FloweryFlees Blog

How they fit into Sumeru’s themes of wisdom

If I had to go into detail about how the two embody wisdom/learning and what it means for the themes of Sumeru alone, I’d have to make an entirely separate post (which I’ll probably end up doing eventually), so I’ll summarize my general thoughts here:

First off, I think Dehya fits into Sumeru’s themes of wisdom and differing types of it incredibly. I’ve always preferred characters showcasing their smarts by applying it to different, seemingly unrelated situations over them being assigned a random STEM field and saying big words, so that’s why I found her appealing from the get-go. In Dehya’s case, she may not fit the sages’ ideals, but she’s good at noticing discrepancies and not writing them off, she has a lot of tactical know-how, and she’s good at navigating relationships even when it involves discomfort for herself and her friends. One of the recurring elements that come up in the discussion of wisdom is the capacity for growth, and not overlooking things even if it would’ve been the easier or more comfortable option, and I think Dehya embodies this part of it really well.

As for Candace, a lot of her wisdom shines through in how she views her role as the Guardian of Aaru Village. It’s a commonly known fact around the village that the Guardians are the chosen/descendants of King Deshret…or at least that’s what they’re made to think. Once someone is appointed Guardian, it’s revealed to them and no one else that this is a lie, there was no blessing to begin with. And apparently, this was the reason the position had such a high turnover rate before Candace stepped up: some people were so disillusioned by the revelation that they left their post completely, while others thought that not being watched by a god was a free pass to be reckless/controlling with such a revered position. Candace, though? She didn’t end up in either of those directions and took up the mantle anyway, because she didn’t need the motivation or pressure from a god to have a reason to protect the village she held so dear to her. Even in the face of a worldview she’s held her entire life being so thoroughly shattered, she’s still able to compose herself quickly, find her own reasons to take up the mantle and be a Guardian her people can truly depend on, not only keeping long-term peace in the Village, but also breaking cycles and avoiding the pitfalls that many of her predecessors had. This was entirely her decision, and she’s so unmoved by it that despite having been offered better job opportunities or an easier life, she still stands firm because she knows why she’s there and accepts it every single day. Even during the Sumeru cast’s plan to overthrow the Akademiya and free Sumeru from the sages, she still chooses to stay behind at Aaru Village because as much as she wants to participate like the others, she knows she’s better off staying where she is as its only protector in a dire time like that. Candace’s moments of wisdom get so overlooked due to not being academic in nature or full of battle strategy, but it’s incredible nonetheless and I hope she gets more appreciation for it.

Other things I love about the two and find interesting about them

Besides her varied smarts, another thing I’ve consistently liked about Dehya is her insistence on her and her boundaries being treated with respect, regardless of what anyone else has to say about it. First of all, it was so refreshing for that to come out of a female character who’s also strongly defined by her kindness, especially after Hoyo’s terrible history of associating nice women with people-pleasing and fear of disappointing others. She extends this to the Traveler and Paimon, and just like with the rest of the Sumeru cast, it not only makes her friendship with them feel genuine and earned but is a sign that she trusts them enough to tell them “no” or “I’m not okay with that”. This extends to her other friends too, such as how in her Story Quest, she’s willing to tell Dunyarzad a suspicion she had about her father at the risk of ruining their friendship simply because she believed that the latter deserved her full transparency. Dehya feels like a genuine and honest person through and through, and I’m glad the writing hit the mark with her in that regard considering how much Hoyo’s missed in the past with these kinds of characters.

I also loved her backstory and complicated thoughts on her father, which we got to see over the course of her Story Quest. I liked the acknowledgement that while Kusayla’s actions are what ultimately led to Dehya becoming the person she is in the present, it wasn’t without massive missteps that Dehya should (and does) resent him for. She’s allowed to voice and process that resentment without being treated as ungrateful or a brat, and ultimately, she comes to terms with the sacrifices he made for her to have a safer life despite his past without anyone having to push her on it. Honestly, that one cutscene where she discovers that he still kept the sword she played pretend with after all these years and gets to grieve what she had with him as a kid still makes me emotional when I re-watch it to this day. It also opened up the question of where Dehya’s ancestry comes from since Kusayla adopted her, which…Hoyoverse. Dehya Second Story Quest or Summer event like Benny got. Please. Thank you.

I do have a minor gripe with Dehya’s writing though, specifically that one part in her Story Quest where she hears about some of her male crew members harassing some of the women, which is treated like a lighthearted funny by both her and the narrative. Which is…a really messed up thing to come out of someone who’s otherwise been consistently shown to be so supportive of other women. It ended up being a one-off thing rather than a repeated pattern with her, but that discrepancy was so jarring and just goes to show that Hoyo really needs to check their shit when it comes to the casual, oblivious misogyny in a lot of their dialogue.

With Candace, despite Hoyo being really stingy with her screentime, she more than makes up for it in her unlockable Character Stories, which delve deeper into her role as Guardian of Aaru Village and how that’s affected her. Aside from her aforementioned moment of wisdom where she took up the role of Guardian after learning the truth and took a more authentic approach to it than her predecessors, the process afterwards wasn’t handed to her on a silver platter either. She wasn’t exempt from backlash or people disagreeing with her decisions and policies, especially former Guardians, and even clashed blades with them over it at times. Even when she wasn’t fighting threats to the Village, she still tried to be there for people and even extended her kindness to people who didn’t have any other connections, like Nefer. Her stories also mention her not being immediately judgmental against people who seemed to be “slackers” or physically struggling in general, instead trying to be kind and understanding in the hopes of uplifting them. And in a game where even the main character constantly judge and condemn laziness in an ableist fashion, it’s really nice to see a character who explicitly doesn’t do that and genuinely looks out for the vulnerable in her community. I also like that despite not caring about the whole King Deshret thing being a lie, she hasn’t told anyone yet just because it makes her job easier when she needs to, say, get the entire village’s attention during an emergency and honestly? I like that motivation for keeping a long-buried secret so much more than “People will find out I’m not that great :(“ that characters like this tend to be saddled with. Candace honestly comes off as one of the better-written leadership characters in the game for me, because even after facing stubborn backlash from the people she’s meant to be protecting and having her worldview challenged, she’s still able to find reasons to keep protecting them and find a more genuine approach to being Guardian. Though it’s not without its problems, which I’ll get into below.

Their treatment by the Traveler, other characters and the Game in general

I’ve actually mentioned this in scattered posts in the past, but there’s one thing I’ve always taken issue with when it comes to Dehya’s treatment by the Traveler and Paimon in-game. It’s how she trusted them enough during the Sumeru Archon Quest to open up about the agony she feels because of the Wall of Samiel and the way desert-dwellers are stereotyped and treated even by other Sumerians…and they still end up judging people based on stereotypes, including desert-dwellers, not helped by how this can be played alongside Jeht’s world quest featuring the duo’s “agree to disagree” attitude towards Liloupar’s racism. One particularly bad example occurs in the Fungus event that canonically takes place after the Fontaine Archon Quest…which means at that point, the Traveler knows how bad the racism towards the Eremites are and how badly a few of their own friends are affected by it. And that still didn’t stop them from saying some weird shit about Haniyyah and go “The Eremites are invading!” when they see Souka. And it’s like…Dehya trusted them with one of her biggest vulnerabilities, and that still wasn’t enough for them to think about how that would affect her and others. It isn’t made better by how nice they are to her when they interact face to face, it’s still racist and disrespectful as fuck and if anything, makes them look two-faced. They can and should do better than that.

Aside from that, sometimes the two can be really weird about Dehya’s autonomy and boundaries despite her being shown countless times to be incredibly capable and an extremely quick thinker. There’s how she was automatically assumed to be acting reckless in that section of the Archon Quest when she’s talking with Rahman, and almost gets her plans busted when the other characters interrupt and go “what are you doing?!” leading to her legendary “Shut it, Paimon” line. At this point, the Traveler and co. had just seen her quick thinking and ability to plan around the way others act, so it was really weird for them to be like “you’re so reckless! How could you?!” And there’s how during the “rescue Nahida” operation, when she uncomfortably declines a massage from Paimon, instead of backing off the latter goes “ooh are you ticklish?”….which takes place after she accidentally triggered Collei by touching her without consent in the same Archon Quest. And thing is, after how regretful they’d been towards Collei for that, that should’ve carried over to Dehya not wanting to be touched but it’s treated like it doesn’t matter. Thankfully, in both cases Dehya stands pretty firm on her boundaries, but with the way they’ve just brushed off other (especially white) characters’ genuine recklessness while still not doubting their capabilities, and made a huge deal about Collei being triggered by touching but then won’t empathize with Dehya being uncomfortable…it felt so wrong when they did this with her.

With Candace, not only does she get the “nice and reliable and ideal personality” bs that a lot of Genshin’s women are subjected to, but what makes it worse is how little concern both the narrative and most of the characters seem to show for her. I’ve also griped about this in other posts, but it’s so weird that her duty of keeping Aaru Village safe and a violence-free zone is glossed over as “yeah, that’s cool I guess” despite being a massive responsibility, requiring her to regularly tough out even monsters several times her size and sandstorms (those are much more dangerous than they look!). And the game never tries going in depth about the toll this would take on her…despite actively showing how she’s constantly on such high alert that she can’t bring herself to leave the village without a lot of convincing, and how it’s driven her to attack without asking questions first at times (like Dehya’s Demo). At least when (white) characters are overworked in Mondstadt, the Traveler or people around them show some kind of concern or praise them as amazing and special (TM) good people. Candace? Aside from the concerning lack of people asking if she’s alright despite being surrounded by an entire village and even having friends beyond Sumeru, her hard work is treated like “oh yeah that’s just what Candace was born to do, that’s just the way it is, it’s whatever.” Like, would it be the end of the world to have someone thank her, asks her if she’s alright or something each time she comes on screen?? Whenever other characters talk about her, it’s about what she does for them and how she puts her feelings aside for their sake (Doesn’t that sound similar to how another kind-hearted brown character is treated in this game?) but rarely any of that in return for her. The character that shows the most consistent concern and care for her is Dehya (the only other darker-skinned woman in the Sumeru cast), who tries to get her into hobbies she can pass the time with even in the desert and tries to prevent conflicts before they happen so Candace would have less to stress over. But the narrative has done very little to remedy this over the years, and it’s not helped by how she doesn’t even get any Hangouts in an era where four-stars were still getting them, or even much time in limited events unless she’s accompanying another character. (Also…did I mention that she was appointed the position at eight years old [I’m completely serious, read her Character Story 1] and had been dealing with adult-level conflicts since then??? I feel like that shouldn’t have been as glossed over as it was)

Even in her lore, her title as Guardian and duty to protect Aaru village isn’t treated with the awe that, say, the big legacy names in Mondstadt’s duties are, cause it’s not nearly as exciting for fandom when she’s not privileged white nobility. Even when her standing up to her elders’ stubborn ways and even got them to shut up and stop doubting her was what earned her a Vision. Even when we get insight on how this affects the way she views herself or her ability to properly rest during peacetime. Even when we see that she had to work for her position even after being sworn in as Guardian, as her lore mentions how much people (especially elders) pushed back against her and some of her decisions, and how she still did her best to help villagers who struggled physically/mentally and did it with tact instead of assuming the worst and jumping to discipline. Even with how her worldview was challenged upon given the title of being Guardian, yet she still picked up her spear and protected the village anyway because in her mind, she wanted to protect what she held dear regardless of motivation from a god. All that is really impressive, and it would be really nice if other characters, even NPCs were more appreciative of it or sang her more genuine compliments instead of “that’s just what we expect out of Candace.”

The way the fandom treats them (and other darker-skinned female characters)

When it comes to fandom treatment, a lot of times it’s a similar issue to how most of the “likeable” women tend to be treated: laser-focus on how “nice and reliable” they are or could be and never think further about it. Dehya and Candace are both shown to be extremely kind, not just in different ways but with their own depth and conflicts to it too. In Dehya’s case especially, her kindness is the very reason why she gets so worked up over the mistreatment of others and will go to bat for them - kindness and assertiveness are not separate entities! But the fandom often treats them like they’re mutually exclusive and over focus on one of those traits, but not the other. I’ve also seen digs at how bad both their kits are (despite being workable with a bit of effort), and about how sexualized/out of focus they are (which are legitimate criticisms) and…that’s pretty much it. It’s like they’re often remembered for negative reasons while their positive and interesting traits get far less spotlighted in fan works compared to the rest of the Sumeru cast, and even when fans critique their treatment, I don’t see a lot of effort into calling out anything other than the sexualization/lack of focus they get by the loudest parts of the fandom even though that stuff is barely scratching the surface. Which made me think about patterns in how darker-skinned women in Genshin tend to be treated in general, and a lot came out of it which I’ve decided to share.

Whenever the fandom talks about the misogyny, the conversation always seems to revolve around the same 3 playable white characters and maybe like one from Liyue or Inazuma they really like, and almost never extends past that even though it goes a lot deeper than that. Like how recently I talked about how despite all the women get the short end of the stick when it comes to Hoyo’s writing, white female characters tend to get uplifted at the expense of racialized characters - which even seems to hold true in fandom discussions of the game’s misogyny. And one way it manifests is in how darker-skinned female characters often get left out of these conversations beyond maybe one surface-level observation (they’re oversexualized/out of focus), and when it comes to noticing subtleties in the messages sent by the game, the way these ladies are treated doesn’t even pop up like it does for, say, Jean or Lisa, who often end up as the poster girls for these discussions.

Aside from what I mentioned above for Dehya and Candace, there’s the way Xinyan gets digs taken at her for her appearance, and it’s hidden behind “oh her hobbies are what’s off putting” when this isn’t done at all for the paler Liyueans who have canonically off-putting hobbies, like Hu Tao.

Then there’s how Xilonen, one of a few Natlanese characters who has tanned or darker skin, often gets jabbed at for being lazy or a slacker despite proving time and time again that she’s just so good at her job that she’s able to carve out a lot of free time at nobody’s expense. Especially after the Traveler and Paimon have had endless sympathy for years towards lighter-skinned women and their capacity for overworking themselves, it’s like…shouldn’t you be happy that a woman is actually setting boundaries with her work for once? I’ve mentioned this before with Kaeya, but stereotyping darker-skinned people as lazy is rooted in colorism even in the context of Chinese cultures, so it should’ve never made it into version 6.1 after fans were so loud about the colorism problems Natlan had even before its release.

It’s in how Iansan, a character who was hyped up for over four years and was even one of the Six Heroes of Natlan, got shafted in focus and screentime when she finally debuts properly compared to the other five. Then when her homeland is finally placed on the map, potentially giving her a chance to shine…Varesa debuts and immediately becomes the face of the Collective of Plenty over her. Not only was this such a disappointment for a character many fans had been looking forward to for years, but she actually does stand out amongst her people with how she had to train for her strength in a world where people were basically born with it, but the game never does anything meaningful with that and continues to shaft her story. And to make things worse, the 5.6 Whirling Waltz event even makes a tasteless joke at her expense for no reason at all. She deserves so much better.

It even extends to the treatment of historical characters, like Vennessa. We first get to see in the manga, which established the hardships she went through to founding the Knights of Favonius and being its first Grand Master. While it’s meant to be a part of Venti’s backstory as a whole, she still manages to stand on her own. Unfortunately, that respect is not extended to her in the present day and in-game content. She’s only mentioned there in an overly-idealized image, and in the context of uplifting a white woman’s story and good image. Worst part is, she doesn’t even get acknowledged in Natlan content - which is so weird because that’s where her people, the Muratans hailed from. It’s all about what she did for Mondstadt and the mainly white cast there, which looks even worse in the context of how they’re basically doing the same thing again with a brown, immigrant character there in the present day.

A glaring example would be in the Caribert Quest, where Kaeya tells the Traveler and Paimon about his Khaenri’ahn heritage. Which as we know by that point, is a key part of his vulnerabilities and got him attacked the last time he tried that with someone, so it’s a pretty big deal. The Traveler remains focused on their precious answers (“Khaenri’ah…”/“Speaking of Khaneri’ah…how much do you know about it?”) even though their close friend just confided in them about being a refugee/survivor of an ongoing genocide of his people (and they know this since this takes place after Requiem Echoing in the Depths), and he doesn’t even get a “you alright?” or anything else that would consider his feelings on the matter because that’s not important to those precious answers and lore. Then when Dainsleif shows up and reveals that an Alberich founded the Abyss Order, they’re so quick to become suspicious of Kaeya being involved and still have no regard for his well-being after a lot of heavy, personal things about him were dropped, some without his consent??? I don’t blame him for leaving as quickly as he could. I’ve talked about how dehumanized Khaenri’ah and its people get by all the lore and theory chasing, and this was another way it happened. And this came right after they spent the intro calling him crafty, suspecting him of playing a prank, and scolding him for being irresponsible towards Jean completely unwarranted…really not helping their case.

Then later on, the Traveler sees a memory that reveals that Chlothar founded the Abyss Order after being desperate enough to find anything, anyone who would be able to save his only family, and essentially had his vulnerabilities taken advantage of by…someone who we later learn is Dainsleif’s brother. Which makes how quick Dain was to reveal that Kaeya’s ancestor founded the Abyss Order look hypocritical, and the game does nothing to acknowledge that discrepancy…when I say Kaeya gets absolutely no respect from the white Khaenri’ahn characters and that the colorism towards him doesn’t vanish in Khaenri’ah content, this is what I’m talking about. This would actually be something important for the Traveler to tell Kaeya, they’ve been friends for years after all…but they don’t do that. Nor do they tell him about another descendant, Caribert, being a hopeful soul who just wanted others to be happy just like Kaeya does. And what makes it so much worse is that Kaeya spent so much of his life believing that he wasn’t a good person, and the world constantly sent messages to him about how he’d never escape his family’s shady past…only for said family to not have totally evil motives or even absolute autonomy in the matter for the most part. Telling him would’ve lifted a huge weight off his shoulders, and provided a chance for the Traveler to show how much of a good friend they can be towards him and reciprocate his kindness…nope. Acting “holier than thou” towards Kaeya is the thing we should be focusing on in Traveler-Kaeya interactions, amirite. How he feels about something so heavy can’t possibly be taking a toll on him as long as the Traveler and audience can get their precious lore and answers. /s Doesn’t help that they still have moments of suspicion or scolding Kaeya for his morals after this, which…your friend is literally dealing with the aftermath of a 500-year-long traumatic event with barely any support, you’re in no place to judge him, no amount of that would’ve been appropriate until maybe after you acknowledge and even apologize for your preconceived notions of him first. He deserves that at the very least.

What about in other content? The other Khaenri’ah-adjacent character in his vicinity, Albedo…their earliest and most well known “interaction” if you can call it that is him drawing everyone else nicely, then drawing Kaeya with only a circle and an eyepatch. Yet another character showing Kaeya that everyone thinks he’s “off” or “different” and will treat him as such…yippee. Even if that wasn’t the original intent, when it’s stacked up with all the ways other Mondstadters have treated Kaeya differently from the rest of the crew it looks so much worse than if it had just been Albedo doing it. And the fandom thinks Kaeya deserved it for being a “liar”. And after that? Albedo continues being snarky towards him with the only times he’s positive being…when it’s about something Kaeya can do for him or others. God damn it. And once again, Kaeya is the one who has the standout behavior in this dynamic - while everyone else describes Albedo as an untouchable genius, Kaeya highlights his charm and ability to get along with others in his quote about him. This extends to how considerate he is about getting him a gift as well: rather than something sciency or stereotypical for a researcher, Kaeya remembers how much Klee means to Albedo and gets them a gift with a matching set. Kaeya is consistently humanizing towards Albedo (which also means a lot when you recall how Albedo desires to fit in with and understand humanity), but we do not get to see Albedo reciprocate that with Kaeya.

On top of that, we never get to see how Kaeya feels about Irmin when we find out more about the guy. Irmin being the regent responsible for a lot of Kaeya’s current pain and trauma - not only for his role in starting the Cataclysm, but also as someone whose family had to pick up the pieces after Irmin’s rule collapsed. Not to mention it was that Cataclysm that made Kaeya unable to grow up in his homeland no matter how much he wanted to. Same with Rhinedottir, one of the frontrunners of the Cataclysm who’s getting much more focus with the Hexenzirkel and Sinners gaining more plot visibility. Or the other Sinners, one of which again, was responsible for his emotionally vulnerable ancestor’s creation of the Abyss Order. Or Capitano, who was not only with an organization that Kaeya’s directly clashed with in the past, but also performed a lot of heroic deeds without thanks and recognition and has the same style of bladework that he does??? C’mon.

Though it’s also worth noting that if Kaeya meets other Khaenri’ahn characters, I’d like to see their dynamics develop and be fleshed out rather than “we’re from the same country, we instantly get along!” I really hate that one cliche, mainly because I’ve faced it in the form of a microaggression in the west (“You have to know *insert Chinese or East Asian person* right?? No? I think you’ll like each other right away!”) and it essentially treats people from one nation/continent like a monolith or like they all must think the same, which…ugh. Look, two people being from the same birth nation might not have to deal with certain cultural barriers while interacting with each other, but it does not mean the interaction will go smoothly or they’ll instantly vibe. People who come from the same countries/cultural backgrounds still have to get to know each other, build trust, and solve conflicts, and yes, that includes all the effort that goes into that stuff. No amount of fewer cultural barriers makes a relationship suddenly not need any of that. And the Khaenri’ahns we’ve seen all have distinct personalities and backgrounds, particularly Kaeya and Arlecchino - they all would still have to put in the work in their one-on-one interactions. But tbh, that’s much more interesting that expecting them to instantly get along anyway.

For example, I’ve seen female characters be more likely to be called “bland” or written off as one-note regardless of their circumstances or anything they have in canon. Which is funny because there’s plenty of (especially white) male characters who have been hyped up but really do not live up to the amount/kind of hype they’ve received (like Albedo and Varka for instance), and they’re automatically treated like Teyvat’s most interesting characters anyway. There’s also this pattern that a lot of people have noticed at this point, where Hoyoverse keeps taking the same path with their female characters no matter how much of a rich history/lore they have going on - make sure she turns out to be nice, reliable, and most of all, appealing to the otakus in the audience (TM). And more often than not, the “nice and reliable” part completely overshadows everything else about them in the game, which is something that tends not to happen to male characters even if they do turn out to have kindness as a strong trait (i.e. Flins). While I get people lowering their expectations of how female characters will be handled because of this pattern, it’s not an excuse to decry every woman Hoyo writes as “bland” and never give them a chance. Like, all that stuff hidden in their lore or genuinely unique depths to their personality? If you like certain female characters, try looking for and highlighting all the things you like about them. And actually look for traits that don’t go back to “nice and reliable to the player character” or the stuff prioritized for the otaku audience (I.e. the Mond ladies’ tired pattern of people pleasing and the lack of acknowledgment for how dangerous it would be in their line of work). Because if most of what the fandom’s vocal about is how “nice and reliable” a lot of the popular female characters are, whether you like it or not, it’s going be viewed as that thing everyone wants and the problem just lingers instead of being resolved.

For example, Xinyan can tell a lot about someone’s personality/feelings by how they react to her music, and even in spite of all the difficulties she’s faced directly because of her love and dedication to rock-and-roll, she always comes back to it because it’s her chosen passion, and what makes her happy. Even if she isn’t necessarily a big player in the big lore plot (TM) of Teyvat, for me at least, her presence is just as important because sometimes I don’t need a theory sink, I just want to watch this sweet girl grow her supportive friend circle and succeed in her rock-and-roll dreams someday. It’s actually a nice break from all the high stakes and occasionally demoralizing plotlines. Arguably stuff like this is needed because without breather moments that show how full of life Teyvat is, a constantly dark conspiracy plot can actually burn players out and make them less invested.

Another thing that I feel like goes hand-in-hand with the pattern of how Genshin’s ladies often turn out is how the fandom tends to react to explicitly heroic, but “difficult” female characters. I’ve been over this when it comes to characters like Ningguang, Sayu, and Furina, who aren’t the stereotypical nice, bubbly, and instantly full of praise for the Traveler. I’ve gone into detail about it in the thing I linked, but I’m just saying…if over the years of Genshin’s runtime, there’s a consistent pattern of knee-jerk reactions to heroic female characters who don’t just hang on the Traveler’s attention all the time or have an attitude that requires approaching them with actual care and critical thought…is it any surprise that even the anti-heroic or antagonistic female characters who become playable eventually get the “pleasant for the Traveler to be around” treatment? Especially just to avoid how bad the backlash was towards so many of these girls when they were first introduced, especially Furina?

There’s also a pattern I’ve noticed of white/pale female characters getting uplifted or avoiding criticisms by the game/fandom at the expense of characters of color, and yep, that includes the male characters too. It’s most noticeable in Kaeya due to the environment he’s in (like who he’s surrounded by) and because of how he’s one of the earliest released characters, our introduction to him being all the way back in the 2018 manga. How does it manifest?

It’s in how in fan content, Kaeya often has to be “set straight” by a “moral, nice, responsible” white woman - I’ve seen this play out in stuff where he’s with Lumine, Jean, Lisa, Amber, Rosaria, Barbara, Adelinde, etc. and especially if it’s to push him to reconcile with Diluc or to force him to embrace their help and love (TM). They can even say some really degrading shit to him (calling him an idiot) or act like his boundaries don’t even exist (i.e. Jean or Barbara forcing him to be monitored by someone he doesn’t trust for “his own safety” particularly right after a traumatic event, why is that such a common element in these stories), and more often than not it’ll still end up with him apologizing to them for “making them sad”. Even if the other character does apologize to him, he’s still made to go “no, I was worse, I made you upset”. It doesn’t matter if it was for “his own good”, they still crossed someone’s boundaries and that kind of stuff should never be treated lightly. And yes, that includes if they’ve been nice about it. Their actions are still more often than not glossed over quickly after that, while Kaeya is still the one who has to actively work on his shortcomings - in other words, he’s once again the one dealing with most, if not all the brunt of the consequences in a bad situation.

It’s how he often gets flak from the fandom for “wronging” some “uwu innocent” white female character even when he doesn’t live up to how “bad/anti-heroic” he was presented as, or was properly called out and got consequences while the other characters didn’t even when they showed the same capacity for being flawed/fucking up. I’ve had this discussion about how he gets wrongfully seen as making things harder for Jean before, and how despite being one of the few visibly shown doing a lot to help her, he still gets flak by the Traveler and fandom for “slacking” and “being Klee’s accomplice” while the others are never called out for their complicity in Jean’s situation (Amber, Rosaria, Lisa calling Jean an “inspiration” actually exacerbates her self-worth problems for instance). But where it often comes up too was in the manga incident with Collei. Almost everyone sides with Amber because “he treated her like a rookie!” and gave him shit for fighting Collei even though he was literally doing his job, to the point where I’ve seen people making derogatory jokes about how “it was the only time he ever did his job, he slacks off until it’s time to mess with people lol”. Let’s say that he really did fuck up as badly as the fandom made him out to in that situation…and even then, it falls apart instantly because not only is does he get called out in-manga for his attitude, multiple times in fact, and his behavior is not glossed over one bit (to the point where Amber can still say shit behind Kaeya’s back in the game’s debut, and Diluc can casually make comments about how untrustworthy Kaeya is), but there’s never any callouts of Amber having some really messed up behavior in that same webcomic, by the fandom or the other characters. There’s no mention of how the whole “rookie” thing was something SHE assumed after being disrespected by a snobby noble, then after Kaeya nicely told her he didn’t need help at the moment. There’s no mention of how her attitude towards him started before she met Collei, got to persist without being called out, and how her inability to take “no” for an answer for the sake of proving her worth would give Kaeya (who, by the way, doesn’t know her well at this point) even less of a reason to place his trust in her. And her moments with Collei are often muddled with how often she ignores her boundaries and touches her/gets all up in her space without permission - which is not only a really common and distressing form of ableism but is even worse when you remember how triggered Collei is by touching, and yet it’s overwhelmingly treated as some sweet or helpful way to Collei’s cold heart brought on by that special someone (TM). Amber never has to learn anything from any of this, the entire arc is about uplifting her and presenting her as right all along (TM) while Kaeya and Collei both end up having to learn from her, and both feel some kind of remorse or unease over what happened on their end. But Amber’s still praised as being so wholesome (TM) by the fandom, while Kaeya’s still the one who got shit on for years (to the point where I saw so many fancomics around the time of Collei’s debut depicting her as being terrified of him and him getting a rise out of it) because the fandom never lived down that moment where he “irredeemably wronged” two innocent (TM) light-skinned girls.

It’s in how when Kaeya’s consistently been shown to do things for these characters that a genuinely kind and supportive friend would, it’s still not enough for some people to regard him more positively or less suspiciously. And not only do these characters tend not to return that energy unintentionally or not, but the fandom will take maybe one moment of small praise these characters have towards Kaeya and instantly give them the benefit of the doubt that “he’s sooooo loved!” Look, if Kaeya can show up for these characters while not sticking to the bare minimum, and do it for almost everyone he knows to the point of being the guy all of Mond goes to for conflict resolution, just maybe the bar should be higher for what he gets from his relationships with them too. (Here’s a post that sums up why it’s messed up to constantly show a poc uplifting other, especially white characters without having it returned with the same energy, it’s a good read)

Kaeya’s the most prominent example where this happens since he gets a lot of content, and because he’s explicitly a poc in a heavily white setting. This happens in other settings too, such as how Ifa’s often overlooked in favor of Chasca by both the game and the fandom, despite both of them being Flower-Feather Clan members who had an important role in Natlan’s war arc. But I haven’t seen much on the same level as Kaeya’s treatment with them. Even then, that’s because the fandom is a lot more critical of Chasca than they are with the female characters from Mondstadt, and more likely to write her off as “bland” compared to them even though a lot of them have barely developed past the same old overachieving, legacy and following some moral path, while Chasca did have arcs where her character moves forward, and even manages to empathize with and befriend Benny and Ineffa post-development. Cyno also gets a lot of content where other (often light-skinned) characters treat him like he’s cringe for his jokes and TCG hobby (which also happens to Kaeya), including some of the Sumeru cast like Collei and Nilou. But again, it’s not on the same level as Kaeya’s because more often than not these characters are shafted rather than uplifted - Collei often gets reduced to a ward for Amber or Tighnari, and Nilou, like Chasca, is also often written off as bland and a generic nice girl when she fits neatly into Sumeru’s themes of wisdom and is actually capable of acknowledging her own shortcomings and working past them.

And not to mention how everyone who said “Mondstadt feels like home!” suddenly said it was cringe when the Natlanese ladies did their damndest to make the Traveler feel welcome just like in Mondstadt…almost like there’s a shift in perception of whose attention is considered valuable based on what irl cultures they’re from, huh? And the women in the “less desirable” one are cringey for doing the same thing a cast of mostly white women did at the beginning of the game. I still think there’s a lot of rightful criticisms for how instantly Natlan took to the Traveler, but then why didn’t the same criticisms get directed at Mondstadt even when it resulted in the Traveler participating in the same culture that has everyone sweep problems under the rug to keep some narrow-minded version of peace and never having to answer for it?? It’s true that while female characters in general tend to be shafted by the fandom, people-pleasing, “moral” white female characters tend to be treated like they’re above criticism or seen as more “human” at every racialized character’s expense, and at the expense of “difficult” women and girls.

The part that usually gets understood and addressed is how Susbedo felt resentment for being abandoned by Rhinedottir, and envy for how Albedo was able to integrate into Mondstadt when he was deemed a failure and believed he could never fit in even if he tried. Thus, he was driven to try and replace Albedo by taking up his appearance and killing him. But you know what doesn’t seem to be addressed? Albedo’s apathy towards how a lot of Rhine’s other creations, and by extension Susbedo, were treated by her. As her “perfect creation”, Albedo tends to see Rhine as someone who made some mistakes but ultimately tried, and tbh, that wouldn’t be much of an issue if he was her only creation or the others were similarly treated or given plans for their future, but as we know that’s not the case. It’s that thing where Genshin tries to write in middle-school level conflicts, then sticks them into situations with severely traumatizing/potentially world-ending stakes and expects the audience to just roll with it, and that’s what happened with Susbedo, who absolutely did not get even the barest minimum support that Rhine at least tried to prepare for Albedo. And that includes how Albedo treated him as well, which wasn’t much different from how Rhine did. Now, he wasn’t the one who abandoned S2 and left him to be swallowed by Dragonspine Durin, that part is true. But he absolutely did pick up on Rhine’s attitude towards him as one of her “failures” intentionally or not, and doesn’t deviate from it or even question it. He even calls him “Master’s Failed experiment in the dragon’s belly” at one point, same dehumanizing language that she used and very little thought for whether Subject 2 would hear him or feel anything about it. Susbedo not only had to watch someone from similar circumstances as him fit into human society with few issues, but watched him do it while being as dismissive of him as this “failed experiment” as Gold previously was. What really doesn’t help is how Albedo tends to elevate Rhine and see her behavior in a positive light, which can blindside him to consequences of her behavior towards those who weren’t as supported as he was. And once Susbedo finally shows himself, he’s treated like a problem to be dealt with rather than someone who can feel things by not only someone who was supposed to be his brother (and therefore someone who could’ve understood him or even could’ve been his ally), but by this random Traveler that Albedo met recently who instantly believed what he had to say and also saw Susbedo as a problem. Susbedo had no one and nothing to turn to, and that can really mess with the way you view the world. While it doesn’t absolve, you know, literally trying to kill someone and take over their life, there’s also that angle of never being sided with and having the golden child (hehe golden) of the family also participate in the very mentality that got him abandoned on a snowy mountain in the first place to really consider here.

Therein lies the second problem: that pattern of Mondstadt/Hexerei characters (barring a few exceptions like Kaeya) upholding some harmful societal/familial beliefs or rules, and never having to be challenged on them or face any real lasting consequences because Mond is so moral and good and praises the Traveler so much (TM). I’ve talked a lot about how badly this problem manifests in Varka, Jean, Diluc, Amber, Rosaria, etc…well what do you know, Albedo and Rhine have that issue as well, and though it was there since early in the game it really showed from Paralogism onwards.

We already learned previously how Rhine treated a lot of her creations (aka many of them were considered failures and abandoned), the havoc unleashed on all corners of Teyvat because of her various experiments and the multiple generations of trauma that resulted from that, and how isolated Albedo was under her tutelage. And yet…despite being considered one of the Sinners of Khaenri’ah, it feels like the worst of the consequences are bore by everyone but her (especially innocents caught in the crossfire), and therein lies the problem. She’s still a valued member of the Hexenzirkel and treated like an old friend who just “played around”, though considering the other members’ stances on things I guess it’s not too out of place. Even then, in Paralogism she’s still painted as “made some oopsies” or “she wasn’t that bad”, and while she does lament Dragonspine Durin’s fate…she still does it while holding onto the mentality that it was because he was flawed and thus a failure from the moment she created him. And wouldn’t you know it, that mentality was also the one that got Susbedo abandoned and swallowed up by Durin in the first place, she hasn’t really moved past it and no one who could has really pushed back against it, and even Albedo can see that. And she gets to ascend by eating the shade of life…yippee. Right alongside that is Albedo not only insisting that she wasn’t that bad, but also upholding a lot of her mentality whether it was intentional or not. Albedo…you know, the guy who Rhine didn’t abandon and paid the most attention to because he was deemed her perfect creation, and even then had the support of her best friends afterwards as well as the ability to fit the standards of a city that places a lot of emphasis on legacy and appearances. The guy who really should not be speaking on her behavior as a whole when he’s way more privileged than a lot of those involved in her shit, and the way she treated him was the exception, not the rule. It would be one thing if this narrow worldview was explored and treated like a genuine flaw (which would open up potential for incredible character development), but when he says that we’re just kinda expected to take his word for it, because Albedo is so smart, nice to the Traveler and befitting of Mondstadt (TM) so he MUST be a reliable narrator. /s He’s never challenged on that worldview by the Traveler or anyone else, nor does he get challenged on the way he talks about Susbedo, which isn’t that different from the way Rhine talks about most of her experiments and is meant to be agreed with because of how much the game treats Susbedo like a problem to be dealt with first and foremost. And with the way the other characters practically venerate Albedo and how he never has to really face consequences in-game for even the things that could be his flaws…yeah. With Rhinedottir, you could make the argument that she’s not meant to be seen as a morally sound character in the first place…but when it’s Albedo, someone presented as a much more nice, wise and worldly character who’s even a member of the playable cast, that’s where you need to address that flaw otherwise it’ll make him come across as less sympathetic than intended.

I get that when you’re looking in from an outside perspective, it’s easy to reduce the entirety of the conflict in there to “oh he was jealous”. But through the eyes of someone who’s been in such situations…there was likely also a shit ton of resentment for Albedo not only reinforcing a lot of Rhine’s attitudes and negative beliefs that got attributed to him, but the kind of positions Albedo and Rhine were in making it practically impossible for S2 to be believed or taken seriously if he ever tried saying how he really felt. Like, that’s the kind of shit certain teachers use to pit students against each other in school all the time, and oftentimes it’s the people pleasing kids who meet standards getting roped into helping enforce a lot of those toxic habits and shaming those who don’t meet said standards whether they realize it or not. Being way too familiar with that kind of crap, I had a hard time seeing this whole plot line as just “Susbedo was jealous that he didn’t get attention.”

At the same time, that’s not to say Susbedo’s pov was entirely sound or that he was never blindsided. Like I’ve discussed before, a lot of the times when Mondstadt shows love and admiration for someone, it tends to be for something very surface-level and puts the person on a superhuman pedestal, which might not be the kind of admiration S2 ends up reveling in when you really think about it (though to be fair the narrative is also pretty iffy about addressing that). Also, who says he has to be loved by Mondstadt specifically? It’s not the only place in Teyvat (though it says a lot about the kind of favoritism Mond gets by the game and fandom when it’s treated like failure to not be loved by the nation that’s ironically kinda judgmental, like in Eula’s story too). And he didn’t seem to think about how Albedo was still under some kind of pressure to achieve with how Rhine’s attention was on him, and other potential downsides if he’d managed to catch her eye with some kind of talent or something. I feel like that could’ve been expanded on a bit more if they didn’t treat Susbedo like just a problem for the good and moral (TM) playable cast to solve from the word go, it would even supplement his extreme actions, and emphasize how much he messed up in doing what he did while also being a good opening to address what kind of longstanding patterns in the family dynamic/society drove him to have that worldview in the first place. But that would require Albedo, Rhine (and the rest of the Hexenzirkel), and to an extent, the Traveler and the nice suburban town to be able to bear actual lasting consequences for their actions and we can’t have that here. /s

The part that usually gets understood and addressed is how Susbedo felt resentment for being abandoned by Rhinedottir, and envy for how Albedo was able to integrate into Mondstadt when he was deemed a failure and believed he could never fit in even if he tried. Thus, he was driven to try and replace Albedo by taking up his appearance and killing him. But you know what doesn’t seem to be addressed? Albedo’s apathy towards how a lot of Rhine’s other creations, and by extension Susbedo, were treated by her. As her “perfect creation”, Albedo tends to see Rhine as someone who made some mistakes but ultimately tried, and tbh, that wouldn’t be much of an issue if he was her only creation or the others were similarly treated or given plans for their future, but as we know that’s not the case. It’s that thing where Genshin tries to write in middle-school level conflicts, then sticks them into situations with severely traumatizing/potentially world-ending stakes and expects the audience to just roll with it, and that’s what happened with Susbedo, who absolutely did not get even the barest minimum support that Rhine at least tried to prepare for Albedo. And that includes how Albedo treated him as well, which wasn’t much different from how Rhine did. Now, he wasn’t the one who abandoned S2 and left him to be swallowed by Dragonspine Durin, that part is true. But he absolutely did pick up on Rhine’s attitude towards him as one of her “failures” intentionally or not, and doesn’t deviate from it or even question it. He even calls him “Master’s Failed experiment in the dragon’s belly” at one point, same dehumanizing language that she used and very little thought for whether Subject 2 would hear him or feel anything about it. Susbedo not only had to watch someone from similar circumstances as him fit into human society with few issues, but watched him do it while being as dismissive of him as this “failed experiment” as Gold previously was. What really doesn’t help is how Albedo tends to elevate Rhine and see her behavior in a positive light, which can blindside him to consequences of her behavior towards those who weren’t as supported as he was. And once Susbedo finally shows himself, he’s treated like a problem to be dealt with rather than someone who can feel things by not only someone who was supposed to be his brother (and therefore someone who could’ve understood him or even could’ve been his ally), but by this random Traveler that Albedo met recently who instantly believed what he had to say and also saw Susbedo as a problem. Susbedo had no one and nothing to turn to, and that can really mess with the way you view the world. While it doesn’t absolve, you know, literally trying to kill someone and take over their life, there’s also that angle of never being sided with and having the golden child (hehe golden) of the family also participate in the very mentality that got him abandoned on a snowy mountain in the first place to really consider here.

Therein lies the second problem: that pattern of Mondstadt/Hexerei characters (barring a few exceptions like Kaeya) upholding some harmful societal/familial beliefs or rules, and never having to be challenged on them or face any real lasting consequences because Mond is so moral and good and praises the Traveler so much (TM). I’ve talked a lot about how badly this problem manifests in Varka, Jean, Diluc, Amber, Rosaria, etc…well what do you know, Albedo and Rhine have that issue as well, and though it was there since early in the game it really showed from Paralogism onwards.

We already learned previously how Rhine treated a lot of her creations (aka many of them were considered failures and abandoned), the havoc unleashed on all corners of Teyvat because of her various experiments and the multiple generations of trauma that resulted from that, and how isolated Albedo was under her tutelage. And yet…despite being considered one of the Sinners of Khaenri’ah, it feels like the worst of the consequences are bore by everyone but her (especially innocents caught in the crossfire), and therein lies the problem. She’s still a valued member of the Hexenzirkel and treated like an old friend who just “played around”, though considering the other members’ stances on things I guess it’s not too out of place. Even then, in Paralogism she’s still painted as “made some oopsies” or “she wasn’t that bad”, and while she does lament Dragonspine Durin’s fate…she still does it while holding onto the mentality that it was because he was flawed and thus a failure from the moment she created him. And wouldn’t you know it, that mentality was also the one that got Susbedo abandoned and swallowed up by Durin in the first place, she hasn’t really moved past it and no one who could has really pushed back against it, and even Albedo can see that. And she gets to ascend by eating the shade of life…yippee. Right alongside that is Albedo not only insisting that she wasn’t that bad, but also upholding a lot of her mentality whether it was intentional or not. Albedo…you know, the guy who Rhine didn’t abandon and paid the most attention to because he was deemed her perfect creation, and even then had the support of her best friends afterwards as well as the ability to fit the standards of a city that places a lot of emphasis on legacy and appearances. The guy who really should not be speaking on her behavior as a whole when he’s way more privileged than a lot of those involved in her shit, and the way she treated him was the exception, not the rule. It would be one thing if this narrow worldview was explored and treated like a genuine flaw (which would open up potential for incredible character development), but when he says that we’re just kinda expected to take his word for it, because Albedo is so smart, nice to the Traveler and befitting of Mondstadt (TM) so he MUST be a reliable narrator. /s He’s never challenged on that worldview by the Traveler or anyone else, nor does he get challenged on the way he talks about Susbedo, which isn’t that different from the way Rhine talks about most of her experiments and is meant to be agreed with because of how much the game treats Susbedo like a problem to be dealt with first and foremost. And with the way the other characters practically venerate Albedo and how he never has to really face consequences in-game for even the things that could be his flaws…yeah. With Rhinedottir, you could make the argument that she’s not meant to be seen as a morally sound character in the first place…but when it’s Albedo, someone presented as a much more nice, wise and worldly character who’s even a member of the playable cast, that’s where you need to address that flaw otherwise it’ll make him come across as less sympathetic than intended.

I get that when you’re looking in from an outside perspective, it’s easy to reduce the entirety of the conflict in there to “oh he was jealous”. But through the eyes of someone who’s been in such situations…there was likely also a shit ton of resentment for Albedo not only reinforcing a lot of Rhine’s attitudes and negative beliefs that got attributed to him, but the kind of positions Albedo and Rhine were in making it practically impossible for S2 to be believed or taken seriously if he ever tried saying how he really felt. Like, that’s the kind of shit certain teachers use to pit students against each other in school all the time, and oftentimes it’s the people pleasing kids who meet standards getting roped into helping enforce a lot of those toxic habits and shaming those who don’t meet said standards whether they realize it or not. Being way too familiar with that kind of crap, I had a hard time seeing this whole plot line as just “Susbedo was jealous that he didn’t get attention.”

At the same time, that’s not to say Susbedo’s pov was entirely sound or that he was never blindsided. Like I’ve discussed before, a lot of the times when Mondstadt shows love and admiration for someone, it tends to be for something very surface-level and puts the person on a superhuman pedestal, which might not be the kind of admiration S2 ends up reveling in when you really think about it (though to be fair the narrative is also pretty iffy about addressing that). Also, who says he has to be loved by Mondstadt specifically? It’s not the only place in Teyvat (though it says a lot about the kind of favoritism Mond gets by the game and fandom when it’s treated like failure to not be loved by the nation that’s ironically kinda judgmental, like in Eula’s story too). And he didn’t seem to think about how Albedo was still under some kind of pressure to achieve with how Rhine’s attention was on him, and other potential downsides if he’d managed to catch her eye with some kind of talent or something. I feel like that could’ve been expanded on a bit more if they didn’t treat Susbedo like just a problem for the good and moral (TM) playable cast to solve from the word go, it would even supplement his extreme actions, and emphasize how much he messed up in doing what he did while also being a good opening to address what kind of longstanding patterns in the family dynamic/society drove him to have that worldview in the first place. But that would require Albedo, Rhine (and the rest of the Hexenzirkel), and to an extent, the Traveler and the nice suburban town to be able to bear actual lasting consequences for their actions and we can’t have that here. /s

The part that usually gets understood and addressed is how Susbedo felt resentment for being abandoned by Rhinedottir, and envy for how Albedo was able to integrate into Mondstadt when he was deemed a failure and believed he could never fit in even if he tried. Thus, he was driven to try and replace Albedo by taking up his appearance and killing him. But you know what doesn’t seem to be addressed? Albedo’s apathy towards how a lot of Rhine’s other creations, and by extension Susbedo, were treated by her. As her “perfect creation”, Albedo tends to see Rhine as someone who made some mistakes but ultimately tried, and tbh, that wouldn’t be much of an issue if he was her only creation or the others were similarly treated or given plans for their future, but as we know that’s not the case. It’s that thing where Genshin tries to write in middle-school level conflicts, then sticks them into situations with severely traumatizing/potentially world-ending stakes and expects the audience to just roll with it, and that’s what happened with Susbedo, who absolutely did not get even the barest minimum support that Rhine at least tried to prepare for Albedo. And that includes how Albedo treated him as well, which wasn’t much different from how Rhine did. Now, he wasn’t the one who abandoned S2 and left him to be swallowed by Dragonspine Durin, that part is true. But he absolutely did pick up on Rhine’s attitude towards him as one of her “failures” intentionally or not, and doesn’t deviate from it or even question it. He even calls him “Master’s Failed experiment in the dragon’s belly” at one point, same dehumanizing language that she used and very little thought for whether Subject 2 would hear him or feel anything about it. Susbedo not only had to watch someone from similar circumstances as him fit into human society with few issues, but watched him do it while being as dismissive of him as this “failed experiment” as Gold previously was. What really doesn’t help is how Albedo tends to elevate Rhine and see her behavior in a positive light, which can blindside him to consequences of her behavior towards those who weren’t as supported as he was. And once Susbedo finally shows himself, he’s treated like a problem to be dealt with rather than someone who can feel things by not only someone who was supposed to be his brother (and therefore someone who could’ve understood him or even could’ve been his ally), but by this random Traveler that Albedo met recently who instantly believed what he had to say and also saw Susbedo as a problem. Susbedo had no one and nothing to turn to, and that can really mess with the way you view the world. While it doesn’t absolve, you know, literally trying to kill someone and take over their life, there’s also that angle of never being sided with and having the golden child (hehe golden) of the family also participate in the very mentality that got him abandoned on a snowy mountain in the first place to really consider here.

Therein lies the second problem: that pattern of Mondstadt/Hexerei characters (barring a few exceptions like Kaeya) upholding some harmful societal/familial beliefs or rules, and never having to be challenged on them or face any real lasting consequences because Mond is so moral and good and praises the Traveler so much (TM). I’ve talked a lot about how badly this problem manifests in Varka, Jean, Diluc, Amber, Rosaria, etc…well what do you know, Albedo and Rhine have that issue as well, and though it was there since early in the game it really showed from Paralogism onwards.

We already learned previously how Rhine treated a lot of her creations (aka many of them were considered failures and abandoned), the havoc unleashed on all corners of Teyvat because of her various experiments and the multiple generations of trauma that resulted from that, and how isolated Albedo was under her tutelage. And yet…despite being considered one of the Sinners of Khaenri’ah, it feels like the worst of the consequences are bore by everyone but her (especially innocents caught in the crossfire), and therein lies the problem. She’s still a valued member of the Hexenzirkel and treated like an old friend who just “played around”, though considering the other members’ stances on things I guess it’s not too out of place. Even then, in Paralogism she’s still painted as “made some oopsies” or “she wasn’t that bad”, and while she does lament Dragonspine Durin’s fate…she still does it while holding onto the mentality that it was because he was flawed and thus a failure from the moment she created him. And wouldn’t you know it, that mentality was also the one that got Susbedo abandoned and swallowed up by Durin in the first place, she hasn’t really moved past it and no one who could has really pushed back against it, and even Albedo can see that. And she gets to ascend by eating the shade of life…yippee. Right alongside that is Albedo not only insisting that she wasn’t that bad, but also upholding a lot of her mentality whether it was intentional or not. Albedo…you know, the guy who Rhine didn’t abandon and paid the most attention to because he was deemed her perfect creation, and even then had the support of her best friends afterwards as well as the ability to fit the standards of a city that places a lot of emphasis on legacy and appearances. The guy who really should not be speaking on her behavior as a whole when he’s way more privileged than a lot of those involved in her shit, and the way she treated him was the exception, not the rule. It would be one thing if this narrow worldview was explored and treated like a genuine flaw (which would open up potential for incredible character development), but when he says that we’re just kinda expected to take his word for it, because Albedo is so smart, nice to the Traveler and befitting of Mondstadt (TM) so he MUST be a reliable narrator. /s He’s never challenged on that worldview by the Traveler or anyone else, nor does he get challenged on the way he talks about Susbedo, which isn’t that different from the way Rhine talks about most of her experiments and is meant to be agreed with because of how much the game treats Susbedo like a problem to be dealt with first and foremost. And with the way the other characters practically venerate Albedo and how he never has to really face consequences in-game for even the things that could be his flaws…yeah. With Rhinedottir, you could make the argument that she’s not meant to be seen as a morally sound character in the first place…but when it’s Albedo, someone presented as a much more nice, wise and worldly character who’s even a member of the playable cast, that’s where you need to address that flaw otherwise it’ll make him come across as less sympathetic than intended.

I get that when you’re looking in from an outside perspective, it’s easy to reduce the entirety of the conflict in there to “oh he was jealous”. But through the eyes of someone who’s been in such situations…there was likely also a shit ton of resentment for Albedo not only reinforcing a lot of Rhine’s attitudes and negative beliefs that got attributed to him, but the kind of positions Albedo and Rhine were in making it practically impossible for S2 to be believed or taken seriously if he ever tried saying how he really felt. Like, that’s the kind of shit certain teachers use to pit students against each other in school all the time, and oftentimes it’s the people pleasing kids who meet standards getting roped into helping enforce a lot of those toxic habits and shaming those who don’t meet said standards whether they realize it or not. Being way too familiar with that kind of crap, I had a hard time seeing this whole plot line as just “Susbedo was jealous that he didn’t get attention.”

At the same time, that’s not to say Susbedo’s pov was entirely sound or that he was never blindsided. Like I’ve discussed before, a lot of the times when Mondstadt shows love and admiration for someone, it tends to be for something very surface-level and puts the person on a superhuman pedestal, which might not be the kind of admiration S2 ends up reveling in when you really think about it (though to be fair the narrative is also pretty iffy about addressing that). Also, who says he has to be loved by Mondstadt specifically? It’s not the only place in Teyvat (though it says a lot about the kind of favoritism Mond gets by the game and fandom when it’s treated like failure to not be loved by the nation that’s ironically kinda judgmental, like in Eula’s story too). And he didn’t seem to think about how Albedo was still under some kind of pressure to achieve with how Rhine’s attention was on him, and other potential downsides if he’d managed to catch her eye with some kind of talent or something. I feel like that could’ve been expanded on a bit more if they didn’t treat Susbedo like just a problem for the good and moral (TM) playable cast to solve from the word go, it would even supplement his extreme actions, and emphasize how much he messed up in doing what he did while also being a good opening to address what kind of longstanding patterns in the family dynamic/society drove him to have that worldview in the first place. But that would require Albedo, Rhine (and the rest of the Hexenzirkel), and to an extent, the Traveler and the nice suburban town to be able to bear actual lasting consequences for their actions and we can’t have that here. /s