"kafka Please. That's Third Base. I'm Already Making Him Spent At Least One Vault On Drinks Alone. I'd

"kafka please. that's third base. i'm already making him spent at least one vault on drinks alone. i'd be lucky if he pitched a second bank vault for little old me." he'll happily ignore her comments about she lovingly raised him. let her be sentimental, kami's just as well riding cloud nine. "maybe i can wrangle fresh communication equipment for us while we're at it. you know. for practical purposes." absolutely, totally, not for frivelous fun.

Isn't he just so predictable adorable, sometimes? "I know you are, honey. I'm just excited for you. It isn't everyday that the nephew you lovingly raised found a prospective boyfriend, you know? I'll send you the list. Now remember: Never put out for anything worth less than 3 bank vaults."

this is why i say kami thinks of nahida as his warden. yes, they have a decent relationship. yes, he's happy doing things for her if/when she requests it. but kami is FULLY AWARE that he's in sumeru to make up for past misdeeds.

he has a hard time separating genuine relationships and life in general from a give-and-take mindset. for a lot of people, he's trying to manage percieved debts and erase them little by little so he can move on and do something else. since people in sumeru keep doing favors for him, he's still there, seeing himself as a prisoner because he feels like he owes them. nahida even acknowledges this.

kaminari is still learning, slowly, how to leave that 'prisoner' mindset behind. and PART of it is him refusing to acknowledge that he genuinely cares about other people and it's okay to let them in. he's SCARED to do that, and when his emotions get overwhelming enough, he'll default back to that "i owe you for this" mindset and throw up walls so as to not let people in.

he's coming around slowly, but he'll see himself as a prisoner long after the other walls come down. because nahida did him a massive favor that he can't ever fully repay her for. she gave him a new chance, a new life, among several other little things. she gave him an actual purpose, something to do. a brand new chance at life from someone who should (in his mind) hate him -- how do you even begin repaying that?

he's so conflicted, and will forever see nahida as his warden, and he, her prisoner. it's a self imposed sentence, but it's still the relationship he'll see with her, no matter how friendly their bond is.

i wasn't sure which of my blogs to put this on, but since i initially started doing this research for albedo's part, i figure it's a safe bet for me to put here. this is relevant to my albedo, kazuha, and wanderer muses, mostly.

i watched iridori festival on youtube earlier today, and i watched the end of the sumeru storyquest, most notably, the part where traveler goes to inazuma to find out how much of the timeline changed post balladeer erasure.

and honestly, not much changed. iridori festival wasn't entirely retconned. SOME things about the past were changed, though instead of a name being given, like in the poetry, it's all been changed to be a nameless swordsmith instead. i like to think that the likeness albedo even painted is still the same as it was when originally painted, i highly doubt a whole lot was actually changed within the timeline.

irminsul didn't erase the past. niwa still died like in the og timeline. and i know at one point wanderer even says he'd like to repay his debts to the raiden gokaden. and given that irminsul just fudged stories a bit rather than completely erasing him, he can still fit within that missing slot and the gaps/plot holes will reconverge into one.

for albedo's part, i like to think he remembers SOME of those details. not enough to remember an actual name, but he'd remember hearing about kazuha's clan's history, he'd remember meeting with ayato to get more information on people breaking in. though with the 6th harbinger being a missing seat, the break in was probably still just attributed to the "revengeful swordsmith" instead of the balladeer.

like i said, details are probably smudged a bit because of irminsul, but the overarching event and lore drops still remain in tact overall, i don't think it was completely retconned.

i said this over discord, but i'll say it here.

kami 1000% keeps a personal journal to document his life and the things he's doing in sumeru. he finds it therapeutic to jot down all this thoughts, and knowing he doesn't have to recite them again for nahida. he finds comfort in writing, as well as reading.

(rewrite of an older headcanon:)

So canonically, Chongyun knows martial arts. It’s never specified what sort of martial arts Chongyun knows in game, but I looked more into his character more. Chongyun’s very heavily based in Taoism. We have the yin and yang symbol that’s already heavily associated with Chongyun, and we have this on Chongyun’s pants:

This is the Bagua, or the 8 trigrams. Without going into all of them (which would require a separate post), I have figured out that the martial arts Chongyun practices the most are Tai Chi and Baguazhong.

They are sister schools of martial arts. But Bagua is the one that more focuses on the 8 trigrams – being translated to eight trigram palm. For a reference on what it looks like, reference the air bending in Avatar: The Last Airbender. The movements in both Bagua and Tai Chi are meant to be smooth motions with quick hand movements and footwork.

We don’t see Chongyun use it in game, since he’s a claymore user, but I’d also like to think that the footwork he uses is a part of that school of martial arts.

Chongyun’s very incredibly skilled with his fighting, and is able to maneuver quickly around enemies, and without a weapon, he’s still very strong and able to throw jabs out with expert precision.

He also practices Tai Chi, which is more meditation focused, but it goes hand in hand with Baguazhong, or bagua. Since Chongyun has to meditate often to keep his yang energy under control, these two are the perfect schools of martial arts for Chongyun to practice!

they turn their head in the direction of ren's voice, a faint frown etched onto their face. "you're too worried over what i can and can't handle," chongyun says. "just because i'm human doesn't mean i'm not durable." they double check the knot in the back, wondering if ren had actually seen them in action before. the answer is likely not. meditating and throwing around their cryo is one thing, but actually using their weapon and deflecting attacks is an entirely different story.

"trust me a little more, okay? i know what i'm doing." MOSTLY. chongyun still has some internal doubt, but they know with practice, they'll improve. it's not like they haven't tried before now, either.

they fall silent after that, holding out their claymore with one hand. in their GOOD hand. the wrist with the brace on it is already up by their chin, ready to use whatever they can to deflect ren's attacks. chongyun isn't sure where the attacks are going to be coming from, but they're already slowing their breathing down, more focused on listening, and using their yang energy to pinpoint ren's direction at any given moment.

― and the second chongyun gets into position, chongyun can feel something whizzing right past their ear. jumping back, chongyun instinctively lifts their claymore, as though to attack. with a twitch of their poised fingers, the ground around chongyun begins to tremor. under normal circumstances, it would knock an advancing enemy off course, but if ren is in the air, it PROBABLY won't do much. still, it's better than automatically resorting to their claymore.

he's  been  relatively  quiet  for  the  majority  of  their  walk,  though  that  doesn't  come  as  much  of  a  SURPRISE.  ren  isn't  the  type  to  engage  in  idle  chatter  —  he  would  much  rather  drink  in  the  silence  and  appreciate  the  nature  around  him.  the  mountainous  nature  of  liyue  isn't  his  favorite  kind  of  scenery,  though  the  verticality  of  it  does  lend  itself  to  fascinating  views  whether  the  wanderer  chooses  to  travel  by  foot  or  through  the  air.  truth  be  told,  he's  feeling  a  bit  UNEASY  about  this  entire  idea  —  though  that  has  less  to  do  about  chongyun  and  more  his  inability  to  temper  his  own  strength.  it  isn't  as  if  he's  still  a  complete  notice  to  anemo  these  days,  but  trying  to  channel  it  oft  feels  like  attempting  to  squeeze  a  raging  ocean  into  something  miniscule  as  a  STRAW.  ordinarily  it  isn't  too  much  of  an  issue,  but  tasks  that  require  a  degree  of  fine  control  aren't  exactly  his  strong  suit.

...  which  makes  this  entire  adventure  a  bit  RISKY.  he  doesn't  want  to  hurt  chongyun.  they  may  be  stronger  than  the  average  human,  but  that  does  little  to  quell  ren's  paranoia.  everyone  is  fragile  when  compared  to  the  likes  of  himself.

❝  a  blindfold? ❞  that  strip  of  cloth  may  as  well  be  kindling  to  the  fires  of  anxiety  for  all  that  it  REASSURES  him.  ❝  are  you  TRYING  to  get  yourself  killed? ❞  oh,  the  wanderer  didn't  like  this  before  —  but  somehow,  he  likes  it  EVEN  LESS  now.  ❝  what  happens  when  you  fail  to  block  an  attack  and  you're  left  injured  and  in  need  of  medical  attention? ❞   well,  naturally  it  would  fall  to  ren  to  fly  them  back  down  the  mountain  —  he  KNOWS  that.  (  and  in  a  pinch,  he  could  surely  do  it  rather  quickly,  too.  )  it  still  doesn't  inspire  much  confidence.  he  would  probably  bleed  all  over  his  clothes.

unfortunately  it  seems  chongyun  is  rather  set  on  this  ridiculous  idea,  because  they're  already  tying  the  blindfold  before  ren  can  talk  them  out  of  it.  the  wanderer  groans,  audibly  —  just  to  make  sure  they  can  HEAR  his  displeasure.  anemo  dances  and  curls  around  his  fingertips.  he  tries  to  control  it,  divide  it.  tries  to  use  only  a  fraction  of  his  full  power  as  he  calls  forth  the  breeze  an  sends  a  blade  of  compressed  wind  hurtling  towards  his  companion.  a  test  run;  hopefully  it  won't  be  something  he  REGRETS.