#I played all the games and read every fanfic for their ship years ago and to this day I can't nothing about what happened in them☠️
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Does anyone here remember Protocreed......
It's a dead crack ship that fucks me over to this day.
(so srry for invoking this but I'm going down memory lane and remembered this ship existed and y'all the way it had a hold on me in the golden age of Tumblr. Can't believe this was my first crack ship. And now that I know how to art, I realized what's stopping me from drawing a nostalgic ship. )
#YALL#I played all the games and read every fanfic for their ship years ago and to this day I can't nothing about what happened in them☠️#how fucking sad#I fixated on this shit in the early 2010s on here and deviantart#I remember the tags with this ship being filled with so much “filthy” art#protocreed#alex mercer#desmond miles#assassin's creed#prototype#my art#art
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Shipper Tag Game
Tagged by @seiya-starsniper <3
What ship were you completely obsessed with as a teenager, but now you don't care about anymore?
I don’t think there are any actually! I’m pretty consistent and will usually circle back to a ship every couple of years 😊
Which ship would you consider your first one?
This is tough, I don’t think I actually remember. Though I think last time I answered this question I mentioned Lord of the Rings because of Aragorn/Arwen
Your first fanfic was about which couple?
My secret anon identity means I can’t answer this honestly – but the first one I’ve written without being anonymous is Corintheus
Do you remember the first couple you saw fan art of?
Long long time ago so not quite sure actually, might be a ship from Harry Potter
Have you ever gotten into ship discourse?
Nope! I try and stay away from it—though I never hide my opinions, I just don’t really engage too much in ship discourse. People are always going to have differing opinions over pairings, and I’ve seen it get very ugly in fandom spaces.
Did you use to have any NOTP or have one currently?
Oh I have a fair few, but usually they are ships I was previously neutral about. Some of them are also things I've previously shipped. My NOTPs are pretty much all results of a not so pleasant fandom experience, so I don’t really talk a lot about what they are. I’m a multishipper so the only time I actually have a NOTP is when a ship is overwhelmingly represented in a way that I just can’t get on board with.
Who were the last couple in the last fanfic you read?
Corintheus 😊 which is definitely what I’m most known for haha, so probably not a surprise
Currently, do you have any OTPs?
As I said…I am a multishipper, and I’ve never really had an OTP. It’s not a concept I really resonate with? Especially with fanfic because for me it’s all about the exploration of possibilities, and I can very much ship multiple things at once. I care more about interesting/well executed characterisation and well written relationship dynamics.
Is there any couple that, to this day, that you are extremely mad about not getting into?
Not really, because if I’m not into a ship in at least some way (or neutral/open to the possibility) then there is usually a very, very good reason.
Is there any ship you used to dislike but now you think they're kind of interesting?
Hmm. Maybe Desire/Unity? But it’s not that I ever really disliked them, more that there are some obvious consent issues within it that initially made me not really consider the ship too closely. The more I see others exploring it the more I’ve found them interesting 😊
Do you have any ship that, in the past, would have been considered normal but now you would be cancelled over?
I don’t think so actually! Though I’m probably forgetting something
What is your favourite crack ship?
Ooh I’ve read a lot of bizarre stuff. Hmm. It might have to be a certain ship that @writing-for-life introduced me to (if you know what I’m talking about it will need no further explanation haha)
What is the couple you read the most fanfics about?
I’m still anon in a lot of fandoms so I can’t actually answer this question too honestly. I haven’t actually been reading that much recently (very focused on writing at the moment)
What do most of your ships have in common?
Equality…in some fashion they are each other’s match. Which sounds like a strange thing to say for Corintheus but it doesn’t necessarily have to be in physical strength/power.
I also ship a fair few ‘enemies to lovers’ ships. Probably for the above reason! It’s the intimacy of it I think. Also the complexity, I like ships where the dynamic is compelling but not necessarily easy to pull off in a fic, because that usually means more thought is put into the execution of it. If that makes sense? And I am very much all about the execution when I read/write.
What do you absolutely hate in a ship?
Butchering characterisation just to play out a binary sex dynamic. Mostly this presents as overt feminisation of the one character who is designated to be ‘weaker’ for reasons both untrue and usually very offensive. Which sounds harsh but it’s something I utterly despise. Folded into this is also one character ‘fixing’ the other character, especially when this involves that character giving up something important/integral to who they are. I see it so much in published fiction as well and it’s just not for me at all.
I also really don’t like it when unhealthy behaviours are romanticised (usually to ‘fix’ one character) or miscommunication when it’s not something silly like accidentally buying your partner the wrong type of coffee because you were so tired you misheard a word.
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Hello, can I ask from this ask game :
https://www.tumblr.com/threecheersforinking/677824836625694720/anime-ask-game?source=share
For fandom : Haikyuu, BNHA, ATLA, and Jujutsu Kaisen.
Thanks 🌻
Sorry I took time but lists and ranking are difficult to me lol, and I had 4 different asks about making a TOP 5 so I kinda lost myself into it 😅
Oh my god there's so many fandoms, you're really trying to kill me damn-
Okay okay Imma try not to write to much (<- will probably fail)
HAIKYUU
Favorite Character: (I absolutely HATE that question, why do I have to choose ?!?) I'd say Bokuto Koutarou but I also have 5 others in mind lol
Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: The Tokyo Stage during S2 is my fave because my favorite characters get many screentime together, we see so many different people interact, and it's so fun to enjoy matches without the stress of the competition. I get to support anyone and not feel guilty about it !! Also there's Tsukki's character development, and there's my favorite scene in the anime (the Oya Oya Oya), and they all learn and work on new techniques and it's so cool !! (<- already rambling too much)
Character I Think is Underrated: Maybe Gosshiki ? He's such a baby I love him. I believe Tendou is very much loved so not underrated. Tanaka too. I know people love him but I think he deserves so much more. That man participated in EVERY MATCH, he NEVER got replaced and he doesn't have an ultra special attack and he's not the ace but he's sooooo reliable and cool. He's a caring sempai and a good player and an amazing friend and the only straight ally in a gay world lmaooo We don't appreciate him enough.
Character I Think is Overrated: When I'm not rewatching Haikyuu I think that Hinata and Atsumu are kinda overrated because yeah they're cool but they're not the bests and their characters (I know they're different) aren't the ones I love the most and also I think they're selfish. Then when I rewatches the episode for fun I4m so invested in everything and I just cannot not love them. So, no one is overrated actually.
Favorite Ship/Pairing: HAHA I won't answer that-
Alright I will but keep it short. Let's say any popular ship that involves Tsukki, Kuroo, Bokuto, Akaashi and Kenma. Yes even the polyships. Yes. Any popular ship.
Something I Love About the Show/Movie: Everything. (<- only short answer I4m able to give)
BOKU NO HERO ACADEMIA
Oh it's been a while since I've been in that fandom. I lost my hyperfixation 3 years ago and I don't even read the scans anymore. Let's do it anyway, maybe it'd wake some sparkle in me and I'd be able to finish my fanfictions !
Favorite Character: I used to say Present Mic or Bakugo and I'm not sure now. I think Aizawa-sensei is someone safe to say, he'd never not be in my Top 3.
Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: It's been so long, I don't really know
Character I Think is Underrated: Hatsune Mei. I love her and I rarely see people talking about her (or maybe I'm not on the good side of the fandom). And Mina (I know she's loved but not enough)
Character I Think is Overrated: All Might, I don't really like him. Mineta of course, he deserves Hell.
Favorite Ship/Pairing: EraserMic. I didn't write 3 fanfics about those dumbass gay teachers to not put them here.
Something I Love About the Show/Movie: The theme is good : how should we build a society where almost everyone has a superpower ? How do you regulate that ? How do you classify people as heroes, vigilantes and villains ? How do childhood trauma and socioeconomic differences, and traditional cultures play on the development of the superpower and the life of a person ?
AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER
This one is easier because I've already did a fan card about it!
Favorite Character: Zuko. Also Toph.
Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: The Boiling Rock episodes.
Character I Think is Underrated: I don't think there's one ? I just think Avatar Kyoshi is a bit misinterpreted because the fans love exaggerating, but nothing actually bad.
Character I Think is Overrated: Jet maybe. I just feel nothing about him outside the context of him
Favorite Ship/Pairing: Zukka Nation
Something I Love About the Show/Movie : It's just perfect ? Perfect representation of everything ? It shows so many delicate subjects (people -kids- involved in war, sexism, racism, denial, terrorism, propaganda, redemption, trauma) and it's just GOOD. Zuko returns to his abusive family and makes more mistakes. Sokka looks down on women despite living years of his life surrounded by them. Katara steals something because her ego is hurt. Aang hides something to his friends because he has abandonment issues. Toph is.... Toph. And it's so well written and perfect and good.
JUJUTSU KAISEN
I've done this one too but it's still hard to me lmaooo
Favorite Character: Geto Suguru and Gojo Satoru and Choso and Itadori Yuuji and-
Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: Hidden Inventory Arc. The story should have stopped here. We don't need anything more come on it's fine. Everyone's happy and it's fine (episodes 4 and 5 don't exist)
Character I Think is Underrated: Ino Takuma. Protect him.
Character I Think is Overrated: That fucking Naoya Bitch. I learned his in the TOP 20 popularity poll ??? HOW THE FUCK ??????? I literally cannot see his face, it gives me nausea. I hate him so sincerely, I don't even want to think about him.
Favorite Ship/Pairing: You know, I know, we know. The strongest. The one and only. The curse me a little at the end. They're known by many names. Satosugu, Gego, Sugusato, Goge, SaltSugar, whatever you want.
Something I Love About the Show/Movie: It's literally a story about love. It is not a romance anime, but it is about love. The theme comes back so often. Suguru loved his friends and it doomed him. Satoru loved Suguru and became a teacher. Yuuta loved Rika and cursed her. Geto's family loved him. It's all about love and no one could convince me otherwise.
#answering asks#anon ask#jjk#atla#haikyuu#mha#bnha#avatar the last airbender#jujutsu kaisen#listing#my hero academia#rambling
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U will NEVER guess which ship I'm gunna send u for the ship ask game
(It's Wainlock. Free pass to ramble about Wainlock!)
They were the thing that got me into this fandom proper, I am not going to lie. Ergo, the time I started shipping them - around Feburary and March 2020 - is the time I consider my Borderlands era to have started.
To say my thoughts on them here would be redundant, and take me ages. Just look at the rest of my blog, and you'll see.
Everything, and I find new things to love in them almost every single day. There is just so much. The domesticity, the dynamics, the passion and devotion, the symbolism, good lird the symbolism. They are everything 2 me
I mean. I'm not sure? Of course they've gone through sad things in canon but like... I'm not sure if this is what the question was asking. Conceptually, they are perfect
I'm the writer of over one third of all Wainlock fanfic and artist of Gythian knows how much of all Wainlock fanart, so really when I engage with other people's content... well, beggars can't be choosers. My main issue is that they're not being included in fic enough, even in cases where they logically should be present - or, if they are, they are 5 second cameos. That being said there was this fic I read I think like a day or two ago that mentioned them yelling at eachother, and like... huh? They can communicate very well with eachother, I do not think it would ever come to that unless it was a terrible situation. It was OOC. Also I cannot stand either of them being cisgender
As I said above, beggars can't be choosers. There are things in Wainlock fanfic I adore of course, but, y'know.
Absolutely fucking no one else, nuh uh, never in my life ever, nope, nein, nada, no, nie. I specifically avoid content that ships either of them with someone else (unless it's explicitly an ex, or it's past/bl2/tps era hammertorgue bc it fits my silly little hc) because frankly it makes me uncomfortable atp.
I would say the JFV endgame but tbh the JFV endgame is more... confusing than a happily ever after, and maybe a bit too esoteric. JFV proper is a good enough estimate, I think, but of course that story is still evolving. Canon-wise, I'd love for them to adopt a few kids and live out their golden years in joy as they deserve. Also Wainwright can and should become a class traitor, it is the most logical and coolest way for his arc to conclude and in this essay I w
Wainwright is the big spoon, out of necessity. Alistair simply does not have the necessary limbs to be the big spoon, and what limbs he has aren't really well suited for long cuddles.
Reading together (sometimes in a parallel play fashion, sometimes one of them reads out loud to the other), deep and profound discussions (preferably late at night, or over tea and cookies, or while sharing a good cigar), non-sexual but still physical intimacy like cuddles or helping with dressing up/hygiene (they CANNOT keep their hands to eachother and if it was not for their somewhat PDA-averse reserved gentleman nature the Vault Hunters would be finding them bundled up in one armchair in a different position every time they'd return to Knotty Peak).
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I just got into the Mass Effect series and I finished up 1 and 2 by the time I slipped into Shakarian Hell (I am so at home omg this ship) and at first I was confused by the amount of soft Shepard when she was so gruff both games. Now I'm playing 3 and finished up with Priority: Palaven and I finally get why Shep is softened so much in fic ;_; holy crap she's going through so much and Vakarian being right there for her the way he is during the game is just...wow. Wow. I'm in love, Your Honor.
Welcome to the fandom! I'm fairly new myself (my first play through was about 4 years ago).
Listen, don't get me started on Shakarian, because those nerds have taken up too much of my time since I first stumbled upon them. They are the best ship. I love tough but nerdy boys and badass women, and best friends falling in love. I too am in love, your honor 😁
Regarding soft Shepard in fics, I think there's a few reasons you see it so often.
1. Yes, Shep needs some tlc. She goes through so much, has so much on her shoulders, and really deserves to be taken care of a bit, because fuck knows she's taking care of everyone else with every spare minute she has. And even soldiers have soft side.
2. A lot of fanfic is self service and therapeutic. We write, and read, what we need ourselves, and seeing a kind, caring, lovable guy take care of the woman he loves feeds our souls. We like to see it in fic because we all need it. And it's ok to admit that we need care, everyone needs to be taken care of at some point in their life. I fully support people writing and reading fics that fulfill this need. So, writing Shep as a bit soft so Garrus can take care of her when she needs him happens quite a bit... and I eat that shit up.
3. I'll speak to my own fics solely here: my detective au Jane Shepard is a cop, not a specially trained, hardass, take-no-shit N7 soldier, so I purposefully wrote her as softer. Yes, a homicide detective would see awful shit and be a bit "harder" than the average citizen, but at the end of the day she's a cop and cops are not on the level of special forces soldiers. BUT I still enjoy writing moments where Garrus takes care of her, because I think it's a really sweet way to show how much two people love each other.
Whether canon or au, though, I think what most Shakarian people love most about Garrus and Shepard's dynamic is the mutual respect, and the acknowledgment that they're both capable, strong adults, but will be there to carry each other when they fall.
And last but not least, if you're looking for some harder Shepards that are more in line with badass canon Shepard, I recommend the fics below. Both authors have written Shepard as incredibly capable, badass, and still manage to weave in some vulnerability and tenderness between her and Garrus. They're two of my favorite fics:
New Game, by Alden
Two Strangers Meet at the Edge of the Galaxy by @dulcidyne
#asks and replies#shakarian#shakarian fic#commander shepard#femshep#garrus x shepard#shepard x garrus#fic rec
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BITTERSWEET RANT ABOUT QUEER (MLM) CHARACTERS IN CURRENT MEDIA
I used to think it was impossible for me to hyperfixate on a show/ship without reading and writing nonstop fanfic about it. But then, a year and a half ago, I watched OFMD and I staunchly refused to read or write any fanfic, because I needed to wait it out and see how the amazing writers planned the story to continue. (I'm ecstatic for October 5th.)
I still considered myself to continue obsessing over my queer ships, especially when I watched Galavant and fell into a bit of a Richard/Gareth hole (but there are very few fics, I planned to write one but kept going back to my Macden fics).
Then, I watched Hannibal, and I tried to read fics, planned one too, but I just couldn't get into it, and preferred obsessively rewatching the show instead.
Now I'm literally refreshing fanvids of our Ineffable Husbands from Good Omens on YT daily, but completely unable to even glance at fics.
It's funny to think how far we are coming with queer characters in media, and I'm just so excited to see shows that refuse to queerbait. They aren't using a viewership by playing with never-ending hints and nods but zero follow through. They are acknowledging that acts of abandonment or betrayal have consequences, regardless of the initial intentions. They refuse to do that kind of disservice to the respective narrative journeys of these characters.
Yes, they may be angsty and a bit sad right now, but Goddammit, we are finally getting sincere, star-crossed gay love stories. Tragic, but not in your typical heartbreaking Brokeback Mountain -esque media from the past (no hate, love the movie, thought the short story was okay).
These queer love stories are giving the same kind of painful passion as some of the best dramatic romances around (one of my fave genres). What a time to be alive! Because it's not an unhappy ending until it ends. The best love stories have to have nearly impossible obstacles. That is how the relationships are tested.
Just thinking about how I've always hyperfixated in the past vs. how I do now. I realized it's because I finally have hope. I can't consume fics because I trust the creators and writers of canon so explicitly that I know they will continue showing how they respect the viewers while also acknowledging the significance, the absolute necessity of delving into the arcs and development the characters need to find within themselves.
I believe David Jenkins and Neil Gaiman are determined to do right (as Bryan Fuller would be, if ever given the chance to continue), not by all the vastly different opinions of the countless countering fans, but by the way they have shown genuine acknowledgement to the romance and enough respect for the love interests to make them face challenges that help them grow. Queer characters are the leads' now, and they are fully-formed yet ever-changing, unique representations, flirting with fun stereotypes, without reducing them to the worst and most inaccurate social stigmas.
So, I'm ever-resolute to hold out for canon, because I don't want to get my head so full of incredible fanfic that I have my opinion change from constantly switching perspectives.
These writers are changing the game so much that I can't help but trust that - even beyond just the romantic aspect - they actually care about the development of the characters, they aren't defined by just being gay, they are complex.
In other words, I'm in a perpetual state of refreshing Macden fic updates every time I want to read something, and trying to conjure the desire to write again, so I can get back this other Macden fic, after having spent the past two years straight writing the most fics I have for any ship in my entire life.
But, yeah, it's totally crazy to realize that the reason I can not read any of the amazing fics out there for Our Flag Means Death, Hannibal & Good Omens is because these shows are already so enthusiastic and welcoming of their queer characters.
#our flag means death#Hannibal#Good Omens#crazy to actually feel like there are shows that care about queer characters and don't lie to the audience#like i didn't know it could be done#if you can't tell I'm really fucking salty. S16 made me really mad.#i just started thinking about all the times rm said that 'this season Mac gets a bf' all for it to be actual bullshit.#like i don't care if people come for me. i love macdennis for what it could've been. bcuz it ain’t ever going canon.#not just that.mac won't ever get a bf or a gay onscreen kiss. bcz r.m. wants mac obsessing over denial den. to keep mac gay & never show it#i feel like he just had him come out bcz of S11E10s backlash & to maintain ally status while using the identity as fodder for endless jokes#16 Seasons & character regression I just don't think it's going to happen. especially post strike.too risky.can't alienate the dudebros#dennis is cartoonishly far in denial. like how can anything ever happen with the guy who excused cyberfucking his roommate for food.#& he never gets called out on it. S5 Dee would've jumped on his ass for that.now the dialogue ignores it & instantly wipes the slate clean
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auston matthews and ginger from chicken run (connor mcdavid) for the ask meme ?
auston matthews
first impression: so, this one's kinda specific, but my first impression of him came from a fanart I saw on here. so really I didn't know much (this was before my hockey era) except, oh, the people here are really into shipping him with some other hockey guy. okay. not like I formed a lasting impression off that, but I did think his outfit was really cool, so you know, there's that. he's the first hockey guy to breach containment for me, I was not really interested at the time (this was not even a year ago 😭) but it's kinda special in that way
impression now: in general, seems like a chill guy. you know I try to perceive the leafs as little as possible but I respect him. also, cool outfits. he slays. good for him. however I DID read a fanfic which I'm pretty sure changed my brain chemistry and which starred him as the protagonist! doesn't change the way I see him, he just exists, doing his thing, except now I'm more aware of the leafs narratives. (thanks cody!)
I can't really answer any of the rest of the questions because like. I really don't know this guy. sorry reuben. you (leafs fans) can keep him. I don't wanna get dragged into another rabbit hole.
connor mcdavid
(aka, ginger from chicken run.) the fun begins.
first impression: generally thought he was kind of bland? I was like. that's just a dude. like he's good at hockey, which is fun, but he seems to have the amount of personality (and structural integrity!) of a piece of wet cardboard. so I elected to ignore him. I didn't know what was to come.
impression now: hoooooooly shit. this man occupies every single one of my thoughts and I don't even remember how it happened. genuinely. something clicked in my brain and suddenly I was obsessed with him. ofc there's something to be said about like, this anxious teen with the weight of the world on his shoulders who grew quite awkwardly into his adult frame, but like, people have already said these things. there's the insane hockey plays, of course he's amazing and all that, but idk, maybe it's the anxiety that touched me? he's so anxious and he's still going and you can tell he worked on it, it's not perfect but it's better than before? like the growth? I don't know. I kinda love him. he's quiet. a little pathetic-looking. I got no explanation for this one
favourite moment: I listened to a podcast and he was saying that he always has to remind leon of just how good he is, and he's taken it upon himself to make leon see it, and you can tell he really does care about it (beyond just the game). and it's a small moment but I'm a big fan of bros supporting bros. keep it up king 👑💪
idea for a story: so I was sorta maybe not quite writing something... which may or may not involve hanahaki disease and mcdrai. and it mostly deals in guilt (that's the good stuff) but it's actually kind of leon draisaitl centric, because he's the one with the disease and he's the one struggling to see that he is loved and he is cared for and he feels guilty for dumping this on connor and it's mostly platonic but also kind of not and well. I have like my own version of hanahaki which I did tell one (1) beloved mutual about but the document has been untouched for exactly a week now and my brain has moved onto other things, so. (if you feel like reading some hanahaki may I recommend this one, it's mceichel, I enjoyed it a lot)
favourite relationship: my most beloved mental illness. mcdrai. (which I found really flavourless like a few weeks back. character growth!) there's something to be said about the our stories are linked and our names are tied together aspect of it, and how they've found each other, and leon would find me even if I was invisible and all that. something about connor always hyping up leon to the media, because he sees so much in him, and he's waiting for other people to see it too, but in the end they never will because connor is right there and connor is the best player in the league and it's always about connor. he'll always overshadow leon by being there. connor can try, he can try to be selfless (and how can you not be when you are this good, haven't you internalised by now that it's no fun if you take the whole stage for yourself?) and maybe he would like a break from the constant attention but he won't get it.
something else; they are the centre of the whole oilers team. like, and I'm not an oilers fan but I think I can say this, the team would absolutely collapse without them. no question about it. maybe they would be fine with just one or just the other but they would definitely be missing their other half. (and I could talk about how they are BOTH anxious and they are maybe each other's support, but that's for another day because I don't think people have noticed how anxious leon actually is yet.) …you could say I've had a normal amount of thoughts about these two.
favourite headcanon: I'm electing not to answer this one because as you can see from my mcdrai paragraph there are a lot of things I have extrapolated from bits of interviews, body language and the like, also maybe a bit of projecting in there. let's be honest that I'm pretending to know a man that I don't. I'm not even an oilers fan. this is all headcanon.
if anyone actually read this far. hope you had fun. sorry.
#👍👍👍#this was just 15 words short of a thousand! I'm normal about hockey men!#(the read more is there for obvious reasons. I am warning you. this is long and not entirely interesting)#mailbox
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Hey, what’s up, guys, it’s been a long time, I know, but I am feeling the pressure of not having a place where I go to formulate my thoughts, so perhaps it’s time to dust this old tumblr off again. I got a new, better job, I moved back to Seattle and already feel way more at home here, I’m really glad to be back. And haha, I still have a library account here, and Walgreens actually had an extremely old address for me on file from when I lived here back in 2011-2015. Wild.
Anyway, after thinking about it for a very long time I actually made a decision and bought Stardew Valley. And this game is actually so fun? Back when I first heard about it I was at the tail end of a huge farming sim kick and was like, ok, I’ve just finished playing like every other farming sim in existence, I’m pretty burned out on this now, so maybe I will take a break and not go into yet another farming sim game. But that was a long time ago and I haven’t played a farming sim in ages, so I decided to give it a go. And the game is so much more than a farming sim. I wish the fishing minigame was easier, I’ll probably install a mod for that at some point, but I do want to experience as much of the content as possible one time through before I go and install a ton of mods, so I will limp along for now. I feel like I am behind in the mines, but I did make it down to level 40 finally, which I think means I’ll start getting actual iron ore now, which will make making sprinklers easier. I’ve almost got the greenhouse and I want to install a bunch of sprinklers and the ~100 strawberry seeds I bought at the year 2 egg festival and then never think about watering a bunch of plants ever again so I can pet all my animals and make some progress in the mines and on the damn fishing skill. I didn’t expect to like the NPC friending part of the game, but I really like that I feel like I’m actually getting to be good friends with a bunch of them, and that’s really cool? And I gave Sebastian a bouquet, because, as an introverted programmer I can’t tell you how thrilled I was that there was an introverted programmer character in this game, that’s just absolutely fantastic, but then I got to see his 10-heart event and my dumb romance-aversion ruined this like objectively cute scene and I’m so mad. Like, I know for a fact that I would love this scene if it involved two characters who were both definitely not me, and I sort of anticipated this and did my best to make my farmer Not Me, she doesn’t look like me, she doesn’t have my name, but I guess she’s still Me enough that it ruined the scene for me. So I don’t know what I want to do, at this point. I did sort of think, I think thinking about dating a woman is significantly different than thinking about dating a man, it might just be because there’s never been a particular woman I’ve ever thought about dating so everything I think about it is very vague, but maybe the gender really does make a difference. So I gave another bouquet to Abigail and I am going to see if her 10-heart scene makes me feel oogy too, and if it doesn’t, maybe I will marry her instead. She was a very close second for me, anyway. If it still makes me feel oogy, who knows. I know there is an aromantic “marriage” option, who I haven’t actually met yet (and I have no idea how close I am to meeting him), but I do want to try a regular marriage and experience all of the content one time, just to see how it is. I’ll probably install the platonic partnerships mod the next time I play, and probably also the multimarriage mod and then platonically marry like four people, because there are actually a lot of good options. But I do want to see it unmodded *once*.
Incidentally, Sambastian is a Quality Ship and I’ve been reading some fanfic. I just wish there was something I could do in the actual game to make Sebastian date Sam instead of my farmer, that would be great
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For the Fic Writer Ask Game.
7. What do you love most about being a fic writer for your fandom?
9. What inspired you to write your first fic?
11. Who is your favorite character (s) to write about and why?
14. Share a snippet.
7. The fact that I get to sit in my own little corner of the fandom, play with the characters the way I want to and people just accept that. No one’s coming up and trying to police what I do, no one’s telling me I’m wrong for shipping what I ship, it’s really nice. Everyone’s very ship and let ship, and while what I write might not be everyone’s cup of tea, if I reach out to the fandom for help, I know there’ll be a response.
It’s such a unique fandom; the show has been over for decades, I know there was a manga recently, but for the most part there’s been years without content but this fandom still produces content. There’s been no real absence and it has kept me motivated to keep writing all this time. I love the characters of course, but it’s been the fandom too, even if I’m just existing on the fringes. It’s like we’re all in this big playground and people are hanging with their friends, but they’re casually keeping an eye out for everyone else too. And that’s just a really good feeling. And if me creating content makes someone else feel inspired to keep going too, then all the better.
9. I used to write Buffy fanfic decades ago, based on just wanting to take that world and do more with it. But for this, I’ll use SLTS (because technically it was published before L/H). And that came about because of my endless love of Mighty Ducks and wanting more from it - more female characters, more character shenanigans etc. And there were only 3 films, so I needed to create more. I was also currently watching Beyblade and there were so many characters, all of them with these odd dynamics and then they all joined up in Russia and I just thought, let me scoop all of you kids up and put you on a high school hockey team. Nothing can go wrong. Also I wanted someone to get under Kai’s skin.
I’d also read a lot of CanonxOC (it was big at the time) and while the fics were great, I didn’t relate to the OCs. They were so feisty and pretty and guys loved them, girls wanted to be them (and often fought with them). I wanted someone I could relate to, a little less OC/ One Tree Hill drama. I wanted team camaraderie, the kind of friendships where they can insult you but if anyone else does they’ll suffer, I wanted girl friendships and movie night in the common room. So I created SLTS, which has its own many problems, but still remains something I’m super proud of.
11. IIIAAANNN!! I love Ian. Ian has the best dialogue, the best internal thoughts, he’s funny and witty, gets annoyed by the slightest things. He’s just so entertaining and he has such range, from the little brat, to the over protective brother. Depending on who he’s with in any one scene, I get a different version of Ian to play with. He’s has a fantastic dynamic.
Honourable mention must go to Hilary of course because her thought process is nuts, and she’s so strait laced in some scenes but then goes full on neurosis and it’s 0-100 in the blink of an eye, and half the time I’m left with whiplash. Which is also very fun to write. Kai too needs a nod, because he’s just the polar opposite in parts. Depending on what fic I’m writing, he’s either very stoic or very suspicious, bordering on conspiracy theorist (and with his past why wouldn’t he suspect every person of being out to get them?). He’s just very internal and I end up with paragraphs upon paragraphs of just Kai’s very brusque thoughts. (And Mystel too - actually I love everyone, it’s why I write an ensemble fic.)
14.
Kane pushed himself to his feet, showing off those explosive movements everyone wanted to see from him. “What? Are we going to a rink?” He frowned. “The only one around is Bakuten high and I’m not setting foot in Reject territory.” They’d already run into the resident moron brigade and Kane was loathed to do it again.
“No, we’re definitely not asking the rejects for any favours. I’ve had enough of them for the day.”
“Oh?” Kane asked, bending down to grab his energy drink from his bag that still carried the scent of chlorine from the pool. If he’d known Tala was going to be late, he could have swung home and dropped it off.
“Ran into Foxy at the garage when he was dropping off his car.”
“You sure he didn’t know you were going to be there? The amount of times one of their little youth leaguers has wandered past this place during the week he must know every step we take.”
“It was probably just a coincidence. He had a few things to say though.”
“Of course he did, loves the sound of his own voice.” He’d say it was a genetic thing but he didn’t want to piss Valkov off further in case he did tie him to the nets before going on his weekend away. “Most of what Foxy has to say doesn’t hold water. It’s just a waste of—” Kane’s words of wisdom died when he caught sight of two familiar figures entering the other side of the basketball court. “Why are they here?”
#Fanfic asks#ask me#zadien replies#luxahheart#thank you so much for the ask#it’s lovely to talk about fandom and writing#Long post because I don’t know how to write small things#even replies
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Fascinating thing that's been happening since I started experiencing sexual attraction on a regular basis and consequently also started having sexual fantasies way more often (as well as different kinds than before) is that my brain apparently realised it could use sexual fantasies to process all kinds of shit.
Like. From dysphoria to fears and trauma and phobias, a lot of the negative things I am dealing with end up mixed into these scenarios to varying degrees.
As a result, I went from being someone who was like "I may have opinions on shipping discourse, but I'm not actually into most of the things it's about" to rapidly ticking off boxes as if I were playing the world's weirdest game of bingo. And can I just say, I'm so glad I had already developed an anti-censorship, anti-shame attitude before that started. (Or maybe it would never have happened otherwise. Maybe I would have had one "problematic" fantasy or read one "problematic" fic and then shut myself off from this mode of processing out of shame.)
Some people may find the "ticking off boxes" comment alarming, thinking of slippery slopes. But if there is a slope, what lies at the end of it? Weirder sexual fantasies, greater self-understanding, processed traumas, fears that are now easier to cope with perhaps. It literally does not lead anywhere else. The idea that some kind of temptation to commit crimes irl is even remotely on the same trajectory makes no sense.
Not too many years ago, I had an actual for-real anxiety attack after finding out that someone on a Discord server I had recently joined was into underage fic. It had never occurred to me that people could have benign reasons for reading such things, so I panicked because I thought anyone who could not only stomach that stuff without feeling sick but sought it out on purpose had to be dangerous. But why had I not even heard of this mode of trauma/fear processing at the ripe old age of approximately 30?
Because I was a sex-indifferent and occasionally sex-repulsed asexual. I had only very recently started reading porn on purpose instead of skipping the sex scenes in every fanfic I read, which happened after I got into BDSM and realised that sex could be appealing in that specific context. It was all new to me. I'd had maybe two or three years to explore what that meant for me personally, but in that time I did not happen to stumble upon any discussions of, say, the psychological reasons for having a rape kink or whatever since that was not something I was into and in fact it squicked me out big time.
I was clueless. I had never had a reason to engage with such topics and surrounded myself largely with people who did not, either. Encountering sex talk unexpectedly made me super uncomfortable, so of course I wasn't going to follow anyone on social media who posted a lot of it! I imagine many minors and sex-repulsed asexuals are probably in the same boat.
In the end it was a survivor of CSA talking about their experiences being groomed by so-called MAPs who opened my eyes to the dangers of pro-censorship attitudes, and from then on I wanted to understand. I wish I could have gone through that learning process a decade sooner.
You'll note I haven't mentioned which boxes exactly I have thus far ticked off in my absurd game of bingo, which is in part because I am still afraid of getting in trouble for it and in part because I don't think it matters. The "thus far" is there for a reason; anything else could be added to the list at any moment and it would make no moral difference. Caveat: as a white person, there are some things to do with race that I think if I were fantasising about them, I should probably examine why the fuck. But since that is not the case, I'm sticking to quietly reading along when I see people of colour discuss the topic and otherwise minding my own business.
If you want to talk details for any reason, feel free to DM me because I no longer have any qualms about anything whatsoever lol.
#danger time! but YOLO#very proud of myself for not even feeling the urge to mention one or two boxes i have NOT ticked off like a badge of honour#go ahead and think whatever you want#i could probably even make this rebloggable since my posts never breach containment and i do want people to see it but eh#real life is stressful enough rn let's no go overboard#weirdo chronicles#csa mention
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✨ If you get this, answer with 3 random facts about yourself and send it to the last 7 blogs in your mentions, anonymous or not! Let's get to know the person behind the blog ✨
I knew this was coming the moment I saw zodiac-senpai answer this so HERE WE GO!!!
A. I’m pretty sure I’ve already mentioned this in other posts but I’m not 100% sure if I have it on my profile bit so I’m gonna say it again just for the hell of it. I’m a gay man (with the heart of a child deep down) that was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome over 20 years ago (people will say that it’s not a diagnosis anymore but as someone who was told I have it…IT’S STILL A THING SO STFU PLEASE) and I’ve been to HELL AND BACK cause I was one of the first people with Asperger to go through my local school district. But I made it through and I’m a better person for it and while there are some days when I wish I was “NORMAL”/Neurotypical…they don’t last long and I’m proud to have this Autism Spectrum Disorder.
B. Regardless of if you’ve read my smuttier fanfics or not it should be PRETTY OBVIOUS that I have a certain thing I like in a fictional character…STUPID SEXY OUTFITS THAT LEAVE NOTHING TO THE IMAGINATION! Here are a few examples just for the hell of it:
Now mind you, the last pic with stupid sexy evil Kazemaru is a bit EXTREME in the ass department, but it’s not his fault some pervert designed the Dark Emperors uniform like that!!! …he’s just making do with what he has. On a side note, I REALLY FUCKING HATE IT when I post a ship template of FICTIONAL CHARACTERS and people reply/reblog with, “YOU’RE A PEDOPHILE! THESE ARE KIDS WE’RE TALKING ABOUT HERE!!! WHINE WHINE WHINE BITCH BITCH!!!!!”. Firstly, SHUT THE FUCK UP AND GIVE TIFFANY FIVE ORANGES (that’s what GTFO really means xP) because these are FICTIONAL CHARACTERS WE’RE TALKING ABOUT and I KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REALITY AND FICTION. While you’re busy bitching about this to me and calling me a sicko, there are ACTUAL PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT DON’T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHAT’S REAL AND FAKE HARMING INNOCENT KIDS…PLEASE focus on them instead of me and pray that they get the help they need. …that is all I have to say on this topic for now so MOVING ON!
C. Like most people, I have a bucket list and there are things on it. However, there is really only one item on there that I feel I HAVE to do before I bite the dust: take the time to travel around the world (not in 80 days of course, than I would have no time to really explore). There are MULTIPLE reasons for this desire existing, not just video games like Assassin’s Creed (Origins is particular makes me want to visit Egypt EVERY FUCKING TIME I PLAY IT), Forza Horizon (Mexico and Australia are on my list of places to go), and Ghost of Tsushima helping (I’ve been wanting to visit Japan WELL before that came out in 2020 due to anime and tokusatsu), but also due to shows like The Grand Tour (which also involves cool cars which I like so that’s a plus), Survivor (GOD I NEED TO VIISY FIJI SOME TIME) and basically anything and everything Josh Gates has hosted…mainly this guy due to his ability to blend cool moments with insanity…such as when he discovered a unicorn in the mountain of Peru (here’s the clip for proof: https://youtu.be/-N19_t4Y5IU). If I ever do this, I would have to take my time and explore at my own pace not just because that would be easier IMO, but it would also increase my chances of having something like what’s happened to Josh and his film crew many times now. Being in the right place at the right time which results in having this insane experience you’ll never forget and you can look back on it and enjoy the time you had.
youtube
#bobgoesw00t answers#thanks for the question!#aspergers#asperger syndrome#autism#autism spectrum disorder#gay#trans#non binary#lgtbqia+#inazuma eleven#voltron legendary defender#element hunters#king of prism#sword art online#keith kogane#vld keith#nishina kazuki#kazuki nishina#kirito#kazemaru ichirouta#ren karas#josh gates#assassin’s creed#ghost of tsushima#forza horizon#unicorn
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Ranking my fanfics in a tier list
Why am I doing this when nobody will read this? No special occasion, I just have been feeling it for some time.
1. Because I can.
2. Because it’s fun. (Also I think later this month marks three years since I first started on a draft for the first time...)
I think I’ve also mentioned every non-substitute FE4 character at least once in a fanfic of mine...I think Amid, Laylea, Asaello, and Daisy are the ones that are left, so hopefully one day. Enough rambling - on to the tier list.
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S-Tier - A fic which, while not perfect, is still not something that I can compare to anything else I’ve done.
A Tale of Star-Crossed Knights - Jugdral, relatively speaking, doesn’t have that many fics. The amount of fics that are long enough to be novel-length are very few - probably a couple dozen, if that. As of this post, this fic is the ninth longest FE4-specific fanfiction on AO3. It takes a unique stance though by focusing on this rarepair between Finn and Erinys which I dreamed of one day because of a random Reddit comment. I can see errors in it which I’ll probably correct in the future but overall this was well-received. Writing this really did change me and it improved my skill. I can say many more words about this but I’ll keep it brief: I hope that this one takes a place among the most memorable fics produced for that game.
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A-Tier - The ones that I would show to people first if they asked.
And Life Went On - This was based on a prompt list which was passed onto me about pairings. I decided that I wanted the challenge of writing about more Jugdral pairings so I did one 100-word drabble for each prompt with a completely different couple. People really loved it and I liked writing this slice-of-life interspersed with Jugdral’s canon. There’s even a couple chapters which eventually turned into standalone pieces and I’m sure more chapters will turn into standalone pieces in the future.
Taking Stock - If you asked me which story I think was the best composed, I would point to this one. Catria isn’t even my favorite Whitewing but she has so much potential and many good fanfic authors have already explored this potential. While neither of her sisters play prominent roles, I think this piece shows the complicated feelings that Catria has towards them. She’s a bit jealous of Palla being a tad more successful even though Catria is better at feelings and she feels grief over Est’s departure and still somewhat blames herself for it. And the Marth scene too - it’s a good portrayal of it without going in an immature direction.
Yearning - My favorite Finn/Lach piece is not even one where they get together. This was meant as a spiritual successor to the true ending of A Knight’s Weak Feelings, the idea being “what if Finn became friends with Lachesis but never completely moved past his feelings for her?” All the feelings in Finn’s mind feel so real to me. This is almost my preferred version of him and Lachesis. Almost.
A Knight’s Weak Feelings - I had a very vivid image of this scene one day, where Finn is very guilty for feeling attracted to Lachesis and tries to hide it from her. The emotions were more vivid than nearly any of my other inspirations. My only regret was pulling a punch and not immediately going with the “they became friends” ending. I still love this one though.
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B-Tier - These ones are good but not necessarily my favorites.
Divine Wind, Earth Lance - The Ced/Altena fanfic, basically, for the five people who really like that ship. I think I did this relationship much better in A Tale of Star-Crossed Knights though their arc ripped off this fic anyways. Still, it was my first real attempt at a longer romance piece and I think it prepared me for my later fics.
Goodbye, Velthomer - To my surprise, I saw a month ago or so that someone actually recommended this piece. It was very heartwarming that people liked this one. The idea isn’t original but my spin was putting it in the canon of A Tale of Star-Crossed Knights especially with Arthur being born immediately before the Battle of Belhalla. The grief that these two feel when departing Grannvale, I think I did a good job with that. Grief is a strength in my writing anyways.
Bond - This is a Seliph/Muirne scene from And Life Went On which I really liked. The biggest thing I like about this relationship is how Muirne feels inadequate because of the class difference. I think I did a great job here!
A Heartfelt Conversation - The Finn and Jeanne father/daughter relationship is something that is barely explored, if ever. One similarity that you can draw here is that both lack holy blood. I think I could have wrote that in.
A Frigid Night - Spinoff of A Tale of Star-Crossed Knights though the idea predates that. This was an idea which is harder to execute because “characters sleeping together” could, in the wrong hands, turn into something which isn’t that innocent. But instead, the piece turned out well and it showcases the dynamic in this relationship. And it was cute too.
Mistaken Identity - Based on an art piece showing Erinys, Palla, and a few other green-haired ladies working in a diner. Surprisingly, I think this one was written fairly well. I liked making backstories for those two characters and a couple others like Minerva in a modern AU. I probably won’t pursue expanding it but I won’t rule it out.
Snow Day - Eldigan/Grahnye fluff with some Ares/Lene fluff at the end. Two of my favorite ships. I like the interaction between the scenes.
Tears - Glade/Selphina, a ship that I like but which I haven’t written well about. This one does the job, I think, but I do like how I showed their relationship.
Leif’s Nightmare - Originally a crackfic idea but somehow it turned out well. Though I ended up liking Seliph/Nanna for real eventually...
Observing a Legacy - Recent one about an OC from A Tale of Star-Crossed Knights. I think it’s pretty good for my first attempt at writing from an OC’s perspective.
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C-Tier - I’m ambivalent on them. They’re neither good nor bad.
Divergent Perspectives of the Lady of Nordion - Wordy title aside, my first ever fanfic still holds up decently well. I still think it does a good job of showing different ways the Beo/Finn/Lach triangle could have gone. Definitely some awkwardness from being a novice but I like it for what it is.
Glare - Finn/Lach goodness, can’t resist.
Wise Words - This one is actually funny, the one where Shannan almost swears.
Kind Emperor - Based on a commission by a friend. I love Seliph/Muirne but I did do a better rendition once.
A Mother’s Protection - Mainly to try to show the relationship between Julia and her mother. It’s good enough though I lament that it was influenced by Her Shadowy Protector by LaughingX-Naut. Not that anything is wrong with that fic but I prefer original ideas.
Promise - Longer version of an entry from As Life Went On for Julia Week, it was decent enough.
Her Destiny - I like the Julia/Lewyn dynamic and I think this is a decent retelling of it.
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D-Tier - Not my favorites, something about them bothers me.
Counting Down to Christmas - Tried to do As Life Went On with more pairings, just didn’t end up turning out well. Didn’t get received as well either. I should probably try to do Roy/Lilina or whatever on its own instead.
The Luminous Rider’s Promise - An earlier fanfic exploring the sibling relationship between Leif/Altena. I would definitely want to rewrite it to make it longer if I got the chance.
Flowers - Generic one-shot of Eliwood grieving over Ninian. It’s just bland.
Dew’s Moment - I’m grateful that this one gave me a chance to get in form for writing again back in 2022, but there’s nothing special about it.
A Life for a Life - There was no need to rip off the (catholic) Rosary and use that as a storytelling device. Minerva could have reflected on Michalis’ life some other way.
Restoring Color to a Forget-me-not - I attempted to write a counterpart to the Finn/Lachesis scene with the Earth Sword in the Oosawa manga adaptation. Unfortunately, I don’t think it really provided much unique content. But surprisingly it got 19 kudos as of March 2023 probably because people like Finn/Lach.
Servant of the Wind - In retrospect, I feel like this one goes through the same motions that most fanfics about Gen 2 Lewyn do. It’s honestly boring and I especially hate that I put a “happy ending” where he reunites with Erinys in the afterlife. I wouldn’t do that again.
Warmth in the Freezing Rain - So, the idea here was basically to go down the same road as A Frigid Night but with Minerva/Palla instead. Unfortunately, I can’t say I like how it turned out. It has a weird aura to it where it’s not really “cute” and I don’t like that vibe from my writing. Probably my least favorite fanfic which is unfortunate because I love Minpalla as a pairing.
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F-Tier - Literally unfinished.
A Troubadour and a Princess - This one was my first attempt at an epistolary format. I released it to celebrate the first anniversary of the FEH To Stay Dreaming banner which to this day is still my favorite seasonal in that game. Unfortunately, real life happened and I never got ideas to continue after Chapter 1. I think this one will stay on hold forever.
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So there we have it, thirty fics all tiered. (I excluded the four “draft fics” for A Tale of Star-Crossed Knights and Under the Setting Sun wasn’t included either since it’s still in progress.) It was nice to get to review my thoughts about them and get them on paper. I don’t know who’s actually going to read this but if you read this, thank you. Maybe in the future I’ll write more meta posts like this.
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After another WonHobby failed to announce any Claude or Dimitri Nendoroids, 2 days ago, I've felt like giving up on this fandom.
Every other fandom I've been in, rallied behind a character to get figures, proving the fanbase for those characters was strong. But almost 4 years after FE3H released and still not even a Nendoroid announcement. Maybe the Pop Up Parade sales proved the intersection of figure collectors with FE3H fans, was too small.😞 At this rate, FE3H will have to be 10-20 years old before it gets Nendoroids, since WonHobby36 demonstrated GSC is increasing their announcements for Nendoroids from 10-20 year old series.
It took a lot of work for me to get into the DMCL / Dimiclaude/ FE3H fandom, without playing the games or owning a Nintendo Switch. Besides watching playthrus and cutscenes, I pulled multiple all-nighters (that destroyed me), ploughing thru long Dimiclaude fics to get a sense of the ship (after seeing how nice the fanart was).
Maybe it's time to put that effort into getting back into AkiRyu / Persona 5. P5 is STILL getting new merch and new figures. GSC just announced a Nendoroid Doll Joker and Nendoroid Violet at WonHobby36 2 days ago. 👀
I guess after my disappointment at WonHobby36, plus most of the Claude fans now talking about Engage instead, and the ongoing Dimiclaude fic I've been reading seeming to go on hiatus after a pretty reliable 1 chapter per month release schedule,...maybe I'm starting to lose sense of the ship? I'm afraid I'm starting to forget Dimiclaude as characters and why i love their dynamic. I dunno... Maybe I'll regain my grasp on being in this fandom if i make my own custom Claude and Dimitri Nendoroids or at least return to drawing them almost daily. But after my usual December and January drawing burnouts, I'm having trouble drawing anything, let alone my current fixation OTP. If i want to keep my head in this fandom, I'll have to either keep it alive by feeding myself or search for some more fanfic authors and fanartists to keep it alive in my head.
#venting#whining#please ignore my idiocy#figure collecting#figures wishlist#personal fandom records#fe3hfuukasetsugetsu#KhalidMitya#otps#my OTPs
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My 2020 Reading List - Dramione
This year, I’ve read way more dramione than I’ve ever read, and I’ve been reading it for 7 years now. I even read things, tropes, I had never bothered with before. 2020 may not have been a kind year, but in the dramione community it has been a wonderful year of reading for me. Please be aware I may spoil some plot lines to dramione fanfictions you haven’t read yet. I have tried not to as best as I can. But anyway below is 20 fics I’ve read this year that have been there for me when I needed them. No particular order. Just a lot of love for these fics.
Wait and Hope - by @mightbewriting - memory loss is one of my favourite tropes but this story. I have never cried over a couch before. But this story. From the moment she first awakes in St Mungo’s to that beautiful ending, I was hooked. I loved how the story left me with not really a care about whether or not Hermione got her memories back. Those bloody text messages 💔 a journey I’ll never forget.
The Unofficial Diary of an Omega - MrsRen - my first time reading anything omegaverse. It still isn’t my favourite trope. I much prefer Veela for some reason 🤷🏻♀️ but overall it was a good story, just not my thing.
Apple Pies and Other Amends by ToEatAPeach - I actually gave up on this story the first time I read it. Unsure as to why because the story as a whole is just amazing. Baking and dramione? Yes please! Also dealing with their psychological trauma after the war? Heck yes! The relationship in this story develops at a lovely pace. There were moments I was on edge, others I was smiling ear to ear whilst reading this. Definitely one of my favourites now.
In Search Of Sunrise - @indreamsink - actually just reread this and I still get that warm feeling in my chest. So turns out my break up hasn’t made me lose the ability to enjoy dramione falling for each other. Anyway, the story was so heartwarming, like if I were to describe it as anything I would describe it as a hug. The best non-date fic there is.
Sex and Occlumency - Graendoll - this was the start of my slippery slope into reading smut stories. Like I had read smut before, obviously but I didn’t pay it much attention, normally just swiped past 😂 but this one was a completely different story.
Manacled - @senlinyu - this is truly the most beautifully haunting story I’ve ever read. I remember when I first started reading it, I thought to myself, how the hell could I ever ship dramione in this world? Then those flashbacks. Fuck those flashback chapters were a punch in the gut. The way everything links and connects. I love it’s realistic ending. I often think of this story in the shower cause I had to force myself to go shower whilst I read this cause I honestly couldn’t put it down. And SPOILER, but I laughed so hard at a certain characters death even though I probably shouldn’t have but she was such a bitch. I get flashbacks myself of this story. I’ll be in the shower and I’ll remember a certain sentence, a certain scene in my head as if I truly walked with Hermione on this heart wrenching journey. But fuck manacled Harry, I hate that boy.
He Becomes by @abromaposts - I needed this story. This was the first thing I read after Manacled. Draco Malfoy looking after rabbits with the sole reason being to get close to Hermione, yes please. Rabbits are my favourite animals. It’s just so much fluff. And after Manacled I was grateful.
The Right Thing To Do - @lovesbitca8 - this was the bookshop, slow burn, fluffiness I needed in the summer. The start of a truly wonderful universe. Idiots in love, I’ve never went through so much second hand embarrassment. Every interaction between Hermione and Lucius was fantastic. Especially the final one! Every character was written to a way that I loved them so much. Plus this story makes you think (like the rest of the series) it doesn’t spoon fed you information.
All The Wrong Things - @lovesbitca8 - I never thought I’d be into first person POV. The last thing I read like that was The Hunger Games back in school, many years ago. But I truly felt as if Draco were telling me the story. I love how it filled in things we never seen in the first story. I love Draco’s characterisation. Unlike TRTTD, this feels more lighthearted. Could just be the horny Draco though and his dramatics?
The Auction - @lovesbitca8 - this story. where do I start? When I started reading this story I was in a completely different life. This story has seen me through a terrible time in my life. Honestly the last few chapters before the final chapter were a blur and I had to go and reread them cause my head was all over the place but the story. This story, on it’s own, I would say is better than any fiction I’ve ever read 🤷🏻♀️ it grips you, pulls you in. Every question you ask, you get answered with a ribbon and bow. I cannot express my love, for this story and for the hard work that has went into it. The characters in this world so vastly different yet similar to the ones we already learned to love. I could write a love letter to this story.
Hindsight by @floorcoaster - if you haven’t been following this year long, monthly updated story, then you’ve really missed out. Each chapter is a month of the year. The story starts with Hermione planning to trim down her calendar for the year ahead. Although it’s fiction it gave me a sense of hope for my future. I had started this year on a different note than Hermione, and I’m now ending it on a different note as well. I think this story does a good job of capturing the passage of time and just how quickly things can change. I also really love these adorable idiots in this story.
Bring Him To His Knees by @willhavetheirtrinkets (WIP) - the best co-worker, friends to lovers, fake relationship story I’ve read. No question. I sent @magicaltraveler3 a tearful voice memo after that last chapter that was posted (chapter 20). It isn’t the first time I’ve cried at a fanfic, but it is the first time that I predicted something bad would happen, but I didn’t expect the bad thing to be what it was. I can’t wait to see where this story goes. At this point I have completely forgot about the murder plot. I know it exists, and we’ll get back to the murder but I’d honestly read the characters in this story eating breakfast.
The Flat In Bath by @adaprix (WIP) - this was the first story I got into that ada has wrote. Instantly I was fascinated with the use of “flat” over “apartment”. Being Scottish I knew this was someone British. Anyway, a very interesting story and I can’t wait to see how the rest of it plays out.
Good by @lovesbitca8 - I am dying for the update of this story. As so many are, it is 🔥🔥🔥 all I can say. I can’t wait for the update!
The Erised Effect by @adaprix - When ada first told me she was thinking about writing a story about Pansy and Hermione working in a sex shop together. Telling me about having the idea of them meeting in the pub and how she “needed to get some filthy smut out of your system”. I didn’t think it would be my thing. Boy, did she prove me wrong!
The Cell by WrathOfMacy - I don’t know how I came to read this one. But damn, this was a good one (who am I kidding they’re all good ones). I’m still reading through it though. It’s a warfic in which Dramione end up locked in a cell together. The relationship builds nicely. I cannot wait to read more of it.
The Melody Of Touch by @magicaltraveler3 - I never knew I needed a dramione story like this story. I love that there is so much musical imagery incorporated into it. I haven’t read anything like it before. The story, the smut, the taxi and the freaking art work. It is everything!
Every Day, a Little Death by @lovesbitca8 - I’ll be honest with this one. I read the first chapter and the last chapter 🙈 BUT only cause everyone scared me so much. I plan to revisit. SPOILER. I may not care too much that Hermione cheated. Just me? Like yeah I hate cheating and she shouldn’t have done it, but like she admitted to it, and was very regretful for it. Anyway, the chapters I read were very interesting I look forward to revisiting it sometime.
Away by @indreamsink - written for the romcom fest and I got to say I think this one may be my favourite from the fest. Not only do you get dramione but you get the amazing side pairing of Harry/Pansy, which this year has really became my favourite side pairing. It’s like reading two love stories at once, I was interested in the dramione plot line obviously, but I was equally interested in the hansy/potts&pans plot line.
The Path Unexpected by @magicaltraveler3 - this story is a cute little domestic dramione fanfic. And I lived for it. It shows dramione going through the process of having a child and honestly, they’re so damn cute in this fic. The fanart is next level also!
#my 2020 reading list#personal#dramione#dhr#hermione x draco#draco and hermione#d/hr#draco x hermione#fanfiction#draco malfoy#hermione granger#hermione and draco#fanfics#dhr fanfics#2020 reads#reading list part 1#2020 was crap but I had dramione#dramione writers are the best writers#my thoughts
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In Defense of Jaskier, Not Your Average Sidekick
(Original image of Jaskier in the Netflix Timeline site. You could find him playing in a forest, and then below was the list of season one songs.)
Summary: My analysis of Jaskier in Netflix's The Witcher, stemming both seasons but an emphasis on season two. His character, his relationships, his portrayal and representation in media. This will touch on fandom and beliefs topics surrounding toxic masculinity, queer platonic relationships, queer bait tropes, and heteronormativity in the media.
Word Count: ~11.7K
This is going to be extremely rambly, and probably will be tons of points already mentioned in the the Tags and other parts of Fandom. But I've been stewing over this since I saw season 2 and just need to get it all out. I've only read one post on tumblr, and plenty of author notes through fanfics produced in the last few weeks.
Final disclaimer, while I've only consumed the show, I have read summaries of the books and researched as much as I can of the games/books and talked to a few IRL friends who were fans of the book first. My focus here will be of course on the show's portrayal.
EDIT: Apologies, somehow queuing this up fucked up the formatting?
First Impressions & Jaskier Season 01 vs the Books
I had managed to avoid playing the Witcher Games ever since I saw an interview with the studio in a magazine back when the first one was supposed to come out. Even though Fantasy hack and slash RPG was (and is) totally my jam, I hated how misogynistic and racist the studio interview was (surprise, surprise with what we got from Cyberpunk, lol) so vowed to just ignore.
Flash forward to a few years ago (what is time anymore) when GOG.Com came out with Gwent as a standalone game. Up to that point, I've seen some random scenes of the video games from watching friend streamers play it, so I knew of Gwent. It felt like it was supposed to be as difficult to figure out as Triple Triad from Final Fantasy. But I had a chance to play a beta version of the game. There was a storyline/lore component to learn the game, which was of course narrated by Dandelion. I loved everything about him, even though I didn't know much, but totally my type (I've been a Gambit fan since the Saturday morning cartoon). And already, I was like hmm... What if Dandelion and Geralt? I didn't play the beta long as I got distracted with other stuff and then again Witcher was far from my mind.
Until the Netflix series. Being a fan of Henry Cavil, I was willing to give it a shot. It wasn't until the person I was dating at the time (Jan 2020) insisted on watching it that I finally did. They were a HUGE fan of the book series, having read it all and played the games. So it took a while for me to realize Dandelion was Jaskier, and then things were filled for me as we watched the first few episodes together.
I watched the rest of the season on my own. And again, I was captivated by Jaskier. I don't think it was obvious in season one what was definitely set up on season two. I'm definitely a shipper type of person. But for me, in tv shows? It's almost never the canon ships they want people to see. So it was Istredd/Yennefer and Geralt/Jaskier almost immediately. I didn't know at the time that twenty years had passed from first and last appearances of Jaskier. At least the amount of time that Cirilla was born, for sure.
Look, the barker/bard trailing after the big macho fighter and being the plucky best friend/sidekick is not new. We had Hercules & Joxer, Xena and Gabrielle, He-Man and Gwil-dor, Sherlock & Watson, Robin Hood & Much, Blair & Jim. And in a lot of these, there's a fandom for the pairing. It's just as good as rivals/enemies to lovers. And nearly in all of these, the canon states (except for Xena & Gabrielle) that they are all straight people who only love each other in a platonic way.
We'll get more on that later.
But here are two good friends, complete opposites in nearly every which way who's managed to not kill each other (intentionally) for two decades. And there was Jaskier, reaching out for Geralt, to give us that hint of "hey it's been twenty years, is what pleases us still the same" in Jaskier's demeanor. Geralt was cranky before the mountain, maybe it was the beginning signs of a friendship that needed to adapt/evolve. Nothing can stay the same for that long span of years (at least for humans). And Jaskier, being a very perceptive person, was feeling that out, was realizing maybe something needed to change.
Having slept through an important battle and missed out on a very important discussion regarding his best friend, Jaskier then tries to to do what he always does best. Be an outlet for Geralt, with humor and annoyance. Problem is, he misjudges and gets a verbal lashing that actually affects him. It's the fact that Geralt NEVER said "go" in this that makes it even worse. Because even when they first met, Geralt had tried to leave Jaskier behind and never see him again. It's the words never said, but all in the actions and feeling that Jaskier gets the message. It's not like old fights or yelling.
(What's even MORE frustrating, is in the season two recap we get before starting the first ep, we don't see Jaskier until a little over halfway of the 3minutes. We see everything that Geralt claims is Jaskier's fault, except edited in a way where Jaskier is not shown. And then we get the shit shovel line and Jaskier's heartbreak. AND, super imposed audio of the first meeting: "This is where we part ways, bard, for good." implying he said it in the mountain.
Now, being a video editor and social media marketer myself, and having worked with game marketing departments, one hand doesn't listen to the other. So can't blame this on the writing/editing of the show itself. But it's very telling that they make this scene worse than it is and imply Jaskier's part in Geralt's life was miniscule compared to everything else.)
And then it's the last we see of Jaskier. Obviously, between the pain on Jaskier's face and the vitriol spewed by Geralt, the heartache and heartbreak is where it really cemented this relationship.
It's meant to be platonic heartbreak. And believe me, I know. I've had friends I've loved (in a friend/platonic way) who've betrayed me, who've broken my heart in worse ways than actual relationships have. It's powerful, and it's not often showed or talked about. Especially in fandoms where we're grasping for more queer content that we'll translate this. It's still just as important and meaningful even if we just kept this at surface level.
But what makes this hard to swallow sometimes too, is the book fans crying out about how their relationship in the books wasn't like this. That Geralt was always sweet to Jaskier and they were obviously best friends and yeah Jaskier got on his (and other's) nerves as is the way of being a loud, flamboyant bard. While it was in the books and games that they didn't spend all twenty years together, Jaskier having his own life and pursuits, and probably stupid petty fights too, they never had a break up like this. It never got to this point. When you adapt texts, you have to be mindful of what you change and what that implies.
In theory, this meant that Netflix!Geralt cared less about this friendship than Book!Geralt. And up until the viewing of season two, most fans didn't want to believe this. We gave excuses for his more recalcitrant nature and even more silent demeanor. We still believed and hoped that Netflix!Geralt cared just as much and regretted it immediately. It's unsure whether that final look we get is of that, or if Geralt was just in his head too much (could be both).
INTERMISSION. FRIENDSHIPS VS BROMANCE
Now, there's an argument I've heard a few times, both from online people I know and from just general commentary on media... "Why can't we just have good platonic relationships? Why can't they just be friends?" when talking about a presumed same sex couple. And there's definitely some validity to that and truth to that. But in media, everything's extremely heteronormative. People are always saying "men and women can't be friends" and using that as an excuse to romance two people of different genders. You never hear that about "same sex" friendships.
(I apologize at keeping this in the restrictive binary. Relationships of all sorts are much more complicated and nuanced, and there's not the same tropes with transgender, nonbinary and other minority identities. And while I'm currently questioning my cis-ness, I'm not capable of expanding this conversation with confidence.)
I've watched only a handful of interviews about season two since watching the season, mostly Joey's, and it's emphasized of course about the friendship they have, and being able to celebrate just the closeness and intimacy they have. As friends. Who just happen to be two guys. And that's great. In the very online world that we live in now, we don't actually see a lot of positive male intimacy in American/Western society/media.
There's always the idea of #NoHomo and the marketable #Bromance that's thrown around. There's a lot of toxic masculinity going around that affects everyone, about not showing feelings to other guys, not showing how much their guy friends mean to each other. Usually when we see some form of male intimacy between seemingly straight guys, it's usually quickly played up for laughs, or it happens after some very traumatic event. Sometimes it's the pat on the back type of hug, sometimes it's an actual, genuine full hug. I always think back to the FRIENDS episode where Joey and Ross become nap buddies. They fall asleep together and curl up with each other. They accept it when they're alone. But as soon as anyone else finds out, it's "oh shit!" and they pull apart and then it's known to the group, so they stop doing it.
So no, we really don't get enough positive reinforcements of this. And on the other side, while women friends are more accepted and not questioned, whenever a guy is involved and there's that misnomer love triangle, then suddenly they can't be good or close friends. We get them competing for attention of the guy, or being jealous of each other. Or if one's in a relationship and the other isn't, their friendship usually turns into either complaining about the guy or complaining about being single. And in the few shows that have women as the main characters (such as Rizzoli & Isles) it's very much more about them being independent and not needing a guy and how relationships interfere with their dynamic. We rarely if ever see that particular situation when a show is comprised of mostly male lead characters.
And that's the problem. So many shows, "genre" and modern, are comprised of mostly male leads and casts and are mostly straight. So the whole "why can't they just be friends" argument doesn't hold up that well when we have queerbaiting/bromance marketing going on all the time for shows like Hawaii 5-0, NCIS: LA, Psych, Lethal Weapon show, or even shows not marketed like that like Sons of Anarchy, Cobra Kai, The Boys, and others. And even in non-Western media, we have to contend with shows based on actual LGBTQIA+ works being transformed into "just good friends" like Sleuth of Ming Dynasty because of censorship and other things.
Wheel of Time has some of the best queer rep I've seen in a studio made fantasy adventure show. It fails in other departments, but goddamn, did it make me happy to see polyamory, and queer people, especially queer people of color. And it was a mix of having to hide it (because of politics not favoring relationships of any sort) and being proudly open about it. It's not there as shock value or to titillate or prove a point about someone's proclivities (looking at you, Yennefer orgy scene in season 01).
So when the first season of Witcher came out, it was always marketed as Geralt and Yennefer as the big romance. It was never doing the bromance thing with Jaskier, even though we got more scenes with Jaskier & Geralt together than Yennefer & Geralt making their supposed romance/lust for each other seem very contrived. Even me with knowing how it was years of back and forth with the two in the books, couldn't really see it.
All we get in the show is sexual attraction. It's there in spades between Geralt and Yennefer. There's only implied emotional connect at the end, right when they force the issue in the Mountain scene. It was too little too late. A little bit of this gets fixed in season two, but we'll get to that (sorta).
And this is an issue in a lot of heterosexual "romances" in media, both on TV and in movies. It's always about sexual attraction and then a relationship and then maybe if one's lucky, there's emotional/romantic/mental attraction between the two. And usually it's lopsided.
One gregarious example is with Big Bang Theory. While I liked Leonard mostly in the first season (playing shy nerdy dude who seemed to be a good guy), it was more and more obvious (and tech obvious from the get-go), that he really only cared about Penny's beauty and his attraction to her. This is supposed to be the extreme case of opposites attract. But what Penny first fell for in Leonard was the whole "not like other guys" which was the masculine definition, someone taller than her, strong, and conventionally sexy, but almost always an asshole. She liked that he was sweet and kind to her with not really expecting anything else. Aka the "friendzone." She eventually learns to like him and feel attraction to him because of who he supposedly is. We really never get that from Leonard's side. And while he never cared about her being as smart as him, things really didn't get serious until she got a more reputable job that was science-adjacent. And in one of the many seasons when they were broken up and "just friends", they go out on a friend date and he admits that when they were dating, he only pretended to like the things she was into to get sex. He even lauded it over her. Meanwhile, she suffered with Sheldon's tutelage so she could feel a little smarter. She wasn't a geek, but she tried to get into his geekdom. (We'll ignore the only time this ever worked was when Sheldon got her into things like Star Trek, MMORPGs, and a few others when she felt genuinely interested.)
So here we have Geralt and Yennefer who do actually have a lot in common but we don't get it in the show. I'm sure it's in the books, and fandom, even Geraskier fandom, fills in the blanks about why they should have worked but also why it makes sense that they don't. They're both opposites and yet too much alike. But because they're straight (supposedly, orgy scene aside), that means they're just supposed to fit and it be unquestioned. We get no romance, just some possible romantic lines.
Now here's an interesting thing. In a lot of "bromances" or buddy cop shows, there's always the line of "you act like a married couple", (this also happens in Hallmark Romances with het characters), and usually it's regard to friendly or not so friendly bickering/teasing/light fighting. It always felt like a wink wink nod nod kind of thing. It also is part of that whole trope that's SO excessive in het romances (especially Shoujo manga) that fighting and hiding things and pulling pigtails is indicative of love, and it's "just so obvious guys". So with straight couples, it's a sign of true love, but with generally two men? It's just a joke and they're "just bros" or "good friends".
As a writer, I do my best to do research even for throwaway lines. The Netflix site for the Witcher Timeline is invaluable as I want to stay true to Netflix and then sprinkle in game/book stuff when there's not enough information. I keep forgetting sites like these are VERY ephemeral. I luckily took a cap above before season two hit. There wasn't much about Jaskier in the last iteration of the site before season two (the events of the animated prequel were added then). We had his date of birth which confirmed 20 years went by, and that he came from Oxenfurt and Lettenhove (no mention of Viscount). Now, I don't remember if one of the entries was always like this, but only when I checked last did I notice the paragraph about Jaskier and Geralt. And instead of using the tried and true phrase of "bicker like an old couple" it actually said "they fight like brothers."
That's... not a phrase I've seen often in shows with two main leads, unless they were previously "brothers in arms" in the military or something. I thought this was very choice wording, especially considering that Geralt does have his own brothers and we see he treats them in season two way differently than we've seen him treat Jaskier. Granted, one main difference is that when Jaskier is in trouble, Geralt doesn't hesitate to help him. But this is more I believe because Jaskier is just human and needs that protection than the other Witchers.
I'll touch more on that odd line from the older Netflix entry later, or at least tie it in with what we'll probably get in season 03. Mind, I know we'll never get canon Geraskier. It feels like we'll get bi Jaskier at least, and then quite possibly confirmation of a queer platonic relationship. (I do worry though this will play out like how The Rock handles any queer guys in his last two films: Jungle Cruise & Red Notice, which isn't great.)
Again, we do need more instances of queer platonic relationships, especially in a healthy, positive, affirming light. I just don't think that'll happen here given how poorly Jaskier is treated in the show and related media (like in the updated Netflix timeline site). It would just be nice, you know? It's miserable we're still desperate for crumbs in 2022.
Treatment of Jaskier by Others in Season 01
The Bard is almost always treated as a comedic sidekick in shows, or the supposed best friend of the main hero. They're the ones to lighten up the situation and give some softness to the gruff/angst-ridden lead. They're the wingman. We see this often in Joxer, Gabrielle, Ron, Poe Dameron, Danno (his stories are always second to McGarret), Riley (of National Treasure), Goose, Gus, Donkey, Genie... Usually, the only one that sees their worth or that they're more than just there for comic relief is the audience and the hero. But not always.
Understandably, Yennefer cares not for the bard (and vice versa). We don't get confirmation till the second season that a lot of it is jealousy/rivalry based, and not just Jaskier's personality. But it makes sense, more sense than Yennefer and Geralt's romance.
When we first meet Jaskier, the Posadans don't care for him at all for his shit songs, and that makes sense. He's 18, doesn't know how to read the regular folk, and is very academic. The Sylvan and Elves? Hate humans, especially naïve ones who only know of the hateful rhetoric.
Now, it's roughly 6-8ish years after Posada that Jaskier is invited to play for Calanthe. No matter her opinion of him (which is low) she still invited him. And this is Cintra, where EVERYONE on the continent was afraid to mess with politically or otherwise. So it's definitely high praise if she's seeking out entertainment OUTSIDE her walls, especially from a possible Redanian. (Still unsure where Lettenhove is but, still at least very north of Cintra.) So while Toss a Coin has become an earworm that everyone loves to hate, or hates to love, it's still has brought him fame. Along with every other song he's created since then. Jaskier is already becoming extremely well known. And he plays with the court band well. In the briefest of cameos with the court band, they don't hate him, they like him, and there's at least musical/professional respect going on.
Frankly, this is the only time we see anyone treat Jaskier with respect that's not connected with either his flirtations OR with Geralt (like when the villagers were eager to tell their tales to Jaskier). We get the angry cuckolded noble, we get Mousesack who sniffs at the ridiculous outfit, we get the Queen who sniffs at anyone really who's not a warrior. But at least she enjoys the music when Jaskier changes it up.
I'm not sure about Chireadan, who was hard to watch in his scenes, and doesn't necessarily look down at Jaskier, but it seems like it was more like "we're both lowly people who should bow to the awesomeness that is Yennefer and/or powerful people like Geralt" than anything. Again, here it was more playing for laughs.
Up the mountain, Yarpin and his lot obviously don't care for Jaskier, and neither do the rest of the adventuring party. They just see a foppish fool of a bard. And yeah, Jaskier isn't at his best at his poor flirtation with Téa and Véa. This really reminded me of all the attempts Gus does around Shawn in Psych, skating the lines of creepiness. Again, despite us being told he gets around easily and is the "typical bard" who flirts with anyone, we don't see him being smooth and suave. This could be because he's distracted with Yennefer's presence, or the fact there was again some tension going on with him and Geralt in the beginning of the episode. And then Borch also pays him no mind, more interested in the destiny and chaos surrounding Geralt and Yennefer.
Despite the fact that we're now at twenty years of Jaskier following Geralt around, he still acts like he doesn't know what he's doing for an adventuring party, talking to an unknown and possibly deadly creature. Showing up his supposed incompetence and buffoonery. We can meta this as him just being that goodhearted person that we know, that he's still naïve (and harkens to a famous book quote about him still acting like a child of 10), and that it's not necessarily a bad thing. He's with Geralt, he technically doesn't have to worry about anything.
But, the whole "what pleases me" scene and his reaction to witnessing a traumatic "death" was fantastic and sobering and we get that hint of him realizing it's been YEARS at this and maybe, just maybe, something should change. Like what I wrote at the beginning where he's realizing this subtle shift with Geralt, he's possibly realizing now a shift within himself.
And then we have Geralt. Who barely tolerated him in the first adventure, punched him for mentioning the Butcher, tried to leave him for good after selflessly trying to sacrifice himself for him. Next, we see him barely tolerating him after a nasty hunt, making faces at him (and the bartender which was hilarious), but relying on him for a good bath and the possibility of good food and drink. He then lies to a noble to save his friend, doing it in such a way that yes would make the noble feel bad for the man, but also again, to belittle Jaskier (and emasculate him despite his supposed reputation of being a pleaser). Still, he does his due diligence and even after the end of everything still tries to warn Jaskier to play it safe. The djinn situation makes it seem it happened within a year of Cintra (1249) but it was actually 7 years later. Obviously it wasn't seven years since Jaskier seen Geralt but they definitely hadn't spent most of that year together. We can't fault Geralt's demeaner here with Jaskier, as both aren't in their best of minds. But here we see that he does care (even beyond just helping a hapless human), willing to make a deal with a powerful rogue court mage. Once he's assured that Jaskier will be fine, he relaxes. This is not necessarily a bad thing but when it comes to Jaskier, we see in season two that Geralt is shit at follow through/ups.
I really wish we had gotten one more episode of their adventures to see their friendship more, and hell, more of Geralt and Yennefer interacting that wasn't just sex, but showing how their brilliant minds could solve problems.
But no, despite seeing this care and then kind of discard of Jaskier (Geralt finally getting sleep and who knows if Jaskier stayed around that time or not), we go right to the mountain. Where Geralt again is irritated with Jaskier who's just trying to write a new song and waiting by Roach. Like I had mentioned earlier with Jaskier seemingly not have changed in 20 years, Geralt's treatment to Jaskier here shows similar to Posada. He again mostly ignores Jaskier, worried for Yennefer. And especially when Jaskier tries to not be his bardic self (maybe showing that noble upbringing), to console him and open up to him, Geralt takes it as sign to just go to Yennefer and not realize what Jaskier was attempting.
Who knows why Jaskier isn't woken up by the morning activities, that he misses all the action. Is it because Geralt's so focused on Yennefer? Possibly. Is it because Geralt thinks Jaskier would be safer away? Maybe. More likely it's the Yennefer thing AND that he knows Jaskier would be pretty much useless in a fight. And then the final interaction. Jaskier, not knowing the context, trying to be what was always expected of him, someone to make light of the situation, to get Geralt's mind off of things, and maybe he expected annoyance, but not the anger and vitriol.
Overall, Jaskier is not treated with kindness and respect. We're told that he's loved by a lot, and his songs are famous and revered, and beyond everyone enjoying Toss a Coin, we almost see none of that. He's just here for the comedic outlet, for the songs. Never mind in the books, he's treated better by most everyone, that he's done a lot of respectable things including being a famous musician. He has many flaws, and we see them, just despite it all, he's a good person, he's doing his best, he's HUMAN. And one of the best humans out there for anyone considered or is non-human. Jaskier is a contradiction in so many ways but we shouldn't be getting so much of that in the show and supplements related to the show. But, at least season one ends with the final song Jaskier was working on with Geralt.
I am weak my love, and I am wanting.
Season 02: Where's Jaskier?
The writer(s) seemed to realize that hey, Jaskier is a HUGE fan favorite. We do get more depth to Jaskier in season two, at least more obvious than all the implication in season 01, but again, there's so much contradictions and so much ERASURE done to ensure we're all reminded that this is the Geralt and Ciri and Yennefer show. This part here is just me as a fan's feelings (I mean all of this is but I've been trying to analyze and talk it out with facts we know), but I feel like we were punished in ways for wanting more Jaskier (and possibly Geraskier fandom being one of the loudest? I'm unsure, I kept myself in a grief bubble for most of last year) for what we do and don't get in season two.
Mainly, we had to wait for FOUR episodes for Jaskier to appear. He's not even MENTIONED or referenced in the first three episodes. His part in season one of the recap was erased to JUST show Jaskier being tossed aside, despite his importance to the events in Geralt's life. How does Geralt not bring Jaskier up when talking to Ciri? Even just a passing "I was at your parents' betrothal cause I was protecting a dumb bard" or something. This bothered me so much I wrote a character study about that first episode lol. It's tossed in our faces too when Geralt mentions who his friends are but never once called Jaskier a friend, or admitted it.
There's a possible chance that Yennefer again was the first to mention Jaskier in an offhand way when she picks up that the elven songs have actual lyrics. That's what I was hoping on. This is still a possibility given what we now know will be happening in the prequel mini-series (which I hope turns to be a full on series on its own right). I haven't scoured every single interview for everything, so maybe that's been confirmed? I'll go on the current presumption it's not.
In the original Netflix site timeline, it indicated that between the mountain and Geralt finding Ciri was just nearly a year. It seems like the show writers forgot about that (and what is distance, crossing the continent back and forth like it was only a half day's ride without portals but I digress), and tries to make this entire season fit in just winter?? So three months? Man, music must've spread like wildfire for Jaskier to have THREE BANGERS hit across the continent (Her Sweet Kiss, The Golden One, and now as the Sandpiper, "Man of a Thousand Grunts"). Which we all agree on is impossible again to make such connections with Ciri and the Witchers and just... I'm still going to go with at least a year in between and then maybe 3-5 months with Geralt & Ciri together.
I bring you that tangent because it's related to what we do learn of Jaskier this whole season. Of what he did before we FINALLY see him.
Even the above snippet from Netflixpedia (as I'm going to dub it from here on out) is truly too short of a summary of Jaskier's escapades the past twenty years. Granted, we get a few extra in the locations and events around the continent, but it's still sparse. This is I believe one of the few entries not written as Jaskier (which is common across all media that most of the narration done is by Jaskier/Dandelion himself).
Going with the belief of about a year in between seasons, we know this. Jaskier made it safely down the mountain. Jaskier did not stop composing or performing. Jaskier believed that when Cintra fell, possibly the Witcher did too, temporarily (How disappointing). For a time, instead of going straight back to Oxenfurt, he went to Bleobheris. Although we got "Her Sweet Kiss" at the end of season 01, I don't think he finished it first. I think "The Golden One" came out first. Like "Toss Your Coin", it was a surprise hit, and much similar to one hit wonder pop songs like "Friday" where it's just an ear worm. It's not Jaskier's best, musicality wise still good, but he wrote it cause he needed to get the Mountain out and make himself feel better. Maybe working out his feelings.
I believe he finally released "Her Sweet Kiss" when he thought possibly Geralt and/or Yennefer was dead (Battle of Sodden taking out so many sorcerers and sorceresses). Mind, he's still heartbroken and hurting and the anger building. But Bleobheris happens. We figure he was there at least long enough for it to really make an impression. Was it his first time there? Who knows. Maybe he was even starting to heal a bit, being among others like himself. And then he witnesses an atrocity first hand. I'm sure Jaskier has witnessed a lot, but he's smart to keep himself out of anything military wise. And in this Netflix version, he hasn't done any spying (as far it feels like) prior to the Mountain. But this, similar to what happened in Posada is possibly the first time he's seen anything like it. It's scarring. He knows he's lucky to have been considered "safe" and not a "danger". We'll get more on this below. That affected him deeply, both as a compassionate and empathic person, and knowing it could eventually come down to him. He gets enough out of his rut to be willing to do anything to help. To not shovel piles of shit and be a useless bard. To have a purpose that aligns with his heart and head and abilities.
So he becomes the Sandpiper.
"The common sandpiper is a migrator, but it frequents similar habitats year-round. When in upland areas, sandpipers live along river, ponds, or lakes."
Seems fitting, no?
Between the raid and Oxenfurt and his new identity, he pens what we call "Burn, Butcher, Burn" but technically at last check on Netflixpedia, it's actually called "Man of a Thousand Grunts". His heartbreak and hurt manifested into this song when he realizes that Geralt is still alive. And after all this time, has not come for him. I won't necessarily fault Geralt for this (even most of Geraskier fandom doesn't, we love parent!Geralt), and to a point not even Jaskier later on. But it doesn't mean it doesn't sting, it doesn't hurt. No check ups, no letters left, nothing. And he's dramatic, he's admitted this. With his new purpose in life, he needs to do his best to get past twenty years of history. But it's not easy. He writes this break up song as a way to move on and of course like all his other songs, it's a hit.
Jaskier has been a popular artist for at least a decade. This isn't recent. It may be the most music he's churned out in a season—it helps if he's not on the road dodging monsters and taking care of Witchers, but he's consistent.
Let's not also forget that it seems like he singlehandedly came up with this idea of the Sandpiper or at least put it into execution. That's no easy feat. To use his charm to get several benefactors and to keep the chain going. It had to be working for a long enough time, and he's managed to DISGUISE himself as Sandpiper without a real disguise in the city where Julian Alfred Pankratz/Jaskier, master of the seven arts and occasional teacher is FAMOUS. Granted, yes, it seems like one of his biggest benefactors is freaking Sigismund Dijkstra, but still.
He could've gone back and gone to court or just stayed in the bubble of Oxenfurt Academy. But he doesn't. He does this work as often as there's ships to give enough passage. He's holding a lot of hate and hurt in his heart for what happened on the Mountain, for what is happening to the poor Elves and others. And he's drinking. He's drinking constantly, even before Yennefer gets to him, and definitely after. I believe the drinking isn't necessarily due to the heartbreak but also what he witnessed at the raid. He's no one to confide in, to rely on, even when he reunites with this new Yennefer, and eventually Geralt.
But all this? We learn in a few choice sentences and references. What we get on screen of Jaskier is perfect and wonderful and Joey Batey is probably now one of my most favorite actors and singers out there. All the little things, the subtle the looks and touches he does.
We can see through his quips and expressions and mannerisms that he hasn't moved on. He was ready to be just as nasty to Yennefer as he always was, not caring that she could literally hex his balls off. And I'm sure he had a whole speech ready for Geralt too. But she comes and hugs him, relieved for something resembling normal and safe for her. Her whole demeanor is different. We know she's grown and learned and matured (at least a little) to realize Jaskier's worth before even getting to the Sandpiper business, but I'm sure that helped too. And especially after his explanation. Finally, he has someone who understands, even if it's his rival.
I love their relationship, their dynamics. I wish we saw the cattiness of them in season one even more than what we saw, the in betweens, when Geralt and Yennefer were on a good footing for a bit. But still, this is great, and we can see that Jaskier is touch starved/friend starved. He latches onto Yennefer but is smart enough to know when to let go, to know that he still has a lot of shit to work through. Yennefer brings memories of what he could never have, and if he can save her, and never see her again? Then at least he'll feel accomplished.
I also LOVE that little bit. That he knew. That it was a conversation had either with Yennefer or with Geralt, about her family origins. And it was never a thing lorded over her cause of course Jaskier isn't like that. That despite everything he hates of her, it's not and never been her heritage.
Now, every time we see something serious or mature done by Jaskier, it has to be "balanced" with him giving into his flaws. This is where we get to learn that he did write a song about the mountain, and meeting a fan of sorts. His ego and hubris gets to him, and even admits to himself that he's doing the stupid thing to argue with this guy, potentially ruining this night's run of getting the Elves (and Yennefer) to safety. We have to presume this is a rare occurrence since no on seems wary on relying or searching for the Sandpiper. So that means he has to be consistently helping.
Quick aside. While the writing overall was much better this season as a whole, there are so many easy/simple parallels going on and the writers patting themselves on the back. They're consistently setting things up for an easy win (much to the detriment of characterization when it came to the Witchers and their Keep, or that we can get across the continent conveniently in a day when needed) without good follow through. This scene is to set up Jaskier is beholden to his pride and to give another elf the chance of redemption for the death of a young black elf. It's very contrived and frustrating.
"The Golden One" isn't his best work, not even better than "Toss a Coin" but it's popular and loved and it's possibly one of the few songs (Dandy Lion aside) where Jaskier's inserted himself. Yeah, it's an easy line of him getting the girls, but it's deeper (calling my right of death of the author here) than that. It's him trying to prove to himself and the others that he's not a shit shoveler, that he's a "worthy travel companion" to others. It's a small bit to the rest of the song about the greatness of a dragon. It's technically not supposed to be noticed or called out, just a silly little bard insert, yet it hurts when it's the main part being criticized, along with it being apparently one of his weakest songs. But it's his first song he's written post Geralt fully. So obviously it's still a dear song to him.
And as us who are content creators know online, or even just being professionals online in social media, sometimes it's the straw that breaks the camel back of being told how to do what we're trained to do by people who have NO idea what's it like. (Being a game dev person, a writer, a video editor, and worked manufacturing, it's amazing what Twitter & YouTube commenters think they know about in these industries. Amongst other parallels.) While Jaskier is a well known artist, a rock star in his own right, he doesn't play just the big venues (court, festivals), he plays taverns and bars. For the Sandpiper gig, it has to be that way. I mention this cause it gives the illusion that anyone can come up to him and talk to him like a professional when they're not. Jaskier also is someone who thrives on people liking him, praising him, or engaging him meaningfully so it's not like he's going to keep his distance either. So this, along with what he says to Rience, shows that it's an extremely common occurrence. And he's at that part of his career where he doesn't have to listen to just anyone about his music.
Despite that hiccup, he gets the elves on, meets Dara briefly (and hopefully inspired him), and says what he hopes is final goodbye to Yennefer.
And then he gets hit over the head, knocked out, and loses his lute, for good. Fitting final scene of seeing it broken. The end of an era.
Now the torture scene with Rience is apparently longer and more brutal than it was in the books. All we know is that he gets beaten for a few hours (anywhere between 2 and 4 or more depending on the tides of the ship leaving and it being early morning when he's finally rescued), not spilling anything. And then the fire and his fingers are burned. Not by REGULAR fire mind, but mage fire. Probably burns hotter than we expected. And all it takes is those few seconds to get serious burns.
And despite it all, Jaskier holds out, still has his wits about him. If we take what he says at face value, and later scenes sort of reinforce it. Sadly twenty years of being Geralt's companion yet Geralt never shared anything to Jaskier? Fanon of course had it that Jaskier did see Cirilla a few times after she was born. It's believable (if albeit sad) that Jaskier never went to Kaer Morhen, but man, maybe if he was a sex worker he would have since they were frequent visitors apparently. What he slips out could be coincidence of him making it up, and yes we know Jaskier is brilliant with words. Or it could have all been a ruse and Jaskier did know more but managed to keep it to himself.
Did we ever figure out HOW Rience found the keep?? Man that keep was so easily found by so many this season. And The Killer pass wasn't so murderous.
But guh, that speech was great, and how he's able to go from the pain of torture to improving with Yennefer AND at the same time be scared for her since she has no magic and seemingly as defenseless as him. Fantastic scene there. We see both of their vulnerabilities, we see Jaskier's quick-wittedness (along with Yennefer's), we see how well he knows Oxenfurt by the back of his hand, knowing which way to go and where, and willing to goad men to follow him. Despite being "a humble (human) bard", he's fast on his feet, nimble for his age. And he knows his worth, that he's the damsel and even without her powers, Yennefer's still formidable.
I would've loved to see how Jaskier rescued Yennefer from the brothel, we saw his mind working quick before she escaped herself. And then he's thrown into a prison. For how long? Who knows, a few days, a week. Even without the flashback timeline shenanigans, time is still wibbly wobbly in this season. It's enough that his untreated burns have healed a bit.
Writing nitpick. Oxenfurt is his home. Why didn't he use his name or his place at the Academy to get out of Jail? We know he has a large network of people, outside of the Sandpiper business, and this is his city, not a foreign land. Other than for plot sake, it's weird.
You can on Spotify hear the whole rendition of Whoreson Prison Blue's but I still love the "live" version we hear in the jailcell. Here's Jaskier's beautiful mind always composing, always coming up with something to wile away time or piss off people to his advantage. When he's not alone (truly) or have access to alcohol, he remains pretty stoic and unflappable. We see the charm and Disney princess like quality of him befriending some mice. Played to comedic effect of course, but it works, shows more of what kind of person Jaskier is.
Again, commending Joey Batey's fantastic acting here, giving us so much in the span of a few seconds. He sees Geralt and the relief of him being there, being alive. The "Fuck it" and the hug is so good, and we get Geralt showing a positive emotion and glimmer of guilt (not enough). We get to see Jaskier not be a push over (sort of) when he tries to get Geralt into an actual conversation, an actual apology, because we know and he knows that Jaskier's forgiven him already. Not forgotten, but forgiven. And while Geralt doesn't say "I need you" (again it's Yennefer first) it's close enough for Jaskier.
It's frustrating that we don't get to see the fallout of everything Jaskier's been through, to show anyone have any concern for him and what he went through. We do get a lovely fan service scene of Jaskier and Geralt falling into their old dynamics, with Jaskier cleaning up and doing a bit of exposition and comedy. We see that Jaskier isn't an idiot at all, gullible maybe because he constantly tries to assume the best of people, even Yennefer. But despite the strides he and Yennefer made into amending whatever their own dynamics are, he's of course going to take time to get through those feelings he's harbored for almost a decade when it concerns her. It's easier to slip, especially with Geralt around, to snarking about her, to try and ensure that Geralt doesn't fall back in love or forgiveness for her. But we can see that even Jaskier knows he's fighting a losing battle about it.
The scene with Yarpen and his crew again showcases how little is cared for about Jaskier, but granted, he couldn't remember their names or faces. I do say though he's been nearly drinking himself to oblivion since the mountain, and they didn't care for him back then so why should he do the same?
We get the high horse apology and immediately Jaskier cuts Geralt off, quipping with him and putting Geralt at ease. It's a sweet scene, even if most of fandom doesn't think it's enough (it's not). Jaskier was the one tortured and rotting away in a cell and yet he's the one walking having to look up at Geralt. We see Jaskier sympathizing and empathizing again, learning what Geralt's been through, and putting Geralt (and Ciri) and his needs first and foremost. Jaskier knows Geralt best, knows that the Witcher carries so much on his shoulders, both deserved and undeserved. It's easy to ensure there's one less burden there.
But we can see in the lingering looks and the mannerisms when Geralt isn't looking at Jaskier, that Jaskier still hurts, still aches. His heart is still shattered into a million pieces. But he's a good person, and he won't hold it over Geralt now. He tried in the jail cell to get what he desperately needed. Not the time or place, but will Jaskier ever get what's owed him at least? I doubt it.
Do we even know why Geralt needed Jaskier's help? Just to have someone with him to look for Ciri? To get the Yennefer information and that's it? Or simply for the escort mission to the apparently short distance from Cintra to Kaer Morhen? (Which should've taken weeks.) Jaskier's there though not really in the escort back, no one knowing that Ciri gets possessed.... And then the next we see him is him drunk in a cold bed, sleeping nearly the entire big event away (again). Except Yennefer searches for him.
Yennefer is the one that says she needs HIM. Not his help but him. Seriously their dynamic is so good this season, through and through, and I hope in the next we'll get more of it. Jaskier shows again that he believes he knows his worth, he's not a coward, he's smart. What can he, a human do? So Yennefer gives him a McGuffin.
I really feel like Jaskier was made to be a McGuffin to us fans, teasing us with all this potential. At our grasps yet the follow through is never quite there. (I feel the same with Dara and Istredd. Like the writers knew the fans cared about these characters but they weren't important enough to do much but muddle around in the plot. I love these two and what they tried to do for themselves and others but again, frustration.
Because yeah, in the end, even though Geralt did hear Jaskier, how much of that was really needed? Geralt and the other Witchers were kind of being really stupid in this fight (and in Eskel's fight too) just for the sake of it. Jaskier risked life and limb to the one job he was given. He was determined. But the Jasper, like he, was useless, wasn't needed, truly.
Though we are teased with Dijkstra's reveal that he's one of the Bard's benefactors. That he's of some use and Dijkstra's going to come collect. I fear this means we'll have Jaskier separate again just so that Yennefer, and Geralt, and Ciri can interact and be the DESTINED TRIO. Jaskier will be bardnapped and pressed into spy services, hopefully being actually more crucial to the political plots going on. It may also mean like it seems like a betrayal to Geralt, but we know Jaskier won't do it so willingly. It's been teased in an interview that he'll have a more significant part, and this could be why. I just want him and the other three to have some good adventures together and not suffering.
The final two times we see Jaskier are both meaningful but also contradictory. When the trio comes back from another Sphere, Jaskier goes to Yennefer first, cause she's without chaos and "technically" the weakest of the three. He's genuinely worried for her, for her potential sacrifice to make things right again. The soft touches, the looks at each other before he looks at Ciri and Geralt. He may not be able to do much, but he's able to do this.
Jaskier's an outsider. The only human up in the keep. Everyone knew of Yennefer and Geralt, but we have no indication Geralt talked about Jaskier (like how he wasn't mentioned at all in the first episode this season). He technically didn't help in the fight (he tried). And all he wanted was to feel like he belonged. But instead, we had to be reminded on how little people think of Jaskier, that he's just the comedic sidekick. And so he gets pushed roughly away from Lambert, and is told he's not part of the family. Which Jaskier accepts. Cause it was always this way for him. He takes it mostly in stride, as he does every lump he's been given. And paralleling last season, he is dismissed and that's what we last see.
(Jaskier's) Respect Doesn't Make History
There were times in season one mostly where Jaskier seemingly breaks the fourth wall. The most obvious example of this in season two is when he tells Yennefer that he's supposed to be the damsel in distress. We get these small snippets of Jaskier knowing his place in the grand scheme of things. And he accepts it. He's not the main character. He's the storyteller, he's the one that gets to tell everyone else about the main characters, create scenarios where the real heroes get to prove that they are heroes. I think partially that's why he doesn't push for the respect owed to him beyond his music. It's why that he clings to needing to be right about his music, his craft, which becomes his detriment at times, or his folly. It's why he hides his pain in a breakup song and drink, and lets Geralt believe everything is okay.
Fandom wants a proper apology, wants proper acknowledgement of everything Jaskier's done for and been through with Geralt. Even as friends, brothers, this is just as important than if they were lovers, and in some ways even more important. Especially if the hints thrown this season gets cemented with Jaskier being bi (even if it's typical TV!bi like Lucifer and not atypical!bi like Constantine). Because queer platonic relationships demand respect and love and courtesy and importance as others.
I don't think we'll get this. We may get one more acknowledgement from Geralt, either before Jaskier is taken by Sigi or maybe after he needs rescue again, but it won't be enough. I worry we'll get the typical masculine portrayal of forgiveness (something that's shown frequently between Geralt and his Wolf brothers) of blowing up and then it's water under the bridge. We sort of already got that, but we'll probably get one more of it from the other half too (burn, butcher, burn after all).
I've already mentioned it a few times but emphasizing here, that we get a lot of fantastic writing and acting with Jaskier in this season. Yet also, with the writing, just all these teasers and failed stopping points. We have to be constantly reminded that Jaskier is the side kick, the best buddy friend, the support, but most importantly... The comedic relief. If not through jokes than through his pratfalls. This in essence isn't a bad thing as it's a lot of Jaskier's charm, a lot of why we as the audience love him. He brings levity and joy and innocence, and the human experience. He's surrounded by Destined Ones^TM and people of awesome power, and he can still stand up with them.
But he must always know his place.
Especially in the Netflixpedia, in the dock worker who had an opinion, in the prison guard, in Yarpen and his crew, and in Lambert and the surviving Witchers. And, in Sigismund Dijkstra.
They are all people who don't know Jaskier and takes him and his antics at face value. Despite most knowing of him, of hearing his deeds or songs for the past couple of decades.
We see the maturity of Jaskier, of him figuring out who he could possibly be if he could no longer be the Witcher's anything. And it was working, being the Sandpiper. He was respected, not that he was looking for that, and looked up to. He was still Jaskier the talented lutist/lyricist, whom most of the crowd loved and adored. He still strikes a dashing figure, catching the eyes of women and men in the tavern, in the ship, and even a lovely bearded female dwarf of Yarpen's crew.
I already mentioned most of these characters in the review of the season and their disregard of him. The dock worker's opinion was unprompted. Yarpen threw an axe not between Geralt and Jaskier but to Jaskier's shirt specifically. Ignored and dismissed his introduction for a second time. Sure, maybe like the elves in "Toss a Coin" with "The Golden One" they felt pissed at the portrayal in song. Especially as Jaskier didn't necessarily do anything during the Dragon hunt compared to Yarpen and them.
But that puts in a dichotomy of sorts, with Jaskier's songs being popular and loved by the people, but not by anyone who's opinion that really matters to Jaskier. Again it's not recognizing that Jaskier is more than a one-hit wonder, is a pop star/rock star, yet not treated as anything with respect. Because he's not constituted with doing masculine work, like being a Witcher, being a Knight, being a band of bandits, or anything that would be considered more salt of the earth. Even Yarpen makes a comment on why they didn't stay being lords of the land. Never mind that Jaskier gave up his nobility at a young age and has been traveling on the Path with Geralt on and off for twenty years.
We get the waitress who's sick of the song and seemingly of him, giving him a dirty look when he drinks any of the discarded ale before meeting Yennefer. Of course the prison guard is purposely being annoyed by Jaskier.
Now, between the extreme hubris "Jaskier" writes of himself in Netflixpedia and of course his persona as Jaskier on the show whenever he sees someone pretty, it makes sense to knock him down a little. Even Geralt gets knocked down time again for his own hubris and refusal to learn and grow. But with Geralt, he's always seen on a level playing field. It nearly never is with Jaskier.
Jaskier who can slip into being the Sandpiper and help others, truly selflessly, is one of the only times he has respect and awe. The only one who truly gives him respect as himself is Yennefer. She's happy for him, that he hasn't changed so much to be unrecognizable to what she knew of him, and learns more about him in one evening than all their time together. All because the barrier of Geralt isn't there and they're both nursing their broken hearts. There's a kinship, and I'm glad it's not lost after Yennefer reconnects with Geralt, even to disastrous effect. She finally understands him and when she's without her chaos, she cares and respects and needs him.
She saves Jaskier not for any ulterior motive. Not to help her, or to get on Geralt's good side again, or anything. She takes her time in telling Geralt about Jaskier, and sort of plays down the fact he was tortured for a few hours. I think that's more her juggling with the decisions and and promise she made with baba yaga—I mean, Voleth Meir and her own conflicting feelings with Geralt. Her and Jaskier both tossed their hurt feelings aside to forgive and give into Geralt. And then with the battle at Kaer Morhen, Yennefer relies on Jaskier, believing that he's the best chance to get through to Geralt, that only Jaskier is still trustworthy enough. She accepts his kind touch after coming back from the other sphere and it's sweet and touching. She's the only one in all of season two to see Jaskier, to respect him, to care about him.
Geralt? Did worry about Jaskier when someone finally mentioned him. Did think of him first when Nenneke said he couldn't do this alone. Admitted he missed him and hugged him back. And.. he did try to apologize after [timey wimey travel time], and he trusted Jaskier with Ciri (along with Yarpen). He gave Jaskier a chance to bathe and rant without really pushing him around.
But again I must mention how the writing fails, with Geralt needing Jaskier's help and Yennefer just needing him. It comes to naught, as much as Jaskier tries to be good and useful. But he's only human and of the few GOOD humans in this show, the writers don't know what to do with that.
Geralt has respect, but not a lot for Jaskier. It's better here than in season one to a point. But Geralt has so much more on his mind so much other rightfully important things. He hasn't had time to mourn Eskel, his horse, or the other Witchers dying before and after Ciri's reveal. He barely allowed himself time to mourn when he thought Yennefer was dead. We just unfortunately did not get a lot of interaction between them because of other events that were more pressing. We can only make a lot of assumptions.
With Lambert's remark and Jaskier's final onscreen scene, there is no other context to see if this is just regular joking or the other Witchers seeing Jaskier as less than. This is why it was frustrating that Jaskier is not mentioned for three whole episodes. No one asks about Geralt's Bard, or mentions the new songs going around since before the fall of Cintra. Everything points to Jaskier never been brought up to Geralt's family in the last twenty years. This could have easily been fixed with a single line or two from any of the Witchers, the way that the line of Jaskier knowing of Yennefer's heritage spoke volumes.
Now, granted, in a time of war and politics, everyone's being used as pawns and being seen as useful, threats, or disposable. Dijikstra only sees a pawn of a bard, an investment he put in so he can be used in the future. But aside from Jaskier, every other human who's moving pieces around who seems to be of importance, are kings and queens and of politics. We don't see other human rebels trying to fight the good fight. But understandably so, in this story, in this series they are the bad guys. In most fantasies, it's the case, with maybe a group of plucky young heroes being the exception.
Now, maybe it's the long con, the long game, the hints in interviews that Jaskier will be thrusted into importance in the 3rd (and future??) seasons. We know now he'll be the narrator for the prequel series, but again playing the dumb human who has to be corrected about what really happened. (I'm hoping we won't have Jaskier human!splaining for comedic effect, but... we'll see.) We have the spying come up, and hopefully more political intrigue. This is what I thought would happened this season when we had gotten the season two trailer and Geralt needing Jaskier's help. It's what made sense to me, to navigate the courts.
This could all be buildup for parallels that were set up here for season 03. One can truly hope, but I'm not holding my breath.
We have two seasons of Jaskier being disrespected left and right, having his best friend throw him away when angry and only seek him when he's needed. He doesn't have the respect from others as he should, to the point where he makes it up on his own in his hubris and ego and in the logs of Netflixpedia. When it really matters, Jaskier is always putting others first, always putting himself in harms way to help others. And he swallows his feelings down, transforming them into songs that people listen, and enjoy, but never truly understand.
He's a human, through and through. He is both cowardly and fearless, brilliant and childish, compassionate and ambitious. And the show keeps punishing him for it, for not being more. Yet that's the brilliance of him. Of this single human having shifted destiny so many times, all for the love (platonic or otherwise) of one misunderstood Witcher.
Jaskier, Bi Fodder
I thought this section would be majority of this post, haha. But I've explained a lot of my thoughts on this through the other parts. I apologize for my rambling. While TVTropes isn't the definitive of what is a consensus on media and representation, it does support a lot of what's been written here. Like with any canon or perceived bisexual guys, they tend to have both "Ambiguously Bi" tag and "Camp Straight". Short of us seeing Jaskier with another man, or him straight out saying it, everyone can still explain away that Geralt and him are just brothers, just friends, that the heartbreak was borne of friendship shattered. He flirts only with women on screen, we only hear of his escapades with married women and running from straight men.
And yet, here we are. We know he was heartbroken, he said it. He and Yennefer can sympathize together. In his singing scene, a few of the male patrons look at him with something a little more interesting, and so does one of the male elves. The way he looks at Geralt in this season speaks volumes. Joey's alluded in interviews on how he was surprised and happy that the script took his character into new and dark and surprising situations, to be bold.
"As many of you will know, the story of Geralt and Yennefer's rocky romance is chronicled in 'Her Sweet Kiss, one of Jaskier 's most famous ballads..."
— From Netflixpedia
Yet TVTropes and fandom saw this song as a bit queer, as Jaskier looking in and longing. It was teased and joked in Twitter after what we lovingly call "Burn, Butcher, Burn" that of course "Her Sweet Kiss" wasn't obvious enough in heartbreak so they had to make it more obvious with the break up song of the century.
But what really cinched it for me with the show trying to tell us *wink wink nudge nudge* that Jaskier is more than he seems? The quote above. When he talks about why he's helping the elves.
"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."
— Martin Niemöller
It was a parallel to this famous poem. Combined with the fact that if one had studied American/Western Media in the 50s through the 80s with regard to LGBTQIA, artists were considered Queer. Majority of the blacklisting that happened wasn't just to do with communism, but anti-Semitism, homophobia, and other prejudices. One had to look between the lines, to see the subtext here. This is both overt and sub text going on.
It was Jaskier alluding that he was other for many reasons, and not just for being a "humble bard" considering we've been shown time again that they're not respected. So where would the fear come into play? Unless he was doing or saying something revolutionary. And this was before he became the Sandpiper. The way he hesitates, pauses, looks at Yennefer... Jaskier is the sort of person that talks all the time and says everything in his mind but not nearly everything in his heart. It's fantastic deflection that's hidden in the expectations of what a bard should be. But here, he's very careful with his words, with not saying too much.
When speaking of hubris this time, I'm pointing at the head writer and others in that team. They think they're so clever, being ambiguous in interviews and social media (and I know, part of it is you have to, you just can't spoil an upcoming season, duh, or promise something that hasn't been written or approved of). There's a lot of "pat on back" moments in the season, not to just Jaskier but others where they think they've done something different and new.
But the fantasy adventure bar is so goddamn low, especially in TV and Movies. Especially when it comes to any sort of MEANINGFUL representation. Wheel of Time did queerness real well, but failed in other marginalized representations. Witcher? Maybe because its origin is Poland, where real people are fighting for their lives to just be queer freely. I'm not saying the author is phobic, but he is very cisgendered straight, and it shows. We have fantasy homophobia, because it always parallels what we perceive history to be (even though history didn't have the right words for this discourse, and in some places were more queer friendly back then than we are now).
Why can't we have fantasy stories where queerness is normalized? It's still treated as something explicitly sexual and weird. We only see it in Yennefer's orgy scene (which was made fun of for such poor choreography), just to show that Yennefer is a "worldly" woman. All the sex workers that came up to Kaer Morhen were visibly women (and presumably cis, but easily could be otherwise).
We can argue what Fringilla and Francesca had as possibly queer too. It was lovely to see their friendship grow and how they helped each other. It's probably the only other sort of representation we can conceivably grasp for in the show.
So yes, I do believe they're setting up Jaskier to be bi/queer. Maybe it wasn't something he even realized till later in life, or something he always hid. One could argue that in the book's version of events of him running from his family cause he messed with the wrong noble, it could've been a male one. They may leave it continually ambiguous. We'll never get Geralt as anything but straight, especially as Henry keeps on insisting that all he wants is the show to be as close/true to the books as possible. While this would bode well for a more friendly happy companionship with his character and Jaskier, it's a continual insistence that the only true love for Geralt is Yennefer. I don't seem him as one of the actors who would be comfortable with anything but straight roles. Mind, again, I don't watch every single interview of this show or of the actors in others. I am a geek and a general fan of Henry, but it's not something I look to often.
And, if the best we can get out of this is a queer platonic relationship, fantastic. But as I've harped on throughout all of this... We need a healthy one. We need Geralt to acknowledge the pain he caused, for Jaskier to admit to that pain to him, to get them to an understanding, one that is full of love and hope and friendship and family and importantly, respect.
I don't know if the solution is to keep him forever pining (please no Supernatural ending here), or to create a new character (or gender swap one we haven't seen yet) for him to have a happy queer relationship. I've always hated "pair the spare" last minute kind of endings we get when a series comes to a close. I think, we just need more of him with the others in meaningful situations. Not empty ones that lead to no where (the jasper, the following possessed!Ciri) but ones of his choice and of others too.
We should be beyond the token bi/queer, the little scraps and hints and that is all we can get from these big shows. Granted, the best option is to have queer media be adapted and created from the get-go. But we should get that and get rep in the popular shows too.
Jaskier is a wonderfully complex character in all versions of him. I just wished the Netflix creators could see that.
“The richness, beauty and depths of love can only be fully experienced in a climate of complete openness, honesty and vulnerability.”
– Anthony Venn Brown
Sources Used:
Witcher Game Fandom Page - Jaskier & Various
Witcher Netflix Site (Media Heavy)
Witcher Jaskier TVTropes Page
Wikipedia - "First they came..."
Various Official Youtube & Tumblr Interviews with Joey & Lauren & Henry
#jaskier#julian alfred pankratz#the witcher#the witcher netflix#geraskier#analysis#character study#media representation#lgbt#my post#tv shows#netflix#review#geralt of rivia#yennefer of vengerberg#witcher season 2#Witcher season 1#queer platonic relationship#i hope this makes sense#this took two weeks to write#hopefully i didn't forget anything#my inbox is open#memories of queue
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GENSHIN IMPACT FANFIC REC LIST II
(previous: part i)
Seaglass by Aevas
There was more to the contract than a gnosis and test of Liyue. It seemed like a simple deal five hundred years ago: so long as Morax never had a soulmate, the Tsaritsa would never harm Liyue and she would not get his gnosis. But the moment he gained a soulmate, all that belonged to him was forfeit. He thought the deal left Liyue safe—he'd lived thousands of years without a soulmate. The Tsaritsa would be dead and gone by the time she'd have a chance to collect.
Five hundred years later, Childe appears in Liyue, Zhongli gains a soulmate mark, and everything falls apart.
(The obligatory soulmate AU, featuring a Zhongli with PTSD, an oblivious Childe, and demon-worshipping cultists.)
Ships: Zhongli/Childe
Notes: I CANNOT BELIEVE I SLEPT ON THIS FIC FOR SO LONG. Read it and I mean it! I admitted initially steered clear of this fic because I wasn’t comforted with a soulmate tartali fic pre-Osial but this fic is actually post-Ostial *facepalm* The writing is phenomenal and Aevas does some beautiful worldbuilding that you typically don’t see in Genshin Impact fics. I love the dynamic between Childe and Zhongli here and the angst is real. The author writes the two as very human characters who makes mistakes, etc. and notably Zhongli struggles with the concept of Childe as his soulmate (who understandably is upset by the rejection when he realizes). They get better though. Also very plotty. A+ writing.
it's a hard rock life for us by reptilianraven
“Ah, no need to worry about that,” Azhdaha waves a dismissive hand. “There is no real Kun Jun. He’s dead.”
A leaf blows past and plaps onto Aether’s face.
“You killed him???” Paimon screeches.
“No,” Azhdaha scrunches his eyebrows. “He was dead when I found him.”
“And you just decided to wear his corpse?” Aether says, leaf still on his face.
He shrugs. “It was free real estate.”
“Azhdaha...” Morax says, sounding vaguely pained.
-
Or the one where Historia Antiqua Chapter II: No Mere Stone goes a little bit different and Azhdaha gets more time.
He ultimately uses that time to bully Morax into confronting his immortal neuroses, to make Aether and Paimon suffer, and to figure out how to get that ginger boy Morax has his eye on to make a move already.
Ships: Zhongli/Childe, Past Azhdaha/Zhongli
Notes: Very lighthearted, humor-filled fic. Love how Azhdaha is so flippant. Interactions with Zhongli and Childe are pure gold.
if there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes by moonlight_mist
Childe has a Weapon problem- specifically, that he can't keep one.
He's too reckless, too wild, and too keen on pushing his Weapon partners past their limits. He's just about ready to give up when he meets Zhongli, a Weapon who just might be the solution- so long as Childe can manage to keep his dick in his pants.
Ships: Zhongli/Childe
Notes: This is a Soul Eater AU with some college/university AU vibes (?) but you don’t really need to know much about the anime. It’s a cute AU and I love the premise. Light angst but otherwise, it’s a pretty semi-plotty fic. Easter egg Kaeya and Diluc though.
To Kill A God by IlluminanceinTales
In Snezhnaya, they call them sansis—lost souls that have no guidance but themselves. It’s an apt description, given that most of the time, wannabe-Archons have to go through dozens of tests with nothing as their reference, relying solely on their wit and strength and hoping it would be enough. At least, until they survive the end of the whole game—and they might not have to undergo a painful reincarnation which feels like a hundred bones being stitched together again.
On his seventh game, Childe Tartaglia reincarnates this time in the body of a young man.
Damn, he thinks, looking down at his thin body, his slightly calloused fingers. This won’t be good when facing the other Hydro Decisions.
In a world where an Archon's position is not chosen but fought for in games, Childe Tartaglia is a Hydro Decision who's poised to become the next Hydro Archon. Of course, that's only if he survives his seventh reincarnation. All would be so much easier if it weren't for a certain Geo Archon interfering with every possible chance he gets.
Ships: Zhongli/Childe
Notes: Think Hunger Games meet Political Intrigue meet Genshin Impact. Love the premise and world building that’s done. Features overprotective Zhongli and lots of Childe whump. Has one or two supplementary OCs that aren’t really important outside of plot device reasons. Warning for character death tho lmao.
Three's a Family by IlluminanceinTales
Childe finds a kid that looks just like him.
Of course Zhongli wants to keep him.
Or: How a harbinger and an archon accidentally become fathers. The kid is their wingman
Ships: Childe/Zhongli (?)
Notes: Your everyday cute AF kid fic. Fluffy as hell and super cute. Zhongli and Childe get domestic pretty quickly. Xiao gets dubbed a grandfather and begrudgingly plays along. Super wholesome.
in pitch dark i go walking in your landscape by snowbrigade
He glanced down at him, at the silvery scars peeking out from beneath his robe, and at his eyes, properly now. They were the bright blue of high quality noctilucous jade, but he could see it, an underlying darkness.
Zhongli wondered what his eyes betrayed about himself.
--
Rex Lapis is dead. Zhongli, formerly known as triad leader Rex Lapis, is a detective investigating his own "death." Childe, also known as Tartaglia of the Fatui mafia, is undercover as an escort looking to kill Rex Lapis- until someone beats him to it, and he wants to know who. Goals intersecting, they form a partnership of ulterior motives.
Ships: Zhongli/Childe
Notes: There’s like one scene that skews NSFW but otherwise surprisingly not explicit. Really fun AU. Like how the author addresses Childe’s reaction to being stuck with the undercover escort stuff and how the dynamic between the two develops. Pretty plotty so far.
Phantom Lines by iskendaris
“It’s a measure of one’s self, Mr Zhongli.” Childe says. “Maybe you don’t understand it since you work as a consultant, but as an ambassador from the Tsaritsa, as one who fights in her name— this is how I learn to know the measure of myself.”
“I understand,” Zhongli says thoughtfully. “It is a warrior’s way, to test one’s strength against the incomparable. To find where one falls short. To find where one has risen to the challenge.”
In which Childe has insomnia, vandalizes public property and runs into a mysterious funeral consultant on his first night in Liyue.
Ships: Zhongli/Childe
Notes: THE FEELS. I can only describe this as the fic where Zhongli pays Best Boyfriend Ever only to FUCK UP big time (via Gnosis deception). Poor, poor Childe. Look, he gave the boy feelings and then broke him. You can really feel Childe fall in love in this love. He also does mental swooning a lot lmao.
adventitious by Anonymous
It's said the Ley Lines remember all things that happen in this world, from the surface down to the deepest depths...
But in the hidden corners where the Gods' gaze does not fall, there are those who dream of dreaming.
There's a dormant bud where Kaeya's eye once was. One day, it will bloom.
(Never forget: memory is untrustworthy.)
Ships: Diluc/Kaeya
Notes: I don’t even know where to start. This is very headcanony and lore-focused. Very much concentrated on Khaenri'ah. The implications of this story is grotesque to say the least (according to this fic, Visions are the literal eyes of the people of Khaenri'ah). Warnings for eye and body horror.
Without Those Dark Memories by StrangeDiamond
Diluc awakens in Stormterror’s Lair with no memories of the past five years. Kaeya is on the trail of a rogue alchemist, with a habit of testing his chemicals on unwilling human subjects. Now, in addition to capturing the criminal, Kaeya has to shake him down for an antidote . . . and deal with an amnesiac Diluc who acts exactly like he did before their brotherhood fell apart. (Standalone Fic.)
Ships: Diluc/Kaeya
Notes: This is sort of a classic amnesia fic. I particularly really liked the way that Kaeya was written in this. I feel like the author did a really good job nailing his character and they have a way of capturing the subtle things.
Through the warmth, through the cold by strikedawn
“It’s you!” Paimon shouted with a twirl in mid-air.
“…Excuse me?"
They were drunk. Were they drunk? Was he drunk? Because Kaeya had the feeling his guests had been talking to him for a while now, but none of their words had made any sense whatsoever.
That was, until Venti stepped firmly in front of Kaeya’s desk and set his hands on the top, the better to lean over towards Kaeya and say: “For the end of the Windblume festival, Sir Kaeya Alberich, we’re going to auction a date with you.”
Ships: Diluc/Kaeya
Notes: Shortword, Kaeya gets auctioned off. Diluc makes impulsive (but good) decisions and scores himself a Date but displays an inability to do Date Planning. Venti deserves a pat on the back. Very sweet.
Hide and Seek by Kiri_Kaitou_Clover
Childe did not expect regaining his memories would bring him such frustration.
He makes the best of the situation by messing with one amber eyed consultant in anyway he can.
A reincarnated storm god wades through life in Liyue, all while screaming about one dragon god's incompetency at being human.
Ships: Zhongli/Childe
Notes: Features Childe as Osial’s very exasperated reincarnation, who gets the joy of discovering that his rival/enemy Morax is not only an idiot but also broke AF. He still falls in love anyway. Contains this golden line:
"Did... did that complete blockhead really use my money in order to get me a gift that basically says that he is proposing to me?!"
(Osial was screaming. When had the other god become like this?! Had he always been like this?!)
Getting that Bread by tzitzimeme
Concubine AU where Zhongli is Emperor, Xiao is an assassin sent to kill him while disguised as a woman in his imperial harem, and the only reason he doesn't actually do it is because he pities Zhongli for being so catastrophically stupid (also Xiao falls in love).
Ships: Zhongli/Xiao
Notes: Like Xiao says, Zhongli is an idiot. Fluff and humor filled. Xiao spends a good 95% of this exasperated by Zhongli’s bullshit.
prayers for a boy by Recluse
The only way to reconciliation is fierce combat!
Hm... Come to think of it, there will be a lot of interesting news to be heard the next time we gather for drinks.
Filling in the blanks.
Ships: N/A
Notes: I...don’t really know where to begin with this? It’s exactly what the summary implies...but more? I was tempted to describe this as the fic where Zhongli puts his foot in his mouth but...that’s not exactly write? I feel like this was more of a character study. It explores the aftermath of the Osial Incident and how Zhongli and Childe reconnect. Platonically...though I guess it can be read romantically.
one kind of longing, two places of sorrow by lady_peony
Zhongli's hands rest behind his back, both gloved hands clasping one another. His fingers tighten around one another for the merest moment, before he relaxes his grip.
"There is a tradition in Liyue," Zhongli says, his back still to Childe standing behind him, "of inviting out a companion to a last meal before a farewell."
A pause.
"A tradition?" Childe echoes.
"Yes."
"With a companion?"
"Yes."
Ships: Zhongli/Childe
Notes: The fic where neither of the two communicate about jackshit but go on a quiet, sad not-date before Childe leaves for Snezhnaya. Childe pulls (? on accident or on purpose, I can not tell) the equivalent of leaving the jacket in the car post-date to get date to call for the second date. Also, the author has a gift for like...writing angst...without writing angst? Like the whole fic is like brimming with everything that the characters aren’t saying but the thoughts aren’t necessarily written out BUT YOU KNOW THOSE DUMBFUCKS ARE JUST LIKE. BRIMMING WITH FEELS?
The People of Liyue by queer_occurrences
But Zhongli whispers, his low voice rooted in the back of Childe’s mind. “Changsun, the merchant, who is never too Mora-enthralled to turn away a needy child. There’s Tiantian—she will allow anyone to join the Adventurer’s Guild—she knows what it is to be desperate.”
Childe ducks away from them and hurries out over the bridge. It’s a warm, sunny day, the kind he would have complained about, whining about his delicate Snezhnayan skin. “It’ll burn, or worse, freckle. Would you still like me if I was freckled?”
Then Zhongli would say, “The people of Liyue will remember your sacrifice.” And he would wrinkle his nose.
Or: after it all goes down, Childe takes a walk.
Ships: Zhongli/Childe
Notes: The author has a way with perfectly balancing angst with humor in a way that makes you cackle. There’s a lot of feels in this one. Zhongli tries communicating--Childe runs away a lot. There’s a lot of love for Liyue in this one.
cold blooded, warm blooded, hearts all the same by reptilianraven
Teyvat Petting Zoo @tyvtpettingzoo
Well would you look at that! Zhongli, our resident spinytail iguana, has gotten quite cozy with Childe, our new (and very feisty) ginger ferret! Aren’t they adorable all cuddled together like this? 😍😍😍
[Attached image shows a brown spinytail iguana curled up against a ginger ferret. The iguana’s head is nuzzled under the snout of the ferret.]
-
At the Teyvat Petting Zoo, Zhongli and Childe fall in love.
Ships: Zhongli/Childe
Notes: ...I promise I’m not weird. This is just super cute. Cross-species love affair? Childe the ferret is very besotted. The internet is confused and the zoo keepers are just done.
a geo archon's guide to the modern era by Erina
“Morax,” Xiao says after Zhongli finishes his retelling of the incident. “He thinks you’re a weirdo.”
“No, don’t say that,” Barbatos snickers. “You’ll give him hope that this is salvageable.” He lowers his voice. “Morax, he thinks you’re a boomer.”
(In which Zhongli hibernates for centuries and wakes up in the modern world)
Ships: Zhongli/Childe
Notes: This took me, I shit you not, FIVE SEPARATE ATTEMPTS to read. Not because it was bad but BECAUSE THE SECOND HAND EMBARRASSMENT WAS REAL. Like, omg, just reading about Zhongli’s introduction to modernity made me want to dig a hole and die. Super funny though. Do not read in public or you will look like a lunatic. Has a...parallel (?) fic in the same series called buy two get one archon free where Zhongli gets reversed isekai’d into an anime convention.
time flies like an arrow by Erina
He’s tired, tired of the unbreakable loop of watching his loved ones pass on, tired of getting attached only for the connection to be violently ripped away from him. He wonders if the real victors during the Archon War were those who perished, who died long before their godhood turned into a curse that chained them to the land that they were fighting for.
But that is not a problem for Childe to worry about. That is Zhongli’s burden to bear, delivered to him in a pretty package years ago in the form of a gnosis.
His very first contract.
(Zhongli and Childe, across many lifetimes)
Ships: Zhongli/Childe
Notes: This is a quiet fic. It’s this kind of slice-of-life fic colored by this overpowering sense of love and loss as Zhongli remains immortal and Childe dies and lives and dies and lives for hundreds of lifetimes, but always finds his way back to his geo archon. It’s so lovely but also unbearably sad.
Tartaglia’s Favorite Professor by GreyLiliy
The famed hitman Tartaglia of the Fatui Syndicate spends his days as the charming college student Childe. The two lives remain as separate as possible in order to maintain a flawless cover to keep the authorities off his back and to better serve the Tsaritsa.
However, new intel about a rival syndicate intersects his two lives in a way he could never have predicted.
Ships: Zhongli/Childe
Notes: Mafia AU meet College AU. Childe is somehow both a horny AF college student and murderous hitman. Zhongli gives off major DILF vibes. GreyLily somehow makes this work while also avoiding cringe. Highly recommended!
like a handprint on my heart by fallingintodivinity
“Strictly off-the-record,” Jean says, with a small smile, “I’m really happy to see you and Captain Kaeya getting along again, Master Diluc.”
“We’re not – we’re not getting along,” Diluc tells her, indignant. “We’re working together. Unwillingly, I might add.”
“Yes – oh, yes, of course.”
Diluc stares at Jean suspiciously. “Are you laughing at me?”
Jean clears her throat primly. “I would never.”
Ships: Diluc/Kaeya
Notes: Super, super cute! Sort of reads like a first date fic except genshin impact style? Writing style is very refreshing!
#genshin impact#genshin impact fanfic#fanfic rec#rec list#zhongli/childe#childe/zhongli#tartali#chili#diluc./kaeya#luckae#fanfiction#took a while but i have been steadily reading my way through the fandom#still not all my recs#but you can check my ao3 for what i'm reading lmao
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