#related to something of Dragonspine

[reginrokkr]

𝐂𝐈𝐈𝐈. Different energies used in Khaenri'ahn technology.

Last post for tonight, pinky promise (I need to go to sneep so I wake up earlier tomorrow to revise for the partial 😔). But I find interesting that it's suggested that Void began to be used as a source of energy in Khaenri'ah relatively recently, as until that point they were using Ley Lines and stopped using them upon finding out that the abyssal sources are more convenient (I'm sure that there is also a different backdrop to it which is this desire to control the Abyss, thus they would topple the gods as per Chlothar's words). At the same time, it's also nice to see that there were people involved in the abyssal energy usage who seemed to be timid in voicing out their concerns about using it.

[blueskittlesart]

i kinda really wanna see a big ol vent/rant from you about genshin now lol. I would read an essay

I'm not sure you understand the insanity you just unlocked in me but ok

genshin impact is probably the clearest modern example i can think of of capitalism absolutely eviscerating a creative project. For context, I started playing genshin in 2021, just after the 1.4 update. it was venti's first rerun/the first windblume festival if that means something to you. and I really genuinely thought that it might have had something special. It was a gacha that didn't FEEL like a gacha, which was a huge feat to me.

it began with a very simple story pitch--you, the protagonist, are one of a set of twin siblings traveling through space. you come upon a seemingly unassuming world and your attempts to continue your journey are suddenly stopped by a mysterious, all-powerful figure. you are separated from your sibling and wake up alone on the shores of this planet you were attempting to leave together. throughout that opening cutscene and scattered through the world and your character's dialog there are implications that all is not as it seems, that your character is something unique to this world and that they possess powers and abilities that you've yet to unlock. You are told that you must travel the seven nations of this world in order to find your sibling, which is great--a simple, zelda-like objective which drives the player to explore the secondary narratives of the world. none of this is bad on the surface. in fact i'd argue it's pretty good. there's a ton that can be done with these story bones. even at launch the map and combat system were full of potential as well.

Note: for ease of reading, i'm going to label the different storylines of the game now. A-plot refers to the central objective of the entire game; the find-your-sibling plot and everything that encompasses, including the abyss order/dain, the heavenly principles, the fake sky, etc. B-plot refers to the secondary objective present in each new nation, usually meeting the archon and/or solving a problem for the archon. (A and B-plots will occasionally intersect.) C-plot refers to any story, location, or background information which remains in permanent gameplay but which isn't directly related to the A or B-plots, such as dragonspine, the chasm, enkanomiya, etc. D-plot refers to any story, location, or background information which is confined to limited-time events and does NOT remain in permanent gameplay, regardless of its connection or lack thereof to the A and B-plots, such as the golden apple archipelago, the infamous albedo/dragonspine event, the infamous kaeya/diluc event, etc. Lore as i will refer to it in this post refers to any information which is present in permanent gameplay but which is not directly told to the player within the A or B-plot story quests and objectives, including books, weapon, artifact, and item descriptions, world quest dialog and puzzles, etc.

So now we're in mid-2021, there are two nations' worth of B-plot story quests released in full, and we've run into our first problem, which is that the game isn't finished yet. I don't have any actual information about how the game was/is written, but based on what i've observed over the past few years, my best guess is that the A-plot has been fully written since the beginning, at least in some form. there were very early-game events and information pertaining to the A-plot that would take years to see any actual payoff in the main story quests (kaeya's origin story, the 1.3 scaramouche fake-sky drop, the flowers in lumine's hair, etc.) but those kinds of A-plot story easter eggs very quickly dropped off when the game absolutely EXPLODED during the pandemic.

this sudden burst in popularity was the true beginning of the end for genshin, i think, because suddenly they had a HUGE fanbase that desperately wanted more content faster than they could pump out new A-plot or even B-plot story quests. one of the most pervasive complaints about the game when I began playing in 2021 was that there was nothing to do between story quests. update 1.4 (which was the update I started playing at) was important in that it was the first time since genshin's release over a year before that players recieved any new A-plot, in the form of the archon quest We Will Be Reunited, also known as the quest with the most fucking misleading name of all time. you'll never guess what doesn't fucking happen during this quest. anyways. we were a year into gameplay, two nations out of seven released and a third on the not-so-distant horizon, and it seemed obvious that players were owed some sort of A-plot payoff. and that's very much what WWBR was advertised as, from the quest's name to the banners full of art of the twins staring wistfully at each other. The thing is, what i'm describing as A-plot payoff was actually. not really A-plot payoff at all. WWBR was the reveal that the protagonist's sibling was working with the abyss order, and that the abyss order was connected somehow to Khaenri'ah, which at this point casual players would only have known about from THAT QUEST and MAYBE kaeya's character descriptions if they were diligent enough to get him to friendship level 10 (which, btw there is no indication that you should do to get important context about the story of the game, because kaeya is a 4-star starter character and the only character in the entire game that actually has genuinely important story hidden in his character descriptions.) So what I'm calling A-plot payoff felt at the time a lot less like A-plot payoff than it did like an abyss sibling cameo in an attempt to satiate everyone who was begging for more story. We actually gained almost net 0 information. this is very quickly going to become a pattern.

As I've already alluded to, the motives behind this writing decision are transparently obvious. Genshin is a free gacha game which relies on a consistently active and engaged userbase to make its money. With fans getting restless about the lack of engaging story at the time and a new, very ambitious B-plot quest gearing up for release that would require major support from that fan base in order to remain profitable, the writers were backed into a corner. they HAD to throw the fans some sort of bone in order to keep them engaged with the A-plot, since it was originally pitched as the driving force for the story as a whole, but they were also clearly not at a stage of the writing process where it was prudent to give the player any REAL information about the A-plot. This is how we ended up with a 10-second abyss sibling cameo and an offhanded mention of Khaenri'ah, a nation whose plot-relevance was at that point still basically unknown.

The real problem is, WWBR worked. at least, it worked as intended at the time. It satiated story-focused fans in the interlude between B-plot nations, as hyv was gearing up to release inazuma, which required a lot of time in preparation. WWBR was followed almost immediately by the C-plot golden apple archipelago in 1.6, widely regarded as one of the better events of version 1. GAA was memorable especially because it was the first event that involved an entirely new, limited-time-only map, meaning the event had much more longevity than the standard events players were used to. This is, imo, most likely the update combination that led to the standard formula which hyv uses for its quests and events nowadays. the back-to-back release of WWBR and GAA satisfied both fans who wanted A-plot story AND silenced criticisms about the game lacking endgame playability, which at the time must have seemed like a goldmine to writers desperate for a solution to their content-to-fanbase ratio problem.

From here, genshin started following a standard method of release for their next three nations--inazuma, sumeru, and fontaine. the formula generally went as follows: one major version update (usually version x.0) containing a major map update which included all B-plot relevant locations in the new nation, and the first chapter of the B-plot story quest relevant to that nation. this would then be followed by 2-3 version updates which would each contain the next chapter in the nation's B-plot story quest, sequentially. After the nation's B-plot quest ended, during the downtime in which the next nation's story and map would be finalized, subsequent updates would be largely C-plot, and would contain minor expansions of the map to increase endgame playability via exploration and world quests. This is how we ended up with updates like the chasm, the several extra islands in inazuma, and the quite frankly ridiculously large sumeru map, as well as the offloaded maps like enkanomiya and the sea of bygone eras. with the possible exception of the chasm, none of these areas are A OR B-plot relevant. hyv has realized that artificially inflating the map makes their game technically more engaging during the downtime between nations. However, this comes at a price. While the scenery and set design of the game remains consistently beautiful, the actual, mechanical gameplay that populates that scenery very quickly became mind-numbingly boring if not borderline unplayable. While the 1.0 questlines were not perfect, there was at least an emphasis on the player actually DOING things. 1.0 B-plot quests would have you going to mini-dungeon temples and completing challenges which would acclimate you to the combat system while also serving narrative purpose. There were quests that required you to navigate open-world dungeons. Because your characters were lower-level, combat challenges that arose during these quests were CHALLENGES, rather than two-second buttonmashing segments. By the time we get to sumeru, though, both B-plot AND C-plot quests have become little more than moving your character from location to location and tapping through (usually unvoiced) dialog. there's no GAMEPLAY in the quests anymore, because gameplay isn't what makes money. What DOES make money is giving players 300 hidden chests to find in an open-world map segment, each of which gives them 1/80th of a gacha pull. And so the story suffers and the map gets bigger.

Along with the map expansions, downtime between nations usually also nets us one A-plot quest, usually involving the character dainslief, who was the driver of the initial WWBR quest. This is the second half of hyv's magical formula for keeping fans happy between major releases. the A-plot quests will, as a general rule, give players either very little new information or no new information at all, but will dress up the delivery in such a way that it ALMOST feels as though the protagonist has moved forward somehow. the most recent example of this writing style, the 4.7 quest bedtime story, amounts to about an hour and a half of gameplay and, while it DOES contain a segment in which the protagonist finally actually has a conversation with their sibling, that conversation literally begins with the line "I have so many questions, but for some reason I don't want to ask them right now," ensuring that the sibling will not actually be required to give away any plot-relevant information whatsoever, and the quest ends with the protagonist FORGETTING THAT THE CONVERSATION EVER HAPPENED IN THE FIRST PLACE.

As I think I mentioned before, the cardinal problem of genshin impact's writing is that fans want answers faster than the writers are prepared to give them. I don't doubt that there's a game bible or relevant equivalent somewhere within hyv which contains the explanations we are currently lacking in regards to the A-plot. the game is consistent enough in its storytelling for me to believe that this isn't all just being made up as we go along. But I'm also certain that a lot of the late-game A and B-plot that is planned (especially if the Khaenri'ah is truly planned to be the 8th nation of the game) hinges on the player knowing very little about the A-plot. this would be fine if genshin was a standard single-release video game that players could work through at their own pace, but it isn't. it's unfinished, and each nation in the game releases months to years after the last, leaving the writers to scramble to fill in the gameplay gaps and players struggling to remember plot-relevant information when it's brought up literal years after they last heard it mentioned. Not only does the time between updates leave players frustrated about the lack of A-plot, it makes the A-plot harder to understand when it is brought up, because the writers are required to throw in so much dense C and D-plot just to keep engagement high enough to make the game profitable in its downtime. we joke about the insane convolution of genshin's lore, but that is first and foremost a byproduct of its financial model. the game requires engaement to be profitable, and adding lore for players to look into drives up engagement. The fact that having so much story with so little plot relevance muddies the waters and makes the A and B-plot stories considerably harder to understand doesn't matter as long as money is being made.

I want to take a quick detour here to talk about the release of sumeru specifically, because this is when I really began to clock the fact that genshin was declining. on paper, racial sensitivity issues aside (Not that they're not important, but i'm doing this deep dive from a storytelling and game design point of view, nothing else. that's a whole can of worms i don't have time to get into here) sumeru was a really promising addition to the game. The new B-plot quest which was set to drop in 3.0 was highly anticipated for several reasons. Two fan-favorite characters (kaeya and scaramouche) were expected to play major roles, because of earlier C and B-plot quests, and much of the nation's scenery that was teased in trailers and promotional content appeared to tie into the A-plot. the most exciting draw about sumeru and version 3.0, though, was the major update to the combat system.

Arguably genshin impact's most interesting feature upon release was its combat system. The map was basically a botw clone at that point, and the story quests, while decently engaging, were rough around the edges to say the least. What genshin DID have going for it was a unique real-time combat system that rewarded strategy and quick thinking.

Genshin's combat system is elemental, and on release there were 6 elemental affiliations: anemo (wind), cryo (ice), pyro (fire), hydro (water), geo (rock), and electro (electricity.) in a sort of pokemon-like system, certain elements were weak to other ones, but more importantly, certain combinations of elements could drastically boost combat stats. Players got to construct four-slot teams of characters, each with an elemental affiliation and certain "skills" which would match their element, and you were encouraged to use the interactions of these elements to build teams. very quickly, a huge community formed dedicated to optimizing teams and tiering characters. People would even make a game out of building teams specifically to do high-level damage with "bad" characters or characters who weren't designed to be damage drivers (my 100k jean burst was an incredible moment fr.) this was, of course, also a picture-perfect driver for the gacha aspect of the game, which was how players obtained new characters.

Pre-3.0, combat was... well i won't say it was balanced, but there was no elemental reaction that had any MAJOR advantage over the others. when you actually ran the numbers, i believe vaporize was the best reaction in terms of damage output, with the best team being raiden national with kazuha for EM buffs. but a well-built freeze or melt team could do similar numbers, or even better numbers depending on your artifact rolls. (ayaka permafreeze you will always be my #1.) Despite a steady stream of new characters with each update, characters from the earliest version of the game like xingqiu and xiangling were still topping the charts in terms of usefulness and versatility in teambuilding. However, as early as 1.0, players had been teased that a major update to the combat system was planned. There was a seventh element, dendro (plants) which pre-3.0 only existed as an elemental affiliation for menial enemies. there were no playable dendro characters, and the only elemental reaction that existed relating to it was very low-level and not particularly useful in combat.

Originally, dendro was projected to be added to the combat system somewhere in version 2, but its release was delayed substantially, meaning it came out along with its affiliated nation, sumeru. And as soon as it came out, it basically broke the combat system. I assume that the scaling they ended up going with may have been out of fear that players would be hesitant to integrate a new element into their pre-established team builds, and thus they may have been worried about sales on their dendro character banners, and i assume that the fact that 3 elements are required to get the highest-level reaction was an attempt to make the meta more balanced in the face of that scaling, but, well... it didn't work. At this point, the genshin impact combat meta is basically "if you're not using hyperbloom what the fuck are you doing." there's basically no reaction in the game that comes close to it in terms of both damage and ease of use. you are not going to beat a hyperbloom team with anything other than a better-built hyperbloom team. combat is now very heavily skewed in the direction of dendro, meaning that if you DON'T want to use a dendro team, you're going to be doing significantly lower numbers. And since enemies are added with each update, post-3.0 combat becomes difficult and annoying if you don't have a hyperbloom team on-hand.

The major gripe i have with dendro isn't even the scaling, though. I mentioned offhand earlier that the 1.0 B-plot questline had a section which taught you the basics of the combat system via mini-dungeons. These mini-dungeons, of course, taught you the version of the system that existed pre-3.0, so there's no tutorial for dendro reactions. Rather than integrating the tutorial into the story and world like they did in their early quests, upon playing 3.0 for the first time players were given a popup that explained, very wordily, how dendro reactions worked. there was no opportunity to test these reactions in an environment without consequences--if you wanted to try them you'd have to remember the relevant information, build yourself a team, find an enemy to try them on, and just hope you got it right. This lack of integration is something i began to notice more and more with genshin as it progressed, especially in sumeru. where in mondstadt and liyue open-world puzzles would be explained to you by an npc or via environmental context clues, in sumeru you'd be stopped while exploring every two seconds by a popup explaining some puzzle or another which, of course, you wouldn't read, because you didn't want to do the puzzle right that minute anyway, and then by the time you DID want to do that puzzle you'd have no in-game way of figuring out how to do it. The puzzle popups may seem like a small thing, but it's one of the clearest examples in the game to me of the fact that the player experience is so clearly not being prioritized here. the game doesn't even TRY to be immersive anymore. they have no qualms about pulling you out of the story to read a paragraph about how the puzzle works. they don't care how your character, in-universe, is supposed to have acquired that information. they don't care why your character, in-universe, is doing the puzzle in the first place. because they know the reason YOU are doing the puzzle, which is to unlock a hidden chest that gives you 1/80th of a gacha pull.

That was not "a quick detour" was it lmfao. ok anyways. back to the story. Now i want to talk about D-plot, meaning limited event stories, and lore as i defined it earlier, meaning contextual details not present in quests or playable story. This is where i think genshin's story becomes completely inaccessible.

Already, we've covered the fact that in order to consume the very basic story, players have to be willing to wait years between A and B-plot quest releases, punctuated by irrelevant map expansions and interlude quests. I mentioned before that genshin's incompleteness is one of the major problems of its story. the fact that players have to wait years, remembering plot-relevant information that they have no way of knowing will even BE plot-relevant, for the payoff of these narratives is frustrating at best and actively malicious at worst. But in theory, there should be an obvious way to circumvent this. One could just wait until the game IS completely finished to play the whole thing. Sort of like buying a game in early access but waiting until it's actually finished to play it all the way through. that's theoretically possible. but, as i have been hammering home this whole time, genshin is a free game, and therefore genshin relies entirely on a consistently engaging fanbase in order to remain profitable. if genshin does not have a base of players who are willing to log in every day, or at the very least once every update, the game's financial model collapses on itself. therefore, genshin puts on limited-time events. this is a standard in gacha games, as a way to keep the fans consistently engaging. What is not standard, however, is the way that genshin uses these events as vessels for its story. about 19 out of 20 limited events in genshin impact will be useless menial bullshit with no effect on the story or really even the player aside from maybe making you fucking angry. 1 out of those 20, though, will be innocuously named, with nothing in the banner or event description to indicate that it's special in any way, but it will contain serious A or B-plot relevant information that exists nowhere else in the game. My personal favorite example is the infamous 1.3 scaramouche appearance, in which he showed up, told the protagonist that the sky was fake, and then immediately fucked off again. Scaramouche did not show up again until at least 2.0, and the fake sky wasn't so much as MENTIONED again until 3.2, almost TWO YEARS LATER. but there are others, such as the (almost equally infamous) albedo doppelganger event in which a major character's loyalties are called into question, or the event where major biographical information is revealed about kaeya, the only playable character with major known connections to the A-plot and Khaenri'ah. With all of these events, once the event period ends, the information contained within them vanishes from the game completely. there's no way to replay old events that you've missed, even sans rewards, so if you miss a plot-relevant event the ONLY way to catch up on that story is through word of mouth. again, this is a transparent way to keep genshin's userbase engaged during downtime between B-plot quests; if you don't log in and play every event, how will you know if you've missed something important? You might not be able to fully understand the future story if you miss out on the D-plot now!

The D-plot problem is something that I think could, in theory, be circumvented by dedicated record-keeping. if the wiki had anything resembling an easily accessible event database that marked story-relevant events and contained summaries or gameplay videos, at the very least you wouldn't have to fear being completely lost on the off chance that a random throwaway line in an event from fucking 1.3 becomes plot-relevant. but hyv obviously doesn't want that, because it undermines their financial model, and the sheer number of events and the amount of rerunning of irrelevant events they do makes the task of recording and categorizing them all daunting if not impossible.

Then, of course, there's lore. this is arguably what genshin is infamous for in certain circles of the internet. You know that unraveled video where bdg reads every book in skyrim? if you tried to do that with genshin the video would probably be about 10 hours long. and it's not just books; genshin hides (potentially) plot-relevant information in weapon and artifact descriptions, in random hidden world quests, in character bios... the list goes on. and 9 times out of 10, the information is essentially written in code. Plot-relevant characters will have multiple names, or the relevant information will refer to them as vaguely as possible, presumably to further the "mystery" and encourage theorizing among fans. but the sheer amount of information like this that exists within the game makes it all but impossible to determine what is plot-relevant and what isn't. For a topical example, the most recent A-plot quest bedtime story mentions the name Rhinedottir in connection with events in Khaenri'ah, suddenly making that name A-plot relevant. Rhinedottir is an alternate name for the character Gold, whose existence you would only have known of before this point if you'd unlocked and read the character Albedo's character bios. (Albedo is a limited-run character who hasn't been available since november 2022, btw.) the only other information about Rhinedottir permanently available in the game comes from the description of the weapon Festering Desire, which was only obtainable from a limited event back in 2020, anyway. So basically, if you wanted ANY context for that remark, you'd have to have been playing the game since AT LEAST 2022, AND you'd have to have taken the time to go over your weapon and character descriptions with a fine-toothed comb. keep in mind that as of right now (june 2024) there are 85 playable characters in this game, each with 10 unique unlockable character bio sections, and over 150 weapons, each with their own unique descriptions, not to mention over 50 artifact sets, each with 5 unique artifacts, which all have their own unique descriptions as well. there are also 51 different collections of books which contain written lore as well. the idea that any player could keep up with all this, or that anyone could even sift through it all to pick out the important things that they NEED to keep up with, is insane, especially when the game makes a point of withholding crucial plot information from its players within the A and B-plot quests. this amount of written lore only exists, again, to drive up engagement in the hopes of subsequently driving up profit. Even if the average player isn't reading and absorbing all this information, the fact that it's there coupled with the fact that the writers consistently refuse to reveal anything beyond surface-level A-plot information means that there's basically ENDLESS theory fodder. and THAT means that people will be posting their theories and talking with each other and getting into arguments. it means "genshin impact" trends on twitter. it means engagement, and engagement means money.

basically what it comes back to is that everything is so transparently money over player experience with this game. I think what we're witnessing with genshin is what i would call an end-stage gacha game--a gacha game that's gone on a little too long and gotten a little too popular, and so the veil has started to slip a little more than usual. Gachas work primarily because they operate by toeing the line between what is fun to play and what is a predatory mechanic. As long as the actual gameplay remains engaging and rewarding, players can ignore the unsavory business practices underneath. At this point, genshin has swerved too hard into the money-hungriness and is still hoping that they can use their old tried-and-true engagement farming methods to remain popular regardless. currently, it seems like those methods are still working, unfortunately. Like I said in the post that prompted this, i really can't wait for the hyv writer NDAs to expire 10 or so years down the line, because I can only imagine what an insane shitshow writing for this game must be. I want to see the tell-all articles. I want carnage.

That being said, I played genshin impact religiously from 2020 to 2023. I loved the game. Despite myself, I am still really, REALLY interested in the A-plot. I want to know what's going on with the protagonist and their sibling; where they came from, what happened to them, what the heavenly principles are, what role celestia plays in all of this. I want to know Kaeya's full backstory, what role Khaenri'ah plays in the overarching story, and what happened to it in the past. but I don't really have any faith that I ever will, because I know that as long as keeping their fans in the dark and stringing them along remains profitable, that's what hyv will continue to do.

Do I think genshin impact is unsalvagable? in its current state, yes. If I was given the ability to turn back time and convince a bunch of executives of the profitability of this venture, I would change almost nothing about the story of genshin and completely rework the mechanics of its release. I would make it a series of single-release self-contained games rather than a constantly-updating gacha. Each game would be one B-plot quest, or one nation, eight games in all, preferably released once every year. Removing the gacha mechanic, players would be given access to a certain pool of characters to build teams at the start of each game, and then periodically unlock new characters as the story progressed. for example, if you were playing the inazuma game, you'd start out with only your protag, and after progressing to a certain point in the story you'd get a pool of inazuma 4-stars to teambuild with freely. Then, as the story progressed and you met plot-relevant inazuman 5-stars you'd add them to your pool. I'd change basically nothing about the combat system except for a properly integrated introduction of dendro when it makes its appearance in sumeru. Once you completed the story in that nation, you could move onto the next game in the series if it was out, or if it wasn't, you could continue to explore the open world while waiting for the next release. Would this be as profitable as the gacha model? probably not, but what it WOULD do is allow for much more consistent pacing and writing, with the added bonus of not making your userbase feel like you'd shoot them in the head for their pocket change.

[fatuismooches]

i'll brainrot with you about dottore and his sick! s/o:

clearly with s/o's conditions it's not optimal to go outside in the freezing cold, but one day the snowfall is so much more gentle outside and something like this is a rare occasion in snezhnaya. would dottore indulge them (of course with plenty of precautions taken) or would he rather not risk it at all?

your writing paints such vivid pictures in my head and i honestly love the comfort and warmth your work brings :]]

♡ 𝐒𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐲 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞 ♡

synopsis: Your poor health and fragile condition have consistently gotten in the way of various activities for many years. But that was going to change today, as you were going to take your first step into the flaky goodness of pure, white snow.

includes: dottore w/ gn! reader

notes: Related to the posts under my fragile reader tag. Thank you very much, I'm very glad my writing makes you happy! This was so cute, I originally planned for it to be only a couple hundred words but I went overboard and decided to make it a full-blown piece.

You used to enjoy the concept of cold. Growing up in a hot country had you deeply curious about the kind of weather that would warrant people wearing dozens of layers, bundling up to the point where they were barely recognizable. You wanted to go somewhere that snowed one day, you once told your lover as he sat at his desk, tinkering with Archons knows what. Dottore only grunted in response, saying that if research led him there, you would accompany him. As a matter of fact, there were some Ruin Guards he wanted to take a look at in Dragonspine. You hummed, enjoying the moment as you continued to flip through the picture book.

But now, you couldn’t bring yourself to like the cold. You think that if you weren’t sick, you’d enjoy the weather in Snezhnaya much more, but the cold permeates your body even though you’re inside the lab. (Dottore had to force Pantalone to give him more funds to install more heaters.) You didn’t like to even walk through the halls of Dottore’s complicated maze-like lab because they were too big, making the cold air suffocate you all around. (Unless you’re accompanied by a clone. Somehow, Dottore had implemented a feature into his clones to heat up and become warm, so when you’d cling to them, you wouldn’t be cold anymore. You enjoyed it thoroughly because the reactions of the clones were cute.)

Many days, you spent the time looking out the tightly sealed window at the snow. Despite living in the snow-covered nation for so long, you had never sunken a foot into the powdery fluff. When Zandik was recruited into the Fatui, you were unconscious during the trip because your body surely would not be able to handle such an extraneous journey. How would it feel, you thought? You’ve frequently asked some of your favorite clones to tell you how the snow felt. (You felt slightly embarrassed asking your real lover.) Apparently, most of the time the snow was deep and crunchy from continuous snowfall. If you weren’t careful where you walked, half of your leg could get swallowed underneath! Many children liked to form things like balls out of the snow and play games with them. But sometimes, very rarely, the snow lightens and melts, depending on how the Tsaritsa feels. It’s a beautiful scene, apparently.

You had lost faith in the Gods long ago after your mysterious illness suddenly struck you (Zandik never cared about them in the first place), but you hoped and prayed to any force that was willing to listen to you - please let the snow ease up, just a bit. It was a bit hypocritical since you did not like the cold, but you still desired to experience it like a normal person. You could bear the pain if only to have fun for a couple of minutes. You did not tell your lover this; one, because you knew it was impossible with your condition, and two, you did not want to bother him with your frivolous wants. But it seemed like you were too obvious with your intentions, as one of the first things you’d do in the morning was drag yourself out of bed, despite the great amount of energy it took, to go to your favorite window and peer outside.

“You seem to be quite interested in watching the snow lately, aren’t you?” The deep voice behind you made you jump.

“Zandik! Oh, you scared for there,” you pressed a hand to your heart and quickly took a seat that was already permanently placed near the window, already tired from the past few minutes. Your lover walked toward you, hands carefully placed behind his back, each step calculated. You couldn’t help but find some happiness in that - the way he walked was always so commanding and enchanting somehow, hypnotizing too.

“The weather here is quite different from Sumeru,” you observed. “I can’t help but be intrigued by it.”

“Is that so? It is quite boring to me. The landscape is always the same and it is rather hard to conduct experiments outside because of it.” 

“Heh, it’s always the experiments and research with you. At least try to enjoy it,” you teased, rolling your eyes at him playfully. Dottore shook his head and gently flicked your forehead, causing you to pout.

“Furthermore, the cold isn’t good for you. I believed you didn’t like it, anyway,” Dottore scoffed.

“I know,” you said softly. “But I still want to experience it,” the last part was a mumble that was meant for yourself, but Dottore heard it anyway, making his eyes widen as a thought began to quickly form.

“Do you… want to go outside and see the snow?”

The fact that you were caught made you bolt up straight and quickly try to deny it. “No, no, I’m fine. It was just a fleeting thought,” you quickly reassured him.

Dottore doesn’t know why he didn’t realize it sooner. Of course you would be bored, waking up every day to the same redundant routine, watching everyone go about their daily lives while you sat there, helpless to do anything besides wait for him to cure you. Of course you would want to do something new, after hearing the same repetitious lines of how you’ll get better soon, how he’s working on a new medicine, how it’ll all be over soon, but when was “soon” coming? How long has the envy of others been eating you up? The thought of that made his smile slip.

A soft goodbye snapped him out of his thoughts. A clone had come to administer your daily medicine and get you ready for the day. Dottore quickly put his usual smirk back on and nodded at you. Your gentle smile and a wave bid him farewell, as the clone wrapped his arm around you to support you as you walked away. But Zandik was still thinking. When was the last time he had seen you with a big smile? A big, goofy one that stretched your lips beautifully and made your face hurt from smiling that hard. The answer was, he did not know. The most he could recall was from his Akademiya days, where you would greet him with one of those grins every morning, always a ball of energy.

The fact followed him throughout the day as he worked. The mere idea that it was bothering him so much was simply absurd. But he could not forget about the times his clones has reported to him about the times you cried. When you refused to leave your room some days or didn’t want to eat. He was not one for any type of comfort, not when his hands had committed some of the most wicked acts to man. How could he be, when the first thing on his mind was to hurt others, but the last thing he wanted to do was hurt you? 

He did not know what to do, where to place his hands or if saying something would make the situation worse. He did not know what to do other than let you rest your head on his shoulder, allowing you to take his hand and place it on your head, giving him the okay to stroke your hair. He let you babble to your heart’s content and awkwardly wiped your tears away, for when he looked into your painfully bleak eyes that were once filled with life, he did not think he could refuse you.

It was an odd feeling for him. He took pleasure in seeing the pain of others, delighting at the moment when they lost all hope. He found it amusing when others took a stand against him, only to see their expression fall when they realized it was fruitless. But you? The thought of that happening to you made him… He had to do something.

—

One day you woke up, ready to live out another normal and boring day. As you sleepily rubbed your eyes, you noticed something was a bit off. Usually, you could hear the wind howling and the snow slamming against the windows, even if it was just a little bit. But there was nothing. As you lay on the bed, collecting enough energy to get out of bed, a glimmer of hope grew within you. With a great push, you heaved yourself out of bed and made a beeline to the window. You sat down on the chair, and pulled the curtains to the side, prepared to be disappointed, but what you saw blew you away.

The snow had melted significantly, leaving a moderate and easily walkable layer on the ground. The snowfall had reduced greatly, and it no longer pounded on the window. Instead, it flew down calmly from the sky, which was still gray, but it was a beautiful, hazy kind of gray. Now that there weren’t mass amounts of snow blowing your view, you noticed there was some kind of river around the lab. It was still frozen over, but the ice sparkled beautifully and reflected the snow-covered trees. Speaking of trees, you didn’t know it was possible for such boring things to look so pretty. Copious amounts of snow rested on the limbs, occasionally slumping to the ground with a thud, and the process kept repeating as snowfall continued.

Your jaw was slack the whole time, as you continued to take in the breathtaking scenery. Snezhnaya just got ten times better, you thought.

“I see you’ve seen the change in weather, [Name]. It seems to be to your liking.”

“Eep!” you started at the assertive voice that was practically in your ear. Dottore had snuck up on you while you were too entranced by the view to notice him. “You need to stop doing that,” you scolded him. 

His deep chuckle tugged at your heartstrings. “To think that after this many times, my experiment’s results have not changed. Truly fascinating.”

You tried to ball your hands into fists to prevent yourself from blushing. “A-Anyway, you should have woken me up earlier! I didn’t think this was possible!” you fretted, still in utter shock at this. 

“That, I could not do. You know your body requires a great amount of rest.” You couldn’t argue with that. He was right.

“Now, is there something you want to do?” It was as if he had somehow planned for this to happen.

You fiddled with your sweater, trying to find the words for your outlandish request. “Sooo, um, I know this may not be possible, but can I go outside? I know with my health and stuff it may be hard but… just for a bit, please,” your voice got quieter and quieter towards the end of your sentence. You bit your lip in anticipation and nervously kept your eyes trained on the rug-covered floor. The few seconds of silence that passed felt endless.

“Yes, you may-”

“Really?!?!”

Your legs were swinging happily, and there it was. Pearly whites peeked out as you grinned cheerfully and you threw your hands up into the air. The smile he had not seen in far too long.

“But, I will accompany you, and you must stay by me at all times. You must follow all of my directions as well. Do you understand?”

A walk with your lover too? “Yes, yes I’ll do anything you ask!” you easily complied. You gathered all of your energy and squeezed your partner as hard as you could (which, wasn’t that hard, but to you it was) taking him off guard. You buried your face into his midsection and refused to let go, your words of thanks being muffled from being so close to him. Dottore was stiff at first but then eased into your embrace, fingering a cord of your hair.

You were feeling a burst of energy from this exciting news, so you had to do one more thing. You released him, and when you looked up, you could see that same self-assured, confident smile that you loved. Before he could speak again, you tugged on his blue ascot with as much force as you could summon, pulling him farther down to your level allowing you to smash your lips onto his. Catching him off guard allowed you to be in control for a couple of seconds, but it is quickly relinquished as your lover takes over quickly, effortlessly deepening the kiss. When the two of you parted, he had an almost smug grin on his face, displaying his pointy shark-like teeth.

“My my, quite eager, aren’t we? I have not seen these kinds of surprises since those old days.”

“Well,” you pecked both of his soft cheeks again, “you know I always make sure my doctor knows how I feel.” At that point, there was a knock on the door and one of Dottore’s clones came in to help you with your morning routine.

“Go about your day. I will come to get you when it’s time.” You smiled and squeezed his hand once more as you rose from the chair. Dottore’s hands returned behind his back as he watched the clone and you leave.

“Perhaps I should start to add new variables to my experiment… the results are quite interesting indeed.”

—

You could not focus on anything for the whole time. Your mind was all over the place thinking about how satisfying it would be to sink your foot into the fluffy goodness.

Apparently, Dottore had designed some kind of special jacket for you to wear, along with a scarf, gloves, earmuffs, boots, and more. It had some kind of built-in heater somehow, which made everything consistently warm including your body. Normally you’d listen to his rambles on how he created it and such, but you were too giddy at the thought of freaking snow. (And also how he took the time to make all this stuff for you. It probably only took him a short amount of time considering how intelligent he was, but the action warmed your heart.)

There were quite a few clones in the lab area watching you. You think that they seemed happy for you. One of them was helping you put the gear on while your lover set down some ground rules. Zandik also had on a big fluffy coat, which made him look rather cute. You kind of wanted to fit yourself inside of it with him.

“First, you must stay by my side at all times. You’ll probably have to hold onto my arm to steady yourself. We will be following a path. This means no straying in any other direction, at least without my permission. Of course, if you feel that you can’t handle the weather anymore, let me know immediately. Do you agree to abide by these rules?”

You held back a sigh and a laugh. You knew that all of these precautions were necessary but they were still a drag. Plus, the way your lover said it all seriously as if your very existence was on the line made you want to giggle.

“Yes, Zandik. I agree to all of your rules,” you huffed as the clone finished zipping up the jacket. “My common sense is still intact, you know.”

Even though he did not show it at all, Dottore was the slightest bit uneasy. There were many things he did not understand or know about your illness. Would the sudden change in the environment trigger you? He was not sure, but he already prepared for the worst. If anything, it would be a learning experience too - to see how much your body could handle. He was ready to take notes in his head.

“Come here.”

You slowly trekked your way toward him, getting used to the feel of the long boots. It was hard to imagine wearing these every day, but you soon fell into your lover’s chest as he began to stroke your hair.

“Well then, let us go,” he wrapped a steady arm around your waist to help you balance. “Watch the lab for me,” Dottore directed the other clones as they waved goodbye to you.

They were so cute, to be honest. Especially the ones from the Akademiya days.

—

You did not realize the extent of how big Dottore’s lab was until now. There were so many paths and rooms you walked by that you had no idea existed. What was beyond those doors? Some questions were better left unanswered. You were just letting your partner guide you as you clung to his side (the walking was a lot) until you reached a great, big door with a keypad.

“Are you ready?” 

You eagerly nodded. 

“And you do still remember the-” 

“Yes, Zandik, I remember everything you told me,” you groaned. “Please just open the door already.”

“Patience, [Name],” he chuckled. “I look forward to seeing your reaction.” He let go of you and typed a whole long password on the keypad. And in an instant, loud noises exuded from the door as it began to open from the sides.

The first thing you felt was the puff of cold air hitting your cheeks, instinctively making you raise your arms to cover it. In a couple of seconds, the door opened completely and you could feel the light shine down on you. You put your hands down, and the snowy, outside world was laid before you.

It was majestic. The snow has managed to be untainted by any other substances, allowing it to be a pristine white that covered the landscape. Slowly, you took a few steps forward as Dottore carefully watched you, until you were standing at the edge where the floor ended, and the snow began. You took a quick glance at your lover and he motioned for you to go on. And so you did. You stepped into the snow.

The first thing you noticed was the crunch of the snow under your boots. It was oddly satisfying. And the way your foot sunk so easily into, it kind of reminded you of quicksand. But you could kick it around so easily, yet you could see it was hard enough to be used to form something solid. The cold hit you like a ton of bricks, but you were doing everything in your power to withstand it. The enhanced gear from your partner helped a lot. But, all you could say was wow. You were starting to get a bit jealous of the people who could walk in such surroundings every day with ease.

Dottore on the other hand was quite satisfied. The scenery was not what he found appealing. Rather, it was you. He found no interest in such worldly things, but your reactions were ever-changing and amusing to him. A snowflake fell on your nose and melted. You wrinkled your nose at the unfamiliar feeling. And he couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

“Hold onto me. The road is quite icy and slippery. You need to be very careful.” Zandik linked his arms with you, and you gratefully reciprocated.

You could not keep your eyes off anything and everything you saw. You loved Sumeru, but Snezhnaya was starting to grow on you. It was beautiful. But what you loved, even more, was talking to Zandik. You two had not had this much time together in far too long. He enthusiastically prattled on about his experiments, his creations. He even told you about his clones’ journey to Sumeru, and how the almighty Traveler was powerless against them. You indulged him of course. You had always loved his voice, and you found it rather endearing when he’d go on his rambles.

Dottore intentionally made sure the pace was slow and steady, so as to not rush your body or make you too tired. But of course, even after only a bit of time passed, you needed to rest. Thankfully, the two of you reached some kind of gazebo with a couple of benches inside. You had no idea this existed, and it seemed Dottore didn’t either, which didn’t surprise you. That man probably only cared about the entrance and exit to his lab.

The bench was cold but you did not care. Having your lover with you for this long already made you feel warm and fuzzy. Furthermore, you’d be crazy not to take advantage of the situation. You called his name and before you could make a move, he spoke.

“How do you feel?”

“Huh?”

“Has your heart rate increased since the exposure to the snow and cold? Do you feel light-headed? How easily can you move your arms and legs?”

“O-oh, well… um, I feel cold. My heart is a bit fast from the walking, but nothing out of the ordinary. My legs hurt from the walk too… but I’m used to it.”

“Interesting…” Zandik put his hand to his chin as he seemed to think. You sighed, and shifted closer to him, beginning to run your hands up his coat, which clearly grabbed his attention but he watched you silently. Your hands reached his soft cheeks and brushed over the cold exterior of his mask.

“You know, you should take this off more often,” you suggested as your hands began to creep under the sides of the mask. “There’s no one around…” you hummed. Dottore made no move to stop you so you easily slipped the mask off, revealing his sharp crimson eyes boring into you, and scars from long ago. Of course, you couldn’t help but smile at the face of your lover. 

You moved in to press your lips against his, pleased at how you could now gently trace your fingers over his scars. No matter how long you knew him, he was sensitive to touch around that area, so you always made sure to be careful.

It was an odd, but strangely good feeling, Dottore thought. One he did not know he missed, as you began to pepper kisses along the top of his face. It had been a while since the two of you had kissed for so long, which was a result of your lack of liveliness due to your illness. It seems the new surroundings really did help you. He would have to keep that in mind.

“You’re so cute,” you giggled. He frowned at that and grabbed both your wrists, pushing your back onto the bench, and making you yelp.

“Enough of that. I believe that all of this has gone to your head,” Dottore’s domineering tone was back again.

“I was just- eep!” Your words were cut short as Zandik’s lips began to mark your neck.

“The human body’s temperature can go up a substantial amount just from kissing. Would you care to experiment the limits of that with me? You would be the perfect test subject,” you felt his unhinged grin spread against your neck.

“After all, I wouldn’t want you becoming too cold now, hmm?” His impossible strength easily overpowered you as he moved to hold both your wrists with one hand, while his free one rested on your thigh.

As you relinquished yourself to him, your lips were claimed an innumerable amount of times, a clear reminder of who you belonged to.

—

You had to turn in early for the night. The miniature adventure was so, so fun, and it felt like you kicked your illness in the ass for a bit, but now you really had to get some rest to recover what little strength you had. Surprisingly, Zandik was there with you this time, instead of one of his clones. 

“...I’m sleepy, Zandik.”

“Of course. Your body has experienced much more physical exertion than usual. It needs time to relax.” You sighed, letting the warmth of the blankets begin to take you to dreamland.

“Hey, Zandik?”

“Yes, [Name]?”

“Remember when we were in the Akademiya, and during the night, I’d go down into your bunk bed and sleep with you? Hehe…”

“Yes, I remember rather clearly, the intrusion of my privacy and theft of my pillows,” he sighed. The first time you did that, he did not expect to be entranced by the sunlight cascading onto your peaceful face, the fluttering of your eyelashes, and the occasional quirk of your lips as you clearly dreamt of something good. But he had no knowledge of how to handle these feelings, so he shoved you off the tiny bed, rudely waking you up. You ended up walking around the Akademiya with a bump on your head after that.

“I was trying to give you hints, Zandik. You were just dense,” you pouted. “Hey, you should come and lay with me for a bit. Like the old days.”

Dottore was hesitant. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, rather, he was so incredibly busy, especially after today. To be more precise, he felt that time not spent on finding a cure for you was time inefficiently used (most of the time.)

You tugged on his sleeve pleadingly. “Just for five minutes, until I nod off…”

He couldn’t bring himself to deny you, as he slipped under the covers with you. The softness of the mattress, plush blankets, and pillows that had your scent almost made him do a double take. It had been a long time since he was in a bed in general. Perhaps just a few hours of rest wouldn’t hurt. It would boost his effectiveness drastically…

You immediately scooted your body towards his and pressed it into his, nudging your face into his chest. He came to rest his hand on your head, while the other was loosely thrown over your waist.

“I miss you,” you softly uttered. He did not respond, nor did you expect an answer - what could he say anyway? The soft stroking on your head was more than enough for you at this moment, and it quickly lulled you to sleep.

“Thank… you.” You were out like a light, while your lover looked at you, absentmindedly fiddling with a strand of your hair.

It was no simple task to make this happen. But as a scholar, of course, he was able to negotiate. For once, it wasn’t for his own gain, but for you. The results? It was a complete and utter success. 

Dottore could not lie, he felt as though he was back at the Akademiya with you. He remembers the two of you walking down the hallways, your chatty and sweet self a stark contrast to his rather irritated and know-it-all aura. How you would hug him from behind late in the night as he worked at his desk, begging and whining for him to go to sleep as you both had long lectures in a few hours.

He admittedly wants to see you take the first step into a raging blizzard. He wants to see you brave the cold with ease. He wants to see you swing your sword without abandon again, not afraid to take on anyone in a verbal or physical fight. He wanted his assistant back: the one who would be ready to jump down the throat of someone who dared to question him, the one who organized his notes in the most efficient manner.

The God of Wisdom once told him that his research was insulting, contradictory to the rules and ways of life. Now that he looked back on it, he found it amusing - even a Godly being was held back by such drivel. But it did not matter to him. There was no rule or barrier he wasn’t willing to cross in order to cure you, as he had already done it multiple times with no remorse. He would oversee your absolute recovery personally.

After all, there were many more snowy days to come.

Bonus:

“You know, Arlecchino, I saw the most interesting thing the other day,” a soft voice echoed throughout the room.

“Hmm? What was it?”

“I happened across our lovely Doctor going into Her Majesty, The Tsaritsa’s chambers. For what, I wonder? Hehe…”

“...I guess that [Name] person truly does mean something to him, if he was willing to go that far.”

[kanonavi]

(Spoilers for 4.5 Potion event (just in case lol I know I'm late on this))

At this point, I'm really wondering if we're gonna end up getting some payoff in the future for much Paimon absolutely hates Venti for no discernible reason. Because he isn't the only person she's been kinda standoffish with over the years, but he's by far the most consistent. Like, when you consider the fact that Paimon even warmed up to Al-Haitham by the end of Sumeru, it kinda says a lot about her apparent grudge against Venti by comparison. (And I love Al-Haitham to death, but I'm not about to say he's a ray of sunshine compared to Venti.) (Event interaction-related stuff under the cut)

The contrast to how Paimon treated Diona versus how she treated Venti when they came to the potion shop together was like night and day. I've been going around to all of my friends today and describing Paimon's reaction to them as something like "Diona omg hi it's so good to see you it's been forever how have you been!!! .........And Tone-Deaf Bard." which is obviously a comedic exaggeration, but also not entirely off the mark. And all Venti did was... exist? Try to help Diona out with what she was trying to do? Yes, he's going to get free drinks out of it but he also went truly above and beyond to help Diona find a new ingredient all the way from the middle of nowhere in Dragonspine. If he didn't care about Diona's feelings and what she was trying to do, he wouldn't have done that. (But of course, Venti does care because he's a good Archon and a good person and I love him for that.)

There are genuinely very few things that make me believe in the theory that Paimon is some kind of agent from the Heavenly Principles than the fact that she hates Venti so steadfastly. There's so much evidence that connects Mondstadt and specifically Venti/the Thousand Winds to the old civilizations of Teyvat that the Heavenly Principles once destroyed. For Venti to still exist in the world and let his people make their own choices in the way that he does, of course they and by extension Paimon would hate him. Plus, even if her annoyance with him started with his tendency towards being cryptic, why would Paimon care so much about what he knows? Why does one of his voicelines imply that he doesn't want to tell the traveler things with Paimon around?? It's just so incredibly suspicious.

The scene is kinda funny though when you look at how good Venti is with kids (how helpful and kind he is to Diona despite her wanting to get rid of alcohol, which he loves) and yet one of the most childish characters in the entire game absolutely despises him. Every day I wake up and wonder what in the world Paimon's damage is and if we're going to get a justification for it, or if this is sincerely just what the writers think is funny.

[torgawl]

diluc mentioned in the lore of "wings of concealing snow", nice!!

you know, i wonder if the owls in this story are connected to the underground intelligence network that contacted diluc in snezhenaya. his character story definitely refers to the "observer" as a third-party entity, considering diluc's distaste for the fatui, the abyss order and the knights of favonious we can rule all those options out of the way. the way they don't go into detail about it or even go as far as saying its name, mentioning how secretive they are, i assume they're not a group we've met/are aware as of yet.

going back to "wings of concealing snow" though, the story is very clearly about sal vindagnyr. the description separates the population, if i can call it that, in two different groups: falcons and owls. owls are described almost as if they were councelors while falcons are described as ambitious, with the desire to rule the skies.

from the information we have of sal vindagnyr, we know there's 3 important figures with higher hierarchy: the princess (prophetess and highly connected to the frostbearing tree), the scribe and the priest-king (the princess' 'father').

the princess was able to foresee the future - for example, she foretold what would much later happen with durin - and painted the murals we can still see in dragonspine. she was specifically called a lovely maiden and described as having beauty and skill that was thought to be as eternal and pure as moonlight. it's also relevant to point out the frostbearing tree was very likely an irminsul tree. if we know anything about symbolism in genshin is that moonlight, knowledge and the ability to foresee the future are all key-words that directly point to seelies. and we can parallel this princess directly to someone like sibylla, mentioned in remuria as advisor of god-king remus, who appears as a golden bee and who protected the irminsul where an ancient civilization was located in the abyssal depths. the form of these remuria bees are very akin to what seelies look like and there's also heavy implications she was a seelie. it would make sense that someone overlooking the irminsul tree in ancient dragonspine was also a seelie, or at least related to one somehow.

as for the concept of priest-kings, they're not something exclusive to sal vindagnyr. we've seen the exact same depictions of crowned individuals guiding populations in tsurumi island and the concept was also talked about in the "guilded dreams" artifact set (the set focuses on king deshret and a sumeru desert civilization).

i think it's not that crazy to think ancient civilizations had similar social foundations. the way seelies cohabited with humans, also learned from the chasm lore, implies they guided humanity in some way as divine envoys (words used in "flower of paradise lost", artifact set about nabu malikata). or, more specifically, advised civilizations' gods/kings.

the wings' description also goes on to talk about "birds of the land of the wind" and say the owls gained dominion in the absence of light while fledgeling birds stayed in their nests. this happened after the nail was casted upon sal vindagnyr and the darkness drowned the land (likely the abyss, in reference to forbidden knowledge). if owls and falcons are adult birds in this story, maybe the fledgelings refer to the basis of what would later become the mondstadt civilization. the line "the nestlings would never know who it was who saved them" followed by "the dragon ... would also be forgotten" imply the saviour of the people was someone who ended up being forgotten. as far as i'm aware, there's only one being who was worshipped in mondstadt and ancient civilizations like the one in enkanomiya who ended up forgotten, istaroth. so, there's that!! i also thought it was interesting that the owls that "once shone brightly in the darkness" would also end up with the same fate, although there's no mention they ever disappeared, which brings me to the next point.

"a flash of red flames would reveal his silhouette for but a moment in the darkness of the night, before he disappeared in an instant" sounds a lot like what the owls were like to the people of mondstadt. diluc also only started his darknight hero endeavours after he returned from snezhenaya, after entering the secret organisation and rising quickly in its ranks. and guess who, in the manga, wears an owl mask? an owl is also diluc's constellation and these are diluc and kaeya's respective voicelines in the section "interesting things":

coincidence that kaeya associated the owl with dragonspine? moreso, some of diluc's voicelines are very intent on judgement/punishment: "time for — retribution!" or even "lay waste to the wicked!" which parallels fischl's "no rest for the wicked...". fischl has also said the retribution voiceline in "summertime odyssey". these are interesting parallels because fischl from "the legend of the shattered halberd" and "flowers for princess fischl" has a red eye - auge de der verurteilung or eye of judgment/condemnation - and her mission is to observe and weave the threads of fate. fischl not only parallels kaeya but also king irmin, though it's still interesting this theme is also connected to diluc. but how does this connect to dragonspine? this is the ending line in the description of "wings of concealing snow".

whatever that "greater trial" is, it also implies some sort of payback towards celestia and/or the abyss. as for who are the "we", if not the seelies who got basically wiped out from teyvat, i can only think of the owls.

at last, i want to leave here the messages found in the scribe's box found in dragonspine that clearly belonged to the scribe in sal vindagnyr:

the first message shows resentment towards the skies (it almost sounds like tsaritsa's desire to burn the old world described in the cryo gemstone). the second message refers dust and wind which are very suspicious words considering they can be connected to concepts like alchemy, khaenri'ah and either the anemo god or the god of time. it also shows intent in finding imunlaukr (the hero from another land that left sal vindagnyr to fight what i assume was the abyss during the conflict). the fourth message directly states this person was the last to survive and that it made no more sense to keep watch (of what? the fledglings like the owls?), probably meaning this person left dragonspine. and, in the last message it directly references khaenri'ah's establishment and early days. could this person have fled to somewhere outside of teyvat, away from the gods, like khaenri'ah? this really isn't that surprising when we have in account sal vindagnyr and khaenri'ah share the same written latin-based language.

i actually went a bit more in depth about sal vindagnyr and imunlaukr on this twitter thread, if anyone cares, but i'm going to include here part of it. the name imunlaukr means "sword", being a direct reference to the god ullr - step-son of thor and the son of lady sif. sif was famous for her beauty and unique golden hair, said to be inherited by her children. genshin's imunlaukr went on to pass his name on to a clan in mondstadt that was known for raising brave and gifted warriors that fought hard and died young. the clan adopted their progenitor's viewpoint that combat was merely for the entertainment of the gods and as such would fight anyone and anything for the sake of fighting, as well as enact war tales. do you know who else is a sword, happens to be blonde and has connections to khaenri'ah? dainsleif, which translates to dáinn's heirloom. dáinn (or dain) means 'dead' and he's a character in norse mythology. most of the tales relating to him depict him as a dwarf or king of elves. hehe, break time to introduce fun facts about nibelung. the term in legend has usually referred to either a group of humans or a group of dwarves but the name in genshin is likely derived from richard wagner's four-part opera der ring des nibelungen "the ring of the nibelung", in which the dwarf (or nibelung) alberich creates a ring capable of controlling the world, using gold he stole from the rhinemaidens (or rheintöchter "rhine-daughters"). the conflict that arises over the ownership of this ring eventually leads to the destruction of the gods and their home. continuing with dainsleif, in myhtology, the sword is involved in a so-called eternal battle between kings, initiated by one man falling in love with and running off with another's daughter. dainsleif was forged by the dwarves whose god/king was alberich, and the sword was cursed with insatiable bloodlust and would not be able to be sheathed until it had killed and any wound caused by the sword would never be able to heal. maybe the connection between imunlaukr and dainsleif is a stretch - timewise, it wouldn't really make sense as dain seems to be exclusively from the eclipse dynasty but khaenri'ah was somewhat recent in the scribe's notes - but i really don't think the connection between khaenri'ah and sal vindagnyr is.

furthermore, dainsleif is called "bough keeper", a bough being a branch of a tree - like the irminsul. if you notice his design, one of his arms has blue lines akin to those in irminsul trees. blue lines also appear in his and pierro's mask. the introduction to his character is written by a self-proclaimed prophet and mentions the desire to see the skies burning - like the message in the scribe's box - as well as desire for atonement of bygone mistakes and mentions of alchemy (gold being the end goal as it's related to reaching the magnum opus and the philosopher's stone - elixir of life and immortality). the symbol the angel figure in dragonspine's mural is handing to the humans resembles a circumpoint, that can represent gold. it's also something that appears associated with rhinedottir in one of the videos about the hexenzirkel (which makes sense as she's such a proeminent figure related to the art of khemia and khaenri'ah, very much associated with the cataclysm).

not sure what the conclusion of all of this is but i don't think it's impossible this underground intelligence network and the owls might be something connected, directly or indirectly, to the person from sal vindagnyr that might have fled dragonspine all those years ago or even khaenri'ah. could diluc and kaeya work more closely together than we think? considering the third-party observer that rescued diluc is said to be from the north when that supposedly happened in snezhenaya, does this mean this north they speak of is beyond the land of the tsaritsa?

note: i wanted to make some type of connection to the book "anecdota septentrionalis" or anecdotes of the north, as the book not only talks about snezhenaya but also tells a very fantastical and non-sensical story that includes other nations but i understood very much zero about it other than the fact that north from where the major plot takes place there's a tall wall in the middle of the sea stretching into the sky with countless densely packed human figures suspended "and though they had neither bodies nor muscles, their forms could clearly be seen". whatever that means, so i can't really make any inference to what it beyond snezhenaya.

note 2: forgot to mention but owls besides being birds associated with wisdom, in sumerian, akkadian, and babylonian culture, are also associated with lilith. she was theorized to be the first wife of adam and is cited as having been "banished" from the garden of eden. it's just a fun fact if we think of seelies, divine envoys who are symbols of wisdom and guidance, that got punished by the heavens after their ancestor married a traveler from afar.

[mistywaves98]

HIHIHI IDK IF YOU REMEMBER ME BUT YOUR ALBEDO THEME IS SO !!!! ME TOO EEE <333 that being said !! can i ask for mean dom!albedo w aphrodisiacs on like an assistant reader maybe,,, TYTY I LOVE UR WRITING

OMG PEARLL IT'S SO NICE TO SEE YOU OFC I REMEMBER YOUU!!! And thanks, when I made the theme I was so proud of it lmao and forgive me for taking soo long with this request😭😭

Mean! Dom! Albedo x Assistant! Fem! Reader

¡Warnings!: Aphrodisiacs, Sub! Reader, Dubcon/Noncon, Dumbification, Chocking, Degradation, Albedo calls you princess, Thigh Riding, Reader cums easily, Implied Virgin! Reader, I feel like I missed something!

It was an honor to be the personal assistant of the best alchemist in Mondstadt. You were proud of your position and always did your best to hold up your image, even if you did slip up every now and then.

You were always with him wherever he went, sometimes it was by choice and other times he demanded your presence. Whenever the latter happened it would leave you confused but proud that he wants you around.

Now just happened to be one of those times and this time you were in Dragonspine once again.

You were supposed to just 'relax' but now you were growing quite impatient since you had nothing to do and whenever you asked Albedo if there was anything you could assist with, he sent you to do something boring, like dusting the shelves or rearranging the books. You wanted to be assigned to something exciting, maybe collecting some slime secretions, or helping him mix up a new chemical, or....oh! Perhaps even something related to the cryo hypostasis!

As much as you didn't want to be a nuisance, you felt your brain cells deteriorating the more you stood around doing nothing, even observing the alchemist paint the wonderful scenery of the mountains outside had lost it's entertainment. So once more you tried to get Albedo to let you do more than sit around,"Sir, are you sure there's nothing else that needs to be done? No experiments needed to be conducted, no hypotheses to test?" You tried dropping some hints that would tell him to let you actually go out of the confinements of his laboratory but Albedo only sighed.

He personally thought it was nice to watch you when you weren't looking. So beautiful.... like a dainty little doll.... !!

Oops, he must've zoned out for a bit. Shaking his head slightly, he pondered your question. You had been bugging him non stop since you got here, but he couldn't really blame you. You were always an energetic one, always looking for something to do, or more specifically, something that'll please him. So just existing in his lab probably wasn't the best thing for you, besides, there is something he did want to try....

"Well, if you want to do something that badly, there is one thing I have in mind...." "Oh? What is it? Can I help you with it? What do you need me to do? Should I go—" "It's rather, dangerous, are you sure about this?" "The more dangerous, the better!" "Wait right here."

He put down his brushes and paint and left the room. When he came back he was holding something in his hand, a little vial containing a curiously pink liquid. Upon closer inspection you saw that it was filled with carbonated bubbles fizzing around. "I want you to drink this." "What is it?" "....I can't tell you." "..."

That was an odd response. Albedo never kept secrets from you before and it made you rather uneasy about what you were going to put in your body. But you trust him, he would never poison you, not on purpose anyway. So you just took his word for it and drank the liquid in one gulp.

It tasted very sweet, like a dozen sweet flowers had been mixed in, the texture was nice too, the way the liquid ran down your oesophagus felt satisfying. "So...I drank it. What now?" "We wait."

Albedo watched your face contort in confusion and held back a smile. Oh you were so soo clueless.

You stood there for a while, feeling kind of awkward as Albedo's eyes bore into the side of your head. You were thinking of something to say that would break the tension, not really paying any mind to the heat building up between your legs.

You may not have noticed the way your thighs were rubbing together, or the way you started tugging at your shirt collar, or the way your breathing became heavy and deep but Albedo saw it all. You couldn't hide anything from him. This was no exception.

Walking up to you he asked,"Are you feeling any different now?" "Uh... n-not really....just a bit h-hot–"

You find it hard to form a proper sentence without stuttering and jumbling up your words. The fact Albedo's standing right in front of you doesn't help either. You can't help but stare, goodness. Has he always been this attractive? The way he's looking at you...you can feel your underwear getting wetter.

"Hmm... are you sure? It seems you have a little issue down here." His hand cups your heat, making you gasp and immediately try to close your legs which he forces apart with his other hand. "I—" You cut yourself off as a surprised moan leaves your mouth when Albedo presses two fingers deeper against your clothes cunt and begins dragging them back and forth.

"S-sir, what are you—haah!— doing?" "Why helping you of course, unless, you don't want it?" You whine as he removes his hand from between your legs. You were so close! Oh, why did he stop?

"That's not what I meant! I— uh..." Your already red face burned even more as you struggled to find a way to tell Albedo that you actually want him to fuck you. Your boss simply sat down on a nearby chair and, patting his lap, he said,"Well, if you want to cum, you have to work for it princess. Ride my thigh and make a good show out of it. If you succeed, I will reward you with release, don't and you will face the consequences." A mean, smile was plastered across his face as he spoke, after all, what other option did you have?

You walk over and as you straddle his thigh, you avoid his burning gaze. However, Albedo doesn't like that and reaching up a hand to grab your face he pulls it close so you are forced to make eye contact with him. "Don't just sit there, if you want me to touch you, start moving." Letting your face go, he leans back in the chair with his hands crossed against his chest, smirking at you.

You're brought out of your dazed state as your pussy needing throbs. Hesitantly putting your hand on his shoulders, you use the leverage to move yourself. Suddenly you flinch and gasp at the feeling of your clothed clit dragging against the rough fabric of his pants.

A few more weak attempts to get yourself off has you in tears, it's humiliating and you hardly have any clue to what you're doing. You look at Albedo, silently begging him for help, but he just returns it with a cruel smile. It takes a moment for you to realize what he (probably) wants and although you don't really want to, you're so desperate right now you don't really care.

"Please...." "Hm?" "Please help me! Please help me cum, sir!" "Well, since you asked so nicely, I'll help you, but you better not complain when I give you what you want." You don't understand what he could possibly mean by that, but you don't have much time to think about it when Albedo grabs your hips, pushes you down and grinds you against his thigh. It's too fast and hard for you but nothing you say makes him slow or soften his pace. It's barely a minute before you feel the knot in your stomach burst. You collapse into his neck, tears streaming down your face, soaking his coat but suddenly you feel him yank you up by your throat. "Did you cum just by rubbing yourself against my thigh? Fully clothed no less, such a sensitive little whore aren't you? But I'm afraid you haven't satisfied me, so I think a punishment is due, don't you?"

Without warning, he suddenly squeezes your throat, stopping any air from making its way to your lungs. Your hands immediately try grasp his arm, but Albedo manages to catch them, leaving you to slowly asphyxiate. Fortunately, he let's go after a while, chuckling at the way you choke and sputter. "You have any idea how adorable it is to see you struggle," he sighs,"I've wanted this for so long and finally, I have you at my mercy. Now, for your punishment."

Cold air brushes your cunt as your cum-soaked pants and panties are ripped off. As soon as they're off, your juices gush out, messing his thigh up even more. You shut your eyes in embarrassment, not daring to meet his gaze, "Look at that. Who would've thought someone like you would cum so much untouched? You must like this more than you'd ever admit, no?" "No, I—" "Don't lie to me." "But—" Your sentence is cut short by a hard slap. "I don't want to hear any excuses. In fact, maybe it's better if you just shut up." You make a gagging noise as two fingers are shoved so far into your mouth, they hit the back of your throat. That was so hot, Albedo thinks, imagine if that was his cock.

Bringing his attention back to your pussy, he rubs his free hand against it, making you squirm as he collects your arousal and cum on his fingers. So wet, surely it would be enough for you to take his cock. Unbuckling his belt, he takes it out. Your eyes widen in slight fear, how were you going to take that inside of you?

Albedo laughs at the anxious look on your face, what are you worried about? Of course it's going to fit and if it doesn't, he'll make it fit.

Taking his hand out of your mouth, he lifts you up by your thighs and positions your entrance over the leaky tip of his cock. He then slams you down, giving you no time to adjust, a twisted, sadistic look is on his face as you scream and begin to cry once more. After giving you a few seconds, he lifts you up and impales you on his cock over and over again. It's fast, hard and painful, each thrust causing you to let out something that sounded like a mixture of a cry and a moan.

You beg him to stop, but in the back of your mind you think, do you really want him to? Yes it hurts, you are a virgin after all, but it also feels really good at the same time, in fact, it nearly feels too good. You didn't really have much time to recover from your first orgasm and now you feel another one coming. You're unsure if to say anything, but the uncertainty is short lived when fresh tears fall from your eyes as you cream around his cock.

"Came again? Ahh... and I've barely felt even close the cumming." "P-please sir, n-no more..." "Sorry princess, but like I said, you've failed to satisfy me, now you must accept your punishment."

You were exhausted and looked like a mess. Hair disheveled and sticking to your sweaty skin and clothes stained with cum while Albedo on the other hand, seemed perfectly normal aside from his dilated pupils, red tint across his face and small beads of perspiration rolling down his forehead.

Suddenly, you feel your stomach make contact with the cold Marble of the table as Albedo effortlessly puts you on it and turns you over. "I think this would be a more efficient position."

Before you know it, his cock is drilling into you once more. His pace is as fast as ever and you find your self grabbing at the tables edge while you moan in ecstasy. It's uncontrollable, the way a third orgasm washes over you at his continuous pounding.

It goes on like that for a while. You've cum about eight times before Albedo cums once. When he does, he cums inside you and you squirm at the foreign feeling. When he pulls out he can't help but feel mesmerized by the way his thick seed trickles out of your abused hole, running down your trembling thighs and falling into the puddle of cum from all your previous orgasms.

"You did so well for me princess, now wait here while I go get something to clean ourselves up." He sounds so unbothered, how much stamina does he have? While you lay there, brain reduced to mush and unable the form a coherent sentence or think of anything but the feeling of his cock in your walls. If there's one good thing about this whole situation, it's the fact that the uncomfortable fire in your stomach and nether regions is gone now :)

[chuusposts]

the reason i live is to die with you

summary: xiao, kazuha, albedo, aether with a suicidal! reader (aka dazai)

warnings: minor angst(?), mention of suicide, double suicide, suicide thoughts, suicide attempts (everything that's related to suicide)

notes: i tried writing for genshin hehe (also if you don't know who dazai is, he's an anime character (and a real person) who has attempted suicide for many times but also failed each time) part 02 :')

xiao

the first time he met you was when you tried to jump off the wangshu inn balcony. he heard you say something like "the weather is so clear, do you think this world is going to fall apart?" and he was like '???'

when you noticed his presence, you asked him the same question and if he'd like to be your suicide partner, "it feels so lonely to leave this world by myself, so how about you join me instead?" while giving him the most idiotic smile.

when he refused, you immediately pout and started to climb up the rail obviously trying to jump off. but your suicide attempt failed when xiao teleported behind you and held your wrist "what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

he's even more confused when you grimaced and sent him a sharp glare.

later after he got close to you (after he tried to stop your suicide attempt a few times) he learned that attempting for a suicide is your second nature so the next time you ask him for a double suicide he would just shrug it off.

but sometimes he does get worried like what if one day he comes back to you just to find out you're not in this world anymore? he already lost his friends, no way he's gonna lose you next. so he always make sure to check on you from time to time especially if you're out of his sight for too long just to make sure you're safe.

kazuha

kazuha was at ritou's dock admiring the beauty of narukami island before he departed to liyue in a few hours. but you just had to come up to him and asked him, "kazuha, how long do you think it will take for you to find my body if i drown in the sea?"

he was shocked at first but after he realised it was you, he just laughed it off and smiled, "well, i prefer if you don't drown at all"

you smiled at his words, "then you must wanted to die alongside with me, right?" he then cupped your cheeks with his hands, "dear y/n, why do you wish to die?"

"let me ask you, then. do you really think there's any value in the act of living? i've been living my entire life, and i still can't find a reason for me to live."

kazuha was speechless, he already asked himself the same question many times. does he simply live because of what happened to his friend? because his friend left him prematurely without that of a goodbye? and he figured, the problem is that he loved him. he loved all of his friends so much he's afraid if he leaves this world, other people will feel the exact same way as he did and it pained his heart just thinking about it.

that's why in that instant, kazuha swears to himself; that he'll protect you until you find your reason to live. in this world, and the next, he'll always protect you.

albedo

it was still dark when albedo arrived at his lab in dragonspine. what he didn't expect was to be met with a panicked sucrose, "mr. albedo, please help us!" she said, pointing at you who looked like you were on cloud nine.

as he made his way to you, albedo realized that you're actually... high? really? early in the morning? "just look, i've finally arrived in the afterlife! to the land of the dead, khaenri'ah!" you laughed hysterically.

albedo was confused, "sucrose, what's going on?" sucrose looked around a bit before picking a half eaten mushroom and a book titled 'complete guide to suicide'. she read and explained to albedo about the method you were using when you suddenly jumped on her, still high.

albedo sighed, seemingly used to your antics, "wait a minute sucrose, let me finish my paperwork first." sucrose was struggling so much, she even tried to fight you off but you still succeeded wrapping her full body and face with crape bandages making her look like a mummy.

you came to sit in front of him, poking and pinching his cheeks, begging him to come with you to the afterlife while he focused on his paperworks.

after it what felt like a good five minutes, albedo put his pen down, cupped your cheeks in his hand and stared straight into your eyes, "strange, most people fear death but at the same time they are drawn to death. yet why are you so different from them? maybe i should spend more time with you so i can learn about you..."

aether

"you're a man as ephemeral and elegant as a lotus blossom. would you be willing to join me in a double suicide-"

'bbong!' you were proposing aether for a double suicide when paimon suddenly hit you in the head causing you two to bickered.

"at least wait for him to find his sibling first!" paimon shouted. she's not wrong; you should've at least waited for him to reunite with lumine first before you died with him, "but that would take forever!" after all, all you wanted to do was to leave this world as soon as possible.

that's why you offered to accompany him throughout his journey. aether was glad, not because you wanted to commit double suicide with him but because he can always keep his eyes on you.

moreover, he doesn't have to worry about you committing double suicide with other people. though he must admit that he's a bit jealous when you suddenly ask random people to join for your double suicide especially if they're good looking (you're loyal to him so obviously you were joking)

one day, you were explaining to him why living is so useless and why he should join you for your double suicide saying your reason to live is to die with him. aether listened to you attentively when he suddenly sighed and smiled softly, "but y/n, if you think of me as your reason to live, then i'll take it upon myself to keep you alive."

[nightmare-grass]

One of my biggest hyperfixations nowadays is the lore of ancient kingdoms in Genshin Impact. I wanna know what they were all about, how life was like for them, what led to their downfalls, and how or if they interacted with one another. It’s said that there used to be a unified civilization of humans in Teyvat, and that’s why so many ruins have similar architectural details despite being spread across all the nations of modern Teyvat. We still have very little lore about the Nameless Ruins in the Chasm, we still don’t even have a name for them despite Dainsleif’s quest taking place there. But there’s also strange similarities between the stories of the ancient kings and how the kingdoms fell. I already buy into the theory that King Deshret of Sumeru/Gurabad may be related to or the same as King Irmin of Khaenri’ah, since the Traveler’s twin is the Abyss Prince/Princess, and the Traveler seems to remind Liloupar of Deshret in terms of looks and powers. And wouldn’t it be fitting for Deshret, who turned down the Gnosis and challenged the heavens by obtaining Forbidden Knowledge (abyssal power) to be in some way related to the king of Khaenri’ah, a nation without a god that hid from Celestia and was later punished for it? And there’s sources about Remus, the king of Remuria, citing Remus as a god king just like Deshret. And Remuria as well as Remus were swallowed by the Abyss, reminding me of the sinking of Enkanomiya, where the names of the people are lifted directly from Greek/Roman mythology. And Remus is directly inspired by the Rome founding myth, while Remuria as a whole is inspired by ancient Rome. And the most tantalizing thing for me has to be the lost kingdom of Sal Vindagnyr, where it seems so cut off from these other lost kingdoms but their princess dreamt of events that wouldn’t come to pass for thousands of years, long after her civilization was destroyed. She was born under an offshoot of Irminsul, and had the power of prophecy through her connection to the tree. She foresaw the Cataclysm in Khaenri’ah, the coming of the abyssal dragon Durin, but she had no frame of reference for when these visions would come to pass. Think about what that would do to you as your kingdom was being swallowed in ice and snow, the gods having forsaken you, and your father asks to see a vision of the snow cleared and blue skies, but you’ve already forgotten what that looks like since it’s been so long in the blizzard. Dragonspine and the ruins of Sal Vindagnyr haunt me.

EDIT: I think I figured something out about Dragonspine. In every source I could find on the topic, people usually sort the Princess’s vision of Durin before the Celestial Nail that destroyed their Irminsul tree. I think, since the people of Sal Vindagnyr proclaimed to be in such close contact with Celestia, that Celestia dropped the nail on Dragonspine as a response to the princess’s vision. They laid down a preemptive strike against the abyss and then realized, “oh shoot, we messed up,” because Durin wouldn’t appear in Mondstadt until thousands of years later! So Celestia gets the heck out of dodge before the humans can seek retribution for the destruction of their home, that’s why they abandoned the people of Sal Vindagnyr. The humans were left wondering what they did wrong, but Celestia is the one at fault! Celestia panicked and messed up!

[neonluardon]

An Uncanny Dream

Now, I have dreams, some of which tend to involve a character or two. I am a Genshin Impact fan, and I especially like Kaeya. But the dream I had about Kaeya was so uncanny and equally majestic that I never wanted to forget about it. So, I prepared some visuals. I will be using the notes I took the moment I woke up. These notes help me a lot, as I have already forgotten almost all of the details.

Plot: I was the player but instead of controlling the Traveler, I was controlling Kaeya, the story itself was from his perspective. Because of a reason, I cannot remember, Kaeya ended up stuck between the line of truth and delusion.

Kaeya was aware of his existence, his world was pitch black and white. Everything he used to find beautiful now looked horrible, all voices were gone but a music that kept repeating over and over. As Kaeya, I was supposed to run around and ask for help. But no matter where we went, we couldn't interact with a person.

I remembered I had some resin (even in a dream I'm worried about not using resin lol) and decided to fight in a domain. Somehow, although we couldn't interact with humans and animals, Kaeya could harm Hilichurls and other Abyss-related creatures.

Upon defeating the enemies, Kaeya got an artifact. But this artifact didn't have relic bonuses.

The artifact's name was changed to "Memories From Afar". When I tried looking at the description of the artifact, instead of writing a story or giving an explanation, it simply said:

"You cannot go back now. Memories are out of your reach."

It said "Fatal error." too in very rare cases, because I was panicking so much that I kept reloading the screen and expected something else to come. After obtaining this artifact, I never managed to earn another one no matter how much resin I used.

I decided to use this artifact on Kaeya, but when I opened the character screen, all of my characters were gone and only Kaeya existed. And, well, he didn't look very well.

All of his talents were set back to one. His name didn't exist, instead, there was something akin to "X" but not exactly the same. He was a shadow, an "absence" on the game's screen. And his profile icon didn't exist as well. During this moment, I noticed that Kaeya couldn't interact with the others because he literally didn't exist anymore. He was conscious, he tried everything, but all that was left of him was his absence. And for some reason, no one in Mondstadt seemed to notice his sudden disappearance either.

Did the Irminsul Tree get corrupted and erase his information or was he not cared for at all? This was the question Kaeya asked. I was shocked since I didn't expect him to know about the tree and information could get erased from there.

I kept controlling Kaeya but the vision was so vague that the map barely helped, and no, the main menu wasn't opening either. No Paimon, no settings, just Kaeya and his absence.

Then, I remember seeing Dragonspine. Kaeya was here for some reason, lost and confused. But since he didn't exist anymore and all he could talk with was me (the player, not the traveler, he broke the 4th wall) he suggested taking some pictures.

This especially crept into me a lot because, in one of the fics I wrote, Kaeya went so insane that he needed pictures to make sure he did things right. I can somehow feel that by telling me to take pictures, he meant it in a way to "make sure everything is real."

He got mad when he saw the photos and how even they were colorless. He thought that by using an object that "exists" he could get rid of the terrible darkness. The photos also proved that what we were seeing was correct since not even the player could outrun the colorless screen. Yes, he said that. If even I can't change things, there is nothing Kaeya could do, according to him.

This was one of the scariest scenes, to be honest. The map was there but I couldn't understand a thing, everything looked too dark, once the elegant and magical Dragonspine was now sheer nightmare material. We fought multiple monsters. Kaeya was trying to find his way into reality, thinking for some reason that someone could bend his curse, and bring back the colors. It felt cold, too cold. I could physically feel the sheer chillness hitting my face. I remember moving in my bed as the dream continued.

But it came to an end. Kaeya was attacked by a Mitachurl with a cryo shield. We tried outrunning it but the cold killed Kaeya before the monster. I woke up after he died, the "sheer cold" screen was the simplest but most uncanny thing I have ever seen. It doesn't look that terrifying in the gif but imagine seeing this in a dream.

And a silence followed, Kaeya said nothing. I clicked the revive button but it simply said "Fatal error: Character files missing"

But as I stared at the screen, I could also think of a way that could have saved Kaeya. It was Diluc. For some reason, Diluc's flames could cut through Kaeya's corruption and the tides of reality itself. That little cut between truth and delusion could be his escape. But we never found Diluc, and it was already too late when I realized what we could have done. I felt guilty, knowing that he died because of me. And it wasn't a simple death either, he was deleted or his information in the Irminsul Tree got corrupted beyond fixing, erasing him from existence altogether as the only remains of his presence were his consciousness. He died in darkness, in the sheer cold he despised so much.

I woke up. I was mesmerized by this dream and wanted to write it down. But now that I looked at my badly written notes and the scenes I tried recreating, I feel terrible. This dream was one of the greatest things I have ever experienced, it showed just how creative my brain could get but also... how horrifying it can be. I will never forget the sheer cold screen and the artifact of "Memories From Afar".

[yyyuyuyu]

LOOKS AND SMILES. || Albedo

⚘❞Tw: Yandere behavior, the reader has some obsessive thoughts.❞

To be honest, you didn't really like Albedo. If you were to say this to someone, they would think that the reason was that your alchemical merit pales in comparison to Albedo. That's probably why you kept your thoughts to yourself. Maybe they would be right? Or maybe your tension was justified?

˗ˏˋ♡ˎˊ˗

Albedo was undoubtedly a smart, polite, kind and talented guy, but his gaze sometimes strained you. Such a look was not directed only at you, of course, but it did not get any better. Something in his appearance, in his look and smile, made you think that he was not a man at all, but rather something artificial. And the more you caught yourself thinking that something was wrong with Albedo, the more uncomfortable you became. You felt wrong thinking about it. It's not his fault that he's better than you. But no matter how hard you try to forget it and switch to something else, it doesn't work. It doesn't help that you've started seeing Albedo more and more often. His calm, soft voice greets you, his lips curl in their usual light smile. You chat with him for a bit before he smiles at you and walks away again, leaving you with even more thoughts about him.

˗ˏˋ♡ˎˊ˗

You are not stupid, you understand that something is wrong: Albedo rarely appears in the city, preferring to sit in his laboratory on the Dragonspine. But if an explanation can be found for this, then there is no sudden appearance of it. Thinking about it, you remember how you returned to Mondstadt, walking along the snow-covered road of the Dragonspine. Turning your head to the side, you see the Albedo in the distance. He is standing and it seems that his gaze is fixed on you. Pretending that you didn't see him, you continue on your way to the city. Already walking through the streets, you meet Albedo there. How did he manage to get to Mondstadt so quickly if you literally saw him in the distance on the Dragonspine? In fact, you actually asked him about it. You don't remember what he said, his words seem like white noise in your head, but you remember his intense look, as if you said something you shouldn't have said. But there was still a smile on his face.

˗ˏˋ♡ˎˊ˗

Some time has passed, no matter what you do, your thoughts still return to Albedo, in addition, you are communicating with him more and more often. But if he used to ask questions about your success in alchemy, now they are becoming more personal. He asks you about your well-being, your thoughts about certain topics that do not relate to alchemy, your attitude to other people, your favorite things, dishes, and many other questions. Out of politeness, you answer all his questions, share your opinion, not forgetting to ask him. He answers in a detailed and clear manner, as if he is always ready for what you ask him. After one of those short conversations, he invited you to help him with an alchemical experiment, to which you nod in agreement. There is no tension in his gaze, a smile slips across his face. Perhaps this is your chance to get to know him more. Maybe this will help you get rid of obsessive thoughts about the wrongness of the Albedo.

˗ˏˋ♡ˎˊ˗

You still helped him with that experiment. Well, actually, most of the time you were just talking to him, serving certain ingredients and flasks. But it's not that important, you think. After that day, he increasingly invited you to help him. And by "help" he meant just sitting by the fire so as not to freeze, answering his questions about you while he was circling around, writing something down, mixing or making. You find it a little strange, but you don't attach any importance to it. Maybe he's just shy to say directly that he just wants to spend time with you? After all, he is the same person as you, and people tend to be shy, right? You push this thought aside, focusing on Albedo and his voice. You listen as he tells you about his younger sister, about his favorite food. Paying attention to his look and smile, you catch yourself thinking that you were wrong about him.

˗ˏˋ♡ˎˊ˗

Your thoughts are no longer occupied with Albedo. But you start seeing him more often than any of your friends and family. Together with him, you are on the Dragonspine, which you visit every day, spending several hours there until it gets dark. But even then you don't leave because Albedo assures you that it's dangerous. By agreeing with him, you stay. And this happens several times until you and Albedo decide it's time to return to the city. In fact, you wouldn't even notice how much time you spend there with him until one of your friends points it out to you. When you realize this, you decide to limit your time with him. When you meet Albedo in the city, you tell him that you will not be able to visit him as often as before. He nods to you, saying that he understands. A slightly strained smile plays on his face, his gaze is tense, as it seemed to you once. You don't pay attention to it, believing that it just seems to you.

˗ˏˋ♡ˎˊ˗

Life goes on as usual. Your thoughts return to Albedo from time to time. You can't help but think about him and how wrong you were about him. You feel bad for thinking that way about him. During the time that you spent together, you got to know him better. He no longer seems inhuman to you. Thinking about him, you realize that the people around you were right about his correctness. But you haven't seen him lately. Usually, you meet with him several times a week, but about two weeks have passed since your last meeting in the city. Perhaps he's busy, you think, trying to focus on your alchemical knowledge: you've even forgotten the last time you actually did alchemy.

˗ˏˋ♡ˎˊ˗

You have returned to your normal life, doing alchemy, as it was before you met Albedo. Recently, you have started to worry a little about him: you have not seen or visited him for almost a month, during all this time he has never been in town. He's probably busy, which is why he wasn't here, or maybe he just doesn't want to, because, as you remember, he prefers to be on Dragonspine. You think a little and decide to visit him, already wearing warm clothes for a cold climate. You take a look at your belongings before closing the door and heading to Dragonspine.

˗ˏˋ♡ˎˊ˗

Already sitting near the fire to warm up, you communicate with Albedo. He asks you about why you haven't visited him, what you've been doing all this time. You answer by asking him answering questions such as what he has been doing all this time, how he feels. It was a casual conversation, his smile seemed a little warmer than usual, but the gaze fixed on you is still full of tension. He's probably always like this, you think, smiling back at him. He gives you a cup of hot tea while continuing to talk to you. He seems happy.

˗ˏˋ♡ˎˊ˗

A cup of tea has been drunk for a long time and is on his table. You feel your strength leaving you, your vision becomes hazy, and your body weak. Albedo is closer to you, holding you so that you don't fall. You hear him asking you how you feel. The last thing you see before you plunge into darkness is Albedo's smile, which is wider than usual, and the inanimate look of his eyes filled with satisfaction.

[sonicstalker123]

I imagine some genshin characters saying…

Childe/Tartaglia:

“Lmao what a mood”

(If he had a partner without a vision) “Visionless behavior” (to troll)

“Lol no vision??” (To troll)

“Haha, relatable”/“can’t relate”

“That’s my beloved comrade”

(If somebody saw his partner get hurt/saw that his partner was hurt) “Oh boy is it on sight.”

“This person here is a massive bitch”

*surprised pikachu face*

“This snow is beautiful and sparkly, it’s a shame that my Fatui duties are making me change its color to crimson.”

Itto

“It’s all good here, compadre”

“You good?”

“It’s all good ‘round here.”

“Dude did you see what I did with those Lavender Melons, it was kickass, I kicked them for the lols and they went flying like 60 feet”

“That’s my partner, they’re so badass”

“Yeah no Kuki had to get me out of this tricky situation last week involving Heizou”

“Dude, I’m so proud of you for doing that thing you were afraid of doing!”

“Eat shit, Raiden Shogun!”

“Bro did that really just happen??”

“Lol/lmao, how did you trip over that rock?”

*surprised pikachu face*

“Duuude, look at this crab!”

“Nightmares are just horror movies that your mind makes up as you sleep.”

“Dammit, here comes the fun police.” (Referring to Kuki, Heizou or Sara)

Scaramouche

“Don’t do that again you idiot” (he says “idiot” in his own weird loving way)

“Yes, dear, you’re my idiot and nobody else’s.”

“Oh my partner? What about them. You got something to say about them??”

“What a nuisance.”

“Yes, this is the first time that somebody has acknowledged who I am, these feelings are new to me.” (“These feelings” can be seen in a friend way or romantic)

“Yes, the Fatui can eat sand for all I care.”

“Darling.”

“Watching this snow fall in Dragonspine is rather peaceful.”

“Rain is just water, it can’t hurt anything 😒”

Adeptus Xiao

“Yes, dear, you called?”

“Darling, our pet cat is okay, she’s right here.”

“Our cat is so cute.”

“Your friendship/romantic relationship with me is something I’ll cherish forever.”

“Why are you friends with me? I’m a Conqueror of Demons, I may hurt you.”

“All I’ve wanted in my days is somebody who I can be close to, regardless if it’s friendship or a partner.”

“Allow me to accompany you… please?”

“I will be gone for a while because of my adepti duties, I’ll miss you. Please wait for me. Say my name if you need me for anything.”

Gaming

“Hi, sugar pea! Wanna go get some dim sum together? 😁”

“Dude, that dude over there needs to chill out and like drink some tea for real”

“I can’t believe it’s supposed to rain this bad, this wasn’t supposed to happen!”

“I’m about to go training for my Wushou Performance next week, wanna go?”

“Wanna go to the pride parade next week?? It’ll be my first pride parade I’m going to and it’d be fun to go with somebody!” (I hc him as bi)

“Wow, it’s really hot out today! Make sure you have water so you aren’t dehydrated! I care about you, ya know?”

“Wait, huh? What do you mean they can’t come with me?! They’re my partner and I want them to be with me, regardless if it’s training or not!!”

“Morning, sugar pea! Did you sleep well? Have good dreams?? 😁”

[blood-orange-juice]

i agree with the hunt!!! i see what you mean with nihility but i still think it’s not enough chaotic for him which is why i can see him in destruction too (those who follow the "destruction" path admire recklessness, anger, and destructive behavior) most evident in what he chose to do in his final liyue action

I was choosing between Nihility and Destruction for Surtalogi, and you could be right!

The reason I didn't choose Destruction was because the boy isn't really reckless. His motives are weird but he's meticulous, plans ahead and avoids doing too much damage. His boss fight 3rd phase is him freaking out over losing control of situation (it seems to be his personal trigger. not being in control of things) and everything else in Liyue was a rational plan.

His fighting style also doesn't really fit! The Destruction characters we know seem to overpower with brute force, while Childe relies more on speed, skill and hitting at the weak points. He loses both times he runs into things he has no plan for and tries the brute force approach.

(he isn't actually that strong, despite all the aggressive posturing)

He also seems to follow a philosophy of "life is ultimately meanigless but you can still have fun in the process and preserve the things you personally consider important", not "life is meaningless, hurrr durrr I will kill everyone in this room and then myself".

(although am I really sure about that)

However!

There's this guy

His design kiiind of looks like the Antimatter Legion.

Also two of the Destruction Emanators are called Sun Devourer (Star-Swallowing Whale? Anyone?) and Burning Wind (translated in Zephyro in EN. Surtalogi is the fire that will consume the world during Ragnarok in Norse mythology, it rhymes somehwat).

Also Surtalogi was called "most evil knight" by Skirk and Antimatter Legion is described as "a gathering of the most vicious and evil creations in the universe" in HSR. Hmm.

But also the black hole core looks more like something related to Nihility. The black core everyone in Antimatter Legion has is made, well, of antimatter:

And the description we get from a whale drop sounds more like The Garden of Recollection.

So I'm really confused. Maybe it's a fusion of two paths. Why not.

He could be Destruction with some extra twist.

Also.

HSR Mutual Demise destruction lightcone:

Guy from the Dragonspine mural:

[pocarinapyon]

[🧸] Fireworks and Anxiety

In which the reader has anxiety over fireworks and any explosive sounds. Now that everyone is welcoming the new calendar year, people started to get festive and set off fireworks as part of the ceremony.

But of course, your beloved won't let you suffer from your dilemma.

Starring : Albedo, Alhaitham (Separate)

Tags / Warnings : 🧸 [Comfort] Mentions of guns and explosives; Implications of anxiety and/or trauma related to the sounds of fireworks (trauma could be from gunshots / explosives / accident related to fireworks / etc); Actually... It's like an auditory anxiety; The Genshin hubbies comfort me you through various means❤️; These are short scenarios only though 🥺; Also, Alhaitham is too blunt (?); Continued to write while sleepy and no proofreads from others; As per usual... Petnames (if it bothers you); Childe and Kaveh when?

Links : Pinned Post, Moral Support (Albedo)

Reader is gender neutral.

To whoever is reading, I hope you are doing well and please enjoy.

----------

🐇 Albedo

"My love, are you feeling comfortable? Would you like me to prepare you a cuppa? How about your pillows?" Albedo asked as he catered to your needs while you snuggled with a stuffed toy underneath the warm blanket of your shared bed.

Albeit shaking, you shook your head in response and smiled kindly at your lover. You felt lucky to have such an accommodating and caring boyfriend, seeing that he did his best to give you the best treatment during your anxiety attacks.

"I'm doing well, my love. Please don't worry," you whispered in a hushed tone and it was quite evident that something still made you anxious.

You were already recovering when a faint sound of explosion boomed from afar, immediately alerting you as you froze with a heightened sense of hearing. Albedo recognized this behavior of yours and stared at you with a concerned look on his face. Your distress over the sounds of fireworks were evident and seeing you skittish and uneasy state made him feel helpless to console you.

"My love, please relax. You're safe here in Dragonspine with me. There is nothing to be afraid of," Albedo said as he lovingly held you in his arms, caressing your back and patting your head in an attempt to comfort you. He wanted to tell you that you would not be harmed in any way and even the sound of Klee's loudest bomb-fishing explosives would not be able to reach his laboratory in the mountains.

You snuggled with Albedo and responded with a tight hug. You were aware the sounds of the fireworks were muted in Dragonspine. It was just that your anxiety heightened your senses on full alert that you were actually hearing explosives inside your head. However, your imaginative brain kept thinking there would be imminent danger that made you skittish.

"My love, you're here. You're safe...," Albedo whispered in your ears as he peppered your face with kisses.

Just a few more minutes and Albedo's calming potion would be ready. Hopefully, it should help your mind relax as he cuddled and comforted you. He was an alchemist after all and he would use everything in his arsenal just to keep you safe and happy.

-----

🐇 Alhaitham

The dark sky lit up with various attractive colors followed by the booming of fireworks ringing everywhere. Everyone welcomed the first hour of the new calendar year with loud noises and the poor you couldn't help but yelp and whimper from the thunderous sounds.

"They're just fireworks," Alhaitham remarked bluntly as if you weren't stressing over the noises.

"I know!" you hissed before squeaking from the fireworks that had just decorated the sky.

In moments like these you wished Alhaitham would be more empathetic over your feelings. However, Alhaitham could not grasp why or how you acquired your sudden auditory anxiety that he failed to console you.

Tilting your head away from Alhaitham's view, tears streamed down your face as you felt stupid and helpless over your emotions. Yes, you were aware that these were just fireworks but for some reason, the sound just makes you feel tensed. Meanwhile, Alhaitham observed you - analyzing your behavior while browsing through the catalog of knowledge in his mind as to how to help you in any way.

The two of you were too occupied when another set of fireworks brightened the night sky beautifully. To this, Alhaitham immediately held you in his arms as he knew you would enter another state of panic.

"Hey. Look at me," Alhaitham demanded, tilting your head while covering your ears from the fireworks.

You weren't able to conceal your tear-stained face and could only obey Alhaitham as you looked at his sharp eyes, your body shaking from the unwelcomed noises ringing in your ears.

"Tell me five things you can see," Alhaitham asked, this time his tone had a hint of concern and kindness.

"Five things...?" muddled, you asked in confusion and continued to stare at Alhaitham only to be answered with a firm nod and a gentle smile.

"Five things... I can see your eyes. Erm... There's a lamp on our table. Also, your book is on your lap while we are underneath our sheets. And then... I can see your smile? Does that count?" you replied meekly, hoping the five things you mentioned were enough for Alhaitham.

"That's good," Alhaitham hummed contentedly while caressing your cheeks lovingly. "How about four things you can touch?"

"Four things I can touch? Uhm... Your hands; the book; the blanket. And - uhm... Our pillow," you replied while getting a feel of the items you mentioned earlier.

"Heh... Alright. How about three things that you can hear?" Alhaitham added.

"I - I can hear the fireworks...!" you squeaked skittishly.

"What else?" was Alhaitham's patient reply.

"I - I can hear the people having fun. And - and your voice... You sound a lot kinder now," you answered, catching yourself melting in Alhaitham's hold.

"That's good... How about two things you can smell?" Alhaitham added, not minding the remark you mentioned about the lace of concern in his tone.

"Two things I can smell...," you hummed before sniffling in the air to which your eyes twinkled in delight. "I can smell your body wash and the fragrant incense you lit. Is it lavender this time?"

Alhaitham chuckled and nodded as he continued to caress your cheeks lovingly, his overall demeanor now more caring.

"Yes, it is lavender. Now the last question is a bit tricky. Give me one thing you can taste?" Alhaitham whispered.

"One thing I can taste?" you confirmed while trying to actually describe the flavor you had in your mouth.

But even before you could respond, Alhaitham brought his lips onto yours in a passionate kiss that made you momentarily block out the sounds of fireworks.

----------

To whoever is reading, thank you for your time. Here, have a snuggly stuffed toy 🧸.

I now feel sleepy enough and hopefully I really would be able to sleep.. 🥴🥺 Good night everyone. ❤️

Childe : "What about me???"

Me : "Shh... In due time... Good night, Ajax~ Good night, Kaveh~"

Edit : Oops! I forgot to remove Childe and Kaveh from the tags before posting this. 😅

Links : Pinned Post, Moral Support (Albedo)

[azullumi]

albedo — in love headcanons ☆彡

summary — albedo and his feelings.

pairing — albedo/gender-neutral reader

tags — a little bit of angst, some fluff, kind of pining at the beginning also; headcanons

word count — 706

To love is to be a being in their most flawed and barest form. To be consumed by a reckless kind of emotion, having yourself driven by an insatiable thirst.

He envies the earth that gets to hold you, he envies the dirt that you walk upon and leaves trails behind, he envies the birds that get to sing melodies to you, he envies the blanket of your bed that gets to wrap your body and wishes it was him. He wishes it was all him.

He first admires you from afar, from a distance he calls safe even if it leaves him desiring and wanting to get closer to you but he can't. Even with the torturous feeling of wanting to feel his fingertip against your skin, he held himself back.

But things will never go the way he intends it to be. Suddenly, the gap between you two had closed and he is now lacing and weaving his fingers against yours just like in his dreams. He can now feel the softness of your palm and his lips against yours, molding perfectly like two missing puzzle pieces.

If ever this was really a dream of his, an extremely realistic one, he would never wish to wake up from it.

Albedo is good at nearly everything except for expressing himself and his emotions completely due to the fact that he is not a human, in essence, and has a hard time relating to humanely things but he assures you that he lays himself bare just for you and that he knows that what he felt for you was sincere and genuine love and affection.

"(Name), you do not hold my heart."

"You are my heart itself, my soul, the physical embodiment of my weakness. I fear that when the time comes and if you ever ask me the world, I will gladly give it to you."

Words of confession roll off his tongue so easily as if it was the natural thing to do, often leaving you flustered with the way he uses his words at you. Albedo's nonchalant expression is always replaced with a tender look filled with admiration, adoration, and sweetness.

Albedo finds different ways to show you how much he loves you and cares for you. He would look after you and would get immediately worried at a small change of your health.

Although he lets you accompany him whenever he goes up the mountains of Dragonspine so he could continue on with his research. Normally, he wouldn't let anyone touch any of his materials or enter his laboratory easily but you're not just anyone. He even lets you help him with what he's doing— if it's safe enough for you— even if you have no prior knowledge or experience.

"And should you ever leave me, I don't know what I will do."

He fears that he'll have to learn everything by himself. He would have to learn the things that he has already gotten used to before but was then replaced or changed because of your existence and arrival in his life. He's anxious at the thought that he will wake up without you by his side and the warmth beside him is no longer.

He's afraid that he's already too used to you being around and that being alone will soon feel suffocating even if it's something normal for him for a long time already. He fears that he might seek out for your touch which no longer exists and he can no longer feel.

One day, you, too, will disappear. The time will come wherein you'll never know what his name would sound like at the tip of your tongue nor will you ever remember the way you held his hands but everything will remain with him. He knows that but now, right now, he'll just indulge himself in this fleeting moment with you even if it will crumble him to dust sooner or later.

Time willl past and his memories might fade but paintings of you that he has created will continue to exist. You will live on even after you have passed, just in forms of words and paintings that he never had courage to show you.

— navigation | masterlist

[paimonial-rage]

how to be a better fan - venti

ship: venti x reader

synopsis: in which reader and venti get stuck in a locker and do stuck-in-a-locker related things

notes: idol!au; sequel to secret identities and whatnot

You grumbled as you peeked into the breakroom. Much to your abject irritation and unwilling relief, waiting for you inside was the lyricist extraordinaire. You had a very special reason for meeting him today, and it could only be him. It had been a year since 5WIRL formed, though it was 4NEMO at the time. You wanted to plan something special for the group. 

Still, you couldn’t help but hesitate before going inside. Things have been… awkward around Venti as of late. Not long ago, you learned that he was actually your all-time favorite artist. And after all those things you told him while trying to make him upset, you–

“Oh, is that my biggest fan peeking through the door there?”

Ugh.

You pushed the door forcefully open and stomped over to the table in which he sat. 

“It’s way too early for me to be dealing with you.”

He gasped.

“That’s so rude! How can you say that to your first love?”

Maybe you could choke him to death and bury the evidence somewhere. You feel you became good friends with Heizou. He’d surely help you, right?

“Anyway, I thought we could go to Dragonspine Theme Park for the group anniversary. Apparently in two weeks, they will be holding a scavenger hunt. Heizou would have fun with that, right? I think Aether is fine with anything, and as for Kazuha… I think the same for him too. My only concern is Xiao. I’m not sure if it would be too loud for him.”

Venti shrugged.

“Nah, Xiao may seem all grumpy, but I think he’d be interested. He just tends to hide that side of him, that’s all.”

You gave a hesitant smile.

“Well… if you say so. I’ll be trusting you then… I want everyone to have fun.”

He placed his chin against his hand and grinned.

“We will! Don’t worry about it. It could even rain and we still would have a great time with you.”

You blinked in surprise. 

“Wait, I didn’t plan on going myself. I wanted to get you all away from work. Not even the manager is going…”

“What?” Venti gasped in surprise and took your hands in protest. “But you have to go! You’re our friend. It wouldn’t be right if you weren’t there.”

As he spoke, his beautiful emerald eyes gazed into yours imploringly. As hard as you tried to ignore the blush rising to your cheeks, the genuine tone his words took made your heart go weak. You glanced away.

“Fine, I’ll go. Besides, who knows what trouble you’ll all get up to without me there.”

You hated the way your face became even hotter with the dazzling smile that captured his lips soon after. 

“Do you mind heights? Because I’d love to go on a few rollercoasters with you. Also the games. I have a pretty good aim, so I bet I can win you a ton of stuffed animals,” He exclaimed, swinging your arms in excitement. 

Unable to take it any longer, you snatched back your hands and took a step away.

“Okay, okay, I get it. I said I was going. No need to pile on the charm…”

He giggled, and took a step close, a bit too close.

“Why? Is it working?”

Your heart stuttered, and that annoying flush painted your cheeks an even more vibrant color.

“You–”

Voices from the hall outside stopped you cold.

“... No, I didn’t see Venti this morning.”

“First?”

“I didn’t see them either…”

Your body reacted before your mind could. Without missing a step, you pulled Venti with you into a locker against the wall. You barely had any time to gently close it shut before four sets of footsteps walked in.

“Hmm… I thought they’d be in here. First usually likes to set up early.”

You leaned forward and squinted, doing your best to peek through the grate on the locker door. Much to your displeasure, Venti stood between you and that grate which cut off visibility more than you would have liked. It didn’t help that he kept squirming too. Was he trying to get you both caught?

“Perhaps First finally snapped and murdered our dear leader. They could be burying the body right now as we speak.”

“It’s not kind to joke about things like that, Heizou. That being said, I can’t say he wouldn’t deserve it if First did snap…”

You gave your companion a pinch when they grumbled.

“Right? Well, fret not. I’ve figured out where they are. And it looks like Xiao did too.”

“I want no part of this.”

“Really? Where are they?”

“Right this way.”

You stood frozen in place for a few seconds after 5WIRL left, but when it finally became clear they would not be coming back in, you let out a sigh of relief and rested your forehead against Venti’s shoulder. If you both were in a precarious situation before, it was that multiplied by a billion now. 

“So um… mind telling me why we’re in here?” Venti asked with a nervous laugh. 

You sighed.

“Isn’t it obvious? If everyone saw us both together, they’d think we’re planning something! This is supposed to be a surprise!” 

“Really? I would’ve thought something else…” He mused, glancing up in thought. 

“Well, regardless, they’re gone so we can get out of–”

Um…

Hmm…

You tried pushing the door one more time. 

Umm…

You laughed nervously.

“Do uh… you know how to open a locker from the inside?”

Silence.

“I… can’t say I do…”

More silence.

Even more silence.

You groaned and knocked your head against the back of the locker in frustration. If you didn’t manage to find a way out, you… you didn’t even want to imagine what would happen!

“You know…” His voice serenaded sweetly, a bit too sweet, as he wrapped his arms loosely around you. “A lot of fans do want to get close to their bias, but I didn’t know you were the type as well, First.” 

Though you felt heat rushing to your face, you willed with every single speck of willpower you possessed for it to subside. You could ignore your heart beating out of your chest at least for now. It was about time someone knocked him down a peg or two.

“Well, I figured for you, at least someone has to. You know, being the least popular and all…” You replied with a grin.

He gasped in offense.

“How rude!”

You knew that the last popularity polls were a bit of a touchy subject, but in all honesty, it wasn’t Venti’s fault his popularity dropped. Due to being busy with other projects and collaborations, he wasn’t able to take as active a role in 5WIRL as he used to. Still, you were ready and willing to use any ammunition you could get your hands on. 

“Maybe if you were a better singer people would pay attention to you more,” you mused lightly. 

Though the light that shone through the grate hid much, you couldn’t stop the giggle that bubbled forth upon catching sight of his pout. You always knew he knew he was cute, but did he truly realize how adorable he was? All of his expressions were attractive, but somehow the faces he made when you won your little tiffs made your heart beat the most. 

“Yeah? Well, you could be a better fan too!” He finally replied. 

You laughed.

“Really? Calling you my first love wasn’t enough?”

His cheeks warmed. And as he bit his lip, you wondered if they were as soft as they looked.

“W-Well you could be more devoted…”

You leaned in slowly, pressing your body against his. You felt lightheaded.

“A-And more passionate…”

His voice shook.

“A-And… umm…”

His breath brushed against your lips.

Your eyes fluttered shut.

And then you lost your balance.

Blinded by sudden bright lights, you let out a loud squeak as you found yourself falling forward at an alarming speed. And though you hit the ground cushioned by something soft, you could only lay there in shock. What in the world just–

“See? I told you I knew where they were,” came a teasingly smooth voice. 

“That didn’t mean you had to bother them…” sighed another. 

“Are you alright, First? Venti?”

After finally gathering your wits enough, you looked up to see Aether smiling down apologetically at you with a hand out. And then looking down, there was Venti whom, just a few seconds before, you were about to–

“THANK YOU VERY MUCH!” You yelped, taking Aether’s hand to quickly pull you to your feet. 

“I, um, I…”

You had to explain yourself. You couldn’t allow them to misunderstand! It wasn’t like you were– Sure it looked suggestive, but it wasn’t what they were thinking! You and Venti were just… You both got locked inside and– It wasn’t like–

And then came Heizou, the utter ass, with his award winning smile.

“I hope we didn’t interrupt anything.”

But upon seeing your face suddenly light aflame, his eyes widened in shock. And when he turned to Venti and saw the singer sitting up in a similar state as you, dread filled his stomach. 

“W-Wait, did we really–”

“No, you’re wrong. Just shut up. I’m going now, goodbye!”

And with that, you dashed out of the room.

“I’m…. going to go after them,” Venti mumbled before following after you.

And after the door closed, the rest of 5WIRL sat in muted shock. Finally, Heizou let out a pathetic chuckle.

“Let it be said my deductions are not infallible. I should probably apologize later, shouldn't I?”

“Yes, you should.”

[dkniade]

World Quest “Ancient Colours” Act I spoilers?

I was watching a playthrough of the Mamere quest “Ancient Colours” and of course there’s already something off about Mamere (and it’s so sad that she always collects paint alone)—

Warnings: slight horror stuff involving blood, mentions lightheadedness and hearing voices, dialogue on emotional manipulation

—but that just took a really dark turn the moment Jacob showed up.😭

I thought, huh, surely this is just a cute quest about Mamere and painting and Elynas. And for the first half of Act One it is fun for the most part.

The little sound effect that plays when Mamere is talking and gesturing is so cute…. Wiggle wiggle…

Lots of people have tried to buy her art but she doesn’t need Mora, huh. And Paimon tried to appreciate the artwork. This does feel like a sunnier and cuter version of the 2.3 Dragonspine scene with Albedo.

This is not a sunnier and cuter version of the 2.3 and the 1.2 Dragonspine events.

Still, Mamere talks about tall people but it’s really nice that the camera angles are from her eye level when she’s talking to Paimon. It feels nice to be lower to the ground.

-

The paint in the bottle is a warm and beautiful colour… It’s not blood is it

Paimon: No need to apologize! A priceless masterpiece like the one you’ll make should also need priceless paints, after all!

(If player has completed Shadows Amidst Snowstorms)

Traveler: I do recall us helping Albedo gather Starsilver back then…

-

There’s that speech pattern again of Mamere trying to understand Paimon’s intentions

Mamere: Also, there's no need to worry. I've always gone out to get paints on my own, so I'm used to it...

Paimon: Wait, so you don't have friends accompanying you most of the time?

Traveler: Ahem.

Paimon: Oh! Uh... What Paimon means is... Um, sorry...

Mamere: Huh? Why are you apologizing?

Mamere: Oh, I get it, Paimon! You feel bad for me because Seymour can't move and I might be lonely while collecting paint, right? You're so nice... Thank you.

It’s hard to describe. What is it about her that feels notable? Usually people would be sad or upset if someone points out that they don’t have friends to accompany them, but Mamere seems chill about it?

-

…Isn’t the stone mechanic kind of like how you need to get red stones to melt the special ice in Dragonspine

Mamere’s concept of making paint seem to be different from Paimon’s concept

Mamere: These ores contain a lot of impurities. If we were to make them into paint like this, the colours won’t be even—they’ll look dirty.

IMPURITIES….. Albedo… Starsilver… If Starsilver symbolize one’s worth in relation to Rhinedottir, then what do the red ores here symbolize?

Mamere: Hehe. At this time, we need to find purer ones, grind them down, and then mix the powders together.

?? Not going to discard the impurities like Albedo would? Would that really help the paint making process?

-

But, what is this.

Traveler gets dizzy multiple times from presumably toxic ores and starts hearing voices, Jakob breaks into Mamere’s home and emotionally manipulates her. How long has this been going on?

-

Mamere: That "you've never seen paintings like these before," that "you'd like to collect them"... That you could... understand them...

Mamere: You did all that... for things that have nothing to do with the paintings themselves, right?

Jakob: You misunderstand, Ms. Mamere.

Jakob: I have never intended to deceive you. Even now, I have nothing but admiration for your work.

Mamere: But you called them... "shambolic doodles"...

Jakob: And I apologize for my imprecise use of words. I was truly mesmerized by their unpredictable, chaotic nature, and I can appreciate the beauty in them, so incomprehensible to the rest of the world.

-

…

This guy… There’s a word for what he’s doing, aside from manipulation.