#missed all the dragonspine hype

[throwaway-yandere]

🌿 what was your first team besides Traveler, Kaeya, Lisa, and Amber?

🦢 what’s your favorite region?

🪴 what’s your favorite quest?

🌿 what was your first team besides Traveler, Kaeya, Lisa, and Amber?

Kaeya didn't leave my team for a long time so Razor-Kaeya-Kazuha and whoever was the sad fool who had to deal with me lmao (Lumine/Barbara). This team pretty much had me fully decided that I'll collect all the white-reddish eyes the game has to offer and make them my children.

W/o Kaeya, I think it's Razor-Kazuha-Qiqi-Sucrose???. I absolutely forgot. Hard to remember what was my first team if I exclude Kaeya. Uncle Kaeya took Razor to AR 54. Uncle Kaeya nice. Uncle Kaeya fall often. Uncle Kaeya handle cold, no. Uncle Kaeya can't handle. Uncle Kaeya froze in Dragonspine /j

🦢 what’s your favorite region?

... call me crazy but I think you chose this for the swan emoji.

Mondstadt is everyone's home but my fave region/s is Sumeru & Fontaine. I was hyped abt these regions since the patch I started the game (which was Kazuha's first run) and both locations did not disappoint. Sumeru's cast is just so lovely, I don't think there was a single miss. Idk why, but Sumeru people just give me vibes that they're the type of people I'd meet irl. There's just something so "yeah I know people like them" when I see Dehya, Candace, Nilou, Kaveh, Faruzan, etc. If Mondstadt feels like home, Sumeru's people feels like the people you share a meal with inside said home. I think the only thing I was disappointed about was how the dendro archon isn't a male. I was so hyped about playable!Su from Honkai and when we got Alhaitham my dreams were CRUSHED

Haven't explored most of Fontaine yet but the roster already has some of my fave Eng VAs so... 👉👈. I mean, c'mon. Ray Chase? JOE ZIEJA??? Y'all are killing me here. And Furina's VA is sooooo good too. Ngl, I thought a huge chunk of Fontaine would have a heavy dystopian steampunk but the "poverty" side feels a little more brighter than expected but that's acceptable since Navia exists <333 fontaine is so beautiful, I wanna see how Snezhnaya would do their aesthetics too.

🪴 what’s your favorite quest?

Any👏quest👏with👏DAINSLEIF👏

The Caribert quest was absolutely so GOOD!!! The voice acting— omg bro made me wish I was Caribert's mom for a hot second but Dain snapped me back to reality /j.

All Dain-quests are top tier and no you will not persuade me otherwise. Remember how fun it was hearing him trash-talk the Archons "politely" in his quest? Remember how exciting it was to see your sibling again in We Will Be Reunited? Remember how fricking chilling it was when he talked about how he understands that the hilichurls are telling him to "run" in the Requiem of the Echoing Depths quest? Remember how "Eide" is losing it?? Remember how EIDE IS LOSING I—

Sorry, hmm. I think my favorite character might be Dainsleif I'm not sure.

[genshinconfessions]

I am, feeling so nostalgic over Fontaine and dragonspine rn it sucks.

I don't think any genshin experience will ever beat the dragonspine update for me and not even because I geniuely believe it was like. The best update but because that was probably the point where my enjoyment of genshin was at a all time high. I was still super passionate about the game I had found multiple online communities for like. The first time in my life. I still knew enough to not suffer but I wasn't good enough to be cynical. Xiao was leaked and I was so incredibly hyped and actually saving for a character.

And then Fontaine came out and it fully reignited my love for genshin for a while. I so fondly remember watching the 4.0 livestream and being incredibly hyped. Dming my friends about childe finally showing up admiring the underwater mechanics. I was so hyped for Fontaine that when the update broke on my laptop and I didn't have enough storage on my phone I geniuely installed a mobile emulator and somehow it worked. 0/10 experience but god I loved it. But now idk. I still love the game. I think I always will. But Natlan just. Isn't doing it for me. But I also acknowledge I am apart of the problem. Yet it's not something I can really fix. I can't go back to being 13-14 experiencing the game for the first time and also making friends for the first time. And I can't go back to 2023 when my life geniuely was looking up for a while and what I do consider some of the very best updates came out.

But who knows. Maybe in the future some update will come up that just completely reignites my passion for the game. And I'm still playing and enjoying it now. And I likely will be till it shuts down.

Sorry if this is really just boring to read ciufyits7st I didn't want to bother my friends w it and I just felt like rambling. Geniuely feel free to delete if it doesn't match the vibes™️ of the blog.

first of all, this is a confessions blog! nothing 'doesn't fit the vibe' because everything you want to tell us fits the vibe!

i'm also very sorry that you feel like the game isn't doing much for you anymore ;; i understand how you feel though! the natlan updates aren't my cup of tea either, and i really miss the excitement and wonder i felt when i first saw mondstadt and liyue!!

[anemxvisions]

Saw this on twitter so put down who was your Genshin Main each patch!

1.0 - Wasn’t playing 1.1 - Wasn’t playing 1.2 - Traveler/Fischl 1.3 - Xiao/Diluc 1.4 - Xiao/Childe 1.5 - Childe/Zhongli 1.6 - Kazuha/Hu Tao 2.0 - Kazuha/Ayaka

[therosefrontier]

Whumptober Day 4

No. 4 - TRUST FALL

“Do you trust me?” | taken hostage | pushed

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Genshin Impact | Diluc, Kaeya, and Mondstadt’s resident dragon friend

(crossposted to AO3)

+++

“Well, what a surprise this is, you asking me for help? You must be really desperate, then.”

“Don’t get any ideas. I’m not asking for your help tonight; I’m only asking for this one favor.”

“So, you play hero and I watch from the sidelines? Hmph, you wound me, Diluc.”

Diluc leveled his eyes at Kaeya with complete lack of amusement. He really didn’t have time for this. He pulled his sort-of brother into the stock room at Angel’s Share this morning with the intention of getting him alone with as little fanfare as possible (he wouldn’t be going to the knights for this, that’s for certain) and in as little time as possible. “I’m serious,” he insisted. “I’m only asking you to do this because you’re the only one who can. I need you to convince Vind to leave her post, just for one night. There’s going to be danger, and I need to ensure her safety. Obviously, I can’t do it myself, as this could reveal me as…well, the rumored vigilante.”

“The Darknight Hero, you mean?” Kaeya supplied with a smirk.

“Don’t call me that.”

“Fine, fine.” Kaeya shrugged. “I understand; you wish to keep your secret identity a secret. No worries; I have no intention of letting Vind be prey to some Abyss mages tonight. I’ll make an excuse to get her out.”

“Right…wait!” Diluc’s eyes widened at the realization. “I didn’t tell you—!"

“That the Abyss Order was the ‘danger’ described?” Kaeya appeared far too satisfied with himself. “Don’t be so surprised. I have my sources just like you have yours. It is the reason why Sucrose is on her way right now to tell Vind about those strange weather anomalies in Dragonspine that need her attention right now, as they could be the sign of a great storm that the expertise passed down to her through generations might be useful for. Plus, she has the official knightly request signed by yours truly.”

Diluc sighed. “You…already had a plan.” Of course, he did. A very official-sounding one, actually. “Wait, is there actually…?” If this was a lie, there was no way that Sucrose would go with it.

“No, probably not, it’s just a little stretching of the truth. I asked Albedo to hype up the facts for this purpose. But don’t worry, he doesn’t know any details.”

And…he got Albedo in on his scheme as well. “You would think of everything.” He exhaled while rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Well, fine then, you do that; I’ll handle the rest.”

  It really wasn’t that much of a surprise to him that Kaeya would show up anyways. And, if he was being honest, it wasn’t unwelcome. Especially considering his timing.

Diluc struggled to regain his footing quickly, use the flat side of his claymore as a shield when another barrage of cryo icicles came his way. The cryo still caused a melt reaction on the flaming bush in front of him that made the fire burst in his face and deal yet another painful shot of damage. He inhaled a sharp breath and responded with launching himself at the cryo abyss mage with a flaming sword. He then unleashed his flaming phoenix on the hoard—half of Stormbreaker Point was already on fire, so it really wouldn’t matter if he added more flames to the mix.

A wound on Diluc’s arm was bleeding heavily, and he reached up to touch his face to confirm that there was blood there, too. Before him, a large group of abyss mages and Hilichurls made a blockade stretching across the clifftop and around the watchtower, and behind them, four Ruin Guards stood as support. The grass and trees around them had caught on fire, making a beacon in the pitch-black night sky. Behind Diluc, there was the edge of Stormbreaker Point and the long drop to the ocean. And beside him, there was Kaeya.

Diluc did not expect the fight to be as intense as it was. He knew that the Order was planning some raid because they got it in their heads that the tower at Stormbreaker Point must have something vitally important in it, and that Vind was some kind of powerful, mystical protector of it. Hilichurls hung around the tower a lot, so maybe they…communicated, somehow? Either way, Diluc planned to put a stop to it. However, he wasn’t planning on this much resistance…maybe they learned of his involvement?

Or maybe, that one Abyss mage in the middle, the cackling pyro one, was just a cut smarter than the rest. It made a point to sneer at the “Darknight Hero” upon Diluc’s arrival, and when Kaeya came in from nowhere to bowl through the line and take his place by Diluc’s side, it sneered at him, too.

“Well, if it isn’t the great cavalry captain of the Knights of Favonius? Such a…wonderfully unique star in your eye, isn’t it?”

Diluc felt Kaeya tense by his side.

“Hehehe, what’s the matter? Worried about your precious Darknight Hero? Or your precious secrets?”

Kaeya didn’t respond to the taunt. He kept his stance steady, his sword angled towards the hoard. His one visible eye didn’t lose sight of the sword’s target. “They’re coming,” Kaeya spoke in a whisper that only Diluc could hear. “Our reinforcements.”

So Kaeya knew, coming here, that the battle was bad enough that they would need help.

“What’s that, oh great knightly captain?”

Most of the mages didn’t talk that much. Diluc wasn’t sure they even knew much, or if they remembered things. They ran on their one-track goal against humanity, and they plotted and schemed to meet that goal. It was enough of a reason to destroy every one of their ilk Diluc saw.

(He tried not to think much about what Kaeya told him that day, about the truth. He didn’t know what to do with that truth. He couldn’t protect Mondstadt if he doubted what he should do about it, so he didn’t. Whatever those mages used to be, they were only monsters now.)

Kaeya unleashed a blast of cryo in front of him, and Diluc followed by running into the fray of fighting renewed, taking out every creature he saw. In his distraction, he almost missed that he had been targeted by a Ruin Guard’s missile, and he stumbled to the ground in a desperate last-minute attempt to dodge. A Mitachurl tried to capitalize on that moment of weakness and bring down its giant flaming axe on him, but Kaeya in that moment dove in and struck the monster deep in the side. He then grabbed Diluc and they dodged backwards.

They were going back too far. Little by little, they were losing ground, to the point that their feet neared the edge of the precipice. Still, they fought. It hadn’t been so long for them that Diluc’s fighting by Kaeya’s side felt unnatural…although it was odd. Because, they were older now. Kaeya had a Cryo vision now. Everything was…different, but every now and again, they’d still end up doing something together anyways.

Diluc breathed heavily, his hands around his claymore sweating underneath the gloves. He pushed whatever pain he felt from his injuries somewhere deep, deep in the back of his mind. He needed—they needed to push through the line. He wasn’t confident in the state of his glider after getting himself roughed up and singed so much or in their ability to avoid further attacks during their descent.

“Kaeya, we need to—”

“Diluc, do you trust me?”

Diluc’s eyes darted over to him, taken aback by the gravity in Kaeya’s softly-spoken question. “What kind of question is that?”

“Well, do you?”

As if he could answer that in one sentence or less. He trusted him…in some ways, he guessed. He trusted him in battle. He trusted him…with Mondstadt, yes. Just…well…that was all very besides the point and this was really not the time. “Yes, sure,” he huffed.

“Excellent.” Kaeya smiled.

What was he—?

Then, Kaeya laughed, loudly and triumphantly, a wild look in his eye and he reached out for Diluc’s collar and grabbed it tight. His soft voice had turned into a shouting, mocking one. “Hahaha, end of the line, Darknight Hero! The Knights have no need of meddlers like you!”

What the fu—

He pushed him. Before Diluc knew what was happening, he felt his body succumbing to gravity, his feet losing their hold on the stone of Stormbreaker Point’s edge and following the rest of his body into the open air, suddenly void of every handhold or foothold within reach.

Kaeya fucking pushed him.

Diluc had to open his glider—fast. It wasn’t working. The hell was Kaeya thinking he couldn’t open it in time he was going to—

And then, he landed on something with a thud, much sooner than he should have. The surface uneven and scaly and distinctly familiar, it didn’t take him long to realize that it was a someone. Was that—?

Dvalin arced into the sky with a powerful beat of his wings, looping back around to the space underneath the cliff, coming in close at the moment Kaeya jumped off the edge as well. Diluc repositioned himself on Dvalin’s back to a place of more stability astride his spine and watched Kaeya make a much more graceful (much better prepared, that is) landing than he did.

Diluc’s first thought was that he was relieved to see Kaeya in one piece. His second was that it was time to demand an explanation. “What was that about?”

“Clever, wasn’t it?”

“You could have told me something!”

“But would it have believable to the mages if I did? You’re not that great of an actor, Diluc.”

“Your theatrics are utterly pointless,” Diluc huffed. “And now that we’re both gone, who’s going to stop them?”

“Well, look down,” Kaeya directed.

Dvalin had flown back up into the sky, well above the surface of the cliff but low enough that one could see exactly what was going on. Diluc looked down and saw, sure enough, some familiar forms attacking the small army on the cliff, now at the perfect position to pin them against the edge. He saw Jean herself, along with Amber, the Traveler, Eula, and a number of other knights as backup. Diluc had almost forgotten that Kaeya did tell him about the reinforcements. Looking again, he noticed even Venti hanging in the back, acting as if he were there for mild support and not the actual anemo archon. Dvalin’s presence was probably his doing. Wait, Kaeya didn’t know about Venti, did he…?

“Since we had discovered during our Golden Apple Archipelago adventure that our very curious bard friend is a good friend of our resident dragon, I thought I’d ask him for his assistance. Sure, there’s other ways we could have gone about this, but sometimes, striking fear into the hearts of your enemy is very much a job for ‘theatrics,’ as you called them.”

Well, it did make some sense, Diluc guessed. He was just relieved to see that the reinforcements in question were having little trouble that hoard which had given him such a difficult time solo. Still, the relief didn’t quite keep all the lingering irritation from his voice. “You really called in the knights.”

“Well, this may come as a surprise, but that is their job.”

“Hmph,” Diluc grunted. “You say that like it would have been easy to get the bureaucracy to trust an anonymous source about the attack happening in the first place. They’re consistently useless on matters like this.”

“So you still don’t trust them.”

“No.” He’s established this already.

“All of them?”

“I trust Jean,” Diluc clarified.

Although, he supposed she might not be the only one on the list. There were…some knights who knew what they were doing, mostly. And, he had respect for the Honorary Knight, not that they really counted as a “knight” in an institutional sense.

“Well, that’s a start.” Kaeya shook his head with a smile. “I’d be worried if you threw even her under the bus for doing nothing wrong at all.”

“It’s not like that.”

“Is it, now?”

“Kaeya, what are you even talking about?”

“Well, maybe I could bring to your recollection that because of your insistence on working alone, you walked into a rather significant ambush today, facing a threat to Mondstadt without bothering to communicate to the people of Mondstadt, and also sending poor Vind all the way to Dragonspine because you couldn’t be forthright on the potential danger to her life.”

“You know that last part was specifically your plan, right?”

“But you were the one who wanted me to make up an excuse.”

“You literally already had your plan in motion while I was talking to you this morning!”

“Are you two quite finished?” Dvalin’s booming voice rattled through their ribs, his point made quite loud and clear.

“Right, understood,” Kaeya agreed. “So, Diluc, ready to head back and get someone to look at that arm of yours?”

“I can still fight, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I do not think that would be necessary. They’ll be fine, and besides, I can always return to provide backup.”

“No,” Diluc refused. “If I’m seeing a healer, so are you.”

“So you’re fine with that, then?”

Dvalin was already ending his circling to start heading towards the city of Mondstadt, but Diluc could still look back and see the clashing forces on the cliff, now with two Ruin Guards down and many more mages extinguished or thrown off the edge. It was clear to see who the winning side was, now.

“It’s fine,” Diluc finally conceded with a steady exhale. “I trust them.”

[genshin-djinn]

Lantern Rite: my thoughts on act 3 + the event as a whole

xiao is short

act 3

All in all, the third act of the Lantern Rite event was... disappointing.

My hopes were high after Act 2. We’d finally gotten a decent Xiao trial and we got to see perfect trustworthy man Kaeya (and got a little peek at how deep his information network really goes. I was not expecting Nimrod to be working with Kaeya). We were almost at the lantern rite.

And then Act 3 started. And it was pretty good, and we saw a pretty cutscene that we already saw multiple times in the lantern rite trailers, and then I went to the teleport waypoint to check on Xiao, and then I realized that oh yeah that’s it. The end.

Act 3 felt very incomplete and very, very short. The best part was the cutscene, and even that was something that I’d already seen multiple times. I know we’ll probably get a short epilogue in a few days where we meet up with Xiao, but this just felt like the first half of a full Act 3. It’s slightly better than the trash story that Dragonspine had, but at least we got to see three playable characters in Dragonspine... a full one more than the two playable characters we saw during the entire Lantern Rite.

the whole event

This brings me to the biggest problem I have with the Lantern Rite as an event— it features zero playable characters in its questioned besides Xiao during the main storyline and a brief cameo by Kaeya. The Lantern Rite is a giant festival for the whole of Liyue. Where is Liyue’s most famous celebrity chef? Where is Liyue’s favorite beloved ship captain? Where are two of the the leaders of Liyue????

It really irks me when Genshin shows that it is capable of good storylines during short quests while completely underusing the characters that people play for in the creation of these quests. I really enjoyed most of the Lantern Rite Tales stories, especially the one with Yanxiao and Jiangxue (Jiangxue is very mysterious, Yanxiao is adorably concerned) and the one with the old man from Qingce with dementia (ouch).

But why are all of these quests all featuring side characters, some of whom I would not notice disappear from the game, and not main characters, all of whom I am very attached to? If Qiqi was the one who told me to get one specific single Qingxin flower from a very specific location, I’d accept it (rather than having an aneurysm while climbing that hell cliff in Qingce after a random NPC I don’t care about told me to do so). If Ningguang was the one who asked me to guard a trade balloon, I’d agree to instead of trying to attack an NPC. If Xingqiu was the poet who got into an argument with Veneer, I’d cheer him on and be delighted when he wins over the Qingce children.

These missing main characters make Mihoyo seem very lazy and very cheap considering all they’d have to do to make main characters give out these exact same quests would be tweak the dialogue and have the VAs record a few new voicelines. It feels like they genuinely only care about playable characters existing in their world if they’re trying to build up hype for said character. We haven’t gotten a single new story quest that wasn’t for an on- banner five star character since before update 1.1.

Mihoyo seems to only give a shit about characters existing if they can use their quests to get more people to roll on their banners. The Lantern Rite event and especially Lantern Rite Tales is a huge illustration of this and it’s starting to piss me off and yes I will be writing a 5000 word essay about it in their next community questionnaire

as for the rest of the event: I have no opinion on tower defense, sometimes it’s fun and sometimes it’s annoying; I will always accept rewards from the Xiao Market; something is very suspicious about Qingce— one of the Lantern Rite Tales is the second time someone’s implied the village is not as good and stable as it seems to be; please give Jiangxue another quest I need to learn more about his past; Stand By Me woulda been a lot cooler if we could, you know, actually interact with the characters during the event