#just started arle story quest

[hoetao]

imagine

a confrontation between all the potential traveler love interests

though i mostly thought about lyney and xiao

lyney being flirty with the traveler, xiao reacting to this by trying to murder him, lyney disappearing in a burst of confetti

just. you know. the shenanigans

[violetsareblue-selfships]

good morning!! <3

[the-travelling-witch]

HOLLY im glad ur ok!

And a Surprise new theme or FIC soon did she say? Gasp (take ur time, we just love hearing from u)

yeah i thought a sign of life might be appreciated

also i‘m not sure “soon” is the term i’d use, considering i’m severely lacking theme inspo and am still trying to kick my brain into writing gear again

[hulahoopsoupgroup]

idk if this counts as arlecchino story quest spoilers but just, possible spoiler warning utc

some headcanons for my troubled angsty heart:

1. if clervie survived, i think she wouldve gotten an anemo vision because of her whole thing of fighting for freedom in the house of the hearth. she says she wanted to be a bard in arles story quest. imagine arle and clervie going to mondstadt for the windblume festival and clervie and venti running into each other, and him teaching her to play the lyre. one night, clervie sings to arle, and when she looks over at the harbinger, shes smiling wider than she has in her entire life

2. FATHER AND MOTHER. some of the hearth kids are scared of clervie and the title "mother," and how much she resembles crucabena in terms of physical appearance, and clervie takes care to try not to resemble her at all. she wears her hair in a different style (i.e. not the dead anime mom cut), she has a completely different style from her mother (she can often be seen walking around in flats and arlecchinos stolen suit jackets), and she makes sure she doesnt talk in the threateningly saccharine tone her mother used to. over time, the kids are at ease around her, no more heels clacking down the hallway at night, patrolling every corridor. shes so gentle and doting with the kids, with no hint of a murderous gleam behind her eyes

3. speaking of father and mother, they have such a healthy relationship dynamic and they absolutely show affection to each other around the others. the kids at the house have sometimes walked into the library and seen arle reading a book on a sofa with clervie leaned on her shoulder, an arm wrapped around her waist. god theyre so soft with each other and they have such a healthy example of love for their kids

4. arle has taken clervie to snezhnaya on business trips before (dw, they have someone back home to watch over the house). the first time they went there, the first thing they did was go see the aurora borealis. they sat on top of a mountain one night. clervie wrapped herself in arles winter coat (it was big enough for both of them, even though clervie had her own coat) and tucked her head under arles chin

5. clervie has stolen the rest of the harbingers hearts. they love her, probably more than they love arlecchino. signora and pantalone are ready to pour out a river of mora for her, columbina loves to listen to her singing, and sandrone tinkers with little trinkets to give to clervie to take home to the hearth kids

6. their proposal is so sickeningly sweet. clervie has been talking about wanting to go to snezhnaya again, not for a business trip, but just for a regular vacation. maybe they can even go to a winter festival together. like always, they go up to a mountainside together to watch the northern lights. clervie gets up to their usual spot first, and she turns to face the lights, arlecchino to her back. arle takes out a ring with a pink diamond, clervies favorite, set in the middle of a gold band. clervie hears arlecchino go silent and she turns around, confused, and starts to ask why, until she sees her down on one knee. she could see a tear in the corner of arlecchinos eye, but of course she wasnt going to point it out because she herself had tears streaming down her face as she said yes a thousand times over

[narwhalandchill]

how are we feeling about this project amber update

assuming this is in relation to childe bc who the fuck else JWDJWJKDJKW anon im so sorry if not. also so so sorry for how out of hand this got. i am simply unwell about him.

But! Well. there certainly are thoughts

(obviously 4.6 datamine of arle SQ and her voicelines; This Will Not Spoil Anything Abt The Main SQ Plot, i only discuss the relevant parts. also some p Heavy negativity towards fanon ooc at the start youve been warned dont @ me)

(i mean i didnt even read anything of the SQ but The scene w childe so idek the main plot of the quest rly either lmao. tho go at ur own risk if u wanna check the dialogue out; its the 2nd quest log but it does hint at the greater story)

TLDR: how i feel abt his appearance in a vaccuum? quite solid despite the briefness, actually. accounting for the way fanon is 100% likely going to be reading into this and turning it into the Lets Infantilize Ajax Even More 2024 championship? conflicted.

in other words; a certified labyrinth warriors moment - theyve expanded on childes character in a very interesting and quite a compelling way and while i Do like the potential in what im seeing from hoyos end theyve also done it so that its going to be misinterpreted to hell and back by fanon so i kinda have an immediate jaded love-hate moment going on JJWJDKJDKJWJDWKJ

its literally just labyrinth warriors flashbacks - that event has some of my ALL TIME favorite insights into who ajax is and how he views the world and himself but when the event came out all everyone cared abt was to warp it into baby boy stuck in scawwy paper boy dungeon dehumanizes himself by calling himself a weapon and doesnt love himself he is such a sad trauma meowkitten 🥺🥺so yeah

bc like lets look at this properly for a bit; okay he went back to fontaine to look for skirk still somewhat injured and waa waa my 286 month infant baby cannot Make decisions like that!!!!!11! which is to say. i am tired of him getting this shit every time.

is it smart of him to get on the move immediately with just the bare minimum of rest? no. do i like that hes straining himself before proper recovery? not particularly no. do i feel the particular need to psychoanalyze this grown man and feared warrior whos 100% survived Way Worse in Way More Extreme Situations for it? hell fucking no.

while not at all the course of action a medical professional would approve of. from childes POV its perfectly logical hes priorizing going back for skirk when its literally the FIRST TIME shes showed up in like. a Decade. when hes been looking for her all this time are you kidding me 😭😭😭 but fanon must keep fanoning for their widdle baby girl so what does a hater like me know

anyway. seething and venting over im gonna try to avoid bringing up how much i hate this kinda infantilization of ajax now im sorry for bringing it up so much on ur innocent ask anon KJWDJKWKJDJDKWJKD. neutral discussion moment. i Promise

so it seems that theyre going for the pulcinella-is-shady-about-ajax (and prolly his family) angle for good and like. personally for me as long as the only real source of that claim was scara (a cynical edgelord who doesnt believe in non-exploitative human relationships, mind you) i was rather skeptical towards just instantly drawing that conclusion, but well. with the scene in arles AQ it appears to be sth theyre building towards

i actually really fucking loved that scene bc while theres outsider perspectives (scara obvi; and even arles line for him has that vibe. and ppl still take that shit face value 💀💀) and a lot of fandom assuming childes like. completely clueless and naive and ignorant towards the potential risks involved with trusting pulcinella. this is actually a very clever demonstration of quite the opposite? and showcasing how despite his aversion towards schemes and lies hes still intelligent and knows the kind of people hes dealing with when it comes to his fellow harbingers

like. childe has a negative opinion of arle based on what pulcinella has told him about her because at face value many of her deeds are in heavy conflict with his values of loyalty and family. and because he does not have the further context behind her actions and what the HotH under her is really like. Obviously hed hold a very hostile and wary view towards arlecchino

(ESPECIALLY when with all this biased intel hes still going to run into kids from the house!!! and then hes going wtf? these are good kids. what the hell is that knave doing with them??? blink twice if you need help i will start a civil war for yall like thats how he is with kids!!!!)

so YES. pulcinella has given him if not false then at least misleading intel based on the political tension between himself and arlecchino and the wider HotH. and childes taken that at face value! sure! he is close with pulcinella of course he would!

BUT. THEN. he returns to fontaine and seeks arlecchinos help looking for skirk. and observes her behavior and modus operandi for himself as well as the kids. does he go "nah she must be just hiding the crazy evil shit i would never distrust pulcinella" and leave it at that when reality doesnt completely match his expectations?

NO. because when offered the opportunity through the traveler asking about the HotH childe immediately capitalizes on the opportunity to prod for answers and see if pulcinella is lying to him!!!!

and hes so fucking smart with the way he does it too???? i LOVE his intelligence. the entire thing is so simple yet elegant; it Completely relies on his reputation as the kinda gullible harbinger whod Never scheme or hide Anything to indirectly affirm or deny his suspicions. he doesnt Need to Pretend to care about the possibility of arle betraying the kids bc he genuinely does!! and when she pushes back against the accusation he doesnt Need to fake admitting to her that well, actually, its all just rumors so he could be completely wrong. and so on. like he navigates the entire thing so effortlessly. and whats the end result?

childe has Confirmation of pulcinellas possible ulterior motives in action AND that arlecchino is a much more reliable ally than he initially assumed. all the while appearing as just The Straightforward 11th. like obviously id need to hear it voiced first to be sure but in text it v much gives the impression hes almost kinda just. playing up the threats towards arle and being "dumb" on Purpose?? to get the answers he wanted out of arle without appearing like hes fishing for anything particular. and i just hhhhhhhhhhh

i love when he does this so muchhhh!!!!!! 😭😭 he doesnt need to become some machiavellian schemer to be able to strategize !!!!!! he avoids scheming bc he Dislikes it not bc hes incapable of it like this has Always been the case Since Liyue AQ and i love whenever they show that side of himm . my Beloved

so anyway. while i do still think the like "pulcinella is bad and has his family hostage" is still kind of a generic plotline and i hope the writing regarding the whole thing wont ultimately turn out to be sth That simplified and black and white. its p clear theyre doing Something with pulcinellas motivations and as they are. im Really glad theyre letting it show that childes not just some completely passive party being manipulated in this all. he Is thinking abt this stuff and his position among the harbingers. ig we shall see where it goes - not the greatest fan of the concept still, but canon text supports it becoming a thing way more than when it was just scaras word we had for it. hope theyll surprise me positively w how they go about it!

then briefly for the rest uhh

also loved arle and childe just shittalking the rest of the harbingers it was amazing. i wasnt expecting this kinda dynamic between them at all but its great lmao. also i wanna see childe hang out w the HotH kids

as for project stuzha; so we dont really get anything solid on it other than being summoned back to snezhnaya for it is apparently a Big Deal. but still very interested. let my man have his endgame significance Trust

childes appearance was obviously v brief ultimately but that was clear from his leaked linecount to begin with - i am pretty satisfied with what they seem to have done w him. like its not The Best but also i wasnt expecting his lore to get some massive expansion in another harbingers SQ . the worst i feared was that it was just going to be a flashback of arle returning his vision which did Not happen so massive W. i am super hyped to hear this scene voice acted proper and happy to see him again, i really hope he gets to appear at least once more in an interlude or dains quest or something before going on hiatus again but idk if thats too much to ask LKKWJDJWDJWD

also: i am never changing my namecard after this patch drops. oh my godddddddd its So Fucking Beautiful 😭😭😭😭

But. Yeah. lots of good stuff. unfortunately lots of it will get misinterpreted and fanon will get obnoxious about it. but i still love getting to see him again and i am speedrunning that namecard day fucking one mutuals and/or followers in EU please add me (UID 711090267) ill need coop buddies for the world bosses

thank youuuuuuu for the ask i hope this monstrosity of a monologue doesnt scare u off 💀💀💀

[e-hibiscus]

Pairing: Arlecchino x reader

Cw. Utc Angst, death (reader), you get murked offscreen 😔

My Arlechinoitus has evolved and gotten worse 😨 it’s turned to critical levels after i started fontaine’s story quest 😰 plus @/megistusdiary had a recent post along the lines of arle being scared of corrupting !reader and it just fed into the misery /pos 😣

Now, hear me out in my eepy ramblings 😔 I imagine that Arlecchino, through her conviction and love for you would still have that little voice in her head that tells her that allowing you to love her will cause more harm than good 🥺 she’s a fatui harbinger after all

Arlecchino can protect you, yes, but she can’t always be there when her duties as a harbinger come into play. At times, not even the children can either.

So… imagine if you died 😭 Arle, sweet Arle would be devastated 🥲

Arlecchino remembers watching you quietly slumber on the couch, waiting for none other than herself to return home. She’s always been away for so long periods of time, only coming back when the sun had set long ago;the moon settled in the sea of stars. You always tried to stay awake to greet her upon her return, like many nights before, but in the end you were lulled to sleep by the crackling of the fireplace before your beloved’s return.

Arlecchino’s eye’s don’t leave your sleeping form. Your face is highlighted by the celestial hue of the moonlight. These moments of peace go undisturbed, and Arlecchino places her coat around you like a blanket.

She watched your body relax from the new found warmth and familiar scent. Arlecchino can never forget how you unconsciously bury your head into it with a sigh of relief. It was a reminder of how much you missed her even when she couldn’t be with you more than several hours a day.

Like a moth drawn to a flame, your persistence gradually chipped through her resolve. Like a fool, she let you in, allowing you to thaw away her harsh exterior. You allow her some respite in the coldest depths of the Snezhnayan winters.

In her cold heart, there’s an inkling of regret. By allowing you in, your very life will always be at risk as her lover, as her wife. It’s an unforgivable selfish act which she never should have allowed, not only for herself, but most importantly you.

Arlecchino does not wake you when she leaves for her office. She knows you’ll come find her once you’ve gotten enough rest for the night. You’re then pulling her off to bed and spending time in each other's arms. Your lips would come and kiss her stained blackened hands. Even though her hands are bathed in blood of countless victims or caused the deaths of one too many people, you never pulled away, you only ever showed her love.

So…

When death finally came for you, Arlecchino saw to that whoever done this would be torn asunder. There’s not a single ounce of mercy. There’s not a single ounce of hesitation as she cuts down every party involved in your demise. It’s bloody, its a mess, and even the children have grown concerned over the well being of “Father”.

Once life settles once again, Arlecchino can never be the same. Nothing can ever fill that void in her heart. The only thing left in her for her to care about are her job and the children— her and your children.

Arlecchino is still the Knave. She must still be a strong figurehead as a harbinger and as the head of the Hearth. But behind closed doors Arlecchino can finally mourn for her beloved.

Arlecchino now always carries the regret of letting you in so close because will never love like this again because it won’t be you.

Her love and loyalty will always be for you because, after all, swans mate for life.

[blood-orange-juice]

I think I'm starting to understand what exactly annoyed me in 4.2 storyline and it's not the unanswered questions, it's the things that seem implausible.

Childe's 4.0 infodump already felt ooc and a bit like bad writing (I said it even back then) but I waved it away with "ok, he probably has a Plan, it will be explained later." "He isn't really being ooc, something is just off."

And now I think it's unlikely we will ever learn his thought process or get to know if he had a plan. He doesn't talk about such things.

It's not "they didn't tell us why his Vision malfunctioned" or "why did the Oratrice find him guilty" (I'm sure both will become important to the plot eventually), it's "I didn't get to learn why did he give it away" and "I didn't get to know why he told us all of these things".

Same with Skirk. Why did she feel necessary to tell us all of these things?

Same with giving the Vision to Arle.

It's asking for too much of suspension of disbelief for the sake of just getting the plot from point A to point B and suddenly there wasn't even a real need to do that. The plot could have been fine without any of them involved. This loredump could have been a side quest.

And the amount of disbelief just reached a critical point for me. Sure, I can do some mental gymnastics and explain away all of it (Childe traumadumping and giving his favorite weapon away because he had poor impulse control at the time, Arle not willing to break a potential alliance or weaken her colleague and the Traveler understanding it, Skirk just being Like That).

But the problem is, after a certain threshold I just don't wan't to. For many people the threshold is higher so they still think it's a great story, of course.

It's not a problem of an "ongoing story" as many try to argue, I know I'm perfectly fine with ongoing stories.

Things left unanswered are not a problem. It will be fixed by future patches, I have faith in hoyo here.

The whale just being sad and hungry is somewhat anticlimactic but fits Childe's story flow well. Also I think we learned something incredibly important about how fate/samsara cycles work in Teyvat: the whale didn't need to be connected to that story to make the prophecy come to life. So it's not a problem too.

My fave not getting enough screentime is not a problem either, he got plenty of screentime.

The problem is characters acting in ways that I see as implausible. It breaks the story for me. Ok, so the writers can bend them in any way they want. Why should I still be interested?

I'm thinking of the ways this can be mended by future patches and I can't come up with any. Skirk intentionally feeding us intel for some evil scheme? Seems even more implausible. Arle pocketing the Vision? Not enough screentime.

Childe giving the Vision away because he knew we would see something about him if he gets in trouble? Childe knowing the Vision will backfire if he comes close to the whale with it in his pocket? Ok, theoretically could work but I doubt they'll go in that direction.

I'll be extremely happy to be wrong about it, of course.

[gold-rhine]

...I was honestly kinda hoping to hear your sub Arle rant

i'm restraining myself so hard from rewriting her entire story quest rn and ranting on how hoyo did clervie dirty, but basically the vibe i'm going for is like. arle's not a normal human, she's from cursed khaenriah vampire bloodline, she doesnt have natural empathy, she doesnt have natural understanding of how best to treat children in her orphanage - and just humans in general, as well, so she tended to be apathetic and closed off until clervie took initiative to spend time with her and reach out. and even after that, arle didn't magically get empathy, but she started to believe in clervie's idealism, she has good intentions bc she *decided* to have them, but all the tools she has is reaper's scythe. so she trusts clervie to set direction and goals, and she herself is not an attack dog precisely, bc she doesnt take orders, but more like, if she thinks that the "good" methods will not work to achieve some goal, then she'll bring clervie ashen corpses of her enemies, like a cat bringing dead mice home.

on a personal level, she's as cold and controlled to the outside world, but in bed she likes to let loose her predatory instincts more, get a bit feral, bc she knows clervie has will strong enough to handle her. like, a bitey top sub whos into play fighting and pushing dom to get pushed back, but also have gentle, but firm hand grip her hair and push her neck into the bed

[possibly-not-a-ghost]

Wriothesley and Arlecchino

Okay but can we talk about Wriothesley and Arlecchino for a second because I am bouncing off the walls thinking about the two of them in relation to each other.

Spoilers for Wriothesley's story quest and voice lines below!

Recently, I've been thinking about how isolated Wriothesley is in terms of characters and how much or how little would change if he were not to exist or be a designated playable character. I love that man don't get me wrong but I was was just thinking about why he was made into something of such importance. Literally, he's in an underwater prison and they could've had an NPC warden with the same traits. Figuratively, we know he has a very dubious ability to trust as seen is voice line.

I've managed to get myself to a pretty comfortable place in life, but there's still some things I want that are outside my reach, like a peaceful and happy childhood, or the ability to trust other people. - More About Wriothesley: V

Anyways after watching the trailer with Arlecchino, I was struck with how much Wriothesley and Arlecchino both parallel each other or perhaps could even serve as each other's foils depending on how Arle's lore will change upon release!

Both were orphans. Each had siblings they were raised and some of which did not survive. Both killed their parental figures while young. But whereas Wriothesley was convicted and exiled for his crimes, Arlecchino was pardoned and not only that but her crimes were 'rewarded' with the title as Harbinger. (I use reward in a dubious sense as we don't know how she felt about her inherited title yet or if she was more or less thrust into it with no real agency in the matter.)

She was given a new name, Wriothesley chose his and discarded the one his adopted parents gave him.

God, even the start of the short when "Mother" is telling a story to the children we see how the future where they'd be pitted against each other but through their eyes. The colors are soft and bright. It's a child-like rendition of the brutal reality that Arle would later be faced with.

During Wriothesley's story quest, we learn the full extent of his backstory. He was being fostered by a couple who seemed perfectly lovely and loving but the truth of the matter was that they were trafficking the children under their care. That, or 'disposing' of them if they were useless or found out the truth. To use a veneer of love, of kindness and safety and that have that shattered in the most brutal of betrayals. Sounds familiar, huh?

"They did all of that, but never considered how their actions would utterly ruin all the children they took under their wing. Worse, perhaps they never cared about that at all."

—But I did.

Wriothesley, who took extreme actions and murdered his foster parents so the other children could live and be free, shouldering that sin.

Arlecchino who presumably had her siblings blood on her hands. Who had no siblings left but murdered "Mother" anyways. (I'm not entirely sold that her friend didn't throw herself on Arle's sword but nvm) and once alone, was placed back into that cycle that made her as we see her today in the first place.

Do I ship them? Do I want them to be found family? Enemies? Distant acquaintances? YESS I just want to see them interact with each other, hoyo please.

[oh-my-may]

LET'S TALK GENSHIN AND REMURIA AND ARLECCHINO BEFORE I FORGET AND WE'RE ALREADY IN SECOND HALF OF THE PATCH WHY DOES TIME FLY WHEN YOU'RE AN ADULT

I'm gonna start the post with a few paragraphs I wrote just a few days after the patch went live:

So I finished the first Remuria world quest - it was beautiful. And really not as long as I first expected it to be. I probably could have finished it on the first day if I wouldn't have been as tired as I was

First of all the new map is beautiful. You'd think after 3? patches of map expansions where we already got underwater stuff it would feel repetetive but somehow it looks and feels different and refreshing. Maybe because majority of the map are caves where you can walk normally or they're ruins... idk.

I couldn't help but draw parallels between Remuria and HSR's Penacony tho, especially look-wise, the talk of a dreamscape and the theme of music. Especially now after finishing Penacony 2.2 I can't help but feel the two are very similar in certain aspects... the motive of Harmony and Song and Peace and saving a people and Gods? Also the way Remuria looks is so similar to certain things in Penacony? I already said rhis in my post on HSR, this is absolutely no hate whatsoever. I reckon there's only so much you can do with these motives? It's interesting how differently it looks in both games tho.

So yeah, Remuria is beautiful. The music is an out of body experience and encapsulates the whole thing perfectly. I haven't explored all of the map yet, but I like the new mechanisms a lot. The floating books look so cool and just generally the significance of music through it all... *sigh* it's so enjoyable.

So far for Remuria... i definitely missed a few things I wanted to say but it's been like 2 weeks since I played this and I definitely forgot something haha

AS FOR ARLECCHINO THO

First of all she's broken omg. It is kind lf annoying that it'll take weeks to max out her talents, rn for me she's sitting at crowned NA and skill and burst are level 7 each. But she still hits for like over 50k with each normal attack when she has a bond of life. Don't even get me started on her with Yelan MY GOD.

Okay with that out of the way let me talk about her story quest. First of all I find it very intriguing that hyv gave up on the usual pattern of having the second weekly boss for a nation be tied to the Archon and their respective second story quest (besides Mond ig)... i mean yeah Fontaine's archon situatipn is very peculiar but technically Neuvilette has taken over the role for now, right? Neither him nor Furina getting a second story quest makes me think Neuvi's probably gonna get his way later because it'll be HUGE. Again I wanna say that lore wise Neuvi is my fav character... HES JUST SO FNDNDBDN. And Furina is probably gonna get a pretty "random" one at one point kinda like Yoimiya did or Cyno... like its gonna be a good quest but it'a gonna be random. ANYWAY

I wonder how much different I would habe perceived the quest if I hadn't watched the Animated Short about Arlecchino that they put on Youtube... like it's her whole backstory? I could see where the quest was going right from the beginning because of it... that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it, tho

Childe's little surprise cameo made me so happy c: MY BOY. He's alive snd well AND IN FONTAINE. Let me remind ypu we last officially saw him in the last Atchon quest gwtting yeeted into a black hole by Skirk. Then it was mentioned at the end that he was being treated and sent gome to Snezhnaya. Well...

The whole cryptic talk between Arle and Childe was quite interesting... so this project by the Fatui, right? (Forgot the name rn bc it's been a few days since I played the quest) Is it fonna be significant for Natlans story? What does it entail?? THE TEASE NNNNGNNGHH

I wonder if at some point in the game we're actually gonna see Lyney become the new head of House of the Hearth. Like... it's mentioned quite a lot in his story as well as in everything that has tp do with the House and Sröecchino herself... I wonder 🤔

Throughout the story I was reminded that one of the first things we heard about her (Childes voiceline that came out in like??? 3.0 or so???). It was that she would turn her back on and betray the Harbingers (AND THE TSARISTA) without second thought. She even says this herself in her voicelines. I just wonder what her ultimate goal is? To free herself from the curse? Which btw they tell us nothing about in the story. Story is all about the House and its inner workings and Arle's feelings about it and plans for the future (which I love btw but still not quite understand)... we also casually get told that Arle is not even that old??? Like the whole thing with Crucabena is so recent that Freminet remembers her???? Amd Arle was maybe a Teenager when she killed her so like??? She's only around 10 years older than the kids????

So how come she's a descendant from Khaenri'ah? I don't know if I read somewhere abput it or if its a rumor but not confirmed or if its said in her personal story which I haven't read yet but... she'a from the crimson moon dynasty? Or has some ties to it? And her curse is definitely related to it BUT WHAT IS HER CURSE EXACTLY. WHY DOES SHE HAVE IT. If she's only in maybe her late 20s she couldn't have been an actual Khaenriahn citizen (same as Kaeya and he still gives me the same headache thinking about this) so how does it all tie together in the end?? Does it have to do with the God of time maybe??? (Nevermind if this is talked about in her personal story in her profile I haven't read that yet)

So yeah... the fight woth her was so cool. The animation??? I saw people get upset about the fact that Traveler couldn't beat her but I actually love that?? Like... She'a #4 of the Harbingers and has some curse probably tied to Khaenriah and she KILLED A HARBINGER WHEN SHE WAS A TEENAGER??? Traveler nlt being this almighty MC makes them so much mlre likeable like yeah... they are obv far from having their actual power back? It took us ... how many times to fight Shuki No Kami before we could defeat it in the final try to learn all the patterns? The game wants to tell us that there's much more powerful enemies in Teyvat and rhis is only the beginning. Let me tell you yeah we beat Signora but it was Raiden who killed her... it was Zhongli who subdued Azhdaha. We only healed Apep with Nahidas help. Traveler has never been able to easily defeat these big enemies, they always had help. Yeah they have been getting stronger, they've been getting access to more elements but the bis enemies are just getting stronger and bigger too... I wonder where that will lead. Maybe the twins are only gonna get their true power bavk once they're united... ANYWAY

Her weekly boss fight is cool too. Using different mechanisms again, with the whole Bond of Life thing and all. She does this one attack in her second phase that I just... can't get behind tho. Someone always has to be the victim, THE SACRIFICE, to get me through haha. Idk how to dodge or avoid that attack. The one where she floats above the arena and then these bombs? Idk? Come down and basically crash down on the whole arena and I haven't found a spot where you can aboid getting hit and therefore killed immediately idk.

So yeah that's all for now. Very excited to play Cyno's second story quest. Heard only good things so far about it, which is good because I really didn't like his first one 💀 probably gonna get around to play it one of these days. Same as with the rest of Remuria exploration, gonna need mlre Clorinde funds :3

(Gonna add screenshots later, it's been so long that the ones I took aren't saved in the PS App anymore 💀)

[enden-k]

Can I ask what makes Arlecchino evil? I'm v much a villain enjoyer and like some morally greyness, but I genuinely didn't pick up on a lot of bad stuff with Arlecchino. She was super helpful during Fontaine and seemed to be the only powerful person who cared about helping the common folk when the water levels were rising.

I'm not here to start an argument, just wanna expand my view 🙏

dw didnt think u want to argue! i will also use this to say i wont tolerate arguments, this goes for everyone here

i will talk about sensitive themes under the cut (mentions of when i was groomed/emotionally abused by my adoptive father/mentions of abuse/grooming in general) so if someones not good with this, be warned please and dont click for your emotional comfort.

i really love arlecchino (theres also difficult, personal reasons ig) and id rather wait for her to arrive to get more information than we have so far through other characters/side quests/main quest but well.

her goals aligned with ours in the fontaine quest which is why we have the impression shes a good/nice person, especially considering our other meetings with the harbingers we met so far (signora, childe, scara, dottore) and the situations. shes very calm and diplomatic (lets see how it changes in the next update when we fight her)

but we shouldnt forget how the travellers on their toes the entire time/everytime they come in contact with arle. its because shes a harbinger after all. shes a danger. her graceful politeness and calmness is supposed to have you on guard, make your hairs rise. shes mentioned to be manipulative and shes manipulating others to achieve what she wants by being nice and calm. she has ulterior motives. we should be careful. this is my impression based on my own gaming experience and idk if it was the same w others, but bc of us being on guard around her i was always prepared for her to turn on us until the end of the main quest.

anw, arle is supposed to be intimidating and have you wary. even tho she comes off as nice and polite, having done good and helped in the main story. its bc thats what she wanted and you happened to have the same goal. also lets not forget scaras and childes thoughts about her which already tells a lot

she has two sides. the one we saw in the quest, the graceful, calm, polite face to get what she wants. and the other, the one scara and childe talk about here, the one they call "crazy"

not to mention her codename, "the knave". what does it mean? servant. what else does it mean? "dishonest/deceitful man". basically, swindler. isnt it perfect?

shes manipulative and whatever her "true" nature is, we dont know (yet). she may have "good intentions" here or there but will achieve them no matter what it takes.

as for the thing you can consider as bad; the house of the hearth is an orphanage that raises children into fatui agents. only those who have potential join the ranks while the others are kept close (its not known whats done with them afaik). theyre basically grooming/raising child soldiers/spies.

before the sensitive stuff comes up, for the ppl who dont want to proceed, arlecchino fools/manipulates you into thinking shes a nice person/good parent. its amazing and so in character for her. its also scary how some ppl cant see the abuse/manipulation unless you went through this too or well. just actually read and realize it.

arlecchino is an emotionally manipulative parental figure. now, this is coming from someone who went through heavy abuse/was groomed by their adoptive father who was extremely manipulative and i spot so many things very well known to me. others who went through the same get this feeling. these signs you immediately recognize.

you get punished for the tiniest mistakes and when you get loved, it makes you forget all that was done to you, just for that tiny bit of affection you crave. you try to do your best, to do everything asked and expected of you, not to disappoint the only parent you have and youre dependent on, to be a good kid deserving of love and when you slip up youre in shambles. there was a time i did a tiny mistake by accident and my father said to me in the coldest voice "you broke my trust" and i remember so vividly how it broke me, how i cried until i got sick. i was physically abused before and none of it hurt me more than this. it still gets to me after all those years. emotional manipulation is cruel

what im trying to say is, she came in a time of need. taken as a savior while it just is one abuser swapped out with another. like my adoptive father having me dependent, giving me love i never received and being everything i wanted, making me believe hes everything i need, a common thing abusers do. wanting to do everything youre asked of and do it good, the fear of disappointing and being punished, believing you deserved it bc its your fault and treating your abuser like a savior, being conditioned. this is whats happening.

now, arle genuinely loves and protects her children; its very clear that the life of the children matter to her the most (look at childes line and freminet/lynette etc) - she was one of them too after all. so, its possible to love and still do these. moral greyness etcetc

anyway idk if its understandable or if i can explain it in proper words while maintaining a good distance so ill add the voicelines of the siblings heavily implying this, and also a tweet adressing this that brings it to proper words, better than i can say

tweet here bc tmblr doesnt insert the link properly

[hellobitchlet]

This was originally going to be part of my thoughts on the first act of Natlan, but it got pretty long so I'm posting it separately.

With Natlan further tripling down on "the harbingers all have different goals, they're just part of the same organization", I just want to say that this plot point has been annoying me for a while now. Hear me out, ok?

Don't get me wrong, I really like Scara's backstory. But since Inazuma started, everything with the Fatui has quickly turned into yearly "what is this harbinger up to? And what is their backstory?"

I mean, when Scara first takes the electro gnosis and betrays the Fatui, it seems cool. Because it was the first time a harbinger seemed to not care about the Fatui, and they could have made some juicy drama with it. But they didn't.

Dottore showed up, trying to make Scara a god, and the electro gnosis plot was over. Then Scara got a quest focusing on his entire backstory EXCEPT for the Fatui. Nothing with Dottore was really about the Fatui either, just his research. Then Arle showed up, and despite being raised in a harbinger's orphanage, she doesn't care about the Fatui either. She's involved in a Fatui project, but we barely focused on that. Signora is almost never brought up.

The Fatui's plotline and screen time has always focused on the harbingers, with any focus outside of them coming from rare, lazy world quests with unimportant npc's you're never going to see again.

So when the harbingers themselves are completely ignoring everything outside of their own stuff? We... barely have any grasp on wtf the Fatui is even up to, and almost no world building being done with them. Because instead, we're talking about Dottore wanting to make a god. Or justifying Arle's child abuse towards Fontainian children with her backstory.

This is the main reason why I've always believed that Childe and Signora are the best written harbingers. Childe's character stories and story quest is the only time I've felt like regular Fatui lore was done with a notable character. These two (+ Pierro) are the only harbingers so far who seem to give a shit about the Tsaritsa, and their 'separate goals' and connections to other sections of the lore are small things that still leave plenty of room to be involved in the Fatui. Childe is actually from Sneznhaya and was a normal member at one point, and Signora actively agreed with Tsaritsa's ideas.

(And, yes, Lyney, Lynette, and Freminet aren't harbingers. I'm happy that we finally have playable, non-harbinger Fatui characters. But you can't deny that they're just extensions of Arle. After Fontaine act 1, no one really regards the twins as Fatui, they're just part of Arle's orphanage. They only talk about Arle and the orphanage. We don't even know what Fremi's job is, and the twins' character stories and in game appearances are so separated from each other that it feels like their spy work isn't canon. They don't care about these 3 or expanding on the Fatui through them. They're just here to prop up Arle.)

[violetsareblue-selfships]

good morning!! <3

[devourensarc]

// I know i'm a bit scarce rn bc of school, but I probably won't be around much starting tomorrow until i'm able to finish arle's story quest. I may be able to start it on wed, but idk how long it will take to finish it - maybe as long as until friday.

I will probably also be able to move to the new blog in early may, since I'll only have three tests for finals and then it's just my summer projects I have.

so!!! all that being said, this will be an affiliates call that will go into effect with the move: like this post if you'd be interested in being affiiliates and we've written together/developed our muses quite a bit. you also have to be okay with me bothering you in dms about them, sending you links to fanarts/memes, and it may even come with spontaneous edits/aesthetics if inspiration strikes.

when I move, I really want to focus on development, with my muse and between muses, on threads both fun and diving into our muses. this is also open to his hsr verse.

[avemstella]

I've been having a great time with this new patch (harbingers and Remuria, I was only ever going to have a fun time), here's some small rambling thoughts under the cut that aren't particularly spoilerly but just to be safe

Teenage father Arle, I'm in tears. She's a baby. I both love it and hate it, what is this pfft. Also because there is a very real chance that she became a Harbinger at 17, and Ajax has been stated to be the youngest person to become a Harbinger, that means he became a Harbinger sometime between age 14-16 (maybe slightly older if we bump up Arle's age because there is ambiguity there, but still). Of all things my fic to get right, honestly not the one I wanted because of the implications lol. 16-year-old Harbinger Childe, what a thing.

Also, people were always saying that Arle would be shitty because of Childe and Scara's voicelines, but I was always like 'yo those two are super biased they aren't the best source of info' and I like being right pfft. I love stuff like this, it's such fun character building for both parties.

It makes me really curious about Pulcinella, like there are two ways of reading his shit talking of Arle to Childe. A) he's got along with the previous Knave and is pissed she killed her so he's complaining to the kid he picked up, or B) he's intentionally isolating Childe from the other harbingers by making them out to be the worst. Also, could be a mix of both, and either way neither particularly paint him in the best light. Either way, super intrigued (though I personally hope there's nuance to him, we already have the Dottore/Scara dynamic that's just Dottore being the worst. Like don't get me wrong don't want Pulcinella to nessisarilly be a secret amazing guy (and I do like the Dottore Scara dynamic), but I think there's a balance u know).

Rip harbinger found fam u were too good for this world, though I will admit if we aren't getting that I do love a good political drama. I'm digging all the different Fatui factions and how they fight, but also work together.

Also, talk of Tonia rebellious phase makes me giggle because of future fic plans, and that's all I'm gonna say haha.

And finally Remuria! Okay this will be short because I've not had a lot of time this week and only just started that quest lol. But damn what I've seen so far is so cool. I love exploring this sort of thing and because I have a decent grasp of the lore has helped a lot.

Also this me being delusional, but me seeing the cat with heterochromia and how the ruins of Remuria were sealed under a Spring... looks at my Furina fic... (I know I'm delusional, but it brings me joy pfft). Furina is part of my Remuria exploration team for a reason haha.

But yes, I'll probably have more to say later (for example I'm waiting to unlock naturally Arle's voicelines/stories, though I have seen some talk of them), so stay tuned (maybe).

[moni-harmonia]

Arlecchino Story Quest

Oh boy, it's been a while since I've written one of these. For context, I played this one without watching any trailer about it, so I didn't know what to expect.

We begin by meeting Arle and company in Poisson, where we meet all the other members of the House of the Hearth. They're.... unique, and special... But anyway, we learn that there is apparently a ghost member between their ranks.

Not long afterwards, we meet the mysterious ghost member, Clervie. Freminet has been taking care of her. And Lyney is mad because if Arle discovers that, he'll be treated as a traitor.

They decide to work together and try to get Clervie out of the House before Arle suspects anything. Also, Clervie is literally a ghost of some kind, so they can't just get her away.

(Lynette also decides to help, she's mad because she had been left out lol. And there's a sweet scene between Lyney and Freminet)

We decide to gain some time talking with Arle and then we meet Tarta again. He hasn't still recovered yet, but he wanted to come back to Fountain as soon as possible to talk to Skirk.

Skirk isn't here anymore though, and Pulcinella is calling for him so he has to go back soon. Poor Tarta, he can't find Mom and now Dad is bringing him home...

This was an interesting and entertaining scene, where we learn that Arle cares for her family but she keeps secrets as well.

That night, we meet with Clervie and she tells us about how her life in the House was. How she had a friend named Perrie and her Mother, who she calls "Arlecchino", was a very nasty individual.

By this point I was piecing everything together. We asked earlier why Arle's named Father instead of Mother, and she didn't want to answer. I started to figure out that maybe "Mother" was the previous Arlecchino, and since Arle didn't want to be associated with her, she decided to call herself "Father" instead.

Arle is starting to suspect and we still don't know who Clervie is yet. She brings us to a reunion with Neuvillette and then we get to an agreement. She knows what's happening and she will have to punish the traitors. But she agrees to spend more time with us on the condition that in the future, we will help House of the Hearth when it's needed.

Finally, she tells us about Clervie. Like I thought, she was the daughter of the previous Arlecchino. And her best friend Perrie is actually our Arle, whose real name is Peruere.

They lived together in the House and dreamed about being free. But they couldn't escape and in time Clervie realized that her only freedom would be death. So she died by Peruere's hands and she became the sole survivor.

She then killed Mother and became the new Arlecchino, which in turn made her took control of the House of the Hearth. Clervie is merely a phantom that was created when she killed her long ago.

The time for punishment has come. Lyney tries to reason with Arle, but both them 3 and another 3 have been declared as traitors.

Still, Traveler notices that this is what the pact was for. Arle wanted Traveler to stop her from killing her children. Because she's actually more benevolent than she looks, but they still need to follow the rules of the House and be strict about them.

And thus the battle begins and wow, it was long and really great. Though I wish the siblings would have helped a bit more to be honest. It was great hearing them and seeing their attacks once in a while, but a little more active would have been better.

But all in all it was an epic duel and what's incredible is that Traveler actually loses the battle. This shows us how powerful Arle is, and it was frightening.

At the end we learn that the punishment that Arle uses is not "death" literally. What she does is using her cursed blood to erase their memories and give them a new life. Their current self dies.

This is... not good by any means, but at least is more benevolent that killing them for good. The 3 traitors will get a new life, and they actually prefer that because they're tired of living like this.

We say goodbye to Clervie. This was very emotional, the poor girl never explored the world like she wanted to.

Lyney, Lynette and Freminet didn't want to erase their memories. Still, Lyney asks himself why Arle wants him to be their next leader. And Arle says it's because above all, he has a strong love for his family, which I think was very powerful moment.

I really liked this quest. My main gripe with Story Quests is when they center around NPCs, but in this case we learned a lot about Arle and her life, and also about the House of the Hearth. We didn't waste time, it was a very neat story and it changed my image of her.

Now onto more lore-y stuff... I read her profile story because I was interested to see if they mention where her curse comes from. And what Pierro says suggests that she may be a distant relative from a dynasty that ruled in Khaenri'ah.

That's all I got from their conversation, it's not very clear. She doesn't look khaenri'ahn like other characters we've met, so I assume she has little khaenri'ahn blood by this point and the only thing that remains is her curse. I'm interested to see if we learn more about this in the future.

Genshin lore is pretty huge by this point and there are so many things I haven't read lol. I'm just interested in the main story and the characters that I care about or find interesting.

It seems that we'll get a Dain quest in the next update and I'm very excited. I hope we learn more stuff and get some answers for once lol