#i'd fuck him but also he's for lumine and lumine only

[hydrachea]

Dain for blorbo opinions!

blorbo opinion bingo

BINGO!

I love Dain dearly. I also have very complicated feelings about him, in the sense that I oh so dearly wish we could save him, but I also wholeheartedly think his salvation will be a long awaited death. At least I hope he'll get to experience one good thing before that happens, maybe even two.

[batsplat]

quick follow up to this bit

was also reminded of this valentino quote

He speaks about my shoulder like he was the best shoulder doctor in Melbourne Hospital.

what WERE they cooking

(I can't like. prove this because obviously we simply do not have solid 'evidence' for casey's thinking here either way, but given this is a speculative post about how I'd narrativise these rivalries.... do think the screenshot above is basically my theory for why casey had a thing about valentino's injuries. to such an extent that valentino picked up and commented on it! after laguna and throughout 2009, there were various waves of discourse about casey having been 'broken' by valentino - first due to casey's dip in form in 2008, then because he had to take some time off in 2009. the fact that it was an invisible illness that he himself could not explain in a sport that is all about the big, glaring obvious injuries - one that was treated as a sign of mental weakness, something he was ALWAYS susceptible to being accused of... very much the opposite of valentino's shoulder and leg in that sense, which was way easier to explain and was immediately taken seriously. my suspicion is that for casey, it was about not being extended the same grace as valentino was, being frustrated at how much leniency valentino was being granted when casey was always being harshly judged. of course, valentino (in classic demented rider fashion) was if anything downplaying the severity of the shoulder injury and only admitted after it was more or less healed that he'd been terrified by how long the recovery period had dragged on and had feared he would never be the same rider again. casey's lack of empathy on this count is completely justifiable and he does also obviously have a point, but it's still an interesting part of his character. it's what makes the rivalry with valentino so very interesting - there are lots and lots of ways in which valentino directly made casey's life miserable, but then there are other ways in which valentino's mere presence, his existence, someone whose treatment casey could compare his own to, that also contributed to casey's hatred towards him. firstly by getting more empathy than casey did and the general injustice in how the sport was 'always' on valentino's 'side' in a way it never was for casey, secondly by having this reputation of 'breaking' rivals that... well, y'know, valentino was presumably more than happy to be the beneficiary of the whole thing, but it's not like this was actually a line he spread himself, including with regards to casey. he didn't have to! it's kinda just... an awful coincidence that casey's 2009 absence was always going to be treated with suspicion and he HAPPENED to have a rival with valentino's very specific reputation?? the perfect storm! which gets you to this odd point where... if anything after that casey is the main instigator in terms of the sheer vitriol of the rivalry - but it's built on years of seething resentment that valentino at times almost seems taken aback by... and then reciprocates with interest because of course he does. because that's just how valentino ticks. fundamental lack of understanding for each other!! valentino kinda accidentally being casey's perfect foil!! casey having a million Legitimate Grievances against valentino but still somehow managing to project 85% of his other issues with the sport on valentino too!! they're soooooooooooooo. so!!)

if you were to direct a motogp movie (or make a one season of television) what season or rivalry would you make it about? and more interesting what artistic liberties would you take? it doesn’t have to be a straight up biopic bc imo those are often boring, instead it could be something like velvet goldmine (1998) aka fictional characters whose real life counterparts are pretty obvious, veering in like rpf territory. anyways👀

did you know. one time this guy put a curse on this other guy. and he never won a race again

anyway, look, I do feel like by this point that's the BORING answer from me, but obviously it's where my mind first went. I'm not sure I'd actually want it out there in film form because by now it's badly enough remembered that it's like, my cute little niche story, and I think there's something fun about the Wider World even within the motogp fandom not exactly getting how bonkers the whole thing was. (I know other humans have canonically watched motogp 2004 but I swear even journalists have forgotten some key key details and it's kinda annoying but also fun.) bold words from someone who's been blogging about it!! weird gatekeep-y instinct. but basically my job here is done as far as outreach is concerned - I wrote a very long post, now I get asks about it twice a week that allow me to think about it some more with the four other people who care, perfect balance. that rivalry doesn't need to go mainstream!! the whole point of it is that it's kinda cruel but narratively pleasing that it's gone under the radar, because it's another sign valentino won. but obviously, I cannot literally make a film about this, so the hypothetical repercussions I think maybe we can put aside for a moment here

okay I came back to this bit of the post after I increasingly got into of the spirit of coming up with dumb ideas, but it did make me flesh out what I'd even WANT from something like that. I'm with you anon, a lot of biopics are boring!! if you want to just know what happened, please just literally go and 'watch the races' and 'read books' like what are we actually getting here. you kinda want to give it a purpose for existing, right, a way of portraying real/mildly fictionalised events in a manner that is also taking some kind of stance on the material AND is doing stuff you can't do 'in real life'. thing is, look, you could make 2006 into a film, and I'm sure it'd be perfectly nice because it's fundamentally a solid underdog story (well, inherently winning a title with repsol honda is NOT being an underdog but you can write it that way), but also what are you doing beyond just telling people what happened? I feel like that generally about single seasons, they're not really doing anything for me. I was also turning around the biaggi/valentino rivalry in my head in part because that's the one valentino gave as his answer for 'rivalry he would turn into a film' (marc big wet eyes sitting right next to him), but like. a film about that rivalry from valentino's pov is fundamentally not something I'm interested in. you have all these isolated very memorable moments that make it work as a rivalry, like you can absolutely spin them into a dramatic yarn that goes through the genesis of their conflict to middle finger gate to punching gate to assen + donington + sachsenring + phillip island 2001 and it's basically *insert rousing music* successful coming of age. at most you can lean into the fact valentino became successful at being a dick. like idk it's fine but also what's the point? valentino is challenged in a sports context by biaggi, he's challenged because he realises his words have consequence and the press actually reports the words he says to journalists (the horror), but he is fundamentally not challenged on a personal level. that's the entire point, right? it's the ultimate comfort zone rivalry - biaggi is a dick who it is quite easy to hate and also reacts poorly to valentino's initial provocation. the animosity escalates and it is inherently fun to beat him. valentino is mean to him, but it's not like he even really crosses any lines to beat him. like you can make it into a film, and if you twisted the material a little bit you could make it satisfying, but I don't want to!

now the way the writing process of this post worked was that I was going to breeze through a bunch of non-sete/valentino rivalries and explain why I think some of them don't work for our purposes here, but then I ended up writing myself into changing my mind. so my take on the biaggi rivalry is that actually, you CAN make it work but it has to be from biaggi's perspective. basically, I think you've got to amadeus it (a web weave I have been thinking of making at some point btw). so,,, it's a meditation on talent and how unfair it all is, maybe minus the bit where salieri poisons amadeus (I know that doesn't happen in the film) or dresses up as amadeus' father to, y'know, make him write a requiem on his death bed. and it's not amadeus in that HERE, the clown prince gets a happy ending! but it's more like, in thematic terms, I think you have to zero in on this bit. biaggi didn't have parents who shoved him on a bike when he was three years old, he didn't have parents who were invested in his motorcycling career (or even necessarily particularly invested in him), he started the sport late and discovered that, yes, he did have a prodigious amount of skill in it - but one that he started honing far later than valentino did. he approached his career with a sort of grim resolve, surly and irascible and not interested in making friends with any of his competitors but very, very good. he goes away from the race track and dates all these models, he irritates fellow riders, he's not part of the gang and he's happy about it. he's very successful! four 250cc titles, wins his first ever race in 500cc at a time when doohan was very much winning everything. he's also just like,,,, an interesting and spiky enough character it's not hard to make him come alive

but then of course you have this gradual emergence of the amadeus character, the one who challenges his established position in the court of,, well... motorcycle racing, and also as the guy italians rooted for! and valentino's obviously, y'know, in so many ways the exact opposite from biaggi, and he's super young and cheerful and lively and is doing all his silly celebrations and is being a bit camp and goofy and treats motorcycle racing as a party (you really want to lean into the culture clash here, like in amadeus it's because you have stuffy austrian court vibes but here it's because everyone is having their bones broken every two minutes and just how... kinda grim a lot of motorcycle racing was). and he's also this innocent! yes, he insults biaggi, and yes, in retrospect we know valentino is kinda evil, but at the time he was a kid with a big mouth who was a little taken aback by how that biaggi feud sort of escalated beyond what he'd actually intended it to do! and biaggi just, hates him. and I think, sorry to the real man max biaggi here, but you've got to play with how once they're actually competing with each other, it's miserable how there's just this unbreachable gulf in talent. like, whatever biaggi does he cannot win! he isn't going to defeat valentino over the course of a full season! which is depressing and horrible and CRUEL, because there's this inevitability to the whole thing... and also! because valentino doesn't DESERVE it. and you don't have to go full salieri pleading with god to explain how god could give this CLOWN all this talent, but it's kinda the same vibe! how is it valentino, who is constantly just having a laff and canonically maybe wasn't the biggest gym-goer in the paddock and is just generally seen as, y'know, a bit of a dandy, this foppish clown who everyone loves and who doesn't have to work hard to be good - how is he the one who is winning so much!! it's miserable and unjust... and I think how you portray this is that you really emphasise the kinda, repetitive nature of the defeat. like, I think you probably want to make this into a non-linear narrative where all this biaggi backstory is communicated somehow but you don't just start it when he was born or whatever - you start it in 2001 when they're competing for a title and already hate each other. and then you heavy on the time loop vibes. the whole cinematic language and all that other shit should emphasise how all these weekends are structured in exactly the same way and if you're losing to this one guy, all these different weekends can start feeling the same. it bleeds into each other, it feels inescapable, you're trapped in this narrative you can't change... worst of all, you even return to the same places again and again - like play with that! biaggi keeps coming back to where they had the fist fight, to where valentino first insulted him all those years back. you play up the disorientation and the misery of it all, plus biaggi canonically gives us all this kinda messy freudian shit to play with like how he was dating 'valentina' and his relationship with her was falling apart because of how miserable valentino was making him. it's all there!!

ANYWAYS the way you conclude this story is!! welkom 2004!! so again we can artistic license this a little bit and, uh, ignore sete (though I do also think it's fun if you lean into biaggi being displaced as a rival and staring at them being friendly and happy with each other from the outside) - but the key bit is that valentino is finally making the big error. biaggi wasn't winning titles on a yamaha, since he left yamaha has gotten worse, now valentino is making this big mistake out of his own hubris. language of cinema that shit and make everything brighter and more hopeful.... the time loop is finally over, biaggi has escaped, this year will be different!!!! everyone in his circle agrees, valentino is fucked. step off the plane at welkom (pre season testing didn't happen in this universe) and it's literal dawn of a new day... staring out at the sun and finally, biaggi can move on, can live a new and different life. anyway. obviously we all know what's coming next - you have this big dramatic climactic race where biaggi throws himself at valentino again and again and again and he comes so close to winning it... but he doesn't. and you have valentino living his best life, being delighted, but the film is focusing on how like,,, we're bleaching the joy back out of biaggi's life, how actually he's returning to what he already knew. and it ends on the podium, with the camera focusing on biaggi on that fucking second step or zooming in or whatever (idk how cinema works) and it just finishes on this shot of biaggi dead-eyed in a bleak world, trapped again for eternity aka until the end of the 2005 season. done!! I'm not sure this is quite what valentino had in mind, but. well. that's how I'd do it

this is from the pushkin play from 1832 not the 1984 film but like. low key pushkin already kinda nailed the essence of sports rivalries in the 1830s and we just have to acknowledge that sometimes

right. so the casey rivalry is where I'm going to go completely off the wall. skip this bit to get to the slightly saner stuff. this is also one I fully admit to sometimes playing around with in my mind anyway, but. uh. I'm gonna be taking this one in just. well. places. I do have a vision here but I also don't quite know how to explain it in a way that doesn't make me sound like I've lost my mind, but well if you're still reading this then that's on you. so lemme get this out of the way: the classic sports biopic formula would work well with casey. if I had to point to a single rider I would sports biopic-ify, it's casey. so you have all this kinda,, obvious adversity that's easy to get across, and it's a narrative you can follow chronologically without too much trouble. you've got all the childhood stuff, the australian racing club not letting him join them, the move to britain, the rising through the ranks, it's also this very biopic-friendly 'nobody ever believed in him apart from like three people' stuff. and the premier class is also narratively satisfying, from the rocky rookie season to the kinda shock success to then all the lows of 2008 and 2009 and the physical ailments and the anxiety and then the switch to honda and the title and then him deciding to retire... that's all good stuff! you can absolutely biopic-ify it! gun to my head and sure, I can walk you through exactly what bits of his life I'd focus on and put in what order and so on, and I think ultimately you could make a very good sports biopic from that

[some mild gore to follow in this next section]

but also. thing is. that's fine. it's just not where I want to go here, because again I feel like at that point you can also pick up his autobiography and just read it - because what you're basically doing here is just filming that. and I get how this stuff works, you're bringing the story to a wider audience, you can show stuff in a different way in that medium etc etc, and that's all great but also I don't care about bringing stuff to a wider audience. I care about doing fun stuff in my brain. so what I'd actually do here is just, basically, go in the exact opposite direction and ditch all the realism. genuinely, ditch the live action stuff, we're going animated - what I'm interested in here is stuff where we need to be able to fully suspend our disbelief and lean into some surreal shit. I'm not going to bury the lede here: my idea is that you take that thing where casey said he hated how ducati was ruining the bike by letting valentino's yellow encroach on it and, basically,, just go all in on that bit. like come on, that is so singularly visually evocative, it truly captures a lot of what's going on thematically in that rivalry. (see also x and x for the most relevant casey posts.) casey sees valentino as the malevolent force, this infection! he associates him strongly with a specific colour, one that can be sickly or unnatural or just... evil. malignant, malicious, malevolent, all the m words. to casey, valentino is a personification of everything that is wrong with the sport. valentino is literally the walking manifestation for so many of his issues, from the dangerous riding to the lack of respect to the lying to the cult of personality to the obsession with image and the media to the backroom games to the politics to the injustice of how different riders are treated differently, like!! he's literally all of that! this is a topic for another post, but this plays out in a lot of kinda, weird and funky ways where it's a two way street and sometimes when casey talks about motogp you go 'actually I think that's just valentino?' (btw he also does this about 'europe' right I don't think those are europeans you hate casey that's literally just valentino) and sometimes when he talks about valentino it's kinda? this feels like it's about a little more than the bloke himself? and basically, right, I think you need to take this to its natural conclusion where casey used to admire him and look up to him and want to emulate him on track and then gets disillusioned when valentino's worshippers turn against casey and casey is the one to bring valentino down to earth and... listen, I think you need to play around with valentino being a literal god. and I think you need to have casey stab him to cover up the yellow on the ducati with blood

okay. look. the idea here, right, is that we're basically making the subtext text, and just digging into that process of 'bringing valentino back to earth', of taking on a god and having the audacity to succeed, and also treating valentino as this sort of. infection in his own mind. the bike is literally being infected!! casey may have left the ducati but he STILL has some fidelity and love for this project, those were his people he worked with, and now valentino is coming in and just twisting everything around himself!! but also I think how this functions is that, okay, so you have all this normal stuff that's the actual 'plot' in the 'real world', but the ISSUE with the real world is that there's a lot of stuff that just. isn't possible there. like the thing casey wants in that rivalry but is never going to have is... a captive audience. a big problem casey has in that rivalry is that he doesn't get the chance to actually say a lot of stuff to valentino. he starts using the media more and more and plays the game on valentino's level, but there's still this disconnect where mr straight talking is the valentino rival who valentino never really blanks or freezes out like... there's a disconnect! there's valentino the person, who casey never quite figures out how to just straight up hate, and then there's valentino the character, the racer, the rider, the god who casey DESPISES. but when they're doing small talk at pressers and podiums, casey doesn't get to talk to that version of valentino! he just talks to valentino the person, who obviously isn't literally a different person but is also not going to explain to casey where he's coming from, is he, and also isn't someone who casey can explain to where HE is coming from. and that gulf... it does bother casey. I don't think he can quite verbalise why either, but there's just... this creeping tension. I think it'd be easier for casey if valentino really were more of a caricature, just kinda a dick in all walks of life. and there's just these canonical hints of that... the way casey talks about how he's sure valentino as a guy is fine, but he never knew valentino like that, the whole 'I'd like to go with valentino for dinner to tell him where I was coming from in that rivalry' thing, like!! it's there

so basically EYE think what you should be doing is using the wonders of storytelling to actually. embrace that element. and just leave realism behind now and again. valentino is a god, he is literally worshipped, he's part of this pantheon that casey is trekking to reach. casey is brave enough to take him on in combat, he is the first one who is truly able to draw blood. he sees how valentino isn't just a god of joy or battles or speed or the SUN or any of that other stuff - he's a disease, an illness, a god who is also a false prophet... the worship never quite goes away, because who ever truly gets rid of their valentino rossi complex, but casey eventually is given the chance to face a chained valentino and kinda,,, ritualistically publicly humiliate him using the ducati as both this sick thing that has to be 'cured' and this symbol of valentino's failure. I'm sorry, visual language goes brr here, like chain him up, do weirdly eroticised torture idc!! (psst psst valentino's fucked up shoulder also extremely goes brr here, casey low key a teensy bit weird about valentino's injuries? his thing after the 2010 leg break where he goes 'why's everyone making such a big deal about this other people break their limbs too' and then after 2011 jerez immediately asking whether valentino's shoulder is okay in just a very obviously passive aggressive way. literally he opens with that, valentino isn't using it as an excuse or anything, for some reason it's already on casey's mind and I would politely contest it was out of genuine concern for valentino's wellbeing!! it's just kinda? I'm so compelled by it? I suppose it is kinda about how valentino's suffering gets taken more seriously than his own? how those absences are received differently by the motogp world? idk I find this fun because casey does know this is one thing valentino can't really be blamed for himself, so it just slips out a bit? but yeah, casey + valentino's injuries, nobody's talking about it but I sure will, let casey get weird and mean and a teensy bit sadistic about valentino's injuries in an artistic manner.) crucially I like animation as a medium here because I think it's easier to lean into surrealism when you don't have to hand hold the audience so much through the suspension of realism, also there's just some imagery you can do in cooler ways through animation where in live action it may just look. weird. (I think you can also do one of those things where you have a live action film with only those specific bits animated but also... why? it just feels like in live action you need more 'justifications' for things, like am I saying casey is having some weird hallucinations and is losing his mind? no I just want to have weird vision sequences ffs.) the colour stuff!! valentino/casey is big on the colour coding as a rivalry, to the extent casey is even, y'know, drawing attention to it in the literal text!! yellow and red are banger colours, valentino is big on imagery himself with all his sun + moon motifs, it's kind of all there to make the easy next step to kinda zany surreal imagery. ritualistic stabbing works better in animation, you can kinda get the blood to like. drip down and overwhelm the yellow illness that's slithered out across the bike

and. AND of course what this entire set up allows you to do is.... give them an opportunity to talk. they can't talk in real life! casey CAN'T give him his real thoughts on anything, and fundamentally valentino can't either. they're opponents. they're strangers who chat sometimes. it's not just that they aren't friends, it's that fundamentally they cannot be friends - because their ability to do their actual jobs depends on a certain level of professional distance. valentino of course does have a decent read on casey, and vice versa, because when you're figuring out how to defeat someone then (if you're valentino) you're looking to play the rider too. valentino's entire approach depends on focusing in on his rivals and attempting to throw them off, to make them unravel. he's watching casey closely!! the entire journey of casey's first three seasons in the premier class essentially becomes like, this god of their world focusing in on him. figuring him out. trying to gnaw away at him. obviously, animation also allows you to go big on the panopticon-y imagery which is kinda fundamental to their rivalry, because of their fundamentally oppositional stances to 'performing' for the ever present cameras where there IS a little bit of common ground in they have both struggled with it. but valentino isn't going to ever say that to casey! casey isn't going to open up to valentino! so if you give them,, you know, a different arena to express themselves, where casey actually has this external figure to talk to (as he's like, cutting him open I guess) whereas valentino actually is put in a position where he's allowed to respond, where he can taunt casey a little bit, where he can interrogate casey's approach and also the similarities between the two of them and how casey has been forced to become a little more like valentino to challenge him... because the thing is, right, valentino is so big on message discipline with his rivals and has completely stopped talking about that rivalry post mid 2013 that, first of all, you have this complete imbalance in who's been telling this story for the past decade, but second of all you kinda don't have a sense of what valentino would respond? idk!! I think this is mainly fun as a thought exercise for me specifically but also I do think it's kinda, digging into some of the bits that make this narratively work as a rivalry, how valentino in this rivalry is actually just kinda... removed. like he's not really emotional about it!! at most he's a bit bitchy, but even that just feels about The Game. it's the most extreme in this regard followed by jorge - but with valentino's other feuds you kinda... see a bit more an unguarded moment, see something a little more real there. the casey rivalry feels so uncomfortable precisely because valentino is a little... inhuman in this one. I mean, if you want to have valentino as some kind of cross between a deity and a monster in any of his feuds, this is the one. casey's just an obstacle to him. idk don't you think casey kinda wants to chain valentino down and stab him and make him see casey a little more... well, I think he should want it and I think it'd be fun to see and get them to talk to each other. ugh and also all the implications of making the faith vs non-believer elements more literal... casey the heretic!!!

there's some obvious stuff here you'd have to figure out, like 'how do you make this work as a narrative even to people who aren't familiar with casey stoner at all' and 'who the fuck do you think the target audience is here' and 'you do know this is not the kind of thing that would ever be made, right, go back to the casey stoner sports biopic like a sane person' but!! I do think it's material you can make work if you're just,,, efficient and smart in how you're actually telling the 'real life' version of the rivalry. also in my head this is. idk. an animated limited series not a film, which then brings in other stuff like 'episodic structure' because I'm fundamentally opposed to tv shows that think they're films. and look, I'm not going to write an entire film script treatment here, I just think a good writer can figure this stuff out. blood on the ducati is the framing device for everything else, simple. lots of animated floating eyes I reckon, first casey is watching valentino and then valentino is watching casey and the whole world is watching them... and it does bleed into real life just a little, where you're wondering whether casey is actually imagining/dreaming this stuff or valentino is or if they both know it somehow... you can get away with more ambiguity in animation. anyway, if you do want more thoughts on this one specifically for whatever reason, let me know because this one I do actually have more on

also laguna 2008 is a bit tortoise and the hare coded if you really think about it

[end of gore]

so. on to jorge. hm. the thing about jorge is that he was kinda writing a coming of age film in his own head, so like - yes, that's what you do go for? you can play it straight and follow how jorge has cast his rivals, or you can pin the whole narrative on the fact that jorge has cast them - the kinda artificiality of the narrative, the way jorge is this storyteller who isn't being recognised as much as he thinks he should be, isnt adequately appreciated. the way there's this three way discourse between what jorge thinks the story is and what the public thinks the story is and actual. you know. reality. I think this is a bit more light-hearted, like you know how the best stories about teenagers take their emotions seriously but also let them be kinda silly? because young people are silly! jorge was silly! he's got a lot of CHARM because he's so cocky and naive and full on and intense and awkward and kinda off-putting and tactless and a bit all over the place and so painfully, painfully young, like he's a good protagonist because that's a KID. but also, obviously there's also a lot of extremely not light-hearted bits of his story - everything about his father, his manager... idk this one's another one where, I don't just want to make it a generic sports biopic, and I'm trying to figure out the clear narrative arc here? I mean, you can point to the end of 2010 and really lean into him choosing victory on-track over popularity off it. the problem with 2010 is that it does not work as a dramatic season, yeah sure with the magic of biopics you can hack at it to shit but also. idk. what are we getting out of it. I think for narrative purposes you want to maybe narrow in, and end it at the end of 2008, with the switching of the numbers this kind of moment of emancipation? but also! this feels like we're straying a bit too far away from the fun sports elements and I don't want to REALLY suggest all the ways in which you could mine jorge's personal trauma in a jokey tumblr post, so I'm gonna move on from this one

the problem is 2015 just straight up doesn't work as a jorge-centric narrative, except in a very kinda comic way that leans into how absurd his role in that season was. 2012 as a season is a bit... y'know, it's fine. okay it's mostly terrible, but that's fine too. but it doesn't have a great narrative hook. which kinda leads you to the problem that I do think the valentino rivalry is more... juicy from jorge's pov, because for valentino, jorge is just kinda? an obstacle? idk he's more normal about it, it's just his job to destroy the guy, you know how it is. but also 2009 does work better narratively from valentino's pov, like it's the build up to catalunya specifically you can dramaticise... idk though, I do love catalunya but my heart isn't really in this exercise because I think valentino isn't really being... challenged here? it's a title fight where he's fundamentally using a set of tools he's already perfected, to beat a guy he doesn't really give a shit about. when the italian press is down on him pre catalunya, it doesn't spark any genuine self-doubt - it's just a handy source of extra motivation. there's no epic highs or lows that season, not real ones. and yes I know I was talking about making valentino who gets stabbed repeatedly to cover up an infection a moment ago, but that reflected real EMOTIONAL truths!! I'm committed to thematic fidelity more than I am to literal fidelity

genuinely I think the best way to tackle jorge is with the jorge/dani parallel journeys... what, film? tv show? maybe show actually - you don't have one coherent narrative Statement per se but you're constantly charting those journeys in reference to each other, really rooting it in their respective points of views, no neutral detached cinematic language like I want everything to be very much written to be from their eyes!! going from one to the other and back again. and you're charting these different journeys, right, and how they both captured different flavours of like... emotional successes and failures. I think it's actually about failure, yeah, about having to accept there's something you can't have and might never be able to get - whether that's universal love or a premier class title or whatever - but Actually, that might not be the end of the world. and during this process, they go from being enemies to tentative friends!! guys who realise they can maybe actually understand each other better than they thought!! this real moment of interpersonal connection. you have all these media narratives and the managers and so on and the fact they're competitors as these built in reasons why they've just been pitted against each other from the start... but y'know, again, it is also just a bit about maturing, about being able to set that aside, about making your peace with defeat and failure as an element of growing up. you can't win everything, maybe there's something you really really really want and you're just not going to get it, but at the end of the day it's kinda... yeah. self-acceptance. idk this is the nice one

so with marc you can go several different ways here I guess, and again he's also perfectly decent sports biopic material, probably second to casey in that category like yeah sure do the comeback story. but also, we do already have a very good self-produced documentary about what he thinks the narratives of his career are? idk this is also just a personal taste thing, I'll leave him to doing all the injury stuff himself, I don't have much to add there. we'll get to the obvious one in a second, but I was trying to figure out if there were other places I massively felt like you need the cinematic touch. and, again, the 2013 season is obviously very exciting!! but also, you have it covered in.,,,, multiple documentaries, I don't feel I have a take their either? his rivalries with dani and jorge aren't really substantive enough to sustain a bit of cinema. dovi... I mean, what are you saying there? what's the arc? I feel like if I tackled dovi, I'd go somewhere else and really go all in with the ducati stuff, and make it a bit more... you know, stark, stripped back, basically just the emotional component of how much he gave to that project and how he managed to beat away one rival after the next and how it all ended up falling apart in a kind of anti-climactic way? he's also good sports biopic material, but in a way I think the marc rivalry is the bit of his story I have the least to say on. so eg, 2017 is a dramatic season, but he's also kinda fine after it? he always knew it was a long shot, he tried his best and he got really close and then he lost. you can't amadeus it because dovi isn't (fictional) salieri. basically, I think what I'm saying here is that dovi is too well-adjusted to feature in this post. though I'd totally watch a film about his 250cc seasons, like it's a bit annoying because HE is the underdog who loses both title fights to jorge, but it'd still be kinda fun idk. I wouldn't really know what to do with the material but if someone made the film I'd absolutely watch it

right then. the thing about sepang 2015 is... yeah, sure, of course you can do it, it already exists as a narrative but... yeah, what are you adding!! idk I always think when you're adapting something, you kinda need to have a reason for it? I mean, what are you doing that's not already there in the footage? idk maybe this is just a sign of having been a fan of this sport for one too many years but to me the idea of sepang 2015 can get a bit boring (or maybe just repetitive) where I need a new TAKE on it to really get into the idea of fictionalising it. like where's the auteur's touch y'know, what can I still add to this!! but it also needs to WORK for someone who is new to the story, which kinda just makes you want to tell the story straight.... y'know the story is strong enough and COMPLICATED enough to stand on its own and it IS good but I don't really have anything interesting to say beyond 'yeah sure that'e be neat'. I can't tell you why, but I also don't think the casey approach quite works here? the idea of providing a framing device with which valentino and marc can actually talk to each other... eh. don't like that. hm. okay wait actually I just turned it around in my head for... a while and I think I've got an idea to make the worst motorcycle racing film of all time. so, my central stupid film-making gimmick here is just. centring the fact we're completely reliant on a few guys and what they're telling us in making up our minds, and our removal from that story and the imperfection of their perceptions and so on. so I think you kinda make a point of... not actually showing the motorcycle racing? like, you always show it by showing other people watching it, you're showing the tv screen rather than the actual racing. even in the cinematic medium, you're centring the theatrical aspects, where you drill it down to just a few characters. valentino. marc. uccio. marc's fuck ass manager. maybe a crew chief or two. keep it limited though, all the others are kept at a distance - you're constantly focusing in on the same few characters. and very early on you basically just like... get them to fourth wall break by telling you, the viewer, with their actual words how racing works for them, what meaning they take out of it - and again it's this remove because we're never allowed to actually feel the racing for ourselves (no helmet cams), and it sets up that as the tragedy unfolds, again and again we're just hearing from them what happened. it's all zoomed in on how claustrophobic the entire situation is, like doing the race direction room after the sepang 2015 is perfect for that kind of thing, and crucially they're only ever addressing the audience because they can't address each other. but fourth wall breaks also obviously draw attention to artificiality! I realise they are very much like, lame gimmick central, but also are these men not inherently about lame gimmicks... idk it's basically the same story but at least it feels like a kinda interesting way of telling it. kinda trite, but cinema allows you to get to the point and let valentino actually play with the camera... so literally take it into his own hands and lead it around and tell the story from his point of view. and you can play with how they do both change in what stories they think they're telling, how they're constantly revising their own stories, how their stories completely clash with each other... like. make them literal narrators. that's my pitch

so. one interesting pattern that has come up with my approaches to these rivalries is that with the exception maybe of the 2015 stuff, I feel like I'm more naturally inclined to treat valentino as a narrative device and centre his rivals. a big part of this is that valentino is a fantastic narrative device. he's kinda. this looming presence in every narrative in this sport where you can just sort of use him as a sort of way to poke away at all these other riders. the monster everyone loves who you are trapped with. BOO!! he's gonna eat you! which is fun! but ALSO, crucially, several of these rivalries aren't that emotionally challenging for him!! again, with casey right, he wants to beat him, but he's not having a crisis of faith over losing to casey. he thinks casey is annoying, he wants to beat him because he wants to win. valentino is casey's foil, but casey is not valentino's. valentino makes for an excellent personal antagonist to casey, but the reverse just isn't true. casey isn't forcing valentino to reexamine his approach except 'ramping up the levels of being a dick on-track' - like, yes, that's a serious competitive challenge, but also valentino is very comfortable in his own skin in that rivalry. sure, you could have valentino have some kind of massive revelation about the casey rivalry, but like. he doesn't in canon. he changes his behaviour towards casey in pretty predictable ways depending on what the relationship demands from his perspective at any given time. there's nothing more there

now, obviously you know where I'm going here. there IS a rivalry where you can make the argument he changes as a result of it, there IS a rivalry that tips him over the line and makes him to do stuff he hadn't done before that, there IS a rivalry that happens to coincide with a period of his competitive life that challenges him both personally and professionally. now, look, I have already talked about the sete rivalry. you know what I think about this rivalry - and if you don't, I really already have told the story here and here and here and here and also here. I think this works perfectly well as a narrative in its own right, and it's one you can tell from either perspective... but you kinda need both. I think again you probably naturally lean towards starting it from sete's perspective and that first proper meeting (I mean, idk if it is their first actual meeting, but it's the logical obvious place you start this story) with sete giving valentino advice during his first 500cc test and valentino just, y'know, ignoring him and being a cocky shit and then crashing. so you get to see sete being kinda exasperated by the whole thing. also, obviously ibiza is like, a key framing device here, like it's the most obvious in-your-face way of tracking their relationship with each other. I don't actually know how often they partied there together, but it must have been at least twice and if the commentators are to be believed it must have included 2003. artistic license and you can add one or two more times, but mainly you want to focus in on 2003 onwards right. so you've got this 2002 one where it's, y'know, high point of their friendship and in the name of narrative efficiency, you establish here that sete is looking to make the honda switch. the emphasis is on how valentino has been winning everything but on the flip side you're getting the first insight into his discontent. and there's a bit of a vibe of, what could you possibly have to complain about? like you are winning so much? so it's late one night where they've had this slightly unguarded alcohol-fuelled moment of genuine vulnerability but in the end it's actually characterised by how... unsubstantial the link between them is, because they wouldn't talk about this kind of thing with each other and they might both be similar in some ways but also don't gettttttt each other. it means you can return there as a location in 2003, where you've just had sachsenring and valentino's dramatic loss but they're still partying together and it's like. obviously In The Air that not everything is quite right... their relationship is already gradually altered and twisted because you're introducing this element of actual stakes and competition (obviously in 2004 they do NOT spend that time together, as far as we know anyway, and you can show them being very much not together at ibiza as a very obvious Oooh Things Will Fall Apart and maybe already haveeee)

and I do think basically I've already said what I think the themes here are,,,, several times by this point, so I'm not going to belabour the point. I think all of this fundamentally works as a narrative with like, minimal massaging and rearranging of the elements for dramatic effect. it's all there already, everything from sete's arc with the [insert non-tasteless way of covering a real life tragedy that fundamentally alters the course of sete's career] and how that leads to sete becoming the challenger and how he does want to win and his eventual downfall. with valentino, you have the element of liberation and self-discovery and... well, growing into your own but also kinda having the narrative drawing attention to how 'growing into your own' can involve becoming a fully realised character who is essentially quite cruel? you have this kind of... build up, right, towards this moment of revelation, where you lay bare who these two people actually ARE at sepang 2004, and then again at jerez 2005. valentino has gone his own way, he has freed himself from the chains of honda, he has embraced individualism and the chance to define himself and his own legacy and stand on his own two feet and not rely on the strongest bike or all this stuff within honda where they chose him as their flag bearer, for better or for worse... like he comes to his own here! he takes the step from 'great rider' to 'legend' because he gets to this dramatic moment of stepping into the unknown, he takes this massive risk that could have cost him so much, and it ends up elevating him. but it also puts him under duress, and in that moment he reveals himself - whatever sete did or did not do at qatar 2004, EVEN IF sete did all that shit, what you are left with is valentino vowing to ruin this man. valentino uses sete to make himself 'better', to fuel himself as a competitor. valentino turns sete into a tool in his own story. and again, thematically you've got all this stuff about how sete was managing the image of the rivalry and how valentino took advantage of that - how sete needed it to remain respectful and valentino was completely willing to abandon that. like, you have two protagonists who really are similar in quite a few ways, who think they have this shared understanding with each other, but when it comes down to it? they end up being super painfully different

now I can go on about this and how to play it straight, basically, you can just do that rivalry and I think it'd be cool and fun and very easy to arrange in a good narrative way. BUT I've kind of already. done that. like I don't want to suggest a film that is basically a nicer version of my tumblr posts. so I want to take this in a slightly different direction, and I think what we need to consider with this rivalry is this: what if you made the curse literal? basically, what's always kinda charmed me about this rivalry is that the curse should not work and all the misfortune that befalls sete after that is so comical that it's kinda... what do you do with that? and the answer is you just lean all the way in. my pitch is this: what if valentino sells his soul to the devil?

so, you know faust, right, and you know the bit at the start of goethe's faust where god and mephistopheles are basically making a wager over how corruptible this one human is. and faust is like... he's kinda disillusioned, he feels that everything he's dedicated his life to in academia is fundamentally hollow, gets very close to committing suicide. and faust has gone a bit new age-y, gotten into all this mystical shit and he's got this pentagram that ends up preventing mephistopheles from leaving his presence in their first meeting... and basically what the devil can give him is like, the chance to attain some true pleasure, and for that faust is willing to bet everything - so if faust can just have that, then maybe eternal damnation is worth it. and look, I'm not going to summarise the entire plot of faust here and it does go off the wall a bit with all the gretchen stuff, but the point is you have this version of the devil who is fundamentally a cynic and is attempting to win an argument with god by making this human succumb to his own nihilism. and what faust basically does is like, abandon his normal life where he's trying to live by normal virtues and goes off on this journey with the devil. and there's this little moment where mephistopheles,,, pretends to be faust and takes on the role of an academic adviser (you know how it is) and seduces this random student away from the word of god and sends him down a wretched path, which ends with this bit:

like, a big part of faust's tragedy is supposed to be about... well, hubris, of the relationship of god to man, of no longer being afraid of the devil... and obviously, this is all framed very much in terms of religion, but at the end of the day it's also about, you know, having purpose - faust is living a life that no longer has any meaning to him, all of his knowledge and studies now no longer fill the void inside himself. his nihilism opens the door for mephistopheles, and is what makes him willing to accept the devil's terms. now, and I am so very sorry to goethe here, I think we have some material we can use here to explore the valentino/sete rivalry. obviously, you can't do a one-to-one, you need to get rid of some of like, the depression and all that - there were times when valentino was feeling 'a bit low' in 2003, but not 'faust thinking everything he'd done in his entire life was pointless' low, yeah? also, unless you want to do a real long view here and even then it can't really be justified, there obviously isn't really a 'tragedy' here from valentino's perspective. like, he wins! this isn't valentino's tragedy, it's sete's! I was being a bit facetious when I said he was 'selling his soul to the devil', and you can kinda parse mephistopheles' motivations in different ways depending on what flavour and what interpretation of him you're dealing with here. you don't 'damn' valentino, you essentially just turn him into a tool of the devil!

so, this is how this works out in my head: the devil works more broadly as the manifestation of competitive impulses, the kind of 'how far would you go to win' question as a bloke who shows up and literally talks to the characters about it (magic of cinema). he's also engaging with valentino feeling like his victories no longer having meaning, with being disconnected from honda and from the entire culture there and just feeling like he's going through the motions. there's this element of like... opening the door to what is essentially a journey of self-actualisation, bringing him closer to being a 'god' but also allowing him to fully come into his own and become himself. to win on his own terms. I reckon ibiza is my preferred narrative device where the devil talks both to sete and valentino there (separately), first literally as a mysterious stranger and then... maybe not? he's talking to them at times of their lives when they're not at ibiza and it's not happening there in the physical world and they both end up kinda having to confront they're dealing with some potentially malevolent supernatural entity. but the important elements of the devil is that a) he's not going to do anything the humans don't actually ask for themselves, and b) everyone knows he's following his own agenda and you should be careful of the requests you make of him. so it's kinda like... essentially, the backdrop of this rivalry unfolding is they're constantly being challenged to decide what lines they're willing to cross. which culminates at qatar... and maybe you do have sete making like. a teensy mistake. a teensy error in judgement, one that is both real and deliberate but he could not have known would get that reaction and instantly regrets. and valentino, who is I think inherently sceptical of the devil coming to offer to help him and maybe does crank out the pentagrams (remember, the whole point of faust is that he was too arrogant to be scared of the devil, or one of the points anyway), in a moment of fury does decide - no, actually. I will take that step. I will curse sete. now the thing is, dramatically this is a teensy bit tricky because when you're talking about being damned by the devil, usually the consequences are a bit more severe than 'not winning a motorcycle race again' (yes, you can get into how sete did also seem genuinely cursed after that, cf his ambulance/bus crash situation, but again we are flirting with being in poor taste in this tumblr post). but the thing is, right, you have to lean into the silliness here! qatar 2004 is inherently silly, a CURSE is inherently silly, like real life is already silly here! you have to engage with the people where they are, and for these athletes all this shit is so heightened that the emotions are full on. like, valentino would've sold that guy to the devil! and to him not winning another race is basically the worst thing that can happen

so, obviously, you get to do the actual curse stuff. curses are inherently campy fun, the devil doing curses is campy fun, getting valentino rossi to crank out the pentagrams is inherently campy fun. you get to play around with this, right, like you know that bit in the brno 2005 race commentary where the commentators are talking about how valentino might as well have a little radio to talk into sete's helmet to remind him of how sete had fucked up at the sachsenring. OBVIOUSLY obviously obviously it is just so... idk scrunchy and fun to have this idea of valentino becoming a malevolent enough force to literally do that.... like damn the commentators did kinda eat with that?? ughhhhhh do you ever think about sete leading the qatar 2005 race for most of the way???? like that's SO fucked up because you literally have articles from about the race going 'hey maybe sete can break his curse' and then the commentators are talking about curses having one year expiration dates but obviously they!! do not!!!!! there's one race where sete goes off track and the commentators are talking about how valentino will surely have smiled into his helmet like that's so fucked!! it's so fucked!! but idk I think basically you have all this creeping curse-y stuff and devil stuff and then you get this twist and then it just becomes misery zone for sete until you sort of. compress the timeline and have him retire without getting into what happened at the end of 2006. and valentino just relishing in all his very worst emotions. and you've got sete who was the better man after jerez 2005, who took the high ground again and again and again and it did NOTHING for him.... and then he's cursed and his career is finished and the devil has had his fun getting mixed in with mid noughties motogp. and now obviously this is inherently kinda dumb and corny and silly but it's the devil!! mephistopheles to me is allowed to get up to dumb shit sometimes, let him have some fun!! idk I like curses being literal idc

I think the obvious critique here is 'this doesn't really feel like it gets the message of faust'. which, yes, is true - and obviously the way narratives are structured, a satisfying resolution isn't 'well selling your soul kinda slaps, actually'. and my statement to respond to this argument is as follows:

this is essentially canonically what happened. valentino DID do something kinda evil and it DID work out 100% for him and it DID kinda slap. at least when you add in the devil, you're making explicit the bit where it is a little bit bad. also, is sports not inherently about selling your soul for success... the story of valentino and sete is essentially about how we are twisted by competition, how pretending that we don't wish ill to our opponents is inherently dishonest. it is about lifting a facade for something that is already inherently there in the souls of men. this is obviously inherently a deeply cynical stance, but this is also a deeply cynical story beyond all the fun battles and camp dramatics. the devil is a cynic and he is basically the point of view character of goethe's faust - he's the one who is positioned closest to the audience. sports is all about living out some of humanity's worst instincts in a relatively low stakes setting, which means we get a free pass to have fun with a deeply cynical story that goes 'maybe selling your soul to the devil is fine, actually'

do I stand by this stance? not really, but the whole fun of storytelling is that sometimes you can just be kinda mean. I think goethe would get it... you can tell which character he enjoyed writing the most

the OTHER way you can do this is centre everything around qatar 2004 as like,,, the mystery box element...... okay look I have now made two posts that go WAY too deep on the 'what really happened' element but I do loveeeeee the whole thing like I would just make a film about that very end of the season and we show it from all these different angles as different characters narrate what happened... like fuck all the riders I want to hear from whichever mechanic used the scooter... the gresini mechanic who gave evidence to race direction.... various honda higher ups the crew chiefs like this is jb vs juan martinez it's war!!! obviously you still have the same emotional/thematic hooks as the general rivalry does but idk I would have a LOT of fun figuring out how to structure that, I loveeee mysteries... maybe I'd write it as a mockumentary yeah..... this one's just fun

anyway. a lot of stuff going on in this post, huh! you can probably tell I didn't edit this much. my classic tell when I edit my tumblr posts is I remember how 'paragraphs' work. unfortunately all I have energy for are like. a bunch of rants about things in my brain. I think when tumblr tells you that you've reached the maximum number of characters per paragraph and you need to figure out where to put a break, it's probably a bad thing? on the whole, my stance is I don't have anything AGAINST mildly fictionalised versions, but for me I'm always more of a.... well I want to take advantage of the full specificity of the events as they happened or just come up with a completely original story. kind of person. I know this ask probably wasn't looking for my 'what if you bled out valentino as he's strung up above a red motorcycle' vision but yeah. with a lot of biopics I'm always a bit 'well you could just read about this couldn't you' like I need stuff to take some kind of a stance on the material it's using... all my stuff takes a stance. that's all I've got. obviously all these stances mean that basically none of these things could ever be made. and I know what I said above but if they called me up to write the casey stoner biopic script treatment, I would also do that. if you've actually read to this point, give me a shout - you're a real one and I love you

[serxen6pity]

Princess.

It's four in the afternoon—when they decided to take a walk, strolling around the alley between booths in Inazuma City. Childe couldn't stop smiling when he sees Lumine with some kids right on the corner of the alley—giving candies and talking to them dearly. Her aura screams happiness and joy, thus why Childe loves that. Call him a simp, he doesn't mind it anyway.

Lumine is a lovable person. Everyone around her knows that she's a cheerful and very heartwarming. Even though it was just like the opposite one that happened with Childe, he still knows that this girl is a lovely one. Back then whenever they met in an adventure, all she did was throwing those unfriendly words towards him—just like what happened in Liyue.

"Oh, you're a fatui? I don't like you. Get lost!"

She said it in anger and... upset? Childe didn't even know what to say back then. Till he finally knew that Signora did something to the Anemo archon when Lumine was in a mission to safe Mondstadt. He knew in an instant that Lumine was—and still is an Honorary Knight of Mondstadt. Which finally caught Childe's attention and since then he never stop looking for her; just for him to be rejected only for a slight convo.

But they're here, reuniting again in Inazuma. Accidentally meeting in a mission that they needed to do together just so everything will return in the right place. Fuck the other mission that he's been carrying—he can do it later cause Lumine is here and there's no chance of meeting her again soon. And since the mission has ended, it's time to say goodbye. Here they are, in a not-so-called date. Childe just asked Lumine and brought her into this beautiful place of Inazuma City.

"You really wanna pay for my food?" Lumine asked, just making sure that she will probably eat a lot. Surprisingly, Childe nods to it excitedly. "Tell me what you want, I'll give you in an instant!" "I want a grilled giant shrimp!" said Lumine in instant. "Sure. What else, girlie?" Childe asked while walking besides Lumine, watching her thinking over what she really wants. "Hm... how about a box of Miko's newest edition of Inazuman magazine? Or the most luxurious Raiden Shogun figurine?" Lumine screamed a lil bit, making Childe chuckles. "We can get those! They are great tho. Anything else, princess?"

This time, Lumine stopped walking. Childe who realized what Lumine did, finally stopped walking too and waits for Lumine to talk. But what comes later, has surprised him. "You always said yes, but you know... you don't have to, right?" Lumine walked towards him and finally taking a step ahead of Childe—making him slightly letting a warm smile out of his lips.

"Let's just say... I'm doing a lil favor for my best friend." Lumine hears that and letting out a quiet sigh. "Also what did you say? Princess? That was how you supposed to call your girlfriend, ginger head! And I'm only your friend." she said. "Hm..." Childe looked like he's thinking so hard just by hearing what Lumine said earlier.

They're finally walking without words. A few minutes later, Lumine heard something from Childe that makes her blushes and feeling those butterflies in her stomach.

"... well then, should we date? Be my girlfriend cause I'd like to call you princess everyday."

Childe really knows how to make Lumine lost her whole sanity just with a sentence.

[one-winged-dreams]

Lux

ship: (Lux Astrum x Gladiolus Amicitia) source: Final Fantasy XV word count: 1401 cw: implications of physical parental abuse

I'm so fucking SGKJHSELGKJ over Lux and Gladio being childhood friends to lovers, and Gladio being there for the start of Lux's transition. Also gay gay homosexual gay.

very quick for indulgence purposes no proof reading we post like men

tag list: @dearly-beeloved @kylars-princess @adoredbyalatus @dorothys-wife @the-sleeping-city

@dear-gambler @sunstar-of-the-north @mahitosoulmate @goldenworldsabound

"Things still rough at home?"

The question was enough to get Lumine to open her eyes. She liked it here, in the Amicitia's backyard, her favorite respite from her family and life in general. There was no shouting or senseless conflict. Just the soft feeling of sun-warmed grass beneath her.

"... Yeah," she answered Gladio with a sigh, bringing her arm up to drape over her forehead. 

"... I see," came Gladio's reply, accompanied by a huff through his nose. "Not sure why I asked..."

There was a mostly comfortable silence after that, only mostly considering the awkwardness of the subject that had been breached. 

"Was it... always like that?" Gladio gambled against the odds of making the conversation MORE awkward, deciding to go ahead with what he wanted to ask.

"... Not sure," Lumine ultimately answered. "My grandparents were never like this, to my knowledge. It'd be a disgrace if my whole lineage was..." 

A sigh left her lips as she trailed off, her forearm coming down to cover her eyes.

"If anyone deserves to serve the King... My parents aren't it."

Gladio merely nodded his head, a thoughtful gesture of contemplation. 

"Do you think you are? I mean, as the oldest, how do you even feel about taking up that mantle? I don't see you as the family type," he tried to make a lighthearted comment, rolling his head to the side to fix Lumine with a teasing eyebrow arch.

Lumine snorted, a good sign.

"What, are you saying you wouldn't start a family with me?" she teased back before returning to her melancholy expression.

"That'd be something, though, wouldn't it? Astrum and Amicitia..." Another inhale through her nose. "If it came down to it, I'd DEFINITELY take your family over mine. I don't have any real attachment to mine, if they want someone to continue the lineage they've got my sister."

Gladio's turned his head to look back up at the sky.

"Man. All daughters. That's a load of responsibility."

Lumine didn't say anything for a second, taking a few beats until she gave her reply.

"Yeah... Daughters..." 

It was quiet again. This time there was a palpable tension, one that had Gladio sitting up a bit, turning on his side and supporting himself with his elbow.

"What's up with you, Lumine?"

Blinking, Lumine turned her head to look at him.

"I mean, like... A lot, but what are you asking specifically?" 

Gladio's expression was a bit more serious than she was comfortable with.

"How would I know? You're not exactly an open book these days."

This had Lumine's brow furrowing, a little offended by the comment. Gladio didn't mince words, it was something she loved about him, but this was hitting a little too close for comfort. 

"Yeah, well. Maybe I've just had some stuff on my mind."

"Anything you wanna share with the class?"

"Not really..."

"Then what about with your boyfriend?"

Lumine winced. Godsdammit, that was a sore spot. She never wanted to be distant, never wanted to be the way her parents were. With herself, with each other. Whatever she had with Gladio, she swore it would never end up like that.

But this was... Different. 

A lump in her throat made itself known, and she struggled to swallow it.

"It's... I'm..." She took a deep, shuddering breath. 

"I want to tell you, but... I'm scared."

Gladio's brow furrowed this time.

"You? Scared?"

Lumine's eyes clenched shut, her eyelids trembling in a way that made it known she wasn't exaggerating.

"Yeah," she replied, her voice cracking, "... scared."

"Lumine," Gladio sighed and she winced. "Don't give me that crap. You don't scare easy, so just... Out with it. Rip off the bandaid." 

Lumine's eyes opened and she looked at him. Her eyes were wide, vulnerable and wet and foreign in a way that Gladio wasn't used to seeing. 

"But I'm scared if I do... You won't... Know me anymore..." Her voice came out in a near whisper. 

"Is that so bad? You've stuck with me this long, Lumine. And I've stuck with you. Whatever it is, I already know I'm still gonna like whoever you are. Even if it means I have to help you bury someone here in the yard. So just say it," Gladio's attempt at light-heartedness was a bit of a failure in that his conviction to get Lumine to open up was a bit intense. 

It seemed to do the trick though, as Lumine gulped again, staring at him with an expression that trembled along the ledge of vulnerability. 

"I don't think... I don't think there IS a Lumine," she spoke softly, breathily. 

"Well then, who is there?"

The question was abrupt, blunt, and perfect for breaking down the final wall that stood between Gladio and true openness. Tears welled up in Lumine's eyes, and she didn't even try to keep them from falling.

"Well... It's... Lux." 

"Tell me about Lux," Gladio continued his trend of unwavering support, which only made the tears stream even quicker. 

"Lux is... What Lumine would be like if she wasn't so sad all the time. Lux can stand up for... for himself."

There was a silence that was so tense that Lumine winced, keeping her eyes clenched shut. The silence was so deafening she wanted to reach up and cover her ears. But more than that, she was even more afraid of what would break that silence.

"I see. Well... does Lux still want to be my boyfriend?"

In an utterly appropriate metaphor, Lux's eyes snapped open in a manner that was like he was seeing the light for the first time. Here in Gladio's backyard, where the sun always felt brightest and warmest. 

He took a quick inhale.

"He would... He really would..."

More silence followed, less tense but still ringing with questions neither of them wanted to breach yet.

"But... Are you even...?" Lux managed to bring himself to grasp the most important one.

Whatever he feared, he wouldn't find it, as Gladio let out a snort.

"Lux... I don't even like girls."

"THEN WHY-"

"Guess I was just ahead of the game, huh? I thought it was weird too, but I guess I'm just more in tune to you than YOU were. Face it, you're oblivious," Gladio snickered, reaching over to pull Lux's headband off and ruffle his hair.

"Hey!" Lux protested with a whine, making an even whinier sound as Gladio tossed the accessory across the yard.

"Come on, is Lux still gonna let his parents decide what he wears? I've always hated that thing on you. You should get a more badass accessory," Gladio sat up fully, crossing his legs.

"Like what? A piercing or something?" Lux followed suit, arching a brow in contemplation.

"That's even more badass than what I was considering, you should do it," Gladio responded by giving Lux's shoulder a playful shove. "You said Lux stands up for himself. Maybe it's time that he started now."

Lux stared at him for a good moment before slowly nodding.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right," he said thoughtfully, partially to himself.

"You're gonna be 16 this year, that's old enough. How about when your birthday rolls around we take you down to get one?" Gladio's arm came to wrap around Lux's shoulders now, giving him a little shake accompanied by an enabling smirk.

"You paying for it?" Lux snorted, unable to keep from cracking a smile. "What kind do you think would be best for a first one? Something that'll piss off my parents, they're gonna kick my ass no matter what I get."

The comment was played off casually, both of them were used to darker quips about Lux's home predicament. And so they thought for a moment.

Eventually, Lux turned to point to the area between his eyes.

"Okay, bridge?" 

And then one of his hands moved down to his nose.

"Or nostril?"

Gladio seemed to think for a moment, rubbing his chin.

"How about... BOTH nostrils. Sounds like a good middle ground."

"Oh, good idea. Anyway..." Lux trailed off, inciting a head tilt from Gladio.

"Come on, you're not about to clam up NOW are you?"

"No! No. I just..." Lux sighed before leaning into him and closing his eyes.

"Thanks... For still loving Lux."

Gladio's arm tightened around his shoulders.

"No problem... But I don't have to talk about having an ex-girlfriend do I?"

"NO!"

[jamiesfootball]

WORDS!! i love words. gonna throw some at u

salt. melancholy. breeze. wince. verdant. luminous. *insert whatever word u want here if none of these work*!

Salt (only 2? how???? (i shall fix this)) - from OGYGGI(YHNBGL) - what an acronym

The photographer had salt-and-pepper hair and a keen sharpness that reminded him of Trent. He understood now what Jamie meant by 'not really the artsy type' -- she seemed like she should be interrogating politicians on government overspending. Roy wouldn't want to question her artistic vision either.

Melancholy - (just the once) from The Vacant House Behind Our Home

Ted wasn't prone to fits of melancholy -- not anymore than the next person -- but he had to admit that having Trent around to split a pot of coffee did wonders for excising the morning blues.

Breeze - (exactly once but that's only because I thought I'd written another part and I hadn't yet) - from OGYGGI(YHNBGL), the funniest acronym

After the shit-fuck of a morning he's had, therapy should be a breeze.

Wince - (we don't need to talk about how much this one shows up) - from OGYGGI(YHNBGL), which looks like a keyboard smash

"You benched me!" Colin yelled. His cheeks turned blotted red. "For a pretty sizeable chunk of the year, too! Do you have any idea what that did to my minutes?" Roy winced. "And now you- what? Is this-," Colin choked. A million expressions, all of them bad, filtered across his face before he gritted out, "Is this because of the gay thing?"

Verdant - one but I already posted a snippet of it this week. Here it is again from The Vacant House Behind Our Home

The snarled sky hovered high above them. Dani wished it would hover higher. He wished the walls surrounding the disconcertingly verdant field would seem lower, and less like teeth sticking up from the ground.

Luminous - none so I picked a similar word, illuminated. Also from OGYGGI(YHNBGL)

The fairy lights didn't pull their fair share of the weight when it came to illuminating the room anymore. That, or his eyes were getting worse. The day Phoebe graduated to regular-sized font books, Roy would have to breakdown and use the glasses his sister had gotten him for his birthday.

[honorary-fool]

for the character ask thing: venti >:3

First impression: "Oh he's cool, I see why people like him."

At the time, I'd only recently gotten into genshin and it was because of Albedo, so I was still learning about the others. I saw how many really liked Venti, but actually seeing him in-game for the first time was like 'yeah I see it.'

Impression now: "I love you come back you MOTHERFUCKER- " /lh

The end of the Prologue got me Hooked and his story quest even More. He's so,,,,, explodes

Favorite moment: My immediate thought was the whole Incident with Signora

Gotta love blorbos in situations <3

He's had a lotta cool moments though- the Irodori Festival w/ Kujou Sara is still a li'l silly to me.

This is subject to change once I finally watch a recording of the first Windblume Festival.

Idea for a story: I had to dig for this one 'cus I forgot, but I wrote down an idea for one of those "song fic" sorta things with Fourth of July by Sufjan Stevens, like stuff with him and the Nameless Bard?

also: I know I've had a corruption AU one in the works and rewritten a few times, and it does involve him a lot, if that counts? It's not centered around him/he's not the corrupted one, but like... Still

there's probably others, I just can't remember them or where I put them right now

Unpopular opinion: I don't exactly know how [un]popular this one is 'cus I don't touch on the side of the fandom that focuses more on the Cataclysm/Khanrei'ah but like.

"Oh he has the highest kill count for sure" You think the god of Freedom. Freedom. Would willingly destroy a godless nation?

Has he fought? Of course, he was there for the revolt, I think he helped out with the aristocracy with Ursa the Drake's rampage, there was the whole thing with Durin, the Archon War..

Has he killed? Also yeah, see above.

Idk it leaves a sour taste in my mouth at the thought of him willingly slaying the Khanrei'ahns and stealing their freedom to not worship a god, their freedom to just live and exist as a perfectly functioning godless nation.

Favorite relationship: I gotta be so honest for a solid 5 minutes I thought of ships but relationships could mean anything. That being said, his & Zhongli's history with each other is very interesting to me

but adding ships anyway bc fuck it :3

canon x canon- him xiao & lumine <3

canon x oc- genshin carmen for sure #biased /lh ; also my qpp's genshin oc w/ him, and also fable :3 I care them so hard dude I adore them

Favorite headcanon: ...shit^2 ummmm...good question, I have two for this one.

1) he retains his wings in his more common form. They don't look the same, they're like shrunken down a little, and don't have the golden bits. Like a little bigger than windglider wings.

2) Astraphobia on account of association with Decarabian.

okay I lied, #3, hc of him being pan &/or polyamorous. Freedom to love all genders & more than one person <3

[aestherin]

I STRIKE AGAIN!

Scaramouche makes a tweet.

“I am going to go spend my new years with the only person I willingly tolerate in this universe”

Cut to, Scaramouche banging on y/n’s door like a maniac. A nearby guy walking by, records the entire ordeal.

Y/n frantically opens with wine in one hand, “what the fuck”

“Hey” He shrugs, with a bag of y/n’s favourite food in one hand and board games in the other. He casually walks in leaving y/n stunned. She’s puzzled but just accepts it because atleast she’s not alone on New years! She closes the door and follows him.

The video the random guy recorded goes VIRAL.

People go wild with their speculations and haha, Ayato sees it too.

When Scaramouche leaves the paparazzi is WILD, surrounding him like hungry dogs.

Y/n has just decided to not open her phone for a while, she needs to heal after all this bs. The internet is ruthless afterall so she’s quite oblivious to all this.

—————

Cut to—

Many celebrities are gathered together for some award show except y/n.

Since, Scaramouche and Ayato share a couple of mutual friends, their friend circle overlaps—so they’re all sitting at the same table.

The hosts come to ask them how it’s going and crack some cringy totally not scripted jokes, forced laughs following.

When silence creeps in…

Until “DING!” is heard.

Y/n has been ignoring everyone.

But I wonder, what if she sends Scara a message, to let him know he left half of the uno cards at her house. That idiot.

Just seeing that notification pop up on his phone, with the contact “Y/n ♥️”

Everyone saw it.

Scara just nonchalantly turns his face facing the table. He lets a smirk tug his lips. OH HES SMUG THAT MF.

The twins are offended. You’re ignoring them but texting scara?! Okay then.

Childe is also offended, a little relieved but also confused. When tf did you and scara get so close? I mean he knew you were friends, same circle but..never this much!

Kikyo looks awkward. (I hc kikyo as nice, it’s uncool to hate on another woman who’s done nothing. Like so far she’s only existed. Her fans are annoying not her!!)

Thoma and Ayaka are giving eachother “uh oh” looks because…AYATO looks like he’s abt to full on blue eyes white dragon scaramouche.

All this over uno 🙄

The interviewer just gives out a rough chuckle and in a desperate attempt to change the subject, Childe says..

“Yknow one time I drank bleach on accident..”

It worked. The subject did indeed change.

—————

The tension is still super high in the after-party. If you think Scaramouche would not stare Ayato down in retaliation, YOU’RE WRONG.

There’s sparks, this can break out into a pokemon tier fight anytime place your bets!

When an interviewer walks runs up…

“LIVE HERE. You’re watching “Fontainianmedia”—We have broken into the very exclusive after-party, everything looks grand and here we have Kamisato Ayato, Scaramouche, Miss Lumine and more!”

“Ayato, why did you and y/n decide to break up?”

“Hey get outta here! You’re not allowed here” a security guard follows.

“We were just extremely busy, finding time got increasingly difficult. I still very much respect y/n.” Ayato forced a smile.

Scara lets out a chuckle.

OH that got attention.

“Is there something bothering you? Something perhaps lodged in your food-pipe?” Ayato asks with a smile, but it was aggressive.

“I handle whatever bothers me, trust me I just did. Thanks for your help tho..” Scara says mocking Ayato.

“What are you implying Scaramouche? Does this have to do with y/n” the interviewer follows resisting the security guard whos clearly not paid enough.

A crowd forming the group while the twins and rest try defusing the tension.

“Ah yes, I’d like to know as well. What are your implications here?” Ayato clearly not amused, still keeping his cool demeanour up.

“I think you know”

—————

SHOULD I CONTINUE THIS?? I THINK I AM STEPPING ON TOES HERE LMFAO, TOO FAR?

I have a whole call-out meltdown in my mind prepared tho.

-Anon 🐉

NONONO ILY ANON BUT THIS IS TOO MUCH ANGST I'D CRY PLS

[aetirnum]

#AETIRNUM. a selective, private, low-activity multimuse featurng original characters, hoyoverse, reverse:1999 and etc. by saint. ( 21. they/vamp. ) no icon, minimal formatting, second-person prose. exploring the themes of love and its dangers, darkness of the human soul, lost of self, the importance of death and the like.

interaction.

i. i interact with all mutuals. i will post prompts, starter calls, etc etc if you wish to interact. i reply very slowly, as i run my own roleplay server and i have mental issues(tm) and can run out of battery. ooc wise, feel free to talk to me and whatnot! i can just be a bit slow, my apologies. you don't need to match my length: just put in the same effort as i do.

ii. i can write dark themes such as horror, gore, violence, cannibalism, toxic relationships etc. obvs i dont do taboo shit like incest, pedophilia, etc. go away. i don't mind shipping but prefer to do it with close friends. while i am fine with fade to black and suggestive themes i do not write smut with anyone other than my boyfriend. this is non-negotiable.

iii. i block who i want. i don't want prosh*ppers anywhere here. ideologies such as transmeds and being anti-self dx are also not welcome, esp if youre white youre very funny. idc about rp drama just dont be weird don't bring me into it and as long as you're not fucked up i gen dc. i won't always be here... i am a tired something-woman. please respect that.

other notes.

if i follow you, it means i want to interact with you, and i'd love to write with you! just please be patient with me. i study graphic design, but funnily enough im very tired of making tumblr gfx... not on anyone, just a preference! so i don't do heavy formatting or icons. if you write with me though, all i ask is to not make your text extremely small. i'm dyslexic, so it makes it very hard to read. thank you!

i write a lot of systems here, and i will mention if they ever switch, no worries. i am a system myself, so i really love them!

the writer.

hello! i am lucifer, or call me saint. i am a system host and multimedia student. i'm an artist and writer. i love slowpoke a lot. please show me slowpoke. i have been on the tumblr rpc for a loong time ( since i was... 12 at best... #veteran ) and i just recently came back, but only plan to do light activity. i'm 21 and i'm filipino. read more about me here! my discord tag is #loveits !

muses.

some of these don't have a link/carrd; it's a wip. edited from time to time... sawry.

high.

ayato. ⎯⎯⎯ genshin impact. 30. she/they. androsexual. isolde. ⎯⎯⎯ reverse:1999. 29. she/her. lesbian, did system. tartaglia. ⎯⎯⎯ genshin impact. she/he. 23. tmas butch lesbian. diluc. ⎯⎯⎯ genshin impact. he/him. 25. tmasc butch lesbian. ada mesmer. ⎯⎯⎯ identity v. 28. she/they. lesbian

secondary.

arcana. ⎯⎯⎯ reverse:1999. ???. she/it. lesbian. mahiru. ⎯⎯⎯ milgram. 23. she/they. bisexual. johann. ⎯⎯⎯ eternal return. 28. he/him. butch. lumine. ⎯⎯⎯ genshin impact. ageless. she/he/they. bisexual. vertin. ⎯⎯⎯ reverse:1999. 16. he/they. lesbian. sonetto. ⎯⎯⎯ reverse:1999. 16. he/they. lesbian. ena shinonome. ⎯⎯⎯ project sekai. 18. she/he. lesbian. kevin kaslana. ⎯⎯⎯ honkai impact 3rd. ???. he/she. thing. kafka. ⎯⎯⎯ honkai:star rail. 28. she/her. bisexual. kaalaa baunaa. ⎯⎯⎯ reverse:1999. 28. she/her. heterosexual. kujou sara. ⎯⎯⎯ genshin impact. he/she. 25. bisexual transmasc. otto apocalypse. ⎯⎯⎯ honkai impact 3rd. she/they. nonbinary. hysteria. aromantic: saviorsexual.

tertiary.

blade. ⎯⎯⎯ honkai:star rail. ??. he/she. transmasc lesbian. emil. ⎯⎯⎯ identity v. 25. she/he. transfem lesbian. tooth fairy. ⎯⎯⎯ reverse:1999. 25. she/her. lesbian. saeran choi. ⎯⎯⎯ mystic messenger. 21. he/they. transmasc. did system.

original.

shaira tiriza. ⎯⎯⎯ 28. she/they. did system. fides. ⎯⎯⎯ ageless; billion. she/he. star. amon. ⎯⎯⎯ ageless; 21 billion. she/he/they/it. star. fallere.⎯⎯⎯ ageless; 21 billion. she/they. star. celeste.⎯⎯⎯ ageless; older than us. she/her. the concept of ‘devotion’

[alexanderlightweight]

So I put in a prompt and I don't know if you've answered it about more disabled Alec? I don't know if Tumblr ate it or if you've put that you don't want to do anymore of that prompt? If you have no more intrest in that I understand and I didn't know how to ask without sounding pushy.

oh hey nonny! you're okay!

okay so i'm going to answer this honestly but this is me just being blunt. there is nothing wrong with the question and i'm not upset, i'm just kind of blunt because of anxiety and i hate misunderstandings so i tend to lay out all the facts and overexplain.

so i answer prompts based on my mood because i don't want to burn out, if that makes sense? so sometimes i have to temporarily avoid prompts that 1) require a lot of research (because i take my research seriously, even if i don't need to. autism special interest thing), 2) or i'm not up for dealing with how much meta belongs in a certain verse, 3) or are emotional in a certain way that i might not be up to dealing with? cause writing is super charged for me. it's basically my therapy so that means sometimes i'm mentally fucked up a bit and dealing with some things.

the agony of living, alec has chronic!pain and right now @saeths in a major flare up (Say's back is feeling out of sorts and she's had three medical procedures on it in six months) and i couldn't find my brace so my bad knee got overused. right now, writing about pain wouldn't be super cathartic because i'm still in pain and people i love are still in pain and the pain isn't going anywhere. all i'd be doing was focusing on it.

my brain is not happy right now and it wants to get into the nitty and gritty of chronic!pain:

i want to write about alec refusing to eat because the pain is too intense for him to feel hunger and all he can feel is nausea

i want to write about alec forcing himself not to shout at Mirai because she's forcing him to drink electrolyte water and all he wants to do is drop to the floor and scream but he can't let himself.

about an alec who can't make it to his room every morning so he has a special bed in his office.

and while those aren't bad things to write about, for me they wouldn't be helpful to focus on rn. because then i'll just make myself sad and wilty.

i actually really enjoy writing in this verse and i'm happy to explore it more. i just also have to be careful i don't overlap too much and burn out because i accidentally overfocus on things that are actually diminishing my quality of life in rl.

the weeks i write the agony of living are honestly, the weeks i feel the best and i'm taking Nightshade on walks and hikes and keeping on top of the housework and yardwork and cooking and work are when i want to write it.

when i can think about everything that can go into the story without reliving and focusing on how awful everything is in the moment. so this is probably tldr and tmi.

so TDLR:

i only write the agony of living when things are doing good physically in RL because otherwise it's too depressing.

i hope that helps make sense? you were very polite and not at all pushy and there was nothing wrong with this ask. it just happens to have an intense answer but i'm happy i was able to clarify and i have your prompt saved in my drafts so tumblr can't eat that! i'm trying to do that with all the prompts i get and it takes a while, but i love all the prompts and i hate when tumblr eats them

<3 lumine

[rebelren]

Saw this post, which mentions the movie at the end, and I just have to say:

I fucking love the Scarlet Pimpernel.

I loved the book growing up (haven't reread it so I don't know how I'd feel about it now), but I just rewatched what - to me - is The Version, the one from 1982 featuring Jane Seymour, Anthony Andrews, and Ian McKellen.

(I hadn't even realised that Chauvelin was Ian McKellen because I don't think I knew who McKellen was when I first watched the movie! So wild to see him that young!)

The movie doesn't follow the plot of the (first) book, but I don't care because I love it so much. This was the absolute height of romance to me when I first watched it, and I carry a great deal of fondness for it even now. Watching it again was a delight, and the aspects I love still worked for me despite being much more Aware of Things than I used to be.

A quick aside about Paul Chauvelin: He's got an unbudging fanatical sort of patriotism, of course, a dogged determination even when faced with what must be near-certain defeat at the end. But it also feels like there is a kind of genuine disappointment in him, an inability to understand how someone he considers a like mind could look at their reality and arrive at a different conclusion. There's a sort of fading/lost hope as the woman he loved (maybe truly, once upon a time) moves beyond his reach. I don't like him, especially the way he touches Marguerite (there's so much presumption), but I think McKellen does a great job.

But on to the things I love most.

Jane Seymour

She is just... so luminously beautiful in this role. My (deeply unaware) baby queer heart fell for her immediately, and present me can confirm that, like Percy, I too would probably fall in love with her upon our first meeting.

Not only is she stunning, she's passionate and determined and will use every ounce of her considerable acting skill to keep Chauvelin at bay. She loves fiercely and is loyal to those she loves. She will go to the ends of the earth to defend them, will stand in defiance against her country itself if it means protecting them.

Her portrayal of Marguerite is fantastic, warm and furious and bitingly cold and deliriously happy and courageous in turns. The transition from the glowing, joyous woman on her wedding day to the one who says, "I've lost my husband's love, and I don't know why..." is absolutely heartbreaking.

Once she discovers the truth about the husband she loves but has not fully understood until this second, she does not hesitate a moment to fling herself into action, risking everything to bring him home safely.

She's marvelous and lovely and brave, and my baby queer self had good fucking taste.

Anthony Andrews

Truthfully, even without Jane Seymour, Anthony Andrews alone might make this my favourite movie adaptation.

To me, he embodies the character like no other actor has (that I've seen, at any rate).

He is foppish as hell, a beautiful dandy, ever fantastically dressed and perfectly poised, the darling of society.

He is also the bravest and most daring of English noblemen, risking his life near-daily to save people from the guillotine.

Simultaneously.

And he portrays it so well, with all these levels and layers to his performance, especially in his role as popular society man Sir Percy Blakeney, baronet. (Baronet?)

I feel like other depictions I've seen have either been too foppish or too serious, never inhabiting both roles equally well, never managing to shift between them and meld them in a convincing way.

Andrews' Sir Percy can go from vacant eyes to the sharpest of gazes in a flash, can transform in an instant from a social butterfly with gloriously ridiculous affectations to a low-voiced mastermind with nerves of steel. It's like he can become a whole new person before one's eyes just from a change in stance or expression or pitch.

I swear I've not seen anyone else manage to convey so many emotions and variations in the role, and he makes it look effortless. He makes me believe, at least for those 142 minutes, that he is everything his legend says he is and more.

And who knows? Maybe it's not as good as I think. Maybe it's just that I saw it at the right time in my life and was convinced and bewitched so thoroughly that my nostalgic impression persists to this day.

Maybe.

But whatever the cause, whatever the reason I feel this way, I felt it all over again when I watched the movie again recently.

And that? The ability of this movie, which came out before I was even born, to affect me that way years ago and still today?

That's fucking magic.

Just.

THIS FUCKING MOVIE.

The End.

[ghostiegirl56]

Genshin Multifandom Drabble/Rant

Ok I know I mentioned having twisted x obey me chapter 2 done but I had another idea for a mixed fandom fic.

Blame my amazing persuasive skills to convince my friend to play genshin and then her wanting to talk about lore while co-oping.

Kinda spoilers for genshin. Like not really just for a few voice lines and which twin is Canon. (Khaenria'h gets mentioned twice so eh)

I'll be referring to Canon (aether as protag and lumine as abyss

So like Aether hasn't been able to find Lumine for 500 years (talk about giving it a boy look). But what if it's because different worlds keep summoning him and when he gets put back he just keeps getting disorientated.

Like he's searching dragonspine for Lumine, gets summoned to another game/anime and then he's plopped back into schneznya. Doesn't help that lumine's hiding in the abyss.

This has the opportunity for nearly 500 different fandoms and Aether's stuck with them for maybe a few months or heck even a year.

And even more potential for a prequel of the twins visiting each place before arriving in teyvat.

Anyway back to the how of Aether being yoinked, say when first travelling through the other worlds Aether (being the doormat he is) left maybe an artifact that can temporarily bring (the assigned twin) to the other world for like a year and then saying like

"if you ever need help again don't hesitate to call".

And when you consider that not every world they travelled to probably had magic. Those artifacts would never get used and instead be like a family heirloom because A:

Every family has some sort of crazy heirloom that you have to question if it's cursed.

And B:

If two people with magic descended from the sky that's God and you don't (theoretically) call them lightly.

But also at least Aether canonically has all his power sealed and the way visions work mean their use is limited to teyvat (visions need elemental energy and the specific formula for elemental energy is likely only found in teyvat). If Aether's statue powers work the same...

He's just some regular dude who got summoned probably because of someone's desperation. Like the world could be ending and this almighty being that has seen the birth and death of stars (which is surprisingly canon) who descended hundreds of years ago is now a magicless, crop top wearing twink (affectionately) who needs his sister to tell the Macca's employee he asked for no pickles.

I imagine in some worlds they've accidentally started a whole religion around them (more reasons for Celestia to be haters).

This could also apply to Lumine and that's why she spends so much time in the abyss, to make up the time she lost on her summons. Since 1 teyvat day is 1 abyss month (if I remember correctly).

Also if I had a twin and they disappeared on me for 500 after I slept for long enough that (twin in question) pissed of a higher being that sent literal gods to destroy the place. The next time I see them it's a fucking tackle hug them for abandoning me and cause I'd miss them.

The fact Aether is so chill and somehow sane about this implies either A:

He has no capacity to be upset (proven wrong by the chasm quest)

Or B:

This has happened before.

Which lead onto a new headcanon of Lumine and Aether travelling worlds and they'll just randomly fight like

"Noooo it's my turn to overthrow the gods"

"Nuh uh you defeated my evil organisation so I didn't get my full turn"

Soooo after all my ranting basically. Aether or Lumine getting dragged to worlds only to be plopped back in teyvat after their summoning artifact runs out of time.

Obey Me The exchange program

So back to the multifandom part. Imagine that a twin (I'll use Aether as my example) is selected for the human world exchange program due to probably being known for magic in ancient human history books. Then one of two things vould happen.

Barbatos succeeds in summoning Aether because its Barbatos.

or 2

new backstory for a brother of choice, having been given a summoning artifact at somepoint and coming in clutch to summon Aether. Which creates a nice little reunion

and part .5 Paimon can come with and be surprised about archons sharing names with the demons.

If its option 1 I can imagine Aether learning about how much of a dick the brothers father is. Then going like

"Where his he? He needs to know that wasn't right"

(Aether is tired alright pretend its exam season)

Lucifer: "We fought him and lost what makes you so sure you can" Aether: "I've done it before. . ?"

Even if it wasn't specifically Obey me's god. Like it could be and this is how the brothers find out Aether is potentially older than them. Also Aether could totally tell them all these stories about gods he's fought and that its a common thing in each world for someone to fight god.

idk I think that could reasure the brothers.

[thesinglesjukebox]

NOAH KAHAN - "STICK SEASON"

Just to be clear, this post was *not* sponsored by the Vermont Tourism Board... [5.10]

Hannah Jocelyn: Noah Kahan snuck up on me -- I first wondered why Ruston Kelly was opening for this guy who I'd never heard of before. I heard a couple of his songs, they were fine! So I ignored him. Suddenly, last year, a friend (a songwriter herself) was complaining about him, asking "What does the 'season of the sticks' even MEAN?" And from then on, he was everywhere, the same way Ed Sheeran was genuinely grassroots a decade ago before he became the eldritch pop horror he is now. Sheeran and Mumford & Sons ultimately gave us the indie folk of Boygenius and co., as well as Taylor Swift's own forays into indie, all of which I either love or respect. I go to open mics and concerts often, and it's a lot of empowered non-men leading the charge; even the guys I see make more interesting music than "I'm so sad, I'm so fucked up."  And now the pendulum's swinging, so now we are back at WGWAGs, and they don't even have the slick production of the Mumfords. I am not afraid of Noah Kahan; this song just sounds like the banality of fuckboys. I am more afraid of everyone following in his footsteps. Bonus point for actually mentioning COVID, though. [5]

Jacob Satter: Back when they were riding the wave of stardom for the first time, I bought tickets to see Counting Crows and a pre-dreadlocked Adam Duritz was going through it. He spent most of the show baffling the audience by lying flat on his back at center stage, talk-singing his way through August and Everything After, genuinely unable to look success in the eye. I take this trip down memory lane to clarify that when I say that every generation gets the self-actualizing folk dorkery it deserves, I'm not exculpating X while side-eying any COVID-worn millennials who embrace Mr. More-Mumford-Than-Mumford here for their mental balm. [3]

Dave Moore: I can google "is Noah Kahan related to Marcus Mumford" (no) but I can't google "do I hate Mumford and Sons" because despite remembering making fun of and claiming I hated Mumford and Sons at the time, I never wrote anything about them. Now that nothing else really sounds like this, I don't mind it so much. [6]

Leah Isobel: At least Mumford & Sons had the showmanship to drop an f-bomb in the midst of their self-regarding self-flagellation. What does Noah have? The word al-co-hol, leaden and imprecise and sung like it's an unbelievable blasphemy? Grow some balls, dude. [3]

Alfred Soto: He's so earnest that he acknowledges a drinkin' problem and the existence of COVID-19 and must sing as if he wants Mike Posner to sell him a pill to take in Vermont. [3]

Thomas Inskeep: His voice just oozes earnestness, and no, that's not a good thing. But strummy guitar guys never entirely go out of style, do they? If his success makes a Lumineers comeback happen, I swear to God… [3]

Lauren Gilbert: Yes, I could write a snarky review that this is a song for girls who haven't yet left their Folklore era.  And that's true enough; it's a pretty standard folk pop, with too many words pressed into too few lines, the murmurings of someone who spends entirely too much time in their head.  But it's also a pretty good instance of the form.  It has more of a hook than Bridgers, and it's less likely to put me to sleep than Clairo.  And it does feel like the season of the sticks -- like driving my parents' car through the hills of Virginia, dark, leafless trees silhouetted against a grey, featureless sky, thinking only of the person not sitting in the passenger seat. [7]

Mark Sinker: What if “season of the sticks” but it’s good not bad? (It’s such a gorgeous phrase to attempt to use as a negative… ) Plus Noah’s breath control seems kind of terrible -- the snatch at air plus his kinda squeaky voice makes him seem way younger than he even is (which is already way young), and sorry teens but that really dilutes the resigned agony he’s going for here. [6]

Taylor Alatorre: "I've been called the Jewish Ed Sheeran," says Noah Kahan on stage, with apparent regularity. Cheap heat, sure, but it's also self-deprecation as brand-building, aimed at propping up a certain persona by playfully prodding at the weaker and more exposed parts of it -- and suddenly I'm not just describing the stage banter but also the music itself. Kahan spent much of the last year collecting enough guest artist remixes for an unplugged No.6 Collaborations Project, but one of the few Stick Season songs to remain untouched by this process was the title track, which says something about it. It says that this is the anthem, the legacy definer; this is his own private Vermont, and no one but him (and a sold-out arena crowd, inshallah) can ever do it justice. With some reservations, it's deserving of this pedestal. And no, those reservations have not the slightest to do with Mumford & Sons, who are overdue to be treated as a normal, middling rock band and not a portentous class enemy. When teenage Mumford fans were listening to "Hopeless Wanderer" back in 2012, I imagine many of them were playing in their heads the kind of diaristic scenarios that Kahan sings about here, replacing grandiose Biblical allusions with only slightly less grandiose relationship angst. That was always the correct reading, and one can't fault Kahan for opting to cut out the middleman between his and his audience's experiences. "COVID on the planes" is the line that most loudly announces this isn't your father's indie folk, and it's the kind of lyric whose currency will only grow with time, like the transistor radio in "Brown Eyed Girl" or the satellite radio in "Sequestered in Memphis." At the other end of the realist-romantic spectrum, there's "might not have but I did not lose," a waist-deep k?an that's perfectly befitting of a future dorm room staple. Also fitting the dorm room vibe, less fortunately, is the way the phrasing in the chorus is awkwardly chopped up so as to min-max its drunk singalong value, with the line about alcohol of course being the worst offender. It's a testament to Kahan's affability that I want to forgive his more sophomoric tics -- I mean, who wants to be the one to interrupt a drunk singalong? [7]

Nortey Dowuona: When did Noah Kahan develop talent, and why wasn't it with Joel Little? [9]

Joshua Lu: "Stick Season" starts off as a earnestly mopey torch song, with a steady stream of metaphors and rhymes about his post-breakup blues. The causes and effects of this despair are presented straightforwardly, earning an almost comical feeling: the mom forgetting about him entirely, the excessive drug and alcohol use, his victim complex. It's in the second verse, though, that the song takes an interesting turn into self-reflection: "So I thought that if I piled something good on all my bad / That I could cancel out the darkness I inherited from Dad." That same chorus rings differently in this new light, creating an image of a once-fixed man who has returned to his broken default nature, and whose internal sadness was only buried, not cured, by being with the one he loved. There's something quietly devastating about how resigned he is to his fate -- how he knows that he can't heal his pain, only dampen it with the memory of a time when he couldn't feel it. [8]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: A [2] or an [8] depending on how much this alerts your anti-Mumford and Sons or anti-Lewis Capaldi radar, and whether or not you have a soft spot for self-deprecating white men telling jokes and making confessions at their own expense. We’ll skew higher since this has aged surprisingly well. [7]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: I’ve heard this around seven times and I’m not exactly sure what he’s singing about, but I like the texture of his words as they spill out of his mouth. Kahan will let a syllable last just a bit longer or shorter than I expect, all while singing fast enough that he feels like he’s uninterested in easy signifiers of the contemplative. The banjo feels like a cheap way to keep the song interesting; he doesn’t need it when every guitar strum is so propulsive. [5]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Loses me after that banjo riff comes in two thirds of the way through. Everything before that is charmingly middling, everything after makes me want to place the entirety of New England under cordon sanitaire. [2]

Will Rivitz: I also love Vermont, having grown up just outside of Boston, and have to admit Kahan's bitter and self-deprecating narcissism quite poignantly encapsulates the sense of drifting listlessly and peevishly through New England's dreary December, mired in one's own solitude and the inexorably self-centered trappings that accompany it. His lyrical acumen is, however, not quite sharp enough to justify exhuming the stomp clap hey brouhaha previously left to rot alongside the word "hipster" a decade ago. If he thinks it appropriate to hire a mandolinist, maybe you were right to break up with him. [4]

Rachel Saywitz: “Stick Season” is a haunting masterpiece, and a triumph for Noah Kahan -- with just a folkloric guitar, illuminating banjo, and a steady kick drum, he traces a love lost with a traveler’s bent and a timeless seasonal metaphor. Wait, this song takes place in Vermont? Wait, he’s American? I can feel the spell breaking, the cloudy haze over my eyes that always appears when I’m listening to mediocre folk-pop by European singers is dissipating. Okay, sorry. Back to normal now. Going to review this again. “Stick Season” is some Lumineers-ass sounding shit. Grow up, stop being a whiny lovesick boy, and pick up an English accent! [4]

Ian Mathers: I'm so pissed that 1. "stick season" is not a reference to hockey which part of my brain irrationally insisted it was; 2. this tweet no longer applies to me. I gave that up for something that's just deeply mediocre, not even entertainingly bad. That the Olivia Rodrigo cover is… fine indicates my problem is less with the song (not bad, kinda standard) and more with Kahan's excruciating indie folk dude presentation. [4]

Will Adams: Outside of a terribly dull EDM feature, I had not heard a single note of Noah Kahan's music until now, so every time I saw his name I would think, "Oh, he does that one song, like 'lady, running down to the riptide, da-da-da'" before correcting myself. Listening to "Stick Season," I wasn't far off: anodyne stomp-clap folk complete with banjo. Instead of a rousing singalong, however, we get a winter doldrum mope-fest where the more a clever line is repeated, the less clever it seems. [4]

Katherine St. Asaph: Big junior-year busker energy. I hope the quad found "once you called me forever, now you still can't call me back" as clever as he does. [4]

Isabel Cole: Mumford-lite, nasal whine, uninspired lyrics: sure. And I, who tend towards particular indifference in the face of men with their guitars, should of all people be somewhere between immune and repelled. But this one fucking got me, I don’t know. There’s something about the unrelenting quickness of the verses, the way it slips heedlessly along axes of register and mood and scope: from the mannered poetry of “all the miles combined” to the indignantly conversational “like halfway through the drive,” from self-pity to self-recrimination, from daddy issues to drinking the pain away. It plunges into melodrama -- “I’m terrified of weather” -- and pivots to a gag, funny enough and also true, about air travel in the era of COVID. He says he’s stuck, and I believe him not because of that line but precisely because the song refuses to alight on any particular complaint for long.

That’s what it’s like sometimes, when you’re in the long process of reconfiguring your life around an absence you never planned for. You scrabble for purchase amidst the concrete and specific, saying all the useless sayable things because the whole truth defies articulation. Your petty irritations and psychological fault lines alike draw you right back into the vortex. You do see him in the weather, which is a way of saying you see him everywhere, and also that you never realized your block had a particular smell in spring until one April morning you found yourself thinking of him and realized it had been a year. You dream a version of him and wake up unnerved and you don’t know if what disturbed you was what the dream got wrong or what the dream got right. You can’t believe you can't talk to him when your uncle dies and when #FreeBritney goes mainstream and every time Marvel puts out a new terrible movie, and in the peculiar gravity of loss these things feel somehow equally consequential.

You wash the dishes and listen to a song that rattles off all these different ways to miss someone and you wonder how long he’ll be the person this type of song makes you think of, and you think about how much he would hate it, how mean he would be about Noah Kahan’s hair, how you have to look up every time if it’s Noah or Noel but you’re still crying at the kitchen sink, how much of your taste was his taste first, how you lost two people, really, because he took with him the person you were when he was here. I am no longer funny, ‘cause I miss the way you laugh. Your head says this is a generous [5], that it’s neither special nor smart enough to quit while it’s ahead, that while the line about being half a heart is trite but serviceable, the clarification of “the other half was you” is unforgivable, truly, taking you out of the song every time. Your heart thinks that so many of the funniest things you’ve ever said were things you only said because he was listening. Noah, not Noel, drops the strumming to sing that line about Vermont one more time and in the emptiness around him you can almost hear the whistling northern wind, the sound of a world turned brittle and cold. Stupid. These fucking songs always do that. It’ll be four years come April. You put the dish in the rack and wipe your eyes with your wrist and before you pick up another dirty plate you hit play one more time. [8]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox ]

[zee-the-zebra]

Live blogging the Genshin 3.3 Interlude Chapter

Spoilers for the Chapter Ahead! Proceed with caution

Right, let's go to Nahida. We have so many questions.

Wait.wait.wait. So they are actually putting Katsuragi's story out in the open instead of hiding it? Props. Only took them a stupid amount of time.

Paimon shut up.

AND things just went from 0 to 10 then back down again in an instant.

I mean, it's probably fine considering that she- and Scara said what I was just thinking.

DAMN LU. You're not holding back.

Idk, he's not really the backstabbing type. Considering that he's been nothing but backstabbed.

Are we finally getting fucking lore?! Yeaaaaaah!

Lu, I love you. You're heartless. XD

Right, right, neither of us want to die.

Well, that's why people love him XD

Paimon, don't ask questions you don't really want answers to.

Interesting. It all looks very technomagic-y.

Hehe banter- wait what?!

HHHHHOLY SHIT. HOLY FUCKING SHIT HE WAS BEHIND EVERYTHING WITH THE BLACKSMITHS. HE'S BEEN RUINING SCARA'S LIFE FOR A WHILE WHAT-

Absolutely fucking soulless. I am so ready to murder Dottore.

WHAT ACTUAL LORE ON THE MAIN PLOT?! I- Royal mage, they met, akefbrtirjg the devs are finally giving us the stuff we want.

Dude, no. Stop. You're being an idiot. This won't end wellllll

Fuck he did it.

Okay, okay good. No one died yet.

Hi Xavier! Haven't seen you since that long ass side quest.

Hehe, Lu's breaking all the rules.

Ahshafbgshas (This is where my brain ceased functioning for a bit)

Yeaaaaah, shit got rough for him.

And there he is. Lovely new outfit.

Paimon, we're talking here.

Hhhhhhh why do I like him now. I haaaaated this little shit.

Choose your words carefully, Lu. You too Nahida.

YA THINK?!

oooooh we get to see them meet. And we find out what really happened.

So much behind the scenes stuff. I'm living for it.

This is giving a certain vibe I can't put my finger on.

PAIMON SHUT UP.

ON SCREEN VISION GRANTING WOOOOOOOO!

We interrupt this live blog with a fight. We will return very shortly.

He's got some things to still figure out. We're a long way from redemption, but it's a start.

And thus, for the poisonous but beautful lilies of the valley, suzuran, your name will be Suzu. Meaning one who has lived long.

Hehe they're still talking about their story.

UMMMMM? WHAT WAS THAT?!

And that was it! If I were to be coherent, I'd say this was a great way to not only explain lore, but delve further into character study. It not only made me like the little shit, but it also gave Lumine a lot of characterization too. Really this everything I could ask for story-wise. Now if you excuse me, I need to go scream for a bit. AA-

[borbsbirbs]

Remembrance (Chat log 2)

TW: School/College, mentions of Kaeya's previous father, Scaramouche and Ei not having the best relationship but not the worst, implied dissociative identity disorder, kaeya and diluc being close but nobody, including themselves knows whether it's familial or romantic... ask me if you want something else added to this list

MASTERLIST

venti: @viator I KNOW YOU WENT ONLINE 

venti: COME BAKC HERE

viator: :3

venti: Oh god oh fuck who are you

viator: Nobody<;3 viator: But that aside, please visit Wangsheng Funeral Parlor! We've got discounts~

Zhongli Lapis Dei: My apologies, Venti. It seems the Director has taken Aether's cellphone.

viator: no idea what you mean, dusty Zhongli.

viator: sorry, m'back. used my phone last night n the battery died. also hu tao stole my phone

venti: Wonderful!  venti: that first part not the second and third

viator: and no you can't copy my theater assignment. viator: I had a different one so i ain't being picky

viatrix: and we'll get the paperwork done by tonight, ning

viatrix: We're already on top of it

venti: Leave it to the wonder twins to do this kinda stuff

~

Kaeya’s smirk is easy for all to see that lunch break, laughing at his friend group’s shenanigans from afar. With a gentle ping, a name pops up in his Direct Messages- one who doesn’t usually speak to him.

~

Direct Message: Hu Tao > Kaeya Alberich

HT: okay jokes aside, Can you read this? HT: screenshot-xx-xx-60xx.png

KA: 1) It looks like Khaenri'ahn but if Khaenri'ahn was the simplified version of the alphabet which is already insane KA: 2) howst the fuck did you get this?

HT: So I found Aether in a cafe and stole his phone HT: Looked at his DMs, found that He and Lumine NEVER dm each other HT: and that he and Mr. Dain talk in wingdings

KA: Okay also why'd you chose me?

HT: History nerd.

KA: I am not, i just have an interest in Khaenri'ah and only Khaenri'ah.

HT: Because of that old bedtime story?

KA: i guess?? KA: i mean if an entire nation vanishes in one night i'd like to investigate it KA: and lowkey my sperm donor of a dad might be??? from??? KA: oh but if it's something older than khaenri'ahn KA: Luc probably can't read it either KA: He can read p much anything but not like grammatically correct, and if it's as specialized as this elaborate not-Khaenri'ahn then KA: idk

HT: hhh u and diluc are really close huh

KA: his dad literally saved my life KA: and we grew up together

HT: U dating or just bros

KA: good question

HT: So?

HT: hey wait don't leave

HT: DON”T LEAVE ME ON READ YOU PIRATE FRUITCAKE

~~~

CHATROOM: Teyavt Vision Academy of the Arts Official

Noelle: Don't forget to take breaks though, okay?

Thoma: Yeah, you should take a break once in a while, and we'll pick up the slack

xiao: or you could let us do it, so you don't overwork yourselves.

Albedo: "do as i say not as i do"

Xingqiu: and it appears the sassmasters have arrived

[venti] has changed [Albedo]'s name to [Sassbedo]

[venti] has changed [xiao]'s name to [Alasass]

Alasass: wait why my last name

venti: xiao isn't very punnable

Sassbedo: And mine is?

venti: . venti: perhaps venti: OH YEA B4 I FORGET

Alasass: don’t change the topic 

venti: @Dorm Leaders have all collectively decided that we're having another inter-dorm game night yaaay venti: it's going to be in Anemo dorms as per the usual venti: so uh ye

Ei: when did we decide that?

Zhongli Lapis Dei: I believe Raiden was at the front

Ei: Oh, so that's what her note was about? Okay then Ei: Should I still get kunikuzushi?

ajax: scara is a shorty lil asshole i don't think he'll come even if you asked

Fandango: Who's a shorty asshole? Fandango: ... Fandango: and who the fuck changed my name 

[Ei] has changed their name to [Fan of Dango]

Fan of Dango: Now we match

Fandango: shut the fuck up

Fan of Dango: but I didn't change your  name

Fandango: sure. might not be you but might be raiden

venti: SIBLING FIGHT! nice @kae @luc (? y’all whats the status), uhh @Shenhe @Chongyun i don't wanna ping klee for obvious reasons, teucer ain't in this chat and he's too precious and um @Jean Gunholder @Barbara⭐ maybe? Oh and @viator @viatrix @viatwinz 

venti: you know maybe it’d be easier if we just made a role for all of em

Fandango: shut up

Shenhe: We're not siblings

venti: @siblingfight there we go

Fan of Dango: What did I do wrong, Kuni?

Fandango: SCARAMOUCHE AIN"T EVEN MY NAME

Chongyun: We're technically auntie and nephew but i guess we're close enough to count??

ajax: but you are a commedia dell'arte stock villain clown

Fandango: Yes and you're a dainty old character

Xingqiu: Considering how Shenhe gives me that "Sibling in law" stare, I believe you two are close enough to be considered siblings Xingqiu: You're a lot closer than some other siblings i know though

ajax: wait what ajax: IS THAT WHAT TARTAGLIA IS??

Chongyun: That's fair

Fandango: yes old man

Jean Gunholder: I'm online. Jean Gunholder: That's not my last name. Can somebody change it?

ajax: If someone here is the old man, it's zhong

Ningguang: I would, if I had the power to.

Zhongli Lapis Dei: I'm not that old...

Jean Gunholder: Can you guys take it to DMs? Jean Gunholder: and Zhongli, can you change my name?

Zhongli Lapis Dei: If I knew how.

venti: No it's funny 

Fandango: Old man 

ajax: Old man

venti: SAME BRAIN!

Fandango: shut up

ajax: Shut up

[snow-and-saltea]

for the character asks vyn diluc lumine and kaeya!!

HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE thank you for giving me the chance to talk about my blorbos!!!

vyn richter:

who? | only know their name | loathe | ugh | overrated | indifferent | dead | alive | just okay | cute | badass | my baby | hot | want to marry | favorite 

yeah i bolded the who? one don't worry about it!! /j anyways yeah i Like this man a normal amount its not like ive written sm threads on him already yeah. i'm completely normal

except i'm NOT

i started out thinking my fave would be artem cus vyn seemed too pretentious for me at first and i still have trauma from the last time i liked a white haired and golden eyed guy in otome cus that bitch disappointed me so much i literally can't even look at him without going >:T

he's such a cool character to me, i love how contradictory he is while being completely consistent characterization wise. by contradictory i don't mean that he doesn't say what he mean or doesn't mean what he says, but the way he views himself vs how he views rosa vs how he views other people (derogatory) is quite ironic. i love how he loves rosa because she's beautiful both inside and out, in the sense that she is straight laced, honest and not mired with existential or moral complexities that stop her from being kind, realistic and faithful to her values. (in fact, when facing those moral complexities, her true character shines more because of the way she isn't stagnated by indecision or analysis-paralysis. but that's another talk for another day i could literally go on and on about her)

i like it a lot because he's both a bit of rosa in him and a bit of the cynical jadedness he dislikes in other people. as a doctor, he wants to cure his patients, and he secretly harbours some hope, at the back of his mind, that people are better than he thinks they are, that when presented the opportunity for change and growth they'll choose it— which is why i think he "tests'" rosa in his stories so much. cus he wants to see a diff outcome come from her!! to him, i feel like there's a bit of him idealism projected onto her, smth like saying: "i tried and failed, but i want to see how you do it, and what new thing you'll show me with your way of doing things." in ideals and visions, he relates to rosa.

however, in many ssr stories, and even one sr (the iconic false tears story) he shows the pettiest and most spiteful parts of himself that he's tried to keep hidden from rosa, where he indulges his egocentric beliefs that makes him feel like the things he's doing are justified, as long as the end goal is a positive net of "justice" in the world. he also sometimes shows how incredibly judgemental and harsh he can be, because he always thinks he knows better and is more objective / morally superior than other people he dislikes. in practice and methodology, he relates to the people he dislikes. it's like a mirror that shows the ugliest parts of himself. if he dislikes them like any other normal person would dislike an asshole and then move on with their life, why would that be such a big psychological trigger for him? it clearly means more to him than he tries to hide, so he tries to make a clear line separating his own "cruelty" and other people's "cruelty" and how he's better than them cus he had the right intentions in mind.

(that's not how it works btw babygirl. but issokay ur kinda fucked up i'd like to put u under a microscope)

i like how he slowly comes to realise that contradiction, too. not verbally said, but i interpret his recent growth in stories as someone who knows he's "ugly" inside and filled contempt for everyone—although sometimes he dresses his actions in a more gentlemanly or "fair" so that it's still TECHNICALLY the right thing to do even if the way he did it was unethical. at first their relationship progression was "i want her to see the most impressive parts of me" > "i want her to rely on and be influenced by me" > "i want her to know my feelings but only the ones that are peer reviewed to be palatable" > "i want her to see me for who i am and accept me, even if i can't accept the entire truth of myself". and i think that fuckign ROCKS

concluding statement: if the road to hell was paved with good intentions vyn is building a freeway. but rosa is changing his lanes!!! she changed my lanes too if u know what i mean wink wink nudge nudge

anyways yeah im mentally sound and in perfect health about vynrosa why do you ask

diluc ragnvindr:

who? | only know their name | loathe | ugh | overrated | indifferent | dead | alive | just okay | cute | badass | my baby | hot | want to marry | favorite 

i like him!!! iirc he was my second 5* after jean? and then i used him as a dps for a while! i wish they gave him fluffier or longer hair. i think in game diluc doesn't really do enough justice to his characterization or lore bc i feel like he looks a bit "bland" in story execution compared to the other charas. oh well, virtues and vices of being an early game chara! i like him best when he's in big brother mode and i cannot thank fanartists enough who portray him being a good big bro to the kids like klee, diona, bennett, fischl and razor. i love it!!!

lumine:

who? | only know their name | loathe | ugh | overrated | indifferent | dead | alive | just okay | cute | badass | my baby | hot | want to marry | favorite 

she's so goddamn FUNNY and cute?????? i like the progression of her character and her growing into her own personality in the recent quests, i think they wrote it really well. have you listened to her voice lines where she talks w paimon? they show sm of her personality and she's just so... witty and dry and sarcastic but her voice is so soft that it makes u double-back and go, "sorry, run that by me again?" i love her sm. although, i don't really interact w the fandom a lot because they're very noisy in hating her for some reason. and it gets tiring to hear TwT i get my lumine food from anng rt'ing stuff on twt or on tumblr! consuming fandom the exact way it was intended: i only see what my friends will share w me!!!

kaeya alberich:

who? | only know their name | loathe | ugh | overrated | indifferent | dead | alive | just okay | cute | badass | my baby | hot | want to marry | favorite 

another case of sadly being an early game chara so his execution was a bit sloppy TwT his lore is so funkin cool and his personal story and how he got his vision was, imo, the coolest and most emotionally impactful out of everyone else? ofc he and shenhe shares similar patterns in their history and how they were treated, but i think it hits harder for me bc like. GOD. overridden by guilt for the death of diluc's dad, he confronts him and tells him the truth of who he is. and at the emotional height of his life where diluc turns to fight him, he's given a vision if only to protect himself and his heart so that he can still go on and fulfill whatever "destiny" his dad had marked out for him, if he chooses that as his right.

i still think its meaningful bc even in game diluc never shows any signs that he genuinely, truthfully, dislikes kaeya. so while they still have this unspoken history between them that neither of them seem willing to talk about, there's a nostalgic and sad feeling of people who drifted apart brushing by each other time and again, and silently forgiving the other but not making it known at all. i can't find it rn but there's sm diluc and kaeya comics where its all about sibling hurt / comfort and reconciliation and making it known that they care about each other verbally, instead of accepting it as is in actions, bc they're hesitant to break the ice. GOD

[mylittlegayass]

Venti - Snapped - Angst/Practice

au: [modern] venti's famous, known throughout teyvat for his music. until one day he disappears off of every form of internet there is. 

only to reappear on the news, with the headline: ' Online Star: Barbatos, also known as Venti Dei, son of renowned Actor Carmen Dei, found guilty of mass murder'

extras: implied xiaoven, venti's a killer -- what do you expect, cliffhanger

tws: mentions of death, blood, murder, mentions of police brutality, mentions of hostage situations,

----

[no pov]

lumine sighed, as aether sat next to her. as promised by kazuha, they'd been sent the recording of the news report on venti. 

as their tv flickered, they tuned in, intently listening.

----

"today, we're having venti dei on live, to react to comments from friends, family, and previous fans." the first archor spoke, her namecard flashing on screen to show caren. 

the second one spoke, his namecard showing dave. "starting us off, what triggered the murders? you've already explained you would tell us."

"... i was, although not publicly, in a relationship. he, who i'll call x, died in an unfortunate accident."

"and how did this x die?"

"he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. remember, before i disappeared, that one hostage situation at the bank, where the police shot wildly?"

"yes, where are you going with this?" caren asked, completely clueless.

"he was the second shot, and the first death that day, he was shot in the chest, and it had hit his lung. they didn't get the situation over in time to save him."

"what were your motivations, other than this x's death?"

"hundreds of innocent people died to the police."

there was a break in the interview, before it cut back in. clearly, kazuha had done some editing.

"how did you chose your victims?" dave asked, as he blinked.

"oh, that was simple. i'd figure out who had died in the hands of the police, and then kill the officer that murdered the innocent, simple."

"why don't we get into the questions we were asked on twitter, to ask you?"

"alright."

"starting us off with one by, 'ae.lum' the two of them said; we can't believe this, you played us like a fiddle!"

"... fiddle's are a more difficult instrument, i simply played you like my favourite instrument, the lyre. though that is also quite difficult. i do apologize though, we were quite close before this."

"you knew them?"

"well, they were close friends of x and i... ae was our best man, i'll tell you that."

venti's cam had a soft smile, one of reminiscing. 

"continuing on, this one from someone who asked to remain anonymous, he states a simple, why?"

"... i know who this is from, and i'm sorry... you and i both cared for x deeply, but i had snapped. you know of what happened before, with /him/..."

"him?"

"something personal, and not tied to the case."

"are you sure?"

"ask the commenter."

caren nodded, before smiling. 

"this one is from another who asked to stay anonymous. it's a simple i'm alive, and we believe it is one of the survivors of the attacks."

"it's not. and i-" venti cuts himself off, turning away from the camera.

"i need a moment to compose myself..."

----

aether and lumine return an hour later to their couch to finish the recording. they had some business to attend to, so they decided to watch the last five minutes when they returned.

----

"i'm fine now... the person that had commented that is x... and i think I've fucked up beyond belief." 

"how did you know?"

"the punctuation, lack of capitalization and the profile image. i know how my... i'd assume we no longer are together, but i'd know my husband."

the footage cuts off there, as venti snapped, punching the camera. 

----

lumine stares at the screen in shock, as aether stands. 

"xi- he's alive...?"

"of course he is... he probably wasn't allowed to return to his old life. he was obviously a target..."

"and they couldn't tell venti, that's jus-"

"... as much as i hate to say it, ae, venti was justified in his actions."

"you aren't saying that w-"

"we're bailing him out! he has a chance of parole, since he is carmen's son, and we're rich!"

"fine. and next?"

"we're finding his husband, of course."

"lu, you're insane, but let's do it!"

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