#that means i can save more for the hydro archon

[selfaware-promise-au]

can i request a sagau where reader manages to save fontain and focalors also if reader were to do this do you think the reader would alsogive the throne of hydro to furina as a sort of reward for her 500 years of playing her part?

I think it turned out a bit more chaotic, than intended.

~~~•••~~~

Dimer, also known as Embodiment of Death, His Excellency Master Death, Subverter of Absolutes, and a bunch of sugary sweet nicknames his dear wife gave him, thought that there was hardly anything that could surprise him. People might get quite creative in an attempt to get to the other side. In 99.99% of cases, getting to the other side wasn't their intention.

Yet, after exiting for eons (and it's a generous round), he would never expect the sign before him. He was... surprised.

Neuvillette's office was full. The owner of the office was sitting on one one of the couches, while Dimer occupated his chair.

Together with Neuvillette, the couch was occupied by you, covered in transparent blue blood with a large narwhal's horn in your arms, and a hydro archon (Furina), who had a hard time processing the whole situation and was sitting on the left side of you.

There also was Childe. Technically. He wasn't on the couch. He was tied to your back. And he was sleeping, happily drooling all over your shoulder.

On the opposite couch sit three more people. Dottore, who tried to keep a straight face, Arlecchino, who was sending glares in his direction and Hydro Archon (Focalor), who tried to look as small as she could.

Dimer closed his eyes, counted up to ten, and asked.

"So, how?"

You send a nasty glare towards Dottore.

"It started a month ago..."

~~~•••~~~

You hated that meeting. You tried to block out the voices, not interested in constant rudeness. But to no avail.

You looked at Nahida. She looked tired. You actually pitted her. It was nice, that Sumeru allowed diplomatic meetings to take place in Akademiya, but even on that neutral land your opponents were ready to tear you apart.

What's an etiquette? It's a skill to yawn with closed mouth.

What's the etiquette of a diplomat/descendant/your only hope to overthrow the tyrant god and have free will? Not jumping on the table, while yelling "How dare you?! I'm still human, I have the right to be treated with at least some basic respect! To Abyss with you! It's final, I won't name my favorite faction, instead I'll name my least favorite. And it’s you and your colleagues, Dottore, you son of a..."

"Your Divinity... [Y/N], can you, please, take a deep breath? Your Teyvat connection is on. It's using Cryo, and half of the floor is coated in ice." Himeko whispered right into your ear.

You blink, returning to reality. A quick glance at the floor confirmed Himeko's words. You breathe in and out. The familiar tugging of Teyvat's word powers freeze (pun intended), sevearing connection with Cryo Element, for now.

Well, you can't even express your anger.

"Do you understand what I mean, [Y/N]? Or do artificial species need multiple repetitions?" The poison in Dottore's voice can flood the whole city.

Only Himeko's intervention stopped you from throwing a chair at Dottore.

"We heard you. We will think about Fatui's proposition."

Then, thanks to Nahida, the meeting was over. You still was angry.

You just hoped that your next destination, Fontaine, would have better people. Sadly, you couldn't take everyone from the HSR Team with you. You don't want to risk Blade interacting with Lyney.

~~~•••~~~

"In Fontaine I learned about the prophecy and Fatui's attempts to solve it. I decided to mess up their work and save Fontaine for myself!" You sounded proud of yourself. Dimer fought an urge to smile. Your pettiness were adorable in its own way.

Dimer left Neuvillette's chair so he can stop Arlecchino's attempts to strangle Dottore ("Can you just treat them neutrally? You are destroying my hard work!").

"Move on, [Y/N]."

"So, I was finding a way to get to the Primordial Sea. During the search, I met Childe..."

~~~•••~~~

Surprisingly, Childe agreed to share stories about his time in Abyss. Well, to be fair, from all the Fatui you have problems only with Dottore. Others knew how to hide their dislike. But, apparently, Childe was more friendly than you thought he was.

During your talks, you noticed a faint string attached to his body. Someone was pulling him somewhere.

After quick confirmation from Childe that he has no idea what you're talking about, you ask him to help you investigate where the string leads to. He has nothing else to do, so he agreed.

You and Childe venture too deep. You two fall into the Primordial Sea. In the distance, you saw a narwhal.

Something happened. Childe lost consciousness and wasn't waking up. You used your powers to make some ropes to tie Childe to your back. You took his bow. It was time to fight.

~~~•••~~~

Dimer leaned closer to Childe, who was still sleeping. He scoffed.

"You put a sleeping spell on him. You subconsciously didn't want Fatui to get any credits in the solving the prophecy."

You signed. You loosen the ropes, making Childe slide slightly from your back. It gave you better access to him.

"I know what to do with sleeping beauties. I read fairy tales."

You turned your head and kissed Childe on a cheek.

"[Y/N]... It isn't permanent. He will wake up by himself tomorrow morning."

You ignored Dimer's comment.

"So, I fought with Narwal for the last month. I absorb the waters of Primordial Sea to buff myself. Neuvillette, I am sorry that in the process I destroyed it."

Neuvillette waved. He didn't know, how to react.

"You knew the rest..."

~~~•••~~~

The courtroom was noisy. HSR Team was yelling at two Harbingers. Harbingers were yelling at HSR Team. Neuvillette and Furina fruitlessly tried to keep everyone in line.

"Return [Y/N], you bastards!"

"We didn't have your toy god!"

"Dottore, not helping!"

And, like a cherry on top, Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale starts glowing and shaking like during an earthquake.

Up above, a rift opened. Skinny, hornless narwhal fell on the ground. You, covered in narwhal's blood, with a narwhal's horn in your hands, sleeping Childe on your back, commanded, pointing at the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale.

"Up!"

The machine raised up, stopping near you.

You yelled.

"Attack!"

In sync, you with horn and Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale with Indemnitium fell on the narwhal's head, crushing its skull.

The light filled the room. When it was gone, on a stage remain you, with Hydro Gnosis in one hand, Childe on your back, a narwhal's skeleton and remains of Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale. And a very confused Focalor.

~~~•••~~~

"So, that's it. I kinda solve the prophecy."

After that, Focalor told about her plan to save Fontaine, and Furina added some details about her job as an "archon".

The room was quiet for some time. Finally, Dimer turned towards Focalor.

"I hope, you do understand, that [Y/N] have the right to announce the next Hydro Archon."

Focalor shrugged.

"I think? I have no idea what to do next. [Y/N] at least look like someone who understand the situation better."

You gave her a nasty look.

"What do you mean at least?"

Dimer clapped his hands, getting everyone's attention.

"No more fighting. The day already was a circus field trip. [Y/N], think about the next Hydro Archon. But, before you choose... Remember that there are some Nibelung in your upbringing. You are viewed as a dragon by other dragons. Giving Hydro Gnosis to a dragon will be viewed as an intention to start a courtship."

Well, either it was genuine care, so you two won't get into a romantic comedy situation, or Neuvillette did something to anger Dimer, making him less than welcoming towards Hydro Dragon.

~~~•••~~~

At the end, you offered Hydro Gnosis to Furina. In your eyes, she was the most deserving of the title. Focalor was put in the assistant position, and Neuvillette remained to be the Iudex. Fatui was politely asked to shut up about Hydro Gnosis, Childe now likes you for letting him have the best sleep he ever had.

~~~•••Bonus•••~~~

"There is one more thing. Can you please return Lyney? He disappeared after your second group of followers arrived in Fontaine." Arlecchino looked at you expectingly. You just left Neuvillette's office, and now were swarmed with HSR Team.

You looked at guilty-looking Caelus and Stelle. Answering your silent question, Stelle shrugged.

"He is fine. We needed Blade's help in searching for you. We knew, that he is forbidden from ever interacting with Lyney, the magician from Fontaine. So, not to take the risk... We will let him out, when Blade leaves Fontaine."

Before Arlecchino asked, you waved your hands, hurrying towards the exit of Palais Mermonia.

"Divine knowledge and divine orders. Won't share my reasons. Blade, after me, we are leaving for Sumeru. Stelle, let Lyney out."

[thequietkid-moonie]

Darling loves them just the way they are

[ YANDERE HEADCANONS ] [ Furina, Kafka ]

[ Genshin Impact ] [ Honkai Star Rail ]

⚠️ A bit of spoilers in Furina's part

This was quite interesting to write, specially cuz i live them <33 hope you like it dear readeeeer ~

Furina

Furina has always done her best to play the role she was given, enduring the inmense loliness with the promise of being able to save her people, slowly losing herself a bit in the process

Furina was tortured by her life and role for as long as she was alive, having to become what her people needed and forgetting about herself, she wouldn't be free, she wouldn't have the right to be herself until this performance reached its end, and it wasn't until she found you that she felt trapped in her own life

You came to Furina's life like a ray of hope, something to hold onto and something that could give her life a meaning, and despite the fact that she was scared it didn't take her too much time before growing incredibly dependant of you

For Furina her darling became everything that was right in this world, the reason why she was born and the reason why she needed to keep going, so for that same reason she quickly found herself being eating alive for the anxiety, you were too precious for her, she needed you at her side but since she doesn't want to force you then she most make sure you like her, to love her, for what she spend a lot of time looking over you, watching her every move and carefully selecting every world that left her mouth whenever you were around, slowly trying her best to present herself at her best just to make sure you liked her!

Furina was too scared that you may not like her, being reminded to that old times when she became the Hydro Archon, those times where she was heavily judged by her own people for not being god-like enough. Furina spent so much time worrying over being the best for you that it took her an awful amount of time to realice that you already liked her as she is

You have grown to love Furina just the was she is, you grow to appreciate her and since she not so discreetly have show how much she appreciate your company and made efforts to keep you at her side as much as posible you grow to see more of her, more than just the Hydro Archon but about Furina, slowly appreciating her extra efforts to make her crush like her (as you think it is, underestimating a bit her feelings)

Even if she noticed Furina will not accept that something like this is true until you tell her directly, until you express to her that you indeed love her just the way she is, and is then when she let go of a relieved sigh before tears start to form in her eyes, trying really hard to don't admit how much she has being worrying about this but letting herself to cry in your arms, being the first time she finally feels safe in all her life, clinging to this feeling and promising herself to don't lose it, even if she has to change completely and play the role you want her to play as long as you don't leave her, not even when everyone turns against her or when the truth is finally revealed

Kafka

Kafka is a wanted criminal, even in her home planet she was considerate a threat, rethless in battle and always ready to get in fights for the thrill of it, always doing a perfect job, even so thats not all that she is

Kafka has being working for Elio for quite a long time already, following him for her own promised reward and never doubting him, so the moment she have met you she already knew it would have happened, still that didn't meant she didn't have quite the pleseant surprise when she found you, she fell in love pretty quick and it didn't took her more time to know that she wanted you in her life

Even so Kafka isn't exactly a selfish person, or at least not all the time, she is well aware of who she is and the effect she and her presence can bring to others, even if she doesn't understand fear she doesn't want you to be scared of her, so she took upon herself to make you see what an amazing partner she can be for you, she wants to go in the gentle way rather than forcing her way into your life (but if she has to do it she will without a doubt)

Kafka took the time to get to know you and to present herself, she didn't made much efforts to be of your liking since she didn't felt like she needed, you would be hers one way or another, still she make sure you knew her true self. Kafka never denied to you that she is the merciless wanted criminal, that person who would kill without hesitation but you were special for her so she let you know that soft side of her, that side that were constantly looking after you and treat you with a gentleness that it was even flattering

Kafka made her way throught your life with kindness and sincerity, with sincere and meaningful attempts to win your heart, somehow always being there but always having a kind smile to offer, she was taking mental notes of your reactions and paying close attention to you, after all her whole point was to win you over to take you with her

It didn't take her much time to realice that she have managed to win you over and yet, again, it was quite the pleseant surprise when she got to know (either because she did noticed too or that you admited it to her) that you grew to love her just the way she is, including that rethless side of her

Kafka was surprised but she couldn't do more than laugh softly when she found out, you truly are something else, don't you? Well, she love you too, she love every part of you, and she is yours just as much as you are hers so the fact that you love her so sincerely and absolutely is not only appreciate but also reciprocated, altought, the fact that you accept you love her so much it just give her free pass to do whatever she wants and whatever she has to do to protect those feelings

This was requested by @the-ultimate-puppeteer but im an idiot and lost the ask

[sleepyorchidmonster]

So, considering Genshin's latest trend of revisiting past storylines that had been mostly glossed over for the past 4 years or so (seriously, I remember freaking out over these things back in 2021)....

Since they've focused on Liyue (Hu Tao's role as a Director of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor), Inazuma (Raiden's dead friends, especifically Chiyo, that was MIA) and now Mondstadt (Albedo's fear of turning evil and destroying the nation + hints at whatever the fuck Venti is hiding), then they'll probably set their sights on Sumeru soon enough.

Sumeru and its unresolved issues of *checks notes* Collei having a vision of Dottore literally BURNING DOWN IRMINSUL at the end of Winter Night's Lazzo.

And, since we're talking about Collei, why don't we address the fact that she wasn't given a major role in the region's Archon Quests, even with her connections to Cyno, Tighnari and Dottore, or her ability to directly empathise with both Wanderer and Nahida, not to mention that line in her trailer "Even if it's a life-or-death situation, I'll never need to rely on their power again" that's not foreboding at all what do you mean haha...

Almost as if the Sumeru Archon Quests we got were a way to save Nahida, redeem Wanderer and heal Collei's Eleazar, establishing key players and setting up the board for what's to come in the future.

And about the whole "Burning of Irminsul Thing", like, I get that it's the fastest way to "Burn the old world for me", as per the Tsaritsa's words in the Shivada Jade Gemstone lore, but what would happen to Nahida?

Since she is a branch of Irminsul, is she technically safe from the flames burning away said branch? Will Mini Durin and Wanderer have to frantically locate the branch that represents Nahida and remove it from Irminsul while the others frantically try to keep the flames at bay?

(I've kind of always interpreted Rukkhadevata's (and Nahida's) connection to Irminsul as something akin to a dryad, so she's an avatar of the tree, and said tree is also directly linked to her life force, so if Irminsul dies, they die.)

Either way, letting Irminsul burn to the ground is all kinds of bad for Teyvat's lore and record-keeping (even if said lore can be easily edited via Irminsul), so everyone will do what they can to stop Dottore while Nahida is preparing for the worst and creating a bunch of fables (Venti has also saved some important details via songs and poems).

Anyway, while we probably won't be getting Sumeru that soon, since we're still in Mond and will probabky end up crash-landing in Nod-Krai soon enough (also you can't just turn such an important detail as the Burning of the WORLD TREE into a flagship event) here are some predictions and rambings:

- We might get a special appearance fron Albedo, Muni-Durin, Amber and maybe Ragbros, both as a nod to the manhua being placed i Mond, as well as Mini-Durin and Wanderer's connection;

- Collei and Wanderer friendship over their mutual dislike of the Doctor;

- Candance and Nilou, Sumeru's only hydro characters that were also heavily featured in the event "Chromatic Ode to Candies and Roses", where they took on the role of both Deshret and Nabu Malikata at Nahida's birthday party, now make up the main line of defense against the flames, once more representing the God-Kings of Sumeru;

- Eremites. Just the eremites. It's been almost 3 years since we've freed Nahida, so I want at least part of the quest delving a bit into how things have improved over this short amount of time. Like, it's impossible to fix so many sistemic issues in so little time, but Nahida has the determination and wisdom to pull it off, so it'd be nice to see the general public's opinion of their archon, especially considering how the eremites went from hating her to being qbsolutely crucial to the success of the 3.2 quest;

- LAYLA ARCHON QUEST APPEARANCE! I still can't fathom how in 3.2. we got a new character that we had never met before, not to mention a student from Rtawahist, A.K.A. the same Darshan as AZAR. Like, can you imagine if Layla's somnambulism somehow confused the Akasha system, to the point where they're technically still capable of dreaming, which allowed Nahida to befriend Night Layla? And Layla's erratic night behavious were part Night Layla shenanigans, part actual reconaissance for their archon? 3.1. Ending but Night Layla crashes the party by showing up at Aaru Village with a bunch of classified documents she stole from Azar? Day Layla being convinced she just traveled there for a project, but also helping Candance defend the village while the others are out?

- Amurta and Vahumana collaboration (they're trying to see if they can use Shouki no Kami to transplant Irminsul, results are still inconclusive);

- The fight plan would basically be Alhaitham, Dehya, Cyno and Sethos vs Dottore, while the others attempt to save Irminsul from the flames. Nahida is protecting Aaru Village with Faruzan, Layla, Jeht, the Pari and some other eremites while offering remote support (the last thing anyone needs is Dottore setting her on fire as well);

- Collei using the Archon Residue to suffocate the flames, which ends up killing two birds with one stone, since the fire may also weaken said Archon Residue;

- Apep appearance (let's say part of her agreement with Deshret involved assisting his allies in dire circumstances, also she is just repaying a favour);

- Dottore versus Aranaras (he's somehow losing).

[riiarichu]

Umm hi so drawing

Quick disclaimer that for this AU to work I’ll have to completely ignore genshin’s cannon. I mean it’s poorly explained anyway so I can get away with it (maybe).

But like think about it

Morax faked his death to become zhongli. And he’s already assumed mortal life. He’s okay with giving up his life for a fellow archon to have the same spoils. Maybe, since he meet Egeria, he thinks he owes it to her to save what is essentially her daughter (Focalors/furina) now how would he do this? Now, I think since Zhongli doesn’t have his gnosis (+a fake vision) he isn’t exactly ‘aligned with celestia’ like vision holders // other gods // people who know vision holders (everyone else). So him secretly finding out about the plan somehow (and pretending he didn’t) wouldn’t cause Fontaine’s destruction. (I think… at least. Roll with it please) how would he find out? Umm idk he’s a thousand years old deity I’m sure he knows more than he should regardless.

Now, Focalors mentioned something about the execution being for the “hydro archon’s divine throne” so as long as that throne is gone, she herself wouldn’t necessarily have to die as long as SOMEONE with that divine throne did. That’s my excuse for this AU.

Oh and neuvili because I think it would be more tragic that way ;)

[yanderehsr]

Hiya there! I hope you don't mind me requesting something.

How do you think Ei, Furina and Lumine would react to their lover making small plush versions of their friends as a hobby?

Hi, happy to take your request😆

Hope you'll enjoy😄

Trigger Warning: Yandere, Obsessive behaviour, Possessive behaviour, Kidnapping, Murder

Raiden Ei: She can spend hours just watching you make those plushies, it is a comfort seeing her precious love creating them, just having them with her makes all those years of loneliness seem like a mere illusion, like it never happened. But then Ei notices something, all those plushies seems suspiciously like some people she has seen in passing glance.

When Raiden Ei realises that it is indeed real people that isn't her, she will snap, she will destroy all plushies and later hunt down those that you made plushies of. Ei will return later drenched in blood and aplogize for her outburst, she doesn't want to be angry with you. Don't ask her where the blood came from, you wont like the answer.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you, maybe you can make som new plushies, this time you can make one of me"

Furina: She likes the plushies but gets annoyed that it takes such a long time to make them, she wants you to pay attention to her as well, isn't she your favorite, isn't she your most loved one... wait why isn't there a plushie of her in you collection.

Suddenly your friends are put on trial, their crime being seducing the hydro archons lover, Furina will watch in glee as they are sentenced to prison, she will keep sending more and more of your friends there until you have made a plushie of her, at the very least she is kind enough to give you a chance to save your friends from eternal imprisonment.

"Let me see, let me see, it is very well made, I-I mean it is acceptable enough I guess, and guess what only 7 of your friends got sentenced, see how kind I am"

Lumine: She finds you adorable, utterly cute and precious and all hers. Hers to love and hers to protect. Chances are she has met with all of your friends at some point on her journey, but she wont do anything towards them as long as you don't leave her.

Lumine will literally go down on her knees and beg you to make a plushie of both her and you. Is sobbing when she sees the final product, it's a gift from you, she will protect it forever and of course she wants you to keep the Lumine plushie, she wants to be with you even when she isn't there.

"Thank you, I'll cherish this forever. You are just so cute I just wanna lock you up... no no, just kidding of course"

[scaredpigeons]

Aqua Regia V: Subatomic interactions

Previous chapter // Next chapter // First chapter

Neuvillette x fem!reader

Word count: 3.6k

You confirm a few theories, resulting in a delicate moment between the two of you, and learn more about what the hell has been going on the past few months, as much as you’d like to deny yourself.

Authors note: some subtle zhongchi references, cuz I’m literally insatiable and have been reading a bit of zhongchi in my spare time. I think they’re cute :) also Neuvillettes instincts are so fucking cute to me, AND THE PURRING??? Yessir

“So, Neuvillette. You’re not human, are you?”

His gaze snapped to you, your face illuminated by the fire. He’d read somewhere in a book that sitting alone with someone in a dark room, hiding from a storm with the comfort of a fire was an intimate setting, but that really wasn’t his intention. 

The lights in his living room had just been replaced, but he found the harsh white lights of the new bulbs too stark and sterile, and was used to reading by candlelight anyways, so he preferred to keep the lights off, even when he didn’t have guests, which was…. Always. 

You were the first guest he’d had in his home in his most recent memory, any others being the melusine, and well— lady furina, on the odd occasion. 

“What gave you that impression?” He would not outright confirm or deny your observation, just hoping to skate by this encounter without incident. 

Every terrible burning instinct in his body was satiated in this moment, for the first time in months— he didn’t feel like he was actively losing his mind. 

Yes, there were a few more troubling thoughts, like how looking at you swaddled in his clothing made something inside him want to purr, or how he desperately wanted to take you and put you down in his nest, surrounded by all the other things he treasures most. 

Do I treasure her? He thought.

 As much as he wanted to refuse himself, he knew it to be true. He valued you above most things these days, and having you in his home seemed to calm him, though he couldn’t fathom entirely why. 

“Well, based on my observations over the past few months, local history, and some interesting conversations with the melusines, I’ve got a couple theories.” You said simply, lifting the cup of tea he’d brought you a few minutes ago to take a sip. He hadn’t wanted to leave your side, but after a while of sitting and not speaking, you had asked politely for it, so he had to oblige. 

“And what theories have you come up with?” He asked, genuinely curious. 

“In the beginning, before I came to work for you, there were many among us who thought perhaps you were the true hydro archon in disguise, with Lady Furina just being a figurehead of sorts. But of course, after the trial of the hydro archon and the flood, we all learned that to be untrue. With the limited information that was leaked to the public, we all learned that furina had been standing in on behalf of the hydro archon as a figurehead, yes—but only to circumvent the prophecy in some way— to save us. But that still left you.” 

He found that he truly enjoyed listening to you speak. Your voice was soothing, and hearing your thoughts made something within him very calm, satiated. He nodded for you to continue. 

“After getting to know you, it became clear to me that you aren’t human, though anyone who can pick up a historical text would know that based on the amount of years you’ve spent being the Honorable Iudex, of course.” You paused to look at him, and he found himself feeling a bit flush at how intently your gaze trailed across his face. He’d not felt flustered in another’s prescience like this in a very long time. 

“Your mannerisms, your demeanor, it was all very curious to me, so I did some research. And well…” you wrung your hands in your lap before clutching back onto the blanket he’d placed around you. “To make a long story short, and please, don’t laugh or be upset with me, I mean, it could be very far fetched but—“

He called out your name, gently silencing your stammering. “Please, I will not be offended or upset by anything you have to say to me.” 

You let out a breath, steadying yourself. “Neuvillette, are you perhaps… the hydro dragon of legend, taken human form?” 

He blinked at you. 

His heart lurched at how perceptive you were, how much thought must have gone into this conclusion. You said you’d watched his mannerisms, you’d done research? And you came to the correct answer because it was you.

Of course you would. 

Suddenly, he felt a chuckle pull from his chest, and he laughed into the dimly lit living room as you stared at him. 

“You are… truly mesmerizing.” He said, voice light and still ringing with his amusement. He once again smelled that sweet aroma that seemed to follow you, but brushed it off.  “I cannot believe that you came to such a conclusion on your own. You didn’t speak to the traveler, did you?”

“What?” You said, scrunching your nose a bit. “No, of course not! I read a couple books I bought from Liyue on dragons, and the similarities were just too much to ignore!”  You scooted closer, facing him head on now. “Are you saying I'm correct?” 

He laughed again, unable to stop himself. “Incredibly so. Though I wouldn’t say I've ‘taken human form’. For reasons unknown to even me, I was born in this form. I’ve learned to shape it throughout the years to better fit into human society, but there are a few things that refuse to leave.”

He sheepishly looks up and to the side, gesturing to his horns with his eyes. He knows they are slender and sleek, and to the uninterested eye, could be mistaken for some kind of hair ornament. 

“Oh!” You said, sitting even closer, your eyes burning with excitement. “I’ve always wondered what they were! Are they horns? May I…” your hand reached out, only for you to pull it back harshly. 

His chest ached. 

“I’m sorry, that's rather inappropriate of me, I shouldn’t ask.” You said, dejected and pulling away. 

His body screamed for you to be closer, and so he obliged. 

“There’s no need to worry, you’re just curious. You may touch them, if you’d like.” He said, trying to keep his voice steady. 

Your eyes sparkled once more, and you smiled brightly at him. “Really?” 

He nodded, bending forward a bit to bring his head more level to you. 

He held his breath as you reached out your hand, and when your soft skin brushed against the base of his horn, his spine nearly buckled. 

He didn’t touch his horns often. They were soft, sleek and malleable, not a traditional type of horn, not like other dragons. If he had to describe them, they’re more similar to antennae than anything else, soft yet firm, perfect to trail behind him in the water for ease of swimming. 

He occasionally touches them when styling his hair, but mostly they lay unbothered on his head, maybe getting squeezed between his back and a chair every now and then when he wasn’t paying attention, but it was rare. 

So when your delicate hand stroked along the smooth skin of his left horn, he had to keep his composure, because it was the most pleasurable thing he’d felt in a very long time, perhaps even ever. 

You cooed your amazement at him, your fingertips stroking gently down to the tip of the top most tine, and his body let loose an involuntary shiver, which he hoped you didn’t notice.

When you slipped your hand further and brushed along down towards the bottom tine he steadied his spine, ignoring the throbbing between his legs and bracing himself, though he had no idea how to stop the violent purring noise that rumbled from his chest. 

You certainly had noticed that, jumping back a bit on the couch, most likely startled. 

“Oh!” You said, holding your wrist with your other hand.  

He cleared his throat, forcing himself to stop before it got even more out of hand, so incredibly embarrassed. 

“Ah— my apologies. I forgot how sensitive they can be.” 

“Thats… did you…. Was that a purr?” 

He could quite literally feel the heat rising to his face, and he was sure he looked so childish in this moment. 

“Ah, well. You see… I—“ he stammered. “Yes?” 

Much to his surprise and enjoyment, you let a bright giggle loose into the dark room, falling back into the cushions as it overtook you. 

He stared, eyes surely shining as you laughed and laughed, and he nearly didn’t notice the rumbling start up once more, coughing seconds too late to cover it.

“Dragons purr when they are content?” You giggled, trying to right yourself. “Like cats?” 

He could feel the tips of his ears heating up, how embarrassing. Yet the gentle smile on your face was anything but mocking. 

In fact, he thought you looked rather intrigued, interested in learning more. 

“Ah, yes.” He tried to look anywhere but you, hoping you weren’t paying too much attention to his other bodily reactions. “Content, among other things.”  

“That's fascinating! How have you managed to hide that all this time? I’ve never once heard you slip up before!” You leaned forward in your excitement, eyes sparkling with wonder. 

His eyes wandered across your face, falling to your lips, so soft looking, such a warm smile. 

“Well, I’ve not…” he didn’t have the words, didn’t understand how to explain that you were changing him. That he was losing control of himself with every passing moment he was surrounded with your presence. 

“No one has been so close to me in a very long time.” He murmured, watching the breath catch in your chest. “No one has touched me with a gentle hand in centuries.” 

Now that he’d let the words slip from his lips, he realized the magnitude of their meaning. Yes, he was incredibly touch starved. He just hadn’t noticed until he found himself craving your touch. 

He watched his words register in your mind, the gears turning as your eyes welled. 

“Neuvillette, sir…” you sounded sad for him, of course you did. You were always so caring and empathetic. 

“My apologies, I shouldn’t have burdened you with the weight of such a statement.” He scrambled to try and rectify this, to bring that smile back to your lips. 

“No, sir, it’s—“ you squeezed your eyes shut, probably willing away your sadness. Something you did often when your emotions became to large, one of your little quirks he found so incredibly endearing. “This may be inappropriate of me to ask, but may I be a gentle hand?” 

He gaped at you. 

“I—“ you stammered. “That came out wrong, I mean… what I meant to say—“

“Yes, if you wouldn’t mind.” He cut you off, something he didn’t often do. “I’d like that very much.” 

You blinked, visibly swallowing as you settled down beside him, facing him directly. Your delicate hand reached up, just a simple press of your palm to his cheek, nothing more. 

A swell of emotions surged through him, so much that he couldn’t regulate himself, and he leaned into the touch as a single tear fell from his eye. The storm continued to rage outside, though he wasn’t certain it was his doing any longer. Perhaps a merciful act of Focalors from the beyond to keep you here with him for as long as possible. 

“Will you… teach me more about dragons?” You said, moving your hand to run your fingers through the loose hair by his temple. 

A deep purr rumbled through his chest, and your smile returned. 

————

At some point during the night, you’d fallen asleep to the sound of Neuvillette’s voice. 

In your lax lucidity, you remember him moving you to lay properly on the couch, a soft pillow beneath your head and another warm blanket that smelled like him. 

He pulled it over your shoulder, and you had thought that perhaps he’d kiss you, nothing salacious, perhaps a peck on the forehead or cheek. He hesitated for a moment, but you’d kept your eyes closed, hoping. 

But ever the gentleman, he’d just stepped away to leave you to sleep, and you’d drifted back off into a pleasant slumber. 

A few months had passed since that evening, and you wish you could say your relationship to Neuvillette hadn’t changed, but you’d be telling a blatant lie. 

You sat at Cafe Lutece with Miss Navia, a rare treat since she was so busy. She had a meeting with the traveler this afternoon however, and invited you to join. 

A cute, high pitched voice called out your name and Navia’s, and you turned to see Lumine and her companion Paimon wave as they came closer. 

They sat down, exchanging greetings with you as they settled and ordered their drinks. 

Paimon said your name once more, grabbing your attention from your plate of macarons. “That's a beautiful necklace! Paimon’s never seen you wear something so fancy!” 

You smiled, looking down and touching it gently with your fingertips. A delicate silver chain holding an intricate casing that held a large tear drop shaped condensed crystal surrounded by other glittering gems. They reflected the sunlight beautifully, and Paimon was right, you’d never owned a necklace so beautiful before. 

“Ah, thank you.” You said. “It was a gift from Neuvillette, he gave it to me after I gave him a couple books I’d purchased from Liyue.” 

“Oh, how lovely!” Navia cooed. “I was going to ask where it came from but I didn’t want to seem rude.” 

You waved her off, telling her it wasn’t a big deal, but her furrowed brow said she had more on her mind. 

“Say, didn’t Neuvillette also gift you that pocket watch you had last time I saw you?” She asked. 

“Ah,” you flushed. “Well, yes, but that was only after I found the most beautiful shell one afternoon by the beach, it reminded me of the colors of his broach, so I figured he’d like it!” 

Navia’s grin turned mischievous, and her eyes thinned with mirth. “Didn’t he also get you a new raincoat after yours got that nasty tear in it?” 

You scrambled to remember why he had done that, what you had given him that had warranted that particular gift. You took a sip of your tea as you stalled. Suddenly, the usually silent traveler spoke up. 

“When did you and Neuvillette start courting?” 

You nearly spat your tea all over her, face heating up as if you’d steeped your water with pyro flower stamens and not herbal green. 

“Pardon me?” You coughed. “Courting? What makes you think that we’re courting?”

Lumine looked a little chuffed, smirking a bit behind a gloved hand. 

“Dragons view acts of service and gift giving as acts of courtship. You didn’t know this?” 

“No?” You squeaked. Your books on dragons had a section on mating, but you’d been too embarrassed to even consider reading that chapter. 

“Paimon’s seen this all before. An acquaintance of ours had been giving another dragon we know all kinds of gifts and mora, only to find out far too late what he was actually doing!” 

“I think Zhongli knew he didn’t understand, Paimon. He didn’t seem too broken up when Childe left.” Lumine says, rolling her eyes. 

“But Paimon has seen the weird longing looks he gives Childe! Mr. Zhongli isn’t very subtle.” Paimon turned to you, looking a little frustrated. “Does Monsieur Neuvillette look at you all longing and googly eyed too?” 

You were sure your face could not be anymore red. 

Lumine frowned at her floating friend. “Paimon, that’s not a very nice question to ask, I mean look at her— she didn’t even know they were courting!” 

“Oh gods.” Your mind was going a million steps a minute. “I’ve brought him lunch every day for months.” 

“Oh boy.” Paimon sighed. 

“I had water specially ordered from a volcanic spring in Natlan! In the middle of a Warzone!” Your voice was getting louder. You clutched your coat further around your frame, shaking. 

Lumine cringed, and Navia started laughing. 

“I knew it!” She said, looking between your shrinking form and Lumine and back to you. “I knew he was head over heels for you, I was just waiting until you realized!” 

You popped a macaron into your mouth, but the flavor was wrong, everything was on high alert, your face was hot. You pushed your plate towards Paimon, knowing her love of snacks. 

“Here, Paimon, you can have these.” You stood, ignoring Paimon’s squeals of glee and Navias voice of concern, asking you where you were going. 

The cold November breeze washed through you, and you clutched your coat tighter once more. 

Your lunch break was over soon, you had to get back to the Palais before Neuvillette had trial prep. 

Oh gods. How were you going to face him? Did he even know what he was doing? He’d expressed to you that he was unsure about a lot of things about his own species, but was he unaware of the courting customs? 

You ignored the odd looks people gave you as you shuffled along. Before you realized, your feet had carried you to the Palais, and straight into Neuvillettes office. 

He was there, sitting at his desk and sorting through the folder you had compiled this morning for today's trial. 

“Good afternoon,” he smiled, “did your lunch break with Miss Navia go well?” 

You froze, eyes wide. You looked around his office, noting the little gifts and trinkets you had gotten him, though not all of them. The shell sat on his desk, the books on his bookshelf. There was a framed picture of you and a bunch of the melusine that Sedene had given you, and you had asked to hang it up in here, so you could see it at work and be reminded of the moment. He’d been particularly happy to do so. 

You thought back to all the gifts he’d given you, all the lingering looks and soft and innocent touches that may not have been as accidental as you thought. 

He seemed distracted, much to your relief. 

“It went fine,” you cleared your throat. “I saw the Traveler and Paimon for the first time in a while, which was nice.” 

“Good, good.” He said, pulling an envelope out of his desk drawer. “Speaking of The Traveler—“

He rounded his desk, and you did your best to steady your spine as he walked towards you, tall and intimidating but oh so handsome. Your knees felt weak.

“It seems that The Traveler, Lady Furina and Sedene have been conspiring against me, and are planning a ball of sorts for my birthday next month.” 

Your attention was caught, and you perked up. “Oh? I didn’t know it was your birthday soon, I’m sorry.” 

He chuckled, something he did a lot more often around you these days. 

“Worry not, my dear. Sedene asked me to give you this, which is an invitation to a preparation meeting. It seems they would enjoy it if my most cherished assistant was involved in the planning.” 

You flushed, he’d been saying things like that more often, calling you dear, telling you that he cherished and valued you. Were you just realizing this now?

“Oh,” you said, trying to make sure your voice didn’t shake as your thighs twitched. “I’m glad.”

Neuvillettes pupils dilated, and you could tell he was trying to hide it, but his deep inhale was a telltale sign that he could smell that sweet smell he’d mentioned lingered around you. 

You still hadn’t had the gall to tell him what exactly it was, prove your theory that he was literally smelling your arousal, your fluster—because your shame was too great to allow you otherwise. 

Besides, he’d stopped mentioning it a while ago, but you could tell when he could smell it. You could tell. 

You wanted to smack your cheeks. But you took the envelope, shivering slightly when his warm fingers brushed yours, the fabric of his gloves was so soft. 

“So, is there anything you would like me to incorporate into this ball that would make you happy?” You asked, wanting to move past the throbbing feeling that came whenever he complimented you. 

He breathed deeply again, and you could almost see a twinge of pink dust his cheeks. 

“Ah, well— if I had it my way, there wouldn’t be a ball at all.” 

“Oh?” You said. 

“I do not think I need to be celebrated in such an ostentatious manner, but Lady Furina insisted that because we held so many birthday balls for her throughout her reign, it was only fitting that I have at least one.”

You smirked, watching his fluster deepen. “Well I have to agree with Lady Furina, our honorable leader should be celebrated at least once in his new reign.”

He scoffed, rolling his eyes a bit as he turned away from you. Such a personal act he would not have been caught dead doing mere months ago, but it seemed he was getting more and more comfortable with you by the day. 

“I simply do not think it worth the splendor.” He walked back towards his desk, sitting down to go over his files once more. 

“So there's nothing specific you’d like me to do for you?” You insisted. 

“Ah, if you must,” he sighed. “Absolutely no fried foods, please. And—“ he gave a sharp tsk, pinching his brow. 

“What is it, sir?” 

He shook his head. “Forgive me for saying this, for the sake of it sounding incredibly childish, but if there is Fonta served at this celebration, I will simply leave.” 

You smirked, holding in a laugh that you so desperately wanted to release. 

“No fried foods, no fonta. Got it.” You turned to leave, but lingered when he called your name to get your attention once more. 

“Yes?” 

“You’ll be attending, yes?” 

You froze, realizing that yes, it would be quite obscene of you to not attend a ball you were helping to organize, but you have absolutely no idea what you’re going to wear. 

“Of course, Monsieur Neuvillette.” You smiled, that was a problem for another day. 

He seemed to relax, sighing in relief. “Good, it will be much more bearable with you there with me.” 

[bitethedustfools]

SAGAU story idea

Apologies for the wrong lore or information. I don't play it, and I write it based on memories.

In which you, the player, are heavily associated with Celestia (friends? boss and secretary? etc.). You and the (bunch of gods in) Celestia have looked over this world forever. You are close, and you would bicker with them once in a while, but there are ranks between you and them.

With that being said, you know with certainty that Celestia has done many unforgivable things. No, you may be a part of them, but you refused to be one of them.

What you have seen in the game is worse, but not as bad as what Celestia came up with. Why doesn't it show? Well, that's because you interfere and reason with Celestia to tone down their ruthlessness.

Celestia is like the embodiment of a childish king who took the throne and thinks they can do anything, and you are like the minister who's trying to make the situation less worse.

The day you became a very responsible person is when the Archon war began. It was at this point where you realized you questioned why did you became friends with them.

For safety's sake and to improve the Celestia image (you failed this part hard), you didn't use any names but preferred to be seen and called as Celestia, as disgusting as it is.

When Khaenriah did something that absolutely got on Celestia's nerve, they began to plan the most horrible plan of all. That plan was to wipe out everything and restart. A failure, they said, and you, as the most reasonable of all, decided to smack some brain cells into them.

And thus, Khaenriah got destroyed, and the people turned into monsters and so on. Some few gods also lost their lives, and other troubling things began to pop up. But hey, you prevented the destruction of the entire world, and that's something.

The Electro Archon and her sibling would cease to exist, but you tweak the string of fate, and only one of them died. Sure, the nation will be a bit tense in the future because of the newly made Archon, but don't worry, you've got a plan for this, but that's for later.

The Geo Archon also lost someone just as planned otherwise. If both survived, something even more horrible would greet them if they stayed there, and you need certain people in certain areas to keep the plan in motion, so the God of Dust has to go.

Venti wasn't supposed to be an Anemo Archon, but he did because you planned it! if the rebels, the God of Storm and the God of North Wind keep doing that, everyone will be fcked. Game over. You placed the pieces carefully, and that's how Venti's background came to be.

Dendro Archon sacrificed herself to save her people from the forbidden knowledge that is spreading and same goes for her friends. This is the acceptable route because, in the beginning, Celestia wanted them to be straight up deceased with no disease. But you are very good at negotiating, and this is how it came to be.

For creating a new species of human, the Hydro Archon were prisoned, assumed control again and then died. She get replaced but that doesn't mean the new species of human would get spared from the sin. Celestia is just that sadistic and cruel. You were a bit late to the game, but you got a plan! You knew how to avert killing thousands of people. Unfortunately, at the cost of a certain new Archon's life. Again. Damn.

You have done so many things, all for the greater good. Celestia is despicable for wanting to destroy everything, but no doubt you are more despicable after all; you planned every tragedy just so Celestia don't act on their whim.

You could have stopped Celestia, but you are the smart one. You deduced that if you continue to disobey and disregard their orders and opinions, Celestia would have ditched you and destroyed everything. You love this world enough you couldn't bear to see it get destroyed.

Obviously, no one knows this. No one knows you planned the most intricate plan with the most complicated results, but when they do, it's mostly half true. No doubt that some had assumed you are the cause of the tragedy, which isn't wrong, but compared to the original order by Celestia, this is by far, less tragic.

What you failed to see is that the unknown god has dragged a certain pair of twins into this mess, and now you have to think even harder and smarter on how they are going to affect Teyvat and the future to come.

This is your previous life. Your recent life was a normal person and had a hobby for gaming. Your new life started when you woke up in Genshin Impact.

The new you doesn't know the past you, but you know the story unfolding before your eyes when you played the game as the traveler.

How does the story go when you begin your journey?

-

I know things don't line up, but then again, it's just an idea, and I'm tired.

[stardustdiiving]

Hi! It’s been fun reading through your Archon interaction headcanons and that one post about their gender

Do you have any thoughts on Furina’s relationship to her gender?

(I wonder if post-AQ she might slowly explore herself and realize she’s not necessarily a girl while still keeping she/her pronouns, or something. The Archon role had a rather feminine presentation in speech, with the long hair, and constantly being addressed as “Lady Furina”, so she probably wouldn’t have questioned it as she couldn’t think of her own identity when in-role.)

Or maybe, being an Oceanid before Focalors split herself means Furina has an entirely different understanding of gender altogether?

(assuming it’s this old post about archon genders you were talking about)

THANK YOU. So to explain my thoughts on Furina gender I must first discuss my thoughts on Focalors gender, which I personally imagine to be something like this

It doesn’t sound like Focalors had a lot of time between “gaining a human form as an oceanid” to “inheriting Egeria’s sins as the Hydro Archon”, which means realistically most of her time spent as an oceanid human + god was regulated almost entirely to her plan to subvert the prophecy and save Fontaine from being destroyed. This is really relevant to her relationship with Furina because what I see within Focalors’ decision to curse Furina is an understanding the dire circumstances of the prophecy don’t leave any room for her to really explore her humanity in the way she’d want. Focalors isn’t happy to be causing Furina (the embodiment of her own humanity) to suffer but I think is also uniquely willing to burden Furina with this in particular because ultimately she’s doing it to herself. And famously genshin archons love torturing themselves especially if it’s out of protection for humanity

Furina is a part of Focalors that Focalors grimly has to suppress and burden until the circumstances are stable and calm enough for it to live freely. Focalors’ dying words to Furina when Fontaine’s destruction has been finally averted are “Thank you Furina. From now on, please live happily as a human, just as I wish we could.”—a very direct hope that Furina now has the freedom to be a person able to explore herself however she wants that was never possible prior. That Focalors never really got to experience

Yuo can make this about gender. Like maybe Focalors could never really explore much with her gender Because of The Prophecy but now Furina can live her truth and explore the joys of gender nonconformity and pronouns to her heart’s desire.

Within this context, I honestly really like the idea of transfem Furina. The idea Focalors had enough time and understanding of what she wanted to give both of them (or maybe even, if you wanted to play around with things, Just Furina more of a girl/feminine appearance but didn’t have the time to explore what she might’ve enjoyed with human gender identity past that…and it concluding with her passing knowing at least that part of her is able to go on and enjoy its life and identity really gets me

Going into more specific ideas I have about Furina gender identity headcanons, I see her as someone who’s ultimately fine being more on the “girl” side of things but just really enjoying fluidity + a lack of conformity. I imagine she likes to alternate between she/he pronouns + masc/fem presentation and if you ask her about this she probably goes on about how any good performance artist needs range. If she were to describe her identity in like, our 2025 english understanding of lgbt labels I’m not sure she’d really be super interested in a lot of labels but I can see her enjoying the concept of being bigender / genderfluid / somewhere on the non binary spectrum. She’s just kinda like Utena Tenjou from rgu to me genderwise. Sapphic girl who’s very princely

[ryuua]

After the Curtain Call

!4.2 ARCHON QUEST MAJOR(?) SPOILERS!

Furina has found herself indulging in more simple pleasures lately — one of which includes drowning in your comfort and attention. However, today takes a different turn than usual.

🌢 Furina x gn!reader

🌢 Genre: Fluff, comfort(?)

🌢 Warnings: 4.2 ARCHON QUEST MAJOR(?) SPOILERS, Furina might be OOC, may not be canon to lore or what happened after the 4.2 archon quest since I haven't done Furina's story quest yet, not entirely proofread

A/N: As mentioned in the warning since I haven't done Furina's story quest yet, I don't actually know what happened after the events of the 4.2 archon quest. Although I did have a f!reader in mind, it's mostly gender-neutral so anyone and all can enjoy :D The reader's origins are kept as vague as possible so their identity in Teyvat and how they came to know Furina and whatnot are up to your imagination BUT it's set that you're Furina's significant other and you know about the deeper plot line. Anyway I've become such a Furina enthusiast I had to write this love live laugh Furina

"Furina..."

"Huh? Who's that..?"

"Furina..."

"..Ah!"

Hey eyes widened, the déjà vu settling uncomfortably inside her yet she calmed at the sight of the caller.

"...Y/N.. did I fall asleep..?"

Furina asked groggily, reaching her hands to rub her eyes and to her surprise, it was wet.

"Oh.. was I..?"

"Mm, you were out for quite a while. What were you dreaming of?"

They glided their finger from her cheek to her eyes, gently wiping away the tears that formed during her slumber. Their warmth spread out onto her face, replacing the cold droplets that stained it before. It was comforting to say the least, and Furina wanted to bury herself in this feeling forever.

"Dream? I was dreaming of..."

(Thank you— all you've done— this moment—)

"—Furina?"

"..Sorry, did I space out?"

Furina's vision slowly came back into focus, giving them a tired smile and in return, received a worried one.

"Haha, it's alright. Do continue where you left off, you'll feel better once you let it out."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

Y/N stared at her solemnly, though their smile still there. Furina sat herself up and turned her curious gaze towards them. Once again, their hands moved to cup her face in them, shifting closer to Furina as they pressed a small kiss to the side of her eye where she finally felt it. Was she crying? Pulling away, they chuckled at her realization

"You were crying."

"Eh.. Is that so? ...This must be an overflow of Hydro from my person."

A stare down accompanied by a long silence followed before both of them bursted into a fit of laughter.

"Really now? As expected of the great Furina. Only one such as she could store so much Hydro in them to the point it'd overflow."

Their giggles continued to surround the quaint room they were in and as time would go on, so would the moment. They soon found themselves staring into the other again until Y/N ultimately broke the silence.

"Hey.. you're not the Hydro Archon anymore, okay? You don't have to carry your burdens by yourself. You could always tell me... or even Neuvillette! I'm sure he'd be more than happy for you to waltz into his doors unannounced, just as you once did."

"My dear, what are you implying!"

"Hehe, it's nothing. But.. seriously. I'm sure... Focalors wouldn't want you to be stuck in the past as well."

Furina's eyes widen. Now fully able to feel the tears falling down her face like a waterfall. Her façade slowly cracked, revealing her inner troubles deep down one by one as she buried her head into the crook of Y/N's neck. She sobbed endlessly, her hands clinging to their clothes with desperation as if they would leave her. Images flash through her mind: when she worked tirelessly to contribute to saving Fontaine, when she was found guilty and thought all hope was lost, when everyone had turned their backs to her upon the truth. All of them were still weighing in the back of her mind all this time, but she had deceived herself into thinking she left everything in the past, to the past.

"You're not alone anymore, Furina. I'll always be here for you."

That's right. Furina was no longer alone, now she could — and she would — rely on other people for her problems. Rely on Y/N.

"And I wish nothing but for you to be happy, Furina. Hush now, love."

Their voice made her feel like she was floating, slowly carrying her away from a deep, dark void into a world of only comfort and happiness. Their words swayed her back and forth gently and lulled her into slumber, one that was full of bliss, one where both of them would be in, one that made her the happiest.

With a final kiss to her forehead, they whispered lovingly to Furina.

"Let's live happily from now on," (—live happily—)

"As you once wished." (—Just as I wished we could—)

Oml I finished it. This was done over the course of a week or two so I'm starting to not really like how it turned out but OH WELL I'LL WRITE ABT GOING ON A DATE WITH HER NEXT MAYBE JUST SIMPLE WHOLESOME OUTING STUFF Thank you for readinggg

[khesi]

Hiiii thereee! Okay so I know you're a big Furilumi fan, so I was wondering if you could help me collect all the info and events that imply it, and their general dynamic and stuff??? Anything about their relationship in all canon or semi-canon content. I'm working on the Traveler x Genshin chars list again, and I'm honestly undecided on how to interpret Furina's feelings for the traveler, so I thought you could help :>>>

Hellooo~ and gosh I'm flattered that you think so.

I will say that while I am a fan; I'm not as die-hard as others maybe. I'm very much a characters-before-the-ship kinda gal when it comes to Furilumi (also in general with other characters).

Like if you were to put a gun to my head and ask me what is my top Travelver X Character ship "canon wise", Furilumi wouldn't even be top five. (also I am adult enough to admit that I'm very much wanting to fuck Furina a Furina x Reader shipper more than anything)

But even with all that, I think they are cute together together and they have an interesting dynamic that can be explored.

I'm wasn't quite sure how you wanted the information or how much you wanted. I'm just gonna go through certain moments from quests Furina & Lumine have been in together so far. And just talk about them.

Also if I forget a scene or something please forgive me!

When Lumine first meets Furina at the very start of the Fontaine Archon quest, she isn't being herself.

As we all know, Furina was acting as the role of Hydro Archon. So calling it a proper meeting isn't accurate, since I tend to believe we don't meet the real Furina until much late. This isn't just in reference to her identify, but also her true personality.

Also it was just basically Furina going "We are rivals now!" and Lumine being like "....sure I guess?".

But I thought it important to high light it since it does establishes their early dynamic.

Furina knows about what The Travelver has done and sees her as an answer to her problems;

She has been chasing the one trial to end all trials; the one case that is so spectacular that is will save Fontaine from the impending floods. And what better opposition than the famous Outlander?

And she says at much at Lyney's trial:

Although there is perhaps a bit of fear at what the The Travelver could do, Furina is sure that their face off will soon happen. And that the odds will be in her favour (even though she kinda doesn't know what she is doing lol), with her being determined to save Fontaine.

It is always hard to truly know what the Travelver themselves is thinking. But I would guess Lumine also views Furina as a means to an end. It is the reason she is traveling Teyvat finding her brother.

This shows that while they both are different, they are very willing to do what they can to obtain their goal. Whether that means playing a role for 500 years, or travelling all over the whole continent, they will searching through any scarp of information to find the answers.

While Furina does lose and is, from Paimon's own words: "...like a deflated balloon now." I think Furina is more sad that it wasn't "The Trial" more than anything. Especially since she is "...unable to contain her joy at seeing you and Paimon enter.", when coming to protect her while meeting with the Arlecchino. Showing that she doesn't have any ill will towards Lumine.

Granted this could be because Furina is utterly terrified of The Knave as well trusting in Neuvillette very much. But still that rivalry is put on hold. But from this little tea party Lumine starts feeling distrusting of Furina, thinking she is hiding something. And from the events of Poisson, this just grows.

While Lumine is willing to go through the plan with others to trap Furina, this is very much a last resort;

Lumine doesn't want to be feuding with Furina; this rivalry that Furina has thrusted upon them is something she doesn't want. And while Lumine is reluctant to do this, she knows there is no choice. The Travelver doesn't think Furina is a bad person. But they need answers, and as such it seems that they are both destined to be on oppositions at court.

But Lumine still tries one last time to get through to Furina.

This part of the Fontaine Archon quest is one of my favourites; this is where Furina's thoughts and feeling finally start to poke out.

It happens because Furina's greatest fear is coming true, but still. Pretty good.

Lumine is very much on to the act that Furina plays. She knows that is she isn't godly or uncaring as she may give off. Lumine tries to show to Furina that it is okay to let go:

If Furina had been quicker and had told her the truth, Lumine very much would have stopped the plan. But from what we know, Furina would have never told. She was dedicated to the very end.

Skipping to after the Hydro Archons trial and the crisis being averted. We don't get anything until Furina's story quest.

Story quests are in general kinda a mixed bag. They are can be great in show casing the playable characters, well character. As well as expanding on the world as a whole. But sometimes they just focus on the second part a bit too hard and the character suffers from.

Now looking back at Furina's quest, it probably wasn't as bad as I thought originally. Well at least looking through just the lines by themselves is fine (Paimon is still...well I have thoughts on how they utilise Paimon's character when it comes to story. They use her as comic relief/to lighten it up when it is not needed...But that's a convo for another day).

There are at least some good bits to take from.

The first being that the reason Furina even helps the Troupe in the first place is because the Travelver drags them (literally and figuratively) into the plot. By the way of hand-holding no less.

After the ordeal that Furina has been through she is actually quite reluctant to be out and about. Furina strikes me as someone who is introverted, this very well could because she has had no real personal relationships.

On topic of personal relationships, Lumine is properly the only person who knows about what Furina truly felt during her 500 years of acting. This is cause of Furina unconsciously trama-dumped on Lumine, but still. Having someone who has seen the many sides to you, can be nice. Furina can be candid with Lumine, not needed to put on a performance. But I'm sure Furina also feels it is kinda awkward. Because 'Oh archons this person knows all about me', it crates an unexpected power imbalance, which can make for an interesting dynamic with the Travelver.

Another good moment is when they are back in Poisson;

If there is one ideal out of the seven that The Travelver embodies most, it is freedom. Freedom is very important to Lumine and I think it's very telling when she tells Furina that freedom is her reward. She is saying to her that it's It's over, and that she is free to begin a new chapter of her life.

So I think it's no coincidence after this quest Furina ends up being a director in "Roses and Muskets". She breaks out of her shell a bit and once again comes along on the Travelver's behest. Granted there aren't that many scenes/moments with them since this was very Chevreuse forward event. This is also similar in the Lantern Rite, but we did get a cute diagonal where Lumine says "I have keenly felt the passage of time since our last meeting." so that was cute.

Unfortunately since Furina has only been out for 7 months we'll have to wait for more. Hopeful in 4.6 (if it follows the same patterns) we will get her second story quest, and that it's a little bit better.

But there are voice-over and teapot stuff! (Had to get these from the wiki since I don't have Furina fully unlocked. yeah yeah know)

These are pretty self explanatory. Just Furina wanting to spend time with the Travelver and taking about the next chapter of her life having Lumine in it.

I thought this one has particularly cute. Furina would make macaroni for Lumine.

This one is a favourite

Lumine only needs her.

Now on to the teapot, there is a very cute scene where Furina talks about teaching Lumine to dance;

Another where Furina talks about them doing acting together and writing a script.

And that's all I can find! Like I said, I probably missed some stuff, but I think I'll call it quits here. I hope I was able to get the info you needed, but if not you can ask my specific questions if need be.

Also I'd love to the list when you are done!!!

[emanation-aura]

can i ask for your rant on Genshin regional specialities? your meta on the bosses was very entertaining, and i largely agree–although i do have to argue that the ruin serpent is worse than the wenut in the spiral abyss

(Meta on boss drop bloat in Genshin)

Ok, well don't say I didn't warn you, anon.

Regional specialties suffer from the same problem as the boss drops as we always need to have at least one or two per expansion, and that as the expansions have gone on, the drops have become more and more mismatched. I mean, I have problems with some of the Liyue characters' regional specialty assignments too, but I'll deal with them too.

I'm gonna address them region by region.

(Highlights: Chongyun why do you use Cor Lapis, Dendrobium Chiori but she doesn't seem to be killing people?!, Thoma you poor soul on Fluorescent Fungus, Navia using Primordial Water, the thing she nearly died to—)

Liyue

Here is the current canonical list of who ascends with what in Liyue. Besides the obvious paradigm of why Gaming, a Pyro Vision user, is ascending with the Starconch (which has, for literal years, been a Childe and then Childe + Yelan exclusive, making it pretty much "Hydro Liyue ascender" for everyone released after 1.0, plus it's also literally a conch from the ocean, the theming—), I actually have more issues.

Chongyun using Cor Lapis, for instance. Like, let's look at the other two characters that use Cor Lapis: ah right, Zhongli aka Rex Lapis the (former) Geo Archon, whom this ore is named after, and Keqing, relentless driver of an ideal of change for Liyue Harbour, who is so dedicated to the idea of Liyue she is willing to blaspheme its Archon to do so. Both of these people, in very different ways, hold a great love for Liyue and wish to see it prosper.

Chongyun doesn't have this. It's not like he's disloyal or hates Liyue Harbour, but it's not a focal point of his character. He's more along the lines of Xiangling and Xinqiu as passively treating and treasuring Liyue as his home, but he doesn't carry the strong convictions that the Cor Lapis (lit. "Stone Heart") implies, at least not in the direction of Liyue Harbour. His character is all about his yang spirit and exorcism,

Honestly, I know it's not a regional specialty, but Chongyun would theoretically make the most sense ascending on Mist Flowers. Beyond that, my opinion is that he suits Qingxin more— like, come on, Qingxin (清心) means "pure heart" (or "mind cleansing"), and what's Chongyun's most famous motto? That's right, "Heart be pure, evil be erased. Mind be purged..." (and, via Shenhe, "world be saved").

Note: Ok, now the Chinese version of the motto is obviously very different, which might affect my argument. Combining what Shenhe completes for us, the motto is:

驅邪縛魅，內外澄清，回向正道，保身護命。 To expel evil and restrain demons, inside and outside pure and clear, turn back towards the upright Way, protect life-destiny and guard the body.

Translation courtesy of this site, since these mottos are based on the Eight Great Incantations in Daoism, specifically the "purifying the heart incantation" and "pacifying the earth incantation".

But I'd argue this makes the Qingxin argument even stronger. First of all, it straight up uses 澄清 chengqing "pure and clear", the same as the 清 qing in Qingxin. Second of all, the Daoist chant this comes from is the 淨心 jingxin "purifying the heart" mantra, like come on, I don't have the energy to explain even further how this suits him. Plus, the Qingxin description says "It eschews the warmth and moisture of the plains to gaze out afar from the solitary mountaintops." Apart from applying to the three (pseudo-) Adepti very well, doesn't this perfectly describe Chongyun's character struggle? Having to deny the warmth of life and keep himself cold (physically, mostly) and under control so that his yang spirit doesn't lose control??

Like, I know Qingxin is somehow the 'adepti' ascension material (excluding Xianyun and Yanfei, because Qingxin only applies to adepti/adjacent who don't really fit into the mortal world), but Chongyun fits this too well, and he can join his aunt Shenhe in using it too.

Other sins of Liyue ascension materials: ok, this one is less egregious, but I feel like Xinyan deserves Jueyun Chilli and not Violetgrass. Like, I get that the description of Violetgrass says it has a "strong vitality" and that its "downward-blooming flower keeps its fragrance from dissipating", both traits that reflect Xinyan's rock'n'roll persistence and her character, but Violetgrass is also a medicinal herb both factually and given that Baizhu and Qiqi both use it, so it's sending out mixed messages here. If anything, Xinyan suits Jueyun Chilli as well for being the "kick up the ass" for Liyue traditionalists (paraphrased but the sentiment is there). I'm not as sure on this one, since Jueyun Chilli also doubles as "Madam Ping's disciples' ascension material" with Yaoyao and Xiangling, but it doesn't even make sense for Yaoyao, swap her with Xinyan since Yaoyao is a healer and takes care of people and would make more sense ascending on a medicinal herb.

There's also, glaringly, the issue with Clearwater Jade and Xianyun being its only user. This has an easy hotfix: remember my problem with Gaming? Let him use Clearwater Jade instead for Chenyu connections, therefore fixing the 'there's literally only one user of this ascension material' problem. I know it's Clearwater Jade and Gaming is Pyro, but at least he has a lore connection to Chenyu Vale.

Speaking of the 'only one user of this ascension material' problem...

Inazuma

Q: Thoma, why the fuck are you the only one to use Fluorescent Fungus??

A: Because Thoma released in 2.2, just like Tsurumi Island.

There are two ways we can go about hits. First, we scrap the Fluorescent Fungus entirely and move Thoma to a different ascension material. The question is, which one? None of the others really have an MO that fits Thoma...

at least, in Inazuma.

Remember, Thoma is half-Mondstadtian. And if we wanna bend the rules a bit (or, in fact, actually give this half of his heritage some weight rather than just ignore it), why don't we give him a Mondstadt regional specialty?

Let's take Fluorescent Fungus' description. "A mushroom that glows like a night-light... [and] can help to light the way." Great, so we're dealing with only one theme here: bioluminescence and 'lighting the way in the dark'. Thoma has a Pyro Vision and works as a retainer for the Kamisato Clan, this isn't too strange. Hey, wait, isn't there also a bioluminescent plant from Mondstadt?

Small Lamp Grass: "A wild grass that emits light at night. Used in cooking to enhance other flavors. Just as the subtle fragrance of wild flowers will not distract a focused person, Small Lamp Grass' delicate glow will not attract their attention either, even at night."

Thoma could use Small Lamp Grass as a substitute, which three other characters already use, therefore reducing the amount of regional specialty bloat and making farming him not contingent on completing the Tsurumi Island questline, (which can be a good or a bad thing depending on what type of player you are), but as his """intended""" playstyle was a Hu Tao shielder at his release, the Lamp Grass choice also makes strategic sense since a Hu Tao owner will have likely already gotten a lot of Lamp grass by being in Mondstadt already, versus having to explore all of Inazuma. Plus, the Lamp Grass has an even better theming boon: "used in cooking to enhance other flavors" (like as a retainer, Thoma enhances the Kamisato Clan by his dedicated service).

If you wanted to play up Thoma's nostalgia for his homeland, you could make him use Windwheel Asters, which cannot grow in places with no wind or plagued by strong storms, only where the wind is gentle and nourishing. Inazuma, literally surrounded by a strong storm due to the Sakoku Decree and ravaged by the storms of war (metaphorically), would not be able to grow the Windwheel Aster until after the events of the Inazuma AQ and Raiden SQ II (assuming, for the sake of it, that Windwheel Asters can theoretically grow outside Mondstadt), reflecting how Thoma is stuck in a 'windless land' antithetical to his very nature. Big sad. I wish this was touched on more often, but that's an Inazuma critique, not just regional specialty reorganisation. And believe me, if I got into the Inazuma problems (as I have done in the past) we would be here all week.

The other option is not to scrap the Fluorescent Fungus, which in that case, someone else should use it. The only obvious candidate are our two new Inazuma releases: Kirara and Chiori. Out of the two of them, I think Chiori doesn't deserve Dendrobium, because it's such a reference to the red spider lily and death that even Chiori, who has her 'dark side' (being a blunt communicator??) doesn't exactly fit its MO. I mean, Sara is a war general. Of course she gets Dendrobium the flower that grows where blood was spilled. If Kokomi were a more competent character she would get Dendrobium too— *gets shot*

but it's hard to make a case for Chiori using Fluorescent Fungus unless you lean really hard into it being the "Inazuma outcast ascender", i.e. Thoma, a non-(full)-Inazuman living in Inazuma (everyone treats him considers him a 'naturalised' foreigner despite being half-Inazuman because that's the inevitable consequence of not being the picture of conformity in a society like this, trust me, I know the feeling), and Chiori, an Inazuman not living in Inazuma. The bioluminescence angle could also reflect Chiori's aspirations to become a fashion industry leader, like "the light shining in the dark", something like that. Alternatively, Chiori could use Amakumo Fruit, which fits her MO far better: "as if showing its defiance, it will bear fruit while facing the peals of thunder from the sky." Chiori is determined and defiant of the odds to achieve her dream, a "bold spirit" (quote from the desc.) for someone who emigrated and is struggling to make her life out there.

Kirara doesn't suit Amakumo Fruit either, given what I've described of it. She's neither 'defiant' (in the way that the description implies) nor strongly Electro-tied, she's just an international cat courier. That's why Fluorescent Fungus could suit her more— like, the luminescent angle lighting the way (through the fog of Tsurumi Island), just like her traveling self. It's not a deeply strong connection, but it tracks better than Amakumo Fruit does.

(Moving Chiori and Kirara away from Dendrobium and Amakumo Fruit respectively means that we're only moving the 'one character one material' problem, but given how well those two suit Sara and Raiden respectively, I'm loath to move or delete one of them. The ideal balancing factor would be moving Kirara to Fluorescent Fungus and Chiori to Amakumo Fruit, leaving Dendrobium with a single but extremely fitting user, which is more than Thoma + Fungus can be.)

Also, Yae Miko not ascending on Sakura Blooms is a sin. Swap Miko and Ayato (like, Ganoderma lore is literally the souls of dead children, what better way to imply further darkness in Ayato raising child soldiers in the Shuumatsuban especially given this is a criminally overlooked aspect in his character). Hell, if this aspect was further emphasised in Sayu's character, we could move Sayu to Dendrobium too, move Aloy literally anywhere else don't you think the Subdetection Unit, Trishiraite, or any other ore/mechanical thing would suit her more, time of release be damned??, and scrap Crystal Marrow. But that's getting dangerously close to talking about an Inazuma rewrite again, so I'll leave it there.

Hey, wouldn't it be really fucked up if Kokomi used Crystal Marrow to ascend? HYV, you cowards—

Sumeru

(Warning! I am going to be factoring the ascension material of Sethos, who was recently drip-marketed for 4.7 and hails from Sumeru. This is minor leak territory, but if you don't wish to see it, skip the section double-labeled Sethos at start and end.)

Sumeru is an interesting case because a lot of the regional specialties do clearly fit well, but at the same time are organised weirdly. I won't get into Collei and Wanderer using Rukkhashava Mushrooms because those, while weird on the surface, there is an interesting explanation behind it (ft. Ashikai's video on Eucharist lore) that coheres well. Nor will I take issue with Kaveh and Mourning Flower, since it's so clearly themed around the Iranian cultural significance of the Kaiser's Crown and dovetails with Kaveh so well, so we can let his single usage of it slide.

My first issue is with Sand Grease Pupa on Alhaitham and Dehya. Alhaitham does not really fit Sand Grease Pupa. Like, I will hear the argument that the description "the hardened shell is meant to protect the Quicksand Eels' larval bodies until they finally acclimate to the conditions of the dry desert" is a subtle reference to Alhaitham's character and temperament, where his """"callousness""" and blunt personality are a method to enforce boundaries and keep the personal peace he strives for in life amidst the sea of uncertainty. But the thing is that doesn't hold for Dehya, who also uses Sand Grease Pupa and doesn't have this kind of thing unless you count her being a hardened mercenary? Which is incredibly strange.

But things are complicated by the fact that there is no satisfactory place to move Alhaitham, unlike previous occasions where we found better places for Chiori and Kirara, etc. Like, I've tried my best, but against all odds the quote I mentioned from Sand Grease Pupa is the only one that remotely seems to work for him, and that's even if I ignore release order and consider Trishiraite or Mourning Flower.

So I feel compelled to keep Sand Grease Pupa. In that case, let's eject Dehya from using it, because it clearly doesn't fit her apart from the desert origin, which isn't even consistent because of Alhaitham. I'll talk about where Dehya should go in a moment, but now we have the problem that Alhaitham is the only user of the Pupa, which is something we try to avoid unless the theming is strong enough (like Kujou Sara - Dendrobium). So, taking into account "a hardened shell" theming, who else fits this?

"I must make a lot of Mora." "With enough Mora, my family will never have to smile at me while swallowing their pain, and I will never have to lose anything due to lacking Mora..."

Ding ding ding! It's Dori. In fact, I want to make the case that she fits Sand Grease Pupa better than Kalpalata Lotus, which she currently uses. The motif of Kalpalata Lotus is about "it looks like a lotus, but it isn't", which... works with Dori, I suppose, but isn't particularly compelling. Meanwhile, the Pupa is a 'hardened shell'— like Alhaitham's own boundary-setting unique personality, Dori's shell is her love of Mora, something she uses to face the outer world after the pain of losing her sister to a disease that could have been cured had they had enough money to purchase the herbs needed. Dori's obsessive love of Mora is real, of course, but it's the "hardened shell" that protects her from disappointment after the trauma of losing her sister. It's almost too perfect! (And, Alhaitham and Dori are some of the only rainforest-origin characters to have a slightly strong enough connection to the desert to justify this, not that we really need to.)

This, obviously, ignores release order. My previous comments on reordering regional specialties in Liyue and Inazuma just so happened to be compliant with the order in which they released the items. However, from Sumeru onward, I no longer care.

Ok, but that leaves Nahida high and dry on Kalpalata Lotus, another single case user. Again, the theming works for her, but it isn't really perfect— of course Nahida represents the "looks weak, is a lot more" archetype pretty well, but it isn't exactly congruent with "looks like a lotus, but isn't", because that's more of a question of identity than of power. I mean, I guess our meeting her in the AQ is kind of like that, but that's also a weak argument.

I think, therefore, we should move Nahida to use the Padisarah, which has hitherto only been used by Nilou, fixing another one of our single-character-material problems and allowing us to delete Kalpalata Lotus (or make it a quest exclusive item to Caribert, that would be cool). Like, I hope I don't need to elaborate why the Padisarah is suitable for Nahida, being a "holy and noble" plant descended from GoF and the era of the Three God-Kings of Sumeru, plus it being a calque (more explicitly in CN) of Padishah, the sovereign title used in Persia and beyond, which of course suits Nahida as she is, like it or not, sovereign ruler of Sumeru (would be a nice fuck you to the Sages too).

Sethos

At this juncture, we need to talk about the elephant in the room. Before Sethos was drip-marketed for version 4.7, I would've completely discounted Trishiraite as useless and said to dump it. However, I now have to reconsider, since Sethos has been leaked to use Trishiraite (wow, were they setting this up more than 9 patches ago?).

We don't know much about Sethos, admittedly, but we know he's a desert native and seems to be affiliated with the Temple of Silence and has connections to Cyno (I have not fully played through Cyno SQ II at the time of writing. If you have a more compelling case based on its events, please give spoiler warnings). Given this, Trishiraite seems perfectly reasonable for him, although there is the question of if he's a Temple of Silence member (albeit seemingly opposed to Cyno, given implications in the trailer), why he isn't just using the Scarab, because just read the Scarab lore:

Legend has it that when the desert king ruled this land, the souls of those vanquished by him would be sealed within these insects by the magically-skilled priests at great triumphs held in the City of the Pillars. The scarabs would then be charged with defending the sacred temples and palaces for all eternity in the name of Al-Ahmar. In the end, the temples would collapse and the palaces would fall, and only these golden insects would remain, fulfilling their ancient, forgotten oaths.

Like, even if we don't know Sethos' true role, his Temple of Silence affiliations (?) would make this far more fitting.

But, as you may have noticed, I've been delaying assigning Dehya anywhere. That's because I think if Sethos does use Trishiraite, Dehya should too. Read the description:

During the sun-swallowing battles of that bygone age, even the hardest of stones were set aflame. As the flames of war died out, all that remained from the calamity were these deep-red ores.

Trishiraite is ore born (allegedly) from the flames of the Cataclysm setting fire to stone. Like, it's a very warlike thing, and it's something that might be ok with Sethos but definitely suits Dehya more than Sand Grease Pupa. The thing is, nobody wins here because if I think Sethos suits Scarab more, that leaves Dehya alone on Trishiraite; if I don't, then Sethos + Dehya use Trishiraite while Cyno stays alone on Scarab, which is fine but ugh....

...unless, of course, we put Dehya on Henna Berry, which is very definitely the "female desert ascension material" and annoying stereotypical (fits with Dehya's love of makeup, though). Then we could make Sethos use Scarab alongside Cyno and just delete Trishiraite anyway, but this is a problem I don't want to propose a definitive solution for. I just think that Dehya shouldn't use Sand Grease Pupa, and Sethos seems weirdly better with Scarab, at least for now.

Sethos

Fontaine

(Warning! I am going to be factoring the ascension material of Clorinde and Sigewinne, who were recently drip-marketed for Version 4.7. This is minor leak territory, but if you don't wish to see it, skip the sections labeled Clorinde and Sigewinne.)

Fontaine is obviously still a nation-in-progress, so I'll cut it some slack, however:

Why does Navia use Spring of the First Dewdrop. Please. For the love of god.

Spring of the First Dewdrop is heavily implied to be somewhat related to Primordial Water, which is just—? Can I say how cruel this is for being Navia's ascension material? Like? Navia, who almost dissolved in the Primordial Water??

Although, the description calls it Ichor, which according to Wine Goblet of the Pristine Sea is the 'essence' extracted from Primordial Water, but then we have the question of why Dewdrop's description calls it "a final gift from Egeria" even though it was Remus who isolated and created Ichor, like we know Egeria was the substitute Heart of the Primordial Sea created by the Shade of Life to replace the Hydro Dragon, so technically the creation of Primordial Water is her domain, but this shouldn't even be her "final gift" anyway because logically that would've been literally anything else she did, because she abandoned that Heart role when she ascended to become the Hydro Archon and then died in sacrifice at Tunigi Hollow to repel the Cataclysm—

But this isn't a rant about Genshin lore, this is about the regional specialty. So.

Navia should not be using this. So, what should she be using? I'd suggest Lumidouce (French: soft-light) Bell, given the variety of people with whom Navia has parted and wishes to be reunited with ("Lumidouce Bell is said to represent parting and the wish for reunion"), but given that this is already being used by Chevreuse and Lynette and is absolutely slated for Emilie, the perfumer, whenever she releases ("...is often used for making rare perfumes"), that would be a bit of a crowd when Fontaine still doesn't have many characters.

Chevreuse doesn't really seem to fit Lumidouce Bell, though. Like, every attribute and theming doesn't seem to relate to her, unless you count the events of Roses and Muskets, which is about her personal feelings on justice, not the actual events that happened which could, possibly, fit the parting and reunion theme. So maybe we can boot Chevreuse off to Subdetection Unit, which actually suits her better— it's a detection unit, which gathers data, and it being used by Wriothesley seems like a not-so-subtle indicator that it's used to gather intelligence and for lack of a better word, spy. Which is something that Chevreuse's job involves, as once again demonstrated by Roses and Muskets.

So, with the Chevreuse tangent out of the way, Navia and Lynette can use the Lumidouce Bell. But what about Dewdrop? Should anyone use that?

Well, the obvious argument for Dewdrop as a Primordial Water thing is that Neuvillette should use it. Like, he's the reborn Hydro Dragon— thematically it makes more sense than Lumitoile (French: light-star). Let's again set aside the problem of time (Neuvillette released Version 4.1, Dewdrop came with the Tower of Ipsissimus in Version 4.2) because it makes things boring...

that being said, it's not entirely unreasonable to have Neuvillette use the Lumitoile, and simply delete the Dewdrop instead. Let's examine that below.

Clorinde and Sigewinne

So, what should we do about Lumitoile? If we move Neuvillette to the Dewdrop, that leaves Clorinde the sole user of the Lumitoile, and it's pretty justified in her case given the unsubtle implication of the Lumitoile as an environmental cleaner/digester and Clorinde's job as a Champion Duellist but with the Marechaussee Hunt techniques she inherits. After all, remember it's Clorinde who starts the plan to 'hunt' Furina in the AQ, to entrap her. She's good at hunting and cleaning up, so that makes the Lumitoile quite suited for her...

...Although, there is a scheme I'm cooking up. See, Sigewinne uses the Romaritime Flower, which fits fine with the Hydro stuff just fine, but I was reading the description of the Romaritime Flower, and it said: "Romaritime Flower is said to represent loyalty and unswerving oaths." And what, apart from being a strong hunter, is Clorinde known for?

Clorinde: Mr. Callas' last wish was for me to ensure your safety, and I will not betray his trust.  Like the Faint Moonlight of Yesteryear, in As Light Rain Falls Without Reason, after Clorinde saves Navia and Traveler from the Gardemek attack

It highly depends on what you think her character hinges more heavily on: hunting, or her loyalty/oath-swearing.

As for Sigewinne, using the Lumitoile would also work, because apart from the obvious Hydro theming, the Lumitoile is also about 'underestimation'— "though the weak light they give off is often ignored by divers, these small soft-bodied animals have the remarkable ability to consume and degrade industrial waste." Sigewinne's surprise gun attack in the AQ earns her this, in my opinion.

This is quite a complicated web to unravel. If Neuvillette no longer uses Lumitoile, then either both Clorinde and Sigewinne should use Lumitoile, or neither. Therefore, let's examine two cases.

1: Neuvillette uses Dewdrop. Therefore, nobody else uses Lumitoile, ergo, Clorinde should use Romaritime Flower alongside Sigewinne to avoid the 'single-user' issue.

2: Neuvillette does not use Dewdrop, and that material is deleted from existence. Therefore, Clorinde and Sigewinne can stay with their current specialty materials: Lumitoile and Romaritime Flower respectively.

I like case 2, personally.

But maybe I'm getting ahead of myself by analysing the ascension materials of characters that haven't released yet. Let's get back to normal.

Clorinde and Sigewinne

Quick recap: Neuvillette uses Dewdrop instead of Navia, and Navia uses Lumidouce Bell in place of Chevreuse, whom we boot off to use the Subdetection Unit. Therefore, we have solved the problem of Navia and Wriothesley being the only user of one ascension material, and realistically we have to leave Neuvillette alone with the Dewdrop because no one else actually makes sense ascending via Primordial Water, what the fuck.

Ahem.

We also leave Furina alone, being the Lakelight Lily dovetails with Erinnyes and the lore of her weapon, Splendour of Tranquil Waters.

So that leaves Charlotte with the Beryl Conch. Hey, Charlotte, what the fuck? Like, the Beryl Conch doesn't have anything visibly in common with her. It glows, and it's not actually a shell but something condensed from elemental energy. It's theorised to have connections to "ancient civilisations". What else? If you take this from Charlotte's 'investigative journalism' angle, perhaps the Conch can symbolise Charlotte digging for the truth, but the "oh perhaps the Conch has marks left by the Hydro Lord or is related to ancient civilisations" is such a weak connection to that kind of "what is the truth" ethos that Charlotte represents.

So, get rid of the Beryl Conch. Then what should Charlotte use? There's an obvious option here: what ascension material have we just talked about that applies to information-gathering, spying, and mechanical parts? What boss did I assign Charlotte to in this post about boss material bloat that also fits her mechanical companion, Monsieur Verite?

That's right.

The former two, as justified above, also share the Subdetection Unit. So why not Charlotte? It's the 'mechanical' ascension material of Fontaine, just like Prototype Cal. Breguet is the corresponding 'mechanical' boss material. Last time, I justified this with the mechanical focus of the three characters: Wriothesley's gauntlets and his rule of the steampunk-themed Fortress of Meropide, Chevreuse's gun and rifle focus, and Charlotte's entire kit and lore revolving around Monsieur Verite in her pursuit of journalism. This applies here, but it gets better because they also share the theming of the Subdetection Unit's 'spying/detection/information-gathering'.

It's so perfect that it feels a bit too perfect, actually, but who am I to complain? This would cut down on another ill-fitting regional specialty and make farming easier for all of us.

***

Thanks for reading! And letting me rant about this. I have problems with how Genshin treats boss and ascension materials with some degree of lore relevancy, only to also throw some of that relevancy out the window when it suits them. It's inconsistent and bothers me, lol.

[ac-liveblogs]

The hardest chapters to rescript in Genshin RPG AU are far and away Liyue and Fontaine, and Fontaine still pulls ahead by a considerable margin.

Anyway, partially to get my own thoughts in order and partially to outline how I'm approaching what to keep or axe in each chapter, here's my thought process on Fontaine (and I guess my barebones Fontaine outline)

Fontaine's canon endgame mostly breaks down like this;

Childe holds off the Narwhal long enough for Focalors' to die and return Hydro Authority to Neuvillette;

Neuvillette uses his Authority to turn the people of Fontaine into true humans, so they can survive a weaker flood without dissolving;

We hold off the Narwhal after Childe falls long enough for Skirk to clean up;

The prophecy predicted Furina would be alone on her throne crying, so she can't know that even though SHE couldn't do anything, things are working as planned;

Focalors 'prophecy loopholed' her way into having her people survive the flood.

The basic issue is that for me, the most compelling points of Fontaine's finale are;

Childe holds off the [cause of the flood] long enough for [protagonists + Furina] to try and do something about it

Neuvillette decides to use his power to save the people of Fontaine

[Concept of Furina/Focalors executing herself to save Fontaine]

...which isn't a whole lot, but I do want to keep the 'big character moments' of the characters I'm still using in place even if the mechanics of those scenes change, so those have to stay.

RPG AU's plot needs to proceed in a more natural way (rather than the Genshin model, where you can comfortably jump ahead to Natlan without missing much), so it needs a 'midpoint' where the game's stakes escalate. Fontaine seemed the most obvious place to do this. So what I ended up with was;

Teyvat's future is scripted. It ends at the Flood of Fontaine. Canon nods at the Flood of Genesis in Fontaine's theming, so let's make that more explicit; Fontaine's Flood is supposed to wipe out humanity to pave the way for Celestia's new world.

Therefore, Furina, The Fatui and the Abyss Order all know they're operating on a time limit, and that time runs out in Fontaine.

Fontaine needs to reflect this.

(And every Archon's actions, save Venti's, need to reflect them also knowing this.)

Lumine's actions here need to catch Celestia's attention in a Big Way.

Because of this, I didn't want to waste too much time on smaller plot points, like Navia's father. That builds on the ~people dissolving water~/Synthe storyline that chains into the reveal that Fontanians are Oceanids, but that kind of nitpicky technical detail, especially when it didn't go anywhere truly significant and is less useful here, irritates me.

Additionally, 'everything went according to a plan you weren't in on!' as a resolution really irritates me. It's all well and good to not like the story revolving around a protagonist, but a protagonist does need to justify being the protagonist!

So, that means that everyone's goals start looking like this:

Furina knows she can't defy fate, and is trying to find a loophole and/or the solution she's found Isn't Great. She is rapidly running out of time.

The Fatui are trying to locate the Hydro Gnosis, which Furina does not have. They are getting increasingly desperate to do so, so more Harbingers are being deployed to Fontaine to speed up the search.

If the Fatui are more concerned about the Gnosis, Aether should be more concerned with the Archon. If Aether is unconcerned with the people of Fontaine and has the ability to move outside of fate by merit of not being subject to Teyvat's scripted fate, what does that look like? -> He'll probably just try to solve the issue somehow.

Him trying to do that needs to be a problem. The way he chooses to do this has to be something the party takes issue with. Aether is a character that rationalises the current Teyvat as 'wrong', something that needs to be fixed. He probably doesn't care too much about the people living in it anymore.

Okay, so then "what causes the flood"? It can't be the Narwhal because the Sinners aren't something I want to spend much time on, and since this is the midpoint it should be more connected to existing elements. That also rules out Elynas. I can scrabble together some pieces; Furina + Focalors are the same person, Celestia doesn't like Egeria for having converted Oceanids into people and punished her for it and sealed her in the primordial sea...

Then I can remix that into "Focalors is going to cause the flood whether she likes it or not, which Furina is trying to stop." This helps me establish Nox' character more directly, even if she doesn't show up.

That leads me into "okay, so should I make Focalors 'Egeria'?" Or maybe that should be Neuvillette - Nox making him oversee the destruction of what he created.

Focalors is sealed in the primordial sea probably losing her damn mind, and once she breaks out she'll wipe out Fontaine + the sea will start to flood Teyvat. Trying to prevent this, Furina was tasked with stopping her, though neither have a solution.

Okay, so. Then if Furina and Focalors are the same person... logistically, how on earth would Furina try to work within the prophecy, and how does it tie into Fontaine's 'trials'?

This is where the issues started cropping up.

Furina can't try to defy the prophecy on her own. Lumine will, to the extent that 'the end of the world' is averted. Furina might try to trick Lumine into it though.

Why would Furina try to execute herself? This is the most powerful scene in Focalors' conclusion, but if she can't defy the prophecy, what's the goal here? What on earth would the trials be for?

'Harvesting energy' still? But for what? There is no Throne to shatter to return Neuvillette's powers. If he's going to act, it'll be under his own power because he was moved by Furina's actions and used powers he already had.

Maybe then Aether has convinced Furina the only way to save Fontaine is by dying? Will this impact Focalors somehow? If so, surely Furina would have tried already. Is her immortality, or Focalors' being trapped in the Primordial Sea, creating issues on that front?

How would killing Furina affect Focalors? Or, how could the situation be changed so that it would?

I spiraled a bit trying to figure out the mechanics of this. I wondered about Pneuma/Ousia and what happens if they collide, but then I realised "that sounds super tedious to explain in detail in a main story quest". (A lot of my decision-making comes to "would you get bored reading this kind of minutia?" and if the answer is yes I move on.)

So, with a lack of material to use in the main story quest, I turned to Fontaine's World Quest, with Remuria and the Narzissenkreuz Ordo.

Now, this has some legs. The Ordo also knew the world was going to end and tried to prepare for it. Furina also canonically tried to stop the flood, but their paths never crossed. So to make that more immediately relevant, maybe Furina founded the Ordo? I can't imagine she'd continue approving of their actions and its a bit too distant to want to cover in the AQ, but resolving the remnants of Ordo's storyline can chain into the character quest of the Fontaine party member.

What does the Ordo give us?

Sword of Narzissenkreuz: Ritual sword that separates mind from body ... and it can cut or unite any "will of water."

Annapausis: The dream world Mary-Ann created to hide from reality.

Ordo's Goal: They believed the best way to survive the end of the world was merging people's wills into one transcendental being.

So, the sword is interesting. Functionally, the trials generated enough energy to empower the Oratrice to destroy the Throne and kill Focalors. "[Something] is being done to generate energy to kill a Focalors that's corrupted by the Primordial Sea... the sword is involved?"

Let's rewind on Furina for a bit. In canon, she's exists and is immortal because Focalors needs her to play Archon to keep the prophecy intact. Here, that isn't the case. Why is Focalors split into two?

The easy answer is 'she isn't, Furina is just her servant', but I want to keep Furina's attempt to sacrifice herself for Fontaine (like the Little Oceanid).

Maybe Focalors split herself in two to have a 'human side' living among civilians in Fontaine, so she can keep up to date with her people (like Zhongli going undercover across history).

That avoids Furina's existence getting too complicated. Plus, she naturally wouldve been left behind during the Cataclysm.

In the Little Oceanid, Clio was framed. Is Furina trying to frame herself? Why?

How will Focalors emerge from the Primordial Sea? The Narwhal appeared out of thin air. ...via Furina? That would explain why Furina wants to die - before Focalors gets the chance.

Maybe Furina isn't immortal. Maybe her lifespan is connected to Focalors', and because Focalors is in the Primordial Sea she regenerates too quickly to actually die. This would make it very hard to kill her conventionally. Maybe that's what Furina's generating energy for. Maybe this was Aether's idea...

Right, what ARE the trials for? In canon it's to generate Indemnitium by converting people's belief in justice into power. I'm not a fan, but I can spin back to Fontaine's original thesis about the trials as entertainment for this. Maybe Furina is siphoning masses of elemental energy off a worked up crowd, like Ei was doing with the Visions/Sacred Sakura in Inazuma.

That might also explain why Furina's execution is a big deal - if she plays the villain long enough to really work Fontaine into a frenzy, that might generate enough power to really sink her. In this scenario, Neuvillette can't know what the power is really for, so it's used to power Fontaine...

Then Lumine prevents the execution and they kill Focalors via a boss battle. That power, or at least some of it, ends up in her sword (esp. if Furina hypes her up as a hero... with the intent of getting her to use that power to kill Furina herself). Neuvillette protecting the people of Fontaine would cause him to get sanctioned by Celestia, who are more active from then on.

I can play with this, but that works in general.

Am I keeping the Fortress of Meropide? Seems a waste to cut it. But why were Childe AND Lumine sent there? Childe isn't going to be falsely accused because of the Narwhal, and he can't get framed for those murders. Additionally, Lumine isn't going to go there because Neuvillette asked, because he's an antagonist at this point. He ain't asking.

They were getting in the way, and Furina wanted them out of the way? If Childe is hunting the Gnosis that makes sense. Get him out of the way before he makes a mess.

For Lumine... if Furina is trying to cast her as the hero that slays the tyrannical Hydro Archon, it might be part of the "narrative".

So then I get: "at Aether's suggestion, Furina tried to make use of the twins' ability to defy fate to avert the prophecy of Fontaine at the cost of her own life, preventing Focalors' emergence. To do this, she generated the power to kill a God by weaponising the emotions of her people.

She casts herself as a villain, and sets up a hero that will kill her. While Aether was originally set to play the hero, Lumine arrives instead and doesn't stick to the script.

And; the play must be completed before the Fatui find the Hydro Gnosis."

....it's messy, but this is roughly how I arrived at my conclusion. I think in this scenario either Furina or Furina's servant Escoffier, recruited in Meropide, work as a party member. The former would centre Lumine's decision to save Furina as more impactful though...

I imagine Arlecchino might be killed by Lyney and co. if she tries to claim the Gnosis early, thus dooming Fontaine.

[akaiuchiha]

You know, when you can't find exactly what you are looking for while searching for fanfictions and you just go "Fine, I'll do it myself"?

Well, I do it, with my OC's AND fanfictions hahahaha.

Sometimes I crave for something that I cannot find, like, one day I was searching platonic fanfictions between Brook and Sanji and it is sooo hard to find some that are finished and not...well, not ship and all.

Now, it's the same for genshin. I have played the archon quest and Neuvillette's story quest, I loved both, really they were amazing.

I don't regret pulling for Neuvillette (and I got his weapon, lucky me) but now?? After everything? My brain just won't stop thinking about the next part (stop reading if you haven't done the archon quest, spoilers are coming) and of different "what if" that could happen in the next version. Like, what if Furina wasn't only one person, that she's not the real hydro archon after everything Arlecchino told us and, I know many like Furine but I don't, she's not even able to tell us what her emergency plans are in case of a catastrophe. Right now I have more faith in Arlecchino, Neuvillette, Wrio (I have still now idea on how to write it by myself), Lyney, Lynette, Freminet, Clorinde, EVERYONE BUT Furina. She can't take responsibility when things go South and it's driving me almosy crazy.

Anyway, I also think about everything that could happen to Neuvillette. Like, what if he's the only hope and he sacrifices himself in order to save everyone? What if Wrio do the same because this guy has more solutions than the archon herself and that's actuelly insane (he is building a SHIP to save people, he is holding the seal of the primordial sea, he is the one holding the front line in this mess and he does it alone most of the time).

And don't get me started with Childe. Hell, that man is not even in my top 5 but I'd do anything if it means saving him right now. I know when a character is a good one, and Childe certainly is. What the hell is he doing in the primordial sea?! What was that giant thing he saw? To me it looked like a dragon, its shape was similar to Dvalin's if I remember well. And I don't care, I'm not lettong Childe die. He's not even guilty for what he was accused! Sure, he is a criminal and clearly not the kindest person here, but will he ever kidnapp people, hurt children?? That man straight up lied to his little brother in order to protect his innocence and the image he has of his big brother, I can't believe he would do that.

I can't even tell you how clearly I can see the pictures of what I've been thinking about since I finished the archon quest. It's so vivid, and I see Neuvillette standing up, tall and proud in front of a massive wave, taller, wider and stronger than the one in the forteress. He cannot do it alone with his actual power and then, Clorinde, Wrio, people who can fight join him and face the wave and that's just... Maybe I was influenced by Dressrosa Arc by a lot because everyone working, fighting together is just so wholesome and powerfull that I need to see it happen in genshin.

Well, than you for reading all of this. Don't hesitate to share with me what you've been thinking about the quest!

[balladeez-nuts]

Recently I realized how much the song Pacific by Chase Petra fits Furina and Focalors' stories, so I figured I'd do a little (ha.. after finishing, maybe not little) lyric analysis. I'll go through the first verse and chorus from the eyes of Focalors and then move onto Furina as I think it fits better that way

"I hate gambling but I was handed a full house" This could represent how Focalors wanted nothing more than to be human, yet she was still granted divinity instead, which in most cases would be seen as a blessing, that is of course unless you see being human as far greater than any godly abilities.

"The swords on the cards sliced open my palms and all I could do was bleed on the money I’d won" This of course reiterates just how much her granted divinity was anything but a blessing. Not only did she not want godhood, but the threat of the prophecy coming as a package deal with her new responsibility wouldn't have been the easiest thing to handle. Having it all suddenly thrust upon you when your current beloved leader suddenly perishes.

"And everyone was confused, didn’t know why I was blue, couldn’t show them my wounds" Now obviously this one works more with Furina, but I believe I can make a case for connecting it with Focalors as well. As we're going to get into with the next couple of lyrics, Focalors' plan is to deceive everyone in order to deceive the heavenly principles, and though her mind's fortification may be stronger than that of Furina's because of her divinity, that doesn't mean she didn't have her own feelings about their predicament, especially at the beginning I'd wager. Anyone she had contact with prior to being given the seat of the Hydro archon she would have to leave behind, and as she says herself, she does fear her death, if only a little.

"Had to bluff after the game, knowing it wasn’t the same, I put a smile on my face" I could talk about the ways to interpret this line for paragraphs, but I'll spare you for now. What I've landed on, to keep it as simple as I can, are some pieces that are fairly obvious and some that are a little more between the lines. Obviously, the bluffing here would refer to her plan to feign the prophecy coming to pass. For the next bit, however, she knew Furina wasn't the same as her, but no one else would, and she put a smile on Furina's face, which for all intents and purposes is her face. In other words, she would be the only one aside from Furina herself to know that the prophecy as Celestia sees it happening isn't the same as what will actually happen, and she was directly responsible for Furina having to feign happiness for 500 years.

"Cause I looked like I owned the ocean after twenty years of staring at the sea" These lines are far more interesting from Furina's perspective, but for now, I think this part pertains quite well to Focalors recounting how she sat on the seabed until barnacles grew on her. It may well have been 20 years she spent thinking about how to handle and defy the prophecy.

"And all I could think about was the sand at the bottom and how I wished that it would bury me" Perhaps these are her feelings after she realizes her one chance to save her people is to sacrifice herself, to spend centuries in waiting just to gain enough power to destroy herself and her heavenly throne.

"And how the speed of light is far too fast to barrel into a tidal wave" Instead of focusing on the speed of light, I think this line suits more to highlight that the passage of time must have felt a lot quicker for her as a god than it did for Furina. And considering her, albeit small, fear of death, it must have felt far too fast as time barreled towards her impending sacrifice.

"Last night I cried enough to make the Pacific blush" It's not hard to imagine that before she separated the part of her that became Furina from herself she had more of Furina's sensitivity, and that perhaps with the crushing realization of her situation, she had cried quite a bit. It would be no surprise if the Hydro archon's tears were powerful as well, considering how the Hydro dragon's are.

"Now hear me say" I mark this line as the transition from Focalors to Furina, and it could be used for all sorts of moments with her. Luckily for us this line is used multiple times so I shall be using different moments for each one. This one particularly with its contrast to an upcoming line in its intensity in the singer's voice, I think it works quite well with how Furina first attempted her accession speech, polite and reserved. Asking to be heard, but not demanding it.

"I hate gambling but I was handed a full house" Now continuing from what I said above, obviously the more intensely sung part of this line would be her stepping into the intensity of the presence of a god. Onto the lyrics however, it's clear that this personality, no matter how effortlessly it looks, does not come naturally to her. Nevertheless she was handed this destiny, and like she says, it's hers alone to fulfill.

"Lost an ace in the deck don’t know how I’ll get around this" This line and how it focuses more on cards makes me think of Lyney, and the word "lost" fits well within this context as well. The first trial Furina takes up against the traveler she loses, which not only serves as wonderful foreshadowing for her final trial, but also begs the question, did she see it coming? It's quite possible she knew the traveler leaves change in their wake, she likely could see them being a cause of her act being threatened in the future, thus she would likely be questioning how she could possibly avoid that coming to pass.

"And everyone was confused, didn’t know why I was blue, couldn’t show them my wounds" This one doesn't need any stretches to be clear as day. Everyone was confused, most notably Neuvillette and Arlecchino as they had multiple meetings with Furina in an attempt to get any answers from her, yet still she let nothing slip. For her being blue, though it is contradictory to how she consistently presents herself as cheerful or at the very least confident, when Arlecchino threatens her life, she is able to see behind her mask for a moment. And this only serves to further confuse Arlecchino, why would a god be so meek, why would she be crying? As for being unable to show wounds, that is exactly the situation Furina is in. However, what really pulls me to this line is the almost regret in the singer's voice on the last word, this serves very well to highlight Furina's feelings after she, even if only in her inner world, denies confiding in the traveler. It's not exactly regret, but I think the mix of emotion in the singer's tone fits perfectly with where Furina's head was at.

"Had to bluff after the game, knowing it wasn’t the same, I put a smile on my face" I imagine this is when she takes over the trial, rallying the crowd in her favor despite knowing this isn't the same as the trials she is usually a spectator of. It is a trial against her, the "Hydro archon" after all, but despite this she still puts on a smile and stands her ground, confidently.

"Cause I looked like I owned the ocean, after twenty years of staring at the sea" She indeed looks like she owns the ocean, the seas, all of water itself, and she has spent the last 500 years maintaining this image.

"And all I could think about was the sand at the bottom, and how I wished that it would bury me" Through the entirety of her excruciatingly long life, she has been waiting for the end of it, the "magnificent and dramatic" trial that will save everyone. Though she doesn't know yet that this trial she is on is the trial she has been waiting for, I think it's safe to say that this line can represent her feelings about it. All she could think about was the end, and how she wants so desperately for it to come.

"And how the speed of light is far too fast to barrel into a tidal wave" Now this line could either be used in contrast to Focalors' version to show how agonizingly slow it has been for Furina to wait this long, or it could be used to represent how quickly her trial turns against her favor. Her weight with her people now meaning nearly nothing, even the Oratrice is not tilted towards her.

"Last night I cried enough to make the Pacific blush" This one speaks for itself, the countless nights she spent crying, so much so that she starts to not even realize when it slips through during the day, and the Fountain of Lucine carrying so much of her sadness that you can hear her sobbing in its flow if you listen close enough.

"Now hear me say" I think this line, though not holding as much desperation as she did, can fit the mark for her begging for her people to believe her. Even through her own tears, she needs them to believe her, they have to hear her. Anyone needs to hear her, and yet as the trial comes to an end not one person is even looking at her.

"I’m sorry" x8 Her apologies for the people who died due to her inability to take action as a true god would. When she goes to Poisson she is hit with a great amount of guilt, seeing the buildings greatly damaged and the place nearly completely evacuated, the emotion slowly building as each apology is said fits very well with how her emotions boil over, guilt, anger, helplessness, like she says "But what can I even do, other than to repeat meaningless apologies over and over?"

The repeated chorus after this serves well as a reiteration of the previous thoughts, but through an even more emotion heavy lens. The singing ramps up in emotional intensity, and specifically on the line "And how I wish that it would bury me", it sounds very raw. This jumps out to me as Furina telling herself to give up, that there's no point in holding out anymore. Despite how she holds strong, the desire to give up is still there, and this line represents it well.

"I’m sorry" x4 The resignation and sadness in these final apologies fits perfectly with Furina succumbing to the death sentence she thinks she has been given and the crushing realization that she has failed her people and that because of this everyone will die. She does not know this is part of Focalors' plan, she can't know in order for the plan to work, so she's playing her role, now without even knowing it, as the Hydro archon, weeping on her throne.

[melanthiosthescreamer]

Genshin Gnosticism theory

I went a little too far down the rabbit hole that is the internet tonight, and I stumbled upon something that made a few things click in my brain. Analysis isn't something I'm very comfortable with, so please bear with me for a moment. Also, I'm well aware this is a connection that has already made. Try to think of this as my perspective on the theory!

(disclaimer! I'm in no means an expert on gnosticism, all I have to my name is surface level knowledge on the subject and maybe a dash of delusion. You can be the judge of that, though)

I'm not sure if you know where the word "Gnosis" comes from, but it's the Greek word for knowledge. Cool, right? I'd say what's even cooler is the ties this word has to Gnosticism.

Essentially, gnosticism is a belief in "demiurge" (which literally translates to "craftsman"), which they believe created the universe.

the direct definition:

"a heavenly being, subordinate to the Supreme Being, that is considered to be the controller of the material world and antagonistic to all that is purely spiritual."

(key word : ANTAGONISTIC)

They pretty much think that "God" (aka the demiurge) is an evil being who imprisoned humanities souls into flesh, and that our souls, or spirits, are sort of "divine" things that are being suppressed because of this. Not only that, but Jesus was sent to save us from this.

another direct quote:

"...Christ was an emissary of the remote supreme divine being, esoteric knowledge (gnosis) of whom enabled the redemption of the human spirit."

They discourage things like reproduction because in their minds it's just a tool being used by the demiurge to keep us trapped within these bodies.

Anyway, my brain connected this to genshin at "god is actually evil and oppressing us" because, who have we been learning not to completely trust throughout the game? Celestia! And we see how the Archons are not so subtly giving AWAY their gnosis (knowledge?) for this liberation (which could also be why they're named after demons)

The ONE nation that has no Archon controlling it, and what does Celestia do? demand everyone destroy it! and the thing is we KNOW Khaenri'ah was a well developed and welcoming community, in fact it seemed to be doing vastly better off without an archon to rule over it.

And hey, the other archons probably DO realize this, right? why else would they willingly give away their symbols of power? relinquish their control over their nations?

A rundown, for anyone who needs to job their memories:

• Venti has a drunk bard persona and lives comfortably among the people of Mondstat. We are also aware of him lying about how Archons remain so powerful, how he likely let Signora take his gnosis, and his thoughts about ruling a nation through force

• Zhongli faked his death and then destroyed every other contract he's ever made, leaving everything to the hands of humanity, essentially beginning the process of his own eradication from human history

• In her story quest, Raiden has a realization about her plans for Eternity, and while she still has power over Inazuma, seems to have realized the error in her ways and is taking the steps towards a new direction (which she fought 500 years with the shogun for)

• Nahida is generally still growing as the new dendro archon, but has still has a more casual (as casual you can be with your god) relationship with her saviours. Not only that, but she also literally gave away both hers and Raidens Gnosis

• Focalors crafted an ingenious plan 500 years prior (fall of Khaenri'ah) to trick the heavenly principles, and essentially destroy the position of "Hydro Archon", whilst also giving full power back to Neuvillette (a hyrdo sovereign dragon)

A few things: I have NO idea where Paimon would fit into all this, but she no doubt has ties to Celestia. Also, a lot of huge plot points all point to what happened 500 years ago (Khaenri'ah, Focalors, the rifthounds in Inazuma, spread of cursed knowledge in Sumeru, and probably more I can't remember right now).

Also, I'm fairly certain that this "curse of flesh" is just the Hilichurls, let me know if you think differently though.

There are most definitely a lot more ties that my sleep deprived self couldn't dig up, but i'll report back if I find anything else 🫡

[lonethetraveler]

Oh man, I'm going to go into some Fontaine 4.2 spoilers in a sec, but Furina has been catapulted into my second favorite character slot (that she's now sharing with Baizhu). Don't get me wrong, I liked her before, but after the AQ, she just. Gosh I love her. (Discussion and spoilers under the cut)

First to clarify: when I say Furina, I mean Furina and Focalors together (sort-of) since they're very much different characters, but also closely linked.

I really like the introduction we get to Furina. I love that she's over-the-top and dramatic, claiming herself to just "know such things, as a God does" about the Traveler visiting (oh and how her sending out informants across Teyvat was actually explained as to why she did that). The citizens talking about her as a 'mascot' and just, her having an air of putting on a show to make herself seem more grand. It comes across as vain, or at the very least, grossly overconfident. However, as the plot unfolds, we get to see cracks in the facade she puts on. But what does it mean? Is she actually weak? Does she actually have a deep disregard for her people? By the time we're going to bring her to trial, it kind of seems that way. It seems like she's been slacking off all this time while everyone else in Fontaine has been devising a plan to save the nation.

Then we learn the truth.

The way everything falls into place once Focalors reveals her master plan is so deliciously tragic. Of course Furina is afraid of fighting or facing off against the Knave. She's just a human, one without any vision or combat experience. And her dismissive, aloof, grandiose act is all her somewhat naive idea of how people might see an Archon. It's not even the first persona she tries! When being humble doesn't work, she resorts to an image of someone for whom mere mortals are beneath because it will keep people from questioning her. Really the order she was given was so incredibly tall: convince the nation that you're a God without performing any divine acts. Or even weilding Hydro. But she does it.

Every day she carries out this persona because she knows that, if she fails, everyone will die. Their blood will be on her hands, so she keeps it up, even when she's passed her breaking point. She doesn't even know if her other hall's plan will actually work, has no concrete way to reassure her people because she's been told nothing other than her duties. The fact that she chose not to let down her guard at her lowest, even when she felt convinced by the Traveler is wild. Her resolve is insane, especially considering that she couldn't confide in anyone.

I love the way we get to experience her inner world on the matter as well. That we're placed in a big empty opera house, constantly on a stage with spotlights, hearing voices with no faces. And the music backing off in that section to highlight the feeling of isolation. Not to mention getting to take control of her character so everything that's happening js directed at YOU, I think that was an excellent use of the video game medium.

And just when I thought her character couldn't get any more tragic, it does because she basically gets to witness the prophecy come true. She wasn't present for the conversation between Neuvillette and Focalors, so from all she can tell, Neuvillette and Traveler disappear with her alone in the opera house, witnessing it fill with water as she most likely thinks SHE is responsible for it.

When the water recedes and she comes out, probably expecting abandoned devastation, only for her pace to quicken as she realizes that everyone is still there. The prophecy didn't come to pass. She didn't fail. Man, that got me to cry more than just about anything else in Fontaine.

I just really love Furina, ok. I love the tragedy of her story, and her resolve, and how even the game audience is fooled by her performance. Considering everything, she did such a good job given the hand she was dealt. It makes me so happy that she's finally free of this burden and gets a chance to heal and find the peace and happiness that she's been denied for so long. That her story, her life, won't just end in tragedy.