Mind's Musings

What I randomly think about. she/her • 30+ • multi-fandom • fanfic writer on AO3 >> https://archiveofourown.org/users/elysiae01

[elysiae01]

Hello and welcome! This little blog is not much, but a collection of “stuff” (films, anime, video games, books, comics) that I like, enjoy, or have enjoyed in the past and some thoughts and emotions they have evoked. It’s chaotic, multifandom, just reblogs, random notes and observations… or, lengthy analyses, who knows! I will also update, or post about some of the fanfic I write on AO3. ✨

>> my AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elysiae01

[elysiae01]

It’s been a while, you guys!

But I finally have a fic! ✨

I was quite nervous about posting this because I rarely step out of the gacha game spaces and this is my first ever Resident Evil fanfic.

It’s my love letter to my two favorite versions of Leon S. Kennedy - from RE4R and RE9.

It’s smut, with minimal plot but with a feel-good ending. It might contain Resident Evil: Requiem spoilers depending on how far you are in the game.

It’s basically a dom leaning switch!Reader x switch!Leon.

Tags and more details in screenshot! I don’t like cross-posting, you have to read it on AO3. So, sorry about that.

It’s a just one click though! Right HERE.

I hope you enjoy reading and to those of you who already did, thank you for the love 🫶

[elysiae01]

“I’ll take you there one day. Don’t forget the blue paint.”

Source: プリズム輪舞曲 | Netflix (2026)

I haven’t written about anime in a while, but this one just made me type out this post in the middle of the night.

It’s one of those works of fiction that drags you out of bed to put your thoughts down because you’re afraid you’re going to forget how it made you feel so you do whatever you can to hold on to the last vestiges of your memory. You want to preserve those feelings so bad that you sacrifice sleep just to put them down somewhere and make sure you can return to them a thousand times or however many times you need to.

I went into watching プリズム輪舞曲 or Love through a Prism hoping for a feel-good romance, but I left crying like a baby, overwhelmed by emotions that I wasn’t expecting to feel at all.

Maybe I should have expected no less from Yoko Kamio, the author of a classic like 花より男子 (Boys over Flowers).

I suppose the deceptive simplicity of Love through a Prism is what’s key here. So, when it surprises you with poignancy and nuance, you don’t know what to do with yourself.

I don’t know how else to recommend this anime other than saying that it has an incredible depth of storytelling and it tells the story of its wonderful protagonists with sensitivity and almost affectionate detail.

It is a love letter to art and artists. So, it’s as visually breathtaking as you’d expect. Almost every frame is stunning and instills a sense of longing and nostalgia. I don’t know, I rewinded and paused on some of them and just stared at them like they were artworks in a gallery.

If that’s not enough for you, watch it for the slow-burn romance, filled with the kind of yearning that has you in a chokehold, rips your heart out. Watch it for the stunning period piece that it is, set in pre-World War I England and Japan, that goes a little further into the inter-war period.

Watch it if you’ve ever fallen in love while studying abroad.

Watch it for beautifully written female friendships and strong female characters.

Watch it because it takes every cliché and makes it unique.

**mild spoilers ahead**

I am not done yet. It’s just that this section is mostly for me and those who have watched it. It’s a list of things that I loved that will contain mild spoilers.

• the recurring motif of the silver lily that is used with perfect symbolic intent

• Lili’s friendship with Catherine and Dorothy

• beautifully written characters and relationships and imperfect perfection of human relationships that slice-of-life should tackle as a genre.

• the simultaneous cruelty and warmth of the yearning

• the art

• how Lili and Kit are simultaneously rivals and muses to each other.

• the absolutely ingenious use of greyscale in particular episodes to drive home the heartbreaking parts of the narrative.

• phenomenal performances by beloved seiyuus.

…among many other things.

So, go watch it. It’s globally available on Netflix. If you did, I would love to hear your thoughts too!

Leave your thoughts down in the comments!

xoxo

[elysiae01]

Is it just me, or has Zenless Zone Zero’s storytelling been improving steadily since v1.4?

Season 2 was quite enjoyable to play.

All the chapters were crisp and interesting, the pacing was good, the characters were morally complex and quite compelling.

I returned to ZZZ after several patches and played Season 2, chapters 1-6 all together in succession. I really loved it.

There were also moments that made me emotional. Banyue’s story in Chapter 5 actually made me tear up.

It’s not perfect, Hoyoverse’s classic problem of not always adhering to the “show don’t tell” rule still exists in some cases.

But overall, I really enjoyed playing the Season 2 aka the Waifei Peninsula storyline in the 2.x patches.

Like our dear cop Officer Lowell, and undercover Agent Jane, and later our HSO Section 6 Execs Miyabi and Harumasa, who ended up being my favorites, this time it had to be Yixuan, Banyue, and Ye Shiyuan.

Dialyn is a special mention and Ye Shunguang is the mandatory pick, in a way.

I feel like, I always sideline this game in favor of Genshin and Star Rail and whenever I get back to it, I end up being really impressed by the story.

Gooner game or what not (yeah, most of their design-choices are undoubtedly quite fan-service-y), but reducing the game to that is out of the question by now.

I love the games’s aesthetic and the story! And the lovable characters.

My only complaint right now is:

Why is Ye Shiyuan not playable??

How is this fine man not playable?? Hoyo, please do something about it.

Anyway, everyone, go play ZZZ. It’s pretty dang good.

[elysiae01]

The Moonchanter’s Lantern

Kyryll Chudomirovich Flins x Lauma (Genshin Impact) | m/f

{{Tags: fluff, sprinkling of angst, Flins is a yearner, some one-sided pining, short one-shot, v6.0/luna I archon quest spoilers}}

{{Word count: 740}}

Flins walked towards his door with sluggish steps. It was early in the morning. A little too early. The first rays of the sun had barely hit the ground.

He was still groggy from lack of sleep. He had fallen asleep on his desk again, against the pile of reports that he had managed to write. Now, as he slowly woke up, he barely had any time to be proud of himself for his long day of hard work going well into the wee hours of the night.

Who could be knocking at this hour?

Kyryll Chudomirovich Flins rarely had any visitors. He was a self-aware introvert who lived under a lighthouse surrounded by a graveyard on a small island, completely isolated from the rest of Nod-Krai. He did go into Nasha Town, once in a while, patrolled long distances and, as a Ratnik, fought the Abyssal monsters of the Wild Hunt. He was a well-known warrior among the Lightkeepers.

But he had no friends. There was one colleague who insisted on bringing him food every now and then, but that was about it.

Besides, to humans, he was odd at best. And these humans didn’t even know that he wasn’t one of them.

There was really no point in ruminating—

His thoughts came to a crashing halt when he actually opened the door.

Across the threshold stood a woman who he recognized immediately: the Moonchanter, the priestess of Kuutar from the Frostmoon Scions on Hiisi Island.

She held a plate of fresh fruit and produce in her hand. Much farther away behind her stood some of her followers from her village. They were probably afraid of Flins.

“Good morning, Mr. Flins. My apologies for intruding, and arriving at your doorstep uninvited. But we have some of our freshest harvest from the Feast of the Moon that we want to share with everyone. And that includes you,” she said.

“Um, good morning, Lady Lauma. I thank you for your kindness but I must politely decline. I usually do not… uh, partake in meals at my residence. So, I do not like to… well, keep fresh produce here,” Flins responded.

He barely managed to form these few words. His usually eloquent speech came out warped and distorted. That was why he kept his distance from her.

He could hardly bear looking at her. A priestess? She could put any goddess to shame with her elegance and grace. And she always shone so bright. She was too bright for this dark, godforsaken, cold place.

A bone-chilling wind blew into Flins’ dark apartment as the thought crossed his mind. He saw the Moonchanter flinch.

The action twisted her fine features ever-so-slightly, and yet she stood there, bathed in the first rays of sunlight, resplendent in her beauty that would put the Moon Goddess to shame.

She looked glorious and ethereal with the sun caressing her beautiful antlers that stood proud and tall on her head — the mark of her Hyperborean ancestry. The sun graced the waves of her lovely hair cascading down her shoulders.

How could one refrain from admiring such—

Had he been staring too long?

He needed to stop immediately.

“But I insist, Mr. Flins. We have so much right now and we consider it a blessing from Kuutar…” Lauma’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

Why? Why would she walk all the way to this island, trying to offer him ‘blessings’?

Flins didn’t care though. Of course not. It was none of his business.

Especially since the slight stiffness in Lauma’s gait, the way a part of her was always on guard around him, made his heart ache unnecessarily.

Flins had vowed to himself never to be attached to humans anymore. For very legitimate reasons of his own.

Well, she wasn’t exactly human. “Descendant of the Hyperborea” was the closest it came to “last surviving Lantern Fae.”

But could he even dream of being the Moonchanter’s Lantern?

No, he could not. His light had faded too much over all these centuries.

But she shone so bright, and a part of him wanted to run to her like a moth drawn to a flame.

And so just this once, Kyryll Chudomirovich Flins let himself drown in Lauma’s light.

But he only attributed his defeat to Lauma’s skillful argumentation. She had a way with her words.

She stood there for twenty minutes in the cold morning, at his door, convincing him to accept her gift.

Flins engraved that in his memory. And Faes had an incredibly good memory.

****

I wrote this short quite impulsively after reading some of Flins’ lore in his character menu. If you enjoyed reading, and want to read more, here’s my AO3 page. I post most of my fanfics there. And of course, I’d appreciate a like or your thoughts in the comments if you liked it. 💟

xoxo

[elysiae01]

Kyryll Chudomirovich Flins is “Hollow Purple” personified

Another post related to my post about Hoyo’s marketing of Flins.

But this one’s mostly about how I felt while watching Flins’ trailer — “Nocturne Sentinel”.

Also, ‼️ Jujutsu Kaisen spoilers ‼️

I think the trailer’s amazing. It’s a work of art. From the flawless 3D/2D transitions, to the stunning hand-drawn animations, it is an incredible trailer. And we say thank you to HoYoverse for allocating a massive budget for promotional materials and producing masterpieces.

Having said all of that, watching the trailer — and I am talking about the Japanese-voiced version — made me feel as if my permanently dead (I am still very salty about it 😒) favorite character has come back for life.

I mean, just listen to this:

If you have to turn up the volume, do it. But listen.

Now, close your eyes. And listen again.

You’d think Gojo Satoru is back.

And bro — I mean Flins — is literally kyoshiki murasaki aka hollow purple personified. At least in this trailer.

And he’s so goddamn cool to boot. Flins already has aura. Now, add Nakamura Yuichi’s voice to that! Nakamura-san adds aura to any character he voices by default.

But his performance as Satoru is iconic by now. And idk if it’s on purpose, but Flins sounds so much like Satoru here in this trailer, I had to do a double take honestly.

Either way, coming back to that marketing argument again, execs and employees at Hoyo definitely knew what they were doing.

And honestly? It was so much fun reading all the Twitch-chat messages like “Gojo my wife,” “He’s back!!” “Nakamura-san my GOAT” in all the streamer-reacts I was watching yesterday! It’s so fun just to see the community hype up the JP-voiced trailer just because they hear their favorite character in another’s voice.

So cool! There’s something about beloved-character-deaths and fans wanting to immortalize them that shows me how much power fiction has in general.

That being said, for me personally, I find Flins insanely comforting. Him being hollow purple and all (sorry), it feels like my — again, permanently dead — favorite character lives on in him.

Thanks for reading! ✨

Would love to know what y’all think as well.

xoxo

[leisomnium]

d̸̞̙̺̦̦̯͔̈́̎̈́e̵̡̲̦̣̼̯̠̼̘̗̻͖̟͝l̶̨͎̜̪̫̝͉̝̤̣̯̝͌ĭ̸͇̹̼͙v̵̹͖̖̤̠͖̼͎̳̀̋̃̾͝͝͠ͅͅė̸̡̛͍͇̳͍͈͉͔͌̓̉̓̀r̶̩̟̀̎ȩ̸̟̟̪͒̾̌͒ŗ̵̧̭̖̯̪̼̤̳̜̱̺̞̩͗̈́́͌͊̑́

[elysiae01]

A (not so) short, informal study

of HoYoverse's marketing of Kyryll Chudomirovich Flins.

Flins is ✨hollow purple✨ Just kidding! (But also not?)

I think most of us were impressed by Genshin Impact's Gamescom 2025 trailer — which was basically a showcase of their brand new character Flins set to release in v6.0 of the game, the first patch introducing their new region on the map — Nod Krai. He is a electro DPS/hypercarry who has already drawn a lot of fans' attention just by the virtue of being the first 5-star character using the "tall male" model in almost two whole years! Fans of male characters in the gacha-sphere have been blessed with this beautifully designed, intriguing character. All the official promotional info and materials on Flins, all the enthusiasm of the fandom, and mainly the comments on the trailer prompted me to write this post (it's gonna be a long post, so hang in there!). Also, I have zero expertise in business and marketing. These are just a layman's thoughts. Mostly, a fan's thoughts.

I believe that the strategies used by HoYoverse to sell this character's banner is pure genius! Of course, the basic design and lore makes a big difference, but this time, there is a lot of additional attention paid to the fine details, fanservice, and association with some very popular characters in the anime and adjacent spaces.

I am mainly speaking of the strategies directed towards the JP and CN player base to make Flins more appealing and encourage players' gacha spending, but it also extends to the rest of the global player base.

So, let's begin with Japanese Flins!

Strategy #1: Voice actor.

Flins' Japanese voice actor is none other than Nakamura Yuichi, who voices probably one of the most popular anime characters to ever exist — ✨Gojo Satoru✨. He also has several other popular roles in his roster.

That automatically makes Flins quite attractive as a character to fans of Jujutsu Kaisen and Gojo Satoru. And we haven't even considered the Satoru simps yet (myself included lmao). Additionally, the Seiyuu himself is really popular in Japan.

Whichever version (language) of the trailer or clips I click on, Satoru's presence can be felt in the top comments. Even on all the EN content, there's always a "His JP VA is Gojo" to be found, which makes me really happy lol. But you know what that means? HoYo - 1, playerbase - 0; but in a good way😅

Now, if that wasn't enough already, there are other associations that fans can make between Gojo and Flins.

Hollow purple? Exorcism? Evil spirits? Anyone? No?

Strategy #2: Thematic/visual associations.

From what we've seen of Flins from trailers and promotional materials, he has a black and purple color scheme (because he carries an electro vision), and fans can make visual associations with the motifs of death, spirits, graveyards, and broadly with exorcism/sorcery. He seems to be from a faction called the Lightkeepers who are stationed at lighthouses, repelling creatures from the Abyss and protecting Nod Krai. Lore-heads, please forgive me if I am wrong. Also, the delulu can be quite strong, as in my case, I suppose, that I kept making the connections between Gojo and Flins which works to the advantage of the HoYo's marketing team. Strategy #3: Flins' birthday.

Flins' birthday is October 31 — the immediate connection is Halloween, because of obvious reasons. However, I saw a post on Instagram earlier that made the connection to a, um, certain "incident" in JJK that I cannot elaborate on because of spoilers to anyone who has just started the show or reading the manga. If you're a big enough fan (read: "if your brainrot is strong enough"), you'll see the connection. And that is exactly what the marketing team wants! Mission accomplished. Strategy #4: General fanservice.

Fans of Gojo Satoru and Jujutsu Kaisen might feel like their favorite character has teleported to Teyvat and would be inclined to wish for Flins because it'd be like bringing Satoru home on their accounts. Sharing a Seiyuu and other vague connections may not seem like a huge deal to everyone, but it will be to the JP player base, and anime fans globally.

Up next, Chinese Flins!

Strategy #1: Again, voice actor.

Flins' Mandarin Chinese voice actor is Ma Zhengyang, who voices Hua Cheng in the donghua adaptation of the Chinese danmei novel series Heaven Official's Blessing (Tiān Guān Cì Fú) written by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. Hua Cheng is a hugely popular character and Ma Zhengyang is a famous voice actor with credits to many significant roles.

Strategy #2: Again, thematic associations

I am not very familiar with TGCF, but I have watched the first two seasons of the donghua, and I really enjoyed it. TGCF can be categorized as a xianxia, which implies that it is a fantasy genre drawing heavily and primarily from Chinese mythology and philosophies of Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and other folk and traditional elements of Chinese culture. Again, lore-buffs please forgive me if I am wrong, but Hua Cheng is a high-ranking ghost, who is associated with symbolism of death, afterlife, and everything in between. And I personally see similar symbolism embedded in Flins.

Strategy #3: General fanservice

For fans to be able to find similarities and connections between Hua Cheng and Flins is absolutely great, and profitable for HoYo. The shared VA, similar motifs, etc. are significant factors for the CN player base and the global player base who are fans of the series. HoYoverse is a Chinese enterprise, so their national player base is their biggest source of revenue. So, it makes sense to get their players to associate this mysterious new character with one of the most popular fictional characters in China at the present cultural moment.

So, that was mostly it! But if you say, that they have done this before, you are probably right. For a lot of important characters, they have chosen great, extremely popular VAs. However, I do think that they really went above and beyond with their attention to details this time. They really chose the VAs based on the other characters they have voiced, what those characters are specifically like, just how popular they are, and exactly what the player base's reactions would be. Oh, the Korean VA of Flins — Shin Yong Woo — voices Luocha from their other game Honkai: Star Rail. He is also associated with similar motifs! See what I mean?

I also have a theory as to why the extra effort was put in. Gacha games always tend to operate on the assumption that female characters sell better than male characters. This is Genshin's first tall male 5-star character since v4.1 (as far as I know). They put in a lot of extra effort because they are making up on the fanservice front. They not only want to put extra effort to make their character appealing, but they want to offer a lot of fanservice towards that section of the player base who had been quite disappointed with the lack of male characters. I think it is a great strategy on their part, to be honest.

If you've actually made it this far, I really thank you for taking the time to read my random thoughts that I put up here. Let me know if you agree, disagree, or what you thoughts are generally on Flins. And if you're pulling for him, good luck with your pulls! ✨ As a certified gacha husbando collector, I have him guaranteed🥂

[elysiae01]

HoYoverse Café, Berlin

I dropped by the recently-opened HoYoverse Café on the 📍 Rochstraße (near Alexanderplatz) in Berlin this afternoon.

So, here’s a blog-styled post for a change ✨

It’s cute and cozy, and they serve HoYo-themed drinks and baked goodies. ☕️🥐

You can even do your dailies on their gaming stations/setups.

It could also be a nice place to work, write, or draw and/or anything that you wanna do.

They also have merch. But the selection varies according to the current ongoing events. Currently, in July, it’s a Zenless Zone Zero-themed one. So, it’s mostly ZZZ merch there at the moment.

Honkai: Star Rail is completely missing as of now, but maybe there’ll be an event or more in the future? There is a minor selection of Genshin merch, though. They had a Genshin event in June in the opening month. So, in other words, you just have to keep yourself updated on their website/socials.

I don’t know how HoYo organizes their events/cafés exactly, but they probably won’t have a permanent selection of merch from all the games.

I am not an expert, but I really hope (generally) that the laws make it easier for stores/retailers in Europe to access the latest official HoYo merch items across all their games more regularly.

I’m sure fans — including myself — would greatly appreciate that!

Otherwise, all things considered, it’s super cool to have a permanent HoYoverse event here in Germany! We need more HoYoverse events in the EU.

xoxo

[redcallisto]

You will bear the blazing sun, until the pale dawn breaks,

Deliverer

[elysiae01]

Gosh, this is stunning 😻✨

[elysiae01]

As promised in my previous post, here it is!!

Phainon x Reader fanfic ✨

Y’all I am back! And with a long form Reader x Canon. I just uploaded the first chapter of four. It’s titled “Impostor syndrome” and you can read it HERE.

Quick disclaimer though: the Reader is my OC but this work is written in first person POV without assigning any name to the Reader. So, technically Reader could be anyone of your choice :3

What brought me back out of my grave… I mean, cave? The Honkai: Star Rail v3.4 Trailblaze Mission - hands down the best quest update in HSR so far. But we all have to agree, the experience was devastating. After that harrowing experience that the quest offered, I need to heal. 😭Hence, this fic came about. It’s my attempt to heal from it.

This AU should be a healing experience, sprinkled with alternate reality implications that should only add to the comfort… maybe with a teeny, weeny, tiny sprinkling of angst.

It is meant to be a smut. So, the smut tags will be updated when I get there.

All detailed info with tags, etc in the screenshots.

Hope you enjoy reading! Please drop me a comment if you do! They make my day <3

[elysiae01]

Welcome home, (Kevin) K(h)aslana

I finally have E6S1 Phainon!! 😭✨

It was a culmination of a lot of luck and saving for multiple patches, skipping multiple banners, some grinding content, and a tiny bit of ‘budget/low-spender’ swiping.

But it is a result I am incredibly happy with! I am absolutely delighted to bring my man home (multiple times).

Also, v3.4 was the best Trailblaze Mission I have played in HSR so far!

It was a harrowing experience that I’ll need some time to recover from. But truly amazing work from the devs, the artists, and writers!

I think this definitely denotes a milestone in the HoYoverse’s storytelling. And I am really looking forward to what comes next ✨

Oh, and hopefully I will be able to upload a new fanfic I’m writing to process (and heal lol) from v3.4 very soon on AO3. My page here.

Cheers, and good luck to those who are still wishing on Phainon’s banner! 🍀

xoxo

[elysiae01]

The sun destined to extinguish darkness.

The sun destined to usher in a new dawn.

But they said,

That the sun is set to die.

Images: screenshots / Phainon’s trailer

I thought I’d save the Phainon post for until I am done with the v3.4 trailblaze mission, but I’m just too happy today to not to just come out here to dump my happiness on getting him (E4S1 btw 🥹 >>> update! It’s E6S1 😭) and showing this character some appreciation! ✨

I am proud to say that I’ve adored him right from the start when he was introduced in the v3.0 trailblaze mission. I love chaotic, morally grey, complex characters with golden retriever energy. So, me liking him immediately was a no-brainer.

Of course, at the introduction, we didn’t know the full extent of the complexity in his character or the stunning, heartbreaking sadness, pain, and angst that has revealed itself now (I love it btw, gimme all the pain you got, HSR, I dare you TT). But the community of HI3 lore-heads really sold the idea of a Kevin Kaslana expy to me (spoiler! for very valid reasons — so it was really difficult not to merge the different canons into headcanon).

I am both extremely excited and ABSOLUTELY NOT READY for the new chapter of the trailblaze mission because I am both embracing the angst and scared of it :3

Congrats to everyone who won their 50/50s (and 75/25s) today! 🥂

I’m glad to have brought my man home along with the eidolons and light cone! All the best to anyone who’s still summoning ✨

I’m definitely gonna yap more about my fave after I play the quest >.<

If y’all wanna read my fanfics, I’ll leave my AO3 here. I also post updates here on this blog.

[b1adie]

The brightest lights cast the deepest shadows. Only when darkness falls can the crown truly shine.

— ⟢ PHAINON —✧— CORONAL RADIANCE ⟣ —

[elysiae01]

Peak.

My beloved. ❤️

[sviteer]

Broken hero

[elysiae01]

Welcome, Lord Ravager.

[petorahs]

april ko-fi members request- prompt was ”aventurine, sunday, and blueberries” :)！！

ko-fi

[elysiae01]

Pookies 💖🫐🧁

Thank you for the food as always, @petorahs ✨

[mesooph]

some sketches of kakavasha if he got to live a happy peaceful life he deserved + his sister

[elysiae01]

This makes my heart happy 🌸