#DO feel free to ask any follow-up questions you may have. on this niche and ultimately pointless topic

[whensomethingelsecries]

additional notes

different outfits have their own folders in the game files, and thus were counted as separate entries here only if their data was different from the default outfit. for example, shannon's regular outfit and date outfit both have 18 total sprites and 0 akuwarai sprites in the question arcs, so they were not counted separately - both are represented by "shannon." on the other hand, kanon's regular outfit has 50 total sprites while his date outfit has only 12, so "kanon" and "coat kanon" are two separate entries in the question arcs data. although neither have any akuwarai sprites anyway

on the other hand, various poses and props would be lumped into the same folder. variations with and without beatrice's pipe, the guns, the energy swords, etc. are considered part of the totals for each character due to being organized within the same folders. these account for almost all of the differences between the "unique akuwarai" and "all akuwarai" numbers

for how the beatrices were split up, i really just went by the game file folders. obviously there's nuance there but it would have been unreasonable to further divide them up. in case you're curious, here's how i've organized them in the data, with the folder paths: bea/1 is "beato" (black dress, hair up. includes variations with and without her pipe) bea/2 is "business casual beato" (suit jacket outfit, hair up) bea/3 is "bice" (self explanatory) be2/1 is "chick beatrice" (black dress, hair down) be2/2 is "elder beatrice" (suit jacket outfit, hair down)

it's really funny when characters wind up with different statistics in different outfits due to sprite count differences. erika, for instance, is more Evil By Volume in the wedding dress than in her regular outfit, due to her wedding dress outfit having fewer overall sprites:

dlanor is also mathematically nearly twice as evil when she puts the glasses on, for the same reason:

krauss doesn't have any sprites labeled "warai" (smile) which is a little unusual for a character who has as many sprites as he does. the majority of his smiles are considered akuwarai lol

bice not having any of beatrice's akuwarai expressions, which are some of her most iconic faces, is the sort of thing you could write an essay about, in terms of the fact that the "golden witch beatrice" is well known for a personality the actual original beatrice straight up did not have

[dykeomania]

lovergirl!hazel headcanons

｡.｡ just some evidence of a love that transcends hunger, tbh.

a/n: i needed a break from writing a fic and wanted to write something sappy. this is the something sappy in question. wanted it to give how-you-become-hazel's-lover -> what she does when you're actually her lover vibe but it just got real mushy. i like it. i hope you like it, too. proofread, but i'm blind as fuck + i'm rusty, so.

tags: gender neutral (i think. i may have fucked up once or twice. please correct me if i did, i proofread fr fr over time. not intended for cis men), body neutral, and poc friendly. some niche reader things (tarot mention, reader wears makeup). mild nsfw -- kissing, making out, heavy petting. almost third base. starts in high school, ends in college.

practice fanfic etiquette. please don't plagiarize or repost my stuff.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who sits up straight on the edge of your bathtub and looks up at you in complete awe when you're getting ready. she's got the dumbest, most lovesick puppy look in her eyes as she watches her lover line her lips, and apply a sheer coat of gloss on top. when they turn around to ask if it's even, hazel smiles so wide that it makes the apples of her cheeks sore.

she doesn't really know if it looks okay, she just knows that she wants to kiss you.

she only manages an mhm because it's what you want from her and, well.. at this point, hazel's convinced that she'd drop just about everything to give whatever you want.

you snicker, closing the space between you in slow and steady strides. "what are you looking at, huh?" you teases, grin stretched across lips lined nude, gleaming pink.

"mmm..." hazel can't help but like, drunklenly (she's dead sober).. haphazardly loop you in by the belt loop, head tilting easily to the right. "yyyyyou."

her eyes droop as she falls victim to the familiar spell that you cast over her. one that starts with you taking her face in her hands, and bringing yourself close enough for to take in all at once. she's made dizzy by the smell of your conditioner, made defenseless by the familiar trace of your body wash radiating off of your skin.

"what're you looking at me for?" you grin, your hands hot on her cheeks as you stand between her legs.

"why wouldn't i wanna look at you?" hazel gently manages, hand finding comfortable purchase on your hips. she grips gently with admiration, fingertips pressing into sacred flesh of something, someone, who she couldn't believe is hers. "you're just so pretty."

but let's take a few steps back first,

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who meets you purely by coincidence. you don't go to fight club, and you don't do cheer. you don't have any classes together, you hardly even know of each other. you do, however, have to work concessions for football together one night.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who doesn't talk much, and honestly standing next to you feels kinda stupid with the bruise that she has on her cheek. she usually never really cares and she's usually super talkative -- she doesn't talk much because well.. she doesn't really know.. how to. how to talk to pretty people -- well, it's not like she finds you pretty, it's just.. anyways,

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who makes some dumb joke about athletes and you kind of snort.. and she's immediately charmed. hazel callahan who has a desire to keep you entertained, and continues to do so throughout the remainder of the game.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who actually is in your class, but, neither of you just really noticed. hazel callahan who sits next to you in the weeks following. who spends her free periods with you. who eats lunch with you. who eventually gets around to telling you about fight club, over turkey and rye sandwiches.

"so you just, like..." you take a break from chewing, tonguing some bread out of your back molar. "punch the shit out of each other, and it's school-sponsored?"

"...well, yeah. but in like a self-defense, queer way. bring people together, create some solidarity. a safe-space on campus for queer community, kind of thing."

"oh okay, so like, in a slay way," you revise.

hazel stares. scoffing out a gentle laugh. "uh... yeah.." hazel furrows her brows, shaking her head. "um.. what does that.. what does that, like, mean?"

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who becomes your best friend.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who really likes you. like, as a person.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who likes you maybe a little bit too much.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who doesn't know how to embroider, so when you embroidered her converse -- creating a wreath of vines, speckled with bright little flowers around the all star symbol -- she was so happy. but she felt so bad because she didn't know how to repay you.

"let me make it up to you?" she insists, fingers playing with your own, but not creating enough distraction to prevent you from protesting.

"what?" you scoff, subconsciously locking her hands with yours, as though you're about to declare a thumb war. "no, how?"

"i don't know! this is so nice, let me like..." hazel shrugs voice dropping timidly, "..take you out or something."

a beat passes, one that feels like forever. a large enough one to create space for all the butterflies to rumble around both of your stomachs, and for the elephant to pass through the room. hazel can't tell if it's your hand that's begun to sweat in your grasp, or if it's hers.

your eyes narrow at her, grin stretched into something cheshire as you shake your hand, and hers. "i think you just wanna take me out on a date."

hazel smiles sheepishly, cheeks flushing a bright flamingo. she shrugs, next words quiet and intentional,

"so what if i do?"

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan doesn't know how to embroider but she does have an eye for wildflowers. when the girl who shows up at your doorstep, it's with a dorky smile, a batch of spring, and a bandaid wrapped around her index finger and her thumb. the flowers that she biked about an hour north to pluck -- from a field she discovered after having simply gone too far -- are bunched together and wrapped in a trader joe's paper bag, the kind that her mom always leaves in the kitchen under the sink. she put the boquet together herself. spent too much time thinking about whether or not you would like the arrangement or the colors, probably went to the store to grab a few of your favorite flowers that she couldn't find.

"oh, these are for you. see, i tried to make this whole thing, like.. semi.. transactional. again, like, i don't really know how to embroider flowers, or like anything really, so... these were next best thing, i guess." she offers, as though it's nothing.

"you look.. really nice." hazel's eyes linger, stricken and dumb. she fills her lungs with air, huffing out her next sentence. "are yoooouuu.. ready to go?"

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who thinks that star signs mean nothing, and doesn't know jackshit about crystals or anything of the like. but hazel callahan who is all eyes and ears, criss-cross-apple-sauce with you on her floor, as she watches you knock your knuckles on a deck of tarot cards and shuffle through them for what you called a "semi unreliable, two-card reading."

hazel callahan who jumps a little when two cards fly out from the deck. who furrows her eyebrows when you turn the over. an the lovers and two of cups, both upright.

"what..." she snorts. "what does that mean?"

"um.." she watches you blush. "it means.." and she blushes when your eyes linger on hers, and then look up. feels her stomach flutter when she watches you take a deep breath in through your nose, like you're shuffling through all of the words in your head.

"...let's just saaaaayyyy... nnnew connections might be coming your way, soon."

hazel has no fucking idea what that means, looking at you, she surely could hope that that's true.

...

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who is shocked that you want to like.. have a sleepover with her. this doesn't really happen to her. like at all. but it's happening with you, so she's down.. but it has to be planned. hazel callahan pulls out all the stops to try to make sure that it's.. well, perfect, she guesses? she makes sure that it's on a weekend where her mom is out of town (not even because she wants to do anything but you know how her mom is). she asks you what all of your favorite snacks are beforehand, and offers to go get more if you run out. she makes sure that you have satin pillowcases if you have textured hair, just in case you forget a bonnet, or anything. probably does that regardless of whether or not that's applicable to you, because she hears it's better for your skin and what not. she gets a weighted blanket for you and some extra pillows + takes out an extra throw if she knows that you get cold easily, or damn near strips her bed down to just one comforter and gets a desk fan to face her bed if she knows that you get too hot.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who you create a shared movie list with, and who will sit with you and watch all of your favorite movies. all of your least favorite movies. will watch movies that you insist that she must see and will do so with very little fight because it's whatever you want, really. hazel callahan who is very quickly realizing that she would do whatever you wanted, as long as it meant that it got you to smile.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ (hazel callahan who, granted, talks through a lot of those fucking movies. like. hazel callahan who has a really fucking hard time paying attention to movies.)

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who clearly has overthought everything. who laughs at and understands all of your dumb jokes and is always a little shocked when you laugh at hers. who lets you rest your head on her shoulder when you watch movies in her home-theater. who lays with you in her bed and compares your tiktok for you page with hers and finds it a little too easy to poke fun of you. finds it not as easy to remain calm when your head rests comfortably on her chest, and thus hopes to god that all of the cringy tiktok audios are masking the sound of her heart beating out of her chest.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who looks at you when you mention that it's getting late, and insists that there's a guest room if you wanna sleep in there, or an air mattress that she was supposed to blow up.

"it's too late for that, though." you frown.

"no," hazel, being hazel, is quick to reassure, shaking her head. "no, no, i could totally blow it up. we have an automated pump, it'll take like 20 minutes."

"mm, i don't know, it's still kinda late for all of that..."

hazel blinks at you. her eyebrows raise, corners of her lips gently upturning. "okay. i mean, do you wanna take the guest room?"

you look up at her, eyes big on purpose. "that guest room's kinda scary." you lift a brow. "it's dark. and cold."

hazel thinks she might.. be tripping. she has to be. her blink is slow, and her face knots together, and releases -- the way it does when she gets all timid and indecisive. "o..kay..." she grins nonetheless, furrowing her eyebrows. "so then .. where are you gonna sleep?"

"..i mean.." you burn, and so does she. "...i could just sleep here with you?"

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who can't help but feel girlish and vulnerable laying in her bed with you, her stomach tied in knots over how there is nothing usual about this situation. fully seeing you in your pajamas. feeling the gentle flesh of your bare calves rub against hers. being within such close proximity of you that she can still smell the lingering remnants of soap on your skin from your shower.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who dares to let her finger dance on your upper bicep, but that's just about it, really.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who only nudges closer only when you nudge closer. who only lowers her voice, when you lower your voice. who only holds eye contact when you start it, but is always the first to look away.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who falls into a trap: eye contact held after some conversation that did not, and does not matter. she follows your eyes down, chocolate eyes focusing on the arch of your cupids bow. she does tilt her head up to find her nose nudging softly against the underside of yours. she doesn't know how you two got this close. hazel callahan who feels her hands grow sweaty, feeling your breath linger over her the chap of her lips. who nearly stiffens when she feels your hand press into her back, but instead arches into the crevice your body makes and presses her palm against your hip.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who does what she thinks she's supposed to do, and kisses you -- soft and gentle, like the whispers that fluttered over both of your lips earlier. brief, and endearing.

her lips stick to yours, and then her lips press into yours. and then her lips open when yours do, and her hand tightens on you when yours does.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who has no fucking idea what she's doing. like, seriously. she kind of knows -- i mean, okay, yeah, she knows how to kiss, but this is, like.. not just a kiss. hazel's kisses are brief. gentle, maybe a little slow. never this deep. hazel callahan who forgets herself when her fingers weave through your hair. hazel callahan who doesn't recognize the way her breath shakes in your throat when your fingers ambitiously sift through her thick, black locks and pull.

hazel callahan whose lips slot over yours, and unlock. who leans forward when you lean back, and is almost nearly on top of you.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who doesn't know what to do with her hand, so she puts it everywhere. glides it over your side, presses it over the expanse of your lower back. who smooths her hand under your shirt and marvels in the way your skin burns against her palm. who itches to explore, traversing over your stomach, venturing up, up, and up--

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who stops dead in her tracks when you hum something sour in her mouth and grab her wrist. who looks at you stunned with parted lips as you softly shake your head against hers.

"not yet," you pant, opening your eyes to look at her. "not yet."

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who bats her lashes, dizzy with affection yet sobered from your action. she knows how you sound. not like you're rejecting her, but like you're admitting something, which you.. might be. something that she understands. regardless, she understands.

but she burns bright with embarrassment, stomach rattling with a guilt that crawls up her throat and wraps around it, tightening and tightening...

"yeah," she manages a whispers after a while. somehow, it's still raspy. "yeah, okay.."

"okay.."

"...m'sorry--"

"don't be," you shake your head. "keep kissing me."

you rush, and it's kind of just in time. whatever stinging was lingering in her chest subsides as you bring yourself closer, lips softly capturing her lower lip in affirmation after hazel just stares at you.

hazel callahan who blinks, oscillating between consciences, dazed and a little confused. she's cautious and readjusted, her hand only lingering over your side as she whispers a faint "are you sure..?"

the sentence dissolves when on the tip of hazel's tongue when her lips find yours again, at your action, which is her answer. hazel callahan who listens. who lets you take her hand and place it somewhere that feels more comfortable, somewhere that's right and yet still sensual.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who is wiped, but intentional with every kiss that either you or her leads, every swipe of her lips over your jaw, every tender kiss that you let her place against the stretch of your neck.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who will admire within her bounds. kissing you, and drowning in you until she is simply too sleepy to continue. until she is dizzy and feels comfortable enough to nuzzle her face somewhere into the crook of you, breathing you in until you become a part of her dreams,

and she will wake -- in the morning, and in the middle of the night -- only to have a hard time believing that she isn't still dreaming.

...

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who kind of has to get used to.. all of it. who crushes, even though she's already "achieved," so to speak. who grins at her phone when she's texted, who finds any excuse to facetime you and keep you on the line -- sometimes just so that she can look at you. who finds any excuse to be around you.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who you can't get rid of once you go both go to college. who facetimes you whenever, who visits you on weekends. who comes into your space and steals all of your sweatshirts and your pajama pants and of course, all of your spare time.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel "no, i can make that for you" callahan who can't embroider, but can crochet. she will buy you that jellycat that you really want, a hundred percent. hazel callahan will also greet you with a fucked up rendition of said stuffed animal that you wanted (giving jamdog, perhaps) and furrows her eyebrows when you have to hide your laugh with your hand.

"what?" she asks, grin dulling only for a moment. "do you not like it?"

"no it's--" you cover your mouth. "it's perfect." you cackle. when you cup her cheeks, all the worry and fear of judgement fades. sort of. at least enough. "you're perfect, babe. i love it."

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who does, in fact, keep a picture in her wallet of her lover, ready at all times. hazel callahan who weaves her lover into casual conversation.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who still doesn't really understand figure of speech all that well so when you say things like "i wish you could just come over," she literally goes "..well like, i could,"

and then proceeds to make like, a three hour drive.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who keeps the picture that you hate of yourself as her lockscreen and it's not to spite you, it's because she thinks you're beautiful, and she has no idea what you're talking about.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who figures out what names you like to be called by throwing everything at a wall and seeing that sticks. pretty. handsome. lover. angel. baby. and when she does find one, one that makes you blush just about as hard as she does every time you even look in her direction, she holds it over your head to high heavens. makes it your contact name. uses it to punctuate reassuring sentences, when she greets you, when she tells you goodnight.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who gets to take you on real dates, and gets excited to. who gets giddy when you get ready. who gets to fix your hair and come up behind you when you take mirror selfies once you're finished. who now feels comfortable enough to place her hands at the mid-point of your waist and let them venture toward your frontside while she rests her chin on your shoulder, and leans in to kiss your cheek. who tells you you smell nice, and makes you smile when she buries her face into some part of you and literally just goes rahhhh!!!!

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who is also stuck sometimes, in moment such as these, watching the wonder who she has had a crush on since high school -- jesus, has it really been that long? -- with gentle eyes and a completely disarmed disposition.

hazel callahan who is honestly such a fucking loser -- like, literally, loser-since-birth, no-hope-since-middle-school, gay-haircut-and-new-repotoire-can't-save-you, loser, and can't help but ponder and marvel over how someone like you is in her hands. in her face. in her life.

"m'not that pretty," you insist, fingers weaving through her hair, nails etching at hazel's scalp in a way that hazel has grown to like. love, even.

her eyes flicker over your face, smile lopsided and eyes heavy like despite everything, you don't even know the half of it. she scoffs, voice hardly above a whisper,

"yeah no, you are so much more than pretty."

[danmei-action]

Danmei Gotcha for Gaza: Fandom Availability Sheet Up Now!

Hello danmei fans! If you've decided to join the event as a prompter, thank you for participating! As we have a limited number of contributors available for each fandom, please read the entirety of this post and look carefully at our availability spreadsheet (link) before leaving a prompt. (Note: prompts are not yet open. We have decided to release the availability sheet ahead of time; but if you would like to donate early, you can find the link of accepted charities/fundraisers in our pinned post.)

This spreadsheet tells you the fanwork types and the number of contributors that are available for each fandom. If a cell at the intersection of a row (fandom) and column (fanwork type) is blank, it means that we do not have any creators available to make fanworks of that type for the fandom in question. 

Example:

This is a screenshot of a section of the spreadsheet. Note that the “NSFW Art” cell is blank for the novel Liu Yao. This means that none of our NSFW artists signed up for Liu Yao, so we cannot accept NSFW art prompts for Liu Yao. However, we do have 7 SFW artists signed up for Liu Yao, so feel free to leave SFW art prompts for that fandom.

The types of fanworks (listed in order from left to right) are as follows: SFW Fic, NSFW Fic, SFW Art, NSFW art, Dead Dove Fic, Dead Dove Art, Video Edits, Podfic SFW, Podfic NSFW, Gifset, Moodboard, Novel Narration: SFW, Novel Narration: NSFW, and Podfic Dead Dove. Toggle the scrolling bar at the bottom of the spreadsheet if you don’t see your preferred type of fanwork right away.

If you leave a prompt that we cannot fill for any reason (example: you leave a dead dove/NSFW fic prompt that none of the NSFW writers are able to do, or ask for a very niche AU setting that no one is familiar with), we will contact you to get a different prompt. 

In that case, it is on you to check your messages (make sure you have either followed our social media accounts—@DanmeiAction on twitter, danmei-action on tumblr—or opened your DMs to all so that we can contact you!) and provide an alternate prompt if asked for one. 

We may also need to contact you for references, in case your prompt has to be assigned to a creator who is unfamiliar with the source material.

Thank you again for participating, and happy prompting! ♥️

[herbgerblin]

Hi Herb!! I was wondering if you had any advice on opening commissions? I enjoy your art immensely and you were one of the first people I thought of to ask since I know you do commissions on occasion

Sorry if this is totally weird, I am just at a complete loss! Thanks for taking the time to read this!

These are things I wish I had figured out when I started selling art commissions. Also, feel free to use my current commission form to pattern your own. (also if anyone >.> wants to commission me, I am open <.<)

Step 1: Write a Terms of Service

Good terms of service will manage the expectations of your clients, establish a level of professionalism, and protect you if someone tries to argue something already made clear in writing. You can keep your ToS really simple, but it's good practice to include the following:

What kind of art you will/won't do (I don't do nfts)

Estimated duration of the project (2-4 weeks is my M.O.)

Number of revisions (more than 3, I add a fee)

When and how often you will update the client

Rights that you retain as an artist/permit to the client

Note: This mainly applies to personal/non-commercial work. If you are approached to make art for a game/magazine/website, do a ton more research. You will need to write out a contract that makes things Boringly Clear, and you will want to retain all of your rights as an artist.

Step 2: PRICES (scream)

Everyone starts out underselling. I'm underselling (I'm trying to get better.) Just go at your own pace. Look at what other artists are offering, but don't just look at the quality of their work. Think about your turnaround time, your style, and your target audience. If you are a fast worker or very detailed, that's worth a pay bump. Niche communities will pay solid money for artists to cater to them. So for example, if you draw fetish art, you have more room to charge higher.

ALWAYS GET PAYMENT UP FRONT. You can offer half upfront and half upon completion. If it's a big or long-term project, it's okay to go 30/70. BUT NEVER START WORK WITHOUT SOME SORT OF COMPENSATION. I just had a client that has not paid me the 2nd half and they are blacklisted. This rarely happens but it does happen.

Once you think you've got a price chart you feel comfortable with, add $20. Do it, even if it feels wrong. You may have to pay transaction fees, or the work (often) takes longer than expected. It'll be a small mercy to yourself to account for these things. Raise your prices a little bit each year because you are growing in experience and inflation (scream) is a thing that affects the arts too.

Step 3: INTEGRATE AND AUTOMATE

I wish I had done this step years ago, but I slacked off, and therefore staying organized was a nightmare. The less "business" stuff you have to do manually, the more time you can focus on "creative" stuff.

Make a google form. Make it as easy for the client to input information as possible. In the settings, set it so that responses will go to an excel file. The questions you ask will be the titles of the fields, so keep them short and easy to read. Reference image attachments will save to google drive.

You can set it up so that you will get an email whenever you get a new response (you might want to make a separate email account specifically for commissions.) Prewrite confirmation responses and save them as templates so that you're not writing the same email to clients over and over again.

Set reminders for responding to clients, requesting payment, and finishing work. This can be through google calender or some other app. You are responsible for facilitating communication. Even if the email is just, "Hey, just letting you know the work is still in progress, I will send you a wip in 1-2 days." Client assurance is high priority.

I use paypal invoice for payments. It means I have to pay a transaction fee, but I factor that into my prices. It also ensures that I have clear documentation for orders, I can send reminders easily if I haven't been paid, and it just looks more professional overall. You can use whatever service feels most comfortable, just make sure you practice good bookkeeping (*stares at my taxes in horror*)

Step 4: Mockups and Descriptions

Provide examples of the work that you are going to. Make a mockup of busts/half body/full body, etc. Don't include anything you don't intend to actually produce.

Make sure that your form includes room to answer EVERY question about the commission that you might have. This will reduce the amount of back and forth you need to have with your client. You want to be able to get that request, confirm it, send that invoice, and jump on it ASAP.

Step 5: Start small, be honest, be firm

If you haven't done commissions before, have a limited number of slots available. Take break time after you've finished a certain amount. Don't languish over an art piece. At some point, it will be as done as it can be. Send it to the client, and keep rolling.

If you feel like you are getting overwhelmed, tell your client. It's bad practice to go on hiatus and not notify them while they're waiting on an update. If you genuinely forget to touch base with them, do so as soon as possible. Apologize, then finish the work as soon as you can. Refund if you think that's the most polite route, but completing the task is usually more appreciated.

Be cordial, but firm. People will try to bully you over little things, but don't give in. Ignore folks who say your prices are too high. Make it clear that if they ask for more than what is agreed, you will charge a fee. If you feel like a request is sketchy, get a second opinion.

obligatory paypal link: help me pay kravitz jr's vet bills

[vivilove-jonsa]

rlly thrilled to hear both of you are doing well with ur books. if u don't mind me asking: is it financially viable? Could u do something like that and support urself or is it more like pocket money? are there startup costs? (feel free to ignore this ask if this is something you don't want to talk about)

Hey Anon,

I don't know if you're the same anon but I'll post the link to the ask that sparked this question for any who are curious here.

The answer to all your questions can be yes (helpful, right?)

Details below the cut...

Is it financially viable?

In my opinion, yes but you and I may be at very different stages in our lives. Are you a student? A parent with young children? Are you struggling to pay the light bill? Do you have time and energy to throw into writing daily or nightly around real life? These things matter.

Could I live off what I'm earning since I started self-publishing nearly a year ago? Hell no. I have a very good full-time job with benefits and an excellent retirement package. My husband and I have both agreed I can't walk away from that for anything less than six-figure earnings but I can say our mortgage has been covered by my writing for the past six months. That's meaningful to us and worth my time and effort.

Does success happen? It does but I won't sugarcoat it. For every Lucy Score, Cora Reilly and T.L. Swan, self-published romance authors who are millionaires, there are thousands out there who are making much, much less. From $20 to $10,000 in a month, it varies widely! But there are things you can to do increase your chances of hitting it big.

Also, I should mention that Amy and I are Amazon exclusive, part of their Kindle Unlimited subscription service. The good part about that? We earn 70% of our sales versus 30% if we were classified as Wide authors (people who can publish elsewhere like Smashwords, etc). The not so good part, you're very dependent on Amazon. For now, it's worth it for us and the (very different) niches we chose do well in KU.

Startup costs -

KEEP IT MINIMAL! I would not throw tons of money into fancy formatting software or professional editing if you're looking to self-publish your first novel. Do the work yourself, take advantage of free resources, sites and tools and see a profit (hopefully). I published my first book May 31st last year and I had made up my initial startup costs by the time my second book was released in late July.

What you actually need..

Royalty free images to make covers - $40 and up, up, up

Catch deals from Deposit Photos. Twice a year they do a deal through appsumo where you can get 100 images for $40. It's a steal of a deal. GIMP is free software you can download to make covers. Find YouTube videos to show you how. It's all out there and free. But it takes effort. Sorry, no shortcuts there :)

Reader Services - $10/month

Many, many self-published authors use bonus stories or free stories as Reader Magnets to draw readers and future fans to their newsletters. You need a system to funnel those readers and collect emails. Bookfunnel is who I use. Some of their services are free but you pretty much need that $10/month to make use of the good stuff. They also offer author swaps and newsletter building promos if you want to grow your list of followers. StoryOrigin is an alternative site some people use.

Newsletter - $0

I use Mailerlite which is free up to 1k subscribers. There's also Mailchimp. You can have freebie landing sites from Mailerlite. I haven't bothered with a paid website domain yet but I know this is something I'll need to look into soon.

ARCs - $10 to $20/month

Booksprout is the one I use. There are probably others. I think it's about $10/month for the beginner subscription to get those reviewers. I'm using a mid-list author plan now ~ $190/year. Some niches make use of SM more for this.

Advertising - $0 to thousands

Don't bother until you've got a book or two out there (come ask me if you get to that point). I'd say the only advertising you should focus on to start with is your passive marketing - your blurb, your cover and the keywords you enter on Amazon that make your book discoverable. Beyond that, paid advertising can wait.

However, you can use Tiktok to get your book noticed. Amy is learning the ropes of this and we've both seen people whose sales have skyrocketed thanks to one or two good Tiktoks to draw readers. One person made $10k in a month off of ONE good Tiktok. Other SMs have their successes, too. This is not an area I excel at though. I'd need one of my kids to teach me more... lmao.

Finally, I'll say, I didn't go into this thinking it would make me rich and famous. I wrote 3 million words of Jonsa out of love over the course of five years. I've written 350k words of original fiction the past year and it's paying the mortgage. Thankfully, I love what I'm writing and I've set myself a five-year plan for my 'side hustle' to see how I feel in 2027. We'll see where I am then. Fingers crossed I can claim I'm a six-figure author!

But what you can achieve in self-publishing can be phenomenal if you're writing to market (giving romance readers those tropes they love and hitting the expected story beats) in a genre and niche that has hungry readers. Our discord has verified tiers so people who say they're making 50k in thirty days aren't just blowing smoke. They've proven it. Imagine making money like that and then, if you're at a point in your life where you want to try, GO FOR IT.

[ask-redditxtomblr-migration]

I made this ask blog for any questions people might have about Tumblr! And even if you're not a Reddit migrant, you may still be skirting by. This is a place for any questions at all <3

If you're struggling with understanding the platform, you want to find a certain type of blog, require education on the sites cultural differences, or you're an older Tumblr user who wants to share some helpful information to Redditers, then this is the place!

Now, I don't know everything about the platform, which is what commenters and people reblogging can make up for. If anyone wants to send a long ask, with pictures and explanations of complicated parts of Tumblr, feel free to do so, there's a lot of things people don't know. This blog will also rely on reblogs when I don't know the answer, so please reblog so we can find someone who does know. I'll try to tag the best I can to help, but I can't do all the work alone. It's only together that we can help people adjust here, and that's all this blog is for, so if you're struggling or you want to help, please jump into this blog!

This blog's purpose: If anything is frustrating, hard, or in need of a solution, please send ask about it. I'm sure we can solve it together.

Here's a list of things you can send and ask for (This is not a complete list so send your ask anyway)

I need to find a blog that's about (certain interest, niche, fandom thing)

What does this (meme or phrase) mean

Where does this Tumblr lore come from?

How do I do?

Any question about a Tumblr feature.

Tumblr etiquette? (Most etiquette is not universal)

I'm making a blog based on (whatever subreddit) and if anyone wants to follow or create a community for it. (This is great for anyone wanting to group together to start any professional helpers to solve issues like reddit does. I don't know how well it will work but I know some people are trying.)

I'm trying to find something from Reddit. (A user, groups of people from certain subreddits, anyone to help mod a blog)

I need a lot of help and I'm looking to be adopted so that I may bother a specific user with loads of questions :3

I'm struggling with (anything else I didn't list)

I'll try to tag things so you can search 🔎 the blog for any specific asks. And make sure to have fun, that's the point of this blog, we're all on Tumblr for fun!

(Also, if sending an ask because looking for people and you want them to be able to find you, try to keep your ask as public, don't send it as anonymous)

[fabdante]

20 Questions For Fic Writers

I was tagged by my dear friend @thevampireauthoress on this post ! I tag all the fic writers who follow me and see this because I want to see what you guys are up to!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Five! I write every day but only started posting fan fic a year ago and I have more I'm cleaning up to post!

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 36,380

3. What fandoms do you write for?

A Lot. If post about it odds are I've written something about it in some form or another.

The ones I have public fics for are DmC: Devil May Cry and ATLA. I frequently write for World of Warcraft (mostly ocs) privately though and have been making my way back to TF2, Borderlands, and Bioshock works lately.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Since I have only five I can give the whole rundown asdfghj the Zutara fics are, unsurprisingly, the heavy hitters

An Inexact Science

Detours

Pinky Promise

Crossroads of Catharsis and Contemplation

A Series of Mild Prophesies

Also the stats chart cracks me up:

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to! I get to most of them! Sometimes when a fic is older and someone just leaves a short little 'this was nice!' or whatever, I don't respond but other then that I do. I get very excited when anyone likes any of my works asdfghjkl

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Uh...probably Swan Song, which is yet to be posted. Swan Song will definitely probably have the solidly most angst filled ending.

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Just limiting myself to what's already posted on AO3, anything in the Circumnavigators of Celestial Bodies series so far has had pretty happy endings. It's not tinged with the like dramatic irony of anything in Drafting A Swan and both fic's thus far in Circumnavigators end on fairly positive notes I think

8. Do you get hate on fics?

As of now, no

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I have but I haven't published any of it yet and I'm not sure I will ever. My favorites to write are definitely monsterfucking related, followed by more general kink but like monsterfucking is the best to write.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I am an avid lover of crossovers, particularly crazy crossovers. I feel like I have several contenders for the most crazy.

First up would be the massive multi fandom high school au my girlfriend and I developed containing like every video game we liked at the time which I still sometimes write because I find the character dynamics fascinating but I doubt, due to the highly niche nature of this crossover, that it'd ever see the light of day (if you ever wanted August Borderlands and Rachel Amber Life Is Strange to talk on the roof of a trailer in the trailer park they both live in though, I am the gal to ask I guess because boy do I have that and I will provide)

Second up would be in a similar vein but like somehow even less attached to any of the serial numbers qualifying it as fan fic. That one is set in a Bioshock AU where Rapture lasted until the 80s somehow under different leadership. It is also a massive multi fandom AU but this time with gang warfare under the sea in a very AU'd version of Rapture. Similarly, it will never see the light of day with the serial numbers attached because it is just so niche as it is that like...I have no idea who would want to read that asdfghjkl I rarely write it anymore despite loving a lot of the concepts and dynamics, and I feel like it'd just be more effective to just rip off the remaining serial numbers and let it be free if I ever wanted to publish it somewhere.

Third craziest is perhaps less crazy but just very weird. But I have an ongoing series of fics where Brigid Tenenbaum from Bioshock 1 and Booker Dewitt from Bioshock Infinite just sort of hang out in this space beyond time and space and just get very cerebral about their oddly parallel lives and similar traumas because a hill I will die on is that they are the parallels of one another between those games, not anyone else. They're very written 'For Fabdante' so they are not very polished and I call them 'Bioshock Void Fics'

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I am aware of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I am aware of

13. Have you ever co-authored a fic?

When I was waaay younger yes! Those are really old and locked away on fanfiction.net though.

14. What is your all time favourite ship?

Vergil and Kat/Verat from DmC: Devil May Cry. They are my everything.

15. What is a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I never want to say never because I do intend to finish these things but here's two:

I have this ATLA fan fic tentatively titled Avatar Champloo which isn't exactly a crossover, more just like an Avatar story featuring the Ba Sing Se kids (Jet, Zuko, and Jin) that plays homage to the vibes and general essence of Samurai Champloo, extrapolating on the already very heavy Samurai Champloo vibes of ATLA. Samurai Champloo is like one of my all time favorite shows so living up to it has been a tall order for me and I fear I will never finish this fic asdfghjk.

I have a few Zelda/Zelgan WIPs that I fear I will never finish. One being a very long one shot based off the idea of a Zelgan romance from the perspective of a bodyguard Link which I'm really fond of, but just have a lot of trouble editing. To give perspective, it was the first fic I ever considered publishing on AO3. And it's still not done to satisfaction for me and thus, not my first fic on AO3.

Obligatory Swan Song (my really long multichapter DmC: Devil May Cry, Verat based, prequel) mention. I don't doubt I'll finish it one day exactly, but when that day will be is far beyond my comprehension asdfghjk

16. What are your writing strengths?

Uh...ngl I have no idea lmaooooo I like how I handle small moments, I guess. Most of what I like to write is small moments between people, and I think I'm pretty ok at that. I'm good at rambling.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Writing multichapter things, I feel. Because I like small moments too much, I struggle to keep things relevant I feel. The biggest issues with Swan Song, I think, are just there being a lot of useless scenes. I struggle a lot with knowing how long scenes should be in something thats more then a one shot and how to transition between those scenes effectively.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in fic?

I don't know any other language confidently enough to write it, so it's not something I ever do nor have an opinion on. I do write a lot of multilingual characters, and when I do I just tend to write the dialogue in italics then notate that the character is now speaking another language in the descriptor so that the reader knows what the italics mean.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Probably ATLA when I was a waaay younger. Writing Circumnavigators has been a return to my roots, I suppose, asdfghjk

20. Favourite fic you've written?

My favorite posted fic is definitely Crossroads of Catharsis and Contemplation. It's got everything for me and is exactly the type of thing I love to write the most.

Unposted? Depending on how it goes, I might have a runner up that is a preboot DMC fic which is a grunge band AU told through excerpts from a biography novel and the interviews within about said grunge band. Similarly, it has everything for me and is exactly the type of thing I love to write asdfghjkl

Thank you again for tagging me!! And once again, I mean it when I say please count yourself as tagged by me if you want to answer these because I really, really would love to see what you guys are writing!!

[convexicalcrow]

Intro:

Hello, frens! Call me Lex or Crow, queer, he/they/she pronouns bc gender is weird and fucked. Old Millenial. Australian. Practicing Witch.

This tumblr was mostly set up for Hermitcraft and Empires shitposting, and that's mostly what I'll use it for. I do occasionally post fics and other ramblings, sometimes snippets from streams or from watching episodes, new or otherwise. Lots of art and fic reblogs. And sometimes I post my minecraft builds.

And now that it's Snowflake Challenge time again, i thought I'd do these posts over here and the first challenge is getting your fandom info and links organised, and I really don't have anything like that over here yet, so. Have an intro post. :D

Ships and Fandom Interests:

I'm mainly hyperfixated on Cub and Scar and the ConVex, as well as Sausage and Pearl and their lore, but I also write RenDoc and Ren/Martyn and others when the inspiration strikes.

I am shippy and do occasionally write smutfic and kinkfic, but I do also write gen and platonic fic as well when the story wants that instead. Mostly I am your niche rarepair writer who isn't interested in the big juggernaut pairings. And who wrote skulk Cub before it was canon lmao. XD

Blogs:

Follows come from this account bc I set this up not intending for it to be my main and then I left twitter like an idiot and well. Here we are lol.

I have a sideblog set up @lexstellaris for non-fannish shitposting and other more personal things. No need to follow that unless you want to.

Asks:

Feel free to submit asks if you have questions, or there there's something you want me to discuss, or you want to throw fic prompts at me. :D I have a tag for all my ask responses if you want to look through that as well.

AO3:

You can find my fic posted on AO3 here under the name orphancrow.

I have been posting fic on AO3 under other accounts for a long time, and I mostly adhere to AO3's guidelines when rating my fic. So you may find kinkfic and other sexual content in my M-rated fics as well as my E-rated fics bc both are designed for adult content, but this will always be clear from the tags so there shouldn't be any surprises. I know I differ from some of the fandom on this, but it's how I do things, and I want to be upfront about that.

Transformative Works Policy:

If you wanna write fic or draw art inspired by my works, that's totally fine with me, just link back to the works that inspired you. I'm also fine with anyone wanting to podfic my works or translate them into other languages, as long as there's a link back to my original works.

You can find this in my AO3 profile as well.

Tags and Projects:

#spoilers - I'm (mostly) consistent in using the spoilers tag for any new eps or current streams I'm posting about so feel free to block that if you're not interested in knowing. I mostly use this for eps just released if I'm watching them then.

#fanfic - Fanfic posted on this account can be found under the fanfic tag. This does include stuff I've posted to AO3 as well, some of which is stuff I've edited and tidied up after posting it here.

#vex magic grimoire - If you're interested in the Vex Magic Grimoire, I have a tag for that where you can follow the progress of that grimoire. The concept behind it is that it's being written mostly by Pharaoh Cub in s7, with inputs from Scar, and it's exploring and explaining Vex magic and potions and a bunch of my Vex lore.

I have also started an archive for the grimoire pages over here at the Liber Vex archive. It's just simple links back to tumblr rn, but it'll be more of a full text archive in time. New pages will be updated there and I'll link this at the end of each new post as well, so keep an eye on that site if you want to keep up with all the lore.

#minecraft builds - All my minecraft screencaps and builds are housed under this tag. I play mostly java these days. I currently have two worlds I'm working on:

#villa hekatea - This is a Java solo world, seed -6478546301100136766. I mostly play this as survival, but it's become a bit of a crevival world, as sometimes I just don't have the energy to grind resources in survival, so I build in creative instead. It's its own personal mix of builds for particular gods, and just whatever else I want to do. Current project is a woodland mansion base near a mountain that I cannibalised for ores early on.

#hctcg smp - This is the Creo minecraft server, where I have a big desert base inspired by ancient Egypt as well as Pharaoh Cub and other things.

[wyvolf]

Introductions Post 🐺🌿

Please call me Wyv/Wyvern, Gun, or Courier (as in Courier Six)! Cosmo is still fine but please use the other names instead if possible!

My pronouns are he/him, and howl/howls/howlself, do not call me it/its, she/her or they/them (unless in a more than way type of way). I am in my mid-20s, and I'm a trans man, who is a gay queer [non-women enjoyer but not exclusively just Men,t4t / masculinity in general]. I am a spiritual past-life wolf therian and dragon otherkin. I’m not a part of the kin communities. I don't post about therian or otherkin stuff often but when i do they will be tagged !!

I am autistic + ADHD, dyslexic, and experience paranoia, memory issues, depersonalization/derealization, and a questioning Partial-DID/OSDD-1 system after years of educated research. My experience is still very real even if I may be wrong about what it is, currently saving up for the eventual visit.

FOR ART RELATED CONTENT PLEASE FOLLOW MY ART TUMBLR: @wyvolf-art !

LINKS NEED FIXING // @ wyvolf on other platforms Commission me here! -> https://wyvolf.carrd.co/ -> Discord is wyvolf

NOTE: I do not tag *healed* scars of any kind. I do not tag niche/uncommon triggers, or censor words. I do however tag blood, fresh wounds, and any other common triggers. -> I unfortunately do not provide image descriptions to my work, I sadly do not trust my ability to describe something properly. But if you have the time: feel free! I'll reblog what I can!

BEFORE YOU FOLLOW, or interact keep in mind that:

I am neurodivergent. I don't use tone tags often but will for serious and joke stuff. Don't really need tone tags myself as if anything i will ask for clarification.

i support MOGAI, xeno/neo genders, xeno/neo pronouns, and MSPEC gays and lesbians via the Split Attraction Model (Panromantic Asexual, or Bisexual Homoromantic, etc.). Focus on the real threat: pedophiles and zoophiles trying to get in, not mspec/SAM queers.

DO NOT INTERACT, or use my art, IF:

Basically no racists, Zionists, homophobes, pedos, zoos, proshippers, rad queers, similar weirdos. I am very loud when i say pedophiles should go kill themselves.

If you have genuine concerns, questions, etc. please ask via the ask feature or messages on Tumblr!

Supporters of E-Zillia / Otomophobia (Izery / Otto), fuck off.

[bittercappuccinu]

follow up from ur secret santa - few questions! 1: you listed kaishin and heishin but do you like polyshipping? 2: same question re kazuseran! 3: "Canon plot or canon divergence, fluff or just happy chill things" leaves me a LOT of room... maybe too much room!! that's good for nailing down the vibe but do you have any more specific prompts? 4: any particular things you usually enjoy? like pining, sick fics, any kind of ao3 tag really

hello, sorry for the slightly late reply! ^^;

for your first question: YES. I never really talk about them because I feel it may be too niche lol, but I love it! kazuseran is not one of my favourites really, but i’d still really enjoy it being included!

okay so I don’t really know what I was doing when I filled out that form, I wasn’t sure what to put down. SORRY ABOUT THAT. afterwards I realized I probably should have specified more 😭 anyway I think what I meant to say was that I don’t really like AUs. also I like lighthearted things, can have some angst and stuff, but nothing too dark? I think some tags i often like are hurt/comfort things, i do like sick fics, comedy/crack sometimes lol. (I’m a little picky about pining sometimes but I don’t mind a little of it!)

I think that’s all… thanks for asking, i really hope i answered it well!! sorry if my answers can be unclear, if you have any other questions feel free to ask!!

[just6f]

BUY YOUR SPACE GENIUS MAN PLUSH TOYS AND GET A 13% DISCOUNT Score on your Space Genius Man Plush Toys without paying full price (because come on, who wants to?). Get in on our limited-time offer of just $31.00 for a saving of $4.76. Just ADD TO CART now! Our store guarantees: 100% satisfaction 100% safety and security An easy return policy SPACE GENIUS MAN PLUSH TOYS DETAILS Material: Cotton Features: Stuffed & plush Gender: Unisex Filling: Pp cotton Press ADD TO CART to buy your Astronaut Pillow Stuffed Soft Elves Dolls Children Kids Birthday Gifts right now and enjoy these and lots of other benefits because you deserve this exceptional product! PRODUCT QUESTIONS & ANSWERS Do your products live up to the manufacturing standards? There is nothing to worry about because our supplier manufactures the Space Genius Man Plush Toys in accordance with all the required standards. I would probably want to look at some more variations. How can I do this? Please, take a look at the product page: there, you can see all Space Genius Man Plush Toys options that are available for purchase. Moreover, we update the variations as soon as we get new supplies. I’m not sure I can afford it. Any thoughts? As far as we know, the price we ask is certainly one of the most affordable in this niche. I’m not sure the product is OK because its price is very low. Should I? We charge lower prices because we’re able to cut down the distribution expenses. Can I share my own product feedback? Our store uses client feedback to improve the quality of goods we sell and services we provide. That’s why we look forward to hearing from you. Don’t you mind if I post some photos of this product in my blog? You don’t need our permission to post your photos with our products. So, feel free to do so if you will. ORDERING & STORE POLICIES When I order online, the product sometimes arrives damaged. Are you sure my Astronaut Pillow Stuffed Soft Elves Dolls Children Kids Birthday Gifts will survive the transportation? We treat proper product packaging as our top priority because we understand how important it is for customers all over the globe to receive their purchases in perfect condition. I’m going to order several units of the same item. Will they come at different times? If you’re ordering several units of the same item, they are coming all together even if every unit has its own package. So you won’t need to visit your post office several times! I want to ask something, but how do I connect to your help center or something? Feel free to contact our Support team with any query you have: just use the contact details listed at the bottom of the page. What should I do to order the Astronaut Pillow Stuffed Soft Elves Dolls Children Kids Birthday Gifts for myself? Click on the product option you like the most, and ADD TO CART the chosen variations. Then, follow the instructions to provide us with the delivery address and pay for the purchase. We’ll start assembling your package right upon receiving your order. You've got some really nice products, but can I trust your store? You may check the feedback of our previous clients, if you wish, and you will see that they had no trouble dealing with us. Furthermore, most of them indicate that our store always tries to do its best to make you satisfied with the purchases. Lots of stores sell similar stuff. So why would I order from you? We always work towards building warm relationships with our clients because we want them to stay pleased after visiting our store. Consequently, we only sell high quality products for reasonable money. https://just6f.com/space-genius-man-plush-toys-astronaut-pillow-stuffed-soft-elves-dolls-children-kids-birthday-gifts/?feed_id=6891&_unique_id=65ddbac71d3e8

[woman-respecter]

how are you so good at moc omg any tips?

WARNING: INCOMING INFODUMP I AM TOO EXCITED TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION

aaa thank you so much for asking! really because for the most part star rail gameplay is very simple (there are only 3 buttons per character and for a lot of them ur using the same button every time, for example seele will always use her skill, never her basic) it all comes down to team and character builds. now a lot of this you have to get lucky for, like pulling a good character (though you can plan out your pulls strategically like i do) in gacha of getting good relic rolls. but the rest is up to you. if you don’t want to listen to my rant use the website prydwen.gg for everything, as well as teambuilding guides on youtube. also feel free to tell me what chars you have and let me build teams for you, but without further ado here is my guide. (under the cut)

HOW TO BUILD A TEAM

in order to get 3*s on the highest levels of moc you will want to run a dps/support/support/sustain comp (for kafka one of these supports should be a dot applier) or, more rarely dps/dps/support/support (this is p much only for topaz/another follow up attacker or blade/jingliu) and HOWEVER this can be kind of scary/uncomfortable to run and may result in dying a lot if you arent built enough so if you want extra comfort do preservation/abundance/support/dps

pick a main dps for each side. unfortunately, unlike in genshin, the 4* dps kinda suck so these should ideally be limited 5*s or clara. if you don’t have these, qingque is pretty good tho difficult to play and we will be getting a free dr ratio next patch.

understand the skill point needs of your main dps. for many, they will be using their skill point every turn, such as for both of my mains, seele and kafka. for jingliu and blade they only use sp every few turns. dan heng il and qingqiu use a lot of sp every turn. knowing this will help with the rest of your team building

choose two supports who fit your main dps’ needs. for example if you are running kafka, the main considerations are what stats they are buffing on you or debuffing on the enemy as well as how many sp they will consume generate. most supports fit with most dps but some may synergize better with others, for example bronya’s crit boost and sp heavy playstyle synergize very well with jungliu who needs crit but doesnt use a lot of sp, while asta gives speed and atk which are the main stats that kafka uses. basically all the supports (harmony characters + pela and silver wolf) are good in many cases tho yukong is a bit niche. make sure the supports arent cumulatively using too many sp, especially if your main dps uses a lot of sp. you will have to split up some in demand supports between each side but there are plenty of good ones to choose from.

choose a sustain. these are: natasha, bailu, lynx, luocha, gepard, huohuo and fu xuan. if you need someone to help survivability you can also use fire trailblazer but she can’t solo sustain. the most important thing about your sustain is that they fill your sp needs. luocha and gepard are entirely sp positive. lynx bailu and natasha are mostly sp positive but may need to use skill in emergencies. fu xuan uses skill every 3 turns. huohuo is sp neutral. besides sp needs, fu xuan and huohuo have some buffs that they give you. put fu xuan on teams with a crit dps (ie not kafka) and huohuo on energy hungry teams. otherwise this doesnt matter.

you can tailor your teams to the content but building more than the required 8 characters is a pain. so only do that if u have the resources.

RELIC BUILDS

use prydwen.gg for each character to see what sets and stats they want. pray that you get good roles. prioritize building your main damage dealers

ok that was long. feel more than free to send me any more questions on this topic if you need more help, i love doing this ^_^

[globalcareercounselling]

How to Start Career Conversation with Clients?

Career conversation with clients?

How should I start?

What should be my approach?

These are some common questions that come to mind when a career counsellor starts counselling a new client. Although they do their research and try to smoothen the first conversation. However, still, some assistance and expert advice can do wonders.

Here, we have listed common questions asked by career counsellors on how to start a career conversation with clients with the best suitable answers.

Start Career Conversation with Clients: Advice From Expert Career Counsellors

How do you tell your clients that you are a qualified career counsellor who can help them with making career decisions?

Dr. Vishal Varia

This is a big challenge. The reason, people already know you in your area and now they see you as a career counsellor but this will not generate any lead for you. This means that people who already know you will take you for granted and feel, oh yes!! He is also now into career counselling!!!

It may also happen that they may not even contact you in case of their need. Thus, you will not be able to generate leads from people who are familiar with you. 

You will need to take up niche marketing to establish yourself as a career counsellor in your own region. To do so, you can try out the following:

Share occasional messages to them on WhatsApp or on your FB wall that you are now a trained career counsellor and have the necessary skills for career-related counselling.

Share about what skills you have achieved by being a trained career counsellor.

Build a network of known and unknown people and regularly post news about career selection and changes in the career field.

Share with them on an occasional basis about different disciplines and careers that a child can select.

Write blogs on career counselling and share with them and invite them to comment or suggest the same.

Conduct webinars or short meetings with friends and families who you think may need career counselling for their child. Give them some goodies for complimentary stuff that they can carry after the meet. Keep such meets short, say around half an hour to 45 min.

Visit your nearby school or coaching centres to share a talk with the students.

Prepare your own short videos where you motivate a child to seek better careers and float them in your network.

Try to fetch more and more new contacts where you can share your ideas related to careers and then call them for a paid counselling session.

Keep free camps for different career-related information and fetch data and then share updates on emails or mobile about career information.

These are suggestions just to initiate a thought process with you about how you can market yourself. I am sure you would have better options yourself as well. If so then pls share in the comments section.

How do you create a psychological connection with your clients?

Ms. Pamela Ray Pawar

I firmly believe that career choices cannot be based on academic proficiency alone, it has to be an assimilation of awareness of the student’s skills, personality, aptitude, attitude and interests.

This is the basic pretext of the conversations I start with a client; whether they are leads, referrals, potential clients or the actual client (student and parents/guardians ie. stakeholders included). This helps in building the initial connection. Also creating the element of trust in the student wherein he/she feels connected to me and is open to sharing personal details and aspirations, considering that I offer a non-judgemental space for them to open up. 

I use various coaching and assessment tools that are reflective and introspective in nature and that help in enabling the setting of short-term, midterm and long-term goals. 

Recommended Read: 5 Reasons Why Career Counselling is the Best Profession?

When discussing alternative careers with your clients (many people may not be familiar with the various career options available), how would you begin?

Ms. Nahida Coelho

As a coach, it is important for me to have an open mind and keep researching and reading about alternative careers that are global and growing.  

It is important to first understand your audience before suggesting an alternative career path. Understanding your student’s interests and strengths is extremely important, not everyone is open to or interested in alternative careers. As a coach, it is my responsibility to present the pros and cons of a career and provide substantial information to my clients/students, in order for them to make an informed decision when narrowing down their career options.

Another way of talking about alternative careers is by sharing success stories. I introduce my students to professionals who have been successful in an alternative careers which gives them an opportunity to understand their journey. This truly gives the student a personal and first-hand perspective of the career. They get an opportunity to find out what are the skills, education requirements, responsibilities, growth and opportunities for that specific career. I encourage them to try seeking out a part-time job in the field of their interest and grow their talent by practicing the necessary skills to keep upgrading and researching the career to get a global perspective of it.

In some scenarios, my students are already engaged in a profession that is mainstream, based on a college degree that they have acquired. I ask them to jot down a list of possible alternative career options should they ever be in a ‘pandemic-like situation’. Their chosen profession could be a full-time occupation engaging them for long hours of work that require specific skills for that particular position. An alternative option could include an occupation that grows out of their favourite hobby, passion or their innate talents and skills.

According to Adrian Granzella Larssen who writes for Themuse, “Choosing an alternative career requires one to do some work, some networking, some skill-building, and maybe seek some professional help to position one’s transferable skills”.

How to start a conversation with introverted students and make them feel comfortable?

Ms. Darshana Aradhye

As a counsellor, I interact with different people in my profession ranging from adults ie parents to children of different grades and backgrounds, and not to forget all have different personalities and each one they are not the same, As I said, I speak to different age groups and personalities all unique in themselves, I have experienced difficulties with people who are “introverts” and I am sure most of you find it difficult too. Let me help you understand more about introvert people and how to start a conversation with them.

According to Studies done by psychologist Jonathan check at Wellesley college, there are four types of introverts.

Social- These are the ones who are not shy or timid but like to interact with people they know rather than stay in a large group of unknown people.

Anxious- These types of people purposefully isolate themselves from social spotlights, especially with unfamiliar ones

Thinking- People who are often in deep thoughts, wondering about life and analysing themselves.

Restrained- These are the type of people “Who think before they speak”

Introverts according to psychology means – “A person who tends to shrink from social contacts and to become preoccupied with their own thoughts.”

This means that they have a limited amount of energy to spend on socializing and do not enjoy small talks. No matter what kind of introvert you come across, here are some ways you can start up a conversation with an introvert.

Ask about their family like how many members, who they like the most, what their family routine etc.

You can talk about recent places visited or travel. You can ask why did they go there or what did they like about those places, etc.

Anything food-related, what kind of food is cooked in their house Bengali, Maharashtrian. What is their favourite dessert or dish? etc.

Ask them if they like Music and if yes what kind of music, favourite musician, singer.

Ask if they like dancing, what form of dancing, and any favourite dancers.

Any other favourite Movies, Books and other media?

What are the activities or Hobbies they like to do during their free time?

You can also ask them originally which place they belong to.

You can talk to them about their pets or any animal they like.

Ask about the craziest, happiest, awesome, fearful, and anxious moments of your life.

Any cool places to visit in town?

What is their biggest dream what are they working towards, their goals plans, etc?

You can start with ice-breaking activities like giving them some tricks or intellectual problems to solve.

Ask what they like talking about history, politics, sports, culture, and logic.

These are some of the conversational starts that you can utilize while talking to an introvert and putting them at ease with you. This will also help you to gain their trust and it will also allow them to open up freely to you about themselves.

These are some tips by experienced career counsellors on how to start career conversations with clients. Hope this helps. If you are struggling with this question the best way to start a career conversation with clients, follow these tips.

Do let us in the comment section how you start your career conversation with clients.

If you have just started your career counselling practice or want to start your journey as a career counsellor, you must have the right skills and validation. 

You can advance your career counselling skills with the Global Career Counsellor Program. This is Asia’s 1st Comprehensive Online Program offered by By Univariety in Collaboration with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Extension. This program is the best choice for individuals passionate about Career Counselling. Give wings to your career and become a trained Global Career Counsellor. [Know more about the program, Speak to Our Expert Advisor]

[maggielindemanns]

🎶 last christmas, i gave you my heart… but the very next day, i forgot to check tumblr anons again 🎶

dyamond dearest, hello! ✨ i hope this week has been a little nicer to you than the last one was, and that you’ve found a little time for leisure amongst the busier bits. this season is always more go go go than ho ho ho, i find. i have so much shopping to do and so little time to entertain it, so know that i feel your pain & am cheering you on from the sidelines. 🥲🫶 i have been mulling over my answers to this week’s questions for the past few hours and i am still not 100% settled on what i’d ask each of the boys… but since you were lovely enough to ask for my responses, i shall do my very best to come up with ~ something ~! 🤍

1. asking for harry’s hand in platonic crime is a super smart way to go, for sure! kinda like asking a genie for more wishes… except with the promise of nights spent leisurely watching movies together and gossiping about everything and nothing 😌 as somebody who compares their entire life to incredibly niche lyrics, i think i’d ask both the boys “if your life was a movie, what three songs would make up the soundtrack to it so far?” and see how their answers compared. there’s something so charming about hearing artists gush about other artists, you know? it’s a reminder that they’re just as dorky as we are. harry’s music taste is so eclectic that i imagine his would be wild dhfgf!

2. i can totally understand why you’d find your home show a more soothing experience than msg – though i’m equally glad you got to live through a moment in spitstory (i groaned at that, too 😌🫶). i actually saw harry for the first (and eighth 🥲) time this summer! i was supposed to see him during his first solo tour but my circumstances got a bit messy and i couldn’t make it. so, this time around i had a bit of a silly spending spree and took myself on a tour of the uk, amsterdam and paris! i also found some of my smaller shows to be my favourites. wembley was immense, but dublin stands out as one of the most magical. i have a really distinct memory of blubbering to sott from the stalls and enjoying all of the lights. it was nice to experience it from further afield for a change, to see everybody dancing and the sun setting. seeing louis in may sounds like a dream come true! i look forward to checking in and seeing your reactions! he’s great live, you’ll have a BLAST. 🕺🎶

3. well, it seems we are very similar! 😌 i studied english literature at university, so reading is one of my greatest hobbies too. bunny has been on my tbr for yonks, though i’m yet to pick it up! did you enjoy it? i just picked up persephone station by stina leicht which was a shameless cover buy… but book riot’s review says “feminist and full of dynamic characters you’ll love” and there’s a badass looking android on the front of it, so i have high hopes! 📖 some other hobbies of mine include: writing poetry, reading copious amounts of fanfic, frequenting the cinema & starting but not finishing more projects than i can count dgdgff. ✨

i must admit that it has taken everything (e v e r y t h i n g) in me not to cheat the system and ask google for help answering your riddle dhdgf. 🥲 i am stumped and need the answer pronto! my initial thought was that it may be a play on words, but iiiiii am no closer to solving it! i’m going to kick myself, aren’t i?

this week’s questions are simply follow up ones from today’s chit chat, if you’d like to answer them! if not, feel free to just ramble to me about your day. there’s never any obligation for an answer as long and laborious as the asks i’ve been sending dhdgf. 🥲

1. if your life was a movie, what song/s would be on the soundtrack?

2. what was your favourite harry fit of love on tour ‘22?

3. is there a louis song that you’re particularly excited to hear live for the first time? (barring holding on to heartache, because i know that’s one of your favourites of all time 😌)

– until next time, your festive friend. 🎄🤍

HELLOOOOOO holiday bestie!!!

this week has definitely been so much nicer, leisure is another story but i am feeling much better than last time. also — i have to do some last minute gifts today after work so i am sooooo stressed about it but honestly it’s my own fault agsjdhsj. i’m cheering for you as well! always <3

literally thats the main goal of hanging out w harry, i just literally wanna be his best friend and that’s all :’) i just know they both would have the best answers and they’d be so fitting for each of them 🥹

EIGHT TIMESSSS SO JELLY but that sounds so amazing omg!!! i always wanted to go to a european show, and all those places sound so lovely! sott w all the lights I AM JEALOUSSSS that sounds like magic. i am so excited to see louis i just know it’ll be LIFE CHANGINGGG

bunny was interesting! it was …. complicated, but very interesting agsjdhsj i feel like that’s not selling it very well 😭. that book sounds bangin tho !! FELT THAT ABOUT STARTING SO MANY PROJECTS SGSJDHSJ I AM SUCH A MESS ABOUT IT. i havent read fanfic in EONS i need some good recs

the answer was — a ton! it is kinda a play on words, at least i think? hope you’re not kicking yourself agsjdhsjs

now to answer your questions!

1. I HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT THIS SO MUCH. well kinda. since i was/am an avid lover of skam, i used to think about what songs would be on my skam season, and i’ll give 5 to narrow it down. have you found what you’re looking for? by ashton irwin, just like you by annika rose, buzzkill by baby queen, unlovable by delacey, and pretty lips by winehouse! hard to narrow it but hey sgskdhd i tried

2. OOOOOOO EXCELLENT QUESTION. also so very hard tbh, anything w the hiddies™️ out is a fave afsjdhdjs BUT. i will say mex city night 2, austin 10/3, and manchester night two, super honorable mentions to new york night 6 and 7 (seven was mine so it’s gotta get chosen!), toronto night one, and london night one. what are yourssss !!

3. CHICAGOOOOOO. it just gives me a vision of everyone having their lights up and singing along i hope there are fan projects or somethin bc i can just . i have a vision for it

hmmm i should ask you some questions, like an uno reverse kind of move.

1. what is a show/movie you wish you could experience for the first time again?

2. what is, in your opinion, one of the best albums of all time?

3. if you were an animal, what animal would you want to be?

until next time indeed! 🤍 missing you already

[scarfacemarston]

Hey there. So I've been following your blog for a while and I don't know who to ask. I've been in the fandom for about seven months and no matter what I do, I can't seem to break into the fandom. I haven't been able to interact with many people and my writing seems to get nowhere. Have I done something wrong? Am I just not a good writing? What should I do?

That is a tough question and I feel for you. I really do. I’m just as frustrated and have been since I joined the fandom. I know tons of other people are in your boat, even some of the bigger blogs have talked about this. I doubt your writing sucks. It really is hit or miss here. I don’t really have any advice, sadly. A lot of this is stuff out of your control. Part of it may be that the fandom is three years old and a lot of people have moved on. This also happens to artists, role players, people who do original photo edits and those who share youtube content. TLDR: It’s luck, algorithms, who the fandom chooses to interact with, character choices and format. 

I have a few ideas as to what may be happening. Please realize I am not coming for individuals, but I am pointing out trends. First of all, fandoms and people, in general, are entitled. I think all of us are to a certain extent and many of us may not realize it. But I’ve seen people in this fandom be especially entitled and rude whether it’s through requests or criticisms. I rarely get a please or thank you and I just delete the rude ones outright.

One: this doesn’t quite exactly deal with being rude or entitled, but I feel like it relates in some ways. Some people RARELY like content and it is even more rare to reblog. Reblogging is literally how people see your work. Even then, a lot of people don’t tag what they reblog so showing up in tags is another way we as creators “survive” so to speak. I can’t fix that. No one can. It’s not great in this fandom and that’s one of the reasons why some people move on. However, all fandoms have this to a certain extent.This is out of your control. Two: Tumblr’s algorithm sucks. It really does and there is no rhyme or reason. I don’t understand why that is or how to fix it. Some of my favorite blogs don’t get the attention they should and I think that is in part because of the algorithm. If you haven’t posted for a while, I noticed the algorithm gets worse. I took a few months break and it took ages until my stuff started showing up. I had that just happen a few weeks ago when I briefly opened my requests. It didn’t show up in the tags. There is no way to fix that.

Three: People can be shadow-banned and not know it. I don’t quite understand the process myself, but someone suggested a while back that I may have had that happen to me because my stuff wasn’t showing up in the tags at all. I know it’s something that trolls do - some people will gang up and report you and so you get kind of soft banned. (please feel free to correct me, anyone.)

Four: Do you write for what some may consider a niche character or controversial ones? Niche people seem to include Mary-Beth, Kieran, Rev. Swanson, Tilly, and Lenny. (hmmmm I wonder what the last two have in common…..)

If so, people tend to ignore those characters because I noticed the tags are empty. Five: Controversial characters - Everyone knows Micah is a controversial character. Dutch is as well, however, I think he and Arthur have the most fans out of anyone. Now if you’re a Molly, Karen, Grimshaw or Abigail stan, you’re shit out of luck because again - what does this last set have in common? They’re women. This fandom is very sexist and one of the most sexist ones I’ve been. Abigail and Molly are especially controversial. I deal with Abigail a lot and that is actually because others were making anti-sex work and nasty sexist comments so I wanted to correct that. I didn’t mean for it to happen, but it did because I was trying to slow that down so my blog is known for that rather than my writing. If you’re a Charles, Sean, Javier, Dutch, Arthur or any of the other mains - you tend ot have it easier,- but there is more competition. Some of these tags may also have a lot more fighting and drama. Abigail, John, and Dutch seem to have a lot of people arguing. Josiah, Hosea and Sadie seem to be wild cards. 

Six: For some people who have been around What are you known for in the fandom? Do people find you controversial? I think I have that status and that’s part of my issue. If you’re newer and haven’t gotten into any drama, that shouldn’t be the issue.

Seven: People rarely interact with each other or at least, that is what I have noticed with me and a few blogs I really like.

Eight: Finally, Formatting. This is the oddest one to me and it shouldn’t be the case. Again, I will be clear that I am not coming for bloggers themselves. They earned their success, too. But pictures. I write a lot of meta. I don’t know if people think I’m elitist or anything by how I write because it can be academic. However, I work very hard on meta.and for many, I rarely get the views, interaction,s or reblogs I wish I got. Yet people can put in one picture or more and get hundreds of likes and reblogs. A picture shouldn’t make a difference in if people read or like your content or not. My only guess is that it breaks it up and people are less intimidated by that rather than seeing a block of text. But it’s very frustrating because people like myself or others work JUST as hard as anyone else and yet something so simple makes such a difference. My metas take sometimes hours to write and have true historical research. I’ve even had similar questions with my opinions and others have similar opinions. I’m not at all saying they stole it - not at all - we agree, but their work gets noticed and mine doesn’t It’s not just me and it’s not just you, anon. It’s a lot of people. I cant add pics to some of my posts because it would be rude to have such a long post and make it longer with pics. I learned this was the case because out of all my metas, the one that has the most interaction is one with a picture. I’m serious. It is the same with people writing headcanons or fanfics, if you have a picture or gif, you’ll get more attention. I know that sounds ridiculous, but that’s the trend I’ve noticed. Overall: It’s not fair, but you can’t control what people read or how they interact. If you put pictures in and your work is shorter, then you might find more success. That’s my only suggestion and maybe I should take that advice.

I know people are going to say I’m whining, and maybe I am, but I have the right to be frustrated with how my content is received, just like how you, anon is concerned and how people have been talking for ages. I mean literally, tons of people in this fandom have talked about this people from newer blogs to even some of the “biggest” blogs here. Everyone wants to feel like they matter.

It could also be as simple as for whatever reason out of your control, people don’t like what you write. For some of my stuff, that is probably the case, especially since I have some hot takes.

So I wish I could give you more help. I really wish I could. But these are at least some reasons why your writing may not be getting traction. I’ll put tags and see if anyone else has suggestions or ways to fix it.

I have a feeling that I’ll get some interesting messages and anons because of this. I might be unfollowed and I can’t stop you. However,  if anyone starts sending me abusive asks, you will be blocked. Plain and simple. I was asked to give my opinion after being here for over three years and watching  many blogs say the SAME thing. So if you’re going to come for me, you have a lot of other blogs to come for, too. These are just my observations.

[probably-haven]

Hello!

So I’m the anon who asked for more Archon War Venti headcanons and I just loved it! I really like reading your headcanons cuz some of them are similar to mine but mostly are headcanons that I didn’t think of so it really is nice to read and see your thoughts about Venti!

I feel like as if I’m asking too much but could you keep doing these types of headcanons? Like it doesn’t have to be Archon War headcanons but like some headcanons about Venti’s relationship with the Ragnvindrs and Gunnhildrs. Because the first Gunnhildr was the first one who prayed to Barbatos and the first Ragnvindr was his friend who left but came back and I really wanna hear your thoughts on that!

And I’ve decided to get off anon cuz you just replied to my texts and I wasn’t expecting that so I’ve got a short confidence boost that I am completely taking advantage of! And thanks for the advice! or uhh comment? observation? I’m not entirely sure but thank you for that! I’ve heard that be said to me a few times and I have been trying to be more, uhh, assertive so thanks for that!

rfouierjkhfkecs i actually came across information on Gunnhildr and the "Red-haired warrior" yesterday when i was doing more research into the rebellion against Decarabian and I was like "wow this would be really fucking fun to research and theorize on, but its too specific/niche to include unprompted no matter how much i want to" but bestie you prompted, and im literally so happy right now because I didn't think I'd ever really get the chance to post about them!

also lmao yeah, i tend to try and reply to as much as I can, since it's a good feeling when someone does and all. but yeah, no problem! I’m glad you felt confident enough to reveal XD. 

This may be structured a bit more like analysis/theory/just citing canon things at first before it gets into a more headcanony format.

ehe i have so much free reign on this it's lovely

More Archon War Era Venti: one two three

spoilers for Venti's backstory and Diluc's(kinda, i think, just in case)

first things first, laying down some canon background because before yesterday i hadn't heard of either of them outside of that one cutscene.

the very reason Decarabian had his storm wall up in the first place was because at the time Andrius had declared war on him- and his tower, and the city of Mondstadt by extent, were basically constantly under attack by Andrius's blizzards, which since he was still alive back then, were a lot bigger and covered basically what seems to be the whole of Mondstadt outside the barrier.

This meant that people had two options. Live in the city under Decarabian's oppression, or live outside the barrier, and brave the blizzards of a warring god... which was not a good idea

but the Gunnhildr clan(not yet called that) tried- and they almost died because of it. In the midst of a blizzard, the clan chief's daughter, named Gunnhildr(which the clan would be named after later) sent out a prayer that was heard by a wandering wind spirit. And the faith of that prayer gave the spirit enough power to create a small shelter to protect them.

When her father past, she became the new leader and also a priestess. She would later lead the clan to fight Decarabian alongside four others. And basically the Gunnhildr Clan ended up as like sworn protectors of Mondstadt

-

as for the red-haired warrior, who is basically assumed to be the earliest known ancestor of the Ragnvindir clan(im gonna refer to as Ragnvindir for convenience sake, even though "Ragnvindir" is technically a different character from Vanessa's era)theres not much information on him, but heres what i have from the various wiki's

- he was a wanderer

- one of the first to use the sign of windblume to find other rebels(so he's intelligent)

- actively propped up the nameless bard so he could watch as the tower was destroyed

there's this little tidbit too from the Windblume Ode bow's description that im probably gonna talk about a considerable amount too: "Atop the ruins of the ancient tower, amidst the cheers, songs, and tears of those who had newly won their freedom. A red-haired warrior turned his back on the newborn god, hidden like a single raindrop in a tidal wave of humanity. He was first among those who passed the secret sign of Windblume, the one who wove threads of dawn throughout the long night. His name has since been lost to time, but his deeds are still remembered in song." followed later by "The fate of this clan will likely never change: they shall ever live in the darkness and bring forth the flame of dawn."

-

Now I'm going to start with the Ragnvindir(geez, why's it spelled like that tho)

My idea of his character is basically formed by a mix of Ragnvindir stereotypes and just generally analyzing text.

So what do we know about Ragnvindir's for sure? they are shady motherfuckers- or at least they rarely operate in the spotlight. also damn, these guys are more cursed than anemo vision wielders- like the only one who didn't canonically lose someone close to them was Crepus, but considering that Diluc doesn't exactly have a mom..... he probably did

so what do we know? - he was close with the nameless bard - he was intelligent - he likely operated primarily from the shadows "ever living in the darkness" - he was a wanderer - he abandoned Venti during the celebration - but his deeds were still remembered in song, so Venti and him were likely still close

now the question of the century: how will i choose to interpret "turned his back on the newborn god"? And honestly, I'm- not sure- at first i assumed he abandoned him completely- but Venti did still make sure to carry on his memory- which could just be Venti being Venti, but for the sake of sanity, this is how I'm interpreting it.

A lot of things happened to the Ragnvindir that day. He lost a friend, saw another become a god to replace the one they had conquered, and he saw his goal, his reason for being in Mondstadt, come to fruition. "see the world through my eyes" the bard had said, and the Ragnvindir had been a wanderer even before. Sure, the people had won freedom, and that was to be celebrated, but he's intelligent to recognize that people would likely see him as one of the key figures in leading the rebellion. And for him this was a solemn time, and ending to a chapter, and not being one to operate in the spotlight, the last thing he'd want is to be swept up in festivities and attention at a time like this.

It also likely didn't help that he's probably smart enough to understand the idea of "power corrupts," and seeing the wind sprite just readily accept the mantle of Archon was likely not the most comforting thing to happen in the given situation after all. But Decarabian was gone, and Andrius had ceased his blizzards, so without a word, he slipped into the crowd and left, a wanderer once more.

-

now back to Gunnhildr

she was the first to receive an anemo vision from Barbatos, no I do not take criticism on this "the power bestowed on her by Barbatos" like please, they basically said it.

It also mentions that she crowned Venti with laurels(symbol of vistory) after the battle- the book Biography of Gunnhildr additionally says "the Gunnhildr Clan will continue honoring the legacy of its ancestors and its duty to the Anemo Archon: to protect Mondstadt, the land and all who inhabit it, forever."

I really like this because it conveniently ties into my past headcanon about Venti granting visions to the people of Mondstadt and having them be the ones to erect wind barriers and defend the city in his absence.

So in the Archon War I like to imagine that the Gunnhildr clan had a lot of people who were actually granted visions and were basically in charge of protecting it from those who would attempt to ambush them.

Mondstadt essentially became known for this- the fact that the mortals within it were strong enough to fend off the force of a god without support from their own.

but regardless, Gunnhildr, as she had before, served as a priestess to Barbatos, the closest thing that Mondstadt had to a ruler, and yet she only took charge of prayer and protection.... i hate to just- equate them to their descendants- but to an extent- her role was kind of like a merge between Jean and Barbara- Except with a whole lot less structure.... i really dont want their characters to just be carbon copies of the descendants but- c'mon, the comparison was right there.

anyways besties- back to Venti so i can tie them in

The Archon War was one of the worst times for Venti in his entire life thus far. And the time immediately after Decarbian's fall, while Gunnhildr and the Ragnvindir were still alive, was the key period of time in which things could have gone very differently.

Venti is the god of freedom. That's a reoccurring theme and I think I've made that abundantly clear. But during this time, Venti was anything but free.

I've mentioned before how he would stay far from the city of Mondstadt so the shockwave of his death wouldn't reach him, should he fall.... well- Venti is new to a lot of things- godhood- humanity- war- freedom- and at this point he was trying hard to figure out how to be Mondstadt's god without becoming Decarabian, and while still being able to survive, and make sure they survived, and see the world for his friend, and carry on his friends legacy.

And this is a lot of stuff for what was once a carefree elemental being, and there were certain things that had to be done for this to happen. He couldn't just stay in Mondstadt, or he would grow weak and his people would be vulnerable to attack, but he couldn't abandon it, because despite being able to fend for themselves, there's always hat just in case. He couldn't stay in any one place outside of Mondstadt for very long or he'd be found and killed. He knew in order for Mondstadt to survive he would have to take an active role in the war, strengthen himself so he could defend Mondstadt, and thats exactly what he did.

He started by going after the less powerful gods, ones he had a chance at beating with the power he got from the Gunnhildr clan and the rest of Mond, and by wiping them out, he would grow stronger, so he kept it up- working his way up the metaphorical ladder.

but he couldn't let anyone near him either, because he knew just what would happen if he was attacked then. Were it not for Gunnhildr's prayer, the early years of the Archon War would have been without contest the loneliest time of his life, and there would be nothing he could do about it, bound by survival and his attachment to the legacy of his friend, constantly fearing for his life and going against his very nature as the god of freedom. Frankly thrust into that circumstance that early on, and having to face it alone, it's likely that Venti would have caved under the pressure and dropped his attachment to either his survival, or to his friends legacy... or just something entirely worse(isolation messes with brains) so I'm attributing the fact that he didn't do that to Gunnhildr's companionship, speaking to him and guiding him through it as he had guided her through the blizzard some time ago.

I also like to think that she's responsible for founding at least a number of the different celebrations that still happen in Mondstadt even now.

Ugh supportive warrior priestess- we stan

anyway meanwhile! we got the Ragnvindir

He hears about Venti taking part in the Archon war during his wanderings and returns to Mondstadt to check in, wary of what he might find.

Venti, who hadn't seen him since the rebellion, is elated to say the least and they do a bit of catching up because they need it

and then the conversation turns more serious, and the Ragnvindir brings up a third thing that Venti needs to hold onto- his humanity.

See, in the early years, just desperate to get a foothold on the world, Venti's first number of targets were just indiscriminately going after those he knew to be weaker than him, and the Ragnvindir points this out, saying that while it's not necessarily bad, if he keeps doing it, it won't be long until he causes his and, by extent, Mondstadt's legacy to be tainted by a reputation for slaughter, no better than any of the other bloodthirsty gods that frequented the war's fields. "Think of what the bard would do, we were both close enough to do that much"

And Venti becomes yet more caged, but recognizes that he's right, and this is another turning point, that in the coming years would keep Venti from losing himself.

also- Gunnhildr, Venti having told her about the Ragnvindir's concerns that he now shared, probably organized some kind of event (not unlike the right of part, but also, yes unlike it) that was deliberately intended and designs to serve as an excuse that Venti could chose to take to visit Mondstadt, something she know he desperately wanted to do, but wouldn't allow himself for fear of putting them in danger. But if she made it an official celebration, then it would give Venti the opportunity to visit his people again, under the guise of it being a responsibility, not having to deal with the moral implications of doing so at a time when he was already dealing with enough of those already.

Also on his travels, the Ragnvindir probably started and spread a number of rumors that could end up working in Venti's favor, not that anyone ever knew it was him of course.

basically Gunnhildr protected the people of Mondstadt and did all she could to keep everyone in as high spirits as possible, Venti included.

And as for the Ragnvindir, he took a more realistic approach, traveling and getting venti followers in far places, spreading false information about him, and just overall making sure that Venti didn't do things he'd regret.

And when they died, Venti would carry their legacy with him as well, not losing his humanity to the tide of war as he very nearly had(though he still often came close), and trying to spreading high spirits where ever he could without fail.