#Simulated Universe: Unknowable Domain | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

another-goblin · 27 days ago

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I'm not a fan of how they treat the Intelligentsia Guild.

Their major achievements, like the synesthesia beacon, are implied to either be acquired from Genius Society members at best or just stolen from them at worst. Their supposed good qualities, like having a goal of spreading knowledge or admitting everybody who wants to learn, aren't emphasized at all.

And it's not like this faction is too unimportant for the writers to care about. They kind of dedicated a whole Simulated Universe update to it, right?

But instead, the main goal of the Unknowable Domain, IG-wise, seemed to be to just hammer in the idea of how awesome the GS's members are by showing how worthless the IG is, even despite getting access to the scepters.

That whole story was mostly about their pathetic inner squabbles. And culminated in the revelation that the IG's best mind, with her brainpower multiplied thousands of times by the scepters, wasn't even close to being a match for a genius.

Like yeah, we get it, geniuses are born special, and there is no way for a normal person to get even close no matter what they do. Don't even try. Awesome moral, I love that. But did we even need a whole Simulated Universe update to prove that? (BTW I'm not a big fan of that idea, it undermines both the achievements of the GS member and the struggles of normal people)

GS members are basically immortal demigods with their powers rivaling (if not surpassing) the powers of Aeons (can Nanook or Lan destroy a galaxy like Chadwick did? Can Yaoshi create intelligent life, like Ruan Mei did?) So I'm not surprised that the writers don't even try to compare them to the normies from the IG them in any meaningful way.

So they are kind of worthless as a faction by themselves.

But the IG doesn't even work as a narrative foil for the GS:

We never see them achieving anything through teamwork as opposed to the GS's rugged individualism.

We don't see examples of their willingness to share knowledge or being interested in humans' affairs, as opposed to the GS's dedication to science for science's sake and to Nous personally.

We don't see them doing something useful, as opposed to the GS's members' epic vanity project.

We don't see them achieving things through hard work, as opposed to GS's members just being gifted.

We don't see them showing strength through sheer numbers, as opposed to the GS only having several active members.

So why does it exist at all as a faction?

I mean narratively? They are tainted by their close association with the IPC. But the IPC has a perfectly functioning Technology Department, and the IG currently functions just as its additional external version. They are hardly an independent faction at this point, but rather an appendage of the IPC.

It doesn't work as Dr. Ratio's home faction either. With the exception of a couple of lines in his character stories, nothing would have changed if he was in the GS or wasn't a member of any faction at all (guess who made a whole post about it). I mean him being in the IG might finally play a role in Dr. Ratio's story one day (see below) but what are the chances. I mean we don't even have a "Dr. Ratio story" to begin with.

And one last point. Nobody blames Herta for what Dr. Primitive has done. We understand that the GS is a group of separate individuals.

But the IG is seen as a homogeneous mass to the point of people side-eyeing (or even directly blaming) Dr. Ratio for what the IG did millennia before he was born.

(Small spoiler for 3.3 below, maybe:)

(I wrote this some time ago. I haven't finished 3.2 yet, but I've heard a Scepter is involved in 3.3. But I don't think that would change anything for the IG. Besides, they made the IG so bland and unappealing that I doubt a single person would be excited to see more of them. Even I, as a fan of Dr. Ratio, am only interested in the council of Mundanites, as a small part of the Guild, and only because of him)

#honkai star rail #my stuff #dr ratio #hsr spoilers

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mdhwrites · 7 months ago

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THE. HERTA.

The writers from the Intelligentsia Guild wanted to give me an extra title. Something like "Herta Prime" to separate me from my puppets. How banal. Are the puppets not "me" as well? So, I gave them a suggestion — if they dared to write that, then I would call myself THE Herta. It's short, simple, straight to the point, and elegant.

Esteemed member #83 of the Genius Society, human, female, young, beautiful, attractive. It's said that she lives in the far edge of the Cosmos, almost never leaving. Sounds like her appearance this time... must be to deal with an issue that has to be handled herself, right?

Image and above text taken from Hoyo's English account on Twitter.

OH MY GOD I'M HYPED! And just this alone already feels right. I'll admit when I first saw her I went "Teen Lisa" at the design... But it's a teenager which is kind of major to me. Framing her that young fits exceptionally well with who she has been throughout the entire game. Hear me out:

When we first meet her, she's a petulant, uncaring brat who just wants to play with her toys and hardly cares for people who don't make her life more fun. A bad ending to Star Rail's beginning is sticking around and Herta losing interest in you because of the lack of change. All she cares about is her simulated universe.

By the time Ruan Mei is there though, she's spent a lot more time at the Space Station than she ever has before. She now has a group of peers she has been working with for a long while, something implied she hasn't done really, much like Ruan Mei. But instead of just taking charge and telling the others what geniuses they'll recruit, she's asking for input, wanting their thoughts, stuff like that. She is learning her game is more fun with more players.

A sidequest in Penacony pushes her the next step where she is given a heavy weight. A weapon used to destroy entire star systems. She doesn't mock the scientist, the gift or the weapon like she might have at the start. She treats the Stellaron in us as just a weapon to be played with after all. No, she solemnly tucks it away for later, respectful of the wish that someone who can maybe use it for good have it. It's a responsibility that she must accept, properly, with no one like Asta to shirk it off to. Instead of trying to ignore it though, she treats it with respect.

Finally, we have the Unknown Domain which has a LOT to it about Herta potentially opening up due to it being about something so critical to who she is... But the one I want to zoom in on is the ending. For someone who saw themselves as so high and mighty, who theoretically treats the universe as a curiosity to be replicated, who can only be interested in the strange and unknowable, the curiosities of existence... She gives a mundanite comfort. Thanks someone who could never approach her understanding for giving her the first step into being who she is. She knows it's a simulation but she feels that weight enough to feel the need to thank the simulation regardless.

And now she deems something so important that she comes herself? What could that possibly mean? She needs to kiss Ruan Mei? I can't even begin to properly guess but I am excited to put it mildly because we have gotten to see this teenager, some loli bait doll, become a young woman and now we'll get a physical manifestation of it and I LOVE IT.

Also, just a shout out to the description perfectly explaining why she's Ice Erudition again. "The puppets are me." So why would she be anything other than just a refined, perfected version of the puppets? Also she uses a keyblade/staff which makes the Kingdom Hearts fan in me happy and I'm just SO curious what we're going to see with her. A Herta who summons other Hertas? Does she spin with the key? Is the portal cat an actual thing to her? GIVE ME MORE INFORMATION STAR RAIL!

But for now, I am just excited to let my mind expand thanks to this first turn of her key to let us see who she will be. I just hope it's as exciting when she opens the door properly. See you next tale.

======+++++======

A reminder my asks are open and I'd love questions about Star Rail or even story ideas! I struggle more with concepts to write about for Star Rail far more than I wish I did and I'd love to hear your all's thoughts for a font of inspiration.

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.

#hsr #The Herta #herta hsr #Honkai Star Rail #hsr analysis

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sunderingstars · 8 months ago

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simulated universe addendum: ship of fools

— i found yet another occurrence after i posted my other simulated universe analyses, so here it is (this time from the unknowable domain)! watch in real time as i become absolutely obsessed with the implications !!

— written during 2.6

— word count: 3k, list format

— cover art. jumping right into it: the red / orange masks & a suspiciously aha-mask-looking shadow implies that the masked fools may not be just fanatical, but directly supported and endorsed by aha themself (or at least a part of them). also, note that the fool is bowing with one hand, something that sampo often likes to do. (i don’t think the fool on the cover is sampo, though.)

— the rewards are interesting, for reasons i’ll get into later. for now, i just want to point out how the options are staggered, with two giving you negative curios and the last one giving you specifically a “shining trapezohedron die.” they are also broken into three rounds separated by dialogue, meaning all options come in sets of two. the order does not change.

— the masks are also listed quite neatly here: sinister, ridiculous, masquerade, fox-faced, intact, and broken. each set seems to contradict itself — sinister versus ridiculous, masquerade versus fox-faced, and, most notably, intact versus broken.

— introductory dialogue: before the options appear, we the player and trailblazer (assumed to be the addressed “you”) are shown swimming in the belly of something called the “joyless beast.” surrounded by “humorless particles” in the “sea of impassivity,” and are invited onboard the ship of fools by a lost masked fool. apparently, he has been tricked by others into crossing the sea, and now finds himself drunk and attempting to get his bearings.

— note: while i’m not sure this makes sense, i wouldn’t rule out the possibility that this fool is aha. as mentioned at different parts in the occurrence, they seem to be running the “ship of fools” — i.e. a very large, plural collective that could be seen as representative of the real-life organization — the tavern can be heard even if it physically makes no sense to be there, the fool’s mask changes back and forth “in the blink of an eye,” they’re drunk (similar to the masked fools boundary equation), and they are the one conveying these many stories about the masks to us. they seem to have an encyclopedic knowledge of the goings-on of followers of the elation, even remarking on how a joke is “unfunny” at the end. paired with the very aha-looking shadow on the cover, and i’d say we’ve got ourselves a theory.

— however, it is strange that aha would find themselves lost or tricked, but perhaps that just comes with the territory. they often co-mingle with mortals, after all, and if they’ve spent enough time with the fools it’s possible one of their own children decided to make a haha funny by sending them hurtling into the literal concept of “jokeless.” a concept, after all, can only be defeated by another concept. anyways!

— my main interests here are the specific names of objects and places — “joyless beast,” “humorless particles,” and “sea of impassivity” — and the tavern we hear despite there being nothing behind the door.

— the names give some good insight into what contrasts the elation; lack of joy, lack of humor, and impassivity are all things that seem to counteract the effect of jokes, rendering them null. interestingly, it may give some insight into sampo’s nihility status as well, since “impassivity” and “nothing” are the domains of ix. it may be that sampo is trying to counteract the effects of elation within himself, or even within others.

— the tavern is also intriguing to me, since it is specifically mentioned to be heard despite there for certain being nothing behind the door. it may truly be only laughter that floats by on stomach acid, but i also think it is interesting to consider that the masked fools’ tavern may be able to move itself in an otherworldly way, popping up in new and exciting places where it makes no sense to be.

— sinister & ridiculous: the sinister mask, which grants the player an annihilation component, is described by the fool to have belonged to a ferocious monster that instigated riots through lying. on the other hand, the ridiculous mask is about someone incredibly adept at auctioning off intangible things like gravity and nuclear force. as a result, many businessmen across the cosmos want to “flay the hide from his flesh” (wow!), and even though the option says you’ll get cosmic fragments, the text is garbled and the player receives two negative curios instead.

— in this case, the sinister mask seems to be straightforward; you get what you want. however, the jumbled text on the ridiculous mask is nothing more than a lie, giving you something different than expected.

— both masks seem to represent two separate people, using different pronouns and professions to distinguish the individuals. the true contrast comes with the nature of the masks themselves, with one being “sinister” and one being “ridiculous.”

— dialogue: pretty straightforward, more chaotic masked fools shenanigans. one thing i will note, though, is the specific use of the word “imperfectly.” with the emphasis on perfection in the *perfect* grand challenge occurrence and the later emphasis on “pristine” in this very same one, i’d say there’s a connection here. with how the fool may be aha (or symbolic of them in some way), maybe they really do have a preoccupation with “perfection.”

— masquerade & fox-faced: the masquerade mask references a “ball for the entire universe” filled with multicolored masks, making a very specific comparison between the laughter and a virus in the aether network. it also ends with the line “who ever said an in-your-face joke isn’t a joke?” and grants the player a scepter. then, the fox-faced mask is said to be a “scarlet mask” that infiltrates via disguise. it heavily alludes to feelings of lost personhood and performance before giving the player two negative curios.

— again, there seems to be some contrast, with the masquerade mask favoring “in-your-face” jokes and flashy colors and big opulent balls and the fox-faced mask favoring “infiltrating via disguise” and acting and being part of a play. while there are similarities in performance, masquerade is much more in the light of it all than the fox-faced mask, which stays humming in the background.

— i am not sure who the masquerade mask is meant to represent (perhaps another character we’ll meet later on), but i strongly believe the fox-faced mask is referencing sparkle. it has her name written all over it, from the disguises to the plays and performances to even the name “fox-faced” itself. additionally, “if you wear a mask for too long, maybe you’ll never be able to take it off” is an entire theme with her character, since her many masks represent her loss of personhood and jumbled identity.

— (it’s also important to bring up how the masquerade and fox-face masks may even be alluding to the same person; i.e. a potential “before” and “after” or different sides of sparkle we maybe haven’t seen, one side taken to the extreme.)

— the jumbled text makes a comeback, this time with sparkle’s mask. much like the first time, the player is lied to, and instead of receiving normal curios, we receive negative ones.

— now onto the main course! as you and the fool try to make a break for it, two last options arise: an intact mask or a broken mask.

— intact mask: this is a very cryptic joke, perhaps the most cryptic in the entire occurrence. it is stilted in small bits, mentioning “sharp-tasting collections,” “pristine white complete masks,” and “breaking magnificent mirages.” “lies are not the unique properties of the fools” also implies someone from a different organization or mode of existence; potentially someone not part of the fools at all. it gives a few examples of “truth,” as well, like revealing conspiracies and exposing politicians.

— while i believe this mask could be referring to many characters (perhaps ones we haven’t even met yet), i think it may be referring to a group rather than a single person:

— aha stuffed toys. although the mask in the option is singular, the masks mentioned in the joke are plural. this invocation of plurality rather than singularity leads me to envision that the “aha stuffed toys” as an entire group may be mentioned here — well, the “intact” ones at least. this would align with “lies are not the unique properties of the fools,” which i take to reference how the fools are not unique due to the existence of other, lying beings of elation; this would fit with mini-aha dolls who lie in service of their creator, but are not a part of the fools. additionally, the specific examples given in the joke could be examples of different dolls choosing what kind of chaos to sow, as they have “time for leisure” that allows them to, well, basically be absolute rabble-rousers in aha’s image.

— “they all say truth is above all, but they cry like a mourning actor when the truth is revealed” may reference the nature of the dolls themselves. perhaps they are unaware of their purpose or the nature of their existence, feeling panicked and grief-stricken when they realize what they were really made for. there is even the possibility that none of these dolls are meant to survive long; they may all be simply treading water until aha decides it’s time for the next drink.

— speaking of which, “sharp-tasting collections” may reference the cracks and edges of broken dolls, which could potentially turn into a “sharp taste” of pain aha drinks (symbolically or otherwise) like in the masked fools boundary equation. what if i cried???

— bing-bing! heart transplant mention — ties to the “organic heart” curio in curio hacker. perhaps all of aha’s dolls can fit the idea of organic heart?

— (“pristine white complete masks” is interesting as well, since it gives a specific, sterile color to the whole ordeal. it really reminds me of the gray-white hair hidden at the bottom of sampo’s blue, as well as the muted grays of his outfit below the jacket. perhaps he’s simply tried to paint over his “base model”.)

— the “stuffed toys” angle is further supported by the reward for this option, which is, as you may have guessed, cosmic fragments. (as in, the same cosmic fragments you receive from the aha stuffed toy occurrence.)

— broken mask: last on the list, the fool describes the broken mask as a “bitter and depressed collection item” who caused the kuvida nebula to become a “dead zone” due to flipping the dichotomy of truths and lies. the option says it will give us a three-star scepter, but the jumbled text gives us a “shining trapezohedron die” instead.

— i’ll cut to the chase: i’m 99.9% sure this is about sampo.

— one, the “bitter and depressed collection item” not only references the intact aha stuffed toy group from the last joke, but specifies the words “bitter” and “depressed” to be unique to this singular collection item, much like sampo’s “betrayal” and “hate” motifs.

— two, “dim and broken mask” may refer to whatever mask shenanigans sampo has going on via sparkle in penacony’s trailblaze quest. also, the fact that sampo has broken heart motifs and tries to give the fools a wide berth.

— three, “a liar with negative credit.” i repeat, a liar with negative credit. simple, easy. sampo lies. sampo’s profession revolves around credits. sampo hates owing people things. sampo likely has negative credit. (this may refer to status, monetary funds, or power. or all of it!)

— four, “that person.” interesting deflection. interesting lack of pronouns. interesting vague, “you might know this person” energy similar to the “entity” in curio hacker. i know what you are trying to hide from us star rail :)

— five, “inflation engine.” once again, a reference to monetary processes.

— six, “if everything that comes out of your mouth is viewed as a lie, then truth will replace the value of lies.” on a simple level, this references sampo’s propensity for lying and his need to find workarounds to keep the effect of his schemes the same. on a deeper level, it may have something to say about his intelligence and cunning ability to get what he wants. this isn’t a sampo who tells the truth out of some attempt at pure goodness, but a sampo who caused an entire area to become a “dead zone” because he realized “hey, if they all think i’m lying, i’ll just tell the truth and it’ll have the same effect!”. while there’s the possibility “kuvida nebula” was an awful, abhorrent place that deserved to be swindled, there’s also the chance it wasn’t.

— huge fan of this for sampo, who i want to succeed in all of his endeavors, but not a great way to prove his innocence in court. also, “kuvida nebula” may be a great place to look out for future references of in-game.

— the aforementioned quote also implies that sampo telling the truth may not be an entirely good thing; it can be easy to think, especially with the mr. cold feet event coming up, that him being honest with us (and the trailblazer) is a step in the right direction, but… well… let’s just remember what happened to kuvida.

— moving on, i believe this “broken mask” sampo joke is meant to directly mirror and contrast the “intact mask” of the other aha stuffed toys. as mentioned in other analyses, i believe sampo may have been abandoned or discarded as an experiment or broken goods. if that’s the case, these two mask jokes being part of the same option pair makes sense — much like the other pairs, these are two different modes of existence that contrast with each other, one being fun and straightforward, while the other is darker and more complex.

— additionally, the garbled text makes a comeback, and i believe this misspelling (all the misspellings) are intentional. every single garbled text option is a lie; every single garbled text option does not give what it says it will. the first two give negative curios, and this one gives:

— shining trapezohedron die. this curio replaces all current curios with random ones. very elation-aligned, in my opinion, since the elation path seems to be very focused on chaos and “randomness.” the only reason i can think of that the sampo option would “surprise” us with this curio in particular is the randomness of elation itself. if sampo is aligned on a deeper level with the elation — such as being an emanator — this seems like something “random” he might do in conjunction with the overall path. additionally, it may be something similar to his “surprise present” burst, with the implications being 1. a present (something new, something unique) and 2. a surprise (something random you couldn’t have predicted).

— story. the die’s story itself is also very interesting. much like curio hacker’s curios, it focuses on experimentation, combination, and even paradox. it has “irregular sides” and “a wondrous light that twirls unrestrained within it.” the word “unrestrained” catches my attention, as despite being trapped within a physical object, an immeasurable power still rests within. in addition, this die is “said to be the seal of a horrible and indescribable evil god,” which interests me as to why it is given in sampo’s option. i wonder if the die, like curio hacker’s curios, is meant to convey something about sampo’s existence, or even be a stand-in for the man himself.

— in this case, aha may be the “horrible” god described, as from the dolls’ perspective aha must surely be “evil.” much of what we’ve seen so far paints aha as somewhat cruel and twisted in their jokes, anyways.

— the die must also, specifically, not be touched in dark places. the story itself details a few people who did not believe this “myth,” and stayed with the die in a dark room. apparently, the light within the die “cannot be blocked out,” which created the “shining trapezohedron die paradox.” the light, in my opinion, may be synonymous with elation or path power, something that aha may have personally bestowed upon sampo. since it cannot be diminished, it seems to be a factor of sampo’s creation or rise to emanatorhood; the elation he was “gifted” with from the beginning cannot be taken away or smoothed over no matter how hard he might try.

— “you cannot prove something that cannot be proven.” this is the line the story ends with, and i find it very fitting with sampo’s existence. since the sentient doll from aha stuffed toy is said to be a secret only aha knows, i interpret this line as being relevant to the fact no one else knows about sampo’s creation. perhaps there is something that “cannot be proven” about sampo’s creation or reason for existence, something that aha is able to make sure no one else knows through godlike means. just speculation, though!

— overall, the die still fits in with sampo on a broader level, like with the unrestrained power trapped within a small form and the mention of gods and specific circumstances where you shouldn’t interact.

— it’s also important to note that sampo’s option in the occurrence is the only fake text one that does not give only negative curios — the die is a regular curio, and may give normal curios as much as it may give negative ones. i think this ties back to how much of a wildcard sampo can be, either helping or harming at a moment’s notice. at least it’s better than sparkle’s, though, which only gives negative curios.

— as for the text itself, i believe those options are meant to show the more duplicitous, darker side of the fools, and by extension the elation. the first options are confident, opulent, pristine, while the second, chaotic text options are angry, lost, and filled with dead zones. it’s no wonder why those second options seem more in line with the randomness of elation, closer in status to the unpredictability of their aeon; the elation itself may have a rotting core. and poor sampo is just there, caught in the middle of it.

— “what an unfunny joke,” the fool ends with. aha ends with. maybe they’re right. maybe the joke was a bad idea. maybe it went too far from the beginning. maybe it was cruel. and maybe, just maybe, sampo’s suffering wasn’t all that funny in the first place.

— alright, that’s all i have! gonna wring aha by the neck like a snake hehehe (except i’m not because that’s exactly what they’d want me to do) :3 i’d love to hear others’ thoughts in the comments, as well as any theories surrounding sampo or the masked fools !! :)

#⌞ ✎ sunder.writes ⌝#⌞ 🎭 ⌝#hsr #honkai stair rail #honkai: star rail #sampo #sampo koski #sampo hsr #hsr sampo #sampo honkai star rail #hsr analysis #hsr theory

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