cmiiw [tho im like, 99% sure im not] but ratio and aventurine are the only ones with such uniquely distinct inner and outer irises, right? like, all of the cast of hsr has beautiful eyes [im also a fan of phaidei's, acheswan's, and cerydra's eyes] but like...
ratio's has this almost vertical pupils, with pale gold inner iris and various shades of red outer iris. the top gradient kinda looks like a purple-red wine, fading into a shade of dusty rose, and ending in this pink-orange colour. his eyes always reminds me of the sunrise, when the night sky blends into morning.
aven has a rhombus-shaped pupils, with distinctly separated irises that makes me think of how such beautiful bright colours in the wild is always a warning. the first ring of his iris reminds me of blue monarch, followed by a thinner ring of lavender blue. the largest part of his iris is the violet pink and on the outmost is a darker purple that's almost invisible, the colour of wisteria.
we know aventurine's eyes are unique, even to his tribe. it's a manifestation of gaiathra's blessing to him. from when he was born, where his clan calls him the child blessed by gaiathra, until the way he is now, aventurine of stratagems, his eyes sets him apart as someone unique, someone different.
what about ratio? are his eyes common in his birth planet? are his eyes considered dull and dime a dozen? or is there a reason why only aventurine and him the ones with this type of irises?
are his eyes designed that way to accompany aventurine's?
I've seen other people comment on this moment before, but I've been turning it over in my head again, and I'm really surprised that people didn't make a bit more out of this... Because what in the world is actually happening here?
At this stage in the archon quest, Varka is the highest ranking member of any formal organization in the room, and the de facto head in charge of organizing their efforts against Rerir. Later, in Varka's story quest, Flins will explicitly refer to Varka as the Nod-Krai crew's "commanding officer," demonstrating his respect and recognition of Varka's leadership status.
Yet, when there's a risk to Varka's well-being, Flins just throws all propriety out the window and flat out says "No, you'll listen to my plan instead."
In context, this is absolutely wild.
First, there's the fact that Flins has no authority over Varka. Flins is not Varka's commanding officer, he's not a Starshyna of the Lightkeepers, and he's not an official figure in Nod-Krai politics even; Flins is not remotely at the liberty to be giving orders to the leader of a foreign nation. Even though he is likely among the strongest of people in the room, Flins has deliberately positioned himself as a low-stakes player, one of the team but never the head of the team--he even refuses to be an official representative of the Lightkeepers because he deliberately wants to stay out of the limelight and the leadership roles. By all rights, Flins shouldn't be able to tell Varka to "stand down."
And even just from a personal standpoint, at this point in the story, they're acquaintances, drinking buddies, and friends at most. They've certainly known each other for less time than Flins has known the other Nod-Krai natives, and even Varka and Nefer go further back (through the Northern Intelligence Network) than Varka and Flins's friendship does. Their relationship (however you define it) is still fairly new at this point--Varka isn't under any obligation to do everything Flins tells him to.
But Flins doesn't care. Varka's safety is in danger, so Flins says, politely but without accepting any naysaying: "You're not leaving this base."
In fact, Flins apparently felt so concerned (and qualified to make this decision on Varka's behalf) that Flins settled the plan with Ineffa without ever even speaking to Varka.
"We already decided"--well, okay then! Who let you decide things on Grand Master Varka's behalf, Mr. Flins???
Being protective of the people he cares about is very much in keeping for Flins's character--but rarely (if ever) does he do so by making unilateral decisions that will impact someone else's actions. Far more often, Flins will operate through "suggestions" ("Perhaps you would consider doing this for us, Miss Lauma?") or trickery (such as giving Illuga excuses he knew wouldn't work so that Illuga would be forced to stay for Aino's lessons). Even when it comes to direct threats to Illuga or situations that are really putting pressure on Nikita and the Lightkeepers' operations as a whole, Flins will only offer his support, rather than force anyone to follow his plans.
But when it comes to Varka... Well, sometimes when you're really worried, you just have to put your foot down, don't you?
In fact, a lot of the 6.1 dialogue between Varka and Flins is actually kind of crazy when you rewatch the quests, because Flins spends almost all of his early lines in the patch being blatantly concerned about Varka's well-being and questioning the times Varka tangled with Rerir, as if he's entitled to that information too:
While playing this patch, the significance of this can go a bit over your head, because from our player's point of view, there's the underlying assumption that Flins is a powerful person who is justified in making a leader's decisions from time to time...
But in the actual context of the game, that isn't the position Flins has put himself in. In this same patch, Flins even jokes with Albedo about "hiding in the background," downplays his contributions by implying he's only a "fake Ratnik," and--while still contributing his best efforts to the team--nevertheless disguises his abilities so he can play the role of just a normal "concerned Vision-wielder" trying to stop the Wild Hunt. As of this moment in the early story, from the perspectives of most the other characters involved, Flins is a "normal citizen of Nod-Krai" who therefore would have absolutely no business at all making any decision for the Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius.
And even if you want to say Flins planned this with Ineffa, rather than planning it on his own, that just begs an even more glaring question: Why does Ineffa believe Varka will listen to Flins? What does she think Flins and Varka are to each other, that this "average Ratnik" has that much sway over another man?
Would it even be logical for her to assume a drinking buddy could convince Varka to change his mind? Is there any reason for a rational robot like Ineffa to believe a mere friendly acquaintance would be allowed to decide when it is time for a military leader to stay home and rest?
Like, imagine if one day your next door neighbor said "Hey, I noticed you're looking a little sick this morning, so I've already decided that you'll be staying home and resting today."
This is presumptuous spouse behavior, isn't it???
When the CN and JP fandoms say Flins and Varka come across as a married couple already, it's stuff like this.
And of course, the fact that Varka just rolls over and does exactly as Flins says, even flat out calling it an "assignment" as if it came from his commanding officer, just hammers home the "Whatever my husband says goes" vibe of this moment even harder.
Certainly Varka is smart enough to see the benefit in having someone stay in the war room, but considering everything we learn about his personality later: how self-sacrificial he is, how unwilling he is to leave the action (and the danger!) for others to face alone, and how gung-ho he is about facing insurmountable odds to improve as a warrior... Does it actually even seem "in character" for Varka to fold this easily and go "Okay, you're right, I'll sit this one out"?
Is this really the same guy who fought Andrius without his vision just for the challenge? Who kept god remains in his own heart knowing it would kill him? When has Varka ever rested while other people went off to face the danger instead, at any point in his whole life???
But Flins said no, so Varka sat his ass back down.
Truly an underrated moment where we get to see just how differently Flins behaves around Varka--the dissembling disappears, the flattery vanishes, and the gloves come off. Flins wants Varka to recover and stay safe, and he's not going to leave it up to mere suggestion or trickery to get his point across.
But also an underrated moment where we get to see that Varka behaves differently around Flins too. He takes fewer risks, actually agrees to take care of himself for once, and has a partner who can take command just as easily as Varka can.
This wasn't just a simple scene of Flins noticing Varka's injuries (cute as that is). This was an audacious scene in which Flins broke his own "I'm just an average person, don't notice me" act to make sure his worries for Varka's well-being got across loud and clear--a scene in which we also got to see that Varka, who can't be tied down even by destiny itself, is perfectly happy to give in to Flins's demands.
Happy wife, happy life.
(The writers were making doubly sure you wouldn't miss the irony.)
Is not the lifespan angst, or even what other people like about the ship (I've seen a lot of people agree that they appreciate both Varka and Flins are really capable characters on their own who don't need each other to function, which I totally stand by from a lore point but ngl I'm so stupid-sappy-true-love-pilled that I live for "Met the love of my life and it changed my fundamental views of the world" stories)--no, for me, I think the biggest appeal of VarFlins is something sillier (okay, maybe not so silly):
Varka gives me massive "Always the bridesmaid, never the bride" vibes.
Emotionally, he is the pillar that everyone in his community leans on, from the average Joes at the pub, to all of the younger generation, to every single knight, to the god of their whole nation. And not in a cold or aloof "strict father" way, but in the warmest and most kind-hearted way possible: He knows everything about everyone's personal lives. He asks about their troubles, their achievements, their current plans and their biggest joys. He sets his knights up on dates and writes their love letters for them if need be. He tries his best to patch up broken relationships, to be there for those who are down, and carry the emotional and literal burdens of every single person around him.
He's so loved by everyone he meets that the knights in-game call him "our Varka." He belongs to them.
But because of this admiration, because he is a role model to every person in his entire nation--hell, to others just in nations he's visited--Varka is also much more of a symbol than a real person. He's word-for-word "larger than life," a figurehead whose entire role in the story is so tied up in history that he doesn't even get an actual exploration of his origins--his story is as Andrius's, Ravenwood's, Rostam's, Arundolyn's, and Roland's legacy.
But there is a difference between being a legend and being a person.
Although it's abundantly clear that everyone in Mondstadt adores Varka, "loving" is not the same thing as "being in love with."
Everyone would pick Varka for a leader--but has anyone ever picked him as a partner?
Every other character we know about from Varka's generation (Seamus, Federica, Crepus, etc.) is or was married with children. Varka has watched all his closest friends meet, fall in love, and build their families. He's now watching their children grow up and reach the age where they're ready to find partners and start families of their own, all while he still remains the "lone wolf" at the top.
And that's clearly not for lack of interest in forming personal relationships! He absolutely sees Rosaria and Razor as his children, and he canonically refers to himself as a parent in the game.
He has a family he's formed for himself--there's just no "mate" in his wolf pack.
And this is normally where I'd jump on the "Maybe there's no partner on purpose! Maybe part of the reason why I love this character so much is that I relate to him in another way too; maybe this character doesn't want a partner because he's aroace!" But to be honest... that's not really how Varka's lack of partner comes across to me. He doesn't strike me as the type who genuinely has no interest in romance. In fact, in Godwin's anecdote recently, Varka flat out talks about virtues that make a good partner and the responsibilities that one has in a relationship:
Which at least seems to indicate that Varka's thought about what makes a good partner, what expectations he'd hold himself to if he were in Godwin's position. At the very least, he doesn't have any issues putting himself in the position of "the longing lover," given that he's able to spit out a love letter on the spot to help Godwin keep in Glory's good books.
Varka's also humorously quick--perhaps more so than any other character we've seen in Genshin to-date--to stick his nose into his friends' romantic lives, such as introducing Seamus to Federica in the first place, then deliberately bringing both of them with him on his expedition to force them back into doing things together. Varka the C+ relationship counselor. Varka is definitely the busybody who hears all the relationship drama from everyone whenever he shows up at the bar. I FEEL IT IN MY BONES that people throw themselves on his shoulders, drunk out of their minds and sobbing out their personal woes. And of course, what does Varka do? Surely he listens to all of it and gives the best advice he can for everyone else's relationships, all while having no relationship of his own.
Oh no duh, I'm sure at least 2/3s the knights have had massive crushes on Varka at some point. Having a crush on Varka is probably a rite of passage in Mondstadt; in fact, not having a crush on Varka is probably weirder than having one, as far as Mondstadters are concerned. If there's a spike in the number of male knights identifying as gay in the current generation, I'm sure it's because Varka was a whole lot of young people's gay awakenings. But celebrity/role model crushes are just that--safe, silly crushes that you never have any plans of actually acting on, that you know will never go anywhere. It's the kind of deep admiration that is easy to mistake for infatuation. It's something to tease your friends over, but not something to actually confess.
Somewhere along the route of transforming into a hero, a myth, a legend, a legacy, a pillar of his community, the figurehead leader around which an entire army is rallying... Varka became untouchable. He became "Grand Master Varka" instead of "just Varka." He became the person everyone wants to be, instead of the person people can realistically envision themselves being with. I fully believe everyone in Mondstadt thinks "It would be amazing to be the Grand Master's partner!"--but not a single person would actually believe they are worthy enough to be that partner.
It's not that Varka isn't husband material. It's that he's the Vicuña wool of husband material--so priceless that no one is even brave enough to touch it.
"Surely someone as amazing as the Grand Master would never consider dating someone as boring as me," or "He'll never notice a low-level knight like myself," or "There's got to be way too much competition for some as impressive as him; there's no way I'd stand a chance..." I bet everyone in Mondstadt who ever even so much as thought of the Grand Master as attractive was able to immediately find some reason why Varka would never pick them, never notice them--why Varka was just too far above the "average" person to ever even dream of how a relationship might work. I'd wager there's even a fair bit of "Grand Master Varka is shouldering so much for the knights and for Mondstadt; I could never burden him with my dumb feelings" etc. etc.
Everyone has their own excuse to not even try, and so no one ever does.
You know, you just KNOW, Varka's been the best man at half a million Mondstadt weddings.
But (at least as far as we've seen--and it is a gacha game with no canon ships, so...) no one's ever picked Varka.
And that's why I love VarFlins.
Because there's nothing really stopping Flins from just... picking Varka.
Flins doesn't seem to care a lick about the Knights of Favonius other than a general respect for the help they've given to the Lightkeepers. He admires their virtues, but he has no stake in the glory and reverance of the Four Winds' legacies or the mystique and allure that surrounds the title of "Grand Master." He isn't from Mondstadt; he isn't part of the culture for whom Varka has become a symbol first and a man second.
There's no particular reason for someone who is a hero and a legend in his own right to truly put Varka on a pedestal and think "This person is completely out of my league." Like, who even could qualify as out of Flins's league at this point? (People even headcanon Flins as being the Belyi Tsar's past love although there's no in-game evidence of this, so clearly fans think even archons aren't out of Flins's league!)
For Flins, Varka is just "that guy who played pretend at being a tourist on my island," and "someone who laughs at my jokes," and "my drinking buddy." He's "the person who I have to stop from over-exerting himself" and "the person whose homesickness I notice." Varka is "a steadfast ally" but not "someone who would never notice me."
Even in his "About Varka" voiceline where Flins deliberately hypes Varka up...
Flins starts with "You won't see me crossing blades with Varka" but ends with "Well, if I have the chance--" Shoot your shot Flins, you can do it!! The idea of being a match for Varka would be an honor, but not an actual impossibility.
If anyone in the world could be audacious enough to just swoop in and steal the Grand Master's hand, wouldn't it be perfectly in keeping for it to be Flins, who can casually joke like this even in the face of a Fatui Harbinger?
Search your feelings, you know it to be true: Nobody in this game could make Varka blush brighter than a tomato than this literal firecracker whose manners are so impeccable they somehow loop back around into shameless.
Okay, being serious again, what I mean is this: I love that Mondstadt loves Varka. I love that Varka is a source of warmth, reassurance, inspiration, and fatherly support for everyone from his own country.
But I also love the fact that actually being "in love with Varka" might be something that only a non-Mondstadter could ever truly achieve, because there's something so wonderful to me about the idea of finding someone who just sees you as YOU, rather than first seeing the weight of all the history and hopes you carry.
I love the romantic idea that you can spend half a lifetime watching everyone around you fall in love, wondering when it might be your turn... for that turn to just come on a mundane night, in the world's least romantic place (an actual graveyard), when you're shivering like a drowned rat from having your boat tipped over into the sea, with someone who's not even human but who is obviously trying very hard not to snicker at your ridiculous disguise or perhaps just at the absurdity of the world itself--
How lovely it would be, after so many years, to finally be chosen.
Some random Knight of Favonius: Mr. Flins, is it true? Were you actually brave enough to ask the Grand Master on a date?!
jbbartram-illu
prguitarman
pixelskylines
theartofmadeline
izzy806
dailybridgerton
turnnoffyourmind
