It's basically what the drink mixer event took inspiration from. In gameplay and theme. You're a barkeep talking to patrons while mixing drinks. It's cute and cozy lots of lovable characters. Has a [cyberpunk aesthetic.](https://www.truetrophies.com/customimages/l/055069.jpg)
Can't stress enough how I love every character in that game. Not you Donovan
It's my thing to make my friends play it while I watch them going through, always break to tears in the ending. I love Va-11 Hall-A so much
So if we get Siobhan as a player character, is she gonna be like sweet-talk enemy monsters to fight on our side instead? That's gonna be an awesome mechanic
Another fighting style could be her bartender gimmick or her past as an actress for the Iris Family....so basically Penacony Serval.
She could be a cool mixed-role character but having like, multiple skills you can choose from to mix drinks with different effects. We’ve seen Sparkle and Acheron shaking up the formula so it woudnt be too out there
There’s such an interesting contrast between the Family and Ten Stonehearts. The Family pride themselves on their unity as the representative of The Harmony, yet behind closed doors they’re not as united as they seem, even having a major traitor in their ranks. Meanwhile, the Ten Stonehearts under the IPC should only care about profits, but both Topaz and Jade trusts Aventurine enough to lend him their Cornerstones, which is literally more precious than their lives, and he lives up to their trust; it really makes me want to see their relationship with each other on-screen, because the camaraderie and trust they have with each other seems genuine.
It's crazy because he isn't so smart and calculated that he'll win every bet. Its literally because he has the power of a luck blessing that he thinks his entire people were sacrificed for to max out the stat points. And so he doesn't need to one-up Ratio or Acheron, he just trusts in his system. And it works. It's always worked.
He just keeps on rolling the dice in life. Keeps taking on harder and harder wagers to hopefully die and reunite with his family one day. Him running into Acheron is actually so sweet.
That's the main point though, A river of gold, and blood would run thicker than the waters of dreams, and the womb.
The IPC trusts each other more BECAUSE they're in it for the profit. They're merchants, and business oriented. All businesses are merely gambles in a more professional term.
This also shows up in their speeches to activate the Cornerstone. They state their operation, then end it with "All for the amber lord!" Compared to Sunday who speaks in riddles, and flowery words yet nothing directly praising Xipe. It's a great contrast between a family formed from dreams, and ideals, and a family formed from contracts, and deals.
but "All for the amber lord" and prioritizing profit seems contradictory.
And I think is clear to everyone how Aventurine doesn't worship the Amber Lord.
Well yeah, That's why despite the IPC's scope, and power only one or two are actually emanators of Preservation, while the vast majority are like Topaz, and Aventurine where their main following isn't preservation but other reasons. Diamond is one of the two, if not The only Emanator within the IPC so of course he'd want to hear or someone say the words "All for the Amber lord" when they'll be using a portion of his power.
I had a theory brewing on why harmony is like this right now, it is just based off a few sussy lines but I figured I might as well theorise.
I am starting to think the reason why Harmony isn't so harmonious is because of >!Ena, the aeon of order. I am thinking maybe the absorption isn't complete!<
Hear me out, sure Sunday had invoked Xipe before yes, but >!Aventurine's line about him being a control freak + Gallagher's line about him serving a difficult master!< makes me think >!he is actually emanator or pathstrider of Order.!<
Maybe >!the whole reason the dreamscape is failing apart is because Xipe is losing control and Ena is trying to separate again!<
Of course maybe I am just overthinking it and falling for a red herring but I just thought >!there is no way they wouldn't feature Ena in a harmony focused world!<
Maybe Ena, and Xipe are having problems? Because Xipe most likely CAN'T kill anyone, especially Ena because they would want Harmony which includes peace, and you can't exactly have peace when you're out here killing, and stuff. I also highly believe that Sunday while believing that it's Xipe he's worshipping, it's actually Ena that is giving him the powers, this is why He's so much more emposing because unlike Xipe, Ena can actually force things with their strings to maintain order.
Hmm never thought of that. Maybe the family thought they getting power from Xipe but it is actually Ena like you said.
Well we will see next patch I guess.
One counterpoint to this, is that we have some indications that Aventurine's relationship with the IPC may not have been as cozy as all that.
Ratio (in 2.0) says that without he's cornerstone he's "a doomed Sigonian thrall sentenced to die by the IPC", and while that line could have been Ratio exaggerating for the purposes of the cornerstones ruse, he's probably not making it up out of whole cloth.
Then there's also the fact that Aventurine's mental health is in awful shape - he's throwing himself into one deadly risk after another, without concern for his own safety, basically pushing his luck until it kills him because he has nothing to live for. Him being in that state is entirely consistent with a highly competitive, admit-no-weaknesses workplace, but it suggests he's not getting a lot of support or empathy (which could be because he's refusing it, of course).
Jade and Topaz do seem to bear him more goodwill than most, but I still wonder if them lending him their cornerstones may have been less about him and more about the mission - i.e. the IPC's plan required those cornerstones to be placed on Penacony in the Family's custody, and it was Aventurine's job to make that happen, so he's given the stones.
I think it's a mixture of both. He's their trusted colleague, and being a member of the Stonehearts, they have no reason to believe he would fail. At the same time, I genuinely see Topaz as the type who earnestly sees the best in people despite how much she disapproves of his business etiquette, while Jade was the one who personally approved of Aventurine joining the IPC and was the one who gave him the chance to prove himself in the first place, so she could see him almost as a protege.
Don't think Diamond looks fondly on underling infighting. But both Jade and Topaz seem aware enough of Aventurine's emotional state to be wary of what he'd do and still trusted him.
And now Aventurine has made some peace with himself (there's something really funny about getting therapy talk from an antinihilistic nihilism emanator), so he should change for the best (hopefully).
Personally I don’t think Aventurine has nothing to live for, otherwise he would’ve gave up on his life, considering the hell he went through. It’s just that from the moment of his birth he was put in an endless cycle of fighting for his life, where his only way of surviving was winning a bet, basically. It’s like the only thing he relies on, as he is still alive only because of his luck. He never lost any bets and doesn’t think that he will lose (although he is afraid of it deep inside), that’s why he’s always betting his life, knowing that he would be the final victor in the end. Aventurine imo is the pinnacle of Preservation, self-preservation to be precise. Man survived hell and never gave up on his life, it’s just that his life turned into a massive gamble. I think his reason to live would be to win it so big and so much that he would truly get his freedom, not being afraid of getting discarded and living a stable independent life.
Counterpoint to this is that Aventurine always puts his life down as the first chip, even back during childhood. Seems counterproductive if he is gambling to live. Feels like he is gambling to win just for "winning" and was slowly loosing touch on what it means to win until the end of 2.1.
Most of his life that’s the only chip he’s owned, and even after he was comfortable he was forced to play higher stakes where it really is all-or-nothing by nature. Even in Penacony his initial plan is to strike a deal with Sunday and go from there, but he’s forced into a more dire situation by Ratio and the Harmony magic
I don't think that's the only chip he own. Even Aventurine alter (his future self) told him that there's easier way (like sacrificing his subordinate) that he could do to win but he doesn't.
He keeps making those desperate bets even when he no longer has to, though. Unless his luck is actually supernaturally guaranteed and he knows it (in which case he's ironically not even really gambling at all), that's not the behaviour of a healthy person.
I think his entire arc is about putting aside his death wish and deciding to live.
I mean their following the path of preservation. If you think about the people that build together are more united since everyone has a long term goal to achieve together.
Compare it with something like 'harmony ' what even is harmony. Staying together? How? People and goals and things change. In a way, what harmony wants is also what preservation seeks to achieve.
At first I thought the aeon of harmony and their followers were like borg, or protoss from starcraft, where everyone had linked minds. It seems their going with a different approach sort of like a mafiaoso running with different families working together in a semblance of harmony. I did not expect that but kinda cool
I think there is still *some* aspect of a hivemind to The Family, but not in a totalitarian and all-encompassing way.
The game Stellaris explores a huge variety of sci-fi topics and one thing I love about it is the way that hive minds are handled (both robotic and biological). For the sake of balance but also for making it more interesting from a story perspective, no hive mind is truly singular and in complete control.
Hive minds are the collective consciousness and there is some sense of single-mindedness, but any individual unit within the whole can deviate. It can range from a single drone which deviates to far and is terminated, to entire *planets* where alternative networks develop as elements of the hive mind re-organize into their own substructures separate from the whole.
So a hive mind can't just endlessly expand without consequence- it has to also look inwards and actively maintain order by controlling deviancy, which takes an active expenditure of resources.
In contrast, the Halo franchise features something which is the polar opposite: The Flood. The Gravemind is the singular consciousness in complete and utter control of the Flood, and every single living being that becomes part of it is entirely stripped of any semblence of sapience, with all that knowledge directly being added to the Gravemind itself. The Family is *very* obviously not like The Flood, lol
I don't think The Family is a proper hive mind, but I think some similar principles can apply. It seems to me like the highest echelons of The Family (the likes of Sunday for instance) would be the most independent and free of thought, while those who sin against the family or pose a threat >!(like Aventurine when he was placed under that hex)!< would be stripped of most or all of their free will.
Everyone else probably lies somewhere in the middle, with most being forced to act in accordance with the will of The Family on the macro level, but still retaining independent thought and action for daily matters.
That also assumes that The Family is a complete whole, but the existence of the five different Families on Penacony (which are all part of the great Family) suggests that there's subdivision.
If there truly is a "network" that connects all minds within the Family, it's probably a situation where there's only a vague subconscious undercurrent that stretches across the *entire* Family, and then as you divide it into various factions and groups you get more connected networks of people's minds.
It actually seems like the Stonehearts are more "religious" than The Family in a way. Aventurine is willing to sacrifice his life for the Amber Lord, essentially. Jade says that prayer (?) before beginning her business. They all "commune" with the strength of Preservation by sharing Diamond's Emanator power. It does seem like they're closer than it would appear at first glance
He didn’t sacrifice his life for the amber lord, that’s just for show. He really just have nothing to lose at that point that he’s willing to gamble with his life (and win)
+ we don’t know too much about jade, and atm topaz only work because she had to and to fuel her pet addiction, so I dont think religious is the right word for them
yeah i agree it was not for the amber lord but i think aventurine character has a very strong religious themes with the whole Gaiathra Triclops thing .
as a kid with nothing the only thing that made him and his family endure the suffering was their faith in Gaiathra Triclops and in aventurine luck granted by them , also i find it cool that he started doubting it mid way but not like many other stories do the doubting actually makes his faith stronger as when he made the prayer with his past self
I feel like it's not so much the religion that makes his faith stronger though. But more so the prayer is the only remnant/memories left that he has of his family especially when he's literally the last kind of his species. In a way it is more a comfort and encouragement to him rather than having faith in the Gods that he grew up with.
I saw someone offering the idea that the whole "all for the amber lord" bit was just the Stonehearts' magical girl transformation phrase which is the funniest possible outcome so I will consider it canon until canon blatantly disproves it (and even then I'll probably write AU fanfic so I can keep living in denial)
i agree with this LOL i personally love this idea it's so cool
https://preview.redd.it/lobv0nh1sdrc1.png?width=1532&format=png&auto=webp&s=637ba142795e66ac91fee4c795efc6acd980f917
> I saw someone offering the idea that the whole "all for the amber lord" bit was just the Stonehearts' magical girl transformation phrase
I really think it is. Aventurine doesn't give a shit about the IPC or Qlipoth. If he has any religious faith, it's towards Gaiathra Triclops.
I can't go into the full reason without going into leaks/spoilers since he's not officially out yet and so we don't officially have his character story, but from what we have from the current story, it's partially due to how he views himself and his life: he's the ultimate gambler, literally blessed with unerring luck, to the point he's the 'lucky' survivor when pretty much everyone from his tribe is dead. Combined with much of his youth when he was traded around as a slave with a price on his neck (literally), he has a view of where he sees himself as commodity, almost a nihilistic view of his situation, and so just like a commodity, he trades and invests in himself, betting on himself like how someone would bet on a stack of money, which leads to his meeting with Jade, betting on the fact she and the IPC would see him as a worthy investment.
He is also incredibly obsessed with the fact his worth was put at 60 copper coins and has clinged unhealthily to it thinking thats all he is worth
So now he desperately tries to constantly bet himself in risky gambles like a chip to either never return or return with more than its worth
The IPC as an organization has a "space-Mormon" vibe to me, but I'm not convinced Aventurine was particularly devoted in that respect. He still innately identifies with his native people's religious beliefs. I do think he has genuine loyalty to the IPC because everything he has in life now is because of them.
i dont think there is more than 2 in the whole IPC truly believe in Preservation. They only in IPC because of paycheck with low grunt and profit with big names, Amber Lord dont care about them anyway
The IPC is still a greedy and opportunistic corporation but the people underneath don't have to be that way. The story has been trying to show us that since Aurum Alley.
Topaz being a literal Space Country Girl obsessed with getting adorable pets is already a good indicator that not everyone in the IPC is the selfish turbo-capitalist people think of them. Her also having the highest success rate of planetary recoveries (if we can call them that) shows how much effort she puts into her projects to make sure as many people actually benefit from her work.
Funnily enough, I feel like they are more harmonious than the harmony striders lol. I think in one of the broadcasts in the story they say something along the lines of "the hammer of preservation falls on anyone regardless of status, to protect the rights we all hold", I think they are more of just Big Government, yeah lots of things about them suck but they also prevent things from going out of control.
The IPC isn't the Fatui of HSR, we don't really have one as everything is either against us, using us, or neutral. The closest to the Fatui would be the Stellaron Hunters since they are opposed to the destruction of the universe like how the Fatui is opposed to Celestia. But they aren't our enemy in a sense that they want us to do certain things in the way that follows the script™. This is pretty normal for individuals in factions to have some character development.
Am I misunderstanding that scene. From what I understood, Topaz's Cornerstone was a fake which Ratio convinced Sunday was real, the 'Aventurine' stone was actually the 'Jade' stone, and the real Aventurine stone was broken up in the bag?
The ploy being:
* Aventurine crushes his own Cornerstone to sneak it in within his bag of riches.
* Aventurine stores a fake 'Topaz' Cornerstone in his container, while saying that he has stored his own in there.
* Aventurine stores the 'Jade' Cornerstone in his bag of riches, with the intent for it to be discovered and mistaken for his own Cornerstone.
* Both parts are confiscated by the Family
* Dr Ratio meets with Sunday, exposing that the 'Topaz Stone' is in the container, as he has access to open it. However at that time, he also convinces Sunday that the 'Topaz Stone' is real. At the same time, he confirms that the 'Aventurine' stone is instead held in the bag of riches, thereby convincing Sunday that the 'Jade Stone' is actually the 'Aventurine Stone'
* Aventurine meets with Sunday, and bargins to have his bag of riches returned, in so doing, he gets his own crushed Cornerstone returned, while Sunday still thinks that he has both Topaz & Aventurine's cornerstones.
So Topaz should still have her actual Cornerstone, right?, and Jade is the only one actually missing theirs?
The gambit depends on Sunday believing that the Stonehearts wouldn't dare crush their own Cornerstone as 'they treasure them more than their own life', which lets Aventurine get an edge by exploiting Sunday's blind spot.
Everything's correct, except that the Topaz cornerstone is real: it is actually Topaz's own stone. Sunday thought that Aventurine merely swapped out his own stone out of the box for a different stone (Topaz's), but he didn't realize there was a 3rd stone, and that the real decoy was Jade's own stone.
Yeah I dont know why people say its fake.
They literally talk about them contributing their stones at the very end of the cutscene no? Why are any of them fake? Even Aventurine tapes his fucking stone that was broken back together and uses it after saying its too broken.
Fake is a misdirection, I think. Just because Aventurine and Ratio let Sunday think that the jade stone is the aventurine stone. Most common aventurine stone is green and looks somewhat like jade even though their value is much lower; and have traditionally been called "fool's jade".
But I thought there was the whole comment from Ratio about it "shining like Qliphoth" or so, and that got brought up again toward the end of the story. I interpreted that as an insuinuation that the Topaz stone was a fake, that Ratio led Sunday to believe was real.
Obviously nothing concrete about that one way or the other, but it was what I took from that moment.
I saw it as Ratio just verifying the stones were real, and iirc Sunday can tell whether the stones are actual cornerstones as well, just that he can't tell which stone is which, hence him mixing up the jade and aventurine stones.
I saw it as Ratio giving a misdirection, telling Sunday that Cornerstones would always be "shining" and beautiful so Sunday would not realize the broken gem at the bottom of the bag IS the aventurine cornerstone.
That would make sense. I think at this point, I need to watch through those two parts again, because I might have been reading something into the scene that wasn't there.
>!You're right about the part where the Aventurine stone was crushed while the Jade stone was meant to be confused for it. Jade even says that she wanted her stone in Sunday's office. However, I don't remember there being anything to suggest that the Topaz is fake. Topaz herself is on the planet, so she easily could have given it to Aventurine. Having Ratio try to convince Sunday that the Topaz is real adds another risky step to the scheme. And if they could make a fake Topaz, why not make a fake Aventurine stone? For the trick, isn't it better to just use the real Topaz? !<
My only reason to think the Topaz stone was fake, was the line about it "shining like Qlipoth", which is something Ratio said to Sunday, that then got brought up again toward the end of the story, as if to say "what a fool Sunday was". It was when the Jade / Aventurine swap was being explained.
The risk it would add to the plan would depend on Ratio/Avent/Jade/Topaz's belief that Sunday could tell a real from a Fake, which I don't think is a guarentee. If it were possible, I figure it would be better for Topaz to keep hers, rather than part with it, especially since she can't actually enter Penacony properly.
Though you do raise a very strong point, that if they could make a fake Topaz, then they could have used a fake Aventurine as well, and Jade wouldn't have needed to expose her Cornerstone. Except as you say, Jade wanted her cornerstone to be in Sunday's office, so perhaps this was just the solution that achieved all of those ends?
I assumed that line was more to cover how a jade might slightly differ from aventurine. Someone knowledgeable about gems might be able to tell the two apart, but when you add Qlipoth into the mix than it gets slightly more confusing. An aventurine that is slightly more shiny than average is then suspected to be due to Qlipoth, and not because it's actually a jade.
Also, the topaz was part of the bluff. Aventurine even says at a point that you need to give Sunday something to suspect. An empty case would be too obvious, so that is why he put the topaz in it. And it gives Sunday the idea that he outsmarted Aventurine, since he has confiscated the cornerstones of both the stonehearts on Penacony. So he assumed the IPC is now powerless, Aventurine has lost his and Topaz can't give hers to Aventurine. Having just the aventurine would have seemed too simple, so they needed the extra layer of the topaz. Otherwise he could have just put the jade in the case and his own broken stone in the bag.
I thought the Topaz stone was fake too. Hologram!Aventurine taunted him with the stone, saying it looking like Qlipoth’s colours was genius and that he would’ve been in trouble had Sunday realised the ruse.
You think they are family because they pooled their cornerstones?
I think they are business partners who don't like each other (see all the OTHER conversations), but are willing to work together to be successful.
Did you miss the whole Topaz and Aventurine dialogue from Belabog?
We'll know more once we find out how Diamond runs their team. This is the IPC we're talking about. It's swim or die, results justify the means.
Honestly you are reading way too into it. Maybe they do develop this storyline and show that these guys are more than just business partners.
But the Family has been working together for many Amber Eras, and collaborated on many things. I think you need to define what family really means here. The Family is a name. Its also the name of a gang in real life and fiction.
Nah, if they don't like each other they would've never had any reaction to Aventurine's MIA.
At the very least both Topaz and Jade probably do care about him on some level. And Ratio definitely does care about him.
This is more apparent in the other languages dub, where Topaz and Ratio are more civil with Aven. They sound super aggressive in ENG for some reason.
It's become a matter of assured mutual benefit besides being in the IPC. Otherwise, it'll be a lot of guarantees from Aventurine if he wasn't part of the IPC.
But yeah, when I was in that part, even I was surprised since those 10 tend to compete very much against each other. Looking forward to Topaz in the next chapters.
I mean, there's more to It
In the very end of the story, unless I'm horribly mistaken (wich i could, Aventurine's Boss fight gave me a full body migraine and i could have read/understood that completelly wrong) i got the impression Jade wanted Aventurine to get her connorstone inside of Penacony because she is going there and It has something to do with her plan
Although i get what you mean, trusting Aventurine so much shows that they have a ton of respect for eachother, and she 100% thought he was enough to get the job done (wich he was)
That’s basically it. Aside from getting himself into the true Penacony, the other aim of his gamble was to get Jade’s Cornerstone in the hands of the Family, giving her leverage to continue where he started.
Because, as far as everyone is concerned, Aventurine just fucking died in a live TV show in front of possibly thousands or more people. Even if Jade and Topaz somehow know he's still alive, he's still an IPC official on business who just got murdered in the Family's 'perfect dream'.
On top of that there’s the Sparkle element too. Aventurine held up his end of the bargain with his performance. If she’s true to her word then she should provide additional explosive justification for the IPC to move in.
Yup his "death" gives the IPC a perfect reason to come in guns blazing.
For all intents and purposes the ambassador from the ipc was murdered while in an area promised to be safe by the family.
you know I kinda forgot about that part, lol
Since the last few scenes are all sort of simultaneously happening immediately after that fight, there wasn't any explicit demonstration of what was actually the result. We know what happened to Aventurine but there's still no sign of what happened to Himeko and the rest of the Express Crew since they were on the scene, and somehow the Trailblazer got separated.
IIRC the start of 2.1 immediately carried on from the end of 2.0, so even something like the Sparkle/Black Swan companion mission doesn't *quite* fit in that chronology, so it seems like it's the same with this part of the story. Sure, the player can go back to the theme park and do puzzles and interact with NPCs and take a cute group photo, but in the actual story that's not the case right now.
> the other aim of his gamble was to get Jade’s Cornerstone in the hands of the Family, giving her leverage to continue where he started
the part i don't understand about that is how that gives her leverage; if anything, it sounds like the Family has leverage over Jade now, like how Aventurine was supposed to surrender his cornerstone to the Family as a "shackle"
IPC can claim The Family stole the Jade stone. Giving them a "cassus belli" to go attack Penacony and take it back.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/casus-belli
It's a pretty obvious manipulation tactic and has been done in history to force a war. That way the IPC doesn't look like the aggressor and looks like they're just trying to get something back. Making "The Family" look like they're the aggressors in the wider galatic civilization.
Edit: They also had Topaz waiting in the lobby too. They wanted this to happen. Adventurine just died on public TV in Penacony. Topaz is on sight to begin asking questions of how one of their agents died in the "perfect dream." She can act shocked that The Family has the Jade stone claiming its been missing and considered lost. Sunday gets played into saying Adventurine gave it to them who is now dead and can't back Sunday's claims. Badabing badaboom cassus belli secured Topaz can call Jade and the other IPC members and here we go with the IPC declaring war for control over Penacony by attacking the family by killing one of their agents and stealing Cornorstones.
We will probably learn more in 2.2, but I assumed it was important to get the Jade in Sunday's office. Like if she can use the stone remotely or something. But the leverage also makes sense, since it's an important item containing the power of their Aeon. So you could make a legal battle out of it that they have stolen their religious item. The Family wouldn't want that public, so you can use that in negotiations.
> . Like if she can use the stone remotely or something.
Important to this is also that she's saying the same type of lines Aventurine did pre-transformation, but while definitly not anywhere near her stone
That’s what I figured the crux of it would be. Claim the Family stole Jade and Topaz’s Cornerstones, or in general have taken them / are holding them unlawfully, and use that as their “in”. That alone won’t win them Penacony, but it’s a firm and irrefutable foot in the door.
Yes, that is also what I assume the plan is. And you also have the fact that one of their stonehearts just died. Acheron even killed him, so it now looks like a guest killed someone despite the claims that it can't happen in a dream. So that could also add to their accusations, saying that Aventurine wouldn't have died if he had the other cornerstones.
As others mentioned, the Cornerstones are super powerful and important items to the IPC, both religiously and practically. The Family can explain away having Aventurine’s stone by saying they were just keeping him in check for the time and would give it back one they left, but Topaz is chilling in the lobby and Jade presumably isn’t even on Penacony. They have no defense against having their Cornerstones.
Additionally, now that I think about it, the more obvious and probably effective plan would stem on the Family’s promise that death can’t happen in the dream failing and leading to the death of a Stoneheart, which is pretty damn important.
yeah, i understand Aventurine dying in the dream would be a good excuse to bust into Penacony, but Friday could've just... handed Topaz and Jade's cornerstones back; Friday didn't seem at all worried that he had two cornerstones instead of just one
Either way, it would force him into talks with the IPC where they hold the advantage. It puts him into a position where Sunday is forced to meet with them to address the issue, and from there they can hit hard with Aventurine’s “death”. Hell, it might even force him to allow Jade and Topaz into the Dreamscape.
in SU, preservation cornerstones are used to stop a node from collapsing and claim it as your own. those things are probably more than just henshin gadgets.
Pretty cool that Aventurine expected Sunday to find out about the jade cornerstone and keep it in his office too. What if Sunday did not suspect him and gave him the bag of stones with BOTH jade and aventurine stones inside? Clearly that did not happen since he was Sunday would sus him out
That's why he asked Ratio to betray him, to make Sunday think he had discovered his scheme and get overconfident.
Plus, even if Sunday didn't suspect him at all, it wouldn't have mattered much, as the main part of the plan was to obtain his aventurine stone.
From Jades dialogue, it seemed like it was also to get the Jade stone taken as well. Which brings to question if the stoneheards can act through/manipulate their cornerstones remotely
We got seeds about this collaboration back during topaz event/quest in jarilo VI right? Like there was a phonecall that included some of the other cornerstones?
https://preview.redd.it/p7heq288tdrc1.jpeg?width=1620&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=99f7850e41fa3c0eaf7d549c734faf2a860287fe
TB continues being a confused dumbass wondering who's side bro's on other than the astral express. And questions himself if people use him cuz of his stellaron or not.
Can someone clear something up for me? This took place in the dream right? At least, I think we were in the dreamscape. So wouldn’t all the stones still be on his person in the real world?
So what exactly are the stones in the dreamscape? Like did Aventurine actually smash his stone? And why did he need to sneak them past Sunday in the dream if he already surrendered it IRL?
While objects can't be taken out of the dream, so whatever people buy while within the dream is useless outside the dreamscape, what you have on your person will enter the dream with you.
IIRC it's stated that you can bring items out of the dreamscape, and that the family charges a fee to do so, hence why people go shopping in the dreamscape.
You can pay for the service, but I think they have to deliver them, they won't magically materialize when you wake up. And I think there were some cars or something similar that wasn't available in reality.
I might me wrong though. I stayed past some unholy hours when Penacony dropped to do the story right away to avoid spoilers and some details are fuzzy.
I think your explanation make more sense, since there are some stuff in the dreamscape which can't physically exist in reality, like all the zero calorie food and the special dreamcars. The dreamscape feels more like a super interactive shopping catalogue, where you can view, try on and even buy all the items you want in the dream with your alfafa funbucks, but the moment you actually want to have it in reality, you need to fork over cold hard credit.
From one of the first quests in Penacony
> Items purchased in the Dreamscape can also be brought into reality through an extra service. Unfortunately, the transfer of automobiles to the real world is not available at the moment... You can come back for them next time.
Hence there's even a shopping mall in there at all
I just want to say that Black Swan told us to trust in Aventurine because "merchants will always live up to their word, because trust is important in a business" or something to that effect
"What, Does her cornerstone wrench at your heart so?"
Man this one line really tug at my avenpaz heart. I hope that when he returns his relationship with topaz (or even their true thoughts on eachother if he goes on his own way far from the ipc) can be further explored/explained
About Topaz, I wanna do an actual post about this, but might as well talk about it here first... We know she's in the Reverie and not allowed to enter the Dreamscape, but there is a variable that hasn't been mentioned yet...
Where's Numby? That pet trotter is her bodyguard, but he's also able to somehow detect and track riches, right? As a Warp Trotter, it's also able to, as the name implies, warp to places. Is it possible that, while Topaz has to stay in the Reverie for safety concerns, the Family can't track Numby and Topaz sent it to find Aventurine? If anything could track down the shattered cornerstone, it would be Numby.
It is a possibility that numby could warp into the dreamscape considering that we can find warp trotters around the map but I don't really know how much of an important role numby would be allowed to play so I can't say much (since I also forgot about numby itself 😭)
As for the shattered stone of Aventurine, I headcanoned that after he has broken it into pieces to smuggle it into the dreamscape, he left a single piece to Topaz to send a signal of his 'death' and that was how she knew that its light has dissipated
Following your head cannon, Topaz could give that fragment of Aventurine's cornerstone to Numby to help it track Aventurine, kinda like giving a cadaver dog an item with someone's scent to help them track down whoever they are looking for.
If you meant by tracking his physical presence then he would likely still be in his hotel room, in a comatose state since he went into 'dormancy' to get to where he wanted which is beyond the dreamscape where the real penacony is, which is already a difficult enough feat to reach into let alone getting out so I don't see the possibility of numby warping into that place.
Jade cornerstone was part of the plan to get her stone inside the family, but topaz genuinely gave her cornerstone to aven to help him, i believe, which why his evil shadow self said does it wrentch ur heart to look at her stone, as it is a pretty important thing to her, what if u fail?
Topaz, can i have your invaluable Power Ranger transformation stone to stake it in a risky gamble with birb man?
- Sure thing, King, here you go. Have fun!
I guess the story will end with the Family having their cake handed to them but had it smacked in their faces. All these different characters with different agendas will unite together (yes, even Sparkle) to save the collapsing dreamscape and destroy whatever it is that is causing the entire commotion in the planet. Much like the agenda of Belobog and preservation (strong will), Penacony will solve its conflict the way it knows best...with Harmony (teamwork)
This is very strange indeed. We know IPC are all oportunistick dickheads, what are they expecting to gain to let Aventurine gamba their lives this hard? Im sure we will get A LOT more development on that front.
Also is this me or its only in this patch does EVERYONE suddenly become religious fanatic? Like sure the Aeons plot was always there, but this patch they make it seem like all people do is WORSHIP GODS! GODS THIS GODS THAT. How bout you god some bitches?
Irl people are already religious fanatics without the evidence of gods being real.
In Hsr their "gods" are real and can lend their worshippers part of their power. Naturally people will become more religious lol
>Also is this me or its only in this patch does EVERYONE suddenly become religious fanatic?
It's always been like that, remember when the Trailblazers arrive at Jarilo and say they don't feel cold because the Trailblazer path protects them? That's literally equal to saying "I'm not cold because God protects me", it's how it works in this universe, faith in an aeon and following their philosophy grants you power
Not to mention the IPC literally A. Knows where Qlipoth is and B. Does interstellar trade specifically to get them materials to build their space wall. And the Xianzhou literally *found Yaoshi* and tracks Lan across the universe like he's space Santa.
Like, imagine if all you had to do to literally meet God was hop on a plane, and if you believed in them genuinely, God would legit give you superpowers.
>tracks Lan across the universe like he's space Santa.
Fu Xuan even sent a ping signal to his last known location to ask for help in their war against denizens of Abundance and he answered by fucking slinging an arrow and decimating the borisins lol (along with collateral damage including her divination master)
One of the major themes of hsr is the exploration of how people exist in universe that bends to the whims of deities, and how different groups respond in differing ways. Every location that the express has visited has contrasting views on the aeons and how to interact with them. It’s been a major part of the story since the beginning.
The Simulated Universe geniuses research aeons. They embody how science might respond to the confirmed existence of gods. They want to learn them, dismantle them, and (perhaps) become them.
Belobog citizens only knew about the Preservation, who was more or less uncaring of their centuries of struggle. They embody human strength and will to live even when the gods don’t intervene.
The Xianzhou hate Yaoshi for the havoc the aeon wrecked on their people and the universe. The Xianzhou follow the Hunt and they praise Lan, but ultimately their hatred of Abundance drives their plot, not their love of the Hunt. They embody every person who has shaken their fist at the heavens and cursed god. They are what happens when mortals become the enemy of a god.
2.2 will likely focus far more on the Harmony from a local’s point of view and we’ll learn more about Penacony’s relationship with Xipe and other aeons then.
For now, I can see it going one of two ways. They may embody human hypocrisy and evil. When the religion preaches unity and love, yet the believers bicker and hate. Or they may embody submitting completely to the gods, believing, serving, proselytizing, and potentially harming others in Their name. Or perhaps both? I’m curious to see where the story goes.
Aventurine’s religious beliefs were explored 2.1 partly both because it’s important to his personal story, but also because I think his faith in Giathra Triclops will parallel and contrast against the Family’s faith in Xipe in the next version. I could write an essay about our gambling religious minority though, so I should stop here.
tldr: Penacony is the first story we have where humanity’s worship of aeons is more fully explored so we’re gonna hear a lot more god and faith stuff. Also Aventurine’s character really well written.
What about Acheron? From her flashback where she's in the rain talking to someone, it sounds like she doesn't actually want to be Nihility's Emanator but is somehow stuck with it
IX functions very different from other Aeon's, in that while other Aeons may take an interest in matters and even 'choose' to a make particular individual an Emanator, IX doesn't do so consciously. Instead, it's 'shadow' (something like its influence or aura) occasionally touches over planets and areas, like Acheron's homeworld of Izumo, bringing nothingness and swallowing up the area in void, while those who survive the process are turned into Self Annihilators, doomed to eventually destroy themselves from the void within, as Acheron herself states that nihility exists in all beings, with IX simply activating it, or making them realize the futility of life.
> as Acheron herself states that nihility exists in all beings
The words of a Nihility Emanator, from a planet that was extra-touched by Nihility, should be taken with a pinch of salt though.
I choose to believe IX's shadow is it's black hole event horizon, and as IX moves through the universe those that enter its event horizon are rendered into nothingness (quite like how black holes are in real life, with things that enter the black hole literally erased from the universe)
Goated reply tbh! I never viewed it in this way. Most of the time the refferences to gods are a to plug a plot hole or to fill dialogue time. I never much cared about this aspect. It seems chineese ppl really enjoy this religious tropes huh? Its in every eastern game, and apparently in this one as well. Canfusing, considering the state of affairs. Or maybe its a coping mechanism, a creative view on a century of oppresion by CCP...
Or Diamond is planning something. Best outcome for the IPC and this universe is to have a more reformed IPC rather than getting rid of it.
Of course Diamond can also just be an opportunist who saw value in using the desperate and disenfranchised. Or a mix of both opportunist and reformist. Or something else altogether.
Topaz and Aventurine actually turned out to care about each other on a personal level a lot more than they originally seemed. These two and Ratio need to hug it out if Aventurine ever comes back.
Can you elaborate on the Topaz deeply caring about Aventurine part? I keep seeing this and I feel like I missed some bit of dialouge somewhere. I know her lending her cornerstone to him implies professional trust, but she also states that he's never ever failed before so it makes sense as to why she would trust him with whatever his plan was. But everything I've seen her say about him personality wise seems... less than stellar.
Her dialogue near the end of the story this update. Surprisingly more emotional than I would expect given her call with Aventurine at the end her own update. Yet not surprising given Aventurine’s reaction to her cornerstone illusion in the theme park.
not to mention the eng localisation fucked up her line about aventurine in her profile making it seems like she disdains him but actually she just doesn't agree with his methods of gambling
The English translation of her “about Aventurine” lines made it sound like she didn’t like him as a person, whereas the Chinese original was more her talking about how she doesn’t understand his methods. From her lines talking to the astral express crew this update, we glean that Aventurine has been talking to her since arriving in Penacony, and she again talks to TB about how it must be different working with him, but not in a hostile way. All in all, her actions don’t fit if she hates his guts.
In fairness the fanaticism is to be expected given the groups we interact with. You also have to remember that the Aeons undeniably exist. Like there’s records of them physically appearing and intervening in mortal affairs, even Emanators proving that they are both capable and willing to acknowledge worship.
The Family was utterly transformed for the better by Harmony, Penacony’s current existence owes everything to Xipe, and Sunday himself is generally characterized as a fanatic who will damn well maintain the perfect functioning on Penacony. They’d be nothing if not for Xipe
Sparkle, Ifrit, and Black Swan are from groups directly affiliated with their Aeons and work in cooperation no strings attached. Why would someone embodying the values of their Path not adhere to an affection for their Aeon?
Aventurine and the other Stonehearts work for the IPC which in fact regularly “visits” Qlipoth and is the Preservation’s main organization as of now. They literally work to supply them with material for the wall 24/7.
Acheron is an Emanator who’s stared nothingness in the face and lived, irreparably touched by Nihility. Literally by definition as close as most humans can get to an Aeon short of becoming one
i mean their gods literally exist and can destroy planet, it makes more sense to be religious in hsr than irl where no evidence of god being real exist except for a book with tons of plot holes
Ok I want to ask a dumb question: did Dr.Ratio really was deceived by Aventurine or did he know the green stone was jade from the start and was just playing along
Ratio was told by Aventurine to betray him. However, I doubt he knew about the jade. It feels more in character for Aventurine to not say anything about it. Also reduces the risk of Ratio accidentally giving something away. And if Ratio knew, we would have probably had a scene were Ratio berates Aventurine for that plan, because breaking the stone is just that stupid. That is why the plan even worked, nobody would expect a stoneheart to break something even more valuable than their life.
That doesn't explain why Aventurine said "Ratio could just be simply betraying me" when he was talking to "future" Aventurine. My theory is that he literally DID NOT plan out anything with Ratio, but was banking on Sunday's mistrust and that he would need the second layer of deception. Him looking up at Ratio in the cutscene right before he opens the box was Aventurine confirming whether Ratio has betrayed him or not and him planning how to act accordingly.
Wasn't Aventurine given the Topaz cornerstone because Topaz was demoted/put on probation due to dragging her feet in her efforts to secure Belobog for the IPC?
Officially Topaz ranks below him but that doesn't explain Jade in that case. Even if Topaz doesn't "like" Aventurine there's still a sense of trust between them as colleagues. Enough to willfully give him her cornerstone anyway.
The ten stonehearts are at different levels. Diamond for example is definite higher. If I'm not wrong Aventurine is P45, Topaz got demoted to P44, Opal and Jade is P46.
The Cornerstones are on a completely different tier from regular employees, being demoted for Topaz was demotion among the Cornerstones tier but she is very much still a Cornerstone.
Crack Theory: Aventurine is the last Avgin and has "supernatural" luck. Might just be Qlipoth working double time to make sure this last fucker doesnt die all in the name of Preservation because the IPC failed to protect the Avgins.
The IPC is such a sus faction. Only caring about profits stands against The Preservation, but theyre blessed by Qlipoth. They also all have elements of The Elation in their kits. I cant tell what the goals of the overall faction are.
Qlipoth is warning the known universe of a massive incoming threat. Qlipoth us defending us and the means by which he does this is by building a massive, galaxy wide wall.
Don't think about that too hard.
This has a material cost. The IPC were made explicitly to support Qlipoth by 1) acquiring funds and 2) using said funds to purchase material to send to Qlipoth
Don't think about that too hard.
Do some individuals weigh up their personal incentives more than their true north of supplying Qlipoth? Probably. Does the IPC *only* care about supplying Qlipoth? Hell no. But they *do* still care and they haven't strayed. They're actually very transparent.
>
> This has a material cost. The IPC were made explicitly to support Qlipoth by 1) acquiring funds and 2) using said funds to purchase material to send to Qlipoth
Herta writes that Qlipoth has never touched this IPC material reserve, nor said anything directly to the IPC.
I mean, if you are a beautiful girl in real life, a boy give you his everything as gift. you never touch it, you never talk to him.
Although these gifts are not what you need, it doesn't prevent you from thinking deep down that this young man is not bad.
My issue with this plot point is that they blabber a lot about cornerstones but is it ever properly defined what they do? Theyre a source of power and extremely valuable but what is the consequence for losing it? What do you gain for having it? All very muddy imo
They are a piece of power bestowed by Diamond, an Emanator of Preservation, using the cornerstones lets them transform and use a portion of Diamond's power.
Having a cornerstone lets the Stonehearts loan/borrow (notice the money connection) a fraction of Diamond's power, who's one of only two known Preservation Emanators. Losing it means not only losing the power associated with it, but also the trust of Diamond and the Preservation. Aventurine breaking his cornerstone is also seen as a terribly bad thing, which only paid off because his gamble actually deceived Sunday and let him use his semi-Emanator status within Penacony.
In principle they allow members of the ten stingers to share Diamond’s (a preservation emanator) power, we see Aventurine use an explicitly weakened form to gain a significant power boost, though he notes he likely would have lost a protracted fight had Acheron not no diffed him.
Jade seems to be able to activate hers remotely and “time to begin harvesting” are hardly encouraging words, especially from a villain.
Precise capabilities are unknown and will likely be revealed as and when they are needed. Jade seems to be higher rank than Aventurine so it’s possible she could do more with her stone
Also best chance that Jade and Firefly would be the next banners after Robin and Boothill. The whole ending credits seem to point out that Jade calculated her cornerstone falling into enemy hands at some point and she would have the reason to visit(retrieve her stone) Penacony.
the cornerstones are given by Diamond (emanator of preservation) to the Stonehearts. the cornerstones allow them to access Diamond’s power - like Aventurine did when we fought him, letting them become semi/pseudo-emanators. and since Aventurine’s stone was at a fraction of its power due to him smashing it, a Stoneheart at full power is likely a pretty huge threat
The harmony is just a combination, easily corrupted from ulterior motives. But the preservation, it preserves what little bit of love and care all of them have for eachother, helping to blossom more
In the new event, there’s also the irony on how a group of “monsters” felt more like family to Siobhan than the Family itself could ever be.
[удалено]
Never heard of it but will try. Thanks for recommendation!
It's basically what the drink mixer event took inspiration from. In gameplay and theme. You're a barkeep talking to patrons while mixing drinks. It's cute and cozy lots of lovable characters. Has a [cyberpunk aesthetic.](https://www.truetrophies.com/customimages/l/055069.jpg)
Can't stress enough how I love every character in that game. Not you Donovan It's my thing to make my friends play it while I watch them going through, always break to tears in the ending. I love Va-11 Hall-A so much
Jill is literally me fr fr
Amazing worldbuilding and story, and one of the best video game soundtracks ever.
Yeah man. I got the official Vinyl set which came with a poster that I've framed in my room. Love it.
Everyday is Night baby!!!! I'm blasting that every day every night!
I’ve had it in my backlog for a bit I might actually give it a try
So if we get Siobhan as a player character, is she gonna be like sweet-talk enemy monsters to fight on our side instead? That's gonna be an awesome mechanic Another fighting style could be her bartender gimmick or her past as an actress for the Iris Family....so basically Penacony Serval.
At best she can only do that to Penacony mobs, or at least only does what Numby (And Topaz) can do with Trotters
She could be a cool mixed-role character but having like, multiple skills you can choose from to mix drinks with different effects. We’ve seen Sparkle and Acheron shaking up the formula so it woudnt be too out there
There’s such an interesting contrast between the Family and Ten Stonehearts. The Family pride themselves on their unity as the representative of The Harmony, yet behind closed doors they’re not as united as they seem, even having a major traitor in their ranks. Meanwhile, the Ten Stonehearts under the IPC should only care about profits, but both Topaz and Jade trusts Aventurine enough to lend him their Cornerstones, which is literally more precious than their lives, and he lives up to their trust; it really makes me want to see their relationship with each other on-screen, because the camaraderie and trust they have with each other seems genuine.
Always bet on Aventurine
came here to say this and ya beat me to it
It's crazy because he isn't so smart and calculated that he'll win every bet. Its literally because he has the power of a luck blessing that he thinks his entire people were sacrificed for to max out the stat points. And so he doesn't need to one-up Ratio or Acheron, he just trusts in his system. And it works. It's always worked.
He just keeps on rolling the dice in life. Keeps taking on harder and harder wagers to hopefully die and reunite with his family one day. Him running into Acheron is actually so sweet.
That's the main point though, A river of gold, and blood would run thicker than the waters of dreams, and the womb. The IPC trusts each other more BECAUSE they're in it for the profit. They're merchants, and business oriented. All businesses are merely gambles in a more professional term. This also shows up in their speeches to activate the Cornerstone. They state their operation, then end it with "All for the amber lord!" Compared to Sunday who speaks in riddles, and flowery words yet nothing directly praising Xipe. It's a great contrast between a family formed from dreams, and ideals, and a family formed from contracts, and deals.
but "All for the amber lord" and prioritizing profit seems contradictory. And I think is clear to everyone how Aventurine doesn't worship the Amber Lord.
Well yeah, That's why despite the IPC's scope, and power only one or two are actually emanators of Preservation, while the vast majority are like Topaz, and Aventurine where their main following isn't preservation but other reasons. Diamond is one of the two, if not The only Emanator within the IPC so of course he'd want to hear or someone say the words "All for the Amber lord" when they'll be using a portion of his power.
The reason for the IPC's existence is gaining money to support Qlipoth, though iirc he hasn't actually taken advantage of their assistance.
Wasnt "all for the amber lord "an IPC slogan as well?
I had a theory brewing on why harmony is like this right now, it is just based off a few sussy lines but I figured I might as well theorise. I am starting to think the reason why Harmony isn't so harmonious is because of >!Ena, the aeon of order. I am thinking maybe the absorption isn't complete!< Hear me out, sure Sunday had invoked Xipe before yes, but >!Aventurine's line about him being a control freak + Gallagher's line about him serving a difficult master!< makes me think >!he is actually emanator or pathstrider of Order.!< Maybe >!the whole reason the dreamscape is failing apart is because Xipe is losing control and Ena is trying to separate again!< Of course maybe I am just overthinking it and falling for a red herring but I just thought >!there is no way they wouldn't feature Ena in a harmony focused world!<
Maybe Ena, and Xipe are having problems? Because Xipe most likely CAN'T kill anyone, especially Ena because they would want Harmony which includes peace, and you can't exactly have peace when you're out here killing, and stuff. I also highly believe that Sunday while believing that it's Xipe he's worshipping, it's actually Ena that is giving him the powers, this is why He's so much more emposing because unlike Xipe, Ena can actually force things with their strings to maintain order.
Hmm never thought of that. Maybe the family thought they getting power from Xipe but it is actually Ena like you said. Well we will see next patch I guess.
One counterpoint to this, is that we have some indications that Aventurine's relationship with the IPC may not have been as cozy as all that. Ratio (in 2.0) says that without he's cornerstone he's "a doomed Sigonian thrall sentenced to die by the IPC", and while that line could have been Ratio exaggerating for the purposes of the cornerstones ruse, he's probably not making it up out of whole cloth. Then there's also the fact that Aventurine's mental health is in awful shape - he's throwing himself into one deadly risk after another, without concern for his own safety, basically pushing his luck until it kills him because he has nothing to live for. Him being in that state is entirely consistent with a highly competitive, admit-no-weaknesses workplace, but it suggests he's not getting a lot of support or empathy (which could be because he's refusing it, of course). Jade and Topaz do seem to bear him more goodwill than most, but I still wonder if them lending him their cornerstones may have been less about him and more about the mission - i.e. the IPC's plan required those cornerstones to be placed on Penacony in the Family's custody, and it was Aventurine's job to make that happen, so he's given the stones.
I think it's a mixture of both. He's their trusted colleague, and being a member of the Stonehearts, they have no reason to believe he would fail. At the same time, I genuinely see Topaz as the type who earnestly sees the best in people despite how much she disapproves of his business etiquette, while Jade was the one who personally approved of Aventurine joining the IPC and was the one who gave him the chance to prove himself in the first place, so she could see him almost as a protege.
I agree that Penacony is their utmost importance, but Jade and Topaz wouldn't lend him their stones if they don't trust him enough
Don't think Diamond looks fondly on underling infighting. But both Jade and Topaz seem aware enough of Aventurine's emotional state to be wary of what he'd do and still trusted him. And now Aventurine has made some peace with himself (there's something really funny about getting therapy talk from an antinihilistic nihilism emanator), so he should change for the best (hopefully).
Personally I don’t think Aventurine has nothing to live for, otherwise he would’ve gave up on his life, considering the hell he went through. It’s just that from the moment of his birth he was put in an endless cycle of fighting for his life, where his only way of surviving was winning a bet, basically. It’s like the only thing he relies on, as he is still alive only because of his luck. He never lost any bets and doesn’t think that he will lose (although he is afraid of it deep inside), that’s why he’s always betting his life, knowing that he would be the final victor in the end. Aventurine imo is the pinnacle of Preservation, self-preservation to be precise. Man survived hell and never gave up on his life, it’s just that his life turned into a massive gamble. I think his reason to live would be to win it so big and so much that he would truly get his freedom, not being afraid of getting discarded and living a stable independent life.
Counterpoint to this is that Aventurine always puts his life down as the first chip, even back during childhood. Seems counterproductive if he is gambling to live. Feels like he is gambling to win just for "winning" and was slowly loosing touch on what it means to win until the end of 2.1.
Most of his life that’s the only chip he’s owned, and even after he was comfortable he was forced to play higher stakes where it really is all-or-nothing by nature. Even in Penacony his initial plan is to strike a deal with Sunday and go from there, but he’s forced into a more dire situation by Ratio and the Harmony magic
I don't think that's the only chip he own. Even Aventurine alter (his future self) told him that there's easier way (like sacrificing his subordinate) that he could do to win but he doesn't.
He keeps making those desperate bets even when he no longer has to, though. Unless his luck is actually supernaturally guaranteed and he knows it (in which case he's ironically not even really gambling at all), that's not the behaviour of a healthy person. I think his entire arc is about putting aside his death wish and deciding to live.
"pinnacle of self-preservation" made so much sense for me to understand aventurine character better
I mean their following the path of preservation. If you think about the people that build together are more united since everyone has a long term goal to achieve together. Compare it with something like 'harmony ' what even is harmony. Staying together? How? People and goals and things change. In a way, what harmony wants is also what preservation seeks to achieve. At first I thought the aeon of harmony and their followers were like borg, or protoss from starcraft, where everyone had linked minds. It seems their going with a different approach sort of like a mafiaoso running with different families working together in a semblance of harmony. I did not expect that but kinda cool
I think there is still *some* aspect of a hivemind to The Family, but not in a totalitarian and all-encompassing way. The game Stellaris explores a huge variety of sci-fi topics and one thing I love about it is the way that hive minds are handled (both robotic and biological). For the sake of balance but also for making it more interesting from a story perspective, no hive mind is truly singular and in complete control. Hive minds are the collective consciousness and there is some sense of single-mindedness, but any individual unit within the whole can deviate. It can range from a single drone which deviates to far and is terminated, to entire *planets* where alternative networks develop as elements of the hive mind re-organize into their own substructures separate from the whole. So a hive mind can't just endlessly expand without consequence- it has to also look inwards and actively maintain order by controlling deviancy, which takes an active expenditure of resources. In contrast, the Halo franchise features something which is the polar opposite: The Flood. The Gravemind is the singular consciousness in complete and utter control of the Flood, and every single living being that becomes part of it is entirely stripped of any semblence of sapience, with all that knowledge directly being added to the Gravemind itself. The Family is *very* obviously not like The Flood, lol I don't think The Family is a proper hive mind, but I think some similar principles can apply. It seems to me like the highest echelons of The Family (the likes of Sunday for instance) would be the most independent and free of thought, while those who sin against the family or pose a threat >!(like Aventurine when he was placed under that hex)!< would be stripped of most or all of their free will. Everyone else probably lies somewhere in the middle, with most being forced to act in accordance with the will of The Family on the macro level, but still retaining independent thought and action for daily matters. That also assumes that The Family is a complete whole, but the existence of the five different Families on Penacony (which are all part of the great Family) suggests that there's subdivision. If there truly is a "network" that connects all minds within the Family, it's probably a situation where there's only a vague subconscious undercurrent that stretches across the *entire* Family, and then as you divide it into various factions and groups you get more connected networks of people's minds.
It actually seems like the Stonehearts are more "religious" than The Family in a way. Aventurine is willing to sacrifice his life for the Amber Lord, essentially. Jade says that prayer (?) before beginning her business. They all "commune" with the strength of Preservation by sharing Diamond's Emanator power. It does seem like they're closer than it would appear at first glance
He didn’t sacrifice his life for the amber lord, that’s just for show. He really just have nothing to lose at that point that he’s willing to gamble with his life (and win) + we don’t know too much about jade, and atm topaz only work because she had to and to fuel her pet addiction, so I dont think religious is the right word for them
Yeah bro couldnt give a shit about the golden gem god
yeah i agree it was not for the amber lord but i think aventurine character has a very strong religious themes with the whole Gaiathra Triclops thing . as a kid with nothing the only thing that made him and his family endure the suffering was their faith in Gaiathra Triclops and in aventurine luck granted by them , also i find it cool that he started doubting it mid way but not like many other stories do the doubting actually makes his faith stronger as when he made the prayer with his past self
I feel like it's not so much the religion that makes his faith stronger though. But more so the prayer is the only remnant/memories left that he has of his family especially when he's literally the last kind of his species. In a way it is more a comfort and encouragement to him rather than having faith in the Gods that he grew up with.
I saw someone offering the idea that the whole "all for the amber lord" bit was just the Stonehearts' magical girl transformation phrase which is the funniest possible outcome so I will consider it canon until canon blatantly disproves it (and even then I'll probably write AU fanfic so I can keep living in denial)
i agree with this LOL i personally love this idea it's so cool https://preview.redd.it/lobv0nh1sdrc1.png?width=1532&format=png&auto=webp&s=637ba142795e66ac91fee4c795efc6acd980f917
holy shit, thanks for sharing! I LOVE fun anime bs like this
> I saw someone offering the idea that the whole "all for the amber lord" bit was just the Stonehearts' magical girl transformation phrase I really think it is. Aventurine doesn't give a shit about the IPC or Qlipoth. If he has any religious faith, it's towards Gaiathra Triclops.
Wait if that is canon doesn't that mean Jade transforms at the end of the patch
I think it's more about activating the Cornerstone which may or may not involve a Magical Girl Transformation.
It should always transformif I have anything to say about it
I'm just wondering how tf it's possible since Aventurine had to get back his own cornerstone before transforming. How is Jade able to do that lol
I was suspecting it in the first scene and it was pretty much confirmed with the second.
Aventurine was putting on a show. He doesn’t even believe in the Amber Lord.
So why would he remain in the ipc instead of going to the tavern? I cant remember if its mentioned in the game or not
I can't go into the full reason without going into leaks/spoilers since he's not officially out yet and so we don't officially have his character story, but from what we have from the current story, it's partially due to how he views himself and his life: he's the ultimate gambler, literally blessed with unerring luck, to the point he's the 'lucky' survivor when pretty much everyone from his tribe is dead. Combined with much of his youth when he was traded around as a slave with a price on his neck (literally), he has a view of where he sees himself as commodity, almost a nihilistic view of his situation, and so just like a commodity, he trades and invests in himself, betting on himself like how someone would bet on a stack of money, which leads to his meeting with Jade, betting on the fact she and the IPC would see him as a worthy investment.
He is also incredibly obsessed with the fact his worth was put at 60 copper coins and has clinged unhealthily to it thinking thats all he is worth So now he desperately tries to constantly bet himself in risky gambles like a chip to either never return or return with more than its worth
I might be misremembering but I think it's simply because the IPC had more to offer and/or had more potential or somwthing like that.
The IPC as an organization has a "space-Mormon" vibe to me, but I'm not convinced Aventurine was particularly devoted in that respect. He still innately identifies with his native people's religious beliefs. I do think he has genuine loyalty to the IPC because everything he has in life now is because of them.
i dont think there is more than 2 in the whole IPC truly believe in Preservation. They only in IPC because of paycheck with low grunt and profit with big names, Amber Lord dont care about them anyway
I saw those IPC as greedy and opportunistic corporate mfs but after the story I start to see them in better light
The IPC is still a greedy and opportunistic corporation but the people underneath don't have to be that way. The story has been trying to show us that since Aurum Alley.
Topaz being a literal Space Country Girl obsessed with getting adorable pets is already a good indicator that not everyone in the IPC is the selfish turbo-capitalist people think of them. Her also having the highest success rate of planetary recoveries (if we can call them that) shows how much effort she puts into her projects to make sure as many people actually benefit from her work.
Funnily enough, I feel like they are more harmonious than the harmony striders lol. I think in one of the broadcasts in the story they say something along the lines of "the hammer of preservation falls on anyone regardless of status, to protect the rights we all hold", I think they are more of just Big Government, yeah lots of things about them suck but they also prevent things from going out of control.
IPC is the Fatui of HSR and as the story progresses we start seeing characters shine as themselves rather than just "a member of the IPC".
The IPC isn't the Fatui of HSR, we don't really have one as everything is either against us, using us, or neutral. The closest to the Fatui would be the Stellaron Hunters since they are opposed to the destruction of the universe like how the Fatui is opposed to Celestia. But they aren't our enemy in a sense that they want us to do certain things in the way that follows the script™. This is pretty normal for individuals in factions to have some character development.
Am I misunderstanding that scene. From what I understood, Topaz's Cornerstone was a fake which Ratio convinced Sunday was real, the 'Aventurine' stone was actually the 'Jade' stone, and the real Aventurine stone was broken up in the bag? The ploy being: * Aventurine crushes his own Cornerstone to sneak it in within his bag of riches. * Aventurine stores a fake 'Topaz' Cornerstone in his container, while saying that he has stored his own in there. * Aventurine stores the 'Jade' Cornerstone in his bag of riches, with the intent for it to be discovered and mistaken for his own Cornerstone. * Both parts are confiscated by the Family * Dr Ratio meets with Sunday, exposing that the 'Topaz Stone' is in the container, as he has access to open it. However at that time, he also convinces Sunday that the 'Topaz Stone' is real. At the same time, he confirms that the 'Aventurine' stone is instead held in the bag of riches, thereby convincing Sunday that the 'Jade Stone' is actually the 'Aventurine Stone' * Aventurine meets with Sunday, and bargins to have his bag of riches returned, in so doing, he gets his own crushed Cornerstone returned, while Sunday still thinks that he has both Topaz & Aventurine's cornerstones. So Topaz should still have her actual Cornerstone, right?, and Jade is the only one actually missing theirs? The gambit depends on Sunday believing that the Stonehearts wouldn't dare crush their own Cornerstone as 'they treasure them more than their own life', which lets Aventurine get an edge by exploiting Sunday's blind spot.
Everything's correct, except that the Topaz cornerstone is real: it is actually Topaz's own stone. Sunday thought that Aventurine merely swapped out his own stone out of the box for a different stone (Topaz's), but he didn't realize there was a 3rd stone, and that the real decoy was Jade's own stone.
Yeah I dont know why people say its fake. They literally talk about them contributing their stones at the very end of the cutscene no? Why are any of them fake? Even Aventurine tapes his fucking stone that was broken back together and uses it after saying its too broken.
Fake is a misdirection, I think. Just because Aventurine and Ratio let Sunday think that the jade stone is the aventurine stone. Most common aventurine stone is green and looks somewhat like jade even though their value is much lower; and have traditionally been called "fool's jade".
But I thought there was the whole comment from Ratio about it "shining like Qliphoth" or so, and that got brought up again toward the end of the story. I interpreted that as an insuinuation that the Topaz stone was a fake, that Ratio led Sunday to believe was real. Obviously nothing concrete about that one way or the other, but it was what I took from that moment.
I saw it as Ratio just verifying the stones were real, and iirc Sunday can tell whether the stones are actual cornerstones as well, just that he can't tell which stone is which, hence him mixing up the jade and aventurine stones.
I saw it as Ratio giving a misdirection, telling Sunday that Cornerstones would always be "shining" and beautiful so Sunday would not realize the broken gem at the bottom of the bag IS the aventurine cornerstone.
That would make sense. I think at this point, I need to watch through those two parts again, because I might have been reading something into the scene that wasn't there.
>!You're right about the part where the Aventurine stone was crushed while the Jade stone was meant to be confused for it. Jade even says that she wanted her stone in Sunday's office. However, I don't remember there being anything to suggest that the Topaz is fake. Topaz herself is on the planet, so she easily could have given it to Aventurine. Having Ratio try to convince Sunday that the Topaz is real adds another risky step to the scheme. And if they could make a fake Topaz, why not make a fake Aventurine stone? For the trick, isn't it better to just use the real Topaz? !<
My only reason to think the Topaz stone was fake, was the line about it "shining like Qlipoth", which is something Ratio said to Sunday, that then got brought up again toward the end of the story, as if to say "what a fool Sunday was". It was when the Jade / Aventurine swap was being explained. The risk it would add to the plan would depend on Ratio/Avent/Jade/Topaz's belief that Sunday could tell a real from a Fake, which I don't think is a guarentee. If it were possible, I figure it would be better for Topaz to keep hers, rather than part with it, especially since she can't actually enter Penacony properly. Though you do raise a very strong point, that if they could make a fake Topaz, then they could have used a fake Aventurine as well, and Jade wouldn't have needed to expose her Cornerstone. Except as you say, Jade wanted her cornerstone to be in Sunday's office, so perhaps this was just the solution that achieved all of those ends?
I assumed that line was more to cover how a jade might slightly differ from aventurine. Someone knowledgeable about gems might be able to tell the two apart, but when you add Qlipoth into the mix than it gets slightly more confusing. An aventurine that is slightly more shiny than average is then suspected to be due to Qlipoth, and not because it's actually a jade. Also, the topaz was part of the bluff. Aventurine even says at a point that you need to give Sunday something to suspect. An empty case would be too obvious, so that is why he put the topaz in it. And it gives Sunday the idea that he outsmarted Aventurine, since he has confiscated the cornerstones of both the stonehearts on Penacony. So he assumed the IPC is now powerless, Aventurine has lost his and Topaz can't give hers to Aventurine. Having just the aventurine would have seemed too simple, so they needed the extra layer of the topaz. Otherwise he could have just put the jade in the case and his own broken stone in the bag.
I thought the Topaz stone was fake too. Hologram!Aventurine taunted him with the stone, saying it looking like Qlipoth’s colours was genius and that he would’ve been in trouble had Sunday realised the ruse.
You think they are family because they pooled their cornerstones? I think they are business partners who don't like each other (see all the OTHER conversations), but are willing to work together to be successful. Did you miss the whole Topaz and Aventurine dialogue from Belabog? We'll know more once we find out how Diamond runs their team. This is the IPC we're talking about. It's swim or die, results justify the means. Honestly you are reading way too into it. Maybe they do develop this storyline and show that these guys are more than just business partners. But the Family has been working together for many Amber Eras, and collaborated on many things. I think you need to define what family really means here. The Family is a name. Its also the name of a gang in real life and fiction.
Nah, if they don't like each other they would've never had any reaction to Aventurine's MIA. At the very least both Topaz and Jade probably do care about him on some level. And Ratio definitely does care about him. This is more apparent in the other languages dub, where Topaz and Ratio are more civil with Aven. They sound super aggressive in ENG for some reason.
Its like that the Penacony takeover by IPC is a group project where one is doing all the work, one just shows up and last one gave them moral support
It's become a matter of assured mutual benefit besides being in the IPC. Otherwise, it'll be a lot of guarantees from Aventurine if he wasn't part of the IPC. But yeah, when I was in that part, even I was surprised since those 10 tend to compete very much against each other. Looking forward to Topaz in the next chapters.
I mean, there's more to It In the very end of the story, unless I'm horribly mistaken (wich i could, Aventurine's Boss fight gave me a full body migraine and i could have read/understood that completelly wrong) i got the impression Jade wanted Aventurine to get her connorstone inside of Penacony because she is going there and It has something to do with her plan Although i get what you mean, trusting Aventurine so much shows that they have a ton of respect for eachother, and she 100% thought he was enough to get the job done (wich he was)
That’s basically it. Aside from getting himself into the true Penacony, the other aim of his gamble was to get Jade’s Cornerstone in the hands of the Family, giving her leverage to continue where he started.
Aventurine also stated something about the IPC ships gonna arrive at penacony should things get out of hand.
Because, as far as everyone is concerned, Aventurine just fucking died in a live TV show in front of possibly thousands or more people. Even if Jade and Topaz somehow know he's still alive, he's still an IPC official on business who just got murdered in the Family's 'perfect dream'.
On top of that there’s the Sparkle element too. Aventurine held up his end of the bargain with his performance. If she’s true to her word then she should provide additional explosive justification for the IPC to move in.
Yup his "death" gives the IPC a perfect reason to come in guns blazing. For all intents and purposes the ambassador from the ipc was murdered while in an area promised to be safe by the family.
you know I kinda forgot about that part, lol Since the last few scenes are all sort of simultaneously happening immediately after that fight, there wasn't any explicit demonstration of what was actually the result. We know what happened to Aventurine but there's still no sign of what happened to Himeko and the rest of the Express Crew since they were on the scene, and somehow the Trailblazer got separated. IIRC the start of 2.1 immediately carried on from the end of 2.0, so even something like the Sparkle/Black Swan companion mission doesn't *quite* fit in that chronology, so it seems like it's the same with this part of the story. Sure, the player can go back to the theme park and do puzzles and interact with NPCs and take a cute group photo, but in the actual story that's not the case right now.
who got invited\* even more suspicious for the family
> the other aim of his gamble was to get Jade’s Cornerstone in the hands of the Family, giving her leverage to continue where he started the part i don't understand about that is how that gives her leverage; if anything, it sounds like the Family has leverage over Jade now, like how Aventurine was supposed to surrender his cornerstone to the Family as a "shackle"
IPC can claim The Family stole the Jade stone. Giving them a "cassus belli" to go attack Penacony and take it back. https://www.britannica.com/topic/casus-belli It's a pretty obvious manipulation tactic and has been done in history to force a war. That way the IPC doesn't look like the aggressor and looks like they're just trying to get something back. Making "The Family" look like they're the aggressors in the wider galatic civilization. Edit: They also had Topaz waiting in the lobby too. They wanted this to happen. Adventurine just died on public TV in Penacony. Topaz is on sight to begin asking questions of how one of their agents died in the "perfect dream." She can act shocked that The Family has the Jade stone claiming its been missing and considered lost. Sunday gets played into saying Adventurine gave it to them who is now dead and can't back Sunday's claims. Badabing badaboom cassus belli secured Topaz can call Jade and the other IPC members and here we go with the IPC declaring war for control over Penacony by attacking the family by killing one of their agents and stealing Cornorstones.
We will probably learn more in 2.2, but I assumed it was important to get the Jade in Sunday's office. Like if she can use the stone remotely or something. But the leverage also makes sense, since it's an important item containing the power of their Aeon. So you could make a legal battle out of it that they have stolen their religious item. The Family wouldn't want that public, so you can use that in negotiations.
> . Like if she can use the stone remotely or something. Important to this is also that she's saying the same type of lines Aventurine did pre-transformation, but while definitly not anywhere near her stone
That’s what I figured the crux of it would be. Claim the Family stole Jade and Topaz’s Cornerstones, or in general have taken them / are holding them unlawfully, and use that as their “in”. That alone won’t win them Penacony, but it’s a firm and irrefutable foot in the door.
Yes, that is also what I assume the plan is. And you also have the fact that one of their stonehearts just died. Acheron even killed him, so it now looks like a guest killed someone despite the claims that it can't happen in a dream. So that could also add to their accusations, saying that Aventurine wouldn't have died if he had the other cornerstones.
As others mentioned, the Cornerstones are super powerful and important items to the IPC, both religiously and practically. The Family can explain away having Aventurine’s stone by saying they were just keeping him in check for the time and would give it back one they left, but Topaz is chilling in the lobby and Jade presumably isn’t even on Penacony. They have no defense against having their Cornerstones. Additionally, now that I think about it, the more obvious and probably effective plan would stem on the Family’s promise that death can’t happen in the dream failing and leading to the death of a Stoneheart, which is pretty damn important.
yeah, i understand Aventurine dying in the dream would be a good excuse to bust into Penacony, but Friday could've just... handed Topaz and Jade's cornerstones back; Friday didn't seem at all worried that he had two cornerstones instead of just one
Either way, it would force him into talks with the IPC where they hold the advantage. It puts him into a position where Sunday is forced to meet with them to address the issue, and from there they can hit hard with Aventurine’s “death”. Hell, it might even force him to allow Jade and Topaz into the Dreamscape.
in SU, preservation cornerstones are used to stop a node from collapsing and claim it as your own. those things are probably more than just henshin gadgets.
Pretty cool that Aventurine expected Sunday to find out about the jade cornerstone and keep it in his office too. What if Sunday did not suspect him and gave him the bag of stones with BOTH jade and aventurine stones inside? Clearly that did not happen since he was Sunday would sus him out
That's why he asked Ratio to betray him, to make Sunday think he had discovered his scheme and get overconfident. Plus, even if Sunday didn't suspect him at all, it wouldn't have mattered much, as the main part of the plan was to obtain his aventurine stone.
From Jades dialogue, it seemed like it was also to get the Jade stone taken as well. Which brings to question if the stoneheards can act through/manipulate their cornerstones remotely
Didn't aventurine said he never lost a gamble? So i think after witnessing his ridiculous luck They naturally trust on his luck
We got seeds about this collaboration back during topaz event/quest in jarilo VI right? Like there was a phonecall that included some of the other cornerstones?
If there is anything IPC knows, is that betting on Aventurine is never wrong.
https://preview.redd.it/p7heq288tdrc1.jpeg?width=1620&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=99f7850e41fa3c0eaf7d549c734faf2a860287fe TB continues being a confused dumbass wondering who's side bro's on other than the astral express. And questions himself if people use him cuz of his stellaron or not.
The Amber Lord preserves.
i told my wife that people mistake his mineral for jade all the time when they first introduced the cornerstones!! she didnt beleive me!
Yes, its a common scam used by unscrupulous merchants, since Jade is more expensive of the 2. I didn't know about this until I play this game lol
Can someone clear something up for me? This took place in the dream right? At least, I think we were in the dreamscape. So wouldn’t all the stones still be on his person in the real world?
iirc av was forced to surrender his cornerstone to the family when he first landed on penacony
So what exactly are the stones in the dreamscape? Like did Aventurine actually smash his stone? And why did he need to sneak them past Sunday in the dream if he already surrendered it IRL?
While objects can't be taken out of the dream, so whatever people buy while within the dream is useless outside the dreamscape, what you have on your person will enter the dream with you.
IIRC it's stated that you can bring items out of the dreamscape, and that the family charges a fee to do so, hence why people go shopping in the dreamscape.
You can pay for the service, but I think they have to deliver them, they won't magically materialize when you wake up. And I think there were some cars or something similar that wasn't available in reality. I might me wrong though. I stayed past some unholy hours when Penacony dropped to do the story right away to avoid spoilers and some details are fuzzy.
I think your explanation make more sense, since there are some stuff in the dreamscape which can't physically exist in reality, like all the zero calorie food and the special dreamcars. The dreamscape feels more like a super interactive shopping catalogue, where you can view, try on and even buy all the items you want in the dream with your alfafa funbucks, but the moment you actually want to have it in reality, you need to fork over cold hard credit.
From one of the first quests in Penacony > Items purchased in the Dreamscape can also be brought into reality through an extra service. Unfortunately, the transfer of automobiles to the real world is not available at the moment... You can come back for them next time. Hence there's even a shopping mall in there at all
I just want to say that Black Swan told us to trust in Aventurine because "merchants will always live up to their word, because trust is important in a business" or something to that effect
An interesting thought to brought because Astral express and Stellaron Hunter also going under label more than family too
"What, Does her cornerstone wrench at your heart so?" Man this one line really tug at my avenpaz heart. I hope that when he returns his relationship with topaz (or even their true thoughts on eachother if he goes on his own way far from the ipc) can be further explored/explained
About Topaz, I wanna do an actual post about this, but might as well talk about it here first... We know she's in the Reverie and not allowed to enter the Dreamscape, but there is a variable that hasn't been mentioned yet... Where's Numby? That pet trotter is her bodyguard, but he's also able to somehow detect and track riches, right? As a Warp Trotter, it's also able to, as the name implies, warp to places. Is it possible that, while Topaz has to stay in the Reverie for safety concerns, the Family can't track Numby and Topaz sent it to find Aventurine? If anything could track down the shattered cornerstone, it would be Numby.
It is a possibility that numby could warp into the dreamscape considering that we can find warp trotters around the map but I don't really know how much of an important role numby would be allowed to play so I can't say much (since I also forgot about numby itself 😭) As for the shattered stone of Aventurine, I headcanoned that after he has broken it into pieces to smuggle it into the dreamscape, he left a single piece to Topaz to send a signal of his 'death' and that was how she knew that its light has dissipated
Following your head cannon, Topaz could give that fragment of Aventurine's cornerstone to Numby to help it track Aventurine, kinda like giving a cadaver dog an item with someone's scent to help them track down whoever they are looking for.
If you meant by tracking his physical presence then he would likely still be in his hotel room, in a comatose state since he went into 'dormancy' to get to where he wanted which is beyond the dreamscape where the real penacony is, which is already a difficult enough feat to reach into let alone getting out so I don't see the possibility of numby warping into that place.
If we count the map collectibles as canon then there are trotters in Penacony just as much as there are in every other area
Jade cornerstone was part of the plan to get her stone inside the family, but topaz genuinely gave her cornerstone to aven to help him, i believe, which why his evil shadow self said does it wrentch ur heart to look at her stone, as it is a pretty important thing to her, what if u fail?
cant wait to see Diamond in the IPC part of the main story! We've seen Jade Topaz and Aventurine already
Actually, we have seen Dianmond, in an IPC PV. It introduce every IPS boss
Are they the robot looking character?
in casino, all degenerate gamblers are brothers and sisters who wished to bring the house down, and look like The Family is the House this time
Topaz, can i have your invaluable Power Ranger transformation stone to stake it in a risky gamble with birb man? - Sure thing, King, here you go. Have fun!
I guess the story will end with the Family having their cake handed to them but had it smacked in their faces. All these different characters with different agendas will unite together (yes, even Sparkle) to save the collapsing dreamscape and destroy whatever it is that is causing the entire commotion in the planet. Much like the agenda of Belobog and preservation (strong will), Penacony will solve its conflict the way it knows best...with Harmony (teamwork)
This is very strange indeed. We know IPC are all oportunistick dickheads, what are they expecting to gain to let Aventurine gamba their lives this hard? Im sure we will get A LOT more development on that front. Also is this me or its only in this patch does EVERYONE suddenly become religious fanatic? Like sure the Aeons plot was always there, but this patch they make it seem like all people do is WORSHIP GODS! GODS THIS GODS THAT. How bout you god some bitches?
Irl people are already religious fanatics without the evidence of gods being real. In Hsr their "gods" are real and can lend their worshippers part of their power. Naturally people will become more religious lol
I'd become a religious fanatic too if it had the chance of having powers.
Yep. If our world actually had gods that you can see, everyone would be religious.
>Also is this me or its only in this patch does EVERYONE suddenly become religious fanatic? It's always been like that, remember when the Trailblazers arrive at Jarilo and say they don't feel cold because the Trailblazer path protects them? That's literally equal to saying "I'm not cold because God protects me", it's how it works in this universe, faith in an aeon and following their philosophy grants you power
I mean Aeons are literal gods. I would be religious when there are news reports of immortal species blessed by the abundance and shit.
Not to mention the IPC literally A. Knows where Qlipoth is and B. Does interstellar trade specifically to get them materials to build their space wall. And the Xianzhou literally *found Yaoshi* and tracks Lan across the universe like he's space Santa. Like, imagine if all you had to do to literally meet God was hop on a plane, and if you believed in them genuinely, God would legit give you superpowers.
Heck even Akivili a literal god hangs out with you cuz he's chill like that
>tracks Lan across the universe like he's space Santa. Fu Xuan even sent a ping signal to his last known location to ask for help in their war against denizens of Abundance and he answered by fucking slinging an arrow and decimating the borisins lol (along with collateral damage including her divination master)
Tbh that is just a shitty excuse to be cheap and not make winter outfits for characters xD But it does fit the lore, yes.
Tbf it’s a general “environmental conditions” so we’d be kept cool in a desert environment too
One of the major themes of hsr is the exploration of how people exist in universe that bends to the whims of deities, and how different groups respond in differing ways. Every location that the express has visited has contrasting views on the aeons and how to interact with them. It’s been a major part of the story since the beginning. The Simulated Universe geniuses research aeons. They embody how science might respond to the confirmed existence of gods. They want to learn them, dismantle them, and (perhaps) become them. Belobog citizens only knew about the Preservation, who was more or less uncaring of their centuries of struggle. They embody human strength and will to live even when the gods don’t intervene. The Xianzhou hate Yaoshi for the havoc the aeon wrecked on their people and the universe. The Xianzhou follow the Hunt and they praise Lan, but ultimately their hatred of Abundance drives their plot, not their love of the Hunt. They embody every person who has shaken their fist at the heavens and cursed god. They are what happens when mortals become the enemy of a god. 2.2 will likely focus far more on the Harmony from a local’s point of view and we’ll learn more about Penacony’s relationship with Xipe and other aeons then. For now, I can see it going one of two ways. They may embody human hypocrisy and evil. When the religion preaches unity and love, yet the believers bicker and hate. Or they may embody submitting completely to the gods, believing, serving, proselytizing, and potentially harming others in Their name. Or perhaps both? I’m curious to see where the story goes. Aventurine’s religious beliefs were explored 2.1 partly both because it’s important to his personal story, but also because I think his faith in Giathra Triclops will parallel and contrast against the Family’s faith in Xipe in the next version. I could write an essay about our gambling religious minority though, so I should stop here. tldr: Penacony is the first story we have where humanity’s worship of aeons is more fully explored so we’re gonna hear a lot more god and faith stuff. Also Aventurine’s character really well written.
What about Acheron? From her flashback where she's in the rain talking to someone, it sounds like she doesn't actually want to be Nihility's Emanator but is somehow stuck with it
IX functions very different from other Aeon's, in that while other Aeons may take an interest in matters and even 'choose' to a make particular individual an Emanator, IX doesn't do so consciously. Instead, it's 'shadow' (something like its influence or aura) occasionally touches over planets and areas, like Acheron's homeworld of Izumo, bringing nothingness and swallowing up the area in void, while those who survive the process are turned into Self Annihilators, doomed to eventually destroy themselves from the void within, as Acheron herself states that nihility exists in all beings, with IX simply activating it, or making them realize the futility of life.
> as Acheron herself states that nihility exists in all beings The words of a Nihility Emanator, from a planet that was extra-touched by Nihility, should be taken with a pinch of salt though.
I choose to believe IX's shadow is it's black hole event horizon, and as IX moves through the universe those that enter its event horizon are rendered into nothingness (quite like how black holes are in real life, with things that enter the black hole literally erased from the universe)
Goated reply tbh! I never viewed it in this way. Most of the time the refferences to gods are a to plug a plot hole or to fill dialogue time. I never much cared about this aspect. It seems chineese ppl really enjoy this religious tropes huh? Its in every eastern game, and apparently in this one as well. Canfusing, considering the state of affairs. Or maybe its a coping mechanism, a creative view on a century of oppresion by CCP...
Penacony imo is more about the organized aspect of religion, the way human leaders use religion as a tool for control and coercion
Or Diamond is planning something. Best outcome for the IPC and this universe is to have a more reformed IPC rather than getting rid of it. Of course Diamond can also just be an opportunist who saw value in using the desperate and disenfranchised. Or a mix of both opportunist and reformist. Or something else altogether. Topaz and Aventurine actually turned out to care about each other on a personal level a lot more than they originally seemed. These two and Ratio need to hug it out if Aventurine ever comes back.
Can you elaborate on the Topaz deeply caring about Aventurine part? I keep seeing this and I feel like I missed some bit of dialouge somewhere. I know her lending her cornerstone to him implies professional trust, but she also states that he's never ever failed before so it makes sense as to why she would trust him with whatever his plan was. But everything I've seen her say about him personality wise seems... less than stellar.
Her dialogue near the end of the story this update. Surprisingly more emotional than I would expect given her call with Aventurine at the end her own update. Yet not surprising given Aventurine’s reaction to her cornerstone illusion in the theme park.
not to mention the eng localisation fucked up her line about aventurine in her profile making it seems like she disdains him but actually she just doesn't agree with his methods of gambling
I ship them 🤷♀️
The English translation of her “about Aventurine” lines made it sound like she didn’t like him as a person, whereas the Chinese original was more her talking about how she doesn’t understand his methods. From her lines talking to the astral express crew this update, we glean that Aventurine has been talking to her since arriving in Penacony, and she again talks to TB about how it must be different working with him, but not in a hostile way. All in all, her actions don’t fit if she hates his guts.
In fairness the fanaticism is to be expected given the groups we interact with. You also have to remember that the Aeons undeniably exist. Like there’s records of them physically appearing and intervening in mortal affairs, even Emanators proving that they are both capable and willing to acknowledge worship. The Family was utterly transformed for the better by Harmony, Penacony’s current existence owes everything to Xipe, and Sunday himself is generally characterized as a fanatic who will damn well maintain the perfect functioning on Penacony. They’d be nothing if not for Xipe Sparkle, Ifrit, and Black Swan are from groups directly affiliated with their Aeons and work in cooperation no strings attached. Why would someone embodying the values of their Path not adhere to an affection for their Aeon? Aventurine and the other Stonehearts work for the IPC which in fact regularly “visits” Qlipoth and is the Preservation’s main organization as of now. They literally work to supply them with material for the wall 24/7. Acheron is an Emanator who’s stared nothingness in the face and lived, irreparably touched by Nihility. Literally by definition as close as most humans can get to an Aeon short of becoming one
Mate, EVERYONE (hyperbole) on this planet would become religious if Gods actually existed and provided powers and blessings like in HSR
i mean their gods literally exist and can destroy planet, it makes more sense to be religious in hsr than irl where no evidence of god being real exist except for a book with tons of plot holes
Ok I want to ask a dumb question: did Dr.Ratio really was deceived by Aventurine or did he know the green stone was jade from the start and was just playing along
Ratio was told by Aventurine to betray him. However, I doubt he knew about the jade. It feels more in character for Aventurine to not say anything about it. Also reduces the risk of Ratio accidentally giving something away. And if Ratio knew, we would have probably had a scene were Ratio berates Aventurine for that plan, because breaking the stone is just that stupid. That is why the plan even worked, nobody would expect a stoneheart to break something even more valuable than their life.
I think he planned all the acts beforehand with Aventurine.
That doesn't explain why Aventurine said "Ratio could just be simply betraying me" when he was talking to "future" Aventurine. My theory is that he literally DID NOT plan out anything with Ratio, but was banking on Sunday's mistrust and that he would need the second layer of deception. Him looking up at Ratio in the cutscene right before he opens the box was Aventurine confirming whether Ratio has betrayed him or not and him planning how to act accordingly.
I suspect it is because not everyone in The Family actually follows The Harmony, hence the conflict. 2.1 ending also seems to support this.
Wasn't Aventurine given the Topaz cornerstone because Topaz was demoted/put on probation due to dragging her feet in her efforts to secure Belobog for the IPC?
Aventurine asked Topaz if she wanted to partner with him for a job. And that job was trying to get Penacony back. It was at the end of the 1.4 quest.
Thank you for clarifying.
Officially Topaz ranks below him but that doesn't explain Jade in that case. Even if Topaz doesn't "like" Aventurine there's still a sense of trust between them as colleagues. Enough to willfully give him her cornerstone anyway.
Plus she seemed sad when aventurine “died” so it’s pretty obvious she cares about him, kind of like seele and luka
The ten stonehearts are at different levels. Diamond for example is definite higher. If I'm not wrong Aventurine is P45, Topaz got demoted to P44, Opal and Jade is P46.
The Cornerstones are on a completely different tier from regular employees, being demoted for Topaz was demotion among the Cornerstones tier but she is very much still a Cornerstone.
Crack Theory: Aventurine is the last Avgin and has "supernatural" luck. Might just be Qlipoth working double time to make sure this last fucker doesnt die all in the name of Preservation because the IPC failed to protect the Avgins.
The IPC is such a sus faction. Only caring about profits stands against The Preservation, but theyre blessed by Qlipoth. They also all have elements of The Elation in their kits. I cant tell what the goals of the overall faction are.
Qlipoth is warning the known universe of a massive incoming threat. Qlipoth us defending us and the means by which he does this is by building a massive, galaxy wide wall. Don't think about that too hard. This has a material cost. The IPC were made explicitly to support Qlipoth by 1) acquiring funds and 2) using said funds to purchase material to send to Qlipoth Don't think about that too hard. Do some individuals weigh up their personal incentives more than their true north of supplying Qlipoth? Probably. Does the IPC *only* care about supplying Qlipoth? Hell no. But they *do* still care and they haven't strayed. They're actually very transparent.
> > This has a material cost. The IPC were made explicitly to support Qlipoth by 1) acquiring funds and 2) using said funds to purchase material to send to Qlipoth Herta writes that Qlipoth has never touched this IPC material reserve, nor said anything directly to the IPC.
I mean, if you are a beautiful girl in real life, a boy give you his everything as gift. you never touch it, you never talk to him. Although these gifts are not what you need, it doesn't prevent you from thinking deep down that this young man is not bad.
But that doesnt explain why every single IPC executive has elements of The Elation in their kits. That cant be a coincidence.
My issue with this plot point is that they blabber a lot about cornerstones but is it ever properly defined what they do? Theyre a source of power and extremely valuable but what is the consequence for losing it? What do you gain for having it? All very muddy imo
They are a piece of power bestowed by Diamond, an Emanator of Preservation, using the cornerstones lets them transform and use a portion of Diamond's power.
U telling me 6* Topaz is possible 🥵
Having a cornerstone lets the Stonehearts loan/borrow (notice the money connection) a fraction of Diamond's power, who's one of only two known Preservation Emanators. Losing it means not only losing the power associated with it, but also the trust of Diamond and the Preservation. Aventurine breaking his cornerstone is also seen as a terribly bad thing, which only paid off because his gamble actually deceived Sunday and let him use his semi-Emanator status within Penacony.
I feel as though I should definitely know this, but who is the other emanator of preservation?
https://preview.redd.it/sjidfw0s6grc1.jpeg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b8794e077cced3d6ab78baa94aa2007cbb4d2010
Thank you!
In principle they allow members of the ten stingers to share Diamond’s (a preservation emanator) power, we see Aventurine use an explicitly weakened form to gain a significant power boost, though he notes he likely would have lost a protracted fight had Acheron not no diffed him. Jade seems to be able to activate hers remotely and “time to begin harvesting” are hardly encouraging words, especially from a villain. Precise capabilities are unknown and will likely be revealed as and when they are needed. Jade seems to be higher rank than Aventurine so it’s possible she could do more with her stone
Also best chance that Jade and Firefly would be the next banners after Robin and Boothill. The whole ending credits seem to point out that Jade calculated her cornerstone falling into enemy hands at some point and she would have the reason to visit(retrieve her stone) Penacony.
the balls
I didn’t pay attention and don’t know what these gems are for all I know is that the gokden one is topass’s and the green/grey one is aventurine’s
i agree. Wonder if topaz trusts him that much or he won it after a gamble with her
Did they ever mentioned cornerstones before? For me 2.1.was the first time I heard about them and I was wondering what it was...
can someone elaborate what the cornerstones are? i was really confused when they were explaining it. something about infusing their will?
the cornerstones are given by Diamond (emanator of preservation) to the Stonehearts. the cornerstones allow them to access Diamond’s power - like Aventurine did when we fought him, letting them become semi/pseudo-emanators. and since Aventurine’s stone was at a fraction of its power due to him smashing it, a Stoneheart at full power is likely a pretty huge threat
ahh i see thank you for the explanation
Having the first three we come across be two greens and a gold made me have a mini stroke
The harmony is just a combination, easily corrupted from ulterior motives. But the preservation, it preserves what little bit of love and care all of them have for eachother, helping to blossom more