#i haven't done enough reading yet to have formed my own opinion or argument

[the-casbah-way]

WHY is emailing potential supervisors so intimidating. like hey esteemed academic in the field i aspire to become qualified in do you want to put up with my stupid fucking research project. do you want me to plague you with emails for the next year. do you want me to ruin your fucking life you poor innocent soul ensnared by your duties to inarticulate sleep deprived classics students. god

[vv-ispy]

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

Yun Jin

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 Thinks the traditions and the elders are outdated!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

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

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

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

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

Venti

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[lazarus-harp]

underappreciated friendships rant (1/?) - joey graceffa / safiya nygaard

I've seen a lot of people claim Safiya simply sided with Joey out of fear, or because she believed there was no other choice. And it's always bothered me— since I don't see that as the case. There's a lot of bonding between these two that occurs during their seven shared episodes and I wanted to dive into it! Try and give everyone a new dynamic to look at, or to consider these two through a new lense.

( tw ; super long post, so press the read more button to see it all please! )

As early as episode one, there's clear love shown from Safiya's part. While everyone chose to go on the mission because Joey asked for their presence, most of them either did it mostly for fun ( Colleen ) or for the adventure to follow ( Mat ). The Investigative reporter certainly had her own reasoning as well, but the moment Joey arrives, she is quick to say,

She words it as a group thing, which I'm sure is true, yet it speaks volumes that Safiya is the one to say it. Throughout the series she rarely extends her worry to most, you barely see her react to most of the early deaths ; and the only time her worry shines through specifically for others is when it comes to most of the final six. But, again, I'm pointing out this specific moment because it's still a big deal ( for her ) and she's been worried about him from the start, regardless of others' criticism. As much of a follower as the reporter can be, she doesn't let her opinions change, even if her actions stem from the influence of others.

I think most people get their 'Safiya was scared of Joey' thoughts from her one line in episode two : "Is he on our side? Or is he just trying to kill us?" Which I can totally see why this would influence that view on their relationship! It's undeniable that Saf was suspicious of Joey, and she always has been. She's known pretty early on there was something more there that he wasn't telling the group. Not hesitating to throw him under the bus in episode three, when she notices the SAE symbol on the box and immediately announces the connection to his bag. But I feel as though suspicion is natural here, as is fear. Anyone would be on edge about the person who invited them at first in a situation like this, even if they loved that person dearly She also doesn't flat out say "he's trying to kill us" but just realizes that's an option. We know that the Investigative reporter is a no nonsense kinda gal. She's about solving things, and surviving, and that's two things Joey seems to hinder her of having in the beginning. Making her on the fence about him. Which still doesn't mean she doesn't care about him. Just that there's a planted seed of doubt forming.

In later episodes when three of the loudest members ( Mat, Colleen, and Manny ) were sussing Joey ; Saf keeps quiet. And in episode five she makes her stand, despite it being quite an unpopular one.

She doesn't believe Joey should die, or that he's evil. And even goes as far as to encourage Joey to come clean to the group because it would help his cause. If Safiya truly was scared of the savant or disliked him, I'm sure she would've kept quiet and voted him. Let the group have their way ( besides Rosanna ) and keep Mat and Manny around. But she doesn't. I also think it says a lot that Joey even listens to her suggestion! She coaxes it out of him and I doubt many others would've had the same effect. Joey trusts her. She says it'll go a long way and he believes that, even if it was hard for him to own up to. Some canon examples of this can be shown here ( so you know im not talking out of my ass ) :

Safiya's confessional after hearing Mat and Manny discuss how suspicious/potentially evil Joey is ( this also shows she doesn't just keep him around for information, but that she genuinely thinks he can still be a good person )

Here she is, being the only person to get Joey to confess, and Joey listening to her

When it comes time to vote, Saf expresses she doesn't think she should vote for Joey despite the pressure from her friends

Though to most it seems like she's only keeping him around for more information, I think this still further proves she doesn't think he's evil ; or that she's scared of him. Again, if she was, I don't think she'd hesitate here. Information or not.

Either way, Joey survives episode five and Mat is lost, leading these two into the events of episode six ; Twin Dolls. Where I think even more of their bond shines through! Right away, Saf makes sure to stick close to a certain group. While Colleen flirts with Mortimer and Ro spends a couple seconds sulking alone, she's sitting comfortably at the table beside Manny : facing Nikita and Joey. She follows along with him the whole episode as well, ending up in his group later when everyone splits up. It's here that Joey proves how much he appreciates Ro and her for believing him, making his love for them obvious. Anytime something risky pops up, the savant is on the front lines to take the fall for it. I'm sure Safiya didn't expect such loyalty after she mildly defended him, but either way, it's natural she's thankful for it nonetheless. If Saf had any doubts that Joey was the person everyone claimed he was, they have long since faded at this point when he gets his hands dirty in the name of appreciation for her and her choice.

He says, word to word from 18:30-18:40 , "You guys trusted me, and you didn't vote for me in that competition, so I'll take this for the team." And takes the red pill that could've hurt him, or made him sick— he didn't even know. Safiya knew this because none of them knew, yet he took that risk for them. If this didn't strengthen her fragile trust in him, I don't know what would. Not to mention, he then proceeds to stick his hand down a bucket of tar to retrieve the last Lazarus coin. Something Saf seems greatly amazed about, considering how fixated she's been on opening the box. Which I'm sure only puts him higher up in her good graces!

( I won't be using her betraying Colleen as evidence for siding with Joey, because she only killed her since she knew most of the group had picked her already, so I'm skipping to ep7 )

Right away, the burden of who to revive was a shared burden on Saf and Joey's shoulders. Yet they both were on the same wavelength when it came to who to bring back ; and are now waiting for that person in the beginning of episode seven : Funhouse. Everyone is on edge and the two haven't confessed who they picked yet— Also, quick side note, I think the fact they both just looked at each other, and shared this immediate knowing look, says a lot about how close they are. They didn't even discuss it. Just choose. It means more than you'd think, because Saf could've easily believed Joey wouldn't want Mat back given their falling out. But she didn't even question that when she saw his face. Reading people is hard and I think this is a neat, overlooked moment ( though, to be fair, I feel like most of the group could read each other at this point, seeing as they've become so close )

The moment Matthew returns, and everyone is getting their cute reunion moment with him, Safiya is overjoyed. She's so happy, in fact, that she gushes about how they "did it" and hugs Joey. You don't see Saf make the move to hug people often, in fact I think the only times she does so is in ep4 ( I think Mat's the one who goes in to hug her in ep7 ). She doesn't even try to hug Mat here! Just Joey. At this point they are clearly close friends :

Sadly, there's less Joey/Saf content in this episode that I feel like are important enough to highlight. However, when Ro says she can't put Joey in danger when they're forced to vote a friend, Safiya offers no argument when she could've. She quickly agrees and they settle on who they vote, saving Joey and Mat. When it comes to her death, the savant expresses great remorse over her passing even if he plays middle man and refuses to take sides. He frets over her corpse and says, "It not fair, what happened to Safiya." And Joey, who's seen so much death it's probably a regular occurrence, truly seems saddened with this passing. Generally, I've seen him portrayed as dismissive over the s3 deaths, but that isn't always true. He expresses remorse for Roi, Manny, Mat, Ro, and especially for Safiya. And I think, instead of taking petty sides, the main reason Joey just pushes the group forward is because that's what she would've done had she been there.

Of course this isn't every single Joey and Saf moment ever! There have been multiple tiny engagements between them in groups, a couple of casual touches, and their arm wrestling scene in ep5 which was beyond adorable! However, I just highlighted some key aspects that I believe showed Safiya's view on Joey and Joey's admiration for her. This is a really long essay, and if you've read through it all, good for you! I hope this changed your view on their dynamic, or at least gave you a better appreciation for it! I love these two a lot and you'll see their close relationship in my writing more, so I wanted to also explain where that's coming from.

Thanks for reading <3 And feel free to leave other underrated friendships for me to dissect in my inbox or in these notes!