last spotted just being himself, on our For You Page on TikTok. “I’m walking to rehearsal with a guitar on my back with a Trader Joe’s bag ... I did not bring an umbrella because I forgot that it was raining. I’m rocking that NYC musician life,” the Glee alum explained in the hilarious clip posted three days ago.

While Criss’ acting work has earned him acclaim and stardom, he leaned into making music during the pandemic. On Aug. 20, he dropped a new EP, Masquerade, featuring five new tracks that Criss says were inspired by the different characters Criss has embraced throughout his career. After Criss wrote songs for his musical comedy web series Royalties and Apple TV+’s animated sitcom Central Park before the pandemic struck the United States, he then used those experiences as a precursor to his new EP. As Criss continues to promote his new music, he answered 20 of Billboard's questions – giving us a peek into how his new EP came together, and how growing up in San Fransisco shaped him as an actor, singer and all-around artist.

1. What inspired your latest project, Masquerade?

Although I would have preferred that it come at a far less grim cost, I finally had the time. Before the pandemic, I had written 10 new songs for my show Royalties -- along with an original song for Disney and another for Apple’s Central Park. These were all assignments in which I was writing for a certain scenario and character. Go figure. It was the most music I had ever written in a calendar year. This really emboldened me to rethink how I made my own music— to start putting a focus on “character creation” in my songs, rather than personal reflection. The latter was not proving to be as productive. The alchemy of having this time and having set a new intention with my own songwriting and producing made me put on a few of my favorite masques and throw myself a Masquerade.

2. How do you think your background as an actor complements your music?

They are one and the same to me. I treat acting roles like musical pieces— dialogue is like scoring a melody; there’s pace, dynamics, cadence, tone. Physical characterization is like producing -- zeroing in on the bass line, deciding on the kick pattern. Vocal characterization is like choosing the right sonic experience, choosing the most effective snare sound, and mixing the high end or low end. It goes without saying that it works in the complete opposite direction. Making each song is taking on a different role literally and employing the use of different masques to maximize the effectiveness of the particular story being told.

3. On Instagram  you wrote that “Masquerade is a small collection of the variety of musical masques that have always inspired me.” Which track do you identify with most in your real life?

Everybody absorbs songs differently. Some key into the lyrics, some into the melody, some the production, some into vocal performance. When I listen to songs, I consider all of their value on totally different scales. So it’s hard to say if there’s any track I “identify” with more than any others, since I -- by nature -- identify with all of them. I think I just identify with certain aspects more than others. If it helps for a more interesting answer, I will say I enjoy the slightly more classical, playful -- dare I say -- more Broadway-leaning wordplay of “Walk of Shame,” but that’s just talking about lyricism. I enjoy the attitude of “F*kn Around,” the batsh--t musicality of “I Can’t Dance,” the relentless grooves of “Let’s” and “For A Night Like This.” All have different ingredients I really enjoy having an excuse to dive into.

4. What’s the first piece of music that you bought for yourself, and what was the medium?

Beatles audio cassettes: “Help” and “Hard Day’s Night.” I just listened on repeat on a tape-playing Walkman until my brother and I got a stereo for our room with a CD player in it, which was  when I just bought the same two albums again, but this time as compact discs.

5. What was the first concert you saw?It’s hard to say, because my parents took us to a lot of classical concerts when we were small. But I guess this question usually refers to what was the first concert you went to on your own volition, and that my friend, was definitely Warped Tour ’01. My brother and I went on our own— two teenagers going to their first music festival, in the golden age of that particular genre and culture. It was f--king incredible.

6. What did your parents do for a living when you were a kid?

My dad was in private banking and advised really, really wealthy people on how to handle their money. My mom was, by choice, a stay-at-home mom, but in reality, she was my dad’s consigliere. They discussed absolutely everything together. They were a real team, and I saw that every single day in the house. They both had a background in finance (That’s how they met in the first place.) and were incredibly skilled at all the hardcore adulting things that I absolutely suck at. They were total finance wizards together. So of course, instead of becoming an accountant, I picked up playing the guitar and ran as far I could with it. Luckily, they were all about it.

7. What was your favorite homecooked meal growing up?

My dad was an incredible chef. For special occasions, I’d request his crab cakes. They were unreal. I’ve never had a crab cake anywhere in the world that was good as my dad’s.

8. Who made you realize you could be an artist full-time?

I don’t know if I’ve actually realized that yet.

9. What’s at the top of your professional bucket list?

The specifics change every day, but the core idea at the top is to continue being consistently inconsistent with my choices, and to keep getting audiences to constantly reconsider their consideration of me. But I mean, sure, what performer doesn’t want to play Coachella? What songwriter doesn’t want to have Adele sing one of their songs? What actor doesn’t want to be in a Wes Anderson film?

10.  How did your hometown/city shape who you are?

San Francisco. I mean, come on. I was really lucky. The older I get, the more grateful I am for just being born and raised there. It’s an incredibly diverse, culturally rich, colorful, inclusive, vibrant city. By the time I was born, it had served as a beacon for millions of creative, out-of-the-box thinkers to gather and thrive. I grew up around that. The combination of that with having parents, who were unbelievably supportive of the arts themselves, laid an incredibly fortunate foundation to consider the life of an artist as a legitimately viable option. It’s a foundation that I am supremely aware is not the case for millions of young artists around the world. I was absurdly lucky.

11.  What’s the last song you listened to?

I mean probably one of mine, but not by choice. I know, lame. But I’m promoting a new EP, what’d you expect? But if you wanna know what I’ve been listening to, as far as new s--t is concerned: a lot of Lizzy McAlpine, Remi Wolf, and Charlie Burg.

12.  If you could see any artist in concert, dead or alive, who would it be?

The Beatles is an obvious "yeah, duh." Sammy Davis, Mel Tormé, or of course, Nat King Cole. I would’ve loved to see Howard Ashman give a lecture on his creative process and his body of work.

13. What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen happen in the crowd of one of your sets?

I feel like just having a crowd at all, at any one of my sets, is pretty wild enough.

14. What’s your karaoke go-to?

The real answer to this I’ll write into a book one day, because I have a lot to say about karaoke etiquette. I have two options here: I can either name a song that I like to sing for me, for fun, or I can name a song that really gets the group going. The answer depends on what kind of karaoke night we’re dealing with here. So I will say, after I’ve selected a ton of songs that services a decent enough party vibe for everyone else, then I would do one for me, and that would be the Beatles’ “Oh! Darling.”

15. What’s one thing your most devoted fans don’t know about you?

What I have up my sleeve.

16. What TV show did you binge-watch over the past year?

Dave is a stroke of genius. There are episodes that I believe are bona fide masterpieces. Also, My Brilliant Friend is a masterclass in cinematic television.

17. What movie, or song, always makes you cry?

It’s A Wonderful Life.

18. What’s one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?

Get used to sharing everything about yourself and your life now, or more astutely, to the idea that you don’t necessarily get to control how your life is shared. I know it’s not really your thing, but you’re gonna have to get used to it, so start building up those calluses now. And don’t worry, all the stuff you love now will be cool again in your mid-thirties, so keep some of those clothes because you’ll be a full-blown fashion icon if you just keep wearing exactly what you’re wearing. Oh nd also, put money into Apple and Facebook.

19.  What new hobby did you take on in the last year?

I’ve always been a linguaphile. My idea of leisure time is getting to study or review other languages. This past year, I took the time to finally dive into learning how to read, write, and speak Japanese. Other than making music, it was one of the biggest components of my 2020-2021.

20. What do you hope to accomplish or experience by the end of 2021?

I hope I get to play live shows again.

#darren criss #billboard #masquerade ep #press #sept 2021

[incorrect-ikevamp-quotes]

I'm curious about your last ask. How is the game dissapointing? I was just curious because I always want to know all sides of people's opinions about this kind of things.

Also, I freaking love your work!

Oh, sure! Honestly I wasn't expecting people to care all that much, so I'm honored you'd also like to hear my thoughts on the matter 💛💛💛 Since the last ask I answered was about my concerns regarding the jpn server, I can elaborate on why I was upsetti spaghetti abt the eng server's last event if that's okay c:

And tysm both of you!!! I really appreciate it 💞💞💞💞

I’m just gonna tag the second requester since it’s about the same thing essentially @burntamore0906

So like this is going to be a very specific grievance, so forgive me if it’s a little niche or high maintenance. But I guess what bothered me so much about the Comte event story (On the Hunt for My Maker) is that the tone felt very very...off? As compared to the JPN ver?

How to explain...basically, in the JPN ver you just get this intensely serious vibe? MC’s been through a l o t in this one, and she’s in absolutely no nonsense mode. She takes mercy on Comte because she senses something is very off about his behavior; he’s not quite as sinister or impulsive or unhinged as one might expect of a murderer. 

Even then, she’s wary and defensive; terse, to the point. I guess what I disliked about the ENG ver is that all of this gravity and solemnity just...felt kind of lost? Like the heavy tone falls flat. I know it’s not a very tangible description of what’s troubling me, but the way she talks about wanting to reap justice and find closure just seems so overwritten by forcible romance by comparison.

There’s a sense of a slow burn that was lost here. The whole point is that, over time, it becomes obvious what Comte’s intentions were? And that no matter how angry she is, she’s also exhausted from this relentless pursuit to find an answer for everything she’s lost. To find some kind of reason, someone to blame for it all--when there just isn’t any. In the end, all she’s left with are these broken pieces and someone who cared for her despite everything. And the other side is just as important? Comte spent years watching over her with the full expectation of her hatred. Doesn’t make excuses for himself, doesn’t try to plead his case at all--welcomes her to attack him. For all her bitterness and fury and uncompromising resolve, he sees her for who she truly is. Someone hurt, but still full of rough-edged kindness. Maybe it was just my own feeling of difference, but I kind of hate how they removed the grittiness from MC. 

I feel like there’s a sensibility of “my sad past/my tragic backstory” and “love heals all wounds immediately” in the ENG ver. JPN ver felt more “I don’t know where to go or how to move forward, but I sense real warmth from this person. While I’m not sure if this is the right step, I want to trust that it is. I want to take care of this person like he keeps taking care of me.”

I mean I have a hard time taking lines like “Why did I ever hate him?” Seriously???? Like. You thought he [bleeping] murdered your parents, turned you into a vampire, and left you to rot on a whim. Yeah you were gonna be full of spite and hate in response????? 

This is just an example of what I mean:

ENG ver: It finally made me realize that though we’re vampires, we were still very much living creatures. It doesn’t matter if I was a human and he’s a vampire. I would have fallen in love with him either way. My rough translation records: [Even vampires are living creatures filled with warmth, despite our bloody nature. When we're touching like this, it's impossible to deny. Whether human or vampire--I don't care, I love this person...]

ENG ver: I’d spent so many years living in loneliness, hungry for revenge. No one had ever touched me with love like this before. Now it felt like le Comte was trying to fill in all the emptiness that had resided in my heart. My rough translation: [I’ve spent so long only living for revenge--life empty of all else, devoid of any joy. What a wonderful thing it is to be touched so dearly by someone who loves you...Just as Comte filled the loneliness of my past, so too does he fill my heart now.]

The content isn’t hugely different, but I feel like the conveyance matters. Could just be a me problem though.

It feels like the writing was so dissonant and out of order, rather than smooth and narratively flowing (IkeSen is probably the best example of this seamlessness). One thing I’ve also noticed between IkeSen, IkeVamp, and IkePrince is that IkeSen and IkePrince have a more dynamic, clever, and more animated MC. As a result, while I love the subject matter of IkeVamp, my enjoyment tapers off because the writing does leave something to be desired. Maybe it’s unfair of me, maybe the localization was rushed--I don’t know. But I feel like accurate tone and MC competency are a big part of my enjoyment when it comes to my fave otomes. And it’s a bit of a shame IkeVamp suffers in those dimensions. Even stranger considering how insanely developed the suitors are in terms of characterization and design...

Also because I’m still going feral over it.

So like naturally when MC is attacked by that man and Comte protects her, I really didn’t think too hard about it. He’s protective by nature, of course he’s going to move her out of the way. 

But then something occurred to me.

If she’s a turned vampire in this event, that means she would most likely not die from a stab wound the way a human might. Which begs the obvious question. Why would Comte be so frantic with concern? Why go to all the trouble? And the answer hit me like a train.

She died from stab wounds. She literally lost her life after being sold off by her family, drugged beyond the ability to function, and stabbed over and over while she was powerless. Intervention by Comte was not just about protection; it was an act of mercy. He was ready to do anything to make sure she wouldn’t have to experience that again, and didn’t look so much as bothered by the knife in him. 

I’m so ridiculously tender.......not wanting her to be retraumatized......

#ikevamp #ikemen vampire #ikevamp mc #ikevamp comte #ikevamp saint germain #as disappointed as i was there was a part of me that just #relived all the softness of this event bc it's killing me #'even though you hated me you were worried about me--you have a good heart :>' #why dont you just shoot me in the head while youre at it comte #anywho yeah idk the writing for this es??? #can't say i was feelin it to say the least #all im gonna say is some people know how to write revenge and some people really don't lmao #rambles #not incorrect quotes

[hood-ex]

Can you please tell me what you think about Dick’s characterisation and the roll he plays in the Titans tv series? I have complaints but I want the opinion of someone who knows the comics well (I’ve only read some of the series).

Oh maaan. Where to begin. My thoughts are gonna be all over the place because it’s been sooo long since I’ve watched Titans. I’m kinda dredging it up in my mind as best as I can. So sorry if this isn’t all that cohesive. 

First, I think it needs to be pointed out that Titans purposely has a darker tone to it, the timeline of events is all fucky, and the characters being different ages from their comic selves also changes things. Now what this means for Dick is that we’re thrown into his secrets and trauma from the get-go, making him have a more cold, closed-off demeanor. Of course, we know that’s because of his unresolved shit with Bruce, the fallout with the OG Titans, and his guilt over what happened to Jericho. Plus, y’know, the general trauma that comes with watching your parents die and dealing with all the terrible shit that goes on in Gotham night after night. 

I think most people were shocked to see Dick be this dark person, but he’s dark because the show throws us into the middle of Dick’s trauma that he hasn’t worked past yet. So it’s not surprising that people may have been expecting Dick Grayson from Wolfman’s New Teen Titan’s run, and instead, got the traumatized Dick Grayson from Devin Grayson’s Blockbuster run. It may make Dick seem OOC, but it’s really not far off base from how he acts during a very dark period of his life in comics. 

The super aggressive fighting... ehhh. I can kinda understand it since his dark thoughts are reflected in how he fights. Still, Dick generally doesn’t do more damage than necessary in the comics. 

In S1, Dick is kinda flighty. He’s not totally on board with being Rachel’s guardian or staying with Rachel, Kory, and Gar. Again, not super surprising to me since Dick has been trained not to blindly trust people. I also think he doesn’t want to get hurt again after what happened with the OG Titans. 

The way the show shits on Dick’s relationships with the Titans is super sad to see. In the show, I think it’s made clear that Dick is scared of being abandoned by the Titans. In comics, Dick needs his friends. They’re his family. And tbh? The way the Titans (Hank, Dawn, and Donna) treat Dick in the show is uhhh bad. Shit like Dawn telling Dick to “be Batman” which is something Dick struggles with in comics, or shit like not being at all concerned when Dick runs into the room with a gun, very obviously having some kind of mental breakdown, and none of them running after him when he runs off to find Jason. Yeah, I don’t fuck with that. 

Now Dick does have quite the guilt complex in comics, so I’m not surprised that Jericho’s death has taken such a toll on his mental health, especially since Dick feels responsible for his death. 

Dick being passively suicidal? Purposely getting himself arrested because of his guilt? That’s based on canon. It aligns with one of the darkest times in Dick’s life in the comics which was during the Blockbuster fiasco. 

But alright. So that’s some of the dark shit about Dick. Now lemme say a few things about the lighter bits of his character in the show. 

In comics, Dick is a safety net for many people, and in turn, the Titans are his safety net. I think Titans does portray that if in a bit of a fucked up way. Dick has no responsibility to Rachel and Gar, and he ends up becoming their guardian anyways. Him giving up the car he loves to get a minivan to drive everyone around in shows a certain level of acceptance on his part. Like yeah, the minivan is way more convenient and practical for all of them, but minivans are known to be family cars, so it signifies a desire for a more stable life with a family. 

That kinda leads into Dick’s role as leader and guardian since Dick and Kory take these teens in when they don’t have to. Dick eventually not only gives them and Jason a home, he starts to train them because they need to learn to control/protect themselves. And while the family vibes are good and all, Dick’s baggage keeps him from being open with the others, and in turn, Rachel keeps her secret about her powers acting up from Dick because she can tell he’s dealing with a lot or what have you. 

Even though Dick’s intentions are good, his own issues puts distance between him and the others. Rachel and Gar have their own shit to deal with, and they need support. They can’t get the support they really need from Dick because of Dick’s own issues, which is why we see Rachel later calling Kory instead of going to Dick. 

In comics, Dick is definitely the leader, but he’s not necessarily a guardian to any of the Titans. That’s because most of the Titans are his age or are only a few years younger than him. They’re on more of an even playing field whereas Dick in the show can’t just dump his baggage on the teens he’s a guardian to, y’know? So there’s not as good of a balance between all of them in the show as there is in the comics. 

Dick is heavily relied upon in the comics, and I think that’s true for the show as well. He’s also a lynchpin in the show who connects the OG Titans with the new Titans. Him having his shit together is kinda paramount into making the two groups gel, and in the comics, Dick plays that part very well. Sadly, he doesn’t have his shit together in the show, so everything around him starts to fall apart. This kinda happens to him in the comics as well after Joey’s death and the dickkory wedding disaster. Dick is just strung out from everything, and he decides to leave the Titans. 

All in all, I don’t think Dick’s characterization in Titans is too far off base. I just think that starting the show off with him being weighed down by his issues is kind of throwing people off since it portrays Dick with certain thoughts and behaviors that are typically reserved for the dark, traumatic events in his life. It kind of only captures one side of him. I would say there are other aspects of his character that aren’t displayed in the show, so who he is in the show isn’t 100% of who Dick Grayson is. It’s only a part of him. 

#listen i'm prob forgetting a lot more details or possibly troubling behaviors #i just genuinely don't remember how everything played out #but the parts i mentioned are the things i remember the most #Dick Grayson #Titans #replies #queenmorganlafay

[mirkwoodest]

History Channel's Vikings By Season According to Émile, post-rewatch (spoilers!)

vikings s1: Good

yeah it just slaps, sets of the world, makes you care. there's a reason it got renewed. the themes get set up, the cool stuff they do with languages, all good. Not perfect, but good.

vikings s2: Great

Plot is even more exciting than s2 in my opinion. The family reuniting in a new way rules. the set-up and twist in the finale is *mwah* 'My main issue was that Kwentrith was given a really 2D pussy-nality. Her stuff with Ecgbert and hitting on everyone was a red flag for the pointless horniness of the next few seasons, RIP.

vikings s3: Cringe until the last 3 episodes

U g h Yeah it gets very annoying here. The horniness of this season gets really tiresome here. Where before if felt like there was sexual energy that served a purpose, it started to get really pointless and annoying in this season. The way they wrote Þorrun off was annoying. Her arc felt very pointless and her motivation for leaving lacked depth. I couldn’t make myself care at all about the Saxon politics and that’s the show’s fault, not my fault, because I found that stuff plenty engaging in  The Last Kingdom. 

Good character development for other characters, especially Rollo and Bjorn. Aethelstan's stuff is pretty good. Was I sad to see him go? Yes, but I know George got a great gig as the main character of Versailles after this and I thought his death was respectful of his narrative arc. Unpopular opinoin maybe, but I appreciated Ragnar’s first signs of downward spiral. THE SEIGE OF PARIS IS SO GOOD. Literally felt like I was just waiting for the whole season to get back to this section. It seems like they put all their energy into these three episodes and it made all the cringe worth it. 

vikings s4 part 1: VERY cringe until close to the end. 

The Yidu plot was a HUGE fuck up. one of the worst of the entire show imo. Introducing a woman of color doesn’t get you any diversity points if make her a 2 dimensional sterotype and kill her horribly, lol. The political stuff in Paris with Odo and Charles and the offbrand Lannisters? Not a fan. Don’t care. Didn’t come here for that. Contributed nothing. The political stuff in Wessex with Exbert and Judith and Aethelwulf and Kwentrith? Not a fan. Don’t care. Didn’t come here for that. Could have all been cut and nothing would have been lost except for maybe little glimpses of baby Alfred. So many excessive and pointless horniness. Like WHY?

The only sex scenes that didn’t make me cringe were with Rollo and Gisla because they were funny and light and served a narrative purpose. Rollo and Gisla’s stuff was all solid gold. I would have liked more of it, to be honest. Enemies to lovers arranged marriage slowburn? Medieval powercouple? Girlboss/Malewife vibes? I wanted them to have a spin-off. Bjorn and the bear was a GOOD plot. It was a very effective way to make Bjorn grown up very fast. Lagertha making good on her promise to kill Kalf and doing it on their wedding day? A real GirlBoss move. I was similarly satisfied by Torvi’s stuff. I think it’s rad that she was such a minor character in season 2 and by season 4 she’s gotten pretty interesting. Ragnar’s downfall hurt, but it was a long time coming. It narratively made sense. As soon as they got back to Paris, the battles were once again wicked. That shit with the towers and the chain and the fire arrows was beautiful. Seriously, planning out interesting and engaging battles is one of the main strong suits of this show, it never disappoints. Finale? GOLD. Making us root for Rollo and feel satisfied that he had defeated the family of protagonists we’ve been rooting for this whole time? Genius. The jump forward in time!!!!!!! I remember I lost my shit watching it the first time. Because all of the first half of S4 is all about Ragnar falling to pieces, it was really useful and hopeful to see OH YEAH the next generation is about to take over.

vikings s4 part 2: Soooooooo good oh my god.

The tragedy. The coming together. Knowing that everyone's shit is about to get wrecked. TBH this might be the strongest season in terms of big-picture storytelling without neglecting nuances of individual characters. Biggest complaint is just that Gisla was treated as a dead end when there was still so much potential for interesting shit to happen with her and Rollo. Sigh. I thought Lagertha's characterization started to fray a bit though. Like it seemed like she was at peace w/ Aslaug so why kill her after she surrendered?

vikings s5 part 1: Decent

Good plot. Less over-the-top horniness. Very solid except Heamund was very annoying. Stuff with the brothers was pretty good. Lagertha's characterization continued to fray though. Idk why I don't have much to say, I guess that kind of speaks to the quality of 5a. Not mindblowing but not rage inducing.

vikings s5 part 2: Okay...

The plot itself was pretty good except Freydis is 2D as fuck. Great potential just left to rot on the floor. I'm in love with Gunnhild. Heamund was.... poorly cast. They continued to tone down the over-the too horniness and everyone benefited. Gunnhild my beloved... Thorra's character existing just to be fridged was 🙄 Speaking of which Hvitserk's arc was all over the place and totally disconected from where he came from of where he was going.

vikings s6 part 1: Good

Good tbh. Kiev is DOPE. Ingrid was kind of 2D. Hvitserk's fixation on Thorra was kind of hard to buy into because she had so little screentime and personality before being fridged. Bjorn's, Ivar's, and Hvitserk's arcs all felt solid and interesting. Loved everything with the little Russian prince. Yeah. Bjorn's kid dying felt very pointless though, and made me annoyed at Lagertha. Lagetha's end was good. Bjorn wrecking Hvitserk was extremely triggerig hahaha but good. The battle with the Rus was good. Character development for everyone but Hvitserk felt solid

vikings s6 part 2: Good

Mostly all good. Bjorn's final stuff was great. Hvitserk and Ivar's stuff was good, the Rus plotline was good. I really disliked the Gunnhild, Ingrid, Harald, Eric stuff. Like compared to the other plotlines it felr very hollow. They made Ingrid more 3D at least. I have mixed feelings about Gunnhild..... like it was kind of a badass end, but she was supposed to be the mother of kings???? The England plotline was pretty good, especially Ivar, Hvitserk, and Harald's stuff although Alfred just couldn't compare with TLK's Alfred in terms of depths. He was comparatively very 2D. I think they rushed Hvitserk's arc completion. There was interesting stuff that could have been mined. Ubbe and Torvi's stuff was p agonizing but the payoff was huge. I liked the Canada plotline. Very satisfying and a beautiful counterbalance to to the tone of the entire show, creating a really fitting ending in my book. Like perfect? No, of course not. The had sooo many strings to tie up so it would have been almost impossible to do it perfectly. But overall it was a satisfying and natural end. I felt like investing so much time to go on a journey with these characters was worth it in the end and it gave me a lot to think about.

#rape mention #vikings tv #I probably left out some stuff but this isnmy general take #txt

[thewhizzyhead]

i've been thinking a lot about my opinion towards boleyn's characterization in six which then caused my brain to go on full analysis mode on how the solos in six set up the whole story and all like we have aragon's no way, the first solo song in the show, and that tells us what to expect from the queens and the rest of the show: a fun funky pop concert musical with lots and lots of queens doing a cardio workout in heels. This sets the atmosphere and tone of the show as "very fun you will enjoy this".

Then next up is boleyn's don't lose your head: at first the boleyn introduction sets her up as some conniving cunning infamous queen...which then pans to boleyn taking a selfie so at that point what the show is doing to the audience is made clear: building up their expectations based on prior and popular knowledge about the queens and subverting them and that is exactly what happens to DLYH. Right from the get go we think that "oooohhh this is gonna be a bop" and then at the last minute (this is more evident in the audios and bootlegs) we see boleyn panicking, yelling "What was I meant to do????" three times. How we see Boleyn throughout the course of that 4 minutes changes so suddenly and the fact that this sudden change was put so early in the show makes the audience think that "oHHHHHHHHH so there's more than meets the eye here okay".

At that point the audience will subconsciously be expecting more subversions and whiplashes because that's the standard that has been set by DLYH ... which is why i fucking love the whiplash from Heart of Stone to Haus of Fucking Holbein SERIOUSLY IT'S GENIUS WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT WHAHAHAHAHA HOW THIS SHOW KEEPS THE AUDIENCE ON ITS TOES WITH ITS SUBVERSIONS AND WHIPLASHES. But besides the point, placing Heart Of Stone right after the boppity bop with a master's degree at nuance and subversion that is Don't Lose Ur Head is kinda smart because like I said, due to the subtle but still noticeable tonal shifts present in Boleyn's song, the standard of "there is so much more than meets the eye" has been set and seeing the show go from dancing queens to emotional ballads within the first 30 minutes of the show solidifies that.

Then after the glorious acid trip that is Haus of Holbein, which btw also keeps up the subversion pattern of the show by a. Providing an acid trip out of fucking nowhere, b. Providing social commentary about ridiculous beauty standards within said acid trip and c. Providing a 16th century parody about fucking tinder, we are back to step 1: making the audience expect that this is a funky fun musical with queens doing cardio workouts, this time through Cleves. Aside from providing good subversions of the standards set through showing that cleves, unlike the rest of the queens, actually had a pretty damn good life i mean sitting here all alone on a throne in a palace that i happen to own heck the entirety of Get Down is just Cleves flexing on everyone really, this also sets up the feel good all is fun atmosphere which is incredibly essential for Katherine Howard's 7 minute solo.

so yes all you wanna do is a masterpiece and how the show sets up the atmosphere right before and during the song is amazing. You still got happy vibes all around because yay cleves flexing, then u get even more happy vibes because oh look the youngest one in the group gives damn good clapbacks, then u get even MORE happy vibes when the lights turn all pink and K Howard goes "I'm the ten amongst these threes" cause YAY THIS GIVES BOLEYN-SONG-ISH-VIBES, and then all those happy vibes get snatched away, ripped to pieces and burned in the fiery pits of hell when K Howard says "I was 13 going on 30". anD THEN ALL OF THE REMAINING HAPPY VIBES GET FORCEFULLY RIPPED OUT YOUR HEART WHEN K HOWARD HAS A FUCKING MENTAL BREAKDOWN BY THE LAST MINUTE OF THE SONG.

Yayyyyyyyyy.

One thing I've noticed is that contrast is incredibly helpful in fully realizing the intensity of a color, sound, or story and this is especially shown here. The contrast between Aragon and Boleyn's song style, the contrast of happy dlyh to WHAT WAS I MEANT TO DO???, the contrast between dlyh and hos, the contrast between hos and haus of holbein, and especially the contrast between get down and all you wanna do AND especially the contrast between the initial atmosphere of all you wanna do and k howard's mental breakdown. Six just pulls off the contrasting elements and the thematic subversions so fucking well that the point of "There's more than meets the eye" is especially evident at this point of the show and it is especially driven home when K Howard ends her song to the point that there are a few seconds of uncomfortable silence before people decide to clap. Plus the uncomfortable atmosphere is incredibly impactful when by that point of the show you see the queens rEALLY being petty with each other which is why I can see why Parr reacted the way she did when she was called on for her performance and why she only just spoke up now about how wrong the whole competition really is (aside from well you know chronological order) which leads to emotional mellow ballad part 2, thus following Seymour's pattern while subverting the expectations when Parr's song becomes a rallying song for the queens to end the competition and not pit each other against one another; Parr's song also subverts the established Seymour Pattern by ending it on a literal and figuratively speaking high note.

So all in all i am personally so impressed by how the musical plays with the audience by building up their expectations and keeping them on their toes til the very end by subverting each and every one of the established patterns and standards, especially those based on popular (and mostly wrong) assumptions about the queens. Like it's really really good and I'm a bit mad at myself for just realizing this now after a year and a half of stanning SIX. Soooo yeah the S in SIX stands for subversion thanks for coming to my ted talk.

#damn this was long #long post #like #i was about to do my statistics assignment #and then my head exploded thinking about boleyn #then it exploded even more thinking about the story structure of six #its so good #wow #good on you toby and lucy this is good writing #six the musical #catherine of aragon #anne boleyn #jane seymour #anna of cleves #katherine howard #catherine parr #no way #don't lose ur head #heart of stone #haus of holbein #get down #all you wanna do #i don't need your love #also i just like impulsively typed this while standing up for 30+ minutes #my brain just explodes at times okay wah tis a blessing and a curse

[stitch1830]

For the fic writer ask game. 1, 5, 23 please.

Hello! Thanks for the ask, I’m in desperate need of things to do to fill my time lmao. These help tremendously! :) Also sorry if this is super long and obnoxious lol.

......

1. How long ago did you start reading fanfiction? Writing fanfiction?

Oh, I think I read a few fics for like, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and Hunger Games back in like, 2012. But none were ever amazing enough for me to create a profile for accounts and stuff like that. I started seriously reading fanfiction during the pandemic (March 2020?), and that was with ATLA! And it was mostly to get more stories/information on things that happened in between ATLA and LOK, because that intrigued me the most... Such a large gap of time that kind of goes untouched, and of course, after rewatching ATLA, I wanted to read more about the characters. 

Reading ATLA fanfiction made me want to start writing down some of the ideas I had, so back in September or during the holiday season, I wrote down dialogue between ATLA characters and Original Characters, and that got me used to writing creatively. Then, I found Taang around November/December, fell in love with the pair, and started writing One Shots for them. It was weird tho, because the first work I was writing had canon pairs plus Tokka, so then to jump and write about Taang when I had an “interesting story” already in the works... bit of a dissonance at first. But then I expanded and grew the Taang universe a ton and it made it worth it. To start, I wrote like 7 or 8 of the Taang One Shots, then started posting them back in January, and the rest is history. Sort of lmao. 

5. What are your fanfic pet peeves? Do they have a huge effect on whether or not you decide to read something?

Oh yeah I have lots. Biggest ones are like reading a fic and then in the story there’s something that is like, completely improbable or weird, I tend to turn away quickly. One that still sticks out to me to this day is back when I read PJO fanfiction, they had the characters (aged at like 16) get married and have a baby all within the span of a paragraph and a day in the story. Like??? Okay, glad you’re writing, but I hopped off that real quick lmao.

Because of my English classes, I really dislike the word “you” or second person in any form of writing. Obviously it’s different in dialogue or thought bubbles, but if the narrator is like “you just don’t see that...” it bothers me. Doesn’t stop me from reading completely, but I know there are other ways to phrase sentences so that the word “you” can be avoided. If that’s the theme/cadence of the story, then by all means, the word “you” should be used. But idk. My English teachers corrupted me lmao. Also first person. I’m not a fan of first person works anymore; they’re hard to write well, so unless I’m hooked from the beginning, I turn elsewhere.

Anachronisms. So like, when things are referenced in a story that you as a reader know are not technically in that universe, I sometimes notice it, but I don’t really leave the fic. It happens all the time and it really goes over just about everyone’s head, but if I catch it, I’ll internally complain. And they may not even be inaccurate in the story, but if I think it doesn’t belong in the universe, then I'll consider it an anachronism, which is more on me than the writer lmao. An example of this would be like, to me, heaven and hell wouldn’t exist in ATLA, so mentions of God or the curse word Hell have no meaning. idk. That, or if I think something didn’t exist yet in ATLA, I’ll personally try to avoid it in my own writing; and specific terms that wouldn’t be in the setting of the story (I.e. Braille. I would just try to say ‘indented text’ or something. Don't think Louie was in the same universe as ATLA lol). Like I said, this is a me problem, not the writer.

If things get really bad grammatically, I’ll leave. I’m already picky with the stories I want to read, and despite the happiness I feel for kids, young adults, and adults writing their stories out for everyone to see, I just personally can’t stay lmao. I can’t stand the word “you” in essays, not sure why I’d stay if everything else is abominable lol. Poorly written fics bother me a ton, I tend to stop reading relatively quickly if I see a bad one.

If people write dialogue that sounds weird or doesn’t fit the character, it’s a rather big turn off for me. I’m not saying I know exactly how the characters talk or react, but there’s a balance and I pay attention a ton to the dialogue of a story. I pay attention to that more than anything else because that is how we see the interaction characters have with each other, and the words used, the tempo of the conversation, and the purpose of the conversation tells us a lot about them. An example is that people can over exaggerate Toph and Sokka’s humor and banter to the point where it sounds ridiculous and annoying. Those two are ridiculous and lighthearted, but what they say also matters in the story. Again, I’m not an expert on characterization and dialogue, but that’s my favorite part of the story, so if I don’t vibe with it or it doesn’t fit into my POV of the character, I’ll leave. No harm no foul in trying to read it, though.

23. What’s your absolute favorite trope to write?

I kind of talked more specifically about tropes in my writing here,  but I would say that the tone of my fics are typically fluffy! I’m a sucker for soft Taang moments, but also, I love angst fics and I would love to be good with those. I think right now, the angst I would want to write wouldn’t fit in my current work, so I'd find time to go and write some angsty things.

......

Ask me questions about writing and fics! 

#ask game #my asks #thanks for the ask dannyurl! #send more lmao #can you tell I like talking?

[yellowocaballero]

ugh what you said about jon just helplessly missing deisha and despite being able to connect, still ultimately grieves alone forced me to think about this one book that said something like “grief is a room you enter alone” and I just ;_; something I love about your metas so much is that you rlly pick apart how it can be true that multiple things can be happening at once - he’s being understood, but he can’t be understood, he’s monstrous, but he’s human etc. basically I adore these essays and just reading how you build and present flaws in characters I think is genuinely making me a better writer

THANK YOU...I think we all grieve alone, just a little bit. With people, and maybe especially with more intangible things - when we move to another city or country, when we live alienated from our home cultures, when our bodies fail us, or when relationships fail. It’s inherently such a solitary thing.

And yeah, so often in life we’re feeling so many contradictory things!! Maybe even ALL THE TIME! I’ve loved and hated simultaneously, I’ve never wanted to see someone again and found myself constantly seeking out contact. You ever never want someone to text you, but you’re sad that they don’t text? I want to go back to my workplace but also I want to keep working from home forever. So it’s a real, legitimate feeling, I think.

But that’s also not why I write it that way. Stories inherently kind of have to work on both a literal and symbolic/metaphorical level. You said that you were interested in the writing bits, so I’ll get specific - I determine what happens in layers. Some things are the most essential aspects of the story, and everything else has to warp around that. Hope Etc is a very weird and bad example because a) I put no thought in this story and b) the nature of daemons is that they literalize the metaphorical. So basically every physical thing that Jon does is metaphorical for something. 

So what a story is ‘about’ is the most important thing, and this can change and shift throughout the story as you realize what keeps cropping up time again and again (which is kind of oxymoronic). I use monster vs human a lot for this specific fandom, because monsters can have whatever metaphorical significance you fucking want them to, but other stories such as hope vs desolation, optimism vs pessimism, wanting to die vs choosing to live, etc, work too. The second thing is tone - which determines the message of the story dramatically. What a story is ‘about’ can’t be pessimism when you have a light-hearted and comedic tone. Unless you’re getting REALLY creative. You can add a lot of additional themes to that, but a bunch of themes together make is what something is about. Also very important is that for me what something is ‘about’ includes genre. 

Then what’s kind of wrapped around that is the metaphor. Literal things happen, which have metaphorical meaning, which advance what a story is ‘about’. Not everything that happens is metaphorical - sometimes things have to happen to advance the plot - but things that happen need to advance something. Either plot, or a character arc, or they need to have metaphorical significance. In my opinion the most deft writing is when everything that happens has all three. 

I think over metaphor is character arc and character. When something happens in a story it has to advance the plot and advance the character’s arc. The character’s arc forms a trajectory that spells out the theme. A character arc for me frequently means the relationship between two characters, which often really really work to highlight theme. I think people push each other to change and grow a lot. If it’s a romantic relationship I push that ‘growth instigated by the other’ hard. Also, foils. I think the best romantic relationships are foils. I love foils. I always write foils. Just adore them, they’re so easy to write. Just make someone the opposite of someone else but give them the same theme. It’s great. This is also why I’m always saying that I don’t really sit down and ‘make characters’, characters just happen based on what needs to happen. I don’t decide anything about a character when I start out besides “haha exact opposite of canon character” or “haha amnesiac PI” or “haha roleswap”. And that’s coming from someone who rarely uses canon characterizations and who writes everybody as a thinly veiled OC...and maybe that’s why everybody kind of ends up a thinly veiled OC...

Over that is plot. Plot is what has to happen to make all of these other things happen. I can’t plot. I think I can’t plot because I’m too worried about these other things and I forget ‘oh yeah, Things Have To Happen’. Maybe there’s other people who plot first and then figure out these other things based on what happens in the plot? ....why...

So I kind of made that a gumball, layered thing, because that’s how I build the story. And I shouldn’t have, because these things all feed each other. What a story is ‘about’ is highly dictated by what you’ve decided the character arc to be - highly - and it creates a feedback loop as both of these things get changed and twisted and tangled during writing. A story never ends how I intended, because different things crop up. But there is a ‘priority list’ for me, and that’s kind of the layers - these characters have to act in X way because that’s one of the cornerstones I need to hit for the genre, so I have to have their character arcs match this. Characters can’t act in a certain way just because the plot makes them - granted, sometimes they do, but that means that you have to go back and tweak their character arc to match. You cannot have something metaphorically happen that goes completely against the theme, unless that has repercussions. Plot isn’t the story for me, the about is the story. None of this is hard and fast, and there is nothing that you can’t do, you just really have to view all of these things in a complex interplay that constantly affect each other.

I think of it like gears? They all work together and churn together to make the story work. But if you twist one gear, the others move too. You first imagine it this one way, but then you keep on tweaking and tweaking and tweaking, and then everything else has to change too, so then you’re like why did I even bother to outline, outlining is stupid, and also I have this funny joke so I have to go back and change everything, and...

Wow, maybe that’s why I’m so bad at planning shit..

My...goal? Is to make it so that Everything works on every level. You should be able to read a story completely literally and completely miss the metaphorical meaning and still vibe. But unfortunately the way it turns out for me sometimes is that the symbolism outweighs the literal. When I write absurdist/surrealist stuff it’s just me being lazy and not having to have things be literal, lol. What you get when something only works on a symbolic level and not on a literal level at all is Utena. And I’m writing trashy fanfic so I can’t do that. What normally happens in practice is that things happen literally for a bit, and then I’m like ‘oh I’m Sensing a Theme’ and then I start playing into the theme, and then things happen because it’s thematic. Plot is...plot should be more important to me...

And then of course there’s grounding all of this in human emotion and making sure there’s a climax (me, shaking hope etc: THERE’S NO FUCKING CLIMAX), and dealing with all of that stuff that makes it actually emotional and impactful instead of just abstract and dumb. 

I chose not to use examples for all of that because I wanted it to just be broad writing advice? I can kind of point out there examples of that line of thinking in my writing, and I probably can for Hope, Etc, but it would be a bad example - both because the NATURE of that story is that the literal is INHERENTLY a metaphor so you really cannot view anything in that story as literal, nothing in it is literal - also because I put no thought into it. 

Of course that’s not my process. That’s not my process at all. I don’t sit down and figure this shit out. I didn’t read any of that anywhere, it’s just me bullshitting, that entire thing was just me bullshitting relentlessly I am so fucking sorry. My process is that I joke about ideas with friends, I sit down at a computer and I kind of thump a keyboard for a few hours, I live my life and daydream stuff and kinda make little movies in my heads, I go home and slam the keyboard some more, halfway through I walk up to my beta and go “hey what’s the plot of this?” she helps me figure it out by giving me very bad ideas, I kind of slam my keyboard some more, and then it’s done. And then I kinda edit it a little maybe whatever and then I post it. 

There’s not a lot of thought involved. I really can’t stress enough how I don’t think about all of this when I write. I’m really brain empty. When I do these analyses what I’m doing is that I’m looking back over my story and then I’m like...Oh That’s What I Was Doing! Huh! Neat!

Haha that got long. I’m not a good writer. Thanks for the ask!

#NOW THAT'S WHAT I LIKE TO CALL A LONG POST #i didn't evoke my writing specifically because halfway thru I decided to make this a broad writing advice post #since...idk u said that its valuable so i wanted to help? #my writing #writing advice #writing #on writing #oh god why am I tagging it that then people will think its writing advice #im crying i can't emphasize enough how much im bullshitting here

[doitwritenow]

DRAGON!! Questions: 2, 4, 27 aaaand 32. XD Also 35, release the rambles.

ADA!!!! Let’s see what I can do here... >:3

2. Why do you write fanfiction? I write fic because of the spaces between the lines of a story. The gaps and unanswered questions in canon encourage me to come up with deeper mechanics, more complicated lore, and complex character motivations in order to explain. Sometimes, one of those pieces will click into canon so well that it becomes inspiration. And then there’s nothing else to do but write! Lol. Stories are so wonderful because of what we can do with them, individually and all together, and I really like being a part of that. 

4. Are there any writers that inspire you? Absolutely. Brandon Sanderson and Neil Gaiman are the novelists who’s skills blow me away and remind me why I like to write. Robert Hass,Trista Mateer, and Robert Graves are inspirations too, though I’m not a poet. I like to think and they make me do so.

27. What’s the nicest comment you’ve ever received? Oh that’s hard!!! I get a ton of wonderful comments--from long, analyzing, discussion ones to short, joking, fun ones that make me laugh when I’m having a bad day. I love to be able to interact and banter with my readers; it’s my favorite thing, and they’re all so lovely. ANYWAY a comment that jumps to mind is a recent one from @writingish1210​ on all but my oldest fic ever, Wire Figures, praising characterization and tone. (i WILL cry, don’t test me)

32. Summarize a random fic of yours in 10 words or less. I used a random name picker for this, uh “they said I couldn’t fit calculus inside of endgame angst”

35. Ramble about any fic-related thing you want! Release the ramble!!!!  okokok how about a first-page blurb from something I may or may not ever actually write? I’m in the mood for ironstrange fairytale au because I’m working on a Prophets in the Graveyard chapter today, so have some fantasy Rapunzel vibes!

The candle flame sparked weakly at the very base of its wick when the knock finally rattled at Stephen’s window. Stephen didn’t move from where he was kneeling, a hand extended in a careful downstroke to complete the right edge of the design he’d almost perfected. It was vital that his movements were smooth and controlled. He didn’t let the knock surprise him into skewing the line, and it took a long moment to loop his fingers to end his stroke with a flourish. 

Only then did Stephen jump to his feet, tucking the sapphire feather of his quill behind his ear and tumbling toward the window. The glass was fogged from the warmth of the inside air against the chill of the autumn temperature outside, and Stephen could just barely see movement through the cloudiness. He slid his fingers between the windowpanes and threw them open. 

“You’re late,” he said, bracing his hands on the windowsill. He leaned out to peer down at the prince standing on tiptoe atop the closest parapet. 

“Yeah, well, maybe I got some sleep for once,” Tony Stark huffed. 

“You’re lucky I’m still working and was in the bottom room.” The lowermost area of the North Tower—the part of the tower where Stephen spent most of his time and did most of his work—had the only window within reach of the castle wall. Tony was still too short to do much more than fumble blindly at its surface until Stephen noticed.

“You’re always still working,” Tony told him, extending a hand. 

Stephen gripped it with both of his and hauled Tony upward, assisted by the prince’s scrambling feet bracing on the frozen stones of the North Tower. Tony got his free hand around the window frame and swept his legs inside. He perched comfortably atop the sill. 

The cold air had turned both of their faces pink, and Stephen could already feel his nasal canals getting clogged. “Come on,” he said, jerking his chin. He knew Tony liked his spot in the window, his perch somewhere between Stephen’s world and his own, but it was cold and Stephen couldn’t help but worry that Tony might one day lose his grip. That he might fall, and not just to the top of the wall six feet below, but down and down to the bottom of the turret all those stories beneath, and Stephen would lose the prince they were all trying so hard to save. 

“What are you working on?” Tony asked, letting Stephen tug him into the tower. He trotted over to the wide canvas spread across the center of the floor as Stephen latched the window behind them. Tony’s fingerprints were pressed into the mist on the glass. 

“Nothing new,” Stephen replied with a shrug. “Still the fox.”

Tony hummed, walking a circle around the design. “I still don’t know how you get this from those dusty old books.”

“I’m a genius, obviously,” Stephen snorted. 

“You’ve never even seen a fox, Stephen.”

“You know I don’t have to see something before I spiritsketch it.”

Tony glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. “You have to see me.”

“Well yeah, you’re a person.” Stephen sat back in front of his canvas, patting at his head until his fingers curled around his quill, as Tony circled a few more times before joining him. The prince was like a cat—fidgeting and circling and testing before finally relaxing enough to sit. “When I spiritsketch you, I’ll be reforming an existing soul, not producing a whole new one. All this is just to practice my technique.”

Spiritsketching was a complex art, relying on precision and power and the layered designs that matched ink to spirit and back again. Stephen’s life had been dedicated to it since he was seven years old. For ten years, he’d learned the properties of the soul and how to map it into a sketch, how to draw life into a mind assembled with the right lines and dots and angles, how to capture the essence of a thing by speaking the language of the spirit. 

He’d started small, as the notes of a dead teacher had told him from the margins of the books. ‘Begin with what is manageable, and from there you can flourish.’ He’d started with drills to build his eye for symmetry and exactness. He’d learned how to layer his ink and control the thickness of his stroke. And then he’d begun to form creatures, matching designs described in the texts. There were butterflies huddled in the corners of the room even now; the first being he’d perfected. 

 He didn’t have to see the creatures. The only thing he had to see was Tony, until he could map the prince’s shining, complex spirit onto a canvas and do with it as he was bid. Stephen saw only the creatures he could build himself.

The king made sure of it.

“How close are you?” Tony asked, and for a moment Stephen thought Tony was talking about his own spirit, before he remembered the fox.

“Almost done,” he replied. “Six weeks and I’ve reached the last phase.”

“Oh fantastic. This is my favorite part.”

Stephen hid a grin, fingering his sapphire quill for a moment. He found his place on the canvas once again and drew a stroke of deep blue ink up into the tool. Leaning forward, Stephen carefully sought out the perfect connection and began to sketch. 

That was fun!!! Thanks so much for the ask <3

#ask me anything #fanworkstuff #ironstrange #fanfiction #ironstrange fanfic

[pomegranate-belle]

V-day ask meme 5 with mattfoggy?

5. Character spends all day trying to give a valentine to their crush, only to be foiled in increasingly ridiculous ways

So this became... 3k words. I feel like this trope is very high-school oriented, but somehow the fic ended up being comicsverse so idk. It’s set... Somewhere in a post-whatever-run-we’re-on-now future where Kirsten is back and Matt’s not stupidly sleeping with mob boss wives. Also, massive apologies to any X-Men fans; I do not know shit or fuck about characterizing Magneto and Professor X, I just wanted Sir Ian and Patrick Stewart to cameo in this fic—

—

Despite all the commercialism and the overwhelming scent of flowers and processed candy, there’s just something about the aura of Valentine’s Day that Matt likes. People young and old get excited for it — whether for romantic purposes or just because chocolate will soon be on sale — and their feelings infuse the air in a way Matt can’t quite pin down to one or another of his senses. The Valentine Vibe, Kirsten had called it when he tried to explain the sensation to her.

He’s... Ecstatic, to have her back in his life, there’s really no other word for it. They’re not quite what they once were — in fact, Matt has no idea what they are except she’s there and they love each other but they’re not the kind of people who kiss each other anymore. Still, after climbing out of his latest spiral to find her waiting at the top? He can’t think of a better dynamic to have with an ex. She’s still Kirsten, after all. She’s still intelligent and funny and brave and doesn’t take his shit.

She’s also begun to take a particularly pointed interest in his relationship with Foggy that he thinks he should maybe be a little frightened about. Her intention is that Matt, so she says, ‘stop pining and seduce him already’ — which is easy enough for her to say, but just because he and Kirsten followed an absolutely fantastic trail of sexual tension to an even more fantastic relationship does not mean the same thing will work with Foggy.

You don’t seduce Foggy Nelson, and Matt would know. He’s been trying unsuccessfully for fifteen years and he is not subtle. Matt knows he looks good even if he can’t see it himself; the empirical evidence is pretty, uh, evident. But whenever Foggy sees him shirtless his only reaction is to toss a shirt at him and tell him to cover his shame with a warm fondness that’s simultaneously disappointing and heartwarming. Matt’s not even on the menu to Foggy, he’s concluded. But, well. Matt’s always been a champion of lost causes, and all that.

Besides, best friends give each other stuff on Valentine’s Day all the time. Foggy loves chocolate, and he’ll probably brush off what the ‘oh my god Matt you big softie this is totally the sappiest one in the store’ card Kirsten helped Matt pick out says as being a joke, so it’s not like there’ll be any negative repercussions. Matt’s resolved. He’s gonna do it.

Unfortunately, Foggy’s in a meeting with a client when Matt shows up to probably-unsuccessfully sweep him off his feet. The secretary says it’s set to go on another two hours. Matt doesn’t have that kind of time to bandy around now that he’s trying to be responsible with his work-life balance, so he makes a tactical retreat.

Fine. He’ll just take Foggy out to lunch and give him his valentine then. No problem.

—

They actually do make it to lunch, which gives Matt a false sense of security. He decides to save the valentine for the end — like dessert. It’ll be sweet, he’s certain, and he’ll be able to savor Foggy’s happiness the entire time he walks him back to his office.

Matt is just about to pull out his gift and offer it to Foggy when his phone starts announcing Jessica Jones’s name. He spends about three seconds too long debating whether to answer or not.

“If you ghost her she’ll beat the crap out of you,” Foggy points out, standing with a metallic rasp of chair legs against the floor. “I’ll head out and let you take that.”

Foggy sounds content, smells like deli ham and honey mustard and potato chips — a not-super-healthy sandwich lunch masquerading as something more so by way of a thin layer of lettuce — and gives off the same soothing body heat he always has, excepting his bout with cancer that Matt tries not to think about. To make a long story short, he feels like home to every one of Matt’s senses, and it’s a struggle not to ask him to stay. Still, the insistence of Matt’s phone prevails, because he knows what Jess is calling about. He’d asked her to help keep an eye on Mike and let him know if he was up to anything — if she has something to report, it’s bound to be important. So, Matt offers Foggy a nod and then pulls out his cell to answer her.

—

Of course, both he and Foggy are busy all afternoon, but Matt knows that Foggy usually knocks off early on Fridays, so he wraps up his own business — meeting with Jess to discuss strategy, any work that can’t be pushed to later — as efficiently as possible and follows suit. His plan is to meet Foggy right as he’s stepping onto the sidewalk — waylay him and present him with the valentine before anything else can interfere. Except that as he’s strolling along down the street, Matt happens to hear a mugging going on down an alley that he’s passing. Breaking that up takes more time than he’s willing to admit — god, he’s getting old — and even vaulting over a few rooftops doesn’t make up the delay. Foggy’s gone when Matt reaches his destination. He lets his head fall back against the brick wall behind him, breathing heavily, and then reaches for his phone.

“Matt?” Foggy’s voice is tinny and confused and perfect over the phone line. “What’s up?”

“Dinner?” Matt asks. “I was thinking Italian tonight, want to meet me at Maria’s at five-thirty?”

There’s a long, long pause.

“Yeah, sure thing, Matty. I figured you’d already have plans...?”

“Nah, nothing. See you then.”

—

Fourth time’s the charm, that’s what they say, right? Maria’s is quaint and quiet and always smells like good bread and cheese. He and Foggy aren’t the only ones there — a few couples seem to be scattered around the room, including a pair of teenage girls that are probably on a first date based on the way they fumble their words and their silverware. There’s also two elderly men, one in a wheelchair, who sound like they might be playing chess on a travel board while they wait for their food. They all add to the atmosphere instead of disturbing it, though, which is nice. Across the table, Foggy clears his throat, scraping the tines of his fork through his food.

“So. Lunch and dinner? I feel like you’re buttering me up for something,” he says. “We don’t have to move back to California, do we? Because I will, but I only just unpacked my last box a few weeks ago and it’s going to be a pain to pack it all up again.”

“No! No, nothing like that, Foggy,” insists Matt. “Seriously. I just want to spend time with you. Is that really so out of character?”

“On Valentine’s Day?” Foggy points out, and his silverware clinks against his plate. “I mean, kind of.”

The implication isn’t lost on Matt — don’t you usually have a date? — but he doesn’t address it. Foggy is his date, but couching it like that out loud is a little too presumptive, even for him.

“Well, not this year.”

Matt smiles his most charming smile, and it nets him a fond sigh, the kind that’s normally paired with Foggy ruffling his hair.

—

Again, Matt waits until the end of the meal. This time, they get to dessert, and the moment is perfect. They’re comfortably full, happy, and relaxed. It doesn’t matter if Foggy sees the gesture as romantic or not, because at least Matt can be satisfied that it was done as romantically as possible. His sense of aesthetics, such as it is, will be appeased.

Which is, of course, the moment the door of the restaurant bursts open.

“Magneto!” shouts a man, storming into the restaurant with heavy, clomping bootsteps and shattering the moment to pieces. “I’ll kill you!!”

Matt is going to kick this guy’s ass.

What is he even yelling about? Magneto? Magneto’s not—

And then one of the old men stands. Every spoon in the restaurant rattles towards him when he pushes back his chair, prompting a sigh from his dinner companion. And so it turns out that maybe the guy bursting through the door isn’t as off-base as Matt assumed. That old guy really is Magneto. It actually takes Matt a minute to realize that the man in the wheelchair across the table must be Charles Xavier. Xavier just isn’t someone Matt hangs around a lot, he tends to steer clear of both him and his academy when possible. It’s not mutants Matt has a problem with, though — it’s telepaths. The idea of someone poking around in his brain pan without so much as a by-your-leave gives him goosebumps. And not the fun kind.

As Matt considers all this, the scene continues — he notices distantly that the teenagers are being ushered towards the kitchen and away from the action. There’s a few whiffs of air as punches are thrown by the unknown assailant, and an unpleasant burning smell. Matt’s torn between shuffling Foggy away from danger and joining the fray himself, but when Foggy reaches out and grabs his hand for comfort he finds he can do neither.

“Let me very firmly impress upon you the enormity of your rudeness,” says Magneto, his voice crisp and cold.

Matt can’t even tell what he’s doing — something about Magneto’s powers is messing with his radar sense in the most disorienting way — but it sounds painful. Matt debates with himself the pros and cons of shaking off Foggy’s grip and intervening.

“Erik,” Xavier says warningly, though there’s still something quietly warm suffusing his tone.

“Oh, very well.”

The would-be assassin hits the floor with a thud that rattles the dishes on Matt and Foggy’s table. He’s breathing, a little bit labored, but still alive. And unconscious. Also possibly bleeding a little bit, but it’s hard to tell with the scent of all the metal in the air.

And that, he supposes, is why you don’t mess up Magneto’s dinner plans.

Magneto and Professor X make their leisurely escape, leaving Matt’s romantic moment with Foggy thoroughly in ruins. He lets it go, sighing into the last bite of his tiramisu and gives the plan up as a bad job. Maybe next year, he thinks wryly as he and Foggy get up together to examine the man left on the floor.

“He’s wrapped up in a chain of spoons,” Foggy narrates quietly, nudging the guy with his toe. “Wasn’t sure if you could tell that, you looked confused. He must have some sort of acid powers though because he managed to melt a few on their way in. I think maybe he just fainted when the chain tightened. Are you able to sense any really bad injuries?”

Matt tilts his head and concentrates.

“No,” he determines at last. “No, nothing.”

That settled, they split the check and book it before they can get caught up in a police investigation or a mutant hunt.

Their apartments are in opposite directions, so there’s not even an excuse to give Foggy the valentine on the way home. And anyway, Matt’s feeling so discouraged that he’s not sure he even wants to go through with it anymore. He turns for home, planning to crumple up the card and maybe eat the chocolates himself.

“Matt.”

There’s a tug as Foggy grabs his sleeve. He turns towards the warmth of Foggy’s body, the sounds of his heart and his breath, and tries to offer a smile.

“What?”

Foggy gives him a quiet huff in return.

“Come on, Matt, give me a little credit. You’ve kept coming up with excuses to meet me all day. There’s something you wanted to say, and you still haven’t said it,” he explains. “I can tell. So let’s head back to mine and you can finally get it off your chest.”

Matt feels, suddenly, seen. It’s an unsettling and vulnerable feeling, but he knows beyond all doubt that he’s safe with Foggy. That it’s silly of him to be surprised at somebody knowing him so well when that somebody is Foggy. There’s not much the two of them can hide from each other after being best friends for so long. Mood improved a little, Matt manages a more genuine smile, and they walk on together.

—

“So, what exactly is your problem, Matt?” Foggy asks once they’re safely inside.

And it’s not as if he says it in a rude way, he actually sounds very earnest and concerned, but that just impresses on Matt all the more how stupid this entire situation is. He’s twisted himself in knots all day over one dumb little gift for one dumb little holiday. Annoyed with himself, Matt divests himself of his glasses, cane, and suit jacket, opens up his briefcase, plops the valentine and accompanying small box of chocolates inside down on Foggy’s coffee table, then flops onto the couch on his back.

“That,” he says, gesturing towards it. “That’s my problem, ok?”

Foggy laughs.

“That’s what all this was about? A valentine? You had me worried you were getting ready to pull some crazy stunt or another.” He pauses, likely studying the items set on the coffee table. “Chocolate and a card, huh? For Kirsten, I’m guessing? I had a feeling the two of you would be getting back t—”

Matt is extremely tired of Foggy’s assumptions.

“No, it’s for you! I’ve been trying to give it to you all day!” he complains, throwing an arm over his face — he might be a grown man but after the day he’s had he’s allowed to be a little dramatic, ok?

“Me?”

Foggy sounds surprised and pleased, but not like he’s having any sort of revelation about Matt’s feelings for him. Which is fine. That’s what Matt had expected, after all.

“Yup.”

“Well, if it is for me, then I guess I don’t have to feel guilty about wanting to eat these,” Foggy says, and there’s some rustling of cardboard and plastic as he opens the box of sweets and chooses one.

Raspberry-filled, Matt’s nose tells him as soon as it’s bitten into. With a pleased hum at the taste, Foggy picks up the card and opens the envelope. There’s further quiet, inarticulate sounds after that — noises Matt remembers from studying near Foggy, the sound of him not-quite-reading-aloud.

There’s a pause.

Foggy’s heart does a funny kind of stutter in his chest, then speeds up considerably. He swallows the chocolate in his mouth with a gulp that sounds distinctly nervous.

“Um. Matty...”

And now Matt’s nervous too. He sits up, clenches his fingers in the fabric of his slacks to keep from reaching for his glasses.

“What? What is it?” he demands.

“Did you, uh... Did you know Kirsten wrote in this?”

Oh no.

“What did she write?”

“Well, there’s a pretty long spiel about what she’ll do to us if we hurt each other,” Foggy says, with a jovial tone that rings very hollow. “But she also says I need to get over myself and kiss you because you’re an emotionally stunted duckling and won’t make the first move.”

“... Ah.”

Matt’s still trying to calculate the relative distance to the ground if he flings himself out the window when Foggy’s hand lands on his shoulder.

“Is she right?” he asks Matt.

“About what?”

Though he tries for a devil-may-care grin, Matt thinks it probably comes out a little anemic.

“About you wanting to kiss me, Matthew,” Foggy says drily. “we both already know you’re emotionally stunted.”

Matt shrugs.

“I do. But you don’t, and that’s fine, I’m... I don’t need...”

“I don’t?” asks Foggy, sounding incredulous. “Matty, come on. There’s pretty much nobody on Earth who’d turn you down and you really think I would?”

“But...? You never said...”

Foggy sighs and steps back. Matt gets the feeling he’s probably shaking his head in despair at Matt’s apparent idiocy.

“And why would I, Matt? I mean. You know what I mean! I’m just not the kind of person you would... They have leagues for a reason, buddy.”

That self-depreciation, light but tinged with a very deep melancholy that Matt knows is drilled right through to Foggy’s core, drives him to his feet in agitation.

“Objection!” he snaps, and doesn’t care how ridiculous it sounds. “I’ve flirted with you before! How could you think...”

“You flirt with everything that moves, Matt, I knew you didn’t mean it. That’s just who you are,” Foggy explains patiently.

“Well...” He can’t exactly deny it. “Yeah, but I did want to kiss you. Do want to kiss you. All the time. Except after you eat something gross and unfit for human consumption.”

Foggy offers up a quiet laugh, then, and it smooths some of Matt’s ruffled feathers when he can’t detect any bitterness in the sound.

“Real smooth, Casanova,” Foggy says. “That was sarcasm by the way. I’m rolling my eyes at you.”

“But you still want to kiss me too,” Matt replies, because he’s beginning to think it’s true and he knows Foggy finds it both irritating and endearing, but more the latter, when he’s smug about things.

“You really are unbearable. What do I see in you, I ask myself,” laments Foggy, even as he steps forward and cups Matt’s cheek in his hand.

Matt can hardly stop grinning long enough to swoop in and kiss him first.

#thanks for the ask! #mattfoggy #writing #daredevil #Anonymous