#[ jingliu. ] and so i wield my blade to the very end. until the 'stars' have been cut down from the sky. this oath: i will never forsake.

[iniziare]

I have so much to do this month, so forgive me if my activity remains incredibly wonky for a bit longer. The move should be happening any time on the 17th or any of the days after it, and then I'm going to be busy setting stuff up. But as of October, life should quietening down significantly. I do want to put up a little character to-do though, because I have plans for the blog before I properly 'chill out'. I'm very much... stuff needs to be set-up and then I'm good to roll. So with that in mind. The ones that are planned to be added in two groups of priority, and then potentials. We'll see where stuff goes:

Top priority: Jing Yuan, Dorian Pavus Certainties that're incoming: Arlecchino, Zevran Arainai, Clorinde, Ruan Mei Possibilities: Acheron, Morrigan (Dragon Age)

I know, I have a list to go. But I'd like to see if I can get some replies out first, though I do want to get at least JY going quickly. Dorian is essentially being moved from my archive to here, so his tags will be done quickly— he just needs a character page. Any way, I digress, hi, hello! Let's see if I can be productive.

[asena-queenslayer]

Jingliu Jingliu Jingliu omg omg omg

She's so cool holy shit

Can we talk abt her "lunar flame" line that was epic

In contrast to IL & his moon/water connection

But at the same time Jingliu is ice

Aaaaaaaaaaaa

What does "And so I wield my blade to the very end, until the 'stars' have been cut down from the sky" mean tho

What's with the quotation marks

I feel like celestial objects are v connected with the HCQ, Imbibitor Lunae with the moon obviously, and Yingxing with the stars

And I don't think she's talking abt the literal stars here

What do you have planned girl

[iniziare]

There's been a sudden intense silence on my part, because well— staying with family means that there are sudden guests that you then also need to socialize with, which means less time for work, which then needs to be caught up. I do have a bit of a quieter day now, though, so I may be around for a little bit. Now that aside, possible (hopefully) good news: I may have found a wonderful apartment that comes furnished (without it being excessively so with very impractical furniture as people like to do for some reason), which I've sent my paperwork in for, so I'm crossing my fingers because that means I may have my own place within a week or two maximum! God, the freedom of it sings to me so loudly, I miss it, I crave it back. Now for the second point...

Inbox call! Specifically for Jingliu, she took me rather by storm since I decided to finally add her, so I figured I could start light and see what I could send people. Personalized or otherwise, I'll drop her in there, and it can be both in HCQ's timeline or current. Remember, if you're a multi, as always, let me know who it's for!

[iniziare]

... Jingliu captured the gaze of an Aeon when she was little. Jingliu captured the gaze of an Aeon when she was little. Jingliu captured the gaze of an Aeon when she was little.

The ice blade saved her when Rahu attacked the— wait, I'm losing my mind. Wait, I'm losing my mind. I need to go buy tuna for the cat, I can't have this right now— aaaAAAAAAA WAIT I'M HURTING.

[iniziare]

"How unfortunate... My hatred overshadows my other emotions. I chose to hold onto it, to embrace it, and use it to maintain my existence."

God, because of the above— if it wasn't for her saying that her lucidity is tied to, specifically, a deal, rather than anything else. Then I have half a mind to think that she's playing a game with the Abundance itself, just as Luocha claims (but he, unfortunately is an incredibly unreliable narrator), but regardless of the above quote, Jingliu's hatred of the Abundance could almost arguably rival Lan's themselves. The Cangcheng was devoured by Rahu after it was revived by Shuhu (Emanator of the Abundance), Baiheng died while fighting the army of Denizens of the Abundance that were called by Shuhu, Yingxing utilized Shuhu's flesh to aid Dan Feng in the revival (concept of what the Abundance stands against: death?) of Baiheng, this event brought the latter back in the form of an absolute abomination that is said to have roared in agony and craved death— and then having to kill her, abomination or not, left Jingliu to suffer eternally to the mara as well.

I know that there are those, 'embracing their hatred or not', that could go very far in what they're willing and able to do to dismantle their enemy, but then there are those who I cannot fathom it from. I just cannot imagine this for her, it's too intense. I will eat my hat if I'm wrong, but I cannot imagine this from anything they've told us so far. The pieces can't fit, and also, it's Hoyo, I'm just expecting—

[iniziare]

❝  so,  what would you be?  if you had to power to change all the things making you unhappy,  what would your life look like?  ❞ [ baiheng to jingliu, late night contemplations over wine perhaps ]

Prompt: Unprompted. // @resolutepath

It taken root long ago, the fear that had been instilled within the heart of a child at a sight none should ever bear to witness. A fear that had kept her from slumber too oft a time, one that she would bear, she knew, until her hands could hold a blade no longer. It was not a fear that caused her limbs to tremble in a moment such as this; no, it was a fear of closing her eyes for even the briefest sliver in time, even one that was caught within the warmth of a sun's rays. Nothing could appease it, and yet, when presented with the dream of grasping at a life that held such endless peace that knew no presence of cursed memories, and instead, held endless normality and chance, she found herself unwilling to reach out to it, and touch even a single petal of its promise. Dreams, after all, were for those who had lived their lives in regret, and that, was a reality of which she was not part. She would face the terrors, and the visions, and the aches of the mind, if each day that followed would echo the laughs of their kinship, joy, and promises that she knew would prove to last a Xianzhou lifetime. That, above all, was the life that she craved to lodge into the palms of her hands, until her lips could hold a smile no longer, and her hands had grown too weak for any blade; until one day, death would prove her only savior from the torments of a childhood's nightmare, taking the secret of its existence into her grave.

But until then, as Baiheng's voice rung clearly in her ear, the birth of something akin to a smile prompting itself amidst a countenance that had warmed in the sun that hung so high overhead. "It matters little, Baiheng, for any other life would not be the one that I have today." After all, it is the four of them that had granted her, finally, the earnest gift of a will to live, and a home to fight, and persevere for. "Who needs dreams, when one is content with their life?" Perhaps in that, lay her question posed in counter: Are you happy as I am, my friend?

[iniziare]

I need the HCQ to not speak in sighs and ellipses. This isn't normal, this is too wistful, from literally all of them. From Blade in general, to then Dan Heng with his 'Do we................ (.....) know each other?" And then Jing Yuan in specific is who I'm noticing at the moment. What is it with your sighs, my good general, and what are those little breaths when you speak. You joined the HCQ last, I believe, so why this, WHY THE BREATH during 'She's gone'? And what is this voiCELINE ABOUT HER? Hello?

[iniziare]

Verse: Absolution (Present Timeline)

"And so I wield my blade to the very end, until the stars have been cut down from the sky. This oath I will never forsake."

With the long elaboration of what (or rather 'who') I think Jingliu's deal is with (that you can find written up in this post), I think that it's a logical progression to talk about what I want to do with it. Simply because something like potentially being given a blessing that is able to restrain the mara... wouldn't be done without reason. I don't see the Aeons as 'kind' and 'benevolent', because canon has given me no reason to think that they are.

"... but whether it be you, me, the Cloud Knights, or the generals of the Reignbow Arbiter, we are all just pawns in a game of the gods. I am sick and tired of threading on a predetermined path."

Jingliu's case was as simple as it was serious, she eventually entirely succumbed to mara due to the sheer amount of trauma tied to her history (and at the time, her 'present'), and there was no return for her. So the fact that she did come back from it, and refers to it as a ‘deal’ is immense, as she wouldn’t have been lucid enough to seek it of her own accord as she was akin to a rabid animal— it had to have been offered to her. This is why I believe it’s ‘divine intervention’. On top of that, why restrain her from the mara as best as possible, if not done for a specific purpose? No one could stand toe to toe with Jingliu in combat, not a single enemy could ever best her— so is she then not the best adversary against Yaoshi, and all denizens of the Abundance? That’s the direction that I believe they are going. As she herself states to Jing Yuan: Jingliu is a pawn, along like many others, in a game of the gods. What encapsulates this better, than to have her be lucid because of one of these gods, to fight another? But it’s not even forced on her, for I fully believe that her hatred of the Plagues Author surpasses that of anyone else’s, except Lan's themselves. And with the 2.5 trailer, I feel even more strongly that this is the case. So let me note down the details of a present-day verse. This will get edited accordingly if canon itself plays into this more firmly

One final time, as stated above: Jingliu is kept lucid not by the Ten Lords Commission's 'wine' as is shown to have been the case with Hanya (and Xueyi), there is no tie as she fled the Xianzhou while succumbed, and fell to mara even further afterwards, when she ultimately fought Jing Yuan. The reason instead, is because of Lan, who is keeping her lucid as to serve as a soldier/pawn in the battle with the Abundance. The strongest soldier that the Luofu had in its ranks.

With the 2.5 trailer out, and the seeming further confirmation that Feixiao is inherently tied to Hoolay and the Borisin (and the direct note of the Moon Rage affliction, which is an innate Borison curse), and the continuous name-dropping of Jingliu, which was now followed up with a glimpse of her— I'm relatively certain in my assumption that this is a perfect example of what Jingliu would have been kept lucid for: the protection of the Xianzhou Luofu (and the Xianzhou Alliance as a whole).

There are multiple direct ways for Jingliu to either be kept out of jail, or have her sentence altered. One is given to me by the very heavy insinuation within the 2.5 trailer, which is Feixiao's apparent betrayal of the Alliance. This is one of the Arbiter Generals, whom were all bestowed with spirits by Lan, making them formidable enemies. Once observing Jingliu's lucidity for themselves (Hua, the Marshal, and Yaoguang, the Arbiter General presiding over the Yuque), Jingliu could be designated as the person to hunt down both Hoolay (who she was responsible for defeating the first time) and Feixiao, in exchange for a lesser sentence.

But the mara? It never goes away, it never leaves her. She is pulled back to lucidity, but that is seemingly (from what I can tell), the only 'reprieve' that she gets. For example, Jingliu is still plagued by an incredibly unreliable mind that still holds memories but the details slip through her fingers like sand. When she is caught within moments of participation in intense turbulence, there is something akin to a faint blood-lust that aches under the surface— but due to the deal's restraint, she's able to step away from it, though there will be physical evidence of the difficulty that I imagine could manifest similarly to incredibly intense withdrawal symptoms. There is a reduced appetite and thirst, and there is an intense cold to her touch when the mara grows a little in intensity.

Would she be able of reclaiming the title of Sword Champion? Unlikely, as Jingliu did commit one of the Xianzhou's sins, and was erased from its living records for having done so. And though this was committed outside of her own conscious mind, she is incredibly aware and intent on accepting and facing the consequences of said sin (one could see her having to live with the mara's symptoms as an eternal suffering). Besides, there is another who might one day claim it. But to her, what it represents for her (and not in general), is... merely a title, a position, something that she once was through and through— but is no longer. It is a tragedy, but it is is also life.

[iniziare]

Now these are some serious thoughts that I'm having, and I'm also having them for specific reasons that I'll note at the end of this post (or its own separate one, we'll see):

— I don't see how Jing Yuan wouldn't know about the deal that Jingliu made (which I still firmly believe to have been with Lan), because otherwise I don't see how he would blindly trust her to go about the Luofu. Because ultimately, he could trust her as much as he wants to because of their past, but he also witnessed how she lost all control, and subsequently fell to the mara. The trust in this scenario isn't in her, it's in whatever it is that’s restraining the mara. — On that note, I don't see how he would trust anything tied to that, unless it was tied to someone or something that he trusts: Lan. Yes, Jing Yuan himself is another reason why I believe it's the Lan, the Aeon that opposes Yaoshi. — Keeping this in mind, it makes this final sentence to Jingliu extra interesting in my opinion: 'Then I will see this gamble through.'

On that note, as a treat to myself because I'm so close to signing my lease, and because I desperately crave to write the male muse in this franchise that I love the very most (listen, I'm happy to see my two big favorites in Genshin written well, but I just want to write my actual male favorite in HSR myself as well on top of seeing great portrayals)— no matter how popular he too, is. Jing Yuan, welcome home.

[iniziare]

I can't help but grow increasingly saddened when I listen to Jingliu speak during quests, she sounds so inherently exhausted, as if it's a burden to even speak. And the thing is, we know that she doesn't usually sound like that because of her voice-lines; and yes, please listen to literally any of them. I'm serious, all of them have her sound normal, same tone, same intonation, but she doesn't sound so absolutely fatigued. I know it's the mara, I know it's got to be how heavily it's weighing on her— Jingliu, please drink Bailu's things to help soothe your mind, so hopefully it soothes your body, and please, especially drink these vitality elixirs, and drink warm water. Please, please.

I'm fine.

[iniziare]

"I made a deal that allowed me to retain what life I had left in me. I may be sane, but one thing is certain — my mind is already at its limit…" (source: Clouds Leave no Trace)

Jingliu's deal. This entire post that I will attempt to keep shorter (as I inevitably want to set this more into stone, since I'm fairly certain on this little personal theory) will be rather incoherent, so please forgive me. I simply insist on putting these thoughts out into the great beyond. But first, let me state some things that we know to be facts (or close to it) about the condition of mara, as (sadly) these two topics go hand in hand, and it's needed for me to touch on the topic of what I believe her deal to be rooted in.

Mara-struck. Based on information I can find in the wiki and the game records thus far tells me that the condition of mara can be equated to a slow descent into madness that is characterized by an inevitable craving for bloodshed and violence. This is something unavoidable, all long-lived species will fall victim to it, unless they die before they reach the age where it will set it (for instance, though Foxians live a long time, they seem to rarely live long enough for it to touch them). It seems to be tied to negative emotions which include hatred, depression, and trauma, which also means that people who are exposed to these emotions will fall victim to it faster (ie.: soldiers). Now since emotions are tied to lived experience, this means that they are inherently tied to memories. This is really further confirmed by Blade's unique situation. We are aware that he falls into the madness of mara repeatedly, and he only 'comes back from it' because Kafka actively erases his memories (as we learned in her SQ), which permits him to regain a semblance of lucidity; take her away, and he will be on an eternal rampage. Now, I've been scouring things for hours, but from what I can tell, once you fall to mara, or 'succumb' to its madness, there is no return to lucidity anymore. It's not a temporary state, but a permanent one. As for what it is like to be 'struck with mara' during its madness, we have a specific record of this from a heliobus by the name of Dawnyng (x):

"While inside the mara-struck body, I felt a vitality that is close to madness. How can I explain it to you - just like beasts are to humans, the mara-struck acts according to intuition and prioritizes their own survival over morals and ethics. But the difference between a mara-struck body's madness and that of a beast is even greater than the difference between a beast and a human… It's a more primitive form of life, a vitality that discards even the concept of corporeal existence."

It is a madness that starts in equivalence to a bull seeing red, and yet there is an extra detail to it that makes it infinitely worse, and that is the lack of recognition. And we know this through Jingliu herself. I direct you to the timestamp of 1:35 in the short called 'A Flash'. You see a flashback of Jing Yuan witnessing a mara-struck soldier, and his reaction of shock to a specific realization that overwhelms him:

Jing Yuan: Master... He doesn't recognize us. Jingliu: So it is with the mara-struck.

And when the scene resumes after an absolutely heart-breaking scene of Jingliu (I'm fine), you see Jingliu attacking Jing Yuan as if she has not a single concept of who she is fighting, even if he was one of the people she was most familiar with. The memory and the recognition of him is entirely gone, and not just that, she attacks him with the utmost intensity and brutality, she's akin to a rabid animal. That's what this short is supposed to tell us, it shows us just how how agonizing and utterly serious the condition of mara actually is. Any way, all of this to once more iterate (and to lead into my next and main point) what those who have fallen to mara once are like, and cannot come back from. Now, if anyone knows of any information that counters my presumption (based on too many hours of research, so I don't 'assume' this lightly) of it being permanent, please don't hesitate, but otherwise, I will stick to what the game seems to so far pretty much (to me) confirm at this point. Now, this leads into my next point for Jingliu.

We know that Jingliu had succumbed/fallen to the mara by the time Jing Yuan was sent to defeat her. The flashback where she's seen to have lost her mind seems to even indicate that it may have been prior to that. But by the time of their fight, it could be said it's irrefutable that she seems to no longer be herself, she appears to be fully stricken by the madness of the illness. Now if we can make the rational assumption that one cannot come back from this madness and that once it claims you, there is no more true moment of lucidity to follow, then the deal of which Jingliu speaks could not have been something that she sought out. Moreover in present-day, she notes that the only reason that she has any semblance of lucidity is because of her deal. Now, this would tell me that something or someone sought her out with an offer of one, rather than the other way around. Not just that, but I have a bit of a wonder when I watch the ending of 'A Flash', when the Lightning Lord's strike is about to hit her, and I see Jingliu's eyes that seem to, for a moment, possibly regain a sense of normalcy (but this is difficult to tell, as I find the 'red eyes' of madness to appear as a glow, rather than an actual coloring of the eyes; and the bright light of the Lightning Lord would render it invisible in the frame in question). What also colors me a little curious, is the fact that she doesn't move, and to me, that is because what she's witnessing is an extension of the power of Lan, an Aeon whose power rivals that of the Abundance (which is likely tied to the origins of the mara, as it first surfaced during the arrival of immortality and the illness strikes when one reaches an age that the mind can no longer keep up with). The reason I bring this up, and this is where I'm really getting rather incoherent, is that Jing Yuan was sent to defeat her, and even used the power given to him by Lan to do so, and yet she lived. Could he have spared her? Possibly, but why? You see how resigned he appears to be at the realization that she no longer is who he knew her to be— no, what I think is that she didn't indirectly die by Lan's hand, because Lan is the one who spared her, and who then offered her the deal that she ultimately took. Let me make an incoherent little list as to reasons why I think this to be the case:

We know that in the game thus far, that there is no cure for mara or the mara-struck. Blade retains his lucidity through Kafka (and what 'spirit whisper' is, is another topic entirely, I can only do one muse at a time), but there is no other case of lucidity in the mara-struck once they falter. And since mara seems tied to the Abundance, it is easy to note for me to assume that only one who could undo it to be Yaoshi themselves, which means that other Aeons should logically be able influence it in one way or another (though never in equal measure). Not directly so, but offer something of light measure to counter its effects Nothing will ever control a creation such as its creator after all, but one of equal status could do something of lesser influence (such as succeed in rendering the mara unable to fully grasp you, but leave you to deal with all of the illness' other effects as no one but Yaoshi can fully stop it).

To follow up on the previous point, Lan is actively noted in the loading screen tip as: They roam endlessly between worlds to eradicate the abominations created by the Aeon of Abundance. So... would they not benefit most from attempting to counter the effects within an individual?

"But Sae, why Jingliu?" To which I ask, why not Jingliu? Not only is she responsible for having killed and/or jailed enemies that no one else seemed to be able to counter (source: Jingliu's 4th character story), but there is none who seems to hold a stronger hatred towards the Abundance . If there is to be a war between Aeons, do you not assemble and call your most formidable soldiers to your side to fight for you? The Sword Champion who is said to be a once in a millennia phenomenon, why let her perish?

... Right, so this ended up being ridiculously long, nor do I have a proper conclusion as like I said, these are thoughts, incoherent as they are. But I do not see any other option as to what this deal could be— there is nothing else in existence that can counter the mara, there is no cure, everyone from Bailu to researchers say this same thing. And yet Jingliu's case is also vastly different from Blade's, who relies exclusively on Kafka's ability. Not only that, but we also need to keep in mind how old Jingliu has got to be. We know the sedition of Imbititor Lunae was roughly seven-hundred years ago, which means that Jing Yuan, Jingliu and Blade are all at least that, now beyond that, we're aware that Jing Yuan is older than Blade (as Blade was mortal before the events following Baiheng's death), and Jingliu has some years on Jing Yuan as long-lived species. On top of that, she has a voiceline that speaks of the age that the long-lived species can reach, which goes as follows:

"…When the people of the Xianzhou live to be more than a thousand years old, each day is like carrying the weight of a mountain through an interminable maze." (source: Clouds Leave No Trace)

The mention of 'more than a thousand years old' would correlate with assumptions of her age when we keep in mind that Jing Yuan would likely have to be around 800-900 if we keep in mind that one doesn't reach adulthood in a meager 50 years of those. But any way, that could indicate Jingliu to sit potentially well over a thousand, the mara has got to be excruciating. At that point, I don't see how the deal would be with anything less than an Aeon, and who would show any interest, unless one who would benefit from growing an army that is as impeccable as you can make it? And after all, she was, and I would not for a single second doubt that she would have remained so outside of her madness (based on her strict code of honor in terms of her oath), loyal to Lan and their Hunt, just as the rest of the Cloud Knights of the Xianzhou Luofu are. I just don't see another option.

[iniziare]

The 'deal' to restrain the mara is with Lan, it's got to be. I don't see who else it would be. Let me just type up my very incoherent thoughts— /rubs hands together.

[iniziare]

I'm wrapping up my Jingliu navigation post, but I just have two points of salt to make, Jingliu-related. If you don't like salt, close your eyes:

This is also the first bullet point in my little 'these are the important things to remember' list for her, but I want to state it separately as well. I understand that Jingliu is a difficult character and has a rather intricate history, but if I see the simple write-off of her as being 'a villain' or 'morally questionable' due to the actions she committed only during fully succumbed to mara (which she obtained when she had to kill her lifelong friend as the result of other decisions that were not made by her), I'm going to be a very 'furios' kitten. Nothing in her character stories is indicative of this woman having negative intentions towards the Xianzhou, and pretending that she did because of a condition outside of her control is something I'll judge. Character respect, guys. And also, this isn't me excusing her actions (in a similar way to how she hasn't once tried to excuse herself), but please recognize how absolutely devastating and horrifying the condition of mara actually is, and how it is not only physically excruciating, but also mentally agonizing. But that is also a separate topic altogether.

The closer we get to the next patch, the more worried I get about how Feixiao is being presented to us. I so wish for her to have her own arc, and not to play into the hero with an incredibly tragic turn, as if the Xianzhou hasn't done that already, without giving us a proper conclusion to the ones who came before. Don't do it again, and especially not here. Don't give us a story-line that would be amazing and most fitting for Jingliu (which I find is rather strongly being set up) and even Yanqing, just to 'play up' Feixiao, instead of focusing on something of her own. I trust Hoyo's good storytelling, but I so fear this in relation to Jingliu and the individual that we have faced in the prison. /buries self in blanket.

[iniziare]

Tag drop: Jingliu

[iniziare]

✵ + Dan Heng for Jingliu ( I just wanted to give jingliu some attention djfhdsk f)

Prompt: Send ✵ and my muse will answer. // Accepting. // @resolutepath

Their first impression of your muse: Dan Heng is a very complicated one, for the simple reason that, well— we have to touch on her memories of another; for Dan Heng is and will never be able to fully sever himself from Imbibitor Lunae, at least not for those who knew him previously. With that in mind, when Jingliu first looked at him, I can't describe what she felt in that moment any other way than... 'wistful'. She sees a man that is in essence, a shell of the former High Elder that she once respected, a shell of her lifelong friend, but also of that same friend that she was forced to raise her sword against because not only did he fulfill the unforgivable, his actions also threatened the Luofu. But Jingliu remembers the High-Cloud Quintet fondly, and seems to yearn for the days where she thought those would live on indefinitely, it's what she seemed to want in the first place— and it all ended at Baiheng's self-sacrifice for the gain of the rest of them, and a mistake that can never be undone (even if the intentions may have been noble). So seeing Dan Heng is... difficult, because she while she recognizes that is he is only an incarnation of Imbibitor Lunae, he is also still exactly that: an incarnation of someone that was, once upon a time, significant to her.

Current impression: Rather the same as the above as little time passes between their first and last meeting. She bears him no ill-will at this point, but still seems to conflate Dan Heng and Imbibitor Lunae, even though very consciously so. But one thing is rather clear to me, and it's that she wishes to bring an end to the Abundance across the board, but also specifically: "Maybe, when I witness the fall of the Abundance, you and Yingxing will find true release." Her farewell to him is not one of ill-will.

Are they attracted to your muse? Dan Heng? No. And I would say no to Imbibitor Lunae as well at this point, but I also only super recently learned that they were possibly the closest within the HCQ. I'm using this meme as a test for her, Charlie, bear with me.

Something they find frightening about your muse: Again, this is one where she actively conflates him with his previous incarnation, but she does so very consciously, it seems. Now, I'm not certain that 'frightening' would at all be the right word, but we'll humor it. That he was, quite frankly, capable of enacting what he ultimately was responsible for starting. They all held Baiheng dearly in their hearts, as they seemed to across the board, but there is a frightening element to someone's character to go as far as to break laws (when your position revolves around them so firmly) for anything, or anyone, to go beyond the laws of even nature and fate.

Something they find adorable about your muse: Not the right word, or specifically, it's not adorable in the traditional or intended way. But I think she finds herself amused by how insistent he remains that there is enough separation between he and Lunae, while it really seems quite evident to her that his curiosity speaks loudly enough in regards to his memories.

Would my muse sacrifice themselves for yours? Dan Heng, no, Imbibitor Lunae back in the day? Yes, it is the greatest honor for any Cloud Knight after all, to give their life on the battlefield. And if that, on top of it all, would be for a friend, who is there with her? Yes.

Would my muse go on a date with yours (platonic/romantic)? Charlie, the 'Dan Heng? No' and 'Imbibitor Lunae--' is driving me crazy. But Dan Heng, no, Imbibitor Lunae, a yes on the former.

One word my muse would use to describe yours: At this point in time, confused.

Would my muse slap yours if they could? Why slap anyone, if you can raise a perfectly great sword forged by a mutual friend (or if we're speaking Dan Heng, then the point remains but simply a different sword).

Would my muse hug/kiss yours? Despite the fact that he doesn't come across as the type for either very easily, Dan Heng wouldn't be the recipient for either of them, either way. ;)

[iniziare]

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?) - Jingliu & M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going) - Jing Yuan

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?) Similarly to Jing Yuan's answer, I think Jingliu's answer lies somewhere in the same vein, it's next to nihil. It's odd, I almost see her as this... being who is beyond this without actually wishing to be, if that almost makes sense? We talk of Blade being a 'blade', but the Sword Champion was essentially exactly that (that may be an interesting non-NSFW topic for a future meta). We have her character stories as the evidence to know how brutal it is to be trained for it, to such an extent that you surpass your own Master in the art of swordplay. You don't breathe as a person who practices it, you breathe as the blade that you strive to become (don't talk to me about why, and what she witnessed and suffered when young)— you have no time for this. I really don't think so. And because that training took such an unbearably long time, I think the... urge just withered away and as lost. As many things in Jingliu's life, I think it's tragic that so much of her life was given to the sword, and there were affections like this that she likely didn't get to experience before— duty was replaced with an agonizing curse. One that ultimately was responsible for wiping everything she ever did do for herself, and others, from any and all records. How did I make a NSFW thing? Jingliu. But yeah, I think her experience is close to zero, if not entirely zero, and that breaks me. Thank you, Charlie.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going). There is no budging an old man prematurely. I kid, or I jest, as I think he would say. I actually have difficulty pinning this one down for him in terms of NSFW instead of merely the step before, simply because following such an incredibly long time— I think the urge has withered, as in, the physical craving that enraptures us. That's not to say it's impossible to... 'start him back up again', shall I say, I just think it would simply arise when the interest has gone from intrigue, to genuine interest, to making it clear that this is a thought that you have by subjecting him to a touch; you know, light at first, the stray of a finger to his hand. But I think what would really be the thing that would start it, is if he's subjected to a kiss— a slow encroaching one, or sudden. Granted, I think the former would actually achieve something more in him than the latter. I think that's the real way in with him: the invasion of space, really having him be confronted with physical intimacy of any sort. Not briefly, but through a way that lasts, and possibly even progresses. Ah, Jing Yuan...

Prompt: NSFW Alphabet // @resolutepath