#furina’s design is so cool to me

[spoiledmilks]

Its been a while since i used lineart

[aromanticasterisms]

SHENHE AND GANYU MATCHING OUTFITS?????

[mangos-draws]

Ah fuck. It happened again

I absolutely hate it when I dream and have the coolest ideas ever but then I wake up it's all gone

[marvel-starwarsfangirl]

Natlan Archon Quest 5.1 Thoughts and Theories

Compared to the last archon quest, this was a major step up for me in all aspects. There was a sense of grandness to it all, especially with the music and animation. Also, I'm so weak for Capitano you guys. His voice 😍🥵 alright I'll stop. But my Capitano agenda is far from over.

Spoilers below

Boy oh boy did I enjoy seeing everyone rally together to fight the Abyss. And the Abyss I felt was a pretty legitimate threat. (side note: i'm glad they didn't make us wait for the next patch to see the actual battle). The map was consumed by Abyssal power, reminding me of that one Enkanomiya event. And people died. You'd get to sites with people and everyone would be gone. It was lowkey chilling and Genshin really has stepped up in terms of how dark it wants the story to be. Chasca's sister, Chuychu, didn't make it. Their final words to each other were really heartfelt and it was sad to watch them say goodbye.

On a much lighter note, the cutscenes of Mavuika and the six heroes using their powers was soooo freaking cool, especially with the music. Side note, I'm glad they didn't shove the Traveler in as the final hero since this wasn't their fight technically. I loved seeing Mavuika use all her abilities and create that giant starburst thing in the sky to fight the Abyss. It gave me major Endgame vibes ngl. I was having a blast. This quest also made me really love Mavuika. She cares so deeply about her people and home that she'd sacrifice herself to save it all. It's a heavy price, but she's willing to pay it. Aside from Mavuika's selfless nature, she also looked epic when she fought the Abyss in the sky.

The new characters in general I really enjoyed, especially Ororon. I do like his design and I love how his voice tone changes from serious to almost childish when talking to Citlali. And his lore is really fascinating since he has an incomplete soul. Citlali gives me major Faruzan energy, but she has a beautiful design and she's pretty relatable imo with her awkwardness. I liked her a lot. Xilonen had a lot of charisma imo. Although I haven't figured out how to use her on the field during her playable segments.

And Capitano. My gosh did this man become very interesting. Not only is he Khaenri'ahn, but apparently his face is rotting from living for so long AND he knows Dain. He's a lot more tragic than I initially expected, having lost everything and everyone to the cataclysm. And out of all the Harbingers, alongside Childe (maybe Arlecchino with the HoH), he's definitely one of the more altruistic ones. His methods were extreme, but at the end of the day, he wanted to save Natlan, having lost so much already. Capitano was willing to put aside his own pride with his plan and listen to Mavuika's, helping her and the others defend their home. He even gave her all his soldiers to have for reinforcements. He's not driven by evil the way Dottore is or is vengeful to a destructive degree like Scaramouche. He's honorable and driven by the pain of his past. Vengeance too probably, but he didn't wipe Natlan clean to save it.

The lore was also fascinating. To talk to the Lord of the Night was really cool and I loved getting to know more about Teyvat as a whole. Btw, the "sky is fake" claim is finally proven true.

Overall, I was very satisfied with this Archon quest and could honestly watch a whole show on Natlan trying to fend off the Abyss. It reminds me of the Long Night but significantly better executed on almost all fronts (music still slapped).

Going forward, I definitely think we will see Mavuika die but either it won't be in the typical way or she will return in another form like Furina. Given how she's playable, Hoyo will find the loophole. But yeah, Mavuika will have to pay a heavy price. And it appears Capitano will as well. He still has his "final foe" to face and Ronova apparently sent him on his journey. Of course, the price for messing with death your own life, which Mavuika will have to pay. It seems like whatever Capitano is asking of the Lord of Night also will either lead to his own demise or some sort of demise. Either way, both characters are going to be facing a heavy price. I'm really excited to see the final face off with the Abyss and what will become of both Capitano and Mavuika.

The sky being fake caught my eye specifically because the edges of the hole and the void are reminiscent of the power used by the unknown god in the beginning of the game. Could the unknown god reside out in that void? Did she have a hand in creating Teyvat? Is Teyvat even a "real" world or is it something else entirely? So many questions. I look forward to getting answers and I love the small detail of the hole being covered by smoke. it would cause mass hysteria if one moment, you were fighting for your very home and then another bombshell about the sky being fake is thrown at you.

My only major nitpick is that the Natlan archon quest is almost beat for beat Fontaine's with some exceptions of course.

You got:

big existential, life threatening event that has been steadily building up for years and years

a Fatui harbinger who offers aid because they got their own stakes in this (said Harbinger is also Khaenri'ahn)

the archon has to die because they used powers that are kinda taboo

there are minor incidents prior to the actual existential event

said event has been known about by the archon for hundreds of years and preparations have been made

the day is saved by the archon (or dragon) flying up into the sky and using their awesome power to save everyone

supporting characters die protecting others (Silver and Melus you were the real ones)

The archon quest is still fantastic, but the overall formula was very similar. (it was also weird to not hear Kinich or Kachina but I get the reason).

Anyways, what did you guys think and are you excited for the next chapter???

[evercelle]

Hello, I hope you're having an amazing day!

I wanted to ask how you plan out your merchandise designs and what you want to sell! Your shop always has so many products and they're all very unique! So I'm just curious if you have a certain way of planning out what to sell and all that stuff. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope you have an amazing day!!!!

there isn't really a rational thought process to me designing stuff! it pretty much boils down to:

possessed by demons that wont leave me alone OR "i want _____ with blorbos on it and no one else is selling it for me to buy" (saiousai atm........ pain peko)

saw interesting materials that allows you to try something cool/is relevant to a character's theme or visuals (spinner -> aven's roulette!!, ripple acrylics -> water effects -> furina!!, partitioned quicksand -> would look neat in a symmetrical design... like a playing card... what about lyney and lynette!!)

i make fanmerch for fun, so it's gotta entertain me too lol. on a practical side, i would say the fact i have a boring full time job unrelated to selling at cons means i also have the motivation/luxury to make unique or obnoxious or hyper-specific items... like giant spinning charms or doujin or thermal mugs for a seven year old sleepy fandom. lol

[enden-k]

(No spoilers, just Neuvillette)

Me before doing the archon quests: "Neuvillette seems pretty cool, I like his design and he's definitely going to have good lore, I'll probably pull for him."

Me after the archon quest: "I NEEED HIM"

i just started investigating so i didnt finish all of the archon quests at all (i dont wanna rush too much anw)

i was hoping for furina being all dramatic and neuvillette exposing her actings to us for some comedic relief and this is exactly what i got KAJSBCJK

"yup thats my archon up there striking a pose. pls give her some attention so she doesnt get embarrassed. ok yea thats enough now, just dont mind her and lets enjoy the show"

i love them both sm, cant wait for their banners ajhscbkj

[shalomniscient]

I AM HERE TO DELIVER! The only reason I came up with that idea was because my oc is a researcher in the fatui and I wanted the role to fit her in the au so here are what I came up with until now! Every car has one main generator directly underneath the driver, with a smaller one at each wheel to give the car the balance it needs on the water surface. The drivers don’t have to worry about auqaplaning in the middle of the track since the gravity field is already pushing the water away. But since every driver has their own strategy, own driving style, own customized car etc. these generators have to be extremely carefully calibrated to avoid any complications for example I hc Furina to have an extreme sneaky driving style with little to no collisions and a rather light car, while I think Arle would drive more recklessly and aggressive but still extremely calculated, maybe nudging a few cars here and there throughout the race but is actually in full control. Her car would be HELLA heavy. Now furinas gravity field would never be able to hold up Arles car especially while driving 330kmh, just as Arles generators would make furina loose control of her car and result in a deadly crash, that’s why reader has to measure every driver, their car etc and be present at every test drive, consult with their strategists and is also in charge of designing the route of the track. Also if Arle happens to drive in childes car for example, she would deadass ruin his generators since they’re just simply not fit for her style and strategy. OKAY I TALKED ENOUGH NOW I’M GOING TO BED, GOOD NIGHT!

you really went into the engineering, this is genuinely really cool. i like that with this concept each car can have its own ‘personality’ in a sense, reflective of the driver. furina being non-confrontational, arle being pretty much the exact opposite. it lends well to narration and themes as well. i really like it! i don’t think i’ll necessarily include it in my own f1 au, since it’s your idea, but i do really like it! maybe tag me in any works you make for your own f1 au, i’d love to see it 🫶🫶🫶

[yaeggravate]

Theory: Kaeya's Vision was Given to Him by The Sinner and his Vision Gives us a Major Hint as to The Sinner's Identity.

can we talk about kaeya's vision? i've been dying to talk about kaeya's vision again.

(spoilers for everything up until 4.2)

good news, we finally got some more insight on what visions are! according to neuvilette's character story, when a person's desire reaches the heavens, archons are dutybound to put aside a shard of their mastery for them. this "mastery" originally belongs to the seven sovereigns.

To continue to subdue and control the resentments and loathing of the world, the usurper and one who came after created the Gnoses together. So it came to be that an order was made to be upheld, and thus did humans come to only possess these seven remembrances, and all fragments of the primordial were driven to devour each other. From that day on, whenever a person's wishes reached the heavens, the seven overseers of the material realm were duty-bound to grant them a gift. Though they might know nothing of who or what wish had stepped into the threshold of the sacred, the Seven Archons still had to impart a shattered shard of their mastery to that person.

after focalors destroyed the throne of the hydro archon, neuvilette gained complete authority over the hydro element. because he's a nice guy, he decided to also put aside some of his mastery to grant visions to people.

furina is one such person.

here's the cool part; her vision looks different from other fontainians. the decoration combines ousia and pneuma elements and there are four little fangs holding the vision in place.

KAEYA'S VISION

that brings me back to the conundrum that is kaeya's vision. before furina, he was the only character with a vision that deviated from the norm.

there are two unique oddities about his standard vision: it's missing two wings; the strings on the back are on the other side: this is an indication that it's mirrored.

(for simplicity's sake i will ignore the vision on his other outfit since it's essentially modified to match zosimos' design.)

what if kaeya's situation is similar to furina's? and i'm not just talking about their never-ending masquerade… what if his vision was granted by someone else?

WHY ARE THE STRINGS ON THE RIGHT SIDE?

i have briefly talked about this before but mirrors are associated with the abyss. this lead me to believe that it's possible that kaeya's vision might have been given by the abyss/the sinner.

note how the strings on furina's gem also switch sides when she changes from pneuma to ousia. (pneuma (light) on the left and ousia (dark) on the right.)

it's relatively common knowledge by now that kaeya's kit shares similarities with abyss mages and heralds and that many khaenri'ahns were turned into abyssal creatures, (possibly due to them being in a similar situation as jakob ingold who possessed a "bit of the dark cold cosmos's power").

Paimon: And you said the people turned into monsters... You're trying to tell Paimon that the Abyss Order is not only related to Khaenri'ah but is actually the people of Khaenri'ah themselves!?

with the new information given, this theory seems more plausible. if neuvilette can give out visions, why not mr. purple crystal as well? if wishes can reach the "heavens", couldn't they also reach the abyss? we saw the crystal respond to clothar's praying and display a bit of creepy omniscience so you know it's powerful.

WHY IS THE VISION MISSING WINGS?

consider that the fangs on furina's vision is neuvilette's tongue-in-cheek way of hinting at him being a dragon, as his own personal touch. then could clipped wings hint towards the identity of whoever gave kaeya his vision? what do clipped wings indicate? fallen angels. what's a fallen angel? a sinner. 😏💯

Fallen angels are angels who were expelled from heaven. The literal term "fallen angel" does not appear in any Abrahamic religious texts, but is used to describe angels cast out of heaven or angels who sinned. Such angels often tempt humans to sin.

fun fact, the abyss mages are always chanting in ENOCHIAN which is popularized as the language of the angels.

The script for this language appears while Abyss Mages are chanting to regenerate their shields as well as over their heads when performing spells outside of combat. […] The script also appears in the yellow protective runes around the weak points of Automatons, where the mirrored glyphs for B, L, and G circle around the core. Ruin Guards are known to have been made by the people of Khaenri'ah, many of whom turned into "monsters of the Abyss," so this script was possibly used in Khaenri'ah as well.

way back in the first archon quest, an abyss mage speaks to kaeya in enochian. it's significant enough that they give us a subtitle to imply kaeya can understand this angelic language; we have been shown he knows other ancient languages as well, like the language of the hilichurls and a strange script in the manga.

Kaeya: There's no way hilichurls organized an ambush like this themselves — not with their limited mental capacity... Kaeya: Thus YOU were behind this. Hydro Abyss Mage: Gohus, Chiso Vonph.

perhaps a reach but kaeya has one giant wing on his outfit, possibly a reference to the most famous video game villain in history, sephiroth, the one-winged angel?

this one is not a reach because kaeya also owns a book called the adventures of angelos. angelos is from greek ἄγγελος which means angel.

Between the pages of "The Adventures of Angelos," you find a list of names written on a sheet of official Knights of Favonius letterhead paper.

a book named angel containing a list of names, just to show the traveler he has eyes everywhere is a little on the nose if you ask me.

*edit: i forgot to include the most obvious hint, kaeya's favorite hangout: angel's share. and in the book of revelation there is a star or angel that fell to earth known as wormwood, (apsinthion in greek), which is the name of a plant used to make absinthe, which in turn is thee main ingredient of death (in the) afternoon, kaeya's favorite drink. dainsleif also likes this drink.

Wormwood (ἀψίνθιον apsinthion or ἄψινθος apsinthos in Greek) is a star or angel which appears in the Book of Revelation.

another fun fact, nabu malikata's last name malikata, besides meaning queen, could also mean angels.

In Islam, angels (Arabic: ملاك٬ ملك‎, romanized: malāk; plural: ملائِكة‎, malāʾik/malāʾikah) are believed to be heavenly beings.

nabu malikata is a survivor of the seelie race who were abandoned by the heavens; they are heavily implied to be angels. she is also the originator of the jinn. huh, i wonder why kaeya gifted us a seemingly random lamp which is said to have housed a powerful jinni...

all this is pointing to the sinner being a fallen angel which makes sense since the archons have demonic names from the ars goetia, it stands to reason that higher abyssal beings should have angelic names.

in islam, there is a fallen angel named iblis who had four wings (like kaeya's vision) and who was chained up in the deepest part of hell (like the sinner), whose original name was azazil. khaenri'ah has some ties to arabic mythology, so who knows? this is just one possibility. interestingly enough, the names of four of the archangels ARE referenced in mona's magic circle but not azazil.

the interesting part about the crystal is that he denies being a god and addresses the traveller as "creature"… there has been some speculation that the dragon king nibelung is the sinner, but we honestly don't have enough information to make that leap.

**edit: the domain we find the sinner in is located inside the chasm. thousands of years ago, back when zhongli was still young, an entity known as the sun or solar chariot fell to teyvat forming the chasm. this was during the time the moon sisters fell.

according to one legend, they refer to the entity as a fallen star. the star stayed in the chasm until the archon war, but before it returned to the sky it permanently left a piece of itself behind.

also, the sinner's domain has enkanomiyan statues and architecture. in enkanomiya, there is an achievement you can get called phosphorus' guidance, which you get by following seelies. phosphorus is the greek name for the morning star. the latin name for the morning star is lucifer, now best known as the name of a fallen angel.

The Ancient Greeks called the morning star Φωσφόρος, Phosphoros, the "Bringer of Light". Another Greek name for the morning star was Heosphoros, meaning "Dawn-Bringer".

dawn-bringer, you say? reminds me of the harbinger of dawn kaeya gives you in the very beginning of the game. what are you trying to tell us, bud?

lastly, the traveler notes the upside down defiled statue of the anemo archon is similar to the sinner. the statue, of course, has wings. it's funny because when we meet kaeya for the very first time, it's in front of the anemo god statue in front of the cathedral... notably, both dainsleif, and kaeya in his hangout route do not go inside the cathedral.

Kaeya: Perfect. (Traveler), why don't you head into the Cathedral and invite Sister Barbara to join us? I'll look for another friend who's interested in helping us.

Dainsleif: When a non-believer steps onto holy ground, the result is never pretty.

WHY DOES THE VISION HAVE A MONDSTADT CASING?

khaenri'ah was outside of the rule of the seven, hidden from the gaze of the gods. we don't know yet if in days of old khaenri'ahns could receive visions but we do have dainsleif's character card to give us a clue.

The listed name of his Vision's element, as announced on his Chinese Character Card, is a set of indecipherable symbols.

so dainsleif does have a vision; it's just that it has manifested as something else, possibly because unlike kaeya-seemingly a normal human-he is cursed.

in any case, we've seen wanderer receive a complete sumeru vision despite not even being from there and arlecchino has a shneznayan casing despite loving her homeland fontaine. (although there might be some other shit going on with her.)

this means vision casings are tied to the region the receiver is in and has nothing to do with where a person is born. if neuvilette were to gift someone from outside fontaine a hydro vision, they would receive a casing from the region they're in. fontainians have pneuma or ousia alignments but arlecchino's shneznayan vision has no indication of what she is aligned with. though again, arlecchino is not a normal human being, who knows what's going on there.

Along with Divinity: Prologue [...] we should be conscious of the fact that what shapes our thinking, logic, culture, philosophy and aesthetics is not the archons themselves, but the objective environment that exists around us. This world around us is what we have inherited, and what this book shows is that the people of Teyvat have always been, and always will be, heirs to a divine legacy — but not to divinity itself.

(also thought it was pretty interesting how capitano calls the gnosis, the gnosis from inazuma instead of "the electro gnosis" or the "gnosis from the electro archon".)

aaand scene. please note that this is all kind of jumbled wild speculation and should not be taken as fact! this is all in good fun.

[winter-mornings]

Who’s your favorite Genshin character? 🩷

Bruh I was just gushing about them on stream!!!

It’s a few of them cuz I’m indecisive

Kuki shinobu ( she’s really pretty-)

Xinyan ( she’s so cool and probs has my fave design in the game but she’s kinda shit to play- also she’s got the closest to my irl fashion style)

Arataki itto (my friends say he’s me he’s NOT me I’m cooler than him and smarter I swear it mans)

Furina (probs the best written character in the game, baby girl I wish u the best go to therapy)

kaeya ofc ( he should also go to therapy)

Neuvilette (guess what he should do- go to therapy!!! )

I like my characters autistic and my men sad :3

[aha-chuu]

My thoughts on the Fontaine characters rn (pre 4.0)

I saw someone making a post about their thoughts and they were tragically wrong and I disagreed. So here I am, being opinionated.

I'm not gonna discuss leaks, I'm just talking about the character designs and what lore we know from the trailer and teaser :))

Lyney

So, Lyney is great. I love that he's kind of sussy, and his teaser that recently came out is almost... Sinister. And yet, he also checks the boxes of being really fun and extroverted! Venti vibes tbh.

Design wise? His animations are the best in the game, hands down. They suit the performance aspect of his character perfectly and are almost enough to make me pull for him.

Tragically, his character design isn't really for me. I think the simplicity works with the bombastic animations, and I'm glad to see he's wearing a reasonable outfit for the job he does (a rarity in Genshin). And yet, I'm a bit too much of a lesbian to be uber interested in the twinky direction his design leans.

Not pulling.

Lynette

So she's super cute. We have got a lot of cat girls already (I think Lyney should have also been a cat-person tbh) but I love that Lyney isn't actually doing cat things. Like, she's this subdued introvert, no meowing during her attacks or curling up in boxes like Kirara. She's just a person.... Who's also a cat.

I like her character design better than Lyney's; the blue just stands out a lot more than his red does, and the big bow is a better centerpiece to her design than Lyney's hat is to his. Plus, her animations are also nice.

We're getting her for free so I likely won't pull, but I am already preparing artifacts to build her on my account.

Freminet

Have I said how much I like sibling dynamics? These three actually seem pretty close and like they will gasp interact with each other! In comparison to the likes of the Kamisatos, this is miraculous.

I know several people who love this guy, and I do think he looks good. I saw some complaints about his hair cut (I think it's adorable), and the chunky boots & coat really serve to emphasise his awkwardness without sacrificing aesthetics.

Unfortunately, he's a physical claymore character, so it's a big skip from me.

Focalors/Furina

Well she's a brat huh. I worry after Raiden that they'll destroy Furina's character arc in order to make her more palatable, but I want her to go full Marie Antoinette. All the lore with the Oceanids disliking her and the general stuff about using the court for entertainment make me very interested in her.

As a design, I just dislike the twin tails. I love the blazer and the huge gem and the hat that's actually a crown!! Like, Furina is extravagant and over the top, obviously self obsessed - she looks perfect in that regard.

Since she's the archon and she's Hydro, she'll probably be broken meta wise. I'll likely pull, but mostly to make cool teams with her, not because she's a fave of mine specifically.

Neuvilette

... Father?

FR though, I understand why several people are crazy about this man. I do wish he looked a bit older since that's sort of where his characterisation is - he's done with Furina's shit and he's doing all the actual work of running Fontaine. With the elf ears, I expect him to be some sort of long-life species - he has no visible Vision and his hair kind of looks oceanid-like, so I figure he's not actually human. That along with the slits in his eyes. I hope he turns out to be older than Furina, and that he has a kind of reluctant dad & spoiled daughter relationship with her; we do see him tell her off in the teaser.

Neuvilette is the most feminine tall man character and the hair is a great aspect of the design. The colour palette is good and I do like the robes since he's a Judge, however I think it might get a bit boring to look at when you're playing as him - which is probably why the hair is so dramatic, in order to bring interest to the design.

He'll probably be Hydro and he'll probably be a catalyst based on that outfit (it's not exactly maneuverable enough for anything else ':))). I am interested in pulling almost a 100%.

Wriothesley

Another man???

I don't understand people talking about the lack of husbandoes in Fontaine, like look at these fine gentlemen.

We don't have much official info on Wriothesley so I'm gonna dip a little into leaks here, skip if you don't wanna know. He is some sort of prison warden which I bop with - it's an expected expansion on the justice landscape of Fontaine. He's on the rough side of the Fontaine infrastructure, in comparison to most of the other characters. That interests me since it feeds more into the duality themes of Fontaine, though currently we're unevenly biased rn to the more santized characters.

Design wise he's one of my favourites. White/black/red looks so good, as does his kind of punk esque chains. The tie puts me off somewhat, like he looks sort of smart and put together, but then the rest of the design undercuts that.

Leaks say Wriothesley is a physical standard banner five star. This fills me with fear. I also don't know what his actual personality will be, so let's say I'm undecided on pulling him.

Charlotte

I liked her personality and en VA in that one TCG event, unfortunately much like that event, Charlotte looks boring. She's cute, whatever, but she doesn't seem particularly story relevant and her design hasn't captured me.

I'm just not that interested.

Sigewinne(?)

Okay, she's cuter than Charlotte she's a sea slug person so immediately more interesting. She was also hanging out with Wriothesley, which is so adorable considering how different they seem.

We're dipping back into leaks here, but it seems like she might be another Hydro healer. I've seen people annoyed by this, but I'm perfectly fine with it - I don't have Kokomi and I like Nilou bloom as much as the next person.

If Sigewinne is a four star, I hope she's on a banner for a cool five star.

Navia

I know a lot of people like this woman. Taylor Swift etc (I am not overly into Taylor Swift), but I think Navia could be cool.

I find her design overcrowded. I do think this suits the fact that we're playing with French Revolution ideas and she's part of the bourgeoisie, so ofc she's overdecorated and elaborate in her fashion. Even though it makes sense, I still don't like the arsthetic of it.

On the other hand, I do like the yellow - it's not a colour we see in too many Genshin designs. I don't really like how it fits with the blue jewellery though.

Personality wise, I worry a bit that she's gonna be our waifu bait, but they did Dehya's characterisation really well without falling into that trap. Navia could be very fun and I think there's a lot of promise in the idea that she might be a class traitor, teaming up with us against the Fontaine government (wow Genshin loves a corrupt government huh).

Will I pull? She's a geo claymore user and my triple crowned Itto is already collecting dust. That's a no from me.

Clorinde

Everyone say hello to my wife:

(I'm waiting)

I've seen so many people mad at Clorinde when I think she looks great. Her outfit is simpler than is typical for Genshin, but that's cos she's a no-nonsense fighter type! Like how we saw with Lyney, more muted designs often mean more dramatic animations, and we already saw Clorinde doing some dynamic fight stuff in the trailer.

She really interests me in that she's a champion duellist, strong enough that even Childe wants to fight her. We see Clorinde works directly beside Neuvilette in the trailer, so she must be high up in position. A gun and a sword? She's trying to kill Navia, but the Devs describe their relationship as "complicated"??

Clorinde is an Electro woman and these are always queer fyi.

I hope she's pretty straight laced, but not quite in the Sara way. She's boring tbh, mostly because she is always answering to someone else, and she gets so little screen time. For Clorinde to work, I think she needs to have independence and apt presence in the story to be explored - not just a prop/obstacle.

Her personality makes me fearful, but rn I'm pulling 100%.

[pumpkinpie59]

i think i’m enjoying the fontaine story now that i’m playing genshin again so here’s my thoughts on the new characters

-furina. i feel bad for her but i’m not a fan of her va. but i normally turn my sound off when i play so looking at just her writing,,,,,, i think she’s a fine character. the twist was interesting and i don’t fault furina for anything that happened. her being a drama queen but it being entirely a mask she puts on is fascinating. i don’t like focalors tho. she did furina so dirty

-neuvillette is kinda just vibin. he’s fine he’s likable. he doesn’t rlly stand out to me much except that i’m convinced he’s gay. i don’t ship him with anyone tho (most other characters are wayyyyy too young for him so i dislike seeing any ship art of him). i like to think of him as furina’s older brother.

-lyney. um. meh? he’s a good big brother but that’s all i rlly care about him. also he dresses like a slut? and his va is kinda annoying to me idk fjdksk

-lynette. kinda same as her twin. i appreciate that the twins are separate characters bc the trope where twins act exactly the same is a pet peeve of mine. i like that lynette is an introvert. idk that’s all i have to say.

-freminet. i don’t like his design. i’m so tired of the shorter guy characters wearing shorts and being treated like children. but as for his writing. it’s cool. i like that he’s the twins’ younger brother. i like how the plot actually addresses how much danger he was put in.

-charlotte. YOOOO NEWS REPORTER CHARACTER LETS GOOO!! she reminds me sm of april o’neil i love her.

-wriothesley. at first sight i thought he was a basic bad boy werewolf lookin weirdo (my demi butt can’t ever find thirst trap characters attractive lmao). but then i heard him talk,,,, and yeah his voice actor is genuinely a good actor???? i don’t like most of the anime-esque voice acting in this game, and the dramatic dialogue doesn’t help, but wriothesley’s voice actor actually tries to make it believable that his character is a person. and i respect that. and yeah um his backstory is darker than i expected,,,,

-arlecchino. she’s neat i like her aesthetic.

-clorinde. …….. finally a genshin character who doesn’t speak multiple paragraphs at a time LMAO. i like her so far. i kinda ship her with wriothesley tbh ,,, 👉👈 idk i like how often they work together.

-sigewinne. um. i don’t rlly like the child characters. also they were cowards for making her look human and not tHE LITERAL SPECIES SHE IS UGH-

-navia. SAVING THE BEST CHARACTER FOR LAST. bro i was blown away with how much respect and care they put into navia’s writing. her grief felt so real and i could not believe they put her through that much. she’s also so pretty and her design is so aesthetically pleasing. and tbh i hate seeing sm ship art under her name bc she’s too good for everyone lmaooo she’s great. i’m in love. she’s the best fontaine character (and maybe the best genshin character).

also i wanna say i did not expect for this chapter to have this much death and other dark themes. ik fontaine is the land of justice and court cases but man,,,,, tragic,,,,,

[iocity]

People wondering why Genshin often fails at visually interesting costume design while never questioning how bland and one dimensional their models are. Like yeah, artists and designers are going to run out of ideas after a while and have to reuse them, because they have like 6 playable models and three skin tones ranging from porcelain doll to slightly tinted porcelain doll. Also adding in I think they need to explore the concept of non-gendered clothing more. Personally I liked Furina’s and Arlecchino’s designs because of their suits. I think it would be pretty cool! And ik people will be like “no! the designs are great you just wanna shit on the artists!” like no. Some of the designs are beautiful, especially imo the earlier ones, and I would never hate on artists for doing the best they can and still outputting generally pretty designs. But after a while it kinda lost its flare for both five star and four star characters. By limiting the models to the same small number of models and skin tones, they are genuinely putting a cage around their artists and the variation they can provide. But I have a lot of opinions on fashion in general that I stand on, ten toes down, so maybe ppl will think I’m tweaking. And don’t even get me started on the cultural disrespect for black and brown culture and history they show.

[meiko3323]

Maxine (Arlefuri kiddo)

finally decided its time to sit down and finish designing her! you may see this is just a sketch, as ive yet to finalize the colour scheme of her outfit, im still weighing my options. split bw black and lavender/ purple for the dominant colour. the former looks cool, but the latter prob fits her motif better. anyway, for now let me tell you a bit more abt her:

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Name: Maxine (prefers Max for short)

Pronouns: she/ her

Vision: (undecided)

Weapon: (undecided)

outfit details (in case its hard to read):

- has an arm band on her right arm, gifted to her by her friend [REDACTED]. it has the (teyvatian) letter M embroidered on it, for her first name

- has a side pouch on her belt w some basic first aid stuff and dog treats

- short fingerless gloves on both hands

- has both elbow and knee guards that are in a water drop shape w an X inside

- has a dagger strapped to the top of her left boot

- forgot to note: the center bit on top of her tie is a romaritime flower, to mirror the one on her head

About Max (childhood):

due to Arlecchino often having to be away on Harbinger/ Fatui missions, Max was raised mainly by Furina. that said, Arle does try her best to be there for her daughter, spending time w her whenever shes free, and often brings Max little souvenirs from her travels.

while Max was a baby, Furina took a sabbatical from her directing work to raise her. she instilled in Max an appreciation of the arts, with her skillful reenactments, and puppet shows of various plays and stories. once Max is a bit older, Furina starts taking up jobs again, leaving her child in Neuvillettes care at the Palais Mermonia, and picking her up at the end of the day. Neuvi doesnt mind, as Max is a well-behaved kid and either brings books w her to read, or draws while shes there. Sedene and the other melusines take a shine to her, making sure Max never has a shortage of snacks and tea throughout the day.

About Martin:

Martin is her loyal canine companion. she found him as a puppy, tangled in some fishing nets. of course she begs her parents to take him in, and they acquiesce on the condition that he is her responsibility now. since then Martin never leaves her side, even accompanying her on Hearth missions

About Max (hobbies): Max really likes nature, and ever since she found Martin stuck in nets carelessly left behind by some fishers, she took to cleaning litter in her free time.

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i think thats all ive got for now ^^

im a sucker for animal companions, so ofc i had to give her a dog. he is named Martin after my dads german shepherd he had when i was a baby 🐶

Max's redacted friend that gave her the arm band is a future oc im working on cuz yes, shes gonna have friends, two of them in fact! no spoilers as to which genshin couples theyll be kiddos of, but any of yall that know me will probably have some good guesses 😸

still cant believe i went from thinking id never design an oc, to having a whole 3 now

thank you to my entire hoyofam for inspiring me and cheering me on thru this process, yalls fervent support means the world to me 💕

[the-fandom-crossroads]

Nakakon Genshin Cosplays!

Here's a quick breakdown of the pics! I managed to get an awesome picture of Travelers cape flowing in the wind as one of my first pictures at the con on Friday. Kathryne was amazing she was giving out quests and I got a Nahida sticker and a little mora coin! It was also cool to see Diluc's DLC outfit. that Leather coat is just so badass. The Dehya's great sword was definitely to scale. the Sword was taller than me! Arlecchino, La Signora, and Colombina came to slay and looked beautiful while doing it.

This is another picture of Freminet I got with Lyney! Along with the none candid shot of Al Haitham and Kaveh. Like I said Kaveh's little correction picture might be one of my favorites from the con. The Sucrose on Sunday is the Dehya from the Saturday before. It was a lot of fun seeing Sucrose lug around a giant claymore for all the meet up photos.

It can't be seen in this picture but this Nilou had the full Henna design on her back! Meanwhile this Yae Miko had such a pretty custom design for her outfit.

The group picture is of the cosplay cast that did the genshin daily quest panel. I been to there ask the cast panels in the past and this one was fun like always. The Furina's hat was so sparkly like you have no idea. And I was constantly worried about Scara's hat falling off. Even by the end I hadn't decided if it was attached to the wig or just really well balanced. This Venti was so nice for letting me quickly grab a picture. He was taking pictures of the One Piece meet up that you can see in the background.

And then the greatest surprise of the weekend, Rukkhadevata! She's in group photos on Sunday with a Nahida. But I got this photo Saturday night and man was her dress so pretty! Last up will be the group photos from the meet up on Sunday! I was late so I only got a few of the individual groups, but I did at least get the final group photo!

[marvel-starwarsfangirl]

Fontaine and Natlan Archon Quest Thoughts

I haven't played Genshin in over a year and I just got back into it. So, I had to speed run all the archon quests in order to feel like I can manage the insane amount of quests I have to do. Let me tell you, the Fontaine Archon quest line might just be my favorite in the entire game (my prev fave was Sumeru). But wow, Fontaine really stepped it up from the scale of the story to the characters.

The first part of the archon quest involves an incident at magician Lyney's show, leading to his trial for the disappearance of a woman. This later connected to another case in which women were disappearing from all over. I really loved how the story neatly transitioned from the small scale of Lyney's trial to the overarching case. It was honestly very intriguing and I really enjoyed the game mechanic of playing lawyer. Furthermore, the quests did a great job involving the various characters. Although Navia initially starts off as someone helping us defend Lyney, she becomes an integral part of finding out who kidnapped all those women. Her story about her father also was very heartfelt and Navia is easily one of my new favorite characters. Plus, Silver and Melus are awesome. The eventual reveal about Marcel and what he did was genuinely chilling.

Once we wrapped up the missing women case, Neuvillette has the player investigate something for him. This leads us to the Fortress of Meropide which is honestly such a cool location. The music and sound design really has stuck with me (and it finally got me off the ear worm that was Sumeru's music bc I think I spent too much time in that place; thanks Kaveh). Anyways, although we were stuck there for a while, it never felt boring. Wriothesely and the people that lived there set up a very interesting community. This is eventually culminated in the primordial sea breaking through its containment.

The third part of the archon quest involves Furina's trial as being a false archon and the fated prophecy of Fontaine. I think this archon quest excels so much is because you have that underlying prophecy connecting everything. Lyney's trial involved a women who went missing. The eventual reveal showed us that she was dissolved per the prophecy's words. In the Fortress of Meropide, the primordial sea almost kills everyone. We also learn that smaller amounts of the water can be made into a drug. Even Childe got some more lore reveal in connection to the sea. When it all comes together for Furina's trial, it hits so hard. This girl has spent hundreds of years acting as the archon and trying to protect her people, using a facade to create a sense of security. But in reality, she's not ok, the prophecy is still fated to take place, and Furina is very lost. It's heartbreaking.

In truth, Furina is the human side to Focalors. Focalors herself put her consciousness in the Oratrice. She tells Neuvillette the truth about the previous Hyrdo Archon, the revelation about the Fontainian people, and what she did in order to try and stop the prophecy. Furthermore, we learn a lot about Neuvillette and who he truly is. (Btw, this beautifully connects to his story and journey about belonging). Everything, in my opinion, is so well written and you really begin to feel for these characters. Both Neuvillette and Furina have such compelling and tragic stories which the archon quest beautifully highlights. Overall, just phenomenal.

And that's not even going into everything with Arlecchino. I wound up really, really loving her involvement in the story, the lore behind the House of the Hearth, and her boss fight in her story quest. She's a fascinating character and I look forward to seeing her again in future content. It also adds depth of Lyney, Lynette, and Freminet. They're fatui via due to the House of the Hearth, but they're not malicious like other Fatui characters the Traveler has encountered. I love all three of them very much and their sibling bond is very heartfelt.

That's not to mention all the other amazing characters like Clorinde, Sigewinne, the other Melusines, and Charlotte.

I loved this quest, can't you tell?

Natlan time. Spoilers because it's still quite recent.

We're still early in the Natlan archon quests but it didn't grab me as much as Fontaine's did. Overall, it was good and there's still more to come. I think the strengths for me came from the characters. Kachina is a very endearing kid and you genuinely want to help her out and do the Pilgrimage (at least I wanted to). Mualani is very kind and positive. I loved her right away and pulled for her even though I just got back into the game. She's awesome. Kinich is cool. I need to go back and watch his cutscenes at some point. I don't like Ajaw though. I wanna yeet that thing.

The Pilgrimage itself was pretty fun and I loved the teamwork with Kachina and Mualani. I enjoyed going around Natlan as well and seeing Mualani's home. After the Pilgrimage, Kachina is unable to be resurrected and we have to go into the Night Kingdom in order to save her. The design of the place was really cool and I like the distinction between the Night Kingdom monsters and regular ones. The souls who wander were also really spooky when they came at you. Overall, I liked the aesthetic of Natlan and its characters.

Where it kinda fell flat for me was with Mavuika and Capitano. I like her as a character and how Natlan chooses a different Pyro Archon ever couple hundred years or so. However, it feels like Capitano kinda shows up out of nowhere. I was really excited for the fight scene between them and it looked really cool. But it happens so fast that I wish we got a little more build up to it. The Abyss is the prime antagonist of Natlan and Capitano kinda just manifests. I really thought we were going to get a scene were Mavuika meets the Traveler and then Capitano arrives. Like, we barely know Mavuika because she's just sitting there for the first archon quest. I really didn't feel much when she and Capitano fought. She looked really cool, but I think we needed a bit more. Anyone else feel slightly underwhelmed?

There was so much hype in the trailer and it then it comes and goes by so quick. At least Capitano is sticking around for now. Perhaps this will all hit different once we get the rest of the Archon Quests in the Natlan storyline. I also wonder what the power levels are since Capitano, Dottore, and Columbina are supposed to have power that of a god. Mavuika I think has the same thing since she's a human who was granted divinity.

That's just me though.

I am very much looking forward to what's coming next and how Natlan will stave off the Abyss before it's entirely consumed by it. (I just realized this is very similar to Fontaine and Sumeru. All three nations are plagued by some sort of supernatural event that will destroy them, whether it's the withering, the primordial sea, or the Abyss. Hopefully, Snezhnaya will be different.

Anyways, those are my thoughts on the everything right now. I love the characters and Fontaine Archon quest went so hard.

[eternal-moss]

Okay what the heck is going on in the 4.2 trailer????

SPOILERS

What the hell is ‘everyone’s dead’?? And Papa???? Is that Neuvillette? That was where my mind first went to but there’s the whale as well I guess. I’m living for the Childe lore, I just hope it’s executed well. I’m also really not a fan of Skirk’s design. She just feels like another pale-haired pale-skinned duplicate. Nothing stands out about her. She just looks like 500 mihoyo characters mashed together, I thought she might have something special for her (honestly if someone said her design was AI generated I wouldn’t be surprised). Also, I’m really not a fan of how exposing her clothes are. Genshin’s really just not great on that front for female characters, there’s either an Obligatory Boob Window, or the nonsense Sumeru bikini or an excessively rendered button straining to hold back someone’s shirt despite canonically getting her clothes tailored for herself. But Skirk’s boobs are like,, barely covered in the slightest. I’m not a fan of sex appeal in video games (who would have guessed), especially when it breaks logic’s back to make such impractical clothes ‘make sense’ in canon

But! Furina! I love her clothes! I wish that the design could have changed slightly when the Arkhe alignment switches rather than the white portions turning black, but I really like her clothes. Very classy and regal, I’m glad they went the route they did, I’m a big fan. I’m quite excited, I decided to pull for her since it’s my 18th birthday haha, I hope her character OST is good as well.

Her design is so cool :3 (although those shorts look uncomfortable as heck, I wish they were a bit longer, I feel like sitting down in them would hurt lol).

The story is looking great, Fontaine is absolutely my favourite archon quest so far! I love how all the characters have been characterised, even if I hate them (looking at Wriothesley), Neuvillette and Arlecchino were immediate favourites, Childe of course has always been a character I loved and the hearth siblings + Furina grew on me massively, I didn’t care much about them at the beginning but they all grew on me so much.

There is going to be some proper angst coming up and I am waiting excitedly! The wider plot and lore of Genshin has single handedly been extended to crazy extents by Neuvillette just casually explaining Things That We Definitely Weren’t Supposed To Find Out About.