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trashcanlore · 1 year ago

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Kabbalah in the Worldbuilding of Genshin Impact; Part 1: The Tree of Life, the Universe, and Everything

Edited for clarity, 12/6/23

Written by Schwan (@abyssalschwan on twitter) and Sabre (trashcanlore, @paimoff on twitter)

During the Sumeru Archon Quests, we learned that the Irminsul is a (real! (ish)) tree that grows upside down, seemingly underground, and that the roots of the tree are the Ley Lines, which extend throughout Teyvat and the Abyss. Irminsul stores all knowledge and memories in the world, and the Ley Lines are the mechanism by which the tree acquires this information. Ley Lines move elemental energy through Teyvat, and this energy acts as both a storage medium for information but also a resource that can be utilized for combat, alchemy, an energy source (Azosite), etc.

The origin of the name Irminsul (unique to the Western localizations) in combination with the many names from Norse mythology associated with Khaenri'ah, suggest that the inspiration for Irminsul is Yggdrasil, the world tree and central axis of the cosmos in Norse mythology. Here we propose an additional inspiration for Irminsul and the associated worldbuilding and elemental system of Teyvat: The Kabbalistic Tree of Life. In this model, Teyvat’s elemental energy is comparable to the creative energy described by Kabbalah as the foundation for the creation of reality and the spiritual world. Specific attributes of elemental energy can be channeled by unique individuals in Teyvat and these attributes manifest as distinct elements, which can be directly compared to the 10 sefirot, or emanations, described in Kabbalistic literature.

What is Kabbalah?

Kabbalah (lit. received, tradition) is a school of thought originating in Jewish mysticism. In general, Kabbalah focuses on the relationship between the infinite (God) and the finite universe and how it was created. The goal of studying this mysticism can vary depending on the school of thought and their motivations. Many of the esoteric and religious influences on Genshin lore and worldbuilding were influenced by Kabbalah, or vice versa. These include Gnosticism, Hermeticism, alchemy, Freemasonry, the occultist branches of Theosophy and Thelema (Golden Dawn), astrology, symbolic interpretation of the tarot (also specific to the Golden Dawn) and more [2]. In short, Kabbalah is everywhere. Additionally, its concepts are used as symbolism in several pieces of media that directly or indirectly inspired Genshin and other games in the Hoyoverse.

If you have frequented Genshin lore topics, you might have heard that one of the main sources of inspiration for its worldbuilding is Gnosticism. The problem is, Gnosticism is a bit vague or contradictory when it comes to how the world was created and how the whole existence thing works. At this current moment in the storyline of Genshin, we have very little information on the very beginning of existence in Teyvat. This information seems to be a crucial part of the “truth of the world�� and appears to be purposefully hidden by powerful factions like Celestia. This entire theory was born out of trying to make sense of what little we know about the creation of Teyvat and comparing it to esoteric commentaries on the well known creation myth of the Torah (Old Testament). The “Biblical world structure” interpretation of Teyvat has been around since the early days of Genshin lore and with good reason; there are frequent mentions of the firmament, as well as the name Teyvat sounding very similar to the Biblical Hebrew word for ‘ark’ (although the grammar is a bit mangled). There are also several references to stories from the Bible in in-game texts, including Before Sun and Moon.

Kabbalah literature spends a lot of time trying to understand and describe the process of how the world was created and the underlying principles of reality, as well as how spiritual practice can change that reality (either metaphorically or literally). Kabbalah intends to describe the “true nature of God,” which is equal to the entirety of existence, as something very vast and completely impossible to grasp. This incomprehensible infinity emits an “limitless light” that is the origin of all creation. Elemental energy (the ubiquitous source of everything in Teyvat) is often found compared to light, something we’ll discuss in more detail later. The “limitless light” of Kabbalah is way too powerful for existence to bear, much like how elemental energy is to normal, non-Vision having humans. That’s why this light needed to be “filtered” down. This happens through the process of creation, which passes the light through the spiritual attributes that form the Tree of Life, which is like a sort of diagram for how the universe came into being [3].

The Tree of Life

The tree of life and its 10+ nodes, known as sefirot, is one of the most well-known concepts from Kabbalah to make its way into popular culture. As mentioned previously, the tree has been used as rule-of-cool symbolism in anime such as Neon Genesis Evangelion and Fullmetal Alchemist, two pieces of media that likely are significant influences on Genshin (If you doubt that HYV loves NGE, play some Honkai). The sefirot are also depicted on the floor of the Schicksal HQ map in Honkai Impact 3rd, for some reason.

The sefirot and their organization and interactions with each other can be found depicted in many ways, such as the tree format that is the most popular, or a spiraling nested scheme that is really cool, or even very stylized, like the work of Robert Fludd.

Sefirot

Sefirot comes from the root word in Hebrew meaning “to count,” but you can also find it translated as “sphere” in some texts. The term originated in a book on Jewish mysticism called the Sefer Yetzirah, or “Book of Formation/Creation.” which describes the combination of the “sefirot of nothingness” and the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet as the foundation of reality (remember the hypostasis codenames?).

The Sefer HaBahir (lit. the book of brightness, 13th century France) introduces the idea that the sefirot are emanations of the divine. Interestingly, this book refers to the sefirot as ma’amarot (sayings), which builds on an important concept in classical Jewish philosophy – the idea that God spoke the world into existence. [We’ll get back to the Sefer Yetzirah and the role of language in creating the world in a subsequent part of this theory]. Fontaine 4.2 era edit: HELL YEAH stay tuned for more about Oceanids!!

Historically, Kabbalah might have taken this rough concept from a very different school of thought: Pythagoreans or neo-Platonists. Briefly, the connection between the Pythagoreans and the Kabbalistic sefirot is that both groups considered the world as being made of numbers. This ties back into Genshin worldbuilding because of how much Platonism is related to Gnosticism. Something else to keep in mind is that Pythagoreans (who had a cool history that connected Egypt and Greece to the magic of ✨math✨ but also hey Genshin lore hello Deshret) were known to use lyres as their instrument of choice while making mathematical studies of music. More sus Venti lore for the collection? This is also interesting to consider in the context of Nahida, who is deeply connected to the Irminsul, and has animations that are reminiscent of computers.

Later in the 13th century, the Kabbalist Isaac the Blind would 'canonize' the list of sefirot (there’s still some variation to this day) and organize them into a sequence that would become the basis for the famous Tree of Life structure. His writings described the sefirot as attributes of the divine and their role in the creation of the world. In his model, the sefirot originated from lights that emerged from a primordial soup of potential, and these sefirot/lights would then ‘flow’ and emanate into each other. His student, Azriel of Gerona, expanded on this with a neo-Platonic lens and introduced the concept of the Ein Sof, the infinite nothingness that cannot be comprehended and is the origin of everything. In this model, being flows from an infinite resource of potential, which the divine can utilize through the framework of the sefirot, eventually creating the world [4]. In simple terms, the Ein Sof, which contains everything, emits a primordial light that then differentiates into the sefirot. In our Genshin analogy, this primordial light would be like extremely pure elemental energy that differentiates into elements, like light passing through a prism.

Moses Cordovero, an important figure in the development of Kabbalah, described the process of the sefirot differentiating with the analogy of light shining through a stained glass window:

Imagine a ray of sunlight shining through a stained-glass window of ten different colors. The sunlight possesses no color at all but appears to change hue as it passes through the window. The light has not essentially changed though it seems so to the viewer. Just so with the sephirot. The light that clothes itself in the vessels of the sephirot is the essence, like the ray of sunlight. That essence does not change color at all, neither judgment nor compassion, neither right nor left. Yet by emanating through the sephirot -- the variegated stained glass -- judgment or compassion prevails. (Pardes Rimmonim by Moses Cordovero, translated in Essential Kabbalah by Daniel Matt)

Cordovero considered the sefirot to be completely independent of each other, but the later Lurianic school of Kabbalah (we’ll get into them more in later parts) considered the sefirot to be constantly dynamically interacting with each other and also assigned them personas.

Achievement grinders amongst us may recall the descriptions of the namecards you get upon completing the Elemental Specialist achievement series:

Achievement: Colors of the Rainbow: Light can refract into countless colors, but people stop at seven because they're too lazy to count. Perhaps the elements are like that, too. Achievement: Seven Lights: Anyone can play a tune that belongs just to them, and like the dew under grass, can reflect the seven lights of heaven.

Another example of the elements being compared to light is the Latin text found on the magic circles on the door of Mona’s future house in Mondstadt and generated by the hypostases during their missile attacks. The text reads:

Ex culmine lucis in magno elementorum, which translates to "From the peak of light, to greatness of the elements."

It’s interesting to see this text appearing in association with the hypostases since they are described as “life forms which have completely abandoned their former appearance and biological structure, making them able to reach the highest level of elemental purity. They are ultra-compact structures with a high mass, and are the highest forms of elemental structures.” The hypostasis code names are also all Hebrew letters, as mentioned earlier.

Mona’s astrolabe during the Unreconciled Stars event features a similar text:

Ex culmine locis in magno elementorum; Lux se effundat in mentes dei, which translates to "From the peak of light, to the greatness of the elements; May light pour out, into the minds of god."

The Abyss Lector catalysts contain a text that mirrors these two examples:

Ex culmine lucis in mango obscuritas. Lux se effundat in mentes abysso, or “From the peak of light, to the greatness of darkness. May light pour out into the minds of the abyss.”

The Genshin elements are also described as flowing. For example, a loading screen tip specifically describes the Ley Lines as “A mysterious network that links the whole world together, within which flow the elements.” The Silver Twig description states: "All knowledge, memory, and experience flow through this giant tree, just like a stream flows into a river, the river joins a sea, the sea turns into clouds, and the clouds rain onto the ground — just like life itself."

Sefirot and the Genshin Elemental System

The 10 (sometimes 11) sefirot are:

Keter: Crown (this one is even more symbolic that the rest, is described as “the most hidden of all hidden things" in the Zohar, represent things that are above the mind’s comprehension and the very beginning of the process of turning potential into reality)

Chokhmah: Wisdom

Binah: Understanding/Reasoning

(Da’at: Knowledge, as a fusion of Chokhmah and Binah)

Chesed: Loving Kindness or Mercy

Gevurah: Strength/Severity, (sometimes Din, Judgement, or Pachad, Fear)

Tiferet: Beauty/Harmony, is associated with balance of the Tree of Life

Netzach: Eternity/Endurance

Hod: Splendor/Glory

Yesod: Foundation (as in, foundation of reality)

Malkhut: Kingdom/Sovereignty

You’ve probably noticed by now that while we are claiming that the concept of the sefirot applies to the elemental system in Genshin, there are 10 sefirot and only 7 elements (for now). Fortunately for us, the Kabbalists love metaphors and categories. In addition to the sefirot representing the procedure used to ‘emanate’ and create the world, there are other methods of interpretation that further subdivide and rank the sefirot. For example, one metaphorical interpretation of the Tree of Life assigns each of the sefirot to a part of the human body.

In some Kabbalistic traditions of interpreting the tree, the 10 sefirot are divided into two categories: Intellect (Keter, Binah, Chokhmah) and Emotions (they’re actually more like character traits), which contains the remaining seven. These categories are meant to parallel how the soul is also divided into the intellect and emotional components. The first three sefirot are also referred to as the “three mothers,” because they are the source of the lower seven [5].

Having a group of seven sefirot is very convenient for comparing their traits to the elements and their ideals, but what about the role of the higher three in Genshin worldbuilding? This next section requires a bit more conjecture than some other comparisons here.

The source of all elemental energy in Teyvat, whatever that actually is, could be compared to Keter (crown), the most hidden and incomprehensible of the sefirot. (Big stretch, but think of the crowns over the Irminsul trees in domains.)

Next, we have the Ley Lines, which contain dreams and memories (these are basically the same in Teyvat, see Dream Solvent description), and these can be compared to Binah (understanding/reasoning) and Chokhmah (wisdom). During the Sumeru Archon Quest, Rukkhadevata says that dreams are the source of the wisdom she upheld as her ideal. Memories play an important role in discerning the truth of the world, as the traveler has now found themselves to be the only person to remember certain people/events, and has been told to trust their memories rather than what they can see.

Comparison of the 'Lower' Sefirot to the Genshin Elements and Their Ideals

Chesed (loving-kindness); Cryo (unknown, theorized to be love)

The Cryo Archon’s ideal is theorized to be love, as it’s the only characteristic mentioned in relation to her in the Travail trailer. Wanderer’s voiceline about her directly mentions love and describes her as being kind and benevolent, while Childe describes her as extremely gentle. These are the characteristics of Chesed, which represents the trait of completely selfless love: the all forgiving, all giving love of a god towards their creations. When it comes to the Cryo element itself, two things are worth mentioning: one is the way that all of Snezhnaya is perpetually covered in snow, as if this were the (ironic) physical expression of the Tsaritsa’s love blanketing them. The second is the promise of a world-encompassing snowstorm that will envelop everything as the Fatui advance on their war against Celestia. Although it’s hard to find one absolute constant in Vision granting stories, it’s notable that most Cryo users got their Vision at a moment when they had to selflessly be there for others (Diona, Chongyun, Mika), or after a decisive moment where they put aside their personal comfort for an ideal that would result in benefit for others (Kaeya, Eula, Layla).

Gevurah (Severity); Hydro (Justice)

Gevurah is associated with divine judgment, the kind that punishes humanity and causes world-altering catastrophes like the flood or the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. The Hydro Archon organizing her nation around a Court that attempts to judge both deities and humans parallels this. In a more positive sense, Gevurah is also related to moral judgment that allows one to tell good from evil. Likewise, Hydro in-game is often associated with purity and separation of clean and unclean matter. When it comes to Hydro Vision wielders, one common characteristic is that they all live by a personal ethical code, and their commitment to it is what granted them their Vision.

Tiferet (Beauty/Harmony); Anemo (Freedom)

Tiferet balances the other sefirot on the tree and has direct connections to almost all of them (except for Malkut). Similarly, Anemo can facilitate many elemental reactions via its Swirl reaction. In our opinion, something almost all the Anemo characters share is that their moment of receiving a Vision coincides with a moment of balance and harmony with themselves or their environment. See Jean and Kazuha’s Vision stories and the cutscene where Scaramouche/Wanderer gets his Vision. As an aside, comparing harmony to Anemo is funny because Venti is a bard and harmony is also a musical term: in music theory, harmony is the way we analyze the interactions between different voices that can be heard at the same time.

Netzach (Eternity); Electro (Eternity)

The quality of “Eternity” in Netzach is related to victory against enemies, referring to eternity as being the most powerful combatant remaining among defeated adversaries. Likewise, in Genshin the story of the Electro Archon features many battles during the Archon War where Ei and Makoto ended up victorious. As for Electro users tend to have their Vision granted at a moment when their ambition “defeated” the obstacles of reality, as was the case with Fischl, Kuki and Lisa. Cyno’s Vision story makes sense when you compare it to the illumination of Buddha during meditation, and how this was victory over the temptation of the demon Mara.

Hod (Glory); Pyro (War)

Natlan and its Pyro Archon are possibly the most mysterious of all the regions, so we can only speculate. We know that the Pyro Archon is called the God of War, and that the Pyro Gemstone mentions battles, pilgrimages and truth. The sefira of Hod, translated as Glory or Splendor, is linked to being able to connect with God and therefore also associated with prophecy (as in the way a human can carry a message from God). In the Travail trailer, the Pyro Archon tells the traveler that “the rules of war are woven in the womb.” It's also theorized Natlan will be based on Mexica culture (where sacrifice of both enemies and self sacrifice was a way to connect with the gods) and via Iansan's name, the Caribbean diaspora version of Yoruba religion (where many rites involve the gods making themselves present in the material world).

Yesod (Foundation); Dendro (Wisdom)

Back when we started to think about this theory during version 2.8, we decided on Yesod largely via process of elimination. One piece of our rationale was that in the Jewish tradition, each of the lower seven sefirot are used to represent a primary personality trait of seven archetypal figures in the Torah. The person related to Yesod is Joseph, who is well known for his prophetic dreams, and because of the events of the Golden Apple Archipelago, we decided that was close enough. However, the 3.x version confirmed that a) Irminsul did actually exist, b) Dendro as an element has a deep relationship with the tree, with the Dendro Archon acting as its avatar, c) the ideal of wisdom as both Dendro Archons interpreted it has a lot to do with dreams, and d) Irminsul and the Ley Lines act as the foundation for how reality is perceived in Teyvat. Yesod is also associated with biological life, as it represents the reproductive organs in the human body scheme of the sefirot.

Malkut (Kingship); Geo (Contracts)

Malkut is associated with the connection between the spiritual "above" of the Tree of Life and the concepts it contains, and the "below" of the material world, where these concepts manifest into material reality. For this reason, Malkut is associated with the earth [6]. In many Geo item descriptions, like the Geo Hypostasis drop or Albedo's elemental skill, the motif of geo trying to reach the sky is a constant. From a religious POV, the relationship between the divine and humans living in the material world has also been one of "covenants," or "pacts", in a similar way to how the Geo Archon is the God of Contracts. Furthermore, contracts are the basis to have a working state (government), and a kingdom is one of the first forms of a state. Malkut also being related to earth and everything material parallels how Geo is an element that works in making constructs. Geo Vision users are likewise involved in making or maintaining structures, like the Knights of Favonius is for Noelle, or the tradition of alchemy is to Albedo, as well as opera to Yunjin and in a way, even the Oni identity for Itto.

The Origin of Evil and Why Irminsul is Upside Down

Tighnari tells us that Irminsul is a tree that “grows downward rather than upwards,” or in other words, it’s upside down. This isn’t the only time that we’ve encountered things in Teyvat being described as upside-down or mirrored, and as it turns out, there is a similar scenario described in Kabbalah. Throughout Kabbalistic discussions on the origin of evil in the world (both material and spiritual), a central idea developed is the existence of a mirrored or inverse Tree of Life that forms the demonic realm of evil. The Zohar, a foundational work of Kabbalistic literature, spends a considerable time discussing the origins of evil - there are more than 5 creation myths for the concept of evil! Two of these myths describe the formation of an inverse Tree of Life, called the Sitra Achra (literally “other side”). This tree is constructed out of corrupted fragments of divinity that did not make it through the creation process, and therefore became evil forces [7]. Evil is typically represented as either a shard (like of broken pottery) or as a husk/shell (Qlippoth in Hebrew). Sound familiar? We actually have an enemy with this name in-game; the "shadowy husks" (the CN name for these enemies literally translates to "empty shell").

Unlike the very well defined 10 sefirot of the Tree of Life, Kabbalists don't agree about the identities or number of the demons that form the Sitra Achra. Some names for these demons are consistent; such as Lilith, Samael, and Asmodeus, who make a sort of "mother, father, son" trio. As for the rest, scholars generally agree that Kabbalists blended traditions from nearby cultures depending on where they lived, leading to Arabic, Spanish and Germanic legends mixing into the Jewish tradition [8]. There's a strong possibility Hoyoverse did something similar and filled in the missing names with the names of the demons of the Ars Goetia, creating a system where the mirrored sefirot are “ruled” by demon gods, aka, the Archons. This implies that the reason Teyvat is upside down is because it is actually on the “other side.”

Neuvillette, About Us: Witness: Since you hail from beyond the stars, I invite you to be my witness as I judge this upended world…”Though we live in a world of disarray, I shall undertake to restore all that has been broken”.

[Fun Fact: The Zohar describes the construction of the Sitra Achra as a series of knots that arrange the demonic equivalent of sefirot, called either crowns or “breaths,” into a mirrored Tree of Life configuration [7]. ]

The primary goal of the Sitra Achra is to steal and absorb the divine energy of the Tree of Life to maintain its existence, in the hopes of gaining enough energy to destabilize the system [9]. The way Genshin's Archons use their Gnoses is similar to this system. In the Flower of Paradise Lost artifact lore, the Goddess of Flowers explains to Deshret and Rukkhadevata that when the Seelie race was disgraced, they lost their connection to Heaven and their power of "enlightenment". Later, Celestia would facilitate the Archon War with the promise that each winning god would be granted a Gnosis that would give them exceptional power. Both Nahida and Venti have described the Gnoses as being a very advanced tool that concentrates elemental energy. So far, Archons have had inherent elemental powers related to their nature, but when it comes to using large amounts of elemental energy through their Gnoses, they aren't creators but channelers of it, just at a much larger scale than humans who have Visions. Edit: and yes, there is the most recent revelation about the origin of the Gnoses that is extremely relevant to this comparison, but deserves its own space to be properly expanded on.

However, this doesn't mean Teyvat is condemned. Just as the Traveler has slowly been setting the chaos of elemental energy back into order (by, for example, returning the elemental Oculi to the Statue of the Seven, among many other things), so too is there a concept in Kabbalah describing the importance of righting the wrongs of the universe so that the sefirot are stable and creation is in harmony with the divine. This is called Tikkun Olam, or the repairing of the world.

Stay tuned for part 2 where we go into wayyyyy more detail about what this means for the Traveler's journey through Teyvat! 4.2 Edit: and of course will we will be talking about the most recent Gnosis revelation, as well as the Narzissenkreuz Ordo antics :D

References:

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/170308/jewish/What-is-Kabbalah.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermetic_Qabalah

Kabbalah - Origins of the Sefirot and Tree of Life - Isaac the Blind Saggi Nehor & Azriel of Gerona

Mystical Concepts in Chassidism - Schochct, Jacob Immanuel, chapter 2

Mystical Concepts in Chassidism - Schochct, Jacob Immanuel pg 66-67, Tanya ch. 3

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, Likutey Moharan I, 12:1 via Wikipedia

The Origins of the Klippot / Qliphoth & Sitra Achra in the Zohar - Kabbalah on the Problem of Evil

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/demons-and-demonology

9. Evil in Early Kabbalah - Emanations of the Left Hand Side - Origins of the Qliphoth / Klippot

#genshin #genshin impact #genshin lore #please tell me you get the joke in the title XD #the kids do not know about 42

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boundinparchment · 8 months ago

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I love your personality for dottore’s character! I like how he demonstrates his intelligence in a way that is not overbearing and cocky and how his actions have deep meanings behind them and not just for his satisfaction like most interpretations. how do you go about making such a character? Is it from purely your own perspective or is it influenced by other characters,books,philosophy concepts or any other piece of media?

Hi!

Some of his character is a personal interpretation but it’s based on a foundation from several other analyses and canon material that we have from the game.

Namely, some of the following Reddit threads:

Sadist or Scientist?

Dottore as a Villain and Sumeru’s Dysfunction

The Heresies of Il Dottore

There’s also a very long thread in this sub that’s living rent free

Along with the manga where we get a few crumbs for Celestia lore/Dottore’s perspective on allogenes, the Archon quest voicelines and Scara’s character quest, and Zandik’s notes found in the overworld.

@/ellalalala and localplaguenurse and haeresysabound also have their own analyses that prove really helpful and look at different facets of his character.

Most of it is a logical progression of how someone like him would think. He’s rational, observed before he acts, and doesn’t so much predict as follow the logic behind someone’s previous patterns of behavior. He’s arrogant to a fault but it’s posturing; a lot of people display that kind of behavior in the real world.

Most of the time, I start with a situation and, based on all of the above, I play, “what would Dottore do?”

He’s ultimately insatiably curious, chasing knowledge for the sake of it, just to see what happens.

Machines help him to understand the world and his interpretation of it. It goes to show how detached he is to consider a human body is nothing but a machine of its own, capable of surpassing the divine.

He’s more human than anyone because he seeks to understand and push the limitations; humans are naturally curious creatures who long to make the world better and leave a legacy behind.

But it’s not chaotic. It’s not The Joker style of curiosity where it’s bombastic and wild, a twisted version of a joke.

I’d argue that Webtorre is The Joker while Omega and in-game Dottore is Scarecrow.

And this is where myself (and others) differ because I do not think Dottore is a sadist. That he wants to harm people. It’s very obvious in several notes that, while not signed, are written in a manner that you know it’s Dottore. There’s one that lists several subjects and he considers the actions taken by a subordinate (I think it’s torturing one of them? Something drastic, will check) to be a waste of resources.

Is he apathetic? More than likely.

Does he enjoy seeing others suffer? Probably not. Why else would he be looking for a cure for Elezar, even as a byproduct to understanding the Withering?

He would probably actually be a failure at relationships precisely because he doesn’t know how to connect with people. If he would want to pursue a meaningful connection, there’s a lot stacked against him between trust issues built up over centuries, a detached worldview, and more than likely, a skewed sense of self (he’s arrogant but to a fault where he’s clearly still sensitive about how no one but himself sees him as a scholar). So many of the meaningful reasonings to his actions stem from this in particular.

My personal suggestions for additional insight would be:

Most renditions of the Scarecrow from Batman. How he sees fear is how I imagine Dottore understands knowledge. The more you have of it, the less you can fear, the better to understand the world around you.

I’ll put more here as they come to mind, because I’m definitely forgetting others at the moment.

#thank you for this!#dottore #il dottore #one day I will write an essay that additionally condenses all of this #there’s so much lore that needs to be extrapolated lol #but I am under a time crunch rn and this was what my brain spit at me

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ymechi · 1 year ago

Text

Yandere creator reader

I did not think I would write anything for this blorbo I had but so many people liked and I got inspiration from the comments! Thank you everyone for the support!

-TW: Death, Gore, Dying in various ways, Torture

-Gn reader (I tried my best I hope it turned out gender neutral, please tell me if I did it wrong)

-English is not my first language and I have no beta/editor please tell me if I make any mistakes

You knew this was unhealthy, that this would make your issues worse but the loneliness was gnawing at you. It started small, just a mere speck but the spore grew more and more rotting your foundation. You found yourself often alone while your peers had connections, bonds, and kinship.

You had no one.

You tried so hard to make connections, yet you could not make that chain connect to the other person click. You wallowed in your own misery for a while, instead you filled your whole with fiction and fantasies. There at least in your mind you could construct those bonds and wouldn’t those made in your mind be stronger than those in reality?

You stumbled upon the game on chance. It was a coincidence but soon it became an addiction. Everything about the game captivated you. You loved the art, the gameplay the lore and of course the characters. You just adored these pixels on the screen, each and every one of them. You had none that you disliked. You cried and laughed at their stories and tried to get through every quest for their sake, you even got a part-time job so you could spend and *own* them all.

As you get more and more characters you are determined to build everyone, no one will be left behind.

You knew this was unhealthy and that this would contribute to your already waning social life and loneliness but you had no other outlet, no other hobbies.

You were still a respectable functioning member of society gacha game addiction aside, so no one bothered you or questioned you.

Then one day you woke up in Teyvat.

You thought it was a hallucination, it should be a hallucination perhaps this was your cue to finally go to a therapist and talk about your problems. You were beginning to see delusions-

Except it all felt so real, the leaves between your fingers, the wind softly caressing your face, and the ground beneath you was steady holding your weight.

You could feel a chain connecting you to Teyvat with a click.

This was your first real connection to someone, you could feel your face aching from your pleased smile.

You thought hopefully, perhaps, just perhaps you would be able to meet the characters. You know you were not some main character protagonist but just maybe you could become acquaintances and maybe friends? Hope blossomed inside of your chest and your heart beat faster.

If this was a dream you did not want to wake up.

This was a nightmare and you wanted to wake up.

That was your thoughts as an arrow hit you right in the throat, you wanted to scream but all you could muster was a gurgle. You know who shot this it was Venti - Barbatos- the anemo archon, with the same bow you had given him. You did not understand why he did that.

Was it you? Did you offend him? Why did he kill you when all you wanted to say was that you loved him.

You love love love love-

It was your last thought before you died.

Yet you woke up again.

Once again you died though this time a spear right through your heart, it was vortex vanquisher. You could not even utter a word shock seeping right through your body.

I love you, love you, love you, so why?

Your next death happened in a fury of storms, your body electrocuted and charred.

I still love you, love you, love you.

It went on and on, revival and rebirth. Deconstruction and reconstruction. You could not think clearly anymore, days bleeding together, helplessly wandering. You wondered if there was an end to this.

The same people who killed you were the ones you helped build once upon a time through a glass screen. They spoke of a creator up in Celestia whom they loved and who loved them. Who built them and made them stronger, that you were an impostor wearing their skin.

You did not think yourself capable of stealing a god's face. You were born this way. You wondered if you had hallucinated your previous life. It all sounds and feels so surreal. Yet the love you had for them as pixels on a screen lingered and remained even as you died again and again.

The only link, your only chain, your bond to Teyvat was your only solace.

Then one day the blood that splattered the ground turned golden and your murderers dear characters' faces turned shocked and horrified.

You yourself did not comprehend what was happening one day you were wearing rags, tired and cold the next you were sitting on a throne, cleaned and adorned in jewels.

Some tried talking to you but you were far out of your mind.

Then one day you heard someone crying. You curiously asked them why. Through their sobs you heard them asking for forgiveness.

Why?

They looked at you in sadness when you asked why. You approached them and softly whispered in their ear.

”I love you so much, there is no need to ask for forgiveness.”

Through everything your love still remained. It was the only thing that still remained from the old you. Yet the chain still would not click to link you together.

You went and grabbed a fruit knife near the table and looked at the person, your acolyte.

”Yet I would hate it if you looked at anyone other than me.”

They screamed as you stabbed their eyes, tears and blood flowing down their beautiful face.

Now finally the chain clicked and linked them to you.

You were overflowing with happiness and love and you wanted to share that with the rest.

Taglist: @eccedentesiast-sapphic @d0rmiens-fact0rem (sorry i thought you might be interested in this, if not i apologize)

#genshin sagau #genshin impact #yandere reader #sagau #imposter sagau #cult au #imposter au #i have no beta #please check the tws #gn reader

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danganronpadedication · 2 months ago

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DAY 3: DANGANTOBER

Day 3: Favorite THH Character Makoto Naegi is a cutie patootie. End post.

No, but in all seriousness, I love Makoto. I know I spent the majority of last post ranting about how much I love Hajime, but that doesn't mean I love Makoto any less.

I'll be real, I love the THH cast, so it was very difficult to pick a favorite from that group. I was between Celestia, Junko, Byakuya, and Makoto, but Makoto's who I went with. Like with Hajime, I was worried that Makoto would just be an self-insert character, and in-game, he kind of is? But people also misremember him in game. People characterize him all the time as non-confrontational, and just a hopeful, positive person, but he's a lot more nuanced than that.

Let's not forget that Makoto tried to throw hands with Monokuma more than once, that's pretty confrontational to me. While he puts up a front of a positive, hopeful person, he also has his moments of being affected by everything that's happened to him. Seriously, replay the game, he's got a lot more bite to him.

He's the kind of person I'd want to be friends with, he's a very sweet person, who's not afraid to throw down for the people he cares about.

I also really like his sibling relationship with Komaru. If you skipped UDG, I don't blame you, but aside from the obviously weird things happening in that game, there's also a lot of world building and substance. Maybe watch a playthrough, cringe with whoever's playing it, and get that good lore.

You can see it in the anime too, he just lights up when he sees Komaru's transmission go through, because it's confirmation that he still has her around. Up until that point, he wasn't sure if his family was still around, and now he knows he still has his sister. It's very sweet, and the way he has so much faith in her, and knows she's capable to do whatever it is she needs to do.

But it's The End of Hope's Peak anime that really does it in for me, and cements him as one of my favorite characters. I get it, I'm basic. But one of the bigger points I see get brought up about Makoto, is that they don't really explore the trauma that would go along with being in a game like that. Which is false, but it's definitely something the game doesn't really focus on for the sake of plot.

But in the anime, you can really see how much that affects him. Makoto Naegi suffers from survivor's guilt, and it's so incredibly potent. That moment made me so sad, I had to close my computer and actually GO TO SLEEP? That can't be right. Granted, I watched that episode at like, 2AM, but rewatching it in the morning hit just as hard.

Like with Nagito, Bryce Papenbrook really gives his all for Makoto, including in the anime. You hear it all the time, whether he's just giving someone a pep talk, or reacting to the newest death in the game. He's smarter than people give him credit for, like in the fight with Munakata, he figures out his forbidden action and traps him in a situation where he needs to sit down and talk with him, all on his own. I'd say he's more emotionally intelligent, but he's definitely got brains in his little noggin.

Please, I want his Nendoroid so badly. I own a plushie of him in Future Arc, I bought it at a local fair, and he's my prized possession.

On the topic of emotional intelligence, he's very forgiving and compassionate too. One thing you should know about me, is that I love the SDR2 cast, including when they're the Remnants of Despair. They're cool, their designs are cool, and they're CRIMINALLY underused. Makoto is the one who was able to see past the people they had become, and see the hurt people underneath. Most of the world had written them off as despair-laden monsters, but Makoto actually went against the wants of the Future Foundation in order to rehabilitate them.

Even if it causes him issues, Makoto is very caring and will do what's right. His sense of morality is one that is evidently difficult to skew.

And finally, he's a cutie patootie. The rest of this post will be GIFs of him looking adorable.

Lord, let me pinch his cheeks.

-Mod Tsumugi

#danganronpa #makoto naegi #danganronpa trigger happy havoc #thh #dr thh #dangantober

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doctordeathawaits · 8 months ago

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Dear Death,

I have seen the tips you have given others and have used a few of the myself, but I was wondering if you have tips for transblack transitioning? I would greatly appreciate whatever you can gather, especially when you're doing such a big service for so many in just a span of days!

Sincerely, with love, Princess Celestia☀️

gasp a real honour !

TRANS - BLACK ...

I feel like this is highly important - learn about the culture - Black people have a beautiful culture and long history that's worth looking into .

Appearance wise - try getting a perm , black people have beautiful curly hair , getting a little bit of a perm can help with euphoria .

You can also get wigs that are type 4 hair , there are many ranges - from 4a to 4c , ranging in length and style < 3 Although you do not need curly hair , as straightening is quite popular , there are many tutorials of how to style edges < 3

Regarding skin , fake tans are a very good options ! There are tinted ones that really last long that I suggest . As time goes on you can try tanning in the sun , especially since summer is near - remember to stay safe and use sunscreen < 3

Using makeup ! Using a foundation that's a little darker and using it on your face and neck can help appear darker ! Bronzer can also help while using highlighter to exaggerate your wanted features .

Hope these have helped even just a little bit < 3 Happy transitioning < 3

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mangoshibi · 1 year ago

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The mastermind Hiro Au is never far from my mind and I've always wanted to take a crack at drawing survivors after high school and working at the future foundation. So here's Leon and Celestia. Leon works on the field using his skills to rescue other survivors, only ever taking a break for a fun baseball game to relax and boost the morale of others. Celestia's work involves calculating where to push the monokuma army back and attack. Her tactics involve high risk, but we all know she doesn't step down from a gamble. She also owns a castle used as a refugee camp/hospital for those rescued before they can be rehoused into a more comfortable community ( that is being built by Mondo, head of construction)

#dangronpa #drthh #thh #leon kuwata #celestia ludenberg #mastermind yasuhiro #yasuhiro hagakure #mmyasuhiro #shibi art #their designs might be adjusted later #but i really like how they came out

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kayetra-spade-queen · 6 months ago

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Because I don't wanna make a video essay, so have a written essay instead because I absolutely can.

I'm gonna talk about the Loom of Fate, the 5 Sinners, and theorized what will happen to Teyvat.

(SPOILERS AHEAD. I SUGGEST GOING THROUGH THE QUEST FIRST)

I must warn you that these are all theories made by what's given by Genshin so far, so please don't take anything too seriously until we finally get the full picture.

Ok, so after AQ Bedtime Story (good god, that was a rollercoaster, although it was short), we've gathered a few things;

Loom of Fate is essentially made to replace or at least be on par with Irminsul, hence the connection between Ley Lines and people's memories.

The caused of the Khaenri'ah cataclysm wasn't the Khaenri'ahns entirely, but the 5 Sinners.

Celestia had been asleep ever since the cataclysm and hadn't woken up, even when Irminsul was altered and Focalors destroying her throne.

The Sinners (+ Dain) are trying to go up against a Vinster King.

The Sinners in question left Khaenri'ah when the cataclysm happened, leaving all of their people to deal with the bullshit they themselves had made. Talk about responsibility.

The Sinners

Hroptatyr The Wise: I assume that he will have something to do with the Forbidden Knowledge, that's why he was titled "the wise". We have not attain any information about him from any characters as of now.

Vedrfolnir The Visionary: We found out that he is Dainsleif's older brother, and we also found out that he is also the voice that we (reliving as our Sibling in memory) heard as "The Voice in The Head", and was the one who inspired Chlothar into founding the Abyss Order in the first place.

Rhinedottir Gold: We know that she is the creator of Albedo and his siblings. She was the one who brought abyssal monsters into Teyvat in the first place. For the longest time, I've suspected that she had been dead by getting killed, but now I think that she's still alive due to Kaeya's voiceline saying; "The Sinners are the ones that remains".

Surtalogi The Foul: We know that he is the master of Skirk. He was the one who brought the All-Devouring Narwhal onto Teyvat, and we know the whale isn't from Teyvat itself, and it came from somewhere in space. The whale got attracted by the many Primordial Sea because of the Fontainians are beings made out of Primordial Sea until they became fully human.

Rerir Rächer of Solnari: In mythology, Rerir wanted to avenge his father's death. Rerir in Genshin (who is a female due to the Rächer noun is feminine) could be indicating something similar, but what? Maybe... A death of a loved one?

Vinster King

So the Sinners are trying to go up against the Vinster King because of... Something.

First and foremost, the identity of Vinster King.

I believed that it's Phanes, aka the Primordial One. The one that created the 4 Shining Shades, and the one who founded the Heavenly Principles in the first place.

Why do I say that? Realized that Dain said that their goal is to stop the Vinster King from "continuing the rock foundation of this world"?

Phanes, in a sense did create Teyvat. Killing the Dragon Sovereigns and taking over their land, not to mention creating the civilization we know now is a form of "creating" this world, the world of Teyvat we all know now.

The Sinners had a reason to try and fight the Vinster King, or I guess in this case, the Primordial One.

But what? What happened between them that angered Phanes so much?

Creating a New World

I believe that the reason of the Sinners trying to fight Celestia was that they're trying to create a new world.

Was this a bit of a stretch? Maybe. But they are the ones who left Khaenri'ah when the abyss started to take over and when Celestia have to do what they could to stop it from spreading towards to the other nations.

Loom of Fate was one of the key factors into creating this new world, the same way Irminsul was. There could be other factors into making this new world the Sinners are trying to make, and one of them could involve the Forbidden Knowledge.

See, although Phanes did "make" Teyvat in a sense, it was still a stolen land by the end of the day, so maybe the Sinners are trying to create a world made by their own hands, and transporting the people of Teyvat to that new world, so they could live in a "pure world", where it was entirely theirs. Loom of Fate could also be made to make people forget about Celestia altogether, making the new world a purely-humanity-based world with no divine intervention.

Now, why would they do this? As mentioned before, these 5 people were the best in their fields, better than their own peers. I'd assume they got greedy and selfish, and when they found the power of the abyss, it brought them to the point of insanity, so they made these insane stunts to reach their goal, even if it meant putting their own people, and by extent everyone in the world into a bridge of chaos and suffering.

Hroptatyr & Rerir

We know 3 people so far, but how about the other 2?

Hroptatyr is called "the wise", which he is most likely to tie himself onto knowledge, and probably academically unparalleled back then among his people.

What if he got greedy, trying to get more knowledge? The Forbidden Knowledge was most likely his key to an otherworldly knowledge, something that no one, not even Rukkhadevata could understand as the god of knowledge. It won't be far fetched, since the power of the abyss was so powerful it can either be on par or exceed the power of the heavens to the point Celestia can't cure it.

Forbidden Knowledge can be very essential for creating the new world theory I mentioned in the previous section. Creating the very foundation of a world requires a ton of knowledge, so who's to say that Hroptatyr aren't trying to get his hands to that knowledge so he can't start making that world?

Rerir here is trying to avenge something (hence the word "Rächer"), but what? In the original Germanic mythology, Rerir is the son of Sigi, succeeds his murdered father and avenges his death. He rules in Hunaland and becomes a powerful ruler.

So, Rerir here in Genshin must've had something to do that's tied to death at some point. A dead loved one maybe that got killed by being murdered?

If that's the case, then Rerir is trying to avenge her loved one, or maybe a comrade, but to where? Maybe Phanes got something to do with it, but I'm not entirely sure.

I have my own speculations that Rerir is trying to resurrect that said person. Which, I get it, it doesn't follow through her title, but given that she attains the power of the abyss, who's to say that she won't try to do the art of resurrection? She'll definitely try to take advantage of that power and do whatever she could think off possible to make whatever she wished come true, including bringing back the dead.

Maybe that person got involved with Celestia, and Celestia was the cause of that person's death. Which would make sense if Rerir getting involved with Phanes herself because of it; she doesn't accept that the person she cares about being killed by the person who was supposed to be a god who loved humanity.

Celestia

Celestia, as we know it, is the cause of plenty of shit;

The one who destroyed an entire nation

The one who put a curse on said nation

The one who the archons are putting their distance at

The one who drove our Sibling to continue the Loom of Fate operation

The one who made the Tsaritsa going grocery shopping for the other archons' gnoses

The one who made the prophecy to drown Fontaine because Egeria made the sin of making Oceanids into humans

Stole a whole planet upon arrival

Killed the original residents of said planet

Using the remnants of the 3rd Descenders into making the gnoses

What we didn't know until a while ago about Celestia was;

Destroying the entire nation because there's no cure for the abyss and they're trying to protect the other nations

The power of the abyss was so powerful, it drained them to the point of slumber

Cursing the people of the nation because they thought the people responsible for creating the cataclysm was still there, not realizing that they had already left. Though I still disapprove of them cursing the entire population when they had absolutely nothing to do with it and was caught in a crossfire

Celestia wasn't the one who started the eradication of Khaenri'ah in the first place because they disapprove of the nation's independence; they were merely trying to protect the world from the abyss because it's the only way the knew best and are the only powerful method they had

Celestia exhaust themselves so badly, they went into a slumber that not even Focalors' stunt could even wake them up. So they've been inactive for the last 500 years

For the longest time, we've been under the impression that Celestia is the ultimate big bad of the game, which we have reasons why; the archons are against Celestia, a whole nation got destroyed by Celestia because it was assumed that they're being erased because of their independence, hell even trapping us into Teyvat without any way of leaving and locking our powers away.

In a sense, Celestia is still a big bad, but maybe not as big as the Sinners? I know I said that they're probably transporting the people from Teyvat to a new world they're making, but considering the fact that they left their own people to die, who's to say that they would most likely let the world perish and recreate their society and the entire humanity from scratch? And in order to do that, the existence of the previous humanity of the previous world have to be eradicated.

Thanks for coming to my ted talk :)

Extra:

Farewell Atossa

I apologize for making you know me unwillingly

Still, I do not wish you to forget me

(Translation by me, cuz good god this took so damn long translating this letter by letter-)

I'm so unwell y'all- :')

#Genshin Impact #Khaenri'ah #Abyss Order #Dainsleif #Yanfei died twice battling the ruin guard-#Loom of Fate is completed nice but I am so unwell for Caribert that's now fully dead cuz-#Kayetra Spade Queen

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