#flashbacks to when i wanted to write for genshin

[kyaruun]

oh yeah he is definitely bunny coded

he is small and cute and very much similar to nazuna

in fact, his sweatshirt has a bunny on it

funnily enough like everything is rabbit coded... we have rabbitter (twitter) and rabbichat (messages).... i wouldn't be surprised about a rabbigram (instagram)

omg das insane actually i knew id like mitsuki from the minute i saw him but tenn just has a way of pulling in the fans. maybe its his perfectionism i dont know. he just hits different. funny how i like him a lot offstage

i will keep you updated

pls i havent posted in foreeeeever like what happened to mafuyucord (hasnt been updated in forever)

i'm sorry but i'm obsessed with the idea of rabbitter. twitter but instead of a blue bird there's a blue bunny. same icons but everything is rabbit shaped. i'd love that <3

i saw tenn and he immediately reminded me of one of my fav ocs so kudos to him, i had an attachment from the beginning. and then i heard him speak and my heart stopped,, cv: saito soma my personal weakness. mmm i feel like you really like characters that work themselves to the bone for their work/their dreams. the kind of people you can depend on easily but they need the support the most (whether they've realized it or not)

but aaa i get you. running multiple blogs is hard. my motivation goes up and down and down and up all day so i understand the struggle TT

[stellanix]

(genshin impact spoilers incoming)

one aspect of furina's characterization that's pretty understated but that i really really really love is her intelligence and curiosity. usually in genshin, when a character's intelligence is an important trait of theirs, there are aspects of their design, writing, voice acting, etc, that very clearly tell you "hey this character is smart." albedo, for example, wears a labcoat, is always saying big sciency words in a calm, rational tone of voice, and other characters are always talking about how smart he is

but furina? nothing about her on the surface suggests that she's a "smart" character - quite the opposite, in fact. superficially, she's introduced as a bratty, conceited, overconfident person who actually has no idea what she's doing. we eventually learn in the archon quest that that was all an act, but even after she regains her freedom, nothing about her really seems archetypically intelligent, at least at face value

instead, furina's intelligence is always shown rather than told (the only exception being nahida's voiceline about her). she had an intelligence network across teyvat feeding her information, and we saw in the flashback how she directed researchers to study the prophecy and potential ways of stopping it. before things like lyney's trial or directing the two musketeers, she'd stay up all night planning and piecing things together all on her own. she loves learning new things, she has lines in the teapot about how, when she's interested in something, she wants to become the most knowledgeable person in the topic, and also how she'd like to disassemble the teapot itself to learn how it works, and she's quick to learn new skills (like surfing). and, of course, she's well read, and quite possibly teyvat's foremost expert on the performing arts

i like how furina sort of defies the concept of character archetypes. she's initially presented as an archetypical bratty, dramatic, spoiled popular girl, but that was a role she forced herself into because it's what people expected of her. but the real furina, while still retaining some of the flamboyance from her archon persona, doesn't really fit into a clear mold. she's smart without being a super-genius, and she's kind without being a soft-spoken doormat. it makes her feel multifaceted and real, and i really love that!

anyway, this is why it makes me mad whenever i see people calling furina stupid, cuz she's not!

[autumn-foxfire]

I've spent the better part of the day playing the new Genshin update and am in a good mood so I've decided it's time for me to tackle the London section of Detective Conan.

As I've said on an earlier post, I am looking forwards to aspects such as Shinichi's pure enjoyment about being in London but there are others that I am not *cough* the "confession" *cough*

Honestly, why are they surprised that "Conan" can speak English. His name is very much English in nature, most people would assume that he has an English parent or was raised in America/England.

But it's very cute that Shinichi did not miss an opportunity to go visit the home of his hero!

I genuinely can't believe his parents have never taken their son to London... it almost seems cruel considering they love to travel and it's clear their son would adore to visit such a location...

And you'd think that with all the connections Yuusaku has, he could have gotten his son and Ai a passport to help make their identities real and give them the chance to travel. But judging from how they've also never taken their son to LONDON I think it's pretty clear they don't give much of a damn.

It's also so Gosho can force what happens.

Ai is incredibly kind however, to give Shinichi the chance to go to London despite the risks.

Oh this also makes me incredibly sad because Ran shouldn't spend her money on Shinichi who knows he'll be coming to London, she should get souveniers for herself. Shinichi as Conan could have said he'd get them.

It's the pink shirt T-T The pink shirt of doom.

SHINICHI IS SUCH AN ADORABLE NERD!

Oh Shinichi did try and stop her from getting him souveniers. Well at least he tried to stop her.

Of course you've made her mad Shinichi, she wants to do something nice for you and you blew her off because you're hiding a secret you don't need to hide from her.

Shinichi and his ability to stumble on a case.

It's so weird to hear british accents in DCMK...

Minerva is a bit of a bitch but Ran also needs someone to tell her to ditch Shinichi and move on. Yes, what she did could have been seen as insensitive but as the audience we know that's not the case so Shinichi is just causing her more pain than needed.

Does it not concern Shinichi at all at how easy it is for him to lie to Ran? Because it concerns me a lot.

HOLMES IS WRONG SHINICHI. FOOD IS FUEL.

Shinichi DOES NOT DESERVE RAN.

Yes, that's the appropriate reaction to have to your "love interest". Flee. Fuck I hate their canon relationship so much.

Okay, but what is with Ran's reaction too?! Honestly I'd run as well. Lord give me strength.

Get hurt, idiot.

WHY WOULD SHE KNOW YOU'RE KUDO SHINICHI?!

ALL RAN HAS ASKED IS IF PEOPLE HAD SEEN A JAPANESE BOY! SHE NEVER SAID THE AGE OF THE BOY SHE WAS CHASING! MY GOD THIS IS SO DUMB!

HE'S RUNNING BECAUSE YOU'RE SCREAMING HIS NAME IN A WAY THAT SUGGESTS YOU WANT TO HURT HIM?!

Ran has every right to be mad with Shinichi but damn is this moment so contrived and stupid!

Ran is crying her eyes out and Shinichi still only cares about the case when Ran is sharing how fucking hurt she is?! RAN DITCH SHINICHI.

...4 more episodes left.

I'm honestly so disgusted that it took a half-hearted "confession" that he only did because Ran was in so much pain caused by his actions for her to forgive his behaviour. Fuck Gosho and fuck how he writes Ran.

"This is the name of a story Shinichi told me about before" and it's a flashback of her getting mad at him and then complaining about him enjoying Holmes.

"Why hasn't the killer been arrested yet?" because the police suck!

Ran doesn't even want to see Shinichi after his great "confession" how telling.

Ran just assaults the man instead of asking kindly for him to roll up his pant legs... She and Shinichi are really competing for who is the most unlikable in these episodes.

Ignoring a threat? Sounds like the police here. Unless that threat is someone who isn't white and british and usually they're not a threat.

I can understand why the English are speaking slow for the sake of Japanese watchers but it really reminds me of children learning shows and is throwing me off a little XD

GREMLIN CHILD

He was just going to tranquilize a security guard to get in T-T

I mean, out of all of them, Shinichi has the most experience with guys who chase their appearance.

Shinichi shouting out in the crowd was adorable. He's redeemed himself a little from this clusterfuck of a set of episodes.

And of course his parents already know but are just leaving it all to their young son because all parents in dcmk are SHIT. Don't forget that. "But Foxy, it's more entertaining for the MC to save the day" it is but the price of that is him having extremely terrible parents.

Okay but Gosho does realize how bad this is right? Comparing Ran and Shinichi's relationship with Ares and Minerva. Minerva said that she doesn't want Ares to hold back from what he loves meanwhile Shinichi is constantly holding Ran back and making her wait for him. He does see the difference, right.

What Shinichi did wasn't a confession. He told her she was trouble and then said how could he understand the heart of the girl he likes. MAYBE RECOGNIZE SHE IS EXTREMELY HURT AND DISTRESSED AND YOU'RE THE REASON WHY! It's a terrible confession and I am totally writing Ran rejecting it.

And Ai knows Shinichi is an idiot.

[kizuna-the-randomix]

So one of my friends is really into history, lore, and Stuff and told me that a dude named Dr. Irving Finkel translates stuff from sumerian and he's, like, the one who learned that the Epic of Gilgamesh was like homework for scribes-in-training with said trainee scribes being, as I like to describe, 2-18-years-old rich kids. Bestie then proceeded to yeet me the mental imagery of some young noble child scribe writing GilKidu fan fiction instead of their homework [which, mood you scenario-noble child] which leads me to THIS crack shot of an idea being born when I said to them:

"Imagine one of the best scribes in the Modern Era was a 2 year old girl and the only reason she's considered the best because she lost her homework and that's the only reason why a Significant Part of The Story of Gilgamesh still exists."

Which lead me to conclude that "I can fanfic this." So really this AU (kinda) started because of bestie and because they like Kaveh and Deshret and Kaveh as Deshret, I decided to call this one The Epic of Deshret AU (shortened name) [full name of this AU would probably be Ancient Ship Fiction Survives AU]. (Below is basically copy pasting what I told them while I was running on AU juice)

Epic of Gilgamesh AU in Genshin but replace Gil and Enkidu with King Deshret and Nabu Malikata-- but its modern au with Haikaveh/Kavetham being Scribe and Archeologist respectively and they just uncovered a new site that contains ancient text that seems to hold new information about the Epic of King Deshret-- except that's not really the main plot.

So first scene is haikaveh uncovering the text and it like freezes to black and white, focusing on the Ancient text they're holding with some background dialouge going like "so you're probably wondering how I got here" with the voiceover being Nahida. Now flashback to an ancient time where The Era of King Deshret has passed but their stories told are still (kinda) accurate-- newly inducted scribe Nahida (5 years old), daughter of the late Lady Rukkadevata, has decided that she want to write about The Definitely True and Hidden Love Story of King Deshret and His Goddess of Flower Nabu Malikata that she discovered from her Late Mother's hidden books. There starts the tale of a grand adventure starting her escape from her definitely-not-power-hungry uncle Azar who definitely did not kill Rukka to going on a journey where she meets many people, asking them about what Hidden Details they could possibly know about King Deshret and Nabu Malikata to make her Definitely Hidden True Love Story more accurate.

So like the thing is that the story Nahida finds from her mom's hidden stuff is a What-If fanfiction if Nabu Malikata lived and they went on their way to Love and Procreate. Yeah she definitely still died as lore accurate to her Epic of Gilgamesh counterpart Enkidu.

--------------------------------------------------------

So yea that's all that I got for now. If anyone does decide this also tickles their plot bunny do tag me so I can see it too.

[milksnake-tea]

hello ! congrats congrats on 2k woohoo

just thought id mention ive been reading your stuff even since your tpn fic was ongoing JDDHFFJ that feels like so long ago wow

so for the new event could i ask questions #7 and #15 for you and #11 for any hsr character and #14 as well? congrats again :D youre super cool !

i want u to know that i physically jumped out of my seat when u mentioned the tpn fic THAT GAVE ME VIOLENT FLASHBACKS ON GOD . BUT HOLY CRAP THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING ME FOR THAT LONG ???? WHAT THE HELL ???

NOW ONTO THE ASKS !!

7. Who's your favorite song artist?

ADO !!! I absolutely LOVE her work and I seriously can't believe that she's only a few years older than me. Other than her, I also adore Jorge Rivera-Herrans, who's also the creator of EPIC: The Musical !!! Definitely go check them out if you haven't already?

15. What authors do you recommend?

Okay so I'm not going to tag them (because the social anxiety is going to HIT) BUT !!! On here, my favorite writers are definitely @/baeshijima and @/xiaowhore, xiaowhore especially was such a gift during my genshin phase, their writings are just amazing <33 definitely an inspiration to me. Another really great writer on here is @/abyssruler !!!

11. What's a really stupid hc you have about a character?

on the rare chance that the space station needs money and asta can't handle it all, herta makes merch of herself and sells it. it makes billions. the ipc wants to buy rights to it because it makes just that much money.

14. What characters do you think would be the best friends or companions to have?

There's so many, but I'd say Dan Heng, Sushang, Guinafen, and Gepard !!! Dan Heng, Sushang, and Gepard are all pretty responsible and can keep you from getting into trouble without being naggy, and they're also just really nice people to be around. Guinafen isn't as responsible, but she's a sweetheart and has a fun personality; she'd make every day fun and exciting <33

2k follower event if you want to participate !!!

[aticklishpercivalwriter]

Updates

Yeah, so it been busy for me lately. List below:

Job Interview Monday, will hear back today if I get the job or not.

Making the itenary for my family trip

Shopping (For my little bro's birthday and myself, two tablets. Got good deals, but still the most money I have ever spent in my life 😭)

Adding on, making sure I still have enough money 🙃

Played the Bedtime Story quest in Genshin and man that was emotional. Spoiler: When she said Aether's name and he was like, "You're the only one who calls me that," not just because they were talking but because that hits so hard. Everyone calls him Traveler and hearing his name for the first time in forever was like, oh man. Heck it rang deeper for me because there was this one fanfic of Lyney and Aether that was exactly like this (I'll try to find it). If I remember correctly, Aether was crying because he was feeling so lonely in the world doing all these commissions over and over, helping the people in Teyvat and for what? No lead on his sister and everyone calling him Traveler and he like completely lost his identity/way. Then Lyney came into the picture and the moment he said Aether's name like "Aether, that's your real name isn't it?" Aether was like crying and they eventually kiss, and yeah, so many emotions. We're not going to talk about Hoyoverse making it so they don't remember.

Writing the Zhongli and Itto fic. The reason I put it off for so long is because I didn't know how I can write their dynamic and the plot. I got it now though! I'm sorry for the two who requested for them that it is coming to you this late :(

Just being so tired. Like I feel exhausted everyday and I don't know why.

Getting jealous over Genshin males. Yes, I get jealous and when you see artwork and writings of hot male characters, and your favorite ships kissing each other, being themselves, smut, fluff, and tickles, all the time, you get jealous of wanting something like that in the real world. It passes...eventually...then comes back.

Got a Playstation Plus trial and was browsing the games when I saw Tales of Zestria and Final Fantasy. I've read many fics of the two and loved them and was curious how the games fair. Wasn't disappointed at all, I just started mind you.

So, Tales of Zestria, I loved the ship between Sorey and Mikleo when I read fics and seen artwork of them and now I can fully appreciate why people ship them. They have a great dynamic and are funny even in dangerous situations. Also, is Mikleo like jealous? Once Sorey starts talking to the girl he saved, Mikleo is like pouty when Sorey isn't giving him as much attention as before. There was a couple lines where Sorey goes, "I hope Mikleo isn't worried," and when you talk to Mikleo he goes, "It wasn't like I was worried or anything." Give him attention Sorey!

And then Final Fantasy, the VII Remake, one. This is my first time playing Final Fantasy, so I am really out of the loop. I thought I would see characters like Ignis or Noctis from the fics I read, but they must be in a different version or I haven't encountered them yet. Action and fighting was the first thing I was doing in the game and I was hooked. I love to appreciate the graphics and fine details that goes into video games and this was no exception as I took in the experience, the cutscenes, everything. The dialogue, the other characters, Cloud Strife (main character), the story so far, it's so cool. Then Jessie brings up how Cloud is good to look at and then I actually look at Cloud and yeah. Why is he so hot?! You probably know my type knowing who I like in Genshin. Like his arm muscles are well defined. I am a sucker for males in tank tops and showing off their arms. And his cool hair, his facial expressions, his sass. Why does he look so good!? Ahem, gotta stop. I am also interested in his story more than anything like what happened? There's these flashbacks and yeah. This game has me hooked, okay? I admit, I searched up Cloud Strife thirst trap (I'm sorry, I had to. I blame the fan artists for making Sethos hot asf with arm muscles. @cawiechan on Twitter for example. I'm obsessed.) and you know what came up? "FF7 Remake transforms the horniest Final Fantasy into a full-on thirst trap" So, you are telling me the first Final Fantasy game that I play is the horniest and a thirst trap? Hey, I'm not complaining and I find that really funny.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading! I consider this a safe place to talk about stuff that I wouldn't talk about anywhere else and where I feel welcome, so thank you for making me feel accepted here :) Wishing you all well and talk to you all later ❤️!

[written-with-blue-ink]

But Gaming is around his 20s he has multiple jobs and lives by himself 💀

It's just a Xiao/Cyno case where he's just short and I don't mean it in a rude way, personally it gives me like war flashbacks to when people infantalized the short men

You aren't rude, hon. Not offended in the slightest and I get it. I haven't played Genshin in a while so I wanted to make sure it was okay for me to write about him. Just with that ambiguous age that most characters have, I wanted to know <3

[dkniade]

You know, years ago when I felt miserable at night I’d write an even more miserable solo Kaeya piece (which exacerbated my feeling, I now realize), but now, when I feel bad and want to write Genshin characters, it’s hurt/comfort. Improvement.

Warnings: (first section) depression & death ideation // (second section) graphic depiction of PTSD — dissociation & flashback, speech pattern change, coldness

2021: “Forlorn Child of Archaic Schemes” (introspective/no comfort Kaeya)

“In reality, this staredown with the void greatly depressed him. And he felt like it was going to win, like it would claim him right then and there. To fall into the depth of the void, at the bottom of a cliff, somehow, such an idea seems like the only solution to his life of guilt and betrayal.”

2023: “Dawn Winds, Heed My Vision” (hurt/comfort Diluc & Venti)

“Venti! Prithee call me naught but Venti…” he breathed. A sinking darkness settled in Diluc’s chest. His brows furrowed. Even for a talented poet such as Venti, this speech pattern felt… unfamiliar . He stepped before the bar and knelt down to support the bard, who was losing his balance.

“Venti,” Diluc repeated with a calm voice, “tell me what’s wrong.”

“I… fear my heart is enshrouded in the chill of… No, I beg of thee…” The bard’s blue eyes seemed unfocused. 

Diluc wrapped his arms around the Anemo Archon’s—no, Venti’s —small body. Who needed a Pyro Vision when it was this deity’s vision that he needed to meet? But Venti stopped Diluc’s hand from making contact. “If you’d grant me permission to simply hold you…”

[taviokapudding]

What is up with the Genshin writing team always being so inconsistent with paimon & traveler? I know they're both fed up & don't want to be pulled into bs again but a balance is needed.

Childe shouldn't get a pass because the traveler knows them a bit more.

Why is the harbinger who almost drowned Liyue and indirectly almost drowned Liyue a second time as a byproduct of the first attempt (in Shenhe's hangout we leanred he used an ass ton of fake seals of permission that never were recovered and moved with the ocean currents into osial wife's underwater jail domain) getting a slap on the wrist because ✨️besties✨️when we barely even know Lyney and he isn't an issue in the grand scheme of Fatuus they know?

Like I actually hate that I side with Paimon on this one given how fucking racist she's been in Sumeru (which is when she went from inconsistent but still a goofy kiddo to actually fucking annoying & intolerable). The traveler should still be wary of all harbingers consistently; I genuienly liked how they were with Scaramouche because even after the "redemption arc" it's still not a fully good terms relationship & they're slowly transitioning to like each other. There needs to be some more & similar tension & wariness around Childe in general.

And a reminder Childe is the only harbinger that we know of who has shown control over modified abyss mage powers- which from the pov of the traveler should be both terrifying and the bare minimum to keep a safe distance; was the upside down statue sacrifice, the burial grounds of those carrying the immortality/monster curse, & reliving their sibling's flashback not enough to get them to develop a little bit of hesitance?

Lastly Childe is an order away from stabbing the traveler in the back to keep his family safe. And this isn't an inference, the traveler knows this and is told multiple times before Fontaine. Why tf is Lyney catching so many strays that are partly the fault of Childe & Dottore?

I'm pissed about Lynette too but the siblings know their job is dangerous and the risks if something goes wrong. Lyney hasn't attempted mass murder & stated they experience glee with killing people.

The way I want to grab my Lumine and lecture her on her stupidity.

[blackidyll]

I was tagged by the lovely @saint--claire for this! (❁´◡`❁)

3 Ships I have so many ships that I can mention, so I'll just do one each for three arbitrary categories.

1) Ship I'm reading: IceMav from the Top Gun movies. I mentioned this before, but I needed both movies to fall in love with this pairing so hard. Like if I watched the movies individually I would be interested but not this much - but throw in the fact that they canonically have 30+ years of history and TGM made it very clear that their bond has gotten even stronger over the years *chef's kiss*. Rivals to wingmen! Ice as Mav's guardian angel! Mav was the only one Ice trusted to teach the kids so they could all come back home alive! Mav pounding his wings onto Ice's coffin!!! The angst from Ice's canonical death adds a sort of realistic bittersweetness that makes the ship somehow more appealing to me. But also, because real life is depressing enough as it is, I'm happily rolling in OG!TG wingmen era fics and found family MavDad/IcePops and Dagger kids AUs forever.

2) Ship I've written: Halfdain from Genshin Impact. I like a lot of Genshin characters and relationships (both romantic and familial), but Halfdain was the one that broke my two-year pandemic lockdown writer's block. Halfdan literally appears onscreen for like three minutes, but his loyalty to Dainsleif! He followed Dainsleif's final command for 500 years! He remembered and recognized Dain even when his memories should have completely eroded away! He believed in Dain so much. And Dain! How he recognized Halfdan even in his shadowy husk state! The way his eyes flickered and he smiled the gentlest smile for Halfdan! The hand clasp in the flashback, and the Black Serpent salute! Halfdan's fate is also what inspired me so much - I was so distraught at the fact that Halfdan dies and they couldn't be together despite everything they've been through, I broke my own writer's block to fix things. Tragic endings what? I WILL FIX THEM WITH FIC. This is probably the rarest pairing I ship (<50 works on AO3), but I love them so much.

3) Free choice: 00Q from the Daniel Craig James Bond films. So, I've kind of stopped writing for them. However, I see a pattern with my current ships and like.. I haven't actually watched No Time To Die, but I know what happens to Bond. And going by my track record, I'll either write my own fix-it fic or I'll look for all the fix-it fics. And that's why I still haven't watched NTTD: 1) i'm not quite ready for things to end, and 2) I don't want to risk switching hyperfixations, so I'm procrastinating on it. But 00Q will always have a special place in my heart, both for how long I was actively in the fandom for, and for how much I grew as a writer writing for them.

First Ship I'm probably aging myself right here, but considering the timing of when I got into fandom it's either Yuki Sohma/Tohru Honda from Fruits Basket or KakaIru from Naruto.

Last movie Enola Holmes 2. I enjoyed it!

Last song Hoyoverse just dropped The Stellar Moments Vol 3 album and I've been listening to it while writing this. My favourites are Chapter of a New Era (Yunjin's theme), Storm Chaser (Heizou's theme), Evening Luxury (Diluc and Fischl's outfit teaser) and Surasthana Fantasia (Nahida's theme).

Currently reading Uhhhh.. I have far too many fic tabs opened, but two IceMav fics that I'm actively following are As Lions by @qin-ling (Time travel fic! The angst of Mav's now unreturnable original timeline and his Ice's death, but also hope in the form of getting to save Goose and befriending '86 Ice again!) and ICE - In Case of Emergencies by @derpinathebrave (post-breakup IceMav where Ice gets called as Mav's emergency contact after an accident. The title is already excellent but also the writing is impeccable).

Also I have a ton of Sandman fics opened before my brain took a sharp dive into TG fandom, so here's a fic I was halfway through: We have all the time in the world (a great exploration of Dreamling throughout their once-a-century-meet ups, where Dream is slightly more in-tuned to his feelings for Hob).

Currently watching I just finished watching Season 3 of Mob Psycho 100. I (surprisingly) did not cry at the ending but the moment 99 (the season 1 OP) played in the final episode? Oo, good chills, it was so excellently done.

Currently consuming All the Chinese New Year snacks. Actually, I can't eat most snacks yet because we're saving them for 初一 . But you know what you can't save for too long? Mandarin oranges. So many mandarin oranges. This is the best season for mandarin orange lovers :D

Currently craving Milk tea (not boba. Just tea and milk variants, no tapioca pearls or other toppings).

Tagging @qserasera, @no-gorms, @solowinged, @kamicom (welcome back!), but only if you feel up to it. And if anyone else would like to pick this up, please feel free!

[oc-menagerie-archived]

is there a muse that you wish gets more attention?

My summoner girl Orabella. Currently on here has her Fatui Cyro Mage profile for Genshin Impact.

On my old blog and even a touch here, she hardly got interactions. I remember wanting to write her so bad and posting starter calls for her I swear twice a day with a different picture each time.

Cause when I'm desperate to write a certain muse, ngl I start using skimpier and skimpier pics. Rofl Cause my brain thinks that will make people want to interact with the character or at least capture their attention enough to like the starter call.

I don't know what is it about her that doesn't interest people much. I'm worried it's her name cause it has Bella in it which gives people Twilight war flashbacks and have been tempted to change it but I also do really like it.

[kyaruun]

Since when did the graphics suck they're literally so cute

This one is literally embedded in my mind like I ASSOCIATE this with you

It isssss literally so cute but your other graphics are also so cute wthhhhhhh

Buuut I can do some tutorials on things you wanna know that I can do? I've been wanting to make a tutorial for a while now actually

. Me too like I don't have a schedule and while I write on a "rotation", I spend so muxh time and energy on irl things that I don't get much time to write. I literally haven't gotten through my reqs from last August. Rip my 800 event from. Before then??? Cannot even keep track it's been like a year

My follow count is only that high bcs I wrote for haikyuu (in 2020 its peak) then I joined the genshin bus kinda early (?) Which is still huge and I wrote misc fics for whatever else, and it was also my edit blog??? And now I'm here shitposting so I got followers from like lots of places

The way yours is in the 700s and a loooot older than mine pls I'm also in the 700s in nazukisser.... insanity

Well personally i love your leo so I think that it should happen because you deserve it. And writing a series.... yes.... smaus are so fun I have domicile on nazukisser for reference if you want it and my fav smau ever is club stupid by tumblr user kodzuvii highly recommend I just become a redhead kita's cousin and tendou's best friend number 1 miracle girl and down bad for suna rintarou whenever I read it.

WAAAA I can't wait to see your revamp !!! Thank you.. I always try to have some sort of match (character/color/style) all throughout!! If you need help/opinions/etc lmk!!!

Right like what happened . We were thriving. Then we boomed for a second and died. Like I see the nazuna x reader tag and ME AND KAZE ARE THE ONLY ONES like bruh? And my fics have been flopping tho it seems everyone's have been flopping too

Yeah the only thing keeping me tied down here is the server..... it's like my lifetime... come back we miss you

I MISS NURI TOO... bee has arknights now....I miss.... and runanananna....... ate swanee's writing.... SHE DOES THAT TO US TOO not that I hate it but she drops like a couple of lines in snippets and dips and I'm like *SCREEEECHES*

If you come back to my server we welcome you back we miss you :(((

I can only be grateful that some of us are left tho.... i7 is so dead and e7 LMFAO??? I was legit the only one it was so darned sad

THAT'S THE ONLY ONE I LIKE!! i love watching vids about journaling and that kind of thing and they make the cutest decorated polaroids so i wanted to do something like that but very cutesy themed,, spring made me think of picnics so gingham <3 i actually played around with a few similar concepts like polaroid + random stickers and i planned to make banners with that but uuuu there are so many characters,, can't keep my focus for too long. i think they came out cute but it's probably too late to use them </3

i always wonder about what do people use to edit their pics because i was born a ps girlie and i still don't know how to use ps properly oops making your themes look nice and cohesive,, those cute pinned etc etc people who edit icons and make them look super aesthetic

i think i never tried to promote my blog because followers don't feel like an integral part of the process for me. i just write what comes to mind and share it with the world: if people like it i'm absolutely delighted and if they don't well,, at the end of the day most of my writing has been fun for me ^^ like come on i've written things that are silly and self indulgent and they worked fine and i'm here like. wow

i have considered writing for more series but the thing is the media i like has a fandom of like. 2.5 people on the good days. so it really doesn't make too much sense to even try that <.< genshin fandom scares tf out of me so i'll keep my extra fluffy albedo thoughts to myself. the bazillion "childe being a dumbass in love" posts. kazuha writing poetry. oops. getting flashbacks to the time i almost made a hypmic blog but i stopped myself at the last second out of embarrassment

i'm torn on whether a) people just aren't interested in that kind of content anymore (no way) or b) people DO read our stuff, they simply don't interact. not even a like. the migration of people from other social media into tumblr,, like sorry but i've been here since 2016? and it gets worst for writers every day </3

i have an immense amount of cute enstars thoughts a day and i feel like if i can't share them i will combust (my best friend has to deal with me every day),, it's mostly cute romantic stuff with my favs and my ocs, for obv reasons so i'm like uuuu should i even tell this to someone it's just embarrassing. like only other enstarries could understand why i keep rotating this bunch of dorks around my brain and getting the biggest serotonin boost out of it ueeee

i kind of miss being in a server with other people. i've been feeling very lonely lately due to uni so i think that'd be good for my mental health but at the same time,, i don't want to go back to talking once in a blue moon you know? ooo to be an anxious mess every day of your life.... like i get nervous so easily and i know i'll make someone uncomfortable so i simply keep quiet or i don't know how to join conversations because my social skills are -1. i'm a bit of a mess TT

as a bonus for reading all of this, wips of some of the banners/wallpapers? i was working on the last time. rei was meant to be a light pink/purple ish kind of shade but i don't mind how these came out either ^^ i need to print the cgs as polaroids again

[autumn-foxfire]

Sorry I'm laughing but the second you mentioned harems I got violently yeeted to the era of "Ash betrayed fics where he returns as an edgy trainer and collects a harem of main and single episode females" it really is just a universal experience when a series mains a male protag lol. Do they do this in LoZ? I'm surprised to hear Lumine is more popular, but that checks out too. I have no idea what it is that makes the girl or boy more popular in any given series, but it always gets simplified to "waifu" and "blorbo" in Pokemon its just *hand-waves* too many different spin-offs and creators with their own stances that makes it confusing I think. It's difficult to see if there's meant to be some kind of gender balance or if the creators are trying to say something there on what they feel is/should be canon-leaning. It conflicts with previously released material because there's all this collaboration between the different creators + with how different the media feels each time, you end up wondering which is "for fan entertainment" and which is "secretly the intended game canon" that gets enforced when more canon material takes one side over the other. I think fans are always going to struggle with a lack of gender equality. Sometimes the girls are just too dang popular, and characters like Lucas, Victor, and Nate are the "Ken" of the Barbie/Pokemon franchise. It's joked about too, by TPC and fans. Sometimes everything leans towards the boys and the girls are stuck as the sidekick. But you know everyone has their own attachment to each generation, so something like alternating the protagonist every episode or second series like in the Special Animations - while nice imo - doesn't happen in other spin-offs like Masters. It'll never feel balanced to anyone because the balance comes using all the Gens as pieces of a whole, rather than a balance within the generation itself. Game canon is never addressed, until they drop the "hiding the protagonists face behind a Pidgey because ambiguity ~" and start writing actual Storylines for NPC Players. Hence: fandom canon protag conflict. People are naturally always going to look towards the majority evidence despite Pokemon's former ambiguous nature if most of any given material shows preference in any way. And we already have little to nothing to work with. It doesn't help that spin-off canons have proven to influence each other, so what message comes across in them matters a lot to fans. They don't feel like TPC just throwing a dart for diversity, but rather as deliberate choices.

OH MY GOD YOU JUST GAVE ME FLASHBACKS. I remember those days of exploring Pokemon fanfics and encountering so many Ash is betrayed so he becomes the master of the Pokemon Universe and is the leader of a harem who love him so much T-T

I really don't get the popularity to be honest, I feel like the same ones who did that with Ash are the ones who are doing it with Aether (or are the same breed of people).

Genshin does something similar with the twin protagonists too, they will release content for Lumine (such as when they do birthday art for the playable characters and the protagonist twin that you use will be in the art too if you go to the event) however when it comes to their actual promotion of the game, she's forgotten in favor of her brother.

What's interesting about the creators of Genshin is that they have another game where you choose between a male and female protag but according to friends who play that game, it's the female protag who is favored by the company in promotional art. Seems to be like Pokemon media in that sense.

I know why they give you a choice, it's for players to choice to play as themselves if they want (well mostly as you're only giving two genders T-T). The characters, despite media attempting to give them a personality in some instances, they're blank enough to be self-inserts too.

With Pokemon I don't mind this fact as much as the character you play as don't have major lore behind them but it causes an issue in genshin where they can't pick between wanting the protag to be a self-insert of the player or their own character who is supposed to contribute to the story with their lore and personality.

[that-foul-legacy-lover]

ahh didn’t see that, no problem at all!! :D

-🐝

thanks for being so understanding anon!!! i do hope you can get your request fulfilled <33

[queen-of-scissors]

Hello there 💧anon

I don’t know if you celebrate Christmas but if you feel comfortable with it could you write something post imposter au where the reader is forgiving and all and the reader wants to celebrate but is walking on eggshells and is scared to introduce anything new as to not anger the acolytes and lots of comfort

Merry Christmas or whatever you celebrate

İ. Must. Finish. This. Before. New year!!!!

Also i don't celebrate Christmas but i think i have a good understanding of the things thats done in it, so ill try my best ^^

İf i wrote something that sounds rude in anyway to any culture i apologise, feel free to correct me in the comments i love learning more about cultures :)

Happy Christmas or New year or Yule or whichever you celebrate :D ☃️❄️

masterlist

WARNİNGS: no specific gender, mentions of alcohol, angst with comfort, the reader is physically hurt in the flashback

___________________________________

Memories of the snow.

________________________________________

The warm weather of Dragonspine slowly caresses your face.

İt wasn't supposed to be warm, but then again, a lot of the thing that you lived through wasn't supposed to happen at all. Maybe it's because it's supposed to be codes, You had to start to get used to that.

İt hurt to walk, but you can't stop yet. İf you don't find something edible soon you might pass out from exhaustion, which could make you an easy target for your... Hunters.

Just as you think about food, you realize a sweet aroma filling the air.

Ever since you got here, you have been unbelievably lucky, maybe whichever god that's up there pitied you, or maybe this is a trap.

Either way, you slowly walk up the path, hoping to find a hilichurl camp and not fatui ones as the nice smell is getting stronger.

You couldn't help but daydream about the food you might eat, it doesn't smell like regular Hilichurl meat, which doesn't even smell at all. Maybe it's 'goulash'? The food for Dragonspine that helps you to survive longer in the harsh wind. Though you don't really need it in this condition.

Maybe it's not red meat, it smells less strong for it, is it 'sweet Madame'? You always wanted to eat some ever since you fell here. You tried to recreate it but all you could do was eat chicken that tasted like grass.

As the smell is getting closer, you slowly begin to wake up.

---------------------------------------------

"Your highness? Are you still resting?"

You opened your eyes, and your golden abode greets you once again.

The nightmare, no, the flashback felt so real. You could still feel the hunger in your stomach and the warmth of the food you were about to eat in the dream.

... Also the Sharp pain piercing through your right shoulder before you could even get your first bite.

"I apologize for disturbing you," the voice from the back of the door spoke up. "However we need to start your Schedule immediately, it is a busy day today"

Their voice was apologetic, kind even, but it still made your blood run cold by how assertive it felt over you.

"I'm up. İ will be out soon" you got up from the bed immediately as the voice started telling you what needs to be done today.

Your clothes were so uncomfortably comfortable. it was light and it wraps your body perfectly, which was the same exact reason why it felt like it got stuck on your skin. Which is why you didn't feel bad that you had to take them out.

You threw your clothes on your work table and your eyes got stuck on the calendar on it.

...oh it was New year already?

İt might not be in your own world, since time works differently between them. You wonder if it's snowing there? Perhaps it just started, or maybe the snow is thick enough to have a snowball fight.

You missed Earth. You really did. Even the times when it felt suffocating to live in sometimes. Even the times you were forced to have family dinners on occasion, well, those weren't that bad. You usually sat somewhere playing genshin when your family members scolded you for being on your phone.

Back then, you would kill for meeting your characters under the mistletoe.

... But now, maybe it's better not to meet them at all.

İts not that you are angry at them, you even forgive them after all that! They didn't know who you were after all, but you still feel like you are walking on a landmine every time you talk to them.

What if you say something or ask something that you are not supposed to, what then? They say that they have no reason to hurt you, but you learned that all of your current power is depending on your people the moment you set foot here.

You are nothing without your followers.

Your thoughts get cut off by the door opening once you finish getting dressed.

You are greeted by Tartaglia, who was smiling at you warmly, however, it looked so fake to you. You could almost picture him practicing in front of the mirror just so it looks friendly and approachable to you. You still appreciated the thought.

"Good morning, your Grace! Please excuse my sudden visit, I just needed to speak with you for a moment."

"...Of course," you decide to avert your eyes to the furniture, suddenly the numbers on the calendar seemed so interesting than whatever repent prayer he has for you.

He gets to his one knee, "oh, the all-loving and forgiving god of all gods, we are but merely weaklings under your strength, perhaps I ask too much, however... Err..." He stops and then continues.

"However i-"

"That..." You cut in a soft voice, you averted your eyes once you realized what you've done. "sorry I didn't mean to stop you I just..." you looked at him again "this doesn't sound like you at all."

You let go of the breath you didn't realize you were holding when Ajax laughs "Hahaha, is it that obvious that I practiced?"

His friendly voice eases your tension a bit. He continues with a more relaxed tone.

"İ didn't want to anger you more than I already have, and what I'm about to ask for might sound a bit selfish, so I asked Mr. Zhongli on how can I speak properly, without disrespecting you in any way." İt was his turn to avert his eyes now.

"...Why?"

Ajax looks back at you, confused "What do you mean, your Grace?"

"I already said I forgive all, what makes you think İ'm still angry?"

"...Well" Ajax gets up from where he was and attempts to fix his posture before continuing, "Forgive me if it's rude in any way, your holiness, however..."

"Your smile seems fake."

You freeze.

When he sees your expression, he turns back to Tartaglia again. The only-business part of himself. The cold one.

"İ know what we've done is unforgivable. You are truly the most kind to not even want us to witness your wrath. but please, no need to fake it to make us feel better."

They think that you are still mad, while you are just afraid.

You want to tell them. You want to explain and talk about it, but you can't even bring yourself to open your mouth.

Why are you still afraid? War is already over. They need to know that too!

So be it. İf you can't bring yourself to talk about that. Maybe you can prove to them you are not mad by showing them.

"...let's talk about that later. What did you need from me?"

He looks at you "ok then, uh... its almost time for the festival in Shneznaya, we do that at every start of the year to celebrate- uhh, you might already know,

İ won't be personally attending, of course! Someone needs to protect you~" he winks "But, my siblings are a bit hard to convince. They want to spend time with me and well..."

"Do you want to go?"

Tartaglia laughs again "I won't lie and say that I don't miss my homeland. But that's not why I'm here."

He smiles a bit, you swore you could see his eyes light up a little, but it's gone as soon as you saw it, it might just be the sun playing tricks on you.

"My siblings want to spend the holiday with me. İ know it's selfish of me to ask to bring children to such a holy place-"

"You can bring them."

He turns his head towards you as soon as you let those words get past your lips, "Realy?"

You think about it. They are just children, they can't really harm you. Plus it might be even nice hearing about the holidays.

"Yeah! İt would be nice to have children at the dinner table. İt might even help release tension caused by my presence." You thought out loud.

He catches up on that.

"You would be pretty anxious too if you were at a table with your god~" he teased.

You smiled, and Ajax could suddenly feel his numb heart all over again.

"Maybe you are right, thank you. Ajax"

Ajax didn't answer. You called for him but he looks at you like how a reindeer would look at the car flash.

"OH SHİ- AJAX BREATH!!!!"

________________________________________

You were wrong.

Now that you feel less scared of the things around you, you can finally see that your acolytes feel somewhat worse.

Your grand dinner table was decorated with the customs of the Shneznayan festival. İt was a beautiful combination of white, red, green, and Gold. İt was almost the same as Christmas in your own world, the only difference was instead of the big decorated tree, there was a statue of you.

That, and your acolytes looking at their plate in shame, as if seeing even a piece of your hair is sacrilege.

Even with their close proximity, Archons were still the least close to you in terms of emotions. Their usual chattiness from in-game voice lines was long gone, you were sure you could even make Zhongli eat seafood in this state of his mind.

The gods were, of course, sitting closest to you. Usually, no one else joins you on your meals but on occasion, some people are invited over just because of formalities. Even then, your guests sit at another table, which is far away from you but in a place where you can still see their faces.

Not in this situation though. You especially requested that they dine with you at the same table. Making Tartaglia the Target of the glares tonight.

This heavy atmosphere makes you feel like you made a mistake. Maybe you shouldn't talk about it and treat it as a normal dinner, hearing about your world might make them feel worse, and if it gets worse-

"Your highness!!! Look what I drew!"

You look at Teucer. He is holding a drawing he made of you.

You feel everyone holding their breath as you gently take the drawing from his hands. Will you think of it as blasphemy?

İn the drawing, you hold his hand and someone else's hand while all three of you fly through, what seems to be, Shneznaya's City... İn the arms of a ruin guard.

"This is so nice Teucer! Thank you so much!"

Teucer lets out an excited gasp, "You know my name?!"

"Of course! İ know a lot of things" you smiled warmly and looked at his other siblings "I also know about Tonia and Anthon!"

As the kids look at each other all excitedly, the room suddenly seems a little bit lighter.

"Yes, the Creator knows everything indeed!" Ajax tells them. "They also know when you don't eat your greens and that makes them sad you know~"

"You guys don't eat your vegetables?" You play along "but I created them for you"

Tonia stutters "b-but... They don't taste good!"

Anthon joins in "But you ALSO created fish! So we can eat those!"

You laugh, they are pretty smart, huh!

"Well, I have nothing to say to that! Please eat as much as you like from whatever you like today!"

The children go back to their meals as the table falls silent once more,

Until you hear a mouse squeak in the crowd.

"Your highness did you just laugh?!" Venti partially screams, with that voice, you understand that the mouse was him all along.

"Barbatos, have some manners!" Zhongli suddenly speaks "Did you forget where you might be, or shall I remind you?"

"your laugh sounds so refreshing, your Grace! Like pure water in the middle of a desert!" Sais Nahida, clearly happy for you!

"AHEM, might I remind you all that this sudden outburst can scare them?" Tsaritsa states politely.

"But we never heard them laugh! I think this deserves a celebration!" Venti says while getting up "İM GETTİNG THE VİNE!!!"

"Stop! There are children here!" Childe gets up to stop him.

"İ- uhm, it's really not that big of a deal?" You say softly.

"Please don't mind those idiots, your grace." Tsaritsa shoots a glare across the table. "They simply can't control their emotions, however, I must say, even though it is rare for me to actually agree with that drunkard, I also believe that this calls for a celebration."

Nahida continues before you could say anything "I also agree! İt's been a while since we heard your laugh again. A celebration for the bird, that has found its voice once again!"

"Speaking of the Celebration, is anything particular about this festival that made you want to open up to us again?" Falcuar asked.

"Oh yeah! Why is this cooolldd festival but not a better one? Like the wind-"

Venti was silenced by two very angry gods, and forced to sit down on his chair again.

"Well? Tell us!" The god of Pyro beamed.

And at that moment, after months and months of convincing, you finally felt safe enough to show emotions. Which made you feel all of them at the same time and...

"YOUR HOLİNESS-"

"İt's ok," Nahida smiled gently "please let it all out, you don't need to stop yourself from feeling anymore."

"I swear if you make a reference to pooping about it I will-"

"Hehehe, as you wish!"

-----------------------------------------------

You finally let go of -most- of your fears and told them more about the traditions in your world.

They finally understand your point of view. They approach you gently now.

Nahida suggested babyproof your abode so you don't feel any accidental physical pain that reminds you of those times. İt's up to you to accept or not.

The bubbly types try not to do sudden things that May scare you (Yoimiya even tries to find a way to make soundless fireworks (failed))

And most of all, people don't beg for forgiveness every time they see you now!

However, you couldn't stop them from celebrating this day as the day of your smile. They give presents to each other as a way to bring a smile to their, and your, face. They also stole some of the traditions in your world just so it makes you feel more at home.

They hope that you will smile and be happy the next year as well :)

❄️🎉Happy New year, creator!!!🎉❄️

[sandflow]

Thanks for replying! No worries I understand that eveyone has their own life problems.

I understand why you’d feel annoyed with the way people keep talking about Scara’s writing. I was and to some extent still am.

There’s been some negative takes on reddit back when the patch got released. Though other than that, I haven’t seen critisism much. People probably went “eh, typical mihoyo writing” and moved on?

A friend who likes Scara said that the plot made sense as his whole 3.3 quest was a reference to buddhism, and how, through irminsul, he was reborn. Which I can understand, but still, the entire quest felt very rushed and weirdly...boring? compared to how the archon quests 3.0-3.2 were written. It’s like they regressed back to Inazuma-tier writing.

Why didn’t we speak to Ayato or Kazuha when we explored Inazuma and see the consequences of Scara’s Irminsul erasure? Because they didn’t want to pay their more expensive VA’s? So we’re limited to wall-of-text-tell-not-show npc’s? 

Why didn’t we get more flashbacks of his life other than his betrayals and Dottore plotting Niwa’s death? Like, scenes from his time with the Fatui. Or some scenes where Dottore experiments on him, or how he interacts with some of the harbingers. 

Anyway, I’ll stop being negative in my post and look on the bright side.

Even though Scaramouche’s writing wasn’t stellar, Mihoyo did evolve when it comes to building up a character and spending time on them. Was there any character in Genshin other than Scaramouche that got 3 patches worth of build-up and character development? Maybe Xiao? But his build-up happened just in 2.7ish, I think. And maybe the Liyue festivals too? Though I didn’t feel as though they were.

Let’s say that the Archons were sort of given some kind of personal quests, but they seem rather filler to me rather than building any relevant character development. Yet Scaramouche wasn’t even archon yet still got a ton of screentime and build-up. He was a harbinger and the first out of known 4 (Childe, Signora, Scara, Dottore) that time on his character was spent on which wasn’t shoehorned into just artifacts.

As for the Kazuha/Scaramouche relationship stuff, when I first played trough the 2.6? event, I felt as though Kazuha should’ve been left with some kind of beef or at least some kind of closure in regards to Scaramouche. But he ends up being so calm and forgiving about it, which is very....*boring*. Scaramouche’s audio about Kazuha feels as though they might meet, as he seems to have a rather good opinion of Kazuha (if laughing uncontrollably can mean a good opinion). But that is definitely going to happen in some Inazuma festival event, and they’ll just exchange a few words after which Scaramouche will snicker silently “Oh so this is the almighty Kazuha, haha”. And that’s that.

Hi! I just stumbled upon your tumblr!

I have this rather unpopular and controversial opinion about Scaramouche. I feel like 3.3 has pictured him way too dramatic and too much of a victim so that people will feel simpathy for him.

The 3.3 events don't make me feel sympathy for him because Scaramouche joined the fatui willingly based on the Husk of Opulent Dreams set.

The set also states that Scaramouche is not affected by rain, nor does he breathe, which made me think that he doesn't....exactly feel pain? Yet there's a ton of audio lines that hint how he went through a lot of torture back when Dottore experimented on him.

When Scaramouche joined the Fatui, he was seated as a Harbinger, aka a high diplomatic position, had his own subordinates, and probably had access to travelling and many other comodities. It's not like he was a simple labrat similar to Collei.

Collei was kept in a dark cell, treated like a dog, forced through injections to go through the human enhancing experiment, and hunted down like a rabid animal throughout the manga.

Scaramouche was being sent into the abyss constantly, from which he would return and then go directly to Dottore to patch him up. If he felt like he was suffering from those experiments, and disliked the fatui, why not escape or ....end himself through the abyss?

A lot of people kept blaming Dottore for his baggage but it seems to me that there were a lot more factors in play here. Scaramouche was damaged by Ei, then Dottore, then by human nature (with the sick kid dying), then ultimately, himself.

What's your take on how Scaramouche was handled in the 3.3 archon quest? Do you think that there was an obvious writing tactic in making Scaramouche symapthetic so as to influence players into pulling for him? Sorry if you have already talked about this and excuse me if I may rustle some feathers from what I have wrote, in case you're a Scaramouche fan.

Hi anon and welcome! And sorry for the belated response, life is. Yeah. Never fear, Genshin's writing is so Like That that I'm absolutely fine tearing even the characters I DO like to shreds, and Scaramouche is definitely not one of those.

Honestly, yeah? A LOT of weight is put on Dottore pushing Scaramouche down a bad path. Way too much, IMO - it's the realisation that Scaramouche was lied to that makes him decide to undo everything he did to the Raiden Gokaden, which, uh. Look, Dottore wasn't exactly holding a gun to his head forcing him to do any of that. It's not Dottore's fault Scaramouche went Full Revenge Quest 3000 on the ancestors of folks tangentially related to Niwa Hisahide like an insane person. And honestly, Genshin's usual brand of "you only did the wrong thing because you didn't know the truth of the matter!" aesop kinda stings here because, what? Scaramouche just eventually shifted his focus to Dottore, so what's the actual moral here? That if Niwa really had killed a subordinate as Dottore had claimed, Scaramouche would have had nothing to learn or grow from?

Because Scaramouche's drive for revenge isn't actually commented on, you know. Not really. The fact that he was still taking potshots at the - again, tangentially related - Raiden Gokaden centuries on isn't really the focus of any of this in his redemption arc, it's just window dressing for the domino effect of tragedy caused by Dottore tricking him and a convenient setpiece to demonstrate the limits of Irminsul's power. There isn't an aesop of learning to let go and moving on or heal from the past, like one might expect. He is not made to pay for his actions, nor is he ever confronted by anyone affected by what he did, nor is there a lesson to be learnt about the futility of revenge. Once Scaramouche is past his suicidal episode and has been successfully manipulated into working for a different Archon this time, he just redirects his rage and swears vengeance on the Fatui and Dottore instead! So what's the lesson, here? If you're gonna swear bloody vengeance, at least make sure it's on the right people?

Narratively, this is all very confusing and unsatisfying to me. You establish a character flaw that is not addressed, and instead set up a misconception mystery where both the misconception AND the truth are explained at roughly the same time so I can't even bathe in the horrific irony of the situation. Perhaps I wasn't meant to look at Scaramouche's insane revenge quest and think it mattered for his character, just like I wasn't supposed to look at Ei allowing Inazuma to get screwed over and think that reflected badly on her, but it was also the most concrete thing we had on him in terms of characterisation (that wasn't an item lore dump) for quite some time so, yeah, after the Iradori Festival I do feel kinda blueballed. I can't feel bad for a character like this. Late Sumeru was the first time he got real focus, and it was already telling me to forgive and feel bad for him.

And, like. Has Scaramouche GROWN as a person? It's not like he's actually been redeemed in any way that matters (to me), and I would hope that Genshin keeps that in mind moving forward (they do seem aware, at least), but it does feel like they couldn't see the forest for the trees when constructing his quest WRT his character. It seemed like the absolute focus was to pull as much attention away from "Scaramouche is a fucked up guy, trauma notwithstanding" and instead hone in on on a) "Irminsul sure is important!" and b) "Scaramouche is a poor little meow meow, he's so sad, please roll for him". Literally, he's depicted as a crying kitten, this quest does NOT want to grapple with the morality of Scaramouche's actions, just the lore surrounding why he did them. Forget anything he did in the Fatui, though. The propagation of Delusions in Watatsumi on behalf of the Vision Hunt Decree, who? What? Eh….

It also strikes me that "Scaramouche is a sad manipulated tortured (off-screen) baby, isn't it so nice he's away from that nasty (off-screen) situation so he can't get manipulated by Dottore (off-screen) anymore, isn't it so good he fixed the problem so that he never did it in the first place (off-screen)" is a HELLUVA lot easier to write than "Scaramouche is a petty, spiteful murderer that can't let go of the past and, as an immortal, that has terrifying repercussions for the descendants of those he despises; is redemption even possible for him what will happen when he meets these characters etcetcetc.", and Genshin always, ALWAYS takes the easy way out, doesn't it? It did with Kaeya and his connection with Khaen'riah. It did with Collei and her backstory with Dottore. Just don't worry about it, keep the actual problem as far away as possible, we'll solve this with the least amount of words and animation possible and preferably with the characters talking to each other for as little time as possible.

I cannot get over the fact that Scaramouche is explicitly a character that will continue taking revenge on Niwa's ancestors and the 5 clans from the Raiden Gokaden - You know, the 5 sword schools, descendants of whom still survive today, some of whom are playable - but instead they had him try to undo everything he did off-screen so he never has to interact with them in any serious capacity. It's so fucking lazy it's unbelievable. What was the Iradori Festival for if not setting up Kazuha and Scaramouche's meeting (it was establishing what happened to the Raiden Gokaden, Kazuha does not matter)? What was Kazuha's quest for if not establishing his moral compass in preparation for a similar situation in the future (it was discussing what happened at Tatarasuna Furnace, Kazuha doesn't matter)? In a real story where the characters matter, these things should have chained into a story and, I'm sorry, I know I'm beating a dead horse with Kazuha FUCKING Kaedehara's ridiculously misdirected character beats but 2022 was a rough year, okay. Genshin set out very explicit building blocks for a story that seemed SO obvious even a child could see what was going to happen and they couldn't even commit to it because, what? It was hard? They didn't realise they'd accidentally set up a character conflict? Were Scaramouche and Kazuha foils on purpose or was that just a cosmic fluke?

Kazuha wanted to understand his friend better - specifically through the lens of how he felt when he fought a god -, he has a shared backstory with a character that is established to still want revenge on his family, and that character becomes a god, but Kazuha is also established as a forgiving character that cares about the present, not the past. I'm not crazy, right? That seems like a pretty open and shut set-up for a future character conflict, right?!

i would like actual validation on this i think because i'm starting to go a little crazier every time i see someone talk about how good and profound scara's writing was, like it wasn't the laziest possible solution for a bunch of shit that happened off-screen where the writers didn't have to, like, actually write any of it

uhhhhh

um, tl;dr, i thought 3.3 and scaramouche's handling pretty much all game was pretty bad. i don't really like the way they resolved his character arc here, it seemed like they kind of missed the bigger picture because they wanted to talk about lore again and couldn't really correctly identify scaramouche's real character flaws. kind of reminds me of xiao's writing in the chasm in that way, actually. like, there's been an attempt, but i'm not sure they really understood the gravity of what they'd written, and it feels like they took the easiest way to resolve the issues they DID focus on, so...