#and a really banger ending

[abigailspinach]

[aliensfuckmeup]

Song: “CLONES” by Lana Lubany. Spotify / Youtube

[cristn-1]

Everybody is talking about how good Will as a Dm is and tbh yes they are right, but i wanna put a spotlight on THE man that i think did the coolest, Maxton Waller, my guys, I swear every season that goes by this man just drops a banger even better than the last one, so yeah, props to him.

[ncc-1701-uss-enterprise]

alexa, add enterprising young men to the queue

[courtesanofdeath]

Pale crimson burns bright as it's polished by the spring breeze. Beaten by the shadows of your urges, full speed dancer, full speed dancer, let's dance.

[st-hedge]

MGSV sketch dump. The brainrot is thriving

[gotstabbedbyapen]

I honestly don't really like how Odysseus defeated Poseidon. Maybe with explanations from Jay, time, and the last saga releasing I'll come around to it, but yeah. I feel like it would have been so much more logical to see Odysseus try to be as ruthless as possible, while being cunning, but ultimately failing because it's POSEIDON, and then Zeus comes in and is like "that's enough, let the Greek go" or something. Because he's not only the king, but it would redeem him from that mess in God Games.

Fans who dislike criticism, please stay away from this post because I will not hesitate to speak my mind.

I'm glad to see others still have faith in Epic, but I'm sorry to say that I don't hope as much anymore. I did try after God Games but it only let me down. And I don't think any amount of explaining and marinating time can make it any better.

Epic the Vengeance Saga not only nerf down Poseidon in the most ridiculous way possible when he was an undoubtedly powerful god-king who was revered as the Biggest Villain throughout the musical, it also broke its own establishment that the gods always have a power leverage over the humans. Odysseus was tip-toeing around all of them, even with the seemingly friendly ones like Aeolus and Hermes, because he's literally one wrong move away from getting killed by them.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: If Odysseus needed a power boost from the moly just to corner Circe, he had no chance with Poseidon when he had nothing but a sword and a wind bag. No amount of pure rage and wife loving can help him charge at the King of the Sea (in his own domain even!) and leave unscathed, he'll be lucky Poseidon just drown him faster the second time. That cheap Gary Stu fight traded good storytelling for some dramatic effect and ruined it for me.

Any other route for the Odysseus VS Poseidon showdown would be significantly better. Like you said, Odysseus can try to fight or just defend himself against Poseidon for as long as he could, then Zeus and the other Olympians can intervene to save him. And yeah, Zeus deserve a redemption and an apology for ruining his image and establishment in the musical (his attack is also super OOC)

If there's an Epic adaptation on a different media, I seriously hope they'll rewrite Six Hundred Strike completely. Anything but that godawful mess.

[figofswords]

i love to cook and i love food! i love cooking and i love eating! i love making food and then eating it! wait what do you mean i have to do this three times a day every day for my entire life and also dishes and grocery shopping and

[the-scarlet-witch-22]

actually writing for the first time in weeks... conductor!agatha is home <3

(actually working on a standalone one shot set after chaconne but before lark, introducing Agatha's insane cello playing ex wife)

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2025: OVERGROWTH by Mira Grant.

Plant-astically delighted to report that I received an ARC via Tor (Nightfire) and Goodreads! I love Seanan McGuire's writing, and my first foray into her work as Mira Grant was INTO THE DROWNING DEEP, which was phenomenal (think all the best parts of Michael Crichton--the Science, the Speculation, the Consequences--but women and queer people are Entire Characters)(we love a good sci-fi horror paced like a thriller in this house).

The premise of OVERGROWTH is basically "the pod people are coming, they've been warning you about it for decades, and no one has been listening." Stasia, our main character and (first person, past tense) narrator, has spent her whole life telling people that she's "the vanguard of an invading species of intelligent alien plants," which is confirmed via a broadcast from space.

And the chapters are time-stamped "X days pre-invasion."

Yeah.

This book was an absolute delight and all around a lot of fun--the tone was the perfect balance of funny and heartfelt and relatable and dread-inducing, and it very much read like a love letter to the genre with lots of cross-pollinated references (Seymour? Little Shop of Horrors? War of the Worlds? Jurassic Park? Hello????).

It was also very much a book about the distinction between being human and being a person, and about alienation and belief and trust and friendship, and about queerness and neurodivergence and belonging. And, y'know, mimetic plant aliens, in myriad shades of green.

I was initially surprised by the choice to tell this story in past tense and first person (because DROWNING DEEP was patently not that, and most of what I've read of McGuire hasn't been either), but it turns out that was The Only Correct Way To Do It: For most of the book, Stasia didn't have the full picture of what was going on, but her partial understanding + our readerly perspective from inside her head carried both the relatability and the horror. It was a really interesting and cool way to do an alien invasion book (from the perspective of the invader's plant)(ahaha, botanical pun). Also, the narrative frame made me pterodactyl Hunter shriek my way through the last two pages, which. OOF. WHAT A RIDE!!! I'll be rotisserie-ing over the late-game twist (page 396/465 in my copy) and the ending for a long time.

I loved that the aliens felt alien and all too much like people; I loved Toni and Hunter; I loved the biology and worldbuilding; I loved the botanical quips ("salad bar" is, in fact, the best possible term of address to an alien invader, no notes); I loved the shady government agencies and unethical experimentation; I loved the "we are the monsters you have made". I stayed up way past my bedtime several times for this, and it was worth every second. Do recommend, check this out in May!!

Half-assed spoilery content warnings under the cut (I'm not good at these because I have a weird concept of what necessitates a warning, so please do NOT consider these complete in any way shape or form):

on-page toddler death (graphic, in prologue, signposted with "look away"); transphobia (toward beloved trans character); spider (alien); bug-adjacent (alien); vampirism/blood drinking; other usual horror/alien invasion type tropes etc. (body horror? do people tag body horror?? i was an animorphs kid i'm sorry i don't know what a normal amount of body horror is but i love it all)

[jofiel]

It's crazy cause I was really dragging my feet to watch Blossom because all of the Tiktok edits kinda made it seem boring but this is easily one of the top 3 costume c dramas of 2024???

[kanonavi]

2024 XVX Fic Recs!

Hi everyone, I hope you're having a lovely and restful holiday season! Last year around this time, I posted 10* xvx recommendations, and since I haven't gotten tired of this lovely ship, or meticulously tracking all of the fics I read in a year, I'm back for year 2!

As with any rec list, please keep an eye on the ratings and tags of any given fic. My tastes might not be to your tastes, and that's okay, just make sure to take care of yourselves first and foremost. This especially applies now because there will be a couple of explicit fics that I shout out this year. Now, here's 10** fics that I read this year that I think other fans of xvx would enjoy!

*Plus a few extras ;)

**With the return of a few extras, since I like y'all so much ;))

~

Lighthouse, by HuaFeiHua (@hua-fei-hua) [Ongoing, Teen, 20.3k, 5/15 chapters]

When one of Xiao’s endless battles against the remnants of old gods leads to the slaughter of an innocent child, the guilty adeptus knows he must pay penance for his crimes. However, upon meeting with his Lord, ready and willing to be executed, Rex Lapis refuses to terminate their contract before its due time. Instead, he sends the yaksha to the Land of Dreams, where he is to spend a human lifetime hunting nightmares to atone. Xiao expects it to be lonesome work, but then: enter Venti, a bard from Mondstadt whose dreams of a castle with a lighthouse by the sea somehow draw Xiao back to him time and time again. And while Xiao means only to spend the century executing his duty, Venti somehow manages to make their time spent together into something almost like a sweet dream. Now if only Xiao would let him.

HuaFeiHua is our first returning author from last year’s list, but now that they’ve not only emerged from the Anonymous collection but also started posting their love letter to xiaoven, I couldn’t not include it here. If there’s any fic that knows how to do atmosphere, it’s this one. The liminal unreality of dreams is captured immaculately in this fic, and it makes the perfect setting for Venti and Xiao to dance around their emotions and each other like the avoidant disasters that they are. It manages to read exactly like the fairy tales that it was inspired by while also feeling right at home in the centuries that exist before Genshin canon, and for someone like me who loves canon setting fics, that’s more than I could have ever asked for.

Now, I was going to make a joke about nepotism but then Hua told me that the correct term is– *checks smudged writing on my palm* “cronyism”, so actually I give up.

~

Extra Rec: While Hua has many fantastic fics that you can now find easily in one place after their liberation from the Anonymous collection, I want to specifically shout out the absolute full course meal of a smut fic that they posted for their de-anoning debut. Do mind the Explicit Rating, though.

~

Catching Air, by Sub_Reality (Twitter: @/sub_reality__) [Ongoing, Teen, 164k, 13/21 chapters]

“Your assignment,” Ningguang said, “Is to assist the Ordo Favonius of Mondstadt in dismantling a newly-surfaced criminal organisation that goes by the name of the ‘Abyssi Familia’.” Exactly one week into their new positions, the 115th generation of the Liyue Qixing’s secret elite forces are given their first assignment; to take down a major criminal syndicate that is surfacing in their neighbouring nation of Mondstadt. Consisting of 5 of the most dangerous personnel across databases continent-wide, their assignment will conclude when all five of their targets are arrested, subdued, or dead. However, of the five is an enigmatic mercenary by the name of Arsenic - holding claim to the highest current kill count, and without a single failed hit. They are notorious for their weaponization of toxins, their mysterious escapes from assassinations, and for their distinguishing feature of not having a single shred of information or data regarding them. Something which, the Ordo Favonius emphasises, is highly concerning. With the arcane nature of Arsenic and the Abyssi Familia, one could say the Yakshas have quite the unpredictable mission ahead of them.

If you’ve ever wanted to be blown away by worldbuilding in a fic, this is one to read. With an incredible eye for detail, the author has reconstructed Teyvat in a far-off cyberpunk future that offers just as much fast-paced secret agent action as it does cultural details of the futuristic Mondstadt that the story inhabits. In terms of xiaoven, the burn is slow with this one, but Xiao and his fellow Yakshas (reimagined with their own mortal identities and personalities) have more than managed to carry the story so far. The mystery just hit a big reveal in recent chapters, so if there’s any time to start reading this one, it would be now!

~

the memory department, by twomooncorner (@earlgreyhui) [General Audiences, 3k, One-Shot, Archive-Locked]

The site of the memory debris takes a bus ride and a half to get to, past a billboard with flapping holes torn through, an abandoned gas station, and a sign for an old water park standing on only two rusted legs. The mountains reach halfway around, and the lakebed which might have started as a meteorite crater and then filled with water and then went back to being a crater again is shiny and hard. Venti hops off the bus and opens a can of soda with his teeth. Let’s get to work, he says.

I told myself I was only going to include one of the fics from Moonlight Melody, but I just couldn’t resist this one. I love the concept of the afterlife as a deeply dull bureaucracy, so seeing Venti and Xiao working as reapers at the very bottom of the ladder was incredibly interesting. But then that premise was executed with some absolutely stunning prose that stole my breath away. This fic has an alluring quality that draws you in until you’re lost in the moment it encompasses just as deeply as the characters are. I’d linger for thousands of words more if I could.

~

If Any Lesser, I, by twodimensionaltrash (Bluesky: @/novelelitist.bsky.social) [General Audiences, 3k, One-Shot]

'A mighty paw swipes at him. He twists his upper body to evade and stumbles back. The demon’s leg passes through the spear like it’s nothing. Like he’s nothing. He hates it. Claws and fists. Teeth and nails. They push and pull, hunter and prey, switching roles on instinct. Andrius puts Xiao on his back foot. Xiao chases Andrius to the edge of cliffs. The laughter of children echoes in Xiao’s head, accompanied by the songs of a bard. Beneath the lowest notes there’s the roar of flames, the flicker of a candle before life burns out, and in the center of it, him. In the midst of a nightmare, Xiao is pulled into Venti's dreams.

The first thing that drew me to this fic was the characterization, which was both intimate and irreverent in a way that felt super refreshing to my thoroughly xiaoven-enchanted brain. Then it follows up with a super interesting discussion of karmic debt and erosion that puts a spin on the game’s portrayals of the phenomena and yet feels right at home in the setting all the same. This was my favorite fic from the Moonlight Melody anthology, and I’m just glad it got crossposted so I can sing its praises in this list!

~

collateral damage, by connections [Teen, 1.8k, One-Shot]

Another bite. Almonds carry only the smallest hint of bitterness with them that reminds him all the same of who he is, and of what he has done, and of how much it hurts. Another bite. He’s pretty sure he deserves this. Violence is the only language he has ever known.

This fic is more a Xiao character study with a dash of xiaoven for flavor, but I still wanted to include it as an example of finely-aged xiaoven vintage. Xiao’s desperation to be loved by Venti but also by Morax is palpable, an ever-tragic contrast against the weight of his karmic debts and the blood on his hands. It was a pleasant surprise to see the gentleness that this author gave to Xiao, especially with all the edge that the game characterized him with at the time. That gentleness has been important to me ever since I fell down the xiaoven rabbit hole, so there’s something nice about seeing it in a fic posted before I would have even known his name.

~

now i see (holding you close), by esperra [Explicit, 5.8k, One-Shot]

“Did that feel good?” Venti asks gently. He cups Xiao’s cheek; Xiao leans into the touch almost on instinct. “I don’t… I’ve never done this before,” Xiao says. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.” “Whatever feels good, my love. That’s all that matters.”

As I’ve noted a couple times in the past in tag games and the like, xiaoven is actually pretty different from my previous shipping pedigree, and nothing reminds me of that more than the fact that a lot of xiaoven smut just isn’t to my personal tastes. This fic, however, managed to break that streak! If you’re looking for something steamy, this fic probably won’t do it for you, but if you enjoy the way that the relationships between characters can be explored through sexual intimacy, this is definitely one to read. I just think it’s sweet when two characters who love each other have sex that’s very deeply Okay and only love each other more for it.

~

carry my fears as the heavens set fire, by yanrans (Twitter: @/yanrans) [Teen, 25.6k, One-Shot]

“Dear Yaksha, do you remember me?” The boy wraps his hands around Xiao’s; even through his gloves, he can feel heat, thick and heady, sink deep into his skin. The fire licks his bones, clawing secrets in the cracks in its surface. Xiao knows better than to let himself burn, knows that Liyue is worth more than his scorched ashes, but this is a dream. This is a dream, so there are no battles to fight, no duties to follow. The boy can strike a match on Xiao’s skin, and Xiao can watch as all his armor dissolves in smoke. The boy tugs, and Xiao comes unmoored. In which Xiao and Venti meet in a series of dreams. Sort of.

There’s something quintessentially xiaoven about this fic that I could taste only a few thousand words in. This fic has it all, from Xiao’s desire to do good battling with his fear of hurting everything he touches, to Venti’s gentle insistence on working his way into Xiao’s good graces with his indomitable charm, all with a splash of corruption angst for a bit of extra spice. If you’re looking for canonverse fics, this definitely deserves to go on your list.

~

to be unbroken and brave again, by magicites (Bluesky: @/ellsyx.bsky.social) [Complete, Teen, 36.4k, 3/3 chapters]

“What could I possibly have to forgive you for?” Venti asks. What could Xiao say? There are so many answers. For trying to grant him freedom and only giving him the same power that’s doomed to tear him apart. For hearing that Morax died so long after he did. For starving for his touch so selfishly. For letting him be lonely. There’s so much; they tangle in his throat. “For making you wait,” he settles on. “Ehe, I'll forgive you, but only if you play a duet with me tomorrow." He has work to do, but— “Yes.” - How the duty-chained Anemo Archon and the Trickster Yaksha found freedom.

When it comes to a prompt as classic as a roleswap, it’s the details that really make a story, and this fic absolutely has it made. As the second returning author from last year, I’ve made it clear that I adore magicites’ work, but the way that she broke down Xiao and Venti’s characters and reconstructed them as a plausible Anemo Archon and Yaksha blew my mind as I was reading this fic. It’s the friction that arises from their roles that makes xiaoven a compelling ship: Venti as the Anemo Archon went out of his way to free not only his people but also himself from the chains of rulership that constrained them before, while Xiao as a Yaksha is bound to Liyue by his contract despite the freedom that he craves. For those roles to then be switched while having the conflicts that bind the characters remain is a truly impressive feat that makes this story totally worth the read.

~

A Surefire Guide to Wingmanning, by corviidae (@corviidaees) [Complete, Teen, 19.1k, 2/2 chapters]

Illuminated by the glow of gold-scorched parchment, the harsh lines of Xiao’s face smoothen into confusion, then resignation. He takes a steadying breath. “You aren’t leaving.” “I’m bound to you until I find you love,” Venti corrects. “Yeah, so you aren’t leaving.” “Wrong! I have a hot streak of success.” Venti claps his hands, the contract scrolling back up into non-existence. “Now that you understand, shall we start over? My name’s Venti, and I’m your assigned Cupid. Your wingman, if you will.” “... Xiao.” Or: Xiao is, maybe, a little in love with his Cupid. Venti does not catch on.

I first read this fic back in 2021 and had one particular line from it permanently branded into my memory (that you’re gonna have to read it to hear!), so I was delighted to find that it still holds up beautifully. This fic lives up to its “Sitcom” tag, because it managed to pull smiles and laughs out of me left and right as Venti tries (emphasis on tries) to find Xiao the perfect partner. It’s an incredibly sweet, comfy read, and I think that’s what we all need in our lives sometimes.

~

if these wings could fly, by MaximillianDelirium (@delirious-dove) [Complete, Teen, 145.7k, 35/35 chapters]

To Xiao, Barbatos was the embodiment of everything he was not: happy, free, fully confident in who he was. His music made the shadows in Xiao’s head retreat. They were all about living life to the fullest, having hope when the world was turned against you, and having fun (something that was almost entirely foreign to Xiao). And now he was going to have to give away all his albums, delete Barbatos’ songs off his phone, and never listen to his music again. Just looking at the albums lined up on the shelf made Xiao cringe. He’d thought that if he ever did get a chance to meet his idol, it would be in a controlled space. He would have said something normal, like, Your music means a lot to me. Then he would’ve shaken Barbatos’ hand, gotten an autograph, and lived out the rest of his life in peace. Xiao’s idol had watched him punch a guy in the stomach. Since Zhongli's early retirement, Xiao's life has been aimless. But a chance encounter sets him on a new and uncharted path.

It only took another year, but in the end I managed to complete the trifecta of xiaoven idol aus. This is one of those fics where you can blink and suddenly five chapters have gone by, because it’s just that engrossing. It has all of the drama and intrigue that one would expect from a celebrity au while still maintaining the typical, down-to-earth chemistry that draws Xiao and Venti together. You know a story is good when it has me pulling out the popcorn for miscommunication plotlines instead of closing the tab, and it’s not only xiaoven, but the entirety of the well-loved ensemble cast that come together to make this the enthralling story that it is.

~

Extra Recs: Not only does this fic have a beautiful epilogue where xiaoven get the happily ever after that they deserve, but there’s also an entire series that features several of the side pairings from this fic’s universe, which are also worth checking out!

~

That's a wrap on another year! If you got this far, thank you so much, and I hope I've given you some new fics for your to-read list! This year, I feel like I did a lot more reading back compared to the year before. Some of these fics I only read because they were recommended to me by fellow fans, which I appreciate so much, but it could also mean that there are fewer hidden gems this year than the last, so I hope you can forgive me.

I'm looking forward to what next year will bring, and hopefully I'll be back with even more fics to share! Happy holidays to all, and much love <3

[not-the-living-ghost]

i'm not even gonna pretend to be surprised at the fact that the dead boy detectives theme song was in my spotify wrapped playlist...

[art--harridan]

[Image description: A digital drawing based on the film Knightriders. There are five different objects on the page, drawn across a diagonal. At the bottom right of the piece, there's a motorcycle which has a front modelled after a Medieval shield. Above this, there's a similarly styled helmet, which has a visor and a plume on the top. Below this, there's a sword which is pointed downwards. Above the two items, there's a mace with its chain leading off of the view of the page. Further above, there's an exaggeratedly big ornate crowd. These elements are drawn with a dark green and all coloured with a flat blue-grey. There's a red outline around the objects, although it is not flush to them. The background is a bright orange.]

Inktober - Day 10 (Nomadic)

Film - Knightriders (George A. Romero, 1981)

[peachie5000]

Teared up a little getting to the Luke’s big fuck up *tm* moment in Tales of the Abyss not because I didn’t know it was coming. But because it’s so gradual and pieces are layered brick by brick in such a genius way. Yeah here’s a kid who lost half of his life to memory loss and doesn’t remember what the sea looks like. Yeah here’s a political conflict where every single party views him as a weapon or a liability. Oh also he has a complex about being useless but he also wants the air of importance without understanding what that means. AND he’s literally dehumanized by the reality of being a clone. And it leads to horrible consequences.

Van so easily manipulates Luke because Luke is an easily swayed person who is barely even,,, a person at 17 years old. And it makes the anger the party members feel also so interesting because yeah, they also isolated him and mocked him for not knowing better (to various degrees). But he also acted spoiled and pushed them away when they tried to level with him and guide him in the right direction. Luke willfully would bury himself in ignorance while proclaiming that he wants to know more when he’s being kept in the dark.

[spark-circuit]

just listened to Polygon Dust for the first time. whaddahell.