notmainrat - Tumblr blog

notmainrat · 23 days ago

Text

comings and goings

an outtake from come disrupt this silence

Sethos knew his days in the city were numbered when, as he woke in his lodgings in the Akademiya— bright and early, the birds chirping outside his window— the first thought he had before getting out of bed was, Have the supplies arrived in Ribat safely?

He had given himself a month, at most, to get used to all of this— the minutiae of being a leader, meeting up with people in charge, making sure plans were in order. And in some ways, at least in the ways that mattered to Sethos, he had gotten used to it.

The merger’s terms were being brought forward to the Akademiya’s sages that afternoon, and Sethos himself was about to make the two-day trek to the desert to make sure the elders and members of the Temple were prepared for what was to come.

He really should have gone home yesterday afternoon. He should have packed up and left because all plans were going full speed ahead and all that was left was to hold up his end of the bargain.

After doing his stretches, Sethos picked up his pack and left his room as quietly as he could. Nahida, Nanashi, and Collei had stayed over last night and he wasn’t sure if anyone was going to be up as early as he was to pack up and leave.

Except, the farther he got from his room, the undeniable sound of someone in the kitchen clattered and gurgled down the hall.

Cupboards opened and shut.

A loud sigh.

“Do you think it’s usually this empty?”

“He was only staying here for a month.”

“Oh… Right.” A pause. “Is he leaving soon?”

“You can ask him. He can hear you.”

Sethos huffed performatively as revealed himself and loudly stomped in from the hall. “Never lucky.”

“Good morning,” Nanashi retorted flatly, turning back to the stove. His hat wasn’t on and, in fact, he was in Akademiya uniform, his beret on the counter. It was odd to see him like this, not in his usual fusion of Inazuman and Sumeran fashion. But, if he were to remember correctly, Sethos had overheard a couple scholars talk about closing ceremonies for the end-of-term.

“G-good morning,” Collei greeted, dressed lighter than her usual ranger trainee get-up. She gave a small wave as he walked up. “I didn’t hear you come down the hall…”

He put his pack down by the leg of the table, taking the open seat next to her.

“I’m leaving after breakfast,” Sethos said, not one to beat around the bush. “Cyno was sneaky enough to gather everyone at the last minute yesterday, so I guess he just knew that I was about to go.”

She giggled, “Sorry. I… wasn’t allowed to say anything. How’d you figure it was him?”

“Well, he knows everyone who came to the party yesterday. And…”

“I guess that’s that,” Sethos muttered to himself, passing off the last page of the contract he was supposed to sign.

Alhaitham deftly filed it back into its folder, rearranging it with ease and proficiency.

Cyno looked at him, inclining his head to the side. “What’re your plans after this?”

He shrugged. “Don’t got any. I’ve already sent supplies from Port Ormos last weekend when Nanashi and I stopped by. We wrapped things up a few days in advance. All that’s really left is packing up and turning in the key to my lodgings.”

There was no need for him to clean up around the lodgings either, since he rarely spent a day in it within the last month. He was never really the type to stay indoors if he could help it and, beyond that, he honestly felt like he couldn't get rid of that... stench whenever he stayed for longer than a few hours.

“That’s all the documents that needed your signature, Sethos,” Alhaitham cut in, bringing him out of his thoughts. “Thank you for making the time.”

Sethos snorted. “One of these days, you’ll nail your delivery on that, buddy.”

“I'm not your buddy. Get out of my office if there’s nothing else.”

He laughed, then looked to Cyno, who, as always, stared intently back.

“What?”

Cyno blinked a few times, not easing up.

“Dude, are you alright?” Should he bring this guy to the Bimarstan?

Then, without saying anything, Cyno turned and walked off.

The little weirdo.

“He’s a bit of a social butterfly, even if he doesn’t seem like it,” Sethos chose to say. He hasn't had the time to get a gauge on just how much snark he could get away when talking to Collei about her... guardians.

From the way Collei gave him an incredulous look, maybe he could have gotten away with something snarkier.

Fumbling for the bit, he added, “Besides, no one else would think to invite Master Cyrus to a party.”

“So, you were just leaving without saying goodbye,” Nanashi cut in, turning as he put a bowl of something that smelled immaculate down before each of them.

Collei stood and walked around the kitchen.

Sethos looked at the bowls. Noodles with… from the looks of it, random cuts of meat and cabbage. Some seasoning. “Did you make all this from scratch?”

Nanashi pulled up a chair, sitting opposite Collei’s seat with his own bowl. “Do you think I have that kind of time? No, I had her buy the ingredients from the Bazaar earlier.”

Collei handed them forks. “Uh… I couldn’t find any chopsticks.”

Nanashi waved at her to sit.

“How long have you guys been up?” Sethos asked, accepting his own fork. He dug in, not even waiting a second.

“I’m usually up before the sun,” she answered. “But… Nanashi was up before me as well.”

“Her master woke me up early, banging the door down with her mora pouch.”

“So that’s why you had it.”

Sethos hummed around his mouthful of food.

He knew Nahida was spoiled well with this guy’s cooking but holy crap. “Mm. This is so good.”

“Right?” Collei chimed in.

A yawn came from the doorway.

Without speaking, Nanashi stood from his seat and went back to the counter.

“Good morning, everyone,” Nahida said, ambling up to the table in her charmingly matching set of pajamas. “Is it yakisoba day?”

Nanashi answered with a grunt and Nahida’s own serving of noodles in his hand. “The cupboards were empty, and I have class in a bit so I couldn’t make anything else.”

“Sorry,” Sethos said, swallowing. “Usually, I uh, I get old uncles and aunties giving me homemade meals after I run errands. Or just eat out.”

Nanashi scoffed, but both Collei and Nahida giggled at this.

They dug in as the conversation faded.

Nahida was still a little hard not to watch as she ate, enjoying every bite of meat, cabbage, and noodle. Yakisoba, she'd called it. Some Inazuman dish, probably. How lucky of her to get to eat non-Sumeran cuisine on top of other meals on the regular.

Collei, as she had been when Sethos had been invited to dinner, hovered around as she went around the kitchen for cups and a pitcher of water. She was honestly putting Sethos to shame with how much better of a host she was being, but Sethos didn't mind. She seemed to enjoy helping around.

Nanashi was silent as he ate but glanced around their table every now and then, like he was taking stock of the events. Or maybe seeing how well his cooking was received.

And their breakfast continued peacefully until, “Uh, Sethos, do you mind if I ask— were you really just going to leave without a goodbye?”

Sethos’ chewing slowed as he glanced over at Nahida, who was chewing attentively in his direction; at Nanashi, who was already eyeing Collei’s empty bowl. Then, he looked over at Collei.

“And if I was?”

She shrugged. “I dunno. I just thought maybe, well. Your place is empty, and you’re usually out, going around the city, always with someone or doing things for them. It was a little hard to keep track of you yesterday without you catching onto the surprise party. You obviously like being around people, but you were just going to leave without telling all the friends you made here in the city.”

Sethos put his fork down, leaning back in his seat. “I mean… yeah, I guess I was. I don’t think it’s that much of a problem,” he laughed, “you guys already caught me. That’s as much of a goodbye as any, right?”

“Curious,” Nahida intoned. “Do you not see this as a parting? Your return to the Temple isn’t permanent, but it’s not temporary either. ‘We still have plans, you’ll have to communicate between us and your elders so, you’re coming back anyway.’ Is that how you think about it?”

He pushed down the urge to feel called out. Nahida didn't mean anything by it, probably. “That’s pretty much it. And, well, you’re all invited to come to the Temple, if you guys want. It’s not that far from Aaru Village. It doesn’t even take half a day’s walk.”

“Oh, true!” Collei beamed. “I’ll drop by one day then, once I’m freed up. Then, after, maybe I can take you to Mondstadt when I go.”

Sethos smiled.

“You’re missing her point though,” Nanashi pointed out.

“Which was?” Sethos looked between him and Nahida.

“You’re not a little sad that you’ll be going? You’re just gonna treat it like it’s just another day?” she supplied, as if she and Nanashi were of one mind for this conversation.

He looked at all three of them, then bent down to grab something from his pack.

“I was going to give you guys these. Maybe use my own hawk once I get home to send these to you. That way, you guys could send over your dusk birds and we can send each other letters. That kinda thing.”

He put three photos down on the table, each a memory he’d shared with the people he dined with at that moment. Nahida and Nanashi huddled together over his homework table in their room in the Sanctuary; Collei, Cyno, Sethos, and Tighnari that one night they had dinner together; him catching Nanashi dozing off under a tree when they went out camping.

There were plenty more from yesterday night’s party, candid shots that Collei and Kaveh took each. A few taken by Nahida. Most of them, though, were taken by Sethos himself— of people laughing at an anecdote shared, of a loud and lively Genius Invokations duel between Cyno and Collei in the living room, of a sleep-drunk Kaveh, Collei, and Nahida dozing on the sofa.

More than enough that he ran out of film and Cyrus had to give him a few more he’d managed to scrounge up from his home.

Allegedly.

“I had all of these with me,” Sethos said, thumbing over a few edges as he looked them over. “So, even if I left so soon and without notice, we’d still have all these memories to hold onto. You taught me that, Nahida.”

“I thought I told you to get rid of this,” Nanashi said, swiping at the proffered photo, then turning in his seat to do… something with it.

Collei sniffled. “This is so sweet of you. Thank you.”

He scratched at his cheek. “Hey, now. You already promised me you’re taking me to Mondstadt. This is nothing! I’ve never been out of the country before.”

“Me neither,” Nahida said, wiping at her eye. “Maybe when you and Collei go, you can take photos to bring back to me.”

“You’ve gotten plenty from the Traveler already,” groused Nanashi, his voice a little strained. “Just go with them.”

Nahida rolled her eyes— like actually rolled her eyes.

Sethos gaped.

“We’re not having this conversation again. I haven’t even finished my yakisoba.”

“Whatever,” Nanashi snarked back. “I need to leave for class anyway.”

This guy was a terrible influence on Lesser Lord Kusanali.

He looked at Sethos as he stood, grabbing his beret from the counter. “Don’t die on your way home.” Which meant, stay safe.

“Aw, would you miss me?”

He clicked his tongue, then turned to leave.

“I’ll wash up,” he said to Collei. “You had things to pick up for Tighnari today, right?”

“R-right! I almost forgot. Thanks for the meal, Nanashi!”

Nanashi yelled something incoherent from the other room, likely packing up his things.

Nahida sighed as she sped up her pace.

14 notes · View notes

notmainrat · 24 days ago

Text

a softly made pact - a Sumeru meta post

ao3 version here

I promised way back that I’d do an entire breakdown on my thoughts and research notes on my Sethos fic, come disrupt this silence, which was an exploration of Sethos’ characterization, motivations, and deep insecurities. I then ended up having to do some college stuff. But, college isn’t starting for at least 3 more weeks so here’s me getting into the grove of things.

This ended up being an analysis of Sumeru’s Archon quest and the nation’s ideals as a whole (desert and forest), but it still ties in to my thoughts on my fic and Sethos characterization so if you wanna read it, feel free.

I have several key points to discuss in this breakdown namely the concept of the Rtawahist darshan’s Illuminationism, the worship of truth in Sumeru, and the faith of the Temple of Silence. I suppose the easy way would be to break it down in chunks of how I started each of my chapters for the Sethos fic. But I’ll shuffle them around for overall cohesion.

Again, like my breakdown on my notes on hope or nostalgia, hover over or click underlined or hyperlinked text for further information or my sources. I’ll likely be linking to my references directly through those tooltips.

Also, spoiler warnings for my Sethos fic. If you wanna read it beforehand, go ahead. And general spoiler warnings for Sumeru’s Archon quest, character story quests, A Parade of Providence, etc.

destination

Sumeru’s culture

As is apparent for any discerning players, Sumeru is steeped in influences from the Islamic Golden Age and philosophies from Western Asia.

The Akademiya as an institution is inspired by the scholars of old, all of whom had constructed colleges and spaces for all walks of life to share their observations and synthesize their learnings into writing.

Sumeru’s culture is centered on the the pursuit and refinement of knowledge. Learning and wanting to learn is such a big part of the culture that the first friends we meet in Sumeru are those who are eager to learn— Collei who wants to be a capable forest ranger, Haypasia who wants to connect with Irminsul.

Humans in Teyvat (and in real life) understand, by order of pedagogy, that knowledge must be unsullied by the voices and opinions of others— critical and unbiased, that the truth must be universal and all-encompassing— universizability is a concept deeply ingrained in philosophy.

But these ideas, as they are human ideas, are supposed to be complex, flawed, and nuanced. Knowledge that is biased is still true, as are truths that are complicated and tangential. This is what Nahida meant when she said that Kaveh’s understanding of truth and wisdom is almost perfect because he believes that the truth isn’t meant to be pigeonholed into digestible concepts. From Kaveh’s story (Old Sketchbook (unlocked at Friendship Lv. 4)):

Know that truth has never existed for the sake of individuals. The logic of the world coexists with nature, and this will not easily change whether it is interpreted as such or not.

In essence: the world does not exist for humanity and deluding ourselves into thinking otherwise is folly.

Sumeru’s faith

At the metaphorical level, Sumeru’s god and Archon is truth, the amalgamation of knowledge in Teyvat, personified. Nahida, Rukkhadevata, and all incarnations before them are beings of old dating back millennia that are susceptible to the whims of erosion and external tampering. Yes, the truth has been tampered with but it is true nonetheless and to deny it is foolish.

It’s what you do with the truth, what your values and prior experiences tell you, is what really matters. That’s wisdom.

There’s a reason why the constructed god made to replace Nahida, the God to be Saved (「正機之神」, in EN they localized this into “Shouki no Kami, the Prodigal,” but philosophically speaking, this removes it of its context), is one with the title “the Everlasting, Omniscient, Lord of Wisdom and Mercy.” This is what the Sumerans see as sacred— a god that knows all in its wisdom. But this is misguided. What this is is a separation of the text from its context, a wisdom that must be rational, critical, clinical and unfeeling.

But because it is artificial, human-made, it can never be perfect. The god itself views itself as fallen and broken and one that is the perfect object of salvation, yet hasn’t been and stays within that broken state unwilling to make moves of its own towards salvation.

Nahida and her predecessors, as the chosen Archon of Sumeru, signify not just the amalgamation of knowledge, but also the willingness to accept loss, change, to learn from others of their volition. This is why the Archon has to grow, learning and wanting to learn is part of the wisdom.

This is also reflected in Nahida’s overarching story in the Archon quests, fearing that she’s not good enough as Archon because she lacks the knowledge of what all the other Archons have done up to that point. She can’t access Irminsul from her cage, so she continues to let herself be caged, afraid that her actions thus far are not Archon-like. She doesn’t know any better so she doesn’t do anything about it.

deflection

The Rtawahist darshan

Nahida’s caged existence and playing at godhood for the past 500 years can be easily compared to Plato’s Forms, his shadows in the cave. She rescued countless through miracles, convened with them in their dreams, spoke in riddles and metaphors. But never once has she manifested physically or visually to these children. No one knew what Lesser Lord Kusanali looked like beyond the sages. These miracles and dreams are what she thinks is godhood because these ideas are what godhood is in stories and scriptures told to children in Sumeru.

This concept is the root of Rtawahist’s teachings— there is a reason why Haypasia, Setaria, and Azar are important NPCs in the Archon quest, all part of the Rtawahist darshan.

The Rtawahist darshan, according to the Parade of Providence (Act I - Comings and Goings, Opening Festivities) quest, centers itself on Illuminationism, astrology, astronomy, etc.

From the Western standpoint, it’s hard not to be a little confused by Rtawahist’s teachings because the other darshan are rather straightforward— Spantamad is about geology and the elements, Amurta is about biology and ecology, Vahumana is about history, archeology, and etiology, etc.

So, what the hell does fortune-telling and getting high for a couple days have to do with astronomy? Well, you gotta remember that this is a fantasy setting and that the sky is fake.

Spantamad, Vahumana, and Rtawahist all have the most in-game conceptual overlap. As mentioned by Layla in the Parade of Providence (Act II - Beginnings and Endings, Competition on the Sands):

Do you ever get the feeling that the Ley Lines have a regular flow, similar to the way that celestial bodies follow fixed orbits? If we were looking down from on high, I wonder whether we'd find that the Ley Lines are just the reflections of the stars upon the earth? Not all astrological phenomena can be directly observed. Some are deductions based on other details that we know. It's the same situation with the Ley Lines. The parts of them that are hidden underground can be identified via elemental energy, sound, and other phenomena.

Rtawahist, then, is focused on the flow of fate and how to interpret it. This is why Mona Megistus’ Steambird columns are such a big hit (Layla Voice-Overs, About Mona) in the darshan, why fortune-telling is common, and why its scholars train via Satyavada Life to try and connect to Irminsul. The truth is the flow of events past, present, and future— in the lay of the land, the politics of man, and the stars that tell us everything.

Illuminationism

Illuminationism, you see, is an Iranian metaphysical philosophy that takes great inspiration from Plato’s Forms, Aristotelian teachings, and period-appropriate Islamic mysticism. Persian Philosopher Shihāb ad-Dīn Yahya ibn Habash Suhrawardī, often just called by Sohrevardi (though that’s really just where he’s from. In this, I’ll be calling him Shihab al-Din) was the one who penned and expanded on the idea in his less than forty years on Earth.

The philosophy itself, though I am perhaps butchering it in an attempt to narrow this down, is centered on the idea that an individual’s essence, their light, is a reflection and refraction of a one true light and essence (God). The light every being has can be refracted and reflected onto others, and it trickles down on and on. Our lights affect each other, but all our lights come from the same source.

The one true light, in Shihab al-Din’s philosophy is essence incarnate, the truth, God. And the rest of us, though we cannot create light, can most certainly emit an essence that is similar or close to God, just in our own forms or versions. Thus, in reviewing, you can hypothetically trace back to the truth of all things if you follow the trail (given that you don’t get lost in doing so. See: Azar).

Which isn’t necessarily the point. This is why one of the Akademiya’s six sins (originating from the Temple of Silence (Temple of Silence Member, Djer)) is investigating the origin of words.

The point of Illuminationism, in real life and in-game, is to understand the trajectory of light, seeing it from all angles to understand what it’s saying, where it came from, and where it’s headed. As I’d explained in my Sethos fic, studying the stars and connecting to Irminsul isn’t about controlling your fate or bemoaning it, it’s about how you see your fate going forward and how you react to it, having the knowledge and the wisdom to use that information.

direction

Now, I’ve discussed the Akademiya extensively throughout this breakdown and haven’t once touched upon the desert.

Amun, dead as he is, is long-forgotten for two specific reasons.

First: forbidden knowledge.

After learning about what happens moving forward from Nabu Malikata (thus causing her death (Weapon Ascension Material, Oasis Garden’s Truth), the pain of her loss and the futility of his dreams (Staff of the Scarlet Sands) led him to trying to attain forbidden knowledge in order to fulfill them.

It’s unclear whether this knowledge is abyssal, from beyond Teyvat, or erased Irminsul knowledge, but the memory and glory of Amun and his rule was erased en masse when Rukkhadevata erased the forbidden knowledge of it to save the his people from its effects.

Second: the Temple of Silence.

Say what you want about plot contrivance, but the fact that the desert mercenary groups like Ayn al-Ahmar and, well, most of the modern-day desert dwellers, were ignorant of the cause of Amun’s death and the Dendro Archon’s involvement with it is also due in large part because of the Temple of Silence.

Kasala’s final act, as Amun’s priest, was to plead to his people, Amun’s followers, to respect the Dendro Archon, to live in harmony with the forest dwellers and to cease the in-fighting. This plea was buried under the sands for centuries. But the Temple knew about these events, and even had records about Apep (Temple of Silence Member, Asenath).

Now, it’s unclear whether Kasala was part of the Temple of Silence (he has the Tighnarian headdress), but I operate under the idea that he wasn’t, and thus his philosophies and motivations differ greatly from Hermanubis’ which was largely upheld by the Tighnarians that followed him (because he was allegedly a Tighnarian himself) into the Temple of Silence.

All that to say, Hermanubis’ philosophy on the truth is that some of it must be kept tightly under wraps to maintain order and prosperity.

This is why the Towers of Betrayal remain “Towers of Betrayal” even though they were once infused with Rukkhadevata’s power and, once activated, can create small oases to battle against the Withering. No desert dweller knows about these, not even Temple members (Temple of Silence Member, Djer). Desert dwellers refuse to tamper with them. The temple doesn’t even try. These tombs, temples, plinths, and towers aren’t reactivated until the Traveler comes along, and the histories behind them remain undiscovered to most of Sumeru.

Studying these towers would lead to questions, “Why build them?” “What was it that King Deshret found?” “What caused the Withering?” Discovering the answers would lead to the spread of forbidden knowledge again.

Sethos and come disrupt this silence

As the actual leader of the Temple of Silence, Sethos is stuck between the importance of tradition and the need for progress.

Bamoun’s deal with Cyrus had proven to be a setback for the Temple, as (for reasons unknown) Hermanubis’ severed fragments led to the deterioration of the Temple itself. But that’s mostly an allegation. The real setback was the previous leaders’ choice to isolate themselves, the Temple pulling away from the Akademiya and the forest, and the desert.

The desert dwellers, after this period of isolation started, rapidly grew ignorant of their histories and learnings, knowledge and wisdom only passed down through traditions from a leftover faith of a mad god. Since no one but scholars were doing tomb spelunking, none of the desert dwellers were to interpret the structures and murals about their own history for themselves (Golden Slumber, An Introduction to Indoor Archaeology).

This is not to say that the Akademiya was not at fault for what became of Aaru Village— they certainly have their fair share of in-game ethnocentrist propaganda— but like Nahida, the desert dwellers weren’t willing to dig and delve deeper of their own volition, eventually stagnating after centuries of believing and operating under the Akademiya’s lies.

Sethos’ introduction to the canon should, hypothetically, usher in a new era for the desert’s narrative.

He’s aware of what the Temple needs and has a finger on the pulse of the Akademiya’s culture and customs. Yet, he is a young man with the burden of leadership at a young age, one starved for interaction after spending most of his life (Sethos Voice-Overs, More About Sethos: V) in isolation at the Temple. Add in the recent loss of his grandfather, his innocence, and his remaining nostalgia for the authority of tradition over progress, and you have a character who has the potential to overturn the lived experience of all desert dwellers ready to go off at any moment.

A majority of his character stories are centered on hearing other people’s stories, only sharing things about himself only to insert a bit of doubt into his storytelling. He loves looking at the stars and seeing reality reflecting itself over and over upon humans’ fates. As in his Vision story:

Along the way, Sethos spotted two more beasts — one large, one small — lying dead at the bottom of a cliff. Looking at them from a distance, Bamoun remarked, "Most likely a parent and a child. The larger one was probably chasing the smaller one, trying to drag it back, before it too lost its footing and they were blown down together." "They were with that pack of beasts just now... But weren't there quite a few smaller ones? This large one died trying to save just a single one, and now the other small ones will be left unprotected. The losses far outweigh the gains... It shouldn't have taken the risk," said one of the other members, shaking their head. Trying to rescue your children first from quicksand, then a storm... It sounded like an almost impossible task. Sethos had noticed, though, that Bamoun had been staring at that spot the whole time, as if it had reminded him of something. But in the end he said nothing more. Having survived the disaster, the group slowly departed, with Sethos bringing up the rear. Before leaving, Sethos glanced back down at the scene below to regard the unsuccessful beast one last time.

Nothing is said in this Vision story that means anything in particular to Sethos in that moment, but you can see the mysticism in Sethos’ perspective, of seeing meaning in moments and actions that aren’t his but could reflect upon his own life. Of Bamoun looking at a dead pair of Sumpterbeasts with no particular expression, pondering those left behind, and Sethos making the connection to Bamoun’s inevitable death and departure and how that would affect him and the Temple.

No one is saved in this sacrifice. This is just avoiding one death to walk into another. Sethos receives his Vision quickly after this interaction and you, the reader, are supposed to infer what this means for Sethos’ character that he found this remarkable when receiving a Vision.

As I was writing my Sethos fic, I was mostly critiquing this lack of exploration into his character in fan works and canon. His introduction in Cyno’s second story quest and his unique perspective injects a much needed nuance into all that was left after the end of the Archon quests. The mysticism on top of the empirical is important, the symbolism that he and Cyno embody, the priests of Sumeru’s desert and forest.

Because Nahida’s liberation doesn’t mean desert dwellers’ lives have become easier.

Azar, the corrupt sages, and the Farrokhazadan were overthrown and put into community service; Ayn al-Ahmar is in charge of guarding Setaria for the revitalization projects for the desert; and, the desert dwellers are now in charge of their own futures moving forward.

But.

Dori Sangemah Bay still owns most of Aaru Village’s lands, a disruption so massive the people of Aaru Village can’t even build a public library. (Kaveh Hangout Event, The Price of a Wish)

There’s still the undeniable fact that it’s very very hard to get resources (and people!) past the Wall of Samiel, an idea they introduced in Dehya’s trailer before the end of Act V but never brought up again.

The ethnocentrism in Akademiya texts and scholars is still narratively uncontested.

These ideas are not changed just by freeing Nahida and letting her be Archon, but it’s a step in the right direction that Hoyoverse has yet to write a narrative for even with Sethos’ introduction.

So I ended up picking up the slack with my fic.

Take it or leave it.

conclusion

This was a huge breakdown of a lot of my thoughts on Sumeru’s ethnonationalist politics, the Sumeru Archon quests, Sethos, and Sumeru’s cultures.

Hopefully I wasn’t too overindulgent in writing these that I ended up glossing over some things. I’m pretty sure I’ve written down most of my thoughts as eloquently as I could but it’s also 3AM and English isn’t really my first language so. Grain– no, chunk of salt.

Comments are appreciated! Tell me what you thought and if you have thoughts of your own.

15 notes · View notes