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basicallyahedgehog · 7 months

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20 questions for fic writers!

Thanks for the tag @maesterchill, I loved reading your answers!

Here are mine! (under the cut)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I have 30!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

64,491, which is higher than I expected actually. My one 13k fic is doing the hard work in pulling up the average words 😂

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Harry Potter!! Various ships but mostly Drarry

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Love You Find - The one with the road trip My Heart Was Unprepared - The one with Draco's diary All The Time In The World - The one with gender euphoria The Strings That Weave Us - The one where Draco has pink hair The Evolution of Soup (Or How Harry Learned to be Loved) - The one with too much soup and a lot of feelings

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

No, but not by choice per se. But I have truly terrible object permanence and by the time I remember them I feel bad that I haven't responded yet and then I never do...

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Til The End of The Night - I don't really write fics that don't have happy endings, but this is just 700 words of angst. Sorry Harry. I do have a kind-of sequel planned for this but who knows if it will ever get finished!

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

As I said, I don't really write not happy endings. But maybe The Love You Find.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I've had a couple of odd comments, but none that I would class as hate.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I have written exactly two fics that have smut, one drarry and one poly golden trio. So I'm not sure if I have a kind? Probably soft and sweet, or at least that's what I aim for.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

No I haven't, and I don't think I ever will. I don't really know any other universe in the same way as I know HP - both the canon and then the world I've built for it in my head - to be able to confidently combine them.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of...

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but I'd be open to it if anyone ever wanted to.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I haven't! @phoebe-delia and I keep talking about it though...

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

Drarry, always

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

As mentioned above, I have twoish chapters written of a "sequel" (maybe more a companion?) to Til The End Of The Night. It's the first Drarry fic I started writing and it got abandoned in favour of fest fics and I've never gotten back to it. I would like to think I will, but at this point my faith is low!

I also have the first four books written of a Hermione-POV canon, which was my first ever fanfic. It has been long abandoned and will never be returned to. If you manage to track down my old ffn account and find it, godspeed to you

16. What are your writing strengths?

Ummm. People tell me I make them feel things, so maybe that? I also can't turn my SPAG brain off, so as long as I slow down enough to edit my own writing, that's usually pretty strong.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I am not good at writing plotty things, and when I do try I find it really hard to not just info-dump it - to actually describe what is happening instead of just narrating it to the reader. I can do vibes, but not plot 🤷

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I love it in other people's fics, but I do not have more than a couple of random words in any language other than English. I know that translation sites exist, but I feel that I don't have enough knowledge of other languages to do it justice.

The only time I'd break this self-imposed rule would be if I was making new spells - eg using Latin.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter. First and only!

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

Oh boy. Either All The Time in the World or (They) Keep Me Warm. Because both of them are full of all my trans feels and are probably the two fics that I have put the most of myself into.

Thanks again for the tag, this was fun! No-pressure tagging @phoebe-delia @otpcutie @geesenoises @citrusses @makeitp1nk and anyone who wants to!!

#tag games #writing things #my writing

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genderkoolaid · 2 years

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I have some experiences w transandrophobia, not many because I'm still closeted. Sorry if my writing is a little bad but this isn't my first language.

* when I tried to come out to a friend who was an out bi (cis) girl, she immediately started questioning me and invalidating my identity, she said that even if girls can be boyish that doesn't mean we're men.

I think ableism was involved because I'm autistic so she may think I'm confused because of my autism. She did validate a neurotypical person who came out as genderfluid to her.

Might also be that this person mostly identified as a girl, so ig she saw them as girl lite since she was also loud about men being bad.

* I used to go on this forum site, I liked to talk about feminism sometimes, the space was dominated by cis women. The other trans men who talked there all kinda felt like an afterthought so we actually barely interacted. I once tried explaining that it shouldn't be that way but I got harassed... Many people there held TERFy views aswell.

* I used to own a diary when I was around 15, when I was sure I was a trans man so I wrote down all my feelings cuz I thought I'd have privacy with it,

I got into some unrelated fights with my grandma so she opened my diary and took photos of all the pages while I was at school, thus outing me. I was going with a psychologist atm to get an autism diagnosis, but I heard her talking to the psychologist telling her about me identifying as a man. She was begging her to help me because "I wasn't like that as a child" and that "I got corrupted by the stupid people I talked with".

the psychologist made me draw a person so I drew a random girl, she started asking me if I identified with the girl, if I was attracted to men, if I liked being girly and girly stuff... I didn't answer because I got really uncomfortable. Luckily the hour was over so she let me go. My grandma keeps telling me that I'm a pretty girl very often and keeps hinting at trans men not being real and overall transphobic things to me since that day.

Thank you for sharing your experiences.

#m.#ask box #experiences with transandrophobia

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ziceolantern · 2 years

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Beginning of the blog of an egocentric creep

Dear Blog, Well for a start, I’m not really a Tumblr user; I’ve heard this website is dead since 2018. Kind of ironic because that was the moment I was starting to get interested into it. So I never bothered trying using it. Yet, here I am.

To be honest, I wanted to start a diary but I didn’t have any empty notebook. However, I really needed to write my thoughts somewhere. Otherwise, I’m just going to be laying on my bed, thinking again and again about it, doing nothing. Then I thought about writing my thoughts on my twitter account. But I always hate seeing people talking about their life on Twitter, besides, I’ve always had the impression of yelling at a wall when it’s supposed to be listening to me. Plus if there is someone that does listen to you, they won’t be often very nice. So I thought of Tumblr and I remembered that’s the perfect site to write a diary, or a blog. Then another thought came “but hasn’t this site lost all of his popularity and prestige and is already dead?” This is perfect! At least I won’t be surprised when the corpse I’m yelling at doesn’t respond.

I guess I should present myself now. Hello my name is Zice, you can call me Zicey if you want but that’ll be €5, sorry. I’m a bit lost young adult. I love art, drawing, theater, robots, monsters and game developing. I’m french and syrian. Maybe your typical emo artist? I hope I’m more than that but we’ll see about that!

Why did I decide to start a diary/blog? Well for two main reasons:

I’m moving to Paris.

I lost a valuable friend.

For the first reason, like it’s written, I’m going to move to Paris to go to an art school. I’ll be living alone for the first time. I’m really anxious about it that I’ve laid down on my bed doing nothing, I just didn’t want to pack my stuff. This is, I hope, a big step in my life for becoming the artist I want to be. I’ve thought that starting a diary will make me able to reflect onto my life, my progression and my sucess from this point onwards!

For the second point, I had an ugly arguing with a very close friend. Let’s call him, Teacher cat. He was a valuable confidant. I was telling him everything before the arguing. I made him mad because I’ve discussed a choice of his life I really couldn’t understand. So he started to say to stop shoving my insecurities at him and he used some personnal issues I’ve told him to shut me up. I was hurt. Both parties are to blame in this story. But I really couldn’t let him step onto me like he usually does so that went far because none of us seem to let it down. He was starting to get really ugly when he was lashing onto me so I blocked him and I left our common discord servers because I didn’t want to his face anymore. Afterwards I unblocked him to let him apologize but he was on the same page as me because none of us wanted to be friend again. So we severed our relationship. Afterwards I made the same with another friend close to Teacher cat because our friendship was going nowhere and he ignored most of my messages anyway. I was ready to turn the page but the day after, he dared messaging me on an alternate account because I had blocked the other friends. The content? Calling me toxic because he had leaked our convo to all of his friends, asking them if I was toxic and of course, all of his friends said I was toxic. Also calling me an egocentric guy and finishing by “Keep your dick into your pants you creep.” I don’t really understand what he’s coming to with his last statement but yeah he was far from being my friend at this point anymore. So guess what? I’m an egocentric creep now what you’re going to do? With these events I realized even if I felt bad, I couldn’t tell this because I start telling all of my personnal issues to someone, the same thing would happen again because they’re going to be able to use my issues onto me. So that’s another main reason I’m creating this blog.

Here, I’ll post my thoughts, my issues, my drawings, my critics about stuff I read watched and played and if you don’t like it, don’t read it! That’s very simple.

Anyway, stay tuned!

Zice

#me #my diary #online diary #diary

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twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat · 20 days

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ari should i watch the apothecary diaries? i've been kinda interested in it for a while + you keep hyping it up... today i woke up with the opening playing in my head

i agree with what you said about jinshi, his behavior reminds me a little of cult leader geto's antics... he's so pathetic... (my all time most favorite genre of men after motherly). he's also so so beautiful and the lining of his outer thing (sorry i don't know what it's called... fake chinese moment) is really similar to the sash on geto's gojo kesa... which i think is sooooo beautiful as well

n my friend said i'm realllllyy similar to maomao so this will probably be a self-indulgent watch for me... read her backstory and it's making me so sad but she comes across as so strong... i'm already so attached to her it's not even funny. also i didn't know your whole family was into anime!! that's so wholesome and cute..

about the kenny plushes, they don't sell very well (especially in the jp fandom!) so you can get them for sooo cheap. you can use a proxy if you really want to! i use sendico and the shipping isn't bad! i know they ship to a lot of smaller european countries too ^ ^

i can NOT believe they got lost at sea. omfg i am fuming for you that is so very sad. we should track down the ship. that lost it. it's negligence.

are you talking about these? https://jp.mercari.com/item/m92282289388 i actually have the cat plush one that's fairly similar! https://jp.mercari.com/item/m20944297256 N ABOUT THE MERCH I JUST.......... ORDERED A LOOK UP.... finally found geto's for a reasonable price :( now i just have to wait for golden week to end for it to shipp,.w;...... AND THIS ONE https://jp.mercari.com/item/m89522427367 where he looks so hot that i'm literally about to die

thank you so much for listening to my rambles!! :D <3 🌖🌖

🌖 ANONNNNNNNN

YOU SHOULDDDD YOU SHOULD!!!!!!! it’s super duper duper good!!!!!!!!!!!! it’s so great!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the plot is amazing and the animation is gorgeous and the characters are so so charming…. JINSHI IS LITERALLY CULT LEADER GETO just. less evil. and more flirty. he’s kinda like…. if you mixed cult leader geto and teen toru in one big bowl. BUT HE’S GENUINELY VERY SIMILAR TO HOW I PICTURE CULT!GETO BEING W A CRUSH…. like….. in an au where there aren’t any complications and you’re on his side. i think he’s soooo silly and bratty and pouty. but he wants you to lean on him so badly.

he makes me insane btw motherly/pathetic men are the actual standard ANYWAYYY MAOMAO. i adore her!!!!! just as much as jinshi!!!!!! 🥺 AND WE’RE TWINNING SO HARD 🌖 ANONNNNN i see myself as super similar to her too 😭😭 just. the way she acts…. but she rlly is so lovely and funny and soso strong!!!! she’s a wonderful character……

AND YES KINDA PHDKDJ … honestly it’s mostly just. me and my two older brothers. but my mom likes manga!!! i think she’s still caught up on detective conan to this day…. the amount of chapters are frankly really silly i can’t believe it’s still ongoing 💀 BUTTT i do force my older sis to watch anime w me sometimes :3 yesterday i made her binge dungeon meshi w me!!! i’m still not nearly finished w it (and all the episodes aren’t out yet!!) but i recommend it SO strongly it’s so feel-good but also so???? idk. it’s special. and i adore laios like nothing else…. mr puppydog…….

BUT WAHHHHHH :((((((( kenny being neglected…. sniffle……… i tried using that site but it does Not work for me lmao it won’t let me register my credit card :’3 and i’m worried since i can only write my name and adress using english letters…… the kenny stuff rlly was so cheap grrr i’m mad. but oh well!!!

AND YES EXACTLY IT’S THOSE CATS!!!! 🥺🥺 wahhhhh i need the goken set so BADLY just look at them…. the meowmeows ever…….

all the merch you linked…. GRRRRR you are tempting me so hard rn 😭😭 THAT ONE OFFICIAL GETO ART. need him so bad. he looks soooooo fucking good it should be illegal…… i’m also sooooo jealous you found geto’s look up!!!!! i need to hunt him down!!!!!!!!!!!! but i can’t spend any more money on merch this month…. sobs…….. I’M ALWAYS VERY HAPPY TO HEAR ABT YOUR MERCH ESCAPADES THOUGHHH i hope your sugus reach you safely!!!!! pls send pics once he comes home plspls 🥺🥺🥺

#ILY 🌖 ANON<33333 #i love your rambles sosomuch!!!!!!#thank u for chatting as always <333 #i’ll let you know whenever i get my hands on more merch tooo!!!!!#ask tag ✩#🌖 anon !! ✩

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1000sandwiches · 4 months

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Tue, Feb 6, 2024

Lately I have become extremely nostalgic for the Web 1.0 era of the internet. It started with me looking at archived Usenet posts via Google Groups, but has turned into me spending hours on the Wayback Machine looking up sites I used to haunt back in the 90s and early 2000s. Stuff like The Gaming Intelligence Agency (which is still up somehow), Elfwood, Toriyama's World, or various rabbit holes from the Anime Web Turnpike. I really miss the days everyone had their own website (I had several if you're wondering. A Flame of Recca fan site, for example). I want to be one of the cool kids and join Neocities in hopes it'll give me a similar vibe, but I haven't done HTML in years and feel a bit intimidated by it. So for now maybe a Tumblr diary will do. So that's what this is, a rambling online diary like the kind I kept as a teenager. It seemed cheaper than therapy.

Rambling about being a new parent and venting about my in-laws below. It's not particularly interesting. Next time I'll just write about video games I'm playing, probably.

I became a dad in November 2023. My emotions and mental health have been sort of all over the place since the day we checked into the hospital. I had always wanted a family of my own, and my wife and I both felt we would regret not having at least one child. I have a lot of insecurities about being a first time father at my age. I'm 38 now, and I just keep thinking about how I'll be 43 when my son is 5, and worry I won't be able to keep up with him. But here we are.

My wife was induced and spent 30 hours in labor before the doctor finally gave us the option for a C-Section. She didn't even hesitate to say yes, honestly just relieved to get it over with. The operation went fine, but apparently I am a lightweight when it comes to gore. Seeing my partner's blood and guts all over the surgeons had my anxiety screaming. Also, no one will ever believe me, but during the surgery the anesthesiologist, Bob, was playing on his phone. All of a sudden an ad for homemade marinara started playing, and the whole room stopped to stare at him. Surgeons still covered in bloody bits. Bob just mumbled "bad timing" and turned the volume down. What an absolute legend. I love you, Bob!

The experience of holding our son for the first time was just as powerful as I had always heard. So many different feelings washed over me all at once. I'd never even held a baby before then. Seeing my son being held up against my significant other's head made me cry.

Unfortunately, I am a peon at a public library, and my wife works retail, so neither of us are great breadwinners. Oops. Sorry, baby! So now we have super fun medical bills while we also figure out a budget. Currently we are living with my in-laws. Having to adjust to both our newborn and their family routine has been a challenge for us both.

Some days are great. Others are hard. Especially in the first month, where some nights the baby would just scream his head off for hours. I knew I hated loud noises, but I never realized how triggering a baby's cry could be. I'm not suicidal, but I've spent several nights imagining a scenario where I'd jump into my car and driving off a cliff. This has gotten better recently as he now does fairly good job of sleeping through the night. It's a lot easier to be patient with his crying when we are not exhausted.

My wife had a few struggles with post-partum depression. The week after giving birth, her hormones were all over the place and she had frequent panic attacks. One morning she woke up, walked into the living room and saw our son, only to then throw up. She is over this now thankfully, and has put a lot of energy into figuring out how to be a mom. I'm very proud of her.

The In-laws are a huge help, but there are pros and cons to their assistance. There are times where my wife and I really need to learn how to deal with our son's tantrums by ourselves, but the grandparents will insist on taking him. I appreciate the help, but I worry about not being able to handle him myself. In fairness, I might struggle to get him down for an hour, but Grandma can get him to sleep on five minutes. It's like dark magic for grandparents, I swear.

I am also prone to feeling like a burden on the family. I notice a lot of little corrections. Stupid things like say I take some chips from the cupboard and I know I'll put them back in a moment. I might decide to leave the door open for a moment, but Grandma walks in and immediately shuts the cupboard. Other times I might leave a light on which Grandma turns off while I'm still using. I also feel like every interaction I have with my son is being judged. If he's crying and I set him down for a few minutes, someone feels the need to swoop in and take him from me. It's like leaving him be in his bassinet while he's awake his frowned upon.

My In-Laws also have a family culture where everyone hangs out in the living room together all day. This is completely new to me, and I'd rather be alone in my room most of the time. It doesn't help that they are a family that keeps their television on all day and I get very sick of hearing the news cycle repeat over and over. This recently had consequences when Grandpa came home from work sick, and apparently keeping the baby in another room, away from the sick guy, was never even considered.

As you might expect, our baby got sick. I was pissed. I just couldn't believe that I would come home from work to find grandpa coughing just a few feet away from him, and no one thought to keep them separated. Our son then passed his cold onto the rest of the household (not covid or flu, as several of us have tested negative).

So that brings us to now. A week after getting sick, I am still having issues with sinus drainage along with aches and pains. Our son is doing better, and you can't even tell my wife was ever sick. I'm very jealous. I should probably take a few moments to proof read all this, but I've already been typing on my phone for an hour and feel silly about posting this at all.

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lunarharp · 2 years

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long romantic baddy comic which i guess is like a retelling of some stuff from pocky’s POV idk. had a lot of fun making it :) cw character death bc yeah

#takarazuka #long post cw #idk i dont know anything here #and sorry sorry to anyone who has seen this somewhere and is sick of it idek HAHA #i have a lot of fun drawing and then get very very awkward and weird feeling when it's time to put it somewhere. Sigh #for some reason i really did spend the entirety of yesterday pretty much entirely making this. that's weird.....#normally chronic pain keeps me from doing that or brain problems or smth. i just kept going......#even when sad takarazuka news and annoying fandom stuff distracted me i just kept going...fuelled by the need to draw silly comfort...#i hope i havent used all the year's fuel already. i want to get much better #also btw i love baddy forever I CANT STOP THINKING ABT IT AND DRAWING IT BUT.....WHYYYY #i guess its what they call a Hyperfixation...where you just cant stop your activity...i had SUCH a headache at the end and was barely eatin #anyway........gonna take it easy now........banning myself from drawing today...............#i think i improved while literally drawing this bc it looks so inconsistent in quality. Whatevers a few ppl have enjoyed it thats cool #i like just diving in by myself into pocky's comphet moral scrupulosity ocd mindscape of hell. uekumi i have so much to talk to you about #also i love how you can just draw a 'comic' despite knowing nothing abt anything with no actual panels or understanding of any basic thing #see this is why i like tags and this site. this is just my little diary-like world :) P.S. i am head over heels for tsukishiro kanato xo #ppl reblogged a version where a page was repeated. i apologise. i am a fool #baddy tag

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demonslayedher · 3 years

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Buri-senpai~ it’s me again! It seems like the Kamado family was respected in town. How do you think the townsfolk would’ve reacted once they realized that Tanjirou hadn’t been visiting with charcoal, only to check up on the family where they see the wreckage. Perhaps Tanjirou had left a rushed note, noting how his family was attacked, how only he and Nezuko were alive, and how they won’t be able to visit for a very long time. If that’s the case, I don’t think Tanjirou will explain the cause 1/3

2/3 of the attack, but there’s a chance that Saburo would’ve eventually realized that a demon had attacked them. Also, side notes: if Kaigaku was still a demon slayer during the events of the red light district, do you think he would've heard about Zenitsu's contributions to the defeat of upper 6? I had read your amazing Ukogi fic and enjoyed the characterization of Kaigaku's crow embellishing his achievements as a slayer. I also enjoyed Matsuemon's fondness of Nezuko and it seems like

3/3 he was ‘conspiring’ (for lack of a better word) with Oyakata-sama behind the scenes, with how the events at Asakusa with Tamayo played out. I'm sure Tamayo's existence was pardoned by the Oyakata-sama of Yoriichi's time. Also, sorry for the length! I enjoy your input on everything!

Going to reply to this in a couple parts, but allow me to first borrow one of my LINE stickers to express:

I'll reply to the fic stuff under the cut, but I'm really honored by your close reading and consideration of one of my favorite fics, "The Legend of Ukogi." But first for your question about Tanjiro!

Honestly, I was surprised by the village's upkeep of their home, including nice new tatami and shelves which Nezuko noticed in the extended epilogue included the Volume 23 version of Chapter 204. I would had assumed they'd have a mess of a home to come back to (and wrote my canon diverent/continuation fic that way, for the first draft was written after Chapter 204's magazine publication but before Volume 23's publication). At least nowadays in Japan, uninhabited homes are often left as-is and fall to shambles, even in cities, causing problems for the neighbors as they become home to pests. Upkeep is an issue, and it seems unlikely the townspeople would had gone out of their way to keep the site of a tragedy so nice.

However, Gotouge seems to stress that the Kamado family, simply for being good people, were often humbled by being on the receiving end of such kindnesses. Even Sumiyoshi and Suyako were on the receiving end of this, as mentioned in a Taisho Secret in Volume 22, for having helped a local lord's wife and son while they were in peril without knowing who they were. Even though they tried to refuse reward, they made sure they had a nicely fixed up house anyway (side note, they moved in to Yoriichi's and Uta's abandoned house).

A sturdy house as returns for their kindness seems to be as much of a running theme in Kamado history as is Hinokami Kagura and making charcoal. We do see that Tanjiro is pretty popular among the townspeople and everyone knows they can rely on him, and if Tanjiro's highly biased word is to be trusted, Nezuko had a reputation as a local beauty. In good whether the little kids must had gone into town a bunch, and Tanjiro (and Inosuke's) continued charcoal business (despite the increasing reliance on electricity) in the Fanbook #2 extended epilogue shows that the Kamado family has always had a reputation for high quality charcoal. Certainly, they've been well-loved long enough that their tragedy would not go unnoticed.

As further evidence of this, in the Giyuu Gaiden, a hunter even notices that on a different mountain nearby there was a family of charcoal farmers slaughtered and a suspicious person in a half-and-half haori was seen around there. Clearly, the villagers were quick to notice the incident and start looking around for the man who might had done it!

But we're still left with the question of how quickly they'd have noticed the absence, how word got around, and just how much they knew. My initial thought in response to your Ask was "there's no way Tanjiro had time for that, he had bury his family and get Nezuko dressed and hurry and go!" but then again, this is Tanjiro we're talking about. Tanjiro who faithfully keeps a diary for Nezuko no matter how tired he is, and who faithfully keeps in touch with all his penpals even with all his demon slaying work to keep him busy. If anyone would had written a letter, it would had been him.

It's possible that his reasoning would had been for Nezuko's sake. Should word get around about the incident, and about Nezuko being a demon, people might suspect she was the one who did it. Even Tanjiro had to consider that possibility when he was first shocked by her transformation, though he had the evidence to clearly determine that she was innocent. So maybe if he did leave something, it might simply had been to inform people that Nezuko still needs help, and he's left to take care of her.

To the townspeople, Tanjiro's word is trustworthy. As soon as someone discovered the incident (and perhaps a letter), word would probably get around pretty fast, and if Tanjiro had circumstances that forced him to leave for Nezuko's sake, that implies that they might make a return once she was alright. That might be what inspired the townspeople, who cared for generations about their local charcoal farmers, to have their hearts wrenched with sympathy for the tragedy these two surviving children have been through, and to try to do what they can by taking care of the house while they're gone.

As for knowing if it was demons or not, it's possible only Saburo knew that. There's so much we don't know about Saburo, but my personal headcanon is that he lost his family to demons and was rescued by the Demon Slayers. While others might have been quick to blame the suspicious man in the half-and-half haori, anything said by Saburo, a man perhaps known for keeping to himself with a sullen personality, was dismissed or taken for mere superstition. Saburo, having told Tanjiro to stay with him that night, might had already felt something was off, and when the feeling kept bothering him, he might had gone to check on the Kamado family and been the first one to discover the massacre. Letter or not, he'd have known Tanjiro survived, and might had gotten there soon enough to trace the footprints to deduce to that one of the other older children must had survived too.

Now because of fic spoilers, Bird Fic commentary below!

As I was doing my best to make that fic fit alongside canon, I tried to consider where the birds might and might not been able to influence the events of canon, and that made Denroku (Kaigaku's crow) one of my favorite small bits to work with. Even though he never makes an appearance in the story (only mentioned as a slightly antagonistic bird), he struck me as having the most potential for influencing events.

Since we see a general pattern of the birds being very invested in the Slayer they work with, I imagined that Denroku would pick up on Kaigaku's ambitions. When he got in trouble for embellishing Kaigaku's achievements, that's when he tries the reverse, taking assignments into his own talons and leading to Kaigaku fighting an enemy out of his league. While most of the Kasugai-garasu would had immediately reported Upper Moon 1 so that a Pillar could be summoned, Denroku's underhanded drive to see Kaigaku promoted is what leads to a situation the Corp would had preferred to avoid.

And that brings us back to Matsuemon, who does his best to promote his underlings' achievements to get Tanjiro recognized as a Pillar. He is protective of Nezuko, having picked up on that from Tanjiro, but honestly, I had not considered Matsuemon leading to Tanjiro's encounter with Tamayo. Letting Oyakata-sama know about it, though, that does seem in character for Matsuemon, which we'll get to!

As for why Tanjiro encountered Tamayo so early on, I posited in this Ask that Oyakata-sama probably was hoping Tanjiro would make a connection with her. Gotouge has stated that the demon Tanjiro was sent to investigate in Asakusa was Tamayo. Like you, I assume that Kagaya's forefathers must had chosen to pardon her existence out of Yoriichi's good word for her, and we know from his later mention of her to Tanjiro and efforts to reach out to her later that he's probably always been curious about a way to gain her trust.

What probably gave him the idea to use Tanjiro, a kid with a demon sister, was Urokodaki's letter. We didn't hear the full letter read allowed at the Pillar meeting, but my thought is that Urokodaki wrote highly enough of Tanjiro that Kagaya was like, "aha! This is it! This might be the person who helps me gain Tamayo's trust!" and that was why he sent Tanjiro to Asakusa on his second mission. As for whether Matsuemon knew that or not, I suspect not initially, but he might had gotten aware of it overtime and been in on the loop of birds who know this but help keep it on the downlow, as per Oyakata-sama's request. Matsuemon might had also been given special instructions to report details to the Kasugai-garasu who initiated the personal correspondence between Oyakata-sama and Tamayo. Knowing this egotistical bird he probably would had loved to brag about it, but he's smart enough and respects the Corp mission enough to know when to keep silent about his achievements.

EDIT: Ack! I forgot to respibd to your Kaigaku question. I do assume Kaigaku was still a Corp member at that time and he probably heard and that it ticked him the hell off. Even if he didn't know the details, the fact that Zenitsu would had been credited with fighting an Upper Moon would tick him off with jealousy. Not to worry, Kaigaku, Upper Moon 6 is only the bottom rung of the Upper Moons. ; P

#kny fandom theories and meta #my fics #kamado tanjiro #kamado tanjirou #saburo #ubuyashiki kagaya #kaigaku #tennoji matsuemon #hahaha so many tags I wouldn't had expected to put together #tamayo #kimetsu no yaiba #demon slayer

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underestimated-heroine · 2 years

Text

2nd Post with links to fave posts/relevant posts/personal Posts!!

(sorry if I reblog, it's only to keep from losing this to the sands of time! Also anyone's free to reblog or save this as is the mode on Tumblr Dot Com. Links go to my blog because it's the best, easy way I have to make sure I don't lose posts to deletion.)

faves/reference posts

But My Friend You Forgot some candles

Sacred Geometry Club w/ Audio

Morality and Guilt

Pun Dicks Trying to Get their GFs back

Mt. Fuji Fireworks video

Moving on My Castle

TLDR: Make Your Shitty Pots

John Lennon Stole Yoko Ono's Ass Part 2

For Girl

CDC says Delta Post

Narussy

Assembling a PC

African Carbon Emissions

Being as I Am An Idiot

Jerma Geode

Values of Culture Hard Decisions

Indie Movie About Woman Directed by Man

Pasta Strainer Brains Vaccines

Shot for my beliefs bled like a dog

Where do u think ur breasts went

Jesse what are you talking about

iPhone @ the laundromat

Calling you an idiot plot

Write something stupid

"sTOlE mY tagS!"

Down with cis original post

Supernatural et tu brute tweet history

Benedict Cumberbatch "daddy" post DOO 2021

"Things Characters Can't Do While Talking" Worst Post in the World

Boneghazi pt 1. / Boneghazi pt. 2

A finger would stop a bullet post

Tumblr CEO Halloween

Supernatural Final Episode (I think?) Funny Synopsis by heritageposts

Fake Boyfriend Car Crash Story

Sonic for Real Justice History Lesson

The HP Centrist Problem

Doctor Vs. Furry Artist

Panera Bread Sluts

Villain intro Casey Frey

Jerma regains his hearing <3

Activist guilt

Ghost Baby

Writing Advice: Character Traits to Suit Your Story

Orangutan AP art

Gravy Mashed Potatoes Girl Is Wrong Vid

Coyote Short Story/The Wife's Story

Casual Cruelty Tweets by Doctor

1870 girl diary

Cultural Appropriation Conversation Nuance

TikTok army recruiter

Student Loan Scam (SLABS)

No respect for the Queen 😤

Sneaky Ableist Writing (FMA example)

AITA Jack's Exes Get Together

Nazis on Twitter

White Yoda

Roommate Interfered with my Video

Bring me to life with no rhythm

Cryptobro I have become vid

Steak-umm vs. Neil Degrasse Tyson

Airplane Wheelchair Closet Law

"Inspiration Porn" Karate Kid TED talk

Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy Fan Comic <3

He fucked that old man (Part 1)

Fake Tumblr Bully Victim Story

Lies Parents Told for No Reason

Orasyon Protective Tattoos

Light Up Pen Pleased a Mad Fae Trickster

Tumblr History of Asks & Porn

Worldbuilding Plothole Writing Tip

Baby Owls Lie Down to Sleep Sometimes

Jerma the Neanderthal

McGyver Sunglasses

The Chipmunks Auditioned like Whores

I Need This on A T-Shirt

Stupidest person you know w/stories

Retractable Peen

Personal Posts

*smokes an uncooked fettuccine noodle* (video)

Why I use Adjectives while writing

when you watch anime...

Dragonforce-esque Power Metal

Me when Farkas became a werewolf

Garlic

Barbie movies aging spectrum

God’s NFTs

Black cauldron 2 AM

Users who advertise on this site???

Facebook Bigger Busts on Paw Patrol

AoT Nazi Ideology

Facebook Banned Me for that Guillotine Joke

Black Clover Leaves

Erza finds fault with everything Jellal says

#you've underestimated the heroine

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dumpsiteforfics · 3 years

Text

Yearning - Excerpts From a lonely heart : [ Chapter 2]

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x Spencer Reid

Rating: Mature

Genre: Angst and fluff

Trigger warnings: mentions of death, suicide, A/B/O, Drugs, Kidnapping, spoilers to criminal minds season 1 to season 6. Also, will include mpreg, at the end.

This is my a/b/o universe for Heid. As the name suggests, lots of yearning and angst followed by a fluff and smut eventually. First chapter might be slower but things will pick up soon. I don’t want to make the story longer, but we will see!!

Also, please check trigger warnings and also let me know if you would like me to add more warnings!

English is my third language so expect grammatical mistakes and typos, I don’t have a beta sorry. Also I hope you will give it some love!! I’m looking forward to the feedback.

AO3 links : Chapter 1 Chapter 2

More about this au: Click here

It was different, this numbness that his mind slipped into… Spencer was used to having his mind always full of swirling thoughts about everything, obscure facts and constant statistics. But now, it was just silent, at least until he was so far gone that he started reliving the memories he had buried deep in his mind. The memories of his father leaving, of trying to do everything to keep his father from leaving them, memories of witnessing how his mother's beautiful mind broke down into pieces every day as the disease gripped her completely.

When he came back into consciousness, Charles was already there rough handling him. Spencer watched as he suddenly switched on a camera that wasn't there before. And as he said how other heathens are watching, it was a miracle that his mind grasped the words for a clue that was. His team was watching. And he needed to give them a clue about his whereabouts, which he had no idea how to give. He was unconscious throughout the ride and afterwards also he hadn't found any chance of knowing about the location where he was kept. Just then he realised the carcass Tobias had brought in when he came earlier. And he prayed to every god listening that his team would realise his clue and check the reports of poaching if any. It was a long shot of course but his team was brilliant, they will understand.

He was suddenly pulled up by his collar, face to face with Charles and he shuddered with disgust and fear. His heartbeats sped up as he heard Charles asking him to choose one to die. How was he supposed to do that? He had chosen this job because he wanted to save people, protect them from evil. But he knew Charles wouldn't take no for an answer, he thought for a moment and tried to attempt avoiding choosing to kill someone though, and thankfully Charles didn't mind. And then he was shutting off the camera and making way to kill the one he thought was a sinner. Spencer had never felt this helpless, not even when his mother was in her scariest episodes, but that's all he was feeling as he watched the couple get butchered in front of his eyes as he tried to free his hands from the chair he was tied to. He was never going to be the same again, after all of this.

***†***

As soon as they saw Reid on that screen, they realised instantly that he was beaten, his lips were cracked, one of his feet was without a sock, and his face just looked haggard. Aaron could feel the rage burning inside both of his alphas, especially Morgan and he himself wasn't any better. He could see how broken his agent looked. He couldn't help feeling a small burst of pride as Reid already profiled the unsub to realise he was a sadist in a psychotic break and his mannerisms proved to Aaron that he had already deduced he was kidnapped by a one unsub with three personalities.

When he was told to choose one to die, Aaron's heart broke. He knew as an Omega just how difficult it was, how against Reid's every instinct of nurturing and protection that decision went. He could see how disgusted Reid looked to be told to choose. Aaron is never going to forget the devastation he could see in Reid's eyes as he struggled to reply, but then Tobias pulled him up by his collar and the devastation was replaced by a pure fear. And Aaron's hands clenched into a fist without him knowing, he wanted to break every single finger of Tobias for touching his agent, for laying hands on an Omega, for beating him up and for scaring him.

Reid though was strong, even through the fear he tried to find a way to not war against his instincts at the same choosing not to anger the unsub by downright denying his order. He chose one to save.

Aaron couldn't take his eyes off of the screen, trying to get as much as he can of the place, and trying to profile Reid to see if he can get any clues of his whereabouts. Just as Gideon called the woman to get her to shut her laptop and in turn making sure she wasn't being stalked anymore, the feed turned off. And Aaron's heart stopped. This was their only connection to Reid, the only way they could see their agent was still alive. And as much as he hated it, they had no other option but to wait for a 911 call from the next murder site. And as Morgan left the room, slamming his fist in the door, Aaron couldn't even think about correcting Morgan and telling him to get his shit together, because if he wasn't in front of the team right now he would've done the same. He wanted to break something, most likely he would love to get his hands on Tobias and watch him ripped to pieces by his own hands. And as terrifying and confusing as that feeling was, he couldn't make himself to care about it this time. His instincts were not at all thinking about right or wrong, they just wanted to protect their omega and this was the first time Aaron was in agreement with his instincts.

***†***

Spencer opened his eyes as he felt the same terrified mind closer to him and he saw Tobias making his way towards him with another dose of the drug. He desperately tried to convince him to tell about the location where they were right now, but Tobias didn't listen and soon enough Spencer was slipping inside a hazy numbness and onslaught of old memories.

Probably hours later or days, Spencer couldn't even keep a track at this point he was awoken by Charles voice. Apparently someone had marked the video as virus and it decreased the number of people viewing the latest murder he had posted online. That must be Garcia, Spencer thought. Why weren't they coming to save him though? He had already given them a clue. Why wasn't anyone here to save him from this? Spencer wasn't even sure how long he can hold on now. The drugs were messing up his mind and even though the escape felt good he knew he was developing a dependency on it.

Just then Charles got up from the chair and Spencer braced himself for the abuse he knew wasn't going to be just verbal this time. As Charles screamed about his team and how they were all planning this against his agenda, he suddenly stopped and Spencer realised with a dread that Charles was looking at the track marks on his elbow. And then he was attacked with slaps and kicks as Charles repeatedly told him how pathetic he was and how much he had sinned. Spencer, already was tired from the trauma, from constant emotional load, the fear of being kidnapped and stranded with the sickest of minds and now being beaten without any break in between. Soon enough Spencer fell down from the chair, and started feeling breathless, it was getting difficult to breath or even think coherently. And as he slipped into darkness all he thought was, I'm going to die, alone and drugged.

***†***

Aaron wasn't in the room with Garcia and Gideon when Charles killed Reid. He was in the other room, going through the diaries again to see if they could find a clue. And suddenly he was hit with this dreadful feeling that something was wrong, and then deep sadness slipped inside his mind and he was running towards the room where Tobias had his computer setup. And what he saw there took his breath away. Gideon and Garcia were huddled close as she kept on crying, he sobs were breaking his heart but then his eyes moved over the screen and he realised what was wrong.

Reid. Lifeless on the floor.

Aaron tried to see closer for any signs of his chest moving, but he didn't move. He was gone. He could still remember the day Reid joined the team. Fresh from the academy, eager to protect and use his mind to save the people. He was so young. Just 26 years old and already had so much knowledge, so much empathy. He was so brilliant and so kind to everyone. Aaron remembered how Spencer single-handedly won over everyone's heart and proved his worth through the cases they worked. And such a young, precious life was taken down by a vicious unsub as the team couldn't do anything to save him. Their omega trusted them to save him and as a pack they failed to protect his life. What about his family? Or his Alpha? Did he even get a chance to meet his mate? Aaron shuddered with the intensity of grief he felt in his heart, his alpha screaming at him for failing his pack and without even realising a few tears escaped from his eyes.

He closed his eyes as all he could think about was, We failed him.

***†***

Taglist: @ssa-sarahsunshine @brillianthijinx @thaddeusly

Please let me know if you would like to be added/removed! ❤️ Please leave a feedback! ❤️❤️

#heid #hotchreid #tw a/b/o #tw: kidnapping #tw: mention of death #he doesn't die though but yeah #tw: drugs #tw: violence #tw: mention of murder #Ray's fics

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stellaluna33 · 2 years

Note

Hii!

I'm the one from the ask before about that i agree with you about another revival etc etc

"You know what I WOULD be excited about, though? Some kind of behind-the-scenes, over-the-years retrospective, like a book or something, with further details about the characters, or stories about the production, and like, a few paragraphs summarizing how ASP sees each character ending up." I WOULD LOVE THAT. She only has to say that luke and lorelai are happy and that rory is working being successful with her book and being a journalist (i've always seen her working in a paper instead of being an overseas correspondant but whatever) and that literati will be together at some point or are together idc if it's in the future (that's what she hinted at in ayitl).

Also I'm always here to discuss jess or compare him with others characters played by milo. This is us has me having mental breakdowns and stopping it bc i keep picturing jess as a dad so...

Anyway I watched the first episode of bradford diaries and I'm sorry I can't concentrate he is so so pretty and I can only compare him with jess in college bc if jess was rich (or simply if he went to college I see him working in the paper and being a little jackass with professors and other students but professors like the one in the show (I hope you know what I'm talking about 😅).

I hope I'm not annoying you or something...

Oh no, you're not annoying me at all! The reason I joined this site was to be able to talk about my nerdy obsessions with people! Hahaha! Oh, I know exactly what you mean about This Is Us, haha! Part of it was just the timing of it? Like, the show started the same year as the Gilmore Girls Revival, so we had: Jess looking at Rory longingly through the window, Rory saying she's pregnant, and then, BOOM! There's Milo being adorable with babies! How can you NOT make those mental connections and get overly emotional about it?! 😂

Re: the Bedford Diaries, yes! Because like, he IS a jackass, but he's a smart jackass with a surprising amount of integrity? Like, it goes even deeper the further it goes. He just seems to me like how Jess might have been if he'd been born with the privileges and home life that Logan had (and I'm so obsessed with that idea), so he's different from Canon Jess in that he has smoother edges and more social graces, but different from Logan in that he takes the newspaper very seriously and is trying to be better than his past self... is like Jess in that he has this cocky, sardonic front and enjoys pushing people's buttons, but actually thinks and feels more deeply than people give him credit for, is a better person than people give him credit for. Or maybe I'm just a nut with a hyperfixation who's seeing connections that aren't really there. 😂

#The Bedford Diaries #Richard Thorne #Jess Mariano

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its-sir-actually · 3 years

Note

Been following Lando for quite some time so here’s my two cents on the whole situation. Yall are so quick to attack complete strangers on the internet. Check yourself and your friends first. As a 21 year old with a big group of friends, these kinds of conversations are something that happens all the time, and they come from both boys and girls. I’m not saying that it’s the most correct thing to do but the guy is not fucking Armie Hammer. You are spreading more hate and negative energy by making numerous posts about a bunch of immature guys talking about something that interests many 21 year olds- and thats sex and relationships. And don’t even try to tell me that you don’t talk to your friends about your experiences with those things. Lando is going to mature and come out of this phase eventually, it comes naturally for most people. Imagine someone following your every single step and being aware of everything that you do and say and then calling you out because of it. Humans are not painted black and white, most of us correct our behaviour on our own as time passes and sorry to break it to you but this is really not a big deal + the whole sex position thing is a lie and you have been attacking him unfairly because the “cowboy” nickname references the girl Lando is talking about because she has a cowboy emoji (🤠) in her instagram bio. So if you’re going to be so sensitive all the time, just write it in your diary and go on with your day. If you think the world should be a little kinder, start from yourself. I doubt that Lando is going to necessarily learn anything from this situation, mainly because he is already a good person and this is just ridiculously dragged on social media so the only thing he could possibly get from this situation is anxiety and a therapist visit- because you people are ruthless. Also, he will continue to talk to his friends about girls but next time he’ll just do it in private. So I guess your whole point is to idealise him so much that he can’t even be relaxed on his own streams and he will continue to portray this complete “good guy” image just to keep you satisfied.

"Yall are so quick to attack complete strangers on the internet" they say and then go on to attack me, a complete stranger, on the internet, maybe take your own advice?

Another bit of advice? Don't send me anon hate and then post the same thing word for word in the tag @vrckava

To address some of the things you've mentioned:

I have not "attacked" Lando, I wrote a post, on a social media site that Lando isn't even on, explaining my disgust at his and his friends behaviour. That post was entirely my opinions, nobody had to agree with me, numerous people did because they felt the same way. I am entitled to express my opinions on public media.

You talk a lot about how this topic of conversation is common and normal to have between friends and I agree, it is normal to have these conversations with your friends in private. Lando and Max F had these discussions on stream, I doubt that the girl (girls?) consented to have her sex life discussed in front of thousands of people.

Also you seem to skip past the thing that most people are disgusted by: the way they talk about the girl. This is open to interpretation and different people will have different opinions but many people, myself included, felt like the vocabulary they used was derogatory and objectifying.

Again the whole "cowboy" nickname thing is up to interpretation, some think it's based on a Instagram bio, some think it's based on a sex position, who's to say who's right. But the thing I would like to point out here is that a lot of people have been defending Lando's sex talks on stream because he nicknames the girls to protect their privacy, but if this "cowboy" girl is the Instagram bio girl then Lando didn't do a very good job of protecting her privacy, did he? Do you think she's ok with having people find her and know about her sex life, including how many "rounds" she's had with Lando and that Lando thinks she's boring but apparently still good enough for sex? Do you think she was ok with that broadcasting live to thousands of people and then having thousands more rewatch it?

Don't try that weird shaming thing by trying to gaslight me into thinking I could cause Lando anxiety and therapy visits. I didn't attack him and more important than that, I asked people not to cancel and be hateful towards him. If people did do that, that's on them, not me. It's fucked up to use someone else's mental health as a gaslighting tool.

"Also, he will continue to talk to his friends about girls but next time he'll just do it in private" that's the hope 🤞🏽 not only to avoid potential uncomfortable language but also to protect the girl. There's no chance of someone figuring out Lando's stream nicknames for girls if he's not nicknaming them on stream.

Lastly, I do not want Lando to be perfect and ideal. No human is perfect, perfection is overrated. I would like him to 1. Not talk about women in derogatory ways and 2. Be a bit more mindful on stream of his large following and his young impressionable fans.

#can you tell im getting sick of getting messages like this?#also just in case anyone even thinks about #dont send hate to the person i @'d #i mentioned them in this post entirely because i saw their post in the tag #dont sink to their level by sending hateful messages to them #f1 #lando norris #ask #kushee talks

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mhdiaries · 4 years

Photo

Frights, Camera, Action! – Hauntlywood Elissabat Diary

This 2nd Day of August

On the eve of my coronation, 400 years ago tonight, I slipped into the moonless Transylvanian darkness and disappeared forever. I remember it like it was yesterday; The Vampire’s Heart casting its red glow over my room as Lord Stoker explained that I was much too young to be the queen without his help and that if I simply did exactly as he instructed, my unlife would be perfect for us all. I had not been acting all that long by then, but I knew enough to recognize a bad director when I heard one, and I was fangsolutely positive I did not want a starring role in this production. Fortunately for me, I had made friends with a young explorer and mad scientist named Hexiciah Steam. Hexiciah and Lord Stoker did not exactly see eye to eye on, well, anything, and so, partially to help me and partially to tweak LS, Hexiciah helped me escape to a waiting ship that would take me to Londoom. I asked him about the Vampire’s Heart, but he told me not to worry about it and that it was safe from the reach of LS. Thus I became known as Elissabat the First, not because I was the first queen to have that name, but because I was the first to choose self-imposed exile over the throne. I often wonder what kind of queen I would make today, 400 years older and hopefully wiser. I’m certainly wise enough to keep two diaries now, especially since several pages of Veronica Von Vamp’s private musings somehow ended up on a celebrity gossip site. Good thing Veronica never breaks character even when she’s writing.

7 August

My agent sent over a script today for me to read. It’s about a young ghoul who is chosen to be the queen of an ancient kingdom, not because she is the true heir but because the Lord Chancellor wants to control the kingdom through her. Except the ghoul finds out and takes off before she takes the throne, only to be chased all over the world by the Lord Chancellor’s hench-monsters. Besides being completely implausible it involves multiple locations, chase scenes, stunts and a very large cast of characters. It sounds exhausting. I would love to do a small picture next. Something shot on location in Scaris at a small outdoor café where there are long pauses in between conversations and shots of me staring off into the distance as I ponder the deep secrets of unlife. I can just see my agent’s face now. His left eye will start to twitch, and he won’t be able to control it so he’ll put his shades on and then he’ll break into a sneezing fit and have to excuse himself while he leaves my trailer to try and regain his composure. He’s actually a very good agent who really does have my beast interests at heart, but he is such an excitable little goblin that I can’t help but tweak him just a little bit. I do sometimes tire of playing larger-than-unlife roles, even though my fans really do seem to love the films. I would just like to stretch myself as a performer, and I’ve done so many of these... oh well. I love to act, the fans love to watch, and we’re all happy in the end - except the critics, but they’re never happy, so I don’t waste too much time thinking about them. V3

This 10th Day of August

Each day now I hear about growing unrest in the kingdom and how the vampire lords are mounting pressure upon Lord Stoker to find a queen. Personally, I think they are overreacting, since 400 years is just a drop in the coffin for a vampire, but they are a rather stodgy bunch. Order, tradition and discipline are the code they... we... live by. I have applied those virtues in the way I have chosen to pursue my career, and they are the secret to my success. I have been accused of having a photographic memory, but that is not accurate. I simply work as hard as I can to be as prepared as I can so I do not make careless mistakes. My stage fright has never gone away, and I doubt it ever will, therefore intense preparation is the only way I can stand in front of a crowd and do my job or jobs. I think my intensity intimidates other monsters, and I know I am perceived as not being “approachable”, but it takes a lot of concentration to be Elissabat playing Veronica Von Vamp playing a completely different character on stage or in film. It is why I need to not be in “character”, and for that to happen I need to be myself. I should be getting ready to be Veronica again, since a car is about to arrive not to pick up not a queen of the vampires, but a queen of the silver scream. Some days I do wish that I only had one role to play, but which one do I choose?

16 September

I’m making the press circuit to promote my new film today, so I’m bringing Viperine along to do my makeup. Viperine has been doing my makeup for a while now, and I simply adore her. She is chatty but not intrusive, and I completely trust the job she does, which is good since there’s really no way for me to check the work. She started doing my makeup quite by accident, when my regular artist got cast in some unscripted reality show... shudder... and left without any notice. Viperine was just an intern at the time and was cutting her fangs by doing makeup on creatured extras, but when I stepped out of my trailer and called her over, she didn’t even hesitate. She’s also that rare monster that is completely content not being in the spotlight. I asked her if she would like to be in front on the camera one day, and she told me that she felt like she was in front of the camera every time I stepped on stage. She has a fright future in this boosness, I think.

This 20th Day of September

By the pricking of my thumbs something fishy this way comes. It is all over the news that a new vampire queen has been found and confirmed by Lord Stoker who said that he used the Vampire’s Heart to verify that this ghoul is the true heir. Well this is certainly curious, since I know for a fact that the VH is as lost as Hexiciah Steam. Well, perhaps “lost” is not the proper description. Maybe “unavailable for questioning” would be more to the point. I know this because if Lord Stoker had the real VH he would have used it to track me down soon after I ran away, and I would have spent the last 400 years issuing rulings on property disputes, meeting with Yeti ambassadors and doing Lord Stoker’s bidding. I do wish this “new queen”, whomever she is, the best of luck, especially with old LS lurking around. He knows everything there is to know about how the queendom runs, but he couldn’t lead a one-zombie parade. I feel sorry for him, because he could be a real asset to the throne if he didn’t want to sit on it himself.

1 October

I’ve been nominated for another award, which will make the fans happy and the critics not. I think this may be my best performance yet, but it is a rather popular film, and monsters have been creeping to it in packs. Personally, I believe there is a direct correlation between how well critics like a film and how many monsters have actually seen it. The more obscure the film and fewer monsters that have seen it, the more worthy critics seem to heap praise upon it. I suppose it makes them feel superior, especially when they dig up that old line about it being “the most important film of the year.” ‘Tis tiresome, mostly because they hold up a film that very few have seen as the gold standard by which all others must be judged and then sneer at any comparisons to it, which is convenient. I’m not saying that every film I have ever acted in has been perfect; in fact, some of the acting choices I made as a young ghoul I wish I could go back and remake, but regardless of the role or film I always strive to give a performance worthy of the ticket price.

This 6th Day of October

So the new queen they have chosen is Draculaura! I had purposely been avoiding the news because I have been feeling guilty about the situation, so I did not know that she was the one. We used to play together when we were young ghouls back in Transylvania, and I still recall monsters mistaking us for sisters. This is not fair. I like my unlife and I do not want to give it up, but can I really allow another monster, especially one whom I consider a friend, to take over duties, obligations and responsibilities that were meant for me? I ran once. I am not sure that I can do that again.

#monster high #monster high diary #elissabat #frights camera action #hauntlywood

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wadebramwilson · 3 years

Text

Dear diary.

Just a little reflection on 2020 but mostly my last few years. I thought I would just tell Tumblr what I have been up to, I suppose.

I’m sorry to everyone who has struggled in 2020, but to be honest, the year has been quite good to me.

I am very lucky to work in a secure healthcare role, and I am even luckier to be in a regional part of a country that has weathered the pandemic well so far.

I cut my science degree back to part time courseload at the start of the year, with the idea that my workload might need to increase with the pandemic, but that never happened and I enjoy the content much more at a slower pace. I’ve had some very topical units like immunology and medical microbiology which have been tremendous. I truly enjoy lab science, but I enjoy it better when I am poking away at it. I think I will keep it part time. There is no need for me to rush, so I won’t.

I was diagnosed with a rare kind of retinopathy a few years ago which is a cause of significant stress for me. But this year my vision has not deteriorated in any tests so that is not a negative, though it never feels particularly hopeful as I’ve no hope of regaining any vision in the affected area and my ophthalmologist is terrible. Also in health, I suspect that I might have been a little bit iron deficient for a while without realising it, particularly since going vegetarian, and maybe this is why I’d been having trouble focusing this year. I’ve started on supplements and it’s correlated with a surge in productivity. This is of course, all conjecture until I return to the GP to see what my levels were actually like prior to supplements.

I’ve been going to pottery a lot and I’ve finished some very beautiful pieces. I’ve done some painting, though not much. I’ve made friends with lovely people and we sometimes draw and play board games and exercise and have coffee and cook for one another. We have a strong community. I’m part of co-ops. Sometimes I visit a local farm and do some WOOFER work for them.

I’ve been writing a lot again. I’ve even posted a few things on AO3 which I am proud of. But less proud of the actual work and more just proud to have posted anything.

I’m content. I think I have reached a point in my life where I do not feel like I have much of anything to prove. I don’t feel any pressure to monetise my projects. I am just happy to create. I am in a financial position where I am okay to work part time, and to put my mental health first.

I still love my job and I am very good at it. I don’t love all my coworkers but I don’t have to. I love my manager and I feel valued. He is very accommodating to my quirks. Sometimes station can be a very loud place, and some of my coworkers listen to the radio or TV too loud, or talk incessantly, or need the air conditioner at sub zero temperatures, or wear too much aftershave.

My manager has procured me an extra jumper to keep in my locker for when I forget mine, he put in a vegetable garden at station, he has a pair of headphones in his office for when I need to sit by myself for a while and block out excess noise, and he keeps a little stash of chocolate in his office for emergencies. He doesn’t mind me sitting in the corner of the office to read. I am very lucky. I feel secure in my position as a senior clinician. I like to teach and I like to learn but I probably could work harder to maintain my skills. I am so lucky in the work I have done and the outcomes I have had. I am skilled but I am also phenomenally lucky and I don’t take that for granted.

I realised over the last few years that I am almost certainly autistic. No, definitely. As definite as I can be without a formal diagnosis. I have next to no depressive periods or anxiety when I am able to care for myself properly (unsurprising) and when I respect that my communication needs are atypical. I am at a place where I think all those things make me who I am and I actually really like that person.

When I think back about how hard on myself I used to be. I remember 8 years ago, I moved away from all my support networks to a new, demanding job and place and I used to cry uncontrollably at what seemed like no provocation at all. I was anxious all the time. I used to feel like I had no control over my emotional responses, even when I felt I was intellectually not upset. It’s very strange to look back on and see that time for the stressful transition that it was.

I don’t have any romantic relationship and I’ve been waiting years to become uncomfortable about that, or to feel the need to seek one out. But I don’t feel that need and I think that is okay.

I live with two great big dumb foster dogs and many many plants and I just don’t seem to need another human when what I have is so plentiful.

I have the creative energy to return to Tumblr again I think. But I don’t intend to put any pressure on myself about it. Just as I am not putting any pressure on myself to write more than I want to. I hope to remind myself that this is something that I do for fun. I feel more than anything, to be very lucky.

I am weirdly proud of this site and I am happy to see people that I used to know are still here and are doing well. I think I would like to be a tentative member of the community again.

#bramspam #hello darkness my old friends #why are we calling it a hellsite?#is this a term of endearment?

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kittymaverick · 4 years

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Mystery Case Files 21: The Harbinger commentary and review, part 2.

outSpoiler free review first: Holy SHIT GRANDMA studios, talk about knocking the ball out of the park. Not only was that a solid good MCF game to start off with, you’ve now set up the expectation for the next game so high, I’m honestly a little afraid for you. Like... do you know how high the bar is now that you’ve hinted about the content of the next game? Right, coming back to Harbinger for a second. Barring one tiny little slip up which I think was just something that got lost in translation (English is like that), the lore of MCF managed to stay intact, which needs to be applauded. At one point, I almost questioned if there might be almost too many references, especially with that happens to the references in the game itself. (Yes, I, the MCF nerd and fanatic, actually had that thought). I still flip-flop a bit on whether this was a good execution, or a good but shaky execution. For one thing, the way it’s executed... wow, that’s some heavy stuff emotionally. Which is why I’m questioning if that’s “good”, because I suppose there was a line of emotional heaviness I didn’t expect we’ll cross in MCF, but GRANDMA took it there. And so far... part of me is guiltily okay with it, but wow... The studio’s art style does suggest that a detraction from from MCF’s usual Elizabethan English Horror Story with a side of Soul Steampunk and Celtic Druidism would not necessarily be a bad thing. That GRANDMA chose otherwise though, and stuck with a very, very MCF story (albeit more limited to the Celtic legends part), takes guts. What I do wish we’ll get, after the next game, is a story line that’s a GRANDMA original, sort of like Eipex’s the Black Veil, because I think the studio has potential in creating something that’s more them without pulling away too much from MCF. Anyway, that’s the spoiler free review part. Back to my spoiler filled commentary!

Aisling: I know I act suspicious, but I’m just a psychic! MD: I know I’m just a detective, but people keep dying around me, so hey, we’ve got that in common. Aisling: James gave me this cube by the way-- huh? *Emblem of MD appears* ...I’m sorry, that ancient celtic emblem... has a bloody hat. It has a bloody hat. I’m DYING.

Realized I jumped back too far to do this retroactive commentary. Oops.

MD: Okay, well, maybe he isn’t dead yet. We could probably dig him out-- *Nigel turns to bone* MD: ...Never mind. He’s beyond saving. Someone get the coroner!

Six thousand mirrors in the room, and not one shows your face. MD: A technique I have perfected over the two decades of my career. Didn’t save you from getting married to a homicidal madman though. MD: ...I don’t think he picked me because of my looks to begin with.

...Hey MD, I know paper work wasn’t exactly involved and all, but did you actually divorce Charles, or did you just betray him? MD: *DEATH GLARE* You know what, pretend I never asked. MD: You’d better.

MD: Let’s see what skeletons Nigel has in his closet. You know, the last time you found skeletons in a closet, quite literally... MD: Shut up, I was trying not to think about that! (This happened in Key to Ravenhearst. The Skeleton was Charles and Victor.)

Okay, so James was a MCF fanboy, Marge you met on one of your American trips, Nigel was a Fate Carney, John worked on a restored Ravenhearst. I don’t want to say her Majesty might have under exaggerated the number of keywords there were going on here... MD: Oh no, she definitely made it out to be less important than it seemed. She also definitely sent me in because the report she’s going to get out of this is going to be spectacular. The idea that HRM might be the ultimate MCF fan in-universe tickles me with delight. MD: And fills me with utter dread.

Nigel’s shadow puppet theatre: I got fired from the carnival! Boo! MD: Nigel, getting fired from Fate’s Carnival probably saved your ass. Temporarily, until whatever is going on here got you. MD: .................... What? Oh... MD: Yeah. Oh geez I’m looking forward to the case after this now! 8D MD: Why is it that the more I’m tortured, the more gleeful you are?

*Telephone rings* MD: Hello? Marge: HELP ME SOMETHING IS HERE AAAAHHH Well shit. MD: Yeah, she’s done for. Let’s go see the body.

*Gibs collects collectibles before going to body* *I die laughing because that’s my priority too*

MD: Oh no Marge I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you in time... ...Yeah right, says the person who doesn’t want to get their hand on the black stuff. MD: Look, my sorrow doesn’t in anyway override my desire for hygiene, okay? Reminds me of that one time I called some detectives from the last century dandies for refusing to stick their hand into a barrel of rainwater...

MD can I point out how you’re making detailed sketches of MARGE’S BODY in your journal? MD: Look it’s this or pyromania, okay? Don’t judge me. Also, I’m starting to think people that meet you on your cases shouldn’t bother locking their diaries. You always manage to crack them open.

Marge: Oh James is such a darling, I should get him to marry my daughter, then I’ll be such a happy mother-in-law. .............................. MD: ...................... Well, um, I guess Marge was a cougar on the inside, maybe? MD: Yeah, let’s phrase it like that (Restrain desire to make crude NSFW jokes...)

Marge: DAMN THAT GIRL FOR STEALING MY BOY. Marge, seriously, there’s officer Davis. I’m sure he’s just as nice! MD: And not on anyone’s death list. For now. MD: Don’t say that...

Davis: Well, I guess that’s one more evidence against Aisling. HOLD IT! MD: This note here shows clearly that Marge intended to frame Aisling for an attack on her! And the diary entries clearly document how much she hates the suspect. Therefore, the evidence shouldn’t be permissible-- Davis: Yeah, but Marge is dead, and there really isn’t anyone else in town left. *Record scratch* MD: ....It could be... you? Davis: Harhar, look here’s the evidence, go talk to Aisling. MD: Urgh, fine. It’s okay, MD, I was rooting for you there at least!

Aisling: Death, death is all around us! *Flees* MD: Okay, Aisling, that’s really not helping and only making you more suspicious! But since you’re away, I’m going to rifle through your trailer. Um, now who’s suspicious???

Hm, you know, this place would have been great for a holiday spot. MD: I don’t know, given my records with holidays... ...True, you’ll probably end up doing exactly what you are doing now. MD: That said, I think I’ll take a slice of apple pie since no one’s looking. Does the agency pay for your food on your cases? MD: They’d better because I’m giving the recipes to Her Majesty if they don’t...

Aisling: I came here to save John but he’s locked upstairs, please help! MD: Um, if you had let me come with you... maybe some time could have been saved? Aisling: But what if I get killed first then? MD:........ She’s got a point. MD: Dammit, fine...

Hm, so John’s ancestor worked on the original Ravenhearst... We’ll probably need to open up the original game to see if that was the guy that fell from the construction site. (My guess is it’s not, because that carpenter was originally meant to be Rose Summerset’s husband, so it should have been Summerset. Plus Rose’s kids were the twins and Victor.)

Oh damn, a model of Ravenhearst-- MD: Hm, it’s missing a weather vane. ........... MD: Look, just because I burn the place down several times, doesn’t mean I don’t care what it looks like, okay? Can you point out the window that you escaped out of by any chance? 8D MD: *sighs* This one...

Aisling: John, NOOOOOO. MD: Right, gotta cut him down quick! He might still be alive. *Proceed to spend over minutes solving puzzles* MD: I swear, this happened very fast in actuality... Never as fast as the plot demanded though...

*Puts weather vane on model* *Model turns into a raven* MD: ???????????????? Okay, I need to take points off for THAT ridiculous transformation and animation. XD

Aisling: I can’t take this anymore! MD: I know this is hard, Aisling-- Aisling: Here’s the next slab, btw. ....This mood whiplash... I’m dying.

Um, so apparently the banshee wasn’t trying to destroy the world, but was trying to restore herself, which... you disrupted. MD: Look, Allison and her friends needed rescuing okay? I couldn’t just sit idling by. ...If that was disrupted, then how DID Aisling turn human then??? MD: .....Let’s save that mystery for another time because I feel a headache incoming... (Fix edit: It seems to imply that the ritual was only disrupted, not failed, so Aisling did get her skin back, though now she doesn’t remember being a banshee...)

Aisling: I’m a banshee? That’s... That’s impossible. MD: Well, I’ve been through a lot to say most impossible things are actually probable in reality, though if you somehow don’t remember me shoving you back into the cave, um, then I’m grateful. Once you do, please don’t kill me. BTW, your turn on the cube of mystery!

Aisling: Well, if I’m a banshee, I guess I should go back to Dire Grove. We can catch the next ferry. MD: You know that’s a really long trip right? It might take us the better half of a day-- Or a single puzzle’s worth of time. MD: ...Where was THAT kind of fast travel all these years??? I do like how it’s implied that you guys had a huge detour with picking people up and dropping them off though.

Ais: Okay, we’re here in Dire Grove-- AH! MD: Wow, even nature is saying NO to you. Ooooooor it could be a certain immortal druid-- MD: Please don’t. It’s fine! We have a banshee. MD: All she does is predict death! Oh yeah, forgot about that...

*Aisling gets “kidnapped” by green energy* Gibs: That can’t be healthy. MD: That’s honestly pretty normal at this point for us. At least she didn’t get dropped down a tube.

Um, what’s with the Chinese incense in a Druid’s domain? X’D (I’m going to pretend they traded that...)

(I honestly don’t have a lot of stuff to comment on in the section in Dire Grove, because there isn’t much to snark about. Which, I guess, comes to show that 99% of silliness comes from MD dealing with PEOPLE, alive, dead, revived, or otherwise not really a human.)

*Aisling goes back to banshee form* MD: First, no hard feelings about last time, right? Aisling: *stares* MD: Please, thank you, and I’m sorry??? Aisling: You did help me out, so I guess it’s fine. MD: *sigh of relief* BTW, four people technically did DIE though in the process. Aisling: Um, that wasn’t me, if you recall your lore correctly. MD: True enough, but STILL. Just pointing it out. You want her to scream in your ear? She’s still got time for that.

HOW AISLING BECAME A BANSHEE, AGAIN. Aisling: To make a long story short, there was a lot of puzzles Puzzles which you had to personally solve, without MD’s help? Aisling: It really makes you appreciate how hard MD has had it for the last 21 years...

Did... did you just KILL four people to restore your spirit? Aisling: I just helped their soul cross over! I swear! Aisling, you’re being really SUS right now and I’ve practice how to spot a liar lately! Aisling: I only predict deaths! And then find the souls and tell them where to go. I swear that’s my task. EVERYONE VOTE AISLING AISLING IS THE IMPOSTER

Is one of your abilities literally “summon joyride”???? Aisling: it’s a carriage A carriage can be an awesome joyride if you use it irresponsibly Aisling: How does MD tolerate you? They don’t, they’ve just had worse company and I’m a lesser evil. 8D

Aisling (actually Gibs): *suffers through the last giant super puzzle* ...Yeah, REALLY makes you appreciate what MD goes through. Aisling: Is it always this bad??? Sometimes. I’ve seen worse.

Gibs: THAT CARRIAGE IS BADASS. See, I told you it was a joyride. Aisling: You know, I think I’ll float back to the MD. No joyrides. Awwwwwwwwwwww... Okay, now let’s rewind back to when MD started their rant. **************************************************

Aisling: BTW, this energy is still floating about. And I think I know why. Will you accept this energy and use it to save the world? MD: Oh hold ON a minute. You want ME to do WHAT? Aisling: Save the world. You heard what I said. MD: Okay, listen. I started this detective job mostly because I thought it was cool, and it was for the first couple of cases where all I had to deal with was bust the criminal organization STAIN and recover the Hope diamond for the Queen. But then that’s where all my trouble started because she sent me to this creepy manor which turned out to be a prison to not one, not two, but FOUR ghosts. What’s even worse is the first time I went, I thought I only had to rescue Emma. I was wrong, and for the longest time, I thought Fate Carnival folks were dying from my mistake. Turns out later it was completely personal. This was everything that happened before I met YOU. (Again, really sorry about kicking you back into the cave and getting you stuck in the situation you were in in the last who knows how many years...) Afterwards, I went to the Louisiana which got me on the bad side of a certain ghost pirate, who turned out to be the grandfather of the guy killing the carney folks from his mother’s side. Which was why he was killing them by the way. She sold him to Fate’s Carnival. Anyway, after figuring out that I’ve dun goofed, I went back to Ravenhearst manor, which turned out there was a WHOLE OTHER SECTION I didn’t discover last time, which was somehow a very personalized and twisted marriage proposal that I didn’t notice until too late. I burned THAT down for good measure before taking a break in some place near a lake. But then that guy’s FATHER took up issue with what I did, which I didn’t even started, to be honest. He tried to kill me for whatever grudge it was that he had. I had to stab his horocrux with my badge to get him to stop that time. But then it turns out that father ALSO has some offspring here in Dire Grove, and I had to come back to prevent THAT from going down in flames as well. Thankfully, I think they remained sane. I can’t say the same for the twins, who turned out to be the evil guy’s kids. They most definitely went insane, and REMADE Ravenhearst, which I had to burn down for THE THIRD TIME. All that plus the jump I took landed me in an asylum, which turned out to be the one where both the evil bald guy and his dad was imprisoned once upon a time. Of course, the guy’s father tried to kill me, AGAIN. Took care of that, and also removed the shard that was driving me bonkers. It only gets worse from here though. I got chased around by an woman with a clock for her heart who I had to defenestrate out a clock tower. She didn’t stab me, but then the guy who probably ENGINEERED MY ENTIRE LIFE did, because apparently he wanted to use my soul’s virtue to anchor death to the mortal world or something. I got an immortality feather out of that, I guess, so it wasn’t too bad, but I basically DIED. And then afterwards there was that undead guy who was really hung up about his biker jacket. Next was the evil guy’s ancient youngest son nearly destroying the world (4th wall break: THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT) trying to revive him which thankfully DIDN’T HAPPEN BECAUSE OH GODS I WOULD HAVE DIED FOR REAL ON THE SPOT IF IT DID, FEATHER OR NOT. Then a creepy woman in a mirror had to be locked back into the mirror dimension. And that’s when my agency had a fucking SECURITY BREACH which turned out to have been in the making for YEARS. And then the pirate guy came back and nearly enslaved me. I had to blow up his ship and exorcise him from this world. And AFTER all of that, I was finally sent to Blackmoor, where I met YOU, and also saw a bunch of people marginally related to me die from a cause we still don’t have any answers for. *DEEP INHALE*

Aisling: Okay, so your point is.... MD: My POINT is.... out of ALL the sane and wholesome people in the world who don’t have ANY BAGGAGE whatsoever, why do I, the Master Detective, have to be the one to save the world here-- Charles: Hello. MD: *SCREEEEEEECH*

CHARLES IT’S BEEN FOREVER-- wait, you’re not here to serve the divorce papers are you? Charles: Of course not. I’m asking MD to come back home with me. MD: WHAT?! Charles: Where else would I welcome you back to? *Evil cackle* ......... 8D8D8D8D8D8D8D8D Aisling: ........... :| :| :| :| :| :| :| :| :| MD: .................D:< D:< D:< D:< D:< D:< D:< MD: Aisling, hand that energy over, I’ve a WORLD TO BURN.

I have to point this out... the last time we saw Charles IN THE FLESH in game, was Escape from Ravenhearst, which was NINE YEARS AGO, likely TEN by the time Crossfade comes out. Happy Tenth Anniversary of your wedding, Master Detective? 8D

MD: AS IF.

#Mystery Case files #The Harbinger #MCF

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surelynotshirley · 3 years

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Kaeluc + Chongyun, Venti

This was something I worked on for the play diary fic I have on AO3 during the Geovishap event but I didn’t finish it, and I don’t really think I will. It seems to be heading down the path of an action fic and action scenes are already not my forté so I’m not sure if I want to expend the time and energy on something that’s supposed to be a low effort kind of deal. I still did work on it for quite some time so here is what I have:

When Lumine asked Chongyun if he would be willing to go investigate certain areas of Liyue for traces of Geovishaps, he said yes in a heartbeat. Even if he hadn't been requested by Lumine, he probably would have taken it upon himself to seek out and exterminate the monsters. Or been dragged by Xingqiu on Xingqiu's own self-imposed quest of chivalry.

The Geovishaps are a dangerous menace to the populace and already, Bubu Pharmacy's swamped with people who have been injured by them. According to Xiangling, anyway, who heard secondhand from Hu Tao.

"I'll ask some of my friends from Mondstadt to go with you," Lumine had said.

"Mondstadt?" Chongyun had echoed. "Wouldn't it be better to ask people from Liyue, since we know the geography more?"

"Well, yeah, but a lot of the people who are suited to explore the area are busy with their own investigations," Paimon had explained. "So we had to ask people from Mondstadt to fill in."

"I see," Chongyun had said, nodding to himself.

The Geovishaps' territory seems to encompass Liyue's entirety, which is already a large country for a small handful of elites to cover. It makes sense to ask for aid from foreigners, and it's even better if they're acting out of a sense of friendship, rather than trying to force Liyue into any kind of political debt.

"I'll be sure to buy them some food from Wanmin Restaurant after everything is done," Chongyun had promised, raising his heavy Mora bag and jangling it about.

Paimon and Lumine had given him a thumbs-up before Chongyun headed out to the outskirts of Liyue Harbour. It would be a simple mission, he had thought at the time.

It doesn't take him long to find the helpers from Mondstadt. They stand out like sore thumbs.

A red-haired man in dark clothing is standing on the bridge, leaning against the wooden railing. His gaze is focused on the dog circling around his feet, its tail wagging so hard Chongyun can practically hear it whirling from the other end of the bridge. Next to the red-haired man is a short boy — probably around Xingqiu's height? — wearing green and white. He is drinking out of a white gourd in his hand and Chongyun races forward when he realizes what it was.

"Wait, wait!"

The red-haired man looks up and pushes himself away from the railing. "Chongyun?" he asks. He pronounces Chongyun's name a little strange — he places too much emphasis on the 'yun' — but Chongyun nods quickly. "My name is Diluc Ragnvindr. I was asked by Lumine to help you in —"

"Ah, wait, hold on," Chongyun says nervously, raising up a hand in apology. "I'm really sorry for interrupting, Mister Diluc. It's just that your friend is drinking cooking wine."

"Oh," Diluc says.

The boy in green pulls the gourd away with a loud exhale. Chongyun winces at the alcoholic stench that assaults his nose and he covers his face with his sleeve. The boy's face is red and his eyes are unfocused, swaying unsteadily on the spot.

"That's the stuff!" the boy says, sounding remarkably articulate. "Oh, hello! I'm Venti! This is Diluc! We're here to help!"

"Please, you don't have to yell. I'm standing right here," Chongyun says.

"I already told him why we're here," Diluc says.

Venti's only answer is a loud laugh and Chongyun is struck with a sense of déjà vu. He is pretty sure he had to go through the exact same song and dance from Diluc's position just the other day.

It seems that Venti and Xingqiu have more in common than just their height. At the very least, Xingqiu has no interest in alcohol.

"We're just waiting for the last person in our expedition to arrive," Diluc explains. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out an expensive-looking pocketwatch. Venti tries to reach out for it and Diluc simply raises it out of his reach. It's like watching someone deal with a particularly mischievous cat. "She's not someone who's normally late."

"Maybe she got distracted by some sticky honey roast on the way."

Diluc pulls a face but he doesn't deny the possibility.

Chongyun stretches to try and peer into the pocketwatch and Diluc lowers it down so that Chongyun can easily see the time. The two of them ignore Venti's loud pout at the blatant favouritism. It's just a little past noon, when more people would be out and about on their way to and from lunch. It would be disastrous if a Geovishap is to show up at this hour.

"Should we maybe just go ahead and leave a note?" Chongyun asks.

"Maybe," Diluc says. He clicks the pocketwatch shut and places it back into his pocket, staring up at the sky. "We can wait another fifteen minutes and then we'll leave."

"Sounds good to me!" Venti says, raising his hand up in the air.

Chongyun imitates him but Diluc doesn't even look at them. He lowers his hand shyly.

"There's no need for that," an unfamiliar voice drawls out and the three of them turn as one to see a dark-skinned man dressed in furs and leather stroll up to them.

He stands out in the most ridiculous fashion, not only with his natural looks but also with the way his clothes practically cling to the lines of his lithe body. Chongyun instinctively takes a small step back, and yet another one when he feels hot anger rise off of Diluc. If he hadn't noticed the Vision hanging off of his waist earlier, he would know for sure now that he's dealing with a Pyro user.

"Kaeya," Diluc growls. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh boy," Venti says. He reaches into his cape and pulls out from out of nowhere yet another gourd. How he managed to keep such a large bottle hidden away, Chongyun has no idea. Venti notices Chongyun's stare and tips the cooking wine at him. "You want a sip?"

"Ah, no..."

"Your loss."

"Amber was called away on an Outrider mission," Kaeya says. He spreads his arms out theatrically and shakes his head. "And so kind old me decided to lend her a hand. As her superior, of course. "

For a while, Diluc doesn't say anything, giving Kaeya such a murderous look that it's surprising he hasn't been incinerated to a crisp yet. When Diluc finally speaks, his voice is measured and low. He's obviously putting in a great effort to sound as cordial as he can.

"If it's just a Geovishap or two, the three of us are more than enough to defeat them. You could expend your energy on patrolling the site the monster was last spotted, in case civilians accidentally wander into the area."

Kaeya nods. "That's wise. There certainly is a lot of people milling about."

He does not openly agree or disagree with Diluc's suggestion and Diluc shifts his weight.

"So can we trust you to handle securing the area."

It's worded like a question but Diluc's flat tone implies that he meant it as a command.

"Oh. Don't worry about that," Kaeya says, waving his hand in a clear sign of dismissal. He ignores Diluc's irritated tsk. "There's nothing I can do about accidentally getting people involved if you're there with that Vision of yours. So I might as well focus on backing you up on the field."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean that you —"

"Okay, wow!" Venti interrupts and both Diluc and Chongyun startle.

Kaeya was so distracting that Chongyun didn't even remember there was a third party with them. Or, he supposes, he technically is a part of said third party. But if Venti is willing to be the peacemaker then Chongyun has his back. He has no idea what's going on between Kaeya and Diluc but if Venti has no qualms about sacrificing himself for the sake of the greater good, the least Chongyun can do is make sure his death isn't in vain.

"Isn't there anything a little sweeter to drink? This wine is getting a bit too spicy for me."

Chongyun's newfound respect for Venti crumbles.

Kaeya laughs and he gives Venti an overly friendly pat on the shoulder. "Well, that's cooking wine so you're not really supposed to be drinking that. There's a lovely restaurant that offers violetgrass liqeur, and it's considered a bit of a local delicacy around these parts."

"Go on, go on!" Venti exclaims, his eyes shimmering like stars as he stares up at Kaeya like a lovestruck maiden. "What does it taste like?"

"Hm, I've never had it myself, but I hear that it's sweet and floral, like you're sucking honey directly out from a flower. If you hold it up to the light, the colours swirl in the most beautiful patterns, like you've trapped the night sky in your glass."

"It sounds amazing," Venti says dreamily. "I would very much like to try it before I go back to Mondstadt. Let's hurry and get rid of the Geovishap so we can go to the restaurant."

"Oh, I can't really drink," Chongyun says, raising his hand. "I'll still go though."

"More for me!" Venti says.

"They offer a virgin violetgrass cocktail that's sweetened with mist flower nectar and mint for anyone who can't handle their drink," Kaeya says, giving Diluc a bright smile.

Diluc crosses his arms and taps his fingers against his elbow like an annoyed cat flicking its tail. He doesn't reply but Chongyun nods to himself. So Diluc also can't drink alcohol. A small sense of kinship wells up in him at the thought. Finally, some common ground with at least one member of this enigmatic band.

"We're wasting time," Diluc sighs. He seems to have given up on trying to chase Kaeya away for now. "Let's go."

#my writing #genshin impact #kaeluc

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