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sword-dad-fukuzawa · 16 days

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*slides $20 across the ask box* what do Alderaanian wife braids look like?

“You should go see Leia.”

Han blinked, startled by the sudden voice, the sudden farmboy-cum-Jedi standing in the doorway and blocking the light. It was after-hours even for the track, he hadn’t been expecting anyone in the pilot’s lounge.

“Hello to you too, Luke,” he drawled, leaning back in the armchair. “Good to see you, been too long, how’s the search for Jedi shit going? Myself? Well, I’m not too bad, bit of a trouble with my joints—getting older’s a rum business, you know? But I can’t complain; complaining’s the business of them who don’t have enough else to do, as I like to say.”

Luke stared balefully at Han, and Han got the sense he was just restraining himself from rolling his eyes. “You’ve never said that before in your life. And also, you should go see Leia.”

“Kid, I know you’re last of the Jedi or whatever these days, but you gotta work on your small talk.”

Luke rolled his eyes. “You are the most frustrating, stubborn—”

“To be fair, you knew that about me already,” Han laughed, stumbling to his feet and crossing the lounge to Luke. With a sigh, Luke let himself be enfolded in a hug.

“Han—”

“Yeah, yeah, I heard you. Is she hurt?” Han asked. (He still wasn’t entirely sure how the Force-thing worked, but he knew Luke and Leia kept tabs on each other, even across the galaxy.) A thought struck, and he sucked in a breath. “Kriff, is it—is it Ben? Is Ben okay?”

“Ben is fine. Leia is fine. She’s just…it’s a politics thing.”

Han exhaled, laughing. “Mother of Kwath, kid, you got me terrified over nothing. I am not the politics guy. Leia has politics guys, I am not them. I’ll give her a comm tonight, but I’m—sure she’s got it handled.”

“It’s about you,” Luke said pointedly, and Han felt cold well in the pit of his stomach. “This time, you are the politics thing.”

“Oh,” Han said.

“It’s idiotic,” Leia dismissed, when he commed. “Even if—someone’s choice of spouse said anything about their character at all, you are a war hero and a general. You led the assault on Endor! And now you’re an entrepreneur—”

“That’s a lot of syllables for someone who travels around the galaxy, betting on themselves in starship races, sweetheart.”

“The essence of politics is describing things in more syllables than they’re worth,” she bit out, and he laughed, outright. Even over the crappy satellite feed, he could see her relax a little at the sound, breathe out.

She looked so small and very far away, her face on the monitor.

“Do you want me there?” he asked. “Because I can be there—Chewie can take the Falcon, and I’m pretty sure farmboy still remembers his way around a ship if he needs a co-pilot. I could use a vacation.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. It’s fine. I’m fine. You have the Outer Rim qualifier in two weeks, and this is just another stupid fight over something that doesn’t matter. A distraction. Once I get this bill approved, they’ll drop it.”

“Yeah, but—”

Before he could finish, there was a loud clattering sound from her end of the connection, and a shout of “Is that dad? Can I talk to dad?” with Threepio’s fainter, “Master Ben, really!” By the time he’d talked (argued) with Ben and talked (argued) with Leia again, the matter was dropped.

Luke looked up when Han entered he cockpit, smiling a little when Han groaned and let himself sag into the pilot’s seat. “So, about the Outer Rim qualifier—”

“Maybe you don’t know this about me,” Luke said, his tone thoughtful. “But I’m a pretty good pilot. I once flew an x-wing with my eyes closed and blew up the Death Star. So I could probably handle going really fast around a track once or twice.“

“I can see why the Empire decided to kill all the Jedi,” Han grumbled.

Normally, Han would have arrived on Chandrila at some ungodly hour, shucked off his boots at the door, and crawled into bed beside Leia still smelling of the Falcon, too tired to do much more than mumble against her cheek and pass out.

It was strange to be there in the sunlight, walking up the last of the stairs just as she was emerging from the suite. For a minute, he just watched her—she was on another planet, reading something on her datapad and all her attention focused there; he was still surprised she didn’t bump into walls when she did that.

He’d teased her once that it was the only part of the Force he actually believed in.

Han grabbed her elbow before she could pass him, and she looked up in shock. “You should be careful, Senator,” Han drawled, as she laughed. “I hear there are some real criminal elements in this part of town.”

“Oh, well,” she said, her eyes alight, “they can’t be as shockingly criminal as my husband.”

(Every time she kissed him like this, it was like that first time in the Falcon, his skin aching and hot, more alive than he’d ever been because death and her were staring him down. The kissing wasn’t the reason he left—or the reason he came back—but it was a reason, all the same.)

“Hello, stranger,” she murmured, when they separated.

“Hey,” he said, inhaling the smell of her, whatever product she put in her hair these days—it reminded him of Endor, something sharp and green. “Thought I’d come and apologize for not listening to you in person.”

Her mouth curved. “You never listen to me, I’ve gotten used to it.”

It took about two days for Han to realize it was worse than Luke had let on. He wasn’t sure why everyone suddenly cared about Leia marrying a Corellian bastard of an ex-spice smuggler—the justice who married them had asked if there were any objections five years ago, no one seemed bothered then—but people cared. And he trusted Leia when she said it would stop after the bill, but the bill was being stalled in some committee, and—

“Politics,” Han sighed, when Ben asked why Han was being talked about on the holonews. “It’s all just politics, kid, don’t worry. We’re going to be fine.”

On the third week, when they still weren’t fine, Han put Ben to bed and sat down across from Leia at the dining table. She had datapads spread around her and a pinched look on her face; Han almost balked, but— “Maybe I might be willing to go to some of those parties,” he said. Her gaze snapped up, to him, and he offered a weak smile. “You know, those ones I hate, with the tiny food and the awful people. And maybe I can show your senator friends that…I am that civilized Hero of Endor, and you didn’t screw up, by picking me. You know, if you think that could help.”

“Han—”

“Or, I mean, we could get divorced, but I worked really hard to convince you to marry me in the first place, plus there was a war. I don’t think I’ll get so lucky a second time.”

Leia looked at him for a long, long moment, then exhaled. “Well, we’ll try the first, and if that doesn’t work, there’s always the second option. Maybe you can ask for Threepio in the settlement.”

“Your sense of humor has not improved with time, princess.”

“You shouldn’t shout you know,” Han said, settling against the doorframe and offering a grin. “My wife wouldn’t be too pleased if she found out I brought a beautiful stranger into our bedroom.”

Leia met his gaze in the mirror and pointedly rolled her eyes. Han stuck out his tongue at her. “I thought you’d be dressed by now,” she said, her mouth twisting. “The party starts in an hour, and—”

“It’ll take me ten minutes to change. I didn’t want to wrinkle anything waiting for you.”

“I’ve seen you preen for forty-five minutes, Solo, don’t lie to me.”

He snorted, watching as she set down her brush and began braiding her hair. He’d always liked her this way, barefoot and unarmored, the most herself she could be. He’d always liked being one of the few allowed to see it.“Did you need me for some reason? I can change into the suit right now if you think of some interesting ways to put wrinkles in it.”

“Just you hand,” she interrupted, shooting him another look. Her hands were still moving, doing something complicated with the strands she had gathered at the top of her skull. He crossed the room to her side, “Put your index finger…here,” she said, tapping a place where the strands wove together. He pressed his finger in exactly that place, and she wove the hair around it, like a ring. “Take your hand away? And—then thumb in the divot over my ear.”

“Okay,” Han said quietly.

There was something steadying about it, just her soft directions, and him, and their hands. He’d watched her do this before, braid and coil and brush and knot—the traditional art of Alderaan, passed down from mother to daughter. They each had meanings, and Han knew some of them; the circlet interwoven with a lace was her imitation of the crown of Alderaan, and when she wore that high coil of braids, it meant she was grieving.

(What about when you wear it loose like this? he’d asked once, when he was pouring it through his fingers like water. He liked it best down, a veil around her shoulders.

Nothing, she had said. This is just me.)

“I haven’t seen this one before, have I?” he asked when she was finished, touching the soft honeycomb cluster behind her ear, looping to an equally complex knot on the other side. It took him a moment to realize that the twisting coils were the size of his fingers, left over of his hands.

“No, I haven’t—done this one before,” Leia said quietly, smoothing back a flyaway strand with her fingertips.

“I’m surprised,” Han chuckled. “Would have though you had plenty use for braids that say you’re ready to fight.”

“These aren’t braids for fighting,” Leia said. She wasn’t quite meeting Han’s gaze in the mirror, and he thought he saw a blush. “My mother wore these each year on her wedding anniversary. These are—the traditional name is ‘the work of loved hands’ but they’re better known as wife’s knots. They’re one of the few styles that is unique to every wearer, because it requires two sets of hands.”

Han couldn’t think of what to say, if there was anything to say. He wanted to kiss her, but he didn’t trust himself. He felt like he’d get lost in it too easily, let the whole world and everything in it slip away because she was there, with wife’s knots in her hair.

“I didn’t screw up, picking you,” Leia said, rising to her feet. When she turned, her expression was fierce, stern. She’d ordered men into battle with that expression. “And either way, I did pick you. I’m keeping you, and there’s nothing the New Republic can do about it.

“Now,” she said, “get changed. The party starts in an hour.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Han said quietly, and followed her out.

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sword-dad-fukuzawa · 17 days

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waking up to this was CRAAAAZY lmfaooooo

#ao3 why are you being mean to me today #get reported lmfao

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sword-dad-fukuzawa · 17 days

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truly and genuinely my favorite comeback to dickheads online these days is "okay piss and shit yourself about it" because it has all the best qualities. it's super vulgar, it's mean as hell, implies you're doing too much, and also, what do you even say to that. what can you even say that doesn't also fall under pissing and shitting yourself behavior. nothing. you have nothing else to say

#i only deploy this shit on tumblr though because for some reason everyone here is actually MORE aggressive than twitter fandom #i could not possibly tell you why #but something about this website lends itself to being mean to someone's face directly #twitter fandom bitch culture is more about vagueing people on your main and then cussing em out on your priv for mutuals to see #95% of the time you're not gonna know someone thinks you latest hot take was godawful #the other 5% is for when a. it's really really bad or b. someone decided it was call out post hours #i have my own issues with the latter but regardless #here is where people will just reblog your shit with the most bitchy things to say and it just. pops up in ur notifs. it's there now foreve #or they head straight for your inbox.#for this reason i think i prefer twt (crazy i know)

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sword-dad-fukuzawa · 19 days

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It's canon that the reason dazai survived many of his attempt was because Mori was keeping him alive which sounds like a full-time job

#wheeze. canon

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sword-dad-fukuzawa · 19 days

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I feel about diluc the same distant fondness you’d feel for an old boyfriend that you broke up amicably with. we don’t really talk anymore but I loved him madly once and the affection lingers

#old hyper fixations…I still love you

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sword-dad-fukuzawa · 19 days

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a hate letter to canon diluc (no, not really)

a series of thoughts I had while talking to Peaches @scalpel-mom-mori. pardon me if it's a mess. currently, it's 12:30 am. @paintalyx hERE YA GO >:D

Anyway. This is why I think Diluc has the messiest characterization!

So, Genshin's one of those fandoms with mile wide gaps between the canon characterization of a given character and the fanon for them. But there are usually a few traits that remain consistent--typically the most recognizable ones. Think Zhongli being bad with money or Childe's bloodthirsty streak, Jean's workaholism or Xiao's devotion.

What makes it easier is that most characters are designed in a consistent way with their personalities. For example, Kaeya has an eyepatch. It's an easy metaphor for his habit of concealing the truth with half-truths and fabrications and a good example of character design expressing some trait of the character themselves. Or Ningguang, whose personality is refined and commanding. Her style of dress is very elegant and formal, reflecting her key character traits.

Another great example would be Klee. She has adorable pigtails and her design is very soft and round, which fits her very cutesy, young vibe. And her colors are red, which, you know, references both her explosive and extroverted personality as well as the whole Pyro element thing.

Which brings me to Diluc.

The problems with his in-game model aside, his design does not match his personality or characterization. Which is actually indicative of a larger problem! Namely, his characterization is a mess and all over the place!

At first glance, he looks...very soft. His hair frames his face in a soft (almost feminine?) sort of way, his expression isn't overly stern, and even his coat is trimmed with fur. But then you look at the...leg...bracelet...thing...and that's definitely a sharper sort of metal, along with his belt and buckles.

His design is also interesting in that he wars mostly black with just the white shirt, but then the first thing you see about him is his bright as fuck red hair. There's just so many weird contradicting elements and vibes in this outfit that I can't get a read on him at all.

Looking at his characterization, it's no wonder his design feels so dissonant. The difficulty with a video game is that Diluc is largely characterized by his interactions with other characters rather than being able to see much of his inner thoughts past his own voicelines.

But here's the thing! Nobody's got a consistent read on him either!

Jean obviously respects him, even to the point of holding onto the deferential -senpai suffix in the JP dub, and trusts his judgement on the Stormterror situation enough to recruit him.

Note, by the way, that Diluc repays this trust by subverting the Knights' authority in the Darknight Hero quest. By, you know, bullshitting up a clime crisis in order to go all vigilante on the Abyss Order.

Kaeya is a passive aggressive chucklefuck on the best of days but if you put him in Diluc's vicinity, he becomes more vicious than a sober soccer mom. See: airing all their dirty laundry during Venti's story quest and the Midsummer Islands quests. I think some of his better lines are "Does anyone else find it funny when Master Diluc says 'Dodoco King'?" "Would you throw me out like you did Father's legacy?" and "He's like a big kid."

damn Kaeya I didn't know you had a masters degree in sick burns okay

SO HERE'S MY THOUGHT. The fandom seems to have decided that Diluc's a grumpy tsundere. As Kaeya put it, an "antihero with attitude problems." And we're not exactly wrong? But also we are? Because while Diluc will pull tsundere moves like holding a birthday party for Jean while talking shit about her organization, he also reacts to Kaeya's ribbing with a taciturn sort of politeness and dismisses him out of hand.

And yet he's also really nice to Traveler for seemingly no reason. He also isn't...usually that grumpy or curmudgeonly. He's actually quite polite to everyone and, instead of wrecking Kaeya's shit for being obnoxious, he tends to remove himself from the situation. All of his lines during the Islands quests were about letting him take care of things and protect people.

And he pretends he's responsible, fighting the Abyss Order because he loves Mondstadt, but he also undermines the knights whenever he can. But he also seems like he's not overly brutal, either.

Except he tortures an Abyss Mage into giving up info.

My point about how all-over the place his characterization is ties into his design. I'd expect a character who looked like he does to be fierce, maybe a little loud, somewhat passionate. Diluc is, instead, a polite man of few words.

Unless he's giving a speech on his plan of attack. Unless he's talking shit about the knights. Unless he's glaring impotently at Kaeya. Unless he's being begrudgingly fond of Traveler and co. Unless--

You get the picture. His JP dub voice doesn't help, either. Kensho Ono portrays him as speaking calmly with, like, a hint of depression. It's so dissonant with the way he looks as a character and the fact that he waves around a massive fuck-off sword like my grandpa with a rolled-up newspaper. Add that to how his personality changes wildly with whoever he's interacting with and I am just exasperated.

My solution is to just write him however the fuck I need him to be for whatever my concept is, because I give up on figuring out what the hell is going on with him.

#nodding as I read this. no notes this fucks #he’s a complicated and weird guy to get a handle on. he’s very particular about compartmentalizing #I liked that bit about the smokescreen bit especially aghhh #even estranged they are thematically entering #*entwined

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sword-dad-fukuzawa · 19 days

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never mind I’m sedated now. I remembered I have a double signed print of an improvised dialogue between Sean Chiplock and Josey Montana McCoy and felt all the annoyance leave my body. I have a special shelf in my brain for the memories of them saying the lines in the Character Voices and revisiting it soothes me:

Diluc: Never settle for mediocrity...and especially not for Kaeya. Kaeya: The only mediocrity I see is Diluc's hair!

#kaeya alberich #diluc ragnvindr

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sword-dad-fukuzawa · 19 days

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no :/ it’s against the law :/ sorry :/

a hate letter to canon diluc (no, not really)

a series of thoughts I had while talking to Peaches @scalpel-mom-mori. pardon me if it's a mess. currently, it's 12:30 am. @paintalyx hERE YA GO >:D

Anyway. This is why I think Diluc has the messiest characterization!

Which brings me to Diluc.

But here's the thing! Nobody's got a consistent read on him either!

Jean obviously respects him, even to the point of holding onto the deferential -senpai suffix in the JP dub, and trusts his judgement on the Stormterror situation enough to recruit him.

damn Kaeya I didn't know you had a masters degree in sick burns okay

And he pretends he's responsible, fighting the Abyss Order because he loves Mondstadt, but he also undermines the knights whenever he can. But he also seems like he's not overly brutal, either.

Except he tortures an Abyss Mage into giving up info.

My solution is to just write him however the fuck I need him to be for whatever my concept is, because I give up on figuring out what the hell is going on with him.

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sword-dad-fukuzawa · 19 days

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“oh no a kaeluc shipper!” is crazy because I’m fully writing in graphic detail about biological twins fucking and eating each other. I’ve Evolved. kaeluc was entry level for me. small fry even. now if you’ll excuse me I’m going back to twitter to reblog hole

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sword-dad-fukuzawa · 19 days

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bitches will find a post you wrote three years ago to clown on your fave and then make it an “I’m better and smarter than you” contest only to scream and cry because you think diluc puts kaeya in a mating press every night. oh no! anyways

#the way I don’t even play genshin anymore and the fandom still finds new and exciting ways to be batshit awful in my direction #I’ve moved on to greener pastures. shoo

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sword-dad-fukuzawa · 19 days

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piss and shit yourself about it 😌

a hate letter to canon diluc (no, not really)

a series of thoughts I had while talking to Peaches @scalpel-mom-mori. pardon me if it's a mess. currently, it's 12:30 am. @paintalyx hERE YA GO >:D

Anyway. This is why I think Diluc has the messiest characterization!

Which brings me to Diluc.

But here's the thing! Nobody's got a consistent read on him either!

Jean obviously respects him, even to the point of holding onto the deferential -senpai suffix in the JP dub, and trusts his judgement on the Stormterror situation enough to recruit him.

damn Kaeya I didn't know you had a masters degree in sick burns okay

And he pretends he's responsible, fighting the Abyss Order because he loves Mondstadt, but he also undermines the knights whenever he can. But he also seems like he's not overly brutal, either.

Except he tortures an Abyss Mage into giving up info.

My solution is to just write him however the fuck I need him to be for whatever my concept is, because I give up on figuring out what the hell is going on with him.

115 notes · View notes