#i just did her luofu memory quest

[musubiki]

how was playing hsr? was there anything that you liked in the game and the story?

ITS BEEN AMAZING AS EXPECTED!!!!!!!!! i actually havent played genshin in a while since starting it, i have no motivation to do the filler event while a perfectly good star rail is sitting there waiting to be played :')

but for mechanics, i love they have auto battle so you dont have to nessecarily sit there and invest in every little battle you gotta do....and i love that the resin (resin??) system is a lot more forgiving with a higher cap, lower cost, and allow for overflow...thats nice...i also love that the mc and starter units are very useful. im so emotionally attatched to the star rail crew so im glad they never have to leave my team !!!!

storywise im LOVING IT SO FAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i started playing it at the beginning of spring break 2 weeks ago and im almost all caught up!!! i went through belabog and penacony and now im just doing those leftover intermission main quests which im only now realizing i shouldve done before going to penacony LMAO

and of course.....danmarch....im so soft for them......and also i love sampo i cant wait to see what they do with him

[theactualsunshinechild]

My partner has planted the idea that Sampo could turn out to be an emanator of the Elation into my head and now I have latched on to the concept and keep finding little reasons to believe in it.

It got brought up mostly because of the rating gun ratings. March, Jing Yuan, Luocha, and Sampo all cannot be rated by the gun. Finding a link between them is hard, but with Acheron, a known emanator upcoming, and folks saying that she is also unrateable...

And I know, I know, Herta is already an emanator, yes, but we only have 4 star Herta available to us, AKA a mere puppet version of her.

Anyway, if we suppose that the unrated characters are some brand of Emanator, or maybe just Have Emanator potential? Consider:

March 7th, based on some of the tidbits we experienced playing Fu Xuan's story quest, has potential to have been, or maybe to become, an emanator of the Remembrance. Her inherent tie to the values of memories and wanting to gather more of them and recover what she can is very in theme.

Luocha, I think it is very safe to assume that he is very very likely to be an Emanator of the Abundance, if the Luofu arc and Jingliu's story quests are anything to go off of. Dude is SUS as FUCK and very VERY disturbingly good at abundance things to the point of being able to heal someone in an artificial body. And that's him hiding stuff.

Jing Yuan at the moment is giving us the energy of a guy with a lot of latent power in him that hasn't fully been brought to light. With the way he's given us a promise to come to our aid immediately when called, and his threat to Phantylia that the Hunt would pursue the Destruction could be foreshadowing his eventually becoming an emanator of the Hunt? This is pushing it of course, but I'm just spitballing possibilities here working off the assumption that the rating pistol can't rate Emanators successfully.

As for Sampo??? There would be nothing funnier than the dude we found cowering in a snowdrift who Dan Heng shanked with a spear turning out to be a wholeass Emanator. The guy runs on Looney Toons logic half the time, and breaks the 4th wall just like Aha. Comedy relief character as he is, but what if he embodied the divine will of the aeon of fucking around and finding out? Like, tell me, how did this Masked Fool manage to quit the fool stuff and fuck off to a planet no one has visited in centuries, within the last 10 years or so? Sparkle KNOWS him. He has Stories about him among the fools. She knew him before he retired to Belabog. How did he Get there??? An Emanator of an Aeon like Aha could probably pull something like that off....

Listen I don't know if it all makes sense, but it would at the very least be hilarious and for that alone i want it to be true

[chaotic-major]

As someone who has just finished the Penacony quest, I would like to lay out my thoughts:

(Spoilers under the cut)

Aventurine is just the right amount of sassy and bitch to be likeable to me, and his continuous presence throughout the quest made me very happy. He’s easily one of the characters I am most excited to see more of story wise.

Jumping off of that, Sparkle was *chef’s kiss*. She was way better than I expected (not that I expected anything bad), and I love how she is everything I think makes a Masked Fool. She’s conniving, sharp witted, and smiley; making her interactions with other characters always feel very high stakes. The way I gasped when she said this to Aventurine, like I had to pause for a sec it caught me so off guard.

Here’s a list of people I trusted before/when the quest started (excluding the nameless):

Acheron, Black Swan, Misha, Firefly, Robin

People I trust after the quest:

Aventurine, Black Swan, Misha (Aventurine and Black Swan are on thin ice)

I think this questline is going to give me trust issues.

Also, the way Sunday absolutely deserves a villain arc after this. Like, HIS SISTER IS DEAD. AND HE JUST HAS TO KEEP PRETENDING SHE ISN’T??? DAMN.

Props to his VA for expressing such near boiling rage. He sounded so angry, yet controlled.

Something I also noticed and loved was the fact that this quest kinda played out like a movie. In the way that there were multiple scenes that took place without Caelus/Stelle being there. The scene with Aventurine and Dr. Ratio flirting discussing their plan. The scene with Sparkle and Aventurine. The scene with Sunday and Sparkle in the post quest. Last time they kinda did this was the Luofu main quest and even then, not really. There was always one of the nameless there (to my memory). Anyways, my point being that I really enjoy this version of storytelling for this game and I hope it continues.

Aventurine is also shaping up to be a very interesting guy. Just as people dislike Sparkle for being a Fool, they seem to dislike Aventurine and even seem to put him down bc of his species/race(?)

This is the only example I have, but I believe Sparkle also calls him out for his species/race in their conversation. I’m lead to wonder why being a Sigonian is such a negative thing. I think it has to do with his eyes, considering thats the only other thing I remember Sparkle mentioning when she brings up his species/race; is how pretty his eyes are.

Anyways,I’ve rambled enough. Curse you HoYo for that enthralling cliffhanger that we have to wait 40 DAYS for. Wish me luck for my Sparkle pulls in 20 days.

[tranquilpetrichor]

zb1 as honkai: star rail players

— may this journey lead us starward.

synopsis: you end up getting the zb1 boys to play the popular hoyoverse space fantasy rpg called honkai: star rail, and this is how it goes...

genre: headcanon, fluff, crack

wc: 944

warnings: mentions of video game deaths, cursing, there may be unfamiliar video game terms

a/n: haha please lemme summon all the zerose that play this game. very self-indulgent headcanon. i actually have not played this for a couple weeks because college = busy so... yeah.

taglist: @restlessmaknae

sung hanbin

he now thinks it would be a fun idea to have the members play video games like this for content so there you go

i can see him looking at bronya and thinking "she's a great leader" because honestly so true

he starts off with a fairly standard team composition (shielder, healer, support, dps) because you know less is more

likes the story, finishes it fairly quickly

thinks the feature where characters text you is cute

gets really happy whenever you use his support character

kim jiwoong

absolutely confused as hell and really, you can't blame him

"wait, why i can't jump?"

you spend a bit of time explaining the turn-based combat stuff to him and now he does get it... sorta

doesn't play too much but sometimes does it on a free day

pulls for characters he finds pretty (so valid)

and that's how he ended up with luocha, imbibitor lunae, jing yuan and kafka

has decent luck too

zhang hao

plays with chinese dub, chinese dialogue text

pulls for as many characters from the xianzhou luofu as he can

a lore enjoyer, probably excitedly talking about his favorite parts with you

probably got sucked into all the side quests

busy testing out the simulated universe, enjoying every second of it

has the ost samudrartha on blast, he'd love to cover the song one day

having a field day with any lore-heavy updates

seok matthew

he probably tried memory of chaos with f2p characters "because he was bored" and already did it w cracked as hell 5 stars

i can see him having a bunch of the standard banner characters from losing the 50/50s

he prob saw welt and said “haraboji" which means grandpa. if y'all know that joke i love you.

curses a lot if he dies

if something actually ends up being too hard for you to beat he gladly tries to help you (he's sweet like that)

named the trailblazer (main character) woohyun

also loves exploration and just running around the map even if he can't find everything

finds it fun in his free time

kim taerae

plays it casually (because he’s probably already too dedicated to valorant or something to pick up another game)

yk i think he would be a fan of the music, this game has a very good ost

in the parlor car of the express there’s a phonograph and one of the songs you can play on there is called “take the journey”, it’s this acoustic guitar song with soothing vocals

if that’s not taerae, idk what is

as a music lover, he's probably listening to the whole ost for this game

a very proud serval main (no did you see that pic of him with the electric guitar on his birthday? i'm sure he can appreciate a fellow guitarist)

thinks it's funny that gepard uses serval's guitar case as a weapon

probably builds at least two good teams

and complains when realizing he didn't get that many materials from beating the calyxes (same)

ricky

plays with chinese dub, english text

lazy af, turned on auto battle feature we stan

plays maybe twice per week

dialogue skipper

yk this man is buying whatever the equivalent of the battle pass is for this game

he can and will whale for the characters he wants (and this man already has better 50/50 luck than you, for sure)

probably doesn't give a shit about meta when deciding to pull on banners even though because oh wow that character is cool

actually pulls on the lightcone banner (because he can)

sees asta and her constant purchases and goes yep that's relatable

he jokingly tries to name the trailblazer something like youngandrich

kim gyuvin

sometimes starts leveling up relics randomly not giving a crap about stats even though he probably should

"it's a 5 star one and the correct mainstat, so here we go!"

he shows you relics leveled all the way with absolutely shit substats just to troll and annoy you

another proud dialogue skipper

but when the trailblazer speaks, guyvin picks all the funny and wacky dialogue options

lets your support character do all the work for him

probably let excess exp accumulate until he finally does his equilibrium trial or whatever

thinks it would be funny to main sampo or qingque. so that's exactly what he does

says fuck it we ball and puts 4 dps characters on one team

randomly says character voice lines like "HELP ME MR. SVAROG" and you're just like "please shut up"

probably named the trailblazer eumppappa

park gunwook

the most likely to enjoy the game imo

also ends up getting good at it (because he’s talented and good at learning new things)

doesn’t like to auto battle, actually enjoys grinding battles

started laughing at you because he got gepard for his beginner pulls and you don’t even have him yet (but you laughed when he lost his 50/50 to himeko of all people so you’re even.)

has a decent amount of characters

you give him so many credits because you keep using his gepard

to return the favor, he uses your characters occasionally, mostly seele.

he likes putting shielders and healers as support characters because "some people need to be able to not die"

easily finds the chests, is a completionist

always updated and knows when new redeem codes are out

han yujin

very intently focused on the game, you find it hilarious

but since our maknae is very dedicated, you’re quite surprised at his trailblaze level..

“yujin, slow down, you’ve been playing for what, two days?"

he’s probably already reached somewhere around trailblaze level 25 already

truly a yanqing enjoyer, he likes everything about him and sees a bit of himself as yanqing is also young and dedicated to his particular craft (yes i wish i had him on my account shut up!)

sulks whenever he loses a 50/50

ngl i imagine ricky probably buys some stuff in-game for him

[apopcornkernel]

hey jingfu president 😏 i was gonna claw through ur inbox eventually when i could form a coherent question abt this but ill just do it now while the iron’s hot

i plan on writing canon compliant jingfu but the timeline baffles me so much 😭 do you happen to have any notes on hand about when the quintet was formed, how long ago that was before jingfu met, when jingfu met, and what they’ve been through together in canon until well.. now (being post jingliu companion quest).

i want to have a sense of how much fu xuan would know abt his involvement with the quintet (hurt/comfort fan here).. given that he was general when jingfu already met i assume the group was formed WAY before that.. but when did they have their fallout? was fx there as master diviner when dan feng came back as dan heng? (i assume yes?) was she there when jing yuan had to defeat jingliu? (tears my hair out)

so sorry about this i will definitely do my own research but was just wondering if you had some/any info first!

hellooo!!! okay quick note before i start a lot of my info will be coming from my memory and checked using the wiki

before i get started with your questions: let’s have the dates we do know! (SC - Star Calendar)

Between 7280–7329 SC - HCQ established.

According to both Todd Riordan's Investigation of Ancient Pattern Rubbings from the Luofu and Jing Yuan’s Story 4, the HCQ lasted less than a century in total. (I put down 7329 as the latest because if it had been less than fifty, i think they would've said less than half a century instead of less than century.)

7379 SC - Sedition of Imbibitor Lunae & Dissolution of HCQ

7380 SC - Jing Yuan and Jingliu's fight in that one animated short

8072 SC - Jingfu joint war crime to end the Third Abundance War

8096 SC - Yanqing “rose to fame in a tournament and was conferred the rank of Cloud Knight Lieutenant”

8100 SC - (PRESENT) Trailblazer storyline begins

ok!! onto your questions:

1. when was the quintet formed? when did it fall?

so, actually. like i noted in the above dates, we really don't know when it was formed. however, we know when it ended—which coincides with the Sedition, at 7379 SC! working backwards from there, we’re told by a primary (jing yuan) and secondary source (todd riordan) that the HCQ lasted less than a century, so I put down a range between 7280–7329 SC. pick whatever year suits your fic best!!

2. how long ago was this before jingfu met? when did jingfu meet?

i am sad to say that this was likely a very long time before jingfu met, or even before fu xuan was born. in Oblation Obtained, Order Ordained, Fu Xuan says:

I was not born in the heroic and extraordinary era of the High-Cloud Quintet. To have seen those legends with my own eyes...

however, Fu Xuan's Story 4 (8072 SC) isn't necessarily the first time she meets the general (although it does seem like the first time she gets to talk to him directly, one on one). Story 3 talked about her leaving for the Luofu, and Story 4 picks up with the phrase “Centuries passed thus”, implying she spends at least more than one century in the Luofu before the Third Abundance War begins.

so strictly speaking: their first meeting is likely in 8072 SC, but you have a few centuries’ of leeway if you want to have them meet earlier!

3. what has jingfu been together for in canon?

unfortunately, after the third abundance war in 8072 SC, we aren't given much on the large-scale workings of the Luofu until the trailblazer arrives. we do, however, have tiny updates on the movements of the fanghu, yaoqing, yuque, zhuming! also, if you refer to the dates i gave you up there, fu xuan would have been around for yanqing's promotion to cloud knight lieutenant in 8096 SC :D

and of course, they were there for all the events of the trailblaze missions ! hehe

4. was fu xuan there as master diviner when dan feng was reborn as dan heng?

no :( i'm pretty sure dan feng's molting rebirth was enacted shortly after his imprisonment, and fu xuan has already said she wasn't born in that era

5. was fu xuan there when jing yuan had to defeat jingliu?

no, same reason as above :(

that's really it hsjshsj i wish hsr would release a history book with dates for everything :( it would make my life so much easier,,, anyways i hope this helped <3 good luck on the fic omg i can't wait to read it!!!!

[lunaetis]

following the post i made about eden's changes in demeanor and personality, i want to write out what are the factors that contributed to this change. so i'm going to dissect her personality and development from the beginning and how she is at each point in time ( at least the major ones ) to paint a clearer picture. it's going to be a very long read, so i'll put it under a read more.

awakening - eden was awakened by having the stellaron infused into her. her personality was blank. she was a blank canvas. her first exposure was kafka. we know kafka used her spirit whisper to influence eden's actions and decisions after this but we saw eden show attachment towards her. i'd like to think that it came from her body remembering things her mind no longer did. we learned from kafka later on that she wiped eden's memory, but that process was still fresh, so while her mind did not remember, her body did. she reached out to kafka. to the only one she still had attachment to. after that, her second awakening left her at a blank state.

astral express / herta space station - the next exposure are the astral express and people within herta space station. during this time, eden was shown to be majorly expressionless. she was stoic, barely showed any emotions on her face. she was still learning about the world, about the people, about emotions. we saw her slowly becoming more animated, but she was extremely quiet and instinctual. all in all, this period of time had eden exposed to positive influence. this was why eden started off trusting. she saw people of the astral express helping others, and later on they accepted her as one of their own despite knowing nothing about her. this was a major positive influence to her. her personality was a curious one. she wanted to see and know everything.

jarilo-vi / belobog - this was where we saw the astral express' influence on eden quite clearly. while eden was still rather quiet and not expressive, we saw her slowly opening up. she was adapting what the astral express had taught her. to trust others, and to help others. people she met on jarilo-vi also influenced the same thinking and strengthen it. she felt accepted when she helped others. she felt that trusting others is the right thing to do. this was her decision to do it, to help people, to make sure they're free. and it paid off to have faith and trust in people even though she just met them. she started to gain more personality to be more blunt, forward, and honest. to speak her mind, and see the good in people. she was akin to a cheerful, hopeful puppy, if you will.

xianzhou luofu - this was where things started to get real. the events in xianzhou luofu exposed eden to many kinds of people. you still saw her employing the same mentality of wanting to help others as much as possible. accompanied by welt and march really encouraged her to do that. what shook her belief was when kafka revealed the truth that everything that was happening was planned from the beginning. this was the first seed of doubt in eden's mind. this was when she started to question EVERYTHING up to this point. what she believed to have been her decision was all lies. everything was orchestrated to achieve the best possible future. elio had foreseen everything, she was simply walking a path prepped for her. from this point on, eden developed an insecurity about herself, her identity, and her purposes. it was her first exposure to deception and lies.

simulated universe / ruan mei's story quest - i'm going to group her exposure to herta space station into one section because they're all related. so, eden was recruited by herta to help test simulated universe in order to learn more about aeons. she agreed to do so because it was interesting and eden herself also wanted to learn more about aeons as well. herta and screwllum were also quite pleasant to be around. however, when she met ruan mei for the first time, the fact that she wasn't given a full information on what she would be facing, how she had to go down there alone, and to face a kind of danger that if it weren't for the creation disappearing on its own, she might not have made it out safely. for my eden, at least, that was another turning point where she felt used and manipulated. she was lied to in order to get results. the trust and faith she had been placing in people were starting to backfire.

penacony - and here we are, the triggering event to the change. eden was already treading the thin line of the concept of trust. up to this point, she had always been honest with her words, with her demeanor, giving people the benefit of the doubt, and being optimistic, being helpful, being hopeful. once again, that trust backfired greatly in more ways than one. the attachment she developed for firefly was, as i mentioned before, born from the fact that it was the first time that she felt normal. it was the first time she felt like she was bonding with someone without being influenced by the knowledge of her as the stellaron vessel. so it was a strong attachment because she felt like she had connected to someone as eden. losing firefly triggered her disassociation to reality for a moment, and the events that followed as she was told that everything was, once again, a game set by multiple parties and she ( along with the astral express members ) were pieces of the puzzle. now, they must learn the truth. the details were hazy for eden after witnessing firefly's death because ... lies. once again, lies and deception and manipulation. it never ends. and she felt like she couldn't trust anyone on penacony. at all. at this point, eden was proven by the loss of someone she grew attached to at her core, that trusting others blindly was a grave mistake. she cannot, and should not place her trust in people like that any longer, or else she would be used. like she had been multiple times before.

she had been so naïve to think that she could protect those she cared for if she tried hard enough. that as the vessel for the stellaron, she had the power to keep those she cared for safe. that illusion was shattered by witnessing death not once, but twice right before her eyes ( firefly and robin. ) it wasn't enough. she wasn't enough. the stellaron wasn't enough. faith, and trust, and hope, were nowhere near enough.

and it triggered the change as defense mechanism. i mentioned this before in the previous post, that her mind had decided to adopt the change in order to keep going. the journey was barely beginning. she knew she still had a long way to go, and being carefree and trusting aren't going to cut it anymore. she has to be more careful. she has to change. she has to grow up. to think more. to observe more. to watch her words. to know when to lie and when to not. to know how to protect herself in order to protect others. and to protect herself, she had to keep distance. she had to be more analytical. she cannot be driven by pure emotions anymore.

this change, of course, is still something that is subjected to change as story progresses. but with the exposures and experience she had up to this point, this was something eden felt she had to do to keep herself sane enough to go on without breaking. and, i also want to point out that the rare times the astral express weren't with her ( simulated universe / ruan mei's quest / penacony ) were the time that eden got hit by negative influence and viewpoint. i say penacony because they were separated and eden basically went through the events mostly by herself. basically, i want to say that the astral express is the one major positive influence and a sort of anchor for eden. without them, she's prone to spiral down a more negative path and development.

there are, of course, many other side quests, companion quests, and stories that could be included but i'm picking the trailblaze / main story quests as the main influences and exposures that eden had gone through. this is my own interpretation and how i choose to write eden, my trailblazer. it doesn't reflect what we see of the trailblazer in canon and only my own version of her.

if you make it this far and read everything, I LOVE YOU AND I APPLAUD YOUR PATIENCE for going through that ramble. thank you for tolerating my wall of china text on the ( traumatized™ ) space raccoon !

[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.

[elegyofthemoon]

While reading the relic story for Fleet of the Ageless, I ran into some mention of the "Three Sufferings":

Yet, just like the shifting of the sun and moon, what once prospered was fated to decline and what once brought elation must eventually induce agony. It was not until the arrival of the Three Sufferings, when people were tormented to near extinction, that the Xianzhou people finally came to understand the true nature of this so-called miracle, which was nothing but harrowing calamity. (The Xianzhou Luofu's Celestial Ark)

And I'm not really sure if they mention it elsewhere on the Luofu (I'm very slowly going through everything. Except I keep getting sucked into reading Belobog stuff >_>), but what it did make me think about however is that in Buddhism, there is something called the "three marks of existence", which refers to the three sources of suffering in the world. So I wanted to mostly write this up as a comparison between what's going on in the Luofu vs. Buddhist belief! (And a very big warning: I might be skimming over important details about the religion. I was born into a culture that is very heavily influenced by Buddhism and have grown up with some understanding of it while having to study it on my own, so I'm sure I'll get a lot of details wrong. So if I get anything wrong, you're always welcome to chime in!)

At least in my memory, I remembered that there was a suffering because of attachment to objects, to self, and to others -- all with the concept that all things do not last, so I had to search up these names properly.

anicca (impermanence): This is the core concept in which nothing lasts in this world. The inability to recognize the impermanence of life will then lead to grief -- suffering -- that humans face, as a result. You can actually see this with the Sanctus Medicus's desire for eternal life with Dan Shu who grieved the loss of her friend Yufei via the diaries that you could pick up

It's this idea of attachment to something bound to end some way or another that will inevitably lead to suffering/pain when that loss comes.

dukkha (suffering): The idea behind this mark is that the truth is that life cannot be satisfied. If there isn't suffering, there are moments of joy, but as all things in life, even the joy is brief.

I wouldn't exactly be able to pinpoint how this gets carried out on the Luofu. I would have said something about how the Luofu had once sought out eternal life which then led to the implanting of the Ambrosial Arbor by Yaoshi, but now are unsatisfied by their gift of eternal life to them. I could also say that at least with the longer lives that the Xianzhou natives have, they eventually lose interest in life itself because they've had the chance to sought out anything they could with their many years, which is better described in Yukong's third character story:

and for the final mark of existence: anatta (not self): If suffering comes from attachment, then an attachment to an image of one's self too can lead to a source of suffering. With time, everyone is bound to change and grow, so any attempts in trying to hold onto one specific image could lead to a source of pain.

I think the best way to display this concept is actually through Yaoshi's acts and why the Alliance condemns them and their "abominations" (themselves included :'D). To rid of the suffering that comes with death, Yaoshi hopes to grant the gift of eternal life, but it seems that coming back from the dead doesn't mean returning to one's old self, which I feel can be seen at least with Blade's case with his revival and no longer being Yingxing. These undead are what the Alliance hopes to get rid of. I think it can also be seen through Bailu's story quest with the girl who slowly becomes marastruck who panics the moment the armor and her skin becomes melded into each other, no longer able to retain her former image before meeting and reuniting with her lover, in which case the idea of "self" is an attachment to a physical form rather than something more abstract instead, and that leading to her own suffering in the end.

I'm sure that a lot of Hoyo's writing with weaving in Buddhism with the Luofu lore isn't coincidental (looks at Dan Heng) , and I'm sure that there's bound to be better show of each of these principles, but I think this is what Hoyo might be referring to when they write about the "Three Sufferings" in the relic. Maybe I'll come back to this post later if I find better evidence BUT I thought worth noting at least for now :) ty for reading if you made it this far

[shining-gem34]

||Replaying Jingliu/High Cloud Quintet Story Quest on my Asia. I don't think I ever got a chance to talk about my thoughts around it here.

Ignoring the drama around it, I am still a firm believer we will see more of Jingliu/High Cloud Quintet story continue in future patches. After all, the game hasn't been out for long (though it's coming close to a year now) and we have so much of the universe to explore. I do believe we will see the other Xianzhou ships and by then we might see more of Jingliu and Luocha.

That includes possibly more of the history of the High Cloud Quintet, more details of what Dan Feng and Yingxing had done, and Bailu role in all of this because whatever they did- Bailu is related to it. But ah, I'll talk about that in another post. (or rather in future Bailu/Dan Heng IL story quests related to Dan Feng crimes).

Speaking of HCQ,, my heart was very tender to hear Baiheng relationship with the other HCQ members and how important she is to them. She was a bundle of positive energy despite how horrendous her luck is and the reputation that came with it. I adore how she was able to bring the best out of everyone. In the case of Dan Feng, she is a good friend to him who didn't see him for his status but as a person just like anyone else.

For Dan Feng, to have lost an important friend, must've crushed his human heart. Perhaps the last straw with so many deaths and bloodshed in the Xianzhou war against the Abundance. He wasn't the High Elder who was praised atm, but a person who made a horrible choice out of desperation (I say desperation, but he did want to believe he made a correct choice until it was too late).

As for the reveal that Jingliu is Dan Feng closest friend, she definitely knows Dan Feng well enough. The implication of Jingliu recognizing Dan Feng spearmanship and questioning/taunting Yinyue Jun (Dan Heng) if the enemies around them aren't enough to interest him...They definitely did spar alot. I'll mention the Icor of Two Dragons and Dan Feng is sulking because he lost to Jingliu and that's just funny to think about how common it is between them.

The interaction between Jing Yuan and Luocha. I am invested in their dynamic since they are both playing 5D chess. But when Jing Yuan thought he had the upperhand, Luocha revealed being taken for trial is part of his (and Jingliu) plan. And Jing Yuan?? He looks amused, almost happy enough that he was beaten and takes his loss with grace.

When the HCQ, or what remained of them, finally gathered together for Jingliu to formally disband them and say her goodbye...It was rather bittersweet. The joyful memories they had together as a band of outcasts, a found family between them, are no more.

Baiheng is dead, sacrificed her life to save her friends and comrades-in-arms against Shuhu(?).

Jingliu is a mara-struck criminal, tethering between the lines of sanity and insanity, and she seeks to end Yaoshi for good.

Yingxing is gone, replaced by Blade, an immortal following Destiny Slave so he can finally have true death.

Jing Yuan, now an Arbiter General of the Luofu, who lost all of his friends including his master. They are still here, but they're not the same anymore. He feels useless, unable to do anything but continue to watch as Jingliu and Blade fight as he sees the HCQ are gone for good.

Dan Feng the criminal who committed the unpardonable sin, forced to through a faux-rebirth, leaving Dan Heng to shoulder his sins. Dan Heng, who tried his best to escape the shadows of his past but unable to.

NGL, I was watching the cutscene and the ending of the chapter with a heavy heart. I do want to see the story of the HCQ when they were at their best, the happiest before their fallout, and it will hurt me cause I know how it will all end.

Focusing closely on Dan Heng throughout the quest, I think after the quest- Dan Heng feels like he can't escape his past, as Jingliu said. The faint memories that linger at the back of his mind, his spearmanship, and everything that happened in the Luofu prior to that...

No matter how hard Dan Hen tries, he has to come to the fact he must accept his past. And he did accept that Dan Feng is part of, as said in the animation! But he will not allow it to dictate who he is in the present. This is just more setbacks in his progress I believe he'll overcome in the future.

After all, Dan Heng has too many unsolved answers of what his predecessor has done in the past regarding the Vidyadhara heritage and Blade immortality. He might not like it and it might be better for him to avoid it, but he is genuinely curious (and he is very much curious about his homeland since he lived in the Shackling Prison for most of his childhood and teenage ears).

Of course, there is the issue of his identity crisis. Dan Heng in generally confident in his own individuality. But events in the Xianzhou and with Jingliu left him with some doubts. Doubts that has been casted away after inquiring Jing Yuan opinion, who tells him that only Dan Heng knows the answer to his question.

and I believe, Dan Heng knows the answer too.

In regards to Blade, I think Dan Heng has connected the dots between Blade and Yingxing. But he has a hard time coming to terms with it because they are vastly different people. He's not too familiar with Yingxing, but he respects the man who created Cloud Piercer. He's familiar with Blade, but their meetings only end in bloodshed. The memories of being chased by him are still vivid in his mind...

But he knows at least Dan Feng is responsible for Blade predicament, for his (Dan Heng) predicament as well. And he feels like it is his duty to at least see Blade journey through the end because no matter how much he denies it- their fates are messily intertwined.

As to whether Dan Heng takes Jingliu information as the truth, he accepts some parts of Jingliu words as true. However, Jingliu memories are vague as well and heavily biased with hate/anger, some of the things she said could be from her opinion only. The same goes for Blade, as they are both mara-struck individuals.

And Dan Heng is Dan Feng reincarnation so by logic his predecessor memories are wiped out, or almost non-existent.

That's the end of my thoughts that no make no sense rambling like a madman.

P.S. I am Yanqing who looks so done with everything.

[narwhalandchill]

anyway tho like. now that ive played the 1.2 story and sat on it a bit id say my overall thoughts are def mixed. i enjoyed a lot of it but theres some things that sorta just stick out or dont work and the pacing definitely worked against the story

(just a long rant/ramble upcoming its not coherent at all lol)

one thing that rly rubbed me the wrong way was like. while overall this story rly sold fu xuan as a character to me (i was a huge fan of her presence overall) the dan shu thing just felt? wrong? and like to be clear it wasnt just fu xuan the scenes writing was off in general but her role in being the one countering dan shus points just made her p central to the problem.

but like my issue is that dan shu is previously established as having very understandable reasons behind her resentment of lan that made her compelling as twist villain imo. Yet that resolve was nowhere in the scene in her rebuttal of the xianzhous ways?? when i think that shouldve been The moment of her calling out the xianzhou and actually challenging fu xuan properly. it wouldve been an even better opportunity to expand upon how fu xuan responds to being confronted with the xianzhous flaws and hypocrisy and problems. but somehow yassified dan shu really just. had a generic villain speech and thats it. the callback to their heritage as former followers of abundance was... fine? but like it wasnt that impactful. and fu xuan essentially calling her nothing but a power hungry villain when thats very much Not what dan shus motivation boils down to sucks and now players who didnt read her diary or play/pay attention to her side quest will think of her as just a generic bad guy and not a very tragic complex figure of her own

then the like. underutilization of blade was just like. ok what was the point. it IS funny to reference the tuxedo mask meme and how he skewers his ex yet immediately gangs up with him against yanqing and all but honestly he shouldve gotten to be more feral and present than he did like its just meh. ig its kafka keeping him from messing up elios script but cmon. i want more of him. yanqing also got done so dirty in that scene like. he shouldve gotten some more screentime and focus even if his job was p much to just get bodied. kid just watched jing yuan make deals with criminals no way he isnt affected by it

in general i was p shocked how inexistent the high cloud quintet was from the story. but ig w how rushed the pacing was for dan hengs backstory reveals at times already ig its better left for later (hopefully). i just rly hope this means that the topic get its time to shine properly in the future. esp since im p sure they never even named any of dan fengs crimes outright which is a curious choice.

jing yuan got a rly solid characterization and i definitely enjoyed it!!! even if im a little miffed at how they didnt give dan heng enough breathing room to come to terms with the emotional impact of facing his past and memories thanks to the plot moving forward so fast and he was kinda the one leading that. but he was still great - i liked the scheming side to him and the arguably pretty ruthless way he leveraged dan hengs exile status to force his hand to cooperate a lot. his reasoning makes sense obvi but its still a very brutal and utilitarian approach and i like that energy for his character. his duty is to the luofu above all else even if thats far from all he is about. overall his and dan hengs interactions including dan heng very much emphasizing his desire to be seen as separate from dan feng were a highlight for sure. and jing yuans final showdown moment against phantylia slapped obviously

and then w dan heng im torn between like. really loving all the good stuff we got with the insane cutscenes and the vidyadhara echoes and then wishing that he got just that little bit more for his own realizations and inner conflict. and the part about not properly featuring blade also hurt his story too imo bc the anticlimactic nature of the scene where blade confronts him and forces the transformation and how he n kafka just... leave rly kinda flattens the impact of the reveal moment esp since thats when jing yuan just all but openly says ok time for the plot. but they still did a great job selling DHIL and i think im overall a fan of how they seem to have handled the dan feng vs dan heng thing (and its roughly what i was expecting). dan feng is dead but its never just that simple either. i hope theyll be exploring the exact nature of dan fengs sins and the sedition in the future

im so mad i spoiled myself the tingyun thing bc jfc the neck snap wouldve hit So hard if the reveal itself was also a complete surprise. and its sth that was genuinely well built up like i remember thinking her 1.0 dialogue was kinda sus but wouldve never imagined the actual truth. dont do leaks folks sometimes this happens and it sucks :/ but i have to say phantylia herself was kinda? underwhelming. i liked when she picked up jing yuan like a little bug she wanted to squish and the boss fight was cool but to be fair. this was like 50% bc of how bad the sound mixing was for all of her dialogue that overlapped w in game battle. she rly lacks the necessary menace and imposing energy when u can barely even make out what shes saying 😭 her voice shouldve been as loud and large as her..... Presence. jing yuan carried the boss fight and the final cutscene but man the fade to black rly didnt do the abrupt ending any favors like we just teleport to exalted sanctum and thats it???? maybe jing yuan dies maybe not!!!

overall my prime issue is p much just how like. it feels like they shoved 3-4 mini arcs worth of stuff into one speedrun when all of them deserved more focus and exploration and the pacing rly got rough at times. it wasnt like inazuma level bad but it does get me wondering if hoyos just bad at doing these big conclusions to prior build up and holding the story threads tightly together until the end.

this comes off as super negative helpp but like. by no means did i hate all of it so dont take it the wrong way lmao. its more that there was good stuff there but also wasted potential. for the most part i was having a blast but to be fair that was 40% just playing blade ridiculously underleveled through it all. i only got him to lvl 80 for the boss fight

[suzakushimon]

Thoughts on Jing Liu quest?

AHAHAHAHA (negative connotation)

u came to the right person anon, i have a lot to say...

IT WASNT THAT GREAT..... at first i spent a whole night convincing myself it was a reasonable way for the story to go but they did dan heng WAY too dirty. idk why luofu writing is so SHIT but if the current scandal is true and an employee rly has been messing w the story just to mess w the female fans, it explains a lot 💀

there were parts i liked: the art + the fight scene was a banger + how jingliu points out dan heng fights exactly like dan feng. it emphasizes how, whether he likes it or not, there are some things dh has inherited from df and he cant escape that. his appearance, his spear, his bracer, the ribbon, his vidyadhara powers, etc etc... if it wasnt for df, dh wouldnt be who he is today-- thats the truth, and its something dh can grow to accept.

but holy FUCK. the way they handled everything else. dan heng's memories. jingliu's introduction and her motives. blade's characterization. THE PLOTHOLES. just....ITS KINDA ALL WRONG!!!!!

IN MY OPINION. dan heng's whole POINT is that he doesnt remember his past life/his "past". he considers those memories as "not his", and asserts himself as his own individual person without them. its IMPORTANT he doesnt remember anything + that he doesnt NEED to bc this way he contrasts march 7th and the trailblazer, who also dont have their past memories-- but those 2 WANT to remember, are actively trying to, and they DO consider their past memories/past life as part of "themselves". whereas dan heng runs from his past and tries to find his "true self" without it, march and trailblazer run towards theirs, trying to catch glimpses of their "true selves" through it.

SO THERE'S LITERALLY NO REASON HE HAS TO REMEMBER DAN FENG'S PAST. it completely messes up his character arc/the message his character is trying to send!! they backpedaled so hard on their stance towards dan heng... first it was "only u can determine who u are, no one else; the expectations others hold for u dont matter" and now its "u are him no matter what u do, these sins are yours". like WHAT???? jingliu's quest just made more people equate dan heng with dan feng when the story is SUPPOSED to emphasize that they r DIFFERENT PEOPLE💀💀💀💀

dan heng did decide to face dan feng's sins, but he's NOT a part of the quintet. he's a WHOLE NEW PERSON. so why was he invited as a part of the quintet, but bailu wasn't?? its like theyre saying bailu is a whole new person, but dan heng is still dan feng, WHICH GOES AGAINST HIS CHARACTER THEMES(i am silenced and forced to sit down) anyways imo if bailu didn't have to attend the worlds worst high school reunion, dan heng shouldn't have had to attend either!!!! THIS AINT HIS PROBLEM. DAN HENG GET BEHIND ME!!!!!!!!!

his convo with blade at the end was so ooc it killed me. like, a little walk with his past life's old friend, and suddenly he's willing to forgive blade's literal years of stalking and attacking him??? now hes willing to play along with the vengeance he spent his whole life insisting was directed at the wrong person???????? i only chose that option bc the one on top sounded so wimpy/out of place it also felt ooc to me 💀 he wouldnt show weakness to blade, but there's no way he'd be that accepting either. maybe 3 years later and x patches in, but not NOW...

and jingliu. ooooh girlie. JINGLIU. THEY DID HER SOOOO FUCKING DIRTY. she's a new character. casuals/people who dont dig through lore don't know anything abt her except that shes jingyuans teacher. so why is her INTRODUCTION a fucking CONCLUSION TO HER CHARACTER ARC???? shes already DONE wandering and finding an answer in her heart. shes already DONE deciding whether or not to keep running or face her past. now shes mourning for a PERSON WE DONT EVEN KNOW. we watch her get closure for her dead girlfriend. BUT SO WHAT??? WE DONT EVEN KNOW EITHER OF THEM!!! SEEING HER GET CLOSURE MEANS NOTHING TO US. ITS JUST AWKWARD. why was her INTRO her fucking CHARACTER ARC'S CONCLUSION!!!!!!! they should've made her quest like luocha's, where all we did was speculate and her real motives remained a mystery. then we couldve been spared from this shitfest!!!!

the difference in quality between belobog story and luofu story is insane!!!! like, just compare luka's quest to jinglius....hello??? its crazy how unsympathetic they made her. it was literally "tell not show" instead of "show not tell".

anyways im just upset at dan heng's treatment. like, this character has a clear message/direction they were going for, but jinglius quest kind of stomps all over it, and her quest was supposed to introduce her but her introduction flopped hard. she was so much cooler when we saw her during yanqings quest and she was half insane. its awkward to mourn for someone we dont even know and its awkward to watch someone we dont know mourn. and, ngl, it rly felt like they only added dan heng in there bc they want more ppl to care abt the quintet. that whole quest couldve been through jingliu's pov where the reunion only happened between blade, jingliu, and jingyuan, so why wasn't it??? as opposed to those three, dan heng already moved on from the past. it was awkward for dan heng and for the audience💀

tldr i had high expectations bc i thought hoyo cared abt the quintet but not only did it flop it also dragged dan heng's characterization through the mud

[milksnake-tea]

❀ ˎˊ- prompt: you'd never gotten along with jiaoqiu, but when he finally returns home to the yaoqing, you show a startling amount of gentleness. ❀ ˎˊ- jiaoqiu x gn!reader ❀ ˎˊ- wc: 1.6k ❀ ˎˊ- warnings: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR 2.5 TRAILBLAZE QUEST, angst, probably??? ooc jiaoqiu idk i didnt like how i wrote him here :( ❀ ˎˊ- a/n: actually going insane I CAN'T BELIEVE HOYO DID THAT TO HIM. anyways im going to be writing fluff.... eventually because LORD I AM COPING SO HARD ❀ ˎˊ- taglist: @sh0jun , @themoderatelyawesomeninja , @xphantasmagoriax , @rainswept , @lucensei , @akutasoda , @naraven , @scribs-dibs , @apathicace , @flurrina , @tragedy-of-commons , @iceunhie ❀ ˎˊ- img credits

Jiaoqiu’s ear twitches at the sound of a gentle knock at his door.

Sunlight warms his hand from where it rests on his dining table. He can picture the rays in his mind, streaming through the patchwork of a oak-framed window.

He imagines it all as if it were yesterday. The smell of his home is the same as it’s always been; fresh wood and linen with a touch of spices lingering like an afterthought and a memory. So is the feel of it all - the clean finish of his table is familiar under his fingers, and if he were to reach a little to the left, there would be cool porcelain, and just above that would be the caress of the orchid a coworker had gifted him all those years ago.

The image is burned into his mind. He knows where everything is, he can see it, but he can’t. All that’s left of his vision is a void, not unlike the infamous abyss of Nihility.

“Jiaoqiu-xiansheng,” his assistant says softly from the door. Ever since he’d lost his vision, Feixiao had assigned her to him as to aid him in his everyday affairs. “It’s [Name]-yisheng.”

At the sound of your name, Jiaoqiu’s fingers curl into a fist against the table.

What are you doing here? To chastise him for his carelessness, or worse, for being a burden to Feixiao?

He shakes his head lightly. No, you aren’t like that. He’s being irrational. You’re probably just here out of courtesy. You’ll simply give your condolences, drop off a gift of some kind, and be on your way.

He sighs.

“Let them in.”

Your footsteps pit-pat on his floor. He imagines your arms are crossed, a slightly irritated tug at your lips, yet worry reflected in your eyes all the same. Or perhaps not the last part… ever since the war, he’s yet to see you worry for him.

You speak in hushed whispers with his assistant, despite the fact that he is sitting right there, upright and of sound mind and not a slumbering patient. He picks up on a few words; something about his current condition and treatments he’d been subjected to while on the Luofu (you are truly a healer first and foremost), before you softly ask his assistant to give you some space.

Jiaoqiu smiles slyly as he hears his assistant leave the room. “That’s the gentlest I’ve heard you yet. Has something happened while I was away, or are you simply crass to me and me alone?”

Where there is usually a snarky retort, there is silence. Jiaoqiu’s ear flicks again, and his smile drops to a frown.

“Come now,” he prods again, unnerved by your lack of response. “You’re making me nervous with all this silence. If I were still on the Luofu, I would’ve thought you to be a borisin in disguise.”

Still nothing - in fact, he thinks the mood may have dampened even more. Maybe it was too soon for jokes.

Two more steps. Judging by the sound and your scent, you’ve come to before him. He cranes his head up a bit, relying on muscle memory as to point his eyes to where he thinks your face is.

“So it’s true,” you finally say. “You’ve lost your vision.”

Your voice is stoic, or rather, empty. He’s never heard you like this before, and frankly, he doesn’t like it. He’d much rather you jab at his weakness or scold him than this.

“…Yes,” Jiaoqiu sighs, turning away. “The borison were… unkind, to say the least, especially that brute Hoolay.”

He hears you hum briefly in acknowledgement. Then there comes your hands, ghosting against his cheeks and causing his hair to raise - though, not in a bad way.

“May I?” you ask. Jiaoqiu’s breath hitches, but he nods warily.

You take his face with more tenderness than he’d thought you had within you, and turn it. Your thumbs run across his cheekbones, before tugging lightly at below his eyes. Heeding your silent instruction, he opens his sightless eyes.

There’s a small, shuddered breath that escapes you once he does. He wonders what you see; perhaps cloudy, foggy stones where sharp amber used to be. An insignificant memory comes to mind - you’d once said that despite his shrewd and slimy nature, his eyes were beautiful… How unfair it was, you’d said, for a man of his character to have such wonderful eyes.

Are they still beautiful to you? Or are they useless and ugly now?

You trace down his face, leaving his eyes and instead coming to his bandaged neck. Two fingers press lightly at the artery in his neck.

“They told me you drank Tumbleweed,” you say. Jiaoqiu tenses. “They said that it was to weaken Hoolay enough so that General Feixiao could defeat him.”

Your fingers graze at his eyelashes once more, trembling. They betray that which your voice does not.

He wonders what expression is on your face right now. He wishes that he could see it, and he almost tempted to reach up and map out the curves in your expression for himself.

“There’s no need to sound so somber,” he tries to assure. “You’re practically more down about this than I am. I’m fine.”

Your fingers stiffen as if to strangle him. He half expects you to do so, but after a few painstakingly long moments, you let out a defeated sigh and your hands return to cradling him.

“Idiot,” you whisper, without the bite of your usual tone. “What were you thinking?”

“I had to. It was the only way we could defeat a beast of Hoolay’s calliber. Any other soldier would’ve done the same.” Even to himself, Jiaoqiu’s defense sounds weak.

“Would they have poisoned themselves, allowed themselves to be drained of blood, taken their sight with their own hands, and have the gall to say that they are content?”

You sound angry. Jiaoqiu pictures your expression again, this time with furrowed brows and gritted teeth. It’s not the first time he’s seen it, but only now, there’s something confusing his mind’s image of you. Alongside the anger is sorrow, no, grief.

He doesn’t understand it. Sure, as a comrade and a coworker, even you must have your compassion. If it were sympathy that he is hearing, he could’ve at least accepted that.

“Why are you so concerned?” he can’t help but blurt out. “This is unlike you.”

You still.

“Is it really that hard to imagine that I care?”

The ache in your voice spears his heart and strangles it. His lips part to say something, anything, but you speak before he can.

“You scared me, Jiao.” Finally, the dam begins to crack, and your voice begins to shake. “When I saw the report from the Luofu, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I thought it had to be a lie, or a trick, some sort of prank, but-”

He hears you inhale sharply, fighting in vain to calm yourself down.

“I thought I lost you.”

Your hands fall away, away from where he can perceive, and then he is left alone in the dark again, his only company being the sound and the scent of you. A swish of cloth, a hiccup that you failed to hide, and he realizes-

“Are you… crying?”

He doesn’t have to see you to know that you flinch. Impulsively, his hand reaches, guided by instinct rather than rational as he grasps for you. Somewhere, somehow, he manages to make contact with your shoulder, and from that he is able to navigate his way up to your face.

And sure enough, there is the all-too familiar wetness of tears. There aren’t many, but it’s enough to the point where it’s concerning.

“I…” He tries, but the words fail to form. You shake your head, laying your hand on his and guiding it away from your face.

“I’ll be okay,” you assure weakly. “Just… give me a moment.”

Jiaoqiu nods. He realizes that he’s lurched up from his seat in his effort to find you. He goes to sit down, only to accidentally bump his hipbone against the chair’s arm and hiss in pain. Immediately you’re upon him, arm around his waist to steady him.

“You okay?” you ask, and Jiaoqiu nods, internally grumbling as you ease him back into his chair.

“Yes,” he mutters, sighing. “It’s not easy, adjusting to a life without sight.”

“I would imagine,” you commend. “It’s good that you have that assistant, though.”

“Indeed,” Jiaoqiu smiles. “Had it not been for her, I’d be stumbling around with quite a few more bruises than normal.”

You hum out a laugh. “That’s true. Well,” you untangle your hands and take a step away, “I should be going. I’ve left my gift with your assistant; it’s a new type of tea that recently hit the stores. I’ve heard that it helps calm you down, and so I figured that it would help.”

“Ah.” Jiaoqiu barely registers what you’ve said, only hearing the part where you said that you’re leaving. “You’re leaving already?”

“Hm? Well, of course. I still have work to do at the office.”

Jiaoqiu falters. Right. Even if he may have this break, you don’t have that same luxury. It’s already enough that you’ve taken time out of your schedule to visit him.

Still, despite himself, a small part of him wants you to stay.

Footsteps fade away into the distance as you call out for his assistant, letting her know that your conversation has finished. His ears strain as he picks up on you slipping on your shoes, standing up, moving to the doorway and then-

“Jiaoqiu,” you suddenly say, stopping just before you open the door.

“Yes?” He looks in the direction where he thinks you are.

“I’m glad you’re alive.”

reblogs w comments are appreciated !!

[trashyvanillabean]

Keep in mind, this is just wishful thinking.

Anyway:

I’m starting to wonder if there might be potential for future interactions between Dan Heng and someone connected to the Remembrance (like Black Swan, for example) because if there’s anything that can help him (and the players by extension) unravel his past life’s memories to learn and understand the full details of the Sedition, it has to be the Remembrance.

My mental gymnastics so far:

List of unreliable narrators:

Blade: marastruck, and likely doesn’t have a good grasp of Yingxing’s memories. Probably doesn’t care enough (anymore) to find out what happened and what went wrong.

Dan Heng: his hatching rebirth was botched and he was fed a negative narrative of Dan Feng.

Jing Yuan: he most likely doesn’t know all the details, just that Dan Feng and Yingxing attempted to revive Baiheng.

Jingliu: same reason as Jing Yuan (and something tells me she might not care enough to investigate on her own).

Preceptors (and some other Vidyadhara): obviously, they’re shady as fuck (something something about Preceptor Taoran having horns despite not being a High Elder, please correct me if I’m mistaken) and while there may be some good apples in the basket, we don’t know who that could be (just look at what happened in Bailu’s quest). It was also mentioned in the Summary of the Luofu’s Ambrosial Arbor Crisis that some of them had dealings with Dan Shu, who we are familiar with as the mastermind behind Sanctus Medicus. Those suspects may be the same ones who might have something to do with the Sedition.

List of possible allies:

That one maid from one of Bailu’s character stories: the one who warned Bailu to not tell anyone about her dreams. There’s a good chance they don’t know what was happening before, during or after the Sedition, but they might still be of some help to Bailu and Dan Heng.

The author of the Summary of the Luofu’s Ambrosial Arbor Crisis: I forgot where I was going with this one but definitely read the full article. I think you can find it at Fyxestroll Garden where the ghost hunters (Huohuo, Guinaifen, Sushang, TB) meet up.

Hanya: she may be a Ten-Lords judge, but she mentions in the Summary that the suspected Preceptors have sort of revealed themselves (though, unfortunately, not to the audience yet)…and I forgot where I was going with this.

Huohuo: also a Ten-Lords judge, but if you recall that side-mission with March and a non-threatening heliobus, there is an option to release that heliobus and allow it to roam free through the universe and Huohuo will turn a blind eye when you report it. (Gdi I also forgot where I was going with this.)

Xuepu: I could be seriously wrong since she’s a Preceptor, but she was also Dan Feng’s mentor. Even if there is that chance that even she doesn’t know what happened, she could dispel some of the narrative Dan Heng was given while he was still in the Shackling Prison. She might even be able to teach him what she did Dan Feng (behind the Preceptors’ backs, anyway).

Yuluo the Chief Alchemist after Dan Shu: just a Vidyadhara NPC, but being (temporarily) nominated the Cauldron Master (and thus one of the Luofu’s Six Charioteers) means she now holds a fair amount of authority and can dig into records she normally wouldn’t be able to as a normal healer. She most likely has a limited amount of time though, and the authority she’s given most likely isn’t that much since her position is just a temporary measure, given the whole thing with Dan Shu and that someone is also calling for the return of Yunhua (who was apparently the Cauldron Master before “a dispute regarding the Vidyadhara” that led to her banishment) so there is a very high chance we will see nothing of her, and nothing will come of this.

Now that I’m thinking a little about this Yunhua, I have to wonder if her banishment was also the result of the Preceptors’ meddling…