#i think so much about what furina has been through and no way she does NOT have nightmares

[alchemania]

Drowning.

(Emotions are overwhelming, sometimes too hard to traverse alone. Thankfully, she doesn't have to.)

“I'm accusing you of not being the Hydro Archon at all.” 

Those words freeze her where she stands, and whispers fly throughout the courtroom, like vultures searching for a carcass. Wait, no. Nonononono. This could not be happening. No one was supposed to discover her, she had to fulfill the prophecy or everybody would die and all of this would be for nothing and– the glares from all around and the distrust freeze her in her tracks, and Furina can't breathe, breath catching in her throat so hard she chokes. “Wait! Wait!” she cried, shaking her head frantically. “Don't listen to what he's saying! I- I am the Hydro Archon I swear! I'm real! I'M REAL!!” 

She had to be. She could be nothing else, or all was lost, all was for naught. She could not allow that to happen she WOULD NOT allow it to happen. There had to be a way, there must be some way…the water! Yes! She's moving her hands rapidly as she talks now, attempting to get away from the spider's web that entangled her further and further. Put your hand in the water, Furina, they said, and she did, she did, deadly determined to keep up the facade, to live out the role. But that was ultimately what undid her- the water, diluted as it was, would not kill her, but she exhibited the same symptoms as the diver boy- Freminet, was his name (he would be dead soon as well oh god. Oh god. And she knew he had only wanted to help, they all did, but they did not know that in doing so, they'd doomed themselves..) 

“On the charges of impersonating the Hydro Archon, Furina-” 

“No! No!” she screamed, tears flowing like a river. “Stop! STOP!!! You don't understand, none of you understand please Neuvillette LISTEN TO ME -” There was so much pain in his eyes, she noticed, so much turmoil. But he uttered the damning words, regardless. 

“..is guilty.” 

Guilty. 

That verdict stopped her heart, and Furina stumbled back and crumpled into her chair, looking like one dead. At the eleventh hour, she'd stumbled. Five hundred years of lies and guilt all for them, all to save them, down the drain. It was for nothing. SHE was for nothing. What was the point of it all..? 

“All this time, she lied to us?! But why?”

To save you, I had no other choice. But it doesn't matter now, anyway. The flood is going to come.  

All of a sudden, a terrible shaking rocked the entire courthouse, and an otherworldly being, resembling some sort of whale, seemed to swim through the building, sucking in horrified onlookers. People screamed and pushed each other in a mad dash to the exit, and somehow, Furina felt her legs carrying her as well, running outside along with the crowd. Her worst fears were already coming into being - the unforgiving waves were rising higher and higher, and folks were scrambling - to rooftops, to the trees, wherever they could go to get away. Furina watched numbly, being unforgivingly bumped into and shoved aside as her people fled for any hope of safety. 

It was gut wrenching, also seeing humanity shine through in these moments - someone helping an older lady through the streets so she didn't fall, a little boy picking up a frightened cat so it wouldn't be run over and tearing through the streets like the angels themselves guided his footsteps. But it would not be enough. Even so, she ran, splashing up puddles as her heels made contact with the ground again and again and again and again. “Get to higher ground!” Furina screamed, helping a young lady onto a rooftop. “Don't stop moving!”

The hands of disaster would not be held back, though, and as the people climbed higher and higher, some of them began to slip and fall- wives screamed and cried for their husbands, parents for their children, children for their parents, friends for their companions, and she could do nothing but watch it all happen, hopes and dreams dissolving just like her entire nation. “No, no no!!! Please! Stop!” 

“Help us!!” People screamed, and she could not. There was nothing she could do. She was helpless, her hands were tied, and all she could do was watch. Lyney and Lynette held Freminet near to them as the waters rose, heads bowed in solemn acceptance of what was to come, and the boy sobbed, dreading the inevitable.

“It's alright,” Lyney comforted. “It's alright. You're gonna see your mother soon, you'll be together again, and we'll see our parents too- and - and we'll never be apart anymore. It'll all be okay.”

“I don't want to die!” Freminet wailed, and Lynette shook like a leaf, fear taking hold. 

“.. I don't either. But, we'll embrace it hand in hand, okay??”

“Mhm.” 

“I love you guys.”

“I love you too.” 

The waters consumed them soon, and Furina couldn't breathe. They were gone. They were gone. 

The next thing she knows, she's atop the highest building in Fontaine, and the waters lap at her feet, a silent but deadly testimony to all that had happened. She was all alone now…. everyone was dead and it- it was all her fault. Hollowly, Furina looked to the water, sobbing and crumpling to her knees. The water had changed - it was just normal seawater now, and she found herself frantically pawing in it, inconsolable. “Give them back! Give them back to me!!! I'll do anything I swear - I'll take their place, I - please!!! They didn't do anything wrong it's not their fault it's mine! IT'S MINE!!!!!"

Her reflection changed, and Focalors stared back. Furina yelped, scuttling back like a surprised crab, and sniffled. “Furina. Come here,” she called, and there was no anger in her voice, only sorrow. When the girl approached, the goddess looked ready to weep. “What have you done?” she breathed, horror marring her face.

“I- I didn't mean to, they- they found me out,” she stammered, “I-”

“You were so close,” Focalors mourned. “But it was all for nothing.”

“I'm sorry. I'm so sorry,” Furina wailed, and the goddess sighed. “Please, I'll do anything - I don't care what happens to me -"

“There is nothing more you can do. You failed the task that you were given, and all is lost. I see now it was a mistake to trust in you.”

Furina's pupils shrank about three sizes, and she choked on air, shaking like a leaf. “I'm - a mistake?”

“Yes, Furina. You are a mistake. But it's alright, because I created you, and so the blame falls to me.” 

“I- you - I had to suffer all this time, for nothing,” she wept, anger weaving its way into her veins, “You have no idea what I've been through! You don't - you could never know! It's your fault I had to go through all this! How- how dare you call me a mistake!!” Breaths ragged, Furina splashed the water furiously, again and again and again. “I'm NOT a mistake I'm NOT! TAKE IT BACK! TAKE IT BACK!! You said I was special!! You created me because you wanted me to live the way you couldn't!!! You created me because you BELIEVED in me!! WAS THAT A LIE, FOCALORS?! WAS ANYTHING REAL!?” 

The reflection changed back to herself, and Furina was left alone with no answers. A beat passed, and the girl yanked off her hat and threw it into the water as hard as she could, screeching. Off came her coat, and her gloves, and she hurled them into the waves as well, screaming and crying at the top of her lungs. And Furina cried. She cried for all her people, and for all the pain she'd been shouldering, she cried for the pointlessness of it all, she cried because she was angry, she cried because she was tired, she cried because she was sad. And when she could cry no more, she hollowly stared at the waves, the waves that had doomed so many unfairly to a watery end. If she had just held on a little longer, if she had just kept up the act for a while more…..all would have been well. If she had been stronger, then..maybe..maybe-

“I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.” 

Someone was calling her, and she curled into herself, wrapping her arms around her person.

“Furina,” the voice called again, and she looked up with red rimmed eyes to the heavens, chest heaving. 

“No, not up there. Listen. Wake up. You have to wake up.”

“..what are you talking about..? The prophecy-- it's already come to pass it doesn't matter anymore -"

“Furina.” 

She looked to the water again, and Tetsuya's face replaced her reflection, to her shock. “Wake up,” he commanded. “Wake up!” The image then sprang from the water, stopping her heart from fear as it grabbed her by the shoulders.

“Wake up!!” 

Furina screamed raggedly, nearly tumbling out of bed, and Wanderer was right there, grabbing her face in both his hands. “Hey, hey!! It's alright! It's alright!”

“They're all gone,” the girl wailed, inconsolable, and he stared in bewilderment, face twisting almost comically in confusion.

“..huh?”

“Everyone- I failed, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry please please you have to help me please - there has to be something we can do-” she can barely breathe around her sobs, and Wanderer shakes his head, slowly. 

“No. No you didn't, Furina, listen. It was a dream. You were having a nightmare of what could have been.” 

“Everyone is-” 

“Alive, yes.”

“I'm not- a mistake?”

“....uh, excuse me?” Tetsuya asked after a beat of disbelief, expression darkening like a storm cloud had taken residence. “No…Who the hell told you that?” 

“She- she said -”

“She's wrong, whoever she is,” he interrupted, and Furina sobbed, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Furina. I need you to breathe.” He took her hand then and squeezed, frowning. “Come on. In through your nose, out through your mouth.” The girl coughed harshly, sucking in irregular breaths, and after a moment of hesitation, Wanderer took Furina's hand and placed it on top of his stomach, breathing calmly. “Can you follow that?” 

“M- mhm,” she managed, taking in a shaky but steadier breath, and the rise and fall of Tetsuya's abdomen guided her through the motions, slowly steadying. 

“Good, good,” he nodded, as her breathing evened out. “..do you need anything?”

“Can- can you h- hold me?? Please?”

“Ah- alright,” he relented, and Furina leaned on his shoulder, sniffling roughly. “..do you want to talk about it.”

“..no…”

“Okay. Then we'll just sit here.” 

And they did just that, silence only broken by the girl's quiet sobs. 

“..what if everything went wrong??”

“The important thing is that it didn't. What you need to focus on right now is what you're going to do now that everything is over. It wasn't all for nothing.” He glared at her, then, but she could tell his anger was not with her. “And even if everything had gone to hell, you would not have been for nothing. Don't you let anyone tell you otherwise, not even yourself.” 

“..okay..okay. .. Tetsuya?”

“Mm.”

“... I don't think I'm okay.”

He gave a bitter, hearty laugh at that. “I don't think anyone expects you to be, Furina.”

“M’sorry if-”

“If what? You were a bother? You woke me up? If I didn't care, I wouldn't be here,” Tetsuya asserted, holding her closer. “Don't you remember what you said? Emotions are a burden, never the person who carries them. And when you care about people, you carry them too.”

“You remember what I said…?”

“I remember many things. More than I would like to. Important thing is, you're not okay right now, and quite frankly I'm terrible at comfort and all that. But I can promise I can kill whatever gives you hell. I'll be here when you need me, and if you wanna cry, well. To hell with it. After everything you've been through, I think you kinda earned it.” 

“Okay. Thank you…” 

"Mm.” 

“... I wish I could hear her.” 

“What?”

“Focalors. She's not here anymore, but I wish- she could've told me she was proud of me. That I did good. That - I was strong, and. . I did my best.” 

“Well, I'm not her. But I think you did a hell of a job,” Wanderer muttered. “Sometimes you have to be your own closure and accept that the people you need most will not be by your side. I would know. And- if nobody else, you tell yourself.”

“I.. I did good,” Furina whispered, tears falling fast, and Tetsuya nodded, rubbing her shoulder to soothe. “It hurt a lot.”

“It did, but the worst of it is over. And you are going to get better.”

“I'm gonna get better. I'm gonna heal.”

“And you're not gonna put yourself down when you have setbacks.”

“. .I'll try.”

“Sometimes that's all you can do.” 

“Mhm.” She looked up then, eyes misty. “Hey.”

“What.”

“I love you,” Furina smiled wetly, and Tetsuya blinked twice, eyes also a little glossy. 

"..uh huh," he mumbled. "Love you too.”

“..What?????”

“I'm not going to say it again,” he huffed, looking fit to blush, and she squeezed him hard, laughing delightedly. 

“You love me, you love me!!!” 

"Yeah, yeah, you wormed your way into my heart and I can't find it in me to kick you out. Is that you want me to say??"

"Yes," she grinned, and Tetsuya sucked his teeth.

"I'm in your corner. That's the best you're gonna get right now."

She leaned her head back on his shoulder, and Wanderer sighed, looking affectionately weary. "Geez...... I'm getting soft."

"Is that bad?"

"..well. Not as much as I thought it would be."

Sometimes, life was still hell. But at least she had someone to walk through the fire with her now.

[wri0thesley]

eyes - neuvillette x reader (8.5k)

you have always known, one day, you would be married off to someone not of your choosing. but you certainly never expected it to be the iudex himself.

cw: not sfw text. explicitly chubby virgin reader, some insecurity, arranged marriage. double dick neuvillette, cunnilingus, bathing together. reader is afab but referred to with neutral pronouns.

this was a commissioned work.

There are certain standards one must follow as a child of Fontainian society; certain things that are expected of you. A certain way to speak and move and act - a set of rules that have been laid out clearly for you since the day you were born. You will know which fork to use at which mealtime. You will know the difference between what is appropriate to wear to a matinee and to an evening show. You will trust your elders to guide you, and you will be grateful for the life that they have oh-so-painstakingly laid out. 

So you are not surprised when your mother tells you that you are to be wed. 

You have even been expecting it. Since you became of a marriageable age, you have looked at all of the other children of society and wondered what kind of match your family might make. One of your own generation? Older, perhaps - more secure in their wealth and their status and position? You have even laughed about it with your friends, when you were out of earshot of all of your elders - discussing who would be the worst options, gossiping about who has had who over for tea recently. 

She’s surprisingly tight-lipped about who you’re going to wed, too. That’s not unexpected either, though it does make anxiety roil hot and sour in your gut. Plenty of children have run away from home so as not to be wed to somebody decades and decades their senior, or somebody with a reputation for cruelty - or sometimes even because the match that has been made has not taken into account a love affair unbeknownst to the elders of the family. 

You have no such love affair to romantically dash off into the sunset with; you have been a good and dutiful child your whole life. And though you do, perhaps, wish that you could know what it was like to have a love so fiery and passionate you would disobey the only life you’ve ever known . . . you have come to accept that will not be your lot in life. 

You have even worried once or twice that somebody, upon finding that they were engaged to you, might wish to run away. You have looked in the mirror and scrutinised your face, your posture, your body - a body that has fallen out of fashion recently, the beauty ideal in Fontaine being very much ‘look as much like Lady Furina as possible’. It is your body, though - and it has stood you in good stead, and the night in which you are finally to meet your betrothed your mother and your maid stand in your bedroom looking approvingly at how your gown falls over the soft peaks and curves of your hips and chest. 

All you know about this person who you are to be wedded to is that every time your family talks of them, they can barely hide the smiles on their faces and the superior lilt to their tone. Whatever match has been made for you . . . they are utterly ecstatic about it. 

“I think he’ll be more than pleased,” your mother says, tugging at a fold of fabric - she had chosen to have this dress made in pale blue, though it is not a colour that has been in your wardrobe before. A man, then; a well-placed man who makes your family giddy with excitement - a man partial to the colour blue and a spouse whose figure runs more to curves than lines. 

It is not a lot to go on. 

So you do not know what to expect, as you are brought down the stairs and into the dining room. All kinds of thoughts dance through your head; some pleasant, some . . . not so. You know that you will meekly accept what you have been given, the way you have been brought up to do - and it is not lost on you that the trajectory of tonight will perhaps influence your life for years and years to come. There is always the chance that, seeing you in person, your parent’s intended will reject you--

Your mind is churning at a hundred thoughts a minute as you step inside the dining room - but when you see who is seated at the head of the table, all of those thoughts seem to clatter to the ground at once. 

It is a wonder that your mouth does not drop open. 

In all of the time you have spent gossiping about possible matches in society, nobody has ever mentioned - even off-handedly - the possibility that the Chief Justice of Fontaine may be looking to marry. 

But there sits Monsieur Neuvillette - a little awkward, yes (he is being chattered to most insistently by your father), but straight and tall and handsome in his chair, his robes of office perfectly pressed, his face schooled carefully into a polite look of vague interest. Your mother coughs, and he looks up--

And his eyes, the colour of the evening sky or a perfect sapphire, widen just a touch. His mouth opens, the barest amount - and you swear that as his gaze sweeps over your form in your carefully chosen blue dress (a choice you are beginning to understand), he visibly swallows. 

“Ah,” he says, and he stands - walking towards you, bending and inclining his head. “It’s a pleasure to . . . finally meet you in person.” You’re still rather stunned speechless by everything that is happening - you cannot help but feel as though things are happening around you, and not to you - but as Neuvillette uses one of his gloved hands to take yours and to press a lingering kiss on your palm that makes your entire body feel as though it is on fire, you are suddenly all too aware of just what is going on. “You look radiant tonight.”

“M-Monsieur,” you say in return, and you sweep what must be the clumsiest curtsey of your life. “I . . . I have to admit that this is a surprise.” 

“Not an unwelcome one,” your mother puts in before he can respond. “Of course, we’re delighted with this match, and we’re absolutely sure you’ll be delighted with them--”

“I understand,” Neuvillette says, his eyes not leaving you. “If I may be frank with you, until recently I had never thought to marry.” 

Questions rise in your throat. If he had not thought to marry, why was he doing it now? And why you, when surely he must see the upper echelons of society every single day? What had brought him to your family’s door, asking after your hand over everyone else he must have had first pick of? But these are not polite questions for the dinner table, when your mother and your father are already ushering the two of you to your seats beside one another and beaming so brightly that it hurts to look at them. 

The dinner table is a place for light, polite conversation; the last opera you saw, the weather. Neuvillette smiles into his wine glass - a glass you notice is filled with water - when you mention that it has not seemed to rain much recently. You notice him looking at you every so often, over rims of glasses and delicate bites of foods . . . but you know that you, too, cannot help but sneak a glance at the Iudex of Fontaine seated by your side. 

Your future husband! Your betrothed! The man you will spend the rest of your life with! 

As much as you may wish for a moment alone with him, you know it is not proper; so when he stands and kisses your hand again and your father takes Neuvillette into his study to hash out some further details of your impending nuptials, you swallow your disappointment and remind yourself that you will have years with Neuvillette, to learn his secrets - to discover why he has decided to take you as a spouse. 

There is little time for getting to know one another beyond the most surface of levels when a marriage has been arranged for you - there is even littler time when the man you are going to marry is one of the most powerful and busiest men in Fontaine. Even the few times you see each other as the wedding looms closer - the period your parents optimistically refer to as ‘courting’ - there is little time to get to know his heart. 

You realise, at the final fitting for your wedding clothes, that the first time you will be truly alone with the man who is to be your husband will be the night of your wedding. 

And that particular thought . . . 

You know the ways of the world. You know what will be expected of you, in order to properly consummate a marriage - you know that you will be intimate with Neuvillette for years to come. But the idea that the first time that the two of you will be able to snatch time with one another with no parents or gossip-mongers or anybody else around will also be the time in which you and he will legally become one (and you know, from experience at the Opera Epiclese, that Neuvillette is nothing if not a stickler for the law) . . . oh, it is enough to make you reconsider one last time running away from your responsibilities. 

“Mother?” You ask, your voice quiet, the night before your wedding. You have spent the entire day overseeing flowers and being asked questions, watching the cooks and the waiters bring in fine delicacies from all over Teyvat (Neuvillette had not wanted hosting duties; you get the impression that as long as the ceremony was done legally, he would be pleased enough to call you his spouse. But your parents have been preparing for this your whole life, so they had indeed wanted the spectacle of their child marrying the most powerful man in Fontaine. With no family to speak of, he had acquiesced to their desires. Your parents are in shivers of delight that Lady Furina will, too, grace the halls of your family home). “What if . . . what if I do not please him?”

You are sitting before your dressing table, in your sleeping robe, haunted by thoughts of all of the things that could go wrong whilst your mother double checks your wedding gown and the jewellery you are to wear tomorrow. She looks over at you - her face is normally hard, but as she sees the knit of your brow and the bite of your teeth into your lip, she sighs softly. 

“You have nothing to worry about,” she says, stroking your cheek. “The Iudex asked for you specifically.” You blink at her, wide-eyed, and she laughs a soft little laugh. “Don’t let it get to your head, now; they have been badgering him to marry for some time . . . but he did ask for you, out of all of the people he could have had. So take heart in that. Do you think him a foolish man?”

“No,” you shake your head, your voice a soft whisper. You suppose that Neuvillette is many things, but ‘foolish’ would not be one that would cross your mind. 

“There. You and he are going to have a happy life together.” A sly look steals over her face. “Ah . . . are you worried about the wedding night itself?”

“Mama!”

“It’s something we all go through, my dear.” She catches your chin in her hand and smiles at you, and for a moment, despite all of the times you have disliked her for the life you have been forced into . . . you are reminded that she is your mother, and she wants this to work just as much as you do. “Do not be frightened of him. Do not be overwhelmed by him. He has chosen you to be his equal, but he will not expect too much of you. I promise . . . everything is going to be fine.” She gives you a wink. “And if I were you, and were to marry a man who looked like the Chief Justice - why, I’d be positively thrilling with excitement at the thought of my wedding night!”

“Mama!” This time, your scandalised tone brings her out in peals of laughter, and she kisses the top of your head as she leaves the bedroom. The door clicks behind her. 

Your final night in your childhood room; your final night unmarried. One last slumber amongst your own silken pillows and sheets (what kind of bed, you wonder, does the Chief Justice sleep in?). 

That night, you dream of a sea that churns with a similar anxiety to the one that you feel in your own belly. 

The morning of your wedding day, it is raining. Your family fuss over it, but as you stand at your window with people running all about you, messing with your hair and rearranging your dress and having arguments about your bouquet, you cannot help but find it comforting to watch the rain fall in droplets, stopping and starting again, mirroring your own still-nervous heart. 

You think you will falter at the last hurdle, as you stand outside of the Opera Epiclese - normally a place of theatricals, but also a place of the law, and the place that the most important part of your wedding day will occur - and take a deep breath ready to start your new life. The bouquet in your hands is full of rainbow roses and romaritime flowers, bursting with colour; you are grateful to have it to hold on to, as the doors are thrown open and you walk slowly down the aisle of the theatre. 

Your eyes desperately seek out someone who will provide you an ounce of comfort in the crowd, all peering at you curiously to see the person who has finally tamed the Chief Justice. This is a spectacle as much as a wedding, you suppose; and as you see some people whisper behind their hands, you wonder if you have been found wanting. You bite your lip hard to stop yourself crying - and then, onstage, his hands clasped over his cane, your gaze finds Neuvillette himself. 

The patter of the rain on the roof of the Opera stops all at once. For a moment, you swear everything falls silent, as you and he look at each other. 

Slowly, his mouth breaks into a small, secret smile, and the buzz of whispering intensifies - but that smile is enough to steady you. To remind you he has been nothing but kind and polite. To whisper to you that perhaps this union is a thing to look forward to, and not to be feared. 

He looks as handsome as ever; his suit perfectly-pressed, his hair streaming in a neat silver white tail behind him. There are flowers that have been braided into it; and you see, as you ascend the stairs to the stage, that there are a group of Melusines sitting in the front rows with matching little bouquets of Lumidouce bells grasped in their little hands, beaming up at the Iudex. 

Lady Furina presides over the proceedings, tossing her hair and preening and holding the audience in the palm of her hand - another reminder that theatrics are more respected than the law in a land like Fontaine. But you cannot bring yourself to mind too much - not when Neuvillette’s smile is steady, his eyes trained on you the whole time. Not when, as he repeats the words in a clear voice like a ringing bell, he whispers them again as if they are only for you. Not when he takes his bare hands - ungloved, for the exchange of the rings - and holds your own, soft and round and dimpled, as he slides the ring onto your finger as if you are the most delicate thing in the world. 

When Furina - with more glee in her voice than you would have expected - announces that he may now kiss you, you feel your shoulders draw up in anxiety. The entire audience goes quiet, waiting with baited breath for this - as if it is one of the things they have been waiting for all day. Neuvillette, though, keeps his gaze on you. He acts as though there are not a thousand Fontainian citizens watching your every move - slowly, he places his arm around your waist and draws you closer to him, so close that the crowds seem to melt away and there is nobody but the two of you. 

“You look beautiful, by the way,” he murmurs into your ear, angling his head so that the crowd cannot see that he has said something that is only for the two of you (no doubt they would be baying to be privy to the marriage bed, if they thought they could get away with it) - and then, his lips brush against yours. They are cool and soft; the lightest tang of sea-salt remains on your own after he is done. The crowd roars with their approval as he steps back and bows to you, pressing his forehead to the back of your hand - and you stand there, trembling, excited and nervous and frightened and on display all at once, as your new husband takes you by the hand and gently, gently leads you back down one of the aisles of the opera, out to the waiting carriages to spirit you away from the spectacle of the opera house and into the spectacle that your parents have designed as a celebration. 

As it turns out, it is not so bad. Your parents have understood, at the very least, that the two of you will be retiring early to Neuvillette’s residence (your trunks already packed, already loaded onto a carriage to be delivered in the next few days). They have managed to rein themselves in; only invite the most important echelons of society to this celebration, despite the luxury and the excess that has been coming into the house for weeks now. 

So you bow to Lady Furina and accept her compliments with a stutter and hot cheeks, Neuvillette by your side, his steadying hand on your waist. Neuvillette expertly manages to weave around your family’s ballroom as if he has been doing it all his life - but then, remembering how much older he is than you, you suppose that he has been doing it at least as long as you have been alive. He has a remarkable way of remaining polite, yet not brokering too much room for small talk and gossip, as if he can tell that this kind of thing is not your favourite. 

You overhear, when you have been spirited away from your husband’s side for ten minutes by some of your friends, an older couple accosting Neuvillette. 

“You had all of the choice in the world,” the man says, poking Neuvillette in the centre of his chest - from the slur in his words, you think he may have partaken in a touch too much of your parent’s imported dandelion wine. “Whyever did you make this one?”

Your heart stutters in your chest; a trickle of sweat rolls down the back of your wedding gown. This is what you have been fearful of, this whole time - you being found wanting, you being seen as not good enough for Neuvillette--

But your new husband merely smiles. 

“I have eyes,” he says, mildly, and he turns away from the couple and brings an end to the conversation that you know must leave them utterly blistering. He comes to find you, instead - apologising most profusely to your friends for having to steal you away. 

You stay for as short a time as you can manage, with the congratulations and the toasts and the speeches (a Melusine or two makes a speech for Neuvillette; you much prefer their simple honesty to some of the awful gushing things that come from the mouths of connections of your parents who have never given much care to you before), with the cake being cut--

“Here,” Neuvillette murmurs, and your cheeks go hot as he feeds you a bite of his own slice from the same fork he has been using. “I must confess that this is rather too sweet for me.” 

By the time that Neuvillette begins to make his excuses, bowing and smiling and thanking his hosts and the guests, the moon is already hanging white and plump in the black velvet of the night - and as you say goodbye to your parents, your Mama gives you a wink that makes you go hot all over. 

Neuvillette’s residence is surprisingly unassuming; it is smaller than your parents house, and he does not employ half as many maids or staff. For a moment, his gaze flitters over to you, and you sense a nervousness in the air. 

“I am sorry if it is not what you were expecting,” he says, voice clipped - but you shake your head, and try and let some of the anxiety drain from your tight shoulders. 

“It’s lovely,” you say, firmly, as he helps you out of the carriage. This time, when his gloved hand - he has chosen to put his gloves back on, his wedding ring glinting over the black satin - touches your waist, you gasp. The frisson of promise that runs through the touch makes you feel dizzy with possibility. Neuvillette looks at you with those dark sapphire eyes of his, and murmurs;

“I apologise if you’re nervous. I have no wish to . . . make you do anything you don’t want to. I am more than willing to wait-- the law does not require we consummate directly on our wedding night, and if you are frightened--”

A drop of rain lands on your cheek. 

“No,” you breathe out, all in a rush, surprised to find it falling from your lips as you say it. But then you think of his lingering kiss, of the way he shut down that couple at the wedding reception, of that private smile he had given you to soothe your fears as you walked down the aisle, and you’re even more surprised to find that you mean it. “Not at all. I-- I am nervous, but . . .”

He gives you another soft, gentle smile that makes your heart feel ready to burst out of your chest. The raindrop you had felt has no companions; simply a freak occurrence in the weather. 

“I must admit,” he murmurs, as he helps you towards his front door. “I am very pleased to hear that. I hope you won’t find it remiss of me to admit that I have been . . . rather looking forward to it.”

Your cheeks go hot again. The idea of Neuvillette, imagining you like that, even waiting for it . . . it is hard not to find it at once flattering and embarrassing. Neuvillette opens the door for you, but as you go to step inside--

“Ah, just a moment--” He leans his cane against the front door, and reaches for you. “I’m aware there’s a custom about bringing one’s new spouse over the threshold, and I would hate to break tradition--”

“You don’t have to,” you say, stuttering on the words. “I’m not light--”

But Neuvillette has already reached for you, already wrapped a surprisingly strong arm about your waist - and before you know it, as if he hasn’t needed to exert any energy at all, you have been pulled into his hold, held like a princess being rescued by a knight. 

You look up at him, and he looks down at you, his smile soft once more. 

“You feel perfectly light in my arms,” he tells you, as he steps over the threshold with you and gently places you down as softly and carefully as he had picked you up. You were not expecting the strength from him - he wears his robes of office, of course, and he certainly has the height, but there’s a kind of willowiness about him that does not exactly betray him being able to do such a thing. 

(If he can do that, a wicked little voice in your head whispers, imagine what else he could do to you - how easily he could manipulate you in a more intimate moment--)

It’s almost as if he can read your mind. He laughs a clear, silvery laugh like the rushing of a river. 

“Shall I show you to our bedchambers?” He asks you. “I’m sure you’ll want to get all of your finery off soon; it looks rather heavy. If you are not opposed . . . perhaps we may bathe together?”

Your heart, beating double time in your chest. Neuvillette’s eyes, cool and calm. The way your blood seems to sing in your veins. You smile back at him. 

“I would like that very much.”

Neuvillette’s house may not be as extravagant as expected, but the bathroom more than makes up for it - and most of all, the bathtub set into the floor, as wide as a swimming pool. He sees your look of surprise and laughs, sounding for once a little embarrassed.

“I enjoy being able to relax in water - natural water most of all,” he tells you, “but it would be rather . . . scandalous, if an ordinary citizen were to find me unexpectedly. This is my compromise. One of my vices, you may say.”

As vices go, it is a tame one, and you look at the bathtub - already full of clear water, so you can see the mosaic tiles on the bottom (the tub itself is stepped, so one can simply sit and relax at one end or perhaps even use the other end to swim a few strokes). 

“I loved to swim when I was little,” you say, wistfully. “As I got older, my parents thought the idea of me wearing my swim clothes too often was improper, but . . .”

“Well,” Neuvillette says, placing his hands upon your hips with only the lightest of pressure as if he is still too afraid to touch you too much. “You are welcome to use this bathroom for swimming whenever you wish. It is not quite the same, of course, but I want nothing more than you to be happy here. What’s mine is yours now, sweet one.”

It’s the first pet name he has used for you, and it makes your mouth go dry. Slowly, you turn towards him. You are about to be naked together, you suppose - even if you are going to bathe before anything more intimate happens - so you ought to be braver. You reach for his face, palms warm on his cheeks - and though his eyes flash in surprise, he gladly leans in to let you kiss him. 

This time, you let the kiss linger for longer; this private moment in the sanctity of a home that is to be shared between you. He sighs into your mouth and pulls you closer himself, so as you cradle his face his palms rest upon the ample curve of your hip. His teeth tug, almost shyly, at your bottom lip - and you feel your lashes flutter, your heart give an answering skip in your chest. His tongue traces the seam of your mouth and you part your lips, allowing him to take you as he wants - but even this ‘taking’ is done slowly, carefully, like a man who wishes to savour you. 

You pull back, your breath coming in soft little gasps - Neuvillette’s eyes are half-lidded, but it does not stop him smiling at you, putting you at ease. 

“We ought to disrobe,” he tells you, kindly - and he gently motions for you to turn, so that he may work at the difficult laces and hooks of your bridal outfit. You feel a little shy, as the fabric pools around your ankles, and you are left bare - but then he is turning you around, and in his eyes you see something that must be close to worship. 

“I am a man who says what I mean,” he tells you, tilting your chin upward toward him. “I have not spared your ego, little one - everything I see before me is . . .” He shakes his head, letting loose a ragged breath, more undone than you’ve seen him before. “More than I could ever have asked for.” One gloved finger trails across your lips, tracing a patch from the corner of your mouth down to your throat, your collarbone - reaching behind you to unclip your undergarments, so they fall to the ground with your gown. “You’re truly the loveliest creature.” 

“I--”

He shakes his head, smiling still. 

“Perhaps in my choice of a spouse,” he murmurs, “I let my own desires overtake me a touch . . . but ah, if you could see yourself the way I see you--”

You hesitantly hook your thumbs into your underwear and stand before him, naked completely - and you win, for your bravery, another ragged breath. 

“I must warn you,” Neuvillette murmurs, as he reaches for his own collar and begins to unbutton, to untie, to work the trappings of his own outfit off of himself. “You may be . . . surprised.”

“By what?” You feel brave enough to give him a little smile, though your heart is still beating faster than you’ve ever felt it. “Am I to discover you have been hiding extra limbs?”

Neuvillette’s gaze does not falter. 

“Something like that,” he agrees, mildly, as he slips his shirt and coat from his shoulders. His skin is milky pale in the moonlight streaming in from a window set high in the wall, his hair glimmering silver. He takes your breath away. 

Who would have thought you would ever find yourself in this position with the Chief Justice of Fontaine? 

He unbuttons his placket slowly - and as he carefully works down the fabric of his trousers, you realise exactly what it was he was warning you about. 

“I hope I do not disappoint you,” he says, as your mouth falls open at the sight of his cocks; resting one atop another, both half-swollen already. Your mouth goes dry at the thought of your wedding night, still to come. “I assure you, I know exactly what to do with them.” 

“I--I didn’t mean to--!” Your voice comes out a little panicked - but then, Neuvillette lets out a soft huff of laughter. 

“It’s quite alright,” he tells you. “But I will reiterate; I will not hurt you. You are . . . more than welcome to touch. But if we do not get in soon, I fear the water will have gone cold.” 

Neuvillette helps you into the bath, surprisingly unashamed of his own nakedness. At the press of his body against yours as he helps you down the steps inlaid into the tub, you feel his cocks jump against you, the wet smear of something against the dip of your back - but then, Neuvillette is lowering himself into the water beside you and letting loose a sigh of pure bliss that sends a coil of heat spiralling to between your thighs. 

You have never partaken in the gossip that surrounds Neuvillette, about his pointed ears or his inhumanly lovely face or his age - you would never have expected what he is hiding in his trousers. But as you sit beside your new husband, you cannot help but feel as though it makes perfect sense - a man like him could not be ordinary. And you trust him when he tells you he will not hurt you; when he says he knows what he’s doing, you think of all of the time he has on you and you have to suppress a shiver of desire for what he may have to teach you. 

He touches you, as the two of you bathe together. Lets his fingers massage the shampoo into your hair, lets his hands slide the washcloth over the contours of your body until you can barely breathe for the hot trails of fire that he leaves in his wake. You do not think he means to inflame you so - but then, he allows you to do the same thing to him, and he shudders and leans back into your touch, a soft noise almost like a purr falling from the back of his throat, and he realises exactly what bathing together is doing to you both. 

Still. The two of you linger there; touching one another. Getting to know one another’s bodies without any fear, for beneath the water all is muffled and calm. His fingers learn the shape of your nipples when he pinches them, how they pucker and harden beneath him. His palms learn the weight of your breasts, heavy and ample in his hands. His mouth learns the taste of your shoulders, as he drops hot, wet kisses across the span of them, the nape of your neck. And in return you feel the silkiness of his hair, the softness of his skin, the feel of his corded muscle beneath his deceptively slender frame. 

By the time the two of you are wrapped in fluffy towels the colour of an early morning sky, you are both hot with want. Neuvillette’s twin cocks seem to pulse with his desire; you can no longer tell if you are slick and wet from the bath or from the space between your thighs. You shyly look at one another through lowered lashes, though, as the wedding night and all it entails comes closer and closer and closer. 

“It’s a beautiful night,” you say to him, when the two of you have finally entered the bedroom. Neuvillette’s window is open a crack, enough so that the lacy curtains flutter in the light night-time breeze. “You would hardly think it’s been raining on and off all day.”

“Mmm,” Neuvillette agrees, as you feel him come up behind you. He slowly takes your hands, encouraging you to drop the towel; and then you stand before him, naked again, but with something far more than a bath in your future. He leans in and presses a kiss to the sensitive place where your neck and shoulder meet, just barely grazing it with surprisingly sharp teeth. “I should not wonder if it doesn’t rain again for some time.”

Neuvillette leads you to the bed, his hand firmly around yours. He is unerringly gentle and patient with you, as he urges you to sit upon the bedcovers - and your breath catches when you do as he asks, and instead of joining you he sinks onto his knees. You have never thought to imagine the Chief Justice kneeling before you, and the sight of it makes you buzz all over in anticipation. He smiles at your unsurety - and leans in, pressing a kiss to your knee, gently urging you to spread your thighs for him. His gloves are stripped away, but his wedding ring gleams on his finger as his fingers sink into the soft, full skin of your thigh. 

He leans in, pressing another kiss to the side of your knee. Higher, higher, higher he trails them - and his breath fans cool against your heated core, and your fingers clench into the bedsheets in surprise at what he might be about to do. 

“Don’t be afraid,” he murmurs to you, his cheek pressing silky against your skin, as he suckles a love-bite into the part where your leg meets your pelvis. “I merely want to ensure you’re adequately prepared.”

“Y-you don’t need to,” you say, breathless, hot, embarrassed and needy all at once. This is an act of such intimacy, you do not know how to parse the thought of the Iudex doing it to you - but he gives you a smile that is not without a hint of fang, the wickedest look you have seen upon his face so far, and he reaches between the two of you to use his thumb to pull apart the lips of your sex so you are revealed to him. 

“Oh,” he breathes. “But I want to, sweet one. And . . . looking at how wet you are for me, I daresay you want me to do so too.”

“M-Monsieur--”

“Neuvillette,” he murmurs, and he presses a kiss directly onto your sex, slick and wet with your own excitement, his nose brushing across the swollen nub of your clit. “Use my name.”

“Neuvillette--” It comes out rather thin and reedy, but Neuvillette does not seem to notice - instead, he seems rather preoccupied by what lies between your thighs. Your fingers tighten when you feel his tongue slide across you, gathering your slick upon the tip. There’s a strange quality to it, almost as if it is longer and firmer than a human tongue ought to be - and as he flickers his tip over your clit, again and again and again, and you shudder from the sensations he draws forth . . . you wonder if, too, his tongue is forked--

Thoughts quickly dissipate from your head when there is a man knelt between your thighs, though, and it is no different for you. The wondering is quickly chased away by the hungry way that Neuvillette laps at you, like a man who has been parched for water for months. 

Through it, he urges you to part your thighs as wide as you can, so that he can more thoroughly attack you with his tongue - and with every stroke, with every suck and lick and groan of him against you, you feel a knot tighten in your stomach in a way you have never experienced. It is like his mouth is a match, setting fire to your core - despite how you can feel wetness dripping down you, onto his bedcovers, surely soaking his chin and his lips. 

He does something with his tongue - a twirl, a flourish - and his name comes spilling out of your lips like a prayer, and the idea that he may at some point stop using his mouth on you flashes across your synapses like a tragedy. Without realising you’re doing it, you move one hand to grip his silvery hair, to keep him anchored against you - you realise, too, that it is not merely his name spilling out of you like an overturned wineglass. Pleas and whimpers and begging have joined the fray, and you would ordinarily cringe at being thought so wanting. But with Neuvillette’s mouth, with the promise of what he is trying to wring from you--

Shame seems unimportant compared to the way he shudders at your hand in his hair, the way his tongue intensifies flicking against your clit. 

He pulls back, breathing heavy, mouth glittering with your slick. 

“I’m going to put a finger inside you,” he tells you, and you are grateful that he too sounds a little breathless. You cannot imagine just how embarrassing it would be to be the only one falling apart. 

“I want . . . you,” you say, not without a touch of petulance, and Neuvillette lets out a hoarse little laugh. Still kneeling before you, he reaches up to touch your warmed face - his thumb, too, glitters with your arousal from the way he had held you open. You cannot bring yourself to care when he softly smears it across your bottom lip like an offering, and he lets out a shuddering groan at the sight of your tongue swiping it off. 

“I want you,” he says. “Oh, you have no idea how much I want you. But I will not hurt you, sweet one. Let me prepare you.”

It feels very much like him; this way of taking charge, his firm words. This time, his hand curves up your inner thigh, and your breath catches as his finger slides between the valley of your sex, wetting itself in your slick and his saliva. Your toes curl into his plush carpet as he nudges your clit with his fingertip, as a soft noise of surprise escapes your mouth and he chuckles. 

He slides one finger inside of you with no resistance at all. His earlier ministrations have seen to that. It’s a strange sensation, to have something inside that is not one of your own fingers (rather smaller, rather shorter than his) - but it is hardly unwelcome. You whisper out his name, your eyes closing, and Neuvillette makes a gentle noise of encouragement. 

“That’s right,” he murmurs to you, as he slowly begins to pump his finger in and out of you. “You’re doing so well - you’re taking it beautifully. I’m going to put a second one in--”

He does exactly as he says, and the hand still knit in his hair tugs at the silvery strands a little harder. It is not that it is painful, but simply that it is a stretch you are unused to - and one, too, that you know will continue to intensify. 

You feel a strange, cool shock at the entrance to your sex - and you chance a glance down and realise it is his wedding ring, pressing against you. The sight and the knowledge makes you shudder, and Neuvillette huffs out a noise of want in return. 

You think of the cocks, straining beneath the vee of Neuvillette’s pelvis. You cannot see them now, but from the way they had looked when the two of you were just bathing, you feel certain they must be swollen stiff and hard, waiting for their own chance (and too, from the spots of colour on Neuvillette’s cheeks, the way his words have a strange, dry edge to them when he speaks). How will he put those inside of you? One at a time? Both at once? 

“What are you thinking about?” Neuvillette asks, raising his gaze to meet your own, a smile tugging at the corners of the lips. “You suddenly tightened around me.” 

“I--!” Your cheeks go hot, embarrassment making warmth seep down your back. Neuvillette laughs. 

“No need to keep secrets,” he murmurs, slowly establishing another rhythm, a slow pump of his two fingers inside of you, scissoring slightly to open you up. “We are married now, sweet one. We can share everything. Mmm . . . let me see. Were you imagining my fingers to be my cock?”

“Neuvillette--” Your voice is a weak little protest, and you avert your gaze shyly even as you force the words out. “I was . . . will you put them both inside of me?” Your gaze slips over his face again, nervous to see his reaction - his eyes widen in surprise, but it is not at all a look of anger. 

“Not tonight,” he tells you, and he smiles again. “I fear it may be too much for you. Ah, but if that’s what you want . . . my dear, I know you’d feel exquisite.” 

His fingers, pumping in and out, curling inside of you. His words, velvet-draped and deep - the look of concentration on his face, insistent on nothing more than drawing pleasure forward from you. You feel the hot tension inside of you reach a breaking point - a pot, ready to bubble over. 

“I must confess,” he breathes, leaning in, breath hitting your sex hot and close. “I was worried you might be afraid. I’m terribly glad to know what an effect the idea has on you.”

As he finishes the sentence, he lets his tongue drag out one slow, final lap of your clit - and it is just enough to push you over the final edge. The bubbling pot within you reaches boiling point - and the most intense pleasure you’ve ever felt, like molten heat, suffuses you entirely. Your head falls back. A noise of sheer enjoyment falls wanton from your lips - your thighs and your hips and your entire body trembles and shakes in the pleasure, and you feel your sex pulsating and throbbing around the two of Neuvillette’s fingers that are inside of you. 

“Lovely,” Neuvillette murmurs, watching you in awe, his fingers slowing down as he lets you ride out the waves of your orgasm. “Oh, you’re . . . exquisite.”

“Neuvillette,” you say, collapsing back onto the bed, your breath coming in harsh pants. “I was afraid, at first. But I don’t think I could be. Not knowing what you’re like now. Not anymore.”

“Sweet thing.” Neuvillette stands. He steps forward and you see him again - his cocks are indeed straining, silvery precome dripping from the dual tips and smeared over the flat planes of his stomach. “You have no idea what you do to me. May I . . . ?” 

He does not need to ask. You think you would grant him whatever he asked for - you cannot imagine Neuvillette overstepping your boundaries, when he has been so sweet and so careful and so guiding for as long as you’ve known him, even knowing he could do whatever he wanted to you and nobody would blame him. But it warms your heart that he asks even so. 

“Please do,” you breathe, and you spread your thighs wider to accommodate him on the bed. 

His hands scoop under your hips, his palms firm on your ass as he moves you higher up the bed, ensuring that your head and shoulders are propped up with a mound of pillows. Even with his cocks practically twitching, he prioritises you before himself, and you cannot resist another show of appreciation, wrapping your hand around his neck and pulling him down into a kiss. 

He groans into your mouth, the movement clearly welcome - but when he mouths at you now, he is far messier than he has been before, his teeth just a little more present. You think he must be losing some of his control, and as his cocks nudge against your inner thighs, you are proved correct. 

“I’m sorry,” he breathes against your lips, pulling back just far enough to be able to speak. “I cannot hold myself back a moment longer--”

“Please, Neuvillette,” you whisper, fingers still in his hair. 

His lower cock nudges against your sex, the ring of muscle that will grant him entrance - and as he opens you up, his second cock rubs over the swollen over-sensitive nub of your clit and you whine. 

He covers your whine with another kiss. He eases into you, moment by moment, inch by inch - you have nothing to compare it to, but you think from the slow tempo he goes at and the way his gaze keeps flicking over you, checking you’re alright, he must be larger than average. 

But he has prepared you well. The stretch is an ache, but a pleasant one - it does not send painful shockwaves all through you. Your thighs wrap around his hips, pulling him as close as you can manage, and Neuvillette sighs. 

“Will you kiss me again?” He murmurs, so softly you almost do not hear him. The request makes your heart feel like bursting in your chest - the soft way he looks at you, his unwillingness to pull away from you, his desire to be as close to you as he can even when he is buried inside of you. 

You do. Arms wrap around his shoulders. His hands find purchase on your hips. His mouth and yours dance against one another - his tongue learning yours as if he is learning a new language. 

He fucks you like that. 

He is not rough with you, that first night; he does not, as you have heard so many new husbands do, take you and have you and ignore what you might want. Neuvillette cherishes you. 

The slow rock of his hips, indulgent in their rhythm. The way he kisses you. He is chasing his own release, but he does not feel any need to fuck into you with abandon. At least not yet. 

But time ticks on. The two of you seem to meld into one entity, and the kissing and the fucking grows sharper at the edges. You feel that Neuvillette is hovering on something, his expression almost desperate, as he rearranges the angle of his hips and the speed of his thrusts. 

“Please,” he whispers, broken-voiced. “I’m close--”

You let go of him and he lets out a noise of distress at the lack of contact, a noise that makes you shiver with the idea of how much power you may one day have over him. But instead of anything else, one of your hands darts between you, to take a firm grip on his second cock. Neuvillette hisses through his teeth at your hand, hot and firm. 

You do not know what you’re doing, not really, but that does not seem to bother Neuvillette as he increases the speed of his hips. In fact, he does most of the work - fucking his lower cock inside of you, hot and deep and wet, and fucking the cock atop it into your fist. You manage to work out a kind of twisting motion that makes him growl in the back of his throat--

It’s a fascinating noise, really. It makes you think of him as an animal, something feral and possessive - and you wonder what, later on, you may learn about him--

But then your name is falling from his lips like a prayer, and his cock is twitching inside of you and in your grip, and your back arches at the same time as he leans forward and sinks his teeth into your shoulder--

(Almost like a claiming bite. Almost like a mark to say that you are his). 

And both of you come, together, in great waves and pants and gasps of breath. His come paints your fist and the round softness of your stomach at the same time as it paints inside of you, your body once more pulsating around his cock as if it never wants to let you go. 

Like a tide on the shore; like a moon rising high over the lakes of Fontaine. Neuvillette lets himself lay atop of you, his head against your heart, his breath coming in great heaves. 

You do not need to think this time; you simply lift your unsoiled hand and begin to stroke the silver of his hair in slow, careful motions. From the back of his throat again comes that noise, something like a purr and something like a chirrup. His eyes close contentedly. 

“Neuvillette?” You whisper into the darkness, and your husband makes a soft ‘mm?’ of response. “You really . . . could have had anyone. Why did you choose me?”

“Hmm, sweet one?” He lifts his head from your chest and looks down at you like you have asked him why the sky is blue. “Didn’t you hear me earlier? I certainly did have my pick . . . I perhaps wouldn’t have chosen to marry if Lady Furina hadn’t been so insistent, but I was lucky enough to be able to choose anybody I wanted. And I had seen you.” He shakes his head, a huff of laughter falling from his mouth. “Like I said - I do have eyes.”

Your cheeks feel hot. The thought of being coveted by Monsieur Neuvillette, when you had worried about your body and your match and your future so often it felt like second nature--

“Oh dear,” he says, looking down at the two of you - at the sweat-slicked hair, at the come drying on your inner thigh. “I fear we’ll need to have another bath before bed.” 

“And you won’t mind if I join you?”

He chuckles. 

“Why,” he says. “I’d be offended if you didn’t.”

[oh-my-may]

LET'S TALK GENSHIN AND REMURIA AND ARLECCHINO BEFORE I FORGET AND WE'RE ALREADY IN SECOND HALF OF THE PATCH WHY DOES TIME FLY WHEN YOU'RE AN ADULT

I'm gonna start the post with a few paragraphs I wrote just a few days after the patch went live:

So I finished the first Remuria world quest - it was beautiful. And really not as long as I first expected it to be. I probably could have finished it on the first day if I wouldn't have been as tired as I was

First of all the new map is beautiful. You'd think after 3? patches of map expansions where we already got underwater stuff it would feel repetetive but somehow it looks and feels different and refreshing. Maybe because majority of the map are caves where you can walk normally or they're ruins... idk.

I couldn't help but draw parallels between Remuria and HSR's Penacony tho, especially look-wise, the talk of a dreamscape and the theme of music. Especially now after finishing Penacony 2.2 I can't help but feel the two are very similar in certain aspects... the motive of Harmony and Song and Peace and saving a people and Gods? Also the way Remuria looks is so similar to certain things in Penacony? I already said rhis in my post on HSR, this is absolutely no hate whatsoever. I reckon there's only so much you can do with these motives? It's interesting how differently it looks in both games tho.

So yeah, Remuria is beautiful. The music is an out of body experience and encapsulates the whole thing perfectly. I haven't explored all of the map yet, but I like the new mechanisms a lot. The floating books look so cool and just generally the significance of music through it all... *sigh* it's so enjoyable.

So far for Remuria... i definitely missed a few things I wanted to say but it's been like 2 weeks since I played this and I definitely forgot something haha

AS FOR ARLECCHINO THO

First of all she's broken omg. It is kind lf annoying that it'll take weeks to max out her talents, rn for me she's sitting at crowned NA and skill and burst are level 7 each. But she still hits for like over 50k with each normal attack when she has a bond of life. Don't even get me started on her with Yelan MY GOD.

Okay with that out of the way let me talk about her story quest. First of all I find it very intriguing that hyv gave up on the usual pattern of having the second weekly boss for a nation be tied to the Archon and their respective second story quest (besides Mond ig)... i mean yeah Fontaine's archon situatipn is very peculiar but technically Neuvilette has taken over the role for now, right? Neither him nor Furina getting a second story quest makes me think Neuvi's probably gonna get his way later because it'll be HUGE. Again I wanna say that lore wise Neuvi is my fav character... HES JUST SO FNDNDBDN. And Furina is probably gonna get a pretty "random" one at one point kinda like Yoimiya did or Cyno... like its gonna be a good quest but it'a gonna be random. ANYWAY

I wonder how much different I would habe perceived the quest if I hadn't watched the Animated Short about Arlecchino that they put on Youtube... like it's her whole backstory? I could see where the quest was going right from the beginning because of it... that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it, tho

Childe's little surprise cameo made me so happy c: MY BOY. He's alive snd well AND IN FONTAINE. Let me remind ypu we last officially saw him in the last Atchon quest gwtting yeeted into a black hole by Skirk. Then it was mentioned at the end that he was being treated and sent gome to Snezhnaya. Well...

The whole cryptic talk between Arle and Childe was quite interesting... so this project by the Fatui, right? (Forgot the name rn bc it's been a few days since I played the quest) Is it fonna be significant for Natlans story? What does it entail?? THE TEASE NNNNGNNGHH

I wonder if at some point in the game we're actually gonna see Lyney become the new head of House of the Hearth. Like... it's mentioned quite a lot in his story as well as in everything that has tp do with the House and Sröecchino herself... I wonder 🤔

Throughout the story I was reminded that one of the first things we heard about her (Childes voiceline that came out in like??? 3.0 or so???). It was that she would turn her back on and betray the Harbingers (AND THE TSARISTA) without second thought. She even says this herself in her voicelines. I just wonder what her ultimate goal is? To free herself from the curse? Which btw they tell us nothing about in the story. Story is all about the House and its inner workings and Arle's feelings about it and plans for the future (which I love btw but still not quite understand)... we also casually get told that Arle is not even that old??? Like the whole thing with Crucabena is so recent that Freminet remembers her???? Amd Arle was maybe a Teenager when she killed her so like??? She's only around 10 years older than the kids????

So how come she's a descendant from Khaenri'ah? I don't know if I read somewhere abput it or if its a rumor but not confirmed or if its said in her personal story which I haven't read yet but... she'a from the crimson moon dynasty? Or has some ties to it? And her curse is definitely related to it BUT WHAT IS HER CURSE EXACTLY. WHY DOES SHE HAVE IT. If she's only in maybe her late 20s she couldn't have been an actual Khaenriahn citizen (same as Kaeya and he still gives me the same headache thinking about this) so how does it all tie together in the end?? Does it have to do with the God of time maybe??? (Nevermind if this is talked about in her personal story in her profile I haven't read that yet)

So yeah... the fight woth her was so cool. The animation??? I saw people get upset about the fact that Traveler couldn't beat her but I actually love that?? Like... She'a #4 of the Harbingers and has some curse probably tied to Khaenriah and she KILLED A HARBINGER WHEN SHE WAS A TEENAGER??? Traveler nlt being this almighty MC makes them so much mlre likeable like yeah... they are obv far from having their actual power back? It took us ... how many times to fight Shuki No Kami before we could defeat it in the final try to learn all the patterns? The game wants to tell us that there's much more powerful enemies in Teyvat and rhis is only the beginning. Let me tell you yeah we beat Signora but it was Raiden who killed her... it was Zhongli who subdued Azhdaha. We only healed Apep with Nahidas help. Traveler has never been able to easily defeat these big enemies, they always had help. Yeah they have been getting stronger, they've been getting access to more elements but the bis enemies are just getting stronger and bigger too... I wonder where that will lead. Maybe the twins are only gonna get their true power bavk once they're united... ANYWAY

Her weekly boss fight is cool too. Using different mechanisms again, with the whole Bond of Life thing and all. She does this one attack in her second phase that I just... can't get behind tho. Someone always has to be the victim, THE SACRIFICE, to get me through haha. Idk how to dodge or avoid that attack. The one where she floats above the arena and then these bombs? Idk? Come down and basically crash down on the whole arena and I haven't found a spot where you can aboid getting hit and therefore killed immediately idk.

So yeah that's all for now. Very excited to play Cyno's second story quest. Heard only good things so far about it, which is good because I really didn't like his first one 💀 probably gonna get around to play it one of these days. Same as with the rest of Remuria exploration, gonna need mlre Clorinde funds :3

(Gonna add screenshots later, it's been so long that the ones I took aren't saved in the PS App anymore 💀)

[birdgirlamp]

In Defense of Focalors

Spoilers for the Fontaine Archon Quest!

Beta read by @a-small-creature (you’re the best!! 💜)

This is a subject I’ve been meaning to compile my thoughts on for a while now. There is a *lot* of commentary and opinions about Focalors, coming from many different sources. It’d be hard to find two people with exactly the same feelings about her. This is particularly striking given that she really only has about 20 minutes of screen time total, with her conversation with Neuvillette prior to her execution marking her first and last appearance in the game.

In particular I’d like to speak to the discourse initiated by @roseofthewind and @theshadechamber, to add on to and politely disagree with them (respectively).

I think the feature of Focolars that seems to be most discussed about her is her apparent apathy during her discussion with Neuvillette. People tend to get really hung up on the way that Focalors chooses to communicate her lore dump, even more so than the content of their discussion. This leads to the common misconception that Focalors is emotionally detached in general, and particularly with regards to Furina.

Canonically, the reason that Focalors comes off as so detached is because Furina is her human manifestation, whereas Focalors is merely the remains of her divinity. Fanon-wise, roseofthewind speculates that this is an extension of Furina’s overall autistic coding. I’m personally very attached to this headcanon, but even if we disregard it as not intentional by the writers, I think there is a lot of *in universe* evidence provided by her discussion with Neuvillette that we cannot use Focalors’ tone as an indicator of her intent.

Focalors does not modify her tone through out her conversation with Neuvillette, even when describing very grim subjects like Furina’s suffering and her own imminent execution. People have extrapolated from this that Focalor’s seemingly blithe tone indicated that she didn’t care about Furina’s suffering, and only saw her as a puppet to enact her plans with no regard to Furina’s own feeling or autonomy.

In her conversation with Neuvillette, Focalors *explicitly debunks* the notion that she is apathetic either to her own demise or Furina’s suffering. She says, “Although I do not sound it, faced with death I find myself a little afraid”. This line is utilized to indicate to the viewer that you should not be using Focalor’s tone to indicate how she is feeling. Nothing about Focalor’s demeanor indicates this internal fear that she expresses, and she’s aware of that disconnect between how she’s feeling and what she’s emoting.

This logic can be extended to her feelings regarding Furina as well. The two sticking points regarding Furina seem to be 1) her blasé attitude about cursing her (also brought up with Neuvillette) and 2) that Focalors did not tell Furina the whole truth about her deception.

Let’s start with the infamous scene pointed to by all Focalors-haters, possibly the one that was the basis for The Shade Chamber’s negative opinion of Focalors in general, and very explicitly discussed as a huge sticking point for several YouTube commentators on this cutscene. Focalors, seemingly almost mockingly, declares that she cursed Furina right after waxing poetic about how much Furina meant to her. This line is very frequently taken out of context as an indication of Focalors’ cold or indifferent attitude towards Furina’s suffering. But people tend to forget a lot of context surrounding it.

Firstly, Furina is a manifestation of Focalors. Focalors is probably engaging in a little gallow’s humor about her own dark, messed up situation to alleviate the tension with Neuvillette. She engages in this tactic multiple times in their discussion when Neuvillette seems distressed by their conversation, alternating between being blandly factual and dry, slightly self-deprecating humor. She even uses this technique when he’s distressed about her imminent death, clarifying that she never saw her work as just culminating in her death, that rather she’s proud of the success of her plan and he should be celebrating the return of his powers, not moping about her fate. The part of the conversation about cursing Furina was not an isolated incident, and in this context it’s clear that she isn’t belittling Furina’s pain but rather cracking a dark joke at her own expense, contrasting how much she loves Furina with being situationally forced to hurt her for the fulfillment of her plans.

If that intent wasn’t clear on its own or was misunderstood by her tone, she goes on to clarify what she meant a little later in the conversation, when Neuvillette remarks on Furina’s resiliency in the face of pressure that a human psyche wasn’t made to withstand. Focolars goes on to agree with Neuvillette and praise Furina’s dedication to the ruse, adding, “Even though Furina is technically a manifestation of myself, I definitely owe her an apology”. This indicates that she is cognizant of Furina’s pain and regrets that Furina had to unduly suffer in the culmination of her plans to save Fontaine.

But then this brings up the question: if she really did care about Furina, why did she leave her in the dark about the full context of the plan? Neuvillette asks her this point blank, and she gives a vague answer, saying that to fool the heavenly principles you must first fool yourself. I think it’s fair to say this answer is inadequate, but it opens the door to a lot of speculation about why withholding information from Furina was necessary.

I think the simplest explanation is that, in order for the prophecy to be fulfilled, Furina needed to buy into her own role as much as possible. It’s important to remember that while most of the characters focus almost exclusively on the final slate of the prophecy, wherein the hydro archon is weeping on her throne, the immediately preceding tablet predicts Furina being outted as a fraud in front of the people. If Furina went into this knowing she’d be outed at some point regardless, I think that would dramatically decrease her dedication to the ruse, because she would just assume that was all part of the plan anyway. The Shade Chamber accused Focalors of intentionally setting Furina up to fail by withholding information like this, and while I think it’s true that Focalors did deliberately set Furina up to fail at *maintaining the ruse*, from her perspective that was inseparable with setting her up to *succeed* at playing her part to ultimately save Fontaine. Additionally, Focalors deliberately withholding her identity from Furina and referring to herself as “Mirror-Me” implies some concern that the heavenly principles might be monitoring their conversation, or that she needed a failsafe in case Furina was unable to keep up the charade. If Furina knows as little as possible, that’s fewer aspects of the plan that could get leaked.

However, why Focalors withheld the information she did is largely speculative. But with the information she *did* provide Furina, I think it is inaccurate to suggest that Focalors unduly manipulated Furina into going along her with plan. Focalors’ plan depended on Furina’s voluntary buy in, and while she certainly didn’t reveal all of the details of her plan upfront, she was very clear that Furina would suffer if she chose this path. While Focalors was relying on Furina agreeing, she laid out all the facts to ensure that it was Furina’s decision to participate.

If we are somehow arguing that Furina was just ignorantly manipulated into doing this against her will, we are removing Furina’s agency and the heroism from her choice, casting her as a hapless victim of Focalors’ machinations, which I believe fundamentally undermines the point of Furina’s character arc. Yes, she was in a position where she was the only one who could save Fontaine and that puts some moral pressure on her (“why do I have to be the one to suffer?”) but crucially she *chooses* to embrace this plan, saying that in comparison to the lives of the people of Fontaine her own pain was a small price to pay. Arguing that she was tricked, deceived, or manipulated into going along with this denies the truth that she chose to do this for the greater good. And as for Focalors perspective, regardless of whether you agree with her judgement call on this, she believed that she was providing as much information as she could without jeopardizing her plan. In no way was she withholding information for the purpose of exacerbating Furina’s pain or because she was apathetic to Furina’s suffering.

Overall, I think Focalors is a complex character. You definitely don’t have to agree with all her choices or say she’s some perfect angel. She did use Furina and Neuvillette as facets of her plan and deprived them of information. She made a tough, and morally gray, choice that the ends justified the means. But I think that the actual complexity of her character is overshadowed by getting hung up on her tone in most of the discussions surrounding her actions and motives.

It’s important to remember that Focalors did all of this to save all of the innocent citizens of Fontaine, and to right the ancient wrong of the Heavenly Principles stealing Neuvillette’s birthright. While many archon characters have expressed wariness about the motives of the heavenly principles, Focalors is the only character who actually took action in direct defiance of an unjust order sent down from the heavens. *Even Nahida*, the least morally gray of the all the archons, expressed regret for the wrongs that were done to Apep but expressed no interest in fixing them. While you could argue (probably correctly) that Apep would misuse their power, remember that the only reason Neuvillette was sympathetic to the people of Fontaine and acted as a just leader when his powers were restored was because Focalors deliberately set him up to have hundreds of years to warm up to people before she gave him back his powers.

I’m not saying anyone needs to love Focalors. But I just want to point out that there is a ton of evidence, based on what Focalors explicitly says are her motives, that she is far from apathetic about the suffering of Furina or anyone else. If the discourse is only focused on her tone, it obscures the content of her discussion and her actual feelings.

[the-last-f2p]

Yandere promts day 12

12: “Go get the chains. you brought this upon yourself, not me”

Featuring: Furina/Focalors

TW: Implied kidnapping, Furina is kind of a sadist, humilation?

Furina really tried to uphold her status as the Archon of Justice and be her fairest self possible (though she failed most times). Furina holding make-shift trials for you whenever you so much as said anything she considered rude that day. At least she gave you two chances to beg for mercy!

Honestly, when this idea first came to her she originally wanted to hold these trials at the Opera Epiclise, though that was shot down when she tried to bring it up with Neuvillette. She swore she saw the blue part of his hair turn the slightest bit grey that day.

And that is the origin of the small courtroom in Furina's living quarters, which is of course being used at this very moment.

"Y/N L/N, you are being charged with accounts of escaping and causing damage to the Palais Mermonia; how do you plead?" Furina asked you while sitting on a particularly high chair as she kicked her feet back and forth. You couldn't tell if it was out of boredom or excitement but you really didn't think whatever she was doing was amusing.

That's just one of the many ways you contrast Furina.

Images of what had happened earlier this day started to flash through your mind at the speed of light, waiting for Furina to go attend to some quote-un-quote 'boring Hydro Archon stuff'. Breaking a window and trying to work up the courage to jump from the highest drop you've ever seen. And of course, your least favorite part, Furina catching you for the sole reason that she left her gloves at home. Today was NOT a good day.

"Furina I'm sorry I didn't-" You start but Furina cuts you off.

"Sorry won't cut it. I had to skip another trial for this so you make it worth it." Furina smiles for a second and seems to have a light bulb moment "How about this? If you give me three good reasons to not lock you in my room again I won't.~" She flashes a playful grin, yes this was her idea but it was so funny to her! She just had to make it a little bit more dramatic as well.

"Well-" This is the second time she's cut you off does Furina really want to be 'fair' with you?

"And I'll count to five, only to make it less drab." And what's drama without stakes? She has to add some stakes as well! All your thoughts that were going through your head were:

Is she messing with me on purpose? (The answer is a very clear yes by the way.)

"You see, it's been a long time since I was able to go out, and I just thought if I just went out for a couple of hours while you were out." You start explaining of course, you weren't planning on coming back but Furina wouldn't know she's the God of Justice not wisdom!

"Lying in a courtroom, low blow. ~ Oh and you're at three seconds!~" Dammit. Furina saw right through you.

"And...I Furina.. Please.."

"Times up..~ Well Y/N L/N, as you have given me one reason I've decided to let you out but.." The playful grin on Furina's face turns slightly sadistic as she continues "Go get the chains. You brought this on yourself, not me. I think it's about time we went on a date correct?"

"Yes.. Lady Furina."

Today was one of Teyvat's greatest days ever. Seeing you desperately trying to hide the chain that was around your wrist was very amusing shall we say?

Maybe she should encourage you to escape so she can do this more often?

[2baddiesfanfics]

Home is Where the Hearth is

Pairing: Arlecchino x Furina

Tags: Domestic Fluff, Domestic, Domestic Bliss, Scissoring, Oral Sex, Cunnilingus, Vaginal Fingering, Moving In Together, The House of the Hearth (Genshin Impact)

Summary:

Arlecchino has asked Furina to move into the House of the Hearth with her and the children. After showing some reluctance, the former archon decides to give it a shot. But even though she gets her own room, there's no bed to be found...whatever shall she do? 

Read on Ao3

Furina raised a shaky hand to the front door of the House of the Hearth. With a single suitcase by her side, she knew it was too late to turn back. She had taken the Knave up on her offer to reside with her and the children despite having only started seeing her romantically three months ago. Their relationship had progressed quickly, but Arlecchino had been surprisingly respectful of her.

Then, after a night of tender lovemaking she’d never thought she’d experience with a Fatui harbinger, the woman had held her close and whispered, “Come live with me.” The former archon turned the request over in her mind carefully. Part of her screamed “YES!” while the other contemplated running away and locking herself in the bathroom.

She was content to live alone and figured it was her punishment for deceiving the people of her nation. If she had to live out the rest of her days in a small, dingy apartment, so be it. Yet here she was – in the arms of someone who used to frighten the life out of her, offering her a future of happiness and belonging.

“Um…can we maybe try it for a few weeks first? Don’t get me wrong, I…like you a lot and want to believe this is right for us. I just don’t –��

Arlecchino had traced the curve of her cheek with a single finger to calm her. “Don’t what, droplet? Speak your mind. I’m not going to bite…tonight,” she chuckled.

Furina offered a weak smile in response to her attempt at humor. “I just don’t want you to be…disappointed if it’s not what you’ve imagined.”

The Knave kissed her forehead. “Such a silly girl. How could I ever be disappointed with the opportunity to draw closer to someone who deserves to be shown what it’s like to have a family?”

The other woman teared up at hearing this word applied to her life. When you expect to be alone for the rest of eternity – to see those you were even somewhat close to die before you unceasingly – you become immune to the idea of trying to create a future. In the end, Furina had agreed to a trial run, which is how she now found herself at Arlecchino’s front door.

“Lady Furina! We’ve been expecting you. Please, let me take your luggage,” Lyney said excitedly when she finally worked up the courage to announce her arrival. “Lynette is already in the kitchen preparing you a cup of tea. We also picked up some of your favorite cake, but it might be a little stale…we weren’t sure what time you’d get here.”

The former archon blushed at receiving so much attention the second she walked through the door. “Oh, my. That really wasn’t necessary, but I do so appreciate you thinking so far in advance! Hello, Freminet, it’s nice to see you as well.” The boy sat at the dining table where a little mechanical penguin lay on its side.

“Uh…Um…H-hello, Lady Furina,” he stuttered, clearly uncomfortable with the presence of someone new in the house.

“You three…please. Call me Furina. I don’t desire any kind of special treatment. I’m here because Lady Arlecchino invited me, plain and simple. If I can help around the House in any way, please, just say the word.”

Lynette brought the tea set over and the group took the remaining seats at the table. The four carried on in conversation getting to know a bit more about each other when the Knave appeared and leaned in the doorway.

“My, my. It seems like you’ve already made yourself comfortable, Lady Furina. It does my heart good to see you all getting along. I’m sure the children have already mentioned it, but if there’s anything you require, do not hesitate to ask,” she said with a bow.

Immediately, Furina rose to her feet in a show of respect. “Lady Arlecchino! I just finished telling Lyney, Lynette, and Freminet they should feel free to address me as just ‘Furina.’ There’s no need to be overly formal!”

“Hmm. As long as that’s what’s most comfortable for you, I will ensure the other children follow suit. But if that’s the case…I insist you call me Father,” she said with a smirk.

The former archon’s cheeks turned an embarrassingly deep shade of red. While she knew it was a title rather than a term of endearment around the House of the Hearth, she felt her stomach flip at the thought of uttering it herself. The Knave moved from her spot to stand directly behind her.

“Why don’t you give it a try, Furina.” Hearing her name on Arlecchino’s lips was enough to make her melt. Unsure of how much she had told the three among them, she tried her best to keep her next words from sounding too suspicious.

“I think I could get used to hearing that…Father.” The Knave’s eyes bore into the other woman’s, clearly aroused by the connotation of her words.

Sensing there was something private going on between the two, Lyney cleared his throat. “AHEM. Lynette? Why don’t you and Freminet come with me to show Furina around the rest of the house, hmmm?”

“I’d love that. We’ll catch up later, Father. Au revoir for now,” she said with a flirty wave of her fingers.

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

The tour continued and the three eventually left Furina alone to explore on her own for the remainder of the evening. The Knave was an expert at observing from afar, and it was taking everything in her not to retreat to her office with the former archon in tow.

In the few hours the girl had been there, she’d already stopped to speak to Heloir about her hobby of potion making, had a lively discussion about tea varieties with Lynette, and was now deep in conversation with Freminet about Pers – a miracle in and of itself.

“Where do you typically acquire parts for him? I wonder if Monsieur Neuvillette might have any connections to help us upgrade him…” Furina thought aloud.

“Would you really do that for him? Oh…hi, Father. Didn’t see you there. Did you hear that? Furina might be able to help me get Pers to fly!”

Arlecchino’s lips twitched upward into a smile. “Is that so? That sounds exciting. But it’s getting late. I think it’s better you two continue this discussion tomorrow, don’t you agree?”

“Oh, yes. Of course. Thanks for talking with me, Furina!” He said as he collected his gear. “And…I’m happy you’re here.”

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

The former archon trailed behind her host as they wandered the halls.

“I assume the trio showed you to your room?” She questioned.

“Ah, yes. It’s awfully large, though. And…there was something quite strange.”

The Knave cocked an eyebrow at her.

“Strange?”

“Um…there wasn’t a bed. That is my bedroom, is it not?”

Arlecchino kept walking, a very confused Furina following by her side. “Incorrect. That is your space to do whatever you please. Screenplay writing, script rehearsing…things that bring you joy. This…” she stated before opening a door at the end of the hall, “…is where you will sleep. With me.”

A large canopy bed dressed in luxurious maroon- and charcoal-colored sheets sat in the middle of the room, a roaring fireplace adding to the cozy atmosphere. Furina walked inside, mesmerized by both its size and apparent comfort. Turning to face her, she asked, “You mean…together? Every night?”

“That was the plan. Unless, of course, you don’t want to.”

“But…this is your room. You deserve privacy as well. I can’t take that from you. It wouldn’t be right.”

“Darling, I have an office. What kind of harbinger would I be if I just left everything out for anyone to find? Not that I’d hide anything from you in the first place,” she explained.

The door clicked shut and the former archon felt Arlecchino’s arms slip around her slender waist.

“Now…what say you to breaking in our new bed, hmm?”

“W-what about the children?”

“What about them? They’re long asleep by now. Their day starts early. Watching you interact with them today did something to me.” Furina could feel her tighten her grip. “Well, that and hearing you call me…”

“Father…” the girl whispered nearly imperceptibly. A growl rumbled in the Knave’s chest and she spun her around, her mouth crushing hers. Furina let out a squeak of surprise before melting into her embrace. She felt herself walking backward toward the bed, and Arlecchino held her steady until she felt the edge of the mattress safely underneath them. The two tumbled down, the Knave trapping Furina’s body against her own.

“Again…say it again…” the harbinger begged against her lover’s tongue. The former archon’s head was swimming under a haze of lust and longing. Her nervous energy had been converted to courage knowing the woman on top of her was intoxicated by her uttering one simple word.

“Father…please…make me yours…”

They tore at each other’s clothing, removing layer after layer until nothing was left but flesh on flesh. The roar of the fire and warmth of their skin ensured they were comfortable enough despite it being the middle of winter in Fontaine.

“Gladly, my Furina,” she murmured against her neck as she kissed down her collarbone. “As long as you’ll stay.”

“If this is what I can look forward to every night, I’d be insane to leave.” The Knave’s lips burned against her chest, the tantalizing feel of her cool tongue against her nipple making her moan and arch into her mouth.

“Why do you think I brought you here? I was sick of having to leave your side,” Arlecchino spoke softly as she kissed down the girl’s side, slowly making her way toward her goal. Furina gripped the sheets in anticipation as she felt the heat of the other woman’s breath between her legs.

“I keep trying to convince myself I’m not dreaming, but this certainly feels too good to be true…ahhh!” She was interrupted by a long lick across her slit, her hips bucking in response.

“Shhh…you talk too much, love. I assure you this is very real - so you better get used to it.” Her tongue circled her clit in waves, the former archon’s juices coating her lips. She could hear the girl panting, trying desperately not to come so soon, but she was fighting a losing battle.

“Arle…I’m going to…oh gods…”

To send her over the edge, she pushed two fingers into her while rapidly sucking on her bud until her body shook in ecstasy. As she lay spent, the harbinger gave her a moment to recover from the intensity of her orgasm.

“Sorry. I couldn’t help myself,” she apologized as she started to peel back the sheets. “You’ve had a long day, but hopefully you feel satiated enough to get a good night’s rest.”

Furina shot up. “Wait…we can’t go to bed yet! It’s your turn!”

“Oh, droplet. It’s not about turns. We’ll have plenty of time for that some other night. You do live here now, after all. Here, come get comfortable with me.”

“But-“

“Don’t argue,” Arlecchino said sternly, pinning her with a piercing gaze. The former archon swallowed hard, not daring to push the issue further.

——————-

When Furina awoke nestled under the Knave’s arm, moonlight was still peering through the curtains. She turned her head slightly and almost gasped at how beautiful and at peace her lover looked. Smiling to herself, she decided to take a chance.

The former archon wiggled her hips, her ass pressing into the other woman’s crotch. Letting out a whisper of a moan, she grabbed her hand and brought it up to cup her breast.

“Just what do you think you’re doing? Go back to bed,” Arlecchino said, her voice deep and heavy with sleep.

“Oh good, you’re awake,” she replied cheekily. “I don’t think I’m all that tired. I do have an idea of how I might wind down, though.”

The harbinger cocked an eyebrow out of curiosity. “Do tell.”

Furina extricated herself from under her grasp and moved to slip one of her legs between Arlecchino’s. The Knave’s eyes snapped open when she realized what the girl was about to do. She felt her crotch begin to grind against her own, their juices eliminating any friction.

“Ohhhhhhh fuck…Furina…will you never behave?” She panted.

“I’ve behaved my whole life…I think it’s time for a change, don’t you?” The confidence she exuded turned Arlecchino on. This was a side of her she wasn’t used to seeing. Controlling her desire to dominate the situation, she let Furina continue.

The former archon’s hands roamed, groping the other woman’s firm breasts. They kissed lazily, tongues sliding against each other, mimicking the movement of their lower bodies.

“Furina…archons…faster…move faster…” she gasped. Racing toward a second climax herself, the girl rocked against her ferociously. The Knave’s clit throbbed with a desire for release, her hips tilting at just the right angle for the pressure to build and boil over.

“Furinaaaaaaaaaa!” She cried out in ecstasy. The former archon grinned with satisfaction knowing she could make someone so fearsome lose their composure. Her own orgasm followed soon after, and the two lay in a tangle of sweaty limbs.

The harbinger let out an exhausted laugh. “You’re a sneaky little one…where did you learn that from?”

“Let’s just say I’ve had Navia and Clorinde over to my apartment for some ‘girl talk.’ I’ve been waiting to try that, but you rushed me to sleep so fast I didn’t have a chance!”

Kissing her on the forehead, the Knave muttered, “Remind me to never underestimate you again.”

[lyss-sketchbox]

if u saw the new trailer whats ur opinion?

im very excited for skirk,,,,

OH BUDDY YOUVE OPENED THE FLOODGATES CUZ IVE BEEN SPAMMING MY FRIEND WITH THEORIES LIKE HFJDJDJDJ I WAS SCREAMING THE ENTIRE TIME

Obvious spoilers for the fontaine archon quest in general for my thoughts and interpretations

Okay FIRST OF ALL NEUVI SENTENCING FURINA TO DEATH.

Okay so refer to what neuvi said at the end of Act 4 where 'all sovereigns are not im full dragonhood and it can only happen IF THEIR ARCHON DISAPPEARS'. I was hoping that Furina would somehow relinquish the gnosis or her godhood to Neuvi to let him be full dragonhood and stop the flood and WELL THIS LINES UP.

1) arlecchino did say furina was not archon like or has something wrong with her, 2) her playable character model HAS A VISION!!!!!!! 3) Iirc but her promo art, the one with the white bg with nation symbols on it, people say that it didnt have the symbols an archon would.

She's DEFINITELY losing her godhood here somehow and man. MAN IM SO EXCITED TO SEE HOW THIS PLAYS OUT

Second of all FURINA or should i say the HYDRO ARCHON as a whole

She sounded MAD when she stated she wanted to use her own trial to show the world the true meaning of justice. This leads me to believe that focalors DOES have some sort of multiple sides/personalities to her. Especially with her announcing HER OWN TRIAL through the 3rd person.

And well one of these sides is either Egeria's manifestation or furinas actual 'TRUE lady justice' side. A bit of a stretch but one of the official art in the livestream is multiple depictions of furina so it can be a lil nudge ya know.

NEUVILLETTE!!!! NEUVI NEUVI NEUVI!!!

MAN ID KILL TO SEE THIS MAN IN ACTION FULLY ANIMATED, LET HIM BE FULL DRAGON AND KICK ASS!!!!! IM BEGGING YOU HOYOVERSE LET HIM BE MORE AWESOME!!!!

Okay this man definitely was acquainted to Egeria in some way and this extends to Furina as well (BECAUSE HE LOOKS SO SAD LIKE WHAT HAPPENED TO CRACK THIS MANS FACADE). I like to believe that Egeria and Neuvi might have a sort of Mentor/mentee/passing of the torch relationship. Because in so far everytime we hear Egeria, she talks to neuvi as if to hope that he will learn to understand humanity or learn his purpose or find SOMETHING (i forgot exactly what she says). But yeah he clearly holds her to high regard and that sentiment might extend to furina either because Egeria entrusted Neuvi with Furina, his loyalty to Egeria and Fontaine, or Furina just reminded him of Egeria and regardless of the trial still didn't want harm to come to his archon.

Okay a step back, we know that neuvi has holes about his past when he came to the world as the sovereign successor. And his line (i think its his idk) 'i seem to remember now... this trial is...' could be a call back of something Egeria told him from the past.

I firmly believe that this prophecy was actually a trial for NEUVILLETTE and not FURINA. It could be a final trial for him and his understanding of his position as chief justice and humanity. WHICH would tie into Egeria's line

and neuvi's line

Finally the GNOSIS

Okay the most obvious place is in the Oratrice. I feel like because Egeria isn't truly dead (from the who Amrita thing), it's possible that she lives in the Oratrice where she guides Neuvi and Furina. That's why it seems like it has its own conciousness and agenda. It's why it falsely accused Childe (and presumably Furina too). It might be why neuvi i think says this.

Anyways theres NO WAY the gnosis is staying in the oratrice lmao. There's bound to be a power transfer, the oratrice might be dead or dismantled because of its previous 'wrong' accusation for childe. And well im very much hoping it goes to Neuvi where he'll finally have his own meaning of Justice and no longer needs the assistance of the Oratrice to make judgements

I dont have much to say about Skirk, im most certainly looking forward to skirk childe interaction. Im guessing shes there at the abyss side either for the Narssizkruenz (fack spelling) ordo relation or well.. the gnosis. Im taking a random guess that she and the abyss might take away the gnosis to prevent celestia from descending early because fontaine is giving back the power they stole from a sovereign back to him.

ANYWAYS IM HYPED IM SO INSANE WAAAAAAAAAA

[lupins-hehim-pussy]

Must know your Furina thoughts cause I’m forever a Furina defender. I see her as different from Focalor and like… I get why Focalor did what she did but god I’m so… I don’t like her

I have more thoughts but I’d like to know yours and then I’ll explode

Heyy hiya hi hey! Sorry for getting back to this a bit late, I have been in a hole. You know how shrimps are

But the short answer is, regretfully, MHY's writing made me really viscerally dislike her, at first. There was definitely resistance in my heart and that was frustrating in itself, because I do not hate Her exactly and I see why a lot of people liked her a lot (my friends liked her too. I was pretty solitary in my extreme disdain of her). I just hated the story that MHY is trying to tell with her, I hated what she represents (to me, at least), and I hate that I'm seeing people being a lot more forgiving with her (compared to Ei) because she's shown to be more emotionally vulnerable, which makes her more relatable (this isn't so much as like, a 'her fans are bad!' take from me, just to clarify. More so, it is an observation about how MHY is able to very easily use their storytelling to sway the audience and keep their attention on certain narratives, and I don't like the effect of their writing decisions).

Disclaimer, though, I hate, hate Marie Antoinette and that "sad, helpless, rich (white) woman" archetype, so when Furina/Focalors clearly has some inspiration (and when I see the audience immediately make some of that connection), it was immediately rigged against her in my head, lol. She had no chance.

In retrospect, though, the Marie Antoinette reference isn't that strong, but I don't know if that's because MHY really chickened out of the French Revolution inspiration, or because they just vaguely wanted the vibes of it without ever intending on committing to it, and I end up looking silly because I'm making connections where there are none. MHY writing is notorious for making people do that because it expects you to extrapolate from minimal and vague writing at times.

Anyway, then I started writing her. I wrote her into the family dynamic of the WRLT family, streamer modern/future AU thing I've got going on, and even for my canon rewrite/reinterpretation/filled-in-the-shit-I-didn't-like-and-made-it-work-for-me fic where she shows up very briefly at times, I couldn't exactly make her completely villainous either. That role I reserve solely for Focalors (who, arguably, isn't portrayed as a villain in canon, either. I just hated her more, and she's specifically written as a scapegoat for Furina Criticisms by MHY, anyway, so she's literally used, narratively, as an excuse for Furina's action as the ruler of Fontaine, so. It's functionally the same shit as Ei being like "erm that was the robot, not me..." just much, much better executed).

And she's really grown on me! Like, if I'm not so hung up on her whole "I may be the ruler of a police state, but I have feelings, too" thing, I think her personal story of having to perform a role, and having to meet an expectation that just gets further and further out of reach, and how she was shown to quite literally fall apart under that pressure was (through gritted teeth) well done. I Guess. I liked the way they unravelled her on a literal stage at the end of the MSQ. If anything, I will give it to MHY for their understanding of effective visual storytelling.

In her defence, Neuvillette also had the whole "I may be the ruler of a police state, but I have feelings, too" thing going for him. In many ways, you can argue that he's Worse because he's the actual, functional facet of Fontaine's Justice System, while she was treated more as the theatrical side. But, I will Say, MHY tried to sneak it in there that she also does work behind the scenes to help vulnerable people, and they also tried to say that she takes her job very seriously behind the scenes as well. She just acts like she's all fun. But, once again, because of their writing, I think it's horribly executed. Because aside from those Few Specific Moments where they showed her doing these things, no actual impact of her leadership was ever shown within Fontaine aside from the way she represents the Theatre-Court thing, BUT EVEN THAT MEANS NOTHING ANYWAY.

(So once again, in the same way as my Neuvillette ramble, you have MHY being like "is she actually helpless? Is she not? Can she actually make changes, can she not???" and they end up playing Accountability Hot Potato between her and Neuvillette where they're like, No, Actually. You're the one In Power! No You! No You! I'm a clueless Sovereign, I don't know humans, you're the Archon! But you are the one people actually take seriously as the Iudex, you're the one with actual political influence, and I'm not the real Archon anyway! Then Focalors is like, Wah, Celestia! That's the actual party you should blame! I'm actually the martyr here! Feel bad for me! And if Celestia pops up with playable characters you know they're gonna be like erm, actually, we also have clones who's been acting as us who's the actual evil ones, but it's not us I prommie.)

Like how the fuck have they not figured out about the Primordial Waters shit, like, a hundred years ago. You're telling me they are so damn good at their jobs, but it took them this long? To realise??? The Primordial Waters can be a big ass problem in the future that they should have prepared for in the past? It's almost like a nod to how IRL governments will ignore global warming and line their pockets allowing big corpo to continue wrecking the environment at the cost of the common people— oh wait, MHY vaguely suggested that too in the world lore about pollution caused by Fontaine's rapidly growing technological landscape, but they didn't do anything with it, because the Government that would get narratively criticised in Fontaine is Entirely Made Up of the Two Characters Products they're trying to Sell?

Oh, you're telling me the way Oratrice Mechanique D'Analyse is feeding off the people's belief in Justice while it literally hoards all the energy of the nation in order to fulfil Focalor's plan can almost be seen as commentary on how Media like True Crime commodifies Justice while platforms like TikTok literally profit off your engagement— oh wait it falls apart the moment you try to say that Focalors did this out of necessity in order to give Neuvillette back his sovereignty because those vaguely evil, undefined Ceslestia people?

And I'm sure someone could pop up and say like That's The Point! They're trying to show that someone is always above someone else, pulling the strings, and that Everyone has to do a little evil sometimes! As if that's not the easiest excuse for MHY to wave off writing accountability into their character stories.

But you know what poisons all of their writing to me? Knowing that they make products first, stories after. Every writing decisions they make, I am sitting there like, "This is designed for an audience, this is specifically made this way to sell to the most people possible." I can't look at Furina and think "they're trying to make a sympathetic and relatable character" because I Know there is a board of Rich Guys somewhere who sits there and say "but she has to be redeemable, she has to be relatable, and she has to be just a little bit of everything to be palatable to the widest swath of people."

Like, all the "flaws" of Genshin's writing are barely "flaws" at this point, in terms of intention. There's no one sitting there being like "this is what we wanted to achieve, but we went about it wrong", it's more like "this is good enough to make us money. Some people might complain or look into it deeper, but most are still gonna buy and keep using our product." And they're right. Fuck, I might come back for Natlan just to see what the fuck they'd do. And I hate it lol

[myjustice]

spoilers for pt. 4 of lantern rite, thoughts mainly focused on furina.

at first i was concerned that her & hu tao meeting was going to be another little jab at furina's trauma concerning the floods & the people that were lost to the waters & other things ( because she genuinely carries a lot of guilt with her over it & the powerlessness she felt for the last 500 years & just making false promises that she herself as she was had the power to help them when that wasn't the truth ), so i'm really glad that it didn't end up being the case & it ended up being an entirely different thing.

by the sounds of it furina might be testing her wit on making a horror film which i would love to see personally. i hope this comes back full circle in a later patch - would love to see who she thinks would make perfect actors to star in her horror film, it'll probably be characters from liyue since liyue folklore seems to have been the source of inspiration for this film idea she's trying to iron out.

i'm glad that we caught the fontaine cast as they were leaving liyue because i really wanted the lantern rite to be more heavily focused on the liyue cast. i love the implication that the fontaine characters were there enjoying the lantern rite as well though!

i can't express just how happy i am that furina got to meet zhongli first out of the seven & that she got to spend time with him in the company of hu tao. she genuinely enjoyed their company & i adore & i'm so happy that she did because it emphasizes that her isolation isn't something she does with pleasure. furina doesn't like to be alone, she doesn't want to anymore. being on her own is just something she was forced to live with, self-isolation to cope with what may come her way & threaten her spirit. the fact that she can kick it off with others so well is wonderful & that she feels so at ease & comfortable to just be herself around them.

furina being able to tell there's more to zhongli than meets the eye by a mere conversation was awesome. the exhaustion i feel when people want to discredit her ability to critically think on her own or that she's too "childish" to connect two & two on her own is ridiculous. also this one shot of zhongli looking so happy to see her in person is very cute to me.

it gets glossed over that the seven see furina & her expelled divinity as one entity ( individual interpretations from the fandom/fanon aside ), so betwixt them they hold her at a very high esteem for being able to successfully deceive the heavenly principles which is an entity that they all fear ( for good reason ). they don't see furina &/or focalors, they just see furina who has simply destroyed her throne & is now like zhongli & venti are, they're just three retired tired & exhausted ex-archons. furina, however, does not fully have her memories intact, she only has vague recollections of her very old life. should that ever return to her in full swing or not is still very much in the air. it's neither a yes or a no.

anyway, i'm glad that it can't be argued that furina cares so much about neuvillette. he means a lot to her. & that she thinks of his wellbeing & is hopeful about him giving himself a chance in this world even with his lack of interest for it which she has known he has for the longest time. she knows him so well it's actually so lovely to see it play out how it does. she's using the traveler as her middle man, to pass on her message to him but i'm hopeful for the day where these two will get to talk to each other again & reconcile as she continues to find a healthy way to sort through her traumas & her woes to where it's not entirely consuming her anymore. having her see that she's deserving of love & is worthy of it & that it's genuine is the day i'm so excited to be able to see & witness for myself. for hundreds of years furina encouraged neuvillette to integrate himself more & more into the human world so that he for himself can see the beauty she saw in it even through the struggles & pains that come with it so i'm sure hearing the advice furina told the traveler to pass on to him was a song he was all too familiar with. him admitting & coming to terms with that is very important to that part of their relationship.

hearing clorinde regard furina as her friend no doubt meant the absolute world to furina & given how familiar furina is with clorinde it was important to me that she heard it from clorinde the most because furina knows clorinde wouldn't just say & toss the word friend around so lightly & so mindlessly. it really strengthened the foundation afterwards for furina to call them both her friends as well a few moments later because that was reassurance to furina. clorinde just saying this is what friends do for each other was letting her know that they really see her as their friend & that it's okay for furina to consider & see them as her friends as well because they already consider her as part of their group. it made me so happy. they all came separately but they all depart together.

in general i was pretty happy. it was so nice to see furina again. she means everything to me.

some tid bits that i found so funny were the implications that zhongli really did avoid neuvillette which the conflict in that is something i love because there really is a deep rooted conflict there by relation that needs to get addressed & ironed over & not fixed by the power of friendship.

hu tao saying that neuvillette was a friend of furina's that still had a lot of growing up to do because it's true, hu tao isn't wrong but it's just so funny that it came from hu tao, not because i believe her immature, but because her saying it out of anybody else is implying something.

& then the fact that furina vaguely recalls neuvillette's age as a result of hu tao saying that neuvillette has so much room to grow. i didn't know there was so much controversy around it because from the very beginning it was made clear that furina knew he was the sovereign. you may interpret the text as you want. both cn/jp say that he's at least a thousand years old while the english translation say he's several thousands which, both in essence, are not wrong. furina counting his previous dragon incarnations into his current one isn't anything new, at least to me.

regardless, i'm happy furina got to spend time with zhongli. they're good friends now.

[balladeez-nuts]

Recently I realized how much the song Pacific by Chase Petra fits Furina and Focalors' stories, so I figured I'd do a little (ha.. after finishing, maybe not little) lyric analysis. I'll go through the first verse and chorus from the eyes of Focalors and then move onto Furina as I think it fits better that way

"I hate gambling but I was handed a full house" This could represent how Focalors wanted nothing more than to be human, yet she was still granted divinity instead, which in most cases would be seen as a blessing, that is of course unless you see being human as far greater than any godly abilities.

"The swords on the cards sliced open my palms and all I could do was bleed on the money I’d won" This of course reiterates just how much her granted divinity was anything but a blessing. Not only did she not want godhood, but the threat of the prophecy coming as a package deal with her new responsibility wouldn't have been the easiest thing to handle. Having it all suddenly thrust upon you when your current beloved leader suddenly perishes.

"And everyone was confused, didn’t know why I was blue, couldn’t show them my wounds" Now obviously this one works more with Furina, but I believe I can make a case for connecting it with Focalors as well. As we're going to get into with the next couple of lyrics, Focalors' plan is to deceive everyone in order to deceive the heavenly principles, and though her mind's fortification may be stronger than that of Furina's because of her divinity, that doesn't mean she didn't have her own feelings about their predicament, especially at the beginning I'd wager. Anyone she had contact with prior to being given the seat of the Hydro archon she would have to leave behind, and as she says herself, she does fear her death, if only a little.

"Had to bluff after the game, knowing it wasn’t the same, I put a smile on my face" I could talk about the ways to interpret this line for paragraphs, but I'll spare you for now. What I've landed on, to keep it as simple as I can, are some pieces that are fairly obvious and some that are a little more between the lines. Obviously, the bluffing here would refer to her plan to feign the prophecy coming to pass. For the next bit, however, she knew Furina wasn't the same as her, but no one else would, and she put a smile on Furina's face, which for all intents and purposes is her face. In other words, she would be the only one aside from Furina herself to know that the prophecy as Celestia sees it happening isn't the same as what will actually happen, and she was directly responsible for Furina having to feign happiness for 500 years.

"Cause I looked like I owned the ocean after twenty years of staring at the sea" These lines are far more interesting from Furina's perspective, but for now, I think this part pertains quite well to Focalors recounting how she sat on the seabed until barnacles grew on her. It may well have been 20 years she spent thinking about how to handle and defy the prophecy.

"And all I could think about was the sand at the bottom and how I wished that it would bury me" Perhaps these are her feelings after she realizes her one chance to save her people is to sacrifice herself, to spend centuries in waiting just to gain enough power to destroy herself and her heavenly throne.

"And how the speed of light is far too fast to barrel into a tidal wave" Instead of focusing on the speed of light, I think this line suits more to highlight that the passage of time must have felt a lot quicker for her as a god than it did for Furina. And considering her, albeit small, fear of death, it must have felt far too fast as time barreled towards her impending sacrifice.

"Last night I cried enough to make the Pacific blush" It's not hard to imagine that before she separated the part of her that became Furina from herself she had more of Furina's sensitivity, and that perhaps with the crushing realization of her situation, she had cried quite a bit. It would be no surprise if the Hydro archon's tears were powerful as well, considering how the Hydro dragon's are.

"Now hear me say" I mark this line as the transition from Focalors to Furina, and it could be used for all sorts of moments with her. Luckily for us this line is used multiple times so I shall be using different moments for each one. This one particularly with its contrast to an upcoming line in its intensity in the singer's voice, I think it works quite well with how Furina first attempted her accession speech, polite and reserved. Asking to be heard, but not demanding it.

"I hate gambling but I was handed a full house" Now continuing from what I said above, obviously the more intensely sung part of this line would be her stepping into the intensity of the presence of a god. Onto the lyrics however, it's clear that this personality, no matter how effortlessly it looks, does not come naturally to her. Nevertheless she was handed this destiny, and like she says, it's hers alone to fulfill.

"Lost an ace in the deck don’t know how I’ll get around this" This line and how it focuses more on cards makes me think of Lyney, and the word "lost" fits well within this context as well. The first trial Furina takes up against the traveler she loses, which not only serves as wonderful foreshadowing for her final trial, but also begs the question, did she see it coming? It's quite possible she knew the traveler leaves change in their wake, she likely could see them being a cause of her act being threatened in the future, thus she would likely be questioning how she could possibly avoid that coming to pass.

"And everyone was confused, didn’t know why I was blue, couldn’t show them my wounds" This one doesn't need any stretches to be clear as day. Everyone was confused, most notably Neuvillette and Arlecchino as they had multiple meetings with Furina in an attempt to get any answers from her, yet still she let nothing slip. For her being blue, though it is contradictory to how she consistently presents herself as cheerful or at the very least confident, when Arlecchino threatens her life, she is able to see behind her mask for a moment. And this only serves to further confuse Arlecchino, why would a god be so meek, why would she be crying? As for being unable to show wounds, that is exactly the situation Furina is in. However, what really pulls me to this line is the almost regret in the singer's voice on the last word, this serves very well to highlight Furina's feelings after she, even if only in her inner world, denies confiding in the traveler. It's not exactly regret, but I think the mix of emotion in the singer's tone fits perfectly with where Furina's head was at.

"Had to bluff after the game, knowing it wasn’t the same, I put a smile on my face" I imagine this is when she takes over the trial, rallying the crowd in her favor despite knowing this isn't the same as the trials she is usually a spectator of. It is a trial against her, the "Hydro archon" after all, but despite this she still puts on a smile and stands her ground, confidently.

"Cause I looked like I owned the ocean, after twenty years of staring at the sea" She indeed looks like she owns the ocean, the seas, all of water itself, and she has spent the last 500 years maintaining this image.

"And all I could think about was the sand at the bottom, and how I wished that it would bury me" Through the entirety of her excruciatingly long life, she has been waiting for the end of it, the "magnificent and dramatic" trial that will save everyone. Though she doesn't know yet that this trial she is on is the trial she has been waiting for, I think it's safe to say that this line can represent her feelings about it. All she could think about was the end, and how she wants so desperately for it to come.

"And how the speed of light is far too fast to barrel into a tidal wave" Now this line could either be used in contrast to Focalors' version to show how agonizingly slow it has been for Furina to wait this long, or it could be used to represent how quickly her trial turns against her favor. Her weight with her people now meaning nearly nothing, even the Oratrice is not tilted towards her.

"Last night I cried enough to make the Pacific blush" This one speaks for itself, the countless nights she spent crying, so much so that she starts to not even realize when it slips through during the day, and the Fountain of Lucine carrying so much of her sadness that you can hear her sobbing in its flow if you listen close enough.

"Now hear me say" I think this line, though not holding as much desperation as she did, can fit the mark for her begging for her people to believe her. Even through her own tears, she needs them to believe her, they have to hear her. Anyone needs to hear her, and yet as the trial comes to an end not one person is even looking at her.

"I’m sorry" x8 Her apologies for the people who died due to her inability to take action as a true god would. When she goes to Poisson she is hit with a great amount of guilt, seeing the buildings greatly damaged and the place nearly completely evacuated, the emotion slowly building as each apology is said fits very well with how her emotions boil over, guilt, anger, helplessness, like she says "But what can I even do, other than to repeat meaningless apologies over and over?"

The repeated chorus after this serves well as a reiteration of the previous thoughts, but through an even more emotion heavy lens. The singing ramps up in emotional intensity, and specifically on the line "And how I wish that it would bury me", it sounds very raw. This jumps out to me as Furina telling herself to give up, that there's no point in holding out anymore. Despite how she holds strong, the desire to give up is still there, and this line represents it well.

"I’m sorry" x4 The resignation and sadness in these final apologies fits perfectly with Furina succumbing to the death sentence she thinks she has been given and the crushing realization that she has failed her people and that because of this everyone will die. She does not know this is part of Focalors' plan, she can't know in order for the plan to work, so she's playing her role, now without even knowing it, as the Hydro archon, weeping on her throne.

[lyss-butterscotch]

btw im obsessed over furina too shes literally just me and if you by aaany chance wanna ramble about her feel free to, tis an invitation. if not thats fine too! boop

Omg kiki hi!!! You have no idea that i just like buried my face to a pillow cuz oh gee golly gosh oh sovereigns above this girl. THIS GIRL.

[Obvious spoilers for fontaine archon quests and furinas story quest]

Literally abnormal about her she deserves all in the world. We have hands to give furina pats on the head we can speak so we can tell furina she did it i am so jdhdjsyshjsjsjsn waaaaaaaaa

I love how they paced her characterization throughout each patch, idk i just feel like its well paced. The first patch shows that shes all bark and no bite. All the flare all the drama with neuvillette being the one truly working the system (you can see it in the patch art too!). I just couldnt understand how she is oh so shamelessly show offy when she literally has nothing to show for but her title like damn i felt bad for neuvillette for dealing with her. But the way she falters and hesitates, just makes you think theres something else going on. But i still felt like she HAS a bite, she just for some reason doesnt use it so i was just expecting her to break and show power later on.

Then act two. Man i never wanted to punch a character so bad like arlecchino LEAVE HER ALONE MAN SHE DOES NOT DESERVE THIS SLANDER. Its when i start to think shes not the god after all. She keeps saying she has plans but its 'secret', as much as i wanna defend her arlecchino was right. She has nothing to show for, she has no plan, no act to help fontaine so what is there to defend? But she CLEARLY cares for the prophecy so WHY ISNT SHE DOING ANYTHING. Arlecchino saying that furina might not be a god after all just makes me even more insane about the plot. Like okay theres no way the gnosis isnt in the oratrice and neuvillette is the sovereign so what the hell is going on with furina???

Then the final patch. Omg oh god oh golly oh my lords above. I hate how even as she got duped into a trial she is still trying to keep up her bark. The way she says 'THE TRIAL OF THE HYDRO ARCHON SHALL NOW BEGIN' with so much fervour like she is STILL trying. It made me think shes gonna reveal some super important bg plot shes been working on to make us go 'wow she really is a great archon'. BUT THEN. BUT THEN SHE GETS OUTED FOR NOT KNOWING WHY THE ORATRICE LET OUT A WRONH VERDICT, NOT WANTING TO SHOW OFF HER HYDRO POWERS, AND BEING AFFECTED BY PRIMORDIAL SEA WATER???

Like at that point i think furina youre done. Its over. But the way she cried and begged for people to believe her still WAAAAAAAA. LIKE GIRL WHY ARE YOU STILL TRYING STOP THIS HURTS TO WATCH. Then she goes full catatonic once the trial is over urgh bby no :(

AND THEN THE WHOLE FOCALORS LORE DROPPED AND LITERALLY EVERYTHING MAKES SENSE, ALL HER DRAMA AND BARK MAKES SENSE. AND THE WAY IT REVEALS THAT NOT ONLY DID FURINA ***NOT*** KNOW FOCALORS' PLAN, IT ALSO MEANS SHE THOUGHT THAT HER FAILING THE TRIAL MEANS ***SHE*** WAS GONNA BE THE REASON FONTAINE WAS GONNA DROWN. AAAAAAAGAFAFDAADFAGAAGSHS

I hate how focalors specified that furina had to act like 'how people think gods act' and not just 'act like a god'. I hate it. I hate how she was trying to be nice but in fear that itll blow her cover she had to shine brighter to blind the people, when there was nothing to show underneath it. Dies dies dies!!!!!!!!!

As much as i hate that they didnt really show furina moving out of the palais mermonia. I think its fitting. How shes so tired of all the flair she has to put up she really just... wanted to leave. Be done with it. No flare just slips away silently.

Im glad that she and neuvillette is still in good terms, i think atleast after 500 years of putting an act together + neuvi finding out the shit she had to go through, he'd atleast have some form of camaraderie or respect for her. The fact that he is supportive of her being involved in a performance after she moved out is so waaaaaa she deserves it!!!! I think its clear that despite her needing a break, performing what she wants is something she likes to do and im glad she has something thats entirely her own going on for her :)

Also also la vaguelette is the song ever. I hope hyv is happy that they made a song that can make me cry 1 second in. Literally best song after yunjins opera song. They did not hold back and my heart weeps everyday.

Also the fact that now she just eats macaroni everyday is a mood. Boop

[c6jpg]

okokok i did the 4.2 archon quest thoughts below

i really loved it.... except things involving the whale. the whale's whole part in the story literally ruined the flow for me LMAO when they threw the whole revelation of "the whale wants to eat everyone because it THIRSTS FOR PRIMORDIAL SEAWATER" i was just like. really. REALLY. REALLLLY.

it felt like they just needed to force in a weekly boss and extra lore the way they did it. the overall fontaine archon quest could easily have had nothing to do with a space whale. the lore they did drop through skirk could have been interesting in a different context but it felt so irrelevant here.

that being said neuvillette was pretty sexy when he was like "let us go EXECUTE the BEAST". my guy was MAD mad. also skirk literally chucking childe through the portal was hilarious.

rest of it though. god. loved. well actually beginning and end kind of dragged on but furina's trial (ignoring the whale) was awesome. mixed feelings on focalors but furinaaaaaa FURINAAAAAAAAAA god you could really see how she suffered and the ending where she disappeared because she just wanted to rest... OUGH. also really loved how emotional the encounter between neuvillette and focalors was like i can only imagine the wild mix of emotions neuvillette was going through.

hmmmm what else okay random bullet points

WHAT THE FUCK DID SKIRK MEAN BY REMAINS OF THE THIRD DESCENDER. HUH. HUH?????????????????????

i'm confused how like. geographically it can flood in fontaine. isn't it a raised lake????? if a raised lake sitting on a plateau is flooding what in GODS name is happening to the rest of teyvat. whatever. teyvat has its own laws yeah yeah

the way the whole last part of the arc was like "yeah neuvillette just solved everything with dragon powers." lol. lmao even

i really don't like charlotte lmao

oh MONA was an interesting surprise but also feels like she was there for no reason i feel like they could have done more with her especially since her whole thing is literally HYDRO and FATE

wrio on the boat WRIO ON THE BOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

honestly my appreciation for furina really shot up through the roof. i didn't care much for her before honestly but yeah SHE GETS MY RESPECT FOR THIS ONE.

focalors' hair really bothers me tbh..... the way they rendered her long hair does not suit the bob cut thing furina's model has lol

i can't actually think of anything else my brain is fried. mostly just feeling vast disappointment about the whale but really loved everything with furina and neuvillette rotating them in my brain at high frequencies rn

[darshanoftheories]

We got the trailer, a bit later than last time

So I gotta be quick with my theories

So I gotta preface this entire convo with my believe that the playable characters won’t die.

I don’t think hoyoverse would be brave enough to do that, especially cause, no matter how much people might want to play guizhong and such, more people would be freaked out with playing a corpse. I think the Fontaine banners would ultimately not do as well as they could’ve, if the characters were dead for real. I don’t think hoyoverse would want to jeopardise their chances at making money.

So, that said, the trailer does depict quite a few dark scenes, in fact, most everything hints at death and destruction. The prophecy is being fulfilled, the people of Fontaine are dissolving. And in the middle of it all, Furina and Neuvilette. At the trial of the hydro archon Focalor.

Now it should probably be said, that those two, plus Navia, who is falling into the water after we failed to grab her, are the only people we see in the trailer as far as I know. Navia might still die, but she just got her character card confirmed and she was already one of the main characters in the archon quest, so again from a marketing standpoint it would be idiotic not to let people pay money for her. So I’m placing my bet on her being saved last minute by another person.

What we also didn’t see is the ship, that Wriothesley was building. Which I also feel like it has gotta play a part in the quest, or else they wouldn’t have gone through the effort of designing that big of a thing and only show it for like two seconds.

When we talk about the ship, we have to talk about the water.

The primordial water seems to be even worse off than before. “Everyone on the street who happened to be close to the water didn’t have a chance to escape. As the water levels rose, they suddenly disappeared.” Everyone, implies that it truly is everyone. Fontanians and every person from another nation who happened to be there. That’s not the properties of the primordial water we know till now. Even the traveler got warned not to go near suspicious water. I am a bit stumped why Navia would feel the need to clarify that it’s the water that’s ominous though. I wonder what they were talking about before. Maybe other people? Maybe the oratrice?

And that is the second thing we have to talk about. The trial. The trial of the hydro archon Focalor. People seem to have very negative response to justice right now, so there has to be something that’s besides the norm.

I think that Focalor and Furina might not be the same person. That theory has been floating around for some time, but it feels even more solid when we know how hoyoverse likes to bring us onto the wrong path. Every time the specifics of the trial are mentioned only Focalor or the hydro archon are mentioned. I could see Furina in opposition with Focalor, battling for the title of the hydro archon. So that in the end of it all Furina is finally the proper hydro archon.

But then again, Focalor has a Death sentence.

The way Furina looks like, we already know her white outfit, she’s been wearing that all the time, but now she also has a black outfit, in which her hair is cut short, without those long strands anymore. It makes me think of that blade going down, cutting her hair off, symbolising a new beginning. And yet. Black is also for mourning. Focalor dies, so isn’t it fitting to wear black? What is Neuvilette’s part in all this? If this is a trial, then shouldn’t the oratrice be able to handle it? Ah but no, it makes me think of a theory I have had before. Would the oratrice be able to remain impartial in a trial against itself? Maybe Neuvilette’s job really is to make sure to judge impartially. Maybe Childe’s sentence really was unjust. Neuvilette said Furina wasn’t quite as superficial as she made herself out to be and I have to agree with that.

Now I am really bad at figuring out whose voice is whose, but I believe it is Furina’s voice actor who says “Farewell, Neuvilette. I hope you’ve enjoyed the part you played these five hundred years.” And while it is Furina’s voice, it doesn’t sound like her. She has more glamour in her voice, more energy. I think that might’ve been the voice of Focalor.

Childe is also in his foul legacy transformation again, and with Skirk and the whale being in the trailer, there’s certainly something interesting going on. I like the idea that Skirk is somewhat parallel to Arlecchino, with being called Papa, cause the voice in the end, she knows more about what’s going on. I can also see the “Everyone’s dead.” line being from the past, because again, I don’t think our playable characters are going to die. The whale as the final boss in Fontaine is gonna be exciting, especially cause it seems like the whale got through a portal into the courtroom. And Neuvilette and Childe are battling to defeat it.

A parting thought that there are more trees than ever, they just continue to pile up. There are two main new ones in this trailer. It’s part of the Tevat symbolism.

Anyway gonna wrap this up for now, 4.2 is upon us soon, so we’ll see how this chapter of the archon quest is gonna end. (Probably with the Fatui having one more gnosis)

[fictionfixations]

thoughts about the end of fontaine (ACT 4)

reading this line really made me feel like it was some sort of shade, or like manipulation in a way, a way to continue to shame furina but subtly. "Those who work hard deserve gratitude and praise." As if Furina isn't working hard (although Neuvillette mentioned in like act 2 that she'd been keeping herself up late at night or something trying to figure it out)

And as if Furina wasn't there, in a way? Maybe I'm seeing way too into this and seeing stuff that isn't there

I've also noticed she's done a lot of baiting in a way? Like, so, she acts all worried about Childe to bait Paimon into saying something to 'sooth her worries'. And then immediately questions it at all while also getting an understanding of what we've found on that part.

(it might just be because I've been pretty cautious of her, and reading her lines carefully for manipulation tactics? Or any I understand anyway)

I do think Furina does have a plan, or at least an idea of what to do, but also. The Knave likely seems terrifying, someone that'll tear down through all her plans, and then after that, what does she have next? I like to think that she's scared of saying this whole grand plan, and The Knave scoffing and laughing at her, like 'that's it?' Because at the end of the day she has feelings, she doesn't know how to talk to people, and she gets hurt easily.

Admittedly, I think I see her as a bit of a child (which would make sense considering she's newer in a way? I don't know the circumstances, of course, but I'd imagine it would be hard to try to figure out what her place in all of this is, and how to interact with the people. They probably worshipped her because she was a god, but in the end I think she's very self-conscious. Not that she isn't bratty or selfish at times, or annoying, but from what I understand of her, she kind of does stuff mostly because the people expect her to? Like, she didn't prop up the idea of a duel until the people around us were being like 'ohh is she gonna fight the traveler' or something like that, I can't remember exactly, but then back in the magic show iirc, people were also like 'Furina's gonna [blah blah blah]' which pushed her to y'know. Do stuff. Not that it isn't her fault for doing it, but I think she has reasons, and is easily peer pressured.

(Also maybe I'm giving her too much credit, but if she's panicking over the prophecy publicly, how do you think the people would react? Although it would probably sooth the worries of those wondering if shes even doing anything or worried about it. Also, idk man, I see being an archon as a huge load of responsibility, so maybe I've just been giving her a lot of slack. Idk. But this is also coming from a person who doesn't actually dislike her, so.)

Basically. I do understand where people are coming from because yeah Furina can get annoying, and I'm probably reading into this wrong and she's possibly a horrible person who has no respect for others or whatever. But I'd like to think she has her own reasons, and we'll find out in the future.

Although I do realize that we haven't actually seen even a hint of Furina's power. We've seen Venti's when we were blown into the sky and shot at Dvalin in Mondstadt, technically we saw Zhongli being a huge dragon (which if that doesn't speak powerful, then idk what does), the Raiden Shogun has the thunderstorms surrounding the island, not to mention how lightning strikes are often, or the stories about her being really powerful, something to be feared (for example kazuhas story about his friend), and we saw Nahida during the samsara festival.

(This is me talking about hints in the first few acts, NOT the end)

Furina on the other hand? Nothing, nada. However we have seen Neuvillette, especially during Act 2 during the trial where he took down Childe so easily, Childe who we know how powerful he is canonically considering he has his own boss fight, and we know what number harbinger he is.

We see his power again when he pushes back the primordial water.

It's really interesting.

[idyllic-affections]

About Neuvillette and Furina... I see them as two people, which awkwardly never called each other friends since it would be too "strange", bonding through these 500 years. I think Neuvillette must have learned a lot from Furina, about how to express himself and understand more about the humans.

I see Neuvillette as someone who can't quite grasp the concept of love, yet is understanding of it. While Furina as a person who understands it, but is kind of just there... She doesn't feel that need or appeal to be in a relationship herself but is one of those people who've never been in a relationship yet give the best advice ever like??? (more like "I'm not interested in that personally and don't see myself in a relationship in the future, but I can give you a few tips from what I've seen".)

ALSO MY THOUGHTS HERE. I really think they match "Things to do" by Alex G in some way...

"Hold on tight to this time, this place

'Cause everything you know will be erased"

Furina kind of had to be preparing herself for the worst, at any time the prophecy could go boom (I don't know which word I could use here ajhshshah) and she lose all of Fontaine without being able to do anything.

"You were born inside your head And that is where you'll be when you are dead"

Neuvillette??? My friend?? I think it matches him well 'cause he doesn't really know where he came from or where this journey of life will end at. He doesn't quite understand the humans but has a duty to fulfill and he'll do it well.

I love them so much alsisjwjhs TT

- 🦢 anon <3

ohh this is very neat!!!! i agree!!!!

neuvi understands love, but not in the way normal humans feel it. his emotions run far deeper and in a far more complex manner than a human's do. he understands love itself to a certain extent, but cannot really grasp human love. he is moved by it in some ways though (it's implied that he did feel great grief following navia's first meeting with him in the archon quest; she has such deep and complicated feelings about her dad and neuvi sees that). meanwhile furina understands what human love looks like and how compelling it can be (i think she would cry at tragic love story operas), but does not want it nor feel the need to have it for herself. but because she understands it so immensely deeply she can and will give you absolutely awesome relationship advice.

this is soo real, i love them so much too 🙏🙏

[queen-ofsunflowers]

Nahida, Navia, Cloud retainer, and Furina please!

Drop a Genshin character in the inbox, and I'll share their role within the Winx AU!

Nahida... requires me to talk a bit more about my idea for the Archons in this AU. So let me allow Kazuha to explain it for a bit:

Kazuha: Aside from Magix and Earth, each of the realms in the Magical Universe is protected by a Guardian Nymph. Magix doesn’t have one because it’s the center of the Magical Universe. With so many fairies, witches and wizards in training here, it’s seen as unnecessary. And Earth… Lumine: Earth doesn’t have magic anymore, so there’s no need for one. Kazuha: Correct. Nymphs are… They are fairies who have been granted enough power and strength that they are said to be almost godlike. In return for that, they use those powers as the guardians of their respective worlds to help maintain balance and order not only on their homeworlds, but throughout the Magical Universe as well.

So there's the baseline for each of the Archons. However, they also have their own roles within the AU. The role of Guardian Nymph is also passed down from a family bloodline, so there are very few characters that still have their immortality. I think Neuvillette might be the only one?

Nahida:

Nahida, in this case, is a very young -- and I mean VERY young -- fairy who still hasn't manifested her full powers yet, though she suspects that might be linked to dreams. She also has the power link minds through dreams and the like. A lot of pyshic stuff going on there.

Her predecessor/mother was killed, which meant that Nahida took up her role as Sumeru's Nymph of Wisdom when she was still a small child. This resulted in her being heavily guarded and often spending days inside the royal palace where she could be kept safe.

Much like Collei, she has a bond with the pixies. Though unlike Collei, Nahida also has a bond with the Tree of Life. It's because of the latter that she takes on a prominent role in Season 4, helping the gang while they're on Earth. She also takes charge in helping Scara when he enters his Wanderer era during that season as well.

Navia

Navia is the headmistress of Alfea and Fairy of Roses!

She's very understanding of the circumstances that the girls find themselves in and does her best to help them out so that everyone is safe and sound in the end. Navia takes pride in her position, trying to live up to her father's legacy as the previous headmaster. Alfea's staff and students will always be her first priority.

If you fuck with her students, she'll show you how dangerous her roses can be.

Like every fairy that teaches at Alfea, she's obtained her Enchantix. That's the only transformation she's obtained since, though, but she's happy with it and doesn't see a reason to try and obtain any more. And I really want to draw it since Enchantix is my favorite transformation.

Xianyun

Xianyun/Cloud Retainer is one of the teachers at Alfea! She teaches History of Magic.

She's most likely a fairy as well, but I'm not sure what her powers would be drawn from yet. Since she hasn't dropped yet, it's hard to tell. It might be something wind-related or related to the mechanisms that she's known for building.

Furina

Oh, I had FUN with Furina. After finishing her story quest and Fontaine's Archon Quests, I think it's safe to say that Furina would be the Fairy of Theatre!

While she is technically the Nymph of Justice/Guardian of Fontaine, she hasn't been seen in a very long time. When the series starts, she's been absent since graduating Alfea. Neuvillette has acted as Fontaine's guardian in her place.

In truth, when her predecessor passed, Furina decided to pick up where she left off. Both of them thought that one of the best ways to protect Fontaine would be from obtaining the power of Sirenix. Neuvillette wasn't on board with this since it was that which lead to Furina's predecessor passing away, but Furina was stubborn. He hasn't seen her since and has searched the waters of each of the worlds of the Magic Dimension looking for her.

He hasn't been able to find her because Furina did succeed in her quest for Sirenix. Unfortunately, the moment that she entered the Infinite Ocean, she got trapped by a terrifying sea monster lurking in its waters. It's been hunting her down since. that monster is also aether and lumine's mom but that's a different story for another time.