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thatonegenshinsimp · 1 year ago

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Memories (Xiao x reader NSFW)

I finally got around to writing part two of the "Memories" series. I will likely be doing another poll in the future so stick around for that. For the time being, I will probably focus on Mondstadt and Liyue characters before moving on to Inazuma, Sumeru, and the other nations. Anyways, enjoy~

Warnings: reader has draconic anatomy (tail, horns), spoilers for Xiao’s backstory and the Archon quest in the Chasm, NSFW, riding, belly bulging, creampie, marking (fangs, claws)

NSFW content, Minors DNI, by scrolling down past this point, you have chosen to read the content below of your own accord!

Masterlist

Summary: The world is cruel to those who are weak, Xiao knows this, and has seen it countless times. His one and only comfort in this cruel world is you, a fellow Adeptus, and the only child of Morax.

Xiao remembered the day he first met you very clearly. He had just been freed from his former master by Rex Lapis, and was now joining his side of the Archon War. It was the day that he first joined the other four Yakshas for the first time.

“So, who’s this?” A voice asked behind him, causing him to turn around quickly to find the owner of that voice. When he turned around, he saw a pair of horns that looked much like Morax’s did. Xiao looked down at your tail, noticing how it was the same color as your hair, with a cloud tip at the end. He looked at your face next. You gave him a gentle smile as you spoke. “This is Xiao, he joined us a few weeks ago while you were gone.” Bosacious explained, watching as you nodded. “I’ve heard of you. Guizhong and Cloud Retainer vaguely mentioned you. It’s nice to meet you, Xiao.” You said, looking over at the other Yakshas. “Anyways, what’s the move for today?” You asked. “There’s a group of serpents near the foot of Mount Tianheng. We’re going to go get rid of them.” Bonanus said, looking over at Xiao as she spoke. “However, this one was put on bed rest for the week, and the same goes for Xiao.” Indarias said, pointing to Menogias. You crossed your arms and looked at Menogias, sighing deeply. “You should know better than to push yourself, it’s important to rest when your body needs it.” You looked over at Xiao. “The same applies to you, regardless of how well you think you can fight.” You scolded lightly. He shook his head. “I’ve rested enough, I’m tired of being bedridden, and I want to help to repay Rex Lapis for his kindness towards me.” Xiao explained. “You think you can handle a fight against what’s out there?” You asked, watching Menogias leave to get more rest. “Yes, I am positive of this.” He said. “Alright, then that must mean that you can hold your own in a fight against one of us, since we’re stronger than these creatures we’re about to fight.” You said. “In fact, I’ll make you a deal. If you can beat me in a fight, you won’t need any more bed rest.” You said. Xiao summoned his polearm and gripped it tightly, glaring at you as he nodded. You summoned your own weapon, a claymore, and held it at the ready. “Bonanus, care to count us down from three?” You asked, your tail twitching in eager excitement. “Alright, three, two, one, go!” She called, with Indarias pulling her back as Xiao launched himself at you. You easily blocked his strikes with your claymore, before swinging it and cutting his side. “Feel free to forfeit any time you wish, you will not win this.” You said, your eyes boring into his as you launched yourself at him and landed a punch against his jaw, sending him flying. You watched as he tried to get up, only to fall back down on his face. He looked up at you as you approached, before seemingly giving up on fighting. However, he yanked you down and pinned you against the ground when you got close enough for him to grab you. Xiao pinned your arms behind your back, before feeling himself being yanked upside down by something. Your tail was wrapped around his ankle as you spun in circles, smirking as you threw him to the ground and pinned him down completely. “Like I said, you need rest, and you won’t win this. Give up, already.” You said, teeth gritted as you spoke. Xiao let himself go limp, watching as you got off of him. He slowly stood, before stumbling forward, right into your waiting arms. “I told you that you needed rest.” You scolded, picking him up and hoisting him over your shoulder. Xiao could only watch as you carried him back to the camp, leaving shortly after to attend to your own duties.

During the next few weeks, while Xiao healed from the injuries he’d sustained from his time serving under his former master and the injuries you’d given him, Morax practically dragged you back to get you to apologize to him.

“Father, you must be joking. He was literally asking for it!” You protested. “However truthful that may be, I’m insisting that you apologize to him, and that you oversee his recovery yourself.” Morax hissed, lightly shoving you through the tent flap before he left. Moon Carver was tending to Xiao’s injuries, wrapping them in fresh bandages. “Good evening, (name). One is pleased to see that you have returned safely.” He said, looking back at you. You nodded in response to his comment, and waited for him to finish dressing Xiao’s wounds and leave before speaking to him. “I… ok, where to start? First of all, I’m sorry for, you know, hurting you. I didn’t mean to let go that much and use that much strength.” You said, looking at him. Xiao glared at you, before reluctantly speaking. “It’s… fine. You only wished to make sure that I was able to properly fight. It’s more than I’m used to.” He said, watching as you looked at the bandages. “Are you in any pain?” You asked, looking him over. He slowly nodded, pointing to his side. You hovered your palms over the spot he’d pointed to and called forth your Adeptal energy to numb the area. “Is that better?” You asked, watching as he nodded again. “Alright then, I’ll check on you at dinner and bring you something to eat. Get some more rest, or at the very least lay down. It puts less strain on your muscles.” You said, getting up and walking towards the tent flap. “Wait.” He called hoarsely. You looked back at him. “Yeah?” You asked. Xiao braced himself on his forearms. “…Thank you.” He muttered, watching as you smiled softly before exiting the tent.

The next memorable time Xiao could recall with you was when everyone was celebrating the first Lantern Rite together. You had dressed up in one of your favorite outfits, which was a gift from Menogias, and sat beside him as the two of you watched the lanterns together. You could tell that he wanted to be alone, but you decided to keep him company, anyways. He was perplexed by the fact that he actually enjoyed your company, and more so by the fact that you enjoyed his. He shouldn’t be enjoying your company, but you were the only person whose company he genuinely enjoyed, save for the other Yakshas. His Karmic Debt felt much lighter whenever you were around, and you always asked him how his day went before asking anyone else. He decided to sit on these feelings, and think about them further to find why he enjoyed your company so much more than anyone else’s. Turning his attention from the lanterns to you, he saw that you were also looking at him, your face reddening when you saw that he returned your gaze. You smiled shyly, turning away to look at the lanterns again. Perhaps he’d ask Morax about these feelings on a later date.

The day he asked Morax about these feelings, he had never seen someone more surprised in his life. “The way you describe how you feel about them almost makes me think that you’re developing feelings for them.” He said, giving him a look. “Could you explain that, please?” Xiao asked. Morax gave a gentle smile. “Tell me what you think it means, first.” He said. Xiao racked his memory for the words to say, but words failed him now. “I don’t really know how to describe it. It feels like my Karmic Debt is lighter whenever they’re around, and I look forward to their visits every day. That’s all I can think of.” He said. The Geo Archon could only smile as he spoke. “Karmic Debt accumulates thanks to negative emotions and hatred. The counter to those things are positive emotions like joy or happiness, or in your case, love. You’re falling in love with them.” He explained. Xiao thought for a moment, before the realization that he was right finally hit him. His face flushed at the realization, and he could only sigh deeply as Morax smirked at him. “A word of advice, if you’ll listen.” Morax began, looking at him. The moment Xiao’s eyes locked with his, it felt as if he couldn’t look away. “Treat them well, a heart of stone is a heart, nonetheless.” He said, getting up to leave.

You noticed that Xiao had been acting differently ever since he went to speak to your father last week. He was more distant from the others, preferring to spend more time with you. Of course, every time you tried to ask him why this was the case, he brushed it off and told you that he just felt like your company helped relieve him of his Karmic Debt. You, however knew that wasn’t his only reason to be around you. Eventually, you decided to confront him properly about it.

The next evening, you walked up to him in the middle of dinner and sat beside him, eating with him. After you were done eating, you turned to look at him. “Hey, Xiao, would you mind joining me on a walk?” You asked, watching as he nodded. You smiled and got up from your seat, motioning for him to follow you. Once you were a considerable distance away from everyone else, you turned and looked at him, pulling back the leaves to reveal a waterfall that ran into a pool of sorts. “What is this place?” He asked, causing you to giggle. “This is my favorite place to go and relax. It helps me to focus on things that are happening in my life around me, and to process the things that I need to mentally unpack. Since you like the quiet, I was hoping to take you here to tell you something you may need time to think over. If you need time to yourself after this, that’s fine, but- why are you staring at me like that?” You asked, smiling softly as you saw the gentle look he was giving you. He knew he’d been caught staring at you, and his face turned red as he tried to come up with an excuse. “I- um- I’m-” he stopped trying when you giggled softly, looking at him. “Xiao, are you… embarrassed?” You asked, watching as he hesitantly nodded before looking down at the ground. “I feel like you’re far ahead of me, and that I don’t deserve your attention, and yet you give it to me anyways. I feel like you should be spending more time around people more worthwhile to you, and yet you choose to spend your time with me. Why is that?” He asked, looking up at you. You looked down at him and smiled softly, walking over to him and gently cupping his face in your hands. “It’s because you’re worthwhile to me, Xiao. I don’t know how you can’t see that.” You whispered, watching as he leaned into your touch. While he wasn’t looking, you gently wrapped your tail around his waist, pulling him close to you. He jolted slightly, looking back at the scaly tail, before looking up at you. “I can’t believe I have to say this aloud, I figured I was being obvious, but…” you gently pressed your forehead against his, closing your eyes as you spoke. “I’m in love with you, Xiao.” You whispered, gently cupping his face in your hands. “And I want you to know that no matter how much you push me away, or try to ignore me after this, I will always love you.” You continued, before eventually pulling away. You opened your eyes again and watched as he looked at you, awestruck. “You… what?” He asked. “I love you, Xiao.” You repeated, looking at him and gently grasping his hands in your own. His face went completely red as he fully processed what you said. He then frowned slightly, before looking at you again. “There is so much blood on my hands from people who didn’t deserve to die. I’ve done terrible things in my life, things I cannot even begin to justify. You deserve someone better than that.” He said, pulling his hands away from yours.

You looked at him, crestfallen, before gently grabbing his hands and lacing your fingers together with his. “I know my worth, Xiao.” You tried to reassure him, but he pulled away from you, getting up. You got up as well, and rested your forehead against his as he looked at you again.

“If blood is what these hands are covered in, then I’d rather be stained crimson for the rest of eternity than live a moment without you in my life.” You said, sighing softly as you cupped his face in your hands. “You should think higher of yourself. Morax wouldn’t have let you join us if he didn’t trust you. If he trusts you not to hurt any of us, then so do I.” You said, wrapping your arms around him and hugging him tightly. Xiao’s eyes widened slightly, and he went stiff as you hugged him, before he hesitantly raised his arms and hugged you back. He rested his head against your shoulder, not meeting your gaze. “We don’t have to do anything other than this, but I love you far too much to lose you, even to yourself.” You said. And although you couldn’t see it, for the first time in a long while, Xiao smiled slightly against your shoulder.

Just when he thought things were getting better, when he felt like he had finally found people he could trust, Indarias’ Karmic Debt got the best of her. He could only watch as she screamed at the top of her lungs, tormented by the hateful wrath of bygone gods and monsters. She went mad with fear, going on a rampage that lasted days, before bursting into flames. You held Bonanus back from running at her to try and put the flames out, knowing it would do no good for anyone involved. Even after you all mourned her death, there was a deafening silence in the days following her death, especially anytime someone needed cheering up after a particularly rough day.

Next was Menogias, who died in your arms after Bonanus went mad and stabbed him in the chest. She had tried to go after you, but Menogias refused to let you die, and used himself as a distraction to hold her off while you got Xiao and Bosacius to safety. He died with a smile on his face, knowing a peaceful afterlife awaited him. You were the one who buried him with the help of the other Adepti, and you held onto Xiao as he shook with silent sobs that evening. The next day, Bonanus had come back again, trying to attack you once more. However, Xiao was the one who protected you, and the one who fell dead at the end of the fight was Bonanus.

Bosacius disappeared next, his Karmic Debt having made him go mad as well. However, he didn’t try to attack anyone, and instead left one evening after mumbling to himself in a corner of the encampment. Even after searching for him for days on end, you never found any trace of him. Guizhong was the one who comforted both you and Xiao, since you both viewed him as family in a way. After his disappearance, there was a distinct lack of enthusiasm as Morax finally told Xiao that he was the last Yaksha alive.

Guizhong’s death hit everyone the hardest. You and Xiao had arrived just as she was saying her last words to Morax, a smile on her face as she crumbled into the finest dust, carried off by the wind. Everyone mourned her the longest, since she had been so kind and caring towards everyone she knew. All that she had left behind for Morax was a stone dumbbell that she had created alongside the other mechanisms and such she had made. You remember very distinctly that your father had looked at the dumbbell for a long time, before eventually giving up on opening it. You knew you should comfort him, Guizhong was his closest friend, and yet, you still stayed beside Xiao, comforting him and making sure he was alright.

The day of your wedding with him was the happiest day Xiao could remember in his lifetime of sadness and loss. It was a small ceremony, but a meaningful one, nonetheless. He was ecstatic when he finally slipped the ring on your finger, smiling softly when you slid the ring onto his finger. The rest of that evening, you both danced together, and he smiled almost the entire time, although it was a smile reserved for your eyes only.

Your honeymoon with him was very peaceful, having spent it with you in your Sereniteapot. He remembered helping you decorate, thinking how peaceful things could be if you were both mortals, or if you both didn’t need to protect Liyue all the time. Perhaps if he hadn’t made that contract with Morax, he would’ve been able to spend more time with you. However, this month away from everything related to his duties as a Yaksha, while the other Adepti gladly helped keep Wangshu Inn safe, was… different. It wasn’t the bad kind of different, but the kind of different that made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Xiao was about to get in the bath for the evening when you asked to join him, causing him to nod. “Why do you want to join me, anyways?” He asked, looking back at you as you both undressed. You smiled softly. “Because I like spending time with you, and couples bathe together all the time.” You reasoned. He shrugged, before looking at you again. “Your tail would be too big for the bath, but we could bathe in the hot spring, if you don’t mind.” He suggested. “The outdoor hot spring? Ooh, actually, that would be good for stargazing, sure!” You replied. “The stars in the Realm Within are fake, you know that, right?” He deadpanned. “It’s supposed to be romantic, Xiao, I know they’re fake and that they’re just based off of the actual night sky outside of the abode.” You said, before getting dressed again and grabbing some towels. You also grabbed the shampoo and conditioner, as well as some soap, too. You then walked with Xiao to the hot spring and closed the door, locking it behind you. Even though the two of you were alone, you still took extra precautions when it came to privacy. You slowly stripped of your clothing, keenly aware of the pair of eyes burning into your back as you did so. “Like what you see?” You asked teasingly, watching as his face went bright red. He looked away, coughing awkwardly, before he started to remove his own clothing. He got into the warm water of the hot spring and waited for you to join him, jolting slightly as your tail made contact with his bare waist, pulling him closer to you. “Hey there, why so far away?” You asked, smiling at him. He was lost for words, and looked away, not quite sure how to handle the situation despite bathing with you in the waterfall pools of Jueyun Karst many times before this. “No need to be so nervous, Xiao, you can look at me, I don’t mind.” You cooed, causing him to look back at your face. “You know I’m not used to doing these things in this type of setting, (name).” He said, seemingly annoyed at your actions. However, you knew that he thought they were endearing, and that he didn’t mind you doing this sort of stuff, so long as it didn’t make him uncomfortable. With his words in mind, you gently placed your hand against his chest. “Well, we don’t have to do anything like that tonight if you don’t want to.” You said, smiling at him gently. However, he wanted to, he just didn’t know how to tell you. After a couple of minutes, Xiao pulled you into his lap, letting you straddle him. You gently grasped his shoulders, looking down at him as he looked at you. “Please.” He whispered, telling you what you needed to know. “Are you sure?” You asked once more, receiving an almost breathy “yes,” in return. You nodded, before lining him up with your entrance and dragging your hand up and down his shaft, pumping him a few times and then slowly sliding him inside. He gasped softly as you lowered yourself on him slowly, squeezing around him as you adjusted to the feeling of his thick girth dragging against your walls. Xiao gripped the edge of the hot spring tightly, letting himself relax as he bottomed out inside of you. The two of you stayed like that for a little bit, giving yourselves time to adjust before you slowly rocked your hips against his.

He tried to cover his mouth with his hand, only for you to swivel your hips and move them faster. You watched as his hands flew to your hips to still them. “Don’t cover your mouth like that, I want to hear you.” You cooed, gently grabbing his shoulders as your eyes drifted to gaze at his neck. It was as if he knew you wanted to do something, because he sighed softly, before slowly tilting his head to the side to expose more of his neck. You took the opportunity, leaning in and sinking your sharp fangs into the skin of his neck. You sucked on the skin until it was purple, and pulled away after a few long seconds. Xiao panted softly, leaning against the rim of the hot spring for support as you started moving a little faster. There was a warm sensation in his lower stomach as he felt you squeezing around him tighter. “Nh~ feels s’good, Xiao~” you gripped his shoulders tightly as he bucked his hips up against yours. “Ah~ right there, please~” you gasped softly when his spongy tip hit the sensitive bundle of nerves deep inside of you. He pulled out to where only the tip was in, before he angled his hips to where he would hit that spot again. He slammed his hips against yours, watching as you squeezed his shoulders tightly, digging your nails into his skin hard enough to draw blood. He didn’t mind, though, and kept bucking his hips up against yours as he leaned up and kissed you. You moaned against his lips, whining softly whenever he slowed down. He trailed kisses up from your shoulder to your neck, before biting into the soft skin and tugging at it lightly with his teeth. His yellow eyes gazed into yours before he hid his face in your neck, his thrusts starting to get sloppier. He twitched slightly inside of you as you felt your own orgasm getting closer. “M’so close, please don’t stop- Anh~” you moaned softly, reaching up and tugging at his soft hair. He twitched harshly inside of you as you continued tugging on his hair, before he started fucking into you at a brutal pace as you continued to do so. You wailed his name as you came, tugging hard on his hair as you rode out your high. You clenched and squeezed around him as he slammed his hips into yours one last time and came, thick spurts of white filling you up and making you tremble from how full you felt. You wrapped your legs around his waist, doing the same with your tail as you kept him inside of you. After what felt like hours more, he slowly pulled out, causing you to whine quietly as he grabbed the soap and cleaned you up. He then shampooed and conditioned your hair, taking great care to be gently with you while he did so. After he was done, he did the same to his hair, before grabbing the towels and drying you both off. He wrapped you up in one of the towels and wrapped his waist with another. Xiao then carried you in his arms back to the house, stopping to grab your clothing and his along the way out of the outside hot spring area.

When he got back to the house, he took you to the bedroom and laid you down under the covers, before getting under them with you after putting the towels and clothes away. He fell asleep easily that night, holding you close as the two of you slept.

When Xiao started to succumb to his Karmic Debt, he knew even you wouldn’t be safe from him. “Xiao, what’s going on? Are you ok?” You asked. He used his last threads of sanity to scream at you to run, run far and run fast. You refused, using a shield to protect yourself as he launched himself at you. Even after the shield broke, you fought back against him as best you could. But you were losing your strength, unable to keep up with his fast attacks and his immense strength. Eventually, he had you pinned down, his polearm pointed at your neck. He was about to stab you when the sound of a flute pierced the air, calming him as the wind blew calmly around the two of you. His eyes, once glazed over and filled with hatred, softened, and the light in them returned. When he saw you, and the way you had been pinned down by him, tears filled his eyes as he dropped his polearm to the ground and stepped off of you. He stepped back when you got up, falling to his knees as he sobbed. However, he stopped when you wrapped your arms around him, pulling him close to you. “It’s alright, I know you didn’t mean to.” You whispered into his hair, gently rubbing his back as you cradled him against you. “I’m sorry.” He whispered, over and over, repeating the sentiment like a mantra. He eventually passed out, leaving you to carry him somewhere safe, but he never forgot the fact that he’d almost killed you that night.

Xiao saw true terror during his time in the Chasm, when he spoke to Bosacius. It was obvious that he was a malevolent spirit now, making the space they were in chaotic with the Karmic Debt he once held running rampant. It had taken what felt like centuries for him to get through the rift to everyone, but things gradually played out from there, and he discovered that Bosacius had fought to the bitter end for Liyue, even after his Karmic Debt had driven him to madness. When he teleported the others to safety as he ran out of Adeptal Energy to work the Fantastic Compass, he pictured you, smiling at him whilst standing in a field of Glaze Lilies as his eyes slipped closed. He still loved you dearly, he knew you knew that. He just wished he could say goodbye to you before being trapped in the Chasm forever like this as he fell into the seemingly endless darkness below…

But there was no darkness, only blinding golden light as two forces pulled him out of the Chasm together. When he opened his eyes again, he saw everyone around him who had been in the Chasm. When he looked up at the ledge, he could’ve sworn that he’d seen Zhongli standing there. And when he looked back, he saw you again. You ran to him, fighting back tears as you tackled him to the ground and hugged him tightly. “Don’t you ever do that again. I could’ve lost you.” You whispered, holding onto him like it was your last chance to do so.

You didn’t let him walk back by himself to Wangshu Inn, you teleported the two of you to the balcony, walking inside with him in your arms. You carefully tended to his wounds, healing them until he was properly patched up, before cupping his face in your hands. “Why do you insist on sacrificing yourself so often for the sake of others?” You asked quietly. Xiao knew it was a rhetorical question, and let you continue. “Please stop throwing yourself in dangerous situations like that. You’re lucky me and my father got there in time. You could’ve…” you didn’t finish the thought aloud, but he knew what you were thinking. “I… I didn’t mean to upset you, and I’m sorry, but it is my duty as a Yaksha to protect the people of Liyue from danger.” He reminded you. He held his constant glare until you looked up and he saw the tears in your eyes. He rushed forward and wrapped his arms around your waist, letting you lean against him as your knees went weak. You went limp in his arms as he held you, gripping his shoulders tightly as you sobbed into the crook of his neck. Xiao picked you up bridal style and carried you to your shared bed, sitting down under the covers after taking his and your shoes off. “I’ve already almost lost you once, please don’t make me lose you for real this time.” You whispered, wrapping your arms around him and hugging him tightly. Your tail wrapped around his waist, keeping him close to you. He sighed deeply, hugging you back as you started to relax. After you’d slightly calmed down, your grip loosened a little, and he pulled away slightly to wipe away your tears. “I still must protect Liyue, but I will try to be more careful if it means that your worries will be eased.” He said, reaching up and running his fingers through your hair. You leaned against him, melting into his touch. “Thank you.” You whispered, looking at him. His gaze locked with yours, and his eyes went half lidded as he spoke. “I love you, you know that. I will continue to do so until we’ve both crumbled into the finest dust, and all of Liyue has forgotten our names. Never forget that.” He said, cupping your face in his hands. He leaned forward and kissed you, pressing his lips firmly against yours as he held you there. You smiled tiredly at him, resting your head against his shoulder as you started to doze off. Xiao did the same, having decided to get some much desired rest after today’s events. However, just before he fell asleep, he heard a soft “I love you too, Xiao,” fall from your lips, as he, for the first time in millennia, fell asleep peacefully.

#genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #genshin #xiao #xiao x reader smut #xiao x reader #xiao smut

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m1d-45 · 2 years ago

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I'm not sure if reqs are open, buy if you, can you please do something like this, but the reader is a teen? (15/16?) (Just like me irl lmao) (sorry if reqs are closed and for my blindness) ._."<3

still too young

a/n: straight up had no idea what to do for this one, so heres a vague assortment of headcanons about it. thank you for your request, and yes, they’re open!

word count: ~1.5k

-> warnings: spoilers for inazuma and the first sumeru archon quests, spoilers for albedo and razor lore, uhh people are unnecessarily rude to you, they kinda don’t see you as a person due to the nature of this situation—not all of them, but a major chunk. they’re simultaneously very obsessive and very lax. bad format.

-> lowercase intended!

taglist: @samarill || @thenyxsky || @valeriele3

< masterlist >

right off the bat, things are going to be a lot different even as they’re very similar. when your main—who will be referred to as the favored for simplicity—finds you in the field, they still behave the same. theyre still going to be convinced that you’re the key to their god’s forgiveness, and though they’re surprised at your age, they don’t miss a beat. you’re too old to be so easily convinced, but you’re still too young to be wise enough to say no.

you’re tucked in the corner, a hilichurl’s club held tight in your shaking grip.

for the sake of this, we’ll say that you’ve been intentionally avoiding them, unwilling to taint your opinion of them. now youre cornered, and you doubt that teyvat can knit the bushes behind you tight enough to delay them. you don’t want to fight them, you don’t, but their weapon was still on display, shining in the early morning light as their shoulders heave with exertion.

they follow your eyes and dismiss it, carefully approaching you. the blessing of their god is lesser this time, but still powerful enough that they’re on the right track.

“hello,” they say, and introduce themselves. it’s useless, considering you know them already, but it’s not as if they know that.

when they prod for your name, you don’t answer, not even to give a fake one, and they frown. you do seem scared.. maybe they should try this from a different angle?

“i’m not here to hurt you,” they whisper, taking another step closer. “i promise.”

you’re too tired to think of resisting.

sumeru

• starting with this one first: no way in hell the akademiya is taking you seriously once it registers

• not a chance.

• the sages are welcoming(ish) at first, willing to allow this version of their savior—for who else could save them from their ‘god’s wrath?—to be… like this, but that must be because you want to better influence the young, right? you want to be relatable? this, all this is because you want to better be able to understand and talk to the newest generation, right?

• they’re like a corporation on twitter. that’s the nicest way to put it

• once they realize, through one mean or another, that no, you’re just young, this isn’t an alteration to your form, you’re being dismissed. you’re not their god, they don’t have to pay attention to you. they don’t have to pay attention to your odd sense of humor and whatever ‘based’ means in your eternally complex context. all they have to do is make you happy and keep you safe.

• (you’re not. to either.)

• to the sages of the akademiya, you’re a means to an end.

• if, by chance, you’re a tighnari / collei main, you’re a lot better off! they’re kinder, protective to a fault. you quickly become commonplace in gandharva ville, and integrate a lot easier. they’re probably two of the few to register you as the actual creator, but that’s mostly because theyre the ones who patch you up most often. it might take a while, but stick it out.

liyue

• more people who will laugh at you </3

• ningguang is the leader of liyue in every way that matters, and i just… i can’t see her taking a teenager seriously. you could lay out a 3-page, mla formatted—not that she’d recognize it—essay with cited sources, but she’d dismiss it all under the grounds of a minor grammatical error in line 4 of paragraph 5. oh, and it’s below the required word count for a report submitted to the qixing, so jot that down. you could use the words.

• in her mind, you’re just another task. something else to take care of, one that admittedly takes priority since you’re from their god, but still. she feeds you, makes sure you have clean clothes and aren’t sick, she keeps you safe, but it’s all hollow. keqing doesn’t care for you all that much—her creator’s on thin ice anyway—and though ganyu is kind, she can’t do much outside of bringing you a bundle of qingxin whenever you’re down(always). to the liyue qixing, you’re an assignment. one they can’t fail.

• if you’re a childe main, i’m sorry.

• if you’re a xiangling main, you have a chance at normality. she’s pretty strange but will be unlikely to turn you in or be harsh about it.

• if you’re a hu tao main, you also have a chance, just do your best to convince her not to bring you to zhongli. please.

• if you’re a zhongli main i’m sorry.

• can’t believe i almost forgot xiao, but i don’t feel i need to say much on the topic except for asking what color you want your shackles to be /hj

inazuma

• WOOO BOY

• R.I.P. to you, you had a nice run, good luck ever being able to leave the tenshukaku. the second the shogun sees you, it’s game over. to her, the people and environment are too inconsistent, too changing, too dangerous for somebody of your caliber. she’ll insist with iron eyes and a steel hand that you’re to stay there, where they can keep you safe. to her, the creator was the ultimate symbol of eternity—after all, what else is constant but creation? what else is certain besides the fact that new life will flourish, live, then die again?

• i’ll be one of the first to insist that ei =/= the raiden shogun, but it still stands that ei was still the one to give the shogun her commands. when she said to enforce eternity, her word was law, and when she says to keep you from leaving, she still carries that weight to her voice. what she says goes, and she says that you are to stay there.

• if you’re a kamisato main, rip.

• similarly, sorry to all the thoma mains.

• kazuha’s technically from inazuma so i’ll put him here: you have the best chance with him alone. the crux seem kind, but beidou is.. close with ningguang.

• if you’re a heizou main… play your cards right.

mondstat

• honestly? your best chance at living an okay life.

• they’re a nation of freedom! that isn’t to say they won’t vehemently press against you leaving the city—or springvale, if you’re smart about it—but you will have the most freedoms. they keep you from the kitchen and training grounds, but if you’re really interested then kaeya and jean might set up a very, very child-proof mock training set up for you. lisa also has a giant library, so guess what hobby you have now. sucrose and albedo may or may not let you watch—from a very safe distance with 10ft of protective barriers—and it’s a toss up as to whether diluc would even let you leave the manor, let alone mondstat.

• albedo mains are royally screwed. like you have a negative percent chance of ending up okay in this certain hyper-specific au. either he’ll keep you for evaluation and minor experimentation, or he’ll find out some way to keep you in the city / monitor your location. as a master(?) of khemia, he has a heavy interest in the creator. if you’re his chance to understanding it, them, and himself better, you are not leaving.

• quick fire: lisa mains have no chance, jean + noelle mains have an okay shot, and amber mains have a ~32% chance, diluc and kaeya mains are on the thinnest of ice. if you’re a diona main i have several questions but the only important one is who do you think she’ll turn you in to?

• if you’re a razor main 1) i love you keep up god’s work 2) you have one of the best chances! he’s not really involved with many people, just pray that lisa doesn’t find out about you. same goes for bennett, though he may be suspicious after a while and turn you in(his bad luck fades when you’re around sorry i make the rules)

• if you’re a venti main…. uh.

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avemstella · 1 year ago

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so that archon quest, huh. Would be absolutely thrilled to hear what u have to say about fontaine act V :] i love all your takes on furina & neuvillette & fontaine as a whole, and of course childe [pretty much an honorary fontanian with how he unintentionally got wrapped up in everything whoops]

Oh boy, I have so many thoughts. To start with some non-spoilerly stuff: I loved it so much. I'm not sure if I'll say it's my favorite Archon Quest yet (I think I would have to go through some of the older ones), but I think it's safe to say Fontaine overall as an arc is my favorite. Even its weakest part (the prison stuff, tbh it was a pacing issue) was still really solid and the ending, while not perfect, really landed. Genshin continued the trend from Sumeru of having the playable characters really take the stage and god there were some great standouts (Navia/Neuvi/Furina to name my favs, but I also loved my fatui and there really isn't anyone I've disliked). And well, the quest (and Furina's chara quest) made me cry like a baby, so that's a win.

Tbh, I think my biggest issue, wasn't even really an issue with the story but just a case of I had a very clear idea of what I wanted out of it (the woes of writing speculative fic pfft) and when it wasn't that I'm like "awww darn". Thats on me, and I genuinely really loved what we got, but it do be like that sometimes haha.

Spoilers below, oh boy (also my Furina fic spoilers too lol).

Eldritch abomination Furina I'll mourn u forever. I can't complain because Furina splitting herself in two to go fuck u to the heavens is such a boss ass move I can't haha. Okay, but I will say, even if I'm probably the only one, I do wish they brought some Remuria stuff up in the main quest. They had the perfect set up with Ajax being there with his Greek myth references and just ahhhh, one can hope they do something with it later. But yes, just know it's my silly headcanon that Focalors just lied about being an Oceanid to Neuvi and is one of King Remus's fucked up Primordial Sea experiments that maybe caused the Abyss rift at the fall of Remuria.

But yes, Furina, Furina, I'm crying. She really destroyed the girl failure accusations in the most glorious way possible. She literally didn't fail once (either of her), she plotted out a plan to trick the heavens, give back what was stolen, and save her people and she did it perfectly. As you're probably well aware, I'm a big fuck u Celestia gal, so it was just so satisfying to see her just obliterate the throne (even when I was crying haha). And honestly, super relevant to the state of the real world, but her giving back sovereignty to Neuvi in my mind is a very clear decolonization metaphor. Ages past descenders came to Teyvat, killed the dragons and created their own order, and now Focalors is returning that power back to said dragon (or well, the dragon's heir, it's a bit vague if Neuvi's literally the old dragon's soul reincarnated or just the body).

The entire scene between Neuvi and Focalors was great, though I will admit I have one issue with it (and even then I go back and forth on it haha). Neuvi in that scene doesn't have a big attachment to Focalors. What I mean is that ultimately Neuvi only ever knew Furina (which side note I'll get into this next, but I do view them as the same person, but still), and with Focalors' 'death' he's not technically losing anything, the person he's sad over will still be there. Like don't get me wrong, he's very empathetic and can be sad over this person who is dying for them, but I feel like it could have been even more heartbreaking if he had met Furina/Focalors before the split, or he had interacted with Focalors somehow in the past, and so in this moment he wasn't just watching Furina's sacrifice, but the sacrifice of someone he shares memories with. But that's me being picky haha and not really a critique on the writing.

But yes, Furina! Focalors! As I previewed before, I'm going to come out swinging with a possibly hot take. They are, and always were the same person. Yes, Focalors is the divinity, but as we see after Furina is allowed to rest her persona, Furina is also super mature and knowledgeable. In Neuvi's flashback quotes of Furina, it's her softly giving important advice about living with humanity, which is what Focalors was all about. And much like Furina, Focalors loves preforming, she loves humans, she gets all excited about Furina and her future, and is sad she won't get to experience it.

Not to remotely downplay Furina's suffering (because holy shit my poor girl), but Focalors too played her role. Unlike Furina who had Neuvillette and all her friends post this, Focalors was all alone in the Oratrice, waiting for the day she had to kill herself. Furina, has the promise of a future, despite all the suffering she endured to get there. She gets the reward of a happy life as a human surrounded by people who love her, and while it was touch a go for a bit, she was told one day her play would end. In contrast, while Focalors didn't have the same anxiety that Furina had, Focalors knew from the beginning she would never get to see her people saved. Technically she, like Furina, didn't even know if it would even happen. She put her faith in Neuvillette to follow through, and while she had the utmost faith in him, she could never know for certain. But much like her mirror Furina, Focalors weighed her suffering over the people of Fontaine's, and never once faltered. Furina was willing to possibly kill herself via primordial seawater in order to keep up her ruse, whose to say Focalors wasn't the same. Smiling at Neuvillette until the last moment because she couldn't risk him interfering, hiding away her anxieties and sorrow, so he wouldn't look so sad. Furina's performance ended, Focalors' never will.

Focalors was so certain she couldn't be human, but as we see from the Oceanids it was totally possible. And even more vitally, we see from the other Archons it's possible. They might fumble around a bit (some more than others, looking at u Ei), but they are learning and immersing themselves with their people. While not an Archon, it's the same with Neuvillette. Focalors should have had the same opportunities as Furina and the rest (mostly because she is Furina), but the world isn't kind, and that's why her sacrifice hurts.

If u can't tell I have a lot of feelings about Focalors/Furina and while I can appreciate a joke about Focalors giving Furina anxiety, I'm also like, they are literally the same person working together, she deserves the world (all of her).

But yes, I can go on and on about Furina, but for now I'll move onto our boy Childe. To get it out of the way, a little disappointed that we really got no answers about him. Poor guy didn't really have any lines. Also, not big on Skirk's design, mostly the outfit. Putting her next to Dain and uh, yeah (like don't get me wrong don't mind the color scheme and all, but could she not have gotten some kind of armor. Or look more like Foul Legacy or something idk).

But onto more happier notes, I'm so happy to see Childe finally getting to do well in a fight. I know it's a meme for him to get beaten up, but my dude is the Vanguard, let him win sometimes (he doesn't technically win here, but he was fighting an eldritch whale monster for ages and helped save Fontaine, I'm giving it to him). And Skirk, while her design is mostly less to be desired, I'm winning on guessing her hair and eye color haha. Also, while I'll always love my version, I'm liking her personality so far. Her yeeting Childe, while I admit took me out a bit (I thought she threw him farther into the Abyss and was like, "uh guys, yall worried about my poor boy here???" and then was a bit baffled at them saying he was fine) was so fucking funny. It's cool to learn "Foul Legacy" refers to a literal person, and I found the fact that Skirk's relationship with Foul is basically the same as her relationship with Childe very amusing. And it seems she's Khaenri'ahn, maybe? Also, I thought she was listing off her master's other names at first, so when she said Gold I got super hyped that I guessed correctly about the narwhal being Rhine's in my fic, but then they were like nope pfft. I'll take it as a win.

Sidenote, Alice and Rhine where are yoooouuuuuu.

Ultimately, while I enjoyed the Childe and Skirk stuff, it really just feels like a set-up for later stuff. Which isn't really a problem, but I was hoping we'd get something a bit more concrete. Like, I thought we were going to get answers about the "it" that Skirk saw in him, and it would have to do with the Narwhal, but now it seems those were mostly unrelated??? While I did find baby Ajax accidentally waking up a big world eating monster up kind of hilarious, it did feel a little incidental, if that makes any sense. Like, Fontaine's doom was an accident and not the result of anyone's choices. But that might just be a me thing. (and the quest needed more Arle, where was she??? my not really based on anything theory is that whenever we get Furina (or maybe Nevui's) 2nd character quest, Arle will be the boss fight. A reverse of the normal final Harb boss fight during the Archon quest)

Okay, because I really don't want to end on a downer (as I said uptop, I genuinely adored this quest haha), here are some minor spoilers from the Narzissenkreuz Ordo quest that have me by a chokehold.

I wasn't ready for a sudden Ajax. What does this mean??????

And this one just makes me laugh. Whichever Ordo member wrote this, I vehemently disagree with u and am on Khaenri'ah's side with this one. I'd much rather have bread then some higher power nonsense. In my fic I tend to write Khaenri'ah more akin to a modern nation than a fantasy one, and its nice to see me vindicated pfft.

Other random notes, enjoyed that the Fatui weren't just cartoonishly evil in both the main and world quests. I like some nuance. I saw that Sandrone hint, that was fun. Though it makes me wonder when we'll get Columbina lore (especially because if the theory about Harbinger boss fight order based on the Constellation circle is true, she should be showing up soon. Though also I half think that order will break because if it doesn't, it means Sandrone will probably be the final Harb boss which is an odd choice.) As revealed on Furina's weapon, Egeria being around during Remuria raises so many questions around the timeline of events. Genshin pls tell me when the Archon war takes place in all this pls (if they tell us in some lore I haven't read yet, whoops). (also on egeria, I mourn my version but hey, she exists in my heart and in my fics pfft. I can't wait to write her in smfwtwd and venti fic, though she's getting a new name for confusion and better symbolsism)

the contrast between Neuvi and Furina after the quest is so funny and sad. Neuvi "Furina is the best, I want her to be happy". Furina, "Everyone hates me, Neuvillette most of all, I can never face him again." And the other Archons, they are all like Furina, wow u are so cool (which just highlights Neuvi's utter disdain for them other than Nahida haha).

And most vitally, Furina and Venti should be best friends. Musically inclined performers who definitely aren't plotting to overthrow the heavens. I think they are neat (they also both have Latin names!).

#avem rambling #avem's asks #I could probably go on forever #but I'll restrain myself pfft #also still making my way through the exploration #finished the ordo the fairy and the missing pelican quests #but my exploration in general is still low #I like taking my time #like I took my time answering this ask pfft #as u can tell I have to many thoughts lol

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hutaosgraveyard · 2 years ago

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“A second chance”

A Scaramouche x GN!Reader fanfic

Spoilers for the 3.3 Archon Quest ahead!

Chapter 1: Who is he?

You’re a scholar in Sumeru, plagued by the faintest memory of someone, someone you cared for deeply. But you couldn’t remember who. You soon meet a wandering eccentric, who seems vaguely familiar to you, but you just couldn’t figure out how.

Masterlist

———————————————————————

“Would you be more careful when tossing books down at me? Multiple of these have hit my head!” An annoyed Kaveh shouted, picking up the books you dropped from the floor.

“Sorry, it’s not intentional I swear,” you apologized, tossing one last book at him, before climbing down the latter.

Kaveh groaned, “You know, when you asked for some assistance on gathering some research, I didn’t expect to be just doing your dirty work,”.

“It’s not dirty work, I just can’t hold all these books at once,” you shook your head.

“What are you even researching anyways?” He asked, inspecting some of the books you picked out.

“Human emotion, I don’t really have any interest in the subject, but Faruzan convinced me it would be good for me to look into,”.

“Faruzan?”

“Sorry, madam Faruzan convinced me it would be good for me to look into,” you rolled your eyes.

“Why would it be good for you to look into?” Kaveh asked.

You shrugged, “Probably because it’s different from what I usually research. Going outside of your comfort zone can be beneficial at times,”.

Kaveh nodded, before you two made your way outside of the Akademiya. After a few minutes of walking, the silence between you two was broken by Kaveh when he asked, “You’ve been strangely out of it recently, what’s up with that?”.

“You’re certainly full of questions today, I feel like I’m being interrogated right now,” you responded.

“Just answer the question,”.

“Well if you’re really that curious,” you began to explain, digging in your pocket for your house keys as you neared your home, “I’ve been having this strange feeling that I’ve completely forgot something, or someone. And it won’t go away. No matter what I do, I can’t remember what I have forgotten. It’s honestly starting to worry me,”.

“That’s unlike you, your brains like a library, with how much you have stored in there,”.

You unlocked the door to your home, “Ha,”.

“I’m sure whatever you’re forgetting isn’t that important, you really shouldn’t let it get to you,” Kaveh advised, pushing his way ahead of you once you opened your door, relieved to finally be able to put the books down.

“I’ve been trying, but it feels like it’s really important. I’ve been losing sleep because of it, ridiculous I know,” you admitted, sitting down on your sofa.

“That is ridiculous, you just forgot something, it’s not like you murdered someone. It really isn’t worth losing sleep over,” Kaveh sighed.

“Yeah,”.

He was right, it was probably nothing. You really hoped that it was nothing, at least. You’d feel so guilty if you had actually forgotten something important.

“Speaking of forgetting things, I’m supposed to be meeting Al Haitham at Lambad’s Tavern at this very moment. Damn, it completely slipped my mind. Anyways, want to come with me?” Kaveh invited.

“Sure, maybe getting to watch you two bickering will take my mind off things,”.

With that, you and Kaveh exited your house, walking across the city to the tavern. You wondered just how pissed Al Haitham would be at Kaveh’s tardiness. You were sure it would be amusing to see. On your walk, you noticed a rather beautiful man in shades of blue. You stopped in your tracks. You couldn’t help but feel a sense of deja vu just by seeing him. Where had you seen him before? Perhaps he was a scholar.

“What are you standing there for?” Kaveh asked, a confused expression on his face.

You shook your head, it was impolite to stare. “Nothing,” you said, catching up with Kaveh.

You noticed the man staring at you, he must have noticed you. Embarrassed, you quickened your pace, leaving behind an annoyed Kaveh.

You were unsure why, but that man felt so, familiar. And no matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t take your mind off of him. Just who was he?

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Authors notes:

•this isn’t proofread so I’m not sure if it has spelling issues or not, I hope not though 😭

•wrote this at 3 am 💪💪💪

•more chapters will be released soon, and the SMAU will probably be updated closer to Christmas.

•Incase you haven’t already realized, the man in blue is Scara.

•for simplicity purposes, Scara will just go by “Kuni” in this fic.

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Taglist:

@mcryv @auvioh @belletifeshyl @raideneiari @local-mr-frog

If you want to be added to the taglist, just ask! I’ll be happy to add you!

#genshin impact #genshin #scaranation #scaramouche x reader #scaramouche

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starry-briar · 1 year ago

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I am going absolutely feral over the Fontaine world quests, and not just because Albedo got mentioned in passing.

[Vague spoilers below the cut]

I originally thought that Genshin would start pulling its various lore and story threads together in earnest late in the Sumeru patches. Turns out I was slightly off -- the game is doing it now.

And the way it's doing it! I am a total sucker for playing historian and/or archaeologist in video games. I find myself constantly referring to the in-game archives.

"An 'alien life core'?? That has got to be from the Abyss!"

"Why would there be consecrated beasts in the Beryl Region?"

"Do we know what Abyss Lectors/Heralds/etc are?"

"Didn't the name Narzissenkreuz come up in an artifact set?"

I've even finally motivated to go back and actually do the quest with Sorush. It seemed so interesting, but until now, I was just too burned out to do it. But seeing more about how it ties into other parts of the lore...now I have to do it!

The music in Fontaine also helps. The music you get when wandering around above water is pleasant, but underwater is where it truly shines. It's a particular brand of orchestral music that I usually associate with museum planetariums and science documentaries. Even before doing the world quest, it naturally made me think about how life on Earth originated in the oceans.

Some of the themes and ideas presented in the world quests make me think this connection is deliberate.

Everything feels so deliberate! Yes, especially that Albedo reference. Even if it was only in passing, by the end of the quest it was obvious the game wanted you to have him in the back of your mind because goodness the quest has implications. (Most of which were already covered or at least heavily implied by limited events, weapon lore, and other areas less accessible than a permanent quest, but still.)

I've even managed to finally get myself excited to do the Archon Quest.

#genshin impact #fontaine spoilers #4.0 spoilers #only vaguely but still

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ephemeral--dreams · 2 years ago

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a fever I am learning to live with

Scaramouche/Reader

Rating: T

Word count: 558

Warnings: Choking (in a death threat way not a fun way), vague sumeru archon quest spoilers

Notes: watch this. writes more scaramouche at 4am

☆ ☾ ☆ ──────────────────

He couldn't even remember, exactly, how he'd ended up here. That was, leaning over you with his hands around your neck.

A long time coming, of course. You drew out far too many emotions within him, which was antithetical to his goals. He had locked away such things as care and love long ago. So why oh why did he let you affect him so deeply?

…Ah yes, that's what had led to this. A silly nightmare about you betraying him like everyone else shouldn't have set him off so easily, yet here you both were. But it wasn't that silly when it had happened too many times already… It was bound to happen with you too, one day. Wouldn't it be easiest to end you now?

His grip tightens. Scaramouche can feel the tension in your body as the flow of air becomes smaller and smaller.

But you don't struggle.

"Too weak to even fight against me? Pathetic. How have you even survived this long?"

"Will killing me make you feel better?" Your voice is so gentle that it makes him want to scream, to cry, to break down. He has his hands wrapped around your throat and all you seem to care about is how he feels.

It would, he could say.

It won't, if he chose to be honest.

"You should be begging for your life," is what he hisses out instead.

"Why? It's meaningless if you don't want me around."

Stupid, stupid, stupid. He's surrounded by stupidity and you're the worst of it. No one should let their existence hinge on his approval. Don't you know by now how rare it is for him to give it? "You're a naive idiot."

"And you're crying," you counter, reaching a careful hand up to wipe at the tears he hadn't realized were falling. Your eyes are soft, but not with the pity he expects. You should be judging him for how weak he is, crying like this. Yet you only seem concerned.

Before Scaramouche has the chance to think about it, his grip has loosened. He can't bring himself to kill the only person who cares for him, and he knows it.

Ridiculous. He's supposed to be above emotion by now. Such sentiment has no place in his heart. Hasn't he learned that by now?

Clearly he hasn't. He lets you kiss him, sleep beside him, lets you meddle with his heart. He's the true idiot here.

You take it in stride as you always do, far too patient no matter what he does. He doesn't deserve it. But if this isn't enough to drive you away, surely nothing is.

His hands, threatening your life only a moment ago, are taken into your own. You rub gentle, soothing circles into his palms. It's nice. It is every time you show him affection. Not that he would ever, ever say it out loud. He'd rather die than admit he wants your love.

"I'm not a child that you need to calm down. Why are you still here?"

You only smile, entirely unaffected by the harsh tone. "Let me keep you company. You shouldn't have to hurt alone."

It's an offer he should refuse, but he's done a pretty fucking terrible job of doing anything he should tonight. What's one more mistake? "Fine," he relents, allowing you to pull him back into laying in the bed with you.

Perhaps it would be another in a long line of regrets, but it seemed Scaramouche was stuck with you. He would simply have to accept it for what it was, however difficult that may be.

#scaramouche x reader #genshin impact #scaramouche #story unfolding

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tratserenoyreve · 2 years ago

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finally finished 3.2 quest! spoilers ahoy!

while i feel the story being told and the way they bring all the moving pieces together is a general upgrade, i do feel genshin still struggles with balancing showing and telling.

there were many times where i was hype to Play As someone doing a cool story beat, but instead we get a fade to black and jump-cut over to another character. i get dehya and alhaithem aren't fully implemented yet as playable characters but that only makes the story more frustrating for me when it is set up to make you think you're gonna get to see them in a fight but are let down with just text.

while a lot happens, the game had me flashing back to xenosaga where i'd spend half an hour in a cutscene then walk a little and spend another half an hour in a cutscene. you're told about a lot more of what's going on while not really participating, which i think is why people feel that sumeru is an exceptionally long chapter. the action is mostly verbal.

while i like characters having complex motivations and mixed priorities, like how nahida personally doesn't want to violate her people's autonomy but is fine with using the traveler to do it for her or in overriding the potential consciousness of a manmade puppet like katheryne, the game isn't going to really think about that for ages. like, the irony of nahida not seeing katheryne or scaramouche as fully being people when we have evidence that they Kind of Are is a neat flaw for her to have, but i doubt it'll be adequately explored as the story hurries onward.

the scene with scaramouche desperately trying to grab the gnosis was very good! but also presents another writing problem, it only has so much impact for me because i've bothered to pay attention to sidequests, events, and artifact lore that explains what scaramouche's deal even is. they tried to summarize it with that animated cutscene last patch but while beautiful it is Very Vague and difficult to understand the context of.

i think scaramouche is a neat antagonist! but if all you know of him is from the main story you don't really get Anything at all other than he's a manmade puppet who hates people and wants the gnosis.

the scene with nahida "meeting" rukkhadevata was bittersweet tho i wish they'd gone thru the trouble of like. i dunno, using something like an animated cutscene to represent her rather than cloning the baby elf model. her requesting her memory be destroyed wasn't surprising, but what is is how -thoroughly- she's erased.

after completing the quest, literally every mention of rukkhadevata is deleted from the game. traveler profile dialogue, books you have, npc comments, are all changed permanently to have her removed.

most terrifying is players discovering the aranara quest itself is different if you do it after doing the archon quest. the story quest about enduring memories is actually fully distorted by completing the archon quest. the forest does not remember rukkhadevata, you helped obliterate her memory as she asked. she is fully, irrevocably, gone.

only the Traveler remembers.

which is important, only the Traveler remembers the other worlds they saw with their twin. their memories are proven to be the most honest and consistent. so, if the Abyss twin is recorded in irmunsul after appearing in khaenri'ah, their memory is now susceptible to being changed. which is why the Traveler twin is so confused and may be part of why the Abyss twin is "different" now.

nahida makes a point of saying the Abyss Twin "appeared" in khaenri'ah, the nation whose king is the namesake of the irmunsul tree.

theory: the Traveler's memory is correct. the game spends too much time frequently presenting how the Traveler's immune to time distortion (the Chasm and their profile dialogue on teyvat's days being short) and how them not being a part of the world allows them to be a Witness (zhongli asks they carry on the memory of everyone in his story quest specifically as a Witness).

the Abyss Twin being recorded in irmunsul means -they are now susceptible to having their memory and identity changed-. this may be acting as a shackle for them, preventing them from leaving. i also believe the Abyss Twin is actively guarding the Traveler from being recorded by the irmunsul and obfuscating their presence.

the Traveler isn't wrong, both of the star twins aren't from teyvat. they just "appeared" in khaenri'ah after all. but, there is a potential that the Abyss Twin may have either purposefully struck the Traveler from the record and/or sacrificed their own freedom (and possibly identity) to guard their twin.

because the Traveler has no memory at all of teyvat when we start the game, and history there can be wholly rewritten, in a way reminiscent of how dainsleif describes the curse that befell khaenri'ah. how higher powers can rewrite who they were completely, erase their identity wholly, and there's nothing they can do about it.

#tratser talks about stuff #genshin impact #genshin impact spoilers #genshin impact 3.2 spoilers #side tangent: do not like how eleazar was cured so instantly #i would have much rather they focused on the concept of the community coming together to heal together and allow time to mend the wounds #rather than magically instantly dissolve it

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ninas-gf · 2 years ago

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vague sumeru archon quest spoilers below

i just finished the second part and it was AMAZING??? i might have even liked it more than the chasm quests, and that is saying something

im gonna need some time to process what just happened, bc that was a LOT…

#FINALLY i don’t have to avoid spoilers anymore :DDD #at least for the main quest

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genshin-djinn · 4 years ago

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Genshin Impact Chapter 1 Act 3: A Reaction.

Chapter 1 Act 3 is what took my experience with this game from “good game” to “masterpiece”.

THIS POST CONTAINS MANY, MANY SPOILERS FOR GENSHIN IMPACT CHAPTER 1: ACT 3

Genshin Impact has some problems— actually, it has a shit ton of problems. But during the fight against hordes of Fatui, with the Adepti channeling their abilities through my gang, flying through them as Oz, decimating them with Diluc— I just thought, this is the best time I’ve had in a mobile game in my life.

This game might not be perfect now— it’s only a quarter of the way done if we’re counting Karenri’ah. But it will be a fucking masterpiece once it’s all out. If this is the level of quality we’re getting for our archon quests, this game is going to be an amazing time on story alone.

KEQING

I love Keqing with all my heart. If she were alive today she would be a socialist here to topple the ruling 1%. When ningguang asked Aether who they trusted more, her or Keqing, I hit the Keqing button as fast as possible.

I think one of my favorite things about Keqing is that she’s so completely honest, which is unusual for a Liyue politician. If she doesn’t like something, she’ll speak out against it. If she thinks something else should be happening, she’ll make it happen. She can probably be deceitful at times, but in general she’s straightforwards in that she wants a government for the people and by the people.

I can’t wait for her story quest!

NINGGUANG

pretty.... voice pretty....

Ningguang is cool. Her JP voice is very pretty, like she could do ASMR videos online or smth. One thing I decidedly did not like about Ningguang is how her personality just ???? flips? In the middle of the quest, for no reason other than “because plot”.

It’s established that Ningguang cares about two things more than anything— the Jade palace and Mora. Why, then, would she destroy the Jade palace for the sake of Liyue? I get that she’s a good person at heart at all, but I want to see more of her indecision, her brain saying “mora” and her heart saying “Liyue”. The way she just flips on a dime isn’t really strange but it does contradict with her preexisting characterization.

Childe’s Boss Fight!

The section of this quest from Childe’s fight to the Adepti + Qixing battle is just nonstop adrenaline.

Childe is IMO a lot more fun than Dvalin (sorry Dvalin). I’m at WL5 and have a tendency to play fast and loose with important mechanics like.... dodging, for example.... and Childe’s Mask Electro form ended up destroying my team. I killed him with Guoba because everyone else besides Xiangling was dead. I

Another thing I really enjoy about Childe’s boss fight is that in the irrationalities of Childe as a character, it actually makes sense. Genshin is decent at making weekly bosses logical excursions— Andrius wants you to get stronger, Dvalin’s weekly fight is ~~all a dream~~; but tbh sometimes the weekly bosses don’t make sense. Andrius wants to train us, not murder us! How does dvalin, a dream slash memory that doesn’t exist, manage to knock someone out?

Childe as a weekly boss actually makes perfect sense. He’s an adrenaline junkie addicted to the thrill of fighting people— to put this in modern AU terms, he’s the guy who’s first in line to ride the rollercoaster that failed all of its health and safety checks. Childe wants to befriend the Traveler entirely because they’re stronger than him, so that he can fight them over and over again until he’s the strongest. Of course, this will never happen, because the Traveler is the MC and therefore is stronger than all others. However, in this way Childe being a repeatable boss makes 100% perfect sense— he actually wants to fight the Traveler again and again and again.

The one question I have about Childe is how in the living feck are the Fatui letting him join the Traveler and fight for them *against the Fatui*??? I think this might be touched on in Childe’s Story quest, which I’ll do in a bit, but like????? They let him keep his delusion and just walk over to Aether like “aight fam I’m on your team now”? How?

Jade Chamber/ Guizhong Ballista vs Sea Monster Fight!!

Basically, all my charged adrenaline from nearly dying to Childe just came to a head in this one huge fantastic fight.

And Xiao :)

I absolutely loved seeing the Adepti and the Qixing work together. This fight was probably my favorite fight in the whole game— the music was amazing (soundtrack where), the graphics were so nice, the adepti were so feckin cool, using everyone’s abilities was n I ce. My adrenaline was reaching its highest point at this fight and it was just perfect. It was just so fecking fun after days of WL5 pain, having to pop like five ultimates to kill one hillichurl, to be able to just demolish swathes of enemies with Fischl and Diluc, run around like a madman thanks to Xiao, have infinite health idr who did that for me but bless them, just absolutely destroy.

Ever since I hit WL5 I haven’t been able to really just go insane during a fight and stop caring about HP/ when to use skills/ dodging and this have me that opportunity.

Zhongli’s Deal

*punches Zhongli across the room with the power of being the player character* I love this man so much.

Zhongli Zhongli Zhongli Zhongli Zhongli. I AM VERY ANGRY AT HOW THE PLOT RESOLVED HIS STORYLINE. But it also makes a lot of sense. And I think, for once, Zhongli should be allowed to be selfish.

Because choosing to leave Liyue was a bit selfish. He’s leaving the country that adores him, loves him, gives him shit for free; to its own devices and then to a completely unknown fate once the new Geo Archon becomes god and takes over. But he made a frankly fantastic plan and can now leave the country, for now, in peace.

I was absolutely delighted to see Zhongli in Morax form. Making deals with La Signora, being a complete and utter puppet master who set this entire situation up and played Childe like a kazoo; but just like his dear friend Venti, I think Zhongli is happier when he’s just Zhongli, the eccentric mortal. He seems so much happier and so much more relaxed when he’s forgetting about mora and eating dinner with Aether and Paimon. Rex Lapis might have just put Liyue through the wringer, but he can now put down his 3000- year long reign and just be the happy, eccentric Zhongli.

Zhongli’s little bit of insecurity over being a “bourgeois parasite” makes perfect sense now— he doesn’t want to be seen as Morax, a superfluous god who’s using his name to get whatever he wants from the humans he watches over.

But also the part of my brain that feeds off lore nEEDS to KNOW what Zhongli got from Tsaritsa. What could be worth a gnosis? His own happiness isn’t enough— Tsaritsa is likely going to use his gnosis to try and destroy Liyue. What could be worth that?

My main thought would be either “someone’s protection” or “another gnosis”, but I don’t think the latter is possible. The former could be possible but doesn’t really make sense either— a) whose protection is worth putting an entire country, much less the world, in danger and b) the Fatui are out to kill everyone who isn’t Fatui, so they won’t agree to spare a major player in the war to come like that. Brain go brrr.

I’m very hyped for Zhongli’s story quest, which I think is coming with his banner on Dec 1, when Childe’s banner ends. I really hope that Zhongli visits Mondstadt and chills with Venti for a while, but anything with this guy would be fine lol.

LORE

We got a lot of lore this update and I am delighted by it.

Firstly, we get a tiny hint of how Visions are bestowed— “if a person shows true strength of will at a desperate and fateful moment in their life, the gods will look upon them with favor.” Vague but more than we had before.

Next we got some neat lore about Inazuma— firstly, that it’s led by a god named Baal and secondly that it steals everyone’s visions. I’m very hyped to visit because guess what fam aether doesn’t have a vision.

Final Thoughts

In case you can’t tell from my insane ramblings, I loved Chapter 1 Act 3 and I absolutely cannot wait to play through Childe’s story quest and Chapter 2 and beyond.

The Prologue in Mondstadt set the stage for Genshin. We started out in a fantasy environment with a fantasy tale of an immortal bard and a dragon. Mondstadt was an excellent introduction to the world of Genshin.

And now? We’re starting to build on that. Chapter 1 brings us another story of another god and their relationship with the country they watch over. Liyue is much less of a traditional fantasy setting and takes the darkness we saw in Mondstadt— a friendship ruined by manipulation and suffering— and build on it. Now we don’t just see the Fatui more often but we also see more of the Treasure Hoarders and the way both groups kidnap and experiment on humans.

Mond started to introduce us to the Fatui, but Liyue is where they really start bringing continuous plot relevance. Inversely, we saw much more of the Abyss Order in Mondstadt than we did in Liyue. I’m extremely disappointed we didn’t see any more of the Princess this chapter, but it makes sense given that Chapter 1 was really more about the Fatui than the Abyss Order.

All I’m trying to say is the Liyue arc was an excellent continuation to the stage Mondstadt’s arc set. Now, we’re on to the world of the Eternal Shogun, Baal! I’m really excited to meet new characters and experience new stories of Inazuma, but I hope we’ll continue to see Mondstadt and Liyue in the future. Mondstadt is likely going to be the most “boring” of the countries we experience, cuz it’s just so classically fantasy- themed, but it will always be the first country we explored in this world.

After Inazuma (if I had to take a shot in the dark, inazuma’s arc will take from December 23 to maybe March or April) we’ll go to Sumeru, which I am really extremely hyped for because it sounds extremely different from Mond and Liyue and we’ll meet Cyno and possibly even Collei! (just me extrapolating lol). I can’t wait to see where Genshin Impact goes story- wise, because its first major update has brought so much to the table.

#genshin impact #genshin spoilers #gi spoilers

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hutaosgraveyard · 2 years ago

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“A Second Chance”

A Scaramouche x GN!Reader fanfic

3.3 Archon Quest Spoilers!

You’re a scholar in Sumeru, plagued by the the faint memory of someone, someone you cared for deeply. But you couldn’t remember who. You soon meet a wandering eccentric, who seems vaguely familiar to you, but you just couldn’t figure out how.

Chapter 5: Unpleasant Memories

Previous | Next

Masterlist

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“Hey, hey Y/N, wake up!” Your friend shouted.

You opened your eyes, it was your childhood friend, Advika. “Advika, where are we?” You asked, sitting up.

You glanced at your surroundings, it was incredibly dark. You could barely make out anything, except for a few lit torches in the distance. Something about this place just felt, off. But you weren’t able to describe how. “Well, we were walking around in the forest when we fell into some cave. Then we woke up in this random place. Man, we probably should have been more careful, huh?” Advika chuckled.

You heard footsteps approaching you. You grabbed Advika’s hand and stood up, your other hand reaching to your pocket knife. “Who’s there?” You yelled, backing up slowly.

Suddenly, a band of hillichurls rushed towards you two, weapons at the ready. “Shit, we need to leave,” you muttered, turning around and sprinting deeper into the cave.

It felt like you two were running for hours, every twist and turn leading you to an area with scarier beasts than the last. You barely managed to fend off the monsters, and you risked your life the further into the cave you went. By now you both realized you were in the Abyss. Desperate to escape, you immediately ran up a flight of stone stairs as soon as you saw them. “The Abyss has stairs?? That’s weird,” Advika commented, struggling to keep up with you.

You rolled your eyes. You finally reached the top of the stairs, you let out a loud sigh. You turned around, noticing that the monsters from the area below stopped chasing you. Your friend nudged you and pointed in front of you both. When you looked in the direction she was pointing, a wave of instant regret washed over you. A large beast stirred, getting ready to attack. The beasts below probably knew this was up there, that’s why they stopped chasing you. You considered running back the way you came, but you know you would only run back into the other monsters that had been trying to kill you moments prior. You also noticed doors behind the beast, and the only way to get to it was through that thing. You pulled out your pocket knife, pointing it at the monster with a shaky arm. “Y/N stop, we need to go,” your friend said, pulling on your arm.

“We don’t have a choice, this damn thing is blocking what could be our way out. Besides, we go back and we’ll have to fight off what’s waiting for us down those stairs. At least there’s only one monster up here,” you explained, taking a step forward.

The monster quickly rushed at you, letting out a loud cry. You pushed Advika out of the way, before quickly jumping to the side. You lunged forward and charged at the beast, plunging your knife right into its side. It shrieked, shaking before flinging you right into the wall. You fell onto the ground, holding your left arm. It might have been broken, you weren’t sure. You quickly realized you might have gotten too confident in yourself. Sure, you had managed to fend off some hillichurls and abyss mages, but this thing? You were just a kid. How did you think you could defeat this? You just hoped Advika was able to slip past the beast and make it to the door. You weakly got up as the beast walked your way, pointing your knife at it again. It charged at you once more, but this time when you struck it, it was the one blown back. You paused, confused. How did you manage to do that? Your question was soon answered when you saw the vision floating down to you. You immediately grabbed it. You couldn’t help but smile, “Oh thank the Archons,”.

You lunged at the monster once more, being able to swiftly defeat it with the help of your vision. You stood by its dead body, struggling to keep your breath. Advika ran over to you, enveloping you in a tight hug, “Oh my archons, Y/N, are you okay?”.

You shook your head, “I’ll be fine, you?”.

“I’m doing great, don’t worry about me. I’m more worried about that arm, how did you manage to kill that thing?” She asked.

You deadpanned, holding up your vision. “Oh, right,” she chuckled.

“Did you seriously not realize I got a vision?”.

“I wasn’t really looking for most of that, I kinda got scared. I’m sorry,” she apologized.

You shook your head, “it’s fine, that was a lot. I wish I didn’t see it too. Anyways, let’s go. This door might be our way out,”.

You woke up, out of breath. It was only a dream. You were safe. Kuni glanced up from his book, “You’re up, you okay?”.

“Yeah, just a..a bad dream. I guess. What happened?” You sat up, confused.

“We were about to leave when you passed out, that’s what happened,” he reminded, setting his book down on your coffee table.

You glanced up at the clock. It was 10:43.

Fuck.

“I was supposed to be at the Akademiya two hours ago,” you sighed, getting up to get your bag.

A hand caught your wrist. “Bad idea, you clearly need to get some rest. And you need to see a doctor. You’d be pretty stupid if you didn’t go to a doctor at this point, given your condition,” Kuni shook his head.

You sighed, he had a point. “Fine, I’ll go see Tighnari tomorrow morning. In the time being, do you think you could take a letter to the Akademiya for me? They need to know why I haven’t been able to come in,” you asked, getting a piece of paper and a pen from a drawer.

“Yeah, sure. Just get some rest,” he agreed, leaning back into the couch.

You quickly wrote up a letter and handed it to him, “Thank you, Kuni,”.

He shook his head, “Don’t thank me, just go to bed and sleep. I’ll be back,”.

You nodded, waving goodbye to him as he left your house. You then headed to your bedroom and laid down in your soft bed. You wondered why he seemed to care about you so much? You had only just met the other day. Maybe he was just being nice. Although given now much time you’ve spent together since yesterday morning, that didn’t seem to be the case. You shook your head, you could worry about that later. You should just try to get some sleep. You turn onto your side, pulling your blanket over you and shutting your eyes.

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Authors notes:

•is it obvious Y/Ns backstory is a little inspired by Childe’s 💀

•bro is kinda traumatized

•soft scara soft scara soft scara

•I love throwing in little tid bits of Y/N and Scara’s backstory where I can

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Taglist:

@mcryv @auvioh @belletifeshyl @raideneiari @local-mr-frog @c0nn0rv8 @cherrybeomgyu

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