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Link click where everything is the same but lu guang wears this shirt the whole time

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Day 250

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Day 251

Kaveh at sofia pride whats he going to do

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Welcome to Mondstadt! We have wind here!

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Went back to my roots. Hamilton.

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JUST FOUND YOUR PAGE I AM THRIVIIINGGG AHHHHH THANK YOU FOR FEEDING US SO WELL MAY YOUR PILLOW ALWAYS BE COLD AND YOUR CHARGER WORK AT ALL ANGLES

Day 245

HAKDJF THANK YOU AND THE SAME GOES TO YOU TUMBLR USER SILVRRSUN ! ! !

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Day 247

Happy pride month

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good morning

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Official design of my Humblewood DnD character Yarrow

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kitties on the bed

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I forgot if I’ve ever talked at length about this before, but Kaeya being considered a “walking red flag” was always funny to me because not only does a lot of his behavior come off as green flags to me, but he’s consistent with it too and isn’t forced into a stagnant role despite being an earlier released character.

It’s like, you know how Squidward ended up becoming that character everyone started to love growing up because SpongeBob’s initial audience found him more relatable the more adult experiences they had? That’s how I ended up seeing Kaeya the way I do, except a lot of my own childhood experiences and experiences with neurodivergence shaped that too. This also affected my view on characters like Diluc, Alhaitham, Sayu, Nilou, etc. but I’ll go into detail about them another day. Without further ado, Kaeya Alberich displaying a lot of green flag behavior accompanied by an explanation.

Accountability: A huge thing that cemented how much I like Kaeya is his ability to address his own shortcomings, not take criticism personally and improve his behavior over time. He gets criticized for a lot of things by both other characters and the fandom, sometimes rightfully so. But he doesn’t stay static and isn’t treated like he can do no wrong, he’s shown learning and growing from those events. For example, after roping the Traveler into a wild goose chase after meeting them, he apologizes in a way that admittedly, does come off as sarcastic. But his actions in later collaborations with the Traveler prove that he did mean it, as he becomes more transparent with them: when he’s giving commissions as “that guy”, he doesn’t reveal his identity but tells the Traveler exactly what they need to do and even has Vile answer any questions they may have about the situation; he is also straightforward about what the Traveler needs to prepare for Jean’s party even though he didn’t say it was his idea; his plan with them to scam the scammer in his hangout has him tell them every last detail, right down to his backup plan. He really hasn’t led them on another wild goose chase, so that apology was sincere. With Collei, he is taken aback when she asks him to kill her and hesitates, backs off when Amber can handle the situation better, in later content they patched things up to the point where she’s comfortable opening up to him about her nerves in the Veluriyam Mirage. With Diluc, he’s shown to accept his own blame in the situation and still care for his brother, doesn’t spill anything that might ruin his reputation in the eyes of the town and the Traveler, and learned to read the room better. Jean can be critical of him without fear of losing his respect, something she seems to have trouble doing with almost everyone else. With Lisa, he keeps his promises of returning his books on time after she got mad. With Klee, he’s shown to be succeeding in teaching her accountability: she’s receptive to his survival rules, since she turns herself in when she breaks one of them; when she hears that Kaeya’s come back in his Hangout, she apologizes to Jean so she can go find him; and they discuss respecting Kokomi’s need for rest from the Choo-choo cart in the Veluriyam mirage. And that’s just what I remember right now. All of this shows that Kaeya is truly a kind person, and can be trusted to learn from his mistakes and do better.

Careful Consideration of others’ circumstances: When it comes to the most active players in Mondstadt’s safety, between Jean’s desire to be helpful to the point of crossing her own and others’ boundaries and Diluc’s “act first, ask later” attitude, Kaeya actually comes across as the safest of the three to go to in a dangerous situation. Because while he does want to be helpful to those around him, he always prioritizes who he’s helping over his own ego or how good he looks doing it, even if it means he’ll come off as lazy or uncaring for not openly declaring his intention to be helpful (TM) every five seconds. For one, he understands that the other party’s consent is often just as, if not more important than his desire to help. As much as he gets criticized for his interactions with Collei in the manga, it took until things got out of hand before he even considered using force against her, and backed off quickly once he realized Amber could handle the situation better. In his Sumeru Hangout, he asks Darbil if the acting troupe would lose income if he were to mess up before jumping in to save the play. In Captain Wu’s dilemma, he tells the Traveler not to get involved too quickly as they might muddy the waters as mere visitors to Liyue. Later, he makes sure Captain Wu’s calmed down before offering to help him get revenge on the scammer, and obliges after Wu accepts. This shows how careful and considerate Kaeya is of each situation, as jumping to conclusions and barging into someone else’s troubles without asking first can end up hurting them despite good intentions - something he even warns the Traveler about time and again. (And considering the way they handled Furina, Gaming, and a few others’ situations, it’s something they really needed to hear from a close friend of three years). The exception to this is Jilliana’s case where he was essentially intervening in an emergency. Even then, he knows not approach her - because if some guy showed up at my door and went “Hey I figured out your secret and know you’re being blackmailed, now I’m gonna help you,” I wouldn’t be flattered, I’d be freaking out because he knows something I painstakingly guarded and avoid any contact with him no matter how much I needed the help. And based on the Traveler’s conversations with Vile, Jilliana and her family’s safety and secrecy were the priority. (I’ve made a post explaining this situation at length, here it is if you’re interested). He even puts such thoughts into his small gestures of kindness, such as when picking out gifts for his friends and family. In the TCG event, when it’s mentioned that the scholars who created the game aren’t playing it, he empathizes and says they must have a good reason for it (made better by how he’s a massive TCG nerd himself). He takes a nuanced approach to things instead of trying to look generically helpful, and it’s constantly shown to us through his actions.

His interactions with Klee: Kaeya’s shown to be adored by the kids he interacts with, especially Klee. With her, he tries to help preserve her sense of wonder, but isn’t above occasionally teasing her and giving her tips to remember in case she gets in trouble. This is a good thing when you think about Mondstadt in context - a lot of people think they can’t criticize or do anything but praise someone they like, and get really caught up in never making a mistake rather than learning how to cope with them. Kaeya says in one of his hangout branches that it’s healthy for kids to get into some trouble growing up, and it’s true - mistakes are easier to learn from and fix then compared to adulthood. By acting like this with her, not only will she learn to recognize that some light teasing won’t necessarily mean that she’s being disliked, but also how to cope with mistakes when they inevitably happen (and considering she’s a 10 year old with explosives, they’ll definitely happen). More importantly, he actually shows up for Klee as an adult she looks up to: when she’s upset by the arguing brothers in the Veluriyam Mirage, he steps in to stop them and even settles the situation a place where she can’t overhear it; she later says in the same quest that Kaeya gets worried about her, but never takes his feelings out on her. Earlier, he stopped her from running off on her own by promising to tell her a story if she behaves (which he follows up on, he tells her in the overworld dialogue at the end of the quest). He reads to her a lot, tells her stories, reminds her to take breaks, and was even the one who taught her how to play TCG (“But Kaeya said that when Klee’s in trouble, she should play the first card in her right hand…or was it the left?”). And as discussed in the accountability section above, he constantly reinforces respecting other’s feelings and her survival rules in a way that she can understand, to the point where she takes initiative whenever he or his rules are involved. Overall, he has such a nice balance between being laid-back and responsible in his relationship with Klee, and she’s not the only kid who has this with him.

Interactions with other kids: Kaeya’s interactions with the other kids aren’t too shabby either. Noelle especially - she understands why he acts the way he does (she has a hangout branch where she tries to imitate him to get intel) and likes how he’s always giving small but manageable tasks, and defends him when the Traveler calls him an “errand runner.” (This is from her quote about Kaeya) In turn, Kaeya gives her the tasks to prevent her from putting herself in danger by taking on too much, and says that she has a good head on her shoulders. He’s helping her fulfill her need to keep busy in a safe and positive way. With Mika, he doesn’t give him special treatment just because he comes from a family of knights and gives him a personalized exam that teaches him how to survive in the wilderness, which Mika passes readily. While he was nervous around Kaeya at first, he eased up around him and even talks about wanting to play a few rounds of TCG with him in the 3.7 event, and he seems saddened at the idea of letting Kaeya down. Once Collei became comfortable with Kaeya, she opens up to him about her nerves being a guide, and he lets her practice her best Tighnari impression on him and encourages her. In turn, she gets worried that he won’t be seen as a good person due to playing the master thief, to which he reassures her that he’ll be fine. He also seems fond of telling stories and teasing the other kids around Mond, like how he convinced them that there were the souls of fireflies trapped in the street lamps. And though we’ve never seen him on-screen with Benny, one of the official materials in Chinese states that the latter trusts him as an omniscient big brother. There’s so much life and character in the way he interacts with each kid, and he always seems to consider their individual needs.

His filter when talking about other characters: As much as he likes to tease his friends and imply that there’s more to them that meets the eye, he never says anything that would ruin their life or reputation to the Traveler or anyone else. I talked about this above with how he won’t reveal Diluc’s secrets and doesn’t go further than calling him gloomy and no fun, but he has this with others too. When asked about Jean, he doesn’t try to worship her or say anything about her overwork - he just tells the Traveler they need to give her their full support. Considering how Jean tends to be treated as an untouchable being by nearly everyone else, this is really refreshing. Amber is constantly suspicious of Kaeya, but not only does he tell the Traveler that she’s clever and righteous, the worst thing he says about her is that you wouldn’t want to be caught stepping out of line by her. When asked about Rosaria’s secrets, he doesn’t spill them and just talks about how she’s a straightforward person. He implies that Sucrose has some strange things in her lab, but doesn’t reveal anything. He’s a bit disgruntled at how seriously the Schmidt brothers (Huffman and Mika) take things but doesn’t badmouth them in front of the Traveler. He makes a huge show of how he knows Collei’s entire story, but when the Traveler speaks to Collei in the teapot, they reveal that all Kaeya told them was that she had some spelling errors in her last letter. He doesn’t hate or talk badly about his father for abandoning him, nor Crepus for wielding a delusion behind his and Diluc’s backs. He understands the importance of not letting Jilliana’s past slip to as many people as possible. He knows about Guy’s over-exaggerated feats (being the quartermaster and all), but won’t say anything about it to his father Tunner. He tries to make up a story to save face for Captain Wu so his friends wouldn’t find out about his embarrassing past. The guy may act obnoxious here and there, but you can’t pay him to actually talk shit about others behind their back no matter how much you try, especially his loved ones.

As an bonus, I just want to dissect some of the things that get him labeled a “walking red flag”:

Alcoholism: He’s memed on for being a drunkard but thing is…when have we ever seen him drink irresponsibly? He gets dunked on for it by Diona, Diluc and Paimon (who all have their own biases to be taken into account), but even when he does get sloshed he doesn’t cause trouble compared to some other characters we’ve seen (Reckless Pallad, Nimrod, I’m looking at you). Furthermore, one of his Imaginarium Theater lines has him describe the way he drinks alcohol - slowly so that he could get the mouthfeel of it but won’t be overwhelmed. And here’s the thing: that’s a fairly responsible way to drink, especially if it’s paired with some kind of food because your body isn’t dealing with a sudden spike in alcohol all at once. Coming from a society where we’re taught that the only two options with alcohol are complete abstinence or binge drinking, it was refreshing to see something like this from a character who loves alcohol. Not only that, but while he talks about how great alcohol is to the Traveler, he holds no ill will towards them for not wanting to drink - hell, he backs off when he hears that the Traveler’s underage and offers them cider instead, and in his hangout they get offered a non-alcoholic drink that holds precious memories for him. I’m someone who really hates alcohol and don’t like being pressured about it, but the way Kaeya was portrayed honestly made me feel at ease. There’s characters who do get publicly intoxicated in-game and have it affect their relationships, but THIS is the guy who gets touted as the mascot of Genshin’s irresponsible drunk characters?

Being an “Anti-Hero with Attitude Problems”: Context matters in this case. It’s true that compared to a lot of the Mondstadt cast, Kaeya’s willing to be much rougher in his methods and cross lines that his colleagues refuse to. But when you identify exactly what those lines are that they won’t cross, as an adult it becomes multiple “bruh” moments on everyone but Kaeya’s part. To an extent I do get why the anti-hero thing would be believable, but since I started playing the game after a while of being in therapy and having to do adulting, it starts falling into place that the situations that Kaeya gets flack for acting on are always problems that have been allowed to fester to “keep the peace” (I.e. the whole thing with Diluc, the plot of the manga, Kaeya roping the traveler into a treasure hunt without involving his superiors because they WILL try to ignore their limits to tackle it, same with Jilliana’s blackmailing, etc). I’ve previously gone into Mondstadt’s habit of ignoring problems until they can’t anymore, largely because of how much of the populace think it’s the end of the world to tell the truth about not being perfect or set simple boundaries. The reason he looks so harsh is because he’s often one guy trying to solve a huge scale problem that shouldn’t have happened in the first place, and he has to think about how to maintain Mondstadt’s safety in the long-term while also doing damage control for the effects of the lack of boundaries and communication. That last one is so much harder than it looks - it’s like trying to clean up an exploded pipe when all you have is a tiny swiffer mop, and the pipe exploded because there were signs it would previously but everyone just covered it with duct tape. All the while everyone around you is debating on what would be the best way to clean the mess while following one very strict set of rules and letting time tick away. Also, when you’re surrounded by people who think saying “no” is one of the worst lines you can cross, of course they’re going to call you “mean” and difficult to handle when you’re one of the few who sets boundaries and doesn’t rescind them when pushed on it, no matter how reasonable those boundaries are. This is why when other characters and the narrative try to make him out to have attitude problems, I take it with a grain of salt - because not only do those words come from biased parties who have a one-track mind on what a “good person” looks like, but it hits differently when you got saddled with a behavioral disorder because of precisely this bias taking place irl. In the big picture, Kaeya does seem harsh, but in the full context of what he has to deal with, he does so with so much composure and kindness. And he isn’t given enough credit for that.

“I’ll help out, but you owe me”: Kaeya talks like he expects something in return for helping others out, but as we’ve seen in-game, that never comes into fruition. Everyone at the Dawn Winery even describes him as someone who cares for others a lot without expecting anything in return, and would deny being helpful if asked. Once again, in the context of a city like Mondstadt, it makes it seem less like Kaeya does transactional relationships only and more like this is the best way he can set boundaries in a place like that. Cause we’ve seen what happens to people who put themselves out there as unconditionally helpful: Jean being overworked to the point of collapse, Noelle running into dangerous situations and being taken advantage of by colleagues to the point there’s a rule against it, Diluc also running into dangerous situations and insisting on doing so alone, Barbara being unable to enjoy breaks and her fans only backing off if the Traveler tells them she’s working, etc. Saying “you owe me” would discourage people from taking advantage of his kindness too many times, especially if a simple “no” didn’t work the first time around. Besides that, Kaeya’s been shown to be a good boundary setter elsewhere - he walks away from Amber when she gets pushy or is about to badmouth him, he directly tells the Traveler and Paimon when he isn’t comfortable with their teasing or accusing him of slacking (though they don’t always listen), if he’s off duty he tells the knights to leave their paperwork on his desk so he can look at it later, etc. And it really sucks that this kind of behavior that is essential to being a healthy adult gets him labeled as lazy, uncaring, or suspicious by not just the general narrative, but by even some fans. He really deserves better than this.

So many of these “red flags” instantly disintegrate if you’ve been legally able to buy alcohol for a few years now and have spoken to other people over that age range of different backgrounds. And even the things that would be concerning are things said by other characters (who are again extremely biased) and even Kaeya himself, but he ultimately doesn’t act on them, it turns out to be him exaggerating, or he’s already acknowledged his mistakes and grown past them. It’s that “tell, don’t show” thing early game characters have but Kaeya seemed to swing in the opposite direction from the rest: it’s always shoved down our throats that Kaeya is suspicious, lazy, untrustworthy, etc. but his actions and what’s shown to us in context make him come off as not just one of the most safe characters in his city, but the entire game.

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Day 244

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Day 243

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