#⌞ ★彡 shooting.star: anon ⌝

[sunderingstars]

For someone who has never played honkai impact 3rd can you tell me what was that conversation between welt and archeron?! I could feel it out with the context and vibes but I wanna actually know the lore please

ʚ 💌 ɞ hi !! thank you for the ask :3 i may miss a few things due to the complexity of the lore, but this is my current understanding of it:

⟡ 2.1 spoilers ahead ⟡

(hsr = honkai star rail, hi3 = honkai impact 3rd)

°˖➴ i’ll only be talking about their first conversation here since i haven’t finished the rest of the quest yet

short answer — acheron is this dimension’s version of someone welt knows from his home dimension (hi3) and as such there’s a bunch of conflicting feelings from him in this scene. he recognizes her face but ultimately understands he does not know the motives of this version of her, so stays on his guard to protect the express.

long answer below the cut:

⟢ hsr welt is the same one from hi3 — he exists in both games, starting in hi3, then traveling across dimensions to hsr which is where he is now

⟢ acheron closely resembles raiden mei, someone welt knows from his home dimension (hi3). basically, acheron is another version of mei in this universe (there’s some debate about the specifics, but this is the simplest way to put it!). she’s in a similar vein as bronya, himeko, seele, etc. if you’ve seen the discussion about those characters linking to hi3 as well.

⟢ so, it creates this situation where welt recognizes acheron as being a version of someone he knows and cares about, while she doesn’t recognize him at all. that’s why he looks so surprised when he sees her, because he’s seeing a familiar face.

⟢ however, he’s on guard during the rest of the conversation because he understands that while she may look like the raiden mei from his dimension, this is still a different version of her. he can’t be sure what her motives are yet, or if she wants to help or harm the crew. in my mind, i see him as wanting to trust her because of his connection with the mei from his dimension, but ultimately knowing he can’t let his guard down.

⟢ another interesting tidbit is that acheron is able to point out the true nature of welt’s cane as a weapon of godlike power. while we don’t have many answers as to why or how she knows in-game, it immediately reveals to welt that she does know, which calls into question what else she knows and the possibility of that knowledge posing a danger to the express.

⟢ side note: as for the connection between welt & the mei from his home universe, my main takeaway from it is that he’s a sort of mentor figure to her. not as close of a mentor as he is to other characters, but enough to know and care about her wellbeing. i would also say that they’re friends and have mutual respect for one another. (at least that’s my interpretation of their interactions in hi3.)

⟢ overall, i feel it was a very jarring conversation for him since he was suddenly seeing someone so familiar yet so different. from acheron’s perspective, it must’ve also been weird to see his reaction since she doesn’t know him at all. she knows how powerful he is, but has no personal connection to him beyond that — meanwhile he’s just having his “!?!?” moment while she stares on in confusion.

anyways, i hope that made sense! the hi3 lore can get pretty complicated, especially when it crosses over into hsr, but i tried to put it the simplest i could — i also may have missed a few things because of how complex it can get, but i tried my best to include everything important.

i’m happy to answer any additional questions, and once again thanks for the ask — i love doing nerdy lore analysis stuff! .𖥔 ݁ 🪐˖

[sunderingstars]

since you've mentioned it, i always found the more mature/experienced aspects of sampo to be more interesting as well. I would love to hear you elaborate more on how you think sampo views sex and intimacy.

p.s. i used your playlists to help me finish an essay lol

ʚ 💌 ɞ absolutely, sex & intimacy are super interesting to me when it comes to sampo! (also as a college grad i’m glad to hear that! essays can be super difficult to write so i’m happy i was able to help 🙏)

honestly, this man is so much of a puzzle that several different interpretations could be plausibly canon, especially since he really only shows us what he wants us to see. for my own personal taste, the closest i’ve gotten to something that feels like a natural extension of his character is him viewing sex the same as money.

in a base interpretation, this could come across as sex being casual and emotionally distant to him; something to be used for his own benefit before being discarded just as quickly. his experience with being a con-man could lead to him seeing sex as a business transaction, while his experience with elation could further simplify it to something that’s fun to play around with.

however, certain theory interpretations could put a spin on this. for example, under the theory that sampo’s function is similar to that of the aha stuffed toy, his relationship with money would likely be more complex than what a base reading of his character implies, meaning he may use money as a vehicle for self-autonomy or to prove he’s worth something to himself. this would likely go for sex as well, making his views less focused on business and more in tune with a drive for autonomy and closure.

similarly, emanator!sampo could also have a bigger power gap between himself and others, potentially leading to more issues with emotional distance or even the opposite — a yearning for emotional closeness or connection during sex that he can never quite seem to grasp. sex as a transaction, sex as a distraction, sex as a chase or a goal beyond reach or a high of elation that gives more than it takes — all of these could work with his character in my opinion!

however, intimacy may be an entirely different beast for him. while he may be casual and comfortable with, for example, a one-night stand, anything personal or emotional could be difficult for him to work with. either because of his con-man trade, his backstory, or the nature of his own existence, intimacy may either be something he is inexplicably uncomfortable with and tries to keep out of his sex life as much as possible, or something that he craves intensely but can never seem to attain.

in fact, i see him as having fairly intense emotions when it comes to affection and intimacy, which could push him further away from genuinely expressing them for fear of hurting the person he cares about or scaring them away. (it’s important to note that, generally, he may not like expressing vulnerability due to being a masked fool — if vulnerability is weakness, then weakness means danger when constantly surrounded by, to put it mildly, extremely chaotic individuals. keeping things casual would often be in not only his best interest, but the best interest of the other person as well.)

in a realistic sense, i feel like this would lead to extremely good “friends with benefits” or casual sex situations, but pretty rocky territory beyond that. i do think he’s entirely capable of forming a long-term partnered relationship with genuine expressions of emotion, but it would likely take a bit of work to get there!

(i know i talked a lot here about what i feel a “canonical” or accurate interpretation might be for his character — mainly because i tend to favor analysis-heavy headcanons LOL — but it’s also fun to speculate outside of that! i think it’s cool to think about self-assured sampos or overly-devoted-bordering-on-yandere sampos or emotionally-stable old man sampos or even eldritch “sex is the highest form of elation let’s all have an orgy right now” sampos — the great thing about writing is that you can interpret things in any way you like. they’re all good in my book!)

thanks for the ask !! 🪐

[sunderingstars]

Ooh can you explain ur thoughts on sampo and the songs breezeblocks, cha cha, and genius?

ʚ 💌 ɞ sure thing! beyond just liking the way they sound (i tend to associate upbeat, brain itchy, and overall “quirky” songs with sampo), here are some reasons i like these in particular:

breezeblocks by alt-j

⟢ the main reason i chose this song is the repeating lines near the end: “please don’t go, please don’t go / i love you so, i love you so / please break my heart.” the phrase of “i’ll eat you whole” being repeated throughout also a nice touch.

⟢ i found this part of the lyrics pretty indicative of how i imagine sampo handling interpersonal relationships mentally (regardless of how he expresses it on the outside). with all the hate / love / betrayal motifs present throughout his character, it made sense to me that he would latch on tightly to those he feels he can truly trust, albeit in a slightly traumatized and conflicted way.

⟢ whatever past he may have gone through, it causes him to expect heartbreak, which is why he might associate pain and/or betrayal with love. additionally, a sampo with an unstable identity or experience (i.e. doll, emanator, aeon, etc.) would likely have a side of him that he’s afraid will hurt those he cares about. however, i don’t see that as stopping him from sticking around, but rather something that causes a complicated internal mess (like the push and pull of “please don’t go” and “i’ll eat you whole”).

⟢ i also think the other lyrics like “she may contain the urge to run away / but hold her down with soggy clothes and breezeblocks” and “the fear has gripped me but here i go / my heart sinks as i jump up / your hand grips hand as my eyes shut” could convey sampo’s relationship with elation vs. belobog as well. he may feel trapped and in need of escape, yet is held down by certain aspects of his identity or path. belobog could be a sort of “trust fall” in this scenario, with his friends acting as a lifeline that, despite the fear he may feel, encourage him to take their hands and find better for himself.

⟢ (since doll!sampo has invaded my mind for months and refused to leave, i think “she bruises, coughs, she sputters pistol shots” is a nice touch too since it can link back to a sampo whose only purpose is to be hurt by others.)

cha cha by freddie dredd

⟢ i’ll be honest, this was a completely self-indulgent addition. i really like the way it sounds and thought the chorus especially hit that “brain buzz” i tend to associate with sampo.

⟢ however, i do like how the lyrics start out in a different language, flowing smoother and slower, before turning into the choppy, punchy beat of the chorus in english. similarly to in the dark and let me go, i feel this does a good job of conveying how i see sampo’s internal versus external world. externally, he can be quite chaotic and unpredictable, but internally, i believe he feels things deeply, especially fondness and protection for others.

⟢ the lyrics aid this, as the non-english lines speak of moonlight and stars and dancing, while the english lyrics establish emotional distance by acting flippant. again, i tend to think sampo feels love very deeply, which is mirrored by the soft, emotional beginning. however, his outward persona tends to be perceived by others as the more chaotic english sections of the song!

genius (feat. sia, diplo, and labrinth) by lsd

⟢ this one definitely leans into the more egotistical side of sampo, especially when considering “curio hacker” and how he may be paying a price to gain something later on. “i’m a genius” very much reads like sampo being confident in whatever his master plan is and indulging in feeling good about himself a little (as he should!).

⟢ i also think “do you think i’m stupid? / do you think i’m batshit crazy, having you on my mind? / do you think i’m helpless? / my algebra gon’ equal you every time” is a link to his feelings towards the elation / aha / the masked fools, especially any resentment implied by his themes of “hate” and “betrayal”.

⟢ sia’s part in the song actually pivots away from what i’ve been talking about though, and i tend to see her part as a more earnest depiction of how sampo might flirt with or feel about others he’s romantically interested in. when put in context with the rest of the song, i also read the whole piece as one long “flirt,” since i think sampo’s way of doing it would be very much as confident and forward as the song’s lyrics. (plus, he would probably spin dating as a “genius business decision” or something like that!)

🪐 .𖥔 ݁ ˖ asks are still open for anyone who wants to request songs :))

[sunderingstars]

trying to quit sampo theories and then hoyo gives us mr cold feet's pop up shop LMFAO

literally like i was hoping i’d get all caught up and be ready to do an occasional small analysis here or there, but then this shop event just drops the biggest implications out of nowhere !! 😭

[sunderingstars]

what were your thoughts on take a slice and god ish? Any reason why it's specifically will stetsons's cover? And also just your thoughts in general while making the nsfw playlist lol

ʚ 💌 ɞ hi anon, thanks for the ask !! here’s my thoughts on all three:

take a slice by glass animals

⟢ i’m not sure entirely how to describe it, but i love the sound of this song! the way the beat goes up and down makes it feel almost like walking, in that sort of slow and assured way emphasized by the strategic placement of drawn-out notes. this is one of those songs i feel “sounds” like sampo to me — especially the confidence of the enunciation.

⟢ the lyrics also have some great phrases i associate with him, like “i don’t ever wanna pick a slice / one is pretty but the other lies” (tying into his penchant for half-truths, as well as his multiple identities as brughel poisson), “shitty old pistola / shot a bullet through my wallet” (mirroring how he refers to himself as “old” in-game and generally adopts a very money-centric lifestyle), and “sitting pretty in the prime of life / i’m so tasty and the price is right” (once again with the money — he may not be in what most would consider his “prime,” but i certainly think he would be confident enough to still make business deals of the more risqué variety).

⟢ of course, the twangy instrumentals near the end steal the show for me every time. similarly to songs like le monde, the fast, jumpy chords remind me of elation, specifically the “high” of adrenaline. this could tap into sampo’s hidden side; the potential “infectious enthusiasm” he carries with him on a daily basis. just because he isn’t as overtly chaotic as sparkle doesn’t mean he lacks the “high” of elation entirely!

god-ish by will stetson

⟢ interestingly enough, the original god-ish by pinocchiop comes across as more of a sparkle song to me! however, the english translation of will stetson’s version changes just enough of the lyrics for me to feel like it fits more with sampo (plus the male vocals work as a connection to sampo’s voice).

⟢ for example, the original song in japanese repeats the phrase “i’m so jealous” in part of the chorus, while stetson’s version changes it to “it’s got me going mad.” in my opinion, “jealousy” fits more with sparkle’s unhinged and unstable sense of self, while “it’s got me going mad” feels more grounded as a potential wearing away of sampo’s tolerance of elation.

⟢ additionally, the original has lines like “that hair, those eyes, that mouth / that perfume, those clothes, that makeup” that put the song in a bit more feminine light (which could still work for poisson, but my mind just personally goes to sparkle) while stetson’s “with your ugly hair dye, and your eyes, and overflowing lies / and your scent, and your clothes, and all the blush you buy” feels a little more androgynous to me!

⟢ my favorite lines of stetson’s for sure are “with your quoting, and how you boast, and your reviews / how you’re good with people, how you joke, all of your views / that’s god-ish, baby, face the facts / like that, like that / it’s got me going mad.” i just really like how that description fits sampo to a t (his confidence, his sense of humor, his smooth talking, etc.)! comparing it to godhood fits especially well with emanator!sampo theories too.

⟢ overall, i like how chaotic the song is, talking about godhood as a state of being that reaches so far above others yet is also a place of chaotic insanity. it feels very elation-coded to me, as being intertwined with a path so fluid and chaotic would likely put “higher power” in direct connection with “higher insanity.” the middle of the song especially reads as multiple parts of sampo pushing against each other, with existential angst (“it’s really hard while doing nothing to keep growing old”) and bored elation (“i don’t know what crap you’re saying, but it’s putting me to sleep”) swirling around in the same space.

⟢ it’s especially interesting how, after these parts go back and forth, “disgust” enters the picture to shut everything down and vault the song into pure egoism (“so alone ‘cause you’re smarter than the rest / the best, the best”). it works as a quick, contained way to show how the psychology of someone like sampo might work when taking into account the chaotic nature of elation — over time, he likely developed coping mechanisms to shut down the warring sides of his brain when they get too exhausting. i don’t know if that coping mechanism has anything to do with egoism necessarily, but it’s a fun thought experiment!

⟢ quick shout-out to the end for being a banger too: “love ends in breaking up, or there something like / your life ends in dying out, or something like / man, it sure was interesting to peek from behind / i liked it more when i’d dance and not ask why / that’s life.” lots of interesting connections here, like the purgatorial existence of “something like” trying to quantify what the equivalent of mortal frameworks would be for a god, as well as longing for a past time of blissful ignorance. 10/10!

sampocore (sexy ver.) playlist

⟢ honestly, this was more of an exercise in battling my repression than anything else — i thought it would be interesting to see if i could find explicit songs that i thought matched sampo’s vibe, and so i did!

⟢ my personal favorites are taste of the divine by shaker, azee, & cobra (emanator!sampo goes crazy with this for sure — it carries across the specific vibe of eye-opening, almost religious sex that i think would be par for the course with an higher being like emanator!sampo), prada & versace by chris grey (a refined take on sampo’s con-man nature — he’s older and more mature, after all, and he’s nothing if not one to chase after expensive things), and sex money feelings die by lyyke li (something more introspective to balance out the adrenaline, a better look into how sampo might see sex as similar to money — a method of coping with his own existence).

⟢ overall, i see his “vibe” matching a lot of chase atlantic and chris grey songs with a sprinkling of doja cat mixed in for good measure. i tend to favor the refined side of things when it comes to sampo, leaning on more of the older, experienced con-man than the outward sleaze most characters probably see!

⟢ also, chase atlantic recently came out with “doubt it,” which i can interpret as being how sampo’s earlier elation days might’ve gone, especially if he found himself in a position of power as an emanator, etc.! (what can i say, “put your money where your mouth is” just speaks for itself LOL)

🪐 .𖥔 ݁ ˖ asks are still open for anyone who wants to request songs :))

[sunderingstars]

HELLO please elaborate on your aha!sampo analysis. I'm always down for stuff about that theory, and i'd love to hear your take on it plus any canon hints youve found

ʚ 💌 ɞ ahh thank you !! everyone has been so sweet on that poll, i’m gonna do a few touch-ups on my introductory posts and try to get them out in the next few days !! 💖💖 (i may or may not have. exceedingly insane brainrot over this man LOL)

[sunderingstars]

dick by starboi in the sampo playlist is crazzyy work hehe

ʚ 💌 ɞ thank you lol !! i vibed out to the song for a while before opening my third eye and going “wait… sampo…..” SNDNSNS

[sunderingstars]

pleasantly surprised to see lady gaga in your sampo playlist haha

ʚ 💌 ɞ hehe thank you anon !! sampo really has that flair for the dramatic that i associate with lady gaga; she’s actually the type of artist i think he’d listen to in-universe! 🪐

[sunderingstars]

I loved reading your sampo theories and it always made my day seeing a new one posted. Thank you for all your hard work! o7

awww thank you so much anon !! :) ♡ it really means a lot to me to know people liked it! 🪐

[sunderingstars]

I have the CRAZIEST one sided beef w u. your writing is SO good🙁 kite is my fav ever n the stuff u write about him literally makes me wanna cry and for why. why did u do this

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ʚ 💌 ɞ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ thank u anon i am honored to live in your mind rent free 🤧🤲 the simple answer is that unfortunately i am obsessed with pain & tragedy & sadness (and since kite goes through The Horrors in canon i am lured like a moth to a flame). something about that man just activates every neuron in my brain lol. i promise i do write lighter stuff for him i just haven’t posted any here yet aksjdnsns

thank you for the message !! ♡ 🪐

[sunderingstars]

The jealous hcs are so cute!! Although we've seen in canon that Xavier has a major jealousy problem lolll like "I'm just going to meet him at the back of the starbucks just a little chat with my sword :):)" type of unhinged jealousy hahahaha

i completely agree !! unfortunately i wrote those hcs before i got too much into xavier’s story (he was the only one out of the main three i hadn’t invested in so i still thought he was Chill Guy™) & as soon as i played chapter 8 i was like uh-oh,, i literally wrote him to be the opposite,, 😭 but at least now i have a better idea of his characterization 🙏