looncalls

my aunt gave me a journal for christmas with an interesting way to mark the date (you circle the month and date). i thought it'd be fun to recreate with html but first i need a character who would journal like that. lisa? so heres my idea: lisa journals leaving mondstadt with razor pre-canon. they follow the same path she traveled when she was young.
key points: journal entries each usually mention who they met that day, how the day's locations are different from back then, what tea they enjoyed, and razor's educational progress.

Lisa's parents don't want her to go to Dragonspine for her education and everything else is not good enough so to Sumeru you go. by land. She travels with the adventurers for some of the way. children under 10 travel for free. well, everyone knows Fontaine is dangerous for unattended children. Lisa gets to Sumeru eventually and eventually gets to the city. She has to wait for the test. theres a quota for Mondstadt children at testing training facilities, but not at the actual Akademiya. She identifies herself as from Mondstadt and is quickly shuttled into one run by Alhaitham's Grandmother. Fellow Mondstadt students are Isaac, Newton, Johannes, Kepler, Christiaan, Huygens, and twins Galileo and Galilei. Lisa fits in pretty well! They’re all of different ages and Lisa is the current youngest, but not the youngest to start studying. The twins are kicked out. (Topics of study, books they learn, take from what the real Alhaitham covered.)
Lisa manages to get enrolled in the Akademiya that test period. She's sad to leave behind the friends she's made, but she's had to do that while traveling so many times. enrolled, she skips several grades a few times. She's able to enroll in a darshan very quickly and very quickly her research becomes esoteric enough that very few are able or have reason to work with her. She gets her vision and realizes this is a life of loneliness. She quits to become a librarian. She has no one to talk to about the choice as she has never known anyone for longer than a year.
She comes back to Mondstadt and her parents are dead. She hadn't seen them for over a decade. they died the same day—possibly the same moment—she got her vision. Mondstadt's librarian retires after Lisa's first day. only advice, "don't work too hard. the more books that wander off, the more aren't getting dusty in here." the books are mostly vanity press. grant's mistakes, common variations on farming equipment, all about weed and Jesus. personal histories and shitty fairy tales.
Lisa starts wandering. She meets the people who wrote the books. the children the stories were for. the landscapes the locals painted. She meets Razor—or more Razor's friend. She takes oral histories and writes them down. She goes on walks following the routes marked by old maps. She talks more with Jean, one of the Knights of Favonius who is happy to escort her places. Clearing a path or smoothing over misunderstandings.
"I'm happy to do it. One day, I will have to protect each one of these people from behind a desk or behind a sword. I can't do that if I don't know them well. What if I save them from a burning house only for them to run back in for their cat?"
That 'one day' comes. Varka leaves on an expedition. Lisa thinks about going. Jean is ordered to stay. Lisa slips out with a full pack the day they leave. She hikes to a spot they will pass on their way out of Mondstadt, to Liyue, to… Razor, the little wolf boy. pokes his head out of the foliage and cautiously comes to stand next to her.

Razor and Lisa leaving on an adventure! Razor doesn't like the noisy soldiers so they follow quite a ways back. Mika moment?! Amber moment?! Xiao moment?! Lisa thinks of the story (Pygmalion) and decides yes she will bring this kid to the Akademiya. (Razor in the little Sumeru outfit. cute.) Northland bank in Liyue Harbor would be an important spot. Lisa AND Razor immediately clocking Childe as Dangerous and Predator respectively. Pucinella has Lisa marked as VIP so Childe has to greet her and treat her personally.
"A witch and a librarian, huh?" his eyes darken but return to normal quickly, "You must know a lot of stories!"
Razor growls.
Childe asks what kind of accommodations he can arrange for them.
He takes them outside the city, which makes them both nervous. Childe asks her some questions about various things. How does the paper in her book work? is it the ink? is it the process? "You're a witch and you have a vision. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that something is stirring in the depths. Aren't you doing well keeping ahead of the tremors?"
Lisa tells him that she's not on the run, but Childe doesn't believe her.
Lisa and Razor tour the ruins, learning from traveling scholars and inspecting the areas themselves. At times they have a fatui guard, almost as often the Millelith, and sometimes just a guide. Lisa's favorite is a Zhongli Xiansheng. After meeting him, they are invited onto a boat that serves the best tea. She gets to meet Ningguang at the Jade Palace and there she experiences a premonition. She falls and Ningguang's aides help her up. She has them walk her outside. She turns her back to the Sea and gazes at Sumeru. Time to move on.
Ganyu travels with them to the chasm. Razor snacks constantly throughout the day. (Neither one of them ever has a real meal. Survival grilled fish, survival grilled meat, hash browns for breakfast, noodles of any kind ordered from restaurants. So much tea. Razor really likes tea as well. even in the wilderness they have tea. they use their visions to heat up water for tea.)
At the chasm, Ganyu has arranged for them to met by a forest ranger. Collei!!! What news of Amber? Collei brings them to the village where they meet Tighnari.
Lisa knows of Tighnari. "I'm frequently asked to talk some sense into you." She pulls a few books out of her bag. "I don't know why. At any rate, here is some information I've gathered that I thought might be good for Collei. please read them in case you have any questions."
Tighnari does so and when Kaveh arrives he and Lisa are discussing it. Razor meets Kaveh and Kaveh babysits Razor while Razor babysits Kaveh on a surveying trip. Razor tells him to build there not there. freakishly good surveyor powers. dowsing rod for more than just water tables. between Razor and Mehrak, Kaveh is extremely happy and writes a letter of recommendation on the spot.
"Oh wonderful, a pity it's gotten dirty."
Tighnari sighed, "Honestly, I think it's safe to say that Kaveh is the one that got dirt on it."
Lisa agrees, as Razor is really quite tidy.
Tighnari works up the courage to ask, "Lisa, are you bringing him to the Akademiya just to prove a point? I'm not aware of what point you would be proving."
Lisa admits that she's not sure of her motivations either. "I know that I don't want Razor to be hurt." Lisa frowns in her companions direction, before turning a wry smile to her tea. "I also know that even the smallest drop of ignorance can be destructive. Tighnari, are you aware of something?"
He tilts his head questioningly. "Never mind. Would Razor and I be safe leaving tonight?"
Tighnari sighs in irritation. "Yes, I suppose so. Provided you stick to the road and don't stop until you hit the city gates of course. I do advise that you go directly to Sumeru City."
Lisa nods and packs her things. notes in her journal that they are leaving for Sumeru City now. Razor appears at her side as soon as she rises, tea finished. They thank Tighnari for the lovely time. Collei is asleep, but Kaveh is there to see them off. he's surprised, worried, and upset that they're leaving now.
he gives them his keys and tells them to ask for Alhaitham's house. "Knock, maybe he's there. But if not, you have my permission to let yourselves in. my room is on the left."
Lisa thanks him, finding the offer quite funny.
"Don't lose that letter, Razor!"
Lisa and Razor walk through the night to Sumeru city. light pollution is taken very seriously, as is sound. the natural world shines in way that is rare for a road so traveled. they keep silent company. when they arrive at the city gate, Lisa takes Razor's hand. She notices how small it is. they get through fine. (do you have a destination? yes. do you have intentions? yes.) clearly they set off some alarms, but not enough to hinder them. They actually wind up being escorted to Kaveh's place. The corps of thirty soldier knocks on the door for them.
Alhaitham opens the door and Lisa waves with Kaveh's key in her hand. "Hello, Alhaitham I presume?" She suddenly knows exactly who this is. "You look so much like your grandmother."
Alhaitham lets them in and the solider leaves satisfied that their purpose is academic and benign. "Nice to meet you, I presume." Alhaitham states as soon as the door is shut.
"Why thank you, I would love tea," Lisa says, pressing Kaveh's key into his hand.
Alhaitham points at the kitchen and says kitchen. he points at Kaveh's room and says bedroom. "Enjoy." He leaves but immediately comes back to get water boiling for them. "I'm only doing this so you don't burn down the house. Night."
Lisa and Razor have some tea, take a bath, and promptly fall asleep. they awake late the next morning for tea, and go back to bed after a light breakfast. they wake again after noon for lunch. Alhaitham has come home at some point and dropped off two meals for them. a piece of paper explains what is in each dish, how to eat it, and where to find it if they would like to have it again. after eating, they clean up and get dressed properly for a walk around town.
Lisa exclaims, "oh my, how it's changed!" only once and while at a local tea place. they recognize her there and word starts to spread among the scholars that Lisa is in town with a protégé. when said protégé growls and snaps at a hand that got a little too close, rumors spread that Lisa tamed a wolf, transformed the animal into a boy, and has been teaching it ever since. Scholars everywhere lament they were not born an animal of some kind. Wisely, Lisa does not reveal where they are staying. (let's leave that to Kaveh.) they come home late, ensuring they are not followed, after a long evening at the library.
Alhaitham greets them at the door and thanks them for not saying anything. "I'd appreciate it if you continued to keep your stay here a secret." he looks at Razor, "if you must howl, do it on someone else's property."
Razor says ok.
Lisa asks Alhaitham what the training schools are like these days.
He says they're shit.
Lisa asks what he would recommend.
He says she doesn't strike him as a stupid woman.
"I could strike you?" Lisa suggests.
He steps into her space and whispers in her ear, "The longer you stay here—and i mean days—the more likely it is you will both be drawn into a scheme. I don't mind the help, but I doubt you'll be helpful to me. Certain problems with the Akademiya have only gotten more ingrained with the highest fabric of it's structure. As a person smart enough to leave back then, I cannot imagine that you want to get involved either for or against them—especially with a kid."
Lisa steps closer to him so their chests press together and gazes at him as she asks in a whisper, "do you know what is coming?"
He narrows his eyes at her. "I do. I should warn you, however; I don't know why or why now. There is news from many places and none of it is promising in spite of it beiong news of progress. As for Sumeru, don't talk to anyone with an akasha."
"Do you think we can still run?"
"You've made it this far." His voice turns questioning. "How did you know it would start in Mondstadt anyway?"
Lisa chooses not to answer. "Fontaine, next, I think. Their education system is the worst, but their tea is good." She turns to Razor, "Let's leave the day after tomorrow."
Razor nods and boils water for tea.
Alhaitham doesn't say anything, but he doesn't need to.
Lisa tells Razor to please make enough for three.
Tea with Alhaitham is fine. he's so normal. once he starts talking to Lisa he can't stop, his thirst for knowledge and conversation revealed. He asks Razor if he's following.
Razor nods. "Understand much, convey little."
Alhaitham looks to Lisa, "So he's not passing the test."
Lisa shakes her head, "Not unless there is practical application."