#fontaine 4.2

[aeroblossom]

thoughts about rhinedottir, alchemy, albedo and so on

☆ i just remembered i made a post suggesting naberius as the third descender and was suddenly struck with the realization that rhinedottir was also called the flower not of this world. what does that mean. what did she do with him. did she kill and eat him and gain his otherworldlyness. no but really

> Neuvillette and the Traveler later speculated that elemental power might be intrinsic to Descenders, given that both the Gnoses and the Vision-less Traveler are imbued with said power.[5] If this is true, it would be expected that other Descenders would be able to wield elemental powers, as well.

☆ and if visions are smaller versions of gnoses, this only makes me think of how albedo, a creation of rhinedottir, is a vision wielder - but his vision is the smallest one in the game, implying he uses it very little compared to alchemy, and since he's made of chalk, the power of geo may be intrinsic to him. so if she was trying to recreate the primordial human, and descenders have intrinsic elemental power, and the first usurper aka the primordial one has all this "golden" aura associated with him...

☆ if the stages of alchemy in genshin are reversed. if remuria was able to attain the philosopher's stone. if everything was once made of gold... then azosite... could it be the philosopher's stone? the khaenriahn robots use it to function. remus employed the use of ichor with one other ingredient i'm forgetting to create the golden symphony.

☆ adding on that, the standard ruin guard model has always reminded me of talos, the first robot, an automaton made to guard an island. the fuel it ran on was called ichor, blood of the gods.

☆ i know the word petrichor refers to the smell of the earth after rain, but now... perhaps they used it for a different reason.

☆ i have forever been curious about the intention behind rhinedottir's name. the daughter of the rhine - the rhine river. a river. river... time flows in a river. the river between life and death. the starry band across the teyvat sky, that i always thought of as a river. obviously her name is derived from the wagner play, but why would the creator of (mostly) geo entities be associated with rivers?

☆ an idea i proposed a long time ago: albedo is the only character aside from obviously sus ones like gods and the traveler, whose fate mona doesn't read. his constellation is also the weirdest thing to be a constellation. remember that the people of teyvat do actually utilize these asterisms, and like in real life, most (aside from gods or godlike entities) are based on things found in life and nature. albedo's doesn't seem like something that could just naturally occur. albedo's constellation may be fake.

[smuglilsomethin]

The Maybe Man by AJR is so Furina coded

Soooo I was listening to the new AJR album (I have Steve's Going to London stuck on loop in my head). And then I played through 4.2 over the weekend. And now I really want to make it into an animatic so I have a whole lyric chart thingy set up and everything.

Obvi this is going to contain spoilers for Fontaine 4.2 (not her story quest tho, I haven't played it... will probably rb this with updates if I decide to make any changes to the lyric analysis)

This made me think of how Focalors and the Oceanids wanted to be human. They saw how the humans did goofy human things (having emotions, being happy, being sad, etc... hence the "made up and smiled") and went "Yes I want to do that". So they "don't want to be stone, [they] changed their mind". They didn't want to be oceanids anymore, they wanted to become human.

Wish I was a stone, so I couldn't feel

You'd yell in my face, it'd be no big deal

But I'd miss the way we make up and smile

Don't want to be stone I changed my mind.

This one's a bit on-the-nose. It made me think of Furina's accession speech and how at first she was earnest, probably thinking a lot about what Focalors said to her (the "places [she's] been" being the mirror scene when Focalors first told her to pretend to be the hydro archon), but then she heard the Fontainians judging her and questioning her legitimacy as an archon ("talking shit"). In animatic form this would just be where it shows why she started acting all-knowing and all-powerful. Also I wonder if she actually thought of the Fontainians as her "friends"/equals when she initially began her speech.

I wish I had eyes in the back of my head

Then I could see the places I've been

But then I would know that you're talkin' shit

I don't want to know what my friends think.

I've yet to see Furina interact with a dog so my first thought was that scene where she was playing with the cats in the courtyard on the night Arlecchino attacked her. Not that scene specifically, but just the idea that she normally plays with stray animals in Fontaine's city. The "I wouldn't live long" immediately made me think of her lifespan being unnaturally extended via her curse, meaning humans don't live long to her (not just dogs/cats, though it's the same way pets don't live long in comparison to humans).

Wish I were my dog, out on the lawn,

I'd be so glad when I hear you come home

But if I were my dog, I wouldn't live long

I'm sure gonna miss her when she's gone.

I wish I could act in a show on TV

'Cause then I could practice not bein' me

I'll practice my cry, put it into my reel

But you won't believe when I cry for real.

This one I thought fit Furina really well. Furina de Fontaine acts in plays as well as fakes being an archon. Bro is acting 24/7, always practicing "not being [her]". Because she never is her actual self.

In an animatic I could see that for the "I'll practice my cry, put it into my reel" it could show her crying, like full on breaking down, but then on the "you won't believe me when I cry for real" it zooms out to show that it's a stage with an applauding crowd to show that the Fontainians think it's just a part of the show she's starring in.

She wants to be as wise as a real archon. Whether it be her finally being able to come up with a way to stop the prophecy, or a way to always win in a trial (every "fight", or as she would put it, every "duel"). Except if she was always all-knowing, she would constantly be thinking about the prophecy or other super heavy archon-related things, and being a human, humans aren't meant to constantly be under that strain. Because (as I interpreted the cutscene, at least) even though she had the prophecy and archon role weighing her down, she seemed to at least have some moments where she was having genuine fun (i think??? or maybe she's just that good of an actor and fooled me ig)

I wish that my brain would triple in size

I'd nail every joke, I'd win every fight

But I'd get too deep with that kind of mind

I don't wanna know the point of life.

In some other life I would be rich

I'd travel in style, I'd cover the bill

But couldn't complain 'bout anything small

Nobody'd feel bad for me at all.

She's living someone else's life as the hydro archon. She already lives luxuriously so I think in the animatic it would just be showing her day-to-day life, doing fake archon things. But she can't confide in anyone the truth. She can't "complain about anything small", or break the image that she's this perfect being. And because of that, "Nobody would feel bad for [her] at all".

If I was cocaine or a bottle of Jack

I'd get invited to every frat

But when you get old and your good days have passed

You'll only want me when you're sad.

This made me think of her trailer where she was surrounded by all the Fontaine characters in a choreographed fight. Except instead, this part of the animatic would be her surrounded by Fontainians dancing. Naturally, as an archon, she gets invited to every party.

But when she gets old, and her good days have passed--when the flood dissolves everyone and she's all alone in the sea--she'll only have the memories of those plays and dances that she had with the humans when they were still there. (This never happened but it's what she expected to happen since the beginning. It lowkey reminds me of Briar Rose from Ever After High? Like she wants to party and have fun with everyone while she still can before everyone gets dissolved and she's all alone.)

The first two lines kind of go with the previous paragraph with the music and dancing. But the second two lines made me think of the scenes where she would have Fontainians having appointments to meet with her and being all excited. Except "two or three minutes, then I'm gone". I interpreted this as every human's lifespan feeling extremely short to Furina, especially with that one part of the cutscene where one of the humans was talking about one of their ancestors being the first in their bloodline to meet her--a human that we saw her "talking to" only a few moments ago in the same cutscene.

Wish I was a song, your favorite one

You'd follow the dance to me at your prom

I would be there when your baby is born

For two or three minutes, then I'm gone.

I wish I was big, as big as my house

I'd sleep on the trees, I'd skip every crowd

But I wouldn't fit on my therapist's couch

God, I could really use him now.

Now's when the meat of the song comes in.

She wishes that she was as "big", or as powerful, as a real archon. She'd do all the things a real archon could do ("sleep on the trees", "skip every crowd"... not sure how these would be depicted but you get the point).

But then, she wouldn't need Neuvillette anymore, which I see as her main support (even though she never tells him anything, she wanted him to go to Arlecchino's meeting with her to feel safe so I feel like she places some confidence in him / reliance on him at least). But she doesn't want to not need Neuvillette anymore. She wants him around.

I wish I was God, I'd never trip up

And if I did, well, so fuckin' what?

I could be cruel and break all your stuff

Yeah, I'd be loved no matter what...

THIS STANZA LKSDJFSDLKJFDSLKJ

Again, she wants to be a real archon (or maybe she doesn't--my favorite part of this song is how it's constantly contradicting itself and going back on its statements because maybe you would want to be all-knowing. Maybe you would want to be all-powerful. Maybe you would want to be God. It's indecisive and constantly changing, just like the human condition etc etc). She wouldn't have to be so scared of messing up. She wouldn't have to be afraid of the humans questioning her legitimacy. She could do whatever she wanted and get away with it. The Fontainians would love her no matter what.

But if I was God, it'd get kinda weird

'Cause you would only say what I wanna hear.

And then you would die. You'd love me to death.

I'd never know who the hell I am.

...Except, if she were an actual archon, she'd still feel weird about how the humans worshipped her. When her act is convincing enough, the humans listen to what she says without question. Especially that one part of the cutscene where she's meeting with one of the citizens and literally starts crying in the middle of it. She makes up an excuse about her being the hydro archon, thus having excess hydro in her system... and the human just. Buys it. She starts fangirling as Furina is crying.

And then they would die. They'd love her to death.

This could fit with that part with the talk of bloodlines and the first ancestor who met her, but I'd like to think that it meant the prophecy's flood.

The prophecy would swallow Fontaine whole. All the Fontainians would dissolve.

But they'd still love her to death. They would still worship her without question.

And she'd never know who she was for real.

I wish I was me, whoever that is

I could just be and not give a shit

Hey, I'll be whatever makes you a fan

'Cause I don't know who the hell I am.

I can see her saying this during her internal monologue stage as her play's final scene.

She wants to be herself, but she doesn't know how. She's been Focalors since day one, so she has no idea who Furina is.

One, two, pandemonium!

One, two, pandemonium!

Here I go again

One, two, pandemonium!

Here I go again

One, two, pandemonium!

One, two—

Here I go again.

---------------------------------------------------------------

This part of the song oml. "Pandemonium" describes Fontaine's archon quest pretty well, and combined with the instrument spaghetti in the song finale it conveys the feeling of the storyline precisely.

When the instruments start playing and the crowd starts cheering, I could see that being the magic box opening revealing that Furina is going on trial.

Here she goes again, about to put on another performance.

I was thinking of making this into a series? Like I have a lot of songs that line up with characters (not just Genshin, like I currently have one for Danganronpa that's been cooking for like a year) and I want to put it in some kind of lyric analysis / animatic planning format like I did with this one. I'm putting this post (along with the Lyney as Envy Baby drawing) under [ #smug's playlist ] so look out for that I guess?

[fluffydisneyprincess]

Just finished 4.2 archon quest and--

I have so many thoughts and feelings and I don't know how to process any of this

Focalors, you are a devious one indeed...

[yksnoom]

!Fontaine 4.2 Archon Quest Spoilers!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I was listening to Music while playing the newest Archon Quest and while we were at Callas' Grave Fourth of July started playing right as Navia started to cry

I can't with this

[lavenderfumes]

I hope you’ve enjoyed the part you played these five hundred years.

[elbydraws]

More Furina fanart

[syea-say]

The finale of a never-ending masquerade.

AQ 4.2 spoilers.

[catamaurrr-star]

this tweet was the only thing on my mind when i was playing the archon quest

[merry-fagoland]

had to get these out before 4.1 dropped

+ bonus sumeru

[c6jpg]

CHILDE in Chapter IV Act V: Masquerade of the Guilty

bonus:

[aeroblossom]

i want to write a more proper character analysis later sometime, but,

[4.2 aq spoilers]

i love furina, i love her so much. she's so, so beautiful. i'm truly blown away by what a lovable character she is. and no, it's not because she's powerful or mary-sue in any manner, but because she's the complete opposite.

weak, cowardly, awkward, fragile, emotional, prone to running from her problems. she's no different from a similarly stumbling person trying to fit into this world. her flaws and her unlikable traits ultimately make her so very understandably, so relatably human that i cannot help but adore her. i've started a little bit of her story quest, and the depressed part of her is so clear, bold, obvious and i'm so glad. she's not putting up a front anymore. you can truly sense the immense exhaustion this poor girl has suffered. the pain, despair, agony, so plain to see and feel. and she lived this way for centuries, harboring a closely guarded truth she could tell no one else. i wonder if furina's wish to live outside the spotlight for once so she can be herself is a reflection of focalors' wish too.

and to think focalors' love for mankind was so incredibly deep she wanted to become like them even despite the pain and suffering it would throw upon her. she delegated it to furina, not without remorse and sadness. and when she finally met furina again, she was so loving and gentle towards the hurt and upset human furina.

it's an expression of self compassion and love. focalors wished to be this imperfect being, perhaps so she could lay down the problems of divinity for once, herself. and even despite the frustrations of being human, focalors treats furina with unconditional love and compassion - treats herself with such.

by the end of the aq, furina is not okay. by the beginning of her sq, furina is not okay. she's shattered, devastated, broken. but broken in the way that you can see what's inside.

she's still standing. messed up and struggling to cope. but standing.

and that, i believe, is the greatest demonstration of the indomitable resilience of the human spirit. in the end, no one is counting who won or who lost. but rather, how much you lost and continued to persevere.

she's not enjoying her life as of the point in time i'm in her sq. she's struggling. and it's beautiful. her anger, frustration, depression is clear to see. the effects of severe masking are obvious. the loss of one's self, mental fatigue, volatile emotions. i wish i could give her a hug. her mistakes, her failures, laid out in plain for us to see - seeing her humanness, i feel like it's okay to mess up too, and to be imperfect. that is what makes you what they call human.

[lotus-pear]

started playing genshin again, fontaine has been an experience

[saccharinerose]

Furina: Anyone I've ever worked with probably couldn't wait to get rid of me... Since I'm just an ordinary person now. They'll probably just laugh in my face if I go asking them for help... :(

Neuvillette, the second Furina asks him about booking the Opera Epiclese, the process for which is notably cumbersome and complex: Yes, I will take care of it immediately. Btw does this mean you will allow audiences (myself included) to enjoy your outstanding acting talents once more? 🥺

[krystalmelodie]

[elbydraws]

‘Only the hydro archon will remain, weeping on her throne…’

Genshin Impact fanart - Furina / Hydro Archon

[dullahen]

The way she made the heavenly principles her bitch, is so sexy to me🤌