#phoenixglacier’s words

[phoenixglacier]

I wanna start a group discussion on this fun lil topic, because I don't have answers and I'm not getting any by myself. Namely, what does Batman to do his kids as "punishment"? (We're not talking about Damian. Damian just gets grounded from patrol. We know that. We're not talking about him.)

We're talking about, specifically, this episode:

Superboy (1994) #85

In this chapter, Batman is referring to a punishment for Cass and ultimately Kon.

As mentioned previously, the classic punishment that comes to mind is getting grounded from patrol -- based on the comics I've read, this is/was a punishment to Jason and Tim at least.

But Batman tells Kon that "he won't feel up to [doing anything]" for a week. As in, Kon Superboy??? Getting benched doesn't do that to you! And this is something that he' is at least implying he'll al's also going to do to Cass???

I'm hard-pressed to consider it a physical beating considering that Dick and Tim are both very sure that it's not okay for Batman to hit them. Roll obligatory funnies:

Batman (1940) #3

Robin (1993) #125

Granted, Batman does hit his kids but I- I'd like to say that he only does that when he's either very emotional or trying to control a currently-happening behaviour? I don't think any of his kids would really take that from him as a given punishment, really.

So. What does he do??? What is bad enough to warrant threatening Superboy like that??? Or. Possibly. Are both Batman and New Friend Cass just messing with him.

I would love to hear your opinions.

[phoenixglacier]

DCxTouRabu AU Masterpost

*Continuously updated and hence kept under the cut in some desperate attempt to do that

Jason Todd & Kashuu Kiyomitsu

Bruce Wayne & Sayo Samonji (+ other batfams that Sayo gets along with)

Clark Kent & Yagen Toushirou

Dick Grayson: Atsushi & Midare Toushirou

Tim Drake & Namazuo Toushirou

[phoenixglacier]

Jason and Percy are not the same. Percy wants to honour minor gods because he believes their treatment is unjust and wants to help them on an empathetic and moral level. Jason wants to honour minor gods so they don't kill the people he loves.

#Just to be clear #I’m not saying that one is better than the other #only that even though they advocated for the same solution #in a way #the sentiment is quite different #Percy’s solution was borne out of a child’s feelings #an idealistic idea that means that no one is left out #mostly borne out of empathy for Luke Ethan and Calypso #but because it is grounded on the idea of deservingness and justice #and because he’s a child #he’s unable to fully come to terms with the details of who deserves this #on the other hand #Jason’s solution is a means to an end #honouring the gods prevents them from killing demigods #in that case he can fake it #if the gods would kill him even if he honoured them #then he would drop that strategy immediately #(maybe for that specific god) #because the purpose and intended outcome is clear #it becomes harder for Percy to push through with his solution #because the real world challenges his ideals #and the feasibility of his solution #whereas Jason is able to push through his solution #but also easy to convince him out of it since it’s not tied to his values #what Jason’s solution ultimately reflects is his belief in peace achieved through non-violent means #which is beautiful because I think he learnt that from Percy and the other Seven #while sadly the core of Percy’s solution is that if the gods are happy #so too will their children #and his experience with the Seven and in Tartarus proves not only that that isn’t true #but that there are people he is willing to abandon as ‘bad people’ #he becomes more logical and more willing to trade lives #it’s no accident that Jason and Percy traded camps by the end of HoO #Camp Jupiter operates independently #and relies heavily on their military #creating a safe haven where people create new lives there #while Camp Half-Blood operates through family units #and capitalises on unique talents to win battles #creating a system where people can go for respite and then return to their mortal families #Percy and Jason both choose the opposite camp #Percy to Camp Jupiter for the unreliance on the gods #and the new life and safety #Jason to Camp Half-Blood for the chance to see his family #and the possibility of exploring different sides of himself #of course there are many more reasons than that but these are the parallels here #and I maintain that Percy and Jason were never truly foils and rather worked better as parallels #by the end of the series they share the most similar values because they’ve assimilated to one another #we were robbed of Percy and Jason’s friendship #and also more group project giant storms #I’ll end my rant by saying that I think they should’ve been so much closer on the Argo II #but like platonically #but those of you that ship Jercy go for it #arguably they’re both bad influences and good influences on each other #Jason in a ‘six hundred lives at stake its just one life to take’ kind of way #and Percy in a ‘be gay do crime’ kind of way #kay bye that’s all from me

[phoenixglacier]

Tips for maintaining/building art motivation!

Want to get better at art but feel like you're not getting anywhere? Have a sad folder full of unfinished art? Does it take you three months to finish a single artpiece if it ever does get finished? Here are some tips that worked for me to keep me interested in art!

Tip 1: Notice the goal markers in each project and consider that a piece!

If you're like me and take forever to finish one piece, you're probably spending ages on each part of the project. Maybe you do just the hair, then just the face, then just the clothes. Maybe you do a sketch, then another sketch, then another sketch, then another sketch, then flat colours then rendering. Each time you hit one of those, save an image/scan/video/gif/whatever you're making of that version. Put it in that folder where you put all your finished art.

If you do lose interest in that project, one day when you look back you'll see an "unfinished" artpiece with some pretty boss stuff. It will be a more accurate record of what you actually spent your time on. Sure, this sketch doesn't have a clean lineart on it, but you can totally tell what it is! Sure, this piece has super detailed hair but flat everything else, well maybe the hair is the star of the show and for that matter that's really cool technique you used for the hair! Art doesn't always have to be finished! Just look at the work out there you're aspiring to:

Tip 2: Look at how others use art to communicate

If you're here on tumblr, there's a wide range of art out in the wilderness for you to forage. You're gonna see some people that are probably gods painting the most intensely beautiful artwork you'll never be able to fantasise - but that's just one type of content. I'm constantly attracted to art that are absolutely not in the style I lean towards, but they express emotions or pitch a new design or honestly are just about characters that I'm starving for. Not all art has to be perfectly polished, often you'll see a sketch posted instead because that was sufficient to get across the idea. Focus on the idea. Aspire to create art that gets across these ideas in one way or another.

I would also say to read comic books. Webtoons are good too - there are many stories I've read where I was interested enough in the story, and the art wasn't all that appealing to me. But if the art gets across that story, mission achieved, and it's also motivating to see the change in the artists' style over time. You're a baby deer taking your first steps but you're not the only one; artists that you look up to are all doing the same.

Tip 3: Set staggering "finishedness" goals

Okay, so we've talked about treating "unfinished" artwork like finished work, and we've talked about how artwork doesn't have to look "finished" to be enjoyable for us. How 'bout we do it on purpose now?

Again, I'm gonna assume you're like me and take several months to finish one piece that maybe has background, lineart, full rendering, the works. Well, remember that that's not the only type of "finished" artwork. Here are a couple of mild suggestions:

Draw the proportions cartoonised or chibi.

Work on creating a really pretty background.

Skip the lineart. Just colour straight over the sketch.

Skip the colouring too. Just tidy your sketch up slightly.

Instead of colouring your lineart, add some fun embellishments in monocolour and/or change the colour of your linart.

Pick up a sketchbook (oops I've been assuming you do digital all this time) and do any of these. After being trapped in digital I find physical sketching quite freeing.

Do this for a concept/design that you want to communicate. Consider this the equivalent of jotting down notes in a meeting that you don't want to forget.

Tip 4: Break up your art projects with more art projects

Perhaps controversial, but I find that forcing myself to stay on a single artpiece is the fastest way for me to lose motivation for it. Plus, our brains do like the satisfaction of having finished a project, so we can't deprive ourselves of that for too long.

So we have our staggered "goals"finishedness" goals above. The idea is to plan break projects that won't last more than a day or two. For example, I'm working on a piece that's been going for a month already. On a day that I just feel stuck looking at it, I'll choose to maybe do a design concept art for a different character with just a basic sketch and messy flat colours. This took me about two 1-hour sessions, which meant it was done after a day. After that, I'm back to the main project. When I'm out, I do some physical sketches, nothing coloured or super lined, just new characters again.

Give yourself permission to do other art, with the only rule being don't plan a project that's gonna be just as long. The timing is going to be different for everyone, but no one's keeping track except you.

Tip 5: Draw for yourself

Art is subjective. If you're planning to be a professional artist then you might have to be harsher on yourself, but as someone who draws for enjoyment I implore you to make yourself your biggest audience. You don't have to scrutinise every piece you make. You don't have to wonder whether others will like it. You don't have to heed unasked criticism. If you like it, an enormous goal has already been reached. We are all already our biggest critics. Draw the weird idea and never show anyone. It's fine. It makes you happy. Now go out into the wild and create <3

[phoenixglacier]

What I want is some average shenanigans occurring in Blüdhaven or something that ends up with a few of the bats calling in their respective teams. I want the shenanigans to be over pretty quickly and the bats to be off post-morteming the situation together. And then I want the utter immaturity of their respective superheroes teams to be standing there in utter boredom and one CHAOTIC LIL SHIT JUST GOES "our robin is better than yours"

Listen. The Titans are out there fighting tooth and nail for Nightwing. Young Justice are like "nuh uh our Robin is the One True Robin™". The Little League are defending Damian to the bone and ready to lie for it.

They get into the most annoying little hissy fight over who's the best (completely subjective) and when their bats/robins actually get back they're just like "NO WE'RE NOT DOING THIS"

Cue excessive amounts of validation and praise talk towards their precious brothers whom they are literally traumatised from eternally being compared to but also a montage of the stupidest competitions possible.

[phoenixglacier]

Concept: Young Justice (core: Cassie, Bart, Kon, Tim) are all ADHD. Turns out that Tim was especially drawn to and comfortable with them because they share this trait with each other but they never knew because Tim unlike the others never got diagnosed

One day someone probably remarks something like "oh, so I guess it's kinda Robin's job to be the neurotypical braincell of the group?" and his friends are all like "uhhhh that doesn't sound right. Whelp. Time for some self-discovery!" and then Tim has another identity crisis.

[phoenixglacier]

Just hear me out: Soulmate AU. But soulmates don't neccesarily mean romantic, okay? Some of them are, obviously, but that's not the point. Soulmate goes beyond that.

Dick and Donna are probably soulmates. Donna still gets married to someone else and Dick still ends up dating other people but they're Soulmates and that means more than any husband ever could.

Damian and Jon are probably Soulmates too. I don't make the rules.

I'm building up to something but for worldbuilding's sake I'm saying it's the "The first words your soulmate ever says to you are written on your palm" type soulmates.

So. Tim and Bruce Soulmates, right?

And I imagine Bruce knows. Forgoing the exact words of canon a little here but I wanna say Bruce's words are something like "Don't worry, I'll get you out of there." and meanwhile Tim's are the ultra generic "Who are you?"

So that day when Tim saves Bruce (and Dick) — it hits Bruce like a slap to the face that his Soulmate, whom he's never looked for, never dared to look for, is this child. Meanwhile, Tim has no idea that he's fatally connected to this man and as far as he knows this is all playing out very normally.

Bruce takes Tim in and immediately tells Alfred who, in his classic manner, expresses both concern for the situation as well as clinging super tightly to Tim Drake because this is Bruce's Soulmate goddammit. Would Tim maybe be better off apart from Bruce, his Soulmate, who also happens to be Batman, who lives a very dangerous life? Alfred cares about Bruce first so he does not particularly care (he will give Tim Drake the best life by Bruce Wayne's side instead).

I imagine in this world not everyone has a Soulmate, and even if you do you're not immediately born with your words. And Jack and Janet Drake likely weren't soulmates, so Tim's either passively accepting that you don't neccesarily need to find your soulmate to be happy in life or highly romanticises the magical fantasy of his fated soulmate or both at the same time. And Bruce probably told him that soulmates are a distraction and not to look for his in an attempt to further bury the secret that it's actually him. I can imagine Tim getting together with Steph and spouting all this confident stuff about personal choice and the unique adventures they can have even without being soulmates and the two of them being so excited together in that relationship and their unmatching soulmate words.

(Steph's soulmate is Cass and I think about her having this whole scene where she just. Holds Steph's hand. Looks down at her words and back up again. Silently asking. The first words that Cass ever says to Steph, saved for this moment, are "I love you.")

Aaaanyway I think about this AU and reread canon material imagining this is the case (Tim and Bruce being Soulmates, Tim not knowing but Bruce knowing) and it just vividly makes sense because Tim is the person who understands and believes in him again and again to an unusual degree. And one day Tim will find out that they're Soulmates and worse: that Bruce knew all along. And, um, most likely this will be like the 99th time he tries to quit?

Just a tiny thought

[phoenixglacier]

I want the next Green Lantern (Legacy) book to have Jai show up to call dibs on Tai, and then Irey show up to object and insist she called dibs first. Tai floats away with his hands up in the air and says he really doesn't care as long as one of them helps put out the fire. Tommy and Serena are doing calculations to explain excitedly to the twins why a team of five is better than a team of four.

They end up crashed in Tai's room with Jai and Irey trying to explain why every Flash needs their own assigned Green Lantern (Tommy and Serena are fascinated but also pitching the sharing route) and Tai is trying to sleep.

[phoenixglacier]

People who know me are waiting for me to gush about Tim Drake. I need you to know that I have been holding this (why are there so many people in line before Tim ugh).

Ok, so by the time we get to Tim, touken danshi have been around in the universe of DCxTouRabu long enough for it to not be completely crazy that he has one, while still being a major status upgrade. Remember this scene in Robin (1991) #4 where Lady Shiva has him pick his staff?

This is where Tim picks Namazuo Toushirou. 

Following Tim’s theme of making his own choices, Namazuo is one of many swords he can choose from, and it’s likely that he actually gets to meet Namazuo’s conscious self before his final decision is made. He’d meant to choose a weapon that would make him stronger in battle and Tim— Tim chooses it based on its personality.

You see, Namazuo is a sword that doesn’t have all his history weighing him down. Burnt in a fire, re-forged, devoid of all his memories besides the ever-present ache of sadness, Namazuo is as much a fresh slate as any person could consciously choose to be. He is almost aggressively optimistic, wielding a mantra to make new memories and look forward to a better tomorrow, and yet shows his uncertainty when he asks “Me?”

Tim’s job as Robin (the light, the hope, the motivation to go on) is so demanding for a child that’s instinctively the cautious, well-prepared type. He picks Namazuo, because that’s the kind of sword Robin needs (he thinks).

Namazuo ends up being a nicely-balanced partner to Tim. He has a childlike wonder for the things like snow and baby rabbits. He’s easygoing in the situations where Tim might get frustrated. Though if there’s real danger and someone needs to freak out about the world ending by Tim’s side, he’ll probably do that too.

(Also Jason starts out shorter than Kiyomitsu and grows to be taller than him but Tim and Namazuo are basically always middling at the same height hehe)

[phoenixglacier]

Next in DCxTouRabu we have to talk about Clark. Because his sword is kinda important. His sword has a whole background character arc going on like he’s very important. Sayo’s off quietly to the side being Bruce’s lil bundle of vengeance personified and Kiyomitsu’s —Kiyomitsu is very important okay he’s like— he’s over there being Jason’s platonic FL-equivalent or something. And then there’s Clark’s sword. And Clark’s sword is Yagen.

SO FIRST OFF you know Yagen Toushirou if you know anything about tourabu. But if you don’t, don’t worry! The in-comic narrative (this doesn't actually exist) shows you Yagen’s arc when he shows up (retrieved from the enemy on an extraterrestrial mission, probably?). It gives you the five-second rundown on Yagen’s past. He’s a sword for battle. He assassinates people of not quite entirely his own free will. He’s fully understanding that some of his previous masters were bad people and that he was loyal to them and able to calmly coexist with both inside him.

He’s not someone worthy of such a pure and righteous mission such as Superman’s (“Nonsense!” Clark insists, because he doesn’t think he’s any more worthy of Superman’s mission himself). He’s not someone who’s able to protect or heal or comfort, hurting is all he’s ever known and all he’s ever been made of (“See, that right there tells me that you want to, and that definitely sets you apart because if you want to, you can do it.”). He stays by Clark’s side anyway, because there probably is something he can offer in terms of battle considering all the active threats (he diligently works in the farm, the horses love him even if Yagen doesn’t quite love them back, he tears through Clark’s old biology books and the new ones he brings back because sue him if his passion is medicine okay he wishes that could be what he was made of instead—)

Yagen’s slow character growth throughout the story starts from Clark giving him a chance to be what he wants to be instead of what his past has made him be — he wants to be a healer. He wants to be nurturing and protective and isn’t that just ironic? Also yes his glasses were given to him by Clark.

Yagen is the sword that makes swords a well-known aspect of the DC. Think multiverse back in the days that the JLA was only just going “We think a multiverse may exist?” Of course, Yagen does exist as a very confusing sword that hangs around the JLA tower and diligently heals people with the very ordinary power of very human medicinal knowledge. And then once in a while a major threat occurs and Superman picks up a tiny knife to go wipe out the battlefield alongside him. Or maybe Lois is about to do something stupid and Yagen will just be shadowing her down the street, a quiet preteen who’s been tasked with protecting Superman’s love and eventually wife.

[phoenixglacier]

The first sword we see… okay, level with me (if you’re confused, hi, this is the DCxTouRabu AU) — the first sword we see is either Bruce’s or Clark’s. So we like, we start with Bruce because we need to get through his five seconds to get to the rest of the batfam okay?

So we all know Dick showed up in the comics before we ever got a glimpse of Alfred. Bruce’s sword —Sayo Samonji— it’s like that. We don’t see Sayo immediately. Sayo’s just, just there. He’s been there a long time. He’s Sayo.

He’s like, this tiny tantou that’s sworn alongside Bruce to avenge his parents because he can totally relate. He’s not overflowing from the vicious anger that one might expect such a smol and tiny sword fixated on vengeance to have – quiet, loyal, and very obedient.

Bruce brings him out on the field when he needs cold blood: going after the Joker after Jason’s death, going after Heretic after Damian’s death, etc. If you’re seeing the pattern that Sayo comes out when he’s Robinless, you’re right. Little vengeful Sayo wants nothing more than to protect his master, but his standing orders are to get revenge at all costs including his and Bruce’s own.

[phoenixglacier]

I’m just rambling, okay? There’s no point to this rant. You have been warned.

The thing about being a comics fan (been in DC comics for about six months now) is that unlike any other fandom I have been in, there is no One True Canon as far as I can tell.

No, seriously. Unless you were born in the last few years, your canon has been recooked into so many different recipes by writers and artists and editors who all probably violently disagree with each other. When I started reading and needed to log all of my comics to get some semblance of a reference sheet, I used to include the credits and highlight the names of writers and artists that did really well. And the flipside, you know. My own personal blacklist.

Starting out as primarily a Tim fan and a Damian fan simultaneously means I got used real fast to reading comics that sucked bad for one character but also mind-blowingly nailed it on another. What is a comics reader to do? You know, I come from certain fandoms where the canon was nailed down, and every undoing of it was deliberate, and I do do that. My 232+ epilogue of Percy Jackson isn’t public, but you better bet I combed through the canon with the same devotion that I highlighted every printed line I was going to change. But I’ve come out of comics a desensitized reader. Do I get the urge to edit and redraw every panel of Nightwing 2016 Issue 43 to undo all the truly desperate and honestly failing attempts to portray Roy as stupid (it doesn’t even work because he’s so smart he gives like 90% of the exposition in this chapter and always has an eye on the small child out of fatherly instinct) and to remove Cheshire (because what was even the point of her in this chapter? And if she wasn’t plot-relevant then why would you include her terrible characterisation for the sake of it) but keep a large chunk of the overall premise to preserve what I think was reasonable (if slightly nuked) characterisation of Damian being all huffy that he tsundered some time with Dick only to have Dick’s friend come in and he’s adorably and understandably jealous and yet he succeeds at telling Dick that he wants to spend more time with him at the end and then he and Roy bond over being slave-driven by Dick for the rest of the night… Where was I? Oh. Right. So, I mean, yeah. I do.

This is my way of interacting with media. Sure, I’d like it to be perfect and not have Fabian Nicieza nuke Damian in an attempt to make Tim and Dick more justified (based solely off of Nightwing 1996 #138 of the Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul series and honestly I should give him more credit because Damian specifically has a long blacklist and the only reason why I’m this harsh on him is because he wrote Dick and Tim beautifully and a few little tweaks would make me frame this chapter). But there’s a space for me to work with, as a writer.

So, okay. Flash writers are dedicated to the whole Flash cast and brought them back in canon, which is so important and useful honestly. I give the Flash family a big star sticker, formally adopt Wallace and Avery into the family, and set to work giving them daily lives. Everything’s great! (Jai. And his chronic pain. Is so important to me because it draws on my own experiences. I won’t go into it here and you’ll never get to see it unless…)

I timelines ages in the fandoms where it matters. It doesn’t matter in DC. It can’t. Dick has been alive for 84 years + pre-Robin, and he’s like twenty-something. Hitting thirty for the lols. You don’t age until you do. You know how you enter college and everyone graduates at different times depending on the density courses you take? Just me? Anyway that’s how ages work in DC and it’s not concrete and just don’t think about it.

[phoenixglacier]

[PART 7] References in We Are Bulletproof : the Eternal MV

A continuation, since tumblr only allows 10 images per post.

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3:51

Hobi cried during his speech in the same BTS Live Trilogy Episode III: The Wings Tour Final concert. Again, I recommend you watch the whole concert including Hoseok and everyone else’s speeches.

But the Hoseok Chibi is also holding what looks like a MAMA trophy, and Hoseok also cried during his acceptance speech for ‘Artist of the Year’ in MAMA 2018 (+subbed ver). I think this is what the MV is referring to instead.

4:10

First of all - the chibis are now Boy With Luv MV chibis!

I became an Army in 2019, and as far as I’m concerned it was a kind of beautiful, peaceful year where many of their key achievements had already been achieved the year before (the release of IDOL and their overall Love Yourself message with all of the affiliated UNICEF programs and speeches and such had been released) and COVID-19 hadn’t come in to destroy the peace yet. This doesn’t mean that 2019 was a year without trials and pain, but even just looking at Boy With Luv itself demonstrates the general happiness that this era embodied.

I’ve included Stay Gold MV here because it seems to be the best match for the set itself. While Stay Gold was released after We Are Bulletproof : the Eternal MV, the announcement for Stay Gold was well before We Are Bulletproof : the Eternal MV dropped, and it’s not a stretch to think that they might have referenced it anyway.

Alternatively, if the Stay Gold MV set isn’t a good enough match for you, the set can be interpreted as simply ‘Now we’re walking on the flower road’, which, as we said, is the goal that the purple lights were originally supposed to bring them to.

And with that, we’re done!

*I apologise for talking more than I promised to whew

*Did my best to include links where I could. Basically everything mentioned can be found in sub, at some official source somewhere. There are also other links sources that are unofficial. I’ve included all the official links that I could find as well as translation links. If any of my links don’t work or if you’re looking for a source that I didn’t link, feel free to message me and I’ll send you the links I have.

*As I said that the beginning, this is not an official guide. If you disagree with me on anything, I am not anymore correct or wrong than you are.

Thank you everyone for reading this far. I’ve always looked around for a list on exactly this for myself and could never find it, so that’s why I wrote this. I hope this list was useful for you or otherwise fun to read.

Purple you, Armys. Purple you BTS 💜

Sincerely,

PhoenixGlacier

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[phoenixglacier]

[PART 6] References in We Are Bulletproof : the Eternal MV

A continuation, since tumblr only allows 10 images per post.

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2:54

Of course the emotional peak goes to Spring Day MV! Even the two main colours in this scene are a reference to the original MV. (Chibi Bangtan are still in Run/I Need U style tho)

3:02

Many of us think that this campfire is a reference to the second half of Run BTS! 2018 - Ep.56, where Bangtan all wrote very emotional, touching letters to each other. The episode was released in the latter half of 2018, so it’s likely that this episode was filmed soon after the members had all decided to continue their journey instead of disbanding (In Break The Silence (docu-series): Jin talked about their difficult time in his MAMA 2018 speech (+subbed ver) (also shown in Ep.1 of Break The Silence), and Yoongi talked about this in Break The Silence (docu-series) as he wrote Tear for his members at that time)

The hair and outfits of Chibi Bangtan aren’t from this episode, instead they’re from Wings Tour Final (talked about more down at 3:41)

3:18

The purple lights that represent Army becomes a whale! This is obviously a reference to Whalien 52 - making Army the lonely whale whose frequency only Bangtan can hear and vice-versa.

3:23

A little thing here, but these lights are probably meant to look like the drone shows that Bangtan often use in their concerts.

3:35

The Army lights here become a concert audience!

3:41

So this concert is the Final of BTS Live Trilogy Episode III: The Wings Tour on the 8th-10th December 2017. (This concert is available as an official video somewhere).

This specific scene is from their performance of Born Singer (Born Singer is song where Bangtan rewrote the lyrics entirely back in 2013. The 2017 version performed in this concert has some changes in the lyrics)

The formation, stage, and style are all from this specific concert performance.

This concert is such a significant point in Bangtan’s journey and I really recommend that if you haven’t watched it in its entirety, you do so. BTS Live Trilogy Episode III: The Wings Tour - Final was part of BangBangCon2020 and the whole tour was documented in Burn The Stage. Rather than having someone explain to you why it’s so significant, watching the full performance, including their speeches, will really express how important this concert was.

We'll continue in the next post!

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[phoenixglacier]

Archon Quest Chapter I: Rewritten

(Part of my Genshin Impact Headcanons (things that blatantly go against canon but I’m pretending at true) series.)

Hi guys I really hated the Liyue Archon quest, but I don’t want to because Liyue really doesn’t deserve that. So I mixed it up a little to fix the main problems I had with it.

In this post:

Ningguang is the Geo Archon and Liyue’s Archon. She is “Morax”, with “Ningguang” as her modern name. Details such as Morax being of the original Seven and writing contracts with all adepti applies to Ningguang.

Zhongli is only an adeptus, not the archon, at any point. His original and official name is “Rex Lapis”, with “Zhongli” as the name that he’s using as a mortal.

Mainly, I wanted to remove Zhongli from the position of Liyue’s Archon entirely, because I his character is much more likeable that way (to me).

I’ll be marking parts that are the same as the original version with a *.

So, here’s how I would have the storyline play out in the game with my version of the Liyue Archon quest:

Traveller goes to Liyue Harbour as instructed by Venti*. They aren’t told that there’s any time limit, Morax simply governs the people directly rather than descending once a year. However, few ever get the honour of seeing Lord Morax (Ningguang), and her decrees are mainly spread by her direct underlings and the Qixing (Keqing and others).

When Traveller arrives, they set to work asking the ordinary citizens about Lord Morax and how to meet her. The citizens tell her the same spiel* about how the Qixing control Liyue. Here, the conversation/argument between the citizens is brought up about whether the Qixing should be given any credit compared to the Adepti. They eventually direct Traveller to Yujin Terrace*, because they can pray to the Adepti there.

At Yujing Terrace, there are people milling about, but they have not gathered for a specific event. They walk around and pray and act like normal NPCs.

Traveller makes wishes at the altars as per in-game and talks to some people which gives her insight on what the Liyue people tend to wish for. As she heads to the last altar, the cutscene triggers.

In the cutscene, we see the body of the Dragon Rex Lapis fall from the sky*, but the crowd isn’t originally crowded around the body, rather they move towards the body after they see it fall.

(For this part, basically Rex Lapis is declared dead*, and I’ve chosen to introduce Ganyu here arbitrarily) Ganyu appears suddenly from the sky, attracting the camera view and the attention. She jumps towards the body, and declares that this is the Mighty Adeptus Rex Lapis, and that he has been murdered. She declares that “Lady Ningguang will not forgive the culprit.”

The millelith begin securing the area accordingly, and Paimon panics*. We could have the sneaking quest again, but alternatively we could just skip straight to the next cutscene: while Traveller tries to escape, Childe grabs their hand and tells them “Come with me.”

(Childe had been in the area of Yujing Terrace earlier, but Traveller didn’t have the chance to talk to him yet because he was near the last altar, where the cutscene would trigger when they got close.)

Once they’ve escaped, the same conversation* happens where Childe tells them he’s a Fatui, Traveller prepares to fight him, Childe convinces them that they need his help, gives them the Sigil of Permission for Jueyan Karst, etc. Childe has to convince them that they’re a suspect a little more compared to the original, and amps up the blame on the Qixing*.

Traveller’s Jueyan Karst journey is the same*. However, the dialogue is a little different: the Adepti question why Ningguang sent a mortal to deliver the message to them, then they ask why she didn’t send a message at all. They are more enraged than ever over the death of Rex Lapis, whom they consider to be a friend and ally rather than the one they owe loyalty to.

After that’s done, Traveller returns and Childe introduces them to Zhongli*. It’s similar, but Zhongli explains that he has been instructed with the honour of carrying out the funeral for Rex Lapis, and as such will get to meet Lady Ningguang. If Traveller helps him out, he’ll bring them with him to meet her. Traveller agrees*. Childe is still funding*.

While the whole shopping fiasco with Zhongli could go exactly the same*, I think it’s more fun to merge Yanfei’s quest into it. Yanfei offers her services after Zhongli has trouble obtaining specific materials, and throughout the quest they can run into similar legal/scammy/bargaining scenarios. When Yanfei parts ways with us, she admits that she’s an adeptus but points out that the city needs legal advisors like her more than they need adepti*.

(Adding Yanfei’s quest here would be great because we would be introduced to Liyue’s culture of contracts early on, helping us understand Liyue better and hitting all the significant people anyway. It would also make a nice contrast with Zhongli’s cluelessness, and show the difference between adepti who are stuck in traditional ways vs adepti who were able to adapt.)

Zhongli brings Traveller to dinner, where they’re finally personally approached by Ganyu and invited to the Jade Chamber*. Zhongli says that it seems we don’t need his help after all since we’ve gotten the invitation by ourselves, but asks us to come to the funeral later anyway. Paimon assumes we won’t see Zhongli again until the funeral.

We meet Keqing on our way to the Jade Chamber*. She doesn’t ask us not to side with the Adepti exactly, but instead scold us a little for getting the Adepti involed at all. She says that “The Adepti live so far away from Liyue Harbour that they would never have known if you hadn’t told them.” Traveller also asks her how she knows that the adepti know, since we haven’t seen them since, and Keqing responds that Ningguang must trust the Qixing with this information, since they run Liyue with her.

In the Jade Chamber: (I can’t actually remember much of the dialogue from the original version...) but it should be similar-ish. The scene would probably be extra flashy to emphasise that she’s an Archon at first, then as she insists on being casual the filtering gets casual too. Ningguang tells her how much she trusts her, some of the history of Liyue (them coming together to protect Liyue during the war), and how the Adepti are angry with her about Rex Lapis’ death. She talks about the Fatui and how they’ve been trying to get a foothold here. She notes that she admires how Mondstadt has prevented them from having a hand in their running, but having a Harbringer in their city makes it difficult to push back against them. Ningguang asks Traveller what they think about Keqing, then sighs and says that she is very capable but very young. She mentions Yanfei, and explains that she is unique because she is half-adeptus and also very young. Traveller asks whether she thinks there’s no way for the rest of the Adepti to adapt to modern Liyue, and about Rex Lapis, and Ningguang skirts around those topics.

Traveller gets the information of the second Fatui base from Ningguang’s wall*. After that, actually going to the location is probably in Part 4.

When Part 4 starts, Traveller goes to the base, raids it, and finds the Sigils of Permission*. They are then caught by Childe. In the dialogue that follows, Paimon and Traveller accuse Childe of several things, including goading him that his plan of using Zhongli didn’t work. Childe laughs and reveals what we think is his whole plan: summon an Ancient God to attack all of Liyue Harbour. He says that leaving Traveller to babysit Zhongli was just to distract them, since he knew they would meddle with him otherwise. He also says that Morax, the Qixing and the Adepti are fighting each other now, and don’t have time to do anything except argue.

Traveller fights him*. The fight is pretty much the same, with him triggering his delusion and using Foul Legacy and being introduced as Tartaglia*. After he finishes fighting Traveller in Foul Legacy, he regrets it a little and says that he got carried away, but since Traveller is on the ground (conscious but) he begins the summoning for Osial.

(All of that can still take place in the Golden House with just an extra “Follow Childe” quest or by placing the Fatui base nearby and having Traveller follow a trail to there. I did think it would be cool if the base was in the Guyun Stone Forest instead, exactly where Osial was summoned. So after the summoning, Paimon yells at Traveller to teleport a distance away)

Cutscene where Traveller meets up with Ningguang, the Qixing, and the Adepti*. Paimon expresses surprise that they’re not fighting each other, they say that they’ve put aside their argument until Osial has been stopped, so on*. The fight and strategy would be almost identical, with Ningguang creating the platform and ballistas, and Traveller fighting the Fatui with the blessings of the Adepti.

This next cutscene is crucial. Instead of one of Osial’s attacks destroying the platform, one of the Fatui’s portals opens up behind Ningguang. Childe launches out from it and takes her Gnosis out of her body the same as with Venti. Ningguang’s concentration is broken and she nearly faints, which causes the whole platform to start breaking. Then Zhongli crashes in, catching Ningguang from her fall and immediately attempting to fight Childe. Childe is confused (“Zhongli-xiansheng..?”) and shocked, but Zhongli doesn’t try reasoning with him or saying anything at all, instead trying to fight him immediately. Childe is excited to engage in the fight, while Zhongli gets hurt immediately and is confused at why he’s so weak. However, the fight doesn’t last more than a few seconds, as Childe starts to run and Ningguang (weak and collapsing) tells Zhongli that they have to focus on protecting Liyue first, and the other Adepti go “This aura... Rex Lapis?”

They drop the Jade Chamber on Osial to defeat him*. Now comes the part where they explain everything that has been going on. The Adepti and the Qixing alike demand answers, the Adepti especially expressing that Zhongli has to be Rex Lapis. Ningguang explains most of it:

Some time back, Rex Lapis came to her saying that he wants to die. He’s tired from losing all of his old friends and working endlessly. “While I understand that it is the terms of my contract to serve you and Liyue, is there any way for this contract to end?”

(Zhongli notes that his experience with Yanfei showed him that contracts are much more complicated than they used to be)

Ningguang had agreed, because she thinks that Liyue is much safer than it was when she had signed those contracts with them, and if that was what Rex Lapis wished then so be it. However, she also thought it was too big of a decision to just not make use of.

The plan was that Rex Lapis would fake a very public death. After doing so (killing his original body) the rest of him would go into a human body where he will die at whatever human lifespan he made it to. This would allow Rex Lapis to live as a mortal under the name Zhongli for what to him was a very short amount of time. But because most of him was killed, he lost almost all of his power, reducing him to really just a mortal (still really strong, just weak in comparison to how he used to be as a Dragon and an Adeptus), which he unfortunately only realised the implications of when he couldn’t protect Ningguang from Childe.

The Adepti get angry and teary at Zhongli, saying that they really thought he was dead and scolding both of them for keeping it a secret. We get a few more emotional lines.

The plan was that Rex Lapis would fake a very public death. Ningguang would use this to stir up the people and sow distrust towards the Fatui, using it to drive them out. From her reports of Zhongli, she eventually guessed that Childe was planning to attack her at some point of the funeral shenanigans, which she was prepared for and planning to make use of. In short, she was hoping to get rid of the Fatui by using Rex Lapis’ death as a cover/excuse/catalyst.

But the Osial situation was beyond her expectations, and she wasn’t prepared for that. She doesn’t explain exactly what the Gnosis is to the people present, merely saying that it is important, and Keqing quips that Ningguang looks like hell right now. This launches into the Adepti vs Qixing conversation*.

The Adepti accuse Ningguang of not trusting them and trying to cut them out in favour of these mortals. The Qixing retort that the Adepti were only useful today because they needed to fight, even arguing that Cloud Retainer’s technology could only be put to use in the form of weaponry and nothing else. Madame Ping mediates the most*. Ningguang tells the Adepti that it wasn’t that she doesn’t trust them, but that she didn’t want them to have to get involved when they had already distanced themselves and were living peaceful lives in seclusion. She takes the Qixing’s side, but tries to explain to the Adepti why. The scene ends similarly to the original*. As they leave, the Adepti tell the Qixing and other humans to call them whenever Liyue needs their help.

That’s the end of the dramatic scene. At the funeral, things go pretty much the same*. Traveller hears people talking about the Fatui being the cause of everything* (Ningguang milked the Osial situation completely*). The Fatui are also blamed for Rex Lapis’ death. If the millelith still does make a speech, it would be that Lady Ningguang is cracking down on getting the Fatui out, which is met with positive reactions. Ningguang gives a speech at the funeral which honours Rex Lapis and reminds the people to work together for a new future of Liyue, but it would be less dramatic than the original.

When we talk to Zhongli, he explains some things: When he turned human, Ningguang gave him some money and a job and asked him to practice being human because she intended to give him an allowance to live on in the future. With the limited knowledge he had from never being a human before and the intense studying from a few books on funerals, Zhongli did his best. (He’d also accidentally fallen in love with a Fatui Harbringer oops). Traveller asks him what he’ll do now since he has some years left before his human body dies and he replies that he has absolutely no idea. After some thought, he mentions “I wonder whether Childe will forgive me...”

Traveller probably talks to Ganyu instead of Ningguang for the final ending (the part where they tell them about Inazuma*).

End.

Okay um so some notes about why I made Zhongli not-the-archon:

I was really frustrated that he seemed to not care about the mess he was making in Liyue at all. By making him a normal adeptus, it’s much more acceptable for him to walk away from all his duties because the responsibility doesn’t fall solely to him. Not only is Liyue not falling apart because their main Archon is still there, but he doesn’t bear the actual main responsibility at all.

Zhongli’s cluelessness when it comes to mora doesn’t make any sense if he was supposedly managing the whole country until last year. Plus, Liyue even trades with all other countries, so it’s not like he’s never had to be worried about losing money. By making this the first time he’s really experienced human society, his unbalanced knowledge and behaviour can seem more cute than incompetant. Even his rigidness towards his contracts and the details of the funeral can be explained because he’s probably also been living in seclusion like everyone else.

In the original story, Zhongli stood by while everyone else fought Osial, even though he still had his Gnosis, even though Liyue and all his Adepti’s lives were on the line. In this version, it was possible for Zhongli to interfere in the fight while still losing, because he was already a mortal. It makes him far more compelling because he actually tried to help.

The contract with Signora. We don’t know (yet) what the terms are, so for the the contract is just very annoying. It only serves to convince me that the Gnoses can’t actually be that important. Anyway, dramatic gnosis-stealing scene is what I prefer. At least we can have sympathy for the character - I can’t admire Zhongli for whatever smart decision he made because I don’t know what it is.

Overall, if you change Zhongli to a normal Adeptus, almost all of his existing dialogue reads much better without needing any changes, because the explanation is satisfactory.

Why make Ningguang Morax, then?

Ningguang is already introduced as if she is a god. People tell folktales of her, she displays complex high-level magic that we haven’t even seen Zhongli do (that platform and ballistas), she lives in a literal floating island in the sky that she built, etc. She’s also already running Liyue and doing well at it and has a strong sense of responsibility towards it. It makes sense for her to be the Archon.

Why not Keqing? First of all, Keqing’s elemental and physical abilities aren’t portrayed as particularly special (all of this is based on story bits, not the game mechanics). While she seems capable, the game doesn’t originally give her enough buildup and credit, and she’s portrayed as younger and more stubborn. But most importantly, Keqing is the key person on the Qixing side of the argument, so she needs to remain a Qixing.

Why add Yanfei’s quest in the middle:

The Liyue Archon quest went way too fast without getting us close to Liyue itself. Zhongli’s quest is meant to get us close to them, but he only brings us to people and spouts trivia. Yanfei’s quest embodies the “Contracts” aspect of Liyue so well and it would be really useful to go through that quest before we had to fight to defend Liyue.

If you compare Liyue to Mondstadt and Inazuma, you’ll see that you automatically get close to Mondstadt because it takes a long time to level in the early days of playing. Meanwhile, Inazuma requires you to complete Yoimiya’s quest (which shows the culture of “Eternity” in Inazuma) and Ayaka’s quest (which shows the people whp want to escape the “Eternity” in Inazuma, although Yoimiya’s quest is more important). Liyue doesn’t require any quests in between at all, yet players don’t neccessarily spend time there idly, so it’s hard to get to know Liyue.

Alternatively, Yanfei’s quest could just be a required quest between the parts instead of being integrated into the main Archon Quest itself.

Thanks for reading the Geo Archon Ningguang version of the Liyue Archon Quest.

[phoenixglacier]

My Genshin Impact Headcanons (1)

(a.k.a. Things that blatantly go against canon but I’m pretending are true.)

Jean, Bennett and Barbara are siblings.

The first time I realised they were related was when I watched a playthrough video of the Windblume event

Look, they didn’t make it clear enough that they were or weren’t siblings and they all look related so now it’s a true.

Bennett and Barbara are around the same age. Twins? Who knows.

When they were all in the church choir together. (Aka both Bennett and Jean can sing too)

Jean was lowkey aiming for deaconness as a kid then she changed her mind and joined the knights

This happened around the same time Bennett decided to go be an adventurer. So now the three Gunhildr siblings are heading the three main public bodies of Mondstadt (Knights of Favonius, Church of Barbatos, Adventurer’s Guild)

Their dad Johann Gunhildr lowkey romeo-and-julieted with their other dad Adventurer Sean. They snuck off on all sorts of aventurers together and called those dates. (The gods gifted them children haha)

Jean learnt to use her vision for healing mostly to patch Bennett up whenever he came home.

When Barbara got her Hydro vision, she got really sad because she wanted to be able to heal and she thought only Anemo visions could do that. Lisa explained that Hydro visions are most commonly used for healing and found a book on it for her.

When Bennett got his vision he carried on the tradition of Healing. Everyone eas confused at how he managed it with a Pyro vision but were like “Ah, of course Jean’s brother could do it”

Barbara and Bennett both look up to Jean but when they hit puberty, Bennett ended up turning to Kaeya and Diluc for his big brother figures. Sometimes Jean gets frustrated that they know things that she doesn’t. (Bennett was too embarressed to talk about some things with his dads)

Barbara is constantly worried about both of them because they’re too selfless and don’t take care of themselves. She doesn’t have enough authority over Jean, but whenever she gets her hands on Bennett she doesn’t let him leave until he’s fully rested.

Bennett is the cook of the house because Jean is too busy and Barbara always makes it too spicy. He makes good food as long as no disasters happen.

Bennett doesn’t have mystical unluckiness — he has a habit of going on highly dangerous adventurers and accepting beginner-level adventurers into his party. Weaker party members often try to partner up with him thinking they can go on grander adventures, but can’t handle the level of danger and difficulty they face. As such, Bennett often feels disheartened about his low achievements compared to his siblings.

#BennettHasAGoodSupportSystem