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#the fact that acheron and aventurine are also some of the only characters
fluffmonster31513 · 2 months
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something about aventurine being on the path of preservation, and acting as a preservation emanator, and questioning if life is worth living. something about acheron being an emanator of nihility, the literal embodiment of emptiness and meaninglessness and saying that life is worth fighting for. that conversation either broke something in me or fixed something that needed to be fixed.
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ironunderstands · 22 days
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Here’s my comparison of Acheron, Aventurine and Ratio that I made in 2.1 which I forgot to upload here lol, I would like you to know my thoughts then because OH BOY HAS THIS AGED WELL
Aventurine, Acheron, Ratio and what the Nihility means to them
(Inspired by a convo I had with @aoxizu on Tumblr!)
The ending scene of the 2.1 update (the one featuring the black hole) is perhaps one of my favorite in all of fiction. I genuinely adore the way it was done and what it says about both the characters and life itself. This game has THEMES and by god did they come through then. So, I want to go over why I love it so much, and why it’s such a vital moment for Acheron, Aventurine and Ratios characters.
First, some context. Prior to Aventurine’s and Acheron’s conversation, Aventurine was taking the riskiest gamble of his life. Prior to the confrontation between him, Acheron and the Astral Express, Aventurine set up a plan to try and get to the secret at the heart of Penacony, as well as provide a ruse for Topaz and Jade to do, well whatever they planned on doing, the ending scene says they came there to “harvest”, so in 2.2 I assume we will find out what exactly that entails.
In order for this plan to work, Aventurine needed his cornerstone and to trick Sunday, so pre-2.0 he went to Dr. Ratio to include him in this plan, and set up a fake betrayal to fool Sunday and allow him to keep the Aventurine stone, with the Jade and Topaz stones also being acquired pre-Penacony. We know this because of Aventurine’s conversation with Topaz post 1.4 Belabog mission in which he requests her help in Penacony, something which we didn’t get confirmation on whether or not she accepted until 2.1, in which it’s revealed that one of the Cornerstones in the box is Topaz, meaning when they got confiscated in 2.0 she had already accepted his offer (we can assume a similar situation for Jade). 
Essentially, everything had been going according to plan for IPC (even if Aventurine was absolutely not having a fun time during it), Ratio even says as much, stating that the IPC is pleased to hear of his death sentence, so that part of the confrontation was already predetermined. This leaves Aventurine with one final gamble, hoping the Astral Express and Acheron take the bait, and that they will try and stop him from destroying the entire dreamscape, which if Acheron acts on it, he could entire the true dreamscape to find the truth, as only an emanator could break through the power of the harmony. 
Luckily for Aventurine, the gamble pays off and Aventurine does indeed draw her blade, both stopping him and sending them both into another plane entirely, it’s there in which one if my favorite scenes in fiction ever occurs. 
You see, even if Aventurine planned this all from the start, he hasn’t exactly been having a fun time while doing it. Being sentenced to death and then slowly hallucinating on Harmony sh1t until the manifestations of your past self and your present doubt and insecurities come to haunt you isn’t exactly fun for anyone, especially Aventurine. 1) Because his backstory is horrifically tragic and being faced with a reminder that you will never feel secure or valued or truly happy would be enough to erode away the psyche of anyone 2) A version of himself which claims to be his future, but is more like a personification of how much Aventurine doubts and hates himself. It’s even more telling that this isn’t the first time he has talked to this version of him, in fact it saved his life several times, meaning one of Aventurine’s driving motivations is his own self loathing. 
A trait that on the surface you don’t think he would have, Aventurine plays the role of the confident, unflappable gambler who always wins, when in reality his other hand is under the table, clutching his chips for dear life (something I quite literally paraphrased from the game). 
Therefore, going into this conversation, Aventurine is more relieved than anything, yet another one of his gambles paid off, but now he will have to see how to go from there, and that’s when Acheron’s advice comes in. She’s not stupid, and immediately recognizes that he won (or at least got what she wanted), and that killing him is meaningless, it’s not his time yet. However, what Aventurine is really focused on is the fact that out of all the emanators he could have come across, the one he faces now is an emanator of nihility.
And well, in the face of overwhelming nihility, one’s own value comes into question yet again, and that’s something Aventurine doesn’t even need the aeon for to ask. So, he talks to Acheron, as IX isn’t exactly going to answer, but she might know. Now, I’m just going to lay out the dialogue (then explain it obviously) because it’s genuinely amazing. 
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Aventurine starts out by asking Acheron if she is an emanator of nihility, and I find her response to be really interesting. She doesn’t view herself as someone chosen by IX, as nihilism (the feeling of meaningless) envelops everyone equally, but she has simply walked in their shadow longer, tainted on the feeling. This leads Aventurine to question if this is the end, as if life has lost all meaning, in the face of overwhelming nihility, would that mean he’s dead?
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Luckily Acheron immediately disagrees, stating that this is merely a manifestation of IX, not the end (he’s not dead guys idk how anyone can think that). However Aventurine still questions if his death has been determined, but Acheron doesn’t promise it. She mulls over his plan and and Aventurine asks her why she thinks he did it, and Acheron believes it was to find a secret deeper than the dream “deaths: the Real Penacony. He wonders how she found out, and Acheron says it’s the trailblazer’s identity which allowed her (and Aventurine) to come to this conclusion (we don’t yet know how this happened for either of them yet, but 2.2 should give answers).
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They continue, Aventurine reveals that he believes the barrier the family built using the power of the harmony was not just to keep death out but the nightmare that is the real dreamscape. That the Memory Zone is simply a vast island built atop a violent ocean with the barrier keeping whatever nightmarish secrets from washing ashore. In order to break through this barrier and find the real dreamscape, which is why he kept killing himself earlier in the dream, but to no  avail. When Sparkle gave him the hint, he realized it was referring to Firefly, someone who had seen the other side and survived it, even if she was unable to let others know if it. It wasn’t proof of the families wrongdoing, but it was suspicious enough for him to try and get Acheron to kill him, rather than try and find the Meme to recreate Firefly’s death. 
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Acheron points out just how insane this plan was, that if he hadn’t gotten lucky and crossed path with her, it wouldn’t have succeeded. Then, she commends him for playing it perfectly, pitting her perfectly against him and creating a plan that would be beneficial for the IPC no matter what happened, as even if he dies that would be great leverage. However, Aventurine disagrees with that last point, he truly can’t guarantee the IPCs success or even his own survival, that if she hadn’t drawn her blade it would have all be pointless. 
She’s doesn’t let him continue along this line of thought, what-ifs are pointless and he earned his ticket to the dreamscape. What matters now is what happens next, and Acheron asks him if he can return from the abyss (Childe reference?), but more importantly, she questioned if he has ever wavered, as even a gamble as seemingly insane as the one Aventurine just did seems to have not shaken him (from her POV, we know how terrified Aven was but everyone else minus maybe Ratio does). 
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Aventurine tells her perhaps the most fundamental aspect of his character; he gambles simply because he has no other choice, betting on everything because he has nothing else to lose. Acheron tells him to wake up from this “dream” (aka find the true dreamscape), and she presumably goes to leave.
However (and this is my favorite part of the scene), he asks her one more question before she leaves, thinking she might know the answer as a pathstrider of nihility, “Why are we born in this world if it’s just to die?”
Her response is the best possible way you could answer this question. Acheron is an emanator of nihility, but she doesn’t think life is meaningless. The feeling of emptiness and pointlessness envelops everyone equally and that’s exactly why the nihility is pointless. It doesn’t matter that nothing matters, and we aren’t born into this world just to die. 
Aventurine still worries though, after all if the dice of fate will always roll to the same conclusion, then destiny is predetermined, so why struggle? Why does it matter?
Her answer again is not one he would expect, but one that absolutely makes sense. Acheron says the answer has been with Aventurine throughout his entire life and journey on Penacony, and that he’s already somewhat realized it. Aventurine said himself that sleep is a rehearsal of death, but people aren’t ready to welcome death, which is why they sleep to get a taste of it. Sleep is much like death, a realm of unreality in which anything might be possible within the dreams that define its existence. Death itself is an unreality, and nobody truly knows what it’s like to die, but dreams are the closest we might ever get before the end. Like Acheron says, in a way, dreams are just a preparation for death, a practice before it can be welcomed. 
However, much like how dreams can contain anything, even if we cannot choose to experience them or not, life itself is full of choices, regardless of if the ending is determined or not. Acheron understands that there are an infinite amount of things people cannot change before the end, but there are choices you can make up until it. Death is inevitable, but the life you live before it isn’t. This is what the words in red mean, both here and in my opinion, in general. 
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Acheron reminds the trailblazer to make the right choice when time comes for it, in our first meeting with her. However, I don’t think the path we choose matters, but rather the the fact that we chose at all. Now the next paragraph will include a minor discussion of 2.2 leaks, so skip to the next slide if you don’t want to hear it. 
Sunday is getting a bossfight in 2.2, and it’s highly theorized that he works/believes in Ena the Order, especially because it looks like it’s their hand he’s touching in that one animation of the bossfight. Now here’s the thing, Order as a concept Chooses For You. I think the trailblazer making a decision is the thing that will save them and the rest of the gang, as within the face of an entity defined by limiting choice and free will, choosing to well, choose will save them (us?) and perhaps be the thing that gets the trailblazer acknowledged by the Harmony, a concept greater than Order. 
Anyways, after she says that, Acheron leaves Aventurine, saying the answer to his question was from his friend.
And Aventurine pulls out the vial from Dr. Ratio
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The vial telling him that the only impossible thing in the dreamscape is dormancy (meaning the secrets from before are destined to rise and destroy the “island” that is Penacony.
The vial telling him to stay alive and wishing him the best of luck, which in the Chinese version is: 
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Ratio answered both of Aventurine’s questions. The physical one, the one that pertains to Aventurines goals in Penacony, informing him of a vital aspect of the dreamscape that will help him win his gamble. But more importantly, he also answered Aventurine’s emotional one. What is the point of living? There is no real deeper meaning but to stay alive, survive and keep on living, because at the end of the day, that’s the only choice Aventurine can make, and that’s the one Ratio wants him to make.
Ratio Gives Aventurine A Reason To Live. 
Aventurine says that he has nothing left, his family is gone and he has nobody and nothing to fall back on which is why he gambles. But Acheron proves him wrong, he isn’t alone, she calls Ratio his “friend”, says that he’s the solution to his doubt. Someone caring about Aventurine is what saves his life, he walks into the massive black hole unafraid not because he holds some secret power or technique or trick, but because someone cares about him, and that someone taught him that caring about himself is enough. Aventurine didn’t need the power of an emanator to survive the true dreamscape, he only needed a friend, and the will to keep going that he realized from them. 
This is the true meaning of nihility, not that  Aventurine says that he has nothing left, his family is gone and he has nobody and nothing to fall back on which is why he gambles. But Acheron proves him wrong, he isn’t alone, she calls Ratio his “friend”, says that he’s the solution to his doubt. Someone caring about Aventurine is what saves his life, he walks into the massive black hole unafraid not because he holds some secret power or technique or trick, but because someone cares about him, and that someone taught him that caring about himself is enough. Aventurine didn’t need the power of an emanator to survive the true dreamscape, he only needed a friend, and the will to keep going that he realized from them. the universe is meaningless, but that regardless of if it has one or not, it doesn’t matter. It’s this realization that saves Acheron from losing herself like other emanators, it’s this realization that allows Aventurine to cross the event horizon of that manifestation of IX, and it’s this realization that I believe is why Dr. Ratio was never acknowledged by Nous: he was already treading the path of nihility without even realizing it. 
Now this is where my conversation with @aoxizu comes in, and I’m just gonna paste directly what they said because I think it’s amazing and everyone should read it, more importantly it’s what inspired this slideshow in the first place.
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Ratio tells Aventurine to live despite everything because that’s the only thing he can do. It doesn’t matter how absurd life is, or how meaningless it all seems, choose to live anyways, because all you have are choices, and it doesn’t matter if they lead to some grand outcome or future or whatnot. To Ratio, life doesn’t, and shouldn’t care about that. Existence doesn’t need to make sense to be worth it, and that’s a sentiment both me, the characters and the og poster share.
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Acheron is a lot like Ratio, she chooses to live despite having discovered the meaninglessness of the universe. In an existence seemingly black and white she chooses to paint the world red with her choices, accepting its reality and choosing to forge her own path rather than succumb to the madness. That’s why she says in her trailer, “there is no other choice but to move forward” and that’s because there really is no other choice, the universe doesn’t have some grand plan for anyone and you can’t turn back time to change anything, so all you can do is move forward.
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My contribution! I’ve already kinda started but I do want to talk about how Ratio could be treading the path of nihility, but I’ll let this amazing post finish.
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So yeah, amazing post, and I don’t think I could reword what they said in a better way than they did. Bringing up the philosophical aspects of this scene makes me really happy because they are so prominent, but most people aren’t really aware enough to notice. Absurdism is one of the driving inspirations behind the dreamscape, and it’s nice to see someone else besides you (see: my slideshow about Penacony and its American influences for an elaboration on this) bring it up. Honestly I think that philosophy fits Ratio far better than any of the Ancient Greek stuff you try to slap on him. Sure he obviously has the inspirations, but he’s closer in spirit to philosophers from the 1700s to now than them, a reinterpretation of Greek scholars rather than a copy of them. 
And this is where my idea that Ratio is a pathstrider of nihility (and he doesn’t even know it yet) comes in. He doesn’t view knowledge in the same way that pathstriders of Erudition do; knowledge for knowledges sake has never been something Ratio has cared about. Knowledge means something to Ratio because it allows people to better themselves, not because it has some sort of inherent value. That’s why he’s so determined to spread it, he wants everyone to reach their fullest potential, and dedicates his life to doing so. Regardless of if the universe has meaning or not, that doesn’t mean people can’t try and live their best lives, and that’s the philosophy Ratio truly believes in.
Moreover, this is why it’s so meaningful that Ratio is the one to help Aventurine, he’s teaching him something Ratio himself learned long ago when he got rejected by the Genius Society. Despite all of Ratio’s intellect and qualifications, he will never be good enough for them because he simply doesn’t view knowledge in the way they do. But instead of this meaninglessness (nihility) consuming him, Ratio dedicated his life to doing what brought him meaning and validation rather than searching for some hidden answers from the universe (specifically Nous).
And it’s not like he just accepted it happily. Ratio still wants their acknowledgement, and it still hurt (and hurts) him a lot to not have it, which is why I think he unknowingly strides the path of nihility. To Ratio, his view on knowledge is simply how knowledge is, and the fact that Nous will never perceive it in that way because his philosophy is more nihilistic than it is erudite is something Ratio might never come to terms with. But that’s ok. The point is that it’s ok, Ratio doesn’t need to be acknowledged or to understand the truth of the universe to be happy or do well for himself. Our universe might mean nothing and yeah that can and will suck, but existence is more valuable than some grand cosmic plan, and even if you don’t realize it, choosing to live is enough.
Continually, this reminds me of the conversation Aventurine had with his hallucination self, in which he told real Aventurine that him and Ratio are very similar. In a way, they are, both struggling to find meaning in their lives, and Ratio helps Aventurine find meaning in his without really even knowing how. Sure the note was meant to keep Aventurine going, but Ratio caused Aventurine to come to a conclusion that probably won’t find Ratio for a while. He helped Aventurine overcome nihility without even knowing it, without Ratio even realizing that THAT is the thing he has been struggling with, and the path he has been walking the whole time.
I really hope we get to see Ratio again, and at the very least I want a story quest for him because I want to analyze his brain under a microscope. Him and Acheron need to meet asap I want more Ratio content idc if everyone else in the fandom hates him I love him and he’s my pookie bear and I will write 3039493494 things about him when it comes to me UGHHHH. Anyways I didn’t know how end this so this is the ending yaaayyy! I hope you liked it and if you have any thoughts let me know! 
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Og post over! That was a long ass read and past me was absolutely cooking up a storm, oh god did this age well and I was right about or close to right about a lot of shit haha. Anyways I really do hope you enjoyed reading this, and this will hopefully provide some needed context for my next posts on this subject. Also feel free to repost this onto other sites I’m very proud of it
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sarchasmmm · 1 month
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Assigning penacony characters D&D classes because I can
Aventurine - Wild Magic Sorcerer
Luck plays a huge part of this subclass, literally every time a wild magic sorc uses a spell they gamble on whether or not they have a wild magic surge, which can either help or hinder them. Also they get an ability called "bend luck" which lets them either improve the luck of allies or make the luck of enemies worse
Robin - Bard. Self explanatory. Not sure on a subclass but I'd guess I'd go with lore??
Sunday - Knowledge domain Cleric. This is based pretty much entirely on vibes but also you cannot convince me he would be anything other than a cleric
Acheron - Paladin. Given her connection to what is basically a god (are aeons the same as gods? I'm not a big Lore Guy I just know the vibes) and the fact that she does Big Damage With A Sword I think Paladin fits best. Also unsure on subclass but I'd tentatively go oath of vengeance?
Black Swan - Abberant mind sorcerer. As far as I know this is the class with the most psychic/mind fuckery stuff so. I think it works.
Sparkle - arcane trickster rogue. Once again I am mostly basing this on vibes but it literally has trickster in the name how could I not give it to her.
Dr Ratio - Wizard. Only person in penacony with the intelligence for it. Has the required pretentiousness
Firefly/Sam - artificer??? Mostly basing this off of the use of a big metal suit, that's similar to armourer artificers I think
Gallagher - Warlock of some description, although I'm not sure what subclass. The fiend maybe?
Ok that is all, hope I didn't miss anybody
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oh-my-may · 17 days
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I'm still alive omg!
Lots of irl things happening atm, BUT I managed to play through Penacony 2.2 (stretched over 3 days, no less)
Woah. Just ... woah. So much happening, so many characters interacting, so much lore, IT WAS GOING ON FOREVER but I loved it nonetheless. Of course they had to make the finale of Penacony long and epic.
FIRST OF ALL I KNEW IT! I TOLD Y'ALL!!! Literally in my post about 2.1 I talked about how Misha definitely has some close connection to Mikhail/the Watchmaker. I suspected him to be a child of his or something but the actual thing was close enough, I guess. My sweet boy. I love him. Mikhail being a Nameless was so cool. I'm really glad we're finally getting more lore and info about Akivili and previous Nameless, but I feel this was only the beginning.
I'm still madly in love with Sunday and Acheron. Robin is such a cutie too. I'm not gonna pull for her because I need my savings for Mr. Boothill and then Jade but I'll try and pull for her on a rerun. Sway to My Beat in Cosmos is such a banger. Caught myself constantly singing "riiise into my wooorld" (ofc much worse than the one and only lol)
On the topic of Boothill... my god. Love him. The way they can't make him swear so they just make him say??? Whatever??? Whose idea was that 💀 mother loving instead of mother fucking?? What the fork?? Wubbaboo?? I would die for this man. He looks so hot too. Again I have to say that HSR never misses with male character design. THEY'RE ALL SO PRETTY.
On the topic of pretty men... SUNDAY. My little radicalized bird man. I cackled when Sparkle called him chicken boy. She's just a hater, love her for that. Serious question... is he straight up dead now? I have only played the main quest so far so in case it'a mentioned somewhere in game don't spoil me but if it's not... tell me will I get to see him as a playable character... pls...
The whole thing with Ena the Order was so interesting to see. The fact that they made Order so similar to Harmony... AEON LORE. Love it. Resurrecting an Aeon is possible, you say? Kind of? The way they make Sunday'a motives understandable... he's just a boy
So I had the feeling that facing the boss Dominicus was a bit too easy the first time around. Wdym he has only one phase. I should have known there was more to it. Nevertheless loved to see IL and Jing Yuan cameo. They slayed (literally)
But then the eerie feeling I got when Black Swan talked to us on the Express... the way she makes us question everything that happened... GENIUS. I did kind of get flashbacks to Sumeru act II. The line between dream and reality, who is dreaming, what happens outside of the dream, the repetition of events... not critiquing or hating, but the concepts were just similar to me and I liked it :) Penacony just put a different twist to it.
The final fight was still very cool. The several toughness bars to break is really interesting, and the fact that you get a shield value the more bars you break. Also the Astral Ecpress literally crashing into Sunday??? I barely realized what I had just watched ghe first time around. Idk why, but the concept is hilarious to me. And the question remains... is Sunday dead now??? What about Robin?? Are they both dead??
Aventurine isn't dead either?? What about the present that Sparkle gave out to several people? What was it and what did it do? Is there smth I don't remember about that rn? Did I miss it? Also if Robin didn't actually die, how come we saw her body? If she just got transported to Dreamflux Reef, then there wouldn't have been a body, right? ALSO is Firefly dead too? She didn't make an appearance throughout the second part after we see her leave and she talked abput the way that the script said she would die 3 times in Penacony... I'm so eternally confused. It's part of the reason I think there's still gonna be more in the next patch... They're not gonna give us playable Firefly without at least a Story Quest for her, right? And Jade, too? She had one appearance in a throwback during the story, the Trailblazer hasn't interacted with her in person yet so the IPC probably hasn't finished their business with Penacony yet?
And since I mentioned Trailblazer... HARMONY MC??? LOOKS SO GOOD? LOVE THE MOVES?? THE HAT? The Significance of it had me 😭😭 my MC obsession ks back y'all. He looks so good. Caelus ily. The silly little dance with Clockie 😭 Can't wait to build him, I heard Harmony MC is really good.
I also briefly have to mention my girl Acheron. So they've literally just casually confirmed that she's Raiden Mai? I actually don't know what Bosenmori means or it's significance BUT RAIDEN MEI. And her whole flashback with Tiernan... I had my suspicions about his identity but the reveal was interesting, anyway. I've got the feeling this is not the last we've seen of Acheron. I never played HI3rd far enough to fully understand Raiden Mei's story, but I'm really intrigued with the whole thing. How come her and Welt exist in noth universes, how did they end up in HSR and what's their motive?
One thing I'm also still hung up on is the Annihilation Gang... no more mention of them? We don't get any real eyplanation as to why Acheron killed Duke Inferno? No little animation of the scene? I'm guessing it's gonna play a role later? The reason they talked about it is probably to tell us that Acheron was dangerous but like... idk what to think of it. No question the other members of the Gang are gonna appear later and maybe then we'll get more background? But if they don't play a large role in Penacony, why introduce them to the players prior to it in such a grand way?
Anyway, I judt have lots of questions still but no doubt the game is gonna answer them when the time is right... I had a really good time playing the quest, went through a whole lot of emotions during it, fell in love with even mlre characters... the new maps are GIGANTIC and look so cool and let me just say rhe music was so so epic too. Can't wait for the OST for this to get released.
I also wanna mention here (outside of discusaions about the story) is that having a fully leveled Acheron with pretty decent relics paired with a tank Aventurine feels like playing the game on easy mode. Nothing can penetrate a fully def stacked Aventurine, and Acheron's damage is straight up insane. Gonna take a while before I get tired of using them. They helped me clear basically all Stage V of every SU World I hadn't done yet... legends.
Now we wait for Boothill... The grip that Hunt characters have on me is unbelievable. Meta wise I know I should invest in Harmony characters... Ruan Mei or Robin but... HAVE YOU SEEN BOOTHILL? HAVE YOU???
Alright, that's it for now. Really excited to dive into exploration and events and quests of the new maps. Might post a little about it.. or maybe not. I still have to tell you about my thoughts on the Arlecchino quest and Remuria exploration, I began a post about that and never got around to finishing it.
As always, have some cool screenshots from the story!
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stickyspeckledlight · 2 months
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the week of waiting is going to kill me. i need him and to gather all my friends to watch my pulls go down the drain for this man. i will win the 50/50 on both him and his weapon. i already have the relics. i have all the materials pre-farmed. he is coming home and he will come home NOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
(some nerdy stuff ranting about how one builds the glorious Aventurine and...things i heard from the slow drip drip of my sink...)
honestly the first character since furina i feel this determine to pull on. although unlike with furina, I won't be trying to go for e6 on him. they're not bad, but I don't think they're worth pulling for in comparison to other things, esp since they integrated his OG e1 into his base kit (the only thing e1 does is give a little crdmg and shield; not bad, but it's not like, amazing. lc over his e1, or save that e1 5* for someone with a bonkers e1 like Ruan Mei). and e2 is nice for ratio teams, but also...i feel like it should've also been able to apply with his fua as well....like again they're not bad, but I think one should only pull for his eidolons if they're truly down bad, or have $2000 just sitting there. his e6 is fucking broken tho, but it's an e6, so no surprises there (basically gets a free 150% dmg bonus; sure technically he needs shield teammates, but when you're at e6 this bitch will never give you up and throw away his shield srsly wtf my guy)
and i do have to be honest...his LC is really good on him, no doubt his BiS (and before you go to Trend of Universal Market, no, his LC is way better at debuff application than it. Gepard's LC is his 2nd best lc tho), but you should consider which teams you want to run with him. this LC shoots up in value if you're planning to build a fua team with him, as I am doing with ratio-aven-topaz. However, if you're really wanting to commit to this team, these are priorities (in order excluding Robin, since she's still not properly released)
Robin (like RM she buffs the whole team, and seems to be really good as a premium FUA harmony like RM was to DoT teams; although RM is still really good, since she can apply debuffs for ratio. Tho frankly, I think both RM and Robin are REALLY good for DoT teams and you can use them pretty interchangeably. RM's delay lets more DoT trigger, as does Robin's action advance; RM's dmg boost and be increases DoT, Robin's ATK and dmg boost scales with all DoTs; RM gives free speed, robin action advances whole team with ult; honestly it's a bit of a tough call, and I'm sure there'll be a lot of theorycrafting and stuff. but with boothill and a general increase of break effect focused units, I'm sure RM will be implemented in those teams) ok now that I think about it she might not be the penultimate fua harmony lmao
Topaz s1 or e1. I think s1 is a bit better, but do whichever one is cheaper for you (which...would likely be s1, since weapon banner has lower pity lmao)
Ratio LC. It's fucking ridiculous AND THERE'S AN EMOTIONAL SUPPORT DUCK. DO IT FOR THE DUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!
So Aven LC is not bad, as it boosts his and his team's dmg by 12% from what I've seen, and it helps him reach the full 4k def to max out his crate passive, but you should be aware of other priorities if you are going for a fua team. esp since its effect allows him to act as a better subdps and enables ratio and topaz, effectively giving the team THREE subdps (and you're getting dmg from a SUSTAIN. sustains usually contribute to only 5% of the team's dmg, but aven has been able to go up to 12-18% alone, which is pretty nuts). as for me...i am lacking a topaz and ratio lc. But I am pulling for Aven's LC because I love love love this man hey in fact did you know I have saved up ~308 pulls saved up hahahahahhahahahahahahahahahaha and it would've been ~378 if I wasn't such a kafka believer (and also because it was, um. cheaper than going for an acheron team....😅)
ultimately, although aven has sub-dps capabilities, most people should prioritize his sustain first, I think. if you want him as a sub dps, then you should go for his LC. I'm personally going to try out a 2pc salsatto + 2pc pioneer + 2pc knights, and then go for a 4pc pioneer + 2pc salsatto to get extra *spicy.* I will be running def boots on him, but go for speed boots if you want him to generate more SP (but also note that he has like. 106 SPD at base, which is as fast as asta & yukong for reference). tho if you run spd boots, you would prob have to run a def body and 2pc belobog.
however, 4pc knight is never a bad idea. But don't farm too hard for a 4pc; I just have a lot of knights pieces from when I was farming Kafka artifacts pre-Prisoner set. you can really just run something like 2pc knights and then flex the remaining slots. the two remaining slots could just be rainbow artifacts with a lot of def or crdmg. or maybe something like 2pc pioneer for dmg (ONLY IF YOU HAVE A DEBUFFER THO, OTHERWISE RUN 2PC DUKE OR 2PC BANDIT), 2pc guards for his own dmg reduction (but 2pc guard is really awful for him since it does. basically nothing for him), 2pc hackerspace for spd.
planar sets are a lot easier. salsatto for dmg, broken keel is always good and he won't have any issue proccing its effect because of the insane amount of eff res he provides, and belobog (but only if you're really struggling hitting his 4000 def requirement). maybe you can run signoia on him too? but only in pure fiction, and even then it's better you prioritize it on your dps (and also survivability isn't as important in pure fiction as it is in MoC; you probably should only run aven if you're really struggling to kill the enemies. if you are having issues with survivability tho, I actually do recommend running 4pc guard on your supports, if you have any lying around after farming the quantum domain. the guard set is rlly niche, but when it works it really works. it's the only reason I was able to 36* last moc, since my team on the second half consisted of ratio, tingyun, pela, and fire MC (my lynx and natasha couldn't keep up with their healing, and can't apply debuffs like fire MC can w/ taunt or universal market))
anyways, that's all i have for nerding out about aventurine. I will be maxing out his traces (relatively. his basic atk is useless as fuck, so L bozo) and laying at his feet. wish me luck in my pulls.
AVENTURINE WANTERS WILL BE AVENTURINE HAVERSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
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revserrayyu · 21 days
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2.2 Penacony thoughts [part 4]
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**Spoiler warning** as we are nearing the very end of the story. Discussing on everything that happens once we wake up after the first boss fight until right before we enter the Horizon of Existence with Acheron. Do look away if you haven’t reached that place yet.
Ma’am, what do you mean by this??
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Here I am, wandering around reality all confused, and yet the game still has the audacity to make jokes!
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I thought Boothill was just being silly, but if Dan Heng also forgot, then it must be serious. Then I remembered there was one occasion last patch where we also forgot about Acheron’s name when talking to Welt. Or Himeko. I don’t recall which parent it was but we were near Clockie’s statue at the time.
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So I saw Ratio, Topaz and Aventurine chatting with each other from afar and thought nothing of it, only to finally realize after our beloved gambler greeted us that YES it has indeed been a while because he was SUPPOSEDLY DEAD and he CLEARLY ISN’T ANYMORE, THANK GOD! I believed he was gonna be fine, thanks to Ratio’s advice and the fact Aventurine stated he wasn’t going to join his family yet, but then hearing Topaz’s call with Jade and how the Aventurine Cornerstone lost its light made me doubt his status just a little bit, but overall I’m so happy to see our man alive and well. I just wish.. it happened differently? I was expecting this grand reunion cutscene after his death-defying performance and he just.. shows up in the hotel with a completely normal interaction.
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That is a whole lotta words, honey, but good for you I guess?
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Screwllum jump-scare, also accompanied by lots of words that my mind can’t focus on right now.
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… Pardon me? No. Surely not. We still have a whole other patch to get through after this, Welt! Needless to say, at this point in the story, confusion was at an all time high and Penacony’s story was beginning to lose its luster for me because the “ending” didn’t feel like a true conclusion.
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Despite the unsatisfying feeling, we indeed arrive back on the Express. It has been a long while since we had a good adventure with our fellow Nameless. I hope he can join us fully in the next planet. Surely he would keep us from getting in trouble.
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I feel like this comment isn’t only because we’re the main character, but also because as the player, we were able to view different people’s perspectives aside from the Trailblazer’s.
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Is this a date? Sounds like a date. Regardless, I accept!
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I can’t believe they actually had credits rolling. It’s giving Argenti trailer flashbacks and they’re really making it seem like this is the end of Penacony. Worth noting that March and Acheron’s real names aren’t listed while Welt and Aventurine’s are.
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What the fuck do you mean?? For real though, hearing this after having one of the easiest boss fights of my life is a bit reassuring because I just knew something wasn’t quite right about all this!
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Black Swan then retells the whole journey to us, from start to finish while asking us to pick out the one flaw in the whole story, which just so happens to be us running into Misha in the hotel’s lobby. He’s a major flaw that contradicts all other information in the story because that moment shouldn’t have been real. As for much recent occurrences, they don’t appear to be reality either because.. we have yet to actually wake up.
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Still within the dream, we experience some deja vu because isn’t this exactly what Acheron says to us the very first time we meet her in 2.0?
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Well aren’t you just a splendid little cheat code. No wonder the “Dreammaster” wanted to kick you out of Penacony.
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So because we able to realize that seeing Misha in reality was an illusion, we were spared from being trapped like so many other residents of Penacony. I’m honestly surprised how many twists and turns this story can keep introducing to us when we’re so close to the story’s ending, but it’s impressive.
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Robin realized there was a flaw in her dream too, which just so happened to be the flashback of her and Sunday finding the injury bird. Apparently that illusion was too blissful to be true? Wild.
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We then found out that this fancy little bullet is the relic that Acheron had to return to its rightful owner.
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Posing as a Galaxy Ranger to get a real one’s attention so they (Boothill) can properly use the relic in the next stage of the plan is a surprising move from Acheron. Who knew she could play 3d chess.
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Firefly deserves some credit too, naturally, since it’s due to her that everyone was able to find us and understand the key to breaking free of this endless dream. By following Elio’s script, one is bound to have a knack of planning ahead and carrying out perfectly timed moves.
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The end of Penacony is near but the fact it might actually come at the cost of that precious girl’s life ain’t bringing me much joy!
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Last part coming up next and yet there’s still so much to chat about aaahh..
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punklorde-hunter · 2 months
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So 2.1, just like the previous patch SO much happened, and To no one's surprise, It blew everything we saw in 2.0 out of the water! And since i did something similar during 2.1, I'd thought it make sense to do the same for the next part. So without further ado!
Spoilers under the Cut!!!!
Of course the start of 2.1's story has to end right where we left off, in the room where we found Robin's dead body O_O. But i like the direction they go, where after we split off form Aventurine and meet with the Express, we get to see multiple POV's, kinda like how they did with Dan Heng on the Luofu but more complex. And man did it work wonders!
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While I know there were people meming and a bit disappointed Duke Inferno never got to appear in game, I did like that Acheron at least remembers his last stand. Man stood by his principles and went out fighting (even if he' prob won't be playable)
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I also like how they handled Acheron & Welt together. Like I said before never got to play Honkai Impact 3rd, but I did get to read a lot of the supplementary material like Second Impact, so it was nice to see that side of Welt from there. And that's while Acheron isn't his Mei it's nice they shared a kinship
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What a fun Greek Myth ref to match the HI3 Ref
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I got nothing to add to this the sand pit was hilarious as hell! The NPC walking into walls and clipping into floors made me lose it. The devs had way too much fun in that area lmao.
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Siobhan give em one more chance 🥺
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the straight Up Pikachu ref sdjaldsadkklds
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The little detail of Aventurine's & Dr. Ratio's shoes was pretty cute, the lil' spades on Aventurine's sole and Ratio's sandals, it's nice!
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Nice Unlimited Blade Works ref there Star Rail
This next parts more on the serious side, so I'll give a little heads up that rest of the post is prob about to touch on really dark topics like Enslavement, genocide, su1c1de, and not so nice things like that so be warned.
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So,
Aventurine / Kakavasha's backstory....
there's so much I could say but they really did a excellent job fleshing out his character. From how he was "lucky" from birth but everyone he ever loved wasn't so lucky, how his reckless gambling with his life was there even as a kid, him feeling he's never been truly free only going from one master to another, mans got trauma and it's no wonder he thinks everything comes at a cost.
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I haven't seen a lot of post about the part where Kakasvasha says his last goodbyes to his sister, right before the Narration explains that the small rebellion ended in the Avgin clan's extinction (it's vague if the Katacins survived, but considering how the story paints them, not many people are gonna miss them). over 6,000 deaths and over ,000 casualties, all on a planet that was barely survivable. And while his sister sends him off after one final prayer to Gaithra Triclops, it left him alone with no one, and we know how he ended up afterwards.
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Not to mention the fact even when Aventurine killed his old master by STRANGLING HIM WITH CHAINS, he would've been arrested by the IPC had Jade not taken an interest in his bet. Man has been through it. No wonder he recklessly bets his life in gambles, it was either that or he dies.
Speaking of reckless gambling, the entire sequence after Sunday does his Harmony suggestion we get that oh so nice interactions with the young Aventurine and his shadow the true self other Aventurine that rags on him the rest of the way. The shadow Aventurine lays it in him that underneath that bravado is a man whose so scared to lose more and yet doesn't care if his own life gets taken in the process since all he has is that. Not even with all the money in the universe. Dr Ratio's "betrayal" was supposedly an act, but he still thinks on some level the doctor hates him and it was real, he has no one to confined in or anything.
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But with the younger self it's different. The way his young self still has light in his eyes, how in the hallucination he's at the theme park with his family, who are dead. First he denies that there are any Avgins since they were all dead right? But then he shows a kinder side he would never show to anyone, much less himself. And it accumulates in the scene where he decides to live on a bit longer and says a final prayer to his past, to Kakavasha. I was choking up all through that final part.
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I know the patch mostly focused on Aventurine, but even what we learned of Acheron is also sad. She's not really a Galaxy Ranger, because her status as an Emanator of Nihillty, a "Self-Annihilator," is tragic enough, means she'll forget precious memories, senses, untill there's nothing. So it's sticks out to me that Acheron is the one to give Aventurine the nudge to live on, she she also has lost so much but chooses to walk on in life. Plus Dr. Ratio's note to Aventurine was very Ratio, no-nonsense but also wants him to live on despite their differences. The Aventio fans are eating it up but it's still a nice gesture from Ratio.
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Speaking of Sunday, I said I wanted him to get his revenge as a treat but I wasn't counting on him almost killing Aventurine with whatever Harmony power he put on him. Sure the man lost his sister to an unknown murderer, and the light cone memory of them of a simpler time is sad. There's still a few unanswered question about him and Robin's relationship, like if Robin's fondest memories of are the pretend concert between her and Sunday, why is ti as adults she only just got back to Penacony, and why the Harmony isn't in sync anymore that caused her voice to lose it's tune. Also Sundays controlling attitude and his raven bird watching in every scene he's in makes me think the once closed siblings may not be as close anymore
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Also with the reveal of what "Gallagher's" role in the story is, the drink he made for my Trailblazer fits a bit TOO well. I don't completely believe he's working alone, but his association with the Something Unto Death meme has me excited for his role next patch. Let my chill bartender man be a bit shady as a treat. Truly the "most normal human in the game of werewolf" (Thanks Shaoji)
Also to no one's surprise, Sam & Firefly are one in the same. While I am interested on how the last Stellaron Hunter is gonna be like and what their deal is, it's a shame most people like em were spoiled by the twist since it makes Firefly and Sam SO much more interesting.
But overall 2.1 has been AMAZING in terms of characterization and with 2.2 being set to be the "climax" of Penacony's Story I can't wait to see what they do with the plot threads they have been cooking up.
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mdhwrites · 2 months
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Have you seen the new HSR short, Rondo Across Countless Kapas? Got any thoughts? 👀
From an animation and sapphic perspective? HOLY FUCK! Absolutely gorgeous and I think what it's doing with Acheron is really interesting, even if it's essentially purely through visual storytelling. You could have the sound off and get everything interesting about the short.
Turn the sound on and you get the part I have a problem with: I'm kind of done with the Memokeeper. Not Black Swan, just the memokeeper element of her. I'll get into it soon but for those who haven't seen it, enjoy one of the best dances I've ever seen.
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So what is my issue with the dialogue? Well, it's that Penacony has this problem of people getting into kind of grand speeches on a subject, even potentially mundane ones. Aventurine is always going on about power dynamics and hinting at his plan (this leads to the fucking god awful self quoting of like two paragraphs from himself at the end of 2.0), Sparkle is constantly using these big speeches to belittle people or mock them and Black Swan...
Black Swan is talking about memories. I'm not even against these monologues or the like but Black Swan has been in a LOT of marketing materials at this point and they ALL use her memokeeper element and very little of her fortunetelling element, usually only using the latter to emphasize the former in some way. It's just gotten very repetitive to me. Worse yet is that owning Black Swan AMPLIFIED this problem because it's more kind of mysterious, kind of not talk of dreams and the universe and memories and past that a lot of the rest of the big dialogue from her is. I want her to stop being so dramatic and be more personable, at least for a little while.
This isn't even me calling Black Swan a bad character. There is genuinely more to her with how playful she can be or how she is the best manipulator on Penacony so far because she can figuratively be two faced, something Sparkle needs literal shapeshifting powers for and Aventurine can't do to save his life, which the same goes for Himeko. She also sells the best though that she's genuinely a good person who just is willing to get her hands dirty but it is up to interpretation (honestly kind of frustratingly so. I don't like that I can't actually say a ton about each Penacony character so far due to their attempts at duplicity meaning fuck you on concrete characterization besides your flavor of manipulator. No, backstory does not count as characterization either.)
Edit: This could definitely also just be a me thing at this point. I rewatched it and not a lot of it is spent on talking about the past or memories. Black Swan is still playing up the mysteries of Penacony, something that I'm also getting a bit tired of, but she doesn't actually have many lines on memories themselves. It's just somehow kind of stuck in my brain for some reason this element of her being over represented and so it's what my brain ended up focusing on.
Let's end this on a positive though. Star Rail is normally not good at mysteries but the fact that Acheron genuinely seems disconnected from her Emanator state, when she draws the blade, is deeply interesting to me. It even fits within my theory, that we'll find out the truth on soon, that Acheron is an Emanator of Nihility. Speaking of, hi VERY explicitly to Ix within the violence montage. There is no way of getting around the fact that one of those sketches was of them front and center.
And from a dramatic standpoint, I love the presentation. The fact that bringing them up while clearly trying to get extra information out of Acheron, to have her mind have to go there so Black Swan could more easily grab the memories she might lie about, only for her to get fucked up like she does is INCREDIBLE. The fact that Acheron is so sincere in her confusion afterwards only adds to the horror of it all.
I... Am mixed on her knowing who they were. I frankly would love it if because the statement is the Annihilation Gang, not the Everflame Manor, that when she goes "Oh, right, those guys..." She's actually talking about the dumbasses from this destruction cult, since Duke Inferno isn't the only part of it, that got Aha's help to try to kill Ix. It'd be a way for them to have their cake and eat it too that I think fits better than the girl with eternal memory issues to suddenly actually remember killing them all.
Overall, I do like the animated short. If I were to just think of it in a vacuum, I even like Black Swan's dramatic narration. It's a good flourish to the action, explains what's going on well enough and her calm narration provides great contrast from when EVERYTHING gets fucked. My hangups are entirely a weird thing that's just kind of getting to me about Penacony and I'm not entirely sure if I expect it to get better or worse come 2.1.
I just know that thanks to my tax return (I did not spend all of it on Star Rail, don't worry) and knowing the top up refresh was happening, I did spend a good amount and am guaranteed to get Acheron, even if it takes 160 pulls like it took for Black Swan..., and I am looking forward to playing with her.
Just with tempered expectations.
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And final note for those maybe hoping for it: I haven't been inspired by this short to write AcheSwan. I frankly wish I knew why I didn't get inspired by Star Rail more for my writing.
I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!
I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.
A Twitter you can follow too
And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.
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2.1 Discussion + General Thoughts
Of course, as I've stated, I'm going to be focusing moreso on Ratio for this review. I have a lot of scattered thoughts, so I'm going to do my best to put them in order here.
Future Willow: this shit long as fuck oops. Ventium and Starry this one is for you
It broke my HEART seeing them interact in Dewlight Pavilion, only for Sunday to barrel in and quite literally violate Aventurine's mind like that. my god. I couldn't stop looking at the change in Ratio's body language, going from turning away with his arms crossed to standing at attention, facing the both of them, glaring at Sunday. He was worried. He was so worried.
A lot of the banter between Ratio and Aventurine up until that point definitely did seem, to me, exaggerated. Yes yes, I perhaps have the shipping lens on, but! No doubt they knew they were being watched, and up until that point had to play up their mutual dislike for Sunday to be convinced that they weren't working together. And yet, all the same, they clearly have a very natural flow to their banter, like they've worked together before, like they know each other well, despite what they let other people assume.
The nightingale bickering was amazing
"Perhaps I should offer you the chance to join the Genius Society?" "Really? I thought you'd given up on that already." "I was being sarcastic." the fact that Aventurine knows of this when Ratio himself has never actually spoken of that desire publicly, nor the letdown he had....
"Thanks, Doc! :D" why don't you just kill me why couldn't they have stayed there
"Who's to say I won't sell you out?" he was fucking CHEEKY here because that was literally the plan. RATIO. God DAMMIT
When we get that flashback to Ratio's private conversation with Sunday, I can't help but think about how much he did not actually lie. He did not once lie, nor did he try to convince Sunday that the jade cornerstone was aventurine. He let Sunday believe that himself -- this only reinforces my initial stance that he's not a liar, but just omits the truth when needed. I was really happy to see that.
Sunday attempting to bribe him with information on the Stellaron was disgusting, flat out. My Ratio was not at all tempted by that, rather he was insulted, because in that moment Sunday had equated him to the greedy, brainless members of the Guild and the amoral (and immoral) Genius Society, who he has a deep vendetta against... Ratio, in my interpretation, has morals, has limits, and he flat out tells Sunday that he knows his place and "wouldn't forsake more vital matters for the sake of petty pride." He meant this, and he stood by this. Nothing that Sunday tempted him with would have won him over, and the insinuation that he could was deeply angering to Ratio. It, too, is also a misunderstanding of the person Ratio is, someone who seeks not knowledge above all else, but to spread common sense. Wisdom. Knowledge and wisdom are not the same.
His disgust at Sunday only intensified at the branding from Sunday (why did Acheron call it a Harmony brand why did she call it a brand. like I know why and it is a mental brand but what the fuck. why. he's already been branded ONCE) and that entire.. trial, you could say. While he was already aware of at least some of Aventurine's past, all of that was just cruel. It sickened him to just have to stand there and watch.
Now, to talk about the conversation afterwards, and then go back to their interaction in 2.0 with new eyes... I cannot stop thinking about how Ratio kept breaking character out of concern for Aventurine, going so far as to even prompt Aventurine to remind him of his betrayal, despite that all evidently being an act on both of their ends (I'm very happy Ratio's acting was maintained from 1.6), reminding him to stay in character because they're being watched, but Ratio asks him if he's okay, insists that Aventurine tells him if he can't hold on any longer, gives him that scroll and then promptly... leaves. And I think about how Screwllum comments that he is more like a medical doctor than a scholar, I think about his love of life, I think about "even a life marked by failure is a life worth living," and I think about him repeatedly asking Aventurine what his plan is, and I can't help but feel how upset Ratio was throughout that whole thing, how he was trying to -- not stop Aventurine, but circumvent his decisions, try to think of a more favorable outcome, one with a greater chance of survival... I think about how he probably knows, very very deeply, how much Aventurine wants to die, because he has learned his history, he knows his habits, he witnessed Sunday's cruelty towards him, and every bone in his body stands against it but he respects Aventurine enough to not force his hand. He trusts Aventurine -- that thing that was brought so prominently into question between them just in 2.0 -- to make his own decisions and come out the other side, enough to follow his planless plan, enough to hold Aventurine's life in his hands and then let him go.
And then thinking back to 2.0, with how antsy he was, and Aventurine questioning why he looked so unhappy, and I realize now that he was already upset because -- no doubt he knew Aventurine had already smashed the stone as a contingency, so it's possible his anger at the bags being confiscated were at least in part an act, but his unhappiness was not. And perhaps through this lens his "Sigonian thrall" comment can be seen in a different light, not intentionally cruel but literal, in the midst of his distress. He knew from the get go that there was an impossibly small likelihood of Aventurine's survival through this mission, so he spoke out of turn. And I think back to how Ratio just up and walked away twice, and I wonder if that's because he's just too upset, and they both have jobs to do that he cannot falter in so he had to step away to recenter.
I keep thinking about how Ratio couldn't look Aventurine in the eyes in Sunday's conference room, and while that was certainly an act, one must wonder -- a doctor, escorting a companion to his doom. Walking him to his execution, rather than saving him. Closing that door, rather than opening a path. I really think he couldn't meet Aventurine's eyes in that moment. There was nothing he could do. Who wouldn't be upset about that, especially someone as compassionate as Ratio? So... he gives him a parting gift. That scroll, with the answer to the Watchmaker's riddle, and a simple plea: Continue living.
It's here that I'd like to state that I prefer the original version to the English translation for my interpretation, because the translation isn't wrong but it does lack some of the profundity of the original. "Do stay alive" feels... impersonal. The way I read the English was that Ratio is asking him to survive this matter, but in the original, what he says is a request for Aventurine to live from now into the future, not just for this matter. He knows it's ultimately a choice that Aventurine will have to make alone, and he can only hope that Aventurine chooses to live... I think it's especially painful knowing that he was very well considering walking into death until Acheron reminds him of what's in his pocket, that there's someone waiting for his return. But you know what they say: if you love someone, let them go.
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lightngborn · 2 months
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So this happened last night in the midst of my feelings being ripped apart by Hoyo yet again. Still a wip but I wasn't even that close and not guaranteed so getting her in one ten pull was insane to me. Going for the lightcone still but we'll see if the game is nice again.
As for some thoughts, I'll put that under a read more for spoiler shit. Mostly related to muses I'm adding to my list for my multi.
The fact that the theory I had read about Firefly and Sam being the same was ACTUALLY right really was such an interesting play and I love it. So she's being added to my list now on the account of how badass she actually is but also a fucking cutie. Just this tiny ass girl legit being a deadly killer is so fucking funny to me. Especially after Silver Wolf's line about Sam sitting up in the dark to scare her when she comes home late. Imagining that as Firefly is so funny to me. I can't wait to learn more about her and this whole thing around her. Also potential for Blade and Firefly interactions!!
On top of that, probably adding Acheron cause she's just so awesome. Obviously my Aventurine blog still exists but I'm debating whether to merge it to my multi for ease. We'll see. So far only two new muse pick ups so it's not too much more of a load for me.
I'll ramble more about the story when more people have caught up though. For now I'm going to continue building characters and doing events.
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Okay, so I haven't finished the new quest yet, and I wanted to put my thoughts here so I can say I was right/wrong whatever. I've just finished where you talk with the whole Astral Express crew, and I haven't talked to them individually. I have also done like no side quests btw. I did the event with the TVs and the Meme, but that's been about it.
Spoilers for 2.0 penacony but not really for 2.1 bc I'm not that far yet.
Here's who I trust/distrust and why (also a percentage about how strong I feel about it):
Trust:
Astral Express crew - 100% - We have no reason to question them unless we think it's Sparkle in disguise. Imo Sparkle isn't that slick since I knew something was off with the Sampo in the quest (though I hear Sampo's changed recently. Idk. All ik is I heard them say Sampo instead of "Sampo Koski! :3" and I was low-key sad about it) and Sunday caught on real quick (I feel like he would have even if Robin was alive).
Black Swan - 70% - Idk man. This one's just based off pure vibes. I think she wants to help overall.
Stellaron Hunters/Elio - 50% - Unpopular opinion but hear me out. I think Kafka genuinely thinks what she's doing is right. After the Sam/Acherone conversation, I think he is also doing what he thinks is right. Would I be super surprised if we end up getting stabbed in the back? No, but I trust Sam, Kafka, and Acheron.
Acheron - 50% - I've had a real strong feeling since the beginning that she's been framed for this. Aventurine REALLY wants us to think she did it. As you can see, Aventurine is down the list, so... Also, the Sam/Acheron conversation really convinced me on it. I think she's doing what she thinks is right.
Dr. Ratio - 30% - Okay, I know that putting Ratio and Aventurine at opposite sides of this doesn't make sense but hear me out. If he was telling the truth to Screwllum, I think Ratio follows some Utilitarian ethics (as in, "It doesn't matter if I do this bad thing if the result is a net positive"), so while I think he genuinely does care about Aventurine, I think he’d throw him under the bus and do what he thinks is the net good if it came down to it. At the same time, it could be the reverse for us. The only thing is we have no clue what this mf is up to or what he's thinking. We've seen him, like, twice. I might also be biased since, like Aventurine, he's my little uwu baby who can do no wrong.
Sunday/The Family - 30% - I think March(? I don't remember who said it lol) is right about the family being low-key sketchy. The fact that they've been hiding deaths and the Meme is... eh... but overall I think they're somewhat trustworthy. It could be a 'keeping things quiet while we investigate' type of thing. We still don't know what's going in with the watchmaker and the invites though.
Misha/Clocky - 20% - Maybe this is just because of the watchmaker theories, but I feel like there's something more going on with Misha and/or Clocky. The fact that no one else can see him except us?? They've also been real quiet lately. Maybe they're just goofy side characters, or maybe not. I don't think they're bad, but I don't think they've told us everything.
Distrust:
Aventurine - 70% - I love Aventurine, and in my fanfics that I haven't posted, he's such an uwu baby who can do no wrong. BUT. I feel like the man will do anything to survive. Like Himeko and Welt said, he's very manipulative and wants us to think a certain way. I also feel like the "My schemes are out in the open" is a lie. Like, you can say your scheme is out in the open, but they might not really be in the open. I really feel like that's a logical fallacy but idk the names of the fallacies. Something also doesn't feel right working with imperialists. Sorry, Aventurine.
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