#so his approach is understandable

[windcarvedlyre]

Ty for the tag! And yeah :)

He comes across to me as parental but trying as hard as he can not to be a helicopter parent. Like Mondstadt is his child that's already grown up in his eyes, so he doesn't control them or solve everything for them but he's there if they truly need him.

To be fair wrt the fandom's perception of his alcoholism, it goes beyond Paimon; there's Zhongli and Ei's voicelines, the glider lore about spilling wine on Zhongli's head, some events' content, Jean's SQ's ending, him reaching for alcohol to cope in his own SQ ending, the gag comic where he begs Diluc for freebies + Diluc calls him a freeloader... but people are still misinterpreting him if they think he's drinking tens of glasses of wine every day and has an exponentially growing tab imo. Diluc's lines in Jean's SQ imply he hasn't seen Venti do that before. His behaviour in the Kaeya hangout (still probably unhealthy but not getting wasted + paying for his own drinks) is prooobably his normal behaviour; maybe he only goes ham on special occasions and when something really gets to him.

So I get why non-lore-invested fans see him the way they do, but he's so much more nuanced on a closer look.

His interactions with Diona during the alchemy event were really nice too; he approached her gently and with respect, tried to understand where she was coming from and helped her with her goals + tried to help her narrow in on what she actually hated instead of alcohol itself. There's a big contrast between his behaviour and that of Draff, someone whose alcohol abuse genuinely gets in the way of caring for his daughter.

Hey, don’t you think it’s a coincidence that this year’s Father’s Day is in correlation with Venti’s birthday? Look.

Let me rant.

The fact that it’s also Venti’s birthday is no coincidence to me, because Venti is technically a “father” in a sense.

I would like to add more photos where Venti was actively playing his role as an archon but the sources are a little difficult to find again because they’re mostly statements and quotes from the game.

Although not a “father” in a literal sense, we can safely say that he is a dedicated god to Mondstadt, and looks after them in a way a father would. He dotes on them regularly, as seen many times in various events and quests such as with the case of Klee or Sister Grace in Kaeya’s hangout event. He thinks of Mondstadt as his children and actively does what he can to help from the sidelines, and bring about little changes of hope.

He also values his children’s wishes and never tries to dilute or shame them for it, regardless of how “childish” it might look as seen in Klee’s case, showing that he viewed them as growing individuals, not people deserving to be punished. Speaking of such things, Venti was also betrayed several times by his children like the Lawrence clan straying from their oath to freedom and rise to tyranny, and from Signora despising him and outright disrespecting him while stealing his Gnosis. Yet, he had so much graciousness to still consider them children of Mondstadt, and that takes a lot of strength than people might think. His love is unconditional and flows in everything he does for his people.

There were so many times when Venti had treated Mondstadt and the Traveler with nothing but kindness, but gets repayed and portrayed by the fandom as nothing more than a lazy drunkard or a “useless” archon. Venti is such an underrated character but gets awfully mischaracterized by the fandom and his character is understood as nothing outside of his alcoholism.

People can come at me for this but I partially blame Paimon for misleading people with the drunken bard jokes, and for the rest of the fandom for having NO media literacy to even scour for the actual lore of his character. I swear some people can be so dense-minded when it comes to characterization.

Going back to my point, I’m saying that if we just remove the close-mindedness to his character and look deep enough, we’ll see that Venti truly is a wonderfully written character on the inside and deserves much more than the treatment he’s getting.

Venti’s done so much for his people, and for that he truly deserves to be recognized as a father in this special day. I’m waiting for people to recognize this and maybe write or draw more content of him being a father figure to his children in Mondstadt.

Venti deserves the title of a father because he loves his children like one.

People I wanna tag just because: @ventisslut @carmendeiact2whenplz @windcarvedlyre @lanternlightss (feel free to share your thoughts in the tags!)

[javierduffy]

different.

[scarapanna]

I liked your art, you won🎉🎉🎉

WE WON NO REDEMPTION WAHOOOOO/silly

I'm still terrified of the redemption route for this clown though hdhghfg, I want his silly self to stay evil and wimsy and goofy and with redemption uhhh

We're like

I dunno I'm sooo scared devsis is gonna take away that aspect which is what makes him just so funnn. Please pretty please let him be god awful and rotten and rude and goofy if you take that route Devisis I want him to keep his funny wimsy qualities. Please please pleaseeee write him well y'all are doing sooo good with him don't fumble by taking the redemption route (And if they do it better be good and he better stay chaotic and goofy and sassy and condescending and all his "rotten rabid thing" qualities)

If they do him (And his fun aspects justice in this dreaded hypotetical) then I may be cool with it. Though the mean ass possum has grown on me so much I'd 100% miss that evil and unhinged part of him TONS, devsis have mercy pretty please/silly

[Longer more insane ramblings are in the tags hsfhfhhv]

[bunji-enthusiast]

He remembers the first time he met you like it was yesterday; infallible, imperfect, and confidently coincidental. Sluggish movements, a devil-may-care attitude about what you wore, it was perfectly comical. Yet, it was comfortable.

Huddling into the caverns of your chest as if it would pertain to more warmth for your cold skin, straggling by as you went down on the items on your list — groceries for the day, or week, didn’t matter really. It was for the most part, human. Despite the capitalist regime that always seemed to sputter up and down, humanity persevered with its own quiet moments and gentle domestication. Something he more then appreciates, and does so silently (especially generously) every single day.

As a militaristic man—Old habits die hard, he notices the way you walk, how long your fingers linger on some sort of treat or item, and even how you pull down some stray scuff if your pants happen to ride up. His most favorite and particular habit most people share that he’s noticed is how one draws down their sweater if they happen to wear one, which in this particular circumstance, you were.

It was nice to acknowledge, such a simple detail. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was trying to integrate himself back into normal civilian life, his ability to notice things would’ve been far duller —that is what he felt fortunate for. In a way.

Standing there could be standoffish, he knew that, but he couldn’t help it. It was as if the light emitting from the fluorescent lights overhead brimmed with life despite the lack of greenery evident in the store, the very environment curled in on your energy, following you with hopeful eyes. You also interacted with others, sparingly, but in those few minutes you interact: they go on their day with a lighter gait. He almost felt guilty for thinking you strange, but then again, he often thought that with every civilian he came across.

Then came your voice, he remembers that the most: “Something you can’t find? Let me help you look for it.”

The suggestion seemed almost impossible at the time, but it was one and the same with his wide-open experiences in combat, only now… it was in a grocery store. How Silly.

Your tone was light, notes musical and airy. Despite the evident exhaustion weighing down your shoulders, you always mustered the energy to help others if you could. That very thing was something he could share, a trait he also admired. So in a hopeful attempt In socialization, he responds.

“Uhm, no.”

Immediately he regrets his words, feeling the boiling warmth simmering beneath the neck of his skin and ears. He felt mortified at making such an impression, but in the midst of his internal turmoil, you simply shrugged. “Okay, but you sure? You look real confused.” You asked, something small tugging at your lips.

Inwardly he jumps at the subtle change of expression, he could sense that you knew — he was socially awkward. Poor him, he was already so introverted. He just had to go be weird the moment he spoke. But it was fortunate right now, that you understood.

“S’okay man,” you replied finally, bobbing your head with a tilt. “We got our days, you military by any chance? I don’t mean to assume, but you got that look.”

He was, beforehand not too long ago that he had just gotten off a tumultuous two-month long deployment—and even before that one was long over five months. It was nice to have moments of reprieve, to rest and recuperate the old body. The guilt eats at him easily unfortunately, the unforgettable routines and memories of Senior Officers barking orders but otherwise decent enough was ingrained.

Having love for others always seemed to present itself as some sort of unfortunate event however, one way or another. But, this was a memory he experienced, where none of that happened. Being allowed to exist simply, here, long before being the man they called Slayer -- long before the bullshit that happened on Phobos. He was human, a little broken, but human. At the time, something weighed heavy on his heart. As if it were the cataclysm to events, this reminder he bore, that he had always fought for something greater.

Something simpler.

So it aches, aches heavy in his bones with every step he takes, yet with every step he continues. With both, he is not sure why, yet within the same breath. He knows.

That is something he hates, and it is something he appreciates. It's accursed, the way he remembers things. How sometimes, something flashing in the peripherals of his vision. Fractured pieces of his former life, bits and pieces resuscitating the man he used to be. The man he was before the dreadful titles, the horror he carries on the breadth of his back. But he carries it not only out of the terror he instills in his enemies, but to be a shield, a powerhouse of savagery. Something that people rely on, even if that relying meant walking on the tightrope between all those who intended him sorely for the power he wields. Himself.

The duty of Slayer was his prerogative, the god-fearing anger and justice that represents all that is humanity.

How ironic is that he himself, continues to deny such a right. He reminds himself of such a thing, once or twice, but then it gets erased. Hands easy for war, calloused by blood, the white purity stained by constant combat.

But he remembers all of it, the young and the beautiful. You, a gentle kindred, though torn down by the weight of the world and the constant expectations, was made a free spirit.

The Slayer was no longer that.

[snaplight-anxiety]

couple who are both “promise to never put me before the world” types but one is “promise you will choose not to save me” and the other is “promise you’ll kill me”

[jaggedjot]

the notion that queer men can be flamboyantly theatrical, perform in drag, even occasionally refer to themselves with female pronouns, and nevertheless willfully uphold and enforce patriarchal norms, would have been a well worn complaint in any given 1970s lesbian collective, and yet

[hahahafangirl]

the failure of language

so im getting around to write some suonirei fanfic and, inevitably, got to Backstory Speculations activities. and now i begin to think about suo (windbreaker in general) and the failure of language -- when people, regardless of how much they try or how eloquent they find themselves to be, will find points where they are unable to give words to what they are feelings or explain some difficult emotions or circumstances to themselves or another person.

think, sakura going "how am i supposed to treat you now?" after hearing out umemiya's childhood story-- what is he supposed to say? to act in general? language, spoken or behavioral, failed him. umemiya redirected sakura to language: he did not expect sakura to treat him any differently. come back to the language you understand, he says. and now we complicated "language" to means "a vehicle of interactions and expression", which is functionally what language is.

well i did say that this arise from thinking about suo, most notably, thinking about how windbreaker expresses speechlessness and stillness very frequently from suo's silence. think the focus on suo's eyes at any moment where language are yet adequate to say what is happening: suo and nirei's response to sakura's solitary during sickness; suo's anger (in KEEL and shishitoren) occurring wordlessly; and, most recently (which sorta sparked this line of thought), this page

note the wordlessness. a lot of time, wbk starts out the responses to these sincere and vulnerable moments with this wordlessness, where characters ponder and reflect on the statement, often evoking their own memories and experiences, thus empathizing with the vulnerability in question. it is a reflective and thoughtful way to begin the process of empathy in silence. it feels ritualistic, even, like meditation, to begin connecting with other by a silence that could be taken to be a single-minded, pure focus -- on what is being put on the stage to ponder. maybe this is not quite a failure of language, depending on how we see it, but rather, a moment outside of language priming for its arrival. it is not time for language to enter the scene yet.

but then language always come, sooner or later. as awkwardly or curtly or roughly, sakura and nirei speak sincere words that come from the bottom of their heart. language -- thus connection and empathy -- then propel the conversation. suo, notably (at least without me combing through the manga again) often does not enter this realm of language the way sakura and nirei do it. when he empathize sakura's feelings when he was sick, suo did it where sakura cannot hear. the only(?) time he responded genuinely (please bring up examples or counterexamples if you have it on hand) was when nirei was feelings insecure about his inability to fight and ask suo for help. but even then, the response of "your self-esteem is all over the place" is not quite the personal, genuine approach sakura or nirei has. its quite measured and reflective -- responding to nirei's statements rather than clearly interjecting something to the conversation. many of suo's vulnerabilities are deflected by falsehoods (harmless jokes, not malicious lies), distractions, etc, etc. language seemingly continues to fail him, or he continues to evade it.

i am in a habit of not stating my Backstory Speculations, because a lot of times i want to stick closer to the texts. whatever Speculations i have will most likely manifest as fanfiction (oh boy is that an ambitious media to do this in). but anyway, from popular hc of suo being potentially a "traitor" or somehow entangled in a major and antagonistic organization, his failure to relate this to his friends and thus him hiding his past can be taken as another failure of language. perhaps languages continuously fail him in his childhood-- hence it has yet to learn how to succeed.

p/s: i should also say that im enjoying using different concepts and ideas to speculate/think about and analyze the text (wbk) in a different way. this is basically what comparative literature and literary criticism is, i think (lol). sometimes i feel like this is just me dressing up good ole literary theme in a fancier language, but whatever works works lol. hopefully as i continue to think of the "inability to express your true emotions" and "inability to be vulnerable" more specifically (or broadly) as a failure of language, more interesting insights will come up. its less about what the texts is literally and consciously say, and more about how we can think about the text using -- and extract from the text via -- various frameworks.

yep, this is probably gonna be a more complete essay at some point. i even pulled out the usual rccl register for this!

[add1ctedt0you]

The Untamed - Episode 19

Throughout the night, he [Jiang Cheng] had somehow managed to sleep a couple of times. The first reason was that, having been too tired from crying himself weak, he couldn't help from passing out. The second reason was that he still had the hope that this might be a nightmare. He couldn't wait to wake up after some rest and open his eyes to find himself lying inside of his room back in Lotus Pier. His father would be wiping his sword in the main hall. His mother would be angry again and complaining, scolding Wei Wuxian who winked in a funny way. His sister would be in the kitchen, thinking as hard as she could about what to make today. His shidi would be refusing to do their morning lessons properly and jumping around.

The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, Chapter 59, Poisons- Part Four

[cygnetofthesea]

Santos + Langdon

I’m still seeing a lot of anti-Santos comments in the midst of seeing a lot of comments in support of Langdon…people who will defend him for abusing his position to steal drugs from a hospital, to steal drugs from his patients. And then I’ll see people disparaging Santos, ranting about how “as a healthcare worker” her threatening the patient/mol3ster made them rage. Well, what about “as a healthcare worker” getting pissed at Langdon? Because I’m pretty sure that shit doesn’t fly either. Pretty sure that stealing drugs from vulnerable patients who need them is not acceptable either. Pretty sure that could lead to all kinds of issues and I’m not even talking about the legal ramifications for the hospital either. I’m talking about the fact that patients aren’t receiving the appropriate dose of drugs they need, which could lead to a host of health issues for them. 

People are even more mad at Santos for abusing her position to threaten a patient/abuser than they are at the abuser himself despite the fact that he abused his position as the girl’s father to mol3st his daughter. They’re more mad at her trying to save an innocent girl from abuse than they are at Langdon for stealing drugs for his own personal gain.

Now, to be clear, do I agree with how Trinity went about dealing with the abuser and his daughter? No, definitely not. I do think she should have utilized a hell of a lot more tact. Do I think Frank is an inherently bad or malicious person for stealing the drugs? No, definitely not. The dude was scared and acted out of fear more than anything. He was in pain and thought it would cost him his career, his life’s work. 

In both cases, both individuals abused their positions as doctors, to make choices that threatened the lives of patients.

So the question remains, why does Langdon get a lot of grace for his actions but Santos doesn’t? And especially from people who work in healthcare? What are the criteria involved in caring more about a doctor stealing drugs from patients to self-medicate versus caring about a doctor verbally threatening a patient for abusing his daughter?

Does it truly come down to misogyny, internal or otherwise?

(On the flipside, major, major kudos to those who recognized that Santos and Langdon are two sides of the same coin. For giving both of them equal amounts of shit and love, as they deserve. I appreciate yalls.)

[ryssbelle]

Poppy for N2 au, it took me so long to make her design cuz I didn't really know what I wanted to do only because I feel like her design is pretty perfect.

But then I just thought about fun outfits to give her or outfits that I would find comfortable if I was wearing them and it all came together.

Poppy here is pretty much the same as here movie counterpart, as nothing really changes on her end of things other than having more insight on Branch through his brothers, and through Lief. Shes also a bit more understanding a bit earlier on because of it but it doesnt do much to change her own character arc I would say.

Bonus

Part of Poppys design was based off a design I had made for previous rulers of Troll Village/Tree

Namely Queen Protea who I designed as Poppys grandmother

Named after the Protea flower which part of her design is based off :D

In the context of this Au Protea was the one who conceptualized the tunnels while her son, King Peppy, was the one to follow through after her death

[vargaslovinghours]

Say it like you mean it

[qoldenskies]

So Donnie essentially is all bark? With very little bite.

Canon Donnie.

I MEAN HE'S GOT BITE he can certainly do some dangerous insane shit, but i dont think he's as wild and aggressive as he tries to let on. it's pretty obvious the "bad boy persona" thing is bs but i also think a lot of that murderous intent is not backed up by the way that he acts, because the second he gets pushback he starts crying and shitting himself 😭😭😭

[icharchivist]

it still makes me genuinely offended that DAVG opens on Varric narrating about Solas and going "Solas is very against slavery, one of the only thing we agree on", because i've seen people say "well yeah i hope so it's the bare minimum" and like

Literally half the cast of DAI for example, yknow, the game Solas and Varric met on, were pro-slavery in one shape or form. The one thing DAVG doesn't tell you is what Solas considers to be Slavery to start with, because it is how some companions will tell you "yeah i'm against slavery" and then will talk about somehow removing someone's freedom completely in one shape or form. Look at DAI's Solas' banters with Dorian (who's in DAVG and is a slavery abolitionist SPECIFICALLY, as said in the books, because Solas changed his mind in DAI) or with Iron Bull and you'll learn a lot.

"the one thing we agreed on" is super fucking funny from the character who has always famously been a Centrist, who genuinely didn't want to listen to Anders in da2 when Anders was talking about the inherent slavery of the Circles, and, if Hawke sides with the System rather than the oppressed in da2, Varric will disapprove of Mage Freedom in DAI, which is one of the type of slavery Solas is fighting against for example. Just because the game doesn't allow you to import Varric's past doesn't erase that Varric is a centrist as fuck.

Like sorry it's not our fault DAVG have the most innoffensive companion cast in the whole franchise that you don't know how it's like to have companions with actual offensive opinions that exists to challenge your point of view but that doesn't mean you know exactly how DA companions usually work and why it's an important part of Solas' character.

And sorry also that the game talks so little about Slavery and the multiple ways it manifest in Thedas but that doesn't mean you should just take that at face value.

"gngngn Solas being anti-slavery is the bare minimum" tell that to Varric the Centrist for fuck's sake you DONT KNOW HIM.

[joseigamer]

Patalliro! is fascinating to me because of stuff like this. It's unapologetically gay - even within its anime which aired during primetime hours in 1982 - in a way that many later BL manga would never be, like the ones from the early 2000s which would never dare to call their characters actual homosexuals. Patalliro has actually aged quite well in this regard, there's something comforting about how campy it is.

[serpentface]

Do you conlang? I was wondering if you had naming languages (or possibly even more developed ones) for pulling the words you use. I tried to search your blog but didn't find anything, wouldn't be surprised if the feature is just busted tho. Your worldbuilding is wonderful and I particularly enjoy the anthropological and linguistic elements.

Ok the thing is I had kind of decided I was not going to do any conlanging because I don't feel like I'm equipped to do a good job of it, like was fully like "I'm just going to do JUST enough that it doesn't fail an immediate sniff test and is more thoughtful than just keysmashing and putting in vowels". And then have kinda been conlanging anyway (though not to a very deep and serious extent. I maybe have like....an above average comprehension of how language construction works via willingness to research, but that's not saying much, also I can never remember the meanings of most linguistic terms like 'frictives' or etc off the top of my head. I'm just kinda raw dogging it with a vague conceptualization of what these things mean)

I do at least have a naming language for Wardi (and more basic rules for other established languages) but the rudimentary forms of it were devised with methods much shakier and less linguistically viable than even the most basic naming language schemes, and I only went back over it LONG after I had already made a bunch of words so there's some inconsistencies with consonant presence and usage. (This can at least be justified because it IS a language that would have a lot of loanwords and would be heavily influenced by other language groups- Burri being by far the most significant, Highland-Finnic and Yuroma-Lowlands also being large contributors)

The 'method' I used was:

-Skip basic construction elements and fully move into devising necessary name words, with at least a Vibe of what consonants are going to be common and how pronunciation works -Identify some roots out of the established words and their meanings. Establish an ongoing glossary of known roots/words. -Construct new words based in root words, or as obvious extensions/variants of established words. -Get really involved in how the literal meanings of some words might not translate properly to english, mostly use this to produce a glossary of in-universe slang. -Realize that I probably should have at least some very basic internal consistency at this point. -Google search tutorials on writing a naming language. -Reverse engineer a naming language out of established words, and ascribe all remaining inconsistencies to being loanwords or just the mysteries of life or whatever.

I do at least have some strongly established pronunciation rules and a sense of broad regional dialect/accents.

-'ai' words are almost always pronounced with a long 'aye' sound.

-There is no 'Z' or 'X' sound, a Wardi speaker pronouncing 'zebra' would go for 'tsee-brah', and would attempt 'xylophone' as 'ssye-lohp-hon'

-'V' sounds are nearly absent and occur only in loanwords, and tend to be pronounced with a 'W' sound. 'Virsum' is a Highland word (pronounced 'veer-soom') denoting ancestry, a Wardi speaker would go 'weer-sum'.

-'Ch' spellings almost always imply a soft 'chuh' sound when appearing after an E, I, or O (pelatoche= pel-ah-toh-chey), but a hard 'kh' sound after an A or U (odomache= oh-doh-mah-khe). When at the start of a word, it's usually a soft 'ch' unless followed by an 'i' sound (chin (dog) is pronounced with a hard K 'khiin', cholem (salt) is pronounced with a soft Ch 'cho-lehm')

-Western Wardin has strong Burri cultural and linguistic influence, and a distinct accent- one of the most pronounced differences is use of the ñ sound in 'nn' words. The western city of Ephennos is pronounced 'ey-fey-nyos' by most residents, the southeastern city of Erubinnos is pronounced 'eh-roo-been-nos' by most residents. Palo's surname 'Apolynnon' is pronounced 'A-puh-lee-nyon' in the Burri and western Wardi dialects (which is the 'proper' pronunciation, given that it's a Kos name), but will generally be spoken as 'Ah-poh-leen-non' in the south and east.

-R's are rolled in Highland-Finnic words. Rolling R's is common in far northern rural Wardi dialects but no others. Most urban Wardi speakers consider rolling R's sort of a hick thing, and often think it sounds stupid or at least uneducated. (Brakul's name should be pronounced with a brief rolled 'r', short 'ah' and long 'uul', but is generally being pronounced by his south-southeastern compatriots with a long unrolled 'Brah' sound).

Anyway not really a sturdy construction that will hold up to the scrutiny of someone well equipped for linguistics but not pure bullshit either.

[starry-eyer]

comparing elia martell to princess diana is kinda insane

cause the real princess diana of westeros was rhaegar