it’s so important to follow people on tumblr who watch tv shows that you do not watch because sometimes they will put gifsets of beautiful women on your dash and you get to look at them
how can i study while there’s juicy tidbits of lore regarding the circumstances of my aunt’s soon to happen divorce and my mom’s beef with his now husband while im sitting behind my desk in my room?!
Yes best friends to lovers is great and all but have you considered childhood best friends to enemies to strangers to rivals to reluctant friends to lovers?
That's basically what Heungsoo and Namsoon's relationship is.
Heungsoon is literally the only ship i will talk about for the rest of my life because how can two people have so much trauma and angst between just themselves but still find comfort in each other? The fact that nobody was there for them to pick them up and put them back together so they had to do it by themselves is sickening to the core and i love it.
last attempt to bring this to light: the tl;dr of the khaenri'ah/kaeya/angel(seelie) connections
kaeya owns a book called adventures of angelos; in greek angelos means angel
kaeya (and venti's) favorite haunt is angel's share; the logo for angel's share is two angels drinking from a wine glass
kaeya and dainsleif like death after noon, an alcoholic drink whose main ingredient is absinthe. absinthe is created from wormwood (apsinthos), also the name of a fallen angel or star
the abyss mages chant in enochian which is the language of the angels. they chant in this language to regenerate their shields or control hilichurls. when kaeya spots the abyss mage back in the temple of the wolf, it speaks to him in enochian. kaeya claims he's "blessed with certain linguistic powers" when asked how he obtained information about the abyss twin
there is a tale of a seelie survivor (speculated to be columbina) singing in a strange unfamiliar language to the listener
when we first meet kaeya it's notably in front of the anemo god statue, which has wings, in front of the cathedral. kaeya is also seen in front of this statue in official art, his character teaser and in his hangout in the venti route
kaeya mentions he likes listening to hymns
the traveler notes the sinner is reminiscent of the upside-down defiled statue of the anemo archon, which also has wings
nabu malikata is a seelie survivor, her last name malikata can also mean angels in arabic (malayikata); seelie are heavenly envoys/angels. venti is seen playing with a seelie in an official video
the jinn are born from waterlilies nourished by nabu malikata's blood. kaeya gifts the traveler a ~mysterious~ lamp said to have housed a powerful jinni.
the symbol for the spantamad darshan is a peacock which is based on the mythical peacock angel. this peacock existed in-game and was sacred. kaeya's constellation is a peacock. (it's possible the peacock was the divine bird simurgh -> fashioned from khvarena -> born from nabu malikata's body)
venti writes a poem to kaeya that could imply kaeya came from the dark sea. the ruins in the dark sea contain palaces of the seelie
in the official art for genshin concert 2021, venti and kaeya are shown holding a harp and a trumpet, both instruments associated with angels
im about to do cartwheels right now because of how excited i am— so based on this bullet points and theories we could conclude that seelies are probaby angel equivalent.
Columbina has angelic symbols that lead to us believing that she is a seelie. But we know nabu malikata is most likely the sole pure survivor of the seelie race. I haven’t read up more on why columbina is a pure seelie form so correct me if i’m wrong. Or did i get it wrong and there are more survivors. Anyway, my point is, Columbia is somehow related to scions of nabu malikata.
Or she’s a different seelie survivor and i got it wrong. I want to contribute some crack shit abt seelies
Angels in real life
these creatures arent at all ashumanly as we like to imagine them. They are depicted as creatures with six wings, four faces, and many eyes. A group of angels, the seraphim which symbolize the law of god, covered their faces and body with their wings. One speculation has to do with the fact that they covered their faces as an act of humility as they are in the presence of God himself. Or As symbols of God’s Law, if the faces of the seraphim were exposed in the presence of a sinner, the faces of the seraphim would kill the sinner.
“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.”
Or because they’re so fiery, that they generate blinding light, that’s why they cover themselves, In another speculation.
Now, pay attention.
What does it all meannn
When the traveler saw nabu malikata in liloupar’s dream, they were met with with “nothingness” as they looked into her gaze.
And nothingness is a pretty complicated word. Because it can mean so many things at once, like blankness, obliviousness, or emptiness.
But pure nothingness does not exist, really…
Because nothing only works if there’s a vacuum, but a vacuum isn’t absolute emptiness.
but instead buzzes with so-called “virtual particles.” that constantly wink into and out of existence. These virtual particles often appear in pairs that near-instantaneously cancel themselves out. Still, before they vanish, they can have very real effects on their surroundings. For instance, photons—packets of light—can pop in and out of a vacuum.
With this I’m suggesting that she didn’t have human eyes. Instead those filled with “light”. That’s why Columbina, a seelie or scion of nabu malikata probably has her eyes covered. Because it emits blinding light. (Or just light not blinding necessarily but because it’s mysterious they decided it should be covered in our first impression of her.)
And if we suggest Columbina is a scion of nabu malikata, and she has these eyes, than other scions of the goddes of flowers probably do too. Or if she’s not than this applies the same if khvarena is actually her daughters then they would have some similarities to her. Like their eyes, for example.
The bullet points and theories i reblogged, mentions that kaeya probably is son to a scion of nabu malikata. And woah.
What if the reason he covers his right eye is exactly that? Only one of them is like nabu malikata’s because his father is khaenri’ahn that correlates Kaeya’s uncovered eyes. There’s a traveler voice line with paimon saying if he ever takes the mask off the skin would be pasty as fuck. But she said “Pasty eyes” and that means “pale eyes” and pale is whitish and light is considered white mostly and… and…
last attempt to bring this to light: the tl;dr of the khaenri'ah/kaeya/angel(seelie) connections
kaeya owns a book called adventures of angelos; in greek angelos means angel
kaeya (and venti's) favorite haunt is angel's share; the logo for angel's share is two angels drinking from a wine glass
kaeya and dainsleif like death after noon, an alcoholic drink whose main ingredient is absinthe. absinthe is created from wormwood (apsinthos), also the name of a fallen angel or star
the abyss mages chant in enochian which is the language of the angels. they chant in this language to regenerate their shields or control hilichurls. when kaeya spots the abyss mage back in the temple of the wolf, it speaks to him in enochian. kaeya claims he's "blessed with certain linguistic powers" when asked how he obtained information about the abyss twin
there is a tale of a seelie survivor (speculated to be columbina) singing in a strange unfamiliar language to the listener
when we first meet kaeya it's notably in front of the anemo god statue, which has wings, in front of the cathedral. kaeya is also seen in front of this statue in official art, his character teaser and in his hangout in the venti route
kaeya mentions he likes listening to hymns
the traveler notes the sinner is reminiscent of the upside-down defiled statue of the anemo archon, which also has wings
nabu malikata is a seelie survivor, her last name malikata can also mean angels in arabic (malayikata); seelie are heavenly envoys/angels. venti is seen playing with a seelie in an official video
the jinn are born from waterlilies nourished by nabu malikata's blood. kaeya gifts the traveler a ~mysterious~ lamp said to have housed a powerful jinni.
the symbol for the spantamad darshan is a peacock which is based on the mythical peacock angel. this peacock existed in-game and was sacred. kaeya's constellation is a peacock. (it's possible the peacock was the divine bird simurgh -> fashioned from khvarena -> born from nabu malikata's body)
venti writes a poem to kaeya that could imply kaeya came from the dark sea. the ruins in the dark sea contain palaces of the seelie
in the official art for genshin concert 2021, venti and kaeya are shown holding a harp and a trumpet, both instruments associated with angels
What are your thoughts on the seer Kaeya theories that were going around? Cause apparently I have many thoughts that I'm trying to keep from spamming you with lmao basically there's him not being a seer and his network really is that good (but not good enough to tell him about the nations wide treasure hoarder scheme), him being a seer (same issue as before), having only vague premonitions (which is funny cause he uses them as stories to spook kids), or he DOES have seer information it just isnt his own (second hand and why he had to lure out Dain for confirmation). Each have some merits but all still have some pretty glaring issues as well that it's hard to tell which way the story is going to go.
oh i have MANY thoughts about this (warning: it's a long read)
IS KAEYA A SEER?
PART 1: HINTS OF OMNISCIENCE
from the very beginning we are told and shown kaeya is very knowledgeable.
勇敢的小伙子班尼特对这位无所不知的大哥信赖有加.
Bennett, a brave young man, has a lot of trust in this big brother who knows everything.
in kaeya's official chinese profile, bennett trusts kaeya as his omniscient big brother.
kaeya's constellation is a peacock. the tailfeathers of peacocks have spots resembling eyes. kaeya's namecard in cn hints at kaeya having many eyes…
孔雀漂亮尾羽上的花纹很像是永不闭上的 眼睛。所以凯亚并非少了一只眼睛,而是
The patterns on the beautiful tail feathers of a peacock resemble eyes that never close. So Kaeya isn't missing an eye, rather... [he has many of them].
fischl's voiceline about kaeya is as follows:
Fischl: His nature is obscure, his fate a mystery, and his speech a vexing tapestry woven of both fact and fiction… Perhaps he and I share the burden of mystical sight…
NOW i want to make it clear that fischl is actually important to understanding kaeya. kaeya is in part based on the indian prince baby from midsummer night's dream. midsummer night's dream in german is mittsommernachtgarten, which is the name of fischl's princess outfit. princess fischl seems to have existed in teyvat, as seen in the description for midsummer courtyard:
With the fall of the ancient lost civilization, the once prosperous and magnificent Sommernachtgarten was also buried underground, leaving only its ancient trees and stones to remember its past glory.
sommernachtgarten is in turn mentioned in the book flowers for princess fischl. this book is published by yae's publishing house just to add more to how suspicious this all is.
what the connection here is, i really cannot say, but for now fischl's voiceline about kaeya should NOT be taken for granted.
PART 2: SEER, POET, KING
let's look into the possible meaning behind the name "kaeya".
MANDATORY DISCLAIMER: there are many possibilities for what "kaeya" might mean so please don't take any of this as fact. however, i have no doubt the creative team are aware of the many meanings behind his name and could possibly be playing around with that. i would too, if i were a writer.
some of sumeru's mythology draws inspiration from the shahnameh, the book of kings, which is a persian epic. in kaeya's hangout he plays prince qubad, opposite frasiyav. i have talked about this before, (see: the bottom reblog) and how i suspect frasiyav might represent irmin. i believe qubad's namesake is either kay qubad or kay qobad. however, the character kaeya is playing is based on siyavash, son of kay kavus, (and future son-in-law of frasiyav 👀 but let's leave that discussion for another time). these are all characters from the shahnameh. siyavash and qobad belong to the kayanians.
KAYĀNIĀN (Kayanids), in the early Persian epic tradition a dynasty that ruled Iran before the Achaemenids, all of whom bore names prefixed by Kay from Avestan kauui
so, could "kaeya" actually be derived from this dynasty's epithet "kay"? let's take a look at what kauui can mean:
As an epithet of kings and the reason the dynasty is so called, Middle 𐭪𐭣 and New Persian kay(an) originates from Avestan 𐬐𐬀𐬎𐬎𐬌 kavi (or kauui) "king" and also "poet-sacrificer" or "poet-priest".
Kavi is the Indo-Iranian term for “(visionary) poet.”
i'm oversimplifying it but basically kay can stand for seer, poet, king (not to be confused with soldier, poet, king). all of these terms are connected to kaeya.
king: alberich literally means elf king, or ruler of elfs, and kaeya has been foreshadowed to be royalty
poet: kaeya has taken poetry "lessons" from venti and this even comes back up again in his hangout…with venti again
so if we follow the pattern the seer part would also apply to him, right?
Their poems are made by their thoughts (mati, etc.), and they send their “poetic visions” (dhī) into the divine world.
this is very interesting because it reminds me of dainsleif's character description. the text is a prophecy in the form of a poem given by a self-proclaimed prophet.
The confluence between the past and future.
The original calamity had been overturned, yet the island in the sky set the earth to burn. Chalk pursues gold, in this time inopportune, the eclipse is swallowed by the crimson moon. The future must atone for bygone mistakes, as the bond familiar falters and breaks— of the same blood, elders and the youth… Such is the cycle of the world, in truth. Dain, what is that strand of blonde hair to you? Someone you must kill? Or the object of your penitence?
—A self-proclaimed prophet.
now, i'm NOT claiming kaeya wrote this or will say this to dainsleif, but my point is that there is a connection between seers and poetry.
(HOWEVER, the fact that the text refers to dainsleif as dain denotes a friendship between the speaker and dain, (remember dainsleif is literally named after kaeya's sword, there's no way they won't become friends), and self-proclaimed prophet implies the speaker isn't well-established as a prophet yet 👀. furthermore, kaeya references the second part of the prophecy (which is likely about him) in his hangout.
Kaeya: History always repeats itself.
Kaeya: Perhaps there's an inept god out there deciding everyone's fates… much like the Akademiya student drafting Darbil's scripts.
Kaeya: Yep, "inept" is a good word for it. Honestly, it might even be a little too civil to describe a god who turns fathers against their sons and is bent on endless warmongering… don't you think?)
now, because kaeya tends to lie a lot, it's hard to tell if he's actually good at writing poetry. the poem he wrote to venti sucked major ass, but since kaeya likes to mess with venti bc he knows he's barbatos, this was most likely on purpose.
the talent books kaeya uses are the same as venti's: the ballad books. here's the description for philosophies of ballad:
Poetry is the soul of the land of the wind. Poetry is the manifestations of the desire to spread the word.
SOUNDS AWFULLY SIMILAR TO WHAT WE JUST ESTABLISHED ABOUT "KAY" AND POETIC VISIONS… getting waaay off track here but i think we can safely connect kaeya to seer, poet, king.
PART 3: THE BURDEN OF MYSTICAL SIGHT
bet you're probably thinking, "seer kaeya needs more evidence than hearsay and etymology". let's think back on it: has kaeya ever shown any hints if foresight? well, that's a bit harder to figure out. it certainly does seem as if kaeya knows more than he should. before we go any further, i propose two interpretations of seer: a prophet OR someone who can see beyond the limitations of the world, like a melusine.
alright, let's list all the times kaeya showed off his huge brain:
a) he knows venti is barbatos. to be fair, this isn't that hard to figure out for anyone who looks too closely; venti is complete shit at hiding his identity. but the question of how and when exactly kaeya came to this conclusion remains unanswered.
b) kaeya could sense the abyss mage in the temple of the wolf but the traveler and paimon did not. in the same vein, he could also sense dainsleif spying on him. this might have something to do with the corruption or some type energy inside of them, but who knows, maybe kaeya has eyes in the back of his head.
c) kaeya probably knew alice was the one who was behind the golden apple archipelago from the start. also not that hard to figure out, plus he's met her before so he knows what she's like. but then why did he pretend to be in the dark the entire time?
Kaeya: Huh? Did I ever guess what was going on, you ask?
Kaeya: Haha… not a chance. I'm much too naive, I was in the dark the whole time.
WHO WOULD EVEN BELIEVE THIS OBVIOUS LIE 😭
d) the tcg cards. hoo boy. kaeya left a deck of cards inside the cat's tail for the traveler to use, apparently he didn't even touch the cards.
Diona: Uh, a customer left it behind a few days ago. But he wasn't even playing the game while he was here.
Diona: Eh, it's already been a few days and he still hasn't come back to claim them. Who knows, maybe he left them here on purpose…
this is never explained or brought up again. how did he know the traveler would need a deck of cards??? WHY DID HE EVEN DO THIS???!
e) kaeya knew idyia was an oceanid all along. nothing groundbreaking here, but kaeya's attempts to downplay his perceptiveness is reminiscent of the alice situation.
Kaeya: So our General was the first to notice? It seems like she's more perceptive than she lets on…
Eula: I'd say the same about you, Kaeya.
f) kaeya was expecting the the traveler to show up in the caribert quest. this is also never explained or brought up again. he even went so far as to wait every single day for them to show up. this is interesting because it could mean that whatever foresight kaeya received simply isn't detailed enough. think the stone slates from the fontaine prophecy; it only showed the stopping points but not the journey.
g) if you pay close attention, kaeya mentions luck/chance/fate a LOT. especially when he runs into the traveler, like 'how unexpected', 'didn't expect to see you here' etc. i'm not going to go back to collect every instance, but trust me it's enough that it reaches mona levels. even his death voicelines reference this…
Fallen II: That was unexpected…
yeah why was that unexpected kaeya? because you already know you're not supposed to die yet or what?
PART 4: NABU MALIKATA, NICOLE, AND KHAENRI'AH
now let's go back to the kayanians again, because there is something very interesting about them…
The word is also etymologically related to the Avestan notion of kavaēm kharēno, the "divine royal glory" that the Kayanian kings were said to hold.
kavaēm kharēno means khvarenah. the kayanians possess khvarenah! i already go a bit in depth here about the in-game notion of khvarena and how kaeya or his mother could've possessed this.
the tl; dr is that khvarena are born from nabu malikata's body. this was then fashioned into a divine bird which i only recently found out could've been a peacock. (see the post i linked, specifically the addition.)
this is important, not only because kaeya's constellation is a peacock, but because NABU MALIKATA was a prophet, nabu even means prophet!
IF kaeya has the khvarena inside him, could he be able to divine the future as well, albeit to a lesser extent than a visionary?
so that's the nabu malikata of it all, let's move on to nicole. as you know, nicole's teacups are found in dawn winery. i do believe this a deliberate choice: every other witch is given an incredibly elaborate looking teacup but for nicole they chose to reuse the dawn winery teacups.
then they even put kaeya in the same shot with the teacup during his hangout! could not have dropped a bigger hint here!
nicole is a visionary, a guide, a disembodied voice, could it be that she is actually whispering in his ear, occasionally providing him information? it doesn't seem likely as nicole only shows herself when a significant change has occured, but we can't rule out the possibility just yet. or is the teacup simply a hint that like nicole, kaeya is omniscient?
now about khaenri'ah… don't take my word for it but i believe khaenri'ah could be derived from "priestess/priest of the winds" in arabic.
priest of the winds (kahin riah) كاهن رياح
priestess of the winds (kahinat riah) كاهنة رياح
most likely they chose this because of the anemoi gods (the cardinal winds) being attested as "priestess/prophetess of the winds" in mycenaean-greek.
The earliest attestation of the word in Greek and of the worship of the winds by the Greeks, are perhaps the Mycenaean Greek word-forms 𐀀𐀚𐀗𐀂𐀋𐀩𐀊, a-ne-mo-i-je-re-ja, 𐀀𐀚𐀗𐄀𐀂𐀋𐀩𐀊, a-ne-mo,i-je-re-ja, i.e. "priestess of the winds".
it says priestess but ijereja can also mean PROPHETESS. does this also not remind you of what we discussed before, of the poems/visions written to the wind?
khaenri'ah does have connections to divination. king irmin is based on odin. odin hung himself from the world tree yggdrasil to gain extensive knowledge about the world, sacrificing his eye in the process. the description for the quest item silver twig references this legend;
"Trees" also symbolize wisdom. In one of the legends, a sage hanging upside down on a tree had acquired the knowledge of how to inscribe runes and control sacred words, and thus followed the kingdom established along the tree's roots, eventually gaining a glimpse of the secret of the cosmos.
now based on what we know of odin, i think this sage was irmin and not deshret. HOWEVER, we should take note of how the sage's gender is made unclear… 👀 in any case, this makes it likely irmin posesses foresight, or at least acquired the means to divination. is kaeya covering his eye a hint that he's in a similar situation?
looking at the other khaenri'ahns we have in game, it seems pierro is also quite knowledgeable. however, one explanation could be that he's using columbina to divine the future since she's a seelie like nabu malikata.
dainsleif claims to have knowledge of fate itself and i think it has to do with the blue irminsul lines on his body… these lines resemble the branches of irminsul and the dragon queller, azhdaha's tail. in the description for the dragon-queller, they call this energy moonlight.
A strange tree whose branches flow with clear, cold moonlight.
we've established kaeya attracts crystalflies towards him, and crystalflies are drawn to elemental energy and leylines… if dainsleif is infused with this irminsul "moonlight", could kaeya also possess this then?
if he does could could this be why has extensive knowledge of many things? why he could sense dainsleif and the abyss mage? why he was placed in mondstadt (moon city)?
back to your original question: is kaeya a seer? let's review the evidence presented to us:
characters call him omniscient or suspect he is
kaeya's name could mean seer
kaeya is VERY observant, to the point where it seems like he has 4D vision, but attempts to downplay it
kaeya is connected to several important figures who are prophets
that being said, i can't confidently say kaeya is a seer… but based on all of this, it would be pretty weird if he wasn't.
I could be wrong, but isn’t the first part also refering to khaenri’ah like the other paragraphs? Then why is the second paragraph a freaking contradiction? There can be just one answer in my mind and that’s the nature of khaenri’ah itself.
what if khaenri’ah had some locations which were hidden _literally_ from the gods? Then wouldn’t that make them immune to what’s happening in main land khaenri’ah?
Here’s how i imagine the whole situation is, you know how half-blood khaenri’ahns only turned into hilichurls if they went above ground. (I think?) So that makes some of them to stay in khaenri’ah, but khaenri’ah is attacked by abyssal monsters who bring destruction wherever they go. And the only solution is to hide in some place not above ground, neither too close to where khaenri’ah is being attacked so they just find a place or some kind of stronghold to remain safe. In doing so, they remain fairly human. But i would imagine how hard that would be because finding food and building civilization out of old remnants of what supposed to be the nation of human pride is nearly impossible. Also! That would make bearing children possible, wouldn’t it? Because their humanity is still intact. I presume the khaenri’ah chapter will mainly revolve around this part of the old nation. Surprisingly, this means that half-blooded khaenri’ahns can only bear children since I don’t think pure-bloods will have the luxury to do so…
so how is kaeya an Alberich? Well we have things to work with now.
anfortas is theorized to be an Alberich, and he was a pure-blood at that. So, he can’t actually have children. Or can he? Maybe he had half blooded children before, so that enables the Alberich line to run in families. Therefore, kaeya’s existence holds water now. And what’s keeping me awake at night is how kaeya never mentions how khaenri’ah will be revived and then they’ll attack, kinda as if it doesn’t need to get revived since khaenri'ah still exists somewhere. And the way he reacted when his father got him into mond is so intriguing it still surprises me how it’s so overlooked. He literally describes it as unknown and strange. And i feel like he wasn’t only talking about mond but the whole teyvat. How he was described as a weak and frail kid, how he probably had never seen the sun shine so bright, and now im getting a bit sentimental but you get the point. His life before mond was probably a living hell. The stress of being discovered even as a child living in his own hometown must be so hard and confusing. And i want to say his father probably had good intentions of leaving kaeya in mond but that’s just the opposite of what’s good intentioned. Yet, He probably still meant to use kaeya as a means to an end for a bigger cause, to leave kaeya with such a burden to bear as shown in kaeya’s char stories.
I could be wrong, but isn’t the first part also refering to khaenri’ah like the other paragraphs? Then why is the second paragraph a freaking contradiction? There can be just one answer in my mind and that’s the nature of khaenri’ah itself.
what if khaenri’ah had some locations which were hidden _literally_ from the gods? Then wouldn’t that make them immune to what’s happening in main land khaenri’ah?