Helena

Helena is a playable Electro character in Genshin Impact.

A graduate of Sumeru Akademiya who chose a life of journalism. Known for her scalding remarks, she works as a writer for The Steambird.

Lore

Personality

Helena is a Haravatat graduate. Though her graduation did not start fanfare, nor was her campus life particularly special, she made sure to stir the pot as soon as her graduation cap was off.

Many know her not to speak freely. However, when prompted, she continues to share her thoughts at breakneck speed, much to the exasperation of most around her. She’s shown to take discussion of literature extremely seriously, even those that are made for the sake of entertainment. The topic of literature aside, conversations with her are noted to be blunt and straight to the point. Her words are sometimes callous, but responses to her words leave her confused, believing herself to be rather polite.

As a writer,  Helena’s works are respected, though also somewhat feared when she publishes her critique pieces. Most within her old academic circle view her writing as trivial.

Appearance

Helena uses the medium female model. She has long, lavender hair with light pink tips. She wears a Victorian blouse, white pants, and silver heels. A translucent lavender shawl hangs over her shoulders and loops around her elbows. An amethyst pendant rests on her neck.

Official Introduction

A writer and a critic working for The Steambird. She’s considered as the rising star of the newspaper for the near-instantaneous hit of her column ‘Ink-Wise.’ Her column claims to aim to help authors with their journey to publishing by offering a critique of many debut novels, but Helena’s reputation has extended far beyond the realms of help columns— most that she has written negatively about have found their series-waiting-to-happen to be unceremoniously axed, and writers that were praised show a growth in sales. Helena’s views on literature are parroted in Fontaine and other nations for its sharp vocabulary and astute analysis, but the same cannot be said for her home country.

Mockery, superiorism, condescension… Most of Helena’s writings were viewed with such lenses at the warmth of her nation. What sells is what’s most popular and practical, and the niche of her field of studies surely didn’t help. Helena didn’t stand for any of the disrespect and quickly turned in her resignation letter. Turning her back on the values of her home, she seeks the fruition of her ambition in the broad and bright horizons of the nation of justice.

Character Stories

Character Details

It is a fact of life that literacy is a necessity and a basic skill.

However, to Helena, it is more of a rare ability. In her opinion, there is a distinct difference between being able to read and being literate. Being literate is to be critical of what you read, to be able to observe and analyze. Unfortunately, it seems that the ability of literacy does not come easily to some people.

People that talk to her tell her that it’d do her good to simply enjoy what she reads and to appreciate what she has gotten her hands on. But she implores: would you thank the Archons if someone were to hand you a platter of mud when you are hungry? Are you simply to appreciate everything you are given with no thought?

No. That wouldn’t do. Not for her. If one chooses to remain ignorant and blissfully consume subpar texts, then be her guest.

Character Story 1

A student, a scholar, an author, a critic… Helena has donned many robes in her life. There’s no shortage of things to do when she finds herself idle— shall she read the latest installment of that book series she has been eyeing? Perhaps pay a visit to that freshly opened cafe nearby? Or shall she take a look at the most recent journal put out by the Akademiya and put on her lens of judgment?

So many things to do, so little time. The young miss, at a loss for what she shall do, opted for her classic pastime: writing. As years go by, stacks and stacks of manuscripts of yet-to-be-published books lay on her shelves, waiting to be put out in the world.

Alas, they must stay hidden for the time being. She feels as though her creations— her children— have yet to reach perfection.

Character Story 2

“Surely, there are better things to spend your time on?”

“All that studying would be wasted on pointless aestheticism!”

“Oh, that’s your plan after graduating, huh…”

“I say, good luck on finding a way to earn enough money to feed yourself! Haha!”

It did not come as a surprise to Helena that many of her peers were disapproving of her ambitions. After all, most who come to study at Teyvat’s most prestigious academic institute have ambitions of changing the world, of making a breakthrough, of discovering the world’s hidden truths.

To Helena, such pursuits aren’t something she can attain. It was akin to reaching for the stars, in fact. Getting into the Akademiya was hard enough; she needn’t make pointless competition by trying to keep up with her peers. It was an impossible task, after all. What use will it be to torture herself to keep up with other’s standards? Would it not be better to live life as she pleases and to reach for her own dreams, as mundane as they may be to the masses?

In her eyes, true satisfaction and fulfillment come in the form of finishing an essay, may it be writing or reading it. Yes, her Darshan surely helps in this aspect. Studying syntax, semantics, morphology, and structure helped her sharpen her senses and detect even the most minuscule of mistakes. This, in turn, perfected her own essays but made her increasingly discontented with others. But dissecting words and letting them brew in her mind was the most fun she’d had within the ivory towers of the Akademiya.

This so-called pointless aestheticism is her true calling, she thinks— no, she’s decided.

Character Story 3

“You had your proposal approved at your second go!?”

…It was no feat to Helena’s eyes. She came from a humble training center in Fontaine, only returning to her home when her mother decided she’s come of ‘proper’ schooling age. There, she was considered an ordinary student. A second try to a failed attempt was unheard of. Having second or third or tenth attempts, as a matter of fact, was rather disgraceful. Of course, that’s because failed attempts were unheard of until she came to the Akademiya.

But now, her fellow Haravatat students notice her for the first time in her five years sharing multiple lecture rooms with them. They look at her with curiosity, like a pack of kittens aching to paw at a mysterious object. How, they ask endlessly, is she able to get her thesis proposal approved merely two times?

“Even the most brilliant of our year had to do it over twenty-two times! How come you can do it in fewer tries?”

The words were akin to insults in Helena’s ears. To her, it sounded like they were calling her an abnormality, that the answer made no sense seeing the variables. She wasn’t a fan of how callously they stated their questions. As far as she was concerned, she was being asked, ‘How come the one who was supposed to be the worst of us was able to do something difficult in a few goes?’

It took great restraint for her not to spit out, ‘Perhaps the most brilliant of our year was a fraud all along, having been second to me, then.’

But instead, she swallows her pride. In a deadpan manner, she asks, “...Is the thesis proposal supposed to be hard? I wasn’t aware. It came easy to me.”

Character Story 4

Unfortunately, the easiest part of her journey to graduating was done. The time to sit down and finally write down what she had learned and observed has come.

To call it difficult was a grave understatement. While her peers were still presently observing, it was time for her to move.

Though she loved to think that the realm of worlds was her home, somehow, her mind drew blanks when she gripped the pen. She stared down at the blank paper on her desk. Strange. Is it… terror that she felt as she stared at the sheet? Was it dread? She did not know. What she does know is that a strange chill had settled in her spine. It was a sensation foreign to her. All she knew was warmth when it came to writing. It was an enjoyable act, was it not? It had already grown beyond being a mere divertissement. Not only that, but she was already ahead of everyone else. She knew she had to make her move and prove that—

Ah. There it was again. A mild sense of disgust overcame her as she tried to get herself settled. It would be no good to get agitated now.

So she puts her pen to paper and does what she does best.

Character Story 5

It was never her intention to cause a racket.

Helena had grown used to her words having little to no influence. She believed in such: write for oneself, and others finding meaning in your words come secondary.

However, she seemed to underestimate how much others value an outsider’s opinion. She merely expressed her discontentment with one certain popular novel. What she did not see coming next was the fact that others echoed her sentiments, disappointments, and complaints. In a matter of three days, a loved author and their life’s work had been tossed to the side, gaining notoriety for a small trait that Helena had noticed in their writing.

Guilt crawled up Helena’s stomach, wishing to spit itself out. Make no mistake— she stands by her opinion, but she wasn’t aware that others would take it to the extreme. Her dissatisfaction with a single novel didn’t mean she hated it. And she didn’t want to disparage someone’s work either. She knew the hard work that comes with writing; that’s precisely why she chose to become a critic.

Sadly, the author who had written that particular book had disappeared from the world of literature, growing silent and no longer publishing works. Helena had hoped that her words would serve as encouragement and pointers on which to improve. It seemed that the parroting of her opinion by the masses only served to further discourage them.

Life moves on. Helena wasn’t going to apologize for expressing her honest and well-stated opinion. It wasn’t her responsibility to apologize for what others said about their novel, even if it snowballed from her opinion.

She picks up a new book to review every week. It’d be no good to dwell on one book she had reviewed in her early days as a critic.

But, oh? This book she had picked up… it was familiar. It’s the first novel of another author, clearly under a pseudonym. Yes, she could recognize this style. This type of prose, this flow, this vocabulary… It’s unmistakable. It was them, in the best way possible. All that she had critiqued had been improved; gone was the overly flowery prose, redundant sentences, run-ons, and comma splices.

It’s not her responsibility to apologize for what others said about their novel.

She wasn’t going to apologize for expressing her honest and well-stated opinion.

But she hopes that this review of hers will at least compensate for all the trouble they’ve gotten into.

An Old Journal

A pristine dotted notebook used as both a journal and sketchbook. Pages are not dated and are littered with sketches of various subjects. Texts seen are such:

Page 3: “Mama asked me to go to this strange academy by the time I turn thirteen. I’m not smart… so I don’t think I have to worry about her pressing it.”

Page 9: “Mama told me we’re going back to Sumeru now. I had to say goodbye to my friends, but they told me they’re going to be waiting for me when I’m done studying.”

Page 17: “Back at Sumeru, I feel so strange…”

Page 26: “The food here tastes much better.”

Page 33: “Entrance exam passed.”

Page 38: Samples of King Deshret’s script.

Page 42: “Ma told me that I should compete in the Interdarshan Championship because that opportunity comes once every four years. I don’t know how to tell her that I’m not nearly relevant enough in my Darshan to even represent them.”

Page 50: “Haravatat won second place.”

Page 67: “Are Vahumana students all so egotistical?”

Page 73: Samples of King Deshret’s script.

Page 77: “Lucky day. I was able to get my thesis topic approved.”

Page 82: “Last stretch of my days in this academy. Finally.”

Page 83: “Graduation tomorrow. No time to write recently, which is ironic. This journal lasted me nine whole years. Lasted longer than my sanity, for sure.”

Vision

It was an uncharacteristic slump for the young lady.

While Helena found words to flow out her pen and lips easily, not one was up to her standards today.

In desperate need to fill some pages, she finds herself aimlessly wandering around the capital in search of inspiration. A glimpse of something new might catch her eye. Maybe, maybe… a blooming flower? Yes, she could work with that. If not, she’d settle for a beautiful bird flying about. She’d gladly take anything new that could kick her machine into working again.

“Bothered, aren’t you? What’s the problem? What’s on your mind?” That energetic young man suddenly pipes up without warning, appearing beside her.

Not batting a lash, the young lady answers, “That’s precisely the problem. I have nothing inside it. I’m sure if you were to give my forehead a proper knock, it’d echo.”

“Haha, that’s too harsh, you know!”

The pair walk under the evening sun, watching the horizon turn orange. Idle talk fills the air between the two. But come sundown…

“I made zero progress. In fact, I forgot what I came here for since you appeared. Tsk.”

“My bad.”

“Don’t apologize.”

Still, the man insisted on accompanying the lady back home. As they exchanged their farewells, Helena felt a certain weight fill her pocket. Her eyes narrow doubtfully, and her hand quickly darts down to take the suspicious object.

“I don’t understand your idea of a gift, Sethos, but even this is too much, isn’t it?”

The man gives her a bemused look. He looks down at his hip, Vision still attached. He says, “That’s not mine.”

The purple gem on Helena’s hand glows, almost as if responding to her doubt. After a good moment of staring into the Vision, Sethos chimes in jokingly, “That’s Celestia’s gift for all your hard work!”

“Well, I hardly worked today.”

Despite her words, she clutches it tightly in her hand, feeling the faint buzz of the surface against her skin.

A laugh of amusement leaves the young man’s lips. “You never change, do you?”

Namecard

Helena: Librarius
	Obtain: Reward for reaching Friendship Level 10 with Helena
	Description: “Recorded in stone, immortalized.”

Constellation

Work in progress...

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New... books?

Tea...

Tired...

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