#sr designer

Awakened Suit: Glowing Feather

Designer's Reflection: Leisurely Time

Obtained: Clear Skies workshop

Rarity: SR

Attribute: Green/Fresh

Awakened Suit: Serene Hours

Story - transcripts from Designer's Reflection

Chapter 1 - Unexpected Holiday

Chapter 2 - Unexpected Scenery

Chapter 3 - Unexpected Encounter

Story - summarized

A landslide prevents the TV partners from getting their film equipment on time. Jiang Beixi insists on spending their downtime going over and over the schedule and script until everything was perfect. Vivian thinks they should just have a vacation. Beixi interprets this as her partner is tired, so she decides to take on all the work herself.

The next day, Beixi heads into town, searching for the perfect angles for the shots she originally had in mind. She's distracted by a vendor selling cute head pieces. The vendor tries to offer a piece as a gift, but Beixi dismisses the gesture and pays for the accessory.

Soon, it gets too hot, and she needs a break in the shade. A little boy approaches her, offering a pair of shoes his family made. She is grateful for the instant relief, but she still insists on paying. After all, she's here on business.

Beixi's next stop is an elderly lady's house who had already agreed to an interview. She isn't sure how to ask about local customs or growing up in town, and the conversation takes an awkward turn. But she still has to finish preparations.

Finally, she asks the old lady for spot recommendations. The elder gladly suggests a market, and Beixi heads over there - Vivian is there, too! They bump into each other at a stall selling bags. Beixi thought that Vivian would ignore the town on her vacation, but Vivian insists that the town has its own charm and they can still experience it, but as tourists, not academics.

For once, Jiang Beixi agrees. She puts her paperwork in the new bag and takes a step back from her job. The equipment isn't even here yet, so why not enjoy the scenery?

Connections

-At first, Jiang Beixi and Vivian did not get along. They first met in Wasteland Impression, but Vivian was expecting to work on a reality show, not a documentary, and Beixi preferred facts to sensationalism. They finally found a compromise in Poem of the Wild, where Vivian presented facts in an energetic and fun way, and Beixi appreciated the spontaneity of filming different nature scenes.

-Jiang Beixi and her sister, Xitong, both have a strong academic background. But whereas Beixi analyzes other cultures, Xitong focuses on preserving traditional Cloud styles - to the point that she will fail any of her students who diverge from tradition, like Chi Xiaoyu in Early Summer Shower. Even in Azure Porcelain, Jiang Xitong demanded every aspect of her presentation steer clear from anything ethereal, modern, or anything that diverged from "true Cloud fashion."

Fun Facts

-Both Vivian and Jiang Beixi have the Fresh Attribute for their solo suits.

-In the UK, Australia, and most English-speaking countries (besides the US and Canada), "holiday" is used to mean "vacation."

Designer's Reflection: Moonlit Trek

Obtained: top-up for Forgotten Golden Dynasty hell event

Rarity: SR

Attribute: Green/Fresh

Awakened Suit: Starry Odyssey

Story - transcripts from Designer's Reflection

Chapter 1 - Golden Legend

Chapter 2 - Adventure in the Desert

Chapter 3 - Tess and Hester

Story - summarized

Young Tess grew up hearing the stories of old. Her favorite was the story of Queen Hester and the lost kingdom of Tumenis. She loved the story so much that she took the book with her into the desert to try to find the lost palace herself.

Normally, people would find nothing and turn back. But young Tess kept going. As she did, the ancestors sent her help: a cheetah to carry her across the burning sand, plump wild fruits to eat, fresh water from the spring. With their guidance, the little priestess finally found the entrance to the underground palace!

She wasn't scared of the ghosts or wraiths lingering in the halls, so eventually, they gave her directions to Hester's hidden room. There sat the majestic Hester, forever trapped between life and death. Young Tess introduced herself and offered to read the queen a story, to keep her from feeling lonely. The two became friends, and even when the people of Wasteland began unearthing the forgotten kingdom, Tess kept her promise to leave Hester's section unfound.

Connections

-Tess explains how she can communicate with spirits in Spirit Whisper. Two of the spirits she talks to in that Reflection show up here, too: Priestess Sharna and Hoare I.

-During the hell event, Nikki and friends discover that Hester can't cross over with other souls once they die. This is because she defied the god Bastet: while she killed the tyrant Cesar, she didn't establish Bastet as the central god to be worshiped, even though she became queen thanks to the god's help.

-Hester used to be a black cat herself, as shown in Late-Night Tricks. That's why she has a black cat with her in the underground palace, and why she's so fond of them.

Fun Facts

-River Styx is from Ancient Greek mythology, not Ancient Egyptian. It's the river of the underworld, and it's named after the goddess Styx, daughter of the titans Oceanus and Tethys.

Awakened Suit: Brown Bunny Journey

Designer's Reflection: Cloud Match

Obtained: top-up for North Melody hell event

Rarity: SR

Attribute: Green/Fresh

Awakened Suit: Smoky Clouds

Story - transcripts from Designer's Reflection

Chapter 1 - Trip to Lor River

Chapter 2 - Unsolved Mysteries

Chapter 3 - Great Desert City

Story - summarized

Chi Xiaolong can't wait to learn more about Lor River City's history. His cousin, Xiaoyu, just wants to go on vacation. But they both have a paper to write and turn in to Jiang Xitong when they return to CENU, so they go to the seminar.

Everyone knows that ancient Lor River City was a prosperous oasis, but no one knows why everyone suddenly left their homes. Supposedly, it was due to a sandstorm, but Lor River is still standing. Xiaolong visits the historic site to get a closer look at the ruined mural of Kalah the Goddess.

He spots workers' stairs climbing the rock wall. He follows them to a cave, where Wenren Dian sits. While the two of them play weiqi, Xiaolong wonders aloud why the ancient people left so suddenly. Wenren answers the question like he's talking about chess: there is no guarantee to winning, so sometimes it's necessary to take risks. Even if it seems like you're winning, you need to take precautions.

That's when Xiaolong realizes: the people of ancient Lor River City knew losing their houses was an acceptable sacrifice to keep the culture and the people alive.

And now, modern-day Lor River City is thriving better than ever.

Connections

-The first time we visit Lor River in Miraland is in Love Nikki, where you can travel for a week with the Around the World feature.

-Wenren Dian came to Lor River City to see the Kalah mural. He recounts in Soaring Plumes that he lost all his memories once and was searching for anything relating to the Ocean of Memories. The Kalah mural was the nearest source - which would also explain why ancient Lor River City was destroyed.

-Jiang Xitong has made it clear in each of her Reflections, from the lectures in Azure Porcelain to the flute playing in Brisk Autumn to the poetry in Morning Blossoms, that she pursues everything relating to Cloud's history and tradition. It makes sense that she would view a trip to Lor River as a learning opportunity over a tourist attraction.

-No one in modern Lor River City knows much about the two officials that were with the queen during the ancient time, but when Nikki and friends travel to the past, they learn it was Yexiao and Wenren Dian that attended to Queen Joyeux.

Fun Facts

-When this Reflection first debuted in Shining Nikki, it went under the name "Yun Shanyi," which is the pinyin version of the Chinese name.

Designer's Reflection: Iris Dream

Obtained: workshop for Vol. 2 Ch. 9

Rarity: SR

Attribute: Gold/Elegant

Awakened Suit: Iris Love

Story - transcripts from Designer's Reflection

Chapter 1 - Dignified Work

Chapter 2 - Napping Queen

Chapter 3 - My Invitation Letter

Story - summarized

The budget for the upcoming Cicial Idol contest heavily favors Mercury Era. Fidel brings up this issue to the other officers at the Ministry of Finance, but no one listens to him. Of course, the Minister of Finance himself was selected from Mercury's men, so everything the minister does is biased.

Fidel worries how this will affect Ninir, but to stop him from pestering the ministry further, the Minister of Finance sends Fidel to a tea party at the royal palace in his place. He's not surprised to find that none of the senior officers have come to the tea party; instead, they sent underlings like Fidel.

Everyone leaves when the Queen takes forever to appear. Fidel shuffles through the gardens - he hears a young woman singing. He recognizes the song: it's from Starheaven.

The Queen had been relaxing in the garden, humming to herself. She's impressed that he recognized the song. He surprises her further by claiming the "power of beauty" belongs to Ninir, and that it is important that everyone from the different ministries should know Ninir culture.

The next day, the Queen sends a letter to Fidel, inviting her to another tea party at the palace, and also promoting him to Minister of Culture. He accepts without hesitation.

Connections

-Fidel isn't the first person to be seduced by Lilith's looks and charms. In Voice of Desire, most of the officials fawned over her - even though she is sixteen years old and much younger than any of them. That didn't stop her, though, from tempting the old men to her advantage.

-In the garden, Fidel notes that Lilith's beauty is "too good to be true." She made a deal with Nightbane after the sabotaged Starheaven Swan pageant to become the most beautiful person in the world to earn everyone's love.

-The "stars shining in Lilith's eyes" also appeared in her Reflection Abyss of Stars, when she met Nolan, a violinist who played for her until he wasted away to death. He was smitten by the "starlight in her eyes" and was obsessed with composing the best song for Lilith.

-Mercury started infiltrating the Ninir government after the earthquake from the Angel/Demon hell event. Once the Goddess of Desire was defeated, he decided to ensure his own power the same way he did in Pigeon when his sister was crowned in Elves' Elegy: placing his own men in positions of power to sway politics to favor Mercury's businesses.

Fun Facts

Awakened Suit: Graceful Music

Designer's Reflection: Inception of Life

Obtained: Vol. 2, Ch. 12 workshop

Rarity: SR

Attribute: Purple/Sexy

Awakened Suit: Reconstruction of Dream

Story - transcripts from Designer's Reflection

Chapter 1 - Over

Chapter 2 - Explore

Chapter 3 - The Beginning

Story - summarized

Ideal City is done. Nikki convinced Glow to stop the project. Caprico finishes up at his lab, but something strange happened during the New World α project.

He had memories of an unfamiliar place, with unfamiliar people.

Before he leaves Ruins, Caprico assists Hestia with one last experiment dealing with consciousness. Right then, he realizes that machine may not be as perfect as he originally thought. This whole time he wanted to lose his humanity and become one with machine.

But do the answers he seeks lie in his humanity?

Glow offers to help him one last time, showing him how to interact with the Ocean of Memories. She figured out that while she can see and study the Ocean, she can't touch or control it, and she can't reach the gods on the other side. If something happened to Caprico's memories, it must have happened there.

He enters the simulation, and Glow pinpoints where his "memories" are from: Mount Koso in North Kingdom.

Caprico says goodbye to Glow and Hestia, and then he prepares for his journey to North. Whoever he is, whatever these strange memories are, he is determined to find the answers.

Connections

-Caprico finds Hestia working on a project with bionics, and she's helping one called Explor-39. We follow this bionic in his "life" as he navigates implanted memories of Hestia as his wife in the event Code: Ai.

-This isn't the first time that a Reflection takes place in a location different from the one it's Indexed in. Caprico's memories take place in Ruins, but the suit and Reflection belong to North Kingdom, which is where he encounters you and Nikki as well as his lost memories. Similarly, Lilith's Reflection and suit for Void of Desire belong to the Ruins category, but her memories all take place in Ninir.

-For as long as he can remember, Caprico always believed machine was the pinnacle of perfection and the ultimate goal for humanity. Back in Into the Ruins, he started turning himself into a cyborg at Glow's suggestion, to start on the path toward his perfection. But since he produced an impurity crystal in Ideal City during the Void Stardust anniversary hell, he's wondered about his own humanity. And now, with him boarding the craft to go to North, he's starting to embrace what it means to be human.

Fun Facts

-The Attribute of Sexy is about seeking perfection and pushing for new discoveries. Everything Caprico has done, in all his Reflections and in the Story Chapters, is all for this pursuit. And ultimately, at the end of Vol. 2, Ch. 12, he realizes he is the lost Envoy of Sexy.

-In the Story Chapter, Caprico remembers his original name: Capri. He most likely got the name "Caprico" after he began his synthetic transformation and got the goat helmet, which makes sense because "Caprico" comes from "Capricorn," the Zodiac sign of the half-goat, half fish.