#don't ask me if i've done any of the fontaine story quests

[hexesandroses]

Finally mustered the strength to do a story quest

[we-will-be-reun1ted]

aether did wHAT

I did not know he put the flowers in her hair while she slept!!! :0000

Also i think the only things so far that i've seen that would indicate the travellers emotional strain from being separated is Dain (and i think Paimon too?) asking if the traveller was crying in their sleep because they dreamt of their sibling again; Traveller losing their patience by the time they got to Inazuma and just wanting to get things done as fast as possible to move onto the next nation; Traveller not even bothering to ask about their sibling anymore when they got to Nahida, only to be surprised by Nahida actually giving them information, and then asking about their sibling again in Fontaine; Traveller opening up to Venti in the teapot, saying they're tired; Voiceover where Traveller tells Paimon they've had nightmares of their twin leaving and saying they're too late; Nightmare hallucination thing of abyss lector telling Traveller that the abyss twin has abandoned them and no longer sees them as family (sumeru archon quest); And

this is just how i personally interpreted it: Traveller getting angry at Lyney for actively lying to them when they were supposed to defend him in court, because Lyney could've gone to jail and possibly be separated from Lynette.

Aether/Lumine are shown to be pretty secretive about their nature and actually keep a lot of things to themselves. Even actively keeping secrets from the people around them (shown most obviously during the Sumeru archon quest), To the point it's even implied they lie about their identities ("name your character" in the beginning of the game. Where in text that's how you get referred to as during the game, yet the abyss twin ends up calling the playable twin by Name™ instead of whatever name you chose in when you started playing).

So i'm not too surprised we haven't had many instances where Traveller talks about their sibling to other people, but yeah it does suck just how forgotten both the Abyss and Traveller twin end up in the game. (To the point a scary amount of players still think the Traveller is a self-insert, and don't know that Traveller has the most Voiceovers out of all the playable characters)

I could be wishful thinking and my mind playing tricks on me but I’m pretty sure that was mentioned??? If it’s not then bang there’s another one of my headcanons there you go.

Okay I haven’t gotten around to all of that yet but GOD WHENEVER THE TWIN GETS BROUGHT UP I think about it for absolutely she’s afterwards I’m not even joking. I’m really early in the Sumeru quest and actually only did the hallucination abyss mage one around two days ago and istg when he said about Aether not seeing Lumine as family anymore.

That would 100% fuck Lumine up for a while afterwards. No doubt about it. It would be playing on her mind over and over even though she knows it was only a hallucination.

Honestly I can’t really mention much since I’m not that far in the game yet but all of that does make a lot of sense. I would imagine they wouldn’t want everyone to know all about their lives and past since they aren’t planning on staying in Teyvat.

I makes me so upset when I see people completely ignoring the twins. I saw this one Twitter thread saying something like “it’s good that the story isn’t focusing on the twins as much anymore” and like??? No??? They are the WHOLE reason we are in Teyvat in the first place?? You can’t really have a story without the twins since the traveler entire reason behind doing what they are doing is to find their sibling. They wouldn’t be in any of the situations that they are in if they had their sibling with them.

[xstarlightxstarbrightx]

thoughts on how the Inazuma Archon quest went [4]

Lumi and Kaeya prep for their travel to Inazuma, and are waiting for Beidou's intel. They talk to their old friends in Liyue, they visit Zhongli one last time, and I always saw this as a little tense in terms of goodbyes.

I mean, Lumine just recently learned about Aether's position in the Abyss Order, and she's currently grappling with that and the thought that the Raiden Shogun might be the Unknown God (i mean, Paimon made a brief connection, i don't doubt that she's been thinking about it.) Lumine feels like the sort of person who always maintains a cheery disposition no matter what if she can help it, but Kaeya and Zhongli know. They can feel it.

My personal headcanon is that Zhongli offers them words of ease before they leave to ask Katheryne about their intel. I already have written abt this in personal stuff, but I will share any mini fics I write later on (probably will put it on AO3 eventually, but it's also optional. i just really like these idiots and am considering sharing some of the writing i've already done for them lmao).

Anyway, Kaeya and Lumi have to go to Inazuma!!! (and subsequently suffer in an electric HELL)

Thoma, upon arrival: well if it isn't the Traveler from afar and-- Thoma: Kaeya: Lumine: ? Paimon: ?? Thoma: aaaaaaaaaaanyway. proceeds to yap

the entire intro quest to Inazuma was kinda interesting since it touched on how blatantly fucked up the Ritou situation was to outlanders. Lumine also throwing shade at Zhongli's relationship with Mora made me giggle.

I also liked the part where we got to reflect on Mondstadt and Liyue by reminding that one Werner guy about the places he'd come from. I feel like Kaeya would be the one to really get into him about Mondstadt, and Lumine handles Liyue incredibly well.

Unfortunately, the intro quest to Inazuma also holds one of the things I disliked most about Inazuma; and that is the almost cruel refusal to help when Thoma inevitably asks Lumine for assistance. In the actual game, the way the responses are short and incredibly stiff made me genuinely feel... gross? Like it doesn't feel like something Lumine specifically would say (I can't vouch for Aether players, but I'm sure there have been times where the dialogue options have been off for them, too.) I don't hate the dialogue options we got, especially if people perceive her or Aether as more reluctant and unwilling—my main issue has always been that we never had the option to react ever so slightly differently; even if it was just a way to rephrase a refusal.

So, in my interpretation of Inazuma, I opted for a more hesitant reluctance when Thoma inevitably asks for Lumine's help (something that, I feel, makes FAR more sense, and falls in line with the rest of the Archon quests in Nations after).

Thoma: so... with your help... even the Vision Hunt Decree— Lumine: hold on. Lumine: ... I... didn't really offer to help with that, you know. Lumine: I'm in Inazuma to talk to the Raiden Shogun, after all... Thoma: ... Ah. Yes, of course. I'll do my best to set that up for you.

GAHHH I really should write more about Inazuma and reworking it into something I have more of an interest in. The potential of this story really haunts me, I was just so put off by the approach. I genuinely have envisioned many a discussion between Kaeya and Lumine about this reluctance—I'm of the sound mind that Kaeya's surprised by her reluctance, but at the same time they both know this is just a flimsy attempt to try and focus on meeting Raiden.

I just don't think she would deny it so quickly and coldly; it feels like she would find ways to compromise, rather than shut people down. Something I desperately wish we got, because it feels more compassionate than what we did get. (and not to mention that this is the ONLY time the Traveler shows such a vicious reluctance to helping people. Like in Sumeru, there was VERY little reluctance to help people from what I remember, and Fontaine??? FONTAINE??? Yeah.)

Like, for example, when she goes to Hiiragi Shinsuke, he quite notably points out "One other thing I heard about you is your great zeal for helping other people." It is constantly noted how the Traveler is willing to help others; even if she, herself, sees it as merely a normal and proper thing to do. AHGHH the characterization of the Traveler in Inazuma killed me guys.

Anyway, we all know that Lumine and Kaeya help out Chisato b/c ofc they would (something I feel like is brought up between her and Kaeya when discussing the reluctance to assist with the Decree), and they head off to Narukami Island.

Thoma: sorry about that other little "test" haha Lumi: riight... so, how'd we do? Thoma: I'm guessing you've always been skirting the rules from the very beginning, haven't you? Kaeya: yep. Lumi: yep. Paimon: yep.

also, again; we're learning about the selfishness of the Vision Hunt Decree, and I feel like Lumine hearing the voices of everyone's ambitions would likely be what starts her attempt to compromise. Also "a Vision symbolizes ambition, and not power" is so interesting. i'm kinda obsessed with it—also Lumine 1000% looking to Kaeya as she sort of has this realization, and her just being like "no, I have to at least compromise. I can't deny them assistance."

Ayaka: Traveler, lend us your power, and we can— Lumine: I must meet the Raiden Shogun. Lumine: that is, first and foremost, why I am here. Kaeya: ... Lumine: ... but... once that is done, I don't doubt that I could still help. Ayaka: Oh... Thoma: I told you.

THIS is how I wanted this conversation to go. A compromise; to meet the Raiden and then offer to help after. A completion of a goal and a promise to help. Because it never felt right to me that it was just so cold and harsh. Let there be compromise, plEASE. It still makes it such an interesting story, and it also shows so much more of the compassion that the Traveler has, and just makes it feel more connected when the Traveler meets and develops relationships with other characters in the game, whether NPC or Playable, canon or fanon.

Anyway, Ayaka still offers to get them to meet the Raiden Shogun, but she still has them do the three wishes thing; which completely breaks Lumine. After already showing willingness to help after, Lumine just accepts that she can't watch these people suffer—what if that was Kaeya? what if it was her brother? Show us the trepidation beginning to fade. Show us the wall cracking. Show us Lumine crumbling before she breaks, I'm begging.

I'll be continuing this later, again, dw! I do have a few other things I'm excited to touch on now that I've finally been able to put my disdain for Inazuma into words. Rereading this quest really has reminded me of how fascinating I found some of the points they brought up—like the Visions being physical representations of ambition and what life is like to lose your ambition and memory of it. It has so much potential, and I'm definitely wondering if I should write on it some...

[kyogre-blue]

Why do you want to stop playing Genshin, if you don't mind me asking?

This is a really good question, and I was going to whine about it in detail closer to the end of 3.8, haha

I guess the simplest way to put it is that I'm not looking forward to a single aspect of Fontaine.

I don't like underwater exploration as a whole, and I definitely didn't like how they handled Sorush's three axis movement, so the thought of Fontaine's underwater portions only fills with me with dread and annoyance.

I don't like the sound of the Ousia/Pneuma mechanics that will be the new twist to combat and probably exploration. I didn't like Sumeru having so many forced and restrictive exploration mechanics, I think only maybe one third of Dendro was done well, and I am the opposite of excited that the new O/P thing is going to be directly baked into new character kits. I expect you're going to be forced to use Hydro Traveler and Lynette (who will be given out for free), which is something I sure did not enjoy in regard to Sumeru's extensive elemental restrictions for its exploration.

And, in general, Sumeru was pretty, sure. It was even sometimes fun to explore. But more than anything, it got tedious. It was too big, too repetitive, and too lacking in... just something memorable, I suppose. I don't really care to experience the same in another nation that looks also quite generic.

I certainly am not excited for the storyline. I know people say Sumeru was a huge improvement over Inazuma, but I don't agree. Inazuma at least had an interesting concept. Sumeru is just a bloated, tedious slog with no actual improvement in anything I value in a story: characterization, relationships, plot and setting, etc. I am somewhat open to doing Inazuma acts 2 and 3 on my alt, just to see how I feel about them after so long, but I am certainly not doing Sumeru again. It was awful and about three times longer than it had any right to be.

Nothing about Fontaine looks like it'll be improved, especially not after that trailer that was full of fake-deep nonsense.

And above all else, I keep thinking about the damn multilevel map.

They're gonna roll out an in-game multilevel map a year after launching Sumeru, the nation of endless multilevel caves. Why did I bother doing Sumeru when it came out? If I had waited a year, it would have been so much easier and less frustrating.

And then I think, if I wait a few more years, maybe we'll finally get that scene skip button. So why bother doing Fontaine now? Doesn't it make more sense to wait? And if I'm fine putting it off for years, then do I really care enough to do it at all?

Anyway, I've finished all I care to do on my main account. I've obtained all Mondstadt characters, I've max ascended every character, levelled their talents, geared them up. I have 100% exploration on all maps, I have all achievements except the RNG commission ones (and Kaveh hangout ones), I have all quests complete, I have teapot completely built, card game handbook finished, etc. It's all done.

And if I don't really want anything of the incoming content, then... well, I'm done.