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The whispers and mumbles that go across Liyue as she sets a foot into town. About the Funeral Parlor 77th director.
Her cheerful, upbeat attitude. Her non stop pranks and mischief. The way she promotes her business, coming up to every potential client in hopes of getting something.
It all sickened the townspeople, the rumors that would spread about her each passing day. The little tidbits she'd hear from people talking in the streets.
Those words could break a fragile mortal, as feelings and words are like butterflies. They all try to fly in one direction, towards happiness, but one gust of words can send their path south.
But Hu Tao was definitely not one of those people, nope, not at all!
She was happy enough! She has her business, her…what, two friends? Her ghosts, and her grandfather's hat.
What else could a gal need to keep going?
…well, she guessed she might need something.
All she wanted to do is to make people smile. Little pranks and mischievous acts! Promoting her business to let people see that…the afterlife isn't so bad.
Hu Tao will make sure when they crossover, it will be one of the best experiences ever.
She wanted to show people that being scared can be fun! Everyone needs a bit of fun in their life.
Adults nowadays only seem depressed, gloomy, and angry. They refuse to find anything in the world fun anymore because they're so used to their own depressing lives.
That's just not the way to live, to live is to experience the good life has to offer, to smile and to have fun.
It seems nobody really understood that. Nobody really understood her.
Halloween was always a holiday Hu Tao found herself looking forward to. All the little children in the other nations she's been too seemed excited to be frightened.
However the children of Liyue were too sheltered, they thought fear was only a negative emotion. They hated things they found "too scary", or the children who liked the spooks, the parents simply pushed them away.
The girl was all for respecting boundaries, if a child found something too scary to be fun, she'd understand. But the children here would be scared at the simplest of cardboard ghosts, even the bigger kids. The parents never gave them the chance to BE scared, and to find out if they enjoyed it.
So…it caused the children to also whisper in disgust about Hu Tao.
She sighed, staring into the small river she'd stumble across on one of her daily walks.
Walks were nice, they allowed her to clear her head of all the negativity. She'd never admit it, but those words DID affect her. A lot, actually.
Her hand landed on her vision, as she picked it up, grasping it in her palm. It radiated a passionate and fiery glow, it felt hot and determined.
Perhaps it was now useless, she couldn't even make a single person smile. Tears poured down her cheeks, and she began to gently sob.
The visions glow faded.