#also venti's voiceline about her is just great

[avemstella]

I want Furina and Venti interactions sooooo bad. They can gush about their dragons and music and overthrowing the heavens together.

[wolfkitty42]

My opinion on why Furina is a good archon, actually.

Now, I want to preface this by saying I am incredibly biased towards Furina. I've been excited for her since I started playing! So, I was probably going to like her no matter what and think of her in the most sympathetic way my mind could cook up. So, this stuff is all my opinion. I welcome disagreements!

Now, I think a lot of the perception of Furina as a bad archon comes from earlier information we got about her. A lot of npcs and especially Venti's leaked early voiceline about Focalors helped contribute to fandom perception of her as being unpleasant and full of herself. The marketing also put of a similar air when she is first introduced in the Final Feast as well.

That being said, the archon quests gave Furina a lot more nuance. The quests also helped to show us what Furina's actual role in Fontaine was.

It's no secret that Furina is mostly a figurehead. Heck, the people in Fontaine are willing to describe her as their mascot! While Furina seems like she'd be a pretty terrible executive leader (maybe saying you'd judge other archons isn't a great idea... just saying), she does seem to be excelling in the position she's chosen.

From what I've seen in the quests so far, Furina seems to be a figurehead. She does also have power in certain matters (like the oratrice, but we'll get to that), but it seems like most of her job focuses on keeping up people's morale and their belief in justice.

Prior to the 4.0 update, we did know that archons gained power based on their people's beliefs in them. However, Fontaine takes this a step further by using this belief and the Oratrice to generate energy.

When I take this into account, my perception of Focalors shifts from an irresponsible and haughty leader to a vital member of Fontaine's government who makes sure all the lights stay on. How many archons does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Judging by how much energy Fontaine's city seems to be using, you only need to call Furina!

Jokes aside, it also seems like Furina doesn't consider many of the boundaries of the court. She charges head on into accusing Lyney, and Neuvillette has to stop and ask her if she actually wants a trial. It also seems like even she doesn't really know what's happening with the Oratrice. So, Furina does seem like she's inexperienced.

Overall, I don't think Furina is a bad archon. I definitely don't think she's the best archon out there, and probably isn't a super great archon, but she is still playing a role in helping Fontaine. I think a lot of Fontaine's story will be about confronting Furina in her fallacies. Do I expect this to land us in jail? Yes, definitely. Will it probably be worth it? Hopefully! After all, as long as it's a story I enjoy, I think I'll be happy.

What are your thoughts on Furina so far?

[monoumysteries]

Genshin oc.

I still have a little tweaks and stuff i need to flatten out containing her character information but this is what i have at the moment! Plus voicelines.

Hello; "Woah, hey There! You look like a fun one to party with. Im Mirika. Number one prankster in all of mondstadt!"

Chat: Pranks; " Theres nothing like playing a good ol trick on a close friend!"

Chat: Prank gone wrong; "Haha.. Yeah, its always a bit awkward when someone gets a bit angry at ya. But hey, one day they'll look back at it and say "Hey! That was kinda funny afterall.."

Chat: Exploring; "..Ahh, mondstadt is always a great place to explore!"

When Lightning strikes; "Woah!! Careful, that one definitely almost hit ya--"

When the sun is out; "Perfect timing, why dont we go for that walk now, ay?"

When it rains; "Maybe we should head inside, its getting.. pretty wet dont you think?"

When the wind is blowing; "This breeze would of been way better if we were on a mountain.. we should go!"

Good morning; "Morning! How you feel about some Mora Meat to start off the day?"

Good afternoon; "Hey! You wanna hunt with me before the sun goes down, im in the mood for some boar!"

Good evening: "Phew, well that was fun! Im exhausted, wanna talk to Kathryn and check the commissions for tomorrow?"

Good Night: "Huh? Oh, Your heading out? Well, have a good rest! I had fun today, lets go out some more tomorrow!"

About Mirika: shenanigans "Wanna know my favorite prank to pull? Classic waterbucket on a door. A little water will never hurt anyone. But Haha.. alot of people don't like that one for some reason"

About Mirika: indecisiveness; "Ugh, you know its so hard to pick something. Like why choose between Mora Meat and salmon! Why cant i just have both?"

About the vision; "in all Honesty, when i first got my vision, i thought the gods gave it to me out of pity. I mean, me? A vision? I didnt want to use it.. but eventually i realized such gods wouldnt do such a thing. So im indeed greatful for the power they trusted me with!"

Something to share. "i love to climb mountains or sit in trees. It makes me feel super powerful. And it gives me the feeling i could do anything! Like.. a sense of authority or confidence! When we go out next time wanna come with me to my most favorite spots?"

Interesting things: "im a pretty big eater! Ive won 3 Eating competitions, last year, you know!

Alot people wonder how i stay fit and eat so much. Its probably because im always up and about! Its also probably the reason i get hungry so fast.."

About bennett; "Bennett? Oh Bennett is one of my best buds! We go on aventures together, we climb together, we eat alot of meat together, hes so fun! And i consider his unluck, to be really lucky. It makes the adventure unforgettable and Unpredictable!

About Venti: "Hes pretty cool, a free spirit and always knows what to do in a tough situation! Sometimes i dont know how he keeps a smile on his face. Not to mention hes an amazing singer and poet! He tells the most interesting of stories!

Both he and i know, that the danger in adventuring is what makes it so fun!"

About klee: "Shes adorable, and definitely has the spirit to be an adventurer. Though she definitely needs to work on where and how she should use her bombs.. now She is the definition of Unpredictable.."

About barbara: "Barbara scares me a little-- she's definitely one i wouldnt prank too often. She gets scared that ill one day mess up the cathedral.

Though besides that shes always willing to help whenever i have an injury, shes calm, gentle and very nice! Whats not to love..?"

More about mirika: l; "Oh, Me? Well, theres nothing to special about me. Im just a young adventurer looking for something fulfilling in my life. Dont take my charm and looks for granted, stay a couple feet away or you might fall into one of my tricks. Ahah."

More about Mirika: ll; "Hmm, well i dont really remember much about my younger days. I suppose i dont remember, because im not too fond of thinking about it.. luckily All i need is my brother and friends! Think more about the future rather then dwelling on the past is what i say!"

Mirika's Hobbies: "Well, cooking is definitely one of my specialties, its fo much fun to sit at an open fire and make some delicious food. Its definitely something you need to know how to do if your gonna be an adventurer!"

Mirika's troubles: "Ah well. It can be very disappointing, when i come home without anything in hand.. its so frustrating to spend so much time and energy into hoping to find something cool! But then.. your disappointed. Luckily, it gives me an excuse to go home. Mondstadt id always a place of happiness so no worried right?"

Favorite food: "Meat and fish! Meat is so fulfilling and you can make so many amazing dishes with it! Fish is also super similar, i typically prefer freshly cooked salmon, with delicious crunchy skin! Mmm thinking about it makes me hungry!"

Least favorite food.: "well.. im not a big fan of mushrooms. Im not a fan of the allmighty mushroom skewers.. Though, the Matsutake meatrolls can sure fill my hunger!"

[boy-above]

Venti for the ask game if he hasn't been asked yet? Or or Furina!!

i'll do venti here and i might do furina in another post later :3

favorite thing about them

Most Things. i love how cute he is and how gender he is. i'm ace Except For Venti (and xiao but especially venti). not only does he look cute but everything abt him is adorable, i love his laughs and yahoos. i also love that he's an angel boy thats Very much my aesthetic. i love his personality bc underneath the front he puts up theres just this like, wiseness about him? you can tell theres a lot of things he knows that he can't tell us, but he tries to give hints when he can. he's one of my favorite characters ever and if he ever died i'd cry.

least favorite thing about them

hoyo under-utilizing him!!!! i'm hoping its bc he's gonna play a much bigger part in late/endgame but i hate how he's only been showing up in events for a few minutes and hasn't had an event or story quest dedicated to him in Such a long time. all the other archons have two story quests except him!! (and furina but im certain shes getting one soon)

favorite line

i'm sure this is a lot of ppls favorite, it illustrates his concept of freedom so well. as well as "just because you shouldn't listen to the abyss doesn't mean you should listen to me" (or something along those lines) it really shows that he wants dvalin to choose his own life, even if it would hurt venti.

brOTP

does him and his dead friend count ASDFGH like he loved him so much that he took his face so his legacy could live on forever, that's true (platonic) love.

OTP

you already know its him and XIAOOOO i love xiaoven i eat sleep and breathe xiaoven i'm obsessed with them i would die for them

nOTP

venti/zhongli or venti/aether. i also don't particularly like venti with ladies but i mean, i don't like venti with Anyone but xiao so that doesn't rly matter.

random headcanon

venti can speak the language of the wind wisps which would be cute little squeaks and chirps. there is no basis for this in canon i just love the idea.

unpopular opinion

i think venti should be allowed to have more controversial opinions himself because it seems like hoyo doesn't allow him to have negative feelings about many things. like i think he should hate raiden, she's like the opposite of everything he stands for but his voiceline for her is just about sweets or whatever.

favorite picture of them

this horny birthday art of him like HELLO??? hello??

also honestly any panel of him from the manga he's soooo slutty its great

[1010ninetynine]

venti and lyney are very similar characters. i'm going to talk about sales tmrw but today. i'm going to talk about them in terms of character.

Now obviously they're different people. Venti's arguably the more interesting of the two in terms of lore (not story, i mean like celestia lore) - but people will probably like Lyney more, not just because he's a main dps and a support, and Venti's lost his CC king title, but because he's fontainian. He's connected to a better archon quest and his penchant for the traveler is made very clear from the word go. It would have felt like heaven to me if I'd liked lyney more (and I'll get into my experience with him).

I want to first talk about Venti and what I think defines his character. For me, it's that sense of just wanting to be some guy. Venti's never wanted to be this Anemo Archon of The Seven, and it doesn't show in any place best than when he gave his little speech to us as the Anemo Archon and it was...him telling us to get to know teyvat, rather than speedrun it, a value he cares deeply about, and the immediately after went back to silly goofball. It's what I love about him. He's wise, because thousands of years have left him with a lot of time for thought, but he doesn't seek to be this imposing figure. He seeks to be someone who's not revered, but respected. Like, if someone who saw his heroism personally was like 'you're pretty cool you drunkard' i think that's the ideal scenario for him.

I mean hell, one of his lines when he opens a chest is "Thank Barbatos...wait a minute-" so like. He's really gunning for it.

Compare that to his polar opposite, Zhongli, who liked leading and all but just got tired of it. He didn't actually tire of being revered, he doesn't try to mingle with people as an equal, he's just tired of taking care of every problem Liyue deals with. He still wants to be their dad archon, just a retired one.

Lyney, on the other hand, I think is defined by seeking validation, or more accurately, trying to get paid, whether that be in adoration which means more people coming to his show, or in just straight up mora. So naturally, he has reasons to pretend to be someone he's not, in comparison to Venti, who is naturally charming and sociable, but often has to force himself to be because grief took a bit of a toll.

Call it intuition but i was suspicious of Lyney's socialness being a bit fake when he said that things would be quiet if he and lynette were alone on an aquabus. I, for one, know something. If you are genuinely close to your sibling (as Lyney is to Lynette, by all counts), and as social as you seem, then hanging out with your sibling is a time of great joy. My sister is social, and with me, becomes even more so. I'm not very social, but even so, my sister makes me want to talk.

then he came out and his voiceline literally said "yeah im not actually this social naturally" and i was like FUCKING KNEW IT YOU LIL MAGIC MAN

*ahem* anyway point is he's developed a skill of being charming to survive and also is very pretty and by all counts, I should have fucking adored him.

but here's why i didn't - the ayaka and ei effect

*dramatic pause*

Now, one thing I have very little patience for in gacha games is being explicitly "pandered" to (except when I'm deep into them, like I was with Arlecchino and for a bit, Kokomi) Ayaka's story quest is a prime example of this.

Ayaka's lack of friends, journey to discover her mother's desire for freedom, and all of this leading her to love the traveler, but accepting she cannot leave Inazuma...and all this while I could still pull for her...it was so immersion breaking. And it felt kind of pandery the whole time to me. Like, they're pandering to a male audience with female charas like her obviously, and it's so fucking similar to every other overworked waifu in this game that while her being lowk trapped is a new dimension, it's not one that makes me feel any sort of way cuz uhh i could literally pull for her, and she'd go wherever I'd want her to, and it was so obvious that they were trying to sell her.

Same with Ei's story quest, it was just a shopping date, and while I mean I love evil women more than sane women so I was willing to ignore a lot of the pandery stuff, but what I couldn't ignore was the fact she'd literally tried to kill us right before the beginning of the story quest, and thus the whole quest made very little sense in the grand scheme of things. It was frustrating. I chose to ignore canon and pretend me and ei worked out shit over 4 months or so.

Now, I know what you all are thinking "but lyney's a well written character! his motivations for liking the traveler are well explained (imo no and ill get to that), and he's not a boring snowflake nor a poorly written villain." ok well consider this. I've already had two story quests somewhat dulled for me by the gacha system/poor placement and the supposed romance im supposed to be feeling has been soured, then lyney spends so much of his screentime flirting with the traveler, and I do self insert as the traveler btw, and I wanted his father, and I don't get why they don't just leave the rizz lines to the teapot. Least you can decide who gets to rizz you up then.

Second of all actually, no, I don't get why Lyney cares so much about our trust. Ayaka's reasons made sense, we kind of represented freedom to her, plus she's canonically into good sword skills, Lyney's reasons actually felt more like spontaneous attraction to anything.

And nothing's directly wrong with that, just, he's a fucking fatui member. Soon to be harbinger (supposedly). The traveler is not, in fact, famous for their favorable dealings with the fatui. We kind of caused La Signora's death, we regularly farm fatui insignias for some weird alchemical ritual, oh not to mention, we got on Dottore's bad side too. Childe's adoration for us makes sense, all he cares about is a good fight, he's not entirely in support of the Tsaritsa's actions per say - but his morals take second place to his desire for good fights so he rolls with it. Leaves it up to the players. So he sees a friendship with us as not a big deal.

Lyney on the other hand? Just straight up IGNORES all the implications of flirting with the traveler, at least, so far. And sure, it's nothing serious yes, just a rainbow rose and some on the edge lines but that's the thing, that means he knows he likes us, or he does this with everyone which is its own brand of annoying.

And his fucking magic show. The tricks were cool. But the goddamn dig at amateur magicians...call me a prick who cares too much abt stupid shit but like cmon. we know all mistakes are staged in this show. why are u speaking as if that's something that could organically go wrong. second of all, i don't like someone saying "hurr durr im not an amateur hehe im so fucking cool" like goddammit least favorite behavior.

And it's not like I think Lyney's a worse character than Ayaya or Ei, if anything, he's probably more developed than Ei at the very least. Im just like...specifically annoyed at him for minor details no one really cares about.

Another thing - the fact we decided to serve as an attorney during the archon quest despite no experience was kinda ehh to me. Like Fontaine's laws, known to be complex and silly, and some foreign traveler's gonna be the attorney? I wish we just offered to help gather evidence or smthn it was silly to me.

if you got this far and you liked lyney, uh, i commend you for being open to alternative takes but uh...mind the tags if that wasn't the case, for future reference.

[spiriteddreams]

oooookay i finally finished the last of the sumeru archon quest!!

the sumeru archon quest series was probably one of the best things i have read. period. like it surpasses a lot of books and tv shows that i've watched, which surprised me because i didn't think i would ever encounter this kind of stuff in a game. i think it's a mix of incredible writing and how great of a job hvy has done with building up characters throughout the game (ie. excitement for dottore and scaramouche since the beginning). the plot twists were placed perfectly and written in such a way that no one could have expected it, even with the trailers. anyways the writing in this quest made the writer in me so impressed and now i really want to take this game writing analysis course if i can find space in my hectic schedule lol

under the cut i have a bunch of screenshots and stuff hehe and my random little rambles

ok so apparently tumblr only lets you put 10 images that's a shame bc i have so many screenshots

starting off strong i love that everyone is telling paimon to shut up and pay attention and all that bc i'm truly so so sick and tired of her microaggression and she just irritates me in general

NEXT UP CYNO AND TIGHNARI hvy stop beating around the bush and just admit that they're in love and happy. like at the end of the 3.1 archon quest (or was it cyno's story quest?) the two of them were talking and it was oh so sweet. i love watching interactions between them. and their voicelines about each other!! adorable

no bc scaramouche's va did such an incredible job. the raw emotion in scaramouche's voice, especially when nahida took the gnosis back was so powerful. but ngl him just hitting the ground was lowkey funny bc the traveller and nahida were like lmao ok let's go save irminsul

i didn't include this screenshot, but the fact that nahida so easily and willingly gave us information about our sibling was so refreshing. venti, zhongli, and ei all bounced around the topic and it got really frustrating but nahida wanted to help us. i'm not the biggest fan of her design, but her character and development throughout the archon quest was really really good!

ok now we're moving onto ALHAITHAM AND KAVEH WOOF they're so funny when they're arguing like they argue like a divorced couple it's so refreshing to have this kind of petty and pretentious humour. and it fits well because they're both scholars

anyways yea lol. that was a lot but to sum this all up, i loved the sumeru archon quest series. i hope that the writers who worked on this will also be writing the rest of the archon quests because this is the sort of writing and pulling at heartstrings that i want to see!!

[whiskyarts]

nyx told me to talk about lyney so blame him Lyney is such a great character and he's already flushed out a lot more than other characters are. His personality is similar to Venti's with how outgoing he is and is very able to entertain an audience, but despite this, he's very much an introvert. His sister, Lynette, is very autistic coded, and hates social interaction. Lyney deals with most of the social interactions for her, despite admitting through voicelines to the Traveler that he's not really social at all. I'd argue that Lyney is also autistic coded. He mentions to the Traveler how he feels like he has to wear a mask at all times in order to make others happy and protect himself, just like how autistic people do 'masking' for the same reasons.

He's got a Pyro Vision, which indicates he's very passionate about a certain subject. These subjects would, in my opinion, either be cats or magic (magician-wise, not literal magic).

and now I'm gonna stop bothering you, reminder that nyx told me to do this‼️

I'm putting him in my MOUTH I love characters that feel like they have to over perform to make people see them a specific way, and are too scared to show their true selves. It's a good flavor of ANGST when done right, but also just straight up relatable when done to a lesser degree

[lilyandthegenshinbrainrot]

have I told yall about mona bc mona and her master are so funny to me in the queer and suspicious way

okay so!! let's talk about the funny little mona things!! starting with her vision,

in her vision story, mona starts with "...that her vision was sent to her from the gods doesn't mean a great deal." and she further explains that the gods still have to follow the laws of the universe so they aren't that much more special than anyone else. after this, it's said that " [the vision] was gifted to her by her teacher as a teaching aid, and it is the only evidence of their time together as master and pupil."

- so the vision mona has is a dead one she revived ???

her first voiceline about the vision is "when i first received my vision, the elderly woman that gave it to me, she put on this air and said "may your heart of truth be with you." and she complains about it getting her wet

her second line about it is that it's not all bad and "it is, after all, the one useful study tool that miserly old lady ever gave me, in a rare act of generosity."

Now going into speculation, esp regarding her master,

we understand that Mona's master is the professional/academic rival to Alice, who is. so interesting for many reasons but for this case, her apathy towards divinity and her own abilities. Alice is known for talking about how she could have shaped Mond. better than Barbatos did and also telling Zhongli that Jueyun Karst belongs on the ocean floor. (also the summer event when she admits to personally rearranging submerged islands in just the right order for her baby immortal-) Additionally, she's lifelong friends with Gold, an alchemist from Khaenri'ah? Literally what kinda of people does Mona's master run with.

- so this just sums up to say that like attracts like, and you have to wonder just what Mona's Master is capable of and who exactly she may be if she regards someone like Alice as an equal, someone who scorns archons and befriends "the great sinner" herself

however, since my headcanon first developed, it's been brought to light that archons do not personally hand out visions thanks to ei's voicelines (thanks ei I'm more confused now)

We also know that Mona is part of the Hexenzirkel (translated to coven/circle of witches in German according to the wiki so maybe it has foundings in Mond as Mondstadt is genshin's Germany?), as Lisa declines any involvement or interest in. There is jack shit known about this organization, except the fact that they explore the Irminsuls (the trees in domains that are connected to the abyss and leylines)

This is interesting bc Mona's magic, as some of yall have noticed, looks terribly similar abysmal magic, and if she's part of an organization where they study the connections between the abyss and the overworld..

The symbol on the house she now lives in was the same symbol as hydro mages summoning their shield

The language that is her hydromancy, in her idle when she pulls up a constellation, has the same characters found around the chasm and enkanomiya walls

Her charged attack looks like the abyss teleportation portals

actually her charged attack AND taunt has the star of Khaenri'ah in it, and idk why

so, as her voicelines confirm that she doesn't need her vision to perform her magic, you have to wonder where's she is getting the information she has, and again I wanna ask, why does Mona's master run in the same circles as Alice and Rhinedottir?

(also if mona has ties to the abyss, then her voiceline about venti and the wind's reaction to her trying to scry on him suddenly feels much more threatening,,,)

[zuluc]

summary: filming is great and fun with the cast but the setting might not be as such... in short, dragonspine can just not

style & genre: bulleted; modern!au, general fic

warnings: none

notes: i was on pinterest and saw fanart of a team with zhongli, diluc, fischl, and xingqiu where diluc gave his coat to fischl since she was cold. i thought that was cute ☺️ the groups are based off of random teams hehe. and this is a little smth to get these creative gears working again 😀

This is a real place they go to for ✨authenticity✨ so no green screens haha, it’s very cold

They do have hand warmers and hot packs in their clothes when they can have them and each scene is pretty reasonable with time, though some are pretty long. No one wants to risk the actors getting sick so they’re immediately huddled into large, warm jackets or next to a heater of some sort

The first group of the day is up and consists of Aether, Albedo, Klee, and Sucrose. Honestly, all of them are close to Klee since she likes to throw her bombs everywhere at anytime and they give off some heat

Albedo takes it upon himself to have Klee in his arms at all times because she’s very warm and she doesn’t mind it one bit. She’s the one who helps him reapply his chapstick since it dries pretty quickly in the new setting (see chapstick headcannon & more in the first post)

The cryo users think they’re all tough because they were made for the cold then realizing that visions aren’t real 😀 All end up right next to pyro actors who somehow all are very warm people

Nothing matters when Diluc is in your group and the other three (Xingqiu, Chongyun, and Fischl) are so thankful for that. Diluc is the warmest pyro actor so no doubt he’s the human heater. His coat is their coat

The director decided to keep the scene in when the camera was on Xingqiu and Chongyun and in the background you could see Diluc wrapping his coat around Fischl and making sure she’s warm. Her clothes are too thin for dragonspine ;-;

When “cut!” is yelled, the other two scramble into the coat as well as they press hotpacks to their face. Diluc stands there like this 🧍‍♂️because he doesn’t have a heart to tell them he wants his coat back because he got cold. Moves to a heater instead, pushing the three to it as well

The scene with Chongyun and Xingqiu was with them just taking in the view but water boy makes ice boy drop his popsicle on purpose, resulting in a comeback with Chongyun pressing his cold hands onto Xingqiu’s face

Childe, Zhongli, Venti, and Xiao are in a group and thought it was a good idea to eat snow. Xiao brought up his voicelines just for the fun of it and got roped in with Zhongli by the other two to eat it. This was all filmed for behind the scenes footage and the disappointment on Childe and Venti’s faces were caught

Xiao and Zhongli looked at them like “what’d you expect? it’s snow” to which they got told “well you ate it too!”

Their group had to be switched up because Childe wouldn’t stop picking a fight with Xiao (playfully) and they didn’t have a pyro person on to combat the cold like the other teams. Xiao gets cold easily and never misses out on the opportunity to join the “Diluc Coat Club”

The fire in lighting is real and done by a hidden lighter in their weapons that activates at the press of a button. They have to be careful to time it right or else it’ll look like they missed the spot to light the flame (and be careful in general)

Diluc has the most trouble with lighting and gets embarrassed when he misses the target so Yanfei gets to try it, but she also misses and they both sulk as Amber and Bennett get the job done quicker

The cicin mage actresses first scared the younger cast members because they were practicing their lines off to the side and their cast mates had to reassure them that they were also actors

So once that was all over they (they meaning Klee and Qiqi) kept trying to get close to see the holographic special effects (that would get enhanced even more for a shield effect in editing) causing the actresses to side eye the directors on what they should do. Well, they were just in awe with the design after getting over the “scary” part of the mages

The place where there’s the most storm is the least favorite spot for everyone. The pyro actors were set to film there anyways so the other actors just give them a thumbs up from a warmer place on the mountain

Xiangling, Xinyan, Hu Tao, and Zhongli are up for this and the trio pyro members sure make it more bearable in the cold. Zhongli’s just there to provide support for the scene and a different color palette

Xiangling is a self-trained chef on top of her acting career and finds anything and everything from their provided snack table to make some dish. She uses the fire available and feeds the group in between scenes

Zhongli’s tired but more tired with them all and is thankful for the different snacks, Hu Tao talking his ear off and Xinyan singing in the background (her voice is lovely yes)

Childe and Kaeya were put in a team together with Venti and Yanfei, the former two chatting way too much with each other when they had a scene to do. Venti and Yanfei would leave them to freeze because they wanted to get their stuff done

Childe’s lines about the snow pull concerned looks from everyone and he has to constantly assure them that they are just his characters lines. Regardless, they cover the children’s ears

If they had to rate the Dragonspine arc, it’s a solid 3 out of 10

The extra 2 points from Lumine because she didn’t have to do any scenes there yk being the abyss princess and all and it’s a pretty view. Just very, very cold

[sword-dad-fukuzawa]

a hate letter to canon diluc (no, not really)

a series of thoughts I had while talking to Peaches @scalpel-mom-mori. pardon me if it's a mess. currently, it's 12:30 am. @paintalyx hERE YA GO >:D

Anyway. This is why I think Diluc has the messiest characterization!

So, Genshin's one of those fandoms with mile wide gaps between the canon characterization of a given character and the fanon for them. But there are usually a few traits that remain consistent--typically the most recognizable ones. Think Zhongli being bad with money or Childe's bloodthirsty streak, Jean's workaholism or Xiao's devotion.

What makes it easier is that most characters are designed in a consistent way with their personalities. For example, Kaeya has an eyepatch. It's an easy metaphor for his habit of concealing the truth with half-truths and fabrications and a good example of character design expressing some trait of the character themselves. Or Ningguang, whose personality is refined and commanding. Her style of dress is very elegant and formal, reflecting her key character traits.

Another great example would be Klee. She has adorable pigtails and her design is very soft and round, which fits her very cutesy, young vibe. And her colors are red, which, you know, references both her explosive and extroverted personality as well as the whole Pyro element thing.

Which brings me to Diluc.

The problems with his in-game model aside, his design does not match his personality or characterization. Which is actually indicative of a larger problem! Namely, his characterization is a mess and all over the place!

At first glance, he looks...very soft. His hair frames his face in a soft (almost feminine?) sort of way, his expression isn't overly stern, and even his coat is trimmed with fur. But then you look at the...leg...bracelet...thing...and that's definitely a sharper sort of metal, along with his belt and buckles.

His design is also interesting in that he wars mostly black with just the white shirt, but then the first thing you see about him is his bright as fuck red hair. There's just so many weird contradicting elements and vibes in this outfit that I can't get a read on him at all.

Looking at his characterization, it's no wonder his design feels so dissonant. The difficulty with a video game is that Diluc is largely characterized by his interactions with other characters rather than being able to see much of his inner thoughts past his own voicelines.

But here's the thing! Nobody's got a consistent read on him either!

Jean obviously respects him, even to the point of holding onto the deferential -senpai suffix in the JP dub, and trusts his judgement on the Stormterror situation enough to recruit him.

Note, by the way, that Diluc repays this trust by subverting the Knights' authority in the Darknight Hero quest. By, you know, bullshitting up a clime crisis in order to go all vigilante on the Abyss Order.

Kaeya is a passive aggressive chucklefuck on the best of days but if you put him in Diluc's vicinity, he becomes more vicious than a sober soccer mom. See: airing all their dirty laundry during Venti's story quest and the Midsummer Islands quests. I think some of his better lines are "Does anyone else find it funny when Master Diluc says 'Dodoco King'?" "Would you throw me out like you did Father's legacy?" and "He's like a big kid."

damn Kaeya I didn't know you had a masters degree in sick burns okay

SO HERE'S MY THOUGHT. The fandom seems to have decided that Diluc's a grumpy tsundere. As Kaeya put it, an "antihero with attitude problems." And we're not exactly wrong? But also we are? Because while Diluc will pull tsundere moves like holding a birthday party for Jean while talking shit about her organization, he also reacts to Kaeya's ribbing with a taciturn sort of politeness and dismisses him out of hand.

And yet he's also really nice to Traveler for seemingly no reason. He also isn't...usually that grumpy or curmudgeonly. He's actually quite polite to everyone and, instead of wrecking Kaeya's shit for being obnoxious, he tends to remove himself from the situation. All of his lines during the Islands quests were about letting him take care of things and protect people.

And he pretends he's responsible, fighting the Abyss Order because he loves Mondstadt, but he also undermines the knights whenever he can. But he also seems like he's not overly brutal, either.

Except he tortures an Abyss Mage into giving up info.

My point about how all-over the place his characterization is ties into his design. I'd expect a character who looked like he does to be fierce, maybe a little loud, somewhat passionate. Diluc is, instead, a polite man of few words.

Unless he's giving a speech on his plan of attack. Unless he's talking shit about the knights. Unless he's glaring impotently at Kaeya. Unless he's being begrudgingly fond of Traveler and co. Unless--

You get the picture. His JP dub voice doesn't help, either. Kensho Ono portrays him as speaking calmly with, like, a hint of depression. It's so dissonant with the way he looks as a character and the fact that he waves around a massive fuck-off sword like my grandpa with a rolled-up newspaper. Add that to how his personality changes wildly with whoever he's interacting with and I am just exasperated.

My solution is to just write him however the fuck I need him to be for whatever my concept is, because I give up on figuring out what the hell is going on with him.

[mattoyaki]

So I have some thoughts after this story quest that I just want to write out, if you haven’t played the new story quest yet please don’t read this post as it will contain some spoilers.

This chapter act confirmed quite a few fan theories that have been circling around since launch:

For one, we now have confirmation that the twins did arrive in Teyvat during the fall of Khaenriah. We also have confirmation that the abyss is comprised of the people of Khaenriah, cursed to live as monsters. However, we know that not all of its people were turned into monsters due to Kaeya and Dain still retaining their human form. Kaeya does speak hilichurlian though...

We now know that the fall of Khaenriah was the result of divine intervention, and not quite the great cataclysm, though it could’ve easily have been both. And we also have reason to believe that the archons played a role, even if that role was turning a blind eye, in the destruction of Khaenriah. Zhongli and Venti a little sus...

We also know from Venti in the prologue that the Tsaritsa changed as a person 500 years ago....when the destruction of Khaenriah took place, so there’s obviously a connection there. We know she is planning a rebellion against Celestia and it’s very possible whatever the archons had to do during the fall of Khaenriah made the Tsaritsa turn against Celestia, and even her fellow archons. And whatever her reasoning for collecting the other Gnosis, it was enough to convince Zhongli to barter for his. We also know the archon of Sumeru died around this time so it’s possible their death is also linked to Khaenriah’s demise.

Then there’s the other sibling, who’s speaking in riddles and making claims about a war with destiny, engulfing the thrones, and having all the time in the world. Please no time loops mihoyo I beg you. 😭

There are obviously many pieces missing from the puzzle to try to make sense of it all just yet. Some things I do find interesting/important:

* The BP story. It speaks of a princess and who set out to find the Genesis Pearl but was ultimately corrupted and turned evil. Her brother, the prince, is now on the search of the Genesis Pearl and the game makes a point to say it’s “your” journey, alluding to the player. This story is very reminiscent of Aether and Lumine’s situation coming to Teyvat to look for “something” and one of them ultimately becoming “corrupted,” although it does omit the whole part of them traveling together through worlds and being stopped by the Unknown God. At what point does this story change from fact to myth?

* We still don’t know what exactly the archons we’ve met are hiding from us, or what the other archons are like. I don’t think it’s fair to immediately antagonize them just yet, but they definitely know more than they are letting on.

* Paimon. Paimon is sus as hell. While I don’t necessarily believe she’s the unknown god or the god of time or anything like that she’s definitely important. There’s a reason she’s the mascot. There’s a reason she meets aether/Lumine in the beginning and agrees to travel with them. Whether she’s malicious and knows more than she says, or is truly oblivious there’s something special about her either way. Albedo even pointed out in 1.2 event that she’s different from anything he’s seen in the world of Teyvat. My theory for now is that she is from Celestia. Whether she’s a spy of some sort or an actual god I’m not sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a big reveal or plot twist regarding Paimon later on. She’s definitely more than just a travel companion (and emergency food.)

* Finally, Dainslief. There’s still a lot of mystery that shrouds him but we know from the story preview trailer that he will most likely be (one of) the final bosses. I don’t think he’s necessarily evil, just that his motives might eventually clash with our own. He’s a very interesting character. He does not respect the gods enough to worship them but respects them enough not to fuck with them. I’m curious to see what else we learn about him as the story progresses.

I’m excited to see how this story plays out, there’s a lot of potential here and I love learning more about the lore of Teyvat. Please miHoYo give the main character more voicelines! I think it’s fair to say they are their own character at this point and any future meetings with their sibling will be awkward as hell if they don’t fucking talk. Also, I know this is probably inevitable given the already existing connections to the god of time and that miHoYo has relied on time loops in previous games but...time travel/time loops are so overdone and cliche and I really hope this story doesn’t end right where we started. I want there to be resolution. I want the twins to be truly reunited and finally leave Teyvat. I need for there to be a definitive ending.

[niteshade925]

Hello, hello! I'm kinda new in Genshin fandom... And to be honest, I don't even play the game (though it's more because I can't). I just got very, very interested in the lore of this game. I've read almost every character stories and voicelines on wikipedia, and watched people play the storyline. Can't wait for more content! But - cough cough, I'm just here to ask, what did you think about Zhongli's story quest? I was a little bit sad that there was no mention about Guizhong, but that makes me hope she'll be more important in the future. Even so, I found his story quest deep in its own way, although in a different way when compared to Venti's. And about Guizhong, what do you think about her, from what we know about her until now? 😊 Thank you for replying my silly questions and I hope your day has been good! 😉

Yea Zhongli's quest is rather interesting, and *may* be easier for people who know a bit of Chinese history to grasp. What Zhongli said at the very end of the last cutscene ("my legacy shall be left to those who come after to debate"; the Chinese line is a little different, in that it wasn't just "his" legacy up for debate, but everything from the past) very much reminds me of the only female emperor in Chinese history, Wu Zetian. Being an emperor and all, she shares a lavish tomb (called Qianling/乾陵; I believe it's still sealed to this day and has not been explored by archaeologists) with her husband, but her stele/碑 (basically a gigantic luxury tombstone, usually detailing the person's accomplishments in life) is curiously...blank. So speculation ensues. Of the many speculations, the one most widely accepted by modern people says that she intended for her stele to be blank, because she knew her deeds were not all good, so she wanted her legacy to be up for debate. The less "profound" speculation says that because her son (whose surname is Li and should've been the rightful heir) who was emperor after her and was therefore tasked with constructing her tomb, didn't know what to write for her; after all, she did kill many of his family in her way to power, but she also did some good things during her reign, and was his biological mother (filial piety dictates that one should respect one's parents). But whatever was the case, the stele has accomplished its goal: people now hold vastly differing opinions about her. Some believe she was benevolent, some believe she was cunning and violent, some believe she was ruthless and a tyrant, and some believe she was great solely because she managed to climb to the very top as a woman in a very misogynistic society.

But of course that is just a little connection I've made, and coming back to Zhongli of the Genshin universe: the story itself generally portrays Zhongli in a positive light, and although him being ruthless in the archon wars was mentioned, we were never given any examples of what he did except what he said himself, that the gods he defeated must have broken contracts made with him in some way, and so we cannot really judge him like we can do for a real life historical figure like Wu Zetian (and tbh no one can really judge her either because after all, she lived way over a millenia ago, and innumerable records have been lost to time since then). Nevertheless, the varying opinions of Rex Lapis among different npcs is pretty interesting, and rather telling of his complexity. Ultimately, I think Zhongli/Morax's story is one about letting go. So many famous and powerful people throughout history have tried to take control of how they would be thought of in the future, but how many of them can truly let go and just let others debate their legacy? Not many. And this is part of why I like Zhongli. He understands that he has to let go of certain things, now that the era of gods is ending. Some things are inevitable for all of us, like biological death or the final death-death of finally fading into oblivion, but there's some comfort in accepting this and letting go.

[ellitx]

Not Venti or fanfic related but El do you ever just think about how good Paimon is to traveller, she's really trying her best 🥺 like not only in being their guide but also just being there for traveller overall. Because I noticed that in the story quests she's always the one insisting on helping people on their travels and I think it's so that traveller won't have that much time to think and be sad because of their missing twin and so that they won't feel fully alone. I also think that's also the reason why she complains whenever there's nothing to really talk about. Bottom line is I'm emotionally attached to Paimon since the start of the game and if anything happens to her I would cry, sue MiHoYo then proceed to loose my mind 💜💜💜

Ahh yes!! I love paimon from the start and even now i still love her 😭 she’s such a great friend and guide to the traveler

Reading her and traveler’s voicelines made me smile and they’re such a great duo!! There’s one voiceline where the traveler had a bad dream and paimon just has to mention she got eaten by a big slime ajsksk

Others found it annoying that she cant read the room but i think it’s to distract them and to make them laugh from the bad thoughts of their lost sibling T^T she’s doing her best to be always for them and my heart just hhh—

[bluexiao]

omg i love the fact that danielle is the type of person who doesn't judge until she meets the person because aria always feels secluded from the people in mondstadt because she couldn't tell anyone about her origins (since it leads to venti's identity as the anemo archon). venti always introduces her as his 'manager' since he is a bard (when the traveler first met venti and aria, he also told him and paimon that aria is his manager as to not induce suspicion) -- so aria would REALLY appreciate danielle not judging her origins and aria would harbor great respect for her as a god and as a person.

aria would feel like she could be herself with danielle since all her interactions with people is about helping them so she has never made a proper connection to anyone except venti. though, she would get a bit confused when danielle tricks her into relaxing but once she knows about her intentions, aria would be quite hesitant to rest but if danielle persists, she would oblige. aria is a great listener as well, so she would love to listen to danielle's tales about her travels (maybe they could rest under the tree in windrise while aria listens to danielle talk, such a nice concept-)

and if danielle were to meet aria, it is most likely that danielle will stumble upon our resident drunkard, venti since aria gets quite worried about what he's up to when she's gone so maybe aria can help danielle form a proper opinion on the anemo archon. as a conclusion, i think aria would think of danielle as a friend that she respects and whom she can finally be herself with.

also, i feel like danielle seems rlly easy-going somewhat so i can kinda see danielle calling aria 'ari' as a nickname?? lol

"She is one of the only people whom I can tell my true origins to, and she does not look at me with judging eyes. Danielle is a kind soul. She has my respect, as a god and as a friend." i feel like that's what aria would say in her voicelines about danielle

but i hope you like it, blue! i'd like to know more about danielle and your other ocs too!! also everybody say thanks to @feifae for the idea yasss

i am sorry this took me a realllyyyyy long time to reply to! i didn’t want to just scan it and reply halfheartedly:( ive been really busy lately with school so-

anyway i agree! i think dani and aria can be really good friends! both of them can’t talk to anyone freely with their own identities, plus dani may even go to angel’s share every time aria and venti may be there hehe. dani likes wine you see, but not as much as venti probably. It’s just the ancient part of herself me thinks. so while aria is looking after venti, dani may be there to keep ner company and actually stay sober hahah

danielle’s kind of easy-going in a way, but she has the mature qualities of an ancient god, although it would really please her that aria would allow her to call her with a nickname, and she’d allow the same too! aria can call her “dani” when she wants:) i really like the interactions thanks so much nonnie!! lemme share a pic of danielle below (i swear i made this picrew before i received this ask hahah)

also as for her beliefs, she trusts only two gods; morax and tsaritsa, and as for barbatos, she gives him a benefit of a doubt, most likely. if she meets aria and venti, she may trust them the more she gets to know them:) nonetheless she’s just the type to go along with the flow (like her hydro vision oop haha). fun fact tho, she only likes tea that is made by her so if she has a visitor, she’d often brew tea for them and that’s the only time people would see her actually drink tea (even zhongli wouldn’t be able to make her unless she’ the one who brews it for them lmao).

btw tell me more about aria! i wanna tell more about danielle but well idk what else to say… hmm what would you guys like to know?

[mrpenguinpants]

Oh my god, I don’t know how I came up with this idea but one time I was playing a co-op domain that consisted of a party of Childe, Keqing, Kaeya, and Diluc. And for some reason, an idea came to mind.

What if these characters actually knew each other?

It went downhill from there, it went from Keqing babysits three grown men to Keqing reevaluating their own morale for them to me and my friend just labelling the idea as “Keqing’s disastrous and far from desired harem”. The idea spiraled in our heads, totally rent free, that I had to stop grinding domains for a while and just think.

Okay, hear me out.

Just— Just think of their interactions, albeit that their interactions may start roughly given that all of them have personalities that have rough ends, I believe that with effort, it will work out. Childe and Diluc would often disagree on most conversation topics, Kaeya would be... well, Kaeya, on a Kaeya-classified mission to annoy the fuck out of Diluc while the red-headed man deals with the Fatui brute who apparently was on a journey together with one of the neighboring nation’s chosen rulers.

It’s hardly even a harem! It’s just her being done with all these dramatic men’s own agendas and while it make not make a lot of sense, I fell completely in love with the idea. There are also a lot of things they would struggle to understand, like why Diluc just can’t let go of the past no matter how much he grows tolerant of the Knights, or why Childe chooses to keep on a facade of a toy seller just for his beloved brother, and many more!

God, I could go on about this for ages jdncjsjxjsmz— Anyways, taking all of that aside, happy belated new year and hopefully your blog doesn’t suffer again because it’s literally my consistent source of serotonin. Always remember that we love you and hope that you stay in good health! ... while also feeding us with content, hehe

Jokes aside, please always remember that this isn’t a job and you’re free to take breaks whenever you feel like it’s necessary. Thank you if you manage to read all of this and again, belated happy new year!

Yo, pop off anon! This is great! 

I really really wish that genshin could mix more characters together and I know they just started and story continuity or whatever but it would be really nice. We do have voicelines so in a sense they do know each other but dammit, I want more food;; 

I would read/watch the shit out of “Keqing’s disastrous and far from desired harem”. It lowkey reminds me of that fgo comic of Osakabehime, where she thought she was gonna start a harem, when really she’s just watching the mc go through theirs. 

Keqing gives off major “I was not paid enough for this fuckery” vibes. You can not convince me otherwise. I think throwing 2 brain cell Zhongli [who is secretly the only one with braincells in the group] into that mess would be 11/10. I’ve been there before, trying to sleep and then at 3am I get slapped in the face with a 190k word crack/angst fic (which ahem, may or may have not happened with Xiao). 

I’m so glad you have faith in them because I’m imagining they last for two hours on a good day before war paint is brought out. Childe is such a clown bastard, god I hate him, he would be the second Kaeya for Diluc but without the braincells. His only braincell is fighting. Lowkey, I actually really like Childe and Kaeya interactions that people have done, I just wanna see the Team Rocket antics. (If someone has not drawn that I will RIOT. Bonus points if Zhongli is Meowth). Poor Diluc popping 20 aspirin for his headache of having to deal with Kaeya and Childe which just ends up with Diluc trying to commit manslaughter and get away with it. No one will find out if everyone is dead.   

Poor Keqing and her first impressions of seeing all these beauties only to realize, wait I’m dealing with actual children. Remember that Kaeya and Diluc wine talk where they were being petty in front of these two random guys? With Venti in the background. Pretty much the same idea except it’s Keqing with the most “are you serious right now? Right in front of my salad?”. Don’t worry anon, I love the idea too! Honestly, any “in the lore we don’t know each other or we secretly hate each other but OUTSIDE of the lore it’s a constant fever dream” is just mwah 💕💕 Having their soft and vulnerable moments with each other which brings them closer as a group is just ahh I love it. I absolutely adore this.

I can literally feel your excitement anon and I’m LIVING for it. Yo, if you ever think on this more PLEASE share it with us (if you want to of course). We need more interactions, give me hades level of interactions, PLEASE I BEG OF YOU. 

Oh happy be-lated new year to you too 🎉🎉So far tumblr has been alright but I pray it doesn’t get snapped again. Aww you’re so sweet I’m glad this is brings you some good vibes. This ask has brought me to new heights of serotonin haha. I love you too, oh my god I’m actually so soft rn fuck. I hope you’re all safe as well^^ [don’t worry I gotchu on the content] 

Of course, this was some good food hehe

[goldenworldsabound]

💫 for Baal/ Aura? :3c

I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN-

YOU ALREADY KNOW ALL THIS THOUGH FKJEWHFKJW

Okay WELL for those who DON'T live in Genshin land, under the cut

Baal, or the Raiden Shogun, is one of the seven archons! Archons are like gods but they also like legit are people (Zhongli and Venti are examples too) and they all have their own ways of ruling. AND there are gods above them too, up in Celestia. It's unclear how much archons know about Celestia. However, Celestia gave them special chess pieces called Gnoses (singular Gnosis) that let them have special powers.

Baal is the electro archon so she's purple and fucking awesome. KFJEWHFK All the archons also have like...an ideal, which they use to determine who gets a vision (or so it seems). A vision is what most characters get that gives them their elemental powers. Baal's ideal is eternity. In practice, you have folks like Razor who was upset at having his wolf family ripped from him by hunters and received his vision at that time (fighting to protect them and keep things the same), and also Fischl who seems to be holding onto what others might think of as childish (speaking in a very specific way and insisting she's a princess).

What eternity means to Baal though? We don't really know yet.

What we do know is that Baal is willing to go to great lengths for it. A few years before the game takes place, Inazuma went under lockdown with no one being able to leave or to come in, more or less. Additionally, there was a vision decree, and most people have their visions taken away and inlaid upon a statue. So she's a bit of a tyrant. But her logic lines up - people with visions can enact change, which is the enemy of eternity.

Now, as for how Kitsune Aura plays into this. I am confident that given how Baal focuses on eternity, if she met a human and fell in love there's no way she would simply let time take them from her. Hence using some sort of magic to create a reincarnation situation for Aura. With her permission of course. So I just feel really delighted I was able to kind of neatly fit her in there like that. It just makes sense imo.

ANYWAY! I am super looking forward to learning more about her motives as the plot goes on...and getting all of her voicelines unlocked when I pull her in September hehehe >w<