#its mostly about Natlan

[evelynpr]

Sure the leaks look cool, but DONT FORGET THE BOYCOTT

For Genshin fans who are seeing the leaks. Listen. The leaked animations, environments, name cards, and everything look really cool and fun- but DONT FORGET ABOUT THE BOYCOTT. Do NOT buy ANYTHING from Hoyoverse, and don't hype up the next update either to keep revenue and attention as low as possible.

[puffcap-factory]

A crack upon the ice (Capitano x reader)

Capitano x gn!reader; bittersweet, longing, a hint of smut at the end.  

Basically, the reader used to be a Fatui, who worked closely *winkwink* with Capitano, but, circumstances forced you both to go your separate ways. And now, having been captured by a group of Fatui, you were unaware that Capitano was the one leading the group.

Words: 1.1k 

Notes:

oH My GOsh it’s been so long since I’ve updated. I just got into Natlan and hoLy MoLY Capitano O_o (please make him playable I beg of u hoyo) Even though there is currently not much info about him yet, I don’t think I can make myself wait. 

As always, please enjoy! 

•~•~•~•

The chill in the air was starting to bite as the heavy, deliberate footsteps grew closer. With your hands bound tightly behind your back, you had little choice but to lift your head slowly to the sound. You’d expended nearly all your energy fighting off countless Fatui skirmishers, but their numbers had overwhelmed you, leading to your capture. Your gaze shifted warily toward the cave entrance as a dark, imposing figure emerged from the shadows.

“You fought well.”

Was the first thing he said. His voice was calm but deep and stern. You looked up to meet his face. His mask concealed his entire face, and the elaborate furs of his massive cape seemed to absorb the dim light of the cave. It was none other than Capitano, the first of the Fatui Harbingers.

How long had you not seen him since you last left Snezhnaya? He put down the torch on the side and crouched down on one knee, maintaining the same eye level as he quietly observed you. 

“It seemed that my soldiers were lacking in honor and skill, I’ll need to remind them of their duties,” he mused, mostly to himself. “And you, y/n, managed to hold your own despite being outnumbered. Not entirely surprising, I suppose.”

He let out a low hum as you watched him with a cautious gaze, wary of the situation. With a subtle nod, he signaled to the Fatui guards who had accompanied him to leave. His attention remained fixed on you, as he was keenly aware of your cautiousness.

“Don’t worry,” he said, his tone firm but reassuring, “I have no intention of causing you harm.”

Though you knew he wasn’t one to indulge in needless violence, this was the first time you’d encountered him since you left the organization. You couldn’t be entirely sure of his intentions, and you couldn’t help but wonder if he might be hunting you down.

Although you had to admit, a part of you couldn’t deny the nostalgia—a yearning for what you once had with him—or at least for the familiar presence he had.

He extended his arm toward you, and you flinched instinctively. Capitano’s movement halted, his broad shoulders loosening as he studied your face with a contemplative gaze. You finally gave him a reluctant nod for him to approach, his hands working slowly to release your bound wrists. The moment your arms were free, you folded them in front of yourself, seeking solace from the biting cold night as you looked up at him.

He noticed the way you shivered slightly against the chill air, your movements slow and hesitant as you slowly dragged yourself towards the flickering torchlight. With a sigh of resignation at your constant silence, Capitano removed his imposing cape and carefully draped it over your shoulders. The immediate warmth was a welcome relief, and you visibly relaxed under its embrace.

“Better?”

You nodded in response. “Thank you.”

Capitano let out a satisfied hum as he finally heard your voice.

After a brief silence, you asked. “…Are you going to drag me back to Snezhnaya?”

He looked at you for a moment, his gaze inscrutable. “No,” he said, his voice gentle. “It wouldn’t end well for you.”

 A sliver of relief flickered in your eyes. “Then… are you going to release me?”

Capitano sighed, his gaze momentarily falling to the ground before meeting yours again. Slowly, almost hesitantly, he reached up to your face, his fingers brushing your cheek with a tenderness that took you by surprise. Your eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected gesture, before relaxing at the tenderness of his touch. You didn’t pull away; instead, you leaned into slightly, feeling a warmth and familiarity that you had missed.

With a gaze that felt almost pleading, you looked up at him and gently placed your hand on his. Capitano let out a soft exhale. His hand moved slowly to your hair, his fingers gently brushing away a stray strand to tuck it behind your ear.

“I will,” he whispered, his voice low. He repeated it, almost as if he needed to convince himself just as much as he needed to reassure you, “...I will.”

His touch lingered for a moment longer before he withdrew his hand and stood up. You could sense a subtle shift; his composure seemed to reassemble, masking the brief crack in his usual restraint.

“The night is cold,” he said, his voice returning to its usual firm tone as he stood up, turning towards the entrance. “It would be better if you set out when the sun is up.”

Capitano understood your reasons for leaving the organization. He recognized the validity of your stance; your vision and the organization’s goals no longer aligned, and he, too, had his own plans to pursue. Despite this, he couldn’t deny the value of the time spent together and the connection you had shared. It was a bittersweet realization—one that spoke to a mutual regret over how circumstances had unfolded. Though duty had called for your paths to diverge, the sentiment was clear: both of you wished things could have been different. 

And now, you wanted to linger a bit longer.

“Wait.”

Capitano turned his head back toward you.

You hesitated as you clung his cape a bit tighter. “The night is long… and cold.”

If there was one thing Capitano was known for, it was his unyielding restraint and composure. However, in this particular night, that control seemed to waver. 

You stood up and moved closer to the cave wall, the flickering torchlight highlighting your figure draped in his Fatui cape. Seeing you wrapped in his garment stirred a deep reminiscence of the past. Although it had been a while since he had last seen you, it was undeniable that he had longed for you—your presence, your warmth.

He took a deep breath and moved closer, his towering presence casting a shadow over you. He studied your face, as if grappling with some internal struggle as he inhales deeply, until something within him seemed to snap.

Your breath hitched as he suddenly pressed his body against you, your back pinned against the cave wall. He lowered his head into the crook of your neck, his warm breath brushing against your ear.

His hands moved from your hips to your legs, lifting you up against the wall so that your legs wrapped around his hips. You gasped as he started pressing kisses on your neck hungrily, your hand instinctively placed onto his back of his head in response. 

“Is this what you want?” he growled against your ear, sending shivers down your spine.

You let out a soft whimper and nodded.

“Then try to be quiet,” he murmured, his voice low and rough. “I’ll warm you up tonight.”

[incorrectfatui]

Today on my headcanons: are they superstitious?

Note that with superstition I'm primarily talking about belief in/worship of supernatural creatures/practices outside the Gods and known magic. Think knocking on wood/throwing salt over your shoulder/buying fortune slips. However I will make exceptions on beliefs in Gods/Entities that are not explicitly true, like the rumours surrounding some of the Youkai in Inazuma and how to avoid them.

With that being said:

In general, I think out of the regions, Inazuma and Liyue would be the most superstitious, with Mond and Snezhnaya close behind. Yes, Natlan, Fontaine and Sumeru have their own magical creatures and such, but Inazuma, Liyue and Mondstadt have much more obvious displays of superstition- Mond mostly in regards to the Gods (yes including Andriud and Vanessa) and Liyue and Inazuma with their prominent non-human population. Youkai and Adepti seem much more elevated above and less integrated in the general population than Foxians and Elves in Sumeru or Saurians in Natlan/Melusines in Fontaine. Snezhnaya I'm mostly going off of vibes tbh.

Least superstitious I'd say is Khaenri'ah, which is funny given that they're almost entirely based off of/inspired by Germanic Mythology.

I'd say my final order would be Inazuma > Liyue > Snezhnaya/Mond > Natlan > Fontaine > Sumeru > Khaenri'ah

As for the Fatui:

Pierro: Literally from the Atheist nation, so no, and he thinks it's stupid. Unlike a certain someone, though, he keeps his opinion to himself unless asked about it.

Capitano: no, but respects it when others are. Will participate for traditions, or to pay tribute to others culture. Does follow some superstitions just out of habit, but will gladly subvent them If necessary.

Dottore: actively looks at superstitious, tries to figure out how to do them wrong/offend the entity the worst, then does that.

Columbina: ABSOLUTELY superstitious. Technically stronger than most entities, but thinks they traditions are fun, so she follows them. Makes up her own little rumours as well.

Arlecchino: Not really superstitious, but tries her best to follow actual rules that surroung some of Teyvats non human residents, just to be sure. Fontaine is relatively low key in this regard compared to some other reasons, so she mostly doesnt have to worry about it

Crucabena: used to be incredibly superstitious when she was younger, but grew out of it for the most part. Likes using scary fairytales to get the children to do what she says, but lowkey kind of believes some of them herself on a lesser scale.

Pulcinella: yes. The grandpa type of superstitious. Doesn't take it too seriously, but definitely would rather follow the traditions then not.

Scaramouche: Kind of hard to explain. Inazuma definitely seems more suitable for superstition, given the Youkai, but considering his own heritage he's very aware about which legends are true and which aren't, and doesn't feel very threatened by them. Used to follow superstitions out of politeness as Kabukimono, now he doesn't really care. Imitates Dottore in actively disobeying tradition, but only in regard to the Shogun and Yae- he doesn't dislike the youkai enough to try and piss them off on purpose, although he definitely doesn't go out of his way to respect them either. Actually probably has quite a few urban legends and superstitions surrounding himself as Kunikuzushi and the Kabukimono.

Sandrone: no. Doesn't give a fuck. Thinks Dottore's approach is really annoying because he's actively inconveniencing everyone else in the process, but she herself wont follow tradition unless its useful to her.

La Signora: it's a little hard Not zo project on her (and Pierro) given they're from the nations inspired by my culture xD For her, I'd say surprisingly yes. She wont follow Seelies in the dark because they remind her of Will O' Wisps, and definitely believes Dragonspine and Old Mondstadt are haunted. Has shared books on scary Mondstsdtian fairytales (look I need to bring up German fairytales whenever possible) with Crucabena more than once.

Pantalone: Kind of. He used to follow all the good luck superstitions when he was a kid, but have up on them when they werent working.

Childe: a little weird case. Definitely kind of believes in Snezhnayan superstitions (and post Scaramouche leaving he believes in Inazuman ones, because remember the paper mansion?), but likes to take them as a challenge. Will be told to watch out for evil spirits and intentionally try to goad them into fighting him, but doesn't do that around his elders because it's rude and some of them get genuinely scared. Would do 3AM YouTube Challenges.

[erabu-san]

You are literally French. What would you know about any of this, an issue and drama stirred up by anericans.

Blackwashing exists and is used by bigots that hate white people. Its used to erase the ethnicity of asians just because people dont think they are "poc enough" because of their pale skin. Its used to demonize people with pale skin because its becoming more and more the norm to view anyone with pale skin as evil. That anyone who is "too pale" isnt enough or a human being.

They arent real people, and their skintones are fine as is. You wouldnt go up to, for example an albino or mixed race black/poc person and tell them they arent "dark enough". They dont even need to be special like that to be pale. Some just are pale.

Whether you think there should be more characters that are dark or not is not the issue. Its that you think they wouldnt be/arent good enough as is with pale skin that shows how much of a bigot you are.

Blackwashing is not the progressive act you think it is. Its obvious that your only experience with it is through genshin drama. You obviously know nothing about how much red haired pale characters & asian ones are substituted with black characters. How characters are simply replaced in the name of "diversity". How this forced inclusivity and diversity is just bigots trying to "get revenge" on the white people they hate so much, and to tick off DEI boxes on their little bigoted checklist.

You tell me to educate myself but its actually YOU who needs to be educated.

Many are complaining about sumeru and natlan characters with names similar to gods in cultures of our world that are pale when their inspiration is dark skinned. Claiming they want representation and for it to be accurate, to reflect our world on a 1-1 scale.

Yet these same people will make xiao, zhongli, Ei, and many more asian characters darker " because asians can be dark skinned too". Yet so can mostly dark skinned races be pale.

So why cant you (gen) respect such characters, who are gods and divine beings based on a culture where pale is more beautiful, and gods of such cultures are pale?

There is hypocrisy in everything to do with blackwashing. Its okay when its done to pale characters because in real life black people have been oppressed? But these characters are not real, nor are they a reflection of our reality, as far as we have seen they dont even have racism in this fictional world.

It is one thing to explore a character like with the recent hatsune miku trend, atleast there most people arent going at each other's throats saying black miku is better than japanese miku(as far as i have seen)

Seriously how can you even begin to justify this. And who ever told you that dark skinned characters "scare white people" is an absolute fucking liar trying to justify their own bigotry towards white people.

No black washing IS just as disgusting as whitewashing. Neither should exist, and you shouldn't feed into the stupid circle jerk of bigotry that both of them are.

Aaaah that's what I like ! Yes ! Thank you for telling me your opinion, explaining what is wrong. I absolutely love to learn, and I prefer to read this long text calling me ignorant and explaining why that just a simple text of you saying you are annoyed by a fanart.

Thank you for telling me ! First yes I am french, and indeed my culture has more an european pov. But again, I also grow up as a minority "race" with my parents culture !🙏 in france, i don't look like a french. Well. Still I am aware that it doesn't remove anything from what I said

And I totally agree with you, some are just pale !! It just happens I draw Kinich black because I like it like this. Is Kinich true inspiration are actually pale ? Tell me more, I wish to learn !!

Tbh when you talk abt gods being pale is beautiful, I thought about Nahida. I did research when she were out and yes, I do agree, there is character who are fine as they are.

And because I live in France I also see "dark skin scare white" as a true fact. It happens and it is harmful. 🧍 not only in France tho, in country where pale skin is portrayed as beautiful, people who have tan skin are less represented even if it is the majority. I suppose the contrary happens too !!

"Character are not real" and yet you are annoyed, I guess it is the action of "blackwash" that make you mad, more than "a fictional character w diffent skin tone" tho! My opinion is fiction does affect real world, as do real life affects fiction, and this is something I won't debate on

"They don't have racism in this fictional world" sorry but it does in Sumeru. 🙏 about this one npc she is reject by forest and desert because of them being mixed, desert not being access to book and even Cyno said his scholarship was complicated because he is from desert

If you wish to continue, please send me DM with arguments. I don't know if I would change my mind of not drawing Kinich pale, but I am super interested about what you have to say !! 👍👍

[emmebearpaw]

Ok. I’m just going to say this is going to be a very long ramble about incredibly minor Genshin Impact lore and design choices that fill my brain. It’s loosely inspired by this prompt on the Genshin 2024 prompt meme, but this is not written in fanfic style despite being mostly headcanon. And Amber not being in it. And also a different belief in the world building of them than the prompt suggests. It’s a lovely prompt though if I ever think of how to make what I’m about to write an actual story I might claim it.

p.s: most of this ramble is just my genshin worldbuilding as related to wind gliders. Thus mostly textiles.

I’m obsessed with Wind Gliders. I fully understand they run on magic, and that attempting to design ones that don’t are nigh impossible (as explained in Sumeru wing’s). However I’m not interested in the magic that fuels them. That’s the hand waving. Necessary, yes, but boring. I’m interested in how they are made in universe.

Now. This is not something the game is interested in. So I’ve made. A lot of stuff up. I’m not surprised Genshin doesn’t really care, it’s an open world game. The basis of fabric production is something the game only lightly touches upon with the assertion that Silk Flowers can make fabric. It’s just called “fabric” in game but I am going to presume, based off its description of being “silky smooth”. That it’s silk. Which would make sense for the region of Liyue and silk has had use in parachute material, so I’m not going to rule out silk as a material wind gliders are made from.

However silk flowers only grow in Liyue, and surely Liyue is not the only country in Teyvat that can make fabric. So it’s time for my work of fiction number one. What kind of fibers are found in Teyvat? Despite everyone in this game looking like they have invented polyester, with its superior dying and fabric printing range, I don’t think Teyvat is a world that process petroleum. Only Fontaine has a level of technological development I would think would be conducive to oil and they have their own renewable energy source in indemnitium. So we will be sticking with natural fibers.

The major varieties of natural fibers that I think are most conducive to wind glider construction include: cotton, hemp (makes canvas and rope), silk, and flax (makes linen).

The locations in game these would be cultivated based on their real world cultivation histories (source is Wikipedia):

Cotton: warmer regions. Primarily Sumeru and Natlan (cotton is an old world and new world crop! We domesticated it more than once), maybe some around the chasm in Liyue but that region does not seem to be doing a lot of agriculture.

Hemp: Hemp is an old world crop. It was imported into South America but only grew well in Chile. Cultivation is a little hard because of the fact that Hemp is the same plant as Marijuana and is thus just sometimes illegal. Probably grows pretty much everywhere but is not commonly found in Natlan. Doesn’t seem like a lot of middle eastern countries grow a lot of it either, so probably not a lot in Sumeru?

Silk: Historically? Liyue and Inazuma. Sumeru has gotten into it more recently. This one is harder to think about though as a plant would have much different growing condition than insects. Plus Inazuma is a more similar climate to Sumeru jungle than Liyue. Honestly it’s 1 am I’m tired I’m not thinking about soil water logging right now.

Flax: Most prominently grown in Mondstadt and Fontaine (once again I’m not thinking about the water table).

Ok. So with the in game lore tying wind glider creation to Mondstadt the sail material being a linen originally would probably be the most likely. Sumeru’s wind gliders also specifically mention a history of attempting to create realistic wind gliders. Those would probably be cotton or maybe silk.

TLDR: different fabrics might be used.

——————

Ok but what about construction? Well to begin with, windgliders seem to have a construction style more similar to a parachute than a plane. This is evidence by the deploy animation! Go jump off a cliff in game and pop out those wings and you’ll see them bend upwards from the middle and then level out. It can also be seen by their shape! The wing tips point downwards a little bit. An internal frame would likely lead to less bowing of the wings, and is thus unlikely as part of the structure.

This, however brings us to the point that I think the wind glider frankly has more parts than they show us in game. If the wings have no internal frame, they would need strings to keep the wings level and to steer them, like a paraglider. Additionally, the game literally doesn’t depict a way that the glider connects to your character’s body. I personally think it is something similar to a parachute harness and that wind gliding posture leans far more forward. Almost horizontal instead of the near vertical posture depicted in game. Mostly because I don’t know how you could rig a vertical posture in and strap it to yourself without adding lots of extra weight.

Now onto production of wind gliders!

The basic wind glider Amber hands us at the beginning is basically the only style of wind glider that is produced ready for purchase. It’s basically only available in Mondstadt, as Mondstadt is the only region with a high enough rate of adventurers, a culture that promotes gliding and an environment conducive to gliding that is safe enough for most people to consider it a reasonable activity. Gliding is a sport in Mondstadt! Especially around the coastal cliffs, where updrafts can keep you airborne for long periods of time! In Inazuma it’s a thing insane people do (I can not imagine that a place with frequent unexpected rain storms and lightning as I imagine in Inazuma would think about a sport where if it rains people might die because the thing keeping them airborne absorbed water and got heavy). When not in the air they hang down. They don’t just disappear like in game, you actually have to pause and take them off and fold/roll them back up when you are done using them. The traveler just wears a backpack with big wings draping off their back like a cape a lot of the time.

The wings of first flight are pretailored, and can be purchased directly through the knights. It is up to the purchaser to adjust the attachment straps and steering strings as necessary to ensure they are taught and secure no matter a person’s proportions. They come in the brown and black we see in game, though color may vary slightly depending on when in the year the wings were produced as a different dye may be substituted. The color was chosen to be very visible against many surfaces, including the sky, the stone color of the area and even the soils most prevalent in Mondstadt! That way if an adventurer crashes and needs rescue they are the most visible.

There is a small craft factory that produces them by hand. They are not made directly by the Knights but are commissioned by them for sale to adventurers and sport gliders. In terms of production, there are two ways I figure gliders are made.

More reasonable due to their high variation in coloring, each “feather” is a separate piece of fabric sewn together (typically by hand, i don’t know how many places in Teyvat have sewing machines. Fontaine probably does). This style would probably have an inside fabric layer of a less breathable fabric, which is one solid piece and is the thing actually doing the work, and then a fashion layer surrounding it. More pieces of fabric sewn together introduces more possibility for air to pass through and cause a lack of drag. I figure most wings in the game are this style.

There is no inside + fashion layer. The glider is one layer that is 1-2 solid piece(s), decorated with decorative stitches and details along the center of the wings where drag production is less important. The Wings of first flight are the most likely to be this style.

“But what about other wing styles?” I hear you ask. Simple. I think those are all artisan one off productions made for the traveler. The Steambird commissioned a wind glider for you from a local artisan to repay you for helping out the city so much. They got you a wind glider because you, the traveler, are known for using a wind glider. This was less notable in Mondstadt but is much more notable as your travels continue. Yes I know the Fontaine wings description indicate you don’t know the source of them. I think the in game description of the wings is written in universe. The artisan who created your wings know things about the world and tell you things about the world in their backstory for the wings. This isn’t a great answer but this is just how I interpret it. The non reputation wind gliders I don’t know how to justify how you receive them in game. I also don’t know how the Frostbearing Tree gives you a craft project.

Anyways all this to say I still don’t actually have an answer for the prompt.

[pearlywritings]

Okay, BUT

Just imagine a reader with mannerism of Shellsea from Fish Hooks in Fontaine

(Tik tok did it to me)

Written before Fontaine's release

First of all - she is some kind of sea creature but under human disguise - pretty much like Neuvillette. She can be a Genshin lore-accurate mermaid if they have one for all I care, but currently with legs and residing in the nation of Hydro.

Trendy, flashy, yet classy. Works as an attorney in the Court - which she is actually good at. But mostly her role is entertaining Furina with her wit and way of advocating, which gradually reduces the number of executions, and gains her a bit of unspoken gratitude from the Chief Judge, even though sometimes his eye twitches from some of her comments. Which the Archon also finds hilarious.

Like, listening to the defendant’s case, and then just going “wow, ma’am, I think you just dropped something. My jaw. Now to the evidence…”

Or “Neuv, relaaaaax. I wanna do it this way, and if I am wrong, I don’t wanna be right.”

Just causing manageable chaos and being iconic.

Feel like being besties with Navia is a given.

And the blondie is so pretty that she probably gets asked out at least once a week.

“Oh, this man is gonna have his heart smashed in a minute. I wanna watch it.”

Also going all “Girl, you’re craaaaaazy. I like it!” the moment the reader learns that she wields a hecking claymore.

No matter what probably spends quite some time in the Chief Judge’s office, reviewing some of the cases and actually coming up with ideas on how to keep Focalors content.

“Ew, this man’s case is actually concerning. He is so dead, this little creep. You know, that’s actually what I’m gonna tell him. And then smack his head with one of these books on your shelves.”

“Y/n, you can’t hit him.”

“When did that stop me? Which volume 5 of Fontaine laws is heavier - the 23th edition or the 35th one? Both look so thick.”

“sigh”

Most likely wears a new attire every single hearing. One time Neuvillette even questioned her after seeing the report of her spendings where the big portion was dedicated to clothes. It was just a few decades ago, after her decision to permanently stay on land and take over what she is so good at now. He won’t admit it, but maybe he was a bit concerned about her having a hard time handling her budget.

“Listen, Sir. I got those pretty walking legs to dress them up nicely as the rest of my body. Speaking of which, now I am craving a Natlan lava hot dress with ¾ sleeves, off-the-shoulder, a fixed box pleat skirt and embroidery on my girls,” casually motions to the chest.

As shameless as she is, nothing shocked the poor man more, than when three days later she arrived in exactly that dress. After this he almost never questioned her abilities.

Speaking of abilities, probably good at gathering intel. Unintentionally.

Also so chill, that when Furina threatened to turn her into water, she just stared at her point blank and went “Loooook, milady, it’s nothing personal, but I had to stop you. I read it in Neuv’s eyes, he was pleading for it. Don’t turn him into water though, I like him. Besides, Fontaine's waters might turn sour if he replenishes its volumes.”

She is Furina’s personal favorite.

When shit starts further down the Archon quest and everyone is panicking, reader, standing next to Neuvillette and Furina, just smacking her lips and exclaiming “we’re all gonna die! And if some of us actually do, Neuv, I’m stealing your coats,” not taking it seriously enough.

Would be so funny if she and the Chief Judge got together at some point lol. But staying sarcastic colleagues borderline a different kind of besties is also hysterical. But they do unintentionally "parent" Furina.

[unaplays]

✨ Xilonen Buffer Build ✨

🛹 Like I said in my previous pull recap, getting Xilonen wasn't in my original plan. I was waiting for Mavuika but there was no signs of her yet until next patch. The game got a little boring with no new character to build so I decided to use some of my Mavuika saving for Xilonen.

🛹 Turns out, I made one of the best decision, pulling for a buffer who doesn't just boost my character's damage, but she's also able to heal! Discussions started surfacing, comparing Xilonen with Kazuha, which one is better and is she worth to pull if you already have Kazuha? I will try to break down my thoughts and how to build Xilonen as a buffer in this post.

🛹 Disclaimer: This build is not perfect and by no means should be treated as a rigid rule. I just share what I have tested in game and what I know works for me. So always do your own research and take my guide with that note in mind!

Artifact Set

🛹 Being a character who hails from Natlan, Xilonen is able to activate Nightsoul Blessing as her own kit, which can easily help trigger the 4 pc effect of Scroll of the Hero of Cinder City artifact. Just make sure that you create elemental reaction with Xilonen to activate the passive. It's required to produce crystallize reaction with the element you want to buff for the passive to work.

Artifact stats: def% or energy recharge sands, def% goblet, def% or crit rate/crit damage or healing bonus circlet

Ratio to follow: 3.200 def if you use Peak Patrol weapon to maximize its buff, 150% energy recharge if you want her to burst every rotation

🛹 A lot of my followers asked me on Instagram if she needed high def number and tbh if we're talking about Xilonen's debuff, it doesn't scale off her def. It has its own multiplier which is why it's important to level up her skill. Def helps with her healing but not with the debuff. Unless you have her signature weapon, then it's required to have at least 3.200 def to maximize its buff.

Team Composition

Neuvillette hypercarry

🛹 Wherever Kazuha can exist in a team, then Xilonen can too. They pretty much work the same, the only difference is in the way they give benefit to the team and the fact that Kazuha can do crowd control. While Kazuha gives buff to us, Xilonen gives debuff to enemies instead. Tho since geo can't react with dendro and anemo, you probably won't find her place in those teams.

Talents Priority

🛹 Her skill takes priority as the resistance shred comes from her skill. The higher the skill level, the bigger resistance shred she can give. Her burst deals damage but you level it up mostly for her heal.

Weapon Choices

5* choices: Peak Patrol Song, Freedom Sworn

4* choices: Flute of Ezpitzal (Natlan craftable weapon), Favonius Sword, Cinnabar Spindle (event exclusive)

🛹 Xilonen is such an f2p friendly unit as she can use common 4* weapons such as Favonius, and even craftable ones from Natlan. You can give her def% or energy recharge weapons and she will still perform just fine.

🛹 Now comes the million dollar question: Should you pull for Xilonen if you already have Kazuha? My answer would be yes, cuz it's like having 2 Kazuha, and since we need 2 teams for spiral abyss so having 2 characters who can help buff both team will be our advantage. You can skip Xilonen if you still lack on field dps in your account. But other than that, there's no reason for you to skip her. You can even combine both Xilonen and Kazuha in the same team if you want a premium hyper carry team.

So that’s pretty much my Xilonen build. Feel free to ask me questions if you have any through my ask box or just leave comment on this post and I’ll respond right away!

Don’t forget to check out my other builds here!

[pjsk-headcanons]

its ya boy, 🎲 anon (˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧ with genshin impact headcannons this time!!

ichika straight up refuses to play genshin for no logical reason. (source: i was this like 6 months ago and now i have an average of 1.5h+ in genshin a day)

shiho is very secretly into genshin. shes a chongyun main. no she doesnt watch that one streamer. also she despises whales and has no c6s. or c5s. or c4s. or c3s. shes only a chongyun main because she has c2 chongyun and xingqu and she doesnt have the heart to seperate the boyfriends.

saki has the most incoherent horribly unbalenced teams. what is an elemental reaction. also she has no impulse control and 0 primos constantly.

honami doesnt play genshin but she can recite almost the entirety of raiden ei's story quest from the top of her head (because shiho cried in it and wont let it go.)

airi is the only mmj member who plays genshin. she is ar 55 and has streamed genshin pulling in the past. shes not a whale but her viewers are and theyre convinced that yelling "motto motto jump high" in the twitch tts will bless her pulls. it does not. she threw a chair once after losing the fourth 50/50 in a row. hey, at least she has c6 diluc and mona?

kohane doesnt play genshin but she does play honkai! shes kinda shit at it but sticks around for yaoi and dang heng's voice (me too girliepops me too)

toya has only missed 4 days of login in the whole of genshins lifespan. hes entirely f2p. he has all the lore memorised. he predicted natlans release date 3 months before it was announced. if he didnt live with haramuchi hed probably do cosplay. he has c6 furina and got it in 80 pulls. noone believes him. hes max ar. its so intense. he has posters. he has every achievement. hes done every character quest. yeah.

akito is horrific at genshin. like really bad. hes only up to the start of fontaine bc he saw the court scene and decided to replay the ace attorney trilogy. hes a kirara main and doesnt know what elemental reactions are. kinda like saki he has no impulse control and constantly has 0 primos but he has a toya who stole his account info and will grind for him simply bc theres nothing left for him to do on his main.

tsukasa has an account. it functions as saki and toyas reroll account. mostly sakis because toya has impulse control. he has never actually played the game.

nene is an avid genshin player and was ashamed of it at first but now she has keyrings of visions and shit. shes also actual shit at the game itself. shes there for lore, characters and gambling. she has matching albedo/fischl/sucrose pfps with rui and mizuki

rui got genshin bc mizuki played and actually got really into it. hes a childe main but has matching albedo/fischl/sucrose pfps with mizuki and nene.

mizuki plays genshin 100%. theyre unironically really good at it. fischl main though chiori is a close second. matching albedo/fischl/sucrose pfps with rui and nene! (i should specify, not as a ship. like buddies. besties even.) friends in-app with shiho's totally secret account thats not called sbibo or anything. they bonded over crying in raiden ei's character quest. tragic siblings or smth.

ena is a genshin player but only because airi made her get it so she didnt have to stream alone. shes a kaveh main. reads fanfiction. ao3 search history between her and god. arllechino simp. the works.

mafuyu doesnt get to play much but she does sometimes. shes a ganyu main and spends an awful lot of time critiquing the bow users. when sethos came out she cheered in vc. (hes the only one who uses it correctly)

bonus: npcs!!

mio plays genshin!! shes a noelle main and has c5 on her.

nanami plays genshin only when her chat demands it, but shes played with airi before! they failed at windtrace together

kotaro got genshin after hearing toya ramble about it and doesnt really get it. he never got past mondstat but he did watch a 4 hour plot summary and proceeded to understand none of it

yuuki plays online with mizuki a lot but other than that doesnt play much

.

[ajxrn-archive]

Obviously I know (some) of your thoughts on Childe, but what do you think of the other harbingers?

YIPEE I love the harbingers ‼️ I’ll rant under the cut.. I had a huge obsession with the harbingers a few months back and I still do (in fact my brainrot is coming back so this is a perfect time for you to ask this)

Starting off with Pierro. I find him so interesting as a character because when I was diving into the lore of the harbingers I originally thought that he was number one?? Apparently he’s the director because capitano is no. 1.. I think that’s interesting. So what mainly intrigues me about him is the fact that he’s khaenri’ahn. The Tsaritsa has got to be different from the other Archons because of the fact she literally has a Khaenri’ahn man help run her military. I wonder what their relationship is with each other. Is it anything like dainslumi? I can picture it being that way but more cold, you know? The fact he’s based off the commedia dell’arte stock character Pierro (the fool/jester) is really interesting to me too.. they all have their connections to the characters in one way or another so I wonder what exactly his is.

Now onto Capitano. So far I think he is SO fucking cool he might be one of my favorite harbingers atp. Design wise it’s definitely a favorite but also the fact that he has so many similarities to Kaeya? If hyv were to make him related in some way to kaeya that would be so funny to me.. a lot of people do the pierro is kaeya’s dad thing but honesty I think Capitano would be a cooler connection lowkey? Also generally the ragbros situation would be 10x worse if kaeya was related to the fatui in some way, no matter which one it is. Anyways back on capitano, I’m mostly interested to see how his motives lay out and what his relationship with Mavuika is. The fight seen with him and her was so neat like the way they laid it out was so.. idk. I have a thing for fire/ice character relationships (not in a romantic way.) also what interests me even more about him is that The Captain in the commedia dell’arte is described as a ‘braggart’ type of person, so I’m wondering if he would use his ability to “convince people who knew nothing about him beforehand” to try and manipulate people in Natlan to revolt against Mavuika for the current issues and whatnot.

like I wonder how this'll play into his character in game/story wise. I hope he'll be playable sniff sniff.. Anyways, now onto this fucker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dottore is one of my favorite harbingers. I am an avid Dottore enjoyer. He’s cunning and genuinely awful and there’s no redeeming his ass he’s going straight to hell 🙏 and that’s what makes him such a GOOD character. He genuinely has zero redeeming qualities about him. He literally uses people and children for his experiments without second thought. He has clones of himself. He possibly killed his girlfriend in his school days. (If the zandik lore is right.) He was literally expelled from the Akademiya because of how awful he was.

I cannot fathom how amazing of a character he is. I think in games we need to have more characters who are just genuinely fucking evil and we don’t just “hate” them for it. I honestly dislike how people hate him JUST because he did bad shit, like have a better reason than that tbh? "He hurt collei/He's the reason crepus died/he gave scara so much trauma" I LOVE ALL THREE OF THOSE GUYS AND DOTTORE</3 Don't hate one character only to love the next. anyways dottore supremacy..

Anywho, onto Columbina. Honestly she intrigues me so much. She's so powerful that not even childe wants to fight her, what is up with that??? I think its also interesting how in the commedia dell'arte her title is technically Little Dove but it’s Damselette in the game. we like,, do not know much about her at all to be honest?? The harbingers voice lines about her interest me so much, especially arle's. It's very. vague??

Arlecchino: "She is a very special Harbinger. Pose her a question, and the answer you receive will be entirely unpredictable, if she sees fit to give a proper answer at all. Regardless, any answer you do receive is sure to be an interesting one."

Childe: "The Fatui Harbingers are ranked by strength, and I have no idea why that girl is No. 3. I'd test my skills with every Harbinger who ranks above me if I had the chance, but when it comes to her... something just doesn't feel right. Anyway, you should be careful around her."

Scara/Wanderer: "Let me ask: what should you do if you were to encounter a "damsel" who is oblivious and innocent at any given time, and unconcerned and unfeeling in any given situation? If it were me, I could at least challenge her to a fight. But if it were you... with your conscience, I would stay away from her."

Judging by voice lines alone, columbina is very, very powerful. she seems to beat around the bush with questions (arles voiceline) and is very mysterious even with the other harbingers. (childe saying something doesn't feel right) I've seen theories that she belongs to the seele race which is honestly pretty cool, but I think i'd need to see her in game or hear more about her first. I'd assume that Arlecchino has a rather close/interesting relationship with columbina. Not purely because of the fact they do in the commedia dell'arte, but because she was the only one out of the three to not tell the traveler to be careful around/stay away from columbina.

Arlecchino herself is a really well written character to me and I notice that a lot of the fandom don't understand her entirely (myself included.) Something i notice the most is how people tend to dumb her down to the Father of the house of the hearth, either portraying her as a wonderful parent (incorrect) or as an awful one (also incorrect.) She's definitely a highly flawed person who does put her children in danger, although she absolutely cares about the children of the hearth. I wouldn't say she's a child abuser/groomer/any other stupid shit the fandom says about her. Her wiki quite literally says that she's flawed but not as awful as Crucabena:

Her (possibly?) being khaenri'ahn is also so interesting because WHY does the tsaritsa keep having connections with khaenri'ah in her military of all things. I have so many questions.

We do not know much about pulcinella at all but I do find it SO intruiging/interesting (can someone give me another word for this HELP) that he's close to childe. he visits childes family for him, iirc, which is suspicious when you read the commedia dell'arte lore.

I do think he's doing this for self gain to be honest. He's a manipulative person, so he could be manipulating childe into relaxing around him to the point of letting pulcinella get near his family, which could end really badly to be honest.

Next up is scaramouche. I feel like the scara stans themselves don't even understand his character that much, because they're too busy yelling at people about raiden/dottore instead of focusing on his character itself. I think he's a LOT more than mommy issues short boy and actually his character is really deep. His name in the commedia dell'arte is also Little Skirmisher (instead of balladeer, though I'm not too sure what that means) and what's most interesting to me about his commedia dell'arte connection is how (IIRC, this could be wrong but i found this out last time i was talking about the harbingers and the commedia dell'arte) scaramouche's "mask" was later removed, which him being removed from irminsul could be a nod to that.

What's also a neat nod to the commedia is how scara "influences the audience to do his bidding." I think in game they referenced this by him influencing/controlling that one woman in sumeru (i forget her name) to be his first follower and do as he says.

Okay so truthfully i don't have many thoughts on sandrone but something that makes me curious about her backstory is the fact that in the commedia she is known as "Peasant.” what else is neat with this is that she looks like that one girl from Fontaine (Mary-Ann) I don’t really know/remember the the lore of her but hm.

What’s even weirder abt the similarities is that Marionette (her title) means Little Mary IIRC? I don’t think she IS Mary Ann since she’s dead but she could have connections to her. Anyway I don’t have many thoughts on her ngl.. </3 genshin give us sandrone lore PLEASEEEE

Next up is my fucking WIFE ‼️‼️ (la signora)

everyone who hates her sucks lowkey she’s such an overlooked character like her lore is so fucking?? sad?? Everyone reduces her to “haha ashes” and it annoys me tbh. Her boss fight was a pain in the fucking ass though ROSALYNE WHY.. it took me 20+ tries

I genuinely love her backstory it makes me so sad honestly. Through her grief and rage she became feared and hated. Idk I wish people would talk about her a little more?? Because she’s so interesting?? She has ties to ancient mondstadt isn’t that sick.

something that interests me the most about her character is how they made her somewhat different from La Signora in commedia dell’arte? She’s continually described as a woman who often cheats on her husband in the commedia, but when you read genshin Signora’s backstory it’s interesting to see how it’s mostly focused around how her loss of her lover threw her into a grief induced rage (basically, it’s centered around her grief and love)

as for her similarities, these two images explain it well:

Honestly I wish we had got to explore her character more than the information we have now. Genshin is so evil for killing her off tbh.

Pantalone I know like NOTHING about. I think he’s a really neat character. A lot of people dumb him down to “evil baizhu” but I do think he has a lot of potential to be a really good character

Basically he’s a capitalist ‼️ kidding but for him, he seems so far to be REALLY similar to Pantalone in the Commedia. I dont have too many thoughts on him either because we don’t know much about him yet </3 pantalone lore when….

and you already know most of my thoughts on Childe so I will save the rant for another day because that would get me fired up (I am losing words this rant sucked the life out of me HELP)

oh wait another thing that is neat about the harbingers entirely is how the trailer for them was called a Winter Night’s Lazzo (I think) but that’s another reference to the commedia dell’arte :)

[bordadoneuronal]

bad english btw, not my first language

(note im correcting some words my bad, it was like 2am i think.)

hi, i know this is an art account and im mostly inactive, but i also kinda rant about stuff. sometimes.

so i guess everyone saw the natlan teaser... it was disappointing.

i'm a white latino, first of all, so if im wrong in any statement about the issue feel free to correct me. im also mostly talking about the latin american stuff in the characters. its important for every individual being educated about the racism and colorism to be more conscious about the problems in our society and being able to make a difference.

now first of all, i was fucking annoyed when all the leaks of pyro archon were an spanish colonizer, its fucking disrespectful and the worse part was some people on twitter saying "well i think it could be a good idea if she was a colonizer because..." oh my god, shut up. its 2024 i need everyone to stop romanticizing the colonization.

hoyoverse racism and colorism isnt new at all. you got carole and her mother from honkai impact 3rd, one being ashamed of her skintone and the other being a racist stereotype for what i read. arlan from star rail, with his bad kit (also read on twitter his kit actually have racist references about the slavery.)

all the sumeru controversy both orientalism and colorism. correct me if im wrong but im very sure in the last sumeru area quest that lamp was racist with jeht. kandake being whitewashed in every aspect and just being a 4*

as sucrose's va, valeria said on twitter i dont mind mixing cultures, but if youre gonna do that, do it respectfully and do a proper research.

theres no fucking way they whitewashed and disrespected deities and gods from native cultures LIKE THAT. friendly reminder that its actually Olorun and no ororon. (and for leaks i read, theyre giving this character the 'candace' treatment.)

more i read more it get worse, why the pyro archon doesnt look like shes from natlan? (this taking in mind her outfit) brother she looks like some fontaine or mond character, are you kidding me? its like hoyoverse just refuse to make their archons like they actually represent the culture theyre based in. (very sure it also happened with nahida.)

you just dont choose to present specifically pre-colonization era and make all the characters that are supposed to be native WHITE.

im also tired of some latinos saying "we're not all black here" and we are not all white here. latam has many POC no matter what country is. afro-latinos exist, native people exist, stop denying their existence.

to be honest i knew hoyoverse would try to sell us another dehya, cyno and say "loook we have tanned skin characters" my ass.

please, consider to boycott hoyoverse. this isnt fair at all for latin american and black culture. its something that has been asked since sumeru, its fair also include how south asians were disrespected during sumeru release. write about this topic in the surveys. (also remember theyre collaborating with kfc, a target of boycott for all the situation in palestine, if im not wrong.)

and for all my fellow latinos, dont just stay in "oh well... but its the first time we get represented in games like this without being a joke." i get it, i also like when latinos are represented in media, but hoyoverse isnt doing a better job than all the stereotypes gringos put to us.

thats all. stop romanticizing colonization. read for a bit, it wont take you more than 5 minutes to understand how horrible it is.

[hamtastic]

The Turnfire quests rant I guess bc I don’t know how I feel about any of that and I just finished it (spoilers below)

OOOOOKAY SO I WONT LIE I FELT KINDA CONFUSED AND MAYBE A LITTLE MAD PLAYING THROUGH THAT QUEST

so you have this giant yumka who’s very being and sanity is being eaten by the abyss contamination, an actual threat to everyone’s lives, and forced to live at 400 years past his natural lifespan at best and you can’t put it out of its misery bc of cultural significance????

Maybe I’m missing something but throughout the quest I’m just big “??? We’re still talking about a living being right??? Not a statue????”

Natlan’s first acts literally go into how the abyss just eats you alive + whatever horrifying shit the writers want it to do through the game’s story and I guess something just ain’t clicking for me. Like I get if it was mostly sentimental value, something flawed but human, and in a way I guess it is??? But something about the tribe’s and Kinich’s focus on the cultural value of keeping the Mountain King alive vs its wishes (even if Kinich at first just suspected it BUT HE WAS RIGHT—) felt colder to me than that. Like we weren’t talking about a dragon buddy suffering for centuries and instead a very pretty painting they discovered was laced with poison or something

Maybe this is cold but throughout it all I’m just thinking to myself “ohhhh my god just put that poor thing out of its misery ITS LITERALLY SAYING IT JUST WANTS TO GO—“

Edit: forgot one more point but I think what really gets me is that the mountain king literally spent his entire expanded lifetime asleep bc of his condition. And we’re talking about centuries here so there’s no real bond with him and the tribe beyond his cultural value. It’s just really fucking sad man.

[narwhalandchill]

anyway tho like. overall (SPOILER FREE!!) natlan first impressions over last week in no particular order for me bc i felt like it sooooo

Firstly: the environments are absolutely insane like. i love the vibrancy they brought into it and the striking distinct sceneries between the three main regions (tho lowkey any water region post-fontaine is... unfortunate for basically feeling like its lacking a layer w/o diving) that rly make them feel unique!! like i havent explored an insane amount but a decent bit nonetheless and i think as much as i Liked fontaine the aboveground environments there just werent that unique which like. kinda couldnt be helped given the geographic inspirations like it was good and v beautiful in its own way but more like. mondstadt premium french steampunk edition if that makes sense. whereas natlan is already striking such a distinct image for itself and thats just great

also loving all the kinds of living creatures going about everywhere like not even accounting for the saurians genshins rly come so far from the early days of barely any non-monster creature anywhere (mondstadt cavalry but no horses moment) and i love all the creatures sm 💕💕 Especially all the surprise chests theyve incorporated into tiny interactions with the animals like it just feels v fresh and immersive. theyve rly nailed the feeling of making the natural environment feel lived in its so nice

the music is also just. knocking it out of the park like ive had to pause on multiple occasions just to listen bc holy shit its good 😭😭😭 and this is also sth i think compares to fontaine bc. i mean as much as of a cringe moment the whole "wow YPC left and now fontaine music is mid its over" tantrum was (ESPECIALLY once remuria dropped like 💀💀💀 that was just gloating . A whole music based region and culture????? ya we get it) buuut. now w natlan. i do have to admit that fontaine does suffer from some of its environmental soundtracks not being as distinctly memorable as previous nations and now natlan as well . obviously fontaine has its shiver-worthy standouts but its interesting that most of those for me are bc of their use in the AQ and that association . whereas natlans been jumpscaring me left and right on the first listen lmao . anyway to be clear the point is not me hating on fontaine music for lacking impact (but never polish or quality) in some tracks just that hoyomix in natlan is delivering some insanely good stuff rn jsjskskskakdkdk

next. SAURIANS. hoyo. Hoyo . WHY DO WE HAVE TO KILL THEM????????!??? HELLO????@?

ITS SO AWFUL I FEEL LIKE A MONSTER 😭😭😭😭😭 like the small ones?????? The whelps WHIMPERING?????? id rather you punched me in the face this is horrible 😭😭 like you rly saw all the complaints about killing the cute sea creatures in fontaine being too cruel and we dont want that and went bet 💀💀💀 why do i have to wear the skin of a baby saurians mom to murder the kids its so. This is terrible why would you do thisss. id rather merk 7848 seals in Fontaine than hurt a single saurian its so badd

But uhhhhh yeah saurians are great, i rly rly love their goofy animations and how much personality each kind exudes theyre just . Lovable shaped and all i just wish they didnt. Make them THE abundant overworld enemy we need for mats 💀💀💀

In all seriousness tho gameplay wise i really like how the saurians kinda bridge the gap between the older 1.x-2.x exploration where it was really mostly just you with your characters not that many exploration mechanics to boost mobility and traversal at all and then the 3.x era and afterwards where there are all forms of assistance from things like the dendro anchors and chenyu vale mechanics and everything bc. as much as the mobility boosts are nice they kinda had the risk of taking you Out of the exploration so it just turns into a zoom around with gadgets mini game ya know???? But i think w the saurians its a lot more balanced bc. youre still playing As a specific character with their own movement and controls not just getting warped from 1 location to another as a hydro bubble and thats rly rly nice. tho i have to say the koholasaur controls are kinda ass compared to the other 2 lmao . like ig its just post fontaine problems where we Already Got flawless underwater movement so its just. not the saurian alone but the water environments themselves just being ehhh without that added... depth (haha) there??

anyway unfortunately tho on a more negative note wrt the characters im still very uhhhh. mixed on the very modern design direction taken for the playable units and the overall lack of cohesion between a lot of them like. yes natlan is its own thing with different tribes and it should stand out but something about it just takes it a bit too far for suspension of disbelief . the three 5.0 characters i think look overall good and work well enough, but then theres designs like chasca and mavuika where its just . Ehhhh.

like chasca in particular (and im sorry in advance for never letting you unsee this either) i havent been able to stop thinking about a comment i saw about how like. her makeup is WAY too detailed and intense for genshins facial models and makes her face look really weird and just kind of like a bratz doll? compared to the rest of the cast like its really this borderline "yassified" parody of a heavy makeup look that just. Doesnt look natural nor fit in with the rest of genshins characters roster and she just looks off its . Weird. like obviously ik theres a lot of v intense hate going on for her design to the point where its actively hurtful to those who like her and idt thats good at all but this is kinda why her model has such issues for me. and the mess of an outfit doesnt help with the uncanny face stuff either lmao

mavuika is more of an outfit problem honestly like. her hair is good the eyes are amazing the color scheme is great & love the sun motifs and her hair accessory but i just. a biker????? Huh? and not even a particularly good looking biker design its literally just a plain bodysuit design without the usual detailing and dangly things to make it look better from the back that theyve usually done w bodysuit type charas (think shenhe) its just this. uncomfortable looking sausage casing of a disaster garment and that zipper is just.... not it 💀💀💀 like. it doesnt look completely awful if i dont actively think about it so its like whatever but i wish she was given sth a bit different. also ffs i hope she doesnt get ACTUAL motorbike animations like the memes are funny yeah but. thats too much for me sorry thats hsr and zzz stuff . like its just. The overt modernity in natlan isnt doing it for me very much 😔😔

But oh well i hope ill warm up to the cast over time. beyond mby chasca its not like i hate-hate the look of anyone to the point where its off putting its just a Bit of a mixed feeling for now. kinich and citlali are easily my favorites from the revealed designs tho and i do actually like xilonen as well (& kachina is baby) . n like to be fair maybe its just not my style this time around - fontaine was Really catering to me personally with the designs there bc i love ruffles and lolita style inspirations and more historical fashion references and uniform-like elements for garments so a lot of designs were just hook line and sinker for me personally lmao . but ig that does make it very fucking predictable that my favorite design in natlans cast so far is Easily capitano even tho he kinda doesnt count bc i just fucking love goth historical military uniform aesthetics so much its embarrassing 😭😭😭 dont ask me how many times ive rewatched The cutscene just to watch the way his garments shift around as he moves at the beginning its...........

iiii dont think im gonna comment on the WQs yet? since its bit of a spoilery territory and im far from done w all of them but ive really liked the ones ive done so far!!! And hmm what else

OH THE REPUTATIONS. So first RIP weekly bounties and requests past max reputation for 150k weekly free mora that was such an unnecessary change hoyo what the fuck.

BUT. i have to say. Absolutely LOVE how the reputations are now distributed among the tribes and how much more lived in the entire nation feels compared to p much. ANY previous one by having multiple settlements and communities that all get their own quests and narratives like. yes its a natlan thing bc it has the 6 tribes but i RLY wish theyll keep some version of this system for snezhnaya too bc like. Especially with the story quest incorporation into the tribal chronicles chain its just??? Such an organic way to tie a playable character INTO their environment and community in a way thats been a major failing in a lot of older SQs before like its just. genius

anyway point being. just Imagine playable tonia happening except theres also some sort of morepesok reputation questline and system like??? Actually featuring the village and its people AND childes entire family fr fr in their own storyline in a voiced capacity?? Please itd be so good 😭😭😭😭

but yeah i love the tribal chronicles approach so much its like the perfect marriage between world quests and story quests and reputation like chef kiss truly. and also new bounty and request QoL is great.

Also no spoilers but man doing the first parts of the scions of the canopy quest.... yeah i was in fucking tears . If you know you know.

aaaand i think thats it for now ??? Overall been having a great time, not pulling for anyone in 5.0 on my main, maybe kinich on my alt but cant guarantee him there . i think ill get xilonen and then mavuika for sure bc obvious archon (unless shes an on fielder HSJSKSOEKDIEI) but the big lookout is still chioris rerun lmao. xilonen and her at the same time would be ideal thanks xx

hope its been fun for yall too o777

[outivv]

I won't lie but being on Genshin Twt is really tiring.

Mostly because you have lurkers on every popular hoyoverse boycott account dating the "boycott has fail" or posting pictured about how "Hoyoverse made billions of dollars off of ZZZ"

@HilichurlDaily and @HYVBoycott are always the go to people to have enormous blocklist of racist fans

But if those idiots have a brain then they should know Genshin is losing profits

https://www.reddit.com/r/WutheringWaves/s/IXI2eg3e3S

This is the monthly revenue from every popular gacha game. While ZZZ has made about a billion dollars Genshin has LOST NEARLY HALF of its profits since June.

Same thing with HSR they went from almost 1 billion in June to less a 1/3 when July came.

Now before anyone comes here and say "well because everyone is so focus on ZZZ that of course no one is going to play Genshin and HSR" I would like to remind everyone Genshin main problem is that Hoyoverse is not creating anything NEW Game Modes other than events to grind primogems. Many Player have expressed their lack of new gameplay, having better End game content or trying to have more ways to be F2P because with every new region you are less likely to find primogems.

It's also doesn't help Hoyoverse choose to have 3D animation in mutiple server games. That alone is expensive to maintain along with budgets and paying workers.

This is similar to what happen to Rooster Teeth while RWBY was popular the company made poor finicial decisions had to make cuts in order to maintain the show. However in the end of the day it was not considered profitable and could not keep up with the animation cost.

(Some lighter note I'm not surprise to see Love and Deepspace 2nd highest because everyone wanted Sylus 5 star card lol)

Genshin twt is a fucking nightmare I’ve been there since like 2021 and it’s always been awful. The saving grace is the scrumptious fanart that people make with their headcanons of characters, I have so much appreciation for them. Fuck those lurkers though, they’re so annoying.

YAYYYY GENSHIN LOSING PROFITS LETS GOOO

I’ve had issues with genshin for a while about their lack of any actual fulfilling content, and decent gameplay other than “go grind primos” cause that’s what the entire game feels like :P girl I’m saving fully f2p for Dottore atp, cause I gotta save A YEAR in advance to at least guarantee a single copy of a character and their weapon. So genshin has issues with that, and has forever- and it doesn’t change even with the shitty summer event plus just a single new character this patch too that the majority of the community doesn’t like.

I hope genshin’s sales stay that low and go lower gen natlan drops, istg if this shit turns out like sumeru I will explode- don’t be weak, don’t spend any money on hyv games, I get zzz because it dropped and people probably spent loads of money right off the bat, so I understand- but DO NOT SPEND ANY MORE. NO MORE. INCLUDING IN HONKAI STAR RAIL. FEIXIAO, YUNLI, MOZE, JIAOQIU, LINGSHA, AND ANY CHARACTERS AFTER THEM ARE NOT WORTH IT!! Keep their sales down, in ALL THEIR GAMES

[azalen-draws]

I'm on a fucking roll fr fr

I made an OC Introduction 🤠

꒰⁠⑅⁠ᵕ⁠༚⁠ᵕ⁠꒱⁠˖⁠♡~~~~~~~~~~~~(⁠´⁠ε⁠｀⁠ ⁠)

Name: Eztli Dzata

Birthday: March 20th

Affiliation: Seven Sovereigns

Gender: Male

Rarity: 5*

Weapon: Claymore

Ancient Dragon's Authority: Pyro

Constellation: Flammeum Anguis

An old dragon that was found in the deepest chamber of the Great Volcano of Tollan Was found to be greatly weakened from the centuries of isolation. The Pyro Archon Requested him to transform into a human

Signature weapon

Flamelord's everlasting ember

Claymore

Crit Damage

66.2

Base ATK

608

Blazing embrace

Increases Crit Rate against opponents affected by Pyro by 80%. Opponents affected by Pyro are instead dealt DMG equal to 200% of ATK. Can only occur once every 10s

Name card

Storge of a dragon

"...For a protector's job may never end, their will and love be as undying as their soul will forevermore be..."

Constellation

Partner:

Neuvillette

Eztli adores the Chief Justice and would drop everything if the man ever receives a letter requesting his presence (Which of course is rare for Neuvillette to open up even to his partner, he is used to relying on himself, so Eztli checks up on him every week, bringing him flowers or other gifts)

(Little Eztli on his way to his beloved)

Fun Facts:

Has a great soft spot for children

Holds the Archons in high regard... except for the Geo Archon, refuses to elaborate further whenever asked

In his Night soul state, he will discard his cloak, his markings will light up and the markings on his face will appear

Adores sweets, though refuses to admit it

The crown of feathers behind his ears are actually part of him, if ever touched or even pulled, he will become absolutely offended for an indefinite amount of time.

Is capable of engulfing his claymore and extremities in fire, will only last for 1 minute

(10 seconds in game lol)

Drip marketing!

~~~~~~~~

References

Tépactl, blade used for ritualistic sacrifices to venerate the gods in Mexica tribes. It is also associated in the Aztec calendar the day March 20, which is coincidentally the first day of spring

Macuahitl, a weapon mostly associated with the Jaguar warriors, preceded the Mexica. Tools made of obsidian fragments were used by some of the earliest Mesoamerican groups. It was a club-like weapon made of wood with edges inlaid with obsidian, a volcanic glass, on each side.

(I used mostly number 2 as reference)

Quetzalcóatl, also well known as the Feathered Serpent, yes, I know Genshit used Xiuhcōātl or also called the Turquoise Serpent. I decided to draw sort of a parallel, Eztli is not Xiuhcoatl (Genshit's), but he is a reincarnation, just how Neuvillette is a reincarnation to the og Hydro dragon

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rambling time

I used WAY more references but these were the most... important ig, also, yes I am Mexican but I am not that connected to my history, I really mostly created Eztli to nudge myself to learn more about my culture. And honestly, most of Natlan gave me a weird vibe, its... too modern...? not that I expected them to be in tribal clothing ofc, it's just weird to see the women with crop tops and FUCKING ORORON WITH JEANS

It's just personal preference tho, I did make Eztli sort of more leaning on post conquista with the pants and metal armor... but also mixed more ancient armor, I hope I did a sort of good job and I'm open to advice!

...

Also... I'm kinda conflicted with the game, I love it, it's fun for me, but with all that's happening it's just... I don't even know how to write it! I want to separate it from everything that's happening, but it's just so jarring, and I enjoy the characters but their designs make me feel weird, maybe its the fact that I have a positive view of the game since I started playing for someone I love and only continued because I got so attached to it, and I cannot pick up another game and I don't know why

I don't think I like Natlan as much as I hoped, but whatever that's enough whining from me, I think I'll continue until I get the characters I want and ditch the game

Maybe I'll continue making art of Neuvillette and Eztli, and maybe other characters they're genuinely so enjoyable for me

[herrscherofmagic]

So apparently... Honkai Impact 3rd's lost continent of Mu was a "real thing." At least as real as an old and debunked pseudoscientific theory can be, that is!

[copy-pasta'd this post from my post on the r/houkai3rd subreddit]

I was reading an interesting post about how "Murata" in Genshin might have been a mistranslation that doesn't refer to Himeko Murata, and one of the hints of this is that the original text from the old Genshin manga would be more accurately translated as "Mu-Natlan".

Interestingly, the "Mu" in that phrase is the same "Mu" that's used to describe Mu in HI3rd, and that Mu in turn seems to be derived from a real-life conspiracy theory: that there was a lost continent named Mu, allegedly the origin of many civilizations including the Mesoamerican people, Egypt, and Southeast Asia.

Of course this hypothesis is well-disproved by modern scientific knowledge of geology and plate tectonics, but it still makes sense for Mihoyo to turn to it as a literary device. And while it's mostly a bit of extra fun lore for HI3rd, it makes perfect sense for Genshin given Teyvat's history of cataclysm, its decay of civilizations, and entire lands sinking below the sea (Exhibit A: Enkanomiya).

This is the link to the original post, and this is the link to the comment that described the parallels between Mu-Natlan, HI3rd's Mu, and the "real" Mu. check them out! :)

While it wouldn't surprise me if someone has already pointed this out in the HI3rd community, I thought it'd be worth mentioning anyways.

It took almost 3 years for some of the lore theorists of Genshin to discover that "Murata" was a mistranslation and that it might really be "Mu-Natlan". Knowing how much more effort goes into lore theorycrafting in Genshin vs. HI3rd, it also wouldn't surprise me if this little detail in HI3rd lore was left unnoticed by most people... 'til now! ^.^

[intriq]

✧ Fool’s Gold

contents: angst. more angst. themed around memory loss/erosion. enjoy <3

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

You had been warned countless times by Zhongli that although he was no longer known as Morax in the lands of Liyue, that he was still an Archon.

You knew about the devastating effect erosion had, and how even if Zhongli had gained everlasting life, the effects could still greatly affect him.

You were quite close with Zhongli, or so you had always hoped. You would often have tea with him, listening to his stories of the past, and in exchange you would always bring up a story from your infrequent adventures.

You didn’t quite label yourself an adventurer, more so just someone who would wander place to place, but would always find yourself back at Liyue, with a item in tow for Zhongli. You weren’t quite sure when you’d found out he was Morax, or what the circumstances behind you finding out were, but you figured you probably just always kind of knew.

Over time you’d discovered that while Zhongli enjoyed the little trinkets and relics you’d found, he seemed to be more interested in trying the tea you’d once brought back from your Inazuma excursion before it’d closed down its ports, not allowing visitors in or out.

You’d recently gone on a lengthy trip to Natlan. Although the trip was only supposed to take at most a month, it had really taken you close to half a year to finish the trip and return. You’d managed to procure a unique blend of tea from Natlan, the seller claiming it was one of a kind.

You’d tried that sellers tea before during your trip, and they were indeed correct. Each cup you’d gotten every now and then did not have the same taste. So you purchased a decently sized amount for Zhongli, and had managed to get your hands on a rock from one of its now dormant volcanoes.

So here you were, briskly making your way to Third-Round Knockout, carefully cradling your gifts for Zhongli in one arm. You’d quite missed being able to talk with Zhongli, and were excited to hear more of his stories, and of course, for his reaction to your gifts.

Even though you knew Zhongli wouldn’t really have a vocal reaction, as him saying anything other than a low hum of approval was just imagination at work. You could only really rely on his body language and his facial expressions for how much he enjoyed your gifts.

You could imagine how even if he would seem unphased, you imagined that a small smile would tug at the corner of his lips, but only for a moment, and perhaps his eyes would light up and widen ever-so slightly.

Your pace quickens at the thought, eager to greet Zhongli.

You pause amidst the crowd, and a smile is beaming on your face before you know it when you see Zhongli sitting at the same table, listening to the storyteller tell tales of his time as an Archon, even if the tales were mostly half truth and greatly exaggerated.

You bound up the steps, and sit across from Zhongli, greeting him with a cheery grin as you place his gifts on the table.

“Apologies my trip took so long, Zhongli. I was expecting to be back within a months time.” You pause to gesture towards the box of tea leaves and the rock you’d gotten. “I hope my gifts make up for that.”

You wait a moment, and are left confused when you see Zhongli’s gaze rising to meet yours, an almost bewildered look on his face. Confusion flashes on his face, but only for a moment when his stoic look returns, setting the cup of tea in his hands back down. He clears his throat for a moment before speaking.

“Apologies, but may I inquire who you are?”

A sinking feeling fills your chest as he speaks those words. You blink a few times, feeling your heart hit the pit of your stomach.

“Zhongli, it surely hasn’t been that long. I understand if your upset for not keeping light of my promise to be back within that allotted time frame, but that was out of my control. I get that your a few eons old, but I doubt your memory is that foggy.” You laugh awkwardly, almost choking out the words as you hoped Zhongli was only joking with you.

But he only squints, still at a loss of how to react to you. And your heart almost stops, your ears ringing. “I apologize, but I really do not know what you are speaking of. Are you sure you are not mistaking me for someone else?”

You let out a shaky breath as you clench your fist for a moment, trying to think of how to react. “Do you… Really not remember?”

Zhongli shakes his head slowly, indicting he did not have a recollection of just who you were. Your mouth feels dry, your throat almost constricting itself as you take a moment to breath, before standing.

“I apologize.. Perhaps I have gotten the wrong person. Please, take these in return. I do hope I didn’t cause an inconvenience.” You almost struggle to say the words, pushing the box of tea leaves and the rock towards Zhongli gently before standing, briskly turning and walking away, tears stinging your eyes.

Zhongli stills, watching your silhouette depart, leaving him bewildered at the interaction as his gaze lowers to the box and the stone.

The feeling of familiarity he’d felt at your presence made him wonder if he knew you somehow. But yet he just could not remember. He opens the box, finding it filled with tea leaves that have a pleasant scent. He closes the box, and turns his gaze towards the rock, lifting it in his other hand, his other hand running over its surface with a curious and inquisitive nature.

His brows furrow as he tries to recall why you had seemed to be so upset at his inability to recognize just who you may have been, and he goes to pocket the stone, only to find other various small trinkets instead.

Small relics, he discovered, were in its place.

He almost feels like he’d forgotten something important. Perhaps the erosion that he knew of all too well, had taken something dire from him.

And it almost frustrates him.