#yes i'm still thinking about furina and focalors

[that-foul-legacy-lover]

the Fontaine archon quest is still making me feel too many things so here (spoilers for the 4.2 archon quest if you haven't played it yet):

what if you were from Fontaine, the first sin on your shoulders and Primordial Seawater running through your veins like the rest of them. the prophecy hung heavily over your head, a source of constant worry during late nights when you're alone and can't sleep- Childe begged you to leave the nation of Justice multiple times, to come with him to Snezhnaya, but you refused to leave behind your friends to be swallowed by the waters. your worries only worsen when Childe is arrested in the Opera House and taken away to the Fortress, then spontaneously goes missing in the dead of night.

your heart squeezes with dread and sharp concern when Foul Legacy suddenly reemerges from the maw of a colossal stellar narwhal, the edges of his mask and armor smoldering from days of battle. the final glance he gives you is full of pain and desperation before he falls back through the rift in the world, and you want to start screaming but can't, the words stuck in your throat as you swallow and simply stare at the starry crack where the whale and Foul Legacy vanished.

you can't lose Childe. you can't lose Foul Legacy. you can't lose Ajax. so despite every instinct screaming not to, you follow Iudex Neuvillette and the Traveler through the portal.

Foul Legacy is there, curled up on the ground, but he still lets out a raspy trill when you rush over to him, weakly leaning into your arms as you pull him far away from the ensuing fight. you bury your face in his coppery hair, shaking from the weight of stress and worry, and you feel Legacy's claws curl gently around your wrist.

everything from that point seems to pass in a blur- the narwhal's defeat, the flooding of Fontaine, the waters slowly receding... and finally, finally- everything seems to calm, smoothing out like silk and soothing your frazzled nerves. you plan on leaving for Snezhnaya, wanting to keep Childe company as he heals from his ordeal- the very first thing that he did when he transformed back to his human state was give you a silly grin, bringing out your first smile in a few months.

and yet your peace did not last, for Celestia judges all at their own discretion. although the sins of Fontaine have been washed away, they still deem you a sinner for colluding with the Abyss, your love for Childe and Foul Legacy and his love for you considered a horrible crime in the eyes of the divine.

your sentence? execution.

[hopeless-5-foot-2-spiderlily]

Ayoooo! Genshin Fans!! Y'all need to archondamn read!!

Mavuika is not like Furina! Yes true both are humans BUT Furina is CURSED and WAS A GOD remember FOCALORS/FURINA basically divided herself into two, human(Furina) and divine (Focalors).

IF YOU WHO CLAIMS AS GENSHIN FAN WHO FAILS TO UNDERSTAND THE LORE OF FURINA/FOCALORS imagine this Venti sacrificing his godhood he separates his power becoming the no memory human Venti and the divine Barbatos with 100 Memory—essentially a one person with two names who separated themselves with different attributes. (ALSO VENTI IS JUST AN EXAMPLE HE IS STILL A FULL ARCHON)

ANYWAY back to Mavuika

SPOILERS!!

Natlan according to her has no species called gods, the first archon, was but a mortal man who ascended to the archon throne and from there borrowed the power of the heavens BASICALLY CELESTIA BECAUSE GNOSES IS AN OBJECT THAT DRAWS POWER FROM CELESTIA. So, yes, MAVUIKA IS A MORTAL, AND THAT MEANS MAVUIKA IS THE PYRO ARCHON, like her predecessor

If she was the pyro archon from 500 years ago, how is she still alive? She's like furi--!! NO, SHE IS NOT LIKE FURINA

Mavuika as she said sacrificed herself to the sacred flame 🔥. "EMBEDDED HER SOUL IN THE SACRED FLAME TO BE REAWAKENED 500 YEARS LATER" and that means she hasn't lived through those 500 years. She was reawakened and entered the pilgrimage and became the pyro archon once again—what hwr physical body's age is also her mental age—she died young in her previous life. OKAY IN SIMPLER THOUGHTS THINK PHOENIX die burning and reawakened from ghe ashes.

Question: why is pyro traveller not available?

I in fact don't know but from what we know we can assume that the Pyro Archon has no elemental dominion over well fire. The pyro archon draws power from the heavens but that was probably used to make the rules they currently have in Natlan which is why they can bring people back to life—specific requirements in certain areas. Like what IL CAPITANO mentioned "what is the use of the gnoses in your hands blah blah then it's up to me to make new rules for Natlan" so I concur that the sacred flame and the rules of the nation is the mortal archon's borrowed power from the heavens.

It might also be because the pyro archon is mortal and therefore their body can't withstand the entirety of the elemental dominion. Formidable but not in equal to a god in Barbatos, Moral, Baal/Beelzebub, Buer, Focalors caliber.

This is just my theory for now but it would also not explain why there are allogenes of Pyro, if the case was this to explain non pyro traveller. However, we are descenders who have elemental resonance to every element and the gnoses was made by the dragon's sovereign and the third descenders' remains and thus maybe the power is not enough to give to traveller because we're not really allogenes.

ALSO COULD ABYSS TWIN HAVE ALREADY DIED???? AND THAT'S WHY IRMINSUL COUNTED THEM AS PART OF THIS WORLD??? WHAT IF THEY DIED SOMEHOW IN NATLAN??? MAYBE THEY HAD A FORGED ANCIENT NAME LIKE WHAT MAVUIKA OFFERED TRAVELLER??? RIGHT???? IDK BUT THAT'S BEEN WEIGHING IN MY MIND SINCE NATLAN TRAILER AND I JUST FORGOT TO RANT ABOUT THAT HERE HAHAHAHAHAHAHA I'M GOING 🤣 CRAZY!!

[myjustice]

spoilers for pt. 4 of lantern rite, thoughts mainly focused on furina.

at first i was concerned that her & hu tao meeting was going to be another little jab at furina's trauma concerning the floods & the people that were lost to the waters & other things ( because she genuinely carries a lot of guilt with her over it & the powerlessness she felt for the last 500 years & just making false promises that she herself as she was had the power to help them when that wasn't the truth ), so i'm really glad that it didn't end up being the case & it ended up being an entirely different thing.

by the sounds of it furina might be testing her wit on making a horror film which i would love to see personally. i hope this comes back full circle in a later patch - would love to see who she thinks would make perfect actors to star in her horror film, it'll probably be characters from liyue since liyue folklore seems to have been the source of inspiration for this film idea she's trying to iron out.

i'm glad that we caught the fontaine cast as they were leaving liyue because i really wanted the lantern rite to be more heavily focused on the liyue cast. i love the implication that the fontaine characters were there enjoying the lantern rite as well though!

i can't express just how happy i am that furina got to meet zhongli first out of the seven & that she got to spend time with him in the company of hu tao. she genuinely enjoyed their company & i adore & i'm so happy that she did because it emphasizes that her isolation isn't something she does with pleasure. furina doesn't like to be alone, she doesn't want to anymore. being on her own is just something she was forced to live with, self-isolation to cope with what may come her way & threaten her spirit. the fact that she can kick it off with others so well is wonderful & that she feels so at ease & comfortable to just be herself around them.

furina being able to tell there's more to zhongli than meets the eye by a mere conversation was awesome. the exhaustion i feel when people want to discredit her ability to critically think on her own or that she's too "childish" to connect two & two on her own is ridiculous. also this one shot of zhongli looking so happy to see her in person is very cute to me.

it gets glossed over that the seven see furina & her expelled divinity as one entity ( individual interpretations from the fandom/fanon aside ), so betwixt them they hold her at a very high esteem for being able to successfully deceive the heavenly principles which is an entity that they all fear ( for good reason ). they don't see furina &/or focalors, they just see furina who has simply destroyed her throne & is now like zhongli & venti are, they're just three retired tired & exhausted ex-archons. furina, however, does not fully have her memories intact, she only has vague recollections of her very old life. should that ever return to her in full swing or not is still very much in the air. it's neither a yes or a no.

anyway, i'm glad that it can't be argued that furina cares so much about neuvillette. he means a lot to her. & that she thinks of his wellbeing & is hopeful about him giving himself a chance in this world even with his lack of interest for it which she has known he has for the longest time. she knows him so well it's actually so lovely to see it play out how it does. she's using the traveler as her middle man, to pass on her message to him but i'm hopeful for the day where these two will get to talk to each other again & reconcile as she continues to find a healthy way to sort through her traumas & her woes to where it's not entirely consuming her anymore. having her see that she's deserving of love & is worthy of it & that it's genuine is the day i'm so excited to be able to see & witness for myself. for hundreds of years furina encouraged neuvillette to integrate himself more & more into the human world so that he for himself can see the beauty she saw in it even through the struggles & pains that come with it so i'm sure hearing the advice furina told the traveler to pass on to him was a song he was all too familiar with. him admitting & coming to terms with that is very important to that part of their relationship.

hearing clorinde regard furina as her friend no doubt meant the absolute world to furina & given how familiar furina is with clorinde it was important to me that she heard it from clorinde the most because furina knows clorinde wouldn't just say & toss the word friend around so lightly & so mindlessly. it really strengthened the foundation afterwards for furina to call them both her friends as well a few moments later because that was reassurance to furina. clorinde just saying this is what friends do for each other was letting her know that they really see her as their friend & that it's okay for furina to consider & see them as her friends as well because they already consider her as part of their group. it made me so happy. they all came separately but they all depart together.

in general i was pretty happy. it was so nice to see furina again. she means everything to me.

some tid bits that i found so funny were the implications that zhongli really did avoid neuvillette which the conflict in that is something i love because there really is a deep rooted conflict there by relation that needs to get addressed & ironed over & not fixed by the power of friendship.

hu tao saying that neuvillette was a friend of furina's that still had a lot of growing up to do because it's true, hu tao isn't wrong but it's just so funny that it came from hu tao, not because i believe her immature, but because her saying it out of anybody else is implying something.

& then the fact that furina vaguely recalls neuvillette's age as a result of hu tao saying that neuvillette has so much room to grow. i didn't know there was so much controversy around it because from the very beginning it was made clear that furina knew he was the sovereign. you may interpret the text as you want. both cn/jp say that he's at least a thousand years old while the english translation say he's several thousands which, both in essence, are not wrong. furina counting his previous dragon incarnations into his current one isn't anything new, at least to me.

regardless, i'm happy furina got to spend time with zhongli. they're good friends now.

[avemstella]

so that archon quest, huh. Would be absolutely thrilled to hear what u have to say about fontaine act V :] i love all your takes on furina & neuvillette & fontaine as a whole, and of course childe [pretty much an honorary fontanian with how he unintentionally got wrapped up in everything whoops]

Oh boy, I have so many thoughts. To start with some non-spoilerly stuff: I loved it so much. I'm not sure if I'll say it's my favorite Archon Quest yet (I think I would have to go through some of the older ones), but I think it's safe to say Fontaine overall as an arc is my favorite. Even its weakest part (the prison stuff, tbh it was a pacing issue) was still really solid and the ending, while not perfect, really landed. Genshin continued the trend from Sumeru of having the playable characters really take the stage and god there were some great standouts (Navia/Neuvi/Furina to name my favs, but I also loved my fatui and there really isn't anyone I've disliked). And well, the quest (and Furina's chara quest) made me cry like a baby, so that's a win.

Tbh, I think my biggest issue, wasn't even really an issue with the story but just a case of I had a very clear idea of what I wanted out of it (the woes of writing speculative fic pfft) and when it wasn't that I'm like "awww darn". Thats on me, and I genuinely really loved what we got, but it do be like that sometimes haha.

Spoilers below, oh boy (also my Furina fic spoilers too lol).

Eldritch abomination Furina I'll mourn u forever. I can't complain because Furina splitting herself in two to go fuck u to the heavens is such a boss ass move I can't haha. Okay, but I will say, even if I'm probably the only one, I do wish they brought some Remuria stuff up in the main quest. They had the perfect set up with Ajax being there with his Greek myth references and just ahhhh, one can hope they do something with it later. But yes, just know it's my silly headcanon that Focalors just lied about being an Oceanid to Neuvi and is one of King Remus's fucked up Primordial Sea experiments that maybe caused the Abyss rift at the fall of Remuria.

But yes, Furina, Furina, I'm crying. She really destroyed the girl failure accusations in the most glorious way possible. She literally didn't fail once (either of her), she plotted out a plan to trick the heavens, give back what was stolen, and save her people and she did it perfectly. As you're probably well aware, I'm a big fuck u Celestia gal, so it was just so satisfying to see her just obliterate the throne (even when I was crying haha). And honestly, super relevant to the state of the real world, but her giving back sovereignty to Neuvi in my mind is a very clear decolonization metaphor. Ages past descenders came to Teyvat, killed the dragons and created their own order, and now Focalors is returning that power back to said dragon (or well, the dragon's heir, it's a bit vague if Neuvi's literally the old dragon's soul reincarnated or just the body).

The entire scene between Neuvi and Focalors was great, though I will admit I have one issue with it (and even then I go back and forth on it haha). Neuvi in that scene doesn't have a big attachment to Focalors. What I mean is that ultimately Neuvi only ever knew Furina (which side note I'll get into this next, but I do view them as the same person, but still), and with Focalors' 'death' he's not technically losing anything, the person he's sad over will still be there. Like don't get me wrong, he's very empathetic and can be sad over this person who is dying for them, but I feel like it could have been even more heartbreaking if he had met Furina/Focalors before the split, or he had interacted with Focalors somehow in the past, and so in this moment he wasn't just watching Furina's sacrifice, but the sacrifice of someone he shares memories with. But that's me being picky haha and not really a critique on the writing.

But yes, Furina! Focalors! As I previewed before, I'm going to come out swinging with a possibly hot take. They are, and always were the same person. Yes, Focalors is the divinity, but as we see after Furina is allowed to rest her persona, Furina is also super mature and knowledgeable. In Neuvi's flashback quotes of Furina, it's her softly giving important advice about living with humanity, which is what Focalors was all about. And much like Furina, Focalors loves preforming, she loves humans, she gets all excited about Furina and her future, and is sad she won't get to experience it.

Not to remotely downplay Furina's suffering (because holy shit my poor girl), but Focalors too played her role. Unlike Furina who had Neuvillette and all her friends post this, Focalors was all alone in the Oratrice, waiting for the day she had to kill herself. Furina, has the promise of a future, despite all the suffering she endured to get there. She gets the reward of a happy life as a human surrounded by people who love her, and while it was touch a go for a bit, she was told one day her play would end. In contrast, while Focalors didn't have the same anxiety that Furina had, Focalors knew from the beginning she would never get to see her people saved. Technically she, like Furina, didn't even know if it would even happen. She put her faith in Neuvillette to follow through, and while she had the utmost faith in him, she could never know for certain. But much like her mirror Furina, Focalors weighed her suffering over the people of Fontaine's, and never once faltered. Furina was willing to possibly kill herself via primordial seawater in order to keep up her ruse, whose to say Focalors wasn't the same. Smiling at Neuvillette until the last moment because she couldn't risk him interfering, hiding away her anxieties and sorrow, so he wouldn't look so sad. Furina's performance ended, Focalors' never will.

Focalors was so certain she couldn't be human, but as we see from the Oceanids it was totally possible. And even more vitally, we see from the other Archons it's possible. They might fumble around a bit (some more than others, looking at u Ei), but they are learning and immersing themselves with their people. While not an Archon, it's the same with Neuvillette. Focalors should have had the same opportunities as Furina and the rest (mostly because she is Furina), but the world isn't kind, and that's why her sacrifice hurts.

If u can't tell I have a lot of feelings about Focalors/Furina and while I can appreciate a joke about Focalors giving Furina anxiety, I'm also like, they are literally the same person working together, she deserves the world (all of her).

But yes, I can go on and on about Furina, but for now I'll move onto our boy Childe. To get it out of the way, a little disappointed that we really got no answers about him. Poor guy didn't really have any lines. Also, not big on Skirk's design, mostly the outfit. Putting her next to Dain and uh, yeah (like don't get me wrong don't mind the color scheme and all, but could she not have gotten some kind of armor. Or look more like Foul Legacy or something idk).

But onto more happier notes, I'm so happy to see Childe finally getting to do well in a fight. I know it's a meme for him to get beaten up, but my dude is the Vanguard, let him win sometimes (he doesn't technically win here, but he was fighting an eldritch whale monster for ages and helped save Fontaine, I'm giving it to him). And Skirk, while her design is mostly less to be desired, I'm winning on guessing her hair and eye color haha. Also, while I'll always love my version, I'm liking her personality so far. Her yeeting Childe, while I admit took me out a bit (I thought she threw him farther into the Abyss and was like, "uh guys, yall worried about my poor boy here???" and then was a bit baffled at them saying he was fine) was so fucking funny. It's cool to learn "Foul Legacy" refers to a literal person, and I found the fact that Skirk's relationship with Foul is basically the same as her relationship with Childe very amusing. And it seems she's Khaenri'ahn, maybe? Also, I thought she was listing off her master's other names at first, so when she said Gold I got super hyped that I guessed correctly about the narwhal being Rhine's in my fic, but then they were like nope pfft. I'll take it as a win.

Sidenote, Alice and Rhine where are yoooouuuuuu.

Ultimately, while I enjoyed the Childe and Skirk stuff, it really just feels like a set-up for later stuff. Which isn't really a problem, but I was hoping we'd get something a bit more concrete. Like, I thought we were going to get answers about the "it" that Skirk saw in him, and it would have to do with the Narwhal, but now it seems those were mostly unrelated??? While I did find baby Ajax accidentally waking up a big world eating monster up kind of hilarious, it did feel a little incidental, if that makes any sense. Like, Fontaine's doom was an accident and not the result of anyone's choices. But that might just be a me thing. (and the quest needed more Arle, where was she??? my not really based on anything theory is that whenever we get Furina (or maybe Nevui's) 2nd character quest, Arle will be the boss fight. A reverse of the normal final Harb boss fight during the Archon quest)

Okay, because I really don't want to end on a downer (as I said uptop, I genuinely adored this quest haha), here are some minor spoilers from the Narzissenkreuz Ordo quest that have me by a chokehold.

I wasn't ready for a sudden Ajax. What does this mean??????

And this one just makes me laugh. Whichever Ordo member wrote this, I vehemently disagree with u and am on Khaenri'ah's side with this one. I'd much rather have bread then some higher power nonsense. In my fic I tend to write Khaenri'ah more akin to a modern nation than a fantasy one, and its nice to see me vindicated pfft.

Other random notes, enjoyed that the Fatui weren't just cartoonishly evil in both the main and world quests. I like some nuance. I saw that Sandrone hint, that was fun. Though it makes me wonder when we'll get Columbina lore (especially because if the theory about Harbinger boss fight order based on the Constellation circle is true, she should be showing up soon. Though also I half think that order will break because if it doesn't, it means Sandrone will probably be the final Harb boss which is an odd choice.) As revealed on Furina's weapon, Egeria being around during Remuria raises so many questions around the timeline of events. Genshin pls tell me when the Archon war takes place in all this pls (if they tell us in some lore I haven't read yet, whoops). (also on egeria, I mourn my version but hey, she exists in my heart and in my fics pfft. I can't wait to write her in smfwtwd and venti fic, though she's getting a new name for confusion and better symbolsism)

the contrast between Neuvi and Furina after the quest is so funny and sad. Neuvi "Furina is the best, I want her to be happy". Furina, "Everyone hates me, Neuvillette most of all, I can never face him again." And the other Archons, they are all like Furina, wow u are so cool (which just highlights Neuvi's utter disdain for them other than Nahida haha).

And most vitally, Furina and Venti should be best friends. Musically inclined performers who definitely aren't plotting to overthrow the heavens. I think they are neat (they also both have Latin names!).

[noctualagenaria]

Hey this is 💫 anon... I'm bothered by your post about transmasc Furina. While I enjoy the hc a lot, you base it off the fact they are flat chested, and flat chested adult women of genshin are tmasc to you...? I'm trans and I think it is terrible to base transness onto a biological criteria like that!!!! Many women will have no tits (trans and cis alike...) so by pushing your idea, if Furina is trans because of small tits, are women with small to no tits men????? Are all trans men with tits women now?????

oh thats not my only reasoning for why furina is tmasc!! i didnt mean to imply that at all!! i just didnt wanna pinpoint Every Single tmasc reasoning i have in that post because it wasnt really the point, the point of that post was despite how in canon furi is Not Very Feminine people will still feminise him to all shits basically.

my other reasonings for why furina is transmasc are that 1) look at his overall design, the hat, the queer little frenchboy shoes the frills the way his suit is buttoned on the side typically only men button it up, compared to arlecchinos' suit buttoned the opposite more feminine way 2) his hair in the pneuma version gets chopped off! its shorter now! representing how free he is after the archon quest, and yes these are physical features still so lets veer away from that now 3) his origins; he was created by another individual (focalors) to be a more free, unabashedly human version of the archon, needing to be just. human another version of himself if thats not a trans allegory i dont know what is sdkjfs 3) all of his actions towards neuvillette just make so much more sense if furi is tmasc,, i cant explain it 4) Projection! i am transmasc myself! im also in two t4t relationships that make it much much easier and a lot more fun to compare me and my bf to neuvifuri specifically, or furiluc! its very fitting and fun :>

i could go further for why hes tmasc but im a little bit out of brain juice at the moment and im terrible at words at the moment so </3 apologies if this isnt up to your standards

[glitterrosesnzz]

UPDATED F/URINA HC'S

put under the cut because they're 4.2 spoilers and idk how many of y'all have finished the arc/hon quest (i did it in one day lmao)

Still hc that Furina's sneezes are mostly loud, yes. However, she stifles and forces them quieter WAY MORE than previously imagined.

the tidal wave thing?? listen. it's still true- only because sometimes when Furina sneezed, Focalors would as well, thus causing the tsunami incidents. this wasn't a guarantee to happen everytime though- and Furina never even knew it was happening. Neuvillette noticed though.

due to the way citizens reacted the first time Furina sneezed in public ("I didn't know a god was capable of such a thing"), Furina decided to maintain the act of "Well of course not- I was just mimicking what I've seen humans do to appear more like you! You should be honoured I'm attempting this at all!" and somehow this WORKED on people.

Furina has NO IDEA that gods can also get sick, so she would hide it. This did lead to her, once, briefly passing out in the Opera Epiclesse, sending people into a panic. She explained it away afterwards as just being "overwhelmed with using her energy to clean the pollution in their waters", which people bought and also brought down pollution levels for a bit.

Neuvillette of course, knows that gods can get sick, as he can also get sick, so he was the only one who would take the proper measures to care for Furina when she was ill. Unfortunately, she'd continue to protest such actions, so he had to be very discreet about it to make sure she got the care she needed.

post-archon quest, Furina doesn't have to hide it when she's sick anymore, but it's so ingrained in her that she still does it. she would admit to it now when it's called out though, but she's gotten so good at hiding it over the years that most people don't notice.

Furina happens to be allergic to rainbow roses. People used to throw them onto the stage whenever she'd choose to preform with a troupe, and it took all her strength to not succumb to the itchiness it would cause.

since she frequently cries a lot, and her normal, unquietened sneezes are quite vocal, she tends to lose her voice pretty fast. (and also her immune system isn't very good, I vaguely remember hearing that it's easier to catch something when you've been crying)

post-archon quest she continues to stifle/quiet her sneezes until someone else intervenes. who it would be that would intervene, i have no idea, but someone would have to.

after acquiring her vision, sneezing starts having genuine effects on her hydro abilities that she can notice. if she's walking on water, her concentration will be broken and she'll fall into the water, for example. She frequently ends up soaked from either this, or other hydro mishaps- like a ball of water she was playing with exploding in her face.

THIS ISN'T CANON BUT IT'S FUN TO ME- I'm pretty sure she actually just changed her outfit + cut her hair post-archon quest, but since one of her abilities is to swap forms, I think it would be SO FUN if sneezing would change her outfit colour + hair. Also causes a burst of pneumia/ousia.

in other news i am OBSESSED with her-

[aewinning]

Fontaine/4.x+ Predictions

I'm throwing some big bold Fontaine/4.x predictions out so I can reference this in a year and find out just how right or wrong I was. Under a cut because it's a wall of text and b/c it involves obscure lore not everybody's read.

(No leaks involved. If you've seen leaks that confirm or contradict any of this, please don't send them to me or discuss them in replies. As you can see, the lore theorycrafting is half of the fun for me!)

Yes, this is the tip of the iceberg on my lore theories. No, this is not a comprehensive prediction of the entire Fontaine plot, just bits of it I feel are foreshadowed. Yes, I'm citing a lot of shit so that when I go back through this a year from now I can see why I thought what I thought.

I think about Genshin lore too much, this truly is live footage of me every time a single new crumb of information is divulged.

Massive wall of text incoming b/c I can't stop rambling once you start me up on Genshin lore.

The theories:

Fontaine fucks up and Celestia gets involved

My big pet theory that I've been nursing for over a year now, ever since we started hearing from bit NPCs in minor events about Fontaine's energy problems, is that I think Celestia is either going to drop a nail on Fontaine or at the very least finally become relevant to the main plot in a big way by sending someone to intervene with Fontaine's technology and the mockery Focalors is making of the judicial process. (They might not care enough to intervene in the average judicial process, but she's literally the capital-letters God of Justice, and it's supposed to be her ideal. If she's abandoned it, they might not be happy.) They're also hovering over what we can assume to be the location of Fontaine, which is not a good sign.

This theory was strengthened when reading Rene's Investigation Notes in the Khvarena of Good and Evil questline, which indicate that Fontaine has done research on Khaenri'ah's use of abyssal power as an energy source, which was warned against by some of Khaenri'ah's own people but ignored (to disastrous outcome). There are a lot of parallels being set up between Khaenri'ah and Fontaine in those notes and with all the mention of sinners in the Final Feast trailer narration, and I'm not sure they bode well for Fontaine.

It's possible that the energy generator machine that Persikov and the other Fatui were working on as far back as 2.8's Golden Apple Archipelago were meant to help them gain a foothold in Fontaine; after all, solve the desperate nation's energy problems, and you suddenly hold a lot of power in the nation and can even hold their energy source ransom until your demands are met. I wouldn't be surprised if "the Fatui control Fontaine's energy future and use it as leverage" is a plot point.

(Although back in the day I thought it would be Pantalone behind that plot, not Arlecchino, because economic and political manipulation seemed his style and we hadn't heard anything much about Arlecchino yet. Hell, Arlecchino had been mentioned like once in-game then, in Inazuma's "The Very Special Fortune Slip" hidden questline, and was still referred to as male at that point.)

2. Neuvillette is unjustly imprisoned by Furina; Charlotte figures it out

I think Neuvillette is going to be imprisoned by Furina (who's pretty obviously the hydro archon Focalors), foreshadowed by the bars going over his face but not Clorinde's when they're walking in the sewers in the trailer. This will likely be either Furina framing him for something (foreshadowed by her burning what seems to be evidence while complaining about the lack of plot twists and entertainment, while he's literally 'framed' by the burning photo) OR a political imprisonment because they have an ideological clash.

Neuvillette seems to actually want justice, Furina seems to want a show. She seems very pouty and childish; if he tries to discipline her or remind her of the true meaning of justice, she could very well order him arrested and turn it into a grand trial to feed her lust for entertainment. And it could certainly be a combination framing/political imprisonment as well. Very French Reign of Terror style.

Charlotte may figure this whole situation out; in the trailer she's investigating photos with a puzzled look on her face as if she sees something wrong with them, and in the TCG event she offered to let us take out an ad in the paper if we ever needed it, in exchange for our assistance during the event. Now, the pictures were of Navia, not Neuvillette, so this may be an unrelated plot, but surely she's going to help us sleuth up the truth of something with foreshadowing like that.

Neuvillette is also...something. His eyes resemble Khaenri'ahn eyes, he's got the Kleelike pointy ears, and his cool blue hair streaks are certainly interesting. Oceanids can mimic other creatures so he could be an Oceanid (and given that they were spies of the previous archon that would set him up nicely for opposition to Furina). He could be Klee's species. He could be a Khaenri'ahn.

Whatever he is, he's NOT standard modern Teyvat human, and he's NOT the previous hydro archon despite the hair streaks because we know from the Khvarena of Good and Evil questline and Vourukasha's Glow artifact set that the previous archon died and was anchored beneath the Harvisptokm in the form of the giant Gaokerena lotus to purify abyssal influence in the region.

Neuvillette, I've got my eye on you. (Both eyes. While twirling my hair and kicking my feet.)

1b+2b. Neuvillette replaces Furina as hydro archon

I fully understand this is an unlikely scenario so it's not as firmly a prediction as much as a "this would be interesting," but if Celestia brings judgment on Fontaine it is possible that the hydro archon slot opens up, either because they repossess Furina's gnosis and find a new archon, or because they straight-up kill her (can you fucking imagine the shock from the community if they kill an archon off? but they'd still get to sell two separate units as archons, it'd be a win/win for them).

If this happens the logical choice for a replacement would be Chief Justice Neuvillette, especially if he was in opposition to the behavior that put her on Celestia's shitlist. I can see it now: Celestia repossesses the gnosis, gives it to him, he says thank you, the Celestians fuck off to be mysterious again, and he turns right around and hands it to the Fatui in exchange for getting the hell out of Fontaine. (Or for some other reason.)

I highly doubt they'll go this route, but I would love to see it. Not only would it even out the archon gender ratio a bit, but it would answer the question of how a change of archonhood takes place, which we still haven't seen since Morax hasn't been replaced as geo archon yet. And I think it's a question we deserve to have answered before the end of the game. If not here, then perhaps in Natlan (see point 7 below).

3. Lyney, Lynette, Freminet, and Arlecchino

This is a pretty common/obvious theory but I agree that the siblings are all likely working for Arlecchino, likely unwillingly. She runs the House of the Hearth which takes in (and sometimes causes) orphans and trains them for the Fatui; we've seen several NPCs that came from them before and many of them consider each other brothers and sisters.

I don't think Lyney and Lynette are related to Freminet by blood; I think they consider him a sibling due to being raised together. The resemblance between Lyney and Lynette is clearer, especially with the twin names, but names can be changed, so I don't even treat it as confirmed that those two are blood related until proven otherwise, especially since Lynette has cat features and Lyney doesn't.

Both Lynette and Freminet seem to have robotic features, and we know that Fontaine has robots and Snezhnaya has the technology for segments, plus we've seen Albedo as a homunculus and Scara as a puppet, so artificial humans are very much within the realm of possibility for Teyvat. Lynette is said to have rather mechanical behavior, and Freminet's constellation is literally 'Automaton.' So I think it's likely enough that one or both of them aren't flesh and blood humans.

To take that a step further, I think it's possible that Lynette died at some point, and the current Lynette is a mechanical replacement OR a robotic body being inhabited by her soul (Alphonse from Full Metal Alchemist style). Lyney may have had to pledge loyalty to Arlecchino and the Fatui in order to rescue or recreate his sister through these means, OR it's possible they were already in the House of the Hearth and Dottore or somebody else damaged the original Lynette while experimenting with her.

Dark. And quite the fun twist if it's true, tbh.

4. Navia and Clorinde

Navia gives off a 'gentleman thief' vibe to me but lady version, and Clorinde shoots directly at her in the trailer, indicating she's playing the role of the detective or law enforcement officer tracking her down. I don't have coherent thoughts here on a lore front really, I'm just really excited for the possibility of gentlewoman thief rivals to lovers/enemies with benefits lesbians.

Clorinde's outfit looks a bit historical Navy inspired to me, so maybe she's a member of the Navy, but I'm not really sure why she'd be chasing criminals if that's the case.

5. Wriothesley, Sigewinne, and the Tower of London

I don't have a solid opinion on whether Wriothesley is blind or not as possibly hinted at by his fumbling for the cup, but I think it'd be cool if he was! People point to him looking at papers or at Sigewinne as evidence that he's not, but 'blind' as a term does not always mean complete lack of sight, for one, and if we assume he's a vision user as a seemingly playable character then there could be alternative methods he reads things with, such as using elemental sight to read ink with crushed-up elemental rocks in it or something.

He seems rather military, and Fontaine seems to have a strong military presence in general with some of the Melusine giving off a British bobby (police) vibe visually. I wouldn't be surprised if we get a structure reminiscent of the Tower of London, potentially where Wriothesley works and Neuvillette gets held when imprisoned.

No solid thoughts about Sigewinne yet other than I'm guessing she's going to be a healer or support, since she's little and cute and taking care of someone in the trailer. I assume she's a Melusine.

6. Chenyu Vale and Qiaoying Village (and Yilong Port?)

They're coming. I can feel it in my bones that at last we will go to the long-awaited Baizhu homeland. Why? There have been multiple sources indicating that they're placed between Liyue and Fontaine, likely between Fontaine and Qingce Village. I think 4.4 should be Lantern Rite judging from the usual calendar, and that would be a prime time for it to pop up - the main Fontaine story should be over at that point, and we'll be back in Liyue anyways. It will also be the Year of the Dragon, which might mean time for some juicy Zhongli or Liyue lore. Though they might move Chenyu Vale elsewhere in the 4.x schedule if needed.

This region will likely utilize Fontaine's diving mechanics. Legends about the region in weapon and artifact lore discuss powerful sunken jade artifacts in the rivers and lakes of the region, which would make a storyline revolving around finding them the perfect excuse to introduce the diving mechanics to a non-Fontaine region. Given the name and the lore, it's very possible that Baizhu's signature weapon Jadefall's Splendor is one of those pieces of jade, reclaimed.

For that and multiple other reasons, I believe Baizhu will be relevant to the main storyline here. Not only does he have a personal vested interest in finding interesting and powerful old artifacts or knowledge that might aid in his search for immortality, but Changsheng is intimately connected to the region lorewise. The Echoes of an Offering artifact set doesn't mention Changsheng by name, but it does discuss an adeptus named "Herblord" in Chenyu Vale and tell her story, and Changsheng is referred to as an "Herblord" in Baizhu's story cutscene. There's no reason to refer to them both with such a specific unusual term unless they're one and the same.

(I also have a theory that the other woman in the artifact lore is Madame Ping. The other woman is referred to as a fish adeptus, and Madame Ping's younger self in cutscenes has fish motifs and a fishtail silhouette, so I believe she's likely a koi as her adeptus form. I am highly tempted to write a Changsheng/Madame Ping fic because y'all there is something incredibly wlw happening in that artifact lore. I am also not going to be surprised if Madame Ping's younger form becomes playable in conjunction with Chenyu Vale story.)

7. Natlan

As a final far future prediction: In Natlan, Capitano will likely challenge the pyro archon for her gnosis and possibly even replace her. We know he's headed to Natlan and also "has the courage to challenge gods as an ordinary mortal" from Varka's Weinlesefest letter, and if Pierro is simply the "Director" of the Fatui as labeled in the Winter Night's Lazzo description and not a numbered harbinger, Capitano may occupy slot #1, which would be in line with his name as the Captain. We've been told by Nahida that the top three harbingers rival gods in terms of power, and I feel like if any god would answer a martial challenge with their gnosis on the line it would be the God of War, especially if the challenger was backed by another archon. I TRULY hope we see a fight between them.

(I also wanna see someone guillotined in Fontaine to fit the vibe but I highly doubt that will happen in Genshin. I think Signora was the most violent death we'll get onscreen.)

Anyways I hope someone found this titillating or educational and we can all look back at this and laugh at how wrong I was a year from now, but occasionally my farfetched theories do work out, such as when I looked a the Echoes of an Offering set lore on its release a full YEAR before Baizhu's release and excitedly vibrated to a friend about how it HAD to be related to him or Changsheng.

(I have theories past this point in the game too but they mostly rely on esoteric Gnostic text parallels more than in-game foreshadowing/content so I'm less confident in them.)

[byorkewkew]

Replying to your last posts, if i'm not wrong his memories are still blurry because of what Focalors did? So he still doesn't remember much. But Neuvillette knowing Egeria is still canon because the Hydro Dragon (Scylla) did know the Mistress of all Waters (Egeria) based on the Remuria lore. Now the Patriarch of Pure waters was one of Scylla (Neuvillette) oficial title, and leakers said the patriarch = Neuvillette. I actually have more to say 😞

Ah yes. Our grandpa is old and he's forgetting things

It's still so confusing. It feels like they shoved this line about not knowing Egeria just to justify Neuvi not realising there are no divine powers in Furina, however they just could've told us "as a different elemental being and as someone who's not 3-6?20?(idk) thousands years old, Furina has different aura"

While it's kinda smart, it's confusing if u think about timeline. Whole Fontaine "original sin" timeline is confusing bc of Egeria dying 500 years ago and "oh, now celestia actually cares about fake humans" and Neuvillette already being an adult and the judge around this time (bc fight in the insides of Elynas was probably after 10-15 years after cataclysm, no??) and Focalors somehow carefully calculating her plan around him, knowing well he's too gentle to just forcibly take gnosis from her and making Fontaine Vishapland (and she did said it wasn't a sudden decision??)

Unless he spawned after cataclysm being 40 yo confused socially awkward man with knowledge of fontainian laws and no back bone, focalors saw him crawling on the shore near opera epiclese, realised that he's the hydro dragon and suddenly made ✨The Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale✨🕺🕺🕺or whatever, not even caring if he becomes the judge or not??? Bruh

[cantarella]

Hopping on this (well-informed) hate train to ask your thoughts on foc*llette? I noticed a lot of nvfrs make the switch as if that makes it any better. I thought it was pretty clear in Furina’s sq that Focalors was pretty much everyone’s big sister, to put it simply…

"well-informed hate train" took me out ngl but it's definitely an accurate way to describe whatever's happening here

since I've mentioned I believe furina and focalors to be different characters with different experiences and different minds technically what I think of the idea of furina and neuvi romantically doesn't apply with focalors, but I do think 1. it's deeply heterosexual and boring as hell 2. the fans are annoying and conflate it with nvfri so like even if I didn't mind it at first the fans made me dislike it and 3. it's also kinda weird for a bunch of reasons which I might as well elaborate on

so dragons in teyvat have been textually colonized by celestia, like it's a 1:1 comparison it's not particularly difficult to get that, so I'm not exactly comfortable imagining neuvi romantically invested with an archon no matter who they are. in fact I think even something like neuvi being as sad as he was during her execution scene and afterwards was kinda forced, considerng he's never hidden his resentment for celestia nor gods

you could argue he's inherently kind and felt sad she had to go to such lengths, which, well, yeah obviously. but other than what I've already mentioned there's the fact he straight up didn't know her until 5min prior so it was all a bit much

it also really undermines the fact the execution was an act of righteousness, oppressed groups don't owe gratitude to their oppressors for giving up on their privilege in the name of doing good. so the framing being entirely on how sad and tragic this sacrifice is and make the colonized character be the one to express said sorrow was... ehh a bad look. yes he's kind, and part of the emotional reaction must have been bc he learned of what furina went through and bc he finally found the answer to what he's supposed to do in his life, but it was still sketchy framing when you consider the bigger picture and the themes it touches on. ok tangent over bc this is barely relevant

you're also onto something in the way focalors is a sort of bigger sister bc she is a mentor figure, though only symbolically. in a way her leaving furina 500 years ago, revealing to neuvi her reason for inviting him to the court, handing over her powers and leaving both furina and neuvi for good ties back to the moment in a coming of age narrative in which figures that give guidance and mentorship leave and you're left by yourself to learn to stand on your own. obviously in this case it's only symbolic bc neuvi literally looks like a man in his 50s and they didn't know each other at all, but it terms of story beats it ties back into the main theme of the region. that's how I interpret it, and as always (bc I'm a romance hater) I think the canon dynamic is more interesting if kept as it is and not potrayed as romantic for the sake of it

also it's just weird bc she looks identical to furina like idk my man. I've talked ad nauseam about why I think neuvi fills the role of a guardian figure both in the text and symbolically, I'm not gonna feel comfortable imagining him romancing someone who looks like his pseudo-daughter what kind of freudian nightmare would that be😭

[baeshijima]

I played the archon quest...

It was played out so well AND I TEARED UP SO MANY TIMES IN THE START ITSELF WHAT DO YOU MEAN CASUALTIES ON POSSOIN WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT MELUSE AND SILVER—

I was rather delusional, "they would let anything happen to the people of Fontaine, even Furina should be alright", they all weren't alright and even furina suffered so much

I gasped so many times ESPECIALLY WHEN THAT CUTSCENE WHERE THE MAGIC BOX OPENS AND WERE ON THE STAGE OF THE OPERA OMG AND THE WHOLE TRIAL

When the traveller spoke and revealed that they were all here to prove that furina was in fact not the hydro archon I was so shocked (not that I didn't expect that furina wasn't the archon but because I didn't expect them to so openly charge her in court like they did)

And the whole narwhal breaks into the opera house and the following cutscene, Childe literally fell back into that... portal??? and like no one was worried about him lmao (childe got sent to prison and then he broke out, tried to contain the narwhal and protected the people of Fontaine from becoming fodder... if I must say the grudges I held against him for stirring up trouble in Liyue has vanished....)

And the the Focalors and Neuvillette convo and the cutscene I WAS SO CLOSE TO SOBBING MY EYES OUT AND FOCALORS SAYING "HYDRO DRAGON HYDRO DRAGON DON'T CRY" sob sob why is hoyo making everyone sad

And the narwhal was so cool ngl the animations and all!! And... I struggle with that phase 2 thing because I don't have fontaine characters aside from lynette and freminet and was like wdym use pneuma and ousia and I was just standing there letting the humanoid boss doing his thing while well not actually doing anything because Zhongli's shield but then yeah I actually managed to read the info text thing instead of blanking out lmao

AND THEN SKIRK WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT NARWHAL IS A PET???????????? THIS FOWL GUY IS INSANE FOR HIS CHOICE OF PETS LIKE EXCUSE ME?? IT NEARLY WRECKED A NATION????

And furina crying on her throne was actually so sad but even sadder once you actually understand all that she has been through... I really want to play her story quest immediately

And this third descender.... I need more lore...

And now that Fontaine's archon quest ended, I am excited for when dain will appear and then Natland please give us more info about that nation we haven't even seen an npc from there.... but Neuvillette saying that there's dragons over there like hohoho more dragons? I'm up for it!

Okay this ask got really long so I'll end it here

CONGRATS ON BECOMING A FURINA HAVER!!! AND THE EARLY JEAN C2 AND THE BAIZHU WEAPON!!! WOOHOO!

🍀

no bc i am still not okay from that aq and its been a week. WHENEVER I THINK ABT IT OR EVEN HEAR THAT DAMN OST I START SOBBING 😭 meluse and silver..... MELUSE AND SILVER................ NO U DONT UNDERSTAND THE AMOUNT OF TEARS I SOBBED AND IT WAS RIGHT AT THE START 😭😭

and no that cutscene... i felt horrible for furina being forced into that position and even tho we find out later she wouldnt have told us everything when in that box, its the fact that if she did, all her hard work being someone she isnt, losing herself over the last 500 years of loneliness and solitude would have been for nothing bc then everyone there would have found out the truth before the final trial and :(( i just felt we were being way too harsh and inconsiderate of her, even despite the scenario of the prophecy at the time

AND YES THE WHOLE CHILDE PART HAD ME JUMPING AND GASPING AND HUH-ING SO BAD KDSHFS AND WHEN SKIRK JUST YEETED HIM AWAY WITH THE NARWHAL WHEN WE MET HER 😭🤚

THE NEUVILLETTE FOCALORS MOMENT.... THE FURINA MONOLOGUE AND ALL THE SCENES SHE HAD TO GO THROUGH FROM 500 YEARS AGO TO THE PRESENT.... FURINA CRYING ON HER OWN AND ASKING HERSELF WHEN WILL IT ALL BE OVER..... THE FOCALORS CUTSCENE AND DANCE AND THE OST CHANGING AND THEN NEUVILLETTE REGAINING HIS AUTHORITY AND DECLARING THE PEOPLE OF FONTAINE AS NOT GUILTY....... UGLY SOBBING I HAD TO SIT THERE STARING AT NOTHING FOR A GOOD 10-20 MINUTES AFTER THE CUTSCENE WAS OVER BC THE TEARS WOULD NOT STOP SOBBING AND I WAS NOT OKAY

crying daughter furina uve been through so much and have such amazing willpower and strength i hope u live a happy and peaceful life as an ordinary human now ;w; or as ordinary as u can get after everything u went through ;w;

and yes dain..... dain my soggy kicked puppy snookums how i miss u so...... pls be playable soon..... i will give u my bank in advance for u c6 r5........

and omg yes natlan !!!! the dragon info... and how neuvi said he would not be welcomed??? and how the dragons and humans are integrated in each others lives??????? im so excited aaaaaaaaAAAAAAAA

AND TY !!! daughter is home and safe and shes now lvl 90 hehe :3

[cantarella]

I love essays, thank you for responding! Some of my own (wlw) mutuals have been rting/reblogging ship stuff for them, like it’s their token “good hetero ship” and I just…. :(

I’ve also seen a number of ppl refuse to acknowledge that Furina and Focalors are the same person. Like, that’s one bitch. Not recognizing that Focalors is Furina’s divinity (now laid to rest) is such a disservice to her character imho. Like, immortality as a kind of “youth” that dies when you finally breach adulthood is what I keep thinking about, among other things. Atp, with Focalors gone, all her memories independent of Furina (I assume this is because of the curse, and a final note of kindness from Focalors so that her humanity doesn’t have to process 2 sets of memories at once. Though the latter is a head canon I guess), Furina and Neuvillette are so horrifically incompatible with each other.

Even IF they didn’t look like father and daughter and even IF the mental age difference wasn’t terrifying… Furina has so much of the world left to learn. She’s still the same person and yet she’s different, that transition is traumatic actually! Not to mention the literal trauma of having the lives of ALL your kin in the palm of your hand that you mentioned.

As for her sq, I thought I was pretty clear that one of the takeaways, after reading the director’s journal, was that Furina is like a big sister/sibling/familial-linkage-of-some-kind to all Fontainians. Despite everything, they are her family, she’d do it all again, because “to be human is to be part of the greatest opera ever known,” and there’s beauty in this life to preserve etc etc. Idk if I’m making any sense tbh, but it’s nice to know at least a few other people understand how to consume media critically 🥹

(Also! When shippers go on and on abt Neuvi paying for Furina’s apartment/things…Clorinde offers to do the same fucking thing. Like, literally offers to find her a new apartment with the apparent fortune she makes from being the champion duelist I guess. But they refuse to acknowledge that. Given, they probably don’t read her character stories or flavor text, but still)

yw! and ouch I can feel that, I'm very picky with who I follow so that didn't happen to me but this pairing is quite inescapable

anyway, that's an interesting take on focalors and furina, which I agree with but only on a symbolic level. yes they're of the same origin, but they're the same only in the way jesus and the holy father are both god. idk if you're familiar with christian doctrine but the focalors furina and neuvillette dynamic is based on the father-son-holy spirit trifecta. maybe I'll do a post on that eventually but in the meantime here's a chart to make it easier

the father (focalors) created the son (furina) in his image, they're both incarnations of god but they're not one or the same being. rukkhadevata explained how this works in the context of teyvat and the irminsul also

furina and focalors share the same nature, though not in the same way rukkhadevata and nahida do as they are reincarnations, but the fact focalors died while furina lives and they don't share memories and experiences proves that in the eyes of the irminsul they're two separate beings with different "fates". which obviously makes furina even more incompatible with neuvi as she was never anything but a frightened young girl and the power and maturity imbalance is so steep it's at a 90° angle

that said, I do believe symbolically focalors' death put an end to furina's adolescence, as a death of the immortal self and of a physical manifestation of the idealized youth

in a similar symbolic way furina is an older sister type of figure to people of fontaine now. she ruled over them for 500 years she obviously cares for them, but only now she can actually learn to know and understand them as herself, and help them in ways furina, not the hydro archon, can

trying to find her own place in the world, distancing herself from her guardian figure and getting help from her friends, achieving enough power to protect herself alone, and literally going out drinking for the first time in her character stories (not that #those people read them anyway I'm sure) which is literally what hyv has been using from the start to show if someone is of age or not, are all steps of someone just stepping into adulthood. trying to ignore all this and say she should go back to working with neuvi and that the vision is him protecting her or putting a claim on her (writing that made me suicidal for half a second) for the sake of a fuckass m/f pairing is an actual insult to both of their characters. it's actually vile to me

anyway I hope the fans explode and die bc they're both illiterate and fans of heterosexuality. like pick a struggle