#fanflames

Munday Questions Emoji Edition! || Accepting

@zajevre

In truth, this is...really difficult for me to respond to. Not because I don't know how, but rather, I don't want to come off...wrong? Like I don't feel my feelings are viable in this aspect, but I feel them nonetheless. But here goes I guess.

There's...a lot of people I want to write with, especially. But the issue is, that when it comes to my musings lately and my life, my hyperfixation sticks to characters that...a lot of people haven't been interested in. I've had a few people be thrown muses at a certain time I was fixated on due to no choice on their end, and they've been actually upset with that, and when they ask for a certain muse and I have to inform them that they aren't available at the time but I could see what I can do, they get upset again. And it's been an endless struggle lately.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that my love for Kiana and Sirin has been overshadowing all my muses, and it's because of all the build up to them, the well placed (but poorly interpreted or written) lore, these two have literally dethroned muses I've rped for 10 - 15 years. They've dethroned Kurosaki Ichigo who I've written since 2005, Akame since her manga debut, Black Rock Shooter since I first saw her design in her song debut. I love them to pieces, because they are just...so...intricately designed? And yet a lot of people don't want to deal with her, or directly attack me over her, so lately I've...been a bit gunshy to give her out anymore. Unless I know people directly want her.

It's no surprise I try to keep her mostly as close to canon as possible, from her Flirtatious Nature, to her Goofball energy, to her even being quite lewd at times. Because they were her defense mechanisms and coping mechanisms to hide her crippling depression and repressed memories of pain. But then people get upset when I hyperfixate on her, or god forbid, I do something like her --- I dunno, coming up behind a partner of hers and she gropes them while hugging them. (Mind you, the partner I am rping with AT THE TIME is always fine with that as I always ask them first.) I've been attacked for 'just going for ships' when Kiana has maybe? Four? Ships all together out of everyone who meets her. She's just flirty. Doesn't mean she's your ship partner. It's gotten to the point I've thought of destroying the multi-muse and finally separating to single muse, dash only blogs again because I'm sick of it...

And this is just the hate I get over Kiana - this doesn't include then hate I get for Sirin, Akame, Rock. I get a lot of hate that lately I just store away, or delete. Normally I would address it, but I just don't have the energy nowadays.

This long rant aside, I am only going to list a few people I want to write with dearly, as there's many many more than that, but well. It leaves more to be listed if I get this prompt again.

@ayahimes || There is never a time I do not want to write with Astrid. I talk to Astrid on and off a lot on discord, and I adore her to death. Her writing, her aesthetics, her love for her muses, she has just such a high level of care to all she does, and she is a genuine blessing on my dash.

@colzhia / @virtuli || Ever since I found Myrtha through @zajevre, I have been absolutely enthralled by their writing. From their headcanons, from their portrayals, to their aesthetics. Now it's no surprise: I hate Cocolia in all aspects of her. But that has nothing to do with the writer, that has to do with Hoyo making A Good yet Conflicted Villain type. From the minute I met Cocolia in Honkai 3rd Impact, I fucking hated her guts. To what she did to Bronya, to what she did to Rozaliya and Liliya, to The Deep. I hated her. So it's no surprise I am BIASED towards hating her when it came to Supreme Guardian Cocolia being a snake in the grass. But at least as far as HSR's Cocolia? She was a lot more morally gray, and I felt a better...feeling towards her? I still don't like her, but I don't just outright hate her guts, even though she's written to be disliked. And that's one of the main essences of a WELL WRITTEN 'VILLAIN'. If you can hate them, they were written well. But I don't find myself always hating them, as they just...are that type of conflicted character, and I enjoy that. And then we all know how much of a SIMP I am for Seele, in both games. I'm also super excited for the day Veliona has her debut in Star Rail since she is in it, and we have clear evidence.

@winterstage || Alright so, I found Scooby through Val, and Val has sung absolute praises over Scooby, and not a single word has been wrong to me. From their aesthetics, their writing, their portrayals, I am left in absolute awe every post I read on my dash. (And trust me, I scroll dash lazily a lot between playing League or XIV. So I often see them when they post~) Serval was one of my favorite characters of the Jarilo VI arc, and this burns even brighter to me with Scooby's portrayals. It's not really much else to say but short and sweet --- Scooby is fantastic!

@fanflames || Okay so this is really shameful but I don't have as much to say about Andy or Tingyun because I stopped playing Star Rail at the Cocolia fight. Sue me, but I just do not like the gameplay enough to play it often, the characters are great, the story is meeeeeh. It's about as interesting as the first 9 chapters of H3I to me. (Which means ups and downs as Wendy's story was okay, but Will of the Herrscher was peak. And yes, the lead up to Cocolia is great, but Underground felt...lackluster.) But I read quite often when they post, and they make me want to meet Tingyun in game to see more of her. Will I eventually? Eh, probably one day. But I enjoy Tingyun through them and really just them.

@zajevre || Now Sue you didn't think you'd get off this list, did you? No no, sit right down! Because you are someone I am always both anxious, but delightfully wanting to write more and more with. Anxious because I don't want to throw just...half-assed out of the wall garbage? I want to throw something lasting, something...refreshing, something well pieced together. And yet my brain is like the monkey with cymbals clanging away most of the time, barely able to think of how. Sure, that comes down to having stopped the game myself...as well as using muses not from the same game. But that doesn't mean I dont absolutely adore you. I've adored you since I found you a looooong time ago when I was mostly just an Akame solo blog, and that surely won't change. I read your headcanons, your rants, your posts, and eat them up like candy always awaiting eagerly to your next~

@omniscias || Wow, where to begin with this one. Well first off, Fu Xuan was the one who actually introduced me to wanting to play the beta, as I am a beta tester, and it was her design, her trailer, everything about her that made me go 'okay Ill give this a try' a month before launch. Then I got hooked on the pre-launch Silver Wolf / Seele combo that could 2 woman any fight in a single turn before they nerfed that shit into the dirt (rightfully so). But it was her beautiful design, then what appeared that she had almost like an 'authority of time', with her entrance and all. Then it was her voice, WHOO her voice. That got me so strongly I just practically fainted kdsljfls. Ahem, but then we get to Aeris: an absolute joy to read every single post of theirs, and their aesthetics are out of this world. So pretty, and then the writing? I cannot say much because thought I WAS a beta tester, I only tested the characters, I never tested the full story. So once more, still stuck in Snowy Land, but just off bits I've seen of her / played as her / heard her voice lines? Aeris does Fu Xuan true justice to me. And just a side note, Aeris also has a Pela blog and that lil cutie is one of my fave of the Jarilo group, soooo...exceptionally excited for that to get going!

@kangai || Last but certainly not least, as there's no order to this list and I was just going off 'what can my brain concoct' is Marina and their Ayato. And fuck me, fuuuuuuuck me. There's? So much? I could say? But it all just comes out as longer rants and well --- I've admired Marina for a loooooong time. I've admired them through interactions with Ren, Astrid, and so many others, and am always left breathless by their writing. Ayato is a character I know little about, as I stopped end of the Inazuma arc due to my own issues with the actual gameplay of the game causing me to lose interest. Or perhaps that's just depression lately? Who knows. I plan to get back into it...one day. At some friends wanting me to cause they said when I was actively playing it, I was mentally doing better, BUT THATS ANOTHER TOPIC ANOTHER TIME! One of my friends is a diehard Ayato simp, and when I get the pleasure to see a Marina reply on my dash via a mutual? I am always left understanding why. From what I have been told of Ayato, Marina does him true justice, and I adore reading any slight post I get to see.

The visit is clearly quite the surprise , for Himeko finds herself nearly tripping over her own two feet when book meets her line of sight ! Quick to recover , and raise a hand to fan away the creeping embarrassment threatening to present itself upon her cheeks , she regards the offered book with a curious stare .

‘ Oh ! This … ‘ Well , she almost settled the flush in her face , but she’s just realized what the contents of book may contain .

ALL ABOUT FAMILY. Tingyun defied her family legacy and Gepard bought into it and I think that's interesting enough to make them have a conversation about. To challenge each other over whether they chose the right path ( Gepard vc: didn't you feel a sense of shame for stepping away?? How do you handle that (because I couldn't)?? ) or if the choice was worth it. Also Gepard resonating a little with Tingyun finding similarities between her and Serval.

WHO WANTS A CONVENTIONAL WEAPON ANYWAY? Tingyun has her fan, Gepard has his guitar case, neither of which tend to be conventional. Let them spar together to test each other out or fight alongside each other to get a measure of each other. Gepard helping out against some mara struck when visiting with the astral express crew or Tingyun facing some Fragmentum creatures upon visiting Jarlio-VI.

HELLO I AM YOUR ASSIGNED CONTACT. For your extended verse, Gepard assigned to aid Tingyun's enquiries in regards to conversing about certain arrangements in Belobog or even about the Fragmentum / needs in The Restricted Zone. Having to answer questions and perhaps even escort places, helping to narrow down what Belobog needs at least in certain areas of the Overworld. Perhaps even escorting along the newly reopened route to the Underworld at least until a more knowledgeable contact can take over.

OC EMOJI ASKS || @fanflames

💐 BOUQUET. create a bouqet for them! what do those flowers mean? are any of the flowers their particular favourite ?

given what little i could find on flowers in HSR ( outside of ball peony & first snow ) i've elected to refer to flowers from the real world and their connotations here ( though i imagine since the aforementioned flowers seem to be based on real ones, some variant in HSR exists ).

dan heng's bouquet consists of:

white orchids, white cymbidium, white alstroemeria, white chrysanthemum. white gyp for filler flowers & possibly eucalyptus for foliage.

white orchids can symbolize a message of hope and new beginnings. as someone who has been running from his past and was taken in by himeko and the others on the express, dan heng has ( very tentatively ) found a place that he can, at least for the time being, ' start anew. ' he is able to explore and aid those in need, alongside those he considers friends. orchids are also thought to have existed for over 100 million years, proving to be one of the oldest known flowering plants in the world. ( dan heng is also old. ) the cymbidium symbolizes ' pure, valued and respected friendship ' , and is a popular gift for friends to give one another in china. it also stands for morality & virtue. / white is a colour that can either be used to convey purity and innocence or death and mourning dependent on the event and situation in chinese culture. while the white cymbidium could be used to mourn the loss of what was once a pure and respected friendship, it could also be used to celebrate the purity of the new bonds he has made upon joining the express. the white alstroemeria, not unlike the last flower, is often used to symbolize grief and / or loss; something common in many flowers of the lily family, but the alstroemeria is often also assigned a meaning of 'support and 'friendship.' this once again pertains to dan heng's past and future both. the loss of his close bonds, his home and his sense of self and how he grieves that loss / juxtaposed with the new path he has undertaken and the support he is steadily allowing himself to feel and give in exchage. the chrysanthemum are a common flower in china, and are 'symbolic of autumn and of the ninth lunar month.' the chinese word for chrysanthemum is similar to jū, which means "to remain" and jiǔ which means "long time", giving them the connotation of duration and long life, which is something that both blesses and haunts dan heng as a vidyadhara & following the assumption that the ' sin ' he committed that resulted in his exile correlates to themes of mortality and the blessing of the abundance. white chrysanthemum also represent death, and are commonly used at funerals. dan heng's character also seems quite inspired by the 'aesthetic' of autumn and falling leaves, as an additional note. white gyp (gypsophilia) flowers represent purity & innocence, often of children, and are used at weddings or baby showers. following the assumption that dan heng is a vidyadhara and was 'reborn' / lost memories of his past and is comparatively young and naive to who he was before, this flower conveys his new beginnings and the ( perhaps temporary ) innocence / ignorance of his own sin and his past. eucalyptus is often used to represent strength, protection and abundance. the abundance plays a large role in dan heng's past, present and future, in ways he knew, no longer knows and will later come to know. he has quite a sense of justice, and whether or not he chooses to express it, holds the desire to protect those who are unable to protect themselves.

( headcanons / not accepting !! )

one. i mentioned in another headcanon that stelle genuinely dumpster dives and brings trinkets back to the express. but i'd like to expand a little on that in the context of her room. her room on the express, for the most part right now, is standard furniture and decoration for a passenger cabin. there are very few personal touches, simply because she has not been on the express long enough or had the chance to decorate it to something more fitting of her tastes.

as she goes on more trailblaze missions and picks up more trinkets and treasures, her room eventually becomes a cluttered chaos of random objects, items, gifts and mementos from friends, and random doodads. to the outsider this can all seem like a hoarding nightmare and much of it must be trash; but to stelle, all of it means something and each individual item holds a story. basically, her room ends up looking like howl's from howl's moving castle.

two. stelle is, as you might have guessed, an adrenaline junkie and will seek out tasks and missions that are dangerous purely for the thrill it gives her. this is also largely why she she takes on so many errands and tasks from those around her without much complaint; there is always some level of danger to keep it interesting and coming back for more.