#also most recently Vedrfolnir...

[avemstella]

smfwtwd's chapter 39 sketch dump aka Ilhuicamīna and Itotia time haha. The two middle sketchy pics were drawn forever ago when I was finalizing his design, I'm just including them because why not, but the first and last are new.

I recognize I have an absurd amount of ocs in my fic, but I can do what I want, it's my fic pfft. But in all seriousness, idk but for me, characters are part of world building. People aren't islands, their interconnected relations inform their character and the world around them. So while Ilhuicamīna isn't going to be some major character, for me, it's just the joy of fleshing out the world and specifically Itotia's relations beyond Childe or the other Archons.

And it's just fun to expand upon characters I just sort of threw there for random roles haha. You were originally just some dude, and now I've thought an embarrassing amount about u pfft.

[haravatat-slime]

"BEDTIME STORY" - Preliminary Archon Quest (Ch. 4- Act IV) Thoughts

My diligence has finally paid off! For the first time in a while, I got to play through a Genshin quest as soon as it dropped! So, while energy is still high and the novelty of the event is still - well, novel - I offer you a collection of observations and examinations from the most recent Archon Quest.

HERE THERE BE SPOILERS - do not click unless you've played Bedtime Story or don't mind being spoiled on its events!

FIRST, and arguably (for me) most importantly - THE SINNER HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED, and before yesterday there was NO way you could have convinced me that it was Dainsleif's brother. (Has he even mentioned having a brother before this?) (The "Dain is the twins' sibling" theorists are probably deeply unhappy. Sorry for your loss.)

(A bit sad that it's not Deshret, personally, but that's not relevant atm.)

His name, Vedrfolnir (or Vethrfolnir, or Veðrfölnir or any number of phonetically similar spellings for those of us who can't do Scandanavian languages to save our lives), comes from the name of a hawk that, in Norse mythology, is partnered with a (nameless?) eagle that sits on top of Yggdrasil (Irminsul). Vedrfolnir is believed to represent the eagle's wisdom, able to see everything in the Nine Realms (likely why Genshin!Vedrfolnir's title is The Visionary) and passing information back and forth to it - much in the way that Odin's ravens are believed to pass information back and forth to him.

It is also believed to play a role in the battle between the eagle and Nidhogg (the serpent at Yggdrasil's roots) at Ragnarok - possibly similar to that of Ratatoskr, whose gossip back and forth between Nidhogg and the eagle (and Vedrfolnir by extension) is what causes their mutual aggression.

The name Vedrfolnir means something akin to "pale wind."

As far as the other "Five Sinners of Khaenri'ah" are concerned:

Hroptatyr is another name for Odin (huge? can you say HUGE?). The "wise" part is self explanatory. The name means "sage" in Old Norse.

Rhinedottir is, as we know, a Norse spelling of the German "Rheintöchter." She's named after the Rhinemaidens, three water spirits who dwell at the bottom of the Rhine river and are said to protect the Gold(tm) that can grant anyone immeasurable power. This origin is, however-

While the original Nibelungenleid (the 12th century German poem-epic) makes mention of mermaids, and Norse mythology makes mention of the proverbial gold (see below) the massively significant role mentioned above was almost COMPLETELY made up by Richard Wagner while writing the Ring Cycle. The Rhinemaidens are mentioned nowhere in Norse mythology, whereas all the other Sinners' names are pulled directly from old Norse sources. (Considering Rhinedottir's level of importance to the overarching plot, especially in Mondstadt, I have a hard time believing this difference from the other Sinners isn't equally important.)

I have discussed Surtalogi previously, so lemme just... (clears throat). Caaaaaalled it.

So yeah. He's the "Fire of Surtr," the jotunn who burns it all down. Dain and Surtalogi, sword buddies. Nice neat explanation. (Who's gonna be Surtr? Will we have a Surtr? We'll put a pin in that.)

And...if he's "the Foul," then I guess anyone who adopts his power has...the...Foul Legacy...yeah. No need to delve into that much. At least not for now.

Rerir is a little more to unpack. Or a lot more. Who am I kidding. In the Norse Volsungasaga, Rerir is part of a long and complicated line of royal births and deaths that result in rise and fall of the titular Volsung clan (similar to, but not the exact same as, the Nibelungenleid). A brief overview:

Odin gives birth to Sigi.

Sigi gives birth to Reri. Sigi is killed by his brothers-in-law.

Rerir avenges his father's death (for all you Sherlock Holmes fans - Racher is "avenger," or one who gets revenge [Rache].)

The goddess Frigg has a crow bring Rerir and his wife an apple because they're having a hard time getting pregnant. It works.

Rerir dies while his wife is pregnant - for six years.

Volsungr (Rerir's son) is born by C-section (something that seeems to happen with a lot of heroes in different mythologies, just saying). His mom dies in the process.

Volsung fathers (in addition to like ten other kids) the twins Sigmundr and Signy (in German, Sigmund and Sieglinde).

Sigmundr fathers Sigurd (Siegfried in German).

Sigurd is the dragon-slaying, Nibelung's-hoard-and-ring-of-power-having king that ends up being killed during a combination political dispute/relationship drama.

The chunks of the Volsungsaga from Volsung on are retold in Wagner's Ring Cycle, albeit with his own embellishments (see Rhinedottir).

The aspect of Rerir's title here that's confusing me the most is "Solnari." Based on Rerir's mythological origin, Solnari should be his father - but then, why not just call him "Racher of Sigi"? Meanwhile, Sol is almost certainly a reference to a Sun deity (in Norse and Germanic, the sun goddess), but the "-nari" suffix is more confusing. From what I can tell,

1) "Nari" is Sanskrit for "woman" or "maiden" - so if Solnari were The Lady Sun it would make sense, but it seems weird to randomly throw Sanskrit into a Norse civilization; and

2) Nari, or Narfi, is a different deity in Norse mythology that is supposed to be either Loki's son (killed by his wolf-shifting brother Vali), the personification of night (Nott), or both.

I can't really make sense of it in the moment, but hopefully we'll get more info as we go - preferably before another year goes by, Dainsleif, please!???

The Vinster King is, likewise, difficult to parse. There is, on one hand, the Swedish word “vinst” meaning to win, or make a return/profit - which would make the “vinster king” the king who…won? This isn’t totally impossible as we know there have been plenty of wars of succession between both gods and humans in Teyvat. On the other hand, this may be a butchered spelling of the German “finster,” meaning “dark,” “sinister,” or “gloomy.” I wasn’t super sold on my own interpretation of this until I remembered this sweet loot drop we get in the Chasm:

So that may be the case, and, as such, the “Vinster King” may be another name for Irmin.

(Side tangent: I now think it would be super funny if we found out later that Irmin and Pierrot really ARE the same person…Gloomy King…becomes a Clown…? Love that…anyway.)

I have already heard that someone has translated the message in Caribert’s memory-travel/loading-screen thingy, but I DON’T TRUST PEOPLE! So i’m gonna do it here for myself.

From the top, line by line:

FAREWELL ATOSSA

I APOLOGIZE

FOR MAKING YOU KNOW ME

UNWILLINGLY

STILL I DONT WISH

YOU TO FORGET ME

This is written in Sumeran script, not Khaenri’ahn. A nice easter egg, and very touching to be sure. ;v;

One last thing: on the Sea of Flowers.

There are a few things that this Sea of Flowers reminds me of - Nabu Malikata and her connection to water and flowers comes to mind, for one - but the thing that I was IMMEDIATELY reminded of was the Dandelion Sea.

For those who don’t particularly enjoy coming through Genshin’s archive: The Fox in the Dandelion Sea is a whopping 11-volume story series found hidden throughout Mondstadt. In the story, a hunter makes a deal with a fox (or spirit. or fox-spirit) who believes that he intentionally saved her life (he was just a bad shot, and broke the ice that was keeping her trapped on a lake): teach her fox-child to speak the language of humans, and she will teach the hunter how to transform into other creatures.

In order to meet and teach her cub, the fox takes the hunter to a “sea of dandelions, stretching as far as my eyes could see.” All foxes who “disappear during the hunt” come here, and time appears to be meaningless. While the hunter appears to move toward learning a lesson, by the end of the series, he still informs the fox that his reason for learning transformation magic is to be a better hunter. At this, the fox turns him into a dandelion puff and blows him away to a “faraway land.” He then wakes, as is from a dream, with none of what he could have had (the magic, the beautiful fox-woman, or the peaceful sea of dandelions).

While I’m unsure if the Sea of Dandelions actually has anything to do with the Sea of Flowers, it would be interesting if we found out that the Sea of Flowers is some alternate version of reality - a domain, an isolated region, or even a beautiful (but ultimately unattainable) dream.

THAT IS. basically all i have so far. This is coming off (as i said) basically 4-5 hours of sleep followed by all day on-and-off research to try and process everything we got since yesterday. and yes i know I didn't mention the Loom of Fate even ONCE but honestly between the pretty explicit "it weaves ley lines" description and the Abyss twin's equally explicit "I don't know what I'm gonna do with it yet," I don't really feel like any deeper picking has to be done for now.

okay byeee

[reginrokkr]

Given the recent changes that my portrayal of Dain experimented, I thought it'd be a good idea to write a post about what is changing exactly and what concepts I'm leaving behind. These are related to a recent post I wrote (beware of leaks if you don't want to read those, this post won't contain any but it'll make references to that) for a better understanding of where I'm going. Before that, I will preface that there will be hardly any change in the manner I've been writing Dain until now save for a few things here and there that I'll be bolder about, given that I've always kept in the dark how he is by himself instead of what surrounds him and build him based on that. Furthermore, his connection with Irminsul will continue to be one of the main traits that I'm attributing to him, the difference being that he himself as a whole won't be necessarily gravitating towards it any longer. Without further ado, let's begin:

✧ One of the main portrayal points of this blog is that he's the younger sibling from the Gnostic Chorus. From here on, that concept will be scratched. Related to this, I established that Dain would see Aether as if it were himself having failed to protect his older sister (Asmoday in this case). This will cease existing as well. Moreover, I also mentioned that this is one of the reasons I don't ship Dain with any of the twins, but it's worth noting that even if this will stop being a thing to this blog, my stance on shipping him with any of them still stands.

✦ In regards to his origins, he's a human born during the Crimson Moon dynasty alongside his older brother Vedrfolnir. Given that there are being more and more Lovecraft references, I will continue to stick to the premise that those who are pure-blooded Khaenri'ahns aren't necessarily immortal (as they can still pass away due to violence or by exiting the chat of their lives to put it nicely, I will also add the prospect of falling to madness due to a characteristic I'll talk about in a future post —to have an idea, it's loosely connected to what was already mentioned in Sumeru about reaching levels of enlightenment through Irminsul—), but they are long-living in their right.

✧ More details related to this origins, his physical appearance can be described as that of the moon similarly as it is done with all of those who are related to the angels —this in honor to one of his distant ancestors— and his eyes stem from the other counterpart of his ancestors.

✦ Pure-blooded Khaenri'ahns are a special human race unrelated to Phanes' creation, but that of an angel and the being who their eyes take after. The freedom under which they've been both (one more than the other) is what allows them to be untainted by fate, unlike the rest of humans whose origins trace back to Phanes. Furthermore, they're more susceptible of finding truths of the world given their mystical characteristics that trace from the being from who they take their eyes after.

✧ It is due to this, through a consciousness transferral —and later on shared— as well as Irminsul's sentience and acceptance of his mind and soul that Dain comes to hold a connection with the tree. The more time that passes and learns, the closer he is to reach enlightenment and to find the answers behind this world, as well as extending his knowledge to the outside.

✦ Due to his special characteristics in addition to his intimate connection to Irminsul, Dain's blood is akin to Ley Line ichor. Moreover, he continues to withhold his healing and purifying capabilities both due to his link with the Axis Mundi and the reached potential stemming from the angel that contributed to the birth of this human race.

✧ By birth, every pure-blooded Khaenri'ahn has the potential of reaching the heights of their first ancestors. Rhinedottir would count as such example by gazing into the sin that is the origins of creation and being the most exalted figure of Khemia, as well as the creator of several abyss-linked monsters. Those who would be later known as the Five Sinners plus Dain (pillars in their own right of the kingdom) each had reached their manner of enlightenment and tapping into their potential.

✦ Dain's manifestation is that of a seraphim in particularly cruder battles what concern physical-wise (the 36 spectral swords he can summon taking the shape of wings and lunar flames filling in the skeleton-like appearance those swords give to his wings), which is majorly twisted into a more unsightly-looking angel post-curse and corruption. His potential by the side of the being that created the Khaenri'ahn race alongside the angel remains intact given their completely unrelated existence to Teyvat, and the same potential that is worked on over the centuries in terms of acquiring knowledge until he taps into a power from beyond.

✧ Given what was mentioned previously and the strong implications of Dain's deeds being relevant enough to cause a significant change to Teyvat by having access to reweaving all threads of fate, this portrayal will play with the possibility of him becoming the 5th Descender.

[reginrokkr]

Features schooled to frigid-like stillness thaw to allow roseate lips part slightly in a momentary trance fruit from wonder dancing within glacial sapphires. Dáinsleif hadn't necessarily bother himself to piece together a complete image of the interlocutor he's been talking with until then, neither he anticipated to see an angel before him. And this is precisely what mesmerizes him the most as his brain joins the puzzle pieces into a fitting image that combines his elegant and smooth voice, his care for people and a proper image of him now. His lips press when he reminisces in a flash the allusions of an apparent higher entity, guilt for feeling entranced as he was weighing upon him at the remainder that he has every sign of what Khaenri'ahns would seek to destroy.

Thus he mirrors the same gesture as Sunday, one he knows all too well and that he had practised in his homeland countless of times before. ◜My name is Dáinsleif. The pleasure is mine.◞ Indeed, it still is despite the pang of guilt within his chest—aware as he is of their beliefs, it feels wrong to see him through the same lens as his people. His gloved hand moves to gesture the Bronze Melodia to the bench of his choice to sit thereafter, sapphire gaze stricken with vacillation despite everything until they sit down. Right, he has promised to talk about his brother in answer to Sunday's curiosity about him.

It takes Twilight Sword a few moments of indecision until his eyes close, his mind focusing on Vedrfolnir. ◜My brother... he's a highly esteemed man among our people. It is no exaggeration to say that he carries the hopes of the nation.◞ The corners of his lips lift in a fond smile that reaches his eyes as albescent lashes flutter slightly open. ◜He is also the best among his peers within his field of expertise. There are few astrologists if any who can claim to foresee the future, but he was blessed with that ability beyond compare. People call him the Visionary.◞

He had it all and yet, he still chose the Abyss... why? Fair brows knit in a subtle frown as that thought crosses his mind. His smile falters, his gaze obscured by the curtain of his bangs as he lowers his head. ◜A disaster happened recently, one that involved him. I came to his rescue using everything I had in my power, but as soon as we reunited, I found out... that he was blinded.◞ Gloved fingers intertwine with one another on his lap, causing his hands to tremble gently as Dáinsleif's mind enters in a new conflict. Did Vedrfolnir love his foreseeing abilities so much that he sought to recover what he had lost? ◜...◞ Would the outcome be different if he could protect him from king Irmin? ◜I suppose that... I couldn't save him entirely, after all.◞

                      sunday listens intently as the voice from the other side of the confession booth speaks of humilty,  of listening to those deemed 'lesser' by others.  the sentiment doesn't surprise him  —  not after the earlier confession  —  but hearing it stated so plainly still resonates.  his usual composed expression softens,  even if hidden by the wooden partition separating them.  for once,  the sharp edge in his demeanor is replaced by a subtle warmth.   

                      ❝   a like-minded individual,  then,   ❞   he says softly,  a smile curving his lips  — genuine and unguarded.   ❝   they are very lucky to have someone like you.   ❞   there's no doubt in his tone,  only quiet conviction.  he means every word. 

                      a contemplative silence lingers between them,   punctuated only by the occasional faint creak of the booth.  he considers the suggestion the other made moments ago.   ❝   you are correct.  this would no longer be considered part of the confession,   ❞   he remarks with a faint chuckle,  his tone light.   ❝   i suppose i've been in here for long enough.   ❞   

                      with that,  sunday steps out of the booth,  his movements precise and deliberate.  he brushes invisible dust from his immaculate attire before glancing up,  his golden eyes finally meeting the other's as they emerge.  from his limited view inside the booth,  he had caught glimpses,  but now standing face-to-face,  he studies the individual more closely.  

                      ❝   i suppose introductions may be in order,   ❞   sunday says,  his voice smooth and refined.  he presses a hand lightly against his chest in a subtle,  respectful gesture.   ❝   you may call me sunday.  it is a pleasure to meet you.   ❞