Sweet Summer Rain

So, what is Arlan hiding, anyways?

Judging by how stoic he is, he obviously must be hiding the wound because he doesn't want people to worry about-

Hmmmm...

Something doesn't add up here. Let's do some more digging. Looking through Arlan's voicelines and character stories turns up nothing useful- in fact, our only scrap of information about Arlan's past is hidden in Asta's second character story. It's almost like Arlan is extremely reluctant to reveal anything personal about himself, and everything we know has to come from third party sources. (Remember in his companion quest when Asta had to emotionally blackmail him in front of us to get him to admit he thought Herta was overbearing? Good times, Good times)

...so he's had this 'wound' since before he met Asta. On a related note, isn't it interesting how his right side, the side with the wound, is almost completely covered up?

You could say there's an entire side to him that's being kept closed off and hidden away from the world. How strange.

Come to think of it, doesn't Arlan's whole deal seem rather familiar? A conspicuously 'foreign' (read: dark-skinned) looking character you meet in the starting area who was absorbed into a wealthy household at a young age?

Kaeya is, of course, from Khaenri'ah, the faction whose war against the gods serves as the inciting incident for Genshin Impact's entire plot.

So, assuming the parallels are intentional, what does this mean for Arlan?

Which faction in HSR might raise a child who knows nothing except violence, for whom generosity and charity are not simply unheard of, but completely alien concepts? Which faction is frequently associated with breaking chains and liberation but also an obsession with continuing the cycle of violence through revenge?

Which Aeon is known to bestow a mark on all THEIR most loyal and dedicated servants?

What sort of power can create a wound that never heals or fades, not even years later?

I'm just saying if I had the blood of Nanook perpetually dripping from a wound on the back of my hand I'd probably want to keep it covered up, too.

Also LOOK AT HIS AETHERIUM WARS TEAM

i really love the idea of ryker being a "neutral" antagonist, just a guy working in the family business, has a wife and kids at home, accepted that he wasn't the best choice to become the chief/leader of the hunters so let his younger brother handle that, a "just doing my job" kind of man, a "i don't get paid enough for this" type guy.

the dragon riders start ruining operations and he's at home setting the table for dinner while complaining to his wife about work. he sees the riders in person and he gets a headache from how young they all are, bunch of toddlers on dragons. insufferable.

dagur joins the crew and ryker wants to file a workplace harassment complaint. he just wants to catch some dragons, earn some money, but now he has to deal with dragon riders and some maniac who's obsessed with one of them. why is he involved in this again??? they manage to capture some of the riders, but now he has a bunch of teens in the cells, and no idea what to do with them. they escape, so whatever, not his problem anymore. wait, they have the artifact? dammit.

i especially love if he's the only "normal" one in the room, like yeah of course he's pissed about the riders attacking his business, and he'll try to stop them, but he's nowhere on the level of alvin, dagur or krogan. he has hiccup captured and hiccup is very cagey around him, extremely wary, double snarky but hunched shoulders like he's expecting a punch. ryker is a bit confused about that, but hey, hiccup is a prisoner so of course he's gonna be wary, but then dagur tells him stories of what he and alvin used to do and ok yeah, he'd be cagey too if he was hiccup, because what the fuck.

i can just imagine the conversations between these two so well,

ryker: about the prisoner, any ideas?

dagur: we can toss him overboard near an island and watch him struggle in the cold water as he tries to swim to shore before dragging him back up like we're hunting him for sport

ryker:

ryker: i meant whether we would put him in the cells or the chambers, what in gods name is wrong with you

it's just we already have so many insane violent villains i just want someone to be Normal and have a stunned reaction to the shit the other bad guys are getting up to, and i feel family man ryker would fit that job perfectly.

i never played genshin but i really like them

caramel frappe give me the strength to clean my room

Second fic in the series (the one with the Xingyun fic) is out! This one goes into depth about how Zhongven met and fell for each other :)

Glad to see that everyone is collectively going apeshit for Progenitor!Kaveh

School mcfuckin sucks, I am so tired. Gonna dunk my head in ice water next week, then possibly desecrate a body. (Cadaver Lab)

Cards Against The Cookies of Darkness

I NEED more group interactions with these guys. I don't care if Choco and Crepe technically aren't in the group anymore! I NEED MORE OF THE COD!! I need to see them being goofy goober villains and a dysfunctional family!

Guys the new event has me on a chokehold

zhongven is a so beautiful in concept cause like- a god of contracts and a god of freedom.

A god that believes in binding of words and a god that believes in a freedom not given by anyone.

It's just *chef's kisses*