#Hi3 interview

[endlesslytired]

I have been thinking about Bronseele too much and I made these to express the uniqueness of the Star Rail Bronseele and HI3 Bronseele dynamics

[samposhusband]

now why is the hsr subreddit homophobic-

everyone keeps saying bronseele in hsr feels forced when it literally isn't. it's so fucking obvious they're gay and in love.

in the trailblazer mission in jarilo vi, bronya and seele would only open up to each other for the most part. as for their banter, they sound like a couple arguing lmao.

then in the belobog museum event, seele isn't interested until you mention bronya. when seele gets interviewed, she pays attention only to bronya and they get side tracked talking about themselves to each other. honestly it felt almost as if the trailblazer was a third wheel.

they're always together and then there's the fact that they're both from honkai impact 3rd. they're canonically in a relationship in honkai impact 3rd. why do i bring this up? because of the fact that it's canon the characters from hi3 have some memories from the hi3 universe. welt literally recognizes luocha, who is meant to be an otto expy. if welt has his memories then that means bronya and seele have their memories too which is why they're always together.

also people conveniently forget the fact that bronya is originally from the underworld so there's a high chance that bronya and seele could've been childhood friends. they probably have known each other for awhile but forgot since not everyone remembers their entire childhood + all their childhood friends.

edited to add that i had no idea welt in hsr is the same one from hi3 but it makes more sense now. i still feel like it's a possibility that bronya and seele are either the same ones from hi3 or they at least have some memories from hi3.

[oathofkaslana]

stumbling upon an interview between devs abt the hi3 x hsr collab and it’s literally jsut saying things i’ve already known.

[yezielmoore]

2. Horizon

Soo... this prompt is 90% Honkai Impact 3rd but in Etherys. Not that Himeko, the character isekai'd from HI3, knows that. She's kinda rambling in her head about what happened before she got dumped in FFXIV. So this will probably be confusing for the FFXIV folks and for that i apologize. I doubt future prompts will be as focused on HI3 as this one. Probably. I can't plan an outline if my life depended on it, and we are hostages to the prompts anyway.

I'll summarize some terms and concepts and maybe link a video in the end.

~*~*~

To say that Himeko expected to wake up again was like saying the honkai was only a little bit deadly. An understatement at best and a boldfaced lie at worst. 

Even as she suited up for the battle against Sirin, Himeko had known it was likely to be her last stand; the same way a terminally ill patient knows that throwing their meds down the drain and running away from the hospital would be their last act. Confronting Sirin in her current state, despite her new suit, or maybe even because of the suit, was just as irrational and unsurvivable. Definitely not what a good role model would do.

Heh.

Despite what Theresa would say, Himeko never claimed to be a good role model. In fact, she was sure she claimed exactly the opposite in her job interview. 

Whatever.

The point was, she didn’t expect to wake up again. She certainly didn’t expect to wake up on an old-fashioned wooden boat surrounded by water as far as the eye could see. And she absolutely didn’t expect the race change. And no, she didn’t mean skin color or eye shape or anything remotely like that. She meant the tail and the ears, the fur and claws and excellent night vision and so on. No matter how you looked at it, she definitely wasn’t human anymore, at least not by any definition on Earth.

Well, not unless one got philosophical about it and Himeko would be the first to agree that the soft sciences weren’t her forte. Give her a good engineering book any day over a debate on the definition of humanity.

At least none of the changes were the sickly white of honkai beast caparace or the glowing pink of honkai corruption. She would have already made use of the hunting knife strapped to her waist if that had been the case. 

Ah, but she got distracted again. To be fair, there was much to be distracted about, although maybe her freak out could wait until she was safely on dry land. 

Not that Himeko had any clue as to where she was or in which direction dry land was supposed to be. And the stars… 

Gold eyes looked up at the unpolluted night sky. It was a breathtaking sight, no doubt about that, and one that was completely alien to her. No matter in which direction she looked, Himeko couldn’t recognize a single constellation. She passed astronomy with flying colors, it was simply impossible that she wouldn’t recognize the night sky. 

Unless it was a different night sky than that of Earth.

So… had she, somehow, fallen through imaginary space into a bubble universe? She was aware of the existence of those and it would explain the change in location, but it didn’t explain why she was alive. Or a different race altogether. 

Because if Himeko knew something with 100% certainty, it was that she should be dead… Had, perhaps, been dead. Even if it didn’t stick. For some reason. So what had happened? 

Her memories prior to that climatic moment were hazy with adrenaline, bone-deep exhaustion and excruciating pain, but she remembered injecting the God-Slaying Spear into Kiana and imparting her final lesson. Then nothing. Or… not nothing exactly. There were bursts of feelings, pride and conviction and love. A few times Himeko thought she saw flashes of Kiana. Had some part of her latched onto Kiana and followed her on her journey? Strange, perhaps, but not stranger than apocalyptic messiahs hellbent on the total annihilation of the human race chosen by a corrosive, eldritch and possibly sentient energy from the place where life itself sprung forth. 

What else? Relief, a feeling of drifting and then… safety? Light. A… query and… an answer? Her answer?

Himeko clutched her head as pain lanced through her brain like one of Sirin’s void lances, but even less nice, if such a thing was possible with the homicidal brat. 

So not thinking about that. Gotcha.

What to do now then? Regardless of how she got here or where here was in relation to Earth, trying to go back was pointless. She died there and if her hallucinations or dreams had any truth in them, then Kiana was doing okay. Himeko Murata was dead on Earth and it should stay that way.

However, it seemed like there was a place for Himeko in this world; otherwise why would he find herself alive, placed inconveniently in the middle of the ocean, but otherwise unharmed and with a pack full of necessities tied down on the covered part of her little boat?

Her situation and lack of memory spoke of deals made in the dark and powers beyond her comprehension. Therefore the question was: should she play along? She wanted to rebel on principle, but without knowing what the deal was, without even knowing what she agreed to do (if indeed she agreed to do anything) it was foolish and plain ridiculous to insist on being a contrarian. That way laid madness and Himeko was many things, but actively suicidal wasn’t one of them.

Himeko sighed wearily and leaned back, the horizon lightening up with the upcoming sunrise. She wondered if that way lay the East in this world or if even that was different. For all she knew the sun rose on Beta and set on Gamma. 

In any case, regardless from which angle she looked at the situation she was in, it was a second chance at life. A wholly unexpected and unlooked-for second chance. Before… Himeko hadn’t been ready to die, (who is?), but she had been prepared. She had put all her affairs in order long before the Herrscher of the Void had possessed Kiana. She had known that her life was only getting shorter, fast at first and then faster, years of her life sheared off by the artificial stigmata that allowed her to fight. Had she hanged her sword, she could have, maybe, lived another 10 years and died at the ripe old age of 39. Instead she lived a few extra months and bit it before reaching her thirties. 

“I’m getting maudlin,” Himeko mused to herself, forcibly wrenching her thoughts away from that downward spiral. Being alone with her thoughts never did her any good. She sighed. “A beer would be so welcome right now.”

This new life of hers probably wasn’t going to be anything like the life she once dreamed of, but Himeko had already buried those dreams when she signed up with Schicksal. Maybe this new start had strings attached, then again, maybe it didn’t. Himeko wasn’t sure she had it in her to be optimistic about her unknown benefactor, but she could adopt a ‘wait and see’ attitude. After all, it wasn’t like said benefactor had given her a forwarding address for her questions. 

Himeko straightened suddenly when she finally realized that the blurry dot backlit by the predawn light she had been following with her eyes was, in fact, a ship slowly cresting over the horizon and if she was correct… yep, it was sailing directly in her direction. 

Luck? 

Or fate? 

Himeko couldn’t tell and she refused to guess the motives of such forces. Assuming said forces even had motives, a big assumption by itself and definitely beyond her paygrade. (Not that she had a job anymore. Goddamnit. She hated job hunting).

All she could do now was make sure her boat was outside of direct collision range and make sure she was visible.

…and maybe take stock of all her available weapons, just in case pirates were a thing in this world. 

TBC

----

If you want to see the fight that Himeko mentions there is this cinematic. It's part of the game so Spoilers! But you're here, so go ahead. Final Lesson

Q&A time!

WTF is the Honkai? In layman's terms, it's like a super agressive energy from outer space that has it out for humanity. It grows apace with human civilization and wrecks havoc creating things like diseases (the black plague), natural disasters and Herrchers. Most people don't have resistance to honkai and either flat out die or become zombies upon exposure (yes, you read that right) and animals/critters can become honkai beasts.

Herrschers? They are humans (in most cases) that, at the lowest point of their lives or in circumstances where there's a fuck ton of honkai around, accept or get co-opted by the honkai and become mobile and genocidal natural disasters with a burning hatred for humanity. They have Authority over a concept.

Sirin/Herrcher of the Void? She had Authority over the Void, aka: Time/Space. She appeared before game canon and did things like making Siberia unlivable and dropping meteors on Earth, destroying cities and killing millions. During the game she possessed Kiana, our dorky MC, who went on a rampage until Himeko stopped her by injecting her with a serum that supressed Sirin and allowed Kiana to surface.

Stigma? Natural stigmattas are a thing that very very few people have. They grant honkai resistance and powers. Schicksal (an organization fighting against the honkai) reverse engineered them and made artificial stigmattas. They grant resistance and power at the cost of years if not decades of your life.

Why the heck did you mention a Tree? The imaginary tree is kinda complicated, but all Hoyoverse games exist in the same Universe (same Tree). Imagine each game is a World/Leaf in the Tree. Usually they are separated and it would require a monumental effort to cross to a different leaf, never mind branch in the Tree. FFXIV is now a leaf in the Tree because i say so.

Bubble universes? The word universe complicates things ugh. It's my understanding that bubble universes are kind of like incomplete worlds attached to the main world/leaf. Sorta like alternative universes i guess. So yeah, all your fan fic is real kinda deal, lol. They usually can't maintain themselves and erode/are destoyed.

And finally, Imaginary Space? It's a space outside of the "regular" world structure, like an in-between space. Himeko died in that imaginary space and fell there as it collapsed. In my lingo that's the perfect chance to fuck around and write fix-it fics.

There's a LOT more, but ask and i'll answer in the next prompt.

[honkai-news-network]

HI3 Ten Shoes War Interview Bianka: Ruimu is such a wonderful place, the people are friendly, I'm having fun arm-wrestling, and the steamed buns is fire 🔥🔥🔥 Wait, I mean, I'm having a great time here, and tbh, I was surprised to be chosen as a participant for the 10 Shus War. Litost is strong, and I will defeat him to find all the answers. https://www.miyoushe.com/bh3/article/... #HonkaiImpact3rd #Bianka #Honkai79

Original Post

[dead-salmon]

i really do wonder what fgo will look like after arc 2 finishes

i doubt fgo will end, it's too much of a cashcow and nasu keeps mentioning how he still has a lot of ideas (for collabs for example). what i do remember is how they kept debating wether they should have an arc 3 with the same gang or start a new storyplot

idk what i'd prefer in that sense, another guda story would feel a little lackluster, but an entitely new cast i fear wouldn't do too well either? (in the same fashion where many hi3 fans struggled with the continuation/new story parts)

i could imagine them someday making a fgo2 with a new game and story alltogether, but it's questionable how well that'd go (and personally i'd be pissed if i had to wait years till there's a playable jiang ziya)

either way, given nasus and takeuchis consistent interview answers i doubt the game will reach an eos anytime soon, i'd trust them to meep rerunning events in a loop even before pulling an eos

[hematomes]

I have yet to play hsr however, ive seen lots of people arguing over the canonical status of bronya and seele. so i looked into it and they were in hi3, literally what reason would hoyo have for not doing it again?

im not really familiar with hi3 nor bronseele at all so i can only... guess kinda? speculate. you know

but there's a couple reasons that could justify it. first off in hsr they're (imo) implied just as much (if not more) as eimiko and kavetham. so it's HEAVY. lots of ambiguous interactions, popular fanfic tropes (enemies to lovers for the most obvious one) etc etc. literally almost every daily texts that bronya has sent me ended up circling back to seele, in an event where you're interviewing characters with pela it's actually bronya that interviews seele for "some reason" and the only reason seele agrees to volunteer in the first place is bc we bribed her by bringing up bronya

from what i know, so i could be mistaken, bronseele in hi3 was confirmed through a comic in which they kissed? idk of the situation in the game itself, but this could be one of the reasons

another one could be, well, censorship. the kiss in the comic was censored at some point iirc (but otherwise like. it's a webcomic, not every fan has read it, especially bc if im not mistaken there's a lot of hi3 webcomics?), and hsr is undoubtedly more popular than hi3 so it wouldn't be surprising if they decided to play it safe instead of having them make out on screen

anyway in my opinion, mostly as a genshin player but also a fierce renheng enthusiast, pretending like there's nothing going on between bronya and seele in hsr just bc hoyoverse didn't put a lesbian pin on their outfit whilst knowing how hoyoverse writes other couples is really weird, and "canon" is also kind of pissing me off bc you don't need them to have sex onscreen to figure things out by yourself. but that's another conversation and im getting side-tracked 💀

[voliyu]

An Interview with Fu Hua's CV( Miss Mace )

Mace, a seiyuu of HI3 V4.6"Unequaled Unrivaled" , has a variety of different styles of voice, and is well known by the majority of captains as the seiyuu of the popular character Fu Hua in "Honkai Impact 3". 

"I like dubbing, food, sleeping and posting beautiful girls, and I also do some modeling work and live streaming."

Seiyuu: Fu Hua (HI3rd) Fischl , Albedo (GI)

Hello everyone, this is Moonlight Sauce.  Recently, the animated short film "Duchen"(Shattered Samsara) was launched, and Fu Hua will also celebrate hers birthday next week. We are honored to invite the class monitor’s voice actress to be our guest again. Let us applaud~Teacher Ma!

*Hello everyone, I am Mace or you can call me teacher Ma or Little Ma~*

Q: I heard that Teacher Ma is a veteran member of voice acting. Why did you think about becoming a voice actor?

Mace: It was probably when I was at school, the teacher praised me for reading the text well, hahaha, and then I have been a in small broadcasting at the school radio station hahahahahaha.  Later, at the age of thirteen or fourteen, I loved reading novels, and listened to radio dramas. Finally, I wanted to try online dubbing by myself~ I met some seniors and friends on the Internet. After graduating from high school, I was called to audition by Laiqi, whom I met by chance, just like this, slowly embarked on the road of voice actors~

Q: It's great to be able to fulfill your childhood dreams!

Q: Speaking of which, the captains of Honkai 3 would have known Teacher Ma through Fu Hua, so how did you get this role in the first place?

Mace: Each role is determined through auditions~ It may be that the voice is more suitable (maybe luck), in short, I am very grateful to the project team for choosing me TAT. I seemed to be still in my sophomore year. A very young newcomer, thank you Ah Fu for accompanying me to grow up over the years.

Q: Although Fu Hua version 2.0 was officially installed, the 1.1 version chronicles chapter Xuanyuan sword you has already appeared in the game, and she can be regarded as an official playable character. Has Teacher Ma any particularly impressive lines in the past four years?

Mace: "Major Himeko, let me guide the task this time" is the first Fu Hua's voice recorded during the audition. This is the first time I know her!

Q: As Fu Hua’s voice actress, does Teacher Ma have any views on the character?

Mace: When I first met Fu Hua, everyone and i had similar impressions of her, a little dull, serious and very reliable.  But afterwards, the feelings for Fu Hua became more and more complicated. In the honkai world, she was firm and strong. As long as she was there, we would feel at ease; but all her friends would always leave her, and the memories would be needed give up in order to stay awake.  She is an immortal who exists only for guardianship, she hardly reveals her own thoughts, and rarely has contact with others.  As one of her few friends, the captain naturally feels very distressed TAT

Q: You really speaks out for all the captains.

Q: Regarding the Herrscher of Sentience, everyone seems to treat her as an independent character different from Fu Hua. What does Teacher Ma think of her?

Mace: In the script, when we first saw the herrscher, it was the beginning of Chapter 20. At that time, she hadn't become the herrscher of Sentience yet. The impression of her should be strange: what she did is very different from that of Fu Hua, but she feels herself is Fu Hua.  Now I think she is a child, with a very cute side, she firmly believe that what she do is right, and she also hope that others will admit that she is a good person. I really like her self-confidence and easygoing~

Q: If you think about it carefully, there was a big difference between the tone of the Herrscher of Sentience and Fu Hua. Has Teacher Ma encountered any difficulties during the dubbing process?

Mace: The most recent challenge should be the combat voice of the HoS. In addition to the weapon box, she has a total of four weapons. Each weapon has basic attack combos and branch attacks. The basic attack combos of several weapons are probably separate.  Under 6-8, we will give 3 versions as alternatives or replacements for every breath.  It's very difficult, the combination of prefixes is too difficult to think about! We have used most of the ones that can be used. It is not surprising that it is not easy to think of something new.

Q: Teacher Ma is also a veteran captain. Do you have any stories you like or impress?

Mace: If it is only to Fu Hua, it would be the farewell of Fuxi and Nuwa. At that time, I really felt sorry for her TAT.

Mace: If it's other character relates to Fu Hua, it’s definitely the last lesson. When dubbing, there is a sense of immersive feeling: "Major Himeko, gratitude for your lessons. Perhaps fate will let our paths cross again in the future..."

Q: Mihoyo is really good at breaking our hearts.

Q: Teacher Ma often uses Fu hua characters when playing HI3, right? Which battle suit do you like best?

Mace: Shadow knight~ When I was very very playing the game so hard(and also very good at the same time), she made me feel as if I might not be so good!

( I'm invincible now )

Q: Fu Hua's long life can be divided into several stages. Which period does Teacher Ma like best?

Mace: In the previou era, she had made good friends, she had noodles.  She was happy and free during that time.  There was no honkai, no sacrifice, no mission, and it’s great to be able to joking with friends easily and be an ordinary girl.

Q: Regarding the recently launched animated short film "Duchen"(Shattered Samsara), many captains were emotional after watching it. Does Miss, Ma have similar feelings?

Mace: Kiana has grown up, I'm so happy to see Fu Hua's journeys along the way, Also I was happy and sad and plus with Rubia song, QAQ crying~~~~ I'm so fortunate to participate in such an excellent work.

Q: The last part is still the usual question: If there is a chance to cross Fu Hua's side, what era would Teacher Ma want to go to and what would you want to say to Fu Hua?

Mace: I would say, after the little book die?  But after thinking about it, it doesn't matter. I want to say something to her and stay with her for a while. I don’t know when I would leave her again. It’s too cruel... It’s also good to know her in Hyperion as a captain. I don’t know where our story will go, but I Will always love her.

Q: The story of Fu Hua and the Herrscher of Sentience has come to conclusions here, Teacher Ma, could you give some blessings words for them please~

Mace: I hope Ah Fu is healthy, happy, and spends more time taking care of herself; I hope my little herrscher can resist the honkai and be recognized by everyone, and mommy loves you!  No matter where you go, you have your place on my bridge!

Q: The interview is coming to an end. Is there anything Teacher Ma wants to say to everyone?

Mace: Thank you everyone for loving and supporting Ah Fu, and Little Ma~ I wish you Happy Chinese New Year every one!

(it's not 100% accurate but hope you enjoy~)

[endlesslytired]

If you don't, you should start watching the more recent Keeping Up With Star Rail videos on YouTube. They have a new format now that's like the event streams where they do in character interviews with characters that aren't exactly the person they're talking about but are connected to and definitely have a lot to say about them.

Jing Yuan had Fu Xuan who sounds a little different to usual but is more typically her by the end

Silver Wolf's had her ai Prometheus (Friend) do hers and that's freaking awesome

Luocha had Sushang, Hi3 reference! Also dyslexic Sushang real. (Dyspraxic if I want to project my own experiences on certain details ehe)

Yukong doesn't have an interview part unfortunately :(

Blade's had Kafka jumpscare Owlbert and made him do the show

Kafka's had Himeko be extremely passive agressive and it gives major divorce energy

No interview for Luka...

For Imbibitor Lunae there's March and she's just like "Wow Dan Heng, this is so cool you should have shown sooner!" and we get express slice of life details

There's a special edition report for The Swarm and Herta is doing her best Cave Johnson impression

Fu Xuan's was Qingque skiving work and hyping her boss the hell up but had a jumpscare for her by the end (I made an edit of it)

The most recent is Lynx and as it goes, no interviews for 4 stars unless you're Herta.

I absolutely love this format and the tiny lore details are amazing. I highly recommend giving it a watch. Even the recent ones without the interviews have fun lore and details that are worth it.

[niteshade925]

Speculations

I’m gonna make some guesses here, see if I turn out to be right when Mihoyo finally release Act.??? and Khaenri’ah

(SPOILERS BELOW)

Been thinking about the Genshin story trailer (the one titled “Travail”, dubbed in Japanese by Kaiba-kun Kenjiro Tsuda) in what little free time I had, and had a thought just now:

There are a few visual motifs that keep popping up throughout Genshin, I will list the ones I’ve noticed and some examples of each:

Four point star:

top of game’s logo

oculus location markings on the map

statues of the seven

Kaeya’s pupils and clothing

Dainsleif’s pupils and clothing

the Unknown Kiana God’s pupils and clothing

design of Traveler (both of them)

design of Paimon

Celtic knots:

walls of dungeons and abyss spiral

design of Unknown God

design of Dainsleif

Petal-shapes:

Paimon’s clothes

base of every Statue of the Seven

pillars in game’s intro loading screen

Stars, space, constellations, galaxies:

design of Paimon

design of Unknown God

design of Dainsleif

There are other "regional" visual motifs we can see so far, and these are the bird/feather/wings motifs in Mondstadt, and the square/diamond shapes we find throughout Liyue (also featured prominently as a design element for both the dragon and Zhongli...hmm......). These show that visual motifs do indeed connect places, characters, items, etc...so how are the archons, Dainsleif, Kaeya, the Unknown God, Paimon, and the Twins connected?

At the beginning of the game, the Traveler was talking to Paimon, telling Paimon what he/she remembers about how he/she came to be in Teyvat, and that it was a long time ago, 500 years to be exact. Paimon had apparently taught the Traveler/you many things shortly before the journey began, and was the one who suggested seeking out the seven archons in order to find your twin brother/sister's whereabouts. Incredibly, Paimon also has the ability to time travel into the future, but not the past.

In Mondstadt you meet Venti who is actually Barbatos, the anemo archon. After falling victim to the Tsaritsa's plan to take other archons' gnoses, Barbatos told you that anyone who has a Vision can make it to the island in the sky and claim a throne as a god, and that these chosen people are called genshin/原神 (the name of the game), or "proto-gods".

You journey to Liyue Harbor on foot to meet the geo archon Morax, but instead you saw a giant corpse, or so it appears. Wandering around Liyue, you come across various monuments and books telling of an ancient war between many gods, the Archon War, which established the current 7 archons of Teyvat. The Archon War was brutal, bloody and just frickin long, but the gods involved weren't all in it for the power. Some were forced, others had irreconcilable differences.  Morax became the geo archon when he survived and emerged victorious in the region of Liyue.

And that is what we currently know about the nature of Archons.  They are mortals (not mutually exclusive with the concept of gods here) of Teyvat who emerged triumphant in the fight for the “thrones in the sky”.  As for the identity of the Unknown God, Dainsleif, the Traveler twins, and Paimon, I can only speculate, but there are some clues, albeit not very solid clues.  Yet.

The first one is the background of the official art for the Traveler twins and the background of the official art for Dainsleif:

Notice the background?  That is virtually the same symbol, just colored differently.

Then there are the Celtic knots.  Notice the ones on the design of Dainsleif.  Notice the ones on the Unknown God:

Then notice the trailing ribbon-like pieces of fabric on the back of the Unknown God.  Notice the trailing ribbons behind Lumine.  

And the cape of Dainsleif vs. the cape of Aether.

Compare the bangs of the Unknown God to the bangs of Lumine, then compare the bangs of Dainsleif to the bangs of Aether.

Remember the sea of flowers in the Travail trailer?  Compare that to the flowers in Lumine’s hair.  Consider how the narrator of the trailer--which in the JP dub is the same VA who’s going to voice Dainsleif--talked about making Aether fight him in order to prove that Aether is more worthy to rescue “her”, the same “her” who he remembers “loved those flowers”.

I’m going to make a guess here:

The Unknown God is (an older) Lumine, and Dainsleif is (an older) Aether.

I know there are many who thought the Unknown God was God Kiana from the Honkai series, but at this point I think it was more of a reference to the Honkai series than a plot point (to introduce players unfamiliar with Mihoyo’s games to the Honkai series).  For one, I believe someone from Mihoyo did an interview where they said that a larger-scaled game like Genshin was something they wanted to make when they made HI3, but they simply did not have the resources to do so, and now they can tell the story they’ve always wanted to tell.  If this is true, and I think it probably is, then the world of Teyvat bearing similarities to the world of Honkai Impact is pretty well-explained:  they stemmed from the same basic story ideas.  Are there any connections plot-wise?  Maybe, but I don’t think so.

But why would an older Lumine and an older Aether exist in the same time as the younger Lumine and Aether?  How can the same people experience the same time point twice, isn’t that some sort of paradox?

There’s no way to answer this question right now, but there are definitely some time-traveling shenanigans going on here.  I mean, look at Paimon.  Paimon has time manipulation powers that we can utilize in-game, but interestingly she (?) can only travel to the future and not to the past.  Add to that the recurring motif of cycles (”that throne in the sky is never reserved for you” and the mentions of “usurper”)............maybe the Unknown God and Dainsleif as they appear now are past incarnations of Lumine and Aether.  If so, this won’t be the first time Mihoyo toyed with the idea of reincarnation (see Dr. Mei & Raiden Mei, Himeko & Himeko, Sakura & Yae Sakura, etc etc etc).

It’s also unclear where the twins actually came from.  There are two possibilities as of now, Celestia (island in the sky) or Khaenri’ah.  The former is somewhat supported by the Gnostic Chorus teaser (”glorious kingdom established among the heavens”), while the latter is hinted at in the Travail story trailer (Dainslief is introduced in the section for Khaenri’ah).  Ad astra abyssoque.

Finally, some random stuff I’ve noticed.  Genshin contains a few references to Norse mythology.  Dainslief is the name of a sword from Norse mythology that cannot be sheathed unless it takes a life.  And the white tree that spread its roots throughout Teyvat mentioned in various places.....Yggdrasil anyone?

[oathofkaslana]

like from the top of my head genshin variants and lore connections:

venti → wendy. both playful w domains over the wind. wendy craves freedoms and venti is the god of freedom.

ei → mei (hi3). both incredibly isolated in part bc of grief and there’s that narrative of two versions of her (a warrior and a gentle raiden). believes their own fate lies in loneliness. uses a katana.

miko → sakura. both mikos and have something to do w kitsunes, waited 500 years for their lover, their story deals w grief and moving on.

nahida → theresa. principals of their schools (kinda), short doubles of their original versions, caged/looked down upon in some way in part bc of that.

al haitham → su. connections to buddhism. su was taught to beat the emotion out of him in order to survive and al haitham puts on that apathetic pretense even though he Is gentle. if you wanna stretch you could even say siraj’s hivemind experiment in al haitham’s story quest could connect to su and the eighth herrscher.

and obv we don’t know much abt the unknown god but she is clearly based off of HoV kiana even in interviews before genshin they note that hi3 fans will see someone familiar. lore wise my thoughts are on HoV’s feelings towards humanity and the unknown god’s feelings towards humanity.

and we don’t know for sure but if my suspicion that the tsaritsa and bronya are variants of each other: bronya’s relationship w emotions while the tsaritsas a god of love. and bronya’s chronicles having a part of her being the ice queen.

[oathofkaslana]

people will be like "oh you're stretching mihoyo isn't referencing kiamei in every game" and like yeah no shit not every single thing related to variants is a reference but also. this is the company who intentionally placed their biggest games on the same multiverse and makes the biggest point about it (one of the marketing interviews for genshin literally flaunted how hi3 fans would find a character-- the unknown god-- familiar bc shes literally a HoV variant).