#extremely long response

[kalpasio]

Yo hey! 

New reader here, but I was confused as to why you described kalpas in your fic, “The Chef in the Shitty Kitchen”, as OOC? I might be biased because I love exploring how other sides of characters surface in different scenarios. I feel like it’s our job as a fandom to expand on our blorbos! I’d just like to know your thought process (that was actually my favorite fic, I love domestic kalpas. Imo it’s much better to be a carb addict than an alcoholic—)

On the other hand, thank you for single-handedly keeping the kalpas fan club afloat. I scraped Danbooru for some kalpas content, but in 60% of the pictures he was like 6 pixels in the background.

Moving from genshin to honkai where there’s a severe lack of content almost made me implode, so I’ll try my best to help out! Although I’ve only written two fics, and both times my wrists hurt so bad I had to stop.

They were only 1k words. 💀 

Fellow kalpas lovers, rise up!!! (Sorry for being wordy but I didn’t want to clog up your ask box, you’re probably already in really high demand 😭 )

I think I say he's ooc in all my fics because I'm nervous lmao but that one especially I wrote before the golden courtyard anime came out and it was like entirely made up from brainrot? so I was like this is NOT real kalpas, and I can say it but if someone else said he was ooc I would definitely start arguing lol

I feel like flame chaser kalpas 1) has seen Some Shit, 2) been through Some Shit, and 3) does not have access to a kitchen so his personality is very different than it would have been if honkai hadn't destroyed his life. Golden courtyard kalpas is what I guess he would be like if he had actually gotten a chance to live his life I guess? idk he deserves a little happiness ya know? also domestic kalpas is a bean, change my mind

tbh moving from genshin to honkai and seeing so little content was part of what made me start writing for kalpas? I was like "oh Thoma has no content" because he only had like a couple hundred fics and then kalpas had like. two. and I was SO Mad I swear even if I write for something else if I ever get a chance holy shit I will always come back to Kalpas

my wrist HATES me which is problematic so I completely understand lol I usually end up taking breaks and writing things down on notes so I can come back and elaborate when my hand isn't about to fall off? still makes me sad tho. also 1k words is 1k more words than we had before!!! if you feel comfortable with it I'd love to read your works 🧡!!

asks are unfortunately all I've been doing lately because of school so you don't have to worry about sending any in! tbh my request list is so long because I have some that are literally over 100 days old and I am just dying rn 💀

[captainkirkk]

I wish there was a tag for "character who was traumatised/ forced to grow up and take on too much responsibility at a young age finally gets the chance to feel safe and act their age/ reclaim their childhood"

Every tag I think might come close ends up being full of ddlg/ age regression kink and I can't handle it :((

[the-barefoot-hatter]

Lunch Time - Non Euclidean Geometry AU Comic

◬- THIS PART-◬- NEXT PART -◬

This first part is nicest, lightest part of the comic. Stop here if the tags are too much.

[noperopesaredope]

Me: Ooooo, I wonder what this "Mouthwashing" thing is that everyone's been obsessed with lately. I should check some of it out.

Me, 30 minutes later: I would kill myself for you, Anya.

[keepyourpantsongohan]

I have a Venn Diagram to share

[volcanocraft]

Your Gem as an unlabelled bi/gay non-op transman who uses she/her has overridden my previous headcanons and rewired my brain. Quite possibly the most correct take I've ever seen.

I really appreciate you saying this :’) she is so dear to me. I love your turiagirl headcanons as I think gem would definitely be mspec and I haven’t heard of the label before… it’s always fun finding out the new ways people are able to label complex gender attraction!

I’ve been thinking about bi gay gem for the past couple of days too. I just think she is able to represent a facet of masculinity I can relate to heavily because of her unconventional expression of her gender. Unlabelled because she doesn’t think too hard about it but able to identify herself in the flux that is masc while also using conventionally fem constructs because she just likes them … AOUHH thank you for making my day 💖

[magicpiano]

I am thinking of a DCXDP AU where the justice league has some big problem with necromancy or death magic or something and they summon the ghost king for help.

Even though Danny's universe and theirs are different, they are connected through death so, Danny is summoned to an alternate universe where other heroes exist and being a ghost isn't that big of a deal. This kind of sounds like a dream to him because things back home have gotten Bad. The GIW has become enough of a problem that neither Danny, nor any of his friends who are ecto contaminated, are safe anymore.

So when the justice league asks the ghost king what he wants in exchange for his help he says, "asylum in this universe for some friends of mine."

This is how Danny, Jazz, Dani, Sam, Tucker (and maybe Val?) all end up living in a very weird, but also shockingly accepting, alternate universe.

[aroaceleovaldez]

Mark Oshiro confuses me a little bit not going to lie. In the press tour for the first book all they ever talked about was how Nico is their son and Will is fine I guess. Then they said like 2 weeks before TSATS came out that they didn't understand Will's character at all and it's one of the main reasons why Will has so little POV.

Possibly unpopular opinion but I don't think it's a good, encouraging sign when the writer admits to not really caring about the deuteragonist or not even having a sense of how to write them...

Yeah, no. If you have no interest in 1/2 of the POV characters of your book, you REALLY shouldn't be writing it (or at least, not have that be a main character). Especially when the main way TSATS could have been improved is if it was primarily Will-centric instead of Nico-centric. Will basically had next to no established character prior to TSATS! He was practically a blank slate! But all the new stuff we got for Will in TSATS was so clearly disinterested and had no regard for his previously established traits (or the established timeline/canon). Which is annoying because fleshing out Will would have been the PERFECT opportunity to actually incorporate a lot of the topics that Mark Oshiro specializes in as a sensitivity reader, which was the ENTIRE REASON THEY WERE BROUGHT ON AS A CO-AUTHOR!!!!

As TSATS stands, there is no reason for Mark Oshiro specifically to have been the co-author instead of someone else. It's so clearly just a PR move from RR following the huge backlash Rick received due to his response to criticism on how he wrote Piper and Samirah (and Reyna and etc etc). This was immediately following Rick saying he wasn't going to write what would become TSATS because "it [wasn't his] place to." Most of the topics that Mark Oshiro specializes in either weren't relevant at all to TSATS or written very poorly (to downright offensively) in TSATS, so either Mark Oshiro wasn't doing their job or was not able to do their job for some reason, but either way it basically makes the theoretical justification for Mark Oshiro being the co-author/sensitivity reader irrelevant.

With Will, it was HUGE fanon back in the day for him to be trans. Trans!Will and photokinesis!Will were basically the two biggest headcanons for him (both largely popularized by Cherryandsisters). We know Rick is aware of this old fanon because he canonized photokinesis!Will. If we had gotten trans!Will, that would have been great! And then made sense why we specifically got a trans co-author! (Instead, if anything, TSATS canonized Will being cis.) If we had gotten Will being latino, that would have been amazing!!!! And also then made sense as to why they chose Mark Oshiro for the job as a latinx author/sensitivity-reader, versus potentially choosing an Italian co-author since Nico being Italian/Venetian was emphasized so much in the book (and done poorly! Yknow what they could have done to fix that? GOTTEN A SENSITIVITY READER FOR IT)! Based on the themes and focuses actually present in the book, it would have been most logical to get a queer, neurodivergent, Italian co-author or sensitivity reader who specializes in those three topics at least. But we didn't! So why was Mark Oshiro chosen instead when they only specialize in one of those topics? PR reasons. It's blatantly entirely PR reasons and no actual thought or care was put into this book (or, likely, TSATS 2 either).

It doesn't help that we're also actively being told that the published version of TSATS was a rough draft. Or that their editor blatantly isn't doing her job. Or that "The Sun And The Star" was the working title that they just kept cause they didn't bother to make an actual title. And that the final version is full of explicitly last-minute scenes that weren't checked over at all (the final Bianca scene, for one). Or the ACTIVELY ADMITTING TO SOURCING IDEAS AND INFORMATION FROM FANS! That last one is kind of important because at this level of publishing that is a HUGE no-no for legal reasons. You can get into a lot of trouble for that and there is a reason why it is Ye Olde Fandom Law to never try to pitch your ideas or headcanons to the source creator(s) and keep fandom separate from the creators. There is a REASON why Rick Riordan is so distant from the community these days and it's for PROTECTION AGAINST LEGAL REPERCUSSION. Mark Oshiro being the exact opposite while also ACTIVELY ACKNOWLEDGING sourcing concepts from fans does not bode well! It has to do with copyright stuff.

It's just. So. Sighhhhhhhh >->o <- me lying on the floor about all of this. It's sad being able to see the glimmer of what could have been at the very least a decent book underneath all this. If anyone involved in the process had actually cared just the tiniest amount.

[tarraxahum]

This was gonna be a reply to a reply but I thought maybe I should just make my own post. Yes this is about Vi again.

It's no secret that "Vi should've fought for Zaun" and the expectation of her being Vander's prodigy and feeling like the plot dropped the ball on her in that regard and the betrayal at the fact that she's living comfortably in Piltover now are. Frequent sentiments in the fandom. Which I get, but also I feel that this line of expectations is. Diverging from who Vi actually is by the end and what she was realistically capable of.

Vi in season 2 is basically running on fumes and because she has no other options. It is a well known thing in irl activist spaces that to participate in any kind of fight for justice you need to take care of yourself, otherwise you won't have the energy to be any kind of useful to your community. Ekko also says this - "It's not enough to give people what they need to survive, you have to give them what they need to live". Vi has been surviving and not living in any shape or form for years, she's exhausted and broken in places. That's no mental state to fight for Zaun or make any kinda change. I think it's extremely realistic and human and hardly a flaw of writing or the character if by the end the only thing she was able to do was collapse into the safety and peace she was offered for the first time in forever (aka Caitlyn). It's clear that in her last scene she's still recovering mentally - Cait seems to be excited to have any sign of life (singing) from her at all, and the "Are you still in this fight?" question is very loaded. (But it's indicated that Vi is very much still in the fight, so? It's really anyone's guess what she'll do once she's healed and remembers how to live. And don't bring up LoL's Vi brutality thing, it's clear they're different characters).

I think in wanting to see Vi stand up for Zaun or be Vander's prodigy we often deny her the flaw of being a breakable human and forget just how much she's held together by duct tape. Just because she was full of this 'fuck Piltover' fire as a kid doesn't mean she is still capable of matching that energy. Sometimes after lots of trauma humans grow up into tired adults who just want to sit down and feel safe regardless of where it happens and how questionable it might look (re: living in Piltover). Not to mention, that even as a child Vi's main reason for fuming at the Topside was wanting safety for her family and herself. Well, now she's all out of family, she's estranged from the community of Zaun thanks to being in prison for 7 years and Silco changing the place so much, and the only person who's offering her safety and not more fighting (which she's exhausted and thoroughly burnt out from!) is Caitlyn, so. How is where she ended up any kind of surprising or a failure of her writing/character?

Yes, a lot of people wanted a revolutionary, no, Vi isn't one. Dare I say, never really was one. At her lowest, when she's got no one left to protect, she's not trying to fill in that void by taking on protecting Zaun and becoming a vigilante or something, no, she spirals. That is not something on her radar, that's not something she's visibly cut out to do, she cares so so much but on a smaller scale. Even the whole shimmer factory debacle was less about Zaun and more about her desire to hurt Silco personally for what he'd done to her family. If Jinx agreed to run away with her back at the tea party Vi would ditch the entirety of Zaun (potentially leaving it to Silco forever since he's still alive at that point) in a heartbeat to keep her sister and save Cait in one move. She puts on an enforcer uniform BECAUSE she cares for Jinx (through convincing herself that at the very least she should take her out of her misery herself rather than leaving it to people who don't care, yes) and Cait both.

Perhaps a hot take, but not becoming a leader despite being good at taking hits to the head and caring about people in general and being a daughter of one does not make Vi a badly written character or a bad person. It just makes her a person. And a character whose arc culminated in choosing herself. And choosing yourself sometimes means leaving the fight to others (perhaps temporarily, considering the final dialogue). And that's okay.

Arcane is tragedy about flawed people, not a feel-good story about a successful revolution and rich people paying for their crap, and it was never going to be. Ergo one of our main character isn't an upcoming hero in shining armor who was allegedly robbed of her potential. She's just a broken young woman who barely knows how to keep her own little life together and her biggest victory by the end is allowing herself to take a breath and live for once. Yes, while her home down there is still in shambles. Yes, that sounds selfish. For some people a bit of selfishness is the greatest thing they can ever learn for themselves.

[xteacupx]

You can survive the bear-trap.

You need not stay silent and still in its teeth.

Video description below.

The 2024 version of the artwork, with minor animation.

The author avatar, a lady with long hair tied back with a gold hair-bow, stands in a dark forest with a golden light behind her. Unlike the other versions, she has her back to the viewer.

She is wearing a blue pinafore-dress and a white shoulderless blouse under it. Her legs are bare with one of them showing gold tooth-marks to suggest she has been caught in a bear-trap before. She is standing on one leg in a bear-trap, with her supporting leg dangerously close to stepping on the trigger point. One hand has an index finger extended, but both her arms are held out to help her to keep her balance. The chain of the bear-trap is on the forest floor.

The style here is mixed media; the original art is done using ink on paper, in an almost messy water-coloury style. The piece has been scanned, with all gold aspects being overlayed with a shimmering animated gold foil texture. There are some gold glowing sparkles that move in time with the animation.

[flickeringquip]

Convince the Fighter abstinence is bad for his health. There may be consequences(?) <<

A text continuation of this post, feat. @thedolmainblog's Blythe (shamelessly self-indulgent smut below the cut)

Your lips meet Blythe's a bit more forcefully than you intended, but you don't let that slow you down. You take advantage of his gasp to swipe your tongue against his own, hoping to entice him into responding.

Your knuckles turn white as your grip tightens on his shirt; you don't have a back-up plan to speak of, and frankly you're not sure you'd ever be able to look him in the eyes again if he shoves you away—

(1) And then he does move, but it's certainly not away.

In what feels like barely a few blinks, you find your positions almost completely reversed. You hear wood crack as it's kicked out of the way and internally thank your trusty crate for its service—

A firm thigh pushes between your own as warm hands slide over your ass with a squeeze, and then you get a taste of your own medicine as it's your gasp that's taken advantage of, this time.

(1) You don't know what you were expecting, but it wasn't quite this.

This being how you're pinned firmly to the concrete wall behind you, weight supported by the leg slotted between your own and the hands on your ass as every shift and squirm finds you inadvertently grinding down against Blythe's thigh — and making the most dreadfully embarrassing little noises that are only mostly muffled by the Fighter's own lips against your own.

Already you can feel the desire pulsing in your middle, can feel the heat building between your thighs with each of your little shifts and squirms, each squeeze of Blythe's hands as he kisses you like a man possessed.

(1) It's only when you break the kiss, feeling like you can't quite get enough air, that his attention shifts.

Those same lips trail down to your throat as his hands slide up to take a firmer hold of your hips — and this time there's nothing to muffle the moan that startles out of you when he sucks a bruising mark over your pulse and grinds you down harder against his thighs.

His echoing groan rumbles through you like a physical touch, tension winding hot and fast in your middle as Blythe guides your hips into a rolling rhythm against his leg — and fuck if the easy way he moves you doesn't make you burn all the hotter.

You lose a bit of time, then, losing yourself in the all-consuming onslaught of his affections. It's dizzying, overwhelming, and leaves you utterly unable to focus on anything other than him—

(1) Which leaves you caught entirely off-guard when you suddenly find yourself only scant seconds away from cumming.

"Blythe—" Your fingers fist tighter into his shirt, the only part of your positions that has remained the same, a shivery note to your voice you're unfamiliar with as your thighs squeeze around his own, not even aware of the faint quiver working its way down your spine, "W-wait a sec, I, I'm—"

Blythe, who most certainly did notice your little tremble, the way your breath begins to catch in your throat, the heat he can feel through both of your trousers—

"Cum," The order is as demanding as it is desperate, all but growled into your ear as he presses even closer, tilting your hips until the next roll of them has you loosing a stuttered cry, every inch of you going taut as a bowstring in his grasp, "Aster, cum."

(1) And really, what can you do but listen?

Pleasure crashes through you like a tidal wave, and you're only dimly aware of the lips slanting over yours to muffle noises you hadn't even realized you could make. Your body moves of its own volition, hips rocking jerkily against Blythe's thigh as you ride out your orgasm with mindless intent until you're finally spent.

You collapse against the Fighter's chest like a puppet with her strings cut, trembling all over as you try and catch your breath in the wake of such unexpected intensity. Just above you, Blythe makes a noise that nearly sounds pained, and it's jarring enough to have you lifting your cheek from his collar to peer up at him in somewhat bleary concern—

And then you're being moved again, faintly trembling hands no less strong as they hoist your legs up around his waist. You can't help but fidget, and Blythe responds by taking another half-step closer, leaving you pinned flush between him and the wall — and entirely unable to miss the firm bulge that grinds into your still-sensitive sex, hot enough to make you whine even through the layers of cloth between the two of you.

(1) "Again."

Time blurs again. You try to cling to your composure, but it's a battle you lose laughably quick when every rock of Blythe's hips sends frissons of heat shocking through you. The high-pitched little noises - nearly mewls - have you flushing bright enough to rival your hair, but it's blessedly easy to ignore, because—

Blythe seems fixated on wringing another orgasm from you just like this, grinding into you with laser-focused intensity, adapting real time to what pulls the best noises from you. Normally you'd feel a little bad at your lack of participation, but honestly it's all you can do to hang on for the ride, what with how determined the Fighter is on driving pesky little things like thoughts out of your head.

(1) Your next orgasm leaves you twice as breathless and shaky as the last, and you only just catch the muttering coming from above you.

"Not here, not here," Blythe all but chants the words, and the fingers flexing against your hips are your only warning before you find yourself plucked away from the wall, arms slipping instinctively around his neck as Blythe walks with a single-minded focus to. . . Somewhere? You get your answer when you find yourself set gently down upon a leather seat. It's Blythe's motorcycle; you've seen him on it a handful of times, but you've never been on one before. He hands you a helmet, waiting a little impatiently for you to put it on, and you're in enough of a daze from your unexpected - and successive - climaxes that you do so without even really thinking about it. He tightens it for you before getting on himself, reaching back to pull your arms around his waist, guiding you grab your opposite wrists before looking over his shoulder with a look caught somewhere between stern and feverish. "Hang on tight." (1) Why did no one tell you motorcycles vibrated so much?

End of Pt. 1(?)

[thanakite]

If we had more episodes of Arcane I would hope that one of the scenes included would have been one where someone (I'm not positive who exactly would be best for this, but SOMEONE) ripped Cassandra Kiramman a new asshole over the fact that Marcus was a corrupt sheriff who utilized her demands to fire her daughter as an excuse to do just that since Caitlyn was poking into things that would have exposed Marcus himself on top of Silco and those connected to him (because let's be real here, Jayce said Caitlyn's parents had ensured that Marcus fired her, but Cassandra is the one we see with power in Piltover and it is indicated that Cassandra used her power as a councilor to mess with Caitlyn's work as an Enforcer before, and really it is her word that carried weight (as a councilor) enough for it to be a legitimate reason for Marcus to fire Caitlyn, while we don't see any of that for Tobias)

I don't know for sure that they'd actually do it even with more time, but not only would I have loved that (at least at minimum some kind of reprimand over it) just because I think such a thing is well deserved, but also like that whole thing was all such a shit show

The Council is obviously tremendously unhappy about Marcus's betrayal and really they kind of only barely scratch the surface of what his corruption truly meant, but all things considered if Caitlyn hadn't been as determined as she is/was then Marcus could have continued on hiding the truth from them for YEARS longer, allowing SO MUCH corruption through all the while, on top of whatever he helped Silco facilitate and whatever came from that

At the same time, if she had instead chosen to fully support/back Caitlyn in her decision to become an Enforcer and the work she was doing with them, then maybe Caitlyn could have gotten more support and resources in her investigation and she could have uncovered the truth about Marcus sooner and in a potentially less dangerous/deadly manner which would have likely been helpful both short and long term

By using her position as she did (and not supporting her daughter in the profession she obviously considered her dream job) she furthered a fairly involved, extreme, and deeply vital piece of corruption in Piltover, and while that might not have been her base intention it doesn't change the results and in many years ways was an abuse of power itself so I do firmly believe that either another Councilor or maybe Vi should have very firmly called her out for this shit and made it abundantly clear why this was not the right thing to do for Piltover nor her daughter

[yellowocaballero]

So fucking glad to see someone talk about SSS Class revival hunter 😭 I lived it so much and I feel like no one ever mentions it against more popular titles like ORV or even The Lout of the counts family, so I'm so glad to come here and see your amazing takes :>

Thank you for the ask which lets me talk about SSSCRH (the version I read was titled 'Suicide Hunter', which tbh I like more - no beating around the bush).

It's hard to draw an accurate comparison since I'm going off just the webtoon for SSSCRH, while I'm going off both the webtoon and the webnovel for ORV. And I love ORV, ORV is my media blorbo right now, it hydraulic presses my brain, I am writing ORV fanfic - it's, like, funner to enjoy. But SSSRH is just better. In the vast majority of ways it is is better. It's better than the holy trinity by a wide margin. TW talk of suicide obviously.

I can't believe I'm saying this but you need a basic understanding of Buddhism in order to understand SSSCRH. It's not about Gongja's suicides - he doesn't suicide from depression or lack of self-esteem. SSSCRH is about suffering in the Buddhist sense - dukkha. I don't want to make this an essay, so I might reblog this with more information, but extremely shortly:

The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism is the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering. You've heard that Buddhists say 'life is suffering'. To put it one way that doesn't require defining a lot of words: the cause of suffering is experiencing the world as we percieve it instead of how it truly is. Suffering isn't just being miserable and in pain, and life isn't suffering because life sucks and global warming exists and people voted for Trump. Life is suffering because we can experience beautiful and joyful moments in this world, but we do not exist in the moment of that happiness or place our ego/'self' between us and that happiness. Living in that moment, accepting the moment as it is unconditionally, is freedom from suffering. The Buddha tries to free people from suffering through teaching Buddhism.

"What does this have to do with the webnovel and manwha about a guy murdering himself thousands of times" it has everything to do with it. Because SSSCRH is about suffering, and it is about using suffering as a tool in order to experience a world unfiltered by ego and break down the artificial boundaries between human beings. Suffering in SSSCRH is not a bad thing. Gongja has the unique capability to (reincarnate.) experience a person's suffering in unity with them, which dissolves the delusion of separation between people and puts us in touch with the reality of oneness.

The Murim arc was fucking insane because Gongja pulls a Big Bodhisattva Move and walks through the suffering of the world in order to achieve full understanding of the human experience. He takes all of the suffering of the world into himself and is liberated. You can tell it's Buddhist because death was not presented as a bad thing - death was an aspect of a happy ending for the Heavenly Demon lady, because she was finishing her life according to her own joy, and because her teachings were passed on she did not truly die.

But the purpose of embracing suffering is to discover the ability to fully embrace life, and that's where Heavenly Demon's teachings were incomplete - as the ghost dude said, Gongja hasn't even experienced his own full life and the infinite capability for his own happiness. You can only feel the depths of sadness when you've felt the depths of happiness. Sadness deserves its place in the world and it can strengthen you, but so does happiness.

Gongja is attention-seeking, envious, and unbelievably petty. When he drills down into his own desires and why he wants the things he wants, you see that he has a very strong sense of justice and right and wrong - he realizes he doesn't want to be famous, he wants to be acknowledged, but on an even deeper level he is desperate for love and to be loved. Everything he does is to experience love, and as such he learns to love others. His love for the Flamey Asshole was purely parasocial and ego-filled, with no concern for who he was as a human. Throughout the manwha, he grows to care for people as they truly are and pierce through any delusions or misleading outward appearances. He has released all attachment to life and death, and as such does not fear death, and as such has taken a step on the road towards becoming a Boddhisatva who frees others from the cycle of samsara, and as a result has learned sick sword techniques and is sooo good at beating people up.

I think the only other thing I want to mention here because otherwise this is an essay: in almost every time loop/regression story, only the final regression matters. In stories with dungeon monsters and NPCs, only the humans matter. The regressor exists in a space where there are no consequences for their actions, so they act terribly and do whatever because none of it matters. In Groundhog Day Bill Murray acts like an asshole because he can. That's not the case here. Everything Gongja does matters. The NPCs are fake, but Gongja never treats them as anything less than real people who deserve life. Once he understands a person's life he never treats them as unimportant. No loop is thrown away and no person or life is disregarded. His choices matter, the way he treats others matters, and Gongja never treats anybody as if they don't matter except for himself.

That was not short. There is a lot more. The female characters are so good and so rich. From a craft perspective it is excellently paced and has a wonderful sense of set-up/payoff and balances tone and maintains a lot of momentum, which is really hard in a time loop story. You have to do a few very specific things to write OP characters well and SSSCRH does it very well. There's more to say from a craft perspective and it's hard to judge accurately from a webtoon but it's good. I was so strangely struck the entire time about how sincere and genuine it was, how it said what it said with no trace of irony of confusion, and I think that's what stuck with me the most.

TL;DR: SSS Class Revival Hunter is good for a lot of very normal reasons, such as excellent pacing and set-up/pay off and characters, but it's also so sincerely and genuinely Buddhist that it blew my tits clean off.

[feroluce]

I'm still not over Nahida's second story quest, and Nahida herself saying that her physical form and appearance is based off how much power she holds, especially when you combine that with the info Venti gives us about how a god's power comes from their people's love and worship. This is a story that has plagued my thoughts for forever, because like. Please, that could be so sweet and heartwarming. ♡

I love the thought that now that Nahida has finally taken rightful rule of Sumeru, the Sabzeruz Festival becomes what it should always have been, a huge nation-wide celebration of the Dendro Archon's birthday. The previous celebrations involved the dendro archon riding by in a carriage, and everyone throwing flowers to her. And so they do that, like all through Sumeru City and maybe even all the way through Port Ormos.

Nahida is a little embarrassed, it's even a little bit overwhelming after how long she spent trapped alone in the Sanctuary of Surasthana, but it's still very fun for her. And it maybe doesn't happen the first year. Or the second or even the third. It maybe doesn't happen for a long time.

But there is one year where the turnout is greater than ever, all of these people, her people, are gathered to celebrate her, and Nahida climbs into her carriage at the start of the route, and she watches and waves to everyone she passes, and everyone is happy to see her and be under her rule, and that emotion is higher and more present that day than any other, and it exists like a thrum in the air that Nahida can feel.

And at the end of the route, the carriage stops, now so completely covered in flowers that no one can even see into it, but the people all wait for their beloved god to step out and address the masses to kick off the festivities.

And the door swings open, and out stumbles a woman who has to fold herself and duck just to fit past the frame, and her green-streaked white hair hangs nearly to the ground, her long dress dragging on the carriage steps.

And the whole crowd goes like dead silent because they have no idea what this means. The woman is just looking down at her hands in wide-eyed curiosity.

So it's not until Cyno suddenly steps forward and drops to one knee as he offers his congratulations to his lord and Nahida beams at him that the people realizes it really is her, and the whole crowd is ecstatic and it becomes a huge celebration!! Their god has gained more power!! This is a physical manifestation of their love for her, their kind and gentle ruler, how could they not feel such pride?!

And after it's all over and done with, Nahida returns home to the Akademiya, and she sits on the floor in front of a tall mirror, studying her reflection. Something about looking like this, it feels strangely...right.

So she has no idea why it also makes her want to cry.

[lovesickeros]

lord its so dark in here the sahara desert of tsaritsa content you are like a shining oasis. your characterisation of her compels me & mihoyo would be hard pressed to top it imo.!! caaaaan i humbly request yr thoughts on her first meeting w a reader of any kind, or maybe even multiple kinds (sagau, sagau god au, isekai, etc) if you so desire...

it really is like a desert here. being the fan of a character we aren't getting until the last damn nation is driving me up a wall but i will persevere bc if nothing else i support morally bankrupt women in media. we r in a severe drought over here but i do my best. unfortunately nothing i say is ever coherent so pull out your translation notes its abt 2 be messy

also this got out of hand but thats bc first meetings w the tsaritsa are tricky to write + a LOT of her characterization lies in deeper exploration then just surface level yknow...NOT A DIG AT YOU this is just my excuse for rambling. gently pats the tsaritsa she can hold so much complexity i do not have the word count to delve into it completely :]

gonna talk cult au for a bit here though because that's 99% of my content. and honestly? she thrives in sub au's of the cult au like villain au + imposter au. it's basically made for her. i mean, early days, the imposter au had been going around for a little while but one of the first few ideas was the Fatui taking reader in so like. it kinda technically actually was. pretty sure cult au Tsaritsa popped up because of the imposter au. a lot of it's writers kinda left though which. man am i getting old or.

anyway.

there isn't much of a chance her first impression is all that positive. at best it's usually neutral, imo, but rarely if ever positive. specifically because i view the Tsaritsa as someone who isn't as fanatical as most of the acolytes typically are towards the creator. she's not exactly going to worship the ground you walk on unlike a certain geo lizard. which is partially why i think she thrives in the sub au's i mentioned.

imposter au, for example. she meets you at your lowest. there's no gaudy extravagance or pampering from the acolytes waiting for you because your own acolytes have turned on you. for all intents and purposes you aren't a "god" at all. which is why i don't think she meshes well with normal cult au reader. the Fatui are made up of outcasts, basically, and imposter au slots right in just perfectly. you're weak, at your lowest, when you meet the Fatui in the imposter au. and the Fatui can help you, too.

a mutual exchange, really. the Tsaritsa sees a tool she can use to one up the rest of the nations and especially Archons, and she has no qualms about you using her and the Fatui in turn. you both want something out of it, after all. whether you just want to be safe from the rest of the acolytes, or you want revenge, or whatever else..she'll give you the power to fulfill it, and she gains the strongest piece on the chessboard when all is said and done.

the best way i can describe the first meeting is "practical", i suppose. she sees an opportunity in you. the ultimate gamble. because if she "saves" you, and you dont trust anyone else because they tried to kill you, well..she holds all the cards, doesn't she?

but the Tsaritsa, imo, is just as capable of being just as fanatical towards you as anyone else. she just won't worship you as the creator. but as yourself? clawing your way back to your divine power and taking back what belongs to you? the Tsaritsa is, to me, a character who's character flourishes in long-term fics more because she changes a LOT between "just met reader" and after having been with reader for some time. she's practically apathetic at the beginning but a lot of her character, in my characterization, shines through LONG after the first meeting.

[linkito]

I feel so much for Scar in those pre-sleepover rambles T-T He's out here trying to balance his protectiveness with the hermits being like that. And the hermits seemingly not caring that they're hurting him too. Really only Impulse seems to be looking at Scar. It just all feels bad...

-🎀

It is bad!

And honestly, it's a tricky thing to write, because even though we typically focus on the perspective of Grian and Scar, we don't want to write the other Hermits as mean. In fact, they're not even necessarily in the wrong. Because things really aren't black and white.

They mean well. They're concerned about Grian, and in a way, it is helpful. It's making Grian look inward and think about what he likes and for what reasons. It is a good concern to have, just... executed poorly.

Because they don't know any better.

It's reactionary! They see bruises and a flinching avian and fangs and an angry vex. It's not an unreasonable conclusion to come to. And they're still not necessarily buying into this idea of Scar being an abuser of some sort, no they know Scar, but... They can't just discard their concerns because of their feelings.

They know Scar, but... this version of him almost seems like a stranger.

...On the bright side, there are more Hermits on Scar's side than just Impulse! (not Mumbo though /sob)

Impulse and Gem were there during the rescue, specifically they were the two that saw how Grian let Scar near when he wouldn't allow that from anyone else. The way Scar's vex form faded as he embraced him. The way they held each other so intimately, the way Scar shushed and soothed him.

They know. And they saw that awful world. They understand more than most.

And Gem regularly spars with Scar! She's probably one of the few who is genuinely intrigued by this "new Scar." She likes him. She likes him just as much as she liked "old Scar."

Skizz comes around. He's a bit nosy and can be very critical, but he's also a pair with Impulse, let's be real. If Impulse sees the good in Scar, so will Skizz. Skizz is just gonna be a bit more of a pain in the butt sometimes, but Scar doesn't mind being held accountable and being kept in check. (Grian minds that people think they have to do that.)

Cleo is also a huge support. Imagine Scar asking them if he scares her. And Cleo just snorts like, "Scar, you could never scare me." She's literally undead! A vex doesn't startle them. Cleo is also the one to help dress Scar for the sleepover and cut his hair. Mama Cleo energy <3

And surprisingly, someone who is just undeniably on Scar's side and goes as far to say the other Hermits are completely out of line?

Doc.

Doc, who had Scar practically destroy his bionic arm on the ship during the rescue. (It's fine, it gave him an excuse to make upgrades.) Doc who is taking care of [redacted] and understands more than anyone what those two had to go through.

"Those Hermits, man, they love to get involved in everybody's business. Some of the things they say, so stupid."

Doc isn't scared of Scar. Just look at him, he's the scary one! (No, he's fluffy and soft. Soft for Scar and soft for the pesky bird.)

And then of course, there's— /dragged away by the redacted fairies

0:-)