#ragbros event go brrr

[cryspymf]

long awaited ragbros content ;-;

spoilers : 2.8 Hidden Strife event quest storyline + contents of Diluc’s letters scattered around Mond

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This is a lot of word vomit, I started getting a little too into it the more I wrote lol

ngl my brain is both very empty and very full after finishing all of the event.

I should start by mentioning that my favorite character in the game is Diluc and has been since I first saw him. Yada yada love at first sight or whatever. Just there to put in perspective how much I love this event and all the little details.

I was originally upset at the beginning of the event cause I was already bummed out by how the GAA had turned out (maybe I shouldn’t have gone into it thinking it would be exactly like last year… but still!), and then I’d been waiting excitedly for the event related to Diluc’s new outfit only to see Diluc didn’t actually seem to have a big role in the event. It seemed more like it was just referencing Diluc and I was not expecting him to show up later nor to learn about the countless letters that hold more lore than I could handle at the moment kshdkdjfk

I won’t go into detail about my every waking thought while doing the quest becuz I most definitely can, but that’s not interesting. Know that I may not have understood some information correctly, it’s hard to understand some of the letters especially without clear senders and out of context words ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Theres about 20 (im rounding) letters if I’m not mistaken. We have 6 on the table at the Dawn Winery, 9 from Kaeya in the Dawn Winery as well, 2 to Jean and Varka in Jean’s office(?), 2 to Albedo, Alice (and Klee) in Albedo’s lab, and the interesting box on the roof of the Knight’s headquarters

Straight to the point, I’m happy with the route hoyoverse took with the ragbros relationship. While I was expecting a big reconciliation event between the brothers, I’m more happy seeing that in actuality, they’re not on horrible terms.

I must say I’m outraged by seeing “beautiful handwriting” on Kaeya’s letters. If I’m not mistaken, I thought during a quest or something with Klee that we learned Kaeya doesn’t have the best handwriting. Whether it’s actually just that Klee can’t read well or Kaeya’s words just weren’t clear to Klee, I still liked to think his handwriting was bad. A poised and well-mannered knight who likes to pretend he’s good at everything, but…. he can’t write well to save his life. I liked the idea of the subtle imperfection. Though it wouldn’t make sense, it would be much more probable that his handwriting is indeed very nice. He’s the cavalry captain and works closely with Jean, it’s no doubt he’d be writing letters and notes left and right. I bet he used to add stars to his ‘i’s when he was younger cause he thought it was cool and occasionally still does it on accident sometimes ^^

Speaking of Jean, Diluc’s letter to her along with the one to Varka did not stand out to me at all, in fact I don’t remember the contents of either. Same for Albedo’s. The one for Alice did though! First, Alice’s letter among the ones we read as apart of the quest was the only one that caught my eye then as well. The fact that Alice said “I hope you won’t mind if I treated you as my own.” when talking about how Diluc was nice to Klee and addressing his father’s death. Alice you got too many kids under your wing now you need to call it a day sweetie- but honestly I think it’s very sweet. Diluc’s tidbit abt Klee being able to come over whenever was very cute. Makes me hope that when Klee calls him a weird grown up that, just maybe, she’s just teasing him. Knowing her age and mannerisms though I don’t quite think that’s it,,,

I feel like Diluc’s resentment against the Knights is just petty Diluc refusing to to drop something he started even after coming to terms with the fact that he doesn’t despise the Knights anymore. He’s just (rightfully) salty about it and occasionally wants to poke fun at them in his own grumpy guy way.

BACK TO KAEYA now that I got the other stuff covered, the ragbros rekindling is more important.

I must say, it’s quite the letdown to learn that Kaeya’s mysterious eye won’t be coming as a big plot point relating to khaenri’ah. I was hoping for cool golden glowing eye, dramatic scene where kaeya is revealed to secretly be a prince of khaenri’ah and has bigger magical powers. Some of that may very well be true, who knows, there could still be more we don’t know about his connections to his home. BUT the eyepatch having anything interesting under it, not quite.

A quick rundown because I had a hard time understanding what actually happened just from reading the letters. During Diluc and Kaeya’s fight, Diluc did indeed injure Kaeya’s eye, something that left a scar. Kaeya isn’t blind though, from my understanding it’s merely a scar. Kaeya tried to trick Diluc into thinking he’d blinded him, though it appears Diluc didn’t believe him. Despite this Kaeya still wears the eyepatch to continue his little lie.

Personally I think it adds a lot to Kaeya’s personality, he continues holding up the lie by keeping what’s under the eyepatch a mystery to anyone new. Very Kaeya of him I must say. Always dramatic.

Just seeing them banter even through letters sent back and forth felt so on brand, I’m glad that despite their father’s death changing them, they still uphold their brotherly nature. Sure, they aren’t hugging and chatting through gatherings and the city’s festivals but, they aren’t at each others throats necessarily. I also think it’s sweet one of them (who, I can’t tell) seems to keep the box at the top of the knight’s headquarters as a sort of time capsule for the two.

While I had originally expected more about their past between their father’s death and the present timeline, I’m very happy with how it played it and know knowing it, I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. That sounds peak cheesy ik but I honestly don’t know how else to say it, I think it was a job well done on hyv’s part lol

I am a sucker for angst, it’s not ragbros if there isn’t some sort of angst. BUT the lack of angst felt quite freeing. I’m glad there wasn’t any more than the occasional sad mention of Crepus or Kaeya’s “reminiscing” at the Dawn Winery while Diluc was away. I’m glad the brothers still talk, I’m glad they kept in touch while Diluc was away.

That’s probably the thing that shocked me the most about the letters. Kaeya made an effort to write to him a decent amount, even being the driving force for Diluc to leave Mondstadt for a while (in good nature ofc). It’s lowkey comforting to learn that during Diluc’s darkest time, while still being a depressed batman wannabe, he kept his chin up, most likely for those around him. He wrote back to them, and continued to write to Kaeya during his absence. Knowing that he was aware he had Kaeya and that he wasn’t alone makes me feel all warm and fuzzy kshdkdjfk

We all wanted our happy ragbros reconciliation moment, and it seems it had already happened all along. Again, they probably aren’t on the best of terms, but they talk, they tell each other things, they joke with each other, even about their pasts. To know they don’t absolutely resent each other is enough to put my mind at ease over their relationship.

Continuously updating games like genshin are tragic, gachas in particular lol, so many people won’t be able to experience this event because Genshin is always moving onto the next thing, forgetting old events and pretending as if the whole of the world got to experience it despite them gaining new players constantly. Gotta keep us on our toes I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

my dog because this post felt rather pictureless <3