#it also made me super curious what their usual interactions are like

[lixenn]

LMAO??? That ridiculous headcanon is amazing 🤣🤣🤣 Apple, what a legend... (Note: I needed to look up who the fuck Wonomichi is cause I haven't read that Arc in years but after realizing who Apple meant it cracked me up so hard TT)

Celina's sleep headcanon is so sad though??? I want to give her a hug and hot chocolate 😭😭

Glad that I was right that Redacted is totally stable and completely normal with no cracks in her psyche whatsoever, no sireeeee 🤣🤣

Knock Knock! Ask game time! Let me add to your inbox hehehehe

For apple: 💩

For Celina: ⌛

For Redacted: 🐢

Good luck with studying!!💜💜💜🫂🫂

Hello Lix!! Thank you for sending this in while I cope with being stuck in study hell :) This was a real fun mix of questions!!

🍎 Apple 

💩 for a ridiculous headcanon

If you were to ask Apple what animal she would want as her partner/box animal she would pick... Wonomichi!

Kawahira: "He's not an animal." Apple: "He's so sweet though, can't I have him? Pleaasee 🥺??" Kawahira: "No." Apple: "I could treat him better!" Kawahira: "I treat him just fine." Apple: "... I could treat him worse 😈" Kawahira:

🌙Celina 

⌛for a sleep headcanon

Sleep used to come easy to Celina. She would be the type to have a good sleep schedule. The type where once she puts her head down she’s out like a light and is easily able to enter a deep sleep. But… Things are different now. Now she lies awake. Scared to close her eyes and be in her own thoughts because when she is she keeps thinking back to the past. Of all those she’s lost and all the mistakes she made. She thinks of all the things she wishes she said or did differently… And the sleep itself. God. the nightmares. Sometimes sleeping is worse than being awake.

💭[Redacted]

🐢 for a mental health headcanon I don’t know why you would send this prompt in. [Redacted] is the most mentally stable and healthy individual there is. She’s the epitome of great mental health… Okay but for real where to even begin with her… [Redacted]... Is bad with emotions. Other’s emotions but especially her own. Very bad at understanding them and regulating them. She’s the type to lash out even when she’s the one at fault ❤️

Original Prompt List ☆

[astroidology]

Astro notes.

random astrology things I’ve noticed.

don’t try to start an argument with a virgo mars!!!! these individuals never really care enough to argue UNLESS you’re saying something that they know it’s wrong. they won’t let you get away with it. they will explain you in detail why you’re wrong in a passive aggressive way. making you feel really dumb lol they love being right

mercury in pisces. most find it hard to express through words to say exactly how they feel so instead they do it through music, songs,, art, sketches, some hand-made gifts. any kind of act of love. and they love those kind of things too. they find it more meaningful.

leo risings usually have a good sense of style. they want to look nice, wear nice clothes, nice jewelry. they tend to be super shy and quiet too, they have a hard time opening up to people. which is weird bc they have alot of charisma and people usually gravitate towards them, mostly because they’re fun to be around. but sometimes they care too much about what people think of them and that can stop them from being themselves.

moon in capricorn are so hard on themselves. whenever I think of this placement, it reminds me of that knot on your throat when you’re trying so hard not to cry. just holding back the tears. that’s them. all the time. and it’s not just tears they’re holding back, it’s also the words they never say when they’re really upset, completely avoiding any kind of interaction. or the good news they don’t ever share because they’re too afraid it’ll go away. or just anything that they keep to themselves bc they don’t want to bother anyone else. They’re also really intuitive!!! I feel like Capricorn is not known to be intuitive like that but it’s the fact that they can read people very well, they see right through people and they’re always ready for what’s going to come next. this placement can definitely make someone much quieter than usual, no matter the sun sign.

libra risings are extremely social and likable!!! this people love the attention and you definitely notice them from afar. they’re so good at fitting in. they have such grace to them, which is such a Libra thing but having this sign as your rising, it’s the way you come across to other people. They really try to stay out of drama and usually the ones to be cool with everything and everyone. they adapt very easily to their environment which can be good or bad. very easily influenced. they also like aesthetics a lot. visuals mean a lot to them. they want to make sure they look good at all times and they’re big on words meaning they like compliments a lottt!!! they look better with neutral and pastel colors. physically they tend to have longer faces and a fuller bottom lip from what I noticed, usually leaner body type. even if they’re not super fit, they have a good body distribution.

gemini risings just like any other air sign, also love to interact with people (sometimes) but they tend to be more reserved. they only open up once they comfortable then they don’t ever stop talking lol they’re super bubbly and curious. and can often be super observant. you can kinda know they don’t like you if they don’t talk you a lot lol because they truly loveee to talk. it’s a little difficult to spot them right away because they tend to blend in with other people but once they open up, you can see the their Gemini coming out. they tend to have small facial features, they can even be shorter in height. and there’s a more reserved look to them, kinda like virgo. but unlike virgo risings, gemini risings look somewhat more approachable and relaxed.

mars in pisces easily catches feelings because they won’t ever stop thinking about that one person. Most of the time they don’t even know the person that well but it’s just how they feel. And they tend to have a very sweet approach to love, lots of emotions, kinda like not being able to fck around with other people once they’re in love. They also feel like they have to vocalize it to get over it. They can’t really move on easily, no matter how fucked up the situation is.

mercury in any fire sign (leo/aries/sagittarius) are always having to tell people it’s just a jokeeee lol they tend to be very direct and their type of humor is usually so stupid, it sounds like their making fun of everyone but it’s also usually their love language. they love when people match their energy, they feel free to say anything and they lovee ittt!! another thing is If they don’t fck with you, they won’t even bother to talk to you, they might even talk sht about you or make little comments like that, they need to make it lol

moon in pisces struggles a lot to open up. it’s such a weird thing because they wear their heart in their sleeve so everyone knows they’re not doing well, people notice there’s something off, you can even see it in their face and eyes, but a moon in pisces will never be able to fully talk about it. it’s almost like talking about it makes it real and they don’t want any negative feelings. We all know they live in their own dream world, where it’s safe and peaceful and happy. and it’s all good until reality hits. And they hate it. they want to crawl back in bed, fall asleep for days. listen to some loud music and just close their eyes. They need to shut their minds off so it’s very common for them to develop escape mechanisms. can be really bad habits that make them feel so good. they really need to keep their mind clear and out of any negativity because everything they think about too much becomes real. a lot of popular music artists atm have this placement and you can kinda see how well they blend in with whatever is going on. you can see their genuine interests and opinions in their songs and performances.

moon in the 5th house ppl are creative!!! whatever their hobby is, they make sure it’s done right and they’re usually so good at it. their delivery it’s amazing. they express how they feel in such a dramatic way.

venus in aquarius is an interesting placement. it reminds me a lot of venus in virgo and I do think they have a lot of things in common but I still think venus in aquarius is more complex than that. They need reassurance in any way possible because it makes them feel safe but they are too afraid to committing to someone and having to emotionally depend on someone. And it’s not that they’re disloyal, if anything they’re one of the most loyal placements. they love imperfections, they love the real and raw. they understand there’s more to people and they accept people. but they’re afraid of it. they don’t think someone will be able to love their imperfections, so as soon as they start feeling too much, they take a couple steps back. they suddenly need some space. or at least that’s what they think they need. they don’t like to detach but they do it when they feel unsafe or unloved. and it’s always something that they can’t even understand themselves.

[mellosdrawings]

Hii!! So sorry for going on an absolute spree liking all of your posts ;; your art style is super expressive & I love the way you use crosshatching! As well as all your headcanons (you are so real abt cane user azul, i didnt realize how many cards he's sitting in!!)

I was curious, do you have any headcanons with Ruggie & Jamil? Especially with your N2 squad theories and their canon interactions durin GloMas, I'd love to see what you think of them~

First, never apologize for any liking/reblog/other spree, you have no idea how happy it makes me to have someone like what I do so much that they dig into my previous stuff!

And thank you so much for the compliments I'm ansbsjsbsjsn about them 💕

For Ruggie and Jamil, I have a whole bunch of different headcanons depending on the situations.

First their GloMas interaction gave me life. I found it so perfect, just the two of them finally letting their inner gremlins take over without worrying about their image. It was PERFECT !

I also love that their Signature Spells have the same "manipulation" base, but Ruggie is about the body while Jamil is about the mind. (I usually love adding Jade to the mix with his ability to force the truth out of others. I call the three of them the "Manipulation Gang". I'd love to see the three of them actually gang up some day.)

Jamil and Ruggie also have the same servants-to-spoiled-rich-kids background. I feel like they'd have the most terrible gossip while washing clothes or something. I just can't really imagine them not be friends of sorts. Just pestering about the latest wild nonsense their master has been up to, wondering if they should exchange their burdens (pre chap 6, Jamil would never agree after that) and just generally let the worst of them show to the other coz they don't mind.

In the context of the N2 Squad, Ruggie would definitely be a needed push for Jamil. The kind of "Please just date him, Leona’s mood is only getting worse and I'm tired and if I hear 'im moan about you once more I'm gonna murder you both" or something like that. Ruggie knows the inner workings of Leona, knows the inner workings of Jamil too from their laundry-gossip, and while I can imagine him strive in chaos he would immediately go complain to either Leona or Jamil if their turning around each other made his job harder. After the N2 Squad starts dating though, I can def imagine Ruggie try to profit off being friends with Jamil to get favors from Leona (and maybe Vil too coz why not?)

(Also Ruggie is def Jamil's first fan when it comes to cooking and always tries to have him give him spares from a previous party or whatever.)

[beargregor]

I’m also curious to hear more about how you interpret the interactions between Gregor and Rodya! I’m not super involved in the fandom but I get the vibe that a lot of folks see them as a ship, so I’m curious how your view on how you see em (since you seem to be the best Gregor scholar I’ve seen so far lmao)

anon is trying to get my shot oh my god.

BEFORE I GET INTO THIS I SHOULD CLARIFY THAT I LOVE RODYA SHE'S MY SECOND FAVORITE SINNER I CARE HER SO VERY BAD. I DO NOT HATE RODYA I THINK ABOUT HER VERY OFTEN. THIS IS NOT ME EXPRESSING DISTASTE FOR RODION ROMANOVICH RASKOLNIKOV I SWEAR.

that all being said i think gregor absolutely fucking hates her ass and rodya isn't really capable of taking him seriously as a potential romantic partner lmao. i'm personally in the camp that thinks gregor is just Full On Gay so i wouldn't really be fond of the ship either way but. you know. regardless, i'm Fully aware of how popular this ship is but i just think it's sort of a consequence of both characters putting up fronts as a defense mechanism so Obviously These Two Must Get Along As Well As They Present.

i'll get into more detail for the both of them below the cut, but for a brief summary of my thoughts here's a joke i made in the cogitopedia discord shortly after c7 pt3

for gregor's side of things, i think rodya is 100% one of the sinners that he has the most resentment for on the bus? she's constantly making "lighthearted" digs at the other sinners with gregor being one of her main targets and i think that's the type of thing gregor 100% picks up on and judges her extremely harshly for. ntm that i think gregor probably at least to like, SOME degree compares her to hermann a little bit? we already know that he's not above making connections to other people in his life and basing his opinions on people off of that since that's Literally what he did with yuri and fully admitted to it, and when one of gregor's Biggest Issues is feeling like he lacks free will i just don't think it's going to end well when you pair him up with someone who's particularly prone to steamrolling over other people for the sake of pursuing her own desires.

for rodya's side of things, i just don't think she takes gregor seriously in general? i'm fully aware that she pulls out the babes and gregs constantly but i've always read that more as rodya singling gregor out early on as someone that would both put up with her nonsense and be a particularly easy and entertaining target of said nonsense. gregor is a Grown Ass Man and thus can take a bit of "harmless" negging but he's also got some pretty obvious weak spots that she can poke and prod at.

i should clarify that i don't think that rodya thinks she's doing something wrong here, to me her actions 100% read as her being under the impression that this is just Part Of Their Friendship, which gregor is partially contributing to by his tendency to shut down in uncomfortable situations. back in c1 after she puts the bugs in his face you actually do get rodya seemingly taking a serious moment to ask if she was taking things too far, but instead of outright telling her that Yes, You Are gregor instead just clams up like he usually does, sealing his fate until he inevitably cracks and blows up on everyone.

i feel like it's Also worth pointing out that, when it comes to his IDs, gregor has been shown as capitulating for a more powerful woman pretty often! chef gregor w/ chef ryoushuu, heir gregor w/ cathy, priest gregor w/ literally just All of the other bloodfiend IDs, rosespanner gregor w/ rosespanner rodya. in the two instances where rodya is highlighted as the one in a position of power over him, we see gregor either believing that she's incompetent and that he's the one thanklessly responsible for keeping the place running (rosespanner) or very clearly struggling and, while getting sympathy from rodya, only gets actually meaningfully helped out by sancho while rodya's too busy concerning herself with loftier, far off means of helping her kindreds.

i could get into more, provide some source based examples and all that nonsense, but i'd really rather avoid facing the ire of their shippers if i can help it, so i'll leave it there. tl;dr i think rodya does actually think of her and gregor as genuine friends, albeit ones where one gets to treat the other like a metaphorical punching bag, but gregor's insistence on being a doormat that can just grin and bear any shit that's thrown at him is going to really come back to bite both of them in the ass down the line. rodya and gregor both Suck Major Ass and they quite possibly do so in the literal worst ways for each other.

once again i promise i love rodya i'm one of the few people on this planet that will defend c2 as being not only good but wholly necessary for getting rodion's Whole Deal across i just don't talk about her as much because My Freak Is Right There

[mythica0]

Rewarding revenge

🎂: epic the musical

🧁: Hermes

🍫:Odysseus

Summary: Hermes has tickled Odysseus one too many times for his liking. Time for a little payback.

A/N; thank you to the anon who gave me this idea! If you see this I hope it’s to your liking! I’m not super proud of the ending but whatever. Also, yay, more shameless lee Hermes! Enjoooyyy :3

Cw: mild swearing, really intense tickles! (But don’t worry, he enjoys every second of it.)

Rewarding revenge

It was another day on the ship, and Odysseus was thinking.

He had just had another interaction with Hermes a few days prior, and like he usually did, Hermes had decided to tickle the shit out of him.

While he didn’t.. hate it.. it was still annoying, and he wanted a bit of revenge.

So, he sent up a hopefully non-conspicuous prayer to summon Hermes.

When Hermes got the message, simply asking to hang out, he was definitely suspicious, but also amused and endlessly curious. So, he decided to go. Might be fun, after all! And Hermes is always up for some fun.

So, later that evening, when Odysseus was spending some time in his room, Hermes appeared.

“Hey, friend! I got your little prayer!”

Odysseus was honestly a little shocked that worked. He sat up in his bed, gently patting the space next to him.

“Ah, Hermes! Come, sit!”

Hermes smiled brightly and sat next to the soldier. “Well, how do you do?”

“Ah, I’m well. You?”

“I’m good as well! I must say, it’s not often I get a request just to hang out! I’m quite delighted you wished to spend time with me!”

Odysseus chuckled a bit. “Ah, well, you’ve been nice to me, and you’re pleasant enough company.”

“I know I am, thanks for noticing!” Hermes winked, playfully posing in a showy manner.

Odysseus laughed. He had summoned Hermes for ulterior motives, but he actually was quite funny.

He scooted a little closer, hoping Hermes wouldn’t notice. Hermes did notice, but he pretended he didn’t. He was curious! Wanted to see where this was going.

“So, what did you want to talk about, friend?” Hermes asked, still grinning.

“Ah, nothing in particular. Just whatever comes to mind.”

“I see, just a causal chat! Always love one of those- I’m quite the conversationalist!”

The joking remark got another laugh out of Odysseus, which caused Hermes to grin proudly. He was always happy to make someone laugh.

“That you are.” Odysseus got a little closer again.

“did you have free time to come down here? Or are you skipping out on your duties?” Ody asked, a playfully teasing tone to his voice.

“Hmm, not telling~” Hermes shrugged and then sing-songed in response.

Odysseus laughed again. “So you are skipping out? I mean, I imagine you’re quite the busy god, with all the various domains you have.”

“True! But I’m also quite speedy, don’t you forget! Nah, I had some time.” Hermes revealed with a laugh if his own.

“Ah, well that’s good. Wouldn’t want to distract you from your job, now would we?”

“That we would not.” Hermes laughed again, his little squeaky giggle.

Odysseus posed a question, seemingly out of nowhere. “So, Hermes- do you like to laugh?”

Hermes seemed a little surprised at the sudden question, but answered nonetheless. He had a feeling this might be why he was actually summoned.

“Why, of course I do! Who doesn’t?”

“Ah, that’s good. Let me help you with that!” Without any further warning, the captain snapped his arms around the god and started to scribble against his ribs.

Hermes immediately bursted into happy giggles, not trying to hold back in the least.

“Ehehehe- Ohohody! Ahahaha!” He called a bit, squirming slightly.

“What’s wrong? Can’t take what you dish out?”

“Ehehehehehaha! Ohoho, thahat tihihickles! Ehehehe!” Hermes giggles were bubbly and almost childish in nature, such a purely joyful sound that it made Odysseus laugh along with it.

“Ha! It’s about time I got a little payback!”

Hermes could easily get out of this. Easily. He was very powerful, after all. But he didn’t want to, and he wasn’t ashamed to admit it. But. He wanted to see if Ody could figure it out on his own.

“So, how’s it feel to be on the other end, huh?”

“Tihihickly!” Hermes snarked, an obvious statement, for amusement. It worked as intended, getting a small amused huff from Odysseus.

“Well no shit, Sherlock. That’s the point.”

To accentuate his words, Odysseus moved his hands to Hermes’ tummy, starting to press lightly on the surface.

Hermes giggles immediately increased in pitch, such a joyful, silly, sugar-sweet sound that Odysseus couldn’t help but laugh along. 

“Eeehahahahaha ohoho nohoho, dohohont doho thahat- ehehehehehe!”

“You know, you could probably escape easily if you really wanted to.” Odysseus commented, successfully realizing the thing Hermes wasn’t even trying to hide.

“Ihihi knohow! Ehehehehe!”

“So, why aren’t you? Do you perhaps like this?”

Hermes nodded, gleeful and giddy as he laughed. “Yehehehehes! Ehehahahahaha-! Tohook yohou lohong ehenohough toho fihigure ohout!” Hermes teased slightly, never one to hold his tongue.

“Oh, really? Are you in any position to give me sass?” Odysseus teased, getting far more into the role now that he knew his friend was enjoying it. He pressed down harder, vibrating clawed hands into Hermes’ stomach.

Hermes squealed, a bouncy, bubbly laugh falling freely from his chest. “Eeee! Ahahahaha thahahat reheheally tihihickles ehehehehehe!”

“Good. Maybe that’ll teach you not to sass me.” Odysseus didn’t let up, still pressing vibrating claws into the god’s belly, making him laugh giddily, his wings flapping slightly.

Odysseus’ eyes followed the motion of the white feathers, and he smirked. He took one hand and moved it up, grabbing one of the wings behind his ears and starting to rub the feathers in between his fingers.

Hermes squealed, a high pitched laugh leaving him. “EEEE! NOHOHOHO-! NOHOHOT THEHE WIHINGS!”

“Oh? Not the wings? Not these little wings right here?” Seeing how horribly it tickled the god, Odysseus brought up his other hand to grab the matching wing in the other side and do the same thing.

Hermes was completely lost to his laughter, chest and stomach shaking from the force of it as small tears formed in his eyes. That tickled so! Bad!

“EEEHAHAHA PLEHEHEASE, OHOHODYYY!” His laughter was squeaky and happy, and Odysseus found that it got more and more contagious the longer it went on, not being able to stop himself from laughing along.

“Hehe, that’s a pretty contagious laugh you’ve got there.”

Hermes was too busy laughing and squirming to reply, his sanity starting to slip in the best way from the ticklish sensation. It was driving him mad, unrelenting tingles racing across his wings and causing fluttering laughter to swarm in his belly.

“What’s wrong? Too ticklish to speak?” Odysseus emphasized the word with a teasing lilt, causing a slight blush to form on Hermes’ face.

The room was filled with the happy, bubbly giggles of the god of messages, squealing laughter echoing from him as his very sensitive wings were assaulted with happy, tingly sensations.

“EEE OHODY PLEHEHEHEASEE!” He begged through his loud, squeaky laughter, only partially true. Because he could probably get away if he really wanted to, although it might be harder considering how weak he was from laughter.

Odysseus just chuckled. “Tickle tickle tickle~” he spoke with a teasing lilt, and he could swear that Hermes squeaked at the words.

Hermes was overwhelmed but at the same time so happy. The tickles were driving him crazy and he didn’t even care, because it was so much fun, sending waves of pure joy through him with every wheezing laugh, every contraction of the muscles in his tummy and sides. Tears of joy had fallen at the point, trailing past the shaded boundary from his helmet.

“EEHAHAHA OHODY PLEHEHEASE STAHAHAP! EHEHEHEHEE!”

“I don’t know.. you tickled me first. Twice.”

“IHIM SOHORRRYYY PLEHEHEHEASEE!”

He was absolutely hysterical with laughter, face starting to hurt from being stretched into such a wide smile for so long. His thoughts were so foggy, his brain thoroughly turned to mush from happiness that he couldn’t even think straight enough to use his powers to get away. He loved it so much but at the same time he couldn’t take anymore!

Sensing that Hermes was getting a little overwhelmed, Odysseus decided to give him a small breather, just lightly tapping against his hips to keep him giggling.

Hermes took the chance to greedily take in air, letting his warm face cool down.

“Hehehehehe.. ohoho myhy gohods.. ehehehe- thahat wahahas aha lohot.”

“Oh, did you think we were done? Oh no no no, I don’t plan on stopping any time soon. I want you to be an absolute puddle of laughter by the time I’m through.”

Hermes eyes sparkled with excitement, hidden by the shade of his helmet, a few giddy giggles falling from him. He was honestly excited by the idea, even though he had just been wrecked within an inch of his life, he still wanted more.

Ody smirked as he saw the excitement ripple through the god of speed. “Oh, what was that~? Did that excite you?”

Hermes nodded, still unashamed for his love of being tickled.

Odysseus chuckled in response, before responding with a teasing lilt that caused more giddy butterflies to flutter within Hermes, making him giggle more than he already was from the light taps on his hips.

“Any last words before I make you hysterical again~?”

Hermes thought for a moment, before shaking his head, eager to get on with it.

Odysseus nodded and then started with kneading his tummy, making him burst into giddy laughter immediately.

“Ahahahahahaha! YohOU ahahare reheheally gohood ahat thahahat- EE!” He complained and complimented at the same time, half protesting but not really meaning a word of it.

“Oh, why thank you!” He grinned smugly, and then, just to be evil, he moved his hands to attack Hermes’ underarms and started to blow raspberries all over his belly.

“OHOHO NOHO- EEE! Dohohont dohoho THahahAT-!”

Odysseus felt his inner father emerging, putting on a sort of playful act and making silly noises as he blew raspberry after raspberry onto the messenger’s tummy, using his beard to add an extra layer of ticklishness.

“Omnomnom! This belly is really tasty!” He made little growling and nomming sounds, which made Hermes laugh even harder from amusement at the silly act.

Hermes was absolutely hysterical with laughter, kicking his feet slightly to try and expel the intense giddy energy rippling through him. Each raspberry sent waves of laughter and tingles across his belly, and it didn’t go away. It lingered, and then layered with each new raspberry or nibble, growing more and more ticklish as time went on. Hermes was crying with laughter and happiness, the feeling so intense and so amazing.

He squeaked and squealed as Odysseus blew a raspberry on his lower tummy, then on each side, then right over his bellybutton, then on his ribs, all over his torso, leaving waves upon waves of giddy tingles.

“AHahahahahHEHA! Ihihit tihihickles sohoho BaHAD EhehehehEHEHAHA!” His chest and stomach were shaking and bouncing from his laughter, the wide, giddy smile never leaving his face, his genuine happiness being contagious to Odysseus.

Odysseus chuckled as well, unable to stop himself at hearing the silly, contagious sound of Hermes’ laughter. He decided to lower the intensity for a bit, moving his hands down to start scribbling behind his knees.

Hermes kicked slightly on instinct, but he didn’t try to truly escape. His hysterical, squeaky laughter died down to giggles again, allowing him to take in air.

“Ehehehehe ohoho myhyhy! Ehehe- ihihi cahahant breheheathe- hoholy moholy..” Hermes breathed out through his giggles, taking in breaths and still feeling so giddy.

Odysseus gave him a chance to breathe for a moment, wiggling his fingers behind his knees and tracing around his ankles, before managing to pry his sandals away from his feet slightly, and scratching gently at the soles.

Hermes giggles increased, not nearly as hysterical as it was earlier, but definitely more than it was from the more gentle tracing.

“EhHahHaha ohohohody plehehehease! Ehehehehe!”

“Oh, come on. We both know you don’t actually want me to stop.”

Hermes nodded again. He really didn’t. He protested, yes, but he didn’t mean any of it. It was only instinct, the natural reaction to such intense tickles, even though he enjoyed every second.

After a few more moments, Ody smirked and turned to look at Hermes, speaking with a teasing, taunting tone.

“I’m gonna get your wings~” he sing-songed, scratching at the edge of his ankle, right before where the wings met.

Hermes frantically protested, a giddy nervousness filling his chest and stomach. “Nonononohoho!”

“Yes yes yes~ these soft, little wings are gonna get tickled~”

A faint blush dusted Hermes’ face at the teasing words, so many butterflies and zaps of giddy, nervous excitement rushing through him as the anticipation drove him up the wall.

“Are you ready~”

“Nohoho!” Hermes protested again, even though he would much rather the soldier get it over with rather than deal with this anticipation.

Odysseus smirked again, responding instantly and with a faux lack of sympathy. “Too bad.”

Without any pause, he grabbed each wing on one leg and started to scribble against the feathers, scratching at the base of the wings.

Hermes was once again immediately thrown into heavy , hysterical laughter. “EEHAHAHA! OHOHO MYHYHY GOHODS- NOHOHOT THEHEHEHERE! EEEE!”

Odysseus chuckled again, the contagious laughter fully infecting him. “Oh my, quite ticklish here, are we~?”

Hermes blushed a bit more at the teasing, the fluster only adding to the ticklish experience, if you asked him.

His free wings on the other ankle flapped frantically, drawing the king’s attention.

“Well, would you look at that. It seems like your left set of wings is feeling a little left out.”

“NohOhOHO-! PLEHEHEHEASE!”

“Please tickle your other wings? Why of course!” He taunted, switching sides.

He once again pinched and rubbed the feathers in between his fingers, making Hermes toss his head back as fits of laughter racked his whole body.

He got such an evil thought just then, leaning to one of the wings being his ears and blowing a huge raspberry right on it.

Hermes squealed with laughter once again, absolutely hysterical as mirthful tears dampened his face.

“NOHOHO- EEEEEHAHAHAHAHA! IHIHI CAHAHANT HOHOLY MOHOLY-EEHAHAHAHA!”

Hermes was in absolute ticklish agony, his whole torso quivering with the force of his hysterical laughter from the blissful torture. It was absolutely horrible and yet he loved it so much, rushes of euphoria filling him with every laugh, every raspberry on his wings, every overwhelming ticklish touch.

After only a minute or so of that, Odysseus stopped completely with a final wiggle in his bellybutton, leaving Hermes gasping for air in between fits of residual giggles.

He wiped his eyes under his helmet from the tears of laughter, his face still split in two from his wide smile.

“Ahahahaha.. wohohoah.. yohou’re reheheally gohood ahahat thahahat… ehehehehe…”

Odysseus chuckled a bit. “Yeah, I really did a number on you, didn’t I?”

Hermes nodded, still giggling and trying to cool his breathing and blushing face.

“Are you alright? I didn’t go too far, did I?”

Hermes shook his head slightly. “No, Noho, yohou’re ahalrihihight. That was greheheat.”

“Man, you really like being tickled, don’t you?”

“Yeheheah! It’s fun to laugh like thahat.. ehehehe.”

“Well, I’m glad to have provided that for you.”

“Thahank yohou, daharling.”

“No problem!”

After another minute or so, Hermes finally stopped giggling, and dusted himself off before standing.

“Well, I best be off. I do have a job to do! But don’t be afraid to send a message whenever you want to hang! This was splendid!”

Odysseus chuckled a bit. “And you dont be afraid to come down and ask me for tickles anytime you want.”

Hermes giggled a bit in response. “I’ll keep that in mind. Ta-ta darling!~”

“See ya round!”

And with that, Hermes flew off, leaving with a light heart and a wide smile.

———THE END———————————————————-

[venomous-qwille]

hi qwille!!! I got questions for u! you have lots of characters planned out, and that’s super cool! but how do u usually go about that process? like all your characters are very unique, and I wonder about the design process, as well as how you make their personality distinct! how do you make character dynamics/relationships? because all the scenes I’ve read so far make the characters feel really organic, and mesh really well together! (sorry for all the questions! I’m super curious ^w^)

Hiya! Here is an answer I wrote for this question on discord recently ^^

I will try answer this as thoroughly as possible!

There was a LOT of kill your darlings involved in making characters for gitm. Originally I had a very long list of character ideas that I cut down and down based on the kind of things and themes they would give me the opportunity to write about. I love long ensemble cast stories, thinking back to ones I particularly enjoyed and the ways those characters gelled together helped me a lot. The most important thing when selecting characters was making sure they would give me something interesting to write about! I was also very keen on ones that let me explore the fics main theme of Family from a different angle. I'm not sure how helpful this all is! But yeah, I try to be pretty strict with myself about what I include. The only reason I would include two characters who were very very similar would be to emphasize a difference/divergence between them later on. Characters have to justify themselves by bringing something unique to the table, even if that thing is just a 'very different outlook on life' to the rest of the cast. Over time a lot of those character ideas became more fleshed out in my brain, and characters that were cut from the original shortlist made their way back in. They still have to be able to narratively justify themselves in order to earn a channel in the discord though!

For the gitm guys, while I dont have a literal sheet I fill out I do make sure to answer a couple of basic character work questions: What lie do they believe about themselves/the world? How does it impact the way they interact with others? What central theme do they embody most? What do they want more than anything else? How do they feel about humans? Who are they at their best and who are they at their worst? I found that by answering these sort of questions it helped me discover more about them, which creates more questions- rinse and repeat. The more questions I answered the further away they would get from each other in terms of similarities. The thing that really helped with the gitm boys, especially because their origins are so similar, was leaning in to how different their experiences were post-fazco. They are different people because the world has made them that way. Messing around with foils has been useful too! Characters are no fun in a vacuum, it's how they interact with others that makes them interesting. I like to create ones that will bring out the best and the worst in each other. I think about opposites a lot and I really like narrative symmetry- what lessons can the characters learn from each other? I find that stuff super exciting to read so I really wanted to include it. Some examples of character foils in gitm: Fool & Noon, Sombra & Sunspot, Misuta & Sol

When it comes to finding character voice, I do a lot of test drabbles (a couple of them are on this server), which I use to just fuck around until I find something that feels right. For instance- Sol was very very easy to find the voice of, where as Misuta took weeks of rewrites. Sometimes things take time. Spending this time figuring out their voices at the start really helps fic consistence in the long run, I think. Because of all that prep, I don't really have to do anything to 'get into character' when writing their dialogue (it's fairly second nature now).

In regards to coming up with a character's arc, I look at them and their themes and ask 'what the fuck happened to you, dude?' and then 'how has that entrenched a faulty world view on you?' 'what could you be driven to do because of that world view/misunderstanding?' 'what would it take to fix this world view/misunderstanding?' (the last question is the most important one!). Then voila, you have a very loose framework of a (hopepunk) character arc.

In regards to the actual planning of the fic/character arcs, I have a very big miro board (pic attached) that I use for all this! Most of the major character beats are marked out separately to plot beats etc etc. There are still a bunch of bits that only reside in my brain, but I do try to add them to my plan as soon as they become any kind of concrete. All of the characters also have a background chapter (or rather, a series of chapters that form a short story) attached to their arc, that will recontextualise everything you have learned about them so far! I am so deeply looking forward to dropping these (I already have quite a lot written).

I would say that- for your question on character relationships- the answer does come down to being really specific about what you include. Make sure characters are meaningfully different from eachother, give them goals and experiences that clash and then force them to live/work together in the same space. If you have put time into building your characters before that, then you just need to create opportunities for them to get into conflict and bring out the best/worst in eachother. I really do believe that characters are quite boring in a vacuum- which is why I put so much emphasis on including narrative foils ^^ Tyvm for the ask <3

[grunklefordpines]

Greetings!

I am Dr. Stanford F. Pines—Investigator of the Abnormal—Explorer of the Unknown!

Mabel and Dipper thought it’d be a fantastic idea to get me set up on the web!—Giving you, the Curious Asker, power to ask me anything you wish to know the answer to—And, from what they’ve told me—You all have many inquiries about my work!

I’m a bit lagging in the past few decades of technology, haha! Please, be a tad patient!

You may Ask Away!

soo. questions can go from being answered in order to out of order, so forth—

my inbox is usually super full—so i’m going to get into the routine of closing the inbox every now and then to catch back up!

(once this is posted, my inbox will have been wiped entirely—i had over 500 queries!—it made my tumblr crash haha)

tags!

+ i tend to overcomplicate stuff so. that’s why there’s so many tags haha. (you should totally follow the blogs mentioned..they’re amazing and so fun to interact with!!)

🫀 mod tag/ooc

the mind boggles questions answered!

corkboard art/img hall of fame!

📌 other favorite posts + popular

🎶 music recommendations + centric posts

♥️ every flirting attempt made to ford

sweater twins mabel and ford! the best duo ever actually. linked to the best @mabel-angelo !

📕⚓️ pines twins! the “adventures” (interactions and mentions) of stanford and stanley pines. @grunkle-stanley-pines

🧜🏻 + calypso the siren there’s a whole storyline with them! @stanfordssiren

billfordivorce watch bill and ford argue like a divorced couple. name bestowed by the incredibly talented and entertaining @bill-ciphers-nightmare-blog

sirenfordivorce self-explanatory. (also given by the awesome blog above)

⚠️🧜🏻 + billypso calypso makes a deal with bill.

🍄 the shroom saga ford eats an interdimensional mushroom out of pure curiosity. for science.

🍬🎃 halloween, 🎄🎉. christmas

i will tag mentions/implications of suggestive content, bugs, abuse, suicide, etc—basically—anything that i feel like could be generally upsetting to people.

[color-coded-cryptid]

kaidam plot idea

romantic or platonic tbh

also this takes place after season two so they still got their powers and everything cuz i love season two SO MUCH

the main kids (mira, adam, kai, reeve, skeet, and vanessa) are all starting their senior year of high school

cuz i feel like the hollow happened summer of junior and they did all the training and stuff during junior year or smthn

and yes skeet is there cuz she’s alive shush ur face

mira and adam probably walk to school together or get a ride, cuz they’re best friends and all why wouldn’t they?

they get to school and go to breakfast or something, chatting about whatever and exchanging schedules

kai still hasn’t arrived

that’s fine, surely he’ll be here eventually! he’s probably sleeping in and running on two cans of monster atp so it’s not really anything out of the ordinary

but he was usually there by breakfast last year, even if they didn’t hang out or … do anything with him

they at least noticed him

but breakfast rolls on by and kai still isn’t there soo now they’re a little concerned

adam is honestly a little annoyed cuz like, they’re friends, why didn’t he even come to say hi ???

( we’re going off @ahyesthesufferingoftvteens ’s post they made about kaidam relationship problems hehehe go check it out now )

anyways they continue their school day, mira probably wondering when would be a good time to text kai, and adam straight up ignoring it for the time being

cuz no matter what’s going on in kai’s life right now, he’ll probably be fine

he’s not the kind of guy who can have “big” struggles, in adam’s opinion

so now it’s lunchtime, they still haven’t seen or heard from kai, and mira is finally like

“…OKAY UHM. Something has GOT to be going on with this guy. Adam text him and ask.”

“Whfb- why me!?”

“Cuz you’re like, his best friend or something.”

thanks vanessa

skeet and reeve are probably there too but like eh whatever

reeve is a little more concerned than mira or adam

also going off of that user’s thingy they said in thiiiiiiiis on the reekai section >:3

you’re welcome for the bit of reekai within kaidam hehe i love them too

in any case adam eventually gives and decides to ask in the gc with him and him and mira haha lol

a subconscious way of forcing moral support, perhaps? insecure adam when it comes to social interaction?? 🤔 you decide 😏

kai doesn’t respond immediately but he just kinda brushes it off and adam’s like “see everything is chill duh”

neither reeve nor mira are having it buuut

they let it go for now

and besides, reeve barely texts kai like at all and it would feel really weird and awkward, so he’s gotta put faith in mira and … he doesn’t have faith in adam

i see them as awkward exes that never really did anything super romantic with each other cuz they clashed way way too much for anything to work out ……………… optional :]

so then after school adam probably gets a little curious and frustrated with kai’s vague answers, so he messages him directly

but it’s not out of concern, let me make that clear

he’s not worried, he’s just angry that he isn’t getting answers

he initially took it all at face value just so the others would get off his back about it, but the more he thinks about it, the more he wants to snap

he doesn’t have anger issues, buuuut when he’s in the dark about a situation, he gets peeved as hell

kai is avoidant and clearly doesn’t wanna talk about it, but adam doesn’t take no for an answer

he keeps pushing past kai’s boundaries and eventually kai laments, saying he can explain to adam and mira in person

idk maybe they meet up at holy donuts or smthn, doesn’t really matter where

either way kai explains that the reason he wasn’t at school was because he

doesn’t attend that school anymore

he’s going to a private school now, the kind of hoity toity bullshit that only the asshole rich kids go to, the kind with uniforms and a strict campus setting and blah blah blah

mira gets frustrated, but adam gets angry

kai’s parents seriously pulled him out of public school for,, that??

adam starts going off about how shiiiitty kai’s parents are cuz like

they’re barely present, they barely treat kai like a human being let alone their child, and now they care about his academics?????

kai is trying to get adam to shut the fuck uuup but adam is adam, once he gets going he won’t stop very easily

so kai impulsively yells out to get adam’s attention and ,,

obviously they’re in a public setting so he also gets the attention of other people OOPS

he gets all shy and embarrassed so he goes quiet when he continues

“..I chose to go.”

he can’t meet adam or mira’s eyes

they ,, are confused

obviously they’re confused, kai was so adamant on going to public school cuz he wanted to be like any other kid, he didn’t want his status to be all he was

and now he’s just suddenly switching it up??

adam is a little hurt

kai explains it’s cuz he’s had so many fake friends that only want him for his money or skills, he doesn’t want to risk that again

cuz if he’s surrounded by people who have the same status as him, they aren’t gonna want to use him, right?

obviouslyyyy adam doesn’t realize that’s kinda directed at him … what with him just being reeve’s replacement and all

like,, reeve already yelled at adam about that and he gave an apology, so why would that still be bothering kai?

it’s because it wasn’t a real apology it wasn’t genuine adam didn’t mean it cuz he didn’t see any wrongdoings on his end

anyways i had this as like the very ghostly beginnings of a roleplay with someone on the hollow amino wayyy back and i keep thinking about it every time i think about the show

so why not share it HEHEHE

that was as far as we got with the plot and it ended up getting dropped pretty quickly after it began sighhhh 😔

i know that i want it to show how shit ass fucked adam and kai’s friendship is in the beginning because that’s JUICY AND TASTYYYYY

i will kiss whoever makes this a fanfic i beg

i will DOUBLE KISS whoever roleplays this with me HAHAHA

[utilitycaster]

Feel free to ignore if you don't want to talk about it (since I know folks have been super weird to you about gaming), but I'm really curious what build you went for in Disco Elysium, since, at least in my experience, it REALLY colors the information you get about the world (and also how the game flows).

Hey anon! I am happy to talk about it. I'll give you the build and then, honestly, I'm going to give a rundown of The Weirdnesses since talking around them is probably making shit more confusing. I may have even done this before or I may have drafted it and deleted it. I honestly do not recall, and it doesn't hurt to repeat.

I went with thinker, in a move surprising no one who has been subjected to my "never dump intelligence when you can dump wisdom" rants about D&D. I want to know what's going on; this has made progress slow in a few places due to the mediocre physical stats/horrifically bad psyche stats, and also it means my available health and morale are garbage, however, I do not care because I want to know what's going on. It does mean I haven't been able to get through several doors, however.

Anyway re: video games. This isn't unique to them but I think bc I am up to date on Critical Role this just doesn't happen much, but anyway two things are going on.

the overfamiliarity problem. I mean this so seriously: If we have not interacted recently and/or frequently (or uh. at all) saying shit like "I'm so excited for you to be playing this game!" is actually deeply off-putting to me. I am sure it is INTENDED to be friendly, and so I usually quietly delete comments or hide reblogs instead of blocking, but it really is like...this is a normal thing for casual acquaintances to say and it's fucking weird for strangers to say. like the posts if you like them! reblog them! Even "oh it's a fun game, enjoy yourself!" is fine by me. But like, something about "I'm excited for you" or talking about your own experience when I do not fucking know you makes my skin crawl.

Like many people I have a number of hangups about using leisure time for leisure instead of productivity, or even using leisure time for a leisure activity like video games specifically, which are both time consuming and, while very enjoyable and imo rewarding, do not have the same cultural cache as books nor the finished products as crafts, nor the ability to simultaneously clean your kitchen or crochet as podcasts or TV/movies. I've found from some conversations with friends that I have...more than average hangups, and that's a conversation I do genuinely intend to have in like. a therapy setting. and I'll leave it at that. But anyway to that point feeling like I am having demands put on me, even something as vague and well-intentioned as "I'm excited to hear your thoughts!" or "do you think you'll do another run" before I've independently formulated said thoughts/done another run kicks in a whole bunch of contrarian and also "why are you giving me a fucking TASK related to this when I already had to manually override seventeen warning lights to get to the point of doing something purely for fun and for myself" instincts. (This is also a factor in why I'm extremely sensitive to any spoilers; even "oh you'll have fun when you meet Bob" sets my brain into "well now you can't focus on anything until you meet Bob, obviously, all that matters is finding Bob" mode, which may fuck up my experience until I meet Bob. It's not all the time, depending on the nature of the spoiler and the work and my own ability to be like hey. brain. stop. But it is sometimes, and given that there's very valid reasons to avoid spoilers anyway, such as "random stranger on Tumblr usually does not reveal them in a way that feels nearly as rewarding as the work itself" I am spoiler averse.) Really, when it comes to me exploring video games, or life, one must treat me as a shelter cat or a toddler: I gotta do it myself, let me figure it out myself, only stop me if I'm going to like, fall down a flight of stairs or chew on a lamp cord. And honestly? I think this is a good way to treat everyone who is getting into something you like unless they ask you for advice.

ANYWAY mortifying ordeal of being very slightly known/lecture on how to welcome the independent to a fault and perhaps beyond that into your fandoms aside, asking about what I've already done? 100% ok, do not worry about doing this, just make sure from my posts it is indeed a thing I've already done.

[tea-coven]

I've been kinda hesitant to share this because I don't want to leak any personal info of anyone or myself, but I think I formatted it in a way that's respectful :>

About a year ago I attended my pediatrician, a lovely older woman who always made me feel really comfortable and I had a lot of fun talking with (which is rare for a doctor!). I was in my senior year of high school and she began asking typical college questions near the end of the appointment. Eventually she got to the expected, "-and what are you planning on majoring in?", I told her "2D animation!" I began to elaborate, as a lot of people I talked to about it usually needed me to explain what that meant, like cartoons, princess and the frog, etc. Eventually she spoke up in an "Ah!" manner, and excitedly said "Like Disney channel!".

This is went the story goes insane for me. And lead me to nearly passing out.

She states "you can make a lot of money off of those, very lucrative, congrats!". I was...confused. Most animators aren't known for their salaries and I wanted to know where she got the idea. She said "well my best best friend's kid, basically my godson haha, makes a lot off of it. He actually made a show on Disney!" (It was really sweet how proud she seemed, while still casual) I was pretty intrigued about this, and since I knew a good amount of animated shows and am really passionate about the subject, asked "what show? I probably have seen or heard of it!" (Especially since she said "made" and not "worked on"). She begins to go on about how she isn't sure if it's super well known or anything, but after more prodding (not malicious, I just was curious/ wanted learn about how he started), she goes

"Well I don't remember the name or much about it, but I do know that it stars twins, cause he himself is one." She began to go on about him, wanting to visit, and general stories about her and her friend. Small talk!

Unfortunately, I had froze, and also became increasingly grateful that I was in a doctors clinic.

I paused, and gently asked "is he...Alex Hirsch?"

"Oh you know him!"

"His show is gravity falls...it like, is the reason I'm so passionate about animating, story telling, etc. he's the reason I'm going to school for this."

She began to look a little confused while I talked, as I think she started realizing that this was not a small show. I speak up (albeit a little starstruck) telling her about how most my friends also really love the show. She had seen some of my work before, and began discussing how she was "sure he'd be as big a fan as her". (I don't say this in a parasocial, or bragging way btw, i just again found her really sweet and fun, and this a cute interaction)

The appointment was pretty much over by this point, but before I left she said "I'll give him a call and tell him about you! I'm sure he'd be flattered." I, as any 18 year old aspiring animator, go into a RATIONAL fugue state.

As my dad and I were leaving, and he finished signing some paperwork, she came out of a room down the hall waving, and called my name

"I just called and told him about you! He was very flattered! Good luck!"

And I, as any 18 yo aspiring animator, did the rational response

And passed out in the car

[crusty-chronicles]

hii! after reading ur moon and son halloween special, it got me thinking ab kurapika and yn. if its not too much to ask, could you do a small special where kurapika figures out why yn hates their clan? it could be a drabble, short chapter, hcs, whatever youd like to write, i was js super curious for what kurapikas reaction would be

love ur writing 🩷🩵

I'm gonna start this off with a minor spoiler warning for the end chapters of Moon and Sun. Nothing too big so don't worry.

Okay, we Good? There's only four people who really know about what happened with Y/n and their clan. Gon, Killua, Kite, and Ging. The first three are for obvious reasons. Now the only reason Ging knows is because he's got a part to play in future chapters, which I will not be disclosing at this time. That being said, what Kurapika knows/ learns about is a very watered down version of events. Below is a oneshot of how he finds out and reacts.

The Difference Between You and I

⛓️⛓️⛓️⛓️⛓️⛓️⛓️

It was ironic, really, when you looked back on what happened a few days ago. You didn't think you had it in you anymore to dislike someone so much. Especially since he was one of the boys' closest friends.

You wanted your first meeting to be friendly, even if a part of you was still bitter he hadn't bothered to see Gon at the hospital. You'd hoped to get along with him as well as you did with Leorio.

 But opposites attract you suppose.

The two of them couldn't have been any more different from each other. Leorio was a stubborn loudmouth depending on who he interacted with. Acting purely on impulse most of the time. Yet despite that, he had a heart of gold from what you could tell.

Treating Gon and Killua with as much care as you did. Wanting to be a doctor in order to help those who couldn't afford proper medical care. Hell, he was even currently helping you with your ‘condition.’

Kurapika, on the other hand, was quiet and reserved. At least from what the boys had told you. Though you noticed he also seemed distant. Rarely ever picking up his phone and even rarer were the times he'd actually show up in person.

But you wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. 

If the boys loved him, how bad could he really be? 

And if Leorio was dating him, then surely he had some redeeming qualities.

Well turns out fate had a funny way of playing things out. Irony at its best. 

—----------------------

You'd arrived in York New about the same time as the boys. Having come for your ‘usual’ checkup. Something you blamed on that damn cat along with yourself. 

You'd agreed beforehand to meet up right after for lunch. The three of you communicating through a small group chat. Although you were still struggling with the newer technology. Not yet used to actually having a phone. But you digress.

It was during Leorio's final evaluation that you were made aware of the blonde’s presence.

“You getting anything?” He asked.

You shook your head, unable to focus your eyes. Six months and your nen was still shot. What a pain.

“Don't push yourself. Remember, we still have a few treatments to test out. You're not out of luck just yet.”

“I know. I just kinda want the process to be over already, you know? Get things back to normal.” Well, as normal as you could be.

Leorio was about to respond before a ‘ding’ from his phone went off. He gave an apologetic look as he checked what it was. 

Although he knew you didn't mind, he still wanted to be professional. This was his job and he took pride in it. Despite his nonchalant demeanor.

“Woah! Kurapika's in town!”

“Kurapika?” The one who usually ignores all his calls? The one who put revenge before his dying friend? But you thought better than to say that out loud. Instead you settled on-

“He's…blonde, right?”

Leorio looked up at you with a bewildered expression. Out of all the things you could say, it was that. It was almost enough to make him laugh.

“Yes? You know, you've got an odd way of remembering people.”

“But I'm not wrong, am I? You gonna see him after this?” You asked with a teasing smirk.

“Yeah. It's been a while. I think the boys would be happy to see him too.” He gestured to the three kids that sat waiting outside of your room.

Two of which were now excitedly staring at their phones. The third sleeping contently on her brother's shoulder.

“You should meet him too.” Leorio suggested.

And although you appreciated the offer, it didn't feel right for you to tag along. You didn't want things to potentially be awkward. Plus, you weren't the best with new people.

“I don't wanna intrude. I'd rather the four of you catch up. Like old times. Well maybe not the four of you if Alluka has anything to say about it.” Already knowing the small girl went everywhere Killua did. 

“You'd really do that. I know it's been months since you spent time with the boys.”

“Yeah but it's been a year since they even heard from Kurapika. Besides, I'll meet him when I pick the boys up. I'm here for three more days after all. And then~you and Kurapika could spend some time by yourselves.”

His face flushed a bright red at the insinuation. Playfully shoving your head to the side.

“About time you paid me back for all the times I watched the boys for you.”

—-----------------------

The two of you finished up, with Leorio briefly leaving to request his break. The kids wasted no time rushing you once you exited the room.

“Any luck this time?” Gon asked.

“Sadly, no. But there's always next time, right?” You tried to reassure. But he didn't look all that convinced. 

“If it doesn't work out, you know you can always ask Nanika to-” Killua started to offer, but you stopped him before he could finish.

“It's fine if I can't get it back. I'll just have to get used to being a normie. Unless, you've got a problem with normies?” Your tone was teasing as you ruffled the small assassin's hair. 

Your attention was redirected towards a pull on your sleeve.

“I don't mind helping Big Sib,” Alluka assured.

“I mind. I'll be okay so don't worry about it…In other news, I heard one of your friends just got here.” You quickly changed the subject. Not wanting to bring down the mood. You wanted today to be a good day.

And judging by the way both boys beamed up at you, it would be.

“Yeah! Kurapika's gonna be here for a few days! I hope you don't mind if he comes with us today.” Gon explained.

You could never really say no to that kid, even if you had already planned to give the duo space today. You returned his cheerful grin with one of your own.

“Course not. To be honest, I was gonna let the four of you reconnect in peace.”

“Peace? You make it sound like we're embarrassed of you,” Killua mumbled.

“What was that?”

“I said, ‘Four of us? What about my sister?’” he quickly covered. Though he could tell you heard what he said first. But you'd let him off the hook this time.

For now.

“Why don't I take her shopping while you guys catch up?”

“Shopping? You can afford that now?” His tone was playful, but there was a genuine hint of concern somewhere in there.

“Hey!” You scolded, about to come up with a retort before Gon stepped in.

“Yeah! They're working with Kite and his team. It's why they travel so much now.”

At the mention of the former silver haired hunter, Killua's expression soured.

“Sibling stealer.”

At that, you pinched his cheek.

“Har har. You mad at him because we're dating now or because Alluka occasionally calls him dad?”

He covered his ears, face slightly red from embarrassment as he tugged Gon away. Not bothering to wait for Leorio.

“We’re leaving now! Have her back by six!”

—-------------

Safe to say, they were overjoyed to see Kurapika again. Both boys eagerly questioning him about his new Zodiac status, while Leorio reminded them not to overwhelm him with questions.

Kurapika was glad to back, if only for a brief moment. He truly did miss them, but his mission always came first. He'd already made tremendous progress recovering his clan’s eyes. His new Zodiac status aiding in his endeavors.

But through pursuing his goal, he'd evidently missed out on a lot with his friends and partner. 

The boys were 13 going on 14 now. Gon had achieved his own goal and met Ging. Traveling with him up until a month ago.

Killua had managed to finally get away from his family, bringing his little sister with him. The two of them also traveling around. Which begs the question, where was she currently?

Leorio had become a doctor, having just been promoted to a zodiac after the election. Which Kurapika did watch, very much proud of how far he got.

Yes, so much had changed.

He supposed it was bittersweet in a way. The three of them already shooting for a new goal while he was still trying to complete his. 

But he truly was grateful for the time he spent with them today. That he was still considered important to them despite his distance. He made a mental note to try harder once he left.

It wasn't before very long that Leorio had to return to work. His break over too soon for the blonde's liking. 

So with a smooch on his cheek and a ‘ewww!’ from the boys, Leorio was off. Leaving Kurapika with the duo. 

Now while you were aware of Kurapika, he had no idea of your existence until the boys mentioned you in passing.

—-----------------------

A desert of some kind sat in front of them.

“Y/n would for sure love this. Do you think we should take them some?” Killua asked, the question directed towards Gon.

“They’ll be upset if we don't. And you know what that means.” Gon responded.

“They won't carry us for a week. You think we're getting too old for that?” But before their conversation could continue, Kurapika spoke up. Curious about the new name they mentioned.

“Y/n?”

Both boys looked up at him surprised before remembering the two of you had never met.

“Y/n’s the person that’s been taking care of us since Greed Island. They're our big sibling,” Gon proudly announced while Killua nodded along.

You seemed to be very close to them.

“Right now they're with Alluka. They wanted to give the four of us a chance to catch up.” Killua added.

That explained why his sister wasn't here. And if Killua trusted you with her, then you must've been reliable too.

A good person.

“Tell me more about them.”

—-----------------------

Truthfully, all odds pointed at the two of you getting along. You were cut from the same cloth, so to speak. Both coming from strong clans. Both losing them during your childhood.

Your lazy demeanor would have paired nicely with his quiet one. You always were more comfortable around less energetic people. 

His analytical skills were on par with yours. A strong head on both of your shoulders. 

Even if you were still upset with Kurapika, the two boys knew you'd get along with him in time. Sure you'd probably chew him out for not answering his phone, but you'd warm up to him nevertheless.

So what was it exactly that put you at odds with each other?

The catalyst that sparked endless animosity between you?

Well, it just so happened to be the subject of your clan that started it.

It was an accident, truly. Gon didn't mean for it to slip out. He just got so excited telling Kurapika about you that he forgot some details weren't meant to be shared.

“You know, I'm kinda glad Nanika erased their memories. Y/n is a lot happier now that they're clan isn't looking for them anymore. They weren't good people to begin with so don't feel too bad about it.”

Gon had been explaining before slapping a hand over his mouth. Him and Killua looking at each other with wide eyes. Gazes briefly glancing over towards Kurapika for his reaction.

They knew he could be touchy with the subject. Watching him carefully to see if his eyes changed. Instead, they were met with a suspicious stare. Not exactly positive, but not really negative either.

“What do mean their clan isn't looking for them anymore? Did something happen between them?”

Because Kurapika, for the life of him, couldn't fathom a family giving up on one of their own. But the subject wasn't as black and white as he suspected.

“We're not really supposed to say. It's not like they told us not to tell anyone, but it's their privacy. You know?” Gon informed.

Not only was it your business, but it was also something you trusted the two of them with. And he was the last person who should be spilling your secrets.

The two boys once again eyed each other. You wouldn't be mad if they told Kurapika. So long as he didn't bring it up directly to you.

Besides, the chain user would just ask you in person if he didn't get an answer. He was direct by nature. Something you would respect, but not if it concerned your ‘family.’

So what was the worse outcome?

They say nothing and Kurapika asks you directly about it. Or he finds out another way.

The second option: they partially explain the situation. Not getting into too much detail, but enough to satisfy their friend’s curiosity.

“If it's not something you want to discuss, then I won't-” but Killua stopped him from finishing his sentence.

“If we tell you, you have to promise you won't say we told you anything. Got it?” 

It wasn't that they were wary of their friend, god no. They just didn't want the two of you butting heads in the future. 

Kurapika gave a small nod.

“Y/n doesn't get along well with their clan. They haven't since they were a little kid. They just don't feel comfortable or safe around them anymore.” Gon started.

“Why?”

“They sorta had a disagreement with them. And that's putting it very lightly. An argument about how things were being done. And how their practices were wrong. That's all we can really say.” Killua continued.

The rest would have to come directly from you. If you ever got around to trusting Kurapika. Something that sadly wouldn't come to fruition.

“So they're estranged from their clan because of a disagreement?” And for whatever reason, that made Kurapika upset.

Your clan was alive and healthy. They'd been looking for you. And here you were being petty. Avoiding them because of it.

When all his people were slaughtered like nothing. Never even having the chance to say goodbye. 

He wanted to think there was more to it. That there was something big the boys weren't telling him. And there was, but he'd never get to learn about what it was.

How similar your grief was to his with him losing Pairo and you losing Kari.

The rest of the afternoon felt tense. Kurapika tried not to show his discomfort, but both boys could tell anyways. Seems the two of you wouldn't get along after all.

It was only a matter of time before you went to get them. Alluka trailing happily behind you with an ice cream cone as you struggled with her bags. Most of which were toys. 

Both boys quickly grabbed a few from you to lighten the load. Your eyes drifting over to the blonde behind them.

So that was Kurapika.

“Alluka! You can't just make them carry everything. Next time help.” Killua scolded.

Said girl, looked up at her big brother with a pout. 

“I did. Mama/Papa said no.”

Her answer prompted a small glare from him. This time directed at you.

“You have her spoiled.”

“You’re just jealous I don't baby you anymore.” You retorted.

“I think it's because Alluka's a girl.” Gon added as he took another bag from you.

“She's not just a girl. She's a princess!” You lightly pinched her cheeks, causing her to let out a squeal.

You looked up to see their blonde friend standing awkwardly away. Perhaps not wanting to interrupt the four of you. 

“You gonna introduce me to your friend?” 

At the sound of your voice he straightened up. Both boys urging you towards him.

“Y/n, this is Kurapika. Kurapika, Y/n.”

It was a brief introduction. Well, you supposed it was time for you to plaster on a smile and try to befriend him. Hopefully things would go well.

“Hi. So you're the infamous Kurapika? Glad you could make a special guest appearance today. I hope the boys weren't too much.” 

You extended your hand in greeting. Wishing you could focus your eyes on him to get a proper read of what he was feeling. He reciprocated your handshake with less enthusiasm than you were expecting.

To be fair, he probably just found out about you.

“Likewise. It's a pleasure to meet the person who they've been talking my ear off about for the last two hours. Apologies for interrupting your time together.”

He was surprisingly polite. Honestly, you were expecting him to be somewhat rowdy like the rest of their friends. Not that you minded.

You needed another levelheaded friend to talk to. And if you were correct, he was about two years younger than you. 

But then things quickly started going downhill.

“My intel tells me you come from a clan like me? Do I have that right?” He asked, unawares that was not the right thing to say. Despite his intention to strike up a friendly conversation.

“Intel?” Your tone was panicked.

 The mere mention of your past life enough to make you spiral. Something both boys could tell was happening from the way you stiffened.

“Uh Kurapika. Maybe now's not the-” Gon tried, but it was too late.

“I don't belong to any clan. I never did, so don't you ever bring it up again.” Ice.

Your demeanor was cold, an indication that you were mad. Though you tried to calm yourself. Maybe he didn't know not to ask that.

He couldn't have known.

You just didn't want to talk about it with anyone. Especially not a stranger you just met. 

“Damn. I knew we shouldn't have told him.” Killua said, already knowing where this conversation was heading. He quickly covered Alluka's ears.

“I don't understand why you're so upset about it. Could the disagreement you had really be that irksome to you.” The blonde's tone dismissive. 

The thing that inevitably set you off.

Irksome.

Like they didn't just try to kill you half a year ago. Like they didn't murder your sister right in front of you. Like they didn't turn your best friend against you.

“I said drop it. It's none of your business. But you know what should've been, since you're so keen on family.”

“Y/n don't-” Gon tried once more, tugging on your arm to get you attention.

“Checking up on your friends every once in a while. Do you even know about what happened to these two?”

“Guys,” Killua warned.

“Of course I know. You think I'm an idiot not to know about the Chimera Ant situation?” Kurapika's voice increasing in volume to match yours.

“Yeah? You know about Illumi hunting down Killua and his sister while his family watched? About the two of them almost being killed to better their psycho family's power? You know about Gon being hospitalized? About how nothing short of a miracle saved his life? You know about all that?”

Judging by the shocked expression on his face, he didn't know. He glanced over to the two boys to verify. And when they looked down to avoid his eyes, he knew you weren't lying.

He hadn't been a very good friend, had he?

“Didn't think so. So next time you think I owe you anything, think about how you've never given anyone anything. I don't owe you shit. I don't owe you an explanation and I sure as hell don't owe you my time!” 

Was it a petty argument that got way out of hand?

Absolutely.

The truth is, if you could get past your one difference, the two of you would see you have a lot in common. Might've even become good friends.

 But you can never trust someone who takes the people they care about for granted. Who had the opportunity to support their friend on their deathbed instead of chasing after shadows of the past. Who only lets anger and hatred guide their actions.

And Kurapika could never befriend someone who doesn't understand how good they have it. Who still has the opportunity to see their family instead of their corpses. And maybe he's envious of the fact. He'd give anything to spend five minutes with his clan while you can't even bare thinking about them for five seconds.

And while you two disliked each other, you'd just have to learn to tolerate the other for the sake of your friends.

—-------------

MASTERLIST

An: I didn't know if I should add tags to this one because technically it's not apart of our main story. More like an expansion on the lore, if you can even call it that. Now, I love Kurapika, I really do. But I feel like our insert from Moon and Sun would absolutely despise him. On the bright side, I should be able to start uploading a little more frequently now. Might even get back to weekly updates. We'll see~

[leantailean]

I think what i like about Toko is the way the too off them play off each other. Both are stubborn, blunt, loud and insensitive to others. Both came from a posh upbringing. Among other things it leaves them both a bit self-centred, which they both struggle with. Toph wants nothing but move away from home, while Zuko does everything to return to it. Toph hates rules, while Zuko is a stickler for honor (unless the ends justify the means, which usually benefits himself). Zuko is a terrible liar while Toph can turn into a doll on a dime while also being a human lie detector. They have one good eye between the two of them. They both have so much room to grow as people. There's billion things more like that really.

I can't tell you what specifically made me interested in romance between them. I think i just already read a few fics about them being friends it made curious how those dynamic would play out in a romance.

It's funny to see you liken Kataang to Toko. Since despite it's ubiquity if never really felt one way or the other for the former, nor do i think much about it. My guess the appeal of the ship would be what those too represent to each other, which would be quite different from the more interpersonal dynamic appeal of toko. But you point i out there some interesting parallels there.

I don't really hate season 3 myself, though i'd call it probably the weakest of all the seasons. Funnily enough the Zuko gaang interactions are something i'm mostly fine with. I mostly just find the way they team up a little clunky, as well as Zuko being unable to imagine why Katara would still be mad at him and the general asspullery of the finale. So i'm curious what you think about that.

Hello! Happy Holidays and thank you for our question! And sorry for a very late answer, I really want to start answering on time next year! You showed me at the the very interesting parallels between Toph and Zuko, and I’m entirely agree with you. I’m gonna repeat what I was saying in my last answer to you. I think that the reason of why Toko is not so popular is that fandom doesn't see them right. Fandom always tries to see Zuko as super restrained, manly and steady grown up guy loaded with mature decisions and endless amount of altruism. Meanwhile Zuko is just traumatised kid, and his trauma is what dictates a lot of his character traits that fandom refuses to see. His impetuosity, impulsiveness, anger, egoism, and tunnel vision. And his sometimes happening disregard of other people. And all this melts unites with his kind heart and moral compass. And all that mess is what making him so interesting and appealing character. But unfortunately all these traits are seen as “problematic” and even ugly, and fanom just tries to ignore all of this. As a result the real and complex Zuko's character always is out of any discussion.

Toph is, usually, completely disregarded and ignored by fandom at all.She is being seen as a “gremlin” or “little bratty sister”, and people refuse to see that she is one of the most complex and well-written member of gaang. She has lots of conflicts and difficulties. (I’m telling about all this very mess, hope I’ll have enough time one day to develop this idea better)

She and Zuko are very close in the very same traits that fandom tends to deny in Zuko. Egoism, stealthiness, disability to trust, stubbornness and arrogance. They would be a great pair because their basic character traits are so similar and it would be easier for them to understand each other.

I also always loves how atla narrative connects Toph and Zuko with Aang. Aang sees Toph in the vision, so their meeting was predisposed, and Aang and Zuko’s arcs similarity is basically the heart of the show.

As you noticed, Toph leaves her home for Aang, for Zuko Aang is a way home. And later Toph and Zuko’s stories mirror each other, because, like Toph did, Zuko leaves his cruel family to join the gaang as an avatar teacher.

I really like how toko is similar to canon ship that plays the key role in the whole storytelling, Kataang. As well as Kataang, Toko grows from support and friendship, develops for a long time. It’s 100% “friends to lovers” trope. As well as in Kataang, one of the pairing starts feeling some romantic feelings from the very beginning (It’s canon that Toph feels romantically about Zuko, it’s clear in many scenes, “That’s how I show affection” is one of the most prominent) while another partner have only friendly-platonic feelings. And also Toph was the first from the whole gaang who trusted Zuko and even almost argued with others standing out for him. This is very clear similarity to Katara who always eagerly protects Aang, attacking anyone who can harm him.

Another moment that will never stop to amaze me in relation between Kataang and toko is their colour schemes that are built on complementary colours.

Complementary colours are the ones that placed opposite one another on the colour wheel. They empower and supplement each other. In visual arts, and especially in animation and character design colour schemes are one of the essential tools of the storytelling. Complementary colours are emotionally appealing, they show to the viewer connection and harmony between characters. Orange and blue - colours of Aang and Katara are complementary to one another as well as red and green - colours of Zuko and Toph.

As for Third season I think that it was the weakest and terrible. It almost ruined characters of Aang, Katara, and, especially, Zuko and Iroh, transformed their complex and dynamic personality into two dimensional cliches. Lots of people complaining about comics for ruining characters, but actually it all originates in how third season destroyed lots of things. So called Zuko's redemption arc was lazily written, he was descended  from the most complex and interesting character into the rather boring banality. Honestly after that "redemption" Zuko became much worse person them he had been before it. Again very composite and ambiguous Iroh was transformed into some mix of Dumbledore, Gandalf and stereotypical and racist type of "asian wiseman". he was stripped of anything that was making him interesting and unique. And that terrible westernised redesign of Katara and Zuko, complete rethinking of clothes and armor of fire nation warriors that was obviously stolen from some RPG?

I can discuss why 3rd season is terrible for long time. that my super unpopular opinion

Thank you once again for sharing your thought about toko! I always happy to discuss these wonderful characters with you🖤

[goodboyaudios]

i’m evil like that muahaha~ also!!!!! congratulations on 40k!!!!!!!!!!!! i’m sure you’ll be getting way more recognition in the future:D

since you gave permission:

you said you’re finishing off uni, did you always know what you wanted to study? i’m at the (depressing) stage in life where i’m fully realizing how many curve balls life throws at you:) the path to success usually isn’t linear, so i’m curious about your journey!

it seems like you’re always asking for feedback or addressing issues, etc. do you have any feedback for us (as in, the community)? most people i’ve interacted with are pretty chill, but idk maybe there’s we could improve on?

this one might be a bit personal, so feel free to ignore! do your friends or family know about your channel/work? i’d imagine it’d be nice to have someone you could bounce ideas off of before publishing stuff! if not, how do you manage to hide all that stuff hahah~. you’ve built an entirely different universe, so i refuse to believe a sane man can keep all of that in his head and live a normal life simultaneously:p

if you could befriend any oc of yours, who would it be and why?

i’m not sure how to word this question properly, but are there any endings/plot points that you had initially envisioned differently? like, did you think a story was going one way and changed your mind half ways through?

you don’t have to answer all of these! you did ask for it, but i hope i’m not overwhelming you haha~

Absolutely not. School didn't do anything to prepare me for the world. My college has done less than nothing in preparing me to get a job in my field, YOUTUBE HAS DONE MORE FOR ME THAN COLLEGE AT THIS POINT and if I'm completely honest with you? That's fuckin sad. No, I had no idea what I wanted to do and I wish I was that kind of person who knew right out the gate. (lucky bastards) Okay, I'm done with my rant lol

I didn't know what field I wanted to study in, so I took a chance and jumped into something I knew I had some knowledge in and hoped for the best. Really that's all you can do. I have learned that, when you get out of highschool and you don't know what to do, do everything until something sticks. Trial and error. It's not the most efficient, but it works!

Any feedback to GIVE to the community? Let me think. Honestly, the community has been very wonderful to me. Occasionally something pops up, but it's usually squashed. The discord server is full of wonderful and creative and talented people who have always had my back and support the work I do. I hear all the time about drama in fellow creator servers and toxic behavior in the communities, etc...but my end of things has always been super nice! (that might have something to do with my lack of NSFW content) But yeah! No notes really! Everything good in our little neighborhood!

My family is aware AND so is my extended family lol! They are supportive, but they don't really give me ideas to bounce off. I have other fellow writers and creatives or that! And I do write everything down and go back to it in case I forget something. But typically speaking its all in my head, yep! I just...don't know how to do other things! Like...dress fashionably or...function in a normal society...you know useless stuff like that!

Zed. He needs a friend lol

Only with Bastard Warrior actually! Every story, I envision how I want it to end first, but with Bastard Warrior, I had thoughts of changing it because it was supposed to be enemies to lovers, yet the canon ending isn't Albus getting with Faith. So, I made 3 endings to appease everyone lol

Hope I got all of the them lol!

[mybedroomceilingsbored]

I have MORE things I want to know actually (in reference to the tag game) 5, 11, 12, 18, 24, 28 im just gonna keep going I’m curious 31, 33, 39

aw thanks!!!

5 (what made you start your blog) - i first joined tumblr in late '21 i think? (i'd just had a rlly bad rehearsal and needed to blow off some steam lol) I didn't post anything or interact with anyone, i just lurked for quite a while. In early '23 i think, i started posting stuff and put up a bunch of my (truly terrible) observations/photos/poetry/whatnot, and then deleted it all in that summer. i tentatively started posting again that fall, and here i am!

11 (what do you consider to be romance) - huh idrk! i don't crush much, so i feel like my own definition might be a little looser than others'.

12 (advice you want to share) - hmm, get outside as much as possible (it's done wonders for me), pick up as many hobbies as possible while you have the time, if you get periods (or just are tired) then heat up milk and add sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla extract (super relaxing and good for cramps WITHOUT the caffeine and super high sugar)

18 (do you believe in ghosts/aliens) - DEFINITELY ghosts, i've had a lot of family members have personal encounters. With aliens, it's more of a scientific probability, it'd be a lot more unlikely for them not to exist

24 (something you're proud of yourself for) - Earlier this year, i started trying to make a point of spending time with this girl who never seemed to have someone to talk to (she's homeschooled and shy, comes from a super conservative fundamentalist family, is tall with a blue mullet, stims a lot, and will happily talk about transformers for hours). Turns out she's super sweet and warm, once she gets comfortable! Now she's rlly happy to have someone to hang out with, we're gonna go get smoothies soon :)

28 (do you collect anything) - not really lol!

31 (are you messy or organized) - i'm organized when i really want to be. The rest of the time, i'm usually kind of a slob :)

33 (hobbies) - quite a few haha! I'm a dancer (ballet, pointe, modern, jazz, tap, and hip-hop), i play the piano, the flute, and the ukulele, i crochet/knit/sew/embroider/sketch/paint, i read a LOT and do a ton of jigsaw puzzles, and i bake and cook! i also like biking, swimming, and jogging, and my brother's trying to get me into weightlifting :)

39 (youtuber you've been obsessed with/why) - i don't really watch youtube, sorry! i like watching cavetown's stuff ig, and i've been enjoying a comedy improv group called shoot from the hip???

thanks for asking, this was a lot of fun! i'd love to hear any of your answers if you wanted to share!!

[minnaci]

hi min! i’m really curious now what are your favourite quests in genshin? <3 be it an archon quest, maybe character’s story quest… i would love to know!

hi manu!! ohhhh there r SO many that i have really really enjoyed i honestly probably would be better off making a tier list of them shdjdkf BUT for now i think i'll list a few under the cut just in case ppl r still trying to avoid spoilers from earlier content.

warning for spoilers and yapping ahead!

sumeru archon quest (acts i-v)

i tried to narrow it down to a few acts, but the entire chapter was truly so so good!! i loved the intrigue, i loved the mystery, and obviously i also love my polycule cyno/tighnari/haitham/kaveh :3 im also a dottore enjoyer so seeing him slime his way around sumeru was incredibly arousing enjoyable for me LMAO. i think the pacing of the quests were good (with steadily rising tensions up until the climax of the quest in act v: akasha pulses, kalpa flame rises) and i have always had a soft spot for academia and academic politics, so this was a favorite for sure. the cutscenes were all beautifully done and the plot twists were often genuinely surprising to me (and even when they weren't, i felt a huge sense of excitement that what i hoped would happen was happening). the music was also top notch.

i think the sumeru chapter was so engaging to me because i was deeply invested in every character i saw on screen. i love tighnari and cyno. i adore haitham and kaveh. dottore and scaramouche are my lil stinkies. so it was like... just a feast for my eyes getting to see my favs interact with each other and also the plot. i felt so incredibly spoilt in the best way the whole time. and of course i will never and i mean NEVER forget haitham's short-lived acting career!!!

fontaine archon quest (acts iv-vi)

the earlier acts of the fontaine quest felt a bit more expositional (which was definitely crucial for setting up the huge emotional punch of the later acts) but what can i say? im a boy who enjoys his climaxes (lol). after the sumeru archon quest, i thought there was no way that hyv could possibly write another archon quest that felt as exciting and complex, but they proved me wrong and i was honestly so so impressed with how they handled furina's arc. the emphasis on performance and being forced to act in a way that is not the truest version of yourself for the greater good of the people you love really hit me hard. it was so heartwrenching to me to see how alone furina felt for years and years and years. i felt that the climax of the story (act v) was absolutely deserved after all the buildup, and ofc i enjoyed the khaenri'ah lore drop and seeing our wayward sibling again (act vi).

interlude chapter: act ii (perilous trail)

god, in my heart i will always always always have a soft spot for liyue, but this quest in particular hurt my soul in the best way as a zhongxiao (zhongli and xiao) shipper and a secret xiao kinnie. usually, the interlude quests tend not to catch my attention super much, but with the star-studded cast (itto??? YELAN??????) and the unsettling aura of the chasm it made for a very tense, fun, and memorable playthrough. i started playing the game all those years ago For Xiao and to see him so ready to sacrifice himself... so ready to accept his own death.... only to be rescued at the last second by his literal lord and savior... the only one left who could fully understand the extent of his loss... it just really stuck with me. the cutscene where xiao is being enveloped in zhongli's golden light still makes me emotional even thinking about it. again i am a bit of a. zhongxiao shipper. so this is likely just my shipping goggles but i remember how viscerally i squeaked and sobbed when i saw zhongli had been the one to save xiao.

character quest lightning round!

(i've yapped enough but here's an incomplete list of character quests i really enjoyed— i'd list like 90% of them if i could whdjfj)

haitham!!! haitham haitham haitham!!!! (this quest is my roman empire tbh)

kazuha :') my boy

xiao (ofc)

zhongli, both acts

ei, act 2

cyno, act 1 (haven't played act 2 yet... saving it for a rainy day)

hu tao (surprising! but i liked the depth it gave her character)

nahida (both parts but esp act 1)

finally... last but definitely not least.... wriothesley.... damn...

events: a quick note

i think my favs would be the usual suspects: every single lantern rite (im chinese lol it's practically an obligation /lh /j), THE INTERDARSHAN CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!, the irodori festival, the golden island archipelago event (midsummer island adventure).

[thesnivy123]

Hello! It’s me again lol

I’m really sorry for asking you so many questions, but I’m just really curious on what your version of the world of sky is like! Specifically, I would like to know what the culture of it is like! Like, how many things are new, and how much is pretty much just like the base game! For example: are skykids more tame about collecting clothes and cosmetics? Or are they just as feral over them as skykids are in the game? How do they get candles? How do events and spirits work? How prominent is music? (Side note, if it’s as prominent in this version of sky as it is in the actual game, I can only imagine red’s first reaction to it lolllll)

If it’s ok with you I’d like to know whatever world building you’re comfortable with sharing about it :D

Have a nice day! And I wish you the best of luck with the shattering traveling spirit if you’re still actively playing sky! :D

Sorry for the late response i got like super distracted when you sent this and just forgot-

I am SO glad you asked. generally I tend to ignore game mechanics that don't translate too well into the lore, or at least adapt them into something more workable- But since you asked about specific things, ill tell ya about those.

i put a lot of thought into how everything about skykids would effect the sort of culture theyve developed- one huge thing being that they're kids. They don't really have a civilization, so to speak, not in the way a more... Normal species might. Candles are usually just recycled from the wax of older candles scavenged from ruins, made from scratch by a handful of skykids who actually took interest in candlemaking, or... Well, made by spirits. Though a lot of spirits did eventually pass on back into the cycle once the stranglehold the darkness had on rebirth loosened, the ones that stayed gradually got more tangible as they "recovered", able to interact with the world more and more. Plenty of them are back to doing their own things, even if more... Ghostly, so skykids don't have to worry about keeping up with how many of those things they use, hah. (Sidenote: They aren't used as currency in my worldbuilding- Skykids use the barter system on the off chance they do want "payment" for something.)

As for clothes, they really CAN'T go ham on outfit collecting due to technical limitations- Fabric making is HARD, these are children, there's only so much they can do. They DO make new clothes, though, mostly via scavenged fabrics and scraps of older clothes. Skykid fashion is very colourful, very patchy, and very long lasting. Their capes are a different story- Because a cape that came with a skykid on creation is kind of special- Really, they don't wear down, those things are kinda magic- They can be passed down literally forever if the original owner gets a new one. Hell, there's actually a few capes floating around the hand-me-down trade of serious historical significance, and nobody would know by now.

Music is actually a big thing to them on account of it's something the ancestors did that wasn't "ABSOLUTELY BOOOORIIIING". And by "big thing", I mean "a lot of the hard work has been done for them so they don't have to figure out how to do it on their own". They use the same notation system and most of the same instruments as the Ancestors! Otherwise there's not much to say, most skykids have at least handled some sort of instrument before, it's pretty normal to them.

Events are... A weird thing. Most of them HAPPENED, I'm sure, just... To some particular group of Skykids rather than everyone. Season of Abyss? yeah some kid is out there bragging about "I MET A SUPERMEGATURBO-KRILL AND IT ATE ME AND THEN A MANTA GOT ME OUT AND I SURVIVED" or something. Little Prince? I've already well established that sometimes people end up in the world from other worlds, I'm sure it happened. Aurora? That. That one's a funny one. The concert did happen. It was a huge thing. But it was actually also an experiment on "what happens if you get a frankly absurd number of skykids all in one place", and apparently the answer is "the sheer density of light energy in the area temporarily allows Megabird to enter the physical realm and also Things Get Weird".

I already touched on spirits earlier, but to recap- when Eden exploded, the sheer amount of darkness energy severed ties to the rebirth cycle (which reincarnates lesser creatures and entirely revives sapient ones). Wildlife recovered, thankfully, after a few generations, but... The Ancestors never did. Most of the population was in the immediate blast radius (Eden, the Wasteland, and parts ofbthe Valley) and were dead from either the explosion itself or the effects of darkness soon after, the Forest and parts of the Valley and Prairie succumbed to illness and famine, and the Isle and the rest of Prairie... Just couldn't keep up. Not enough people left. There were ancestors left for almost a decade after the explosion in those parts, but all things come to an end eventually. Besides, darkness pollution had spread there, too, even if they got off easy.

As Spirits- Unable to fully die, tethered to the world- they were initially... It was a pitiful existence. Trapped in their own memories. But Skykids arrived, the world slowly recovered, and, very slowly, they did too. It got worse for them at first, when they gained awareness but couldn't interact with the world around them, and plenty chose to let go and fully pass on. Others remained, and, as time went on, they could do more. And more. It took a very long time, but... Eventually, in the modern day, the remaining Spirits are pretty much able to live relatively normal lives.

A fun fact- the Performance spirits were actually a huge driving force in why so many spirits stuck around. They absolutely REFUSED to let go, and their sheer force of will actually managed to speed the process a long a little- Proved to others that it actually does get better. Willpower... Usually isn't a part of the recovery process, so it's unclear how they managed to pull that off, but by golly, they did.

Anyways i absolutely LOVE getting these questions- I don't really play the game anymore (probably should) but the worldbuilding project is still one of my favorite things!! again i have really got to get back to writing that fic. Its on my mind. I just keep forgetting.