miHoYo, wtf

[cashew]

So, I'm watching:

At 4:48, 青镞 is all "这样啊……持明转世，前生的一切果真烟消云散了。" I don't know how the English translation handled this line, but here Qingzu is confirming that yes, in fact, Dan Heng has forgotten his previous memories. But she's saying it a) very seriously and b) as if she were surprised.

From a character perspective, this is a weird writing decision, since Qingzu herself is also a Vidyadhara, why would this be surprising to her? Like, if she were a normal Xianzhou Native, then OK, I can understand needing first hand confirmation, because she wouldn't have the same lived in experience. But she experiences this stuff herself. Why would she be surprised?! It's maaaaybe possible to read this as Qingzu isn't quite believing Dan Heng's claim that he doesn't have memories of the past but like...the voice acting definitely does not convey this.

And no, I don't think "Qingzu is a troll" is enough to explain this line. She's clearly someone who picks her timing when pulling on the protagonist's leg. 1.4 is an emotionally heavy story that touches on Jing Yuan's past emotional trauma. She's been shown to be very worried about Jing Yuan's mental and physical health, so she wouldn't be joking around with something this serious.

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At 16:56, Yanqing finally remembers 白珩 from a book he read, suggesting that despite being Jing Yuan's disciple, Jing Yuan never talked to Yanqing about his past friendships. Makes me want to smack Yanqing, but also WTF, how is it possible that the names of the Quintet aren't remembered despite the Quintet being immensely famous? Like...just exactly how famous are the Quintet?

But also, why can you create star skiffs randomly during this quest? Like how regulated is the travel anyway? Again, I don't see why the story needs this frankly ridiculous excuse when it can just have us fold a paper boat and send off a light instead of making an entire star skiff to deliver this via cutscene...

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At 28:45, Jingliu basically says Yingxing used the flesh of "丰饶令使" to help Dan Feng try to revive 白珩. So uh...which is it? The flesh of Shuhu (presumably what's being referenced) or was it 建木? I'm going with the corpse of Shuhu, mostly because this is directly from one of the original Quintet, thus probably the most accurate recounting of the event.

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At 36:03 Bailu's advice to drink lots of hot water (多喝热水) is um... I'm pretty sure this is completely lost on any non-Chinese person, because that specific line is a well known slang for "useless medical advice". I can't tell if the story is trying to say Bailu is a good or bad doctor...

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This is bringing up a point that I've been wanting to make about the Luofu/Xianzhou arc for a while now, and that's miHoYo's writing has been immensely inconsistent when it comes to the backstory. The lines are often written in a way that's meant to deliver lore without consideration for the character, which makes me seriously question what is and isn't canon, and how much editing the writing actually goes through.

For example, let's look at the two PVs for the story arc: A Flash and Ichor of Two Dragons. In A Flash, Jing Yuan never refers to Jing Liu by name, always uses 师傅 title, because he's a good little soldier. The events of A Flash is supposed to happen after the memory that Dan Heng is reminiscing in Ichor of Two Dragons, and yet, in the latter PV, Jing Yuan calls Jing Liu by name. Furthermore, JY also states that both Dan Feng and Yingxing are still sore over losing a sword fight to Jing Liu. This is patently nonsense since we know Yingxing never learned how to fight until after he got pulled out of jail by Jing Liu.

Meanwhile, in A Flash, the implication is Jing Yuan actually kills Jing Liu, what with the foreshadowing of Jing Liu telling Jing Yuan to cut her down once she befalls Mara. Yet this is in direct contradiction of the actual game plot. Similarly, it's impossible to place when Ichor of Two Dragons takes place during the game plot line, since in the game story Dan Heng only gets together with the rest of the party to fight Phantylia, then they immediately leave 鳞渊境 with an unconscious Jing Yuan in tow. There's basically no time during this for him to reminisce about the past.

So at least for these two PVs, it's heavily vibes based and metaphorical. Any literal reading would simply result in way, way too many contradictions. In A Flash, the general message is that despite Jing Yuan losing basically everyone that mattered to him, he puts the pain behind him and faces the future without letting the past crush him. In Ichor of Two Dragons, Dan Heng overcomes the memory fragments he inherited from Dan Feng to make new friends and find a new family that knows him as only Dan Heng.

(The fact that this completely kills the JY/DH ship is another matter altogether. I'm honestly surprised how much miHoYo keeps trying to push this pseudo-bait when they keep sinking the ship over and over.)

(Parenthetical 2: At this point, I think 凤求凤 is more appropriate to JY/DF ship than JY/DH ship, mostly because the plot points to a situation where all of JY's emotional connections to DH is carried over from his relationship with DF. Even if DH does reciprocate at some point, JY himself doesn't see DH as a close friend. He's seeing "offspring of my friend DF" in DH. JY's protective feelings over DH is because he sees him as an unfortunate victim of the Sedition, not because he sees DH as a person on whom he can actually rely. I know he said a few lines about how they still can read each other and he's trusting DH to watch his back, but he's basically talking to a ghost the whole time, which DH clearly sees and doesn't like. This is especially the case in 2.4 story when JY starts treating DH as his own person instead of an extension of DF, at which point he's significantly more reserved.)

(Parenthetical 3: I still haven't found anything that clarifies Jing Yuan is the youngest of the Quintet nor any indication that Dan Feng and Jingliu were old friends prior to her taking on a disciple. All I have is confirmation that Yingxing was shorter than Jingliu's sword when they first met. Which, again, doesn't tell us anything about their ages. I don't understand why people cite this patch as proof of Jing Yuan being youngest. What the hell am I missing?)

Comments

[tanithryudo]

> since Qingzu herself is also a Vidyadhara, why would this be surprising to her?

My only possible explanation for this (and this is just my guess) is that it's because the Preceptors fiddled with Dan Feng's forced molting process in order to preserve the (other half of the) inheritance of the high elder. This plot of theirs was seen through by the Xianzhou general government, and was probably the excuse that the Ten-Lords Commission used to keep Dan Heng in jail after he was reborn. The Preceptors did this with the hope that the incomplete process will mean Dan Heng can/will eventually recall the secrets of the Transmutation Arcanum, implying that the effects of their fiddling is something related to memories, and maybe not cleanly flushing all of Dan Feng's memories. Being high in the government, Qingzu may be aware of this, and maybe thought that it meant Dan Heng would have more of Dan Feng's memories than he actually does.

> The flesh of Shuhu (presumably what's being referenced) or was it 建木?

It was both. There are clues in Scalegorge Waterscape which indicate Dan Feng secretly snuck Yinxing into the sacred grounds more than once to do some kind of research. Unless he's experimenting with eggs (which doesn't fit his character), the only taboo thing down there is the Arbor. And then Yinxing's immortality is partially due to Shuhu flesh, so that's involved too.

> how is it possible that the names of the Quintet aren't remembered despite the Quintet being immensely famous?

From what I understand, the names got censored for quite some time afterwards. IIRC there were some people who still saw Dan Feng as a hero and wrote I guess anti-government poetry and stuff afterwards, which the Xianzhou government cracked down on. Jingliu's name was also scrubbed from all documentation as well, for some weird reason. (I am not sure if this is Mihoyo secretly making a jab at CN censorship in general.)

The current popularity of the Quintet seems to come from later novels such as 凤求凤, which uses pseudonyms/puns for the heroes in question. If you already know their original names, it's easy to draw the connection. But for people who don't know the original Quintet, they wouldn't automatically make the connection when seeing them in person.

> Bailu is a good or bad doctor

Bailu is supposed to be a good doctor. But the script writers know nothing about the practice of medicine, both modern and traditional.

> miHoYo's writing has been immensely inconsistent when it comes to the backstory. The lines are often written in a way that's meant to deliver lore without consideration for the character

Yes.

> Similarly, it's impossible to place when Ichor of Two Dragons takes place during the game plot line

It definitely takes place after the fight with Phantylia. Not sure if it's before or after Dan Heng's companion quest with Bailu. But most likely also before Jingliu's companion mission that you linked above.

In total, the Astral Express spent a few months on the Luofu before heading to Penacony. The protagonist spent several weeks helping rebuild the economy of Aurum Alley, and then some time helping Guinaifen's team with their ghost hunt.

When we came back to the Luofu in 2.4, the dialogue says it's been 5 months since Phantylia. The events of Penacony chapters 2.0-2.2 took place within 48 hours. The aftermath 2.3 might've taken some more time but not more than a few days at most.

> I still haven't found anything that clarifies Jing Yuan is the youngest of the Quintet

There's no canon support for this. It's just something most of fandom likes to assume.

[cashew]

There are clues in Scalegorge Waterscape which indicate Dan Feng secretly snuck Yinxing into the sacred grounds more than once to do some kind of research.

Any hint on the time frame? Has he been doing this before the Battle of Shuhu or only started afterwards?

for people who don't know the original Quintet, they wouldn't automatically make the connection

Does this apply for the titles of the Quintet involved? Since Jingliu mentioned both Baiheng's name and her title and Yanqing was still like "uuuuuuh...."

In total, the Astral Express spent a few months on the Luofu before heading to Penacony. The protagonist spent several weeks helping rebuild the economy of Aurum Alley, and then some time helping Guinaifen's team with their ghost hunt.

Huh...ok, I was under the impression that the team basically went off, since the end of 1.3 was basically Jing Yuan bidding farewell. But ok.

I still haven't found anything that clarifies Jing Yuan is the youngest of the Quintet

There's no canon support for this.

OK. Good to know. Then I will stick to my personal headcanon that Jing Yuan was actually an adult during the era of the Quintet.

[tanithryudo]

> Any hint on the time frame? Has he been doing this before the Battle of Shuhu or only started afterwards?

None. Fandom tends to assume it happened after getting triggered by Baiheng's death. But it's possible they were doing this research even before that.

See:
Middle-Aged Voice: If your people knew that you had brought me here, there would be great unrest.
Voice of High Elder: They will never know. Keep quiet, Yingxing — this will make us even. I will give you two hours — research what you can. Remember — two hours.
Middle-Aged Voice: I'm a short-life species, do you think two hours isn't enough? It will be done.
Voice of High Elder: Hmph...

CN source
中年的声音：你带我来这儿，教你的族人知道，就麻烦大了。
龙尊的声音：他们不会知道。闭嘴，应星，现在你我扯平了。给你一个时辰，尽你所能地研究吧。记住，只有一个时辰。
中年的声音：我可是短生种啊，你觉得一个时辰很少？对我来说，那就足够了。
龙尊的声音：哼……

> Does this apply for the titles of the Quintet involved? Since Jingliu mentioned both Baiheng's name and her title and Yanqing was still like "uuuuuuh...."

Depends on how much historical fiction Yanqing has been reading in his spare time, I guess, since that's the only source of this info anymore. (The names in question having been censored from official records.)

[cashew]

Ooo, bookmarked.

[tanithryudo]

BTW, to stop autoplay of embedded bilibili videos, you can add &autoplay=0 at the end of the src url in the code.

[cashew]

Added. Thanks.