#i think the same goes for phantylia

[hismourningflower]

2.1 penacony spoilers (not major tho cause like... yknow i don't discuss much here)

just fought husband and managed to do it first try? like we didn't struggle at all! and i loved the gambling stuff idk why i was having the time of my life :c just didn't wanna hurt my husband that bad yknow

[generalsmemories]

hiii for your event (CONGRATS BY THE WAY!!!) I'd like to request

"hey, no crying... I thought we said we wouldn't cry" with jing yuan please and thank you

Warmth of the living

✧ jing yuan x gn!reader

✧ prompts used: "hey, no crying... I thought we said we wouldn't cry" || 1k event

✧ content: established relationship, hurt/comfort, spoilers for xianzhou storyline, we are still stuck in the jing yuan recovery era after phantylia fight

✧ a/n: istg if this man goes into the next patch half beat up and ready to intervene i'm actually sentencing him to a house arrest cause GODDAMN. in a way this can be seen as an alt version of my other fic 48 hours tbh. i just can't imagine any other scenario where that sentence specifically is used by itself than the recent events - so sorry for the same sorta events, i'll make sure it's the last one though!

NOT BETA-READ CAUSE I LITERALLY WROTE THIS ALL IN 30 MINUTES THE MOMENT I GOT SOME MOTIVATION FOR IT HAHA

"Lady Bailu is taking care of him as we speak, [Name]. Please excercise some patience and believe in her - she's not titled the best healer of Luofu for no reason," Fu Xuan tries to comfort as you pace back and forth at the Seat of Divine Foresight - a hand massaging her temples as she looks towards the mountains of unopened scrolls needing to be read through within the day, "... If it helps, I've also foreseen that he won't be in any immediate danger. He's fine and he's going to recover."

That diviner noticed that her assurance seemed to ease you to the point you let out a long shaky exhale before sitting down at one of the steps leading to the grand desk, combing a hand through your hair for the nth time, "You haven't rested either with helping both me and Qingzu arrange documents and various meetings with the Six Charioteers. Why don't you try to take a walk outside the Exalting Sanctum?" Fu Xuan suggests, but you merely shake your head with a chuckle.

"If I leave you'll be more overwhelmed than you already are. Qingzu is even starting to pity you, lady Fu Xuan," you start, taking a deep breath in before standing up again, "Besides, if I leave the Seat, I just know I'll go running to where he is, I don't think that would help any of us now, would it?" you say with a light-hearted chuckle.

Fu Xuan didn't comment on the fact that your voice was trembling slightly as you spoke.

You can visit the general now. Please bring me some tuskir wraps, I'm hungry.

The message was sent as you had just placed a plate of food in front of Yanqing, almost dropping the contents entirely over the table if the young lieutenant didn't notice the grip you had on it falter and catching it in time, "Woah- [Name] I was looking forward to eating your food today! What would I do if you just suddenly do something like... that..." Yanqing's words died down when he saw your widened eyes, but a quick look at the sender of the message made him let out a relived sigh, only leaning back and picking up his chopsticks, "Why not visit the general instead of staring at your screen like that? It's not like you will be able to be able to teleport yourself to his location by doing that."

Yanqing's words made you snap out of your surprise, rushing towards the entrance, "Lock up after me! And give-"

"Mimi her food, I know! Just go!"

You knew that your worry was not needed. You knew that no matter how much you worried and that no matter how many times you wished for things to go differently that day that none of it would happen, "What happens and what has happened will inevitably stay like that no matter how much you try to alter it. And if my life can ensure that the rest of Luofu can stay safe then that is ultimately the best outcome in the long run, don't you agree, dear?" is what Jing Yuan had told you after the both of you had gone through his initial plan to handle the crisis.

You knew that he was right, which was why you bit your tongue and confirmed his plan. As the general of Luofu and as an official handling the lives of the people - you both knew that his plan, although reckless would yield the best results instead of sacrificing lives where it was not needed.

You knew.

But as you stand before him in person and get a thorough look at him you can't help but wish things had gone differently that day when he came to you with a final plan - a final play.

You wished that you had let your selfish mind overtake your logical mind for a second and beg him to come up with something else. Anything that didn't involve setting himself in danger.

But you didn't, and now you're seeing the very consequences of not doing so in front of you.

His skin is paler than usual, there's bandages wrapped around his torso, his forearms and even a few of his fingers. The usual spark in his eyes are dimmed slighty. There's an air of exhaustion around him, like he's trying his best to stay awake even though he desperately wants to sleep, but his smile is still the same.

The same reassuring, convinning and gentle smile he gives you when you greet him at the Seat of Divine Foresight, when you return home after work and he's home before you and when you run into each other on the streets of Luofu. And yet you can't find yourself to smile back, your fingers tightly twisting the material of your garments while you struggle to let out a word, a sound or anything at all to even try to match his own effort to reach out to you.

But you can't, you can't bring yourself to speak, and every time you open your mouth you can only make a tiny sound that sounds like a wheeze. But before you can try to recollect yourself, your eyes widen when Jing Yuan forces himself to sit in an upright position, snapping back to reality when you hear his quiet grunt of pain.

However you're not able to tell him to lay back down again (as Bailu had instructed he does) before he grabs a hold of your hands and pulls you into his arms with quiet coos and a low chuckle, "No crying... I thought we said we wouldn't cry over things like this?" he whispers, pulling slightly back to instead cup your cheeks, thumbs caressing the few tears that had managed to fall down from your eyes with a gentle gaze.

It tears you utterly apart how your wellbeing is still his priority than his own recovery.

"That... was a different... situation," you manage to squeeze out, bringing your hands up to rub the tears away yourself.

You didn't know when the tears began to form, nor when they began to fall.

"I know I'll lose you one day to the mara, as much as you're aware that you might lose me to it as well - and that's what we promised not to cry over! We never agreed to this sort of situation!" you croak out, trying your best to stop the tears from flowing. You know it's a silly comparison - Jing Yuan would much rather die out in the battlefield protecting the Luofu and the alliance than fall victim to the curse. You know, but your selfish self won't accept that outcome - even though you know such an outcome is the best for the general of Luofu.

"I agreed to this plan of yours, yes. I also agreed knowing that you're essentially putting your own life at risk yes, but still!" you sob, raising a closed fist to lightly beat down on his already battered body, "Knowing that you still came back safe just made every possible scenario of things that could go wrong and knowing they didn't and that you're here right now- scolding me of all things for crying in relief just makes this seem more surreal so you out of everyone can't fault me for actually crying because I was preparing a starskiff for the soul-soothing ceremony in the background for aeons sake," you rasp out, ending the whole rant with a saddened chuckle.

Jing Yuan merely laughs in return, one arm wrapping around your waist while his free hand pushes your head into his chest while gently patting your head, his body shaking with his soft chuckles when he feels your tears wet his garments again, "I'm fine dear, I just need to be in bedrest for a while. I'm not leaving anytime soon, so stop those tears, okay? You know I can't handle it when you cry," he whispers, bending his head down slightly to kiss the crown of your head softly.

"Just let me cry this one out, I don't think I've cried for a good couple of years," you murmur, burying yourself further into his chest, the arms you have wrapped around him squeezing a tiny bit - making Jing Yuan let out a small yelp of surprise from the force.

He's warm, you notice. His heart is beating and you can feel his chest rise up and down with every breath he takes. You can feel his fingers run through your head, you can hear the his nonchalant commets of his observations of the room in the commission amidst the otherwise silent room. And you can feel his whole body when he shuffles a bit to rest his back to the wall while he himself tries to squeeze you a bit tighter to reassure you.

Everything indicating that he's alive for another day.

And only after that do you finally feel like you can breathe again.

another request that had the same scenario in it!

[genshinluvr]

Trouble in Paradise

Pairings: Various Honkai Star Rail Men x Isekai'd!Reader

Summary: Nanook has always communicated with you through your dreams because both you and Nanook are connected with each other. But now that Nanook has taken a human form, there's no need to communicate through your dreams! You were certain that it was just Nanook who could communicate with you through your dreams until Phantylia showed up.

Note: Not really sure how I feel about this fic 🤔 I guess the best way I can describe my feelings for it would be a love-hate relationship! I was going to post this fic way earlier, but I decided to push the publication time back. I really want to write this one fic, but I need to see how it goes because the isekai'd!reader isn't really isekai'd... but I guess it can be? There are isekais out there that have a reincarnation theme, right? 🥲 If so, maybe that can be a good way for me to have Dan Heng transform into Dan Heng IL :'> Anyway! I don't post anywhere else but on Tumblr (Genshinluvr) and on AO3 (Aaliah_exo).

Warnings: A tiny bit of angst, but it doesn't last long (I think). Reader is sleep deprived (aren't we all?)

Word Count: 6.1k

You open your eyes, and you’re in the void. You sit up, looking around quizzically. The last thing you remembered was going to sleep in the comfort of your bed in the Astral Express. Now, you’re in the void, floating through endless space. The last time you were in the void was before Nanook took human form and accompanied you and the others on your trailblazing adventures. A large shadow soon looms over you, causing you to tense up with fear. A seductive yet mischievous giggle echoes the void. The giggle sounds familiar, and yet you’re having a hard time pinpointing who the giggle belongs to.

“So you’re [Y/N],” a woman says.

You didn’t dare to look at the woman, fearing you were going to be correct on who the voice belonged to. You’ve heard this voice before. The same voice belongs to the woman who tried to convert Jing Yuan into a member of the Antimatter Legion. The same woman who impersonated Tingyun. 

The woman towering over you from behind sighs. “Oh, don’t be like that now. Nanook wouldn’t be pleased if he knows you’re treating me like this,” she coos.

You clenched your jaws and squeezed your hands into tight fists. How dare she use Nanook to get you to face her. You slowly turn around to face the woman towering over you. She smiles with mirth, propping her elbows on nothing, tilting her head to the side while gazing at you with interest. 

“Why did you bring me here, Phantylia?” You demand.

Phantylia smirks and leans back, sighing. “Why are you so hostile? I did nothing to you, and yet you’re acting this way toward me?” Phantylia asks, pouting at you mockingly. 

There are many reasons for you to be hostile. One is her trying to convert Jing Yuan to be a member of the Antimatter Legion, and the other is her mentioning Nanook. What does Nanook have to do with whatever is going on between you and Phantylia? You cross your arms over your chest and glare at the woman.

“You didn’t answer my question, Phantylia,” you hiss, narrowing your eyes at her. 

Phantylia sighs, rolling her eyes. “Am I not allowed to meet the person the Aeon of Destruction is fawning over?” Phantylia asks, raising her eyebrows at you.

No, no, she is not. In fact, you did not want to meet her at all, nor did you think about meeting the woman before you. You don’t know how she managed to bring you into this void without being connected with you, like how you are with Nanook. It’s mind-boggling and a little bit terrifying. If she can bring you into this void without having any connections with you, then she can do something else to you— like taking your body as a vessel and killing you afterward. 

You take a deep breath and exhale through your nostrils, trying to remain calm. If you snap at her, who knows what Phantylia will do to you. There’s nowhere to run, and you don’t think she will let you wake up from this “dream” and escape her presence easily. What you find strange is Phantylia wanting to meet you out of nowhere. Does Nanook know about Phantylia wanting to meet you? Nanook didn’t even mention Phantylia once.

You sit on the floor before Phantylia. “Well, you and I have officially met! Is there anything else you want to say to me? I didn’t expect to meet you so soon, nor do I expect to meet you this way,” you say, crossing your arms over your chest.

Phantylia gazes down at your crossed arms and chuckles with amusement. “Why the hostile gesture? I am here to meet you, nothing else, little star,” Phantylia coos.

She reaches toward you and brushes your hair away from your face with her index finger. You merely flinch when her long nail grazes your forehead. You’re not used to someone of her size touching your face— aside from Nanook, but that is a different story. Nanook is the one who brought you into this universe, not Phantylia. The woman before you clicks her tongue softly and leans forward, her face a few inches from yours.

You scoot back to create distance between you and Phantylia, only for her to sigh with dissatisfaction. You’re not sure why she wanted to meet you so badly. You can go your entire life without having to meet her, and yet here you are, sitting in front of Phantylia in the endless void where you and Nanook would meet every time you go to sleep. The space you once considered your safe space when you wanted to escape from the world around you. The void was the first place you woke up in when you arrived in their universe, and the abyss is where you and Nanook first meet before you regained consciousness, woken up by Caelus attempting to give you CPR.

“You’re adorable, you know that? I can see why Nanook is so… enamored with you,” Phantylia chuckles, shaking her head. “However….” she trails off, tapping her chin.

You raise your eyebrows at her, frowning at her sudden change of behavior. First, she talks about Nanook being in love with you, but then she decides to throw in something equivalent to a ‘but?’ You don’t like where this is going.

“‘However’ what?” You demand, a deep frown etching on your face. 

Phantylia hums softly, leaning away from you with a soft sigh. She brushes her hair from her shoulders and taps her bicep with her index finger. The void around you seems to be getting darker and darker as time passes. You don’t know how long you have been in this void with Phantylia, but you have a feeling it might be longer compared to the time you and Nanook spent in the abyss together. Then again, every time you find yourself in the void, your friends make sure you don’t stay in the void for a long time. 

Phantylia suddenly laughs. “Do you think Nanook is going to love you forever?” She asks suddenly.

You blink at Phantylia, confused. “What are you saying, Phantylia? Spit it out and let me return to my world,” you sigh.

She laughs again. “Your world? Your world?! Oh, please! You’re not from this world, little star. Just because Nanook brought you here does not mean you belong here— like how he doesn’t belong to you,” Phantylia huffs, crossing her arms over her chest like a petulant child. 

Oh.

Oh.

Huh….

She’s jealous of what you have with Nanook. How strange. Does Phantylia have feelings for Nanook the entire time? Even if she does have feelings for the Aeon of Destruction, you don’t play a factor in how their “relationship” plays out. Plus, you’re a bystander who was dragged into this world because the Aeon of Destruction has taken a liking to you. 

You hold your hands up. “Listen, Phantylia. You’re not wrong about me not being from this world. I don’t think you should be going around and telling me that I don’t belong here,” you say, crossing your arms over your chest with a frown.

Phantylia scoffs and rolls her eyes. “And why is that? Are you hurt that I said it, or are you hurt over the fact that what I said is true?” Phantylia asks.

You poke the inside of your cheek with your tongue. You don’t like being in the void anymore. You don’t want to be stuck in the same area as Phantylia. You have seen the damages she can cause, but you don’t want to deal with it, nor do you want to deal with her jealousy. Great, now you’re going to be waking up in a bad mood. You’re going to talk to Nanook when you wake up. That is if Phantylia isn’t going to keep you imprisoned, of course. 

“You interpret that however you want. Nanook and I aren’t dating, and, like you said, I don’t belong here.” You shrug your shoulders. 

The abyss of endless stars around you slowly fades away as you find yourself slowly waking up from a nightmare you were trapped in. You open your eyes to see many faces peering down at you, all gazing at you with worry. You rub your eyes and slowly sit up with the help of Caelus and March.

“Are you okay? Nanook rushed to us when you weren’t waking up,” March says, sitting beside you.

You nod, still groggy from your sleep. “I’m fine….” you trailed off.

Phantylia’s words continue to echo in your head. You don’t belong here. Nanook doesn’t belong to you. Heck, none of these men belong to you, so why are you upset over what Phantylia said? She’s not wrong— in fact, she’s right. 

Caelus sits on the other side of your bed. “Are you sure you’re okay? You look shaken up,” Caelus says, rubbing the small of your back.

You tried to smile at Caelus, only for it to come out as a grimace. “Yeah, I’m fine, Caelus,” you whisper, looking at the floor of your bedroom.

You can feel their eyes stare holes into your body while you space out. Should you tell them about Phantylia? You haven’t been dragged into that void since the incident, and Phantylia somehow manages to bring you back. Phantylia was able to keep you in that void for quite some time, not allowing you to leave.

How strong is her bond with Nanook? She is infatuated with Nanook, and yet Nanook is (according to Phantylia) enamored with you. What if the feelings Nanook felt toward you were merely temporary? What happens when the feelings are gone? Will Nanook return you back to your world? 

Dan Heng raises his eyebrows at you, crossing his arms over his chest. “Care to tell us why you didn’t wake up when many of us have tried waking you up?” Dan Heng asks.

You press your lips into a thin line. It looks like you’ll have to say what’s preventing you from waking up from a rude awakening. You just know that somewhere, Phantylia is sitting back with her arms crossed over her chest with a smug smile. If only you were the same size as Phantylia so you could give her a piece of your mind, but she has the upper hand in everything. 

“You don’t have to tell us if you’re not comfortable with it, sweetheart,” Mr. Yang reassures you, kneeling before you and giving your knee a comforting squeeze.

You sigh and look down at your hands on your lap. “I realize that I don’t belong here, nor would I ever belong here, no matter how much time has passed,” you whisper.

Dear Aeons. Why are you lying to them about what’s bothering you? Nanook steps forward, his eyebrows furrowed. Nanook looks like he wants to say something. Is he going to tell you he never had feelings for you in the first place and leave for Phantylia? Nanook looks visibly startled.

Nanook lets out a shaky sigh. “Little One, how do you know Phantylia?” Nanook asks, grabbing everyone’s attention.

Oh, fuck. You forgot Nanook can read your mind because you two have this connection with each other. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Is there a way for you to block Nanook from reading any more of your thoughts? This is not good. You’re fucked. Caelus, Dan Heng, March, and Mr. Yang looks at you quizzically while you dig your nails into the palm of your hands. There’s no way out of this now that Nanook got everyone’s attention regarding Phantylia. 

“Did Phantylia do something by any chance? Did you have a dream about her?” March asks.

You hug your knees to your chest and shake your head. “A dream? No. Did she do something to me? Possibly,” you mumble.

You woke up not long ago, and you’re already being interrogated over the woman who’s in love with the Aeon of Destruction. You don’t like the power she holds over your thoughts. Your headspace is occupied by the things she said to you, and you’re certain that Nanook hears it all but doesn’t want to say anything about it because he wants you to say it yourself. 

“Hey, hey, hey! We’re here!” Sampo says, entering your bedroom with more men beside him.

Gepard sighs in relief and walks to you, trying to keep a calm exterior. “Are you alright? We were informed that you weren’t waking up from your slumber, and we all rushed to the Astral Express as soon as we could,” Gepard explains.

You smile at Gepard, squeezing his hands when he slips his hand into yours. From the corner of your eyes, you notice Nanook tensing up at the mere sight of the small public display of affection between you and Gepard. You squeeze Gepard’s hand one more time before releasing his hand.

“You know how Nanook and I communicate with each other through my ‘dreams’ or when I’m unconscious?” You ask, peeking up at the others.

Luka’s eyes widen, and his eyebrows shoot to his hairline. “What?! No! This is news to me!” Luka exclaims, propping his hands on his hips.

Oh, right. You forgot Luka is still unaware of many things and perhaps your place of origin. You make a mental note to catch Luka up to speed with everything once this is over. You just want Phantylia to leave you alone. You have an inkling feeling that this isn’t going to be the last time you encounter her. 

“As you were saying?” Luocha says, leaning against the wall with his arms over his chest.

You let out a long exhale and squeeze your thighs. You don’t know what’s going to happen after you tell them what’s going on regarding Phantylia. Still, you hope it won’t be too serious. 

You then go into detail on what happened while you were unconscious— from being in the same void you encountered Nanook when you first arrived in their universe to Phantylia being the one to tower over you in this dream to Phantylia telling you that you don’t belong to this universe, etc. It was a lot to process, and the more you said it out loud, the more you realized how crazy you sounded.

“Nanook, how can Phantylia get into contact with [Y/N] when the two of them aren’t connected?” Jing Yuan asks, turning to look at the Aeon of Destruction. 

Nanook has been silent the entire time you explained the situation to everyone. Nanook strokes his chin, skimming through the possibilities of Phantylia managing to communicate with you despite never meeting you or having any connections with you. 

You shake your head and chuckle bitterly. “I don’t think Nanook has the answer to your question, Jing Yuan. Besides, Phantylia is correct about a few things,” you mutter, tapping your fingers on your knees.

Blade raises his eyebrows at you. “And what is that exactly?” Blade asks, now standing at the foot of your bed.

“I don’t belong here, and how Nanook doesn’t belong to me. In fact, none of you belong to me, which is understandable since I’m not dating any of you. Because I’ve been taken from my world and thrown into yours, I’m an anomaly. I don’t belong here, nor would I ever belong here,” you explain.

As depressing as it sounds, it’s also a fact. You don’t belong in their universe, and you’re here because Nanook has taken a liking to you. Nanook didn’t want to be separated from you because of the computer monitor. Nanook somehow brought you into their universe because the Aeon of Destruction couldn’t stand being far from you. 

“Little One—”

You stand up abruptly and cross your arms over your chest. “How does Phantylia know about me? How does she know how to communicate with me through my dreams like you did? Did you tell her?” You demand.

Nanook goes silent and frowns. You chuckle bitterly and shake your head, running your hands through your hair. You don’t want to deal with this conversation right now. You need to clear your mind and distance yourself from Nanook. It’s not reasonable, but until you have a full understanding of how Phantylia is able to trap you in your dreams temporarily to speak to you, you don’t want to deal with Nanook.

“Can everyone please leave? I need time and space to clear my mind, and having everyone in here is overwhelming me,” you murmur.

Mr. Yang nods. “Of course. We will be coming by to check up on you and give you food, alright?” Mr. Yang says.

You nod and sit on the edge of your bed, avoiding everyone’s eyes as they gradually trickle out of your bedroom. Nanook is the last one to leave your room. You and Nanook stare at each other, not saying a word. You silently gestured for him to leave your room. Nanook sighs and exits your room. Once the door to your room slides closed, you lay on your bed and close your eyes.

You want to go back to sleep and sleep the frustrations away. Still, you’re worried that Phantylia will reappear in your dreams, holding you hostage and telling you that you don’t belong in this universe. You hate how she’s right, and you have nothing against her for saying that. Sort of. You have decided not to sleep because what if Phantylia reappears in your dreams and repeats the things she said over and over?

If she wants you to return to your world so badly, then you can’t really do what she wants. How are you going to return to your world if Nanook was the one that brought you to this universe? You know Nanook will refuse to return you back to your world. There’s a very slim chance Nanook would do that, but it’s very unlikely.

You hear a knock coming from your bedroom door. You close your eyes and try to ignore the knocking coming from the door, but the longer the person behind the door knocks, the more you start to get irritated. You get off your bed and walk to the door. You slide the door open to see Pom-Pom standing at the entrance of your room.

“Oh, Pom-Pom. What are you doing here?” You ask.

Pom-Pom props his hands on his hips. “I heard my favorite passenger is upset, and I’m here to provide comfort,” Pom-Pom says, waddling into your room.

As much as you wanted to reject Pom-Pom’s offer, you don’t have the heart to do it. You shut the door behind Pom-Pom before returning to your bed. You lay on your bed and hug your second pillow to your chest. Your pillow smells like Nanook. Despite not having an official title with the Aeon of Destruction, it does seem like he’s your boyfriend.

You don’t mind calling Nanook your boyfriend, but you’re aware of the others having feelings for you. Since Nanook is possessive and makes it known that he doesn’t like people going near you— especially those who have romantic feelings for you, they never make a move on you.

“Pom-Pom?” You whisper.

Pom-Pom hops on your bed and sits beside you, letting his feet hang at the edge of your bed. “Yes, [Y/N]?”

You bite the inside of your cheek. You didn’t want to burden the conductor with your plaguing thoughts. But Pom-Pom insisted on comforting you, and you really appreciate it. It would be best if you talk to the others about it, but you can’t get yourself to do it. What if you said the wrong thing, and everything goes downhill from there?

You take a deep breath. “Do you think I belong on the Astral Express?”

Pom-Pom looks at you incredulously. “Of course I do! No matter what background my passengers are from, you’re always welcome to the Astral Express!” says Pom-Pom.

You chuckle and pat Pom-Pom’s head. Now that you think about it, your main issue isn’t feeling jealous over what Nanook and Phantylia have— your problem is whether you truly belong in this universe or not. Everyone has welcomed you with open arms despite being from another universe. 

Pom-Pom frowns and looks at you worriedly. “Did something happen? Who told you that you don’t belong here!? Tell me their names!” Pom-Pom demands, kicking his feet angrily.

“The ‘person’ that said it isn’t on the Astral Express, Pom-Pom. This ‘person’ is like Nanook, but not an Aeon,” you say, running your fingers through your tangled hair.

Pom-Pom huffs angrily and sighs, reaching over to pat your head. You smile at Pom-Pom and lay there in silence. You’re tired, and you want to go back to sleep, but you’re afraid that she will be in your dreams like the last time. Pom-Pom leaves your room fifteen minutes later, leaving you alone in the comfort of your room.

Days go by, and you have yet to speak to anyone on the Astral Express aside from Pom-Pom and Himeko. Nanook is sleeping in his (temporary) room while you remain in yours. Sometimes, you would step out of your room and walk around the Astral Express, but only if the others weren’t on the train aside from Pom-Pom and Himeko. You weren’t ready to talk to them yet. 

You stopped tagging along with them on their trailblazing missions not because you wanted to avoid everyone but because you weren’t sleeping. The last time you slept was when the Phantylia incident happened. Now, you’re going days without sleeping and keeping yourself awake by drinking lots and lots of coffee. 

You’re doing everything you can to avoid falling asleep. You really want to tag along with Nanook, Mr. Yang, Caelus, March, and Dan Heng, but you don’t want them to see you with dark circles under your eyes due to the lack of sleep. Sometimes, you would find yourself falling asleep but would quickly force yourself to stay awake. 

Caelus knocks on your door. “Are you sure you don’t want to go with us? Everyone misses you. I miss you,” Caelus says, pressing his forehead against the door and closing his eyes. “You don’t hate us, do you?”

You shake your head, knowing Caelus won’t see it. “I’m not avoiding any of you, I promise. I’m dealing with reality right now, and it’s a lot to accept,” you reply.

Caelus sighs, turning to look at the others behind him. Dan Heng and Mr. Yang remain silent while March leans against the wall, closing her eyes. There are times when March wakes up in the middle of the night, she hears you moving around your room. March assumes you have issues with sleeping at night because Nanook wasn’t sleeping with you. 

“Hey, [Y/N]. We’re always going to be here if you need someone to talk to. It can be about anything,” Mr. Yang speaks up, walking toward the door of your room. 

March, Caelus, Mr. Yang, and Dan Heng didn’t hear a response from you. Mr. Yang gestures to the others to follow him to the Parlor Car. In your room, you’re knocked out asleep on your bed. You didn’t sleep for a long time. What woke you up from your slumber was your body twitching; it startled you awake. You sit up and bury your face into your hands, having the biggest urge to cry. 

You want to sleep, but you worry that she’s going to be in your dreams again. Trapping you in your dreams and telling you that you don’t belong in this universe repeatedly. You don’t know what else she’s capable of doing after the first time. Quite frankly, you do not want to speak to Phantylia. You lay back down on your bed and stare at the ceiling, eyelids drooping. You’re so tired.

You tried to put up a fight, but you don’t have much fight in you. You managed to stay up for days without sleep, and now you’re exhausted. Maybe it won’t hurt to sleep this time. Maybe she’s not going to show up in your dreams this time. Perhaps you’ll finally be able to sleep in peace without worrying about what Phantylia is saying due to her jealousy. You let sleep overcome you.

You’re in an endless void, floating through space. The stars twinkle around you, and you feel like you’re underwater. It’s peaceful and quiet. No signs of life around you and no Phantylia to disturb your peace. For the first time in days, you feel at peace. The peace did not last long. The same chuckle echoes in the abyss, sending chills down your spine. You fall on your back and groan. You open your eyes, searching around the void, but there are no signs of Phantylia.

You squeeze your eyes shut. “Wake up, wake up, wake up,” you plead, squeezing your hands into tight fists.

A hand reaches out for your wrist, pulling you toward the unknown. You yank your arms back, and the void suddenly disappears, and you’re awake. You stare at your bedroom wall with wide eyes, unable to move. You’re not sure if you’re paralyzed with fear or if you’re having sleep paralysis. You close your eyes, trying to calm your racing heart. You didn’t see her, but you did hear her giggling.

You toss your blanket off your body and walk out of your room. You’re not sure how long you’ve been asleep, but the hallway lights are out. You walk toward the Parlor Car to make coffee for yourself. On your way to the Parlor Car, you bump into March. March looks at you with wide eyes, sighing in relief when she sees you.

“It’s good to see you, [Y/N]! I was worried you were Dan Heng at first!” March says, propping her hands on her hips.

You tilt your head to the side. “It’s good to see you too, March! Uh, may I ask why you were worried that I was Dan Heng?”

March laughs sheepishly and rubs the back of her neck. “You see, Dan Heng said I can’t go to the kitchen for late-night snacks because it would keep me up and make me tired during our trailblazing missions!” March explains.

You nod, chuckling while March grumbles to herself. You and March walk to the kitchen of the Astral Express, not saying anything to each other. You reach for a mug and begin making coffee for yourself while March flips the light on. You squeeze your eyes shut when the lights flood the kitchen and wait for your eyes to adjust to the brightness of the kitchen.

“I think it depends on what you eat as your late-night snacks, March. I’m sure Dan Heng doesn’t mind you getting snacks at night as long as they’re not sweets,” You finally respond to March.

You walk to the coffee maker and begin making coffee. March stops at the fridge and stares at you incredulously. March peeks at the clock on the wall to see it’s still in the middle of the night. March scratches her head, watching you prepare to brew yourself some coffee. 

March clears her throat. “If you don’t mind me asking… Why are you making coffee at a time like this?” March asks, leaning against the refrigerator. 

March narrows her eyes when you don’t respond to her question. You continue to make your coffee with your back facing her direction. March slowly approaches you while you��re occupied. You look at the selection of creamers and toppings sleepily, rubbing your heavy eyelids with your knuckles. You’re exhausted, but you don’t want to sleep. At least not until you know you can sleep soundly without Phantylia disturbing your sleep.

“[Y/N]?” March calls.

You don’t reply.

March reaches forward and grabs your shoulders, turning you around. When March gets a full look at your face, she nearly gasps in horror. You look like you barely slept in days. The bags under your eyes are prominent, and the whites of your eyes are bloodshot. You yawn and rub your eyes before turning back around to continue where you left off.

“I know it’s still early in the morning, but I wanted to make some coffee before going back to my room,” you sigh.

March continues to stare holes into the back of your head. “[Y/N]. You do know that it’s still in the middle of the night, right?” March asks.

You blink and pause what you’re doing. “I can always reheat this coffee when I wake up,” you reply, shrugging.

March ends up abandoning her snacks and watches you from the corner of her eyes, pretending to search the refrigerator for some ‘snacks.’ After your coffee is done brewing, you add some creamer to your coffee and stir the hot liquid with a metal spoon. March peeks from the side of the fridge, watching you take small sips of your freshly made coffee. You look awful. Almost haunting.

“I’m going back to my room, March,” you murmur, walking by the pink-haired girl.

March perks up. “You’re going to bed now, right? No offense, but you look like you haven’t slept a wink,” says March, following after you as you exit the Astral Express’s kitchen.

You hum in response, taking small sips of your coffee. March stops halfway and sighs, watching you disappear into your bedroom and closing the door behind you. So much for getting a snack in the kitchen. Now she has to tell the others about you not getting any sleep at night. Dan Heng, Mr. Yang, and Caelus would probably scold you for not getting enough sleep at night. But how would Nanook react to the news of you not getting enough sleep? He does hear your thoughts, does he not? March returns to her bedroom and collapses on her bed with an empty stomach. Looks like Dan Heng wins for today.

When you return to your room, you continue to drink your coffee while scrolling on your phone. You have never done something like this before. Yes, you’ve pulled all-nighters in the past, but staying up for days without a wink of sleep is new to you. This is going to come back and bite you in the ass all because you did not want to deal with Phantylia popping up in your dreams to tell you that you don’t belong in this universe. Seriously, how did Phantylia manage to communicate with you through your dreams like Nanook?

A small knock coming from the door pulls you from your thoughts. You turn your phone off and get off your bed. It’s still in the middle of the night— who could be knocking on your door at this time? It could be March, but you’re not even sure what she’s up to after you left the kitchen. You slide the door open to see Blade.

You and Blade do a double-take after seeing each other. “What are you doing here in the middle of the night?” You ask.

“Why do you look like you haven’t slept in ages?” Blade asks, pointing at your face. 

You stare at Blade, not saying a word, while he raises an eyebrow at you. You sigh and open the door wider for Blade to enter your room. Blade enters your room, and just when you’re about to close the door, a hand stops you. You look to see the other men standing there, their hair all over the place and still in their pajamas.

“I hope you don’t mind me inviting the others with me. The pink-haired girl informed each of us of your sleeping habits,” Blade says.

March shouts from the hallway, “Pink-haired girl!? Excuse me, I have a name!”

Blade dismisses March’s exclamation and closes the door once the others step into your room. You sip your coffee before setting the mug on your nightstand. Mr. Yang sighs and sits on the stool in front of your vanity while Luocha sits at the foot of your bed.

“[Y/N], sweetheart, be honest with us. How long has it been since you’ve gotten sleep?” Luocha asks, looking at you worriedly.

You sigh and lay on your bed, curling up in a fetal position. “Since the Phantylia incident, so, a few days now?” You reply with uncertainty.

Luka nods, gesturing to Nanook in the corner of your room. “Trouble in paradise with the Aeon of Destruction?” Luka boldly asks, ignoring the looks the others are giving him.

You purse your lips before making the so-so gesture. You and Nanook haven’t spoken in days since that incident, but then again, you haven’t really talked to the others since then. Plus, the whole Phantylia being jealous and making you slightly— was it slightly?— jealous, you got over that incident. You mainly don’t appreciate Phantylia strutting into your dreams just to tell you that you don’t belong in this universe and that Nanook doesn’t belong to you.

Phantylia isn’t wrong about Nanook not belonging to you, considering there’s no label between you two (or at least you don’t think there is one). You don’t need to be reminded repeatedly that you don’t belong to this universe. Luka is correct about there being trouble in paradise, but the ‘paradise’ isn’t whatever it is that’s going on between you and Nanook. 

“Not really. I got over whatever happened a few days ago. The thing that bothers me the most is how Phantylia—” You sigh and run your hands through your hair. “I feel like I’m repeating myself,” you grumble.

You sit up and reach for your coffee mug, but Jing Yuan takes the cup away from you, shaking his head with disapproval. You huff and sit up against the headboard of your bed. 

Jing Yuan clears his throat. “If you’re worried about Phantylia appearing in your dreams while you’re sleeping, we can sleep in here with you just to be safe,” Jing Yuan offers.

“I don’t think we need to worry about Phantylia appearing in [Y/N]’s dreams. Nanook informed me that he dealt with Phantylia and told her not to bother any of us,” Gepard interjects, gesturing to Nanook.

You glance at Nanook, and the two of you make eye contact. Nanook nods and walks over to your bed while you sigh, still hesitant about sleeping even though you desperately need it. Even if Nanook handled the situation, then what was the dream you had before getting up to get coffee? 

“Come on, Gumdrop! If the big scary lady is not the issue, then what’s wrong? We’re here to listen, you know?” Sampo says, plopping beside you.

It took everything in you to tell them what Phantylia said to you. You told them everything. Yes, you already said it days ago, but it still bothers you. If you don’t belong in this universe, then you might as well return to your world, right? Fuck. You really are repeating everything that happened a few days ago. The lack of sleep is getting to you, isn’t it?

You sigh in defeat. “I’m just repeating myself over and over. It’s tiring, but I can’t help it. How do I let go of something when it’s true?”

Dan Heng sighs, closing his eyes. “It’s okay if what Phantylia said bothers you, no matter how long ago it happened. What Phantylia said doesn’t matter. We don’t care if you’re from another universe and if Nanook brought you here. You’re with us now, and that’s all that matters. You may be from another universe, another reality, or whatever it is. Still, you will always belong here with us on the Astral Express,” Dan Heng says.

You sigh, hug the pillow to your chest, and rest your chin on the pillow. “I can’t help but still be bothered by what she said, though,” you mumble. “I’m also exhausted and irritated.”

Nanook goes to sit beside you, but Blade stops him. Blade looks over his shoulders and glares at Nanook before sitting beside you, pulling you close to him and stroking your hair. You blink and tense up in Blade’s arms. It’s not like you’re against Blade hugging you; you didn’t expect Blade to do that out of nowhere. But you’re not against it, and it’s nice to have someone other than Nanook hold you. 

“Get some rest. We’ll be here when you wake up,” Blade mutters,  stroking your hair.

You peek at the others; some are pouting (Sampo and Nanook) that they can’t hold you because Blade got to you first. You snort and close your eyes, relaxing in Blade’s arms. 

“You guys can trade off on who gets to hold me while I nap. It’s still in the middle of the night, so I expect every person to sleep,” you mutter.

You wrap your arms around Blade’s waist and close your eyes while the red-eyed man lays beside you, letting you lay your head on his biceps. Nanook sighs and lays on the other side of your bed, ignoring the burning feeling deep down. At least Nanook dealt with Phantylia. You don’t have to worry about Phantylia for a while (or forever).

Note: Have you ever been so tired that you unintentionally repeated what you said? That's what happened to the reader— so sleep-deprived that they repeat the same things without even realizing it until it happened. Maybe after this upcoming week's fanfics, I'm going to take a break or something. My brain is fried, and I have school starting toward the end of September, and I need to be mentally prepared for stress over homework. But of course, I haven't fully decided on that yet. When the time comes, I'll let you all know! I wish there was a way to update AO3 readers without having to make a random chapter to talk about a break 🥹 Anyway, to my new and/or returning readers, please keep in mind that I ONLY post on my Tumblr (Genshinluvr) and my AO3 (Aaliah_exo)! Nowhere else except Tumblr and AO3!

Taglist for the HSR one-shot series: @ashwasherelol, @mompt2, @elegantnightblaze, @lunavixia, @jadedist, @reversearrowhead, @pinksaiyans, @n8mareee, @aurelia-xyt, @lilliansstuff, @starrry-angel, @kaoyamamegami, @kodzuvk, @for3very0urs, @a-cosmicdawn, @g3n0dtt, @theblades, @wntrsblvd, @raaawwwr, @immahuman, @irisxiel, @siaracarroll, @crazydreamcat, @sen-nes, @sagekun, @orichalcumthief, @dyingsweetmackerel, @rosiesareblue, @ichikanu, @undecidingfate, @asoulsreverie, @angelmican, @misdollface, @4-34-am, @sxftiebee, @hispasian-otaku, @the-dumber-scaramouche, @vox34, @tsukkikeisimp, @inapileofbooke

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[saruslumber-01]

Quick take on Jiaoqiu’s trailer

As always, I love to take screenshots whenever there’s some images flashing and this time, I did the same thing.

Before I actually talk about the trailer, I want to point out how (to me at least), the theme/ost doesn’t really match him. Or rather, how he appears to be.

(Imo it’s a similar case to jade’s trailer, you’d think she’d have something more… idk tempting in a unsuspecting way, like when you believe you made an amazing deal, only to later meet the terrible consequences.

Well anyway, the thing that I noticed is that both in jade’s trailer [or at least splash art and references/motifs] and in jiaoqiu’s, they hold an apple in their hand. I get why in jade, but in jiaoqiu’s? That very weird to me)

(Here you go, the moment, I’m talking about ^)

What I ACTUALLY wanna talk about that caught my attention, is the eyes we see all over the trailer.

I get it, he always keeps them closed, but from the trailer it seems it was not just a stylistic choice to make him this way, but actual lore behind it. (Ofc I might be wrong since we still know NOTHING about his backstory, and I’ll probably talk more when I’ll read his char stories after his release)

Idk, to me this feels kinda weird to get his eye to pop out like that (and it reminds me of firefly’s trailer). Not only that, but we get a moment where we see a fox spirit (?) made out of fire which is oddly similar to Tail’s ‘true’ form (huohuo ult). AND then from the fox’s eye it smoothly transitions into jiaoqiu’s eye. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

To me, it might foreshadow that the “eye thing” that is going on with jiaoqiu is becase those are not his natural eyes. Rather, they’d ‘changed’ (idk how to explain that) into the golden ones, as if he got possessed by that fox spirit (or maybe I’m just reading into things too much, who knows).

More eyes screenshots (which kinda remind me of sunday AND bring us to my next point)

What I want to talk about is the placement of those eyes.

Please don’t tell me I’m the only one who didn’t think it looked somehow familiar…

Rings a bell now?

I also ‘circled’ the flower she has on her ‘crown’ as it resembled the anise jiaoqiu uses in his skill, and ALSO popped up a few times in the trailer.

I know I might be digging too deep, but I feel there something very eerie and off about jiaoqiu as a character in story, and as a playable character.

I’m sure everyone remember how jiaoqiu’s a cook, a healer, right? Then why on earth is he a nihility unit? I’ve seen sooo many people being confused about it, and I’m sure HoYo wouldn’t mention it that much, unless it was important to the story.

And before anyone goes and says “wdym phantylia got a new victim?” NO. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m trying to prove that jiaoqiu isn’t probably just some random foxian who knows how to cook (and take care of feixiao). That there’s connections that all come back to the word “possessed”.

Tingyun? Possessed by phantylia (and spexulated to return in later versions)

Huohuo? Got her tail ‘possessed’ (I don’t remember too well, sorry) by Tail, AND in her trailer (which has a lot of flashing images and yin yang in there [I’ve got screenshots for both trailers to prove]) she is possessed by Tail, a heliobus. And what is a heliobus? Some kind of fox spirit! (Or at least I think so…)

What I’m trying to say is that there’s some kind of ‘possession’ when it comes to jiaoqiu.

(And another character that got flashing images and got possessed [outside of jade and huohuo] is sparkle! And don’t you agree that in terms of the overall vibes, their trailers does seem quite similar?)

So uh, yeah! That’s all I wanted to share.

I’ll probably do one more post for just the similarities in the trailers of jiaoqiu, jade, huohuo and maybe sparkle

Thanks for reading my ramblings and getting through to whole thing, I appreciate it a lot!

[aoxizu]

i have, completely accidentally, finished all of the currently available wuthering waves main questline

meanwhile i still have not touched the 2.2 plot in star rail but shh i'll get that scene finished eventually and then i can start questing

but anyway. obviously jiyan and jing yuan have many similarities (general, initials jy, ponytail, voiced by sun ye, chinese, once knew a guy with white hair who later became a criminal), but jiyan just doesn't quite get to the same level as jing yuan does (also jing yuan showed up for me twice. jiyan has shown up 0 times.)

this will go into jiyan backstory spoilers kind of if you haven't yet seen that part of the main quest, and also tone warning: i'm going to complain a lot, and i am very biased.

but like. geshu lin did nothing wrong change my mind

it's like if the luofu was fighting phantylia and there was no astral express, jing yuan tells the army to guard the frontline with their life if necessary and then goes off to fight phantylia alone, and then the soldiers all have terrible morale so fu xuan decides to have everyone retreat and then jing yuan becomes a criminal for giving that order and fu xuan becomes the general

except fu xuan at least has some higher position in the leadership structure of the luofu, but jiyan does not. jiyan was literally just some random doctor in the army who said "hey what if we didn't lose our lives like we signed up to do and all ran away instead" and for that he was appointed general through magic dragon

it's like the game is trying to take a "war bad" stance at the same time as glorifying the military so they can sell the general and convince people to pull for him

and then (main story spoilers) when you go fight the not-bloodborne boss in the north wilds (i play in cn so i have no idea what anything is called in english) at the very end of the quest, jiyan pretty much does the same thing as geshu lin

he has his soldiers stay back while he goes to fight the big bad and the only difference is that jiyan takes 3 more people along with him and he also has the power of a prophecy on his side

i get that the game is trying to paint geshu lin as this kind of like war crazed general but like jiyan and geshu lin are in nearly the exact same situation here, making almost the exact same decision

i am being told that jiyan is different from geshu lin in some way but it's really hard to believe that when it looks like they're doing the same things

chinese culture doesn't like to glorify leaders who only focus on war and nothing else (see: han wudi, qin shihuang) (note that mao zedong and the cultural changes he brought do not agree with this attitude) and i suppose that's the reasoning for why geshu lin is a criminal while jiyan is fine since jiyan knows when to retreat or whatever, but i do not think the game does a particularly good job of showing that

this inconsistency may have also had something to do with the amount of changes that jiyan's character went through during development, since his (cn) va was originally sang liuze (ratio/neuvillette) (which i think would have fit jiyan better. personal opinion), and was later changed to sun ye, and his character was also originally just supposed to be a doctor in the army without the sudden becoming general part, so to a lot of cn players it just feels like kuro's trying to coast off of jing yuan's popularity

i don't think that's necessarily true but it is definitely affecting how jiyan is being seen in the chinese community

though i will say that despite the whole ???ness of jiyan's decision making process, the not bloodborne boss fight was really cool, and i really liked exploring that area

hsr on the other hand avoids the problem with trying to say war bad but also trying to sell a military general by simply having jing yuan focus on strategy, and clearly placing more importance on outsmarting the enemy rather than throwing people and resources at the enemy until it dies

but anyway. i'm still going to try and get jiyan, since i kind of like his playstyle despite it being burst based, though havoc rover does look cool enough for me to seriously consider using them for as long as possible

right now the game is in the weird place of being so new that i can't take a lot of it seriously, since it's still finding its place in the massive 2d-adjacent mobile game environment, but i'm sure it will either a) grow on me or b) become genshin, where i am a "day one player" but barely touch the game

or a secret third option, where it displaces my star rail addiction to plant a wuthering waves addiction, but i find that unlikely since i don't tend to like open world games as much

i'm excited to see where wuthering waves goes and if it can finally provide a challenge to the behemoth that is genshin

you know what the actual problem i have with wuthering waves is? when i take a picture with the in game camera and hit save it doesn't actually save. so i'm restricted to screenshots for the time being

[everlastiingiimmortals]

What would push Jing Yuan over the edge and result in him succumbing to mara?

(I'm sorry Willow I've been thinking about jy angst today ashdkgfk)

Unprompted. Always accepting!

HI RENNI!!! THANK YOU FOR THIS QUESTION I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT IT NONSTOP

So, obviously this is within the context of my main verse, because Jing Yuan's existing Marastruck!AU is. well. an AU. And this is going to sound absolutely awful, but not even Yanqing dying would send him spiraling.

That is, unless he saw Yanqing brutally murdered with no chance to defend himself. The same goes with Dan Heng, too.

The thing about Jing Yuan is that he is both very accustomed to death and has a very intimate understanding of the costs of the Alliance's war, as well as his own position. Jing Yuan has seen all manner of horrors and atrocities; he grieves, yes, but death is not something that fazes him. Death on the battlefield, though it is a tragedy, is also an honor. A senseless and brutal murder is horrific and cruel. If that were to happen to his loved ones and he couldn't stop it? Yeah. I think that'd tip the scales enough for him to start spiraling. It'd specifically be the cruelty and unjustness of it, which is another factor in why I think Jing Yuan was so upset to see Jingliu, knowing what she'd done to Yingxing's husk before the immortal body became Blade.

Another thing that could send him over the edge would be pushing far beyond his physical limit, more than he did with Phantylia; it happened with Jingliu, it happened with Blade. He would sacrifice his sanity for the sake of the Luofu if he really had to.

I'm gonna take this opportunity now to say that I actually... hesitate to say that Jing Yuan is capable of becoming mara struck, actually. Or rather, I worry that he has done something to prevent or considerably delay its onset. There are multiple instances of this being foreshadowed, from Phantylia asking how long he can last, to Blade's comment about him "knowing the price better than any of us" (to be taken with a grain of salt because he's a very very unreliable narrator), to Bailu's character story noting that Jing Yuan is in top shape and has not had any indication of mara setting in, to other characters straight up implying that Jing Yuan should be mara-struck by now. Jing Yuan is also frequently associated or depicted with symbols of mara and the Arbor: the strange little yellow bird spirits shaped like ginkgo leaves around the Arbor (in his White Day art), and ginkgo leaves themselves especially in his trailer.

Jing Yuan has a lot of secrets and it's evident that there is a lot we still don't know about him. Honestly, we know practically nothing. I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that he, too, had done something to try to prevent/delay the onset of mara, but it's not a theory I'm going to be expanding much on or establishing here just due to the sheer lack of information at my disposal.

@acr3ss-the-cosmos

[aoxizu]

so on xhs a lot of people have been complaining about the star rail live concert, and out of curiosity for how bad it is really, i went to watch it myself

and i don't know what these people were on about the concert is great

so here's my thoughts on it

as i do not happen to live in shanghai and am in fact 15 hours away from it, i watched the stream playback on youtube. youtube's awful compression and my lack of strong wifi signal aside, the concert overall was good and though i haven't watched the penacony part yet, what i have watched was geeat

starting off with herta's space station we have kafka's canon, which weirdly fits penacony with the clock theme, and interstellar journey was very energetic too

i am not a violinist and did not look too hard at kafka's violin playing but it felt a little off, though the overall movements seemed to be about right

apart from kafka, there was relatively little virtual character models showing up and pretending to do the concert themselves, which i expected as i was used to vsinger/chinese vocaloid concerts in which the fictional characters generally pretend to be singing, or dancing while the music plays

as an example here's ordinary disco performed live with an arrangement that includes all 6 vsingers

the graphics chosen for space walk were also nteresting, like i don't get it but i think it's very cool nonetheless, and i did like how it set the scene as a very dreamy vibe to then get interrupted by the antimatter legion i mean battle themes.

overall i think the best parts of the hss section were interstellar journey and silver wolf's theme for me personally, and i did also like the rest of it

for some reason topaz's theme is in here instead of with the rest of belobog

but anyway, moving on now to jarilo vi

wildfire still has the same kick to it as when i first fought cocolia, and i am going to take the chance here to plug one of my favorite analysis videos for star rail i have seen so far: how embers became a wildfire

and the jarilo vi section is also home to one song that is absolutely worth the whole 2 hours of concert, if you don't want to watch the whole thing at least watch serval's song, detonation arrives at dawn, timestamp 40:00 on the youtube video

it is not just a cover of the version used in her trailer, it includes a rap from eunice/88 degrees bedrock, which can be found in the game by talking to eunice in the robot settlement

and it is so cool. it's amazing.

and then we move on to the xianzhou luofu

so far you've been thinking this is a normal concert, with people coming up on stage to sing, dance, or perhaps dance while singing. the luofu throws that out of the water, literally, with the water jets that obscure the stage and then Part as samudrartha kicks in

which speaking of link to a cover of samudrartha by zhao yang, screwllum's chinese va, who was salty that he wasn't able to get tickets to the concert and decided to sing it himself

the suona goes insane during blade's theme, and even though it doesn't last very long, it carries enough energy to make up for it

and the chinese acrobatics section in the middle of the luofu part is pretty fun as well

and i think watching the concert and being able to listen to so many different songs in short succession seems to help with recognizing similar themes or motifs through different songs, such as in samudrartha there is a section of descending notes that parallels the descending bell sequence in the exalting sanctum theme, and which is present in a lot of places on the luofu actually, which leads me to think that it could represent the luofu as a primary motif

the phantylia second phase chant is very menacing also, and the introduction is cool for obvious reasons (jing yuan)

for those who have remained blissfully unaware, i like jing yuan, and i have 102 days worth of posts on this tumblr account chronicling my journey to save for him. clearly i may be slightly biased.

but you should trust me when i say that jing yuan being at the end of the entire luofu section is absolutely amazing and live audience videos capture it particularly well, as the youtube stream doesn't quite do justice to the energy and volume of the audience

jing yuan deserves the finale spot. he's incredible

i wish i could have been there just for the drums, but i will settle with being able to watch it from a different continent at all

as for the rest of the concert, ie the penacony part, i haven't gotten to watch that yet, but i was able to watch funny bone and sam's theme, and funny bone is convincing me to watch the entire hoyofair (star rail section), because i can't believe i missed it it's so good

i think, overall, why people didn't like the concert is because it was not as 2d-heavy as they expected. i think people expected more of a miku or vocaloid style concert, with more interactions between the characters and the audience than this concert had

the star rail live concert seems to lean slightly more in the direction of the chinese new year spring festival night show that happens yearly, which may not be a style that everyone enjoys, but that's ok

personally i thought it was great, and was a more pure music experience typical of a more traditional concert, with cool visuals thrown in alongside