I think there's a lot to talk about here, but I also don't want to direct any of it toward other players. I won't begrudge anyone their readings and I definitely don't presume to speak for others on the subject.

That said, I do agree that the morality in the game is fraught. My personal hope is that the Tsaritsa (and the Harbingers alongside her) will enjoy the nuance the narrative has thus far teased. Despite what we hear of the Fatui, Childe calls the Tsaritsa a gentle soul who has had to harden herself, and who declared war against the world because she dreams of peace. This makes her an incredibly compelling Archon to me. For all that the traveler seems to be friendly with the Archons we've met so far, we've also seen the Archons do troubling things. ("Caribert" shows just how horrific their power can be). The six sins of the Akademiya (which we learn through Cyno's character story) speak to the fact that the those in power seem to want to hide some knowledge from scholars who threaten to come close to figuring out the truth of the world. The Harbingers seem to share an "ends justify the means" mentality, but the ends themselves don't always seem downright evil. Dottore's research into Eleazar lacked ethics approval, but he did ultimately manage to cure it before his experiment was shut down (this isn't intended to excuse his process, but rather to say that, for all that tampering with life and death is a "sin," the practice of medicine isn't inherently evil).

Ultimately, I hope we'll find a reason why our sibling is doing what they're doing and a reason why we have to go on this adventure to figure it out ourselves (beyond just "it's a game mechanic"). My hope is that we continue to uncover nuance as we progress through the story.

Also, we go around killing hilichurls, so our hands aren't exactly clean in any of this.

Hello! These are great questions!

1. My number one trick is to go back to the characters’ voicelines, especially when switching ships. If I’ve been working on Dottolone and want to pivot to Kaveh and Alhaitham, I’ll go to the conversation in the library. Hearing the words in the character’s voice makes a huge difference for me, but even just rereading them can be helpful!

2. All the time! There’s a vulnerability to sharing any kind of creative work online and sharing my writing feels especially personal to me. But I try to I treat self-consciousness the same way I treat impostor syndrome in my professional life: it’s always there but I’m aware that it’s there so I can catch it and work against it.

The first fic on my Ao3 was written over a year before I shared it and the only reason it’s even up is because my friends were relentless in trying to get me to post. But once that first piece was out there, it became a LOT easier to share my writing, so there’s something to be said for ripping off that bandaid.

1. One of the things that happens with improvement is that, when you reread something on a second, third, or fourth pass, you start to look at it from the perspective of having more knowledge. It might not seem as good now as it did the last time you read it because you know you would do things differently now. But there’s no limit to how many stories you can tell. You can continue to revisit the work. Or you can jump into the next project armed with what you learned from that experience. (There’s also a great pleasure to be had in watching authors’ writing change over time if you read them over the course of many years.)

At the end of the day, I think we tend to be our harshest critics. I would NEVER say the things I think about my own pieces to my friends because I hold myself to ridiculous standards that I don’t apply to others. This is something I’m always working on. But it’s worth thinking: “would I be this critical of this piece if my friend had written it?”

This got long, but I guess my advice is to use the self-consciousness as a way to reflect on your writing—as a tool that can help you to think about how you can improve—but not to let that self-consciousness stop you from posting altogether.

This is my favorite ask ever and I hope you don't mind that I turned it into a thread because nothing brings me more joy than rambling about Harbingers and food!

Disclaimer that these are all entirely my own headcanons and some are a little silly.

Pierro: Cognac and camembert. The stock character Pierrot was immensely popular in France in the 19th and 20th centuries, and was often used to market goods. Cognac and camembert (we can ascribe those to Fontaine) were among the products advertised using his character.

Capitano: Mondstadt’s northern apple stew. I currently still HC Capitano as being the Bloodstained Knight, so his favorite dish is a Mondstadt classic of braised meats and sweet apples. Its distinctly nostalgic and no longer a dish he can bring himself to eat, but he yearns for it all the same.

Dottore: Thinks food is a waste of time and would get his nutrients via IV if it were up to him. Unfortunately, it’s not up to him and Pantalone drags him to extravagant dinners, where Dottore grudgingly discovers that he does, in fact, greatly enjoy food. He’ll kill you before saying it—because it would prove Pantalone right—but his favorite food is actually chocolate (and this part is directly lifted from the Commedia).

Columbina: Honey cakes (Medovik if we’re Snezhnayan about it). In Scottish folklore, Seelie were often depicted to enjoy offerings of milk and honey, and other sweets and cakes (and I’m big on the Columbina Seelie fan theory).

Arlecchino: Something hearty and filling, like a fish stew or paella that can feed many. Not for her own sake but for that of the children in her care. She thinks its despicable how much food goes to waste and she’s intensely derisive toward toward those who don’t appreciate it.

Pulcinella: Ukha, a comforting fish soup reminiscent of family dinners on the Snezhnayan coast. The responsibilities of being Mayor keep him away from the dinner table, unfortunately.

Scara: Canonically doesn’t eat but, as Raiden’s vessel, he definitely has a soft spots for deserts. In his voice line about food, he talks about tea, saying “the more bitter, the better” and I think that’s a front because he doesn’t want people to know how much he adores sweets.

Signora: Steak (rare) glazed with a chocolate chili sauce and served with a red citrus salad (talking blood orange, bright raspberries, pomegranate seeds—all drizzled in honey).

Sandrone: Anything you can eat with one hand and not make a mess. Like Dottore, she’s often absorbed in her research and eating is both time consuming and a nuisance. I get penne in a marinara sauce vibes from her; bowls of pasta she can absently eat while she tinkers.

Pantalone: Outwardly, he’s a man who loves all things luxurious and expensive: spoonfulls of caviar and butter-soft oysters, decadent chocolate cakes glazed with brandy. But deep down, there’s a part of him that still believes nothing is better than a slice of warm, fresh bread.

Childe: He might not commit to having a favorite his voicelines, but it’s definitely slow-cooked bamboo shoot soup when (and only when) Zhongli makes it. It’s not even about the soup itself; it’s about the meticulousness with which Zhongli cooks and serves it, about the way Zhongli’s long eyelashes flutter each time he tastes it, about the way he stands there in solemn contemplation as he adds a little more pepper, a little more salt. It’s the way he looks at Childe expectantly when they finally sit down to eat, and the way Childe finally feels himself slowing down, meeting Zhongli’s pace to appreciate it.

I do agree with a lot of what you’re saying. I think (or perhaps hope) that the characters framed as villains will have more dimension to them than simply good vs. evil. Maybe I’m senselessly optimistic here.

I’ve long held the suspicion that we might actually be the twin on the wrong side of history (for crying out loud, we go around killing Hillichurls knowing who they are). Much as I adore Zhongli, he’s done a lot of troubling things—intentionally or otherwise. All of the Archons, in fact, despite ostensibly being the heroes, have done dubious things. Such is their prerogative as gods (or so the game tells us), but that’s one of the things that makes the Harbingers compelling in their resistance, in my opinion. Their methods may not be pure, but their rebellion doens't come out of nowhere. (Of course, the Tsaritsa’s end goal remains to be seen, but even so). They all have their own reasons for resistance. I’m sympathetic to Pantalone as a result (thanks to over-analyzing Moment of Cessation). I do hope that they end up giving him an arc that allows him to have nuance and that doesn’t go that Marvel movie way.

As you said, it’s largely for fun. I think there are a lot of interesting contradictions in Dottore’s depictions in the webtoon, the in-game lore, and the dialogue that I find that makes him interesting to dissect. I’m similarly draw to the ways Pantalone is spoken about (the lore, Yelan’s character story, the other Harbingers’ dialogue).

True, a lot of the writing we do is speculative (i.e. fanon, fanfiction). I come from a background in English literature where I brought a similar kind of analytical approach to Brontë novels and Shakespeare plays. I find enjoyment in media—whether “classic” texts or videogames—through acts of interpretation. Am I sometimes incorrect in my readings? Absolutely, yes! But I adore the process for what it is.

Now, would I be as into Dottore and Pantalone if I didn’t ship them? Probably not. That plays a huge part in this for me.

When it comes to interpreting and exploring Genshin characters, I almost always do so in the context of analysing how they work together, simply because that appeals to me. In no way do I ever want how I personally see Dottore and Pantalone to be read as any sort of fundamental truth about them, and I'm sorry if I come across as though I do. Frankly, one of the limitations of Twitter is that I don’t have the character count to preface every sentence with a big “I think that…” It’s all my own opinion based on my own interpretations. And the endgame of my thinking is nothing more or less than the fanfic I post to Ao3.

I take your point that fandoms do tend to focus more on male characters for various reasons; these range from internal biases to the way that they’re presented within media to begin with. This isn’t to say that this analytical and interpretive work isn’t being done for the women in the game (or not-yet-in-game—Columbina and Arlecchino are just as fascinating as Dottore and Pantalone; call it my Harbinger favoritism). I don’t want to do a disservice to the people who write about them by saying that no one does; the fanworks about them are out there even if they’re less popular.

At the end of the day, I’m just a tired queer overanalyzing fictional men because I want to write different ways to get them to kiss. I try to be thoughtful about it and treat them with nuance; I know I don’t always succeed in doing so. But this is a hobby for me.

So much of my life is politicized; so much of my day-to-day is spent advocating for myself and others like me to be able to claim space. Just because I share thoughts and theories about Dottore and Pantalone on the TL in no way means I see women as less deserving of analysis. That’s the furthest thing from my truth. But the ships I write are the current focus of my posts.

I’m sorry that this is a really long and probably not super satisfying answer.

Ooh, great question! I think Pantalone would be deeply scornful—to the extent that Celestia’s acknowledgment of Dottore’s ambition might actually make Pantalone think less of him. Their partnership feels very “you and me against the world,” so I think Pantalone would see the Vision as a threat on a fundamental level. Deep down, he would also be jealous and petty... not that he’d ever deign to admit it.

If Pantalone were to receive a Vision, Dottore would laugh until he can’t breathe (very hehehoho of him). Pantalone would be furious by the Vision’s sheer existence. To receive one NOW—after having been overlooked and destitute as a child, after having taken control of the very lifeblood of the world through nothing more than his own mortal power—would be beyond patronizing. It would be a divine insult.

I often joke that Pantalone’s Vision story would be a more dramatic version of Keqing’s in which he would try to destroy it in increasingly violent ways. Dottore would be cackling gleefully at his side, raving about how perfectly amusing this all is and mocking Pantalone for finally having earned his precious Morax’s approval.

Either way, Pantalone would not be pleased. He wants power, but he wants to take it on his own terms. Having it be willingly offered by the gods after all he’s been through would quite possibly destroy him.

YES!!! I love this so much. I can see Zhongli and Capitano having the utmost respect for each other as warriors dedicated to defending those they care about. Childe might be a little nervous about these teas at first until he realizes these invitations aren't about him at all; Zhongli and Capitano simply share a mutual understanding that eventually becomes a genuine friendship. Capitano would try not to let on how much he pines for Childe in front of him, but Zhongli knows, of course. He just wishes that one day Capitano can find someone he can be happy with.

Ahhh, I have so many feelings now! Thank you for sharing the brainworms! ^.^