#I NEED TO STAY STRONG FOR FURINA

[tempests-bards-and-birds]

HYV STOP MAKING ME WANT TO PULL FOR NEUVILLETTE

[lovesickeros]

☆ decadence divine [ act I ]

{☆} characters arlecchino, neuvillette, furina {☆} notes yandere, drabble, gender neutral reader {☆} warnings yandere content, stalking (implied), kidnapping (implied) {☆} word count 2.3k

ARLECCHINO

Arlecchino was wont to leave social gatherings to her subordinates– the private meetings were where she thrived. It was so much easier to lure your prey into a trap when you didn't have prying eyes and ears waiting for the barest hint of blackmail.

She clicked her tongue in distaste, her eyes narrowing beneath the mask of the fox as she set down her cup sharply. It was difficult as it was to draw them from the safety of their bubble– at the slightest hint of danger, her quarry would run. A chase would be fun, but she couldn't risk getting caught here. The political nightmare it would cause..it already gave her a headache. She had to be discreet.

They weren't making it easy, however.

Which is why she never liked crowds. But this chance didn't come by every day. She wasn't going to simply let it pass by because of a little danger. She'd have them eventually, it was just a matter of how. There were already numerous of her own lingering in the crowds, hidden beneath the masks that every patron bore. It was difficult to stand out amongst the flurry of masked patrons constantly shifting around the room, moving from one conversation to another, gliding from one dance partner to another.

Her heeled boots clicked sharply against the tile as she stalked through the crowds, keeping a wide berth yet always lingering nearby– she was sure they could feel the vague sense of being watched, but with the huge crowds..her lips quirked into a grin with the barest flash of teeth. There were a great many ways to break them in– she'd spent a great amount of time and mora to get anything she could for blackmail, if she so wished. She had the backing of the Fatui as well if she played her cards right– it wouldn't be difficult to convince them that they were a valuable target, and none of them would dare to question just what she did with them afterwards.

Perhaps a bit of play, first. Test the waters. She was familiar with playing the polite gentleman, despite her status as a Fatui Harbinger. Stage something for her to intervene, perhaps, to look the hero. The look of shock when she revealed the wolf beneath the wool..she could see it already. That wide, doe-eyed look as they realized the monster they've followed blindly like a lost lamb..she was beginning to see the appeal.

All it took was a few hushed words and subtle signals before the tiles started to fall in place, her hand gliding along their lower back as she leaned over their shoulder with a thin, predatory smile. She'd have to organize for the agent to be released later, her eyes following as the Gardes dragged him out of the room in a flurry of curses, but for now..she tilted her head to peer down at them, polite and almost apologetic.

"You aren't too startled, are you? Now now, there's no need to look so..scared, poor thing. I won't let another lay a hand on you," She cooed in a sickly sweet tone, the husky rasp of her voice whispered in their ear like dripping honey. "You have my word. Now, why don't we get you some fresh air? Come. Allow me to escort you."

Her lips pulled into a jagged grin at the relief in their eyes– the blind lamb following the shepherd as it led them into it's maw. Just a little longer, and she could finally have her own caged bird– a pretty thing to admire, to protect, to possess.

Something no one else would ever touch again. Something hers.

NEUVILLETTE

Neuvillette was not one for parties. The intricacies and delicate handling of public relations he oft left in the capable hands of Furina, rather then himself. It was only at her behest he even attended at all, but he still felt rather..out of place amongst the bodies constantly shifting through the ballroom like a constant rush of water from one end to the other, no rhyme nor reason to the flow. The only thing that kept him afloat among the tides was the mask of the deer obscuring his face– even if it was exceedingly difficult to truly hide himself among the crowds, most passed over him without second thought.

Though he had to be honest with himself, even if he couldn't bring himself to admit it to Furina despite her insistence that his attendance was mandatory. He had his own reasons for coming– selfishness that left a sour taste in his mouth. It was purely by chance he'd seen the briefest glimpse of them prior, and he..was intrigued, that was all.

He refused to let his thoughts linger on the sleepless nights he spent prying every piece of information he could from loose tongues and obscure documents, every moment he managed to squeeze in between trials spent lingering in their most favored locations– cafes, stores, restaurants, the like.

Now a masquerade.

He tried not to let the guilt gnaw at his conscious, but it lingered like an age old scar that still ached.

So he relegated himself to simply residing in the further corner, nursing a goblet of water like a fine wine, trying not to let his eyes stray to the brief glimpses of them through the ever moving bodies filling the center of the room, dancing like puppets in music boxes.

Still, his hand twitched in an instinctual desire– a need to clasp his hand in their own, to touch his lips upon their knuckles, to indulge in a moment of reprieve and unshackle himself from the mantle that bears heavy upon his shoulders. He seeks reverence, worship, but not of himself– but towards the one who had drawn the eye of the dragon amongst the waves of humans he'd seen come and go for a great many years.

No one could compare, he is certain. None have left him as breathless, as hopelessly infatuated, as the one who made him wish only to kneel at their feet in senseless reverence until he could no longer speak. A hopeless man, indeed, if he has never even truly met them.

Instead he's spent his time prying into their life from the shadows. Caution, or simple cowardice?

He dares not ponder.

Yet in his ceaseless pondering he'd blocked out the world without, failing to notice the figure stepping up beside him until their hand brushed against his elbow– just the briefest touch, but it had his pupils narrowing and his entire body tensing like a coiled spring. That touch..bliss. It left him breathless and lightheaded as he tilted his head to regard them, his lips parting in a shaky sigh. They are as beautiful as he remembers– even with their face obscured beneath the mask, he would never forget them.

"Greetings, Monsieur– I hope I didn't frighten you too much." Their laugh made him feel rather faint, just the sound of their voice making his hand tighten around his cane. "..Not at all. I was simply lost in thought." He admitted apologetically, trying to reign in the urge to cup their face between his palms. A dangerous thought. He didn't want to scare them off when they'd provided him a priceless opportunity.

"My apologies, you must have needed something. It was rude of me to have been so absorbed in my thoughts to have ignored you." He continued, gently turning to set his goblet down– offer them his full attention, be a gentleman. The words rang in his skull like a ceaseless alarm, blaring and rattling his thoughts as he gently took their hand in his own. It was a split second decision– an indulgence, but he could simply not help himself. Even with his gloves between them, he felt like he was going to lose his composure just from such a brief touch..

He truly was a hopeless man before an altar, praying for a salvation he intends to bury deep beneath the waves– to keep it hidden in the darkness of the depths that only he can reach. A selfish man, he must be, to even think of it, but it is an itch that he cannot scratch. A need that must be satisfied. He cannot allow any hands but his own to tend to them, to know what it feels to touch them, to hear their voice and see their eyes as he prays– prays like a man starved, devotion born of desperation.

"I hope I did not make you wait too long." He smiles, soft and affectionate, like the bloom of spring beneath the winters chill– yet just as deadly, only masked by the sweet fragrance of flowers.

He had waited too long.

No longer.

FURINA

Furina was right at home amongst the crowds– where the masks obscured the identities of most, it was impossible to not recognize the charming banter of the Hydro Archon beneath the mask of the lamb as she graced the masquerade with her presence, speaking with a silver tongue to any who would listen. A truly enthralled audience fitting for the grandest of performers in Fontaine.

But her eyes lingered not on the people who's praise dripped from their lips like honey– yet so very bitter upon her tongue. Even the mask obscuring her expression did little to hide the longing that had her visibly deflating like a popped balloon. She hated all the eyes on her, really– it was suffocating. She was only putting on a show in the foolish hope that they'd finally pay attention to her. Just her luck, she supposes, that instead she's had to throw herself straight into the role of Archon without a pay off..

They hadn't even spared her a glance! It would be infuriating if not for the fact she couldn't even keep her composure just seeing them across the room. They didn't even have to look at her and she could feel the heat rush to her ears as she forced another smile at the crowd gathered around her. It was unfair how easily they could fluster her without even knowing it– her heart was thumping so hard against her ribcage she felt like it might burst.

Her only solace was the fact none of the patrons seemed to realize she'd clocked out of the conversation, her thoughts and eyes lingering on the distant figure– what a lovestruck fool she makes..it was a chance encounter she'd seen them during one of her outings. That was all it took to enthrall her, evidentially, try as she might to have ignore it for months.

They never left her mind for longer then a day, in the end, and she had to face the fact they had managed to enrapture her so deeply she felt like a newborn lamb learning to walk whenever she so much as thought of them. What an embarrassment! She..she was the Archon, she had a reputation to maintain, she couldn't be seen fawning over a human.

But oh, she still longed for it, beneath the veneer of a God. She'd watched them more times then she'd admit even to herself, wishing to find herself in place of those who'd hands were cradled so casually in their own– to hear their voice, their laughter, as often as she pleased..like a fine delicacy she so badly wished to taste, yet so far from her reach.

Would they think her pathetic for her infatuation? She pursed her lips at the thought, trying to bury the sour mood beneath her faux image of the Archon. Yet it lingered, and with only the quietest of excuses, she slipped into the crowd like a ghost– she needed to leave before she did something..stupid. Neuvillette would surely have a few choice words with her if she did, and she was inclined to avoid such a fate.

She..she just needed a moment to collect herself was all. That was it. She could go back to playing Archon for a little longer, she just needed a moment to herself. At the very least, the balcony had been regarded as off limits so late into the party– which gave her an opportunity to slip out of the public view for the briefest of moments. A welcome reprieve– she was starting to feel suffocated amongst the crowds.

Perhaps on instinct, she reached for the mask, lifting ever so slightly away..only to let out a startled yelp at the touch of a hand on her shoulder, the mask slipping back into place far too easily. It made her lightheaded, even now, but she dared not to dwell on it.

But when she turned sharply on her heel to chew out the person who'd followed her and had the gall to scare her..oh, she was done for, her ears flush with heat. The brief glimpse of their eyes beneath the mask, the curl of their lips as they smiled– her heart stuttered in her chest, and she was certain it had stopped all together when they clasped her hand.

"Y–you.." She wanted to be angry, to brush them off and leave with her rationality in tact, but the warmth of their hands on her skin rendered her speechless. She was no better then a fish on land, struggling to fill her lungs with air as she drew in a shaky breath. "Ahem, you caught me off guard. That's all. Surely you do not make it a habit to sneak up on people?" She huffed in indignation, trying to mask the fluster that threatened to break through her carefully crafted facade.

Ah, what a cruel twist of fate..she'd slipped away to escape their allure, but here they were, dragging her back into their orbit without even knowing how deep her infatuation ran. They were alone, too..it was a chance she wasn't sure she'd ever get again.

Maybe, just this once, she could do something for herself rather then everyone else.

She buried her guilt, the fear– buried it beneath the need to be seen.

"But if you want to make it up to me.."

[zaras22]

i need arlecchino to be here already

[https-furina]

perse pull for raiden then for ayaka. trust me, hot women before ladies

‘m gettin raiden n her weapon regardless ehehe

[faeryarchives]

heartslabyul with a furina-like female reader! the "regina of all waters, kindreds, peoples and laws" is deeply loved by all. under her flamboyant and imprudent facade, lies a girl holding an unbearable weight and guilt on her shoulders to save her people. note: contains major spoilers about fontaine story quests (you have been warned) !! furina - like female reader series: savanaclaw recent fics: you feel like home & octavinelle with a fischl like female reader! & i'm not jealous !! (savanaclaw x gn!reader)

-‘๑’- riddle rosehearts

"who are you people? and why are you all dressed suspiciously? no, don't come near me, i am warning you!" "calm dow- where did these water familiars came from?!" "stay back i said!"

riddle was taken aback by your sudden behavior and your ability to wield a sword as well as commanding your familiar like it's your second nature! but weapons are still not allowed on school grounds 🤬

after the incident, riddle thought he wouldn't interact with you again when somehow manage your way to the dorm and stepped in when he was about to collar his dorm mates

"i don't think it's appropriate for you to chain your subjects like prisoners, mr. riddle. that is not a proper way of to rule." "don't stand in my way, what do you know about ruling?!" "... you have no idea."

and you proved him so wrong after overhearing your conversation with your heartslabyul friends. it's not like he intended to eavesdrop but it just happened that he was passing by

"after 500 years of acting on stage - i am finally free to live as a normal human again without the need to act as a strong and more god-like version of myself. but the problem is, i don't know where to start."

riddle made it his mission to always make you feel welcomed in the heartslabyul dorm and gradually became close friends with you

who knew that the two of you are similar to each other? from ruling over a community to having tea parties and your love for sweets

"riddle, you can enjoy sweets as much as you want. you dont need to follow such suffocating rules." "...what a pleasant surprise, truly an extra slice of joy."

believe it when i say he is very fond of your salon members and even went out his way to always give them a proper greeting and send them invitations for the unbirthday parties.

it was like he is healing his inner child along with you + very comfortable to the point that he doesn't even hesitate to ask you for advice 🫡 rather than an older sister you were like his twin

-‘๑’- trey clover

it is bad to have favoritism but trey clover took the cake immediately after watching him bake the most delicious cake you ever tasted

sorry to all fontaine patissier or fontaine in general but maybe you might as well stay in this world ... kidding 🧍🏻‍♀️

out of everyone you met, trey's firs impression was the second best (kalim being first for obvious reasons) he was like your dear friend who adores tea time but more laid back verion of them

"what a rich aroma and delicate texture... i didn't expect you to be such an accomplished cook... with refined taste, as well!" "a compliment from the regina herself is such a worthy praise for someone like me." "nonsense, trey! you are the best one out there!"

with curiosity getting the best of you, you always try to help out during the unbirthday parties and learn how to cook and bake from the vice dorm leader

... after all having pasta everyday is not very healthy 😭

listens to your rambles about the novels you've read befora and suggests you some that he have on hand! at this point he might as well be your guardian angel

despite being smaller than most of the student at nrc - you shocked the whole heartslabyul group after fighting off the known bully group of seniors trying to scare some freshmen

"now go along and never show your faces to me again. capiche?" "woah, i thought you said you are not used to battling!" "mmm, i did. but it's different from my abilities, no?"

you were the opposite of trey, rather than being embarrassed, you know your strengths and weaknesses and use it to your advantage

"trey, don't tell me you are just an ordinary person, you liar. you can't fool me with your downplaying talk!"

he can't fool you with that but trey pulls some harmless pranks on you by tricking you in putting a different recipe in the pie orsomething

he learned his lesson after you really followed his instructions and became the first victim to his own prank

you always seem to pride yourself as a strong and capable woman and how despite everything you are going through you always go for it headstrong

"now look at you, getting sick. i told you not to overwork yourself right?" "mmm, sorry big brother..."

did you just say 🥺 older 🥺 brother? after that he wears that title like a cape everyday and even brags it to cater 😭

-‘๑’- cater diamond

oh cater absolutely adores you the moment he saw your outfit because it is so well made?! 🫨 not only that - you were like giving the total celebrity vibes

"you have an eye for discerning people! yes, i am once the most beloved star of my country... but that time already came to an end."

sometimes while he tags along whenever you, grim and the adeuce duo hangs out - he always had this feeling that you are staring deep into his soul 👁️👁️

as much as he puts up his usual cheerful facade to fool you, it was like arguing up to a wall and you finally pointed it out one day during your tea parties

"you know, you don't have to force yourself to eat sweets. i cooked some habanero pepper cream pasta earlier with

you might as well become his favorite underclassman 🥺

no wonder you were able to read him so well because you revealed that some how seeing him act in such way reminds him of yourself in the past

"sometimes acting for so long can make you wonder if people can really see through you or was it all fake." "but that is how it is right? how can other people know us when we don't even know ourselves?"

anyways! every now and then, cater would appear right on your doorsteps with small clothes and hats in shopping bags to give it to the salon members

it was funny to see your salon members have a new member and they treat him like their own son 😭🤍

as much as he want to tease you sometimes - he try not to over do it after seeing you let the salon trio chase after ace and grim all over the maze with threatening looks in their eyes.

"wow, mademoiselle crabaletta looks so energetic when she got to hit ace at the back of his head." "well, ace did pissed her off by playing rock paper scissors with her." "... did she win?" "i don't know, you tell me big brother cater."

... he will never let it down after owning his title as your big brother 😭 get ready to receive random gifts every now and then because this big brother cater is ready to spoil you to rotten

-‘๑’- ace trappola

having to get sprayed and hit by multiple bubbles in the face was certainly not on ace's list 😭 remind him to never play rock paper scissors with mademoiselle crabaletta ever again

he really like to be your friend genuinely 🙏 not that you mind though because ace is fun to talk too + you were able to adapt and learn about this world thanks to him, deuce and grim

but sometimes, he can be a little too reckless in roping you in trouble

"woah! (name) put mr seahorse down and let's talk about this!" "oh so you prefer my sword instead?" "it was just a harmless prank!" "then why is there an anemone on grim's head, again?!"

after you were comfortable enough to tell your story - ace thought he was actually dreaming because how did you stay sane after that 500 years?!

will ask you to help him with his studies and practicing magic + probably thought you were clueless but after years of searching every nook and nanny in your nation's library, you were like a walking dictionary

"how come you get a higher score than me in animal languages?!" "i was wondering how on teyvat did you get a lower score than me?"

omg you traitor 👩🏻‍⚖️

your number one buddy with midnight snacks + everytime he would sneak out of the dorm he always bring some sweets as a bribe to let him stay

there are times that you always fool ace by acting especially in front ofriddle when he accidentally dropped your cake in accident

despite the shenanigans between you two, he always trusts you to have his back

"(nickname) cover for me!" "alright! let the world come alive, hehe!"

whenever the salon members feel silly, they will go and chase after him and you just let them be - even they shower him with love in unexpected ways.

"recently, i've been wondering if Iife been a little too hard on myself in the past. i never got the chance to enjoy my life." "then let's go grab cater-senpai and go shopping!"

he will not let you experience such loneliness again! not when he is one of your first friend here in wonderland.

-‘๑’- deuce spade

opposite to ace, he is mademoiselle crabaletta's favorite for some reason or even the whole salon members are fond of him !

while he is more on the less troublesome side - he still make some troubles but you can see how much he was trying to not get you involve in it 😭

"deuce, you could've just told me earlier about this..." "i'm sorry, i don't want you to get involve again." "you are really a jester. we are friends! how can i not help you when you are facing problems?"

just as you listen to his problems, you were surprised that deuce is a great listener 😮 its not sarcasm !!

it first came to you during the octavinelle incident when deuce found you crying behind the ramshackle down, hugging your knees and being surrounded by your salon members, trying to calm you down

"i still couldn't do it... i do not belong in this world now i don't even have a place to stay..." "(name)..." "d-don't look at me like this! just give me a second." "no it's okay, let it out. i am so sorry for putting the pressure on you."

the sweetest guy??? ever??? he will try to include you in discussions about this world itself and wouldn't let you feel out of place

you even found him taking down notes whenever you get the chance to talk about your nation and people

"you have a dragon as a friend?!" "yea, don't let the dragon title fool you though. he is very kind but all he eats and drink is water every break time."

while ace had your back, deuce got your sides covered + knows fully how capable of being the front liner

"how dare you!?" "ah, (nickname) don't go to far!" "... remind me to never mess with her again."

remember the phantom back in the mines? you encountered one again and after it made one of your salon members disappear - the trio watch you literally annihilate the monster

seeing you all impatient and having a childlike temper made him laugh because you weren't so different from them after all

but please do not rush in battle so suddenly, you might as well give him a heart attack 😵

don't tell the others but deuce really looks up to you as an admirable person + not only you were able to endure everything for a long time, you still have the heart to forgive everyone who doubted you.

"do you know that you are really a respectable friend?" "...? oh my god, did you eat mushrooms for breakfast again?" "i'm serious!" "oh is that so? well i am proud of you. don't you know you improved a lot too?"

it's 7 am in the morning are you trying to make him cry? 🥹

having you with him during his high school life is an unexpected but wonderful experience - learning other things together + being interested in the same things? he had never felt such comfort before

deuce just hope that even though he and ace are seen as troublemakers, you won't hesitate to let your walls come down when times get rough 🫂

[genshingorlsrevengeance]

Could we get the Claymore Queens (and anyone else of your choice) reacting to their SO trying to be tough for their sake, not saying anything, not wincing (or trying not to), not complaining, although they're not in the best condition?

(Genshin Impact) Clorinde, Eula, Dehya, Beidou, Navia, Noelle, Furina and Xinyan's S/O trying to tough out their injuries

"Nah, I'd win." - Me at 1hp to my friends after getting hit by a boss's move dead on.

Clorinde has been in so many duels to the point where she can tell someone is bluffing, simply by their body language alone.

S/O was heavily injured: their legs were slightly trembling, breathing heavy, and weapon shaking.

And she's only glanced at them for a few seconds. They were in no condition to keep going, even if they insisted otherwise.

(Clorinde) "You need to rest, S/O. If we get into another fight, you've already lost."

She rests a firm but affectionate hand onto their shoulders in an attempt to get them to relax.

(Clorinde) "Getting yourself killed will not prove to me that you are strong."

Eula frowns the moment she hears her S/O say they're fine.

She doesn't even need to look at them, Eula immediately turns around and tells them what they need to hear.

(Eula) "You are not fine. Tend to your wounds, I won't be the one dragging your unconscious body back to Mondstadt."

Though her words are harsh, it comes from a place of concern and love.

She'd prefer not to have S/O injured at all and be the one in their shoes instead, but it'd at least make her heart rest easier knowing they were out of harm's way and recovering.

(Eula) "At the very least, just wrap the bandages around yourself."

Dehya scoffs and crosses her arms, shoulders sagging as she raises a single eyebrow.

(Dehya) "Psh, yeah right. I'm sure that blood dripping down your arms means you're completely rarin' to go, right?"

She shakes her head as she forces them to sit down, and with her arm strength and S/O's injuries, it is very easy to do.

(Dehya) "Sit still for a sec, you're not fooling anyone."

Dehya knows they weren't trying to worry her, but if anything this was doing the opposite.

...Then again, she can't exactly blame them. She'd probably do the same right now.

Beidou lightly punches their arm, and when S/O yelps out, that solidifies her decision.

(Beidou) "Thought so. You're sitting this one out for now."

Beidou's top priority is always the safety of her crew, S/O was no exception.

She doesn't take no for an answer easily, and Beidou does not care how much S/O tries to convince her otherwise.

(Beidou) "You'd convince me a lot more if you weren't hissing every single time my hand brushed against you, y'know."

Navia isn't even listening to S/O try to insist that they're fine.

Navia, along with some bodyguards that appeared out of nowhere, are already tending to their injuries.

(Navia) "We'll get you fixed up in no time, you leave everything to me!"

Her heart is pounding when she's looking at their injuries, trying her best to block the unpleasant thoughts out of her head.

What matters the most right now is that S/O not push themselves anymore for her sake.

Navia needed them to be okay.

(Navia) "No more of that talk, S/O! You're resting here and that's final! Gentlemen, S/O does not move an inch from this spot, understood?"

(Bodguards) "Yes. ma'am!"

Noelle pouts when she sees S/O trying to walk beside her.

Absolutely not! They weren't even in the condition to help her clean.

Granted, not a lot of people can clean an entire wagon just by lifting it with one arm, S/O included, but her point still stands.

(Noelle) "I do not think so! S/O, I ask you leave this work to me! You sit here and rest, I'll clean the rest of this mess up!"

Noelle is twice as determined to ensure not a single enemy gets through her. Her goal was to make S/O not worry, not the other way around!

As a dutiful maid should!

Plus, S/O knows if they try to protest, Noelle is using that superhuman strength to make them stay put.

Furina's fists clench when she sees S/O try to smile despite the heavy hits on their body.

...No. Enough was enough.

S/O would not get themselves hurt anymore for someone like her.

(Furina) "Do you take me for a fool, S/O?! I demand that you take a seat this instant!"

Her expression is angry, angrier than S/O had ever seen Furina.

But it quickly simmers down once her voice starts shaking.

(Furina) "I'd never forgive myself if you tried to keep going simply to not make me worry...Just be honest and tell me you have to rest!"

The irony of being honest was not lost on her, but they already knew the truth about her.

It's only fair that they didn't lie about how they were either.

Xinyan walks in front of S/O, hands on her hips.

(Xinyan) "Heck no, ya ain't fine! Ya look like yer about to keel over!"

She rushes to them and ushers for them to sit on the ground, while getting a few bandages out.

(Xinyan) "'Fine' my butt! You're lookin awful! Please just take a rest!"

A sigh of relief leaves her body once S/O complies, allowing her to tend to all their bruises.

It pained her to even see them this injured, but if anything, they won't strain themselves any further for her.

[roseofthewind]

Furina and High-Masking Autism

A lot of people don’t know how to recognize high-masking autism because its presentation challenges many stereotypes about what autistic people are like, but Furina continues to be a perfect example of it.

It should go without saying, but I love Furina as a character and this analysis is in no way putting her down. Autism is an entirely neutral trait that carries through to adulthood, and if you have a strong negative reaction to the idea of a character you like being autistic, you have probably absorbed a lot of misconceptions about autism and have some unconscious prejudice to unpack.

In the paragraphs that follow, I am going to explain several autistic traits and give examples of how Furina displays each trait.

*thinking face on*

1. Autism is, at its core, a difference in the way the brain takes in, processes, and shares information. This can make it challenging to communicate with other people who don’t share this neurotype, but a high-masking autistic person has observed the way other people interact and spent years copying them, figuring out through trial and error how to act to best fit in and get the most positive responses from other people.

Furina’s ascension speech in Act V of the Fontaine Archon Quest, where she first presents herself to the people of Fontaine, is a great example of this observation of others with the goal of masking as well as possible. Furina initially gives the speech as comes naturally to her in a very straightforward and honest manner (also an autistic trait!). After the speech, she realizes that her citizens are responding with hostility to her humility and lack of authoritarianism, so she then plays off the original speech as a ruse and immediately redoes the entire thing more assertively according to the feedback she picked up on.

(Calm down, Furina… Think. Think. What do the people want? How would they imagine a god to speak and act?)

Fontaine AQ Act V, Chinese audio: (link starts video at 3:10:07) https://youtu.be/T-AbXi5bufk?si=eQADAWw6n8Sk0PZE&t=11407

This is the kind of social trial and error that many autistic people do over the course of years so that eventually we can say the “right thing” the first time around, and it’s a testimony to Furina’s skills as an actor that she course-corrects so quickly.

Because of all the constant mental calculations, social situations are usually very tiring for autistic people, even when the social event lines up with their interests. In Clorinde’s Story Quest, Furina has no interest in Navia’s suggestion of pulling an all-nighter to keep playing D&D (I mean, Tabletop Troupe!) and wants to go home and rest.

Furina: Huh!? Oh, um… I’m not sure I’ll have enough energy for that…

Furina has shown other signs of needing to take a break from socializing– for instance, in Lynette’s hangout event quest, Lynette gets tired of all the people at her post-performance reception and goes upstairs to a quieter room to find Furina already there.

Furina offers to give Lynette tips on the best ways to slip away from an event, and Lynette misunderstands at first and isn’t interested in Furina’s advice because she thinks Furina loves everything about the spotlight and doesn’t realize how much they have in common. This goes a long way to show just how well Furina masks her autistic traits!

Furina: I see you’ve escaped the crowds to seek refuge on the second floor. Fame can be overwhelming at first, can’t it? Perhaps you’d benefit from hearing about the experiences of a veteran celebrity such as myself?

Lynette: No thanks, I’m good. Pretty sure this’ll be my first and last time in this situation…

Furina: Hey, at least let me finish! I have top tips on dealing with belligerent reporters, slipping away to hunt down snacks during the intermission…

Lynette: …Tell me everything.

Conversely, when alone, Furina will stay up late reading or doing something else that interests her and will not feel the same need to stop and rest, because when alone, there is no need to expend extra energy worrying about socializing properly.

At the beginning of the Fontinalia Film Festival limited event story, Traveler and Paimon go to Furina’s apartment and she answers the door sounding a bit groggy.

Paimon: Did you just get up, Furina? It’s already past noon, you know…

After Traveler chastises Paimon for being rude, Paimon panics and says something nonsensical about how the weather is so nice in the afternoon and sleeping in is fine, actually, and Furina responds that she’s just a bit tired because she was up late reading:

Furina: I was just up late last night reading some novels…

When focused on an interest, it’s very easy for an autistic person to lose track of time and it can be difficult to break out of the focused state and go to bed. (This is a trait that overlaps significantly with ADHD.)

2. Alexithymia is a difficulty with identifying, processing, and expressing your own emotions, and in extreme cases presents as an almost total lack of emotion. Some degree of alexithymia is common in autistic people.

I believe, in the flashback scene below from Act V of the Fontaine Archon Quest, that Furina genuinely did not realize she was upset and did not realize she was crying, which could be explained by alexithymia.

Fontainian citizen: Are… are you crying?

(If you played this part with the English voice acting and interpreted it differently, try listening to it in Chinese- Furina’s voice sounds completely confident and in control the entire time, and it’s not until the other person points out she’s crying that Furina sounds at all upset.)

Fontaine AQ Act V, Chinese audio: (link starts video at 3:22:00) https://youtu.be/T-AbXi5bufk?si=fl8xSwkQ0rRLFPQU&t=12121

I am a believer that Furina and Focalors were originally the same person, and Focalors is just Furina’s divinity and pre-archonhood memories— so if Furina is autistic, Focalors is autistic.

While talking to Neuvillette, Focalors is extremely matter-of-fact with her explanation of her plan, very matter-of-fact about the suffering of her own human self, and very matter-of-fact about her own impending death. There is no show of emotion— she just tells Neuvillette the facts. This could be related to alexithymia, but regardless it is a very autistic way of communicating that is often misinterpreted as cold and uncaring. In actuality, someone who is willing to sacrifice their own immortality, divine power, and freedom to save other people’s lives cares a great deal, even if the tone of their voice doesn’t reflect it!

Focalors: I mean, did you think I would be the sort to enjoy peaceful repose while Furina suffered?

3. The autistic nervous system takes in a lot of information that a neurotypical person’s would filter out as not being important enough to bother with- this is why autistic people are so much more sensitive to sounds, lights, textures, and any changes in the environment. Too much sensory input can actually feel painful.

There is a documented instance of the Opera Epiclese becoming so loud that Furina was overstimulated enough to yell at everyone to be quiet.

Furthermore, post-Archon Quest, after moving out of the Palais Mermonia and into her own apartment, Furina eats primarily macaroni for an unspecified amount of time— weeks or months on end. After a huge life change, it’s common for an autistic person to want anything they can control to be the same, so their brain has more space to process everything that’s different.

There is no neurotypical explanation for eating the same food over and over to the exclusion of everything else. It makes no sense to someone who doesn’t experience overstimulation and distress at too much change. Case in point, during Furina’s Story Quest, Traveler and Paimon are rather baffled:

Traveler: …Don’t you get sick of macaroni every day?

Furina: Not at all. As long as you have different kinds of sauces in, you can have macaroni and tomato sauce one week, macaroni and bolognese the next…

Notice that Furina says “macaroni and tomato sauce one week,” implying that she’s fine with just that sauce for an entire week, and then uses a different sauce for the next entire week. Still not very much variety!

Paimon: Oh, sounds like you’re really struggling to cope… Traveler: Is it because you have to do all your own cooking now?

Yes, Furina is struggling to cope, but not because she’s incapable of learning how to cook more complex dishes! She’s just too burnt out to want to make or eat a variety of things right now. Furina explains this and Paimon doesn’t believe her, but since we know that Furina’s special dish is an even more extravagant version of La Lettre a Focalors, if Furina is capable of baking at that level, she would certainly be capable of cooking.

4. Stimming, or self-stimulatory behaviors, are repetitive actions that serve to regulate or soothe the nervous system. There are countless behaviors that can be used as stims, but some common ones are rocking back and forth, hand flapping or waving, leg bouncing, skin picking or scratching, rubbing or squeezing a comforting object, dancing, spinning in circles, humming or vocalizing, or listening to the same song on repeat for hours. (It’s worth noting that stimming is not exclusive to autism— especially when stressed neurotypical people do some of these things too. Stimming can also be commonly exhibited by people with ADHD who aren’t autistic, although there are also a significant number of people with both ADHD and autism.)

One of Furina’s idle animations and also her normal attack sequence include behaviors that can be interpreted as stimming. Furina’s idle animation with Surintendante Chevalmarin involves her holding the seahorse up, waving her around, squeezing her tightly and rubbing her face on her head. Chevalmarin is made entirely of water and loves Furina dearly, and so does not mind being cuddled like a stuffed animal.

If you use all four of Furina’s normal attacks, she spins around several times and the final attack culminates with her spinning on a bubble and swinging her sword for AOE. If you use just three of Furina’s normal attacks and do not append any additional actions, Furina spins around again before plunging the tip of her sword into the ground (I do not have a gif of this). Furina also spins around when added to your 4-character party. That’s a lot of spinning, which certainly makes it seem like a preferred stim!

5. I got this far without mentioning special interests because I have so much other evidence that I hardly need to bring it up— but since it’s a much more commonly recognized autistic trait than many of the things I discussed at the beginning, I will include this part of Furina’s teapot dialogue, which does indicate that Furina engages in special interests:

Furina pretty much defines “special interest” with the above statement: it’s something that you’re interested in (to the point that it may feel like an obsession) and you have to know everything about it!

These are just a few examples of autistic traits that Furina exhibits— there are absolutely more. Furina is shown many times to have a high level of near constant anxiety despite being someone who is confident enough to perform on stage. This anxiety could come from other sources, like c-PTSD, but it’s very common for a high-masking autistic person to have chronic anxiety from being hyper-aware of avoiding potential social blunders, repressing stimming to appear more “normal,” and dealing with the increased risk of overstimulation that comes with repressing stimming.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading! Even if you don’t agree with my interpretation of the character, I do genuinely hope you learned something about autism.

[fatuismooches]

how are we feelin with arlecchino smooches?!?!?! did you get her yet???? c6 ??? HASGYDSJAD GOOD LUCK!! hope she comes home!! manifesting for u <333

YA KAI!!!! FATHER CAME HOME C6R1!!!! THANK YOU!! if i calculated correctly it took me 710 wishes... ough it's a lot more compared to when i wished for Wanderer BUT I DID IT!!

Let's just say, she is VERY fun (my friend wanted me to flex this)

(unrelated) i plan to wish for furina and then start saving again for whichever harbinger is next... i do want some other characters though but i need to stay strong i think 😭

[that-foul-legacy-lover]

Coming fresh from the new archon quest so ignore if you havent played that far yet because spoilers for the first act.

Firstoff i would have totally thrown hands with the Chief Justice for touching our rat.

Imagine Neuv being too late to stop the transformation and Full Legacy is now in the court. You, following Childe around since before the Liyue Storm, try to hold down the Guardes and get a peaceful solution with both Legacy and Childe not ending in jail when one of the Guardes grab you and throw you to the floor. You land wrong on your shoulder - cue Legacy going wild.

On that note, they couldn't have been more obvious with the rain dragon...

Oh and I kinda guess Childe got convicted because of Legacy yk Abyss Taint = Evil but ofc we all know better 😂

You pulling for Childe or Zhongli next phase?

ggrrhaahhghh i'm so tempted to pull for Zhongli but i don't really need him and i must stay strong for Furina and Arlecchino aaaghhhh

you consider yourself a decent negotiator- Childe was always raring for battle and bloodshed, so you've had to mediate between him and another group plenty of times- but perhaps the clockwork meka have had an influence on the Guardes' approach, because they simply throw you to the ground, pinning you in place. you wince as your shoulder lets out an awful crunching sound, pain lashing at your nerves and veins, and you glare at the person holding you down with an irritated sigh- you know what's coming next

with an enraged roar the Guarde goes flying, Foul Legacy batting them away like they weigh nothing. he growls viciously at the rest of the audience, crouching over your body with a threatening hiss- but it fades the moment he looks down at you, transforming into a concerned whimper as he leans closer, gently licking your shoulder. a Guarde dares to take a step closer and Legacy snarls, baring his fangs as his fluff bristles in warning, and you have to bring your hand up to gently stroke his plated face to calm him down. you get to your feet with some difficulty, your shoulder aching painfully, and Legacy gently prods it with his claws, whining whenever you flinch. he hisses whenever anyone comes near, but handles you with only softness and worry, fussing over you for a few minutes and brushing dust away from your clothes. with a single swift motion he lifts you into his arms, cradling you carefully so you won't feel anymore pain

then he gives the strangers and friends watching you one final growl, and runs

[the-curious-cat24]

Hoyo really loves twisting the knife where it was really painful! I knew that there is something behind the facade that Furina did from the previous archon quest, and knowing behind all of it, I cannot fathom how she manage to stay strong and sane, from the feeling of fear about the prophecy, keeping the secret about the plan because she don't want the prophecy coming true, the feeling of helplessness and the feeling of being alone because she doesn't want anyone to see the struggle she face in. Furina to me you are an archon, willing to sacrifice your selfish needs just so you can save the people of Fontaine, the people you cherish and love.

[alchemania]

Love Comes, Slowly. (Death Comes Faster.)

(Or, Furina falls ill, and Wanderer is confronted with the fact he cares a lot more than he realized.)

(He's got a name in this drabble too lads yippee!! He and Furina are close enough now he feels comfortable letting her call him by a name :] oh yeah and uh. This was not intended as shippy, if you were wondering, just to get that out of the way. It's platonic.)

“..ina. Furina!”

The white haired girl blinked owlishly, startled to attention. “Huh? What?”

“This is the third time I've called you,” Tetsuya frowned, eyebrows furrowed. “Are you daydreaming?” Furina flushed in answer, scratching the back of her neck.

“I've just been a little out of it today,” she muttered. That much was an understatement. She'd awaken with a fogginess in her head and a heaviness in her stomach that just hadn't gone away, and everything seemed to be processing twice as slowly, leaving her behind as the world kept moving. Was it always this warm, too??? Furina felt like she was baking, even for a place as warm as Sumeru, something felt off-

“Hey!”

Wanderer's hands grabbing her face snapped her to attention, and Furina instinctively leaned into them a little, comforted by how cool they were. In contrast, his pupils dilated a little - humans were always very warm in contrast to him, but Furina felt especially hot. “Are you sick?”

"I don't know…. maybe…?”

Tetsuya's eyes flashed with something unreadable, and he quickly took his companion by the hand, fear gripping his chest as much as he would deny it was there. “Well, we need to get you medical attention, then.”

“I'll be fine-”

“I know you will,” he asserted, “because we are GOING to get you looked at.” His tone left no room for arguments, and Furina stared at him hollowly before weakly nodding. She didn't understand why he was so vehement all of a sudden, but she didn't have much energy to be stubborn.

“Mkay…”

Tetsuya began to lead her through the city then, and she let herself be pulled along, slipping in and out of awareness as voices around her rose and fell like the tides. Very soon however, it was a struggle just to put one foot in front of the other, and Furina wobbled to a stop, a hand to her temple. Wanderer turned to her then, frowning. “What's wrong?”

“Tired,” she mumbled, barely able to keep her eyes open. “Achy, too…”

“We'll be to the clinic soon, just - we're going to get you some help,” he replied, and if she were fully coherent she'd notice his voice was slightly strained from barely concealed worry. “Come on. You can lean on me if you need to.” He seemed so far away, despite the fact he was right there, and Furina's legs buckled, too weak to support their owner's weight anymore. She crumpled to the ground, and Tetsuya froze, unable to move for a moment. And then the spell was broken, and he knelt by her side, frantic. “Furina!? Hey!! HEY!! Furina!!” With shaky hands, he took her pulse, relief flooding him when it came through strong and consistent.

It might not stay that way for long, though. You've seen this before.

Pushing that thought away, Tetsuya carefully wrapped one arm around Furina's back to support her and then scooped her up princess style - she was so small, and he noticed her cheeks were quite rosy, beads of sweat all over her brow.

..the fever's getting worse.

He had to hurry. He had to hurry.

Tetsuya swears he's never flown so fast before, everything whizzing by in a blur (and if his vision blurred for reasons other than his swiftness, no one needed to know). The moment he touches the ground again, he's racing towards one of the nurses, chest too hot and too cold all at once. “My friend collapsed,” (and it's startling, how easy it is now to call her that) “Help her. Please.” Furina was gently taken from his arms, and he lingered like a shadow as she was carefully placed in one of the beds, a cool cloth laid on her brow. “She gonna be alright?” Wanderer ventured, and his voice was so so small, expression more akin to someone centuries ago; someone who hadn't yet seen the depth of all the world's sorrows. One of the nurses turned and nodded, in reassurance.

“Her illness was caught early on, so she should be just fine. It's good you noticed quickly. She should be back to normal in a few days with rest, but you can spend the night if you'd like-”

“Absolutely.” He was not going to leave. No way in hell. Settling into a chair nearby, he tried to calm the storm in his chest, closing his eyes to clear his thoughts. The hours flew by, and eventually Wanderer sat up and gently shook Furina, to rouse her. “It's time for you to take your medicine. Come on.” Furina didn't move, and suddenly, he couldn't breathe, chills gripping him.

Oh.

Oh, god. God, please, no. Not again. Please, not again. He couldn't do this again.

“Hey,” Tetsuya called again, shaking the girl harder. “If this is a joke, it's not funny. You need to get up. They said you were going to get better, so you have to.” He'd made it in time this time, he'd - as soon as he could, he'd brought her here… so there was no reason that -

Tetsuya took Furina's hand, and to his horror, it was cold (like his) and limp. Just like - no, no no. This wasn't happening this could NOT be happening it couldn't!! “You can't just - leave me like this,” he managed, tears flooding his eyes. But she had. She had, and he didn't even get to say goodbye, and he couldn't breathe, sobs choking him. This time, he understood that death was a constant, that it would come and claim all humans eventually but-

...that didn't make it hurt any less, as much as he'd tried to deny it.

“Furina, come on, you're one of the only friends I have I - please don't leave me behind. Please - I'll do anything just wake up; wake up!”

I couldn't save you. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

He can't stop crying. He's sprung a leak and he can't fix it and everything hurts so badly and a nurse is taking his hand and pulling him away and turning his face into her chest so he won't look, and he can't stop crying and he's begging her to do something, anything, but she can't. She knows that, and he knows it, too.

Furina was gone, and he couldn't do anything. No one could.

Tetsuya jolted awake, tears streaming down his cheeks, and gasped. Stars twinkled above, and he sat up after a split second of regaining his senses. It was a dream. It was just a dream. Then, Furina- getting up in a hurry, he raced to her side and shook her frantically, and to his immense relief, she stirred. Heterochromic eyes stared blankly at him, and she blinked sleepily. “Tetsuya…?? What - oogh!” He was squeezing her in a hug before she could process what was happening, tucking his head into her shoulder. “Oh….hey hey, it's okay,” Furina mumbled, patting his back weakly in reassurance. “M’just tired..why are you crying??”

“You're okay,” he barely managed, holding her like she'd disappear if he let go. “I had a dream and - no, it..it doesn't matter. It wasn't real. You're okay.” Wanderer's voice broke then, and he sobbed, relief overwhelming. “You can't leave me yet, okay? Not yet. Please. You're the best friend I ever had.”

“I'm going to get better, don't worry. They're taking good care of me here, and I'll be out in no time and - ….”

“What? What is it? What's wrong?”

“Nothing, just.. you said, I'm your friend-”

The young man froze, taken aback, and then eased up again, slowly nodding. “.. I did say that.”

“You mean it?”

“..Wouldn't say it if I didn't.”

Furina smiled, laying her head atop Wanderer's, and blue and white locks spilled into each other. “You're my friend too, yanno. Thank you for bringing me here when you did. I might be a lot worse off otherwise.”

“You don't have to thank me. I just - . . did what anybody would do.”

“Maybe, but I still want to thank you. Gotta make sure the people you love know they're appreciated.” Tetsuya stiffened at that, blinking rapidly. Oh god, she couldn't just - say things like that, he'd cry all over again and - he had to have misheard.

“You- …what?”

“You're my friend, and I love you,” Furina reasserted, and she said it so easily, like she was talking about the weather, like she was stating a fact of the world, and it shook him to his core.

“.. I - oh,” was all he could say, hot tears making their way down his face again. “Just. Just like that?”

“Just like that,” she nodded, and the tears fell faster. He loved her too, he realized - he wasn't quite sure the exact dimensions of it but he knew he cared for her as a friend would, wanted to stand by her side and defend her with everything he had. Still, it wasn't very easy to say that, so he hoped his actions spoke for themselves. She seemed to understand though, to his relief.

“..why?” Tetsuya finally ventured, because he did not understand. There were many things he did not understand, actually. What he did not expect was for her to answer his question with a question.

“Why not?”

“Why not? Because - …I mean, you've seen how I act.”

“Doesn't make you unlovable, yanno. You're prickly, yeah, but I mean. If love is conditional, it's not love at all. You care about me - the real me, and I care about you, flaws and all. And that's not gonna change. Okay?”

“...mm,” Wanderer managed, nodding once.

Just like that. Just because he was, he was cared for. Worldrocking, that.

They stayed like that for a long time, until one of the nurses came to take care of Furina, and soon after the girl fell asleep. Tetsuya watched how the nurse gently tucked her in and brushed her damp bangs out of her forehead, expression contemplative. Humans could be selfish, they could be deceptive, they could be cowardly - but they also cared about each other and they loved each other, too- and some of them had so, so much love to give, it was daunting. Here in one moment and gone the next but they loved so much and so deeply - and for a moment, he wondered if he could, too, love the world and everything in it or - most things. He didn't think so, but these days it did seem a little brighter than it had before. Maybe that was a sign he was changing, without realizing it.

He would think more about it later. For now, he simply held Furina's hand as she slept and leaned his head on the side of the bed, heart steady. They'd said she needed a few days to recuperate, and he would be here until then. She would be okay, she would be alright. There was nothing to fear anymore, and everything would be okay. He wasn't going to lose her - not for now, anyway.

..to love, and to be loved, was wonderful, he thought.

Maybe that was living.

..he could come to thrive in it.

[none-i5]

Tonight, I have a few thoughts and feelings. This unfortunately means I have to make an extremely long post. But anyways

Idk about others, but Furina losing her status as the Hydro Archon in those theories isn't what bugs me. If yall wanna have some food for thought, then that's perfectly fine. There are even a few that have some interesting thoughts, and yk if a girlfailure wants to chill for a bit, then good for her.

What I am pissed off about though is how most people want this to happen because...they don't like her?

I'd like to establish that there are two things to determine about how good or bad a character is: if they're good morally/have a good attitude, or if they're written in a good way. These are two separate things. I want to emphasize that.

Whether or not a character has good morals or a good attitude is up to the person, but I think regardless of whether someone thinks the character is good or bad morally or attitude wise, if the character hits the criteria of being well written by creative writing standards, then that needs to be acknowledged. Basically:

Good moral/attitude =/= good writing

So, we get back to Furina. Literally just a few minutes into her introduction, and most people already have very strong impressions or opinions about her: she's a brat, she's childish, she's insecure, and in some situations she is a coward. As we learn more of her, we learn that: she is willing to give herself for her people (her people pleasing tendencies + her extensive research of the prophecy over centuries) and that she isn't too annoying or heartless if someone like Neuvillette is willing to stay under her care for 500 years.

Whether or not you think she has a good attitude or good morals is up to you, and I'd respect that. I deeply respect people (like bwaap) who may have some less than the best opinions of her, and yet can fully acknowledge that she's a well written character.

But first, why do I think she's a well written and well performed character? Well, let's take a look at a list of notes of basically how to write a good character according to a post by Brighton Rose and lectures from Brandon Sanderson. I'll try to keep these as short and concise as possible. These notes are:

They have motivation, long-term or short term

They have flaws and setbacks

They have little quirks

They have progress throughout the story

And that all of these are shown properly, not told.

Furina checks out most if not all of these notes. She has a long term goal (to stop or protect people from the prophecy), and a kinda short term one (to gain the attention and affection of her people and recently, the Traveler). Obviously, she has her flaws and setbacks--I'm sure you'd know. Same for quirks. But for progress...while I can't say much since not all the Archon quests are out, I will note that Furina took the second trial more seriously after seeing that she nearly made the grave mistake of falsely accusing one of her people. Whether or not that's due to her embarrassment or because she actually cares about only putting the right people behind bars, that's up to you. Regardless, it is still progress.

Whoo, I've been going too long at that. Where was I again? Oh right, the thing that really pisses me off

If you don't like Furina's attitude or morals, then that's fine. I'm not that blind. But then, there are people that--just because she's too bratty or that her flaws are a little too apparent--immediately claim that she's the embodiment of bad writing. Honey, she doesn't need a personality workshop, she just needs to grow.

Also, I don't dislike Neuvillette but I do dislike the role some of his fans push on him. No, I don't mean the Archon role. I mean as someone Furina should be. I mean as someone they want Furina to be. It's extremely disrespectful for both of their characters--with all of my arguments basically boiling down to "they're different people".

TL;DR: What pisses me off is how people want to transplant Neuvillette's personality onto Furina, or to hold him up as some sort of standard of what she should've been, not all the "She's going to lose her Archon status" theories. I'm not asking people to like her attitude or morals, I'm begging people to stop thinking of her as someone who needs fixing.

She doesn't need a fix. She needs growth. Yknow, if you'd actually let her grow and not just turn a blind eye away from it.

So...yeah!

[allykakamatsu]

You can do that correct?

Text: If you wish to save her, to save all of Fontaine, all you have to do is kill me. That shouldn't be too hard for the former Graceful Assassin, correct?

Small writing piece underneath cut:

Also please support me on ko-fi here

I open up up my eyes drearily and slowly, not entirely aware of what is happening besides the fact I feel lighter than normal, but when I do I'm met with a sight I didn't expect. I'm back in the Opera House, but the reason I'm feeling lighter is because it's filled with water?! Even more worrying, there's piles of bones on all the seats and all of a sudden I'm praying this is a dream.

"Hello?! Anybody there?!" I ask as best as I can with the water muffling my words, but despite no one hearing, I do see someone, Furina sitting on her usual seat and despite the room being filled with water I can see her tears.

With that I do my best to swim over to her. I've never been a good swimmer, not helped by my left leg not being as strong as it used to me, and this is a probably a dream, but if there's even the slightest chance this is real I have to get over. I've only formally met Lady Furina today but I can tell underneath the theatrics she's incredibly caring yet hiding something, and I want to try help her with whatever it is.

After what feels like an eternity, I finally make it over to Furina however as I reach out to her I find myself instead on the stage, which is miraculously dry, and on there with me is a woman who looks like Furina but in simpler clothes yet a more divine aura for lack of a better term.

"Apologies if I startled you," she tells me as I stand up, "I wishes to speak with you and this is the only way I could do so."

"Understandable but, what in the world do you want to talk about?" I ask as I get ready to summon Divine Rose in case this goes wrong.

"I take it you've heard about the prophecy correct?," she explains as she walks over to me, "well, not only is it real, it's deadline is fast approaching, it won't be long until all of Fontaine is submerged and the whole continent becomes like this, with only Furina and non natives like you still standing."

"It... it's real," I mumble in surprise before regaining my composure, "why are you telling me this?"

"Because I have a plan to stop it, but I need your help," the other Furina tells me, "for the most part, I just need you to keep doing what you're doing, stay close to Furina to keep her safe, and doing what you please outside of that, however when the time comes and I call upon you again, I need you to kill me."

.......... What?

"I can tell you're confused, as well as concerned, so allow me to explain further," she continues, "the only way to save the Primordial Sea water from dissolving all of Fontaine's citizens, is for myself to die and my Divine Authority to return to it's rightful owner. For the past 500 years I've been gathering Indemnitium to do it myself, however the Prophecy is coming true sooner than expected and I don't have enough, so I require some assistance. The assistance of someone with power over death, like yourself."

"I'm following now but... who in the world are you?" I ask feeling more confused despite getting answers, as well as nervous because I didn't want to use my Nobody powers again.

"I'm Focalors," she answers- wait what?, "the Furina you know is merely pretending to be me. Before you get mad at her, I put her up to it, another key part my plan needs to work is for the Heavenly Principles to believe the prophecy has been fulfilled, and as such, needed an Archon to weep upon the throne. Furina was perfect, so I cursed her with immortality to fulfil this role in the performance, a roll she's been performing for 500 years."

"You.... left her with that for that long?," I ask as my confusion starts being replaced by anger, "and I doubt you let her tell anyone either."

"Correct, and as much as I didn't mean to hurt her, it was the only way," Focalors confirms, "however, one way or another, her performance is almost over, but if it's to reach a happy ending, I require your assistance. And so, if you wish to save her, to save all of Fontaine, all you have to do is kill me. That shouldn't be too hard for the former Graceful Assassin, correct?"

I end up standing there for a moment as I try to process all of this. Like I said I told myself I'd never use my Nobody powers again, and after that I'm hesitant to trust Focalors, but not only do I not want everyone in Fontaine dying, after hearing what Furina went through, I want to help her even more. I.... I was already too late to save Strelitzia, I'm not going to fail to save someone who needs me again!

"..... I'll do it," I agree after deciding, "I'll help you in your plan, but, how much longer until it's time?"

"Thank you, and I don't know exactly, but not much longer," Focalors replies with a grateful smile, "just try to be there for Furina until then, and remember, Celestia cannot hear about this, so don't. Tell. Anyone."

"Hey, hey you idiot, wake up." Ugh... what... was that? Blinking a bit to wake up, I look up and what I see is a fully dressed Elrena standing next to my bed.

"Finally," she tells me looking relieved but also annoyed, "you know despite how much you were crying you really didn't want to wake up."

Huh? I was... crying? I rub my eyes and that confirms they are wet, but, there's something already in my left hand, and it's.... a Dendro Vision?!

"Holy crap- Navia get in here you gotta see this!" Elrena shouts in shock and excitement, but I just keep staring at the Vision in shock before eventually smiling. Yesterday, I went into my meeting with Furina hoping to understand her better, and well, now I do, and now I know I have to play my part in this 'show' to help her.

[moni-harmonia]

Chapter IV - Act V

There were no more interruptions!

Time to talk about this huge quest

Since the latter half has so much going on, I won't say much about the first part.

After we get out of the prison, we hear an earthquake, and we find out that some of the Primordial Sea's water ended up in Poisson and many people turned into water.

Two of these people were Navia's assistants, the poor girl is having a very hard time.

Per Arlecchino's recommendation we explore some ruins. Navia almost gets turned into water, but we save her. And then we find some stone plates that narrate Fontaine's history and prophecy. But one seems to be missing.

There are some scenes where we talk with Mona who's in Fontaine. She tells us that originally she's from Mondstadt so she won't turn into water. We also discover that the mysterious voice at the end of the Sumeru chapter was one of the witches, we talk to her for a bit as well.

After everything that's happening we decide that we need Furina to tell us the truth. She's obviously hiding something that she doesn't even tell to Neuvillette. We need the truth to know if something can be done to prevent the prophecy.

We end up tricking her to bring her to court and judge her.

We are convinced that she's not actually the Hydro Archon, but we need proof and her to tell the truth. So we duel in the courtroom.

After a bit of reasoning, we discover that she is in fact human. But we still don't understand why she's hiding the truth, and where the true Hydron Archon is.

Judgement is passed, and the machine says that the Hydro Archon will be executed. Everyone is in shock! This is not what we wanted after all, we just wanted Furina to tell us the truth.

Freminet comes with the missing stone plate and this is when we discover the true history of the people of Fontaine.

The people of Fontaine turn into Oceanids when they touch the Primordial Sea's water because they ARE Oceanids. This was a very good revelation, this explains why only them turn into water.

The previous Hydro Archon loved the Oceanids and they wanted to be able to live on land as humans. But this was seen as a sin because she was playing life, and she used the power of the Primordial Sea to accomplice this.

Thus, the prophecy was made, that one day the people of Fontaine would turn into Oceanids again and the Hydro Archon will be alone and crying.

That's when we realize that the prophecy is coming true. We are following it. Is there no one to save Fontaine after all?

And then in the middle of this, the whale appears through a portal, and Tartaglia is fighting it with his Delusion! Neuvillette also intervenes to send the whale away, Tartaglia goes through the portal too so we don't see what's happening.

(That cutscene was really cool lol)

Neuvillette tells us that the whale is a being from another world. It wants the Primordial Sea's water and since the people of Fontaine have that water inside of them that's why it is out of control.

The machine is about to execute Furina, we try to save her and that's when two events start happening.

First, Neuvillette meets the original Furina. She was actually one of the Oceanids, and she was tasked to be the next Hydro Archon. But she wanted to save the people so she made a plan.

She would leave her divinity aside and make the Furina we know out of her human side. Furina needed to stay as the Hydro Archon, make people believe she was their goddess. And wait, just wait until the time comes.

We see Furina's side of the story with Traveler. She's not actually how she seems to be. She's just a regular girl, very insecure and emotional. But she needed to appear strong to convince the people that she was the Archon. So she acted. And this hurt her because she wanted to express her own self and tell people how she really felt.

Yet this was necessary to prevent the prophecy. The one who would die was not her but the original Furina. She would give up her divinity and give the authority to Neuvillette.

As Neuvillette regains his true power, he could control all the water and so prevent the people of Fontaine from turning into water.

Fontaine was flooded, but no one turned into water anymore. Thus the prophecy took place, but there were no more sacrifices.

But before this... we had to battle the whale, with Neuvillette helping us. And after we battle it, someone unexpected appears.

We finally meet Skirk, Tartaglia's master. She has a pretty unique design, much different than other Genshin characters. And she seems to be someone very special, like Traveler.

(Also the way she threw Tartaglia through the portal caught me off guard, that was hilarious lol)

She tells us that the whale is merely a pet of her master. We don't know who her master is, but Skirk compares him to Rhinedottir.

We don't learn much from her here, but we will see a bit more later.

Things go back to normal and we make our usual round of talking with everybody.

One of the most surprising things is that the Fatui were more like allies this time than enemies.

I'm not exactly disappointed, but I expected to see more from Arlecchino. Although given that she seems to be playable in the future, we will probably see her later, maybe in an Interlude next year.

Tarta is fine, but he will need to recover. We give his Vision to Arlecchino and she thanks us sincerely.

We then have our final talk with Neuvillette and we discover some interesting facts.

Neuvillette gave the Gnosis to the Fatui. Partially because he wanted to thank them for helping Fontaine, and as an apology for Tartaglia's verdict. (And we find out that the reason he was found guilty was because he was the one who awakened the whale)

But Skirk also told Neuvillette and interesting thing. That the Gnosis were made from the remains of the Third Descender.

This... actually makes a lot of sense. If the previous Descender had the same abilities as Traveler, that is, their ability to be able to control the elements without a Vision, then their body could be used to amplify the elemental power.

A very unexpected revelation, and it makes me want to know more about the history of the Descenders and the Archons as a whole.

We may see Tartaglia soonish as well since Skirk will be using him to communicate with us. Seems like she doesn't like the surface very much.

There are so many mysteries but I feel like this was a very satisfying conclusion to this Chapter. Furina's part was really well done and it made me appreciate her character a lot.

Overall this story was well crafted, and I like that the characters were relevant until the end. My only gripe is what I always say that the pace could have been better. Especially Acts III and IV I feel like they didn't add that much to the narrative.

But this final act was really good and I'm interested to see where this is going.

It doesn't seem like we'll have an Interlude soon, so maybe the next story update will be the next Dainsleif quest.

For now, I'll continue exploring Fontaine and finishing the quests. I'm very interested to play Furina's since we don't see her in the finale, but first I want to finish Wriothesley and Neuvillette's.

[sunfudge]

\\HEADS UP 4.2 SPOILERS TO ANYONE WHO HASNT DONE IT

I have to agree with your stance on the AQ. I almost fooled myself into thinking it wasn’t good when the reality was I thought it was amazing but having to see so much grief throughout the quest knocked me out (in a good way). From the first 10 minutes where it was completely reasonable to see Navia break down after staying strong in front of the victims of the sudden flood, and her final bittersweet goodbye to Silver and Melus - wow. I’ve seen people deal with grief and if anything Navia was so damn strong for keeping it together. I’d be bawling for days girl like huh. And if you think about it, with how Fontaine has a strong theme of deception (like everyone is hiding something about themselves), isn’t it refreshing to have Navia who is so incredibly genuine and earnest with her intentions and her want to help everyone? I love her a lot.

Then we were hit with the gradual masking of Furina?

Like - we almost had her open up but then it was revealed we were in the Opera house. This was made worse later on when the traveller saw her inner dialogue during that moment was “surely I’m allowed to put myself first for the first time in 400 years?”. As the human side of Focalor, Furina was absolutely outstanding and selfless. Ohhh my God and the way Furina thinks of her suffering as a kind of “price” or sacrifice to pay for saving Fontaine? Direct contrast to earlier dialogue about how Silver and Melus should not be seen as a mere prices?? FURINA YOU’VE DONE SO MUCH MY LOVE

As much as it pains me that we didn’t get to see her at the end of the AQ to check on her, I guess it makes sense? If you were performing for 400 years and you finally get a chance to crawl away from watchful eyes like you wanted, I think it’s reasonable to just. Want to go away for a bit. But God I really really wish her all the best with finally being allowed to live as herself and not as someone else.

There’s so much to talk about I can’t condense it all. Even small details like a random audience member saying “wait, the death sentence? Isn’t that too harsh? Her only sin was making us!” made my heart clench. Furina begging her people to believe her because she is terrified that they will drown since her facade has been the only thing keeping the flood at bay. AND she will blame herself for not doing enough. Neuvi going “after 500 years, you think I would have the heart to proclaim them as guilty?” Focalor’s goodbye to Furina being “you can now live as a human like I always wished we could.” OUGHHH

Anyway. Wow. I just,,, yeah. I really really liked the quest in all honesty. I needed a good cry and I got it. To each their own opinion, and everyone has a right to not like things in the game. But personally to me this was fantastic.

I'm so glad you sent me this because I'm about to totally lose it about the archon quest in this reply.

Below are further spoilers for the 4.2 archon quest

I totally agree with you on the grief thing, and upon reflection and sleeping on it I think the fact I did this quest all in one continuous sitting over the course of hours added to my previous mixed feelings, just because it was SO MUCH sadness in such a short space of time that it kinda made me associate the quest with feelings of sorrow.

Had I completed the archon quests in parts, having gone away and came back to it later, I feel I'd have handled it better, but I can't stop myself from doing archon quests in one sitting, it's in my DNA to complete them all at once LOL

Navia's bit at the start... Oh it had been about 20 minutes into me playing and I was crying buckets. Full on sobbing.

I play in English and when I tell you her voice actress had RENT DUE because her crying, her voice, everything just broke my heart I literally was like okay great it's not even been half an hour and I'm broken for her, what the fuck.

As soon as I saw Silver and Melus weren't with her I teared up cause I was like they're dead, aren't they? And then I just kept crying anytime they were brought up, and then when they saved her from the primordial sea :(

Navia is a very good character, I love her, she's so authentic and genuine and strong it's made me wanna pull with her purely to spoil her because it's what she deserves.

On to Furina, my heart has ACHED for her since we found out the truth.

I always loved her, and I always thought she did have some sort of plan ever since she reacted with such anger to Arlecchino's insinuation that she was ignoring the prophecy and doing nothing. It was raw real anger from Furina which of course we now understand. It contrasted so harshly with what the game was showing us her acting like, plus Neuvi saying that she is 'taking the prophecy very seriously', that made me go 'we do not know the whole truth', and I was right but FUCK it was in a way I'd never have been able to predict.

WHEN I REALIZED WE HAD TRANSPORTED HER TO THE OPERA HOUSE I STARTED CRYING AGAIN I wanted to wrap her in a blanket and protect her. I totally understand why the trial took place, from the perspective of the other characters there is an impending doomsday that will wipe out the entirety of Fontaine's population, from their perspective it made sense and was justified because they weren't hearing Furina's thoughts and thought crucial information pertaining to the prophecy was being withheld from them, both them and Furina had the shared goal of protecting Fontaine - but that didn't mean that whole section didn't hurt like Hell to complete.

She thought her world was falling apart, after so many years of dedicating herself entirely to this role in order to save her nation she thought it was ALL over and those 146848 scenes (WHICH btw when it changed to THAT number of scenes I was BAWLING, what a hard hitting way to show her continuous suffering in a way that's so impactful) were for nothing.

You know I didn't even realize the Silver and Melus/Furina price thing until you just said it, oh mannnnnnn this fucking archon quest.

It's sore, but you're right - showing her at the end of the quest and us speaking with her would not have made sense. Giving her space after that made the most sense narratively but it definitely also made me feel like we had no sort of closure on her wellbeing (I'm sure her story quest gives us some of that) so that also added to my pain at the end because I was like ... The last time I saw her she was walking through the city as those people yelled 'the prophecy was wrong', and I hope she knows that the prophecy was only 'wrong' BECAUSE of what she did. The prophecy was wrong because of YOU, my love

She deserves a happy and peaceful life doing all the things she loves from now on.

Also, I presume she's mortal now? I'm sure Focalors made the point of saying her existence was what increased Furina's lifespan so like - now she's a whole mortal human being...

There's so many thoughts that have come from this quest.

The Oceanid reveal was so good, like you said that NPC saying her sin was making them, and now believing she'll be sentenced to death for it... Oh god.

The begging, her saying 'believe me I AM your archon' the slow descent into her crying because she believes it's all over when in reality she was FINALLY at the end, the fact she never knew when the end was coming she didn't know this was meant to happen she wasn't aware this was finally the end of her pain

Oh Neuvillette declaring the citizens of Fontaine innocent is one of my favourite moments in the entire game now.

Having had time to process it, I agree, this is one of the best stories in the game and it was told incredibly well and the whole thing was so fucking emotional I felt like I got battered after I finished it.

[oathofkaslana]

i need furinas banner to end so i can stop staying strong for navia