#you can read it both as platonic or romantic

[somefanchick]

TWST Boy Love Languages

 What are everyone's top three love languages? (Words of Affirmation; Quality Time; Physical Touch; Acts of Service; Receiving Gifts / Gift Giving) Headcanon list, all characters except Ortho. (I may do one for Ortho and non-NRC characters later) I only know information from the English server story (not including book 7) and events so sorry if anything is terribly out of character. This ended up being structured as 1 - [How he likes to show love], 2 - [How he likes to be shown love], and 3 - [Best of both worlds]. This can be seen as platonic or romantic for all characters.

TWST Masterlist

Riddle

Acts of Service: While Riddle does value capable people, he also likes to show he cares by helping those around him. A good example is in book 2 when he fixes the prefect’s tie for them. It’s not that he believes that the prefect is incapable, they have clearly shown him they are, but he is showing his appreciation by helping with the minor task. 

Words of Affirmation: Please tell Riddle you are proud of him. Please tell him he is doing a good job. It’s not like he needs it, but he really wants it. His mother never really praised him for doing well in his studies or extracurriculars, so he appreciates hearing the words. 

Quality Time: Riddle clearly didn’t have much time to spend with people he cared about in his childhood. This leads to him really appreciating time spent with people. If he is spending time with you beyond necessity, then you know he cares about you. 

Ace

Words of Affirmation: I think we all recognize he shows his love through bullying. He is giving you attention and keeping himself ‘safe’ by making himself look less attached. However, when he gets the nerve to really express how he feels he will do so through words. It feels more solid to him if he is able to say it. 

Physical Touch: PLEASE! I mean- what? He doesn’t care about that. It’s not like he really wants to hold the people he cares about in a nice long cuddle or heaven forbid the thought of him being the little spoon. Don’t mind the fact that his hands are almost always on your shoulder or arms. Don’t mind that he has offered to let you sleep on his shoulder or chest multiple times. He’s just kidding! No seriously he wants physical affection please.

Quality Time: He does like hanging out with his friends and the more he cares the more he will want to spend more time with you. He loves playing cards, watching movies, or honestly doing anything together. Especially when he can find an excuse to get closer to you. 

Deuce

Acts of Service: He loves doing things for others and taking care of them. Carrying your bags for you, taking you for a ride on a blastcycle, pulling out your chair for you, putting his hand on the table’s edge in order to keep you from bumping your head, I could go on. This not only makes him feel like a gentleman, but it is almost a habit from taking care of his mother. 

Quality Time: Spend time with him. He doesn’t care if it is studying, reading, playing games, watching movies, or just sitting and talking. He just likes to be there with you. He enjoys being there for you and he genuinely believes that the best way to spend his days is around the people he cares for.

Physical Touch: Part of his protective nature calls him to hold his friends close metaphorically and physically. He is a big fan of holding a partner while dancing, kisses on hands, and other cheesy physical gestures, but he would try his best to never admit it. That stuff is mostly for romantic relationships, but that doesn’t stop him from holding onto his friends whenever it’s appropriate. 

Trey

Acts of Service: He likes doing things for you when you don’t know he’s the one doing them. Putting a blanket over others when they are asleep, leaving a glass of water on the table for you while you study, little things that you almost forget about. However, we have seen he also can be more direct with it, acting as Heartslabyul’s mother hen and making sure that all under his power brush their teeth and take care of themselves. 

Quality Time: Want to show Trey you care? Spend time with him, especially when he is baking. He might ask for your help if he really really needs you for a moment, but for the most part he just likes the company. He can do a lot of the baking while not entirely focusing on it, so he likes to listen to you talk or even engage in conversation with you. 

Receiving Gifts / Gift Giving: He’s not as big of a fan of baking as he tends to be seen as; he does it largely because he is good at it and it gives him some kind of status within Heartslabyul. However, I do think he genuinely likes baking for those he cares about. He likes the idea of you enjoying something he made with his own two hands. I also think he likes receiving little things from people, especially if they made the items themselves. Little pieces of origami, snacks, notes, and other little things. It warms his heart to know you like doing those things for him.

Cater

Gift Giving: Cater loves getting the people he loves little gifts. It could be a drink or snack from a cafe or just something he thought would be so cute to see you with. He also is a fan of leaving little notes with affirmations or reminders around where he knows the people he cares about will see them. He does it for himself as well, so it’s a piece of cake to make sure you know you are also wonderful. 

Words of Affirmation: This kinda goes into the note thing, but mostly he likes to hear what you like about him. Fun and positive comments in person and on his posts basically sustain him. Telling him how much you care about him or telling him how much you liked something he did is the best way to show him you care. He will immediately throw a complement back in response, but that doesn’t mean that he means it any less.

Quality Time: He is the king of mutual doom scrolling. While he prefers to doom scroll with someone looking over his shoulder, he also likes being in the same room with others while on phones independently. He finds it all somewhat intimate, like showing others what is on his For You page is pretty close to completely baring his soul. He also just likes being there in person to see your reactions. 

Leona

Physical Touch: He is SUCH a physical touch guy. There might be no way he’d tell you when he likes you, but the signs are there when he suddenly decides your lap looks like a comfy pillow. He is the type to just rest himself on you at random times. He doesn’t really ask, I mean why would he? You should feel honored to be getting so much attention from the second prince. It’s definitely not because he’s clingy with people he cares about (out of a small fear they will leave when they find something better). Definitely not.

Acts of Service: Look, you can’t blame the man for wanting princess treatment. He’s never going to ask for it, but it makes him feel so special when you do things for him. It’s not the same as when Ruggie does it for money. This is genuine care. He values action much more than words, so doing little things for his benefit means much more than any vocal reassurance.

Quality Time: He loves one on one time with people he cares about. You don’t really even need to talk with him. He just likes napping in another’s presence, or simply just sitting in the same room with people he cares about while doing completely independent activities. He just likes the feeling of being there for someone. And someone being there for him. Also if he is there, he can scare off the other herbivores that want to take you away. I mean, who would want to spend time with mutts when you can spend it with a prince, right? RIGHT!?

Ruggie

Acts of Service: Okay so we all know this man is a busy bee. He is always trying to get the most benefit possible, so he’s doing the most work possible. So how does he show he cares? Doing work for little to no compensation. Now I don’t mean anything like servitude, but I mean doing the little things. Plus if someone he really cares about asks him to do something, sevens know he is rushing to do it.

Receiving Gifts: He loves getting things. Give him a snack or some other treat without him having done anything to ‘earn’ it, and he will love it. Call him materialistic, he doesn’t care. I mean, why wouldn’t you give him things if you care about him so much. He deserves it. Besides, it gives him a good excuse to stay if you feed him. 

Words of Affirmation: Okay so call him a wimp (or simp). He likes being told that he’s doing good, or that he’s amazing. Plus, it gives him an excuse to ‘pay you back’ by randomly complimenting you. He knows that some people don’t get enough appreciation, and he wants to show the people he cares about that they are worth it. Even if it might be embarrassing to say.

Jack

Acts of Service: Jack likes feeling useful. He loves feeling like he’s doing the right thing by those he cares the most about. He’ll carry heavy things for others, assist with home and housework, and honestly anything he can to show he cares. 

Quality Time: He loves spending time with people. He also likes it when you give him attention, so spend plenty of that time talking to and doing things with him. He also enjoys company during his morning jogs and other workouts. Even if you are not working out with him, he likes being able to listen to you. If you don’t mind the sweat. He’s also okay with doing independent activities while existing in the same space, though he prefers being able to hear you. 

Words of Affirmation: He has sensitive hearing so hearing the pleasant voice of someone he cares about. Sevens know praise will get his tail wagging, no matter how much he tries to hide it. Even if he is a man of few words, he does like expressing his own care with short and direct compliments on his loved ones character. He rarely compliments looks or other things (even if he thinks you look pretty), preferring to praise personality and achievement.

Azul

Gift Giving: Okay so let's be honest, if he is giving someone something with no strings attached, then he is whipped. He does like feeling useful and giving others what they need. He also likes seeing the people he cares about with items he has given them. Octopi are territorial by nature, so he feels like he has some small claim over people when he sees them wearing or with something he spent his time or money on. It’s a good feeling for him. If not slightly concerning, he can’t help it.

Physical Touch: Okay, hear me out. I feel like he loves getting personal, physical attention from the people he really really cares about. He’d love waking up to a long slow cuddle where no one was in any rush to wake up. He’s very selective with his touch, but he prefers to be the one receiving the affection. He loves getting his hair brushed for him, or having his head pet gently. Do not try touching him casually, it always has to be with his permission or you will be in trouble. 

Quality Time: He is one of the boys that just likes existing in the same space as those he cares about. He will be hard at work for the lounge, studying, or some other independent activity and just be happy that you are in the VIP room with him. He also enjoys playing board games with those he cares about. Especially when they get competitive with him. He likes the challenge.

Jade

Acts of Service: He likes doing things for others in general since it makes him valuable to others and it gives him power over the people in his life as well as helps with manipulation. However, helping out of pure care means that he helps with what you need no matter what. Even if you don’t know you need it. He is hyper vigilant in figuring out exactly what you need or want and doing it before you even get the chance to do it yourself. As long as he doesn’t get preoccupied with work or his mushrooms.

Quality Time:  PLEASE GO HIKING WITH HIM! Go on a nice walk in the mountains and bear with him while he rants about and picks mushrooms and other mountain flora. He will barely process how much that means to him in the moment, but it will 100% make him blush as he tries to go to sleep later. He has a hard time processing affection at the moment, but that care lingers with him everytime he is not busy or at work. 

Receiving Gifts / Gift Giving: Okay so it would totally start with him giving you things he found on his hikes that he already had or couldn’t use in any way. Then it evolves into him giving you hiking gear in order to rope you into his club activities, and eventually he is giving you things casually. He very much appreciates when you give him cool things you see on the trails with him or just little things that make you think of him. If the item is only really present on land, it will make him value the item even more. He’s just so curious about things on land (you included).  

Floyd

Physical Touch: Cuteness Aggression! CUTENESS AGGRESSION! He just wants to squeeze you and he can’t help it! It makes it even harder when you are acting cute or innocent/naive. He gets this way with anyone he cares about in any capacity, though he can be trained out of it (though it will make him sad). He doesn’t really care about the time or place, he just wants to lean on you or squeeze you until you pop.

Quality Time: Okay so like, let’s be honest. People don’t really hang around him too long. Some of that is on him, he gets bored or wanders away in order to follow one of his whims. But most of the time it is because he’s a little too much for them. Spend time with him. Don’t try to just use him for his intimidation or size, but genuinely live in the moment and entertain him. He might not say it, but it’ll really affect him. 

Words of Affirmation: Okay so this is kinda like how Ace’s love language is bullying. Floyd just loves to get reactions from you. It can be from making fun of you, flustering you, or simply saying something to get you to say “WTF”. He also loves when you say things to him. When you try to get reactions out of him. And he would be lying if he said he didn’t like the attention or praise that comes with it.

Kalim

Gift Giving: Okay so there is a full fic on my page about this, (Kalim's Love Language) so I’ll try and keep it short. He sees gift-giving as natural. He has the resources someone else wants or needs, so he gives it to them. In smaller doses, it’s almost lost its meaning. However, it is when he gives something homemade or he has to try and figure out a gift for someone, it has much more love and affection in it. He values the time and thought it took for him to come up with the gift more than the gift he is giving. 

Words of Affirmation: Praise this boy. He is used to praise back home from his siblings, the masses, and from servants. However, he doesn’t have much of that at NRC. He takes it like a champ and he’s ever-so accommodating, but he does love when he gets verbal confirmation he’s doing the right thing. He also loves conversations with others about anything. He also likes to listen. He’ll give out more praise than anyone else, but he really appreciates being praised back.

Acts of Service: He likes doing things for others and he really appreciates when people do things for him. Though the latter is what happens more often than not. However, Kailm is someone you can count on for the little things; like grabbing your things for you, being there to support you when you are nervous, or simply doing whatever he can to assist. (Honestly I think this sort of thing is why Kailm is so confused by Jamil’s hatred and hostility, because he is so used to people doing things for others because they care. So he didn’t understand that Jamil wasn’t doing all those things to show love or care.)

Jamil

(Pls don’t judge me for this one, I do not understand this man in the slightest. I’m trying my best.)

Quality Time: He doesn’t waste time on stuff he doesn’t want or have to do. So if he is genuinely spending time with you with no ulterior motive in mind, then he really does care about you. The only issue is that it is hard to really tell why he is spending time with you. He’s very good at masking his intentions, but if he is spending time around you and not putting up a front, then damn he really must care.

Receiving Gifts: He likes getting things. Especially when they are from the heart. He’s used to Kalim’s flippant, expensive gifts; however getting smaller gifts from people he cares about has a completely different effect on him. Especially when those things help him with his duties or simply make his life easier in little ways. 

Acts of Service: To be honest, taking care of others is a habit for him at this point. However, his attitude about it is the main difference. Instead of doing it without thinking or because he feels he has to, he will be actively going out of his way to help out. And if you do the same-! He is obsessed. He doesn't get much capable help with nothing attached to it, so he loves it when you do things to help out.

Vil

Acts of Service: Vil fusses over people and does everything he can in order to help them strive for perfection. However, he also likes to fuss over people in the more literal sense. He loves spa days, dress-up, and hairdressing. If he really cares about you he will want to do these things for you. While he is attracted to competence and independence, he does also appreciate being able to help. He finds joy in doing the simple things for you, (and he does like being able to dress those he cares about like a doll).

Quality Time: He is a busy guy so time spent with him is very important. He will love letting you tag along to whatever events he can. He also loves doing mundane things with those he cares about. His father was often very busy, leaving him alone for much of his childhood, so it really does matter when people spend time with him. Even if it is just sitting with him while you both do your own jobs. Even if it is in comfortable silence. 

Receiving Gifts / Gift Giving: This man gives things out very often. He’ll give clothing, skincare, perfumes, ect. Most of the time it is in order to make himself look better, sometimes it is to help his ‘projects’, ect. But whatever the case, he loves giving things to people he cares about. He also appreciates gifts from the heart. He can get his hands on expensive things that many others couldn’t dream of owning, but he loves when someone makes something for him (Though he won’t accept less than your best). Bake something for him, make him some custom jewelry; whatever your talent is, he will appreciate seeing it or being on the receiving end of it.

Rook

Words of Affirmation: This man sings praises like it’s his job. He says praises so often they might seem dishonest, but he means every word. He praises all accomplishments, and can even tell you what you need improvement with. Though any criticism is definitely constructive. And rest assured, he will praise any improvement or discovery you make. Because to him, it is beautiful. 

Quality Time: He loves spending time with those he cares for or wants to observe. So the best way to show him you also care, is to bring him along to whatever you plan to do for the day. Going into town? Let Rook tag along. Studying in the library? Let Rook tag along. Hanging out with his friends? Well he wouldn’t want to intrude, but you can let him watch from afar. <3

Acts of Service: He loves doing things for those he cares about. I mean we saw that in book 6 when he went out of his way to bring Vil his products. He loves seeing beauty and will do anything to help those he loves shine. And Sevens know he will be so grateful for anything you do for him. He sees others' generosity, especially towards him, as one of the most beautiful things around. It’s enough to get him obsessed and curious to see if he’s the only one you do these things for. 

Epel

Acts of Service: Epel likes to be useful. He likes to feel manly and strong by opening jars, getting things for others, or simply just defending those he cares for. It’s also somewhat of a habit from living in Harveston. Small, farmer towns where he’s the youngest worker and everyone helps everyone else like their family? Yeah he’s definitely accustomed to helping those he loves. And he’s happy to do it. Why wouldn’t he help those he loves when he’s fully capable and it makes him feel strong. 

Physical Touch: He loves the idea of driving someone around on a blastcycle or a broom while they hold onto his waist. He loves the idea of big spooning when cuddling. He loves all that romantic stuff. But he’s not going to initiate it. He hates that he actually likes when Vil or Rook comb through his hair. He needs those physical touches. It’s not that he’s touch-starved by any means. It’s actually kinda because of the opposite reason. He is so used to being fussed over and hugged by family members or neighbors that he feels somewhat of a deficit in physical affection when he moves to NRC. Show him you care by giving him back some of that affection he’ll never admit he’s missing.

Quality Time: He likes spending time with people. That does connect once again to his close-knit upbringing. He is very used to spending a lot of time with others. He’ll do just about anything with people he cares about. While he definitely has things he doesn't like to do, he is willing to do a lot of them as long as they’re with people he really cares about. He also really appreciates when people make that same effort for him. Come to his spelldrive games. Go riding with him. He loves the effort just as much as the time spent.

Idia

Quality Time: He’s a shut in. That much is obvious. He likes gaming in his room where no one can perceive him. However, when he opens his door for someone it means he really cares. Yeah he’ll love playing games with those he cares about, but even just being in the same room as him is his way of showing he cares. He’s another one of those happy to do independent activities while in the room with someone he cares about. However, he will randomly start talking about his games, show, or manga and he will somewhat expect you to listen. (Like my roommate has told me that I do and I am working on that as an individual lol.)

Acts of Service: He likes letting people do things for him. While he does like doing something himself – if you want it done right you have to do it yourself and all that – but the smaller things or the social things he likes having done for him. Go pick up his latest manga for him. Bring him snacks. Do things that help keep him from leaving his room. Or maybe even do things that get him outside while not making it absolutely miserable. He will complain at first, but some part of him will be happy that you care enough to get him to do responsible things.

Receiving Gifts / Gift Giving: He will take notice of your interests. And he will appreciate it when other people do the same. Make him some custom merch for one of his anime or games. Pick up in-store only merchandise for him. He’ll also reciprocate by ordering you merchandise from your favorite franchises (that he likely introduced you too). The price doesn’t really matter to him, the only thing that really matters is if he thinks you’ll want it. He also will buy most media that he wants to introduce you too that you show any interest in. He’ll buy games for your system, manga, or really anything else that the two of you can bond over. Heaven forbid when a gacha game releases a character you both want. He’ll try his best to make sure you both get it. 

Malleus

Acts of Service: This man can borderline do anything. Like he can make basically anything happen for those he cares about. While he doesn’t attempt to overstep and lets you do what you need to do, if you ask he will do anything for his child of man. He also does try to occasionally do little things for you to make your life better. He finds out Ramshackle is lacking in any way? It will just be fixed next time you check it. Oh look, the shower you mentioned now has hot water? That’s odd. Huh, those sheets are much softer than you remembered from when you got up this morning. Things like that. He never really lets you know he’s doing these things, he’s just delighted when you notice and you go to tell him how lucky you seem to be. 

Quality Time: He loves when you carve out time for him. He loves spending time with you on nighttime walks. He loves stargazing or looking at ruins or mansions adorned with gargoyles. He loves late night walks and being able to do the little things with someone who isn’t bending to his whims or actively peeing their pants. He appreciates being able to spend time being normal. A feeling he can only get from one on one time with his darling child of man.

Words of Affirmation: Let him yap at you. Yap back at him. He loves it. It kinda goes with the blurb about quality time but he just likes listening and talking with you one on one. His favorite thing is nighttime talks while walking or stargazing. He’ll listen to complaints, stories, or really anything about your homelife. But just prepare yourself for him to rant about gargoyles or tell you about him getting some invitation to some sort of event or something. He loves yapping, and he loves the yapper.

Lillia

Physical Touch: He loves teasing, but his favorite method of teasing? Physically. He loves jumping out and scaring those he likes. He loves suddenly appearing and poking people in the small of the back. Or just poking people anywhere. He loves seeing reactions to randomly hugging people. Or suddenly leaning over someone. It’s all in good fun. But you know he really cares when his touch turns soft. When he holds someone gently. Cradling crying faces, brushing hair out with his fingers, or letting someone lay on him. He can be mean with his touches, or he can be sweet. As long as he is showing care through touch.

Quality Time: He feels old. Let’s be honest. He’s gotten to the point of his long life that he values every moment more than ever. While he’s always lived in the moment, he now really treasures every moment like it’ll never happen again. So he wants to spend as many moments with the people he loves. And he has a lot of love to give. Spend time with him. He’ll love every second. 

Words of Affirmation: As mentioned before, he loves teasing. He will tease verbally and Sevens know that he will be insulted if you don’t tease him back. Or at least have a fun reaction to the teasing. He also just loves to listen to you or be listened to. He loves hearing and telling stories. He has so much life that he’s lived and he wants to share it with the people he loves. 

Silver

Quality Time: Since he falls asleep so often, he really values time spent awake. So he wants to give that time to the people he cares about. It also helps that being active with people can somewhat help him stay awake. He also loves doing lots of things with people. He wants to follow in his father’s footsteps and experience life to the fullest he can. And doing those things with people he cares about? That just makes it all the better. 

Physical Touch: Let him sleep on you. Like when he falls asleep, move his head onto your lap. Brush your fingers through his hair. Move him somewhere safe and warm. Hold him close while he rests. Wake him up with gentle touches and soft words. He’ll melt. He loves being cradled almost as much as he loves being strong for others. He’s not weak by any means. However, he loves the opportunity to be weak. He loves the safety of another’s gentle touch. It’s peaceful. Perfect. 

Acts of Service:  He’s such a caregiver. A big protector. He likes being a safespace or home for those he loves. He shows this by doing things for you. Helping with homework, bringing soup or notes when you are sick, etc. However, he loves when the acts are reciprocated. He loves being helped as much as he loves helping. He’s both a prince and princess (at least stereotype-wise lol). Doing things for him will 100% make him melt. It is so sweet to watch him care and be cared for.

Sebek

Words of Affirmation: So his affection will be yelled at you, so if you aren’t ready for that – don’t let him grow attached. We have all seen how vocal his love for Malleus is. He will verbally build you up, talk about you to others, and defend you. He will work hard to make sure to properly communicate his care to you. You are not allowed to be insecure around him. Any complaint from you will be battled verbally against a man who cannot shut up with his praise. It’s honestly sweet. 

Quality Time: He likes spending time around people. People rub off on people. Meaning if he is spending more time around these amazing people, then he will become more like them. Plus, he likes the attention. He likes to know that these people he cares about want him around. Sebek isn’t immune to wanting to be cared about. And spending time with him, wanting him in your life, is how he knows that someone really does care. 

Acts of Service:  Sebek is a knight. He likes to care for people and be at their beck and call. He loves protecting them at their side. And he’s that same way with people he cares for. He feels duty-bound to them, wanting to be a hero to the people he cares for. However, he would (will be) lying if (when) he says he doesn’t love it when you take care of him. When you protect him. When you serve him as he would serve you. Since he believes that this devotion is one of the best ways to show care on his end, it is endlessly flattering to him to have that same kind of devotion shown to him.

[annarobszombies]

Loving your writings so here's my request ♡

If you are comfortable, imagine Stan and Xeno trying to court reader (gender neutral if you can) who's jewelry artist asexual but romantic, who just can't for the love of god recognize naturally flirting like gestures towards them and just thinks people are being kind or reading it as platonic gesture.

When reader is being told out loud straight to the face that someone is actually interested or in love with them by anyone, the reader would become insecure as they have deep doubts that their platonic and romantic attraction alone towards people is enough after bad dating experiences from past where people have claimed them being cold hearted machine because of the lack of sexual attraction and blindness to see nor notice flirting kind gestures naturally thus not responding those when others have expected that so the reader kind of shots down the people who dare to confess their love towards them out of fear being hurt all over again, even when their own romantic feelings are awakened.

I like this prompt a lot, I just hope I did it justice. Sorry this took so long, I had to consult with a friend, so parts of this is more how they said they felt when things like this happened. Honestly, though, I don't think Stanley and Xeno would mind if their partner was asexual.

StanXeno x gn!Reader

You stare hard at yourself in the mirror, searching yourself for the part of you that was broken. You think there must be something; why else would that be what everyone you’ve ever dated says to you as they walk out the door? 

You don’t find anything, except for a few familiar blemishes.

With a sigh, you trudge out of the bathroom to finish preparing for the day. You were running a bit behind, but it wasn’t like you had that many customers in the stone world. At most, Xeno would already be waiting for you to ask for something, but he rarely complained too much about such things. If anything, he should know not to show up until at least ten minutes after when you typically “opened”. 

You take the steps down from the living quarters to where your little shop was a bit too quickly, causing you to miss the last step. Your stomach drops, heart racing out of control as you fall, your whole body tensing to prepare for the inevitable pain of landing. 

But instead, a pair of hands grabs you at the last second, stopping you just centimeters from the hard ground. 

“Gotcha,” Stanley’s voice sighs in your ear. Turning your head, you find him looking a little winded, as if he’d just raced down the stairs himself. Behind him, Xeno is making his way down much more casually. 

Huh. That was weird.

You mumble a soft thanks when Stanley helps you steady yourself on your own feet, which he just nods at. 

“What fortunate timing,” Xeno says. “Stan and I were just on our way to meet you.” 

“Good thing, too. That would have been a bad fall.” Stanley says, his own hands now behind his back.

The three of you take the rest of the short journey together, both men quiet as you unlock the door and bustle around the inside of your tiny jewelry crafting space. 

Xeno had this put here for you after you’d complained a little too loudly about how much you missed your craft. He’d had the space carved out, and all the materials had been given to you for no other reason than you wanted it. So he claimed, anyway. 

You didn’t get why people didn’t think he was nice. He was good to you all the time, always finding time to stop by and say hello, and never getting upset with you if you took too long to do something for him. 

Stanley was nice to you all the time too, even if he sometimes stood a little too close. He brought you things you wanted, did lots of heavy lifting whenever you needed the help, and liked to just linger around your shop and keep you company. 

“So,” You say. “What brings you both by?”

“Are we not permitted to visit just because?” Xeno asks. 

“No! No, of course you can come hang out! I like your company,” You say with a smile.

“We like your company, too,” Stanley says, sliding a cigarette from his pocket, sticking it between his lips, and lighting it. 

“Oh, Stanley, could you not-” You don’t even finish the sentence before it’s out of his mouth and he’s pinching the end to kill the ember. He sticks it behind his ear for later. 

“Sorry, sorry,” He says. Xeno lets out a soft huff, but otherwise says nothing about the short moment. 

“It’s okay,” You say with a soft chuckle. “I’m sure it’s hard to remember not to smoke in here, since I’m the only one it seems to bother.”

“It bothers me, but it seems my opinion means little,” Xeno says, and you think he might actually be pouting a little. 

“You’ve never actually asked me to put them out,” Stanley says. “If you want me to stop that bad, just tell me.” 

The look Xeno gives him has you laughing even harder.

“Anyway,” Xeno says, redirecting. “There is an actual reason we’re here.” 

You want to make a joke about him originally saying they were here just because, but he looks a little too serious now for that. Stanley, also, straightens back up at Xeno’s tone. 

“What’s up?” You ask, suddenly feeling nervous. The two of them look at each other, something secret whispered between their gazes. 

“Stanley and I are interested in you.” Xeno finally says. 

You blink, confusion filling you. 

“I don’t follow,” You say. 

“Romantically,” Stanley says. 

Oh. Oh. Oh no. 

You already had a feeling where this was headed. Were they asking you out? Seriously? Why? Surely they knew there was something wrong with you by now. You’d heard it whispered by a previous partner you’d briefly had within the colony. There was no way it hadn’t reached Xeno by now. 

“I, um,” You don’t know what to say. You don’t know what to do. 

Romantic feelings were nothing new to you, but getting into relationships had always been a painful struggle. Relationships a lot of times came with the expectation of eventual sex, and that’s where your hard line was. You didn’t crave things like that, like everyone else did, and that had led to far far too many harsh breakups that left you believing more and more that you weren’t worth anything. 

You didn’t want to fall in love again. You didn’t want to get hurt, to build something with them only to have it torn down like all the others. 

“I don’t think…” You have to let them down easy, to salvage what little relationship you’ll have left after this. “I don’t think I’m the right person for this.” 

Xeno’s head tilts, as if not comprehending what you were saying. He makes a gesture with his hand, encouraging you to continue. To explain. 

“I-I just…I’m not good at…at relationships,” You say. 

“Is anyone?” Stanley asks, now mimicking Xeno’s head tilt. “Isn’t the point of being with someone to grow with them?” 

You learned something new about Stanley Snyder today. He never struck you as such a romantic before. 

“If you feel anxious about joining our relationship as a third party, I can assure you that there is no issue. Stanley and I have discussed this at length,” Xeno says. 

“No, no, it…it’s not that,” You say quickly. “I just…I…didn’t realize…you felt that way, I guess?” 

“No?” Now Xeno looks contemplative, mentally searching his memory for every encounter you had with each other and reevaluating them one by one. “I see. So it was a failing on our part to get our intentions across.” 

Stanley steps forward suddenly, closing the distance between you and him fairly quickly. He reaches for you, taking your chin in his hand and forcing you to look up at him. 

“I’ll say it real slow, so you catch it this time,” He says. “Xeno and I like you, and want you to be a part of our relationship. Romantically. Is that clear enough?” 

You nod as best you can with how firmly he’s holding you. His grip doesn’t hurt, but it’s clear he has no intentions of letting you flee without an answer. 

“Crystal,” You say. His fingers loosen, rubbing where he’d been holding you as if he worried he’d held too tightly and hurt you. 

The softness of his touch makes your chest ache. It makes you want to lean in, to open your heart back up one more time and let him and Xeno run off with it while just praying they don’t leave you when you don’t give them your body as well. 

“So then, now that we all understand each other-”

“I don’t have sex.” The words fall out of you without any prompting, bursting from your chest before you even had time to comprehend you’d said them at all. 

The silence that follows makes you want to throw up. 

“Sorry,” You wheeze. “I-I don’t know where that came from I-”

“Is that your reason? Your real reason?” Stanley asks. You can’t read his face, or Xeno’s, but now that it’s in the open, you have no other choice but to keep talking. 

“I just don’t feel it, you know? The…the want…for it…And I know that it’s supposed to be important in a relationship, and I’ve gone through this so many times already, so I just…I figure you should just know I’m broken ahead of time so-”

“Broken?” You’re not sure you’ve ever heard Xeno sound like that before. “What fool would say that you were broken?” 

Everyone. All your past loves had said you were broken, that there was something deeply wrong with you. That you were unfixable. 

Stanley has a look in his eye, and somehow you know he’s mentally targeting someone already.

“I just…it’s not normal, is it? To not…feel any desire in that way?” Your voice sounds small. You feel small. 

“It’s statistically unlikely that everyone on this planet feels physical desire. The human body is a marvel-”

“Do you feel love?” Stanley asks, cutting Xeno off before he can start to lecture for real. 

“That’s not really enough-”

“Not what I asked.” 

“I…yes, I can. I do. I just-”

“Okay then. Why does anything else matter?” 

His words short circuit your brain, leaving you staring at him with parted lips like a gaping fish. 

You’d always been told it mattered. That sex was what was most important. That your purely romantic love for someone just wasn’t enough. You’d always been pressured for more. 

“Let me assure you,” Xeno steps up, shooing Stanley to the side so that he can make eye contact with you while he speaks. “What we are looking for is a romantic partner. There are not, and will never be any expectations for you to perform in a way you are not comfortable. We want you for other reasons.” 

“Like what?” You ask, desperate to understand further. 

“Your personality, for one. The fact that we simply enjoy being in your presence. You’re intelligent, skilled, you make Stanley laugh like a child, something I have not seen anyone do in years-” 

“We want you because we’ve started falling in love with you,” Stanley cuts in, once again stopping Xeno before he can get too deep. “And you said you feel love, so it works out perfectly. If we need to fuck someone, we’ll just fuck each other.” 

The laugh that bubbles out of you at his blunt vulgarity has him grinning ear to ear. Stanley always looked happy when you laugh. Xeno, too, seems pleased at how your mood is rising a little. 

“Let us care for you,” Xeno says. “And have a little more faith. We aren’t animals.” 

“Can I think about it?” You ask. It was a big decision, whether you wanted to open your heart the way they were asking you to or to stay in your little bubble forever. There was a large part of you that was still terrified that you were going to get hurt again. 

“Of course,” Xeno says, reaching up to brush a tear you didn’t know you’d started shedding from your face. “Until then, I believe Luna has been begging you for some earrings.”

You let out another weak chuckle. 

“Yeah, she has,” You say with a soft sigh. “I…I won’t take too long. Just…give me till the end of the day, okay?”

“Of course, my dear. Should you need anything before then, though, we are still available to assist you,” Xeno says. 

“Then…can you guys help me sort some of these gemstones? The boxes are heavy as hell and I need extra hands-”

“Whatever you need,” Stanley says. “We can do it.”

[cosmique-oddity]

Hmmm, Rare Pair Drift/Swerve

Particularly from the angle of Drift needing a neutral perspective to talk about his issues and preferring the bartender over an actual therapist.

Swerve meanwhile, chips in with his own thoughts and observations, maybe sharing about his own issues too. Slowly but surely developing how both of them think of each other.

In the end, I could see it as a slow burn built on a mutual desire for someone to talk to without judgement

Rarepair/crackship part 3 !

Swift (haha)

Okay this one I don’t really ship but they would definitely be 100% therapy buddies

You guy still can read this drawing as romantic and platonic !

[caas1]

My Aromantic & Asexual headcannons for stupid minecraft people (/aff) because what am I meant to do? Not project my sexuality onto my favorite characters??

anyways

Definite headcannons:

1)Etho is Asexual

2) Xisuma is lithosexual and lithoromantic (experiences attraction, but does not wish for it to be reciprocated)

3) Mumbo is Aroace

4) Shubble is Asexual ofc

5) Don’t remember why I decided this, but False is Demisexual (only develops feelings/attraction after creating a strong bond with someone) 👍 I think I saw other ppl w/ this headcannon and decided I liked it lol

Extra) Also Mumbo and Martyn and Scott and Cleo are my favorite Queer Platonic Relationships :D

Possible/thinking about/ones I like but don’t use myself headcannons:

1)Etho as sex-averse and romance-favorable demiromantic

2) I keep thinking about Doc as Aromantic but not completely sold on the idea

3) Used to headcannon Shubble as cupiosexual (Wanting a relationship, but not feeling attraction) before I realized romantic and sexual attraction were different things and so I could headcannon her as both a Lesbian and Asexual lol

4) Similar situation with Scar, used to headcannon him as Demisexual

5) The idea of Scar and Grian being aspec keeps coming back into my mind every so often and it’s so funny because they so aggressively give off those vibes sometimes, but also at other times I can’t see them as on the aro or ace spec either, so this is just a silly, “I like this concept”, type of thing

6) Etho being asexual and Bdubs being aromantic is also really funny to me, cuz like I ship them a lot and the idea of them not telling each other and just trying to awkwardly work around their own discomforts and preferences is really entertaining to me

7) TBH I could see Jimmy as somewhere on the asexual spectrum, but I would probably need more convincing

8) The Gempearl propaganda (mostly from Tubby…) and the aroace Pearl propaganda are constantly fighting each other in my brain. Honestly I think it would work to just make them a QPR

9) I also wouldn’t mind any aroace Xornoth stuff cuz I headcannon that he just really doesn’t like Joey back and wants to be left alone lol

10) I feel the Scott on the aromantic spectrum could also fit his character

11) I think at one point I also headcannoned Oli as aroace

12) Actually I could also see Joe Hills as aspec

13) Oh my gosh how could I almost forget about BigB?? That man is def aspec, at least in my opinion. Can never decide what I want to make him tho :^

Anyways that is definitely enough rambling, thx for reading this if you did lol

[harbo-urr]

Alhaitham's and Kaveh's relationship in the Sumeru arhon quest: new perspective (for me, maybe for you too!).

Oh it will be long...

It started with my short thoughts about their first on-screen dialog and how it feels different now compared to a year ago, but then spiralled into me re-watching the entire Sumeru archon quest to properly analyse Alhaitham's hidden struggles during it and Kaveh's (not big but) actual plot relevance.

Disclaimer: I'm aware that English VAs were way more emotional then Chinese, especially in 3.2, but, for the sake of having the information to analyse, lets believe that at least the official eng text of their interactions is more or less correct... (I'm sorry I only know English and other languages most likely have translation errors as well anyway).

I'm also assuming that you've read their character stories and know their more deep personalities, not just "cold smart guy and artsy broke guy".

Anyway, I hope someone will find the analyses below as entertaining as I do.

1. Kaveh and Alhaitham: what we see during their first on-screen interaction.

Now, let's all time travel into the day when the last part of Sumeru's quest dropped. These sweet days... Version 3.2, two versions before we got Alhaitham as a playable character and four versions before Kaveh. By this point we've already known a little information about Alhaitham, mostly from the archon quest itself, and next to nothing about Kaveh.

Well, we knew some info, but it was mostly leaks and speculations, nothing more than "a genius architect who lives with Alhaitham because he is broke".

Now, if you didn't read the leaks and just carefully played the quest, you could actually catch some phrases here and there that implied that Alhaitham lives with someone before it was openly confirmed, but again, it's not specific at all. That is why our first meeting with a brand new sexy blond boy was so extreme in all ways. It was beautiful, emotional, entertaining and... extremely toxic. Both Alhaitham and Kaveh behaved surprisingly aggressive (calmer in Chinese but still more negative then what we usually see now). It was fun to watch, and made a lot of people including me really interested in those two from the get go.

But re-watching this dialog now after almost a year felt... Weird. Yes sure, they bicker, it's their thing, but if you compare any other scene with them later it's not nearly as intense... especially on Alhaitham's side (yes, even if you don't listen to va and just read the lines).

So it got me thinking. Why did Alhaitham behave like that? Was it a random writing decision for the drama effect? Or was there something more going on that I didn't understand?

After going through everything from start to finish I believe that yes, there was. But I'll need go through a lot of content recap to fully explain what I mean.

2. First aka "the first on-screen" aka "Where were you when Sumeru needed you most!?" dialog

It is essentially our first glimpse of Kaveh, which we catch in the library on the search for Alhaitham.

Kaveh has just returned to the city so he has no idea what is going on. The shown interaction starts with Kaveh demanding Alhaitham to put his book away and explain what is happening at the Academia. The fact that Kaveh is already pretty irritated when we first see him tricks us into thinking that he's a short-tempered overly dramatic guy, which is...

Well, partly true, but having already experienced how sweet Kaveh actually is we can see through that and realize that Alhaitham most likely was ignoring Kaveh's questions for some time now, and that's why our Kaveh was already on edge when we started. Already weird and we're just at the first line.

After that they bicker a little, Kaveh again asks about the Academia, on which Alhaitham answers: "Oh? I thought you would already knew the inside story."

Then they bicker again (2) and Alhaitham goes hard on Kaveh here. He even agrees with Kaveh that he doesn't say anything nice about him, because "anyone who knows you as well as I do would do the same". DAMN, Alhaitham, that's brutal even for you, why are you so mad, is something bothering you? Oh well..

Then they bicker again (3) and Alhaitham proposes Kaveh to move out of his house, but Kaveh ignores it and tries asking about the Academia again. Alhaitham ignores it as well and says "Forget what's going on with the Academia, haven't you been busy with your construction project?".

Kaveh doesn't want to answer this question and says that he's "getting angry just thinking about it" (worth noting). Kaveh then wants to change the subject again, but Alhaitham doesn't give up and asks about Kaveh's project again ("Where were you when Sumeru needed you most?").

Then they bicker again (4) and Kaveh leaves to ask around.

Huh, that was heated...

Lets do a little bit of unpacking.

So, Kaveh wanted to know more about the Academia and Alhaitham was constantly changing the subject. It can be read as Alhaitham mocking Kaveh just for the sake of it, but if we pay a little more attention to what Alhaitham is saying every time he interrupts Kaveh, it becomes more interesting.

1) "Oh? I thought you would already knew the inside story."

2) "Forget what's going on with the Academia, haven't you been busy with your construction project?"

3) "Where were you when Sumeru needed you most?"

Each time Alhaitham changes the subject, he talks about Kaveh being away for the time of the quest. Let's remember the golden rule of miscommunication conflicts: to understand what actually bothers your opponent you need to spot a repetitive theme in their words. And Alhaitham has a pretty clear pattern. Interesting.

But let's move on to the next dialog.

3. Second aka "second on-screen" aka "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" dialog

Kaveh returns after asking around and confronts Alhaitham about it ("WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?") (just a funny line). After some bickering (5) Alhaitham agrees to finally tell him what happened. He mentions that Kshahrewar sage was a part of conspiracy as well on which Kaveh reacts surprised and says "...could this be why they sent me out on a project?". However Alhaitham replies that it's just a coincidence and proceeds to suddenly go hard on Kaveh again, saying "whatever you were doing won't have any significant impact now or in times to come" (auch, Alhaitham, auch). Then they bicker again (6) and the dialog ends.

This interaction is more relevant to the "Kaveh plot relevance" section, but the important things for now are:

Kaveh: "...could this be why they sent me out on a project?"

Alhaitham: "I think its just a coincidence ... whatever you were doing won't have any significant impact now or in times to come."

And why is it important?

I find the flow of this whole conversation to be very weird, since it goes "confrontation - agreement - information share - speculation - confrontation". In other words, first Alhaitham doesn't want to talk, but Kaveh persuades him, learns about the sage, brings up his mission in the desert, and Alhaitham returns to the confrontation mode again.

It can be interpreted as Alhaitham just using every opportunity to disagree with Kaveh just cause, but at the same time his words sours exactly after Kaveh talks about him being missing from the quest. Coincidence? I don't think so.

All these little things got me thinking. Why is Kaveh's absence so triggering for Alhaitham? Sure they're close or whatever, but they both value their freedom very highly and it's probably not too rare for them to disappear for a day or two for work. Why is it such a big deal now?

But then I also remembered that Kaveh, basically the only family Alhaitham has (yes I call people you willingly live with a family, its my life experience), went missing from home exactly when the fishy stuff at the Academia started resurfacing. And he was gone for a long time, at least for the duration of the quest, which is about two in game weeks.

Even if Alhaitham is not a very emotional person, he still values family, home, routine and comfort very highly. So, in theory, the sudden empty house should have affected him in some way, right? That's how I decided to check Alhaitham's behaviour during the archon quest and it was.. interesting.

4. Alhaitham's side of the Sumeru quest, with me fillng in the gaps.

Let's think about all these quest days from his perspective.

You're simple logical guy who already for quite some time lives with an annoying but kind of endearing roommate, who you drink coffee with in the morning and often discuss intellectual or not really stuff. Sometimes you argue but he's perspective on life fascinates you as a scholar, so you don't mind it too much. Ultimately you're just used to him in your life.

Then one day you go to your work, which brings you just enough money to feel completely comfortable, but you start feeling that something fishy is going on behind the scenes. Some sages disappear, your archon is treated like a power source and there are weird rumours about the divine knowledge capsules. Then you get a sudden assignment - investigate a blond traveller with a talking fairy. And sages propose to pay you with the divine knowledge capsule.

Suspicious. If it's such a big deal, why would they promise you it as a present for a simple spy work?

You decide to get to the bottom of this and for this you need to buy the capsule yourself. You're sure that the infamous merchant Dori has some, but you're definitely in the black list as the Academia's scribe... Ah, how lucky is it. Your roommate just so happen to have a strong connection to Dori. If you give him money and an excuse why he needs the capsule so much she would definitely sell it to him. It settled then.

You come home. But you're roommate isn't there. You wait. He doesn't come back. You're confused and decide to check using you're connections at the Academia, and... he suddenly was requested to the desert? And just left? Why would he leave exactly when everything was going to get weird? Did he know something? Did Academia want to temporarily move him out of the picture? Maybe they did something worse than that? Was it all a coincidence?

You don't know and you have no time. You need to spy on Traveller. You need to buy a capsule. It seems that you're alone in it.

Dori didn't sell you a capsule. That wasn't unexpected but still worth the try. You decide to make the mysterious traveller to buy it for you. It went great. You find out more about capsules, you steal one yourself. You realise that the divine knowledge offered by the sages was a trap to dispose of you. Your roommate still didn't come back. It's been what, almost a week? Whatever. It's nice and quiet at your home.

You meet Traveller again on your way to the desert to investigate the source of the capsules. You run into Cyno and a bunch of other people and you seem to finally get the lead to answers that you wanted. You find out that the capsules were extracted from the brains of scholars who were send to the desert by the Academia and then abducted. You're roommate was also sent to the desert by the Academia. Uh. He's fine. You have your problems to deal with.

You and your unexpected but quite pleasant team find out that sages want to create a God. It seems it's time to rescue your archon. You came up with a pretty good plan. Noe you need to return to the city after these couple of days in the desert. When you come home, your roommate still isn't there.

The next day your team is preparing for the plan and Cyno says that you all need to go home and have a good rest.

"...Thankfully I had my place to myself recently. It's been nice and quiet."

"...Huh?"

Dehya stares at you confused.

You didn't realise that you said it out loud and you're not sure how other people deal with situations when they say something without thinking.

"Oh, nothing"

You went home and slept alright.

The plan worked, Nahida was saved, sages punished, akasha destroyed, your comfortable routine is safe again. It's still nice and quite at home, so you go to the library to read some books.

"Alhaitham, what happened in the Academia?!"

You hear a familiar voice. After all this time he returns like nothing happened.

5. And this was a recap of Alhaitham's side of the archon quest!

Interpretations can vary of course, but the way I see it, Alhaitham was very bothered by Kaveh's sudden disappearance. He clearly expresses that he wishes Kaveh was in the team during the quest ("Where were you when Sumeru needed you most?"). From this we can guess that Kaveh really left without any warning and had Alhaitham known about it, he would most likely stopped him.

I think Alhaitham quickly found out where Kaveh was (connections) but he had no means of contacting him quickly and maybe didn't even know the exact location. At first it was a minor inconvenience because of the Dori situation, but he probably wasn't bothered to much by it. But after he found out that sages actively tried to dispose of him by making him insane, he probably realised that the situation was way worse that he initially thought. And Kaveh still was somewhere in the desert with no means to contact him.

So what Alhaitham does next? He goes to the desert. Yes, it was for the plot reasons, but let's agree, he at least considered a possibility that he could run into Kaveh there. But he never did. And what's more, he found out that the Academia was abducting scholars and sucking their brains out. Let's be real, the theory that Kaveh was send to the desert for the reasons connected to knowledge capsules, most likely was on Alhaitham's mind, and in a bad universe it could've been correct.

Well, Kaveh did return home after all. But by that point Alhaitham's supressed stress about this whole situation was so great, that it resulted in him being genuinely salty at Kaveh during their first on-screen dialog and even saying "Well, maybe then you should move out of my house" - which, at least from my point of view, is way worse then his usual teasing about Kaveh being broke and homeless or whatever.

6. About Kaveh's role in the archon quest besides making Alhaitham sad

Ag, that's a very fun topic. I don't know how I totally missed it the first time, maybe it was the lack of respect for Kaveh, idk, but he was 100% purposefully sent away for the time of the quest.

Sages wanted to move him out of the picture just like they wanted to do with Alhaitham using knowledge capsule. Except they knew that Kaveh would not be too interested in the capsules. So they needed something else to remove him... Like a sudden very urgent request to build a children's hospital somewhere very deep in the desert for people who are literally dying without it! Huh, well, I just made it up, but I believe that sages came up with something very similar.

Kaveh is the type of person to jump straight into any charity he sees and ask next to none questions about it, so it would be the easiest way to send him away for good. Plus I believe that it could've been the reason why he didn't talk with Alhaitham about it and disappeared so sudden. Children are dying! No time for talking! But then he arrived to the said place in the desert and it was just a mess. Maybe a fake project, maybe literally nothing, maybe a trap. In other words - not the project he was told he is needed for.

It's something that we don't get spelled out for us (Alhaitham even denies it cause he's angry at that moment), but timings are just too perfect to be a coincidence. And that's not the only proof - Kaveh himself heavily implies that there was something very fishy about this mission.

He straight up avoids answering Alhaitham's questions about it, and says "Thinking about it makes me angry". Why would he say this about the Academia project? It's not like he had a specific annoying client. Kaveh was sent as a representative from the Academia to be the head of some "construction project" after all, he presumably was the boss there. So it can only mean that there was something wrong with the project itself.

Plus immediately after he finds out that his sage was a part of the conspiracy, he says "So that's why they sent me there", which further implies that whatever was happening on that mission in desert – it was either absurd (if the sages just wanted to keep Kaveh away for some time) or very dangerous (if they wanted him dead). Unfortunately Kaveh's the last person who would tell us about the danger to his life, so we can forget about learning what the hell was that mysterious mission.

Ah, and about why would sages want Kaveh away. Sure it can be because of his connections to Alhaitham, but…

I think anyone who knows Kaveh more then 10 minutes would know that if he found out what sages are planning to do with a literal child and what they do to other scholars, he would die but not let them continue all of it. And he is quite popular among students and citizens alike, so he could've been a potential threat for the sages.

Makes me wonder how many other potential dangers did sages eliminate in some way for their plan. Probably not too many, but still interesting behind the scenes of their actions.

AND NOW, AFTER ALL THIS THINKING, I FINNALY, FINALLY, WAS ABLE TO UNDERSTAND ALHAITHAM'S FINAL LINES IN THE ARCHON QUEST.

Let's return to the end of the act 5. After we had a feast at the Grand Bazar, we were able to one last time talk to each member of our Sumeru-rescue team.

Alhaitham said this:

Which was always bothering me, because:

One: He suddenly becomes quite sentimental and talks about happiness, which is cool to see, but at the same time... He very rarely talks about subjective emotions. And what's more, he seems genuinely enjoying the thought of it. He isn't really the kind of person who gets his sense of satisfaction out of someone else's happiness (it's one of the things he parallels Kaveh in), so what's this all about?

Two: He extremely abruptly switches the topic to point out that he "seems to have taken both keys when he left the house" (tbh I thought that I accidentally clicked on him the second time and it's the new dialog, but no, it is all specifically a one long dialog).

Well well well. What do we have here.

When I first read these lines I decided that's it's just a weird writing without normal conversation flow. First Alhaitham is satisfied that he's plan worked and his daily life is safe, but says it through pointing out that other people are happy rather then explicitly stating that he's happy. Then he yaoi baiting us with "haha, harassing Kaveh is so much fun" and that's all there is to it.

But.

Now that we know more about Alhaitham's daily life during the archon quest, let's think about the keys some more.

He was able to take both keys because Kaveh was at home and his keys were there either. On his way out to meet us, Alhaitham saw Kaveh's keys on their usual place and took them as well, ultimately making Kaveh unable to leave the house. Which also means...

Kaveh will definitely be at home when Alhaitham returns after the feast.

So if we flip everything based on this logic, Alhaitham tells us: "This is a great evening. This gathering is special. People are finally happy. They feel happiness from the bottom of their hearts. And when I return home there will be someone waiting for".

Which is. So. PRECIOUS!.. Something clicked in my brain when I first realized this meaning and these lines are finally making a lot of sense!

It's the perfect final words for his little character journey in this quest. He protected the life he had and loved, everything and everyone were back to normal again and for him it is a true happiness felt from the bottom of his heart. Just precious.

Final words

Anyway, yes, that's why I believe that during the archon quest Alhaitham was actually constantly worrying about Kaveh at the back of his mind and maybe even feeling lonely, which resulted in his great boom of toxicity during their first on-screen dialog, but after some time he cooled down and slipped into his usual happy comfortable and not "nice and quiet" life again.

And fuck the sages for sending away our boy Kaveh (who actually knows a lot about desert since he works there often) and making our rescue-Nahida-group one competent person shorter.

Thanks for your time and tears, you, the person who read this!

[feroluce]

I have finally finished 2.4 and oh my GOD watching Dan Heng be so protective of his friends nearly killed me, MY HEART.

And yes, the cutscene where he pushes the trailblazer out of the way and even cushions their fall with his own body, but I mean even before that! When he was already trying to protect them and March 7th from Feixiao and Lingsha!!

Because if you watch the dango trio throughout the main quest, you'll notice that they often position themselves in the same way, which is a detail that makes me super happy that Hoyo thought to include- when the three of them aren't evenly spaced, March 7th and the trailblazer tend to gravitate towards each other and stand very close together, frequently side-by-side. And by comparison, Dan Heng usually stands slightly away, and often even slightly behind them, where he can pull on their leashes to wrangle them keep an eye on them.

This is probably a habit learned through experience, since March 7th said during Belobog she is the "queen of unannounced disappearances" fjdksajfkldjsak

And of course at least a little bit of it is just done for like, aesthetic purposes. It's a video game. Things have to look nice for the player. The trailblazer and Dan Heng are the same height, March 7th is a bit shorter, and Yanqing is even smaller. It makes sense to have the trailblazer and Dan Heng stand on the ends, with March 7th and Yanqing in the middle, it just looks nicer and more balanced that way. But still! Even when they're accommodating for Yanqing in this quest, they still all arrange themselves the same way, almost every time!

But this changes after Dan Heng and Yanqing become suspicious of the visitors from the Yaoqing.

The dango trio still stand around relaxed and in their usual manner when they go to the artisanship delve and meet Skott,

but Dan Heng takes notice of Lingsha when she arrives, and he and Yanqing mentioned her specifically when discussing their worries.

Yanqing worrying so much about Jing Yuan got me right in the heart, he's such a good boy WEH

And when the four of them go out to the alchemy delve to meet Lingsha for tea, the pattern breaks. Suddenly Dan Heng is standing right up front, and even walks in and enters the scene before March 7th and the trailblazer to get to Lingsha before them. He stays a step in front of them the whole time, too.

And then when Dan Heng and the trailblazer have to go be interrogated by Feixiao! The same deal! Dan Heng walks in ahead of them and stays in front of them! Noticeably so! Enough that even Feixiao takes note and voices it!

Dan Heng is so so fiercely protective of his companions, and I love it, I adore hyper vigilance in the wake of trauma like this, I'm so excited to see what else he does in 2.5, I hope we either get to see him get fucked up or the trailblazer gets fucked up in his place, I wanna see them run through the meat grinder!!!

[bluespiritshonour]

Edit: Part 1 | Part 2

Allow me to let y'all know how embarassed I am. I planned to post the entire thing i.n one go when it was done—but I had never made anything comic like save for the Azula-Zuko thing and I didn't realise how hard it was going to be.

So... I fucked up my back over this the past weekend—(then went to a botanical garden wearing heels because I didn't have any other option and now my feet are wrecked too—honestly, why are heels even a thing. First and last time I'd wear them I swear. I'd rather walk barefoot)—and this has triggered a sort of... art burnout for me, eh?

So I thought I'll just go ahead and post it. I initially thought it'd be six pages—boy did I underestimate it!

And don't worry, I'll complete it.

I've already poured so much sweat and blood into it—the only way to go is to complete it now. Plus, I already have several uncoloured pages, yknow, lineart and all done. (Let's pretend I don't go from sketch to colour and actually skip the lineart).

It'd take a while though.

So...uh...to be continued?

P.S.: because I'm evil: [rubs hands excitedly] we'd wait together until it's finished.

P.P.S.: no, seriously though. Posting it here so that I'll hold myself accountable.

[janetcage]

I’m titling this, Syzoth and Ashrah go to Walmart. Now accept the shenaniganary.

[arthur-lesters-nipples]

How much do you think Arthur is seen walking to whatever new horrorTM they’re about to witness, his hands clasped together in front of him. How often do you think he gently takes Johns hand and rubs his thumb against Johns, or lightly fiddles with the wooden pinky. How it at first started off as a nervous tick. In those quiet moments where there is no imminent danger, he still can’t help but be alert. Constantly moving, ready to bolt the second John sees danger. How yes, at first the hand fidgeting was because of anxiety, but now he does it because John started fidgeting back. How John will now reach for Arthur’s hand and lace their fingers together in those rare peaceful moments, grounding not only Arthur but himself. A reassurance that it’s safe right now, they’re safe.

[scuba-divers]

little kinito x y/n doodle to satisfy the hoard

[heavenlyascent]

I can hate on Rebirth for its flaws any day of the week but I can never truly hate it because it unequivocally gave us on screen proof that not only are Tifa and Aerith best friends but also that they undoubtably love each other.

Like there's no playing around with this like people do with the OG. It's not in subtext or in silent background moments where you see them together. Tifa and Aerith are friends, they care so much for each other that on the brink of death one of the people Tifa imagined calling and reaching out for her was Aerith.

They say, to Cloud and the audience's faces, that they are friends. Aerith was ready to punch that one girl in the face for trying to be catty with Tifa.

I don't EVER wanna hear from this fandom again that Aerith and Tifa do not care about each other or that they would let Cloud of all people get in between them. They were close in the OG and they're close in the Remake. FIGHT ME.

[liquid-sunshines]

Qi-ge's wish (short comic strip)

Based on an online prompt: "pleasant conversation"

[whohasthecards]

Idea

After the mission, Jake apologizes to Mav and Bradley about bringing up the Goose incident, and explains that he was just trying to get Bradley to fly faster and better in a fucked up way. They both forgive him, and Bradley thinks maybe now they can both be good wingmen to each other.

However, that's not the case. Although Jake still hangs around the Dagger Squad and gets closer to them, he's hesitant around Bradley. Not enough for most people to notice, he's still a sarcastic asshole, but he's wary around Bradley and Bradley doesn't know why.

Jake is actually still hurt about the time at the Hard Deck when Bradley told him, "Hangman, the only place you'll lead anyone is an empty grave." Bradshaw brought up one of his greatest losses when he was just joking around. It hurt. He knew that the proper thing to do is talk about it, but instead he just keeps Bradshaw at a distance and watches him to make sure that the other man won't randomly lose his temper. He's only accepted in the Dagger Squad because he saved Rooster and Mav's lives, he won't fuck that up by accusing Rooster of being an ass about something that happened months ago. Rooster probably didn't even remember.

He was right, Rooster didn’t remember. Just that they were making jabs at each other.

Rooster is talking to Mav and Ice about Hangman being distant and Mav just tells him to give Hangman time to get used to having a team.

Ice starts hanging around the Top Gun base more, and eventually starts building rapport with the Dagger Squad. Especially Lieutenant Jake "Hangman" Seresin who seems to really look up at him. However, unlike others who do, Seresin can actually hold a conversation and doesn't just hang on his every word and treat him like some kind of god. Ice likes the kid.

(Ice thinks the Dagger Squad knows about his marriage with Mav and how he raised Bradley. Dagger Squad does not know.)

Eventually, Ice asks about his relationship with Rooster and Jake spills the whole thing about what Bradley said, and the lost of his former wingman. Ice is livid. He confronts Rooster about it, and tells Bradley to apologize and to better watch his temper.

When Bradley does, Jake asks how he knows about that stuff. Bradley said Ice did and how his uncle is always trying to make sure wingmen stick together.

Instead of being comforted about this, Jake feels betrayed. Betrayed that sometimes he told Ice in confidence was just out and about now and becomes upset about it and walks away. He feels stupid for not realizing that IceMav was a thing and that Bradley was their pseudo-son, and thinks that Ice just wanted to get close to him, so that Dagger Squad would stay together.

Jake starts distancing himself from Ice and starts withdrawing from the team.

Everything eventually gets straightened out with some intervention from Mav, Javy, and the rest of the Dagger Squad. Mav by telling Jake that Ice just likes to fix things, and accidentally oversteps. Javy by threatening Bradley to never ever say shit like that to Jake again. Ice then apologizes to Jake and tells him he just found Bradley's behavior unacceptable and didn't mean to overstep. Jake accepts the apology and they both start bonding again.

Bradley and Jake start becoming true wingmen not only in the air, but also on the ground.

Happy ending, Dagger Squad + IceMav all vibing together.

[luminescentchimera]

every time someone uses a normal ship name in mcyt fandoms a grian loses it's wings

[crowlore]

Toast to a Saint