#the mythos… you could have so much fun with it lol

[patheticpaprika]

Goncharov: Fandom's Struggle Between Fanon vs. Canon and How That's Created A Mythos Rivaling The Greeks

A tag ramble to this post that got away from me and became too long to feel okay putting in the tags lol. It can be easily read as a stand alone though.

It's absolutely FASCINATING to me being able to both watch and participate in the Goncharov (?)fandom(?). It's taking everything that fandom culture is and letting it run free without any barriers to stop it.

Because frankly, I can't think of anything (to my knowledge) quite like it in recent history to reach such a scale. Both the ability to write stories down and the rise of copyright have had a significant impact on the way stories are told. We went from a storytelling culture that slowly evolved each story told by the person telling it, to one that is very close-handed to the narratives created.

And yes, to some extent, this twisting and evolving still happens in fandoms to the point that fanon and canon can become so separated it feels jarring. But that's just it isn't it? There always remains the canon. That will always be the true story. Fanfiction will forever be fanfiction, no matter how much we want it to be "real." You can whittle away at the narrative to shape it into something more appealing, but it will always be stuck as a block of wood.

Yet, the very fact that fanon exists proves that we never lost that want to change stories and make them a little bit our own. All that we lost was the medium to do so. Evolve something too far, and it won't be the same, will it? We're stuck in the confines of "canon."

I have seen fanfiction of fanfiction before, but it tends to quite quickly pitter out without its own foundation to stand upon. More can be added to the universe, but what's there does not change. It does not evolve the way a story passed down orally does; in a story spoken, the canon is forced to slowly change by the memory and style of the speaker. A classic game of telephone.

Goncharov however? There is no original story; there is no true canon. Not only is the story evolving freely from storyteller to storyteller, but the only reason there is even a coherent story in the first place is that there are multiple storytellers weaving the tale at once yet also expecting you to fill in the gaps.

It's like we're all playing that one writing game where each person writes a sentence back and forth to create a story. Yet, instead of you and one friend, we're playing it on this gargantuan sitewide scale that can't possibly all be connected into a singular coherent narrative. But you're not supposed to be able to. Each person can choose what they want to know it as. It's like some big giant exploratory choose-your-own-adventure book. The framework is there, but it's going in 50 different directions and you can always add another one in just for fun. You discover the story as you read, but only the bits you like get added on.

It's fucking incredible.

We all see each piece of media through our own personal lenses but never like this?? Not to this extent. We're all collectively joining together to obsess over the little ideas in our heads we got from each other's prompts and are excitedly spewing them regardless of how contradictory they are. We do something similar brainstorming with others but not with 12k messages in a single day.

Would this have even been possible before the rise of social media? Not to mention the strong sense of community Tumblr has that is so rare to see with such a large amount of people. There's more people than you could ever know on this site but we all act like some deranged extended family. Yes, people can work together but so rarely do people that vary so greatly in personality and life experiences, get together in such larger numbers to do a little silly goofy CREATE AN ENTIRE STORY THAT DOESN'T EXIST.

We pull shenanigans like this all the time. But this time it's not like eeby deeby or even the mishapocolyse; this time we're seeing the power of an entire community working together to create not only layers and layers of memes but layers of memes shaping an entire mythos. It's like we're the Greeks thinking up stories of our gods but instead it's a homoerotic mafia movie from 1973 written by Matteo JWHJ 0715 and Martin Scorsese that all started with a picture of a shoe.

We have stumbled across something fascinating and new. This may not be the first mafia movie that's been thought up and played around with but this is absolutely the first to be created by thousands of people working together but also towards their own individual goal/story. We're seeing the power that created mythology being wielded by fandom culture, and it's letting it evolve like no other story has.

It's free from the confines of prescribed canon, but there is so much being created that can be canon if you want it to be. This isn't changing one by one like some spoken tale towards exponential growth either. This has been created like one spectacular big bang. We had a funny post of a boot, and then we had a poster and that was enough to make Tumblr go collectively insane. (Not that we weren't already.) I want to (politely) shake all of you by the shoulders till everyone realizes how crazy this all is.

This story is ours, all of ours. Goncharov (1973) is held together by the power of belief and love for it. We have fragments of canon, yes, but it only exists because we want it to. And God-damn it, I hope we do it again. Together we can create things that we'd never thought could exist (and in this case still doesn't).

-We- are strong. Please never forget that.

As it now 6am and I have not slept, I will leave you with a quote; Goncharov's final solemn plea as he slowly bled to death, for I feel it's in an odd way rather fitting.

"What is the dust but a remnant of what we once were, all around us coated with it.

But we brush it away in search of something else. Not everything that mattered once matters now.

Yet you seem to think that's the only way, just keep dusting it.

You never stop to think that some things we search for might not be worth keeping.

Nothing has meaning unless we continue to think it does.

So please... I beg of you, can't we just move on and let this sickening contempt between us dissolve into dust?"

[lurksunderthebed]

I remember one yt comment assuming that Ghost both OG and reboot had a family of his own as in wife and kids just because he was throwing around dad jokes with Soap back and forth.

It got me thinking then; how? like sure i guess people could assume it's because he wears a mask to stay anonymous but even then it doesn't add up? He's a nobody essentially, a Ghost, he has nothing, no picture on his file, like NOTHING. It is strongly implied that he's hiding his identity for a much bigger and most likely fucked up reason. Also people in the military or undercover covert ops don't wear masks for the sake of protecting their family/loved ones only, we have to remember that not every of these guys are actually good, and this is further reinforced in the MW and other CoD franchises, so yeah, not exactly a GhostSoap topic but more about Ghost himself. Have any thoughts? Feel free to share with us, i love your analyses and interpretations!

The assumption about Ghost having a wife and kids just because he likes dad jokes is well... It's a take.

The fun thing about these sorts of headcanons is that Ghost is just as likely to have a HUSBAND and kids as well. Again it's one of those things where you can think up all sorts of secret "xyz" that Ghost could be hiding. There's nothing proving it isn't wrong, but there's also no real factual basis behind it.

When it comes to spec ops like 141 is and really any SAS/delta aligned operatives is that there's a general OPSEC on these guys already (if we're gonna use the American terminology for this). Meaning that any general public picture/info of these guys working/in uniform etc is already usually scrubbed.

The fact that Ghost is going out of his way to hide his identity means a lot more I think than just hiding love ones away. I mean there's also nothing stopping Price, Gaz or Soap to be hiding loved ones as well and they even mention it in Alejandro's case. And yet none of these guys wear a mask habitually.

Add in Ghost's obvious trust issues, how much he stands apart from people, his hesitance on being a Team and the implication he got betrayed (by someone close, prob teammates), it all paints something a bit different than just hiding an identity purely because some bad men might hunt down your secret family.

Granted, Ghost might be embroiled in some very horrible shit, so maybe the stakes are higher for him. But I think the same could be said of Price. And Price seems far more likely to have a random family cause he's actually approachable/sociable.

But again who knows.

What I can say is that Ghost cares about his appearance standing out. I agree that him wearing a mask just to stay anon actually doesn't make sense. Ghost is very memorable. If he wanted to be discreet, his get up is 'quite the opposite'. There's a mythos behind him.

His very appearance is well thought out; the guy has the most different outfits/setups out of any of the team. The skull mask is painted and hand sewn on. He accessorizes with SKELETON GLOVES too.

Ghost also had a teammate in the past that also currently wears a skull mask. It's possible that 'Ghost' might actually mean more than hiding himself, but perhaps an identity to be used for intimidation.

Perhaps like Cod: Ghost's there's a unit of Ghosts that all wore 09 ghost balaclavas in the past who were famed for being the John wicks of the codmw reboot universe?

There are so many possibilities with the inclusion of Mace and that one statement we got from the Game Dev.

But eh who knows. I could be very wrong too 🤣.

Thanks again for enjoying my analysis! 💞 And I hope this somewhat answered your question. Questions like this always take me awhile to think it through lol. But I love it 💕😅

[bee-ina-boat]

hi friends :D! i FINALLY finished my concept art for mythos!Jon and im so happy with him- look at him. plese. i spent so long on this

the sketches were all of my initial concept art for him! he's. so fun to draw. even if it did take me a bit to figure out how to do so. i love his hair ;_; <3

overall his design is very inspired roman Catholicism but. like. more fun? idk lol i just vibe with it. might make the tie darker? and the gloves with his cassock might look good with another color? eh! whatev, i might change it i might not- but this is it so far :D!

for context the Magnus Mythos is an au where the fears are gods rather than paranormal entities like in canon- here is my initial post on that if you want to know more! or if you just want to see art of the Ceaseless watcher :3!!! im really so happy so many of y'all seemed to like it ;w; it makes me feel so warm aa ilu all <3

putting all Jon's lore stuff under the cut!!!

highly recommend you read the linked post because alot of this probably wont make much sense otherwise dsjgfdjgfdb-

so, as a young child Jon grew up neutral on religion. his grandmother didn't favor any one of the gods more than the other and that sort of thinking carried over to him for a good while

when Jon was 8, he had a close encounter with a creature born from the Web: a giant spider that would tell you your fate (and possibly offer you a gift) if you gave it a sacrifice

Jon had found an old fable book with a map to it's nest. of course he had no intention of following it, just enjoying the stories inside! but a thief snagged the book from him- and upon realizing what the book led too -took Jon with him as his sacrifice

when they reached the nest after a long journey, the thief presented Jon to the spider. but the spider did not take him, it took the thief- and the little Jon could only watch, frozen in terror, as his captor was eaten by the giant spider.

after it finished its meal, the spider told Jon that his fate was of a cosmic importance, "I'm quite excited to see how this plays out," it said.

naturally this was kinda traumatizing for the child that literally just wanted to read but ok :l

the whole experience brought jon a phobia of spiders, a distrust and fear of strangers, general paranoia, ptsd, and a rejection of the webs power and the concept of fate as a whole

now- its not uncommon for some people to reject the powers of certain gods? some things born from their power are quite unpleasant, so there are steps one may take to protect themselves from the powers of one or more of the gods. (its complicated to explain but i hope that makes sense-)

suffice to say jon does NOT want to be controlled or have his fate decided by anyone or anything like that! being THAT important is scary!!! so he tries very hard to prevent any powers of the web coming near him- and he also tries to keep a low profile so he can live a calm and peaceful life without. yknow. being an important part of the fate of the entire bloody world.

he turns to the cult of the Beholding for salvation. after all, its whole thing is being aware and knowing things, and jon wanted nothing more than to know what wanted to hurt him and what didn't.

moving to London, he joined the House of Magnus, and went from a devotee to a researcher.

he became friends with Tim: a man who turned to the beholding out of his own rejection for the Stranger, and Sasha: a young woman who'd worshipped the beholding and worked at the house of magnus her entire life.

things were great for a while, and then the head archivist, Gertrude Robinson, disappeared.

normally the previous archivist would choose someone to pass the position down to, but her disappearance meant that the current head of the church, Elias, would have to choose instead. and he gave the position to Jon

it was absurd! Jon didn't want the position of archivist- everyone knew about the prophecy and Jon certainly didn't want that much pressure on him!!

not to mention- it became pretty much expected that Sasha would become the next archivist! given her history of devotion, her skills, all the work she did for everyone, hell- Gertrude even mentored her for half her life for god's sake!

Elias's reasoning was that Gertrude had broken the Archivists oath: to always protect and preserve knowledge. he claimed that the Ceaseless Watcher itself had requested Jon rather than Sasha, as Gertrude's choices were not to be trusted. and it was not up for debate what their patron wanted...

so there was no choice. jon was terrified, sasha was devastated, and tim was furious for them both.

the ceremony went on, jon was given the Watchers Crown (the sacred headpiece of the archivist) and then he went down to the archives with tim and sasha as his chosen assistants.

Elias sent down another down with them- Martin, a librarian who devoted himself to both the eye and the web. Jon was not so keen to be trusting a devotee of the web, especially with all the stress going through his head at the moment- so he wasn't very warm to martin.

as the archivist- jon does his best to do the work he was given, frequently requesting help and teachings from sasha as she clearly knew more about this than him. all throughout, he squished any spider he found. and stubbornly refused to give in to any possible notion of him being the one from the prophecy. he couldnt be. he refused it.

but the will of one man is far outweighed by that of a god, and at some point he just might have to accept the responsibility he deep down knows is his...

AAAAAAAAAAA THAT WAS ALOT- if you read this entire fucking essay then just know i love you so so so much and i am hugging you tightly ;_;

thanks for dealing with another round of my brainrot!! im thinking of working on sasha, martin, or the web's design next :3

[mrthology]

I've seen an uptick of hate for RR and his portrayal of the gods and accuracy to myth, do you have any thoughts on that with how much fic you write and the way you portray the gods? /gen

Hi! I’ve answered something similar to this HERE as well, if you’d rather read that! I haven’t seen any uptick of negativity, but I try to avoid any of the more discourse-y sides of fandom. Mostly because I’ve seen it all before, and while discourse is a valid way to interact with fandom, it’s not how I enjoy PJO! 

Short answer: I don’t think a children’s book series is an educational source, nor do I think authors have a responsibility to be 100% accurate when it comes to writing fiction. If someone is looking to RR as their only source for mythological accuracy, that’s a different conversation to have. 

Longer answer below the cut!

The books have flaws, and RR has flaws. But, I don’t expect a children’s fiction book to be perfectly accurate. Hell, classists still argue about a lot of the history and myth. New translations change how we think about Greek texts. There are different historical sources, authors and historians disagree with one another, etc.. History is complicated, especially when it’s so ancient! There’s a reason this is an area of study people devoted their lives to, after all.

I don’t see the PJO series as accurate, but I don’t think they need to be. At their core, I’ve always seen them as stories about Percy, and that’s a very human story that resonated with me as a child, and I know it resonated just as much with others. I likewise don’t read any other retellings expecting perfect accuracy (which, considering the subject, is difficult to do lol), but for a story I enjoy. I read Clytemnestra by Constanza Casati recently and it wasn’t perfectly accurate. But I enjoyed the story, I enjoyed the portrayal of a character who’s always interested me, and I enjoyed the author’s writing style. There are Greek (and other) retellings I didn't like for whatever reason, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong per se, or that people can’t enjoy them as works of fiction.

When I first read the PJO books, I picked them up because I already loved Greek mythology, and I kept reading them for Percy. He was, and still is, a character I adore. That’s why I love PJO, even if as an adult I know they have a lot of flaws, know they’re often wildly inaccurate, and don’t agree with some of RR’s portrayals or takes. I don’t need to! I fell in love with PJO for the characters. Not for a perfect historical and mythological summary, or for a portrayal of the gods I see as relevant to me and my views and beliefs. And, to be blunt, I don’t think that anyone should read PJO or any of the related books as if they’re accurate. They’re not, and they don’t need to be. They’re works of fiction made for children. 

My issue with the so-called accuracy isn’t the books; it’s when people claim they should be (or are) perfectly accurate, or when people use them as an actual source. RR has his issues, but if people are genuinely using a kids series as their source for all things Greek Mythology... that’s on them. He’s a children’s author, and that’s where he’s strongest. There are bits I liked, and bits I side-eyed. But the books are meant to get kids reading and having fun. I, and many people in the fandom, simply am not the target audience. I’ve re-read them and have had issues with some things, but those are issues I as an adult have, and that’s okay! They’re not meant for me. They’re meant for kids. 

I could also say the same thing (and do) about so many other retellings, and so many other books. Stephen Fry’s Mythos, Madeline Miller and her books, the multitude of girl-boss retellings, and more. I’ve DNF’d some retellings, refuse to read others, and have my issues with some aspects of them. But, I don’t think any of the above authors, or RR, are presenting their books as some perfect historical texts, and I don’t think anyone should read them like they are. 

I write because I love to write, and am still in this fandom because I adore Percy as a character and love the escapism and enjoyment it brings me. If someone else gets their enjoyment over debating accuracy in the books, that’s likewise 100% valid. It’s just not for me.

[croik]

Hastur’s mind buzzed excitedly. Though he had virtually no experience teaching his own language to a mind as relatively simple as a human’s, every inch forward in Arthur’s progress brought him a prickly delight. To say nothing of his particular choice… “Yes,” he answered with as much restraint as he could muster. “Though stressing verbs like that is more of a regional dialect. In Carcosa we would simply use the word for longing, myhrey.”

(if you're still accepting fic asks!)

(Yes, I love talking about worldbuilding and characters!!)

Not sure if you're more interested in Hastur or the language stuff here, so I guess I'll blah about both XD;

There are only a few phrases of canon "Cthuvian" in the mythos - three or four famous sentences by HPL himself, and a few add ons from other authors. As far as I can tell there isn't much in the way of fan-completed con-langs because there's not much to work with, the language is *supposed* to be unintelligible, and some of the authors who added to it were lazily just slapping funny spelled words on English sentence structure etc. But there are a few things that seem relatively consistent: pronouns that become a prefix when attached to a verb, like "ya / y'"; prepositions also become prefixes to the noun they're describing like l'ebumna and l'geg. There's only one example in the spattering of words that uses repetition (n'gha-gha) and I don't think we know what it's supposed to mean, but while randomly googling language concepts, I was thinking of how in English we use repetition to slightly change the meanings of things ("do you LIKE HIM like him?") and was amused by the idea of inserting something similar to Cthuvian. So this part of their lesson is not "canon" but nothing says it couldn't be either.

I have a little spreadsheet devoted to what I've sussed out of the Cthuvian that appeared in the actual stories, and I've been slowly adding some things just for fun, trying to work out the basics of how the language could be structured. But I'm not a linguist so I doubt it's impressive yet lol. I haven't really done much research other than some language classes in college while learning Japanese.

This fic (I Long to be Filled) I started writing before the story that now comes before it. I originally meant for it to take place someone fairly soon after the Squeezing, but ultimately decided I wanted them to have some "normal" sex before Hastur whipped his real dick out, which is why there are references to the Scholars and such things that came up before but haven't been paid off yet (oops). I've since developed a lot more backstory for how the King came to Carcosa in the first place, which may come to light later. But I especially think that part of what sets the King in Yellow apart from other mythos figures is his canonical connection to theater, music, and the arts. He fancies himself not just as a god but royalty among gods; he distinguishes himself by his ornaments (he's the king IN yellow, the play describes "the tatters of the king" rather than the king himself). Compared to his half brother, he's CULTURED. We get to see a little of that in Malevolent but way more in John (and Yellow) than with the King himself, which is interesting considering that John is in some ways a more pure version of the King, free from thousands of years of experience.

So this whole fic we get to see a version of John who is learning that his appreciation of these things has a long and illustrious history, and a version of the King who is finding new ways to delight in parts of his nature that have been commonplace to the point of complacency, relearning himself through Arthur's study. And that's very exciting for him :3

Thank you for the ask!

[moonscape]

Let this ask be an invitation to ramble about your ocs GO!!!!!

SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG TO RESPOND TO LMAO i was trying to figure out what to talk about and how to do it without dropping major spoilers sooo main series tie ins and human lore ahoy

i'm still working a lot of this out but i wanna come up with reasons why humans were in the pmdverse, as to justify the existence of asta (explorers hero) and zaya (psmd hero). historically there was one guy that was there way before even the events of rt, and him being there is actually why mewtwo exists in pmd. i'm just working out how other people got there in order to continue the lineage. though, if pla is any indication, arceus is a big fan of upending people's lives and putting them in situations so maybe they just send people to the pmd world for fun every so often (they're uhh. not very good in ttb lol). i do know that as of explorers there's a small group of humans that live in seclusion but are managing fine.

speaking of explorers, when the bad future hit this caused most, if not all, of the humans to be wiped out, leaving asta as the only survivor, who was eventually found by grovyle's mother and taken in to be raised alongside him. since they were killed before the future was changed, i can't see the humans being brought back like the future trio and asta are. i guess humans are pretty much extinct in the future timeline. in the past timeline, however, they are still thriving and i imagine that they still exist as of ttb. i don't really have any plans to involve them right now but that could be something to consider eventually.

so how does zaya fit into all this? well zaya is an (indirect) ancestor of asta! indirect because zaya is still a child when she gets sent forward in time so she wouldn't have kids of her own to be a direct ancestor. so zaya was born way before asta was, and was sent forward in time to about 50ish years after the events of explorers, and thus ended up being younger than her descendant.

if you're confused about all of this time travel then don't worry because i am too KSBDJDJJD this is why i try to avoid time travel stories but you can't do that here tbh. here's a simplified timeline of events that sorta makes more sense ig?:

-zaya is born

-zaya is sent into the future by mew

-asta is born before zaya finishes her journey

-asta travels back in time to the past and the events of explorers happen, but this is still after zaya's original time

-gates to infinity?????

-zaya finishes her journey and the events of super take place. as said before, this is around 50ish years after the events of explorers, so asta and zaya are both alive concurrently here (and still are as of ttb! don't think the two know each other though)

now time for a completely different topic in regards to the subject: verity! no time travel shit here and her story has no relation to what was said previously other than "arceus is a dick sometimes."

i can't go too much into verity's backstory and why she desparately needs therapy but i have some minor tidbits i can give away. i finally decided that she's originally from sinnoh, as it felt fitting with how arceus and giratina and a certain other species made in arceus' image are relevant to ttb, and her having knowledge on its mythos lends credence to her actions prior to the story.

the last thing i wanna talk about is her name, as this is a new thing i literally just came up with today lol. verity's name has been that since i started taking these ocs more seriously back in early 2022, which was long before i had ever thought up her backstory. so it's just a bit of a wild coincidence that sinnoh has a lake called verity and my sinnoh-born oc also has that name for completely unrelated reasons, so it would be a missed opportunity to not connect the two right? all i can really say for now is that lake verity ends up being a significant place for verity while she's in the human world.

so until today i had thought that finnian and kaira would give verity her name as just a cute reversal of how the player names the partner typically. but now i'm thinking that, while verity doesn't remember "her name" (in quotations for transgender reasons) upon being transformed, the word "verity" is something that rings a bell for her. and so finnian and kaira are like "maybe that's your name, since it is a name" and with no better option verity goes along with it.

tysm for letting me talk about my guys. it's fun doing this as i have a bad habit of coming up with stuff as i'm writing it JSHJSHDJHD

[gatheredfates]

GET TO KNOW ME ✧˖°.

This is long, so I'm popping it under a read more. Thanks to @allyennah and @sealrock for tagging me!

Tagging: @haellen-o, @ainyan, @fair-fae, @thefreelanceangel, @joiedecombat & you!

are you named after anyone? Technically my name is from Greek mythos! I don't think that's why my mum named me that, though; I think she just liked it. She wanted a name that was unusual enough that people could pronounce, but unusual enough there wasn't likely to be too many people with the same name.

when was the last time you cried? I watched Game Changer last night where the contestants were being really nice to Jess and made her cry so that got me crying. LOL.

do you have kids? Ha. Haha. HAHAHA. no.

do you use sarcasm a lot. I'm Australian.

what sports do you play/have you played? Outside of like school-mandated sports (not that I play any now), I played Netball/Softball as a kid! Softball has a special place in my heart because, while I wasn't very good at it, I did have a lot of fun.

what is the first thing you notice about other people? Nothing, I am literally the most oblivious person on the planet. KSDFJGHSD. I think, especially being online, I tend to notice how people speak and treat each other - if that counts.

scary movies or happy endings? I'm more of a 'watch other people dissect and consume horror' so I would say happy endings... but I do love a good horror movie, even if I personally suck at consuming it.

any special talents? I write! I feel like that tends to get overlooked in roleplay communities because we all write, but I've had work of mine published in marketing/academic circles so I can vouch it's decent. Outside of that, I used to/can video edit, and I'm also passable at photshop.

where were you born? 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney. I'm joking. I was born in Sydney, though.

do you have any hobbies? Gaming, writing, reading, photo manipulation. I watch far too many niche video essays.

do you have any pets? She's not so much my pet, but I was adopted by my the partner's family cat, Lucy. She might as well be mine at this stage, though.

how tall are you? I think like 5'6-7? I'll ask my doctor when I see her next, I genuinely don't remember.

favourite subject in school. Surprising absolutely no-one, English.

dream job? You tell me and we'll both know. I flip-flop between so many things I'd like to do verses what is feasible to do. I think realistically, if I could do university over again, I'd focus more on psychology... but I don't know if I'd be a psychologist.

eye colour? My eyes are weird. They're sort of blue/green when you look close and one has a freckle. I love them, but they're weird.

[anachronisticcrab]

Hello! I’m not sure if you are still doing asks and of course if your not it’s completely fine but if you are can you do Demi-God children of Bia? maybe will being a champion of Nyx to please? Again if you don’t it’s absolutely fine I was just wondering and if you can thank you very much I appreciate it greatly

Hi! I’m so sorry about how long this has taken to get back 😭😭 my asks are always open, my mind is always ADHD

Anyways, demigod children of Bia/Vis HC’s (I will say that I don’t know a ton about Bia, cause I’ve gotten to know other gods much better, but I will do my best here)

Most of her children are mute or selectively mute, as she doesn’t speak much in the mythos and is often the silent force behind everything

For those who don’t know, Bia is the goddess of force

This is what tripped me up lol cause force is such a versatile word so I’m gonna put all my thoughts in here

‘Force’ can be like unstoppable force on the battlefield (which is how Bia went along, as in the mythos she was the force aiding the Olympians against the titans)

It could also be the force of love, the most powerful motivator so some of these demigods are extremely close

‘Force’ also always makes me think of the forces of nature, like gravity and mass and all that so I think it’d be really cool if Bia’s children could semi alter the gravity levels around them in order to fly and crush their enemies

Also Royal Bia Kids bringing their subjects and enemies to their knees would be very fun

As well, they’re extremely tight knit with children of Nike, Kratos and Zelus

Often they’ll feel obligated to and protective of Zeus’ children (a child of Bia and a child of Nike actually housed Jason for a long time in New Rome)

They have the capability to change the tide of battle

Extremely persuasive

(Personal hc here) Bianca and Nico are descendants of Bia and Nike, which is why Maria chose their names

Will as a champion of Nyx is god tier omg

Is able to create miniature constellations and nebulae with his light powers thanks to his blessing from the Night

Night and Day simultaneously

Uses his powers with Nicos to create night scenes for younger campers

This is the real source of his glowing powers, and he will glow a billion different colours at once to create the galactic look of the night sky

Part of the reason he’s obsessed with Star Wars ngl (always in the night sky)

When I think of night I think of space so don’t judge how this is mostly on space lol

Genuinely think she should’ve been sweeter in canon so she’s genuinely the sweetest mother ever you can fight me

She gives Will protection in the shadows and cover of night

Helps him fight his way through Tartarus with Nico in the solo book

All I can think of for now, again so sorry for the months long delay 😭😭 I hope you enjoyed tho ❤️ if u wanted me to do smth else/I misunderstood pls let me know too

btw for everyone who sees this— feel free to add anything on

[derekscorner]

“Finished” Nier

I finally pushed through my run of Nier Replicant 1.5 tonight. My experience was very up and down. I had moments I loved but spent a whole lot of the time annoyed.

It was quite a jarring experience given how much I liked Automata. Which, I’m aware they’re very different games in function but given how the new Nier rerelease had some Automata shine put on to it I went in expecting less aggravation than I got.

The parts I enjoyed most were definitely character ones. I enjoy Taro’s darker- or rather, his unique storytelling. It’s a nice change compared to tropes you’d see more often. The fact he made Drakengard 1′s entire main cast out of tropes her personally dislikes is enough to get me to follow the mans work. lol

For Nier, the things I tended to enjoy the most was the small character interactions. Especially watching Kaine and Weiss give each other shit. I’ll never be able to hear the word hussy and not laugh again.

I loved learning that Weiss is scared of ghosts or that Kaine basically takes Emil camping being far nicer than normal. I also love that she doesn’t want Nier to know this preferring to maintain her “image”.

Nier himself I had the most issue caring about. Perhaps it’s just my western existence but I find his motivation hard to truly engulf in. I spent the game wishing Pappa Nier was in the game instead.

In the time I spent learning DrakeNier lore playing Automata I found Nier’s premise more engaging when Nier is the father, not the brother. I could by a Nier’s motives, and failings against humanity, more when he’s a father. The desperation of a parent is not to be underestimated.

Brother Nier is passable and some scenes do make more sense for this version but I personally can’t be as invested in this version. Although, I do like that Nier-Kaine dynamic.

What would the game be without the love between a murder hobo and her twink~

Sadly the game fell apart for me outside this. Combat is perfectly fine but I had a hard time playing the game. I’d have to force myself to sit down and do it because I was determined to at least do one route by my own power.

And you may wonder how I had such a hard time playing when I liked characters well enough and find combat fine as is. The simple answer is tedium. I tried doing as many side quests as I could.

I wanted to make sure I saw as much of the story as I could and not miss anything given Taro’s reputation. This was admittedly a bad idea because the sheer back track between this and story missions got to me.

It somehow felt frustrating to even go to a story mission after a point. I can not quite figure out why this is. Perhaps it was the constant back track & jog and perhaps some missions just were not fun.

After finishing part 1 I couldn’t take it anymore. I downloaded some saves and played part 2 onward achieving Ending D. The file itself only had Nier two levels higher than the file I had initially done so I didn’t cheese the game in terms of power.

I did however cheese the sidequests. This let me get an ending despite how cheap it would seem to some of you bigger fans. I’m also sure I missed a few story/world beats by doing this but I refused to fetch quest anymore.

The game was just doing something in a way that I couldn’t stand anymore even if I can’t quite place a finger on why. I also refused to do any fishing minigames. A hidden leveling system? 10 or so fish requests? No thank you sir never.

I left this game a bit sad that I couldn’t enjoy it but I can’t bring myself to replay this for a long time. The tedium is just too much, I’ll have to settle for my shameful hacked route D.

I eventually just youtubed the ending E which...left me with so many questions but that’s for a rant or talk with someone more versed in the DrakeNier mythos than myself.

----------

Editor Derek: I forgot to add that I seemed to be most interested with the story at the intro. I feel way more invested in the fall out and war timeline after Caim and Angelus fell into the Nier world.

This is to the extent that the shift from that intro to the actual story was as stark as my first time playing KH2′s intro in 05 to the story after Sora wakes. 

----------

I’ll leave this on one final humorous note:

I had the audacity to kill shade Nier with a pipe. lmao

[skythesnake]

Tell tumblr about the unnamed book…

Oh, I could go on and on about my current wip. I love it so much and I hope to publish it one day. It started as simply worldbuilding practice, but a storyline pushed its way through, and I decided to turn it into an actual book.

The base idea is that it's set in a world where eight of the nine countries were made by different gods and then kind of mashed together into the Preimyr Continent (known to mortals as Elat, though Elat is actually this world's word for 'Earth' and also a god). The ninth country is a set of three islands created later by a different god.

An undecided number of years before the beginning of the book, one of the countries, Tsabal (A country on the west coast) discovered a new continent in the seas west of the Matanal Islands. There, they found a new race, but this new race unknowingly violated one of Tsabal's deeply held moral rules and so Tsabal declared war on the Junifrati people who live on the Sycandram Continent. Eventually, all countries except Kinan (the southernmost country) joined Tsabal in it's war effort and that's where we are when the story starts.

The book begins by introducing Kishan, a book smart, anxious, young woman from the northern-most country, Alanae. He talks about his genderfluidity and the fact that he feels very out of place in flat Tsabal, where he's used to the high mountain ranges back home that block Alanae from the rest of the continent. They become squad captain of Squadron 13 (a very unlucky number due to it being prime, but that's just superstition... right?) which holds a self-righteous, easily angered Fijari man (Fijarin is another country on the west coast, just south of Alanae), a strangely powerful Tashikan (Tashik is a country on the east coast and is the second most southern.), A very introspective Vishali spy (Vishal is right next to Fijarin on the east coast), and a handsome, quiet, Tsaballan man.

The book features themes about racism and discrimination and the overall themes of the book are 'just because this person doesn't act and/or look like you, doesn't mean that they're bad.' and also 'Not everyone who looks the same is the same.'

Eventually, a bubbly young Tashikan by the name of Kira'is is introduced as well and she joins the squadron after they've been transferred to a war camp on the West Matanal Island just before they make the trip to the Sycandram Continent to help the war effort there.

I have so much more lore, from the mythos (specifically the gods, but I'm working on making some more specific myths too), to character dynamics, to lore about each individual country and the cultures I've made, it's all really fun. I can't fit it all into the book, especially a lot of the mythos, so I'm thinking about making a game about the mythos and/or just dumping a bunch of it on Tumblr.

Also as a side note: I've started making music for it, I have a lullaby that originated in Ancient Tashik, and a character theme song for Kishan. I'm currently working on fleshing out the lullaby and making a instrumental theme song for the god of death and madness who plays an extremely big role in the book. I hope to flesh all these song out and then maybe release them somewhere (probably YouTube or smth) sometime in the next year or two.

This got longer than I anticipated lol. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask away!

[affinitystoryblog]

👦, 🙊 and 📝 for Sinie and Csilla?

🧑 Talk about your OC's name. Does it have a special meaning or reason behind it?

yes!! so Sinie's name comes from the very very veeeeery first idea of affinity when it was kinda greek inspired, (hence calliope and urania, two names of the muses. this was originally because csilla had 9 caretaker sisters who were essentially the muses. but that idea was scrapped quickly and only urania survived for a long time, then i ended up creating calliope for the rewrite in 2020) csilla's name was actually Mnemosyne (again, scrapped very quickly so i took the pronunciation of "syne" and made Sinie! now, i could be pronouncing mnymosyne wayyy wrong but sinie's name stuck and its just sinie now :D

for csilla, when i scrapped the greek mythos inspo and went with something more original for me i went to look up some pretty cosmic sounding names and i stumbled upon the hungarian name, Csilla (pronounced 'k-silla') meaning 'star'. of course, i pronounced it WAYYY wrong all these years and had been pronouncing it as 'sheila' LMAO so yeah csilla's name is sheila if anyone is curious about how to pronounce it.

🙊 What is your OC's worst flaw? is there a time this flaw has challenged them or caused them to fail?

Sinie

GOD THIS GIRL HAS FLAWS!! she's too quick to act, she doesnt think before she speaks, she's naive and tends not to question someone's intentions, she is relatively a weak magical girl and is very much carried by her team YET still has a hero complex and sees herself as the leader, even above csilla of all people.

her biggest flaw tho??? definitely overcompensation. she overcompensates all the time for her depressed or negative emotions by being overly positive so much that its toxic, she makes big, flashy moves when she fights to get one big hit out because she has no actual strategy or plan, she acts as if she's the only one in the world who understands agitha and yet she knows she doesn't have a damn clue what's going on with that girl. sinie is a goddamn MESS and i ADORE HER!!!!!

Csilla

gosh this one is FUN because i dont explore csilla's flaws as much, but lets be real, she has no backbone. she's shy and she was picked on for being 'weird' in a prissy private all girls academy. and you know how girls bully, that shit is so psychological. so she has no words to say for herself, she lets her mother control every aspect of her life despite being extremely neglectful of her daughter, she considers her cat her best friend, she is lonely yet despite being in a new school, if it weren't for sinie, csilla wouldn't have any friends. she is so willful about fixing herself too, she doesnt see a way out because she has no backbone!! so!! she relies on sinie to "save" her and then even everett! everett brings flavor and rebellion to her life so that starts to make her act out and i can actually see her getting arrogant for a bit.

in short, my girls are a mess ✌✌

📝 What's your favorite thing about writing your OC? What kind of situations do you like writing them in best?

its the most fun when sinie and csilla are interacting for me. at least so far, since im still getting into it all. i only have barely 4 chapters written and one of them is chapter 3 part 2 so...LOL

i love writing sinie and csilla being close and learning to depend on each other while still finding themselves.

oc ask meme

[darthkvznblogs]

Now that it's over, how do you feel about MCU Phase 4?

Well, to be honest, I haven't watched like half of it! Overall, I liked what I watched, but it's hard to deny that the MCU has been struggling to find its footing after Endgame. I'll tell you my take on what I did watch (briefly, I'm not a reviewer haha)

-Black Widow: I liked it! Kinda too little, too late for Natasha's character, to be honest, but it was a neat adventure. Yelena was the standout there, great addition to the MCU. I even kinda liked "Taskmaster" (though, yeah, not at all what I would've hoped for a live action Taskmaster) Still miffed the Widow is dead, though.

-Shang-Chi: Loved it. Could call it formulaic, origin story and all, but I don't mind that, personally. The new characters are all great, the return of Trevor Slattery was very funny, the fight coreography was excellent, and I really loved Wenwu and the reimagined Ten Rings (though I wouldn't mind if they turned out to have some of their comic-accurate powers later on wink-wink)

-Eternals: I liked the mythos it brought to the table, and the visuals are incredible, but the romance that's core to the story couldn't have been more bland if it tried, and the Deviants might as well have been an environmental hazard rather than antagonists.

-No Way Home: Loved it! I'm a sucker for that kind of fanservice, not gonna lie. Almost all the returning villains were amazing (except Lizard, he was kind of just...there), but my god, Green Goblin was crazy good. The Multiverse craziness was kind of contrived, and it had kind of a downer ending, but that's the Parker luck for you.

-Wandavision: I liked it, but I feel it didn't go weird enough. Also, you can't convince me that this Wanda and MoM Wanda are the same character. No doubt, Wanda was in the wrong in the show, but there's a far cry from that to going on a legit killing spree. I hated that choice, it felt like character assassination, and it pissed me off enough that I outright refuse to watch MoM.

-Falcon and the Winter Soldier: I guess I liked them. Bucky and Sam were great, and their struggles were very interesting to watch through. John Walker was very good, too, nailed the role. The rest was, uh...well, there's not much there to talk about, unfortunately. Also pissed about Sharon Carter, but she's probably been replaced by a Skrull, in which case I'll allow it.

-Loki: very cool, though I have to say I expected a bit more fun to be had with time travel and alternate timelines. Kind of transparent that this show exists only because Loki's so popular, lol.

-What if...?: kinda hit or miss. Refused to watch the zombie episode because I have a phobia there. Also: poor Tony can't catch a break in that series, lol.

-Moon Knight: pretty great! Like Loki, it's pretty obvious that Oscar Isaac carries the show, but I can't complain. I could see how it'd piss off die hard fans of the comics version, though. He's pretty dang different, from what I know.

-She-Hulk: I've only watched two eps so far. It's funny, and I really like Tatiana Maslany as Jen Walters, but I'm actually really not a fan of the Hulk ever since Endgame. I know the show gets pretty nuts later, so I'm curious to watch more, but who knows when I'll have a chance.

The rest of Phase 4 I haven't watched either from lack of time or because there's something about it that turns me off. I'm sure I'll catch up eventually though!

[provider-of-guardians]

For the Autumn asks: Blankets, Bundled, Candy Corn, Crow, Comfy, Costume, Cozy, Evergreen, Fresh Air, Halloween, Holidays, Intricate, Maze, Pie, Potpourri, Quiet, Sweaters, Scary, Syrup, Trains, Ultimate, Yule, Zeal (might have went overboard, lol)

(No worries XD) *cracks knuckles*

Blankets - sweaters or fuzzy blankets?

Oooh, honestly kinda hard. I do love my sweater, but going to bed in the winter wouldn't be the same without my fuzzy blanket, hhhhh. I might go with fuzzy blankets, lol

Bundled - describe your ideal date.

Interesting one o//3//o (I can feel the pressure of my boyfriend seeing this later XD) I haven't really dreamed up specific dates before but I like the idea of going out for ice cream, lol. We could get two different flavors, and then share a taste u//w//u Maybe walk around a park or something holding our cones in one hand, and each other's hand in the other, talking about anything. Find a cozy spot and watch the sunset. If it's not too long of a date, dancing under the stars later that night would be really nice too >//>👉👈💜

Candy Corn - what's your favorite candy?

Reeses Pieces :D

Crow - what's an unpopular opinion you have on autumn?

Hmm... Halloween isn't the best holiday that ever existed? :p

Comfy - plaid shirts or demin jackets?

Plaid shirts babeyyyyyyy

Costume - do you like to dress up for Halloween? Do you have a go to costume?

I don't celebrate Halloween XD

Cozy - describe your ideal fall day.

It's a bit chilly, but not frigid. Leaves are crumchy under my feet. I see the wind pick them up now and again - some dance circles in the street, others snow down from the trees. I bake bread or cookies inside. Is a fun day :3

Evergreen - do you like Christmas trees?

YEEEEE

Fresh Air - what's something you're thankful right now?

The turkeys that God plopped on the road next to our house XD (I don't think I mentioned it here before but last week, we found 3 turkeys wandering around outside, caught them, and now have them in our coop lmbo)

Halloween - what's your favorite Halloween tradition?

Still don't have one ;p

Holidays - do you prefer Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas?

Christmaaaassss

Intricate - what's a subject you have random knowledge about?

I'm tryna think of something that wouldn't be obviously relevant to me.. (such as something art or farm related :p) Uh... I know what the plastic tip on a shoelace is called? XD;;; Oh, and I know what an alula feather is, lmbo

Maze - apple picking or pumpkin patch?

Ooooh.... Being in a pumpkin patch would be so fun, but picking apples would be more fun than picking pumpkins XD I'll go with apple picking, lol :3

Pie - what's your favorite type of pie?

I might have to say chocolate actually XD (As much as I also love pumpkin, apple, and coconut cream X3)

Potpourri - tell us something random about you.

Uhhh.... I don't shave my legs ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Quiet - how do you relax?

That's a good question >>;; I don't often take time to deliberately relax, but I guess when I really need to, I'll chill on my bed and watch youtube or scroll through tumblr or something o3o One time recently when I was really upset, I played A Short Hike, which quickly became my new favorite comfort game lol

Sweaters - what's your go to fall outfit?

Short sleeved shirt over long sleeved shirt, sweatpants, either my sweater or a plaid shirt on top lol

Scary - what's your favorite scary movie?

I don't really have one o3o;; Not much of a Scary Movie person, lol (But if you'll count youtube videos, I like the Chzo Mythos series by Lucahjin XD)

Syrup - waffles or pancakes?

Pancakes all the way

Trains - if you could spend the fall anywhere, where would you go?

Ooooh.. tbh, maybe anywhere that the leaves change color lol. October in Kansas was nice :3 I have some fond autumn memories of North Carolina as well..

Ultimate - describe your best holiday experience.

(Why is this one called ultimate XD) My favorite Christmas was the one where my siblings and I received bookmarks as gifts. My family was really poor that year and couldn't afford anything, so Mom had us pick out one ball each from her stash of very special Egyptian cotton thread. Then she crocheted us each bookmarks made of that thread, with a heart in the middle of them. (And the colors were beautiful btw, I got a very spring themed green/pink/etc one) She felt horrible that it was the best she could do but I still cherish my bookmark. Aside from that, that was also the year I started watching Gravity Falls with the fam. (I watched it in private with my sister beforehand so we were already way into it, lol.) A relative gifted us a dvd with some of the episodes on it, so Mom said to go ahead and put it on. The first episode was Double Dipper, which everyone loved. So we honestly had a blast :3 That was one of my favorite Christmases.

Yule - what's one wish you have for this holiday season?

I wish I could spend it with my boyfriend 👉👈 Don't know if we'll be able to but, that is my wish lol

Zeal - what is something you go all out for?

I would say Christmas but we slack some years, lmboo. Hmm, maybe Thanksgiving or New Years Eve? o3o

Thanks for the ask! :3

[forgetthetimetravel]

fic authors self rec! when you get this, reply with your favourite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. let’s spread the self-love 🤍✨

Damn now I gotta think of 5 fics lol....

I think Simply A Backstory (princess tutu) is one of my favs I've written, AND it's complete! XD It was a lot of fun and somehow pulled together better than anticipated. I don't think I could do another quite like it though, that was almost complete pantisng, and I have finally learned better how to plot since then ahaha. Loved getting into some metafiction though.

Broken Doorway (the nightmare before christmas) is next. It's still incomplete, but it's 150k+, and was my first real foray into long form fics/writing. I had done plenty of short stories and poetry before, but even though I tried to write longer things before, they never got past a few chapters. One of my fav OCs is originally from that story as well!

Sea Foam (Full Moon wo Sagashite) is a little poem I wrote from Eichi's POV at the end of the manga. It's not super long or necessarily the most amazingly written, but I still remember how I felt writing it, and how much love it involved even if sad. I'm still happy with how it turned out.

I LOVE the little story I wrote for a Mythiru week in 2019 (Princess Tutu), the prompt was Stories and I went HAM for an East of the Sun West of the Moon retelling. Also made it a happier ending; could be read as mainly the intended pair of Mytho and Ahiru, but also could be read as a polycule eventually with the addition of Rue. 👀 I love them all and fairy tell retellings are my JAM so yeah. This still makes me exceedingly happy.

Bonus, I was reminded that same mythiru week I wrote a snippet of a jewel thief au and hoo boy does THAT read like I want to know more! My brain can't quite stay with it long enough to actually make the whole thing though so this snippet is probs all ill get out. Really enjoy it though.

Since this one isn't fully written yet or even have a name I don't think it fits in the criteria, BUT I am in the midst of writing a Labyrinth/Princess Tutu crossover that is in my favs list already xD I'm just fucking slow.

You can find all of these split between my old ff.net account or my current ao3!

[mrpenguinpants]

Genshin: Royalty AU [V1]

I’ve been a hermit ever since covid dropped lol. Yes, you’re doing social distancing right. Imagine going outside? Ptff, what a weird concept. But I’m happy you’ve stuck around for so long despite the constant brainworms I have. Oho?? More crumbs 👀 Lemme just crack my knuckles real quick. I’m throwing a reader in just so I have an excuse to tag everyone haha. These are a lot more scuffy compared to my usual HCs but let me brainrot for a sec. 

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Genshin: Holding Hands [V1]

Genshin: When you’re cold [V1]

Genshin: University AU [V1]

Genshin: Roomate HCs [V1]

Genshin: Mythos AU - Cat Xiao

[Masterlist]

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[taglist]  <- if you want to be added, please read this first.

@youaskedfurret​​ @diaxfeliz​​ @wintergreen-aix​​ @aethwie​​ @thegayrubberducky​​ @lovelykittycatmeow​​​ @yuunoagivesmelife​​ @dokidokisama @rokipersonal​​ @minakohasmanyhusbandos​​ @strwbrry-lia @tigerpriestess​​ @yuu-yuukurotsuki​​  @qimiie @onowie​​ @hanniejji​​​  @mikeysbike​ @unionwitch​ @musekala​ @sunnshiii​ @stanzastic​ @akaasea​ @xoneaboveallx @adoring-ghost @asheseiler @childelover @dilucsz​ @dai-tsukki-desu​ @thicmitten​ @nonniechan​ @htnicayh​ @genshins1mpact​ @morthecreator​ @aanne2601 @aklxojjk​ @fulltimeventisimp​ @legionqueensav​​​ @castinluckgamer​​​

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Zhongli

Your first impressions of Zhongli was that he was an egotistical and selfish brat. To be fair, you might have adopted some of those qualities yourself but you were both children at the time. Your sister, Guizhong, was tasked to take care of Zhongli in place of his parents which lead to your first meeting with the infamous Imperial Prince. At first, you were excited to finally meet someone who was the same age as you and Guizhong was always so kind. But when he turned to face you two, he just asked if Guizhong was supposed to be his concubine. You weren’t sure whether to gag or throw your shoe at him but Guizhong quickly intercepted before you could do anything that could get you killed. It’s only until you spent more time with him that Zhongli tells you that he has never had someone care for him or want to spend time with him without some alterative motive. 

Zhongli radiates sheltered child from birth. To outsiders, he seems really slow on normal everyday tasks but that’s because he’s never had to worry about doing mundane things. He’s always had someone else to do them for him that when he’s out in public, he just stands around and waits for someone to help him. It’s incredibly awkward for everyone in the situation when Zhongli forgets to bring mora and just stands off to the side until one of his servants comes to pick up his check. That’s how Zhongli got such a bad reputation of being a spoiled brat despite being a well-mannered and polite man. When he drops something he just turns to look at you, back at the object, then back at you. You have to pound it into your brain that no, Zhongli is not a lazy and he isn’t trying to be insulting, that’s just how he’s lived his life. When you tell him he is fully capable to picking things up, because what if he dropped something important when he was older and the wind swept it away, he pounders the thought as if you’ve just explained the meaning of the celestials to him that you give up and just pick it up for him. 

A Prince from Mondstadt named Venti used to come to Liyue for playdates while their father’s talked business and politics. He was the complete opposite of Zhongli but you genuinely liked him. While he was a bit more bolder and hyper compared to the calm and quiet Zhongli, he would always try and get Zhongli out of the palace and outside. You end up missing so many fun and interesting things when you’re locked up in your study room. How can the next Emperor care about his land when he doesn’t even know what it’s like to live there? It was the first time you and Zhongli went out just for fun and you might have gone a bit overboard in hindsight, but Venti’s personality and the feeling of freedom to do anything was addicting. Plus, watching Zhongli’s reactions to all these new feelings made him feel a bit more human. While you knew that Zhongli would do everything for Liyue, you never got the impression that his heart was in it. 

From then on, you and Zhongli try and carve some time out of his schedule to go down to the streets and have a little bit of a break. When you both built kites and scaled all the way to the mountains to fly them, it was the first time you’ve seen Zhongli be bad at something. He always had such elegance and perfection whenever his teachers asked him to do something but as soon as the kite took flight, it would stumble then come crashing down. Zhongli had the most heartbroken puppy expression on his face that you couldn’t help but burst out laughing. While you’re on the ground gasping for air and probably have the most ridiculous expression on your face, Zhongli smiles gently as he looks at you then back to Liyue. The moment is ruined when Guizhong comes running towards you both and scolds you for sneaking out. 

While it’s somewhat annoying when other attendants in palace gush about how well Zhongli is growing into becoming the next emperor, both in smarts and appearance, you have to somewhat agree with them in some places. If you want to know the history of Liyue or how to properly place a tea set, he can tell you in incredible detail. However, when it comes to social cues and interactions, he’s awful at them. Everything is treated a business deal that it makes everyone somewhat nervous or uncomfortable that you’re internally dying at any social event he goes to. But despite the awkwardness, he has a lot of admires that frequently send him letters of marriage or adoration that you have to shift through. It makes you a bit uncomfortable reading the flowery language but it surprised you a bit how many people have the misconception that Zhongli planning to have you as his spouse. When you mention this to Zhongli as a joke, he returns to his thinking pose and he contemplates the idea before nodding and agreeing with the letters. He proposes to you right then and there and it’s such a sudden development that your brain has finally broke and you pass out. 

Venti

Venti is one of those royalty types that spends so much time outside and away from his duties that he’s basically thrown his cape and crown to the wind. The first time Zhongli visited Monstadt, his first impressions of Venti were him singing to a crowd. While Zhongli doesn’t understand why Venti would spend his time on music rather than his studies, they still get along well. Mostly because Venti has a very easy going personality, even if he’s a bit blunt, but whatever comments he makes fly over Zhongli’s head. Unlike him, you’re the complete opposite. You’re a knight in training with an earnest heart that wants to protect the City of Mondstadt with your entire being. While you don’t necessarily hate Venti, because he never asked to be born into the royal family, you can’t help but get frustrated at his nonchalant attitude towards everything aside from alcohol and music. 

Your first meeting with him was during your time training under the Favonius Knights. You wanted to get a bit more practice late in the night when Venti stumbled upon you bullying a poor wooden dummy before he announces his arrival. He laughs a bit at your fumbling as you quickly get into a proper kneel but he waves it off saying it was unnecessary before he asks what you’re up to. You’re in mid-explanation when Venti cuts you off with a yawn and you can feel the irritation creeping up on you as you snap back why he’s outside instead of inside the safe walls of the castle. Your irritation grows even further when Venti smugly grins, patting himself on the back from getting a rise out of you, before he reaches into the bag you just noticed he was carrying to produce sheets of music. 

While his teacher’s drone on and on about the production of wine, he is busy writing songs in his textbooks. While he understands the importance of his role, he thinks the people can rule themselves just fine without his help. He wants to leave his crown and become a bard and live an ordinary but free life. How he’s always sneaking out to go explore without the world constantly breathing down his neck. Whether his posture is correct or if he’s memorized the history of berries wouldn’t matter. Honestly, Venti is weighing his options of either staying as a royal or leaving everything behind to pursue the life he wants. When he finishes his heart-felt speech he expects you to give him those same pitiful and woe is you eyes but you’re just angry. You can understand his sentiment, living a life that you never asked for isn’t fun, but suddenly packing your things and jumping ship would only cause chaos and conflict. At least have some sort of replacement before you leave damnit. 

Now it’s your turn to be surprised, rather than taking offense to you, a nameless knight, basically insulting the him, the Prince, he lights up in excitement. He rips his cape and crown off before he’s shoving them onto you before you can even say anything. He’s almost bouncing on his feet as he tells you that you can freely take his crown and become the next in line. You have no idea how that would work but he mentions that he knows a man named Albedo that can help change your appearance to look like him. That way, you get to protect the City you love so much and he get’s to live the life he’s always wanted. It’s completely fool proof with no flaws whatsoever! Except for the fact, that he is jumping way too far to conclusions, he’s shoving his responsibilities onto you, and most importantly, you don’t the first thing about Venti and how to act like him. 

Before you know it, Venti has dragged you to meet his Father to personally appoint you as his personal knight. He doesn’t take no for an answer even though you aren’t qualified at all to be protecting someone of high position as him but Venti’s always been a handful that someone needs to watch over him. You have no idea how one night managed to throw your entire life into this chaos but you’re not sure if you can even get out of this situation at this point. 

Kaeya

It all happened so suddenly. You and him were playing in the gardens when his father rushed in and took both of your hands and dragged you to the border to Khaenri’ah. The land you were both used to seeing, the friendly baker that would always give you both sweets, or the magic that used to flow so freely was transformed into red cubes. You were both scared and confused but as you both reached the border oh Khaenri’ah, a large gate that leads to the above world of Teyvat, his father tells you both to run as far as you could and never look back before he pushed you both in. It wasn’t until years later that you both discovered that a corrupted god had taken control of Khaenri’ah. Now, everyone believes that the Khaenri’ah prince is dead because he’s been missing for so long and whatever hope Khaenri’ah has is gone. For his own safety, he had to change his name to Kaeya and you both found yourself at the gates of Mondstadt. 

It took a lot of adjusting for the both of you but Kaeya especially. Your mother had dropped you into the care of Kaeya’s family for a short while before everything went downhill. She was a bit on the neglectful side but she was still your mother and you knew she was alive. On the other hand, Kaeya lost his entire family and nation in a single moment. Whatever pure happiness and bright personality he used to have quickly regressed until he was a shy and quiet kid. You know he blames himself for what happened even if there wasn’t anything he could have done but he’s grown a fear of outsiders so he tends to avoid other children his age. Instead finding comfort in playing with the funny looking abyss mages and slimes that are on the outskirt of Mondstadt. While he doesn’t seem bothered by the weird comments other people make of him, you know deep down he does get hurt, that it makes you so mad that you end up lashing out. 

You end up getting into a few fights as Kaeya patches you up. He scolds you and says that he doesn’t need you to go so far for him is when you make him a promise that you’ll protect him with everything you have. It’s the first moment since everything happened that he seems to gain back that life in his eyes. He blinks at you before he chuckles sheepishly and comments that you can’t even tie your shoes correctly do you stumble a bit. You’re a bit embarrassed at your sudden proclamation but stand determined about it. You both end up making a pinky promise to stay by each other’s side until the very end. 

When you’re both older and in the position of Captain and Teacher in the Favonius Knights is when he seems to be a bit more open. You both end up gaining a reputation of the laid-back Calvary Captain that bother’s the strict but kind Teacher. He’s always waltzing in the middle of you class to tease you before you end up throwing something at him to get him to stop embarrassing you in front of new recruits. You end up getting back at him with your woe is me acting and push all your paper work on him. Since he loves spending so much time in your class, he should know how to do all your paper work right?. Despite all of this, if anyone needs to find Kaeya or you, you’re basically a packaged deal. Always attached to the hip. 

Kaeya knows deep down, at some point he’s going to have to go back to Khaenri’ah and save his people but he’s conflicted. While he knows it’s selfish that he get’s to live a life of freedom, he wants to be selfish. Not just for him but for you as well. You’ve both basically lost everything and now that things are okay, he doesn’t want to give that up. While you both promised to stay together until the end, you’re the only person he has left and he doesn’t want to rope you into his mess or have you worry about him. He’s heard of the blond traveler in black and blue that is searching for the lost prince of an unnamed kingdom, knows that the peaceful life he has right now will come to an end, but he pushes it aside. Besides, there are more important things to attend to. Today might be the day he tells your students about how you fell into a lake because you got scared by a frog. 

Jean

Jean is incredibly dedicated to her role and to her people because she’s genuinely a good person and wants to see people happy. Especially her sister Barbara. She’s a bit awkward and clumsy in her execution but she has a lot of heart. Being her personal knight, you know just how hard she works and you admire her greatly for her ideals and nature. She has such a professional and gentle façe when she’s out in public but as soon as she’s behind closed doors, she’s collapsing into your arms as the world lifts for a short while. You chuckle a bit amused at how different she appears to the outside world, how the ever prime and proper Princess wakes up with a rat’s nest, how her favourite food is pizza, or how she throws these 7 inch heels out the window as soon as a ball is over. 

Due to Jean’s kind-hearted nature, when it comes to more pushy people she can’t seem to say no to. Travelers or citizens that think they can take advantage of the Princess is what makes your blood boil. While she isn’t stupid and knows that people are taking advantage of her, she wants to extend any help she can. Not for her public image but because that’s how she is. While it warms your heart that people like her exist, as her knight you can only let so many things slide. When some shady peddler tries to lead Jean somewhere, you’re already stepping in and smilingly sweetly as you grip the peddler’s hand in a death grip and not so subtlety say that he better have a good excuse for why he wants to drag the Princess away or there might be a problem. 

When Jean is overworking herself and nearing her breaking point is when you step in. You may be her knight but you’re also her friend and you know when it’s time to stop her destructive habits. She might complain and reassure you that she’s fine but you don’t accept that. If she was “fine” her temperature wouldn’t be the same level as a pyro slime and she wouldn’t have such dark circles under her eyes. It’s a simple bend and lift to carry her in your arms that she ends up stuttering before going pink and let’s you carry her to her room. While she’s screaming into her hands, you’re preparing medicine and everything she’ll need to make a full recovery. 

The hardest times for Jean is when her Father constantly pesters her to find a husband. Jean is an independent person and while yes, while being a workaholic isn’t against help, but she doesn’t believe she needs a husband just to make her entitled to rule her kingdom. Besides, Jean is secretly a hopeless romantic. You’re very tight lipped about secretly finding her love story books hidden under her bed unless you want to see her self-combust. You try your best to comfort her but there’s not a lot you can do for her situation other than offer words of reassurance and try and get her mind off things. While you’re patting her on the back she’s looking at you as if you’re the most oblivious person in the world. 

Albedo

Albedo is a renowned alchemist that helps royal families with their problems with the use of his intelligence and abilities in alchemy. Something that only a few people can do throughout Teyvat, you being one of them as well. At first, you had admired Albedo and his abilities and saw him as a bit of a role model for young alchemist. Until you actually met him in person. He’s pretty much an emotionless void of a person that he comes off as extremely unempathetic when he listens to the woes of royals. While you sort of agree, the problems that royal’s commission you for are completely ridiculous and selfish, he doesn’t have a moral compass and if he can benefit from it. He’ll do it, no matter how questionable it may seem. 

Maybe it’s because you have a little sister figure in your life to stir your moral compass but it still get’s you irritated. It’s always a joy to see Klee when you come back home from your travels that whatever bad mood you were in suddenly washes away. But when you knock on Alice’s door only to have it open to reveal Albedo holding Klee in his arms does your world come crashing down. Klee is completely ignorant to your internal screams as she scrabbles out of Albedo’s hands to give you a hug and take your hand in hers as she leads you inside. You can almost feel the inner workings of Albedo’s mind as he stares at you blankly as Klee shows you the new art she drew.  

You both don’t mention or talk about it even when you happen to cross each other’s paths outside or you both end up seeing each other at Alice’s home. It’s a bit funny to you, to the outside world Albedo seems so aloof and untouchable, and yet you’re here watching him get tired from chasing Klee around and trying to stop her destroying her home with her bombs. It almost makes you smug when Klee listens to you better than Albedo, it might seem a bit petty and small but you don’t care. He ends up getting back at you when he ends up one-upping you in front of the royal court. He does a quick scan of the room before his eyes land on you and he shoots you a small smug smile before his face returns to it’s neutral expression. You’re clapping along with everyone with the most strained smile you can muster. 

You manage to find out from Klee that Albedo enjoys drawing that the next time you see him, you ask if you could see him draw something or if he had sketches on hand. You’re fascinated by his drawings, more so than his actual research discoveries, as you look at the tiny details he’s managed to capture. Outside of Klee, no one’s really been interested in his drawings that he can’t help but feel a little flustered when you’re gushing about his work. It’s different from people praising his alchemist efforts, you’re not someone whose staring at him like he’s on a pedestal when you say you like his drawings, and it feels genuine. He offers a small smile and says that if you’d like, he’d love to show you some more sketches. 

You’ve never noticed it until other people bring it up but Albedo seems close to you. Usually once he’s done his business he leaves but if you happen to be around, he sticks around a bit longer just to speak with you. How he seems comfortable to relax in your presence and even leans in closer. How he complies with your requests without any benefit to him. You’re not sure what type of relationship you hold with Albedo. You don’t think you’re friends but you’re definitely closer than acquaintance. If taking care of a a hyper active walking bomb doesn’t bring two people closer than you don’t know what does. But at the end of the day, you find you don’t really care. Not everything needs to be labelled and categorized like things are in alchemy. People don’t seem to understand but you always duck out and escape before you’re questioned further about your personal life. Unbeknownst to you, Albedo is watching you go as he ponders your words. 

Childe

Childe is such a clown. He’s an assassin that doesn’t know the first thing about being subtle and is just in it for the fighting. He’s really just an incredibly egotistical bastard that likes being friendly with his targets, just to see their shocked expressions when it’s him that comes to take their life. He’s actually a pretty down to earth guy. While other assassins in the Fatui either have tragic backstories or some sad pitiful tale, Childe just laughs at them. His family is still alive and he’s never had any true hardships in his life. He’s pretty disliked for this reason but he’s a skilled enough fighter that it somewhat makes up for it. 

Just when Childe’s life is at its peak, is when he slips and falls into the abyss. For the first time, he had to face against a threat and in a situation he has no control over which is completely foreign to him. He barely manages to survive until he’s saved by an unknown figure that goes by the name Skirk. While he’s grateful he’s still alive, facing his mortality for the first time gives him a lot to reflect about. Thus he makes the impulse decision to train under Skirk and grow stronger until he’s able to climb out of the abyss. That’s when he meets you who was travelling with Skirk for the same reasons. Your first interactions with this unknown teen is him challenging you to a fight, just for you to throw him over your shoulder as if he weighed nothing. You expected him to get angry or cry but instead he’s standing right back up and grinning like a psychopath as he asks for another fight. You’re looking at Skirk with the most, are we seriously bringing this child with us? look. 

From then on, it’s been the three of you travelling through the floors of the abyss. Skirk tells you the stories of this place, how it used to be a great nation before corruption cause the citizens to be morphed and transformed into monsters. You and Childe learn how to fight alongside Skirk against these monsters until it ends up becoming a competition between you and Childe on who can kill the most monsters. Skirk is a bit worried that when you both are back into the outside world, if he should be worried about how morbid you both might appear. But while you’re both yelling at each other who actually landed the last kill on the regisvine while the hilichurls are cowering in a corner does he just accept that things aren’t going to change. The world will just have to accept it. If you both actually teamed up, and you have before, he thinks you both would be unstoppable but you’re both too stubborn. 

Despite your rivalry, Childe still has his big brother instincts that whenever you get hurt he’s huffing over you like a mother hen as he scolds you for being so reckless. You’re ignoring the fact that he’s bleeding out while you have minor cuts because you don’t want a crybaby Childe on your hands. Even the harsh conditions of the Abyss, you both find ways to entertain yourself. Childe always challenges you to a fight every second of the day and he always ends up with a sore back when you knock him off his feet. And he always makes the joke that you’re sweeping him off his feet which ends up with him screaming bloody murder as you charge at him. It doesn’t help when he’s still yelling comments behind his shoulder that you might get mistaken for a gorilla when you’re both outside that Skirk has gotten so used to this that he simply ignores the attempted murder going on behind him. 

When you’re both strong enough to climb to the gate of the Abyss, Skirk feels almost like a proud parent. Giving you a head pat and a hard slap to the back for Childe does Skirk wave you both off. You’re trying to mask your tears as Childe grins and promises to see you on the other side, that you’ll definitely meet up in the future no matter what. But when he finally returns to the Fatui, works his way back up to being an assassin, he almost thinks Skirk is laughing at him when he realizes that his first target is you. Not that he’s bothered by it, he'll be happy to see you again and see if he can finally beat you. 

Baizhu

Baizhu is the most suspicious doctor in the history of all doctors. Some citizens aren’t even sure if he’s a qualified doctor but alas, he’s very good at his job and is a lot more tolerable compared to the Alchemist Albedo so that’s how he’s been able to keep his job. He works under the Liyue emperor so even if citizens had issues with him, it’s not like they could do anything in the first place. People aren’t sure whether he’s joking or being honest when he explains what he’s been privately working on behind the scenes. From experiments to rituals, they are taken aback but Baizhu just smiles and says he’s just kidding. Being his assistant, you have to constantly reassure others that Baizhu is a bit of a sadist and likes to get a rise out of people. Besides, why would a doctor be so interested in those type of things? It’s incredibly unnerving but no one questions it. They won’t know what to do in the first place if their suspicious are correct. 

While Baizhu knows how to do his job, he’s always sending you to do the dirty work. From getting medicinal plants up on the very top of mountains or bringing cranky old men their prescriptions, whenever you’re done one task he’s got three more for you. He could at the very least take the trash out while he’s busy doing nothing. At least the job has a few perks. You’ve always had numerous health issues and while Baizhu’s reputation is a bit on thin ice, you wouldn’t trust anyone else to look you over. He’s a bit weird about it, you’re pretty sure Baizhu will never love another person emotionally but when it comes to the science behind a human body, he’s absolutely smitten. He tries to reassure you that he does care for the wellbeing of Liyue but you wave it off at him trying to butter you up before he asks something ridiculous of you. 

You and his snake, Changsheng, do not like each other. You think she’s an annoying and bratty snake that Baizhu needs to throw into a jar to shut up while she thinks you’re a complete nuisance and doesn’t understand why Baizhu keeps you around. Baizhu has tried to get you both to reconcile but it always devolves into a petty argument of back-handed insults until Baizhu has enough and tells you both to quiet down. To be truthful, both of your hatred towards each other stems from two completely different reasons rather than disliking each other’s personality, but you can never bring it up to Baizhu. It’s not a conversation anyone wants to have. 

If he has one positive, it’s his adopted daughter Qiqi who is just an absolute sweetheart. She’s shy and prefers to follow after Baizhu and you like a lost duckling. While Baizhu might be the worst boss in this history of all bosses, it makes you grin smugly internally when Qiqi chooses to stay cuddled in your arms instead of his. Qiqi is 95% the reason why you stay in this job, not that Baizhu would ever let you leave, because you’ve genuinely grown fond of someone for the first time the same way she has for you. You bring her along whenever you need to give prescriptions to citizens just so she isn’t stuck in within the same four walls and the locals love her. From her forgetful nature or how she shy’s behind your legs whenever someone new approach's you both. It’s so cute that people tend to ignore the floating rumours that Baizhu is reanimating his previously deceased family. 

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I have no idea if I’m just uncultured or if “Always and Forever” Au’s are a thing. I hope you all like this 👉👈 it’s kind of messy and all over the place and I lowkey don’t know if I like my brainrot (there’s a lot of issues ik). I kinda want to do a part 2 where I include other characters but let me know if that’s something interesting? Oh and feel free to add to this, I’d love to hear your ideas.