My special space for dumping about OCs & Art :)
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Latest Posts by strwcherri - Page 5
REBLOG IF I CAN MESSAGE YOU 'HEY' AND START A FRIENDSHIP.
Character sheet?? For Genshin OC??? I haven't planned her story yet! But it'll follow in succession with Confession Of Memories.
Confessions Of Memories Is Finished!
So I finally finished the short ff, it was really fun to write! I'll be writing some SK8 fics, but that's all! 🌺🍓
345k+ new cases of covid today in india!! in a single day!! twitter and instagram are our healthcare system rn!! we're short on icu beds, oxygen cylinders, covid vaccines and drugs!! we have no slots in incremation grounds to respectfully do the last rites needed for our dead!! patients are dying outside hospitals because there are!! no!! beds!! patients are dying inside ambulances!! and the states that are claiming to have enough resources rn are on their way to have a shortage of the same!! healthcare workers are being stretched thin!! we're all facing an acute mental health crisis rn!! meanwhile our central govt is doing too little too late!! after spending months doing election rallies and giving a green light to religious festivals (with hundreds of thousands of attendees) up until last week, they've finally decided to wake up and start paying attention to the covid crisis and it!! is!! not!! enough!!
if you would like to help, check out this publicly sourced document that is collating and constantly updating mutual aid fundraisers. please please amplify and donate to even any one of these causes!! especially people outside of india: your money matters! as of 24th april, 2021, 1 USD = 75 Indian rupees, 1 euro = 90 INR so your money is extremely valuable and it will save lives!
So, India is dying.
Look, I know a good number of you are from the US and things aren't amazing there either, but my country is literally on the brink of collapse. So I'd love it if we could talk about that for a minute.
If you can't do anything else, please just read and reblog.
A second COVID wave has taken out the healthcare system. There are no more hospital beds. There's an oxygen shortage. There's a critical vaccine shortage. The Central Government has thrown its hands up and is passing the baton to the State Governments to do what they can.
There are over 16 million covid cases. A record 330,000 new cases reported yesterday - comparable to the US at its peak. 187,000 dead as of today.
There is no plan.
Mass cremations are taking place. The cremation grounds are running day and night and they are short on wood. People are watching their loved ones die while waiting for a hospital bed, and then they're unable to give them the proper burial rights.
Hospitals are overwhelmed. Patients are being confined, two to a bed. They're the lucky ones.
We are on the verge of people dying in the streets.
This is the second-most populous country in the world. The largest democracy. A country that encapsulates over 15,000 years of recorded human history and has endured everything from famine to invasion to colonisation.
We might be at the end. This might be the thing that does us in.
People are dying.
People are dying.
People are dying and there is no plan.
More good news? Variants are popping up. A double mutation strain has shown up. It is resistant to current vaccines. This will not go away. This is the devastation they warned of when the anti-maskers were out protesting the minor inconvenience of covering their face in public.
My country is on the verge of an emergency state. Our government has failed us. This is as dire a situation as it ever could be.
Look. I don't do much with my life. I write fics, some of you have read them and that's pretty much it. I spend my days with my head in the clouds because that's where I like to be.
But two days ago, my grandmother tested positive, had to be taken to hospital and the ambulance caught fire.
She barely made it to the urgent care she needs.
So, here I am, using whatever meager platform I have to cobble this request together. Because I have to do something.
If you can, donate.
Or spread the word.
Help. Please.
Confessions Of Memories. | • 7.
1. | 2. | 3. | 4. | 5. | 6. | 7. | 8.
Days had started overlapping with blurred faces and rotting emotions that dried on the hill that was her memories. Her feet could only remember one dance, and that was to shuffle around the room of scrolls and books. Her mind was clattered, rearranging the books in pointless positions.
"You've been so mindless, gosh! Take a week off, that should be enough." Her co-worker sighed.
Please don't fire me.
I'm ting my best. I promise.
The sun made its way down the sky as she left, leaving her key with them. Her body was as heavy as broken heart. Her eyes were burdened with bags of dis-ease, yet empty with confusion.
One person was to be forgotten, yet they kept disappearing. No matter how many wishes of her mother's she pushed herself to fix, she was still left forgotten.
She slid the door open, letting her hair down. She glanced at the hairpins, hopelessly rolling them around in her hands. The house smelt of burnt rice, the flowers that grew outside dulled without water. Maybe she could tidy the house.
But she couldn't bring herself to do it. Her body just felt too heavy.
"Jiji? Are you there?" Xiao asked softly, peering his head through.
He saw her, quietly glancing at the window he was perching on. He exhaled in relief, his eyebrows relaxing.
"What's wrong?"
"I wanted to come and personally thank you, but you weren't there."
"Just, my memory has gotten foggy."
Are you beginning to forget me?
"Ah." He stopped.
"Yeah."
His hand clenched, his lips twitching with a frown. His heart choked in his chest.
Summer.
The hot night wafted the area with a starless night, and a lonely moon. The wind brushed his scent onto her. She smiled, despite her chest aching. The emotional agony was sitting at the back of her mind, the dull reality of her eternal life being paused by his presence.
He brushed kissed her forehead, as if to kiss her doubts away.
Of course it could never work.
But, she'd like to pretend. The temporary feeling that grew, only had so much space.
"Please stay, Xiao."
"Call my name, whenever you need me." He looked at her once more, his hand resting on her head softly.
With that, the wind that burst around her left only a hint of him in the room. Once again, she was alone.
Her bed made her hostile. What nightmare was on the menu tonight? Whether it was marble or molded faces, she didn't want to see it. What could she do? Beg?
"Mei?"
"Who else brings you to the beach?" She chuckled.
"This is your favourite moment at the beach, isn't it?"
The sun spiralled into the ocean, the sky tinted with setting grey. The sand was cold, and damp. The small rocks were littered across the vast area. Her face was missing once again, but she could see her expression.
It was smothered.
"You have a good memory." Mei pranced.
"Sometimes,"
Sometimes I can't remember want I want to.
"Sometimes?"
"It feels like a curse."
"How can having a good memory be a curse?"
Li looked felt her eyes burn, as she grabbed Mei's arm, her grip pleading.
"Because whatever I remember never makes me happy." She sniffled.
"It's tiring. I'm forgetting everyone. I don't want to. I don't want to!" Her voice was absolute, the beach dead with her resolve, Mei silent.
She sighed, patting her head.
"How much happiness are you going to sacrifice?"
You don't have to live like this.
-
#StopAsianHate #StopAAPIHate
Confessions Of Memories. | • 4.
1. | 2. | 3. | 4. | 5. | 6. | 7. | 8.
Mine never wanted me.
My father is something of a dead myth, and my mother was a criminal.
A perfect upbringing for me really.
Li Jing looked to the unfinished diary entry, the words burning through her pupils. Her eyes constricted, as she cradled herself, shoving it away with her foot. She scrunched her raven strands in her fist, as she chewed on her lip.
XXXX
My dream got eaten last night..
But I'm recovering.
"Xiao wasn't responsible, was he?" She sighed, to no-one in particular.
That was the truth. The secret that she so desperately needed to tell him. To at least chip away at his guilt- even slightly - wasn't possible. He would never know, because she would never tell him.
XXXX
I don't want to stay with her.
The page lay unfinished.
The next week after the entry, Li Jing was alone.
Loneliness plagued her life without hesitance. She dragged herself through a path that only led to more loss. Yet if she stopped, she would betray her mother. Being loyal to her mother was the only thing she needed.
She wished.
Li Jing shuffled to the door, quiet as she looked to the dawn that was illuminating him. Xiao was perched there, like his usual self. His breaths paced, body stiffly stuck in one place. She sat beside him, watching the sun glide over the debris of the moon.
"You really need to relax sometimes." She glanced at him.
"Hmph. And where's the time for that? Liyue isn't a place for rest."
"Then where is?"
Xiao hummed, looking to her arms. Her arms, were probably warm. But they had also probably forgotten him.
"Well what about you then?"
"History doesn't rest, so I can't either."
"Promise me you'll rest." His eyes clicked with her own, his tone soft.
"I'll keep the promise if you rest as well."
"Fine."
He leaned forward. He hesitated. With her eyes screwed shut, a soft warmth was pressed to her head, his sleeve dragging across the wood as he retracted. Li Jing's cheeks flushed, as her heart was pierced with ache once more.
"What are you guys doing?" The Traveller looked up to them, sleepy and worn with leftover fatigue. Xiao arched his brow, gracefully landing infront of the Traveller. Li Jing took the stairs down.
She linked arms with the Traveller, leading them away from him.
"The book you picked wasn't easy."
"Why?"
"The memories of the author are dead. None of their memories were clear."
"Then what are you going to do?"
"I'll need to meet this village's historian."
She brushed her hair rapidly, taking her two hairpins out of her side pocket.
"Who gave you those hairpins?"
"These? Oh."
"One is from Xiao."
Her face flushed red with fever. Days were blurring together as she looked to the outside, which had a quiet pond. The only thing keeping the days apart was Xiao.
His eyebrows were furrowed. Xiao leaned closer, his lips pressing a soft kiss to her head. Her eyes were heavy with fatigue, the cold cloth on her head slightly aiding her.
"Get well soon, please." He murmured, placing a hairpin in her hand.
She held his hand, a soft smile glazing her face.
"The other is from my best friend."
The summer sun was set on the water, as they padded through the sand, their arms gritty with wet sand. She paused, dirting her dress as she searched for an item.
"Mei your dress!"
" My mom doesn't care. Here! I got us matching hairpins! "
"What'd she look like?"
"I can't remember."
-
"I remember you! You must be the village historian?" Li Jing quipped.
"Yes, it's an honour to meet someone who has been documenting for centuries."
Her chest creaked with unease. She looked at his dark eyes, chuckling lightly.
"You knew the author?"
"Quite well actually. She passed on just a decade ago."
"I hoped she lived well."
"She did, being the great- granddaughter of Honghui. "
"Honghui?"
"I'm going to marry Hui! "
"You're only ten!"
Mei huffed, crossing her arms.
"True love doesn't wait, does it?"
"I can't believe she's dead. She was only 18!"
"Honghui is so distraught, he won't even leave his study."
"Yeah, he's an old name now. His tale is quite sad- moving on, you needed information for the book?"
"Yes, thank you."
"Make yourself at home."
"I'll be leaving in fifteen minutes, it's really not necessary."
She shuffled, tucking her sleeves to her side. The man glanced at her, his eyes lingering on her. Li Jing let her eyes fall to the table.
"No need to rush."
-
Confessions Of Memories. | • 3.
1. | 2. | 3. | 4. | 5. | 6. | 7. | 8.
Li Jing wished she hadn't taken the route.
She feared for him.
Of course he had lived hundreds of centuries that had built his immunity to wounds, there was nothing wrong with being cautious.
"We'll get to rest soon." She said subconsciously to the two.
Xiao nodded, whilst the Traveller was silent. Who is Mei? They looked to Li Jing, who beamed at them. They looked to the path again.
Li Jing was greeted by a little girl as they finally got to the circular village. The girl tugged on her sleeve.
"Are you staying over again? Everyone missed you. You barely visit after last year's Spring!"
Li Jing chuckled lightly. Her face fell flat, as she beckoned for the two to follow her. The path curved into a lively place, one of yellow hues and humble faces. As they settled in, she couldn't make contact with him.
He remembered; she could feel it in her swollen soul.
"So why did they need you right now? Couldn't they have asked someone else?" He murmured.
Li Jing looked at him for a moment before bursting out with laughter.
"I didn't know you whined." She pinched his cheek, prompting him to scoff.
He buried his head in the nape of her neck, his hands firmly around her waist. She hummed, filling in the last of her scroll. His affection was a plea for her attention. The ink finally finishing. They walked through the back of the village, leaving them to the stars.
His head laid in her lap, she stroked his hair. The moon smiled at the two, willing them to be together.
Except they weren't. The sunset stuck in the sky, unwilling to move for them. She dropped her things in her room, kicking it in so the door could close. The dust stuttered in the air as the door settled in place, leaving the three of them in the open area.
The birds chirped, the crows squawked.
"Make yourselves at home- for now."
"Going somewhere?" Xiao asked gently.
"Mhm. I won't take long."
She didn't have to walk far to find the rounded mound of grass and mold, littered with broken white roses and unfailing snow. Sunrays lulled on the grass, quietly expecting Li Jing.
She kneeled beside the mound, her hands curled up into delicate fists. The snow dampened her dress, as she scraped at the snow to mold a heart. She placed it ontop, and stood.
"I wish I could remember your face."
The path she walked back was one that left her empty, and senseless. She stepped back into the room, unravelling her hair. She placed her hairpins on her table. Li Jing stretched out the scroll, placing a weight on either end.
She loaded the ink.
There was a faint growl, one of pain. She paused, hearing the scraping of wood. Li Jing approached his room, his hoarse breathes filling the room.
A smooth wave of paralysis unclosed around her, hand outreached.
She hummed, like she would always do. She would just have to improvise for the harp that wasn't being played. Her throat grew brittle, as she stood from a distance, waiting for him to show any signs of relaxing.
His shoulders drooped.
A heavy silence filled the room, as they failed to make eye contact.
"I'll leave you alone. Call me if you need anything."
-
He poured hot water on the herbs, carrying it to her study. His hand hovered over the handle. Either way, he would still find her in her study, her hair like a black curtain over the book. He placed it beside her.
"Oh, thank you."
"How is the book coming?"
"Finding the memories that fit with this book isn't as easy as I thought."
"Maybe you need a break then."
She smiled to herself, closing the book as he sat opposite of her. She glanced into the glass, the hued water letting the petals fall to the bottom.
"...Sorry. I'm sorry for saying that. " She murmured.
Xiao crumpled his face, and turned to the side. What was he to say? I don't have feelings anyway. I don't deserve them.
"You don't need to apologise for that."
Her face grew faint, as she took a sip. As her tongue burned, she realized just how much she want to tell him. She wanted to tell him the truth.
-
Borrowing town memories was easy. Yet, as she sat in the place where the author once was, she could not remember. In fact, she was beginning to forget. Her eyes dulled, waiting for midnight to strike.
"It must be difficult being a historian. You constantly ignore your life to record others."
Li Jing looked at the Traveller. She smiled gracefully, fixing her posture.
"You could look at it like that. I like to look at it like an escape."
The Traveller sat beside them, resting their hands in their lap.
"I wanted to ask,"
"Who's Mei?"
"I'm not ready to answer that." She faltered, fiddling with her fingers.
"Is that why did you become a historian?"
"That wasn't because of her. I'm just naturally indebted to Liyue."
"Naturally." They thought to themselves.
"You're lucky to have a fate of your own." She chuckled.
The Traveller quipped a brow, to find Li Jing's gaze averted to the sky.
You're lucky,
To have parents who wanted you.
-
RACISM IS NOT COMEDY!
useful carrds to get educated on what's happening towards asian community:
STOP ASIAN HATE
Like and reblog
a friendly reminder that microaggressions against asians can also look like this:
pretending to gag at asian food
pretending to be weirded out by asian customs and cultures
excusing cultural appropriation (often through ignoring the stories of asians who have been mocked for wearing their ethnic dress while praising a white person for doing so)
not trying to learn how to pronounce an asian person's ethnic name correctly, or asking, "can i call you by something else?"
adopting an asian name for the ~aesthetic~
using the words "oriental" and "exotic" to describe asian people, particular asian women
ignoring the experiences and stories of south, southeast, and central asians
making sweeping assumptions about asian countries (including their political, historical and cultural landscape)
treating the entire asian community as a monolith and ignoring the fact that the experiences of asian nationals are remarkably different from the asian diaspora/migrant community
co-opting asian aesthetics into creative media without acknowledging their history
if your asian activism doesnt include ALL asians then it is useless. if your asian activism thinks asia is japan, korea, and china and MAYBE a few s/se asian countries, it is not asian activism. asia is a massive continent that includes north asia and the middle east (surprise, the middle east is w asia).
yes weeaboos and koreaboos are asian issues and so is anti chinese racism and general anti e asian racism spiking bc of covid, but those are not the ONLY asian issues.
what’s happening to palestine is an asian issue. what’s happening in armenia is an asian issue. what’s happening in india is an asian issue. there are asian issues i am nowhere near informed enough about to bring up on this post. include these communities and countries in your asian activism. they are a part of the larger asian community. do not forget them.
here is a link to the gofundme for the funeral of delaina yaun, a victim of the shooting in atlanta, and another link to the gofundme to support her family, she is survived by 2 children and a husband. (these are both verified by gofundme.)
here is a gofundme link for elcias hernandez ortiz, who was shot but is currently in intensive care as i write this. he was the only survivor of this attack. his family will need help paying for the medical bills. (cnn includes this link in an article about the attack.)
if i find any more links to the help out the victims friends and family i will add them.
thank you for donating if you can, and thank you for sharing. everyone please stay safe.
Confessions Of Memories. |• 2.
1. | 2. | 3. | 4. | 5. | 6. | 7. | 8.
The night had drooled over the residue of day, leaving them to head there themselves. Xiao paced ahead, leaving the Traveller and Li Jing in his dust. A dull ache rested in her chest from seeing only the back of him.
The flowers bloomed before them, as she gently clutched his hand. He stood stifly next to her, as she scanned the garden for a specific flower. Her hand slipped out of his own, as she sat amongst them. Her hands fumbled with the flower stems, until she reappeared.
"Kneel."
He didn't need to hesitate. Buckled down to one knee and she rested the flower crown on his head. The white petals frittered amongst his dark hair. She kneeled down to his level, smiling at him. He intertwined their hands, leaning in.
Yet it wasn't summer.
It was the cold of night, and her shoulder was throbbing with the pain of a bag weighed with books and scrolls alike.
Her lips twinged with yearning. Her eyes fell to ground, the small hope she once held diminished with a simple memory that lay in their restless wake.
"How'd you know Xiao?"
She looked over to the curious Traveller, burdened with their own weight. She squeezed a smile on her face, looking at the back of Xiao's head. Li Jing exhaled.
"We've known each other for a while."
The Traveller nodded their head sympathetically.
Xiao looked to the ground, his jaw tensed.
He wanted to stay. Anything to erase the lonely century he had spent. There was something that made her immovable in his memory. The seasons could blur, but he could remember her. How her face curved, how her gums would show when he tried to be humorous.
Only to lose her.
Wangshu Inn stood bright in the fog, as they hurried in.
They dispersed to their rooms, leaving the soft patter of rain to calm the souls that rested inside.
Her head sunk into the pillow, leaving her to sit vacantly.
A small wheezing came from his lungs, resting in her arms. His mellow smile faded with the words she couldn't hear. The suns in his eyes set, as the snow fell on his sorrowful sight.
Another body lay on their stomach, their death quiet. Her hair brown and dampened by the snow. A hand rested on her shoulder, patting her with a lack of affection. She looked to her blank face, her arms muddy with red.
Her m-
She gasped awake, clutched her bedsheets as her skin shedded thick bullets of sweat. Her heart throbbed, jolting her ribs.
Is this the curse of being immortal?
To ache?
She gingerly placed her feet down on the carpet, throwing on a robe. She creaked across the hallway, exhaling as she got to the balcony.
The small click of metal startled her.
His eyes clicked with his own. Xiao's eyebrows furrowed. He looked away. Xiao looked out to the town below, the rain twinkled like stars. If she left now, it would only emphasize the damage. If she stayed, she'd have to endure the silence she had placed there.
"Did you cry?" He pondered.
She glanced at him.
"Your eyes - they're puffy."
She hummed softly, barely audible.
"I just had a nightmare, that's all."
They stood quietly, their hands brushing against each others.
He tried. He really did. But, her eyes held a heartbreak that was unfixable. His body was full of ache. He ached before he met her. He used to be the love of her life. It was clear he didn't deserve to be. Thousands of deaths that clinged to him was dragging him with them.
Is this retribution?
"Jiji, you should get some rest."
He looked over to her limp state. He sighed, scooping her up in his arms. He sat by her side, unravelling her bun. Her hair sprawled around the bed, wisps covering her face. The cold air seeped into his lungs, and he couldn't help but sleep.
-
Dawn came and the only evidence of him being there was his soft, mild scent. She stayed there quietly, inhaling her pillow. She separated herself from her bed, and eventually sat with the two. The Traveller tried to read her inscribed scrolls, their face pruning with wrinkles. She chuckled nervously, tapping her cheek.
"It's illegible, isn't it?"
The Traveller quickly dismissed her words, excuses being mounted into a mess. Xiao sighed, drawing them back to silence. His eyes were averted, looking over her sprawled scrolls.
"The book has been around for a long time, and should've probably be burnt by fire." Li Jing pondered, squeezing her notes into a small handheld notebook.
"So the book is protected?"
She nodded, avoiding looking up.
"Luckily I had a lead before we left. An old lady I know has links to a man who has the family archive of these books."
"Is that the Mei you were referring to?"
Li Jing was quiet, the restless noise of other customers filling the void. Her pen harshly drilled through the crisp page.
How could she respond? If she told them now, they wouldn't be able to get the letters, and she'd be a failure and looked down on with disdain. If anyone found out about her she'd be a disappointment to her mother.
She didn't want to disappoint her mother.
"Jiji?"
Her mother trusted her.
"Li Jing."
She trusted her.
Oh, she couldn't. If anyone found out she was cu-
"Li Jing!" Xiao snapped.
She looked at him, quiet with embarrassment. The table sat uncomfortably between them, until she chuckled lightly.
"Sorry, I live in my head too much- anyways, the shortcut will save us some time. We don't have to walk too far at all." She dismissed herself from the table.
The Traveller looked to Xiao, their eyes bleeding with confusion. Xiao looked at him, exhaling softly.
"Mei...That name is important to her. I'd advise you to stop saying it so much."
The Traveller nodded to themself, flustered with the oblivious mistake.
Mei,
Is she dead?
-
Hi hello! This is my first post,, I’m new but I thought it would be cool to try Tumblr out! Um, here is young George Harrison :D I would like to use this account to post about things I like and whatnot, but also post my art from time to time. Hope you enjoy!