#Genshin character analysis

[akko-kagori]

the more I write the Diluc character analysis the more I realize just how much of a bleeding heart Diluc actually is

once you pull back the layers you realize that every action is fueled by a desire to help others and his compassion

Like seriously even down to running the winery

Adeline says that Diluc "isn't all about money" and wants to expand the number of non alcoholic drinks he sells so that people have more options when they're drinking and people who can't have alcohol can still have a wide variety of drink to choose from

Plus in his letter he says this

in Mona's voiceline about him she says

And he says himself in one of his voice lines

he's a martyr, constantly facing the world's evils and bearing the scars so that others don't have to, so that no one else has to have their innocence ripped away from them like he did. Never being able to slow down, relax for a single moment because every second that he spends resting is another moment for someone else to be hurt, for someone else to be killed, or for him to lose those he loves.

I know that people always crack jokes about this and view him being so against small talk as him being an asshole or arrogant, but here's the thing: small talk is a time waster, something you do to pass the time and keep up appearances, but he doesn't have the time for that. To him, he can't idly chat, because every second he wastes in a conversation going no where is another second he could be out, preventing another tragedy.

Not convinced?

he literally says it in his teapot voice lines

[vespertin-y]

sometimes i see people say we still don't understand decarabian/they wish we had more info on his personality and like. y'all are letting his lack of a character design trip you up! if anything he's the old mond character we understand the BEST! and the reason we do largely comes down to andrius/lupus boreas.

mr boreas is a self-proclaimed Hater™ of humanity - and yet, when he decides this about himself, he literally kills himself to preserve a better future for them. his body dissolving into the land is one of the main reasons mond is as pleasant as it is today! he adopts human babies whenever he has the chance! he manifests a ghost form whenever traveler asks just so they can beat him up!

meanwhile decarabian is out here convinced he loves humanity sooo much, oppressively micromanaging them to keep them safe, even taking a human lover, but he refuses to LISTEN to what they actually want and need even when his divorce papers are mailed to him via arrow to the chest. L bozo!!!

boreas is bluntly honest to the point of borderline cruelty (telling razor he isn't one of them and never will be, ouch). decarabian sinks himself deeper and deeper into his own lies so he doesn't have to confront that his grand dream of his perfect city is just that, a dream. a delusional fantasy. (you don't ban rebellious music if you had genuinely no idea your people wanted to rebel).

they're foils, your honor. if you don't know what decarabian would do in X scenario? figure out what boreas would and then work backwards.

[torusdove]

These men would happily watch any Barbie movie with you. Will they admit that? No, absolutely not. Will they, however, watch the film from beginning to end without missing even a single second? Yes, absolutely.

They might've been skeptical the first time you offered it, but overtime they didn't complain and instead.. fully enjoyed the new Friday tradition. In fact, if you get into bed and put something else on, they might ask you themselves to put on a Barbie film instead.

"You enjoy them wholeheartedly, sweetheart. I like spending time with you regardless of what we're doing."

They're full of crap, and you know this too. Still, they're your own little princesses which you'd do anything for to amuse them.

That includes "believing" them when they tell you they enjoy watching the films for you, and not themselves.

Satoru Gojo, Yuuji Itadori, Choso, Tetsurō Kurō, Tadashi Yamaguchi (he does admit it, though), Tōru Oikawa, Takahiro Hanamaki, Kōtarō Bokuto, Rintarō Suna, Atsumu Miya, Kazuha, Thoma, Childe, Kaeya, Itto, Rafayel (lnd) + your favourite.

[lemon-shark-gamer]

The Genshin Impact fandom is fascinating to me when it comes to fanfics, because I feel like I struggle to find any fics that really *get* the characterization of certain characters and I'm loathed to write my own because dammit I just want to read the specific itch I crave without resorting to creating it. Give me three more months and I'll cave in.

For example, Diluc is one of my favorites and I find his backstory fascinating in terms of his father Crepus possibly being more morally ambiguous than most fans are willing to admit and how little we know of Diluc's murder spree in Snezhnaya.

For example which Harbinger(s) did he have a run-in with? Will we find out more about the secret intelligence network that took him in, that he apparently had a high position in? Did he ever find the answers he was searching for? The list goes on.

It's hard for me to find the specific characterization of him I crave for in fics because I think his platonic relationship with Kaeya is incredibly nuanced and complex but I feel like his character often gets assassinated for Kaeya angst but like, the man had the worst birthday ever?

Imagine being Diluc, living through a literal worst nightmare. Your dad is dead after you failed to protect him yourself. Not only is your dad dead but he died after wielding a delusion--you dont even know what a delusion is but its clearly bad news. Why the fuck did your father have it and how?

On top of this, the Favonius Knights--the organization you proudly served and the very organization that your father heavily encouraged you to serve--insists on covering up the truth because it makes them look bad. The Favonius Knights, who are supposed to be honorable and uphold integrity, are anything but that.

Then your adoptive brother, who you've known for years and trust with your life, shows up and tells you he's been spying for a foreign nation since you were kids with the intent of harming Mondstadt and everything about your relationship is possibly all one big lie and well--how do you not snap??

Now, I'm also incredibly fond of Kaeya and he was just as traumatized by Crepus's death. He was wracked with guilt for *feeling* relieved that he didn't have to worry about betraying his birth father for his adoptive father since Crepus was dead. He anticipated Diluc's anger and felt like their duel was a punishment for his lies.

To me, it hints that Kaeya probably didn't reveal the truth expecting Diluc's understanding, but rather he knew how he would react and perhaps he wanted Diluc to strike him down in that duel. Or at the very least, he wanted to distance himself from Diluc and cut off ties in order to avoid emotional attachment stopping him from his mission.

I personally head-canon that Diluc withdrew upon seeing Kaeya's vision because well--why would the gods bless Kaeya with a vision if he truly had the intent to harm Mondstadt? So in spite of what Kaeya revealed, he isn't a threat. But there's still a lot of hurt there to navigate through.

I think it's fascinating seeing where they stand in present game because Kaeya obviously has the ideology of working the system from within. He stayed in the knights (even taking over his brother's position) and with Jean rooted out the Inspector and his cronies.

Meanwhile Diluc just isn't that type of person. He doesn't settle, he refuses to work in a system he views corrupt, he rather accomplish what he can outside of it. Curiously, he doesn't challenge the status quo beyond being vocal of his distaste of the Knights.

This is head-canon fantasyland, but I like to envision Kaeya and Diluc do use a lot of the same informants and collaborate on intel relating to the safety of Mondstadt (especially since Diluc can move in ways against the Fatui that the Knights can't due to political reasons) but they struggle to have the same connection as before.

For example, Diluc's story quest--Kaeya was essentially giving Diluc an alibi with the Knights. Even if Jean damn well knows who it is, they still have to have official documentation stating otherwise.

Kaeya is good at reading people, he has to be given how he was raised to be a child spy. But I like to think he struggles to read Diluc like before. Diluc is much more jaded, pessimistic, quieter than before. He prefers to work on his own as much as possible. From Kaeya's pov, the only person he's seen Diluc willing to fully trust enough to work alongside with is the Traveler, and he states as much.

The opposite is true of Diluc. Kaeya was his shadow, a quiet but inquisitive, witty observer. Cavalry Captain Kaeya is much more outgoing and friendly, his charm on full display. Did he ever really truly know Kaeya or did he only show Diluc what he wanted him to see? Is Kaeya happier this way?

Fanon often depicts Kaeya as essentially being barred from the dawn winery from the duel by Diluc himself, but I don't think that's quite the case. Much rather, given the reason he told Diluc that night, I think he views himself as undeserving due to unresolved guilt.

Canon seems to hint at all of this through his hangout and Hidden Strife, the latter of which is unfortunately a time-limited event that occurred before I even played (hoyo please stop having heavy lore drops occur in time limited events).

I think the two want to trust each other again, but both are afraid of destroying the tentative truce they have so they leave all of it unaddressed. Kaeya refuses to be completely truthful ever again and Diluc acknowledges the past but refuses to discuss it. The tragedy in their relationship that neither is at fault for what happened--it's a twisted emotional mess of grief and heartbreak.

The last point I'd like to touch on is the parallels between Kaeya and Diluc both being essentially child soldiers for their fathers' causes.

For Kaeya, being abandoned in Mondstadt to be a child spy is the most overt. For Diluc? Despite Crepus's strong ambition to be a Favonius Knight and to have a vision--neither happened for him. In Diluc's vision story, it states that he views his vision being a result of their "shared" ambition, hinting that his vision was granted after Diluc's strong resolve to achieve his father's dreams for him.

We know Crepus heavily encouraged Diluc down this path at very young age, given Diluc received his vision at age 10 and became the youngest Captain at age 14. In some ways, I'm sure Kaeya was a bit jealous of Diluc for having a loving father present in his life that was overtly proud of him.

I am not saying Crepus wasn't a good father, I think he cared immensely for Kaeya and Diluc both, but I do think he did some morally grey shit.

Diluc abandoning his vision is fascinating and it's almost never explored in fics. He is the only vision holder we know of (aside from the Inazumauns whose visions were taken by force) that had their ambition for their vision shaken in such a way that they voluntarily discarded their vision for a time and only took it back after reigniting a new ambition to have it (and as far we know the only allogene that faced no negative setbacks from using a delusion long-term without their vision present).

I don't know where to end all of this, except if you have ragbros fic recommendations that you believe cover it in a more nuanced way, let me know!

[chaosplatypus]

Kaveh is the saddest character in genshin impact.

while there are characters with objectively more tragic and dramatic backstories (Scaramouche/Wanderer, Collei, Furina, etc.) Kaveh is tragic on such a human level. His story is one that could happen, HAS happened, to real people. The loss of a parent and then responsibility for the other, intense debt, turning to alcoholism to get rid of those worries, homelessness and having to rely on an old friend with whom he has had a big falling out for housing, seemingly unachievable aspirations, pressure for perfection and yet staying positive through it all. he has human problems and deals with them, just as badly, as a human would.

Kaveh is the most human character in this game. One where you will find something to relate to. Because he feels human.

[wandering-tides]

People always rank either Ei or Zhongli (or both) above Venti in power rankings. Like, who is the strongest archon? There are always two answers: Morax or Beelzebul. Never Barbatos.

I like to think otherwise.

This guy has cut mountains with his winds and thrown them so far away into the sea, made winter disappear and turned Mond into what it is today: from a barren rocky land that used to be filled with snow and raging blizzards into this green plain field with gentle winds where agriculture is so much easier then it ever was back then. I don't think people of Old Mond could have ever imagined for Mond to turn into what it is today.

But he still calls himself weak. And people took that to face value. And some still do despite it being proven otherwise by Nahida.

Venti said that an archon derives their power from ruling over their nation. But Nahida denies this later and says that archons gain their power through the faith of the people.

Clearly, Venti lied to us.

And if we go by what Nahida said,,,, Every freakin person in Mond has faith in the Anemo archon. They sing praises of him despite not having been in the presence of their god for 5 centuries. He has a statue and a Cathedral (who else has that?).

So, Venti is Strong.

Remember his gnosis is in the shape of a queen chess piece? Queen has the most freedom on the board. Venti's ideals are freedom. And his element is anemo. Anemo is the free-est element out there.

He might as well suck the air out of your lungs if he so wants to. He governs over it.

My point is, Venti is overpowered.

And let's not forget how that little wind wisp gained archon hood.

It was his desire to protect that helped him into becoming a god. When the nameless bard died, he felt the need to protect whats left. To protect what his friend died fighting for.

And its a pretty cliche concept out their about how a hero grows stronger, in any story. Its their need to protect. Right?

And Venti still wants to protect Mond- despite him saying otherwise. He shows up everytime Mond is in danger. Whether directly or indirectly, he always helps out.

So here is what I think. The reason why he calls himself weak.

Its because he is so strong, strong enough to scare Celestia. So Celestia has put him on some sort of leash. He can't use his powers in it's entirety. There is probably some sort of seal.

So Venti is weak.

Because he can't use all of his powers. Because he is chained to Celestia's whim.

Venti is weakest of the seven because he is the only one who has some sort of leash on him.

The god of freedom, chained.

Plus, it can definitely not be a coincidence that the defiled statue was of Barbatos, out of all the seven. Chained, hanging up-side down and corrupted.

And the fact that the abyss order was going to use Barbatos (chained) statue to create a machine to "topple the divine thrones of Celestia."

None of that can be a coincidence. Knowing hoyoverse, it definitely isn't.

So yeah. Venti is definitely not weak. He just can't use the full extent of his powers as of right now.

Venti is strong, but also weak. If he isn't chained- he is easily the strongest.

He can slice the mountains and throw them far into sea- if Zhongli throws a big peice of meteor on him, venti should be able to cut it in half too. if he has all his power on him that is.

I really hate it when people call him weak just because he said so himself. Especially when it's been proven that we shouldn't take his words to face value.

He is not like our sweet little Nahida, people.

[followerofmercy]

I think Freminet has some of the most interesting dissonance in his self perception of any Genshin character.

Like, of the Hearthlings we know, he's one of the most emotionally mature and intelligent. Lynette might still have him beat, but after playing her hangout... I dunno. I think they're tied. Lyney is Crumbling, Alrecchino is. Well. Arlecchino. Everyone else is a deeply traumatized child or adult and Freminet seems to pretty regularly be people's emotional support. His character stories talk about getting his vision by saving a bunch of other kids on a dive that went bad. The Selkie event literally had him being a therapist for a grownass woman, citing his past experiences with all the other Hearthlings that have died or killed themselves. And he handled that situation WELL. Yeah, he seems to live in a fantasy, but goddamn he's alive and a lot of people in his position aren't so clearly something is working.

Either his or Lyney's character story talks about the time Freminet had reached out to Lyney to try to ease his burdens, which resulted in Lyney blowing up at him. That probably contributed to Freminet thinking he's not good at it, but I think the reason Lyney reacted so badly was BECAUSE Freminet is actually a good support. He can't allow himself that from the little brother he's supposed to protect.

Freminet seems to both cry and dissociate often, but like... Kiddo you are in fact the only person in this family actually processing your emotions. Lynette dissociates 24/7. Arlecchino. Lyney lies and tells everyone he's fine and would literally rather die than admit otherwise. In comparison, Freminet is doing FANTASTIC

Freminet also gets a lot out of helping people! Like anyone, he needs to feel useful and needed. He seems to be an excellent mentor to the younger Hearthlings and perfectly competent on his own, but when you put him in a room with Lyney and Lynette who baby him and insist that THEY take care of HIM, he withdraws into himself.

Like, Freminet by himself feels like a young man and Freminet with the magician twins feels like a teenager. I have no idea how old he actually is. Logically, he would be OLDER than them! He's been with the House much, much longer and his experience shows. I think it's fascinating that they love him SO MUCH and yet, they just Cannot let him help them. Which is hurting him.

(Lynette is much better about not babying him and that is probably why their relationship is so much better than Freminet and Lyney's. Also why she keeps having to mediate between them. Because Lyney charges off trying to Fix Everything and that just makes Freminet feel useless and he doesn't want to get in the way and- you get the point)

Idk. It's hard to tell what things the previous director said to him vs what Arlecchino has said to him. I'm inclined to think our Arlecchino was the one that said he cries too much, but in a "crying in front of your enemies will get you killed" way and she herself is too fucked up to realize how "you cry too much" could be damaging.

Also I try not to consider gameplay stuff when it comes to story, but Freminet also has some of the most BRUTAL animations. He SMASHES HIS EMOTIONAL SUPPORT METAL PENGUIN INTO HIS ENEMY'S FACE. He doesn't think he's the most amazing fighter, and by Fatui standards he probably isn't, but he is winning fights against most grown men.

Tldr Freminet thinks he cries too much and is a burden and isn't good at helping people when he's actually the most mentally stable Hearthling send tweet

[mothspore]

thinking about the way kaveh mourns the loss of a relationship with someone he sees every day

he has haitham in his life. he sees him every day. he LIVES with him for fucks sake, and yet his opinions of haitham are all thinly veiled guilt and mourning. he constantly talks about how close they were during school, how different their relationship was during school, etc, and then when that starts coming off a bit too sad, he starts going on about how much haitham has changed, and how he would never give him the satisfaction of thanks now

but that’s not true. it’s obvious that it’s not. he won’t thank haitham because he feels ashamed of the help he has received, he feels he is undeserving, especially after their fallout, after he said those words that were strong and hurtful enough to tear them apart completely. it’s not that he doesn’t want to thank haitham. he is afraid to.

he’s also trying to protect himself. he tries to keep haitham at an arm’s length, arguing instead of acknowledging conflicts as what they are, in order to protect himself from what he sees as an inevitable outcome of haitham kicking him out, removing him from his life. kaveh wouldn’t blame him, it was only fair. after all, that’s all he had ever known, as well.

kaveh is so used to loss. this situation with haitham is such dangerous uncharted territory for him, and that scares him. kaveh is used to losing and losing without any possibility for gain. his father passed, he will never come back. it’s not possible. his mother left for fontaine, and he stopped writing to her out of his own perceived responsibility for his father’s passing. she never reached out to him, either. he knows faranak will never return to sumeru.

what he said to haitham, he never expected for him to come back into his life. the arguments on the message boards and in annotations and such were just petty insults to him, haitham’s way of taking things out on him. he never expected haitham to offer his home up to help kaveh. the whole thing is so different that it scares him. he knows what to expect from loss, and he knows when to expect loss. but he has no idea how to cope with this. he spends all his time mourning the friendship they once had, skirting around acknowledging the help that haitham has extended to him, and waiting for the other shoe to drop, because he cannot comprehend that this could end in anything other than another loss, another hurt to add to his baggage. and he does not want to truly lose haitham again.

the only way he can ensure this for himself is to not allow the possibility of closeness again. he has flown too close to that before, felt that warmth, and been burned. he has watched those wax wings melt once before. he will not allow himself to fall again. he will not invite the sun in again, because he knows he won’t be able to resist the urge to fly too close once more, even knowing the perceived threat.

acknowledging the help haitham has provided would directly acknowledge that they are no longer enemies. it would invite some of that warmth, something that kaveh does not believe he deserves, and something he cannot afford. he does not want to lose again, so he pretends there is no chance to fix things, despite haitham’s clear attempts to prove otherwise.

[akko-kagori]

It's 10:37 pm but I just thought of this and I NEED to share it because hOLY SHIT

okay, so, y'know how when we saw Crepus in the manga his face was drawn like this, without the eyes?

We've only ever seen Crepus in Diluc's memories, specifically his 18th birthday, so what if, the reason his face is drawn like that, is because Diluc can't remember Crepus's face D:- or at least can't picture it in this specific memory

Diluc's memory of his 18th birthday is clearly very fuzzy, a lot has been blacked out from his mind. What if, this moment...

...this moment was so traumatizing, so horrifying, it caused his brain to completely wipe Crepus's face from Diluc's memory?

[alfreedomm]

Wriothesley's lore and his relationship to Neuvillette and justice is so interesting to me because let's be real: the justice system failed him. He was brought up in a foster home where he was intended to be sold in the black market. And when he ran away, why was his solution to return and kill them? Why not inform the police? One can argue he was afraid but usually you'd try every other option before resorting to murder, yes?

And when he succeeds in killing them. He's sentenced to prison, where he is forced to spend the rest of his teen years (so, a child), and the start of his adulthood. And when his sentence is over, he doesn't even leave but take over the title of warden. He literally takes over the title of warden the day his sentence is over. That is severely fucked, like so severely fucked.

So it makes me wonder where was Neuvillette and Furina in all of this? Furina left the room in the middle of Wriothesley's trial for unspecified reasons (Wriothesley interpreted it as she found his case uninteresting, though headcanons say otherwise) and despite everyone in the room finding Wriothesley innocent, Neuvillette still finds him guilty. And you can't argue that it's cause Wriothesley wanted to be found guilty, like objectively let's look at this: he was a victim of abuse killing his abusers in self-defense. Is Neuvillette that obtuse?

I wanna know what Wriothesley thought of Neuvillette in that moment. I really feel like it needs to be addressed that Neuvillette failed Wriothesley and others like him. He is the second highest authority in Fontaine, yet the only thing he could do for Wriothesley when he was homeless as a child was allow a melusine to offer him soup? That's it? Did knowing that there's starving, homeless kids on the street spark no other interest? No implications of Fontaine's society and their quality of life?

I refuse to believe that Neuvillette let the melusine give him soup because it was Wriothesley, because that would mean he was aware of his background and did nothing. He did nothing until it was too late and Wriothesley had to take matters into his own hands. I personally see it as, he lets melusines offer help to those in need, which isn't better, but is better than him actively knowing that Wriothesley was homeless, starving, and running away from an abusive home and did nothing but allowed him one meal one night. Nevermind any other nights Wriothesley could've been starving. Nevermind what he had to endure on the streets as a child, scouring for money and safety. He couldn't offer him anywhere to stay or a job or something that can better Wriothesley's quality of life in the longterm -- he is the Iudex. He has the power to do so.

I still think that Neuvillette cares. But I also think he's extremely ignorant. And I don't fault Wriothesley for believing that Neuvillette wasn't concerned about him -- I think he has every right to think so cause Neuvillette failed him when he needed him most and has not shown him a reason to think otherwise. Every instance of Neuvillette's care is never directly shown to Wriothesley but to everyone else around him.

Anyways, I just find it really sad to think about, and I think Wriothesley deserved better for his own story and I wish the narrative didn't gloss over it like "oh but Neuvillette does care" because does he? Emotionally, maybe, but did Neuvillette make any real positive difference to Wriothesley's life?

…So that's why I think the headcanon that Neuvillette personally made the soup that the melusine gave to Wriothesley isn't as sweet as you think it is.

[kitty-meowskers]

idk but a part of me gets annoyed whenever people compare dr ratio and alhaitham.

like yeah ok... hot buff autistic nerdy men

but their whole ideologies are completelyyy different

would alhaitham ask you to give him a 'stimulating quiz' in his free time and then proceed to design a weapon for the express even though he didnt need to? no.

would dr ratio complain about becoming the (acting) grand sage and lead sumeru? no??

alhaitham is a 'live and let live' kind of guy. he justs wants to chill and have an easy life. like be for real, he's so worried about the akademiya finding out about his true talents and power because he hates the idea of working more. the only reason he's the scribe is because it's easy and it pays well. he's not particularly interested in helping others out unless its beneficial to him or the other really needs it. as kaveh said(i think he did??? idk i dont play genshin anymore), alhaitham is a nihilist

dr ratio on the other hand? he craves being able to fix things. all he wants to do fix things. although yeah he's not gonna do everything for you, he literally said to your face that if somethings bothering you deal with it yourself BUT he did literally go out of his way to scheme that entire thing in his quest to bring the people on the space station to there senses and get them thinking for themselves instead of obsessing over those geniuses. and that whole speech he gave to screwlum after? bro was INVESTED AND INTENSELY PASSIONATE. hes extremely passionate about getting people do use and develop their talents to the best of their ability. hes a fucking doctor who somehow has 52 courses and any of the people who actually make it through all get far in their lives. alhaitham would never put in that effort even with all his talent and ngl dr ratio would hate him for that (maybe not hate but dislike).

Another difference? alhaitham isnt a bitch about what his talents although its easy to assume he is while ratio low key kind of is and since the game itself describes him as 'narcisistic' so i think its pretty safe to assume he acts a bitch and he kind of is one too (cant blame him if i did all he did i would be the same)

[valenteal]

Okay so. Diluc and Kaeya. People do like, realize that Kaeya legit told Diluc he was sent to infiltrate Mond for a hostile nation right? Like, Diluc isn’t pissed because of the timing (though I’m sure it didn’t help). Kaeya straight up told him that he was an agent of Khaenri'ah and that his loyalty may not be to Mond. As far as Diluc is concerned Kaeya is literally an enemy agent. And you can’t say that he should realize Kaeya isn’t loyal to Khaenri’ah either. Kaeya takes pleasure in putting people in tough situations, Diluc is aware of this, and this is the toughest position ever. His brother, who he loves dearly, is an enemy agent who may be a huge threat to his country that he also loves dearly. But Kaeya seems torn, so he can’t disregard the possibility that Kaeya isn’t an enemy. But what if it’s all just a trick? What if Kaeya knew Diluc wouldn’t be able to turn him in? What if he’s laughing at Diluc’s soft heart? It’s an impossible situation and Diluc may love Kaeya but he also can’t trust him anymore.

Kaeya and Diluc will never be able to reconcile until Kaeya proves once and for all that his loyalty is to Mondstadt.

[starcurtain]

Your post about Alhaitham, Aranara lore, and the issue of fandoms confusing canon with social media promotion was so good!

I have some questions. I only entered the fandom a year ago, and I still haven't caught up on all the events I missed (though I am caught up on archon quests and most character quests). If you have time, could you please share any other examples you have of people popularizing a headcanon and pretending like it's canon?

I have a theory of one. I've noticed a lot of fics portraying Kaeya, Rosaria, and Venti are all drinking buddies at Angel's Share. And as much as I love the idea, I'm not sure I can find a canon source for this. I made a post asking about this once, and the only thing anyone gave me was that cutscene towards the end of the first Windblume. But that only shows Kaeya and Rosaria drinking together; Venti isn't there. Am I right that the three of them being drinking buddies is just fanon?

Thank you!!

I admittedly started playing Genshin a little later than some, so I missed out on many of the original Mondstadt events. Although I've tried to catch up on them via cutscenes and summaries, there are some nuances I'm surely missing, so it's a bit harder for me to judge based on earlier stuff. However, it seems fairly unlikely that Venti and Kaeya are actually good drinking buddies, for a couple reasons:

Even when they are in the same bar, they don't even speak directly to each other, let alone drink together. During Jean's birthday event, both Venti and Kaeya come to Jean's party at the Angel's Share, but once the alcohol starts flowing, Venti sits at the bar with Diluc, while Kaeya goes off to drink in the corner by himself.

Presumably, if they were actual drinking buddies, they would have sat together.

There's also the fact that Kaeya and Venti's relationship seems to be somewhat catty, especially earlier in Genshin's story.

In the 1.4 Windblume event, Paimon literally says that Venti and Kaeya's conversation has devolved into a "coercion contest" where they're both trying to get the better of each other. It's not aggressive and it's largely played for jokes, but it's also not Genshin's typical "I'll do anything for you because you're my friend" level of niceness.

Even way back in the 1.4 Windblume, there are some lines, especially from Kaeya, that are very loaded (and Venti gets his own digs in too lol):

I, for one, think it's pretty much impossible that Kaeya hasn't known Venti's identity all along; Kaeya's entire early character hinges around just knowing way the hell more than anyone else in Mondstadt (with little explanation for how, in some cases). With that in mind, Kaeya--a Khaenri'ahn--asking Venti--an archon--if he's willing to take Kaeya on as a student is a pretty heavy statement.

This scene leads into the one where Kaeya (supposedly) writes a poem in hilichurlian that could be read as a threat toward Venti. There's some debate whether that is actually true and whether Kaeya intended it that way, but the ambiguity still suggests Kaeya knows Venti's true identity and is, at the very least, testing the waters and pushing the envelop to see how far Barbatos will tolerate an "enemy" in his territory.

Even all the way to Kaeya's hangout, Venti and Kaeya's interactions are definitely sarcastic and a bit (humorously) snide, with Kaeya unsubtly using the fact that he knows Venti's secret identity to manipulate Venti into helping with the choir project. (Venti gets his digs here too though, reminding Kaeya about the hate poem he so "kindly" wrote back in 1.4 lol!)

Kaeya even goes out of his way to bring Diona to the song-writing efforts, specifically to trigger Venti's cat allergy and force Venti into having to deal with song lyrics about hating alcohol. 😂

So, up until at least this hangout, I'd say that Kaeya really didn't have too great of a relationship with Venti. He wasn't directly antagonistic to him or anything, but they definitely didn't come across as close friends, and there were enough blatant hints to suggest that Kaeya doesn't view himself as a follower of Mondstadt's archon.

It seems likely (to me at least) that Kaeya would have inherited a natural standoffishness toward archons in general alongside his father's huge expectations that Kaeya serve as Khaenri'ah's hope, a blend of "I'm supposed to hate you because I know what you did to my country" and "I'm uncomfortable that you know my true identity; you might take action against me like the archons took action against Khaenri'ahns in the past." I don't think Kaeya ever actually personally hated Venti, but there is a tension between himself and Venti that isn't necessarily present in Kaeya's other connections (Albedo, Klee, Jean, Lisa, etc.) throughout Mondstadt.

On Venti's side, I think that people forget that Venti is incredibly sensitive to the feelings of the people of Mondstadt and does literally everything in his power to ensure that his people live joyous, free, and happy lives. He clearly knows of Kaeya's background--and probably even his situation with still lingering connections to Khaenri'ah and the Abyss--so I find it extremely unlikely that Venti would have asserted himself in Kaeya's space and tried to force a friendship with someone who would have good reason to distrust archons. I think he would have respected Kaeya's need for distance and avoided trying to get too close.

However, being the incredible sweetheart that he is (the best archon of them all, FIGHT ME), Venti ends this branch of Kaeya's hangout with a truly heartwarming message:

This is Venti literally telling Kaeya "I know you're not a believer, and I know you're struggling with your loyalties between Khaenri'ah and Mondstadt. I know you're still not really sure what your destiny is and into what darkness it might lead you--but at the end of your journey, I will be here to welcome you home."

Venti tells Kaeya that Kaeya is a son of Mondstadt and that the Anemo Archon loves and will protect him just as he loves and protects every one of his true people.

So no, I don't think we have any reliable evidence in game that Kaeya and Venti are actually drinking buddies up to this point in the story--however, I think it's possible we could see this change in the future! Kaeya just needs to know (and accept!) that he is loved!

...As for other instances of fanon replacing canon, this post is already long enough, so I'll save them for another day. Someone ask me about what I think of the fanon surrounding Kaeya and Diluc's situation or something, I guess! 😆

[aurae-rori]

i should do an analysis of kinich's behaviour also stemming from the fact that he grew up too fast. that guy was doing the farming the cooking the cleaning all that shit for himself since seven. he had to grow up. nobody taught him how to be an adult. he had to survive on his own and this can actually reflect general neglect even when your parents are in your life, or how it feels to be left behind or unloved by your parents who may be there, but force you to do those things and criticize you when you do them wrong.

kinich grew up too fast because he had to survive.

and man do i hate the fact that so many kids have to do that in real life, too

[gh0stbra1nz]

i've said for a while that i would write an essay about cyno and his autism and guess what? i finally did it! after a lot of time and research...

here is my thorough deep-dive on cyno's autistic traits!

here's a disclaimer to avoid any misunderstandings! please do skim it to better understand the reasoning behind this thread and what can be taken from it!

index; the traits i will be speaking about - which, when collectively pertaining to a singular individual to certain levels of intensity, are indicators of autism - are listed as follows.

external perception; discussing how cyno is seen through the eyes of those around him and his (prior) lack of social relationships. people with autism tend to be regarded as cold and struggle to form and maintain friendships.

masking & attempts at socialising; extrapolating on the purpose cyno's jokes have and how he tries to connect with others.

prosody & quoting media; regarding cyno's flat tone and habit of directly quoting from his favourite media. people with autism have diverse prosody to neurotypicals and tend to "steal" phrases from books/songs/shows etc.

special interests; explaining why genius invokation is not merely something cyno likes but is a special interest of his, judging by how much of his thoughts, personality and life it makes up and how he uses it as a coping mechanism.

special interests; examples that indicate the intensity with which cyno loves genius invokation.

utilising special interest as grounding point & point of reference; discussing how cyno's mind links everything to his special interest.

utilising special interest as bonding method 1/3; using a card game that makes players behave within a set of rules and during which situations are clear cut and cause similar emotions, cyno feels a bond he otherwise struggles to feel.

utilising special interest as bonding method 2/3; trying to find common ground with others via special interest as that is the easiest way of upholding conversation. an example of cyno's 2 bonding methods being attempted.

utilising special interest as bonding method 3/3; cyno's methods of bonding succeeding with regards to albedo, who shows interest in the same topics, and how it impacts conversation.

relying on cataloguing outward reactions; how cyno can't perceive emotions but reads physical indicators instead, sorting these signs in boxes, without understanding them in context to people and situations.

relying on cataloguing outward reactions; an example of cyno's categorising of indicators being incorrect, i.e not understanding that the laughter at his jokes is feigned.

structure & behavioural patterns; analysing how cyno lives within a set framework, both in his personal and work life.

detachment & dissociation 1/3; discussing cyno's habit of working and confronting issues alone, often isolating, and how tighnari handles it.

detachment & dissociation 2/3; examples of how tighnari uses cyno's special interest to help him regulate his emotions and how cyno isolating is common behaviour.

detachment & dissociation 3/3; explaining why cyno isolates and how we see him detach himself from his emotions in moments of stress/shock.

strong sense of justice 1/2; looking at cyno's intense devotion to justice, his view of right and wrong and how he enacts it in his daily life.

strong sense of justice 2/2; giving an example of aforesaid point via the story of him earning his vision.

methodical reasoning & attention to detail; discussing how cyno reasons in an objective and logical manner while also being detail-oriented.

control over environment + stimming/self-soothing gestures; how his distaste for change is seen even in how he maintains his personal space + an indication of him fidgeting.

thank you for reading! in conclusion, i will share this image of cyno of which hyv seemingly stitched each pixel together with autism bc are you seeing this man? yeah /pos /lh

[somethingsomethingstarward]

here's the thing. 90% of the time my take on topaz's canon storyline is "it could be so good, but they're never going to actually let her quit her job or do anything that requires her to really change, because that would require a major design overhaul." like, she'd need new voicelines, new idles, probably a new design, and you can't do that to an already-existing character that people have paid money to get. and if you just release a topaz & numby 2, that just feels like cheating the people who, again, already paid money.

but you know what they could do that would be incredibly, insanely cool?

give her that storyline. let her break free of the ipc, let her finally reckon with the fact that maybe the ipc is not actually helping her do good in the world and maybe she needs to walk away from them, let her have that character arc with all its requisite change

and then when you release the 5-star version, call her jelena.

like, give her a new kit entirely. make her for all intents and purposes a new character, because she almost is one at that point! without the ipc she certainly can't be topaz anymore! maybe even come up with a reason why numby can't run around in the overworld with her anymore? just make her distinctive enough and i think you can get away with it. and, from someone who's at least somewhat invested in topaz-- personally, i would go absolutely insane for a "call me jelena" moment and a new design representing that character arc, even if it still is basically another 5-star.

anyway mihoyo if you're looking for writers please just send me the application form--