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- Hehehe, let's just say I'm a fellow lady of culture. But alas, I'm in a rush today, so I'll have to say goodbye for now. I hope we meet again soon, Miss Temporary-New-Management.
- —Hu Tao bidding farewell to Lan Yan after their first meeting in Springtime Charms
LanTao is the femslash ship between Lan Yan and Hu Tao from the Genshin Impact fandom.
Canon[]
Springtime Charms[]
First Stanza[]
Lan Yan is a craftswoman from the Chenyu Vale Artisans Association who had been invited to Liyue Harbor to organize a street fair for the Lantern Rite Festival. After a bit of conversation with the Traveler and others, Lan Yan dismisses herself to go to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor for something she needs to do. Xiangling invites her along for lunch, since she’s clearly looking for Hu Tao. Lan Yan is pleasantly surprised and goes with them. They head to the Parlor, but don’t find Hu Tao. Lan Yan starts spacing out a bit, deep in thought.
Afterwards, Lan Yan and Hu Tao meet face-to-face for the first time when Hu Tao goes to Ying’er’s shop to buy perfume. Lan Yan is looking after the shop while Ying’er takes Timaeus to see Baizhu. Hu Tao requests for a fragrance called “Red Dust Under Rolling Clouds,” which Lan Yan recognizes as one used exclusively for rituals. Hu Tao is surprised and impressed to hear that Lan Yan knows this, and after carefully examining Lan Yan for a bit, she is able to determine that Lan Yan belongs to the Lan lineage in Chenyu Vale by the silver hairpiece she’s wearing. Lan Yan is confused that Hu Tao could tell, and Hu Tao playfully replies about how she too is a fellow “lady of culture.” Hu Tao then dismisses herself, hoping to meet Lan Yan again at some point soon.
While Hu Tao is leaving, Ying’er and Timaeus return. Ying’er greets Hu Tao by name, and Lan Yan later asks Ying’er for confirmation that it really was just Hu Tao who had come. While Lan Yan knew of Hu Tao as the director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, she was unable to recognize Hu Tao because she was wearing a different outfit than her standard uniform at the time of their first meeting. In a rush to catch up with Hu Tao, Lan Yan then leaves.
Second Stanza[]
At some point after Lan Yan catches up with Hu Tao either at or before going to Wuwang Hill, as there are signs of them both being there. Somehow, along with Qiqi, they end up being trapped within the border of life and death. Lan Yan uses her rattan figures to create an illusion to keep monsters away from them while Hu Tao looks for an exit. Each time Hu Tao finds an exit, however, the place changes and the exit closes before they can get to it. Lan Yan and Hu Tao both do their best to help Qiqi, who had absorbed a lot of fetor, stay awake during the whole ordeal, too.
Eventually, the Traveler breaks through the illusion to come rescue them, and the entire group must fend off a horde of incoming monsters while Xiao opens up a new exit for them. They report back to Ningguang about the situation, and after Lan Yan expresses surprise about the border having broken down before, Hu Tao explains in-depth what the border’s past cases have been like. The group discusses more as to what to do about the new situation and then part ways.
Lan Yan later explains that the true reason she had been looking for Hu Tao was because her grandpa’s fortune-telling longevity readings had recently been about very soon death and the only clue from divinations about these strange readings was “Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.” She also reveals that while she had followed Hu Tao to Wuwang Hill, when she got to the location, Hu Tao had disappeared without a trace. It was only after Lan Yan found Qiqi and tried to free her from a crevice full of fetor did the two of them fall in and also end up inside the border with Hu Tao.
Lan Yan then hints at how she thinks Hu Tao isn’t being entirely honest about not needing a sacrifice to fix the border. Despite only having known Hu Tao for a few days, Lan Yan surmises that Hu Tao isn’t one to easily open up or tell the truth to others, instead hiding her private thoughts behind her energetic, quirky personality. She requests the Traveler to go ask Hu Tao about the truth of the prior border incident involving her father and grandfather while she writes to her cousin with questions about the Seven-and-Eight-Gates Method.
Third Stanza[]
Lan Yan receives a letter back from her cousin with a possible method to save Hu Tao’s life. Using rattan figures that she’d made in Hu Tao’s likeness, Lan Yan connects them to the gate array and has each person taking part in the Seven-and-Eight-Gates Method hold a rattan figure so that the fetor blast that will be sent Hu Tao’s way will instead be shared by everyone. Despite this, however, the rattan figure breaks by the end of the ceremony when Hu Tao dies anyway.
Final Stanza[]
A few days after Hu Tao is brought back from the dead, Hu Tao and Lan Yan can be found along with Xingqiu, Xiangling, Gaming, and Chongyun discussing who they think is the strongest of the Eight Adepts. The atmosphere is considerably cheerful as the friends chat away.
Voicelines[]
The two have voicelines about one another, which describe their observations of each other after the events of Springtime Charms.
Lan Yan adds on to what she’d noticed about Hu Tao after their time trapped together inside the border. From Lan Yan’s perspective, Hu Tao is a very cheerful and joking person, but Lan Yan questions whether Hu Tao was actually happy or just forcing it to cheer Lan Yan up while they were in such a dire situation. Regardless of whether it is Hu Tao’s true nature or not, Lan Yan hopes Hu Tao’s future smiles are all out of genuine happiness.
Meanwhile, Hu Tao states how she was quickly able to figure out that Lan Yan is a lot stronger than she lets on. Despite claiming to know very little of the Qimen arts, Lan Yan is very capable of using what she does know to get rid of fetor and illnesses. Although impressed, Hu Tao jokes how that’d be a problem for the funeral business, however.
Quotes[]
- “Director Hu always seems so upbeat and cheerful. Even when the situation was desperate, she was always there with a joke to cheer me up. I haven't known her long, so I was wondering... Is she always like that? Hmm... In any case, starting from today, I hope all her smiles are out of genuine happiness, rather than an effort to reassure other people.”
- — Lan Yan’s voiceline about Hu Tao
- “Lan Yan, you say? She's a lot stronger than she looks. She claims to only know a few of the Qimen arts, but she can get rid of dangerous things like fetor and illnesses! Aiya, there's only one problem... Removing all the bad stuff and making everyone all fit and strong isn't exactly good for the funeral business!”
- — Hu Tao’s voiceline about Lan Yan
Fanon[]
LanTao is a rarepair that first started after Lan Yan was revealed as the new character to appear in the Lantern Rite 2025 event, which would also be primarily starring Hu Tao. The ship gained some traction after the event was released, in which Lan Yan and Hu Tao interacted a lot with each other. Fans noted how Lan Yan seemed captivated upon first meeting Hu Tao and Hu Tao likewise seemed charmed upon realizing that Lan Yan is very knowledgeable in traditions and rituals. Fans also thought that Hu Tao was very charismatic during her first meeting with Lan Yan, seamlessly complimenting Lan Yan while still going about her purchasing business. Based on the two’s voicelines about each other, fans also observed how Lan Yan and Hu Tao both seem to be able to tell what one another’s true personality and wealth of knowledge actually is despite not having known each other for long. Aesthetically, fans like how their outfits seem to complement one another - Lan Yan wears cool colors while Hu Tao wears warm colors.
Fandom[]
- FAN FICTION
- Hu Tao/Lan Yan tag on AO3
Gallery[]
Fan Art[]
- All art in this section is fan made, and must be sourced back to the original artist. It also must have permission from the original artist to be posted here. If your art is here without your permission and you wish to have it taken down, please inform an admin, so that we may delete it.
