I like to think that during pfl (using his s9 characterization, not s10) wash is the guy you go to when you want to know something (ah la a line in the fall of reach novel I believe where chief says the enlisted personnel always seem to know stuff bc wash is clearly enlisted).
he's in a position where he's privy to information from the higher-ups, and he's friendly enough with the lower rungs that he knows the gossip going around. as a bonus though, wash ain't no narc, so if you want that information you need to offer him something of equivalent exchange (consequently fueling the 'guy who knows things' thing). for example, north had to tell him about using equipment in the field in order to get him to tell him what his meeting with internals was about.
wash isn't the only guy who knows things, of course, but he's the guy who has the widest base of general knowledge. ct is also someone who knows things, but she's a lot more specific, and what she lacks in scale she more than makes up for with how in-depth her knowledge is. wash is where you learn about something from, ct is where you get all the juicy details (to the point of it almost being tmi). she also has an equivalent exchange policy, but people tend to be a bit more reluctant to get information from her because of what her knowledge is (and the borderline 'insane conspiracy theorist' energy doesn't help either).
florida? well...you don't wanna know what he knows. the cost is simply too high.
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oh my fucking god i feel. SO stupid rn at How i didnt make the (super sane very normal just absolutely. Yes. Surely) connection earlier but uhh
so anyway im now like 89% certain that whatever the "traces" of the narwhal that remain on ajax and facilitate their (ever-growing) innate connection are like. an actually fundamental aspect of it (them?) more or less.
why? because if you consider its pov just for a moment. the narwhal was literally about to depart teyvat for good. it had nearly finished consuming the primordial sea and preparing to breach surface to finish the job by eating the french for the leftovers their human bodies were made from. its an interstellar voyager it does not linger on planets it devours. it goes glug glug and it leaves.
and like if it wasnt for traveler intervening its confirmed through narzissenkreuz and renes world formula that teyvat wouldve just been destroyed. no one could have stopped the narwhal not neuvillette not focalors not anyone.
so what was the one other thing it did right before going for that french brunch? calling for ajax. getting them reunited in the primordial sea. like all the possible implications aside bc theres many different ways to speculate on the exact reasons why and the nature of that link. the point remains.
it wasnt leaving teyvat without finding him.
like the narwhal is about to fucking Dip from this cringe planet and whatever part of it that ajax carries within himself his narwhal Absolutely wanted to be reunited with. what the fuck am i supposed to read from that. hoyo???????!??! answers?!?!?!
and its not only the calling from the narwhal side itself either bc this is ALL coinciding with the growth of a 'restless power' within ajax and his vision malfunctioning (the things celestia is literally confirmed to harvest energy thru to repair its damaged authority) and his connection with the narwhal reaching an actual conscious level (arguably subconscious n emotional too bc i find it Curious his mood is poor right as the narwhal is repeatedly described as positively malding to the point its boss fight mechanic is literally a rage meter). ajax' power is growing. his destiny is starting to shift and something is drawing him to fontaine... right as the narwhal is getting close to finished with the primordial sea. funny how it overlaps eh. how it aligns 🤨🤨 why are they orbiting each other like this (they should kiss)
(& not to even Mention how ajax just Happened to get that absolutely exponential and borderline unbelievable feat of power spike in extending his foul legacy endurance as massively as he did. while. within the primordial sea. with his narwhal. who had at that point all but incorporated the power of that sea into itself. i s2g if childe was getting passive home turf co-op bonus exp with a 4x multiplier automatically the whole 40+ days 💀💀)
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How evil is arlecchino and what is she cooking
As of 4.2, I’m really curious what they’re planning with Arlecchino as a character, especially as a villain/antagonist/morally dubious character, and how far/which direction they may go with that
Intuitively my impression is we’ll see her do something way more “villainous” than she presents herself as being for majority of Fontaine’s AQ in front of us right—(which isn’t a surprise given that, you know, Arlecchino nor the House of Hearth have never been presented as 110% ethical LOL) but I find myself not being in complete agreement with most analysis or speculation threads I see about Arlecchino’s morality and the like, level of sinister people seem to ascribe to her.
Idk how to put it, especially in regards to her children I do agree they are not a wholesome found family, that Arlecchino is not above pulling strings or using them for her own ulterior motives, but I kind of hesitate on the idea she only cares about the Hearth children as a means to the end/things she can control and there’s nothing else going on with her characterization wise there. I’m not saying that impression seems remotely unreasonable or unfounded, but just that it feels there’s something intentionally missing in how we are supposed to conceptualize her as a person
My main reasoning for this hunch is the fact they have not elaborated on Arlecchino and the previous Knave—who Arlecchino is stated to have taken over the position from by force. The extra tidbits I think about are that 1) Arlecchino was previously an orphan in the Hearth 2) the previous Knave is described as way, way crueler to the children of than Heart than Arlecchino was from when she took control of the House
Often, people’s major indicators that the House of the Hearth is kind of super fucked up are the NPCs we meet in world quests who are part of it and clearly suffering. But one thing I haven’t ever seen people mention w this that i think is a very interesting detail is, in The Very Special Fortune Slip Inazuma worldquest, where we stop this House of Hearth guy (Efim Snezhevich) from manufacturing tension between Watasumi/the Shogunate to restart the war with his other Hearth subordinates, at the end of the quest we get this dialogue that reveals he had been acting under the previous Knave’s directives:
It’s also mentioned he’s employing this plan in an attempt to “rebuild the prestige of the Knave” following Signora’s death, iirc? Now, see, the dialogue itself says that this is “assuming our captive is telling the truth” so who knows what’s really going on, but I find this a really odd/interesting thing to highlight. I’m a bit fuzzy on other world quests with Hearth members, and am not saying none of them were acting and subsequently being treated poorly by our Arlecchino, but like, this gives me a lot of questions especially when paired with implications this previous Knave seemed to be way worse
Like, what drove Arlecchino to take over? How unexpected and controversial was this within the House? Assuming the above information is all true it definitely says something this guy went rogue and acted on what the previous Knave would want and didn’t think our Arlecchino would greenlight it, which does feel consistent with the previous Knave being described as basically worse & crueler than our Arlecchino. It also makes me question how much house of hearth things we’ve seen outside the main story are the work of our Arlecchino or if there’s a bigger divide of loyalty. Heck, I could be wrong but it doesn’t even seem like we know if the previous Knave is dead or not
This isn’t me saying Arlecchino couldn’t possibly be treating hearth children worse than she wants us to know, especially ones who aren’t her “favorites” the way the fontaine trio seem to be, but I really don’t feel sure about making a solid conclusion of her exact level of malice the way ppl r generally understanding it rn when it feels there’s going to be more about her. Just the idea of she, as a Hearth child, clashed with the previous leader who was known for being cruel, overtook their position and took on less harsh methods of leading that made at least some members with more power/possible closer proximity to the previous Knave go rogue and try to commit atrocities in the previous Knave’s name…I feel this leaves a lot of room to suggest there’s more going on with how Arlecchino is as a person
I don’t mind if she’s just very evil and deceptive bc if she totally had me fall for thinking she was less evil than she actually was that’s fun tbh. But I feel people suggest that’s all her character could be with no degree of like, “sympatheticness” or deep grey morality and that if her character did go there it would be automatically poor writing and genshin walking back on making a truly evil woman when IDK. I feel you can claim at this point they have left it open ended and it’s never been completely confirmed she’s pure evil. Also sometimes I just get a hunch and feel cautiously confident in Genshin executing certain characters well. Not all characters, just certain ones. Especially given Fontaine’s character writing being very good and a character like Lyney feeling very solid to me when any development with Arlecchino would likely involve him and his siblings as well, I honestly feel open to the idea of Arlecchino being satisfyingly written to be both villainous/morally dubious but “sympathetic/likable as a person” in ways outside of just her ruthlessness if that makes sense
If I’m wrong/they drop the ball with it more than I anticipate I’ll eat my hat but I am pretty excited about her character and which way they decide to go with it. I will say the only potential impression I have of where they’ll go with her has been wondering if it will go in a “cycles of abuse” direction—I’d be surprised if they ever elaborated on Arlecchino’s character especially in how she feels about things and her also growing up as an exploited child of the hearth wasn’t relevant
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Shuji and you having your first baby and in the middle of the night you both fall into bed, no sleep for days, he's full of drool and red marks from the baby pinching him and you weren't able to wash your dirty hair nor change your wet clothes from bathing and when you look at each other he goes like "I want another one"
this was gonna be cute and playful and a tad spicy but it ended up full of feelings and for that i will never apologize. i will apologize for it being kinda rushed and unproofread tho. i just got SO EXCITED
You can't help but break into laughter that doesn't quell easily and you know that if you could see through your laughter tears shuji is pouting at you. He tsks and snakes his arms around your waist to pull you close. Braving the dampness of your hair, he nuzzles his face into the crook of your neck and then Hanma Shuji, ex Yakuza, the infamous Ikebukuro reaper all but whines your name, "M'not kidding."
"No! No-i know I just-" you struggle to contain your laughter. You match you husband's embrace and let the pads of your fingers crawl up his neck into the too-long hair at his nape. He smiles into the juncture of your neck and shoulder and shushes you even though your laughter and the gentle bounce of his head from your giggle fit fills him with more love than he could hope to express. And, well, of course he shushes you because neither of you can risk another sleepless night by waking the little newborn Shuji finally got to go down. "Shu," you finally manage to get out, "Don't be in such a rush! We hardy know what we're doing with him!"
"We'll figure it out." He says but catches himself. "We are figuring it out!" Your heart stops at how earnest he sounds. You hold him a little tighter. "Besides, there's nothing that you can't do while I look pretty on the sidelines." His tone is teasing and you swat his back playfully. You hope it's a joke. He's nothing if not an extraordinarily attentive father and husband.
You place a kiss to his forehead and trace your words with your lips along his temple. "Sidelines? More like frontline. You know I couldn't do this without you, Shuji."
You can't be sure, but you think you feel his breath pause on your neck before he starts peppering your neck and collar bone in sugary sweet kisses. "And I can't give my son a sister without you." He fires back once he recovers his emotional footing.
He earns another huff of laughter, "Shuji-"
"C'mon, he needs someone to figure life out with. He needs someone to play with and tease. Ideally someone who'll give it right back too - that'll be her mommy's influence of course." Shuji's words all mix together and his ideas flow into the most wholesome speech you swear you'd ever heard. He shifts up and leans on elbow to hover inches from your face giving you the perfect vantage point to see his gold irises alight with every tender emotion.
"And...and he needs someone to always have in his corner. Someone who can be there for him when we can't. You know, we won't be able to be there all the time! He needs someone he can rely on and learn to be reliable for. He needs to learn how to protect and be protected." His eyes, you realize are shiny with misty tears. "He needs someone he can be his full self around. Someone who won't look down on him for feeling...anything."
He goes silent and you mutter a little "c'mere," and pull him into your arms. The dampness on your chest is fresh, not from your hair, but from the love of your life blinking sudden emotion into your skin.
After a moment of holding your husband you feel his deep voice whispers into your chest "Wanna braid her hair too."
You giggle as you pull Shuji's face to yours to kiss him and mumble an "Of course, baby. Let's give him a sibling, but giving him a sister is kind of on you."
A few exited kisses later, you were falling asleep on his chest, promises to start preparing for a second kid soon. As soon as possible (read: as soon as you both could recover a bit of sleep, maybe). You lay there, fingers trailing up and down the column of Shuji's throat absently, ready to do anything to give your son everything that Shuji never had. Love. Stability. Safety. And now, even a little sister to take on the world with.
Well, a sibling, at any rate.
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okay but I do kinda wish we could have seen a small glimpse maybe just a second of Wee John helping Izzy with his look, showing him the different paints and things he has and idk being like "oh yea gold eyeshadow is perfect for you, totally your color, lets give some drama to those brows with eyebrow pencil" etc like I realize they didn't for the sake of the reveal which I respect but it would have been so cute to see him like, blending the rouge into Izzy's cheeks or something while Izzy tries and fails to hide a disbelieving smile at the reflection of his own beauty ayyyyyy
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