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musings-of-miss-j · 8 months

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no rest for the wicked (nor the foolish)

part one: in which you, a genius graduate from the akademiya, are blackmailed recruited by the fatui

a harbingers x gn reader series!! (includes dottore, childe, arlecchino and pantalone x reader. the rest of the harbingers will most likely not be romantic interests)

notes: slowburn. slowburn so slow u have to squint to even see the damn flame, long asf, snarky reader bc i said so, reader has a sprinkle of social anxiety, reader is referred to as 'miss' but no pronouns, mostly fluff and crack, slightly suggestive, blackmail, i just really wanna interact with these self-important pricks making out is honestly optional

please inform me of any pronoun slips!!

status: ongoing, updates every thursday-saturday

series masterlist

word count: 4993

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Standing before the not at all imposing entrance of the Fatui Headquarters (even now you vividly remember complaining to Lisa about it as you packed; "Couldn't they have chosen a more creative name?") you began to ever so slightly doubt your choices. Fresh out of the Akademiya and ambitious as any foolish valedictorian, you'd snapped up the offer of continuing your diploma in Snezhnaya immediately. Or at least that’s what you told yourself rather than acknowledging the thinly-veiled threats in their letters. "It'll look fantastic on my resume," you'd remarked to Alhaitham, that arrogant sod of a professor, over a bottle of wine. He'd scoffed and taken it from you, downing a generous swig, before saying something along the lines of "I certainly think it'll be a relief to have you several hundred miles away from Sumeru, even if you're going to be an insufferable brat about it."

Absolute ass of a man, you thought fondly to yourself as you climbed the stone stairs up to the gates. Snow fell hard and fast and stubborn as Albedo when it came to the superiority of alchemy over all other areas of science, and by the time you'd hauled your luggage to the wrought iron gate your shoulders had a fresh dusting of white powder and the stairs had become really quite treacherous; you lost your footing twice. At the very least, the only witnesses to your humiliation were creatures of the night.

You paused on the top step to catch your breath. A scientific genius you may be, and yet your stamina left much to be desired; and damn was that a ridiculous number of stairs. Every puff of breath crystallised into a swirling cloud in front of you, and you suppressed a shiver as a cold gust of night air wormed through the openings of your coat. Craning your neck to survey the enormous building - perhaps "palace" would be a more accurate descriptor - you felt the full force of the Fatui's power. Which was definitely their goal. Hewn from black stone, most likely imported from Liyue, the tips of the towers disappearing into a clouded sky, the rare breed of albino ivy you'd researched in your second year crawling up every wall and windows with intricate stained glass patterns... Despite your resolute determination to remain unimpressed at most things in life, you had to admit the place was utterly stunning. You could practically hear Kaveh raving about it in your ear, though in your opinion the spikes atop the fences were a tad too much.

After another moment of sizing up the place and feeling very much like you were being watched, you pushed open the enormous gate. Frost from the metal stuck to your gloves, and it swung open with barely a whisper. You silently thanked whatever mechanic had been in charge of that as you stepped into the shadowed courtyard, which was about as welcoming as the stairs; completely deserted. Archons forbid anyone welcome a foreign student, and you trudged across the layer of snow towards the front door with your footsteps made an incredibly satisfying crunch as you walked. You marvelled at the snow for the millionth time since you'd arrived in Snezhnaya. It was hardly common in Sumeru, and while you knew you'd grow tired of it by the time your three-year study was over it was rather pleasant now, glittering and white and covering every surface; the whole country had a lovely consistency because of it. You ridiculous perfectionist, Dehya snickered from the recesses of your mind.

The front door was also enormous (surprise, surprise) and you had to tiptoe to reach the metal knocker. Fashioned to look like a roaring leopard (a snow leopard, you'd wager) it made a very authoritative and disproportionately loud sound when released. Superposition, your brain helpfully supplied as you stood on the doorstep, determined not to let the biting cold get to you. You tightened your gloves and checked the inner pocket of your coat for your identification paperwork and tidy stack of mora, debating the merits of knocking again. The middle of the night wasn't a forgiving time, and the building (headquarters, palace, whatever) was growing less and less interesting the more you had to stare at it. Just as you'd begun glaring at the door and mentally cursing the name of every Fatuus you could think of, it swung open to reveal a luxurious interior. You kicked the snow of your boots before stepping inside, immeasurably grateful for the rush of warmth the crackling fireplace provided. The main hall of the building was every bit as grand as the outside, with a thick, midnight blue rug and stone walls carved into beautiful designs and inlaid with silver. No doubt that it had warming properties.

Mildly apprehensive, you took a step further into the hall. The door, very unhelpfully, slammed shut behind you and much to your chagrin, you jumped a little at the bang. You shot the closed door a glare before setting your bags down and casting another glance throughout the room. Beautiful and empty. Damn it.

The urge to call out was certainly strong, but your voice would definitely echo and bounce off the walls and ridiculously high ceiling. Hardly a graceful way to begin your career with the Fatui. Instead, you tugged off one of your gloves with your teeth and rootled through one of your many pockets for the most recent letter you'd received from them.

Your acceptance of our offer has been duly noted. We expect to see you on the aforementioned date at the Fatui Headquarters with the required paperwork to prove your identity, education and other important information. You will be received upon your arrival by Number Eleven.

May the Tsaritsa reign eternal.

Signed,

Director of the Fatui Harbingers

Pretentious and unhelpful as the first time you'd read it. You pocketed the letter with a sigh and collapsed into one of the armchairs scattered in front of the fireplace. Might as well make yourself at home in the place you’d all but been dragged to. The flames flickered and danced, and in your tired state you were utterly mesmerised. The armchair was so very comfortable, too. You ran your fingers absent-mindedly over the arm and decided it was most likely genuine leather, and busied yourself with trying to decide whether the rug was real fur so you wouldn’t fall asleep. With your luck, ‘Number Eleven’ would never show up and you’d be found like this in the morning. The thought was mortifying enough to make you sit bolt upright and discard your glasses to vigorously rub your eyes, before staring intently at the engravings scrawled across the walls.

Bits and pieces you could recognize as Snezhnayan script, and some others seemed to be vague and artful depictions of the Tsaritsa. A corner of your brain toyed with the idea of meeting her as you continued to survey the room. It was highly unlikely, of course, considering you were offered a research position to continue your diploma and nothing more, but the thought remained intriguing nonetheless. More so still when you considered the possibility of meeting her before the famous Traveller and selling whatever information you found to her at a rather outrageous price. You refrained from snorting aloud as the logical side of your brain tore itself away from trying to decide if the silver inlay of the walls was pure or a compound and very firmly reminded you that you had no business entertaining impossibilities.

With a faint grumble, you pulled out your pocket watch and scowled at its ornate and unwelcome face. Twelve minutes past midnight and the damned ‘Number Eleven’ still hadn’t deemed it fit to appear. You glared at the watch. It was a lovely little trinket, one you had horrifyingly spent all your first-year savings on during your time at the Akademiya; Alhaitham and Tighnari had taken great pleasure in pointing out what an irresponsible decision it had been, while Lisa applauded you for, and you quote, ‘finally letting loose a little and actually doing what you want!’ You stared at your reflection in the watch’s pearly face. You couldn’t help but miss Sumeru and your friends already, even though this was hardly the first time you travelled; Liyue had been a similar experience, but it had been so long ago that the sting was barely there. The watch ticked on, and you refocused to find that another two minutes had passed. You snapped it shut with no small measure of irritation before grabbing your bags and making your way to the staircase; if these Fatui were so bloody behind schedule or unorganised enough to have forgotten that a new recruit was meant to arrive then you certainly didn’t intend to wait until they sorted themselves out.

Ugh, I miss the Akademiya. At least no one was behind schedule there.

The blissful exasperation lasted you all the way to the top of the staircase, and then abruptly fizzled out when you found myself facing two diverging corridors. The thick carpeting muffled the sounds of your footsteps, and the walls here were adorned with veins of silver too. Windows with ornate black framework lined the walls, and a faintly glowing flower that looked reminiscent of the jasmines in Sumeru bloomed from the cracks in the stone. Wind buffeted relentlessly against the windows, howling and whistling and fluttering the flowers’ white petals while you stared down the two corridors and debated which one to take. They were lit with a silvery, almost liquid looking row of lanterns that were blatantly disregarding the laws of physics by floating in mid-air. You shot them a contemptuous glance. Magic was no cheap affair, and who knew how the morally questionable inhabitants of the palace were maintaining their pretty little lights? Your eyes paused on an arched doorway to the right. Servants’ quarters, perhaps? Hauling yourbags back over your shoulder (Jean had been right yet again. You were regretting bringing so many books) you stepped towards the door and knocked as quietly as you could. The noise echoed smugly across the stone walls despite your best efforts, and you glowered resentfully at the door. A scuffling sound came from inside, and the door was thrown open with what you considered an unnecessary amount of force; it seemed like they were out to frazzle your nerves, and you jumped as the wood banged against the wall.

A lanky young man who couldn’t have been much older than you stood in the doorway, dressed in what you assumed was normally a very dapper grey suit that had been reduced to a pitiful array of wrinkles and what you hoped was red wine on the cuff rather than blood. After carefully letting your eyes sweep across the Hydro Vision without any reaction, you looked up and met a pair of unsettling blue eyes rimmed with dark circles that could even rival yours or Layla’s. A sleep deprived and possibly homicidal Vision holder. Joy. And now he’s smirking. The hell is he smirking at?

He continued to stare. Oh. They're... lovely.

“Hello,” you said, adopting what Mona called your “disinterested and politely sarcastic business voice.” He had the audacity to smirk even wider and lean against the doorway, as if you were somehow amusing. Resisting the urge to bristle and whack him in the face, you continued. “I arrived here around”- you took out your watch –“Seventeen minutes ago and I’m rather lost. Could you perhaps help me if you’re familiar with the layout of the building?”

He just stood there, arms folded and eyebrows raised slightly, looking overall much too smug for someone who was wearing a stained suit and clearly hadn’t brushed their hair in several days. Their shockingly ginger hair. He was probably called ‘carrot-top’ as a kid, and you bit back your own smirk at the thought. Your non-existent patience rapidly dwindled, and you wished for invulnerability so you could snap at this smug overgrown brat. It wouldn’t do to offend anyone now no matter how tempting the prospect seemed, that was for sure; even the offer of a position here had seemed more like a threat than anything else and you weren't keen on receiving any legitimate ones now that you’d arrived in Fatui territory.

Several uncomfortable moments passed, with the man looking at you like you were an interesting exhibition in a museum and you looking back with what you hoped was a well-restrained expression completely devoid of Archons I’d love to punch you right now.

“Well then. Thank you for your time, sir,” you said, breaking the silence with a dose of sarcasm that definitely left behind the entire concept of politeness and veered dangerously into ‘you seem to be quite the idiot and you refuse to spend a moment longer in your company’ zones. “I recommend a mint extract to sleep off the hangover,” you added drily with a meaningful glance at the crimson stain on his cuff.

His eyebrows (even they were ginger) rose a fraction of an inch higher, and he laughed. Once again, you resisted the urge to scowl, picking up your bags and preparing to leave this foolish drunkard loitering in the corridor.

“Ah, no, don’t leave,” he said between chuckles, pushing himself off the doorway and stepping closer. He even had the gall to take one of your bags, but at least his voice wasn’t slurring.

“I’m ever so glad you’ve finally deemed this situation worthy of verbal exchange,” you said, still firmly in the Fuck you, asshole tone of voice. It seemed to just further his amusement, and he grinned at you as he hoisted your bag over his shoulder.

“Comrade, don’t be upset,” he replied, still grinning as he closed the little door behind him and gestured at you to follow him down the left corridor. A quick run through of the facts confirmed that following this ginger idiot was likely your best option, and you strode after him. “I was just having a little fun, that’s all.”

“Right, at my expense,” you muttered under your breath, lengthening your stride to keep up with him. The flurries of snow outside the windows became white blurs in the corner of your vision. “May you ask who you are, good sir?”

“No need for the fancy titles,” he said in that same infuriatingly easy-going tone. You’d gotten the impression that he took nothing seriously, and it only solidified the longer you walked with him down this corridor.

“Just call me Childe.” He shot you another one of those cheerful grins over his shoulder as he led you through the palace, which still seemed utterly deserted besides the two of you. Realisation hit as you processed his words.

“Oh, I see. You’re the ‘Number Eleven’ I’d been waiting for downstairs.”

“Perceptive of you, comrade.” You noted that he hadn’t bothered to ask for your name. Quite likely he already knew who you were, if the Fatui network was as well-informed as you’d heard. “You must forgive my oversight,” he added with a wink, of all things. “I found myself rather… shall we say entangled in some night time affairs.”

The implication wasn’t lost on you, and you carefully kept your face impassive as he watched intently for a reaction. Ah. A court jester is what this fool is.

“I’m certain you won’t repeat it. You seem like a professional,” you replied drily, following him down a narrow flight of stairs.

“I can’t say I can make any promises,” he shot back, smug and cheerful as a bloody- as a bloody Harbinger. At least the sarcasm wasn’t completely lost on him.

You settled for mentally calling him a spineless sod rather than retorting.

“I trust you’re well aware of the reason for my presence here?” you prodded, slipping on an uneven step and hoping he’d trip over his own feet.

“You wound me with your assumptions,” he replied in a mock hurt tone. “It's almost as if you’ve already decided I’m totally useless.”

You refused to dignify that with a response, instead staring at him pointedly until he relented. “Oh, alright, alright.” He sighed, making a wide, dismissive gesture in the air with his gloved hand. “You’re the new lab rat, right?”

“I am stunned by your eloquence,” you muttered. He chuckled, dashing any hopes you’d had that he wouldn’t hear. “But despite your crude description, I suppose it’s apt enough. I am here to continue my studies, yes.” At this point you couldn’t see the merit in continuing to be polite, not after his blatant admission of sleeping around on the job. You resolved not to take him seriously unless you absolutely had to.

“Archons, do all you scholars talk like that?” He remarked absent-mindedly to himself, pausing in front of what looked to be a long stretch of… wall. “Dottore does it too. It's strange.”

You knew ‘Dottore’ as Number Two of the Harbingers, but more primarily as the infamous Akademiya outcast who’d been exiled for the atrocious malpractice in his experiments. Irony of ironies, that you’d spent four years being warned against going down his path and now you were kicking off your career by working with him.

Childe, amidst your pondering, had begun to methodically trace an assortment of Snezhnayan letters within the silver engraving with his finger. They glowed blue, and a cursory glance at his Vision proved that he was using elemental power. Probably to break a seal of some sort. You watched him intently, discreetly noting the order of the letters down in a notebook. It didn’t pay to be uninformed, after all.

As he lifted his finger off the last letter, the wall slid and neatly tucked itself away to reveal what seemed to be a meeting room. A long table ran along the centre, with towering windows displaying the distant mountain. You spared the view a wistful glance; what with the thick clouds and relentless snow, the stars were blocked out entirely, and though the rolling expanse of glittering white was beautiful you knew you’d miss seeing the constellations through the gaps of the rainforest’s leaves.

The room was empty except for a single one of the velvet-cushioned chairs, where a striking woman clad in a jewelled white gown that looked impossible to pull off in this freezing weather lounged. She barely spared Childe a disinterested look before turning her eyes on you, and you were immediately nervous under the crushing weight of her gaze. One half of her face was obscured by an elaborate black mask, and you couldn’t help but feel thankful for it. Even with only one of her eyes trained on you, it still took an effort not to fidget and pick at your clothes or hair, and maintaining eye contact proved harder still.

What is it with the Fatui and uncomfortable silences? you thought desperately as you fought not to look away, the rushing wind, crackling fire and distant howls of wolves pressing against your ears as the silence and the woman’s gaze persisted with unwavering intensity. Childe watched with unbridled delight, clearly amused by the whole affair. Asshat.

Though the quiet smothered the room, you refused to break it. This was clearly an intimidation tactic, and though you had to admit it was rather effective you were even more reluctant to let it show; being the first to speak would be handing this fascinating, fearsome woman a measure of power you wouldn’t be able to take back. And so you met her stare with as much dignity as you could muster, trying not to appear defiant or rude. Which you discovered was a delicate balance that was ridiculously difficult to maintain.

When she spoke, her voice crawled through the gaps in the blanket of silence and lingered in your ears like clinging smoke.

“So. You’re the new recruit, are you?” She was impressed by your composure, not that she was willing to show it.

She crossed one leg over the other, regarding you with curiosity rather than outright hostility. You bit back a sigh of relief and bowed your head ever so slightly. Respectful, but not timid, you told yourself.

“Yes, ma’am, that’s right. I thank you once again for this opportunity.”

She pursed her lips, withholding an endeared smile. What a stunning shade of red.

“Hm. You see you’ve met Childe, our Number Eleven,” she remarked, adjusting the red and black cloak on her shoulders. “He’s quite the idiot, don’t you think?”

You swallowed. An elegant trick question; if you agreed you’d be disrespecting one of the Harbingers, but if you denied her claim you’d be throwing in your lot with Childe, a course of action you were determined not to take. This woman was clearly more influential than him either way. He watched you with a grin that was growing annoyingly familiar, as though he was privy to some joke happening at your expense, as though everything existed solely for his entertainment. You’d yet to decide whether he was a sadist or just incredibly immature.

“I’d prefer not to impart judgement so hastily, ma’am,” you replied with the barest touch of humour. Make it seem like you’re part of the collective joke. “I had the honour of meeting him barely”- you pulled out yourwatch –“Twenty four minutes ago.”

She rewarded you with a dazzling and thoroughly terrifying smile for your careful answer. As clever as their reputation paints them, she thought.

“I see Pierro’s judgement is still sound even though he’s an old bat by now.” This she directed mostly at Childe, and they shared a private chuckle over the matter.

Pierro… their superior, no doubt.

“Welcome, dear,” she said to you, getting up from the chair. Even that action she carried out with flawless elegance, moving towards you as though the air itself could never have the audacity to pose any resistance to her. She stopped barely half a foot away from you, close enough for you to discern the remarkable craftsmanship of her mask, black glass and lace swirling in elaborate patterns and settling over her face like a second skin. She grabbed your chin in her hands, and you felt yourself flush at the scrutiny as she tilted your face towards the faint light of one of the floating lanterns. No doubt she saw your wavering composure, if the smile on her face was any indication.

“I am La Signora, Eighth of the Harbingers.”

Ah, no wonder she’s so self-assured and elegant.

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, ma’am.”

Her smile widened slightly.

“You’re very meek, dear. It doesn’t pay to be so docile in this line of work, you know.”

You flushed a deeper shade of red. Both Childe and Signora latched onto the change in your demeanour, discreetly revelling in your adorable flustered expression. It was a calculated statement, crafted to make you question yourself and second-guess your attitude. The Eighth Harbinger was clearly a puppeteer, pulling strings and jerking limbs with her seemingly harmless words, and it irked you to think that this striking, frightening woman would try to make you dance for her. You could feel Childe’s gaze boring into the side of your face as well as La Signora’s, and the retort on the tip of your tongue escaped before you could stop yourself.

“Does that mean we’re on a first name basis?”

Childe laughed, and you glimpsed him folding his long limbs into one of the chairs by the fire to watch the situation unfold. La Signora herself raised a perfect eyebrow and let her hand drop from your chin, surveying you thoughtfully. You were seized by the bizarre urge to cover up even though you were fully clothed.

“Ah,” she said softly. “You have quite the tongue on you after all, little one. Perhaps you shouldn’t bite it so often, hm? I’d hate to see your teeth be stained with blood.” Your poise certainly impressed them both, but your cutting wit was simply delightful.

Oh, she’s good, you thought.

You offered her a smile tinged with irony. “Of course, ma’am.”

Seeming to grow bored of swatting at your nerves with her perfectly manicured claws, she turned to Childe.

“Show the young recruit to their quarters, Eleventh. Without dallying,” she added with a meaningful glance between you. You would’ve been indignant at her insinuation if you weren't in a daze from her piercing questions and barbed remarks. She swept past you, trailing her cloak behind her, perfume lingering even as she disappeared from the room. Dark and smoky.

You breathed a sigh of relief as her footsteps faded, and Childe turned his attention back to you from where he was sprawled in the chair. It must be a bother, having such long limbs that need to be arranged like that just to fit in a normal chair.

“You’re part of the family proper, now,” he told you cheerfully, lacing his fingers behind his head. “Mama Signora put you through the wringer and you survived. Really, congratulations are in order, Trixy.”

Your eyebrows furrowed.

“That isn’t my name,” you pointed out, taking off your glasses to rub your eyes. Exhaustion from the journey and the Harbingers was starting to rapidly set in, and you longed for a bed. And for Lisa and Dehya and Sucrose and Mona with a bottle of wine so you could complain about the situation to them.

“Well, you’re one of us now,” he replied, rising from the chair in a single, fluid motion that was oddly alien. “You need a code name!”

Archons alive, is he trying to get me to argue with him? Probably.

“Before we address your entitlement for thinking you can choose a name for me, code or otherwise, let’s discuss the fact that I’m not a Harbinger, shall we?” You leaned your back against the wall, replacing your glasses so you could shoot him a pointed look. He just grinned smugly in return, his eyes crinkling with the secret little joke he had with himself. You really were so sharp, he thought. Like the edge of a blade he longed to wield.

“Says who?” He countered, winking. You raised your eyebrows, unimpressed at his attempt to throw you off.

“Show me to the quarters, would you?”

“Look at you, bossing me around even though you’re ‘not a Harbinger’! Don’t forget, Trixy, even if you do become one you’ll still outrank you by a mile.”

“I'm quite certain you could usurp you with relative ease,” you countered, enjoying the back and forth despite yourself. “You’re only Number Eleven, after all. And don’t call me that. It sounds like a juvenile nickname.”

He chuckled, making his way back to the door. Or the sliding wall, you suppose.

“I thought it was pretty fitting. You definitely have more tricks up your sleeve than you let on, charming Signora like that.”

You frowned, contemplating the exchange you’d had with her as you followed him out, dragging your bag while he carried the other.

“I hardly think that qualified as charming even by the most dubious of standards.”

He turned back to face and grabbed your bag, hoisting it over his shoulder with an ease that left you apprehensive. Clearly he had the raw physical strength to boast of. He continued up the stairs, seemingly unencumbered by your atrocious luggage and you took two steps at a time to keep up with him and his unfairly long legs.

“Ah, you just don’t know her well enough to judge. Trust me, she was pretty impressed.”

“I’m afraid you lost my attention the moment you told me to trust you.”

“Come on, Trixy!” He shot the grin you were coming to think of as his trademark, wide and boisterous and faintly insincere, but good-natured nonetheless. “You can’t hate me forever, you know. You’re gonna be here for a while, and you’ll find yourself liking me eventually.”

“Ah, yes. Stockholm Syndrome,” you deadpanned, hurrying up the last flight of stairs and onto an unfamiliar landing, nearly bumping into his back. He just laughed and walked onwards down the long corridor.He’d win you over, eventually. He led you past rows and rows of identical doors, each one numbered in silver and outlined with what you presumed to be protective spells and then stopped in front of number twenty five.

A good, solid number, you thought to yourself with an air of satisfaction, stepping into the room after him. He dumped your bags unceremoniously onto the rug in front of the fireplace (you prayed the protection charm Xiao had given you would prevent your glassware from shattering) and with one final smirk and a sing-song “Nighty night, Trixy” Childe tossed you the key to the room and disappeared.

The room – your room – radiated comfort. From the blankets piled onto the bed to the glowing jasmines flowering along the cracks of the window to the buttery leather armchair by the fireplace, the whole place was lovely. Too lovely, in fact, for a mere recruit, and suspicion reared its head. The room had been Childe’s, unbeknownst to you. and he sneakily made you its new tenant. You checked beneath the rug and the wonderful, sturdy desk by the window, and poked along the top edges of the bookcase and shook out the blankets, but nothing seemed out of order. Which only served to further your suspicion, though you didn’t have any clue what could be hidden. A bomb? Ridiculous, the Fatui wouldn’t risk damaging their headquarters to eliminate someone with no power. A kamera? impossible to hide unless it’s on the walls or ceiling. You decided you didn’t care very much. The likelihood of assassination was incredibly low, you reasoned as you stripped off your coat and settled into the bed, wrapping the blankets tightly around yourself to stave off the cold.

You estimate that you fell asleep less than two minutes later.

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moonandris · 5 months

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✨NEW WRITEBLR TAG GAME JUST DROPPED✨

If you're struggling with breathing life into your OC's, try this funny yet stupidly simple trick/writeblr tag game I just came up with. I call it the 'Roast Your OCS and Make It Into a Title' tag game. 🤣

So, we've all heard of fictional character archetypes and stereotypes that are often present in fiction, right? We all know it's not good to have shallow, surface level characters that have no complexity or nuance to their personalities, because real life humans contain multitudes, contradictions, and are in general very complicated beings.

Throw all that shit out for this exercise and toss it into the trash! 🗑️ In this tag game, we're gonna be reducing all our OC's to the most basic, mundane, stereotypical/archetypal renditions of themselves and making it Fit Into a Title!

Here's an example of my main character + his besties from my Science Fantasy WIP:

Cold and Stoic Pretty Boy Loaner With Social Anxiety and Unhealed Trauma Tries to Save His Sister

Disowned Goth Femme Fatale With Bitchy Yet Gentle Attitude Is Socially Neglected and Cries A Lot

Occasionally Serious Himbo City Boy Cop Tries and Fails to Fight Crime With Therapy and Rehabilitation

Snobby Know-It-All Imperial Man Who Somehow Has Both A Superiority and Inferiority Complex

Protective Amazonian Lesbian Sadist Who Will Absolutely Step On You and Ruin Your Life Forever

Gifted Slutty Bisexual Boy Genius Is Hiding a Dark Secret and Is Very Zesty (Rude) About It

For this tag game I'm gonna be tagging A LOT of people but mainly people who've interacted with me recently. Free to reblog if you see this on your dash, even if you're not tagged. I find this shit HILARIOUS and I would love to see what everyone manages to come up with! No pressure at all if you don't wanna participate, this is all just for fun. ❤️😊

@in-heavens-trenches @revenantlore @cupandquillcafe @fattybattysblog @eames-with-a-rose

@gailynovelry @kestalsblog @dru-reads-writeblr @druidx @indigowriting

@diabolical-blue @writercoracain @tildeathiwillwrite @craig-h-stuart @illarian-rambling

@coarsely @rjcopeseethemald @jackiezenauthor @squarebracket-trickster @kaylinalexanderbooks

@pen-of-roses @flock-from-the-void @sarandipitywrites @buffythevampirelover @imsaanvikhanna

@songsofsomnia @shadow-of-tea-and-tea @owlsandwich @faeriecinna @hauntedluminarybbq

@sarahlizziewrites @ayzrules @rickie-the-storyteller @janec23

If you want some extra help you can also look up character stereotypes/archetypes like I did. There's hundreds of blog posts about this topic but here's some helpful links so you can judge/roast your OC's to your heart's content:

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lintwriting · 4 months

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How to Write Intelligent Characters (Like Wei Wuxian!)

Wei Wuxian has a really bad memory, but he is also smart enough to realize this and then use it to insult people as a joke—WITH plausible deniability to shield him from any potential consequences.

This interplay between extreme intelligence, comical brain farts, and layered social interaction is what makes MDZS so fun to read because it creates a real complexity to both him and his environment. There are multiple layers going on in this scene, with in-jokes and social factions and miscommunications, as there is in reality. And it’s a tangible demonstration of his intelligence, that he’s able to think of this deception in the first place and so casually.

But also it make the story less monotonous by having this complexity. 3 layers.

There the first layer.

“Extremely intelligent character” Like gadget inventor characters or nerdy hackers. Their hyper intelligence is useful for plot reasons, and highly competent characters are likable. And this is not bad for a side character.

It can go too far, however, such as in the case with BBC Sherlock, when the author makes the character so hyper intelligent he becomes an unbelievable god character and wraps back around to being dislikable again. Like the author’s personal pet character who can do no wrong with the excuse of his intelligence allowing him to do anything, leading to extreme annoyance whenever he’s on screen, which is all the time bc he the main character (is that just me?) lol

Then there’s the second layer to break up the monotony of intelligence.

Wei Wuxian has shit memory. Like laughably shit memory. Much like how video games create perks that also give you cons in specific ways to make your decision to use it more satisfyingly personal, like choosing to wear shitty armor that looks pretty because you value style over function, Wei Wuxian’s extreme intelligence is often undercut by scenes of extreme brain farts.

Whether it be an almost painful level of obliviousness or an extreme failed memory check, Wei Wuxian gains a flaw that not only makes him human and therefore relatable, but also unique in the pantheon of genius characters out there because he’s a genius in THIS SPECIFIC NICHE (trademarked).

This nuance/uniqueness/realness, thus, will allow his character to say more about the real world than mr god intelligence BBC Sherlock.

For the most obvious one, he’s a persuasive essay on why intelligence is not predicated on good memory, which maps well onto his larger character trait of being a intelligent slacker in school (of which the number one complaint is that it is immaterial to actual learning and only really tests memory).

What does BBC Sherlock say, beyond the idea that a god has no need for human rules? That IS a message, but a hypothetical one, as most people will never get to that level of comical intelligence for it to be relevant. Well, I guess assholes (who are less smart than they think) use characters like him as excuses to be dicks, so there's that, but I think that's proof of how legitimately unrealistic he is. He's the power fantasy of teen boys and maladjusted adults, like Rick Rick and Morty.

The third layer is him remembering that he has shit memory and using it to his advantage.

THIS is the part that gets to me THE MOST about his character and arguably the part where MXTX proved (to me) that she’s a better writer than BBC Sherlock writing staff, especially when it come to OP or intelligent characters.

There’s an ELEVATION that happens on this third layer. This is where your character goes from a smart character to a smart person to an ABSOLUTE GOAT. This is the hype that the BBC Sherlock crew wanted when doing a smart god character but absolutely failed to nail deadass, Jesus-style.

Cheatcodes to Writing Intelligence

For one, it’s putting her money where her mouth is. BBC Sherlock creates hyper intelligence by bending the plot to Sherlock's will, like one of those Twitter fake "oracle" accounts that make predictions and then retroactively delete the wrong ones to make them look psychic.

It's not true prediction, and neither is Sherlock solving a mystery unsolvable to the audience because the writer can cheat and handwave his logic — THE VERY THING BEING SHOWCASED — by just showing Sherlock being right all the time about random things we couldn't know ourselves.

(And in Sherlock, this is mostly downplayed because the mystery is less important than the character drama (send prayers for Johnlock), but it goes from a subversion to a Game Of Thrones subversion (derogatory) when the show starts failing at the character drama too, making his stupid caricature of intelligence insulting instead of an interesting exploration of a hypothetical god trying to grow up human, Jesus-style.)

Wei Wuxian also has this hand-wave-y aspect to his intelligence. We're told and shown he's a genius inventor through the cheat code of the world's magic system. Magic without rules is famously hard to write well because any story's conflict can be solved with "well a wizard came and saved the day through GOD-like abilities" if the author is too lazy to write a satisfying conclusion.

Wei Wuxian is the inventor of Necromancy, and while yes this is sort of explained through a scene where he's arguing against the establishment to his cultivation teacher, the logic of it is very simple. "What if we reversed energy? (simplification of what he actually said)," the reality of his genius invention of necromancy is just that it's the author saying "well Wei Wuxian did it through his GOD-LIKE intelligence."

What we really get out of this is that his COUNTERCULTURAL HERESY (Galileo-Style) is revolutionary. Not so much his logic being revolutionary when the concept is THIS simple (haha reverse evil suppressing wards to get an evil attracting ward go brrr). But the story handwaves this away with just making other characters utter trash at necromancy, cheating at making him seem like a genius in comparison (simplified for scope, there's more to this).

IF that were all there was to him, he'd only be a 2 layer AT MOST. Instead, we have this third layer, where he directly reacts to information the reader has received in witty ways. (This also makes him self reacting, which is what makes us human)

The Structure of Setting Up Intelligence

Part of what makes mysteries so satisfying is that the reader is rewarded for paying attention/engagement. If they notice a clue that becomes a part of the detective's explanation later on, it's like a puzzle falling into place, where you feel like a special big boy for noticing. And if the detective manages to solve it where you didn't despite having all these clues, YOU become the dumb shitty necromancer jobber who makes Wei Wuxian look good in comparison. Metaphorically.

Similarly, we have all the clues. Wei Wuxian is smart and resourceful. Wei Wuxian forgets a lot of things. Wei Wuxian gets told he's forgotten a lot of things. What's the next logical step? Wei Wuxian smartly uses his forgetfulness as a resource!

2. At the beginning of the book, he accidentally snubs a side character by responding "I don't even know who you are" (simplified for scope's sake). At the time, he genuinely is fumbling here, messing up his social standing because of an actual brain fart, but in a way that's hilarious and better-than-you, so we think nothing of it... until he learns from this mistake right in front of our eyes!

Because later on, he REPEATS this line to the SAME character to legitimately snub them when they were making accusations of him personally attacking them. Not only is this an infuriating snub done on purpose this time, but it's a lie—Wei Wuxian remembered this asshole after the many many dumb dramas with them.

3. But it's a useful lie because it demonstrates a truth—WEI WUXIAN DIDN'T ATTACK THEM. Wei Wuxian would have motive to attack them hypothetically (read: dumb dramas), but the reality is that he doesn't care about them enough to do so, for all intents and purposes making them "forgotten" to Wei Wuxian. Best of all, people believed him because HE'S DONE THIS EXACT THING BEFORE. The plot is repeating, but nothing feels the same. LAYERS absolutely destroying MONOTONY.

3. On top of that, it's a reaction to himself. He's demonstrating both metacognition and self-awareness, here, which is something actively studied in psychology as a phenomenon humans have that other animals might not, a la Dunning Kruger and the mirror test, respectively. What's more human than cringing at your un-self-awareness and learning from it?

And the best part is that we were on every step of this journey. It feels like such an obvious move to make now, like duh you can use your forgetfulness as a form of weaponized incompetence—guys do it all the time (derogatory). Wei Wuxian even does this in a cute way with his sister when he does Sajiao/aegyo at her to get her attention (affectionate).

4. But it truly hits different seeing him do it in such a specifically crafted story, structured like a mystery or a joke where the logic or punchline is him pretending to have bad memory, and I personally would never have thought of doing this on the spot like he did. This is some post-argument hindsight shower thought shit. Genius power fantasy done well.

Shit like this is STORYTELLING and STORY CRAFTING. The repetition of the scene to make his second snub more potent. THIS IS THE POWER OF SET UP AND PAYOFF. A unique usage of the adage of how a character's greatest strength is their greatest weakness, like someone's determination making them bull-headed and stubborn. Except in reverse, necromancy style, where a fatal flaw (his memory) becomes a great strength (plausible deniability). A simple example of how characterization is about specific traits in unique ways to SHOW us his personality better than the author just telling you he's smart ever could, like in BBC Sherlock. THE POWER OF SHOWING NOT TELLING. The interplay of the contradictions within his intelligence as a way to show that he's "real" and not a god. THE POWER OF DEPTH.

All this while he is quite literally the god of his story (Jesus-style).

That's right! Time for pointing out the idolization and mythologizing of Galileo!

Now I don't know if this is true because fact checking in Chinese fandoms is a nightmare when 1. your chinese is barely fluent and 2. most chinese socmed platforms require a chinese phone number to sign up. 3. these two facts leads to a lot of fandom telephone. But I remember someone quoting MXTX on the idea that Wei Wuxian and his love interest are supposed to be the moral paragons of this story (despite the way Wei Wuxian has been demonized *haha get it? demonic cultivation. his ghost cultivation got called demonic cultivation in the most on the nose misnomer in history*). This is probably not a true quote, but it's emblematic of how it feels to be reading this story.

For one, Wei Wuxian is quite literally the moral paragon. He's one of like 3 people actively against a genocide (other than its victims). A genocide that characters within the positions of power go along with for what boils down to personal convenience's sake (ALL EYES ON RAFAH). He's one of the few characters to truly master resentment AKA ENVY (aka WEI "No Envies" WUXIAN) in a story where basically all the bad stuff happens due to envy (funnily enough the actual evil villain of the story is probably the only opp who wasn't actually jealous of him, despite arguably being the one who not only was the most envious of the whole series and the one whose envy would make sense, being narrative foils with Wei Wuxian and all). You'd never see Wei Wuxian wishing evil upon someone out of jealousy (he quite literally sacrifices himself to save his "unrequited" "crush's" "crush").

For two, this world is set in ancient times, where killing was still wrong but also simultaneously seen as honorable, like with Odysseus killing his wife's suitors in revenge being seen as honorable, DESPITE him hating it when the cyclops killed HIS crew in revenge for sheep lol. Wei Wuxian has slaughtered many people, but often in circumstances that soften the immorality of it, like the insanity defense or self defense or "this is war in ancient china" or stopping a genocide. And he acknowledges that these wrongs were still wrongs and does good in the world/changes as a person to atone.

For three, he's god damned OP. In a magic system where enlightenment is directly tied to magical ability, Wei Wuxian is one of the most powerful magic users in their world. Top of his generation, beat out only by his love interest, kinda. Morality is tied to cultivation, which is why it's called the "righteous" sects.

But it gets better, because those sects are not actually righteous. The vast majority are hypocrites or worse, and their work mostly involves killing things for "mundane" people, who treat them like nobility for doing so (depth in contradiction). The implication is sorta kinda that Wei Wuxian so powerful BECAUSE Wei Wuxian is one of the few to actually be righteous and not just self-righteous.

Thus, him being the inventor, the only non-noble, and only user of ghost path cultivation, the reverse of cultivation, thus serves to highlight his moral integrity in comparison, even when being called a heretic (depth in contradiction).

(And while people argue that his cultivation ITSELF is evil, causing the souls of the dead to be unable to reincarnate, I'd argue that that reading is a misread that gets distracted by thinking "demonic" and "ghost" cultivation are the same thanks to his title as the grandmaster of DEMONIC cultivation, when they're not the same (again, misnomer). In reality, he's the only successful user of the ghost path, which is about EMPATHY (Wei Wuxian's most signature magical ability after his flute playing skills) for the dead, playing into their resentment to help them pass, like he said in the very scene where he defies the establishment of his school and initially defines his path. The shitty jobber demonic cultivators are going evil and shit because it's actually pretty hard to put yourself in people's worst desires and hurts (wwx still went insane lol), much less if you yourself are controlled by resentment like Xue Yang or Su She was, who both technically "empathize" in that they're about as resentful as ACTUAL ghosts LMAO.)

Anyways, all this to say that the entire story is structured around hiding the fact that Wei Wuxian is the bestest guy ever embroiled in a huge mystery, who gets slandered and killed by his opps for standing up against powerful oppressors before coming back to life and clearing his name... (jesus-style). A lot of the book is him morality mogging or witty mogging randos, many of whom are cartoonishly evil or rude. Dare I say it? Yes. Like BBC Sherlock.

BOOM. Gallileo becomes the myth.

BBC SHERLOCK 🤝WEI WUXIAN

Whew, I finally brought it back around to my original point.

THIS is why Wei Wuxian is everything BBC Sherlock writers wished they were doing. Because in spite of all their similarities (seriously? both of them have a death period where their lover (rip johnlock) is mourning them before coming back to life??) BBC Sherlock's nowadays gets mercilessly mocked for being a Mary Sue and his fanfic community is dead, meanwhile Wei Wuxian is so beloved by his readers that MDZS fanfic literally has had such a huge impact it got Ao3 banned in China and then added a maximum to tags on Ao3 PERIOD. King shit.

And despite what this post seems, it's not a disparagement of BBC Sherlock as a character. I loved him, I loved the idea of exploring this demigod. Superwho-manly intelligent, but in ways that make it hard for him to function in the human world (until John). His struggles with ostracism, "weird" interests, sensory issues, etc. are alarmingly human and a great allegory for neurodivergence (while not being one of those cringe "autism savant" tropes bc he isn't literally autistic). Sherlock fic popped off for a reason, it's just that the writing of the show didn't do the legwork work that MDZS did to support his character as a god, instead it mostly did shit like "oh it's okay I'm a pretentious asshole because I'm a genius and always magically right, even when I'm wrong, because I'm god." Like if Rick Rick and Morty wasn't self-aware... T_T

That's why this post is me compiling the ways Wei Wuxian's character was crafted to be intelligent. It's not bad to have power fantasy OP characters, but it's hard to do them as well as him. It's not just the clever deceptions or witty usage of words with multiple meanings or the self-awareness and learning, or giving the intelligence flaws to make it more believable. Sherlock had all these and more.

It's the combination of it all, usually in the order of "telling" they're intelligent through abstract things like other characters saying he's really good at detectivework and them magically solving cases, then complicating that intelligence through some kind of flaw, then "showing" him overcoming that complication using concrete examples of intelligence, such as self-awareness, witty double entendres/callbacks, contradictorily using weakness or appearing weak for specific gains, and reframing the given 'clues' in a new light with the help of red herrings. This is like a steelman persuasive essay format, but with proving that someone is smart. Thesis, counter, rebuttal with quantitative evidence. There's like a mini arc build up to a mini climax/climactic moment that makes it satisfying.

The set up and payoffs are key here, as a lot of these just require a bit of legwork before the payoff, such as Wei Wuxian repeating the same line he used as a mistake into one he does on purpose or find a scenario where forgetfulness is actually helpful in deceptions or whatever the chosen scenario is. Much easier to begin with the end in mind in and then retroactively write the beginning to match, instead of creating an impossible mystery, after all. 😭😭 Best part is that I didn’t even compare the mystery writing of MDZS to Sherlock’s ass mysteries, I did it purely on the strength of how its intelligence is utilized for character drama, just as Moffat and his defenders would have wanted.

#metas #mdzs #mxtx #mo dao zu shi #wei wuxian #bbc sherlock #sherlock #steven moffat #writing #writeblr #hbomberguy #yeah this is mostly me writing a love letter to hbomb’s Sherlock video #analysis #danmei #tropes #storytelling #xtian hegemony #rick and morty #self awareness

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sunnysidewrites · 6 months

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Demon prince!Seungcheol

Inspired by this prompt: “I’m a demon, not a hot water bottle. Stop cuddling me.” “But you’re so warm.” “Like hell. Fire, brimstone, eternal burning.” It had absolutely no effect whatsoever, and the demon sighed, wrapping one arm around the other. This is my re-debut (although not sure if this counts as a re-debut or if it's just a one-time thing) after nearly a 6-year hiatus and needless to say I am extremely nervous and excited!!! (talking in idol terms luv that) I am hoping that also means my writing quality has matured as well (I think??? or not but guess we will find out)! This is for everyone who knew me back then and is still around to see this play out! sorry if it's not the best i am EXTREMELY rusty but hope you enjoy lovelies <3333

wow omg it’s great to dive into writing after so long im getting emotional

you know the drill folks let’s get to it!!

Humans and demons have lived in co-existence for centuries and it’s more or less a chaotic neutral environment given the unique circumstances of these 2 different… races?

It can be difficult to distinguish the demons with the humans since they try to blend in seamlessly for their own sense of peace and security

Despite a big chunk of demons integrating with humans, there are still parts around the world, albeit small, where they have their own territory to control

They usually operate in more traditional political systems, such as still maintaining kings and queens

Humans can live there as well, but it is predominantly demons who are seen as the norm and the former as commoners/lower class

You happen to be one of the lowly commoners who have been working as a maid in the castle since you were young

you and Seungcheol, the Crown Prince, were actually kinda close as kids!!

you could tell all he wanted to do was let loose and have fun but was forced to follow the rules and take everything seriously 24/7

even as a 5 y/o you could see how much he yearned to be a regular kid but duty calls :”((

there were many times you hung out together in secrecy since you as a lowly maid could not be caught DEAD associating yourself with someone of such a high status

and add being human on top of that!! <3

But Seungcheol didn’t care you were literally his first and only friend at the time

Any time a guard looked for him, he and you would duck somewhere to hide together, stifling your smol little giggles im dead

As he grew up and more burdens were placed on his shoulders, you could no longer keep the same innocent, playful friendship between the two of you

Your interactions with him went from running around in the garden to stealing quick looks at each other when you passed by him in the hallways

He went from a happy lil child to a very assertive, stoic man who always picked his kingdom over anything

Despite his new persona, he would occasionally still show you very rare displays of fondness??

You would sometimes randomly find gifts on your bed with a note and well it doesn’t take a genius to know who it’s from

“I swiped the last cookie for you before Penny stole it and I know you would become a demon yourself if someone took your sweets”

“I noticed your uniform was ragged and a little ripped so here’s a new set. be more careful or our next encounter won’t be as pleasant”

“Here’s an extra blanket loser don’t freeze to death on me”

Your heart feels warm knowing that he still shows you his softer side to you while he’s practically a statue to everyone else

Now you were both in your mid-twenties and he’s been busier than ever with political meetings and social gatherings

You were his main maid since out of all of the staff, you were the only one who could really put up with his absurd requests and got along with him in a manner no other maid could, even the older ladies

There were times he summoned you to his headquarters for the sole reason of wanting some company

He would bring up some dumb question and you would be like no offense but this is kinda useless

But little did you know he would do that intentionally to see you crack a little smile, maybe even a laugh in there since he’s been seeing you look more despondent lately

“Even though we can’t run around the palace like how we did as kids, I’m still here. I’m the same Seungcheol – well, actually not really but I still look out for your wellbeing”

“Thanks, not-the-same-Seungcheol”

It’s rumored that the Crown Prince is coming of age to take over the throne soon, but before doing so he needs to find a bride yes it’s one of those tropes ok deal with it

You’re cleaning the hallways one day with some other maids and you can’t help but overhear their gossip

“Did you hear Prince Seungcheol is now engaged??? I think it was just last week”

Your ears perk up and your scrubbing slows down slightly so you can focus on their conversation

“Yeah, I heard the woman is a princess from some neighboring kingdom… It’s really hitting soon that he’ll be the new king”

“I don’t know how long she is going to last… he’s so cold and doesn’t seem to care about anyone. but what can you expect from a demon?”

They both giggle and move to another room to continue cleaning and you can’t help but feel fired up from the way they were talking about him as if they knew anything about him

Sure, he was not really the friendliest and was very brutally honest with his curt words but it didn’t make him a bad person

Your heart aches after hearing the news and you recall a past talk you had with Seungcheol when you were younger

“Do you believe in love?” you asked him, the both of you lying down on the grass while looking up at the vibrantly blue sky

“Pshh, not really. Father always said marriage is for the people, not for love”

“But shouldn’t you love someone in order to marry them? you will be spending the rest of your life with them”

“I don’t think that is what he wants from me. I would be letting him down”

“Is that what you really want, though? to be stuck with someone you have no feelings for?”

he sighs deeply and looks down. “Well, I guess not… I do care a lot for someone”

your heart dropped. guess he already has his eyes set on someone else. “o-oh, well that wouldn’t be fair to you or to them right?”

he shakes his head, quickly glancing at you before looking away. “but it wouldn’t work out anyway. I wouldn’t want to drag them into the mess of my world. I want them to be free of what I go through. I just hope they know I’ll always care for them from afar.”

You shake your head out of a daze, painfully reminded of how raw that moment still feels

I wonder if he still cares for that person he mentioned, you think to yourself as you continue scrubbing the tiles. But what does it matter now that his future is sealed with someone else?

Shortly after that day, it was formally announced to the kingdom that the Crown Prince and the soon-to-be Crown Princess will be holding a wedding ceremony in just a short few weeks

On the outside, you smile politely and clap your hands but it takes every fiber of your being to not want to fling the door to your cramped bedroom and collapse on your bed and spill the tears you were desperately attempting to hold in

As you stared at him and his fiancee out the balcony waving to everyone, you swear you thought you saw him give you a forlorn look that lasted for a millisecond before he returned to his usual expressionless state

From that moment on, you barely saw Seungcheol at all

This man was constantly getting pulled in all different directions, especially with the royal wedding around the corner

The night before his big day, he summons you to his room again and your mind is buzzing with loads of thoughts of what he could possibly want to talk to you about

You cautiously enter and close the door slowly before turning back towards him

He looks more disheveled than usual, his hair tousled, his usual prince attire crinkled and slightly unbuttoned

“You look stressed, what's wrong??”

He closes his eyes and sighs for a moment before slowly opening them again and says while still not making eye contact with you, “I… I feel like I’ll have so many regrets once tomorrow comes”

You’re like why is that??

“Do you remember me mentioning I cared a lot about someone back then?”

Your heart drops to your stomach. “Yes… why?” thanks for the reminder

“I keep thinking about them… and all of these what-ifs. I know I can’t do anything about it, but–”

“Of course you can do something about it! I know you’re a stickler for the rules, but if the cost is your happiness, is it really well worth it?”

He shakes his head, looking even more troubled than before. “I can’t risk putting them in that position. Yet I… I want to,” he articulates slowly, as if it’s only dawning on him now that he’s finally learned what he truly feels

You feel as if the waves of heartache and anguish are drowning you but you try to be strong for him and present a smile if not for him, then for yourself

“I think you know what you need to do, Seungcheol”

And with those words, you quietly bow out and make your way to your room

The next morning, you wake up with puffy eyes from crying all night and begrudgingly get out of bed to get ready for the busy day ahead

After a hectic morning and afternoon, the ceremony finally begins

The moment we’re all waiting for is “Speak now or forever hold your peace”

And the most baffling thing happens because it’s not you who speaks up, not some secret lover, not some random citizen in the audience

but it’s Seungcheol himself

“Wait – I don’t think I can go through with this”

SCANDALOUSSSS

That’s right, he causes a whole uproar and everyone is like what tf is he talking about?!?!?

You are unfazed to a certain degree due to the conversation you had with him last night but you’re still confused on where this is going to go

Never in a million years would you have imagined for him to say his next words

“I’m in love with someone else: Y/N”

And all the maids around you gasp like WHAT. IS. HE. TALKING. ABOUT.

You aren’t sure whether to feel mortified or happy but whatever it is, all eyes are now on you

The current King is like MISTER?? WITH A H U M A N????

“I know it’s never been done before, having a demon and a human marry each other. but I’m tired of always having to do the right thing and for once, I want to do something that is right but for myself”

You’re looking at him in complete bewilderment and disbelief like you were talking about me this whole time??!!

“If we can prove that humans and demons can come together, it’ll be a huge stepping stone politically for everyone involved. I can’t change how I feel about her but I can change our worlds with her by my side”

He makes his way towards you and grabs your hand and this time he does not break eye contact even once

“I want to be with y/n, and no one else”

You’re melting like putty in his arms it’s honestly really sweet!!!

The King eventually caves in although he’s obviously not happy with all of their efforts wasted but he’s cool enough to welcome in this new change

Everyone’s reactions are pretty mixed understandably but they don’t seem like they hate it which is probably the best reaction you’re gonna get

“You’re not asking for my hand in marriage are you?? bc that’s a little too quick on a first date”

He shrugs and nonchalantly says, “Not until you’re ready” JESUSLFSJDS

The rest of the day is a whirlwind of crazy events that you get caught up in as the Crown Prince’s new lover now

By the time it’s time for bed, he summons you for the last time as you being a maid and not as a Girlfriend

Well turns out he’s actually a big baby and the whole time he tried to conceal his feelings for you all he wanted was for you to be by his side pshh lame amiright

“You sure move fast with wanting me to be in your bed already and we haven’t even gone on an actual date yet”

“Shut up and just lay beside me”

After you turn off the lights and get under the covers, you can’t help but notice he’s extremely hot (literally and physically) and considering it’s 20 degrees you’re taking all of that warmth

Of course, Seungcheol tries to make it a big deal and get you off of him even tho he secretly enjoys it

“I’m a demon, not a hot water bottle. Stop cuddling me.”

“But you’re so warm.”

“Like hell. Fire, brimstone, eternal burning”

Like that was gonna stop you who does he think he is for putting you through all of this and at the very least not giving you some cuddles???

He sighs and wraps one arm around the other after he notices your breathing slowing down

“I don’t have to care about you from afar anymore,” he murmurs, brushing your hair out of your face before also slowly losing consciousness

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mistressoftherant-blog · 1 year

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Hypocrisy in the TMNT Fandom

I may come back to this topic at a later date, but I feel like I need to address the hypocrisy in the TMNT fandom when it comes to how 12 Donnie is treated for his crush on April, compared to other characters such as Bayverse Mikey and Mutant Mayhem Leo, or I might explode. Do I condone everything that 12 Donnie does in the name of his crush on April? No. Do I sometimes find the cringiness of his actions unbearable (keeping in mind that he is my favourite character in 12)? Absolutely. But is there context behind his actions that often gets ignored? Yes. Do the fandom vilify or make fun of behaviour from him that they let slide in other characters? 100% yes.

People love to bash 12 Donnie for his actions, without even considering the reasons behind them (poor choices from the show writers aside). April is the first human his age that Donnie really sees and gets to interact with. He's a deeply insecure character, who feels out of place even amongst his family and, as people have pointed out before me, April represents a wider level of acceptance to Donnie. If a pretty human girl can love him, maybe there is hope for him gaining wider acceptance from humanity. I do think he has genuine feelings for her, but I also believe that part of his obsessiveness is a desire to be more human, or at least be accepted by humans, and he subconsciously views gaining the love of a human to be a part of this. 12 Donnie (like most Donatellos), is keenly aware that he will never get what he wants, or deserves.

He is a genius, and that will never be acknowledged by the world. He will never get everything a human genius would get. He doesn't get go to school, or go shopping for new resources, or make friends who share his interests. He risks his life saving the world over and over again, only to be seen as a villain for the way he looks.

That's part of why he sees 12 Casey as such a threat, Casey is human and doesn't need the same level of acceptance that Donatello does. He already has everything that Donnie wants (he can go to school, make other friends etc), but yet he still wants to be with April. The first human to show Donnie any acceptance. One of the only people to even tentatively seem interested in Donnie's science. If April chooses Casey over Donnie, then that truly does mean that Donnie, as a mutant, and a nerdy outcast mutant to boot, can never find love or acceptance, (again, this would be Donnie's perspective, and it is not April's duty to validate Donnie's self worth by getting in a relationship with him - that being said, the mixed signals she sent definitely didn't help matters).

Also, his stalking is creepy, but this is a kid who grew up with no social interaction besides his brothers, watching shows that provably had dubious ideas of romance. All of his ideas of romance are influenced by media, which isn't exactly a healthy way to gain an understanding of how to express those feelings. And when he knows the exact distance to her apartment, I always thought that he was just insanely good at estimating distances? He's shown to be able to make advanced calculations around distances and things in seconds on the show, so this never really seemed that bad to me, even if the show itself deemed it creepy?

Moreover, for the most part, he does genuinely follow April when he believes she is in danger, or when she is distancing herself from them (again, absolutely not a healthy thought process, but he misses her and wants her safe, and thinks is the best way to handle it). Is it still wrong? Yes. But should Donnie as a character be completely dragged for this for eternity? Not really. Also, can we please move past reducing Donnie's character to nothing more than his failures at flirting?

There is also the fact that April definitely did flirt back with him on numerous occasions. Whether or not this was done consciously, or to manipulate him, or whatever, is a rant for another day, but 12 Donnie definitely does have reasons to believe that April could want a relationship with him. She kisses him, on the mouth, right after he had told her that he was going to stop with his behaviour.

People also genuinely forgive 12 Leo flirting with his sister more than they do Donnie calling April his sweet chinchilla (and yes, Leo and Karai are still flirty even after the reveal that they are siblings, though it is thankfully toned down later on, and though I've seen people jumping through hoops trying to deny it). And Leo's flirting with Karai (even before the reveal), is equally as cringy as Donnie's. He's the poster boy for the 'I can fix them' mentality, even when the person he was trying to fix was actively trying to destroy everyone he cared about. 12 Leo also puts his brothers in danger due to his obsession with Karai, hurting them both physically and mentally, but a lot of people sweep this under the rug and only focus on times that 12 Donnie puts the others in danger due to his crush on April, or see this as a positive thing, showing how Leo never gives up on the people he cares about.

Moving on, 12 Donnie can be possessive of April (again, not great behaviour, and not something I particularly enjoy or condone), but 12 Mikey is the same way about Renet, and no one mentions it? Donnie hugs her (or says he could hug her, I can't quite remember the exact context), and Mikey gets all pissy about it? He's known Renet for barely any length of time, and they have no relationship at this point, but he gets annoyed at Donnie having a friendly interaction with her, as if it hasnt been well established that Donnie is only interested in April? Why is this more acceptable than when Donnie gets annoyed at Casey (a confirmed love rival), shows off about being close to April?

Additionally, why are Bayverse Mikey and Mayhem Leo hardly ever given the same treatment as 12 Donnie? I see countless crossovers where 12 Donnie is given endless shit for his bad flirting, especially as it's towards someone who the other counterparts see as a sister figure, with hardly any of them ignoring how unfair it is to criticise 12 Dee for seeing April differently to the others when their circumstances are different, or bringing up anyone else's behaviour.

Bayverse Mikey is just as bad! In fact, some of the things that he says are far worse than anything 12 Donnie has said, and it just gets brushed over? Even in crossover fics where 12 Dee gets slaughtered for his crush, no one brings up the downright crude things Bay Mikey says?

He constantly calls her a babe (I think 90s Mikey also makes similar comments), and even says 'she's so hot I can feel my shell tightening' which is hella gross tbh. Sure, 'sweet chinchilla' is weird, but it's far less demeaning than babe? And Mikey keeps this attitude up throughout both films? Why is this treated as being more acceptable than 12 Donnie's behaviour? This is even worse as Bay April is clearly an adult compared to the teenage turtles, and is clearly depicted as an older sister figure. At least in 12 there is only a year age gap, and neither April nor her father had anything to do with them when they were babies.

Hell, a few chaarcters (I think 03 Mikey and either 90s Raph or Mikey) make a joke about getting to 'keep her' when they bring an unconscious April back to the lair, and no one bats an eye?? It's played off as a joke, but even so, it's still freaky, and I've never seen anyone mention it before. They don't even get admonished for it!

Also, Mayhem Leo is absolutely just as much of a cringefail flirt as 12 Don, but everyone is acting like he comes across as so much better?! We've only had one movie with him so far, but his behaviour so far isn't all that different to 12 Don's?

They basically act the same way upon their first meeting. The rooftop scene when he first sees her is almost exactly the same as the scene in 12. And the comment about her beautiful, perfect mouth? If 12 Donnie said that he'd be slaughtered, but because it was Mayhem Leo, it's considered cute? When 12 Donnie gets super excited about getting April's number even though they already have it on the fridge it's embarrassing, but when Mayhem Leo tries to get Mayhem Donnie's phone to swipe her number it's endearing? Both ramble and get nervous around her, but people think this is sweet from Mayhem Leo but annoying from 12 Don.

Plus, Mayhem Leo has far more experience with humans than 12 Donnie. He has been going outside of the lair for a while, he has definitely seen other girls before. In 12, Donnie had never left the lair before the night he saw April, she's genuinely the first girl he's ever seen in person.

This point may also be a little unfair as we only have the Mayhem movie at the moment, compared to entire seasons of the 12 TV show, but it's also irritating me a bit how many people are acting like Mayhem Leo has far more of a chance with April than 12 Donnie did, purely because she agreed to go to prom with him, ignoring her line about how it was just as friends, and the many instances in 12 where April reciprocated Donnie's flirtation (again, April kissed him on the lips in the cartoon. It is canon that she did so).

Why are there so many double standards around the turtles having crushes? Either address all of their behaviour, or stop throwing 12 Donnie's flirting in our faces. It's exhausting seeing people openly bashing 12 Donnie, ignoring all of his great characteristics due to his crush, and then turning around and glorifying 12 Leo, Bay Mikey, or Mayhem Leo, or just ignoring their behaviour. It's grating to see almost every chat fic (even ones I thoroughly enjoy!!), have a seemingly obligatory bash 12 Donnie's crush and flirting chapter, yet hardly ever address the way any of the others behave.

#tmnt 2012 #tmnt 2k12 #tmnt donatello #tmnt donnie #tmnt mikey #tmnt michelangelo #tmnt leo #tmnt leonardo #mutant mayhem spoilers #mutant mayhem leo #teenage mutant ninja turtles #mutant mayhem #tmnt 2012 donnie #tmnt 2012 donatello #tmnt 2012 leo #tmnt 2012 mikey #tmnt 2012 michelangelo #tmnt 2014 #tmnt 2016

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jhuzen · 2 years

Text

study habits [m.reader]

i offer up this story for my man haitham. please come home. i will die without your tits. thank you mwah. i’m paying homage to my very nice study habits that apparently, some people find weird.

Part 2

“Ride me, ‘Haitham.”

Alhaitham’s breath hitched upon hearing your little request.

In his few decades of life studying in Akademiya (though mostly refusing to join classes and opting to just do it on his own), Alhaitham came across certain breeds of students that classify into studying. Despite spending a majority of his time with his nose buried in between the pages of every book he’s held, he still made time to make observations around the people he finds himself surrounded by.

And it’s no different when the examinations befall Akademiya. Despite Akademiya being known for manufacturing astute scholars from every walks of life (though that took a little while until the current Grand Sage was overthrown), they still were renowned for its dreadful examinations which every single student had to exert twice as effort to pass, or they get the boot.

In a way, it’s how a student proves their standing in Akademiya, in the school that they’ve chosen for themselves. After all, a little memorization of concepts wouldn’t hurt now, would it? Application is one way to exert knowledge, but to objectively know topics is the first step before even conducting a research, because how on earth are you able to start a research study with little knowledge from the correlating topics?

Nevertheless, when Alhaitham was a student, he proved his standing in the school of Haravatat after acing all of his tests. He was an ace that all professors from before would boast to others (ignoring his attitude and tendency to study alone — some of them can look past that just so they can be proud of someone who apparently learned under them).

And he was no stranger to the many breeds of student that fell under different categories in terms of study habits.

There were over-achievers that absolutely refused to settle for less, studying vigorously that sometimes, apparently, their parents would come and visit, hoping that their child hasn’t plummeted to death. And as the scribe, he has had one too many encounters of people worrying about these students, checking in whether or not they’ve eaten or given themselves attention other than studying. Still, he wasn’t one to complain, these people were dead set on achieving the top and more often than not, they succeed.

There are those who preferred to study in groups, finding social interactions less distracting (something that even with the genius Alhaitham possesses, he cannot simply understand). But apparently, according to his roommate, who also preferred a little company when he was still a student, it helps when your colleagues would quiz you, and sometimes even just listening to the question and answer portions your associates would do out of nowhere helped retain information.

People who did not prefer people but still preferred distraction opted to study with music. Alhaitham has heard from a scholar that the beat of the melody helps them put the information into a rhythm that they could not forget either — he supposed that was what happened when he could hear a rhythmic tapping during his final examinations back then.

And Alhaitham sometimes would find people in the dead of the night still by the library, looking remotely refreshed, only to be told that they just woke up and are ready to study the night away just hours before the examinations so that ‘the information is still fresh when the exams come up’. He had to scoff at that, one too many times he’s seen a classmate of his drop dead asleep in the middle of what they have been preparing for all night, some he finds even comically staring out of the blue, completely out of it from the clear lack of sleep.

He has even realized that there were those who were impractical yet still so confident they can stand up against the hundred-item questionnaire — those that relied on stock knowledge, claiming that their photographic memory and sharp hearing helped them retain information. Alhaitham watched them fumble with their now jumbled stock knowledge. And then… there were those who slept with a book under their pillow, with a bold claim that if they slept directly under it, their minds would absorb each information and they would be all set.

Alhaitham watched them draw a complete blank during the examinations.

And then… there was you. The very odd you.

You that hailed from nowhere (you claim), right-hand and quite possibly a father or brother figure to Nahida, teaching her the wonders of the human mind and its emotions as per her request. Since the day he, the traveler, and the rest of the ragtag gang that they formed to plan the Dendro Archon’s rescue, you started to come out of your den more to heed Nahida’s request.

Suffice to say, you were a scholar that differed from the rest as you took on a much different discipline, something far less palpable than the ancient ruins that the school of Haravatat studied, or the fauna and flora that the school of Amurta specialized in and not even the history that the school of Vahumana offered.

No. You thought people are far more interesting than the possibly thousands of ruins from King Deshret’s sovereign buried under the sand. You pondered about how people thought, how they felt, and how they procured the decisions that they make fascinated you far more than the hidden puzzles waiting to be solved and possibly reward you with riches unfathomable to one’s pocket.

You loved people and the machinations of their mind. And so, with pride slung on your back, you studied the discipline of the human psyche and published research independent from Akademiya. Granted, back then, they barely gathered traction due to the Grand Sage’s restrictions — you didn’t cave and that frustrated the man, so your research reached such little population.

How ironic was it that even the beloved Dendro Archon now craves for your bouts of knowledge as though you were her teacher despite embodying the value of wisdom itself.

Nevertheless, despite the genius you possessed, that did little to take away from… your odd study habits.

But you swore to him it works — you’ve tested it yourself and showed him a fifty-page thesis about the efficiency of it. How lucky was it that you often invaded his house when it’s time to do your little studies. Kaveh enjoyed them and even egged you on, but Alhaitham was on the edge of the flat plane of temptation as he watched you work up a sweat on the floor.

His self-awareness was far too great but his self-control falters with every second he watched your biceps flex when you would routinely push yourself off the floor, maintaining a perfect posture that he was sure not even the trained matras could hope to do.

As it turns out, among the other ways to study, yours was only odd, simply because it absolutely served his sight, offering him a delectable show that at the very least, he can subtly observe (though he’s sure you barely pay attention to your surroundings, not when the way your eyebrows knitted in concentration into a soft glare as you studied the book under you).

But then you shattered his little daydream as you asked something from him.

“…What,” Alhaitham’s response was flat and dead, covering up the bothersome jittering that was in his stomach. He absolutely refused to lose to the likes of you.

You held on your position and looked over your shoulder, “I said, ride me. Get on my back.” Then your bottom lip stuck out in a pout. “Or are you still mad that I suggested you take the Grand Sage’s position?”

Ah yes. Now he was reminded why there was a small flicker of admonishing that settled at the pit of his stomach. You, a previously outsider scholar, suddenly had the influence just because you were Lesser Lord Kusanali’s appointed caretaker. Your influence, coupled with Nahida’s trust in you, had placed him in his new position as the Acting Grand Sage.

“You’ve done nothing but cause me trouble these past few days. And yet you have the gall to barge in my home and now you have the utmost confidence that I will entertain your unwelcome and asinine request?”

“Yes, absolutely, a hundred percent,” you answered without missing a beat.

Alhaitham had to steel himself. You were either absolutely unabashed or you knew him from the inside out and that you’re being an absolute tease, “You’re as good as a roommate here. Pay your dues.” Was all he said before turning to leave.

“I will pay you in a form of lunch. Name any restaurant in every nation. Just get on me.”

Do you know how absolutely ridiculous you sound? You’re smart so you’re probably aware, but it looks like even that’s not turning out in his favor, “Why do you feel the need to add more weight into your… escapades?”

“Because it’s fun. Helps me concentrate.”

“Your thesis does not stipulate any of that. In fact you claimed that too much can cause more of a distraction than the intended outcome while studying.” Alhaitham rebutted, eyes narrowing at you in pure criticism and suspicion.

“Hah. Check the page in my results, there’s a footnote that the intensity of a physical workout varies upon the concentration of the person.”

You did no such thing. And Alhaitham knows. He read every word verbatim in your thesis about the correlation of the human mind and physical activities and almost memorized it. And from the knowing look in your eyes and that captivatingly annoying smile, you were trying to fish him out of the depths of his physical attraction.

“…Do not blame me if my weight proves to be too much. And not less than fifteen minutes. Kaveh’s on his way home. I’d rather be caught dead somewhere in the den of a Rishboland tiger than be in this… circumstance.”

He absolutely refused to look at your dumb and victorious smile as he walked over to you. Alhaitham had to say, you definitely earned the stares you catch when you would walk through the streets of Sumeru City. And it was all the more endearing when you told him that other than helping your concentration in studying, you liked to be stronger, so that you can take Nahida out on walks with the traveler (should they visit) and ensure no harm befalls either of them.

Surprisingly, you were one to keep your word, as you steadily did your push-ups with little to no problem while he sat on your back. Alhaitham, ever the prepared man he was, brought in a tiny book that he has read one too many times just to distract from the way you felt under him, the way your sturdy back held him up. You barely wobbled and the scribe had to wonder if you were some kind of beast at this point.

And in the minutes that he desperately tried to distract himself from, his ears grew hotter at the soft grunts you emanated, and in between them were deep murmurs of the material you studied, broken words leaving your plump lips that he may have stared at before one too many times.

Archons. Attraction is so insufferable. So illogical. So subjective. So… so… so not him. You defied all logic with your disarmingly dumb atmosphere, only to take people by surprise as you present your hundreds of research on something so rarely touched on such as human emotions. You were Alhaitham’s first subjective thought and it pains him so much.

While he continued to drown in his sorrows about you bypassing his logical security systems that his brain was wired to have at all costs, he failed to notice when you stopped.

And in one swift move, you wriggled around and laid your back on the floor, with him still on top of you, now straddling you in such compromising position that could leave anyone completely mortified and embarrassed.

“Wh—”

“Hey, I’m home. I saw some familiar shoes outside, is [Name] here? Is he cooking dinner? Oi, where a—”

The fifteen minutes are up and as Alhaitham met the definitely not welcome scandalous look that Kaveh gave the both of you — with your breathlessness and his flushed face, he thought of a hundred ways how to convince Nahida to finally drop you from your position.

#genshin impact x male reader #alhaitham x male reader #alhaitham x reader #jhuzen’s stupid one shots #come home haitham pls #i beg of you. come home so i may tit fuck you

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fallloverfic · 5 months

Text

Me: I read/watch Delicious in Dungeon for The Plot The Plot (spoilers for S01E16: Cleaners/Dried with Sweet Sake and the manga, Chapter 31: Sea Serpent, Part 1):

Never escaping from the crotch indeed lakjdladj

I also really love this fond look Marcille has for Laios and his excitement/him appreciating her genius/making use of the dungeon/whatever. It's really sweet. Chilchuck is tired and doesn't like being nearly drowned in a wall by a handsy elf.

Laios is so adorable when he's happy like this. Poor Senshi lol

Finally we get the first true Labru episode, my beloved.

Just shocked to see this mess of an adventurer. Kabru thoughts: Oh no he's hot. (yes I know he's not the one talking here, it just looks funny)

Kabru is so good-looking this episode, I took so many screencaps of him. He just looks so amazing in the anime. I love it.

Putting on smooth talker mode. Love him. Gotta flirt with the blonde tall-man for intel. I blame this whole arc for making me think Kabru is short; he's not short, Laios is just taller lol (Laios is 6'1"/185 cm tall, Kabru is 5'7"/170 cm tall). Or at least Kabru is still fitting the tall-man name and a lot taller than most other races, like the elves, just not as much as Laios is. (And for the curious: Toshiro is 5'11"/180 cm tall, so even he's shorter than Laios). I think between Toshiro, Laios, and Inutade (a 6'5"/195 cm ogre), I just had a weird impression of Kabru's height. (All heights from Delicious in Dungeon World Guide: The Adventurer's Bible)

Kabru being dangerous and also cute still. I just... I have too many screencaps of him alkdjalj Beautiful man.

Toshiro is a saint for tolerating this man. But they are cute together.

Kabru and Laios kill me T-T I wanted to fic for them ever since Kabru first showed up in the manga cause he was really cute and I wanted more of him and he seemed fucky enough that he would be fun to fic for, especially with the sort of enemies to lovers vibes of his party chasing Laios' party for revenge.

And then there's this chapter cover lol (this is actually two episodes ago story-wise, but it feels more relevant here):

And I was screaming in joy XD Particularly after we got to Kabru's obsession/curiosity about Laios in particular. I was putting off ficcing for them in case they actually met and yup, they did lol I still have a lot of ideas for fics for them. Maybe someday.

This man is having the time of his life with this nonsense and I love it roflmao He was like "they're either evil masterminds or stupid" and it's kind of the latter and mostly just "they're weird and it's funny" lol

I know he's faking so hard but it's still cute lol (Especially cause Laios offered to treat him to a meal, like hello, Labru date????) One thing I love about them as a pairing is their weirdness interacts in fun ways and it is hilarious.

This man is here for this absolute train wreck and I could not be happier for him. And them. Look at that little blush. Bless him.

Truly a phenomenal episode. It's also interesting seeing how... disrespectful, shall we say, to be polite, just about every character is to each other. You've got Chilchuck insulting Marcille for getting incapacitated, Marcille shoving Chilchuck into a wall to nearly drown without explanation, Toshiro's retainers - particularly Maizuru - being patronizing to all the non-tall-men (and any outsiders, really, considering at least what Maizuru thinks of Falin), Laios being... disrespectful to Toshiro with his name, and Kabru lying his ass off to get the deets on what the heck is going on and essentially being the human embodiment of -grabs popcorn-. It's a lot of really interesting character, social, and political dynamics. Everyone's a mess and I love it. I'm late cause of various nonsense with me misreading something and thinking they skipped a week and being busy but ahhhh such delicious food to catch up on. So good.

Other delicious Plot:

The Plot in Episode 3

The Plot in Episode 7

The Plot in Episode 9

The Plot in Episode 11

The Plot in Episode 13

The Plot in Episode 14

The Plot in Episode 15

The Plot in Episode 16 (you are here)

The Plot in Episode 17

The Plot in Episode 18

The Plot in Episode 20

The Plot in Episode 21

The Plot in Episode 24

#ダンジョン飯 #delicious in dungeon #dungeon meshi #dungeon meshi spoilers #delicious in dungeon spoilers #fallfthoughts #laios touden #marcille donato #chilchuck tims #toshiro nakamoto #labru #kabru of utaya #such a good episode #maizuru #like people get mad at the elves when this episode happened and it's like folks what were you reading lol #maizuru won't even dignify senshi with a name #and laios and chilchuck won't correct laios' fuckup with toshiro #the social dynamics of dungeon meshi are really good

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aurae-rori · 4 months

Note

It’s 🦋, I’m back. I have thoughts and opinions and (it ended up being long) broad character analysis! You’ll see what I mean by sounding like a cocky academic in a sec.

—

Dr. Ratio definitely has a lot of elements of gifted kid syndrome. The not being treated like a normal kid, the self deeply intwined with excellence, the being really amazing but never reaching your “full potential,” etc etc.

But the whole idea behind gifted kid syndrome is that those kids eventually burn out or plateau. They lose motivation, or they’ve got unaddressed issues, or they get cocky and stagnate.

Sometimes… Sometimes those kids just don’t. They just don’t stop. Sometimes those kids get continuously moved up to the next level, but every time, it’s not enough of a challenge. Even in adulthood. And these people only get there because they really do care about learning, so it gets really, really exhausting to only hear things like “genius” again and again without actually being taught. At some point you start to wonder if you’re just… at the top already. If you’re the final destination.

If you don’t make an active effort to reach out to people outside that bubble, it’s easy to get caught up in the idea that you’re on a different level. You’re desperate to satisfy an insatiable potential. That’s what the Genius Society is, essentially. People who are labeled geniuses are usually isolated by society, so when they find each other, they come to the conclusion that they’re a unique breed of their own in order to explain how achingly lonely it is with no one to keep up with them.

They aren’t.

That’s why Dr. Ratio is such a good character to me. He’s undergone the same kind of genius-isolation treatment, but instead of separating himself from humanity, he insists on being counted as no different, even if that leaves him mostly alone. And he doesn’t pretend he isn’t intelligent either! He’s not modest, which is very annoying sometimes, but it’s… a lot realer. I mean, isn’t it more disingenuous to have people tell you how genius you are all the time and just pretend not to know you’re smart? He’s not a superior specimen of man, but he’s also not an idiot. He’s a Mundanite.

So in the spirit of being absolutely shameless, I have to say that it feels good to see some actual empathy put into this archetype. Makes me feel less like a crazy person for having the same philosophy and similar struggles.

(Still figuring out an adequate balance of self-confidence and modesty though, the social skills really are the hardest part)

In my opinion, you don't sound like a cocky academic at all. You're explaining your own views on this prospect, and honestly, I really liked reading through this. I agree - Dr. Ratio holds a special place in my heart because he's been isolated due to his intellect, but he still tries to help people and be with them. He still actively expresses his empathy (even if it's in ways that aren't quote on quote, kind) and he does care for others and tries to better their lives and teach them. Self-isolation and isolation from society is absolutely hard to deal with, but seeing him react in that way is honestly really touching and heart-warming. To see a "Gifted Kid" who just kept on going, but who also chose to grow from that experience by choosing to interact with others despite his status.

Once again, really loved reading through this. I believe in you, and I'm glad that you can empathize with others and that you can still connect with others to some level despite going through that. You're doing great, anon. If my words are worth any salt, I'm proud of you for going this far and for trying your best. Please take care of yourself and remember that you're a person outside of your intellect, too. Feel free to drop by again with more takes, because this was really sweet to read and now I have more motivation for my Dr. Ratio angst. :)

#aurae answers #🦋 anon #hsr #dr ratio #honkai star rail #veritas ratio #drratio #aurae rambles

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lily-alphonse · 2 months

Note

One of my main rarepair ships from SDV is Morris and Shane simply cause of the power dynamic with Morris being Shane’s boss

Oh anon you slimy little genius I welcome your kind here with open arms lmao

I had to engage the assistance of my bestie @ao3-totallyhumanexe for this one because he is Morris' number one fan. Human loves him a scrunkly fuckin trash bag of a man so this is right up his alley.

My idea is just that maybe the higher ups of Jojo is breathing down Morris's neck about profits not going as expected in the valley due to you know the farmer or whatever He has a really awful call with them where they're MEAN to him but in a professional way, so he goes out to take a breather just as Shane has a smoke break behind the building. Their eyes meet. It's awkward. Shane clearly doesn't know what to do. "...want a cig?" Morris feels like he can't go because that's admitting defeat in his head. He knows he looks a mess, stressed and angry, but he doesn't actually want to be perceived as this awful boss who runs away from confrontation or social interaction just because he's on the edge of a meltdown. They share the cig. Morris coughs at it. Shane laughs. It doesn't feel too bad, Shane gives him advice on how to pull down the smoke.

If you guys want this one I suggest going to (VERY POLITELY) bother Human about it on his account he is a fantastic writer. He would probably pull off an excellent redemption arc for him where these boys find comfort in not suffering alone.

Me, I kinda want to go full-send on the toxicity (surprising absolutely no one, but very few of you know how bad I can actually make it lmao) Because see, a power dynamic I adore is the person in a position of objective weakness flips the situation to their advantage. The secretary blackmailing the boss to keep sleeping with her, the court jester topping the king, that kind of thing.

Lowly store employee taking out his frustrations on the world by breaking down the man he sees as a personification of all of the worst of it? JUICY.

Maybe it's a bad end where Shane takes over as the new manager. Maybe it's a good end where Shane succeeds in tearing Morris down to his level and realizes he's fucked up, but in a way, it was kind of necessary to shake Morris of the Joja programming. He realizes how far he's come from his well-intentioned beginnings and they build each other up from their rock bottoms. Maybe they burn Joja Mart down lmao.

What do you think of this wild pairing? Is there any hope for them?

Send me any Stardew Valley rarepair and I will tell you how I would make them work! (Even non-marriage npcs) If youre lucky you may get a mini fic out of it. Check the list below to see if Ive already answered yours

Rarepair Masterlist

#stardew valley #sdv #answered asks #send asks #fic writer #ao3 writer #rarepair #shipping in the valley #rare ship #rarepair challenge #ficlet #fic idea #lily speaks #anon ask #sdv shane #sdv morris #shane x morris #morris x shane #joja

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voltronisanobsession · 6 months

Note

OH MY GOODNESS

What if teen!spider!reader was smarter than Miguel- like someone half his age is solving so many problems he couldn’t.

“Bro- you literally made a whole society but you calculated this as though it was a black hole and not a worm hole. How can you be this stupid?” And Miguel is just like 🧍‍♂️

Solving complex math equations and physics problems in minutes, creating multiple plans for missions and calculating the percentage of success for all of them.

But then they literally can’t hold a conversation (or eye contact) for the life of them- their social life is non-existent and they’re absolutely clueless when it comes to social cues (Miguel’s body language whenever he feels awkward when reader shows him how he messed up a problem or Hobie hinting at his not so big crush on reader) and like- the absolute awkwardness that happens when someone tries to compliment reader and they don’t know how to respond “it’s basic calculus, a kindergartner could do it”

Sorry if this is a ramble? I don’t know how to format these at all 😭

Intelligent but Socially Awkward Teen Spider!Reader

Don’t mind me doing a bunch of jumping around in this post, there’s just so much POTENTIAL with this spider!reader!!!

Hope you liked my thoughts on this

I LOVE THIS IDEA😍😍😍 I can already imagine Miguel sending them away the minute they start pointing out all of his mathematical mistakes lol

Teen!Reader is the epitome of ‘um actually☝️🤓’

I think this teen!reader is a product of ‘academic validation’, forced into a mind set where they need to be successful in all studies in school. Their parent(s) were probably extremely strict when it came to this, so it’s no surprise readers the way they are.

Of course despite this, being this blunt has its advantages. Like putting Miguel in his place! When reader had first join the society, they were for the most part quite reserved and quiet. They stuck to themselves while awkwardly maneuvering around social interactions.

So naturally , they were drawn to Miguel’s reclusive nature, which ultimately led to them growing more comfortable around him and those who worked close with him!

It all started with Miguel giving reader the task to go over some of his work to keep them occupied and away from him.

The faces reader would make while correcting all his errors definitely annoyed him. AND when they started pointing out all his other mistakes straight to his FACE. Mm mmm, all hell breaks loose for teen!reader.

OMG!! Imagine if this teen!reader was able to actually solve one of the most complex equations in his dimension, an equation that doesn’t even exist yet in their own world??

To say that they’re a mathematical genius is literally an understatement. They’re a MACHINE when it comes to physics and anything math related. Which is why they’re in charge, alongside Lyla, when creating and programming the spider society’s watches.

Even known as the genius behind the scene, reader cannot for the LIFE of them hold any conversations with the other spiders in the society💀

Compliments are disregarded because anyone can do it if they tried hard enough, reader claims. No, it’s not paranoia that’s making reader calculate the success rate of each past and future missions, they just enjoy doing it, they say in a monotone voice.

It’s honestly the only way Miguel’s able to get his revenge on reader for all the times they absolutely roasted the shit out of him.

Oh they want to finish this extremely complex math equation that they’re almost done with? Well too bad, they’re gonna have to finish it when they get back from that mission he assigned them.

Aw, are they creating a new quantum equation? That’s going to have to wait, Miguel’s sent them on a 5 person mission that’ll probably take a few hours to complete.

Are they hiding in the janitors closet with their math notebooks to avoid getting sent on their third mission of the week? Miguel’s already throwing them through the portal with Hobie.

They haven’t seen the light of day in hours, days even! Miguel claims they need to go out and socialize more instead of being a little goblin. (Super hypocritical reader mutters)

Missions are a complete pain because of the lack of communication happening on teen!readers end💔 and if that’s not the problem, than their extremely blunt and lack of social cues will be the end of them

They either don’t say enough or say just a little too much (a lot too much). It’s especially hard for them to find a balance😭

And I think that’s why Hobie would like them. They quite literally have no filter whatsoever, and yeah that may not be an amazing thing to not have, but he just enjoys the honesty of it in the end

He doesn’t take it to heart too when his advances go completely over readers head LMAO

This was such a fun thing to think about, pls send in more thoughts about this reader, they have so much potential to be a silly goober💔💔💔

#across the spiderverse x reader #spiderman atsv x reader #atsv x reader #miguel atsv #atsv concept #Spider-Man across the spider verse concept #Spider-Man across the spiderverse x reader #x reader

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an-idiot-in-fandoms · 1 year

Text

CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE WAY WE TALK ABOUT THE MEMBERS OF MCR???

A-FUCKING-TTENTION. I WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS SOMETHING.

as my followers may know i am a giant mcr stan. i love their music. i think most of the band are good people. however, something came to my attention.

i haven't made it a secret that i am NOT a fan of Lindsey Way, Gerard's wife, who is a racist, pedophile apologist. learning about her being a giant piece of shit made me very sad to acknowledge that if Gerard is willing to not only marry her, but use the reunion tour as also an opportunity to uncancel his dear precious wife or some bullshit, then he's not obviously the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to race and racism in general. the fact that they even endorsed and was a fan of MSI, a "shock humour" band, which used slurs to get attention (which is fucking pathetic by the way), says a lot already. perhaps it speaks to the rock scene's general tolerance for racism at the time in the 2000s, but it wasn't the 1800s. Jimmy Urine was still a white man using the n-word at full volume, and profiting off of it during his concerts and releasing his music.

and maybe shut the fuck up if you're going to call me a "snowflake" about it, because chances are you're white, and you have no fucking clue how dangerous this rhetoric can be towards POC, who have to put up with the normalisation of slur use that the band encourages. i am a POC, and i find the fact that he used that language for money and fame absolutely disgusting. the whole band is disgusting. they can rot in hell.

anyway.

i came across a blog, not going to say which one, but one where it called out Lindsey Way. i was like "ok cool someone else who can use critical thinking in this fandom and doesn't just blindly support Gerard even though he's still definitely not the goddamn messiah". so i go on a scroll through their blog. they were a big fan of Frank, and i respect that, Frank deserves all of his flowers and more.

and then it got weird.

i came across posts where they speculated on the dynamic of the band. and a lot of things were spoken about, where they talked about Gerard being manipulative towards Frank, and how Frank didn't like going on the American leg of the tour during the reunion, and how, basically, they weren't friends, and how Gerard wasn't a good person.

the point is - there was A LOT of speculation. it made me upset to be reading it because i felt as though i'd been punched in the face, reading all this stuff about a guy i look up to partially. i sort of fell into a rabbit hole scrolling through their tumblr, getting more depressed, feeding into the logic that i could never truly feel happy about liking mcr again, reading about all of these theories, and---

hold the phone.

did you read that?

THEORIES.

it occurred to me that these were THEORIES. and the way they were demonising certain people, such as putting down Ray in certain posts to make way for Frank, made me realise that there's a problem with this fandom and how people like to assume what happens with the band members' personal life, and how they interact with each other. people like to speculate in this fandom. like, a lot.

i'll assume it's partially due to how most of the band don't shed a lot of light on their personal lives, only really Frank and Mikey are active on social media, usually showing appreciation for their families/or Frank's countless side-projects (which are all great btw, go listen to Parachutes again). so a lot of the fandom turn to speculation, to come up with these theories that "oh there's in-fighting", or "Gerard is secretly an evil genius who manipulates the whole band".

these are real people. Gerard isn't a saint, despite what some people may believe (cough, girlgerard, cough), but what we don't have to do is start making up bullshit about them being a certain way with no evidence. it's all speculation. and it's demeaning, not only to Frank and Gerard, who've probably had enough with the rumours about them over the years, but for Mikey and Ray as well.

these people aren't your friends. they're not some mystical beings shrouded in darkness that you have to find everything out about either. they are people in a band.

going too deep into speculation robs them of their autonomy. it makes everyone in the fandom look like creeps as well. it's horrible to see, and it takes away the real importance of critical thinking.

you can think critically about Gerard for marrying and excusing a racist woman, because there is EVIDENCE of her being racist. there is EVIDENCE of her being a pedophile apologist. that brings up questions about his own views on race, and how much he's willing to excuse, if he could love someone who willingly takes part in racism.

you can't do the same for Frank and Gerard's relationship. we know JACKSHIT about that. they have never said anything negative pertaining to each other in interviews, whatever "beef" people have made up between them is entirely manufactured by the fandom's overactive imagination. it's like a dead-dove fanfic on AO3 for fuck's sake, where Gerard is tagged as an asshole.

i'm aware it is only a small proportion of people who do this. but the extent to which they do it is honestly shocking. so i got pissed off.

we don't need to know everything about what happens with the band members. Frank has LS Dunes. Mikey has his family. who the fuck knows what Ray and Gerard are doing.

(now, no one's complaining about the lack of Ray on social media, but when people see a picture of Gerard's hand they flip out and beg for a face reveal - but no one's ready for that convo...)

point is: let them be. work with what you get. there's no need to make up things to make it all interesting, to create conflict - you've got that with the heavily problematic connection to MSI. evidence is key. you do not need to analyse these people like they're fictional characters.

because they are PEOPLE. and people are neither completely good or bad, they are usually in the grey area.

#mcr #my chemical romance #gerard way #frank iero #ray toro #mikey way #fandom bullshit #mcr return #lindsey way #lynz way #no way lynz way #fuck msi

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gogolstoelicker · 2 years

Note

OB gang with albedo mc ?

Like at first they got the cold treatment (aka how albedo treated anyone and anything he wasn’t interested in)

Then slowly they warmed up and got to see the other side of them ( aka how albedo treated the traveler (kinda smug low-key flirty etc)

OB! gang with Albedo! MC

a/n: •FUCK THAT MAN HE DIDN'T COME HOME EVEN WHEN I WAS GUARANTEED

•if im being honest, albedo would probably be so interest in twst that he could not be cold to them. well maybe some of them but I'll make it work

warning:spoilers abt book 6(that i myself barely know about but here we are)

Friendly and popular, you gained fame for your alchemical talents. Though popular, you have an extreme distaste for social interactions. Barely anyone knows anything of your personal life as you are quite secretive about it.

Fueled by the feeling of enlightenment, you research about the things that pique your interest and once the feeling is gone, you lose all interest. Along with your alchemical genius, you're also a respectable artist.

Riddle:

he had heard u were really good at alchemy and making potions from trey who heard from ace

so he is very much curious about your world and how you got to know alchemy

start up a convo with u when he saw u in the middle of his walk

and you're sketching grim LMAOAOAOA

literally acted like u didn't know he was there bc you're sketching can't he see🙄

riddle thought it was kind of rude and pointed it out

still acted like u dont know

it takes u finsihing the grim drawing for u to even look at him

we all know hes angry so lets skip!!

riddle would like to know the basic alchemy of ur world and got absolutely flabbergasted when u showed him

"how the heck did a magicless student like you managed do that⁉️"

"but that is basic alchemy??" -u after turning dust to a bird

eventually,riddle had to cut the convo short bc he have a schedule to follow🤗so u went back to grim sketching

he tried to invite you to the unbirthday party bc he really enjoyed ur convo

but u declined it

but still went there bc the adeuce duo forced you LMAOAOAOA

so like kapoosh kapow the ob happened and a day after that he got interrogated by u

no break for riddle💀

u were very much interested in how he felt before and after the ob, if anything changes about him after the ob, what was it really that triggered the ob and-

CALM DOWN HES TRYING TO ANSWER ONE BY ONE

you're like "🤔hmm i see" the entire time with this serious face

u also gave him a potion for quick recovery so good for him!!(u gave everyone who overblot btw im just too lazy to write for all)

saw ur sketchbook one and saw some sketches of him

in both his ob form and how he is normally

"🧍why did u drew me"

"u carry a different aura and look different from how u usually do, it's quite fascinating"

"BUT IN THE MIDDLE OF MY OVERBLOT??"

multitasking royalty😂🙌who knew you could draw him while fighting him off

Leona:

you've seen some people with ears like him back in your world so you're not exactly as interested 🤷

even ur assistant have non-human like ears

tho u do wonder if there's anything different abt him since hes technically not from ur world

i dont think yall will interact much before the ob but after? and when book 3 is happening??

knowing how he acts, you're quite disappointed

"not only are u skilled but you're also quite knowledgeable. you could've been something greater if only you could muster up some motivation and ambition in you other than for the throne"

leona goes 🤨🤬you picking a fight or smth⁉️

but then also got goosebumps bc why is this small fry doing analysis of him and how come you know so much already😱

ruggie snickering beside him bc bro got called out so hard

bc hes pissed at u, he quite literally got an A on every single subject LMFOAOAOAOA

mans live off of spite (me too)

you did saw it and was quite pleased hes showing more of his potential

praised him so hard u made his ego bigger

is this... the feeling of recognition😍⁉️ -leona /hj

saw ur sketches of him during ur stay in savanaclaw in book 3

was surprised you captured every single detail about him, lowkey smug abt it

"you were staring at me so hard huh. you could've just asked if you wanted to draw me"

"oh? then by all means, strike up a pose for me. i would love to draw u again"

"...i never said yes, herbivore"

Azul:

not interested in you other than taking ur dorm for business + not interested in him at all

signed the contract anyway bc why not LMAOAOA

totally not bc grim was trying to get u to sign it so bad, no. not at all

anyways now you're homeless and is staying at savanaclaw

lets skip a lil bc i literally have nothing to say

yknow when the tweels tried to sabotage yall?

u literally fend them off using ur geo vision

them: 😧⁉️

they did report to azul

"but that bitch is magicless⁉️" is what he would say if hes not a professional businessman

hes sobbing and crying and clutching his contracts bc how dare⁉️

and u found out he is an octopus like after the blot so yknow what that means

"i would like to see u in that form, if you do not mind"

azul's glasses breaking bc he absolutely refused to

"😕😔a shame but it's alright" *starts studying that childhood pic of him instead*

azul standing right behind u🕴

he did ask why do u wanna see that form of his

and u go "that's something u wouldn't find in my world, i would like to know everything i could know"

the tweels agreed for a price btw

idk whats the price dont ask me

u sometimes visit the lounge bc that place is pretty as hell

notices how u would draw the place sometimes and the gear in his head was working so hard on how to get money from that

peeked into the sketchbook once

saw many sketches of him in his other form or what u think would be his other form

and the way its so accurate😧⁉️

🕴🕴- u and azul

Jamil:

i feel like u would recognize him for his many talents??

and would totally go "why are u hiding it if you know you could do it🤨🤔"

"i do not know what you're talking about☺" -jamil

u just shrug bc oh well. none of ur business

hes kind of glad u decided to drop the topic but also kinda :/ bc there goes his plan if u could see through him that easily

he is quite knowledgeable so u often ask him abt his homeland and their designs there and everything else bc

my god is scarabia pretty😍

u drew scarabia so often its not even funny anymore

and yknow those times he would like hypnotize kalim?

u knew smth was up but decided not to confront jamil abt it

he witnessed u eating a spider one time

he considered letting u go back to ur dorm out of fear LMFAOAOAA

u noticed him and asked if he would like some

U EVEN RECOMMENDED HIM SPIDERS TASTED GOOD WITH THIS AND THIS💀

he was on the verge of tears😔🙏rip jamil, he could've lived a normal life if life loved him enough

u finding out jamil and kalim is a little like subject 2 and u: 😱⁉️(trying to uh replace someone's position or smth)

after the entire blot stuff, he absolutely let u know if theres any bugs around

bc like hell is he fighting those bugs

you're delighted bc yes nutritious foods!!

jamil watching it all:

Vil:

you drew vil quite a lot since he's very pretty

vil is quite drawn to u from the start bc you're also very pretty

has heard of how great you are at making potions and alchemy from epel

so when the program thing happened, hes quite happy that he got to talk to you more

since he was living with u, he could see the many drawings of him and the others (vil and the non-vils. u totally don't play favorite)

vil seeing those beautiful sketches, thinking of ways to promote yalls group with ur talent

he did commission u for it and even offered to pay

u going k sure, i dont mind

vil posted the art on social media and it got so many attention💀

and yknow how vil is so popular and all? yeah so many people asked him to get in touch with u so they could commission u smth bc ur talent is just so😍😍🙏🙏‼️‼️

congrats⁉️it was supposed to be for their promotion but u accidentally got promoted as well

vil is very happy and proud

well after the whole overblot thing, u sometimes visit pomefiore for various other reasons

sometimes bc some famous ppl wanted to get in touch with u, sometimes u just wanna go potion potion with vil

Idia:

he is actually very thankful that you're not interested in him in any way

or so he thought

you're in fact very interested in him

his hair is quite unique to you + his creations are quite interesting to you

"woah unique robots😍" u 5 mins before disaster

and by that i meant a bigass hole in the dorm you're staying in LNFAOAO

so yknow how rook, epel and mc tried to save the others by going to this place they're supposedly brought to?(i dont think i missed anyone)

and my god are u taking ur time

"what is this fascinating creature?" *tries to eat it*

"PREFECT NO!!" -epel and rook

be thankful you're not from their world or else you would've overblot for that

idia and ortho seeing it all🕴🕴

and when idia and ortho came to see yall, you are even more delighted

"i would like to study you, if you do not mind"

idia bc its supposed to be the other way around:

epel, rook and ortho staring at u:

u did ask again after the whole incident and he def did not broke out in cold sweat

#twst wonderland #twisted wonderland #twst #twisted wonderland x reader #riddle rosehearts #leona kingscholar #azul ashengrotto #jamil viper #vil shoenheit #idia shroud

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