transfem-jakob-ingold

[transfem-jakob-ingold]

Hey. Um. There's a new interesting leak of an image from MJ that might relate to this... 👀

Bennett's constellation just appears to be in the sky there.

New Natlan themed skin for Bennet in 5.8 is dropping and it seems as good a time as any to drop my Bennett is the phoenix of Mare Jivari theory.

We know from the Lavawalker's Salvation set there is a phoenix that lived on Mare Jivari a place so hot and surrounded by lava no one could pass. Except the Lavawalker who developed a set to brave the flames.

Yet when an adventurer from the guild made his way there through scorching flames, thunder, and the harshest of winds... to find only one thing living around; a baby. A baby in the middle of this destruction he surely thought this was against the will of the world.

But we know when Bennett grows no matter how close to death he gets when his body falls as he claims passing out he then wakes up with no harm having befallen him and the danger passed... what if he's Dying and being reborn the phoenix forever and ever. And if his body gets completely destroyed he is just... born anew all over again

[transfem-jakob-ingold]

About to throw up again (Thought about the paralells of both Remus and Rene being charismatic figures who discovered/were tasked with a doomed attempt to save humanity only shortly after they themselves went through traumatic experiences. Who had one close friend they each trusted to help fulfill their plans. Who both died trying to reach their goals. Who both devastated the lives of their friends and followers who survived them for hundreds or thousands of years. Who had insane amounts of influence on the future of Fontaine. Also if Rene's father hadn't been made to move to Poisson, Rene likely would have eventually been Mayor of Petrichor, which sits right over the ruins of Remuria and has strong connections to it.)

[transfem-jakob-ingold]

Context: in Ancient Colors act 1 scene 1, Mamere describes Jakob like this:

“是个相当帅气的人哦。而且…而且还很温柔。” (“A rather handsome person~ And… and quite gentle, too.”)

English version: “A rather cool person. And… quite gentle, too.”

T/N

哦 — Added at the end of a declarative sentence to sound softer or more friendly and less… declarative? Some Melusines use this.

帅气 — Has both meanings of “handsome” and “cool” (with a brighter vibe). Can also be used to describe someone’s vibe and not just appearance. More impersonal, like you’re describing something but without the romantic attraction that’s typically associated with calling someone 帅 (handsome). (帅 is used to describe one’s physical appearance…?)

Compare with 酷 which is more “cool” in a… bad boy way? (By human standards Neuvillette could be described as 帅气 but Wriothesley could be described as 酷, I guess.)

Handsome, perhaps because Mamere thinks Jakob is aesthetically pleasing (she’s a painter after all), or because she senses who he really is?

English version uses “cool” which I interpreted as attractive in a level-headed way, but… Hm. Certainly not in a “oh dude that’s so cool” way.

-

Ancient Colors act 2

Mamere: Is it because... you thought he [Jakob] was handsome?

Kaykaus: Oh, so you like purple, do you, Boss?

Irus: What in the world are you talking about, you idiot? Of course not! How's that guy handsome, anyway — also, what kind of reason is "I like purple"!?

Kksjsjsjs wait wait I need to check something

Chinese (transcript wiki page):

玛梅赫：因为…觉得他很帅？

凯伊卡：哦哦，大姐，原来是这样！大姐喜欢紫色？

伊洛丝：笨蛋，说什么啊！怎么可能啊！而且那家伙一点也不帅吧？而且喜欢紫色是什么理由啦！

Oh my god

Mamere does call him handsome, and Kaykaus and Irus basically go

Kaykaus: Ohh, so that’s how it is, sis! You like purple?

Irus: Idiot, the hell are you talking about! You think that’s what it is? And that guy’s not handsome some at all, right? And what kind of reason is “I like purple”!?

T/N

大姐 — “sis” as in, female leader of a gang… kind of? Not sure if there’s a better English equivalent. In a sibling context 姐 means older sister. May also be taken as an insult because it makes the other person sound old. It’s complicated.

怎么可能啊！— kind of a rhetorical “How’s that possible!”/“How could that be!”, more directly…?

[transfem-jakob-ingold]

Going insane thinking about Caribert and Atossa from an objective perspective. Like yes, Caribert didn't mean any harm and he was just a child put in a horrible situation, but Atossa's side of things is just massively fucked up. Someone she never actually knew, who desperately wanted a life of his own, tampered with her and several other's minds to insert himself into their memories and affect their feelings on him. Atossa was made to enter into a clearly romantic relationship without any awareness that she wasn't in control of herself. If anyone less kindhearted and well-meaning than Caribert was in his place, that quest could have been an absolute horror story of psychological manipulation with no way for anyone involved to know what was happening. I love Caribert and I understand why he did what he did, but if he had been just a bit less careful than he was, he could have badly traumatized everyone he affected.

[transfem-jakob-ingold]

Thing that vaguely bounces around in my head on a regular basis: there are implications in the Inazuma AQ and the pre-Enkanomiya quest that imply that Gorou and Teppei were friends (and that Teppei was probably pretty damn young)

This is what implies they were friends, Teppei mentioning both YPH and dango when we know Gorou has connections to YPH and his favorite food is in fact dango lines up pretty well, and as for the bit about Teppei being pretty young...

If he's still being referred to as a kid by another NPC that isnt even using gray hair or the elderly woman model I doubt he was very old :(

[transfem-jakob-ingold]

Were. Were Cassiodor and Errighenth/Errinyes engaged????

This is Song of Days Past artifact lore about their past together.

This is from the Splendor of Tranquil Waters description.

That... that "oath" sounds much more like a proposal than friendship, especially given after YEARS apart Errighenth still refers to Cassiodor as "MY (Cassiodor's birth name presumably)" and is still obviously fond of him/intends to remember said oath. Cassiodor also still thinks of her years (probably centuries given Remuria was destroyed at least 2,000 years ago) later. Tragic Remurian romance for the win ig?

[transfem-jakob-ingold]

Something incredibly fucked up that I don't think I've seen any actual Narzissenkreuz content about is that Narzissenkreuz ISN'T RENE. He's the remains of Rene's failed rebirth, combined with some of Carter's remains, combined with Alain's pocketwatch, with a self built from Rene's memories and Jakob's view of who Rene was. This is revealed in Jakob's logbook at the end of the Book of Revelations' space, along with the 10th page of that same book:

This certainly doesn't sound like Jakob dragging Rene back from a near-death state, it sounds like a desperate Jakob cobbling together what he could to create a believable fascimilie of the Rene he lost.

It's also very much worth noting that Jakob NEVER (as far as I'm aware) refers to Narzissenkreuz as Rene, and at the end when he thinks the world will be dissolved and Narzissenkreuz will return, that THAT is when he views Rene as returning as well.

Something impossible to separate from this is how young Rene and Jakob were during these events - The timeline feels like it takes place over only a few years, and we know Jakob is several years younger (maybe 4-5) than Rene. Assuming Rene and Alain were around the same age, which would place them at under 15 (Carter describing Alain's labcoat as ill-fitting when he reunited wirh Rene, which indicates he likely hadn't hit his growth spurt) when they worked together in the institute, this means Rene was probably under 20 when he died and "returned" as Narzissenkreuz. Jakob would be 15 at most.

Another part of this is that Narzissenkreuz likely never knew he wasn't the original Rene - Jakob purposefully wiped his memories of his creation, his previous failures, and never told Narzissenkreuz what had happened. In this way, he's almost an inverse of Caterpillar - a being created from the physical and mental remains of a person and formed into a recreation of them versus the mental remnants of a person placed into a foreign body and left to grow into its own new being.

[transfem-jakob-ingold]

In retrospect, Jakob being desperate enough to hire mercenaries to go after Mamere is funny as hell. Imagine you're trying to bring back your lost older brother figure, but this goddamn sea slug girl won't sell you her weird blood painting, even when you offer her exorbitant amounts of money for it, because she just. Doesnt care about money at all. I'd probably go crazy trying to get her to give it to me too lmfao.

[transfem-jakob-ingold]

No fucking way they foreshadowed Caribert's quest in the name of Vimara Village's night OST over a year before the quest release, I'm going insane. I was just listening to the Sumeru OST, noticed the name, and was like hey wait a minute what the hell! This is why I'm paranoid about literally everything in this game.

[transfem-jakob-ingold]

Whoever was responsible for that transfer fucked around and (probably never) found out lmao

[transfem-jakob-ingold]

Interesting Remuria tidbit: the stairs in Domus Aurea are shaped like piano keys!

[transfem-jakob-ingold]

Remus lore is so fucking funny to me, this singer's home in Sumeru gets wrecked and he just decides to fuck off and go die in the sea. And instead he finds a ruined city and a bunch of golden bees that tell him to build a doomed civilization and he's just like. Sure :) I think I can make it un-doomed :) (He could not.)

[transfem-jakob-ingold]

Going through Remuria and... why does it feel like this Vishap used a slur lmfao??? Like on its own prole just means working-class but DAMN that is some vitriol right there. Cross racist lizard off the Genshin bucket list I guess.

[transfem-jakob-ingold]

Thinking about the fact that we see all the other Narzissenkreuz Quartet members as adults except Rene at least briefly. Jakob is an adult when we meet him, Mary Ann is at least a young woman physically, and Alain appears as an adult in a flashback in Neuvillette's story quest. However, we only ever see Rene as a child, or as a hydro being (Narzissenkreuz). It hits harder as he even renamed himself after a storybook villain, as if there was a separation between his childhood self and what he was becoming. He grew up too fast (they all did) and took on too much responsibility to ever view himself as a child, I think.

And in the end, when he's given in and is dying, he chooses to take on the form of a child again.

[transfem-jakob-ingold]

I can see Jakob being very conflicted over Carterpillar not remembering anything, because on the one hand it means he's lost his pseudo-big brother, but on the other hand. Its probably for the best that Cater doesnt remember the grossly catastrophic outcome of their initial attempt to save him. Like I think that having no memories and thinking you're an artificial creation is probably better then having vivid memories of your body degenerating and warping, probably painfully, to the point where your vocal cords are cut out several times to get you to stop trying to speak through what's left of your mouth. I think I'd take the amnesia and identity crisis over that.

[transfem-jakob-ingold]

Wait now that I'm thinking about it where the hell was Jakob during the events of the Purge of Fleuve Cendre? Because Eduardo (his father) obviously lived there prior to his exile, and I'm guessing Jakob would have been born there.

There definitely wasn't enough time between the Purge and Eduardo holding Poisson hostage for Jakob to be born then, seeing as the Ferryman weapon description describes Eduardo as having his hand on Jakob's shoulder during the photo taken during Eduardo's Poisson "stay". Presumably he was old and tall enough then to be at least waist-height?

So how did he end up in Poisson for those events? Was he fucking. Exiled with Eduardo??? Or went/was taken to Poisson during that time?

This doesnt matter much, I'm just amused by the idea of the government also just saying fuck you and exiling this like. 6 year old. To the Sumeru desert. Eduardo is in general so funny tho, mf was fighting crocodiles in the Fontaine sewers with a pipe for a decent chunk of his life lmao.

[transfem-jakob-ingold]

Assorted Jakob lore has me trying to bite my own arm off. Dude must have had a fucking harrowing time to become who we see in canon :(