#joelluftner

📖 Basics

• Full name: Joel Luftner

• Age: 24

• Pronouns: He/him

• Sexuality: Heterosexual, Heteroromantic

• Species: Human

• Birthday: October 3

• Region: Mondstadt

• Vision: Anemo

• Weapon: Bow

• Model: Medium Male

• Affiliation: None

• Occupation: Wandering Bard

• Love Interest: Elise Marx

• VA(s): Casey Mongillo (ENG)

🌌 Background / Lore

A wandering bard who drifts through Mondstadt, performing, drinking, and living freely. He's known for his charm and talent, but also for his tendency to overindulge.

Despite his carefree lifestyle, he's developed a habit of stopping by the Church… specifically to bother a certain devoted nun.

When he drinks too much, he ends up passed out on the pews, and she's always the one who lets him stay.

Joel was born in Mondstadt City to a family of tradespeople with no real prestige behind their name.

His mother worked as a seamstress for local merchants and traveling performers, while his father handled deliveries between Mondstadt and Springvale.

They were decent people, but practical ones, and Joel grew up in a household where expectations were simple: work honestly, settle down eventually, and avoid unnecessary trouble.

Unfortunately, Joel was good at almost everything except staying where he was supposed to.

As a teenager, he spent more time following traveling musicians around the plaza than learning a trade.

He grew up around noise: crowded taverns, unfinished songs, arguments that disappeared by morning, laughter from drunk patrons, and musicians trying to romanticize lives that were often far less glamorous than the songs suggested.

He picked up instruments quickly, remembered songs after hearing them once, and had an irritating talent for talking his way out of consequences.

He learned early that people are easier to understand when they think nobody is paying attention.

Taverns liked him because he could read a room well. Patrons liked him because he was funny, charming, and never seemed difficult to approach.

But Joel also learned how useful performance could be outside of music. He became very good at turning sincerity into jokes before anyone could look too closely at him. If conversations became uncomfortable, he redirected them. If someone worried about him, he laughed it off. If he felt hurt, he disappeared for a few days and returned acting as though nothing had happened.

Over time, this became less of a conscious habit and more of a way of functioning. What started as harmless wandering gradually became habit. He began disappearing for days at a time with caravans or performers, returning home with stories, cheap wine, and just enough Mora to pretend he was doing fine.

He eventually left home entirely in his late teens, though not after some ugly arguments. His parents wanted stability; Joel wanted movement. Neither side truly understood the other.

By his early twenties, Joel had fully embraced the wandering lifestyle associated with Mondstadt's bards. He spent long stretches traveling between settlements, vineyards, and campsites, performing wherever people would listen. Some nights he made good money. Other nights he slept outside city walls with little more than his instrument and whatever dignity he still had after too much wine.

For several years, he drifted through Mondstadt’s smaller settlements and trade roads, earning money through performances, errands, and occasional work at taverns.

He became well-liked in the shallow, temporary way wandering entertainers often are. People remembered him fondly, but very few actually *knew* him. Most people who know Joel only know one version of him: the amusing bard with a quick tongue and a bad habit of drinking beyond his limits. Very few realize how carefully he maintains that image. That suited him perfectly.

He learned early that if you stay lighthearted enough, people stop asking serious questions. If you make them laugh first, they rarely notice when you dodge something personal.

About a year ago, Joel stumbled at the Cathedral drunk during a storm. Elise was the one who opened the doors for him despite the hour, despite the smell of wine, and despite the fact he was barely coherent.

He returned afterward mostly out of curiosity. Then out of amusement. Then habit. Somewhere along the way, it became something else entirely.

Now he finds himself showing up even when sober, inventing excuses to linger, stretching conversations longer than necessary. He still acts unserious around her because sincerity feels dangerously close to losing control. Joel tells himself he simply enjoys bothering her. The fact that he keeps returning sober is something he avoids thinking about too deeply.

The worst part is that she sees through him more than he realizes.

Joel met Venti years ago through tavern performances and immediately recognized him as both unusually talented and profoundly suspicious. Their friendship is chaotic, mutually enabling, and occasionally concerning to everyone around them.

Venti finds Joel entertaining because he sees through him almost instantly, while Joel appreciates that Venti rarely pressures him into emotional openness directly. The two disappear together for days sometimes, drinking, performing, or wandering the countryside without explanation.

Joel knows Venti is Barbatos, though he learned accidentally rather than through formal revelation. To Joel, the knowledge feels strangely personal rather than glorious. Seeing the Anemo Archon living so freely, and so imperfectly, quietly changed how Joel viewed both Mondstadt and faith itself.

Ironically, this makes him even more careful around Elise. He refuses to damage her image of Barbatos by speaking carelessly about what he knows.

Venti likes Joel because he rarely treats him with reverence even after learning the truth. Joel still complains about his drinking habits (even though he's does the exact same), insults his songwriting choices, and steals his cider when given the chance.

At the same time, Venti understands Joel frighteningly well. Joel suspects Venti deliberately nudged him toward the Cathedral long before Elise became important to him, though Venti naturally refuses to confirm anything.

Venti, meanwhile, is extremely aware of Joel's feelings for Elise and finds the situation endlessly amusing and deeply entertaining.

Barbara is torn between finding Joel troublesome and appreciating that he genuinely means well beneath the chaos. She has caught him sneaking into the Cathedral at unreasonable hours more times than she can count. While she disapproves of his drinking and lack of discipline, she also recognizes that he becomes noticeably calmer around Elise. Barbara suspects Joel respects the Cathedral more than he pretends to.

Charles, from Angel's Share, has a complicated fondness for Joel. On one hand, Joel is a reliable performer who brings customers in and can keep a tavern lively for hours. On the other, he occasionally forgets tabs, encourages Venti, and has a terrible habit of trying to barter songs for drinks. Charles has threatened to throw him out multiple times. He never actually does.

Rosaria sees through Joel immediately and openly distrusts overly charming people in general. She considers him irresponsible but not malicious.

Diluc has thrown Joel out of Angel's Share multiple times for causing problems while drunk. Joel insists this is discrimination against artists. In truth, Diluc tolerates him more than he admits because Joel is one of the few regular drunkards in Mondstadt who consistently intervenes when tavern situations begin escalating dangerously. Joel may be irresponsible with himself, but he is attentive toward others.

💠 Personality

Joel is sociable in the way many lonely people become sociable: he knows how to make others comfortable quickly because it prevents attention from lingering on himself for too long.

He is the sort of person people instinctively lower their guard around. He's expressive, funny, quick-witted, and good at making conversations feel effortless. He adapts easily to different crowds and can talk comfortably with merchants, drunk patrons, Knights, travelers, and nobles alike. There's a looseness to him that makes others feel less self-conscious around him.

A large part of this is intentional.

Joel dislikes emotional pressure, both from others and from himself. He has a habit of turning serious moments into jokes before they become uncomfortable. If someone pushes too hard, he slips sideways out of the conversation rather than confronting it directly. He is not dishonest exactly, but he is evasive by nature.

He is playful, charismatic, and difficult to embarrass. He flirts casually, exaggerates stories for dramatic effect, and tends to treat most situations with amused irreverence. Even when reprimanded, he rarely becomes defensive outright; instead, he deflects with humor or deliberately acts more ridiculous than before. He hides behind humor and music, rarely taking anything seriously on the surface.

Some people find him exhausting. Others find him strangely easy to trust despite his evasiveness.

Despite appearances, he is highly observant. He notices small changes in tone, posture, routines, and moods very quickly. He can tell when someone is upset long before they admit it, though he often pretends not to notice unless he believes intervening would genuinely help. Ironically, this makes him surprisingly considerate in subtle ways.

He remembers details people mention casually, shows up when someone is lonely without making it obvious, and has a tendency to help others indirectly so they cannot accuse him of being sincere.

His flirtation is similar.

Joel enjoys teasing and provoking reactions, but rarely in a genuinely manipulative way. Most of it is performative, a shield built from charm and plausible deniability. If someone takes him seriously, he immediately becomes less confident.

Joel dislikes being depended on in serious ways because he does not fully trust his own consistency. He values freedom, but part of that attachment comes from fear: if he never stays in one place long enough, nobody can expect permanence from him.

This is especially obvious around Elise. He admires her stability more than he understands it. Her devotion, discipline, and quiet certainty are fundamentally unlike him. At times he finds it comforting; at other times, deeply intimidating. Joel is used to being tolerated, entertained, or desired temporarily. Elise treats him as though he is worth caring for regardless of whether he is amusing. He genuinely does not know what to do with that.

Joel also carries a quieter loneliness than people expect. His lifestyle gives him freedom, but very little permanence. Most relationships in his life are temporary by design. Deep down, part of him genuinely believes people eventually grow tired of him once the novelty fades. He masks this insecurity so well that even he rarely examines it directly.

One of the few things capable of seriously angering Joel is cruelty disguised as humor. He has little patience for people who mock sincerity, faith, or vulnerability simply to appear clever. While he teases Elise's devotion often, there is a noticeable line he never crosses. If others mock her beliefs dismissively in front of him, his demeanor changes quickly.

He also has a habit of downplaying his own struggles to the point of absurdity. Even heavily intoxicated, he tends to insist he is "perfectly fine," often while visibly incapable of standing properly.

❤️ Relationships

Elise Marx (love interest)

Elise is the one person Joel keeps returning to no matter how many times he tells himself he should keep moving. At first, bothering her was just entertaining, her tiny sighs, restrained reprimands, and unwavering patience were far too easy to provoke. Somewhere along the way, the habit stopped being amusing and started mattering. He tells himself he simply enjoys bothering her, enjoys stretching conversations longer than necessary just to see that restrained little sigh or hear her gently scold him again. But the truth is that Elise became the closest thing Joel has to stability. And Joel admires her more seriously than he allows himself to admit. She opens the Cathedral doors whether he arrives sober, exhausted, ashamed, or barely able to stand, and that kind of steady care unsettles him more than rejection ever could. Around her, he occasionally forgets to dodge vulnerability with humor. His honesty slips out in exhausted fragments, in lingering silences, in the way he keeps returning even when he has no excuse left. She treats him as though he is worth caring for regardless of whether he's entertaining, and Joel genuinely doesn't know what to do with that. Joel admires her faith deeply, even if he disguises that admiration beneath teasing. To him, Elise's kindness is not naïveté; it is deliberate strength. The terrifying part is that she makes him think about permanence, about staying, about becoming someone reliable enough not to disappoint her. He would never openly admit how much she matters to him, but parts of his life already orbit her without permission.

Venti Windfeld (closest friend)

Venti understands Joel far too well for comfort, which is exactly why their friendship works: neither of them forces honesty directly, but both recognize it when it slips through the cracks. Joel treats Venti with an irreverence that would horrify most people if they knew the truth, but maybe that irreverence is precisely why Venti enjoys him so much. Joel complains constantly about Venti's drinking habits while actively enabling them at the same time, and the two have probably caused enough tavern incidents together to give Charles permanent stress. Though he mocks Venti relentlessly, Joel also carries fierce protectiveness toward him, especially after witnessing how much grief and exhaustion the Archon hides beneath his laughter.

Serina Morgenlied (friend)

Joel liked Serina almost immediately, mostly because anyone capable of tolerating Venti for centuries without drowning him had to be interesting. The first time they met, she greeted him with: "Any friend of Venti is a friend of mine," as though that automatically settled the matter. And somehow it did. She's calmer than the two of them by several leagues, but not nearly as fragile or delicate as people assume at first glance. He enjoys trading playful remarks with her, mostly because unlike Venti, she actually knows when to stop encouraging his worst habits. He respects how fiercely protective she becomes toward the people she loves, even if her quieter, more frightening side occasionally reminds him that she is very much not human. He also appreciates that Serina never pressures him emotionally. She sees far more than she comments on, which somehow makes her easier to trust. Watching the way she cares for Venti also changed Joel's understanding of love more than he expected. There is nothing dramatic about the way Serina steadies him, nothing possessive or loud, just centuries of quiet devotion and chosen loyalty. Joel notices it more than either of them probably realize. Joel insists she and Venti together are unbearable. Secretly, he thinks they're the closest thing to home he's had in years. He truly respects her deeply, though he'd rather drink lamp oil than say that out loud.

Bella Äverl (drinking buddy)

Bella is one of the few people Joel never feels particularly pressured around. There is an easy understanding between them that makes conversation effortless. Bella understands how to laugh at difficult things without pretending they don't exist, and Joel appreciates that more than he usually says. He also trusts her in a way he doesn't often trust people. Besides, anyone willing to tolerate both him and Venti in the same tavern deserves some level of admiration.

Elissa Äverl (acquaintance)

Joel is fairly certain Elissa sees through him more than she lets on, which is deeply inconvenient. Fortunately, she is far too polite to say most of what she's thinking aloud. He respects her more than he openly admits. He suspects she worries about him sometimes, which he tries very hard not to think about.

Traveler (friend)

Joel is fairly certain the Traveler has seen him embarrass himself in more ways than should be possible for one person, and yet they continue speaking to him. At this point, he has decided to consider that friendship. Unlike most people, they never seem particularly interested in the version of himself he performs for strangers, which is both comforting and mildly inconvenient. He trusts them more than he usually trusts people, enough that honesty occasionally slips through before he remembers to hide it behind a joke. Thankfully, the Traveler is usually polite enough not to point that out.

Barbara Pegg (acquaintance)

A frighteningly patient woman Joel is fairly certain deserves sainthood purely for tolerating him. Barbara spends an impressive amount of time looking exhausted by Joel's existence. He can't entirely blame her. Between the drinking, the late-night Cathedral visits, and Venti's involvement in half his poor decisions, he's aware he tests her patience constantly. But he knows she has realized by now that he means no actual harm. He enjoys testing her patience because her reactions are honest and because irritating her is significantly safer than unpacking why he keeps coming back to the Cathedral in the first place. Still, Joel unconsciously behaves better around her than he does elsewhere, largely because he knows how much Elise admires her. Barbara's kindness also frustrates him sometimes in the same way Elise's does: it is difficult to dismiss people who continue believing you are worth helping even after you've given them plenty of reasons not to.

Charles (tavern acquaintance)

Charles has threatened to throw Joel out of Angel's Share enough times that Joel is beginning to think it might actually become a tradition. Their relationship is built on mutual annoyance softened by long familiarity. Despite the constant complaints about unpaid tabs, drunken singing, and "encouraging Venti," Joel knows Charles tolerates him far more than most bartenders would. Joel respects Charles more than he lets on. He trusts Angel's Share because Charles runs it well, and in Joel's strange way, repeatedly returning somewhere is its own form of affection. He enjoys pretending his unpaid tabs are tragic artistic oppression. He likes working there because Charles understands tavern crowds well and rarely asks uncomfortable personal questions, which he appreciates. As far as Joel is concerned, any tavern owner willing to accept songs as partial payment at least occasionally deserves some level of loyalty. Besides, Charles pours drinks generously whenever Joel performs particularly well, which is really the foundation of any stable professional relationship (in his mind).

Rosaria Eisblüte (acquaintance)

Rosaria is one of the few people in Mondstadt genuinely capable of making Joel feel slightly nervous. Naturally, this only encourages him to bother her more. Unlike Elise, Rosaria threatens him back when he pushes buttons too far, he pushes them anyway. Their conversations usually sound vaguely threatening to outside listeners, but Joel oddly enjoys them because Rosaria doesn't buy into his performances for even a second. She sees through him immediately and treats him accordingly. There's something refreshing about that. Unlike Elise, Rosaria does not indulge his antics gently; she threatens bodily harm with enough sincerity that Joel occasionally believes her. Oddly enough, he trusts her because of that honesty. Joel respects the fact that her sharpness comes from genuine protectiveness rather than cruelty, even if she expresses it like someone holding a knife to a conversation. He trusts her more than he'd openly admit, though he'd rather throw himself off Stormbearer Cliff than say that aloud. He also knows she watches the Cathedral more closely than people realize, which makes him oddly reassured whenever Elise is alone there late at night.

Diluc Ragnvindr (tavern acquaintance)

Secretly, Joel respects him quite a bit. Joel appreciates that Diluc rarely wastes words or pretends to like people he doesn't. There is something refreshing about someone so impossible to charm properly. Naturally, this only encourages Joel to keep trying. He occasionally tries to provoke reactions from Diluc purely for entertainment, usually failing spectacularly. Still, he trusts the tavern owner more than he would ever openly admit. Joel also appreciates that Diluc rarely pries. He judges behavior, certainly, but not vulnerability. That's rarer than people realize. Joel knows he's caused him headaches more than once, especially involving Venti, but he also suspects Diluc trusts him more than he'd ever openly admit.

Kaeya Alberich (entertaining acquaintance)

To Joel, Kaeya is exhausting in the exact same way mirrors are exhausting. Their conversations are built almost entirely out of jokes, deliberate deflections, and mutual attempts to read each other psychologically. Neither fully trusts the other, but both enjoy the game too much to stop engaging with it. Unfortunately, Joel genuinely enjoys talking to him anyway. But he suspects Kaeya understands loneliness in a way most people don't, though neither of them would ever willingly discuss that aloud. Joel also suspects Kaeya finds his situation with Elise hilarious, though thankfully(?) Venti remains far worse about it. Still, he's one of the few people Joel can match conversationally without becoming bored. Whether that's a good thing remains questionable.

🎨 Visuals

Joel’s hair is layered, fluffy, and heavily feathered, cut around chin-to-shoulder length with lots of outward flips and soft volume. The base color is a cool lavender-purple while the underside and some outer strands fades into striking blonde toward the ends, especially around the sides of his face and the back layers. His bangs are long and uneven, with several face-framing strands falling over his forehead. The back layers flare outward in soft points rather than lying flat. He styles a small portion of his hair into a tie on the right side of his head. Two windwheel-shaped clips in white and magenta decorate the right side of his bangs. He has heterochromia: one eye is a vivid blue while the other is a warm golden. He has fair skin. He's 165 tall.

His main fit: He wears a white high-collared shirt with layered ruffles down the chest and frilled cuffs at the wrists. The collar is structured and decorated with thin purple trim and small gold accents. The shirt is fitted at the arms but loose around the torso, partially covered by a structured dark brown, sleek corset with subtle floral embossing and gold lining around the edges. Small gold buttons run down the front of the shirt below a large bow at the collar. The bow is dark purple with gold trim and a purple oval gem brooch set in gold at the center. His sleeves have light yellow buttons along the forearms. Around his shoulders is a short lavender capelet with gold filigree patterns and layered shoulder panels in white and light yellow. The cape drapes behind him into long split tails lined in pale cream on the inside. His pants are loose white bloomers gathered just below the knee, ending in a lavender hem with gold trim. The upper sides of the pants are shortly open on the outer thigh area, with a short translucent hem-gold-trimmed lace covering the upper part of outer thigh, the rest of small portion the lace don't cover is left exposed. The opening is held together by a long crisscrossed lace section running vertically down the leg with gold eyelets. One leg has an asymmetrical black-and-gold armored-like shin piece laced up the front with purple cord and finished with a small purple bow near the ankle. Around his waist down to high hip, diagonally half over the corset down to beginning of the pants, is a dark purple belt with gold detailing, his Vision is mounted in a winged gold ornament at his hip, secured against the belt. Underneath his pants he wears knee-high white stockings with a gold pattern at the front, mostly hidden beneath the pants, only appearing partially at the calf before disappearing shin down beneath the boots. His boots are dark violet with brown and pointed decorative panels at the front, the top edge and middle are brown while the sides and back are violet. They lace up the front with pale lavender crisscrossed cords threaded through gold eyelets. Each boot is decorated with a small purple and gold bow near the ankle. He wears multiple earrings, including gold dangling pieces and ear cuffs, along his right ear. His hands are decorated with several gold rings. His nails are painted lavender-purple to match his outfit.

✨ Fun Facts / Trivia

• Joel knows nearly every drinking song popular in Mondstadt, including several tavern songs that are technically banned from being performed near the Cathedral.

• Joel writes songs constantly but rarely keeps them organized.

• He has an excellent singing voice but intentionally sings more casually in taverns because polished performances make him feel exposed.

• He remembers nearly every song he hears, even years later.

• He remembers the exact date he first met Elise but refuses to admit it.

• Despite his reputation, he is surprisingly good at comforting frightened children.

• Joel is much cleaner and more organized than people expect when sober.

• He strongly prefers performing in smaller taverns over large festivals.

• He has slept in almost every tavern, stable, wagon, or rooftop in Mondstadt at least once.

• He has "accidentally" helped clean the Cathedral more than once simply because Elise handed him supplies while he was lingering nearby.

• The Sisters noticed long before Elise did that Joel visits specifically for her.

• Venti has absolutely written songs about Joel's feelings for Elise solely to annoy him.

• He claims he dislikes routine, yet subconsciously visits the Cathedral at nearly the same times each week.

• Joel almost never speaks about his family unless directly asked.

• He is better at cooking than people expect, though his meals are inconsistent depending on how much effort he feels like making.

• Although flirtatious, Joel has very little actual romantic experience involving emotional intimacy.

• He has written at least three songs inspired by Elise without admitting it. Venti absolutely knows which songs they are.

• He prefers dawn over nighttime.

• Elise is one of the only people who has seen him genuinely angry instead of amused or evasive.

• He once tried to learn a old Cathedral hymn properly just to surprise Elise and became irrationally frustrated when she recognized the melody immediately anyway.

• Although he jokes about Barbatos often, he becomes genuinely defensive if outsiders insult Mondstadt's Archon harshly.

• He owns more scarves and loose accessories than is practical for someone constantly traveling. Barely ever wears them.

• Cats like him unexpectedly well. Dogs are less certain.

• Serina was the one who gifted him the accessory he keeps his Vision attached to. Something Joel pretends not to care too much about despite wearing it constantly.

🧩 Thought Process

I mainly based his personality off Venti, but tried to differentiate them as much as I managed without losing what I wanted him to be.

As I said in Elise's thought process section, I got the inspiration for her from a Venti x Nun Reader fic. Thing is that I didn't want to lose the dynamic of her and Venti but also didn't want him to be interpreted as her romantic partner. And I also thought Venti didn't fit in that dynamic anymore, as I've made ocs who are there for him in moments of vulnerability, so Venti seeking the church wouldn't ultimately make sense to me. So I made Joel to fill that gap instead, and switched the dynamic to him.

🌟 Ending

I debated on whether to make him for a long time, and if I'd even give Elise a love interest for even longer. But he's finally here, and I'm satisfied with the results.

Btw, Venti's and Rosaria's surnames are my hcs.