#WHY HE USING CRYO IN THE TRAILER !!!!!

[stxriisk]

Natlan Theory

Ok so I did not have high hopes for Natlan to begin with, same with most regions after Sumeru. However, after watching the newest trailer and the livestream, I have a theory about Capitano (which some people have probably already guessed) that he's actually dead.

The first clue to this was actually the vision that Capitaino uses - which is cryo. Cryo has been shown many times to be associated with death. When Qiqi dies, she says "Cold... so cold." Chongyun uses his cryo vision to exorcise demons, Kaeya's cryo element symbolises the death of his nation. Even the Cryo Archon can fit into this metaphor due to her "cold-hearted" nature - the love she once had has dies. Cryo is almost always associated with death.

In this case, we can assume that Pyro is a metaphor for life, and it is something we can see in Natlan. In the "Travail" trailer (linked at the bottom) Natlan's segment mentions ressurection, which was added onto in the special programme livestream using the "eternal flame", a flame that never dies. This ressurection in Natlan was also seen through a 'flame' being the thing that keeps warriors alive in order to keep fighting. In the newest Natlan trailer, a voice says "I should have been dead 5 years ago!". This eternal flame in warriors is keeping them alive.

There is one thing that does tie Cryo and Pyro together, which is the ability to preserve life. "Cryopreservation" is used in the real world to describe when something is preserved in ice or snow, a process used to preserve biological material at extremely low temperatures. Due to this, and the mentions of "eternal flames" in Natlan, it is safe to say that these two things are connected. It is also possibly the reason that Signora's body was preserved in Ice - possibly hinting at her being brought back to life?

The thing that really seals the deal on Capitano being dead was from a very silly question asked on the 5.0 special programme about him getting heatstroke in the suit, to which the response was "I don't think he's likely to get heatstroke". (This was the most that they could respond without giving spoilers). In a nation of FIRE, in a full suit, how would that not be possible? Now here's the real question - Can an undead character suffer from heatstroke?

What I believe is happening is the combination of both Cryopreservation and the Eternal Flame - Capitano's body is preserved in cryo (possibly infused into his suit), while his soul is preserved in pyro. This is possibly why he has been thriving while fighting in Natlan for so long.

but hey, thats just a theory, A GAME THEORY!!!

Links: Travail Trailer - https://youtu.be/TAlKhARUcoY?si=RSzDsaN2xBHYzSuq 5.0 livestream - https://youtu.be/nyI9wCt6su0?si=1P0ttpGx9OYV39HD Qiqi's voiceline - Qiqi/Voice-Overs | Genshin Impact Wiki | Fandom

[vaulthunterlands]

NEW TALES FROM THE BORDERLANDS: A REVIEW

Alright alright I gotta do this because I put off playing this game for nearly two years and finally binged it yesterday. SO, obviously, spoilers ((FOR ALL FIVE EPISODES)) will be discussed and I highly recommend watching or playing the game first (price tag is a little steep) if you want to experience it firsthand. I also wanna say: this is just my opinion! If you didn't care for the game, that's fine! Just be respectful please :)

Continuing under the cut!

I'll give you a TLDR right up front in case you don't feel like reading this: It was okay. It's not a stellar game, but it's far less egregious than people were saying. I'd say it's probably my least favorite game in the series, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it.

CHARACTERS:

ANU: First of three player characters you're introduced to, and I thought she was really charming in that awkward nerd sort of way. I think it was interesting to have a character so vehemently opposed to killing as a Borderlands protagonist, but I liked what they did with that aspect of her character. I will be honest that I was a bit unsure how to feel about the whole "shard possession" plot point, especially when Anu is in the coma, but I think seeing her try to reevaluate herself as a person while in that coma was an interesting way to tackle subjects like regretting the past, and wishing you'd said something else. I did choose to reject the shard at the end, and I also got the ending where everyone lived, and I think that's a really good way to wrap up Anu's story.

OCTAVIO: I'll level with you guys. Way back when I saw the trailer for New Tales, I already didn't care for Octavio. My assumption was that he was going to be your typical dumb, annoying "comic relief" character. And, I mean, he kind of is? But he does have more than that. He's a genuinely sweet guy who's trying his best, and the jokes they made with him did make me laugh occasionally, but sometimes I got secondhand embarrassment from listening to him. (I have to point out that I get that with all the Borderlands games at certain points, so I really can't put this as a point against Octavio). I thought the ways he found solutions to situations were interesting (the whole "holding the talking gun to his head because Coldwell wanted him alive" was a really funny and creative bit imo), but then sometimes they'd have him be like... too stupid??? (Spending their money on the exact place they left felt... interestingly dumb LOL) Overall I didn't nearly dislike him as much as I expected to, and seeing the sibling bond between him and Anu mend over time was sweet.

FRAN: Okay. Alright folks. I'll be honest. When I first started the game? I wasn't a fan. The anger controlling stuff was interesting (I managed to not squish the sponsor-bot early on in the game), but I just didn't get a great vibe from Fran? She's extremely flirty in-game with a ton of characters and it kind of just gave me whiplash. I got used to it as the game went on but I was often squinting at my screen like "huh?" I thought her hoverchair was pretty sweet though--super interesting way for her to fight, as well as using the Pre-Sequel cryo+melee damage combo! I will say, she grew on me as I played, but the time when I really started to like her was with her backstory reveal. In episode 4, they explain why she doesn't use the "crazy mode" on her hoverchair anymore (after kind of alluding to it all game) and it was surprisingly heartfelt to hear this strong woman bare her trauma like that. (P.S. the 8-bit section was so cool I will die on this hill). Anyway, I think Fran is pretty cool in my book even if some of her dialogue did make me double-take.

L0U13: L0U13!!!! I LOVED HIM!!!!! L0U13 was a really cool character on many levels. Firstly, he's a robot and I love robot characters. Secondly, the whole idea of an "assassination bot" makes perfect sense in the Borderlands series, though I was perplexed by the caveat of him having to hear the victim's name first. I still thought it was a really interesting plot point, though! I loved how he became closer and closer to the team as the game went on, and you know when I had the opportunity I said he was part of the team. Also may have cried when he died on the Tediore ship. (Though I got the ending where he's rebuilt and I popped off so hard when he appeared). Overall I love L0U13 and he needs to appear in future games.

SUSAN: Hoo boy. Oh man. Susan... I liked her a lot as an antagonist. Overall, she is a pretty standard corporate baddie (iirc I read she was designed as a polar opposite of Wainwright, I.E. she doesn't care about commoners or the poor) but when her plan was revealed, I was shocked. The idea that you could not only kill someone but then revive them and repeat the process over and over until their spirit is broken resonated with me. I was like "oh shit this is BAD." Needless to say I was definitely not expecting when she basically GLASSED PROMETHEA WITH THE DEATH RAY. But overall, I think she was a good antagonist and it felt so good having Fran punch the shit out of her.

SIDE CHARACTERS

PHUONG: I really liked her!! She was cute and funny and WHAT HAPPENED TO HER WHY DIDN'T THEY BRING HER BACK AAAAAA

BADASS SUPERFAN: Hilarious. Genuinely smiled every time he showed up. I really enjoyed the Vaultlander stuff and I thought him just showing up in random places was peak Borderlands humor. Fantastic, 10/10.

BROCK: Another banger (get it? Because he's a gun. He's a g) of a character. Talking guns always have potential in the franchise and I think they knocked it out of the park with this little shooting-crazed guy. When Octavio was in prison and he was like "STOP BEING DEPRESSED" I laughed pretty hard.

STAPLEFACE: GOD I LOVED STAPLEFACE!!!!! SHE'S SO SILLY AND SHE JUST WANTED TO PROTECT THE PRETTY LADY WHY COULDN'T ANU HEAL HER WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY

The Elephant in the room

Okay so the healing crystal. Obviously pretty big implications for being to revive people but at the end of my playthrough, it kind of just fucked off into space. And I think they should leave it like that! I think this kind of power was okay for a one-off story, but I think it risks making the events of the series as a whole inconsequential. As much as I love Roland, I wouldn't want to see him revived. That moment in BL2 was so visceral and powerful that it made you want to kill Jack even more, so to have him revived would kind of ruin that, for me at least. Idk. I think they should leave the crystal out of future installments.

CONCLUSION:

I'm probably forgetting some stuff to write about the game because I was up super late playing it and thinking about it but I'll reiterate that it was nowhere near as bad as it was made out to be. Definitely the worst in the series, definitely a mediocre game overall, but there were some really good plot points and funny scenes. If you don't want to drop the money on it, I'd suggest watching a playthrough if you want to. No pressure! I just think it's interesting as a game.

[nin-jay-go]

liveblogging dragons rising

all thoughts under the cut!

this is so pretty so far

oh this is a lesbian. kreel is like if the mad hatter was a lesbian

LOBBO IS MY NEW FAVORITE CHARACTER

"i'm going to kill your whole family" GOOD LIRD THIS IS DARK

"I THINK I MADE A BOMB" JSHFKJSKDJF

"elemental powers are complicated" yea dude they sure are

THEYRE BROTHERS YOUR HONOR

oh why is it RAIyu and not REEyu. i thought they were riffing off the japanese word for dragon for his name (ryuu)

lobbo my BEST FRIEND

oh THATS why cole's memorial thing was in the trailer. i see.

is this dorama guy here to . here to c. here to cause drama

(he's so fun actually i like him)

Oh What The Fuck

oh shit the showman is coming back?? excited

kai is fuckin dead

SCIENTIST LADY ����😳😳😳😳😳

oh wait. if all imperium ppl have those markings, is this like the secret markings humans have? but visible? bc that'd be cool

my friend: [the cragling mud] looks like their eyes. i don't like that.

buddy why are you excited to eat mud...... buddy........... arin.....

sometimes i can still hear his voice 😔😔😔

dragon = nuke

THE CLOUD FUCKING KINGDOM ARE YOU KIDDING ME

thats a fucking mindflayer. what the fuck.

WHAT

THE NEW MASTER OF WIND??????? IS A CLOUD KINGDOM MONK??????? HUHHHHHHHH WHAT THE FUCK

i hate the cloud kingdom. whyyyyy is it the way that it is

my friend: it is interesting that the cloud kingdom is confirmed to be full of shit

WHAT IS THIS BOOKWORM LITTLE THING. I LOVE THEM CAN I HAVE TWENTY

alright time to see this so-called wind master

why does she sound like a self-insert 😭

EUPHRASIA?!?!?!!?!!!??!!?!?!?!?

*insert the crying of everyone with a morro lives / morro redemption au*

(like its fine for canon but alterline is weeping)

me: [the wolf] is a hologram with mass! my friend: that means it matters :)

sora has protagonist hair jdkfhgkjdfgkjh

oh!!! the imperium markings come in with age :0 or maybe they're a rank thing idk yet

ohhhhh the scientist lady (dr larrow?) is her role model :0 [this is the point where i lost subtitles lol]

did those kids call sora anna?

WOMANNNNNNNN

"sora? the ancient imperium word for orphan?" HELLO??????

me: i want to kiss [larrow] on the mouth my friend: why do you want to go for the villain me: she's hot my friend: women in stem!

BRO SHE JUST GOT DISOWNED. JESUS CHRIST.

dr. lampshade floorpanel and dr doyll donmagar.......

lloyd: what's the shaming floor my friend: twitter sora: its a livestream me: so its twitch

i forgot to write this down but arin is the new master of SPIN

PERCIVAL TARTIGRADE

STOP DEADNAMING SORA LET HER BE NONBINARY

get flashbanged idiots

oh!!!! wildfire was raised by dragons!!! thats so fun

what is happening- OH WILDFIRE

friend: do you remember atla? the dragons

why is wu's ghost haunting the monastery my friend: its a wu-o-wisp!

TINY LLOYD WITH SAM VINCENT'S VOICE IS SO FUNNY JKHGSFKDSKDJH really couldn't get jillian michaels

OH AND THE S10 GI ON A BABY LLOYD LMAOOOOO

"this looks like a monastery!" no the fuck it doesn't you're in an underground Chamber

DONT LET THE FUCKING GOLDEN WEAPONS REPEAT

sora: i can't use my true potential my friend: then use your fake potential

mmmmm beatrix hot woman :]

I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS CELESTIA, PRINCESS OF EQUESTRIA my friend: i wanna see someone overlay this dialogue on top of footage of celestia

MEANERY

they're seriously gonna torture a BABY DRAGON?????

hehehe ras ear twitch :3

LLOYD HAS A CONCUSSION

THE GHOST OF MASTER WU

ZANE IS IN THE FUCKING EGG????

ZANE WAS IN CRYO??????

WHERE ARE JAY COLE AND PIX. WHERE ARE THEY

my friend, in response to sora's name reveal: we named the dog indiana

me: jay and cole are off on their honeymoon my friend: they're in the bahamas

"there can't be two elemental masters of fire! it doesn't make sense! also its rude!"

THE IMPOSSIBLE KID

STOP DEADNAMING HERRRRRRRR

miss beatrix can i kiss you on the mouth

i warned you about those stairs bro :y

THE DRAGON TALKS?????? and why does it sound like unagami

OH HES BIG

a conduit?????? changed forever????? 👀👀👀👀

he gettin ZOOMED

me and my friend: DID LLOYD DIE??? AGAIN????

now lloyd and arin BOTH have concussions!

oh he glowin

your holograms appear to be glitching maam

I WARNED YOU ABOUT THOSE STAIRS BRO :y

rapton is very pathetic

LLOYD'S WAR FLASHBACKS OH NO

lloyd voice i'm adopting you arin

OOP RAS IS CAPTURED. THIS IS ANTI-FURRY

oh. she has a mech.

so that means the weird green ghosty guy (and jay/cole/pix) are in season 2 :0 i'm so excitedddddd

final thoughts this was cool as shit. i loved this very much. ouoUOAUOAUAOAUOU

[kiron1yuma]

Why I consider Murcoy to be semi canon (the somewhat essay,, except I can’t write essays for the life of me and there maybe some points that just don’t make sense at all and also as well one of these is literally just a theory):

Coyote is always staring at Murch, and according to some random ass website that probably isn’t even a valid source and makes no sense at all,, staring at someone for a prolonged time means u have a crush on them, therefore it means he likeies likes Murch. :3

When Murch was speaking to Coyote down in the old ass basement, it sounded like (well, in my opinion at least) he was happy to speak to him again, indicating he may of missed Coyote. While u could consider this to be like a friend type of miss,, it feels more then that to me.

In the original night 1, after Coyote tells his average anime protag type sob backstory, Murch showed empathy for Coyote and apologised for bringing anything up. While, that could just be called common sense, I call it fruity lma.

In the yeti event introduction (p1), Coyote asks about Val in a very salty tone to which Murch semi explains who she is and all that yeti stuff, but, to me. It seemed as though Coyote was jealous of Val. But why and of what? Who knows, but yeah. (Probably thinks Val is trying to steal him away or sum idk)

In part 2 of the yeti event, when Murch and Commander were arguing, Coyote took a moment to ask Murch what Commander was on about, but, his voice sounded like it was in denial. As if he painted in his mind that Murch would never do anything wrong and that everything he does,, he has an idea of what he’s doing. What does he think of him? I dunno, but it’s clearly something positive.

With Cryo Coyote’s and Cryo Murchs jackets, you can see they look heavily similar. Like they both got the fluffy shoulders. Just a theory, but what if that blue jacket Cryo Coyotes wearing actually belongs to Murch? Like, maybe he gave it to Coyote since it reminded him of him…And also with the headgear (the goggles thingy as well that Cryo Coyote wears.) looks like something Murch would wear as well sooooo…

(Or maybe Coyote robbed Murch’s wardrobe since he basically has nothing to wear.) In the second story mode teaser that’s on aurek teams yt,, while u can’t exactly see Coyote, it’s confirmed that he’s the guy that’s filming things all through out the trailers.

Main point uh,, so u can see he’s filming Murch behind a fence. Why would he need to film him behind there? Idk maybe he’s planning on flexing to the deepnight (the thing that started it) that he’s stronger then them or sum like I’m just imaging it like:

“You’ll never beat us.”

“Nuhuh we will”

“Where’s your proof?”

“Right here”

*and then Coyote just shows them him filming Murch shooting into the cabin*

Or maybe he’s making a cool ass movie. (He was in the before the dawn timeline after all.)

…

Or he has other plans on what he’s going to do with that?

Or maybe he’s shy.

Who knows?

BEST ESSAY I HAVE EVER READ MORE PPL SHOULD SEE THIS ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[mimi-cee-genshin]

oh man :( i hope you are feeling better and your husband will have a speedy recovery! praying for good health!!! breaking a back is pretty serious so i hope he didn’t sustain long-term injuries 😢

how was the inazuma archon quest on second rewatch btw? it has been a while since i touched it so i forgot a lot of things. was there any interesting facts or events that piqued your interest?

and CONGRATS ON GETTING KINICH!!! 🎉🥳 he is really fun, LOL. he works really well in burn teams so i’ve seen emilie and him paired a ton. i love trying to squeeze as many of his canons in 10 seconds… and burning is the best reaction for that. what’s ur current kinich team (if any?)

plus, asynchronous communication is better considering our time zones lol so expect me to appear more in your inbox :)

i am doing alright. occasional troubles here and there, but i believe it shall pass… after i complain about it for the nth time LOL. — @milkstore

Don't worry. It wasn't a long term injury. It's more like muscle pain because of overuse. He can function now. He just can't lift weights lol. I'm feeling better too.

For the Inazuma archon quest, it has the reputation of being poorly written, but it really wasn't that bad. It's like... just the last 10% where things felt like they were coming out of nowhere because they weren't set up well? Like for example, I think it would've been better if they introduced Ei's motivations earlier in the story rather than in her trailer or second story quest. Her character concept is great, a character who wanted to freeze time due to grief, but I think it was executed poorly. But I think I get why it was like that. Everything was from the traveler's POV. (But I guess they could've added a cutscene or something while Yae Miko explains her story.)

I've also seen criticisms about the Resistance coming out of nowhere. I think it would've been better if they briefly showed things from the Resistance's POV through Kazuha, Gorou, or Kokomi so that we could see that they were able to push back on enemy territory all the way to Inazuma City. But they only started experimenting with different POVs during the Windblume event with Collei and Sucrose, so it probably didn't cross their mind to try it.

So basically, Inazuma had all the great ingredients, but it just wasn't well executed in the end. But the first 90% was great like how they built up the theme around ambitions for example.

For my Kinich team, I'm liking him with Bennett, Thoma and Emilie so far. My Kinich is still not really built yet so I can't tell how strong this team is yet. At first, I didn't enjoy it because my Thoma had energy struggles lol. I actually have him on the Deepwood Memories set so that Emilie and Kinich can use other artifacts, but because I don't have a lot of Deepwood artifacts leveled up, Thoma has a Cryo goblet to get enough energy recharge 😂. So this whole team needs more building but it'll be fun doing it.

I also want to try burgeon but idk... It's just not working for me at the moment and I'm not sure why lol. I'll need to test it some more.

[aroacedavestrider]

YEEEE THE ALBEDO POST!!!! that's part of the 2.3 stream, the trailers should be up on youtube now. albedo being sus on main

I RUN TO YOUTUBE

bro albedo .. dude theyre gonna vote you off if you dont stop being sussy bro im frfr

[rain-impact]

༊*·˚『 Character Trailer: (Name) The First Harbinger Of The Eleven  』

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ SUMMARY: (literally my oc- but here we go *sigh) (Name), they were from Khaenri'ah. Their fate had been already decided. Cursed with immortality by Rex Lapis(j̷̯̀̍̀ͅü̷͓͖̚s̶̡̝͔̟͝t̵̯̳͍̓͘ ̴̟̠̓͆l̷͉̯͒i̴̤͊͑ḱ̴̢̛͓̦̺̆̓e̸̩̹̽̅̈́͘ ̸͉͒́̎͝h̸̲̰͒ǐ̸̩̺̅̋̚m̸̙̯̬̟̍̏̇), (Name)'s ice blue eyes burning witht the though of revenge. Getting a cryo vision at a young age, they though of nothing but p̵̛̹̪̟̅ͅỏ̷̢͎̯͋̇̆́͝͝w̷̞̜̘̱͔̜̦̾̈́̓ë̵̛̛̯͎́̃̕̕r̷̨̭͕̔̒͐̕,

Note: Might turn this into series. Let me know what you think.

✧ ONE DAY, I WILL REBUILD KHAENRI'AH! ✧

❝ I see potential in you. ❞ A cryo vision shined, taking the shape of star(like primogem aight). ❝ You want revenge, you want to rip those apart who destroyed your nation, to rip those apart who killed your people, to rip him apart who cursed you. ❞ The child's tear filled gaze was locked on the star shaped cryo vision which they grip tightly. The vision shined brightly which gave a chill breeze. Tsaritsa stepped from the shadows, her ice-like eyes was locked on the child. She kneeled down in front of them and holded her hand towards to them, her eyes holded a familiar emotion in them. ❝ Come with me, i promise you the power which you desperately seek. ❞

✧˖*°࿐

Having a deep connection with the abyss had both good and bad sides. You'd often seen with a abyss monster(abyss herald or abyss mage doesn't matter)with you, that what some people worked at the fatui says. I could be true or not, but no one could dare to open their mouth when you are there, you are the first harbinger, its enough for them to be scared. Your ice-blue eyes often remined them the tsaritsa, but you're far more different then her. You simply had...other plans. To rebuild your nation. Yes, even the though of rebuilding khaenri'ah would put a satisfying smile on your face. Being the First of the Eleven had it own advanteges. You of course had a delusion, but yours,, is a bit special lets say. With the delusion you could control the other elements other than cryo, im not only saying just one or two, you could control all of them with the delusion. One second you were using hydro, and now you switched to electro, and- You simply didn't had a limit. Thats why Tartaglia loves to spar with you, even if you glare at him cause of how much he 'invites himself' through your office's door to ask you to spar with him for the nth time. Ugh, he really is annoying. But you two get along quite well actually, its- its just hes doing all the talking!

✧˖*°࿐

❝ You're like what? Thousand years old maybe? And yet, you're still hot and shit- ❞ You contiuned to walk ignoring the ginger who was trying to flirt you- ❝ (Namee)! C'mon! Don't ignore mee! ❞ You didn't bulge when he clinged onto your shoulder, fatui agents worriedly looked at the both of you, still didn't understand you hadn't snapped at the ginger yet. You were fine with it, at this point it became a daily routine with Tartaglia's flirting. For him, You are the most trustable, you knew what the abyss looked like, no- you knew the deeper parts of the abyss. Yet, Tartaglia found comfort within you, you sighed ❝ Get a hold of yourself. You're making both of us look like idiots. ❞ It was enough for him to return back his spot without and words.

✧˖*°࿐

Dottore respected you. The one and only person he could respect. You deserve your reputation and your power. He can't help but get jealous, cause of how much the tsaritsa gives you her precious attention. Sigh, he is interested in your connection with the abyss tho,, well, you won't reject answering some of his questions will you? ❝ Stunning as always (Name) ❞ you only hummed, the tiredness can read through your eyes. ❝ Did the tsaritsa gave you too much paper again? Y'know you could always come to me- ❞ ❝ No need, i'll just get coffee and go back to my office. I still have things to do. ❞ oh, how sharp your tongue was. He pouted and sat back onto his chair, and watched you leave. You really dont want people to stand in your way huh? He sighed and looked back to the papers in front of him.

✧˖*°࿐

La Signora trusted you with her everything. You were there for her when no one stayed by her side. You two had a close relationship. She would espacially take her seat near you in fatui meetings, just to show off. You'd always ask her opinion, that what gets her giddy inside. ❝ Thats all for today. You all can leave now. ❞ said Tsaritsa with a cold voice, you side-eyed signora, she cleared her throat and whispered some things. You nodded, feeling satisfied with her response. ❝ Hm. You never fail me Signora. ❞ ❝ I would never. Im glad that our thoughs are same. ❞ feeling proud, she smiled.

✧˖*°࿐

Another one who sits near you in fatui meetings. Scaramouche admired you. You'd always, always complete your missions without any problem. Scaramouche knew your plan, and you knew his. ❝ (Name), do you have a moment? I need to talk with you about something. ❞ Scaramouche crossed his arms while looking at your way, you had a paper in your hand which you've been looking at it for a few minutes by now. ❝ Yes, i do. Shall we go to my office? ❞ ❝ That'd be great. ❞ Tartaglia pouted and crossed his arms over his chest, you'd never invite him to your office! Just what did that gremling had that he didn't have huh?! ❝ Eleven, don't make that face behind my back. ❞ Scaramouche snickered at the ginger ❝ Wha- I- I didn't do anything-! You don't invite me to your office quite often like you do with that gremlin!! ❞ ❝ hAH?!? WHAT DID YOU JUST CALLED ME-!? ❞ ❝ Thats because i don't have to. You invite yourself into my office everyday- ❞

This post belongs to @/rain-impact do not steal or use.

[hiraya-rawr]

It's not completely clear on the reason why the Heavenly Principles and gods destroyed Khaenri'ah but it seems to be that they practiced the Art of Khemia or at least it was the major cause.

Khaenri'ah didn't have much natural fauna as they were an underground nation so they had to create artificial ones using this Art of Khemia (creating artificial life)

Albedo's master/mother, Rhinedottir "great sinner" desired to create more and more powerful creatures.

Rhinedottir/Gold created monsters that invaded the aboveground nations of Teyvat(?)

Khaenri'ah was destroyed by the heavenly principles

The Seven became involved with Khaenri'ah after the Abyss' invasion of Teyvat? (unclear)

It's not clear if Khaenri'ah attacked Teyvat first or The Heavenly Principles attacked Khaenri'ah first because it's unclear so these are assumptions from bits and pieces of lore.

Despite what Khaenri'ah has done, the Celestia is getting real suspicious or are at least hiding something big

Why destroy a whole godless nation if just 1 citizen "sinned", why turn all nation's innocent citizens into monsters that are now roaming & attacking Teyvat if they weren't ok with Gold's creations?

The traveller's twin has already travelled the world once with Dainsleif, witnessed the cataclysm and discovered the "truth of this world". That sibling chose to side with the Abyss

In Unreconciled Stars event Scaramouche discovered that "The Stars, the sky... It's all a gigantic hoax. A lie"

Whatever the Divine did was atrocious enough to make the archons dislike them so it has to be real bad because the archons are gods and has likely seen a lot.

The archons seemed to be forced. Judging from how they act after the cataclysm. Especially the Tsaritsa

Hydro Archon's compliance is likely due to fear. In the preview trailer Dainsleif said "But even she knows, not to make an enemy of the divine."

Zhongli and Venti has to keep quiet about it (is something bad going to happen if they told us?)

The clues hint that Tsaritsa might maybe be the god of love or used to be, so what happened definately affected her the most. What we know is that she changed drastically.

She used to be gentle according to Tartaglia: "Her Royal Highness the Tsaritsa is actually a gentle soul. Too gentle, in fact, and that's why she had to harden herself. Likewise, she declared war against the whole world only because she dreams of peace."

And according to Dainsleif in preview: "She is a god with no love left for her people, nor do they have any left for her. Her followers only hope to be on her side when the day of her rebellion against the divine comes at last."

When Zhongli was describing the kites that represent The Seven when it came to the Cryo archon, he said "as does that which the Cryo Archon once..." then went silent with a sigh.

Anyway sorry about the long ask again and also that we still have a chance to not be betrayed by our archons

!!! these are just *chefs kiss*

I would love a moment where traveler would feel like the archons betrayed them, but in reality, they're just waiting for the perfect time to strike celestia as well! zhongli's quest especially showed his remorse in what happened to khaenri'ah... i just want to understand why!!

personally im leaning into the theory that we're the underground, there's just so many hints about the 'real world', and why is there a crater in every nation with an ancient civilization that was wiped out— let's not forget the amount of upside down infrastructure.

and the idea about the tsaritsa?? i cant wait to see how they'll build her character to fit what we know so far!

[rapifessor]

Nilou, Cyno, and Candace First Impressions

Because it wasn’t enough that we’re getting three new characters in version 3.0, we’re getting three more in version 3.1 apparently. How I’m going to keep up with all of them, I have no idea, but that’s besides the point. Let’s have a look at them.

We’ve already seen two of the three characters in previous trailers and promotional content for Sumeru, and Nilou is one of them. It’s nice to see another Hydro character as the element is currently underrepresented in Genshin’s roster (currently we have seven Hydro characters while Pyro, Cryo, and Electro all have 10, and Electro is soon to get an eleventh!). I have no idea what her weapon is going to be, but I really hope it’s not another catalyst, seeing as how we already have three of those. What I’d really like to see is a Claymore, but I highly doubt that’s the case.

I don’t have any strong opinions about her character design, but I do think it’s very good. I like that she has red hair; Genshin Impact has been sorely lacking in red-haired girls for a long time and given my apparent fascination with such girls as anime protagonists (I quite liked The Ancient Magus’ Bride and Snow White With the Red Hair) it’s no wonder why Nilou appeals to me.

The second character we’ve already since hints of before, and the first of the Sumeru characters that hail from the desert region. Obviously lots of ancient Egyptian and pharaoh vibes from Cyno here, who appears to be an Electro polearm user. Not a bad combo, but there’s no potential for a missed opportunity here since Electro already has its bases covered when it comes to weapon variety. According to the HoYoLAB post, Cyno is an arbiter of sorts, in that he regularly deals with researchers who have broken the law in some way regarding their work. And he’s pretty ruthless about it, too. Sounds awesome.

I really like this character design, it seems pretty badass. Probably something to do with the white hair contrasting with the darkness of the rest of his outfit. It’s also good that we’re starting to see more characters who aren’t of pasty white complexion, although... it could still be done better. I’m gonna take an aside to rant about Genshin Impact’s lack of diversity here.

It’s no secret that Genshin Impact has an abundance of white people, and we all knew that wasn’t going to change with Sumeru, despite it being the nation that’s literally inspired by Africa. Maybe HoYoverse isn’t interested in making characters of color, or maybe they think that such characters won’t sell Genesis Crystals. Given the popularity of characters like Nessa from Pokemon, this is certainly wrong. Seriously, just make the girls hot and nobody except the most insecure manosphere losers will give a shit what their skin color is.

Desert-dwelling Sumeru characters are at least logically coherent, if nothing else. It makes sense that the people who are exposed to the sun constantly would have darker skin, so HoYoverse gets a little credit for that, at least. It’s just a shame that we’ll most likely never get characters with darker skin tones, since these people treat white like it’s the default skin color. Rant over.

And here we have Candace, who came as a complete surprise to me. I was expecting that we’d see Alhaitham or maybe Dehya this next update, but apparently not. Candace is just as exciting though, but for different reasons.

She’s got the same energy as Cyno in her character design, which seems very fitting considering what kind of character she is, but it seems slightly... off to me. Something tells me that her outfit was originally designed to be somewhat more revealing and was thus censored in a couple ways so as not to be too hot for Genshin Impact. It’s not like it ruins the design or anything, and I can’t exactly prove that this is the case, it’s just a feeling.

I believe this is the first character we’ve had with heterochromia, which is pretty cool. It’s a popular feature to use in fantasy character designs because it adds a layer of variety and I think it’s done pretty well here.

One of the aspects about Candace I’m most excited for is that she appears to be a Hydro polearm user, which we don’t currently have in Genshin Impact. We’re one step closer to having complete coverage of every element/weapon combination in the game. She notably also has a shield, which isn’t going to be a unique piece of equipment of course but that’s also something we haven’t seen in a Genshin character yet, and it probably features in her abilities to some degree. That will be really interesting to see, I think.

Candace also sounds like she’d be really powerful lore-wise, since she’s described as having received the blessing of the gods and being able to conjure up an entire sandstorm. She’s fiercely protective of her village, but also gentle and kind to those without ill intent. I’m very interested to find out more about her because she sounds like such a cool character. I hope her gameplay does the lore justice.

Definitely very happy with this batch of characters, I’m very excited for Cyno and Candace in particular because they seem like they’d be right up my alley and their character designs are fucking rad. Sumeru is going to be a wild ride with all these new characters coming out in quick succession, and I am absolutely here for it.

[doublelsatan]

Space Is A Lie[SPOILERS FOR ISWM 4/2/22 TRAILER]

[Just a heads up, I talk in first person for this since I'm placing myself, ideas, and conclusions into this theory. Cause we're all watching the trailer and going to be a captain of Invincible. But for this, its coming from my perspective. Got it? Cool :)]

Let me be honest with y'all, it's 11:25 AM PST time as I'm writing. I just woke up and I wasn't expecting to get hit with a nuke of depression. Thanks for that Mark, didn't know I needed that instead of coffee. Off to a great Saturday morning for me.

Before I go to the main bits that concern me I noticed something. The main hub area going dark, the hallway with the posters saying "Don't Open the Door" that shifts to the spire structure, and the cryo chamber with glowing eyes and a hand also having poster plastered around seem familiar. It's like a call back to WKM(Who Killed Markiplier) when we walk through the house with a green sickly filter. It's like traversing through limbo, being alive but possibly dead. The three shots I listed have that same look to me but it's blue with snow or dust particles floating around. It's pretty cool to see, nice shots bro.

Getting right to the point, the happy crew shot is gone forever and I'm the reason why. The only time we see them is in the hallway scene where Mark isn't trying to spill his drink and at the end giving a run through of new/old faces. But my pride and joy, "The" pride and joy, reason to exist pride and joy is gone. And it's all my fault. Haven't even boarded the ship yet but the trailer is telling me I'm the problem. Always has been.

To stab you even more in the feelies that you can't out skate in heelies, we get new phrases. "You won't save them" and "You can't save them." Like wow, thanks for telling me honestly so I just go in with no soul and watch people die from my mistakes. Which is interesting that I guessed this in another theory before. Now he's just rubbing it in my face. Great manipulation strategy in writing there Mark, 10 outta 10 would recommend. That was sarcasm but in actuality good job on that cause it worked. Every person I meet in Space is just set up to die at a specific timeframe and it's my fault. It will always be my fault...

But what if I told you, that it wasn't real? This is a guess and a real big one too. What if it was all just a simulation of sorts? Like this nice fun fancy cosmic endeavor was just an act for us to play in while something real goes on behind the scenes? We get this idea with the consistent glitching, scenes repeating or changing, the codes telling us a story, words and phrases getting cut out to give a sentence new meaning. I can't be the only one that thinks this right? And it's done intentionally too. Someone or some thing is trying to get us to know the truth of what's actually happening. Now I think we're the one's really asleep and someone from the outside is trying to wake us up. So the "Captain needs sleep" poster makes a lot more sense.

I won't rule him out entirely but it could even be Darkiplier helping us out. He's done it a few times before in the past. So he could be finally breaking out and getting what he wants. Mark's channel. Did you think I would say "me?" Mark doesn't allow his egos to give us affection so the original plan for him stays. And I feel like he's going to be painted as the villain but have the moment to prove himself. Cool if it happens, missed opportunity if it doesn't.

Honestly, I don't mind if you guys think this is stupid and rip this idea to shreds. Not gonna harm me none, it's an idea, a theory I came up with due to the information given. Besides, Mark and the one's that worked on ISWM know exactly how the story unfolds. And it's just an edited trailer to keep us busy until the final project releases. So it's fine, just mindless thoughts into an endless galaxy of theories.

Things just don't happen by accident, especially this. Welp won't know until Monday which is around the corner. We can figure it out, it'll be fine.

[thefirstknife]

Born of Wrath - Ruins of Wrath

I want to elaborate on this post because I think it's important how the whole boss area is set up.

First of all, the whole Shattered Realm this week feels different. It's just a vibe and some aspects of the whole area. But the boss room is definitely the most interesting.

It's in a Hive warship and the centerpiece of the room is something like an elevated podium from which you have a good view towards the big Taken ball in a strange device hovering in the air. This was shown during the reveal trailer as well.

The rest (with pictures even!) under the read more:

This is the same device located in the Shrine of Oryx:

It almost appears like the one in the Shattered Realm is positioned to look into the Shrine of Oryx from above. This structure, btw, is a communication device that the Hive on the Moon used to talk to Oryx. Now, obviously, no longer used to talk to Oryx and instead, they most likely use it to talk to Xivu Arath. This would also make sense as the Shattered Realm is Xivu's domain. That room is a place from which the Hive in the ascendant plane can communicate with the Hive in the Hellmouth, vice-versa and beyond. Presumably.

And of course, there's the elephant in the room.

A strange dark crystal bound with chains overlooking the Shrine communication device structure. I'm not the only one to be unnerved by this, nor am I the only one to have the thought that this is Osiris' prison. A place where real Osiris is suspended in some sort of hellish Hive version of cryo. The chains are what really sell it to me. If this were bigger, I'd probably say it some sort of a Hive creature being held here for some future boss fight, but the size just doesn't fit.

Furthermore, I've said a few times now, but I am beginning to suspect that Xivu Arath and Savathun are not really the enemies they're trying to tell us they are. It's important to know that the Hive have a very strange and utterly alien social structure. To them, murder and torture are expressions of love. They believe that this is what gives them strength so if you kill someone a lot, it means you love them a lot because you're helping them grow stronger.

Of course, Savathun is legitimately an exile to the Hive. She has practiced heresies. Goes without saying. The problem is that we kinda took her word for a fact that she is being hunted by her sister while not really thinking about how we have no confirmation of this from the other side. We don't know what Xivu thinks. Is she tolerating her sister's heresies for a grander plan? It wouldn't be the first time that Savathun is scheming in order to strengthen the Hive. Xivu knows her sister. I am finding it harder and harder to accept that Xivu would simply hunt her down on behalf of the Black Fleet without thinking it through.

After all, their last known interaction was Savathun preparing Torobatl for Xivu's invasion. They were on good terms. Savathun helped Xivu to obliterate the Cabal. And what was the whole plan with Osiris if not Savathun preparing OUR system for Xivu's invasion? These two are mirrors of each other, but with slightly different execution due to the fact that humanity has something the Cabal do not: Light. So obviously, infiltrating the Guardians required a more careful and insidious plan.

I believe this plan started a long time ago, but was finally fully put in motion, you guessed it, in Immolant. In Immolant, Osiris is exposed to the whispers of Xivu Arath, is drawn out to fight her and is eventually stripped off his Light BUT he is left alive.

There are two points I have to mention that do not align with what we know from Immolant (and Immolant is the most reliable source out of them all):

1. Savathun's speech from week 1 - specifically, the cutscene. Quote: “I found a form more pleasing to your eyes. Osiris was lost. Lightless. I saved him from Xivu Arath and assumed his shape.” This is a lie. Savathun did not save him from Xivu: Sagira did. Sagira's sacrifice is what pushed Xivu's influence away: "Blinding Light erupts from Sagira's core as she splits apart. A wave of Light surges and tears across the chasm. Her sacrifice cleanses every trace of Xivu Arath's presence. The sigil: erased. The cryptolith that supported her projection: destroyed." 2. Page 3 of the new lore book Ripples (still not on Ishtar as of writing this so I'm linking to my post with the relevant bit) - For easier reading:

"Savathun was weak to allow their deaths. To cede ground to the Celebrant; to Guardians." - This is not what happened. Xivu Arath lured Osiris to the Moon, Xivu Arath spoke to Osiris, goaded him into killing everyone and LAUGHED while he did so, because Osiris' rampage gave her tithe. Not only that, but Immolant describes the Celebrant carving a ritual to drain Osiris' Light away and let him die. The Celebrant then leaves. So it wasn't Savathun who ceded any ground.

"The Celebrant steps forward. A massive cleaver dangles from its hand, weightless. The beast carves a rune into the stone on either side of Osiris, its eyes locked with his. It nods to him, and then turns to the sigil.

"All tithes to Xivu Arath. War Dominant. Endless." Its tone is soft rasp and soot."

And:

"The Celebrant drives its sword into the cliffside stone above Osiris's head. The cryptolith erupts in neon flare.

"Die well, Osiris." The Celebrant bows and withdraws from sight into Luna's depths.

Wisps of Light hemorrhage through his skin, trimmed in blood and drawn around the blade embedded above him as if it were a nostepinne spike."

This is very odd. There's a lot of inconsistency and lying going on. Hell, Xivu didn't even take Osiris' Light at all. The attempt was made but Sagira made sure the ritual isn't finished by sacrificing herself. Kelgorath was lied to, both by Savathun AND Xivu Arath to whom he pledged himself (and died for in the first mission during Season of the Lost: Kelgorath was the Wrathborn we fight just before we enter the portal to the Mara & Osiris cutscene).

This, to me, implies that they're in on this together. It's important to note that when it came to the Cabal, everyone thought that Umun'Arath was being influenced by Xivu, but it was actually Savathun doing it on Xivu's behalf. It is possible that all the voices Osiris was hearing were actually also coming from Savathun on Xivu's behalf. But if that was the case, then Kelgorath wouldn't have felt the need to renounce Savathun because she was the one who helped Xivu, instead of "ceding ground" as he claims. This inconsistency makes me believe that Savathun's and Xivu's courts don't really know the full scope and details of their mutual plan. The Hive sisters are literally lying to their own people for the benefit of the plan.

We only have Savathun speaking to us, but never Xivu Arath. What are her thoughts on all of this? What are her thoughts on Savathun? Is she really hunting Savathun at all? Obviously, Xivu would know that Savathun will most likely betray her, but if Savathun lays down the ground work for Xivu's invasion (like on Torobatl), why would she care? She knows her scheming sister well enough. As long as there's war, Xivu will be fed her tithe, making herself stronger and stronger. Savathun's schemes are benefitting her.

Which leads me back to the chained crystal in Shattered Realm.

Savathun's bargaining chip, Osiris. Where is he? Who is looking after this most valuable prisoner while she's trapped in her own crystal? Who would she trust to make sure he stays bound until the time is right? Who has the power to keep him bound while she's playing the game on the other side?

Well, it's Xivu Arath of course. So it would not surprise me for this crystal to really be him, bound and chained in Xivu's domain, under her watchful eye and kept in place by her power.

And, of course, where did we find "Osiris" on the Moon when we went to rescue him? In the Shrine of Oryx. The same place that the chained crystal is located in, on the other side, looking down to the Shrine from the ascendant plane.

I didn't mention it until now, but the post's title is a reference to both Immolant and Shattered Realm. "Born of Wrath" is the name of the first chapter of Immolant pt. 2, where Osiris first encounters the cryptolith, visions and voices of Xivu and gives her tithe. It would be fitting if Osiris' wrath that was "born" in that moment led to his "ruin" and eventual imprisonment in the "Ruins of Wrath."

I am looking WAY too hard into this, but it really isn't a Destiny lore analysis unless I'm a little unhinged. :)

[onekeii]

genshin impact ramble: the archons & their elements

    this isn’t a criticism of the game or anything this is just me trying to organise my thoughts. also, this might be glaringly obvious but i thought it was cool and wanted to point it out.

(spoilers under the cut!)

    so, from a lore perspective i was kind of always interested in how different characters matched their elements. obviously, the way you obtain a vision is pretty straightforward. it means someone has been recognised by the gods as someone who “deserves” it, which is super vague, but the common theme is that they are ambitious or dedicated enough. also, as zhongli mentions in his voice lines, they are someone who can carry the extra responsibility that comes with it.

    but, obviously that doesn’t really tell us why people get different elements. i’ve seen a lot of people doubt whether or not the seven archons themselves actually get a say in who gets a vision because celestia exists and I assume they’re a higher power above the archons, etc. etc. also, there are some things that wouldn’t make sense if this were true. for example, qiqi’s reason for receiving a vision seems anomalous as she was on the verge of death and wasn’t necessarily trying to do anything to survive – she just really wanted to (which, i guess is good enough but also she doesn’t seem to fit into a pattern like the other cryo characters. then again, maybe i am thinking too hard about this and mihoyo just wanted to make a cryo loli). kazuha also momentarily gained a second electro vision when an electro vision hadn’t been given out for over a year (but since it’s an exceptional case that also only happened for a second, maybe there’s another reason for that).

    at the same time, this proves that the archons actually do personally give out visions that correspond to their element. i saw somewhere that qiqi, being quite old chronologically, was probably given a vision based on the principles of the old/original cryo archon who might’ve been kinder (although, personally, i don’t think the current cryo archon is mean or anything, which i’ll get back to). the fact that electro visions hadn’t been given out for about a year (up to chapter two in the main story) as well makes sense since that is how long the vision hunt decree had been going on for. the electro archon, who didn’t want her own people to have visions, also was not giving them out. if it was up to celestia – or anyone else – then people would probably still be given visions.

    considering that the chinese name for a vision literally translates to (“eye of god”), it’s pretty plausible that the archons themselves are the ones in charge of giving out visions. it’s like a nod to the fact that that specific archon and person see things the same way.

    anyway, assuming all this, i think the principles that the archons have for giving out visions is pretty interesting. during the third part of the archon quest, yae said something about the real baal/ei having actually retreated to her own plane of existence (or something) and called her a child for doing so. as far as i can remember, she did that to sort of pretend everything was okay. this also fits her (imo) skewered view of “eternity”, as something that preserves things as they are and never lets them change (or grow).

    now, working our way through all the electro characters, most, if not all, fit this principle in some way. obvious ones are fischl and razor, who want to preserve what they have/had, usually in a way that other people don’t understand (referencing the quote from the story trailer “what could her people know of the eternity she seeks”). for razor, it’s his life as a wolf, even though he isn’t one, and fishl literally pretends to be a princess. keqing also fits into this as someone who, ironically, uses her vision to make her life easier even though she believes that people don’t need the gods anymore – which is also at odds with what most other people think. sara, although i don’t know much about her, seems to fit into this as well because her main goal in the story is to preserve the electro archon despite the inevitability of her vision being taken away when most other people in inazuma seem to hate her.

    yae, beidou, and lisa are more difficult for me to place, but it’s still possible. yae, although she is baal’s friend and may not count – or maybe even received her vision from the previous archon with different principles – wants to help her friend despite everything she’s done. lisa, as far as i can remember, went to literally the best school anyone in teyvat could go to, but yet is still a librarian – probably because she has decided to keep doing what she actually enjoys (also there was something about sumeru just being kind of wack). for beidou, i suppose there’s the fact that she’s a pirate with a whole crew and she seems to be managing that fairly well (also there was something about her defeating some sea monster without a vision when no one else thought she’d be able to).

    so, moving onto the other elements, i do think that the archons we know of so far tend to have similar principles as the people that own visions of their corresponding element.

    venti, who has no obligation to remain an archon (i would assume celestia is not holding him hostage, as zhongli was easily able to step down and baal cut them off), is still dutiful to mondstadt and his friend, dvalin. jean has no obligation to work as hard as she does, but she does it anyway. xiao, although he is contract bound, probably did not need to enter that contract in the first place. something that ties these three together is that, i think, no one truly knows how much they suffer for the people they work for & therefore cannot repay them. sucrose and kazuha definitely fit into the first part of that, but i’m not sure about the second.

    geo characters are very simple. the characters are all extremely dedicated to something specific (although, this is also kind of the basic requirement for a vision in general, which is where this theory kind of crumbles a bit but shhh). just one look at noelle, ningguang, albedo, zhongli, and gorou, you can see that they are all extremely dedicated to something and i probably don’t need to go into too much detail about it.

    now, we haven’t met the other archons yet, but i can probably make a fairly accurate stab in the dark for most of them, especially cryo. i can’t say anything about dendro, because we don’t know anything about the archon OR characters (please mihoyo, i just wanna know)

    hydro characters tend to have unwavering values/principles, since the hydro archon seems to be all about lawfulness. xingqiu is the best example of this, as he is super invested in martial arts, but also in using them justly. kokomi is “well-versed in the art of war” among other things, and she uses this skill to help the resistance. barbara perfects her talents in order to heal and to just generally please other people. mona is dedicated to the art of astrology, in a way, and refuses to sell her skills for profit – there isn’t really a way this benefits other people, but she is dedicated to learning the principles of the universe.

    pyro is another simple one. characters with this vision all have a goal that they work towards in, usually, strange or difficult ways. i can’t really speak for thoma but hu tao, yanfei, yoimiya, xiangling, xinyan, klee, and bennet are all very similar (note how these characters are all very outgoing, and are dedicated to becoming the best in what they do). a clear exception is diluc, who really is not outwardly eccentric at all. then again, he did receive his vision before his father died and he probably changed a lot since then. either way, he is still dedicated to protecting mondstadt, but just not as a knight.

    finally is cryo, which is a very interesting one! obviously, qiqi doesn’t really fit into this category, but i did mention earlier about how i don’t think the current cryo archon is particularly mean (after all, she is still giving out visions, as far as we are aware). i mainly got this idea from a reddit post about this same topic but i think most people would agree with it completely. eula, ayaka, ganyu, rosaria, kaeya, chongyun, and diona all have some sort of contradiction to them. eula serves the people of mondstadt by being a captain but literally everyone seems to dislike her because of her family’s history. ayaka, reading the story pieces on her character profile, is apparently not actually perfect at everything, but she just practices all the time (even if she longs to just be a child again). kaeya is a spy from khaenri’ah (is that how you spell it?) who is torn between his original goal or a nation he actually cares for.  ganyu is, literally, a contradiction as she struggles to balance her human and adepti sides. rosaria is a bit vague to me, but there is some contradiction there; she works for the church, yet does not really do much of the work. chongyun is a super good exorcist who’s never seen a ghost because he has too much “yang energy” while diona is a naturally good bartender who hates the alcohol industry. those last three characters aren’t important to the main story so it feels like those reasons are stretches/just kind of stupid reasons, but it still works.

    i think that, once we get to that point in a few years, we will learn that the tsaritsa also has some inner contradiction she’s battling with like the rest of these characters, and it’s almost like, by giving them a vision, she’s giving them the ability to metaphorically harden their hearts & help them with this problem.

    anyway, yes i just wrote 1.7k words about literally the dumbest part of genshin impact’s lore. my takes are probably kind of dumb tho, i’d like to hear other peoples’ thoughts!

[guiltycorp]

The snowman event isn’t even out yet but im already peeved! The trailer frames Albedo as a central mystery, oooh what happened to his camp, oh why is he using cryo and attacking other people... But then when you think about it, likely that isn’t Albedo at all — instead it’s going to be some monster or an illusion or whatever. Like, I’m 90% sure. And that’s the thing, right? We have some pretty serious lore about Rhinedottir, we know that Durin was a serious threat, another character who’s similar to Albedo, Scaramouche, is an actual threat who was behind a lot of problems in Inazuma. So, fandom has been hype about ‘will he be evil or not’ in regards to Albedo for a long while already!  And instead of actually diving into that storyline or at least exploring the doubts that Albedo himself has (oh what was my teacher/creator/mother meaning to do, oh what am i really meaning to do, what SHOULD i do etc) we’re going to have another fun and empty meaningless event... which is nevertheless marketed by using this exact story implication that people enjoy. It feels… exploitative of fandom’s enthusiasm? There’s so much fanart of smirky Albedo, cryo Albedo with evil intentions etc, hyping up the coming narrative even more... And it’s all probably misleading. idk i know this will read way too negative and there still will be maybe 1 or 2 lines from albedo which can be then interpreted as actual lore implications, something-something goals of alchemy, sometimes it’s important to have fun, but come on if that mimic-monster will at least represent actual thoughts or desires that albedo has i will already be over the moon unfortunately i super doubt that naturally if that IS albedo that’s super cool and all, at least a small corruption arc or something... sigh and imagine if albedo does turn corrupted in some far-off patch, how repetitive and silly will that look in comparison... boy who cried wolf and all

[jeyaam]

sorry for posting so much but i just watched the 2.3 trailer and i have so. Many. Thoughts. so here they are in point form

i didn’t expect gorou’s voice to sound like that, might need some getting used to

ITTO’S VOICE FITS MY EXPECTATIONS BUT DOESN’T AT THE SAME TIME?? i expected it to be a little deeper but somehow i also think his current voice is perfect!! now i wanna pull for him tho

ALBEDO *screeches*

the albedo simp is reawakening in me

eula is so pretty it’s a pity her rerun is at the same time as albedo tho 💔

has albedo completely lost it

is he gonna destroy mondstat

WHY IS BENNETT FIGHTING ALBEDO TOO

pls be safe my sweet boy

does albedo have cryo powers now

the snowman is so cute

[genshininfact]

@yumikana said: Well the visions are said to be isued by the arcon of the respective element.

I’ve never known if that is actually canon, or an in-world superstition, and I don’t think it’s ever officially confirmed. Looking at different Vision stories, it becomes clear that different characters think differently about this.

 But if we believe there is some connection between Archons and Visions of their element, I think we can make some interesting speculation.

The only other archon we’ve met is Venti, and as Anemo users, Sucrose and Jean are very different. Sucrose has a sense of wonder for the world and an expansive curiosity. She wants to enrich the world through her alchemy, which I think matches Venti’s own passion for song and stories. 

As for Jean, we have this bit from her Vision section:

If one were to go by skill alone, Jean has long become one of the best swordsmen in Mondstadt. But in Jean's heart, she would rather be a shield that defends freedom and song than a sword that cuts through corruption and darkness.

I think this is something Venti can relate to, as well. He became archon when deposing a tyrant. He secured freedom for his people, and was so serious about safeguarding that freedom, that he didn’t even rule them directly. He did return, however, to protect the people of Mondstadt: he helped Vennessa and her people free themselves from slavery and depose the corrupt aristocracy, and he helped when Dvalin attacked Mondstadt.

From here, I have to wonder if we can sort of... reverse engineer some general character traits about the other archons.

Like I said, for Geo users, it’s definitely that they’re workaholics. They all take their jobs very seriously. Zhongli has a sense of dedication, to the point that it takes a long time to realize he can just... step back. And looking at all the other Geo users, they’re definitely the kind of people who put their work first.

For Pyro users, they’re generally very passionate individuals: Amber about being an Outrider, Xiangling about cooking, Xinyan about rock and roll, Diluc about defending Mondstadt... This one implies some very straightforward things about the Pyro Archon.

For Cryo users, there’s a permeating sense of loss they all dealt with: Kaeya lost his family (his father in a literal sense, his brother in a more emotional sense), Qiqi lost her life, Diona didn’t lose her father but she did feel like she was losing him, Chongyun doesn’t even know why he got a Cryo Vision, but he definitely feels a sense of loss at not being able to perform his exorcist duties in the traditional way. 

In the storyline preview trailer, we get this interesting line about the Tsaritsa: that she no longer has any love for her people, and they no longer have any love for her. Ouch. So, definitely some parallel we can draw here.

Hydro users are a bit trickier to pin down, but they are all the kind of people who shape themselves to a role like water shaping itself to its container: Barbara consciously taking on this role of the singing idol if it meant making other people feel better, Mona dedicating herself to the ideals of an astrologist so thoroughly that she refuses payment, Xingqiu building an entire persona around chivalry, and Childe... jesus, okay, I love this guy, but he’s basically a Saturday morning cartoon villain. He has several lines about conquering the world. He’s a Harbinger purely because it allows him to fight with more people and bring him closer to the role he really wants, which is the world’s biggest fighty boy or whatever. 

The Hydro Archon likely is someone who dedicates herself thoroughly to her own role, and the storyline preview says the Archon Quest for Fontaine will be called ‘Masquerade of the Guilty’. Masks and roles as a motif?

Electro users... this one is more tricky, but Fischl received her Vision in a time of profound loneliness in her life. Razor received it at a traumatic instance in his life, when he was helpless and cornered and would have probably died if he hadn’t received it just then. Beidou, on the other hand, received it at a moment of triumph over a force that much greater than herself. Lisa, in the most batshit example on this list, received her Vision just by wishing for it--but then once she got it, she felt scared by the true implications of what receiving a Vision may have even meant! Keqing, on the other hand, saw her Vision as an insult, and even tried to destroy it because she saw it as robbing her of the credit that ought to have gone to her own skills.

Now, we do have a hint from Zhongli about the Electro Archon’s beliefs--”Seven precepts for seven archons, and eternity closest to divinity”. 

We don’t actually know much else about Baal, but she seems obsessed with this concept enough that she would seize her people’s Visions to somehow accomplish her ideal.

If I had to draw it back around to how it relates to the Electro characters, then I would say that eternity is a concept that is much grander than oneself, and therefore it makes for a humbling force in humans’ lives. Fischl received her Vision in a period of time when she was emotionally vulnerable. Razor, too, received it in a moment of vulnerability, when he was close to dying. Beidou, also, could have died but instead conquered a foe that nobody would have expected her to. Lisa was humbled by her own Vision’s appearance. Keqing, by contrast, felt humiliated by it. We see these contrasting states of strength/powerlessness in the Electro users. 

So I posit the following: Baal, the Electro Archon, is someone in an emotionally brittle state. Her decisions may well be coming from a position of vulnerability, whether real or imagined. So she exerts her authority to overcome that.

It’s possible that either her Archon quest will be about the Traveler being the tipping point that makes her lose her equilibrium (someone who can control the elements, yet has no Vision for her to take). A possible way this may be played would be that while she is distracted by the Traveler as a possible threat, the Fatui will take advantage and take her Gnosis. 

Or maybe something completely different is up with Baal and I’m wrong about all of this! We’ll see whenever Inazuma comes out, and whether or not I’m right, that will still provide us a bigger sample size for how element users relate to archons of their element.

[caro-bug]

Ranting about how I want/suspect Scaramouche gameplay to look like because It's my simping hours.

Warning: A really brief mention of (possibly fake) leaks

Okay so so so!

Weapon: So, apparently there were leaks saying that Scaramouche is a catalyst user, but don't quote me on that. But personally, I would go absolutely crazy if his weapon was a spear.

Vision: So, According to the Pale Flame set lore (I think it was the goblet) Scaramouche isn't a human, but he was created by a god. Scaramouche is from Inazuma, so It's safe to assume that his creator is Baal. Since he doesn't have a visible Vision on him, I'm assuming that he has natural control over Electro.

Delusion: That kind of depends if he would be catalyst or normal weapon user. If it's catalyst, I imagine it to be Pyro. If It's my beloved spear or a similiar weapon, Cryo. I'll explain why in a moment.

Role: Considering how arrogant he is and how confident he was about killing The Traveler in seconds, I think he'd be an extremely selfish, yet absolutely amazing main DPS. But I'd always accept healer Scaramouche just for the laughs.

Playatyle: Switching between his Vision and Delusion. You know, I hope that every playable Harbringer will have this kind of dual Gameplay. Childe has two weapons. Lyney and Lynette (from Teyvat Story Chapter Trailer) are suspected to be harbringers who would switch places during combat. That's why I think that Scaramouche should be able to switch between elements, which would allow him to proc his own elemental reactions. Electro and its reactions are about to get buffed with inazuma realease, so it would make a lot of sense if Scaramouche could single-handedly slay his enemies with overloaded, or switch elements based on his enemies' elemental resistance. If he uses a weapon other than catalyst, a cryo delusion would allow him to proc superconduct by himself, making him an amazing physical DPS.

But if his ES would be switching elements, he would have to proc reactions with his burst. That's why he would need a lot of energy recharge/low energy cost and a reliable battery like Fischl or Diona.

In conclusion: A Sadistic Healer, an Elemental Specialist, or a Selfish Energy Drainer. I don't care. Now, your Scaramouche. Hand him over.