#even when he was fighting yanqing and blade he was literally like

[rainswept]

i feel like dan heng is one of The easiest characters to comprehend personality wise, yet in my opinion people still get him wrong so often. am i just too picky. bye

[jelloia]

a post on how yanqing's monologue in the 2.4 quest aligns perfectly with his character story (+ why jing yuan is a great father figure / mentor)

so we all know that yanqing is regarded as the best swordsman on the luofu (character story part I), and when you read his character story part II, it's obvious why:

When hunting near a distant star, the monstrously huge mechabeast Windguard created by the Denizens of Abundance was pulverizing defense forces as though they were ants. But this young boy met against it face-to-face, claiming its head and routing the enemy to the point of collapse. As for subsequent victories: He broke the borisin's Devouring Wolf formation with Jing Yuan, beheading three Brood Lords. He also fought viciously against the wingweavers, ultimately sinking their almighty Cloudseizer Fleet... These are just a small footnote in the annals of his courageous swordplay.

yanqing mentions himself how he isn't like normal kids, but it's kind of startling and unnatural to read about how fearless he is. after all, he isn't like kafka--who literally cannot feel fear--he's just genuinely that good at his art

to jing yuan, yanqing's constant improvement is a reminder of how even though long-life species don't need to fear time decaying their body, their warped sense of time means they are often stagnate in their ideals and ultimately how they live their lives

"General... I finally... won." The general pauses. He suddenly realizes that, compared to the boy trying to improve every day, he himself has endured too many years and is used to stagnation.

the paradox though is that if you only win, that in itself is a form of stagnation.

so if you always succeed while being constantly praised from a young age, what happens when you lose for the first time?

from the average honkai star rail player's perspective, it's laughable that we see someone as decorated as yanqing be defeated multiple times in a row. it makes us wonder whether he even deserves his title, seeing how weak he is compared to jingliu, blade, and imbibitor lunae.

in actuality, this is a genius writing move. by bringing the player into the story right when yanqing starts losing, we begin having the same doubts and suspicions about yanqing that he is about himself. all the scorn and hatred he gets from the fandom are things i'm sure he's thought about himself.

what's even more interesting about yanqing is that most hsr characters are grown and had their early development offscreen, but we are experiencing yanqing's first big low firsthand, right along with him.

but believe it or not, this is exactly what jing yuan wanted.

according to yanqing's character story part IV:

Yanqing became an unrivaled fighter aboard the Xianzhou Luofu as his skills grew more and more advanced. Jing Yuan gradually began thinking about ways to restrain Yanqing's edge, to take him down a peg without curbing his confidence. Too solid and it can shatter. Too sharp and it can blunt. More than just a sharp edge — a sword also needs a scabbard that can restrain it. In Jing Yuan's view, Yanqing has grown up exceedingly fast — beyond expectations. What Yanqing needs right now is not more strength, but the ability and experience of curbing that strength — something that can only manifest by the passage of time.

jing yuan knows exactly what can happen to those blessed with enormous power. unchecked strength and confidence is a double edged sword--it's precisely this overconfidence that got yanqing into fighting with blade/il and challenging jingliu, yet it's also one of yanqing's best features. what jing yuan wants is for yanqing to continue to believe in himself and be courageous, but also practice control and resilience, even after resounding defeat.

"All's equal in war, and sneak attacks are a good idea. It's too bad your sword is so focused on the flourish and can't conceal its form. Is this what they call youthful vigor?"

there are some things you cannot directly teach, and it's not as though jing yuan planned for yanqing to meet jingliu/etc. jing yuan believes that only time can teach yanqing, yet it's also tricky because for long-life species, time is not just a wheel pushing progress but a cycle repeating the same things over and over.

this is why i believe it's a testament to the stellar quality of yanqing's character and jing yuan's raising of him that so relatively quick after all of yanqing's failures...

...yanqing hasn't given up nor run away, but rather discovered that he no longer fights solely for an extrinsic reward--victory, honor, approval--and instead, for something much more permanent

this doesn't mean yanqing's going to stop throwing himself into difficult fights--just take his bickering with yunli as an example--but rather his perspective has changed. yanqing will enter battle even if defeat is inevitable and will keep on going even if he loses. he's continuing to improve, both physically and mentally.

(i also want to point out the juxtaposition of "letting go of everything" and "giving it my all" in yanqing's purpose above; it sounds contradictory but i think it means how fighting helps yanqing feel free and forget the weight on his shoulders, yet it's also a show of passion where he'll fight for his family/friends/ideals to the best of his ability and beyond)

to conclude, yanqing is an insanely complex and well written character, and i'm so happy that the 2.4 quest is exploring everything that has been set up for him so far. connecting this to the final character story i haven't covered yet (part III), i believe that yanqing is closer to achieving his dream than ever before:

It's completely natural for teenage boys to love swords, but a specific dream flickers and dances among the Xianzhou swords in his collection. To become the best on the Luofu — no, the best across all the Xianzhou ships. To take the title of Sword Champion on the Luofu, and even take the title of Sword Preeminence across the Alliance. Since the Sedition of Imbibitor Lunae, the title of Sword Champion among the Luofu Cloud Knights has remained vacant for centuries. Not that nobody wants to claim it, but for a rather more embarrassing reason: The previous Sword Champion, a legendary swordmaster with 13 outstanding accolades, violated the laws of heaven, resulting in her name being wiped from the face of the cosmos. Even the prestigious title that she bore became a sore spot for others. But for this vastly impressive teen, it's now time to turn over a new page in the annals of history and write another chapter.

ultimately, i think jing yuan said it best:

"You will soon be better than everyone, and that will only be the beginning..."

[impactedfates]

I was wondering if I could request an IL dan heng x Wolf Reader based of 1.2 quest reader has wolf ears and tail kinda like foxian charcters maybe reader was worried about Dan heng after battle and sees his new form when first sees him she low key gets flustered kinda mesmerizing by him literally just wags her tail out instinct just pure fluff cuteness 💗🤭

A/N: Hello! And yes you can request this >:D I wrote this in the scenario story thingy way. Idek what to call it, but bullet pointed scenarios that make a story. Like I did with the Yanqing and Blade fic. Hope you don't mind aha. (Also I rlly hope this is fluffy)

Warnings: None (I think)

Extra: Fem! Reader but no pronouns used other then 'you' 'your' ect // Reader has wolf ears and tail // Proof read by myself but if I missed anything please tell me

You were a researcher on Hertas space station, which is where you met Dan Heng :)

At first he was rather quiet, but you tried to still talk to him when you could, you found him interesting and rather cute.

Eventually your two became friends, that friendship blossomed into a loving relationship.

You joined the Nameless so you could stay close with Dan Heng, he always knew how you felt due to how your ears and tail would move. You were usually always okay with showing your emotions in full, never being flustered if he saw how happy you were by just seeing him.

You weren't even ashamed when he caught your tail and ears being droopy when he came back from his mission on Belobog, all because you missed him, they quickly rose when you saw him though.

You were fine with showing him how you felt all the time...expect this one time when the express went to the Loufu.

You stayed on the express with Himeko and Dan Heng, at least until Dan Heng decided to leave and find his friends.

Himeko could tell that you were feeling down about not seeing your boyfriend for so long, and soon insisted for you to go and find him.

So you do that, bidding her and Pom Pom farewell. As you quickly left to find your quiet boyfriend.

You looked everywhere, I mean everywhere but you couldn’t find him. So you eventually asked around, the locals, shop owners and eventually a cloud knight (a certain sword lover)

Yanqing was confused why you were looking for him, he was a criminal of the Loufu. But at the same time, you seemed really worried. He reluctantly told you and said he’s go with you to find him. (He wouldn’t be able to arrest Dan Heng anyways, he knows his dad Jing Yuan is there)

So you get there, but there were Cloud Knights guarding the place, and even with Yanqing there they couldn’t allow you to enter.

You paces around back and forth, worried. You wanted to see your boyfriend again, but now you’re hearing he’s fighting one of the 7 Lord Ravangers???

After what seems like forever, you could spot March, Welt and the Trailblazer walking towards you.

Upon seeing you, Welt was quick to lecture you about coming on the Loufu as it could’ve been dangerous.

You were listening…until a familiar voice reached your ears. They twitched a bit as you look over seeing someone handing an unconscious man to the cloud knights.

You know that voice. It’s Dan Heng!

“Dan Heng?”

You softly called out, as you walked away from Welt, earning a sigh from the grandpa him.

Dan Hengs head looks over to you and his gaze softens.

“[Name]…what are you doing here?”

He asked, but you couldn’t respond. How could you? I mean look at him. His outfit, his longer hair, horns. He looked nearly completely different…but it was still him.

Oh how pretty...

W a i t a m i n u t e

“[Name]~ Your tails wagging, do you like Dan Hengs other form that much?”

You snapped your head behind you and stared, your tail was indeed wagging...a lot...

Dan Heng peered over and stares at the tail that you were currently trying to calm down with an embarrassed face.

Dan Heng let out a rare chuckle, coming over and wrapping his arms around you, planting a soft kiss on your cheek.

"Don't be shy dear, if you like this form then...I guess I'm not opposed to showing it more often for you"

March teases you about it all the time when you return on the express, even calls the two of you 'tail buddies'

Dan Heng doesn't tease...exactly anyways, at certain times he'd show his form just to pull you in with his tail and cuddle you, knowing that you haven't really gotten over how majestic he looks.

He honestly loves how much your tail wags when he shows his form, especially since you cannot control it no matter how much you try.

You obviously love both his forms, he just finds it amusing how much you seem to love his more dragonic form.

He especially finds it amusing that out of all the things you could've felt embarrassed from due to your ears and tail revealing things. It was him seeing your reaction to his dragon form that got you flustered the most.

Sorry if this is short!! :(

Dragon Dan Heng has my heart I love him sm, my cute lil dragon boy. So happy I won my 50/50 and got his LC (In fact, I have my next LC guaranteed cuz I got the Bailu LC on 4 pity, limited LC banner Ü)

Also, 2 posts in one day (my time) is somehow an achievement to me.

[drgnnova]

Who is the most mischaracterize character in the Honkai Star Rail fandom and why is it Yanqing?

I could go into detail about how the fanon likes to mischaracterize him. they'll call him a brat and overconfident for thinking he could beat Jingliu, Blade and Dan Heng. but it makes sense Yanqing is a prodigy which is why he's the youngest lieutenant in the history of the Xianzhou, Cloud Knights. (this can be found in this character story) and it also mention that "No one can best Yanqing when he holds a sword in hand."

people treat like he weak just because he lost against Jingliu, Blade and Dan heng. which is weird, do you want some "random" kid to be stronger than immortals who are more than twice his age. you claim these characters as strong but then call him Yanqing weak for losing agaisnt them. so it makes no sense to me, It kind of contradicts what your saying lol.

also Yanqing was only doing his job, yes Jing Yuan told him to not go after them. but he was still doing his job, it his job as the cloud knight lieutenant and he wants to prove himself to Jing Yuan. (This was only hinted at when 1.2 came out with these quests, but was confirmed later in the ghost event when Yanqing was getting manipulate/control by a heliobi/heliobus name Apyra).

and people are calling him a brat because of how he acted in his companion quest and the 1.2 quest even thought he was literally talking to wanted criminals so of course he's not going to be all rainbows and smiles. ignoring how nice he is outside of those fights/scenes.

in the 1.3 quest, Yanqing is seen trying to make sure Jing Yuan rests after his battle with phantylia. he even apologises to Jingliu for assuming she can't see due to her blindfold. Yanqing in his messages (not everyone gets this because it's only if you get hie character) stays in the rain with some kittens, and feels bad for them as he waits for the mother to return. and in most if not all other interactions that doesnt include villains, Yanqing is shown to not act bratty and even has good manners, and isn't rude.

also after the 1.2 quest, when Yanqing is a visitor to the astral express, he shown to be kind to Dan heng who he was agaisnt in the 1.2 trailblaze quest, wanting to know what Dan heng is interested in who he can talk to him. he evens fell bad when he thought he misspoke to Dan heng, saying this to Trailblazer "I was worried I spoke out of turn or upset him." and this "I'll keep talking to him — maybe I can eventually unlock his chattier side!", he clearly wants to be friends with Dan heng, and cares about people.

he considers Trailblazer a friend, even talking about the General says it "show proper etiquette...". and Yanqing wants to repay the Trailblazer but doesn't know how. and gives Trailblazer some beautiful stones he found. at the end of this conversation he says "The next time I'm here, I want to have more conversations, watch the universe, and eat some good food together with all of you!"

also i think it weird if you hate a character (not gameplay wise, I can understand why people don't like Yanqing's gameplay wise) because you lose a 50/50. you losing your 50/50 to Yanqing shouldn't make you hate his whole character. you're ignoring his character lore/personality over a game/wish.

also it stupid to hate Yanqing because of what he did in HI3, Yanqing character is completely different than his H13 counterpart/Expy (the original) because he hasn't done what he did in HI3 and it a completely different universe (think of the multiverse, if you're in a different version you won't be exactly the way because of different events happening and molding you)

[channelinglament]

I just got that if my hsr was self aware, they would see my favoritism towards YanQing and March 7

I may not use March a lot/at all (depends), BUT I still level her up and give her nice stuff

...and I main YanQing

I defeat bosses with him and he is my most strongest character (I literally take him to fight Cocolia, since he takes out A LOT of her hp)

And I farm for his stuff first

And, I wondered what would other self aware character think of that/do about that.

I also favor Trailbalzer a lot, but my Stelle isn't as strong as YanQing.

So this, is how my idea was born..

(This is a bit self-indulgent but I tried to make it suit for u too..though as I said, self indulgent heh)

- Btw YanQing is platonic >:(

-------------

Some would definitely please this two/three?

They would do anything, just to feel the Prime Aeons presence. To get Prime Aeons gaze linger on them just for a second. They may not have Aeons favor, but if pleasing the Aeons favorite would get the Aeon to look at them even for a second...all of their dignity and moral compass leaves them. They will fr do ANYTHING the favorite asks them off.

Free stuff is 100%

March 7, Trailblazer and YanQing would have this..kinda smug smiles?

YanQing won't have to worry about buying blades and swords, he is given them for free.

March 7 can eat nice food and doesn't have to worry about its cost (tbh YanQing and Stelle would do it too)

Also March is gonna be very happy, since her birthday is right after Aeons! (My bday is March 6 lmao, so if u have bday at March too, yay!)

Trailblazer is happy to share bday with you and being the main center of your attention (they're the MC after all)

Astral Express is even more loved now

And Jing Yuan is just v v happy

Some would resent them. Hate them even. Why do these 3 get all your affection and attention, when they don't, while trying their best and hardest?

Tbh I feel like March would be anxious to lose the place of being favorite, while YanQing and Stelle would be VERY protective over their place of being the favorite.

Also these 3, even tho I give them praise during the game and constantly compliment them (I say my thoughts out loud ok?) I tend to compliment Natasha EVERY SINGLE TIME I see her, so they would be jealous lmao

Bye for now :>

Idk why did I do this, I just did hehe :)

Also -

The whole time I thought YanQing was 15, like me 😭

I fr did think he was 15

...well, he is 15 in my hcs :")

The fact that I, as a 15 liked this guy who's age isn't known :")))

Hopefully he is at least 14 😭😭😭

Yes I will still main him

[my-hyperfixation-hell]

anyone else notice Jingliu was considerably gentle with Yanqing considering her training methods with Blade? (1.2 spoilers for late players)

first thing i need to say here is gentle is a very RELATIVE term. we're comparing her methods with Yanqing to literally (cw for canontypical violence here) fatally wounding Blade over and over again, knowing his immortality wouldn't let him actually die, just suffer, and taking into consideration the fact that she is Marastruck, hindering her ability to behave rationally. We're talking "gentle" for someone like that.

Her initial challenge to him is to kill more enemies, not to actually fight each other. when she DID fight him. her reasoning (or so she says) was because if she let him fight Blade, Blade would kill him, and there is a pretty big chance imo that would've happened if Kafka hadn't stepped in, and if he hadn't been preoccupied with Dan Heng, especially considering despite knowing he's outclassed, Yanqing refused to yield to either Jingliu or Dan Heng and Blade, Jingliu just disappeared on him and Kafka stepped in. Instead, she gives him the option to fight her instead, stating that she'll kill him with mercy, but it seems like she's giving him a choice, especially because she doesn't attack until Yanqing steps forward and accepts. She even praises his courage, and I may just not be detecting the tone properly, but it sounded like genuine approval to me.

Which leaves the question; would she have let Yanqing go if he backed down from fighting her, and stopped pursuing Blade?

In the end, she does get what she wants from him, some records. But she also leaves him alive, even saying her final move was "a token of her appreciation."

Yanqing himself seems surprised he was able to deflect it, and while I think there are a few reasons she left him alive, that was probably what earned her his respect and was the foremost reason why she decided to let him go; he proved himself to her.

I have a few thoughts on the other, perhaps more sentimental reasons. For starters, their shared connection to Jing Yuan. If any part of her still cares about him, which I believe she does, I think sparing Yanqing for him was a big factor in her mind.

On a similar note, I wonder if Yanqing reminds Jingliu of Jing Yuan when he was younger. Jing Yuan, in the trailer The Animated Flash, seems like he was just a little younger than Yanqing is now when Jingliu began training him.

Thirdly, while Yanqing clearly wasn't on her level, I believe he did impress her. If nothing else, killing him would be a waste of talent. I'm not just talking about the deflecting of her final move. I think his persistence and courage impressed her, too. I think she recognized Yanqing's decision to fight her didn't come from him arrogantly assuming he could win, but from his sense of duty (and, admittedly, his recklessness.)

Fourth, Jingliu nowadays seems to have considerable control over herself for someone Marastruck. I've already posted a theory on why that might be, but tl;dr without 1.3 spoilers, I think a certain someone might be helping her, similar to how Kafka helps Blade. That said, unlike our usual marastruck victims, Jingliu is able to somewhat rein herself in nowadays, whereas when she trained Blade, she might've had less self control. This may lend itself to the idea that enough of the person Jingliu was before the Mara was left to realize killing Yanqing would be senseless. After all, he poses no real threat to her. The worst he can do is let Jing Yuan know she's out there, considering she did give Yanqing her real name.

And fifth, Blade was someone Jingliu possibly projected her own feelings on being Marastruck onto. Whatever hatred she has for herself becoming an abomination, she may see in him, too, though this is largely speculation. I also think she went harder on him because unlike Yanqing, still under Jing Yuan's wing, Blade had no one else to protect him at that time. Blade had to be self sufficient, had to learn to endure pain and survive on his own. In her own, Marastruck way, I think there's a possibility that may have been Jingliu's attempt to take care of Blade.

This is a lot of rambling for someone who doesn't look at leaks or read a lot of the collectable books lying around, so I could have missed the mark entirely, but I wanted to brainstorm some reasons for fun, and they give me hope for Jingliu in the future.

She does mention at the end of their fight, after disappearing, that she suspects she'll see Yanqing again, so I hope we get to see that play out and get some more of the grand mentor and grand apprentice dynamic. It really fascinates me to see Jingliu interact with someone so much younger from the Xianzhou. Yanqing is brave and talented, but still young and in training. There's still a part of him in canon that's almost naive and still has a lot to learn, and his quest with Jingliu really highlights that. I think they make really good foils to each other because of that, and I like the idea that any mentorly (or dare my found family loving brain say maternal) affection Jingliu once had for Jing Yuan, in her own way, carries down to her treatment of Yanqing.

But who knows. As always I'd love to hear if anyone else has thoughts, but please avoid anything based on leaked content! I try to dodge that stuff like the plague.

[penultimate-step]

Despite using Jing Yuan as my main DPS unit in Star Rail since 1.0, I didn't actually like him very much as a character until 1.2. The difference between how he's initially presented to the audience versus his actual deal once we get to learn a little bit more about him is so funny.

Jing Yuan in 1.0: Calm, wise, powerful, hyper-competent general. Supreme Leader of the Luofu. While he has some melancholy in his past, he moves forward and has manages to find peace in the future. Has a young apprentice to dote in Yanqing and a competent potential successor in Fu Xuan. Has a whole short animation demonstrating both all of the above traits and emphasizing how cool he is ("A Flash"). Overall, professionally brilliant and personally content.

Jing Yuan in 1.2: "Why didn't any of my old friends who are super duper exiled on pain of death give me a phone call before illegally entering the nation-spaceship I lead...." , making 🥺👉👈 faces at Dan Heng, calling him Dan Feng even though he KNOWS they're different people; completely dismissing Blade and DH fighting Yanqing to talk to them directly...

I just don't think that a man who, when given even a hint of an opportunity, doesn't even hesitate to drop all his responsibilities to see his old friends once more, is as content and on top of things as his initial role lets on - that is the behavior of someone desperately unfulfilled and lonely.

In the years since the High-Cloud Quintet broke up, Baiheng died, Jingliu lost her mind, Blade has become an intergalactically wanted murderer, and Dan Feng doesn't even exist anymore - his reincarnation may share his face but they are very different people. And yet even knowing that all of them are irrevocably different from the people they once were - literally so in Dan Heng's case - he still can't help chasing the barely-there remains of that brief period of time in life that he was truly happy.

[vryivs]

time for the hsr update liveblog

im gonna sob. jing yuan is such a Dad. yanqing is such a Son

thinking so much about yanqing being forced to act older than his age but getting to let loose and actually be a kid when it comes to the things hes interested in

i love him

"miss march" LOOK AT MY POLITE SON!!! LOOK AT HIM!!!!!!

save my son from bureaucracy. and also from my daughter

ok why does huaiyan have and old man model when its canon that xianzhou natives dont physically age

hes old enough to be blades master so hes not an outworlder. what gives

he talks like a man who's had to spend extended time listening to the ramblings of a toddler and now is fazed by nothing

fu hua please give these old men a break

the fact yanqing looks to jing yuan to answer questions... oh baby

also jing yuan is so proud of him its so cute

hes so polite. even though she stole yanzhuo

oh yunli is an ASSHOLE

'you lost your sword because you were unfocused and now you have to fight me to get it back instead of expecting me to hand it over'

lmao the dad voice came out

i really like how its clear that yanqing is a lot more even tempered now. he only even entertains the idea of fighting yunli when she directly challenges him (after insulting him too!)

and when jing yuan warns him he immediately steps back

baby's first diplomatic mission

yunli darling i think yanzhuo is scared because it was possessed by a demon, not because yanqing is mean

this is so sweet. he really is jing yuans son

and remembering blades comment that jing yuan was a hothead as a kid. oh man. the parallels. oh boy

ok im not crazy. thank god

JING YUAN LORE

man it must be crazy for huaiyan to see this rebellious kid who became a knight against his parents wishes eventually succeed teng xiao and grow into one of the best generals the xianzhou has seen

i am ignoring the death flags yet again

hes so sincere its adorable

ok bestie cool it down. you have bigger fish to fry

I AM IGNORING THE DEATH FLAGS

jing yuan you cant die. he will be orphaned AGAIN

i dont know if he can take that

the parallel of jing yuan being told hes overthinking things by huaiyan and yanqing overthinking jing yuan

he is literally jing yuans mini me its so cute

yanqing, dan heng and jing yuan all sharing the same thoughts. i love their dynamic. they are the understanderrrrrs

MISTER DAN HENG

sobs

man yanqing is too young to be implicated in political intri-

hang on. if the abundance yanqing theory is true its gonna look real bad on jing yuan for looking after him. and like. that would be the ideal twist for this

but its only a continuance its fine nothing too important will happen

i hope

YANQING STEPPING IN TO PROTECT LINGSHA HES SO CUTE

hes good boy. jing yuan raised him well

this is maybe the first praise he's had to his face like. ever

at least in the entire game

well now we know why jing yuan was so uneasy

huaiyan's remark was so pointed jesus.

im curious to see where they'll go with this because i bet jy feels guilty as all hell

yes yunli thats what trauma does. and adding to it by insulting him and confiscating his property will totally help

she is so. 13. this is a 13yo

its striking me that yunli is everything yanqing haters claim that he is

i really hope yunli gets some character development. i can see all the yanqing stans realising this ^ and talking smack about her.

btw. dont do that. thats my 13yo edgy emo daughter

FEIXIAO IS SO HOT

well. i guess i do need a wind dps

oh my god shes so hot. oh my god

hes so excited to see her this is so cute

hey. she. she kinda looks like kiana. now that i think about it. with her hair like that and the blue eyes

ok its fine they dont share a va. false alarm. no kiana yet

bur GOD does she make me nostalgic for the og

kiana would absolutely say this

acheron come get your girl

DIPLOMACY KING!!!!

fearing how westerners will react to him being ticked off by yunli because they dont understance face

every girlboss must have her malewife

this warms my heart

she really is kaslana coded

[melon-mastermind]

Kafka and Trailblazer

I think as the game progresses, more and more people need to realize that Trailblazer and Kafka are not really written as a mother and her child. I can understand the confusion, seeing as I used to feel this way too, but some of you must not have finished the companion mission “Letter from a Strange Woman,” or misinterpreted it.

Since photos seem to grab people's attention the most, this is a photo that Kafka can send to Trailblazer in order to confirm that it is her who is messaging them.

The main focus of this image is what you think it is. You aren't being gross for noticing it. It's literally the focus of this image. You see only a fraction of Kafka's face, but can see everything underneath it. This is not something that a parental figure would—or should—send you. The act of sending images like this is not viewed as platonic.

Secondly, a common misconception is that Trailblazer is made of Kafka's DNA due to what she says in Truth and Lies, but this has been confirmed to be the lie. The truth is this:

"One day, Elio handed you over to me. He said that if things continued to transpire according to the future possibility he foresaw, you would eventually change me and I would change you.

In other words, you and I are each other's destiny.”

The phrasing of Kafka's last line isn't quite platonic either. If you think of the phrase by itself, and not in relation to Kafka and Trailblazer, you'll likely think of a couple more than a parental figure and their child—adoptive or not. There's so many romantic quotes out there that have something to do with destiny, and although destiny can be viewed platonically, as in you are destined to befriend someone, that doesn't seem fitting for Kafka and Trailblazer's relationship.

Additionally, after fighting Yanqing, Blade will come to thank Trailblazer, mentioning their old relationship with Kafka.

“You once followed Kafka, didn't you? There was a time when she was on a mission — you were next to her. I remember.”

In order for Trailblazer to have been on a mission with Kafka, Kafka would have to see them as an equal, or at least trust Trailblazer not to get hurt, even when she did her best to keep them alive. This trust can be hard to obtain in parent-child relationships, since it's typically a parental instinct to make your child avoid danger in the first place. For Blade to be involved, it was obviously a bigger mission too.

Since Trailblazer's memories would be erased, I don't think it's crazy to believe that Kafka really did just want to spend time with them in some way.

Later, in “Luofu Myths: Haunted House,” Trailblazer will encounter a wanted poster of Kafka in a seemingly haunted house. One of their first thoughts can be that she is beautiful, to which the narrator will confirm, but say that now is not the time to be saying such things. Immediately pointing out someone's beauty doesn't feel platonic, not when Trailblazer knows who Kafka is, and not when Trailblazer has been known to flirt with other characters through such compliments.

Things can be seen a lot earlier too, like in "Stars Sun, Prescience Sprung,” where Trailblazer finishes finding clues. When March 7th voices that Kafka is probably loving the chase, Trailblazer can say that she sure is a Stellaron Hunter, to which March 7th will reply:

“Ugh, why don't you go and marry her, huh?”

Even if March 7th doesn't know the relationship that Trailblazer and Kafka share, it would be in really poor taste to include this line if their relationship was that of a parent and a child.

Now, I personally don't ship Kafka and Trailblazer, but I really don't want people to be so surprised if Kafka and Trailblazer's relationship gears towards something romantic. They have to change each other, and it seems like the threat of losing Trailblazer will be what let's Kafka finally feel fear.

If you acknowledged my previous points but still want Trailblazer to have a mother figure, Himeko is right there, and she's amazing. You'll probably get the angst you crave too, if you know anything about the previous games.

[another-goblin]

Warning: giant text dump

1.3 is coming soon and I still can't get over how they did our dragon boy dirty in 1.2, namely the beach scene. (I feel like I'm the only person who sees it this way, so maybe I'm missing something)

(pictured: mullet gang beating up a child)

First, if we want to respect Dan Heng's wish to be seen as his own person, then DF's history is just that, some other guy's history, and DH should be judged by his own merit. So what did we know about him before he left the Express in 1.2 - he's quiet and reserved (that's cool, even small expression of emotions from this type of character feels like a revelation), he's protective of his friends (awesome), he has the past (though currently he doesn't accept it as his past, so let's say he's misattributed with somebody else's past), and he's so traumatized by some immortal murderous weirdo chasing him all arount the galaxy that he sees him in his nightmares.

His loyalty to his friends is so strong that the moment he finds out that Blade is on the Luofu, he's prepared to risk his freedom to protect his friends from Blade. So far so good, until we get to the beach scene.

He encounters Blade and engages in a fight with him for a couple of seconds, and then just stands there doing literally nothing while some brave kid fights Blade to protect DH, even though he defeated Blade many times before. Then he catches Blade's sword with his chest and turns into a cooler Daniel (which would be a nice revelation if it weren't spoiled months ago by leakers. Imagine how awesome it would be if it was a total surprise! But we can't have nice things, thanks to leakers who don't tag their leaks) So yeah, dragon, whatever.

And then he shows zero emotions! What happened? Have they forgotten to write his reaction in the script? I can only conclude that it means that he has full memories of his past self as well as the knowledge that he'll turn into a dragon if killed, so he expected it to happen. But even then I expect some reaction! I mean, it makes it so much harder for him to be just a normal human guy DH now. But nope, not even a frown. (one way I can explain it is that he knew that he'd turn into his stronger form when killed, and it'd help him to better protect his friends from Blade. There is no evidence of that in the cutscene, so I don't think that's how we are supposed to see it)

And then it gets so much worse!

It's not a game-ruining thing, it's just so baffling. Like, I'm not even disappointed, I'm confused by the writers' decision to make Dan "Step aside, I have no interest in stoking conflict" Heng to fight a child, especially when it was so easily avoidable. I mean, I genuinely appreciate all the memes and jokes that resulted from it, but good guys just don't do that! It's like 101 of being a decent person. (I hope Welt has another version of that "How not to be evil" book he gave to Luocha. DH clearly needs it)

What it feels like - imagine two high school bullies in a kid's movie, played by 35-year-old actors, beating up our child hero, played by an actual child. And these two are both MMA champions, and they don't hold back. And the kid just wanted to protect his school and his friends. And we are supposed to root for the bullies.

And let's not forget that DH came to the Luofu specifically to save his friends from Blade. But instead, he teams up with Blade to beat up a child, so that he could faster get to his friends to protect them from Blade. Make it make sense, game!

Someone could say, what was he supposed to do? Let's not forget that characters don't have agency, they do what they are written to do. And the situation develops the way it's written to develop. So the question should be, could it have been written differently? For example, he can fly now!!! He could've just left and flew to his friends while Blade is busy murdering a child! Or talk to Yanqing and explain the truth. Or dodge his attacks until JY arrives. Or just surrender - I think his friends would understand this choice (again, until JY arrives). Or literally any other way this scene could have been written.

Even if we absolutely have to have a boss fight with Yanqing for some reason - make us play as just Blade and let IL join the fight to save Yanqing, showing him that he was mistaken about IL being a bad guy. Instead Dan "I'm not him and I don't have his Awesome Ancient Powers" Heng unleashes his Awesome Ancient Powers onto a small kid.

What are players supposed to learn from this? That Dan Heng is a child beater? It's literally the first thing IL DH does, it's like his second character introduction. And what a second first impression it is. Or is it a foreshadowing of the crime DF has committed ? Did DF burn down an orphanage, fueled by his hatred of children, or something?

And for those who want to feel sad - imagine if Yanqing turned out to be a bit less sturdy. Imagine JY arriving at the scene just to witness his friends murdering his son. Imagine DH explaining to March that he was in such a hurry to see his dear friends that he absolutely had to kill her "widdle baby"

(I'm glad to see from the 1.3 trailer that he'll return to his normal form. Continuing with his theme, he can always say that it was that IL guy who nearly killed the kid, and not him)

Also, Yanqing did really well against two legendary warriors. I hope at least he'll get some character development from this.

[baeshijima]

so. um. haha.

:D

2.5 general story spoilers utc !!

first off. THAT WAS SUCH A GOOD QUEST??? it made me tear up a few times *cough* basically all scenes with jiaoqiu *cough* and??? goodness.

i do really like how we got more lore abt the past (high-cloud quintet my beloved tragedy.... sniffle sob sob sniffle...) and like,,, the first mention of good intention in the image below jing yuan was talking abt was probably referencing when dan feng and yingxing did that whole vidyadhara transfusion thing to try and resurrect baiheng only for it to backfire

;w;

bUT ALSO ??? HELLO ???

ik i posted abt this already but like,,, u mean to tell me lingshas mentor forcibly made dan heng regain his memories, being the whole reason he couldnt separate himself from the past for basically his entire life and having to live with the sins he himself did not commit, having to carry that burden without knowing nor understanding why, constantly followed by the shadow of his past (also blade. he followed him too.) when all the other vidydhara couldnt remember their previous lives because they were not supposed to; the rebirth is to start anew and yet he was not given the choice for that.....

sob dan heng..... the more we get to know u the more i literally cry for u bc what the fyuch

aND NOW JIAOQIU MY PRECIOUS BABY I AM SOSJKFD RAAAAAHH AS I UNLEASH MY INNER ALPHA WOLF SHIRT TEARING IMAGE WITH TEARS STREAMING DOWN MY FACE

the light in his eyes being non-existent when he doesnt understand why those he saved went back just to die and questioning his purpose vs the light coming back after finding it again and understanding that their deaths were not meaningless...

he just wanted to save everyone he could, only for them to die right after and not understanding why they would foolishly run back into death just when they escaped it while beating himself up over yet another death he couldnt prevent, and then coming to terms with the fact that was their version of what they believed to be true virtue and righteousness, fighting for what they believed in even if it killed them.

and his deprecating laugh (at least in cn voice over. idk abt the other languages) from [everything i'm doing now... even your death has value...] because he was fully prepared to die and have the last laugh knowing hoolay would go down with him from the poison...

make the pain stop....

stop it... ur life isnt insignificant... ur life has meaning...

stop.... him losing his vision as a result of the poison when he was fully prepared to die for the cause of hoolays death ;w;; ourghg a moze just solemnly watching over jiaoqiu but he didnt know until he spoke bc he couldnt see him 😭😭 istg if we dont have a continuance or smth where we heal jiaoqius eyes i am going to explode 🧍‍♀️

on another slightly more lighthearted note, I AM???? SO UNWELL?????

YANQING MY SON???? no bc i fr was wondering how tf jingliu was gonna be on the luofu just to fight hoolay bc she wasnt even on the luofu, but it ended up being yanqing remembering jinglius advice/sword art right before hoolay could kill him and resembled her so much in that moment, to the point hoolay himself thought he was facing against jingliu??? the previous sword champion???? the only one who could subdue him?????

okay. but like. despite him being a literal killer and enslaved foxians and stuff, i actually did like his character quite a bit in the sense that he does give respect where it is due, and acknowledges the strengths and weaknesses of both himself and his foes. he acknowledged and commended jiaoqiu on his tenacity (also cursing him out a lot when we fought him like damn calm down on the obsession),he gave acknowledgement and respect to feixiao, even saying she was the only one suited to take over for him, he gave respect to yanqing for besting him and accepting his loss. well. until the whole crimson moon fiasco. but thats next :D

okay. now feixiao.

loved loved LOVED all of the cutscenes she was in so much like genuinely all of her cutscenes gave me chills and were so well done !! the one where she used yukongs bow and arrow to eliminate basically all the borisin in aurum alley... my god that was hot... (the drawback from the curse wasnt, but we ignore that ahhah)

AND THIS ONE !!!!

LIKE ??? the execution in this whole cutscene was so good. just when we thought we were done with hoolay, he basically tears his heart out for the destruction of the starsplitter with feixiao using her spirit to consume it, which basically meant she was hoolay/hoolay was her for a little... and then the trio fighting controlled feixiao... and her slumping from exhaustion when she defeated hoolay in her conscience... ourgh....

no but she is such a cool character and i loved the progression of her background reveal and her morals + virtues + beliefs as well as hoolay exposing her fears and seeing that one of her worst ones was losing control to the crimson moon curse and (unintentionally) betraying everyone :(

AND THE WHOLE "you are me just as i am you, we are one in the same" PARALLELS COILS FOILS RAAAHH???

gosh and then when he used her /real/ name as well from when she was a war slave.... when the characters are enemies but have more resemblance to one another than they do with their own allies/companions, meaning they understand each other better than how their own people do... ohh this trope.... it gets me every time...

feixiao even tho u literally used up all 26k jades and 50 warp tickets for e0 s1, meaning i have to scrap all the currency i can get for sunday and pray he is nice to me, i am glad i got u <33

also these were so silly 😭 us and bailu being dramatic over march bc she left her camera out on the bench while going to the toilet and then yunli just being a menace as per usual ;w;

but. uhm.

haha. jing yuan u are looking beautiful as always i am glad i got to see and hear u several times this quest <33

buy. uhm. again.

WHAT. luocha and jingliu mention... meeting with marshal hua (it should have been me... i should have met marshal hua...)... LUOCHA HAVING A FRAGMENT OF THE PROPOGATIONS DIVINE BODY IN HIS COFFIN???? THEM TEAMING UP WITH RUAN MEI??? HELLO WHAT PLS EXPLAIN HSR DEVS?????

aND HELLO THIS IS SO CRAZY TO DROP RIGHT AT THE END???

TINGYUN COMEBACK??? AS IN REAL TINGYUN??? MAYBE???? OR IF ITS RUAN MEI THEN MAYBE ITS SOME RESURRECTION/REINCARNATION KINDA THING???

but also

theres no way i got this on the loading screen right after. foreshadow?? new swarm disaster bc propogation comeback with ruan mei + maybe tingyun???

anyway. yeah. wow. awooga. no words. i have used them all.

actually, i havent yet.

if evil/morally grey, why super pretty? (also the fact dan hengs one cutscene was just a 5 second clip of him impaling taoran with his spear was so 😭😭)

ok. words are no more now. ty for reading.

[assortedsouls]

A Few Things About Yanqing

He literally is the most proficient swordsman of the Xianzhou Luofu. This is canon, it's in his official character details [x]. It also mentions that he was born for the sword and is obsessed with them (which we all know). Anyway, he is good. Like frighteningly good, even Jing Yuan agrees on this, but of course skill isn't everything. Yanqing needs to work on his impulses and learn that he doesn't need to constantly prove himself. However, this is something that will only come with time. What he needs is to mature.

Yanqing isn't just a good swordsman, he is also a good strategic and logical thinker. Jing Yuan has trained him in that as well. This can be seen when Yanqing meets Jingliu and immediately realises she is not who she says she is. Yanqing isn't just brawns, he's brains too. Don't underestimate that part of him either. The boy is smart.

As for confidence. He has plenty of that, but since he's also very young, it's easy to dent it. Which happens after his fight with Dan Heng and Blade. It doesn't help that the General is clearly angry with him. There's a lot of emotions going on here for Yanqing: guilt, embarrassment, confusion, anger. And as someone pretty obsessed with victory and defeat, putting a lot of his own worth in whether he's "good enough" as a swordsman or not, losing to Dan Heng and Blade, upsetting the General and all that does take a chunk of his confidence and aggravates his worries. Of course, he won't talk about this. Yanqing is the type to try and keep any and all pain to himself. He does know he can't always win, but that doesn't mean losing won't hurt and it all gets worse by the General getting hurt when fighting Phantylia and Yanqing couldn't even help with it. Although, he's not giving up or not thinking he can't become a master of swordsmanship one day, he will need some extra reassurance after this, even if he also is mentally strong (as you can see with how he manages to break free from Apyra). I'm pretty sure Jing Yuan will notice this though, the man is very perceptive.

And when it comes to Jing Yuan, Yanqing does call him General and Master and he very much view him as that, but he is also a father figure to him. He'll never call Jing Yuan 'dad' or 'father', but in his heart, Jing Yuan is his father and no one can ever convince me that the feeling isn't mutual. Jing Yuan might never call Yanqing his son, he's his apprentice and retainer, but in his heart, I believe Jing Yuan views Yanqing as his son. They will probably both deny that though.

[madraleen]

some mixed comments on honkai: star rail’s “even immortality ends” quest erhm, they got long, but i legit play this for the intriguing plot and pretty characters, so. *that said, i miss a lot of lore things when i get caught up into the gameplay action, so don’t come at me if i’m talking nonsense. be nice.

i was very excited when i started playing it. i was less excited when i finished it. i think most of my gripes are personal me-gripes though.

they basically come down to the presentation of ~questions. not knowing the answers because the characters don’t, or because of someone’s secret (like dan heng’s) is great. not knowing the answers because someone won’t elaborate for the player’s sake even though the characters keep bringing it up and it’s actually relevant to discuss in this part of the story, in a ~mystery for mystery’s sake way, has always bugged me, in any story. point in case, jing yuan and dan heng keep mentioning dan feng’s sin, crime, OKAY WHAT IS IT?! also, the information on what happened between blade, dan feng and jing yuan was too little for my liking - and i understand we’ll learn eventually, but some breadcrumbs would have been nice to keep us going between patches. also, the whole mara consuming blade thing - i thought that could have been a little more elaborated on too, because literally the live-stream explained it more, some information IS OUT THERE, it’s not a secret if you’ve watched the live-stream, so. like, tingyun’s mystery? THAT was great. THAT was perfectly executed and it makes sense that we’re still in the dark.

visually though everything was stunning, i was super mesmerized by the sea for some reason (it turns foam white when it hits on docks and stuff!). i love that when we see someone’s else’s side-story we get to play as them, not as our team, like with blade and imbibitor lunae vs yanqing. i liked that our reaction to dan heng’s imbibitor lunae’s form was basically, “oh you have horns now? cool. shall we go on with the mission?” i have never shipped stelle and dan heng more than when they stared at each other in silence. jing yuan is A DELIGHT. when the boss battle was like, ‘if jing yuan falls, the battle ends,’ i was like, yes, that’s basically my entire playstyle on an everyday basis, lol. imbibitor lunae’s design is insanely pretty, and his moves and gestures and stuff when he fights are amazing. 

as for the simp factor/who i am pulling for: at first i was like, BOTH I WANT BOTH, but i wanted imbibitor lunae more - plus he’s imaginary, but i gave it a chance. i had about 30 pulls and i’m on guaranteed, so i pulled, gave a chance to blade to come early. in a true fashion of my horrible star rail pulls so far, he didn’t, and so now i’m on 60ish pity and it’ll all go to dan heng, bless his long hair and flowy clothes.

[rainswept]

jaw dropped. this is all so. yes. exactly

also the fact that you haven’t even finished the story and can still get all this. right?? like. wtf is everyone else’s problem. it’s so easy to get 😭😭

“n e wayyyyy ive still not finished the main quest so it might be off slightly.....i still don't know a lot about his mara side but like if so much of his character is Not Mara then maybe... perhaps that's not his whole character 😁”

yeah, his portrayal in a good chunk of the story leans more towards the fandom’s interpretation of him. but that is because most of the time you do see him in the story he’s confronting his past, which is exasperating the mara (kafka confirms this in her companion mission) and kafka is actively encouraging him to let it take over. but they make it so glaringly obvious that that’s not how he USUALLY is.

ALSO. kafka in her companion mission — which is basically her calling us to help protect her and an injured blade while she’s helping him to be able to travel off the xianzhou after the events of the story — tells us a bit about him/his current state and condition. and she basically said that he has a lot of gaps in his memory + “as long as he doesn’t see anyone familiar” (after the whole meditation thing she does to make it so he’s able to travel) “he should be fine”. so from what i remember i think she helped calm the mara and subsequently made him forget what happened on the xianzhou. and he was completely calm. he’s nowhere NEAR as crazed as the community makes him seem ANY other time EXCEPT for when the mara is being deliberately exasperated/unleashed/manipulated by kafka so he uses his full power against who he’s fighting. like. ugh.

also, blade even talks to us after kafka’s companion mission. and he’s cold yes. but he essentially tells us that kafka has sacrificed a lot for us, which to me further drives home the point he cares about her.

ALSO HE LITERALLY SAYS TO YANQING “so you were trained by [jingliu]? then you deserve no mercy.” IMPLYING HE WAS BEING MERCIFUL BEFORE WHICH HE WAS. exactly like you said. despite kafka almost completely letting the mara be unleashed, blade was STILL being merciful. if he wasn’t, if he was just as crazed and bloodthirsty as the community seems to believe, yanqing would be dead. hell, even AFTER he realized yanqing was trained by jingliu, he STILL had mercy on him seeing as he’s still alive.

these little nuances are SO overlooked by the fandom. it’s so sad. things like these are what separate characters from each other, but so many people rip them away and reduce characters to like. 1 of 3 tropes, no matter how inaccurate they actually are

OK. LISTEN TO ME. i’m laughing at this and it’s overall an unserious video HOWEVER.

LISTEN TO THEM THE VAS THEMSELVES LITERALLY SAY RIGHT THERE “whenever blade gets scary, it’s the mara flaring up” and “most of the time, blade is nice and quiet” LIKE 😭😭😭😭 come ONNNN people can we collectively stop portraying him as a complete asshole and maniac 24/7

like it was a mistake to have his like. one appearance in the main story be when he was on the xianzhou and kafka literally told him to let the mara take over or whatever. because now we have this horrid near community-wide mischaracterization bc so many people think he’s ALWAYS like that