I’m up to it once again, more Genshin AUs for other fandoms. I really have little to none ideas eh. But it’s nice to imagine what these characters would be like if they were in Genshin Universe. So feel free to request of your headcanons or so.
> I wanted to give him catalyst but at the same time he kinda fits with a bow. And putting him in Mondstadt seems so right. It’s freedom in that nation, you can find him swimming at the Cider Lake.
> My man Makoto already screams like a Geo character. Tall, handsome, muscular? Claymore. Making him work with Diluc at Dawn Winery also sounds nice. Who wants a barista/waiter Makoto?
> This boy here, is so carefree and fun to be around. Imagining him with Anemo sounds very right. We can see him running around with kids, maybe fooling around with Venti. He might even do tricks with his polearm to entertain the people.
- Rei Ryugazaki - Vision: Electro/Hydro Weapon: Sword Affiliation: Knights of Favonius, Mondstadt
> Tbh, idk if Rei would be blessed with Electro or Hydro. But a part of my thinks that he might be an Electro user. Rei is definitely part of the Alchemist faction of the KoF as one of Albedo’s assistants. He likes beauty, thus I can definitely see him fight with a sword passionately.
> I don’t really know much nor take notice of him, but my impression of him is that he might be blessed with Cryo vision. He did mention Tokyo is his second home, thus why I think he fits by coming from Liyue, a nation of contracts and business.
> The Matsuoka family moves around a lot during Gou’s and Rin’s childhood. And she definitely has Cryo vision to mess around with the Iwatobi guys. Like freezing the lake to avoid Haru from swimming during the winter, creating ice paths to let kids play on the ice and other things.
> She looks like Geo Sucrose. She’ll be with Timaeus instead of the KoF. She’ll throw rocks at the baddies from a far, unintentionally playing pranks on the hilichurls. She’ll be Sucrose’s best friend too. They’d create the weirdest and questionable things ever.
> He has pyro vision 100%! Passionate with his dreams to the point he might accidentally burn something. Probably evaporate the water at times. Gou will be the one who would help him maintain the water level. She’d freeze liquid while he melts them.
> Rock hard muscle man carries a claymore like his buddy. Geo vision user indeed. He can also be a healer and DPS like Noelle! He’d be Rin’s best partner in the team aside from Haru and Gou. Since Rin and Sousuke were from Inazuma, I can see them returning and being part of the resistance with Sangonomiya. They’d fight for freedom together (and making sure that Rin doesn’t explode like a volcano)
> Idk why, but Nitori looks like he would have Dendro vision. I see him as a person who likes nature and would be more of a healer and support. He’d be with the medical team of the resistance. And making sure Momo behaves.
> Boy is so explosive he may have had created Overload with his brother or Rin. He’s exciting but also has limits. At least he listens to the general and the higher ups, making him one of the best fighter in the resistance.
> Mikoshiba Chaos number 1. Do I need to say more? Chaos with his siblings? Why not. Not only that, he’s one of the best captains in the resistance, leading his team with full victory, training them to be the best of the best. He received recognition from both Gorou and Kokomi. Was probably one of the Tenryou Commission officers but betrayed them once the Vision Hunt Decree happened.
> Probably the son of one of the commissioners in Liyue. And most likely one of the best adventurers of Liyue. Also a promoted officer of the Millelith. Like Seijuurou, he’s a good leader. He may be reckless, but his chaotic and lively attitude brings positivity in the team work.
> This guy is so carefree but when it comes to business or leading his adventure team, he’s serious. As a reference that his uncle works with a company that’s gotta do with housings, his family probably is a part of a commissioner thingy and has contacts with the Liyue Qixing. He’s like Tohma in a way, kinda like the middle man or a fixer. We need him to deal with complicated things.
> He’s a minor character but he shows good leadership by how he talks to his teammates. I imagine him being one of the generals of the Tenryou Commission
> I was so close to imagining him using a claymore as a reference of Razor. I headcanon cryo characters to be someone perfectionist in a way, thus why I think Ikuya might be a Cryo vision bearer.
> Kanjou commission clearly shows how much they wanted to manipulate traveler upon them reaching Inazuma. And that’s what and how I view Hiyori as. He’s cheeky, good with words. He might be like Tohma, a fixer, at the same time manipulating people with taxes and whatever Kanjou Commission does. He might even block outlanders with his Geo vision.
> My man Natsuya travels a lot. He’s like Kazuha, the wandering ronin. I can definitely see him as Beidou’s second in command in the ship. He’s also a good leader, a caring and kind individual. His pyro vision provides warmth in the cold nights in the sea. If this guy even dare, he would even dive into the sea to swim.
> I can see him working as Baizhu’s disciple. I don’t know why I see him having dendro vision, but he just screams dendro. He’s majoring as sports medic of some sorts, thus I see him working with Bubu Pharmacy along with Qiqi. He would expect Natsuya and other characters to visit him to ask for medicines.
> Mikoshiba Chaos number 2. With anemo, she can apply swirl to overload from her brothers’ visions. Following Seijuurou’s footsteps, she strives to become a good leader and role model. Kokomi would even ask her to be her assistant. Big bro Mikoshiba is proud of little sister Mikoshiba.
> idl this guy. I definitely see him with the fatui. His few targets would be Ikuya, Rin, Haruka, Sousuke and Asahi. I can see him fooling around with them with so many ruthless tactics he has under his sleeves. Not to mention how aggressive he can be. Scaramouche weaker version.
- Albert Volandel - Vision: Cryo/Hydro Weapon: Polearm Affiliation: Fontaine
> I view him fighting as gracefully as Rei, maybe even more. But as for his vision, I’m unsure if he would be blessed with cryo or hydro.
~~~~~~
It took me quite some time to figure out the characters whenever I do these things. But any whooo, a family fic for Natsuya is coming soon, as well as my first two requests are now under editing. Stay tuned for the stories!
Yo, I’m back! So I know the title of this post may seem odd, but I have a reason for this! Before we jump in, however…We have some new people to meet! Let’s go! Time for my rambling all of my inner thoughts on the latest piece of the story.
(A little note, however. There is more in this episode with Asahi, Ikuya, Hiyori, and Makoto (Makoto’s sweetness is amplified at least a million times here. If he doesn’t become the #1 choice for imaginary husband for y’all, I don’t know who else can), but what I’m about to touch on is content that made even a transition episode such as this one that much more powerful for me.)
(Also, I’m in love with the image below. My heart cried in happiness.)
Now I’m ready.
So at the start of the episode, we finally get to meet two unknown characters who showed up in the intro song to every episode and whose identities we did not know at all until today. But, the first character gave me some heartwarming feels (and brought back some comical nostalgia too).
Meet the newest Mikoshiba member, Isuzu Mikoshiba!
She is not only afemale swimmer, but also a passionate gamer and a leader. I did not see this coming, but I am glad that they placed a seemingly strong-willed female character into the series. After seeing her, I wish that they introduced her earlier in the series (especially because she is the first female swimmer that we have been personally introduced to during the entire franchise), but I am excited to see just how good she is. Plus, she noticed Haru’s triceps as well! Perhaps… she’ll be Gou’s new best friend? I won’t be surprised if that happens… After all, both of her brothers like the young lady!
(And Haru’s imagining all three Mikoshiba siblings laughing in their usual Mikoshiba manner… I feel you, Haru).
I do look forward to seeing what role she plays in the rest of this season, especially because we do not really see her do much aside from ask Haru whether he can compete with her (and I bet Isuzu and Momo bond over their older brother locking them with his arm and most (probably) putting them through a hell-of-a swimming training, haha).
However, the first time we meet Isuzu is also the first time we meet this super blonde, purple-eyed tall guy: Albert Wahlander.
This gigantic foreigner creams Isuzu in gaming, which at first didn’t leave much of an impact on me until he is in the water. On that topic, during this entire episode, I loved that there were multiple clues floating around that suggested his prowess. Some were explained to us through the other characters in the series, and others seemed more symbolic. So, let’s list the ones that weren’t blatantly mentioned by the rest of the cast, because why not?
1) He goes for mackerel as his meal.
Alright, so now you see where my title came from, eh? Well, Haru, being the now smileyversion of himself, helps out a lost Albert when it comes to ordering food. More specifically, mackerel, since the tall guy seems to want to eat it. And, this new character is so darn cute with his usage of chopsticks that I was wondering for a moment what his role was in the episode/series. But, back to this topic at hand, he and Haru begin to form a bond through their both eating mackerel (despite their massive language barrier, which really wasn’t a barrier since they oddly understood each other. This made me smile, so much.)
2) He is good with his hands.
He not only uses his finger dexterity to beat Isuzu in gaming, but also learns how to handle chopsticks in seconds after first not knowing how to pick things up with them. And Haru, being the sweet boy/young man he is, goes to get a spoon and fork for the guy, but then is amazed that the tall, blonde foreigner dude would master chopsticks in one go? This makes me think back to when Haru was carving a massive amount of Iwatobi-chans in high school, haha.
3) He floats around in the water like Haru does, but he is ahead of Haru.
So this is where things became interesting for me. During the episode, we find out that Haru is one of three Hidaka University Swim Team members to enter the strengthening camp in preparation for the All-Japan Meet (in addition to the older Mikoshiba and Isana Kiryuu). In the middle of swimming, Haru sees Albert swimming next to him, and then we flash to the two of them floating underwater like Haru did for the last three seasons.
But,Albert is ahead of Haru the entire time.
Why does this mean anything? For the entire franchise, we have neverseen anyone swim ahead of Haru. This makes sense, because Haru was known for his affinity and love for the water, unclouded from the influences of competitions, friendly rivalries, and societal expectations. More commonly, we saw Haru’s friends follow behind and try their darnedest to reach his level. Haru is the hero that his friends needed during troublesome, lonesome, and confusing times, and Haru is also a source of strength for young men like Rin, Ikuya, and Makoto to strive for their goals. To do this, Haru has to be ahead of them in the water.
Now that we see this difference with Albert’s appearance, even if you haven’t watched the episode and read this post first instead, you may be able to infer what happens when Albert, Haru, and other swimmers at the camp have a friendly 200m freestyle race against each other.
And this is where our latest cliffhanger begins.
We don’t know how Haru reacts to this loss, as it is the first time that someone out swam him by so many bodies that I won’t even try to count. I mean, the guy was out of the water by the time Haru reached the wall . Knowing Haru, he might react in one of two ways.
One, he may be devastated. After all, freestyle is his forte, and for his entire life he has been known as a prodigy in this specific stroke. It is okay if Haru lost the IM in the last episode; after all, he does not regularly compete in backstroke, breaststroke, or butterfly, and Ikuya has more experience in this specific event than Haru does anyway. But, when it comes to freestyle, the only characters we have seen who are on-par with Haru are Rin, Ikuya, and maybe Asahi, but nobody has surpassed Haru to this degree. As such, no wonder everyone in the pool is shocked by this revelation, including Makoto, who ran in just as this scene unfolded. Losing to this extent for the first time his life can be upsetting and frustrating at the same time, and I wonder whether Haru will express such a natural human response.
Two, if Haru is as positive as Asahi is, then Haru may see Albert as someone to look up to and strive for. Although this is less likely, purely because the human psyche does not always work this way, I sincerely hope that this is the way he reacts to his loss. For all of Haru’s life, he has had companions, rivals, and supporters who have been by his side, butneverhas he had someone to directly look up to. In particular with swimming, Haru has been in his own world this entire time. Why? He is the only one of his friends who has an innately keen relationship with water, and it is Haru’s affinity with water that Albert picks up on immediately after swimming/floating together.
Haru has never had anyone float so freely with him in the water until now (we could potentially count the pool scene with Makoto in the High Speed! movie, but that was part of their reconciliation. This scene, however, is purely one of connection). Also, the fact that Albert sees swimming as fun is refreshing and an epiphany, both for Haru and for us as viewers. It not only implies that Albert may have just as strong as an affinity with water as Haru does, but also that Albert’s love for water may surpass that of Haru. Should this be the case, then Haru may be forced once again to confront his own beliefs with regards to his love for swimming, his skills, and his ability to swim on the global stage.
I wish the best for Haru. After all, Ryuuji (who we find out is an Iwatobi High School Swim Team alum, thanks to Gou’s amazing muscle-identifying skills) has mentioned before the Haru still a ways to go with regards to improving, and Albert may be the key to unlocking that potential. Plus, Albert honestly seems like a nice person, so I hope that he and Haru can get along. The fact that Haru still has that much room for growth, maturity, and progression, both literally in his swimming and figuratively in his own life, is what truly kept my attention with the latest episode of “Free!” and is allowing me look past some of the other flaws with this season. And, I hope that this tidbit is enough to keep you guys interested in the series and in the boys’ story as well.
(Albert, despite his size, reminds me of a little boy. Perhaps his personality truly is that of one, since he seems to be drawn to old arcade games and finds everything fun. He even whines like a boy when the waitress rips the meal ticket >.<, which is just so endearing and makes me want to hug him)
So, now that this ramble has finished, I’ll add these cute little GIFs because I internally squeal whenever I see a baby, and my heart beats faster every time I see a man playing with one:
(And Nitori… way to give us a total plot-twister this episode! Rin was thrown for a shock there, I’m sure.)
(I can’t wait for the next episode! But honestly, the event I’m looking forward to the most is the 100m free at the All-Japan Meet since it’s going to have so many of the characters we love in it. Anyone else with me on this one?)
