"Yeah, yeah."
"Even though we all love opera, at the same time, every one of us is also a loyal fan of Honkai Star Rail!"
--------------------------------
When the topic reached this point.
She had originally wanted to suddenly surprise everyone. To tell them that she was actually the assistant director of Honkai: Star Rail.
A flood of imagined scenarios rushed into her head.
Would doing this be inappropriate? Would everyone think she was just showing off?
She only wanted to support the theater sincerely in the first place.
A series of thoughts surged in her mind.
"Well, um, I just know a little."
Furina coughed lightly, shifting her gaze awkwardly.
"So Ms. Furina also watches it?"
"That's wonderful."
Hyacine teased sweetly: "What a relief, it feels like a medical student like me have something in common with you."
Hyacine had only just returned not long ago, and had little contact with Furina.
This was also her first time facing the benefactor who had so generously supported the Okhema Theater.
She still felt a bit nervous inside.
After all, no matter how you looked at it, Furina was exactly the type of patron everyone could most easily accept and most hoped to meet.
She was a beautiful young lady herself, had deep understanding of opera, was especially kind, and wouldn't inspire ulterior motives among the theater members.
Simply the perfect type of benefactor.
But upon hearing that Furina, just like everyone else, shared the same love for stage plays, the nervousness in facing a patron gradually melted away.
Sometimes conversation is just so magical, instantly drawing both sides closer.
"Speaking of which, we also arranged a themed 'fan-made play.'"
Aglaea said with a smile.
"Oh?! A Honkai: Star Rail 'fan-made play'?" Furina's eyes lit up, and inspiration bloomed in her mind.
"That's right, though because of copyright issues, we've only ever performed it privately, never commercially." Aglaea nodded.
"Honkai: Star Rail's worldbuilding is vast."
"And what's most fascinating is that every new place has its own culture."
"After we finished watching Penacony, we followed some of Honkai's settings, combined with local mythology, and created a not-yet-finished play."
Hyacine explained seriously to Furina, her tone gentle and sweet.
"Wow!"
"That sounds really exciting."
Furina grew even more curious.
"The basic story is set in a mythical capital."
"With many heroes."
"These heroes are played by the theater members."
"After experiencing sacrifice and struggle, we successfully prevent the world's destruction and open up a new future."
"It's a very beautiful ending."
Hyacine smiled as she spoke, her eyes glowing with suppressed emotion.
Though the story was still incomplete, when everyone created it together and actually performed it on stage, happiness filled their hearts.
Because this was a story they themselves had created.
But after speaking, Hyacine suddenly realized.
"Oh dear, I've gone on and spoiled such an exciting piece."
"A bit troubling …"
"Mr. Anaxa, why don't you tell it?"
She looked at Anaxa.
"First of all."
"Call me Anaxagoras."
"Secondly, this work is very straightforward."
"In a closed world created on the blueprint of Greek mythology."
"There exist Titans."
"But the Titans' lives eventually end, and in order to keep the pillars of the world from collapsing, the sages embarked on a new path of inquiry."
Anaxa leaned back in the chair, summarizing the story in just a few sentences.
"In this background, what we want to restore is the humanism found in Greek mythology and philosophy."
"That is: man is the foundation of everything."
"All of these settings ultimately serve humanity. For example, the character I play, since the play will not be performed commercially, we didn't give ourselves stage names, but used our real names."
"In short, my role is based on the prototype of the Greek philosopher Anaxagoras."
"A man renowned for rationalism and natural science."
"His story unfolds on this foundation."
"And as for Hyacine, she carried the role of myth-born inspiration."
Following Anaxa's words, this still-unnamed story emerged in Furina's mind.
Just as Anaxa said, the story was filled with the clash of different philosophies.
But everyone sacrificed for the same future.
The heart of the story was not the setting, but each individual.
It could be said to embody a strong sense of Greek classical aesthetics.
As Anaxagoras spoke, whether it was Furina or the others, all were absorbed.
"In the end, the savior played by Phainon succeeds in becoming the Titan who bears the world, saving it."
"A perfect ending."
"Of course, in my view, there are still flaws."
Anaxagoras finished, giving his evaluation, but didn't elaborate on what flaws he thought were there.
Everyone turned to Furina.
Aside from Aglaea and Anaxagoras, the others looked nervous.
Especially Hyacine and Phainon.
This was their first time telling an outsider about the script.
So they cared greatly about her opinion.
Especially after Furina had displayed such high theater expertise.
Furina was already entranced.
Those humanist stories, focusing on the struggles, pains, and fights of individuals, all struck directly at the points she loved most.
"Ahem, Ms. Furina?" Aglaea coughed lightly.
"Oh, oh."
"Sorry, I got a little too absorbed."
Furina came back to herself, blinked, and then, without reservation, began to applaud gracefully, sincerely praising:
"I think it's a wonderful story!"
"A journey of salvation."
"A journey of fire."
"Not only a symbol, but something achieved by human hands."
"The more unfair fate is, the more moving and resonant this human defiance becomes."
"Absolutely brilliant!"
Furina gave her evaluation in one breath.
Her emotions surged, and her impressions were beyond words.
Whether seen with a critical opera eye, or as a general drama, this story was excellent!
"Really?"
"Phew."
Hyacine held her chest and let out a breath:
"For the story we ourselves created to receive Ms. Furina's approval, that's wonderful."
This concern for her opinion even made Furina feel a little embarrassed.
She waved her hands quickly:
"Oh no, don't be so formal. Ms. Furina, that's too distant. Just call me Furina, or any other fitting name."
Hyacine smiled happily: "Alright, then I'll call you… Fufu?"
"Fu… Fufu?" A blush spread across Furina's face:
"Isn't that a bit too intimate?"
"Don't worry about it."
"This is Hyacine's catchphrase. When it comes to friends she values, Hyacine will always shorten their names."
Aglaea explained with a smile.
"Alright, alright." Furina eventually nodded.
"Speaking of which, we all really like this script."
"But after trying to fit it into the Honkai: Star Rail worldview, we realized some parts don't quite mesh." Hyacine said in distress: "Fufu, after hearing it, do you have any thoughts?"
"What do you mean by 'don't mesh'?" Furina asked, puzzled.
"Well, in Star Rail there are many Paths. When we set up the Titans, the structure of the hierarchy didn't quite line up properly."
"For example, Oronyx relates to memory, then there's romance and purity, death and balance, and so on."
"But... it just feels like cramming so many Paths into such a small world might be a little OOC." Hyacine said in distress.
The original intent of this story was to create a Greek epic world belonging to the Star Rail universe, following the template of an independent world.
But when trying to merge the two, they fell into a dilemma.
They feared the setting wouldn't align with Honkai: Star Rail's original settings.
For instance, the idea of one world containing many Paths.
But Paths are far too powerful. If you put all of them in one world, it would elevate that world's importance infinitely, wouldn't that seem like arbitrarily creating an overly significant world?
"Ah, this is just our own silly distress."
"After all, we don't own the copyright, so worrying about such things is a bit like daydreaming."
While Furina was pondering, Hyacine shook her head again.
At the end of the day, this story is just self-indulgent fun, meant to satisfy themselves.
"It's fine."
"The story is wonderful, and I know a Star Rail expert. Maybe they could help you solve this problem."
Furina said with a smile.
"Eh, a Star Rail expert?"
Everyone looked over curiously.
"That's right~"
Furina lifted her chin proudly and said: "A really skilled one, with deep knowledge of the Star Rail worldview."
She wasn't lying. Her boss, Xia Wen, handled scripts and explanations behind the scenes.
MiHoYo even had top talents like the Professor (Dr. Ratio).
Such settings were hardly a challenge.
"Fufu really is amazing, unbelievably amazing!"
Hyacine praised.
"But it's not necessary for now."
"This script, to put it bluntly, doesn't have copyright. We created it partly as Star Rail fans, hoping to blend the two worldviews."
"And partly as a breakthrough." Aglaea said seriously: "Many art forms, like plays and operas, are incredibly brilliant."
"But they don't quite fit the present age."
"The first time I saw Star Rail, the hidden traces of classical heritage and Belabog deeply fascinated me."
"I realized a new medium had appeared in this world, one that could bring those old arts, unloved by young people, back to the stage, to be enjoyed again."
"This fan script is our own attempt."
"Using classical culture as the core, with a trendy worldview as its shell, we want to create a space epic for today's era."
"To draw more young people into loving these classics and mythology."
Aglaea's words carried not only ambition, but also a kind of romanticism of 'pioneering.'
This stirred a strong resonance in Furina.
"That's so well said, Agy!"
Furina responded earnestly: "Sometimes I also wonder whether I could bring my homeland's culture to the screen in a new way."
"For that, I too have a script I've studied for a long time."
With mutual understanding, Furina also opened up and presented the manuscript she had polished carefully.
It was a story about sacrifice and endurance, focused on a single girl.
For the survival of her country, she armed herself with the identity of an opera singer, secretly endured five hundred days of torment.
And in the end, saved her entire nation.
Beneath all the grandeur and splendor of tone and appearance, lay the softest, most fragile heart.
"Focalors, "
"And... Furina's story."
Just like a girl imagining herself as the heroine in a tale, Furina also made herself the protagonist in her script.
"What a beautiful story… Compared to when you first told me, this version feels more refined and deeply moving."
"Sad, yet… full of hope."
"A romantic story with a focus on sacrifice, it's a very good story."
"Like scenery, delicate, sunlit, sometimes rainy, yet its meaning still connects to salvation."
"Though her heart is fragile, her actions are unquestionably those of a leader."
Aglaea, Hyacine, Anaxagoras, Phainon, and Mydeimos all gave their evaluations.
Two stories.
One of fire, one of five hundred years of endurance.
Their worldviews might differ, but their hidden cores were the same.
Both were profound, both remarkable.
"Since the Okhema Theater has overcome its past difficulties,"
"Why don't we start taking some of these stories, formally adapting them, and putting them on stage?"
Furina suggested: "Let's use this place as a base, and bring the brilliance of classicism back to everyone!!"
"Eh?"
"With these scripts?"
Hyacine was stunned.
"Of course these scripts still need refinement."
"But we can use them as a framework, and create smaller stories within them to perform."
"For example, in the script I mentioned just now, I could make a story about a pure water spirit created by a God of Water. I've even thought of the name, 'The Little Oceanid.'"
Hearing Furina's words, everyone's thoughts opened up.
If they truly wanted to perform these scripts as operas, they'd need dozens of acts to tell the whole thing.
For opera, that was inevitable.
But if they used the big script as a framework, and wrote smaller stories within it, that would work perfectly.
It would be like creating many side stories.
And in performing those small stories, they could in turn refine the setting of the larger script.
"I once was in Arcadia." Aglaea suddenly said.
It was a story she suddenly thought of.
In the tales they were creating about Okhema and the Titans, there was such a pair of 'special' lovers, telling a story about 'romance.'
Through everyone's brainstorming, two fully formed opera stories emerged.
The The Little Oceanid and I Once Was in Arcadia.
They had complete storylines and endings, perfectly suited for opera-themed performance.
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T/N: Not sure if the name The Little Oceanid is correct or not, as this is Fontaine's 1st Archon quest's name.
Will change it if a different name appears in future chaps.