#just going off their voicelines and how they talk to the traveler

[welcometoteyvat]

finally typing up my late lantern rite thoughts (very long). overall 100/10 quest I love hu tao

The amount of Xingqiu's brother mentions were insane. Surely we'll see him either as an NPC soon, right? Right? /j Honestly here he sounded pretty competent, nothing like "a simpleton" like Xingqiu's troubles voiceline suggests hmm...

The little model animations were SOOOOOOOOOO GOOD. contributed a lot to the experience and made it feel so much more alive. hu tao's expressions especially, but also yun jin's expressions, and Xiangling's "come back, get over here and eat!!!!!1!1!!!" was also really fucking funny. they've been adding these small animations for a while but this event specifically had so many of them and the effort paid off <3

in a similar vein I'm impressed how smooth the animation/model actions were when Xiao put the sigil on us

hu tao lan yan and qiqi fill in the gap fic please

timaeus is kind of silly, also very funny he and ying'er still going strong 2 years later. he's literally learning liyue language for ying'er? genuinely his dedication is impressive. they should make events replayable because how will everyone who missed 3.5 windblume know why timaeus simps for someone a whole country over

we finally know what the fake chinese characters in all those liyue signs represent (kinda ig). I need to look over this part again

if hu tao&/xiangling or hu tao &/yun jin stocks on ao3 don't increase after this I will start biting. MY GIRLS T_T T_TT_T_T_T_T_T_T. bro the farewell section was so tender I enjoyed it greatly. Their relationships with each other got developed on screen.. yun jin and hu tao's banter especially was really cute and really shows us their relationship aside from the hints in their VOs

YUN JIN OPERATIC HILITUNE ON SCREEN. the fanvid of it from bilibili can finally rest, thanks for your service, canon got here 4 years later.

Yun Jin, having practiced the tao dou opera, MUST have known something correct?? or else she wouldn't have asked hu tao so many times to promise to come back, right? She trusts Hu Tao so much :'''' . if Hu Tao says she can handle it, Yun Jin knows there's no stopping her, and she will find a way, but it doesn't stop her from worrying nonetheless :''').

hu tao's death flags during part 2......

my agenda is speaking, but I wish Xingqiu and Hu Tao directly talked during the farewells section. something something chivalry and sacrifice. Hu Tao makes her peace with giving up everything to resolve the Tao Dou issue, but is Xingqiu at peace with losing a friend even tho its selfish of him to want her to stay? he has personal stakes in this please just let them talk a little

I'm really really glad they went through with the death, they showed Hu Tao's emotions, they showed her father and grandfather waving her off. I broke, she looked so tired but satisfied (thinking about her vision story, where she waited so long for her grandfather to never appear vs him visiting her for just a brief moment here)

my other favorite shot is when traveler pulls her out and she looks at them in muted surprise. she just looked so sad and fragile and in need of a hug :(((

the Themes (waves hands wildly). hu tao's father's lingering regrets were his fatal flaw, and so Hu Tao settles her affairs properly and steels herself before going to die. she leaves behind the plum blossom branch just like her grandfather left his hat.. genuinely what the hell. the parallels between her cutscene goodbye and her saying "happy lantern rite" kills me

the epilogue last year with the fontaine tourists was pretty fanservicey, and tbh the epilogue the year before was also somewhat fanservice to me, (liyue gang dinner and zhongli venti teasing) though I liked it better. However I think this epilogue was actually really good— the hanging out and the fluff felt natural, it fit with everything else and wasn't super sudden. Maybe this was because of all the setup that happened (Yun Jin and Xiangling's promises to Hu Tao, Xiao and Yelan's dynamic built up in Perilous Trails and their earlier exchange), so the payoff is good instead of forced. After the trials and danger they got put through, everyone gets a chance to relax, and I appreciate the slice of life after the main plot. also Yun Jin's opera was crazy good considering it was not a cutscene, the animation and camera angles really sold it

I thought the special guest was xiao again, like how LR 3.4 had him dragged to the harbor by Hu Tao.... xiaolan banter was also v good though.

THE ADEPTI. they're still watching over Liyue in their own way :') the affectionate bickering about hu tao's name :''''''''

I barely mentioned lan yan in this... her part was pretty minor ngl, her habit of learning everything about a person to the point of sounding a bit creepy is kind of fun though.

alright. fantastic quest absolutely no notes I got almost everything I ever wanted and I am so glad Hu Tao had such an incredible 2nd story quest. chongyun and shenhe exorcist lantern rite next year?

[fictoculus]

Excuse me, if it's not too much to ask, can I borrow a voice line from Kujou Sara, Eula, Rosaria, Albedo, and Bennet talking about [name]?!

౨ৎ their voicelines for you; part 5...

send a request!┊masterlist┊taglist applications

part I┊part II┊part III ┊part IIII

FEAT... kujou sara, eula, rosaria, albedo, bennet

A/N... hellooo, thanks so much for the request! i've actually been wanting to write some more voicelines because they're really fun, but i was struggling to think of some characters to do them for, so really, thank you for this suggestion!

✧ kujou sara.

"traveller. i didn't expect to see you here... have you, by any chance, seen [name] around? i- no, no these are not for them... i- i was just given this bouquet by some... some residents of ritou, that is all. *she sighs heavily, gaze focused on the ground* just... don't tell anyone about this, ok? it could really put [name] in danger- i just want them to be safe..."

✧ eula.

"yes, that's right, good! so just put your arm... here, and then your waist- traveller?! no, no no it is not what you think, we were just- yes, no, wait- i was simply teaching [name] to dance, nothing more... yes, yes i had my hand on their waist but that was just- no it was just... part of the choreography! god how have we lasted this long without being caught, we need to be more careful, love... no! no, i did not just call them 'love'! don't laugh, darli- [name]!"

✧ rosaria.

"finally, barbara let me go, i thought i'd be stu- traveller! hey, yeah you! have you seen [name] around?l uhuh, i finally escaped from barbara and, archons, has it been a long day, i need them to make me feel better... yes, i said i need them, what of it? *she scoffs, folding her arms* fine then, i'll go look for them myself. no, no don't go apologising now, you only want to come so you can spy on us anyway, i see that grin, paimon... tsk, is no one bearable around here?"

✧ albedo.

"i know, traveller, i haven't been back to mondstadt for a while, but i'm so close to figuring this out. if everything goes according to plan we could save hundreds of- [name]... excuse me, could you repeat that? they asked you... where i've been- archons, it's been a week since i saw them last, only now do i realise how my heart yearns for them... that settles it. traveller, help me tidy would you? let's head back to mondstadt together..."

✧ bennet.

"[name]? oh, yeah they're awesome! they go 'whoosh' then 'boom' then a bit of 'kapow' and all the bad guys or gone! plus, they're one of few people i haven't managed to scare off with my bad luck yet... HUH?! YOU KNOW?! seriously? even our relationship can't escape my bad luck *he sighs, shoulders slumping slightly* well my love life better not get any more bad luck otherwise i don't know what i'll do, there's no way i can fight that many bad guys without them..."

part I┊part II┊part III┊part IIII

thanks for reading ♡ want to read more? my requests are OPEN, so please feel free to let me know what you'd like me to write next!

© FICTOCULUS 2023; please do not steal, translate, or repost my works as your own

[welovetesvkaidan]

OPINIONS ON KAIDAN EE/IF???

My honest reaction:

in all seriousness, if you wanna hear me yap about it, more under the cut

warning like, genuinely a ginormous yap, like a HUMUNGOUS, sleep-deprived yap,,, im cursed to be obsessed with skyrim + modded followers instead of touching grass

I think a lot of this is probably gonna be the same thing other people have said, so im sorry

if you feel i'm gonna be bringing up redundant points and get mad at me😓dont read

I haven't experienced and thus won't talk about the versions of EE and IF that are now separate mods from each other. I don't know anything about that.

if they're better now yayyy but this is about pre-separation

I should preface this with the fact that I've played through Skyrim 3 times with different stages of Kaidan EE/IF:

The initial Dawnguard + fixes/miscs mod

Kaidan EE/IF versions before extensive faction/NPC dialogue for Kaidan

EE/IF w/ NPC Dialogue (AKA Fratpack)

I was also part of the two different discords that were purged and created during these intervals. i don't even know if there is a discord currently?

anyway, that is to say that I have experienced the mod and it's behind-the-scenes progress, extensively so I have a pretty good idea of what I liked and didn't like

That being said, I will introduce probably my biggest problems with it: Tonal whiplash

Okay, well the most common complaint is ofc that a lot of the writing is out of character - and I agree. But it's not just ooc on paper, it's his voice too. I swear, it is very jarring hearing hushed, mild og Kaidan 2 voicelines, and then being deafened by EE Kaidan SCREAMING in my ear ALL.THE.TIME. (like... why are you yelling at me rn jeez)

Seriously. I'm not sure why they didn't just re-record everything from the original mod instead of adding more and more contradicting lines on top of the originals. It definitely could have been a standalone mod, and sometimes it almost feels like it is - because he is just so different.

My most infamous moment in my last playthrough with him happened after we defeated the dragon at Kynesgrove. His og Kaidan 2 dialogue played first, in it he shows interest and is cordial about Delphine ("I wouldn't mind prodding her mind" or whatver dialogue), THEN immediately after his Kaidan EE/IF dialogue will play, in which he walks up to Delphine and STARTS YELLING AT HER AND INSULTING HER - like they argue for quite a bit wtf. And it's like, listen, I have my thoughts about Delphine, but whether or not it was okay to yell at her isn't the problem. It would be fine - IF he hadn't just calmly told me he thought she was okay.

It is sooo confusing how he contradicts himself :(

I mean, yeah, fragments of who he is are still there, I can tell it's Kaidan, but he's warped to fit a different character. Like a con-artist Kaidan.

Anyway, besides the contradictions, it also feels out of character because of his established backstory.

Let's go over it: He's an orphan, lost his only connection to his family(his guardian) to drugs, fell into substances himself, joined a violent cult, had to escape said cult, came clean from his addictions, has been traveling Tamriel bounty-hunting, got brutally attacked by the Thalmor, rescued by mere chance. Do you honestly mean to tell me this man would be yelling, pissing, drinking, lewding, and joking his ass off?? After all that???? NO - or maybe not these levels of extreme. (maybe some other dude might, but Kaidan's characterization insists he is a brooding, keeps-to-himself man, even though he never acts like it anymore)

That man should be tired, and he did feel like he was tired in the original. He was more brooding then than he is now, usually silent, but could still have an edge of comedy/wittiness, he was smart, he had been through a lot!

In that regard, EE/IF Kaidan felt like... we are experiencing Kaidan 10 years in the past - like a Kaidan in his early 20s when he was still a drunkard low-key terrible person. He is just so energetic, always yapping - GOD he talks a lot now. ugh but most of the time it wasn't about anything, it was either inside-jokes, meta jokes, and only occasionally did we get things that added to the experience.

For example, I think most of us who have played Kaidan 2 remember at least one specific line he has said while exploring. What comes to mind for me is either "Can you smell the magicka in the air too? Smells like a rainless thunderstorm." or "Watch for the mammoth with the carvings on their tusks, that's how the giants mark their herd." Alright, both pretty nice small talk for characterization (he IS smart) and worldbuilding.

Tbh i can't really remember any iconic lines from the additions of EE/IF Kaidan... the only two lines that stood out for me were: the "elevenses" line from the clip above (started bumping into him every time he was about to say this so he would stfu... total tonal dissonance), and one he said while I looted Lucky Lorenz ("poor sod wasn't as lucky as his namesake would have you believe!") kai HOW do you know this man, and his nickname, who told you that??? (idc about it that much but its like the only other added line i remember)

I thought that maybe his ooc-iness might have been caused due to the collaborative approach of the mod, I think the mod authors created their own perfect Kaidan - and that's good for them! It takes a shit ton of work (Ik cuz i was there!!) But I think the original essence was lost with each addition. It might have been lack of direction for the voice acting too, a lot of the lines might have hit better if they weren't borderline screamed.

Okay, at some point while playing I got so tired of his constant himbo chit-chatter that I tried tuning him out and bringing other npcs from vanilla skyrim as followers. Problem: even without kaidan on your party, everything starts being about kaidan. Because the extension made it so that Kaidan either has history with/character interactions and development with different NPCs from the base game.

The main poor sods that traveled with me:

Erik the Slayer: Apparently was Kaidan's childhood friend, got inspired by Kaidan to become an adventurer. Least egregious in my opinion, they say sweet things to each other. I swear, Kaidan yells more at me than he ever did at Erik.

The Companions: dumb, dumber, and dumbest basically.. This part of EE/IF was also known as "The Fratpack" and y e a h they pretty much had Vilkas, Kaidan, and Farkas acting like immature frat boys all the time. Just,, absulutely taking away all the maturity out of these GROWN ASS MEN. im sorry, i guess i dont get the appeal. I liked it when they didn't behave like teens (Aela im so sorry, you deserved better than being part of this)

Lydia: All she does is simp for him, ALL.THE.TIME. You think she's about to have a meaningful thing to say? nope, she's checking out Kaidan's ass. Think she'll have a deep convo with another npc about one another? nope! she wants them to tell her all about Kaidan. Both the Companions and Erik will either talk down to her or have to deal with her thirst for Kaidan. i had to start leaving her home.

They also suffered from the same tonal whiplash as Kaidan, unfortunately

additionally, the mod added an "early flirt switch" - you could basically toggle Kaidan to start showing romantic affection for the Dragonborn before the amulet of mara., the interactions were good on paper, but everytime he stammered and stumbled over his words it was written in such an unnatural way... pls people don't talk like fanfics lol !!!

I did like that he gave me flowers, my inventory got full of them - but then he noticed how many flowers I had in my inventory and judged me for "picking everything i see" ugh dude you gave them to me, but also even if you hadnt... mind your business lol

Another addition was a feature that basically made it so NPCs could potentially throw flirtatious comments at Kaidan and the Dragonborn (Bishop flashbacks😨)

You can't do anything to defend Kaidan from those comments, but he WILL take it upon himself to defend your honor infront of any men, women, jarls, or criminals that even so much as find you attractive (THIS INCLUDES FARKAS AND VILKAS BTW :( ) by being rude, forthcoming, AND violent. so yea, you can guess the target audience

speaking of which, he definitely comes on too strong on you once you start the romance, and it left a bad taste in my mouth. I specifically picked the "go slow" option for the romance, and the next day or two it was him constantly complaining about having to go slow under his breath, how he wanted to do anything but slow rn... and like just, wow. :/ yikeees lmao

Maybe this is the result of "i can fix him" romance ideals? im sorry but I liked him when he was down to earth

Bonus? He comes with a campsite now, which has to be magic because its ginormous and he somehow lugs it around despite it also coming with a whole ass furnace (fine fine i'll hold my disbelief)

anyway I do like it, its basically a player house you can take anywhere (so long as kai is with you ig) also you can have a cat in there

I like that there is an MCM, I like that the MCM lets you get through the quest stages in case you get stuck

I like that he can guide you places, usually he gets stuck in a tree or rock but its the thought that counts

I think if the mod had continued in the vein as its original iteration when it was just audio/bug fixes and included these qol features it would have been better than it is now.

But it seems maybe i'm just not the target audience, and as a young woman I'm really confused as who the target audience is 😓

okay im srry rant over

if anyone else wants me to yap about other kaidan skyrim things also ask or join in cuz i like yapping about skyrim and kaidan to people!!!

[ashen-sky]

The Natlan Archon quest makes me want to shove my head through a wall and scream. This is a positive statement.

I have no idea where to start, it was a wild ride in the best way. There was so much lore and it kept throwing twist and turns until the very end.

Spoilers under the cut for 5.3!

I don't think we've seen the end of Capitano. He's not dead, and his body is still on ochkanatlan (assuming it doesn't get moved), so like... he can? And I don't think bringing him back would undermine his sacrifice. The angels are supposed to function in humanity's interest, if it is in their best interest to bring back Capitano they have to. The Lord of the Night explicitly said she had to do what was best for humanity regardless of what the ruler of death wanted.

Also, I think there's rumors for him being playable and I doubt they're going to start making dead people playable now? But also it was just a rumor, i don't think anything got confirmed and it may have even been disproven.

As for the Harbinger I think will be sent to obtain the Gnosis, I feel like Fontain was teasing Sandrone with that one world quest.

Anyways, back to Capitano. Thrain. They just dropped that like it was nothing, but i digress, we better talk to Dain about him. I want to know Dain's thoughts on all of it. How Thrain found "death" and flipped the gods off as his last act, how he carried those souls, that there are others out there aiming for the same goal.

On a different note, all of those cutscenes were amazing and I hope to god they add in the missing voicelines. Like, I nearly had chills, and i think if we didn't have weird gaps when (especially) Traveler wasn't talking I think i would have actually shivered. All in all I think 5.3 and Fontain's final act are tied for best finales. I can't really put it into words.

Extra notes, loved Traveler leaving the crown. Took me a minute to realize when we activated the pillars it was their messages to us and then Paimon's nearly made me cry. Paimon and Travelers hug, Paimon not letting go and then wanting to be stronger so they didn't have to separate again. I like that Capitano is still on the throne, it's like being able to see Mikhail in Star Rail.

Please talk to me about Genshin lore and 5.3 I want to scream.

[downbadmostofthetime]

Please go in depth on how you think wanderer isn't much of a red flag as he is now! I agree with you for sure, but I love hearing people's takes on him! Personally, I think scaramouche would definitely be a huge red flag, but I think as he is now, he'd definitely be really loving and caring towards his s/o

OF COURSE I CAN DO THAT!!!!

Scaramouche himself is definitely a very big red flag. From his ties with the fatui, murderous/abusive (to his subordinates) behaviour and as well as his rude manner of speech. He definitely isn’t the most pleasant person you’d want to date.

but Wanderer on the other hand is completely different. And because of this he is a much bigger green flag than Scaramouche and im genuinely so sick of people grouping them in together when he even said himself in game that he doesn’t want to be anymore.

So im gonna go over his green flags (more under the cut!)

1. Animals like him – He likes animals.

Wanderer is actually portrayed with animals in a lot of his official art (or aranaras), specifically birds and cats

His 2023 and 2024 birthday arts are literally just him chilling with animals. In 2023 he’s chilling with a bird and in 2024 he’s with a bunch of cats.

It’s not like he hates it either. sure it may seem like he does sometimes but he really doesn’t

-In his character demo he may have swatted the bird away when it came back at the end, but at the beginning he was completely fine with having it on him as he was walking. He probably only swatted it away because it was flying in his face when he was already annoyed with having to fight those fatui.

These two images are just him chilling with birds. The second one he even lets on his hand and HES SMILING he literally loves animals like they’re bffs in that picture ITS SO CUTE 😭😭

You can’t even argue that he’s only soft towards animals when he’s alone because of the scenario in his 2024 birthday art where the traveler meets him in the tree when he’s cuddling with the cats. It’s not like he’s even embarrassed or annoyed about them being there he’s just chilling with them!!!!! Sure he did tell the tabby cat off for playing with his vision BUT HE CALLED THEM FLUFFBALLS BEFOREHAND!!!! THATS A WORD THAT WOULDVE NEVER COME OUT OF SCARAMOUCHE’S MOUTH EVER!!!!! AND HE EVEN PROMISED TO PLAY WITH THE CATS LATER!!!!!! The white and grey cat also just lounging on his leg knocked out completely defenceless is also a sign. cats are usually very alert when they try and sleep unless they’re CERTAIN that they’re safe. and look me in my eyes and try to tell me that that cat isn’t feeling 100% safe sleeping on his leg.

This isn’t even his only appearance with cats minus him being portrayed as a cat. he has a chibi birthday art from 2023 that’s just him and a cat hanging out with a birthday present

The second piece of dialogue might make him look mad but the art literally proves it otherwise he’s just confused LMAO there is not a single angry wrinkle on his face nope NOTHING!!!!

2. His development with the Traveler

Wanderer’s attitude stayed around the same since he regained him memories, but it isn’t as bad as when he was Scaramouche. It’s very evident from how he talks to the Traveler before going to Irminsul and while they’re there for some time and then how he talks after regaining his memories. It’s much softer and he isn’t biting as much. Hell, he even asks the Traveler to give him a new name when he could’ve asked Nahida to or waited awhile before asking.

In his voicelines he’s still the same. Though the birthday one is something I’d like to focus on the most.

“Give me your hand. Heh, there's no need to be nervous. I'm just taking you to a vantage point.”

“How is it? The scenery here should be quite breathtaking. There's no need to thank me — I see little point in it.”

Wanderer went out of his way to do that for the Traveler on their birthday. He could’ve just barked that he doesn’t need to do anything for their birthday or that he doesn’t care or that they’re still enemies so he doesn’t need to celebrate it but he still does something nice for the Traveler regardless!!!Him initiating physical contact just to take them to a vantage point and reassuring the Traveler because they’re nervous is something he CHOOSES to do.

Now, I’ve always thought that he was flying the Traveler to the vantage point, but now that im rereading the line it literally doesn’t even mention him flying so LMAO

BUT ITS STILL SWEET IN BOTH WAYS

-He’s going out of his way to FLY the Traveler to the vantage point. And if he’d have to fly them there then obviously there’d be more physical contact than hand holding. That means he’s completely fine with having the Traveler in his personal space like that, so obviously he trusts them a lot more now to a certain degree!!!

-If he’s not flying to the vantage point, he’s still initiating physical contact with the Traveler even though he doesn’t have to.

LIKE OMG?????

In his birthday art scenarios, he’s completely fine with the Traveler hanging out with him. HE EVEN ASKS THEM TO STAY WITH HIM FOR A WHILE IN THE 2023 ONE IF THEY DONT MIND!!!!!

I feel like the 2023 one does a good job with explaining him and the Travelers enemies to friends (to lovers— GUNSHOTS) pipeline. He calls them meeting on his birthday a coincidence and gets ready to leave, but he’s completely fine with the Traveler not wanting to leave!!!! And when he asks them to stick around with him that’s clearly showing what he wanted the WHOLE GODDAMN TIME!!!!!!!

The 2024 chibi art scenario one is just them enjoying each other’s company. His regular birthday art for this year is kind of the same too. It shows how now neither of them dislike the other’s company, they’re fine with each other and they dont complain about it, no nothing!!!!!!

His Teapot lines are (OBVIOUSLY) the best examples of how he is when he fully trusts someone though.

Here’s a list of the things he does that are a complete 180 to how many people expected him to be:

-He apologises more often

-Criticises himself for criticising the empty spots in your teapot

-Perfectly fine with chatting whenever

-Despite saying to the Traveler that they should start the conversation because he has nothing fun or positive to share, he still dominates the conversation by talking about his tea preferences and how he came to like drinking tea in the first place

-Perfectly fine with sharing a meal with the Traveler that they prepared just for him

His goodnight line is really sweet too. Thanking the Traveler for looking out for him and telling them to go get rest. Like that’s so sweet 😭😭😭😭

I really do hope that he gets more plot relevancy in an event or in another archon quest because I really want to see more of his relationship with the Traveler now. They’re just so UGHHHHHH 😭😭😭😭😭😭

3. His behaviour towards other people

It’s not even just the Traveler that he’s nice to. He’s nice to other characters too!!!!

In A Parade of Providence he’s shown being nice to Layla and Tighnari

-He helps Layla by offering her advice when he overhears about her anxiety to participate in the swiftflies

-Gives the Traveler a water-skin to give to Tighnari because he fainted in the desert. Despite providing snarky comments about how fragile humans are to extreme environments he still goes out of his way to help Tighnari when he could’ve ignored what was going on to win.

I really hope we get some more interactions with Wanderer and the Sumeru cast because wtf!!!!! Why not!!!!!

In his 2024 birthday letter he mentions that his classmates surprised him for his birthday with a cake. And instead of being mostly annoyed about how they disturbed his peace and quiet, he’s more concerned about why they would even want to celebrate his birthday in the first place which is actually sad 💔

Wanderer doesn’t even seem to hate participating in events and things with other people either. In his 2023 birthday letter he mentions that he was dragged into a cooking interest group by a couple of students, and despite the fact that he could’ve just left or told them he didn’t want to participate or scared them off, he still participated in cooking with them.

As well as learning from an old merchant how to sew and stitch to recreate the tiny doll the boy from his past had made him. It specifically mentions that he went to visit Treasures Street to learn how to make toys, so this wasn’t just some run in he had, he CHOSE to learn how to make a doll so he could recreate that one. He even takes it with him while he travels and it notes how it feels like a travel companion to him 😭😭 AND THE ENDING PART OF THE TINY DOLL STORY

“"From today, you shall wander together with me."”

“He said softly, placing it in his pocket.”

LIKE THATS SO SWEET 😭😭😭😭

SO!!!! How would all of this impact him having a romantic relationship??

If you manage to become friends with him, it’s definitely going to take awhile to break down his walls. But in that time he’s definitely going to be snarky, but not outright rude to you. He’ll probably just get more annoyed if anything about being bothered a bit more frequent than he’d like, though he’d probably never say that towards you.

As you break down those walls though, he’s definitely going to soften overtime and he won’t mind your company. At some point he’ll probably be actively seeking it out.

And when you get together with him. He’s definitely gonna be loving and caring towards you!!!! Honestly I think his love languages are Physical Touch and Quality Time so he’s definitely going to seek those out from you, preferably mushing the two together.

Overall, in the beginning he’s probably going to be more tsundere-ish (ew… im never using that term again after this…) towards you but eventually with enough dedication from you he’ll break down his walls and let you in and show you his softer side.

And that’s why I think that Wanderer is more of a green flag than a red flag

Thank you for coming to my ted talk it’s 2am and I have therapy in the morning so uh whoops!!!!

If anyone wants to add anything please feel free too!!! It’s always nice hearing what other people have to say (as long as ur not rude about it)

[yaeggravate]

hi i'm back with more crack theories about kaeya and everyone's favorite purple crystal 🥰

warning: this is just for fun, something to keep us entertained during another kaeya lore drought

a while back, before we knew who the sinner was, i suggested he was a fallen angel who gave kaeya his vision. kaeya's vision is pointedly missing two wings which may symbolize his clipped wings.

since there are some parallels between vision givers (archons) and vision bearers i assumed that the circumstances around kaeya's vision (fighting his brother after a betrayal) might hint towards the sinner also having gone through a sibling fallout.

fast forward, and while i was off about a few things, vedrfolnir does indeed have a sibling, one he betrayed pretty badly 🤭

Dainsleif: The Sinner you wish to know about... His situation is different. He and his fellow sinners have long betrayed me, and long betrayed their nation. Dainsleif: His name is Vedrfolnir, "The Visionary." Dainsleif: I'm loath to admit it, but... He is also my kin. My older brother.

who knows, maybe vedrfolnir witnessed the fight between the two brothers and saw himself in kaeya. (there's also something deeply funny about vedr losing his little brother dainsleif and replacing him with a cooler younger brother who also wants nothing to do with him).

Since that day, Kaeya and Diluc have gone their separate ways. But he never discusses it, just as he never discusses the origin of his Vision.

alternatively, perhaps vedr had to keep kaeya alive at all costs and hastily gave him a vision. he just so happens to be a Visionary, a powerful prophet who can divine the fate of the world and apparently see through time itself. ...like some kind of all seeing eye.

you know where this is going.

whether kaeya is a seer or not remains unclear. but there are enough oddities to suggest he knows and sees more than is normal. just look at his hangout! i'm not going to list all the instances but bennett even called him an "omniscient big brother" in an old official blog post. turns out, vedrfolnir is quite literally an omniscient big brother lol.

Kaeya: My dear audience, I ask you this: Do you believe in fate? If fate decreed that your life was to end in tragedy, what would you do?

Kaeya: Fate means to send the machinations of war to every corner of the land, to fan the flames of conflict till they engulf the entire world... Fate would see my sword tainted with the blood of innocents, that the bright banner of my homeland might fly in every nation known to mankind.

Kaeya: Perhaps there's an inept god out there deciding everyone's fates... much like the Akademiya student drafting Darbil's scripts.

how does he know this? is someone dropping spoilers in his ear or does he really have the gift of prophecy?

so imagine for a second kaeya's vision is from vedrfolnir. maybe this created a connection between them which allowed kaeya to catch glimpses of vedr's divinations... this might explain why kaeya was there during the caribert quest. kaeya waited every day for the traveler to show up which to me suggests he was desperate to talk to them. maybe he knew what was going to happen and wanted to warn them. (and then vedr's brother showed up which put a dent in those plans.)

another fun coincidence is that vedrfolnir means "storm pale", "wind bleached", or "wind-witherer". kaeya has many references to storms and wind. (frostwind swordsman, glacial whirlwind, he even came to mondstadt during a storm etc etc). no, this does not mean kaeya is vedr, but hey if child can inherit surtalogi's legacy why can't kaeya inherit vedrfolnir's, who has a history of "helping" the alberichs.

foul legacy is "demon king armament (魔王武装)" in CN, and in fischl's cn voiceline about kaeya, she questions if kaeya has the "demon eye (魔眼)". (it's no coincidence childe's foul legacy form looks like a fucked up seelie)

About Kaeya (CN) Fischl: The reality that cannot be seen through, the karma that cannot be discerned, the mad interweavings of reality and illusion... Perhaps that person and I are alike, shouldering the fate of the "demon eye"...

the sinners are using a power they acquired from the abyss. if the power comes from a demon, who are fallen angels, then it does not kill the fallen angel theory. moreover, the traveler specifically compares venti's upside down statue to the sinner. i think the abyss order are trying to create a mechanical angel; because who else can weave and control ley lines if not the descendants of fate itself? the mecha god might even be used to house vedr himself...

this is not without precedent. i recently found out deshret's mechanical triangle boss, abbreviated as ASIMON, is a reference to the aasimon in dnd, who are angels.... these mechas are imbued with jinn fragments, who are the descendants of the seelie. so essentially, deshret used angel juice to power up his machines.

remus also used the golden seelie bees to weave his symphony. ....sensing a worrying trend here.

i won't lie, it's not looking good for kaeya.

but it gets better

"sinners" and "fishers" in french are almost identical: pécheurs and pêcheurs. this is important because kaeya's ancestor anfortas is named after the fisher king from arthurian legends which was originally written in old french. he's the sinner AND fisher king.

Amfortas is a character from the Grail Romances: the Fisher King (le roi pêcheur) and the Sinner King (le roi pecheur).

kaeya's connections to fishers has been foreshadowed from the beginning; his birthday falls on november 30, which is the feast day of st andrew, a fisherman. his eyepatch in official art has a trident, which was used for spearfishing. (there's also fischl's entire existence aka fischer.)

he even has a hangout pic where he catches a fish. in that same route he went by the alias of albert rich, which might also be a reference to the fisher king being a "rich fisher". it's a double pun!

if kaeya is the new "fisher" or "sinner king", what would he be the king of? khaenri'ah seems like the most logical route. yes, khaenri'ah is gone but it's possible the kingdom can "grow back" just like fischl's immernachtreich.

Oz: "Really? So how do we make your homeland grow back again? Oh, pwease tell me, pweeease, pweeeeease!" Fischl: "Since you inquire so earnestly... give unto me a tranquil haven, promise me eternal admiration, lend me both time and wind, and one shall revive one's homeworld."

...or perhaps kaeya's future "kingdom" is simply mondstadt, which may be a pun on monsalvat, the fisher king's realm.

OR, even crazier, sinner king is literal, and the power the sinners are using belongs to a branch of kaeya's mysterious family... (not necessarily the alberichs).

we don't know yet if anfortas was born an alberich; for all we know he might have been adopted or married into the family. if this is the case, anfortas's lineage could be anything... we also can't forget kaeya's mother, who is an even bigger mystery than kaeya's father.

About Fischl (CN) What? You're saying that Fischl hiding one eye is very fitting for her image as "Prinzessin der Verurteilung"? Haha, by this logic, I should be a descendant of a last generation of royals, right?

😒

[surrealismhorror]

Finished quarantine I'm gonna ramble about my thoughts below the cut

Seems to be going all in on psychological horror which I like

The fact Daniil moves faster when manic but will die if too manic is going to make for wild speedruns

I can see why some people might be turned off by the fast travel/limited exploration but if the full game has us revisiting days with the time mechanic I think that's going to be essential to prevent it feeling monotonous/being a 900 hour long game

Eva has real clothes now yay!

I like the diagnosis mechanics a lot I think they're fun, again I can get why people might not like them replacing the survival mechanics but I think they make for a good gameplay loop and I think the manic/apathy meter does a good job creating that same feeling of hairline survival

The floating text is a very neat concept, that said the hit boxes for some items are a little fucky at the moment but hopefully that's just a demo thing, but also also I like how both current and old objectives/thoughts appear on surfaces it has a nice haunted vibe

I really like the cast of new minor characters and the way you have more conversations with citizens, gives your actions a more personal feel (Mr Little for the love of god do not die tragically)

This game is notttt optimized, which I mean it's a demo so that's expected to some extent I just hope the full release runs a little better or I'm going to have to tape an industrial fan to my steam deck

Don't know how I feel about Daniil talking all the time yet, I think it fits the vibes of the game and the voice acting is fine* it just feels really bizarre to have my player character talking (*some of the lines feel awkwardly spoken and the only way I can describe it is how all dbd lobby voicelines feel awkward to me because they're just sort of out of nowhere so it doesn't sound natural, but that might just be a me thing)

Almost certain this is a demo thing but please I need subtitles for the spoken dialogue I do not know what these people are mumbling

[wildwinterlunas]

I've put this off for too long but here are my thoughts on the how the MW!Junker characters ended up in Junkertown;

Winston - The Tinker

Winston's probably the easiest, he just crashed in Australia after escaping the Lunar colony. Though I do think that though he considers Junkertown his home, he does travel a lot more and did actually reach out to Hammond when he saw Wrecking Ball on the news. I like to think that they are still close friends in Mirrorwatch, just living different lives. I also think Winston would still be very similar to canon, or at least he's like that with the other Junkers. With everyone else he's a bit bitter and short with.

D.VA - The Champion

D.Va is also pretty easy for me, as Junker D.Va already has voice lines with that skin and Hana in general is just an easy character to reverse. My HC is that Hana ended up in Australia after a really bad fight with the Gwishi. Unlike in canon where hiring the best gamers for the MEKA piolets, despite their age, worked immediately. It didn't in the Mirrorwatch timeline. Hana loosing D.Mon and Dae-hyun is a particularly brutal fight against the Gwishi. After that fight she ran and ended up in Junkertown. Which was good for her as Junkertown was probably the most off the grid place you can be. Most of the public think that Hana died in the same fight that took her friends. After that Hana became the champion of Junkertown. Personality wise, there is already hints in the Junker skin voicelines that this Hana focuses a lot more on mechanics. There is also hints that she's a more Han Solo like character. I also like to think that she holds bitterness towards both MEKA and her old fans, seeing them see all the heart ache and trauma she went through and choosing to capitalize off it, not only making her a soldier but also using her as a way to make money.

Genji - The Junker Ninja

Now I'm not sure if this Genji skin has voice lines with it but I'm going to go off of what information we do get, and by that I mean I'm going to look way to much into the Name Card Genji gets. So I've already talked about how I think Genji was initially a part of Talon but escaped thanks to the help of MW!Cassidy. Basically with Vengeance she went to saving Genji expecting to get a living weapon out of the situation. After Genji escapes he basically has to go completely off the grid or Talon will find him a recapture him. So he eventually ends up in Junkertown. He then meets Symmetra who replaces his prosthetics both to make Genji feel more comfortable and to make sure Talon can't track him. With the Name Card, to me he looks like he takes the role of Junker towns protector, keeping what little peace and order there is. Basically he's a Batman like character in Mirrorwatch. He would also be a lot more chaotic, basically imagine Blackwatch Genji but a little less angry and mixed with what Genji most likely was like pre-cybernetics.

Symmetra - The Innovator

Now Sym was one I was excited to get to because I genuinely think she would be a mix of Lifeweaver and Lucio, her having been taken in by Vishkar but leaving as soon as she realized that Vishkar only wanted control. Rebelling in anyway she could. There is also the fact that with the voicelines Junker Sym gets it implies that she has been in Australia for awhile, meaning she likely left as soon as she was able to. I also think that Symmetra is the leader of Junkertown in this universe, specifically with how hard light technology would innovate the technology in Junkertown. For what this means for Junkertown itself, I still think it's incredibly chaotic, but I also think that it would be healthier, more plant life being around the area, maybe even some animals too. Again the politics and general vibe would be the same. There's just more of an effort to resort the environment within Junkertown. The only thing society wise that I think would change is the view on Omnics, them being welcomed in when Sym took power.

[baeshijima]

Just barely finished the lantern rite quest with 20 minutes left...

And... wow that was... something...

Liyue's a really fun and nostalgic place to return back to after all the new regions and sub regions, and to be— once more— slapped in the face with emotions like that... yeah it makes sense the inazuma event in the upcoming version is essentially therapy—

Also the foreshadowing throughout, I was clutching my blankets like 'no no no no no—' and the amount of times I teared up.... yes, it was a staff of homa right through the heart...

Also, tid bits that I found incredibly cute: yanfei running off and yaoyao being adorable and following after her acting like everyone's not-exactly-older sister, and cyno and tighnari in the cutscene!! And vlad and nadia together again, (and not me stumbling upon yoimiya on my quest to go listen to the fatui couple's conversation—)

And Baizhu holding Qiqi's hand and him giving Hu Tao a little extra life force and just Baizhu and Hu Tao's duo in general feels like a pair of siblings who are at each other's throats all the time but genuinely care for one another; brb I'm going to go CRY—

(And is it bad I'm kinda sad we didn't get more archon-to-archon/ zhongli running away from Neuvillette crumbs? Maybe. But am I complaining about the lantern rite? Absolutely not, except for the sheer number of times I was ready to actually start sobbing—)

(Ps: Have the game open as I type this, and Baizhu's voiceline— cue lots of coughing, and "ah, it's just some chronic problem I have flaring up again nothing to worry about"— played multiple times and DO YOU THINK THAT LESSENS ANYONE'S WORRY??? Doctors truly are the worst patients aren't they...)

🍀

OMG U MANAGED TO FINISH IT YIPPEE !!

no bc lantern rite always reminding our sole purpose each year: cry and be emotional. they really said after everything we are getting therapy for the next month !! :D

AND YES THE SCENE OF YANFEI AND YAOYAO 😭 cries and holds yaoyao gently... what a ray of sunshine i lov my dendro daughter sm :( AND THE CYNO AND TIGHNARI CAMEO WAS SO ??? it was such whiplash seeing them there despite them being in the trailer ourghh and omg vlad and nadia appearance yet again pls every time they appear one heart is added to my health bar !! and the xiao-traveller moments had me :(( and then xiao-yelan interaction also hit me bc it showed how much theyve grown to understand each other + how xiao has been steadily opening up to everyone in his own time (yelan ordering almond tofu... i will admit that got to me...) and ofc beigguang... my otp ever... they are so married ur honour nothing can change my mind... AND THE ADEPTI GATHERING WE ALL CHEERED FOR ANOTHER YEAR 😩 manifesting moon carver and mountain shaper to be playable next lantern rite 🙏

no bc baizhu and qiqi ;w;;; and baizhu giving hu tao that encouraging talk + the extra life force i cried ;w; honestly the moment hu tao asked us to join her in giving the coins to everyone bc she would be busy dealing with gate later made me sob bc i could tell what that was foreshadowing... and each time a character, especially yunjin questioned why i broke a little inside... and then when she gave us the plum blossom from her hat ;w;; and the hu tao zhongli interaction after.... and then the cutscene.... and zhongli probably screaming inside when traveller and paimon didnt get what he was saying at first... AND THE WHOLE CUTSCENE -> HU TAO SEGMENT WITH THE STUPID SPIDER LILIES AND GRANDPA + FATHER REUNION -> TRAVELLER COMING IN AND RESCUING HER WITH THE PLUM BLOSSOM AND TRANSFERRING THE RESIDUE TO THEMSELF -> POST MAIN LANTERN RITE QUEST 😭😭😭

i was inconsolable it was bad. but i enjoyed yet another lantern rite and thats all that matters 😩

[dawnbrst]

vibrates and explodes. i need to talk about how deeply in love diluc is with the traveler. he has such a soft spot for them, of course, but i'm talking infatuated, i'm talking he's willing to lay his life down for them if they asked him to.

they literally changed him as a person and he admits as much. in one of his birthday letters (his first one), he admires them for their strength, their ability to unify people, their pure heart, and how this all inspires him to do better, to be better. he literally has the "what would traveler do" mindset when he finds himself stuck.

in his voicelines, he's affectionate and playful with the traveler, and even in scenes with him, he's so warm with them. hell, it only took him a single night for him to open up to the traveler. he saw their dedication to his home — a dedication that he himself said wasn't obligated — and possibly for the first time in the last few years, he found someone to trust again.

in his darknight hero quest, he accepts our help and we see the beginning of a true partnership with him. he also shares a mischievous streak that very few people know about.

in hidden strife (outfit event), he shares his past with the traveler (in both his outfit and in the letters), showing how deeply he trusts them. he even gifts them a specialty bottle of grape juice and then invites traveler, expressing that they're always welcome at the winery and even to anything in his cellar.

in weinlesefest, diluc warmly welcomes the traveler when they step into his manor (you can hear the tone shift when he spots kaeya a second later), showing how happy he is whenever he gets to see them.

in the alchemical event, diluc praises the traveler, reassures and encourages them if they fail to get him the potion that day ("I believe in you") and even gives out playful quips about how the traveler is a formidable business rival.

all his birthday letters and arts are always inviting the traveler or him expressing his admiration for them (sure, everyone else has letters like that, but shh)

diluc is so heartfelt when it comes to the traveler, and he even meets paimon's jabs and quips, or he lets her slide. there are sometimes out of pocket remarks she makes that would anger or upset anyone else, but diluc simply lets it roll off his back. he respects her and regards her because she's part of the traveler's life and he views her as a friend as well.

i mean sure, you could say he's just being friendly and learning to trust again, and you'd be right, but genuinely, his feelings go beyond that. he's such a warm and loving person behind the "grumpy" front he's put out these last 4 years, and the traveler is the first person to see it. the traveler is so special to diluc, and it's definitely noticed by others. kaeya comments on how he's grateful that diluc finally found someone to rely on.

long story short, diluc is in love with the traveler ❤️

[cefalodankovsky]

Kaeya's story would have a pretty big plothole if he's telling the truth (Or in other words why Kaeya is probably lying his ass off) An analysis.

Major spoilers for caribert and Kaeya's character story.

Addendum : This is mostly for fun and to explore Kaeya's character and interactions, I'm not God, I can be wrong about things.

Important things are marked in orange and specific commentary on some elements of text is marked in purple.

Also while I do believe Kaeya is lying in Caribert and is generally an unreliable narrator, if you believe otherwise and can still make sense of his story please tell me, I would like to know other points of view or things I might have missed.

It is first said in Kaeya's vision story, he fought with diluc the day his father died. The reason why is quite simple, he told Diluc he was an agent (or pawn, depending on the nuance of the translation) planted by Khaenri'ah to serve their interests (and by the wording of the text, he had an idea of what the "ancient plot" meant). He comes clean and then fights Diluc as "his true self".

There was a side to Kaeya that he kept hidden from the world: In truth, he was an agent of Khaenri'ah, placed in Mondstadt to serve their interests. His father had abandoned him in this strange and unknown land to fulfill this mission, and it was Master Crepus and the city of Mondstadt that had welcomed him with open arms when they found him.

If Khaenri'ah and Mondstadt went to war, which side should he support? To whom should he offer his assistance: his birth father, who had ruthlessly abandoned him? Or his adoptive father, who had loved him and raised him?-

Quite a dramatic thought, makes it sound as if his mission will inevitably end in a war between the both of them, partly backed by Mona's voiceline

As a brother, he should have shared in Diluc's grief, and yet as their father lay dying on the ground, he had hung back behind his brother, that ancient plot running through his mind.

The use of that ancient plot instead of the ancient plot, or an ancient plot. makes it sound as if there are multiple ancient plots he is aware about, perhaps not the actual intended meaning but it's a fun thought, like how many ancient plots is Khaenri'ah directly involved in??? (probably a lot)

Consumed by guilt, Kaeya knocked on Diluc's door. As the rain poured down, the shroud of secrecy was washed away and all lies were revealed. Kaeya had finally come clean.

This is all fine and makes sense, Diluc feels betrayed and out of anger and residual sadness from his father's death, and strikes against someone he considered a brother, this causes a big rift between them and is a focal point in their relationship. Let's see how this character story is contradicted by the Caribert story quest, probably on purpose.

In Caribert Kaeya claims his father sent him to mondstadt to perhaps find happiness.

Kaeya: My life had less and less to do with Khaenri'ah as I grew up, and so I started caring less as well.

Kaeya: I used to believe that I had inherited some sort of duty from my father..

Kaeya: But then I began to wonder... Maybe my father left me in the peaceful land of Mondstadt for no other reason than simply to give me a happier life...

Then he didn't ruthlessly abandon him or send him to mondstadt to fulfill Khaenri'ah's goals, which contradicts everything previously established.

Kaeya: A happy life sounds good to me, of course. Even if it means being cut off from... certain things.

He sounds unsure, it's unclear If he wants to be cut off or not from those certain things, but what is he talking about?, If he doesn't know about the Alberich's involvement in the abyss order then what is he being cut off of according to him?.

It is implied Kaeya is just sugar-coating things, partly out of denial, partly out of a need to not reveal all his cards to the traveller, so I'm not going too in-depth with this section individually, as I believe it to be a clear cut lie in story.

And then the conversation with Dainsleif happens, and things get even messier.

Dainsleif: Tell me... what do you know about the significance of that name, "Alberich"?

Kaeya: Ah, you've decided to join us? I was wondering how long you planned on listening in. I believe I've seen you before in Mondstadt... Dainsleif, if I'm not mistaken?

Nice deflection buddy, almost as if he knows that If Dainsleif continues with that line of thought then some uncomfortable things will be revealed

Dainsleif: So you remember me (was he in Mondstadt to stalk Kaeya?). Then we are already acquainted, Kaeya Alberich... descendant of the Abyss Order's founder.

This means two things, first while the abyss is older than Khaenri'ah, the abyss order is a direct product of it, the sinners that are all that's left of Khaenri'ah according to Kaeya?

Kaeya: ...

Traveller: The Abyss Order...?

Paimon: What!?

Dainsleif: I take it that you weren't aware of this until now, Kaeya, or you wouldn't have been so forthcoming with your surname.

This is the part that always fucks me up, it makes a point for Kaeya being unaware of the implications of his surname, but also if Kaeya is telling the truth about not knowing anything about his father's motivation or goals for leaving him in Mondstadt, then what is his character story talking about, what the hell did he tell Diluc.

Do the character stories have information the character in story doesn't?, who's narrating the stories then?, Are they impartial?, are those kaeya's thoughts about his father's motivation?, Because that also contradicts what he says in Caribert. Or did he think his father was just working for Khaenri'ah which in his mind was a completely different thing from the Abyss order???, Then why did he have suspicious information explicitly from the abyss order like the title of the leader?, Which no other character apart from Dainsleif has (who would obviously know that)

I generally just take this as Dainsleif taunting Kaeya and trying to make him fall into a trap, because it makes the most sense.

Kaeya: Oh, my... that's quite a lot of baggage for a surname, isn't it? Though I must say, it does confirm an old suspicion of mine. I suppose that was why my father left me in Mondstadt after all... (How does that confirm anything, How does it improve your understanding of the ancient plot your father sent you to fulfill, in text it is said he was aware of the mission and was an agent or pawn, you already knew why your father left you)

Dainsleif: I'm surprised that you take me at my word without the faintest hint of skepticism... (Aka why are you lying you obviously knew this)

Kaeya: Well, perhaps what you told me just happens to answer some questions I carry in my memories. And, in any case... I recognize your eyes...(nice change of topic)

Okay the nicest interpretation I can give is maybe he knew his father was part of the abyss order but not that he was the descendant of the creator of the abyss order, but then what is the ancient plot he was sent to complete and why him?

Kaeya: You're a pure-blood Khaenri'ahn, aren't you?

I'm not even going to get into the, is Kaeya a full blooded Khaenriahn? thing or not because frankly I lack the information of the traits of a full blooded Khaenriahn. And in the best case scenario it just gives extra information on his mission.

Dainsleif: Very clever. (Thanks Dainsleif for actually being concise, even if you are most definitely hiding shit as well) Forgive me for being direct, but I sincerely hope this new knowledge doesn't change anything. If you've already let go of your ties to the past... then keep it that way.

This is just a barely hidden threat, if it's a don't get involved threat or keeping up the charade and clearly stating you are against the abyss order threat, is left up to interpretation

Paimon: Kaeya... You're not involved with the Abyss Order in any way, are you...?

Kaeya: Hey, hold on now. This conversation has taken a rather sudden turn for the deadly serious... and I'm afraid that as someone from Mondstadt, I'm not accustomed to this sort of atmosphere...

Deflection again, and identifies himself as someone from Mondstadt which in this conversation is also a double way of saying, I'm not a threat.

Kaeya: So what if I know my ancestry? Do I strike you as the type who would be bound by that kind of thing?

He changes his position again, "well even If I knew I wouldn't do anything for the Abyss order", which is weird because even by the kindest of interpretations he is terribly conflicted (Mona's voiceline, His character story, the fact this conversation is taking place to begin with)

Kaeya: Relax. I'll be just as delighted to hunt down the Abyss Order tomorrow as I have always been.

And how delighted are you, really?, And does this really make no change to you, almost as if you already took this into account?.

Traveler option 1: I trust you, Kaeya.

Traveler option 2:I think... I guess.

The real problem with the Idea that Kaeya is fully genuine about having no connections to Khaenri'ah or knowing about the Abyss order is that apart of all his info from his character story being wrong or unexplainable apart from the excuse of, well he had absolutely 0 context about anything , which would be strange especially for a character as Kaeya known for always having the upper hand info-wise. But that his fight with Diluc would make no sense. What did he tell Diluc?, That he was from Khaenri'ah and his father left him in Mondstadt to try to maybe make sure his son has a happy life far from the stress of Khaenri'ah (Stress like a mission or an ancient plot)?, How would that be a betrayal of any type, and how would that revelation show a hidden part of his true self?. If Kaeya knows nothing about this, then the emotional core of his story is ruined, because he would have never been conflicted when Crepus died, He would have no reason to be loyal to Khaenri'ah or the abyss order apart from his father being from Khaenri'ah, a father which abandoned him ruthlessly (or maybe not, who knows), The sinner's are all that's left of Khaenri'ah voiceline would just be meanspirited for no reason (because if those sinners were working for the abyss order, then it would make sense that he were critical of them), and His fight with Diluc would make no sense.

So in accordance to this, I believe Kaeya is lying about not being aware of the implications of his surname and the reason he was sent to mondstadt.

Thanks for reading if you have made it this far, and correct me if I'm wrong about something.

[newvegascowboy]

Relating to the whole body-sharing thing, how do you feel about Nick x Kellogg's Ghost?

I have a billion plot threads about the two learning to share Nick’s skull, with the common factor being Kellogg Does Not want to take revenge, hurt Nick or Sole, or delete Nick / get a new body. He's in emtional Limbo as well as physical, not sure where he wants to go from here. The Lounger woke him up once, then Amari said he would fade away... And he just didn't.

Nick believes he means no harm because he was pretty unobtrusive and managed to hide in a shadowed corner of his mind for a couple months, just watching through Nick’s eyes and reflecting on his life. The only reason he would actually possess Nick and take him hostage was if someone tried to delete him before he's ready to face death again.

And from there they become friends and/or lovers while not telling anyone Kellogg’s still technically alive.

I feel like the Kellogg's Ghost thing is kind of a hot button issue in fandom where there's 2 camps. You either fall into "it was stupid and im glad they didnt do anything with it" or "they shouldn't have brought it up only to do nothing with it". I tend to fall more into the latter camp. I think it could have been a really fucking cool thing but. Alas!

I agree with you that I don't think Kellogg would necessarily want revenge. I feel he would be in a mindset of "well you beat me, fair and square." His surprise at not being dead effectively overrides any murderous impulse for a while. I think he would be more interested in hanging out undetected in Nick's head for a while, potentially trying to learn things about sole and their companions (there could have been some perception checks or something to see if your character notices anything off with Nick while Kellogg is piloting).

I think it would have been a lot of fun to occasionally get Kellogg's insights while traveling with Nick. Random voicelines while you're walking around, maybe some combat lines where Nick is effectively talking to himself ("You're welcome for the help" / "I didn't ask").

Given Nick's personal themes of autonomy and Who Am I, Really, I don't think he would want a passenger who occasionally takes the wheels. I think his priority would be to get Kellogg out of his head. There could have been some interesting resolutions to his quest, like either you kill Kellogg once and for all, kill Nick and have him take his place, or get Kellogg out into his own new synth body.

I think he could have had some particularly interesting insights if he's around during your final fight with the Institute, like providing an extra edge in the battle or accompanying you to help.

[electric-plants]

I totally believe you, but I'd be interested to see your receipts of haitham being nice if you're willing to share~

hello weary traveler please take a look at my wares~

top ten (read: 3) reasons alhaitham is a SWEETIE w/ receipts:

1) he’s got really good manners:

*leaves to the entrance to wait patiently for you so he can say goodbye* and i just like how offended he seems at the implication in the last one

these voicelines in particular stick out to convey that he doesn’t really want to be responsible for causing others trouble:

also tbh basically all of his about lines are just him talking about people’s good qualities, which always makes me a little sad when i think about most of the voicelines about him in comparison rip

here’s some faves though tighnari’s especially sticks out in regard to alhaitham being nice i think:

2) he does a lot of things for other people:

“i’m not going to field any questions” proceeds to take us to his house, gather a bunch of books to help us understand, and then field all of our questions🤔 also just the entire concept of him being able to be talked into being acting grand sage at ALL

also not included but little things like taking the time to teach us how to use the knowledge capsules, taking the aaru villager’s feelings into account/getting shani to talk, and just generally taking the time to carefully address the rest of The Squad’s™️ questions/concerns during sumeru’s archon quests

3) and perhaps some people will disagree with this one but i just think he has a very kind view of humanity:

(⬆️ from sq also not cropped cause pretty🥰)

i feel that if someone is so intimately aware of the limits and faults of humanity while also still having an innate curiosity about other people and an affinity for finding people’s positive qualities it’s indicative of an inherently kind/forgiving way of thinking

i can and will defend any of these examples if anyone disagrees😤 i spend every moment of my life ready for a debate😤

but seriously lol idk there’s just SO MUCH that he does and says that can be interpreted as kind if you look for it and connect it, like this isn’t even all the examples i could think of off the top of my head

also thank you anon for giving me an excuse to talk about him and how he is GOOD i owe you my life sorry for adding so much lol

my sources for your convenience: SQ = alhaitham’s story quest, TP = teapot dialogue, KH = kaveh’s hangout, PoP = the parade of providence event

[captn1999]

Supernatural: aliEn T

A chatty creature—if he can be called by that—lack of common sense. aliEn T is composed of a 22-cm-tall aerocraft, a cow imprisoned by light, and a piece of sod.

Exhibition Details A supernatural work exhibited in the mid-20th century for ??? years. Completed in summer, on July 10. First exhibition location unknown. This exhibition had been displayed all over the world and was last found in New Mexico, USA before it was controlled by the Foundation.

3-star beyond, star afflatus, reality damage

aliEn T A traveler far from home. A bit noisy, and always striving for the unachievable.

Antenna A-190-c1: An antenna. A sturdy antenna, made of an unknown, unidentifiable metal. I must admit that the antenna is quite a nice touch to it and makes its saucer-like body appear less dull. It might be just a functional design,but you will have to agree that it is a good fit there.

DUU-DUU-BELL-BOO: The estimate price stated above is how much this cow ... this DUU-DUU-BELL-BOO used to cost. Many has changed, but maybe it's still worth the same now.

Healthy Turf: A healthy meadow, giving off a typical slightly-bitter and earthy fresh smell of the grass. According to the interviewee, he spends long hours taking care of his meadow ... because he has nothing to do and nowhere else to go. His great effort certainly has paid off.

The Spotted ✦ This act might attract the authority's attention. ✦ ✦ This act attracted the authority's attention. ✦ ✦ ✦ This act attracted the authority's attention, but it's beyond the jurisdiction of Distant Stars Act.

No Ill Intent ✦ It claims to harbor no ill intent. ✦ ✦ It claims to harbor no ill intent, it just… ✦ ✦ ✦ It claims to harbor no ill intent, it just finds it hard to control itself.

Future Interstellar War: Prelude Those hiding secrets tend to talk in their sleep or think that they're still in a dream.

DUU-DUU-BELL-BOO. Now repeat after me. DUU-DUU-BELL-BOO.

Birthday: July 10 Dimensions: 8 21/32x6 19/64x6 19/64in. Medium: Beam Fragrance: Chypre - Oakmoss, Grass, Leather, Industrial Glue, Brown Scotch Tape Inspiration: Kindness from A Distant Star [Star] Inspection of the Blue Planet

Voicelines | Character story

[yuniemaki]

Fun fact: Ganyu hates rumors and idle gossip as she does not see them as constructive or productive as well as detesting the idea of tearing anyone down. I figured that after a few centuries, it gets pretty old. The proof? Ganyu's voice line about Beidou.

"Recently, everyone in Yujing Terrace has been saying nasty things about the Crux Fleet. But in my personal opinion, Beidou's contribution to Liyue Harbor goes far beyond what those miserable rumor-loving heathens could even contemplate! ...Oops! I'm sorry, I... I'm not quite sure how that one slipped out..."

(Translation: Liyue is off for the better because of her and she would know because she's seen the nation at much worse.)

Another fun fact: Yae Miko holds Ganyu in quite the high regard as her voice line indicates. The voice line also implies that she would do this quite often and naturally, she would be friendly and almost fond of her in this sense.

"Hmm, now that you mention it, it's been a while since I last saw Ganyu. Before the Sakoku Decree came into effect, the two of us would often meet to discuss bilateral relations between our two nations. I always found her quite reliable. The next time you go to Liyue, take her some more fresh Sea Ganoderma for me."

(Translation: Not only are we besties, we try to keep in frequent contact.)

Why am I bringing this up?

Because despite Ganyu's distaste for rumors and how Miko thrives off of it and loves digging around for the source, their friendship works. And it's beautiful.

Another post about little nuggets of character interactions, lore, and other things I notice brought to you by 'this fandom has not paid enough attention to [insert gripe here]'. I'm quite glad that you like getting these. I quite like sending them.

NARKY PLEASE THAT SIDENOTE T_T I do quite like getting these. May Narky's miniseries continue!

Ganyu has never struck me as someone who values productivity and efficiency, that feels more like Keqing's domain. Rather, Ganyu as a whole seems to be someone who wants to be that way, but finds it difficult (based on her voicelines about Rex Lapis and she talks about avoiding major mistakes after a few HUNDRED YEARS OF EXPERIENCE???!!)

That said, I interpret her outburst re: Beidou to be more of outrage that such unfounded rumours are swirling about someone close to her.

Fact that she told the traveller, though, suggests she might be a little loose-lipped sometimes... and knowing Miko, she's probably already extracted a thousand juicy nuggets about Liyue's icons from Ganyu. WHICH IS FUNNY.... MIKO PROBABLY KNOWS EVERYTHING ABOUT THE CRUX'S ILLEGAL WORK FROM GANYU LMAO

Ganyu's so shy and Miko's so good with people, I can imagine her just following Miko around and answering her questions and inadvertently revealing too much along the way...

And Miko just laughs and finds it entertaining because Ganyu's fascinating; she is half-human and half-qilin, she has perspectives of the mortal and immortal worlds that Miko can't even dream of experiencing, being a kitsune herself.

I like to think "bilateral relations" is just their work cover for meeting. Like sure, they talk and they get work out of the way, but I'm sure theirs is a special friendship: they are, after all, two immortals living amidst mortals, and Miko was lonely for centuries with Ei in the plane and all of her youkai friends dead :(

Miko's view of the mortal world also seems to fall in line with Ganyu's. I like to think she learned that partly from Ganyu and her centuries of working alongside humans!

Also the interesting thing is Ganyu doesn't have a voice line about Miko, so we're left to wonder what her opinion of Guuji Yae is. It's also interesting that Ganyu is the one who represents Liyue in bilateral relations... she's the General Secretary!! Shouldn't one of the Qixing be involved?! Or perhaps they see value in having a half-qilin cultivate relations with a kitsune? After all, Ganyu has seen multiple generations of Qixing come and go, and Miko has outlived countless shrine maidens... how did this unlikely friendship come about, anyway? We'll never know until Ganyu talks about Miko...

[drmobiusvanch]

Under a readmore in case you'd prefer to watch because Heathcliff's VA genuinely outdid himself. Also, a lot of this is big because of Limbus lore and makes more sense in context:

So to begin with I need to explain two key concepts of Limbus Company lore:

-The gacha runs off of 'mirror worlds'-there's a set main cast, but you roll to get the alternate versions of them from other timelines where their lives turned out differently so they joined various organizatiosn/took the place of other characters.

-In the world of Limbus Company, after a lot of really complicated stuff, extreme emotional distress-finding out a pillar of your world is untrue-leads to hearing a major character's voice in your head as she convinces you that it's all pointless and you should totally just turn into a monster. If you agree with her, you do, if you don't, you get nifty EGO. Unless your name is Captain Ahab, in which case you are simply Built Different.

The gang goes into Cathy and Linton's secret basement and discovers several things at once: it's occupied by bad guys who are turning people into monsters. Cathy's body is in some weird coffin hooked up to the people in tubes? Also, the executors of Cathy's will were fakes involved in this plot. There is a bunch of fighting and then Hindley shows up with Heathcliff's old buddy from his gang days, who provokes Hindley into fighting them. Hindley gets more and more agitated and then starts talking to nobody about how they're totally right, it's all Heathcliff's fault, he just wanted to have things but Heathcliff took everything from him, eventually demanding that Heathcliff give him the violin his father was going to give him and his father's love back and saying that he's going to fix things so that Heathcliff's dead like he always should have been, and then he turns into a werewolf. Throughout this, Matt has been getting more and more suspicious..

Finally, Matt reveals his true identity-Also Heathcliff. He's a mirror world version of Heathcliff who went through things pretty much directly as in the book-there's a flashback to Cathy's funeral which is pretty much directly the book scene, but who came out with the takeaway that instead of just getting revenge on everyone that this was all HIS fault as much as theirs and she wouldn't have died without him, so he went on a mission to travel between dimensions and kill every Heathcliff. Judging from some comments he makes about Hindley he was doing this about everyone else too. He tells Heathcliff he's Cathy's killer, Cathy died because of him, this is true in every universe, and everything is his fault, and then there's a mirror match which is super hard but has some fun gameplay details. Rather than defeating the whole team, Other Heathcliff wins if he kills Heathcliff, and no matter which version of Heathcliff you use for the fight he will be completely silent except for pained, angry grunting instead of using his normal voice lines.

It finally ends with Other Heathcliff telling Heathcliff that he killed Cathy again and then we get into a cutscene where Heathcliff uses his ult on him, except that his voiceline is different, and it just keeps on going, with the damage getting higher and higher as he rants about how he'll kill everyone who gets between him and Cathy until the damage counter is just showing gibberish and other Heathcliff dies.

Heathcliff Prima then has a conversation with Carmen where we see both sides, featuring the aforementioned basically straight from the book funeral scene, cut with various moments of people degrading Heathcliff from his past and Cathy saying marrying him would degrade her that culminate in him saying that he's not human, he's too pathetic to be human while Carmen encourages him. He says he should stop even pretending to be human, she asks if he would like to take the form of a 'wild, heartbroken hound abandoned by his master', and says she'll grant his wish . What immediately follows is horrific bone crunching transformation noises, a flashback to young Cathy and Heathcliff having the dogs set on them by the Lintons and an injured Cathy urging Heathcliff to run away before he does but promises he'll come back for her, and more horrific bone crunching noises with Adult!Cathy's voice behind them saying "Welcome home, Heathcliff".

And THAT is the end of part 2 of 3.

HAVE YOU SEEN PART 2 OF CANTO VI

I HAVE OFFICIALLY LOST MY MIND, I CAN HEAR HER VOICE.. IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL

I HAVENNNTTTT ive been so busy i havent had time to fully keep up with all of the new limbus content i only know bits and pieces. Its so annoying because theres all this anime-wuthering-heights content just waiting for me to dive into and i have to like WAIT A COUPLE OF DAYS…. THE AGONY…. but anyway please tell me everything about canto vi and ESPECIALLY anime cathy. If i dont read it now it will be waiting for me to read in a week or two lol.