Just Sharing Some Thoughts

As every ship, this one also had to meet its fate of being analysed through lenses of sun and moon. As you can probably assume - Flins here is the moon, while Illuga is the sun. Though in their terms i would rather refer to them as moon and sun light.

First thing - lets look at their designs (though this is the part i dread the most). Illuga very noticeably has a much lighter palette. His theme seems to be yellow, alongside his signature pet Aedon, being coated in said color. Some of the details on his clothes seem to be glowing a little bit?

Like here for example -

And I think his color palette with browns, reds and off-yellows resembles the sun at dawn the best.

And during his burst, he literally bursts with light. He reaches up high in the sky (like the sun) and shoots light from his lamp - showcasing his wish to become the hope for people around him. While fighting (in game) he moves very quickly, smashing and thrashing at his enemies. Quick action and energy is heavily associated with the sun.

Flins on the other hand, during his elemental burst bows down, becomes one with the shadows for a moment, and then comes back to normal. Just like the moon he goes through a few phases. I don’t think i need to mention his color design?

And his fighting style resembles a dance - he is very precise, calculated, but he also is holding back (with one arm tucked behind his back), never showing his true extent of power, till the critical moment. Mystery, darkness, restraint were usually associated with the moon.

Well, with that done - lets get to the interesting part.

I started noticing the parallels while reading their character stories and listening to the voicelines.

The Lighthouse is portrayed as a place where Illuga rests. He plays cards with Flins, he is being taken care of, he listens to his stories.

Symbolically the Lighthouse is where Illuga settles to be in just one place for a moment. Just like the sun, he rests, he meets with his moon at dawn. Even his „Good Afternoon” voiceline is about taking rest. He is, just like the sun, bright and open. He doesn’t hide much from his character - everything we don’t know (like who were his parents, why he can digest mandragora) he also doesn’t know. He is a man of action, a person that works and works and works to achieve his goals. Action, work, battle, war were also things heavily associated with the sun.

While Flins, in many of his character stories, mentions Illuga, and i won’t omit this fact here. His character is shown through the Young Master, just like the moon needs the sun to shine. Well of course, other lightkeepers also play a role in this, but i guess thats why Flins joined them. Also, just like the moon, he deceives. He is a mystery, that doesn’t show all of his colors. The big ball lighting up the night sky was always a mystery to humanity - with it’s dark side remaining a mystery to very recent times. He is observant and perceptive, his very reason to join the Lightkeepers was to observe humanity. At a moment of crisis, he chose eternal slumber. He took rest, instead of action - things associated heavily with the moon. Worth mentioning is also the fact that the moon was associated with rebirth, something that Flins did, choosing a new identity and foregoing his past.

Also well, the pretty obvious thing is that Flins uses a moonwheel, while Illuga has a geo vision - one that is associated with the sun (coming from the theories that Zhongli/Morax was called „Heaven’s star” by Zibai).

So to conclude - i am pretty new to writing posts that include analysing characters, this is very much done for fun and my own pleasure more than anything. I am well-aware that there are some things that i’ve probably missed, but my sleep-deprived brain is too tired to think properly for now.

Tw: mentions of death, dying etc.

I like to think of a scenario, where Flins calls on his (past? previous? whatever) role as a guide of the dead. Because i don’t think it is talked about enough and this is such a good setup for angst. Bro literally can talk to GHOSTS and see them and guide them.

So, as everything is in his character (hyperbole) I want to talk about Illuga. Imagine our dear Nightingale dying. Perhaps one day he just gave up and fell on a battlefield, maybe it was an ambush, maybe just a tragic accident or perhaps he got corrupted by the Wild Hunt (though usually i’d love, when it comes to his character and lore, think that he will be the only one to live till old age - with all the guilt about outliving everyone, not comprehending why HE got to live - but we’re not entertaining this scenario now).

Flins finds him as a ghost - a lost soul that can’t quite move on, feeling that he hasn’t finished his duty yet on this earth. And now the fae has to guide him, with the terror of seeing his loved one for the last time, trying to grasp every last moment. Knowing that soon he will, too, be only a speck in his immortal life. Just a flicker of sunshine.

And maybe, at the end, he won’t be able to move on.

Okay so i really enjoy two scenarios regarding Flins and his approach to Illuga and his fae nature. I’ll call them the scared one and the mischievous one (I definitely overuse that word regarding Flins)

The scared one is basically: imagine Flins trying to drive Illuga away, telling him to always keep salt on himself alongside iron nails (very popular deterrents for fae and other creatures), always stopping him from saying thank you, please and such. This is where the Young Master title comes in handy - there is a big chance that Illuga has accidentally (or maybe not) given Flins his name - so as a protest, precaution Flins refuses to use it. Imagine him battling between being completely smitten and absolutely terrified of what he might do. Even when they finally stop being cowards and actually confess, Flins is always putting a leash on himself, trying really hard not to show any part of his nature.

And imagine how terribly failing he is. Something about an immortal that is really hard to restrain themselves x a mortal that makes them absolutely lose their mind is so interesting (and hot) to me. Imagine him showing more and more of his fae nature - the running possessiveness, leaving fae knots in Illugas hair, accidentally creatinf fae circles on Illugas path, refusing to touch anything in his house, collecting more and more Illugas debt so he will comeback to him. And then being absolutely disgusted by it. Or maybe not disgusted but disappointed?

And of course Illuga, someone who needs to prove to himself and others that he is capable, hates that. He might feel infantilized - did Flins ever ask him how does he feel about it or did he assume what he wants?

The mischievious one however - is Flins on purpose playing with his dear Young Master. Taking more and more debr from him to ensure he comes back - just like with the stories. Playfully stealing his items, then randomly giving them back, misplacing them. Taking his name to ensure no one else will have it. Appearing out of nowhere, when Illuga walks into Final Night Cemetery. Always leaving little clues for our beloved nightingale to figure out what he is. Being sometimes hella cryptic and creepy - probably scaring him, sometimes leading poor Illuga to his lighthouse after a patrol (the will o’wisps were guides for the lost, though their guidance may be questionable and mostly depended on their mood), showing just a tad bit of his nature but never enough to confirm anything.

And when they stop being cowards - never stopping his antics. Guiding him more and more often to the lighthouse, making food himself and ensuring that Illuga will eat it, leaving little trails of himself everywhere in Illugas life. Sometimes Illuga to get back at him will purposefully sprinkle salt on his doorway just to mess with Flins - „oh how you wound me Young Master, what such gentleman as myself could do to deserve this treatment?” - he would probably overdramatize. Scaring the shit out of anyone who would mess with Illuga and getting immense scolding in return.

• I know this is a pretty popular headcanon, but I adore the thought of Illuga being friends with Jahoda. They are two, (relatively) normal people stuck in the middle of supernatural forces. I really do think they would bond over that fact. Being not so „special” and having to rely on their own humanity.

• His sleep schedule is absolutely fucked. Night patrols, visits at the Final Night Cemetery. Due to that fact he can fall asleep almost anywhere, usually with open eyes. Or that is the official version - he learned that skill in his childhood, where he couldn’t sleep because of nightmares. He scared the shit out of some Ratniki one night, thinking they found a corpse.

• Very good in field cooking, he can make something out of scraps. Though he sucks at cooking for smaller numbers of people - he almost never manages to not overdue it. But his skills are a bit questioned by some Ratiniki - he was once seen trying to add a mandragora to a soup.

• When it comes to cooking - he learned that skill during his time in Logistics. He learned to quite enjoy the kitchen duty. To this day he treats it as his private Curatorium of Secrets (it’s really baffling how much gossip can be gathered in one hour)

• Knows how to snowboard. I imagine that Nod-Krai in the winter can be quite generous with snow, so that skill can come in handy, he loves jumping and doing little tricks for the children

• Not exactly an Illuga specific headcanon, but I’ve been thinking how canon is wind-glinding in Genshin. We get to know it’s history and we get to know some characters that are Champions at it, so I imagine having a windglider can be as common as having a car irl. Due to this fact, many cultures may have different styles of this. Ratniki for example can have bird-stylized windgliders. Or maybe something like a stick with expanded wings that Aang in The Last Airbender uses - it can also be used as a weapon or a walking stick. Illuga obviously would have a nightingale inspired one.

• He is adored in Nod-Krai, in the land without law, being one of the most sincere and helpful person, without immediately wanting something in return, helped him gain quite a popularity. He’s welcome almost everywhere he goes, people try to give him little trinkets, force him to stop and share his light a little longer. Even tho, Illuga usually refuses, and is quite oblivious to his adoration.

This scene in the Archon quest really irked me.

Fae by nature, are really adamant to keep their promises. Words, for them, are like laws. For this very reason, the fair folk rarely made them, and even if they did - by half-truths and omitting truth, they usually managed to get themselves out of it.

And in this scene, Flins promises Illuga (very blatantly at that) his return, even though he cannot guarantee it. He does something, most fae seldom do. Going against his very nature, to promise something he cannot see to the end.

And the scene with autumn leaves, where he, in between words, promises Illuga to rest at his gravestone once he is dead? This man is pathetically down bad for all Nod-Krai to see.

I absolutely adore fae-headcanons regarding Flins

In some cultures, fae had a lot of their own quirky behaviors. Tying knots in someones hair. Doing house-chores for cream. Always leaving a place behind as they found it. Mischievous plots - such as spoiling diary, causing mysterious whispering.

Of course, there are more traditional ones such as - a rule to never accept food no drink made by a fae, warping paths in the forest, never saying thank you to a fae as it can be depicted as debt. They took oaths and promises very seriously, always following on them.

Now imagine, Illuga, sincere, honest, loyal to a fault Illuga. Who is in so much debt regarding Flins. Who have drunk water provided by him. Who, probably, said thank you, or please countless times. Might’ve eaten fish provided by him. And Flins, repaying said debt by tying knots, warping Illugas path so it would lead him to the lighthouse, randomly spoiling his diary or stocked food - being a ragebaiter he is.