#why hoyoverse?

[katemartin17]

This is a message to whoever decided to put BABY Tepetlisaurs, Koholasaurus and Yumkasaurus on floor 9 of the Spiral Abyss:

I hate you 😭

[tarvalian]

XII - The Hanged Man, Upright: surrender, sacrifice, faith, perspective

[byfulcrums]

worm theory

alt:

[iridescentmirrorsgenshin]

obsessed with hoyoverse one-upping themselves every time they revisit Alhaitham and kaveh, they gave us a flashback of an intimate conversation in their home in cyno’s second story quest, and now we get a flashback of the two having a ‘private’ conversation in a ‘secluded’ place, where it’s casually dropped that kaveh programmed mehrak to recognise alhaitham’s voice ????

firstly, it’s very, um, INTERESTING that the flashback starts with a line which we have no context for, of kaveh stating that ‘we’ have more than a heartless, transactional relationship to alhaitham, presumably referring to him and Alhaitham. i feel like this lack of context is deliberate, as Alhaitham is the one to provide the context in the following line

this insinuation is !??!!? considering that kaveh has previously considered his and alhaitham’s relationship to be exactly that – a heartless, transactional relationship, in that he believed he owed Alhaitham something, and that Alhaitham expected something from him, when moving into alhaitham’s house

so personally I’m running with this line referring to mehrak, but also commenting on the progression of the relationship between Alhaitham and kaveh, I will make a more extensive post about this at some point!

But also this flashback scene provided us with apparently the very essential information that mehrak now recognises alhaitham’s voice <3

this is driving me a bit umm crazy actually!! Mehrak has been previously established as kaveh’s helper companion, and in his voice line he says that he hopes mehrak understands what he’s saying, which hints to his loneliness at the time he made it – after he moved into alhaitham’s house

and now we have a whole scene establishing how their relationship is not heartless, how kaveh feels terrible about having potentially driven it away from him, and ultimately how important mehrak is to kaveh, only for this to be followed by Alhaitham saying that he and mehrak have ‘met’, as if meeting a person, which to me establishes that he knows how mehrak is important to kaveh, and this culminates in Alhaitham letting kaveh program mehrak to recognise his voice

mehrak being emotionally significant to kaveh is being used to indicate the intimacy of Alhaitham and kaveh’s progressed relationship, as Alhaitham is the only other person whom mehrak recognises, and may even respond to – which highlights how important kaveh interprets the bond between him and Alhaitham to be

where kaveh used to be lonely, he now has integral bonds whom he allows himself to rely on, which corresponds to his understanding of a ‘home’

[saylor-twift]

“he loves you, but he would never say that to your face.”

“-but he would never admit that.”

“-but he would never tell you.”

???

Are you sure? I am an avid tumblr stalker, and I’ve read so many things on silly little hat man in my time. I’ve seen things that tore my heart to pieces, that patched it up, that made me want to rip my guts out and throw up, that made me feel on top of the world.

And yet this is the one thing that bothers me so very much. I know, everyone has their own interpretations and opinions on different characters. So let me share my own.

The Wanderer is such a deeply written and intricate character, strung together with deep fears and insecurities, tragic backstories, and a beautiful story of change, healing, and moving forward. (I hate hate hate it when he is forced down to the level of nothing but oversexualization and “uwu sexy anime boy”, but that’s a conversation for another time.)

I’m sure if you’re reading this, you’re probably acquainted with Wanderer’s backstory, so I’m not going to explain. A lot of shit happened that made him who he is, and ever since the events of Irminsul, he has taken on a new path that he cannot go back on. Not like he’d ever want to. He said it himself, he never had any intention of returning to the Fatui. (And also- why choose to go backwards when you’ve got such a nice path set ahead of you?)

Anyways, point is, he’s changing. Notice how I said changing. He’s not changed, he’s just starting to. He’s getting there. Which brings me back to my argument. In the case that Wanderer ends up with a partner, things are certainly not going to be like a normal relationship. (He’s got plenty of red flags, don’t even try to deny it. But he’s a fictional character, so I suppose we can let this one slide.) Is he going to make the first move? That depends on if you make him desperate enough. Otherwise, it’s all on you, babe.

He’s not going to take it well. He’s going to deny it as hard as he can. You don’t love him, how can you? He is the furthest thing from loveable as you can get on this godforsaken planet. (His thoughts, not mine) But he certainly loves you, and, albeit with some likely pressuring assistance from Nahida, he’s come to terms with that terrifying knowledge.

“But he wouldn’t admit that to you.”

STOP. STOP RIGHT THERE.

Here is where my controversial opinion comes in. Most people tend to portray Wanderer as this cold, cut-off, aloof and irritable man, even in a relationship. And before you say anything, no, I absolutely do not think he would be the lovey-dovey, sappy, overly caring and romantic type. He’s not on either end of the spectrum, but I do think he’s somewhere in the middle (but probably leaning towards the former side).

Love is so, so very scary to him. And downright unknown. He’s traversing into uncharted waters here, give him some space to figure things out. That being said, he’s testing these waters. He’s not going to say he loves you at the beginning of a relationship. He has to make sure this thing is going to work. Your relationship is a newly built bridge, and those three words are the heavy cargo passing through. Without a strong foundation, the bridge is going to collapse, no questions asked. The only problem is, it’s going to take a long, long time to build that bridge. It’s going to be more expensive, more time consuming, and cost more materials than you had originally bargained for.

But that cargo can’t sit on one side of the bridge forever, can it? No, it has to get to the other side at some point. So if you have the patience to give your time to this bridge, the cargo will find its way to the other side. The foundation may wobble, the planks may shake, but the bridge isn’t going down.

He loves you, and he would admit it out loud. He would say it to your face. Just maybe not as soon as you want it. It’s going to hurt, and you’re going to wonder if he actually cares for you or not. Fear not, because if you pay attention to those little things he does when you’re not looking, it will feed you those little crumbs you need till you can finally be satiated when the full meal is done cooking. He mends things for you, things you had given up on because you’d never have the time nor energy to do it yourself. He cooks, and surprisingly, it’s always your preferences. He collects things that remind him of you, some he keeps out of embarrassment, and some he leaves on your bedsheets whenever you’re not home.

He’s been hurt, abandoned, and betrayed far too many times to immediately let himself fall into something as complicated as a relationship. He’s going to be distant, you’re going to disagree, probably fight a bit. He’s just seeing how far he can bend the lines, how much you really want him. (red flag maybe!! but he’s working on it, it’s going to be okay. mayyyybe you can look past just this one…) If you won’t leave even if he does this, then he thinks, maybe you’re the one. Maybe fate decides to treat him benevolently for once.

And when you finally, finally get to that point, he’s going to drown you so deep you can never get out. He’ll say he loves you, does everything in his power to make sure you never forget it. (no, he’s not going to read you love poems in the moonlight and call you darling. sorry if that’s your thing, that’s not who he is.)

This relationship will never be perfect, but relationships never are. Just as long as the two of you are willing to be patient with the other and get through your differences and clashing personalities, you are going to mold together perfectly. And even if he doesn’t say it often, (which he probably won’t. he’s certain you know it. why repeat something already ingrained into your mind? he doesn’t use those words lightly), it’s not like he’ll never say it. He won’t leave you in the dark for too long. He loves you, don’t worry. He’ll say it, but he prefers to show it.

[theballmighty]

It is November of 2017. Honkai Impact 3rd fans insist their new gacha game isn’t like other gacha games.

It is May of 2019. Arknights fans insist their new gacha game isn’t like other gacha games.

It is September of 2020. Genshin fans insist their new gacha game isn’t like other gacha games.

It is July of 2021. Punishing: Gray Raven fans insist their new gacha game isn’t like other gacha games.

It is February of 2023. Limbus Company fans insist their new gacha game isn’t like other gacha games.

It is April of 2023. Honkai Star Rail fans insist their new gacha game isn’t like other gacha games.

It is now November of 2023. Zenless Zone Zero fans are insisting-

[nemiwont]

My Bailu and Luocha are gonna be working overtime if I get Blade tomorrow

[the-fandom-crossroads]

Mihoyo is ignoring Boycotters and aiming for Return Players instead!

Mihoyo's marketing strategy is extremely obvious after that livestream and it's really demoralizing to see so many fall for it. Every X.0 update they add a bunch of QoL features fans have been asking for for years. (Pick your own 5 star, artifact recycling, picking artifact sub stats) Their aim is to get fans that have dropped off during previous patches to come back.

They have been ignoring those "boycotting" because they anticipate the return players to out number the boycotting ones. Also if you are still logging and playing daily you aren't boycotting in their eyes. Playtime and daily login numbers are what they care about when it comes to f2p players. Unless you are a whale going from 1,000s of dollars a patch to zero dollars you "going f2p" isn't going to hurt their bottom line. They want a large number of active users along with a few whales.

If you still care about showing Mihoyo you care about their colorism you can NOT download and play 5.0 day one. You need to actually boycott by giving mihoyo low player numbers for a X.0 patch.

We still haven't seen 3 of Natlan's tribes yet! They changed an NPC's skin tone already. We can still push them to correct with the other tribes! BUT YOU HAVE TO BOYCOTT!

If 5.0 has higher login numbers than Sumeru Mihoyo will feel like they have no reason to listen to the boycotters because they regained fans from other areas or pulled in new players. I'm not saying you have to Quit genshin forever. Just hold off on playing the Natlan update for a few weeks. Watch a youtuber's play through of the Archon quest if you can't wait for the story.

And please convince your friends who have seen the 5.0 news but haven't been keeping up with Genshin to wait before coming back. Plenty of players stopped playing after 4.3 because that's when the Fontaine Archon Quest ended. Those players need to be informed of the white washing and convinced to not come back for 5.0. Those are the players Mihoyo is "listening to feed back" from with it comes to the QoL updates. Why do you think people who haven't logged in in over 45 days are getting another 10 free pulls? Because those are the players they are aiming for. If those players say no we aren't coming back to pull for white washed characters Mihoyo is more likely to listen to the criticism.

Candace wasn't in the Sumeru trailers and Sethos was added after we left Sumeru. There is still time for them to add POC playable characters to Natlan. We still haven't seen Vanessa's tribe. PLEASE KEEP PUSHING! IT IS WORKING SO DON'T STOP NOW!

[r-emrys]

My hand is still slightly busted so instead of any super large pieces you all get this bit which took a stranglehold on my mind when I read @b1adie ‘s Ratio is a Worm theory. Congrats!!!

(BTW if you haven’t read it yet please do. I think it’s one of, if not my actual favorite, HSR theory and I will be devastated if it’s disproven)

[falling-star-cygnus]

HE HAS LITTLE SPURS ON HIS GUNS GUYS

[amuneh]

Ororon and his veggies.

[amourcherie606]

lmao i normally dont do talky posts but i just want it to be known, that as a indigenous oaxacan (aztec) i fucking hate natlan LIKE!?@ im dropping genshin-or hoyo related games in general its so upsetting and downright shameful what theyve done with natlan.

PLEASE do NOT speak over indigenous voices!! this isnt just latinam cultures involved, there is Maori, Nigeran.- so many other indigenous cultures that have opinions on this. just because one latino says something doesnt mean it covers the majority.

natlan has blatant colorism. plain and simple. yes there are white people in latam BUT THAT IS NOT THE MAJORITY. black and brown people exist and these cultures mihoyo is pulling from happen to have a large majority of said people.

just because they are a chinese company doesn't excuse this- its rude to assume all of china is colorist / racist, especially since CHINESE FANS THEMSELVES have been complaining about hoyoverse's colorism! Genshin literally has dark-skinned npcs, npcs that are way darker than their playable cast that are OFC enemy npcs. there is no excuse for this. genshin is a global game. hoyoverse prides themselves on cultural research and accuracy, yet when it comes to sumeru or natlan they suddenly mix and mash cultures.

i didnt mean to ramble about this but HRGHRHG i used to enjoy hoyoverse games but its hard to enjoy something that actively shits on your entire culture alongside others.

[byfulcrums]

Honkai Star Rail is officially the funniest game Hoyoverse has ever made

[threnodians]

sakura aventurine edit — honkai: star rail mod

[saylor-twift]

this is a bit random but one thing I love about the genshin community is how when wanderer came out, everybody collectively banded together to come up with beautiful names to give him. And they didn’t just choose the first thing they saw on google either, no, these people put thought and research into these names. It’s so ironic that this guy who’s so convinced that people only ‘like’ him for his utility, or see him as some sort of weapon for their own benefit, actually has thousands of people who love and adore him universes away.

some honorable mentions of names I’ve seen:

-Icarus (son of Daedalus in greek mythology who created the labyrinth to hold the minotaur. I don’t actually remember why they gave him this name, or the real meaning behind it, but I still like it)

-Kunimitsu (light of the world, contrast to his previous name kunikuzushi, roughly meaning conquerer or destroyer of nations)

-Shinji (Evangelion reference, I believe? If you haven’t seen the show, I won’t spoil, but there are so many connections and similarities between Shinji and Wanderer. Abandonded by creator/parent who they seek(ed) validation from but will likely never get it, taken in by someone named Katsuragi, etc.)

-Zuko (my own personal addition) another character (Avatar: The last airbender if you don’t know) that shares so many similarities with him. Very conflicted individuals who were shown from the beginning that things were going to be extra unfair and hard for them. Both have parental/creator figures that for a while they sought to please until they discovered their own paths and what they actually wanted, as well as siblings they despise and envy because they hold the position they so desperately wanted. (that is, if you consider the shogun puppet a sort of sister to wanderer/scaramouche)

-Fujin (Japanese mythological god of wind who appears next to Raijin, the god of thunder)

that’s all i got off of the top of my head, but i’d love to hear what names everyone else gave to/came up with for wanderer if you have any!

[moomoomooing]