#abstract flourishes and shapes

[reasonsforhope]

No-paywall version.

"You can never really see the future, only imagine it, then try to make sense of the new world when it arrives.

Just a few years ago, climate projections for this century looked quite apocalyptic, with most scientists warning that continuing “business as usual” would bring the world four or even five degrees Celsius of warming — a change disruptive enough to call forth not only predictions of food crises and heat stress, state conflict and economic strife, but, from some corners, warnings of civilizational collapse and even a sort of human endgame. (Perhaps you’ve had nightmares about each of these and seen premonitions of them in your newsfeed.)

Now, with the world already 1.2 degrees hotter, scientists believe that warming this century will most likely fall between two or three degrees. (A United Nations report released this week ahead of the COP27 climate conference in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, confirmed that range.) A little lower is possible, with much more concerted action; a little higher, too, with slower action and bad climate luck. Those numbers may sound abstract, but what they suggest is this: Thanks to astonishing declines in the price of renewables, a truly global political mobilization, a clearer picture of the energy future and serious policy focus from world leaders,

we have cut expected warming almost in half in just five years.

...Conventional wisdom has dictated that meeting the most ambitious goals of the Paris agreement by limiting warming to 1.5 degrees could allow for some continuing normal, but failing to take rapid action on emissions, and allowing warming above three or even four degrees, spelled doom.

Neither of those futures looks all that likely now, with the most terrifying predictions made improbable by decarbonization and the most hopeful ones practically foreclosed by tragic delay. The window of possible climate futures is narrowing, and as a result, we are getting a clearer sense of what’s to come: a new world, full of disruption but also billions of people, well past climate normal and yet mercifully short of true climate apocalypse.

Over the last several months, I’ve had dozens of conversations — with climate scientists and economists and policymakers, advocates and activists and novelists and philosophers — about that new world and the ways we might conceptualize it. Perhaps the most capacious and galvanizing account is one I heard from Kate Marvel of NASA, a lead chapter author on the fifth National Climate Assessment: “The world will be what we make it.” Personally, I find myself returning to three sets of guideposts, which help map the landscape of possibility.

First, worst-case temperature scenarios that recently seemed plausible now look much less so, which is inarguably good news and, in a time of climate panic and despair, a truly underappreciated sign of genuine and world-shaping progress...

[I cut number two for being focused on negatives. This is a reasons for hope blog.]

Third, humanity retains an enormous amount of control — over just how hot it will get and how much we will do to protect one another through those assaults and disruptions. Acknowledging that truly apocalyptic warming now looks considerably less likely than it did just a few years ago pulls the future out of the realm of myth and returns it to the plane of history: contested, combative, combining suffering and flourishing — though not in equal measure for every group...

“We live in a terrible world, and we live in a wonderful world,” Marvel says. “It’s a terrible world that’s more than a degree Celsius warmer. But also a wonderful world in which we have so many ways to generate electricity that are cheaper and more cost-effective and easier to deploy than I would’ve ever imagined. People are writing credible papers in scientific journals making the case that switching rapidly to renewable energy isn’t a net cost; it will be a net financial benefit,” she says with a head-shake of near-disbelief. “If you had told me five years ago that that would be the case, I would’ve thought, wow, that’s a miracle.”"

-via The New York Times Magazine, October 26, 2022

[lev1hei1chou]

Abstract Art

Gojo x reader Ft. 1st years Genre: Fluff Synopsis: Gojo tries painting and calls it "abstract art" A/N: I've been going through a block lately, so please feel free to drop any specific ideas or blurbs in my asks Masterlist

It was a lazy Saturday afternoon, and you were spending some quality time with Satoru Gojo, your unpredictable boyfriend. As you both lounged in the living room, he suddenly declared, "Hey, babe, I'm working on a masterpiece. You're going to love it." he made hand motions asking you to follow him.

Intrigued, you followed him to his makeshift art studio, a corner of the room scattered with paintbrushes, canvases, and tubes of vibrant colors. Gojo grinned mischievously, revealing a canvas covered with a mysterious white cloth.

"I present to you, my latest creation!" he exclaimed, pulling off the cloth with a dramatic flourish.

To your surprise, the masterpiece was... unconventional, to say the least. The colors clashed in wild patterns, there was no coordination, the shades made no sense and shapes seemed to defy any recognizable form. It was a chaotic mess.

Your eyes widened, and you couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Satoru, is this your idea of a masterpiece?"

He winked at you, unabashed. "Abstract art, my love. Only the chosen few can truly appreciate its beauty."

Just then, Yuji, Kugisaki, and Megumi walked in, drawn by the commotion. They took one look at the canvas and burst into laughter.

"What is this, Gojo sensei?" Yuji asked, pointing at the chaotic mess.

Gojo struck a pose, pretending to be deep in thought. "It's abstract art, my sweet little mochis. Only those with a refined taste can understand its profound meaning."

Kugisaki rolled her eyes. "Refined taste? More like a refined disaster!"

Megumi, usually reserved, couldn't contain his amusement. "I never knew chaos could be considered art."

You and the others continued to tease Gojo mercilessly, with each remark more playful than the last. Despite the initial embarrassment, Gojo took it all in stride, joining in the laughter.

As the banter continued, Gojo decided to embrace the teasing, declaring, "Well, only the truly enlightened can appreciate the genius behind this masterpiece."

The chaotic masterpiece proudly hung in your living room as per Gojo's request.

[txttletale]

Can you give your thoughts on the general character art design of Hades? It's always seemed kind of off to me and you seem to have good enough media opinions to put the reason why into words

i mean, first of all, i think that they suffer just from being The Greek Gods and therefore just having the most barebones basic designs that those archetypal characters get in pop culture. like look at zeus:

like. this is Zeus. there are some interesting flairs here with the lightning crown and cloud beard but like. It's Zeus. the visual language here is not communicating anything more interesting or unique or vivid than It's Zeus. contrast, like, rukey from pyre:

look at how much fucking personality is conveyed by this little freak. the fucking moustache! the fancy little cloak but the messy dog hair. the playful expression, the gold tooth, the glint of cunning in the eye, the raised little paw. you look, at this guy and get an immediate idea of what and who he is.

i also hate how 1. shrinkwrapped and 2. fucking grey and ashy every single character in hades is. like look at zeus's muscles up there this man is fucking dehydrated and like. why does athena look like this

she is grey. she is so fucking grey. this is a vampire. this is a woman made of ash.

furthermore i find what they did with the greek gods wrt to making them a few different races to be a cowardly half-measure. like--the idea they forwarded in interviews that greek gods are 'global' and should represent the whole world are, quite frankly, just bullshit! i dislike this universalization of a mythology that is very very very tied to a particular culture and time and place because it is just another shape of the attempted universalization of the 'Western Canon', the removal of these things from historical place and context to make them abstract ideals that can be imposed upon the whole world because they 'transcend culture' while really they have just been incorporated into a dominant culture.

but, like, most frustratingly--there is a like huge wealth of cultural variety to be found in greco-roman myth. versions of these gods were worshipped in north africa and egypt and west asia and even as far as india. but, like, the commitment to multiethnicisim is purely surface-level, so they don't employ any of the iconography or look into these non-european syncretic depictions of these deities. they just take all their design cues from the tired pop-culture versions of purely greek aesthetics. imagine how fucking interesting the character designs for hades could have been if instead of making dionysus a person of colour and calling it a day, they represented a specifically indo-greek dionysus!

first after the conquests of alexander and once again after the expansion of the roman empire, these sorts of syncretic beliefs flourished throughout the mediterranean. if you really want to write a greek mythology story without a cast of white guys then give me Zeus-Ammon, god dammit!

anyway yeah the fact that all of hades' characters look like they're severely hydrated and their roof just caved in on them is weird and bad and other than that they're for the most part just deeply generic Greek Gods with what feels like very little care or innovation or personality put into their designs compared to characters from transistor or pyre. shomar shasberg and manly tindenstauf each have more unique visual personality than every hades character combined

[laviefantasie]

Video 4

| series masterlist |

The sun is setting over the jujutsu high compound, casting warm hues across the courtyard. Inside one of the quieter rooms, Y/N is setting up a small easel, your canvas ready for the first stroke. Brushes, tubes of paint, and a small ceramic bowl of water are neatly arranged beside you. Suguru is already there, sleeves rolled up, looking as if he’s about to become the next world renowned artist. His hair is a little more disheveled than usual, but the slight smirk on his face tells you he is comfortable.

“Alright, the camera is on and focused and I’m setting up my canvas for real this time. You sure you want to join me, Suguru? You’re not really the type to sit still for long”

Suguru chuckles softly, picking up a brush and dipping it into a warm shade of blue.

“It’s called expanding my horizons, Y/N. Plus, I thought you could use a little company”

You nod, smiling as you adjust your canvas, although a teasing twink appears in your bright E/C eyes.

“If we’re doing this, though, don’t turn it into a competition” you remind him, “No ‘who can paint better’ nonsense”

Suguru gives you a lazy, amused grim, clearly enjoying the thought of teasing you while painting.

“No promises” he smirks “But I’ll try my best to make something that doesn’t end in chaos”

Both of you dip your brushes into your chosen colors and start painting. But just as the two of you start getting into the flow of it—Suguru’s brush strokes deliberate and calm, yours more spontaneous and bright—a loud crash interrupts the settled peace.

The door flies open and Gojo Satoru enters with an exaggerated flourish, sunglasses on, and a pout plastered on his face.

“Hey, hey! What is this? You two started a painting party without me!” He whines, “I thought we were friends, Y/N!”

Suguru raises an eyebrow as Satoru dramatically collapses on the floor, looking up to the ceiling with a hand over his heart.

“Did you just… fall in through the door for dramatic effect?” Suguru asks.

Satoru grins widely, “I’m just adding some flair, Suguru. How else do you think I should enter? Also, where’s my invite? I thought we were the three musketeers”

You stifled a laugh, trying to focus on your work, but the camera didn’t forget to capture the small smile tugging at your lips.

“Sorry not sorry, Satoru” you say, “Didn’t think you were the type to sit still and paint. I figured you’d be too busy doing something… important, like annoying people or emptying another dessert shop”

Satoru sats up immediately, and dramatically, throwing his arms out as if wounded.

“Ouch! Is that how you see me? That hurts. I’m offended! I’m a man of taste and class, I’d totally be amazing at painting”

Suguru shakes his head with an amused smile, muttering knowingly to himself as he mixes some paint.

“You wouldn’t last five minutes without making a mess”

Satoru ignores him, “You know, I’m actually artistic. I’m like… a modern-day Picasso. Or Van Gogh—except I have my ears intact”

You turn to glance a him, skepticism on your face.

“Sure. And you’ve definitely read all kinds of art history books, right?”

Satoru winks at her playfully, “Well, I don’t read, but I’m sure I could paint circles around both of you”

Suguru rolls his eyes but, apparently done with Satoru’s antics, offers him a brush.

“Fine. If you’re so confident, you can join us” he relents, “But I’m warning you, we’re professionals here”

The three of them get to work, and immediately, Satoru begins to disrupt everything. You are trying to focus on a landscape with some subtle blending, while Suguru’s painting a more intricate figure. Meanwhile, Satoru is working on his own ‘masterpiece’, which mostly involves scribbling random, chaotic shapes with his brush, his colors clashing wildly with everyone else’s.

Satoru holds up his canvas proudly, “Look, I’m totally channeling my inner abstract genius! It’s a representation of freedom, of rebellion! What do you think?”

You stares at the chaotic mess in front of you, the blue and red clashing violently. You snort, holding back a laugh.

“You’re an actual disaster. It looks like a toddler dipped a paintbrush in a jar of chaos and went wild”

“It’s art” he states, grinning widely.

Suguru chuckles, setting his brush down for a second as he glances over.

“It’s definitely something. Not sure if it’s art, though”

Satoru sticks his tongue out at him before turning back to you, his expression suddenly shifting to something more playful. He walks over to your easel, leaning casually over your shoulder, his face close enough that you can feel the heat of his body.

“But, you know, you’re missing one thing in your painting, Y/N”

You raise an eyebrow, not sure whether you should be annoyed or entertained.

“Oh? And what’s that?”

Satoru leans in just a little closer, his voice lowering to a teasing tone.

“A little bit of me. A masterpiece can’t be complete without a dash of perfection”

You roll your eyes, but your cheeks turn a light pink against your better judgement. You can never tell if he’s being serious or just trying to get under your skin.

You grab a paintbrush, quickly flicking a spot of green paint onto Satoru’s shirt.

“There. Now it’s perfect” you smirk.

Satoru stares at the green stain, his mouth falling open in mock horror.

“You’ve ruined me. Ruined my shirt. My image. I’m a tragic artist now”

Suguru laughs from his corner of the room, shaking his head at the two of you.

“You both are insufferable. Seriously, how do you guys even manage to get anything done together?” Suguru asks.

You let out a laugh, “It’s called balance, Suguru. I paint, and Satoru provides chaos”

Satoru dramatically flops onto the floor again, spreading his arms out as if he’s defeated.

“You know, this could’ve been a perfect group activity if it weren’t for you two conspiring against my genius”

Suguru raises a brow, amused, “You are a genius—just not in the way you think you are”

After a few more hours of chaotic painting, in which a lot of paint ended up in both Satoru’s and your clothes, the three of you step back and admire each of your works.

Satoru’s piece now has a mix of random scribbles and strange shapes, while Suguru’s work is meticulously detailed, with deep serene colored forming a landscape. Yours is a bright piece, a playful interpretation of the sky, with clouds hues of purple and pink—vibrant and dreamy.

You stare at the painting for a few minutes before turning to look at yourself… covered in paint. You frown.

“Well… this was a disaster” a smile tugs at your lips, “Although, I kinda fun one”

Satoru grins, throwing a playful wink your way.

“What can I say? I bring the fun wherever I go” he brags.

Suguru shakes his head but smiles quiestly, glancing at both of them with something akin to fondness in his eyes.

“Somehow we made it out. It was fun, though I kinda wished Shoko had been here” he sighs, “Would’ve helped me deal with you two”

You send him an offended look while Satoru simply grins widely. Suddenly, Satoru pulls out his phone, snapping a picture of the three pieces.

“Perfect!” He smiles, “This is going straight into my ‘masterpieces’ collection”

“It’s not masterpieces if it’s just an album of your selfies” you remind him, amused.

“Masterpieces, Y/N, masterpieces”

Holding back a laugh, you move to grab the videocamera recording the whole process, closing it so the screen goes black.

The recording ending.

taglist: @gumiiiiezzzz @reagan707

[luvzshy]

Canvas of Emotions

Pairing: Billie Eilish x Reader

Word Count: 2k

summary: As Billie Eilish’s partner and an artist, you’re tasked with creating the cover for her next album. In the cozy sanctuary of your shared space, surrounded by paintbrushes and soft music, you delve into the emotions that inspire your art. Together, you share late-night talks, laughter, and intimate moments that reveal the depth of your connection. Through the process of creation, you both confront your fears and dreams, finding solace in each other. Your relationship flourishes as the artwork evolves into a heartfelt representation of your love—a safe haven where both your souls can express their true colors.

Billie Eilish lounged on the couch, her brown hair cascading over the pillows in soft waves. The warm light filtering through the windows made the room feel like a safe haven, filled with the gentle chaos of art supplies scattered around. You sat on the floor, surrounded by paint tubes and brushes, staring at a blank canvas that seemed to reflect the whirlwind of emotions inside you.

“Hey,” Billie said, breaking the comfortable silence. “You good?”

You nodded, but the truth was, your mind was racing. “I just want this to be perfect.”

Billie chuckled softly. “You know it doesn’t have to be perfect, right? It just needs to be real.” She picked up her guitar, strumming a few casual chords that filled the room with familiar warmth.

“I know, I know,” you replied, trying to shake off the pressure. “But this cover represents you, and I want it to capture everything about you.”

She set the guitar aside and scooted closer, her presence grounding you. “Why don’t we brainstorm together? What do you want it to say?”

You paused, feeling her energy wrap around you like a cozy blanket. “I want it to express the chaos of emotions in your music—hope, heartbreak, and everything in between.”

“Sounds perfect,” she said, leaning her head on your shoulder. “But don’t forget to add us—how we fit into that chaos.”

Your heart fluttered at her words. “Us,” you repeated, feeling the weight of what that meant. Your relationship wasn’t just about love; it was about partnership and navigating the messiness of life together.

As you dipped your brush into the paint, vibrant swirls began to take shape on the canvas, mirroring your feelings. Billie watched you with an intensity that made your cheeks warm. “I love seeing you in your element,” she said, her voice sincere. “You get lost in it.”

“I guess it’s my escape,” you replied, glancing at her. “Just like music is for you.”

With each stroke, you found your rhythm, and the tension started to melt away. The music in the background inspired you, sparking new ideas.

“Remember the first time we went to that open mic night?” Billie asked, her eyes sparkling with nostalgia.

“How could I forget? You were so nervous!” You laughed, recalling how she fidgeted with her hair, her anxiety palpable.

“I know! And then you yelled ‘You’ve got this!’ from the crowd,” she said, chuckling at the memory. “It gave me the push I needed.”

“And you killed it!” You nudged her playfully. “That was the moment I fell even more in love with you.”

Billie blushed, a faint pink spreading across her cheeks. “Stop it! You’re making me feel all mushy.”

But you loved that. You loved seeing her break her cool exterior, revealing the warmth and softness underneath.

As the hours passed, the canvas slowly transformed into a visual representation of your shared experiences—abstract shapes representing chaotic emotions layered with moments of tenderness. You’d take a step back occasionally, and Billie would give her feedback, her encouragement making you push your creativity further.

Then, suddenly, the laughter faded, replaced by a wave of anxiety that washed over you. You paused, your breath quickening. The pressure of getting everything right flooded your mind, and the world around you began to feel overwhelming.

“Hey, hey, look at me,” Billie said, her tone shifting to concern as she noticed the change in your demeanor. She moved closer, taking your hands in hers. “You’re okay. Just breathe with me.”

You squeezed her hands, trying to ground yourself in the moment. “I don’t know why I’m feeling this way,” you admitted, your voice shaky.

“It’s okay to feel anxious,” she replied gently. “You’re not alone. Just take a deep breath in… and out.”

With her guidance, you focused on your breathing. The steady rhythm of her voice calmed the storm inside you. “In… and out,” she continued, matching your breath. “You’ve got this. I’m right here.”

Slowly, you felt the panic subside, replaced by the comfort of her presence. “Thanks, Billie,” you whispered, relief flooding through you.

“Always,” she said, a soft smile breaking through the worry on her face. “Remember, this is our safe space. We’re in this together.”

Feeling stronger, you returned your focus to the canvas. As you painted, you could feel the love and support radiating from Billie. It was a reminder that your relationship was built on understanding and resilience.

As the night wore on, the finished piece stood before you, a colorful expression of your emotions and experiences together. You admired it, feeling a sense of pride.

“I love it,” Billie said, standing beside you. “It feels so… us.”

You turned to her, your heart swelling. “Just like our life—chaotic, but beautiful.”

Billie wrapped her arms around you, pulling you close. “Exactly. And that’s what makes it home.”

In that moment, you knew that no matter how anxious life got, you’d always have each other to lean on. Together, you’d navigate the messiness of emotions, finding comfort and love in every stroke of the brush.

[truevedicastrology]

🌍🔥💨💧 Decoding Your Zodiac Nature

Ever wonder why you click with some people instantly? It might be in the elements! Discover how your zodiac's element shapes your personality

🔥 FIRE SIGNS (Aries ♈, Leo ♌, Sagittarius ♐) Spark of life, bringer of light!

Passionate and enthusiastic about life 🎭

Natural-born leaders and trailblazers 🚀

Confident and charismatic personalities ✨

Impulsive and adventure-seeking 🗺️

Creative and inspiring to others 🎨

Quick to act on ideas and desires ⚡

Warm and magnetic presence 🌟

Prone to bursts of temper, quick to forgive 💥

🌍 EARTH SIGNS (Taurus ♉, Virgo ♍, Capricorn ♑) Grounded in reality, builders of dreams!

Practical and dependable nature 🏔️

Strong work ethic and determination 💪

Sensual and appreciative of physical comforts 🍃

Patient and methodical in approach 🐢

Excellent resource managers 💼

Stable and security-oriented 🏡

Connection to nature and the physical world 🌳

Tendency towards stubbornness 🐂

💨 AIR SIGNS (Gemini ♊, Libra ♎, Aquarius ♒) Free spirits, thinkers of big ideas!

Intellectually curious and quick-witted 🧠

Excellent communicators and networkers 🗨️

Adaptable and flexible in various situations 🦋

Lovers of ideas and abstract concepts 💭

Socially oriented and people-focused 👥

Objective and fair-minded in conflicts ⚖️

Innovative and forward-thinking 🚀

Can be detached or aloof at times 🌬️

💧 WATER SIGNS (Cancer ♋, Scorpio ♏, Pisces ♓) Emotional depths, intuitive heights!

Deeply empathetic and compassionate 🤗

Intuitive and psychically attuned 🔮

Emotionally intense and passionate ❤️‍🔥

Creative and artistic souls 🎭

Nurturing and protective of loved ones 🛡️

Ability to "read" others effortlessly 📖

Healing presence for those in pain 🌊

Can be moody or oversensitive 🌙

🌈 ELEMENT INTERACTIONS 🌈

Fire + Air = Inspiration and excitement 💡

Earth + Water = Growth and nourishment 🌱

Fire + Earth = Productive energy and manifestation 🏆

Air + Water = Emotional understanding and expression 💌

Fire + Water = Passionate intensity, potential conflict 🌋

Earth + Air = Practical ideas brought to life 🏗️

💫 BALANCING YOUR ELEMENTS 💫

Fire needs Air to spread but Water to temper

Earth needs Water to flourish but Air to adapt

Air needs Fire for passion but Earth for grounding

Water needs Earth for form but Fire for motivation

Which element resonates with you most? Remember, we all have a bit of each element in our charts! Understanding your elemental nature can help you harness your strengths and balance your challenges.

Tag your element tribe! 🔥🌍💨💧

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[maletransformationhotties]

Oliver star is Max Carter

Lou Ferrigno jr is Lukas

Dan Stevens is Ethan

Title: The Suit of Shadows

Max Carter was a muscle-bound titan, a national champion bodybuilder known for his impressive physique and shimmering trophies. Yet, behind the glory and muscle, loneliness lingered like a shadow. His life revolved around the gym and the weights, but a yearning for connection gnawed at him—a desire for love, for partnership, and perhaps even for someone who could truly see him beyond the iron and flesh.

One night, exhausted from another grueling day of training, Max returned to his small studio apartment and found a peculiar package awaiting him. It was a small, unmarked box wrapped in shimmering silver paper. Curiosity piqued, he tore it open and found a sleek, skin-tight bodysuit that seemed to pulse with a life of its own. The suit was unlike anything he’d ever seen—a perfect replication of his own muscular form, complete with intricate detailing that showcased every sinew and curve of his body.

Intrigued and amused, Max thought it might be a fun way to prank his friends or even test it out as a Halloween costume. He slipped it on, marveling at how it hugged his body perfectly—too perfectly. Yet, as the final zipper slid into place, a wave of dizziness washed over him.

Before he could comprehend what was happening, a surge of energy coursed through his veins, and Max’s vision blurred. The world spun, and when it cleared, he found himself trapped—his consciousness hovering within the bodysuit while a figure stood before the mirror, admiring himself.

The figure wore Max’s own face, his own body, but it was cloaked in a different spirit. This was Ethan, a former competitor who had always burned with jealousy and envy toward Max. Ethan transformed into the bodysuit like a snake shedding its skin, embodying Max completely.

Inside the bodysuit, Max felt powerless, a spectator to his own life. The sensation of muscles flexing, powerful arms lifting weights, and the attention from admirers engulfed him, but it was all under Ethan’s control. Max desperately tried to scream, to shout, to reclaim his life, but his voice was silenced in the darkness.

Weeks passed, and Max watched as Ethan became a celebrity. Gaining notoriety for “this new sculpted physique,” he skillfully maneuvered through public appearances and competitions, a puppet master flourishing under the spotlight. But as the days turned into weeks, things began to shift.

Ethan started to lose himself in the life of a champion. The allure of fame dulled his envy, and he found himself captivated by the people Max used to call friends—forged bonds that went deeper than muscle and competition. Among them was Lukas, an art student with a kind heart and a warm smile that had always made Max’s heart race. Lukas had never seen the true Max, the man behind the body—the one who longed for love but couldn’t find it.

One evening, Ethan attended a gallery showing showcasing Lukas's work, a charming collection that merged the human form with ethereal beauty. As Ethan sauntered around the exhibit, he could feel populations of admiration flooding towards him, yet he was drawn to a painting of swirling colors and abstract shapes that personified strength and vulnerability all at once.

In the depths of this quiet moment, a thrum of connection sparked within Ethan. Could it be that Max’s spirit still lingered within this suit? The suit pulsed with a warmth that felt strangely like longing. Ethan took a moment to absorb the canvas, feeling an emotion bubbling up—regret for everything he had stolen. He realized that beneath the layers of jealousy, he envied Max for more than the accolades; it was the love he experienced but never embraced.

In that instant, something the bodysuit could not contain began to shift. The bond between souls started to intertwine—Max’s spirit surged, igniting a fierce push for truth and authenticity. Inside that bodysuit, a desperate fight ensued—both souls yearning for liberation and understanding. Under the celestial light of the gallery, they began to meld, creating something spectacular.

Ethan, now filled with a new resolve, found himself drawn toward Lukas, who illuminated the exhibition with his passion. “Can you see me?” he asked Lukas, voicing a question that echoed from Max’s soul.

“Yes,” Lukas replied, eyes wide with wonder, sensing a depth that resonated beyond any physique. “You’re breathtaking.”

In that moment, Max realized what true strength was; it was vulnerability, connection, and love. Together, he and Ethan forged a fragile truce, each slowly growing to understand the other. Days turned to nights as Lukas’s presence ignited a yearning Maxim never believed he could have—hands connected, laughs exchanged, and hearts opened.

As the bond deepened, the enchantment of the bodysuit began to crack. In a moment of unity during a climactic bodybuilding competition, Max and Ethan harnessed their combined energies—Ethan, fueled by Max’s desire to be truly seen; Max, empowered by Ethan’s sense of redemption. They wished for freedom, and in an explosion of light, the bodysuit shattered.

Ethan collapsed, and suddenly there was Max—alive and panting, anew and transformed. He looked around, meeting Lukas’s gaze with urgency.

“What happened?” Lukas whispered, amazed.

Max smiled, realizing how different he felt, how he was no longer just muscles but a man with profound dreams. They embraced, a moment of connection that solidified everything he had fought for.

In the aftermath, Max and Lukas carved out a relationship where strength meant more than just brawn; it was about partnership, mutual support, and unending love. They both had faced demons in their own ways, emerging from shadows into light, culminating in a transformation that no bodysuit could ever contain.

Max learned to love not just his physique but himself—body, heart, and soul. And beside him stood Lukas, with whom he would continue to explore the beauty of life, the essence of love, and the enduring power of connection.

[gentlemean]

I know the fandom loves throwing ideas around for a hypothetical adaptation, so why not chime in.

I think most of us agree that an animated series would be better than the dreaded life-action adaptation. Regardless of format, any adaptation would have to somehow preserve the peculiarities, the absolute whiplash, and way the narration shapes the narrative. In my opinion, an animated series could do this quite well.

We start off with Gideon the Ninth. It's shown in heavily stylized 3d animation (think, at least Arcane-style), with strong contrasts in the colors. The Ninth house is dark and desaturated, the lights in the eyes of animated skeletons and Gideon's hair positively burn among the dreary surroundings. Then, getting to the First, the world is vibrant and bright, lots of elaborate light refractions in the broken windows of Canaan house.

Characters are accompanied not only by small, individual musical themes, but also by visual clues. Each house might have distinct little particles and effects that appear in scenes in which the respective characters act. They might synergize in scenes where characters cooperate or contrast in scenes in which they fight. (example: the Niners are always accompanied by shadows, ink-blots staining the scenery around them. The Third are too graceful to be real, all of their animations use exaggerated smear-frames in overly grandiose flourishes. When Naberius fights Gideon, his strikes stir the shadows around Gideon, cleaving bright rifts into the inkstained dark.)

The story is told as we know it, without reordering or large ommissions. One thing we see not nearly often enough in modern television is actual narration in the background. We don't need it for all of the visuals and happenings, but so much of gtn profits from Gideon's thoughts and feelings.

A few scenes look differently though. When Gideon allows Harrow to take over her vision, the animation style changes. It gets a bit more abstract, the surroundings are textured like oil paintings, and Gideon herself has trails of smoke and ink following her movements. This is how they see the world together, and it is reflected again at the very end of the first book, when Harrow ascends. Except this time there's no borrowing, it's something deeper. The world is painted, more abstractly this time, and the characters appear almost like paper cuts.

And then the fun begins. We leave gtn and start htn. There is no more Gideon in our narrative, and yet there is her narration. As in the first series we retain parts of the narration, and it is her voice - mostly. Now, this is a source of great confusion in the book, right? The series would have to make it explicit that it is her voice, but it can have fun with it nevertheless. Some words are garbled, overlapping, distorted. Sometimes, Harrow's voice seamlessly takes over the narration, drifting in and continuing, while still using Gideon's pronunciation and vocal flow.

The visuals, on the other hand - now, that's an entirely different thing. At this point we know what the world looks like when Gideon sees it and what it looks like when they see it together. htn gives us two exciting new variations: 'Harrow with very little Gideon' for the Mithraeum story, and 'Harrow entirely without Gideon' for the river bubble. In the main, physical-world story we retain broad strokes of thick oil paint for the world around Harrow. The characters are too clean on a messy background, with some of the paint steadily bleeding into their shapes. The paint seems almost like it is an active participant in the narrative, crawling across inconvenient truths to blot them out, staining everyone but keeping it's distant from John, who therefore remains clearer than clear, shiny and bright, squeaky clean and lemon scented. But then there's the river bubble, and we get full Harrow, with a teeny bit of Wake. The scenery around the characters is vague and misty, swathes of color arrange into a distorted background like ink being poured into water. The entire scenery bleeds color and light into the surroundings of dark, barely saturated characters. It breaks at the seams when the uncomfortably realistic fleshy pipes wind through the walls, something too concrete for a tearstained world.

Towards the final act, we see a few changes: Abigail summons Nonius, and the shape language changes. Everything's still illustrated the way it was before, but the stark, desaturated characters in his proximity stop being mere dark blots in this scenery, and instead become almost comic-like. Their strikes and attacks are supported by respective action lines, their poses and moves adapt to the newly imposed genre conventions. Meanwhile, on the Mithraeum, Gideon is keeping the fires burning. We're almost back to the way we used to see the world in the beginning, Gideon's stark contrast and smooth environments. But there's the ink bleeding into the scenery from dark corners and bright red puddles, there's enough of Harrow here to stain the world.

And, well. We get to Nona. And Nona's world fundamentally isn't like the one the other's see. Nona's world is mismatched and chaotic and charmingly odd. Most of it is claymation, interspersed with some other materials. Cam's swords are real metal, the dust of New Rho fills the air, and most of the food is probably actual food that looks as dreadfully out of place in this world as it feels in Nona's mouth. There remains a touch of Harrow, expressive movements are exaggerated with her flowing ink, action lines like calligraphy. Of course, there are also the John chapters. Here, we get to have proper fun with the visuals. Let's recap: it's Harrow getting to experience a memory of Alecto, narrated by John. We already know Harrow's flowing colors that stain the backgrounds, and we get mixed medium animation with it: articulated plastic dolls, of course, with some natural materials (moss, wood, some metal scraps) as set dressing.

I'm still not entirely settled on the Nona Epilogue. As long as Alecto isn't out I'm not sure whether I want to keep in line with something from the next book, or whether it's its own thing. Until we know more: illuminated manuscript.

---

Well, that was more than I originally intended to write, but I've had those thoughts in my head basically since I've started the books, and they needed an outlet. There's plenty more ideas where those came from, please please talk to me. 'The Unwanted Guest' as an actual play, anyone? (When Cam makes contact with Babs, and the fight initiates, the camera zooms out from the now frozen claymation, revealing it's situated on a table in the front row of a theatre hall BTW)

[calamarispiderart]

idea of the threes way of drawing themselves + handwriting. notes on each one;

thinking with mind he prioritizes clean lines and flat colors. in his abstracted form his joints are stiff, so he relies on vector-type lines, shape and line correction tools. his hand writing is i think print but has a tilt and a slight curve (almost cursive, but not quite...) and is primarily in all caps

for heart, if its digital i think he would draw on a dark background with dim colors due to high light sensitivity. lots of very sketchy lines because his vision is too fuzzy for clean ones to be easy and hes generally just a bit too shaky (also an avoidance of minds way of art.) but i like the idea that he is a good bit more practiced and it shows somewhat. probably followed some of those instagram tutorials at some point and a few things from those stuck. abstracted, he is far too jittery and shaky to even consider clean lines. his hand writing is usually either faint and a bit muddled (lower) or in block letters, going over every line a few times to make it as clear as possible.

for soul. he never really bothered with art past the mandatory middle school classes. he kept the cursive writing somewhat and he likes to add the little flourish under his name but unless its important his handwriting is mostly just whatever it ends up being. im imagining the only reason his would exist in-world is because he wanted to feel included. but he also couldnt really be bothered and then tried to get rid of it (a Little bit embarrassed) but mind stuck it to the metaphorical fridge bc he thinks its funny as shit

very much idealised in that realistically i think None of them would be able to draw. souls is probably the closest to reality lol

[mybeingthere]

Heather Gwen Martin (b.1977, Saskatoon, Canada) is a painter based in Los Angeles. The colorus are hot and bright, nearing hard edge abstraction while maintaining the mark of the hand. Each shape is poetic, with flourishes of elegant movement akin to dancing.

Martin mixes her paint colors by hand, and the unique tones play off each other in astonishing ways. Certain shades of color can only be seen in person, and encourage the viewer to move around the work, changing their physical relationship to the surface of the painting.

Heather Gwen Martin studied at the University of California, San Diego and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

[veil-over-miitopia]

A brief look at the magic system of Miitopia

There are three major types of magic in the world of Miitopia; Natural (Mages, Elves, Flowers), Divine (Clerics), and Chaotic (Imps, Vampires). It is to be noted that the “natural” type of magic is the most common of the three; it is a lot easier for Miis to be in-tune with the world around than the abstract powers governing their everyday lives, and, even then, gaining the favor of a god is a lot harder than delving into the world of shadowy magic with the assistance of demons and jinni.

It should also be noted that there isn’t much of a “rock-paper-scissors” sort of deal with these powers in-game, and that is because each and every one of these powers exist in order to keep the balance of life at a necessary stasis; too much light can burn you to a crisp, too much darkness can crush you from inside out, and the overexposure of either of them will result in blindness. This is even reflected with the symbols of the Guardian and the Dark Curse respectively- they both represent what you have to do in order to progress through the overabundance of their own elements.

Outside of these supernatural forces, there are also the practical and mechanical jobs. Jobs under the “practical” label rely only on their skills and physical might in order to achieve their goals (Warriors, Cats, Princesses), while those under the “mechanical” label utilize machinery instead (Thieves, Pop Stars, Chefs, Scientists, Tanks - in the most extreme case -). After all, not everyone is lucky enough to be able to tune into magical forces, but this shouldn’t dissuade mankind from progressing any further and develop ways to make life just a little easier for everyone. (Magitek from Final Fantasy moment)

As you progress through the game, the balance between all these powers and how they allow life to flourish become evident, as you start to see the natures of each job coincide with one another; Warriors utilizing chaotic magic using Dark Eye Slash, Pop Stars using divine magic as they put their Angelic Voice to good use in order to bring back their comrades, and let us not get started with the Vampires’ list of skills - else we’d be here for some time -. These are not the best examples, but they do help with painting the picture of the harmony between powers.

These supernatural forces even managed to shape most areas of Miitopia itself, depending on the strength of their influences over each area; the residents of Realm of the Fey heed the forest and regard it as a deity giving them life (natural), Peculia does not make a wink of sense and even becomes darker as you venture through it- literally and figuratively (chaotic), and the Skyscraper/Otherworld is closest to the gods’ abode (divine). You could also say that Nimbus definitely falls under the Mechanical label, GH is under the Practical one, and Neksdor miiiiiiiiight be of Divine nature.

[nietp]

Significantly for a book that excavates a history that has been received with shock and scandal to many of its readers, one of the most powerful senses that Ebony and Ivy conveys is the banality of slavery to the university and the social worlds that it was so crucial in maintaining. Colleges extended the normalizing reach of slavery, acclimating (and placing on equal footing) those students who arrived with no first-hand experience of slavery with those students whose lives were directly enmeshed with it, holding slaves in their person or family. Colleges also reproduced slavery to the extent that they served as pivotal sites in the production, legitimation, and dissemination of dominant ideas for emerging generations of the colonial elite. Study thereby became a vehicle for the enshrinement of emerging knowledges in the form of time-honored wisdom. he book’s final three chapters detail the practical operations by which the university’s accumulation and formalization of racial knowledge took shape in “the rise of scientific racism” (190). Academic institutions became the site of the alchemical transformation of highly biased and interested observers of African and Indigenous populations into legitimate knowledge: “Atlantic colleges took these myriad pieces of social information and forged ‘truths’ about human difference”.

Ebony and Ivy, in order to capture its subject, has to defamiliarize its reader with what the nature of a university is. In the colonial Americas, Wilder writes, “colleges were imperial instruments akin to armories and forts, a part of the colonial garrison with the specific responsibilities to train ministers and missionaries, convert indigenous peoples and soften cultural resistance, and extend European rule over foreign nations”. The communities and public trusts colleges served were social formations avowedly in step with the domination of Native nations; they too were specific articulations of the “public” that saw to it that slavery and racial formation operate not only to the well-being of individual owners, but to their collective benefit. Wilder’s study of the university employs a strategy that reads the university as an institution in the making. Colonial-era land grants and leases for colleges enabled their officials “to tap into the wealth being generated in the unfree agricultural economies”. Higher education in this context functioned as a key technology not only of the elaboration and extension of colonial rule in the Americas, but moreover in the construction of intercolonial relations between different settler outposts in the continental Americas and the Caribbean, as well as between the northern and southern English colonies. Entire institutions in the colonial North came to flourish by recruiting students from the plantation-owning elite in the South and the West Indies.

The division of university labor that took shape between the functions of the production of education and the reproduction of the immediate institutional conditions that made education possible corresponded to differential degrees of access to and expulsion from the category of the human. Wilder gets at the problem that the university itself must be socially reproduced even as it is positioned as a key instrument of social reproduction for capital and the nation-state. In so doing, his work allows us to glimpse a version of the university freed from the methodological injunction to view the institution in terms of continuous enlightenment and knowledge production in an abstract or distanced way. he focus on slavery does more than simply scandalize the historicity of the institution. Rather, it opens onto the question of what study itself leaves unthought— what are the social organizations of work and stratifications of humanity necessary to make the work of study possible? Of the many lessons that Ebony and Ivy teaches, one in particular is worth stressing within [Critical University Studies] at present: that there is no history of the university that is not also a history of capital accumulation and capital expropriation. The vaunted university systems of the United States did not simply import their structural models from Oxford and the great German state universities. Their mode of sustaining themselves was derived from and inventive of practices and structures of violence and captivity indissociable from the fact of their genesis as slaveholding settler institutions. Education is not reducible to simple instruction. It is a context constituted as much by students and instructors as it is by those who cleared furnace ashes and emptied chamber pots, by those whose communities were removed for campuses to take root, and by those whose bodies were used as the raw materials for scientific experimentation and discursive elaboration alike.

— Abigail Boggs and Nick Mitchell, "Critical University Studies and the Crisis Consensus", Feminist Studies 44, no. 2., 2018.

[ntenvs3000f24]

Unit 10 Blog Post

In reflecting on the journey of being a nature interpreter, I find myself drawn to the question of “why”? Why I choose to share the outdoors with others, why this field resonates so deeply with me, and why I believe the work I do has lasting value. My connection to nature has always been personal, filled with small, cherished moments that shaped my understanding of the world and my place within it. Growing up I found wonder and curiosity in natural spaces, and loved movies like The Odd Life of Timothy Green. This movie was one of the first pieces that showed me nature is both calming and inspiring and interesting and filled with so many different aspects to it. Now as I take on a role where I introduce others to this same world, I feel that it is a great responsibility to foster the same sense of wonder and connection in the next generation. 

My belief in nature’s ability to nurture resilience, curiosity, and empathy forms the foundation of my ethic as an environmental interpreter. I believe that nature is a place where we can learn vital life skills including patience, adaptability, and interconnectedness. In the course material, John Rodenburg’s observation that environmental education can feel like attempting to “Stop a rushing river armed only with a teaspoon” resonates with me. Yet, like him, I continue the work because I believe that each encounter with nature can create a lasting impact. Every interaction, no matter how small, can begin a journey of respect and stewardship. I believe that nature interpretation goes beyond sharing facts, instead it's about creating meaningful experiences that reach the heart and mind. 

As an interpreter, I feel a profound responsibility to create a safe space for children and adults to engage with nature. This includes not just physical safety but also emotional safety, where curiosity can flourish without judgment. I see myself as a connection between people and the environment, helping others recognize their place and the importance of nature itself. My goal is to foster connections that help people feel both a sense of responsibility and belonging within the natural world. Rodenburg’s approach of introducing children to nature through stories, such as his students’ experience with the killdeer, is a method I find especially powerful. Stories personalize the experience, helping people to feel connected, empathy and responsibility towards nature. 

My approach to nature interpretation is rooted in authenticity and personal connection. I prefer letting experiences unfold naturally, encouraging discovery rather than leading it. Rodenburg’s advice to let children “own” their discoveries resonates deeply with me. I aim to frame my teaching around curiosity and open-ended exploration, asking questions like “What do you see or hear?” or “What do you think lives here?” rather than presenting immediate answers. This method allows for individual journeys and fosters that previous sense of wonder that I previously mentioned! These thoughts then get carried further. 

I also believe in the power of microenvironments! These small, contained spaces where detailed exploration is possible always brings such joy to young faces. This could be a fallen log, a cluster of flowers, or even a single tree. By focusing on these smaller worlds, I can help people see that nature is accessible and meaningful, even in the smallest forms. My approach is one of appreciation, inviting others to recognize the beauty and value in what initially seems ordinary. 

Ultimately, I hope my work as an interpreter inspires others to see nature not as a general abstract concept, but as an intimate, cherished part of their lives. As I've shared throughout these blog posts, nature has become a profoundly beautiful and meaningful presence in my own life. Recently, I’ve had the joy of witnessing my baby cousins begin their journey with nature, discovering the world outside with wide-eyed curiosity. Watching them grow alongside nature has been a wonderful experience. Though they are so young and may not fully grasp everything they encounter, their excitement and fascination are undeniable. Their parents and family, including myself, have woven nature into their daily routines, from gardening together, to exploring outdoors, fostering a foundation of love and appreciation for the environment. It’s inspiring to see these small yet powerful steps that are helping to nurture the next generation of nature lovers and stewards.

My personal “So What?” is rooted in the belief that fostering a deep appreciation for nature can lead to long-lasting environmental stewardship. By helping others build meaningful relationships with nature, I contribute to a community of individuals who are young but, hopefully, will act with empathy and respect toward the planet. My goal is not to create perfect environmentalists but to push them to care and be curious. In this work, I strive to bring my values of patience and openness to each encounter, believing that these traits will resonate and encourage others to develop their own morals toward the natural world. As we continue this journey, I hope each small act of interpretation contributes to a larger movement, one that builds a society that deeply understands, respects, and cherishes its relationship with nature. A society that sees the environment not just as a backdrop for life, but as a living, breathing part of it, a place we’re truly a part of, not just a place we occupy. 

I wanted to add a picture that made me appreciate our world even more to end off my blog:

[nyktomorphia]

(I've started the worse habit of taking pictures of sketches and getting partway through explaining them and then forgetting it's still in Drafts)

The reason I was sketching fantasy camels a while back, by the way, was... okay, let me back up

In the NieR games there's a labyrinthine desert city called Façade, inhabited by the Masked People. Façade is governed under a long list of esoteric rules that outsiders find frustrating, but the Masked People are all pretty content with it, and there are indications that every rule originally had a really good reason it was created no matter how pointless it seems now.

This would just be a Neat Thing sitting in the back of my brain... if not for the fact that in Sunless Sea there's an island called Visage, inhabited by descendants from Amarna who now live by a complex system of esoteric social norms dictated by the kind of animal mask you wear.

To my knowledge there's no direct influence between them, which catches my imagination further. "Cities of masks and rules" is so distinct it feels like an otherworldly fantasy archetype, a trope that only caught on in another timeline the way elves and dwarves did in ours. (A friend pointed out it has a certain hint of orientalism - veiled courtiers whispering in desert palaces - though a rather abstract kind.) But exploring strange human cultures is part of what I like doing with Cosmodesy, and the seeds of my own version finally clicked into place.

The Mawlayani say that the city of Mazhar was founded centuries ago by their ancestors, former slaves lost in the desert on the verge of death who discovered a hidden oasis. They took this as a sign and settled there, giving their thanks to Sarab, a trickster god of secrets and illusions. Some centuries later, changes in trade turned Mazhar into a convenient stop for merchant caravans. The city has flourished to the limits of the aquifer below, and water supply has been carefully managed ever since overuse led to a nearly disastrous drought. To merchants, however, the problem is invisible, and it is counted as merely another of the Mawlayani's many eccentricities.

The statue in Sarab's temple is famously faceless, signifying the god's infinite appearances. The desert buries its blessings in the shifting sand, and the sun hides them among countless tricks of the light. For the same reason, the scarves worn to prevent sunstroke became the Mawlayani custom of concealing their faces in public at all times, which by the era of Mazhar's prosperity evolved into personalised masks. Traditional Mawlayani masks rarely resemble an actual face, with historical examples ranging from elaborate floral embroidery to minimalistic shapes framing the eyeholes. Symmetric calligraphy is a popular modern style.

I have no idea if Mazhar is in any of my existing worlds or if it's its own thing. Probably Takiwa if any of them.

[rotationalsymmetry]

Hey so that reminds me. I have this book — Abolition. Feminism. Now. By Angela Y Davis, Gina Dent, Erica R Meiners, and Beth E Richie, copyright 2022 so very recent — that I have yet to crack open and could use some gentle encouragement to actually read.

And here you are, presumably on tumblr to be entertained, edified, and/or have your brain put through a blender for a few minutes. So let’s have a poll.

[Image descriptions:

Book cover (title and authors as above, abstract background in orange, reddish, and violet tones.)

Back cover. Purple background. Orange and white text reads: “An urgent, vital contribution to the indivisible projects of abolition and feminism, from leading scholar-activists Angela Y David, Gina Dent, Erica R Meiners, and Beth E Richie. As a politic and a practice, abolition increasingly shapes our political moment — halting the construction of new jails and propelling movements to divest from policing. Yet erased from this landscape are not only the central histories of feminist — usually queer, anti capitalist, grassroots, and women of color-led — organizing that continue to cultivate abolition but also a recognition of the stark reality: abolition is our best response to endemic forms of state and interpersonal gender and sexual violence. Amplifying the analysis and the theories of change generated from vibrant community-based organizing, Abolition. Feminism. Now. traces necessary historical genealogies, key internationalist leanings, and everyday practices to grow our collective and flourishing present and futures.

Table of contents. Includes: preface, introduction, part 1 abolition. Part 2 feminism. Part 3 now. Epilogue. Appendices: intimate partner violence and state violence power and control wheel. Incite!-critical resistance statement on gender violence and the prison industrial complex. Reformist reforms vs abolitionist steps to end imprisonment. Further resources. Notes. Image permissions. Index.

list of other books in the abolitionist papers series, edited by Naomi Murakawa, namely: Change Everything: Radical Capitalism and the Case for Abolition by Ruth Wilson Gilmore; Rehearsals for Living by Robyn Maynard and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson; and We Do This ‘Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transformative Justice by Mariame Kaba

Replicated image in the book of a pamphlet cover created by Jeff George and distributed by Survived and Punished (an organization that advocated for incarcerated survivors of abuse.) There is a large line drawing of a scale out of balance with a man in a business suit, large stacks of money, and sky scrapers on the heavy end and a small group of protesters holding a sign saying “free all survivors” on the other end. Large handwritten text says “no good prosecutors now or ever” and smaller stencil-like text says “how the Manhattan district attorney hoards money, perpetuated abuse of survivors, and gags their advocates.”

End image descriptions.]

[vv-ispy]

For the ask meme, Yun Jin! And Venti too, why not

Yun Jin

How I feel about this character: Isn't she cute? Isn't she sweet? So graceful and dignified and well-read, and... I like the detail put into her. I like how beijing opera inspired she is, how she has the flags in her skill and burst, how she does acrobatic moves (bc beijing opera is very acrobatic — and done wearing those big heavy costomes too, insane), how she kicks the spear like jianzi/chinese hackysack in her idle, how the finishing of her attack sequence is flourished with a gong sound and pose, how they got an actual beijing opera singer to sing for her, how her signature dish is one of my favourite foods! I love her! She got me into the game! I enjoy that she plays with the idea of tradition vs change, she participates in a very traditional art form, one that is very much seen as 'stuff my grandparents listen to', but also listens to rock and roll! Thinks the traditions and the elders are outdated! She works hard but she also has fun! That's about it to her though rip

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Shenhe :) Also Xinyan

My non-romantic OTP for this character: With the rest of the liyue gang, xinyan + xiangling + xingqiu + hutao + chongyun! Also I love that she calls Morax '岩王爷' "stong king grandpa" affectionately, it's so cute and almost humanizing-but-also-old-school respectful-of-your-elders kinda sense. Would love to see her interact with Gaming as the two main Cultural Representatives pfft

My unpopular opinion about this character: I haven't even seen enough opinions on her to know whether this opinion is unpopular, but she works better as a side character. Yun jin's story has been told in the jade chamber chamber quest, and her written backstory. There's not much to expand on.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: Sure, she can show up as a side character in events more. I don't have strong feelings about it though. In a world with bigger stakes, with themes of gods and control and change, I think her aspect of the story's been told. Though I guess if you really want to make an argument for it there's compare and contrast you can do with her and Venti bc they're both story tellers with a focus on humanity. Yet at the same time, they're still in such different worlds, it feels forced to use her for such big themes, I think she belongs in having-fun-with-the-liyue-gang

Venti

How I feel about this character: Stares into the void. I swear I became a Venti Fan by accident. Why did I start liking him again? Ah right nameless bard. Anyway, about Venti... By being the most human of the gods, also makes him the most multifacetted of the gods, in my opinion. The bulk of Ei and Zhongli focuses such big, almost abstract concepts, like eternity and change and what they should mean. Quite frankly, things that are detached from the average person's (or, maybe just me lol) life, at the scale they talk about it. Not to say they're unrelatable to humans, I'm sure many can relate to Ei's response to losing Makoto or Zhongli's letting past and tradition go, but not at the scale they do, where it affects a whole nation. Furina and Nahida have their own very personal battles with growing into themselves and feeling trapped, but neither of them have had enough influence over their nation's development for their struggles to intertwine on a larger scale Venti straddles this gap. As a god, one of the original gods even, he has already shaped a nation and their understanding of 'freedom', is burdened by this 'freedom' and how it contradicts with his role as a god — a god should be leading his nation, a god is trapped under Celestia. He allows one to explore the grand overarching themes of the game, of destiny and fate and order and principles. But he's also. Just a guy. He sings songs making fun of himself and gets drunk and makes mistakes and is a jerk sometimes, he doesn't take himself seriously and his actions as Venti are of no consequence. He gets to know his people personally, he makes connections on a human level, and so even his god struggles have a personal note to them

I joke that he's hard but fun to write, and he is! Both! I'm genuinely itching to write another Venti POV piece some day because he gives me an excuse to do wordplay and not take everything too seriously — this guy overthrew a god losing his closest friend in the process, then made a mistake in governing so bad in resulted in tyranny taking over again for him (with Venessa) to fix, then particpated in The Cataclysm whatever that entailed, probably knows a bunch of terrible godly secrets, and then woke up to another dear friend corrupted to the dark side for him to fix (with The Traveller + friends). Again. Yet through all that he remains silly — in Animorphs there's a quote by Marco "You have to decide whether you think life is tragedy or comedy. I long ago decided to look for the joke in life […] See, it was my mom who taught me that the world was funny" and sometimes I get the same vibes about Venti. He could easily look at his life and decide it's a tragedy, but instead he decides that no! Life is fun and life is whimsy and there's things to laugh about and experience in life despite everything terrible about the world that he's seen first hand, taught by the bard who couldn't experience the joys. And sure I think at least a part of his alcoholism is drink-the-trauma-away, and I do think a big part of him living life to its fullest enjoyment is a promise he made to his bard friend but I also don't think either of that takes away from him having seen the worst of existance and deciding to choose love and care and hedonism. But because he's had the experiences of the best and the worst and everything in between, and is good with words, he works so well bouncing off other characters. You can use him to talk about loss (he's experienced so much), of masks (he wears one too), of inferiority (self proclaimed weakest archon, started life as a weak wind sprite), of power (he's a god amongst humans), of connection (he's the one that reached out to zhongli first, makes an effort to talk to his people), of forgiveness (doesn't hate signora, possibly understands her), of change (does Mondstadt change?), of legacy (still wears his friend's face), of....... he's such a flexible character because of his scope and contradictions. You can use him for anything, he fits anywhere. And man, in the wack case he doesn't fit a theme? He'll know a song that fits the theme. This guy knows too much. And GOD I didn't even get to talking about how I have emotions about how the bard and his early life shaped him Uh also trans Venti good

All the people I ship romantically with this character: hmmm ZhongVenXiao is the one that comes to mind first, because of the way all three of them push and pull and challenge each other. Venti relieves the heaviness of the subservant dynamic ZhongXiao has going on, Xiao alleviates the heaviness of the Old Gods then ZhongVen has going on, Zhongli alleviates some of the overfocus on Xiao I see in a lot of VenXiao works, I love the three together! Zhongxiao challenges Venti's idea of freedom, ZhongVen challenges Xiao's ideas of loyalty, VenXiao challenges Zhongli's overseer responsibleness Bardven. God. First friend. First love. Understanding each other's soul. Carrying on each other's legacy. Unable to move on. Must move on for the other. Learning your own very ideal from another, and now being the bearer of that ideal. They cannot be separated, I think Venti still caries a bit of the bard into everything about him, whether conciously or not. I don't think Venti would be a bard without the bard, and I wonder if his friend didn't die, if he still would have lived his own life to its fullest to live on for his friend. Sometimes, I play with the idea of Venti not telling the bard's story out of selfishness — it's the only way he can still keep his friend to himself, untouched by history. A shinning memory that no one else can ruin. I love the angst of other Venti ships, that any ship with Venti almost has the ghost of the bard still there — the other is looking at Venti and the bard because Venti is like a white cloth that got dyed by the bard. The colour may fade, he may get dyed with others, but he was loved and changed by the bard first and there will always be a mark of that. Venti looks at the other and he's reminded of the bard constantly— he's held by his new lover and he's reminded of how safe he felt in the bard's hands, he laughs at his new lover's joke and he remembers the first time he felt joy with the bard, they talk about their future together and he's nolstogic for the times he talked about the future of Mondstadt with the bard. Not that it's constant, of course — I think he's very much moved on too. But he'll also never forget about the bard and those happier days with his soulmate, before he lost his innocence

I know I said Diluc/Venti in my answer to Diluc, but my affinity towards that is generally the silliness of I'm-kicking-god-out-of-my-tavern. Venti is such a character-focused character to me I prefer ships with a bit more potential for substance such as....... Stares at a KaeVen wip I've yet to finish because I have plot and character to iron out. God I need to finish it. It will be the culmulation of all my thoughts about this ship, probably

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Venti/everyone in Mondstadt. He is the core of the theme of Freedom that everyone in Mondstadt. Everyone in Mondstadt has their own idea and experience with freedom and the city He Made, so perfect jumping off point to explore variations on freedom Venti + Venessa. The aristocracy is Venti's first big mistake, his first second big trauma. He thought he had given his people freedom only for his own people to reinvent oppression. The themes to explore there! And Vanessa, she fought for her freedom but she's also an outsider to Mondstadt. She challenged his idea of freedom, he challenged her self-reliance. I think Venessa is the second largest affect on his life and yes this is including the other archons, because Venti is a god who is concerned with humans on a personal level. They're both saviours in a way, Venti to his people and Venessa to her people, but she's also taken up the role of looking after Mondstadt in general after being welcomed in Mondstadt. I think it also set the presidence for why Mondstadt is so welcoming to everyone from everywhere, the fact Venessa decended from another nation created Mondstadt's backbone of the KoF to care for not just her people but everyone in Mondstadt. If the bard planted the seed of what freedom means to Venti personally, then Venessa helped grow those ideas into what freedom means for Venti's nation and how his ideas of freedom affects his people Inserts Bardven here again but god this ask answer is getting long enough

My unpopular opinion about this character: This is a sideways answer to this entry, but for me Venti content is like candy. It's good and fun and I love seeking it out, but I have to keep it in moderation or else I get tired of him. For me, sometimes people are too......idk how to describe it. Too reverent of him? I liken my reaction to him with my reaction to Portal 2's Wheatley back in 2014: great character in the source material but as a consequence of being a popular character, there's a portion of fanworks that talks of him in a way, erases his flaws, that irks me. Like, in the source material Venti is a high quality chocolate, the perfect mix of has his own character + comedic relief + contributes to other's characterizations + intriguing relationships + cares about others + a divine man + wise + childish whimsy + has his own issues + kinda a jerk sometimes + just a fun guy + not a perfect god + doing his best. But fanworks, either out of wanting to explore one aspect or not fully understanding him, it's easy to fall into One Aspect (alcoholic Venti, or only-there-to-develop-someone-else's-character/others-are-only-there-to-develop-him Venti, or doesn't-take-anything-seriously Venti, or ...). And then I come out of the mirad of Venti content feeling like I ate a spoonful of sugar, or a spoonful of cocoa. Or, sometimes I just want to take a break from eating chocolate ya know? But then again there are times when I just want to eat a spoonful of sugar so ya know. Moderation, etc etc But hey that's just a me problem. It just means for things like Venti Birthday I need to take a step back from the Venti Insanity and stick to my trusted mutuals' takes on him :P

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: windblume when :(