#brother: abyss‑forged warrior (tartaglia)

[tiny-cloud-of-flowers]

forr tartaglia ^^ when your downtimes match up with hers, whats something you like to do with alectra to wind down ?

Tartaglia: "Hey there! Great to hear from you!

Hmm.. We didn't always get a lot of opportunities to meet up 'til more recently. Now that we can, though, we'll tend to go out and get something to eat! It's a good chance to fuel up, and get to fill each other in on things that we've done since the last time we talked. Alectra tends to pick the place itself, but she's got a great eye for it - anywhere she's going to be happy going will be somewhere that does some really nice comfort food, y'know? It's all well and good showing off your status by eating out at fancy places all the time (if you think like some of the other Harbingers, anyway..), but I'm not like that at all. I'm not about to shell out all my Mora for a dish that could fit on an arrowhead, and that's made from a bunch of super-rare things you can't even taste when you eat it. And she's not either - sure, she's fancy in herself, but not in that same kind of stuck-up way, not at all! So, it's always a good time. Plus, if I'm the one to bring up the idea in the first place, she can't try and argue when I cut in to foot the bill!

Other than that, well.. I know you did ask about winding down, but sometimes we'll spar with each other as well. Alectra's.. less eager about combat compared to me, but she'll still reach out if there's some sort of technique she wants to try out, or she just needs to let out some frustration. And I'm always eager to help! Training with her is a good experience, because as fighters go, she's pretty tricky - her left-handedness means she does most things mirrored, so you have to adapt to that, and her physical strength isn't super high, so she keeps herself out of harm's way a lot. Of course, I'm never going to try and hurt her in the first place, but the whole thing can still be good practice for me and her both!

I hope that about sums it all up for you!"

[void-kissed]

maeror viventi

Following the relinquishing of the Geo Archon’s Gnosis per the terms of his ultimate contract, Signora and Alectra are set to return to Snezhnaya in order to present their acquisition to the Tsaritsa. However, Alectra is unwilling to leave without checking on someone she had somehow grown attached to in Liyue - namely, of all people, the archon himself.  Takes place shortly after the third objective of The Fond Farewell. (1389 words) This piece focuses on my familial selfship with Zhongli. Content warning for discussion of death and grief.

A piece written to commemorate this date, and make concrete the solace brought to me by this character on this day, both last year and this year. This piece of writing is of great significance to me because of what it represents, but I still wanted to share it after having written it out, if that's alright.

Comments on and reblogs of my work are always okay, and appreciated, but they are never required.

(Tag list and document transcript under the readmore:)

Tag list: @sol-rbs | @dragonsmooch | @sunlight-ships | @bugsband | @z0raprince | @detective-with-one-arm | @deepsea-loves | @thatslikesometaldude (If you would like to be on the tag list, please see this post)

Document transcript:

The silver light of the moon shone down over the harbour, reflecting a dozen times in the lazily-lapping waves of the ocean. In the city of commerce itself, however, the lights that glowed were golden, softly shining outside buildings to illuminate the work of the evening. The night was somewhat livelier than usual, owing to the aftermath of the recent troubles afflicting Liyue that still needed to be fully sorted out, and the imminent Rite of Parting that was on the horizon and in many people’s thoughts. However, there were always serene spaces of quiet to be found if you knew where to look, even at times like these.

On one of the paved paths that wound up towards Yujing Terrace, a lone man was staring out over the sea and the city, arms crossed and resting on the barrier.

“Ah, so this is where you went, Mr. Zhongli.”

The voice caused the man to turn his head, looking down at the young woman standing before him. She normally gave off a threatening aura despite her small stature, with her once-corrupting sword in her hand and the blood-red feathers adorning her shoulders and the butterfly-wing mask that covered the left side of her face in ornate gold details - but on this quiet harbourside evening, she appeared decidedly subdued despite all this. Pearlescent teal-green eyes stared up towards his amber ones with an expression that was altogether both soft and sharp; he couldn’t help but feel that she was trying to hold something back.

“Miss Alectra?” he asked her, turning his body to address her with his eyebrows raised in mild surprise. “I must say, I would have expected you to have been on your way out of Liyue already.”

“There are still a few preparations that need to be made before the ship can set sail. And, even if there aren’t- they will wait for me.” she explained.

He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Most courteous of your fellows.” Then he stopped. “In that case, then.. what brings you here, to have sought me out at this moment?”

She trailed off and looked away somewhat, as if she felt her reason was too trivial. Saying it out loud did not alleviate this feeling, either.

“I just.. wanted to make sure you were alright.” she finally admitted.

“Oh?” 

“It’s just-“ She repeated herself, and then stopped, regaining some of her usual even composure to continue with. “For an archon to give up their Gnosis is.. almost inconceivable to most onlookers. After all, as the oldest of the Seven, you have borne its weight for thousands of years. Regardless of what you are, to lose anything that had been so integral would surely be felt by anyone with such an item.”

At her words, the man now known as Zhongli paused - his previous light demeanour had shifted into something more contemplative as he considered her words. Thankfully, both he and Alectra were confident that no other individual was in their vicinity, and so despite the open space, they could both speak freely of their identities; both had known neither was an ordinary human since their first few encounters, after all.

“..You are correct that it was not a decision I made lightly.” he said finally. “However, having witnessed all that has befallen Liyue in recent days.. I am confident that both the Qixing and the adepti will adroitly continue to carry the nation into its new age, in their own individual ways.”

“That.. isn’t what I was concerned for.” Alectra responded, carefully studying his expression. “Although, it is good that you can have faith in this nation’s future. What I meant was - on a personal level - how will you fare in yourself?”

“Ah, so that’s what you were trying to say.” he said with a nod. “Well, I can certainly tell you that things have felt adequate for me thus far. Although it may only have been a short while, I don’t feel as though there’s anything worrying occurring.”

“That’s a relief.” Her words came quickly and loudly, and she visibly seemed to have some tension dissolve from her at his statement. “You.. deserve to get to see what happens next, even if you’ve taken yourself out of the equation. You should get to live your life the way that you want to now.”

“Why, that’s most kind of you to say, my dear.” he replied, understanding the kindness in her words despite the words themselves perhaps not sounding too affectionate. A smile had crept its way onto his face by now, holding both tiredness and gratitude.

She smiled in thanks in return. “I mean it. Besides, if I may touch on this..”

A short silence fell, but she sensed that he was content for her to continue; when she did so, her voice was quiet once again.

“You’re twelve times older than I am, and I am already six times older than what most humans reach. I.. can only imagine the number of friends you must have lost in the time that you have spent here, although I don’t suppose that that alone makes the experience any easier each time. And yet.. well, it must be somewhat surreal for you, to see your city mourning you while you still walk through it freely.”

Then, as she turned her body away to lean over the balcony as he had been doing, he heard another admission that was even quieter still. 

“..It’s an awful feeling, being mourned.”

There was a long silence, but then a hand came down onto her shoulder, firmly yet gently.

“If mourning is the expression of one’s grief.. Surely, it would not be wrong to say that such grief is an expression of the love held for those who have passed on. Though no part of this world can truly last for all of time.. This.. is the reason we must treasure the time spent with those that we care for. Even after many years have run their course, it is normal for the feelings to retain the same intensity as they had when the event first occurred. So, for as sad as it may be.. There is nothing wrong with expresssing that sadness, whenever it should happen to rise."

Something in her softened, like a feather melting into snow - and that single feather’s fall was enough to cause a rush of bursting tears from behind the crumbling dam she had tried to maintain since before she had even approached him on this lonely evening.

For all-too-bitter words exchanged between a brother weak from battle and a sister sharp with worry..

For the blameless lives so often torn apart and thrown aside, like pieces on a game board, at the whims of the divine..

For even that original pain, not of death, but of sorrow and anguish screamed through the flames as the nightingale sang to never leave her feeling this way ever again..

Despite how many years it had been, she had never before let herself mourn her own death, and that grief was now swallowing her whole.

Everything was wailing.

And yet, despite it all, he stayed there, as steadfast as stone. In fact, he did more than be some mere unmoving statue - he brought her forwards into a hug, placing his left hand on top of her head.

“This- isn’t right,” she tried to say through her tears, turning her head so that her mask would not dig into his suit as she returned the hold. “I came out here to offer you some solace, not the other way around-“

“That doesn’t mean I cannot be here for you, young nightingale.”

Despite what status he had held as a deity, despite whatever care he may have held or never had for the humans and the smaller little creatures of his own nation - let alone any other ones - the fact remained unchanged that Zhongli was someone Alectra had come to view as something like a father figure, even through the relatively short time they had spent together. 

..She held her tongue before the words admitting such could leave it, but the sentiment carried across to him nevertheless.

His eyes glittered as he grieved, and hers flooded as she mourned, and they spent what felt even to them like an eternity holding each other.

[moved-to-void-kissed]

Childe: “..Remind me again why your girlfriend is sat on that statue?” Signora: “Why, she just likes to feel tall!”

tag list: @thatslikesometaldude | @garchompp | @catake | @tex-treasures | @beeon | @tartaglialovemail | @kalliopi-ships | @lilacslovers | @vilehusband | @dragonsmooch | @kissofthemoonrabbit | @blackbirdcrime | @strawberryshipz (to be tagged in what I make, please click here!)

Just a silly little render I put together a short while ago, because I haven’t had a chance to work on anything today, so I had to fall back on this. It’s based on that one meme about the dachshund standing on the kitchen counter because “he likes to be tall”, and I’m only about 160cm at the last count, so I thought it would be fitting for this selfship since Signora is one of my tallest romantic F/Os! (I made her MMD model six feet tall because I could, but I don’t think she’s much shorter than that in-game.)

Reblogs of my work are always appreciated, but by no means required!~

[void-kissed]

oh i LOVED reading about how alectra would fit into the genshin plotline... if she were an NPC id be visiting her during every major plot beat to see what shes up to. she sounds like a very fun easter egg, kinda like those fatui guys who hang out near the mondstadt city waypoint

aaah thank you so much!!!! yeah I got way too attached to the concept of her foreshadowing stuff going wrong, ‘cause like - the first time you see her is during Ending Note, and you can only see her right at the start of that specific quest; she’s waiting outside the cathedral, looking up at the Barbatos statue, and she won’t give any dialogue when spoken to by the Traveller (or, if she did, it’d be something short, like.. “Isn’t there somewhere else you’re supposed to be going at the moment?”). However, her being there means she’s then right there to be in the cutscene where Signora first appears and then gets Venti’s Gnosis, so if you noticed her waiting outside beforehand, that’d clue you into who she was without actually telling you much of anything about her. But she only appears in a very short interval, so she’d be easy to miss.

The next time she could be spotted would be during the part of the Liyue archon quests where you’re going around buying things with Tartaglia’s money, and the idea is that she’s sitting high up on the rooftops, so that if you wanted to go to try and talk to her it’d be a massive hassle (and she’s not very easy to spot). If you actually went out of your way to do it though, she’d maybe say something like.. “Ah, so you actually managed to make it up here? I must say, you’ve quite the keen eye to have sighted me. Even so.. you’re still setting the stage at the moment. So, please, carry on as you were. I wonder how ready you think you should be for the show.” This is foreshadowing the upcoming (though not as immediately upcoming) boss fight with Tartaglia himself - he’s her brother, or as close as she has to one anyway, so it’s no wonder she’s keeping an eye on what he’s up to.

I don’t quite know if there’s an opportunity for her to show up again in the game itself here, but one thing that I do know happens is that she has a bit of a confrontation with Tartaglia some time after the boss fight, because she didn’t realise he wasn’t in on the same things that she was regarding everyone’s plans. She then also runs into Zhongli again after the cutscene where he gives up his Gnosis to Signora, and she manages to get a lot of comfort - and a hug - that she needed from that interaction (since.. well, I associate Zhongli quite strongly with my grandad. for some reason. so I wanted to have him and Alectra (and Lamia because she visits Liyue with Yoimiya during Lantern Rite) be close, even if it makes little to no sense, because of that.)

When it then comes to Inazuma, Alectra has the first act of her story quest - “Luscinia Cineris Chapter - Act I: To Be Fooled By A Familiar Face” - slotted in to try and space out the pacing of that nation’s archon quests somewhat. Her story quest revolves around the Traveller being mistaken for Alectra by some guards, and subsequently having to clear their name by figuring out what was really going on (since all they saw was someone “fairly short, wielding a sword, with blonde hair” wearing either “dark clothes” if playing as Aether or “a sleeveless dress” if playing as Lumine). In the process they would probably find out more about Alectra by overhearing some Fatui working for her or something. The section of this quest where you get to play as Alectra comes right at the end, when everyone goes “okay so we’ve established it definitely wasn’t the Traveller who’s been causing the problem. But then.. who was it?” and then you switch to Alectra successfully breaking into some official building or other, taking care of all the guards there, and stealing some important documents. Something, something, be gay do crime? =P

..oh crumbs I’ve been writing for nearly an hour. Help. This was supposed to be a quick reply. I hope it was alright ;w;

[void-kissed]

Sometimes, familial F/Os can be very helpful when you are missing family. Sometimes, it seems they can have the opposite effect, and cause you to start missing family instead ;w;

[moved-to-void-kissed]

happy birthday to not one but two of my fictional brothers today ^-^

[moved-to-void-kissed]

A dear friend of mine said, to quote, “ain’t never seen two siblings who didn’t share aspects of their fighting style”

So I went down through mine, and.. she’s right:

Both Alectra and Lamia wield swords, like Tartaglia’s melee stance, with Lamia having actually witnessed him learning his sword skills from Skirk in the Abyss

Catarina shows Felix the value of learning magic in addition to swordsmanship in their shared supports (like this one comic I saw that was like “felix if your sword got knocked out of your hand and you could conjure up a new one wouldn’t that be epic”), and ends up taking pointers from how he fights with his own sword too

Inigo is highly skilled in archery, one-handed weaponry, and sneaking - which are the exact same three skills Carmine specialises in (plus alchemy, in her case)

Aria and Vanitas are both dark entities and wield Keyblades of darkness in their fighting styles, with both also focusing way more on offense than defense (I think of Vanitas as more able to take hits whereas Aria is more about dodging them)

Katya, Dima and Echo all have mutations that can be used to attack in various ways - Katya by producing tissue, Dima wielding something with his telekinesis, Echo manipulating electrical signals inside an opponent’s body

Noel is battled on Grassy Terrain by the player, and Adriana’s Aevian Mismagius can set that; Noel, Anna and Adriana all also have at least one Fairy-type Pokémon on their teams (Clefable and later Xerneas, Sylveon and shiny Gardevoir, Mimikyu); Lumi and Adriana both battle more to have a good time than to necessarily get stronger (and Lumi also has an Alolan Ninetales, which is Fairy-type!)

The Lumas don’t generally really fight, and Mimi doesn’t like fighting either, though she can using star magic if she needs to (and Lumas become stars, so)

Maria has two guns. I don’t have a self-insert for her source yet but I don’t know how she learns how to use those so maybe I can teach her? Either that or we can match in dual-wielding but I have some other sort of weapon, I'm not sure yet.

I do believe that is all of my fictional siblings

[moved-to-void-kissed]

for the self insert lore ask game: 5 & 10 for alectra, 15 for sapphire? :D

Ah, sure thing! Thank you very much for sending these in! (Also, I know I am biased, but the fact that your blog theme is Eula right now made me smile ^-^)

(question source: "ask game: self-insert lore" by inserthaven)

5. does your self-insert have any special powers or abilities? - Indeed she does! Most prominently, Alectra holds a Pyro Delusion given to her by the Tsaritsa, which gives her the ability to wield dark ashfire in combat. She deems this ironic. Due to the fact that she is not fully human, instead arguably being defined as a sort of vengeful ghost (she used to be a nightingale, but when she was killed, her will to live on mixed with Rosalyne’s anguish at her death, which sustained her spirit and rebirthed her in a human form), Alectra carries a couple of other traits as well. For example, she and Rosalyne - who of course is now Signora - are quite literally soulmates, since Alectra is essentially partially made up of her powerful emotions from that time. This means the two of us can sense where the other is regardless of distance - it’s the reason why Alectra felt drawn towards joining the Fatui in the first place, on top of her becoming disillusioned with how the archons ruled Teyvat.

10. how do the other characters feel about your self-insert and F/O’s relationship? - Since Alectra is Signora’s second-in-command, and she attained this position incredibly quickly after Signora chose her as a direct subordinate, I imagine a few of the other Fatui agents would be a bit resentful of Alectra’s status - though they would obviously never make this known. However, to those that don’t mind their current positions, I like to imagine that seeing the love we so clearly have and demonstrate towards each other does make them smile. On the other end of the hierarchy, Tartaglia in particular teases Alectra about her relationship because he is like a older brother to her, but does support her even if he and Signora are very different in how they operate.

15. how does your self-insert play a role in the plot of the story? does she help directly defeat the villain, support the heroes, etc.? - I already answered this one for Sapphire on a precious ask, but to give a summary of that again, Sapphire is one of the protagonists and becomes a directly playable member of the party! Her main motivation upon joining the group in Chapter 3 is to find out more about her origins and the ability to crystallise ether that she holds, as well as to help Pyra and learn more about her (because she has a crush on her), but she is also an active helper in stopping Malos and the rest of Torna, especially after Malos nearly kills her father Vandham. Most notably, despite the fact that Malos is essentially a demigod and his ally Jin is capable of moving at near-light speed and cooling things down towards absolute zero, Sapphire manages to get close enough to Malos to kick him off a cliff and down into the land that lies under the sea.

I hope that all of those answers were alright! Thank you very much once again for sending these questions~

[moved-to-void-kissed]

A thought, for your consideration:

Little teenage Ajax, falling through the world

spending three days (that are three months) being trained by and trained by, then training with, Skirk - and having the Abyss seep deep in and steal him all the while

and having this be witnessed, this total metamorphosis, this way that the endless void alters the things it takes a liking to and wants for itself so dramatically

by a little teal Abyss Mage

and that is what first stirs her curiosity about humans and what their lives are like - the curiosity that then eventually leads her to turn her serpent-spined back on the Abyss

[moved-to-void-kissed]

Howdy Echo! Who've you been thinking of most recently? If you don't have an answer, may I ask what are some things you really enjoy about Pyra's character?

Clover @tex-treasures

Hehe, I knew this was you from the “howdy”, Clover - thank you for this!

Most recently.. as in right this moment when you sent this, the focus is on my brother, Tartaglia, because of a) the upcoming new update for Genshin Impact meaning people are speculating about whether he’ll show up again soon - and are making jokes about his banner being rerun because it has come back more frequently than that of every other character for some reason =P - but also b) the fact I just figured out a way for my second self-insert (Lamia) to meet and interact with him, which I’m very happy about! I get to share two of his key aspects, namely being part of the Fatui and having lived/spent time in the Abyss, across both of my self-inserts for the game, which I think is neat ^-^

However, speaking more generally, I’m planning to livestream a playthrough of Dragon Quest IX sometime in the next couple of weeks, and as part of that I get to see Pavo again, which is nice. I miss my angel girlfriend. Then there was also the playthrough of Fire Emblem Three Houses that my dear friend Zale did, which.. may or not have prompted the acquisition of two new romantic F/Os from that game and subsequently the creation of a brand-new self-insert, whose info document is already over 2,500 words long despite only being 1,000 words long as of yesterday. Oops.

I hope that all that is alright for now - if I tried to also tack on an answer to your question about Pyra, I think we'd be here all day.. Thank you very much for sending this, though! ^-^

[moved-to-void-kissed]

okay you know what screw it, I have two more evil brothers now

[moved-to-void-kissed]

sometimes I really wish it was easier for me to classify how I feel about different characters

I know I don’t need to make it specific in most cases, what’s important is that I like the characters, but- I just personally like having things organised properly, so that they feel more definite ;w;

[moved-to-void-kissed]

I wonder why it is that I keep ending up finding out new stuff that makes me go aaagh about not one but both of my brothers who are from a fictional version of/place inspired by somewhere in Eastern Europe at the same time

[moved-to-void-kissed]

As I’ve been playing a little bit more of Genshin Impact, I’ve been starting to get attached to some of the characters and wanting to add them as platonic F/Os - so far it’s specifically Diluc, because he’s really cool, Sucrose, because she’s really sweet, and Childe, because he just seems really neat (..even if I still can’t get over the fact that his name is literally just pronounced as “child”, I’ve been reading Childe as “chill-dee” or “chilled” this whole time prior to actually hearing it in-game)

In the case of the first two, especially Diluc, part of me was a little bit unsure of how to make it make sense that my self-insert is friends with them, given who she is. To start with, I was just sort of working off of it being an “unlikely friends that are friends because I myself want us to be” sort of thing that I didn’t really have to explain in-game, we just.. happen to get along well.

But I think it’d be funnier if Alectra’s friends just  didn’t actually know that she was with the Fatui, maybe she either never wears her mask around them or her mask has two parts so it doesn’t look like the full “image” they have associated with an elite Fatui agent.

Maybe it’s a stretch, but I think it’s amusing, so I’m going to stick with it ^-^

[moved-to-void-kissed]

For the Sapphic September f/o takeover: Hello, Signora! Could I ask what first drew your attention to Alectra? And what is something you love about her that you noticed after spending more time by her side?

Signora: "Ahaha, of course!

Let’s see now.. It was at the time she was granted her Delusion, I believe. I had.. opened up some spaces, shall we say, in my division of the Fatui, so I decided to attend the usual ceremony to see if any of the recruits there would be worthy of becoming my underlings. She stood out to me for the way she seemed so eager to wield her Delusion’s powers, and her determination to prove herself to Her Majesty, the Tsaritsa - a mask can’t hide everything about a person, you know. So I chose her as one of my subordinates, there and then. And she hasn’t disappointed in the slightest, ahaha!~

For your other question.. why, there are many things I love about her! She certainly knows her worth, and her power, and she’s not afraid to relish in that, either. Some of my colleagues have sent more than one scornful remark my way about how quickly my little dove attained her current position - but it’s none of their business how I treat those under my command, is it? Besides, I daresay my darling is capable of matching any Harbinger’s might by now, even without a Vision to call her own - the fact she's faced Childe in single combat and still stayed standing after the fight should be proof enough of that to the rest of them. Though, I suppose the fact she gets on rather amicably with him anyway may have helped with that.. No matter. The point still remains.

If that’s everything, then I’ll leave you to whatever it is you were doing. Thank you for your question.”