#takes the mondstadt archon quest. stuffs it into old mondstadt

[vv-ispy]

something something samsara cycles I don't think it's a coincidence that the overthrow of Decarabian involved Jean and Diluc's ancestor + Venti's lookalike friend -> Mondstadt archon quest the key players taking down Dvalin were Jean and Diluc + Venti

Is. Traveler Amos?

Or put another way, traveler is the one with the floaty friend -> bard has the floaty friend. Venti is friends with Dvalin the terror of the tower/Amos is friends? Lovers? Something? With Decarabian the tyrant in the tower. Venti -> Amos, Traveler -> Nameless bard, Paimon -> Venti?

[hypostatic-oath]

I'm so happy you like my ask (this is long overdue).

I bet that the people of Fontaine are very happy because i have been doing nothing but hanging out with the Melusine instead of doing the archon quest(though that will eventually come to an end soon). I also bet that new laws/regulations are being proposed because the amount of wacky stuffs the Traveler and their companions is up to all the time. Imagine you just joined the Traveler's team and your first experience is watching a forest watcher beat up some of Fontaine's local legends lmao (and after your recent post, Childe is seething if he learned of this).

Can i be 🚬 anon?(unless you don't do that here)

Named anons? On my blog? Omg I feel honored - of course you can be 🚬 anon! Welcome :D

New laws being proposed because of the traveler is amazing. It has the same vibe as that gliding law in Mondstadt about taking off using anemo slimes (yes, it works, no, it is not very useful as far as I know. I don't even remember if you get an achievement), because you KNOW there's a story behind it, someone must have tried it and it must've gone very, very wrong, and the wacky circumstances that lead to the creation of new laws would be hilarious to witness.

However, on a more serious note, Wriothesley and Neuvillette would be grappling with the issue of teleportation - how do you arrest someone who can simply just... leave? It doesn't matter how secure a prison is if a bored entity can just take control of one of the prisoners and whisk them away on a whim? Worse yet, since Wriothesley is officially a Vessel, what would happen if an Overseer decided to take control of him and sign official pardons? New rules in the Fortress of Meropide have been implemented - any orders given by the Duke while he is on the team are automatically overruled unless it can be proven that he is acting of his own accord.

I can only imagine how confusing it feels for the newcomers to suddenly join the team and find themselves in the kind of situations the Traveler faces daily... and for the onlookers, of course. "Oh, I wonder who that newcomer is... such a distingushed gentleman, perhaps he's here on business?" "Guys, not to scare you or anything, but that 'distinguished gentleman' dropped a meteor on a crab." "Oh, yes, that huge crab in the-" "No. A regular crab. On the smaller side, even. He just threw a huge meteor at it - didn't even bat an eye. The crab practically disintegrated." "What the hell."

And for those that don't know their teammates - any of the knights of Favonius being placed on a team with Klee know exactly what she's capable of, but someone less familiar with her is about to be shocked. "What in Celestia's name is the Overseer thinking? This is a child, she'll get hu- oh. Oh no."

On the other hand, imagine being a nun-turned-idol, looking to the side to check who your teammates are, and there's the Raiden Shogun standing there as if it's no big deal. A little bird lands on her fingers. She watches it with a wistful expression as it flies away. You look to the other side and see the Dendro Archon chatting with that kind but often drunk bard as if they're old friends. You find yourself in what looks like a domain but soon realise, with no small amount of dread, that you're in the Abyss. At least you have two Archons beside you... Barbatos help you, the challenge has started and there are more monsters than you thought. You're doing your best to keep all your teammates alive - you wouldn't forgive yourself if you were the indirect cause for the fall of a god. So you sing your song and put the hydro circle around your team, but there's just too many enemies, coming from all sides... And then you hear a faint "ehe", and the specters are pulled into a vortex of wind. The Shogun doesn't even need to pull out her signature move, just the swirl reaction the bard has caused is enough. You see him shoot down one of the things with a single Anemo-infused arrow. It dies immediately. He's dealing damage on par with the two Archons on the team. Just what is this bard capable of? Suddenly those rumors about him being Barbatos are starting to seem a little less nonsensical. Surely, it couldn't be true, right? You have half a mind to ask him about it once the four of you exit the Abyss, but as soon as you find yourself outside and able to regain your breath he just gives you a "whoops, gotta go!" and floats away on a wind current you're pretty sure he just created.

Now that I think of it, it'd be fun to imagine how different team dynamics would work - I'll make a separate post for this, but if you've read this far and want to send in asks with your team comps... 👀

[foullegussy]

I am making this post because Fontaine Archon Quest made me go down the theory rabbit hole and I need other people to agree with me that I'm not crazy.

Of course this post will have SPOLERS about the Archon Quest and some minor one about world quests, but I'll try to stay vague about them so everyone can still read this.

First thing off, fontaine is super related to Abyss stuff:

So far we have:

Childe actually finally dropping the things from his character story, giving us some weird Abyss fact that doesn't seem to be important yet (but i bet will become later on);

the whole Primordial Sea thing. I don't know if you saw that, but during the Archon Quest (in Marcel's underwater hideout) if you use elemental sight on the water it's black, just straight up black. 

NOTHING has ever been black before, so that to me just screams ABYSS. 

Also, it was flowing upwards, as in, in reverse, which reminds me of the reverse statue, the reverse city in the chasm, and all of that stuff. Then it would also make sense for it to "reverse" the life it created, dissolving people. 

the world quests in Fontaine being very Abyss related, as well as the constant mention all over fontaine of the name Jakob Ingold, the one who allegedly first discovered the effects the water from Primordial Sea had on people (this is said during the Archon Quest).

So far, in every Archon Quest we've had the Fatui as main villains (except in Mondstadt, but then Signora kinda stole the spotlight, so we all forgot about the Abyss Mages), and the Abyss Order stuff has progressed independently with Dain, but I think they're trying to reintroduce the topic in the main quest this time.

One of my main theories is that the Tsaritsa is at least somewhat right in whatever her objective is (even if her Harbingers are deranged psychopaths), so when we'll eventually get to Snezhnaya it's gonna be some huge mess, but we're gonna get the key to piece together some facts that they've throwing at us since the beginning with no context, and find some common ground (Are she or Pierro still gonna be bosses we'll have to fight? Maybe. Will the common ground be fighting Celestia or maybe saving it from the Abyss that is, maybe, taking over? Also Maybe. I have some speculations, but no proof whatsoever. Just vibes)

The reason I think that the Tsaritsa is not our enemy and doesn't want the Gnosis to, I don't know, take over the world or some shit, is because then why are all the Archons so chill about giving their Gnosis away?

Many say that, well, Signora attacked Venti in Mondstadt, that means Venti didn't want to give his Gnosis to the Fatui, otherwise why would she have done that? 

And maybe that's even true, but 

why isn't Venti more worried about it, then? 

after knowing Signora's backstory, she probably did it because of a personal grudge, ngl

Also, with every other archon it went very peacefully, especially with Zhongli. Zhongli who literally gave it away like it was nothing: if he truly cared about it he would have found another way to get his retirement, the Fatui weren't the only ones he could ask for help, but since he was already giving it away he probably thought he should get something out of it.

Ei too (and while she isn't technically one of the original Seven she has always been there as Makoto's twin, so she's still old enough to remember the Archon War), she literally didn't even have it on her and wasn't worried at all when Miko just straight up gave it away.

Even Nahida gave two of them away, the only thing that was holding her back was not the fact that she needed them, or what the Tsaritsa wanted with them, just the fact that one had just been used by Dottore to create a god to replace her, so she didn't exactly want to give him two of them.

So far all the gods we've met are: either old enough to know some stuff or the literal god of wisdom, who still knows some stuff thanks to Irminsul.

None of them seem too worried about the Tsaritsa's plan. (even mf Zhongli that literally signed and NDA is just chilling) (like, i know you know what the Tsaritsa is doing, and you're a really good guy who literally wants nothing more than his people to be safe, so if you're not stopping her i can't really think of her as a bad guy)

I made this long ass premise to say that when Lyney says that Arlecchino yes, wants the Gnosis, but also wants to save Fontaine, I-

like-

I think that could actually be true.

Or at least I don't think they're the ones behind all of the stuff that is going in in there (realistically speaking, we don't know if Arlecchino actually cares about Fontaine. I don't think she has plans about its downfall, but maybe she just doesn't give a fuck, whether they all drown or not), I think it either directly the Abyss Order, or just a consequences of abyssal energy on the land and water.

(also there's like, three Fatui tents in the entire map and from where they're placed it could actually be them just investigating what the fuck it's going on with the Abyss. I have 100% exploration, so i know i haven't missed any,,)

(from the official Interactive Map)

The Abyss being responsible might explain a bunch of stuff, like Childe being judged by the Oratrice guilty even when he's not.

Let's put some stuff together: Childe says that, while in the Abyss, he awakened "something", and that he still carries traces of that "something" inside of him.

The Oratrice is a divine mechanism, as such it is powered by divine energy.

In Fontaine we are introduced to Pneuma and Ousia. 

Each of them is what could be called and "Archè", which (if memories of greek philosophy in high school don't betray me) means something like "original substance", something from which everything else originates (like Heraclitus thought it was fire, Thales thought it was water. I should go back to read it, i might find something there huh).

For Pneuma (the light one) this is easy to understand: after all we know that combined, the seven elements make the Light element, but that is just because the seven elements are actually the spectrum of the Light element broken down, and it is said that the Dragons lived in a realm made of Light. So Pneuma (which means something about life and stuff) is Light, and it is the original substance from which the seven elements derive. 

One thing we know about Pneuma and Ousia is that they are opposites, they are both energy sources, and when interacting they annihilate each other, but also become more stable than when on their own.

Allegedly, this is probably also what Khaenri'ahn machines were powered on (because when the Ruin Serpent charges up he does that AoE attack where he shoot these yellow and purple blocks, which reminds me of Pneuma and Ousia; added to the fact that we know the Research Institute of Fontaine has been studying Dhari machines, this is probably some kind of confirmation).

Ousia literally means something about substance and matter (so on one hand you've got the "divine mind generating life" on the other you've got the matter, which remind me of the whole Descartes's res cogitans and res extensa, but whatever, another thing to look up again i guess).

If we're working on the whole "opposite to Pneuma" thing (so opposite to Light and elemental energy), then all that comes to mind is the Abyss (also referred to as the Void Realm).

This would tie back to Khaenri'ah and the fact that everything that everything that the Abyss touches gets the Mussolini treatment (this is a joke that literally only italians understand, sorry. Basically: it gets hanged upside down. down with the fascism boys)(i need to stop, sorry, i'm just in a silly goofy mood).

So divine things come from the Pneuma archè, that of Light: the Dragons, after them is the Primordial One, Celestia (Paimon??? The Travelers??? you know, the whole battle pass cutscene is hella sus).

The Abyss is a completely different archè: it exists outside of Teyvat and therefore has different laws (time is different there, we know from Childe's backstory), has taken on many different forms (oozing filth in the chasm, forbidden knowledge, etc) because its purest one is incompatible with the other realms.

(Do the Celestial Nails, placed in areas of high abyssal energy, contain enough divine power to generate an annihilation reaction, leading to funky but stable ley line disorders? Ice from Dragonspine doesn't melt, but doesn't spread either. Same for Tsurumi Island, the Eternal Oasis, and the Chasm)

Logically, there can only be one "original substance from which everything is generated", and the Abyss's presence on Teyvat is unnatural (the Abyss is, after all, a completely different world, it was Nibelung who sought out its power and opened the connection), so conflict is inevitable and again with the greek philosophy (still Heraclitus i believe, but i could be wrong): it is the conflict between opposites that generates things (such as energy). 

(The first human civilization in Teyvat, the one that saw the conflict between the Primordial One and the Second Who Came, is based on ancient Greece. DO WE THINK IT'S A COINCIDENCE???)

Abyssal and elemental energy being opposites also explains why elemental creatures are so vulnerable against abyssal energy, why gods defeated in the Archon War escaped to die in the "dark sea" outside of Teyvat, and the annihilation that leads to stabilization probably explains why some abyssal creatures can wield elemental energy (Abyssal creatures that we know where humans at first).

If the waters in Fontaine got contaminated when the Cataclysm happened (and previous Hydro Archon died), then oceanids, elemental creatures, would suffer quite a lot and escape from Fontaine and MAYBE even get a little bit corrupted as well. 

After all, the oceanid lady in the bottle event was extremely chill and lovely, while Rhodeia is as pleasant as hugging a cactus: is it just different personality or something similar to what happened with Apep (when she became a lot more angry after absorbing Forbidden Knowledge)? Doesn't Rhodeia also mention something about the waters in Qingce once being polluted as well (you know, right where the Chi was sealed? The Chi we know has something to do with abyssal energy from Baizhu's story quest)? 

Just throwing these out there, it's very cool to realize how connected the Genshin world really is.

Going back to the Oratrice, a divine mechanism, who, maybe, sensed the Abyss in Childe and either

had a funky reaction 

somehow knew the influence of the Abyss on Primordial Sea water (which after the world quests I can imagine how it could have happened), saw Childe's abyss-iness (abyssussy??? abussy??? amogus???) and went "Ah! Gotcha bitch" 

the Jakob Ingold thing (because Childe is basically a herald at this point, mf can switch forms like my boy Enjou did back in Enkanomiya, god I miss him). 

What would the abyss order have to gain by flooding Fontaine? Yeah, play the world quests. My boy Elynas is taking a nap bro (he chill tho so it's fine)

AND THAT'S MY PREDICTIONS. I guess. I might make more?? eventually?? 

[salemsrealm]

i have a theory. a genshin theory. a venti theory.

spoilers for entire game up to now.

In the finale of the most recent archon quest, focalors returns the power of the hydro throne to neuvilette. when he did his cool hydro thing to save the people of fontaine his little hair tails got longer and he looked a bit more hydro dragony

(screenshot from "The Death of a God | Genshin Impact" MaxLeveL on Youtube)

In the finale of the Mondstadt Archon quest, Dvalin gets a similar upgrade in appearance after saving the gang from falling to their deaths.

okay, so you know what i'm getting at here. so, let's establish some things.

neuvilette is the hydro dragon sovereign,

the dragons who are also known vishaps, were the previous civilization of tevat before the descenders and humans

in the 3.1 livestream Enjou (the abyss herald from enko) referred to dvalin as a vishap

dvalin has been around for about 2000 years, helping venti with mond

therefore, for this theory, it can be inferred that Dvalin is a potential new anemo dragon sovereign

but why do i think that venti was able to give Dvalin the power of the anemo throne back, like focalors did for neuvilette

the answer has to do with venti's trickster tendencies, forgery abilties, and his connection to the god of time.

so here's a quick rundown of the venti stuff:

he's a liar and trickster who tends to redirect most conversations hes in (watch any cut scene he's in)

he's known for forging things, from Morax's signature, to the Holy Lyre at the end of the mond archon quest

in Venti's trailer it is said he is "full of mystery, born from the branches of time, a history of glory and sorrow, a witness to the divine"; he also says is one of the thousand winds, the thousand winds is an epithet for the god of time; venti and the god of time were worshipped together at the thousand winds temple; venti used anemo powers to draw memories from the past during ludi harpastrum; and although he tends to be humble as a god, he does brag that there is not a song he doesn't know, past, present, or future; there is so much more

so, when focalors gives the hydro throne power back to neuvilette, it's in the shape of a watery orb. in the mond quest, as the gang is leaving old monstadt on the back of dvalin, venti sends an anemo power orb to dvalin, causing dvalin to light up all anemo and state "is this... the power of the anemo archon?" and questions it, venti responding that he is giving him proper freedom.

okay but it took focalors a lot of work to trick celestia and gather power to destroy the throne. focalors was not just trying to give back the power to neuvilette, that was just one of her goals. she was also trying to defy a judgement from celestia (known to turn people into hilichurls for accessing forbidden knowledge, and dropping nails onto misbehaving civilizations) That is why her plan is so convoluted. and successful.

why do i think venti could do something similar. because he lies about how powerful he is. when signora takes his gnosis, he could have just turned into wind and left. it's literally one of the first things we see him do. instead he just blows wind at her and talks in rhyme (like he does when he's performing). he says he's the weakest archon because of his non visibility and amount of worshippers, but out of the nations we've seen, he's got one of the most visible and active worship bases out of all the archons. he also tends to sleep during time of peace, ostensibly to stave off erosion, but it could also be a way to collect power over time.

we also know he doesn't like celestia, saying he wouldn't visit even if invited, and having that trauma flash in the manhua.

i think it is possible that the anemo throne is already destroyed, either in the past, or recently; or that it will be in the future, but venti was able the draw the power back into the past so that it could not be intercepted by a third party (tsarista, who wants to destroy celestia). we have seen time powers maintain an illusion from the present to the past (the great sakura tree was grown in the present, but also in the past thanks to istaroth and makoto). it is not far fetchted to think that ability could be used similarly on the throne.

venti, who cares for dvalin like family, returns the power of the anemo sovereign back to him, but uses time to keep up the illusion of the throne until such time that illusion is no longer needed. the throne is either already destroyed or will be destroyed, but the power is in dvalin. venti pretends to loose the gnosis to keep up the illusion to celestia that he is nominally loyal to them, but without the gnosis, he is now truly free

"Is this... the power of the anemo archon?"

Genshin Impact Venti Archon Quest Prologue Full Story Gameplay (Eng Dub) Bluemeat GG on youtube

[persicipen]

Tbh i feel genshin has been watering down some quests mainly because the cast had been increasing. There are too many characters atp.

But regarding each nation, we do get liyue content every year with the lantern rite and event mondstadt has some smaller events. They keep having itto festivals idk whyy, and literally a rock n roll festival without xinyan was absolutely illegal.

Sumeru was anyways overdue for the sabzeruz festival, and it'd be stupid for them to not do it. Sumeru feels like home mostly because of the way the characters interact with each other. As a south asian myself i might be a bit biased here, but i feel in the other nations, some of the characters are still like strangers to each other (inazuma bec of the war, fontain because of the work they do but ig that's been changing after the archon quests).

Now with natlan the abyss is become the centre stage again. We saw them bring back the traveller's purification abilities, and some abyss related lore in kinich's tribe quest. So i guess we're finally gonna be back on track with our main objective! So let's hope they play it out well 👾

hii, i love whenever i see you in my inbox ready to discuss things <3 and sorry for taking a few days to reply, but i’ve been busy and couldn’t gather my thoughts properly! beware of long yapping below the cut ₊ ˙ ⊹ .

i’m not south asian, but sumeru does feel like home. i must say that some earlier mondstadt events had the same vibes because they used to feature most of the cast interacting with each other, but it’s been a long while since a proper mondstadt event.

so, with natlan i’m really torn. the quests are overall well done, but at the same time not meeting my expectations. but that’s a topic i already wrote essays about when talking with my friends. in short, i don’t think natlan is a good representation of the nation of war. i’m not talking here about cultural aspects, but just the premises genshin itself promised to deliver. and i think they failed. inazuma is still leagues above when it comes to that grim and heavy atmosphere of war — in terms of world quests and exploration, not in archon quest and character interactions, though. i entered natlan feeling like i’m walking through a summer map, dancing, singing, sunbathing, without an ounce of fear that the abyss may suddenly attack.

but yes, the cast for now has quite solid interactions among each other and they feel very human, albeit more serious than just being friends — they are warriors fighting for the same cause. i can’t wait to hear them talk more and do stuff together!

the watering down quests issue is disproportional, kinda — i wouldn’t expect the same amount of personality exploration from, for example, xinyan, who’s just a girl trying to get her local neighbourhood to listen to new music, and mona, who can literally peek into someone’s fate and is affiliated with the hexenzirkel witches. but yes, music festival without xinyan was criminal. so many young and mortal characters have to fight for screentime with centuries old characters that know teyvat’s most guarded secrets.

we had multiple events focused on itto, who’s basically just a neet with an interesting oni legacy going on in his past (that wasn’t even brought up besides his story quest, a pity), but barely any focus on pretty much any other inazuma character. there’s also candace, who’s a direct descendant of king deshret and doesn’t even have a hangout yet — we got a few meaningful scenes with her only now, during sabzeruz festival. fischl and rosaria are from early genshin patches and don’t have their hangouts, too, although fischl had an amazing arc during the second summer event (no longer accessible for most players, a pity, again).

the beginning of fontaine quests was more like navia’s story quest than her actual story quest, and she’s present throughout the entire fontaine chapter despite being “just” a mortal — she’s in top characters with most voicelines, and it’s been barely a year since her introduction. good for her! but other mortal characters in just as influential positions (if not more) are so easily forgotten — keqing, ayato, jean, kokomi, and such. sara is the right hand of the shogun herself, and she doesn’t have a hangout, either. her appearances in events turned her into raiden simp and that’s all lmao

i do have some gripes because hoyo should rethink releasing fodder characters if all they plan to do with them later is to abandon them because they’re just… a guy LOL unfortunate to be the fan of these characters </3

[littleblueberryartist]

Hello! I’m relatively new to the genshin fandom and after doing Venti’s story quest I have decided that he is the favorite, but all of the fics I try to find with him he’s usually just a side character, so do you have any recommendations? :)

Sorry if it’s too much to ask you can ignore this if you want

Anon we are shaking hands!!! Venti's story quest really got a lot of people onto the Venti fan train huh XD

Also you're in luck because when ever I hyperfixate on a character I tend to scourer their ao3 tag like a dog digging holes in someone's yard (admittedly I've only begun organizing my bookmarks recently so I may miss a fic but it's fineeee)

Anyway onto the fic recs! (I'll mention the potential quest spoilers since I don't know how far into the game you are)

The Melody of a Gentle Breeze A recent fic I read and one I made art for! Nameless Bard/Venti's friend gets yeeted to the present learns about how the world has changed. I love how he's characterized here and how his relationship with venti is portrayed <3 (admittedly venti isn't the main focus here but you can feel his presence and influence on the fic and I adore that!!!)

Singing to the Mountains, Only My Echoes Sing Back This one is based on the Wings of Shimmering Galaxy (anniversary glider) description! It's about Venti's story and the fic ties it to song and I love it a ton!!!

Pure Sky This one is a lighter one that uses wine as a character study and honestly I love that! Venti and his love for Mond and their love for one another in return my beloved!!!!

Three Evenings Before the End THIS ONE THIS ONE IS ONE OF MY FAVOURITE FICS!! It talks about Venti's friend's throughout Mondstadt's history and the whole thing with repeating parallels and how he notices the similarities and differences between his friends throughout the ages,,, o u g h A lot of the stuff in the fic is regarding bits of old mondstadt and aristocratic mond lore that you can find in book, weapon and artifact descriptions in game so it's not quite spoilers. But you might get a little confused regarding the characters if you don't know the jist of mond's history sfdgdfs (the author has the second chapter dedicated to worldbuilding and lore speculations tho which is hella neat!!!!)

Event Horizon I THINK ABOUT THIS EVERY SINGLE DAY Not really spoilers but it does talk about the Cataclysm and destruction of Khaenri'ah + speculations(?) though a convo between Venti and Dain (The guy that narrates the character miscellanies and who first appears in game in Bough Keeper: Dainsleif and later on in subsequent archon quests)

The Archons (soldier, poet, king ANOTHER FAVE OF MINE! This one's a series about Venti and his interactions with the other archons!! I love how it shows the more serious side of him that others may not see along with his usual silly whimsy <3 Of course, since each fic talks about the archons we meet in each nation, spoilers for all the archon quests so far!

The Springtimes You Never Saw Okay this one's longer than the ones I've recommended so far (my ADHD fucks with my attention span so I tend to stick to one-shots for the most part) but it's so good!!!! I know I say that about all the fics here lmao but I do genuinely adore this fic. It's a canon divergent AU where Dvalin never gets poisoned during the fight with Durin 500 years ago and it's such a good character study of my boyyyyy Also while the fic is tagged xiaoven it's queerplatonic and the pairing doesn't take center stage (not that into shipping in general lol so I tend to prefer fics without ships or with them not as the main focus)

[oh-my-may]

Felt like sharing that I've been in the process of finishing up Genshin content I skipped over. Especially Chenyu Vale exploration. Felt like a chore doing it when it came out so I pushed it to a later point when I'd actually enjoy it. And what can I say, I'm almost through with it now after two longer sessions and I've been loving it :)

After playing a game like Rebirth, Genshins casualness (?) is so refreshing and welcoming, it felt like a warm hug. The last few weeks I only ever did dailies and farmed through resin and logged off because I was busy with other stuff. Now I have the time to enjoy it again, and I feel so happy about it. It makes me so excited for the new map areas in 4.6.

Chenyu Vale exploration probably felt kind of nostalgic and welcoming because there'a lots of small puzzles and mechanics that are similar or the same as Liyue pre-2.0 which now feels so nostalgic to me. The weird bubble flowers that you have to shoot? Placing geo monuments on pressure plates? Count me in.

Also love the "weird" hidden chests that are also so old Mondstadt and Liyue. Like wdym there's a weird digging point that you can click repeatedly and ore chunks come out until it explodes in your face BUT you get a chest at the end :) Following trails of pinecones to caged in Simulacrums (these Treasure Hoarders really just do anything). The ruins were also just such a callback to old Liyue :( I was so happy throughout idk.

I alsl finally figured out how the Chenyu Vale exclusive exploration mechanisms and puzzles work. You know, the teapot (?) things and the light lotus in the water (or so). What can I say, it's been a breeze. The Vale is just so beautiful...

But it did get me to think... it is a part of Liyue, yet it looks so different... it's so green/blue/turquoise and the rest of Liyue is gold/yellow. Like... all of it. And ofc that's still pretty! Been loving to see the silhouette of the Jade Chamber or the other adepti abodes in the distance. But you can definitely see that the dev team has come a long way. I can't wait for Mondstadt to get its Dorman Port expansion :( I've got a feeling we're only gonna get that before Snezhnaya comes out during the 5.x patches, since it's probably gonna be very close... but I'm so happy that Mond will get attention again. I've already loved the events this patch, the potions one and the one with the cats. They definitely haven't forgotten about it! They keep on teasing the place names in characters dialogues so casually...

ANYWAY (is it obvious that genshin is a huge hyperfixation lf mine I could talk on it for HOURS) I have like 10% exploration remaining in all areas of Chenyu and I'll probably finish it within the next few days. I also still have Lynette'a hangout to do and a bunch of smaller world quests in Chenyu. Then my vault of primogems will be ripped open for Arlecchino <33 Will talk about her so much after her quest and listening to her voicelines about other Fatui members when she comes out. So obsessed with her lore. I have over 250 pulls waiting and I really want her weapon too... i'm kinda scared.

A good friend of mine who was the reason I started genshin to begin with also came back to the game after not playing since before Sumeru. We've been talking a lot about the game, she's in the process of finishing up all things Sumeru and we're gonna play together some time this week to get her coop achievements... and she wants me to summarize and explain the archon quests so far before she digs into Fontaine... welp. Anyway, it's just so nice to talk about everything wirh someone again, especially because we're on the same page what concerns all things genshin, be it lore, gameplay, critique or anything else. It's just nice sharing interests :)

Maybe I'll give some few thoughts after I actually finish up the area and did Lynette's hangout. Also maybe give some predictions on Arle's story or so.

Have these screenshots I took! I rarely actually take screenshots while playing genshin... since I played on an old laptop for so long I'm not used to the game actually looking nice :) will hopefully change that in the future

[froggysoup]

wowee

Alrighty I’m just gonna ramble on about my thoughts on the new quest (and things in general because I talk too much) and pray that at least some of it ends up coherent. Spoilers, by the way.

I’ve had this first theory since the last archon quest but got nervous and didn’t share, so here it is now. Maybe it’s an obvious thing that I’m just in the dark about, but I’m fairly sure that Dainsleif’s “Boughkeeper” title has a large part in explaining why he knows so much about things he really shouldn’t. From the newest quest, we learn that he is actually cursed with immortality, which could explain some it, but the guy still knows too much for it to simply be chalked up to his age. He’s literally the designated narrator for half of the official videos and knows a lot about what and who he talks about.

I suspect that the ley lines serve as an information network of some sort, and that Dainsleif’s position as Boughkeeper allows him access to it in one way or another. The only other places we really see the whole tree/branch thing is with the ley line branches, Irminsul trees, the Frostbearing Tree, and the tree who once had roots that spanned the whole continent (which we know the ley line branches were once directly a part of), all of which are connected in a way that I haven’t quite figured out yet. 

Now, from those screens that come up while the game is loading, we know that supposedly, the intertwined roots of the Irminsul trees far beneath the earth determine the pattern of the ley lines above, and we also know that ley lines are a “mysterious network that links the whole world together” and that they are said to remember everything that happens in the world. From this, I don’t think it’d be that much of a reach to say that Dainsleif can access that somehow.

Next. I do think there’s a pretty good chance that the Archons were involved in the destruction of Khaenri’ah. The Viridescent Venerer set actually tells us how the former Dendro Archon died during the cataclysm while in Khaenri’ah, which. Uh. That’s kind of really incriminating. 

However! Obviously, we’ve only heard this from Dainsleif’s point of view and he’s pretty biased considering his whole thing. We don’t know how much control Celestia has over the Archons’ actions, either, and I’m about 98% sure that some of them weren’t into it, and likely didn't even have a choice. Like, look at the Tsaritsa. Her whole thing is that sometime during the cataclysm, she witnessed something so view-shattering and unjust that her whole thing now is to “burn away the old world” and overthrow Celestia. 

I also can’t see Venti and Zhongli going along with the destruction of an entire nation with no hesitation. Like, obviously, again, Dainsleif is going to be biased, but from what we’ve been told Khaenri’ah didn’t even do anything divine-retribution-worthy. Celestia just seems be into dropping skyscraper-sized pillars and other things onto nations who get too good at being independent, for whatever reason. The new quest is definitely supposed to make us question the current systems of this world but I don’t think we’re meant to hate Venti or Zhongli, at least yet. I think they’re even kind of meant to be seen as the “best” out of the Archons, so to speak. (Not that I think they’re perfect, by any means.)

Like, just look at the way they’ve been presented to us, versus how some of the other Archons have been introduced (Storyline Trailer, my beloved). 

Raiden Shogun is made out to be some self-absorbed divine ass-kisser who doesn’t have humanity’s best interests at heart (which we know is supposed to be a thing you do as an Archon). She’s doing her whole confiscating visions and oppressive rule thing in an effort to be seen as more divine, but, as Dainsleif puts it, “what do mortals see of the eternity chased after by their god?”

The Dendro Archon/God of Wisdom is implied to not actually be as smart as somebody with that title is supposed to be, one way or another, and either has turned a blind eye to or blatantly encourages the “push for folly” in Sumeru. Can’t tell exactly what that would mean or entail (thanks, Dainsleif), but obviously. Doesn’t sound good.

Dainsleif says of the Hydro Archon that she “lives for the spectacle of the courtroom, seeking to judge all other gods. But even she knows not to make an enemy of the divine.” While the not making an enemy of the divine thing I get (I guess, coward), the whole “seeking to judge all other gods” bit seems very “remove the log from your own eye”-y. Like, you’re an Archon, too, what are you trying to prove here?

The Tsaritsa is- well, the Tsaritsa, as we know. While I do think we are meant to sympathize and agree with at least part of her core ideals and motives, she still is the one behind the Fatui and is, by extension, a war criminal. She also apparently has “no love left for her people”. It’s a bit of a complicated relationship that we have with her.

The only ones who Dainsleif does not directly slander in the trailer are Venti, Zhongli, and Murata. While I don’t think we have enough on her to come to any conclusions about her character yet, Venti does say of her that she is a “wayward, war-mongering wretch”. Now, he does also jab at Rex Lapis during this voiceline, but unlike with Murata we know that those two are buddy-buddy and it was very likely that it was “buffoon (affectionate)”.

Venti and Zhongli are also the first two Archons we encounter, which is important for multiple reasons.

Gonna derail for a bit because I don’t know where to start. But. The game very likely will (or at least should) end with no Archons.

Obviously, especially in light of the new quest (although this stuff has been floating around since the Dragonspine update and even before that), Celestia Bad. Like, cataclysmically bad (lmao). In fact, I’m highly certain that you could trace basically every problem in this game back to them, some way or another.

Even our main “villain” groups all seem to be gunning for Celestia. The Fatui obviously work for the Tsaritsa, who’s made it very clear that she plans to rebel against the divine. The Abyss Order, too, has their Deeply Upsetting plan of creating a mechanized god with the power to “topple the divine thrones of Celestia”.

Evidence points to an overthrow of Celestia at some point in the game, and considering how being an Archon or even a god is directly tied to Celestia, yeah. No more Celestia means no more Archons.

But even besides that, there’s a lot there to suggest that that’s where things are going.

I find it interesting how Mondstadt’s our prologue chapter, or that there’s even a prologue chapter of the game at all. Prologues are meant to set up ideas that will be present throughout the rest of the story, and Mondstadt does exactly that. Venti’s let the people of Mondstadt govern themselves and has almost completely been out of the equation for millennia, even if that means he is significantly weaker than his godly peers. When asked why he chose to do that instead of remain in charge and just give them freedom, Venti responds that “freedom, if demanded of you by an archon, is really no freedom at all.” This sentiment is also brought up in the Mondstadt portion of the storyline trailer, and the traveler even has a whole voiceline debating what Venti really meant when he said that.

This idea of freedom and that humanity is capable on its own is further reinforced in Chapter 1, in which Liyue learns to move on from the death of its Archon. Zhongli set up his plan with the intention of testing if his people could stand on their own legs without him there to guide them, and they do. He even expresses how pleasantly surprised he is that the Qixing were able to take advantage of the situation and seize control like they did. Keqing gives us this whole speech when we first meet her about how the adepti and gods underestimate humanity’s capability and how Liyue’s future is meant to be a godless one. This, in a way, extends to the rest of the continent as well.

In the storyline trailer (which I quote too often, I’m sorry. My favorite and only party trick is that I got bored one day and memorized the whole thing), Dainsleif spends the entire Khaenri’ah section musing about something similar. 

“In the perpetual meantime of a sheltered eternity, most are content to live and not to dream. But in the hidden corner where the gods’ gaze does not fall, there are those who dream of dreaming,” is obviously about the people of Teyvat vs. those in Khaenri’ah. While a future under the care of the Archons is a safe and reliable one, is it one that allows humanity to chase its potential to the fullest? Khaenri’ah was destroyed for flourishing like it did without gods, both as a punishment and a warning to everybody else.

“Some say a few are chosen and the rest are dregs, but I say we humans have our humanity.” This is in reference to visions. Throughout the game, this idea that, at least in the eyes of the gods, vision holders are more important than those without them, is constantly brought up.

In the commission “Leaves on the Wind”, Dr. Edith expresses how it often seems as if vision holders are the main characters of this world. From the notebooks we receive during the “Time and Wind” world quest, we learn that the Sumeru Academia actually discourages non-vision holders from conducting outdoor surveys, and how “these days... trying to be an academic when you don't have a Vision, it's really restricting...” Dainsleif even just straight up asks us what we think the gods think of vision holders and people in general during question time in that one quest.

In Lisa’s stories, we learn that the reason for her laziness is that a part of her is afraid of learning or doing too much, after witnessing what “uninhibited erudition” can do to people during her time in Sumeru. She also senses that something beneath the surface is happening regarding the distribution of visions. “For whatever reasons, the gods gave humans the key to changing everything, but they did not explain the cost involved. Lisa grew fearful of the truth.”

I forgot exactly where I was going with that last paragraph, but yeah. There’s definitely sketchy shit going on behind the scenes in regards to visions, possibly to keep people either quiet or complacent. I suspect it may even be to restrict access to certain knowledges or even the elements themselves. Anyways.

I lose track of my thoughts too often. Fuck. Right. Mondstadt and Liyue served as good examples of society under the rule of the Archons, and in Chapter 2 we will encounter our first bad example, showing us the pros and cons of the current situation. However, despite Zhongli and Venti seeming to genuinely care for their people, humanity’s wellbeing shouldn’t be reliant on how their god is feeling that day, and they shouldn’t have to look to the gods for a chance to become something greater than themselves, either.

Um. All that’s to say I’m just very excited to see where the story will go, and if Zhongli’s contract with the Tsaritsa is any indication then it’s gonna go somewhere good. Celestia bad, Archons bad but also not bad but also bad, I don’t know if what I just wrote actually even counts as understandable, thank you and good night.

[genshininfact]

I’ve been rewatching the Collected Miscellany videos for different characters, because Dainsleif editorializes sometimes in his narration, and I was curious what he might reveal.

Part of what I’ve noticed is just random stuff. Like, watching Klee and Albedo’s videos back to back, the contrast is so funny. With Klee, Dain is like ‘what a cute kid, hope she stays this happy go lucky when she grows up’, but then with Albedo he’s like ‘if this punk so much as blinks wrong I’mma end him’.

What I was most intrigued by was his remark in Venti’s video. He says that Barbatos has been gone from Mondstadt for 1000 years, but it’s been half that for Dain.

And even in the quest Dain outright reveals that he knows Venti is the Anemo Archon. 

Which I think means he was around 500 years ago when whatever danger Mondstadt was in struck. And since he was also the MC’s twin’s travelling companion, that means the twin must have been with him.

Which-- I don’t think I’m making a huge assumption here--but this might mean Venti actually met the missing twin at the time. So when he met the MC, there’s no fucking way he didn’t make that connection himself. Venti ain’t stupid. 500 years ago he meets a strange blond traveler, dressed weirdly, coming from another world, saying they’re looking for their sister/brother and now they meet a second blond traveler dressed weirdly coming from another world and looking for their sister/brother, there’s no fucking way Venti didn’t realize these two were looking for one another. 

If Zhongli was called to help Venti with whatever crisis was going down, then he might have conceivably met the MC’s twin at the time as well, but we don’t really have any way of verifying that one way or the other.

And, um, Dainsleif obviously knows who the MC and their twin are.

Yet... nobody who actually has met the MC’s twin has said so to the MC’s face.

This is so fucking ominous. They know something. They definitely know something.

But the thing that all three have said to the MC is that you shouldn’t rush and you should focus on the journey instead of the destination.

Which makes me think maybe the missing twin lost sight of that at some point. Maybe their involvement with the Abyss Order was the result of rushing and impatience. Maybe they were trying to take a shortcut to finding their sibling, and did some profoundly inadvisable things that everyone around them knew was bad.

Dain obviously has remaining affection for his old travelling companion, but we know the missing twin is with the Abyss Order, and Dain is opposed to the Abyss Order. It seems like maybe he’s intending to rescue the missing twin, like maybe the twin got in over their head somehow and need to be rescued. The storyline preview trailer might be indicating this.

[lore-rambles-genshin]

this post contains spoilers for the mondstadt, liyue and inazuma archon quests, proceed with caution

so, about 500 years ago in mondstadt, there’s this pretty maiden by the name of rosalyne (which i’ll just call rosa from now) who sits in the square, and spends most of her time singing. now one day, this knight called rostam (who’s own story can be told in another post) who falls in love with her. they both are in love each other and so they start dating.

later on, rosa went to study at the sumeru acadamia, and rostam’s like ‘here, take this hydro timepiece as a lil keepsake before ya go, once all the has flowed to the other side, you will have graduated from the acadamia’. cute keepsake right? so rosa goes to the acadamia, rostam goes to do knightly stuff after the fall of khaenri’ah.

sadly, he dies from monsters (fuck the abyss), leaving rosa at the acadamia. unfortunately, rosa didn’t know he died until she finished her studies and returned home. she was pretty pissed, so using her knowledge, avenged his death by becoming the crimson witch of flames, wearing a witch’s hat, carrying her timepiece, and essentially becoming a pool of lava, burning all monsters in her path. she never hurt people, but she did indeed scare the shit outta them. she was essentially doing what xiao does now, burning up demons, monsters etc. for ages.

one day, she’s meets some fatui guy (pierro), and he says ‘hey we’ve tracked you down cos i feel like you could be a great addition to us, since you share the same goal as the tsaritsa’. long story short, she regains her mortal form, and the flames that she once was are extinguished. note that she is never given a delusion, instead, she is given a device with cryo powers that she can use to attack. she recieves the title ‘the fair lady’, aka signora.

from here on out, it’s pretty straightfoward, she follows the tsaritsa’s orders, and we first meet her in mondstadt, where she beats up venti for his gnosis, then again after zhongli gives away his in the final contract.

we meet her yet again, in tenshukaku after exposing the kujou clan for making deals with the fatui (a story for another day). she’s beaten the shit outta kujou sara, and the raiden shogun tells her off for it. the traveller challenges her to ‘a duel before the throne’. raiden tells us that the loser must die. so we duel (and obviously come out victorious), but there’s one issue. that bitch ain’t dead yet. and so raiden shogun uses her great, almighty musou no hitachi and kills her right in front of our eyes.

and that’s basically the end.

players before the signora boss fight came out had predicted that she was likely the crimson witch of flames. most of this lore comes from the crimson witch of flames artifact set, and the stainless bloom (pale flame flower)

the most interesting part is that since she never had a vision (unlike childe who does), she can’t actually wield a delusion (thats the reason teppei got so old after using his), which is why she carries the white, catalyst looking thing that floats around her. that thing is the source of her cryo powers. as for her pyro powers, she essentially was once fire, thus naturally she still possesses some part of her powers. hope that cleared up any questions you might’ve had. anyways, thats the end of this (very long) lore post. i hope yall liked it

[kazuhasbunny]

going off of this anon here and how people in the genshin fandom say the twins are minors and stuff. it’s been heavily theorized that the twins may well be hundreds of years old. if you think about it, lumine was around during the catastrophic events that happened 500 years ago. in the ‘we will meet again’ trailer it shows her over a cliff in the outskirts of mondstadt during the unknown gods calamity—which took okay 500 years ago.. the brother also mentions in the very beginning that he had been asleep for goodness knows how many years, he just doesn’t remember + the archon gods have been awaiting the travelers arrival.

this is separate but i also have a theory that the tsaritsa is working together with lumine, the abyssal princess or have some type of arrangement going on. childe has said that the tsaritsa’s goal is to the burn out the old and in with the new, getting rid of the ancient gods ways. she was traumatized and left deeply changed after the events that happened 500 years ago. so i think that they are having dealings together to avenge khaenriah and end the reign of the other gods and their gnosis. since all she wants is peace in teyvat—and i really think this goes right back to the unknown god, she’s probably scared that something like that will happen again, another god causing more destruction.

i honestly can’t wait for when we get more lore and the archon quest for the tsaritsa, although that might not be for another year or two. even though we don’t have a lot of information on her, by far she’s the most interesting to me and probably has a really complex story.

true , i agree with that . though even if they are adults and such i won’t change my mind with any ships with them involving zhongli , childe , kaeya or diluc .. but it’s just my preference ofc , i don’t mind if others ship that i just don’t like it

so like , tsaritsa is a good archon ? honestly i’m in with this theory it seem nice . understanding too actually , i think so too ? maybe her goal is to recieve every gnosis from every archon so that she can defeat the unknown god herself or to eliminate (?) the powers of an archon for their residents ... something . i really wanna know more about tsaritsa but god i know this is going to take quite some time 😓

[kireiryuusei]

Writing up a Genshin OC finally. Probably will have to adjust as the series goes on but I do want to put something down so I’m not just dragging my feet anymore. I have a couple things from my usual making of profiles for muses and stuff, but for this one using the questions from @genshin-impact-ocs‘ post about helping make one. So thank you for such a useful guide.

Name: Nyssa

Birth Name: Danica

Appearance:

Nyssa has an average height compared to others. She has light brown skin and there is a Lichtenberg figure around her left hand and lower arm. However she has gloves and vambraces to cover this. Her wavy hair is a blue color that she wears down most days (may or may not be dyed). Her eyes are a purple color. 

Personality:

Nyssa despite being from outside the land, fits as ‘a child of freedom’ within Mondstadt. She is usually doing whatever whims catch her fancy and wandering anywhere the wind seems to take her. However she isn’t without some responsibility, usually reliable for tasks albeit never straightforward with when she might accomplish it and makes good on her word. 

Nyssa tends to soak in all around her and seems to hold an appreciation for all of it. Despite picking up the 200th sweet flower, she might notice the shade of its petals or still love its scent. She genuinely likes the presence of others even if she can’t always articulate such. She takes time to remember little things like the stray comment of not liking a certain smell or a seat preference. There is a longing to be able to physically reach out to others but holds back out of habit.

There is another aspect of Nyssa that doesn’t get exposed often unless it has to do with Fatui or her background. The Fatui she can usually get away with as she would ask ‘who DOES like those guys?’ However her past causes a stormy look in her eyes and the air seems to crackle before she tells a completely innocuous tale. Which doesn’t sound like lying but also not descriptive enough to sound like it could come from anyone’s memory. 

Questions:

• What's their occupation?

By technicality, Nyssa is an adventurer. She completes commissions for the guild as the main form of livelihood. Her specialty is searches so she often is charged to find lost pets and to locate where enemies gather. However she also serves as an informant although she usually uses Vile as a medium as she doesn’t want to be questioned for how she gathers information. 

• Do they have any affect on the main plot of Genshin Impact? How?

Not as of now. She may when it comes to knowing more about Snezhnaya and the creation/experimentation of delusions. At most she is a lead for the protagonist to follow into that area. 

• What's your character's plotline? Do they have any side quests associated with them?

Nyssa’s has to do with her background. Her helping the Traveler towards Snezhnaya, makes it clear she knows more than a normal citizen does. What is found is that Nyssa was apart of the Fatui, being an Electro Cicin Mage. It was seen as an honor and, by her admission, she thought it was for such a long time. However what changed was looking into making stronger Delusions. While any of the Harbingers would likely be willing to test them out, they were also immense assets to the Fatui. So testing with lesser members was sought first to bring down the risk to the Harbingers. There were two issues though, 1) most lower ranking members did not have constitution nor power to handle these Delusions and 2) those that did survive often didn’t come out without afflictions. 

Nyssa was in the latter. She doesn’t quite understand all the mechanics as she was just a grunt in the cogs of the organization. But she knew she was afraid to die for someone that held not regard for her nor any of her coworkers and ran away before undergoing an experiment she was certain going to end her life.

Can’t think of any specific side quests other than her asking for assistance on her commissions back in Mondstadt. 

• How did your character gain their Vision and/or Delusion?

Nyssa’s Vision was originally simply an inactive one. It was one from an elder that she was close to as she reminded them of their deceased child. It was a gift given to her when she joined the Fatui. And while she channeled Electro through a delusion, she never had the power herself. What activated it was her escape. She ran away. Through snow and ice. Through excruciating pain of withdrawal. Through pursuit that broke her usual Delusion. She was taunted as she was being dragged as she was a fake only granted her ability by the Tsaritsa’s grace. And Nyssa wished for her power to be real. To not be a fake. To be free of this mistake. To win this otherwise sad tale. And her Vision glowed from the present from an old friend and with it, she shook off her pursuers and ran. 

I debate a different Delusion as apart of the above testing but haven’t thought on what it would do yet? I need a bit more time on that. However I did think of it being made with or powered with Mist Grass. It has a side effect where the Mist Grass essence gets into Nyssa and it works like a drug. One that makes her feel like the world is masses of equations and she can see the answers. It makes her stronger obviously but afterwards is like a nasty withdrawal and weakness. It makes her avoid and fear Mist Grass in her proximity. 

 Is your character in love with any of the characters? Which one and why?

Nyssa is in love with Diluc. She is aware of his vigilante antics and finds it very admirable as she wonder if that’s what one means about being a ‘child of freedom.’ But she didn’t intend to fall for Diluc as, unsurprisingly, he’s doesn’t seem like her type. But working with him, she fell for the strength of his conviction and finds how he expresses concern to be utterly adorable. 

(I just want a high chance of angst and this worked out the best tbh.)

• Do they have any biological family left? If they do, what is their relationship to those family members?

Yes she does, her parents and sibling are all alive. However she has not been in contact with them since she ran away. And even if she was able to contact them, Nyssa is certain of the rejection from them due to her turning her back on the Fatui and her homeland. 

• Do they enjoy Xiangling's slimy dishes?

She eats them out of politeness but hates the texture of it. She wonders why you would resort to slimes of all things. She can almost imagine their dead eyes staring back at her in the dishes, furthering her dislike of it. 

• Do they enjoy Barbara's singing? Why or why not?

‘Who doesn’t?’ would be her reaction. She thinks Barbara sings very nicely. Especially within the walls of the cathedral. Although she would admit her style is still more of bards around the town and in taverns. 

• What do they think of the Archons?

Archons are like humans in the sense that they can accomplish whatever they want, which can help or harm. Generally she views them favorably as it was the Tsaritsa’s grace that let her hold onto power through Delusion until she received her Vision. It was also Barbatos that aided her last leg and welcomed her to his land. However, she is also aware that the Tsaritsa’s will allowed the experiments that hurt her. Nyssa generally has a curiosity though as to why Baal granted her a Vision before Barbatos could. 

Miscellaneous:

Despite originally being a mage, Nyssa uses polearms instead

Her name, appearance and weapon change was all in her pursuit to free herself from her past

She puts up with a lot of Venti’s stuff with only bitching because of her gratitude

She’s deeply fearful of Kaeya as he is the person most likely to discover her past and afraid of what he’d do to her with that information. However surface level, they seem to get along quite well to any outsider. 

She has a ‘pet’ cicin, Render, usually called Ren

[adios-gatos]

1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24 and 25 for both for akimitsu and kohaku

just bros being bros

[What is your character's relationship to The Traveler?]

Tbh I always imagined them in game like. just trying to vibe near a village - maybe Qingce village??

Despite their efforts to lie low though, they both are very... attention grabbing kinds of people. The villagers think they're kind of strange and eventually one of the villagers approaches Traveler about confronting the two - they don't want trouble in their lil village bro :<

So Traveler and Paimon get a fun quest to go find them, mayhaps with some encounters with treasure hoarders since they're also close by Qingce? Either way, Traveler figures out the fact they're both gods but the Traveler is also a relaxed person so they just agree to not tell the Qingce villagers in exchange for the two listening to the concerns the villagers have about them.

From then on the Traveler could talk to them for ore locations and fun Inazuma lore!

[What is their relationship with Zhongli? Do they have one at all?]

The three have a... professional relationship? That's the best way to describe it. Tbh I imagine archons and adepti can tell when gods are near and vice versa so he was Aware when they showed up in Liyue Harbour. Tbh Akimitsu probably sought him out and the two made a contract where Zhongli can't tell Baal about how the two are hanging around his place

I don't know yet what Zhongli got out of it though v v

[What is your character's relationship with themselves?]

Akimitsu tries to look at things from a logical point of view, even himself. It helps a lot with planning but for things like emotions... not so much. He can end up annoyed at himself a lot for feeling things for "no reason", and that shit has been happening more frequently after the whole "running away from your home country" situation

Kohaku is a lot more forgiving for himself and his emotions though! He's Aware that he's a pretty emotionally driven person and that even people like Akimitsu can end up controlled by their heart rather than brain, regardless of what they try to say about it. He can just end up expecting himself to be too emotional to do things and underestimating himself in the process. Kohaku is used to being more like the person who lightens the mood and keeping the planners from getting ahead of himself. Hes ended up just having a low opinion of himself outside of that.

[Who is their love interest? If they do not have one, who is their closest friend?]

Each other for both. Baal was also a very close friend of theirs before they left, and maybe also a love interest too depending on what the Inazuma chapter shows us

[What do they think of The Knights of Favonius?]

I feel like they've encountered so many Knights doing their patrol stuff in the wilderness around Mondstadt that they're used to seeing them.

For Akimitsu it feels like seeing a coworker you don't know very well in public. For Kohaku its the same but he's more willing to stop for conversation-

[Wine is Mondstadt's most popular drink. Do they drink wine?]

Tbh Akimitsu isn't super used to alcohols so when he does drink he's. v picky. He doesn't like just straight up red wine or white wine. If it's gonna be alcohol, it better taste good bro

Kohaku is more used to wine!! People tend to use drinks like wine for spiritual/religious events so by now he's pretty used to drinking things like wine so he doesn't end up offending someone. You give him a wine, he'll tell you how old it is and what ingredients they used

[Do they carry a lot of Mora?]

They Are Both Broke Ass Bitches

[What do they think of Venti?]

Akimitsu doesn't Vibe with the whole not being involved with your country's affairs thing Venti has going on. What do you mean..... you aren't a part of the Knights..... what do you mean you just drink wine and have fun...... what the fuck...............

Kohaku gets it better since like. his own position back home in Inazuma wasn't as military based as Akimitsu's so he gets the just kinda doing your own thing a bit better? Though he still doesn't get not doing Anything for your country....

[How did they acquire their Vision?]

Ok so. I haven't thought their vision stories out as much as Seirs but!! I do know that Kohaku got his vision from the past electro archon and was able to ascend to godhood but not archon status afterwards

[What is your character's weakness?]

Akimitsu is good at predicting other peoples moves but he's really bad at understanding his own underlying emotional motivations and weaknesses. He doesn't plan for them

Kohaku's is his own doubts and opinions on himself. Self sabotage basically

[What weather do they love the most? Why?]

Akimitsu appreciates sunny days with clouds. He says its because its good traveling weather but its mostly really because he likes to see the sights and thats easier to do when its nice out

Kohaku likes a light rain in the warm weather... its very soothing to just take in the rain and light enough to where he doesn't have to worry about what they have out getting ruined. Theyre just relaxing...

[What is their strength?]

Akimitsu can plan like No One Else!! He's just really good at guessing peoples next steps to things

Kohaku is a very empathetic and sympathetic guy so he can make connections with people easily!

[What do they think of the Fatui?]

Stay Back, Slut.

[What do they think of the Archons?]

I already answered for Venti so uhhh

Zhongli - (A) a knowledgeable gentleman tm (K) polite, but needs more time for himself and to figure out what he enjoys

Baal - both miss her lots and feel Very Guilty about leaving her alone in Inazuma, even when they don't agree with her decree

[What is the worst thing that could happen to your OC?]

Losing each other. Being alone with no one else