Xinyan

Rock 'n' roll originates in Fontaine and is just starting to find its feet in Liyue Harbor, where Xinyan is pioneering the art.

Every night, she slings on her self-built instrument, steps onto her self-constructed stage, and plays her self-composed songs to a crowd of enthusiastic supporters.

Her music reflects her personality: bold and defiant, loud and proud.

She is no virtuoso, but this doesn't bother her dedicated fans one bit as they let loose and enjoy the show, singing their hearts out and shaking off the stress of the day.

In the heat of the moment, the fire that leaps from Xinyan's Vision seems ready to turn night into day.

"She is a rare rock 'n' roll talent and a master performer who really knows how to create an atmosphere," said a review of one of her live shows in The Steambird.

Living in Liyue is expensive, especially when you want to enjoy the finer things in life. But as Xinyan would say to those tied down by worldly worries:

"If you know how to rock, then it's easier to roll."

Xinyan does not adhere to traditional performance norms at all. Anything can be used as her instrument.

The pillars on-stage, the floorboards, the cheers and yells of the audience, and even the explosions and sparks created by her Vision are valid brushes with which she paints her performance.

The impromptu stage often starts to burn somewhere after the halfway mark of the performance, till all that's left is a smoking pile of charcoal.

After many warnings, the Millelith were finally forced to tighten their patrols and try to find ways to stop Xinyan from staging her performances.

The subsequent battles of wits tended to turn out in Xinyan's favor — she was often able to find a place to perform, set up a stage with frightening speed, and begin a raucous night with her audience.

The more reliable word on the street is that many patrolling Millelith were themselves infected by the "spirit of rock 'n' roll," becoming her loyal fans in the process.

Xinyan would get wind of the Millelith's latest patrol plans from these "friends of rock," and was thus able to avoid their eyes with ease.

Eventually, tiring of the lack of results, and in the absence of any evidence that anyone was harmed during Xinyan's performances, the Millelith came to adopt a "one eye open, one eye shut" approach to her actions.

Xinyan is tall, has a sharp gaze, and always wears her stage costume in public to keep herself in the right mood for her music.

In the eyes of bystanders, this makes her quite the imposing sight as she walks down the street, and many assume she means trouble.

When she lines up to buy a snack, people in front of her in the queue will panic and move well out of her way.

If she happens to lock eyes with a young child, even for a brief moment, they will run crying to their parents.

Even when she has done nothing at all, Xinyan is often suspected of wrongdoing, purely because her fierce appearance makes her look like some sort of heinous villain in the eyes of some people.

Xinyan didn't care all that much about how other people saw her, but she did think that it wasn't a good thing to scare others and make trouble for them, if she could at all help it. Thus, she constantly looked for ways to make a change.

Every day when she woke up in the morning, she would look at herself in the mirror and massage her face with her fingers to stretch and relax her eyes a little.

She would even practice smiling and study expressions — verbal and facial alike — of great elegance.

After a significant amount of practice, she once came across a group of children bullying another child, and instinctually she went over to rescue the bullied child.

She gave the kid what she thought was a friendly smile and a gentle pat on the head. To say that the upset child quietened down after this would not be incorrect...

However, the reality of the matter was that the child was stood there frozen in fear as urine dribbled down their pants.

As for the would-be bullies, they screamed and fled in panic.

"Run! Run! The angry lady's turned into a monster! Sh—She's gonna eat us all!"

"Hey!!! I ain't gonna eat y'all! ...And I ain't no monster, either!"

But it was to no avail. The moment she raised her voice, all her hard work was undone.

Xinyan has one standard by which she judges all things: is it or isn't it "rock 'n' roll?"

All that is just and upright — standing up for those who have been wronged, taking on challenges — is "rock 'n' roll," and all that is reprehensible — fearing the wicked, oppressing the kind, dirty tricks, scheming ways — is "not rock 'n' roll."

Rock is the spirit of rebellion and resistance, yes, but patently immoral acts are nonetheless "not rock 'n' roll."

Xinyan reserves the right to make these judgments, and whether these judgments are based on results or her mood, the difference between the things covered by these two opposing terms is clear.

The only catch is that these standards sound odd in certain contexts.

Due to her fierce appearance, Xinyan nearly has no friends, with Xiangling of Wanmin Restaurant being one of the few exceptions with whom she can speak most freely.

Xinyan has a special reason for coming to Wanmin Restaurant — for musical inspiration.

Whenever Xiangling is researching new recipes, others may run for the hills, but not Xinyan. She intentionally eats all the experimental products, and amid the taste bud explosion that results from the never-before-seen flavors, inspiration flows into her mind.

"Tell you what, Xiangling, that dish rocked!"

Though Xinyan considers this to be the highest praise, Xiangling finds it a little hard to be happy about such ratings.

The eternal subject of rock 'n' roll is resistance.

But the thing that Xinyan resists is not a concrete thing, but rather, the conceptual shackles of "prejudice."

She was born into a poor family, and her parents placed great stock in her, giving her the best of what little they had in the hopes that she would be able to rise to "become a phoenix."

Of course, this "phoenix" would have to be something that they would recognize.

But things don't always turn out as planned. Xinyan grew to be taller than most girls, and her looks were far from anything that might be considered "cute." Nor was she any good at any of the feminine arts, whether it was cooking, chores, needlework.

So, since her childhood was so deeply impacted by such "prejudices," Xinyan understands how terrifying they could be.

Yet becoming a rock 'n' roll star has not caused her to give up on these other arts.

This is not only because she hates losing, but because she feels that "giving up because you have no talent" is itself a prejudiced belief.

Not long ago, a fan of Xinyan's named Yun Jin was invited to her place as a guest.

But if Xinyan hadn't opened the door herself, Yun Jin would have thought that she had the wrong house.

The house was spick and span, the windows were clean, and the home ornaments were hand-made and immaculately arranged.

The cooktop was still moist, indicating that someone had been cooking not long before, and there was half-sewn cloth by the bedside that looked much like the decorations Xinyan wore during her performances.

Why, this was practically the room of some refined lady of reputable upbringing, with nary any spirit of rock 'n' roll to be found!

Xinyan was quite worried that this fan of hers would find the difference between their impression of "rock 'n' roll" and this reality too jarring.

Unexpectedly, Yun Jin's support and fandom would only grow more intense after this.

The way Xinyan sees it, many adults fail to realize their potential because they are tied down by prejudice, giving in to fear and endless anxiety.

They do not understand what life is about, or where they are going.

She wrote these thoughts into her songs, but invited scorn from the very same adults. "What does this brat know?"

Even so, Xinyan did not waver. After all, such mockery was born of prejudice towards her age.

And if prejudice were something so easily overthrown, there would be no value in resisting it, would there?

She believes that rock 'n' roll is like a seed. After every performance, some seeds might sprout within the hearts of those adults who listen.

When they wake up the next day, perhaps they might receive some inspiration, or perhaps a change of mood will come over them...

Even if it only changes their thinking a little bit... Perhaps they might find that the real-life troubles they are facing are nothing but a storm in a teacup.

Of course, few people other than her audience and the "friends of rock" would credit this to rock 'n' roll.

But people do nonetheless say this around the tables after tea.

"Well, having a girl who plays rock 'n' roll is pretty interesting, no?"

Xinyan's main instrument is a hand-made guitar of a very unique design. She based it off the rock 'n' roll instruments that were imported from Fontaine before adding additional modifications based on personal understanding.

For example, she mounted a crescent-shaped axe-blade on the tail end of the instrument so it might serve as a weapon in a pinch.

She also connected it to her Vision, allowing it to spew flames and sparks. Its internals can also spew flame, all the better for it to self-destruct if it falls into the wrong hands, preventing its misuse...

The list of modifications goes on, and they are too numerous to count.

This instrument is thus unique, and its sound profile is also special.

—Sorry, what? What do you mean, "these modifications sound like they have nothing to do with music?"

Sounds like you, too, need to attend one of her performances. You'll understand then.

Xinyan was someone who never fit in in Liyue Harbor, and she only found where she belonged when she encountered rock 'n' roll.

But because she lived in a land that had no place for rock 'n' roll yet, she needed to be able to attract enough attention.

She immersed herself in the world of music, looking for a way to move people's hearts. She broke many an instrument and played till calluses formed on both hands, but still, it was unsatisfactory.

"Who'd want to listen to this racket?"

The rotten-tomato reviews she received were starting to get to her. She wondered if she should quit.

Sitting on top of Mt. Tianheng, she looked down over Liyue Harbor. But though the lights lit the streets and alleys of the harbor, they could not light the flame of the spirit of rock 'n' roll.

She considered leaving, to go someplace where rock 'n' roll was appreciated. But would this not be running away? Would it not be a betrayal of rock 'n' roll's spirit of resistance?

No, she would not leave. She would become a "flame" that could light Liyue Harbor up.

She started experimenting with the use of fire to move people, adding sparks and explosions to her music.

But this was no mean feat for an ordinary person.

Who knows how many times she must have burnt her fingers or blown her instrument up. But still, she continued to practice every single day on top of Mt. Tianheng.

And perhaps it was that the gods themselves had great expectations of this new form of music that would soon grace the seven nations...

But regardless, the boiling-hot Vision would be the final stroke of perfection.

Xinyan dashed down the mountain and began her very first rock 'n' roll concert in Liyue Harbor.

Thus did her musical journey begin, with showers of sparks and explosions keeping time.