#Luminary Wardance Event

[the-astral-express-archive]

Honkai: Star Rail | Luka Artwork From "Luminary Wardance" Event's Tactical Codex Menu

Download: Google Drive

[cyborgkanojo]

Luka is stronger than me because I absolutely would have unzipped his pants right there and shown the Xianzhou Luofu a real "Wardance" before he could even pull out his gun

[criaturamonocromatica]

tegaki is hard!

[ravenlexis]

Luminary Wardance Spoilers I Guess

not actually discussing the event storyline, but i've played this event like, twice now [once with my side acc and now with my main acc] and there's this dialogue that i can't stop thinking about.

after winning against topaz, she said this:

it didn't seem odd to me at first, but i kept thinking about it.

carmella said this when we first met her:

also, she said this to luka, whose planet is almost subjugated by the IPC under the excuse of old debts despite that super duper mega powerful corporation did nothing to actually help jarilo-vi:

the first time we met topaz, there's this IPC employee:

in march's event, qingque's storyline:

topaz's letter to bronya:

and finally, the conversation before fighting against topaz:

am i overthinking this? are these not all evidence that they sold their souls to the IPC in order to make profit for this corrupt corporation? that they traded their lives, youth, freedom for what is essentially bragging rights? just to be able to say that they're part of an important corporation even though in reality that same corporation regarded them as easily replaceable?

ofc, topaz's situation is a lot more complex than just signing up for bragging rights, but the way she talks about IPC is borderline if not already worshipful. that nothing else matter, bcs the IPC is going to help you, if you only let them take everything from you, your children, your children's children, and so forth until they wring you dry?

idek what's my point for this whole post, it just feels so horrifying to me that this is what's happening in the game, bcs this is also what's happening in the real world.

[drawthiere]

the more time that passes the more i really like the amazing digital circus so let me know if theres any character you guys want me to draw

[macchiiattos]

i'm actually so normal about feixiao like. the last xianzhou quest that we had didn't leave the best impression on me towards the end, but myh came back with vengance this time and NAILED IT (for the most part).

they actually took the time to make feixiao interesting and put her in such a unique position, which allowed us to actually see her greatest fears and insecurities while also learning about why she became a general to begin with. that scene alone provided so much depth to her character. it would have been so easy to make her generic but they didn't and ugh i love her so much.

i hate the fact that they're gonna drag out the xianzhou storyline. but if they keep this storytelling direction with the remaining generals and marshal then i'll be way more willing to go through it.

[thecoppersoulbox]

Noticing a trend in HSR where the .5 updates have very long events with very good character development in them

[tirsden]

"Uhh... isn't General Jing Yuan a little too overpowered to be competing in the Wardance?"

All's fair in love, war, and HSR combat events! :D

[fantasygamer93youtube]

Honkai Star Rail 2.5 Luminary Wardance Event Part 7

[feroluce]

So I've already seen this one pointed out, but in the new CG, Boothill's older human form doesn't really match what people thought it should. Of course it could just be neglect on Hoyo's part like I've seen speculated, but personally? With the other lore we got from this patch, combined with some of the stuff we already had, I'd love to think there is a possibility that is way, WAY more fun.

(fun for me and all the other whump enjoyers, anyway, RIP Boothill fjkasjkdj)

In Boothill's lc, we see him in the middle of his surgery where he threw away his flesh and bone body for steel and cybernetics. We know it was The Big Surgery and not just like some sort of tune up or modification because of the description attached to the lc:

Which is where a lot of the dissonance comes in, because in this lc, Boothill's hair is much, much longer than in the cg.

And as someone who also has super long hair, I can tell you that it would take like. Multiple years to grow it out to this length.

There's also the fact that these cybernetic arms don't even match, the lc is the one that looks like our Boothill does now. And there's no reason for Boothill's shirt to be ripped up and in tatters like that; it even states he takes off his clothes before the lc surgery. If it were a matter of Hoyo needing to censor nudity, there were plenty of other methods they could have used that would make more sense, like a hospital gown, a blanket, surgical partition, etc

When will I get to see Boothill with all his scars, Hoyo, when, quit cockblocking me!!! OTL

But there was also another piece of new lore this patch that hit me like a fuckin' brick- the fact that Boothill was tortured by the IPC.

He just drops this out of nowhere! Just says it and then moves right along!! BABY, PLEASE. I WANNA KNOW MORE SO GODDAMN BAD.

But anyway as Hydrachea pointed out to me, this means the torture definitely had to happen before the lc surgery, because being whipped with a belt soaked in saltwater (fucking OUCH) wouldn't work on someone with metal skin.

So, we know that the IPC did, at some point, capture Boothill. And this is reaching further back to previous patches, but we also know from the Luminary Wardance event in 2.5 that the IPC also dabbles in cybernetic arms, because of the one they foisted on Luka.

The model there is a new one they're debuting, but we see in a flashback sequence that the IPC has been part of the cybernetics game for at least 700-800 years, because they also manipulated Igor into getting one too, and this could have only happened before the Eternal Freeze on Jarilo-VI.

It's never stated just how old Boothill is, or how long ago the genocide on Aeragan-Epharshel took place.

But I doubt it was more than 700-800 years ago.

I really don't think Boothill is that old, or has been doing this for that long. So he definitely would have been captured at a point that the IPC was manufacturing cybernetic arms, and had a known history of amputating perfectly healthy patients to use them.

I wonder if all their test subjects were willing.

(This part is entirely unnecessary for the new cg showing Boothill being a forced lab rat as part of the IPC torturing him. But it is a fun, delightful, bloodily gruesome twist of the knife nonetheless.

Boothill was also betrayed by his own brothers-in-arms on Aeragan-Epharshel. For the IPC. Just saying.)

[kazuhaiku]

ᡣ𐭩 silly halloween costumes

-> synopsis: you and moze go on a date while in search for some halloween costumes to wear.

-> warnings: gender-neutral reader, fluff, written for a halloween event for @stellaronhvnters, prompt: matching costumes + @kazuinvocation @lowkeyren @ryescapades

You don’t remember the last time you went on a date with Moze. With him being busy as Feixiao’s right-hand man, he has been super busy with tasks, especially with the Luminary Wardance. Since he is now on “vacation”, you decide to take him on a relaxing date, walking around the Xianzhou Luofu while buying some drinks and seeing the scenery.

However, with Halloween coming up soon and not having a good costume to wear to March’s Halloween party, choosing costumes will be the number one priority on your list.

You see Moze standing on the bridge in the Starskiff Haven. You slowly sneak up on him, preparing to scare him but as soon as you get near him, Moze turns around.

“What the- How did you know I was behind you?!” you whine, grumbling under your breath. “You and your stupid instincts are so annoying.”

“I won’t be a good shadow hunter if I can’t sense the presence of anyone behind me would I?” Moze says in a matter-of-fact tone. “Where are we going today?”

With the change of topic, your eyes brighten. “Costume shopping! Remember March’s Halloween Party at the end of the month? We don’t have any costumes on standby so we-”

“Wait a minute. We?” Moze asks. “When did I ever agree to go to the party?”

“Didn’t I ask you about it before? I remember you saying yes to me…” you drift off, trying to remember the time you asked him about this. “Oh! It was the time we were on our last date in the… I can’t remember the name of the place.”

“The Aurum Alley?”

“Yeah, that!” you snap your fingers. “We were eating lunch and I asked if you wanted to go to a party with me and you said yes.”

You can basically see the question marks appearing beside Moze’s head. “Why do I remember you asking me if we can go on another date, not March’s Halloween party.”

You sheepishly laugh. “Oh… I might have worded it like that to get you to come with me to the party…”

“Well, I’m not going so-”

“No! Please come with me,” you beg, grabbing Moze’s hand, desperate. “I know you don’t particularly like parties but I swear March throws the best parties! Besides, you have me there with you so if you want to leave early you can!”

Moze looks at you who is practically giving him puppy eyes, a silent way of begging him to come and the most effective way of convincing Moze to do anything.

He groans, momentarily closing his eyes before opening them again. “Alright, fine. I’ll come with you to her party.”

“Yay!” you are practically jumping up and down as soon as he agrees. “Okay, let’s go get our costumes!”

“I knew it…” Moze mumbles under his breath. “Can’t I just-”

“Nope!” you quickly cut him off.

“But I didn’t even-”

“‘Can’t I just go invincible?’ is what you were going to say, right?” you ask. “It’s not fun if you go like that! It’s like going there to the party alone.”

“Choosing a costume is boring,” Moze replies.

“Well, lucky you! We’re going to get matching costumes.” you emphasize the word ‘matching’. “It’s going to be easy with me around, trust me! I also know a good costume shop around here. It just opened.”

Moze did not have time to reply, so you grabbed his arm and pulled him in the direction of the newly opened shop. “Y/N, slow down-!”

“No time to slow down! The shop has been crowded ever since it opened last week! What if the cool and cute ones are sold out?” you exclaimed. “Moze, hurry!”

With the sound of the wind filling your ears, you can barely make out what Moze is saying to you. However, taking a quick peek behind you, you can see a faint smile on Moze’s face.

As soon as you and Moze arrive to the shop, you open the door almost too excitedly, catching the employee off-guard. “W-Welcome!”

“Sorry…” you sheepishly reply, feeling guilty for scaring the employee. “Do you have any matching costumes for couples?”

“Yes we do! Wait a moment, let me grab the costumes we have left.” The employee leaves to the storage room.

“Aw… we were too late to get the cute costumes…” you pout.

“It’s okay, they must have a cute one left behind.” Moze says. “Besides, if we can’t find a good one we can just use something from home.”

“No way! We need a good one, something people have never seen!” you exclaim. The employee comes back with two different sets of outfits.

“We fortunately have two sets left for couples,” she opens the first one which consists of a unicorn onesie. “This was one of the popular items when we first opened, but it has been 10 days and we couldn’t sell this last one,” next, she opens the second one, revealing a two dragon onesie. “This is also another popular item with how cute the faces of the dragons are.”

You’re deep in thought as you decide which costume to choose. They’re both really cute and unique, but you can’t just buy both of them at once. “Moze, which one should we get?”

“I think the dragons are cute,” Moze replies. “You be the white one and I’ll be the black one. I think it fits our personalities well.

“Okay!” you turn to the employee. “We’ll take the dragons!”

“Alright! I’ll pack them up for you and we’ll proceed to the payment.”

The employee carefully packages the costumes, even giving the bag a little bow to tie the string together. When she moves to the cashier, Moze was quick to take his wallet out, preventing you from paying for the costumes.

“Thank you for your patronage!” the employee waves was as you and Moze step out of the shop, the bags in Moze’s hands.

“Why did you have to pay for me again? I was the one who invited you out today,” you complain. “Well, nevermind, you paid for our last date too.”

“Am I not allowed to spoil you?” Moze asks.

“I want to spoil you too sometimes!” you whine. “It’s not fair…”

“Well, you can pay for dinner later,” Moze as he leans closer to you. “I’m craving for some hotpot right now.” You suppress a giggle, but the smile on your face gives away how you were about to laugh. “Why are you smiling?”

“Nothing, nothing!” you clear your throat. “Come on! Let’s go walk around the city!”

You both end up getting hotpot just as Moze had requested earlier, but he was the one who paid for the meal too.

[the-astral-express-archive]

Honkai: Star Rail | Background Images & Character Sprites From "Luminary Wardance" Event's News Collage: Issue 5

[nyantropy]

"Luminary Wardance" singlehandedly made me fall in love with Luka as a character

So yeah, i play hsr sometimes i think this game is pretty good for what it is. And i absolutely loved everything about Luka's story in the new event, so of course i had to draw something!

This whole project was full of second guess at every turn, but in the end im happy with the choices i made.

I wasn't sure about his emotions, but they show how deeply he cares about his planet and people who live there (just like Igor did). I wasn't sure about the pose, but it made this piece look more alive. I wasn't sure if i should put Jingyuan's quote there, but i think it ties everything together

Im glad that i was able to play trough this story and i really hope that i will get to see Luka shine in the story again. But if not - this piece will still be special to me

[aha-chuu]

Let's talk about the Xianzhou

Okay so obviously 2.4 we're returning to the xianzhou based on this image teased at the end of the 2.3 livestream:

We have also had drip marketing for three of these silhouettes:

Based on this it's pretty likely that all those silhouettes will be playable (eventually,,,, sorry Sunday </3). However, multiple of those characters are not listed as Luofu citizens - they are from other ships across the Xianzhou. In fact, all of the drip marketed characters are from different ships: Yunli from the Zhuming, Jiaoqiu from the Yaoqing, and March (apparently) designated to the Luofu. Presumably she's listed like this here because she will be competing in the "Luminary Combat Arts Ceremony" under the Luofu delegation.

The event as a whole is the Wardance - which I believe to be different from the "Stellar Martial Competition". That is the event which decides each ship's "Sword Champion" (Jingliu's former position). Honestly this is a bit confusing.

Not every new character will be participating in the Wardance in a combative way, I imagine. Jiaoqiu, for example, is a chef/doctor(?) so I find it unlikely that he's fighting anyone.

(As a note: I think March's new title being "Legendary New Swordmaster" is just a joke and she hasn't unlocked supreme, Jingliu rivalling sword abilities.

Though, March does show off the same sword style that Blade uses in her teaser clip. Less notably, one of the movements she performs is also similar to Yanqing's style. Blade was taught directly by Jingliu (in between bouts of torture) and Yanqing was taught swordsmanship by Jing Yuan who was taught by Jingliu. I imagine March's style is similar to theirs either because Jing Yuan or Yanqing directly gave her tips, or because most of the swordspeople she's seen have used this style.)

Anyway. This Wardance is being hosted on the Luofu so I don't necessarily expect any new areas immediately post Penacony, but I do expect we'll be getting multiple Xianzhou updates as the game continues. There are five more ships after all, with playable characters confirmed from two of those.

I don't know why we aren't getting participants in the Wardance from all the ships? And like. Is it a fight or a performance or...? It's "war" and "dance" so who knows.

Anyway let's look at some specific characters!

So Huaiyan is the master of the Xianzhou Zhuming, one of the seven Arbiter Generals (the same rank as Jing Yuan and - fellow teased character - Feixiao). These generals are comparable to Emanators and have been blessed by Lan. However, they are not necessarily emanators themselves: for example, Jing Yuan's Lightning Lord spirit is the thing actually gifted by Lan.

Huaiyan specifically intrigues me because he is apparently the oldest individual on the Xianzhou at this point. He might be our first playable gilf since Yunli is his granddaughter. Though, that fact alone makes me worry he might not be playable :((

In addition, the Zhuming is the primary home for the Xianzhou's artisans and craftsmen. Fittingly, then, Huaiyan's former disciple was Yingxing (Blade's previous identity as the master craftsman of the High Cloud Quintet). This connection is a bit suspicious to me, and does make me wonder if there will be a Blade reappearance as we return to the Xianzhou since he is associated with it.

(Do remember though, Blade is not from the Xianzhou - he was an outworlder. This makes Huaiyan personally taking him in even more interesting and indicative of his talent).

Anyway, Huaiyan almost definitely won't be competing with anyone since he should have a huge advantage over like. Poor March.

Next up:

So. Moze?

The first thing I want to immediately address is the theory that this is Sampo in disguise.

Like. I guess? He does wield knives and you can kind of make out a mask over his face, however his build doesn't like right for sampo imo and I can't really think of why Sampo would be showing up here. Obviously the Masked Fools are just a bit random so I don't think it's impossible, but I would be very surprised.

According to Owlbert, Moze is a "crow-feathered weirdo" and "cold and distant". So there is a bit of mystery here, whereas all the other teased characters have some pre existing lore pick at.

The mask is suspicious...

Final thing!

March's new form (new path and new element included) makes me very interested in possible other alternate character versions.

Like, we had Dan Heng IL before, but I think a lot of us assumed we'd just get him and then March's past version as five star upgrades and nothing else. Back then, those two did seem to be the fellow main characters after the trailblazer, but I think now that Dan Heng has been absent so long that Welt and Himeko share that protagonist spot.

I think this promises some other four star (or five star!) alternate versions, like a Sampo or Tingyun or Herta. I doubt they would "downgrade" any limited five stars but I could see a world where standard banner five stars get limited five star versions.

Also, the lore of HSR paths and elements already barely made sense before March swapped both on a whim. Like, Dan Heng I'm on board with because there was a lot of justification. But March appears to have grabbed a new outfit and picked up Imaginary along the way??.

What is imaginary? Quantum? All the other elements I can believe are more dependent on the character's chosen weapon than anything intrinsic. Like Asta uses a laser and she's fire, that make sense. Then I thought she was Harmony because she was choosing to follow that path (but pathstrider seems like something different? God).

Well, whatever! Those are my thoughts - I'm really looking forward to a return to the Xianzhou. I hope they can redeem themselves a bit from the main quest there, which I didn't really like. But I am a big fan of the characters so I'm hoping for good things!!

[another-goblin]

I really liked "Luminary Wardance", maybe even more than the main quest from that patch. But I have a problem with Boothill's involvement. As I see it, either the writing was bad for that part even by the HSR's uneven standards, or I'm missing something (which is quite possible, so please correct me if I'm wrong), but that's my problem.

1. Boothill is described as "extremely optimistic and unrestrained. He is a member of the Galaxy Rangers who swore to punish the wretched by any and all means." That little event before his release described some of his crimes: wild, fun, and chaotic; I don't remember him derailing trains full of orphans or something. He was appalled when Aventurine accused him of killing his bodyguards. So basically I understood him as a character who, despite all the hardships, under his inhuman appearance and gruff manners, hasn't lost his humanity and fundamentally is a good person, valuing human lives. 

Was I wrong?

Because now he has no problem killing an innocent, disabled, and severely mentally ill kid in this supposedly friendly competition, basically for no reason.

Look, he's grinning maniacally; he crearly has no qualms about this; he's aiming for the head:

2. But let's imagine Luka wasn't swift enough. The floor of the arena is covered with his blood, brain matter, and skull fragments, exactly as Boothill threatened.

Luka's father receives terrible news back at home (would Boothill send a little apology letter? like, "whoops, sorry", or "same, bro", or "he had it coming"?) He's left alone to grieve the violent loss of his child on this dying planet, once invaded by the IPC and abandoned by the universe. Wow, well done, Boothill. That will show the IPC!

As a writer, how little should you care about the story and the characters you are writing about to not notice the obvious parallel?

3. But why did he do that? The writers give us the flimsiest excuse: 

Boothill: I wanna see every news outlet in the cosmos buzzin' with the headline "The IPC's most wanted man stole the spotlight at the Wardance. He came out with the fudge blazin' and sure made them IPC shirtbags choke on the humble pie."

Okay, let's pretend he killed Luka, this fan favorite underdog, in front of the whole universe. Let's pretend he wasn't spooked away by some IPC cops (and we'll talk about it later). He fought Yanqing and killed him too. He just proved in front of the whole universe that he's actually as cruel and dangerous as the IPC propaganda said. And he got a new powerful enemy (because I don't think JY would be reasonable about losing his child like this. I mean, how many greiving fathers can we get in one hypothetical scenario?)

I don't think the IPC higher-ups will lose any sleep over it! 

4. Was there even a need to kill anybody? It's explicitly stated several times that "by holding the Wardance, they're demonstrating to everyone that they've returned to a state of peace and safety" (and it's not to satisfy people's thirst for blood or something). It's a festival, not some kind of death fight. I've got the impression that it's mostly for younger people to have fun and prove themselves. Most of the competing powerful adults don't even show their full strength. Nobody is expected to kill anybody. Yanqing decisively defeated Luka, and they ended up being friends.

Don't tell me Boothill isn't skilled enough to aim for Luka's arm to disable it with a shot (I mean that's what ended up happening but not for his lack of trying!). Or, if he wanted blood, why not just shoot Luka in the kneecaps? He'd probably need two new prosthetics, but he'd definitely be alive.

5. I already showed that Boothill would've achieved nothing if he won. But what about Luka? Maybe it's his fault? Was he too prideful? Was giving up an option for him? Absolutely not. He wasn't just representing himself, the children of the Underworld who believe in him, and that little girl who died, but his whole planet. It's the first time most people even hear about Jarilo-VI. And the first impression is crucial. Jarilo-VI is far from being safe, their chances for survival are tiny. Any support he can gain might be the matter of life and death for his homeworld. And we know that it worked because JY offered the Luofu's help to Jarilo in the end.

6. Btw, he only "fought" Luka because he knew he's much weaker than him, and then he ran away from some random IPC cops (who wouldn't have arrested him anyways because the Luofu clearly don't consider him a criminal, and they probably wouldn't allow the IPC to just arrest people on their territory). I'm not making this up, he literally says it himself:

Boothill: This kid (Yanqing) is young, but he's got some serious skills. Facing him will take too long and there's no guarantee of winning. It ain't worth gettin' caught by those forkin' IPC hounds over a competition.

So "I don't want to try and kill that kid because he can actually win". Our hero, everybody.

I mean, I'm not the only one who sees this, right? Again, it's very possible that I'm missing something important, and it all makes sense. Is he supposed to be a coward as well as a cold-blooded murderer? I don't believe that. It looks like a terrible slander of Boothill by the game's writers. Is everybody okay with it?

7. This whole confrontation kind of makes sense as the lowest point in Luka's story until you look closer. Getting to their lowest point is an important part of a hero's journey, but it usually happens in the beginning, indicating the need for the hero to change and grow, or in the end, as a test. But it happens in the middle. And it kind of doesn't change anything much?.. He gets over it and just continues competing.

The kind of character our hero loses to is also very important. It might be a mindless goon or a "for me it was Tuesday" type of villain, unrlated to our guy in any way, allowing the story to concentrate on the hero's journey. Or the antagonist's personality might be important for the story, highlighting their personal relationship with the hero or their conflicting ideologies; our hero overcoming the antagonist not only physically but mentally too, probably allowing them both to grow.

But it's neither. Boothill isn't a faceless goon, he's a complex character, a protagonist of his own tragic story. Their ideologies or goals don't clash (other than the serfuce level "I want to win this competition"). They don't have any personal history either. Boothill just appears, attempts to murder Luka, and basically disappears from the story.

8. Speaking of, you know what would be great? If instead of threatening Luka and then shooting him point blank, they actually talked. If Boothill had some character development by realizing that other people's struggles might be more important than his own pursuit of revenge sometimes. I mean, Luka was literally fighting to save his planet.

But instead, it feels like the writers just used Boothill as a tool in Luka's story, ruining him in the process.

9. Okay I'll shut up now. I'm too wordy and anal retentive. I just needed to get it out of my system. But I could go on and on. The more I think about it, the more problems I see. Like, why was their confrontation clearly styled after a classical cowboy standoff when only one of them had a gun? It makes no sense. Why did the journalists and fans have problems with Boothill's gun after the match? Didn't we just fight Topaz and her goons, who use guns too? Why wasn't it a problem then? Why did Luka faint after shielding himself from the bullet? I don't think he was wounded. And if he was wounded seriously enough to faint, then how did he manage to recover fast enough for the next match? Especially considering that the Luofu's healthcare mostly consists of feeding people normal food and giving them pets. Speaking of which, what was that dialog with Natasha in the beginning? Is he also terminally ill?… And why was Boothill borderline abelist about Luka's prosthetic arm? Yes, it was IPC branded at this point, but it's not like he just hates everything related to the IPC. He's basically good friends with Aventurine, and he had no problems sharing a small ship with Topaz and Jade. Btw, despite HSR being as vague about characters' ages as possible, it's kind of implied that Luka's underaged ("The tea served there isn't suitable for someone his age", "That red-head boy is actually… Luka from Belobog?" and so on). Boothill nearly killed a (probably) actual child in cold blood. A kid from a planet that just nearly survived IPC's military invasion. What were the writers thinking???

[penxil]

this was basically the luminary wardance event