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voidwelt · 2 days ago

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Today's wayward thinking.

I really wish there was voice acting for the casual dialogue on the Express. Many times, I just want to appreciate the talented EN VA as much as I can, but every now and then, I find that there are some lines I feel I miss the context of because I can't hear how they're said. I long to hear the intonation, the tone, perhaps the way they might trail off. This is why I do not enjoy muted story.

Most impacted for me is one of Welt's only early direct references to the Void Archives, from that wild time when the wiki refused to name them because the game had yet to name drop them anywhere. I have joked before about his erroneous assumption that Himeko is not mad at them anymore, but...

... The second line. I want to hear it said out loud very badly, actually.

I think about it a lot when I go into any sort of dynamic interpretation. It's not really optional for me -- it's literally all I have to go off of when it comes to how his opinion of them might have changed during the circumstances of a shared goal - I mean, how many years did they know each other for? We don't even know! Because of it, it impacts my writing. If you've read any of my fic, maybe you've noticed how much Welt finds himself thinking like this.

The pressing question.. What are they looking for out there? What does Welt think they are looking for? ...Probably more important, what does he hope they are looking for?

(He talks to Dan Heng about how your purpose can’t be defined for you. Perhaps it's something like this... Does he want them to find reason to persist on their own terms? It would explain why he hopes they succeed. That's just my baseless conjecture, but I hope it is that, Welt, because with you and that name and that legacy you bear on your heart... Let's just say that I like it when you are a little hypocritical. You tried giving your legacy up to be yourself, and you failed - you returned to it time and time again, in part because embodying Welt is simply a key part of you, now... Ahem. Where was I?)

In short, because of this very short unvoiced dialogue, somewhere along the line, my interpretation becomes something like -- Of course, Welt of Humanity is doomed to see that potential of Humanity in everything. Even the Void Archives is not immune to this. Why would they be? He literally does it to Sunday moments after realising he can sympathise with him. His hand is well bitten but he still reaches.

Side thought: He once travelled with an AI when he ran away to New York. Maybe it was a viewpoint he was open to all along, the generous definition of Humanity. These little things colour his brief partnership with someone who proclaims themself firmly "Other" in a funny way.

During 2.7's Trailblaze Continuance, he says this:

This text is probably largely intended to refer to the Trailblazers that settled and ultimately perished on Amphoreus. But, using that previous dialogue as a launch pad, could you also apply it to his view of the Void Archives - or at least, the hope he clings to? If this is his broader ideology, then...?

It does betray his charitable viewpoint, really. He's inclined to believe that someone is trying their best. Because when you've witnessed humanity struggle to persevere, you witness the beauty of human resilience.

It leads me to wonder what they did that irked Himeko so badly, but didn’t seem to leave the same impact on Welt - she is enraged, so much so she can't help but take it out on Shush, so much so she shakes with rage and vows to track them down. I find it interesting that Welt only wishes them well when he thinks she's calmed down a bit. (And that he wishes them well at all, knowing this.)

He seems resentful and apprehensive at times (when explaining his nerves around Luocha, he lumps them in with Otto re: nefarious intentions -- though I can't help but imagine his mind leapt to Void Archives because he still expects to see them lurking in the distance any day now). But at the end of the day, has still settled on 'old friend' as a descriptor for them. Still hopes they find what they seek out there in the broad Universe. Somewhere along the line, they went from cold, forced dialogue to a semblance of strained familiarity. They joked, they reflected... for a short time, they really were allies. #Divorce

Knowing this makes the uncertainty of their absence sting more than you'd like to accept. Because they could be noble and they could learn to see the beauty in the world and they could eventually learn to value it all as highly as he does, too. They could. They could. They really could. Knowing that someone could be so much more makes you more inclined to struggle with how you regard their memory.

So. Hero, do you still distantly believe that you can reflect your ideals of the value of life onto them? Do you truly think they can be changed, even now? Vote now on your phones.

"...Your idealism is going to kill you one day. Maybe even for good. I hope I won't miss it. I really do hope I'll be there to see it."

Of course, the basis for all of this is old dialogue. Maybe it is not as relevant anymore, and maybe it will not be expanded in 4.0. I fully expect to be blindsided by a lot of new animosity, and I would be pleased by any outcome, honestly. I want some conflict from this clash of ideals and perspectives. The Void Archives is very blasé about how death is often a necessity, and uses this to justify seeing lives as simple cost for greater benefit. I am sure Welt is also aware of the necessary cost of death, but he resists sacrificing others' lives at every turn. It's very interesting seeing them disagree, especially when you witness it overlap all the while...

Anyway, until then... Well, it's fun to talk. And I do like this angle, quite a lot.

Closing thought: Do you think he ever actually referred to them as a friend to their face or is this a purely post-divorce reminiscence because every other casual descriptor sounds too baggaged? Lmao.

#my tag #welt yang #voidwelt #weltposting #hsr #long post #The theory that they were too violent for Himeko is very interesting to me.#Because Welt has dialogue that states he believes combat is necessary to protect those you care for.#He prefers nonviolence in HI3 to the point that characters tend to approach him with the fact in mind. This would explain a little why #he isn't so mad - if it went anywhere. If he saw reason behind their actions. Even once.#Perhaps he is aware for once of the weight of his optimism. But who is Welt if not painfully optimistic...#Even the Void Archives berates him for it. But he will never stop #Anyway none of this post is astounding or groundbreaking but #sometimes you have to say something or you will explode #and I prefer to write a long useless post over rolling around in bed failing to sleep #lol.#anyway. this probably explains a lot about how I have been writing them #void archives #I'm not dragging that tag to the top lmao #kind of funny that in the honkaiverse i have to talk about the humanity of ai but irl im like i need ai out of my spaces now #im on mobile maybe this post isnt that long actually #Addendum: It was mentioned in a reblog that they could have slighted Welt - which is why Himeko is so mad.#I like this idea. So much so that it is my new top theory.#I really need more details soon... Ah - but I've waited this long. I'm a patient boy.#Maybe he knows he should be upset. But he can't bring himself to damn them when he has seen their potential.#Gross. I hate him. I believe it could be true.

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pearsandrust · 5 months ago

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this post contains my full analysis of moze!! if you'd prefer to read a (only slightly) shorter version, here's a summarized version :)

(I know my Jiaoqiu post was a little more structured, but I'm going back to my incoherent ramble format for Moze's analysis because I love him and I don't think I can ever do him justice. Strap in, because this is going to be really long. Like 1000+ words long. You've been warned.)

Moze's backstory is so good, and I'm so sad they don't touch on it in the main quests. It's a story about isolation and transformation and identity. It represents the existential, human fear that we can never stop our past from accumulating.

Moze is a very resilient person. As a child, he's "taken in" by the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus and forced to take medicine to convert him to a long-life species. He endures this, over and over again, despite the crushing pain it causes every time. Because he's scared.

Endure it. He will then no longer be the orphan abandoned by his village in the wilderness. Endure it. Then, every word he speaks will be answered, and he will no longer be alone. Endure it.

Moze's resilience is not born out of passion or stubbornness or morality. It's desperation masked as endurance. He fears being abandoned, being alone, and most of all, being ... nothing. We see for the first time in this quote that Moze sees being answered, being known, and simply being as synonymous. He thinks that the only way to gain a new identity is integrate into his new family (the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus).

The Disciples' medical treatments literally transform his body, which acts as a VERY clear metaphor for his desire to shed his past and become somebody new, somebody worth loving. And we see here how Moze deals with trauma: he convinces himself that if he can run away from the past and hold firmly onto the future, he'll be okay. But it doesn't work.

No one cares what he has to say, so he slowly grows accustomed to not talking.

Even when he endures the Disciples' treatment, they don't give him what he truly wants -- to be acknowledged. And yet, when Feixiao captures the disciples and rescues Moze, he's furious at her for murdering his "family". He says this about the Disciples:

"They saved me. They are the only reason I am alive."

When Moze holds onto something, he does so wholly and completely, because the alternative is being alone again. And he carries that same mentality into his time at the Xianzhou, when he frequently tries to assassinate Feixiao, who offers him a deal: as long as he agrees to a life on the Yaoqing, he can try to kill her whenever he wants.

This is because, to him, each successful mission is an opportunity... An opportunity for revenge. "For every successful mission, you will earn one strale. One strale will buy you forgiveness after each assassination attempt."

To me, this portion of Moze's backstory is the best example of his personal ideology. For his "family", he continues to hold onto this idea of revenge, even long after he realizes that the Disciples didn't actually care for him. Because he still can't be sure that his future on the Xianzhou is secure; because after all he's done, he's still only Feixiao's guard, still invisible, still without people to love. His role as an assassin and his ability to conceal himself exemplify this feeling of being unseen. It's a feeling he's known his entire life, and one he slips into easily. And to add to this, he's literally a shadow guard -- always standing behind someone else, always out of the light. The concept of "shadows" also ties back into his perception of identity: a shadow only exists when another object blocks a source of light, which represents how Moze feels that he can only exist when others perceive him. And so he continues to hold onto the people that have hurt him, which is represented beautifully by him clutching a strale in his E6 art (to the point where it cuts into his hand):

Oh god, the strale in his E6 art. Where do I even begin. At first glance, it's an obvious metaphor for his unfounded obsession with revenge. Similarly, it can be seen as a symbol of how he holds onto everything long after it begins to hurt him. But here's the weird thing:

Feixiao didn't have to make him pay a strale for each assassination.

In terms of combat skill, Moze is NOWHERE near Feixiao's level, and it's likely that he might never be. So it's not like Feixiao has to limit his assassination attempts by putting a monetary restriction on him -- after all, she pretty much has nothing to fear. In my opinion, she does this because she knows Moze's only comfort is the idea of exchange. Moze tries to exchange his life as an orphan for an identity as a Disciple of Sanctus Medicus. Moze tries to exchange his complex feelings towards his family with the simple motive of revenge. Again and again, he tries to to start over, to dissolve who he used to be and put a new identity in its place. Peace, to Moze, is cleansing the past and replacing it with the future.

In part (I think there are other things that tie into this, but I'm not going to get into them), I think this may be why Moze feels that keeping clean is so soothing. It's symbolic: by cleaning his hands of blood, or even by dusting off old shelves, he can clear out the memories of who he's been or what he's done.

The most obvious (and most terrifying) example of this is when he and Jiaoqiu encounter the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus in the field again. Moze's immediate reaction isn't fear or grief, it's:

The black-clad shadow guard appears in the light before them and stands solemnly. Silence can not conceal the murderous rage that once again wells up inside him.

Anger. Bloodlust. More than anything, Moze can't stand to see his past return, can't stand that the people who hurt him still exist. Because it shatters his worldview, a worldview built on vows and exchanges and promises, a worldview where he has a chance to be someone that was never lost or abandoned or scared. In the end, it all comes back to the idea that the Disciples instilled in him -- to be loved, he has to be transformed. And it's so ironic that even though he escapes the Disciples, he can never escape that ideal.

Moze gets better. He becomes more comfortable on the Yaoqing, and he carves a niche for himself. But still, he never achieves that goal of rewriting his own history. And I love that about him.

Punish evil and fight for good? That is never his motive.

In the sparkling eyes of the child in front of him, he can see himself clearly in his umbral clothes. He walks in the darkness and stands in the darkness. The crow-feather weirdo, the shadow guard… they are all parts of who he is.

Moze doesn't become a perfect, amicable, conventionally-lovable person. He doesn't do his job because it's morally correct, he does it for his own purposes. He remains in the darkness. Even the title of "Crow-Feathered Weirdo" adds to this; it implies that he's still socially isolated, that others still see him as a bad omen, that his presence is (usually) unwelcome. But he states that these identities, however unfavourable, are "all parts of who he is". And that in itself is a tremendous achievement. At the beginning of his story, Moze only defined himself by what he didn't want to be anymore: abandoned, alone, and afraid.

Of course, Moze doesn't gain what he originally sought; an identity through his bonds with others. The title of "Crow-Feathered Weirdo" is pretty much his and his alone. But even though he doesn't do it the way he expected to, Moze becomes someone. And that is so, so valuable.

But still -- does Moze find the family he once ? After Moze kills the Disciples that he and Jiaoqiu encounter, Jiaoqiu says this as he treats Moze's wounds:

"If it hurts, then say it out loud. What good does enduring your pain do? Just seeing you like this is agony for me." He nods. He has become accustomed to not speaking, but also to having people speak on his behalf.

At the beginning of this post, I mentioned that Moze equated being answered to being loved/known. In particular, he wanted others to answer him when he spoke, a privilege he was denied by the Disciples. And the thing is, he never really achieves that. Hoyoverse doesn't end the story with Moze and Jiaoqiu talking. Instead, Moze refuses to speak, and Jiaoqiu knows what he's thinking anyway. The point, then, is that Moze never truly overwrites the terrible things that have happened to him. The many years of conditioning that made him silent in the first place still follow him to this day.

The core theme of Moze's story is not that transformation begets love. It's that despite the weight of our pasts, we continue to seek and give and hold onto love. What Moze learns is that there is truly no prerequisite to being found, because Jiaoqiu and Feixiao undoubtedly love. Undoubtedly. I'll die on this hill.

Funnily enough, it's not the type of love that Moze expected at all. Jiaoqiu's statement that Moze's pain "is agony for [him]" directly contradicts what young Moze originally thought about family:

Who knew that one has to bear so much pain to finally find their family?

The parallels truly do converge at this point. Young Moze being fed medicine by the Disciples mirrors Jiaoqiu treating his wounds. In both cases, he chooses to endure the pain. The difference is that while the Disciples dismiss his suffering, Jiaoqiu understands it. He notices Moze's pain, and through treating it, asserts that one does not have to suffer to be loved.

Moze returns Jiaoqiu and Feixiao's love in his own way. We know that at the end of the 2.5 quest, he makes this pledge to Jiaoqiu:

An eye for an eye.

It may not seem like much, but because of how much Moze values exchange, it's the most meaningful thing he could've said. He makes a vow to Jiaoqiu, just like the vow he made to the Disciples and the deal he made with Feixiao. Equivalent exchange: an eye for an eye, a strale for a strale, one life for another. Moze will likely never let go of that ideal. But in this case, his application of it is unique. In every other scenario, Moze has accepted a promise/vow/deal from somebody else. But here, for the first time, he makes one of his own.

Moze is no longer alone.

P.S. When you add him to a team with Feixiao, he vows to fight alongside her until the very end. Truly the trio of all time.

#YAOQING TRIO ANALYSIS FINALLY DONE. FINALLY #OHHHH MY GOSH #THE POSTS JUST GOT LONGER AND LONGER #fun fact! moze is my third favourite hsr character #i love him enough to play him instead of topaz #auuuuuh. not sure who to write about next to be honest #mydei/tribbie analysis probably soon #or acheron/aventurine? although i'm not sure if anyone is still interested in that #OR i make an expanded feixiao post bc jiaoqiu and moze's have truly eclipsed hers #let me know ig #alas. i need sleep #hsr #hsr moze #honkai star rail #yaoqing trio ── .✦#long post ── .✦#hsr thoughts ── .✦

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