Mondstadt just hits different man

For the record: I 100% Mondstadt and Dragonspine first as a point of pride. I only ever got Liyue over 50% for the rewards.

[genshin-impact-updates]

Hehe, guess what surprise I've got for you today?

Hehe, guess what surprise I've got for you today?

Shh, not so fast — close your eyes and listen closely. You might hear the clues hiding in the wind.

The scent of Cecilias? Your nose is sharp as ever. But that's not the only thing I've got for you this time...

Every flower here comes from a place you've visited. They're all witnesses to your journey through Mondstadt.

Wherever you go next, you know the wind and the fragrance will be close behind.

[reverefamine]

redraw heh.

[ochiody]

Really important things happening right now

[nieilko]

[psdeeart]

old work, this was for Xiao genshin impact contest

[daily-kazuha]

good luck on your pulls !

[teyvatskies]

Discourse about whether Varka is a good grandmaster (specifically regarding off-loading work to Jean) reminds me of some thoughts I had about Venti as an archon.

Both of them have sacrificed a lot (Venti with the mare jivari and subsequent hibernation. Varka choosing not to be the hero) in order to to keep Mondstadt safe and give their people a chance to choose their destiny. They absolutely care BUT they're often too caught up in the bigger picture to help Mondstadt in the more down to earth sense. They're not purposefully neglectful but some things inevitably fall through the cracks.

I think that's a really interesting conflict and I like when the game gives Venti a chance to contemplate his actions. We see a quieter, wistful side to him. I'm hoping we get to see that with Varka too, he's proven to be a capable leader, formidable fighter, and wise strategist- I do not want him to become a "lovable idiot" the moment he steps foot in Mondstadt. A bit of comic relief is fine (and expected tbh) but let's not flanderize a perfectly good character for the sake of laughs.

[windborne-outlander]

...I'm honestly baffled as to what, exactly, gave you the impression that Venti's "often caught up in the bigger picture to help Mondstadt in the more down-to-earth sense", when the reality is that he's the single character, bar none, who has MOST helped others in ways big and small.

How is his sealing the Mare Jivari to prevent abyssal corrupution spreading an example of neglect? In that same quest, it's proven that him being in Natlan to do Important Archon Business with Mauvika and rescue the souls trapped in the Mare Jivari didn't AT ALL stop Venti from helping rescue Bennet from the murderous domain...because Venti's always been someone who cares about every individual life.

Even when you only look at the permanent quests (because if I started quoting events I'd be here all day), where he helps Sansa get over her performance anxiety so she can realise her dreams as a bard, and his story quest where he helps Stanley come to terms with his grief... just because there's a bigger picture that can't be ignored doesn't mean he lets smaller matters fall to the wayside.

I think the perfect example of this would be how, in the Archon Quest, he was prepared to kill Dvalin to save Mondstadt yet still tried everything in his power to save his friend... it's been a very clear thoroughline since the game released. There's other archons you can look to if you want a "so taken with their Big Ideal they let everything else fall to the wayside" narrative, but Venti isn't one of them.

[teyvatskies]

I feel like we're on the same page here. When I use the word "neglect", I don't mean that Venti is abandoning his people for shits and giggles. As you say, he is a very patient and present archon when he's around.

But that's the thing, he isn't always around because of circumstances outside of his control. Despite his best efforts, he can't always be there to protect or guide them.

To be crystal clear, his actions regarding the Mare Jivari is NOT an example of neglect, I'm saying he's had to make these big, difficult decisions for the sake of his people- and seeing him (and Varka) try to weigh up these decisions is interesting. It gives dimension to their leadership philosophy.

[windborne-outlander]

Thank you for responding! And for being so thoughtful, it just hit me that I could have come across as rude ^^' I hope I didn't sound antagonistic in my first reblog, I promise I was genuinely asking haha

Leaders do have to make the tough decisions and I agree it would be very interesting to see them struggle with the "lesser" evil that results from what they thought was the best choice at the time. We've gotten some hints to this in canon (e.g. Venti refusing to command Dvalin ever again bc last time he got so badly hurt) and I would love to see More of those stories... give me the follow-up and fallout of the choices they make...

Unfortunately cn censors clamp down on morally grey themes so the playable characters Aren't In The Wrong Evar <3 and every character critiquing them is Obviously Wrong And Evil :( but it would make for such an interesting story!

[teyvatskies]

Discourse about whether Varka is a good grandmaster (specifically regarding off-loading work to Jean) reminds me of some thoughts I had about Venti as an archon.

Both of them have sacrificed a lot (Venti with the mare jivari and subsequent hibernation. Varka choosing not to be the hero) in order to to keep Mondstadt safe and give their people a chance to choose their destiny. They absolutely care BUT they're often too caught up in the bigger picture to help Mondstadt in the more down to earth sense. They're not purposefully neglectful but some things inevitably fall through the cracks.

I think that's a really interesting conflict and I like when the game gives Venti a chance to contemplate his actions. We see a quieter, wistful side to him. I'm hoping we get to see that with Varka too, he's proven to be a capable leader, formidable fighter, and wise strategist- I do not want him to become a "lovable idiot" the moment he steps foot in Mondstadt. A bit of comic relief is fine (and expected tbh) but let's not flanderize a perfectly good character for the sake of laughs.

[windborne-outlander]

...I'm honestly baffled as to what, exactly, gave you the impression that Venti's "often caught up in the bigger picture to help Mondstadt in the more down-to-earth sense", when the reality is that he's the single character, bar none, who has MOST helped others in ways big and small.

How is his sealing the Mare Jivari to prevent abyssal corrupution spreading an example of neglect? In that same quest, it's proven that him being in Natlan to do Important Archon Business with Mauvika and rescue the souls trapped in the Mare Jivari didn't AT ALL stop Venti from helping rescue Bennet from the murderous domain...because Venti's always been someone who cares about every individual life.

Even when you only look at the permanent quests (because if I started quoting events I'd be here all day), where he helps Sansa get over her performance anxiety so she can realise her dreams as a bard, and his story quest where he helps Stanley come to terms with his grief... just because there's a bigger picture that can't be ignored doesn't mean he lets smaller matters fall to the wayside.

I think the perfect example of this would be how, in the Archon Quest, he was prepared to kill Dvalin to save Mondstadt yet still tried everything in his power to save his friend... it's been a very clear thoroughline since the game released. There's other archons you can look to if you want a "so taken with their Big Ideal they let everything else fall to the wayside" narrative, but Venti isn't one of them.

[korethus]

“Wind’s Lullaby”

“When you become exhausted listen for the soft melodies of the wind. I’ll sing you a song to ease your worries and help you sleep.”

This piece was more of an exploration/experimentation. I needed to practice using green and wanted more landscape practice. Ngl a lot of trial and error!

[silvergarnet12]

And after several weeks, these are now done!

Venti will always be my favourite Archon.

[scifur]

Would that we had met in a different time and place, To meet, to sing and dance together!

[sweetelis]

POV you just walked in on Venti and Furina hiding from the archons meeting

[wolfy1298]

I’m sorry the Nameless Bard did WHAT?!

[anyacad0]

since I keep seeing people getting it wrong: No, Dan Feng's rebirth was not tampered with. The thing that was supposed to tamper with his rebirth was tampered with. He had a normal rebirth. The reason Dan Heng remembered virtually nothing is probably because hating Dan Feng and pushing away those memories was pretty much his only coping mechanism.

[windborne-outlander]

This got so long it no longer fit in the replies 😭 so re: your last comment:

Hmm... honestly, it rather feels like you're ignoring the points I make, so some quotes to back up what you're saying would be appreciated. don't get me wrong, you're free to headcanon what you like, but to claim the fandom gets it wrong yet ignore canonical quotes that don't fit with what you say feels a little...

Just so we're clear: Dan Heng's memories as Dan Feng are CANONICALLY unnatural and caused by tampering, as told to us by Jing Yuan on why he banished Lingsha's master. the quote above about healing arts to restore Dan Heng's memories of Dan Feng IS Jing Yuan's

that said, I'll try to adress your claims on this topic point by point:

"ie the thing that would have stripped dan heng of his powers had it been done correctly" do you have a quote on that? as far as I'm aware, we're still by and at large ignorant on what the exuvation charm entails, exactly - and even less about whether the reincarnation of a high elder would keep the power of their previous life should they be unable to complete the succession ritual before the end of their life. All we do know is that the exuviation charm was excruciatingly painful, so it might just have been outright torture to force Dan Feng into an egg, as injury can trigger hatching rebirth prematurely.

"We have no evidence of anything else being done to affect his rebirth." to be fair, it's unclear if what Lingsha's master did affected the rebirth itself or just his memories after the fact, but that did, indeed, happen. other than that, Dan Feng's rebirth was forcefully induced, but we're not clear over how that might have affected his reincarnation.

"As far as we know, the only way Dan Heng differs from any of his previous incarnations is the lack of healing powers, and you could argue that was due to tampering," I'm not arguing, I'm giving you the quote where jing yuan TELLS US Dan Heng having Dan Heng's memories are a byproduct of tampering. (and personally, I think that the split in powers was an accident - I can't agree that Dan Feng planned it.) That said:

"Dan Heng's memories are fragmented, just as you described" ...are they? do they seem difficult to interpret to you?/gen. there's an entire department charged with transcribing and annotating the High Elder's dreams, yet Dan Heng's memories seem remarkably clear and easy to understand - the people involved, their place in the timeline... Besides his memories being canonically unnatural, I feel the main point of divergence between Dan Heng and every High Elder ever is that Dan Feng's memories do not come only in dreams - the clearest example of this is the sequence about drinking together in Ichor of the Two Dragons, but Dan Heng remembered how to open the sea, how to reseal it, etc, while he was awake. besides, the only memories he seems to get are of Dan Feng, not any other high elders, which I'd think is unusual too.

Personally, I think it's reasonable that speculation runs so rampant in the fandom - the lore is...very confusing lol. and sometimes outright contradictory ("the xianzhou doesn't engage in torture" vs what they did to dan feng and hoolay, the flawed exuviation charm vs what was caused by lingsha's master, some logical assumptions being regardless disproved with new info, etc.). I...didn't intend for this reply to get so long lmao, feel free to ask for clarification if you like

[windborne-outlander]

Hmm, I guess that, for my perspective, I just believe in the narrative principle of checkhov's gun - if something gets repeteadly brought up, it must be important to the story. "hm something weird happened w the exuviation/the memories hmmmm" feels like it ought to be exceptional somehow, because there's no point bringing it up, storywise, if everything went as it should. Besides, everything becomes very weird if we're to assume none of this is relevant - the 30 years without cauldronmaster as a consequence of....nothing, and the preceptors are as such a shady faction because...they fixed the rebirth? there's no logical thoroughline there.

That said though, some notes - the exuviation charm wasn't the Ten Lord's plan to execute Dan Feng, it was the vidyadhara's to induce hatching rebirth - Caelorum Venti was the one who proposed it. We don't actually know HOW the Ten Lords would have DF destroyed, (which I suppose to mean death without reincarnation)

"An unattainable desire for millenia" you actually fused the two separate quotes - "creating a new life that had not been seen for millennia " and "an unattainable desire that could not be carried out for long years in the past". It's not Dan Feng remembering the desires of past lives, it's an acknowledgement that for as long as there has been memory, there have been no new Vidyadhara. It's not quite clear what the "desire" was, exactly, and how far back "long years" entail (I personally think it was the desire to escape his role as Imbibitor Lunae, but again, it's not certain)

And, again, we don't KNOW what's up with Dan Heng's tail and horns - it could be transmutation, or, since cloudhymn magic can be used to make yourself invisible, it could simply be Dan Heng hiding his tail and making illusions with cloudhymn. It would even make sense why Bailu can't hide her tail, since her powers are restrained by the shackle on her tail.

ALL THAT SAID! I feel like much of the points we're making stems down to "well there isn't a canon explanation that DISproves this' so maybe we should stop here and agree to disagree lol - as you said. there's a lack of concrete info, whether to argue for or against Dan Heng being weird for a high elder. Thanks for having a conversation with me though :) feel free to ping me in the future if like, new information comes to light and you can go "mwahaha I was RIGHT!" lol

[anyacad0]

since I keep seeing people getting it wrong: No, Dan Feng's rebirth was not tampered with. The thing that was supposed to tamper with his rebirth was tampered with. He had a normal rebirth. The reason Dan Heng remembered virtually nothing is probably because hating Dan Feng and pushing away those memories was pretty much his only coping mechanism.

[windborne-outlander]

This got so long it no longer fit in the replies 😭 so re: your last comment:

Hmm... honestly, it rather feels like you're ignoring the points I make, so some quotes to back up what you're saying would be appreciated. don't get me wrong, you're free to headcanon what you like, but to claim the fandom gets it wrong yet ignore canonical quotes that don't fit with what you say feels a little...

Just so we're clear: Dan Heng's memories as Dan Feng are CANONICALLY unnatural and caused by tampering, as told to us by Jing Yuan on why he banished Lingsha's master. the quote above about healing arts to restore Dan Heng's memories of Dan Feng IS Jing Yuan's

that said, I'll try to adress your claims on this topic point by point:

"ie the thing that would have stripped dan heng of his powers had it been done correctly" do you have a quote on that? as far as I'm aware, we're still by and at large ignorant on what the exuvation charm entails, exactly - and even less about whether the reincarnation of a high elder would keep the power of their previous life should they be unable to complete the succession ritual before the end of their life. All we do know is that the exuviation charm was excruciatingly painful, so it might just have been outright torture to force Dan Feng into an egg, as injury can trigger hatching rebirth prematurely.

"We have no evidence of anything else being done to affect his rebirth." to be fair, it's unclear if what Lingsha's master did affected the rebirth itself or just his memories after the fact, but that did, indeed, happen. other than that, Dan Feng's rebirth was forcefully induced, but we're not clear over how that might have affected his reincarnation.

"As far as we know, the only way Dan Heng differs from any of his previous incarnations is the lack of healing powers, and you could argue that was due to tampering," I'm not arguing, I'm giving you the quote where jing yuan TELLS US that Dan Heng having Dan Feng's memories is a byproduct of tampering. (and personally, I think that the split in powers was an accident - I can't agree that Dan Feng planned it.) That said:

"Dan Heng's memories are fragmented, just as you described" ...are they? do they seem difficult to interpret to you?/gen. there's an entire department charged with transcribing and annotating the High Elder's dreams, yet Dan Heng's memories seem remarkably clear and easy to understand - the people involved, their place in the timeline... Besides his memories being canonically unnatural, I feel the main point of divergence between Dan Heng and every High Elder ever is that Dan Feng's memories do not come only in dreams - the clearest example of this is the sequence about drinking together in Ichor of the Two Dragons, but Dan Heng remembered how to open the sea, how to reseal it, etc, while he was awake. besides, the only memories he seems to get are of Dan Feng, not any other high elders, which I'd think is unusual too.

Personally, I think it's reasonable that speculation runs so rampant in the fandom - the lore is...very confusing lol. and sometimes outright contradictory ("the xianzhou doesn't engage in torture" vs what they did to dan feng and hoolay, the flawed exuviation charm vs what was caused by lingsha's master, some logical assumptions being regardless disproved with new info, etc.). I...didn't intend for this reply to get so long lmao, feel free to ask for clarification if you like

[themessonhonkai]

Excuse you, they did WHAT

Now, I am not an owner of scales or horns, nor do I have a rebirth cycle, but that sounds not only unethical but extremely painful. Tf did they even need to do that for!

Everything I learn about Dan Feng is against my will and I end up sobbing every time.

[windborne-outlander]

That's not all! They also staked him through with nails! And hung him from chains! And did you know the song about the red dragon and green pines (in the Cloudcry Songbook) actually refers to the dragon turning red from the blood as they ripped his green scales out with the exuviation charm? :D

tHe XiAnZhOu DoEs NoT eNgAgE iN tOrTuRe - my fucking FOOT. Jing Yuan, when I catch you...

[rainbow-taishi]

Moon Carver and Mountain Shaper gijinka