someone to share an orange with

Like regardless how individually invested people are in say, Nahida and/or Furina as characters/archons, I think they both fill their roles in their respective narratives pretty well, and their regions are stronger in a lot of areas for it. People wouldn’t like the Fontaine AQ nearly as much if people hadn’t been able to become emotionally invested in Furina as a character, and honestly I’d go as far to say a lot of the most popular characters in Sumeru & Fontaine would be a lot worse off from the region’s Archons being fumbled, because generally what makes a lot of Genshin characters interesting is how they interact with the themes of their region that, again, the Archon serves as a cornerstone for establishing. Haikaveh’s massive popularity as a ship, for example, isn’t random: a lot of people like it because the way the characters relate to the conversation of wisdom in Sumeru makes them engaging characters

The reception Natlan’s AQ & cast gets feels really lukewarm in comparison, and again I think that makes sense when it feels they didn't commit to one of the characters a lot of things are depending on as groundwork to build off

And I think…what really gets me about them fumbling Mavuika in particular is just how much she conceptually feels a character that would be well within Genshin’s capabilities to write. Like… I feel Mavuika & Ei’s writing, for instance, share the similar issue of Genshin not committing to their characters the way they need, but while Ei suffers from a lot of wishywashiness or backtracking on the role her character serves in Causing Conflict, the commitment Mavuika lacks is more solidly in a commitment in execution than who she is character wise.

Because I think we actually do have a good idea of what kind of character Mavuika is intended to be & what role she’s supposed to serve in the story, and it’s something I’d theoretically like & consider a welcome addition to the Archon lineup.

I like that she’s a normal human voluntarily assuming the role of an Archon, and I’m not even inherently opposed to her just being a very competent leader who’s good at her job. If we are going to have any Archon who “feels” more like what people would “expect an Archon to be” in terms of commanding authority/respect as a leader, I definitely think it suits the narrative best if it’s a human archon like Mavuika bc an intentional element of a lot of nonhuman Archon characters is that they’re /not/ supposed to “feel” like what you’d expect gods to be.

While I think her being good at her job works conceptually, in execution it’s definitely to her character’s detriment, because you can tell pretty quickly they are…not doing it in a way that leaves very much room for her to be a character you can really connect to emotionally.

Any attempt the AQ makes at giving Mavuika personal flaws/struggles/conflict ends up feeling really forced or pointless, because there’s no room in her characterization for things to meaningfully impact her as a person or invoke a response in you as the viewer other than “wow, Mavuika is so cool and well adjusted”

I know how Genshin writes characters, and I could tell pretty early on what they wanted to go for was that Mavuika is someone who is good at her job to the point of self destruction, someone who’s selflessness & sense of duty is admirable until it becomes sad/concerning with how much its prioritized over her own needs and wants as a person.

This character archetype of denying your own humanity and fixating self sacrifice, especially out of a sense of duty and/or poor self worth, is incredibly on brand for Genshin to write & something we know they’re capable of writing well and with variety.

Like, similarly to Furina, Mavuika is sacrificing/suppressing a lot of her humanity out of her sense of duty as an Archon. The fact she very voluntarily signed up for forfeiting her relationships with her family & neglecting her wants as a person because she’s so set on saving Natlan would be really compelling, but is constantly undercut by the fact it ultimately has little impact on…anything.

Mavuika’s grief for her lost family never makes her falter or struggle in places it would matter—other characters comment she doesn't focus on her own wants/needs, but this never seems to have any genuine emotional or physical consequences on Mavuika as a person or anyone around her. She just, um…tells you she figured out how to cope with her grief a while ago, or that she will maybe try to paint for fun to unwind between her responsibilities, etc.

It feels like even more of a missed opportunity when you consider how well elaborating on things like that would’ve aligned with Natlan’s “no one fights alone” mantra. If Mavuika is actively suffering from the consequences of shouldering so much burden alone out of a sense of duty i think it would’ve worked really well to have the rest of the Natlan cast challenge that, especially when they are so widely good natured and enthusiastic about being cooperative to an almost comedic degree

A lot of what they try to show of Mavuika’s emotions feels crammed into the last act of the AQ, and by then it’s really too late to have good pay off because there’s no room for build up. I wish they’d had something more along the lines of…Yelan getting into a tense argument with Xiao trying to self sacrifice in Perious Trail, or Nahida being so set on sacrificing herself for Sumeru’s sake in her 2nd SQ she’s seen torn up about & struggling to accept the outcome of someone sacrificing themselves in her place instead in the aftermath. Have her arc be struggling to internalize “no one fights alone” applies to her too, or something.

At the very least I wish there was more fanfare or resistance over her not being the one to sacrifice herself in the end omg. She just gets talked down a bit by Citlali & Traveler & then just kinda stands there like “oh…ok :(“ when Capitano shows up with a power point presentation about why this should be His self sacrifice moment now HAHDBXJHXND

Like regardless how individually invested people are in say, Nahida and/or Furina as characters/archons, I think they both fill their roles in their respective narratives pretty well, and their regions are stronger in a lot of areas for it. People wouldn’t like the Fontaine AQ nearly as much if people hadn’t been able to become emotionally invested in Furina as a character, and honestly I’d go as far to say a lot of the most popular characters in Sumeru & Fontaine would be a lot worse off from the region’s Archons being fumbled, because generally what makes a lot of Genshin characters interesting is how they interact with the themes of their region that, again, the Archon serves as a cornerstone for establishing. Haikaveh’s massive popularity as a ship, for example, isn’t random: a lot of people like it because the way the characters relate to the conversation of wisdom in Sumeru makes them engaging characters

The reception Natlan’s AQ & cast gets feels really lukewarm in comparison, and again I think that makes sense when it feels they didn't commit to one of the characters a lot of things are depending on as groundwork to build off

And I think…what really gets me about them fumbling Mavuika in particular is just how much she conceptually feels a character that would be well within Genshin’s capabilities to write. Like… I feel Mavuika & Ei’s writing, for instance, share the similar issue of Genshin not committing to their characters the way they need, but while Ei suffers from a lot of wishywashiness or backtracking on the role her character serves in Causing Conflict, the commitment Mavuika lacks is more solidly in a commitment in execution than who she is character wise.

Because I think we actually do have a good idea of what kind of character Mavuika is intended to be & what role she’s supposed to serve in the story, and it’s something I’d theoretically like & consider a welcome addition to the Archon lineup.

I like that she’s a normal human voluntarily assuming the role of an Archon, and I’m not even inherently opposed to her just being a very competent leader who’s good at her job. If we are going to have any Archon who “feels” more like what people would “expect an Archon to be” in terms of commanding authority/respect as a leader, I definitely think it suits the narrative best if it’s a human archon like Mavuika bc an intentional element of a lot of nonhuman Archon characters is that they’re /not/ supposed to “feel” like what you’d expect gods to be.

While I think her being good at her job works conceptually, in execution it’s definitely to her character’s detriment, because you can tell pretty quickly they are…not doing it in a way that leaves very much room for her to be a character you can really connect to emotionally.

Any attempt the AQ makes at giving Mavuika personal flaws/struggles/conflict ends up feeling really forced or pointless, because there’s no room in her characterization for things to meaningfully impact her as a person or invoke a response in you as the viewer other than “wow, Mavuika is so cool and well adjusted”

I know how Genshin writes characters, and I could tell pretty early on what they wanted to go for was that Mavuika is someone who is good at her job to the point of self destruction, someone who’s selflessness & sense of duty is admirable until it becomes sad/concerning with how much its prioritized over her own needs and wants as a person.

This character archetype of denying your own humanity and fixating self sacrifice, especially out of a sense of duty and/or poor self worth, is incredibly on brand for Genshin to write & something we know they’re capable of writing well and with variety.

Like, similarly to Furina, Mavuika is sacrificing/suppressing a lot of her humanity out of her sense of duty as an Archon. The fact she very voluntarily signed up for forfeiting her relationships with her family & neglecting her wants as a person because she’s so set on saving Natlan would be really compelling, but is constantly undercut by the fact it ultimately has little impact on…anything.

Mavuika’s grief for her lost family never makes her falter or struggle in places it would matter—other characters comment she doesn't focus on her own wants/needs, but this never seems to have any genuine emotional or physical consequences on Mavuika as a person or anyone around her. She just, um…tells you she figured out how to cope with her grief a while ago, or that she will maybe try to paint for fun to unwind between her responsibilities, etc.

It feels like even more of a missed opportunity when you consider how well elaborating on things like that would’ve aligned with Natlan’s “no one fights alone” mantra. If Mavuika is actively suffering from the consequences of shouldering so much burden alone out of a sense of duty i think it would’ve worked really well to have the rest of the Natlan cast challenge that, especially when they are so widely good natured and enthusiastic about being cooperative to an almost comedic degree

A lot of what they try to show of Mavuika’s emotions feels crammed into the last act of the AQ, and by then it’s really too late to have good pay off because there’s no room for build up. I wish they’d had something more along the lines of…Yelan getting into a tense argument with Xiao trying to self sacrifice in Perious Trail, or Nahida being so set on sacrificing herself for Sumeru’s sake in her 2nd SQ she’s seen torn up about & struggling to accept the outcome of someone sacrificing themselves in her place instead in the aftermath. Have her arc be struggling to internalize “no one fights alone” applies to her too, or something.

At the very least I wish there was more fanfare or resistance over her not being the one to sacrifice herself in the end omg. She just gets talked down a bit by Citlali & Traveler & then just kinda stands there like “oh…ok :(“ when Capitano shows up with a power point presentation about why this should be His self sacrifice moment now HAHDBXJHXND