#also the funeral directors keeping the border of life and death and the adeptus who kills to protect the people of liyue... do u feel me

[welcometoteyvat]

omg I think I forgot how fun shipping huxiao is

[hutaoisagirlboss]

Why you should stop calling Zhongli Hu Tao’s paternal figure

This is not an argument to ship them, but rather an argument that calling him her paternal figure specifically is both degrading to Hu Tao, women in general and is overall creepy.

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Why people view Zhongli as Hu Tao as grand/father and daughter:

1) This headcanon stemmed from an inside joke in China about both Zhongli and Hu Tao sharing Chinese voice actors (Bo peng and Dian Tao respectively) with Siegfried and Kiana, a dad and his adoptive daughter in another Mihoyo game. It should be noted that Bo peng also voices Dvalin, and several other characters share the same voice actors. Qiqi and Raiden Shogun share a Chinese actress as well. Yae Miko also shares a voice with Ningguang.

2) Zhongli calls Hu Tao a child in his voice line. To other adults, have you ever called your friends childish or said they’re a being kid or acting like children? He’s also at least 1,000 years older than every other character.

3) Hu Tao was attached to her grandfather, the 75th Wangsheng director. There’s no information about the 76th and Hu Tao is the 77th. The issue with calling Zhongli a fill in or stand in is that the whole reason that Hu Tao got her vision was because she overcame grief.

“At last she came to the conclusion: her grandfather's absence was due to him having passed over the border as soon as he'd arrived, to the place where he was bound. He had been open and honest in life, leaving behind no regrets, so was it right for his departure to be framed in regretful terms?

With a smile, she set forth on the return journey.

The faraway moon had been casting a thin light on the way over but had now been replaced by the bright light of dawn. As she walked, Hu Tao thought of a saying that her grandfather had often quoted: "Live in life, die in death. Follow your heart, do what you can."”

While she continues to wear his hat in his honor, she has no incentive to replace him. Why should she need to?

She’s an adult woman running her own business: “During her teenage years, Hu Tao was tasked with conducting a funeral ceremony for the first time.”

Via her story: “First thing I took over was funeral affairs. Haha, surprising huh? And just like that, it's already been a few years... Time really does go by so quickly.”

So, as an adult woman, why should she need an older man to come into her business and adopt her as an adult?

Other than the fact that she is, perhaps, seen as incompetent and unable to do so.

4) They look similar. But the same could be said for Beidou (who Hu Tao is in awe of) or Amber (who has a grandfather from Liyue). Keep in mind that Zhongli is a shapeshifter who has appeared as a dragon, a woman, etc. In my opinion they hardly look alike either.

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Why would people see Hu Tao as needing what is essentially a conservatorship?

All of the reasons have their own massive issues. Keep in mind that Zhongli and Hu Tao most likely met as adults or she would’ve known that he doesn’t age whatsoever. She says that he looks young and she suspects he’s an adeptus, but it can be presumed that he showed up as this identity of Zhongli not too long before faking his death, since people would notice him not aging.

1) Her maturity levels. Keep in mind that Hu Tao has not had a proper childhood. She was reading classical texts at the age of 3 while doing handstands, sleeping in coffins as a kid, being around dead bodies as a kid. If you were around dead bodies all the time since childhood, wouldn’t it be fair to want a childhood? Or to feel safe with the idea that you’re still young and not going to die of old age soon? This is coming from an adult with PTSD who copes with trauma via stuff like collecting dolls, watching cartoons and making silly jokes.

It should also be noted that, like with plenty of comedians or humorous types who suffer from depression or PTSD, her sense of childishness is fake and forced in order to help her cope with trauma. We have plenty of proof of this, and nearly everyone in game recognizes that her personality is basically entirely fake:

“The Wangsheng Funeral Parlor is a reputable institution that acts with integrity. But whenever I see that cheeky smile that says, "It's nothing you exorcists need to worry about," it just makes my blood boil...” - Chongyun

“Warm. Fake smile. Death. I despise Hu Tao.” - Qiqi

“It would be best not underestimate someone as whimsical as her.” - Zhongli

“It is only during funeral ceremonies, when she personally leads her undertakers through lamp-lit alleys, that she shows her dignified and solemn side.” - Her first character story

The way she acts at Lantern Rite is another reason people refer to her as Zhongli’s daughter, but think of other characters who have found time away from work to embrace a childish side such as Ayaka. Hu Tao’s entire life has been death, and she hardly has any friends to boot.

2) Her height means she’s a kid. Hu Tao is 5’1”. I’m 25 and 5’1”. How’s that even matter.

3) She no longer has any parent or grandfather present. This is essentially saying that a woman isn’t capable of owning a business on her own. Having her male subordinate take over as her paternal figure and adopt would be saying she isn’t capable of running a business on her own, which she clearly is capable. We also don’t know if the 76th director is alive or not still. Her parents or the director may have retired elsewhere.

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Assuming that Hu Tao is an adult, independent business owner who manages a staff on her own, we can now discuss why Zhongli being a paternal figure to her as an unrelated adult is extremely creepy.

You are an adult who lives on their own find an older mentor/parental figure, maybe a teacher or a role model or something. You live alone and look up to this mentor, then invite them to live with you, become their boss, eat meals with them, go on walks with them frequently, pay their bills and buy them things.

That is incredibly creepy. I’d never invite one of my teachers from college to move in with me so I can pay their bills, eat meals with them, etc. If Zhongli and Hu Tao did have a weird adult adoption situation, it could essentially be considered grooming.

Heavily implied they live together:

“When she was eight, she started living in the parlor and learning the etiquette of funeral ceremonies.” - She’s been living there for some time, most likely with undertakers, potentially the 76th director (or her parents if they were).

If he is simply a consultant who helps out with ceremonies for adepti, it’s super creepy that he seems a little bit lost with what to do when she’s not there. One can also assume that he doesn’t really have any other living situation, so likely he’d be homeless or at the parlor. This isn’t to say that the other undertakers don’t live there, but there is something seriously wrong about a mentor/paternal figure needing his time to be dictated by the person he is apparently authority over. He also relies on her Mora, a commonly known fact. That’s absolutely disturbing and in any teacher/student situation would be frowned upon.

This is sometimes used to show that she sees him as a father, along with the fact that she trusts him most as her story says. But as an adult woman I seriously would find it creepy to be staring at any paternal, mentor or teacher figure like that.

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In Conclusion

Take this argument as you want to. Whether you think they do have some sort of creepy adult adoption set up, or perhaps she’s mistreating him as a boss, or they’re a couple and the whole divine date thing is in play (keep in mind, Childe is about same age as her and is the youngest of the Fatui Harbringers. Ningguang and Keqing are also way younger than him. So are Venti and Xiao. Her age doesn’t make her automatically his kid).

What I do want people to get out of this is that you should NOT glamorous the infantilization of an adult woman. Her height, the way she copes with trauma and her employee being several thousands of years older than her is no excuse. People hire people older than them all the time. Putting him in a position of power over her negates her entire character arc and trivializes the way that she copes with trauma. It negates her being a female business owner and it isn’t cute.

- From a 5’1” 25 year old diagnosed with ADHD and PTSD who has dealt with the death of both of my paternal figures at a young age.