helly-watermelonsmellinfellon

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

*SPOILERS* ARLECCHINO STORY QUEST!

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So, ppl are mad the Traveler lost to Arlecchino...

The Traveler bodied Childe and Signora in simple 1 V 1 fights. Even when their opponents got to use power-ups, the Traveler remained the same.

Scaramouche, when by himself and not capitalizing off of Tatarigami in the atmosphere, is not a threat to the Traveler despite what he thinks. The people was the most threat to were Fatui grunts and random civilians without Visions.

People need to be honest about his Boss Fight. It was cool and flashy, and also lame. When ppl try hyping him up as soooo dangerous because the Traveler failed to defeat him in a dream 168 times, they conveniently ignore how his ass got so easily tricked into a dream in the first place. They ignore a lot about his Boss Fight actually.

1.) His own body was insufficient for 'godhood'. He needed to rely on a group of 'feeble humans' to create a better puppet body for one. He couldn't do it.

2.) That larger puppet body was capable of channeling multiple elements, which he was not shown to be capable of at all in any of the times he showed up prior to that. Signora even said he only had his rank because he could take more pain and suffering than most and was effectively impossible to kill/destroy.

3.) The puppet body was powered by a Gnosis, which was not his and was not original intended for his use specifically. The Gnosis was used to amplify the larger puppet's elemental abilities.

4.) He was hooked up to that larger puppet for months and had the scholars funneling all kinds of canned knowledge into his vessel to make a new god. None of that information was learned by himself. He needed humans to hook him up to a system they created and needed them to inject it into his mind for him. He did none of that work.

5.) The Shouki no Kami was a result of the efforts of a bunch of humans. All he did was sit there and let them shove tubes in his back. It was probably painful but becoming a 'god' was through barely any personal effort of his own. It was other people doing all the work.

6.) The people of Sumeru City were forced into a 168-day Samsara to collect knowledge, wisdom, and jnana energy for the larger puppet body. Dragging the Traveler for needing all 168 versions of the dream fight to be in their mind and having 1K ppl crowd-source a solution for the official fight, isn't it. Scaramouche needed 168 days of content from those same 1K people to help power his fancy mech suit in the first place.

The Traveler defeating him makes complete sense. Dude somehow lost even with a Gnosis in his possession and the Traveler didn't have a Gnosis to use. The Traveler wasn't even using all the Elements they have access to. Or a better weapon.

Arlecchino has her Blood Fire Curse, a Pyro Vision, and a Pyro Delusion all going at once. She is way more powerful than Childe, Signora, and base Scaramouche all put together. Her curse thing gives her power we don't even understand. We cannot properly evaluate her true threat level because we don't know what it does, or how it works.

The other three were predictable in battle once the Traveler got used to them. That's cuz the power sources make enough sense. Vision = primitive Gnosis that grants specific Elemental Power. Delusion = Vision Wannabe + negative health effects. Gnosis = Elemental Power Amplifier for gods. But the Blood Fire Curse thing? That's new. There's nothing like it anywhere else for the Traveler to learn about it or compare it to.

Also, the Traveler was not going all out because Arlecchino was not going all out either. The Traveler knew that she was testing her children and also knew the fight wasn't really theirs. She had already planned for the fight to happen and wanted the Traveler to protect the children if the time came, but it was not really their fight because they were not enemies. That's why Lyney, Lynette, and Freminet's attacks all appear during the battle and why they're talking the whole time. This was their fight with the Traveler as a back-up.

The children had to show a sufficient level of skill and improvement for Arlecchino to change the punishment they were due, but she was the one to choose when the demonstration ended. The Traveler was the only one still standing by the end, and Arlecchino used her curse to make eye contact and Tsukuyomi them and then manipulated their body into being unable to move(bloodbending???) to defend themself while she came at them.

How do you fight what you do not know? The twins got bodied by the Sustainer... because they didn't know what her powers were or what they were capable of. If they went into that battle with all the knowledge already, it probably would have ended very differently. That's just how it goes. That's why everyone wonders what the rematch will be like, especially with all the Elements and that weird golden power on the Traveler's side.

Ranks actually matter for the Harbingers. Arlecchino being #4 means she's very high up there. The Traveler has defeated every Harbinger Boss up until now and it's actually good that they didn't win this one. Even if it wasn't a real fight on their behalf, they got a good look into what the highest-ranking Harbingers are capable of. And that will serve as a lesson. She was only #4, could do all of that shit, and there are still 3 people above her.

This served as a good lesson on the dangers of hubris imo. If the Traveler beat her with all that shit she did while the Traveler wasn't trying their best, I'd be pissed.

#genshin impact #arlecchino

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

Advice on Rare Pairs.

You need to go into it believing this is for you and you alone. You cannot expect it'll be accepted the same as a fic for the biggest ship in your fandom.

You can write a 2K oneshot for the fav ship of the fandom that gets 3K Kudos in a week, but then do 34K words for a rare pair and it'll get 113 Kudos in total even after a year.

I just saw someone bitching on Twitter because they labored over a fic for a rare pair that is so rare, their fic was the only one in the pairing on FFN and AO3. And they wrote A VERY LARGE FIC for it and it only got 29 Kudos + no Comments on AO3, and then 2 Favorites and 3 Reviews on FFN.

And while I get that the numbers feel depressing, they should have prepared themselves. A smaller fandom with a main ship that has less than 100 fics in total, and none for their ship in question, isn't going to have many people. And even a bigger fandom won't have a guaranteed large fanbase.

Writers need to tailor expectations accordingly and understand that they aren't going to be swamped with engagement for rare pairs. I get wanting more people to see it and like it, but you have to be realistic and not beat yourself up or scream at other people because they don't have the same ships as you.

#fanfiction #writing #rare pairs

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

Getting Lyney 7 Wishes After Arlecchino!

Father brought her son home 7 Wishes after herself! I am SHOOK!

#genshin impact #arlecchino #lyney

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

holy shit

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

I've just clicked on a hannigram fic to read and you've written it, and I realised you've written other fics I love from two other fandoms; Harry Potter and Sherlock. v cool

<3 ^-^

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

Normal ppl when Taylor Swift puts out a new album: OMG, this song reminds me of something I went through with my first ex!

Me, when Taylor Swift puts out a new album: OMG, this song reminds me of Naruto and Sasuke!

#taylor swift #narusasu #sasunaru #sns

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

Someone on Twitter suggested that these would go well together at the chorus, and I decided to check it out.

I had to fiddle with the speed during Taylor's 'haven't decided yet' cuz she says it a bit too fast.

#taylor swift #the tortured poets department #ttpd #imgonnagetyouback

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

Acquiring Arlecchino

I was on 0 Pity with a guarantee. This damn thing took me the 60 Wishes I'd saved up, and then I get 10 more through the shop because I pulled 5 Xianglings in those 60 pulls! And I reached 70 and STILL GOT NOTHING! So, I had to start the new World Quest so I can Explore the newest Region to get some Primos, Sigils, and Hydroculi so I could level up my Statues to get enough Sigils to finish off the damn Fountain to get the 2 Wishes at LV 50 so I could wish in this clip.

#genshin impact #arlecchino

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

^

There's something I don't see talked about enough in the SVSSS fandom.

The System.

I just received a comment on one of my fics - which has post-canon SQQ and SQH able to still use social media - suggesting that it would be very easy for people in the real world to point out that these characters using fake accounts to post on real life social media sites would easily be doxxed and the System would have no ability to do anything about that.

Something I have noticed among a lot of people who read this particular book is that not a lot of consideration is given to the very thing orchestrating everything. We often think of the system as a ridiculous guide or rule book that exists solely to give the protagonist what he wants/deserves. We don't really approach it for what it is.

This was my reply to that comment:

Doubt it. The System is able to kidnap people from their worlds and place them in other worlds and bodies in those worlds as punishment. And if you don't do as it wants, to the specification it doesn't directly detail, it can send your soul to an alternate version of the present world to be tortured in another body. I sincerely doubt an abstract, otherworldly being like that, which never receives consequences for anything it does because there is apparently nothing that can canonically challenge it, is going to be threatened by doxxing. If it can create things, link universes together, steal souls, and can be anywhere at any time, I wouldn't expect it to be incapable of manipulating people's perception. I even mentioned how in this fic, it WILL erase SQQ's sister's memories if he chooses to reveal his identity to her, but it becomes too much for her to handle. This suggests it has power anywhere and can do whatever it wants. So, in my mind, if someone actually tried to doxx their accounts, it's either going to lead nowhere, lead to somewhere fake, or the info will be stripped from their lives entirely the moment they find anything/nothing.

It was a very nitpicky kind of comment in my opinion, which warranted this response, but my response just made me realize that the System is effectively an amortal, omnipresent, and omnipotent Entity. It literally doesn't go away. We even think it's over and the Extras tell us, via SQH, that it's still there and still in control.

Think about it.

Think about every single thing that happened because of the System's actions or demands. It literally never faces consequences because there is nothing that could hope to punish it. I've only read 1 fic where higher beings step in to punish the System for kidnapping, coercing, and torturing innocent people for its amusement.

Because that IS something it can do. With ease. And seems all too happy to do.

The System is very dangerous and it's weird how this is something people forget when reading fanfics. SVSSS is the kind of book where crack ideas can work in the frame of the canon story because a character like SQH exists. Because he wrote PIDW with every single plothole and contrived story beat for the sake of money and survival, we can have the weirdest shit happen and blame it on his lack of imagination when writing PIDW. It doesn't need in-depth nitpicking to make it make sense. MXTX gave us a very large and generous sandbox to play in.

You don't need to rationalize a crack plot. And you should always keep in mind that canonically, the System is a terrifying Entity capable of outrageous things. It shouldn't be the deal-breaker that the Entity that kidnaps, gaslights, coerces, tortures, and manipulates people is capable of fantastical feats in a fanfic.

#svsss #shen qingqiu #shang qinghua

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

Reading comprehension on Stan Twitter in a nutshell.

Grown ass adults who are obsessed over a show that does in fact portray the 1800s as if they weren't racist, are bitching over children playing a game where they'd pick a decade to live in and that Taylor dared to say it might be fun in 1830 so long as the bad stuff, such as racism and sexism, aren't there. And then noting that nostalgia is a mind trick and that even then it still wouldn't be fun in the 1830s, thereby ruining the mood for everyone else by having to be realistic about what things were like back then.

But man, we got white people on Stan Twitter, who hate Taylor and want to be seen as one of the 'Good Whites', trying to get their White Activism points in and then getting offended when POC tell them they're fucking stupid and have no reading comprehension.

#taylor swift #ttpd #the tortured poets department

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

There's something I don't see talked about enough in the SVSSS fandom.

The System.

I just received a comment on one of my fics - which has post-canon SQQ and SQH able to still use social media - suggesting that it would be very easy for people in the real world to point out that these characters using fake accounts to post on real life social media sites would easily be doxxed and the System would have no ability to do anything about that.

Something I have noticed among a lot of people who read this particular book is that not a lot of consideration is given to the very thing orchestrating everything. We often think of the system as a ridiculous guide or rule book that exists solely to give the protagonist what he wants/deserves. We don't really approach it for what it is.

This was my reply to that comment:

Doubt it. The System is able to kidnap people from their worlds and place them in other worlds and bodies in those worlds as punishment. And if you don't do as it wants, to the specification it doesn't directly detail, it can send your soul to an alternate version of the present world to be tortured in another body. I sincerely doubt an abstract, otherworldly being like that, which never receives consequences for anything it does because there is apparently nothing that can canonically challenge it, is going to be threatened by doxxing. If it can create things, link universes together, steal souls, and can be anywhere at any time, I wouldn't expect it to be incapable of manipulating people's perception. I even mentioned how in this fic, it WILL erase SQQ's sister's memories if he chooses to reveal his identity to her, but it becomes too much for her to handle. This suggests it has power anywhere and can do whatever it wants. So, in my mind, if someone actually tried to doxx their accounts, it's either going to lead nowhere, lead to somewhere fake, or the info will be stripped from their lives entirely the moment they find anything/nothing.

It was a very nitpicky kind of comment in my opinion, which warranted this response, but my response just made me realize that the System is effectively an amortal, omnipresent, and omnipotent Entity. It literally doesn't go away. We even think it's over and the Extras tell us, via SQH, that it's still there and still in control.

Think about it.

Think about every single thing that happened because of the System's actions or demands. It literally never faces consequences because there is nothing that could hope to punish it. I've only read 1 fic where higher beings step in to punish the System for kidnapping, coercing, and torturing innocent people for its amusement.

Because that IS something it can do. With ease. And seems all too happy to do.

The System is very dangerous and it's weird how this is something people forget when reading fanfics. SVSSS is the kind of book where crack ideas can work in the frame of the canon story because a character like SQH exists. Because he wrote PIDW with every single plothole and contrived story beat for the sake of money and survival, we can have the weirdest shit happen and blame it on his lack of imagination when writing PIDW. It doesn't need in-depth nitpicking to make it make sense. MXTX gave us a very large and generous sandbox to play in.

You don't need to rationalize a crack plot. And you should always keep in mind that canonically, the System is a terrifying Entity capable of outrageous things. It shouldn't be the deal-breaker that the Entity that kidnaps, gaslights, coerces, tortures, and manipulates people is capable of fantastical feats in a fanfic.

#svsss #bingqiu #shen qingqiu #shang qinghua

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

birb

The wallpaper Microsoft gave me for the day.

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

Your brain when you still don't know most of the words of The Tortured Poets Department.

Most random bits come up here and there, and also some of SNTV.

#TTPD #the tortured poets department #taylor swift #humor

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

So, I was on Twitter, and I saw one of the Genshin accounts talking about something that confused them. And it involved the topic that I'm actually very interested in.

We're both incredibly enamored with the fact that half of the overworld scenery in the game is a result of some god somewhere performing some kind of epic feat.

The Harr Islands(GAA) being Barbatos terraforming Mondstadt to clear the snow and ice.

Guyun Stone Forest being Morax pinning gods down with his spears so they can't threaten Liyue anymore.

Yashiori Island and Orobaxi's corpse being bisected clean through being Beelzebul's way of handling a 'threat' to Inazumans.

The Rainforest being Greater Lord Rukkhadevata trying to bring life back to the land Celestia ruined with a Divine Nail.

Dragonspine's perpetual Winter, Tsurumi's perpetual Fog(prior to the Traveler's interference), and Sumeru's desert being Celestia nuking civilizations supposedly to clear Abyssal corruption.

The Harvisptokhm in the Sumeru Desert being the efforts of 3 goddesses to hold off the infestation of Abyssal creatures during The Cataclysm.

The Eternal Oasis being King Deshret's attempt at preserving a resting place for the Goddess of Flowers.

Watatsumi Island existing at all being Orobaxi removing the odd growths he'd sprouted in the Dark Sea and using them to make an island for the people of Enkanomiya to live on up on the surface.

Enkanomiya's present circumstances being because of a massive war between 2 alien beings that both thought they should rule a planet neither owned.

The Chasm being the way it is because a golden chariot fell from the heavens and fucked everything up, followed afterward by a Divine Nail at some point.

And so this Twitter account was asking the question of why, if all these gods are capable of such massive feats of power, aren't the playable versions just as badass?

And it suddenly hit me.

Almost all of the gods were killed in the Archon War(as I think it was Celestia's way of culling the herd of potential threats). There are very few beings left behind who could pose enough of a threat for a god with such power to have to use it. Zhongli and Ei are literally pulling their punches every day because why would you summon the power to cut an island in half, or summon spears the size of mountains for a Treasure Hoarder whose chosen weapon is a shovel? And hell, even with humans using Delusions like the Fatui, they are literally no match. At all. It'd be overkill and a waste of energy.

Me also realizing that this is probably why playable gods/godly beings are so different from their lore versions. The Archons/Dragon Sovereigns should technically the best for their elements if you have them all C6'd, so them being strongest makes sense based on what each can do. But they're a far cry from what they 'used to be' compared to their lore selves in the story.

It almost feels like the day I learned that Mora being used to Ascend Weapons has actual lore implications because the power in it, from being created by the Geo Gnosis specifically, gave it special properties that let it change/enhance Weapons.

#genshin impact

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

my fav 2 cereals

Am I 2 yrs old, or 2 yrs old? Who can tell?

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

Taylor Swift - Fortnight (feat. Post Malone) (Official Music Video)

She’s a genius.

#taylor swift #the tortured poets department #music

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

HELLY IT RELEASED TODAY DID YOU LISTEN YET???

OH MY GOD I AM FREAKING OUT!!!!!! I AM EXCITED TO SEE WHAT YOU THINK!!

THERE'S SO MUCH CONTENT!

So many words to parse through.

She was taking shots at everybody, including herself!

The most confessional she's ever been.

The work ethic of this woman to be on a sold-out, worldwide stadium tour and be promoting the releases of not only 2 different re-recorded albums, but then working in secret on a completely new album that has 31 SONGS ON IT, and be able to not only write, produce, and sing those songs, but also create a whole merch line and concept for how to market said album, then film a music video for the lead single, and finally still have enough time for your new lover, your friends, your family, and even your fans.

"I cry a lot, but I am so productive, it's an art."

Yes. Yes, you are, Taylor.

#ttpd #the tortured poets department #taylor swift