#璃月

[dkniade]

Allusions to Su Shi’s “Shui Diao Ge Tou” in Liyue’s Storyline

Continuation from this post

You know, when I first made the connection it was really a “Wait a minute… Ohh my god wait wait wait—” moment, haha

Here’s the original poem in Chinese:

水调歌头·明月几时有

宋词：苏轼

丙辰中秋，欢饮达旦，大醉，作此篇，兼怀子由。

明月几时有？把酒问青天。不知天上宫阙，今夕是何年。我欲乘风归去，又恐琼楼玉宇，高处不胜寒。起舞弄清影，何似在人间。

转朱阁，低绮户，照无眠。不应有恨，何事长向别时圆？人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全。但愿人长久，千里共婵娟。

A nice English translation here, from EastAsiaStudent.net

How Liyue’s Storyline (and Venti) Alludes to This

“丙辰中秋，欢饮达旦，大醉，作此篇，兼怀子由。” —> Venti drinks on the roof of Wangshu Inn and possibly writes a poem (scene in “Endless Suffering”)

“明月几时有？把酒问青天。不知天上宫阙，今夕是何年。”—> Barbatos and Morax drinking while questioning Celestia and when they’ll reunite with the fellow Archons and friends

Alternatively, Venti drinking alone and thinking about the Nameless Bard

“天上宫阙” —> the imperial moon palace where gods reside —> 天空岛 (Celestia)

“我欲乘风归去，又恐琼楼玉宇” —> Shenhe wishes to return to Liyue on the wind, yet is unaccustomed to the prosperity of Liyue and the high position of the Jade Chamber

Alternatively, Venti is the god of the wind, yet doesn’t want to go to Celestia due to its high position (physically and figuratively)

“我欲乘风归去” —> 风起鹤归 (The Crane Returns on the Wind)

“琼楼玉宇” —> 群玉阁 (Jade Chamber)

“高处不胜寒” —> literally “one cannot hide from the cold even in high places” —> skilled individuals still feel loneliness —> Shenhe appears aloof due to relations with the Adepti and has a Cryo Vision

Similar sentiment is noted in “神女劈观” (“The Divine Damsel of Devastation”)’s lyric, “曲高未必人不识” —> idiom “曲高和寡” —> “the higher the soprano, the fewer the accompaniment” —> the more skilled one is, the lonelier one is

“起舞弄清影，何似在人间。”—> shadow is casted from Yun Jin’s stage performance with the polearm, and for Shenhe, living with the Adepti cannot compare with the mortal city of Liyue

Alternatively, for Venti, being in Celestia cannot compare with living in Mondstadt

“转朱阁，低绮户，照无眠。” —> Liyue Harbour’s buildings are mainly red (lucky colour in Chinese culture)

Xiao is often associated with the night, restless as he clears the land of evil spirits under his contract with Rex Lapis

Ganyu is hardworking as the Liyue Qixing’s secretary and as a follower of Rex Lapis, and sometimes falls asleep. Her Burst looks like a moon

“不应有恨，何事长向别时圆？” —> Liyue’s name 璃月 (“glazed moon”) is homophonic with 离月 (“month of departure”, or “departing from the Moon Palace”)

Zhongli’s name 钟离 can be interpreted as “yearning for departure”

Similarly, Mondstadt’s name is “Moon City” in German, and Venti also has the idea of departure reflected in the Nameless Bard’s departure and Barbatos’ frequent departure from the city

“人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全。” —> departure and reunion are major themes in Liyue’s storyline (Xiao and the other Yakshas, Guizhong and Zhongli, etc)

“但愿人长久，千里共婵娟。” —> during Moonchase Festivals and Lantern Rites, the Liyue characters would likely look at the moon, reflecting the sentiment of “no matter how far apart we are, we’re all looking at the same moon”

婵娟 means “fair”/“beautiful” but is also commonly used to describe the moon and flowers, which are Ganyu’s motifs shown in her Skill and Burst

[kafeicreme]

I may have a slight hyperfixation with this harbor, I have to draw it under every angle

[edswordsman]

Got a new Electro Character from the current Character Event Wish screen: In the Name of Rosula!

It’s Keqing!

[nemuiro]

瑠璃色

Cobalt Blue

[hachicolle]

[touhoutunes]

Title: 叢雨 (Passing Shower)

Arrangement: deTune

Vocals: 神月紅璃夢 & 二羽凛奈

Album: 彩りゆく幻想

Circle: 少女フラクタル

Original: A Shower of Strange Occurrences

[zujo57]

OCHA NORMA in issue 2399 of anan

[nightfuryinthesky]

[tokyo-akb48]

[dkniade]

English localization of Zhongli’s and Nahida’s Archon titles, Genshin Impact Character Title Localization in General, and Zhongli’s title of Yanwang Dijun

I was reading the wiki page for the current Archons (and their names & titles) and the more I think about their titles the more I feel the English localization of Zhongli’s title is strange.

Here (just the ones from the five released regions):

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Venti/Barbatos, Lord Barbatos, God of Freedom, Anemo Archon, of Mondstadt

Zhongli/Morax, Rex Lapis, God of Contracts, Geo Archon, of Liyue

Raiden Ei/Beelzebul, Raiden Shogun, God of Eternity, Electro Archon, of Inazuma

Nahida/Buer, Lesser Lord Kusanali, God of Wisdom, Dendro Archon, of Sumeru

Furina/Focalors, Lady Furina, God of Justice, Hydro Archon, of Fontaine

.

….face in hands. Why is Zhongli’s Archon title 岩王帝君 (Yanwang Dijun / Yan3wang3 Di4jun1) officially localized in Latin (with the meaning of King of Stone). Of course I’m used to seeing it because he’s consistently referred to as Rex Lapis in English, but if you really think about it:

“Hello, I’m a god in what’s basically a Chinese xianxia setting. I’m the god of stone and contracts, and I know a lot about the traditions of my nation, which is based on Chinese culture. For some time, I was seen as the leader or even emperor of my nation. I’m worshipped with a Latin title by my own people”

…

(I’ll explain the Chinese title’s meaning further below.)

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Some time ago, I watched the first few minutes of the Sumeru Archon Quest in Japanese. Paimon mentions the Dendro Archon by title: クラクサナリデビ.

In romaji, this is Kura Kusanari Debi. (According to her wiki page, literally speaking, this title means Little Kusanali Devi.)

I can’t confirm its accuracy, but the etymology section of her page says this:

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The name Kusanali likely refers to the Kusanāḷi-Jātaka, one of the poems within the Jātaka, a series of 547 Buddhist poems detailing the previous births of Buddha. The Kusanāḷi-Jātaka specifically details the encounter with a tree sprite.

"Kusanāḷi" itself is derived from the Pali words kusa ("kusa-grass," a sacred plant used in Hindu ceremonies) and nāḷi ("a hollow stalk or tube").

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and

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In Korean, the name is 쿠사나리 데비 Kusanari Debi. The word 데비 Debi derived from the Sanskrit or Pali word devī ("goddess" or "queen").

In Japanese, the name is クラクサナリデビ Kura Kusanari Debi, where デビ Debi may be of the same derivation as above, and クラ Kura may be derived from the Pali word khudda ("small", "inferior" or "low"). Kura may also be derived from the Persian word خدا Khuda ("Lord" or "God").

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Genshin Impact doesn’t have Sanskrit as an available subtitle language but I wonder what would her title be in Sanskrit…? And if any of the official subtitle languages are similar to a theoretical Sanskrit title…

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Oh, also, a note on character titles in Genshin Impact:

Since the original language is in Chinese, it seems most of the time a (non-Liyue) character’s Chinese title will not be a phonetic transcription. Instead, the Chinese title will be based on meaning, and the English localization will likely take that meaning and either localize it into English, or into the language “native” to the in-game region (and real-life culture).

For example, a Fontainian title, a Mondstadtian title, and a Liyue title would all have Chinese meaning in the Chinese version, but they’ll probably be localized into either English for all three, or French, German, and Chinese pinyin respectively (….or Latin. It’s not very consistent in Liyue) in the English version.

Here:

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Lyney’s Chinese title (from his key visual) 惑光幻戏 (Magic of Puzzling Lights) is localized as “Spectacle of Phantasmagoria” in the English version, but theoretically they could also localize it into French as “Spectacle de fantasmagorie” (as it is in the official French version)

Albedo’s Chinese title 白垩之子 (Son of Chalk) is localized as the German “Kreideprinz” (Chalk Prince) but theoretically they could also could localize it into English as “Chalk Prince”

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(What’s a good example for a Liyue character that doesn’t need extensive explanation on Daoism… Ah whatever. I’ll explain Zhongli’s own Archon title.)

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Zhongli’s title as an Archon is 岩王帝君 (Yanwang Dijun, roughly meaning God of King of Stone). The first two hanzi characters mean stone and king (hence the English localization of Rex Lapis, Latin for King of Stone). But that lacks the nuance and cultural significance in the Chinese title.

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帝君 (dijun) is (I believe…) a Daoist title of reverence added to a god’s name. So putting it together, 岩王帝君 can either be localized into pinyin as Yanwang Dijun (in a similar way that MDZS’s 夷陵老祖 Yiling Laozu is known as the Yiling Patriarch)… Or Lord Stone King if you really want but that has different religious connotations��

帝君 is similar to 真君 (zhenjun, another Daoist title for gods) which is often used for the Liyue 仙 (xian, localized as Adepti) characters. (In English, an adept, plural form adepts, refers to someone who’s very skilled at something. It seems in the game 仙 includes both Adepti with animal forms and Adepti with human forms, and 仙人 xianren specifically refers to Adepti who appear human, like Xiao.)

[berserkerbarbie]

Azure Moment by Moon Troupe 2017

[wilhelmlb]

[hachicolle]

[touhoutunes]

Title: 星空を地に堕として (As the Starry Sky Falls to the Ground)

Arrangement: 神奈森ユウ & 魔王

Vocals: 神月紅璃夢, 十色奏音, & 凪ユイナ

Album: 星空を地に堕として

Circle: 少女フラクタル

Original: Starry Mountain of Tenma

[zujo57]

OCHA NORMA in issue 2399 of anan

[oddthicket]

Cosplay: Ruli Tsukiyono [Digimon: Ghost Game]

※cosplay #デジモンゴーストゲーム

▷FACTION FACTION, go into action!

👤: Ruli/Ruri Tsukiyono (月夜野 瑠璃) 📺: Digimon Ghost Game model: A-chan maker/photo: @oddthicket 🗓️: Anime Los Angeles 18 (2023)

after many months, we were finally able to debut both Hiro and Ruri at Anime Los Angeles! We even had a Vibe Check ribbon you could earn by passing Gammamon's vibe check!

Many thanks to A-chan for serving as my model and partner for this~

Full write up coming soon!

(Red scribbles intentional for privacy as well as reference to Ep. 3: "Scribbles")

You can watch Digimon Ghost Game now on Crunchyroll! It's a really fun series if you love sci-fi/horror/urban fantasy, and more so if you're a fan of Dr. Who!