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Another OC! Her name is Hectolite (the alt. name for moonstone), a memokeeper from the Garden of Recollection. To help their cause, she's been working in the IPC to download "memories" of data in the Strategic Investment Dept., recently promoted to rank P46 directly under Diamond. You can think of her as effectively creating uncorrupted backup files.

Hectolite uses her watch to pull up holograms and create holographic weapons.

She's on the path of Nihility (type ice).

Her name is inspired by the way moonstone refracts light through ..........

similiar to light cones.

- garden of recollection + ipc member (ice nihility) her original memories are forgotten; she rebuilt herself in the ipc. she doesn't remember who she is or was, but she knows memories are important. firm believer that nobody should die alone; if nothing else, she can others remember and share the memories. in the ipc data matters, but so do people... people help collect the data and memories are what keep the data alive/useful.

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Today was fun. Simulated Universe works wonders for EXP farming.

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The HSR Weibo account also posted (fake!) movie posters featuring these characters, on the same days, in the same order.

I can't be assed to add descriptions or text translations now, but here's what the art looks like. Seems like it was officially commissioned for the holidays!

New official art! Yanqing is here!

This was posted some hours ago on their other social media. Given that the Lunar New Year lasts for two weeks, we might get some more art in a similiar style soon!

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Here's the rest of them! These were posted daily for a week, with each character assigned to a different value.

Yanqing: Fortune

Topaz: Assembly

Black Swan: Respite

Ruan Mei: Cuisine

Aventurine: Welcoming Prosperity

Dr. Ratio: Spring Cleaning

Acheron: Spring Outing

New official art! Yanqing is here!

This was posted some hours ago on their other social media. Given that the Lunar New Year lasts for two weeks, we might get some more art in a similiar style soon!

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Information: Wang Qiming (王 期命)

STILL EDITING THIS!!! I HIT POST INSTEAD OF SCHEDULE... sigh

Path: The Harmony

Faction: The Xianzhou Luofu

Character Introduction: The son of a wealthy merchant family that settled on the Xianzhou Luofu some generations ago. A close companion of General Jing Yuan's retainer, he is oft seen with the lieutenant or with the family business.

Character Details: Through his mother's side they maintain connections to The Family in Penacony. He spends his days between helping out his parents with intergalactic trading and running after Yanqing through the markets in Aurum Alley. In the past, they would often find a lost Sushang there (back when she was still new to the Luofu ship), and occasionally the trio would hang out together in starskiffs... at least until Qiming got his license revoked, from testing the speed limits one too many times.

Character Story (Part 1): yanqing and qiming become friends and meeting the parents

---

Character Story (Part 2): It had been some years ago when A-niang first decided she wanted to bring Qiming to witness the Charmony Festival. She held his hand while checking in, only letting him go to explore the hotel lobby while she stayed chatting with a young man at the front desk. Qiming asked about the wings on his head, and the man only smiled. A-niang ushered him away.

Later that night as A-niang was tucking him into bed, he asked again, "Can I have wings too?"

A-niang took both palms and held his face, softly. "One day. They will cup your cheeks like so, and kiss your forehead like this," A-niang said, leaning over the bed to press her lips against his forehead. She pulled away and smiled as one of her hands reached to hold his. "You will grow wings and ascend to Their kingdom above where you will rule the red dust, and when that time comes, do not look back."

"Like that man you were talking to?"

"Yes, like him. But your wings will be bigger, and you can fly with them."

"Will I be able to fly back and visit Qing-ge?"

She flattered. "Ah, that..." Then, she sighed. "Wo qing ai de baobei, what will I do with you..."

"I can't?" Qiming gripped his sheets. "Then... then I don't want to go!"

"It is your fate," she said. She did not look at him. She repeated her words: "When your time comes, you cannot look back."

"What happens if I do?"

"The moment you return your gaze to whence you came," she said, crushing his hand, "They will burn everything, starting with your wings."

---

Character Story (Part 3): "A-qing, I got you a gift!" The boy ran up to his friend, a box in his arms. "I used up my allowance savings for this, so you better like it!"

Yanqing opened the box to see a bottle - beautifully constructed, with shimmering patterns running across the circumference, definitely not of Xianzhou origins. Carved under the bottle were the words, Memorium Resin Oil - Grade V, Purity ~85.00-90.00%. Distribution regulated by the IPC. This was a well-known, highly coveted oil for sword maintenance and those fawning after lost techniques. After all, the memorium gave a near muscle memory to the blade, ideal for those looking to learn new forms.

"Congrats on your promotion, Yanqing," Qiming said earnestly. "Ah, maybe I should call you Lieutenant now?"

The blond made a face. "A-qing is A-qing," he said. "And Ming-ming is Ming-ming. If you start calling me Lieutenant now, your parents can't call us qing-ming anymore, and who knows what will happen to the Luofu then!"

Qiming laughed. Secretly, he was relieved. He wanted to stay close in all aspects, no matter the distance in status, space, or time. "Okay, A-qing," he said. "We'll be A-qing and Ming-ming forever, then."

---

Character Story (Part 4):

"Susu-jie..."

(quantum) he acts more laid back, closer to jing yuan than yanqing in personality... he really does respect yanqing for his passion and swordplay, its hard not to. but he acknowledges there's someone else besides the cloud knight and retainer. he's a brother in all but sworn and blood; ming considers yanqing his xiongdi and calls him a-qing/qingqing, sometimes yanqing-ge. yanqing just calls him by name but will slip in a qing-di when talking to his mom/a-yi (auntie). qing doesnt rlly have interest in the whole sworn -hood thing

I made an OC to be Yanqing's friend! Yanqing doesn't seem super close to anyone outside of unnamed Cloud Knights(?) and Jing Yuan. He's distant from all the other playable characters and centers himself around Jing Yuan to an unhealthy degree... so I gave him a companion to fool around with, have some fun with, and let them get up to shenanigans together.

Qiming follows the path of Harmony (quantum type), aiming to support others from the sidelines. He doesn't see the need to be under the spotlight and on the stage if he can reap the same rewards while standing in the wings.

His weapon of choice is a chain whip that can extend and contract in length depending on how he pulls it towards his body. He first learned it as a performance trick from a troupe of Mourning Actors while on a business trip/vacation on another planet with his family.

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All bets are out the windows. The second character to this series is fucking Topaz. Does she even celebrate the Spring Festival/LNY? This feels unhinged.

New official art! Yanqing is here!

This was posted some hours ago on their other social media. Given that the Lunar New Year lasts for two weeks, we might get some more art in a similiar style soon!

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Journal On Penacony • The Sound and the Fury (Page 1/7)

Finished the 2.0 Penacony main story a while ago, and I'm now rewatching the cutscenes from a streamer's VOD. This is meant to be more like a very public journal with some speculations, not a comprehensive summary. Bullet-pointed notes for myself, with key points in bold, and of course, spoilers. I will not warn you twice.

Side note: I alternate with pronouns between the player(s), The Trailblazer, and Stelle. Take it or leave it.

The Sound and the Fury, which is the name of this Trailblaze Mission chapter, is a reference to a novel by the American author William Faulkner. I haven't read it, but I've heard that there are a number of parallels between Penacony and some motifs in the novel.

Pom-Pom introduces us to memoria, and we get a throwaway comment about the Memory Zone. The Memory Zone sounds like something related to Fuli and the Remembrance, and the Forgotten Hall/Memory of Chaos...

The Trailblaze and the Star Rail are what connected Penacony to the rest of the universe; and with the Express leaving Penacony, three Trailblazers stayed behind on the prison turned hotel. They were Tiernan (the guard), Legwork (the mechanic), and Razalina (the surveyor).

Some people have theorized that Misha might be the grandson or a descendent of one of these Trailblazers, and I'm inclined to agree. Of the three, he would likely be related to Legwork, as he's described as being "skilled at fixing a variety of machines" (Character Details).

Interastral Peace Broadcast update! I highly recommend listening to these for anyone who likes worldbuilding, just treat it like in-game current events. Most of what they said here isn't directly relevant to the main story, but the collaboration between the IPC and the Garden of Recollection is particularly interesting... I wonder what's happened since the events of Gold and Gears?

Also, Emperor Rubert I lore! I expect it to more relevant as we continue to get involved with members of Genius Society... I'm looking at you, Polka.

Dan Heng chooses to stay on the Express—totally understandable. Bro gotta celebrate Lunar New Year. And you know, we need someone to stay watch on the Express. He'll come find us eventually, he shows up in White Night after all.

It also doesn't help that Dan Heng took center stage for the Luofu and now there's not much mystery to him anymore. His story isn't complete per say, but all that's left to explore for him is the time between him leaving the Luofu and joining the Express, and the future. It'll probably be the backseat on lore for him until we head back to the Luofu.

Okay, the cutscene before the jump? Every time before we jump, there's a focus on the chessboard. According to this lovely reddit post, it's from a game that ended in a tie—and I think it's a direct reference to Jingliu's line, "This is a chess game between Aeons." Stelle, then, might be the black rook, because that's the piece we get a zoom-in on; though it's also possible she's a pawn, or not even on the board at all. Or the piece is the Astral Express (faction)? Questions, questions...

It also doesn't really matter how the game ends, because (1) when the Universe reaches its end everything will restart anyways and (2) the rules can be broken and new pieces can appear out of nowhere. Aeons don't have to play by normal rules (see: Mythus).

Flash: Acheron (moving backwards), Firefly, Robin, Acheron again (still moving backwards but closer to Stelle this time). This isn't the first time we've glimpsed into a/the future; the other time it happened was when we protected March from the Doomsday Beast on Herta Space Station.

The implications for seeing into the future seem pretty fucking big, but as it stands, I'm not sure how relevant that is right now. It's about the journey, not the destination; what matters isn't how the Universe ends, but what we do until we reach that point.

Blink and we're in the Dreamscape version of what becomes our guest room. No clue how we got there or if we're even really there.* (I'll expand on this in a bit.)

Acheron sighs, then says, "Not another one...." The other person she's talking about might be Black Swan...? I don't think it could be anyone else. She barely knows anyone else, even.

She also tells us we'll forget everything when we wake up, which is bull fucking shit when you see some of the dialogue options.

Okay, this might go pretty fucking meta (any ORV fans?), but Acheron's ability hear our "thoughts" might be similar to how we read the text stating the character's voicelines. Or to put in ORV terms, it's kind of like Kim Dokja reading the Wall. And HSR does go meta on character dialogue, they've given color to select words (e.g. Kafka's golden text, Acheron's red text), and alternative readings to other words.

*It doesn't make much sense to see the other characters in the dreamscape when this dream isn't being shared with them, and they're all people that (assuming we haven't arrived on Penacony yet), neither Acheron nor Stelle should know who they are -> they shouldn't appear in her dreamscape. Like, you don't just imagine whole ass people. Acheron calls them shadows, but they're all memories of conversations that have happened.

I saw a theory (no clue who said it, I think I read it first in a Reddit comment, but I thought it was interesting) that we've rewinded time on Penacony, and Acheron seems to be somewhat aware of this. In the first iteration, Duke Inferno may have successfully destroyed Penacony. In the second, Duke Inferno is slain by Acheron before that can happen, but the Memory Zone boss might've fucked us over. We'd be on the third iteration, then, and Acheron allowed the Memory Zone boss to kill Firefly. There's not much merit to this to be honest beyond some wacky voicelines, but I still think it's worth lingering on.

To be in the Memory Zone like this, I feel like it would imply that this is a memory, and these events would've had to have happened in the linear past. Acheron told us this is Penacony's "welcome", but I don't think that's the case. There's some time fuckery going on for sure.

The doors that lead us to meeting Misha are different than the other doors we saw, and lack the lock-like motif.

Acheron makes no acknowledgement of Misha. Keep this in mind, okay?

"...have we met somewhere before?" Yeah, maybe in another branch of time. None of the dialogue options are absolute an yes/no answer. (Or maybe before Stelle was "born" on Herta Space Station, but I doubt that a little. If that was the case, I think the Stellaron Hunters would be more aware of Acheron.)

If you play Stelle, the red text says "she stood shoulder to shoulder with me", and if you play Caelus, it says "he crossed blades with me". The former is a reference to her Nameless friend Frebass, mentioned in the new relic set Pioneer Diver of Dead Waters. Not sure about the other guy. These could also be taken as parallels to HI3 between Mei and Kiana/Kevin.

Her red text questions are so fucking wack, y'all. Inception reference: Would you wish to stay in the dream world? Elio/player meta: Would you wish to keep going, even if you knew how this story/game would/might end? Fourth wall break meta: Do you remember her?

Anyways, she does seem to be able to notice the different branches of time from different dialogue options; "countless versions of you[...] gave entirely different responses".

She tells us "in that monochrome world, there will be a glimpse of fleeting red, and when you make a choice, it will reappear before you once more..." The red, from what we can tell so far, is her red text. What we hear seems to change based on the choices/dialogue options we selected. If that's the red, then the monochrome world would be... the text you're reading? This really does remind me of ORV.

Then she kills Stelle. Well, not really. Death in a dream is one way to wake up from the dream in Inception, so that's Acheron's way of waking her up, huh.

Acheron looks like she's crying blood-tainted tears. And her eye looks kind of like the void in White Night, too...

Okay, Stelle goes with March to the front desk, and we remember meeting Misha. So what's that all about? We didn't forget jack shit.

March calls out to us, and she doesn't make any acknowledgement of Misha, which is out of character for her. If she saw we were chatting up a new friend, I get the impression she'd try to introduce herself. But she doesn't. Isn't that interesting?

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I took a lot more screenshots while playing Penacony than I thought I did, and somehow, still not enough. Sorry to Firefly and Misha. Not sorry to Black Swan and Gallagher and especially Sam, who barely showed up. I apparently like pretty faces and loads of text.

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New official art! Yanqing is here!

This was posted some hours ago on their other social media. Given that the Lunar New Year lasts for two weeks, we might get some more art in a similiar style soon!

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seek the empyreal — summary of ideas

AKA the AU where OC!Misha is isekai'd to HSR as Misha

spoilers abound!

OC-Misha dresses himself unlike HSR-Misha:

buttons up his tailcoat

wears dress pants instead of double-layered shorts

ditched the buckles on his legs

sometimes opts to wear a larger hat and/or hairpins

Plot outline (mostly in-line with TB Mission events):

OC-Misha wakes up as HSR-Misha with no recollection of how this could have happened

OC-Misha plans to leave Penacony in hopes of finding a way back home, but until then, has to do his/Misha's job as a bellboy

Clockie and Co. help OC-Misha blend in by telling him when he's "forgetting" things and aiding him throughout his job

seems like HSR-Misha doesn't have any other friends... suspicious, but convenient

Sunday approaches Misha shortly before guests begin to arrive, with the intent of using him as a pawn, and often seeks him out (both in the Dreamscape and in reality)

HSR-Misha haunts him in dreams, but it seems like nobody else can see him(?) -> see shitty marker sketch rendition for visual details

HSR-Misha is actually dead, and Sunday is the first to discover this; he doesn't tell OC-Misha, thinking that OC-Misha is the ghost of HSR-Misha

In the Dreamscape: Acheron can't see or interact with Misha nor Clockie... this scares OC-Misha and sets him up to try interacting with more people

the only other people besides Sunday and Clockie who acknowledge his existence seem to be Stelle/the Trailblazer and Black Swan?

Sunday is the first person Misha confesses to (though he doesn't say outright that he isn't HSR-Misha), and he schemes to keep Misha around longer

insert low-quality-surprised-pikachu-face.png for HSR-Misha backstory reveal, whatever it is

HSR-Misha "leaves" with the Nameless (boards the Express with the ticket pinned to his cravat) and/or the Garden of Recollection (gets pseudo-exorcized, is turned into a card)

OC-Misha is convinced into staying on Penacony, and hasn't it been so long since he's seen his family or friends from Before? he's lived so long on his own, with Sunday and all his cartoon buddies by his side! if he goes now, he'll lose so much on Penacony!

OC-Misha is gaslit and guilt tripped into staying, but does genuinely enjoy being around Sunday and Clockie and some of the other Family members—Sunday is, privately, pleased to see Misha fitting in and associating with more of the Family if it means he'll stay on Penacony

happy(?) ending, they might have 1 (one) kiss if the mood is right

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Lunar New Year post! To all who celebrate, may the new year be full of happiness for you!

I have many gripes about the writing for the High Cloud Quintet, but what I find the most fascinating about their fallout is where it places Jing Yuan, and where it will lead him into the future.

Baiheng is dead. She's gone, and while there is very strong evidence (nothing explicitly confirmed, but we're working with what we can get) pointing to traces of Baiheng in Bailu, part of the reincarnation process is acknowledging that Bailu is a whole other person separated from her past/any other life she may have lived and with different memories/experiences. The future is thus: she will be the next High Elder for the Xianzhou Luofu, and she's content with her position as a doctor and healer to those in need of treatment. She doesn't seem to have any big dreams, and what she has now is enough for her. As part of her duty and the expectations of her, she'll stay with the Xianzhou Alliance until she has to reincarnate. It doesn't matter if she one day grows to dream bigger, the choice is now robbed from her like it was from Dan Feng.

Dan Heng is content with his own life. He's suffered enough as it was when he was first born in this name, escaped the Luofu, running away from Blade across space, and made his way to forge a life he can call his own on the Astral Express. He has no need nor want to be shacked by his past, and he can live freely without the shadow of Dan Feng hanging over him. I'm curious where he'll be centuries down the line, given how long his expected lifespan is, and the lifespans of his companions being... probably nowhere as long. But until they part ways, Dan Heng will have them by his side. Of the current Express Crew, Pom-Pom would still be around, and maybe the Trailblazer too. Dan Heng might die and never reincarnate, or he might someday return to the Xianzhou Luofu again to settle down when it's his turn to return to an egg and be reborn anew once more. Given what he's like, I don't see him going out with mara.

Blade was Yingxing, and now he's Blade. Yingxing is dead in the sense that the person he used to be is no more, and now, Blade is just a blade. Mara haunts him in a way that tortures him, and he'll take the path Elio promises if it'll grant him freedom. Living for so long is his punishment/price, and death will be a mercy. He'll die one day, I'm sure, though I'm fairly confident that day will be far off, too. He has the Stellaron Hunters to keep him company for now, and if Elio delivers his promise, Blade will see his peace in the end with them. After the events on the Luofu, I think it's safe to say his arc will conclude with him moving on from chasing a past that no longer wants him, and breaking free—accepting a certain finality—in what has passed, and what will come (his death).

Jingliu is the only other character besides Jing Yuan to keep her name from those times, but she's mara-stricken like Blade and has her own agenda now. She has no personal attachments anymore to anyone from her High Cloud Quintet days, not even her own disciple Jing Yuan, nor does she display interest in associating with them now. She'll pass one day like Blade, I'm sure. They may not go out the same way though; regardless, I don't expect her to do much even if she does live on after her role has been fulfilled (to participate in the war/"game" against Yaoshi and end the abominations of Abundance once and for all).

Jing Yuan was, and still is, shaped by the people around him. The person he was when the High Cloud Quintet was around isn't the same person he is now, but in some ways, he still shares that identity. He's fond of Dan Heng and still cares about Baiheng (now assumed to be Bailu). Jing Yuan used to dream of being a Galaxy Ranger touring the universe in the name of justice, and instead took to rising the ranks in the Cloud Knights, learning to protect what's left of his home on the Luofu, and becoming a leader who valiantly fights for peace. I'm not quite sure how he'll go out. Maybe in battle, against the Abundance; or maybe Yanqing, trained to surpass him, will be called to cut him down; or maybe he'll retire peacefully, spending his days peeling tangerines and basking under the Sun, until he's older and more gray, and one day, gone.

And it's just so interesting to me, because Jing Yuan is so kind, and it does not make him worse off. Unlike Blade and Jingliu, he doesn't let the mara consume him, and focuses on his happiness instead of the despair. His grief is quiet, he carried the weight of a world on his shoulders, but he still finds the time to take in a disciple and teach him the way of the sword, to visit the doctor who reminds him of an old and dear friend, and to make way for banter with his next-in-line. He's outlived the rise and fall of civilizations during that time, alone and not-alone, surrounded by the people he had and has now, and may live long enough to outlive several more.

Everyone has moved on from those years together, and their pasts may connect, but their futures all lead in vastly different directions. I'm sure Jing Yuan has lamented over the past before, but centuries have gone by since. Many things in the world have changed now, and he lives his own life, too. They all do.

Where am I going with this? Who knows. Happy Lunar New Year to all who celebrate and to Jing Yuan especially. As Yanqing might say: 恭喜发财（红包拿来）。

May your red envelopes be packed with extra money so Yanqing can buy that new and fancy dragon-themed sword.

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seek the empyreal — exhibit x.

ft. OC-insert-as-Misha/Sunday (if you don't like that, you can block me; if you want to argue, I will block you)

snippet of a fic I'm writing (allegedly) ＿φ(￣ー￣ )

"Misha," Sunday murmured, blinking slowly, "you must know that I worry for you." He spoke like it was a secret, like it was a sacred blessing he was bestowing. His esteemed care for Misha, of all people. Why, would he care otherwise?

Misha nearly dropped the feather duster in his hands when the words registered. "You, you do?"

He tried not to focus on the sweat growing in his palms, instead directing attention to stare into Sunday's eyes. That wasn't hard. Sunday had captivating eyes, and an odd twinkle like that of golden glitter flickering with every blink. Still, it was unnerving to maintain eye contact; something about Sunday seemed like he never blinked, and when he did, it always felt deliberate. Controlled. Like he only blinked when people would see it happen, so they would know that he could. The two stared at each other like that, the silence stretching for a beat too long.

"...of course," Sunday said at last. He opened his arms wide, closed his eyes, and tipped it all off with a smile, allowing his candace to soften. Despite that, his voice remained firm, unwavering. Never cold. He wasn't cold. Sunday was distant—that was the difference. "While the Charmony Festival is underway, you, as a member of the beloved Family on Penacony, are under my jurisdiction." His lashes fluttered to life again, wings breathing slightly where they curled to cover his neck. "Naturally, that means you'll be in my care."

It looked natural. It felt natural. And yet, every instinct was telling Misha that something wasn't right.

Misha forced himself to loosen his hand on the feather duster. Sunday must have noticed; that man never took his eyes off him, not even for a fraction of a second. Misha was, unfortunately, rather bad at masking his body language, and the two of them knew it.

Still, Sunday was... laying it on a bit thick, wasn't it? He was trying to establish authority. But why? Wasn't he already Misha's boss? Did the old Misha—the original—have something to hold over Sunday's head?

Misha had to respond. It would be suspicious not to, and he didn't want to tick Sunday off more than he already had. His breath hitched. "...you're right," Misha said, attempting to smooth his tone into something more mild. This was fine. Sunday could be suspicious all he wanted, but as long as he never acted on that suspicion, Misha would be alright.

Sunday smiled. It was not a kind smile. "There's no need to fret, Misha," Sunday damn near purred the name. "I'll take care of you."

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Penacony welcomes you!! Only now for the low low price of your soul, you too can spend your life in the land of dreams!!

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I'm all caught up now and the rankings haven't changed.

Acheron stays the MVP of my heart, and I like her more knowing that she could be an Emanator of Finality. Black Swan and Aventurine warn us against her, but truthfully, I don't think she's all that bad. Dangerous, perhaps, but think about it like this: the Trailblazer is, too. The capacity for doing bad doesn't warrant enough to treat her poorly. Her actions speak louder.

Sunday... really cares for Robin. It's sweet. I want to know more about what he's up to behind the curtain. Even he doesn't have the full picture, which is a little funny given how he presents himself, mister cult leader.

I didn't cry, but if Firefly doesn't come back, I just might. In the area where she evaporates, when you try to keep the photo/her phone, it evaporates, too. You don't even get to keep a memento of her; only the memories. There's something like an... altered, more solemn version of If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking that plays in the background. Given that the song shares a title with the same Emily Dickinson poem, I like to think the lyrics and lines of the poem are reflective of Firefly and the Trailblazer. Kindness is all we will have left for them.

Misha has ties with Clockie and his gang for some reason, and whatever the fuck is up with the Mikhail thing (when you go to the "real" Dreamscape, they seem to be referring to different people). I am opening my eyes. Tell me more.

Typical business man Aventurine. Expected.

Message from Silver Wolf telling us about Sam? Nice. Meeting Sam? Not so nice. He has to have recognized who we were since we're vital to Elio's script, but he instead points out Acheron and Black Swan... a bit interesting, right?

I don't like Sparkle, but she's well written. A bad character who actually does bad things! It's in character for her to play around as she pleases, her Path is literally just fuck around, find out, and have fun.

Her corpse was funny. I don't mean this in a weird way, but I almost burst out laughing when I saw her with the purple slash across her chest. It's a whole thing. I don't really understand why the Trailblazer reacted so harshly when she didn't know Robin that well, but I guess the one interaction in the lobby was enough to get attached.

Black Swan, what are you even after. Whose memories do you want? The Trailblazer's or March 7th's? More likely the former... she seems like she knows about the Memokeeper on the Express (there's a dialogue option that references that).

If Gallagher wants to rank, he better pull up.

Duke Inferno off screen death was low-key already predicted. Where did his kids fuck off to then...?

I think I'll finish the main story update on Friday; I've spent a few hours on it between other obligations and as it stands, I'm a little over halfway done.

My schedule for tomorrow is crammed too, but I might get an hour or so of gameplay in. Everyone's been fun so far! A completely arbitrary favoritism tier list of the Penacony characters (STC):

Acheron—the red text? HI3 Mei references? And her overall aesthetic design... she ate up so well. I want her viscerally, carnally, and every way I can have her.

Sunday—his in-game CN voice caught me off guard more than I'd like to admit. I've heard his voice from the 1.6 trailer, but hearing it in game felt more off-putting. He's short? And the same height as Stelle? The way he stands is a kind of... if I speak, I'm in trouble.

Firefly—I will cry.

Misha—his eyes look like keyholes and the doors of the Reviere Hotel. From what I've gotten up to, he definitely seems to have a deeper connection to the overall plot. And his animations are cute!

Aventurine—he's... also shorter than I expected. It makes the scene with Dr. Ratio a little funny, actually. His eyes look cool, and I'm interested in knowing more about his past before the IPC! As expected, business major vibes, though he lays it on a little too thick to not be intentional. I didn't expected the comments from Dr. Ratio and Sparkle... at least in Dr. Ratio's case, I expected better, but he's already proven to be quite prejudiced in his approach to education.

Sam—haven't met him yet, but I quite like the Stellaron Hunters, and he's one of them, too!

Sparkle—she's funny. I like that. I don't know how much I trust her on Masked Fools lore yet, but I'll take any Aha lore regardless of the facts. She's also antagonistic towards Aventurine, but he did stalk her for 45 system minutes, so I can understand being a bit put off by that (those comments were rather over the top, though...).

Robin—she's pretty and definitely some percentage of lesbian. Her dress is so nice! I love her design. Though for someone who's whole thing is being in the limelight, we don't really get to see much of that (yet?).

Black Swan—Garden of Recollection lore has me on an email list. Unfortunately, I don't dig her design that much.

Gallagher—not my type, haven't seen enough to move him up the ranks.

For Duke Inferno and the rest of the Annihilation Gang—I still don't think they're showing up.

[a-la-campanella]

I think I'll finish the main story update on Friday; I've spent a few hours on it between other obligations and as it stands, I'm a little over halfway done.

My schedule for tomorrow is crammed too, but I might get an hour or so of gameplay in. Everyone's been fun so far! A completely arbitrary favoritism tier list of the Penacony characters (STC):

Acheron—the red text? HI3 Mei references? And her overall aesthetic design... she ate up so well. I want her viscerally, carnally, and every way I can have her.

Sunday—his in-game CN voice caught me off guard more than I'd like to admit. I've heard his voice from the 1.6 trailer, but hearing it in game felt more off-putting. He's short? And the same height as Stelle? The way he stands is a kind of... if I speak, I'm in trouble.

Firefly—I will cry.

Misha—his eyes look like keyholes and the doors of the Reviere Hotel. From what I've gotten up to, he definitely seems to have a deeper connection to the overall plot. And his animations are cute!

Aventurine—he's... also shorter than I expected. It makes the scene with Dr. Ratio a little funny, actually. His eyes look cool, and I'm interested in knowing more about his past before the IPC! As expected, business major vibes, though he lays it on a little too thick to not be intentional. I didn't expected the comments from Dr. Ratio and Sparkle... at least in Dr. Ratio's case, I expected better, but he's already proven to be quite prejudiced in his approach to education.

Sam—haven't met him yet, but I quite like the Stellaron Hunters, and he's one of them, too!

Sparkle—she's funny. I like that. I don't know how much I trust her on Masked Fools lore yet, but I'll take any Aha lore regardless of the facts. She's also antagonistic towards Aventurine, but he did stalk her for 45 system minutes, so I can understand being a bit put off by that (those comments were rather over the top, though...).

Robin—she's pretty and definitely some percentage of lesbian. Her dress is so nice! I love her design. Though for someone who's whole thing is being in the limelight, we don't really get to see much of that (yet?).

Black Swan—Garden of Recollection lore has me on an email list. Unfortunately, I don't dig her design that much.

Gallagher—not my type, haven't seen enough to move him up the ranks.

For Duke Inferno and the rest of the Annihilation Gang—I still don't think they're showing up.

[a-la-campanella]

Something worth mentioning from the flash sequence when the Trailblazer is about to enter the Dreamscape: we get glimpses of Misha and him crying out the name Mikhail.

In Russian, Misha is sort of like an affectionate nickname for the name Mikhail, an alternative spelling of Micheal. Makes me wonder if Misha is a name he inherited from another character named Mikhail, or if the person he's calling Mikhail is actually another version of him (sort of like the "memory loss"/potential shared body thing Acheron has going on).

Additionally: when you look into the religious ties that the name Micheal has, especially in Christianity... perhaps consider playing attention to this guy a little more.

[a-la-campanella]

Dreaming of Garbage

AKA misc. Tatalov lore dump lol

It's a little late now to be making an analysis post on the Sweet Dreams "Penacony "The Great Tatalov" video, but who cares? I'm still working an Interstellar Journey post and that video has been out for even longer.

The video, for the most part, alternates between two speakers: Shatana and Himeko. Shatana, of course, is Natasha (they share voice actors, and Shatana is an outright anagram of Natasha). Of the two, Shatana is the only one who actually mentions Tatalov outright. Himeko's voicelines can be read as entirely unrelated to the whole Tatalov plotline going on, so for the purposes of this post, I'm ignoring what she has to say.

Most players won't remember this, but the first mention of Tatalov actually occurred as far back as 1.0 through interacting with a trash can in Boulder Town. (Thanks to u/merofsilence for pointing it out, I didn't catch that!) The dialogue is about the defeat of Garbage King Tatalov, by the hands of a younger trash can.

I... highly doubt these roles are fulfilled by Sampo and the Trailblazer, mostly because even in dreams we'd be able to sus out that Sampo wouldn't talk like that, but I digress; it's a dream at the end of the day. (I also have my doubts about the big trash can that Sampo fights being Tatalov, but that's more likely.) Though I do think this will be the same end we see for Tatalov when we arrive in Penacony, though.

The scenes with garbage or those taking place in Belabog are from the Tatalov dream; everything else is from Penacony, or a dream-like version of the planet. One of the inspirations for Penacony seems to have been Inception, a movie about dreams within dreams; so there are layers to these dreams, right? Reality is Penacony as it truly is/the hotel, and the first level of the dream is where all the fun parts of Penacony are. This makes Tatalov's story in a later level.

I imagine that part of the Penacony story (minus the details of interactions with other characters and actual larger-scale conflict) will go something like this:

The Astral Express crew checks into the hotel on the planet and then gets escorted to their respective rooms to enter the dreaming state. After arriving at their rooms, everyone starts to sleep.

We encounter Firefly in the first level of the dream. The photos with Firefly? She's just showing us around. Seems to have been some kind of conflict we're protecting her from and a secret she's hiding from us, too.

Enter the next dream? Or we enter that dream later.

The Trailblazer's dream brings them back to a Belabog populated by Trash Cans (hence the setting being Belabog), where we reunite with our beloved trash and the Big Bad Sampo.

We meet Shatana, played by Natasha, and she begs us for our help to rise up against Tatalov, who regardless of if he is or isn't represented by Sampo, is the Great Evil we must defeat to save the trash.

She tells us, "since that thing from beyond the sky arrived here along with the Eternal Freeze, Tatalov's eyes have been blinded." The thing from beyond the sky is, perhaps, meant to be the Stellaron, and it turned Tatalov into a poor ruler (maybe a reference to Cocolia?). "We must force the Garbage King to mend his ways under the banner of Skyfire" is just fighting back against Tatalov. Skyfire is a curse we can apply on enemies from Foxian Tales of the Haunted to make them explode, dealing Fire DMG... so probably a reference to that, and a nod towards Preservation Trailblazer. If Skyfire here is meant to mean anything else, then my guess is as good as yours.

Firefly might be sharing this dream with us? We do seem to share the dream with her when exploring Penacony (re: speculation that she exists only in a dream), and there was a trash can next to us when we got bombed, followed by Firefly's comment of "what kind of nonsense is this?" Our dream is too much for her, whoops.

I have no fucking clue who Sampo is talking about when he says "Follow me, you two." Like, one of the two people is probably the Trailblazer, but I'm skeptical to assume the second person could be Shatana... so who knows. Maybe Firefly? Anyways, he appears at some point to get in our way and terrorize the trash cans. What a cruel, evil man...

Success(?) and defeat of Tatlov to follow. The dream might end there, or we might enter a new dream, who knows.

As all this is happening, everyone else is down to business and battle and whatever is going down apparently involves whales. Based off the rough timeline from White Night, this would be during the dreaming time.

It's an absurd story we've dreamt up, but given how fleshed out some of the details are and the full on movie poster at the end of the video, it's likely a story we've been thinking about for a while. Trailblazer's Main Character arc to save the Trash Cans!

Parts I wasn't sure where to fit in timeline-wise:

So a massive Sampo throwing us into to Penacony? That happened, I guess. It could be a dream or it could some Alice In Wonderland mushrooms shit, since there was a massive March at some point too, though that was in a dream, I think...

We may have crashed in front of Robin and Sunday after we were tossed down. The ground from the crater looks similar to the ground in the photos.

There's also a normal-sized "Sampo" (he seems to be manipulated by Sparkle, what with the koi fish flying out of the way to reveal him with glowing eyes) who puts us to sleep at some point outside of the Tatalov dream, perhaps to force us back into that dream.

The part with green framing? I guess that's Sam's POV since the green is similar to his wings. And Acheron teams up with Black Swan and the Trailblazer to fight Sam... why is Black Swan fighting. Does she have something personal against the Stellaron Hunters? She's literally a meme, what the fuck. This is before Acheron has drawn her sword, so this is a different point in time than the one shown in White Night.

There's a quick sequence that doesn't really mean a lot yet; some bubbles, the... watch thingy or whatever floating in Penacony (I didn't pay attention during the livestream, no clue what its called), and some ID cards or some shit. I can't make out the letters well enough to translate them to English but it's at 1:04 for anyone interested.