#genshin lore tumour

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Ok, Childe as a wuxia/xianxia trope. It's honestly a bit embarrassing how well this fits.

(blame @a-yarn-of-purple-prose for this post and if anyone here is a wuxia fan feel free to correct me, I'm new to the genre)

Wuxia is a Chinese martial arts fantasy genre you are all familiar with. An adjacent genre is called xianxia, "immortal heroes", it ramps all the fantasy elements up to eleven and skews tropes a bit (we'll get back to that).

A common trope is some kind of unorthodox school/sect or technique, allowing to achieve greater power without the usual decades of training. It could be straight-out evil or just revolving around chaos.

Such a martial school is usually called an evil/demonic sect (sect is more like a clan in that setting, not the modern concept of sect) and their techniques tend to drive practitioners to insanity. Either because they are inherently corrupting or because getting too much power without growing as a person is really not the best thing for your mental health. They are also often cast from hp points.

And then there's the archetype of a demonic sect heir. The best pupil or simply someone who has inherited a lost art. Proud, always greedy for more strength, often noble in some weird way.

*points to our calamity of a boy*

Common elements of such stories include:

Falling into some weird realm or meeting a weird person who teaches the hero a Forbidden Technique

Learning a technique too quickly through some sort of magic/alchemy/memory manipulation

Some people are so singular in their pursuit they become insane (走火入魔)

Ambition bad, loyalty and family good

Conflicting loyalties, generally a conflict between a chosen path and personal weaknesses/attachments (could be both ego and familal love, and this is more of a xianxia trope)

Fits like a horoscope so far but wait.

There's a very interesting case of Korean murim genre (their version of wuxia) where sects are less varied (I recommend this post for a basic introduction) and we get three paths:

Justice/Righteous/Orthodox/Light — theoretically they keep the Evil Faction at bay, and protect innocent people, but usually are corrupt to the core

Evil/Unorthodox/Dark — these try gaining as much power as possible and attempt ruling the whole world

Demonic Cult — usually dont take part in evil and justice battles, follow their own code of conduct based on their religion, value strength above all else.

(I'm sure there's a similar distinction in wuxia too, I just can't find it in the deluge of lore)

"Demonic" is closer to "pagan" or "heathen" than Christian idea of demonic here, their beliefs are often based on Zoroastrianism and worshipping a sacred flame. Do you remember all the Persian themes used for Khaenri'ah? And Surtalogi being the flame on Surtr's sword in Norse mythology. I also had the impression that Genshin gnostic references are based on the Zoroastrian-flavoured branch of Gnosticism.

In murim the trope of demonic sect heir is called "heavenly demon" (I believe, a more correct translation would be "supreme heathen"), they are utterly badass, live for the glory of battle, seem more like forces of nature and follow a very strict honour code often conflicting with normal human ethics.

(do I need to spell it out)

TvTropes also says this about Korean stories:

(do I need to spell it out pt.2)

I'm not sure why a Chinese studio would focus on the Korean version of this trope but I'm sure something like this exists in China as well or maybe there's a popular manhwa that inspired authors.

Xianxia extends the fantastic element further, focusing on Taoist concepts and practices and adding all kinds of magical realms (celestial, demonic, etc) and magical beings and making immortality achievable. I still need to read more about it but if I understand that right, demonic heir trope turns into a demon prince in this case. An actual visitor from the demon realm or a practitioner who achieved immortality through dubious means.

These are fae-coded in a way very similar to Childe and have a certain nonchalance towards things most humans would consider traumatic. They are simply not bothered by them, having a different set of morals or faring from a realm that is much worse.

Our boy isn't that (he's still very much human) but he's aesthetically coded like one, same as Scaramouche is yokai-coded, despite not being a yokai.

So. When people say Childe's arc is a reference to Journey to the West, it's not entirely untrue, JttW is the classic of xianxia genre and Childe does belong to the same genre. He, however, is not Sun Wukong but a different, darker trope.

This also explains why he has that "shonen anime protag but not quite" vibe. Shonen was heavily influenced by wuxia but this trope never quite made it to anime or maybe never became popular enough. It's not a deconstruction, it's a different story. Or perhaps a deconstruction of that different story.

#childe #tartaglia #my investigation into what the hell this boy is is concluded #this means I'll get to think about something else #many thanks to saoki for indulging my questions for the past two days #there's also an argument for childe being a demon princess rather than a prince but I'm tired #maybe I'll get back to it if anyone wants to meme together #genshin lore tumour #skirk #khaenri'ah #if abyss be thy name I pledge to you my loyalty #I'll need another post to explain how it fits into some scenes #this is already too long

[blood-orange-juice-archive]

New theory: Alice is a seelie.

So are Klee and Pulcinella.

#shitpost #crackpot hc #genshin lore tumour #alice genshin impact #klee #pulcinella #look #if that old man is not a seelie I'm not playing

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Weird math metaphors aside, we seem to have a rock-paper-scissors situation with Abyss, Celestia and forbidden knowledge.

Forbidden knowledge tramples celestial order, Celestia consistently defeats the Abyss (when it bothers to), the Abyss consumes forbidden knowledge with no ill aftereffects for itself.

As in, Visions are known to help people resist Tatarigami influence and Celestial Nails are good at containing Abyss.

According to Dottore's notes, dead gods' remains provide symptomatic treatment of Eleazar (which is forbidden knowledge corruption).

I don't know about you but I'm starting to have mad respect for Dottore. His notes have been incredibly useful in my lore research.

#dottore #if abyss be thy name I pledge to you my loyalty #genshin lore tumour

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Prediction:

This is not the last we've seen of the whale.

There are more of them.

Childe has been adopted into the eldritch whale pod and it will be Important.

The Fatui have no idea about it.

#childe's trauma whale #genshin lore tumour #childe #tartaglia

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I wonder if Her Majesty is a mirror. Everyone who has described her so far in fact described themselves.

Someone who understands the gravity of a situation powerful people ignore. A fellow sinner searching for atonement. A gentle soul who had to make herself a warrior.

Besides, what better way to reconcile her being a goddess of love and a goddess of ice.

We also have ⋆｡˚mirror maidens✧˚.

Maybe she has no one to reflect after Khaenri'ah destruction. Maybe she needs her Harbingers just as much as they need her, in the sense that they give her purpose and form. Or maybe it's just a form of charm.

(Himemiya Anthy of Genshin)

I can't wait for Arle's line about her. She'd say something about duality then if my theory is right.

She could also be all of the things others say about her and naturally attract people with similar wounds, of course. That's more likely.

#I am solitary lights in an empty city #tsaritsa #genshin impact #genshin lore tumour #tartaglia #scaramouche #pierro #fatui

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Have you noticed that Skirk's eyes match Pashiv's and Vishaps? She's probably an evolved vishap.

OMG YOU ARE SO RIGHT

I joked about her being a vishap or a very big melusine because of her having fins but I never noticed the eyes.

Ladies and gentlemen, Skirk:

(I think the pupil actually looks like the black hole she compressed the whale into. damn genshin with its pupil symbolism)

Pahsiv has vertical rhombic pupils:

Also I haven't done her quest yet, so I don't know how she is related to vishaps (apart from her name being "vishap" spelled backwards).

Vishap close-up shots are a bit hard to find, but they seem to have vertical pupils with a circular pattern around the pupil.

upd: Found a bathysmal vishap close-up. Even the colour matches.

Also there's this thing Enjou says in Enkanomiya:

So she could be one of Enkanomiyan vishaps! Would explain why Childe's swords match Enka swords.

I remember fandom assuming that vishap people have vertical snake eyes but I don't recall Tsumi (the vishap maiden) ever taking off her mask in that quest, and also Enjou never *says* outright that vishaps have snake eyes.

So they could very well have Skirk's pattern.

As a counterargument we have Neuv (vertical/rombic pupils without a circular pattern) but he is special. Or maybe there are many types of anthropomorphic vishaps.

Another counterargument: Vishaps are vulnerable to abyssal energies. But maybe she knows a way to protect herself. I wouldn't be surprised.

Also a nice view of her fin.

So, yeah, I can easily see her being a vishap or some other kind of dragon.

Also after you complete 4.2 an alternative vishap description is unlocked in the Archive. Something about them deciding to collaborate with humans. Why is that, I wonder (could be a reference to Neuvilette, of course).

Also it would explain why she was willing to talk to Neuv. He is the hydro sovereign after all. That would make her infodump a slightly better narrative choice.

#childe really does have a type #skirk #also she looks very edible #genshin lore tumour #genshin lore #genshin impact

[blood-orange-juice]

4.6 boss domain entrance translation.

*INCOHERENT SHOUTING*

Crucabena is a possible Gallic form of Ceridwen, a Welsh goddess of rebirth and poetic inspiration. Her original story is probably less important here than Robert Graves' interpretation of her as the destructive side of the Threefold Goddess.

Who, you know represents the phases of the moon.

Also anything Celtic in Genshin is extremely sus because it's almost nonexistent. So far we have the triquetra symbol, seelies and potentially Skirk. And some Melusine names.

This means she's old. Really old.

#genshin leaks #genshin impact leaks #arlecchino #genshin lore tumour #the moon sisters #what the hell what the hell what the hell

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Considering how samsaras in genshin tend to repeat themselves with different participants and how vision holders stories seem to be similar (hydro character syndrome where folks try to mold themselves into something they are not, anemo characters with dead friends, pyro wielders inheriting family quests).

What if having a vision binds a character to a type of samsara/story?

#genshin lore tumour #genshin lore #jakob's note about vision tying a person to the fate of the world then makes an awful lot of sense

[blood-orange-juice]

Also if Skirk is a vishap, it has interesting implications for Childe's character stories, since Vishap realm is *not* the Abyss/Void realm.

So where tf did he fall.

Tartaglia character story 4:

"Pursued by bears and wolf packs, he lost his footing and fell into a bottomless crack in the earth's surface. There, he witnessed the endless possibilities of another ancient world."

The same story says Skirk taught him "how to pass through the Abyss unhindered" and he does mention "venturing into the abyss" in his voicelines but it's separate from falling.

And he says "an abyss of some sort" when he infodumps, despite knowing what the Abyss is. I attributed it to trauma (trying to make the topic seem insignificant) but maybe it wasn't.

Also Enkanomiya was supposed to exist at the intersection of three realms:

Enjou: Byakuyakoku has a tradition of triangle worship. Enjou: They believed that Byakuyakoku was the intersection between three realms: the Vishap Realm, the Human Realm, and the Void Realm. Enjou: The three trial sites on the border were originally watch-posts against the Vishaps, and they were also a spiritual junction for the three powers that flowed through Enkanomiya. Enjou: In that triangular formation of nature, there was an opposition between the abyssal Void Realm and the elemental Vishap Realm. Enjou: Humans would create high towers in later years to allow the Human Realm to interpose itself between the two, thus creating a stable space — one held up by three towers in three corners.

Curiouser and curiouser. Honestly, traveler should get the boy drunk sometime.

#childe #tartaglia #genshin impact #genshin lore tumour #genshin lore #skirk #childe I have questions

[blood-orange-juice]

4.5 preload datamine has a book with a Khaenri'ah lorebomb

Text on Project Amber

Excerpts and thoughts under the cut

vol.1:

"In those days, a crimson moon shone down upon the subterranean realm, and not the dark sun of latter days."

Something something Eclypse dynasty.

Due to the Kingdom's unique position, things from outside this world were always leaking into it. The Kingdom's weapons would wipe out the calamities slipping in, but what of all the other objects? Such as, say, a child who may have come from some destroyed world?

What the hell what the hell what the hell

"Oh high lord of the nobles, a child once told me a tale of another world: Once upon a time, there were sea people who believed that the gods came from the sea. Each time they discovered a shipwrecked person, they would treat them with the utmost honor, for they believed that the gods would take the form of the shipwrecked to investigate the mortal realm."

I can't connect it with anything but I feel it's important. Parsifal's and Skipper's story mention a shipwreck. Two, actually. In some sense the twins are shipwrecked and Paimon was fished out of the sea.

The ocean and the sea were often used as a metaphor for the space projected by the stars.

Why sea and Abyss get conflated with it sometimes: Khaenri'ans were more familiar with the Abyssal stars than the sea.

In anticipation of the arrival at their Kingdom of gods from beyond the so-called ocean — or rather, the arrival of beings who could transcend the gods — they founded an organization, an orphanage to take care of such children. In latter days, the orphans of the Kingdom and those who wandered in from outside were accepted as well.

Everything fun in Teyvat is made by kids in orphanages.

The young Perinheri's first memory was that of being asked by the grown-ups to crawl through a dark corridor. This passage might have been a chimney for winter fires, for it was filled with coal ash, and there was not a single crack in it through which smoke or light could pass through. As he crawled, he would sometimes stumble in the pitch-black darkness. Fortunately, the corridor appeared designed for the passage of children in the first place, so the falls were not very painful. It also lacked any annoying cobwebs. When Perinheri reached the end at last, the exit had not opened yet. He knocked, only for the grown-ups to coldly ask: "Are you dead?" Well, how was he to reply if he was dead? But the grown-ups did not like this response. They kept asking the same question, until he at least shouted, "Yes, I'm dead!" The adults then asked, "Did you see it, then?" Perhaps it was the fear brought on by the darkness combined with hunger and exhaustion, but Perinheri did indeed see an illusion. The crimson moon, hanging high in the pitch-dark night sky, suddenly turned around, revealing itself to be a titanic, horrified eye. The adults opened the door and embraced the soot-covered Perinheri: "You have traversed the fire of two worlds within the hearth, and here you are reborn."

Moons being goddesses' corpses, the fake sky, whales, the rebirth ritual in the narcissenkreuz notes. Again, I can't connect it.

Though the crimson moon set, and the dark sun descended into a yet darker dusk, that transcendental person from beyond who the Kingdom orphanage was awaiting never arrived. But unusual individuals they had aplenty, and many of those who strode forth from the gates of that orphanage became great knights of the Kingdom. Perinheri was, in his time, the leading figure amongst their ranks — that is, unless, he were forced to compete with his best friend, Hleobrant.

tl;dr: Khaenri'ah casually welcomed travelers from between worlds, visitors from dead worlds especially. or at least hoped to but didn't get many

#teyvat reading club #genshin lore tumour #khaenri'ah

[blood-orange-juice]

Folks theorising how Vedrfolnir might be The Sinner from Caribert's quest.

"Which is why I'm pushing my personal analysis that he might be "The Visionary" Vedrfolnir.

Dain's conversation at the end of Caribert emphasised on the Sinner's "sense of sight", about how good he can "see" and that the passage of time is of no obstacle to him, these match the meaning of Visionary, as briefed by Mona.

Dain seems to know him enough that he immediately had an idea of who that was. According to Skirk, Vedrfolnir should be as well-known as Rhine and Surtalogi, and they all have Nordic names like many other Khaenriahns (with Rhine being a confirmed Khaenriahn). This means that Vedrfolnir is likely a Khaenriahn, too, which would explain how quickly Dain recognised his moniker. Him calling himself a Sinner may also be related to Rhine being called Great Sinner and how Surtalogi's "The Foul" title is "Knight of Extreme Evil" in CN, all of which carry some negative tones.

If Dain keeps his promise, we will learn about the Sinner's identity in the coming Dain's quest. So Vedrfolnir being briefly teased, yet still being intentionally kept a mystery a couple versions prior to the reveal would be an interesting foreshadowing"

Even if he's not I think that people mentioned by Skirk are the Khaenri'ahn sages Pierro badmouthes at every opportunity. I don't know why so many people tend to assume they are from Hexenzirkel.

(well, Gold *is* part of Hexenzirkel but that's about it)

#genshin lore tumour #genshin lore #rhinedottir #surtalogi #vedrfolnir #khaenri'ah #skirk #it's also interesting how they have norse names #but never of gods #magical entites rather #they had style

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Wake up darlings, it's time for my weekly rant about genshin plot.

I remembered a Russian idiom for what's happening there, "a piano in the bushes".

A type of contrived coincidence that only exists to advance the plot while not exactly being implausible (a piano can indeed sometimes be found in the bushes. maybe someone threw it out. maybe we are in a park that installed musical instruments for the public).

It was derived from a 60s comedy sketch about Soviet cinema clichés where a character kept finding somewhat improbable opportunities to show off during the course of a conversation. The sketch ended on "completely accidentally there's a piano in the bushes. I can play for you."

General consensus is that exactly one piano per story is allowed. Coincidences do happen and sometimes you need one to write yourself out of a corner.

My problem with 4.2 is not that it didn't explain things, it's that it retrospectively turned 4.0 into a whole assortment of pianos in the most unexpected places.

Childe's vision conveniently stopped working right as we were around (note that it's not the malfunction that worries me, it's the fact that we got to see it).

He oh-so-conveniently handed it over to us so that we could see things about him in the next patch.

The whale was conveniently Just There because it was sad and hungry.

Someone decided to frame our boy for a serial murders case that started around his birth and — lo and behold! — he turned out to be exactly that person for whom Oratrice decided to "malfunction". Giving us proof that the Hydro Archon is not in fact an Archon.

Could all of that happen? Absolutely, it doesn't contradict anything, we even got it somewhat explained. Pianos do sometimes make their nests in the bushes.

However, it all looked like an interconnected meaningful story before 4.2 and turned into a random assortment of episodes after 4.2. That's an extremely bizarre storytelling approach, if you ask me.

Having said that, I now also have an idea of how it can be fixed: maybe Teyvat fate (or whatever Childe's abyssal abilities do to fate) just Works Like That. Pulls elements into a samsara when they get close, regardless of whether they make sense or not.

The story must be played out and it will be played out, everyone and everything are just props. The show must go on.

(this will be my new headcanon because I desperately need things to make sense. here. I ran away with these characters)

And maybe chaos just blossoms in this boy's footsteps, disrupting stories he finds himself in. Maybe he doesn't even need to do anything, it simply happens.

#genshin lore tumour #childe #tartaglia #childe's trauma whale #genshin impact #fontaine #fontaine spoilers

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From reddit:

Fun fact: if you flip Genshin Impact's Chinese name "Yuan Shen" (原神) which means "Original/Primordial God", you get "Shen Yuan", which means "Abyss"(深渊).

#if abyss be thy name I pledge to you my loyalty #genshin lore tumour #they turned the primordial one inside out #на самом деле шапочка у красной шапочки была серая #из волка #просто носила она её мясом наружу

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About Imunlaukr, the hero from the Blizzard Strayer artifact set again.

From the Sacrificial Greatsword description:

"In the eyes of the Imunlaukr clan, combat existed not for protection, for glory, or for gaining territory. Rather, it was for the amusement of the gods, high up in the heavens, for whom little else could serve to entertain."

It kiiind of fits the philosophy that Childe describes. And for some reason Imunlaukr's story is found in artifacts from the same domain as Parsifal's story (although one could argue that both are just relevant for Old Mondstadt and leave it at that. a clan founded by an outsider and someone who left their clan and became an outsider).

The description of Starsilver Claymore belonging to Imunlaukr suggests it was a philosophy born of despair, but then people lie about their motives, and legends embellish things, and the sword itself is found in the tomb with these murals:

The murals have been analyzed to pieces by now. Something something forbidden knowledge.

It's all connected somehow but I can't understand.

I still think that The Boar Princess tells the story of Imunlaukr and how he came to Sal Vindagnyr. I think he brought something that resulted in Celestia nailing the place. The story then has been erased from Irminsul and all that we have now is a pathetic fairytale book with some vague hints.

Also. Childe's shoulder ornament resembles the one angelic dude wears, Childe's scarf ornament resembles the alchemical symbol for antimony (associated with wolves and the penultimate step to purifying gold. idk, western esotericism is weird), the description of the Boar Princess wolf's mental state change sounds uncannily similar to Childe.

Also the squirrel from the tale. "Of all the beings in the ancient world, none were more evil than Woobakwa — not even demons and dragons." ("extremely evil technique" repeatedly encountered in CN names of Childe's skills and constellations), and Surtalogi being called "Extremely evil knight" (极恶骑) in Chinese.

You know, I think there are enough parallels to assume at least the same samsara if not the same martial art with the same teacher. I think Surtalogi or someone who taught him had a hand in whatever happened to Sal Vindagnyr.

(and also whatever technique Childe wields, it has a potential to get a place nailed)

Sal Vindagnyr destruction also predates Khaenri'ah and the Cataclysm by five hundred years, so either this guy was not initially Khaenri'ahn (and, by association, maybe neither was Gold), or we have to brace ourselves for levels of powerscaling previously unknown to science.

#genshin lore tumour #dragonspine #if abyss be thy name I pledge to you my loyalty #childe #tartaglia #surtalogi #rhinedottir

[blood-orange-juice]

Back to the "Childe is inspired by Uther Doul" crack theory because it still haunts me.

I'm looking at this item:

Threads of fate, all very sweet. The connection to music is... interesting

Mieville's novel had a thing called perhapsadian, a instrument allowing a musician to navigate between different versions of the world. Playing possibilities into reality, if I may.

If I remember that right, music and musical metaphors were important to Remuria, but what if they weren't exactly metaphors.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a quest about an instrument like that?

I'll leave this to people who, unlike me, have dug into Remuria lore.

(oh, and did I mention that Uther was also hunting a whale. as a means of travel though, not as something he wanted to kill)

#all of the above #childe #tartaglia #remuria #genshin lore tumour #crackpot hc #I'll probably stop with the lore theories for a while and write more about other fandoms #I'm always happy to bullshit and to answer asks #but I don't think I have enough motivation to do it unprompted after 4.2 #genshin impact #fontaine

[blood-orange-juice]

Ok, crack theory.

The only thing that would justify that weird powescaling we just witnessed with Skirk's appearance (I think this is the thing I actually have beef with. apart from yeet being the new chopsticks) would be introducing a multiverse or something like that.

#i'll just leave it here #for posterity #trying to understand what made them write all that into an otherwise perfectly good story #skirk #genshin lore tumour #crackpot hc