♱ HU TAO ( 胡桃 ).

HEADCANONS ( 頭卡農 )

i. along with her liyutian heritage, hu tao is half natlani from the curtesy of her mother’s side. more specifically, she is guatemalan and a member of the indigenous achi mayan ethnic group. you can learn about the achi language here and the people here. in total, hu tao knows how to speak spanish, chinese and the cubulco achi dialect. ( self projection goes hard )

iii. it is not uncommon to see hu tao alone in the early morning on a stroll through liyue. although she’s known as a hard worker, moments of leisure and walks through nature act as great inspiration for her poetry, as does the morbid experience she gains from her profession.

v. at home, hu tao boasts a large collection of dried animal bones and organs, in which she keeps preserved in small jars of formaldehyde. it’s a rather esoteric habit to have but hu tao honors every part of her personality, even the sides that are less than palatable to an “ordinary” person.

vii. i like to associate hu tao with white flowers, as the color white represents grief in chinese culture. hu tao will send bouquets of qingxin to the family of the deceased after a funeral rite as a way of expressing her condolences.

ix. she’s held a strange affinity for ghosts and the paranormal since early childhood. she loved to read old liyutian ghost stories before bed and had many invisible ghost-like friends. she hasn’t seemed to outgrow this liking as it’s become stronger over the years and it’s the driving force behind her talent as a funeral director. she still reads ghost stories while upside down!

ii. her fingers are clad in mourning rings, which are specialized pieces of jewelry one would wear in remembrance of someone who has passed. most of them contain birth dates, but few have pictures of the deceased engraved into the metal. the people mentioned on her rings range from beloved wangsheng clients to personal connections. each piece is custom made by the mingxing jewelry shop. click here to see an image of what one would look like.

vi. it’s easy to discern hu tao’s mood based on her non-verbal bodily cues and facial expressions. she’s not very good at hiding what she’s thinking, often making sour faces if she disproves of something or giving small shakes of her head. when she’s bored she’ll twiddle her fingers or rock on her feet and when hu tao is overstimulated, she goes quiet until there’s a way for her to recuperate and regulate her emotions. ( it’s best to leave her alone during these times! )

iv. on slower days at the parlor, hu tao might make use of her time in crafting huipiles. ( colorful embroidered blouses made and worn by indigenous women from mexico and central america. ) hu tao most commonly wears them on dia de los muertos and will usually pair them with a long corte. ( click here to see an image of a huipil! )

viii. hu tao favors bold, bright colors as opposed to dull. this is evident in the scenic imagery she paints in her poetry and in the way she weaves her huipiles. red is her favorite color since it represents a wealth of emotions and meanings.

PERSONALITY ( 性格 )

with a passing glance, one could surmise that hu tao is as eccentric and bohemian as someone could be. with her many childish whimsies and prankish humor, hu tao doesn’t seem like the type to shoulder such serious responsibilities. should you ask anyone in liyue about her antics, you’d be quick to note the souring expression on their faces.hu tao’s greatest wish is to live her life to it’s fullest and leave no regrets behind. her own mortality is not something she dwells over often. like all flowers wilt and will sprout again from the bodies of rotten boars, hu tao does not wish to interfere with the natural order of life and loathes those who choose to do so. some people such as baizhu who wish to obtain immortality, to whom she holds a grudge and expresses nothing more to him than basic social niceties when passing by. she is admittedly a little overzealous when talking about the topic of death, but such conversations might lead to deals and business proposals and she simply can not resist getting a little excited.with the reputation she’s built among the residents as having a taste for kiddish antics, some may not think she has a solemn side to her usual frivolous personality. hidden under the many layers of her deceitful joy, hu tao indeed knows when appropriate times to be serious are, mostly consisting on the dark nights of when she carries out the rites of a funerary client. hu tao dislikes when her employees are unserious about their work, often taking the time to remind them of what they are and why they’re doing this job.

RELATIONS ( 關係 )

zhongli — much could be said about the relationship between hu tao and zhongli. as her subordinate and a most trusted confidant, hu tao can often be found by her side when on a public outing. the close relationship the two share allows for hu tao to call zhongli “baba”, though the two agree to keep a professional air around each other while in the presence of clientele. hu tao harbors a deep fondness and adoration for zhongli, even feeling confident enough to sometimes poke lighthearted fun at her during their conversations. ( though she may say otherwise, hu tao more than enjoys listening to zhongli’s tangents. ) relation: parental / child bond, close co-workers, confidants.

xiangling — one of hu tao’s friends outside of the funerary business. a person that hu tao loves to scare, she also depends on xiangling for cooking matters when it comes to building her ofrendas during dia de los muertos. hu tao cherishes the company of both guoba and xiangling alike, enough to consider her as a close friend. relation: close friends.

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VERSES ( 詩句 )

the bathhouse —

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