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clouds-by-me · 1 year ago

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𝓐 𝓼𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝓮𝓱𝓸𝓵𝓭

Au; Imposter!Sagau Warnings; angst/no comfort, implied torture(if you squint), creator!reader, character death An | I got way to into this. At first I was supposed to write some simple angst then I started writing like a whole story with a plot and everthing. It was so hard just finding a stopping point. Also I'm not used to writing angst so criticism is appreciated<3

You knew this day would come, you just didn't know when. You knew this day was coming the same day you realized that the people you'd grown to love finally turned on you.

You've been knowing for years know. The question was never "if" but "when" instead. Maybe if you ran sooner, as soon as you knew- wait you did...

You ran for your life, with everything you had, you ran. I remember now. You tired to play it off, deeming yourself tired and in need of rest. They caught on too soon...

maybe this was inevitable? Who knows. After so long of being hunted down, you slowly started to accept your fate, but you still ran, and fought. It was never a pretty sight.

It became a common sight really, seeing you covered in dust, with messy and tangled hair. By the creator you had lost so much of yourself.

Maybe I shouldn't say that, I'm sorry. Nowadays it's easy to forget that you're the creator.

Maybe the next world will be better? You thought, a smile formed on your dry face at the thought. Somewhere along the way to where you are now, you convinced yourself that dying would put you in a new world, or give you a new chance at life, at least. That gave you some peace of mind, as you stood before death.

You stood in front of a large crowd of people. Many from different nations, though at the moment your too much in a delusional state to comprehend much. All you knew was that your death was awaiting you. Waiting to happily welcome you with merciful arms and a warm and pleasing embrace.

You smiled while looking at a crowd that only looked at you with the opposite expression. Everyone from playable characters to Npcs came. From young and naive, to old and frail.

Something in your mind told you to speak. Maybe it was the part of you that you lost so long ago? Or maybe it's the abyss the resides in the place where your mind used to be?

"Hey everyone! I'm glad you could make it! I was so worried that no one would come! " you pouted, but it was difficult to tell if your words was out of disappointment, genuine, or sarcastic.

"Shut up, no one told you speak!" The electro archon demanded for silence, to which you quickly closed your mouth, poking your lips in your mouth, using your teeth to keep your lips together. Kind of in a childish way.

You were so drained and sleepy, that everything seemed funny. Even something such as your death. Maybe that's why your satisfied with dying, your just sleepy and want to rest, something you haven't had in so long.

She stated at you for only a second before you began laughing. The only sound being your laughter. Something in your empty mind told you the Archon looks funny when she's mad.

"Look! You see the way she gets wrinkles when she's mad? She looks like a fucking mad ass sphinx cat!" The missing part of your mind laughed at the joke that wasn't really funny, and you laughed right along with it. Your dry, broken laughter filled the noise in the air.

The sound irritated the people who stood around you. Your joy angered the Archons. Had you no respect? No value in what is important? You’re put on trial, the biggest trail in all of Teyvat! And yet you laugh and pretend act as if you’re going to spend the night at one of your friends house. As if this is normal. This reaction only cause the Archon along with most of everyone else to grow ore hungry for your death.

"Nothing..." You huff out as you try to catch your breath. You looked back to the crowed, getting ready to say some other, even worse joke but then something hit your face, causing for your head to turn to the left. You weren't shocked, nor terrified. Your demeanor changed, however, almost as if the hit flicked a switch inside you. There was a clear dim in your eyes as you went silent. For some reason you began to think about your life. How'd you even get to this point? What'd you even do?

Had you neglected your own creations so much that they'd begun to hate you? No that couldn't possibly be it. You basically drenched them in love and affection. Building characters to their max strength, giving them powerful weapons and artifacts... What had you'd done to deserve such hatred from something you loved so much?

The hydro archon began to speak. Her voice booming above all else. "You have committed a crime. The crime of treason against their grace, along with fraud, and theft. You have been caught countless of time stealing from local stalls and stores. Not to even mention, the undeniable fact that you! Bare the face of our dear creator! Yet! You don't possess any abilities nor divine traits that are of their grace! How do you plead?"

Anyone who didn't have their eyes on you before were looking at you now. You only stayed silent. You didn't even breathe out a word, your head hung low, and only a small bearly auditable noise came from your now frail body. The hydro archon continued upon hearing your oh so pathetic silence.

"If the defendant doesn't plead innocence, then they are automatically deemed guilty. So again, how. Do. You. Plead." She demanded, no longer keeping a steady voice, and no longer asking.

"I didn't...I-I haven't done anything that can't be justified... " The sound of your voice cracking satisfied the Archons. Just a few moments ago you'd been laughing and playing like this was all some kind of funny joke that everyone would be able to look back on and be able to laugh at.

"So, you admit to committing such atrocities?" The archon pressed. You looked up at the sky, refusing to let people believe that you were such a bad person as they'd been lead to believe before you died.

In a hoarse and cracked voice you replied. "All of my actions are reactions of treatment that has been given to me...everything I've done can be justified."

"Do you admit to your crimes?" The archon pressed again. Only wanting to hear a simple yes or no. Yet you still had something in you that begged for liberation. For a place that was safe enough to call home.

"I've been shot at! Pushed 'an shoved! Hunted! Not after how m‘any times I try! You can't seem to come to reason! " you pleaded for innocence, yet you didn't know why. Your face grew hot, and your eyes burned, your body hurt. And you still pursued. Pushing.

"I don't like repeating myself. So this will be my last time asking. Do you or do you not admit to your crimes?" It was then that you knew. You didn't have a chance at life, at winning. The judge was an archon and so was the jury. All spectators were against you. Yet for some reason, you kept pushing. Maybe that. Was your final mistake.

"I haven't done anything to anyone! I wasn't even given a chance! I was accused of a crime for something I can't control!" Tears now drenched your cheeks, and snot poured out of your nose in streaks. For you to have been so divine, this wasn't a pretty sight. None of this was.

"The defendant has been found guilty of a crime that is disrespectful against the divine to the utmost degree. And so, is now sentenced to death by the stake. Effective immediately!" The archon hit the small of her hand on the table dismissing every thing you said.

You thrashed as guards grabbed you and pulled you away. You pushed and cried and begged but were ignored. No one cared to listen to your pleads. No one even thought about it. Your existence fell upon death ears and blind eyes.

Being burned at the stake wasn't the best way to go. The death was too slow. Your screams stopped so long ago, lost to the flames. Your body turned to ash, and the ash fell to the ground. For a long moment there was silence. Pure, silence . There seemed to be nothing more suffocating than the silence after a death in that moment.

Just as departure began, the sky brightened. Clouds in the sky parted which opened airway for the sun to flood through. A star moved through the clouds, shining as bright as the sun itself. Everyone could see the glow, how divine it was! "Their grace! Getting rid of that imposter was a good thing!"

Cheers and chants for as long as the eat could hear.

"Finally, rain can fall again!"

The star landed right where you had died.

"and crops can continue to grow!"

For a second a bright silver star floated right where you'd died.

"Our water can be pure once again!"

It was a sight to behold... The star shined, and once the star dimmed there you stood. Looking much better compared to when you were burned at the stake just a few mere moments ago. Your hair was nicely done, put into braids, and put up perfectly to show off your face. Your clothes were no long cut and ripped from past Scars, it was also made of a fine material that clearly wasn't from Teyvat.

Though everyone who looked at you held a look of pure bliss, you stood stoned-face. Only one singular tears rolled down your cheek and landed on the stone ground you stood on.

"My Creator...what causes your tears?" You heard Teyvat call out to you. You'd heard this voice before. The voice of Teyvat. After so long even Teyvat didn't answer your cries or screams. Not even your pleads for comfort. After a while, no one did.

More tears streamed down your face as you stomped your foot. The more your foot hit the ground, the more cracks sprouted. Rain started pouring from the sky, similar to the way your tears fell. It had been so long since you last cried. How long had it been?

The wind blew hurricanes, and soon the ground shook matching the pace of your consistent stomping. Lightning flashed, soon enough it became to only source of light in this dark place. And through this all, you stood staring at the ones you created. Loathing every being around you, your glare pierced their hearts. It didn't take long for people to start putting the prices together.

Begs for mercy weren't even heard over the thunder and loud sound of the ground cracking. Despite all the chaos, you look unbothered by it all. Nothing could touch you. Nothing will touch you.

Ever again.

Behind your hate filled expression, pain was still in your eyes. Tears mixed with rain dropped down your face.

It was a sight to behold. Their Grace....crying,...destroying everything.

Oh how it was a sight to behold...

#x reader #gn reader #reader insert #black reader #genshin impact #genshin #genshin sagau #poc reader #sagau x reader #creator!reader #gender neutral reader #x gn reader

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literallygwenstacy · 5 months ago

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Since it’s June 2nd, I thought I’d yap a little about Across the Spider Verse in honor of it turning a year old today 🫶🏻

I love this movie so damn much, it helped me through so many tough times. Usually my hyperixations die out within a couple weeks or months, but this movie has my heart. Start to finish, the visuals are so gorgeous. The love put into this movie is indescribable. I went to go see it in theaters with a few of my friends on June 11th, and to be honest, I did NOT expect to love it as much as I do, and I sure as hell didn’t expect to still be obsessing over it a whole year later. Obviously I had high expectations since I loved the first film but it still blew me away. Everything is just perfect, even the ending. This movie is SO re-playable aswell. Every time I rewatch it I keep noticing small details I didn’t see before. It’s genuinely so well written which is rare among superhero movies these days.

Seeing this movie in theaters for the first time was the greatest cinema experience of my life and I will never forget it, this film really changed my life. I absolutely love the characters. Miles is such a great protagonist and in my opinion; the best Spider-Man. Gwen is relatable as hell and her story is so fleshed out. She’s such a human character, she just shows so much emotion. The side cast is great too. I love Hobie, Pav, Miguel, Peter, Jess, etc. I didn’t hate a SINGLE character in this movie. They managed to make me empathize with almost every character in the film because they’re all so well written.

I love how this movie has its fair share of humorous scenes and emotional ones. All of the scenes with Gwen and her dad made me tear up, not to mention how the background constantly changes colors reflecting their emotions. Gwen’s world as a whole is just so mesmerizing. The cast, the animation, the voice acting, the soundtrack, the emotion, the foreshadowing, the fight scenes, I could go on and on and on forever. You get the gist of it, this movie means the world to me, words seriously can’t describe how much I love it. I can’t believe it’s been a year already, time really does fly 😭 This movie will always hold a special place in my heart, I love it way too much <3 Happy birthday ATSV 🕷️💞🕸️ (Conclusion: 10/10 MUST WATCH ‼️)

#love this movie sm <3 #happy spiderversary!#atsv #across the spiderverse #spiderman #gwen stacy #spiderverse #spider gwen #ghost spider #peter b parker #miguel o'hara #hobie brown #pavitr prabhakar #ghostflower #miles morales

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sunderedazem · 4 months ago

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okay so, I finally finished Dawntrail, patch quests notwithstanding of course! And now I have some thoughts, though they're probably kind of disjointed? Because- I have a lot of opinions on this expac, and some of the dismissive attitudes of other people I've seen floating around are just. Really annoying to me. Anyway. It's under a readmore, Dawntrail spoilys abound, I am talking about the WHOLE thing but rambling

So! I liked Dawntrail better than A Realm Reborn, (which I think is the accurate measuring stick/expac to contrast it against). It's very clearly setting up future expansions and story, introducing new characters and plot devices and generally giving us something to pursue in the future. The world is fun and beautiful, the music SLAPS, the characters are mostly well rounded, especially Wuk Lamat and Koana - their arcs were very well done and I genuinely enjoyed them far beyond anything in ARR lol. Or Stormblood, to be honest. The initial plot of about level 95 and below makes sense and is well-executed. But while I *like* it more than ARR - I think it's much less well executed in one regard - the sheer lack of tie-in to what came before.

ARR goes to great lengths to preserve pieces of 1.0's story- a story that is literally inaccessible to new players except in video or privately hosted servers and etc. Louisoix's sacrifice, though never seen outside of 1.0, is constantly referenced, even up through Endwalker! It sets up the bones of a story that is very clearly built on what came before, even though most new players will have no ability to experience that story whatsoever.

In contrast- Dawntrail has ten years of worldbuilding to sprinkle throughout, mostly in regards to previously-established global phenomena - like stories of Turali Warriors of Light with the Echo, the Umbral Calamities, the loss of an entire second moon now well over five years ago, the Final Days manifesting (surely not just over Eorzea and Ilsabard?), the Blasphemies - and it ignores all of that, to the detriment of FFXIV's worldbuilding. And look- I get it, it's a new story, the writers want to distance themselves from the previous ten years I guess, but the result is that this feels disjointed as hell to me. It's like the previous ten years of still-playable story has been completely discarded, and for what? Marketing? Like, we know the Echo wasn't just an Eorzea thing, that Warriors of Light exist across every reflection, and yet- we hear nothing about the Turali ideas and mythos about these? Not even in passing, when it would make sense for it to be discussed?

I get that some people disliked the previous story and thought the WoL thing was overdone but- it was the central story for ten years. It is central to the worldbuilding here now. Tossing it out so easily feels sloppy as hell, and it's a choice that even ARR didn't make despite how easy it would have been for them to do so!

That all being said- I didn't really have much of a problem with this during the first half of the expansion. It was the promised low-stakes vacation, Wuk Lamat had a fantastic arc showcasing her growth, the WoL kind of gets to hang out and let Someone Else deal with the plot - and it's all honestly pretty great. Yeah, I was really feeling the lack of cohesion with the previous expansions, but the worldbuilding in Tural was making up for it, with how diverse the different regions were and how cohesive everything felt within itself here was actually fantastic. (I am still mad that kitty girl never got to eat her tacos! Let Wuk Lamat eat her tacos! Taco cat!)

I also really liked that she was going to the different homes of the people she knew from Tuliyollal and learning some of their ways as well. Because she definitely knew them from her life in the city, but clearly lacked familiarity with some of their more traditional beliefs, and seeing an aspiring ruler interact with and value those parts of her communities was really well done, I think. And I think it also was a really important point to make- that to rule over (elected or otherwise) and make decisions for a people, you really have to make the effort and keep making the effort to know them.

And...and this is all where the second half falls apart, for me.

Solution Nine and Everkeep and Alexandria, and the lightning-drowned shard are really cool setting ideas, and they're gorgeous as hell, but the plot stops making sense to me here, like at all. Wuk Lamat leading the charge into the dome initially I can see, as it's a Turali village that's been swallowed up, but the moment it becomes clear that not only has thirty years passed inside the dome, but this is an entirely separate world and nation that has somehow fused with our own Source- it...I'm sorry, but it doesn't make sense for her to take the plot lead role. She's a national leader - but she's not an expert in dimensions and reflections and world ending catastrophes. The Scions are (Y'shtola or Krile are right here). The WoL is. And I definitely agree that she should have been along for the ride - these are her people, after all, at least in part! Tuliyollal was attacked by these people, she needs to be there to negotiate - and I get that the WoL as a character very, very rarely actually initiates plot, but this very much felt like we were entirely just along for the ride instead of a member of a once-again secret organization whose entire job it is to deal with shit like this and the person that literally saved the star by facing down Meteion.

This second half of the story would have been the perfect opportunity, imo, for WoL references and Ascian references and Echo references, because this is all a set of circumstances that aren't too far out of the WoL's wheelhouse of "just another Tuesday. Damn" crazy happenstances. We known the Ascians were working to unbalance the shards and maybe still are, we know that levin sickness and the sin eater transformations likely have the same cure, we KNOW that we managed to stabilize the First (and in Eden quests even helped restore it!) and could probably help Sphene do the same and- none of this is mentioned. It is literally a golden opportunity to tie in what we know from previous expansions (because this is the same overarching setting. let it have a cohesive story!) even in a momentary mention of just "oh, we've helped with something similar before, if you want our assistance."

But we don't really get that. What we get is this- kind of half-assed attempt at making Sphene and Wuk Lamat foils for each other and also friends?, and meanwhile the WoL is sitting there with the answers to at least some of the questions being asked, and just not saying anything about them. And it's very clear - at least to me - from the get go that this is going to be more learning about the Alexandrians' way of life to try and reach a common understanding (which don't get me wrong, it's fun). But even from the outset, I can tell that was never going to be the issue here. The conflict here isn't actually between the people of Alexandria and Tural, it's between Zoraal Ja/Sphene and Tural. The Alexandrians are pretty neatly stripped of any agency in this with the memory modifications of the Regulators (re: those few lines about the resistance twins' father being dragged off after a minor incident with the military and then forgotten. if that's not a guy getting Disappeared....yikes), and it's clear that most of the living people don't really know or care what Endless are.

And so when we follow Wuk Lamat around as she wanders about learning about Alexandrians, like how we did with the villages in Tural, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Not because we're learning about the people here, but because this is held up to be somehow relevant to defeating Zoraal Ja and Sphene - and in the end, we won't learn enough to actually understand the Alexandrian people anyway. This isn't the same thing as a princess from the capital city visiting the traditional villages of the people she's grown up alongside in order to be a better leader for them, this is two madmen (one an AI bot, the other...apparently having lost his inner motivations in the last 30 years in favor of proving himself better than his father? I dunno, I wasn't sure I understood this slide for him) using their people as a crutch to further their goals. And in between all this, we have like, four quests where we cooperate with an Alexandrian resistance, tops. And that resistance isn't even against Sphene, it's against Zoraal Ja!

But in Living Memory, we're still forced to erase the memories of (probably) hundreds of thousands of Alexandrians, with zero provision made for their preservation somehow - like would it have been impossible to record them on floppy disks or allagan tomestones somethin, or even just some of them - with zero provision made for the return of the memories of the people of Alexandria so that these simulacrum people aren't just. deleted from history. The people of Alexandria- are they ever told that they were harvesting souls from other worlds to maintain a simulation of everyone who had ever lived and died in Alexandria? Not to maintain their current lives in Everkeep? Are they ever told that Sphene was an android, that she actually died hundreds of years ago? Are the Alexandrians ever actually given the opportunity to remember their own people?

Because- not from what I understand of the current story? We get hamfisted into following Cahcuia's wishes (and she's not even Alexandrian) and shutting down the terminals wholesale (which probably condemns all the preserved and living plants in that conservatory to withering away and dying, too). And the most we get in passing is a "we will remember them" from Wuk Lamat and....no. we won't. We've barely met these people, barely comprehend their way of life. This isn't our or Wuk Lamat's culture, it's the Alexandrians. And this isn't the last plea of a dying relic (a la Emet-selch in ShB) this is- we're outsiders coming in and erasing massive chunks of a people's history. This isn't us promising to remember that they existed after they've been wiped from history, this is us actively erasing them.

And the question this particular expansion asks, via Sphene and Cahcuia and in other ways is "could you have found another way, if it were you?" and this is a question that the WoL has already answered! With Ardbert, with Meteion - but we're not allowed to give that same answer here. We're not allowed to say "yes, and here's how we helped start fixing the First and Thirteenth, do you want in." Instead, it feels like we're backtracking on one of the core themes of Endwalker (i.e. letting the memory of those you lost push you forward and keep you going - for those we have lost. for those we can yet save). Hell, G'raha's conversation with the Omicrons in Ultima Thule is all about if they can still count as living people- and then we're reneging on that here, and destroying the Endless and being told they're not living and not even given the chance to treat their memories with dignity in trying to memorialize them somehow.

Not to mention in the very end where the ruler of the neighboring country you were just at war with (you think, do you even remember or know that?) turns up having just murdered your beloved queen (who was maybe an AI, you heard, but you're not sure?) with a small boy who looks like your tyrant king from That World that just Slaughtered all your people for their souls and- you're told he's the new king now? what the fuck. and what the fuck kind of international incident-

Like, I get that the Endless needed to go, because they did. That Sphene was who Wuk Lamat was getting to know so she could be remembered (versus the Alexandrian people) even if I think that they really did not have enough time to end up as friends. I get that this is an expansion After the Other Story is Over. But the Other Story Still Happened and affected things including worldstate (and reflectionstate, lol) and it feels like that was just ignored. The memories of the people the Endless became still deserve tribute, somehow, still deserve preservation - the Alexandrians deserve to have much more agency in the decisions made about their way of life. This was still a global threat that should've probably had the Global Threat Ending Organization acting at bit more hands on about it, while Wuk Lamat did a bit more actual diplomacy.

Overall, the expansion is fun. There's a lot of fun questions I'm wondering about the answers to. Wuk Lamat is a bean, and while my WoL probably isn't calling her Lamaty'i (it took him like three expacs to be that relaxed with the Scions) he's nevertheless a friend of hers and is very willing to play pranks and cause mischief around Tuliyollal with the excuse of "yeah well I know the Dawnservants :3." The setting design and Turali internal worldbuilding is fucking incredible - honestly HW-levels of hella. The entire first half of the expansion was awesome. It's all WAY more fun than ARR, or StB in some cases. But - especially the second half - it's much less narratively cohesive with the rest of the game, and appears to backtrack on or ignore themes that really hit hard for me in Shadowbringers and Endwalker and that's frustrating to me.

I guess in the end my reaction boils down to- I got an expac with the internal worldbuilding work of HW, but with less of an explicit connection to the rest of the game than ARR had to 1.0. And as someone who's invested in the overarching story...that's last part is disappointing to me. Probably won't NG+ the second half like how I don't NG+ ARR, and I'll hope the patch quests will resolve some of the upset I felt about just. deleting giant swathes of Alexandrian history.

I definitely like the expansion, from an "is it fun?" perspective. I don't know if I like it from a "does it make sense?" perspective. And I honestly I think I would have enjoyed it more if it was all more like the first half of the expansion.

#davi says things #ffxiv #dawntrail spoilers #7.0 spoilers #dawntrail reaction #I had a lot of thoughts about this pack and well #it was fun. but fun doesn't mean I thought it was good #or that I liked everything that happened. you know?#long post. long ramble #dawntrail

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r0sequarks · 1 year ago

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doodles for a tears of the kingdom roleswap au, because those will forever be my jam and i really like the idea of playable zelda. notes/rambling under the cut.

Scavenged Zonai tech instead of Ultrahand (she made it herself??)

idk if the stone stays a necklace or goes on a hand or what

Maybe Zonai glasses? idk

She has an undershirt b/c boobs. Patterned off main padding.

Zonai Survey Team + Hylian Armor (people just give Zelda shit)

Bow of Light - summons freely, acts like Master Sword, powers up with shrines?

Text is readable (Purah: stealing my look! rude!)

And then the general core conceits of Playable TotK Zelda:

Archer - ranged combat focus/optimized

Princess/General - focus on group combat (sages / monster squad / Gerudo Town)

Priestess - Light + Time magic, upgrades

Zonai Researcher - extra knowledge in ruins, can read tet, can do more with scavenging

I need to finish the final boss fight before I decide what entirely Link's role ends up as, but he's sent back in time injured with the broken sword while Zelda is teleported by the Purah Pad away to the Sky Island. IDK if she still has Rauru (or Mineru) as a guide, but even if she does, she's a lot more self sufficient, and scavenges/builds the tech to interface with Zonai devices herself instead of just being given the Ultrahand. I think she still gets the same abilities, but like. She's doing it herself. very stressed out this is fine energy.

Zelda on the sky island is probably more than a little feral researcher. It's her getting used to combat. When we started with the broken master sword, I though the game was going to let you keep it and power it up over time; I'm glad that's not how it went but I do think it would be interesting, so Zelda gets to summon a bow and it levels up over time (probably connected to the shrines system, because Holy Light, but idk how exactly). She can use swords and other weapons, but she definitely defaults more ranged.

Zelda also gets magic, which is obviously the Time Rune stuff, but I think also it would be cool if she had a light power unarmed attack (similar to but weaker than the Yiga Earthwave you can unlock). I like the idea of a playthrough where you never pick up a sword and you just keep light blasting people and dodging even though it is almost certainly the weaker attack. feral untrained self taught mages are and forever will be my jam.

When Zelda returns to Hyrule proper, I think the reactions are very different, because everyone pretty much agrees she's in charge (even if, perhaps, she doesn't). I also think that, well, people are less worried about Link being missing than they are about Zelda - the Lucky Clover isn't running stories about him, y'know? As such it's driven by what Zelda wants - which is to find Link, even if it''s not what others want.

Zelda as princess I think also plays interestingly into the group combat TotK introduces; I think in her game she acts more as general and they're more common. Not that she can't be on front lines, but it'd be pretty easy to play letting the Sages eat up melee while she's sniping. I also think she gets magic that can heal allies, making them more useful in fights to some extent. This would maybe be very messy in a real game but this is a theory baybee!

Although I think that's probably similarly limited / you don't have to drag people around while climbing mountains. Which, to be clear, she still does. It's been like five years and she's clearly been traveling the world with Link still at her side, there's no way that she's not just as feral an adventurer as he is. She's just better as passing as normal.

The big change in exploration is the various ruins, because she actually knows shit. I like to imagine there's some feature Zelda can use to sort of take notes on basically any Zonai or other ancient shit you find anywhere. She doesn't need to run back to Kakariko Village to translate, she's putting stuff together herself. This is maybe manifested by Zonai glasses/mask, which replaces/augments the Camera feature? And then upgrades to help you better see stuff? idk. [let the purah scope zoom in and out. ideal fix. kthxbai]

as for how Zelda interacts with the world...that's kind of complicated but really interesting. she's the beloved princess, but she is the Princess, and for the other four nations, specifically, Not Their Princess. like the dynamic with the Sages definitely changes. There's probably some themes there to parallel Zelda with Rauru but like that means there are Implications and I need to think more on that than 2am.

#tears of the kingdom #totk #totk spoilers #totk au #totk zelda #zelda #roleswap au #totk roleswap au #my art

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dazais-guardian-angel · 7 months ago

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Flying Too Close To the Moon (a Baizhu character analysis)

Over a year ago now, in February of 2023, Genshin Impact's twitter account posted about a certain green-haired doctor from Liyue with a snake, announcing that he was at long last going to become playable. *narrator voice* Little did I know at that point just how much my life was going to be ruined changed by this man, something I never could have fathomed in all my time of playing before.

Today, by the time of Baizhu's birthday, almost a year since his release, he has never left my team and is one of my ultimate comfort characters... and at the same time, paradoxically, fills me with such intense feelings of dread, if I ever think just a little too hard about him for a little too long.

This is my experience with him.

From the beginning, I wasn't one of the people who had been anxiously awaiting for Baizhu's release. I'd always been curious about him, and thought he was beautiful (but lol who in this game isn't?), but there was practically nothing to know, and he appeared so little, so not being an existing fan, I didn't think much about him compared to other more prominent characters. With that first drip marketing, however, I was suddenly instantly intrigued:

"Regrettably, Baizhu cannot save all his patients — himself, for example. Herbalist Gui has mentioned that Baizhu's physical condition is extremely poor, and he often has to go back to his residence to rest after seeing patients. Even so, his smile never falters while in front of people. When Gui asked him about this, he replied, "If the doctor looks sick himself, how can his patients face their illnesses with confidence?" Day after day, Baizhu heals his patients. His ever-present smile hides the numerous bitter medicines he takes and the pain he suffers alone."

What's this, Baizhu is a doctor who is also sick himself? He has a chronic illness?? Finally I have a disabled character in a video game I can play as and relate to??? Not to mention the DELICIOUS angst potential the (absolutely devastating) last sentence held. Unfortunately, because my lazy ass rarely ever talks to npcs outside of quests, I was completely unaware of this very important little fact about Baizhu, learned via Herbalist Gui that had been in the game since literally 1.0, but to say that I was excited upon finally learning it now was an understatement. This changed everything, turning a character I had previously only had a passing interest in into someone I felt like I might be able to connect with, and a character I could truly call my own. Previously, my favorite Genshin character was Zhongli — he was my very first limited 5* and I started the game pretty much because I was interested in him lol — but just from this short summary alone, I had a strong feeling that Baizhu had the potential to surpass him, and become my new favorite.

My initial impressions from everything we knew about Baizhu pre-release (for how little that was) were that he was a kind, selfless doctor who didn't want others to see his weakness, but in secret was striving for immortality in order to save his own life from his severe illness. Qiqi seemed to be someone he observes to further his research in gaining said immortality, but his love and care for her still feels sincere, although he can never properly convey this in words because, to me at least, he's keeping himself at a distance from her and others so as to not hurt them too much if he passed away. Baizhu tearing out Qiqi's journal entry about him being a good person so that she doesn't dwell on and remember such things about him seemed to support this, as well.

Upon release, we also had Dainsleif's lines about Baizhu in his collected miscellany video, which made me emotional as well: Dain, someone who is cursed with and suffers daily from immortality that he never asked for, respects Baizhu's desire for immortality himself, because for him it would be freedom from the pain and suffering he already experiences, seemingly. Most people want immortality for selfish reasons, but for Baizhu, I thought, it's out of a desire to save his very life, and in turn save more people as a doctor in the future. It's human, understandable, and the mark of an incredibly caring and altruistic person, and Baizhu wanting to heal himself is something to be sympathized with, especially if you can relate to his pain.

This part in particular from his demo was so powerful to me: the defiance of his fate, of his death, and the display of his continued strength of will and resolve, and even skill in battle, no matter how physically weak he may be. Though he still has his doubts and his guilt, here he says "I will not die, I will beat the odds, and no one can decide my fate for me, nor can they shake my resolve."

All of this only made me love him more and more. I was hoping we would get to see his insecurities and fears about his condition and his possible fate, and that he would learn to allow himself to be cared for by those who loved him — to realize at least a little bit more that he will never be a burden on others, because the guilt over such things is all too real for someone with a disability or chronic illness. His non-spoiler voice lines were so comforting and hopeful, and I wanted his story to be hopeful as well, without going as far as to magically cure him like what unfortunately happened with Collei.

That was what I wanted. More or less, that was what I expected, especially with the copious other examples of the "overworked character learns they need to take a break and feel supported by the traveler" storyline in Genshin insert the waifu baizhu (waifzhu?) jokes here.

And then, I played Baizhu's story quest.

.....No image in the world can fully sum up exactly how I felt after that, but, well, I think Paimon here is the closest I can get.

I still remember it like it was yesterday. I remember standing there, at the bottom of the steps leading up to the pharmacy where the end of the quest left me, not knowing how to feel. Feeling completely numb. Feeling like I'd just gotten punched in the gut a million times over. Feeling sick. Call me overdramatic, too overly attached to fiction, whatever, but no words can possibly convey just how much the revelations about Baizhu in his quest fucked me up. I did not feel good for quite a few days after playing it, as it haunted me, as I turned it over and over again in my mind. Not just the information given itself, but how it was given; the entire tone of it all. At some point I was finally able to make myself cry, and it was only then that I felt at least marginally better. But I'd be lying if I said that I've ever truly and fully processed and let sunk in everything to do with Baizhu, even a year later.... and I doubt that I ever will.

Don't get me wrong: Baizhu's story quest is without a doubt one of the best story quests in the game so far, and that's not at all bias speaking. It's short, to the point, uses npcs effectively and in a way that helps develop the main character instead of taking all the spotlight over them, and it leaves setup for more story in the future. For a Baizhu fan, it's the best quality one could ask for. It's the most we've ever learned about him, the most screentime he's ever had, and it emotionally and tenderly shows exactly what kind of person he is, and why he is the way he is, and does the things he does.

It's also absolutely horrific, and to this day I'm still not entirely certain exactly what message the writers wanted the player to take away from it by the end.

The quest introduces us to a boy and his father, Ayu and Jialiang, the latter of whom Baizhu wishes to treat, partly as a personal favor to his late master and to said master's other past disciple, the mother of the family, Jiangli. Through Baizhu's handling of their case, and talking to Hu Tao, we learn that Baizhu is not only obsessed with attaining immortality, but that he supposedly uses less-than-reputable methods to heal patients, methods that he keeps tightly under wraps. This, along with all the strange research he does that seemingly has nothing to do with the medical field, has given him a suspicious reputation — the game subtly lampshading the fandom seeing him as nothing more than a sketchy snake doctor ever since the beginning — but no one has ever been able to dig deep enough to find any proof that he has any ulterior motives, not even Yelan; thus, the ultimate consensus is that he truly must be nothing more than a kind and benevolent doctor who has his patients' best interests at heart, no matter what else he's doing in the background. Upon Baizhu treating Jialiang for the first time, however, we’re directly confronted with this secret, dubious healing method he uses, and what exactly it means for Baizhu, as with all the masters that came before him.

To say my stomach dropped here would be an understatement, because I knew exactly what this meant. And sure enough, not a few minutes later in the quest, we get the dreaded truth:

Baizhu’s poor physical condition is not from natural causes; rather, he is as weak as he is because he’s made himself that way. Changsheng is a former adeptus he made a contract with, that allows the host to transfer some of their own life force from themselves to someone else, using Changsheng as the conduit. The contract is meant to strengthen the body of the host and extend their lifespan, however these advantages effects are outweighed by Baizhu, and all his predecessors before him, repeatedly giving away their life force to heal others, causing them to become frail and inevitably die young. The contract has always been used in this way, and all of its prior users all met the same untimely end; Baizhu is at no less risk of that.... which is why he wants to become immortal, so he can continue to heal people with the forbidden arte without fear of death.

This would already be a Lot as it is. Trading away one's life force to save another isn't exactly a brand new trope, but the idea of a doctor doing it over and over again to save lives when all else fails, even to the detriment of their own body.... It's the ultimate act of selflessness, of kindness, of sacrifice. It's touching. It's laudable. It's devastating, to a degree one can't even imagine.

Because Baizhu doesn't just stop there, as we find out at the end of the quest.

How do you expect me to read this—

and additionally this—

and also this...

...and not have it occupy my mind 24/7, sending me in a downward never-ending spiral of existential horror, for all of eternity?? just like Baizhu himself—

While it's heavily implied that all the contract users prior to Baizhu only ("only") used it one-way, to give their own life force to others, Baizhu has taken it a step further, and also been using Changsheng to transfer his patients' diseases and illnesses onto himself. This likely is a more effective way of "curing" some of them entirely, instead of simply delaying their symptoms' worsening with more life force, although he cannot take on the worst of them/terminal illnesses of course. But he has taken on so, so many, so many diseases and so many symptoms, all compounding and blending together to the point that Jiangli, another doctor just as skilled as Baizhu, cannot even distinguish them all or recognize some of them, that he might as well be terminal. Not only does Baizhu do this for the sake of his patients, but he's also using his body as a human petri dish, testing different diseases and poisons on himself to see how they interact with each other, both to create more effective medicines and understand the mechanisms of the human body better, and to perhaps find the secret to immortality.

This reveal at the end of the quest is presented as an awe-inspiring, poignant twist, that's meant to make you see Baizhu in a brand-new light. The animated cutscene is tear-jerking, bittersweet, yet beautiful, as we finally come to understand the full scope of just who Doctor Baizhu is, just how truly pure and selfless he is, and just how much he has sacrificed, and plans to sacrifice forevermore. Many people who weren't fans of Baizhu or were neutral on him had their minds completely changed upon this bombshell being dropped, it rightfully clearing away any and all misunderstandings about him somehow being a bad person, and fostering newfound respect for him. That's the best word to use for how the game portrays all this: respectable. Baizhu's situation is tragic, but his actions are nevertheless shown and seen as beautiful, and admirable. His self-sacrifice is to be praised, and honored, because he is doing it for the good of so many others, because his heart is just that big, and that caring. It's bittersweet, but Baizhu is determined, and we should respect his resolve.

But should we really?

Yelan would disagree, I believe. Which is ironic, considering that in her own story quest, Baizhu transfers poison into himself from Uncle Tian with her there, and she is none the wiser.

Just... really stop and think about the implications of what Baizhu is doing to himself, and the life he lives. Try to imagine it, how it would feel, to be inundated with that many diseases and toxins, to the point that all of your internal organs are diseased; to the point that you have every symptom imaginable, sometimes all at once. Now, take that, and imagine living that kind of hell with it progressively worsening, for all of eternity, as Baizhu wants to do.

You can't fathom it. To say that it's beyond human comprehension is an understatement. And yet, that is Baizhu's reality, every single day, and if he has his way, for the rest of time.

This is not okay.

What truly frightens me about Baizhu, is how.... empty he feels. He is kind, gentle, nurturing, and a bit flamboyant and mischievous at times, but he has essentially no personality traits or life outside of "being a doctor". All of his voicelines involve him giving health advice, or looking after us or others, or discussing the troubles he encounters in the medical field, or his hobbies, which involve... making medicine. While there's nothing wrong per se with a doctor truly enjoying their job — it's what makes Baizhu such a good caretaker, after all — their life and personality never revolves entirely around that. People have their own lives outside of their professions, that don't involve said professions, even the most enthusiastic and genuine of workers. But Baizhu..... doesn't have anything else. For Baizhu, being a doctor is all that he is.

Nothing is more subtly chilling than this joke Changsheng makes (that gets reinforced by Paimon later), where she calls Baizhu her "mannequin" — and especially the way that Baizhu doesn't comment on it at all, merely continuing to look like a guilty child getting scolded for being reckless. Because a mannequin is an eerily accurate description of Baizhu: he is not a person of his own, but merely a vessel for her power. "Baizhu" does not exist outside of his role as a healer; he has no other life, no other aspirations, no other joys and things to care about, nothing. Even though he's a pillar in Liyue Harbor that is beloved by the community, especially by the children, he's also in a sense practically a ghost: he is never seen outside of taking care of people in some way, because he never lets anyone see him at his sickest, and he has no sense of self outside of that role as a doctor. He is distanced from everyone, almost as though he was already immortal.... he could die at any time, frighteningly easily, and to him, no one would notice or care. As depressing as it is, even Qiqi, a literal zombie, is more alive and has a much more fulfilling life at this point than Baizhu does.

Many of Baizhu's voicelines are dripping with casual self-deprecation, and others with extreme hypocrisy, where he will express frustration and disappointment at others not being diligent in taking care of themselves, completely oblivious to his own extreme levels of self-harm and self-sacrifice. Of course, as mentioned earlier, feelings of inadequacy and being a burden are tragically not unusual for someone with significant health problems, but it goes far, far beyond this for Baizhu, before he was ever ill — all the way back to his childhood. Baizhu's hometown was struck by a plague when he was young, from which he was seemingly one of the only survivors, and his obsession with wanting to save each and every life he comes across that needs saving, no matter the cost to himself, is likely born from the trauma and extreme survivor's guilt that the event instilled in him. It was during this plague that he encountered his former master, and in training under and being influenced by him, he adopted these harmful mentalities (through no fault of his or his master, to be clear), without ever being given any other way to cope with his pain, other than to do everything in his power to never let anyone else die ever again.

Again, Yanfei sums it up best.

The true tragedy of Baizhu is that, although he wholeheartedly agrees with his late master's sentiment, and truly believes that he himself is headed down a different path from his predecessors, at the end of the day, he is no different from them, nor is his chosen path any different from theirs. As he states, those with the most altruistic and purest of hearts are the ones seduced by the contract, and he, too, has fallen victim to Changsheng's siren song: the allure of reaching beyond human means to prevent death. He believes he has found the solution to the conundrum of saving both the world at large and the one doing the saving, but he's merely fallen into the trap just like all the others: even if he doesn't die, he is still sacrificing himself, cursing himself to a fate unimaginably worse than death itself. After all, as he says, the contract can't erase pain from the world entirely, but merely transfer it from one place to another, and Baizhu is living proof of that. If his master could see what he's doing, he most definitely would be heartbroken at the "answer" Baizhu has found, because a life isn't saved if it's merely surviving, and not living.

All of this began from Baizhu, selfless and benevolent as he is, wishing to save a snake. Changsheng is a dear friend, a being so closely intertwined with his very soul, and his closest connection to his late master, and yet she is also the very thing that's killing him, and will inevitably be his doom, in whichever way that comes. Baizhu being who he is means he will never abandon her, and Changsheng will never leave him as well, her worry over the fate of her host overwhelmed by her fear of death and her desire to live on, which is how the contract has persisted for six generations. It is a toxic bond, and yet their care for each other is too great, both parties accepting the misery that awaits them. Changsheng knows that any of the cycles could be her last, but cannot help but seek out new ones in order to continue living — and Baizhu intends to make that "last" be a reality, by living forever, to make sure that Changsheng will also never die, but also that no one else can take on the contract after him. He wants his cake and to eat it too, wishing to save anyone and everyone — and he fully believes that he can. He believes that he is headed towards the light of the moon, escaping the flames of the sun.

But the moon is still ever-so-far away regardless. Perhaps even impossible to reach, if Teyvat's sky truly is fake. No matter where he aims, even if he isn't burned, Baizhu is destined to fall eventually, if he keeps going the way he is. Many people have tried to warn him, to convince him that immortality isn't what he deserves, to convince him of how much he's loved... but Baizhu is too stubborn; too, ironically, selfish in his selflessness. He insists he has everything under control, that he won't let himself die... but how can anyone believe that, when all the signs suggest that he's already on death's door? And even if he does get his wish, and be granted immortality, will he truly be content like he thinks he will, endlessly suffering with only Changsheng by his side?

I don't think the writers ever intended to glorify Baizhu's actions, or at least, I don't think it occurred to them that it could be read in that way. I do still mean it when I say he is one of the best-written characters in the game, because there is so much care given to him in his story quest and to his lore, even if, frustratingly and tragically, Hoyoverse as a whole doesn't seem to care about him at all. He's so fun to play as, and in isolation, it makes me very happy to have a canonically disabled playable character. But I'm also so, so haunted by him, and I think more people would be as well, if the game didn't gloss over the incredibly bleak reality of Baizhu and his symptoms due to the overall lighthearted tone of Genshin. I desperately need to see where they're going to take his arc, if they intend to at all, because there is so much potential for it, and right now it's very much up in the air. I don't want him to die, as I fear he's close to, but I need him to heal, and finally learn that he's done enough, and that he can finally, finally, stop. Stop torturing himself, and finally accept for himself all the love he's given others for so long now, and live. I want Baizhu to live more than anything, and not the way he is now, nor as a cursed immortal. I want him to live, and thrive, and truly, unapologetically, be himself (whoever that "Baizhu" is), and be happy.

He already has someone worth living for, right here, aside from Changsheng. He has a daughter, a family, who love him, not to mention an entire city, and and I dearly wish he could realize that. I wish he could know how comforting he is to me and so many others, and how important he is to us, not because of what he can do, but because of his beautiful heart. 💔

Happy Birthday, Baizhu. Thank you for being such an incredible healer on my team, and I hope we'll see you in Chenyu Vale one day :')💚

#genshin impact #baizhu #meta #posting this so late at night but I WANTED TO MAKE IT FOR BAIZHU'S BIRTHDAY #FML FOR BEING SO LATE AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH #this man ruins me 👍 please everyone cry over him and have an existential crisis over him like i do daily #he is Not Okay #and i need him to be #hoyoverse when will you do him justice like he deserves!!!! when is his comeback!!! aughhh!!!!!!!!

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lunastars21 · 28 days ago

Text

Welp, today is one year since Sonic superstars came out,

so for this special day I’ll finally put all my thoughts in this blog, so I can finally put this gosh darn game behind me! XD, so read if you like and enjoy the ride!

My (Hopefully) last Superstars Rant:

Well, this is it. Today is Sonic superstars first anniversary, and unlike the two classic games before it, this one doesn't come with a plus version at all. To say I'm not surprised is an understatement.

Now before we start let me get some things out of the way, First of all: This is MY OPINION on the game, if you like it that's fine, if you hate it that's fine too! I just want to get my thoughts out now and finally bury this game into the ground where it can stay there, alright! Second of all, I have no hatred for Trip, I may sound like I hate her, but I do think she is really neat and fun to play as and I hope she returns in future classic titles.

Now with that out the way let's begin:

I became obsessed with Fang the Sniper/Hunter on August 15, 2022 (yes, I remember the exact date), and when I finished reading all the information, one thing was clear to me.

Okay, I'm NEVER seeing him again

Pretty simple mindset I gave myself because of a few reasons!

1. He's a classic character, so he isn't allowed in modern with cool cutscenes nor voice acting

2. He hasn't had a big appearance since sonic the fighters and only had a cameo in mania

3. What kept him relevant was Archie, and that got canceled in 2017, so his only hope was idw. But they only do classic for anniversary specials, so once again, nothing for a good while anyway

All of it was clear to me that Sega wasn't going to use him, nor Bean or Bark. So I immediately adopted them as any fan who has been waiting for their return for over 20 years would, I gave them headcanons and their own story, Because if sega wouldn't, I will!

..and then Jun 8, 2023 arrived during a direct. Sonic superstars was revealed, and Fang would return in it. A coincidence I got into him a year before his return!? I dunno! But I thought it was a blessing in disguise! I was excited about it! October 17th was gonna be the best day of my life, I thought.

I was there for the comic short, I was there for the trio of trouble animation, and I was planning to buy his miniseries books once they were READY in January! I was prepared to give my full support so Fang could have more appearances just like Mighty and Ray! Hell, even hearing that Sonic Superstars takes place BEFORE Sonic Adventure gave me hope that if this game does well! They'll finally put classic characters in modern, this is where the barrier was and if Fang could break it! That would be awesome! I had my hopes way too high, and that was my mistake.

October 17th finally arrives and I buy the digital deluxe version, giving sega 70 smackeroons for the art book mostly and to support my jerboa in his career.

And then I played the game. It took probably 3 to 4 days to finish all the stories. My pros about it! Mostly great stages and atmosphere, I love the little cutscenes that were in, the controls were okay, and Trip as a playable character was fun to play as! Basically, being a better knuckles and Amy combined, the emerald powers could use work, but overall, I thought it was a neat idea to have these gems show they weren't useless on their own! This game has a ton of potential with all the ideas they were cooking with!

And uh

That's about it

Now for why you're probably here and why I'm writing this to begin with

The cons..

First off,

WHY DOES THE MUSIC SWITCH BETWEEN GOOD AND DOG SHIT!?

I WAS ABSOLUTELY EXCITED TO HEAR FANG'S THEME REMIXED AFTER ALL THESE YEARS AND YOU GAVE THAT TO THE OTHER GUY INSTEAD OF TEE LOPES!? YOU DIDN'T PICK THE COMPOSER WHO MADE THE FIRE SONIC MANIA SOUNDTRACK YOU GIVE IT TO THE GUY THAT USES THE SONIC 4 SOUNDFONT!?(No offense to them)

I have mixed feelings about Fang's theme in this game, it's groovy at first but then when we get to the part the song usually drops and goes into an absolute banger, it LOOPS early and doesn't play the part! My favorite part of his theme is CUT OFF from the song! Making it shorter and more annoying! And I can only listen to it maybe 2 times before I get sick of it!

Listen to the srb2 version that is more of a banger.

Another Con is the lack of story! I KINDA get the idea of what's going on, but where is this STUPID EGG FROM, HOW DID IT GET UNLEASHED? There's no cutscene that shows Eggman or Fang opening it up! It just spawns on its own and then gets sealed away, fucker doesn't even have a name it's just DARK DRAGON. Also the animation in this game that's 2D went down in quality compared to its trio of trouble short! What happened!? And why does Fang have SHREK EARS, just remove the tube's, don't give him earholes its fine! It's not supposed to make sense anyway!

Also, Trip's story is the same as knuckles, she's the last of her kind in an isolated island because her people fucked with the emeralds, she's now it's quote on quote guardian and she gets tricked (more like forced) by Eggman and Fang to be their tour guide through the islands untill she meets sonic and defeats them together, Lack of FIGHTING sonic because despite the game calling her an antagonist she doesn't really do shit against the heroes at all. But she's BASICALLY knuckles but a shy girl. We got this story before man, come on.

Okay, got the small points out the way, now for the spotlight of the hour..

Why the fuck does this game market Fang when he RARELY SHOWS UP!

This game went full force on marketing for Fang when it was announced, he got a mini comic explaining why he's there, he got an animated short, he got a miniseries announcement, HE FINALLY GOT A MINI FIGURE! He had comics in super fast friends that were going on at the time! And other official art from the main account!

But when you play the game, yes he shows up in cutscenes, but you only face him off 3 times and TWO OF EM ARE OPTIONAL, you have no choice but to play level sonic to run away from him, but the golden capital Boss fight (which is really time consuming) can be skipped via a glitch, and you DON'T have to fight him In trip's story if ya don’t want too, ya could just play and finish the main story and put it on the shelf bam boom ya done!

“But I wanna fight the dragon”

Not worth it, it's a pain in the ass like the other boss fights. So in reality if you skip golden capital and never play trip's story, you fight Fang

ONCE

And it's not even a fight you just run away from him!

This game was fully marketed for him, and he only made ONE ACTUAL SHOWING, and that's it! He doesn't have an ending cutscene. He doesn't show up at all during or after the dark dragon fight. He just vanishes. The End.

When I finished the game, I was absolutely pissed about it. I gave Sega 70 dollars to show my support, and he only showed up for a few minutes, and then he peace sign vanished. Ya wanna stay with him for 2 hours? Play his final boss fight because that's how long it took me to beat him.

Speaking of, I actually had a more annoying time with the Eggman final boss than Fang's. The second phase of eggmans was always buggy with me and kept killing me, at least with Fang my deaths were more of my mistake than a bug and his ending blow with his nose made me actually laugh because I didn't expect it and found it funny, and his boss theme is a banger too. (So that's a plus)

Another fault with Fang is the scene after his golden capital fight, where Trip stands up to him after he kicks Her in which the whole Fandom started calling him an abuser (even tho she has armor on so it shouldn't even do much) and now it's all over his god damn wiki, doesn't help his miniseries supports that now more too. And I know, people will love a genuine asshole character, but what bothers me is that

He is just EGGMAN 2.0 IN THIS GAME

Who else mistreats their allies, eggman

Who else builds a giant robot of themselves, eggman

Who else runs away when things get dire, EGGMAN

The only difference between them is that Fang is still greedy, but they are basically the SAME CHARACTER HERE.

I thought this game would go a different direction for him because the animated short and Fang's big break have the same morals.

Learning from your mistakes.

In both stories, Fang struggles against a giant animal ( the giant flicky and giant snake), but once he calms himself down or remembers a past experience, he focuses and defeats the foe! Both stories show how smart Fang can be if he puts his mind to it, and he is not called a hunter for nothing!

So I thought superstars would do the same thing in that scene in golden capital Zone, Fang would realize he is out numbered, his robot isn't done and Trip moved to the hero side, taking all the emeralds he had. at that point, it wouldn't be worth it, especially if Eggman already paid him in advance, and team up with the heroes instead to save his own hide. At the start of the game, Fang ALREADY got what he wanted. He could leave if he wanted to. Those stories showed Fang was smarter than he seemed, but instead in this FUCKING GAME he doesn't do that! He still goes in the UNFINISHED ROBOT and gets one shot by Trip.

I get that at the end of the day he's still an antagonist, BUT PREVIOUS STORIES SHOWED ME HE WASN'T THIS STUPID, SO FUCKING WHY.

This continues in his miniseries! Doesn't wanna go back for Bark, wastes TWO ISSUES searching for an 8th Emerald and getting nothing, and the 4th he separates from bark and bean because of his stupidity Not learning at all to be grateful or show any remorse, which is fine if people like him that way it's cool, but once again that just makes him EGGGGMMMMAAAAAN.

What I found cool about Fang is that he could be NEUTRAL! he'd be an enemy of sonic in triple trouble, but then the next beats up eggman and saves the world in sonic the fighters, and even fights THEN TEAMS UP with sonic at the end of the season of chaos special.

It was clear to me that fang can be a bad or good person as long as it benefits HIM. So him jumping in that Mech and kicking Trip DIDN'T benefit him at all, and losing Bean and bark didn't either because them not being there leads to his fate in superstars.

You can like the hooligans being together or not, but the whole thing stands, these boys were last seen in archie together, which got canceled and didn't show up again till season of chaos. At this point, specifically archie fans, WE GOT ATTACHED TO THEM as a team, we saw them up there with the other teams! And I got an entire discord server to prove it!

So, just splitting them up like that is a stab in the gut. That despite all of the waiting, sega decided to listen To fucking 2, 3, or more people (no offense to you) who hated team hooligan to seperate them and blame it all on fang.

Which by the way Bean ANNOYED me in the miniseries, and not in a good way, him and Fang arguing EACH issue was getting on my nerves, issue 3 being the best of the whole thing because they RARELY argued in that one. That issue showed the potential of the Hooligans and how good they worked as a team. AND SEGA THREW IT OUT THE WINDOW!!!! FUCKING GENIUSES HERE.

Plus they could've EASILY left In issue 2 if they could separate the side cars from the Queen since they could already LATER ON in issue 4. (Bean and Bark ya both fuckin stupid ya not escaping my wrath either I'm ANGY

I Still love yall tho)

I'm fine with Fang being a jerk, But there should be a limit and getting him to “abusive Level” isn't it, despite issue 3, I wasn't happy or laughing as I thought I would for the game or miniseries, Because the hooligans are like looney tunes for me, when I see them, I wana laugh and have a good time. Not be depressed. And I know people like when Fang is cool and serious, I do too, but he was also made to be funny. If you want a 100% serious character, Shadow is RIGHT THERE.

Superstars was marketed for Fang fans. Everything related to it was, it was SUPPOSED to be his grand return. But no, it's a lie. This game was made so you could feel bad for Trip and like her. Fang was just a tool used to lure people to the game and love this lizard. That's all it was. He was just bait, so once Trip got the fans sega wanted, they would throw him away into the vault again, but this time with no Bean, no Bark, not even a bloody popgun, they just left him there to suffer.

That's how I view sonic superstars, a game baited to classic sonic fans, making it seem like an old character's return, when in reality, it's to get people to like Trip, a new character. Who won't even fucking show up till a new classic sonic game comes out or a new anniversary special.

That's why I find it so frustrating, and no matter how much I try, I won't be able to fully like this game because of this information, HELL SHE GOT A FULL SUPER FORM! NOT EVEN AMY, TAILS, NOR KNUCKLES GOT THAT SHIT.

They just got “Super powers” ooOoOo

Bullshit, and the fact your friends can't play as the same character in their levels sucks, Kirby easily did it for magolor, but nope! Ya gotta play level sonic with one player as your friends watch.

Anyway, I think that's everything. Thanks for reading this far. Once again this is just my opinion, I wanted to finally let that all out as for certain there's no plus adaptation for this, and that I want to finally forget this game, I already made a fanfic chapter doing it my way to satisfy how this story actually ends while being consistent. And maybe Fang will get another chance in another 20 years. But until then, I'll enjoy the small moments that did make me smile in that game and his miniseries, like him using an ice sword or having a big mech, and if you actually Enjoyed the game and everything it came with, and still love Fang despite it all, good for you! I'm glad you still like fang, whether he's good, bad, or neutral in your book! All I care about is that you like him, so thank you. :] but I'm fairly certain. Rarely any Sonic fans will celebrate its anniversary. If anything, mostly Trip fans will as it's her birthday.

…

ALSO BRING BACK HIS POPGUN YOU COWARDS! WHY DIDN'T HE USE IT DURING THE MINISERIES HE DIDN'T BREAK IT YET BY THEN AAAGGHGG

Cough if you want a better 2D game with more playable characters and a good story with great music.

Play Mario Wonder

Or play the new mario party! That's out today! ^^

Okay, have a nice day <333

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simplysoniferous · 1 month ago

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Thought about posting this on main because it’s emotions, but decided here instead because it’s music related.

Mum and older sis are moving house on Saturday and they’re finally getting rid of the piano. My grandad randomly got it for us (for me really) when I was 15 - and when I say randomly, it truly was just a random day, he didn’t even let us know it was happening until it arrived. It was old, hadn’t been tuned (we couldn’t afford to tune it, and he never offered), and started out with two sticking keys, which multiplied over the years. My violin teacher used to tell me off for playing it because it was so out of tune it would throw my ear out. When we moved when I was 18, there was no room in the new place and it had to go in the garage. I still played it anyway.

I knew it needed to be got rid of for this move. It hasn’t been playable in years. And I thought I’d lost any attachment to it years ago. But I’ve shocked myself with getting really upset about seeing it go. I don’t get to day a proper goodbye, as the piano man comes tomorrow and I won’t have time to head over to mum’s before that - and also how silly to pilgrimage to say good by to an inanimate object. But I taught myself to play on this piano. I used to sit in the lounge room or in the garage while mum howled in another room for me to shut up or she’d smash it, and our dog could would come and sit next to me because he either enjoyed the sound and wanted to keep me company.

It was a shit piano, but it apparently really did mean a lot to me. And I’m so thankful I got to play it. I asked mum to thank it for me - again, silly, but important.

There are no pictures of me playing - we didn’t have smartphones yet, and mum hated the thing for years. But she took some photos for me today, so here are just one or two of them for yall.

#me #music #personal #piano #very unexpectedly weepy

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tobiasdrake · 9 months ago

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Growing up, I didn't appreciate Princess Peach much. In my teen years, I was trying to get away from things that were pink and girly for reasons of toxic masculinity, and Peach seemed like such an empty character.

I liked Zelda. Zelda's cool. Zelda's badass. Zelda gets to be a ninja and she fights Ganon and she's a battle mage and and and and

To my male sensibilities, Zelda had the better aesthetic.

But the problem is? Aesthetic is all Zelda is allowed to be. And I say it that way because I don't want people to think that's all Zelda is. There is so much potential in this character. But it's potential that never sees the light of day, because the will to use her isn't there.

The problem isn't the character. Zelda and Peach are not in competition with each other.

The difference between them is that the Mario franchise loves Peach. She's been playable so many times over the years, since her playable debut in the American Super Mario Bros. 2. She didn't start out that way; Even that game was kind of a fluke.

But as the series grew, it fell in love with its leading lady. She didn't just get to be a cool supporting character; she saw playability not just in the ensemble games like Party or Kart but in core Mario games.

The Wii era brought with it a renaissance of Peach. While Mario still gets games all to himself here and there, it's rare now to see a game where Luigi is playable and Peach isn't. She often gets focus time in the RPGs like Mario RPG or Paper Mario. She's even gearing up for her second solo adventure in Princess Peach Showtime.

The Mario franchise loves Peach.

While Zelda is left behind, floating around the margins of her own series. Her games are based around exploring Hyrule, fighting monsters, dungeon-diving, and collecting utility tools that both increase your combat options and expand your access to the map.

Aesthetically, you could easily make a game in the same format and have Zelda collect spells rather than Link collecting tools, that serve identical functions. If you really wanted to put the work in, you could even do both and let players choose their protagonist at the start of the game.

Functionally, there is little difference between blasting open a wall with a bomb and blasting it open with a fireball. Or latching a hookshot onto a grapple point versus casting some kind of warp spell or magic rope. Link's gameplay can suit Zelda just fine.

Even in the modern open-world games like BOTW or TOTK, Link's toolkit is more magical than technical anyway - sometimes to the point of explicitly using Zelda's gear to do all of his cool stuff. It would be trivially easy to map Link's gameplay onto Zelda. But the will isn't there. LOZ doesn't care about Zelda, the way SMB cares about Peach.

Zelda and Peach both take frequent turns at the damsel role. But outside of that, Peach's series treats her as a capable co-protagonist armed and ready to carry adventures on her own. Zelda's treats her as a power-up for Link to consume.

I'm older now and I'm over all that "Ew pink and girly shit" bullshit that dominated my embarrassing younger years. I have a lot more respect now for Peach than I ever did then. And I still like Zelda too. These characters, as I said before, are not in competition.

But I wish Zelda's series loved her even half as much as Peach's.

#the legend of zelda #super mario bros #princess zelda #princess peach

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corviiids · 6 months ago

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i’m here to play legos, 4, 5 and 30 for the fic writer asks!!

hi!!! tips my legos all over the floor

4. a story idea you haven’t written yet

i think my favourite right now is lawlight au of that specific australian mermaid show h2o. light uses his merman powers to drown criminals on the gold coast but he's not called kira because it's australia and he was first identified on nobby beach queensland so everyone calls him THE GHOST OF NOBBY, or NOBBO, for short, which is a stupid name that he hates so much.

5. first sentence of the fifth paragraph of an unpublished WIP

i have two almost-completed wips i just never get around to posting so here's both

ffxv - promptis 'crazy rich asians' au where prompto and noctis are in a long-term relationship but noct's never mentioned he's the heir to the lucian throne or that he's betrothed to lunafreya until he decides to invite prompto to his own wedding:

"You have a family?" Prompto asks, after he's done sheepishly mopping cheese off the table.

bg3 - wyllstarion divorce fic where they get divorced

"What brought the two of you to your end?" asks Lae'zel. "Wyll was smitten with you. It surprised me, but I thought you were as disgustingly devoted to him."

30. share a fic you’re especially proud of

it will ALWAYS be p5 akechi palace fic "as you like it" which i have been pouring my heart and soul into for years <3 the planning doc for this fic is so god damn long and so much of it is just me planning out what this palace would look and play like if it were a playable palace in the game. i even went so far as to start writing a palace theme for it based on akechi's leitmotif in the anime, like... just for funsies (sorry it's an incomplete phone recording). anyway heres some of it

“So does this mean he’s alive?” Don’t know. Couldn’t tell you. The answer, Morgana says, is yes—he thinks. “You think?!” Well, no one who’s dead has had a Palace before. And Shido’s Palace collapsed when he’d done that dead-not-dead thing (join the club, Ren thinks, not that he’d like to have anything in common with Masayoshi Shido nor let Akechi share in the same), and he’d clearly done so with intent, so the answer appeared to be—well, they’d find out. But the outlook was good. “Good,” Haru murmurs. “Depending where you stand.” Nobody answers this. Nobody feels they have the right to. Ren gets the feeling even Haru doesn’t know where she stands, and he doesn’t blame her. Honestly, he doesn’t feel like he’s standing at all. “So?” asks Ryuji to Ren, trying to exude bravado but looking about as tired as the rest of them. “What’re his keywords?” You could start with his name. “I don’t know,” says Ren.

#asks #whew.. long answer.. thank you anon for playing legos with me #while i was rooting around in my docs i also found the entire outline for the minecraft movie i plotted out of sheer spite

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revserrayyu · 3 months ago

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2.4 Xianzhou continuance thoughts [part 2]

**SPOILERS** for everything up until entering the Shacking Prison, so as always, read at your own discretion if you haven’t reached this part of the story yet. Fair warning that I may mention some things that happen inside the prison as well, but hopefully not much. Sorry not sorry in advance for me obsessing over Feixiao.

As much as I adore Jiaoqiu’s character, I’m currently debating on pulling for him. After testing him out a bit inside the Shacking Prison, I realized I don’t really have a team that would suit him best? Of course I plan to pull for Acheron in the future but I might just hold off for now so I can save even more for Feixiao. I do hope these two and Moze have a good team synergy though. They seem like such a tight group and I’d love to use them all on a team one day.

Tee-hee, One Piece mention. Random, but I’m such a fan of Jiaoqiu’s fancy braid.

Noooo, I don’t like that her unknown medical issue can’t be healed! I mean, it’s not unheard of that Bailu pretty much said the same to Jingliu, about how bizarre it was and how there wasn’t much she could do to help. I don’t believe Feixiao to be mara-struck though, or at least I hope not. While this quest continued on the thought of her transforming into a Borisin came to mind a couple times but I have my doubts. I haven’t delved deep into any leaks about her lore so I can only speculate at this point. Even if those deaths in Penacony were fake, I don’t need any more to happen here, please.

Good boy!! Keep your promise! Heal this queen! I beg of you! I won’t lie, him being so dedicated to keeping his promise (which I’d love to hear the backstory of) to her sorta kinda flips a little switch off in my head saying “ship,” and I’m on board.

Been chatting about this a lot with others, but the question as to why Feixiao has no tail despite being a Foxian is interesting. I personally assumed that the lack of a tail was a result of some harsh battle where she got badly injured, but even with this brief flashback, it doesn’t appear that one is visible here either. Maybe she lost it before this fight? Or perhaps she never had one? Could not having a tail be the cause of her condition? Or was it really taken off from her? I haven’t a clue and it’s another reason why I’m so fascinated by her. Hopefully 2.5 sheds some light upon her past, or at least her character stories once she becomes playable.

Here’s another moment where the whole Borisin transformation idea popped into my head, especially after seeing how capable they are with shape shifting. Learning that the Foxians and Borisin share a common ancestor, the idea changed to Feixiao possibly being half and half? If so, then the condition she’s suffering from might be the Moon Rage? Similar to what we experience when fighting the Borisin down in the Shackling Prison. Add Bailu’s comment about “enjoy some tasty food” and how hungry Hoolay was too.. hmm. Doesn’t help he and Feixiao both have white fur. With how much the Foxians detest the Borisin, keeping this part of herself hidden would but ultimately stressful and probably taxing on her physical and mental health.

Moze is just.. so unironically funny. We have this heavy conversation happening and he chooses to cling to something so simple a food, which is fair. Food is always a good thing.

When Feixiao mentioned she was going to meet up with an old war friend, no alarms rang in my head telling me that it could be another Foxian that I enjoy, which is a shame but also wonderful because the surprise of her and Yukong being friends was worth it. 30 years might not seem like a long time for them, but it’s a decent chunk for people like us.

And yet so much has happened during those years for them. The time does throw me through a loop though.. I always imagined that Yukong lost Caiyi and gave up flying so much longer ago? Because then Qingni (Yukkong’s adopted daughter) couldn’t be much older than 30, right? Caiyi had just returned from maternity leave before she lost her life and Qingni never even knew of her real parents until the events of Yukong’s companion mission. I dunno, I’m just surprised. I definitely thought the daughter was older than that and the tragic loss in Yukong’s life happened ages ago.

Everyone give your utmost praise to Jiaoqiu right now for keeping our gorgeous general alive!

For real though, what on earth even happened to Jingliu and Luocha? like they both showed up in the Shackling Prison at the end of the main Xianzhou story alongside Jing Yuan, but stuff also happened in Jingliu’s companion quest at Scalegorge Waterscape where Luocha was sent away with some Cloud Knights before Jingliu’s fight with Blade where the quest just sorta ends there afterwards. My memory is terrible and I’m not entirely sure which order these events play out, but whatever they’re up to, they’ve been awfully quiet. With how often Jingliu’s name is brought up later on, it gives me small hopes that she could return in the later half of the story. Wouldn’t that be nice to see her take down Hoolay again?

Poor Jing Yuan can’t catch a break with these accusations. This entire quest also feels like the first time I’m hearing so much of this Marshal, but I’m certain it’s just my memory failing me. The main story of the Xianzhou wasn’t my favorite mission out of the bunch, but I am enjoying this one, surprisingly.

I do love the bond these women share with each other. Yukong asks about the Alliance’s plan regarding Jing Yuan and Feixiao graciously provides answers knowing that Yukong can keep a secret. Respect! You love to see it!

Suddenly, the Prisoner of Deep Confinement relic set makes sense to me. I never really took the time to look into the details considering how little DOT units I actively use, but it’s pretty cool to see where the inspiration for it came from and it actually being worn like this.

Now when “Whistling Flames” was mentioned, I first thought of that ghost ship Yukong saw at Fyxestroll Garden for reasons I’m not entirely sure of, but after some light searching, it’s apparently the guild Tingyun was part of?

It sweet to know that Yukong still hasn’t given up searching for clues about Tingyun might actually alive, but if Ruan Mei somehow found Tingyun first, I dunno if I should be relieved or concerned considering our crazy scientist had a habit of.. experimenting.

With how much chatter the Wardance received from trailers and livestreams, I’m honestly shocked that there isn’t much about it happening in the story? It may be because I’m hyperfixating on Feixiao and everything else much more, but my interest isn’t nearly as piqued as I thought it would be. I haven’t done that one side quest revolving around March so I assume there’s more to it there, but so far her sword training arc seems more of a background story. I did find it cute how both her masters gave her gifts at the start, with Yunli providing her new outfit and Yanqing crafting the swords, of course.

Yo, generals! Come pick up your kids! They’re still arguing about nonsense!

And you’re both adorable with your pink hair. Now be friends!

I have a sneaking suspicion that this man could very well poison someone if he wanted to.

I don’t remember much about this brief scene.. something about Yanqing’s doubts and the obstacles he faces or whatever, but it was pretty.

Moving a highly dangerous criminal out of prison to somewhere else? Surely nothing will go wrong! And definitely not right before you make your own move either! That would be crazy.

To no ones surprise, things do eventually take a turn for the worst, but that’s all to be discussed next, so have this, because why not:

Because I clearly haven’t obsessed over her enough already. No way.

#honkai star rail #feixiao #jiaoqiu #moze #yukong #march 7th #yanqing #yunli #gameplay #revs rambles

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ac-liveblogs · 3 months ago

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Inazuma Rewrite - Act I

Late, but finally out of my head - this is part of an ongoing project in which I rewrite Genshin Impact as a more traditional party-based RPG (not a live service gacha game, so a more contained and character driven story experience)!

This entry is part 1 of an overview of how I would handle the Inazuma Archon Quest, most of which has been in my head since it originally released back in 2021. This one is first because I've technically been thinking about it the longest.

The current party consists of the Traveler (still player choice, but I will be using Lumine), Venti, Paimon and Xiao. By the end of this AQ, Kazuha will also become a playable main character.

What To Expect:

Liberties are taken with just about everything (though supported or influenced by the source material for the most part), especially re; character history, relationships and personalities.

Rampant speculation about unconfirmed plot elements, or mildly altering/streamlining the lore.

Ei/Raiden Shogun is portrayed as an antagonist. A sympathetic one, probably, but still.

Lumine is treated as a full character, not a self-insert. If Aether were the chosen MC, there would be slight differences to dialogue/their overall character arc to reflect the change. She's still the main playable character, but Venti is considered the deuteragonist and gets some playable segments.

Major character deaths: Raiden Shogun/Ei, Kamisato Ayato (off-screen backstory event). Signora will survive Inazuma to be fought another day. Some minor named NPCs may die, but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

A long read. Sorry about that... hopefully I can knock this out in 3 or 4 parts.

Timeline Notes:

Unreconciled Stars, AKA Scaramouche's limited introductory event, is non-canon. Scaramouche has been stranded in Inazuma since the Sakoku Decree was enforced almost a year ago, and boy is he mad about it.

Zhongli doesn't notify Venti that Makoto has passed on and Ei has replaced her as Shogun. I doubt he saw much of her after the Cataclysm, so he probably just didn't know.

Please refer to the bottom of the post for additional notes to provide context for certain changes. [number] indicates notes at the end. My original draft was a lot longer... Act 3 still got away from me though.

Prologue - Prologue to the Storm

Lumine, Paimon and Venti try to find a way to get to Port Ormos, and decide to compete in Beidou's fighting tournament to barter passage. Lumine fights Kazuha, who is participating to try and find someone that can light his dead friend's Vision. Kazuha gives a brief overview of the situation in Inazuma, but no details on his own backstory.

It's established that Kazuha is a very competent swordsman, as he had defeated most of the other competitors before Lumine's arrival.

Beidou definitely wasn't supposed to be hosting a fighting tournament and has to convince Ningguang to let her off. Xiao joins the party as the group are leaving Liyue Harbour to learn more about what happened during the Cataclysm.

Act 1, Part 1 - Ritou Escape Plan

The journey to Sumeru goes predictably astray, and thanks to a sea beast and Inazuma's storm wall the Alcor shipwrecks on Ritou Island. The crew is forced to register with the Kanjou Commission, and Kazuha admits he's a wanted ronin[1]. Needing to repair the ship but unable to leave the island to find a capable shipwright, Kazuha conspires with his old friend, Hiiragi Chisato[2], to get passage for himself and the Travelers to sneak out of Ritou to find Beidou's shipwright friend, Naganohara Ryuunosuke[3].

The Sacred Sakura Ritual has yet to be completed - angry spirits and accumulated 'filth' roam the land, stretching the Shogunate's forces thin. Kazuha is perturbed by how bad things are - he's never seen Inazuma in this bad a state before. While wards are in place to protect settlements, travel is heavily restricted for civilians. And so, this plan involves staging a fake kidnapping attempt - holding Chisato hostage to force the soldiers to let them leave.

Act 1, Part 2 - A Shadow in Konda Village

As night falls, the effects of the 'filth' in Narukami become stronger and the Travelers decide to stay the night in Konda Village, who believes them to be answering their request for aid in dealing with a spirit haunting them. They also encounter the masked shrine maiden Kazari/Hanachirusato and the masked shinobi Tsubaki[4] who both claim to be representing Narukami Shrine (like liars do), who Kazuha realises is a member of the Shuumatsuban.

While Kazuha is cautious of Tsubaki, who seems to have taken an interest in him, the group comes to realise the spirit isn't harming anyone. After investigating the situation in the morning, they realise the spirit is Tejima, a victim of the Vision Hunt that took his own life and was unable to rest in peace. With Kazari's guidance, they help Tejima pass on.

Increasingly disturbed by the situation in Inazuma, the party moves on the next morning. On the way out, they run into a priestess from Narukami Shrine. She's surprised to hear the situation has already been resolved, and is confused when the party mentions Kazari and Tsubaki - surprise, surprise, she has no idea who either of them are.

Note: Tsubaki is Ayaka in disguise. Mentioning that now - definitely not an OC. She's wearing masculine clothes, a blue kitsune mask and a hood, so while she recognises Kazuha, Kazuha super doesn't recognise her.

Act 1, Part 3 -

When the party arrives at Inazuma City, the preparations for a week-long summer festival[5] are in full swing. The party purchases festival masks to blend in and search for Naganohara Ryuunosuke. (Xiao refuses to use the mask he already has... he and Venti hide their Visions, too.)

Word on the street is mixed - muttering about the dangerous state of Inazuma outside of the main city, the Vision Hunt Decree and disparaging comments about the Watatsumi Rebels, as well as excitement for the festival.

Ryuunosuke is unwilling to help, claiming he's retired and won't defy the Sakoku Decree. Increasingly agitated by the situation in Inazuma, Venti decides to seek an audience with Makoto. That starts a minor argument with Kazuha, who thinks it would be reckless.

The group splits up - Lumine, Paimon and Kazuha try to find another shipwright and Venti and Xiao head to Tenshukaku.

Neither are successful, though Lumine, Paimon and Kazuha are approached by a member of the Arataki Gang[6], who has heard they're looking for a way off Narukami and 'knows someone' who can help. This turns out to be a clumsy sting operation, where Itto accuses the group of being Shogunate plants trying to arrest Yoimiya and challenges them to a fight.

Lumine and Kazuha dispatch him quickly. Yoimiya + Shinobu appear and scold Itto - they clear up the misunderstanding and share some information while Itto sulks 'watches for potential threats'. Turns out Yoimiya and the Arataki gang teamed up to help Vision Holders escape Narukami, to meet with the Watatsumi Rebels - the gang is convinced the rebels are good people.

Venti and Xiao catch up with the group. Itto picks a fight with them. This one ends so quickly it isn't even really a fight. Venti complains that they got kicked out of Tenshukaku (literally, in Venti's case), but had learnt the Shogun was meant to be making appearance at that night's festival.

Yoimiya wants to help the group, and Itto is enthused by Venti's plan to confront the Shogun. The pair are planning to smuggle some refugees out of Narukami during the festival that evening. Venti agrees to help, Kazuha doesn't want to get involved. Unfortunately, pan the camera a bit - they're overheard by someone.

You'd ideally be able to wander around the festival for a bit - interact with the party, Arataki Gang shenanigans, Yoimiya playing with local kids, etc. One of the girls would mention seeing a pretty lady wearing a cool black mask that looked like a crown[7].

The late night events begin, starting with a cutscene introducing Kamisato Ayaka as the Shirasagi Himegimi (her fan-dance). Kazuha tells Lumine who she and her brother are, though he sounds pretty subdued. Ayaka seems to notice Kazuha in the crowd mid-dance. Interspersed with the dance animation, Itto & some Arataki gang members sneak away during the performance.

Lumine sees Tenryou soldiers following Itto and takes off. Meanwhile, everyone else gets their first glimpse of the Raiden Shogun and her companion - La Signora. Venti is stunned (that's not Makoto, what is she doing here), and listens to the start of the Shogun's speech.

She thanks everyone for their bravery and resilience during tough times, but their hardship is necessary. The Vision Hunt, and the Sacred Sakura Cleansing Ritual not having been completed - are necessary, but will be over soon. She vows to ensure Inazuma's prosperity and their safety - forever. "Heaven, hell and the outside world will, soon, be unable to reach them, and Inazuma shall live in this moment forever. With one slash, I shall remove all outside elements from Inazuma. With one slash, we will be eternal."[8]

At this point, Venti's heard enough and confronts the Shogun directly, accusing her of just planning to lock everyone up forever - this isn't what Makoto would want. This shocks the crowd, but the Shogun acknowledging Venti as Barbatos, God of Freedom, makes things a lot worse.

What ensues is pure chaos. Lumine and Yoimiya fight off the soldiers while an unhappy Itto follows Yoimiya's instruction to get the refugees to safety. Kujou Sara[9] appears - cutscene fight, Yoimiya is defeated and arrested but Lumine fights her to a draw.

Kazuha is pointed out by the Tenryou soldier that had overheard the Travelers talking with Itto and Yoimiya earlier; he tries to flee but crashes into Ayaka, who has ended up in his path. Kazuha tells her to move, but he is quickly grabbed and arrested.[10]

Signora heads off to subdue Lumine. Xiao and Venti try to help her, but Ei blocks them - she, Xiao and Venti trade blows, but they're obviously struggling. Very one-sided boss fight (Lumine vs Signora - extremely short, no special phases).

The soldiers search Kazuha for his Vision, but both are are missing - they deduce he's not a Vision Holder.

Lumine is defeated by Signora and blacks out.

END ACT 1.

Note: Part 4, which was previously here, has been moved to the start of Act 2.

[1] Kazuha, Criminal - his official charges are avoiding the Vision Hunt, obstruction of justice and theft of government property (his friend's Vision).

[2] Hiiragi Chisato - Being of a similar age to Ayato and the daughter of the head of the Kanjou Commission, Chisato has met Ayaka and Kazuha before.

[3] Naganohara Ryuunosuke - I changed the Naganohara family business from fireworks to shipbuilding. Yoimiya is still a skilled pyrotechnician, though this is something she's learning for herself. He really is retired - Yoimiya has taken over the business, but he didn't tell them that. When he refuses to help the Travelers, he's trying to protect her. He's probably the one that tipped off the Arataki gang, actually.

[4] Tsubaki/Kamisato Ayaka - This is Ayaka in disguise as a Shuumatsuban shinobi. She and Kazari aren't working together - they assume the other is legit and are acting as such. The blind leading the blind, truly. The name 'Tsubaki' was her mother's alter-ego, from Ayaka's character quest. She took up this identity when her brother died under mysterious circumstances to investigate what's happening in Inazuma.

[5] Unnamed Summer Festival - the same one from Ayaka's quest. I don't believe there's a canon name for it, but I've taken a bit of inspiration from Gion Matsuri and tied it to the end of the Sacred Sakura Cleansing Ritual.

[6] The Arataki Gang - Teamed up with Yoimiya to help Vision Holders escape Narukami. They also try to protect people from vengeful spirits where they can (well, Shinobu does, and the gang cheers her on). They're still delinquents that the majority of Narukami looks down on, and Itto and Yoimiya bicker constantly. Itto calls the gang a 'super secret underground resistance movement!', but its a wonder they haven't given the game away yet.

[7] Signora Cameo at the Summer Festival - "I saw a pretty lady with a cool black crown! I asked her where she bought it, but she said I couldn't have one. She gave me some weird candy though!" NPC dialogue from a child to foreshadow Signora's presence. References Arlecchino's line about Signora liking when kids compliment her. The weird candy are Snezhnayan sweets, nothing malicious - the kids just haven't seen them before. (Speaking of cameos at the festival, that guy selling masks that wants to meet the Conqueror of Demons should be there too. I think that'd be funny.)

[8] Ei/The Raiden Shogun's Plans - to literally sever Inazuma from the rest of Teyvat, including Celestia and the Abyss, permanently. The Storm Wall isn't the same as untethering Inazuma from reality. She'll use the accumulated power from the stolen Visions and the energy stored in the Sacred Sakura to empower her Musou-no-Hitotachi so that she can literally cut through space.

[9] Kujou Sara - an Archon's favoured servants gain a lot of buffs and special abilities within their Archon's domain (country), but lose them when they leave. This accounts for Xiao's loss of teleportation etc. outside of Liyue, but to put it bluntly - Sara is a lot stronger than in canon.

[10] Uh, Kazuha, do something? - Kazuha is traumatised by his friend's death. Kazuha also fled Inazuma instead of trying to rebel, and happily escaped the responsibility of being his clan's head and tries to avoid conflict/doesn't care for the past. I'm tying a lot of this together - Kazuha's flightiness and avoidant personality is a character arc for him to be overcome during the Inazuma quest. He doesn't want to get involved because he genuinely thinks its a bad, dangerous idea. He Will Get Better. This is all out of love, I promise.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Party dynamics; Lumine and Venti get along fairly well, but have conflicting morals that sometimes cause conflict. Venti and Paimon argue like cats and dogs (they do not get on at all lol). Xiao is awkwardly respectful around Venti and struggles to interact with him, but is much more comfortable with Lumine and talks to her fairly easily. Gets along fine with Paimon - he's a bit bemused by her, Paimon thinks he's Cool and Reliable. No-one quite knows Kazuha yet; dynamics still evolving. That said, whenever Kazuha talks about 'the wind knowing him' or anything about how in tune with nature he is, please imagine Venti's initial reaction when asked what the deal is as;

Ayaka and Kazuha are childhood friends of the 'well our families hang out a lot and you're the only kid here my age so...' variety. They got into some misadventures as kids, including discovering Ayaka's mother's secret (Ayaka's Character Quest), which is why Ayaka thought Kazuha would recognise "Tsubaki". They lost contact when the Kaedehara clan fell.

Yoimiya and Itto are not friends. Yoimiya stops Itto from bothering the neighbourhood all the time and the two often bicker. In the face of the Vision Hunt, they decided to work together, though they do still argue sometimes. Shinobu is the peacekeeper and the brains of the operation.

Each new party member brings with a new gameplay mechanic or two along with them. The party's Serenitea Pot is actually Xiao's - totally unfurnished and collecting dust for centuries. He lets Lumine do what she wants with it. Pretty homey, for a realm belonging to the Conqueror of Demons. Kazuha would bring custom blacksmithing and the Starskiff (it's Beidou's). Lumine cooks.

Xiao and Venti are somewhat nerfed. Xiao is weaker outside of Liyue, but still much stronger than the average human, and Venti is weaker without his Gnosis and [censored plot spoiler]. Xiao is heavy hitter, Venti is a magical support/buffer/minor healing unit. Lumine is a mix of the two. Paimon cheers on the sidelines! Harbingers are just OP as hell no matter where they are.

Oh, Kazuha still yoinked that instrument from that one Adeptus' realm. Xiao is horrified.

Lumine, Venti and Xiao don't advertise their ages or that they're not human (Lumine HCs will apply). None of them are perceived as adults and none of them can buy a drink. Kazuha, just barely 20, has no issues at all. Very irritating.

#genshin rewrite #inazuma rewrite #i will check this in the morning and inevitably find 11 billion typos i missed on the first pass.

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