#this is a very venty post I'd been meaning to post for a while

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

honestly the whole double standard between Dimtiri and Jeritza in the fandom is such bullshit. Jeritza is looked at this poor guy suffering from mental illness, making him aggressive and violent, and Dimitri is just seen as a murderer who did all these bad things.

like... no? they're both suffering from mental illness and are both dealing with struggling with the fact that they have aggressive and violent reactions. it's something they reflect on when they're not in that mindset. the cause of their illnesses are different, but you can't say Jeritza is aw poor boy and then demonize Dimitri. if Jeritza is aw poor boy, they both are.

I don't agree with IS treating mental illness - especially multiple personality disorder and schizophrenia - as mental illness = violence. I don't agree with the fact that both of these illnesses are two that are extremely commonly associated with violence and that IS perpetuated that stereotype not once, but twice with two different characters by having each of them have one of the two that are associated as such.

however, in the situation we were given, they both have these impulses and they both feel guilt over it. they suffer a similar outward reaction as a trauma response.

I'm not looking for a discussion about this (i.e. "but Dimitri did xyz so he's BaD"). you don't look at one person and go "oh they're so evil for how they react to their trauma" and then go "aw poor person suffering from trauma doing the exact same shit the other oh so evil guy is doing". if you think one is evil, you think both are evil (which is not something you should be thinking at all because trauma response is not evil). if you feel bad for one of them because of how they deal with their trauma being something they regret and despise about themselves, you feel that way for both of them. also, neither character uses mental illness as an excuse and they still feel guilt for what they do, so the whole "trauma = excuse" argument falls flat on its face here.

you don't get a free pass to hate one of them and so use their mental illness nor their reactions because of their mental illness against them while not doing so to the other. you don't get a free pass period to demonize them for their mental illness. if you have to use such a low blow to hate on a character, you're a disgusting ablest and I hope you are deeply hated with all the vitriol in the mentally ill world.

if you demonize either one of them for their violent reactions that stem from their trauma (or both, which I almost never see and it's almost always Dimitri at the receiving end of it), then I sincerely hope that one day something happens to you that makes you understand how awful it is to be demonized for being mentally ill.

people may say "I would never wish that on my worst enemy", but I do. if people shit on others (fictional or not, because if you shit on fictional characters for their illnesses then it says a whole fucking lot about you as a person in general and sets the standard for how you would and do treat real people) for how they respond to their illness(es), I do hope you experience something that forces you into a situation where you can realize what a piece of shit you've been. suddenly it's not so fun to insult mental illness and/or trauma response when you have it. in the event that that's what it takes to get someone to understand how horrific it is to use someone's illness to score your low blow against them, then that's what I would wish on you.

it's one thing to dislike a character; it's another to try to grab onto any possible thing you can to justify your dislike/hate/whatever and it be mental illness you grab onto as some bullshit excuse to justify your pathetic argument. if that's what you do, that's who you are as a person. you are someone who uses mental illness to determine someone's worth, character, etc. that shit doesn't just stop at fictional universes. if it's something you've said regarding a fictional character, it's something you absolutely think irl about real people or it wouldn't have crossed your mind.

this also goes for using mental illness to make a character sound less than another character you're trying to say is better than them. if insulting a character and saying they're less than another because of their mental illness is something you do, you are, plain and simple, a disgusting piece of shit and that is quite honestly not strong enough wording to express what you really are.

if you've read this post and are offended by it, consider that you're probably part of the problem and are someone who has done this. you wouldn't feel bothered by it if you weren't someone who has done that.

[isnt-it-pretty]

i've been thinking a lot about two of your fics (cinnabar and salt, fragile things) and wanted to ask if you had more detailed thoughts on kaeya and his disability? i adore chronically ill kaeya and hc him as such myself, and it's so rare to see people who have similar ideas

Hi! It's been a long time since I've thought about this (I haven't been playing Genshin much anymore for various reasons), so please forgive me for being scattered.

To start, there's a few posts I've made and reblogged under the tag #chronically ill kaeya but not very many.

In Cinnabar and Salt, Kaeya's scarlet fever developed into rheumatic fever, which is an inflammatory disease that also damaged his heart called rheumatic heart disease. It's a heart valve disease, meaning one or more of the valves in the heart don't work correctly (heart valves keep blood flowing in the correct direction.) He probably also has arrhythmia, where his heart has an irregular rhythm.

My thought was that it appears sort of episodically, with him totally fine sometimes and exhausted, shirt of breathe, etc others. He grew up afterwards being careful about it, but he kinda stopped that after Crepus died and Diluc left. He doesn't keep up with appointments to check his heart, drinks too much, etc, which is bound to catch up with him. I had the idea of a sequel where he collapses in Angel's Share.

In more general aspects rather than in that au, I could see Kaeya with chronic fatigue issues, and I definitely think he has chronic pain. Some of the times he passes off work to others is for his imahe of laziness while he's doing essentially spy work, but other times, it's because he genuinely can't keep up. I also headcanon him with brutal migraines, and depending on how severe the burns were from his fight with Diluc, potentially tremors in his hands.

Very few people know about it, too. Varka before he left, obviously. Jean, Barbara, probably some order of Rosaria, Lisa, and Albedo, though for them, I imagine they guessed rather than being told. I headcanon Venti knows literally everything happening in Mondstadt, and of course, Diluc. But Kaeya is chronically bad (heh) at taking care of himself, and he will run himself into the ground and then crash super hard, which he has done on multiple occasions. It drives Jean crazy.

Depending on how you want to view Kaeya's parents, there's the option of him having been an extremely ill child, and that's why he was chosen to be sent to Mondstadt--that it was both to further their goals and also because that gave him the best chance at surviving to adulthood.

I also thought it might be interesting to have an au where Kaeya has Eleazar, since we know Khaenriah is below Sumeru. Instead of Kaeya running away to Sumeru, Crepus could have taken him to seek the doctors there. It would be interesting to see him getting sicker as time went on, and maybe even returning to Sumeru around the time of the archon quest with Lisa because importing medicine isn't good enough anymore.

I know @faelynny headcanons chronically ill Kaeya as part of his Khaenriahn (? Spelling, ugh) curse--or at least they did, we haven't talked about it in a while.

Fael, anything to add on this headcanon? I'd also love to hear anybody else's thoughts!

[kafus]

ok quick team tour before the E4 because i'm way more attached to these guys than i thought i'd be. and by quick i mean this might be a long post sorry. i will go in order of acquisition of various team members :]

first up lovebug! named by my friend venty and also who i'd consider my starter :] butterfree's movepool isn't super wide and getting the twisted spoon or silver powder would be more trouble than it's worth at the moment, so aside from teaching Psychic with a TM, i left him with his level up moves and a quick claw for some speedy sleep powders. he has compoundeyes which makes sleep powder nearly 100% accurate and has been incredibly useful this entire run, especially with catching pokemon since sleep is so effective. i love him

next up QUIVER MY BELOVED... i saved her evolution for level 53 literally in the middle of victory road, was super satisfying. nidoqueen can only learn crunch as a nidorina, once she evolves she can't learn it anymore, and nidorina learns it at level 53 so i played the long game to get that one cool move. she has blackglasses to boost the power of it. earthquake is from a TM and i used her as my strength user during my playthrough, but it's a pretty useful move so i just kept it instead of going out of my way to remove it. and then after evolving her i used the move reminder after farming some tinymushrooms to get superpower to top off her moveset. very proud of her she's come so far from being a level 6 nidoran lol

say hello to TACO (BELL)... thanks for the shitpost name @ my qpp SDJFKDFS the miracle seed is from the celadon game corner! did you know weepinbell learns razor leaf at mfing level 42? and before that it only has vine whip for grass stab? it's awful. i waited that long to evolve him. i wanted to save some of my tms for the postgame so i decided to hold onto giga drain and solar beam and the like, decided to just keep razor leaf. i didn't wanna repeat niches by giving him sleep powder or something so i grinded even more tinymushrooms and taught him spit up and stockpile from the move reminder for the meme LOL who knows if i'll actually get use out of it. but i love taco he has been fun to use since i almost always have bulbasaur as my grass type

EGG!!!! he's named after my real life jolteon plushie with the same name. bite is exclusive to eevee at level 30 and since all dark moves are special in this game, it is actually useful on jolteon! i went pretty overboard on this guy because i love him. thunderbolt was a tm from the game corner, and uh... well... i found out he has hidden power water, with 70 base power, which while not the literal Best means he can hit ground types for super effective special damage at the maximum power possible for hidden power which is Based. UNFORTUNATELY hidden power can only be obtained through a 5% pickup drop in FRLG, so i caught a team of 6 meowths and spammed pickup until i got one lol. as for his held magnet item, that's exclusively obtained in FRLG by stealing off of wild magneton... a 5% chance. so i caught a level 31 meowth by bond bridge on two island, taught it thief, and used a repel trick with it to get all encounters to be magneton at the power plant... and just kept encountering until finally got the magnet 18 encounters in. pretty epic. nothing on his moveset is jolteon's natural moveset except thunder wave LOL and he has a pretty rare item for before the postgame

next up is creamsicle who is surprisingly one of my favorites despite being a pretty straightforward pokemon with a limited movepool. icy wind, ice beam, and rest, are all levelup moves, while surf is obviously an HM. mystic water is from the celadon game corner. all of the pokemon on my team are pokemon i've never brought to the endgame before, but dewgong is among the pokemon i've never used before in like... any capacity. so it's been really fun to use her! dewgong is underrated and very cute. but i understand why no one uses it, pretty out of the way in lategame seafoam islands

and last but not least here's torch! a pokemon i've DEFINITELY never used before as mt ember is optional before the postgame and i sometimes don't even take up bill's offer to go, much less linger on mt ember running around for a 5% encounter that late in the game post-blaine. BUT i wanted variety and this is certainly a fun choice after using ninetales a million times in my life. moveset is just levelup moveset except brick break which i taught by (thankfully renewable) TM, and the charcoal is from the game corner. he's the only mon caught in an ultra ball bc i could not be bothered oops... but the yellow matches! (btw he has a special attack IV of 0. LOOOL i still love him though)

and that's my weird ass leafgreen team where i boxed my starter and went out of my way to get pokemon i've not used before. i am at around 30 hours of gameplay and i'm going to fight the E4 shortlySDFKFSD

[crystallinearts]

Hi I’m the anon who asked for the nsfw venti asmr and I feel terrible about what happened to your YT channel. I really hope it wasn’t because of my request. Either way I won’t request those kinds of asmrs in the future. Please take care of yourself okay? We’re here for you

hi sweetie!!

please don't blame yourself, and don't hold back from requesting things you'd like! literally my very first ever video on YouTube was 18+, so I don't know what they were smoking by picking and choosing which to take down before eventually terminating my channel. it absolutely, 100%, without a doubt, WAS NOT YOR FAULT, nor was it the fault of anyone who requested 18+ ASMRs.

one of my videos was incredibly explicit and it didn't get removed or give me a strike, while tamer content was taken down. YouTube and their algorithms are just very fucky. and it's unfortunate, but I'll admit I should have posted the spicy stuff elsewhere; I knew it shouldn't have been on YouTube, but I thought I'd seen worse and that it wasn't something which was seriously enforced.

besides, what I think happened is that the heavy crying and breathing in Xin's debut video was picked up by the algorithm and registered as sexual noises, and that was, sadly, the final strike. and because I had other NSFW on my channel, my appeal wasn't successful.

the blame for my channel being terminated is 10000% on me, nobody else. I don't want anyone who requested NSFW things to feel bad or blame themselves. it was my channel, and my responsibility to comply with guidelines. I naively thought those guidelines wouldn't be enforced, I broke them several times even after having videos removed, and I paid the price.

as they say, play stupid games, win stupid prizes. I just failed to realize I was playing a stupid game, and I really should be smarter than that 😜

I will still do NSFW things, I enjoy doing them on occasion! I'm just still working out exactly how to best go about doing so... posting them solely on Tumblr, most likely 😘

you're still awesome and I adore you, please keep requesting things if you want, even NSFW things!! your support means so much to me, and you take care of yourself too, okay? 💎💖💎

[capriciousvisage]

Touken Ranbu is a great series! You can effectively not even play the game. I've been a fan since 2016 and I think the only pairing I actively dislike is one of the only "big" pairs. But otherwise you can do whatever ship-wise, really! If you ever see a figure that's a male character in recent years, too, and not just a Nendo, you have Touken Ranbu to thank because they revolutionized the industry in that regard, and proved figured of male characters do sell lol.

Diluc & Diona is also a pair I'd like to explore a lot, but Klee & Diluc has my heart so bad. But Klee is just the sweetest little girl, it'd be difficult for anyone to not think so I think... haha.

Recently I've made friends that are more "fandom" focused. When I say that, I mean they are more focused on participating in any fandom that fandom has become its own fandom. I think it's a little difficult for me to explain. I think there's nothing wrong with this in particular, but it isn't my preferred method of participating with others (I don't tend to participate at large, and this is like, very at large participation, even for individualized fandoms they wouldn't otherwise be in or for media they wouldn't otherwise consider themselves to be fans of in the first place). Anyway, I bring this up because I think that may also have something to do with the greater division between canon and fanon; while the people I've become friends with are more on-line with "fandom olds" and thus care greatly about being IC and making things that show their love for a series, there's been an uptick in people who make things just because they know they can be "popular" if they stick to a particular fandom, particular tropes, and particular ships. It's similar but different to the friends I've mentioned: These fame-chasing ones are trying to create things that will get popular, and they aren't doing it out of love for the series.

Long have people said statements like, "Canon sucks, so I'm making it my own!" While there's nothing inherently bad about statements like these (fix-it fics are a good example of this pulled off well, as well as canon divergence in some cases), people have begun to extremely diverge from canon in any way possible in order to fit it more to their tastes instead of just... finding something else. Like I said before, I think a lot of people would be way better off if they just made original characters.

Related to the above two points, I have to mention the AUs. Like the college AUs or the florist/tattooist AUs or the coffee shop AUs. Some of these AUs can be extremely well done. Most, however, are just writing the tropes and not the characters. (The Batman thing sounds so dire. Like so, so dire.) Like you said, these people only know these characters from fanfiction (when I was 12 I read Kingdom Hearts fanfiction without playing any of the games, and I roleplayed and wrote a character on DeviantArt who I had just informed myself of entirely through ff.net, and it's always a shock to me to learn people do this today but they're well over twelve). It's like a neverending cycle. A fanfiction ouroboros. And they yell at you if you don't use de-facto "canon" fanon. Also I don't even think half the people writing college AUs have stepped on a college campus. Half the people writing coffee shop AUs have never worked at a coffee shop (as someone who has, I have never met a single customer I would have wanted to bang).

And I love AUs! I've been thinking of reviving a Diluc/Venti AU that I've posted a few chapters of already, because I did love the story for it. But AUs have a different appeal to me than others it seems; I enjoy writing AUs for the challenge of putting these guys in situations that are definitely not canon while still making them the same guys. Some people seem to have different priorities, and that's fine, but I'm not going to read it...

And the fanon gotchas... It reminds me of how people, prior to Ayato even being revealed, had made up a guy and had already begun to ship Thomato. With their fanon based on only a few lines. Then they got mad at MHY when Ayato was actually released and wasn't like that at all. I saw people getting into discourse about Kavetham weeks before Kaveh was officially revealed, like they were trying to speed run being the most annoying subset of fans. (This actually turned me off from Alhaitham and his fans as a whole for an entire year until I was shown how fucking funny he is.) An ex-friend once told me they really like Kavetham and Cynari, but that they're both "kind of toxic in canon", and that they heavily prefer fanon. I don't think you enjoy the ships at all, actually. You enjoy the idea of the ships. (I'm also still struggling to figure out how Cynari is toxic to this day.) I think the Batman situation you explained (which still sounds so dire) is in a similar boat to this. Just so completely divested from the original source.

I also want to mention Wrio/Neuvi. Even before the last event where they had one (1) singular scene, they had no chemistry or clear dynamic. They had said only a few lines to each other on screen, and not much was implied otherwise, too. But the fans somehow made up two entirely new characters and called it canon, saying they had even more chemistry than nvfr. This isn't even because nvfr is my current OTP either! I love Wriorinde and Furirinde and Neuvia and other combos too! But the insistence on it being canon combined with the utter lack of on screen and implied anything just is so mind boggling to me. And yet somehow it's so popular???!???? (And it's only because they're both guys, I know this deep in my heart. If even just one of them was a woman, it would be a rare pair.) Again I can see the appeal (especially with post-canon), but so many people just don't do it like they actually like and care for the characters. They extrapolate chemistry that wouldn't be there, instead of figuring out what sort of chemistry would be. I had to block someone the other day because they posted something about "we need a tag for Neuvi and Furina that's familial because he's her dad and you can't convince me otherwise" and I am just like WHAT!! Even if you think their relationship is purely platonic in every scenario, there are more types of platonic relationships than just familial!!! Be creative!! I think people really have forgotten what "headcanon" means...sadly. Don't insist it's canon!!

Like, I dunno. If people want to write these sorts of things, then I can't stop them even if I wanted to. But it's just such a sad state of affairs to me, to live like this. Some people are so passionate and creative but they just have a hatred towards the source material, whether they realize or not...and I have to wonder if they're actually having fun at all. I'm truly a fanfic writer who reads only books because the fanfic situation is so fucked up right now. But even debut books are really "fanfictionified" nowadays too.

Anyway. I should be sleeping LOL. This is not even a good quality rant... But I'm glad to know I'm not alone... the true rare pair shippers... we exist!!

(And yeah, I know! But I think it was more so I am still questioning so am in a weird phase where I both ID with aro and not hahaha)

yknow i say im a huge multishipper but i wouldnt actually consider myself much of a shipper at all. just open to the idea of trying everything once. the term has typically romantic connotations and follows the assumption that i think, and want, these characters to be good for eachother.

I'm, personally, less interested in the prexisting chemistry than i am in the puzzle of figuring out what differing circumstances could potentially cause two characters who have seemingly nothing in common to become eachothers everything.

This could explain my favorism towards rarepairs and more convoluted dynamics, and my aversion to popular, fluffy pairings that have already been explored a thousand times over, there's no work for me to do there.

Not to mention that when a ship becomes too popular it starts cannibalising itself, and lots of good, interesting characterisations are lost in the sea of people bending characters into pre-orchestrated, saccharine dynamics. alot of which are usually downright fetishy in nature, particularly in mlm pairings.

I mean i would say being able to get ooc and self indulgent is downright mandatory for making a good fic, but there's only so many times i have to read a fic about a big, overprotective, manly-man top who does all the work and the shy, small, swoony, softhearted femme-wifey-bottom before it starts to just be lazy.

I actively have to go out of my way to search 'switch' tags if i want true-to-the-character, mutual emotional reciprocation. which i really, really shouldn't have to do as an ace person who actively skips through nsfw.

And it's not that popular wlw pairings aren't guilty of these problems aswell, but those tend to lean more into the 'soft lesbians who can do no wrong' stereotype, which always completely (butch)ers all nuisance that makes the ship worth shipping in the first place.

As well as that's if they're even the focus of the story at all and aren't just shoved to the side by the main mlm couple. mlw pairings can be culpable of both these things, with the added risk that you find out the author made a twitter post with the characters in front of the 'super straight' flag.

Though i also wonder if me being aspec plays any part as again; im not as interested in the romantic aspects as i am in the possible hurdles they may face throughout the potential relationship.

Anyone else feel like this?

[anemoarchonhoe]

Afjdgkhd imagine that's how the very first sprite was born. Kissing Venti all of a sudden there's a fluffy spirit that you have strong maternal urges for. Absolutely doesn't help your I'm totally dreaming rn idea. But ofc you take advantage of it bc why wouldn't you. Oh, this is our spontaneous lovechild? Guess this means we have to get married now. Wouldn't want to leave me a single parent, would you Venti? Meanwhile the acolytes are punching the air bc you didn't choose them.

Related post.

Frei I want you to turn all of your asks into liquid and inject them in my veins next time. I can't stop thinking about this ask, it's haunting me everywhere all the time like a ghost.

You finally part from Venti's lips after unabashedly kissing him in front of all your worshippers. He whines, no longer aware of his surroundings because all of his focus were zeroed in on you, and moves to lean in to capture your lips once again. But you stop him by grabbing his face like a basketball, your palm barely covering his entire face. Venti sputters with the way you held his face and finally snaps out of his simp headspace, removing your hand gingerly.

"Wh– Why'd you stop, Your Grace?"

"What the fuck is that?" you pointed at a fluffy, floating ball with tiny little feet and beady eyes. Its antennas twitched, drifting closer to your index finger. You recoiled, surprised with the sensation that you felt. It felt like you're touching the wind.

"I don't know. I've never seen one in my life," he marveled at the creatures that floated around them. There are at least ten of them.

Someone cleared their throat. You both turned around and Jean steps forward, her cheeks tinged pink. Was it because of embarrassment of watching the Anemo Archon and the All-Creator makeout in the middle of the room, unashamed? Perhaps. But with the way she looks overjoyed, like her sister Barbara standing a little bit behind her, tells it's not the entire truth.

"Venti, Your Grace," she starts. "...they appeared while you were kissing."

"What? How?" you both asked, in sync.

"We don't know," Jean answered. "But I believe these little ones were products of... your affection for each other."

You turned to look at Venti, eyes sparkling with mirth. This dream is the best! You got to kiss him and now... now...

"Babies... They're our babies, Venti!" you giddily grabs both of his shoulders, shaking him lightly. The poor archon looks like he's in shock; his world has been shaken twice in just one day. "We should get married now. Let's raise them together and be the best parents ever!"

"Married... babies... together..." Venti smiled to himself, eyes looking like they're gazing far, far away. Likely into the future you're promising to him. "I'd love nothing more than to be with you forever, Your Grace." He snaps back into the present, his forehead meeting yours. He pulls you back into a kiss, and you let him.

He cards his fingers through your hair and lightly tugs it. There's a pleasant sting that accompanied it, and once it registers, your eyes suddenly opened and widened in shock.

Sting. Hurt and pain. However slight, it was still pain and it didn't pull you out of this "dream".

Oh, no. This is reality? ...You're not dreaming?

Venti sucks lightly on your bottom lip as he groans and suddenly it doesn't matter anymore.

"...Please stop making out in front of us."

Diluc's quiet plea went in one ear and out the other.

[valberryy]

oh, eurydice (it's an awful sound). — venti

de l'autre côté de l'eau, comme un écho. / tu dis que c'est la fin du monde, c'est ton silence mon eau profonde.

um,, idk what to say cause i dont want this to b my venti summoning post but. anyways. also tagging @starfell-traveler look i finished it!!!! b proud of me /hj

pairing: venti x gn!reader

content warnings: mentions/descriptions of alcohol & blood/injuries, major character death, it's just heavy angst i'm sorry

one.

Venti still remembers the first time he heard you laugh, warm and clear and bright, like the chiming of cathedral-bells.

In those golden days when he was getting used to his new face, he often found himself wandering—much to the chagrin of his friends. If he wasn't in one of the many taverns of the newly-built Mondstadt, he was wandering these new, free lands.

And that was how he met you, the spritely scion of house Gunnhildr, who had strayed away from your envoy with a bottle of wine and leaves in your hair. He noted the mischief dancing in your eyes, the sunlight dappling on your skin, the way your mouth formed a small "o" when you saw you were not alone.

Your eyes had lit up when you caught sight of him. "Oh, my lord!" you called, "Fancy a cup and a chat, perhaps?"

Venti stood still for a moment to ponder your request, but at the sound of you popping the cork off the bottle and pouring it into a cup you had brought, he found his resolve weakening. He took a seat next to you as you pulled a stray leaf from your hair, taking a sip from your cup before passing it to him.

How brazen of you, he mused.

While cherry wine, in his opinion, could never hold a candle to the dandelion wine he had grown fond of, it tasted all the sweeter coming from you.

You had laughed at this sentiment of his, clear as the water from the lake nearby. "Is that so?" you asked. "Perhaps I'll bring some more of this kind especially for you, dearest bard."

Venti responded with a playful pluck at his lyre-strings. "I'd prefer if you called me by my name, young master Gunnhildr."

"And what would that be?"

Just as he was about to respond, the two of you caught wind of voices yelling out your name, and you flinched. "That must be for me," you said. "I shouldn't have expected to be able to hide forever."

He helped you stand, stretching out his arm to pull you up—your hand was soft and warm against his own, and the "thank you," that rolled from your lips made his heart flutter in a way he wasn't used to.

"I'd love to see you again," you said, and he smiled.

"You talk as if this is goodbye forever!" Venti joked. "We can meet here again, if you so wish."

"Then it is done," you said, and squeezed his hand as if in confirmation of your new arrangement.

And with the lightest press of your wine-stained lips to his cheek, you had run off without another word—only the sound of your distant laughter and, "Sorry, sorry! I'm back now, mother!" left in your wake.

two.

That promise had soon become habit, and habit a new way of life—one wherein you would sneak away from the rest of your family to rendezvous with Venti in the forest, to share wine and song and sweet, honeyed words alike.

(And as time wore on, you pressed your wine-stained lips to more places than just his cheek, and the cheeky bastard would have you do it again, and again, and again.)

"What d'you reckon your family would say if they figured out you were sneaking away for this?" Venti mused, "Like a hero in a romance novel."

With a laugh, you lay your head over his lap and smiled when his hand came to rest in your hair, his fingers gently playing with the strands. "Scold me, I suppose," you said. "There are worse fates than not being allowed outside for a month, my love." 

You plucked a stray dandelion out of his hair, blowing the seeds to the wind. 

"Hmm? And what would those be, I wonder?"

"...You're so infuriating, Venti," you grumbled, and he simply laughed and took another sip of wine—elderflower this time, tasting like spring upon his tongue. "I can't even dare imply that I want to be with you forever without you teasing me for it—what kind of lover are you? Hmph."

He paused, a teasing grin growing on his lips despite your previous words. "Are you asking me to marry you?"

An odd noise left your throat. "I mean," you said, "unless you want me to take your surname instead? ...Now that I think about it, Venti Gunnhildr doesn't quite sound the best."

A laugh, first from him, soon followed by one of your own. "Your family won't allow it, would they? But if the fates allow…there's nothing I'd love more than to be with you," he said. Gently he untangled his fingers from your hair, weaving his fingers between your own instead. "That is, if you want it too?"

A world of just you and him, a life where he would never have to stray far from your side—perhaps this was what Amos so desperately craved for, in those days. Venti watched as you removed the signet ring from your pointer finger and fit it snugly on his own, admiring your handiwork and smiling up at him.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

three.

Somehow it felt odd to see you in clothes other than the casual attire he had always seen you in. When you were seated upon your horse like this, dressed in richly-dyed leathers and embroidered silks with your family crest hanging proudly from your breast pocket, you seemed much less like the cheeky [Name] that would pluck his lyre from his hands to play your own tune, and more like the young scion of house Gunnhildr that the rest of the world saw you as.

"I'm sorry, dearest," you said, your voice thick with regret. "They only told me about this last night, so I've had no time to tell you… And father wouldn't let me refuse, so—"

Venti laughed, "When did you become such a worrywart? It's only one round of hunting, right? I'll be waiting for you back here."

You huffed, leaning down to press a kiss to the corner of his lips. "Then I'll be sure to hurry on back to you."

He pulled you back down for another kiss, square on the lips this time, before letting you go. "Don't miss!" he said, calling after your horse, to which you turned and yelled back at him,

"If I do, it's your fault!"

He laughed, settling down beneath a tree and closing his eyes. You'd be there to wake him when you returned.

When Venti awoke, it was not to your hand shaking his shoulder but to a thud and the worried whinnying of a horse. His eyes snapped open as you groaned, one hand clutching your stomach and the other propping you up. When you caught his gaze you smiled weakly, too much blood in your teeth and not enough light in your eyes.

"I'm back, dearest," you said, and he had stumbled over to catch you before your arm gave out.

He pressed down on your torso, where three large gashes ran down from your chest down to your stomach, large and jagged as if from the claws of a bear. You groaned in pain and he pressed a kiss to your hand in apology, your skin pale and clammy in a way that reminded him too much of harsh, cold winds and a boy with his lyre. 

"You should've seen me, Venti," you breathed, "I shot it right in the throat…are you proud of me?"

"Very," he said. "I'll always be proud of you."

You laughed, broken and pained and sad. "Good," you said, "good." Then you looked up at him, the tears welling in his eyes, the reality of his fate—your fate—finally looming upon him. "Don't look at me like that, love," you cooed. "Please, smile for me, okay? Sing for me…can you spare me at least that much?"

His grip on your hand tightened. "All of that and so much more, dandelion," he said. "Please…"

"So much more, huh…" you mused. "Then, how about one last kiss before I go?"

"...You talk as if this is goodbye," he says, but doesn't protest when you pull him down by the collar, your red-stained lips pressing weakly against his—

—But instead of the sweetness of wine, there was only the sharp bitterness of your blood in his mouth.

four.

"How far would you go for me?" was something Venti had thrown around a lot, never expecting you to give him a straight answer—not with how you shoved his shoulder and said, "Just because there wasn't a ceremony doesn't mean I'm not your spouse, Venti. Wouldn't the answer be obvious?"

But he still recalled the first time he had asked you and the first time you answered, your fingers tangled with his and your head buried in the crook of his neck. Your voice had been softer, gentler, lacking the playful edge but just as genuine as always, "From the deepest depths of the ocean to the highest to the highest peaks in the sky," you said, "Until my hands wither away into dust."

"Maybe you're the bard instead of me, love," he had said, then.

In this new world without you he found himself clinging to whatever remnants of you he could—the dappled sunlight in the forest, the slightest sting of alcohol going down, the glint of your family crest on the ring that adorned his finger.

One of his many laments was how he could never mourn you in the way he felt you deserved—he had not the power to turn back time, lacked the dominion over anything static and permanent to immortalise you with. He only had his lyre and his voice and his winds, and all he could do was paint the skies grey in his grief, have the gales sing requiems that you would never hear.

From the deepest depths of the ocean to the highest peaks in the sky he would go for you and back—and if the darkest depths of this world contained the secret to getting you back, perhaps even a mere spirit on the wind could bear the trek through the dark. 

(After all, Venti knew in his heart of hearts that you would have done the same for him.)

The heart of the Abyss wasn't a land of mindless bloodshed and fire—it was cold and calculating, like a predator lying in wait. It was this place, in the depths of Teyvat and in the winding depths of their palace, that he knew could somehow bring you back to him. 

"Are you the one for whom the skies wept, bard?"

Venti swallowed down the lump in his throat. "I am," he said. "I want a deal."

The person before him raised an eyebrow, canting their head to the side. 

"One life," they said, "and no second chances."

Cold, and calculating, and inevitable—but still he would try. Venti owed you at least that much, no?

five.

He squeezed your hand as you trailed behind him, muttering to himself: don't look back, don't look back, don't look back. No matter how much he longed to hold you, to see your face and feel your skin beneath his, he kept his gaze to his feet as you both moved onwards into the dark.

(When he saw you again, just as beautiful as the day he lost you, he dropped his lyre to run into your arms, burying his face in the crook of your neck and surrounding himself with only you, you, you. 

"Venti," you said, and he nearly wept at the way his name rolled from your tongue. "Let's go home.")

You squeezed his hand back, so gently that he almost couldn't believe you were really there. "Why don't you sing me a song, dearest?" you quipped. "Anything you like."

In spite of himself, in spite of the cold around him and behind him and in his own hand, he smiled. "Have I ever sung you the one with the mist flower and the sparrow?"

He heard you huff behind him. "That one again? You know how bad I am at hitting the notes in that!"

"Hmm, sure, sounds like an excuse to me…"

"Venti!"

He laughed and squeezed your hand again, as if to remind himself—you were here, and he was taking you home, and you would be able to feel the sun on your skin and taste wine from his cup in the way you had always loved. He would be able to write you songs and guide your hands across his lyre, and he need never stray far from your side.

You need never go somewhere where he couldn't follow.

"We're almost there," he said, resisting the urge to turn around to smile at you. "There's a bottle of wine waiting for us. It wouldn't do us any good to leave it for too long, you know?"

He squeezed your hand again, but you didn't respond.

He swallowed down the lump in his throat. His footsteps hastened, quicker and quicker until he was near-running towards where he knew the surface lay. Had he been tricked? Were you never there all along? Had you gotten lost, or fallen, or left, and left some other person in your stead?

Anxiety clutched at his heart like brambles, and Venti found his mind wandering back to those days with the wintery winds and the friends he had lost to the storms. Not again, he prayed, please, never again.

He ran until his legs ached, ran until the first drop of sunlight finally kissed his skin, and he let go of your hand to turn around—

—to see your face still shrouded in darkness, your eyes wide, your hand still reaching out for him.

"What?" he breathed, "No, please, I can't lose you again—"

You smiled, and though your teeth weren't coated in blood and your body was free from any wounds, Venti's heart had sunk even further than when he had caught you that day. 

"No, love, please, I'm sorry—"

"Venti," you said, "I'll see you again soon, okay?"

"Please—"

"I love you." 

With whatever time you had left, you reached out further to brush the tips of your fingers against his cheek. "Smile for me, okay? Sing me one last song…" 

And before he could reach out to you again, you had once again gone somewhere he couldn't reach. 

(Yours was a song he sang without end, even when all of Mondstadt had forgotten your name—and even when he felt like he didn't deserve to bear your memory. 

On days when he uncorked a bottle of cherry wine or caught the Acting Grandmaster's eye, Venti found himself staring down at the ring you had placed on his finger in those golden days—and if he closed his eyes and pressed his lips to it the way you had done to him, he swears he can still hear your laugh, warm and clear and bright.)

[mrpenguinpants]

Hey so that Dainsleif quest huh 👀

[Spoilers for those who haven't played it yet ofc]

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These are just some disorganized initial thoughts for your consideration:

So I'm pretty sure his "travel companion" that he keeps mentioning is our twin

Does that mean our twin has gone to the exact same places as we've been going?? Dainsleif seemed to be familiar with all the locations we visited in Mondstadt but I suppose that could've been from an even earlier journey

And the possibility that the Abyss is trying to mislead us bc we hadn't encountered any abyss mages since Dvalin 🤔🤔🤔 what do they want??? We know (kinda) that our twin is watching our progress and that they're the prince/princess of the Abyss so like are they trying to keep us from getting in the way of their plans so as not to accidentally hurt us? Though something tells me we're gonna get tangled up in it one way or the other lmao

Dainsleif said that his goal is to oppose the Abyss so perhaps he's got his own secret plans to try to stop our twin (as is also supported by what he said at the end of the mortal travails video about proving ourselves worthy of stopping "her"/Lumine probably)

Also turns out I'd been pronouncing his name wrong the whole time lmao I had been saying dains-leaf instead of dains-lif

No Vision as confirmed by his full character model

Also his eyepatch is more of a phantom of the opera mask lmao

Important observation he looks like post timeskip Dimitri from a distance when I had to meet him in Dvalin's Lair I legit thought he was Dimitri for a sec XD

Anyway those were my thoughts about the new quest lmao my internet was cutting out the whole time while I was trying to play like dsfkdksjf pls I just wanted to talk to blond eyepatch man

Important part of this post: 

I took a lot of pictures of Dainsleif if you want to use them as references (or appreciation).  The pictures are under the read more tag so if you don’t want spoilers, don’t read anything and skip to the read more. 

Also, he calls you and your sibling “idiots” through money.

He asks for 500 mora and (this is probably just a coincidence but considering Zhongli tips Xiangling 888 mora I’m sus). The number 250  [二百五] or ( èr bǎi wǔ) means “idiot”. 

If someone calls you 250, they can say (nǐ shì wǔ bǎi) or “You are [250]”. But if you give someone 500, this can be taken as saying two people are stupid (250 + 250 = 500). I mean, that’s probably not how it works but I think it’s funny to imagine Dainsleif being too polite to call us stupid. 

---

I know right? When I saw the leak for it and seeing it confirmed in patch notes, I was so confused. Wha-Why are you here so early? I wasn’t expecting you for another 5 years at least. I’m happy to see you and your beautiful model in game but at the same time I was so worried that we were going to get crumbs of interactions. Same thing with Guizhong in Zhongli’s story quest. Genshin please...finish your stories (that’s fucking hilarious coming from me considering I still have a part 2 to Childe that I need to write), but I’m honestly just happy that he’s in the game. But yes 👀👀 more lore food. 

You know, I was talking about the archons a bit with @maagdalen and, I may have been misunderstanding or reading the wrong message, but they brought up the idea that what if the archons’ personality is based on their regions country's? So for example, Venti’s personality adopts the German mentality because Mondstadt was modelled after Germany? Obviously, I have no idea if that’s true because I’m not from or am German but in the context of Liyue and Zhongli. I can definitely see some sort of connection. 

But some food for thought:

“But cyro archon is very viable since she's suppose to be a kind hearted person that needed to be cold for the sake of freedom. or peace. something like that.”

 “Sorry, but this is stupidly Russian style. No matter what you say, people will always be dissatisfied. Of course it's not that bad...but it's something to think about.“ 

But yess, @svnflowery​ said the same thing. That Dainsleif was Lumine’s “guide” the same way Paimon is our guide. I actually think that’s an interesting idea. That Lumine has gone to the exact same places as we’ve been through. It actually makes me wonder (since we can play as both her and Aether), that Lumine went through the same story line as Aether. She met Venti, Zhongli, everything that’s happening right now. She’s already been through, then when she reached the Khaenri’ah chapter she failed. So she decided to spin the clock back and change destiny. I mean, this is me spit balling and I don’t think this happened but it’s something to think about. 

You know funny enough, hasn’t Venti been asleep for a while? Either way, he doesn’t really strike me as the type that truly wants to be an Archon. He says in his voicelines as well that “that’s a problem for Mondstadt to deal with”. So it would be easier for the Abyss Order to mess some things up. While Zhongli has been alive for 6000 years and I highly doubt Abyss Order can do anything to him haha. If we’re going on that “Lumine has already been through this journey” she could be trying to re-make or lead us on the same path. 

I wouldn’t be surprised if Dainsleif was our guide, then when Lumine spun the clock back and aligned herself with the abyss, that’s when they split. That could be a reason why he’s trying to oppose the abyss order but really I think it’s because the Abyss Order’s goal is to basically set the world on fire (or something like that). I always pronounce character names wrong and I don’t understand why people make such a big deal out of it. You know who I’m talking about, my pronunciation isn’t completely shit to the point you don’t know. So why do you keep yelling at me??

Also. The most important part of his quest was it was “Aether’s version” of the “We will be reunited” trailer. 

It even showed the crushed dandelion flower and the ruin guard footprints. IT’S OUR SISTER. 

I knoww, I was searching for his vision and got weird pics but that’s alright, I LOWKEY HATE THE OPERA MASK SO MUCH. GIVE ME ACTUAL MASK. THERE GOES THE “SEPERATE COLOURED EYE” ART OF KHAENRIAH PEOPLE. Yo, knock off Dimitri let’s go. 

I love Dainslief’s english voice but I hate Xiao’s en voice. What a dilemma. I usually play in chinese but wow does Dainslief sound old. Jp is slightly better but I hear grandpa vibes. Korean isn’t bad and I actually don’t mind korean xiao so korean we shall go. It’s weird. I like Dainsleif english voices, Xiao chinese voice, paimon korean voice haha. Jp is usually just good all around but I have preferences. But tyty for telling me your thoughts! I’d love to hear about the Xiao quest that just dropped. Beautiful boy 

sweats 

yeah about that...xiao scammed me. I wonder if his speech changes based on what you say. i kind of doubt it though. 

I’m looking at his outfit from every angle while Xiao stays pretty in the back. 

I like that you can see his magic arm there. 

While on this side you can’t. 

I swear this is for research. IM TRYING TO SEE IF HE HAS A VISION. IM INNOCENT!!

he also has some sort of weird...blue thingy on his foot?

Im using Xiao as a personfication of me BUT TELL ME YOUR SECRETS 

[nyxicnymph]

My take on Genshin Characters

I started playing a little while ago, and haven't yet caught up, but here are my thoughts.

-*Traveler/Aether: I definitely like the anemo powers the best. Very useful, I like the way they blend with other elements. Don't see him as family, but he does mean something to me. I'd be his best friend. Electro's pretty good, but takes a long time to recharrge.

-*Amber: Little sister. Hard to use in mob fights but really good for singular fights, like Eye of the Storm, or those electric bat things.

-*Kaeya: Didn't like him at first but he's got a good heart, so he's my big brother now. Almost always deployed.

-*Lisa: My wine aunt! I like her powers when fighting cryo characters but she takes hits really easily and dies quickly.

-Jean: Mom! Mom! Mom! I haven't gotten to play as her yet but she is my ideal mom. :) happy vibes.

-*DIluc: HI DAD I'M STANDING ON YOUR COUNTERS I'M IN YOUR HOUSE PAY ATTENTION TO ME. He's one of my dads. I like playing as him. He's great all around and I'm glad I got him recently! He's been a real lifesaver!

-Venti: Okay he's twelve. But he's a god. And he drinks? And even though he's done nothing to me I want to throw him off a cliff. But like. Affectionately. His powerset is pretty unique, I think, I do like having the ability to make windcurrents wherever I want. Maybe someday I'll get him and can cause my own drama.

-*Barbara: Um. The cousin I don't really like. I wasn't fond of her powers at first but then I realized how useful they were lol.

-*Noelle: A tank and my best friend. Almost always deployed because her shield is a lifesaver.

-*Chongyun: Popsicle boy. powerhouse mode. Works excellently with Noelle and Xingqiu.

-*Ninnguang: Very Mom. Very Powerful. She's by far one of my favorite catalyst characters, and I'm very fond of her personality. Also I really like how she doesn't move around while throwing rocks lol.

-*Sucrose: Very sweet, cute, and green. Seems shy. Her power is good when mixed with another element, so she gets put on a heavy elemental team usually.

-Razor: I want to adopt him. He is my son now. The one time I played with him was very fun and not nearly long enough. Sigh.

-Xiao: I'm in love. I want him so bad. He's very powerful, but I mostly just want him because he's my husband now. I love angsty immortal men with blue/green hair dye.

-Zhongli: IF YOU FOLLOW ME AND PAY ATTENTION TO MY POSTS THEN YOU'RE AWARE OF THIS BUT. He is my dad. Well. Liyue Dad. He has very strong dad vibes. He gives advice and I cried when I finished the Liyue archon quest because I didn't want him to go away. But then lantern rite came around and prolonged our time together and it was very soothing. I didn't cry when lantern rite finished. I'd come to terms.

-Qiqi: My daughter now. Very adorable. 10/10

-Baizhu: Something about him seems off. he's hiding something. I shall shake him until he reveals it. He's good to Qiqi though.

-Keqing: Interesting character. Haven't played as her except that one time during lantern rite when the battle was over way too fast.

-Ganyu: She sounds like she needs a hug. Also her cute little crush on Shenhe is so obvious and adorable.

-Shenhe: Very stoic. Understandably so, but something I noted. I could be friends with her, I think. So many polearm users.....

-Yun Jin: Sister material! She's so cute and passionate and just wants to be seen for herself at the same time! I want to sit on her bed and laugh about Zhongli forgetting the Mora to pay for his tea at her shows and braid her hair.

-*Xiangling: She's very cute, but very high energy. All the pyro users seem to be that way lol. I'm getting used to her weapon, so she teams up with Noelle a lot so she gets a shield.

-*Xingqiu: Okay. Xingqiu is the type of guy to seem serious and composed on the surface, but he is more than willing to cause all kinds of chaos. I think the quest where you're running all over creation to buy all the cor lapis to bankrupt some guys out of buying a book that he wanted to read is an excellent example of this. Quite like his fighting style, and while his EB takes a while to recharge, it's got a lasting effect so it ain't all bad.

-*Yanfei: Very high energy, and I'm suspecting that you should not leave her alone with Xingqiu and Xiangling, hence why they're in different teams. At least that's what I'm telling myself. She's great for elemental combos and for burning shields or quick fire. I could probably make her stronger but I'm not entirely sure how rn.

-*Beidou: Very strong. Is she mother?? Is she aunt?? Is she a goddess?? idk but I am very fond of her. I like her burst and her ult is very easy to combine with other characters.

-*Xinyan: Very fun to play with but her accent throws me off every time lol. I am never expecting the almost-cowgirl accent out of her. I like her burst, and I wish her ult was longer lasting but beyond that, solid girl.

-Kazuha: He's uh. Something. But in a good way. I can see why people think he's pretty, I guess. I think I see him as more of a brother, though. idk.

-Thoma: Oh god my sister loves him. I think he and I would be best friends though. He's very sweet, but incredibly smart, and cunning. He's very good at turning situations around to someone's benefit. Not necessarily his own.

-Ayaka: She's very sweet and the festival thing was very cute. I think under the cute and sweet she's very good at reading the situation, and isn't afraid to take action.

-Yae Miko: Hm. I don't trust her. I know everybody is simping for her or shipping her, but I just. Don't trust her. also she's like a minor deity and we've had poor relations with other deities, Zhongli and Venti Aside.

-*Diona: Small! Must Adopt! She's like my irl cat as a genshin character and it's very funny to me.

-Childe: I want to fight him all the time, it sure is a shame I'm not high enough level yet. I knew he was slimy and weird from the start, and minion or not, he still had a hand in events. Also if he just talked to traveler instead of jumping to conclusions and starting a fight, shit wouldn't have been as bad. No Osial, no Beisht. A simple stepping down for Rex Lapis. The one thing about Zhongli that bothers me sometimes ig.

Honorable mentions:

-Ei: She hates me personally I think. She keeps throwing lightning at me.

Scaramouche: he's crazy. run away. DNI etc etc

I think that's all the characters I've interacted with or played as.

[gludgenbell]

Who are your favorite blogs?

- liyrical

- filibusterfrog

- popping-greenbeans

- evercelle

- spidertams

- skys-haunted

- yelltocheck

Most of these are art blogs, some focus around genshin, but yeah!! These are my few favourites and now I will share why

liyrical's art is so pretty,, if I get the money I'd hope to commission them one day! I admire the way they use colors and how smooth yet sharp their lineart always is

Also they draw zhongli,, I love him,,

filibusterfrog's vibes are immaculate

I dunno if this is true but they have the vibes that means they take no bullshit and whenever they post their art it always makes me go :O

I love how they draw, I've actually tried to replicate it somewhat

Not with sharp edges or blocks but the general pencil/pen likeness? At least that's what I think it is

popping-greenbeans has been my favourite for forever! Very nice art, very soft and squish and cute and edible

ever-celle is one of the artists who's art I've liked forever but haven't followed for some reason until recently? Their art is always so.. pretty

Aesthetic to me, I think

They do a lot of xiao × venti art and while it's not a ship I'm invested in I just love it

spidertams is another artist I found about.. last month or so? But their art is so!! amazing

I'm not invested in any of the things they've drawn but it doesn't change the absolute skill that's there

There's so much detail!! In the background of a bedroom or a leaf and I'm in awe

I don't know how people do it but it's amazing

skys-haunted is a sky cotl blog that reblogs a lot of sky things

I need at least 1 piece of sky content every single day and this blog is my favorite in terms of I will always look at it the moment I get a notification because I need the food

yelltocheck is the same! Another sky cotl blog*

They draw too though and their art style is very

I dunno how to out it into words

Gives me good vibes, the vibes of the hidden forest in sky!

I like it.. it's very delicious