#just kind of an affinity for different elements

[etapereine]

in the midst of trying to write something else i just got slammed into by the idea of a bending au

[aventurineswife]

Reader is the secret santa for Mortefi, Kaveh, Aventurine, Sunday, Ratio

-Smooch Anon 💋

Secret Gift for Special Someone!

Tags: Mortefi x Reader, Kaveh x Reader, Aventurine x Reader, Sunday x Reader, Ratio x Reader, Fluff, Reader is their Secret Santa, Gift-giving, Romance(?), Sincere gestures, Thoughtful gifts, Lighthearted moments.

As Mortefi’s secret Santa, you understand that he is a man of precision and order. He values elegance in everything, even the smallest gestures. Knowing that he has an obsession with cleanliness and fine detail, you decide to go for something both practical and refined—a handcrafted, perfectly polished leather journal, with fine gold detailing on the edges, and a beautiful pen set made of rare wood and precious metal.

You know that Mortefi can be irritable when it comes to anything imperfect, but you manage to wrap the gift with exceptional care—his eyes will undoubtedly appreciate the craftsmanship. You add a small, personal note tucked inside, a subtle reference to his fondness for classical music. The message reads: “May this journal help you capture the symphonies of your thoughts, every note as sharp as your mind.”

When Mortefi opens it, his brows furrow in silent approval. "Well... this is adequate." he says, not one for overt displays of gratitude. But you can see the spark of appreciation in his eyes, and for a brief moment, his usually tense demeanor softens.

Kaveh’s idealism runs deep, and finding a gift for him is an emotional yet rewarding task. You know that Kaveh values beauty that serves a greater purpose, so you opt for a custom-designed, miniature architectural model of a space that symbolizes hope and kindness—perhaps a small, elegant garden pavilion with elements from Sumeru’s cultural heritage.

The model has intricate details: miniature flowers, a peaceful water feature, and tiny benches where people can rest and reflect. It’s not just a model; it’s a vision of the world Kaveh is always striving to build.

When Kaveh opens the gift, his heart stirs. He pauses before speaking, eyes softening as he looks at the model. "You’ve captured it perfectly." he says quietly, voice thick with gratitude. He places it on his desk as a reminder that despite all the struggles, beauty can still be created in this world.

Aventurine, ever the risk-taker and man of sophistication, would appreciate something a little more personal, yet still tied to his flair for the dramatic. You think of something that embodies both elegance and a sense of mystery—a custom-made deck of playing cards, each card featuring intricate designs that reflect various aspects of his personality. The Joker cards, for example, are styled with roulette wheels and playing cards, while the aces have elements symbolizing different strategic moves or his affinity for risk.

When Aventurine unwraps the gift, a glimmer of recognition lights up his face. "So, this is what you think of me, hmm?" he muses, running his fingers over the smooth edges of the cards. He’s usually all about strategy, but in this moment, you can see the smile that tells you your gift has struck the perfect balance of fun and sophistication.

"Care for a game later?" he asks with a playful glint in his eye, as if he’s always one step ahead. The cards now sit beside his other mementos, each one a reminder of your thoughtful gesture.

Sunday is a man who values balance and harmony above all, so you choose a gift that is both beautiful and meaningful. You know that his ideals often clash with the harsh realities of life, so you decide on something that symbolizes peace and serenity—an exquisitely crafted snow globe featuring a miniature replica of Sweetdream Paradise.

When Sunday opens it, his expression remains composed, but there’s an undeniable softness in his eyes as he examines the globe. The swirling snow inside the globe seems to mirror the tranquil world he often envisions—a place where pain no longer exists, but with the delicate beauty of impermanence.

“Thank you,” he says, his voice steady but warm. “This… this is a reminder of the world I strive for.” He carefully places it on a shelf, and for a moment, you both share a quiet understanding of the kind of world he wishes to create—one that might never come to be, but is worth dreaming about.

Ratio’s brilliance can make him difficult to shop for. He isn’t one for sentimental gifts, but you also know that he values knowledge above all else. So, you decide to combine practicality with intellectual stimulation by gifting him a rare, ancient manuscript—one that he would never have thought to acquire himself. The book is a long-forgotten treatise on the application of logic in art, beautifully preserved in a leather-bound edition with intricate golden lettering.

When Ratio opens the gift, his eyes immediately lock onto the manuscript, and you can see his usual arrogance soften into genuine admiration. “This is… impressive. You actually paid attention,” he mutters, flicking through the pages with a hint of excitement. His usual dismissiveness fades as he delves into the contents. "This will be useful. Thank you."

While he may not express overwhelming emotion, the way he later references passages from the manuscript as if they are his own ideas shows just how much your gift means to him. The small smile he tries to suppress is enough of a thank you.

[heartwrrm]

it's immediately clear that both the creature and victor find some of their greatest comforts in nature and that's one of the key features that connects them and proves they're not so different from each other, but i've also noticed that they tend to admire different TYPES of nature

victor tends to amaze at "the high and snowy mountains [...] immense glaciers [...] the rumbling thunder of the falling avalanche [...] the supreme and magnificent mont blonc" (65), typically finding the most comfort in the "savage and enduring scenes" (64) which tend to be colder and rougher yet unchanging; while the creature found that his "chief delights were the sight of the flowers, the birds, and all the gay apparel of summer" (94). there is probably something to be said about the creature's affinity for spring and summer, the seasons of rebirth, of NATURAL and beautiful life, a direct contrast to his unnatural, coldly scientific, "wretched" rebirth that he abhors so much

i was discussing this idea with a friend, who added that victor finding solace in the frozen and dead beauty of wintery environments, a typically less-favoured season, could reflect how victor often refuses himself the typical joys of life. throughout the novel, he struggles with his self-worth because of the guilt induced by his creation of the creature and the deaths that then followed, and the only reason he even desires peace and comfort is because he knows he needs to present himself that way to his family in order for them to be happy ("i [...] wished that peace would revisit my mind only that i might afford them consolation and happiness" [62]). i built on her idea by noting how the creature acknowledged that he "required kindness and sympathy; but [he] did not believe [him]self unworthy of it" (94), a completely contrasting stance from victor, who finds himself undeserving of the many comforts offered to him by his family

furthermore, it seems that victor finds beauty in glory & majesty ("[the scenery] spoke of a power mighty as Omnipotence--and i ceased to fear, or to bend before any being less almighty than that which had created and ruled the elements" [64]), while the creature finds beauty in warmth & growth. both characters seem to find what they desire(d) in the versions of the natural world that they admire most

to reference what i said in the beginning about the connections between victor and the creature, this observation only contributes to my understanding that victor and the creature are incredibly similar, and many of their identical traits involve a rejection or a reversal of the other; they both ardently wish for each other's destruction, they both ruined each other, they're the reason that the other is simultaneously a victim and a villain in their own sense, they both hate themselves but for reversed reasons (victor hates himself for what he's done rather than what he is, while the creature hates himself for what he is more than what he's done), and now this--they both find solace in nature, just opposing kinds. like father, like son

[m1d-45]

my love, my god

summary: the ‘tomorrow’ you’ve been putting off finally comes, but not how you expect it to

word count: 2.6k

-> warnings: spoilers for baizhu lore/story quest, you have several nosebleeds

-> gn reader (you/yours) and aether as the traveller

taglist (+those that asked for a pt 2): @samarill || @thenyxsky || @valeriele3 || @shizunxie || @boba-is-a-soup || @yuus3n || @esthelily || @turningfrogsgay || @cupandtea24 || @genshin-impacts-me || @chaoticfivesworld || @raaawwwr || @fleurdawn || @extremelytoastybread || @ambermondy || @loyal-to-dottore

<< first part || < masterlist >

living with aether was supposed to be easy.

you’d established a routine, your days simple. you spent your time in his library for plausible deniability, surprised at how expansive his library was. a lot of the books seemed like gifts, with little notes scrawled in the front covers. you honestly spent more of your time reading the notes than the book themselves, tracing over the handwriting.

barbara had given him a copy of a medical handbook, with notes in the margins from both of them for replacement herbs since the book was intended for use within mondstat. you didn’t try to memorize it, just skimming for a few details. some you knew, like wolfhooks or onikabuto helping to close wounds, but some was new. apparently, a diluted solution of cor lapis shavings in water could help heal broken bones, though it was noted that this shouldn’t be used in excess if the receiver didn’t have high enough elemental affinity.

a book of liyue’s local specialties, given from someone with exceptionally sloppy handwriting. there was a whole row dedicated solely to various recipe books, the one from liyue with a few extra pages tucked in.

aether liked to write in his books, you noticed, even the fiction ones. you had yet to encounter a single book that didn’t have at least one note in the margins, each in his sharp, quick writing.

‘cut lavender melon thinner than you think.’

‘who actually talks like this?’

‘when cooking for paimon, add slime concentrate to the broth.’

it was endearing. you saw so little of him in the game, most of the dialogue given by paimon. while you’d certainly gotten to know him in your time here… it was different, seeing his notes like this. it cemented the idea that you were really in your game, since what dream of yours would include the fact that ningguang had given him a journal of advice on how to deal with various poisons someone might try to use on him?

despite his expansive collection of books, he had very few historical records. the ones he did were well worn, filled with pages of notes as he tried to decipher the history of teyvat. it was sad to see, his writing becoming more desperate the further through the books you got.

‘ask zhongli for clarification.’

‘kokomi doesn’t recognize the name ‘istaroth.’ ask miko?’

‘dahri = khaenri’ah?’

‘ask zh ask dainslef. where would i even find him?’

‘even if i knew everything, would it make sense?‘

tears pricked at your eyes, and you closed the book in your hands before you smudged the writing. you wiped at your eyes, sniffling as you put it back on the shelf. it was hard not to feel bad, but even if you told him everything you knew about teyvat, would he believe you? would he still be as kind to you as he was? he was your one real anchor here, what with the world in chaos after you stopped playing… you couldn’t even point him in the right direction, since even that would raise suspicion.

maybe that was enough reading for today.

you wiped at your nose, walking for the exit to the library. when you reached for the handle, however, you spotted a smear of glittering blue across the side of your hand.

it took another drop of blood hitting the wooden floor before you realized what was happening, quickly plugging your nose and rushing to the bathroom. you took care to wipe up the drop that landed on the floor, both so it wouldn’t stain and so that nobody saw it.

you weren’t trying to die today. and even if, somehow, aether was fine with your constant lying to him, you didn’t want to ruin what you had.

not today, thank you.

despite it being where you’d first ‘landed,’ you had never been to mondstat. ever since your run in with zhongli, it was the nation you were avoiding going with him most, second only to maybe sumeru. venti, kaeya, and diluc, three of the most perceptive people in game, all in one place… it was a recipe for disaster.

unfortunately, aether was an excellent cook.

he’d decided to take his commissions from mondstat today, and only one required combat. plus, he wanted you to see the city.. and you couldn’t exactly say no to him without reason.

the first was helping wyatt find his key in dadaupa gorge. you’re not sure why he was drinking out there, but you’re not gonna ask too many questions. the gorge was beautiful in person, cranes nearly everywhere you turned… though that might just be because you were there. the wildlife had been getting more daring lately.

the second was delivering connor some mist flower corollas, carefully moved from aether’s inventory to a thick, special made bag. you got a strange look or two from the maids, but within a few minutes aether was teleporting you to the city, tunner‘s prescription in hand. mondstat was much more lively than in the game, though you supposed that was for convenience. having hundreds of npcs roaming the city, each holding their own conversations, would likely hit performance.

paimon told you all about the city, though all of it was things you already know. there’s the adventurer’s guild, there’s bennett—you both waved—and there’s ellin! that’s the statue of barbatos, boasting a height of…

paimon scratched at her head, looking up at the statue. “how tall is the statue?”

aether shrugged, holding one hand to block the sun as he tried to guess. “nobody ever said. do you think one of the sisters would know?”

“hm, paimon thinks our best bet is venti! he sits up there all the time, doesnt he?”

you looked over the statue, taking in all the details not present on it’s in-game model. even from ground level you swear you could see individual feathers carved into the rock. “you said he flies, right? i think we should ask the knights, they-” copper landed on your tongue, and you put a finger to your top lip. it came away blue.

shit.

you covered your nose quickly, the other two thankfully getting the message without you needing to talk. a napkin was pressed to your hand, and you were careful not to let any of the blue show as you switched your hand over it.

two nosebleeds with barely two weeks between them. were you sick? were the foreign bacteria finally showing face? you didn’t feel sick—if anything you’d been feeling much better physically, since coming to teyvat—but what if you were? what if it was some illness that only targeted outlanders- no, aether would have told you about that, he was too kind not to. but then why…?

you were sat in one of the pews of the cathedral, paimon sitting by your side. your eyes tracked aether to one of the nuns, but were quickly distracted by the beautiful stained glass set in the windows. shades of blue and green decorated the walls, coloring the inside of the cathedral. you couldn’t quite make out the scenes depicted, but it gave the room so much more *life* than its model. it was lived in, not just another location on a map.

“my my, traveller, you look different than i remember.”

you’re given little warning before kaeya speaks, his steps having not made a single sound. both you and paimon turned, her hands lifting in a wave while yours tightened around your stained napkins.

“hey kaeya! what are you doing at the cathedral? paimon doesn’t remember there being a service today…”

“just going for a walk.” his eyes shift to you, and you look away, in the direction aether left. the nun was back, but he was nowhere to be found. he wouldn’t leave to the winery already, would he? “who’s this?”

“a friend.”

a hand sets on your shoulder, and you jump. was it some unspoken rule not to let your steps be heard in a cathedral, or did it come with the territory?

aether passes you a small vial of a clear blue liquid, moving to stand between you and kaeya. “i talked to barbara about your nosebleed, this should stop it. a small sip will do.”

you don’t ask why he did that, instead just doing as he said. kaeya gave you an odd look but you were quick to follow paimon out of the cathedral, leaving them to it. soon enough aether joined you, and you all went back to the teapot for lunch.

it was a fluke. it had to be.

it wasn’t.

you were sitting at a table at wanmin, listening to xingqiu talk about his latest idea for a novel. paimon had helped you order, picking you out a minty drink that was as refreshing as it was delicious. you took a sip, sharing a look with aether over the rim right as a drop slid down your top lip. thankfully, the blue streak was explained by the tint of the drink, though chongyun did give you a few more odd glances than you preferred.

running into the arataki gang in inazuma city, itto excitedly showing you and aether the new beetles he found earlier. he stuck by your side, holding your hand in his as they switched to talking about tcg. they patted their pockets, searching for the cards they’d won today. a cough into your elbow was all it took for blue to mark the inside of your sleeve, and shinobu was quick to pass you a napkin coated with onikabuto dust. it felt funny against your fingers, but apparently the gang used them to patch wounds all the time when a friendly wrestle went too far.

the more people were around, the worse they were. your nose was near constantly itchy, like the world was channeling every irritant in a mile radius right into your face. any minor bump would cause at least a drop to spill down your lip, leaving you overcautious and aether forever worried. the bottle barbara gave you ran out quick, and though she ended up giving you the recipe, it was clear that something more serious was going on.

you laid on the couch, pinching a napkin around your nose while you waited for aether to finish your medicine. he’d gone outside to get the rest of the ingredients with paimon, leaving you to your thoughts.

you hated teyvat for doing this to you. you’d bet good mora that simply showing him the color of the stains on your napkins would solve whatever phantom illness ailed you, but you didn’t want to. you were happy with the life you had! you didn’t need a shining palace or the worship of the world, you just needed aether. him and paimon and your teapot, with the small herbs growing in the windowsill and crystalflies fluttering outside. why was the world so determined to get you to spill your secret? it wasn’t like he’d hate you for keeping it—at most he’d be surprised, or maybe even a bit apologetic himself.

it was stupid. shouldn’t you be the one to decide whether this was shared or not?

you sighed, the sound of the door pushing that train of thought aside. aether tapped your shoulder and you sat up, accepting the medicine thankfully.

“sorry about the delay, baizhu was dealing with another patient.”

“you went to the pharmacy?” you hand him back the bottle, looking away as you wipe off your nose.

“yep! when we got there he was mixing up a nasty smelling poultice for some other lady—paimon swears she can still smell it, even after all this time!”

“really?” you look up, satisfied you got it all off, but freeze. aether is standing beside you, and paimon’s sitting on the arm of the couch, but behind them is baizhu, changsheng loosely coiled around his shoulders.

oh no.

“one of the ingredients in barbara’s medicine is qingxin,” aether explains, “i only had so many, so i started buying them from the pharmacy. he got curious and asked about you… i hope you don’t mind?”

you barely hear him, focused on the lift of changsheng’s head as she whispers something into baizhu’s ear. he looks surprised, mostly, but also confused, and you know exactly why.

after all if he can sense god remains, he can surely sense the god.

“is there a problem, doctor?” you ask, and wait until both aether and paimon turned to him to raise a finger to your lips.

keep quiet. don’t tell him. i don’t want to lose this yet.

he looks between you and aether, clearly conflicted.

please.

after a moment, he sighs, shaking his head as he adjusts his glasses. “nothing is wrong, my apologies. changsheng, if you will..”

he begins to search through his inventory while changsheng slithers past paimon, curling around your wrist. baizhu takes out a notepad, pulling over a chair.

“aether, you’ve been coming to the pharmacy for qingxin for a little over 3 months. is that a good estimate for the length of time this has occurred?”

he glanced at you, and you nodded.

that was a lie, technically.. but it was for the greater good. baizhu would mark you some anomaly, recommend you just keep taking barbara’s medicine, and everything would be okay. you’d be fine. no stresses of godhood, no giving up your peaceful life in the realm within, nothing.

changsheng uncoils from your hand, climbing onto aether’s shoulders to get to baizhu. he doesn’t so much as blink, letting her wind back into place. what did she go to you for, then? “do any other symptoms come with them, such as nausea or headaches?”

“no, not really.”

“have you noticed anything strange about the blood? clots, maybe, or discoloration?”

you meet his pointed look, ignoring how your heart picks up. call it selfishness. “nothing.”

baizhu sighs. “are you certain? if you want this to go away, you need to be honest.”

at least you were right on one front. to get back the life you had, you’d need to give it up. while you knew neither aether or paimon would resent you—they’d dealt with gods disguising themselves before, surely they couldn’t hate you—their attitude toward you would certainly change.

your silence is clearly worrying, and you shake your head before anybody asks questions. “i’m certain, there’s nothing.”

he again looks conflicted, and paimon looks between the two of you, frowning. “uh, is paimon missing something…?”

“i’m sorry,” baizhu says finally, “but it’s for your own health.”

before you can protest, he reaches up towards changsheng. she shifts, revealing the napkin you used earlier hidden between her body and his, clearly marked with blue.

when did she-?

baizhu flicks out the napkin and paimon gasps. “i can tell they’re getting worse, and while i understand it’s your choice, i value your life more.”

aether turns to you, and you can’t read the expression on his face. “is that really yours?”

“…yeah. i put it together that teyvat wants me to tell someone, but i didn’t want to lose what we had.”

he smiles, holding out his hand. when you took it, he pulled you up off the couch and into a hug.

“you’ll never lose me,” he promised, “not even if you’re a god. not even if you’re my god.”

[alexanderwales]

One of my favorite worldbuilding things is combinatrics. Let's say you have one physical affinity, like Power or Speed or whatever, and one elemental affinity, and you mix them together, and even with short initial lists you get a lot of interesting things.

Like what does it mean for a person to be Power-aligned and Leaf-aligned? Here you're sitting down for a session of interpretation of your own elements and how they mesh together, and I find this easy to use as a starting point for getting creative with it. Maybe combining "Leaf" and "Power" means a single honking big leaf, the kind that you would wield like a buster sword. For me, that's the kind of idea that immediately feels like it has something to it. And then you move on to the next one!

The big problems with the combinatorial explosion is that you sometimes get stuck in the process, and you have a nice 5x5 set of 23 ... and then two others that don't quite fit together. This is something that you sometimes end up learning very late in the design process, that for this one little corner of the matrix, there are just two things that don't fit together, or that you don't have a good idea for. Sometimes this comes from one of the things on your list not being like the others, which is a problem you need to catch early, but having one of the things on the list not being like the others is also something that I find cool, because I love having an odd one out.

And sometimes this comes from not wanting to repeat yourself. If the Power+Leaf example is using a giant leaf for ... I don't know, combat, or you fly around on the leaf or something, then you also have to do four more Power skills/abilities/class/systems, and four more for Leaf, and each of those concepts needs to be "big enough" to handle variants. You don't want two different combinations to feel like palette swaps of each other.

The big benefit, aside from helping to boost the creative process and to foreshadow some elements of worldbuilding (or just leave them implicit), is that you can then do some compare and contrast. Two Power guys with different elements can play off each other, and you can see the differences along the one axis where they're no the same.

(Obviously a matrix of "attribute" and "element" is not all that thrilling, and it's also extremely obvious, but this method of mixing also works well with different cultures, professions, nations, philosophies, and other less rigid "lists" you're pulling from.)

[rosaemoux]

I've been thinking of a Magic Batman Au in which there are three main types of magic each person can choose to practice:

Spacial, or physical magic, which is the magic that affects physical spaces, it can go anywhere from elemental to gravitational control of some kind.

Time, or chronological magic, it is the power to reverse, advance or stop time in a specific area for a specific amount of time

And

Ilusory, or psychic magic, it is the magic of the mind, the power to create hallucinations to deceive the mind, to feel other's emotions and manipulate them or to even control other's mind.

Magic is mostly used in everyday life like a convenient tool, but those who practice it and harness it to perfection are called Mages. It's treated no different to a science, however the knowledge behind becoming a mage is very much gatekept by governments all around the world to avoid the use of those powers outside their control.

There are also people ways to steal other people's magic by killing them, making yourself very powerful but also corrupting parts of your soul, making you a Death Mage. Those who choose not to are Life Mages.

Bruce Wayne comes from a long line of spacial mages of the Wayne family. He, however was born like the Kane side of his family, and had a natural affinity for Ilusory magic. After travelling and learning a lot from many different masters, including the Death Mages of Family Al Ghul, he returns to his Victorian Fantasy Gotham, using his power and wealth to make the city a better place and researching magic.

Then, Dick comes into his life, a young boy affected so early by death, like him. To avoid that the boy going out on his own and kills someone, he takes him under his wing. Dick became a spacial mage like his parents before him, also with some of the spells and techniques of the Waynes. I think he's really good at gravitational magic and controlling wind on his favor.

Barbara was mostly self trained, but had some techniques that her dad taught her for self defense, before Bruce also decided to train her. I think that she would have a natural affinity for psychic magic, before switching to time magic once she completes her mage journey and becomes Oracle post her paralysis (Clocktower symbolism, Oracle symbolism, it's perfect). Both her and Dick are very respected in their respective fields, and people start to see them and Bruce like the Wayne and the Kane; a clan, a powerful but small clan of Life Mages. Who also currently can't stand each other.

Then there's Jason Todd. A boy full of raw talent and an affinity for time magic like no other person that Bruce had ever met. When Bruce adopts him, he teaches him what he can. Things were mostly good, even if Dick wasn't very happy with the surprise adoption of a new boy and Barbara wasn't very present. However, when he figures out that Catherine Todd wasn't his biological mother, he and Bruce try to find his possible other living parent.

It goes mostly like in canon. They meet Shiva, ask her about it, she laughs it off, but their meeting makes Shiva a bit reflective about old business. After all, that little girl should be around that boy's age, shouldn't she ? She wonders how that experiment is going... and she feels, conflicted ? Huh, wonder where that came from.

When Jason finds Sheila and she ends up selling him out, they both end up tied in different rooms of a abandoned house, with a ticking timebomb.

Jason uses every single bit of his training to slow down, rewind and stop time, stalling for when Bruce comes for him. He eventually gets himself out of the ropes, but instead of trying to find his way out, he goes to find Sheila. He finds her, and Bruce finally found where they were, but it was just too late.

Ironically enough Jason Todd runs out of time.

Bruce looses a part of himself. His grief overcomes the entire city. He swears that he'll never take in another child, he closes his heart to all of those around him.

However, the mages of House Al Ghul are no strangers to the ways of death, and necromancy is just another way to get what they want. And if a piece or two of a soul gets lost along the way ? Well, you can always steal someone else's.

Part two is about the actual point in which the story would start;

[scaredpigeons]

Sunrise, Crystallize II: of sunsets and tears.

Masterlist // Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

Zhongli x Fem!reader

SFW (there will be nsfw chapters and allusions to slight nsfw, but I will keep it separate so everyone may enjoy.)

Word Count: 3.9k

After feeling stuck for so long, who knew your life could evolve to have so much movement? Zhongli seems to make a very good teacher, and your small group of people you’re comfortable interacting with seems to be growing and growing by the day! Though you never thought you would have someone who considered you as a ‘dear friend’… you don’t think too hard about why his presence feels so comforting.

CW: reader has anxiety and low self esteem. Some self deprecating thoughts in this one, as well as a sliver of slightly suggestive thoughts. Its nothing crazy though. (Who hasn’t thought about Zhongli’s hands every now and then, eh?) reader starts training with a Polearm (author has no idea the proper techniques and forms for wielding a spear, so please forgive her.) reader cries like a blubbering little baby in this one and thats so real. I cry so hard when people show me kindness.

Authors Note: I find it really interesting and fun to try and incorporate game mechanics into fics. If its too much, doesn’t make any sense or you just don’t like it, then ignore it. We’ll only get a little bit more in the next chapter of Zhongli helping reader develop her skill and burst, but then i think that’ll be it. What’s endgame here? I have no clue. They’ll kiss, at some point, totally. Any ideas? Lol

——————————————————————

“When thinking about the uses of your vision, the possibilities are vast— confined only to the capabilities of the element and your own personal imagination. For example, plenty of Hydro users have implemented healing abilities into their vision usage, due to hydro’s innate ability to heal. But there are plenty of those who use hydro solely as an offensive element as well. 

On a similar note, Pyro is an element that is primarily used for offensive purposes, but there are plenty of those who choose to mold the element to suit supportive, defensive, or even healing purposes, despite its obvious affinity for destruction.” 

You twiddle with a pebble on the ground, unable to meet his eyes but soaking in his words all the same. 

“Geo has a natural affinity for defense usage, right? Due to its resilience against the other elements.” 

Zhongli makes an affirmative sound, which makes you look up at him from your spot on the ground. His smile is warm, making your cheeks flush and your eyes dart to the side. 

“Correct, very well said.” His praise made you even more flustered, and you ducked your head, playing with an invisible loose threat on your pants. 

“We are fortunate that you received a Geo vision, as I am very well acquainted with the element, and can help you answer any questions or concerns you may have.” There was a tone of amusement in his voice that you didn’t really understand, perhaps an inside joke? You knew he was a geo user, you’d seen his vision dangling from that decorative chain on his coat. 

It looked a little different than yours, but that was perhaps because it was older? You didn’t really pay close attention to visions before now, so you really had no idea. 

“What kind of role were you thinking you’d like to take on with your new power? Have you perhaps considered a weapon?” he asked. 

You really hadn’t thought about any of this. After Zhongli had given you the customary Liyue Vision holder, you’d simply tucked it in your pocket, not really wanting to advertise that you now had one. 

“What kind of weapon do you use?” You looked at his shoes, then glanced up to his eyes for a moment. 

He simply stepped back, and summoned a beautiful Polearm, almost pulling it from thin air. 

“Woah— will I be able to do that now?” You exclaimed, sitting up a bit straighter. 

He chuckled, a warm and deep thing that made your heart flutter with the desire to hear more of it. 

“Of course, would you like to try?” He asked, handing you the spear. 

You eyed the polearm warily. It looked to be worth more than your entire shop could make in a year, and incredibly dangerous. 

“Are you sure?” You said, standing up. 

Zhongli nodded, placing the polearm delicately in your waiting palms. It felt heavy, a little too imbalanced on the bladed side. You gripped it tightly, feeling a bit awkward. 

“How do I…?”

He smiled, placing a hand over his mouth as if to cover how wide it stretched, but you could still see it in the crinkle of his eyes. Did he find how you look holding such a massive weapon amusing? Well, you probably did look pretty silly. He cleared his throat before he continued. 

“Simply will it away, and it will listen. When you wish to bring it back, call it forth, and it shall come.” 

You quirked your brow, finding that explanation to be a bit too far fetched. You thrust your hand to the side, scrunching your face and concentrating very hard. 

“And… go away!” You said. The polearm disappeared from your grip, vaporizing into a little show of sparkles. Your eyes blew wide, and you looked around to see if it was some kind of trick. With no polearm in sight, you gaped at Zhongli, grinning wide at how simple it actually was. 

With his arms crossed, he nodded expectantly at you, and you took that as your instruction to bring it back. 

You shot your hand out beside you once more, closing your eyes and squeaking out a “Come back!” And suddenly its weight materialized into your palm once more, making you lean a bit at the sudden heft. 

“Holy Archons!” You cried out. “That's so cool!”  

Zhongli tilted his head, clearly quite entertained by your amazement, but you’d grown comfortable enough around him that you didn't really feel like he was picking on you anymore. 

“That is just one of many things you are capable of. Would you like to learn more?” 

You nodded enthusiastically, so in awe of this new world brought to you by such a tiny little orb. 

———————————————

After deliberating for some time about your choice of weaponry, (you chose the polearm, solely because Zhongli seemed to have a plethora of them, and offered to lend you a much smaller, less ornamental one) Zhongli started to go into detail about the uses of your vision.

”Obviously the possibilities are nearly endless, as I said before— but to better conserve your strength, it is best to choose two signature styles of use that you can practice and hone into something of an artform.

Your vision's power comes from within you, so if you blast it all away at once with a showy and overpowered move, you’re left with virtually no strength to continue on, which will leave most people in a rather precarious position.

This is why, in battle, most wielders will choose two signature moves, an elemental skill, and an elemental burst.”

Zhongli moved to stand further away from you, more towards the lake in the center of Mt. Aocang. You’d been a little worried about traveling up here, but he’d assured you that the Adepti of Jueyun Karst would not bother the two of you, and you had no reason to argue otherwise, so you followed dutifully. 

“An elemental skill—“ He crosses his arms, and a giant pillar of rock that radiates geo energy comes shooting out of the ground, nearly causing you to stumble back. “Is a move that should consume a minimal amount of your energy for maximum potential. You want to hone it to its best usage, and perfect it to benefit you in any situation.”

You regard the pillar with awe, feeling the geo energy sweeping a few feet outwards from where it protrudes from the ground. Taking a closer look, you run your hands along its surface, admiring the beautiful structure and the energy tingling beneath your fingertips. You think you see Zhongli shift a bit where he stands beside you, but when you turn to look, he is simply observing you with a neutral expression. 

“These will cause crystallize reactions to any element within their area of effect, creating micro shields for myself and any team members I may be traveling with. But because I have been honing this skill for a very long time, I have learned to alter it to better suit my needs.” 

Suddenly the tower of rock disappears, and Zhongli is encased in a swirling column of geo, glowing and pulsing around him. 

“Wow…” you say, stepping forward. “You’ve learned to create a shield without the use of a crystallize reaction?” 

“Not a difficult feat in itself, but the strength of the shield took me many years to hone.” He says, watching you with amused eyes. It truly seemed as though he found your hunger for knowledge and wonder at the world of visions very entertaining, and for once you didn’t feel ashamed to be expressing yourself so openly. 

“Can I… can I touch it?” You asked hesitantly. 

His eyes seemed to glimmer in the afternoon sunshine as he nodded, chuckling a bit. 

“You can take that polearm I gave you and test how it feels to strike at an opponent, if you’re so inclined.” 

Without really thinking, you circled him, running your fingertips along the wall of impenetrable energy surrounding him. 

You could feel the crackling geo resonating through your fingertips, meeting your own elemental energy in a tentative spark that shot shivers up your arms and down your spine. You’d never really focused on elemental energies before, but it was like now you could see it in everything, feel it course through your body like the blood in your veins. 

Even without interacting with any other vision users like this, you could instantly tell that Zhongli was incredibly powerful. The elemental energy surrounding him was almost blinding, and the crackle of his shield under your fingertips was like a gust of pure power being blown through your nervous system. 

“Is every person with a vision like this?” You murmured, knocking your knuckles against the shield and meeting pure resistance. 

“Like what?” You weren’t expecting him to answer you, you hadn’t even really realized you were speaking out loud. 

You stepped back, your face heating up. “Ah, I mean… your energy, it’s really— it’s really intense.” 

You looked up at him to watch him quirk a brow down at your words, which made you stammer and run your hands over your face in exasperation at yourself. 

“What I mean— I mean your Elemental energy. I’ve never… I’ve never really paid attention before, or maybe never saw it before I got my vision— but focusing on you now, it’s really… powerful.” You watched as the shield rotated around him in awe, the energy swirling and glowing in the sunlight. “It’s really beautiful.” 

The words left your mouth before you even thought to hold them back, and you felt the heat in your face travel up to your ears. 

“Beautiful?” Zhongli said, a hint of teasing in that smooth voice of his. 

You spluttered, and without thinking summoned your polearm, gripping the pole tightly in your hands, holding it in front of you defensively.

“That offer to whack it is still on the table, yes?” You stammered.

“Perhaps we should further discuss how you visualize the Elemental energy around us, yes? I’m very Intrigued about your—“ his tone really was teasing now, and you couldn’t handle another second of it or you’d explode. 

”AHBAHBAP—“ you blurted out, taking a step back to charge at him in your fluster. “Less talking, more whacking!” 

—————————————

Over the last few months, you seemed to be developing and adapting to new routines very quickly, whereas your life before Liyue felt so sedimentary, so stale and monotonous. 

Your new daily routines were busy, schedule packed and lively, forcing more social interaction on yourself than you’d had in years past. 

You would wake, make your way to the terrace to do your morning prayers, have tea with Madame Ping, wave good morning to Zhongli and Hu Tao as they opened up the funeral parlor before heading home to open the store. 

You weren’t sure about hiring some help with the shop, but Madame Ping had asked for a favor, so now one of her disciples, a little girl by the name of Yaoyao came by three times a week to help you tend to the greenhouse and greet customers. It was supposedly part of her training, though you weren’t really sure what she was training for. 

Her assistance did come in very handy though, and you weren’t complaining. the customers loved her, the plants loved her, and business was doing well enough that you could send her home with a decent little bag of mora at the end of the week, even though she would always try to refuse. It had taken you saying that you would be very upset to see her go unrewarded for all her hard work, and of course she didn’t want to do anything to make you sad. 

During those three day intervals, you would close up the storefront in the early evenings, entrusting the care of the greenhouse chores to little Yaoyao, even going as far as to get her a little key cut for the side entrance so she could lock up when she was finished. 

The reason? Zhongli had personally offered to train you more, help you hone your new power into usable skill. 

After his impromptu lesson in the mountains, you surely thought he would be done with you, only showing you the basics out of the goodness of his heart, so you didn’t make a fool of yourself or injure anyone around you. 

But no— he was taking three evenings out of his week to spar with you, and help you learn how to wield the power of geo. 

This week he chose Yaoguang Shoal as your location, most likely because last week you said it might be nice to train by the sea sometime. You hadn’t really thought he’d take much consideration into your words, seeing as he favored the more mountainous regions, but there you were anyway— the spray of salt and wind battering your skin as you laughed and kicked up sand under Zhongli’s watchful eye.  

After a few weeks of this, you were starting to gain a little more confidence, and you could tell that Zhongli was slowly increasing the pressure on you during sparring, each day his posture slightly more tense, his moves just a little faster than before. 

You parried his strike with a move you’d been trying to perfect since last week. You were successful, but you winced as an ache wracked through your elbow, sliding back and lowering your weapon to signal that you weren’t continuing. 

“Good!” Zhongli said as you parried the strike, but his gaze landed heavily on you as you rubbed your sore arm. “Though you’re still taking in too much force with your elbows and wrists, you’ll injure yourself if you keep that form.” 

You huffed, standing in position again, going through the motions of the move slowly like he taught you, but you could tell you were still screwing it up. 

Zhongli made his way closer as he watched your increasing frustration. He circled around you and watched you from behind for a moment. You weren’t exactly paying attention to him until you felt his presence extremely close— the heat radiating from him making the hairs on the back of your neck prickle.

”Here, my apologies, but may I touch you for a moment?” His voice rumbled behind you, making your cheeks flush. It was Zhongli— it was Zhongli. The question, no matter how suggestive your stupid brain wanted to perceive it, was nothing but innocent. It was Zhongli. It was innocent. 

“Yes.” You said, the word sounding a bit warbled in your fluster, but he leaned in anyways. 

“You're taking the force of each blow here—“ his hands reached around, touching your wrists gently where you held the spear in a loose defensive stance, diagonal in front of you. He moved his fingers slowly to cup his hands under your elbows, murmuring, “And here.” You could feel the warmth of his chest pressing against your back. 

He’s helping you visualize the faults in your form, nothing more. 

“Let the full strength of your arms catch the blows,” his index fingers tapped from the crook of the inside of your arm and dragged up for biceps to your shoulders. “Let it come here, and steady it—“ his hands suddenly left your shoulders and you nearly jumped as one hand placed firmly over your abdomen, the other pressing against your back in the same position. “Steady it here, in your core.” 

You felt your abdomen tighten on reflex, only half heartedly acknowledging the fact that his hands were so big that they nearly spanned the entirety of your stomach, from just below your breastband to what would most likely stretch past your navel if he spread his fingers wider. 

“Good, just like that.” He said as he felt your abdomen tense. 

He’s just helping you visualize the correct form, nothing more. Get your mind out of the gutter, you disgusting excuse for a human being. 

“You already carry your stance very well, your legs are always steady but you retain the fluidity to pivot and move without being too stiff, which is wonderful.”

His hands left you as he circled back in front of your gaze, and you found yourself missing their warmth for only a moment before you saw him ready his spear, taking an offensive stance. 

“We will do this as many times as you need to feel satisfied, so please do not push yourself. Breathe with the motions, focus on where the impact is going.” 

Your guts twisted up at his words, and if you could run into the ocean and disappear without looking like an idiot, you probably would. 

Shaking off your degenerate thoughts, you nodded, readying yourself as you prepared to try and use the advice he’d just so thoughtfully given you while you were off in celestia fantasizing about his hands. 

He moved, and so did you. He was kind enough to come at you with the same motions as before, so you could easily move with the same rhythm to focus on the parry itself. 

Both hands, firm grip. Watch the swing of the blade, brace— shoulders, biceps, core— push, follow through, and back!

You stepped back, eyes wide as you felt a pleasant ache in your muscles from being used, but no pain or stinging in your elbows or wrists. 

Zhongli smiled, twirling his pole arm around and readying himself once more. “Incredible, now again!” 

The next thirty minutes flew by in a flurry of clanging metal and heavy breaths, mostly your own. He certainly kept you on your toes, coming on the offensive before suddenly prompting you to attack, taking each of your clunky blows with practiced ease and barely a flutter of his lashes. 

It was during one of these switch ups, where you were on the offensive, when you worked up the nerve to ask a question that’d been eating at you for many weeks now. 

“Zhongli,” you said, striking at his pole arm and taking the reverb of his parry with a back step. “Why did you decide to train me?” 

“I’ve not formally trained someone in a very long time,” he said, gracefully side stepping a strike. “I rather enjoy it.”

”No,” you said, taking a cheap swipe at his feet, only to watch him anticipate the move in its entirety, jumping back and smiling at you like you’d just brought him a cup of tea. “Why did you decide to train me, of all people?” 

“I enjoy spending time with you.” He said simply, eyes glittering as you stumbled, stopping in your tracks before even attempting to strike again. 

You gaped at him, completely unbelieving. 

“What, is it so obscene to imagine I enjoy spending time with a dear friend?” 

“I didn’t t-think,” you sputtered, holding your spear in front of you. “I didn’t think that you…”

He gave you a teasing sort of frown, as if a little saddened by your words, and crossed his arms over his chest, letting his pole arm disappear in a little flutter of sparkles. 

“Come now, you think after sharing that many late night pots of tea with you, that I wouldn’t consider you a friend?” He clicked his tongue against his teeth, shaking his head. Reprimanding, teasing, in that poise way that he did, in that way that made you take it a little easier than if others were to do the same. “Should I be offended that you think so lowly of me?”

Your heart lurched, and you gasped out a quick “no, wait!’ As you let your spear disappear as well, running up to stand in front of him. 

“It’s.. it’s not anything that you did, it's just…” you look up at him, only meeting that gentle gaze that makes you feel so comfortable, it's so familiar, though you’ve spent so much time around him now that it shouldn’t seem odd, but his mere presence made you feel safe somehow, like you could tell him anything. 

You cringed, deciding to just come out and say it. 

“I’m sure you’ve noticed, but I have a— I have a habit of not thinking very highly of myself.” You looked down at your feet, kicking up the sand glimmering in the evening sunset, turning the pale grains a brilliant shade of orange in its glory. 

”I think a part of me always believed I was unworthy of being someone important to you— of being your friend.” 

You felt a gentle pressure at your chin, and raised your head to see Zhongli’s hand outstretched, tilting your gaze up to meet his own. 

It reminded you of the first time you ever saw him, how the sunrise brightened the warm hues of his entire being, making his eyes blaze like pools of liquid gold. 

The pink and purpling sunset over the ocean had the same effect, and the molten amber bore down on you with the weight of something untold— his gaze was so heavy. 

You found yourself thinking once more that he looked like royalty, like a deity, blessing the ground where he stood. He radiated power, that much you knew by now. 

“If anything, I feel as though I am unworthy of being someone so important to you,” he says, and your heart nearly topples out of your chest and into your shaking hands. 

“I know I cannot erase everything that troubles you, but please, never doubt yourself when it comes to me. I do nothing that I do not wish to do, spend my days with no one I do not wish to spend them with.”

You felt pressure behind your eyes, his face starting to blur and warp in the beautiful colors illuminating him. 

“In my core, I am a very selfish man, one might even say rather spoiled, stubborn as stone. No one will ever have the ability to force me to do anything I do not wholeheartedly wish to do. That is how I spend my days. Not out of charity, or pity, or bribery. Simply because I want to.” 

You’re sure you’re nearly vibrating now, eyes welling up with unshed tears as you soak in his words. The heat from his fingers still holding your chin. 

“Even if you still doubt yourself, I shall never give you a reason to doubt me. Do you understand?” 

You nodded, blinking away the fat tears and cringing as they rolled down your face. He clicked his tongue again, making a cooing sort of sound that one might make when consoling a crying child. Despite the way it made your cheeks burn, it was comforting nonetheless.

His hand left your face, and your shoulders slumped as you cried, too overwhelmed to be embarrassed any further. 

“Now, may I hold such a dear friend to comfort her?” 

You nodded again, wrapping your arms around his waist as he pulled you close, holding you tightly to his chest. A whisper of his lips pressed against the top of your head as he hushed you, his warm hands running across your back in soothing motions as he murmured encouragement and soothing little nothings. 

He smelled like the mountains even still, like amber and tea and safety. His embrace was so familiar, so warm, it soothed your worried heart and allowed you to just breathe in relief. He never wavered, never moved to let go, just let you take comfort from him until you were ready to be without it. 

You didn’t think you’d ever be ready. 

——————————————————

Authors Note: send me asks with things you’d like to see from this series? I’m kinda forming the story as I go but I’d love to hear your thoughts :))))

[ari-zonia]

Naoto and Kanji

Decided to start throwing together the Yasogami uniforms for Channel 3. There's certain vibes I didn't want to get rid of, like Chie's iconic jacket (she needs to be allowed to turtle), but still lean into how the original Arcana wore their uniforms.

So, starting off we have our new Fool, Chie Satonaka, and her resident Magician, Rise Kujikawa. (Full write-ups below, we're ignoring Game Balance here, folks and going with what feels right.)

Chie - Still an Inaba native, but she and her family had moved out of town when she was ten. Even then, the town was on the decline and they wanted better opportunities for Chie for high school. Several years later she insisted on going back to Inaba, if only just for one year to see what all had changed. And, if she still liked it, she could maybe graduate from Yasogami.

She still has a plucky and somewhat tomboyish personality, she just is a little more in the background of conversations. Though, Chie isn't exactly the brightest bulb in the box either when the Inaba Murders start cropping up. This lends her to listening intently and being able to relay what she's picked up, and she probably doesn't understand half of it, but someone else will.

As the new Wild Card, a lot of Chie's Social Links (outside the team, as well as Dojima and Nanako) don't always overlap with Yu's. She still gets Kou and Daisuke as her Strength, but her personality and history with the town lends her to SL-ing different folks. Those "left behind" now that Junes is gone and much of the town is disappearing. She ends up with people like old man Daidara, the lady in white, and possibly Rise's grandmother instead.

Fighting wise, Chie still ends up very physically based, but with more emphasis on mixed-martial arts rather than just kung-fu. Her kicks are still her strongest, but she's got a mean punch too.

Rise - Bright and peppy, Rise herself is an aspiring songstress who hasn't quite managed to land into show business yet. The Kujikawas are currently in charge of watching Chie now that she's back in town, her grandmother having been close friends with the Satonakas in the past. Chie and Rise were friends back then too, but they've drifted a bit apart in the last several years, especially since Rise was always a year younger than her.

As one of the few kids that lived in the shopping district, Rise obviously had tried to befriend the Konishis, latching onto Saki in Chie's absence. Even though she's generally always optimistic, her bubbly personality was just a bit too much as everything weighed down in the coming days until Junes' abrupt closure and the economic downturn of Inaba. Saki's death hits her hard, having thought they were best friends (possibly being told otherwise by "Saki's Shadow"), she swears to not let any more of her friends end up like Saki. She believes that love and kindness is the answer to most of life's problems, after all.

Generally, Rise is basically Chie's wing-woman to meeting half of her peers, being the social push to get some links going.

In the TV, Rise uses staff-like weapons, befitting of her "magical girl" idea of a hero, and is heavily support-based, learning all levels of healing spells, as well as Spirit Drain later on. She doesn't really have any elemental affinities, though, leaving her weirdly with only a physical weakness. This does mean she can learn the Megido spells later on, but never really gets anything particularly powerful.

[slaaverin]

As you have also read bluemoonpunch's last reading of jk's past life there's something i wanna ask about it, it's a small thing but i just need to clarify. So let's say hypothetical the certain someone in the reading is jimin who he's supposed to be together in this life, there's a paragraph in there which I'm quoting below.

"In this, these two exchange Water and Fire between the Cups and the Wands. On their own, Temperance carries more Water, more fluidity, more feminine receptivity, while Jungkook carries more Fire, externalized action, masculine projection."

So here they mentioned that the"Temperance" carries more water and jungkook and this temperance will exchange fire and water, as we know in this life atleast jk has lots of fire in him as like fire element, so i remember asking one of the jm biased person who also knows reading like they have studied it that what is jm's element as how jk is more of fire, tae is more of water so what is jm's and they said jimin is "Air" element something. Now i don't understand these terms at all so idk if all humans have these elements but one of the element will be in more quantity than the other or smth. So i wanna clarify what does this Temperance and jungkook exchanging water and fire means and if jm has that water element in him (hypothetical asking as IF we consider this person as jimin).

Thank you 🙏

Hey anon this is an interesting question thank you 💜

Each one of us carries the 4 elements within us. It is what makes up our soul.

Usually not all 4 elements are completely balanced within us. We may use or project one more than the other.

I understand why your friend might say Jimin main element is Air. Libra's element is indeed Air. But the sun sign only is not a good indicator to know how a person uses his elements. We must take the whole birth chart into consideration.

For example I am a fire sign - Sagittarius. But in my birth chart I have A LOT of Capricorn energy, so a lot of earth energy. I in fact have way more earth energy than fire energy.

Since I personally don't know Jimin's full birth chart, it's hard to make assumptions.

And the birth chart is what it is, a BIRTH chart. It's the potential of everything you have at birth, but things can evolve. And you do not use only one element during your life.

If yes we say potentially his main element is Air, it doesn't mean he doesn't have water, and maybe he uses his water in the context of the relationship.

Which means that if they are counterparts, they need to exchange some kind of energy to function in harmony.

For the divine feminine, Jimin, he is more in fluidity, more receptive, so it makes sense he uses his water to balance the fire of Jungkook, the masculine energy.

It may as well be to keep the balance between them.

As I said he has the 4 elements but used in different contexts and for different uses.

We may have affinities with an element more than another, even if we have all 4, so sometimes we focus on specific elements to "master them".

So maybe Jimin is using water this time for a specific reason (could be many) that serves him in this lifetime. He might use another one more at another moment for a different purpose.

I hope you see what I mean and that it brings a little more clarity?

I think he uses water for the purpose of balancing his relationship with Jungkook, a way to be his "mirror".

On another note I will take the opportunity of your ask to share other little snippets of the reading that stood out to me:

It’s like they were signaling or trying to slyly put themselves out there, but people refused or maybe even denied the connection in terms of their companies or management refusing a public relationship. On some level people are refusing them while accepting others and it’s very frustrating and confusing, specifically to Jungkook. It seems like, from that higher perspective, Temperance understands it, does not like it but understands it and is more compliant with the idea of needing to sneak or keep things hidden. There actually does seem to be a lot of frustration in this set now that I’m lingering on this one — “No, you’re not MISSING anything, it’s right here!” In reverse, Jungkook is really like, “I can see this person clear as day, they’re right here, they’re right next to me, why are you acting like you can’t see them? Why are you acting like you can’t see us?”

This really breaks my heart man. Like all the frustration Jungkook has been having, it just makes a lot of sense. It has been simmering for a long time. And when she said Temperance understands they must operate within a certain parameter, I feel like AYS was just that. A contained way to show their relationship. But we all know that Jungkook wants more than this. Just, it shows. But they can't. Damn :(

The current state of their connection being represented by The Chariot is really nice as it showcases that they are in fact on the same path now. With soul counterparts, the parallel paths eventually merge into one higher path that affirms and supports soul purpose, or in their case soul mission. This is not an intersecting path, meaning this seems to be a potentially one and done deal unless they choose to separate on a conscious level. In other words, if it was purely up to their souls to decide, they are together now and will be together until their lifetimes here are over. When one dies, they will stay with the one who is still living until they pass.

This is very fucking nice. I think for Jungkook from what we've seen even consciously it's a done deal. We shall see if Jimin can overcome the whole "Devil perspective" thing and help it move it forward. But I have high hopes honestly.

Alongside the reminder of this significant connection, he also has two Heart Chakra cards with Love and Play, which really just felt like a marker of affirmation, his higher soul coming through and saying, “yes, you’ll know when it’s right because THIS is what it feels like.” It’s pure love, genuine love that comes very naturally, instinctually, and a vibrancy that brings him back to, or keeps him in a healthy state of playful youth, always ready to move and jump and yell and just really let himself be with this other person. The same feeling would be there for the other as well. It would be very natural, casual, simple, but potent and undeniable.

I REPEAT THE LAST LINE:

"It would be very natural, casual, simple, but potent and undeniable."

This is Jimin & Jungkook. This is what they are, there is no doubt in my mind. This is it.

No words needed.

I think this is the most interesting reading she's done in a long time. Very insightful. Very deep.

And very validated and encouraging about everything we knew about jikook.

Damn I just wish them the best 😭😭😭

Let's see how it goes,

Thanks for your ask anon and take care 💜

[ficklecat]

Hatake Clan Lore

I cannot for the life of me remember if I ever posted my Hatake lore head canon but it's been bouncing around in my brain so fuck it here we go -

WARNING: long post ahead, all of this is head canon and none of it is based on anything other than conjecture and ✨vibes✨

also not that I anticipate this but people get touchy about this stuff so - if you disagree with me so strongly that you feel the need to yell at me about it, please save your energy; I literally cannot express to you how disinterested I am in engaging with that kind of thing it's just anime you'll be ok pookie

Clan History

Before the First Shinobi War, the Hatake clan was a largely pacifist group unaffiliated with nation or creed. They started out as nomadic but eventually settled into farming & hunter/gatherer communities across the Land of Fire. Though they had no kekkei genkai develop, they did have some persistent clan traits that were easy to spot. Particularly, ancestral traits of early people would remain dominant through generations instead of recessing, such as sensitivity to smells and seasons, characteristics like coarser hair, sharper teeth, longer nails or limbs, and instincts that aligned with the native fauna. This allowed them to live in harsher conditions than the newly settling villages and clans, gave them the ability to self-sustain and develop natural affinity for the wilds of the elements, and eventually, aided in the use and presentation of various chakra natures in some of their clan members.

The Hatakes were small in number and fiercely independent of other clans and families, despite being extremely tight-knit in their own communities; they were not necessarily unwelcoming, rather, they lived very differently from the newly forming clan powers, and were not interested in the quarrels of man. However, due to their reluctance to ally and the growing strains between larger war clans and families, they didn't stand much of a chance when major conflicts began to arise.

When the first war finally began, the already sparse farming and hunting communities of the Hatake clan became widely dispersed as lands were torn up in battle or claimed by other families; they were displaced or absorbed into warring clans over time - some Hatake had already been taken in by the Senju, while some sought refuge with the Uchiha, only to face each other on the battlefield and recognize their clan members in the heat of battle - the wild hair, the piercing eyes, the way they would fight with teeth and claw and kunai over complex justu or weaponry.

By the time the first war ended, there were very few Hatake left to remain in tact as a clan. Many had died in battle, some had renounced their clan to assimilate into the powerful Senju or Uchiha, and the scarce few that remained had to make a choice - let their clan die out with them, or integrate into another.

Thus began the efforts of the Hatake to affiliate with the growing Inuzuka clan - an ally of the Senju but still independent of them, this clan had roots in the Land of Fire's villages already, and their affinity for canines and comparable clan traits and practices made for an easier approach than some of the more "domesticated" families. Even still, the reluctance of the Hatake to fully submit to the 'new world' and lose their precious way of life was enough to keep them at arm's length from the Inuzuka, their need for freedom clashing with the Inuzuka's desire to serve the new developing nations and hidden villages. As such, the remaining Hatake began to dwindle into disappearance, until there were only a handful left.

Kakashi's Family

This bit is also fully personal head canon and an idea I'd always wanted to turn into fic but could never get right; works better as a hc anyway -

By the time Sakumo and his partner, Hoeru Inuzuka, had Kakashi, the Hatake clan was gone, either fully absorbed into the Inuzuka by way of marriage or willing induction, or killed in action during the Second Shinobi War. Sakumo, along with Sakumo's elderly uncle, Kama Hatake, remained alive around the time of Kakashi's birth. Kama had sustained significant injuries during his service in the war, and had been in decline ever since, unable to recover. He never married and had no surviving family apart from Sakumo, but was extremely close to his nephew and Hoeru, particularly during her pregnancy. Hoeru herself was a fierce matriarchal member of the Inuzuka, but had deep respect for Kama and the Hatake clan's heritage - after all, despite their small size and initial reluctance to integrate, the Hatake had become a major part of the Inuzuka clan over generations, and had helped their clan to grow into a foothold in the Hidden Leaf Village.

Kama himself did his best to impart the importance of keeping their clan's memory alive in Sakumo - he would share stories and techniques passed down from his own uncles and parents, grandparents, elder clan members who had long since passed. He shared the importance of their preserved weaponry like the tanto or the kunai - highly usable, compact, and versatile for farming and hunting as well as in battle. When Hoeru was pregnant, she and Kama would spend a lot of time together, in the garden or inside reading when Kama's health began to worsen. Hoeru insisted he promise to live at least long enough to see the birth of their child, and Kama made good on this promise.

He died three days after Kakashi was born, and in his honor and out of a deep love for Sakumo, Hoeru made the choice to allow her son to keep his Hatake clan name. She and Sakumo planned to teach him the important history of their clan, and how both the Hatake and the Inuzuka had come together to help keep their wild spirit alive.

Unfortunately, Hoeru's death when Kakashi was still an infant left Sakumo heartbroken and hopeless. With his dear uncle and the love of his life both gone, being the last remaining member of his clan aside from his son brought him immense and crushing grief alongside his already significant battle with depression. Still, as the years went on, Sakumo did his best to teach his boy about their clan, and about the importance of belonging while keeping the memory of precious people alive. But the excommunication following that one fateful mission brought the final blow to his despair - and with everyone turning his back on him, with no clan, no lover, and no family, he lost the battle to his grief, leaving the only remaining Hatake clan member to be his son, Kakashi Hatake.

[animentality]

I saw Elemental and while it was far better than it looked, I had some issues.

First off, fantasy racism is hard to do properly because most writers make the fatal error of making the oppressed people too powerful.

Like X men. Oh, it's a metaphor for racism against black people in America...except black people don't shoot fucking death killing laserbeams from their buttholes every time they take a fart.

Or say, Zootopia. A well meaning allegory, but it still implies people of color are actually a threat to the rest of the population???

Like I don't care if a "bunny can go savage."

You still present the oppressed race, of predators, as being scarier and bigger and more easily able to hurt others.

So Elemental had the same issues.

It basically said, well, the fire people are the last wave of immigrants. They are discriminated against the most because they are new. They speak another language and no one likes them because they burn things and they can hurt the rest of us, so we keep them in these segregated communities, that are more fire safe.

Now here's the issue with that, if you haven't already noticed...

Once again, we get a race of people who are a thinly veiled metaphor for immigrants...but the issue is...

The fire people ARE a legitimate threat to the earthy, leafy people. They can literally kill them. They literally burn off pieces of their bodies in the damn film.

Now technically the wind and water people are less in danger, but we literally see in the movie that the fire people are WAY more of a threat than any other people. The main character literally blows the fuck up.

She destroys several plot important things when she can't control her temper!!! She destroys her own father's shop. Several times.

It's implied that fire people can also EVAPORATE the water people too.

So therein lies the issue.

If we saw the water people being more destructive, I could forgive it! If we saw more equal distrust between all the people, then maybe I could buy it. There ARE hints that the wind people have an affinity for lightning, which you would think could be a destructive force too, just as much a threat to water! And water can douse fire, right? So that's also bad, and that at least has some basis in the film?

But the problem is that the larger society only sees fire as bad...and the metaphor doesn't come across, when you focus on just fire and show us the many, many bad things fire can and does do to the other elements.

Now here's the thing that really annoys me.

The racism/discrimination against immigrants metaphor was okay. It had some nuance, at least. I enjoyed some of the very thoughtful discussions of what it means to be a second generation immigrant and the stresses of trying to live up to your parents' expectations of you.

I actually enjoyed the romance too. They were oddly sweet, and the heroic sacrifice in the end was genuinely touching.

But the movie's racism metaphor was too strong, and it has bad implications, given how much of a threat all of the races are to each other, whether it's equally divided between them or not.

This is not at all applicable to real life. Our differences are not so fucking fundamental. They are cultural and only very, very slightly biological. Our DNA is not so fucking different that this metaphor works, at all.

These kind of movies make the unintentional point that races are cut and dry categories, and all we need to do is accept these alien creatures so different from us into our society.

This is not true.

Like what the fuck. This is so not true. Every single race on earth can and does reproduce with one another, plus we've all been intermixed since the beginning of fucking time.

So that metaphor just breaks itself, in my opinion.

Now here's my suggestion.

This movie should've been a metaphor for disability accomodations.

And hear me out, right?

The fire people CANNOT go to several places. Places entirely underwater, or partially submerged, places covered in foliage, where they might burn things. It is a central theme, that fire people are barred from certain places because they simply haven't bothered to make those places accessible to them.

See, that's a much more palatable and less problematic theme/metaphor to draw from!

The main character wants to see this plant that only grows underwater, but she's never gotten to see it because it's in this weird stadium that's underwater, and they simply haven't tried to make it accessible to fire people.

Plus, water people trains are constantly throwing water down on fire town, and water is a huge threat to fire people, and the whole city seems to run on water transport, and i think, but im not sure, it's stated that water people came first, and that's why elemental city is mostly catered to them?

But there's a great moral there!

There's no reason fire people can't be in certain public spaces! There should be laws forcing all earth spaces to have fire safe accommodations, like metal or clay flooring in all necessary areas!

That museum should've had some kind of tunnel for fire people to walk through!

It should be required for all public areas that there be metal or clay or glass crossing certain areas, so that fire people can still reasonably access everything that the other people can access!

Like ramps and elevator and railings, in real life!

And it's such a shame, because the protagonist has a talent for shaping glass. For making art.

It's implied she might end up working for her boyfriend's mom, who's an architect!!!

The protagonist should've been a fucking architect, who EXPLICITLY dedicates herself to making the rest of the city accessible to her own people!!! So they can get out of fire town and live amongst the rest of them!

At the end, it's implied more people are coming to fire town...but for no fucking reason. They just go there now.

But the protagonist, Ember, really needed to be a driving force.

She needed to be a metaphor for accessibility in public spaces, because that's a much better parallel than just racism itself.

If you toned down the "destructiveness" of fire and explained that fire people are unfairly excluded from public life simply because it's easier for the other people to ignore them and not care about their needs...then you have a far less problematic story, with a much more sensitive and interesting take on disability discrimination.

Ember needed to be an advocate, someone who tries to bring her people into the wider world, and not the wider people into her world.

There is NO reason fire people could not be allowed to participate in public life.

And there was no reason fire people had to be pitted so hard against every other race.

Elemental was a really fun movie, with beautiful animation and some very well thought out ideas for how the city worked.

But it failed as a racism/immigration allegory.

It could've been far more nuanced and complex, if it had bothered to talk more about how fire people need accomodations, rather than just, fire people hate everyone else, and everyone else hates fire people.

[ostrichmonkey-games]

Ostrichmonkey Hack: Layout Behind the Scenes

Been procrastinating on this enough! So here is a look at some of the process and decisions that went into doing the layout for the Ostrichmonkey Hack.

Let's start with the goals I had in mind:

Keep it simple.

Keep it easy to make.

With those goals set, next step is gathering materials and resources (not all of this was done as cleanly as I'm making it out to be, but this is the gist).

Materials used:

Classic Explorer Template

Affinity Publisher and Photo

Fonts

Art

The text itself

The Classic Explorer Template was critical in getting this layout done efficiently, since it does a lot of the work for you. It's not a replacement for having a rough idea on how to do layout, but it can serve as a nice tutorial/explainer on different elements of layout and typesetting, and honestly, is worth its (digital) weight in gold. There's a free version available if you want to check out what it offers.

I use the Affinity Suite for my layout work. It's a nice set of programs with a manageable learning curve, but there are plenty of other alternatives so go with whatever works for you (one of my favorite elements of using multiple Affinity programs is that within Publisher, you can access both Designer (vector illustration) and Photo (photo editing, illustration etc) functions, which is just a nice workflow).

Here's what my setup looks like, with all the guidelines/base grid stuff turned on;

Normally I start with some style tests and “sketches” to get a feel for what I want the layout to look like, but the Classic Explorer’s does a lot of that heavy lifting for me already so I get to skip this step for this project. Speed and efficiency is one of the main reasons I wanted to use the template - this was envisioned as a “I just need to get something done” kind of project.

So next up on getting it done, fonts!

There are lots of great places to get fonts from, just make sure you're getting them from legitimate sources. Do your homework and make sure that "free" font is actually free to use in commercial projects.

I pulled three fonts from the depths of my collection.

One for the title and main headers (Wallau Deutsch)

One for the second header (Rakkas)

One for the body text (PT Serif)

Technically a secret fourth font for some "bullet points" (1651 Alchemy)

I picked these fonts out because they work together well and are readable. The title/main header fonts are comparatively less readable, but you can get away with that since headers are Big and used less frequently. The second header (Rakkas) is a nice middle ground between a full on blackletter font like the main header, and the classic-y serif of the body text. It creates a transition between the two fonts.

I used PT Serif since it was already in the template, but it also had the bold/italics versions I knew I would need, is readable at a variety of sizes, and had all the special glyphs I would need (it actually did not, but whoops, we'll get to that later).

Normally when I start layout, I do a quick "sketch page" where I try out different fonts and style tests that can look something like this;

But that wasn't necessary for this project (another advantage of the using the template).

Now, let's get to some choices in formatting the text itself.

Each time a key term came up, it was highlighted by bolding and italicizing it. Any time after that, it was just normal text. I went back and forth on highlighting it every single time, but the current format just looked cleaner so it won out.

Additionally, in several places in the text, rather than introducing a third header (which just broke up the page too much, disrupting the flow and clean look), I instead put what would have been the new third header (HP or WOUNDS in the above example) in all caps and behind a colon. This ended up not disrupting the text too much, and was only necessary a handful of times. But when it was necessary, I made sure to stay consistent. Consistent and organized formatting is one of the key ways to make your layout look nice and clean.

Aside from changing some font choices, one of the other ways I tweaked the template was with some spacing (between "sections", like in the above text, introducing an extra line break between the Attributes and Staying Alive sections) and the "bullet points".

The large bullet points that accompany the second headers are actually a glyph pulled from a different font. I picked that one out specifically because its just a little irregular and handwritten looking (1651 Alchemy is a handwritten styled font), and it also helped pull you to the start of new sections, further enhancing the second header. It helps make each section discrete and more "modular".

Back to extra spacing for a second now. So each "chapter" of the text uses the main header to designate it as a full "chapter".

"Characters" up top there is one of those chapter headers. It's nice and big and special, and also takes up a good chunk of space. One a full spread, this also means that the second page of text begins higher up than the text on the first page (compare where Attributes starts vs where Dying starts).

I played around with the format of spreads that did not have a main chapter header on them, starting the first page text up toward the top to have it line up with the second page. Which, probably would have been totally fine, but I preferred the look when each spread had the same kind of spacing. But repeating the main header on each spread was too clunky. So the solution;

Bam! A line!

Blank empty space looked too empty, but slapping a quick line there took up just enough visual space for it to work. Then, I carried that line-design-language to other places (to separate footnotes from the body text, within the tables, and sort of on the cover). This then made the line choice feel even more cohesive and purposeful.

And speaking of footnotes, that was another extra tweak/flourish I added not present in the template (the sidebars are part of the template, but sidebars rule so they would have happened regardless). The footnotes served as a way to share specific references as an informal "works cited". A lot of NSR/OSR design is super iterative, so I thought it would be cool to shout out some of the more direct inspirations and references I used when making my game.

But the footnotes were also kind of not really my downfall. Turns out PT Serif didn't seem to have all the necessary footnote glyphs, nor did it want to make proper superscripts of integers past 3. So, rather than trying to find a new body font (or deal with the headache of using a font solely for superscript notation), I just fudged the formatting some and stuck to asterisks, and restarting "numbering" on each spread. Oh well.

Let's now briefly touch on laying out tables.

It sucks.

My advice is find an example of a really nice looking table and then try and figure out what makes it look nice, and then doing that forever. Luckily, the template saves me again by including multiple examples of tables, ripe for tweaking. Which ended up looking like this;

Nice and clean! Hooray!

Okay, there's a lot of small decisions that goes into making text properly formatted and look nice, but I skipped some of those decisions and didn't go ham on typesetting, but whatever. That all about covers the important parts regarding the text. Now let's talk about art.

Public domain art is your best friend.

I went and trawled through a bunch of art I've saved from the Met's Open Access collection (there's plenty of great open access collections out there, just happened to have some from the Met handy), and settled on this piece;

Which I then dropped into Affinity Photo and played around until I ended up with this;

Nothing too wild, but it Felt Right, so it's done.

I then immediately dropped that onto the cover page, slapped the title on, added a quick border (and also spent some time trying to fix some weird issues that ended up being solved by just rasterizing it, whoops) and bam;

And that's the only art piece used throughout the zine! But I made the most out of it. Between each chapter, I had a single splash page and dropped in different zoomed/cropped versions of the art. Like so (and even on the back cover!);

The original image was high resolution, so zooming in worked, plus the effects/distortions I created hid any imperfections.

So that's the art sorted and the zine finished!

Now, this is getting pretty long, so if there's anything anyone reading this is interested that I didn't touch on, shout in the notes!

[shydroid3000]

for the character ask thing, i gotta go for L 👀

Ooh, fun one haha. I'll try not to write too much..!

From the ask game:

First impression: I watched the anime first, and I remember finding it delightfully odd and silly that what we saw of this mysterious detective initially was a computer that was for some reason on the floor as he used it? Haha. I remember just thinking, "what is with this dude typing and detectiving on the hard floor?" Lol Once we actually get to meet him fully, I was more delighted. L really was a "love at first sight" (or glimpse) type of character for me. He's got all the ingredients of a character I will have an affinity for: oddball gremlin with delightful quirks, obviously autistic, weird looking in a hot (to me) way, clever, confident, and with a depth of feeling and loneliness that he isn't necessarily aware of himself. He's got a 'weird little bi dude' energy that I love (maybe I'm projecting, but it's true to me lol). I also related to various things about him right away (mostly to do with the autisticness lol): the weird sitting, the excessive love of sweets, the insomnia, the obsessiveness, the lack of capacity to independently take care of activities-of-daily-living like cooking/cleaning/self-care/etc., the finding Light hot despite one's better judgement lol.

Impression now Not that different, but more fleshed out I guess. I'm still as delighted by him as ever. I think because I adore him and project onto him so much, something that has developed over time is a better understanding/acknowledgement of his capacity to be selfish or cruel or unethical. It's a bit easy for me to slip into "uwu L" mode, but I try not to slip too far because I do enjoy the complexities of his character lol.

Favorite moment Oh gosh, that's tough. Hm... Well, in the anime, the rain scene is definitely up there. That will never not get to me lol. Some others that come to mind: His and Light's fight during Yotsuba when on the Misa 'date''; L saying Light is his first friend; his reaction to Naomi's disappearance (I like how it suggests his understanding of and respect for her as a person); his decision to handcuff Light to him 24/7 LOL; when he first meets the task force and they see what a weirdo he is (plus his finger gun and "bang!" haha); anytime he displays sadness. Oh and as a bonus, when he's dressed as a paramedic during the Matsuda mattress rescue LOL. He looks so cute! (Whoops, math isn't my strong point but pretty sure that's more than one moment lol)

Idea for a story Oh, that's kind of tough too. I feel like whatever I think of off the top of my head won't be very interesting, considering how many good L and Lawlight stories there are out there haha. But I'll throw out a random premise I've mulled over in the past: AU where L is born later, so by the time Kira exists L is maybe like 15, earlier in his foray into detective work. I like thinking about the ways younger L might be different in his approach, but also the ways in which his personality would be pretty much unchanged lol. It's also fun to think about teen L's fascination with Kira/Light having a more childlike crush element to it.

Unpopular opinion I don't know that it's actually that unpopular (at least, not in the fandom circles I hang out in), but my read on his statement about Light being his first real friend is that it's the truth. I know there is extra-textual material where Obha explains that L was lying then. But I just personally don't find that reading as compelling nor as supported by the text of the anime/manga itself, regardless of what Obha intended. I think L was absolutely manipulating, but I think it was also true for him that Light was his friend. They truly are the quintessential frenemies (/soulmates) lol. I said in some other post that I think L's biggest manipulation is painting his authenticity the colour of a lie (like how his real first name is L but it's presented like that letter is a mere alias), and I think he does that in this moment too.

Favorite relationship Well, it has to be Lawlight lol. But I also like L and Naomi, as well as L and Matsuda (in both cases, whether as ships or not). I also find his dynamic with Aizawa (and the particular ways they clash) really intriguing.

Favorite headcanon Hmmmmmm..... Only the most obvious ones are coming to mind right now lol. Like, L being autistic (I feel like that barely even counts as headcanon since it's so obvious lol). Or him being gay for Light (refer to previous parenthetical remark). If I think of something more interesting I will come back and add it lol.

[the-oasiris]

Alpha and Omega Earth Sova Dynamic + Sova Lore Yap Session B)

Saw a post floating around talking about the dynamic between Alpha and Omega agents and how omega agents being labelled automatically evil is kinda stupid. Because no, they're NOT evil. They're Omega's Earth's last hope of survival. They're the heroes, much like how our Alpha agents are the heroes of Alpha Earth for standing up to this bizarre threat. It leads to a fun grey area that is not explored at all. I hope it gets some love in the future, but for now, character development is more important for the game.

That post got me thinking about my own HCs and interpretations of A and O Sova. I rly got into exploring elements of the Alpha and Omega aspects of the game's story due to me shipping Owling (Sova/Sova) but it suddenly became a really fun thing to dive into. It's going to be a long post, so for those who kinda want the TLDR, the img below has a summarized ver of my HCs for A and O Sova's dynamic. Also, these are just my personal thoughts on the character and it's definitely not me trying to sell these HCs as canon or the closest truth we can get to on Sova's lore. Riot please write more shit for this guy I'm begging you. At least explain his stupid eye or his old alias I'm on my hands and knees bros.

Grab some snacks and bevvies for the big wall of unedited hyperfixation fueled yap under the cut. I'll also include my thoughts on ASova/OSova, but I will mostly be discussing their dynamics and stuff outside of the topic of shipping.

Initially, Owling started as a fun indulgent cloneship that had no rhyme or reason, but the literal next thought I had was treating the ship like some kind of character study based off my HCs of him. The then evolved to become a journey of Sova learning to love himself, literally and metaphorically, however incomplete he may be.

As mentioned in my chart, the Sovas are true clones of each other, mirrors. Their major life events are similar but the outcomes are different as well as the way they choose to interact with the people in their lives and the world. This therefore creates small differences in their 'perfect mirror-like' likenesses.

Sova Lore + HCs in General

My ASova headcanons are as described in my little chart. I feel like the Sova we get presented is very work-oriented whose past was shaped by his time in the military. It may very well be all he had had when he was younger. Perhaps it was what he turned to for direction in his life. I don't really have a solid headcanon for his upbringing, I'm mostly tossing several ideas around because they all seem very possible depending on how I want to picture Sova. Currently I lean more towards his parents being too busy to raise their son and therefore handed him over to his babushka to be cared for and raised. They still exist in his life, but their absences had made a significant impact on his psyche. He believes if he becomes someone useful, someone whose work was meaningful and worthy of praise, perhaps his parents would regard him more tenderly, their visits would be more purposeful, there would be reason to see their son other than obligation. He wishes to be useful not just for the sake of his parents, but for his babushka who is old and frail but has taken great pains and burdens to raise him to the best of her ability. Sova turned to the military for it was a respectable line of work. You serve the country and therefore its people, it seems a perfect fit for him who had much affinity for physical skills (hunting and general fitness). Not only that, the military would be good for him, for he need not think about his pains and troubles. The strict drills and constant orders would give him little time to dwell on his sorrows or whatever ails him. Even if his heart is lost, at the very least he has orders to follow, his path would straighten out for him as long as someone was telling him what he should be doing. In regards to his old callsign 'Filin', I'm sticking to the generally accepted HC that it's his old callsign from whatever military company he was in before Valo. As for his experiences then, my thoughts aren't too lengthy. It was a normal job experience, but he was very much just a machine there. A good obedient soldier. However, a mishap in one of his missions cost him his right eye. He continued to serve despite the injury and forced himself to remain useful to the company.

As a result of such life experiences, the Sova we see today can easily be described as a straight-laced man with strict morals who works to live. From what little trivia we have of him, he definitely has hobbies and interests outside of work. He likes hunting, photography that leans towards nature as it's focus. From his voicelines, we can gather that Sova is actually a really friendly and loving guy. He is vocal about his love for his babushka, he praises his teammates often, and he always seems ready to jump in the line of fire for his teammates if it means saving them (and by proxy, the mission). This kindness extends even to those he shouldn't extend it to, namely OSova, who is the enemy. Can you imagine sparing the guy who is invading your earth? Giving them a second chance? I feel like it's more than just some good samaritan thing/altruism, but there is unfortunately no reason given from Riot so far.

With all that knowledge of him, I interpret Sova as a person who is kind, friendly and full of desire to do good. But he has a lot of personal struggles under the hood that he pushes away in order to service others, in order to continue to be seen as a 'good soldier', to be seen as useful. His life outside of work is lackluster, his personality centered around being an asset. He struggles to properly care for himself mentally and emotionally, but is very good at sweeping everything under the rug and calling on his 'work mode' to 'solve' these issues. They don't exist now that a gun's in his hands and his boots on the field. His personal troubles will leave him, like the arrows that fly from his bow, like the bullets that race towards his target's head. The only grounding things in his life are: - His babushka loves him - He's a damn good shot with the gun and the bow - He's an excellent soldier, amazing at his job

Sova, you are miserable in your excellence.

For all his amicable nature and good intentions for others, he hardly shows the same courtesy to himself.

And finally, I yap about OSova.

Omega Sova

OSova is almost everything ASova isn't. - He is less of a workaholic (he very much works to live, but not as intensely as ASova). - He is more open to others and therefore his relationships with the Valo protocol and others in general are much more intimate and closer. As a result, his dynamic with his Cypher is also a lot less charged and they actually get along. - He is more in touch with his emotions and is tackling his fears and problems. Very unlike ASova who is avoidant.

I like to think of OSova as a representation of what a slightly healthier Sova would be. A version of Sova who is trying to improve his mental health and his relationships. He's not the 'Perfect' version of Sova, he too, is still very flawed. But he is happier, is mentally healthier and lives a generally more fulfilling life because he is actually putting effort into himself, trying to be whole.

Personal HCs on their first encounter

When ASova meets OSova for the first time, obviously nothing meaningful goes down because they gotta kill each other. But personally, I think on one occasion, ASova gets curious about his mirror self. He wonders if their lives are truly mirror-perfect reflections of each other. And he steals OSova's eye. He cuts along the familiar eye scar but cuts an additional line for he dislikes that they look exactly alike and the scar mysteriously remains permanent (this is just for my enjoyment and definitely has no real supporting rhyme or reason lol). He doesn't give the eye to KJ despite her expressing interest in it, for this is a personal selfish matter. What he finds shocks him, for OSova lives a very different life from him. And he grows angry for he is... jealous. His mirror self seemed to be living a beautiful life as compared to him and he wants to know why. He needs to learn more, needs to collect more intel. There has to be a reason his mirror self is enjoying things he doesn't seem to have himself despite being a good and useful person on his earth. Therefore, in addition to being his enemy at work, he cannot spare OSova ever again. He needs his eye. He needs to know.

AOSova Interactions HCs

It is natural that the Sovas are hostile to each other, for they are enemies. But OSova is surprised at how vicious and almost predator-fierce his mirror is with hunting him down and killing him. Sometimes it feels like ASova kills him with more brutality than necessary for whatever reason. When OSova is cornered and most definitely dead, it seems like ASova seems to go out on a limb to kill him in a more vicious way or uses excess effort to take his mirror out. OSova, being Sova, who has a soft heart and an inherent sense of kindness, tries to speak to ASova before he is killed again. But of course, ASova, who is blinded by his envy and hard driven by his soldier's duty to kill his enemy, doesn't let him talk. But eventually, one day, he does. And OSova questions their likenesses. Are they truly clones? He didn't know he was quite so fearsome, quite so merciless and cold. ASova finally allows OSova to speak, and suddenly, he realizes that they are so much more different than what he has seen. ASova also comes to realize that perhaps, in this big wide world and beyond, maybe his enemy, his 'evil' self, is the only one who can truly help him understand his pain.

It is not a pleasant thought, but that thought will soon disappear when his hunting knife goes through OSova's heart.

Sova Learns To Love Himself + Owling (Sova/Sova) Elements (Cont. from AOSova Interactions)

Teehee my fav part... If you so desire, this can be read as platonic as I've removed romantic elements.

The sauce for Owling in this sense comes from the fact that ASova believes that OSova is the only one in the world, this universe, that will understand his pain and accept him no matter what. Because they're Sova. They're supposed to be one and the same, right? Also because OSova has extended an extremely kind hand towards him over and over despite ASova mercilessly killing him time and time again without allowing him to even get a word or so in. OSova forgives this, for they both know they're 'both good soldiers who carry out orders no matter what'. And the orders are obviously to eliminate their enemies, their mirrors. ASova was just doing as he was told, and OSova holds no grudge. Hell, he probably even respects him for staying so loyal.

After OSova finally gets a word in, the pair often try to meet up secretly whenever they encounter each other on a mission to talk. It's mostly ASova talking, sharing his burdens with his copy, hoping to learn what the hell is he not doing right that OSova is. He too, wishes to live happily, much like how OSova seems to be living. OSova comforts his mirror. It is awkward initially, for what does one do when you enemy and mirror self comes at you, killing you viciously one day and then crying into your shoulder the next? But as they chat, OSova feels much pity for his copy. He wishes he could be happy, too. As much happiness their current situation allows. I'll skip over a lot of the story I've thought of for the both of them because this textpost is an ungodly length already. But, the most important interaction they will have, is that, one day, OSova reassures ASova that no matter what happens, no matter what becomes of them both, that he accepts him as he is. For they both deserve it. And if no one else will, it's ok. OSova will love ASova instead. Unfortunately, for it is still a time of war between Alpha and Omega earth, they can't both leave the field alive. And so, for now, one of them will have to go. Until their next encounter, then. But at least this time, ASova leaves with the reassurance that he can be loved. Even if it's only love from himself, he has it.

Ok I'm Done Now

And that's the end of the yap sesh phew LOL. I've left out a billion things but it's like 3am and I can't be here forever... I hope my point came across clearly enough and that any weird inconsistencies or holes in my thinking aren't too nasty because my ass aint gonna beta/edit this shit. If you read this all the way thru, thanks for braving through this behemoth of a post U_U)9 Also I hope this creates more Owling fans or at least some interest in the ship somewhat HAHA

[fictionalcharactersaremypassion]

Are You Thirsty, Mister?

“You owe me for this,” Mandy grumbled, crossing one leg over the other, getting as comfortable on this bench as could be expected. 

“Oh, fuck off. What else were you gonna do today?” Mickey said, agitation creeping up. All week Yev had been begging and pleading with him to take him to the park, and for the life of him, couldn’t understand why Mickey got so uncomfortable whenever it was brought up. 

Hell, he knew it sounded stupid, but it wasn’t something he could just shake off. 

It was only a couple years into being Yev’s full time dad. He and Lana tried the whole coparenting thing until she eventually decided to give him full custody while she went off to God knows where to do God knows what. 

The switch completely pulled him out of his element. Prior to this, all three of them lived together in spite of him and Lana not being in a relationship now that he’d accepted his sexuality. Back than, he hadn’t minded going out in public with the two of them. It looked normal , it felt normal . But coming here alone as a single, gay dad- despite being out to most people he knew- wasn’t something he would do just yet. 

Not when there was the chance of being approached by another parent, probably asking about the kid’s mother and no way in hell was he about to go down that road with some stranger. 

“Get laid,” she said nonchalantly. Mickey made a noise of disgust. “That guy from last night I told you about, he texted me. Asked me if I wanted to come over.” 

“Spare me the fucking details.” No fucking way he was going to talk about his sister’s sex life. 

“What’s your problem, pissface?” Mandy eyed him, a smirk growing. “Do you need to get laid too?” 

Mickey flipped her off, not looking at her but rather Yev, who was sliding down the slide and then going back up to do it again. 

“How long has it been since you fucked?” She continued. “Since you were with Lana, right?” 

“Mind your fucking business.” 

“Just go find someone,” she shrugged. “I’ll watch Yev for you.” 

He scoffed. “I’m not fucking some stranger.” 

“Didn’t stop you from fucking all those girls in high school,” she muttered under her breath. 

The annoyance that had flared up deflated a little. He grimaced at the reminder of your younger self, the one who thought he had to prove something, prove that he wasn’t as down for dick as he actually was. 

“Things change,” he said gruffly when he managed to think up something to say. 

Mandy stared at him for a few seconds, cracking up. “Oh my God .” 

“What?” He snapped. 

“You’re really doing this-being the responsible dad now, huh?” She reached out to ruffle his hair. He shoved her hand away. 

“Get the fuck away from me!” 

Mandy laughed again. “I’m just messing with you, Mick.”

Mickey scowled, not amused in the slightest. 

There weren’t that many options for him here. Much less another gay guy who’d be fine dating a guy with a kid. 

And alright, it wasn’t just that. He’d just never found someone who sparked his interest. 

Didn’t stop Mandy from trying. She showed him countless tinder profiles no matter how many times he told her not to. 

“Daddy, Daddy!” Yev was rushing towards them, his face flushed, and his hair sweaty. 

“What?” Sometimes it struck Mickey just how different of a childhood his son was having compared to how his and Mandy’s were. Terry never took them to the park. He didn't do most of the things Mickey did for Yev. And the more time he spent with his son, the less he understood how Terry had been the kind of father he was with them all. 

“There’s a baby over there,” Yev was pointing, grinning in excitement. 

His son had this weird affinity with babies. Who knows where the fuck he got that from. 

“Oh, that’s nice-” Mickey started, only for Yev to get louder, insistent that he look . 

And he did, his mouth drying out instantly. 

There was some redheaded guy a little ways away, on the other side of the playground. He was holding onto a baby in his lap, smiling down at it tenderly, not too differently than Mickey had done with his own son. 

Mickey’s stomach did this weird little flip like he was some fucking teenage girl. 

Mandy peered at him too. She grinned slyly, nudging him. He refused to look at her, knowing she’d open her fucking mouth again. 

“Fuck,” he muttered, it came out  almost unconsciously. He was still staring, watching the guy kiss the baby on the forehead. “He’s hot.” 

At this, Yev looked thoughtful. Neither one of them noticed that he’d taken his unopened water bottle and started walking in that direction. 

“Put the fuck me eyes away before he notices,” Mandy snickered, going back to her phone. Probably to text that tinder guy. “Jesus, how are you still single and this obvious?” 

The retort on Mickey’s tongue evaporated as soon as he heard Yev exclaiming, 

“Hi, Mister! Are you thirsty?” 

Oh my God ....Mickey froze, seeing Yev stand in front of that redheaded guy, holding out his water bottle. 

A grin slowly stretched out on Mandy’s face. “Oh my God.” 

The redheaded guy wasn’t at all bothered by Yev’s sudden presence. He smiled kindly, adjusting his hold on the baby. “No, thank you. I’m fine.” 

“Oh,” Yev said, sounding a bit confused. “But my Daddy said you looked hot.” 

Fuck! Mickey couldn’t help but flush with embarrassment when the redheaded guy glanced over at them. After Yev pointed them out, of course. 

Beside him, Mandy was shaking with silent laughter, almost sliding off the bench completely. 

“He did, huh?” The redheaded guy said, wearing his own grin. 

“Uh huh!” Yev nodded. “I’m Yevgeny but my Daddy calls me Yev. He never calls me Yevgeny. He told my Aunt Mandy it’s a weird ass name.” 

Really, kid? Mickey groaned. 

The guy laughed. “It’s nice to meet you, Yev. I’m Ian.” 

Ian . Mickey’s stomach was fluttering again. 

But Yev was looking at the baby and didn’t seem to care about Ian’s name. “Is that your baby?” He asked. 

“No, not my baby,” Ian corrected patiently. “This is Freddie. He’s my nephew.” 

“Oh,” Yev said and then told him with enthusiasm, “I like babies!” 

“Yeah? I like babies too,” Ian agreed. “If your dad doesn’t mind, you can come closer.” 

Yev immediately turned around, bellowing, “Daddy, can I see the baby?” 

Ian’s eyes landed on him. Mickey said yes without really thinking about it. 

Yev whooped. Ian’s head lowered, his attention on the two boys. 

“You going over there?” Mandy said without looking at him. “Or are you gonna have your son do all the talking for you?” 

Mickey shifted. “He’s not...he’s just admiring the baby.” 

“While you admire the dad,” she said smugly. 

“Uncle,” he said, only to realize his mistake as soon as the word left his mouth. 

“My mistake.” 

Asswipe. 

“Daddy, come over and see the baby!” Yev hollered. 

And well, he was no coward. Mickey rose to his feet, his legs feeling heavy while walking over there. 

Ian looked up, smiling at him too while Yev was curiously touching the baby’s hand. “I’m Ian,” he introduced himself. 

“Yeah, I heard,” Mickey rubbed the back of his neck. “Mickey.” 

“Is this your son? Ian asked. 

“Yeah. He’s six.” 

Ian nodded like he was filing that information away for later. “Freddie’s not a year old yet, but I thought he might enjoy the park anyway. Figured I’d give my brother and his wife a break.” 

“Yeah...” Mickey didn’t usually struggle with words but there was something about this guy that threw him off his groove. “The kid’s been asking me to come here so we did.” 

We , Ian looked past Mickey where Mandy was still sitting, typing away. 

Mickey knew what he might be thinking. For some fucking reason, he and Mandy have been mistaken for a couple before. Especially when Yev was with then. 

“That’s my sister,” he explained. 

Something passed over Ian’s face. “Oh,” he said and it was probably just Mickey’s imagination, but he sounded... happier or something. 

“Yeah...” 

Yev glanced up at them, deciding all by himself that he liked Ian and wanted to keep him around for a while. “Daddy, Aunt Mandy said we can get ice cream.” 

“Yeah.” She’d that on the way in. “Do you wanna leave now?” 

Some part of him might be...disappointed that they would leave now. Sure, he didn’t have much else to say to the guy- Ian , his brain supplied- but he was pretty good to look at. 

“Can Ian and the baby come with us?” Yev stuck out his lower lip, a trick Mandy taught him. “ Please ?” 

What the hell is he supposed to say to this? 

“Do you want ice cream?” Yev asked Ian directly, hoping it would help the outcome. 

“I’d love some,” Ian said but he wasn’t looking at Yev. “If your dad says it’s okay.” 

Mickey doesn’t really have to think about that either.  

“Sure.” 

[themetalvirus]

note: this was originally written on aug 10 2022, and is unfinished. it's a lore dump about the egghogs' chaos energy powers with diagrams for silver's markings and how they develop. the rest of this post has been left untouched. please enjoy!

(past me why did you make eggy silver's forehead scars so light OTL)

egghog silver's markings, how they differ from my interpretation of canon silver's markings, and a brotherly superpower synergy infodump below the cut!

OK. SO.

what are silver's markings in the first place? are they aesthetic or do they serve a function?

in the egghog canon (an au where sonic, shadow, and silver were raised by eggman), they do have an actual biological purpose; they're organic chaos energy reserves. organic chaos energy is a subcategory of all chaos energy that is produced by organic beings, but is fundamentally different than "normal" energy as we know it, tending to cause physical anomalies if it's present in large amounts.

silver's markings are essentially canals of energy running through his skin and fur like he's a walking venice (lore joke intended); they're enclosed and are tough to actually "break" or rupture compared to normal skin. they're veins but fucked up and magic.

silver was naturally born with a lot of organic chaos energy, and anomalous powers resulted. they developed in conjunction with other fine motor skills, and were just as shaky to start. he needs a lot of practice if he wants to pick up objects larger than marbles. that practice comes naturally with time and experience, and canon silver has had an excess of both, considering his extraordinary circumstances. he's needed to push himself and develop his powers, but hasn't regularly pushed himself and powers past what he can't handle, needing to conserve energy and keep himself alert/prepared for another attack.

silver robotnik grew up in a much different situation.

(INSERT ORGANIC POWER DEVELOPMENT LORE HERE)

he was the last to be adopted, and despite having the second-most naturally generated chaos energy of the bunch, his powers seemed to have a lot of potential. combined with the sheer power of his brothers, eggman could easily see him dominating the battlefield with a wave of a hand.

shadow can tap into the chaos force to generate attacks, but he doesn't self-generate a whole lot of energy. sonic self-generates an extreme excess of chaos energy, which gives him super speed, perception, and endurance, but he can't control the energy itself or where it goes. silver is somewhat physically frail and slow, but he makes up for it by having an innate control over the chaos forces in and around objects.

he and shadow share the ability of controlling chaos in some way; shadow can use it to create external attacks made of energy (chaos blast, chaos spear), but the control he has over these attacks once they are unleashed/thrown is limited to none. silver can manipulate objects, but can't use his own powers to create complex shapes or attacks from ESP alone; he can use limited attacks to blow elements or energy away (his intro cutscene in sonic 06), but they're weak and dissipate quickly. i bet you can kind of see where i'm going with this. it's where eggman's train of thought quickly headed.

when deployed as a team, shadow and silver are extremely difficult to deal with. silver can precisely redirect chaos spears to their targets, magnify the energy output from a chaos blast, and prolong/intensify the affects of shadow's chaos control due to silver's strange affinity for time manipulation, all with minimal mental fatigue. silver can also give shadow access to his energy reserves through touch (typically holding hands), resulting in exponentially deadlier attacks.

(EVERYTHING BELOW THIS NEEDS TO BE EXPANDED ON)

silver or sonic can also hold shadow's hand to help him teleport large objects or other people with their shared energy. it's typically used for transporting

silver and sonic have similar synergy,

shadow can also boost sonic with chaos energy boodle doodle doodle

with the brothers all together, shadow can funnel sonic's chaos energy directly into silver (or vice versa). (INSERT DETAILS OF WHAT THAT DOES HERE) none of their bodies can withstand that amount of shared power or the severe energy drain (without a chaos emerald) so it has to be used very sparingly. they only overclock themselves like this for an extended time if their father orders them to or in extremely dire situations with no other options.

p.s. sonic's efficacy in battle is severely worsened after silver and shadow leave. the drain on eggman's trust combined with his more restrained uses something something extends his isolation and makes everything worse