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Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling Lore Bits 3: Rewrite Edition
During the research for a video essay I am working on, I have come across information that has shaken the foundation of what I have thought about Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling. While my AU is free to do what I want, I would like my interpretations of Shao Hsien-Ko and Shao Mei-Ling to be based on the foundation of what was established and either expand, change, recontextualize, or add ideas to make them feel like the best they can be. With some additional flavor text that works for the mythos they are in.
With that established, I feel I need to look back at the last 'Lore Bits' I made for them and change information. Rather than edit what was there, I'll instead grab information from each one that must be changed and say how it will be changed here for this Lore Bits on them. A time capsule of what I wrote before with the information I had back then. If I don't bring anything up, then the information on Lore Bits 1 and 2 are still canon to Cryas Darkstalkers.
To begin, Lore Bits 1:
Due to the incident that made the sisters aware of what happens when a jiangshi tastes blood, Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling refuse to eat any meat-based food if it wasn't prepared by them or a very trusted individual.
Blood is no longer an issue as that idea was based on misinterpretations from the Darkstalkers Wiki based on a panel from a manga. They are free to eat whatever they want! That includes the mentioned Blood Sausages in Lore Bits 1.
Oh... turns out that is the only thing as looking back at my 2 Lore Bits, that was the only thing. 😅 However, I did make other things not under the banner of Lore Bits. So let us look at those and see what must be changed. First of all:
No longer will this Burst going forward be referred to as Dark Embrace/ Xié è De Yōngbào(邪恶的拥抱). Instead, it shall be known as:
腐敗的拥抱 (Fǔbài de Yōngbào)/Corrupt Embrace
It makes better sense in terms of naming as the Burst was obtained via the Corriyami and the Qi of the sisters effectively corrupting one another in a mixture. While yes, the idea of the name of Corriyami is 'Dark Corruption', I already have a character who has a Burst that can basically mean 'Dark Embrace'. Plus... Corrupt Embrace sounds very cool to me.
Another thing to bring up since it is mentioned in the post: Afflicted with nightmares and even being taunted by her inner darkness, it all comes to a critical point during a battle with a large group of Corrupted, beings who fall victim to Corruption.
Without going into too much detail, the whole 'inner darkness/jiangshi' bit with Hsien-Ko is no longer part of the mythos as that has no bearing at all in the original lore. Just a fabrication. While I liked the idea... I decided to ultimately scrap it as there are other ways Hsien-Ko can deal with the consequences of becoming a jiangshi without the idea of some sentient inner demon in her mind.
Also, Hsien-Ko actually can't sleep proper without the help of Mei-Ling. I'll explain in another Lore Bit.
Onward to the next thing to edit:
After a scuffle with some xianshushi and talking with one of the shifu closest to their mother, they were banished from Xianmencun for their own safety.
Reading the official source I found, I actually want to tweak things. So here it seems to imply there being more shifus. Nah, only Mingxia was a shifu. The lore makes a clear statement that the only practitioners of the sorcery that is on display was only her and the Shao sisters. While I am gonna go with this idea of scarcity in Xian Men Cun, I want to have it to where Mingxia did at least have some other woman that she vetted and saw their potential to utilize magic. A small school of xianshushi of varying levels.
Another thing is that in the lore, it makes clear how their village was basically razed to the ground during the raid. I will go with that idea so there is no real sneaking out and stuff. No banishment.
Next:
On both sheets, the term 'ofuda' will no longer be used. While that is the official term in the og lore, that is a term with ties to Japanese Shintoism. Not sure if you noticed, but the sisters are Chinese and no mention of practicing Shintoism. Instead, I will be going forward using the following terms: talisman or 護身符 (hùshēnfú).
To reiterate, the inner jiangshi entity is no longer going to be part of Cryas Darkstalkers. So that Xienian, ignore it. However, her eyes going red is still a thing when she does go berserk.
Overall, in time do need to update these sheets with more accurate aspects, like Hsien-Ko's body frame, an update I want to make to the keyhole on her qipao, and edit the text.
Hmmm, kinda about it. I'll be making a Lore Bits 4 for them to go over some new aspects about them I do wish to share. Look out for it in due time. :)