#if genshin doesn't use this plotline i will see you all in 10 years with a crepus fanfiction shgdsah

[torgawl]

continuing my crepus posting, can we just talk about his delusion for a second? because even dottore thought it was unique. dottore was surprised for seeing someone wielding a delusion, sure, i assume it's not everyday you see that especially in that situation. that's normal, but saying specifically that it piqued his interest, calling it "perfect and utterly peerless", encouraging diluc to grow stronger and saying "i can see a bright future ahead of you"? a bit weird. so this got me thinking, what if this delusion is different than other delusions?

as we can see from the webtoon panel of crepus wielding it, there's two things about the delusion that we haven't seen associated to any others so far: chains and what seems like an alchemy circle. this delusion doesn't just hold elemental power, it can create something (or transform/manifest the power into something physical). we read somewhere someone referring to the delusion fire as "black flames" so probably the chains are embued in that power but the chains themselves don't look like fire. another curious detail about crepus' delusion is the way it interacts with ursa the drake, besides being the only thing able to drive the dragon away, it changed its eye colour from yellow to red! when the delusion finally backfired onto crepus, we can see that the air and diluc's hands after touching his father seem to fill with black dust. and maybe this is nothing, i mean, fire burns and what is burnt generally releases ashes but dust can also be tracked down to alchemy, more specifically the art of khemia (an advanced form of alchemy that sustained the underground kingdom of khaenri'ah). and do you know what's also different in crepus' delusion specifically? the symbol that appears on the orb.

unlike other delusions, it isn't the fatui symbol (or the elemental symbol, like the one visions have) but instead a big circle with a small circle inside it. that's literally the symbol that appears in alchemy tables!!! if you look at it attentively, it looks like a big circle was parted into three and they go around it like orbits. and is it a coincidence that three is a constant number appearing in genshin, including associated to three beings that are always drawn with similar symbols everywhere across the game, three moon sisters - a representation of the moon?

because there's other instances of circles within a circle drawn in the game. it reminds me of an eclipse like the one shown in abyssal moon spire (easily connected to the eclipse dynasty of khaenri'ah where the crimson moon was replaced by a black sun), the moon depicted in tsurumi island (that from what i understand got its hole after kapatcir descended) and the crimson moon that became an eye in perinheri (book about the crimson dynasty in khaenri'ah - the one that preceded the eclipse dynasty). khaenri'ah and alchemy possibly being tied to crepus' delusion doesn't sound so crazy anymore, right?

the insistence that crepus was a "mere businessman" by eroch and that being the reason they couldn't let the people know he saved everyone from ursa the drake (which led to diluc's resignation) also sounds like the perfect little detail to throw for some sort of plot-twist. yes, this is mostly my wishful thinking but also, what if crepus really wasn't just a business man? diluc got his "red dead of night" outfit from his father who had a ceremonial uniform tailored for diluc in advance and diluc modified it for battle. maybe that's where the resemblances with the fatui come from, as a way to go unnoticed or mix in during his time hunting the fatui. at least it's easy to discard it as something deeper that way. but i don't think it's such a crazy idea anymore to think of something crazier when we consider the ragnvindr's connections to the hexenzirkel (the teapots and diluc's jacket patterns being the same as the ones in the hexenzirkel cutscenes) and the fact kaeya was left purposefully at dawn's winery. again, maybe it could just be because the ragnvindr are a prestiged family but also, what if there's something else here? is it that impossible?