oh my god that's hilarious 😂😂 in the traveler's eyes lyney went from having massive beef with wriothesley to sitting on Wriothesley's lap whenever he feels like it, that would be such a whiplash to witness hgkdjkfj

man, real talk tho, i feel so sad for lyney when it comes to his situation with the traveler... ofc they had every right to feel betrayed and be suspicious of lyney after it came out that he's fatui considering traveler's history with the organisation and its harbingers, but lyney never really had a choice in the matter and genuinely believes he's doing good things... and right on the heels of that he has beef with wriothesley because he's fatui (though also not undeserved.. he did infiltrate the fortress to gather intel).. i wonder how helpless he must feel to be judged not by his character or his actions but by the brand of his allegiance... how he feels like he must hide every part of himself just to have a chance at being a normal(ish) person and doing normal things... the narrative constantly confronts lyney with the fact that the family he found within the fatui is far from perfect, that his work isn't always good, that even his own Father controls the orphans in her care through fear and violence. and it astounds me now that i think about it that lyney keeps choosing his family (and thus the fatui, the brand that marks him as suspicious and other) because he found love and happiness in his situation, because he sees the House not for what it is but for what it could be. he fights for his family and for fairness even if it sets him up against the Knave in a fight he absolutely cannot win. this boy really clings to every crumb of joy he can get his hands on and vows to share them with others in need even if he already has so little. GOD.

but anyway. people who know me know that i was a hardcore aelyney/lynether truther before i switched to wrioney, and that fully has to do with the fact that traveler can give him some valuable outside perspective, a friend outside of the environment he's always been stuck in. and because i feel that the traveler can eventually see past the fatui brand and see lyney for lyney, the way he's come to befriend childe. also, god I'm digressing like crazy but it always felt a little weird that lyney was so heavily judged by traveler for being fatui when they are literally friends with childe?? yknow, the harbinger who tried to destroy liyue by resurrecting an ancient god?? it's probably more the surprise than the actual fatui part since childe was transparent about his allegiances from the start but like... idk. by the time traveler arrived in fontaine surely their view of the fatui had gotten more nuanced... i Get it, and it for sure made an interesting setup for conflict, but it didn't fully add up to me hfkdnd. ANYWAY

i can totally see traveler tease lyney about the crush he used to have on them and lyney wants to simultaneously sink into the ground from embarrassment and cry bc surely the traveler being able to make fun of him like that means they started trusting him again 🥹🥹🥹