a more cultural insight onto the ship kaeluc not being incest. and them not being incest because they are not “brothers” but “sworn brothers” due to translation errors;

1)pic 1+2 - kaeya repeatedly addresses diluc as his “sworn brother” not “my brother” or “adoptive brother” but “sworn brother”.
2) pic 2 - “he killed HIS father by his own hands” (note that the wording here is “his father” not “our father”)

thread 1 about sworn brothers: https://twitter.com/_yuuuchen/status/1301312742100316160

thread 2 about how some chinese wordings and family relationships work: https://twitter.com/_yuuuchen/status/1301093709769891841

explanation and insight on the ship: their current relationship is that of a very close childhood friend that came to stay in their family because of personal reasons
it still doesn’t make them “really brothers” because the english translation is so weird (and mistranslated)

i mainly say this because of the trope for childhood friends and the ship itself. like it’s okay if it’s a girl and a boy being childhood friends and growing up in each other’s houses, but if it’s two boys it’s not okay because they’re automatically family???

what i think happened (that also happens to a lot of games or comics that revolve around sworn brothers) is that they didn’t take into account the western interpretation of the word and context. it happens a lot because chinese words and relations revolve around the context+

like sworn brothers in one novel can be different from another one (wu chang being something similar to a work couple and kaeluc being similar to childhood friends that grew up as “one big family”*)
and they didn’t take into account how the western world sees relations like this+

its kind of difficult to explain directly but the trope that they’re written under can be used for a lot of straight couples and it’s also a huge otome trope (mc moves to the romance options house because of family issues, they grow up together and then get married) so it’s+

very wonky, especially with how mihoyo did the english translation. most of the words are being translated directly, without any cultural context. so instead of “adopted brothers” the proper term would be “sworn brothers that grew up under the same roof”

this way, the western world (hopefully) wouldn’t equate that to in/eat (because it’s not).

also about the point that kaeya asks why diluc killed their “old man”; in many chinese families, when you bring in an outsider that’s very close to your family, instead of “uncle” and+

“auntie” it would be “mom” and “dad”
this is usually how things work in cn, given that the word “brothers” itself can mean several meanings in chinese wwww

* for the one big family part, i wanted to explain this because it needs more context;
it applies to kaeya and diluc because kaeya was technically brought into the family and they grew up together, but i don’t think they really saw each other as “true brothers”. rather than that+

i feel like they saw each other as very close companions (at least when they were still young.) , given how kaeya doesn’t really call diluc “brother” (哥) but 義兄弟 - sworn brother

again to end the thread;
my dms will always be open if you have any questions about chinese culture.
personally i enjoy kaeluc but i much prefer xingqiu x chongyun

btw: i’m not saying that they should be seen romantically, more so that their dynamic can be platonic OR romantic. it goes both ways.
if it’s not your cup of tea then don’t ship it! not a big problem.

if you have any questions regarding this topic it’s best to dm me to ask because i have this thread muted! but thank you again and have a nice day!

hey. if you want to qrt and comment about the situation, feel free to do so. but do not be culturally ignorant or insensitive. the entire thing about sworn brothers in cn concept is that it’s mostly used for a boys love type of context due to censorship laws.

not saying it can’t be seen platonically but PLEASE take it into context when you’re commenting on JP/KN and CN works. this isn’t a game written by western developers. mistranslations happen. it’s not revolving around the western world.

i went through kaeya’s profile again and it says in chinese that he is diluc’s sworn brother. in old terms that’s 義兄弟(brother) or 義子(child)
in modern terms it would be 乾哥
and in modern society, it’s acceptable for sworn brothers and sworn sisters to get together so

for adoptive, the chinese wording would be 寄養兒子 or 寄養子. and they mean different things.

ok but this just proves that kaeya wasn’t even adopted into the family, he was just a the son of a very close friend of their parents that came to live with them. that’s it. the mistranslations are so weird.

this would also explain the fact that kaeya called diluc’s father “dad” or “old man” because if you are a 乾兒子 of the family you’d call them 乾媽(sworn mom) and 乾爹(sworn dad)
(yes that’s how they call the parents i have a sworn family myself so yeah, i would know.)

in case you’re curious:
legally speaking, in modern society, sworn families can have romantic relationships, BUT it depends on the context and how the two sworn partners see the situation.
(tbh, it’s just the same as a normal couple, but just. their families are close)

also no. the genshin translators aren’t bad. it’s just a usual thing that would be lost in translation. you have to understand that in some languages there are terms that can’t be directly transferred into another language. translators do a lot of work so don’t blame them.

about the name thing: https://twitter.com/_yuuuchen/status/1318817228783972357?s=21 https://twitter.com/_yuuuchen/status/1318817228783972357

all in all it depends on how you read the context. if you dont like the ship and want the relationship to remain platonic, go ahead! if you want to read it as romantic, go ahead too! just don't disrespect others, yeah?

wanted to add this here https://twitter.com/_yuuuchen/status/1319265081029324800