#and khaenriah as a whole

[rect-bibi]

he

[kotaerukoto]

Hey, so I just wanted to say that it's best to judge a story from the story itself, not from leaks or summaries that dilute it to make it look trivial. Almost any plot, if summarized, can be made out to be weird or stupid.

[46hasu]

Awfully bold of Mihoyo to drop some Scara lore in the new Archon Quest that could either make or break their absolutely weak sauce of a redemption arc they gave to Ei

[huiyi07]

hey so do you guys ever think about how often Diluc is referred to as the ‘uncrowned king of Mondstadt’ since he’s like the only male heir to the noble families and like it or not, where Jean is the authority of the nation, he’s pretty much the symbolic face of Mondstadt and the values the nation projects— and despite his temperament, Diluc has learned to embrace it wholeheartedly. He’s charismatic, extremely righteous, and he blazes bright and gives the people of Mondstadt a fire that guides them in the dark, quite literally. Like he’s literally Bruce Wayne lmao

But he doesn’t want this, no, and here’s the proof- maybe he did, once upon a time, before everything happened— but he doesn’t really care about wine, he only cares about the winery because of the people in it and his father. He’s righteous but doesn’t give a damn about the rules and the knights of favonius. After what happened to him, he’s clearly a rebel at heart now, not some charming superhero who does everything expected of him, unlike before. In summary, Diluc was someone who was quite literally ready to become an (uncrowned) prince, pretty much royalty in every way except title- and on surface level, he still is, but he throws that mantle away in secret whenever he can.

And then look at Kaeya, his brother who’s always lived in his shadow. It’s easy to see that now, people don’t really project Mondstadt’s values onto Kaeya the same way they do onto Diluc, since lots of people hardly even remember that they’re brothers. And yeah people still think kaeya is reliable and nice, but also because of how Kaeya built his image after Diluc left— an excessively over the top personality that pretends to be sadistic, mean, and at the same time dripping with false charm. So despite that people still find him approachable and nice as expected of a knight, hardly anyone would call him befitting of a prince.

But Kaeya is actually so painfully and authentically ‘princely’ and kind, deep down— the way he deals with children, his fierce loyalty and willingness to protect people at all costs, his self sacrificial tendencies that most often appear for Diluc’s sake. Even the tidbits of lore we get about him scream aristocracy- his ‘ceremonial’ bladework, Alberich family secrets that reveal just how central they are to the kingdom of khaenriah. This is kinda obvious to any player who’s bothered to learn anything about kaeya, but to the characters in game, there are very few that know that side of him.

And whereas Diluc is forcibly projected the title of royalty and secretly rejects it, Kaeya was actually born into it- his family is very important to Khaenriah, and much like how he does with anything related to his past and heritage, he loudly and outwardly rejects anything to do with ‘royalty’. Diluc outwardly rejects what Kaeya shows (a darker, more ‘means justify the end’ nature), and Kaeya tries to hide what Diluc projects (a sophisticated and aristocratic upbringing).

Honestly? It’s as if they were swapped at birth. Kaeya’s real hidden nature, even after everything that happened to him, remains to be so unwavering and people-oriented, while Diluc’s true personality changed drastically over time. Not that Diluc isn’t unwavering or whatever, but Diluc mostly actively rejects relationships and prefers to do everything alone, obsessed with the idea that he doesn’t want anyone to get hurt, whereas Kaeya always, always yearns for companionship and for people to be by his side- solidarity.

Diluc is the poster image of royalty, but his brother who hides in the shadows is a real king. They complete each other, balance each other out, represent the parts that the other hides. I don’t know if hoyoverse always meant them to be that way, but damn they basically represent each other’s parts of themselves that they lost. Yin and Yang, two halves of the same whole.

[gold-rhine]

tbh i think the whole crimson moon dynasty worldbuilding is pretty faux pas, bc like we had years of khaenriah lore and never heard of it, but now they dropped the book that adds this whole ass royal dynasty and the convenient orphanage parallel just like one patch before arle release.

like did they have no idea what to do with house of hearth all these years?

[random-amateur-artist]

This was meant to be a mainly art blog but my diluc and kaeya brainrot is too strong and I somehow ended up writing a whole ass essay on how deeply I feel for these 2 boys and their story.

Thinking about diluc and kaeya again, about how kaeya was shy as a child always in dilucs shadow, about how diluc was the cheerful one, about how he must have been such a good and kind older brother. Maybe that's why kaeya is such a good older brother to all of mondstadt's kids. Thinking of little kaeya recently adopted into the Ragnvindr family, he must have felt so grateful but still so homesick, he wouldn't have belonged immediately no matter how much diluc and crepus tried. Thinking about how he tried to go home by sneaking on a ship to sumeru and being brought back by the ear by crepus. Crepus must have been worried sick, he must have grounded kaeya for a month after that but he must have held him so tight, "don't ever do that again" he would have said. and diluc must have been so worried and so ecstatic when they finally returned home.He must have hugged him and held him so tightly and for the first time since being abandoned kaeya felt loved, he had a family again and for the first time didn't want to go home anymore, because he was already there.

Thinking about the brothers growing up the character stories tell you diluc was swordsman, kaeya is still one, they must have trained together learned the skills together, do you think diluc switched to claymore after their fight, because he couldn't pick up a sword anymore without thinking of his brother, without thinking of all the times they trained together and how the last time he used the sword he had hurt his brother so much, his little brother he always wanted to protect. But kaeya wasn't his brother anymore was he, he was a traitor, an enemy spy, he said so himself, but in his heart diluc wouldn't believe it, if he did why can't he tell the knights why won't he expose it, why would he keep it a secret. He can't do that, he can't let his brother get locked up as a criminal, he might be angry but in his heart he will always protect his brother, in his heart he believes his brother won't betray him no matter what he told him that day.

Do you ever think of how kaeya must have felt that night after his father died all full of complicated thoughts the ancient plots he doesn't fully understand but knows he will have to make a choice that he may end up betraying his family he doesn't want to. if he could he would choose mondstadt and his happiness but it wasn't that simple was it. A battle between his truth and his happiness. His duty to khaenriah as its last hope and his loyalty to mondstadt and the family that raised him. Do you think when he went to confess to diluc a part of him was hoping diluc would end him so he would not have to make that choice. So he would no longer have to feel all this pain and guilt thats not even letting him grieve his fathers death as a good son should, because its all he can think of. He knows his brother enough to know how he would react after all, and he would deserve it, he told himself, if he had to die better this way than another.

Thinking about how diluc must have been in so much pain that day after losing his father all he would have wanted was some support from his brother all he must have wanted would have been for kaeya to be there for him. After all no one else could understand this except him, but instead his brother had come to him and told him this horrible truth, this horrible secret that he's kept from them the whole time, diluc must have felt so betrayed, so broken in that moment. He could have killed kaeya in that moment, he almost might have if it wasn't for kaeya getting a vision. He would never have wanted to hurt him, but how could he help it when the one person who was supposed to be there for him has lied to him for so long.

Do you think when kaeya got his vision he must have been shocked and bitter, diluc got his vision at ten years old, kaeya who looked up to his brother so much would have wanted to be just like him, being a swordsman, joining the knights, all his life he followed his brother's footsteps and now he gets a vision in this moment when he's facing his brother in a fight, and its a cryo vision, the opposite of diluc's pyro. so incompatible as he says later on.

Thinking about how diluc left his vision when he left the knights and went on the fatui killing spree for three years. Thinking about how kaeya kept the vision the whole time and returned it in a vase when diluc got back. The same vase that diluc keeps on display where everyone who visits the mansion can see it even though he thinks it's tacky and complained that he didn't need it. Do you think the whole time diluc was gone kaeya would look at the vision everyday to see if its still glowing, to make sure his brother is still alive. He must have been so happy when diluc returned though diluc was no longer the cheerful older brother he knew. Atleast he was alive.

Do you think kaeya blamed himself for not being by dilucs side the last three years he was gone, he was always by his side, he was dilucs supporter and sounding board they were almost like twins, and now they were not even friends.

Do you think diluc spent his time those three years feeling so alone for the first time in his life, do you think he wished and wished his brother was by his side as he always was for so long. Do you think he blamed himself for so long thinking he blinded kaeya in one eye in that fight. The relief he must have felt when he returned home and realised he hadn't. Do you think diluc would have wanted to hug him so much when he first got home after those three years, he must have wanted to hug him just like he did all those years ago when kaeya tried to go to sumeru on the ship. but he couldn't, not anymore, not after what happened. Kaeya didn't even live at home anymore, but of course he didn't, how could he after what happened, do you think that's why diluc sold the mansion, because he couldn't live there anymore all alone with the memories of his father who is dead and his brother who may never call him his brother again.

Thinking about how kaeya was only seventeen when diluc left after the fight. Not yet an adult still so young and all alone again. Do you think diluc must have been shocked to see his brother when he returned, he was so grown up now, so different, cavalry captain now, dilucs old position, of course even after diluc was gone he would follow his footsteps, he wasn't shy anymore but rather confident, charming, dramatic, and Lord, he was taller than diluc now, when had that happened. How had he changed so much.

Thinking about how kaeya wrote eight letters to diluc and though diluc only replied to two of them, he kept them all. Thinking about how diluc must have still been angry, he must not have wanted to reply at all but he couldn't help himself. kaeya keeps hinting at his blind eye, of course he does, little brothers can be annoying like that, "don't think I don't know that your right eye wasn't blinded" he writes back. "I didn't mean to hide it from you on purpose, but I suppose you found out all the same" kaeya writes, "not everyone who wears an eyepatch is blind you know, some people also wear it if they have a scar". diluc doesnt know what to say to that, it is true that he has scarred his brother probably for life, he blames himself for this everyday. kaeya writes to him more, he knows about diluc being the dark Knight hero, of course he does, he knows diluc more than anyone, he hints at teaming up with the knights, he worries about diluc's safety. "don't worry about me, take better care of yourself " diluc writes back, he can't help it he may be angry but he worries about his little brother too.

Thinking about how kaeya kept dilucs replies along with seashells they collected together as children. He must have wanted to reconcile so bad, do you think he was hesitant to write to diluc at first, of course he was, he ends the first letter saying its alright if you don't reply. He doesn't expect diluc to reply at all but he can't help writing to him. He doesn't blame diluc for the fight or his scar he says so himself, and yet he alludes to his eye in the letter, he just can't help himself, annoying your older brother is a younger sibling privilege after all. No surprise diluc knows he wasn't blinded of course he knows, he knows him better than anyone. Do you think he felt hopeful when he got diluc's second reply, "take better care of yourself ". Maybe his brother did care for him still, maybe there was still hope for them.

Thinking about how diluc says you can trust half of what kaeya says at best, but he still trusts him with his dark Knight hero secret. yes the story quest made it seem like this was the first kaeya knew of it but the letters which are way older and collei's backstory in the webtoon tell us that not only has kaeya known the whole time but they have even worked together. In fact it seems more likely that kaeya was helping with the alibi by sending a Knight to check on him so there's official records of diluc not being the dark Knight hero. After all since everyone in the place was dilucs staff, how did kaeya get there with no one knowing. Of course the way they acted at the end is at odds with this but as in the webtoon kaeya knowing about it is a secret even from everyone else, if the rest of it was dilucs alibi then this was kaeya's alibi in a way. Even after all that's happened they can depend on each other even now.

Thinking about how kaeya said diluc is gloomy and boring but he still spends most of his time in the tavern annoying diluc in true younger brother fashion. Kaeya is obviously still guilty about everything but he still annoys diluc and teases him at every occasion he gets. He cant help it after all, its what little brothers do.

Thinking about how diluc gives him grape juice to stop him from coming because he knows kaeya doesn't like it in the webtoon and yet kaeya keeps coming, but in the end he finally serves him wine. Thinking about how they worked together for the first time in years at the time and they still did so well. Thinking about how diluc's anger and hostility slowly decreased as the chapters progressed. thinking about how obvious it was that kaeya was desperately trying to fix things pretending everything is fine and acting all happy and cheerful and teasing.

Thinking about how obvious it was from the way he described diluc that he looked up to him so much. Thinking of how kaeya must have been hurt when diluc said he's not his bro but of course he expected as much. Thinking of the way they call each other master diluc and Sir kaeya but on the inside they probably both just want to go back to being brothers.

Thinking of them arguing on the beach and kaeya bringing up seabird hunting and seashell collecting. diluc is surprised kaeya remembered or that he even cares, but of course he does he even kept the seashells.

Thinking of the windblume event and despite acting cold to kaeya as usual, it's obvious diluc wants him to stay. After all everyone goes home for windblume and this was still kaeya's home, even though it didn't feel like it after what happened. Thinking about how for a moment when kaeya got flustered and shy, diluc must have remembered how he used to be as a child, and for a moment kaeya was once again the little brother he knew so well. Thinking about how kaeya must have wanted to go home for windblume but didn't think he could, he must have been so caught off guard when he was invited. Of course he couldn't refuse adelinde and diluc may act like that was the only reason he was being asked to stay, but kaeya knows his brother well enough to know he wants him to stay as well. He didn't expect it but maybe there was hope for them after all.

Thinking about kaeya in the last event saying he has no ties to khaenriah except his last name, a half truth, he has his duty to make a decision, one he doesn't quite know the details of since he was a child, a duty he doesn't want to fulfil, one he wishes and wishes he was mistaken about, maybe there was no such thing, maybe his father left him in mondstadt to give him a happy life and he was wrong about whatever is coming next. when he tells the traveller this I think he did so out of hope. And when dain tells him about his parentage he is not shocked, but he sounded rather like it was what he had thought all along despite his wishful thinking. And that for all his hoping he can't escape this fate after all. He is almost defeated at this, he wished it wasn't true and yet it was. Thinking of him acting like its fine as usual but you know it's probably eating him up inside. what will he do when he has to make this choice. He doesn't know. and that's the tragedy that's followed him his whole life.

Thinking about kaeyas teapot line about making wine and about his lines in the new quest. Crepus probably taught both his sons the same things about winemaking, but considering the fact that kaeya is actually interested in it while diluc was always more interested in being a Knight it seems plausible that kaeya was the one who was supposed to get the angels share. The dawn winery to both brothers, diluc mansion to diluc and angels share to kaeya. After all kaeya seems to only have joined the knights to stay by dilucs side, he doesn't particularly enjoy his work, atleast not the way he enjoys wine making and diluc doesnt care for alcohol at all and seemed to love being a Knight for as long as he was one. It would be rather a twist if fate if things were intended that way but they ended up doing each others jobs. They both still ended up doing a good job.

Thinking about how kaeya said he was glad diluc has someone to depend on during the story quest, he sounded truly glad but also a bit sad, of course he was a bit sad, it had always been him in that place before, but if he can't be there for diluc anymore, he's atleast glad the traveller is. Do you think he sees how diluc is kind and gentle with the traveller unlike how he is with him and he's reminded of his older brother who always stood by him and protected him when he was an outsider in this town just like the traveller is now, and he thinks maybe he isn't that different after all.

Do you think diluc sees kaeya drinking and drinking and drinking at the tavern and he tries to make him stop, he takes his wine away, he gives him grape juice, he even tells him to drink responsibly that one time only for kaeya to get all dramatic and berate him for "throwing away father's legacy" and selling the mansion. diluc must have been angry at that, but he didn't pick a fight, of course he didn't, kaeya was obviously drunk. but diluc still sits with him and keeps him company.

Do you think kaeya sometimes falls asleep at the tavern after a night of drinking and diluc would think of how different he looks while asleep. so peaceful and innocent, like he used to be as a child. Do you think it would remind diluc of when they were little and fall asleep on the sofa after playing and their dad would carry them to bed and tuck them in. Do you think diluc would put kaeya's coat around his shoulders so he doesn't get cold, but neither of them would address it when he woke up and kaeya would assume it was someone else.

Do you think about how kaeya had a tcg card of diluc made do you think they played card games together as children they must have surely, strategy games like tcg seem to fit both of their strong points, do you think maybe he wanted to play together, do you think they ever get to.

Do you think of how kaeya was in sumeru to get spices for wine making and while he joked that whether diluc gets it or not is up to him diluc clearly got them since he tells us so in the birthday letter.

Thinking about they both probably just want so bad for things to be alright again but they don't know how they both have so much guilt and so much hurt and they've both hurt each other so much and they are both so different from how they used to be how can things ever be the same, but maybe they can try, slowly and even if it's not quite the same as before, maybe someday they can be brothers again.

[aeroblossom]

more on albedo and rhinedottir

what is transmutation, if not rebirth?

okay. i think i figured out the motive behind rhinedottir's creations, among other things.

bear with me and my poor explanation, i'm also really bad at linking sources lmao. do correct me if i've gotten any details wrong. much of this was possible thanks to conversations with a friend of mine!

rhinedottir's reason for creating durin, elynas, albedo and everything else was to find the meaning of life itself.

i'm gonna try and make it as simple as possible to get, i hope.

so, back in search in the algae sea, during the third orthant - cater gives us a riddle, to which the answer is 'love'. some discussion upon alchemy and the orthants with my friend later, we decided to match the stages of alchemy (in rene's given order) to the order of orthants we travelled. that makes citrinitas corresponding to love. the third orthant is also the one of the soul. love and soul.

so here's an idea i've had for a long time. one motive for rhinedottir's actions may be that she was trying to recreate someone dear to her through albedo. someone she loved - be it a family member, lover, anything. with my friend, i discussed how rene quotes aleister crowley's poem regarding the womb of pan, which is essentially a void where all souls originate and/or return to in the time of rebirth. durin and elynas both speak about how they existed in some empty darkness before rhinedottir called them forth - but not albedo.

albedo's earliest memories, he says, are of traveling with rhinedottir. so.

'primordial human project'. rene's search led him to primordial humans. he tried to become one and failed. it involved dissolving himself to be reborn.

'primordial human project' - consider, albedo is not an original creation, but a reborn being.

the rebirth of someone dear to rhinedottir whom she tried to make a primordial human.

why? because albedo is her last ditch effort at saving the world - just like rene. like how citrinitas corresponds to the age of glory for empires and their subsequent collapse with the coming of the stage of rubedo, rhinedottir - khaenriah as a whole - knew its end was destined, and they must have known this. she asks albedo to reach the far side of philosophy and create a better future for them all.

think about it. societal collapse is imminent, your country is crumbling, the end of the world is near and everything feels so utterly doomed. and you know it. you know you're doomed. she must have known of the world formula, must have known rubedo must follow citrinitas.

in the hexenzirkel trailer, she sounds just somewhat reluctant when it comes to being called a mother. you know what this reminds me of, who she reminds me of? ruan mei. ruan mei, upon learning of the infinitely transient nature of life, sinks into emptiness. she can't show love to the creations she's made with her own hands. she knows so well how short, and thus meaningless their lives are. she fears forming attachment - she dissects the scientific meaning of attachment in her character trailer instead of seeing it as something people just do.

rhinedottir must thus have attempted to flip the last two stages of alchemy to prevent their fate, yeah?

if everything is truly meant to end, if it's all destined to fall from rise, what is really the point?

most hoyoverse games are about fighting this sort of nihilistic thinking. the character of otto apocalypse makes it abundantly clear. otto's character takes great inspiration from friedrich nietzsche, whom many people misunderstand for a nihilist. however, nietzsche's philosophies were actually staunchly against nihilism.

rene tried to save the world because he wanted to believe it has meaning. it troubled him that the rise and the fall are void of purpose, he wanted to save it because he believed there was a point in its existence.

rhinedottir is no different. there is no force greater than love. and guess what?

in wagner's play 'the ring' - the dwarf alberich steals the rhinegold from the rhinemaidens. the rhinemaidens tell him there's nothing greater than love in the world. and what does alberich do?

he denounces - wouldn't you know - love.

like rene, rhinedottir became the scapegoat for the cataclysm for her deeds.

i've expressed previously that the primordial human rhinedottir was trying to create through albedo may possibly be the third descender. one who descends.

so, then,

that may be what dainsleif means when he says "we will defy this world with a power from beyond", no?

[side theory :: i once came across the idea of the twins being meteors. the rifthounds induce corrosion on you, making you bleed. gold corrodes. and gold on the earth is also theorized to be extraterrestrial, ie, it came from meteor impact. so then, what if the twins are the source of azosite, or any other such materials derived from gold, that khaenriah now prizes?]

so, tldr : rhinedottir, amidst a world rapidly approaching its doom having learned of the world formula, seeks to prove it wrong, to prevent it, undo it - she tries to fight back against collapse by finding meaning itself. there is nothing more transient than life itself, and thus she sought to prove that there is meaning in something as short lived as that. i'm shaky on albedo being a life reborn, but i do believe it's not impossible. he could have been somewhat dear to her that she tried to make attain the status of primordial human - descender, even - so as to undo the laws of fate.

(some screenshots of the discussion, NOT in chronological order)

[hearts401]

YOU CAN TOTALLY LORE INFODUMP TO ME HEARTS. DO IT. I LOVE LORE. SO MUCH. GRABBY HANDS.

-CROSS

OK OK OK

So rhinedottir is an alchemist from khaenriah who researched the art of khemia which was used to make new life also known as Gold

she made a lot of things but the ones i know best are Elynas, Durin, Dorian, and Albedo.

Elynas was in the abyss. he had no physical form until rhinedottir made him one and then he was a giant dragon. and he left khaenriah to explore teyvat. but his blood was poisonous so he just kind of hurt people wherever he went, and feeling really guilty abt this he decided he had to die in order to protect everyone. after he died, a shockwave occured in his corpse and his daughters, the melusines, were born. thats the form he takes usually hes the melusine in my pfp!!

Durin was another dragon. he wanted to be friends wiht everyone but his blood was also poisonous and it corrupted him and while he was dreaming about running around with dvalin, the wind dragon in mondstadt, he was actually terrorizing the people. venti and dvalin fought him and led him to dragonspine, and at the last minute, he hesitated because he heard ventis lyre, and dvalin was able to kill him

Dorian was a human. he was made by rhinedottir to be more "pure" than actual humans to be perfected. he, however, didnt pass this, and so she fed him to durin. after durins death, he was revived by durins blood and sought to copy kill and replace albedo because he believed himself ot be inferior and less than human. since albedo was the "perfect" one, he wanted to become him. he made a whopperflower that could shapeshift into albedo and distract him. albedo killed the whopperflower, and the ending is left ambiguous so we dont know where dorian went after that but hes super bitter, definitely hates rhinedottir, and hates humans as a whole and is very similar to scara

im busy so i cant go in depth abt albedo rn but he was rhines perfect one and she taught him everything she knows and he never got to see khaenriah and then she abandoned him so he could find "the truth of the world"

edit:

another detail about durin is rhinedottir abandoned him for unknown reasons (most likely because the cataclysm happened around that time) and hes coming back to life soon. SOON. SOON. PROBABLY AFTER NATSHIT PASSES SOON SOON SOON

and going into detail abt albedo:

After the cataclysm and all rhines other kids (minus the golden wolflord, alfisol) were dead, she made albedo. her magnum opus. he was the perfection she sought. albedo was raised to be an alchemist like her. he was born after khaenriah was destroyed and has no memories of it. Rhinedottir was described by him as cold and strict, which is likely bc albedo says humans are defined by their flaws and whatever. but at the same time, rhinedottir threatened to leave him behind if he failed (something he believed whole-heartedly) one day, they found the heart of naberius(?) and rhinedottir suddenly left, leaving albedo a note that said he needed to find the truth of the world (which is said by the travelers twin too!! hehe!!!) and he was taken in by alice, klees mother. and she kind of adopts him (i say kind of bc albedo refers to klee as his sister but never alice as his mother) and then he spends the rest of his time being the knights chief alchemist and klees big brother and also he might slowly be getting corrupted by durin but HES FINE ITS FINE EVERYONES FINE......

golden wolflord:

alfisol!! was made on accident by rhinedottir, who abandoned him without ever naming him. she made tons of riftwolves for whatever reason. (its said she possibly made them on accident as well)

honestly just read this andd this

[lyss-sketchbox]

WELL the problem is Khaenri'ahn lore is pretty much scattered to the five winds in terms of books and interactables :'D but apparently Perinheri had some more lore... New book released in 4.5 that had the lore ppl going crazy lol also i think the narzissenkreuz ordo got the stuff for cater from studying khaenri'ahn stuff... there's a lot of modern sources that pull from khaenri'ahn tech ngl. but i think the biggest thing was that Khaenri'ah actually had two dynasties. One that focused on alchemy and one that focused on machinery. So the ruin menagerie was made during the 2nd dynasty, but Rhinedottir/Gold is probably from the first, and considering the name of the first dynasty is "Crimson Moon" seems likely that's where Arle's powers date back from. So. I think there ARE some hints, it's just they're not exactly put in places easy to find for people who aren't insane deep divers :'D

Dainsleif... dainsleif come back........ tell us more.................

Ya know stuff like this makes me wonder exactly how much time do we have left. We're gonna have chapters for natlan, snezhnaya, khaenriah. Then what? Are there more chapters? More world? Because hyv doesnt really... use alot of time to cover dainsleif and the abyss (per every interlude). How much are they gonna cover ya know.

And if people in the past are gonna make appearances again when we do reach khaenriah or the abyss like the whole thing with albedo potentially going nuts, arle being a descendant, neuvi wanting to judge the heavenly principles.

As much as i would love it for hyv to put the books and lore texts in more open areas, i think the lore people deserves the recognition they get for finding and deciphering things

[narwhalandchill]

also finished the 4.7 AQ and like . well firstly rip to all the sinner theories where it was like could it be nibelung or someone else and all like that was a bit tragic but thats the nature of theories i suppose. i do think it makes sense that the bigger players arent just all going to be figures we Already know of but yea.

overall i think it was like. quite good but also kinda suffers from the way these quests just Have to be an annual thing especially with how short it was? i saw a comment being like this feels like it shouldve been the epilogue to caribert and i kinda agree . also as much as it is appreciated that we Do get some direct answers to big lore questions in the quest was kind of a exposition dump in that sense . fade to black w the abyss sib and dain duel was certainly a Choice 💀

caribert truly is a sweetheart man i didnt expect him to pop up but i feel so bad for him now. except for the loomzoning atossa thing i get that he had no choice on the matter but that was rough for ur girl 😭😭

iiiiiii dunno how to feel about the whole we forget all about the reunion anyway when traveler Remembering as a descender has been established as such a core thing like it kinda feels like a copout im ngl . guess we are just now . aware of information as players that the traveler is not privy to . considering im already more than a little wary towards the general concept of like. memory erasure slash irminsul stuff when it comes to genshins writing im definitely feeling conflicted w this . also applies to the loom of fate editing reality thing . like okay on some level yes it is cool to include such prevalent elements of like. uncertainty and unreliable narration but in worst case those concepts are also v easy for a careless writing team to just. run off w and end up w a convoluted mess so i rly rly hope that wont end up the case

anyway. so the sinners are the big deal this time around i suppose and like. not that i wasnt necessarily expecting surtalogi to indeed be khaenriahn but the confirmation is certainly here now. no particular feelings on this from me im afraid bc like. Highly unpopular lore thing from me but both khaenriah n hexenzirkel (the latter more so than former) are kinda these. big lore topics and entities that i logically Do know and acknowledge as the massive deals they are to the story. but they just arent sth i have so far gotten that invested in altho khaenriah i have somewhat warmed up to . hexenzirkel still feels too much like an unnecessary presence to me lmao i might be missing out on stuff but if the abyss order arguably has a lack of story presence issue then the witches have it like 5 times worse 💀 But point being surtalogi being part of this whole crew of transcendent beings from khaenriah that became sinners is like . okay then isiskskskdk its not that big a deal for me

i think the most meaningful implications from that (in terms of My personal lore fixations at least *cough*) just have to do w like . sth id already been thinking about even before we got the confirmation of the visionary as the sinner that clothar found (which was a big theory anyway that i did personally find very compelling and well its canon now). and that is just the way that like . when skirk compared surtalogi as one in pursuit of "perfection" and brought up the visionary and rhinedottir as two ppl akin to him. that and the narzissenkreuz note about primordial human essentially being the synonym for descenders . & how rhines magnum opus was the primordial human PROJECT aka in light of this note. Very likely to be an attempt at Creating a descender . and how the sinners and abyss orders loom of fate is obviously just another pathway into accessing some sorta will or way to rival the world and defy the heavenly principles . became this thing where i was like 90% convinced and now 100% convinced that if the "perfection" both gold and the visionary pursue is indeed a descenders will in one form or another . then surtalogis aims Must involve the same fucking thing

which naturally gets us back to the insane ajax theory territory bc . if what connects those 3 (and post 4.7 more like. All the transcendent sinners from khaenriah) is getting to that world rivaling will. Then it sure fucking makes Everything surtalogi is doing and planning w both the narwhal and ajax Very Interesting . like it sure is curious that These would be the things surtalogi is occupying himself with if its indeed a descender he seeks . so like . Yeah we dont need to get into 3rd descender stuff but one thing i sure do think is becoming less and less like crackpot speculation and more and more and explicitly foreshadowed future direction for childes arc is that. one way or another. he is going to be involved with the subject of becoming a descender . bc like. if gold tried creating one w alchemy. and if the visionary is Literally creating a loom of fate to serve as the machine capable of weaving a worlds worth of leylines and destiny aka just a descender equivalent machine . then it sure wouldnt make sense for surtalogi to be putting all this heavy effort and resources (as skirk commented on) towards acquiring and possibly subduing an interstellar voyager like the narwhal and getting his student to look for and train the weird kid with a possibly innate connection w it. Without that serving a role in His brand of descender equivalency that hes seeking as a sinner. So yeah childe long term relevance stocks are definitely up w this one guys Trust

but yea thats on surtalogi for me . Point being its not rly a New suspicion for me (like ever since primordial human project started sounding like DIY descender lab project i was thinking this) but i think its been absolutely further affirmed by directly linking surtalogi to the sinners of khaenriah that more likely than not seem like theyre All going to be ppl who used the abyss to seek the power of a descender in a variety of ways???? so thats very neat . wonder who the other 2 will turn out to be then .

another thing to do w the sinners is also like. the way that if we do count dainsleif among them just as one that Didnt jusr abandon the ppl during the cataclysm . there is obviously that doomed number of Six there . so like pygmy theories have been going wild already in the few days it took me to catch up w the AQ but im just kinda . i Still think pale princess is most likely to be about an irminsuled event and be about sth far further back into the timeline than khaenriah and the cataclysm . theres things like rhe night mother specifically talking abt Thousands of years passing before the new hero (= 4th descender aka us most likely) appears to challenge her and also just the general way i still think pale princess aligns too much w the story of the seelie ancestor and her lover Not to be a story about that time period . so as much as the 5+1 sinners of khaenriah being the pygmies is like. Yes the numbers would finally add up clearly with no mental backflips needed unlike w the archons . but like all things considered im still a bit unconvinced. we shall see . that book is a menace anyway so its always gonna be a hot topic lmao like what is Up with it 💀

[sp00ky9]

Genshin spoilers! Thoughts on new dain quest aka thought vomit. Also would just like to say I really wish they incorporated more of this lore into the main quests, like they did with Fontaine!

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Sooooo ok… that quest was INCREDIBLY short and I needed more!!! POV dain shows up and lore vomits all over us.

- Anyways, his brother being the sinner??

-dain vs twin fight offscreened so like what were they doing fighting or making out? We may never know

- Tf they doing with the loom of fate??? Like what do they need to create new leylines for?

- “You’re the only one in this world who calls me that”!!! IM KILLING MYSELF! AND WE JUST FUCKING FORGET ABOUT IT

- Also they referenced traveling to other worlds FINALLY like dude I need more of this lore regarding the twins like what exactly are they… (genshin and hi3/hsr lore crossover when)

- The whole field of flowers thing I’m assuming is referencing the thing from the trailer with all the regions

^ this perhaps?

- I NEED to know what happened in khaenriah rn like immediately! What exactly is our twins motivation, idk if that has been answered alr and I’m just illiterate, but what is the abyss order tryna do that she’s agreeing with??

-the heavenly principles are waking up soon? I’m scared ngl

[cluescorner]

Given the Alberich Clan’s whole deal of “lead lives as those who blaze like fire, rather than those who wallow in the embers” and all of the other weird connections between Kaeya’s past/Khaenriah and fire, it’s really funny that Kaeya ended up with a Cryo vision. 

[huiyi07]

No, cause if you think about it, Kaeya never appears without purpose and intent. You might be like “duh that’s what every character is” but think about Childe, or Jean, Barbara, collei, the list goes on. They always appear with fun, happy reasons behind it, but not Kaeya.

He’s not the only character- Albedo shares this as well with how he mostly only appears to drop some lore bombs about khaenriah and gold and then disappears for another year, but it’s still different for Kaeya. He appears during events not only to give us lore, but always, without fail, to reveal something about himself.

Proof? Okay, the 1.4 windblume festival. Kaeya does a silly little poem class with Venti- surprise, he’s threatening him with a Khaenri’ahn message that says “I will triumph over you” and even when you debunk that, you can still see how Barbatos treats him as his own despite whatever stipulations about his heritage there are. 1.6 midsummer islands- Kaeya and diluc both reminisce their childhood, and it’s the first reveal that shows us just how close they really were. After that, he disappears for while, until boom- hidden strife in 2.8, where we find out the real details of his fight with diluc and how they grew apart- but it’s hinted they still care for each other. It also tells us a little about Kaeya’s lore and family, how they took over as regents, which adds to the real gravity of their fight- telling us he’s not just a poor kid from khaenriah, he’s the last real heir to the throne. After that, winelesefest, where it shows us how Kaeya and Diluc are right now, how theyre obviously missing each other and it’s very obvious that they care for each other deeply. That kinda ties up the whole ragbros story for now, and after that it becomes serious.

He appears again in the Caribert quest for us to find out he’s the heir of the organization of vengeful Khaenri’ahns turned monsters who want to take down the gods. He claims to not be affiliated with them in any way- but it leaves the question in everyone’s minds, “what else is he hiding from us?”

Now, he’s recently appeared once again for the 3.8 summer festival, and it looks really innocent and fun and just another way of showing us how kind he really is, until you realize that Kaeya’s outfit from this version describes how much he really hates the burden on his shoulders and how he wishes he was never forced to be an agent of khaenriah.

If you ask me, we’re past the point of just getting to know Kaeya and who he is on a personality basis, and are now getting into the real gravity of his identity as the last hope of the Khaenri’ahn kingdom. It’s really building up how important he’s going to be to the endgame of the whole archon quest storyline and how much of a key role he will actually play. Man I’m so hyped!!

[sleepless-rants]

hi sleepless.!!!!! I was wondering if you had any theories on surtalogi & vedrfolnir’e identities? since going off etymology , we can only assume they’re from or connected khaneri’ah in some way,, 💜

OK OK heres a not so intellectual brainstorming (key word: BRAINSTORMING. THIS IS PURELY BRAINSTORMING so if you see me say something then contradict it in the same sentence dont be surprised). So about surtalogi

The actual norse mythology surtalogi is a flaming sword surtr used in the ragnarok which he will use to fight the gods and the flame from said sword will eventually burn down the whole world. Which has lead a lot of people to believe he might be dainsleif (yknow since they're both swords) but I personally dont think that that is the case for a few reasons:

1- skirk refers to surtalogi in the same light as rhinedottir, so we can assume he does something like her.

2- in some sources surtalogi is the fire itself not the sword so its kinda hit or miss

3- surtalogi is waist deep in abyssal power which we know dain is not the most fond of.

4: dainsleif and surtalogi are two seperate swords?? so this for me is kinda like saying durin and dvalin are the same because they're both dwarves in norse mythology.

Again I havent deep dived into this theory so let me know if im missing some additional information but I feel like trying to attach him to a pure blood khaenriahn we already know seems kinda easy (yes the "we need more khaenriah characters agenda")

Where I think we should really be looking to try to figure out surtalogi's identity isn't surtalogi itself but surtr. NOW, NOW LET ME COOK.

Surtr was a fire giant who ruled muspelheim (the fire realm in norse mythology) and lead the fire giants in a battle against the gods during ragnorok, eventually ending the world with his fire. Now surtr is also one of the primordial giants.

what do we associate dragons with? Fire. Battle with the gods? Dragon sovereigns. Primordial giants? Again, dragon sovereigns. It seems so perfect except this would be contradicting my own theory of irmin and nibelung being the same since irmin=odin and surtr is way older than odin. Also another thing: hoyo usually likes to name dragons after dwarves in norse mythology. In fact nibelung himself is a dwarf. Would it be symbolism for them to also use a giant for his refrence or would it be disqualifying this possibility?

Also its worth keeping in mind that in mythology, at the end of ragnarok surtr successfully defeated all the gods and burned down the world, which obviously did not happen with the sovereigns.

HOWEVER. the whole theme of burning down the old world to let a new, better world be born from the ashes very much reminds me of fatui shit, and more importantly PYRO ABYSS LECTOR VOICELINES.

So if nothing else we can say for certain that surtalogi is very much khaenri'ahn ideology. Its just very intresting how the character is specifically THE FIRE THAT BURNS THE WORLD not the WEILDER OF IT. maybe he had a hand in the catacalysm? IDK I NEED TO ORGANIZE MY THOUGHTS

Key points to keep in mind: 1) pay attention to surtr not surtalogi 2) surtalogi is the weapon not the culprit

NOW vedrfolnir. We literally only have a name. No i dont mean in genshin in mythology itself as well. There is barely anything. All we know is that vedrfolnir is a hawk who sits between the eyes of an eagle perched on top of yggdrasil (who is also unnamed btw)

One particular thing though is that the translations of the name often have something to do with wind. Immidietly I wanna associate this with istaroth which would kinda make sense since vedrfolnir is on top of yggdrasil (irminsul) and istaroth is the god of time irminsul records all events in time past present AND future since the fruits are irminsul contain people's fates etc etc

But then would hoyo really namedrop a primordial shade in the same sentence with two abyss power abusing sinners? Seems somewhat unlikely even with the sinshades theories+ the timeline doesnt add up+ its like two diffrent lore topics entirely. It doesnt help that theres literally nothing about the eagle either so if I have some scrambles thoughts for surtalogi for vedrfolnir I literally have no idea. But I do think two keypoints (only points i mean) to keep in mind are 1) irminsul association 2) wind themed name

[gold-rhine]

For the bodypart canons askgame can we get Neuvillette? If you don't have much about him yet then I wanna be the first one to ask for Kaeya

I already did for Neuvi! In fact its easier for him bc he just came out, so i have a lot of things to extrapolate from, but I was writing long ass essays for kaeya for more than a year, so its harder to come up with anything new to say asdfghj. like i don't to repeat same headcanons i already wrote, like that he's related to candace

Headcanon: I can muster a cogent argument for why it would make more sense or make for a better story if this were the case

i've gotta say, i'm a bit peeved when i see ppl portraying child kaeya as like. a dickensian beggar boy who was let to the fireplace and cried bc he tried a cube of sugar for the first time in his life. like, alberichs are nobility and we know khaenriah took their nobility *very* seriously. and if they knew they are sending their scion to mond's nobility, they'd make damn sure he can keep up their dignity. kaeya canonically could read and write before he got to mond and game makes sure to highlight that his handwriting is beautiful.

i think kaeya was very well educated, very well schooled and mannered and prepared for like high society politics, and it was kind of a cultural shock for him how uncivilized ragnyvdirs are in comparison to his own upbringing. like he's a bit confused when he doesn't see 10 different forks at the dinner table, but he's keeping a brave face, but then he sees diluc wipe his mouth with a sleeve and like snatch a piece of meat from the dish and is just completely stunned. and diluc is like oh don't be shy, you can have more too if you want!, but kaeya is in fact seeing a heart attack his own father would have at this scene. this is why he comes off as very quiet and polite to all adults at the estate

Heartcanon: I don’t have a particular rationale for why this ought to be the case, I just like to imagine it’s true because it gives me the warm fuzzies

my conspiracy theory headcanon is that he does still have his horse, but doesn't use her for work. like when he just became a knight as a teen, he saw a horse that no one wanted or ever chose bc she had horrible temper, and slowly gained her trust with treats and attention until they've became friends like a true horsegirl would. that horse was left in mond bc she doesn't let anyone else ride her, so the expedition just left her to kaeya, but he just treats her like a luxury pet and spoils her to death

Gutcanon: it’s not that I actively want this to be the case – it just unaccountably feels like it should be

the first ability from his vision that ever activated was his C4 shield when diluc cleaved him on the head and this is what saved his life. this shield is v useful, but kaeya hates it as a reminder. he also has pretty big burnscar on his eye, bc like. he took a flaming claymore to the eye, no way he has a dainty little white line from a hit like that

Junkcanon: I like to imagine it’s true because it gives me the other kind of warm fuzzies

has a collection of corsets and elaborate lingerie sets. like, you open the corset on his default outfit and there is another, even sexier corset underneath

Spleencanon: I insist that this is the case specifically to spite the author, because, like, fuck you, sir or madam

every time hoyo tries to gaslight us into pretending diluc was right and in fact normal about kaeya and the knights the whole time, i'm sending psychic spiders to them on the astral plane

[crows-of-buckets]

Kaeyas hangout has got me thinking about his parents (for some fucking reason)

Like. I headcanon that his father cared for him but in a very very distant way. I've done a few doodles of him idk maybe I'll post them in a little bit.

But I was like. Specifically thinking of his mom. My version of his mom is from sumeru, and had kaeya when she was early 20's. She ended up meeting his dad when he got injured in a fight of some kind and she patched him up and blah blah they fell in love and had kaeya.

After kaeyas mom had him, I think kaeyas dad took kaeya away. Either for safety reasons, or because he's khaenriah's "last hope" or whatever. Either way I think his mother is DISTRAUGHT because of this. I think she spends actual years looking for kaeya, trying to find some way to meet him.

If she ever does find him, I do not think kaeya would trust her in the slightest. Like and with good reason too. His father would have always told him she died in child birth, so what proof does she have that he is her son? Idk I have a very specific idea of who she is as a character but I'm struggling putting it into words.

I also don't think kaeyas dad is completely evil and horrible. I do think he thought what he was doing was right, and that he would be willing to do whatever it takes for what he thinks is correct (mind you I have no canon facts to base this off of lmao), even if it means hurting someone else

Idk for some reason I always end up thinking about the ragbros parents it's weird. I have a whole ass headcanon dynamic for the Ragnvindr parents, I even have a name for dilucs mom. Hell I was tossing around ideas for papa alberichs name last night what is it with me and making OCS of characters parents