#abyss theories

[ridleymb]

Based on a theory seen recently

[silenab]

THE FIRST LAW OF HOLES, or the law of holes, is an adage which states: "if you find yourself in a hole, stop digging". Digging a hole makes it deeper and therefore harder to get out of.

[moxie-girl]

Fischl lore slideshow complete! I tried to organize everything in a way that makes sense... You might have to click for quality to read some of the smaller stuff. (also warning this is a longgg post)

If you read all the way to the end of this, thank you so much! I'd love to hear any theories anyone else has about why and how Fischl is Like That™

[conqueenror]

I love Mondstadt sm, and it's not because it is the "home region", but because it is a mysterious and sometimes even creepy region when you dig a little bit further

[where-is-my-sonic-screwdriver]

With all the story and shit what's the possibility that Paimon is the third descender?? Mona can't read her, some guy in the prologue of Inazuma said Paimon smells like the stars, and the book of esoteric revelations quest reveals that Paimon has a string that extends somewhere above the sky. She implies she's "Atleast 400 years old" and is kinda small, there's only one like her, Abyss doesn't affect her (or the traveler), her entire design screams "CELESTIA". The heavenly principles (dude/dudette is definitely a D word) made the gnoses with the third descender's remains (While this implies the third passed away, I am not trusting anything that comes from the heavenly principles or their associates.) Paimon is a character from Ars Goetia, specifically one of the nine kings of hell. it's either this or I've had too much chocolate ice-cream while being sleep deprived

[ri-writes-if]

People we are not asking the right questions!

If the Oracle are hereditary then that means one(or both)of Oracles parents were one🧐

And if just one of them was one then that would mean that, to en extant they new what they were doing having a kid🧐

If that’s the case it’s real sus to me that only mom “stayed” for a “while” and the other one went ghost from the beginning🧐

Even Vez said they couldn’t find much about both Oracles parents🧐

Ima go back again to see if I can find more no it not an excuse to see these hot/caring demons again

Something is not adding up🤨 2+5 is not 13 but ima find 7🤨

👁️👁️

[h4venpha]

hi!… my personal theories on sylus’s myth ending:

ive read over the myth multiple times, and god the wording is so vague. so this is just my theory and future reference for if and when i plan on writing for his myth. mind you, i did get extremely creative when writing this and analyzing his myth. this is just how i like to perceive it to close up loose ends/vague wording within the myth itself. feel free to respond w ur own ideas/comments! :3 MAJOR SPOILERS!!! obviously..

i like to theorize that the moment mc stabbed sylus in the chest in chapter 6, is when their realities begin to shift. especially sylus: he begins to transform and lose his mind.

“The mad dragon spreads his wings and surges forth before crashing to the ground amidst the humans’ screams.” this line in particular is interesting because it seems like he’s so.. out of it already? like his humanity is leaving him, and the dragon inside of him is beginning to take over. his soul is split at this point, i like to see it as his dragon form becoming his physical form, and the “human” part of him becoming his alternate reality soul.

mc’s soul as well begins to split in between realities, but not in the same way as sylus. her soul splits and becomes a physical soul and an alternate reality soul. but its more like full dissociation and less like sylus’s where his humanity full on splits from his dragon biology. NOW FOLLOW ALONG. TRUST.

i theorize that both mc and sylus’s physical forms were captured that night. and when mc find him at the chapel, injured and bleeding out, THOSE are both their alternate souls. they bind alternate reality souls in the chapel:

the souls that bonded together shared an alternate reality. regardless that both of their physical forms were captured, in this shared reality, they were both themselves the way they remembered each other, which is why sylus began to heal and their curse didnt exist in this reality.

this shared reality includes the scene of them putting up decorations in the chapel, abyssal blossom, and the scene of sylus drying mc’s hair (where they pinky promise not to betray each other):

now, chapter 9. going back to their PHYSICAL forms, both mc and sylus are held by the legion. while sylus isnt really there mentally in his physical form, mc can sort of switch to hers. (which means being present in the shared reality is more like her dissociating to cope with everything):

sometime after this (i honestly dont know how long but im gonna guess no more than a week and a half..?): doomsday judgement day comes! mc taken to the court of justitia. mind you, before leaving to go to the court, one of the soldiers tells mc that the dragon has broken free of his restraints.:

in the middle of the sacred judicator enumerating her crimes, mc is unintentionally calling to sylus. and it doesnt matter that he’s not mentally there in his dragon form, their souls are bound, he heard her calling without a doubt.

the moment he begins to stir, it caused a reaction inside of her:

not only does she call him through their souls, but also through their physical forms when she begins to sing the melody for him.

(extra…: what really gets me is how they highlight the fact that, yes sylus isnt there mentallly, and yet even in his beastly, monstrous form, he doesn’t falter even as the legion attacks him to near death. all he was focused on was getting to her merely because she called. he cared for her more than he cared for himself)

in the end when mc finally comes to terms with the fact that she must die by his hand, sylus’s alternate soul shines through; yielding his physical form to hold back, therefore immediately causing her bloodred greatsword to appear. because the curse WILL be fulfilled one way or another, and sylus doesn’t hesitate to let her take his life.

when he dies in her arms in the datura field, they are themselves once more. the curse has been fulfilled, their souls and physical forms are once more again. and he dies, both- everything disintegrating and leaving, except the petal that mc used to curse him.

the final piece of his soul, just a small fragment that she curses. only she can grant him death, meaning unless she allows it, he will never die, which is why horns and wing sprout from her body.

its quite confusing i can say, but i do enjoy getting creative like this esp when sometimes the myth’s wording was vague/things may get lost in translation! anyway this was just my take, id love to see what u guys think bcs i swear im not the only one who was confused!

[staticymaticyyourlifeisatravesty]

*Sometime after 1475 in hell*

Satan: Yo, Luci, has Vlad Tepes showed up yet? He died like three months ago, and he's not heaven

Lucifer: What? No. He hasn't showed up at all, the fuck do you mean he isn't in heaven?

Satan: Yea, some angel was asking if we had him, because we didn't. There's also like an ungodly amount of souls missing aside from that one. I think there's like over four thousand souls that are also missing as well...

Lucifer: ....There's four thousand souls missing?

Satan: Yes.

Lucifer: Well, I guess we should see what's going down on the Mortal planes than....

_____

*Dracula doing as Dracula does and devouring his own people*

Lucifer: Ok, who the fuck allowed that to happen? Who the fuck green lit that? Who let Vlad Tepes turn into a goddamn Eldritch abomination??

Satan: I think the humans are calling it a vampire

Lucifer: A vampire? That's what that is? I'm sorry, that still doesn't answer my question of who in the seven layers of hell green lit that thing!!

Satan: We didn't. The blood choose for it happen.

Lucifer: The fuck do you mean the blood chose for it

Satan: Too many people died in one place, and Vlad was too angry to die.

Lucifer: .....God allowed this to happen didn't he? He fucking let this happen, didn't He, the fucking bastard

[slothcapsule]

Kaeya's design pt.2 (updated until 5.1 because yes, more stuff gets added with updates, his design is that thought ahead)

or maybe im delusional and looking into things way too much! heyy, Me again!! this is gonna be a master post of all the things ive noticed about kaeya's design, ive made one like it before but since then there's been a bunch of new stuff so i decided to make a new post that has everything i have to note. this is complied of things i myself have noticed and things that others have. this post will not include anything about his skin other than noting a couple of significant differences since the outfit wasn't made specifically for him in the scope of the story, but i might cover it in a separate post

kaeya's design mostly consists of "two sides" in a way, his "mondstat" side and his "khaenri'ah" side.

his mondstadt side includes his vision, the full side of his cape in the back, the earring he wears and his rat tail, all this represents the freedom he has in mondstat and the person he grew to be there, a vision bearing knight of favonius.

the khaenri'ah side includes his eyepatch, the wisp of lighter hair in his bang, a clipped cape ("wing") and the majority of the fur coating. i believe this goes to represent that he's still tied to khaenri'ah despite all the time he's spent in mondstadt, and that he's quite aware of it. Also, the glove on that side has a kind of buckle that kind of reminds me of a shackle or a handcuff, as well as this thing with a bunch of eight pointed stars that are not apparent on the mondstadt

all across his design (the boots, corset belt, gloves, little things on the ends of the cape thing he has, his left sleeve) there are bunch of "eight pointed" stars we see associated with khaenri'ah, one being in his pupil which was a confirmed trait to khaenri'ahn people ever since we saw dainsleif.

id like to note that kaeya's eyepatch is stressed on a lot in game. its constantly referred back to most of the time when kaeya is brought up. he has a voiceline about it (that has been changed once in the english version to to a mistranslation i believe, ill include both versions) the first is the current version.

traveler has a voiceline about it where paimon makes fun of it but i think its notable there's a voiceline specifically about it at all.

its mentioned right when we start the world quest "Bough Keeper" where we meet dainsleif. he doesn't even have an eyepatch half of his face is just black it was a stretch in the first place.

kaeya himself dismisses it as nothing unusual.

in his story quest he says he inherited it from his grandfather, which is solid proof that they're related by blood. (his story quest has some crazy foreshadowing btw that predicted that him and the abyss twin are possibly related in some way or another by extensions but i wont get into it here)

there isnt really a solid idea attached to any of this, other than the fact that kaeya's eyepatch is stressed on as a point of intrigue, its pretty implied to be related to his origin of khaenri'ah, and we often see khaenri'hn people with their right eye covered in some way. and to those of you that think that he wears the eyepatch because diluc injured his eye during his fight, no he isnt. it might've been scarred by him yes but he isnt blind in that eye, and in the webcomic it shows kaeya wearing an eyepatch on the day crepus died, before the fight with diluc.

while we're on the subject of his eyes, he's somewhat of an abnormality amongst Khaenri'ahn people. every other khaenri'ahn person we know have teal eyes with their pupil being a bold black star outline, kaeya's on the other hand are a darker blue with a more faded filled in star. i wont include the eyes of every single character to prove my point but trust me i looked at them all. the only exception seems to be pierro but since he doesnt have an in-game model yet and he wasnt shown super clearly in the trailer im unsure what to make of it for now so i wont include it.

one of the first things generally noticed about kaeya's design once you look into it a little is that he somewhat resembles cryo abyss mages, most notably the fur coat he keeps thrown over his shoulder, the "bunny ears" in his hair (ahoge?) but most of the resemblance comes from playstyle.

in playstyle he's similar in the sense that he teleports on his fifth attack, his ult is similar to the icicles they produce after their shield is broken, he produces his own shield at c4 etc.

(EDIT: i somehow forgot including abyss heralds here, which is insane of me considering that i was always under the impression that if kaeya does turn out to be an abyss monster its definitely more likely to be a herald/lector. i dont necessarily think that he is but there are similarities!)

As for abyss heralds, he does also have a similar design element with the Frost Fall one! Despite being a minor similarity i think its worth pointing out , but they do have kind of similar lapel things, the herald has those wing like things both in the front and back , similar to kaeya's "clipped" wings, that appear under the full wing and in the front of his outfit as well

(fun fact, when i found out they're going to release a cryo abyss herald i was so excited and kept prolonging the fight with it in the quest so i can see if it has similar attack patterns to kaeya) (it does, he does a couple slash attacks that look like kaeya's normal attacks)

one crazy thing also is his cape looks a lot like the top part of the celestial nails and the bottom part of the statues of the seven, and weirdly enough parts of paimons outfits.

a lot of people theorize the log in screen is the enterance to celestia, and that the nails in dragonspine and the chasm are fallen pillars from there. for someone from a godless nation its sort of weird that he seems to have that connection to something celestial huh? this part of the design is also included in his special dish in the skewer itself. (he also marks the mushroom with an eight pointed star as opposed to the x on the regular one)

other than celestian, mondstadtian, khaenri'ahn themes in his outfit, he also has fatui ones! on the front side of the cape we can see that it attaches to a fur thing that covers kaeya's lapels. i have no idea how this attaches or if its just thrown on top, but this design choice is distinctly fatui, weirdly enough. specifically in the style of the attire of the fatui harbingers coats or official ware when they're gathered. i related it distinctly to pierro before but after getting a good look at capitano's model its more fatui, though there's some things that are similar distinctly between kaeya and pierro.

most distinctly, the fur and the lapels being in a very similar shape which is the part that's distinctly fatui, the mask/eyepatch over the right eye as well a strikingly differently colored strand of hair being distinct to pierro and kaeya.

there's a kind of gap in the middle of pierro's chest part of the outfit that somewhat resembles the one kaeya has as well. i saw someone point this out on reddit but i cant find the post because it was a while ago but regardless, they brought up the point of it being exactly in the place and shape of where abyss heralds/black serprent knights have an eight-pointed star, which could be a subtle nudge at khaenri'ah as well.

now, i have two ideas of what those similarities could be hinting at.

kaeya is actually a fatui member (which i believe has some sort of merit because of the recent appearances of capitano and some similarties between them in attire and playstyle weirdly enough, as well as a theory ive been getting behind that states that capitano could be/is related to anfortas alberich)

the fatui harbinger design choices are actually inspired by khaenri'ah, which isnt a stretch given that pierro is the founder and director of the fatui harbingers. thus making them look similar to kaeya rather than vice versa.

panning back up a little bit, regarding the silver hair in kaeya, it seems to be expanding to the rest of his hair, in his skin it goes down the length of his braid.

in the webcomic where we flash back to the past a bit, we see kaeya actually doesnt have the little strand of silver over his left ear, as well as when we return to the normal time setting of the comic, its also not included in his icy featherflight splash art (this 100% could be a stretch on my part they could've just forgot about it its a small strand) (while we're talking about stretches, my biggest one is that childe has a similar streak in his hair lol but that might be going toooo far)

last but not least, his vision, one of the most interesting things about his whole characters. a person from a nation that actively defied the gods recieving a sign of their recognition seems like kind of a threat doesnt it? and its all the more ominous that his vision casing is different from every other mondstadt casing!

this is the back of kaeya's vision next to the back of diluc's vision for comparison, the only notable things are the lack of a third wing probably signifying he's sort of out of place, and the swirl? wave? whatever you wanna call it is on the wrong side. every other character with a double sided vision has the swirl on the other side like jean, diluc, mona, eula, lisa (etc..? i havent seen anyone else with a double sided vision which is also interesting, at least from mond)

however!! weirdly enough, in the 3.8 summer event where kaeya gets his skin, his vision actually gets a different casing, as you can see he gets his full three wings, as well as an extra spike! but not really an extra spike because the vision is just on top of another thing that makes it look like it has a third spike, but the wing is actually there. the genshin fashion archive isnt updated with kaeya's skin so i cant check if there's a swirl, even though the vision isnt even double sided in the skin which is also really weird to me.

im pretty sure ive covered most things, if anyone has any additions please let me know! id love to look into them.

i think kaeya is a really interesting character who's incredibly centered around foreshadowing in the way he carries himself and his backstory, so to think that they managed to extend the foreshadowing bit into even his design is a little bit insane imo.

[dandelion-wings]

Re-reading current WIPs leads to re-reading old stuff no longer in progress, which lead me today to the old stuff from @theabysscomeshome and I's Harbinger AU. And it occurred to me that, while I doubt I'm ever fixing up or finishing the outdated stuff enough to ever put this on AO3 at this point, I could go ahead and post the one complete piece from it that's not completely jossed, and that I still like, here. >>

For reference, the Harbinger AU is essentially a Venti-Tsarita roleswap (with a side of Jean-Childe roleswap but that doesn't show up at all in here), wherein the Knights of Favonius essentially fill the Fatui's role.

---

The great tower in front of them is in disrepair, shattered and half-broken, but the cubical mechanism for opening the door still works once the hilichurls out front have been cleared away. As the great door grinds open, tilted sideways at an awkward angle, a cheerful voice rings out from behind them both.

"Oh, it's Sir Diluc!"

Diluc spins around, his hand dropping to the hilt of his claymore. Lumine, noting his narrowed eyes and tight jaw, follows suit. In front of them both is a young woman, or older girl, in a leather traveling outfit with bright red accents that stand out against the swirling snow--including a headband that looks like nothing so much as a pair of rabbit ears. She pulls up the goggles that had been over her eyes and grins at them.

"Hello! I haven't met you before. Who are you?"

"Outrider," Diluc says, his tone guarded, though he doesn't yet draw his claymore. "You're a long way from Mondstadt."

"So are you! It's so nice to meet you here. I haven't seen you in ages." The girl skips forward as if she hasn't noticed Diluc's tension or the hand tightening further around his claymore's hilt. "Sir Kaeya and Master Jean will be so glad to know you're all right!"

"*Don't*," Diluc growls.

Those names Lumine recognizes. "Diluc, who is this?"

"Outrider Amber of the Knights of Favonius. Which makes her very far from her operational area."

"Oh, that's expanded a little bit since you left, Sir Diluc." She veers away from him to bound smiling over to Lumine. "I still haven't gotten your name."

"My name is Lumine," she says, fighting the urge to reach for the hand that Amber holds out to her. The girl's cheerful friendliness is at sharp odds with how tensely Diluc watches her. Also, if she's more recently from Mondstadt... Lumine has to ask. "Have you met a boy who looks like me on your travels from Mondstadt? I'm looking for my brother."

Amber looks her up and down, then shakes her head, an apologetic look on her face. "No, I'm sorry, I haven't. But I can put up some posters for you once I get back! Uh... if you can tell me a place to contact you...."

"Don't bother," Diluc says.

"I don't have any way for you to contact me, since I'm on the road. But I appreciate the offer." Lumine looks over at Diluc, trying to judge if it's *really* necessary to keep her hand on her sword. "I thought the Knights of Favonius were dangerous? But Amber's willing to put up posters, even if there's no point."

"It's not her I'm worried about. It's who might come behind her. Is that Lawrence woman in Snezhnaya too?"

"Don't call her that! At least call her Sir Eula!" Amber stamps a foot and glares at him. "And I can't tell you her movements, but she's not with me. I'm here because Sir Kaeya's too much of a layabout to do his own intelligence missions."

"Hey, should you be telling us that?" Paimon asks. She's drifted forward over Lumine's shoulder, her curiosity drawing her in.

"You're with Sir Diluc, so it's fine. He's a little grumpy, but he's not a bad guy."

Diluc sighs and straightens up, finally releasing his claymore. "She wouldn't tell us if she thought we could interfere with it. Which means she won't tell us the details, either."

"Nope!" Amber beams at him. "I'm so lucky I saw you guys in the snow. Your hair really stands out, Sir Diluc, and you always wear that black coat, so I thought it must be you. Even though it's not part of the mission, Sir Kaeya will be glad to know you're still going strong. And that you made a friend."

"Hmmph." Diluc crosses his arms over his chest. "And I'm sure it will help him track my movements."

"Duh! He worries about you, you know." She looks past them at the open door to the tower, then turns to Lumine. "If you're going in there, do you want some help? I have the time, and I wouldn't mind getting out of the cold for a while. Snezhnaya is *freezing*. Besides, I can tell Sir Diluc all about how Master Jean and Sir Kaeya are doing."

Lumine glances over at Sir Diluc. He looks a little annoyed, but not alarmed, and he doesn't try to refuse for her. This is her mission, given by the Tsaritsa, even if he's been helping her on it. And she would like to learn a little more about these Knights of Favonius from someone who doesn't have so obvious a grudge. It seems somehow appropriate to do so in pursuit of an Anemoculus.

"All right," Lumine says. "You can help."

As Lumine turns back towards the gaping black shadow of the doorway, she hears Amber cheer behind her. "Awesome! I can't wait to show you Baron Bunny."

***

Baron Bunny is a giant plush, it turns out. It explodes, which is a bit unexpected, but after the brief surprise of it in the first fight Lumine quickly gets used to it. Amber isn't nearly as strong a fighter as Diluc, though she also has a Pyro Vision, but just the presence of her flaring heat in battle seems to make the Melt effect that Lumine has gotten used to setting up with Diluc more effective. Overall, she's a much better party member than Diluc's reaction had led Lumine to expect.

A quarter of the way up the tower, they run into what seems to be a dead end. Lumine stands at the bottom of a cavernous space, made more so by the lingering edges of floors and walls that have crumbled away above. Even if she stands on the highest of the broken pillars, the next partially-intact floor is dozens of feet over her head. There's a lift mechanism in the corner, but it lies dormant and still.

"Those torches," Diluc says, holding his flaming claymore high to light the space. "That sort are usually connected to the mechanisms in these ruins. If I can reach them, I can light them and see what they'll do. It's getting there that's the problem."

Lumine looks around and sees what he means. The tilting and crumbling of the tower have put most of them in nearly-unaccessible spots. That one he might be able to reach by jumping off this pillar if she jumps far enough, and if he can squeeze through that rubble there one is half-buried behind it... but the ones higher on the walls will be harder to reach. Her Cryo constructs melt so quickly under Diluc's feet. The two that, due to the tilt of the tower, are practically on the ceiling? She has no idea about those.

"Oh, is that all? Leave it to me," Amber chirps from the base of the pillar. Lumine crouches down and watches her unsling her bow. She takes careful aim at each of the torches, the ends of her arrows bursting into flame, and lights each of them with one shot, even the half-buried one that Lumine wouldn't have thought she could reach.

"Thank you," Lumine says, smiling at her, as the lift jerks to life and begins to slowly grind its way up the wall. "We couldn't have done that without you."

"Glad to help." Amber assures her, dashing up the slant of the wall towards the lift. "Last one up is a rotten egg!"

Lumine jumps off the pillar to hit the wall right behind her. As she scrambles up onto the lift she sees Diluc uncross his arms, brace himself, and leap to follow.

***

They make it most of the rest of the way up before they reach another such space, this one with great crumbled gaps in the outer walls as well. No lift or torches are apparent this time. The cold winds from outside the tower rip through the sides of the tower, leaving piled-up drifts of snow behind. Lumine, Diluc, and Amber crouch in the lowest corner, Paimon floating low and using Lumine as a windbreak.

"Those are blowing harder than I'd have thought from looking outside," Diluc says. "There must be Anemo energy leaking down from above."

"I bet we could get up there using those winds," Amber says, eyeing the roaring flurries overhead in speculation.

"With the winds?" Lumine asks.

"Yeah, using our wind gliders!" Amber reaches back and pats the narrow wood-and-metal box on her back that Lumine had thought was some kind of travel case. "Sir Diluc, haven't you shown Lumine how to glide yet?"

"We haven't been in a large enough town to find one for sale. Or to get mine repaired," he says expressionlessly.

"What, your wind glider is broken? Let me take a look at it," Amber begs, reaching out towards him like she wants to grab for something. "I bet I can fix it. And I have a spare with me I could lend to Lumine, so we can show her how to glide! You know there won't be a better way up."

Diluc stares at her for a moment more, calculating, then reaches into his travel pack and pulls out another such case and holds it out. Amber snatches it from him with a squeal of excitement. "The left wing won't extend fully," he tells her as she flips it over and starts undoing catches on the back.

"Oh, that's because your pivot gears are bent. This will take me a few minutes, so maybe we should sit down and rest while I fix it? I haven't eaten in ages."

"A lunch break sounds like a *great* idea!" Paimon seconds enthusiastically. "Lumine, do you have more of that cabbage-potato borscht?"

"No, I'm all out," Lumine says regretfully to Paimon. Her stomach rumbles at the memory of the delicious soup. "Diluc, what about you?"

"I have potatoes."

"Nothing else?"

"Potatoes are a complete meal on their own."

"Not without butter and cream," Amber protests, looking up from the articulating wing made of metal joins and wooden feathers that she's stretched out over her knees. "I did some hunting earlier, and I still have plenty of meat, plus some cheese. You could make a pile-'em-up! You were always really good at that one."

"Oh!" Paimon comes zooming up to hover level with Diluc's face, bobbing in the air in front of him. "Juicy meat and melty cheese and potatoes! That sounds perfect to Paimon!"

Diluc bats irritably at Paimon until she drifts further away. "It won't be the same without lamp grass for seasoning."

"True," Amber says. "I guess I could make my signature Outrider's champion steak when I'm done fixing your wind glider."

"...I'll make a pile-'em-up without the lamp grass."

***

The Hydro Abyss Mage, shell frozen by Lumine's Cryo and melted into nothingness by Diluc's phoenix and Amber's arrows, tumbles squealing to the floor. Diluc lunges forward and drops down on top of it, pinning it beneath his knees, one hand on its shoulder, the other holding his claymore across its throat.

"The key to the pillar," he snaps at it. "How do we get it open?"

"Like I'm going to tell you," the Abyss Mage chitters, its voice high and cracking and full of vicious glee. "You'll never get through- aaah! That hurts!"

Diluc lets the flame die. "Tell us, or it's going to hurt a lot more."

"Favonians who can't even figure out the order of the elemental monuments on your own- aaah! Ow! Okay! The first, third and fifth have to be lit at the same time, while the other two are left alone, or they all go out! Aaaaah, I'm not lying!"

With a jerk of his claymore, Diluc slices through the Abyss Mage's neck, and it dissolves into powdery black smoke. Then he rises and turns to study the elemental monuments arranged around the pillar in which the Anemoculus is said to be encased. The way they're set, she can tell his phoenix can't hit all three at once without lighting the two in between.

"You could get those two," Lumine suggests, pointing to the two on the end. The curving way the monuments have been arranged in front of the pillar means that there's a straight line between them that wouldn't touch the others. "And Amber can shoot the third at the same time."

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Amber pulls an arrow from her bow and sets it to the string, looking at Lumine with a smile. "Just give me a signal."

"Fine," Diluc says shortly, and walks to where he needs to stand to line up the phoenix. He, too, looks at Lumine for a signal.

Lumine takes a couple of steps back, just in case, and raises a hand. "Fire!" she calls, snapping it down.

Amber's arrow flies and flashes, the phoenix blazes forward, and the three monuments light up, Pyro sigils shining above them as veins of elemental energy run glowing down them like lava down a volcano's side. There's a click from the pillar, then a grinding of stone, and a portion of the front slides away. The Anemoculus--a blue-green orb framed with irregular, feathery wing-like protrusions, with a more stylized wing-like symbol shining from within the orb--rotates slowly within. She can feel the Anemo energy radiating off of it, generating a cool breeze that flows through the room.

Slowly, entranced by the beauty of the elemental object, Lumine starts forward. She reaches a hand out towards it as she passes the monument that Amber had lit.

But Amber is faster. She dashes forward and thrusts her hand into the pillar, snatching the Anemoculus from its prison. As she turns about, Lumine unthinkingly reaches towards her, expecting to be handed it. Amber just pulls her goggles down and bounces backwards, using the tilt of the floor to speed her movement.

"Sorry, Lumine. I wish I didn't have to do this, you seem really nice. But Sir Kaeya says Master Jean needs these, and even if he's too lazy to get them himself, I can't let you have one. I really hope I didn't mess things up for you too much. Good luck finding your brother! Sir Diluc, I'll tell everyone you said hi!"

As Diluc lunges for her, face twisted in fury, hands outstretched, she flings herself through the arching, open window behind her and into the freezing winds below. Amber twists about in the air, clutching the Anemoculus to her chest with one hand and pulling the string on her wind glider with the other. Wings snap out behind her and she catches the wind, soaring away and down with expert speed.

"After her!" Lumine shouts at Diluc, charging towards the same window, reaching for the release of the glider Amber had told her to keep as she goes. She can hear his feet on the floor behind her. Paimon, wailing in alarm, grabs Lumine's arm and clutches on tight as they launch.

The winds battering at her out here are entirely different from those they'd flown on in the tower. While they aren't as strong, they also aren't nearly as directed. With only her minimal experience, Lumine can't manage to steer herself after Amber, who is dwindling into a spiraling red-brown dot in the distance. Diluc has more experience with wind gliders, but he seems to be having just as much trouble--no, more, one wing, the supposedly fixed wing, stiff and unmoving even when the other one flexes. He's caught by a particularly strong buffet and tumbles as something in the unmoving wing, unable to flex, instead snaps.

With Amber already out of reach, Lumine turns and dives as best she can after Diluc instead. He doesn't fall at deadly speed, but it's still a good clip, and he hits the ground below with a crash sufficient to throw up snow in a blinding cloud all around. Lumine wipes it from her eyes as she lands, then wades through the waist-deep drifts until she finds Diluc fumbling out of them, snow turning to water wherever he's touched and then freezing right back into ice.

All around them, the wind is still swirling, carrying even more snow than before. Lumine looks up at the slate-grey sky that's all she's ever seen in Snezhnaya, searching for a darker blotch. "I think a blizzard may be coming on...."

"It's no blizzard." Finally making it to his feet and dusting off the worst of his snow from his clothes and hair, Diluc reaches again for his claymore as he peers out into the blinding flurries all around. This time he draws it, holding it in front of him, a thin line of flame dancing along the blade. "It's worse."

"What's worse?" Paimon asks, slowly letting go of Lumine's arm and floating up to peer over her shoulder.

Out of the white wall of snow, a figure appears, striding confidently towards them. A tall woman, clad in black and white with a blue cape swirling behind. Lumine is shivering in this even deeper chill, but she seems entirely untroubled. She's carrying a claymore that looks like it's been carved out of ice, held high and ready to swing, the flat resting on her shoulder.

"Diluc Ragnvindr," she says, staring haughtily at Diluc. Somehow the tilt of her chin makes it seem like she's looking down at him, even though he's the same height or taller. "How annoying."

"Sir Eula?" Lumine guesses, glancing at Diluc and then back at her.

"Yes. Sir Eula Lawrence, Captain of the Reconnaissance Company, and Fourth Harbinger of the Knights of Favonius, to be precise." She turns that disdainful look on Lumine. "Amber tells me you're... *nice*... so I will not take vengeance on this traitor here and now, in circumstances where you may get in the way. But if you threaten Amber or our mission, I will not hesitate to turn my blade upon you."

Lumine tenses, reaching for her sword, but Diluc reaches out and puts a hand on her shoulder. It's warm on Lumine's bare skin even through his still-wet glove. "This isn't the place to fight her," he says, low-voiced, frustration audible through his gritted teeth. "Report back to the Tsaritsa, and we'll work out our plan from there."

"Wise of you," Eula says. She stands there, claymore on her shoulder, not moving an inch, as she watches them walk away.

[tinirainboom]

What if that whole scene was a complete lie? GENSHIN IMPACT THEORY by Tinirainboom

Since the truth is that the player's choice does not matter and it does not change the story of the game, then... What if we never had a real sister? since in reality the canon is Aether and Lumine is the one with the abyss…

(it is shown by the plot cinematics that genshin shows of trama like "We will meet again", "Footprints", “Dim Luminar”, "The road not taken" and “Passing Memories”)

and it is a whole lie created by the Teyvat matrix itself to deceive the MC or us like players?

We do not have "real" evidence about the story of the "twin brothers" since it cannot be possible that one is descended and the other is not, that is where something does not add up. That also happens to Aether when Nahida tells him this. So... "Lumine" means light and "Aether":

According to Greek and medieval science, ether (ancient Greek: αἰ��ήρ, aither), also called quintessence, is the material that fills the region of the universe above the sphere land. The concept of ether was used in several theories to explain various natural phenomena, such as the movement of light and gravity. In the late 19th century, physicists postulated that the ether permeated all space, providing a medium through which light could travel in a vacuum, but evidence for the presence of such a medium was not found in Michelson's experiment. Morley, and this result has been interpreted in the sense that there is no luminiferous ether. The word αἰθήρ (aithēr) in Homeric Greek means "pure, fresh air" or "clear sky"(Aether's Japanese name is Sora= Sky). In Greek mythology, it was believed to be the pure essence that the gods breathed, filling the space where they lived, analogous to the air mortals breathed. Even Aether is also personified as a deity, Ether, the son of Erebus and Nyx in traditional Greek mythology.

Do you see that it is no coincidence that just "Aether" the canon MC is a descendant? Hoyoverse is not silly and does not do things at random.

And many times we are the only ones who can do things that others cannot and "coincidentally" there are no other people who interact with "Dainsleif", only Khaenri'ah characters interact with him such as Kaeya in the Sumeru mission, or the mention of Capitano in the Natlan mission, even our supposed "twin brother" and then us (we don't count Paimon since it is clear that she is not a being from that world, Teyvat). The same data from the game says that there can be no living beings in the Abyss (we already witnessed that from the victims of Natlan, Sumeru, Liyue/The Chasm...) and just "Lumine" is there, like the "princess of the abyss" she is DEAD, the same thing happens with the people of Khaenri'ah, they are DEAD IN LIVING/SOULS IN BARRAIN due to Celestia's punishment, that is why they are still in the world of Teyvat. That means that the twin brother that is with the Abyss is our counterpart, since as I explained before the "Aether" is EVERYTHING, and the light "LUMINE" is a part of that, just a fragment. For some reason she tells us, "We will meet again", "You will understand everything at the end of the journey", she speaks in a context future in the past tense (avoiding giving the answer so that you understand for yourself by taking the journey to reveal the truth) and as if we need to remember WHAT REALLY HAPPENED and Dainsleif's character is the part of that key.

Since he (Dainsleif) himself also has the attitudes of someone who IS DEAD, like on those occasions when he always lets us (MC) do the work, not HIM, for example: "I can't now, I have to go", "I'm just passing through" or he leaves without say anything, this type of actions are of a soul in pain and just his peers or someone related to the abyss, like "Lumine" can communicate with him, even Zhongli said that he cannot speak about him or the TRUTH because of a "contract". Even Venti in one of the voice lines tells us that "he's seen us before" and coincidentally "we" don't remember it. That further supports that Lumine is simply a fragment of the MC and that is why we are incomplete. Even Lumine has these "living dead"/lost soul attitudes when she appears. Lumine evades the important questions we ask her in the Archon Quest Chapter IV: Act VI - Bedtime Story, answering in a vague, generic way about something we really know called "the Loom of Fate" and only naming "her plans", enigmatic way to avoid specifically answering "TO HER OWN BROTHER" on purpose. She even wants to prevent us from teaming up with Dain and said it to our faces in Archon Quest Chapter I: Act IV - We Will Be Reunited: "why are you with Dain?", "You shouldn't team up with this man. He is my enemy”.

⭐︎Fun fact 1: Did you know that Aether's earring starts in black on its journey through Teyvat and over time it changes to the color spectrum of the elements of each nation while Lumine's light was always white and never changed? Aether = everything, Lumine = light. Even Lumine's clothes are white, and what's the light like? WHITE, however in Aether it is more varied, he has balance, with dark colors and a white scarf and cape with a drawing of a golden shooting star on it. Coincidence? I don't believe it. "Twins" always represent a duality. ⭐︎Fun fact 2: Did you know that the name Lumine in Japanese, Hotaru, means Firefly? In Japanese mythology, fireflies are associated with the spirits of the dead, referencing Hotaru's status as a warrior of death and rebirth. And "coincidentally" Lumine fights for the Abyss, which is death itself (we saw it in Natlan at its best pov) and wants to be "reborn", that is, reform the rules of Teyvat and govern it at his will. Here I give you an image of Fun fact 1:

Doesn't this remind you of something? he he

Surely we do fight against the "sustainer of heavenly principles" but not as really shown in the scene here in the beginning, which affects both counterparts about what they consider real and what not, because… if even the Irminsul himself can overwrite real information with false information like Scaramouche did. So, why shouldn't we doubt that just that "unknown Deity" has done something to us? Since Aether thinks she just sealed his powers, but like I said THAT'S WHAT HE BELIEVES. As she is an entity with great power and was not even seen sweating or struggling to catch the twins, even indirectly the same game confirms to us that the false sky is real thanks to the power borrowed from Ronova the shadow of death of Phanes that she gave to Mavuika to defeat the abyss and unintentionally breaking the sky of Teyvat... It shows that this "deity", the "sustainer of heavenly principles" is capable of altering reality and space, and is surely capable of confronting others entities/descendants (like us) then... Why should we trust what we saw at the beginning of the game? since it may be an altered memory. Even with us, in real life, it happens that the brain fills in compiled information when it does not remember and you create a false memory.

The world of Teyvat is a matrix, a false reality. Even players with the pause menu can control "time", Mavuika also told us that time itself is an illusion since the past, present and future are the same line, they pass simultaneously. This can be confirmed with Aether since what he "supposedly" experienced with the "twin sister" and the incident of the "unknown Goddess" were as if it had happened to him yesterday and not 500 years ago. Time itself is relative. A classic reference to this is the movie Matrix Reloaded, in the scene of Neo talking to the Architect. And why am I referring to that scene? Because Neo being the "chosen one" is a failure of the Matrix system and the architect tells him this. In our case, Aether/MC is a flaw in the Teyvat system since he is a descendant, in short an outside entity/alien. Did you even realize that the decisions we make in Genshin Impact as players do not affect anything, that they are completely USELESS? Since a clear example is the Natlan war or the Sumeru's Samsara, it does not matter which direction you take, those people are going to die and you will not see them again, the same choice is a LIE, an ILLUSION. Unlike Honkai Star Rail, our decisions do change the story of the destination of MC's journey and this is demonstrated with the alternative endings with a black screen and it tells you what happens, but in Genshin this does not happen for a very simple reason. Teyvat is a world of lies, and within the matrix you cannot change things, something that Neo was not able to do at the beginning because he did not realize that he was the chosen one and could break the rules, something that MC still cannot do.

Ultimately, the problem is the choice, just like The Matrix Reloaded. Neo realized that the choice itself did not change things in his favor and the only thing it did was favor the vicious cycle of the Matrix, so he decided NOT TO CHOOSE and CREATE A SOLUTION. In the case of Neo there were 5 chosen ones before him and they fell into the trap, the same thing will have happened with the other three descendants of Genshin and now it is up to us, who we are the fourth to change the rules and not continue with the cycle. There is evidence that comes from the game itself that Teyvat is a lie and that is demonstrated in Wings of Feasting with its inscription, but the most important is what it says at the end: "Teyvat's borders have grown fragile these past two years — looks like Mommy's going to have to get busy." These are Alice's words towards Klee and the reason for his absence. It has already been shown that witches are entities that can create life and underworlds with their own rules within Teyvat (events of the Golden Apple Archipelago, the island of Sri Lanka, even the fantasy theater, etc). 

And now coincidentally all the archons are rebelling in their own way against Celestia giving the Gnosis that have divine knowledge and as Skrik said are part of the corpse of the third descended (Venti created a false Gnosis since if you pay attention when Zhongli or Nahida deliver the Gnosis They don't shine and the one that Signora grabs in Mondstadt does, like the lyre that "he repaired with his power") but with his attitude he shows that he knows more than necessary. And the Fatuis are putting everything together to carry out the Tsaritsa's plan against Celestia.

⭐︎Fun fact 3: When we have to choose the twin and we give him a name, will the rest of the people never say it? They are going to call us "Traveler", except for our supposed twin. The same thing happens in the Undertale game, that at the beginning of the game we choose MC's name but they call us "human" and at the end MC reveals his name and it is Frisk. The election is a lie. Also in Archon Quest Chapter III: Act VI - Caribert, the broken mirror scene is almost the same as the one in the movie Avengers Endgame when the Nebula of the past accidentally connected with the memories of the Nebula of the future? She was able to pass that connection since she was "relatively close" to the Nebula of the future and could not understand what was happening, the same thing happened to MC seeing his twin in his reflection, and that he was seeing through the memories of the counterpart of themselves and just right in the place of the events of the past but in another time. Which makes my theory stronger.   ⭐︎Fun fact 4: It should be noted that the Pari, creations made by the Goddess of Flowers (now completely proven that the Seeles were angels in the past, by Natlan's last mission in 3.1) were the ones who indirectly mentioned to us about Lumine and Dain's journey in Teyvat. Besides, it is no coincidence that they have the power to stop the abyss because they are the creation of an angel in itself. ⭐︎Fun fact 5: The story of the battle pass that Venti tells is an allegory of what is currently happening to these "supposed twins" and the snake acting as a temptation to the strange entity of the "Sinner" who himself says that: "O dear creature, why do you bow down? For fear of the unknown? Or for a power that you covet?, "O dear creature, why do you bow down? For I am no god... I am but a Sinner", "You are like a flower born in sin yet pure, spotless... I know your fate well", "You need no longer hold back your resentment, nor accept the countless lies", "Go forth, become a transcendent one, rise beyond the fate bestowed upon you...", "And I shall shed a tear at the end of time... as I look back upon your life". Words that served Lumine, who is the light, being a pure flower but who can sin, go to the darkness of the abyss. ⭐︎Final fact: If you paid attention to the "Footprints" video, at the beginning of the video "the so-called  twins" appear together in the field of happy flowers and then at the end of the journey of everything, Aether appears alone in that field looking at his hand with a face melancholic, serious and reflective, as if he had discovered a hard and cruel truth at the same time. As the saying goes: "The truth is a very difficult dish to swallow." And there is even another Genshin video that is "Genshin Impact Commemorative Preview «Dim Luminar»" that just "Lumine" tells the entire story that had happened until now (to Sumeru) as if it had been a "witness" of everything, just like a spirit that sees everything that happens to the rest because they became an entity of the fourth dimension. At the end of the video, our “supposed sister” says: "Let's continue another time. Sooner or later, he will leave his mark on the desert. I wonder what choices you will make, Aether?" At the end of the day, did you realize that the scenes between the two of them are like seeing a reflection of themselves? There are no differences and no changes in the history, but it is like seeing a mirror. Lumine at the end of saying that is like looking at yourself in a showcase and saying "what are you going to do this time, me from the past?"

Ready! end of all the argument and theory of Genshin. If you've made it this far, thank you very much for reading. Reblogs would serve a lot to spread this theory throughout the Genshin community.The images are not mine, they are from their respective gif creators. This theory is made by me and my father who we're players. If you're going to use it, give credits to this blog! Now, have a good day, afternoon or night.

~Reiko Yukimura~

[blood-orange-juice]

What if Capitano is the weapon, not the guy holding it.

Also:

Do you see my vision?

[edward-teach-born-on-the-beach]

Explaining The Importance Of The Flag Change In OFMD Episode 10

So, we all remember when Ed decided to change his flag from this (ep2):

To this (ep10):

right?

But because episode 10 was such a rollercoaster of emotions, I feel like we overlooked this key detail that has been sitting right in front of us the entire time. But I managed to figure it out today and it blew my mind to pieces.

So I decided to do a bit of a google research and apparently there is a certain code of meaning behind certain symbols on pirate flags.

-The skeleton is obviously an homage to the devil

-The drink in its right hand is hence supposed to signify a toast to the devil/evil/cruelty

-The spear in its left hand means war

But what about the bleading heart that Ed forced Frenchie to add?

Well, when I watched the episode for the first few times I always thought of the bleading heart as a metaphor for Ed’s pain which he wants the whole world to know about by showing it on his flag - but no.

Holy fuck no. It is SO much worse.

The bleading heart means that no quarter will be given.

Now “hold up, hold up”, I hear you say, “What does that mean?”

“To give quarter” was the moral code amongst pirates that when an encountered ship was willing to surrender a fight and their goods their lifes would be spared.

So you might have already guessed it, “no quarter given” means that even if the enemy surrenders their lifes won’t be spared.

Or to put it quite literally:

(The new) flag means death

Ed’s heart and mind have been broken so severly that as a result he went from being the man who told Stede that he couldn’t and wouldn’t kill again, to the man who promises anyone, no matter how innocent they may be a certain death if they get anywhere near him.

This man has been triggered so much by Stede’s crew that he literally dropped them of on an island to forget the pain of the love of his life leaving him yet still decided to keep Frenchie around to have someone who could create this new flag.

He willingly accepted the pain of having someone around who reminded him of Stede just to create a physical promise to himself and to Stede that Blackbeard is back - more cruel than ever - and that Edward Teach is now a relict of the past.

[katyspersonal]

can I ask about the furtive pygmy… any information you think is important to know! I got into dark souls this year and have been very curious about the role this character plays (also, are they related to manus? I have seen a lot of people often mention them together, so im wondering what the case is!)

Ahhhh, yeah, the fURTIVE PYGMY, SO EASILY FORGOTTEN

Yeah, this "character" only appears on the screen once... well, maybe twice, because there is also this very gay significant statue in the Ringed City at the end of the world, where Pygmy Lords did go:

Though this might reflect Pygmy as folks in general rather than that person, as well as it is unclear whereas Gwyn is giving the Pygmy here the crown OR taking it away!

The "Furtive Pygmy" gets mentioned only once in the intro of Dark Souls 1 and directly never again, and appears to be featureless, raceless and genderless 'idea' of a humanoid rather than someone concrete, albeit with proportions and height notably more lanky than those of an average human! However, the Pygmy are not "just" like this! For example, here is an average Pygmy Lord:

They are very dead because you find this corpse in the condition where the time itself was forced to outrun itself (you'll get there eventually, not sure how far you are in the trilogy and lore). However, you see the clothes and hair! It WAS a person with features! I think it makes sense for progenitor of all humans, which 'Furtive Pygmy' IS, to start out as an 'idea' of a human rather than someone with concrete traits, but they might assume particular form later down in life!

As for connection with Manus, the most likely version is that Furtive Pygmy who discovered the Dark Soul and created the Humanity from it IS Manus! This is what Kaathe has to say about Furtive Pygmy:

Kaathe is a person as old as Frampt, who knew Gwyn in person:

So, basically? Manus himself could not have been that Dark Lord figure who was born amongst humans in the end, despite Gwyn's fears, and simply predated us if we chose the Dark Lord ending! Because then, Kaathe would have instead mentioned that there was a Dark Lord, who got defeated or something along those lines, and now Kaathe seeks another! And whereas Kaathe does mention that everyone "failed him", Manus himself was not that "failure"! The problems started because of those who disturbed Manus from his grave (!):

Sorry I forgor to screenshot Gough's dialogue If Kaathe wanted Manus to be the Dark Lord, then why THE heck would people of Oolacile "drive him mad" to the point of his Humanity running wild?Because grave of Manus IS pretty human-sized:

In either case, is not it... odd, that Kaathe was seeking to turn Manus into the source of the Humanity running wild, as opposed to making Manus succumb to Dark like it was with the Four Kings? 🤔 He could not claim Manus to be the failure when he was driven mad under his request to begin with! This mess, if anything, was planned. And if we think that long ago Manus was someone Kaathe turned to Dark but Manus "failed" him, then why would Kaathe want to awaken him again? The "failure"?

It makes more sense that Kaathe was seeking his darkness rather than himself! I think that waking Manus up was needed to MAKE the Abyss spread, and from THAT point Kaathe was even able to offer it to humans to begin with! Four Kings are simply an example on the forefront, as they had fragments of Gwyn's soul, but sounds like multiple others tried to follow the Dark and failed.

And... this IS thing with Manus: he is way, WAAAAY too powerful and significant to be simply a very strong human that fell for Darkness once. Like, Four Kings are not even close! The darkness of the Abyss itself, as well as Humanity itself, originates FROM Manus!

Guys I beg you screenshot EVERYTHING while you play it is so embarrassing aaaaaaa Like, this is already stupid powerful, don't you think? Who else can create the dark of the Humanity itself just like that? Not to mention how his influence was so strong that humanity within humans in 1000 yards distance from him reacted by running wild just like his does!

Dark Souls 2 also puts something in perspective! All the Lords (and Seath, apparently) are "reborn" in Dark Souls 2 into new forms! Mostly in spirit but hear me out!

The Witch of Izalith, after the destruction of the Bed of Chaos and after killing her new form, is eventually reborn as a little bug/parasite thing, but by the time of the game, she has found a host in the Lost Sinner; a woman imprisoned for a great crime but forgotten by time itself. Nito is destroyed but his essence comes to inhabit dark and abandoned places. In fact, he somewhat returns into the form of a great mass of desperate Hollows who had been thrown in the Gutter to fester. So he is somewhat reborn as the Rotten, who is said to be accepting of all those who are discarded. Nito was drawn to the forlorn and wished to embrace them.

Gwyn returns too, his essence seems to inhabit the fire of the earth. He has become "Ichorous Earth" as the game implies. The Iron King built his empire on the power of magma and smelted… well, iron… but after trying to give life to the fire and iron, the resulting abomination incinerated him and flung it into the lava where he had built his keep on top of. There, his remains and soul came into contact with the essence of Gwyn, and perhaps due to how similar they were, the two merged into a gigantic demon-like monster.

That would sort of leave out the Four Kings (just some guys with fragments of Gwyn's Soul) and Seath, right? But Seath also persists after death, and I guess it is fair enough because he is at least an Everlasting Dragon! He exists simply as a "Writhing Ruin" as the game puts it. He is an influence that can be felt, but not seen. And it is that influence that would control Duke Tseldora's pet spider and transform her into a giant monster, all so that they could reach the buried dragon corpse and its scale, useless to him now.

....and I cannot back up any of this shit in my screenshots dump fashion because like I said, I spoke too soon about being able to return to playing Dark Souls 2 haahaaaa! Okay it has been fixed by the time of writing this post (I owe @val-of-the-north and @fantomette22 my LIFE!!!). But yeah, notice how someone is still missing from the list? You could even say that someone seems to be........ FORGOTTEN 🥁 if you never send me another ask I won't blame you lol

Manus is reborn in the form of emotions he felt upon his death (want, loneliness, anger and fear), but notice how all important Lords of the Dark Souls 1 + one on their level like Seath make a return so far! So, what exactly makes Manus be on the same level as the first Lords, if he never discovered a Soul nor was offered enough of Gwyn's? Well.. I think in this case, most likely, he DID discover a Soul! Furtive Pygmy should have made "a return in spirit" in Dark Souls 2 all the same, and he DID!

There is also the fact that all these "reincarnation" are now known as 'Old Ones', and Manus is likewise referred to as 'Old One'. The 'old one of the Abyss'. He is very much someone on the same level, which he logically could only be if he is Furtive Pygmy! I guess I just strongly rely on the consistency from the devs, and really, Dark Souls 2 team never flopped! If anything, this game helps to understand Dark Souls lore in general a whole bunch.

Not to mention that whereas as you can see Pygmy and humans are absolutely interchangeable concepts as far as Dark Souls 1 goes (nor anything further on retcons it completely), Manus is referred in lore as "primeval" human! It has an awfully similar ring to "your human progenitor", right?

He might have been the very first Pygmy, or might have been among the first ones of this kind! After all, Lloyd is an uncle of Gwyn, despite Gwyn's stupidly significant status for the form of the world itself! Everybody appeared from the Dark towards the Light, and even that fourth "dark Soul" discovered by 'Furtive Pygmy, so easily forgotten' is a flicker of light and much smaller than others! It refers more to the power of world-shaping rather than the nature of Soul, like how Nito was shown already dead when he discovered his Soul but now he was capable of infecting the rest of the world with death! Similarly, Gwyn didn't create the Light but became what emanates it, and Manus did not create the Dark but became what emanates it. His Japanese title is 深淵の主, マヌス and 主 means lord/master/head/supervisor/etc rather than 'father'!

What he DID create, though, is humanity! So, I think it is fair to acknowledge him as a primeval human rather than a Pygmy! And he moved from that 'featureless' initial state it seems, as he wielded the staff and wore a pendant he cherishes so much. (.....actually, now that I think of it, I should check full Japanese dialogue, because knowing localization team's track record, Manus might not even be a 'he' in the end sdhfhdsf 主 is gender neutral! Let's put a pin on that)

His own Soul is also THE darkest Soul in the entire setting! The second in darkness is Gael's Soul, and that guy has been consuming Humanity for a very long time! Something Manus didn't do. He does the opposite, actually!

_____________________________

So... Yeah. I think everything points towards the fact that Furtive Pygmy is Manus, especially seeing how Lord of the Dark is a position of a human and somehow Manus, both primeval human and literal Lord of the Abyss, still didn't qualify for such! If despite being the darkest creature to ever exist he is still not 'a Lord of Dark born amongst humans', it simply means the darkness already was his before humanity was created! I don't see any other reason for Kaathe to encourage raising him from the death besides to trigger the spread of the Dark itself!

I really hope I was able to explain myself.. Soulsborne lore is hard because even the most obvious things are only implied and not directly said, so you can always fall into a rabbithole of 'but what if's

Bonus:

Manus is also a rat girl, apparently ffdhfdhsg

[baking-cha05]

A deal with the devil

[ri-writes-if]

Knowing more about Selene now, there are some instances so far that make it seem like she's trying to use MC as a portal? Not quite posessing them but, idk, "hitch a ride" or something. Either way I'm pointing at my eyes then hers.

Curious 👁👁