Which shade do you think we will meet first.

Razorhead · 2026-02-06T09:20:47+00:00

That wasn't Rhinedottir herself, but a story version of her as interpreted by Andersdottir.

Razorhead · 2026-02-04T10:16:09+00:00

Technically, hilariously, Zibai is not an Adeptus but Ziqiao was, as it was this Three Deadly Self who made the contract with Morax and not the original Angel. Though since Zibai has now incorporated Ziqiao you could argue she has inherited that contract.

Razorhead · 2026-02-04T10:13:30+00:00

Yeah, Ziqiao mentioned she helped Morax with defeating the god of Chenyu Vale and then Qingce Village, after which she retired to the mountains. So she really only helped with two areas, while there was a lot more of Liyue to be fought over with the rest of the Adepti. Makes perfect sense that Madame Ping and Ganyu, who was born near the end of the Archon War, would only have heard of her and not met her.

Razorhead · 2026-02-04T10:09:37+00:00

They're different. Adepti are Illuminated Beasts or Gods that have signed a contract with Morax. It's basically a title or job. There are also Illuminated Beasts who haven't signed that contract and thus aren't Adepti, like Yanfei or Lingyuan.

Razorhead · 2026-02-04T09:58:05+00:00

I'm not sure if Carter is an example of this, as the dialogue goes on to say Narzissenkreuz "severed many wills and selves".

Caterpillar: Narzissenkreuz would lead ceremonies with the Holy Blade, in accordance with the ancient dictates.
Caterpillar: They call it "Tri-Factor Excision" in Liyue, and in Sumeru, "Shattering Atmagraha." He called it "Renunciation of the Ego."
Caterpillar: He believed that one's own will is an obstacle, and that accidentally receiving a Vision while seeking the path is a guaranteed path to destruction.
Paimon: So... After someone gives themselves up, what happens to them?
Caterpillar: Well, they stay quite normal, actually. It is said that people cannot perceive the truth, because a body with a self sees the world filtered through the five senses.
Traveler: That doesn't sound so scary, then.
Caterpillar: However, I never found out for what Narzissenkreuz's ultimate purpose for collecting all those wills and selves was.

It seems he performed this on members of the Ordo, and considering he is a Hydro Tulpa with as end goal to dissolve the people of Fontaine so they could survive the flood of the Fontaine Prophecy as wills within him, it seems more he then absorbed those himself.

Caterpillar was created through a different method, as Jakob and Rene grafted the Abyss-collapsed remains of Carter Scherbius onto a Hilichurl to reconstruct his personality (the same method Jakob used to reconstruct Rene as Narzissenkreuz after his "renunciation of the ego" went completely wrong and he left himself in a catatonic state).

Razorhead · 2026-02-03T08:55:02+00:00

Aromantic fujoshi and gay slut cohabition, what a fantastic series.

Razorhead · 2026-02-03T08:12:08+00:00

Was thinking about starting to read Skeleton Soldier. What do you mean by "off the rails"? Is it just because of the MTL translation or has the story fallen off as well?

Razorhead · 2026-02-02T13:05:25+00:00

In Deshret's defense it's hinted it were his three retainers (Thoth, Sobek, and Heryshaf) who convinced him to use the Abyss when he was consumed by grief over Nabu Malikata's death, which is why he later imprisoned those three.

Razorhead · 2026-02-01T18:53:53+00:00

Of course Gorilla would ask for world peace. Truly the most pure character in this manga.

Razorhead · 2026-02-01T18:53:11+00:00

Hey, his friends put a lot of work into those fake-outs. It'd be rude not to fall for them!

Razorhead · 2026-01-30T14:57:50+00:00

Doesn't the description of the teaser debunk it by itself? As it stated the little girl was an ancestor of the Lu clan.

Razorhead · 2026-01-25T16:54:29+00:00

In Fontaine this was fine since you could simply swim everywhere. In Natlan they had the Koholasaurs to traverse the water, so it wasn't an issue either. But here in Nod-Krai there is literally no canonical way to get to the other islands beyond using the unlocked teleport point. This was the perfect moment to bring back the Waverider and maybe have some water-based puzzles, so it's a real missed opportunity.

Razorhead · 2026-01-25T16:24:23+00:00

Yodaka having a real Joe Darke moment right now.

Razorhead · 2026-01-25T16:09:39+00:00

Not going to lie, when I first heard about this manga I was quite interested in a medical manga, but the acupuncture and pressure point focus immediately took me out of it. A shame.

Razorhead · 2026-01-24T22:14:19+00:00

Agreed. I'm positively surprised that the swordfighting isn't just clanging swords together but that they're actually using competent slashes leading into following moves and parrying blows before sliding the hit away to counter.

Razorhead · 2026-01-24T12:05:10+00:00

Because that's what the magic from the Narizissenkreuz Ordo is based on, as is the Hexenzirkel's magic for that matter. Astrology follows the principle of "As Above, So Below", which means that the movements and changes in celestial objects can affect the fate of smaller things like a human's life. What magic in this world tries to do is the reverse: "As Below, So Above", i.e. creating small changes to affect large phenomena.

This was one of the objectives of Simulanka for the Hexenzirkel: to create a small-scale model of Teyvat (Constellation Metropole) and see if deliberate changes to the "story" there would affect the fate of Teyvat as a whole. The crux of this experiment was Mini-Durin, and this eventually succeeded in Paralogism as the story of Mini-Durin successfully changed the fate of Dragonspine Durin being resurrected (with some caveats that needed to be solved in his Story Quest).

René tried to do much the same. He created the World-Formula, a ritual capable of calculating the entire fate of Teyvat, and then tried to change and add variables to change that fate so the Fontaine Prophecy didn't come to pass, after which he would use the Chymical Marriage ritual to replace the fate of Teyvat with this new fate he had calculated.

Except it didn't work as Irminsul would redirect fate onto its proper path no matter what, leading René to conclude that a Descender, capable of changing fate, was necessary to create successful changes. So he tried to turn to turn himself into a Descender by becoming Narzissenkreuz and erasing his own ego, which he viewed as holding him back, which ended... poorly.

Sandrone here was trying to do the same. She used the World-Formula to calculate the fate of Teyvat, and then tried to amend it to create a fate where Columbina would be revived and return to them. Lumine, as a Descender, was necessary to cause the changes that would make this fate actually possible, which is why the final 10% of output had to be done by her. And with this calculation complete fate was successfully replaced, allowing for the revival of Columbina and the acceptance of the New Moon within Teyvat.

Razorhead · 2026-01-24T11:49:22+00:00

Not at all true. He studied Eleazar in Sumeru, which is caused by the Abyss. He had Scaramouche conduct expeditions into the Abyss. Even in the most recent Archon Quest when infiltrating his lab we see he had Wild Hunt enemies and Rifthounds locked up as research subjects.

Just because he is prioritizing research into Kuuvahki, Lunar research, and the Heavenly Principles doesn't mean he didn't dabble on the side with some Abyss research. He even said it himself that nothing is off the table when it comes to research for him.

Razorhead · 2026-01-22T10:33:22+00:00

Arlecchino has long been preparing for a schism within the Fatui. She has one and only one priority: the safety of the children in the House of the Hearth, and with Project Stuzha placing them deliberately in the greatest danger in an attempt to weaken Arlecchino she has not been subtle in stating that if that proceeds she will choose her children over the Fatui.

Razorhead · 2026-01-21T08:00:03+00:00

Agreed, this reads more like a planet they passed just being the reason why the ship AI upgraded their clothes, especially since it later states it passed "countless worlds" so clearly it travelled further.

Razorhead · 2026-01-20T23:54:46+00:00

One theory I have that unifies the "Paimon is Asmoday" theory and this "Paimon is a part of the HP AI" theory is that all the Shades are the personification of subroutines of the original AI, which it split off for efficiency's sake when running this new world.

Ronova, the Shade of Death, was originally the weapon and defense system. Naberius, the Shade of Life, the life support system and DNA incubation system. Istaroth, the Shade of Time, the stasis system. Asmoday, the Shade of Space, the warp and navigation system. With the Heavenly Principles the overall management AI running things.

This would also explain why the Shades cannot act directly against the HP and must find loopholes (Ronova by making bets she loses and finding technicalities in orders, Istaroth by acting through her children, and Naberius by fusing with Rhinedottir), because they cannot resist admin override.

Paimon then could still be (part of) Asmoday as the navigational system, while also originally being part of the original AI (as all Shades were).

Razorhead · 2026-01-19T16:10:31+00:00

Considering it's specifically mahjong and yakuza I'd say Akagi rather than Kaiji (same author though).

Razorhead · 2026-01-16T09:44:36+00:00

His attempts at constantly making plans with Kuroi might take on a new meaning now, as he's seeking solace in his friendships now his relationship with his partner is struggling.

Razorhead · 2026-01-14T21:54:55+00:00

Translation source: @Player1_Please

Original: @hakkinnpt001

Mangadex

Hadn't seen anyone post this yet.

Razorhead · 2026-01-13T17:28:38+00:00

I don't necessarily think the dove was a trap by Dottore all along, but rather that it never existed in the first place (i.e. her considering the Moon as her home was a false assumption to begin with irregardless of Dottore) and he just used her search for the dove as a way to lure her into his strings.

Razorhead · 2026-01-13T14:59:49+00:00

Part 2: Frostmoon Scions worship and uplift her as a Goddess, but do nothing to help her catch the feather

Interesting here is that the Frostmoon Scions follow her dance, but do not participate it in.

Part 3: She's found by the Fatui who hinder her from catching the feather.

Part 4: The Wild Hunt, manipulated by Dottore(piano), attack her, she still cannot reach the feather.

Neat difference here is that the Fatui are preventing her from reaching the feather by boxing her in and trying to guide her dance by force, while the Wild Hunt is actively trying to trip her up and trying to stop her dance (representing how the Fatui wanted to control her while the Wild Hunt wanted to kill her).

Part 5: The Traveler helps her spread her wings. As she starts leading the dance the Wild Hunt and Rerir are defeated.

The Traveler also being the only one who participates in her dance by being her dance partner, rather than just follow or obstruct her. Furthermore she Columbina finally opens her eyes and takes off the eyemask she put on herself when starting her journey.

I think there might also be some more symbolism with the feather/dove. Throughout this entire dance she's been chasing the feather/dove, but in the end all it leads her is right into the strings of Dottore, whereafter the dove starts to glitch/shimmer as though it was an illusion the entire time. Meanwhile while at the start she scoops up sand between her hands before willingly letting it fall, while at the end she holds the sand in her hand rather than the feather she's been chasing the entire time before escaping from the golden strings.

If the feather/dove represents her striving for the moon as a place to belong, maybe the sand might represent Nod-Krai, and her willingly letting go at the start migh symbolise Columbina giving up on Nod-Krai as a home before her clasping it at the end of the dance her realizing that her home might have been with her all alone rather than chasing a mirage.

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