Arden

Thesis - Hypothesis

So how did I come to this conclusion? Let's start by looking at what I believe to be the universal personality traits and internal character of those who have Geo Visions. If you look at the way that they conduct themselves, you will notice these traits among all of them:

An immovable will and unbending devotion to their goals

Strong and uncompromisable fundamentals

Sees their Visions as more of a tool than an ambition

Every single person who uses Geo exhibits these traits in either how they conduct themselves around others and themselves, what they do for a living, or in their personal philosophies. This does not mean, however, that they are free from any flaws. In fact, that assumption is far from the truth, as all of the traits aforementioned can exasperate and intensify genuine problems and negative traits that they have, such as:

A stubbornness that cannot be budged in any situation

Must do things in a certain way

Do not usually rely on others and take on burdens themselves instead of asking for help when it's perfectly reasonable to do so

And, of course, the whole point of this to begin with:

No common sense whatsoever

I will be going over all of these traits and how each individual has displayed these traits, as well as a little bit of speculating as to how they conduct themselves (while staying as true to the canon as much as possible).

Let's start this off with the most foundational person out of these individuals and how he established the expectations and criteria for receiving a Geo Vision in the first place.

So if you will, Exhibit A.

Zhongli - Vago Mundo

Ah yes, everyone's favorite Geo Daddy. I've likely provoked the ire of his fans in particular with my audacious claim, but now that I have your attention, hear me out. As he is the Geo Archon, he almost certainly established the standards of obtaining a Geo Vision as well as the desirable traits of the users this is granted to. He flawlessly exhibits the three traits I noted up earlier as such:

An immovable will and unbending devotion to their goals -

Zhongli - or rather Morax's entire existence was centered around Liyue and its prosperity for over 3,700 years.

He dutifully protected Liyue from other gods, monsters, and cataclysmic events such as the Archon War and the Cataclysm.

Up until recently, he also served Liyue by annually descending to Liyue Harbor to guide the people to another year of prosperity.

He set up a way to ensure that Liyue would still prosper even if he was gone and he succeeded more or less.

Strong and uncompromisable fundamentals -

He is the God of Contracts.

Anyone who breaks a contract is to be subject to 'the Wrath of the Rock'.

He has yet to break a single one of these contracts, even to the point of making contracts dealing with his very own city.

He is utterly devoted to the people to this day.

Sees their Visions as more of a tool than an ambition -

Zhongli willingly traded away his Gnosis.

Please note that he literally signed a contract and gave it away.

He's also expecting something back, but seeing as a Gnosis is a sign of an Archon's divinity, then . . . it's a pretty big deal.

So what about the other traits? I believe that he abundantly exhibits these on a regular basis as he:

He sees contracts as a way of life.

He absolutely refuses to go outside of a contract.

He always expects things in return and will get even if he has to.

He has stood the test of time and eventual godhood for over 6,000 years and he has shouldered that heavy-laden burden alone for the most part.

He does everything for Liyue and as long as the land is okay, he does not care who is hurt, dies, or is sacrificed for it to stay that way.

This is arguably foundational enough to be legitimate and to be able to accuse this man of heavily projecting onto the recipients of a Geo Vision. However, this is not his worst crime as he shows an almost depressing lack of common sense in this area in particular:

His complete lack of thought when it comes to Mora.

Before you come at me, let me remind you that this man has encyclopedic knowledge about virtually everything in Liyue and its history.

The man even prepared his own funeral rites in the traditional way that had been somewhat dead for centuries.

I'm not even going into that nonsense because I could dedicate an entire essay to that stunt alone.

How do you know everything there is to know about Liyue and not the Mora that it runs on?

And how would he not understand that objects have a value attached to them? A value of Mora?

Tell me in no uncertain terms how a god of Mora, a god that created Mora, and someone who has been around for over 6,000 years is not going to remember to bring a wallet?

Folks, this is what I mean when I say that Zhongli has no common sense whatsoever. But the most egregious crime of them all was this.

"Zhongli, what's going to happen to all of the mora in Teyvat if you aren't making it anymore?"

"The Liyue Qixing will have to figure that one out."

"Did you at least set some mora aside for yourself?"

"Oh? That seems like a good, logical, common-sense idea."

"What a shame that I didn't happen to think about it at the time."

I rest my fucking case. Exhibit B, please.

Arataki Itto - Hanamizaka Heroics

You know, the fanbase as a whole loves to pick on this one for being the odd one out, but as observed, if the Geo Archon can forget that things have a value of Mora, then I think he deserves some slack. Itto is a simple oni who doesn't really need much to be content and though he is somewhat of an airhead, he shows all of those good traits in abundance if you look close enough:

An immovable will and unbending devotion to their goals -

Itto wants to show that he has his pride as an oni. He's done that.

Itto wants to show that he can live peacefully alongside humans. He's mostly done that.

Itto wants to beat Kujou Sara in a rematch. He's working on it.

Strong and uncompromisable fundamentals -

He has not once broken the code of not using his strength maliciously as he only uses it in self-defense.

If he loses, he loses. But he doesn't whine about it, as he might lose, but he'll never admit defeat.

Contrary to popular belief, the man knows when to back down. He is capable of acknowledging someone who is stronger and he simply vows to get better.

If someone is being maltreated, neglected, or disregarded in any way, he will do something about it.

Sees their Visions as more of a tool than an ambition -

Upon receiving his Vision, all he thought was 'hey that's pretty cool' and then promptly told everyone about it. He also wanted it to look better than the others.

When everyone else in the Vision Hunt Decree fell into a depression upon having their Visions taken from them, he simply said 'I guess I have to get stronger to beat the general another way'.

He didn't even blink upon his power getting taken away and wasn't in much of a rush to get it back; the only reason he was upset was because he lost.

I don't really know what else to say except that maybe he's just built different, but again, his core traits hold up extremely well when it comes to the criteria. Now to get to the more touched-on stuff in his characterization concerning the other criteria:

This dude does not think outside of the present moment at all (i.e. his goddamn story quest)

He takes his competition so damn seriously that he will often beat kids out of their snacks. Literal children.

"If you win in a duel against me, I will let the Tenryou Commission arrest me and take me into custody" sounds a whole lot like "If this isn't done in a way I like, I simply will not do it"

He doesn't burden others. He puts all their burdens on him and takes full responsibility, as bastardized as the methods may be. He will do it himself.

His pride will not allow him to ask for help.

All of this should point to him having no common sense as his intentions are good, but the way he goes about acting on them is nothing short of hamfisted and generally on the fly. This, however, is not the incriminating event that is on this list.

When Itto said that oni would rather die than sacrifice their pride, he was rather serious apparently, as he really has no reason still being alive after he ate 16 bowls of Kitsune Ramen.

To prove a point, I'll do some quick math and a rundown on why eating Kitsune Ramen is bad for Itto:

Each bowl of ramen has 12-15 ounces of tofu in it.

Each three ounces of tofu has 13 grams of soy in it.

13 times 5 is 65 grams for the tofu content.

65 grams times 16 bowls of ramen come out to be a whopping 1,040 grams of soy.

Arataki Itto is deathly allergic to soybeans.

If a soybean touches him, he will start to itch and have difficulty breathing.

What's made of soybeans? Tofu. Tofu is made of soybeans.

What has tofu in it? Kitsune Ramen. Kitsune Ramen has fried tofu in it.

So why would he eat Kitsune Ramen?

Because Yae Miko wanted his seat at a ramen shack.

His blockheaded-dense Pound Cake self is lucky that he was only bedridden for a month because this motherfucker should be dead. And do you know what his response to this is?

"At least I didn't have to pay for it, lol."

Before I start dry heaving out of Pavlovian response, no I am not covering the clownery at the Irodori Festival, The Chasm, or Heizou and Shinobu's hangout events because I will become irrationally angry if I do so and Itto would need an entire post of his own.

Onward to Exhibit C.

Ningguang - Eclipsing Star

This certainly serves as a surprise to most - if not all - of the community, but she too has had her fair share of clownery and tomfoolery. A true mashup between civil servant and Top Fortune 500 Company CEO, Ningguang consistently treads the line between economic prosperity and complete ruin and she does so flawlessly. Now let's get into why I think she was given her Vision:

An immovable will and unbending devotion to their goals -

Ningguang's goal in life is to obtain one thing and one thing only: Mora.

She did this in any way possible, from stealing glaze lilies from the wealthy elites to selling fruit on the streets, up to the point where she now dictates Liyue's economic policy.

Zhongli's entire spiel about Ningguang rising from poverty only solidifies this goal and its legitimacy.

Strong and uncompromisable fundamentals -

I wish I wasn't dead serious but really the only things she serves are Liyue and mora, preferably if Liyue is making her the mora.

Ultimately, however, she will always choose Liyue first. (as yeeting her first Jade Chamber into Osial is any indication)

Other examples of her serving Liyue are signing important things into law such as dealing with the availability of drinkable water and overall sanitation, showing that she cares for the common folk as well.

Sees their Visions as more of a tool than an ambition -

Oh, we're going to talk about this one to the extreme because this honestly goes under clownery.

So which traits does she exhibit in particular that are negative in any way? To be fair, there aren't many and this would be mostly subjective. Despite this, I feel the need to point these out as they could be fatal flaws in any capacity:

She doesn't see business as business. She sees it as entertainment and a means to an end.

"Adding another Mora to the pot can hardly make it any less wonderful, now, can it?"

Engages in trade wars for no other reason than that she can.

Lacks a certain sense of self-awareness (look at her hangout)

So what am I saying here? She seems pretty full of common sense to do some of these things, yes? Well, I'm here to tell you that she is not. Her list of offenses may not be long, but they are absolutely worth writing home about. This one, in particular, irks me in the soul:

She made the chess equivalent of Shadow Run.

For those of you who don't know, the Shadow Run handbook is notorious for having been, to this very day, unplayable.

It is unable to be interpreted according to the rules in it and the system is broken in the way that every masochist shudders at the thought of putting themselves through.

Ningguang's personal interpretation of chess is currently on Version 32.6.

If you happen to be playing against her at her own game, she will actually change the rules in tandem while the game is still being played. And she wonders why no one plays with her.

The version available for the public to enjoy is the 8th Edition, but even they buy it only for the pretty pieces.

For someone who runs a successful business empire, you can be happy about people buying it off the shelves, but surely you would feel a bit of embarrassment for making a game that can't be played by the majority of the population. She says she doesn't care and she can afford not to, but after knowing how she felt about the first Jade Chamber, one can't be sure.

I wish that this was it because you would be right if I chose to ignore how she got her Vision in the first place.

So, I made the claim that Geo wielders see Visions as a tool, right? Well, she took it a step further and tried to sell it, only to get mad when she couldn't.

To be fair, it was already 'dead' and she thought that she could profit off of selling some dead Visions to people.

The only reason that Visions would be dead was that the wielder themselves had passed on.

The hamfisted thing about this is that the first thought that popped into her head was "oh, look, a new business opportunity."

That's ruthless and almost cutthroat on her part.

Almost as if to prove a point, the Vision awakened and now it was hers to use as she saw fit.

The most ridiculous thing about this was her response.

A gift from Celestia, a call to godhood, the favor of the higher beings of Teyvat:

Is a goddamn inconvenience.

"What's there to be happy about? Once broken, considered sold!"

. . . Exhibit D.

Yun Jin - Stage Lucida

If you thought that I was audacious before, you were wrong, as I went straight for the jugular on this one. Yun Jin is the current director of the Yue-Han Opera Troupe and is renowned for her plays and performances in Liyue as well as her elegance and conduct. Now let us go into why she was given her vision other than perhaps Zhongli enjoying opera:

An immovable will and unbending devotion to their goals -

Yun Jin worked tirelessly throughout the entirety of her childhood in order to get to where she is now.

Despite others thinking that at the time she decided she wanted to do opera that it was a childish fancy, she proved them wrong, to everyone's utter delight.

Strong and uncompromisable fundamentals -

She actively indulges in other mediums outside of opera as a true enjoyer of the arts, much to the chagrin of her elders.

The belief that everyone's story is to be told, specifically towards the common folk, is something she takes very seriously and has made efforts to realize.

How far she is willing to go in order to fully immerse herself in her roles for any plays and operas.

"Who cares about me? How was the performance? Isn't that what matters here?"

Sees their Visions as more of a tool than an ambition -

To be completely honest, she hardly uses her Vision at all in her story.

And even if she wasn't able to use it anymore for whatever reason, it wouldn't hinder her career in the slightest.

It is, for all intents and purposes, a sign of favor and a sign of favor only.

These are great things, really, so what negativity is there to be had? Rest assured that there are traits that could be concerning.

She pushed herself to the brink constantly as a child and still does to the current day, so if she isn't careful, this can have consequences.

In the beginning of her hangout event, she was trying to actively get to the point of fighting for her life with some hilichurls to understand where Shenhe was coming from.

Let me repeat that second bullet point again and paraphrase it a bit more: In order to understand where Shenhe was coming from, she sat there and waited to be put in between wanting to live as opposed to dying.

There's something to be said about dedication, but that's taking it way too far. She really takes the phrase of 'one must suffer for the sake of true art' to another level.

As this is the only thing of real note I can find, you're probably wondering if that means that she hasn't clowned more than this already, to which I must respond, she most certainly has.

Despite her intelligence and tact, she is possibly the executor of the most hamfisted deception I've ever seen in the game.

Remember the fact that her elders don't quite like rock and roll and anything associated with it?

Presumably, they don't like Xinyan and have told Yun Jin as such.

So Archons help them and their high blood pressure if they found out Yun Jin was her fan and good friend.

So how does she circumvent this?

Well, obviously she's not friends with Xinyan, she's friends with Xingyan.

She's great at cooking and embroidery and her 'adoptive father', Fan Ey're, can vouch for this.

And it's not like she's wrong, but come on, when have the elders cared about that?

So she's able to go to all of 'Xingyan's' concerts and they would even bat an eye because they think she's great.

It's going to be one hell of a field day when the elders finally catch onto this.

"No one's gonna call me out on this, it's a solid plan that already has all the details worked out!"

Exhibit E.

Albedo - Kreideprinz

With a vast knowledge of Khemia and an endless drive to understand the world around him, this genius alchemist and soft-spoken intellectual has managed to tuck his way into everyone's hearts and prick the brain of every name theorist in the fanbase at some point in time. Here is why I think he got his Vision:

An immovable will and unbending devotion to their goals -

Albedo's goals are centered around his master's last lesson, and as such he is tireless in pursuing this to the best of his abilities.

Albedo doesn't appear in public unless he has to, as he's off doing things pertaining to alchemy and his own studies.

If you look at it, his entire existence is wholly refined and dependent on the study of alchemy and his search for the truth of the world and his reason for living.

Strong and uncompromisable fundamentals -

He desires to make the unknown known and to understand the truths of that world.

He's done nothing but that the whole time we've known him in canon, and he'll go the distance for it.

Sees their Visions as more of a tool than an ambition -

The instant he got his Vision, he proceeded to go "Nice, another tool I can use to further my alchemy."

Losing it would be a minor setback at the worst.

He seems like a decent guy and seems to genuinely have the common sense-centric mindset to be functional, but one fairly minor detail is missing from this:

He can and will go beyond the boundaries of what's acceptable to himself and others if it means he's further toward getting his end goal.

And if you have an assassin, an Archon, and your own damn assistant saying that they're keeping an eye on you, it'd be good to be careful about it.

He means no harm initially, but his attitude towards how his actions can affect the greater good is not the best for someone who holds so much power. He says so himself in the story quest, as he wonders if the Traveler could put him down if he ever goes off the rails. But this, surprisingly, doesn't make it on the list of clownery, as you will see below:

This man was sketching aggressive and characteristically hostile hilichurls that were a short distance away from him.

"Oh, there's a discrepancy in research? Let me summon some slimes or a couple of oceanids so we can have data."

He canonically drinks his own damn concoctions without even thinking about it.

So you'd think that this would be it, right? No. And before you write this off as biased or obtuse, please note that I did the equivalent of this in real life a couple of times and I also understand that yes, this can reach into the depths of things that make no common sense. For example:

"After making you kill slimes, do a complex puzzle, and throw yourself off of a cliff and glide down a mountainside, I can conclude without a facet of a doubt that you are indeed built regular."

"You couldn't tell by looking at 'em?"

Yes. He threw the Traveler into a myriad of experiments to confirm their 'alleged' humanity after latching onto the fact that they can manipulate the elements without a Vision.

But that's not all! The fucking audacity of this man is incredible and it rests on one thing and one thing only:

"Can you use this cursed sword on some hilichurls around the area? I wanna see what happens."

This same sword is also known as Festering Desire, made from the remains of a dragon, the same dragon that was a menace to Mondstadt before Barbatos and Dvalin put it down.

Sure, you can say that as Albedo was seeking that knowledge that it would be totally justifiable, but does it really make common sense to take a gamble and see if the Traveler won't die or be damned upon contact with it?

Think about that for a second.

"No one usually gets hurt during my experiments . . . most of the time."

I think it's fair to say that we can move on to Exhibit F.

Gorou - Canine Warrior

Some people haven't read his lore and it shows. Painfully. As the reliable general of Watatsumi Island's rebel forces against the Shogunate during the war and a handy ask-and-answer columnist in peacetime, Gorou shows genuine care for those he has under him and those who inquire after his advice. So let's look at why I think Gorou got his Vision:

An immovable will and unbending devotion to their goals -

His first priority is almost always his orders from Kokomi and he always goes out of his way to go above and beyond.

It takes a certain kind of unshakeable mentality to keep most of your mind intact in warfare and Gorou has done just fine with that.

Strong and uncompromisable fundamentals -

If his absolute stalwart loyalty to Watatsumi Island and its people isn't this, then I don't know what else could be.

He's always trying to master the role of the general and improve himself to be more effective, but he is also a staunch believer in taking care of his men and does so that much more.

Sees their Visions as more of a tool than an ambition -

He sees his Vision as an enhancer of his abilities but doesn't rely on it completely, preferring to trust in his troops and men.

While there's not much more than that from him personally, the in-game applications show it as an amplifier to others instead of himself, which is again showing that he views it as an advantage.

If lost, he would adjust and work with what he has as he always has.

These are all excellent qualities for a general and someone beloved by the people, so what flaws does he have? He describes quite a lot of them in terms of himself, but I have a bit more grace when it comes to his own personal shortcomings. Here are a couple of them anyway:

The loss of his temper in the midst of battle.

Refuses to 'burden' others with his own problems.

His complete disarmament upon being teased by a certain kitsune.

The bemoanable state of his naivety when it comes to mora.

You heard me on that last one. It's almost depressing. I'm starting to notice a theme of airheadedness amongst some of these characters, and it's either risking their own lives and things or financial means. With Gorou, it's not being able to really process that certain things are a scam in terms of monetary value.

The most notable example I can offer is the fact that this dude was really going to shell out 100,000 mora for a slice of cake. His reasoning is even worse than his willingness to see things through as he genuinely thought that some trade hub in a place that's not even known for pastries is going to have a cake that's even considered to be worth that much.

This, however, is far from his most ridiculous stunt, as there is one more that inexplicably got on my last nerve:

Despite everything we've seen in-game and concerning canon, he has yet to connect the dots about Yae Miko's constructed persona of Ms. Hina.

If you genuinely think that it can be excused, you're wrong and I'll tell you why in these rudimentary sequences of events.

He is writing replies to people who send him letters asking for advice, which Yae Miko asked him to do.

These letters are given to him by editors from the Yae Publishing House.

There is a literal advice column in said publishing house's serialization and magazine.

You would think that this is enough to tip him off to what Miko's doing with this whole setup, but as if his blatant and enhanced ignorance could not be made more obvious, he interacted with his fan club and didn't pick up on a single thing.

The fans noticed how he looked similar and speculated that Ms. Hina had a sibling that looked a whole lot like her, that being Gorou.

Gorou legitimately complimented her attributes when they were giving a textbook description of him.

Everyone at the event took pictures with him and nothing occurred to him to bother to ask why.

The worst offense of all, potentially, is this: Yae Miko is going to make him wear a dress. If it doesn't click then, then I'm going to have to reach into Teyvat and tell him myself.

"This Ms. Hina person sounds real nice to be around! I definitely understand why she has such a large fanbase now."

And now, without further ado . . . Exhibit G.

Noelle - Chivalric Blossom

With a gentle composure, a dutiful approach to all things, and the strength of a legion of soldiers, the widely known Maid-Knight of the Ordo Favonius has earned quite the reputation for staying the course and seeing every single task she's given to completion, going the distance every time. So let's look at why I believe she received her Vision:

An immovable will and unbending devotion to their goals -

Has she wavered from trying to become a Knight of Favonius even once?

If she says she'll do it, is it not done with no questions asked?

This in of itself says more than enough.

Strong and uncompromisable fundamentals -

Her code of conduct is the Knight of Favonius handbook and her personal creed of excellence. She never wavers from it once.

Refuses to assume anything until there is certain and insurmountable proof of the contrary.

"The Warning of Roses: My Lips Are Sealed"

Sees their Visions as more of a tool than an ambition -

Noelle doesn't even see her Vision as a tool, as her sheer strength alone is more than enough.

She took it as a sign that her hard work was recognized and just kept on trucking as per usual.

Folks, you know in your heart of hearts that I've saved the best for last. Her list of offenses and grievances to herself eclipse every person I've gone over combined and have undoubtedly snatched what was left of my scalp.

If her work isn't the best, it simply will not be considered done until it is.

Y'all aren't ready for her shenanigans in 3.1 when Ludi Harpastum's around the corner, because she will be clowning with how much food she's sampling to ensure it's 100% good.

She is incapable of saying no to people to a chronic fault.

She makes naivety look skeptical with how trusting she is.

She would have soloed D'valin if someone didn't tell her to do something else.

She takes going the extra mile and crosses the entire countryside and back.

She does not care if she collapses from exhaustion, illness, or injuries as long as whatever task at hand is done, self-induced or otherwise.

The word 'breaks' is not in her vocabulary.

She takes everything upon herself. Every single thing.

What frustrates me the most about this is that she is actively running herself into the ground and does not stop to think about this is hurting her. Out of everyone on this list, she takes care of herself the least. She doesn't know when to stop.

You know, maybe the writers wanted to emphasize this point because she's the only character with two acts of hangout events and in both, she's on the verge of passing out. There is a damn reason why she's not in the Knights yet, and while this list certainly explains it, there's one more fatal flaw that not only lays it out clearly but is why she is the most audacious out of them all:

In her eyes, you are innocent until proven guilty.

There are many incidents involving certain people. And all of them can be attributed to one thing and one thing only.

To Noelle, it does not matter who you are or where you're from or what you're associated with.

You will be considered completely fine in her book as long as you don't do something blatantly illegal in her presence.

So she will serve anyone as she serves Mondstadt, and as such, this has unintentionally led to a multitude of strange encounters:

A merchant trying to wriggle their way into the wine industry was too humbled by her inability to see them do wrong and either runs or leaves of his own will.

Another Snezhnayan merchant liked her at first until she memorized everything about them and their family, causing them to flee.

They were rightfully terrified.

What else do I have to say? Can I make this any clearer? Because I don't think I can unless I also tell you that she feels crushing guilt when she feels like she failed when they disappear.

"I must have done something wrong! Our visitor would never have left in such a hurry..."

. . . and so with that, we finally arrive at the conclusion.

Statement - Conclusion

With the evidence I've gathered within the respective character lore, hangout events, limited events, voice lines, and other things of that nature, I can say with confidence that it is beyond a shadow of a doubt that these guys have the attitude of Geo as an element.

Stone is stone, rock is rock, and that can never change. Their core willingness and perception of themselves know no outside influence whatsoever, as they themselves are driven internally.

They don't really care much about what people think as much as they themselves say they do because they know what they are there to do and by Celestia, they will do it. So naturally, they are also bound to stay stuck in their ways and approaches when that's precisely what the occasion does not call for. Such are their flaws and hubris.

Rocks can get worn down with rain and wind, thrown and tossed about, and even cut along with others, but the core elements will always stay the same.

TL;DR: All will rise and all will crumble. This is the creed that they live by and will die by.

---

Final notes:

This took me the better part of a few spontaneous bursts of motivation, so if it sounds like I started this in the midst of 2.5, you would be right. I was going to just do this as a fun little thing, but as it usually does, it escalates until I get into the nitty-gritty of their character and get invested.