#I'll probably use this idea as a springboard for Diluc's fatui verse tbh

[defiedlife]

ooc. this ended up somewhat disjointed, but I have to put my thoughts somewhere. Diluc headcanon/meta/general rambling below the cut because it got pretty long.

I was looking over the manga again and got reminded of this:

It's so easy to miss even when there's a whole panel dedicated to highlighting it, because it's such a small detail, but that's a partial Fatui symbol on Diluc's mask. Seeing it again got me thinking about why it's there in the first place, especially since the full page and the next couple after it carry some implications if you stop and think about what Dottore says for a moment. I don't wanna make this post too long just due to images, so I'll type the dialogue here instead:

Dottore: "But the loss of this menial...is happily balanced out by this unexpected finding. That 'Vision' you're wearing is indeed interesting. Diluc: "What? What are you saying?" Dottore: "I'd love to indulge in this some more, but that's it for now. Keep up the good work and hone your unimpressive powers. Farewell. I can see...a bright future ahead of you."

Here, it's obvious Dottore knows things Diluc doesn't, despite the fact that this is after Diluc has returned to Mondstadt—meaning after he wrecked Fatui strongholds left and right for years in search of vengeance and information on delusions, and after he joined a secret intelligence organization. Despite all his efforts and connections, there's still so much information he doesn't have, meanwhile Dottore sure just implied something.

Back to the mask. It's Fatui-made, or else it wouldn't have that symbol, and thus it likely came with the delusion as a set. We also know from Crepus' words just prior to the attack that he once intended to give the delusion to Diluc as a gift. This leads to two main possibilities, and both could be true:

That theory of a mask being required to safely use a delusion is somehow true, and/or...

Along with the delusion, that mask in particular was intended specifically for Diluc, because it being an owl mask is a little too on the nose to ignore.

Now this got me thinking even further, because why would Diluc be given a custom mask when he (as far as we know) had no ties to the Fatui at that point? You could argue that since we don't know for certain how Crepus obtained the delusion in the first place, he may simply have paid for it and the mask and asked that the mask be custom-made with Diluc in mind.

But that's the boring answer, and it doesn't match up with Dottore's implications, nor does it match with Barnabas being so shocked that Diluc possessed a delusion. If the Fatui were willing to hand out delusions to just anyone in exchange for large sums of mora back then, it wouldn't be that much of a shock, right?

There's also the popular theory that Crepus was a former member of the Fatui and/or a former Harbinger, and that's how he got the delusion at some point. It's a fun theory, and it could very well be true, but I'm iffy on it tbh. Something about it just doesn't quite fit to me. (This is also mostly me trying not to just jump on the bandwagon and copy a popular headcanon, so if you like that theory, please don't let me stop you from enjoying it!)

My own thoughts ran away from me yesterday, and I decided to look into something. As someone who also writes Childe, I've looked into commedia dell'arte stuff before. Since many of the typical commedia characters reference certain animals for inspiration in some way, I decided to dig deep and see if I could find any reliable information regarding any of them referencing an owl.

Boy, when I tell you that my jaw fucking dropped. Tartaglia is often likened to an owl, and I have no idea how I didn't come across that information before now. In hindsight, it explains why in one of the pre-release betas, Childe was the one with the Noctua constellation rather than Diluc. But this along with every other breadcrumb combined thus far gave me a fun little idea.

What if Diluc was meant to take up the title of Tartaglia before Crepus' death cemented his hatred of the Fatui, and Childe took the spot instead, in part only because Diluc never did? What if Crepus made a desperate deal with the Fatui when Diluc was young, so hung up on his need to live vicariously through his son's success that he was willing to hand Diluc over to them when he came of age, lured in with the promise that Diluc would have ample power and never want for anything as a Harbinger? They even offered an experimental delusion without explaining all the risks, both as a means of dangling a proverbial carrot and creating a means for them to observe what will happen when it's inevitably used.

But then Diluc gained a vision on his own, and later soared through the ranks in the Knights of Favonius. He didn't need the Fatui to thrive and succeed, and thus Crepus ultimately backed out of the deal...and paid the price.

It always did strike me as a little odd that the attack on Crepus and Diluc felt like a hit, since it was triggered by a deliberately placed Fatui device. But if the Fatui had just received word that Crepus was backing out of a major deal that should have come to fruition on Diluc's eighteenth birthday...it makes sense.

Dottore's cryptic implications also fit this idea, because that "bright future" could mean that he's aware of the whole deal and just waiting for the day that Diluc becomes a Harbinger anyway.

#* || ooc #* || headcanon #* || diluc #this got so long and ramble-y but oh well lkfjdsa #I feel like that one meme of the guy with a board covered in red string and sticky notes #I'll probably use this idea as a springboard for Diluc's fatui verse tbh