#i love being on the luofu he's in like every quest

[teddybeartoji]

hello gorjus:3333333333

[n0tamused]

Um, I'm not sure if you're taking requests but I really love you're writing so I'm gonna try my luck

Could you please do a Medusa!Reader with Jiaoqiu? I've had this idea swirling around for a while.

A/n: I remember seeing those Medusa x her blind lover and I love the idea sm it's so bittersweet but can be fluffy aaaa

Contents: Jiaoqiu x Reader, angst, a bit of comfort, spoilers for the 2.5 quest!

The morning came damp and misty on the Xianzhou Yaoqing. Clouds hung heavy and grey overhead while people huddled away in their homes and offices, and shops. Gazing around it was hard to tell colors apart, everything looked gray. 

Your night was sleepless, and for the few minutes your eyes closed it was also dreamless, pebbled with touches of reality, the roughness of your blankets and the way it wouldn’t let you rest lest you left home altogether in search of that small bit of solace. You’d scarcely call it solace, but you knew a part of you would be called nonetheless, in some way. For once, you were the visitor and not the visited. And your time was limited.

Jiaoqiu opened the door, his eyes empty as they stared right through you and his ears were almost animated in their movement, rotating and flicking at each snap the snakes in your hair made, every little shuffle and whisper. He was still in his bedwear, hair slightly disheveled.

“Jiaoqiu..?” you whispered his name so cautiously, as if uttering it would break him and he responds with the softness of his smile upon recognizing your voice. His ears lightly fall, fluffy and pointed at you, shoulders slumping down in relief. 

“Ah.. it is you. It’s been quite a long time, although it feels even longer than that I confess..” he speaks so casually, stepping aside, shuffling over his own tail and inviting you in. Once inside you see the clean interior. There are no items on the floor, no low hanging plants and herbs like Jiaoqiu once described his home like. It was orderly, clean, spacious, made for him to remember and be safe in without worry. As much as it was a relief, it brought a pain to your chest, the view of his home solidifying the fate he encountered on the Luofu.

You slid up before him after the door clicked shut, your warm palms finding the paleness of his cheeks and cupping him close, tenderly. You search his eyes but find nothing, and his lashes soon flutter shut as he realizes your doings. Your hands don’t leave his skin, but his own hands find their place over your wrists, stroking gently to soothe you. You never touched him before, and he never gazed upon your face. The memory of your first encounter was a distant wisp of a memory he struggled to fiercely hold on, even as exhausted as he is. “You worry for me, my dear? I do not doubt the news… has reached you already..”

You nod in the moment, looking on at him in longing and you have to remind yourself that he was not lost. He was alive and whole, but more broken than the time you saw him off. 

“I have worried and I still worry.. what have they done to you, Jiaoqiu?” 

Jiaoqiu can’t help but frown at the tone of your voice, it hurts just to hear it, his heart twists and his hold on your wrists tightens. “Nothing I cannot deal with, (Y/n).. Please, do not scare yourself into sleeplessness. If it is of any comfort, General Feixiao has already vowed to find someone to heal my eyes.. Do not fret” he tells you but it is almost as if you do not hear him. His ears twitch at the soft sound of a hitched breath, he feels your thumb rolling across his cheek, under his eyes and your snakes hiss softly. 

He knew the chances of his eyes actually being healed were minimal, yet he wished not to bring you any more fright. It was odd to see you so fearful, worried, but no less saddening. He brought you happiness with his flowery poems and cryptic talks and you brought him joyful surprises with the bluntness of your speech. It was your large garden you usually met at, under the stone carved statue of a winding coral, pebbled with stone birds on every other branch. You’d sit at the base of the statue, back pressed against the stone, and he’d sit on the other corner of the same, never being able to gaze onto your face, but he remembers holding your hand. He never imagined such a romance would blossom from those interactions, yet it did.

He extends his hand forward, slowly moving it towards you until he feels the many little heads of small snakes bumping into his fingers and knuckles. He lets out a little chuckle, letting his hand linger and letting the curious snakes explore his skin as well. “Would you look at that.. they’re kissing me, are they?” He can feel the little licks of their thin tongues, even the snakes are gentle with him, being much more fragile than him. He feels half of the man that he once was, ashamed but he brings himself to smile nonetheless. Perhaps it was his turn to be soft and taken care of, however redundant that seemed to him. 

You scoff, the light shaking of your head pulling the snakes along with you, who in turn let out a dissatisfied hiss. 

“I should have been there..” you say, bringing his head closer down to kiss his forehead. He looks even prettier than you imagined him to be. You don’t expect him to reach for your cheek next though, it startles you but you melt into his touch.

“No. Your place is here, where it is safe” he says, resolute and firm in his words, tone suddenly washed clean from any drowsiness of sleep. “What has happened was unfortunate, yet necessary, I fear.. And were I to go back, I would have done the same.. Don’t worry about me. I can still think of poems for you, even if I can no longer see them or write them..” Your skin is warm and damp, he feels it, you have been crying. It worries him more. He presses his other hand to your cheek, bringing you closer until your foreheads pressed together, nuzzling into your warmth. The snakes in your hair seem to be in need of comfort as well with the way the slither closer, tickling his ears and cheeks with their little tongues and noses. 

“I am here. And so are you. And Hoolay is no more.. That’s all that matters now.”

You don’t respond, his words aren’t too comforting, however true they are, so you choose to pepper his cheeks and nose and forehead with countless kisses you couldn’t give him before.

Ⓒ n0tamused. Do not repost, translate, edit, and/or copy any of my works. Likes, comments, and reblogs are appreciated.

[generalsmemories]

Hello author! Can I request from angst prompt the angst sentence #2 and angst scenario #4 with Jing yuan? This is my first time doing stuff like this. I don't know if I'm doing it right😅 if not feel free to delete! May you have a wonderful day!

A shoulder to lean on

✧ jing yuan x gn!reader

✧ prompts: breaking down mid-hug, "can you call me that again?" and "you haven't changed" "...do you mean that in a good way or a bad way?" || 1k event

✧ contents: hurt/comfort, a miniscule of high cloud quintet lore, my personal hc that jing yuan was a tiny bit of a crybaby when he was younger (it's mentioned briefly you could barely notice it)

✧ a/n: after jingliu's companion quest the need to give this man a hug just increased by tenfold. but you did everything correct dear anon, thank you for participating in the event! not beta-read cause the idea kicked me in the face at like 1 AM so i had to hurry before i lost it. though i did struggle trying to incorporate the last sentence LMFAO.

"Do you accept this new position as the general of the Luofu, Jing Yuan?"

Sometimes he wonders if things would've gone differently if he said no that day, had politely declined the offer. He had dreams after all, dreams that wasn't limited to the Luofu - a dream that was to reach the stars, and further than that.

"It would be my honor."

But as fast as those worries came, it quickly faded away with time. Forgotten amidst the chaos that immediately happened the moment he took the mantle of the General.

"General, there's another meeting with the Six Charioteers."

"General, the Marshal is requesting your presence."

"Even if you've became the general, we would still need a strategic mind and another sword out on the battlefield, what do you say?"

He didn't mind at first.

"General! The high elder has...!"

"General, we have succesfully captured Imbibitor Lunae, what are the High Preceptors orders for him?"

"General! The swordmaster has succumbed to mara!"

If he could serve the Luofu to the best of his abilities then he would. He loved Luofu after all. It would be no greater honor than to be able to govern it and protect it.

"General! There's an urgent message from the Xianzhou Yaoqing and Xianzhou Fanghu!"

"General, we will keep losing more men to the Denizens of Abundance at this rate, the only way to stop this war once and for all is through the Reignbow Arbiter!"

But after centuries of the same title being called out, of the same courtesy and respect given to him at every corner and at every second of his life, he starts to wonder.

"General!"

When was the last time he heard someone call out his name?"

"Jing Yuan."

He sucks in a deep breath, eyes snapping open upon hearing his name. There's a warm hand cradling his cheek with a thumb stroking his skin patiently - but no words have been said after someone had uttered his name.

It's quiet - the noise inside his head had seemed to morph back into the same mild headache he's gotten used to ignoring every day. A pain that makes him realize he's no longer forced to witness what had happened in the past, the warmth from the hand on his cheek confirming the fact he's back in the present.

Back in today's Luofu - a peaceful Luofu not plagued by any war, a Luofu he had managed to keep in peace for centuries.

He let's out the breath he didn't realize he was holding, his eyes finally adjusting to the room around him. His vision is a bit hazy, but he can still make out the interior of your shared house.

There's a bed underneath him, a blanket covering half of his body and the sound of the breeze blowing through the wind chimes which makes them make a clear sound. And when he averts his gaze from the ceiling to the presence beside him, he finds himself locking eyes with your own - a gentle smile painting your lips.

"Good morning, I take it that you didn't sleep that well tonight?" you ask, and Jing Yuan opens his mouth to say something, whispering something so quietly that you couldn't even hear it even when you're this close to him, "I won't be able to hear you at all if you continue to whisper like that, you know?"

"... Can you call me that again?" he finally manages to utter after a beat of silence, the requst making you cock your head to the side in confusion - but it doesn't take long before your eyes widen slightly in realization, before immediately softening.

"You haven't changed at all, have you? Jing Yuan."

And that's all he needed to hear before he finally breaks. You can hear a low whimper come from him before you flinch away in surprise when he suddenly rises to an upright position. But you're not able to move back fast enough before an arm hurriedly wraps around your waist to force you closer to him.

"... Do you mean that in a good way or a bad way?" he breathes out, voice finally returning to him after hearing you call out his name again.

His free hand cradles the back of your head, pressing you closer to his neck while he almost shrinks into you, trying to press you closer than you already are.

Almost as if wants to protect you - from what you don't know.

But he's shaking, the arms enveloping you in his embrace are trembling slightly and you can feel his voice shake whenever he breathes in and out, his own face pressed against your head.

"A good way, what else? Because even after everything you've gone through, standing tall as the general of the Luofu-"

You ignore how he physically flinches upon hearing you say that title.

"You're still the same crybaby of a Jing Yuan that I fell in love with way before you even got your infamous nickname."

He doesn't say anything, freely letting you cup his cheeks to pull him away from your head, giving him a smile and a quick peck onto his cheek before you readjust him to rest his head on your shoulders - to which he quickly buries his face into your neck. And it's only when you wrap your own arms around his shoulders tightly that you feel tiniest of tears dampen your clothes.

You can only squeeze back, bending your head down to press your lips onto whatever part of Jing Yuan you can reach.

"It's okay to cry, Jing Yuan."

another similar ask that got incorporated

[nqmonarch]

Good Boy/Girl

Characters: Dan Heng, Stelle

There's just something about being able to call someone a "Good Boy" or "Good Girl" that makes me so happy. And then for that to mean something to them? Even better.

Like, I don't mean the words in a patronizing way it's just a little symbol of approval like how you'd give a kid a sticker with the words 'Good job!'

Dan Heng

Imagine you're waiting for Dan Heng to come back from one of the trailblazing missions; more recently, the one on the Xianzhou Luofu. You're trying to escape Himeko's coffee, and relaxing with Pom Pom to cure your boredom. Then they return, tired beyond belief from their fight against an emanator, and from all of the emotional damage because there was a lot in that quest.

Dan Heng is trying to calm down from the whole ordeal, he just faced the person that haunts his nightmares, and what better way is there to calm down then spending time with his significant other? You're proud of him. For both facing his fears and doing a good job, so what better way to express that then a sweet

"Good Boy."

Dan Heng would melt into your body, allow himself to finally relax. He's safe here. And he can't help but smile, all of his efforts hadn't gone to waste in the end, everything turned out fine. It was all fine now, and the two of you can rest.

He'd take a moment after leaning against your chest and into your lap to realize what you said. And when he does realize it his eyes will widen a bit and he won't be able to hold back the slight blush. Those words mean so much coming from you.

Likewise, imagine doing so with Stelle after that same quest.

Stelle

Stelle feels betrayed by Dan Heng, blind sighted from his past (we saw how Trailblazer distanced themself from Dan Heng after the reveal and didn't speak to them as much). She feels discouraged, Dan Heng was one of the first people she met. But she doesn't know who to go to for comfort, so she ends up back in your arms.

You run your hands through her soft hair, combing out all the tangles with your fingers. She leans into you, practically sitting in your lap, closing her eyes, and trying to relax. But it's hard. She trusted Dan Heng, and even if it's not his fault, she feels betrayed for not knowing such a large part of his life.

Her shoulders would quiver every once in a while and every time she showed unease, you'd lean a bit closer and whisper.

"Good Girl."

You'd tell her how good she did, how strong she was for taking on an emanator, how she persevered despite everything. She'd cry, turn around, and hold you close. The rest of the night would probably repeat this way, until the two of you fall asleep side by side.

You wake up a bit of a mess, you didn't change into your pajamas or do anything to get ready for bed. But there Stelle is, a small smile on her face and a gift in her hands-- wait, isn't that trash? Why is it golden???

You love your girlfriend anyway, despite her unusual habits.

I don't know maybe I just feel this way. Like it's a way to show someone you appreciate them, love them, think they did great. Or maybe I am just a very big simp.

Like I would die to make you smile, but I'd still want you to cry at my death.

Y'know what I mean?

[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

[ohmeadows]

very interested to hear your fu xuan thoughts now that she’s out !

first of all love her second of all i'll just do this in bullet points because my brain is soggy cereal today:

starting with her character stories, so spoilers under the cut:

she hails from the xianzhou yuque, famed for their divinations and jade abaci export, and it mentions that "centuries passed" so. she's at least, at the barest minimum, two centuries old, probably older. she ran away from the yuque to attempt and avoid a foretold destiny, namely that she would kill her teacher. indeed her teacher even says it was part of the reason why he took her on as a student.

this is interesting because it ties into her teacher's prediction that she becomes master diviner of the yuque, a destiny she defies by running away. but...

xianzhou fleet follows star calendar dating, and in 8072, third abundance war happened, a decisive year for many on the luofu. (caiyi dies in this war, as well as dan shu's love.) fu xuan, annoyed that the divination commission can't do much to help in the battle, devises a plan to use the cloudpeer telescope, putting it on the battlefield and calling down lan's arrow to raze it, winning the fight. jing yuan agrees to her plan, but takes responsibility for it. as a way to protect her.

she is willing to go down and be the one to call on lan. but no. the person who goes down with the cloudpeer telescope... is her mentor. he dies. as does many. but the battle is won.

this battle happens roughly 30 years before current timeline in-game, where while it's not confirmed 100%, we can guesstimate that we are around 8098 or 8100 SC (xianzhou reckoning, we know it's 2158 Amber Era, IPC calendar) which, sidebar, jingliu was ""killed"" by jing yuan in 7380. that's almost 700 years of the high cloud quintet survivors being tormented in various ways.

not sure of the timing of this report, but lan is on the move again.

the third war is very interesting because it left part of the hexafleet struggling to recover; luofu only recovered because of widening trade, something we see reflected in tingyun, yukong opting to work in the skyfaring commission, and aurum alley. and it was won because of fu xuan's choices.

in the time since, she seems to have come to terms with destiny being impossible to change. she writes in this letter (emphasis mine):

Let me be more straightforward here — the way the Matrix of Prescience Ultima operates is like a black box. We know that we can derive a frighteningly accurate prediction from the Chaos system by "observing our observation," but no one knows how it works nor can anyone explain it. Many, including my colleagues from the Divination Commission, consider this to be an example of how humans can change or select the future with their own power. But for me... I will interpret this from another perspective... The past, present, and future are not diachronic, but synchronic. (This statement denies the existence of time, so the use of "diachronic" and "synchronic" might be slightly inappropriate.) Every moment in the universe has been predetermined since the genesis. That is to say, it is impossible to change the future.

i find this very fascinating because we can thus also trace what that war did to her mindset and point of view; she doesn't think the future can be changed and that the universe is a deterministic one. (note that i don't think it's proof it is, as we saw with kafka and our choices in her quest, she also grapples with the question of if everything is predetermined or not. these are their point of views.)

now, some other observations and picking at her voicelines:

so, the omniscia/third eye she has is a gift from nous the erudition, also known as the wisdomwalker on the xianzhou. she writes in glimpses into the beyond that she has had at least one audience with nous, and regards them highly. (i also wrote more in-depth about that book here already, so i won't dig too deep right now.) she's had it most of her adult life, even before the third abundance war, before leaving the yuque.

despite being harsh sometimes, she's not mean. this comes across very well in march 7th's quest, i think: she does care what people think about her, but she's not about to go simpering or sucking up to get liked. i really respect that in a character, especially female? i've seen men write her off as a walking red flag of a personality, which is hilarious to me. she's a delight! just not your soft uwu waifu.

she loves her boba and milk tea. she claims it eases her constant pain from the third eye, which kind of tracks for me, i usually need to have caffeine in some form to help alleviate migraines. she likes them far too sweet for my liking, however, but she's big on teas. (it's suspected she is the one arguing that startaro tea is amazing and everyone else is just a loser and hater.)

and the pain. so, xianzhou natives, because of the abundance's blessing, are constantly healing. nous implanted a third eye into her that if it had been made by mortals, would have just been rejected. her body is constantly fighting this third eye, pushing it out, but it does not budge because of nous' powers. hence, unending pain until the day she dies. she even refers to it as an eternal punishment.

also worth noting how she's a follower of nous, while being on qlipoth's path.

her trigram talk sounds a lot like the i ching to me, and she's constantly consulting it, sometimes several times even before breakfast. implication? that she does not like surprises, perhaps. that knowing the future is her greatest security.

in march 7th's quest, i feel like we get to see a very protective side of her. she does not take lightly at having her work interfered with, even by fuli's followers, and you can see a glimmer of why she follows both qlipoth and nous here: intense desire to protect, and intense desire to know the truth at the bottom of it all, even if it makes her unhappy.

i also think her desire to be general stems from her preservation path, beyond just ambition. sure, she wants power, but to me she seems to want power to ultimately protect and guide.

ignorance is not bliss to fu xuan, to put it lightly.

she notes that the trailblazer doesn't have a trace of future destinies around them, and calls it strange. gestures.

[wentian]

2.1 rant (from someone who loves aventurine)

i already complained to friends about 2.1 but i still need to vent while i drink my morning coffee. i'm really not happy about not liking that patch much despite it being focused on the character i was waiting for almost a year and it confuses the hell out of me when people praise this patch's story...

i know we're talking about genshin's fandom and they're notorious for having no taste or media literacy ('genshin is so good at telling stories, i don't understand anything at all' said someone on the forum unironically) but let me remind you that the whole patch is told from the perspective of a character who just appeared in the story. not a friend, not even a long-time rival. my big problem with star rail (especially after how h3rd followed kiana closely) is that it doesn't treat its main character... like a main character? it constantly robs the trailblazer of a context and an agenda in every story past the prologue. penacony started really strong with shifting the focus back to the trailblazer and yet somehow we got back to the luofu's level of storytelling in one (!) patch. as much as i love aventurine and was excited to learn his tragic backstory, this patch was ridiculous if you remember that the trailblazer and not him is the main character.

you know how in genshin you can't have npcs living their own life with the traveler and paimon following everyone everywhere and there's no escaping them? they must know and see everything, even if it doesn't concern them? i can't believe i'm saying it but it would nice to have a bit of this annoying trope in star rail because the trailblazer has no freaking idea what was aventurine's deal the whole time. from their perspective they promised to be allies and investigate the murder cases together, then the trailblazer went to grab some drinks in a bar... and then aventurine attacked them out of nowhere. that's it, that's the story from the main character's perspective. wow, such a good writing... aventurine was yapping about his tragic past for 4 hours TO HIMSELF the whole time. i'm pretty sure he knows his own story??? and don't get me wrong, i don't think that we need to follow every single character but it doesn't make any sense to have a whole big patch dedicated to a random guy who just showed up in the story if they don't plan to alleviate his status to a friend or a companion. luofu's story was terrible but at least dan heng is our friend, so it makes a little bit of sense to follow him, and not the trailblazer to get to know his story. aventurine is a no one to us.

and also i need to complain about it otherwise i'll combust. as much as i appreciate that star rail didn't need 30 hours *cough* endwalker *cough* to come to a conclusion that life is ultimately meaningless we all die so make your own meaning while you still live, it feels so terribly unearned that instead of coming to it on his own, acheron comes to aventurine and just TELLS him. and it would have been okay if the game didn't touch such heavy themes like depression and suicide (cocona's story made me cry the other day) only for the writers suddenly decide that their audience is tiny silly babies who need every single plot-point being spoon fed to them... it makes me violent honestly.

4 hours of boring cutscenes from 1 or 2 angles is already a torture. 4 hours of boring cutscenes that have nothing to do with the main plot of the expansion or the main character... 2.1 isn't a continuation of 2.0. it's a glorified personal quest, and it shouldn't had been there so soon, not until we dealt with the major conflict. if you really wanted to repeat 3.3 from genshin, then at least give us and the character whom the narration usually follows a reason to care for him. idk i want to love this story, but i can't stop thinking about how caelus was mixing drinks while aventurine had the worst day in his life.

also i don't want to talk about it much but. fucking. firefly. killed. my. hype. i'm sorry but listening to sam's voice with her uwu moe intonations was... a bad experience. maybe i'm a cold-hearted hater, but her whining on that roof was a huge red flag to me the last patch. suuuuuure you're soooo not going to die to milk emotions out of me only for them to bring you back because weebs are going to whale for you two patches later. uh huh.

and also also i'm so mad we can't have a cool robot guy, no it's gotta be a little girl. forget that this whole 'plot-twist' ruined the drama of the previous patch, i can't stop thinking how STUPID the stellaron hunters are now. immortal blade who seeks the release from his misery, enigmatic and charming kafka who plays the hearts like she players her violin... and two schoolgirls, one of which is a cool hacker and the other is completely useless but have big armor suit. like REALLY why is she there? next thing we know elio will turn out to be a twelve year old girl too. i'm so tired of mhy coming up with really solid ideas only to throw any hint of diversity into a trash bin. instead of having siobhans and svarogs we keep getting fireflies and ruan meis and it kills me.

[fenrhi]

I did it. I finally reached the point where I feel like the Dan Heng Plot Twist that’s gonna happen in 1.2 has been properly set up. It took this long because MHY decided to prank the players by making the first half of 1.1 filler fluff (that’s not an insult, I genuinely liked the museum event and the Silver Wolf mini-quest, but they were not relevant to the Xianzhou plotline)

1) Dan Heng’s crimes and his relationship with Blade

Meet Dan Heng. He’s really cute but rather mysterious. He doesn’t want to talk about his life before joining the Astral Express. You do know he ran away from his homeland because he committed some “crimes”. You’re left wondering “what did he do, exactly?”

Enter Blade, a dangerous man haunting Dan Heng’s dreams and really determined to kill him, to the point he destroyed every single ship Dan Heng stepped foot on. You’re left wondering “what did Dan Heng do to this guy, exactly?”

Look at the Wandering Doctor relics set. These clothes look like the ones Blade is wearing right now. The “nameless man” must be Blade. He was friends with a man wielding a spear. The spear wielder was very close to Blade, but at some point he “committed a grave sin, turned the beloved into a monstrosity and plunged everyone into an abyss of despair”. Is it Jing Yuan? No, because Blade said “Three people must pay a price, but you are not one them”. So it’s gotta be Dan Heng. You’re left wondering “that’s really cool and all, but what am supposed to do with this information?”

Go to the Luofu of Xianzhou. You learn that the pursuit of immortality is one of the ten gravest sins in the Alliance (and to be honest, it’s the only “grave sin” you hear about at all, so you’re supposed to pay attention to that).

On a splash art posted on Tweethell, Blade is revealed to be an immortal warrior seeking the sweet embrace of death

If you try to put together the pieces of this puzzle, you would get something like this: DH and Blade are friends > Blade gets mortally wounded in unknown circumstances > DH curses him with immortality, even though he knows it’s a crime, because he loves him too much to let him die > Blade reacts to this really badly and loses his mind > he wants revenge on DH > ????? > DH joins the Astral Express Crew

2) The elephant in the room: Dan Heng’s memories

After connecting these dots, you’re left wondering “hey, the math ain’t mathing. How could DH forget what he did to Blade?”. This situation doesn’t sense... if you consider DH to be a normal human being.

Meet Bailu. She’s part of a race of dragons (the Vidyadhara) that can be reborn when they reach their end of their life. But they don’t remember what they did in their past lives.

That could explain why Dan Heng has amnesia...but why doesn’t he look like a dragon then? You currently have no answer for this question.

3) How the 3 newest Companion Quests foreshadow 1.2 (based on leaks I saw)

Luocha’s Quest is here. You finished it rather quickly and were surprised by its humorous/unserious tone. You feel like you didn’t accomplish anything important. It might seem like a waste of time.... but only if you look at it in isolation. It’s meant to be a small piece of a set. What did we learn from this quest? Don’t judge people on their appearances. Don’t let the past constrain you. Don’t force your expectations on others. This is going to be relevant to the Jingheng Situation (”the one I wanted to chase after....exists only in my memory”)

Bailu’s Quest is the second piece of the set. It focuses on the tragic love story of a woman from a long-lived species and a man from a short-lived species. Banxia wanted to give her lover an elixir of immortality, so they could live together forever. But she got mara-stuck before she could do this. Worse, the man she loved revealed himself to be a total scum, manipulating her to get what he wanted. This parallels the Renheng situation.

Yanqing’s Quest is the last piece of the set. While looking for Blade, he meets Jingliu, who defies him in a fighting competition. She kicks his ass and tells him that he would absolutely not survive an encounter with Blade the way he is. But Yanqing is not the one who’s going to get stabbed by Blade... Dan Heng is...

[punklorde-hunter]

Well, since i finished the main story Penacony's first half (still need to do the Companion Mission + finding all those chests), and I took a few screenshots, and I thought I'd show them while also having commentary on the main quest's story beats.

**SPOILERS and a LOTS of words Under the Cut

While I am kinda sad Dan Heng didn't get to join us for Penacony, at least this means he gets a rest. Man was going through it on the Luofu let him have a chance to breathe and relax for once in his life.

This is more of a nitpick for me but I missed the easter egg at the beginning where you could've seen Silver Wolf & Sam chatting and I'm sad i missed it! I can go back in someone's playthrough to see it but man :(

Gotta love not at all ominous red text with Acheron. I'm sure this has nothing to do with anything in the foreseeable future.

That being said, I am kinda intrigued on what's the relationship between the Trailblazer & Acheron. I didn't get to play Honkai Impact 3rd, but I have read the comics Hoyoverse have online. And as the Star Rail's Raiden Mei of course they're going to give her an important role. It's also nice (and depressing) that she sees what I assume is the HSR Kiana of this universe, or someone else entirely. Plus she just seems like a character with a lot of regret. Hard to tell right now, but I also saw the red text does change depending on who you chose & the choices you make when talking to her so cool details!

Also Penacony is HUGE. I spent so much time getting lost in the Golden Hour area alone and i still haven't found every chest & puzzle. they really wanted this area to feel like the Roaring 20's and it shows

Aventurine is a grade-A asshat and good for him. He's very punch-able in a positivity way. Man's scheming something and i don't trust him one bit, but I am intrigued by him. Also his banter with Dr. Ratio was defiantly charged with something. Whether that was sexual tension or them wanting to kill each other, it's anyone's guess. He's also a really good contrast to Topaz as an IPC official whose not above using shady methods to win so I'm intrigued. Still wanna punch him tho.

I hope Misha & Gallagher get more time to shine in later patches, their appearances were so brief I NEED MORE! I do have a working theory on Misha but that's for a later time :)

Despite not being a character I would usually like, I kinda enjoy Sparkle in a "i would hate you irl but i find you fascinating in game' way. Masked Fools always struck me as an cool faction since their Aeon is a trickster god in a way. SO it makes sense of of their most notable Fool being a shapeshifting trickster who loves pushing people's buttons for fun. I'm pulling for her for having more DHIL ultity but man is she a piece of work.

I also really enjoyed Firefly as a character. Even tho I feel we didn't get to explore more of her character before you know what, I liked what we got. She was very cryptic about why she was a stowaway, and a lot of dialogue during her heart-to-heart definitely means something. Even what Clockie said about people being able to see him by being pure of heart probably holds more weight, but i guess will have to wait to see where that goes in future patches.

Nothing much, I just really liked this shot in the Dream's Edge area, and I think generally I enjoy Dream Edge the most out of all the Penacony 2.0 maps. The shooting stars are a nice touch too!

What a cute pic, surely this means only good things for them :)

On that matter, I can't believe Star Rail introduced a sweet cute young girl, had us bond the majority of the quest-line with, ONLY to rip her from us in the most GRAPHIC WAY POSSIBLE!? ALL WHILE PLAYING "If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking" AFTERWARDS?! WHAT THE HELL

what a way to show Penacony isn't playing games, and that the writers being from Honkai Impact 3rd show they aren't afraid to show that things in Penacony are taking LIVES!!

I also like Acheron in this scene after Firefly passed on and giving some funerary rites. A nice quiet moment after we got are hearts crushed by the Something onto Death entity. I also like how Black Swan has beein a patient guide after all this, trying to get the Trailblazer to a goal but because she can foresee events through Arcana and can see memories, shes been the most helpful on Penacony as of right now despite being an enigma

I also loved Sam's first introduction as he's always been mentioned by the other Stellaron Hunters as 'not picky' with his prey, doesn't play mind games and goes straight for the kill type. And man did he make an impression in the short amount of time he got.

And the end scene with Aventurine, there's a lot going on. While i don't completely agree with him on Acheron, he does have a point on her being suspicious. Especially if she killed Duke Inferno ALONE (rip Ifrit mains) and her Emanator powers truly do come from one of the destructive Aeons. Most likely Finality since KiaMei is as consistant as with BronSeele/lh

Also on a side not I hope Sunday gets to go apeshit soon, dude deserves it since his dear sister is dead too. Otherwise yeah I'm VERY invested in what Penacony has in store later on.

And with that, I leave this post with the MOST EVIL ACHIEVEMENT PT 1 (there's more of them dw)