I forgot if I’ve ever talked at length about this before, but Kaeya being considered a “walking red flag” was always funny to me because not only does a lot of his behavior come off as green flags to me, but he’s consistent with it too and isn’t forced into a stagnant role despite being an earlier released character.
It’s like, you know how Squidward ended up becoming that character everyone started to love growing up because SpongeBob’s initial audience found him more relatable the more adult experiences they had? That’s how I ended up seeing Kaeya the way I do, except a lot of my own childhood experiences and experiences with neurodivergence shaped that too. This also affected my view on characters like Diluc, Alhaitham, Sayu, Nilou, etc. but I’ll go into detail about them another day. Without further ado, Kaeya Alberich displaying a lot of green flag behavior accompanied by an explanation.
Accountability: A huge thing that cemented how much I like Kaeya is his ability to address his own shortcomings, not take criticism personally and improve his behavior over time. He gets criticized for a lot of things by both other characters and the fandom, sometimes rightfully so. But he doesn’t stay static and isn’t treated like he can do no wrong, he’s shown learning and growing from those events. For example, after roping the Traveler into a wild goose chase after meeting them, he apologizes in a way that admittedly, does come off as sarcastic. But his actions in later collaborations with the Traveler prove that he did mean it, as he becomes more transparent with them: when he’s giving commissions as “that guy”, he doesn’t reveal his identity but tells the Traveler exactly what they need to do and even has Vile answer any questions they may have about the situation; he is also straightforward about what the Traveler needs to prepare for Jean’s party even though he didn’t say it was his idea; his plan with them to scam the scammer in his hangout has him tell them every last detail, right down to his backup plan. He really hasn’t led them on another wild goose chase, so that apology was sincere. With Collei, he is taken aback when she asks him to kill her and hesitates, backs off when Amber can handle the situation better, in later content they patched things up to the point where she’s comfortable opening up to him about her nerves in the Veluriyam Mirage. With Diluc, he’s shown to accept his own blame in the situation and still care for his brother, doesn’t spill anything that might ruin his reputation in the eyes of the town and the Traveler, and learned to read the room better. Jean can be critical of him without fear of losing his respect, something she seems to have trouble doing with almost everyone else. With Lisa, he keeps his promises of returning his books on time after she got mad. With Klee, he’s shown to be succeeding in teaching her accountability: she’s receptive to his survival rules, since she turns herself in when she breaks one of them; when she hears that Kaeya’s come back in his Hangout, she apologizes to Jean so she can go find him; and they discuss respecting Kokomi’s need for rest from the Choo-choo cart in the Veluriyam mirage. And that’s just what I remember right now. All of this shows that Kaeya is truly a kind person, and can be trusted to learn from his mistakes and do better.
Careful Consideration of others’ circumstances: When it comes to the most active players in Mondstadt’s safety, between Jean’s desire to be helpful to the point of crossing her own and others’ boundaries and Diluc’s “act first, ask later” attitude, Kaeya actually comes across as the safest of the three to go to in a dangerous situation. Because while he does want to be helpful to those around him, he always prioritizes who he’s helping over his own ego or how good he looks doing it, even if it means he’ll come off as lazy or uncaring for not openly declaring his intention to be helpful (TM) every five seconds. For one, he understands that the other party’s consent is often just as, if not more important than his desire to help. As much as he gets criticized for his interactions with Collei in the manga, it took until things got out of hand before he even considered using force against her, and backed off quickly once he realized Amber could handle the situation better. In his Sumeru Hangout, he asks Darbil if the acting troupe would lose income if he were to mess up before jumping in to save the play. In Captain Wu’s dilemma, he tells the Traveler not to get involved too quickly as they might muddy the waters as mere visitors to Liyue. Later, he makes sure Captain Wu’s calmed down before offering to help him get revenge on the scammer, and obliges after Wu accepts. This shows how careful and considerate Kaeya is of each situation, as jumping to conclusions and barging into someone else’s troubles without asking first can end up hurting them despite good intentions - something he even warns the Traveler about time and again. (And considering the way they handled Furina, Gaming, and a few others’ situations, it’s something they really needed to hear from a close friend of three years). The exception to this is Jilliana’s case where he was essentially intervening in an emergency. Even then, he knows not approach her - because if some guy showed up at my door and went “Hey I figured out your secret and know you’re being blackmailed, now I’m gonna help you,” I wouldn’t be flattered, I’d be freaking out because he knows something I painstakingly guarded and avoid any contact with him no matter how much I needed the help. And based on the Traveler’s conversations with Vile, Jilliana and her family’s safety and secrecy were the priority. (I’ve made a post explaining this situation at length, here it is if you’re interested). He even puts such thoughts into his small gestures of kindness, such as when picking out gifts for his friends and family. In the TCG event, when it’s mentioned that the scholars who created the game aren’t playing it, he empathizes and says they must have a good reason for it (made better by how he’s a massive TCG nerd himself). He takes a nuanced approach to things instead of trying to look generically helpful, and it’s constantly shown to us through his actions.
His interactions with Klee: Kaeya’s shown to be adored by the kids he interacts with, especially Klee. With her, he tries to help preserve her sense of wonder, but isn’t above occasionally teasing her and giving her tips to remember in case she gets in trouble. This is a good thing when you think about Mondstadt in context - a lot of people think they can’t criticize or do anything but praise someone they like, and get really caught up in never making a mistake rather than learning how to cope with them. Kaeya says in one of his hangout branches that it’s healthy for kids to get into some trouble growing up, and it’s true - mistakes are easier to learn from and fix then compared to adulthood. By acting like this with her, not only will she learn to recognize that some light teasing won’t necessarily mean that she’s being disliked, but also how to cope with mistakes when they inevitably happen (and considering she’s a 10 year old with explosives, they’ll definitely happen). More importantly, he actually shows up for Klee as an adult she looks up to: when she’s upset by the arguing brothers in the Veluriyam Mirage, he steps in to stop them and even settles the situation a place where she can’t overhear it; she later says in the same quest that Kaeya gets worried about her, but never takes his feelings out on her. Earlier, he stopped her from running off on her own by promising to tell her a story if she behaves (which he follows up on, he tells her in the overworld dialogue at the end of the quest). He reads to her a lot, tells her stories, reminds her to take breaks, and was even the one who taught her how to play TCG (“But Kaeya said that when Klee’s in trouble, she should play the first card in her right hand…or was it the left?”). And as discussed in the accountability section above, he constantly reinforces respecting other’s feelings and her survival rules in a way that she can understand, to the point where she takes initiative whenever he or his rules are involved. Overall, he has such a nice balance between being laid-back and responsible in his relationship with Klee, and she’s not the only kid who has this with him.
Interactions with other kids: Kaeya’s interactions with the other kids aren’t too shabby either. Noelle especially - she understands why he acts the way he does (she has a hangout branch where she tries to imitate him to get intel) and likes how he’s always giving small but manageable tasks, and defends him when the Traveler calls him an “errand runner.” (This is from her quote about Kaeya) In turn, Kaeya gives her the tasks to prevent her from putting herself in danger by taking on too much, and says that she has a good head on her shoulders. He’s helping her fulfill her need to keep busy in a safe and positive way. With Mika, he doesn’t give him special treatment just because he comes from a family of knights and gives him a personalized exam that teaches him how to survive in the wilderness, which Mika passes readily. While he was nervous around Kaeya at first, he eased up around him and even talks about wanting to play a few rounds of TCG with him in the 3.7 event, and he seems saddened at the idea of letting Kaeya down. Once Collei became comfortable with Kaeya, she opens up to him about her nerves being a guide, and he lets her practice her best Tighnari impression on him and encourages her. In turn, she gets worried that he won’t be seen as a good person due to playing the master thief, to which he reassures her that he’ll be fine. He also seems fond of telling stories and teasing the other kids around Mond, like how he convinced them that there were the souls of fireflies trapped in the street lamps. And though we’ve never seen him on-screen with Benny, one of the official materials in Chinese states that the latter trusts him as an omniscient big brother. There’s so much life and character in the way he interacts with each kid, and he always seems to consider their individual needs.
His filter when talking about other characters: As much as he likes to tease his friends and imply that there’s more to them that meets the eye, he never says anything that would ruin their life or reputation to the Traveler or anyone else. I talked about this above with how he won’t reveal Diluc’s secrets and doesn’t go further than calling him gloomy and no fun, but he has this with others too. When asked about Jean, he doesn’t try to worship her or say anything about her overwork - he just tells the Traveler they need to give her their full support. Considering how Jean tends to be treated as an untouchable being by nearly everyone else, this is really refreshing. Amber is constantly suspicious of Kaeya, but not only does he tell the Traveler that she’s clever and righteous, the worst thing he says about her is that you wouldn’t want to be caught stepping out of line by her. When asked about Rosaria’s secrets, he doesn’t spill them and just talks about how she’s a straightforward person. He implies that Sucrose has some strange things in her lab, but doesn’t reveal anything. He’s a bit disgruntled at how seriously the Schmidt brothers (Huffman and Mika) take things but doesn’t badmouth them in front of the Traveler. He makes a huge show of how he knows Collei’s entire story, but when the Traveler speaks to Collei in the teapot, they reveal that all Kaeya told them was that she had some spelling errors in her last letter. He doesn’t hate or talk badly about his father for abandoning him, nor Crepus for wielding a delusion behind his and Diluc’s backs. He understands the importance of not letting Jilliana’s past slip to as many people as possible. He knows about Guy’s over-exaggerated feats (being the quartermaster and all), but won’t say anything about it to his father Tunner. He tries to make up a story to save face for Captain Wu so his friends wouldn’t find out about his embarrassing past. The guy may act obnoxious here and there, but you can’t pay him to actually talk shit about others behind their back no matter how much you try, especially his loved ones.
As an bonus, I just want to dissect some of the things that get him labeled a “walking red flag”:
Alcoholism: He’s memed on for being a drunkard but thing is…when have we ever seen him drink irresponsibly? He gets dunked on for it by Diona, Diluc and Paimon (who all have their own biases to be taken into account), but even when he does get sloshed he doesn’t cause trouble compared to some other characters we’ve seen (Reckless Pallad, Nimrod, I’m looking at you). Furthermore, one of his Imaginarium Theater lines has him describe the way he drinks alcohol - slowly so that he could get the mouthfeel of it but won’t be overwhelmed. And here’s the thing: that’s a fairly responsible way to drink, especially if it’s paired with some kind of food because your body isn’t dealing with a sudden spike in alcohol all at once. Coming from a society where we’re taught that the only two options with alcohol are complete abstinence or binge drinking, it was refreshing to see something like this from a character who loves alcohol. Not only that, but while he talks about how great alcohol is to the Traveler, he holds no ill will towards them for not wanting to drink - hell, he backs off when he hears that the Traveler’s underage and offers them cider instead, and in his hangout they get offered a non-alcoholic drink that holds precious memories for him. I’m someone who really hates alcohol and don’t like being pressured about it, but the way Kaeya was portrayed honestly made me feel at ease. There’s characters who do get publicly intoxicated in-game and have it affect their relationships, but THIS is the guy who gets touted as the mascot of Genshin’s irresponsible drunk characters?
Being an “Anti-Hero with Attitude Problems”: Context matters in this case. It’s true that compared to a lot of the Mondstadt cast, Kaeya’s willing to be much rougher in his methods and cross lines that his colleagues refuse to. But when you identify exactly what those lines are that they won’t cross, as an adult it becomes multiple “bruh” moments on everyone but Kaeya’s part. To an extent I do get why the anti-hero thing would be believable, but since I started playing the game after a while of being in therapy and having to do adulting, it starts falling into place that the situations that Kaeya gets flack for acting on are always problems that have been allowed to fester to “keep the peace” (I.e. the whole thing with Diluc, the plot of the manga, Kaeya roping the traveler into a treasure hunt without involving his superiors because they WILL try to ignore their limits to tackle it, same with Jilliana’s blackmailing, etc). I’ve previously gone into Mondstadt’s habit of ignoring problems until they can’t anymore, largely because of how much of the populace think it’s the end of the world to tell the truth about not being perfect or set simple boundaries. The reason he looks so harsh is because he’s often one guy trying to solve a huge scale problem that shouldn’t have happened in the first place, and he has to think about how to maintain Mondstadt’s safety in the long-term while also doing damage control for the effects of the lack of boundaries and communication. That last one is so much harder than it looks - it’s like trying to clean up an exploded pipe when all you have is a tiny swiffer mop, and the pipe exploded because there were signs it would previously but everyone just covered it with duct tape. All the while everyone around you is debating on what would be the best way to clean the mess while following one very strict set of rules and letting time tick away. Also, when you’re surrounded by people who think saying “no” is one of the worst lines you can cross, of course they’re going to call you “mean” and difficult to handle when you’re one of the few who sets boundaries and doesn’t rescind them when pushed on it, no matter how reasonable those boundaries are. This is why when other characters and the narrative try to make him out to have attitude problems, I take it with a grain of salt - because not only do those words come from biased parties who have a one-track mind on what a “good person” looks like, but it hits differently when you got saddled with a behavioral disorder because of precisely this bias taking place irl. In the big picture, Kaeya does seem harsh, but in the full context of what he has to deal with, he does so with so much composure and kindness. And he isn’t given enough credit for that.
“I’ll help out, but you owe me”: Kaeya talks like he expects something in return for helping others out, but as we’ve seen in-game, that never comes into fruition. Everyone at the Dawn Winery even describes him as someone who cares for others a lot without expecting anything in return, and would deny being helpful if asked. Once again, in the context of a city like Mondstadt, it makes it seem less like Kaeya does transactional relationships only and more like this is the best way he can set boundaries in a place like that. Cause we’ve seen what happens to people who put themselves out there as unconditionally helpful: Jean being overworked to the point of collapse, Noelle running into dangerous situations and being taken advantage of by colleagues to the point there’s a rule against it, Diluc also running into dangerous situations and insisting on doing so alone, Barbara being unable to enjoy breaks and her fans only backing off if the Traveler tells them she’s working, etc. Saying “you owe me” would discourage people from taking advantage of his kindness too many times, especially if a simple “no” didn’t work the first time around. Besides that, Kaeya’s been shown to be a good boundary setter elsewhere - he walks away from Amber when she gets pushy or is about to badmouth him, he directly tells the Traveler and Paimon when he isn’t comfortable with their teasing or accusing him of slacking (though they don’t always listen), if he’s off duty he tells the knights to leave their paperwork on his desk so he can look at it later, etc. And it really sucks that this kind of behavior that is essential to being a healthy adult gets him labeled as lazy, uncaring, or suspicious by not just the general narrative, but by even some fans. He really deserves better than this.
So many of these “red flags” instantly disintegrate if you’ve been legally able to buy alcohol for a few years now and have spoken to other people over that age range of different backgrounds. And even the things that would be concerning are things said by other characters (who are again extremely biased) and even Kaeya himself, but he ultimately doesn’t act on them, it turns out to be him exaggerating, or he’s already acknowledged his mistakes and grown past them. It’s that “tell, don’t show” thing early game characters have but Kaeya seemed to swing in the opposite direction from the rest: it’s always shoved down our throats that Kaeya is suspicious, lazy, untrustworthy, etc. but his actions and what’s shown to us in context make him come off as not just one of the most safe characters in his city, but the entire game.
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
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… should be noted that a TON of crystalflies can be found in the vourukasha oasis, which is filled with khvarena. 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.
Hello!! Thanks for the welcome, but it appears that irl still needs me ⚰️. Uni has been pretty rough on the edges but eyy as long as I get decent grades, that's enough rather than stressing myself just reaching for the top.
But ofc, dear old Kaeya is there to fuel my motivation 🤺— SOMEDAY I'LL GET BACK TO WRITING ‼️(... i haven't been playing genshin for 2 months... uee.....)
But anyways, I'm doing pretty alright, just sucks that I don't have much time anymore, ue.... But aside from that, I hope that you're doing well too as well as the lurkers that decided to read this post 👀. Life's pretty eh sometimes but the tide will turn eventually :3c I meaaannn time would pass eventually.
But for now, I will leave with a parting gift of Kaeya in a petri dish! (inserting kaeya in my studies is very effective!!!)
NEW CANON KAEYA TIDBITS FROM THE KAEYA HANGOUT PT. 1
The heavy lore post will be posted later today! These ones are just more on his personality, likes and dislikes, and brief history hehehe
SPOILERS BELOW!!
I'm doing things in bullet point form coz wow there's a lot
Was the gentle and polite child! Also frequently got sick. Addie frequently took care of him in those times hehe. Is it possible that this is because of his experiences prior to getting to Mond? Travelling as a child would have made him vulnerable to tougher weather and rapidly at that. I doubt that food comes easy too. Additionally, HE WAS LEFT IN A STORM. I still think Kaeya is gentle and polite, though he definitely gives the face of charming and sly (if it benefits him and it works then might as well keep it going!)
Kindness is so inherent in him that he automatically does kind acts. He only acts like he has an ulterior motive, and tbh? I bet that act is only to keep people away. I think I made a oneshot about this saying his biological father may be worried about this tendency? Or something similar. Worryingly enough, Kaeya clearly has a hard time accepting words of affirmation from literally everyone. Heartbreaking to see in action.
Diluc is a menace, asking Kaeya to help him in his mischief, tsk. Kaeya apparently also helps Diluc in the punishments he receives. Kaeya ended up doing the most of it :( (what are the odds of Kaeya also doing Diluc's paperwork while said redhead was out on the field? What if the reason Kaeya wasn't with Diluc and Crepus during that one fateful 18th birthday because he was covering for Diluc's shift...). Tbh? Kaeya never stopped covering for Diluc. Even now, he is still covering for Diluc (DKH).
This one set off alarms in my mind. Kaeya was apparently not a very good liar when he was younger. I now definitely think that Crepus knew Kaeya lied about his origins. The question is, did Diluc know Kaeya was not a strong liar before their fight? Or did he remember afterwards and was immediately faced with even more guilt?
He might actually have a sweet tooth! Dear god look at the number of desserts he ordered. Do note that Death Afternoon is a mixture that lessens the bitterness of Dandelion Wine. Additionally, Kaeya wasn't interested in wine when he was younger, he only grew into it because it reminds him of home after he left :( The Cider Lake drink is also sweet! And I'm guessing plain chicken mushroom skewers weren't sweet enough, so he decided to add fruits to it. I THINK CREPUS ACCIDENTALLY GOT HIM INTO LIKING ALCOHOL AFTER CREATING THE CIDER LAKE DRINK LMAO. Crepus suceeding in preventing alcohol intake from one child and ended up giving it to the other
Fairly sure he was being flirted on here by an entire group of mercenaries and just didn't realize which would make things extremely funny. They saw him and immediately went "we need to see that body in the dance floor ASAP". What if he doesn't realize he is being flirted on until he is slapped in the face with a confession? It's also funny if he flirts up a storm and not realize people are flirting back lmao
So I was right... he was not kicked out. He moved out on his own. Diluc is fine with him frequenting Dawn Winery, expects it even (lol my short 1 shot makes sense now). The staff keep asking him to come back and visit more frequently. Adelinde says that Kaeya is always part of the family. They become so happy when Kaeya comes back, it's like a weight is lifted off of everyone's chests. IT'S KAEYA WHO KEEPS SAYING HE'S A GUEST AND SEPARATING HIMSELF OUGH. He's the one trying to stay away after all :((( Let's summarize this: Kaeya was the sickly, quick to bruise, kind, gentle, and polite child who everyone in the staff (and Diluc) adores and still treats like he is their baby, but said baby of the family KEEPS LEAVING. Go home Kaeya!
Klee keeps looking for Kaeya! And Kaeya reads her bedtime stories!!! Hearing her voice ask where Kaeya was broke my heart, I think I'd like that used for angst purposes. Kaeya is once again letting a mischievous pyro user get away with causing mischief. Kaeya you enabler lmaaaoooo. Kaeya frequently rescues Klee from solitary confinement, done so enough times that Klee now does the same for him (I bet she thinks Kaeya is in solitary confinement whenever he's busy doing paperwork). Not to Kaebedo/Albekae you guys (I am Kaebedo/Albekae-ing you guys), but I'm fairly sure Kaeya and Albedo spend so much time together with Klee. Again, frequent enough that Albedo has tons of drawings of Kaeya (the 3 brushstrokes is a popular meme, but it actually is just a way to say that he has drawn Kaeya a lot. Bet he could draw Kaeya with his eyes closed haha). HE GOT THEM MATCHING GIFTS THATS ADORABLE
Speaking of gifts, he's a great gift giver! He really listens to people's needs and wants. What a thoughtful man (Diluc was right in his letters in hidden strife though. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF KAEYA). Speaking of, I'm guessing Kaeya is rich? Because I'm fairly sure the gifts were bought with his own pocket money and thus the huge amount of travel funds remaining (the gifts are expensive, surely it should have put a dent to the said funds had he used them)
THAT IS ALL FOR NOW, I MIGHT MAKE A PART 2 BECAUSE I WANT TO TACKLE MORE STUFF BUT THE PHOTO LIMIT GOT TO ME
speaking of being adopted, you know what would solve all of Bennet’s problems? Meeting Itto
like from Bennett’s hangout we know that the only way to negate Benny’s curse is to ignore it, treat him just as your friend, include him without prejudice. only then you could get treasure
and like imagine if Itto, an orphan himself who was shunned by society and formed a “gang” that is actually just a found family of losers so they’d have each other to rely on, met Benny
who is another, smaller teenage orphan shunned by others for reasons out of his control and who takes care of his twenty elderly gay dads, but keeps a positive attitude and never gives up. whose only dream is to be included in a team
he would be adopted SO FAST asdfghjk. also Kuki would immediately be on board
and like Itto would have the exact right attitude to break the curse, he would never blame Benny for any misfortunes
like he would stand next to Benny and be struck by the lighting, and Bennet would be like “omg I’m so sorry thats my bad luck :( :( :(” and Itto would go “Nah bro, it has nothing to do with you, Raiden shogun has a beef with me, but she’s too much of a COWARD to meet me face to face”
Hello, hope you're doing well! If you're open for requests, Kaeya reading a story to Klee (or anyone you'd like!) please 👉👈 A short question too, regarding the Mond chapter: Right after Dvalin attacks Mond and Kaeya takes us to meet Jean and Lisa, he says something like ' your gliding style is very familiar '. Do we know what he means?
"and you know? the fireflies would be forever imprisoned in-- geh!"
"try telling another story, kaeya~"
maybe kaeya's the reason why klee keeps coming up with so many different ways to blast fish ^_^💧
on another note, i looked back on some footage and it's interesting he says that, it's a far fetch but personally i'd like to think that while kaeya was a kid he probably saw the traveller's twin gliding around khaenri'ah- he probably doesn't remember them now, but the way the traveller glided felt familiar to him because of that!! idk the actual reason, but i hope that answers your question!!
The English translation is taken from Genshin Inpact’s Instagram, and the Chinese text is from the post on HoYoverse’s Chinese website.
You know the drill… I’ll post the original Chinese version, my English translation, and the official English translation, with some comments and notes under the cut.
Happy birthday, dear Albedo~
———
Original Chinese Version
好久没和这么多人聚会，很新鲜的体验，谢谢你们的邀请。
不过看你的表情，是有话想对我说？
那不如我们悄悄离开一会儿，出去透透风，很快就回来。
大家正玩得热闹，应该不会在意的。
My English Translation
I haven’t gotten together with so many people for a while now. It’s quite a new experience for me. Thank you all for your invitation.
Though judging by your expression, it seems you have something you wish to tell me?
Why don’t we quietly leave for a while and get some fresh air, then? We’ll be back quickly.
It’s quite lively here, so I don’t think they’ll mind.
Official English Translation
I haven't had a gathering with this many people in a long time. This is a novel experience for me, thank you for your invitation.
But judging by your expression, it looks like you have something to tell me?
Why don’t we go outside quietly and get some fresh air for a while? We’ll come back quickly.
Everyone seems to be having a good time, so I don’t think they’ll mind.
Notes
The first two parts in the first line are really weird even in Chinese, grammatically. Weird as in it’s not really something you’d say in real life. I wonder if the almost choppiness of the text is intentionally meant to be Albedo’s natural speaking style, or if the writers’ writing style is just this type of modern style of forgoing the subject… Note that modern Chinese (in animate, internet speech, etc) often does forgo the subject but the way it’s worded in that sentence specifically doesn’t sound very natural.
大家正玩得热闹, directly speaking, would be something like “Everyone’s pretty lively in this moment” (or “playing in a heated way” if you really wanna get specific about the last four characters), but that sounds odd in English. I’m not sure if there’s a word that means 热闹 that Albedo would use, since he’s not one to use informal terms and slang… In the end, I decided to go with “It’s quite lively in here” to retain the intention and forgo the “everyone” part since “it’s” in the sentence refers to the tavern’s crowd and/or situation anyway.
Happy birthday Albedo—
Thank you for reading!
minutiae: kaeya @kaeyamonsoon - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
