#hsr ichor of two dragons

[endermaans]

I JUST WAYCHHEF THE ANIMATED SHORT IM GONNA PASS OUT.

[arataki-neato]

Important canon facts

Dan Feng is several centimeters taller than Dan Heng but his horns are smaller

[avnasace]

interesting detail i just noticed about the animated short:

at the start it places emphasis on yingxing wearing the bracer, however every scene with dan feng has the opposite hand (with the matching bracer) behind his back.

he only fights with his right hand.

interesting when you consider that the dan feng in the animated short isnt actually dan feng/his memories, its the Perception of dan feng that dan heng got from the preceptors and misinformation from his deeds...

[creampiece]

Immortality made his boobs grow bigger, that's the only thing Blade will thank Dan Feng for.

[hoyotunes]

Ichor of Two Dragons from Experience the Paths Vol. 1 Vinchi, Fan, HOYO-MiX

[hsrlorefreak]

i am. not normal for dan heng. (or dan feng, as i’ve realized)

but ichor of the two dragons. god????? honestly i had ignored a lot of the animations from hoyo before because i just wasn’t that invested.

but i could talk so much about this one animation.

dan feng

(because i say “he” a lot and uh. it is kind of hard to tell)

general story

the animation basically states that dan heng, after the xianzhou luofu trailblaze mission, he visits places of significance to dan feng.

the whole thing, i think, is meant to convey dan heng trying to accept the fact that he was dan feng once, but reaffirming that he is not him. he remembers, feels, maybe, but that was not his life.

maybe it’s trying to put his (negative, complicated) feelings towards his previous incarnation to rest. because he finally had to confront it after constantly running from it, from sins he doesn’t understand.

i think dan heng believes he has put his past behind him. that’s why he goes (other than no longer being exiled)

i find it really interesting that the sky doesn’t turn dark until he starts to walk away. that it comes from behind him, and dan heng doesn’t notice until it overwhelms his world entirely and he can’t run anymore.

then the water comes.

water, cloudhymm, a power that comes specifically the man he doesn’t clearly remember being, a person that was denied the chance to live his full life, a person of a ‘home’ dan heng never had the chance to see and they both were locked away from.

he is drowning in memories of a past he wanted to deny so badly.

dan feng’s (i’m going to have a whole second on him so his dialogue isn’t the point) entrance is from behind dan heng. a constant shadow on his present life, a dark that follows him even as he can be happy, maybe especially because of that (light creates shadows).

the fact that dan heng and dan feng (in any language i checked the credits) do not share the same voice actor despite the fact that blade and yingxing do and that people keep seeing them as the same person. i’m 90% sure that was done on purpose because voice actors are great and i’m sure anyone who voices dan heng could go regal and proper and voice dan feng as well, and yet they chose not to.

the petals that fall down are the mara petals that the soldiers have. the red petals on the statue i can maybe excuse as a drink thing? but out of any color, they chose the gold of those consumed by mara.

and when dan heng ‘sees’ (i don’t think this portrayal is accurate to how he was in life?) dan feng, his immediate reaction, despite having a weapon to his throat, is “I have to leave.” he is frozen and can’t do anything against him (dead)

this establishes the theme: he still isn’t over dan feng’s place as his past. he still doesn’t want to face it.

he doesn’t look him in the eye—he can’t, he shakes and closes his eyes and avoids it—doesn’t turn completely, doesn’t defend himself. his first instinct—as it had been for blade when he had that nightmare right before the xianzhou luofu mission—was avoidance. but like the lightcone—there was “nowhere to run”.

kudos to the voice actors, because dan heng’s voice is shaky and quiet and dan feng is calm and constant. it matches the animation— dan heng is constantly moving his eyes and being taken off guard, but dan feng barely moves at all.

i’ve seen people talk about the next scene. but really. the symbolism? there is nobody but the two of them in that world, both have shadows, and yet there is a larger one vaguely resembling another person casting over the both of them.

and the next! the difference in their fighting styles is really apparent here, i think. dan heng is still in his human form, legs wide. dan feng isn’t using the spear (cloud piercer?) anymore. he’s preparing to use cloudhymm, something dan heng cannot (won’t?) do in his current form. something he never wanted to, because that meant confronting his past as dan feng.

the fight itself is so cool but i’m not very good at that but. dan heng keeps trying to move forward, is actively getting closer, but he does not land a hit on dan feng at all. he misses, is not enough, is pushed back. he cannot change the past, and dan feng is that past.

there’s no reason for dan feng to raise himself up— dan heng wasn’t managing to hit him at all. a symbolism, i think. the luofu does not see dan heng. they see dan feng, put him on a darkened pedestal, because despite if they think he was wrong or right in whatever sin he committed, there was no denying that he was one of (if not the, if i can remember the shade’s words correctly) strongest vidyadhara high elders ever.

okay i’ll say more about it later but dan feng now says “You have nowhere to run.”

—and then dan heng can’t even push back the water at all, unlike when he could at least deflect them earlier in the fight.

and he hasn’t gotten up. he’s not trying to catch up to dan feng and defeat him anymore. he’s just staring, until the very last scene before he’s hit by the water dragon and is dragged into the water, loses his grip on his weapon.

the resulting scenes of the past, of dan feng’s memories (jing yuan, yingxing, jingliu, the preceptors (?) not caring even for dan feng, just the knowledge only he holds)

darkness. for, not that long, but quite a while.

his eyes opening, bubbles, breathe, his life coming back to him.

the astral express. basically insignificant dialogue, but to dan heng, at that moment, they are the words he needed to hear.

himeko’s “you’re one of the express crew” he, dan heng, not dan feng, belonged. dan feng never was and so he cannot taint that. march, calling out his name, doing something simple and mundane with stelle having zero reason to be there but is anyway, just to see him.

pom pom’s doesn’t have much, but the fact that he remembers it means that one time, before stelle/trailblazer came abroad the express, he was in the main train cart with the rest of the crew. that sense of belonging.

his eyes, almost lifeless, blinking, instead of to avoid his last, to clear his head and to wake him up, to continue forward, upwards, to not be dragged down by a shadow of who he cannot be, even if he wanted to (he doesn’t, mostly)

acknowledgement. at last. “You are my past.” him finally understand that it doesn’t define who he is as dan heng. that he “won’t follow [him] into [his] future!”

explosion, breaking away from it all, light, genuine, bright yellow light, for the first time since the sun was out in the beginning of the animation.

aaaa i wanna talk about the line he says, but i’ll save that because it has to do with dan feng.

standing opposite sides of the statue of both of their past life as yubie. facing away, facing downward. mirrors, at last and always, and yet.

(the rain, washing everything away.)

dan feng, a constant, and yet a small shift. a willingness to let dan heng live, now.

“and don’t look back”

for once, it isn’t fear. it is advice, closes his eyes, and disappears into gold.

and he is at peace. doesn’t deny he was reminiscing at the statue. that (some of) his memories are dan feng, without having to reaffirm that “he still is dan heng” or that “i’m not him”

final shot, the astral express.

dan heng’s present, and his future.

(god i loved this animation.)

———

dan feng + dialogue

his entrance, to dan heng, came out of nowhere. he (it) crept up behind him until he couldn’t ignore it and it was threatening him.

my take on this animation is: it is not set in the real world. maybe, probably, some shenanigans happened with the sedition of imbibitor lunae that means blade is somewhat right in his insistence that dan heng is still dan feng in some ways more than just being his reincarnation.

but even if that’s not the case, i think the fight is all in dan heng’s head/conscious, in an attempt to reconcile his past in front of an area that shouldn’t be significant to him, a statue of his way past life, while he was trying to leave for his present.

note: i don’t think dan feng’s particular ‘punishment’ had ever been used as a punishment before because of the severity of the crime he committed and so there could’ve been unforeseen consequences of that. especially since the molting rebirth was messed with by the preceptors(?) to try to keep the transmutation arcanum alive.

his words, in particular i think, are dan heng’s subconscious listing all of his fears.

“how long will you keep running?” (that’s all he’s been doing since he was banished)

“you’ll find no refuge among the stars.” this line makes it clear to me (i think) that this isn’t dan feng. why would he know of what happened after his death? why would he be bitter(?) when he seemed so calm and at peace in “myriad celestial trailer — “history of the xianzhou: exodus of the five dragons””?

baiheng is confirmed to be the foxian of the high cloud quintet. baiheng was a nameless, someone who goes from world to world, among the stars. “dan heng’s” guilt of bailu’s existence (implied to have been baiheng because of her dreams starting after getting on the astral express + dan heng’s companion mission)

he doesn’t even say “escape, peace” he specifically says refuge.

“the high elder succession is as eternal and unyielding has the ancient sea” (he does not want the title)

“you are my reincarnation. a mirror image. a past life’s sin must be repaid in this one”

this line. dan heng struggles, so much, with his identity. half the reason i think he stayed on the astral express other than genuine fondness is the fact that they had no connection to dan feng (other than being nameless, but that was not dan feng’s title. it was not something exclusive to the luofu, that belonged to people unrelated to him. it belonged to someone dan feng cared for so much that he was willing to commit crimes that it probably subconsciously leaked into dan heng.)

he could protect (while he believes(?) that all dan feng did was destroy (doesn’t have his healing powers)) while not having to face his past because they did not make him.

and the part about past life repaying sins— i don’t think that is something dan feng of the high cloud quintet, when he was alive, would say. we only have one (what i consider) accurate scene of him chained in the prison, and he is calm, unlike dan heng’s light cone “brighter than the sun”. dan feng’s punishment was unique to him— usually, any sins were washed away after being reborn, because the vidyadhara believe that the reincarnation does not equal what came before them.

i think that idea got kind of muddled, after dan feng’s punishment. especially since in dan heng’s companion mission, all they see is dan feng. maybe it’s because of what the preceptors did, that made him so similar looking to dan feng, but that’s just a theory.

anyway.

dan heng responds to that, “I’m not you!”

dan feng is mostly. stationary. he moves his arms a little, dodges, but he is like a wall, that dan heng can’t cross, can’t break, until he does.

“i will blaze a path of my own.” his will, he wants to continue trailblazing with everyone, wants to be his own self, and he’s willing to fight for it instead of running and hoping for his last to never catch up.

“it is futile.” again, these are dan heng’s fears spoken through his greatest one: dan feng.

(well, blade scares him, yes, but because he is trying to murder him, and the fact that his existence screams to him that he is dan feng, that dan heng doesn’t and won’t exist towards others, that he cannot have things of his own because he (both dan feng and blade) will take them from him)

his transformation. he uses everything at his disposal to win.

(also, switch from left to right hand— is that something he consciously did? or is that one difference of dan heng to dan feng?)

[jymwahuwu]

GIRL I JUST HAD THE MOST DAN HENG SHAMING BRAINROT 😭 Again, inspired by your writing of Dan Feng finding us in another lifetime. Darling's immortal bc you can't meet the reincarnated version of your yandere if you're short-lived.

We all know that Dan Feng's outfit is ✨conservative✨ while Dan Heng's IL outfit gives your grandparents a heart attack. So imagine him gaining memories of you, the darling he kidnapped in his past and also regaining the old obsession. And the first thing you do when you met Dan Heng IL is judge his outfit bc why is he dressed like...that?? Where's the honor and pride of the high elder?? He's trying to kidnap you again, in THAT outfit??

CW: hsr spoilers (dan heng companion mission), yandere, kidnapping, conservative attitude (maybe seems a bit sexist), (implied but not described) non-con

😂Love Dragon boys’ different attitudes towards clothes!! Dan Feng’s conservative attitude towards you and his clothes is something I definitely won’t shut up about 🤭

In order to answer, I studied Dan Feng and Dan Heng's clothes-

Dan Feng's clothes are darker in color, the collars on both sides are higher, and there is a gemstone in the middle of the chest. And there is a picture of a crane on the clothes, which symbolizes nobility, elegance, longevity, luck and other positive meanings, suggesting his background and personality. In the animation trailer, Dan Feng sat quietly, even though he was locked by all the chains (implying the reincarnation fate of High Elder/that sin), he still closed his eyes quietly, without any sorrow, anger, or sadness on his face, like he doesn't care at all. And refer to the few clues now:

1) Dan Feng is described by Jing Yuan as "powerful", "beyond control".

2) When he communicated with Yingxing in the past, he had a strong and calm tone here.

At least it can be deduced that his character is a confident, powerful, charismatic, and even a bit tough dragon. As for Dan Feng who appears in the "Ichor of Two Dragons" animation, that "him" is the version Dan Heng understands. This may be much tougher than himself. As you can imagine, Dan Feng’s current fashion style is relatively conservative💕

As for Dan Heng, we all know what kind of character he is 😚 Let’s talk about clothes. In contrast, the colors of his clothes are brighter, showing that he is breaking away from the cycle of inheritance. Moreover, Dan Heng's clothes are much more revealing- his shoulders are exposed, and then his back and the middle of his chest are also exposed. The theme of his clothes is lotus, not Dan Feng's crane. The lotus is equally beautiful and elegant, but rises from the mud without stains (still looking at the light in the darkness). This is their different style.

In the past life, Dan Feng bound you to his side. No matter what style of clothing you like, the High Elder has ordered you to change into this style- like this Vidyadhara Lady NPC. Traditional Xianzhou style clothes. If you expose a little bit, like these Xianzhou girls (Sushang, Yukong, Tingyun, Qingque etc), exposing shoulders, thighs, calves, Yandere! Dan Feng is not happy with this kind of dress. In his eyes, it is immoral - why most people in Xianzhou dress appropriately, you have to learn from those few people who dress like this.

Not to mention you plan to wear clothes from other planets/space civilizations💀💔What? Are you going to expose some skin on your chest? You don't even have any fabric on your waist! Those clothes disappear from your closet (um, they appear every time you act sad, but Dan Feng said it has nothing to do with him). Don't you notice that people are looking at you? Some people want to flirt with you.

Over the long centuries, the few exceptions were in private. For example, that time you bought a dragon tail and a cute revealing outfit and wore them to please your angry dragon husband. Dan Feng gently stroked your tail and pursed his lips.

After Dan Feng's reincarnation, you escaped from Luofu, took a spaceship, and traveled around various planets. Dan Feng has always forced you to stay with him. Now that you are free, you should be happy, but loss and sorrow haunt your heart.

The dragon who once said that no matter which reincarnation will find you...is it really gone?

Until you meet the boy. Those eyes that are as bright as the ocean, and similar dragon horns and tail.

"Found you."

It's been a long time since you've felt that fear of being captured. In panic, you pushed his chest and noticed his clothes, which turned into another kind of shock. Wait, where's the honor and pride of the High Elder?? Indecent?? The middle of his chest is even exposed.

This might be an odd focus for you about to be kidnapped, but you really haven't seen Dan Feng like this in hundreds of years. Dan Heng puts you on the Astral Express and selects a room for you. He will stick to your side at night, curl up with his tail and sleep with you. You realize the difference between him and Dan Feng, especially in your clothing attitude. He allows you to keep wearing whatever you like, March and Stelle discuss fashion trends with you, have a slumber party, laughing.

Sometimes, you miss Dan Feng and recall what they brought to you. You know they are two people. The changes they bring to you are etched deeply in your heart.

[falling-star-cygnus]

If you're still doing character analysis could you do Dan Feng? You can see his character design in art or in the HSR animated short Ichor of Two Dragon's

yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes YES -> literally will drop whatever i'm doing whenever i'm doing it to do these, i LOVE character analysis. for literally any character i will do this

things i've noticed about HSR characters bc the lovely messenger-of-stars fueled my frenzy

part five: Mr. Force Fed his Boyfriend Immortality ✨Dan Feng✨

who's next? :D i'm assuming you didn't mean the playable Imbibitor Lunae based on your wording, but if i'm wrong just let me know and i'll redo it

first of all, lighting really does wonders for this man bc how is this the same character- second, he's semi-bioluminescent. In the darker parts of Ichor of Two Dragons: -> the tips of his ears, his eyes, his horns [which you can see take on that glassy quality in the first two pictures, probably bc he feels at ease or in control as opposed to the final picture- where he's losing] and the ends of his limbs take on a glowy, transparent quality that disappears when the lighting shifts

In his first attack, Dan Feng summons 10 swords. In Chinese culture, these 10 swords are symbols of righteousness and ideals to follow- which explains why he uses them to execute Dan Heng [or- tries to] -> his blasts are also lotus shaped, which are symbols of purity and rebirth.

Lotus are called symbols of purity in Chinese cultures because they bloom from mud. If we look at the water that Dan Feng summons, we can it starts off a murky, swampy green and turns into a nice clean blue when Dan Heng finally claims his life as his own

Dan Heng's Imbibitor Lunae form bares a closer resemblance to the dragon than Dan Feng does [i.e.: the red eyeliner, the golden liquid- or ichor- that formed his horns, the eyes] -> this could mean nothing, but it could also mean that Dan Heng has truly taken control now [also look how cute those little gold rings are, Dan Feng doesn't have those]

motherfucker's flabbers are GASTED. this is why Jingliu beat your ass

the entire time he fights Dan Heng, the birds on his sleeves are gone. You could probably chalk this up to the animators not wanting to draw them, which is completely fair, but i'm pretty sure they're depictions of water fowl -> my best guess would be Dalmatian Pelicans, which are symbols of self-sacrifice or introspection. Considering this was battle about Dan Heng freeing himself from Dan Feng, it's pretty fitting.

Also at the very end of the video, it's only after Dan Feng has faded into golden light that pelicans start to appear in the sky -> there's a story about these birds actually; the parent flew into fit of rage and killed her young, but three days later she drove her beak into her side and spilled her blood to bring it back to life

HC for the Road: Dan Heng is incapable of asking or seeking out physical affection. He still wants it though -> [Welt and March are sitting on one of the couches, with the girl on his left side leaning on his shoulder as he reads a story. Dan Heng sits about a half foot away as he listens] Dan Heng: *unconsciously shifting just slightly closer to hear better* Welt: *intentionally lowering his voice until the Vidyadharan is in more or less the same position as March*

-> [Stelle and Caelus stare Dan Heng down as they trade whispers] Dan Heng, pausing in putting away a book: I can hear you two scheming... Caelus: Scheming!? How dare thee- Dan Heng: Thou. Caelus: How dare thou question my good morals! I was- [He aggressively elbows his sister] Caelus: -comforting Stelle! [Stelle bursts into tears on cue] Dan Heng, immediately startled: Uh- Stelle!? What's wrong..? [The girl blubbers incomprehensively as she bullies her way into his outstretched arms] Dan Heng, awkwardly patting her back: Who do I- [Caelus hugs Dan Heng from behind to derail that thought- creating a Vidyadharan sandwich] Dan Heng: Caelus- Caelus: Sh sh sh, it's group hug time. I felt left out! Dan Heng: ....sure, you did..

[saunne]

HSR Theory - Bailu is set up to fail by her Preceptors

or "we may have an ongoing political overthrow attempt"

Okay, I'm relatively new to HSR but I've been going through lore pages up and down for almost 8 hours now and I need to talk about it.

I started by looking into Dan Heng lore (obviously), which of course led me to the whole Dan Feng + Blade + Jing Yuan + High Cloud Quintet etc mess... and you get the general idea. And there are several things that struck me as odd.

And these things make me think that Bailu, the adorable little Vidyadhara supposed to inherit the title "Imbibitor Lunae" formerly carried by Dan Feng/Dan Heng is currently set up to fail by the same Preceptors supposed to guide her.

A bit of Vidyadhara politics

Each ship of the Xianzhou Alliance has at the head of its Vidyadhara community a High Elder, a Vidyadhara who has developed "more draconic features such as horns and a tail" (Only special Vidyadhara can turn into dragons). They are responsible for the well being of their people (Source).

Those High Elders, when young, are tutored by Preceptors, senior Vidyadharas. Bailu is currently under their tutelage, while Dan Feng was tutored by a certain Lady Xuepu.

However, while the High Elders are the rulers, the Preceptors still have some political clout :

In the case where the high elder cannot lead, the Council of Preceptors assume governance in their place : "The Preceptor Council is a stop-gap measure for when the High Elder position is vacant or governance is untenable" (Source)

The Preceptors have the power to strip the current high elder of their name and power and elect a new one in their place should the circumstances deem fit to do so.

Imbibitor Lunae

This title belonged to Dan Feng / Dan Heng before what was named the "Imbibitor Lunae Sedition" the exact details of which are still unknown.

After the Sedition, Dan Feng was captured, and his punishment was carried out: he went through the rebirth process and his subsequent incarnation, Dan Heng, was held in the Shackling Prison for a period of time before being exiled from the Luofu. 

This leaves the seat of High Elder vacant, and thus puts the Preceptors in position of power.

However, Imbibitor Lunae's position is particularly important within the Luofu, as they are the ones tasked with watching over the seal of the Ambrosium Arbor.

Their mastery of cloudhymn magic (Dan Heng's shown ability to split Scalegorge Sea in half) is obviously an important part of that and Bailu showed some talent in cloudhymn magic : "since the high elder has already demonstrated her powers of calling lightning and commanding the waters" (Source).

Bailu's character stories also tell us directly that she is meant to inherit the position of Imbibitor Lunae : "Only after her coming-of-age ceremony will the Preceptors confer the title of Imbibitor Lunae on her."

So, what's wrong in this whole story ?

First Problem : Dragon Transmutation

Jing Yuang is the first to tell us about the "dragon transmutation", a certain power that Dan Feng supposedly possessed that should have passed to Bailu, but didn't.

By logical association, we can assume that this "dragon transmutation" has something to do with the "Transmutation Arcanum": "It is apparent that either her dragon heart is in some way damaged, or the "Transmutation Arcanum" has not been carried through in full."

In the Preceptor Assembly Chronicle Fragment, it is said : "Our solemn responsibility is to confiscate the Transmutation Arcanum and the Orb of Abysm from Dan Feng to uphold the continuation of the Ichor Lines."

Ichor :

The Vidydharas are called Long's Scion because they are their descendants : "It is commonly thought that the source of Vidyadharas' immortality is different from that of Xianzhou natives and Foxians. The Vidyadhara race did not gain immortality from the Plagues Author. Instead, as the descendants of Long the dragon, the majesty of the Permanence flows in their blood." (Source)

However, the two objects mentioned are important, because we learn their use in Bailu's character story : "All past high elders, after receiving the "Orb of Abysm" and the "Transmutation Arcanum", will re-experience the events of their dragon ancestors' lives in dreams. [...] Although such dreams tend to be fragmentary and difficult to understand or interpret, it is after all the only way our kind have of coming close to the Permanence."

Meaning: The High Elders can dream of heir ancestor's life, Long's life, tand thus come closer to their Path, The Permanence.

Also, there is another instance of "transmutation" present in the Vidyadhara's history : "Teacher says that back then, we could use our powers derived from Long to change the form of any creature, as easily as children playing with modeling clay." (Source)

Imbibitor Lunae is known to be a title passed down from generation to generation and there's a strong possibility that it's always been Dan Feng and his previous incarnations, given the statue looking very much like Dan Heng (March even asks if it's of our brother) that we see at Scalegorge: "High Elder Yubie, bearer of the Azure Dragon's legacy, spreading clouds and rain to bless all living souls. Unstunted by 90 rebirths, just as the Alliance remains strong after 300 years." (Source)

This could indicate that the goal of the High Elders could be to recover access to this power granted by Long (which could have disappeared with Long, which would have made the Vidyadhara's home world uninhabitable)… or even to transform one of their High Elder in a new Aeon of Permanence.

Second Problem : Bailu's Power was Sealed

Bailu's particularly draconic appearance is important, given that she has both horns and a tail. Which is an extremely obvious symbol of her power as Vidyadhara (Only special Vidyadhara can turn into dragons).

However, we learn that this power was sealed : "I have instructed one of our finest crafters to make the Dragonhorn Pilory to shackle her tail, to prevent a loss of control over her powers and a repeat of the disaster of the Sedition of Imbibitor Lunae."

But if High Elders are expected to commune with Long's Path, it seems like a terribly counterproductive decision.

Third Problem : Bailu's Growth

Then comes the problem of her growth. As indicated somewhere above, the title of Imbibitor Lunae will only be entrusted to her by the Preceptors when she comes at age.

Except that Bailu is not growing :

"It is the same as regards my own health. It is now six or seven years since I first sprouted horns, but I have not grown taller in that time." (Source)

"Still no physical change in the high elder. She has not grown." (Source)

Which leads to the following statement : "The gist of my reply was that Lady Bailu is still young and in need of the assistance of the Preceptors." Preceptors who, as a reminder, are in power as long as the seat of High Elder is vacant.

This lack of growth is not considered to be of concern "as slow development is common among Vidyadharas", but I'm just going to take the opportunity to slip an idea. I'm sure you've seen Dan Heng's theory of de-aging rather than reincarnating properly ? I will make a post dedicated to this whole de-aging thing but one thing to say :

And if it was not Dan Heng who had rejuvenated, but Bailu who was prevented from growing up ?

Fourth Problem : Preceptors Monitoring

Bailu herself gives us her feelings about the way the Preceptors control her and we can say that she is not really happy about it : "I am sure it is because I have those horrid Preceptors watching over me all the day long. If a child does not get out to run about, how will it grow tall? Healers who read this case study, when will you release me? I am not some truly wicked ne'er-do-well. Why am I so closely guarded?" (Source)

However, there is one sentence that strikes me even more strongly as the Preceptors are deliberately setting up Bailu for failure :

"Are you trying to waste my talents?" (Source)

According to Jing Yuan Characters Story III and IV : Dan Feng, the most recent Imbibitor Lunae, joined the High-Cloud Quintet and together they accomplished many feats: drove out the Borisin invading Thalassa, destroyed the alliance between the Houyhnhnms and Wingweavers in the Abundance Axis, rescued the Xianzhou Yuque and defeated the living planet Ketu Mirage, becoming one of the most prolific Vidyadhara of his time.

While Bailu on the other hand seems to be guarded very closely, restricted to her activities as a healer with her powers sealed and the impossibility of inheriting her title unless she undergoes a growth spurt, which is still long overdue.

Final Problem : Preceptor Assembly Chronicle Fragment

I don't think it can be any obvious than that, honestly. It is said clearly in the text.

"Therefore, I propose that the Luofu Vidyadhara should temporarily move away from the rule of the high elder and instead submit to rule by the council of Preceptors, to ensure [Missing]"

"Xuepu's message rings loud and clear. She wants to take advantage of [Missing] being cut off to completely replace the High Elder position with the Preceptor Council."

"I am in agreement with you. The High Elder system is an outdated one, handing over power to a single chosen one. This has caused countless tragedies in the history of our kind."

So we have at least two Preceptors, Xuepu and Fenghuan, who actively wish to overthrow the solitary rule of the High Elders and instead institute "power to the people" (or in this case the Preceptors).

And with the power vacuum caused by Dan Heng's exile and the fact that his possible successor, Bailu, might not have been born yet/still a tiny child…

Yeah, I think we're seeing a discreet ongoing political overthrow.

Addendum : The Ten-Lords may be involved in the whole scheme (as well as Jing Yuan, which puts certain things said to Dan Heng in a whole different light)

"The elder's voice is youthful, but it sounds weary and emotionless" : The term elder here could refer as a Preceptor instead of a High Elder since they are the "senior" Vidyadharas. I have the feeling that it could be the same people talking with "Unfeeling Voice".

Also, "if you can complete this I can assure you a seat in the council of Preceptors" ?

PLEASE.

[twyrrinren]

Ichor of Two Dragons (HSR) — Persona (1966)

[kyogre-blue]

Oh, huh. what bugged me abt that isn't that they couldn't - after all the alliance HAS been in constant conflict ever since they decided to hunt down the Abundance - it was that, out in the whole wide universe...how the hell is the xianzhou the ONLY ONES who care abt a planet being destroyed? like rlly? yes, maybe in a cosmic scale there's multiple planets dying, but he's asking people for help, not the universe! ugh. can't they set up an intergalactic donations box or something?

well, companion quests are like... genshin story quests/hangout events, except w at least two playable characters talking to each other, but idk what you consider relevant context to main missions if you're skipping dialogue. ik Yanqing has a bit of an arc abt learning moves from jingliu and he meets jingliu in the companion quest > adapts jingliu's moves in mq boss fight (in a blink and you'll miss it line that wasn't at all clear but there you go) > succesfully replicates her move in climax of Finest Duel (II), so it may seem to come out of nowhere if you don't do it. like it's definitely not one of the better companion quests, you could just watch the cutscenes and get the idea, but it's one of the most relevant ones. Do you count trailblaze continuance as main story, or...?

The animations Ichor of Two Dragons and A Flash are much cooler than what actually went down in the luofu so I can dream lmao. But for real, who wrote those? They should actually write in the game. They know how to set up a climax, for one.

Characterwise you won't care, but fandom liked to characterise yanqing as a brat and a punching bag until he finally got a W in recent quests and I'm sick and tired of it so...

intro in mq as fighting prodigy who hits his first major roadblock (aka loses badly three times in a row to legendary fighters, one in his cq and two in mq. he's unfortunately infamous for this) > gets his insecurities aired out against his will, we learn that he has lost all his confidence and is desperate to prove himself > trying to balance acceptance of his limits with knowledge that they don't define him, compare and contrast w a new child prodigy chara who IS actually immature so we can see his growth.

Anyways I don't want to start more live service games so between geshin and hsr I honestly like hsr more. gl w your sunday and aventurine pulls!

Hm, well...

There was one thing I noticed, and that is how the game says "no one helps others out of the goodness of their hearts" in almost the exact same words over and over again.

I think I saw it first in Wardance, where it seemed to be part of Topaz explaining her section away as just teaching Belobog an important life lesson, that they can't keep relying on the MC to solve their problems and/or support them. They have to stand up on their own because the universe is a big, scary place full of nasty, powerful organizations (like... the IPC, presumably).

But this is also repeated at least twice in Belobog, whenever we try to say that we're here to deal with the Stellaron. Everyone immediately goes "oh, just because you're nice?? sus, we don't believe you, you're obviously lying."

And then, it has also already been brought up again in Luofu (I'm still on the first act). "Oh, you're here to deal with the Stellaron? Like you always do on multiple worlds, as we've heard since we know about the Astral Express already? Sus, no one does things out of principles, you're lying."

So at the very least, the writers really love having the altruism of the main crew questioned.

But they probably also just generally believe that people are extremely selfish and will not do anything without benefit to them, so asking strangers for help is pointless and Igor was wasting his time. The correct answer was always just to go home and die fighting for his country.

(You can even tie in how the entire plot of Luofu is kicked off by Elio deciding that they need to make sure the Luofu owes the Express a huge favor, so that can be cashed in during a future battle for the sake of the universe. Because you see, the Luofu wouldn't do shit during this massive future conflict of galactic scale, where we are presumably on the side of all life and civilization, without first owing us a personal favor.)

Realistically, they're not that wrong, but I find it annoying to have this be treated as a legitimate point of distrust so often.

As for me, I..... probably still like Genshin way more. The writing is bad for both, both don't let you skip, but Genshin has way more to do.

[ac-liveblogs]

I accidentally deleted the more coherent ask so this is me trying to frantically remember what it said adjhgsj sorry in advance, I'm going to be unbearable abt Dan Feng for a bit <3

Dan Feng sounds like a hilarious clusterfuck. Dan Heng being screwed over by his actions being a purely backstory event kind of sucks, honestly.

It'd also have the nice bonus of introducing the hcq and why exactly you should care about them much more naturally, bc honestly if well executed their story could have made me cry lol I'm an easy crier. the way they did it just doesn't hit as hard as it should.

But Yes!! Dan Feng was SUCH a molotov cocktail of a person, it really is amazing. Identity issues electric bugaloo (with bonus body dysphoria and hallucinations!) + powers that make him dissociate the f out + trying desperately to ground himself by thinking abt his friends + the fact that in all his appearances he's ALWAYS with this permafrozen resting bitch expression. So when I read DH•IL's dreams of what Dan Feng was like as a person I immediately went "oh god the resting bitch face is a lie he's a fucking MESS" which was fun lmao. Sir that's not a dignified high elder that's millennia of trauma stuffed in knee-high boots and cool gloves

ALL THAT and it's mind-boggling that they just. poke it vaguely with a stick on-screen when there's all that cool stuff in the promos and stories?? "In different people's minds Dan Feng may have been an avatar of Long the dragon, a hero, or an immense evil, but never a person with feelings and emotions." that's great buddy how about you now SAY IT ON SCREEN. It even ties into his character story abt DF struggling to feel emotions through the dragon god mindset! It'd have been so easy!! ughh. I know this is a genshin staple, but belobog was rlly good at bringing up everyone's backstory in the quests so I thought hsr would be different :( here's hoping for penacony

Tbh XL's greatest sin is, imo, always focusing on the exact wrong thing. The High Cloud Quintet isn't explained until way after the fact, we learn what Dan Feng did too late and why that mattered too late… BLADE… etc. etc. We did get a lot of focus on the Hunt vs the Abundance, but I kinda wish Dan Feng's sin had been tied into that more solidly than it was

I've been thinking a lot abt how I'd do it, bc I'd also want to do the DF vs DH fight ichor of two dragons style, but trying to put it in Dan Heng realising that the narrative abt DF that he was taught is a lie at the same time he's trying to establish himself as his own person could muddy it up a bit... but it Would have to be at the story's climax...hmmmm. How would you do it?

According to the judges DF craved the power of abundance but I have a hard time believing them when they fed so much bullshit to poor Dan Heng like

Dan Heng: I was initially kept in the Shackling Prison after reincarnating, and received a thorough education on that person's life and crimes. According to the judges, Dan Feng craved the power of abundance and created abominations, therefore as his reincarnation, I had to bear his punishment. As for what kind of person he really was... to be honest with you, I can't be certain either.

According to Vidyadhara custom and the agreement made with Caelorum Venti Dan Heng was SUPPOSED to leave Dan Feng's sin behind w his reincarnation, so excuse me if I give a side-eye to the rest of what they say lmfao. So much hope for more luofu so we can go and punch the dragon-elf elders instead..

I had SO much fun in the Arlan-Asta quest, Herta being the annoying boss caught me completely by surprise even though it rlly shouldn't have jshgdjs

*squints* it's a stupid hour and I just came from a writing binge and 24 hours w no sleep so hopefully this is coherent lol, I probably got some of the lore wrong. Your long asks are always so nice and clear how do you do it?

Haha np, I delete responses to asks and whole entire posts by accident all the time…. (clicky back button on the side of my mouse my beloathed)

It'd also have the nice bonus of introducing the hcq and why exactly you should care about them much more naturally, bc honestly if well executed their story could have made me cry lol I'm an easy crier. the way they did it just doesn't hit as hard as it should.

I think what gets me is, like. It would've been easy enough to do it? It's beyond me why Blade never just… attacked Dan Heng prior to their team-up. It would've been a good way to establish his beef with DH AND, if Kafka's present, that she a) has hypnotism powers and b) uses them to control Blade outside of … that one scene where he just quietly sits in a room and Kafka promises she's doing something interesting. Also like. The effects mara can have on someone outside of Blade and Jingliu promising they're definitely affected and having ~scary eyes in their Ults.

And obviously, I get that whatever Luocha was doing was a set-up for later, but having Jingliu show up just to go to prison… that's four separate factions each with one of the HCQ and most of them with different goals. You'd THINK that would be A Thing? A big dramatic showdown? The four can meet up again afterwards to get drinks because despite everything they're still friends?

Genshin has poisoned me against reading character bios if I can help it (just look how annoyed I got after reading DH and Blade's!) so I hadn't read DH:IL's until just now, but… you're so right lmao??? How come the most I ever learnt about Dan Feng was from Jingliu's melancholic loredump? The elder ghosts bitch about him, sure, but?? On-screen drama?? That one trailer?? Did HYV think that supplemental material was enough to avoid writing the hard part???

(Unironically I think that's it. The Herta Space Station and Belobog were VERY simple. Stuff like Blade and DH are much harder to get right so, characteristic of HYV's writing over in Genshin, they've avoided it as much as possible by relegating it to trailer animations, bios and Jingliu's lore dump.)

I've been thinking a lot abt how I'd do it, bc I'd also want to do the DF vs DH fight ichor of two dragons style, but trying to put it in Dan Heng realising that the narrative abt DF that he was taught is a lie at the same time he's trying to establish himself as his own person could muddy it up a bit… but it Would have to be at the story's climax…hmmmm. How would you do it?

Complicated question. Running on the assumption that we are returning to the Luofu, or at least will be dealing with Luofu-based characters again at a later point in the story, you probably don't WANT to have wrapped up too much of Dan Heng's potential growth by the third world, right?

So if anything, I'd want him to be more unsure of himself prior to canon so that you can get more development (and types of interactions with others he used to know) out of him during the actual game. Assuming that you will return to the Luofu later, or at least run into most of those characters again (based on the alliance with XL and Trailblazer not having The Hunt yet), I'd probably base it like this:

1) Pre-canon: Dan Heng genuinely isn't sure who he is or how to feel about what he knows of his past. He's pretty sure he's meant to be his own person, but he was never treated that way, lived his life on the Luofu in Dan Feng's shadow and, most damningly, has flashes of Dan Feng's memories every now and then but has no context for what they mean. Also Blade seems pretty sure. And as you say - the High Elders still holding him responsible for Dan Feng's actions, alleged or otherwise, may have caused some damage. He's only one of the Nameless to get away from Blade/his past, basically.

2) First visit to Luofu: Dan Heng learns exactly who Dan Feng was, what he did/why and meets the High Cloud Quintet. You should be able to use Blade and Jing Yuan at the very least to get some Identity Drama and add more stakes to figuring out DF's deal outside of Dan Heng's own feelings. Doesn't necessarily come to a conclusion but is more informed. Meet Bailu etc.

3) Second visit to Luofu: Ichor of the Two Dragons goes here as the climax of some plot where Dan Heng definitively rejects Dan Feng and affirms his own identity. Spending time on the Express helped him figure out who he was/what he wanted and such. Dan Heng cleans up what he can and moves on from the Luofu. He stays on the Express because he loves the crew/for his own reasons, not just to run from his past, something like that.

I think you could pace out other characters' development connected to DH along these stages as well - particularly Blade and Bailu. The result of 3) should be Blade absolutely losing it once he realises Dan Feng really is dead (and whatever that might mean for him which then leads into Dan Heng having to resolve THAT situation in a Dan Heng-way (not necessarily on the Luofu, but around or afterwards), as well as wrapping up Bailu's storyline (which hopefully involves punching some elderly dragon-elves).

It'd also be fun to have a window of time to squeeze a little tension out of March 7th and Dan Heng - because, like, as far as March who wants to know who she was is concerned, a whole world that knows all about Dan Feng AND a bunch of DF's old friends and acquaintances being able to fill in the blanks… that's the dream for her, right? Meanwhile for Dan Heng this is all one big turbo nightmare and he'd be much happier with a clean break and no need to ever come back. Maybe there's some jealousy on both sides there. Trailblazer awkward go-between.

I had SO much fun in the Arlan-Asta quest, Herta being the annoying boss caught me completely by surprise even though it rlly shouldn't have jshgdjs

RIGHT??? For some reason I thought Arlan was having trouble saying no to PEPPY (dog too cute, can't refuse giving peppy too many treats) but then. Herta. OBVIOUSLY

squints it's a stupid hour and I just came from a writing binge and 24 hours w no sleep so hopefully this is coherent lol, I probably got some of the lore wrong. Your long asks are always so nice and clear how do you do it?

Hopefully you got some sleep!!! And uh. I don't know. I naturally ramble a lot and have to trim myself down. My response to how I'd handle DH up there is my third draft and the original was several much longer paragraphs. I'm trying to work on readability… I still need to get better at it, but glad it's helping!(?)

[narzissenkreuz-ordo]

Spell your URL!

Spell out your URL using song titles that can describe your muse/OC, then tag as many people as there are letters in your URL!

ty for the tag @elegyofthemoon !!!! as for tags uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh i know some of yall have ocs feel free to ignore if u dont wanna do it jfkdlfd

@mihcor @boyslit @catamaurrr-star @sparklecryptid

also im just doing this for all my ocs in general. i dont have playlists for all of them but 99% of music i listen to is just oc amv in my brain anyway. and im not doing my WHOLE url its too long fjdkls

i also listen to WAY too much of the hsr/genshin OST

N - Nymph's Tea Party / Genshin OST

A - Achilles Come down / Gang of Youths

R - Rule #4 Fish in a Birdcage - Fish in a Birdcage

Z - Zephyr of the Violet Garden - Genshin OST

I - Ichor of Two Dragons - HSR OST

S - Stories of Remote Antiquity - Genshin OST

S - Soldier, Poet, King - The Oh Hellos

E - Euclid - Sleep Token

N - Nihilist Blues - Bring Me The Horizon

K - (The) Killing Kind - Marianas Trench

R - Rhythm from Ancient Times - Genshin OST

E - Eat You Alive - The Oh Hellos

U - Unfinished Frescoes - Genshin OST

Z - i literally cannot find another song that starts with a Z fuck you

[shining-gem34]

KNOWING YOUR PARTNER WELL CAN POTENTIALLY MAKE WRITING TOGETHER A LOT EASIER.

repost, do not reblog this

NAME: Jade

PRONOUNS : She/They

PREFERENCE OF COMMUNICATION : Discord is my preference of communication. I'm not a big fan of using T.mblr DM's because of the lag on PC. I do my best to answer there until I feel comfortable enough to share my Discord username or we're chatting enough that I am frustrated with the DM's on this site.

NAME OF MUSE(s) : Dan Heng/Dan Feng, Balladeer/Wanderer, and my OC's Rook & Mallory.

BEST EXPERIENCE: In general, I've been having fun meeting new people and trying to bounce ideas. :3 Most memorable? I sound like a broken record (please don't hesitate to shut me up if I keep repeating myself), but it's the IL-Dh fight drabble I wrote for @etherealguard! I just wanted to write the two fighting in a dream. Then the Ichor of Two Dragons animation dropped and we all lost our shit over it.

RP PET PEEVES / DEALBREAKERS :

passive-aggressiveness: In general, and I say it in my rules, but if you have any issues with me- Please talk to me so we can sort it out. I don't like the feeling I've angered/annoyed/bored you, because you're acting passive-aggressive with me. I understand if you prefer to not talk about it and keep it bottled up- I am like that too alot. But if it's bothering you to the point we can't talk on the same wavelength, there's a problem.

ship dynamics: RP wise, I am usually open to shipping my muses with other characters. Sometimes, we might be already shipping them together after we discuss it in dms. Sometimes, I want to see how they interact first and see if the chemistry is there. I can't make any promises their feelings will be mutual if I don't feel the chemistry there.

Nothing else comes to mind for now.

MUSE PREFERENCES: I lean toward muses who are calm and collected in general. They can be either flirtatious (scheming) or stoic (with some temper/misunderstood to be cold). And then there's the brat named Balladeer/Wanderer who is a menace to society. Though I think sincere characters like Noelle (Genshin Impact) or Sushang (HSR) would be more perfect for me. ;;;;;;

PLOTS OR MEMES : I prefer memes because it's a nice ice-breaker. They're like prompts that makes the brain juices go brr, and it gives me a chance to talk to the sender about it. Plotting takes time for me, and it makes me a little nervous. It makes me feel like I need to have a well-thought out idea for people to be interested enough to bounce ideas with and not be confused.

LONG OR SHORT REPLIES: I am both! I tend to write alot, but no more than a few paragraphs. I don't mind short replies as long as it's not one-liners (unless this is a text message going back and forth). I need context before deciding how to reply.

BEST TIME TO WRITE : I don't get on my laptop until after 6PM and even then, unless I really force myself/try to get into the mood, I'm too tired to do anything other than chill. On the weekends, it's usually after 12PM I can try to sit down (if I'm not going outside) and make progress.

ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE(S): Haha. No. I can never be calm and cool as them. Nor can I be courageous like them either. Nor am I an little shit like Wanderer/Balladeer.

Tagged by: Stolen from many people on my dashboard

Tagging: you if you haven't done it!

[creampiece]

I can do the riding if his old man bones are too tired 😭🤭

[cityzenshark]

I did read your Terran Mirage, an d I love the idea of it…..also I did had an idea of mine for Terran Mirage, it was based of Ichor of two dragons….what if Terran Mirage met The Autobot Mirage and had a similar confrontation?

(Anyway,here’s the link)

https://youtu.be/M6jvUuarJbg?si=554EKsN4Fd6n0xgX

I don't get entirely what's going on in HSR but it does look intriguing