#Genshin character analysis

[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-kat]

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!

[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.

[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.

[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)

[amiaimpxct]

SUFFER IN SILENCE.

*+.~ xiao x reader

cw: kinda fluff??? pre-established friendship, no "traditional" romantic antics, kinda character study

You knew he was suffering, his labored breaths well visible behind the curtain, a hand over his forehead as the other was balled in a fist at his side— a telltale sign of his constant pain.

He had only left your side for a moment to excuse himself, even as you knew full well he left to suffer in silence, believing that it was the only way to keep you safe.

"Xiao..." you spoke, hesitant. You expected he would deny, push you away, tell you to go back to what you were doing.

Instead, he said nothing; yet while his brows still furrowed, he untensed his shoulders.

A silent invitation, you realized, as you parted the curtains of the balcony to accompany him.

The moonlight was strong tonight, so much so you had to use your hand to shield the light to adjust from your dark room.

It was not surprising to find him still in the same position, a dark energy faintly eminating from his tattoos. He grits his teeth, bringing his hand down from his face to lock eyes with you.

"You... you came..." he remarks.

"I did, yeah," you reiterate, smiling at him.

"...why, I could harm you, you know."

"I know that. I don't mind that fact."

He sighs, slumping to lean on the wooden railing, still seething from pain.

"You're foolish," he interjects, turning his attention to the streets beloe Wangshuu Inn. "Humans are foolish anyways."

"I know." you reply, agreeing. He has quite a point, and yet, you know he doesn't really mean it.

He's served humanity for years, as a weapon, a tool; and he's been mistaken, given as misinformation, and feared by humanity, despite all that he had done for them.

Truly, you could understand.

Xiao loved humanity, and yet, he could not afford to.

"And yet, you don't mean that, do you, Xiao?"

"Hm?" He whips his head around to face you, his hands gripping the wooden railing tight.

"You've served humanity for years, despite how they've treated you."

"It is my duty to do so," he says.

"Yes, I'm aware."

"And?"

"And, despite all that, why do you think I'm here?"

Xiao goes silent.

"I understand your struggles, and all that you provide for Liyue. And yet, I don't want you to shoulder this alone, even if it is your duty."

"But—"

"I know there isn't an option to truly take away all of your pain and karma," you continue, "But I at least want to be here for you, Xiao."

Xiao looks back at you again, a change in his expression, however faint it was, it was there; and the fact he could express it made you smile.

"...I thank you, for your understanding." he finally reacts, his eyes softened— a more tender look decorating his features, yet still pained.

Being able to directly hold eye contact with him; not as a monster, as a human— as someone who understood him, shook Xiao to his core.

How could I be appreciated like this? I don't deserve it, right?

Soon enough, the darker swirls stopped appearing around him, and Xiao was finally able to untense his limbs.

"The pain is... less intense now," Xiao remarks, "it will come back soon, though."

You nod.

"However." He swallows. "I thank you, again, for staying with me."

"You don't even have to ask. I'll always be here for you."

"Then... I wouldn't mind staying with you a little longer."

His cheeks had a slight red tint to them, which did not go unnoticed. You giggled a little.

"That's cute..." You mused.

He blushed even harder.

"I-I-... I am not 'cute'..." He stutters, looking away from you.

"Oh, you heard that... right, you're not human."

"...I am an adepti. I assume my senses may be slightly more attuned than a mortal's."

"Hm. Well, since we're out here, do you want to do something?" You asked.

Xiao sits down on the ground, his back on the railing as looks towards you.

"Come, sit here."

You gingerly tread next to him, sitting down at his side.

"The stars," he muses, almost dreamily if you squinted, "they're... peaceful."

"Yeah, I agree."

"They are far away, yet so close to us. During the day, they are hidden; but when night arrives, the glow of the stars reminds me that time still stays still sometimes."

You recall the ages of the adepti, remembering that Xiao had lived for many centuries, and many months and years. The only solace for the passing of time so rapid could only be something so concrete, like the stars.

"For the 500 years you've been around, you mean?"

"Yes."

The two of you sit in silence, only the occasional whoosh of the wind or the shuffling of clothes as you fidgeted in your seat interrupted it.

Before you even realized, you had awoken, in your bed with the covers tucked under your chin.

Turning on your side, a small slip of paper had appeared on your nightstand whereas a lack of one from before.

"I hope you rested well. I have gone for other duties, but I will return at nightfall. I hope you will accompany me once more. - Xiao"

A small smile graced your face, knowing you were able to bring him peace, even just for a little while.

[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

[meisaer]

imagine having bad coping mechanisms lol (natlan cast spectacle!!)

warning semi-long post (??) where everyone in natlan is buns at properly processing their trauma and they need to talk to mizuki immediately. like right now.

GRANNY CITLALI!!

okay probably one of the most relatable characters in genshin. just a thought. just a few thoughts.

Like a couple other impressionable characters, Citlali drinks as a coping mechanism. Maybe to forget, or to stop feeling, or all of the above. Quite tragic but also poetic, how her 'drunk scenes' (more so during the AQ) were portrayed as silly, fun moments when in actuality they're pretty sad. (same can be said for characters like venti, kaveh, faruzan, etc.)

Reads fiction novels as a way to escape reality. Interesting how some people make fun of her character for this. Interesting how people make fun of her character in the first place. Anyway she's literally every ao3 wattpad fanfiction.net user yesyes

Acts uncaring or disinterested when she actually cares a lot. Too much.

Likes that people are intimidated by her. Maybe she likes the control or thinks she deserves the respect after everything she's been through.

Hides in isolation for days on end. Could be ashamed to show her face, overall just doesn't want to see others, anxiety, etc. Maybe she doesn't want to hang around people she knows will die before her?

Ranting would also be a coping mechanism. Not sure what for. So people empathise with her maybe? She probably doesn't feel very seen or has someone to actually talk to. Would be alright if she were ranting to a therapist, not her grandson.

Mavuika!!...

oh god.

I don't even know HOW she copes. The willpower of this lady is genuinely bonkers. runs in the human-archon trope ig

She can't even imagine Hine as anything but older than the age she left her at. She's way too stuck in the past. Says she isn't. Lies through her teeth. Oh Mavuika you think "the past should stay in the past"? So why do you keep bringing them back? She straight up just denies her trauma. damn.

Healthy mechanism alert!! Painting!! Great coping mechanism queen I'm so glad you have one. (would be concerned if she just...didn't have an outlet for anything)

Puts on a brave face. I kid you not, she has not opened up to ANYONE about her past life, what she left behind, and how she's feeling about it. NO ONE. Not even Traveller. She's taking allat to her grave I'm telling you.

waiting for the day she cracks idk

Kinich.

can you imagine being so angsty and made-to-be-mysterious-and-secluded by the devs that you just don't have a single sad scene and you're just aura farming in every frame you're in

like mother like son wait yikes

He's got all that and the lack of emotion is so telling. He's just perfectly numb. I saw someone say that he spent his entire childhood being scared, that nothing fazes him anymore. Including death, and war, and Ajaw. Especially Ajaw.

The extreme sports thing is absolutely a mechanism to either actually feel a sense of adrenaline, or it's literally just the only thing that makes him happy. Who knows?

Adding onto that, I think Little Kinich felt a lot of emotions actually. Fear, anger, sadness, joy. And he saw that they all held no worth, and buried them all down.

I know we all joke about him looking like he doesn't know he exists, but fr I think if Ajaw didn't have such a loudmouth, Kinich would spend a majority of his free time dissociating.

I think the money hoarding would also be something to mention. He probably unconsciously (or consciously) does so to prevent him from becoming his father idk

waiting for the day he cracks too

Xilonen :3

the only one here with semi-healthy coping mechanisms (I am lying)

Sleep. Rest. Yeah. Well, it's more accurate to say avoidance, because she's afraid of her job taking over her life, so she runs away when she wants to. Not very effective since that need for rest is a direct compensation for her taxing job, but she's trying at least. Better than literally everyone else here.

she absolutely overdoes it though.

Music would also be a good coping mechanism. Good job Xilonen!

honestly the most sane person in the group. yes she does call the others weirdos (esp ororon poor guy) but shes not wrong. and shes the only one allowed to call them that btw trust

Ororon..

the goat (of being socially awkward)

Sees his plants more than people. Crazy heavy on that isolation (just like his granny!), might be because he fears social interaction and finds it safer to be around things that can't (really) judge him

Also someone else who doesn't really talk about anything until it becomes a problem. Yknow. like how AQ happened.

lowk reminds me of nagito komaeda . yes I'm stretching. but also its funny. and hear me out. if ororon were a little more obsessed in his pursuit to be useful...

MUALANI!!!!

my tragic baby :(( may all your days be filled with boom-sharkalaka happiness

Smiling. That's it. that's the coping mechanism. Good one? Could be. Not if she's using it to pretend everything's fine.

Absolutely the type to laugh everything off. Laugh to tell herself it's fine, and to tell others it's okay.

confession my first impression of mualani was that she was a forced-hyped camp leader who actually really wanted to go home and was faking her enthusiasm to children

Does not take herself seriously,,

XD her feelings away

Surfing! Great coping mechanism frfr

VARESA!

me when i have an earth-shattering inferiority complex and hide it by pulling the :P

Stress eating. Yeah, she needs to eat to become stronger but 99% sure she also eats just out of pure stress and for comfort. She loves food! Because it's familiar and something she's good at (eating) and it distracts her from more important things, like her low self-esteem!

Jokes and doesn't take herself or her feelings seriously. Just like Mualani. Another one thank you :D

That mask she wears to feel better about herself? Is a coping mechanism to help her confidence. Not the best. Not the worst. As long as she learns to be confident without it, and not separate the her without a mask and the her with one, it'll be okay.

THAT'S IANSANE!!!

crying she deserved so much better,,,,

Removes herself from the crowd. Dunno, during the AQ she seemed so...detached? Truly like a coach watching over the others. But it's kind of gotten to the point where she's not opening up and instead internalising a lot of her feelings.

She only briefly mentions that she lost her saurian during the war and then apologises for bringing it up like girl :( Girl :((

On another note she probably enjoys teaching others and that's a pretty sweet coping mech!! It's more so a distraction method though,,,

KACHINA KACHINA KACHINA

me when im a child soldier ..

Crying. Applause to Kachina for being the ONLY ONE IN THE CAST to have this coping mechanism that's actually good (in moderation). Kachina you are the youngest person here and the only one who gets it. I do think she does so a little excessively though, which means she needs to find other coping mechs.

Hiding when she gets nervous, flustered, scared, etc. She's starting to grow out of this though!

Quieting down and becoming meek. As a result of low self esteem.

CHASCA RAHHHH

where do i even begin with you

Dissociates. Like canonically. Will stare at random ripples in the water like Chuychu is going to rise up from it after a baptism. Chasca I am so sorry. Please talk to someone. No, the five-lined conversation with Traveller does not count. WHO is talking you through the guilt, grief, yearning????? Mualani?? Ifa?? Bro they can't even process their own trauma. You're going to have to go to unc Pacal or smth

Wow lookie here we finally have our first character that lashes out as a coping mechanism! Keep it in Chasca! You wouldn't want the curse to take over right!

Got a lot of avoidance here too, even when Chuychu was still in the picture. Actually, especially when Chuychu was in the picture.

Hallucinations?? Chasca please find help I'm so /srs rn.

DOC IFA!!

"sybau ts pmo icl"

Speaks casually to lessen the seriousness of the situation. He probably also uses it to calm patients but now he's also calming himself...too much. Don't worry bro I got you!

Taking care of others before yourself I see? Is this projection of your inner desire for someone to see you?

mb I still know NOTHING about this dude...he mysterious..he never talks about himself......but that's just a theory! he's not out yet!!

IL CAPITANO (THRAIN)

debated putting ajaw over here instead of you because why are you so guarded like that

Does not open up about himself. At all. Did he talk to a single person about this?? In a theraputical, not-for-relevant-information way?? 99% No.

Hiding identity. Out of necessity, sure. But also just to hide himself from the world and block out anything that may be attached to him from the past 500 years

Only thinks pragmatically. Will not allow himself to feel his own emotions.

Staying quiet.

theres definitely more that i conveniently forgot about because I am tired <3 ill update this later trust

[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.

[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.

[nymphsconstancy]

in light of both the albedo-focused story and the upcoming hexenzirkel information: here's a compilation of everything (permanently and that i can remember) available about rhinedottir! and my conclusions as to what it means regarding rhinedottir herself

rhinedottir was one of five 'great sinners' of khaenri'ah, held responsible in teyvat for the course of the cataclysm. the sinners were unable to "resist the call of the abyss," and by accepting its power became "transcendent beings, each in possession of world-shattering power." (see memories that should not exist)

rhinedottir's creations include durin, the larger rifthounds, the wolflord, albedo, the "one-horned white horse" from cinnabar spindle, and the various 'subjects' that came as prototypes before him (confirmed to include subject 2 (shadows amidst snowstorms), and potentially more, depending on how literally you take the hexenzirkel cutscene). based on their mannerisms and descriptions of "mother," we can infer that elynas is also a creation of rhinedottir, but that hasn't explicitly been confirmed, so i'm not acknowledging them here.

rhinedottir did not create the smaller rifthounds. those were a pre-existing mainstay of crimson moon dynasty khaenri'ah (see perinheri, note 2: "the black wolves of the first edition [...] were a mainstay during the crimson moon dynasty"). riftborn regalia suggests that the larger wolves were made "almost as if by accident," rather than being intentional products of her work.

rhinedottir provided classifications for her work: "alfisol," comprising the rifthounds; "humus," comprising durin (and potentially elynas); and "cretaceus," or albedo. humus and alfisol are both categorisations of soil, while cretaceus is chalk and also features in albedo's constellation, 'princeps cretaceus'. early translations i saw of albedo's constellation took it to mean something like 'first creation' or chalk prince, but according to a latin class i took a year ago 'princeps' should actually mean 'highest order [of chalk, in this case].'

rhinedottir was either a member of the hexenzirkel prior to the cataclysm or joined the hexenzirkel immediately after. at the least, she had formally joined by 13 years after. jakob ingold's log in the book of revealing says "...it seems there was an alchemist from khaenri'ah named 'r' who joined a secret order" and, going by the internal narzissenkreuz timeline, the log was written at least 487 years ago.

other notes within the narzissenkreuz ordo imply that rhinedottir had also begun work on the primordial human project at this point. the notes in the basement - "yellow is simply bait" - refer to the same order of creation that albedo mentions in his ascension voicelines, while the notes at the top of the tower mention a primordial human: "lies beneath the great sea [...] [origin is a] play [is] called 'ajax', or 'aias' [...] which also means 'primordial human'." the idea of the primordial human recurs in albedo's fifth character story, where "chalk [...] was used to make primordial man."

the skyward weapon series, festering desire, and cinnabar spindle all make references to rhinedottir's creations. rhinedottir is mentioned directly in festering desire as durin's "mother" and is potentially the narrator of cinnabar spindle, but we do not know who made cinnabar spindle, formed from "materials that do not belong in this world." the only material named is alkahest, in the refinement process, which holds the ability to "sublimate matter."

rhinedottir took albedo with her while she was traveling, and albedo's earliest memories are of "adventuring deep within domains" alongside her. we do not know when albedo was made, and probably will not know, based on the fact that albedo himself is missing memories of his early years. albedo was not her last creation, and she continued to experiment with new life after he was made. (see character story 3)

while they traveled together, rhinedottir would make "threat[s] to leave [albedo], should he fail" in the tasks she set for him, threats which albedo saw as genuine.

the final domain albedo and rhinedottir explored together contained the "heart of naberius," an artifact with an as-yet unknown purpose. after its discovery, rhinedottir left albedo with his title as kreideprinz, a recommendation letter and instructions to seek out alice, and a copy of the "opus magum" from rhinedottir's collection of texts (see character story 4).

at an unknown time, rhinedottir met with the rest of the hexenzirkel to collaboratively write the little witch and the undying fire. rhinedottir wrote volume 3. contextualising notes, which can only be found by picking up another volume and then going to the archive, say the following: "it's so rare for r to be in her right mind for a spell. should she really be wasting the precious little lucid time she has writing this?" but what this means for rhinedottir herself is unknown.

what we know for certain: an abridged list of rhinedottir's creations, the circumstances behind her leaving albedo, and her role and time with the hexenzirkel. less concrete is her role and relation to her creations. she's written as both a cold, scientific mind interested in the results and data and nothing more, as a "mother" both grieving and responsible for the deaths of her children, and as someone absent in her affections but so present that all of her children are desperate for her approval, tacit or otherwise.

what's completely unknown: what the "one-horned white horse" is, what she's been doing the entire time she's been apart from albedo, whether she bears the same curse that other khaenri'ahn people do or whether as sinner she bore something unique to her alone, how the "call to the abyss" gave her more power, and what exactly the heart of naberius is.

rhinedottir is... such a fascinating, messy character. is she following the footsteps of the alchemists before her who made the first rifthounds? is she an expert all her own, the driving force behind khemia and the creation of artificial life through alchemy? does she truly love her creations, like she suggests in the hexenzirkel short from last windblume, or is she only the distant creator and teacher that we otherwise hear about? i'm fascinated. i can't wait to peek inside her mind

[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! 😆

[karmas-void]

Venti, Barbatos and religion

@mielwritingmade the mistake of asking me my opinion on something so here it is, quick comment receipts so people ave context, this was under a post where I talked (complained) about how the Genshin Impact fandom used to have a problem with claiming characters were "minor coded"

Okay now that we're all caught up and I've proven this isn't my unsolicited opinion and someone did in fact ask me and I have my writing music on:

I've always found the religion within Mondstadt to be incredibly fascinating. If we think about what a god is, in a real world sense, it is a being given power through human believe, ways we've thought the universe into existence, explanations of the ineffable long before modern science and technology.

By that definition, I believe Venti to be the only "true god" within genshin. Every other god is present in their nation to a certain capacity and takes charge for better or for worse, but Venti doesn't wish to rule his people like that. Barbatos' wish for Mondstadt has always been for the citizens to decide upon their own freedom without divine interferance.

"Freedom, if demanded of you by a god, is really no freedom at all" - Venti to Dvalin in the prologue

As such, his interferance with his own followers, his worship, his religion, has been imited. Barbatos, the actual god, who hides among mortals as Venti, keeping a watchful eye on his people, is entirely seperate from Barbatos, the figment of him which the church has taken to worshipping. Yeah they have his ideas and wishes and the esence of his being is the same, but the Barbatos the church worships is not a tangible entity, it is a concept, as mot gods in the modern world are, one which their traditions and values are based off of.

As for Venti thinking of Mondstadt as his children, I've been wrecking my brain trying to figure out a proper analogy for this, but it goes without saying that the children of Mondstadt are *not* Venti's biological children. the parent-child bond Venti refers to here, I believe, only extends as far as his protection does. The citicens of Mondstadt are children of freedom, they are the charge of the divine idol Barbatos the church worships, and Venti feel responsible for their safety.

Anyways that's enough for now I'm gonna get back to writing my mondstadt rebellion fanfic now I might return with more thoughts later

[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--